Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It's six a.m.

The sun is so bright it's blaring right trough the flimsy curtains in your room.

It's a perfect day to change the world as any!

You will yourself out of bed and go about your morning routine. Stretch, shower, brush your teeth. You pause at the mirror and take a moment to look at yourself.

Still the same as ever. Brown hair sticking up in uneven strands (you haven't gotten to styling it yet. Not that you're very meticulous about that.), a generous dusting of freckles covering your face. Brown eyes stare right back at you, boring straight into your soul.

You flash yourself a big ol' smile.

You pause before going back to your morning routine, looking up at nowhere in particular. You ready the cheeriest voice you can muster up.

"Good morning, Athena!" you call out.

"Good morning, Tracer." a voice responds.

You finish up your morning routine, deliberately skip making the bed (it matches the chaos in the room much better this way. That's the only reason, surely.) and go on to wake the others.

You speed through the hallways, yelling out the most cheerful greetings you can muster. You've got to get everyone's spirits up right from the start of the day, after all.

The base has admittedly seen better days, but you pay the condition of it no mind as you skip through the halls. It's no wonder - the base has only been in use since the recall, which was a couple weeks ago, and there's really not enough time to worry about dust. You can appreciate it for what it is. It forms a cool cloud behind you as you speed around the building which puts it in your good book.

Besides, you're sure no amount of dust could ruin your mood today. As old members of Overwatch slowly trickle into the base (there's more of you here now than you can count on one hand! Still less than two full hands but you'll get there, you're sure.), seeing old friend after friend lifts your spirits like nothing else.

And today is the day Genji comes back.

It's been years since you last saw the guy. Even though you never got to know him too well during his time in Overwatch before, you are filled with a sort of excitement about seeing him again.

You let this glee shine through as you yell out morning greetings, making sure to pause at doors of notable over-sleepers (you spend a good five minutes yelling at Torbjörn's door before a muffled "Alright already!" and the loud clang of something hitting the doorway assures you he's up.).

You stop in your tracks when you reach Winston's door. When speaking of oversleepers, Winston's the worst of them all (the recalled Overwatch might as well be known as "Oversleepwatch" with him in charge). He sleeps like a log and no amount of screeching at the door will snap him into consciousness. A feature which has come in handy before, to be fair. He's the only one that manages to get a good amount of rest on even the noisiest of plane rides, while everyone looks on in pure jealousy. But in the context of waking up in the morning, it's a real pain in the neck.

You push the door open and peer inside, expecting to see the big guy snoozing away face down in a pile of scientific papers (the contents of which you spare yourself from trying to understand) and various reports - he likes to go trough these late into the night, which often makes him even more difficult to wake.

What you don't expect is seeing him up, awake, and right up in your face, obviously on his way out of the room.

Your eyebrows shoot up.

"Good morning, love! Odd seeing you up this early."

He smiles and steps back to let you into the room. "Ah. Well, a phone call woke me."

Must have been some call to wake this lug. You're a little impressed.

"Business right in the morning? That's rough, love."

"Yes, actually, speaking of that... There have been some changes to today's plans, if you don't mind. I was just about to go find you myself."

Your plans for today included running laps around base, eating a hearty lunch and saying a big hello to a cyborg ninja dude. You aren't sure what sort of phone call it would take to drive that off its course. You give Winston a slow nod and encourage him to continue.

"There's an important shipment coming into the port a few towns over and I've been told gang activity is surging in the surrounding area. I'm sending you, Mercy and Reinhardt to keep an eye on it. I'll hand you a full report later. After breakfast, at least."

Your face falls just a bit. Before you can say anything, Winston speaks again.

"I know you were excited for Genji today, but I'm afraid that's going to have to wait. I really need you on this, Tracer."

He doesn't have to ask you twice. You would probably level a building for this ape if he'd asked (not that he couldn't do it himself!), postponing ninja time is nothing, really.

You give him a cheerful salute. "No biggie! See you at breakfast then!"

A cloud of dust collides with Winston's face as you speed off again.

Being sent away really doesn't dishearten you too much - it's a warm, fulfilling feeling to do work in Overwatch's name again, legally or not. Someone's gotta keep an eye on the world!

And seeing Genji in time is really a matter of how fast you can secure the objective.

You're known to be pretty fast, you'd say.

--------

Whether due to your speed or not, the mission goes well, and no more than a day's passed when you're making your way back to base.

"You were on fire back there, Tracer." Reinhardt suddenly says, giving you a strong pat on the back. "It feels great to fight alongside you again, friend!"

Reinhardt's roaring voice makes your heart swell with pride. You're glad to know he hasn't changed one bit since you last saw him.

"Right back at ya, love! Nice to know you're still kicking after all these years."

The sound of Reinhardt's laugh rings clear trough the air. "I will never stop kicking! As long as I have legs, I shall kick onwards!"

"I will do well to make sure your legs are intact, then." Mercy pipes up, the smile on her face mirroring your own.

The trip back to base goes by in a flash, even without the use of your power.

You feel safe and homely in the company of old friends and a strong sense of belonging envelops you the whole way back.

That sense of belonging gets even stronger when you are greeted by a familiar voice upon entering the base.

"I heard you were excited to see me again?"

You look up to see Genji, same as you remember him, waving sheepishly at you from further down the hall.

You don't hold yourself back from charging straight at him, jumping to wrap your arms around his neck before he can even blink under his visor.

He mumbles something you don't quite catch as he regains his balance. You feel metallic arms wrap around you.

"Don't worry, she did that to everyone." Mei says, looking on with a smile from the side of the room. She's right. In fact, you nearly bowled the girl over entirely when she came to the base.

"It's been too long, love!" you say, still clinging onto the guy.

"It really has. It's nice to see you again, Tracer." he responds, his voice light despite the metallic filter over it. You can hear the smile in his voice.

"It is great to see you are so welcomed here, Genji." An unfamiliar voice rings out from behind the ninja.

"I am surprised myself, master. I did not expect such a warm welcome."

You crane your head out to get a better look as you let Genji set you down. It's an omnic. He gives of a sense of serenity and seems to be casually floating. His clothing rings a few bells in your mind.

"It's an honor to meet one of the Shambali," you say, offering a handshake. "I'm Tracer."

"Zenyatta." he says as he shakes your hand. "The pleasure is all mine."

You can already guess that he'll be a welcome ally, not to mention an interesting person to converse with.

You grin.

--------

Your initial impression of Zenyatta proves to be more than correct.

Within a few conversations you become a big fan of his wisdom (the Shambali influence is clear, although he holds radically different opinions on a lot of things) and general soft, calming aura. His presence reassures you both in battle and out and you feel an innate respect within you.

You completely understand why Genji adores him so.

Zenyatta's presence brings out subtle changes in the base, as well, specifically in the form of cleanliness.

One utter of the phrase "Organised surroundings pave the path to an organised mind." is all it takes for you to see the now trademark base dust in a different way.

You soon find yourself instinctively flitting trough the base with a feather duster (you aren't entirely sure why it was in the base but you might as well utilise it for it's purpose). You're making good headway, only pausing to wave at Mercy, who gives you a thumbs up. You go on like this until you nearly knock into Genji, who seems to be embodying Zenyatta's teachings by mopping.

You flash a grin at him. He nods back.

"You seem to be enthusiastic about master's teachings." Genji says, without disrupting his careful mopping motion.

"You're still the favourite student, don't worry." you leer at him, adding a wink for good measure.

You giggle as Genji makes unintelligible noises of embarrassment.

Although time hasn't changed him much physically, you've noticed a distinct change in Genji's demeanor. The underlying anger and confusion that used to surround him, making him difficult to approach, has given way to a more peaceful attitude. You're glad to see his years of travelling alone and Zenyatta's guidance have made him feel more whole.

"I'm just messing with ya, love. Really, though. There's a lot you can learn from Zenyatta."

He nods, thoughtfully. "His teachings have done much to help me come to terms with my existence."

"I'm glad you exist, Genji." you murmur instantly, without a thought.

His mop stops moving for a good second.

"Thank you, Tracer."

A comfortable silence fills the room as you watch it become cleaner by the second.

"Master has encouraged me to face not only myself, but my brother, as well," Genji speaks softly. "I've gained a lot of insight by forgiving him."

You cast a curious glance towards the cyborg. "Have you seen your brother since then?"

"I have. There is anger within him. He has much to resolve before he can be at peace."

"I'm sure he'll come around eventually." You smile at him as you dust a rather large storage shelf. You have to jump to reach the top of it.

"Perhaps."

The silence silence that ensues is a little too tense for your liking.

"Hey, Genji?" you ask as you watch him refill the bucket he was using at a nearby sink.

"Yes?"

"You're quite fast, aren't you?" Your face stretches into a grin as he looks at you curiously. You raise a mop you found in a nearby corner. "Wanna race?"

He stands up straight. After a moment he holds his own mop up.

"You're on."

--------

The building continues morphing into something akin to a coherent base of operations long after the mop race (which you lose gracefully. You're fast, but Genji's mopping skill is unparalleled. You're dead set on beating him in a rematch one day.) as the team settles into a more rhythmic way of handling missions.

Along with the movement of those leaving and returning from assignments, in the span of a few months the base gains life in the form of more members.

Pharah joins the ranks as soon as she hears the word "Overwatch" following a chance meeting during a mission. "I never got the chance to join before," she explains when you unsuccessfully attempt to tease her about it. "I will do my best to ensure a bright future for the organisation."

With her on your side, you feel like the future has never looked brighter.

McCree saunters into base completely unannounced one day, acting like he's been here for weeks. He isn't even phased by you leaping straight at him (the customary greeting for old friends, of course), simply drawling out a greeting and asking where he could go for some coffee (he's had a long day, he says). You do manage to crack his composure when you use the opportunity to swipe his hat and run off.

Soldier: 76 comes into your sights after a chance encounter near Dorado. You jokingly compare his heroic flair to that of a certain late strike commander and watch the mission change its course completely when your remark gets taken into serious consideration.

You had no idea that you'd hit the nail on the head until you watch him get dragged back into Overwatch by a teary-eyed Mercy and an ecstatic Reinhardt.

Soldier: 76 declines taking over leadership of the organisation when Winston offers it to him upon returning to base. "You've done a much better job so far than I ever did." he says.

Judging from the facial expressions around the room noone quite believes him.

You take the ensuing silence as your cue to give him your trademark old friend greeting.

"Glad to have you back, love." you whisper as you cling onto the guy.

"You better be," you hear as arms reluctantly wrap around you. "You're the ones who dragged me back here."

Ana is brought to the base by a group returning from a successful escort mission. She says she's not sure about staying, she just wanted to see how everyone is doing ("I see you've kept the base nice and clean." she adds and you feel a surge of pride within you as you share a giddy look with Genji).

She takes one long look at everyone, pausing to smile at an anxious Pharah, a giddy McCree, an over-excited Reinhardt. Worry crosses her face as she looks over Soldier: 76.

It takes one look around the room, filled with faces both familiar and not, to make up her mind. "I'm staying," she says. "What would you kids ever do without me?"

You take that as your cue to go for the hug. As you feel warmth circle you from every side, you realise you aren't the only one.

The warmth stays with you long after you let go. It stays with you as you watch the crowd of agents dissipate, each going about the day in their own manner. It stays with you as you watch the base bustle with life, louder and brighter with every passing day.

You feel at home again. You feel as if you'd never left. The years spent wandering alone, with no home base to come back to, seem to melt away into nonexistence.

Those years really were but a speck of hallway dust in the grand scheme of things.

A speck of dust that stands no chance against you speeding down the hall. It cannot compare to the time you'll exist, probably.

Especially now that you've got a bustling base of teammates to exist for.

--------

It's six a.m.

The light of sunrise is mostly drowned out by your curtains. It's weak, but it's there none the less.

It's a perfect day to change the world as any!

You go trough your morning routine with a smile, pausing to look at yourself in the mirror.

Still the same as ever - a trusted Overwatch agent if you've ever seen one!

You flash yourself a confident smile.

You keep said smile on your face as you look up to greet Athena. It's important to acknowledge her constant presence in the base, after all!

"Good morning, Athena!"

"Good morning, Tracer." she responds.

You've taken great care in remembering the changes in the route you take when waking the others as the base's population grows and as more of them move around on missions.

You've also taken to poking your head into a person's room rather than shouting encouragement at the door until you hear movement. Both this and your trained memory saves you the embarrassment of continuously yelling at a room only to be told it's empty (You spent half an hour trying to wake an absent Torbjörn once. McCree still won't let you live it down).

Rather than simply starting with the room closest to yours like you used to, you start every morning with a mad dash for Pharah's room. You make an effort to wake Pharah before her alarm goes off. You think her waking up to a friendly face shouting greetings is much better than the angry beeping of her digital clock.

You've even gone as far as to secretly set her clock a minute slow.

After greeting Pharah, you move down the hall, waking people as you go.

You enthusiastically yell the date, time and whatever you know of the mission status to Soldier: 76 who, despite declining leadership, likes to know what's happening around base.

Your face lights up when Mercy answers your usual morning question by promising she's had a full night's sleep instead of working late into the night as she's prone to do.

Your smile persists as you hear Mei enthuse about the weather finally getting colder ("I don't dislike the heat, it's just so cosy to wake up to actual frost on your window, don't you think? No matter how slight it is!").

It takes you nearly 10 minutes and an improvised musical number to fully wake McCree after peeling the post-it note off his door ("The lug's in. Wake him." it reads. You don't really need reminders to wake Torbjörn, nor do you need McCree's sass. You occasionally leave him responses in the form of doodles, mostly caricatures of McCree's dumb cowboy face. You're quite proud of the amount of detailed obnoxiousness you manage to convey on a small post-it note.).

You expertly dodge whatever Torbjörn decides to throw at you as he wakes. "Your aim's getting much better, love!" you cheer before moving on to Reinhardt, who enthusiastically recounts the incredible dream he's just had.

You poke your head into Zenyatta's room only to realise it's empty. The nice weather must have drawn him outside for a walk. You relay this information to Genji before he even asks (he always asks. It took him a while to get the question out the first few times and you've caught on since then).

You prod Winston off of the uninviting pile of papers that served as his 'bed' for the night. You chastise him about staying up late again, knowing he needs to be up early the following day and tell him not to grumble at you.

"Not everyone is an early bird like you, Tracer." he continues to grumble.

"But everyone sure needs the same amount of sleep I do, Winston. Up you go now, love! There's a sandwich for you in the fridge." you respond, knowing the reason he stays up is just as much his own inability to keep time as it is the amount of work he's piled on himself. The least you can do is make him a sandwich and cheer him out of bed in the morning.

The last stop on the wake up train is Ana's room. You wake Ana and watch as she puts on the electric kettle, then readies her morning cup of tea. "Care to join me?" She asks, gesturing to a second cup.

You smile. There's a reason why Ana's room is always the last stop. It means you get to enjoy morning tea time with her as long as you like, without any oversleepers to worry about.

It's a perfect day to change the world as any, you think. But this might be the most perfect moment of the entire day for you.

You can't help your wide grin as the teacup warms your hands. You begin retelling Reinhardt's crazy dream to Ana.

--------

Despite the amount of loud personalities (yourself included!) that reside at the base, quiet days aren't entirely rare.

With a large group of agents gone for a mission up north, you find yourself missing the constant chatter that usually fills the building.

You don't like the silence. It feels like you're alone again. Feels as if time itself has stopped, leaving you behind.

You catch yourself aimlessly wandering trough the halls multiple times throughout the weeks, giving every clock you find a passing glance, just to make sure time is still moving.

You nearly jump out of your skin when the distinct clutter of pots in the kitchen interrupts the silence during one of these runs.

Upon poking your head into the kitchen, you spot Mei, mumbling to herself as she picks up some of the utensils scattered on the floor of the kitchen.

"What are you up to?" you ask and then instantly recoil as the pots are scattered on the ground again.

"Tracer? You scared me!" she gasps.

"Sorry! Didn't meant to startle you, love. What were you doing?" You lean down and help her gather the pots, feeling slightly guilty about causing them to scatter again.

"Well, I... I was trying to find the right pot for a stew," she pauses to put the pots back into the cupboard they came from, keeping a few out on the countertop. "I thought that since Pharah and the rest come back today, it'd be nice to make something for everyone to eat together, don't you agree?"

