The day was quiet.
Jamie was still sleeping, snoring his head off. Isabell had waited all night, making sure he didn't choke on his own tongue during the night, until the sunlight had streamed through the curtains and she couldn't keep her eyes open. She'd fallen asleep in the small armchair, curled up with her arms wrapped around her knees.
She woke up at about midday and - almost zombie-like - staggered into the cafeteria and started hoeing into whatever food she could lay her hands on. She was about halfway through when more people started filing into the room.
McCree looked dead. His eyes were sunken and hollow and he was barely walking straight. Mercy was scolding him for drinking so much, but he didn't appear to hear. There was still permanent marker on his face, giving him distorted glasses and eye shadow. Hung over so badly his own headache had woken him up from sleep and Mercy still refused to heal him.
"Maybe you'll learn your lesson this time," she scolded, adding potatoes and garlic relish to her tray. McCree didn't even seem to see what he was piling onto his plate, he was so out of it.
Winston walked in soon after Mercy made McCree sit down opposite Isabell and start eating. She raised an eyebrow and Mercy rolled her eyes as the scientist grumpily walked in. He wasn't as bad as McCree - Isabell was surprised McCree wasn't dead, the amount that he'd been drinking - but he held one hand to his head as he slumped in a chair, rubbing his temples as he attempted to eat a banana.
"Bad decisions," he groaned. "Bad life decisions."
"Absolutely," Mercy snapped. "You should never consume as much alcohol as you did - your immune system and especially your liver are suffering for it. How do you expect to continue to be a scientist if your brain cells are all dead?"
Winston took the lid off a jar of peanut butter and spat it towards the general direction of the bin in answer.
"And look at how you're eating!" Mercy ranted. "You need a healthy body to have a healthy mind and you are doing yourself no favors!"
Winston ignored her and started scooping out peanut butter.
"We are going into the lion's den tomorrow," she continued, "Into the base of operations of our enemy with three of the most dangerous people in the world out to kill us, and you look like you've been hit by a venom mine!"
Lucio skated in, about to deliver some epic line, before he tripped over his own skates and landed with a crash next to Isabell, sending chairs spinning away with a groan. Mercy threw up her hands. "I rest my case!"
Lucio seemed better than the rest of them - just a little hung over, the mother of all headaches and a little bit unbalanced. Isabell helped him to his feet and he slumped in the chair next to her without offering a reply.
Eventually, Tracer and Mei walked in, both dead-eyed and unresponsive, just milling around while they waited for their hangovers to end. Isabell was almost finished her pizza when Genji came in, easily the best there (other than Mercy and Isabell). Because of his dual nature, alcohol didn't have a lasting effect on his body and only made him drunk the moment, so he was fresh as a daisy when he sat down to start on his fried rice.
"Where are Torb and Reinhardt?" Isabell asked through a mouthful of noodles.
"After last night?" Lucio raised an eyebrow and then winced, his headache probably reacting to it. "I'm surprised that Torb hasn't committed suicide yet."
Isabell thought of the belly dancing and stifled a laugh.
"Besides," Tracer drawled, "Rein is all about honor and glory. When Jamie beat him at arm wrestling it broke his little knight's heart. He'll be alright for tomorrow."
Isabell munched thoughtfully and turned to Genji. "What do we know about the address?"
"It's an old Overwatch facility," Genji answered. "Unused for many years. Satellite from a few months ago shows that it has been renovated - but since then, there has been no new footage."
"Sombra," Lucio muttered.
"We have the blueprints for it," Genji continued, "but they may very well have changed. We are going to have all hands on deck for this battle." He tilted his head at Isabell. "Will Jamison fight with us?"
"Would you fight if Talon had captured Hanzo?" Isabell asked, and then regretted it. "Bad example. But it's his sister, and yeah, he'll do anything for her. Even stick to plans that have actual brains behind them."
