The blazing heat of Egypt was no problem for Junkrat, nor was the resounding cacophony of explosions all around him. The ring in his ears shot tingling thrill into his nerves- he was in his element like this, no one could touch him. Roadhog stood a few meters away, guarding his scrawny companion with a heavy sling of his hook whenever foes drew too near.

The two were nearly unstoppable- one thug would try to skirt past Roadhog, they'd be tossed into the air with a cherry bomb. If someone tried to land a hit on Junkrat, they'd be slammed full-force into the dirt.

"This'n is for you!", Junkrat cackles, setting a trap off on a grunt running past. The teeth of the contraption snapped closed, chomping down on the leg of its target with a troubling crunch. Their shrieks were masked by Junkrat's hacking laughter, the rush of battle stringing him high.

"Oi, oi, don't go cryin' now! Lookie, we match!", Junkrat kicks his artificial stump into the air, hopping on one leg while he giggles wildly.

His eyes rattle in his head as his gaze darts about the battlefield from his perch on a bridge. For a moment, he spots Lucio racing past below. Good, he had health insurance if things went south. He shrieks with laughter again, pumping his trigger-wielding fist in the air with a jump.

"Easy as pie, ay Roadie!?"

"Shut up and watch the kid!", Roadhog yells, working double-time with his hook as more and more enemies kept piling on the scene. Sweat pours down his muscled back as he hauls each new foe into the air with a grunt, sealing their fate.

"Sourpuss…", he grumbles. "Wait….whaddaya mean 'kid'!? He's a year older than me, ya big ugly-"

"WATCH YOUR ASS, FAWKES!", Roadhog shouts, yanking a thug moments away from taking Junkrat's head.

A chill runs down his spine, and Junkrat swallows, thoroughly humbled. "Right, Go-gotcha!"

The battle rages on for a good twenty more minutes with no word from the escorts.

"Where the fuck is the payload!?", Junkrat hollers. "I'm runnin' low on shit to blow up!"

"That's because you keep fucking around!", Roadhog retorts, arms sore from the strain. "Focus on keeping Lucio safe, he's our only shot at making it out of this shitshow intact!"

Said healer shot from side-to side below, soft beams of lime light trailing behind his silhouette.

Lucio had been put in charge of signalling when it was safe for the payload to move and healing those who had been injured while protecting it, while Zarya cleared the way forward and Tracer skirted about she and Mei, warning them of enemy traps. Mei was put in charge of staying atop the payload, keeping it safe from harm with her endothermic blaster.

Junkrat, wearing thin on his patience, shouts to Lucio below.

"Oi, hopscotch! Any sunny news for yer mates up 'ere?! Gettin' real tired a' coverin' your green butt!"

Lucio huffs, narrowly missing a projectile piece of stray shrapnel from a bomb aimed too close.

"Point taken, Jamie, but I'll be honest- I've lost signal from 'em!", he calls.

Junkrat whirls on him, anger making his head pulse.

"What!? For how long, pea soup!?"

"About three minutes now! I was trying to see if our communicators went offline, but We can't wait here anymore, we have to go find our team!"

Junkrat growls, upset with being referred to by his nickname by a stranger, and stamps his leg against the stone. "You nuts, froggy!? We leave the objective and it'll be a fuckin' rat's nest when we get back!"

Lucio grunts, exhaustion making the muscles of his legs creak. "I hear ya, but we gotta make sure they're okay! Ships can wait for parts for a few days, but we can't make it without our team!"

Junkrat spits, growling in frustration. Heroes.

Roadhog hurdles himself over to his side, landing with a thud. The explosions and gunfire are deafening, but nothing can mask the boom of his voice.

"He's right, Jameson! No teammates means a failed mission, a failed mission means no employment, and no employment means no goddamn paycheck. Let's go!"

The three make their way to the northern base, the charred ruins of the payload coming gradually into view. The sight makes Lucio frenzied, gunning forth on his skates against the gritty stone path to get to the wreckage.

"Slow the fuck down, we can't keep the pests off'a ya when you're playin' leapfrog up there!", Junkrat shouts, running as fast as he can alongside Roadhog.

"They could be hurt, Jamie! They need a healer!", Lucio shouts, boosting himself forward into the fray, the urge to help clouding his judgement.

"OI, FROGGY, SNIPER AT 4 O'CLOCK, WATCH YOUR HEAD!", Junkrat screams, spotting none other than Amelie Lacroix, the Widowmaker, hiding in the window of an abandoned building. His warning comes too late, though, as she takes aim and pins Lucio in the leg with a smart bullet, a smirk on her face all the while.

He screams and loses his balance, the forward momentum of his skates sending him toppling head over heels into the sand in a wounded tangle. All the air leaves his lungs in a wheeze, and he blacks out against the stone of a wall.

"Shit!"

In the distance, Roadhog spots a familiar pink-haired bulk lying in a bleeding heap near the roadside. He squints through dust-coated lenses to see Tracer's orange-clad legs sandwiched between the scrap of the payload, her right thigh bending where it shouldn't and her left ankle dangling at an odd angle.

"Where's Mei?!", Junkrat shouts, his hoarse voice rendered silent at the sight of Reaper fading slowly into view, tendrils of inky black whirling away to give shape to his form as he approaches.

"SHIT! IT'S AN AMBUSH!

A/N: Boy howdy, it's a cliffhanger! Here's where the real meat of the story begins, y'all ( n v o)/! Since it's been such a long hiatus, I figure I should give you guys a double update! Things should move a little faster from now on. For now though, I gotta go to bed! I work in 3 hours :V!