Good Things Fall Apart

"Remember to get back before King notices, and can you pick me up a bag of your chips, Hana? They got a new limited edition flavor and Casino won't share."

Hana huffed and stuck her tongue out at her long time friend and mechanic. "I know. It's just the GS25, and also, you really want me to bring you chips when I am like this?" She motions to her arm and leg which are still in casts. It's been a little over a month since the Gwishin incident so her limbs were not 100% yet. Another month, maybe two, said the doctor. It annoyed her because it meant she was basically under house arrest. "You know I can just call the sponsor and have it shipped to us in less than an hour, right?"

Dae-Hyun simply smiled before slipping his welder's mask back on and firing up his tools to continue his work on one of Tokki's fusion blasters. "I know that but you have been sulking all week, and who knows, I thought you'd enjoy a bit of the fresh air. Besides, if I hear another sigh I swear I will throw a wrench in your general direction."

With a mock gasp, Hana gingerly got down from the table she had been using as a seat, "You wouldn't dare!" He won't. They both know this. Maybe a paper ball but a wrench? Ha! Those were his precious tools. Their precious tools actually. No, she lied, those were hers. That Dae Hyung was using because the others in MEKA had given her the longest lecture after The Incident. So she was forbidden from even touching Tokki.

"Tick tock, Song." He waves the wrench in a comically menacing way, and she is the one who throws an empty can of NanoCola at his back.

The ferry ride is quick and she's sure to turn up the collar of her coat and readjusts her facemask to better hide her identity. It's mid dusk so the streets have a little less traffic, which Hana is grateful for. The less people the better. It's not that she doesn't love her fans, but the fact that Hana had nearly died was severely downplayed by both the media and her team.

So less people, less stress and less of a chance to be hounded when she's supposed to be resting. Slow hobbled steps with her crutch, and the few people she does meet on her way are polite enough to give her room. In no time at all she has secured her prize from the convenience store: a couple of her sponsored ramen cups, two cans of NanoCola and Dae-Hyun's chips.

While she's making her way back to the ferry station, she noticed a small crowd gathering around one of the new karaoke bars that is holding a grand opening. With a weary smile, Hana takes out her phone to see if she can take a side street, and luckily there is one.

"Lucky rabbit indeed."

If only her luck had been better a month ago. She'd be bantering with D.Mon on patrol right about now. Or kicking King's butt in the new Fighters of the Storm DLC and streaming it to her viewers. Yet here she is, taking a side street on a little errand, hiding from the world. At least the weather was nice. Small mercies.

A few meters down the street and she stops, her bag dropping to the ground because of the sight she sees.

There is an omnic laying against the wall. Or...half of one? They seems to be missing almost all their limbs. Both arms and a leg. The one remaining is barely hanging on by a mess of wires and fiber optics. She cautiously approaches them, unsure if they are still functioning or if this was some cruel murder she had just stumbled upon. Thanks to the constant threat of the Gwishin, omnics were often discriminated against in some parts of Busan and this poor omnic could have been caught in the crossfire.

Holding her breath and minding her injured leg, Hana knelt down in front of the damaged omnic, trying to access the extent of damage. Aside from the missing limbs, their faceplate seemed to have been spared, so perhaps...

A trembling hand reached out to touch them, and then she was met with a crackling hiss and a terrible scraping sound. The sound of the omnic trying to move. The nine markings on their face flashed red and she let out a startled cry.

Of course, the omnic could not do a thing. No limbs and a leg that cannot support their weight poses no threat to her. They cease their struggle almost immediately and Hana could feel their 'eyes' piercing her. Another hiss escaped from where their voicebox would be, questioning.

Hana held her hands up, making a placating motion. "Easy, easy. I don't mean you any harm, I swear!" There was a crackle and she frowned. "Hey, I was just trying to help, I thought I would need to call the cops or something." Not that she wanted to either, she would probably be questioned and then her team would need to be called and that was too much trouble to think about.

"....."

But she can't leave this omnic like this. They were still alive, and if someone else found them like this, they'd be easy pickings. Hana gnawed at her bottom lip, trying to come up with a plan to rescue them. It wasn't like she could pick them up in her current state (and on closer inspection, she's sure she still wouldn't be able to even if she wasn't injured. Their chassis was larger than any omnic she had seen aside from the Gwishin.)

A neon sign overhead flickered to life, bathing both young woman and omnic in flashes of yellow and pink. It was getting late and if she didn't get back soon, she'll miss the ferry and then she would have to ask Dae-Hyun to pick her up and-

Wait.

"Of course! Listen, Miss.....ter.....mister? miss? omnic, how about I take you home and see what we can do for you, okay? Okay. Great. Just gotta..." with her tongue between her lips, Hana searched through her contacts and dialed.

He picked up after two rings. "Hana?"

"Dae-Hyun...I think I need your help."

The plan had been to come to South Korea and negotiate with the Gwishin, but just like in London, his plan had backfired. The Gwishin wanted nothing to do with Null Sector.

He had severely miscalculated their willingness to cooperate. A pity. They would have made excellent footsoldiers for the plans he was molding. No matter, this was just a minor setback, being unable to recruit the Gwishin was of little importance in the grand scheme of things. For now, Ramattra needed to get back to his temporary holdout, far from the coastline, lest he risk suspicion on himself.

A feat in itself, honestly, given how R-7000's had all but disappeared, except for him. He knew that maybe two or three still existed elsewhere in the world, but from what little knowledge he had been able to dig up, they were not as free as he was.

Free? No, the reality of the situation was that he wasn't at all. From his creation to his entrance to the Shambali, to now in this dingy street in Busan, he's not been free from the ghosts of his past. They cling to him like the fog that is surrounding him. Somewhere from the deep recesses of his firewalls and memory banks, a chuckle escapes him. This world wasn't kind to him or his people. He knows that he's had a part in humanity's hatred towards omnics. He remembers the pain and suffering he had wrought. The once leader of a troop of B73's and OR14's.

Oh but that was many years ago. He wouldn't say that time drastically changed him much other than a few upgrades to himself. Better tech and with Aurora's 'gift', a much better understanding of what he was. Pausing in his tracks, Ramattra would have smiled if he could. Yes, he knew what he was and what he was capable of. Of what his purpose was to be, but first there was a little matter that needed his attention, and it was not but two meters from him.

A trio of humans blocked his path. Vagrants who surrounded a different omnic. One that would probably be a caretaker of human children if Ramattra wasn't mistaken. "Have you nothing better to do, humans?" His voice commands their attention, enough that the terrified omnic spares him a small grateful nod before bolting to the safety of more crowded streets.

"What's it to you, tin can?" says the one closest to him. The man is doing his best to look intimidating but it's laughable how he immediately shrinks back when he takes his first good look at Ramattra. What he would give to know the thoughts of this human.

The other two have a little more bravado, one even lifting a metal pipe to brandish as a weapon. How juvenile. "It's everything to me. Are we just your playthings that you can freely abuse? Do you enjoy lording over us so much that you would beat a defenseless omnic?" The grip on his staff tightens and he taps it to the ground.

"Always so violent, so predictable."

The men still are holding their ground, the one with the pipe also tightening his hold on his weapon. Neither humans nor omnic move closer to the other though. One side intimidated, the other is calculating his odds.

Another second ticks by, he can sense their heartrates speed up, anticipating, they wanted so badly to take him on but he knows they've not seen an omnic like him before. Then the third man who has been quiet for some time takes a deep breath and sneers at him.

"Don't matter how big he is, there is only one of him. Let's go!"

They advanced and Ramattra readied his staff, focusing energy at the crook to knock them back. So focused was he that he failed to notice a fourth human approaching from behind.
Then darkness until he sensed something trying to touch him.

The journey back to the MEKA base was...interesting, to say the least. The humans had argued with each other, but Ramattra was too busy trying to do a diagnostics check on himself. A ruined voicebox? That was easy, not like it hadn't been damaged before. The matter of his missing limbs was the bigger issue.

Since most of his particular kind had been 'discontinued', he knew that repairs would be more difficult to do. R-7000 parts were among the rarest to find and not always in the best of conditions. Even he had had trouble securing parts back at the monastery.

For a moment, Ramattra wondered how his closest brother was doing. From his position, he couldn't even turn his head to look at the sky. Instead, all he could see was the distorted image of the back of a hover bike. How disgraceful.

So he returned his focus on the humans. Specifically the one that had found him. A young woman with one of her arms in a full cast as well as one of her legs. Must have suffered an accident recently. Reckless child. Shouldn't she focus on herself rather than him?

She was speaking to her other companion, while making sure the straps securing him to the bike were still holding strong.

"-and just leave them there? I know we're at war with the Gwishin, but that doesn't mean all omnics are bad! Don't you remember JeongHui's caretaker? What was her name....uhm...Ari! She was the nicest omnic I ever met-" the girl prattled on about 'Ari' while her companion kept his concentration on the road.

After a moment, the young man sighed and cut the engine. "Look, we just..." he sighed and tried again. "Hana, we have to be careful, this...I've never seen an omnic like this. What if-"

Hana held up her hand. "Stop. If we assumed everything about anyone at first glance our world would be even worse than it is now. Let me try to help them. Please Dae-Hyun." Glancing back at their 'cargo', she tapped her fingers together, and grinned. "What if I hook you up with all the new limited edition samples? You'll get them first before anyone else, just can you keep this a secret between us. For now? Pleeeease?"

The look Dae-Hyun gave her was incredulous. "You really think you can buy my silence with chips?"

"Yyyyyeeeessss?"

Crossing his arms, the mechanic looked up then sighed. "Damn it, you're right. Fine. But I don't think this guy will stay ""secret""" he mimicked air quotes. "for long. I'll keep quiet though."

"Deal then. Now...how are we gonna sneak past everyone is the real question..."

