It's been four years since she joined Overwatch. It wasn't exactly the kind of thing she had seen for herself back when she was still a teenager. Angela was a staunch advocate for pacifism, and she didn't hesitate to let Overwatch know when they first tried to recruit her. "A militaristic approach will never work when you're trying to bring forth peace," she'd write back, and immediately shred the letter of invitation.

They never quite left her alone. Not to toot her own horn, but Angela was the child prodigy who graduated (with academic excellence nonetheless) medical school at twenty-four. The one who started her career as a trauma surgeon at only twenty-five, the woman with a brilliant mind that everyone wanted but herself. She still didn't know if it was her annoyance with the group's persistence or the fact that their reasons were getting better that pushed her to sign up and walk among the ranks of the world's greatest.

Now, Overwatch may have represented everything that Angela hated in the world, but Blackwatch somehow managed to do all the bad that Overwatch did and more. If there was a world leader who leaned a little too far towards the point of dictatorship, Blackwatch made sure that they were disposed of. (Of course, not without doing a little interrogation first.) If there was someone out there who was found to be using the fruits of their research in the wrong way, it was hardly a mystery to figure out what happened when Angela was given new medical reports to chew on.

That wasn't even the worst of it. How many agents would be dead were it not for Blackwatch taking out the threat before they realized it? Under normal circumstances, an Overwatch agent wouldn't know any of this. Blackwatch was still a covert ops division, and Overwatch was (in Angela's humble opinion) far too liberal with their hiring process. If anyone who didn't like it caught wind of Blackwatch and felt like letting the authorities know… Well, Angela already had a list of places to go to in order to find new work. She knew all of Blackwatch's sins because she herself was a member of Blackwatch.

The invitation was extended to her about two years after she first signed on. She could still remember the paralyzing anxiety she felt when her name was called, because Commander Morrison wasn't supposed to have a reason for wanting to talk to her (surely, if he wanted to speak to her as a friend, he could have just called her cellphone). And if Morrison wasn't supposed to have a reason for it, Agent Reyes certainly shouldn't have had a reason. The atmosphere in the room hadn't been as tense as she'd been expecting, and for that she was endlessly glad for.

"Take a seat," Jack motioned to one of the plush chairs in front of her. Nodding, Angela did. "You look pretty tense there, Angela. Don't sweat it too hard."

Kind of hard not to, when two of Overwatch's most influential leaders are sitting right in front of you, Angela thought with an internal snort, but decided to keep the thought to herself. Jack already knew one-too-many things about her. To know that she was still intimidated by his presence was something that he could survive without. "Anyways," she coughed, hoping to make this visit as brief as possible. "What did you need me for?"

"We've seen how you work," Reyes began, and Angela didn't know if she felt better or worse now that he was taking over the conversation. "No one would argue with you to say that what you're doing isn't beneficial for humanity." Worse. Definitely worse.

"But?"

"Reyes thinks that you can do better," Jack answered. "His proposal sounds interesting, and I think I'd like you to hear it."

Reyes shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not a big a deal as Commander Morrison's making it out to be. Might be to you, Doctor." Angela gestured at him to go on. "I think that I want you to enlist in our covert ops division."

"We have a covert ops division?" was Angela's first question, before she shook her head. "I mean, well. I guess me not knowing that we have one is a sign that you're doing your job right." Still, it wasn't reassuring. The purpose of a covert ops division was to carry out missions that a sponsor didn't know about. And in this case, the Swiss government. "Remind me, since when did Overwatch have need for a covert ops division? We're a peacekeeping organization, are we not?"

Jack let out a harsh noise. Like he'd been expecting the question, but still didn't know how to give a response. He started off slowly. "Some people don't want peace. They have too much to gain from chaos, so they don't budge. Blackwatch does a lot more good than what you may think. More than I want to admit." He threw a pointed look at Reyes, who might have been smiling. Angela didn't know, and she decided that it was her eyes playing tricks on her.

"And you think that I'm going to willingly enlist?" Angela quirked an eyebrow at Reyes. This proposal was sounding interesting, because if these two really thought that it'd be enough to draw her in, well. It had to be pretty damn convincing.

Reyes shifted in place. "I'll give you the skinny; Blackwatch has been going after a terrorist organization for a while. You know the Omnium explosion that took out Bjarnson and Lentz?" Oh. Angela nodded her head, uneasy. She hadn't been on the mission, and she felt needlessly guilty every time she reminded herself that she could have saved them. "Yeah, well. It wasn't a freak incident. That Omnium's been dead and deactivated for years. The explosion was calculated, done by someone who knew we were going to be there."

