featheredpranks AU

[moonshadows]

Finding a safehouse is surprisingly easy; Overwatch had them all over. I settle on the one in Zurich because that's the last place Talon would expect Gabriel Reyes to be. But, of course, having a place to go means next to nothing if I don't do my best to impede pursuit. The data bomb is a good start, but to really hobble an organization, you need to take away its lifeblood: money. Writing a script to funnel all of Talon's funds into dummy accounts and then into other dummy accounts and finally into secured accounts takes a few hours.

I'm working on half a dozen screens, with Reaper staring at nothing from the other end of the couch and Widow watching from her chair, when the unexpected happens.

"Where am I?"

It's Widow's voice, but...younger. More vulnerable. And confused. I close my screens, and Reaper's wisping in alarm. No longer watching blankly, Widow is curled up in her chair like she's trying to hide in it and she looks...frightened.

"Who are you?" she demands, staring at Reaper.

Fuck. Did I break Widow? If Talon sees her like this...

"Amelie," Reaper says in the most gentle tone I've ever heard him use.

"You know who I am?"

"I'm not going to hurt you."

Some of Widow's fear evaporates. "Gabriel?"

Papi flinches. "Yes. This is my daughter, Sombra."

"Enchanté," she says with a small, trembling smile for me.

I manage to smile back. "Nice to meet you, Amelie." We are so fucked. "We need to get out of here," I say in Spanish.

"Do you have a plan?" Reaper asks in the same language.

"Working on one."

"I'll have to do; we only have a few hours before they take her. What is it?"

"Give me an hour. Pack anything you don't want to leave behind. We may need to shoot our way out."

"We're going to get you out of here," Reaper says reassuringly to Wi- Amelie.

I tune them out and set a timer for half an hour. After all, I want to pack, too.

Open the connection to Athena. GET OUT NOW. T MINUS 60 AND COUNTING.

SO SOON? WHAT HAPPENED?

NO TIME. WILL EXPLAIN LATER, BUT ONCE THE DATA BOMB GOES OFF, ALL OF TALON'S BASES WILL GO DARK. SCRAMBLE ANYONE YOU CAN TO TAKE THEM OUT.

VERY WELL. GOOD LUCK.

The connection closes. I forge orders for Jerome, telling him we're heading back to Siberia in an hour. Then it's finalizing my ownership of the safehouse property and running my money script. Each of the dummy accounts will have to be deleted once the money leaves it. While that's running I throw the COWA and some LRF into a backpack, fill a duffle bag with clothes and my teddy bear and the various things I've bought, and then go check on Reaper and Amelie. They've packed bags of their own and are talking quietly on the couch. Amelie looks scared but determined, and Papi's wisping from the chest and legs.

"We may not have to fight our way out," I say in Spanish. "Give me ten minutes."

He nods. I take a translocation beacon out and set it on the floor by the stairs, then open the door and activate stealth. Nothing gets in my way as I go to the ship. I drop my bags on the bench and a second beacon on the floor of the cockpit and smile grimly at Jerome.

"Top secret mission, amigo," I tell him, and then I activate the beacon I left in the suite. Loaded with Reaper's and Amelie's bags, I activate the beacon on the ship and drop them off, too.

"Ship's fueled and ready to go," Jerome says, already warming the engines up.

"Good. Be right back." In the suite again, I say, "I don't think the beacon will take both of you at once, but I can get Amelie on the ship and come back for you."

"No," Reaper says. "I'll get there on my own."

I shrug and pocket the beacon. "Suit yourself."

Amelie looks frightened when I gesture her over, but Reaper nods and she hugs me tightly. I sit her on the other bench and watch the hangar, waiting for Reaper. It doesn't take long before I see him flowing through as a river of black smoke. He re-forms just out of sight of the ramp and marches aboard.

"Let's move," he growls, sitting in his usual spot.

The ramp goes up, we take off, and once we're confirmed on our flight I set off the data bomb.

"Change of plans, Jerome," I say lightly. "We're going to Zurich."

He glances at me. "You're going rogue."

"You got it. Don't worry, once you drop us off you'll be free to go spend the rest of your life on a beach if you want. Already got the money in your account."

"You're too kind, Miss Sombra. Where in Zurich...?"

I send the coordinates to the ship's system.

While we're flying, I reach out to my omnic contacts in Zurich. There's a lot of details to attend to and a fair amount of money changes hands. The safehouse won't be completely restored, not by a long shot. But we'll have electricity, running water, transportation, and food.

=

The third floor west living area is the only one without any broken windows, so we take our bags and the groceries and hole up there. Reaper tells me he'll put the groceries away and practically shoves me at Amelie, who's looking like she's reached the end of her ability to cope with all of this. I suggest we pick out rooms and unpack as much of our things as we have, and once the door to Amelie's chosen room closes behind us, she bursts into tears. We wind up sitting on the floor, leaning against the dresser, and I do my best to comfort her.

"Gerard is dead," she whimpers into my shoulder as the crying winds down. "I remember - it's like a nightmare, I remember killing him. Then it all goes blank, until suddenly I was sitting there...and you...and Gabriel..."

"Do you remember before that happened?" I ask, wincing.

She sniffles. "Some. The happy times, the sad times. Times I was frightened, or angry. Everything else is gone. What has happened to me?"

"Talon hurt you. A lot."

"My skin...I know they did something to me, I'm so cold, but I'm afraid to look in a mirror..."

"We gonna help you," I promise her. "You remember Angela?"

Her expression brightens. "Oui! She can help me?"

