Chapter 7 Feelings

July 15th 2077, 1803 Hours

"I'm gonna take the bandages off." Angela said softly, her silk like hands gently unwrapping the rough, scratchy, and irritating bandages that have been there since yesterdays checkup.

I just sat there, my mind half asleep as I rested my head back against the wall. I yawned, "Do whatever is needed to Doc. You're the expert. Besides, I've bothered you enough the past week." I told her tiredly with a little sigh as I readjusted myself into a more comfortable position.

I heard a slight giggle in response, "Oh please, it's my pleasure really. But how can you be so tired at six?" She asked playfully, looking at me like I was a sleepy puppy. Her voice almost sounded as if it was drifting away. I felt as if I was floating, I probably fell asleep. In all honesty I wouldn't be surprised, haven't been able to get a full nights sleep in ever since I got back.

It's felt like every night... every...damn...night. I've been waking up from nightmares. Rarely I would get one of a previous mission as a Talon assassin, but it's usually always the same one. It's just...me. Walking through the Overwatch headquarters. But the thing is, I'm not...well me. It's like I'm another person following me and watching every move I make. It's weird as all hell but it always goes the same way, and no matter how much I try to stop myself, it's never works, it's like I'm not even fucking there to stop myself. Literally like I'm some kind of fucking spirit that has been pried out of my own body while some other cocksucker takes over my body.

But deep down, everytime I see the actions I commit, I know it's just another me in there...and that's what scares me the most. I walk though the Overwatch base, just me, no one else, no soldiers, no guards, hell not even a fucking Janitor. And it's a straight shot as well. It's a never ending hallway that only has repeating signs every few meters that point straight ahead to the infirmary. I walk, and walk, and walk, and keep on fucking walking. Huffing and puffing in anger with each step until I can finally see the infirmary doors in sight. And this is where the real nightmare begins.

Doors appear all in the empty hallway, along every side. Then, each person that I know and love comes out. Reinhardt, Jack, Ana, Jesse, Joshua, Torjborn, Fareeha, Winston, and Genji. To be honest, I was never really fond of Genji, we never really talked which always makes me ponder why he's there. But, I digress, they all surround me, patting me on the shoulder, slapping me in the back playfully, happy to have me return. That's when I see my anger dissipate for a short moment. Only to see a man standing in front of the doors. Rose is holding her hand and waving right at me happily.

Although, when she tries to run to me, the man holds her back. She pulls and pulls desperately trying to get out of his grip, fear is growing on her face, in her mind, in her heart. She is almost on the verge of crying she becomes so fearful. I feel my heart begin to pound, my emotions getting every single fiber of my being is trying to move, to run towards her, but my body just stands there in a panic. The man pulls her into the infirmary as her scream echos throughout the hallway. I turn around suddenly, only to see everyone but Jesse dead on the ground, and bloody footprints leading to exactly where I'm standing. Or...my body at least. Blood covers my hands...it drips off of my knife and the barrel of my rifle.

Jesse groans behind my body, limping hastily towards the infirmary and even leaving his revolver behind...which I know to god he would never do. The scariest part about it all, is the smile on my body's face. The evil shit-eating grin and eye twitches. My uniform begins to change into it's Talon one. The one I was captured in. Gauze begins to wrap itself around my body's leg and skull. Also the wounds I suffered when I was captured, which were later patched up by Angela. My body slowly turns it's head, staring at Jesse as he stumbles into the infirmary, only to hear a loud gasp from Angela on the other side.

My body grunts loudly in anger as it stomps it's way into the infirmary. Me quickly behind it. I kick the doors open, snapping the right door off of it's top hinge, making the door lean downwards in a position to where it won't close on it's own. Both my, and my body's eyes lock onto the body by the hospital bed. It's Rose, shot in the back of the head while Jesse is being worked on by Angela on the table right behind her. Both seem unaware that my body, Rose's body, and the man standing next to Rose's body are even in the room. The man then takes slow steps towards my body. Holding something behind his back.

*Click*...*Click*...*Click*...*Click*...

His shoes clicked with each step on the metallic floor. He was a formally dressed man, suit, tie, dress shoes. But the suit had a Talon symbol on it, which worried me from the start. He kept walking until he was face to face with my body. He took a slight exhale before speaking, looking behind him as he handed my body my hat. "I believe this is yours." He muttered calmly. Only to turn his full attention towards my body as it put on my hat.

