Archive of Our Own

Tent flaps fluttered in the wind from the desert night air. Angela had grown accustomed to the sound. It soothed her as she filled out reports into the early hours of the morning.

“Dr. Ziegler?” A voice sounded from outside the tent.

Angela took the time to finish typing before answering her colleague. “Is there something you needed Dr. Hadad?” She put her datapad down, already getting up from her seat to see what he wanted.

“You have a visitor.”

She parted the tent flaps, eyes landing on the face of her colleague. “Who comes to visit in the middle of the night?”

“I tried to tell Ms. Amari that but-”

“Where is she?” Angela cut off her colleague before he could finish his sentence.

“She’s waiting in the tent up front.”

She was already starting in a run. “Thank you!” Angela waved behind her, not wasting any time in staying any longer.

There was a transport ship in the distance. Angela could see it hovering, most likely waiting. It must be waiting for her. The sand was trying its best to slow her down and at one point she tripped. But she got right back up and kept running.

Once she reached the tent, Angela didn’t bother trying to catch her breath. She just hurriedly walked inside, her heart pounding from both the running and the sight of her guest.

“Fareeha!” Angela crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, arms wrapping tightly around the other woman. “I haven’t seen you since…” The funeral. She backed away, leaving an arm’s distance between them. “It’s been too long.”

“Yeah, it has.”

Angela just smiled. She dropped her arms and moved to take a seat next to her guest. “You could have called me. I haven’t heard a single word from you all these years.”

Fareeha smirked. “I could say the same for you doctor.”

And Fareeha was right. Angela felt herself going red in the face from the hypocrisy of her words. Seven years and I didn’t bother trying to stay in contact. “I’m sorry.” She could feel the heat running up her neck when Fareeha started laughing.

“It’s okay. I didn’t expect you to keep in contact.”

“I’m that predictable huh?” She found herself smiling at Fareeha’s exaggerated shrug. “So, judging by the ship ahead, I take it this late-night visit isn’t to catch up after seven years of mutual bad communication.”

Fareeha stopped laughing. She immediately looked away for a moment, trying to find the right words for what she had to say. “Helix is getting involved with Overwatch. They’re sending a Raptora unit to help and I’m part of it.” Fareeha instinctively went to scratch the back of her head when she saw the change in Angela’s demeanor. “I was asked-”

“To see if I’d come back.”

There was no use in trying to beat around the bush. “Yes.”

“Fareeha…” started Angela. She took a deep breath and sighed. This wasn’t what she was expecting. “I’m sorry you came all this way but I’m not going back.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I had a feeling you’d say that.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to help, I do.” She shifted in her seat, already uncomfortable with the idea of going back. “It’s just that Overwatch had a lot a secrets and not enough trust. We were in over our heads thinking that we could do no wrong. And in the end, it just made everything worse.” Her hands were already in her lap, fingers weaving between each other. “I’m not convinced that bringing Overwatch back now would change that.”

Angela looked up from her hands when she heard Fareeha get up. Panic set in. She’s leaving.

“I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

“No, no, no. Just wait.” A hand reached Fareeha’s in time, stopping her from leaving the tent. “I have no doubt that you’ll do amazing things with Overwatch. But I’m doing so much good here and sometimes that’s enough.” Pleading eyes were begging for that hurt look to leave the soldier.

She could feel her shoulders lowering, the fuse lighting the ball of frustration coiling in her stomach slowly going out. “I just want to do what’s right.”

“I know, I know.” Angela dropped Fareeha’s hand, feeling guilty for what she said before. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like what you’re doing is wrong. Just please, be careful.”

The worry and fear reflected in blue eyes said everything. “Overwatch will be different this time around.”

“You can’t know that.” A gentle tap to her forehead paused everything. It was a moment of captivation as Angela stared into smiling eyes.

“I do know, because I’ll be there.”

The conviction in those eyes had Angela pinned where she stood. Silence filled her mind save for one thought. It repeated over and over, cracking away at the shell of her skull. I believe you. “Your mind’s made up.” Her muscles twitched when spell-casting eyes looked outside.

“Yes.” Someone had stepped out of the waiting ship, impatient arms waving towards them to signal that her time was up. “I’m sorry we couldn’t meet under better circumstances.” Booted feet started walking on their own, crunching into the sand with the first steps out of the tent. She paused, hand holding back a tent flap to see Angela’s face. “I promise, next time it won’t be like this. I’ll even make you tea.”

