Questions and Answers (An Overwatch/Team Talon Hurt/Comfort fic)
Sombra's digging and probing into bodycam footage from Overwatch agents during the Omnic crisis leads to some interesting findings. But can she handle the emotional strain?
-----
Anyone in Sombra's way as she walked down the halls of the Talon compound quickly moved out of the way. Everyone could see it on her face. She'd found something that had royally pissed her off. And they would all be correct.
Sombra was Talon's best IT person, best hacker, best person to find information. She was the brains, Reaper and Doomfist took care of the muscle, and Widow did the stuff people didn't want to. In the end they were some form of a big, dysfunctional family. But all of that may be in jeopardy based on the information Sombra had just gathered.
The curiosity started earlier this morning. She and Amelie had been watching a news report about Doomfist busting out of prison; resulting in them howling in laughter. Sombra leaned her head on Widow's shoulder.
“It's funny how they think they know everything about us. About Overwatch.”
Amelie snorted, drapping one arm around the girl's shoulder. “Wee. If they had a reporter like you on their team, they may be a threat.”
Sombra winked. “D'aw, is that a compliment from the famous Amelie Lacrox?”
“Don't read into it too much. You're beneficial to the organization. That's all.”
Sombra grinned, but something caught both of their attentions. The reporter on the television set was talking about reinstating Overwatch, how Winston had called them all back, and even how members of Overwatch were part of a scandal about 25 years ago when their secret splinter cell had been uncovered.
'Blackwatch is the secret underground of Overwatch. Many believe they're the main cause of the groups entire disbandment. In fact, it has come to knowledge that some members of the former Overwatch may have joined various terror organizations.”
“Que?”
Was all that came out of Sombra's mouth. Amelie looked tense, suddenly pulling back from Sombra now and leaning forward, sipping her coffee as she leaned forward. “We may have a problem.”
“What does she mean by that?”
Amelie looked to Sombra now. It was a long silence between the two of them before she sighed. “Well---Our news network has even obtained body cam footage from Dorado during the Omnic attack back in 20—How the hell did they get that?” Widow whispered, but looked up as Sombra stood.
The look on her face.
“If they can find that information, then so can I.”
“Sombra, leave it alone.”
“No. It's a personal matter that I need answering.” And with that, Sombra left the room. Amelie sighed, returning her attention to the television in front of her, lounging out on the entire couch now that she had it all to herself. This could prove problematic.
Sombra sat in her room all morning as she hacked. She HACKED. Overwatch kept all their shit under lock and key and frankly it proved a challenge. A fun challenge. Had she not been as talented as she was she might even considered giving up. But she did it. Boy did she do it.
“Found it! Dios Mio!” She cried, smiling like a lunatic as she continued working, fingers hitting the cybernetic keyboard now. “Almost---DONE!”
She hit the enter key and just like that thousands upon thousands of bodycam footage was found. Of course Black watch had their own selection. One name that was of interest to her was a certain selection from Commander G.Reyes.
Should she invade Reaper's private past? Should she really look into it like that?
Yes. She should. Sombra told herself repeatedly that it was all for the good of Talon. They had to be prepared if someone dug files up on them. Found out their identies. She was fine herself, having erased every trace of her previous self. Of the wide eyed, innocent little girl before the war. Of the child being raised by two loving parents.
Of the little girl known as Maria.
With shaking fingers, nervous for once of what she'd find she hit the file.
Gabriel was in Dorado. He had been there trying to help the families and get the human's to safety. But she never thought.
Sombra remembered the day her parents died. She was 5 and it was her birthday. She remembered sitting together around the table.
The power had gone out moments after the sirens went off. The explosions followed, the screaming.
Sombra took a deep breath and began her hours long watching of bodycam footage.
The answers to a lot of questions came fast. In reality, Sombra had watched a lot simply because she couldn't bring herself yet to watch the footage from Dorado. Not yet. But now she understood a lot.
His disgust and hatred for Jack Morrison, aka 76.
His irritation yet somewhat father figure behavior to McCree. Now the time he made the joke of him as her big brother made a lot more sense.
Why he had Ana Amari on his hit list even though she could have sworn Widow took her out with a headshot on a mission in Egypt.
More and more answers were being answered.
