Work Text:
The outback, still covered in omnics and with insane self proclaimed Junkers. Not many would consider it a retirement spot but for Ana it was calmer.
Leave her in a room to play checkers and watch soap operas would be a worse fate than being stuck with Talon agents. She had to keep moving, it was in her blood. It took a month or so but she had switched out her equipment and her outfit to better blend into the dunes. She grabbed what ammunition she found from her safe, and from the base before she left.
She had enjoyed the sun, scrap, and stillness. She had made herself a new name, she stocked to the back allies of the cities when she had to go into them. Her accent made her stick out, but most of her dealings had dealt with other strange people.
"Layla," she whispers to herself. Sometimes her own voice is the only voice she'll hear, losing it to the wind from the ruined buildings.
Looking around at her small perch, the building used to be a high rise. Buildings of glass and steel with concrete in the centre. She was close to the elevator shaft she had rigged a door to be some semblance of home. Apart from the door there was a small breeze, from the open side. Being on the eighth floor provided cover, the height helped her.
Opening the door she slings her biotic rifle on her back the strap comfortably worn. She checks over her supplies, and grabs the old cable in the elevator shaft. Starting to move downwards she prepares for a few days of bounty hunting.
The trips would last a few days always. A days travel there and back with two or three days hunting. Not many wanted to have a prisoner brought back, made it easy. Moving down the last bit of cable onto the ground giving a look to the sun she adjusts her goggles and hood and starts her trek to the scrap yards and the outer rim if Junkertown.
"Layla. Oh, Layla, what would they think to see you now?" the dunes never give response, it had become habitual to ask this. Her teammates overwatch was still protecting the world but its name was tarnished, problems had gone down.
She couldn't face them, she had failed them. She could hear what strike commander Morrison, Reyes and even what little Jessie would say. How they had forgiven her, how one bad mission could not keep her down. She was the best in the world.
"None of that matters," her voice still lost to the blowing sands.
Her walk to the rim was uneventful, nothing to see. Specifically nothing with life, there are ruins and shadows of what used to be but nothing living. The ground filled with radiation, tainted, stained, ruined.
The beginning of the moon hours and night terrors, as the Junkers call it. Seeing an old outpost along the old road made of telephone poles. Seeing the large nails her nimble hands grab them and she climbs. Keeping the safety off her sniper and changing to simple rounds, she wasn't trying to heal her enemies.
She drifts off into a light sleep, easy to wake up if she hears anything. She hears some scuffling, waking she can see dawns light coming its first reaches making its way into the sky.
The scuffling was other weary travellers, there were always two types. Those who travel by night, and those who travel by day, both had advantages.
She places her scope to her eye, she watches the three them make their way on the broken parts of asphalt. After they leave she stands and stretches and hears the small cracks of joints. She makes a small meal deciding that it could be good to start and get a nice vantage point for her hunt.
She finds herself walking the road a half hour later. By the time the sun starts to rise she has to slow. She had almost caught up to the tracks of the three, their tracks two strong sets and one that was being almost dragged between them.
She sees the tracks move off to the side. They lead to what looked like an old gas station. It was following on old highway exit, still some distance away. She pauses seeing no other ruins close by, no outposts.
She drops most of her gear wanting to travel light. Letting out a sigh she moves into a crouch and starts to move towards the station. Placing her scope to here eyes she tries to see inside, if she could see the occupants she could determine her next set of actions. She sees some movement under the collapsed sign, someone is propped against it looking out. The others are not in sight.
She thinks of her options, she could send a biotic shot, the wounded one is a clear shot. She could just shoot and loot them, if they had tried the trek out here they had to have some supplies. Or they deserved to perish.
She closes her eye, taking a slow breath she loads her rifle, she bring up the scope and takes aim. If she didn't care if they died she would have just kept walking. A small steadying breath and she hears breathing beside her.
