Tracer

[moonshadows]

"So you're Sombra," a chipper voice says from right beside me.

If I hadn't been re-familiarizing myself with all of Reaper's old friends, I would have put a burst of gunfire into her body - if she'd stayed still for that, which of course she hasn't, she's on my other side before I can finish turning my head to confirm who just zipped up to me in the middle of a mission.

"Not going to try to shoot me?" Tracer asks as I bring my hands back to the control panel I'm working on.

"Like that would work. Not going to try to stop me hacking this system?"

"Would probably cause more damage than it would prevent if I tried," she retorts cheerfully. "So, no fighting? We're just going to talk?"

The panel opens before me, all its secrets exposed. "Unless you want to fight. I got work to do."

She leans against the wall, tapping one foot against the floor. "I'm surprised you didn't hear me coming."

"Hard to hear when there's no sound, amiga." I start flipping through files, looking for the information that has to be here. "You didn't bring allies."

The tapping stops briefly. "How-" A pause. "Oh wow, you're good!"

I snort. "I better be."

"I mean, Winston said you were good..." There's another brief pause as I bite back a reaction, and then I can hear her grin when she says, "Oh, surprised you?"

"Surprised he said anything good about me. I didn't think he liked me that much."

There's silence for a minute. I find what I'm looking for and start copying it.

"He's not happy you're working with...Reaper," Tracer says slowly. "He did a lot of bad stuff and frankly, I don't blame Winston for feeling idgy about that. But he said you took the time to talk to him while you were in the middle of a mission and that impressed him - that you were willing to risk the mission and risk discovery to talk to someone who didn't trust you."

While the copy and upload is processing, I turn to look at my new friend. "I tell you what I told him. Some of us learned we had to get our hands dirty if we wanted to get something done. I'm working to make the world better for those who can't do it themselves. Reaper took bullets for me. He gave me a Christmas present. He doesn't want me to get hurt. I think I'm the only one who's been nice to him since he became Reaper, and no matter what else he's done? He still got enough of a heart to care about his self-proclaimed annoying Latina daughter, so that makes him one of those who I gotta fight for because he can't even see a way out of his situation, much less be able to get himself out."

Tracer looks conflicted and unhappy. "I don't know if I can see a way out for him, either. Him or...Widowmaker. They're not...the people they used to be and I don't know that I can ever see them that way again."

I turn back to the panel and start making the changes Talon wants me to make. "The Gabriel Reyes you knew - would he have charged in recklessly if he thought you'd been blown up?"

Silence for a long moment. "Yes," she says hesitantly, like she doesn't want to admit that's the answer.

"If you'd left a silly stuffed animal in his room, would he have snuck a bigger one into yours?"

Tracer stifles a giggle. "Probably."

I flip a screen at her - security footage of Reaper misting under my door, placing the bear on my bedside table, and flowing back out - and turn to watch her reaction. "I not saying you should forgive him - he gotta earn that. But nothing says he can't earn it by having you show up to ruin his missions and tell him exactly what you think."

"You..." Tracer bites her lip. "Why would you say that if you want to help him?"

The screen closes at my command and I start closing up the panel's exposed innards. "Because he already thinks he's a monster, so he acts like one. He not gonna get better if he doesn't get called on it. You got reason to be angry at him, so be angry. Call it a test. If he still cares, he'll care that you're angry and want to change. Winston tell you he had a headshot and didn't take it?"

"He did?"

"And Winston vaporized him because he didn't take it, so don't worry about shooting to wound. Actually," I add thoughtfully, "that's a good way to get away if you need to. Just shoot him until he can't stand up. Center of mass. It won't kill him, but it will put him in time-out for a while. I already send Ana and Athena information on Talon's movements, so if you want to come rain on Papi's parade, either of them can send you an invitation."

"You're inviting me to come mess up Talon's plans. Whose team are you on?"

"When you played Overwatch as a kid, who did you play as?"

"Jack," she says immediately. "Wow, that takes me back."

"I played as Gabriel. Punched a boy in the nose because he told me I couldn't because I was a girl. So I started my own team of girls who were sick of being left out or told they could only play as Ana."

Tracer stares at me for a long minute. "Wow. I wasn't sure I'd like you, but now I kind of want to just hang out with you sometime." Two beats, then she gives me a teasing grin. "Assuming your Papi doesn't ground you."

I wave that away. "Please. He knows I go behind his back to talk to his old friends. He don't like it, but he don't have a choice. Anyway, I'm about done here, so you might want to leave. The alarms will go off in two minutes if there's anyone still here."

"What-"

"I'll be in touch," I tell her cheerfully. Then I activate the translocation beacon and I'm gone.