▷sᴏ ᴄᴏᴏʟ

Tracer let out another soft laugh, smiling softly at both Brian, then Timmy. “It’s alright! And sure, I’d be honored, honestly! Ya got yourself a pen, love?” she asked. She felt a little bit bashful, smiling to represent it with a soft, red glow on her cheeks. It was one thing to consistently be praised for her work, but it was another to receive it directly - and not just from someone who was grateful to be saved ( like anyone would ) but from a fan. A true one, if his previous reactions had said anything.

Tracer giggled a little at the mention of his diary, although she couldn’t help but be a bit confused, but decided against saying anything. Whatever it was clearly had Brian flustered, that was for sure. Oh, speaking of which. “Hey, I love your hair by the way, Brian. You should keep your hoodie off more.” A small wink, a gentle smile, before she turned back to Timmy, ready to sign his cast.

Timmy giggled excitably and stamped his feet in eagerness. He pulled a pen out of his bag and handed it to Tracer. “Here you go, Tracer!” he cheerfully said.

Brian blushed and stuttered before looking concerned. “T-Timmy, now my not be the t-” he quickly shut up, realizing Tracer was keeping Timmy from being scared. He finally sat down on the ground and smiled.

 “Hey Tracer, could you tell us some stories of your adventures, please?” he asked happy, hoping it would cheer Timmy up- and hoping it wasn’t too forward.

When the arguing began to rise, Tracer certainly wasn’t doing any better - she liked kids, but it wasn’t as if she’d had any experience in dealing with them in moments like these. “Um, actually, it’s-” she began, but was quickly cut off by Brian’s obvious annoyance, and now began to glance nervously towards the door.

Tracer blinked over, placing both of her hands over the two of their mouths, letting out a small sigh as she glanced between the two of them. “Please, we don’t have time for this. Both of you need to calm down now. Just take a deep breath. We’ll- I’ll find a way out of here. Okay?”

A slow reaction, afterwards, as silence filled the room and she processed the previous conversation. Confusion covered her face, and she looked towards Brian as she slowly removed her hands. “…Smurfette?”

A grin formed on her face, all attempts trying not to laugh failing instantly. “Oh, that’s a good one. Mind if I borrow that, love?” she asked, before quickly getting back into the situation at hand.

“Anyway, we’re all going to be fine,” Tracer said, and although she wasn’t so sure, they couldn’t possibly be trapped in here forever. Someone would see the damage eventually, and they’d get out of here - they had to. Man did she wish she had form of communication, though.

They were both shocked when their mouths got covered and were quiet for a minute. They stared up at her with wide eyes, and there was a hint of betrayal in Timmy’s. For the past few minutes Brian was just nervously watching their idol panic and blink around the room looking for an escape. He prayed she’d find one, but apparently this was not to come to fruition.

When she finally released their mouths they both took a deep breath, and Brian reached to hold his younger brother’s hand.

Hearing her laugh made things feel like they were going to be okay again. That and both Brian and Timmy thought she had a really pretty laugh. Kinda like a sound from Heaven, beautiful and cheerful. It eased the knots tying in both their stomach, and it was possible that Brian blushed a little but quickly shoved his entire head under his hoodie to disguise it.

Brian smiled. “Th-that’s what me and Timmy call her. I didn’t even think when I referred to her as it.”

“Yeah!” Timmy said. “She’s blue like Smurfette, but honestly. She can’t be Smurfette because Smurfette is nice. She’s one of Gargamel’s creatures, Naughties, right? Well then again, Smurfette started out a naughty too-” Clearly Timmy was starting to ramble.

“Whatever you need us to do, Ms. Tracer, we’ll do!” Brian said, ruffling his brother’s hair.

“Yeah, we’re really sorry  we were fighting.  Also, umm...Tracer, if we get out of here... would you sign my cast?” Timmy asked, pointing a chubby digit to his broken arm. He was not sure if this was at all the right time to ask, but she was so nice about things maybe-just maybe she’d say yes. “I’m getting it removed soon; and I want to keep it with all the names that people put on it! And it’d be really special if yours was on it too.”

