I can hear your pulse racing from here

[vata]

Who| Reaper, Widowmaker and Sombra
What| Team Talon back at it again with the white vans
Where| Sombra's habitat safehouse
When| obscenely late night meetups after Widowmaker finishes getting situated
Warnings/Notes| NA, will add if the creep squad needs them

As it turns out, Amélie is right.

It's been roughly two days since Sombra last slept, and she's been pushing hard to clear the last few checks on her to-do list before they're shipped off into action against the UP. By the time the clock circles around into single digits— against caffeine, determination and raw perseverance— Sombra's out cold: draped listlessly across the couch, Amélie's visor fixed firmly to her head, taloned nails limned with violet where they've managed to drag a holographic screen down into the mess of a floor.

But she's not without a contingency plan. Insurance in the form of Gabriel Reyes, who Sombra's made certain to demand stay nearby just in case Widowmaker's arrival happens to come with the gift of vandalism.

Vandalism roughly translated meaning: cleaning her living space without permission.

Comments

[araignee_du_soir]

Point made, Amélie eased up on the pressure against Sombra's leg so it rested more comfortably, more familiar.

She nodded at Reaper, fully capable of treating it like a mission for it was one. If she was unexpectedly separated from her handlers, she was to take any and all action necessary to return to Talon as efficiently as possible... while acquiring as little damage in the process. Thankfully, the financial investment Talon sunk into her meant they hadn't removed her instincts for survival and self-preservation.

The words regarding York meant nothing to Amélie - if he were foolish enough to fall for her, he deserved the broken heart - but the tone certainly caught her attention. Eyes focusing on Sombra, she narrowed them slightly.

"You have an investment in him?" Perhaps she would heed Sombra's request. Perhaps she would dig in deeper. It really did depend on the level of interest here, both Sombra's and York's.

[fantasmaniac]

Like Widowmaker, Reaper also picks up on the tone, his head turning her way slowly. There's a certain solidarity in the silence that follows, as he lets Widowmaker ask the question they're both wondering. If he had to take a stab at who of the three would feel the most attachment to this world and what it had to offer, without question, he'd guess Sombra. He doesn't care what she wants, if he's being honest.

As long as he gets what he needs.

[vata]

"What?" Sombra clicks her tongue as Gabe's mask ever so slowly turns her way, matching Amélie's critical stare.

One she can handle, but the both of them at the same time? It's a little one-sided.

"He's useful."

Bristling, she stuffs herself back against her corner of the sofa, bare feet tucked under her as if they haven't got the right to question her motives. Or at least not when her disaster of a natural habitat's already been disturbed. Can't they see she's clearly suffering!!1

"You break him, I lose a contact. ¿Se entiende?"

[araignee_du_soir]

"If he is so easily breakable, then he is not worth your time. Unless you are planning on using him as a sacrifice."

Amélie wasn't buying it. Sombra's defensiveness was more telling than anything. In fact, it made her want to weave York into her web a bit just to see what would happen. A spider needed to entertain herself some way when trapped in a place where the sanctimonious preaching was going to test her patience. What better distraction than playing with some prey?

"And if I break him and you lose the contact, you are not doing a very good job working undercover. Unless he knows and you are not telling us..."

[fantasmaniac]

As much as he has his own suspicions about his teammates (some more so than others), he doesn't express them out loud. He has his ways of dealing with trouble when it comes down to it, which seems almost contrary to his obsession with sticking to well laid out plans, but if you really think about it? He's a big picture kind of guy. Stick to the mission, follow through with the objective, whatever it is...they're all end goals rather than step-by-step checkpoints.

If Sombra is going to screw them over in the end, well, he'll deal with it when it happens. It's not so much that he likes to give their most brilliant informant and hacker that could easily turn on them at the drop of a hat all this leeway with how she conducts her business, but he just isn't a micro manager. It's not his style. Anyone who works with him knows what they'll be getting into. They just gotta be smart about how to escape him should they cross him, and well, Sombra is excellent at that. Even he isn't so sure he'd be able to hunt her down.

"Drop it," he says to Widowmaker, then turning to Sombra. "You know what you're getting yourself into?"

[vata]

A litle spark of warmth. The faintest shift in her expression, the brightness in her eyes when he draws the line in the sand an inch closer to Amélie than herself. A wire that's been wound tight across the conflict they've stuck out here: it feels like he's set some modicum of trust on her shoulders.

She should know that she's wrong.

"I always do."

And that, at least, is honest.

She didn't come here to screw them over, regardless of what Talon's strict programming might define it as. It's just...different. Necessary. They'll survive the disconnect, she plans on making sure of it.

She's so close.

[araignee_du_soir]

Of course, Sombra knows what she's getting herself into. The problem was that neither Widowmaker nor Reaper truly knew what all that was. Eyes half-lidded, she watched the hacker on the other end of the couch. She would drop it. For now.

"Fine. I shall endeavor to show some restraint with York. Toys are not as much fun to play with when they are broken."

[fantasmaniac]

Some would probably think he favors Sombra in some ways, like a parent that gives their youngest child more leeway than the eldest. The reality is that while on a mission (even an incredibly extended one, such as this), Widowmaker is much easier to read, despite her having very few emotions to read. The less he has to think about it, the easier it is, and that makes her an excellent team member.

Sombra is a wild child, someone he has to give some room. She doesn't respond well to being micromanaged, which, again? Not his style. Not to mention incredibly inefficient. So it all works out for everyone. Widowmaker's apparent concern about Sombra's intentions isn't something he's willing to spend too long worrying about, as long as he's aware that there just may be something lying beneath the surface. Just gotta keep on it.

While he doesn't doubt Sombra has her own agenda, he's always had a feeling that she'd get nothing out of screwing them over anyway.

"Glad you've both made up," he drawls, head tilting slowly like he's rolling his eyes with it. "Any other concerns?"

[vata]

"Nah. No tienes nada."

Aside from the mess that's now half-lost to the void, thanks to Amélie's efforts. But she won't pick at it, won't fuss. Draws her arms up and folds them across her knees as she surveys the rest of the trash strewn across the room the way a photographer might survey a dying jungle expanse.

"Might be for the best if we let Amélie get some rest."

Some real, human rest. A thought that's drowned out when Sombra yawns tiredly a split second later, still somewhat worn-through.

They've got a big mission ahead of them, after all.

"And you too, hermano."

[araignee_du_soir]

"Yourself as well," Amélie interjected. "In that bed you claim to have but never use. Do not make Gabriel have to carry you to it."

Her own eyes surveyed the rest of the mess. She would take care of it in the morning, see to it that the trash is thrown in the bin, the laundry done and properly folded.

[fantasmaniac]

The way he just kind of stares at Widowmaker might be a look of disapproval, as if he'd never consider the thought of carrying Sombra like some sort of petulant child to her bed. But if she does end up falling asleep someplace shitty like a couch in an obviously uncomfortable position which would only hinder her performance during a mission... well, maybe. It's all very circumstantial.

Shaking his head a little, he turns on his heel to leave, ghosting down the hallway back into the bunker to try and rest. It's only a few more hours until sun-up, but the chances of him actually succeeding in getting sleep tends to be very low. Fortunately, experience of doing a lot with little sleep is something he grew up with his entire life in the army.