She watched the footage of when Jessie McCree lost his arm in a fight against some Omnics in King's Row. Damn, that was a lot of blood and Gabe was PISSED at the fucking pigs who'd blown it off. Kid was lucky he only lost an arm. But this was a side of Gabe she rarely, if never, saw.
The compassionate side. The father side. The side that held Jessie and did his best to tie the kid's arm to stop the bleeding. That threatened to beat his ass if he died on him.
Sombra was certain now...she could watch this footage with a feeling of confidence now.
She clicked the file, and watched. As each moment passed, her heart tightened painfully tight. Everything she remembered was correct. The power went out due to a blown transformer because someone had shot it by mistake when aiming for McCree.
But what she didn't know was that Los Muertos, her old gang, had actually been in league with the omnics to blow up the power plant. With one of the only super generators in their command they'd have Dorado in the palms of their hands. Extorting the poorest people and the people in general. Of course Blackwatch would be called.
Her old gang wasn't fun to fuck around with.
She watched as they all realized they'd been baited and that the real main issue was just now arriving. Due to the overloading of the power plant here, the rest of them were having trouble taking the rest of the town on by its self. Things everywhere were beginning to over charge, overload and even in some cases explode.
As if it wasn't bad enough, Omnics were coming in to help Los Muertos members raid and loot up the people. Chaos at its finest really. It was the perfect storm.
Half the team had split up. Angela Ziegler aka “Mercy” went with him and Morrison to help the towns people. McCree was a better shot going after the main issue with Reinhardt and Ana Amari.
Sombra's eyes were glued to the screen, she was so intent on what she was watching that she didn't hear Amelie come in.
“You've been in here all afternoon, Sombra. What on earth are you do...ing...” She stopped, watching what Sombra had found.
“Is this...what you've been doing all day?”
“Si.”
“Sombra, turn it off.”
“No way.”
“Sombra.”
She said nothing and Amelie made her way over, pressing pause on the video.
“Hey I was watching that!” She looked to Amelie from her cross legged position on the floor now. Amelie stared down at her like a mother would her child when caught doing something wrong. “Sombra, why is this such a big issue for you?”
“That's personal.”
“And so is THIS.” Amelie pointed to the screen before sitting on the woman's bed now, staring at her. “This is Reaper...Gabriel's private life. His private business. If he doesn't want to talk about it with you, then that's his decision. Not yours.”
“But it IS my business!”
“How!? Is this another Sombra must 'hack everything and everyone' thing! Because this is getting old.”
“You wouldn't understand.”
“Try me. Secrets can make or break a team. And we work together.”
“...I was born in Dorado. I was raised there. My parents were killed there during the Omnic attack of 2038.”
“....Mon Diue.”
“I was saved from the burning house while my parents were left to die. I want to see the face of the man who saved me but would not go in to save them.”
“Do you think it was him? Do you really think it was Reaper?”
“Remember the first time I met the two of you?”
“Hmm...briefly.”
“When I met the two of you, Reaper had asked where I was from. I told him I was from Dorado and he simply said “I've been there before. Nice place.”
She looked to Amelie over her shoulder now, back to the woman. “This is...more for my own personal issues.”
“What will you do if you get the answer and you don't like it?”
“I'll...figure it out when that happens.”
“Fine. But let me at least sit with you while you do this.”
Amelie moved and sat beside Sombra before pressing the play button again.
Sombra waited, eyes glued to the screen as she scanned over every inch. Amelie pretty much held her breath as she waited as well. Not because the growing anticipation, but she was worried for Sombra. She was worried for her friend.
“We have a burning building! Morrison, does your visor see anything inside!?”
Sombra visiably and audibly gasped, body tensing and going rigid. Amelie looked to her. “Is that---Si.”
“Are you—Silencio por pavor.”
Amelie didn't know much Spanish, but she knew enough to where that meant Sombra had asked her to please be quiet. She watched Sombra; saw how she began to shake and how her fists went tight in a fist.
“3 Civilians inside! The structure won't hold for much longer! Damn, wish we had Reinhardt's shield right about now!”
“We have to do something or those people will be killed!” Mercy shouted, quickly preparing her med kit. She was right. There were people inside that burning house. That red house with the blue shudders. The flower boxes having been knocked off and the pretty blue flowers on the ground in front of it.
