And just like that, she was down, Chapter 5: LENA WHAT THE HELL

[AO3 link]

---

D.va > LENA WHAT THE HELL?! Σ(ﾟДﾟ；≡；ﾟдﾟ)
D.va > LENA
D.va > LENA WHAT IS GOING ON TALKT O ME щ（ﾟДﾟщ）
D.va > LENA
D.va > LENA
D.va > LENA DO NOT MAKE ME (ง'̀-‘́)ง YOU
D.va > LENA
D.va > LENA
D.va > LENA
D.va > LENA TALK TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
D.va > LENA
D.va > LENA LENA
D.va > LENA LENA LENA LENAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tracer looked at the chat log - hundreds of lines of it, all more or less the same - from their Yukon safehouse, a room behind a little supplies store on the side of the Dempster Highway in the Yukon tundra, halfway between Dawson and nowhere. 23 hours a day of sunlight would make her even more hyperactive than usual, but it still paled before the unlimited energy force which was Hana Song.

She checked the time. Well, it'll depend on where she is right now, I suppose... And then the text scrolled again, on its own.

D.VA > LENAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA TALK TO MEEEEEEEE
Tracer > Hey, Deeves.
D.va > LENA LENA LENA LE
D.va > LENA!!!1
Tracer > Hiya
D.va > ARE YOU OK? DOES /╲/\╭ºoꍘoº╮/\╱\ HAVE YOU?! ARE! U! OK!
Tracer> I'm fine. Kestrel's fine. Widowmaker is... as fine as she ever is.
D.va > WHAT THE HELL?! DID U RLY RIP THE WALLS OFF OF MEDBAY?

Lena laughed, quietly. "Hey, Em, you impressed Hana!"

Emily leaned over and looked at Lena's screen. "...you're on chat? They didn't block your account?"

"This is Hana's personal server. She gave me a login there for when she's in Korea. Thought I'd check it, since Winston hasn't answered any of my messages." She'd hoped he would. He might've voted for deprogramming, but - like Tracer and Kestrel - he'd also argued that Widowmaker should at least have a voice in it.

"They've closed ranks, at least 'till they see what happens. I was afraid of that." Emily put her hand on Lena's shoulder, gently. "I'm sorry. But I still think he'll come 'round eventually."

"I gotta hope so."

Tracer > Nah
D.va > ???!
Tracer > That was Kestrel.
D.va > (╬ಠ益ಠ) WHY?!
Tracer > Because we made a promise and we meant it. For better or for worse.
D.va > A promise? To whom?
Tracer > Widowmaker. Don't you know about this?
D.va > /╲/\╭ºoꍘoº╮/\╱\ KIDNAPPED YOU?!

Widowmaker saw Lena's sudden smile, and looked over onto her screen. "How does she type those character graphics so quickly? I... like that one."

"She doesn't," replied the teleporter. "At least, I don't think she does. She keeps 'em all in big text files, hundreds of 'em."

Tracer > No. We... you don't know about this at all, do you.
D.va > NO I DON'T BUT YOU BETTER TELL ME RIGHT NOW
Tracer > Kestrel and I ... we promised Widowmaker, a couple of months ago, in London, if she wanted to get away from Talon, we'd help her.
D.va > ...OKAY
Tracer > Part of that was, nobody's changing her again, not against her will. That includes Overwatch. We swore that wouldn't happen. Capturing her, that's one thing, doing to her what Talon did to Amélie, that's another. 'Cause she's a person, too, even if the doc don't think so.
D.va > Okay...
Tracer > D'ya see what I'm saying? We swore we wouldn't do to her what Talon did to Amélie... or let anybody else do it either.
D.va > ...okay...
Tracer > And Angie... didn't agree.
D.va > ...oh
Tracer > She said Widowmaker wasn't really a person, couldn't really consent or not consent, that the only way t'fix that was "reversing her conditioning," and so it wasn't the same thing.
D.va > ...
Tracer > Like she was on some kind of hallucinogen or drunk or something like that
D.va > ᕙ(⇀‸↼#)ᕗ
Tracer > but I'll be snookered if I can see a difference
D.va > ...
Tracer > since either way the person we made a promise wouldn't exist anymore once she was done.
D.va > （・Ａ・）
Tracer > so we stopped it. We kept our promise.
Tracer > sorry about the mess.
D.va > ...
Tracer > It was kinda spur-of-the-moment.
D.va > ...
Tracer > We kinda figured, we talk Widowmaker out of Talon, we might have to quit Overwatch
Tracer > We didn't really think we'd have to break her out. Not really.
Tracer > But ... we did what we had to. I don't regret it.
D.va > ...
D.va > So... you're saying Angela was going to ... undo spiderfication ... and turn her back into Amélie?
Tracer > Try to, anywya.
Tracer > anyway
D.va > But Widowmaker didn't agree to it.
Tracer > If you were her... would you?
D.va > ...
D.va > ...
D.va > ...no
Tracer > So there y'are.
Tracer > That's why.
D.va > ...
D.va > (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
D.va > WIDOWMAKER IS A MONSTER BUT tHAT's STILL NOT OKAY
Tracer > Not even sure she's a monster
Tracer > A killer, sure, that's all she's ever known
Tracer > But you and me, we're both military, we both have death counts
D.va > ...
D.va > it's different
Tracer > it is
Tracer > but i can fight in a war and still oppose the death penalty
Tracer > cause that's different too
D.va > ...
D.va > ...but you're okay.
Tracer > Yeh.
D.va > Kestrel's okay.
Tracer > Yeh.
D.va > Talon doesn't have you.
Tracer > Heh - no. Talon's after us too.
Tracer > but they don't know where we are
Tracer > and they're mostly after Widowmaker anyway, they've always been after us
Tracer > what's one more kill-on-sight order between friends?
D.va > ...they want to kill the spider now?
Tracer > Yep.
Tracer > Don't trust her anymore.
Tracer > If our intel's good, it came down from the top.
D.va > ...
D.va > Where are you?

