002

[need_healing]

[The sun was still at least an hour away from even starting to creep over the horizon when Genji slips out of bed, awoken by a sound that no one else would have been able to hear while alert, much less from a dead sleep. Leaving the comfort of Angela's embrace so early wasn't how he wanted to spend his morning, but in the wake of her news the other night on the encroaching turmoil of the region, he can't risk not being on guard. He collects his swords and disappears into the pre-dawn gloom.

When he returns, it's with a new black singe mark on his chest that surrounds two points of contact for a taser lead and a newfound urgency.]

Angela, get up. [He grips her shoulder and gives her a gentle shake.] The camp is in danger.

Comments

[need_healing]

[At the evac point, Genji had come across one broken down truck and a scattering of discarded items: non-essential supplies and a few personal items, likely left behind in haste. No blood. It's a good sign, but the foot traffic in the dirt is too chaotic to discern if Angela was among the people here. He considers sweeping the camp, or returning to her tent to collect his cloak, but if the attackers were still here, then he does not doubt that they would be there as well. And for as much as he wants to put his sword through them and finish the job, he's in no condition for another fight like that.

No, an empty camp would serve them far better than one wounded idiot running about trying to play a hero. He slips from the compound, but instead of heading south, he returns to the city. If he was going to catch up to the unit during the daytime, he needed a few things.

The barely functional motorbike he'd 'borrowed' is left behind an outcropping of rocks as soon as the ruins Angela had mentioned come into view and he finishes he trek on foot, uninterested in being shot at or detained the moment some on-edge guard caught sight of him. Dressed in tattered clothes and with his unmasked face wrapped in several scarves, he paints a close enough picture of a straggling refugee that the guards let him past the checkpoint, pointing him in the direction of the aid station when he asks about Dr. Ziegler.

He finds her in what he can only assume must have been some sort of meeting house when it was still in one piece, the open floorspace covered in cots and huddling civilians. The sun is starting to creep back down towards the horizon as he approaches her, casting long shadows through broken windows.]

A moment of your time, doctor?

[eidgenossen]

[It hadn't been an easy day. Several patients had been lost, the stress from the sudden upheaval too much for them- some hadn't made it to the evacuation zone in time. Soldiers succumbed to their wounds, and now they were short-staffed. Angela hadn't bothered idling around with those in charge, trying to come up with a solution for where they were headed from here- they can worry about that when they've patched up the wounded and laid the dead to rest.

The working conditions were worse than they were back in the camp, but she tried to make do with what she had. Nobody blamed her when she was unable to save a young soldier- not even her staff could keep up with several bullets that had spent several hours lodged in the chest of a young woman.

She retreats to a makeshift cleaning station that was little more than two buckets. As she rinses the blood off of her gloves, she bitterly notes if their injuries don't kill these people, there's a good chance an infection might.

She feels him there before he speaks and some of the tension immediately leaves her body. When she looks at him there's a tired, if relieved look on her face- she reaches out a hand to touch him but barely manages to stop herself.]

Are you injured? [She tries to keep her tone neutral, but the way her eyes frantically search his body for any visible wounds tells a different story. Regardless, she presses a gentle touch to his shoulder and begins to lead him out into an unused hallway under the guise of a doctor leading her patient.

The hall itself is too small and damaged to be of any real use- Angela sneaks one glance back through the doorway to make sure nobody had seen them.]

I had forgotten how much you Blackwatch agents love your dramatic entrances. [It's meant to be a light jest, but her tired tone and the way her shoulder droop say she's not quite in the mood for joking.]

[need_healing]

Minor damage. [He follows her into the hallway and once they're safely out of eyesight, he pulls down the scarves covering his face. There are narrow, blackened streaks across the side of his helmet, but the shot hadn't reached flesh. His other injuries were another matter.

Her comment about Blackwatch stirs a memory of the fight and how the dark man had spoken to him, as if he knew him and had expected him to obey. Very few people could claim such a thing.]

Your soldiers are more likely to shoot me on sight than let me in after what happened. I would not have been welcomed. [The old coat is peeled away from his shoulders next, exposing the damage done to his one good arm. The suit had taken the brunt of it, but his arm was still streaked with lines of blood where the shot had broken through.]

Was the evacuation successful?

[eidgenossen]

Not as successful as it could have been. [She presses her hand to the wound on his arm, examining it carefully- thankfully it didn't seem like something her staff couldn't handle.] We weren't prepared for an attack on that level.

[She lifts her staff and flips the switch on, watching with a tired look as the golden glow begins to settle over Genji's wounds.] Whoever they were, they weren't from here.

[Something she imagine he's already figured out on his own- maybe even more.]

They're talking about trying to air lift those with the more grave injuries back into the city. We don't have the equipment right now to keep them alive... in a few days they'll probably launch an expedition to see if there's anything worth salvaging from the camp.

You were able to get away safely? Nobody followed you? [She doesn't expect Genji would let anyone trail him if he didn't want them to, but she still worries.]

[need_healing]

[He doesn't takes his eyes off her as she inspects his arm. It's a minor thing to someone of her caliber, and he keeps still patiently.]

You did what you could. [Which he thinks she already knows, but he feels like it should be said anyway. The nanites are not an entirely unpleasant feeling and on some level he can feel them 'talking' to his cybernetics, repairing the damage done with an efficiency no human would have been able to match.