Amelie reached over, pressing a hand on Sombra's shoulder now in a comforting manner. But what could she do? She couldn't do much really. Not yet. Not till Sombra came to her. But that's how she was. Sombra was the kind who didn't want to be touched or held till she wanted it. She was...like an annoying pet cat.
Morrison had wanted to wait for back up, but by the time they arrived the people inside that house would be dead. Reyes went in first, regardless of Morrison's orders to wait.
The air was insanely hot. It was way too damn hot. Reyes coughed as he looked for people. “ANYONE HERE!?” Sombra thought maybe that was the wrong house. Maybe it was just a look alike. Maybe this was just some misunderstandi--”AUDAME! POR PAVOR!”
“...Mama...” Sombra whispered, eyes going wide as she kept watching.
Reyes made his way to the back, three people huddled together in the kitchen in the corner. Every inch around them was covered in fire or even thicker smoke.
A mother, beautiful mocha skin and a beauty mark under her eye. Brown eyes, and beautiful thick curly hair as she held her small child who'd fainted from fear. Her father, holding them both in his arms. A thin man, but a tad older then the woman. You could see the faint appearance of smile lines but his eyes held a tender kindness. His black hair beginning to gray in certain spots.
“Come on! I can get you!” The mother shook her head.
“M-My foot is stuck!” She shouted and Reyes cringed. One of the support beams had gone right through the woman's foot, pinning it like a picture to the floor. He wouldn't be able to lift the beam by himself, and he could see now that the father had a busted arm. Hell, blood was gushing out of it in rivers.
“Please! Take our daughter!”
Sombra's eyes were wide as she watched. She didn't know this had happened. She had fainted after the fire had started in their house. She had been too afraid to do anything.
Reyes nodded, moving down and quickly taking the girl from her mother. “Gracias. Please...look after her.” The woman whispered as she held Reyes face in one hand. The man felt heartbreak as he looked at this mother. Her love for her child out weighed her own desire to live.
Reyes looked to the father and he shook his head. “I-I can't leave my wife.”
“But your daughter needs you!” The man shook his head, holding onto her tightly. That part he couldn't understand. Why abandon your child for your wife? This was his daughter, and he couldn't understand why. But then he saw it. Finally, he noticed.
His entire left leg was shattered and pinned under a similar support beam. Reyes didn't have a choice.
He had to go. If not, all of them would die. This girl needed to live, he needed to live. His team needed him to live. He could only imagine how self destructive Jessie might be if his only positive father figure he'd ever known suddenly died. But this was the life they chose. He was ready any time to die. It had come as no surprise. But not now.
Not till this little girl was save.
Reyes had no choice but to jump through a window to get out of harms way, holding the kid to him tightly. He coughed, taking deep breathes as he finally found fresh and clean air again.
“Reyes you reckless bastard!” Morrison shouted, rushing with Mercy to help him.
“What happened in there!?” She asked, looking over him then to the child who was now beginning to wake up in his hold.
“Two fatalities.”
“Her? Is she the only one?”
“Yeah.” The little girl looked up at him, eyes wide. She didn't know this man. Where was her mother? Her father? She looked to the burning house before trying to shove out of this man's arms. “MAMA! PAPA!”
She tried her best to get out of the man's reach but this child was an easy thing to restrain in his arms.
“I'm sorry...I couldn't get them.” He whispered. The girl screamed louder, and Angela couldn't take it. She never could. She moved now, embracing the child in her arms as she screamed. As she cried loudly and clung to the blonde. Right as the house began to collapse. Right as the roof gave way.
Sombra hit the pause button now.
“Sombra...?”
“God damn....” She hunched over, hiding her face on one side with her hair.
“Sombra?”
“Fucking...”
“Som—BASTARD!”
Sombra screamed and her EMP went off. Turning everything in the room off. She shook, hunched over on the floor. Her eyes were burning both from anger and from the pain of reliving her childhood loss. She quickly stood up, Amelie standing with her.
“Wait a moment!” She said, blocking the door.
“What are you going to do?”
“Out of my way.”
“Sombra I'm serious. What do you plan to do? Are you going to confront him? Leave it alone?”
“What's it to you!?”
