Standing around the hologram of the facility, Isabell's stomach was in knots. Mercy had helped her do up her suit to deflect Annayat's radiation as best as possible, and it appeared to be working well.
But Isabell wasn't worried about that.
Overwatch had become her family. And now they were all headed into the biggest battle of their lives - they either succeeded, or the world burned around them. Isabell had no shortage of worries about it. Lucio had volunteered to go with her and Jamie instead of Reinhardt, because he was more useful in a small space and would be better in the thick of the fighting. Even with his calming tunes playing softly through the plane, Isabell couldn't sit still. So many things could go wrong.
They hadn't had any information on Talon in ages. They were basically going in blind. The worst was the worry that they might be biting off more than they could chew - they were expecting to go up against three Talon members at best, four at worst if Doomfist had found them and rejoined. But there could so easily be more that they didn't know about.
"Isabell," Tracer warned. "You look like Winston."
Isabell blinked in surprise, drawn from her thoughts. Tracer winked at her as she pulled on her shoes. "We were all like that on our first few big missions too. You're worrying again."
"Do you expect me not to?" Isabell offered a smile. On the inside, that smile was making her insides roil.
"Don't worry about them," Jamie dismissed. He was sitting on the edge of his seat, calibrating his mechanical leg. "They have Whitebeard with them."
Reinhardt raised an eyebrow, unsure whether to laugh at the nickname or feel pleasantly surprised that Jamie recognized his power. He kind of just sat there with his hammer across his knees, taking up half the aisle, and Jamie stuck his tongue out at him.
"Alright," Winston growled, pointing to different places on the holotable's map of the facility. "Isabell, Jamison, Lucio, you three will skydive in. There's enough fuel in each jetpack to slow down your descent and land you perfectly, but do not use them until you're as close as possible. We can't be detected by their turrets. Once you're in safely, Reinhardt, McCree, Lena, Angela and I will head in through this entrance and cause as much havoc as possible. This will leave the door open for you to get in, and enough of a distraction to let in Torbjorn, Genji and Mei who will come in from behind and surprise any attacks we'll be holding off. We'll keep them distracted while you three find Annayat and get her out. Once you're in the clear, set off your flare - you should have one each - and we'll hightail it out this exit with Reinhardt covering our backs."
Isabell swallowed again and looked at the holovid in the corner showing their trajectory. Three minutes.
"We clear?" Winston asked. Everyone nodded.
Isabell strapped on her jetpack. The controls were simple and she'd practiced with them. But that would be the easy part.
"Cool it, Izza," Lucio reminded, sitting down next to her. "You look like you're about to implode. You've got this. Swoop in, swoop out. I'm with you. Besides, we have the pyromaniac on our side - what could possibly go wrong?"
Just thinking about that question made Isabell dizzy.
Two minutes to drop.
"Alright, everyone ready?" Winston growled, clicking a piece of his suit casing into place. Isabell swallowed as she readjusted her pack straps for the seventeenth time.
"Ready," Tracer nodded seriously, before breaking out in her usual smile. "Let's give them a surprise."
Isabell's breathing grew shaky and she looked out the window at the night sky, the clouds threatening and looking ready to rain the second she stepped out of the plane. The sun having just set left one side of the sky still streaked in light reds and oranges, while the other remained unforgivably black.
"Hey," Jamie rested his arm on her head. "Just because the clouds are there doesn't mean those space explosions are gone."
Isabell rolled her eyes. "You need to work on your inspirational speeches."
"I'll be falling to my death right beside you," Jamie grinned, ruffling her hair. "Nothing we haven't done before, yeah?"
"Again, not exactly filling me with confidence," Isabell told him, but felt lighter anyway. He was right - just focus on the mission. Focus on yourself and the people that you should be worrying about, not the people who could take care of themselves. Just breathe.
"Thirty seconds," Winston walked over to the green hangar door button and flicked on the pressurization shields before pressing it. The hangar door yawned open, and Lucio, Isabell and Jamie walked over to the edge. Isabell's goggles blinked to life and displayed the snow-covered ground below them, and just over the next rise, a black oblong that could only be their target.
Jamie's jetpack was arranged awkwardly over his riptire, which he'd refused to take off, and he gave her a grin as he fiddled with the buttons - dancing his fingers over them but never actually pressing them down.
"We'll see you guys on the other side," Lucio nodded with a wave to the team behind them.
"Go," Winston nodded all too quickly.