"You mean the person who reported rogue Bastion unit sightings," Angela finished, filling in the gaps for herself. If she hadn't already been sitting, she might have collapsed onto the seat in disbelief. It sounded ridiculous, that they'd lost soldiers as a result of something like a false report. It'd been so easy...

"Exactly. Unfortunately for them, those fuckers didn't cover their tracks well enough." Reyes actually was smiling now, and Angela couldn't figure out why.

"Forgive me if I'm out of line," she began, quirking an eyebrow up. "But this… Threat, if you will, has already caught you off guard. You lost two men that night. Assuming this is another trap, which it very well could be, how many more are you willing to lose?"

The smile was gone, and it made Angela feel uneasy as a result. Actually, Reyes' whole character made her feel uneasy, but she supposed that there were some things you couldn't help.

"What they found wasn't a location, or an invitation, or anything like that. Reyes can fill you in on the details, but there were blueprints and a lot of notes on manipulation of cell growth." Jack looked to Reyes. "Most of it's encrypted, but we're pulling some of Overwatch resources to decrypt it all. Problem is, we have no clue what to do with the information."

Reyes took over. "Lindholm, our engineer, he's already volunteered to take a look at the blueprints. We didn't even really need to tell him where we got it." Angela winced. She and Torbjörn held similar ideas about Overwatch, and to hear this was kind of… Well. She didn't think that he'd be as willing if he did know that Overwatch had Blackwatch attached to it. Reyes didn't seem to notice her discomfort and continued. "But the research on cell manipulation is completely past anyone at Blackwatch. Nobody knows how to proceed, so we were thinking that you might."

"Couldn't you just give me what you already have without putting me in a position where I have to get acquainted with Blackwatch?" It made sense to Angela. But Jack and Reyes gave each other a look of knowing.

"You're too curious," Jack began. "It's what makes you brilliant, sure, but it's also why we have to tell you about Blackwatch. And it's also why you have to conduct your research in their facility. Your associates also happen to be curious people, and I don't feel like letting all of our agents in on the fact that Blackwatch exists."

Ah. That also made sense.

"Alright. You've piqued my interest enough. When do I start?"

Fast forward two years, and there she was, working for a group that went against her every moral. It was kind of funny, how that worked. Angela's job hasn't changed considerably since she joined Blackwatch. She still patched up soldiers, and she still poured over reports and resources. She just wasn't patching up Overwatch agents, and she wasn't making any more project on her Caduceus project. Not that her current research wasn't interesting, but it didn't feel right to leave one thing untied and go straight to another. Another time, mein freund.

Stretching her arms out, Angela could feel a wave of tiredness coming on. Fair, considering she'd only been getting four hours of sleep each night. Certainly not the worst she'd ever gone in her life, but it was still too much. Too much sleep? Too much time away from work? An ungodly amalgamation of both. If she didn't get enough sleep, she couldn't do her job right. If she got too much sleep (and these days, even her paltry four hours seemed like far too much), people were going to die as well. A delicate balance that she had no clue how to calculate.

Perhaps she could switch topics of research once more. Stop trying to learn how to make people live far beyond their years, start trying to figure out what a human needs in order for their brains to reject the idea of sleep. Her eyes closed. It didn't help that Angela's modus operandi boiled down to 'meh, I'll keep working on this until I feel tired'. She never felt tired until the sun was coming up and it was too late to get a good night's rest. And the idea of a day off? Absurd.

"Hey there, doc," a voice called out, and Angela's eyes opened to find McCree staring right at her. "Lookin' a little tired."

She felt a smirk come to her lips despite herself. "I'm surprised I hadn't heard you; those boots make an awful lot of noise."

"Pah. The boots are cool, and you know it."

Angela learned a lot of things, being the extremely observant person that she was. Those who wanted to get close to her always acted just a little less clever. They scramble for the position of only-a-little-dumb-but-still-likable, and stay away from topics that they think she won't like. They don't say things that she wouldn't want to hear. Jesse McCree was an exception to that rule. Ever the likable idiot, sure, but an honest likable idiot. He was just damn fun to hang around, and made her experience in Blackwatch that much more enjoyable.