“It matters to me because this kind of strain could damage our team performance.”
“I don't care about that right now!”
“Listen to me for once!” Amelie gripped the woman by her shoulder's, making her look her in the eye. “With this kind of knowledge, it can damage your relationship. It can compromise the team and get all of us captured, or worse. Think this through.”
“You're pretty much telling me not to talk to him.”
“No. The opposite. Talk to him about it. But be kind as well. You saw the footage like I did with you. He didn't abandon your parents. He wanted to help them but he was alone. They were hurt. He saved the one life he could.” She held Sombra's left cheek in her hand. “He saved you. If anyone is to blame, it's Soldier 76.”
“He..He could have had Dr Ziegler go in with him! She could have he—You know he couldn't do that.” Amelie stopped her, shaking her own head. “The healer is vital. Without them, the mission is doomed to failure.”
Sombra grit her teeth, she needed answers. “Let me come with you.”
“No.”
“Sombra.”
“No!”
“I am trying to help you! You always insist on this too cool attitude like you're too smart for everyone else but in reality you're still just a child. Please...let me help.”
Sombra hated leaving the other woman in the dark. But really, this was something she needed to do on her own. Quickly tossing one of he trans-locators she stole from Tracer, she used it to get out of the woman's grasp before going invisible to not be detected.
“Damn. The one time I don't have my visor on.” Either way, Amelie had other things to do. Like tell Doomfist what just happened. He was the council leader. And as their technical boss he needed to know.
Everyone ducked out of Sombra's way as she ran down the hallway now before stopping at the room that belonged to the man in question. She banged on the door loudly. “Oi! Old man!”
“Busy.” Was the only call she received. “Whatever it is can wa—FUCK THAT!” Sombra shouted and hacked the door open before entering without permission.
The man in question had just returned from a solo mission. It wasn't anything too big that needed an entire team to go on. Reaper was capable enough.
He turned to look at her, having been in the process of removing his guns and gauntlets. “What is it? You look pissed. Did you get into another argument with someone on the internet? I thought you knew not to feed the trolls.”
Sombra said nothing, staring at the man now in his glad black trench coat. His barn owl mask still on but she noted how his uniform was splattered in blood. Of course it didn't belong to him, but it was still enough to really give her this edge.
“...This is something else all together, isn't it?”
“You said you've been to Dorado before.”
“Yeah. Year's ago.”
“Why?”
“Hm?”
“Why where you there?”
“Is this really necessa—Answer the question, Reyes!”
That made him stop cold, but behind the mask he was narrowing his eyes at the girl.
“You have the wrong guy.”
“Bullshit.” Was all Sombra said before walking closer.
“Sombra, I'm tired. If you have something to talk to me about then do it. If you're going to do your usual games shit I am in NO mood.”
“I'm talking about this.” She pulled up the screen from her advanced computer gloves. Showing the video clip. He stopped, almost looking as if he wasn't breathing.
“That was...a long time ago.”
“You bastard!” She shouted, moving and proceeding to hit the man in the chest. They were weak hits mind you, but it really didn't matter. Why was the girl so damn upset? She was acting like a spoiled child.
“You could have saved them! You could have done something!”
“Why is this your business!? These people are strangers to you!”
Sombra reached up for his face and Reaper was ready to smack her hands away but she gripped his mask too fast for him to block. She threw it somewhere in the room, and there in that room their eyes met.
Gabriel stared into those purple eyes, and Sombra stared back into those copper colored eyes. Cybernetic enhancement met against someone who was brought back from the brink of death by a science experiment gone wrong. In reality, it should terrify her to see the man's half rotting face. But it didn't.
But he looked the same as in the video. He hadn't changed much but the scars were still there.
“Sombra. Please explain to me. I am not a mind reader.”
She snorted, tears dripping down her face as she jutted out a hip. “Oh, you don't recognize me now? Well how would you? That was 25 years ago after all. I was just a passed out kid who's parents you didn't try to save from a burning building!”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes a little more, looking a tad bit frustrated. But it finally hit him. It dawned on him.
“You.”
“You....let them. DIE.”
“Not by choice!” He roared back, the sound vibrating and nearly making Sombra jumped.
“You...You could have saved them!”
“How did you even find those?”