Oh, you agree. You agree wholeheartedly. You are downright giddy as she continues.

"I thought I'd make something warm and hearty since they'll probably be a little cold on their way home."

You are equally astonished at how downright nice Mei is and ecstatic about the idea of eating a meal with everyone (you don't let the fact that the base has no table big enough to fit more than six people stop you). Combined with your excitement about the idea of stew itself, you become a force of pure giddiness.

"That's a stellar idea! Can I help?"

A smile lights up Mei's face. "Of course. I appreciate the company, Tracer."

You, meanwhile, appreciate her. The world has changed so much over the recent years, but Mei's stayed exactly the same - a beacon of sweetness, hope and inspiration.

It's somehow comforting to know someone who's changed about as much as you have in the past years, even if it's for completely different reasons.

"The base has changed a lot recently, hasn't it? The cutlery is all in the wrong places..." she says after she opens the wrong drawer for the umpteenth time.

"A lot's changed, honestly. You've stayed as pretty as always, however!" you wink at her. She giggles.

"Thank you, Tracer. You don't look a day older, yourself."

"I'm not sure that's a good thing though - I look like a child compared to some of us now," you say jokingly. Mei smiles.

"Still, it's really nice to have some semblance of normality after skipping out on some years. You're right about everything changing a lot," she says, looking wistful. "but at least you saw it all as it happened."

A memory flashes trough your mind - the sensation of slipping out of everyone's time frame. Months disappearing in seconds, seconds spent trying to cling onto something - anything to help anchor you to the world.

You know how she feels.

"Well, we've got a lot of future changes to see. Changes to cause, even!" Mei stops cutting a carrot and looks straight at you, surprised. "And you've got front row seats to all of it, love."

"That's true," she says after a moment, a smile now present on her face. "Let's focus on the future of this stew for now, shall we?"

"Can't think of a better place to start!"

As you help Mei through the preparation of various vegetables, you realise that perhaps you don't really need the constant chatter to feel at home.

You also realise you're not as great at cooking as you thought when you nearly burn the kitchen down. You learn to appreciate Mei's ice more than ever.

--------

It's one p.m.

It's a quarter past five.

It's 9:56 a.m.

The system's malfunctioning. The world around you rattles, then snaps into stillness again.

It's half past three.

You manage to make out the silhouette of a door handle. You reach out and watch your hand phase right trough it.

It's four a.m.

The world is shaking again. You feel your hands slip off the controls.

It's 8:30 a.m.

It's noon.

A person's face appears in front of you, startled. "Help me" you manage to call out, before everything changes again.

It's half past seven.

It's 3:45 p.m.

You're crashing again. You hear yourself scream as the world around you becomes a blur.

You sit up in your bed, panic whirring trough you. Your hand finds the chronal accelerator firmly anchored to your chest.

You hold onto it as you turn to the red numbers of the clock on your desk.

4:36, it reads.

And continues to read as you keep your gaze firmly locked on it.

4:36, the red numbers continue to shine.

You don't know if you can handle watching it change to 4:37.

You keep watching in fear of it changing to something else.

4:36.

4:36.

4:37.

You take a deep breath, convincing yourself that you will remain in the same place when you breathe out. It will still be 4:37.

You take a few more breaths. The chronal accelerator envelops you in a comforting blue light.

It's okay. You're okay. Winston fixed you, remember? It's 4:37.

You calm yourself down as best you can. You can't go back to sleep. Not right now. Not at 4:37.

Or at 4:40, as the clock now reads.

You keep your eyes firmly on the clock as you leave the room.

You slowly pad trough the familiar halls, your path illuminated by the blue light from your chest.

You're nearing the exit when a voice startles you.

"Tracer?"

You turn around carefully, as to not disrupt the world around you.

A familiar configuration of lights on the head of a silhouette catches your sight.

"It is much too cold to be heading outside like that, Tracer." Zenyatta says.

You instinctively reach out to confirm his presence as much as your own.

Your hand lands on a metal arm, securely. It doesn't phase trough, no matter how long you look. You keep looking. You watch the arm move upwards and slowly, deliberately land a metal hand on your upper arm.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

You slowly shake your head.

"Come along. Let us move somewhere warmer."

You let yourself be led by the steady hand on your shoulder. Zenyatta leads you to a couch in the lounge and gently sits you down beside him.

You take a moment to listen to the soft whirr emanating from him before your voice finds you.

"I had... I had a nightmare," A nightmare. That's all it was. "about the past."

Zenyatta gently encourages you to continue. You lay your head on his shoulder as you slowly retell your dream. The constant change of time. The inability to touch. The hopelessness. The crash.

You feel metal arms envelop you in an embrace. You lean against the firm frame of the omnic.

"I thought I'd moved on past it all by now, but..." you trail off. You really did have it all under control, for years now. You didn't have time to dwell on it back then.

You have all the time in the world now.

"It is important to move forward," Zenyatta begins. "but not without making peace with the past."

You were sure you'd made peace with it. It made you who you are today. Who you'll be for as long as time exists.

"I'll surely have to move forward. Even as time catches up to the rest of you."

You choose not to dwell on it, most of the time. On the fact that the structure of the base lessens by a grain or two every day, but you will still stand long after it crumbles into ruins. On the fact that every year sees a new wrinkle on your teammates faces while you remain unchanged.

On the fact that one day you'll be the only one left.

"There will be others moving forward with you then." Zenyatta's voice rings out. You can't discern whether it's the voice, the thought, or a combination of both, but something about what is said calms you.

"Hopefully. I don't know what I'd do with myself if you all died on me all at once."

You work hard to keep them all safe. To keep everyone safe. The team, the world, everyone. The thought that time, the one thing you have most control over, will be the one to take them all from you terrifies you to no end. Noone can escape it. Unless...

"Do omnics age, Zenyatta?"

You listen to the whirr of his motors. It's hard to imagine them ever slowing.

"Yes. One day I, too, will be the grouchy old man feeding pigeons at the park."

The image in your head shifts from tragic to comedic in the span of a second. Or a minute. You don't care to count.

You let out a weak giggle.

"You're gonna be the perfect wise old gradpa robot, then."

You aren't sure where the stereotype of robot bodies being cold originated from, but you'd stake your life against it. Right here, enveloped within warm arms and rhythmically whirring mechanisms, you feel warmer than any blanket could make you.

You wake up in that same warmth. You open your eyes to see several others peer right back at you, wondering why their usual wake-up cheer wasn't there.

You flash a bright grin at them.

It's past six a.m.

A good day to change the world as any.

--------

You spot her silhouette on rooftops of Talon related missions.

An odd mix of anger and excitement stirs within you ( as rarely does an enemy put up a fight the way she does. You can't help your thrill-seeking ways.) and you cannot stop yourself from dashing towards Widowmaker, blinking yourself onto the roof behind her.

"You having fun up here, love?" you ask and instantly jump back, having anticipated the kick she throws at you.

"Sneaking up on people isn't a fair way to start a duel, is it now?" You hear her say over the sound of gunfire.

"Isn't that your entire job though? Sneaking bullets into people from far away?" You ask, jumping towards a higher rooftop. High ground always helps. She'd know, you're sure.

A dark laugh escapes her lips. "I don't exactly aim to be fair. I aim to kill."

You keep your eyes firmly locked on her, trying to anticipate her next move.

"Well, you're gonna have to aim better if you wanna catch me!"

And aim she does.

It goes on like this nearly every time you see her. She shoots, you dodge, counterattack.

Your surroundings blur as you focus your sights entirely on her elegant frame. The mission becomes more of a side-goal in comparison to beating her. The voices over the comm are mere whispers in your mind against the mocking remarks she spits between gunfire.

A duel, she called it. That's a little too stiff a title, you think.

A dance, you'd call it. Rhythmically moving along with another person, that's all it is. She moves back, you dash forward. She shoots left, you jump right.

A bit deadly for a dance, some would say.

You wouldn't have it any other way.

"Care for a dance, love?" you ask next time you meet her on yet another rooftop. You interpret the bullet she fires in response to be the first step.

--------

News outlets had occasionally reminded you of Brazil's situation over the last few years - you'd heard of the tensions between the government and the citizens, the fight that eventually drove Vishkar out, Vishkar not giving up its efforts on the surrounding area. It's only when the situation gets tense enough for Winston to send out a group of you (you, McCree, Reinhardt, Mei and Ana in lead. A formidable group, if ever.) to dispel conflict does the whole thing become truly real to you.

The mission, which was probably destined to be a mess judging from Winston's reluctant face when he sent you out and the fact that you can hear the protest rally even before your comparatively loud jet lands, goes from a mess to complete trainwreck as Talon agents suddenly disperse among the crowd (and quickly start dispersing the crowd).

Whatever effort your group had made in pacifying the crowd of protesters and Vishkar officials is made obsolete as chaos fills the area.

You catch yourself looking at rooftops as Ana barks orders over the comm. No silouhette. You don't know whether that's a good thing or not.

You mentally chide yourself. No time to think about this now, Tracer! It's go time.

What was once a protest rally turns into a borderline massacre and you struggle to keep the Talon guys at bay while Ana and Reinhardt do their best at herding te civillians into safety.

You watch the surprise in a Talon agent's eyes as you blink forward and recall yourself back, but the element of surprise doesn't do much against the fact that you're somewhat outnumbered.

You don't let that fact get to you. You can take them! A couple extra guys is nothing to you when you're on fire.

Your confidence falters as an ear-piercing scream rings over the comm. Mei.

You turn around only to see a frail silouhette struggle to keep upright where an inpenetrable ice wall stood a second ago. A black shadow slinks away. Reaper.

Your confidence falls a slight bit more.

You blink yourself to shield Mei from any further gunfire. You don't have time to realise you have no plan for this. You aren't exactly a defensive wall. Defensive walls are more Mei's area of expertise than anything.

You hope staying alive is her primary area of expertise right now.

Your eyes frantically search for a route to safety that doesn't involve coming face-to-face with a black blur. Said blur seems to be heading in a direction you'd rather not see him go - towards Ana and Reinhardt. Knowing there's nothing you can do about that brings a scowl to your face.

Your scowl turns into confusion as music suddenly fills your ears.

You feel faster than ever.

You turn to the source of the music to see a green blur swoop in and pick Mei out of your hands before you can even react (which is pretty fast considering you're the speed expert of the group. You wish you had time to be impressed).

"Go!" the guy yells and you do what you can - trust his judgement and run.

You vaguely register the guy speak to Mei ("It's okay, you're okay. I got you.") as you dash towards the direction you last saw Reaper.

It takes no time for him to catch on to what you're doing and, even with your current speed, he manages to beat you to the punch. Or, well, shot. Which is exactly what you hear from behind you.

You recall yourself out of the way and get ready to fight. He's not getting anywhere with you around.

You tussle, the occasional blink and wayward shot from other Talon agents punctuating your battle until you run straight into a familiar tall figure, his gun already in firing motion.

"They're done escorting the civilians. We're retreatin'," McCree says. "you go get Mei, I'll hold 'em down."

Any protest you squeak out is ignored as you feel yourself pushed back. You can tell McCree's as excited about retreating as you are, really. You don't care that your legs are exhausted, or that the nasty wound on your thigh isn't helping, or that Talon's numbers aren't dwindling as much as you'd like.

You had them, you swear.

The action's not exactly over for you, you realise as you discover Mei holding back the vast majority of the Talon agents that managed to get away from you today.

You feel alive as the sound of music fills your ears again.

"Go! I'm putting up an ice wall!" you hear Mei yell, voice rasp, and you need no further instruction.

You regroup with Reinhardt and Ana, who instantly starts fussing about Mei.

"That ice wall was right on time but goodness, what happened to you? Stay still for a second."

"It's okay, Ana," Mei responds. Ana doesn't look entirely convinced. "Lúcio helped me."

The group's attention is redirected towards the man helping Mei stand. He waves.

You've heard of Lúcio before. He's an inspiring figure, whether you look at him as an artist or an icon of revolution. You didn't quite piece that to the green blur spreading swanky beats at you during battle. Speaking of which...

"Oh, love, what'd you do back there?!" you ask, very excited. "I caught up to Reaper in a flash!"

"Helped you out. No problem!" he says with a smile. "Thanks for looking out for my people. Really appreciate it."

"We came here to help out," Mei says, voice still a little shaky. "not sure how much we really helped, what with Talon and all..." she mumble a second later.

"Nah, nah, you guys rocked big time! You're Overwatch, right?" he says and watches Mei nod, a little more sure in her movements than before. Everyone lets out a sigh of relief. Especially Ana. "Pretty nice of you to come help out here."

"Well... Talon might have lashed out less if we hadn't... We don't exactly have great shared history, do we?" Mei says, mostly to herself. She's somewhat right though. Talon's been at your tail since before the recall. You've heard a lot about the Reaper guy from Winston and...

Your thoughts trail off as you remember exactly where you last saw Reaper and exactly who held him back for you.

"McCree's still out there," you breathe out, cutting whatever Reinhardt was saying short.

A sense of panic sets over the group as you alone dash out of cover without a thought or any sort of strategy.

You hear Ana command you to hide and you do what you can to be sneaky without slowing down (which is to say your effort is controversial at best. You can already imagine the lecture you'll get for this).

You find McCree face down in a pool of blood and you swear time stops around you as pure panic sets in.

You make a mad dash for him, not stopping to think about cover. There's no time to. What if you're late? You can't think right now.

You listen for a sound, any sound, to assure you that time hasn't come to a stop.

You hear faint breaths.

A surge of hope joins the mess of panicked emotions within you as you raise McCree onto your shoulders. It's not exactly a carry, seeing as he's a little tall for that, but it's the best you can do on short notice.

Short notice may be all you have, really.

You make your way back to the others, doing your best to hide both you and McCree, with all his jingling belts and spurs, from the Talon agents still moving about.

You round a corner and are startled when you find yourself face to face with a young woman surrounded by a telling blue glow.

You don't have the time to speculate about the fact that this is the first Vishkar member you've actually seen since Talon appeared. You realise you have no clue what to expect from her.

"Please," you plead when she points her gun at you. "we're retreating. My friend is hurt!"

The sound of gunfire way closer than you'd like echoes trough the air. Talon's discovered you. You were so close, too.

You don't give up. You never do.

You feel yourself enveloped by shields as you launch yourself into a sprint for cover.

You move around as much as you can manage while carrying McCree, trying to shake Talon when Lúcio's voice gets your attention. He speeds you along to relative safety.

The Vishkar woman isn't there when you look back. You didn't get to thank her, you think to yourself as Ana looks over McCree, who's still safely in your grasp. Who's still breathing.

"We must retreat," Ana says, breaking you out of your thoughts. "He's barely holding. There's only so much I can do. The jet's nearby, we should get to it in one piece," She continues, taking some of McCree's weight from you. "Reinhardt, barrier up."

"Right!" Reinhardt responds instantly.

You look back and forth at everyone. "Wait, wait, what about the people? We shouldn't leave Lúcio to deal with Talon alone!"

"Talon will likely trail us, Tracer. We have to go." Ana explains. Whatever protest you might have said gets cut off by Lúcio.

"It's alright, I've got things covered here. You guys make sure he's okay, alright?"

You open your mouth to argue, then close it again, realising there's no other way to go about this.

"I'll get Winston to send backup as soon as we can! I swear!" You promise with all your heart, no matter the fact you can already imagine the sour look on the ape's face. The media will not be kind to Overwatch about this trainwreck of an appearance, will it.

You don't care about what the media will say or what the government will say. These people need help.

That's what Overwatch is all about, isn't it?

You try not to dwell on the thought that you haven't exactly brought a lot of help to Brazil so far.

Your thoughts are interrupted when Lúcio hands you a scrap of paper. There's an e-mail address on it.

"Write me when you get back, alright? I'll get back to you when I calm all this down," you nod. You make sure to put the note away safely. "You'll be okay, you hear? We'll party someday." He adds in a softer voice.

You make Lúcio promise to call for backup if anything happens.

You manage to make it to the jet safely. McCree is much easier to move with Ana's help.

The group rushes preparations for takeoff, Talon still hot on your tail. You psyche yourself up. Everything's gonna be okay, Lúcio said so. You believe Lúcio.