They'd grown to be friends (or at least amicable acquaintances), during which Angela learned a good few things about Jesse. For starters, he had very little regard for his wellbeing. That, or the world had a personal vendetta against the two of them, the sheer frequency at which Jesse showed up in her medical ward being the proof of that. Secondly, he was an absolute rock when it came to his social life. Perhaps she was simply reading into things. Of course, she wasn't, seeing as how Shimada himself had talked her ear off about it for as long as she could stomach when he had been doped up on painkillers. "I just don't get it," he'd mutter out loud, grabbing her attention. "Hell, Angela. You were able to see it before he did. Does? Will. Fuuuuuck, I don't know..."

But, for all the stupid things Jesse had done and said, he was a pretty decent guy. She could remember more than one occasion where Angela had said something utterly horrible during a meeting or casual conversation and he saved her ass. She could also remember the times he had saved her ass in the battlefield (because alas, her role in Blackwatch didn't mean she was allowed a break), as well as the times that he had ended up in the infirmary for it.

"If you're not going to stand around my desk all day, why don't you tell me what you came in here for?" Angela smiled, before her expression darkened at the thought of the possibilities. "You wouldn't happen to be hiding an injury from me, now would you?"

Immediately, his hands were raised in defense. "Now hold on, doc. I may be confident, but I ain't no idiot. Just here to show the place to the newbie," he explained, before turning behind him. "Lacroix? Told ya she's not busy."

Only now did Angela realize that there was a woman hiding around the corner. She stepped into the light, showing off a sheepish grin. "Doctor Ziegler, yes? I've heard many things about you."

"Hopefully only good things?"

"But of course!"

"This is Amélie Lacroix," Jesse introduced her with a smile. "She's a new transfer from one o' the Overwatch branches in Canada. She's good with a rifle n' she's got stellar aim. Not as good as me, I hope," —a wolfish, teasing grin was thrown Amélie's way— "but good enough that Commander Reyes wants her posted here."

Angela nodded her head slowly. "So long as she doesn't give me as much trouble as you do, McCree," she said with a smile. "As for you, Agent Lacroix, it's a pleasure to meet you. How has everyone been treating you so far?"

"Likewise, it's an honor, really." Amélie had a charming smile, something that certainly brightened up the dark halls of the base. Angela could only wonder how long it would be until even that began to dim. "And everyone's been treating me very well."

"I'm glad to hear it." Ah, there she went. Scrabbling for the position of likable idiot once again?

Amélie opened her mouth to say something else before she closed it again. Her face scrunched up for a second, hesitating. "Forgive me if this is an odd question, but have you been to France before?"

"Multiple times, yes. Why did you want to know?"

She shrugged. "You have the same name as someone I once knew. It was just one of those weird childhood experiences you have and are able to remember vividly, you know? You're er, probably not the same person though."

"I might be," Angela responded. Leaning forward, she opted to switch the topic. "You transferred in from the Canadian branch, right? Why are you asking about France?"

Letting out a sheepish laugh, Amélie turned to look at Jesse. "My family wanted to get away from the Omnic crisis. Canada was decidedly unaffected enough for them to consider it, and well… I had wanted to join Overwatch before, but at the time I spoke no English. Or German."

Angela was beginning to the see the picture. "And there is no branches anywhere around here save for the Switzerland HQ."

"Yes, you get it."

"I'd hate to cut the meetin' short and all," Jesse cut in, scuffing his boot against the floor. "Commander Reyes is planning to meet up with us in about twenty minutes, and I'm supposed to have shown Lacroix the whole place before then. Seeya later, doc."

Amélie straightened up and nodded. "Thank you for your time, Doctor Ziegler."

All Angela could do was smile and wave her hand dismissively in response. "Call me Angela."

Since joining up with Talon, Amélie had learned to do many things that she doesn't like doing. Espionage is one thing, heists are another. Killing is a heavy topic that doesn't sit well with her and for all the wrong reasons. Something that took all three and rolled them up into a single, tightly-rolled package was, well, deeply uncomfortable at the very best. And to have to execute the whole thing by herself? The notion seemed absurd. Definitely not something she was going to jump for joy over.

"I understand that it's not really my place to speak, but I also don't see why you can't do the mission, or at least help me with it," Amélie had muttered. "Stealthing around and stealing intel? Isn't that your whole thing?"