Angela found herself smiling at the sentiment. “I’d like that.”

-

“Captain?”

Fareeha snapped out of her dozing at the mention of her name. “What is it Saleh?”

“We’re almost in London.” The heel of his boot started shaking up and down. “I thought that I’d be fine but the closer we get to London, the more I just want to panic and take off with a parachute.”

Now attentive eyes roamed over the sleeping forms of her team, settling back on Saleh when she was finished. “Aizad’s been eyeing your suit for a while now. I’m sure he’ll be grateful if you jumped ship.”

Saleh felt his lips quirk at the subtle attempt to calm him down. “He can’t have it.”

A shrug. “Guess you’ll be staying with us then.”

Athena’s voice suddenly interrupted them. “Welcome to London. Your escort will be arriving soon.”

The ramp was lowered, all the extra movement helping to wake up the rest of the sleeping team. Fareeha gave a reassuring smile to Saleh before standing up to stretch. The seats weren’t too comfortable as made evident by the popping sounds coming from her joints.

Comfortable on her feet, she walked straight towards a sleeping Tariq, shaking him awake none too gently. “We’re here. Wipe the drool off your face before our escort gets here.”

“Huh?” Tariq slowly blinked, his tired brain struggling to decipher his captain’s words. And then he was up in a panic, sleep-numbed hands wiping at his face in desperation. “Is it gone?”

Fareeha fought hard to keep the mischievous crinkle of her nose at bay. There wasn’t any drool to begin with. “You got half of it.” She watched on in glee as Tariq went into overdrive, wiping every inch of his face with his sleeve.

“Hello loves!” Lena came barreling onto the ship, announcing her arrival to everyone on board. The scene she ran into was quite the sight. “Hey, um…you alright there?” She figured the man couldn’t hear her when he continued to try to wipe away whatever was on his face.

“Tariq will be fine. He just finished wiping off all that drool,” said Fareeha.

“I did?” Tariq let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks Captain.”

It was hard to hide the giant smile threatening to break free across her face. “Any time Tariq.”

“Alright, now that we’ve got that drool situation under control, if you’d all follow me, I can get you all inside for the briefing.” Lena spun around on her heel, heading down the ramp in the blink of an eye. She stopped when a thought came to her. Spinning back around, she cupped her hands and shouted to the team on the ship. “Don’t worry about getting your suits. We’ll take care of it.” Satisfied that that was all she needed to say, Lena continued on, stopping when she reached the door that lead down from the roof. She leaned against it, tapping her fingers against her arms as she waited.

The previously sleeping bunch came walking out of the ship with straight postures and great strides. They looked nothing like they had a few minutes prior. Fareeha walked in front as she led her team towards their escort.

“Alright, we’re going to go down some stairs, turn a couple corners and finally stop at the briefing room. Try and keep up, I walk fast.” True to her word, Lena took off like a speed demon.

Everyone started to breathe a little heavy by the time they reached the briefing room, Lena looking like she didn’t even break a sweat.

“I didn’t go too fast did I?” A show of vigorously shaking heads had her nearly laughing. “Sorry about that, I’m just excited is all.” She cleared her throat and put on a straight face. “As soon as you step through this door, you’ll be an official member of Overwatch. Everyone okay with that?”

There was nothing but silence before the whole hallway erupted in excited cheers and whistling.

“I’ll take that as a resounding ‘yes’.” The doors opened with the press of a button. “Well alright then, welcome to the team.” Lena made a show of allowing the Raptora team in the room first. She spun around on quick feet, landing with her best jazz hands impression to dazzle her audience. “After you.”

The doors closed behind them when everyone walked through and took a seat. At the front of the room sat Winston, he was waiting patiently for everyone to sit down.

“I’m glad you all made it,” started Winston. He watched with amusement as a group of three ganged up on Fareeha and started messing with her hair. One look from her stopped their antics, the three of them sitting back down to listen. “Now that you’re all part of the team, I’m going to be honest. This won’t be easy. So much is happening that it’s getting hard to keep up with it all. Now that Overwatch is official, my only hope is that we’ll be exactly what the world needs.” Winston turned around and grabbed a rectangular box walking towards the row of chairs in front of him. “And hopefully, our new Strike Commander will help us achieve that goal.” He stopped right in front of Fareeha, extending the box to her. “That is, if you’ll except.”