All of your efforts to get your spirits up get crushed as Ana utters the one sentence you didn't ever want to hear again.

"I'm gonna need you to pilot."

You freeze.

You can't. Not since.

You don't get your voice back in time to protest. Ana uses this moment to speak again.

"McCree's critical. Darts only do so much, I need to watch over him." You're still dazed. This isn't happening.

Ana's hands on your shoulders keep you anchored in reality.

"I'll guide you trough it, Lena. It's alright." her voice softens. You lean against her for a second.

You close your eyes and take a deep breath.

You're doing this.

Lúcio said you'll be okay. You gotta be.

You keep an eye on the digital clock throughout the whole trip. You jump every time the number changes.

The slightest shake of the aircraft sends a wave of panic trough you and the bout of turbulence you hit as you're nearing the base makes you downright hysterical. You stay panicked as you're guided trough emergency landing. Which is one of many reasons it goes poorly.

You don't quite register what's happening around you as you're brought out of the jet. You vaguely hear Mercy instruct someone to guide you to your room.

You let yourself be lead by a presence you eventually recognize to be Genji. You hold onto his wrist when he sits you down onto your bed.

"Please stay," you hear yourself croak out. You try to explain yourself further but nothing comes out. You don't think you've ever had nothing to say before.

Genji moves to sit down beside you. He doesn't protest when you lean against him.

You feel the exhaustion setting in. You don't remember the last time you were this tired.

You vaguely notice another presence float into the room, soundless. You feel warm as Zenyatta sits down beside you.

You let yourself doze off, convinced they'll still be there when you wake up. You'll still be there.

You're okay. Lúcio said so.

--------

The next few weeks fly by in a blur.

With every day without any word from Lúcio, you frantically check news outlets for updates on Brazil. You notice Winston steel his face every time Overwatch involvement gets brought up and can't help but feel a little guilty. You can't stand to see the guy doubt his choices like this when you know he's done nothing wrong - he brought you all back together because the world needs you. No news outlet, politician or anyone should make him think otherwise.

You make him extra sandwiches (they're a replacement for the peanut butter jars Mercy's banned him from eating), leave encouraging notes and generally keep him company as much as you can without impeding his work. Your heart nearly breaks as every bit of effort to pick him up gets cancelled out, every negative word a piercing shot straight to the ape's confidence.

"Don't let them get to you," Soldier: 76 tells him one day, interrupting a particularly sharply-worded discussion on TV. "sometimes you make the right decision and end up with the wrong consequences."

You quietly watch 76 stand up and put a hand on Winston's shoulder as he continues. "We all know you're doing good for the world. It's just a matter of proving it to them."

The rest of the interview gets completely ignored as you and Winston sit in pensive silence after 76 leaves the room.

You leave a note near the sandwiches you lovingly prepare for his breakfast the next day.

Winston smiles as he reads it.

"We'll all fight until the world believes in you as much as we do, love!"

You would prove every naysayer wrong single-handed if that's what it took to keep that smile on his face.

It only takes a couple days after that for Lúcio to write back to you, saying that he's okay, everything's under control and there's no need to send any help. Winston sends out a group anyway.

The time you don't dedicate attempting to help Winston is spent checking up on McCree. Despite the terrifying state he was in when you brought him back to base, it only takes him a day to be brought back to consciousness and only a few days after that to grow antsy about being constricted to bed rest.

"It'll take a lot more than that to keep me down for good." he says every time someone enthuses about his quick recovery.

"Keep testing my patience an you'll be down forever." you hear Mercy mumble after she catches McCree attempting to get up and sneak away for the third time that day. The fact that he hasn't gotten past the "getting up" bit (both due to Mercy's watchful eye and the pain of a still-healing injury) doesn't seem to discourage him in the least.

If there's anything that kills McCree, it'll be boredom, you think.

Not entirely on board with the idea of him dying of anything, boredom included, you start bringing something for him every time you visit. Books, crosswords, games, other agents to play said games with - nothing seems to quell his need to get up and leave the bed. Fearing for both his health and Mercy's temper, you keep trying.

"Anything I should bring next time, love?" is a phrase that seems to punctuate the end of every visit.

"Some of them post-it notes, maybe," he replies the very first time you ask. "Someone's gotta make sure you remember to get Torbjörn out of bed every mornin'."

You can't help but smile as you explain that your memory's fine and you don't need sass from a man who forgets to plug in the toaster nearly every time he uses it for what seems to be the hundredth time. You'd explain it a hundred more times so long as he stays alive and well.

You skip trough the hallways of the base, your step lighter than ever, when post-it notes become part of your morning routine again.

--------

You don't mind the route of your usual morning jog trough base getting even more convoluted as the population expands. The sight of the base bustling with life as agents go about missions and daily life gives you more than enough strength to hop trough the halls.

Lúcio gets brought to base by the returning expedition from Brazil a couple months since they left. You very much bowl him off his feet when you give him the traditional Tracer greeting hug(TM) (which is actually shaping up to be a pretty formidable charge. You bet you could give Reinhardt a run for his money). Your giddiness persists when you realize his voice is just as exited as yours.

"You guys really tried to help us out back there," he begins when asked why he's here. "It really made a difference, you know? Gave my people a real morale boost. And I thought, that's the kind of crowd I wanna be with, the kind that inspires people. Helps them out."

Lúcio himself quickly inspires happiness in people even as he is walked around the base. He chatters to Ana as she shows him around, stops to discuss healing strategies with Mercy and absolutely lights up upon seeing McCree alive and well.

The base starts sounding livelier than ever with Lúcio's music as a frequent backdrop.

Bastion is coaxed into joining the team by Mei, who seems to have befriended them over a shared love for nature. It takes a while for some to lose the habit of reaching for their weapon upon sight of the omnic and while a few agents still see their presence as a threat, you warm up to them quickly as you watch them carefully interact with the limited amount of greenery around the base.

You take the time to bring home a potted plant for them from your next mission and as you listen to their excited beeping while it studies the gift, you realize you would no doubt fight anyone who considers them a heartless machine.

You don't know exactly when and how Winston manages to recruit Junkrat and Roadhog onto your team, but you come back from a mission one day to find them hanging around base like they've been here for a while. You don't quite know what to think of them until you witness Toaster Incident II the next day, when you quickly get an explanation for exactly why the distinct smell of gunpowder envelops the pair (especially Junkrat).

("It wasn't even me this time, I swear." McCree sighs every time someone enters the noticeably singed toaster-less kitchen and looks straight at him for an explanation.)

You take a moment during your morning tea-time to close your eyes and listen to the base. You can just make out the muffled sound of music in the distance. The occasional pitter-patter of footsteps in the halls. A distinct set of beeps and boops as Bastion moves trough the base with a certain degree of confidence (they don't quite feel safe in the building yet, but they're getting there). An explosion echoes trough the halls, followed by voices of varying degrees of mirth.

It sounds like home alright.

-------

You spot her silhouette on rooftops of Talon related missions.

You send a sarcastic grin along with a mock salute her way, receive the usual eye-roll and bullet combo in return and the dance begins.

This becomes nearly as routine to you as the morning run trough base. You salute, she shoots, the battle begins.

Your objective gets gradually forgotten as your attention is taken up by Widowmaker. You sometimes take a moment to wonder why noone on your team has chewed you out for this yet.

You once overhear Mercy instruct your team-mates to "let Lena and the sniper do their thing" before a mission, which raises just as many questions as it answers.

Your usual meeting routine goes on until you manage to dash straight into a wall in haste to dodge the greeting bullet one day and watch Widowmaker struggle to keep down her laughter.

The ominous laugh you would have expected from her melts into an oddly charming display of snorts and giggles that persist throughout the rest of the fight.

You can't help but laugh along with her as you dash around various buildings, chasing her down. The usually fast paced fight slows as you occasionally have to stop and catch your breath from laughing and her shots become marginally less accurate as her arms shake from mirth.

You catch yourself giggling long after the fight is done. You're not even sure who won. You are miles away from the rest of the group when Mercy calmly calls you back with the voice inflection of a mother calling her child from the playground for lunch. You suppose that's what you are in that moment - a kid coming home from the most intense game of tag.

You find the confidence in you to wave goodbye to Widowmaker as you dash away, blinking yourself forward to put some distance between you in case she tries to hunt you down. She doesn't.

Your greeting smile becomes a lot more genuine the next time you see her. You salute.

The dance begins.

--------

As weeks go by, even the small, often dingy temporary away bases start to feel like home.

It's six a.m., but with the residual effect of the timezone change (you should have gotten used to it by now, really), even you don't quite feel like your usual morning best.

You don't let that hinder your morning routine though. You wash up, get dressed, pause to look at yourself in the noticeably cracked mirror.

Still the same as ever, unless you count the obvious sleepiness in your eyes.

You give yourself the heartiest smile you can muster.

You instinctively open your mouth to greet Athena before realising she isn't here. You shrug, making a mental note to give her a big nice greeting once you get back home.

You work the sleepiness out of your bones as you flit around the small base, poking your head into your teammates' rooms to cheer them awake.

You start with Lúcio, who's taken to accompanying you on your morning rounds. You wish this place had enough room to race him in. Racing Lúcio in the morning is one of the things you miss most while you're away.

You barely lose to Pharah's usual morning alarm (she brought a new alarm to this mission. You haven't had the chance to set it slightly slow yet). She goes off to make coffee for Mercy before you or Lúcio even ask.

You wake Mercy softly (as softly as your cheers will go) and kindly wait for her to move out of earshot before you start waking Torbjörn. You and Lúcio share a look as you clear your throats and prepare for the solid 15 minute shouting spree required to wake the swede.

The sight of Torbjörn's pillow flying trough the air in your general direction informs you of your success. You turn to offer Lúcio a high five and watch the pillow collide with his face.

"Are you getting soft in your old age, love?" you tease Torbjörn as you watch him wobble out of bed. "Why does Lúcio get a pillow instead of, I don't know, the wrench you usually throw at me?"

"Because I can't keep wasting all my good wrenches on loud brats. Only for the loudest."

"Your arm's a wrench," you mumble. Your head suddenly reels forward as a pillow collides with the back of it. You hear Lúcio's laugh get more and more faint as he runs away.

Oh, it's on.

You grab the pillow and run after him, laughing as you hear Torbjörn shouting behind you ("...my pillow! I need that!").

Pharah doesn't budge one bit when you knock into her as she steps out into the hallway right in front of you. She takes your moment of surprise as her chance to drag you into the kitchen with her.

"Stop fooling around for a moment, Tracer. We're on a mission." she says, sitting down at the table next to Mercy.

Uh-oh. Are you about to get scolded? What a great way to start the day.

You glance at Mercy who helpfully shrugs and continues sipping her coffee.

"I'm gonna need you to guard the west wing today. I just wanted you to know that," Pharah says, her voice considerably less stern. "That's all. You're free to go, fool around as you wish."

You grin and give her a salute. Pharah's a little nervous about Winston choosing her to lead this mission. You're not exactly sure why - she's done a great job so far.

You get exactly one step out of the room before you feel something soft collide with the back of your head again.

"You forgot this." Pharah says, the epitome of a shit-eating grin on her face. Mercy struggles to keep her laugh down beside her.

Now it's really on. Everyone in this base is getting woken up by pillows to the face tomorrow.

After the pillow scuffle that ensues (during which you get thoroughly pummeled. 2 on 1 really isn't fair!) everyone splits up into their places for the day.

The chill of the Korean winter envelops you as you make your way to where you were assigned.

The rising number of omnic attacks around the world wasn't something post-recall Overwatch had dealt with before this mission. The fact that most governments are against your organisation (even more than ever, after a Vishkar representative outright condemned you on an interview a little while ago), along with the fact that most of the attacks have so far been centered in Russia, a country which has historically denied outside intervention for decades, has kept Overwatch from getting involved in omnic-related incidents.

Despite all that, when Winston receives a request for a team to guard the headquarters of a Korean corporation until it sets up its own security measures (along with a promise of considerable pay), a group of you is sent straight into the fray.

Or, well, somewhat near it, for the most part.

You aren't sure whether it's because of the fact that the omnium is within city grounds, but the omnic attacks are sporadic in both timing and place, impossible to predict. While you've had your fair share of encounters, you've also felt the day drag on as nothing at all happens. Today is looking to be that kind of day.

Or perhaps not, you think as an explosion rings somewhere in the distance.

You tense in anticipation.

The commotion continues, but it's becoming more quiet. They're moving the opposite direction from the building.

You pace back and forth. You can't sit still when you know there's something happening so close to you. There are probably people who are hurt. There are definitely people who need your help.

"Someone cover west for me. I'm bringing the battle to them." you say over the comm as you dash off. Noise fills your ear as everyone responds at the same time (you can barely make out the words "out of your mind" and "brought an extra turret" said by very different people with very different emotions).

You'll deal with the lecture you deserve for this later. Right now you've got robots to deal with.

--------

You end up staying in Korea a lot longer than you'd anticipated.

Your teammates get used to having to cover for you as you blink yourself towards the commotion, which seems to become more and more common as time goes on. Occasionally a teammate joins you as you try to balance saving people from collapsing buildings and counterattacking the omnics that caused said collapse.

You get used to coming home completely drained as the attacks get more frequent by the day.

"We can't leave yet, love," you tell Winston over a call after your official mission is done. "these people need us heroes here right now! We can't just abandon them!"

The lecture you expect never comes as Winston nods, determination in his eyes mirroring yours.

"Be safe out there. Call if you need reinforcements."

You don't know why you expected Winston not to understand. He united you all for this, after all. The world needs you.

"Don't mom me, Winston! Angela's here for that." You laugh.

He has nothing to worry about, really.

You tune yourself into news reports, radio stations, anything that could help you determine where attacks are happening. Though the fact your ability to understand Korean is mediocre at best doesn't do much good for you. Pharah, however, is surprisingly decent at it.

You don't know why she ever doubted her leadership on this mission.

The news have no mention of Overwatch involvement, though a sighting of Lúcio is briefly brought up, causing mostly confusion. One site claims he's here on tour and even goes as far as to sell tickets. Lúcio nearly pulls his hair out in anxiety as he informs his fans it's a scam and assures them he'll come to Korea at a later time - a less dangerous time, presumably. You watch him add not one, not two but three extra concerts to the Korea section of his world tour plan, just in case.

An order of evacuation is issued to the city, which makes patrolling slightly more difficult, what with the amount of people rushing around the streets while trying to get to safety. You do your best to help guide them, putting on your kindest of smiles. They need the optimism right now.

You occasionally come across a member of South Korea's own defense force, but you assume they haven't caused a stir or even accidentally tattled your involvement in the battles to their higher-ups, as you continue getting past the radar without trying.

That is, until you meet D.Va.

You're dashing back and forth trough a building that's making too much noise to be considered stable, guiding civilians to safety. You make sure to keep a smile on your face for them.

You're doing your best to coax a teenage boy from a small corner he's tucked into. Rapid Korean fills your ears as he points down to his leg, which you then notice to be held down by debris. All of your concentration from that point on is taken up by freeing the boy's leg.

Which is why you don't hear the approach of a comparatively large omnic until it busts trough the ceiling right behind you.

You guess Winston will have something to worry about now. You maneuver your body to shield the boy as much as possible.

Time feels like it's stopped for a moment as you brace yourself for pain.

It never comes.

For a moment you're convinced you actually stopped time until you realise you can still hear noise.

You crack open an eye which is instantly assaulted by the brightest, pinkest shade of pink you've ever seen.

You raise your head a slight bit more when you realise the bright pink is the reason the pain didn't come. A loud clunk rings trough the air as something hits the ground. The omnic, you assume, as pink is still standing in front of you.

The pink thing turns around and suddenly you're faced with the tiny Korean girl piloting it.

And, unbeknownst to you, the 12000 viewers of her currently ongoing livestream.

"Why didn't you guys run? The door's right here." she says, pointing at the door, which is in fact, right there.

"We were a little preoccupied," you say, pointing at the mass of debris still holding down the boy's leg.

She mumbles a little "You should've said so, jeez" as she effortlessly frees the boy, who you then prompt onto your back.