With a woop and a yell, Lucio sprinted off the hangar door and leapt into the wind. Jamie gripped Isabell's elbow, grinned, and saluted Overwatch. Isabell took one last look at them - her family - before she turned and ran for the edge.
And then she was falling.
And Isabell felt everything fall away.
Just because the clouds are there doesn't mean those space explosions are gone.
Flying. That's what it felt like.
Isabell didn't care about the shrieking wind, didn't care about the frigid cold biting her skin, or the freefall. All that she felt was the moment and the feeling - the feeling of flying.
Total, complete freedom.
Imagine being able to go anywhere, do anything, say anything to anyone, do whatever you wanted all in a single instant.
That was what it felt like.
Like nothing mattered, nobody cared.
Isabell shrieked with delight and pulled herself into a dive position, catching up with Jamie who was plummeting like a rock. He gave her the thumbs up and she couldn't help the huge grin on her face, which he replicated. She spun in the air, twisting, and stuck her tongue out at him.
Jamie snorted and pulled a backflip, sticking his tongue out back.
"Idiot!" she roared over the wind at him, and it was unlikely he heard, but he got the message and mouthed back, 'Dipstick'.
Lucio turned up his music so loud that they could hear it even in freefall. It gained their attention and he gestured to the ground as they broke through the final layer of clouds. "Get ready!"
Instantly, Isabell's happy mood was sucked from the pit of her gut like water down a plughole. But it wasn't the worry that replaced it - the fear that she'd had on the plane.
It was pure, raw determination.
She would do this. She would tear anyone who tried to stop her in half.
Or more pieces, if they warranted it.
She adjusted her goggles, watching the building get clearer and clearer. She could see their entry point on the roof by now.
Lucio's music cut off before they were within earshot of the building. The signal.
Isabell fired her jetpack, frigid fingers pressing down hard on the designated button, and thunder roared overhead giving her the eerie feeling of having caused it herself. Her descent slowed dramatically as the jets warmed the back of her legs. Ten meters to go. Five.
Isabell crumpled her legs upon impact and rolled, ditching the jetpack in the process, and sprang up on the slippery roof. Jamie hit the deck a few seconds later, Lucio landing and rolling lightly and carefully almost simultaneously.
"We're down," Lucio tapped his ear, before taking out the comm device and crushing it under his skate. He glanced up at Jamie, who was swearing quietly as he struggled to work the jetpack off his riptire, while Isabell readjusted her goggles and nodded at him. They were programmed with their path into the building, and an almost-invisible trapdoor was encircled in bright blue light and flashed before her.
She indicated twice with her fingers as Jamie managed to fling the jetpack off the roof, and, keeping low, she sprinted towards it. Lucio skated after her and Jamie, muttering obscenities, jogged to catch up. Bloody massive legs.
Isabell attached the tiny device Winston had given her to momentarily override any digital locks on the inside and out. It clicked and hissed three times before going silent. Isabell didn't even look to Lucio for confirmation - she just hauled it open, checked inside quickly, and then dropped silently to the concrete.
No hesitation. No indecision. No stopping.
No thinking twice.
Jamie tumbled down, tripped and fell flat on his back with a soft profanity. Lucio landed lightly despite the skates, and nodded to her - silence was paramount. They could not attract attention before the others created a distraction. Sombra could already have eyes on them, but it was unlikely. She wouldn't monitor her own cameras no matter what she was told. She had her own plans and her own agenda - and security guard duty was not on it.
Lucio jerked his head towards one side of the corridor; opposite to where Winston and the others were supposed to come in. Isabell nodded, and sprinted down the corridor.
This was the science wing of the facility - or at least it used to be. But Talon wouldn't have moved all of the equipment just to mess with the plans. If they were going to find Annayat anywhere, it would be here.
Isabell paused outside a door marked 'EXP-7' and nodded to Lucio. He paused, before clicking the button and opening it, swiftly moving out of the way. No bullets sprayed out, and there was no sound from inside.
Lucio skated in and quickly checked around while Isabell and Jamie monitored the halls, but it wasn't long before he came back out and shook his head. No Annayat, no Talon.
Room after room they explored. EXP-12. SCI-72. CRL-4. Nothing. There was never anything but ordinary, unused science equipment that could just as easily be in a school laboratory.
If they were ever going to find her before Talon spotted them, they were going to have to split up. One more room, Isabell decided. Then she'd suggest it.
Lucio held up his gun, tight against the wall beside their next door. EXP-CLR. That was weird - they had only seen a letter-number pattern before. Never letter-letter. Just before Isabell pressed the button and ran in, purple light flashed under the door and scathing Spanish flew from inside.