"Good," Genji nodded. "This will go much smoother with him. Two teams will go in. Isabell, you and Jamison will go with Reinhardt to find Tayanna. Torbjorn, Winston, Lena, Angela, McCree, Lucio and Mei will go with me to directly attack Talon members and distract them while you recover her and find a way to keep her stable. Comms will not be open - Sombra hacking us is not an option."
Isabell nodded.
"Speaking of which," Mei said nervously, "Where's Jamie?"
"Sleeping," Isabell told her, and smiled warmly to herself at the image of the curled-up Jamie snoozing gently on the couch. She saw tears bead in Mei's eyes and her eyes widened. "You don't," she stared.
Mei blinked twice and then fled the room.
Mercy stifled a laugh. "At around two o'clock, while you and I were chatting, Mei professed her love to Jamison while they were drinking together." She shook her head. "A scientist like her indulging in alcohol... anyway, he outright rejected her and she was crying for the rest of the night. What were the words he used?"
"'I'm into the chicks who make me want to burn the world for them'," Winston grinned. "'Not little Elsa wannabes'."
"Who's Elsa?" Mercy asked.
"Old movie," Isabell thought hard back to the ancient movies she'd watched with her mother. "It's about a queen with depression, anxiety and ice powers, I think."
"Ah," Mercy raised an eyebrow. Isabell just finished her noodles and clinked the spork back into the bowl.
"Poor Mei," Lucio sighed. "Jamie's heart belongs to someone else."
Isabell looked at him closely. "What?"
"Well, he was dead drunk and didn't kiss Mei? That's ringing alarm bells. Unless you're thinking about someone else, especially since this is Jamie, you don't say no to someone when you've had that many drinks. Especially not someone as cute as Mei."
Tracer raised an eyebrow at him and he was quick to recover. "Not that you aren't. Or Angela. Or, you know, anyone else here." He leaned back. "Actually, to be honest, you two are more hot than cute."
Tracer rolled her eyes. "You act even gayer than I do, Lucio."
He threw a pie at her and she Blinked out of the way, laughing. "Just because I can tell who's most likely to get together does not make me gay."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Tracer pouted, and Blinked back into her seat before blanching and turning white. "Okay so don't Blink while hung over. Got it."
Isabell laughed, pushing back her chair. "I'll go check on Jamie. I think he misses Roadhog."
"You know we couldn't bring him with us--" Winston started and Isabell sighed.
"I know, Winston. I'm glad we didn't bring him, even though he'd be very useful in our next battle."
Isabell closed the door behind her and headed into the quiet halls of the Overwatch Headquarters.
The Talon Headquarters. The big one.
If Isabell screwed up on this one, she wouldn't be the only one who was dead. The sort of havoc Talon could wreak... They could frame one country, frame the humans, frame the omnics for destroying entire continents. Mind-control world leaders. Bring the Omnic Crisis back.
She opened the door to her room and stared, closing it quietly behind her.
Jamie was gone.
Isabell screeched as a ball of explosives and car parts hit her and tackled her onto the couch, laughing and growling. She attempted to land a hit on him but his mechanical arm wrapped around her legs, curling her into a ball around him and pinning her arms to her sides as he fell back on the couch with a loud 'oof'.
"Idiot!" Isabell screeched and laughed at the same time. "I thought I was being attacked!"
"Who says you weren't?" Jamie retorted with a grin. "How was last night?"
She raised an eyebrow and he laughed. "You expect me to remember?"
Isabell smiled a secret smile and he frowned at her. "What?"
Her grin grew wider. "You said some pretty crazy things..."
Jamie flushed. He was actually embarrassed? Jamie didn't get embarrassed. He didn't care what he said. But right now, he was beetroot red. "What did I say?" he asked cautiously.
"You and Reinhardt swore at each other for a few hours," Isabell laughed. "That was hilarious to watch. Then you thought you were at a water fight and tipped a bucket of water on Lucio's head and told him he was gay."
"I didn't say anything to you?" Jamie raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say anything I shouldn't have?"