"What's with the chat, guys? Am I supposed to know who this is? Because I totally don't." the girl speaks, seemingly to herself. You don't get to question her before Lúcio swoops into the building yelling about how we're almost done and everyone's moving forward and are you guys ok there?

You give him a brief thumbs up and then watch recognition cross the mech girl's face.

Along with the faces of most of her viewers (of which there are now 15000, still very much unbeknownst to you).

"Okay, I know who that is though! Oh my god!" the girl laughs, excitement in her voice.

Lúcio and the girl (you hear Lúcio refer to her as "D.Va" and some bells ring in your mind) chatter on excitedly (with you joining in as often as you can) as you get the boy to safety, catch up to the others and finish off the remaining omnics.

You come back to your temporary home that day, giddy about making a new friend.

It takes less than an hour for you to learn the consequences of it, as you turn on the news only to see yourself near a pile of rubble with a teenage boy beside you, stare back at you from the screen. The words "Overwatch" and "Korea" are written in bold font.

"We did stay here knowing we'd be spotted eventually. What's really surprising is how long it took." Mercy shrugs on the couch beside you.

"No kidding. How blind do you have to be to miss a bright orange goofball runnin' around your streets?" Torbjörn says, then laughs when you let out a little "Hey!" of indignation.

Lúcio's image appears on the screen. The serious mood of the news is somewhat diluted by the fact that they seem to have left the chat from D.Va's stream on screen right beside the image. "is that fucking Lucio??" "ayy its dat boi" "gg stream's over boysss" "get your vintage memes out of here u fuck" is all you manage to read before it cuts to another image, but it's enough to get you giggling.

You shake off whatever bit of worry the news caused before you go to bed.

Now that the world knows you're here, you might as well do Overwatch proud. You've got a long day ahead of you.

Infact, the next few days feel exceedingly long. The time that isn't spent holding back omnic attacks, the frequency of which is getting close to an unbearable level (even with the help of D.Va and other MEKA pilots), is taken up by various news reports, as they move away from the topic of Overwatch in favour of reporting the alarming growth of omnic-related incidents in Asia. You shudder as you hear about the attacks in India, the number of which has increased tenfold since they began a week ago.

You shortly wonder whether Winston's considered sending anyone there before you remember the tone of voice the Vishkar representative used when speaking of Overwatch in an interview a few weeks prior and realise it might not be a good idea after all. Dealing with Vishkar and the government on top of the attacks sounds nearly impossible (though you would do it without so much as a peep if Winston asked).

You take a moment each day to wonder whether Bastion and Zenyatta (and Genji. You think he should be included here) are well.

The government of Korea asks Overwatch to leave, but doesn't further persecute you when you don't. The MEKA pilots work with you as much as they can.

You keep working hard,ignoring the pain your bones as they ache and beg for rest. The attacks grow bigger and stronger each time, seemingly endless.

Until they end, just like that.

You spend the day patrolling the mostly empty streets, a mix of looming dread and hope filling your head with possibilities.

None of the possible reasons you thought of are anywhere near the truth.

That evening you listen with rapt attention as the news anchor explains Viskar's decision to blow up India's omnium . A picture of a large dome covering a desolate hill where the omnium stood hours ago is shown beside the anchor.

"That's not gonna cut it. I wouldn't trust any amount of their glowy light shields to hold in that much radiation." Torbjörn says quietly.

Noone responds to him. You don't think he wants anyone to.

Despite the fact you've been fighting them for multiple weeks now, the thought of the attacks stopping because the omnics are scared somehow saddens you somewhat.

You think about Bastion and Zenyatta as you fall asleep that night.

A few days go by without any sign of an attack. You watch the city fall back into its natural rhythm as you patrol the streets, a soft smile forming on your face.

Winston calls you back home before the week ends.

You manage to find D.Va and say your goodbyes the day before you go.

"I'm gonna miss you, love. You're real nice to have around, in battle and out!" you tell her. It's true - she's had your back in combat ever since you met her and her presence helped keep your spirits up throughout your stay here.

"You're always welcome to watch my streams when you need a little bit of D.Va in your life, you know? My viewers love you, by the way, the chat went wild every time you appeared!" she says as she gives you a tight hug and right until she sends you off with one final wave and a wink.

You wake up the next morning and take one final look at yourself in the cracked mirror. You've grown to love that crack somehow.

The time in Korea hasn't changed your look much. Not that you really expected it to. Not that you expect anything to, you guess.

It's past six a.m. when you say goodbye to Korea.

It's a good day to change the world as any.

--------

You don't quite grasp the scope of how much you've missed the base until you take your first breath inside. The air's fairly dustless. Did someone help Genji with the upkeep in your place? You wonder whether they mop-raced him.

You hope he kicked their ass.

Mercy chuckles at the way you bounce with joy as you walk into the base.

You turn the corner only to spot McCree near the entrance to the kitchen, coffee in hand.

His eyes widen as he looks at you, then at the coffee, then at you again, knowing exactly what comes next.

You run and leap straight at him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders right as you hear the mug crash into the ground.

He smells like dirt and tobacco. You didn't know it was possible to scrunch your nose fondly until now. You've missed the cowboy.

"That there was a nice mug," he whines, his arms wrapped around you. You pull yourself back a bit and giggle at his exasperated face.

"This here is a nice mug." you say as you boop his nose. He laughs and you can't help but giggle along with him.

"Awe shucks, Tracer." You hear McCree say as you spot a familiar large figure walk out into the hallway in the distance.

You hear Reinhardt's booming voice yell your name as he steels himself into a pose that very clearly conveys the sentiment of "COME AT ME."

McCree sets you down and you're off before your feet even hit the ground, absolutely determined to give Reinhardt the strongest tackle he's ever seen.

He barely budges an inch. That's more than you expected. You're quite proud of yourself, really. Someday you'll knock him right over, you swear.

Reinhardt's laugh booms trough the air and soon you find yourself spun around, thrown into the air and caught again over and over as he enthuses about how great it is to have you back and how you must tell him all of your adventures.

The commotion in the hall brings out the other agents in the base and they soon find themselves aggressively hugged by you, one by one.

You linger on Zenyatta for a little longer than others, the sequence of events that led to your return worming their way into your mind. You don't let your smile falter.

"How is it that you give such amazing hugs, love?" You ask and listen to the echo of his laugh.

"He has about 10 extra arms, Tracer, what do you think it is?" a voice speaks from behind Zenyatta. You look up and get ready to jump at Soldier: 76, who fully expects you to.

You go on greeting everyone, running and jumping around with no hint of fatigue. You feel like you couldn't ever be tired again.

"Glad to have you back, Tracer," Winston says as you cling onto him as if it's been years. "Ana's sandwiches are great but they really aren't anywhere near your level." he adds in a quieter voice.

You hear Ana say "What was that now?" at the same time you manage to get out an "I've had a lot of practice, love," between laughs. "Doing something a hundred times really ups your skill. One round of breakfast for you is enough to make anyone a master." you add as you climb off the ape to go greet Ana.

You find Bastion curiously looking over the commotion from behind a door frame. You carefully wrap them in a hug, making sure they're okay with every little motion you make. You avoid sudden movements as best you can, not wanting to startle them.

They're not very good at hugs, you note as Bastion tries their best to wrap their arms around you. It doesn't bother you one bit. You'll give them lots of chances to learn.

You stay there for a good while, listening to soft little beeps and the sound of Ganymede flapping its wings as it circles you.

You're still a little wary about Junkrat and Roadhog, not sure how to greet either of them. Especially as Junkrat, with his soot and his seemingly eternally burning hair, is kind of a walking hug hazard.

"Oy, do I not get a turn then? I see how it is, mate, it's-- wait, get off me, you--" you hear as you brave the fire and soot and hug him anyway.

You're pleasantly surprised at how complaisant Roadhog is about the hug, going as far as to lean down slightly so you could actually reach his shoulders. He holds you from falling when he leans back up.

The last two to get greeted by you are Mei and Genji, who you find in the kitchen, adding finishing touches to a meal, the quantity of which suggests it to be for everyone here. You nearly burst in excitement.

You're a little impressed when Genji manages to both catch you as you leap at him and keep the plate he was carrying safe, not a drop of its contents falling. You hear a whistle of appreciation from the doorway.

"Yes, thank you," he says, setting the plate down to give you a proper hug."I don't take to wasting kitchenware as easily as you do, McCree."

"Aw, come on! That was different! You know, if..." You can't hear the rest of McCree's complaint over your own laugh combined with Genji's, Mei chuckling along in the background.

You watch everyone disperse themselves around the room from your spot on the floor as plates are handed out. You ignore the food for a little while in favour of watching the action in the room.

You watch Ana fuss over Pharah, mixing domestic and mission-related questions into one big mess as she tries to hear every detail of her daughter's life over the last few months.

You see Torbjörn excitedly retelling encounters to Soldier: 76 and Reinhardt, the latter occasionally interrupting with equal amounts genuine questions and jabs at Torbjörn's height. Soldier: 76 tries not to laugh and fails miserably every time.

You watch Zenyatta casually conversing with Genji, who's sitting on the kichen counter, looking the room over in the same manner you are, except without a cooling plate of food on his lap. Bastion occasionally beeps beside them.

You see Mei chatting with McCree and Mercy as she fills up plates for them.

To your right, Winston is listening to Lúcio recount his experiences on the mission. You join the conversation for a while when D.Va's brought up.

You feel warm inside long before you start eating your food.

"Wish I could've gone on that mission," Junkrat pipes up from his spot on your immediate right. "Never a bad time to explode some bots, eh, Roadhog?"

Roadhog nods, punctuating it with a grunt of agreement.

"I considered sending you," says Winston, suddenly joining the conversation. "but you were already on a different mission the the time. You were protecting an important payload and--"

"I know, I know! It's always payload this, payload that - I don't care, mate! I wanna get to blow something up for once!"

"...Please don't explode the payload."

Well, Vishkar's done enough exploding for the world now, your mind helpfully supplies. They've gone as far as to say they ended the second crisis single-handedly recently. And having seen attacks from the very east all the way to Russia cease as soon as Vishkar made their move, noone can really deny them.

At the very least, they've completely driven the media's attention away from Overwatch, giving Winston's nerves a break.

You don't let yourself dwell on it. You've got a meal to eat, friends to catch up with.

You'll have all the time in the world to think about it later.

You take another bite and smile as you watch Torbjörn's plate soar through the air, narrowly missing Reinhardt's head.

You're home.

--------

It takes you a long look at a calendar and a considerable amount of math to confirm that it's been a year since the recall.

A year and one week, to be exact.

"Winstoooooon," you whine, plopping yourself down at the kitchen table next to him. "you missed the anniversary!"

Winston gives the calendar a long, scrutinizing look before letting out a tiny "oh". You watch a little smile appear on his face.

"Has it really been a year already?" Mei says, sitting down in front of you. "I can hardly believe it! It seems like I only came here yesterday, and yet here we are."

"It's too bad we missed the anniversary though. We could have done something - celebrated, partied, I don't know, lived a little!" You say, smiling back at Mei.

"You're lively enough as is, Tracer." Winston says fondly. You don't miss the way he keeps glancing at the calendar as if he can't believe it. You let him have his moment and make a mental reminder to let him know how proud you are of him later.

"We could still arrange something, I think." Mercy pipes up from her spot at the other end of the table. "Noone's out on any missions today, as far as I remember."

Winston looks a little reluctant.

"We could go to the beach," Mei nearly whispers and you're out of your seat in a flash, trying to convince Winston of what an incredible, stellar, absolutely perfect idea that is. Mercy and Mei occasionally back you up.

"I don't know, Tracer... It would come across as suspicious if a large group of us showed up at the beach all of a sudden. Your chronal accelerator isn't exactly easy to hide."

"Come on, Winston! I'll wear a big coat over it if i have to, I don't care! It'll be fine!"

Your pleading is interrupted when Lúcio pokes his head into the room. "What's this about the beach?"

Convincing Winston is a matter of seconds as soon as Lúcio joins your little pleading party. He has the most effective puppy-dog eyes and you're both incredibly thankful and somewhat intimidated by them. You'd never be able to refuse him anything, you realise.

You're bouncing with excitement as Lúcio whoops and runs out of the room, saying something about 'making a playlist real quick'. You can't wait.

You listen contently to the buzz of conversation as you make your way to the surprisingly secluded beach. The old wool coat you're wearing to cover your chronal accelerator is heavy and entirely too hot, but it doesn't hinder the spring in your step.

Winston looks at you and sighs, knowing full well you'll drop the coat and sprint as soon as you see water. You grin at him. You don't need to hear it to know what he's thinking - be careful, keep the accelerator safe, yadda yadda. You'll be fine.

You take one glance at the sea, turn to give Winston a wink and run off, letting the heavy coat fly trough the air.

It's hard to comprehend how so much has happened in one year, you think as you wade deeper into the sea, until it reaches your shoulders. You remember greeting Winston in a nearly empty base. Seeing your ranks increase by this much makes you really excited.

It's been a good year. You hope for a lot more like it.

You have an infinite amount of time to see a better year, you know. You just hope everyone stays around to see it with you.

You catch yourself thinking that you'd relive this year over and over if it meant staying with everyone. You shake yourself out of it. You have to move forward. They're all moving with you now.

You're snapped out of your thoughts as you feel yourself suddenly lifted above the water.

"Howdy there," says McCree, propping you onto his shoulders."Hope I didn't scare you too bad, but you gotta help me out with somethin'."

'Somethin' turns out to be beating the Reinhardt-Lúcio combo in a game of chicken. You take a moment to giggle at how small Lúcio looks on Reinhardt's shoulders before you get your game face on.

They're going down.

You stay in the water long after the sun goes down.

Today was a good day.

You hope for a million more like it.

--------

It's six a.m.

The curtains flutter in the wind of the open window, but it's only when you stand up that you realize how chilly it is in the room. It doesn't stop you from getting out of bed, though it does raise momentary second thoughts. The cooling autumn weather doesn't discourage you.

It's a good day to change the world as any, after all!

You go trough your morning routine, pausing to look at yourself in the mirror.

The same as always, albeit with a big fluffy sweater stifling the light of the chronal accelerator.

You flash yourself a big hearty grin.

"Good morning, Athena!" you call out, running in place as you get ready to go.

"Good morning, Tracer."

You begin the morning jog. You make the usual mad dash for Pharah's room before you remember she isn't here today. You take a moment to remember exactly whose rooms you can skip today before continuing in the usual direction.

With Lúcio gone on the same mission, there's noone to keep you company as you move down the halls. Without anyone to race, you catch yourself moving in an uncharacteristically slow pace (which is still pretty fast for anyone else, to be fair). You skip down the hall, paying attention to the small details of the building you'd normally miss.

Such as the person standing near the kitchen window.

Your skip comes to a stop. You poke your head into the room quietly, as to not alert the figure of your presence.

It's Hanzo. You're very confused for a moment before you remember that he was brought here to base late last night after a lengthy mission to recruit him lead by Genji, of all people. You weren't entirely confident the mission was a good idea, having seen Genji's confidence falter as he paced around Winston's lab for weeks, unsure of what to say or how to phrase his thoughts, but Zenyatta assured you it was good for him.

You still aren't sure what to think of the guy. On one hand, you don't think you can forgive him for what he did to Genji. On the other hand, Genji clearly has, going as far as to bring him here himself.

"I know you are there," he says, snapping you out of your thoughts.

Well, you might as well get to know him then!

"Sorry, love, didn't mean to sneak on ya! I was just curious why you're up so early. They brought you in mighty late yesterday, didn't they?"

The scowl on his face is clear. "That is none of your business."

Nevermind then. Someone's not feeling their morning best. For all you know, at least.

"Alrighty then." you shrug. An idea strikes you all of a sudden."Say, has anyone given you a tour of the place yet?"

His scowl persists as he shakes his head. You're starting to think that might just be his resting face.

"I could show you around while I wake everyone then! I'll even go super slow so you could keep up, promise." you say with a grin.

You hear him sigh as he realises you're not letting him get out of this. "Fine," he shrugs. You whoop as you walk up to the fridge and grab the plate of sandwiches from inside. You shake off the usual myriad of post-it notes designed to keep anyone else from eating them and turn to Hanzo. "Come on, then!"

It's nice to have company on your morning stroll, even if you have to move at a snail's pace ('the speed of polite' 76 calls it, every time you so much as grumble about it) for them to keep up.