She rolls to her left. Just out of the reach of a woman dressed not to dissimilar to herself. Ana thinks to herself that she should have been paying attention to what was happening.
"I wasn't going to shoot him!" Ana shouts out.
"Right you were just looking for a good time?" the woman says front to keep her momentum going.
Ana knows that the woman has every right to be cautious this land is unforgiving. But that does not mean she won't protect herself. She rolls and unclasps her cloak grabbing at the collar and letting fall onto the ground in front of the woman. She yanks the cloak out from underneath the woman causing her to fall. Moving to her she grabs the woman's head and starts a chokehold.
"Let her go." a dry voice says, she feels the barrel of a pistol touch the back of her head.
"This was all a misunderstanding," Ana lets go of the woman who scrambles away, "I wanted to help you, I saw the three of you passing where I stayed last night. Your prints suggested one of you was injured."
"So you thought it was going to be easy to take us out?" the woman cuts of Ana.
"I have a few biotic shots that I got from a Junkertown deal was going to use it on him by the sign. Look for yourself, I won't move."
The woman look behind Ana. Ana hears the pistol gesture towards the gun, no longer pressing against her head. Moving carefully the woman grabs the rifle unclipping the strap to avoid bring it to her hands. Ana can't help but raise her eyebrow at the woman, smart thinker.
"She's not lying. She has a whole clip of 'em." the woman shakes her five rounds out of the clip and holds them close.
"Got anything else?" the dry voice asks.
"Only my water skin and my ration for today. I was on my way back, wasn't lucky didn't catch anyone. Hoping to change my luck. Do some good, and some good will come to me." Ana says, she can hear herself rambling. It is rare that you can strike up conservations.
"Go. Don't turn until she says so." the dry voice says.
Ana starts to move away after a few feet of crawling she stands and starts to walk. It is a surprisingly far distance then she hears the woman talking.
"Come grab your stuff, and good luck!" The woman's voice was behind and to the left.
They had made it to the gas station once again. She slowly turns and trudges back to her rifle, picking up the scope she checks it. Looks fine, she clips it back to her strap and walks back to the road.
Her watch gives her an alarm warning her of the high heats of ten am. She had made it to a good hunting spot, this was a fortress for omnics. She sees a small mound and nods at it, her hideout.
She moves away from the mound and heads towards the overturned car. Crawling through the broken windshield and down into a tunnel, the cool darkness passes over her. She makes her way down the last rung of the ladder, and feels the sand beneath her feet.
This was part of the fort for the omnics, before the rebellion had welded it shut. It had taken her some time but she opened a few peek holes, barely visible to a naked eye but it was large enough for her rifle. She had made a few trips here but it had been almost two months since she had last been here.
Walking through holding her base she holds the rifle ready for close combat. A small cubby that was used for holding emergency scrap for coin had been transformed into holding unlabelled jars. All of them, out in specific places, a small dust free area where the jar was, Ana places the jar back.
She starts to climb out wanting to see who had claimed her spot. Moving a distance away in the scorching sun she finds another car and waits for the sun to pass keeping a lookout for the one who had taken her base. No sign of anyone approaching. Her watch beeps telling her that the main sun had passed and she could continue through the outback.
She finds a makeshift outpost at half height dragging up a hood piece as some cover from prying eyes. Hours pass and no movement, Ana laminates the life she has chosen. There is so much time spent being still that it takes years to become a sniper of any caliber.
She knows that she can't allow herself to go to the fortress, doesn't want to get caught if there is more than one armed fool living there. She bides her time.
It is night by the time that she sees movement. It was a small movement towards the east. She hadn't seen anyone yet it was movement, more than just something falling. She removes her scope and wipes her eye relaxing, she won't be able to spot someone, she will be able to see where they were.
Sand falling off a dune, scrap rolling away from a car, a shot fires off in the distance. Her instincts decades of honed training she brings her scope up and within ten seconds sees the cover from where the other sniper was.