Isabell's throat went dry. Sombra.
All three of them rounded the corner to listen, hidden from view.
"I knew it. I knew you would go back against me."
There was a sharp intake of breath as purple flared under the door, and someone's voice. It was different to anything Isabell had ever heard, and it was definitely not one of the other Talon members.
A cold shiver went through her bones.
A new Talon member they didn't know about.
Shit.
"I worked for years to do this. I made you what you are, Sombra. You will bend to our will."
"Some things never change, Moira - me being a disobedient mierda is one of them."
"I think it will. Tayanna is extremely useful, wouldn't you agree?"
Bright light flashed under the door and the sound of sparks and electricity was followed with a sharp intake of breath. Like someone trying not to scream. Sombra's tone changed - to something Isabell had never heard before.
Sombra was begging.
"Moira, please, don't do this. I can give you everything, every piece of information you need. I can give you the world on a silver platter. Just don't--"
"You forget, Sombra. Once you have this little adjustment, you won't need to offer me anything. I can take it."
Bright purple light flared and Sombra screamed. Isabell fought not to vomit. If someone as powerful as Sombra could be beaten so easily by this Talon member... who was she?
Isabell nearly screamed herself as a klaxon went off. The corridors were bathed in red as the building shook, an explosion going off on the other end. Isabell loosed a breath - the cavalry was here.
Literally.
The voice in with Sombra cursed softly. "Ah, I'm sorry my dear. But I have places to be."
Isabell could have sworn she heard Sombra breathe out in relief until the voice said, "But my machines can finish the job for me."
"Moira--"
Lucio yanked Isabell back behind the corner as the door hissed open. There was the clink of metal on glass before footsteps headed off towards the explosion.
"Isabell, no--" Lucio hissed, but Isabell didn't listen. She sprinted for the door and stopped it before it slammed down, jamming her foot underneath it. Lucio raced to grab her arm, but she dodged and ran inside.
This was the most active room they'd ever seen. It was cramped, covered in insane pipes and glass and chemicals, electricity bouncing sporadically around everywhere. Purple and green light was flashing crazily like strobes from a single chair in the center of the room, and machines were arranged around it, with mechanical arms and pliers and needles attached to them.
It was the most terrifying setup that Isabell had ever seen.
Mostly because of the two halves of a jade-green collar being lowered towards the chair, and the person strapped down to it with specialized cuffs over her wrists and a massive machine holding her head up. Exposed to the collar.
Sombra.
Trapped like an animal, mechanized arms jamming her head back and the rest of her limbs down, a sedation syringe being carefully measured out, about to ensure she didn't resist before they turned her into a slave.
Something inside Isabell snapped.
Sombra lost her family in the Omnic Crisis. Sombra lost her parents and became an orphan. Sombra rose above the rest of the kids like her and became something better. Sombra manipulated the crazy world around her to get her goal. And nobody ever stopped her.
Isabell lost her family in the Omnic Crisis. Isabell lost her parents and became an orphan. Isabell rose above the rest of the kids like her and became something better. Isabell manipulated the crazy world around her to get to her goal. And nobody.
Ever.
Stopped her.
Isabell started smashing. Her nunchucks whirled as she crunched them into machine and metal alike, electricity screeching around her and blood roaring in her ears. She crushed the machine about to unite the halves of collar around Sombra's neck, she smashed her restraints, she destroyed everything in the room in less than thirty seconds.
Jamie stared at her like she was a God. Lucio stared at her like she'd just killed his mother.
Sombra stared at her like she wasn't real.
Then her image flickered and shuddered out as she used her invisibility, and she was gone.
Isabell could have sworn she heard the words, barely audible, of 'thank you'. She couldn't be sure - she never would be - but the brush of a breeze as Sombra bolted from the room without being seen was enough thanks for her.
Isabell dropped her arms by her side and glared at Lucio and Jamie. "You two have something to say?"
Jamie grinned and crushed her into a hug while Lucio shook his head. "How did you know she wouldn't kill us the second she got out?"
"Because she's human, Lucio," Isabell answered as Jamie released her. As they exited the room, the building rocking with the force of another explosion, Isabell's voice remained calm. "Because her interest isn't in evil."
And as she headed for the next room, so quietly nobody else could hear, Isabell murmured to herself, "...Because I'm the same as her."
Nobody noticed the security cameras going down.
Or the turrets switching offline.
Who is Sombra?
She is nobody.
Nobody you'll ever know.