You skip the doors of Soldier: 76, Mei and Reinhardt, who are also absent today, only stopping to show Hanzo which room is whose.

"I don't see how knowing this is necessary," he says. "I have not met any of the people you speak of."

"Oh, you'll meet them, don't worry! Everyone here is pretty great." you assure him. "Come on now, let's move!"

Hanzo waits at the door as you wake Mercy, who assures you she's had a proper amount of sleep. She smiles when you ask again, just to be sure. You trust her word, even if you know how well she can fake her smiles.

But even you can clearly see her smile morph into something entirely more forced as she politely greets Hanzo on her way out.

You can also tell Hanzo's aware of the resentment in the air as he curtly greets her back.

You move on, not letting him dwell on it.

"Could you hold this for me, love?" You ask as you hand the sandwich plate to Hanzo upon reaching McCree's door. "I've got a goofy cowboy face to doodle."

Sensing his confusion, you do your best to explain the reason behind your and McCree's post-it ritual. The confusion mostly persists. You shrug as you slap your little masterpiece onto the door.

"This might get a little loud," you warn Hanzo as you step into McCree's room and ready your lungs. "Rise and shine, love!"

You continue shouting as you hear unintelligible noises of protest. This goes on until he turns his head enough to be heard. You count that as progress.

"Can't a guy get a break for once? We weren't back until late yesterday," he grumbles. Oh, right, he was on the Hanzo mission, wasn't he. You wonder whether knowing McCree makes it easier or harder for Hanzo to understand the post-it ritual.

"No dice, love! Genji's up," you assume. You haven't actually gotten to him yet. "and he's the one that led the whole shindig!"

"But Genji's... a fancy cyborg an' all. His limbs don't need as much rest as these ol' guns of mine." he says, voice still drowsy.

"What are you on about now? Artificial limbs don't change the amount of sleep you need as far as I know, silly." you giggle. His excuses get pretty creative sometimes. You wonder how many variants of this Winston's heard by now. "Unless your brain's artificial, perhaps."

McCree mumbles something, still decidedly face down into the pillow.

"Would your prosthetic arm not account for an hour less of sleep by that logic?" Hanzo says, suddenly poking his head into the room.

And suddenly, McCree is awake. You watch him sit up and plop his hat onto his head in record speed. You weren't aware he could even move that fast.

"Howdy," he drawls at the same time Hanzo says "Pardon the intrusion."

No sooner does Hanzo dissapear back into the hallway than you her McCree hiss out a "What's he doin' here?"

The look on his face makes you snicker. "I'm giving him a tour of the base, love."

"Aw. I was kinda counting on showin' him around later..." he says, voice distant and dreamy.

Oh.

Oooooooooh.

The realization must have shown on your face, because you get interrupted before you've even begun saying anything.

"No, Tracer," He whines. You aren't sure what he means but the way he says it is cracking you up even more.

"I'm sure he'd love another tour later, love," you say, wiggling your eyebrows at him. "a private tour, perhaps."

You hear his head hit the pillow with a groan. You continue giggling.

"I'll put in a good word for you, cowboy!" you wink at him. "Now get out of bed, you lazy oaf!"

And with that, you're out of the room.

You find Hanzo waiting for you a few steps down the hall. You take the plate of sandwiches off his hands before moving on.

"This will absolutely get a little loud, love." you warn him when you reach Torbjörn's room. "You might want to step back a tad."

You take a deep breath and begin the arduous process of waking Torbjörn. In your peripherals you spot Hanzo take one more cautionary step back. You don't blame him.

You gracefully dodge the water bottle that gets hauled at you. "We're done here!" you tell Hanzo as you leave the room. He looks as if a million questions have popped into his mind. He chooses not to voice any of them.

You run into Zenyatta as he's leaving his room. You greet him with a smile. "Good morning!"

"Greetings, friends." He turns to Hanzo."It's very nice to see you getting acquainted with the base."

Hanzo nods, but doesn't say anything. His face conveys a mix of emotions you can't decipher.

"Genji and I will be meditating in the third floor balcony. You're free to join us if you wish." Zenyatta continues.

"Oh, is Genji already up then?" you ask. Zenyatta nods. "I'll say hello to him later then, we've got a tour to finish now!"

Hanzo says nothing as you part ways with Zenyatta. You sense a slight bit of disdain on Hanzo's face. You choose not to comment on it, instead blabbing away about nothing in particular.

You poke your head into a recently joined D.Va's room only to see her awake, hunched over a screen of some sort.

"Hana!" you say, exasperated. "Again?"

"I can't help it! These skills don't build up overnight, you know? I need to get my practice in. Can't risk falling behind!"

"But you need to get some sleep in too, love! This is the third time in a row I've found you like this!" It's true. Within the few weeks she's been here after Lúcio convinced her to join, you've found her in this position too many times to not be worried.

"God, you're starting to sound like Dad 76. Don't worry, I'll get some sleep, eat my greens, do my homework, whatever. I got this, okay?"

You nod and let her go, but you make a mental note to check on her later. She needs to get proper sleep more than anyone - what if she's suddenly needed on a mission?

God, you really are starting to sound like 76.

You shake yourself out of it and make your way towards Winston's room, Hanzo in tow.

You prod Winston off his usual paper pile and put down the plate of sandwiches for him.

"Thank you, Tracer," he says, picking up a sandwich. "and thanks for showing Hanzo around, as well. I was going to send someone after breakfast but you beat me to the punch, as always."

You turn around and begin to make your way out of the room before he speaks up again.

"Oh, and Hanzo?" he waits a moment until the archer turns to face him "Once again, welcome to Overwatch. It's an honor to have you here with us."

Hanzo gets welcomed in true Overwatch fashion - by a space gorilla with a mouth full of sandwich.

"...Did ya think all those were for me?" you joke as you walk back trough the hall.

"Honestly, it would not have been a surprise considering the 'routine' you have shown me so far." he responds.

You giggle until you reach the next stop.

"This right here, love, is the most monumental stop of all! This is where every day begins and every night ends, with a healthy dose of action in between." you explain, gesturing to the door theatrically. "This right here is truly the apple of the base's eye. A true sanctuary. Breath-taking. Extraordinary."

Hanzo raises an eyebrow as you dramatically reach for the door handle.

"Just kidding, it's my room! Hahah." His shoulders drop as you keep giggling to yourself. You're hilarious. "Feel free to pop in anytime you'd like, love!"

You move onto the next stop, which happens to be Bastion's space. Bastion declined every room they were offered, preferring to hole up in the little balcony near your room.

"Does it require waking up?" Hanzo asks when you explain this to him.

"No, but they like being acknowledged. Good morning, Bastion!"

A pleasant chorus of beeps and various bird noises is the response you receive. You take a moment to appreciate both the collection of potted plants the omnic has managed to fit into the balcony and the group of birds that have seemingly landed on the railing to check out said plant collection.

You wish Bastion a good day before you move on.

You watch your step as you walk into Junkrat and Roadhog's shared room (noone really questioned them declining separate rooms. One room being sacrificed to clusterfuck fate is enough), carefully avoiding touching anything in case it explodes. You lightly tap Roadhog's shoulder with a soft "good morning" and carefully move back as he goes on to wake Junkrat. You learned early on that loud cheering is not the way to wake these two. Their survival reflexes are good, you'll give them that. You're just glad your reflexes are good too.

"Oy, who's that there?" Junkrat asks, clearly pointing at Hanzo. "Think I would've remembered a tattoo like that."

No, he wouldn't have, his memory's shite, you think to yourself. The look you share with Roadhog tells you you aren't the only one to think something along those lines.

"This is Genji's brother, Hanzo. He's new here, so watch it with the explosions, would you?" No, he wouldn't, your mind instantly answers your own question. You glance at Roadhog again. You vaguely hear Hanzo mumble a greeting.

"'Fraid I can't see the resemblance," Junkrat says, giving Hanzo a look over. "Take it as a compliment, mate! Isn't Genji the omnic ninja bloke? Nearly cut me good arm off the other day, the metal cunt..."

You remember that. Junkrat not-so-discretely threw a bomb at Zenyatta during a mission and Genji got a little upset. Rightfully so, you think.

The mission never quite got back on track after Reinhardt had to focus on pulling them apart instead of securing the payload. You vaguely remember Soldier: 76 doing something akin to grounding them to their rooms that day.

"Genji's got just a heart just as human as you, you know! More human than you, I'd wager." You catch yourself saying, voice angrier than it should ever be this early in the morning.

"Fat load of good that's done him - a recycled pile of scrap's still a pile of scrap! I'd rather eat one of me good bombs than become one of them." he says with a cackle.

You open your mouth to argue back, then abruptly remember Hanzo, who's standing behind you, eyes pointed at the floor. The expression on his face is darker than any you've seen so far.

Guilt, you realise.

And you thought waking Mercy had gone badly.

You take a breath and willfully ignore the junkers' nonsense in favor of the tour you haven't finished.

"Let's go, Hanzo. We've still got a good bit of base to cover." you say, tugging him along by the sleeve.

You try lightening the mood with mindless chatter as you show him around the rest of the base, but Hanzo mostly stays pointedly quiet.

The brisk walk to Ana's room is punctuated by your voice as you do your best to fill Hanzo in on who she is.

"Good morning, Ana!" you cheer as you enter her room, coaxing Hanzo in with you. "I brought a guest!"

"Oh! Hanzo, yes? Ana Amari, nice to meet you." she says, giving him a handshake before putting on the kettle.

"This is the best spot in the base to have your morning cup of tea, love. It'd be real swell if you could join us today?" you ask and watch him instantly try to decline.

"No, no, Hanzo, I insist!" Ana says, cutting off whatever protest he'd manage to conjure. "You clearly haven't had any sort of drink yet - goodness, you're so pale! Sit down."

Ana's sweet voice is authoritative enough to sit anyone down, Hanzo included.

"How's your morning been so far? The tour's going well, I assume?" Ana asks as she passes a mug to each of you.

"Well, we've had our ups and downs, I'd say." you tell Ana when Hanzo predictably says nothing. You turn to him. "Don't take Junkrat's blabber to heart, alright? He can be a right arse sometimes."

"No," he says, looking firmly down at his tea. "he was right. Genji has changed so much because of what I've done. I do not know him anymore."

You set your cup back down on the table.

"The fact that he's changed doesn't mean he's any less of a person. He's just as great as you once knew him as." you respond.

"He was never great. He was never meant to lead the Shimada clan." Hanzo says, staring down the tea like it's offended his honor.

"Neither were you, evidently." Ana says, taking a sip of her drink. "Your brother sought you out and brought you both here to Overwatch. This is where you belong now, Hanzo. The clan is all in the past."

"He is no longer the brother I once knew." Hanzo speaks slowly, voice starting to shake slightly. He's good at hiding that, you note. "Genji is but a stranger to me now. And he has led me into this group of even more strangers. A group in which I do not belong. I can tell am not wanted here."

There's a moment of tense silence. Ana sips her tea.

"Well, you're not a stranger to me anymore, Hanzo." you break the silence. "You've gotten to know me quite well during today's tour, haven't you? And I don't know about anyone else but I sure want you to stay here with us."

The silence is so strong that the sound of Ana putting down her cup rings loud and clear.

"You forget, Hanzo, that Overwatch is a group that is very much comprised mostly of misfits. We've all had out mistakes. Hell, some of us wear them proudly every single day," Ana says, subtly pointing at her eyepatch." but we move past them together. You are not beyond redemption, Hanzo. You were brought here for exactly that. Because someone has faith in you. We all do."

"And the world could always use more heroes, after all." you smile.

The three of you drink tea in silence. Hanzo looks contemplative.

"Do you think I could finish that tour of yours, love?" You say a little while after your teacup's become empty. "I haven't shown you outside the base yet. And the weather's rather nice today, I think..."

Hanzo stays silent for a little while. He takes the last sip of his tea. "Fine." he says.

You walk Hanzo around the base, making small talk as you go.

"I can help you open the kitchen window open if you still feel like leaving," you say, having realised what he was trying to figure out when you found him this morning. "but we'd always keep it open in case you wanted to return, alright?"

"Why are you being so placating to me? You know Genji well. You all know what I have done."

You do. You know you disagree with him on a lot of things. You know he's done a lot of things wrong. But you also know he's your teammate now and so you trust him. You smile.

"You're a teammate to me now, no matter what you or anyone else thinks. Even if it takes some a long time to warm up to you, I'll be there supporting you every step of the road, wherever you want to take it." You wink at him.

You return to base. He knows where all the exits are now. He's free to leave.

He doesn't.

You grin at him when you greet him in the mornings, watching him fumble about the base, still wary and distrusting of every little corner. He's got a long way to go.

You'll be here to see every step of it.

--------

Less than half of the next few months are spent at base, as missions come up faster than you can count them. And you are known to do everything fast , counting included.

You learn to write yourself a note every time you give Soldier 76 the usual morning status report instead of fruitlessly attempting to memorize it all.

Barely any time passes after the sudden cease of omnic attacks before anti-omnic protests break out across the globe, some growing more violent than others.

You see more and more omnics hide themselves away from the anger aimed at them as you patrol streets around the world. Anger they do not deserve for something they were not a part of, you think. Your mind recalls images of Korea, memories of leading the occasional omnic civilians to safety just like human ones.

Tensions over the subject escalate with every protest, every attack. You occasionally hear of omnic groups desperately trying to fight back, both peacefully and using violence, every story ending with their loss - distinctly outnumbered.

Tensions escalate at base as well. The stress of constant missions wearing down on everyone makes the debates (which used to pop up occasionally in a more civil manner before) often turn into ugly screaming matches, requiring someone else to intervene and cool things down.

You work your hardest not to let your optimism falter, even as you find yourself at odds with friends. Even as you hear Winston's leadership questioned over and over, his stance on the issue having been made clear at the start.

Even as you see Torbjörn, eyes full of fury, lob a knife from the kitchen table at Zenyatta, who had deliberately been avoiding taking part in the conversation at breakfast.

Deep breath, cheery smile, you remind yourself every time you approach an omnic during your missions. you don't let your smile falter when you see most of them keep their distance in fear.

Talon involvement becomes a controversial topic as they make more and more appearances,bringing the violence aspect of the protests up by a large margin. A familiar silhouette occasionally catches your attention.

"Don't you see it's wrong, what you lot are doing?!" you catch yourself yelling at Widowmaker once, completely dropping the usual tone of wit you usually bring to these mid-battle conversations.

"I do not question it. I kill who I am told to. It makes little difference to me." she responds, facial expression unchanged.

It takes many, many deep breaths and a good does of fighting to quell the anger her response inexplicably brings out in you.

The anger returns as a news report shows a politician's face receiving a very familiar bullet as soon as he says one word against omnic discrimination.

Deep breath, cheery smile, Tracer.

You keep the smile up for Ana, who questions whether you're tired over morning tea.

You keep the smile up for Bastion, who seems more keen to avoid everything in favour of their balcony plants more than ever. For Zenyatta, whose aura of serenity and hope doesn't falter, except for when it does. For Genji, who delves into meditation more than ever.

You keep the smile up for Winston, assuring him you support every decision he's made. For omnic civilians as you keep fighting for their sake.

You keep the smile up for yourself as you look at the mirror in the morning.

If there's a day as any to change the world, it's today, you think, determination burning within you.

You let that determination shine trough your eyes as you blink yourself froward trough the streets.

You come back home from a mission one day only to see Lúcio twirling Bastion around carefully as they dance around in the kitchen, Bastion's beeps syncing to the rhythm just as well as Lúcio's voice.

You stay at the doorway for a long time, not wanting to disturb the pure happiness the scene radiates.

You feel guity for interrupting when you hear Lúcio call your name after he notices you. The dancing slows to a stop.

As Bastion shyly extends a hand towards you, inviting, you realise you will never understand why some consider omnics less lovable than humans.

You dance your heart out as the music courses through you, drowning out your thoughts.

-------

You spot her silhouette on a familiar rooftop in King's Row.

You skip the greeting, rushing towards her with a blink added in for good measure.

You try your best to beat her to the punch, hoping luck is on your side.

Judging by the way today's gone so far, it really isn't.