“What my name isn’t ‘special?’“ Brian asked jokingly before he was quickly interrupted with a “Not compared to TRACERS!”

“Okay, fair enough.” Brian rolled his eyes and nodded. “We’re going to do whatever you need us to do! Don’t worry! We’re here to help!”

Nonetheless, Tracer shook her head at Brian’s words gently, though she looked far from pushy. While she did appreciate his words, she couldn’t stop herself from doing all she could when she had the chance. “You don’t have to ask, really. It’s the least I can do, honestly. After all, you two are heroes as well, just like us!”

And, no, Tracer knew that wasn’t just the whole ‘lying to kids to make them feel better’ move. She meant it entirely. Even if they would’ve been fine, the actions of both the kids made things end a lot smoother than they could of - not to mention, they’d done in more in foiling their plans in less than a few seconds then Tracer and Winston had done in five minutes.

“Suppose I probably should check around the area for a moment, though, just to be sure. Both of you stay safe until I come back, yeah? Make sure to stay hidden,” Tracer reaffirmed, though was sure they would do so anyways. So, with a bit of a wink, she headed back towards the door to leave without (hopefully) attracting any attention.

A loud crash seemed to come from outside, to which Tracer was slower in her reaction then she would’ve been, but the door was already close enough that blinking would’ve surely caused her to crash into it. To her dismay, however, despite turning the handle at ease, no amount of pushing or shoving could get it to budge. She repeated the motion a few times, as all reassurance began to drain from her and her stomach felt empty.

This wasn’t good, this wasn’t good at all.

“Alright, um,” -what could she do? She didn’t know what to do- “just- stay calm, we’ll find a way out of here.” As if she could speak. And, as Tracer glanced around, she found their was no other exit of any type anywhere. Even the windows were unable to be left through. Just what kind of place was this?

“We are heroes!” Timmy squealed and once again covered his mouth with small, still injured hands and continued to giggle. His cast was still on, but he had a couple signatures scrawled on it. Maybe he’ll ask Tracer to sign his cast. Then he’d hope his hand would never be unbroken. 

Brian just cocked an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t call us heroes. I was just..trying to help. I couldn’t let Smurfette take that gauntlet. I just knew it’d be bad if it did and you were just trying to help Winston. I did what I could. And if Timmy didn’t help me, we would’ve both gotten shot. We were really in the way more than anything.” 

As she bid her farewell, Timmy waved goodbye and Brian went to hide his brother. They quickly found a crawl space underneath a storage box; It appears they were in a giant storage complex at the back of a shopping mall; so there were plenty of places to hide.

But when she said she couldn’t open the door, Brian’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you can’t get out. Timmy wait here, I’m going to help”

Brian ran over and started to try to help her unstick the door. He made a nervous “umf” sound as he tried to pull, but he ended up just falling over.

“Can’t you just ‘blink’ out or however you call it?” he asked, and Timmy the Overwatch Know-It-All was quick to chime in “That’s not how blinking works, dummy. Right, Tracer?” 

“Hey, there’s no need for name calling!” Brian hissed at his brother. “Now, sit down while Tracer and I figure this out!”

“Okay, Dad.” Timmy pouted. It appears it times of stress, the boys first reaction is to start squabbling. “What’re ya gonna do next, ground me to my room?”

“Timmy would you stop being so dang difficult?” Brian hissed. “And you know the rules, when we’re by ourselves, I’m in charge!”

“What if I want Tracer to be in charge! She’s a lot less likely to get us killed than you are, Brian-the-Buttface!” Timmy proceeded to once again pantomime throwing a missle at his brother, his usual way of showing his sibling he’s mad.

Of course, Brian made a good point - it wasn’t right for her to keep up in here when there was trouble happening outside. But at the same time, was it really right for her to leave two kids alone for any reason? It wasn’t as if they still couldn’t be found - and Tracer could tell by Brian’s actions that he wasn’t fairing so well with it.

So, she gave him a soft smile, shaking her head gently. “Hey, don’t worry about it, love. If anything happens and they need my help, I’ll be out within a second,” she reassured. “Besides, what kind of hero would I be if I let you two walk home alone after this? It’s probably best we be cautious, anyways.”