He raised his hand towards Jesse and Angela, pointing towards them, "Kill them." He ordered casually, as if he just expected me to submit and kill my best friend, and the woman that took care of my daughter for twelve years.

My body shut his eyes forcefully, his face looking like he was in pain as he shook it violently back and forth in quick jerky motions. As if there was a war going on in his mind. "I-...I Can't!" He screamed through gritted teeth, still somehow not getting the attention of Angela or Jesse.

"Of course you can. Good Soldiers Follow Orders after all." He said with a little grin as he rested his hand on my shoulder.

My body stopped moving entirely, his head rising straight up and looking dead into the man's eyes. Who only grinned in return. He chuckled lightly, "I believe you know what to do." He said before walking past my body with a slight tap on his shoulder and walking out of the infirmary, the doors actually disappearing behind him.

Everything grew quiet...my body stomped forward, weapon pointed upwards towards my two closest friends. Rose's body had disappeared along with almost everything in the room besides me, my body, Angela, Jesse, and the table Angela was working on Jesse on. My body cocked my gun, which finally got the attention of both Jesse and Angela.

"Hunter..." Angela muttered under her breath, in disbelief of what she was seeing.

"Is it really you?!" She asked as a tear rolled down her cheek and a smile began to appear.

My body didn't make a sound, it just kept it's weapon aimed right at Angela. Moving slightly closer.

This is when Angela's smile would disappear. When I would run up to my body and try everything I could to get it to stop. In the end, I just end up being sucked back into my body like I was some kind of spirit, with no actual control of my actions. Angela would back into the table, on hand holding herself up from behind as I keep moving towards her. Jesse would then reach his arm up towards me, "Hunter...Do-...Don't do this...Remember who you are...remember...partner..." He would faintly mumble to me, using every ounce of strength he had to speak to me and try to get through to me. His arm would then fall down, I couldn't tell if he had just lost his strength, or he had passed.

This is where I would feel my heart slowly begin to ache. My body would continue to move forward until the gun was merely inches from Angela's face. Her face was full of fear, betrayal, confusion, and most of all sadness. Jesse raised his arm and outstretched it towards me once again, hopeful that my body would take it, and stay by his side while the Doc fixed him up. But...everyone in that room knew that the chances of that were slim to none.

"good soldiers follow orders." I muttered uncontrollably, anger and hatred staining my voice.

"Hunter...You know me...You know Jesse! Snap out of this Hunter. Please! It's me! Angela Ziegler! Your best friend...the one that took care of your daugh-"

"Good Soldiers...The-They Follow Orders!" I yelled angrily, pain in my voice as I fought for control over my body back.

"Don't d-...do it partner...don't..." Jesse muttered almost inaudibly, but yet still catching my attention.

Without my control, my body shook his head back and forth hastily, squeezing his eyes shut but never letting the gun move, "Good Soldiers Follow Orders! Good Soldiers Follow Orders! Good Soldiers Follow Orders!" I kept repeating, only for my body to completely ignore every single one of my commands that allowed it to resist. I could feel everything, every movement, every emotion, every thought. There was no remorse, no regret, no sadness, just hatred, anger, relief. My body's finger twitched on the trigger, and with a deafening battle cry, his eyes shot open, and the gun went off.

July 15th 2077, 1807 Hours *Angela's POV*

"Oh please, it's my pleasure really. But how can you be so tired at six?" I asked playfully after giggling at his child like tiredness. I got no response. His eyes were closed and his breathing was very calm. His chest moved up and down with each breath. Every single movement was calm and collective.

It was adorable really, watching him sleep like that. It always made me feel...oddly warm, like I could just cuddle up to him whenever I felt a slight chill and immediately be isolated within that warmth. My hand glided along his arm, he wasn't very muscular, but he was well toned. He was able to handle himself in a fight. My mind began to compare his strength to the others, Jesse, Reinhardt, Torbjorn, Jack, Gabe, all of them. My mind knew that he was the weakest of them all, but he was strong enough for me to feel safe from any danger around him.

My hand began to move upward, and onto his chest. Feeling the calm heartbeat he had. Calm but firm, Strong yet gentle. His chest was covered in scars, most of them from wounds that I had healed. Even through his shirt, you could still feel them. Each gash, each scrape, every bullet hole, and every cut was something that I had remembered.