Fairly easy was the answer. There were some old maintenance tunnels that hardly anyone ever used because there were certain walkways that were exposed to the sea. Hana studied the omnic's face as Dae-Hyun wheeled their guest over one such walkway, her face scrunched up as she tried to ignore the pain of her legs from too much walking.

The shape was so...menacing, at least compared to other omnics she had met. Nothing like the Gwishin though, so for now she felt that they were safe enough. Given the damage sustained, it wasn't like the omnic was a threat.

Other than the occasional hissing and crackling noises, that is. Like right now. Her hand was a little too close to the faceplate and she instantly retracted her hand, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, was just wondering what uhm..." she hesitated on saying 'model' since that seemed to be a touchy word amongst omnics that had sentience. "I've just never seen someone like you before."

God, even that sounded lame to her ears. Hana was quick to look beyond the omnic, straight at the back of Dae-Hyun's head who turned and shrugged at her. "Don't ask me, I know how to fix mechs, cars, and maybe do a little coding, but omnics is not what I studied."

Finally they reached their destination, her own personal workshop. Every member of MEKA had one. It was were they stored their spare mech parts and did repairs. Tokki proudly stood in the middle of the room, though it had definitely seen better days. Still bearing the scars from that fateful night.

Dae-Hyun looked around awkwardly for a moment, before clapping and rubbing his hands together. "All right, so let's get him up on the table and see what we can do."

Chapter 2: Ratatouille

Notes:

Listen, I have no idea where I am going but it's going. Also, I love Dae-Hyun. So much. I liked the dynamic he had with Hana in "Shooting Star" and so like, yeah, they childhood besties, he'll be there for her. They fight and make up as friends do. Ramattra is juts gonna be kinda comatose there for a hot minute though. Not really comatose though. He just can't talk.

Chapter Text

Three days later

It had taken her this long to finally find out what kind of omnic she had saved. A thorough search through all the holovids since before the first Omnic Crisis had finally revealed some answers.

Rubbing her eyes, Hana looked up from her computer screen to the omnic laying on her workshop table. An R-7000 model. She had heard a little bit about them in one of her history classes when she was in school. Seeing one was actually a rarity these days.

Even so, she also found out that no one sold any parts for R-7000's. She had checked thrice already, looking through every possible omnic repair site she could.

"Can't believe that not even Amazon has them," she muttered as she clicked away from the website. "'We sell everything from books to boats', what lies-"

On the table, Ramattra laid there, processing what the girl had said. Of course she wouldn't be able to find anything. When he had suffered a damaged forearm from a mishap in Nepal, it had taken nearly a year to find the necessary parts to repair it.

He cursed the humans who got the better of him, but most of all he cursed himself for allowing them to do so. He replayed that scene over and over, trying to figure out how he could have avoided ending up in such a pitiful state.

But perhaps he should be at the very least grateful that he's still alive. Even if he is unable to move or speak for the time being. He can even look past the fact that he's being helped by the humans he has come to hate.

Not the girl though. He can't quite find it in himself to completely hate her. For now he tolerates the fact that she's been touching him, inspecting his gears and wires, a frown on her face as she tried to picture what he must have looked like before she found him.

He knows he doesn't like the feeling of being so vulnerable whenever her good hand brushes against his faceplate. He can't feel the warmth, but even so, touching that area feels like a violation to him.

Sometimes he'll give her a warning, the remnants of his voicebox making terrible garbled sounds and hisses, sometimes he pretends to not be conscious, curious about what she's up to.

It is during those moments that he learns she talks a lot. To herself, sometimes to him, and a few times that other human is there, telling her to rest, or striking a conversation about mundane things. And something called a 'Tokki'.

(Did they have an omnic serving them under that name? If they ever managed to fully repair him, Ramattra would be sure to ask this 'Tokki' to join him.)

It comes to no surprise that she's talking again, but the girl is not too close so he can barely make out the words she's saying. Something about a rat?

"-from a long time ago. Can't compare to today's holovids but it has this charm to it. It's a slow movie, very different from the stuff that's produced today. Shame that company kinda fell off-" she keeps prattling on as she studies one of the fiber cables that once connected his shoulder to his right arm. "Hmm, you seem pretty big. Bet I could have ridden on your shoulders no problem."

As if he'd allow that.

There's a knock on the door and she's quick to cover him with a sheet before going to check who it is. Part of him detests her for doing this, even though he understands why she's doing it. To keep him a 'secret'. Perhaps her other companions held the same distrust towards omnics as he did towards humans but it's not like he'll know beneath a world of dimmed white light.

It's Dae-Hyun at the the door, holding a box of metal parts. Hana drags him inside the room before peeking her head out into the corridor to make sure no one else is around. All clear, good. Her mechanic goes over to the desk and gently places the box down, lifting an eyebrow at her when he spots the white sheet and the hulking mass he knows lies beneath.

"I'm surprised no one has seen that yet," he comments while Hana starts going through the box, picking up random pieces and inspecting them.

She picks up another piece to scrutinize before answering him. "Why would they? No one has gotten this far inside aside from you, and you're a special case." The piece gets set down in one of two piles. "These are from where I told you I found him?"

He nods and sits in her chair, elbows on his knees and fingers steepled together. "Yeah, there was just a lot of junk to go through. Whoever did this to your friend, they really went to town. I don't think it's every part but I did my best."

A nod is all he gets while she continues to sift through the piles, arranging and rearranging everything. "...no, this is too damaged, maybe we can try to see if we can replicate it and do an upgrade?"

"...aaaaand she's gone." Yet he smiled because that's just the kind of person he knew Hana was. When she was not defending their country she'd always be right beside him, both of them elbow deep in Tokki's inner mechanisms, repairing and upgrading everything they could. Covered in oil grease and muck. He watches her for a minute longer before turning to look at the covered omnic.

Getting up, he moved closer and removed the sheet to study the 'patient'. There was something about this omnic that didn't sit right with him, but he trusted Hana so for now he'd let it be.

"Any luck on finding parts on the net?" he asked curiously, his eyes trained on their guest's external chassis. It almost reminded him of a ribcage, and he shuddered. Spooky scary skeleton.

Hana glanced back for a moment and shook her head. "Nope! Nothing. Zip. Nada. The closest thing I could find was something from like, 30 years ago? Or something like that. R-7000. We weren't even a thought in our parents' heads yet, el oh el."

"R-7000? Huh. That sounds familiar," he removed the sheet and carefully folded it to set aside. He could have sworn he had heard about that type of omnic somewhere, but if this guy was from the times of the Crisis, then...

"...maybe we should leave him as is."

SMACK

A small Pachimari stress toy hits him square in the chest and landed on the floor with a defeated squeak. Hana is glaring daggers at him, her hand still extended from that throw.

"No. We've already brought him in, it would be cruel to stop now."

"But-"

Hana walked towards him, stopping short a few centimeters and jabbed a finger at him. "If you're not gonna help, then get out. I have work to do. Maybe Jae-eun will let you polish Princess or something."

He made a face. Sure he got along with Casino just fine but the guy was so very particular about his mech. "Hana-" but he's quickly pushed out of the room and the door is slammed in his face.

He hesitated on knocking again, but decided against it. If she wanted to be alone, that's fine. Maybe he shouldn't have voiced his thoughts out loud. The thing was, he was concerned about her health. Since she was told not to touch Tokki was she looking at that omnic as a replacement until she could?

Well, he can always apologize later when she's less upset.

Hmph. That boy was smarter than he looked. That human had every reason to be suspicious of him. Ramattra would make sure to remember that. The sounds of the girl moving metal was annoying, but what could he do about it?

Nothing but lay there and contemplate his situation. So far the humans had removed a bit more of his hardware joints, which he wasn't pleased about. At one point he did manage to get a glimpse of what they were doing, studying the pieces, the girl trying to fit things together as if he were some complex puzzle.

It both irritated and amused him, if he wanted to be honest. Humans were the ones who 'created' them but they still knew so little about omnics. She was young, so he knew that she hadn't been around during the times were his people were far more numerous than today.

During the past three days, he did also learn that she was part of a team that was responsible from holding the Gwishin at bay. Admirable, but in the end, how long would just 5 children hold out against an omnic army? How would they fare against his Null Sector?

Now there was a thought. Perhaps somewhere down the line he would bring his troops here and-

A soft sniffle interrupts his train of thought. She's standing over him again, looking quite pitiful as she presses a few buttons to move the table into a more upright position. There are unshed tears in her eyes as she does her best to ignore whatever is wrong with her.

"Don't worry, I'll fix you. You deserve that at least."

What was he, a project? She seemed to know her way around tools but the fact that she seemed so fixated on him was rather odd. If she know who he really was, would she still be doing this? Wasn't she a protector of humanity?

She's still touching him, petting the cables he had attached to his head. It was a choice he definitely had made to give himself a little more individuality at the monastery. He was secretly proud of them, but that was something no one would ever pry out of his hard drives. Yet here she is, acting like he was some household pet while she muses to herself. She knows he can hear her, right?

"You know, in the movie I was talking about, the little guy controls the human by tugging on his hair." He does the omnic equivalent of an eyeroll by flashing his lights, causing her to laugh and step back. "Wow okay, I know. Stupid idea, but hey, maybe you should let me try it once?"

No. He's allowing her to touch him without consequence at this moment, she should be proud of the fact that she's still breathing.

"..."

Sighing dramatically she moved back towards her desk to look through the parts Dae-Hyun had gotten her. There was really so much. Some of it did look like it belonged to him at one point, but they were mangled and twisted in a way that even with welding tools it would be nearly impossible to have it be the way it once was.

"I should thank him but sometimes...hey can I tell you something?"

Wasn't like he could stop her, so she kept going.