And then Tracer lowered her eyes, a bit more serious than before, still looking towards Brian. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Timmy’s eyes twinkled with excitement when his hair got ruffled, Brian was about to dismissively say ‘we’re fine’ but he realized by the way she was looking at him, that she was talking directly to him.”I’m fine, ma’am- Tracer.” He blushed and looked down, afraid to admit he’s still very scared for both himself and his brother.

“Tracer’s gonna walk us home from school? We’re the luckiest kids in the world! You’re my favorite person, Tracer! You’re my hero!” Timmy squealed, before he remembered he needed to calm down and covering his mouth, and errupted into hushed giggles.

Brian hated to ruin Timmy’s joy, but he had to be realistic and it wasn’t fair to anyone else that she helps just them. “No, no she’s not Timmy.” Timmy’s face quickly fell. “Tracer I really appreciate that so much, but I can’t ask you to do that.”

Timmy whispered “You ruin everything Brian.” but didn’t want to look bad in front of his idol with his typical squabbles. 

“Not to worry, loves,” Tracer began, glancing back down the street. It seemed to have quietened down a fair bit, but the silence was often more unnerving then the noise - especially when danger could be around any corner.

“Take it easy, you’ll be fine,” she continued to reassure, ushering them inside gently. Perhaps, in any other case, she would’ve been in and out almost like a bullet herself, but something about these two had her wanting to make sure they truly were safe. Danger just seemed to follow them everywhere, with the way things seemed so far, and she couldn’t just very well leave them alone, despite the odds.

Then again, although the odds were slim, there was always a chance. This having being the second time Tracer had run into these two kids, in particular, in such a short time made it easier to believe.

“No need for the formalities, by the way! Makes me sound old,” she joked with a small giggle, despite the danger outside. “Lena or Tracer is just fine!”

Whatever she was saying right now clearly wasn’t helping the youngest one in theslightest. “Timmy, is it?” Great start. “I understand you’re excited, really, but I need you to take a deep breath and calm down, alright? We have to be careful not to attract any danger.”

Brian nodded and carefully fallowed her, obeying her every word. Timmy on the other hand was so excited it was hard to contain him. Finally they made it away from the danger for now, and Brian released Timmy’s mouth, to which Timmy melodramatically inhaled.

Timmy listened carefully to what Tracer had to say and nodded. “Okay, Tracer. I’ll be quiet.” He made another theatrically deep breath to show Tracer how GOOD he is at obeying instructions. Timmy proceeded to hop up and down quietly, still excited but trying to remain quiet and well behaved.

“Tracer,” Brian said quietly. “Shouldn’t you be getting back into the danger zone. Isn’t there more people that need your protection. I can get Timmy out of here, honest. We’ll just hide until it’s safe to take Timmy home. We were just on the way home from school when the attack just kinda..exploded around us.”

Timmy nodded, confirming what Brian said was true, and finally went to go sit down and hide.

[ @moirafreed ]

“I hate the bookstore!” Timmy whined.

“Come on, Timmy.” Brian muttered, counting his change. As always, his hood was up over his head and he was counting coins to buy a book for himself and for his brother. He promised that if Timmy let him stop at the bookstore so he could pick up the latest book in his favorite series, he’d let Timmy buy whatever he wants- and despite Timmy loving free stuff paid with Brian’s allowance, he still seemed to complain. It was totally uncool of Timmy, true, since the deal was more than fair. 

They walked into the bookstore, and Brian looked around after hearing the “ding-a-ling” altering the owner of the small buisness. Timmy seemed to see Pachimari Adventures and off his brother went to the children’s section. 

I find it interesting how Brian’s hoodie is used to represent his character; a very small symbolism of his character arc and the level of hope he feels by the beginning vs. the end of the short. 