Fareeha’s eyes were wide open. Never in her life did she expect this to happen. Surprised hands reached out for the box, fingers twitching as she set it in her lap. She didn’t waste any time in opening it, her breath leaving her body when she saw what lay inside. It was the all too familiar blue coat. The one that’d signify her rank and tell everyone just exactly who she was. Her hands went to quickly close the box, the sight of the coat making her heart pound harder the longer she stared at it.

“I can’t believe this.” Anxious thumbs tapped the box. Excitement threatened to burst from her veins, Fareeha could hear the pumping in her ears. “I don’t know what to say.”

Lena blinked over, an open-mouthed smile directed towards the stunned woman. “How about a yes?”

And for Fareeha, there was no other answer. “Yes, yes I accept.”

Just like that Tariq, Saleh, and Aizad jumped on Fareeha for a hug pile. Their excitement nearly squeezing her to death.

“Congratulations Captain,” said Tariq.

“That’s Strike Commander now.” Fareeha could have sworn the hugs got tighter.

“Just don’t let it get to your head, it’s already big enough.” Saleh quickly let go, ducking out of the way just in time to avoid getting smacked.

-

The news played on in the background. Angela and her colleague were going over patient files when the mention of Overwatch distracted them both from their task.

“This just in, the UN has lifted the Petras Act, allowing for the reformation of Overwatch. It’s all happening here in London where as you can see, the newly sanctioned Overwatch members are filing out for the official announcement.”

Dr. Hadad pointed to someone on screen. “Isn’t that your friend?”

Angela followed where he pointed, homing in on the familiar face of Fareeha. “It is.” She couldn’t bring her eyes away. They followed where Fareeha moved, curious as to why the woman had such a huge smile on her face.

“Heya everyone!”

Concentrated eyes snapped away from Fareeha, focusing instead on Lena talking at the podium.

“There’s a lot of good things happening today. So, let’s start with what you probably already know. Overwatch is back, and it’s going to be better than before.” Lena cleared her throat, looking a bit nervous from speaking to such a large audience. “A lot’s happened and not much had been done about it. Or maybe it’s better to say that there isn’t much that can be done about it.”

A long list of names ran through Angela’s mind as she remembered everyone that had died to just recent attacks alone. It was bad. There were too many people dying and not enough people to help.

“But that’s why we’re here. We won’t turn a blind eye to an impossible situation. We will be there where others can’t. We’re here to protect and with the help of our new Strike Commander, we’ll do just that.” Excited arms waved someone over to the podium. “Let me introduce you all to Fareeha Amari. Best get acquainted now because you’re gonna see a lot of her from now on.” As soon as Fareeha approached the podium, Lena high-tailed it out of there. She never was good with speeches.

Angela hurriedly jumped up from her chair, running over to pause the live footage. Fareeha is the new Strike Commander. A smiling face took up most of the screen. She could see the joy in those brown eyes, genuine pride shining through to the crowd before her.

Slow steps brought her back to the table, eyes unable to leave the paused image.

“If you ever talk to your friend again, tell her I said congratulations.” Dr. Hadad grabbed his datapad, tucking it under his arm as he went to leave the tent.

Angela just gave a non-committal nod in the direction of her colleague as she continued to stare. A minute passed when she started to move again, walking back around the table to continue with her patient files. Her eyes would flicker back to the still image as she worked in silence.

-

“Are you okay?” The door shut closed behind her as Lena walked into the room. Guilty eyes took in the chair turned away from her. She could only imagine what Fareeha was feeling. “Commander?”

“You knew.” Shaking fingers gripped onto the arms of the chair. It sounded like the roll of thunder as a clenched jaw squeezed tight against itself.

There was no point in lying. “I did.”

“Overwatch was my dream.” Fareeha couldn’t hold back the curling of her fist, how it slammed back into the chair with a resounding force. “And I find out about this on the eight o’clock morning news.”

“The world needed Overwatch back. We did what we needed to do.”

“I put my trust in you.”

Lena winced at the hurt words. “The UN was never going to lift the red tape unless we had the backing of an organization they could trust.”

“And Helix took that opportunity.”

“Yes, they wanted one of their own in charge and we accepted.” There was some desperate force fueling her on. “We chose you as Strike Commander because of it. But that doesn’t mean it was the wrong choice. Helix wanted you, but Overwatch needed you. We still do.” Quick eyes watched as Fareeha’s hands stopped shaking. “You’ve done so much. You’ve changed so many lives, making the world better with everything you do. Don’t let this take that away from you.”