They were on top of an omnic pile, hidden under an old bastion unit using the hollowed turret as a cover. Ana gave a nod to the other sniper for a defensible position. Another shot rings out the sniper does not know of her position, they are aiming at someone else.
She finally sees what the other sniper was looking at. A small figure crawls to cover holding onto a bag. Matted yellow blond hair, hastily pushed back from a long terrified face. They put the bag down beside them and grab hold of their left leg drawing it close to them.
It was a teenager, the other sniper was hunting down a kid. They appeared to be younger than her Fareeha , they were trying to survive in a world that all to cruel to them. She can see blood seep through their already bandaged pressed hand. A dirty bandage protruding from their right boot.
Ana looks at her stock of biotic bullets, three shots. She knows that it will be more than enough. She aims for the left leg, not wanting to alarm the kid anymore than necessary. She shoots the bullet hits the mark of the leg but shatters on impact, she was looking at the kid through a reflection. Now a few shattered mirror pieces.
"Just take my scrap! Please just let me live!" The voice cracks and pleads. The bag they were holding onto the throw on top of where they were hiding.
She can't see much of the kid but movement drags her eye back to the bastion unit. Another wastelander emerges with a sniper on their back hooked onto a backbrace, and a collection of radiation burns and dying skin covering most of their chest and face.
"Rat this better not be a trap! I got a few others waiting for me I told them I was comin this way!" the mans voice carries.
Ana can see that no one was waiting behind the scared man, she looks at the small bits of the reflection for the kid.
"It's no trap Jeet! You are shooting at me I surrender! I just want to live." the kid says.
"I don't give a fuck if it's a trap or not. Bring me the scrap Rat, and then I'll see if you live." Ana places Jeets accent, American.
She watches the boy grab hold of the bag and leans against the car behind him trying to support his leg. He starts to hobble towards Jeet attempting to put some pressure on the leg, Ana notices that there is no exit wound. She can summarize that the leg is more than likely broken.
She silently berates herself if she had held her shot the kid wouldn't have gone up. She watches the agonizingly slow approach not wanting to give away her position. She changes ammunition, knowing the habits of other wastelanders.
The boy makes it to Jeet and hands over the bag. Breaking the drawstring and looking inside Jeet shouts out, "Fuck, you threw some scrap out didn't you?"
Jeet advances on the boy Ana readies a her shot as the boy falls down. Before she pulls the trigger Jeet picks up the boy and unintentionally uses him as a human shield.
"I didn't! I swear I didn't Jeet!"
She gets out of her cover and tries to move around to get a cleaner shot. She can hear the sounds of a fight start to break out, the boy has little chance of making it much longer. She stands knowing it is now or never to help the kid.
"Jeet please, I can give you whatever else I find here. Mate just let me live! Please!" the kid is pleading for his life pinned beneath Jeet.
The kid had hold of Jeets arms and their hands were locked beside Jeets head. The kid had clamped his hands around Jeets and was holding them back but their arms were shaking. She knows this is going to be painful but she can deal with the kid after.
She fires, the plain bullet cleanly goes through the clasped hands and into Jeets skull. The kid let out one shout then silence.
"No, no no no." Ana whispers starting to move through the wreckage towards the pair.
She makes it to them, Jeets irradiated body covering the kid. She pushes off Jeet and sees the kid has their eyes closed and mouth open tongue lolling out. Still bleeding.
She changes her ammunition right in front of the kid, loading a biotic shot and placing one in her hand. She levels her gun right at the chest of the kid, waiting. She can see the small chest movements of him breathing.
"I'm not going to kill a child you can breath now. Sorry if I scared you it was never my intention," Ana says as she bends down, "you were hurt. Show me where, I know your right leg and I got your hand. I am sorry about that, I wanted to save your life."
"You saved my life." the kid says grabbing the dirty bandage from his boot part of the cloth ripping.