Plopping down on her chair, she moved it closer to him, her feet making mismatched sounds from tapping on the floor. "I know he's looking out for me, but to be honest, I'm not even mad at him. I know there are places where some radical omnics are rising up again, but even so, why does that mean I have to be hostile to every one I come across. What happened to you was terrible, and even though it's not my place, I'm sorry for what they did."

Stupid, stupid child. He doesn't need or want an apology from her. This happened because he made a mistake and underestimated the humans who he had come across. But he doesn't want an apology from them either. What he wants is their complete surrender. If he had to kill them to have it, he would do so. No mercy until justice was served. One way or another, he would have it.

Her though? Now that was a question Ramattra couldn't answer at the moment. And it was one he hoped he wouldn't have to anytime soon.

Chapter 3: Quietly I Mourn

Notes:

MEKA Squad mentions, brief Dae-Hyun, this is mostly just some inner thoughts and such. I am not following the comic one to one, it's the bones and I'm filling in the guts and squishy pieces.

Chapter Text

The only sound in her workshop is the dull roar of a welder's flame. The small little taps of hammer on metal, and then a satisfied sigh. She pulls of her mask and inspects the two pieces she has put together and nods to herself. Her eyes flick to a screen displaying a picture of an R-7000, one that was holding a submachine gun in it's hands and she compares the fingers to the ones that are laying on her table.

A close enough match, maybe a tad bit shorter? There was only so much she could fix. Sneaking a peek back at the semi-comatose omnic in the middle of her workshop, she compares the size of her hand to the metal. It's cold and hard compared to her much softer and squishy flesh.

The cast on her other arm reminds her of just how breakable she is compared to omnics. They break too, but most cannot feel pain. Not in the same way a human can that is. She actually does wonder if he did.

Though asking him would be a task. All he can do is crackle and hiss at her. By now she's learned that when she does something he doesn't particularly like he'll make a noise. And that's the most she can get out of him. A lot of times, the omnic straight up ignores her so she can't even do the 'one hiss for yes and two for no'.

Gah, this was frustrating. Fine, since Mr. Grumpy wants to act like that, she can just concentrate harder on her work. Like, her actual work and not him. She might not be any use on the field right now, but she can still file reports.

A quick text to Yuna and she's back at her computer, working on some reports. "The damage to the defense matrix was...hm...so now I can only use it for 3 seconds, huh. Lame. Wonder if Dae-Hyun can bump it up to 4..." and then she cringes.

He hasn't been back for two days since she basically threw him out. She knows he's stopped by though, since sometimes there is food and drinks left outside the door. Notes that remind her to actually sleep in her own room tonight because the rest of the team is starting to get suspicious about the amount of time she's kept herself cooped up in here.

What a guy.

She can't rest just yet, the arm on her desk is nearly complete, and paperwork has been piling up. Usually Yuna would be helping her with this but because of her omnic friend here, she's been doing almost all of it herself.

"Since I can't be out there with you guys, I might as well do it, right?" she had told Kyung-soo. King merely shrugged over the video call and agreed to send her reports via email.

When she had filed her own reports, they had been more or less tailored to her particular fashion, quick and filled with gamer slang she'd picked up from her years of online gaming but when it came to her teammates she learned a few things she hadn't previously.

Jae-eun's were very clinical while Yuna liked to summarize as quickly as she could but her reports were still at least three pages long. Seung-hwa was similar to Jae-eun but had more complicated words that Hana learned to keep a dictionary tab open on her browser to decode what the heck he was trying to say. And last but not least Kyung-soo's were shorth and not too detailed. "...we showed up and nine Gwishin squid drones blew up..."

Wow. So descriptive. Is this why their Captain always had to have a word with him? Whatever, back to the report.

Singijeon had sustained the least amount of damage while Beast had taken the most and was nearly totaled. "No wonder she sounds mad in her text..." her fingers moved quickly over the keyboard, the tap of the keyboard being the only sound that echoed in the room.

At one point she turned to look at the omnic, but he seemed to have put himself in hibernation mode? At least, that's what she thinks it's called. Omnics didn't technically need to sleep, so...hm.

Poor guy must be bored out of his damn mind.

He was not in fact, bored out of his mind. What he was doing however, was watching her.

One week he'd been stuck on this table, one week of her constantly talking and prodding at him. At one point she had actually propped the table up and watched a movie with him, explaining to him the plot and pointing out her favorite scenes and quoting lines that she knew by heart. He hadn't care much for it when he realized that this was in fact the movie she had been talking about when she expressed her wish to ride upon his shoulders.

Just yesterday she had taken a tape measurer and held it to his torso, saying that his arms would be the first thing she was going to work on.

There had been this excited tone to her voice as she set the measurer aside and set her hand on the stump of his shoulder. "Since you're so big, bet you are really good at protecting others." Well, she wans't entirely wrong, but even then what good was it to be big if he hadn't been able to protect the few he had cared about?

Lanet had died because of his unwillingness to be patient. Nameless and Zera abandoned him. Just like he had abandoned his once home in Nepal. He tries not to remember Mondatta and Zenyatta too much. A teacher he had cared deeply for and a brother he could confide to his thoughts about the world they lived in.

He focuses instead on the girl who is now slouching in her chair, either deep in thought or fast asleep, he can't tell, and how despite the caution of her male companion, is insistent that she wants to help him.

Ramattra is still wary though, questioning the reason she feels the need to do so. Surely she's doing this out of selfishness, to make herself feel better. When she had talked about his hands, she kept looking at his faceplate, grinning, and then mentioned how much it reminded her of some stray cat that one of her teammates had snuck into the base some time ago.

"In the end, Seung-hwa had to give her up. I hear sometimes he still visits the family that adopted her," she had said, her voice becoming more quiet. "They apparently lost their father recently to a Gwishin attack. You see, he was a fisherman, and he was working in his boat. Our radar didn't pick up the distress signal in time."

She stayed quiet after that. Why bring up the cat at all when it would end up causing a pained memory? He really couldn't understand how the minds of humans worked. One moment as happy as one can be, the next they are a broken mess.

Or like now, how she's just sitting there, simply existing like he is. His sensors pick up her even breathing and concludes that she's asleep. Figures, since the girl had been working him almost nonstop. Taking only the smallest breaks to take care of her human needs.

Other than that she has remained at his side, fitting pieces together, holding them up for inspection, taking notes on what needs to be refitted or readjusted. She's wiped off old stains from his armor, not commenting much other than an off-hand 'do omnics bathe?'.

(in theory they could, but it was probably best not to get too wet lest their circuits malfunctioned)

It is the sound of her door opening that he snaps back to reality, his vision sensors easily helping him see through the darkness of her room. It is her friend, the one that had helped get him here that steps through, looking hesitant.

The boy goes over to her, pets her head fondly and turns off the monitor for her. He then removes his jacket to place over her shoulders and then finally comes to stand by Ramattra's side.

"..." the human male says nothing, only stares at him hard. Ramattra cannot sense any malice or anything from this human.

Finally the human lets out a breath he's been holding, almost exasperated. A hand is running through his hair and the boy looks so lost that it is almost pitiable. Almost.

"Listen, I-" whatever it was that was going to be said, Ramattra never heard, because at that moment, warning alarms began to blare.

Chapter 4: Unshakeable Weight

Notes:

As I was writing this, velsmells posted a small epilogue to the comic that inspired this fic. Completely floored by it. I did incorporate a different fanart by them in this chapter, so enjoy!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

His fingers are too short. That will definitely pose a problem further down the line yet Ramattra doesn't make a sound as he watches the girl step back, wiping the sweat from her brow looking quite pleased with herself. For the moment, he'll commend her efforts in trying to repair him, even if she's doing it wrong. He owes her that much at least.

After the events two nights prior, he's in awe on how fast she collected herself, once more throwing her friend out of the room and burying herself in working on him. The human male has since returned a couple of times, with meals for her or to help her with working on him. Lifting and then fitting his arm in place as it was too heavy for her to do alone with her injuries.

Exactly how long did it take for humans to heal their appendages? Even with all the upgrades he had installed upon himself, human anatomy was not one he had prioritized. Ramattra was aware of the basics of course. And he also knew which parts were the most vulnerable and how to strike them quickly enough to not cause lasting pain but a swift death.

At the time, it had seemed like a strange kindness coded into him by Anubis. A painless death. And after seeing how much pain her arm and leg causes the girl, he can understand why the god AI did it.

It still seems to pale in comparison the inner turmoil she's been going through since the day the alarms went off.

Instantly, Hana was awake. She moved past Dae-Hyun and the omnic, towards her mech as if she was on auto pilot before she felt someone grab her around the waist.
Her first instinct was to struggle. She had to get to Tokki, she had to go out there and protect her city, she had t-

"Hana, stop!"

Her hand automatically reached for her hip where her little pistol would usually be, but she grasped nothing. She's unarmed, being held by someone. Don't they hear the alarm? Busan is in danger! South Korea is in danger! She's got to join her team and help! Can't they understand that?!

The hold on her lessened, and she heard a faint apology before she felt her cheeks being pinched. Hard. It hurt so much that she stopped moving and tears started welling up in her eyes.

"Agent Song, callsign D.Va, remember that you are suspended from combat due to your injuries until further notice." She finally realized who is talking to her. Dae-Hyun. Through her tears, she can finally make out his face, looking so serious. There is a hint of sadness there too, but he kept holding her still.

Another moment passed, and he took a step back and finally let her go. "Do you remember now?" Hana looked away, looking guilty before she limped back to her chair and turned her screens back on. A few clicks and MEKA's security feeds were on full display, showing each member's status and their positions. Her fingers tapped on the keyboard, and she brought up a screen from Overlord's perspective.

As their resident support, Seung-hwa usually hung back, constantly checking on his teammates to see who needed the most help at any given moment to send his nano drones to do quick repairs on the squads mechs. Surface area stuff, just enough to keep them in the fight a little longer.

