Overwatch: Jinxed

Chapter 17: Fallen Star

When Winston had set them on a round-trip course circumnavigating the planet, he ambled back to speak with Tayanna. She didn't seem afraid at all - in fact, she seemed to know things about him.

"You're Winston!" she said delightedly as he sat down, surprised. "Oh, the Lunar colony, it had the most beautiful view, didn't it? The earth just looked so big when the King Tide came around! Oh, and seeing the solar eclipse from another angle - seeing your shadow fall over the earth, it was so wonderful."

Winston was too surprised to answer.

All of a sudden, she seemed to have information about all of them. "Oh, I remember you now!" she smiled happily at Tracer. "You're Lena Oxton! Oh, I was so inspired by how you came back from what happened. Moving at almost-light-speed is so invigorating, isn't it?"

"You say that like you've done it," Tracer raised an eyebrow.

But Tayanna had already moved on. "Oh, and you're Isabell Isaac! I can't believe the way that your body is able to radioactively decay while containing the lost particles and reassembling them inside the body in different areas! It's incredible!"

Winston stared and started scribbling down notes frantically. Tracer had no idea what she'd just said and looked like she was still suspiciously thinking about what Tayanna had said about Blinking, but Isabell...

"Isaac," Isabell whispered.

All her life, she'd always gone by just Isabell. Last names weren't a big thing in Australia, even before the radiation bomb, especially when your family just run a small business. Isabell had barely been old enough to attend kindergarten when the explosion went off. She'd never known her last name.

She's never known who she was.

Her father, in the hours that Isabell had dragged him from the debris field as he bled through his skin and eyes, had spoken to her. Most of it had been gibberish. The words of a madman. But towards the end, she remembered every word.

Our world is about to change, Isabell. You have to find the Fawkes family. Do you understand me? Find them. They were away on a business trip, and they will look after you. No matter what they show on the outside, a Fawkes will never leave you. They will never leave you behind, alright?

I don't want to leave you. Not yet. But you're strong. When you're angry, Isabell, when you want something, Heaven and Hell will move aside for you. If someone stands in your way, you leave them in ashes, you understand?

But you're not old enough. Not yet. Find the Fawkes. Alex, Leah, their boy Jamie... and his sister. I can't... I can't remember her... her name... Please. The Isaacs will live on in you, okay? So you have to live for me. You have to find the Fawkes and you have to live.

Don't let me down.

Isabell had never understood that part. She'd never known who the Isaacs were.

They were her family.

They were her.

"How did you know?" Isabell asked faintly. She felt like she was going to pass out, and it had nothing to do with Annayat's leaking energy. Tayanna was fully awake, and her energy seemed to indeed be contained instead of leaching out. When Tayanna looked confused, Isabell clarified. "My last name."

"You knew," Tayanna explained. "I can see you. I can see the strongest points in you, the most powerful parts. Lena's is her love for adventure, her love for speed and danger. Despite--"

"Stop there," Tracer said quietly in a warning tone. Isabell was surprised - it must be something very important if she'd keep something secret from Winston. He looked surprised as well, but Tayanna had just nodded and kept going.

"Once I find a tower, I find the specifics. Your tower was the people around you. I suppose it's less of a tower and more of a tree - a tree with branches. Bigger than all the rest of your mind. You lost people around you and now you're finally finding a new family. You're part of it," Tayanna pointed to Lena. "You have a whole branch to yourself. So are you." Pointing at Winston. "That's one of your trees. At the base is all of the roots from where you get it from - and the memories of your father are some of the biggest. He called you the smartest Isaac yet in one of them."

Isabell vaguely recalled that. She'd been really, really young though, so it was difficult. 

Isabell opened her mouth to say something, but a loud buzzing erupted from behind her and startled her. She whipped around to see the holotable blaring red instead of blue. Bad. Something had gone wrong back at the Headquarters. 

That was the Overwatch emergency frequency.

Winston slammed his fist down on the table and Mei's voice filled the plane. "Winston!"

"What is it, Mei?" he asked quickly. Tayanna was staring in fascination at the table, no doubt instantly finding out what it was and how it worked.

"He's gone, Winston," Mei said, panicked. "He's gone. Genji and I, we ran, but he was already gone."

"Who?" Tracer asked, Blinking over and bracing her hands on the edge.

Isabell already knew, and ice spread through her bones.

"Jamison. He's gone."