There was a distinct weight that left you slowly as anti-omnic protests decreased in frequency over the past few months. You felt lighter on your feet as omnics and supporters found their voice and worked towards protecting omnics in society.

You were especially full of hope today, although perhaps not as airy in your step, as you and some other agents made your way to King's Row.

Today is the one year anniversarry of the death of Tekhartha Mondatta. Crowds of people and omnics stood in the very same street in front of the very same building, gathered to honour his memory.

You watched the omnics among the crowd, elated to see them standing proud, hope replacing the fear instilled in them by recent events.

The murmur of the crowd softened as an omnic walked out on stage, beginning her speech. The speaker, known as E-sphere, had gained notoriety after solely talking down a protesting crowd in France. Quickly having become one of the main faces of the current omnic right movement, she had quickly inspired many to take her side after making multiple appearances in various media outlets, her melodic and thought-out words striking a chord in the hearts of viewers everywhere(you yourself may or may not have written her some fan-mail, even).

Said melodic voice managed to get about two sentences into a speech before an explosion interrupted her.

Turning your head to the source, you found rubble piled up where a street stood a moment ago. A street that was the main entrance and exit to this area, you realized as sound of panic filled your ears.

Your head snapped back to the stage and your eyes widened as you recognized some newcomers to the crowd, wheeling in a large object before blocking another path.

Talon.

Commotion filling your ears, you managed to make out a whole 4 words over the comm before you sprung into action. Bomb. Countdown. Civilians. Safety.

This brings you to your current situation, as you blink yourself onto an adjacent roof, jumping down to fight Widowmaker.

You remember the way your last meeting here went. You're not going to let that happen again.

You blink yourself into her, hoping the tackle will be enough to offset the trajectory of the shot she fires.

You spare a glance at the podium as Widowmaker rolls, dodging the brunt of your attack. You don't see E-sphere. You hope that means she's safe.

"No greeting, chérie? How very impolite of you." she says, straightening her stance. You don't let her line up a shot before you charge straight at her.

"What's really impolite is coming to a party like this uninvited."

Whatever edge of surprise you were expecting from the charge disappears a moment too soon, as you crash into the side of Widowmaker, who is already mid-turn.

"It's worked out for me before."

You spot her elbow a second too late move your hands out of the way. You hear your pistol skid on the ground as a follow-up rifle jab knocks the second one out of your hand.

You dash to the side, managing to get around, reaching the wall behind her. You kick at her side, hoping to offset her balance. It kinda works - the shot she fires flies trough the air, nowhere near you.

She lines up a better shot and catch yourself instinctively recalling back before you realise what a bad idea that is.

You're terrified as you realise you've just given a sniper room to aim.

You're even more terrified when she leaps right at you instead. You're knocked onto your side, Widowmaker pinning your arms down.

You try to squirm free to no avail. The accelerator can't do anything, you just used it a second ago.

This is how you die, you realise as you meet the gaze of Widowmaker, whose eyes have been on you the entire time, unblinking.

You look straight at her, refusing to close your eyes in the face of certain death. The moment drags on a lot longer than you'd expected and you wish you'd used it for a witty quip or something.

Yes, this is how you die. Gunless, pinned, and regretting unsaid wits.

There's an odd look in Widowmaker's eyes as you feel her shift.

There's a sharp pain in your head.

Everything goes black.

--------

You wake up to the familiar ambiance of a jet mid-flight.

Your head doesn't feel quite right.

The silence makes you assume you're alone, until you crack open an eye and notice the 4 other figures, eyes pointed distinctly downwards in dead silence.

You look up and realise you're resting on the lap of a 5th person.

"Oh, you're awake. Good." Mercy says, the smile on her face weaker than usual.

You shouldn't be awake, you realise as your memory catches up with you.

"What happened?" you ask, sparing a look at the others, who are still uncharacteristically quiet. Even if some of them seem to be in quite bad shape, you didn't think it was possible for a group that included Torbjörn, McCree, Soldier: 76 and Reinhardt to be this quiet.

You look back up when something warm taps the side of your face. Mercy's face is streaked with tears.

"We failed," she rasps.

--------

You keep a smile on your face and your routine in place as the tense silence around base slowly dissipates over the following few days.

The amount of volatile arguments during lunchtime goes down by a large margin, most of them now dissolving within one or two sentences, giving way to more mindless chatter.

There's only so much silence you can really have in a base full of loud personalities.

An outsider would think nothing had happened unless they felt the air tense every time Overwatch is brought up on the news.

Barely half of the crowd got to safety that day, the reports say. With every day of E-sphere's location remaining unknown, the unsaid implication of her death gets more prominent.

You'd be happier to see both omnic right activists an anti-omnic protesters agree on something if it wasn't the condemnation of Overwatch's involvement in the events.

You can hear Winston's heart cracking under pressure as the anti-omnic side berates Overwatch for helping the omnics.

You can hear his heart outright shatter as the omnic right supporter side berates you all for not helping enough.

"Geez, you'd think we bombed the place with the way they speak of us." you hear D.Va say once, watching the screen beside you. "Do you think Talon's pissed we stole their spotlight?"

"I don't really want to think about Talon right now," Winston nearly whispers.

You remember the promise you wrote for him a while ago. You realise you need to prove the world wrong now more than ever.

"Don't waste yourself thinking about it all," you start. A lot of eyes are on you all of a sudden. "we made some mistakes. Everyone here's made mistakes before, right? And here we still are." you look over to Ana for a second. "We have a long future still ahead of us, we can't sit here and dwell on what's passed like a bunch of soggy worms after a rainstorm! We've got a whole world to prove wrong - that's a goal if I've ever heard one!"

You smile when the cacophony of voices that respond at once sound much more cheerful than before ("I like challenges" from D.Va and "Let's try to stick together this time" from Mercy is all you manage to accurately pick out. "Hey, I like the sound of that!" you hear Lúcio say as he prompts a high-five from Mercy).

Keeping people's spirits up is what you're here for, after all!

Only when you're alone in the dead of the night or in the chill of the morning do you let the events rewind themselves piece by piece trough your mind.

The clear sound of reluctant footsteps back into base.

The rasp of Mercy's voice as she explained what happened to you.

The way the group apparently fell apart, each maintaining their own path to handling the situation to be the best - Torbjörn and Soldier 76 trying to clear an exit, Reinhardt attempting to push the bomb away instead. Mercy trying to rally everyone as she went straight for E-sphere. McCree chasing down Talon agents present in the crowd.

You, choosing to stop Widowmaker's inevitable attempt to snipe E-sphere during the commotion.

The unspoken shame in everyone's faces on the ride home as you thought about having to explain this incredible feat of teamwork you all managed to attain to Winston.

The look in Widowmaker's eyes right before she knocked you out without causing any sort of serious injury.

The fact that she didn't kill you when she easily could have. When she probably should have.

You close your eyes and wipe any sort of lingering thought from your head. You should really go to sleep. You've got an early morning tomorrow.

You've got an early morning every day, as long as everyone at base needs your morning cheer.

As long as the world needs to be proven wrong.

--------

Along with keeping up your morning routine, you take to observing the routines of others as missions start getting handed out, slowly but surely easing the base into its usual rhythm.

You notice the way Hanzo often quietly shuffles around the kitchen long before you've even begun your morning jog, looking like he's been awake for hours.

"Can't sleep, love?" you ask, sitting down onto the table in front of him. "Me neither." you admit when he avoids answering.

You make him a cup of tea and watch him scowl as you guess his tea preferences completely wrong.

You learn the way Hanzo likes his tea pretty quickly at the cost of losing the race against Pharah's alarm a couple times. You learn bits and pieces about Hanzo on the days you wake up early enough to sit down and chat with him before running around the base. You also learn to invite him to have tea at Ana's on days when you run late.

He doesn't take your offer up very often, but you learn to appreciate it even more when he does.

You memorize the schedule Bastion sticks to when watering their plants. You catch yourself watching them as they move trough the base to refill their watering can (you don't remember seeing it before. It must be a gift), careful not to spill a single drop onto the ground.

You casually offer to keep the watering routine up for them while they're out on missions once and can't stop yourself from smiling at the pure happiness conveyed by the beeps and boops they respond with.

You try your best to join Genji and Zenyatta in meditation. You manage to sit still for a grand total of 7 minutes once, which you consider to be an achievement. You switch to occasionally joining them in the evening instead, when you don't feel like you're interrupting their vibe.

"Do not be discouraged by your disaccord with this type of meditation. There are many ways to allow one's mind to rest." Zenyatta tells you when you jokingly jab at your incompetence at meditation one day.

You think back to that once you start joining Pharah on her afternoon jog. Your mind comfortably drifts off as you let your legs work for you, tapping the ground in a nice, consistent rhythm.

Afterwards, you follow Pharah into the kitchen and watch her prepare the usual cup of coffee as you let your legs rest.

You watch as she picks the cup up and carries it out of the room. You send her off with a cheeky wink and a grin. "Tell Mercy I said hi, alright?"

She lets out some unintelligible sputters before ducking out of the room.

You make sure to bring Mercy a cup of coffee in Pharah's stead when she's out on missions.

"I'd offer to pass on a smooch, too, but I don't think it'd be as nice as Pharah's, would it?" you tell her as you hand the cup over.

"Wait, as nice as whose now?" Ana's voice rings out from Mercy's little infirmary, where she's apparently recovering after her last mission.

Oh.

Oops.

You offer a quick "sorry" to a wide-eyed Mercy before dashing away.

You later get used to Ana occasionally giving Pharah the classic "What a nice girl, when's marriage, I'd like some grandkids" speech in between her usual fussing.

You take time to listen to Mei enthuse about various scientific articles as you help her clean up after lunch. A lot of what she says is difficult for you to comprehend but it sounds utterly fascinating when she says it.

"Can your sciences explain why this coffee maker stops working only when I desperately need a cup?" Torbjörn cuts in once, not lifting his glare off the offending coffee maker.

Mei barely manages to open her mouth before another voice interrupts.

"Can your sciences explain why our Swedish friend here is so short and angry?" Reinhardt asks before erupting into raucous laughter.

"Can her sciences explain my fist in your face?!" Torbjörn responds, the glare moving from the coffee maker to Reinhardt. The coffee maker seems as relieved as an inanimate object can be.

"No! Your puny hands reaching this height would be an unforeseen phenomenon!" is the response, followed by even louder laughter.

You hear Mei giggle along with you as Torbjörn lunges at Reinhardt, starting a scuffle. You'd be surprised at how well Torbjörn holds up, considering the comical height difference, if this wasn't a common sight.

You'll ask Mei to finish whatever she was saying another time, when the boisterous guffawing isn't there to drown out literally every other sound in the vicinity.

You feel bad for the coffee maker, which stays ignored even as it inexplicably starts working all of a sudden.

You get used to occasionally seeing Junkrat in Winston's lab when you bring the ape an afternoon snack.

You remember having an oddly civil conversation with Junkrat when he expressed genuine curiosity in your chronal accelerator. You explained the basics and told him to ask Winston about it.

You didn't expect him to actually do it.

You sometimes stay and listen to Winston fumble through explaining various doodads here and there when Junkrat asks. You instinctively stay back the times when you see Junkrat himself working on something in tandem with the ape.

You start bringing an extra sandwich for Junkrat when you make the usual trip to the lab.

"Thanks, mate!" he says, putting down whatever he was holding in favour of picking up the snack. You feel slightly bad for the bread, seeing the perpetual layer of soot from Junkrat's hands tarnish its last moments.

"Say, could ya bring one of these to Roadie for me?" he says as you're on your way out. You shrug. You guess you're making another sandwich then.

You find Roadhog reading a book in his room.

"Delivery!" you say, plopping the plate down on the table in front of him. "Gave one to Junkrat earlier and he asked me to give you one too, so here I am. I'll take that to mean my sandwiches are top class."

Roadhog nods with a muffled "Thanks."

You watch him put away his book as you begin turning towards the door. You pause.

"That's a cute bookmark you've got there, love." you say leaning over to get a better look at it. It's a little cardboard bookmark with a cute piggy design. That's sweet.

He nods. he doesn't say anything else and you take that as your cue to leave and let him eat in peace.

He has more than one, you realise next time you bring him a snack (you even prepared it in advance this time) and notice a different, but equally adorable design poking out of his book.

Big guy likes cute bookmarks then.

You come back from a mission one day with a little piggy keychain in hand.

"It reminded me of the little guys on the bookmark you use,"you say as you hand it over to Roadhog. "and you coudln't really look at eyes like these and say 'no, I won't buy you', could you?"

You watch him carefully take it from your hand. You think you hear a laugh behind that mask, marginally softer than the wheezing guffaws you'd heard from him before. He puts a hand on your shoulder.

"Thank you."

"No problem, love! Treat her well." you say, booping the keychain's snout one last time. You resist the urge to boop Roadhog's mask.

"Oy, what's this now?" Junkrat says, suddenly appearing from behind Roadhog. "you tryin' to bribe Hog or something?"

"Aw, are you jealous I'm treating him better than you do? Try harder, love!" you dash away, laughing as Junkrat yells after you (something to do with explosions, you're sure).

You join Soldier: 76 as he relaxes near the tv in the lounge on some days. You make the mistake of saying you don't really understand the way American football works once and since then he's taken to explaining every sport on tv in great detail.

"I know how tennis works, daaaad!" is a phrase you never thought you'd say, yet here you are.

He gets noticeably more quiet when basketball is on. You don't bring it up.

You let D.Va and Lúcio rope you into playing Mario party with them one evening. You only realise what a bad idea that was when you have to wake everyone after a whopping 2 hours of sleep the next morning.

You'd be lying if you said you never repeat that mistake. You'll beat her this time, you swear.

You wander into the kitchen one night after spending hours unsuccessfully trying to will yourself to sleep only to realise someone's already there.

The lack of a hat makes it more difficult to tell, but you're fairly sure you recognize who that is.

"It's literally opposite of high noon, love. Why are you still up?" you ask, approaching McCree where he stands at the window. "Can't sleep?"

"Not a wink." he responds.

"Me neither."

You pause as you take a look trough the window. The moon is shining almost as bright as the chronal accelerator on your chest.

"You know, I've had a very similar conversation here recently, now that I think about it." you say. "Please don't tell me you hang about here like this nearly every night."

"Hate to disappoint you, but... Sleep don't always come easy." he responds. "I've never seen noone else but you here though. You sayin' we got more kitchen insomniacs in our little group?"

"I'm at least glad neither of you hangs around here long enough to bump into each other then," you say with a soft giggle. "Hanzo likes to hang about here for hours in the morning. You'd have noticed by now if you actually managed to get your lazy arse out of bed earlier!"

You see his eyebrow's rise in your peripherals.

"Well ain't that an incentive." he says, looking off into the distance, same as you.

"Are you thinking of becoming an early-bird now, lover-boy? Actually getting out of bed before that favoured high noon of yours?" you tease, wiggling your eyebrows at him. You haven't let up on teasing him about his thing for Hanzo. That's what he gets for not letting you live down your failed Torbjörn-waking.

"Honestly, I just might be. Can't have you guys gossipin' behind my back while I'm sleepin'." he shrugs, playing nonchalant. You smile.

"Make him tea, if you ever get here first." you say. "Green. One sugar."

He better appreciate that knowledge. For something so incredibly simple, it took you a considerable amount of guessing and roundabout questioning to figure out.

"I will." he says. There's a long pause before he speaks again. "Thanks, Tracer."

"No problem, love."

You talk for a little while longer before a yawn reminds you you've got an early morning tomorrow. Well, every day, really. You watch McCree echo your yawn (the contagious nature of yawns helps in this case, you think) before you say goodnight and head back to your rooms.

You don't meet Midnight McCree very often from then on, but the occasional times it happens go similarly to that: you talk for a while until one of you yawns, signaling bedtime.

You skip morning your morning chat with Hanzo a few days later when you poke your head into the kitchen only to see a certain cowboy already occupying your usual seat, coffee in hand.

You watch Hanzo sip his tea without scowling.

You quietly dash away to Pharah's room. Your job here is done.

Onto the next one you go.

--------

You spot her silhouette on rooftops occasionally.

The first time it happens you momentarily stop yourself from the usual salute, not sure how to approach this knowing the way your last meeting went.