A fight she should be in instead of sitting here like a useless stump. She knows she can't do anything, she understands that. It is still frustrating to see her teammates go out without her to take the stronger hits. Slowly she turned away and looked at Dae-Hyun, her face scrunched up in a pained expression.

"Is this...is this how you felt that day?"

It took Dae-Hyun a second longer to figure out what it is that his friend is asking of him. Biting his lip, he slowly nodded an affirmation. "Yes. I am just your mechanic, but every single time you've gone out there...I feel so helpless. I can provide you with coordinates, tell you the status of Tokki in further detail, but that doesn't guarantee that I will see you again." He failed to mention that he had nearly lost her once, but it is still evident that that is still on his mind.

He turned his attention to the screens, following Overlord's movements as the young pilot zipped around the battlefield. So far they seemed to be doing okay. There seemed to be substantial damage to one of Busan's docks, a small squad of Gwishin squid drones guarding it like a prize.

She didn't say anything more, also watching the rest of her team make quick work of the invaders, until finally there is cheering coming from their comms. Silently, she turned off the feed and worried a fray seam on her chair.

"Do you mind leaving Dae-Hyun? I'd like to be alone for a bit..."

"....of course. Just...text me if you need anything. I'm going to go wait in the hangar to assess damage with the others, okay?"

Okay good. One arm done. She can definitely do this and better still, the omnic had not made a single sound of complaint. Hana took this as a good sign. The fingers looked wrong, but that was the best she could do for him now. Maybe once he was better fixed she could go with him to help him find better parts?

Haha, wouldn't that be a trip and a half. Maybe he'd stay for a while too and help them? Well, she wasn't going to ask him just yet. Not until he was fully fixed.

Mhm. Maybe she'll write that down before she forgets. Now that she thinks about it, Hana doesn't actually want him to leave. She's grown accustomed to this omnic's presence in her workshop. She can already picture him in one of the mechanic uniforms.

A giggle escapes her mouth from the mental image, and then the omnic crackles at her. Questioning her merriment perhaps?

"Nothing, nothing, I was just thinking about something silly, don't worry about it. It had nothing to do with you," she lied very badly. Another noise, as if saying he didn't believe her. "I mean, urgh. I was just wondering what you are going to do after we're done here. Did you have a job?"

Silence.

It was uncomfortable. It actually caused her to sweat a little, so she turned away to hide her embarrassment and decided that it was better to scroll through her phone. A decision she soon came to regret.

"-while it was a victory, the public is still asking, where is D.Va? We know that two months ago she faced off against a Gwishin attack alone and was injured. We talked t-"

"A victory? It seems that way, yes? Still too many people were injured, just what was save-"

"-ictims say that they don't fault MEKA but are seeking answers from the government. How can their safety lay solely on these five youngsters? And while only four were present for the bat-"

It continued on, and with each new article or news piece, Hana grew more and more frustrated until finally she tossed her phone across the room. So what if it breaks? She can replace it at any moment, but those who were injured and lost? If she had just been there!!

Looking down at her casts, she grit her teeth and looked back at the omnic. She wished she knew his name at the very least, and didn't want to risk upsetting him by calling him by anything. If she felt this helpless with broken bones, how must he feel with missing limbs? And the fact that he can barely communicate?

"It's hard, you know?" even though she knows he can't answer her back. "I know that for now the best thing I can do for my team right now is to wait for my arm and leg to heal. It's just they need me to be out there." She gestured to her door and the world that lay beyond it. "If I had been there, maybe those people wouldn't have been hurt so bad. Maybe someone could still be alive. My teammates...they are so very strong without me, but with me, we're even stronger."

How was it that a girl as small as her could feel so guilty over something that was not her fault? He can offer no counsel to her, or anything at the moment for that matter. It would take a little more time to adjust his circuits to flow into his new arm, but he'd rather wait until he's whole to do that.

Her situation could have been avoided if her country wasn't so arrogant in putting their entire Gwishin defense on the shoulders of her and her teammates. He was aware that there were other bases stationed around the coastlines of the country but to his knowledge those weren't as prominently attacked as this one was. At least that's what he had gathered from the conversations between her and her male companion.

To think they spoke so freely about their operations in front of him would be worrying. He can't fault them too much though, they have no idea who he really is anyway. Maybe one day they'll know.

He hears the roar of her welder's torch and he decides that for now, he will bide his time, and wait for his other parts to be complete.

Notes:

I have zero idea how the other MEKA squad's mechs work, but I do know that Overlord is called a support so I took some small liberties. I hope it sounds feasible enough...lol....

Chapter 5: Come Morning We Wake From This Dream

Notes:

Sorry it took a little longer for this chapter to come out, I got just the teensiest bit stuck on one of the scenes and had to rewrite it like....three times before I was finally satisfied.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

It was a steady progress to finish working on her silent omnic friend. Well, she considered him a friend, if he thought the same, Hana wouldn't know, but he only made noises in response to some things she said now. A good sign? She certainly hoped so.

He still didn't move even after she and Dae-Hyun finished his legs, the omnic simply laid there, causing her much confusion until her mechanic explained that he probably needed time to adjust to his limbs and hardwire them to the rest of his circuitry.

"Kinda like your arm and leg I guess? When those," he motioned to her casts, "come off next week they'll probably feel weird to you, you know?" he joked and gave her a small poke to her shoulder.

Hana laughed along with him. "I can't wait. It's been so...bleh without being able to use them. And sometimes they itch like crazy, like you can't imagine."

Her casts coming off also meant that she could wear her cuter clothes again. Not that she was a fashionista but just having to wear short sleeves and shorts had been an annoyance. Even with the heaters on, sometimes it got a little nippy in the workshop.

Huh. Clothes.

"You know, it doesn't feel right to uhm..." she glanced over at the omnic and then back to Dae-Hyun. "...have him..."

Wow, it was a struggle to get the words out. Or maybe it was because Dae-Hyun was a guy? If Yuna was standing in his place would she have been able to say it without restraint?

"Have him what? Naked?"

Oh thank goodness. She didn't have to say it. Most of the omnics that she had come across aside from the Gwishin (who were distinctly not humanoid looking) preferred clothing. When she had found him, he had had some rags on, but because of the damage he had sustained, they were nigh unusable.

She nodded, her face a little bit pink and Dae-Hyun rubbed his neck and shrugged. "Well, I don't know about that. He kinda talks to you, right? Maybe ask him?" He had seen them 'communicate' before. Hisses and crackling. They had offered to fix his voicebox but then he made terrible screeching noises at the motion.

He didn't want it fixed. At least not by them it seemed. After that, Dae-Hyun kind of stopped trying to talk with the omnic. It seemed he preferred Hana, even if it wasn't by much. He honestly didn't know how to feel about that.

Shaking her head, Hana instead gave him a light shove. "NO! You do it. This is...a guy thing. Yeah! A guy thing!"

It was Dae-Hyun's turn to feel his cheeks grow warm. What did she mean a guy thing? He was a human and that 'guy' was an omnic. There was a difference there! The only reason they had concluded that their friend here was male was because Hana kept asking until she had received the answer she had been looking for.

And because of that, it had been Dae-Hyun who had been tasked with working on the R-7000's legs. And boy had that been difficult. None of the pictures they had managed to dig out from old archives were good enough with details, and while they did have the one mangled leg to go off on, there were parts missing that seemed essential to this particular omnic. The 'claws' for example.

What purpose did they serve? What terrains was this guy crossing that needed claws of all things? But, since that's what what he had had, then that's what he and Hana gave him. To the best of their ability.

Clothing on the other hand....

There was no denying that this guy was big. Easily towering over the two of them. So what kind of clothing would best suit him? Dae-Hyun stroked his chin, trying to picture what best would fit the omnic. Or at the very least his bottom half so then maybe Hana would stop feeling embarrassed.

What the reason for this was, he did not really want to think about.

"Dae-Hyun?"

Side-eyeing his long time friend, the mechanic sighed. "I'll try. No promises though. I don't think he likes me very much." He then stepped forward to where the omnic lay, not really prepared for the uncomfortable questions he was about to ask. Would he even answer him?

Well, only one way to find out.

"Do you uh...want clothing of any kind? Pants? Shirt? We could uh...try a hanbok?" He waited for a response and then looked back at Hana who gave him a thumbs up. The omnic didn't respond and just when he was about to give up, there was a hesitant crackle.

All right, finally getting somewhere. "Okay, you do? Would you mind making that noise again to what you'd prefer?"

They settled on just pants for now though getting them on the omnic would most likely fall to Dae-Hyun's hands again. Just had to find material fitting to the omnic's liking, which well...good luck to you on that, Hana.

She took it up on herself to look up DIY holovids on sewing and needlework. From his time being her best friend, Dae-Hyun knew she had a particular habit of adding a very 'D.Va' touch to things. When she had given him a jacket as a congratulatory gift for entering MEKA with her, she had made sure to iron on as many D.Va and Tokki patches on it as she could get away with. He still wore it proudly on colder days.

Like tonight. He promised her that he would guard their friend tonight so that she could actually get some rest. The dark circles under her eyes had grown so noticeable that when she had been in the team kitchen earlier, Kyung-Soo had mentioned them, telling her to take it easy.

That had led to a small argument over bad sleeping habits that ended in a long winded lecture about the importance of sleep, so she is (reluctantly) spending the night in her own room. Which is honestly a lot better than sleeping here.

He surveyed the dark room, the only light coming from her monitors. The omnic had seemingly powered down, as Dae-Hyun did not see any small pinpricks of red light that served as that guy's vision receptors. Or at least, that's what he thinks they are. The omnic never allowed them to remove his faceplate, so he couldn't say for sure.

So he sat in Hana's chair and opened a new tab on her browser to mindlessly scroll through video sites and the like, completely oblivious to the omnic he was meant to watch.