"Don't use that, if I let you use that Angela would kill me. I have a family, call it paternal instinct." she grabs the bandage from the kid and grabs one of the biotic bullets and shows it to the kid, "Know what this is?"
"It's a nano shot."
"Biotic bullet, this is going to make you feel better."
"Yeah the nano shots heal blokes, they're really rare. They have a compound that cannot be duplicated, I've tried. Got my hands on some chems and just, wait. You're gonna use it on me?" Ana is shocked to hear the disbelief in the kids voice.
"Of course, I was going to give you one earlier... Uh?"
"Jamison. And you are?"
Ana doesn't have to think the name flows from her, "Layla."
"Thank you." Jamison says his skin becoming a bit pale from blood loss. Ana realizes that the pleasantries had put the boy is a small state of shock. She gives the bullet to Jamison and instructs him to use it. She's going to get him to cover.
"Open the casing, give it a few seconds, and then keep in contact with skin or else the properties treat your cells as a virus and try to destroy it. Remove the casing once done so it can decompose."
Ana half carries Jamison to the tunnel mouth and helps lower him. She climbs down herself and places him in the centre room. A large holographic desk with an old map layered on top of old omnic parts.
"Whoever had been here had not lived here for a while. I think you can use this place for the moment but Jamison get yourself some help. The bullet will be able to help what was just done, no past injuries and nothing to serious. Find something you can trade to a big gun for your safety, some old supplies and you should be able to get a good scrap haul here. Small manufacturing room which you can strip metal to the best scrap. Good luck kid."
Ana knows she had just given up a good hunting ground. Handing it over to a small junker who will lose their mind in a matter of years but it was something that would allow them to become an adult. Then it is fair game.
"Your kids are so lucky to have a mum like you." Jamison says still holding onto the shot.
"If I had stayed around then maybe, but. She is better if I was not an influence to her." Ana thinks of her daughter Fareeha, she is twenty two years old.
"You can go back. You know that. Not many parents out here have something to go back to, and not many kids expect anything to come back." Jamison looks down.
"Farewell Jamison." Ana says knowing that she will probably never hear from Jamison again. She moves towards the ladder already out of sight from him she looks over her shoulder and sees a small yellow glow she smiles and heads up the ladder going to get her gear.
------------------------------------
Once the strangest sniper Jamison had ever seen had left he hobbled over towards the manufacturing room grabbing a chair and starts to work. Hastily cracking open the bullet trying to see if a biotic bullet would be easier to replicate, then a nano shot.
The biotic field is extremely small and powerful. Jamison places his hand near it continuing to work and he feels his skin moving to cover the wound, looking at the tissue. He drags his leg up on the table and removes his boot and bandage, Layla could have been wrong. It could heal old wounds, possibly.
The skin under the bandage had become a collection of open sores and red torn skin. He didn't mean to get close to the radiation, he was just close to a breakthrough. The payout would allow him to get as much healing done as needed, the payout would be worth it.
But maybe she was right, maybe he needed help at least until he could walk on his leg again. He moves his leg right on top of the small field. He gives a shout and recoils falling off the chair. The field was painful at his leg, the burnt flesh chewing deeper, his muscle and flesh decaying at a quickened rate.
"Oh no. No no no no!" Using his hands he starts to tear away, trying to ignore the agony. It still gets to him, he cries and shouts through the whole experience. He reaches a critical moment where it starts to crawl up his leg, he reaches for the tools on the table and pulls at a small saw blade.
"I hate you Jeet, fucking bastard. I hate Layla. The cruelest of mothers." Jamison chokes back as he starts to cut with the saw blade.
"I hate all you snipers!"
------------------------------------
Ana was already gone before she heard the screams. Moving metal to better hide the kid knowing he's going to be tired.
Picking up the bag of scrap she starts to return to her home. Jamison's words rung true with her but she was not ready to face her former coworkers or Fareeha just yet.