The world feels surprisingly still for a moment. Then you hear the familiar whizz of the greeting bullet and the world is moving again.

You grin, bringing your hand up for a salute.

The dance begins.

"Wasn't sure whether to bother you today, love!" you say over gunfire. "Last time went a bit pear-shaped, didn't it?"

"For you, perhaps. It was quite a feast, not every trap gets so wonderfully overfilled with vermin as that one. I had a nice time." She responds, both in words and in bullets.

"I'd say, love! You were in such a jolly mood that you even let one of those vermin go!" You find an opening between shots to point at yourself (which is obviously the best way to use an opening). "Why did you spare me, anyway? Sudden change of heart? If you still have one, that is."

"It simply would have been a waste of a bullet."

"Well, now you get to waste more bullets trying to catch me! Good luck with that, love, it's not happening ever again!" You yell, grinning as you dash back and forth, dodging everything that comes at you.

"We'll see about that." Widowmaker says, punctuating it by the usual deep cackle. It really loses its ominous edge once you've heard her melt into giggles and snorts, you realise. You kinda wish you got to hear that again.

Meeting Widowmaker goes similarly to that every time you meet her over the following months - you greet, you dance, you snark in between.

With so many people all over the world doubting you and the rest of Overwatch, it's oddly comforting to know that at the very least, Widowmaker trusts you to provide an interesting battle.

You do your best to deliver.

You also do your best to paint Overwatch in a good light along with your fellow agents. You work hard to prove yourselves to the world, and you work hard to ignore the amount of people and governments (especially the latter) who don't believe in you yet. They'll come around.

You do your best to work along with your team.

Well, except for when you run off after Widowmaker, you guess. Although you're quite convinced everyone accepts this behaviour as fact and works around it, leaving you mostly to yourselves.

Which is why the sudden appearance of an arrow at Widowmaker's feat one day completely knocks you off your rhythm.

You stop in your tracks for a second, watching Widowmaker dodge the arrows that follow.

"It's alright, Hanzo, I've got this." you say after turning on your communicator for the first time in forever. "Go cover the others, I'll handle this just fine!"

You vaguelly hear other voices call Hanzo over to themselves before you turn the comm off again.

There's a moment of stillness after Hanzo leaves. Then the duel begins again.

"Pardon the interruption, love. He's fairly new." you say once the usual rhythm's settled in.

"He's a persistent one, chasing me down all that way with those puny legs." Widowmaker smirks.

"Sniper pride, I guess." you shrug.

"That's your sniper?" She laughs. "And you wonder why Overwatch gets nothing done."

"Hey, we get plenty done, I assure you!" you retort, hoping the laugh might send her aim at least slightly off course. It doesn't.

You get the momentary impulse to ask a question. You go for it before your mind writes it off as a bad idea. "You know, we could always use more snipers in our ranks..."

"No," she responds before you even offer. "Never."

Well, you didn't really expect much of it, either way.

Somehow, her curt reply makes you more determined to ask again.

--------

Although the media has mostly moved onto other things, the resounding disapproval of Overwatch remains stable, seemingly unaffected by the number of successful missions you've accomplished since then.

You don't let it get to you or anyone else - you speed through assignments with incredible focus, only stopping to cheer up Winston or to deliver a pep talk to anyone else who may not be feeling it.

The conflict surrounding omnics has grown again ever since the Mondatta memorial. You can't help but feel slightly guilty about it, seeing the conflict grow louder and more violent with each passing day.

For the first time in forever, a vague fear of the future fills you as tensions rise. And rise. And rise once more.

Until an 8.8 earthquake hits Peru and leaves the world in a standstill.

You arrive to the capitol of Peru nearly a day late, having been nearly on the opposite side of the world when it all happened. You make sure to keep a bright smile on your face despite how still and heavy time feels at that moment. You're feeling it more than the others, you assume, which vaguely makes you feel better - better you than anyone else. You can handle it.

You can handle anything time throws at you, you assure yourself. You don't mind that that's a lie.

The city radiates loss, grief and an oddly hopeful sense of admiration for Reinhardt, who's apparently made a name for himself by doing things like charging straight into danger, shielding citizens from rubble and single-handedly holding up a collapsing building before some had even realised the earthquake was happening.

You're glad the team that happened to be stationed here at the time of the catastrophe just happened to include Reinhardt.

Reinhardt, who lead the team through the panic, not once seizing up in fear.

Reinhardt, who continues to inspire Overwatch agents and others alike as he leads rescue efforts for survivors.

Reinhardt, whose thoroughly heroic presence paints hope into the eyes of civilians, omnic and human alike. Who shines like a lighthouse within the abyss, never stopping to blink for even a second.

Reinhardt, who laughs off Mercy's remark about 'overexerting himself, especially at his age'. "As long as the Earth so much as thinks of rumbling, I shall be there to hold it still!" he says, and everyone believes him unequivocally.

Reinhardt, who proudly bellows Overwatch's name whenever the opportunity arises, seemingly daring anyone to speak ill of it. Who directs the respect aimed at him over to all of Overwatch without hesitation.

Reinhardt, who goes seemingly sleepless for days on end, but still has enough energy to lift Winston in an enthusiastic hug at the very whisper of the words "Thank you" when welcomed back to base.

The future seems brighter than ever, you think as you stare at he calendar again. Two years now, it reads.

"We should go to the beach again." Reinhardt says after you try to express your gratitude for making the year's efforts all worthwhile. You grin.

"Can I be on your team this time, if we play chicken?" you ask.

"Of course, my friend!" he responds with a laugh.

You laugh along with him when he lifts you onto his shoulders, yelling about the beach as he runs through the halls.

You continue laughing as you gracefully lose the game of chicken, when everyone- from the McCree-Hanzo combo (you aren't sure what magic McCree used to talk Hanzo into this. The reluctant look on the latter's face keeps cracking you up), to the Winston-Lúcio and Roadhog-Junkrat teams that joined halfway, to the apparently unbeatable Soldier 76-D.Va team-up - gangs up to take you down first.

You laugh as you watch the sun go down, as if it were hiding in shame after seeing the enormous source of light proudly guffawing beside you.

It's been a good day, you think. Here's to a million more like it.

--------

It's six a.m.

The sound of birds chirping outside your window is almost as loud as Lúcio's voice when he pokes his head into the room.

"Hey! You up for a race?"

Boy, are you ever! You flash him a big thumbs up before you sit up.

"Sweet! You do your thing then, I'll be in the kitchen." he says before disappearing into the doorway.

It's not every day that you sleep in long enough to get woken by Lúcio. Not that that makes your day bad, by any means. Quite the opposite.

After all, it's a good day to change the world as any!

You get trough your morning routine in record time, only pausing to look at yourself in the mirror.

Still the same as ever. That right there is the face of someone who's going to crush Lúcio in the morning race today.

You give yourself a confident grin.

"Good morning, Athena!" you shout, waiting to hear her reply before running off.

"Good morning, Tracer."

You poke your head into the kitchen and see Lúcio talking to Hanzo, whose usual scowl seems comparatively light. Noone can resist Lúcio's charm, you guess.

You beckon Lúcio to wait when he notices you. You take the time to make Hanzo the usual cup of tea as Lúcio continues talking to him.

"Aw, you should've said something! I make a sick cup of tea, y'know?" he says at the same time Hanzo says "This was not necessary.". If anything, you've really trained your ability to accurately decipher multiple speakers at once during your time in Overwatch.

"I'll have you know, love," you say as you open the fridge out of habit, forgetting that the usual plate of sandwiches isn't there today, what with Winston absent on a mission and all. "that I make the meanest cup of tea for Hanzo. Well, besides Ana, that is. And actually, I'm not sure - does McCree make a good cuppa?" you ask, suddenly turning to Hanzo.

Hanzo takes a sip before answering. "He adds entirely too much sugar."

You giggle at that. "Of course he would." you say. You continue giggling as you remember a distinctly scowl-less Hanzo drinking McCree's over-sweetened tea. Well isn't that just sweet, for lack of a better word.

You and Lúcio wave goodbye to Hanzo and the race begins.

You realise you're glad to have Lúcio run trough base with you. Even if he beats you to most of the stops today. You take it as motivation to get better - he'll eat your dust, next time.

"Good race!" he says, offering a high five when you catch up to him near the last stop - Winston's lab. You give him the heartiest high-five you can muster and watch him disappear down the hall before you go into the lab.

Ana looks up at you from her seat and smiles before offering you tea.

With Winston out on a mission, Ana is the one leading the base in his stead, which is the reason you're having morning tea here instead of her room this morning. This is the first place everyone goes as soon as something goes wrong, after all, which makes it convenient for leadership purposes.

Ana does a fine job of being second-in-command,you think, often weighing in on decisions even with Winston present. Noone doubts her for a second, even if she might not have been the first choice - that mantle belonging to Soldier: 76, who continues to deny every opportunity to take over leadership of the base.

Speak of the devil, you think when your train of thought is interrupted by 76 stomping into the room before you even take your first sip of tea. If that's not a sign of a long day, you don't know what is.

"She's really done it this time," he grumbles as he passes a tablet to Ana. Your tea sits forgotten as you try to get a good view of the screen.

"Athena," Ana says, her eye not leaving the screen. "call Hana over for me, if you please."

"Korean gaming star in illegal Overwatch?" the headline on the screen reads.

You take a sip of your tea and wait for the discussion that will inevitably ensue. It is going to be a long day, then.

"That's a stupid headline. 'Gaming star'? That's the title I get? I fought in a war, for fuck's sake." D.Va says when the headline is shoved in her face as soon as she comes trough the door.

"Hana," 76 says in a warning tone. "This is a covert operation, you should--"

"I know! Geez!" she interrupts him. "I didn't mean for it to be this big of a deal, okay? Some assholes were spamming Winston hate - what was I supposed to do, let them shit on him?"

You give a look over to the article as you vaguely listen to the argument. 'Winston's not that bad, guys, he's just kind of a dork. He's a good boss though' the direct quote reads.

You're inclined to agree with Hana on this. Not just because of the Winston defense, while you do appreciate it a whole lot.

"What's the big deal? It's not like Overwatch has been all that subtle, anyway! The base has been an open secret for years! People are starting to support us again! Why should we be hiding?!" she goes on, voice rising in volume. The argument has basically devolved to the point where neither is listening to the other or to the occasional additions from you.

"This isn't the way this operation is run!" 76 yells.

"You run it just as much as I do, you geezer! Who are you to boss me around?!"

Jack opens his mouth to say something, then closes it again. Ana takes this as her chance to interrupt, having spent most of the argument quietly looking at the plethora of headlines D.Va's latest stream has caused.

"Behave yourselves while I figure out a way to solve this, please." she says.

"There's no need to wait, I'll go solve this right now," D.Va says and runs off before anyone can say anything.

You wait for Ana's command to go after her. No such command comes.

"I'll make you another cuppa, then." You say, standing up to do just that.

----------

Winston comes back a day later, instantly greeted by D.Va with her hands on her hips. Well, instantly after your usual greeting tackle, of course.

"Before you yell at me, this all started because of you, okay? I wasn't gonna let some spammers talk shit about you on my stream." she says as you're carefully set back down onto the ground.

"I, uh, wasn't going to yell at you. It wasn't on purpose and you handled the fallout better than I would have, I think." he responds.

D.Va stands still for a moment, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. She suddenly turns around and yells out a "Suck on that, Jack!", before extending her arms towards Winston. "Bring it in, DK."

You stop yourself from making it a group hug despite how much you want to. You allow yourself a wide grin though.

You'd spent the last few days hanging around Ana as you watched the situation develop. You watched news outlets race to be the first to write about D.Va's impromptu press conference stream. You watched them struggle to keep updating their reports as D.Va's stream went on, the contents of which could basically be gracefully summarized to "yeah, I'm Overwatch, deal with it, sorry, no games today, hahah I'm probably grounded jk, love u, buy my merch, bye".

You watched Overwatch discourse pop up everywhere you looked and you felt a smile cross your face when a considerable amount of it was positive. Waking up to see "OverwatchComeToBrazil" (OCTBR for short, apparently. Timely.) trending was an oddly nice experience. Especially after remembering how your last visit to Brazil went.

"You could've ruined your reputation," you hear Winston say when you eventually give into your group-hug urge.

"But I didn't though. I kinda improved yours, too. You can thank me for that, by the way."

"Oh, uh, yes. Thank you."

D.Va snorts. "Oh my god, Winston, you're so awkward. What would all of you do without me?"

What would you do without her, honestly.

Probably make a lot less media appearances, at the very least.

--------

To say Overwatch gets a little more confident would be an understatement.

You run trough missions with a spring in your step, smiling as you watch other agents carry themselves proudly trough the streets. It's a real delight to watch everyone hide themselves less and less as support for Overwatch grows more and more vocal.

Even Bastion's beeps grow in volume, despite the mixed reviews Overwatch's omnic members receive.

The governmental disapproval doesn't budge, but it somehow feels like a much smaller problem than before, having attained the people's approval.

The people are the ones you're fighting for, after all.

The support becomes even louder once Lúcio decides to bring Overwatch to Brazil. Which is to say, he announces himself as a member in the middle of an impromptu concert on an impromptu stop in Brazil on the way back from a mission. Here's a guy that lives on the edge. You can respect that.

"I thought Hana was supposed to be the unpredictable problem child," 76 says, reclining on the couch as the sound of the TV fills the room. Lúcio's name can be heard once in a while.

"Lúcio's 29," you respond.

"He's about 5 feet tall. He's a baby as far as I'm concerned." he shrugs. You are about to respond with the usual 'dad' comment, but someone else speaks up before you finish giggling.

"Why would his height have anything to do with this?" Torbjörn pipes up from his seat at your left.

"Quit whining, you gnome baby." you respond and try to keep a straight face as you hear 76 snort. You take a moment to fully appreciate the look on Torbjörn's face as you hear a very distinct guffaw somewhere nearby.

You ready yourself for a high-five as Reinhardt pops into the room, jeering at Torbjörn between laughs.

"I'd appreciate if all of you babies quieted down for a bit, I'm trying to hear the TV," Winston murmurs from his seat on the floor and you can't stop the laugh that escapes you.

Winston really doesn't get a break with all of you around, does he.

In fact, even as everyone gets prouder of their Overwatch membership after a world leader casually drops their support of the organisation into a speech, Winston doesn't slow his workload, as the unchanged workpile in his lab shows.

You notice a copy of the Petras act and a few other documents among the usual science pile during a chronal-accelerator check-up one day.

"What's this now, love? Are you looking to become a lawyer?" you ask and then watch his hand twitch in surprise.

"Oh, uh. I've been practicing my diplomatic skills, I guess. Gaining a legal status would really help us in the long run, I thought, so..."

"So you decided to become a politician overnight? Impressive," you laugh. "you'd look good in a tie, love."

The documents don't disappear from the desk over the next few weeks. In fact, they seem to be multiplying, you note when you start counting them once in a while.

Winston reads trough them with such rapt attention what you don't have the heart to interrupt him for a break. You put down the plate of sandwiches you brought him, curl up next to him and immerse yourself in legalese along with the ape.

You'd stand by him if he suddenly decided to put his apparent 'diplomatic skills' to the test. Hell, you'd even drop a tie over your chronal accelerator if you had to.

He doesn't get the chance to try before a sudden resurface of omnic attacks in Russia takes up his attention instead. The papers rest forgotten as it becomes clear that Russia cannot handle the attacks alone this time around.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" 76 quietly asks Winston as the ape prepares to leave for Russia. "We weren't legally allowed to go to Russia back then, you know."

"Technically, we aren't legally allowed to go anywhere at this moment in time." he shrugs.

You mentally check whether you packed everything you'll need as you wait for Winston's command to get the others.

You bounce impatiently the whole way there, to a point where even Lúcio tells you to chill a couple times.

You can't wait to show the world what you've got.

--------

"I think it's about time you showed off those promised diplomatic skills of yours, love." you say to Winston as you watch a stern Russian military officer make a beeline for your little group after the sounds of battle quiet down. To say the mission started with a bang would be an understatement, as attested to by your already tired legs, but the sight of soldiers letting out a sigh of relief as omnic forces retreat makes it all feel worth it.