In truth, adjusting to his new limbs wasn't as time consuming as he had previously thought. It had taken only an hour or so, but Ramattra decided to play the part of still being the patient, if only to observe the human girl for a bit longer.

Her embarrassment of not wanting to touch him now of all times after she had basically fondled everywhere else was laughable. So she did know what shame was after all.

His only obstacle now was the human sitting over there, his attention on whatever drivel he was watching on the screens in front of him. Too easy.

He'd have to be careful though, too much force and the human would perish, not enough and he might sound an alarm. While normally he'd have zero qualms about ending this human's life what made him reconsider his decision was the girl and the memory of her tearful face.

Not to mention this man did also help repair him. And he was't going to be so ungrateful as to metaphorically bite the hand that had helped him. For not at least. A kindness owed.

In three steps he was behind the human, who was still momentarily distracted but it didn't take long for him to feel something was off. The human turned and before he could make any noise, Ramattra covered his face with his hand, blocking the human's airways until hiss movements slowed.

As soon as he made sure the human male was in fact unconscious, Ramattra picked up a few tools and set about repairing his voicebox. As if he'd ever allow anyone other than himself to touch such an important part of himself to repair it.

If he had had more time he'd fix more but the Ravager was pressed for time. So instead, he went back to the screens and looked through them until he finally found what he was looking for. A map of this place. Perfect.

He committed it to his memory banks and left the room, moving as quietly as he could until finally, he stopped at a door that was detailed in the most obnoxious pink he had ever seen in his life. So very...her.

Even the keypad was slightly decorated. Not that he'd need it, this technology, while impressive, was still child's play to him. The door soundlessly slid open and he stepped into what felt like a closet.

This...this was were she slept? Barely a hole in the wall. He had to slouch as he was far too tall to stand upright in her space. How out of place must he look in here, an intruder in the one spot where she should be at ease?

The girl was in her bed, a long sheet of fabric just barely held in her hands. There was a video on display on her monitor, though paused, titled 'DIY Sewing'.

Ah, so she was going to make him clothing? He recalled the questions his friend had asked earlier about what his preferences were. He didn't really care. This was his natural state and he wasn't bothered by it in the slightest. Clothing only served as a temporary barrier to the forces of nature.

Even so, he softly tugged at the fabric she was holding so as not to wake, taking note of the small rabbit pins she had attached to it, probably to hold seams in place until she got to them.

He picked them off one by one until he got to the last one and he decided to leave it as is. Something to remember her by.

'You have my thanks, girl. I will not forget this nor you.'

"Thanks for th' love..." she murmured, hugging a bunny shaped pillow closer to her chest, her body curling around it. Ramattra stayed his hand just inches from her head. No, she wasn't awake. Talking in her sleep?

"Hmm." He doesn't have time to ponder this. Soon the sun will rise and leaving will become more difficult. His sensors don't pick any movement in the close vicinity so he should go. Now.

The last thing he does for her is cover her with her bedsheet, just as she had done for him before. And without another glance back, he leaves, draping the fabric around his torso as a makeshift cloak.

He doesn't know if he'll meet this girl again, but for now he has a keepsake, a small reminder that should they ever meet again, be it by chance or in battle, he'll return her kindness tenfold.

The missing cloth is the furthest thing on her mind when she wakes in the morning. She had been dreaming about...urgh. What was it again? A large staff tilting her head up and a large figure looming over her, but she couldn't see who or what it was. Yet it had felt familiar.

It was nearly forgotten about as Hana went into the communal bathroom to do her morning routine. Brush her teeth, comb her hair, the usual. She forgoes breakfast, wanting to get back to the omnic and see how he was doing. Had he adjusted to his limbs yet? Would he be okay to walk?

As soon as she's within sight of her workshop door, she senses something is off. The door is open. Huh? It shouldn't be. Not while the omnic is there. Someone could see! Hobbling as fast as her cast leg would allow her, Hana stepped through the threshold and stopped in her tracks.

"Dae-Hyun!"

He's lying on the floor and she instantly goes to him, checking his pulse but thankfully he's still breathing. Her eyes darted around, trying to check for any dangers but she finds none, until they land on the empty table. The omnic is gone. Where...where was he?

"Nngh...." the sound of her friend's voice has her turning her gaze back to him. He's coming to and there is a dazed look in his eyes. "Ha....na? Hana!"

He grabs her by the shoulders, his eyes wild and she winces when his fingers press just a little too hard. He doesn't seem to notice as he also looks around, trying to make sense of what's going on. "He...did he attack you?"

She has a sneaking suspicion that she knows who this 'he' is, but she doesn't want to believe it. Even though the proof is literally in front of her. Instead she shakes her head and then gently removes his hands from her. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Notes:

Usually I don't ever have a concrete idea of how long I want stories to go on for, but I think this one will have two more chapters. Maybe.

Chapter 6: Chasing Disaster

Notes:

Hiiii again! Sorry for the delay, this particular chapter was a bit troubling to write. It's as close to canon as we can get before we diverge back into the inspiration for it. Enjoy!

Chapter Text

Time seemed to pass too quickly in the weeks after the omnic went missing. Her casts were removed and Hana was finally permitted to do her job again, staunching off attacks of the Gwishin and streaming it to the delight of her millions of fans all over the world. It was almost surprisingly easy for her to get back to her usual self since then, smiling pretty and just be 'D.Va'.

D.Va who has a bit of an attitude problem, who has no problem being toxic to some of her competitors ('git gud noob'), who will sometimes do 'trick shots' to fell an enemy while giggling and calling for F's in the chat.

Of course she's still a soldier at the end of the day. A defender for her country, someone her people, her city, can count on for protection. Ever since that night and her subsequent recovery, she's been on high alert, scouring the streets of Busan during patrols, a small pit of anger and betrayal lodging itself in her heart. Searching for any signs or hints to his whereabouts.

Why did he leave without a goodbye? Why did he attack Dae-Hyun? Questions she wouldn't ever be able to ask because even after all that time she had spent with the omnic, she never even learned his name. It clawed at her, and she'd lie awake in her bed at night, long after the others had fallen asleep, just wondering what became of him.

Dae-Hyun hadn't been hurt, but what provoked the omnic into knocking her best friend unconscious? She couldn't make any sense of it. It made her question if she had made the right choice of bringing him home that night.

A Ravager.

She had searched through archives to learn more about the R-7000s. Commanders for the omnic uprising during the Crisis. Omnics created for the sole purpose of leading others against humans. Until the Awakening.

"But he didn't seem like that..." she muttered to herself, holding her bunny pillow aloft her head and glaring at its cheerful face. Granted that she didn't really fully understand what the Awakening was. Just that one day, omnics were...different. No longer just bolts and circuits, but something more.

That omnic had been touched by it. She was sure of it. So why the needless aggression towards her friend? They had helped him, so why? Why?!

As she mulls over it in her head, circling around everything over and over, she is finally aware that someone is banging on her door. A small irritated noise leaves her mouth as Hana sets her bunny to the side and goes to see who is bothering her.

The face that greets her is Yuna's, looking exasperated. "The captain wants us in the briefing room. Ten minutes ago."

6 Months Later

The air in Cairo was dusty. He'd adjusted his cloak several times to prevent unwanted dust and sand particles from getting into his joints and wires. He had spent the last few months refitting himself as well as working on certain upgrades to better fit his vision for making the world a better place for his people.

He thought back to Mondatta and the monks of the Shambali and how they earnestly believed that with time, humans would come to understand them better. After his travels, Ramattra knew the truth. It was naught but a pipe dream.

Every place he has visited thus far on his journey has proved to him that humans weren't interested in making peace with their once terrorizers. In the past week alone he's had rocks thrown at him, some humans brave enough tried to attack him. Those he had dispatched quickly, leaving them face down on the dirt, just barely breathing. As a warning.

Never again will he fall to humans like he did in Busan.

The memory of that night has him curling his fingers tight around his new staff, and he willed himself to calm down, there was no need to think about the past. Only the future.

He is meeting with someone today. In the last month as he was trying to formulate a new plan, he had found a cryptic message lodged into his computers. At first Ramattra had been livid, determined to find out who had infiltrated his space, but once he read the note, he was intrigued to find out what this 'Talon' group wanted.

The name wasn't new to him, he knew that they were an organized group of humans bent on bringing chaos to the world. Their MO was that conflict is what made everyone stronger, and to a certain extent, Ramattra did agree with that sentiment.

So here he was, on the outskirts of Cairo, heading to the place where his creator had once been housed, the Temple of Anubis. He hadn't thought about the God AI in a while, but being here gives him pause for a moment.

Here is where the Omnic Crisis had started and here is where the seeds for Null Sector will be nurtured as well. The wind picks up and he finds himself adjusting his hooded cloak once more, until his fingers graze something on it that he had thought he had gotten rid of.

A pin with a bunny emblazed on it. Picking it off, the Ravager regarded it for a moment, thinking of its owner. How did she look when she saw he was gone? Upset that her little project had gotten away? Or had she been more concerned with the human guard he had left on the floor.

Rotating the pin between his fingers, he thought about throwing it away, it wasn't something he needed after all. It was a reminder of his time in that human's table, of him being helpless nd vulnerable. He should cast it aside.

Yet he doesn't.

The girl's face pops up from his memories, of her working on his body, promising him that she'll fix him. Of the time she tried to take the blame for something that she had no control over. Of her apologizing to him for what had happened to him.

It left him with...what was it that he was experiencing? It felt heavy. Unpleasant. It frustrates him because he can't quite put a name on it. His fingers close around the pin, careful not to crush it in his moment of frustration and hides it beneath the folds of his cloak once more.

There was no room to think about her. Not when his objective is standing in front of him, the setting sun shining over the large man's bald head.