Silence. Fareeha didn’t say a word. She stayed sitting in the chair, tears threatening to spill out of red eyes.

“Anyway,” a sigh, “the press conference is in 15 minutes.” Lena stood there for a minute, thoughts running at lightspeed through her mind. She was waiting for something. Anything that would tip her off to what Fareeha was thinking. Nothing.

A tear spilled over her cheek as she listened to footsteps leave the room. Fareeha stood up from the chair, small steps taking her to the wall. A hand shot out, fingertips clinging desperately to the smooth surface. Her head joined her fingers on the wall. And she felt herself shaking. Hot tears spilling to the floor. Soundless sorrow dripping from burning eyes.

“I can do this.” Fareeha balled her loose hand, pain radiating when she slammed it to the wall. It was like a shock to the system. Brown eyes blinked away the tears as her pain inducing feelings melted away. She needed to concentrate. Staying calm was the best thing for her at the moment. However things would turn out depended on what she said in the next few minutes.

Wiping away the tears on her face, Fareeha took a deep breath, holding it to the count of seven before releasing her pent-up stress in one release of breath. “I can do this.”

-

Tired legs dragged through the sand. Angela stumbled through her tent, exhausted from the last 14 hours she spent covered in blood in the wake of a recent explosion. Twitching hands automatically went to work taking her clothes off. Angela didn’t even register when she turned on her holopad, too occupied with the thought of clean clothes and desperate sleep.

Her ears twitched at the mention of Overwatch. Angela found herself reaching for a chair, sitting down as she pulled a clean shirt over her head.

“And we are coming to you live from Giza at the newly built Overwatch facility. After recent revelations of the deal between Helix and Overwatch concerning the appointment of Strike Commander, Fareeha Amari herself will be coming out shortly to shed some light on the situation.”

There was a ringing sound echoing in her mind. Angela couldn’t look away as they reported elaborately on the details of the situation. There was a mention of some sort of audio leak mysteriously surfacing but Angela couldn’t concentrate on everything that was being said.

Half of her thoughts were screaming to just turn off the holopad and forget everything she just heard. The other half listened silently, every word pounding into her heart as she felt constricting pain in her body at the situation unfolding before her eyes.

And then she was holding her breath, watching the confident form of the woman she knew stepping up to a podium. Fareeha seemed so much taller. Her aura radiated assurance, Angela could feel herself calming down the longer she stared. A close-up of Fareeha showed a shining smile and despair radiating from her eyes. A wave of anxiety hit at the sight of those red eyes.

The breath Angela was holding came out the moment she heard Fareeha speak.

“Thank you all for coming. As of eight o’clock this morning, an audio recording was released to the press concerning the details of the relationship between Helix and Overwatch. I’m here to say that it’s all true.”

The crowd erupted in a flurry of questions and outbursts. The camera panned over the crowd, zooming in on angry faces hurling insults and screaming at the top of their lungs. Angela was astonished to see that Fareeha just smiled through it all, calmly asking the crowd to just listen. And they did.

“My life’s work was spent protecting people. When I was offered the position of Strike Commander, I saw that as an opportunity to do more. To protect more than I could on my own. And it was an honor. It still is an honor. I had no knowledge of what deals were made behind closed doors. And maybe that’s just bad excuse but I gave it my all and that changes nothing now.”

She didn’t know. Angela was engrossed in the press conference. She believed what Fareeha said. There was no reason not to. At some point during Fareeha’s speech, she had moved her chair closer to her holopad, taking in every detail with concerned eyes. At that moment, Angela couldn’t move. She was struck still on how the whole audience quieted, how they listened to the passionate words directed towards them.

“The world needs Overwatch now more than ever. There is a global effort aimed at disrupting every bit of peace you’ve ever known. And we’re fighting them every step of the way. So, I ask you, let me continue to serve. Let me protect you.”

Blue eyes drifted away from the conference, the familiar feelings bubbling in her stomach making her start to shake. It was all so familiar. That voice of hope, how Fareeha’s words made her feel safe, carrying away all her worries in one fell swoop of confidence and sincerity. It reminded her of how Jack used to talk. And that made her shake, vision blurring from the abrupt stream of tears dripping from fluttering eyelids.

“I’m sorry Fareeha.” Tears filled her palm as fingers tightened over her face. “I’m sorry.”