"Ohhhh," Isabell realized. "You mean that whole big conspiracy about what you saw that one time that has everyone after your blood? Not that I know of, no. You did shut down Mei after she told you that she had a crush on you. I missed it, but she was crying for the rest of the night."
"She'll be fine," Jamie dismissed, and released Isabell. Taken by surprise, she hit the rug and didn't get back up, groaning. Jamie laughed and she threw a plastic flower from the coffee table at his head. He caught it. "Roses? For me?"
"That's a tulip."
He waved her off, propping his head up on his hand and twirling the flower around in his other while Isabell glared at him. "Aren't you going to help me up?"
"You assume I'm a gentleman," Jamie told her. "I'm not."
Isabell gave him the finger and he crossed his legs, sitting up, completely unfazed. "You ready for tomorrow?"
"I'm surprised you even remember," Isabell raised an eyebrow. "How do you not have a pounding headache?"
"I'm experienced," Jamie grinned.
"McCree's experienced. He drinks all the time."
"They don't make it the same up here," Jamie dismissed. "The stuff they have here is like water compared to the shit back home. Gum tree sap, sand and pure alcohol are all you need for a beer in Junkertown."
Isabell couldn't suppress the smile that crept over her face, and she got up, heading outside to the glass balcony. She moved to sit down on the outdoor sofa, but found her path blocked as Jamie darted in. "You're not lying to me?"
She raised an eyebrow in question.
"I honestly didn't say anything I shouldn't have?"
Isabell couldn't help smiling again. She'd never seen him like this and it was funny to see a different side of him - to see a couple of the eggs that weren't quite so scrambled. She nodded. "You didn't spill any secrets."
"Good," he sighed, and flopped back, taking up the whole couch. Isabell shoved him to no effect, baring her teeth.
"You just did that to get the couch, didn't you?"
"A little bit," Jamie grinned.
Isabell just shrugged and sat on him.
"Jesus Christ!" Jamie sputtered, obviously not expecting this. Isabell waved sweetly at him and turned to look out towards the ocean without a care in the world.
"Fine, you win," he grumbled, and moved over. She lay down next to him, yawning. "How're you still sleepy?"
Isabell flushed. "I stayed up all night watching you."
"You watched me sleep?" Jamie said, bemused.
"It's not like that!" Isabell protested. "You were drunk, and if I left you then you might've choked on your own tongue. I read that that happens sometimes." And then she smiled a secret smile. "And you asked me to."
Jamie spat out some boba tea he'd procured from nowhere and stared. "'S'cuse me?"
"You made me promise not to leave," Isabell told him, her voice lowered to a murmur subconsciously, recognizing that this wasn't something Jamie wanted the rest of Overwatch to know. "You said... 'You promise you won't go?'"
Jamie went stiff. "...I said that to you?"
"Yeah," Isabell told him, leaning her head upwards to try and see his face unsuccessfully. "It was kinda cute, actually." He didn't relax, and she asked softly, "Is that important to you?"
"It was the last thing we said to our parents," Jamie swallowed. "Tay and me. We were waiting outside, and they went in, and we made them promise to come back for us."
Isabell's stomach clenched as she realized what the words really meant. What he had really been asking her.
Her last words to her father had been a promise, too.
I'll find them, daddy. I promise.
"Can we just stay here?" Jamie asked. "I can't deal with dipsticks today."
"I knew you were lying," Isabell smiled, snuggling into the warmth of his chest. "You do have a headache, don't you?"
"Like a hook split me skull," Jamie answered, smiling, and wrapped his arms around her. "You're really warm, you know that?"
"Is that your version of a compliment?" Isabell asked with a grin.
"It's as good as you're getting," Jamie told her.
And so they stayed.
Isabell knew the real reason he wanted to stay here. This was the most dangerous mission Overwatch had ever undertaken. Going into the lion's den, as Angela had put it. With only some plans and some radioactivity on their side to help them.
Being honest...
Jamie and her might not even have another day to spend here.
They might not have any more time to just sit quietly and watch the sun cross the sky.
And so...
They stayed.
Just a little longer.