The man doesn't face him just yet, still looking out of the alcove they are meeting in, just but a few steps away from the entrance to the Temple. It is another moment before he begins to speak.

"My friend," the man begins, his tone soft and coated in promise. "the world doesn't understand visionaries like us." He paused and took a deep breath. "I respect what you're trying to accomplish."

Ramattra remained silent, waiting for the man to continue, already not liking what the man was saying. It almost sounded condescending, in a careful way. He gives points for that.

"It's...noble and doomed to fail," and then he turns to face the omnic and had he been human, Ramattra thinks he might have held a surprised look on his face. He had heard of this man. Akande Ogundimu, better known to the world as the current Doomfist, and one of Talon's current leaders.

Interesting.

Doomfist continued on, removing his sunglasses to better see Ramattra. Face to face. "But with Talon's help...that can change."

Removing his hood, Ramattra inclined his head. "You have my attention." There was no need to second guess this opportunity. Because of his catastrophic failure in London, his forces had been greatly diminished. It had taken this long to get but a fraction of them back.

With Talon's...he hesitated on calling it 'help', with their resources, he could get back on track much faster than on his own.

"Good, good." Doomfist smiled, clearly pleased that this conversation was headed in a direction he wanted. "Let us discuss what your terms are and what we can provide. I trust that you will be pleased with what we can offer."

"That remains to be seen."

4 Months Later

"Is it just me or have the Gwishin been a lot more aggressive than usual?" Seung-hwa winced as he reclined his head on one of the many cushions that were housed within the common room of MEKA's base.

The others either groaned or sighed. Hana massaged her temples as she leaned into Yuna's shoulder, her eyes trained on the touchpad that her friend was holding in her hands. A news report about the growing activity of different omnic sects. Some peaceful, some not. The news report at the moment was praising MEKA for yesterday's battle. Though in Hana's opinion, it wasn't really something they should be praised for. It was their job and it felt like the media was treating them as if they were no more than actors in a play.

"From nearly bi-monthly attacks to almost every three days? No, you think?" Kyung-soo says dryly while taking a sip of his bottled water. It's a small repose they get to have in recent days. All five of them are tired, running on barely four hours of sleep.

The general vibe of the place is filled with uncertainty, as they reflect on how much more dangerous the Gwishin had become.

Next to King, Jae-un is lost in thought before he leans forward, a pensive look on his face. "It's like they are deliberately tiring us out or something..."

The other pilots look at each other, wearing varying looks of confusion. Hana finally looks away from the touchpad and clicks her tongue. "So they're getting more organized then? We've been fighting the grunts but we have yet to see the big guy show up. Something is definitely coming and we need to be ready. I'm going to go work on Tokki, see you guys."

Yuna squeezes her hand in support and tells her that she'll stop by later while the boys shrug and go back to watching the newsfeeds. Hana waves and slips out the door, her bottom lip caught on her teeth as she makes her way back to the hangars.

In her workshop, she finds Dae-Hyun there, speaking with one of the technicians. He raises his hand in a small wave to acknowledge her presence, which she returns before going straight to her mech, inspecting the large gashes on the front capsule. Not too bad, that can be buffed right out.

Not for a while though, it would take another few days for repairs so she moves to the next Tokki, one that she affectionally calls Midnight due to it's black exterior. This is the one she'll be using the next time there's trouble.

When that would be...she doesn't know. As the reports said, the Gwishin were growing more erratic. Their attacks were so sudden sometimes that their radar would detect them a little too late.

She frowns and tightens her hands into fists, angry that they could only do so much to protect Busan. And then Dae-Hyun is by her side, a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"Huh? Weren't you busy with....uhm," she can't recall the technician's name but she does notice that they are gone. "Oh."

He removes his hand and the warmth that was there disappears almost too quickly, but he smiles at her. "Just ordering more parts. We'll have them by tomorrow so you can use your favorite girl sooner than you think." He nods over to her bright pink mech and she laughs.

"The bestest girl! Number one!"

If only this moment could have lasted a little longer.

And a week later still...

Her conversation with the captain had been cut short by the blaring alarms. With a grim face, she practically sprinted back to Tokki, her fingers pulling at the gloves of her plugsuit. She's anxious, dreading the battle that is to come. All their mechs are starting to show signs of distress, repairs not happening fast enough and she worries that this next one could be one of their last.

Climbing in Tokki, she took a deep breath as she waited for clearance to launch. 'Ok Hana, you've got this. Kick butt as usual, save the city.'

"These aren't Gwishin!" Seung-hwa yells through their comms, his voice frantic over the sounds of battle. Ahead of him, Yuna blocks an attack and she turns to Hana, who loads up her defense matrix to delete the incoming barrage.

After three seconds, she maneuvers Tokki to a different position, eyes on the cooldown of the matrix while she patches in a call to the Captain. They need to get to the command ship that is floating overhead.

"Permission denied, Song. There are too many, and we do not have enough information about this enemy. You have to pull back!"

It leaves her staring at the screen blankly. Pull back? The city is under attack and the ship is within their sights! They can at least take it down and put a stopper on the attacks until reinforcements arrive.

"D.Va?"

Gritting her teeth, she suppresses her anger, teeth biting the inside of her cheeks and nods in understanding. "Yes, Ma'am."

The Captain signs off for the moment, leaving them with instructions to help evacuate the civilians while she tries to gather more info. Over the radio, the sounds of Casino and King fending off more drop pods can be heard, and Hana takes off, plowing into the side of a large enemy unit, setting it off balance.

In a second it regains its footing and turns its attention to her, twin barrels pointed at her. Hanna narrowed her eyes, her fingers gripping Tokki's controls, ready to fire.

"D.Mon, get everyone you can out of here!"

"I can't! The path's blocked by these guys."

Swearing a string of curses, Hana fired a barrage of micro missiles in the omnic's face, stunning it, and went back to help out her friend. Yuba's mech, Beast, was absolutely crawling with smaller omnics that reminded her of chickens. If chickens could fire lasers and were made of metal.

They were using those lasers to try and slice through Beast's outer armor and Hana swung Tokki's right arm and knocked them off. Yet no matter how many she fought off, it seemed like more and more took their place. Yuna was doing her best to keep them at bay as well, but it was clear that the slicers were going to overwhelm them soon.

"GET OFF HER YOU LITTLE-!" Hana's scream was cut short as what seemed like a flimsy bubble enveloped Beast, easily pushing all the little robots off of the mech. Hana looked around, trying to find who did this when she heard her communicator beeping. "Overlord?"

"Above! There's another ship!"

Another enemy? She looked up to see a much smaller ship hovering almost above their position, but rather than omnics dropping out of them, the hatch opened to reveal humans.

One of them called out as loudly as they could from the ship. 'We're Overwatch, we've come to help!'

Chapter 7: It Sinks In

Summary:

Toronto is under attack and a reunion for Hana awaits.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Hana couldn't believe it. The heroes that had once saved the world had come to help. And they wanted her to (temporarily) join them. Though technically, she was 'on loan' from MEKA. Her teammates had been jealous to see her go off with some of the old core members of the Overwatch team, calling her lucky and all that. Hana had teased Jae-eun about it, tapping the little charm on her pistol and mouthing 'lucky bunny' to him. The look on his face was priceless.

She would be lying if she didn't say she was a bit starstruck to meet them either. While being introduced to the rest of the small strike force, she had to remember to pick up her jaw from the floor when she saw the climatologist Mei-Ling Zhou. When they shook hands, she gushed about having read the young woman's published research journals, her cheeks cherry red. Mei had laughed and ruffled her hair, saying that now that she was part of the team, she'd get a glimpse of some of the places. Hopefully under better circumstances one day.

It was a warm welcome, one that she'll treasure for the rest of her days, and after they landed in Gibraltar, Hana finally felt like she could help bring a difference to the world.

It was a relatively short stay at the watchpoint. Not even a day to settle in and the resident AI, Athena, called all agents to the war room, where Winston explained that different parts of the world were being under attack.

Reinhardt took one look at it, and immediately zoned in on Toronto, Canada. On the way there, he explained to the new blood in the group that Toronto was the home of one of the former Overwatch captains. "She's called Sojourn, the best of the best!"

Hana nodded and prodded the old timer for more stories from Overwatch's glory days, to which he gladly obliged, much to the annoyance of some of the others on the ship. The pilot, Lena, groaned and muttered how now he'll never be quiet, but she said it in a lighthearted tone, as if she was used to this happening.

"Just promise me an autograph for later, ja?" the old man said with a wink, before launching into a tale from a battle long past.

"They call themselves Null Sector." Vivian said, signaling at the group of omnics waiting at the station to run for the ferry. Around them, the bodies of Slicers and some Artillery units littered the floor, some still spitting sparks where some limbs used to be attached. "Been on the rise recently. They attacked so suddenly earlier this morning that we didn't know what to do."

Hana kept her eyes trained on the buildings across the station, listening with one ear, and keeping track on the group to make sure there were no stragglers left behind. "Saw these guys in Busan too. Why are they doing this...?"

"Well...we fought them in London before. Wanting equal rights for omnics and all. It's just that the ways they are going about it are too extreme." The woman shrugged as the last group finally made it on the ferry and she waved towards the bridge, signaling the captain that he was good to go. "All right, let's do one last sweep around here. D.Va was it? You mind going up ahead to check things out?"

"No problem, Captain!" Hana maneuvered Tokki's controls to salute at Sojourn before she flew off towards the direction the woman had pointed at.

The streets were barren, devoid of what usually would have been a bustling hub. It made her feel uneasy as she made her way through the city blocks, stopping to examine an ad for what seemed to be ramen. Or was it udon? Either way, the omnic portrayed made her feel sad, remembering the Ravager she had helped all those months back. Almost a year ago now, it seemed.