“I have my ways.” She said in a snide yet passive aggressive tone.
Gabriel was too tired to deal with this. He was too tired to deal with Sombra and her shitty, angry, brooding teenage attitude.
“Come back and talk to me when you can act like an adu-”THWACK!
Reaper stood there for a moment, stunned at the sudden pain in the side of his face, but it took a moment to realize Sombra had just hit him. Directly in the face. Ok. He was done playing nice.
Gripping the girl by her throat, he slammed her up against the wall and held her there tightly.
“I did everything I fucking could at the time! Morrison made the fucking mistake of splitting the team! Don't blame me for doing what I could!” He roared and he glared at Sombra, but it softened as he saw in those eyes the pain Sombra was feeling. After all, she was only a small child at the time. There was only so much she could absolutely do.
Gabriel knew all too well that grief over someone's death could last years. Sombra might have been repressing that in order to make herself stronger. But damn she shouldn't have hit him because that's just a bitch move in itself.
He groaned as he pulled her off the wall and brought her in close to him in a hug. She fought him for a moment, cursing at him in Spanish before finally giving in. Finally letting him hold her as she cried.
“If blaming me makes you feel better, then fine. Blame me. But don't say I never did you any favors. Don't say I didn't try. We took every win we could at the time. War is never easy.”
He moved them, Sombra resting on his knee while he sat on his bed now.
“Every life we saved was a win. It was a small victory for us and it helped to ease the pain of each death. Each loss that could have been prevented.”
His left hand rested on the back of Sombra's head as she simply sat there, letting the man hold her now. Her cheek resting on his shoulder. They sat in silence and before long, Gabriel saw Amelie poke her head into his room, a look of worry on her face.
He held one finger to his lips in a “shh” motion with no sounds and she gave a relieved smile. She quickly moved away, simply leaning on the wall outside to hear their conversation. Maybe she'd been wrong.
Sombra needed to do this on her own. Her raw passion simply made her a bit more passionate about things. About her causes. But she did need to let Gabriel know about the documentary and the fact the news network had that information. Whoever gave it to them needed to be dealt with. After all, she didn't want them finding info on her or her former husband.
“Are you ready to calm down and let me relax from my own business today or are you still going to pout like a child?”
Sombra snorted, wiping her face with her hands now. “I guess you really are my hero, I'm wracking up a debt.”
Reaper rolled his eyes now. “Don't think on it.”
“D'aw, it really does make me your princess huh?”
Reaper gave her this wry look. “Get the hell out.” She stood off his lap now, seeming to be...better. But it scared him as to how fast she went from being ready to beat him senseless to being fine.
“...Are you alright? You're not going to do something stupid are you?”
“No.”
“You just went on this whole thing and even hit me in the face. Are you sure you're fine?”
“Yes, Gabe. I'm fine. The thing is...Amelie said the same thing before I came to see you. That it was Morrison for splitting up the team. He even said in the body cam footage that if they had Reinhardt's shield then they could have gone in together. Saved all of us.”
Reaper nodded. “She's right. Like I said, small victories.”
“I...guess in this line of work this is all that we can ask for. Take the small ones, and enjoy the downtime.”
“You should listen to her more often Sombra. She's not just a pretty face and a hot ass.”
Amelie blushed from her eavesdropping position outside the door. Well...it was a joke really among them. Her ass brought all the boys to the yard and Sir Mixalot died from too much.
“Damn Gabe, we need to get you laid.”
“Ew. No.”
“Should I call Morrison?”
“Get. Out.”
“Or maybe Mercy? Unless you're into boys with robotic ar—GET. OUT. SOMBRA.”
She laughed as she darted out of the way of Reaper throwing a gun of his at her, hearing a scream of “YEET” behind her before the door slammed shut.
“I'm glad you two worked it out.” Amelie said as she watched the girl exit the man's room.
“Yeah....” Was all Sombra said before sighing. “You were right.”
“Que?”
“About me. About...that. About everything. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you.”
Amelie smiled at her fondly. “Well...thank you.”
“But he was right too?”
“About what?”
“You do have a fabulous ass.”
“I swear to god Sombra--” She trailed off with angry sounding French and Sombra laughed, darting down the hall as Widow chased after her, ready to thrash her.