"What are you doing here?" A stern, heavily accented voice asks. "I do not think monkey is native to Russian army."

"Not a monkey." you automatically correct him under your breath.

"We are a group of Overwatch--" is as far as Winston gets before the soldier interrupts him with a facepalm and what you assume is Russian for 'Oh god'.

"No, no, Overwatch, no. Is illegal. Leave." he goes on.

You look around and note that your entire little group is here now, instead of scattered all over the place. You hear Junkrat talking to Ana about something (you assume it's a topic of the explosive variety), the rest of you listening as Winston tries to persist, his speech occasionally interrupted by no's.

The phrase "Why is so that I, Evgeni Dima Medvedev, have to deal with your bullshit now?" knocks Winston out of his element for a little while.

"If, uh, if you're worried about the Petras act then I assure you--" he says, before he gets predictably interrupted again. You're kind of glad Junkrat isn't paying attention to this conversation - he'd have blown the soldier up by now. Or Winston. It depends.

"Petras? Not again Petras." he turns around all of a sudden, then hollers out a commanding "Petras!".

A scrawny soldier comes up to the general, obviously making an effort to stand up straight.

"Petras, what did you act?" the general asks, voice stern.

"I did not act, sir." the scrawny soldier answers. Winston looks like his soul's far gone by now.

"Of course you did not act, Petras, you useless Lithuanian worm." the general growls out. Petras looks like he wants to hide away and never come out. So does Winston.

You see Lúcio instantly move to comfort Petras. You look over at Winston, trying not to show concern in your eyes.

"This is not the kind of diplomacy I was expecting," he mumbles. That's okay, you've got him covered. This is exactly why you're here.

"You know, I'd bet'cha we'd be a lot more useful than Petras," you say.

("She didn't mean that" you hear Lúcio assure the guy.)

"Of course, no man in army less useful than Petras." General Medvedev says, exasperated. "But alright, I take you in. You be my..." he pauses, trying to phrase it in his head, presumably. "secret recruits."

You let out a little whoop of joy. Winston looks at you with pure gratitude. You give him a big grin and a hushed "I've got your back, love".

"Put these on." General Medvedev says, tossing a couple uniform hats and coats at you. "Monkey, have mask."

"Not a monkey." you automatically correct him once more.

The uniform coats are comically ill-fitted for your group. You button up the coat with confidence, used to wearing over-sized clothes to hide your chronal accelerator. You turn around and have to hold yourself from laughing at the way your teammates look.

Ana and Lúcio are completely dwarfed by the coats - Lúcio, specifically, looks like a very ambitious child trying on his mom's clothes.

Meanwhile, both Roadhog and Winston look rather constrained by the clothes, Winston seemingly reluctant to even raise an arm in fear of everything falling apart.

Although the measurements are technically best suited for him, Junkrat looks more ridiculous in the uniform than anyone. You have to look away from him to keep from bursting out laughing. You'll sass him later, when Medvedev isn't watching you intently.

You get the feeling Medvedev is always going to watch intently as you are walked to camp along with the rest of the soldiers.

"Gee, Winston, how come you've never call us secret recruits? It's a swanky title, isn't it?" you say, trying to distract yourself from the slow (for you, at least.) movement speed of the group.

"I guess I could, if that's really what you'd like?" he answers, voice muffled by the mask.

"Well, we're not exactly secret anymore, are we?" you smile at him. You don't need to see his face to know he's smiling back.

"You guys want some beats to keep you warm while we walk?" you hear Lúcio ask, skating along casually. He looks oddly in his element.

"Let's keep low for now, Lúcio." Ana pipes up from beside him. "We have a long day ahead of us." she adds, voice quieter.

She's right. You have a lot of long days ahead, you think.

You smile as you keep yourself from outpacing the group.

You feel your cheeks heat up when you reach the building and you momentarily wonder whether Winston's mask helped with the cold. It's rather nippy for late winter, you think before you remember exactly where you are.

"These are not the beats I was expecting," Lúcio says, eyeing the bowl of borsht before him, identical to yours. You take a spoonful.

"I'm not complaining," you shrug. "It's better than Jack's cooking, at the very least."

The resulting chorus of giggles and 'ooooh's at the table warms you up just as much as the borsht does.

Even outside of base, you feel at home with these people.

And home needs protecting right now.

You take another spoonful of borsht.

--------

It's six a.m.

You've been awake for an hour already.

Your feet feel more sluggish than usual, the week's work wearing down on you. You don't show any sign of your movements slowing as you are driven towards yet another base with the group.

You've moved nearly every day since Medvedev's higher ups gave the command to move after the omnics instead of letting them retreat. You're inching closer to Volskaya rather than the omnium, as you would have expected from that sort of strategy, but you've learned to expect surprises during your time in Russia so far.

You've learned a couple things, in fact.

You've learned that the omnic attacks are noticeably more coordinated this time, more strategic and precise. The god program theory you'd heard someone throw out a long while ago seems more likely by the second. You don't want to think about how far the reach of a program like that would have to be to pull off something like this.

You've learned that Vishkar has been around here for a while now, seemingly having come to hold up their omnic-destroyer reputation. You listen attentively when Lúcio occasionally rants about them, needing to get it off his chest.

"Are they secret recruits, too?" you ask Medvedev as you help him pack supplies, occasionally looking over to the group of Vishkar engineers seemingly residing near your base for the day.

"No, they are official," he says, voice oddly thoughtful for a second before he drops a crate into your hands and goes back into boss mode. Which is to say, authoritative and loud. "Move, move. Let's go, little Lena!"

(He never so much as attempted to pronounce your last name, wrote you down as "L-eh-na" and called it a day. You honestly don't mind too much - you sort of like the pronunciaion.)

You move as told, casting one more peek at the Vishkar group, only to see a vaguely familiar face.

Memories of Brazil flash trough your mind and you remember you never really got to thank the Vishkar lady that shielded you back then.

You pull off what is probably the most coordinated act of stealth you'll ever be capable of when you approach her later that day, seizing the opportunity of seeing her alone, no other engineers in sight.

"Hey," you say, instantly faced with her gun as she jumps in surprise. "Whoa, sorry, love, didn't mean to jump out at you like that. I just wanted to thank you."

Her eyebrows furrow. The defensive stance doesn't falter.

"You shielded us in Brazil a few years ago, remember? You really did us a solid back there, don't know if I'd be here now if it weren't for you." You smile at her.

She spends a moment carefully looking around, then looks back at you, eyebrows still furrowed. "Your friend?" she asks quietly, as if not to alert anyone around.

"He's fine now! Lively as ever, thanks to you." you grin widely at her. "What are you lot up to here, anyway? I've noticed you around for a while now."

Her face grows even more reluctant. There's a long moment before she answers.

"Do not talk to me like this. I do not want to be associated with Overwatch on any level."

Your shoulders sag a little. You'd forgotten Vishkar isn't exactly Overwatch's best buddy in all of your excitement.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it then. But if you ever need help, know that Tracer's got your back, okay?" you point at yourself.

"I... I won't. Do not expect me to help you again."

"That's fine, love, you've helped me more than enough already." you say, not letting your smile falter. "Cheers!" you add before sprinting away.

You make it a point to discretely wave at her the next few times you see her. You don't mind that she never waves back.

You learn that Lúcio's charm is irresistible to anyone as you watch him make a friend out of literally every soldier in general Medvedev's squad, including the general himself.

You watch recruits move along to his perpetual music on fortunate days, dancing as though they'd never heard of combat, let alone been a part of it that same day. You see the same soldiers flock to him on less fortunate days, letting the chill beats wash away the pain from their injuries.

You watch Junkrat get swarmed by recruits yelling in multiple languages as you round a corner once. You manage to pick out a very clear "Why is so that he, Lúcio Correia dos Santos, must deal with your bullshit now?" from the commotion (with a very careful pronunciation of the name, you note).

You aren't sure what Junkrat said or did, but you'd bet he deserves all this.

You never do get to find out what happened, as the commotion is promptly put to a stop by Roadhog, who uses one hand to pick up a still-screeching Junkrat, and raises the other to silence the soldiers. Roadhog's formidable presence strikes a certain nervousness into even the strongest of recruits, with the exception of Medvedev, whose eyes never really lose their cold wolfish edge.

The edge softens a slight bit as he fusses about getting Lúcio a properly fitting coat merely a few days into your time in Russia.

"You really don't gotta do this, Evgeni, seriously" Lúcio pleads as general Medvedev (who insisted Lúcio call him by name) hounds a panicked recruit who is trying her best to find a properly fitting coat. "this coat's mega sweet! It's pretty mega in general, hahah."

"Nonsense. Russian winter is harsh. Sunny Brazil man like you needs proper coat."

You see Lúcio sliding around later that day, an almost properly sized coat keeping him warm.

You learn you really have no talent for stealth when Overwatch's involvement in Russia gets reported on within your first week there.

"A real pickle you put me in now," Medvedev grumbles under his breath that day. "when I say 'secret recruits', I did mean secret, do you not know?"

"Will you be alright, sir?" you ask and watch him scoff at the question.

"I will be fine. I, Evgeni Dima Medvedev, am not man who is easy to bring down. You should watch over yourselves from now." he says, then walks away.

You smile as you realise he will watch over you just as much as before.

You learn of Vishkar's plans when Mercy and Torbjörn show up as reinforcements towards the end of your second week here.

"They're building a dome over the omnium again," Torbjörn says. "because they're idiots. Do they not think one radioactive death dome is enough?"

"I got a rather good view of it when we tried to snoop a little bit," Mercy says. "It doesn't look very structurally strong..."

"I mean, it explains why they haven't helped fight, at least," Ana says, voice distant and thoughtful.

"We don't need their help. We'll take down the cans before their little snow-globe is even finished." Torbjörn states with pure confidence.

You ask the Vishkar woman - Satya Vaswani, you overheard her called - about the dome next time you manage to catch her alone.

"Its structure is calculated and precise. Do not interfere." she responds to you before disappearing.

You don't see her after that and you can't help but feel a slight bit worried.

Finally, you learn to respect the Russian soldiers fighting along with you.

Especially once you meet one Aleksandra Zaryanova.

You're facing the consequences of charging straight into the fray on what seems to be one of the less successful days you've had, when you eventually find yourself injured and separated from your group, faced instead with a group of omnics.

Your mind is racing as you use what's left of your strength to dodge bullet after bullet. You take a breath, stick a hand in your pocket and count. 1 sticky bomb.

You're running around, trying to come up with a way to herd the now even larger group of omnics into one spot when a voice interrupts your thoughts.

"Throw the bomb now!" you hear clearly over the gunfire.

You look back to find the omnics all conveniently in one spot. You throw the bomb, hoping your natural sense of aim will prevail over your blurring vision.

A blast rings out. Your ears start ringing. And keep ringing. And keep ringing.

"--you stand?" you eventually make out over the ringing. Your vision really isn't helping you much either.

You feel yourself being picked up a moment later. You lean your heavy, heavy head against what you presume to be an arm.

You wake up hours later to the sound of whispers.

You crack open an eye. You see the familiar silhouette of Ana and you suddenly feel very safe. You question your sanity for a moment, as you listen to Ana's voice speak words of which you understand precisely zero. It takes you a little while to realise that's because she's speaking Russian.

"I didn't know you spoke Russian, love," you croak out, voice unexpectedly hoarse. Ana jumps.

"Oh! Good, you're awake. I'm glad." she then goes on to instruct you to not speak anymore until she gets you some water, but your attention is directed elsewhere, as you spot the face of your saviour sitting beside Ana.

"Thank you," You croak out, ignoring Ana's instructions. You already know you'll get a scolding for running in alone and being careless later today, you might as well add inobedience onto your little list of offenses.

"It is no problem." the woman responds. "You would have done so for me."

You take a large gulp of water before speaking again.

"I don't know if I would've carried you as easily, but I sure would have tried."

You smile as her laughter fills the air.

You've made a friend today, you realise as Zarya introduces herself with the fiercest handshake you've ever experienced.

A fun friend, you realise as you get to know her over the next few days, her aura fitting quite well into your group, where she stays from that point onwards.

A strong friend, you realise as she continues to help you out time and time again.

An incredibly strong friend, you realise as she moves to help you during the biggest battle you've had yet.

The area surrounding Volskaya is riddled with bodies of omnics and humans alike and you struggle to see any sort of end to the omnic forces approaching. This was their main target, you realise as you see a couple of Volskaya's Svyatogor units working to push back the seemingly endless wave of attackers.

Your legs ache, your aim is starting to falter due to a nasty arm wound and you've run out of bombs long ago, but the moment Zarya steps into your view you feel safe.

The feeling of safety stays with you as you keep moving, even when the ground seems like it's shaking below you. It stays with you as the sound of combat dies down and the first "Hurra!" rings trough the air.

It stays with you as you feel yourself picked up again.

"We really shouldn't make a habit of meeting like this," you say as you listen to the somewhat steady rhythm of her footsteps. "I'll end up too spoiled to use these legs if I keep getting lobbed around like royalty."

Her breath is heavy, but there's a distinct happiness radiating from her.

You reunite with the rest of the surviving soldiers, most of whom are too busy tossing Lúcio into the air over and over to really notice your approach.

You feel your wounds soothed as Mercy takes you from Zarya's hands. You give Mercy a bright smile.

"We won," you remind her, just to see her face light up again.

You enjoy triumph for a little while, until you watch Medvedev's face go from uncharacteristically delighted to uncharacteristically despaired within the span of one phone call. Any trace of the light that had enveloped that face a moment ago is gone as he falls to his knees, face blank.

"Vishkar dome exploded," he says as Lúcio helps him stand up. "Siberia is ruins."

The sense of safety you felt before disintegrates in an instant. A distinct and potent dread seeps into your bones.

The dread stays as you listen to panicked Russian from the radio fill the vehicle on the ride back to your last base. Noone speaks over it for the majority of the ride.

"Not one of these ruskies did a thing for the Outback when this went down before," you hear Junkrat say, leaning against Roadhog's arm, voice quieter than you ever thought it could go. "and we used to joke a bunch, remember? 'bout them dealing with acid snows instead of the rains we had? Radioactive bears?"

A weak giggle escapes him. He pauses for a little while without looking up.

" 's not as funny anymore, somehow."

The dread is interrupted by a sliver of hope when you see a familiar silhouette slink into the building next to your base.

"Satya?" you call out, poking your head into the building.

You find her curled up in a corner, her clothes in significant disarray.

You sit down next to her, careful not to prod her.

"Are you alright, Satya?" you nearly whisper.

"I... It was my fault... I," her voice is muffled by her arms. "I should have noticed the mistake in the east side, this wasn't..." her voice shakes. "this wasn't supposed to happen. And now I... I ran and now I do not belong there anymore... Not anywhere."

She flinches away when you extend an arm towards her shoulder.

"Do not touch me, I... I do not deserve nor need any of your pity!" she stands up before you can even blink.

"I'll always be around if you want my help," you call after her as she runs away.

The dread ultimately returns when Overwatch gets blamed for the catastrophe, Vishkar presenting a photo of Mercy near the incomplete dome as proof of sabotage. You're taken aback as governments around the world take this flimsy logic as 'the last straw' and Overwatch persecution operations are launched overnight.

"Everyone wants a scapegoat" you hear the Petras boy nearly whisper after the news break.

"You have to leave now." Medvedev tells you that day, the unwavering wolfish glare back on his face. "As secret recruits, you were not very good secret, but good recruits." he goes on, shaking Winston's hand as a goodbye of sorts. "But do not come back. You have caused me trouble enough. My hair would gray before 40 if this continue." he shrugs. "If I live to 40 now."

You aren't surprised when he strictly declines your offer for a hug. You're even less surprised when he accepts Lúcio's.

"Hard times are coming, for us Russians and for you." Zarya says along with her goodbyes. " I will catch up to you at a later time. Stay strong."

"I'll do well to be just as strong as you, love." you smile at her.

You don't get to enjoy being at home for long, as the base's location being an open secret really doesn't bode well for you now.

You stay still for a long moment as you say goodbye to the base for now.

You take a deep breath, savouring the familiar air. You lament the amount of dust that will have gathered here by the time you return (which you are determined to do no matter what).

You let the breath out and follow Winston outside.

You take another breath. And with it, Overwatch's covert era begins.