After she looked away, all the billboards around the street blared red and a hooded figure stepped into view. They started speaking and at first, Hana didn't pay it mind, this was obviously propaganda by the leader of Null Sector. Oooh if she saw him she was going to-

Wait. Why...why does he sound familiar?

-ill shatter the chains that have held you in servitude. This marks a new era: one of equality, of unity. Conflict and strife will be relics of the past. Together, working as one, we will lift our people. Toget-

No. No. NO!

It couldn't be. It had to be a lie. This wasn't real, it isn't happening. It's not happening.

IT'S NOT HAPPENING.

Yet the billboards were broadcasting the truth to her. Standing there in near silhouette was a Ravager. And it slowly dawned on her. All of this, all this destruction she had faced by the hands of Null Sector, was partially her doing.

Her communicator buzzed with an incoming message, but Hana was too stupefied to even register it. She stood there, staring up at the screens, unaware that tears were beginning to trail down her cheeks.

Memories of many nights spent by his side, tirelessly working on his limbs flooded to her. Memories of her hoping that maybe he'd stay with MEKA if he had nowhere to go. Of Dae-Hyun on the floor the morning he disappeared.

'...maybe we should leave him as is.'

Oh...oh. If only she had listened. If she had just left him there and minded her own goddamn business....

The broadcast continued, and she could only stand there, thinking about all the damage she helped cause just because she felt like being a good Samaritan. "This isn't fair...I didn't...."

From behind her, she heard footsteps approaching and she swiveled her mech to face the team, her face blank. She made a lame joke about being so hyper focused on the broadcast that she didn't hear the communicator, and from the look on Angela's face, Hana is sure that none of them bought it, but they didn't press any further.

Instead they shifted their focus on making their way to the subway system where Vivian said someone was signaling for help. Yeah, Hana could focus on that. Best to keep her mind on the mission and not on how she was basically an accomplice to all the bad things happening around here.

As they neared the entrance, Genji held up a hand and pressed a finger to where his mouth would be if it were not hidden by his helmet. Everyone strained their ears, as the Ravager's broadcast was still playing. It was faint, but something was cackling.

Everyone turned their heads, trying to locate the source. Whatever it is, it seems to move around so quickly that their eyes could barely keep up. Until it was directly in front of them that is.

A tall omnic, twin long hair-liked appendages trailing behind them. They appeared to have their vision obscured by a thin piece of cloth and from beneath, a manic smile flashed at them. Their fingers with long claw-like extensions reached out and suddenly, Angela screamed as a purple light enveloped her body.

"Angela!" Genji tried to grab her, but the pull was too strong.

"Quick, do something! I can't move!" Angela's face was panicked, as the omnic started laughing louder and louder, their long appendages poised for attack. Hana used her boosters, shoving the omnic back. That seemed to work, as Angela was immediately dropped and the enemy now had their attention on Hana.

She glared back at them, fingers ready on her controls. "Come on! You and me, let's go!"

The omnic tilted its head, their body twitching with jerking movements that really unnerved the MEKA pilot, but she still stood her ground, the team behind her quickly tending to Angela's well-being.

Suddenly, it moved again, putting distance between itself and them, still cackling. Their head twisted, and garbled sounds came from it, before snapping their attention back to Hana. Even without sight, Hana felt like it was watching her.

So creepy.

And she'd had enough.

Before anyone could stop her, she took off after the omnic, only for it to evade her every move, leading her further and further away from the team. She could hear them shouting at her, and then her radio going off, but Hana kept pursuing that omnic, determined to destroy it before it could hurt anyone else.

The chase was long, the omnic much faster than Tokki could keep up with, but still Hana powered through. Until finally, she saw an opening. Going full throttle she slammed the omnic against a building, just barely managing to dodge the two tendrils that smashed against Tokki's glass frontal capsule. The ends had pierced through, one just a few inches from her face, the other had actually caught her on her side. It hurt like a bitch but Hana had the upper hand at the moment. And she wasn't going to waste it.

With a yell, she fired all of Tokki's micro missiles into it, until it finally stopped moving and it dropped to the ground, dead. Not that it was truly 'alive' to begin with. Not like the other omnics she had ever met before. There hadn't been any sentience there, whatever this was, it was only following its programming.

Coughing, she tried to lift Tokki's hatch but the latch wouldn't give. The omnic had crushed it, leaving her trapped. Even the ejector button was jammed. Cursing, she unbuckled herself, carefully minding the wound on her side, and twisted her body until her legs were facing the glass. She kicked at one of the cracks until it gave, and she crawled out of her ruined mech.

She tried her communicator, but that was utterly destroyed, so without it, she could not call for backup. Gritting her teeth, Hana leaned against Tokki, her head hanging low still in disbelief in how everything had gone wrong. "..should have stayed with them. I'm such a...."

As a former esport star, she should have remembered that splitting off was the stupidest thing she could have done. She should know better. Yet, the feelings from earlier, from hearing the broadcast, it really clouded her judgement.

"Why did I take that damn street...if I hadn't found him..." she lifted her hand, and cursed it. These hands of hers! They had once saved so many people, and now because she helped him...

Red. She could see red beginning to dye her gloves. Ha...so this was it, huh? By helping a stranger, she had a hand in all of this destruction around her. Even if she cried, it's not like she could ever apologize enough for this. Even if she used the reasoning that at the time she had zero idea of who he was, the truth of the matter was that this second Omnic Crisis was happening.

Dropping her hands, she closed her eyes, the weight of her sin becoming heavier and heavier with each moment. Her heart felt like it was breaking.

"Of all the humans I meet today, it's you."

Toronto's omnic population had been all too easy to take control of. Their meager military force against his Null Sector airborne omniums was almost pitiable. He had struck early in the morning, the city still too sleepy to realize what was happening and by the time they had mobilized it was far too late.

His message had been sent out, some omnics willingly joined him, but many did not. A tragedy, really. Had they really become so accustomed to living under human rule that they could not see how they were being mistreated?

An easy fix. With the help of one of Talon's agents, one 'Sombra', rewiring them would be no problem. And while she had warned him that once it was done, there was not a guarantee those omnics would ever be the same way they once were.

'They'll cease to be who they are. Entiendes?'

A sacrifice he was willing to make. A means to an end as it were. So long as he got what he wanted, Ramattra was willing to do anything to achieve it. This was what he had once been programmed to do anyway. To lead and to destroy. Wasn't that what it meant to be a Ravager. This is who he truly was.

A ping in his systems pulled him from his thoughts and he turned his attention to a screen that displayed the layout of Toronto. Strange, on of his Stalker units was way out of her designated area. Was there a problem?

He knew that the Canadian military was still putting up a fight, but they should all be by the seafront, why is this unit here? Tapping his chin, he thought about sending additional supports but all his units were either busy or already destroyed and his new prototypes were not ready yet.

Well, no harm in going himself. There was nothing the humans could do to him anyway. They were weak. So slow. Any human strong enough to go against his army would be in the battlefront, not in an isolated area.

So who could it be that had pushed Stalker so far? As he readied a drop pod for himself, the pinging stopped and he took another look, but there was nothing there anymore. The signal had vanished.

"Destroyed?" Now that really piqued his interest. All the more reason to see for himself what had happened.

Imagine his surprise when he finally did.

To think they'd meet again like this. Oh, but how the tables have turned. She hadn't noticed him just yet, too focused on an injury and something else. He noticed how she looked at her hands, her face twisted in a grimace that made him feel...something unpleasant.

"Of all the humans I meet today, it's you." Her head immediately snapped up to him and her eyes widened in realization. Ramattra regarded her expressions, fascinated by the array of emotions she was displaying. Disbelief, hurt, and finally, rage.

Rage was something he was intimately familiar with, and given the current situation, he could understand her anger. How well did it measure against his though?

Her eyes narrowed as he drew closer, yet she didn't say anything. Now where had her chattiness gone? He didn't miss it, but he was a bit disappointed that she didn't speak. Finally, he kneeled down in front of her, using his staff to lift her chin so he could get a better look at her face.

"You saved me, so for that you do have my gratitude," he spoke sincerely, because he truly was grateful. Without her help, he wouldn't be standing here today. Without her, he'd be nothing but scrap decaying in Busan.

Still, she didn't speak, and for a moment he did wonder if she was that badly wounded, but his sensors didn't detect anything. A wound to her ribs, yes, but it wasn't fatal. She'd recover. Eventually. However he still had more to say.

Removing his staff, he reached into his cloak and pulled out the rabbit pin he had taken with him. The little plastic smiling face had taunted him for so many months, and yet he had kept it. And now, he dropped it into her lap, glad to finally be rid of it. "This second chance at life you gave me...as you can see it has not gone to waste."

He tilted his head, "But I do wish to know. When you found me there on that street, did you have any idea who I was, girl? Have you realized that your act of kindness would lead to all this?" He gestured to the destruction that surrounded them both.

"Tell me, do you hate me?"

Whether she did or didn't hate him would not affect him much other than to sate his curiosity. He watched her a she drew in a shaky breath and though her mouth finally moved, he couldn't hear anything.

Was she more hurt than he thought? No, he would have sensed it. Her heartbeat was a little fast, but otherwise normal. She moved to sit up a little straighter, wincing as she moved her hand to gesture at him to come closer.

He obliged, bringing his faceplate closer to her to hear what she had to say.

"Fuck you."

She spat at him, and though he couldn't feel it, it didn't change the fact that she had literally spit on his face. Slowly he raised a metallic hand to wipe it off and inspected it. How disgustingly fascinating that this is the first thing she does upon meeting him again. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this.

Hm.

Seemed like she still wasn't quite done talking. Typical for her. This was the girl he remembered.

"I....have fought against Gwishin. Seen what...what they have done to my country. Even then, despite...despite them being my enemy, not once have I ever hated omnics." she paused, before she crossed her arms and looked away, the crease of her eyebrows furrowing deeper as she stewed in her anger towards him.