Snide laughter came from the other end of the screen. "It's 'cause Overwatch already knows what I look like. I know how to delete their files, but the images in their mind? No bueno. You though, nobody knows who you are. And that's precisely what I'm gonna use to get you in there. All you have to do after that is get close to the members of Blackwatch, especially Angela Ziegler."

Sombra paused for a moment, before offering a grin. "That's not gonna be too hard, I mean, look at you. Even I want some of that."

Amélie rolled her eyes in an overly dramatic fashion, but couldn't resist the inklings of a smirk. "Oh, how you wish."

Her goal now was to act as a double agent. Working for Talon underneath the guise of a Blackwatch sniper. Sombra had explained the whole thing to her; her primary goal was to send back data from the medical research that Blackwatch's doctor had been conducting. Any information of attacks they'd carry out on Talon, sting operations and the sort were also meant to be reported to HQ.

The actual process of getting Amélie into Blackwatch had been harrowing, with Sombra having to hijack the Canadian overseer's email account in order to send an offer to send an agent over. Then there was the issue of having to hide Commander Reyes' replies on that account, and Amélie found herself glad that she wasn't Talon's techhead. She had asked why Sombra couldn't just take all the digitally stored data before she was given an incredulous look. "What, you think that all of it's stored on computers? Not only that, but that they'd be willing to send it over email of all places?" After putting it like that, Amélie had felt a little silly. The whole 'think before you speak' thing hadn't quite cemented itself in her brain yet.

"You can thank me for the idea, by the way. This way, we don't have to waste resources on trying to find researchers to work for Talon. We're basically letting what we had sit with Blackwatch until we're able to steal a more finished version back," Sombra said with a shrug. "Can't believe they're such idiots, y'know? Believing that Talon's actually sloppy enough to just leave information like that lying around? Dame un descanso. "

Amélie shrugged. There was a sneaking little suspicion telling her that perhaps Overwatch did know. Even if there was no reason for them to believe this, assuming Sombra made everything look genuine. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, remember your cover story, alright? Overwatch agent from Canada. Didn't know English until you moved to a small city in Quebec. Moved 'cause the Omnic Crisis and you couldn't go to Switzerland. Language barrier. Also, nobody should be on your ass if you don't know the slang, but it wouldn't hurt to read up on the way there, yeah? Read over the full profile as well. Get it down in your head."

"Understood."

Sombra gave her a smile. "Good, then we're all set. Hit me up if you need me, but remember that I'll be in Castillo on business. If that's all, I'm gonna end the call."

"I'll be seeing you," Amélie responded, and soon enough was left alone with a powered-down holoscreen staring her right in the face. She sighed, and got out of her seat. She didn't want to do this mission, but it was just another thing that she'd have to overcome. Sure enough, Gérard was dead now (she received word only a week after the letter was sent to her house. She still couldn't decide if she was over it or not). They had no other dirt on her that prevented her from leaving, aside from the fact that if she left, she'd likely be hunted down like a damned dog. It was selfish of her, but that was a fate she would like to avoid.

A true hero would rather die before they succumb to the enemy, Amélie thought to herself. Amused at her own impulsive thought, she scoffed. Talon wasn't all bad, not like what she had originally thought. They were simply… unorthodox in their ways. As time passed, she had found that some of their ideals and morals even lined up. It was a thought that had initially repulsed her, but like all things, she was able to learn to suck it up and forget.

Suck it up and forget. That wasn't necessarily true.

Amélie could very easily remember her first kill. It'd been winter, someone was trying to flank a Talon agent. Before she could think, before she could have even blinked, she had shot out. Ping. And then they were dead. A nameless extra who kept jumping out in her mind. It was frustrating. All of her kills stuck out in her mind, and she didn't know if she was glad that she didn't have to kill often. Would it be easier if the murdering blurred together in her mind…? She shook her head. That was a silly way of thinking.

Enough thinking. Into the bathroom and ready for bed.

While brushing her teeth, Amélie's mind can't stop racing. To Switzerland. Right under their noses. God, it'd be so easy. For her to make one small slip up. Talon placed so much confidence inside of her. Too much confidence, even. She'd be found out and… then what? Would Talon even come for her?

(It was a stupid thought. Talon came for other agents when they were imprisoned, and Amélie is the best damn sniper they have. Not breaking her out of prison would have been a stupid idea to rival all stupid ideas, quite frankly. And yet, stunningly, those reassurances did nothing for her. Absolute bullfuck nothing.)

Her dreams were riddled with self-doubt, and the rest of the week did not treat her much better.