The boy was downright cynical at the beginning of the short, a classic example of the Aloof Older Brother trope. He even went as far as to remind Timmy that Overwatch was disbanded for a reason. To be fair, he's got his reasons to be cynic. His parents most likely lived through the Omnic Crisis; and he was born just in time for Overwatch's disbandment. He’s just old enough to see the darker grittier side of the colorful world he was born in- where Timmy just sees cool heroes and fun adventures. He probably views there as being no true heroes left in the world, and that everyone is crooked or has an angle by their very nature. And to show that, his hood was up and casting some shadows on his face- which help make him look incredibly brooding. He also seems terribly reluctant to engage his brother, implying he might not be the most ideal sibling to Timmy.

After he starts to see Tracer and Winston in action, you start to see a small twinkle in his eye under that blue hoodie. This gives him just enough guts and inspiration to grab the Doomfist away from Widow. We start to see peaks of a sweet little boy underneath that hood. The way he clutches the doomfist for dear life and is clearly terrified but not enough to just give her the gauntlet and run. And then she threatens to hurt his brother- and this sparks him to do something I'm pretty sure he'd never even dream of doing. When he shouts out to Widow, and in punching her in the jaw. This knocks him back, and also finally forcing the hood off of his head, revealing tussled hair and a downright Dreamworks or Pixar-esque little boy.

He looks almost like an entirely different character without his hood. You see a more vulnerable and even adorkable side of him without that thing hiding his face. You also see how young he truly is, and is just as much a little boy as Timmy. He awkwardly hands Tracer the gauntlet, eyes twinkling with an innocence we didn’t know he had and then stares at Lena with this awe and reverence, possibly even developing a tiny one-sided crush on her. When Timmy hugs him after exclaiming how “awesome” it was, Brian was happy to hug back and gently stroke Timmy’s hair- possibly never truly appreciating his sibling until almost loosing him, and then looks on quite heroiclly, and with the way we see them lined up with a small handful of Overwatch’s in-game heroes implying he and/or his brother might be inspired to fight the good fight when they’re older.

Brian bandaged up his knuckles and muttered. How many times has he broken them yet? He wanted to go home and play with Timmy. It kills him to think he might never see his family again. But he’s got to get that gauntlet back. He can’t just stand by while others get hurt. Who knows how many people will get hurt with Talon having that giant thing! He was just a kid when he was able to knock a trained assassin across the room with it. And he had no training with it or nothing. It wasn’t his responsiblity, until one day it was. Besides, he’ll make the world a better place for Timmy. That was a thought that always made him feel  bit better about his current lot in life.

“Okay where am I now? This place is... Australia right? I though the boat said I was on my way to Australia. How many nights have passed.... This place doesn’t look like Sydney...” he muttered as he slung his backpack full of belongings onto his scrawny back.  He only saw pictures of Sydney in history books; and after watching Finding Nemo with Timmy for the ten-thousandth time. But this wasn’t just any part of Australia the young man found himself in. 

“Gosh it’s hot....” he muttered as he slung his hoodie, now ratty from overuse, around his waist. He should just throw the disgusting thing away, but that hoodie had sentimental value for him now. He put his hand over his eyes and peered into the strange Dystopian town.

BACKSTORY THOUGHTS: When Lena left the Doomfist Gauntlet in it’s shattered display case without any sort of attempt to give extra security to it, Lena could have very well been prompting Brian to take it home and protect it himself, especially since she pretty obviously encouraged him to do the right thing with her little one-liner directed at him and Timmy (but especially him) before leaving, Well my thought process is: What if Brian actually did take it with him, deciding it's his responsibility to protect it from Talon.Of course, since Akande eventually gets his hands on it anyway in typical Overwatch “Darned If Ya Do; Darned If Ya Don’t” fashion, Brian and his family were probably at one point targeted by Talon and it was ripped out of their hands. But Brian was very determined that he had to get it back, Lena very much deeply affected this kid into viewing it as either he can do something about it, or stand on the sidelines and let others get hurt by Talon's actions. So with his family more shaken then stirred, he slips off one night telling Timmy to "cover for him" and running away from home- as per the stupid kid with a hero complex thing to do, already badly injured and most likely dooming himself to a life of danger, and maybe even never seeing his parents or Timmy again. But hey, he’s only a mere teenager, he’s probably going to be very impulsive when it comes to what he thinks is the right thing to do.