He chuckled darkly before moving back away from her. "So what? Do you think because you took pity on me that it would erase everything humans have done to me? To my people?" Turning his gaze skywards, to where the shadows of his ships still darkened the city, he sighed. "You humans really are despicable. Thinking that one act of compassion is enough."

With a grunt of pain, she scrambled to her feet, her hand pressed to her side. "Then what about you?! You think we'll bow our heads to you after what you've done?! You think that omnics will fall to their knees and praise you, Ravager?!"

At this, Ramattra's lights flashed red and he picked her up by the front of her plugsuit, ignoring her cry of pain. "Do you think I care about what humans think, girl?!"

Even in his grip, she had the gall to grin at him. "Then why did you keep my pin? Why ask me if I hate you or not?"

It hurt to be dangling like this. Her suit dug painfully against the cut on her side, but Hana smiled through her pain as the Ravager finally set her down. She held up the pin in question. "If you didn't care, you wouldn't have kept this. If you didn't care about thoughts of humans, you wouldn't have asked me my opinion of you. Ravager, you may not care about what humans think, but it seems like you seem to care an awful lot of what I think."

Hate? All those months ago, she wouldn't have considered such a word for the Ravager at all. She had wanted to be friends with him. Watch lame movies with him. Maybe even work together. Now though? After today, then yes. She can hate him.

Loathe him for what he's made of her.

"You test my patience, girl." He hissed at her, his fingers twitching around his staff. An act that didn't go unnoticed by her. Maybe she was pushing her luck, but right now? She didn't care.

"Fuck your patience. I hate you so much. I do my best to bring good to this world and you...you are messing it up! What you're doing is dumb and wrong! Omnics that won't join you are being forced against thei-"

He cut her off by lifting his staff, a small ball of energy vibrating dangerously at the crook. "Choose your next words carefully, human. I do still owe you a debt after all."

"It's Hana, not huma-nngh." Staggering a bit, she steadied herself by leaning against the wall. Ramattra glanced at her ruined mech and then back at her. "What?"

What indeed. He could leave her here, but as he had stated moments ago, he owed her. And he always paid back his debts. Since she had saved his life, it was only natural that he would help her.

If only she wasn't being so difficult. And infuriating.

"With that thing destroyed, you have no hope of making it out of here in one piece."

She snorted and waved her hand dismissively. "Best kill me now then. If you don't I'll hunt you down and take you apart, Ravager." Tapping her forehead, she grinned. "Better make it count."

That made him falter. Not that he knew much about her, but she had never seemed the type to have a death wish. The very thought of her being dead never crossed his mind, and he found that he didn't like that motion at all.

"I do not wish to hurt you."

"But I very much want to hurt you for all you've done. Look around! You want rights for your people but are willing to hurt them in the process too? No, why would a Ravager like you think about that, huh?"

Ravager this. Ravager that. It irked him and he had grown tired of humoring her. Tapping his staff hard on the ground to gain her attention, Ramattra pointed at himself. "Ramattra. Not Ravager, not R-7000. I have a name, so use it."

Normally he wouldn't have given his name out so easily like that, but he despised how 'Ravager' sounded coming from her. Even if that was what he was, his name was something that he had chosen for himself. It proved his existence in this world, did it not?

The girl, Hana, looked at him with surprise. Like if she hadn't been expecting that. Was it so surprising that he had a name? That there was more than just being an R-7000?

"...I hate owing humans anything. You saved my life, so in turn, I will save yours." He held his hand out to her, but Hana slapped his hand away. From the looks of it, she instantly regretted it as he didn't even flinch, and now she was cradling her hand to her chest. He stared down at his own hand, and flexed his fingers before retracting it back to his side. "I see."

So much time wasted. All he was going to do in the first place was check on Stalker's condition and instead he found her. His once savior. Who now hated him.

He shouldn't care. He thought he wouldn't care if she did or not, but in the end, it seemed like her words actually did sting. Once he had thought that he wasn't capable of feeling that way, but somehow this girl, this human...Hana, was making him feel like he was malfunctioning.

Ramattra didn't like it one bit.

A noise in the distance got both their attentions, and he decided that now was the time to withdraw. Looking back down at the injured girl, he removed the cloak that he was wearing and dropped it at her feet.

"Looks like our time together is up, Hana. You're welcome to try and come rip me apart if you can," he laughed and started to walk away from her, not daring to look back. "I'll be waiting."

She watched him go, her rage still bubbling beneath her skin. His cloak, the same one she had started to sew for him so long ago, laid there, as if mocking her. It had been modified to better fit his tastes but she could still recognize her own mismatched stitching in some parts.

Ha.

He was still within her sights, but even if she tried to chase him now, there was no way Hana would catch him. Ramattra. Well, even boss monsters had names.

In the distance, she could hear the faint sounds of Angela and Vivian calling her name, so it was best to stay still. Even so, she yelled at his back, "I fucking will! Mark my words, Rav-Ramattra, I'll find you and make you pay!"

She had to do it. It was her fault things had turned out this way. No matter what she thought she had once felt for him, before she knew who he was, that was gone. Replaced with the determination to hunt Ramattra down until she could dismantle him to pieces.

Notes:

We finally made it to the end. My apologies for the delay though, and for Dvattra not being endgame here. I wanted it to, but I just could not see it happening in this. Being hurt and betrayed by someone you thought could have been a friend (and maybe more) is not going to make you want to jump into their arms and suck face XD. There IS something there though, if one digs deep enough. Both of these crazy kids feel it, somewhere.
Thank you so much for the kudos and kind comments, I really appreciate them. And I certainly hope you enjoyed my interpretation of velinxi's comic. You should check out their twitter if you want more Dvattra content.

Series this work belongs to:

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Vroom1 on Chapter 1 Sat 26 Aug 2023 04:51AM UTC

Loving it so far!

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New_York_Times_Books on Chapter 1 Sat 26 Aug 2023 07:36AM UTC

"Wise, surprising and utterly extraordinary"

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Reader (Guest) on Chapter 1 Sat 26 Aug 2023 05:18PM UTC

Oh this is an interesting take on how they'd meet prior to the comic! This is already turning out so well~
Also eyeing that unrequited crush tag, I wonder who it's for? So excited to read more!

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MeppingChara on Chapter 1 Tue 29 Aug 2023 06:00AM UTC

I was hunting for this after reading the comic..i screamed i was so happy to find this lol

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Reader (Guest) on Chapter 2 Mon 28 Aug 2023 03:46AM UTC

Omg I loved this update!! The friendship between daehyun and hana was honestly a pleasant surprise, they have a really easy trusting dynamic between them. Contrasting to the one sided cautious/ uncomfortable friendly dynamic between ram and dva, it’s really interesting.
I like that ramattra doesn’t seem to trust hana that easily and even calls her stupid (LOL) in his mind. His hatred of humans overshadowing hana literally saving and defending him honestly seems really like him. I’m wondering if that will change and develop? I’m so excited to read more!

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MeppingChara on Chapter 2 Tue 29 Aug 2023 06:08AM UTC

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH DON'T STOP PLEASE. Im obsessed now, and i hope this continues in the direction it's going in, i love it very much.

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Ellensama on Chapter 2 Tue 29 Aug 2023 01:11PM UTC

I am so hooked on this so far! Can’t wait for more!

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appleontrees (Guest) on Chapter 2 Fri 24 May 2024 12:28PM UTC

i fw this so hard... you're really good at writing words and dialogue

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Ellensama on Chapter 3 Thu 31 Aug 2023 01:54AM UTC

I enjoy how both Dva and Ramattra are both knocked down a peg right now. Both dealing with being injured in their own ways.

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pooftylee on Chapter 3 Thu 31 Aug 2023 02:12AM UTC

A little salty about the cliffhanger since you've got me wanting more. Can't wait :)

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Tabby (Guest) on Chapter 3 Thu 31 Aug 2023 02:10PM UTC

MORE I LOVE IT

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artistgirl12 on Chapter 3 Sat 02 Sep 2023 07:28AM UTC

Uh oh

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Topley on Chapter 4 Sun 03 Sep 2023 02:52PM UTC

Logged back in for the first time in a long time to give you props, and to say I’m impatiently waiting for more. This relationship has so much depth and texture, DVa’s status as a human being underneath all the epic GamerGurl(tm) hype Blizzard heaped on top of her mirrors Rammattra’s own misgivings about being “forced” into being a revolutionary figure.

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RocLa on Chapter 4 Sun 03 Sep 2023 07:44PM UTC

Saw the original comics you based this off online. Hoped against all hope that I could more of this from ao3. Thank you so much for writing this!!! I cannot get enough of this idea!!

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Creepy Moss (Guest) on Chapter 4 Tue 05 Sep 2023 06:15AM UTC

Thank you for feeding us <3 I'm seriously looking forward to more chapters!

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Chipper_Doodle on Chapter 5 Fri 08 Sep 2023 03:36AM UTC

God I love this fic man 😌😌 keep up the good work!! I'll be happy with anything and everything you put out!! :))

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zaza_sorcerer (Guest) on Chapter 5 Sat 09 Sep 2023 05:15AM UTC

goated

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Kard0 on Chapter 5 Thu 28 Sep 2023 02:37AM UTC

I need to say it. I'm a sucker for interespecies shipping. Are Ram and Dva gonna...? Nah no way

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JoProbably on Chapter 5 Fri 12 Jan 2024 05:56AM UTC

this, too, is yuri

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Reader (Guest) on Chapter 6 Thu 14 Sep 2023 08:28PM UTC

Poor Hana, at least she's finally catching a break! But at the same time, I'm so worried for the extra angst that's coming when she finally realizes who she saved...
The little detail with the rabbit pin is soooo cute! He still has it after all this time, I'm emotional!!

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