My mind began to wonder as he slept, as I felt the scars, I could remember most of his injuries in battle. Each time he was Medically Evacuated out of battle, and either I or Jesse, or Josh was with him. Josh, being his spotter, was usually the one that would have to get him out of there, but undoubtedly Jesse was always right behind them. I remembered the time when Jesse was almost kicked out of Blackwatch for jeopardizing their mission to save Hunter's life. Gabriel never grew very fond of Hunter, he always thought that Jesse was too close to him, that a brotherhood like that could only cause problems. I remembered how many times I lied through my teeth to Gabriel about if Jesse helped evacuate Hunter or not. I'd always tell him, "Jesse only covered our escape at the end, he didn't help." I'd have to pretend to be angered just to get through to him, but I didn't mind.

My hand glided to his right arm, right down to the middle of his forearm...when he almost lost it. That day will always be the most fearful I have ever been, no one, not even I was sure if he was gonna pull through. Talon barraged he and Josh's position with artillery fire, and this was years before my Valkyrie suit or my Caduceus Staff were even thought of. The only nanobot technology we had was used for rebuilding lost limbs, but it was only used to make a blueprint of the exact size of the prosthetic limb that we would have to create. I don't remember much more than me crying, Jesse holding Hunter's limp hand as we all worked on him. Josh refusing to leave the room even though he also needed medical treatment. Hunter's flatline... chest paddles...doctors scrambling as we all tried to save his life. I have never been more scared than I was on that day.

Without me even realizing it, I was crying, not audibly, but tears were rushing down my cheeks as I remembered all of this. My breaths weren't at all shaky, they were actually calm, steady as if nothing was wrong. However, my heartbeat was rapid, it felt almost like it was going to burst out of my chest. Tears continued to roll, but I wouldn't cry, not even sob, they were just tears.

I would wipe them away but they would just come back within the next few seconds. However, I had no time to worry about my own feelings, Hunter began to mumble, turning his head back and forth slightly, almost as if he was having a nightmare. I put my hand back onto his chest, making sure I could feel his heartbeat, it was pounding at this point. My mind began to worry, I took my hand back in a bit of shock. His head began to shake more violently, almost as if he was trying to get away something.

His mumbles became more audible, slowly came to the point where it sounded like he was just trying to speak to me. "Good Soldiers Follow Orders..." were the only words that I could make out. In fact it seemed like the only thing he was saying, those four words. 'Good Soldiers Follow Orders.' It was almost like some sort of code phrase, or just a saying that he's known all his life. Yet this is the first time I have ever heard him say that. He's saying it like the phrase is burned into his skull.

My body reacted before I had time to think, I started to gently shake him, trying ever so hard to snap him out of this trans he was in. That's when he grabbed my arm, with all his strength his grip tightened, his teeth now gritted in fury as he kept on mumbling those four words. His grip began to send pain throughout my arm, I didn't make a sound though, I was far too confused and worried about him than to even feel much of it. However his grip never stopped tightening around my arm, his knuckles were white from the amount of strength he was using.

This is when I actually began to feel the pain, making slight yells as I tried to pull myself away. But his grip persisted, now making the pain grow even more. I let out a slight yelp, grasping his hand with my own trying to release his grip. "Hunter, please stop, You're hurting me!" I yelled, hoping that my yells would perhaps wake him from his nightmare.

It seemed to have worked, his eyes shooting open with gasps of air. He looked over at me, eyes widened, looking down at himself than at his hand that was still griping my arm ever so tightly. His grip loosened until he finally released it. I pulled my arm away from him quickly and rubbed where he had gripped me intensely, trying to numb the pain.

"Angela...I'm...I'm so sorry..." He mumbled almost inaudibly, quickly standing up and walking out of the room without saying another word.

"Hunter Wait!" I Yelled running after him.

I apologize for such a short chapter after a long wait. It's been awhile and I felt like you guys deserved something after all this time. Although, a large amount of laziness has prevented me from writing anything for awhile. I actually had this written for quite awhile and I Just added a bit more to it and the quick little ending to this scene, In all reality I will more than likely return to this chapter and add a lot more to it. But you guys deserved something. While it should've been a lot more, I don't really know what to add in between this and the scene that I have in mind, (You Don't get spoilers :( ), But I will do my absolute best to add on to this chapter and repost it ASAP. I thank so many of you for being supportive, You all are truly something I don't deserve.

-Hunting Brothers