POSSIBLE IN-GAME THOUGHTS: -WIthout the Doomfist, he's a very classic Fragile Speedster with a fairly quick run, but pitiful Health and arming himself with typical weapons you'd expect a teenage boy to arm himself with, like baseball bats, hockey sticks and no advanced technology (think: Scout from TF2) I’d even like the idea of him being capable of stealing others’ weapons and using it against them.

“Oi!” Tracer shouted from a distance, distracting the agents from the direction of the younger boys. In her quick rush, she hardly recognized them, and the two of them were only one of the many people she’d come to rescue from the spray of bullets, although they were just as important as anyone else.

A flurry of bullets kept the enemies at bay - some fell, wounded, and others turned and ran like the cowards they were. And Tracer let none of it get to her, smiling all the while, and for a moment, there was nothing but silence, and she cocked her gun on her shoulder in triumph.

Then came another round of shots, and she quickly jolted herself out of her pose with a blink, diving towards the children. Instinctively, she placed herself in front of them, hands resting on their shoulders as she did her job to shield them from the blasts.

“Alright, loves, we gotta get you out of here!” she called, and the few remaining Overwatch members they had rushed forward, she managed to get the distraction she needed to usher them quickly around the corner and out of sight.

It was only when Tracer slid her guns away and leaned back from the two of them that she noticed - the familiar faces staring back at her as she looked towards them.

“Well, that was a close one! You two should learn to stay safe, yeah?” Tracer’s tone was cheerful - joking partly because she knew they had no choice, but serious because there wasn’t a bone in her body that didn’t wish innocent bystanders could be kept safe from all of this.

“Come on, we gotta get you two inside!”  

The safety Brian felt now was hard to underestimate. Though Timmy worshipped pretty much all of Overwatch and always has, fixating on it for reasons Brian didn’t quite understand, Brian idolized her in particular. That day when, even though she could easily have ran off after Edgelord and Smurfette (or whatever their names were); she took a second to smile at Brian and his little brother  and encourage him to continue to do good- that lit something inside Brian. It was weird to think that happened only a couple months ago, it felt like a lifetime- or at least a year, which for someone as young as Brian might as well be a lifetime.

Brian would do whatever she asked, both out of respect and out of a desire to get himself and his brother home safe. Timmy couldn’t help but wave hi.

“Y-Yes, Ms. Oxton.” Brian said respectfully, recalling that her true name was ‘Lena Oxton’ from their last visit to the Overwatch Museum. He wanted to be respectful, and maybe calling her Tracer was way too casual for a woman of her caliber. “What do you want us to do?” 

The only current thing he knew to do was to keep Timmy hidden under his coat, and cover his mouth- and if it came down to himself or Timmy, he knew which he wanted to keep safe. He used to hate his brother, but now he knows his brother should come first every time. That’s what the older sibling should do. That’s what a hero should do.

Timmy was squealing and complaining that Brian was smothering him from under the smother of his brother’s hand and hoodie.

Though they both felt safer now they knew that Tracer was here, Brian still recognized that they were still in grave danger. Timmy seemed to forget that the minute he laid eyes on their idol. 

Brian mumbled. How does he and Timmy always get into this situation. This time, he hid his brother from gunfire and was more proactive in protecting his sibling. Holding his arms around the younger boy, hood down to try to hide himself and his sibling. Acting as a willing shield for his sibling.

He looked up and saw a farmiliar streak of light, and his eyes lit up. It couldn’t be? It was! Her! Tracer! In the flesh! 

“Timmy.” he said in a hushed tone. This time around, Timmy knew he was in actual danger. They weren’t at the Overwatch Museum. This was real life, and even Timmy knew it. “Look who it is.” 

Timmy looked up, and his gap toothed smile widened as his whole face lit up with a look of hope and excitement. “HEY! IT’S-”

“Shh” Brian whispered, covering his brother’s mouth and forcing his sibling to once again take cover. “Stay out of the way, Timmy.” 

Do you need more KIDDOS?

Do you need adorable baby boys with moody teenage brothers?

Do you need sweet siblings who love each other (when they’re not fighting)?

I suppose what I’m really asking is do YOU NEED MORE HEROES?