HITMAN: Aftermath

All For Nothing pt. 2

"I'm glad to hear your voice again, 47. It's been almost unbearable, being stuck in this cage for months."

An unnoticed knot in his chest softened. 47 didn't know what it was or when it appeared, but he felt it deflate. It was a warm sensation, whatever it was, only occurring at the sound of Diana's voice.

"I see," he breathed in his usual, monotonous tone.

"Attention, everyone!" The room fell to silence as everybody turned to look up at the voice. With a light behind casting him as a silhouette, Morrison spoke from the second floor.

The voice transmit through the earpiece. Diana could already picture the stage. "That's him, isn't it?" she asked. "The target, Jack Morrison."

"Tell me what you know, later," 47 continued, walking with Smith towards Soldier 76.

"Winston will move his injured men through the storm and leave them in the nearby utility buildings right outside the command center. I will head out to coordinate relief efforts with him in due time, meaning you will be the sole defense against Agent 47 if he's approaching the prisoner!" The red glare over his eyes met 47's helmet, making him squint. "I shouldn't need to repeat myself, but with the recent incident at the warehouse, I want nobody coming in. Secure all entry points, routinely check spaces such as closets, and always stay in pairs. The Lindholms left you with these advanced suits, and I want all of you to be using their last creations as intended! That is all, now return to your patrols!"

The rabble of the Overwatch agents continued after a synchronized "Yessir!" bounced around the command center.

Morrison sighed to himself, signaling for his personal guards to follow him to the stairs. As long as Diana was in possession, they had the upper hand against the ICA, he figured. He could afford to patch up his remaining agents, now. "Would've been easier if Ana or Dr. Ziegler were here..."

As 47 followed Jack by sight, he found a lifeless, dangling camera right above the staircase. He recalled the tampered surveillance footage back in the mainframe, darting his eyes between each of the matching landmarks: the war table, projecting an orange globe with marked (former) agents around the world; the escape pod dangling above ground; the computer area on the second floor protected by glass. Sombra messed with it for a reason, but there was nothing remarkable upon first glance...

"We following him?" Smith whispered, earning a shake of his partner's head. If they eliminated both targets first, there would be no chance to extract Diana. Instead, 47 motioned for Smith to follow him around the command center. Someplace isolated from the alert ears of Overwatch.

Ending up in an old bunk, 47 slid the door shut behind them. He and his partner sat across from each other as the hitman tapped his earpiece. "Diana, tell us what you know."

"Right, then. First things first, they have a code in case I'm missing: Lost Cicada. Winston and Jack Morrison will enter my cell as fast as they could and determine how I escaped, and the whole watchpoint enters lockdown. Also to note is the soldiers' nightvision in their helmets. It will amplify light sources by the hundreds, meaning you could blind them all through the correct manipulation. Then there's the matter of Sombra. Turns out, she--"

"I know about Sombra. Genji told me before his death," 47 said.

"I see I haven't been the only one digging." She smiled on the mattress, picturing the hitman somewhere in the command center. "I hope you have a plan, 47. These soldiers never abandon their positions for detaining me."

47 stood and left the bunk, Smith following suit. "I'm gathering ideas. You'll know when I need you." With that, they re-entered the primary room of the command center.