When she asks if he was followed, he answers with a shake of his head.] Driving through the desert in broad daylight is a remarkably effective way to throw off those who would prefer to remain hidden.

[His detour through the city had also been an effort to shake any tail he might have had and he was confident in his work. Still, the matter remained that whoever the attackers had been, they had located them at the camp in the first place and, given reign of what remained, it wouldn't take them long to figure out where this place was.]

But I don't think I was the one they were searching for. [He looks at her pointedly. They both know what he means.]

[eidgenossen]

[There's no way for them to confirm it, short of asking their mysterious guest- and she doubts he's going to let her get away a second time.]

I've made enemies, Genji, but none that have tried to kill me. Steal my work, slander me, yes...[She's not even sure Doctor O'Deorain would stoop to something like attempted murder- never mind that they hadn't spoken in years. It was just unlikely that it was her... but if not, then who?

When she's satisfied with his wound she turns her staff off and leans against the battered wall with a tired sigh, shyly reaching out to tug him closer.]

I suppose it could be anyone with a grudge against Overwatch. [Unlike many former agents, Angela hadn't exactly tried to hide herself after Overwatch disbanded. A guilty look crosses her face as she thinks about how easy it must have been to find her- and how all she had done is gotten more people hurt.] If he really was here for me, I'm more dangerous to these people than I am helpful...

[A memory of the confrontation flickers in her mind and she glances up at him, her brow furrowed:] Did you... know him? He spoke as if he knew you.

[need_healing]

[He rolls his shoulder and clips his mask back into place once the repairs are finished. Good as new, as he expects from her. The rest of the superficial damage can wait. When she reaches out, he slides his fingers between hers and settles against the wall at her side.

She shouldn't have needed to hide like the rest of them. She'd been a physician, not a combat operative. She helped people. Her efforts at saving lives had been groundbreaking and he has no doubt that without her, Overwatch would have had far more blood on its hands. Nothing about the attack made sense.]

I'm.. not certain. [The Shimada clan didn't have the resources for anything of that scale anymore, he'd made certain of that himself before leaving Overwatch.] Blackwatch? Winston's message did not seem very particular about who it reached.

[The thought that comes to him after the words leave his mouth hits him like a slap to the face. It couldn't possibly be, but what other answer was there? Unless there was something that had happened after he'd left...]

My orders came from Commander Reyes. But that's not possible... [He'd died in the explosion... hadn't he?]

[eidgenossen]

[At the mention of Reyes Angela shoots Genji an incredulous look:] Commander Reyes died during the conflict at the Swiss headquarters, Genji. I was there when...

[It's hard to think about- the conflict that unofficially ended Overwatch, old friends pitted against each other by unfortunate circumstance. A dark look passes over Angela's face as the fight plays out in her heard, like it has countless times before.]

We never found Commander Morrison, but Reyes... it was not good, but he was still alive. [She's only described these events once so that they could be put down in ink and promptly locked away. It's difficult to say if Reyes had anything resembling a positive relationship with those under his command, so her tone is hesitant. She doesn't want to upset Genji.] I tried my best to save him, but the damage was too much.

[That... was a really delicate way to describe the condition she found Reyes in.] I didn't give up so easily, believe me, I thought... I can't say I approve of what Reyes did, but I wasn't just going to let him die. All I can say is that if he did somehow survive, he wouldn't have an easy life.

...And that still doesn't explain why he's trying to kill me. [There's genuine confusion in her voice- sure, she had spoken out against his attempt to recruit Genji, but she butt heads with Morrison and Amari much more than she did him.] A copycat, perhaps? Someone who blames Overwatch for what happened to Reyes?

[need_healing]

[He doesn't expect her to go back over everything that had happened, but he hadn't been there and admittedly all he really knows about it is what was reported officially to the public. The HQ reduced to a pile of rubble, Morrison and Reyes dead, the remaining ranking members detained for questioning. So when she starts, he squeezes her hand in silent support.

Genji's relationship, such as it was, with Gabriel Reyes was about as well developed as one could be between an officer and an insubordinate child under his command. They weren't on the best terms, but he would never have wished the man dead. And he knows Angela would have done everything in her power to save his life, regardless of her personal opinion.

None of it makes sense, but he stops himself from asking if she'd actually seen them put Reyes into the ground. The day had been grim enough already.]

I feel it might not be so simple, but we will find no answers here. [He pushes himself away from the wall and turns to face her, taking her other hand in his.] Come to Nepal. You'll be safe there.

[eidgenossen]

[She knew he was working up to her leaving- there's a pang of guilt, as she's torn between wanting to stay and knowing she'd just be putting everyone here in danger.]

Give me a day to sort things out. They'll want me to stay. [It hurts that she can't tell them the truth- it'll look as if she's abandoning them when she's most needed.] I'll... tell them my visa expires sooner than I thought.

[Ideally she would like to stay until they could start air lifting the patients, but she knows that's at least two days away.]

And... I'm going to need some new clothes before we leave. I imagine I'll be very easy to track if I stay dressed like this. [All she had was her satchel filled with important documents, his letters and the tools needed to keep her suit and staff repaired. Luckily her laptop had been work issued- she imagines they won't find anything on it they don't already know about.]