"I'm going to tell her where we are. I have been talking to her about you, discussing how to undo what has been done."

That gets me hugged, and a few more tears.

"Who else..." she trails off, biting her lip. It's weird, seeing her so emotional at all, much less vulnerable.

Who else knows about her, and doesn't blame her for the things she was made to do.

"Do you remember Ana?"

"Of course! My darling friend, Ana!" Amelie's delight fades into apprehension. "Will she blame me for..."

I hug her. "No, amiga. Ana knows you were used as a weapon. She doesn't blame you. I'll let her know where we are, too, see if she can come visit."

"I would like to see her again," Amelie says shyly, "but maybe...not like this."

"However you want to do it," I tell her. "Now, let's get your clothes into the dresser and see what Papi Gabriel wants to do for dinner."

=

"We need to talk," Reaper says once Amelie's asleep.

I wave him to the couch and flop down next to him once he's settled.

"Talon will be coming for us," he starts.

"If they even know we're gone," I counter. "They probably don't even know Jerome never made it to Siberia. I set off a data bomb, wiped their servers."

"That won't stop them for long."

"Which is why I also stole all their money."

Amused little wisps curl up from his biceps. Then they stop. "We have made a very dangerous enemy," he growls unhappily. "The head of Talon is a god program."

A go- No wonder he didn't want me acting without his approval.

"Fuck. I don't know if my data bomb can kill that. We'll have to stay down and see what happens."

"We require allies," Reaper says reluctantly. "How many of your friends would be willing to work with...me?"

"Depends," I tease. "How many you gonna shoot at?"

"Sombra..."

"Okay, okay. I'll start asking. What did you tell Amelie about yourself?"

He snorts. "The truth, or part of it. I was badly burned, nanites hold me together, and I am unrecognizable behind this mask."

"You gonna be okay with Angela coming here to de-Widow Amelie, or at least check her out?"

"As long as I don't have to see her, talk to her, or interact with her in any way."

"How about Ana?"

Reaper wisps heavily. "Fine."

=

I HAVE NEWS, I type to Tia Ana.

It takes her a few minutes to get back to me. NEWS OF WHAT SORT, LITTLE SHADOW?

AMELIE AWAKENED UNEXPECTEDLY YESTERDAY. OUR DEPARTURE FROM TALON WAS ALMOST IMMEDIATE.

ARE YOU SAFE?

ONLY ONE KNOWS WHERE WE ARE, AND I BRIBED HIM. HE WON'T SNITCH. HE'S MORE AFRAID OF REAPER THAN HE IS OF TALON.

HOW IS GABRIEL DOING?

I THINK HE'S DISTRACTING HIMSELF WITH BEING PROTECTIVE OF HER. IT'S KIND OF CUTE. OF COURSE, THAT MEANS HE'LL PROBABLY FALL APART LATER.

I can almost see her sigh. I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I ANTICIPATE ARRIVING IN ZURICH.

WE'RE IN THE OLD OVERWATCH SAFEHOUSE.

THANK YOU, LITTLE SHADOW. FOR EVERYTHING. I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU.

=

"I did not know Gabriel had a daughter," Amelie says, playing with the small plush bear I gave Reaper. "He did not speak about you."

"He didn't know about me," I tell her. It's true enough.

She thinks about that for a minute. "That is very sad. I am sorry for the time you lost."

I'm not really sure what to say to that.

"Sombra?"

She sounds so fearful and hesitant that I'm afraid she's going to ask why we were with Talon. "Hm?"

"What will become of me once...this...has been undone? My husband is dead, my home is gone, and Overwatch is no more."

"I don't know," I tell her somberly. "Ana and Gabriel were both thought to be dead. Jack, too. I erased all the records of myself, so I'm effectively dead as well. Whatever happens, you're not alone."

"That comforts me," she says with a small smile. "Do you suppose Angela will be able to help Gabriel?"

Only if she does it through me. I don't say that.

"That's up to him."

"He doesn't eat. You don't eat. I feel awkward being the only one who eats."

From behind me, Reaper growls, "Amelie has a point." He walks around my chair to sit beside her on the couch. "You promised to tell me a story," he says grimly. "When Angela arrives to check Amelie over, I want to hear it."

Fuck.

=

"Talk," Reaper growls, one taloned finger pointing at the bed I've claimed.

I sit and hug my bear. "My name was Alessandra, before I erased myself. I was orphaned during the Massacre. Grew up in Los Muertos. Gave up my identity when I turned twenty-one, gave up the body I was born in and had my mind transferred into this one. It's completely omnic."

Reaper sits next to me and puts one arm around my shoulders. "There's more you're not saying," he growls quietly. "It's okay. You don't have to say it. I can guess."

That wasn't something I was expecting. I turn and cry into his shoulder. He hugs me, hands now instead of gauntlets, stroking my hair and rubbing my back.

"There is a way for you to go back, isn't there?" he asks when my breathing's evened out again.

"I hadn't thought about it," I say shakily, "but I can find one."

"Then I'll make you a deal. The day I stop being Reaper, you stop being Sombra. Until then, we both leave it alone."

"Deal," I whisper.

"Good," he says fiercely. "And when that day comes, I expect you to list me as your father. Got it?"

"I was going to do that anyway, Papi."

"Good." He holds me a minute longer. "Can you change my birthday?"

I sit up. "You really don't like where it is?"

"I love the day," he says indignantly. "I just hate that it's my birthday."

That makes me laugh. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. Maybe change mine when I put myself back. When do you want it?"

He wisps in amusement. "April first."