The three of them had left the Oregon desert safehouse after a round of showers, the chance to enjoy some food outside of a moving vehicle, and a day of proper sleep. Widowmaker had even complimented their choice of mattresses, proving again that the spider had some interest in creature comforts.

There'd been no Interpol notice - or anything similar - about any of them yet, the key word being "yet." Nothing on Lena "Tracer" Oxton, or Emily "Kestrel" Oxton, or even anything new about Amélie "Widowmaker" Lacroix, or any combination thereof. Emily's current consulting contract with BAE hadn't even been voided; she still had access to their network. But the plan was to keep moving anyway, until they felt a little more comfortable about what Lena hoped, desperately, was an olive branch from their old team.

Tracer > Sorry, luv.
D.va > ...
D.va > ...I gotta think.
D.va > You're not in ROK. You close?
Tracer > Sorry, again, luv.
D.va > meet me in Incheon?
Tracer > ...
Tracer > ...maybe. In a week. If things stay settled down.
Tracer > Talking of, we gotta go.
D.va > okay
D.va > stay in tuch
D.va > touch
D.va > I wanna see you in person. I need to know you're you. I need to be sure. Incheon. Next week. You and Kestrel. Alone. Noooooooooooo spiders.
Tracer > If we can. I'll check in... when I check in.
D.va > k. let me know.
Tracer > Bye

Lena dropped her way back through several anonymous VPNs and re-routers, and shut down the encrypted chat client. Incheon, she thought. Port city, easy to get to... it could work.

"Hey, Kes, Wids - y'want t'go out for Korean next week?"

Widowmaker looked across the table where she had just been shutting down her own communications array, reaching out to various specialised, no-questions-asked chemical synthesis specialists. "...you like Korean food?"

"I can take it or leave it, luv. But Hana Song sure does."

Kestrel looked over at her wife with a curious look. "...oh, really?"

Tracer shrugged at her wife. "Maybe."

"Brilliant. We could use some allies. And while you've been doing that - I've got your old contacts alerted that we're back in business, as freelancers. We'll need the money."

Widowmaker threw Kestrel a look of caution. "You aren't telling them about my particular skillset, I presume."

"Course not," she said, taking the blue woman's hand and squeezing it. "Not 'till you want in. Until then - well. I think of you as our ace in the hole."

The blue assassin wasn't entirely sure what to think of that, but she did think she found it satisfactory, and, possibly, just the tiniest bit pleasing.

"That," she said, with the hint of a spidery smile...

"...will do, for now."

-----

"Winston," said Athena, a chime ringing behind the word. "Relevant activity detected."

Winston looked up from his console, where he had been re-reading Lena's messages, wanting so much to reply, but holding off until they knew where Tracer and Kestrel might be headed. The locations of several Talon weapons caches had been welcome, and gave some hints, but could just as easily be bait, and they couldn't take the wrong kinds of chances.

"Thank you, Athena. Throw it down here?"

It wasn't much, and it wasn't personal - but it was familiar. Lena Oxton had listed herself as available again for private security contracting work, under her old company name. Same terms as before he'd initiated the Overwatch recall, but higher rates, and the added services of an experienced flying operative - battlesuit included.

He carefully checked over each version of the notice Athena had found. None mentioned sniper capabilities, and all carried the same sets of legality and indemnification conditions as before. She'd always played the game well above-board - and, at least in these listings, that had not changed.

I ... I pray this is real, he thought, allowing himself a hint of relief. If it is, they won't be in Talon uniforms the next time we see them. An image, a vision, flashed into his mind, of Lena Oxton, golden-eyed, blue-skinned, half-grin a sneer, leaning against her wife, Emily, silver-eyed, pale violet skin and purple and violet hair, tall, cold, and cruel.

He shuddered, and put it out of his mind - it won't happen - as he forwarded Athena's findings to the rest of Overwatch. We won't let it.