-

Months had passed after the conference. After the speech, the UN turned a blind eye to the controversy, letting Overwatch continue with operations and allowing Fareeha to lead on as Strike Commander. Fareeha took that as a good sign.

It was the middle of the night. Fareeha was in her office going over the last of the mission reports she had received. She flinched back when her screen went blank, a purple skull appearing on all three monitors on her desk. 

A woman in purple suddenly appeared on Fareeha’s desk, bored eyes inspecting her nails without a care in the world. Glowing arms stretched up and the woman yawned. “I was getting so bored watching you work.” The woman reached over for the steaming mug next to Fareeha. She took a sip, watching with amused eyes as the Strike Commander calmly sat with a glare on her face. “That’s some good tea.”

“Who are you?”

“A new friend.” She sighed when Fareeha seemed none too pleased with her answer. “Okay fine. The name’s Sombra.”

Fareeha went to stand up, stopping in her tracks when Sombra raised a finger.

“I wouldn’t do that.”

Sensing no immediate threat, Fareeha sat back down, never taking her eyes off the woman on her desk.

“Ah come on, I’m harmless.” Sombra took another sip of the tea, putting the mug back next to Fareeha. “Mostly.”

“What do you want?”

“I like it when you get straight to business.” She chuckled at how Fareeha managed to furrow her brows even more. “First, I gotta apologize for something I did. Need to start off on the right foot you know?” With a huff of breath, Sombra quickly spilled out her apology. “I’m sorry about leaking that recording to the press. I was asked none too nicely to do it.”

Sombra quickly held up a finger with Fareeha looked like she was going to speak.

“Just let me say my piece okay?” When Fareeha stayed quiet, Sombra took that as the go ahead to continue. “Big guy at Talon wants to start a war and I need a new friend. Me? I’m not really fond of wars.” She grabbed a picture frame, hands gripping so tight she could hear the frame bending. “I can give you the important details in exchange for a little friendship.”

“Friendship.” Sharp eyes narrowed in distrust.

“Okay, okay. Let up on the intimidating eyes. I just want to talk to Athena.”

“No.”

“Come on. I’m not going to do anything to her. Just some questions every now and then.”

“No.”

Sombra got up from the desk, standing behind Fareeha’s chair to lean on it. “How about this, as a show of our good friendship, you can even be there when I ask the questions.”

And Fareeha considered it. Talon was the world’s single greatest threat. If they could start a war, it would be devastating. “You just want to talk to her?” It was unthinkable that she was even considering working with a Talon agent.

“Yeah, I’ve got some personal side projects and I’m pretty sure she could help me.”

“Is that all you want?”

“Well…” Sombra let the last syllable drag out. “You do have that pretty doctor coming back in a few months. Think she could patch me up every now and then? Sometimes my extracurricular activities get a little…rough.”

Fareeha pursed her lips in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” One wave of the hand took the skulls away. There was a new notification on the center screen. “See what I mean?”

Brown eyes were shocked to see the big bold letters that spelled out ‘Mercy’ across her screen. “She’s coming back.”

“Good news, right? So, what do you say, want to help out your new friend?”

-

These were halls she’d never walked before. The echo of her shoes against the floor wasn’t a familiar sound. The room she was assigned was so unfamiliar. Everything was new and as she stopped to think about the person that made her rethink everything, she thought that maybe new wasn’t such a bad thing.

Angela heard Fareeha coming before she even saw her.

“What changed your mind?” Fareeha was standing at the open door of Angela’s new room. She was there to greet the woman half an hour after she arrived. That single thought was the first thing that came out of her mouth when she saw the doctor again.

“You did, Strike Commander.”

“I did?” Fareeha started blinking in confusion at the statement.

“You did.” She started walking closer to the confused woman. “Care to show me to the medbay, Commander? I’m afraid I’m not familiar with this new facility.”

Fareeha stopped trying to decode Angela’s words, mind set on finishing the task at hand. “Of course, this way Dr. Ziegler.”

Eyes focused on the familiar blue coat in front on her. It shifted with each step, small wrinkles forming from the movement. Angela felt herself frowning the longer they walked. There was something bothering her but she couldn’t pin down just what it was. It was at the tip of her tongue when she was suddenly up against the wall.

“Sorry I’m late for the welcoming party!” Lena had Angela in a bone crushing hug, her good mood clouding the pleas of help escaping from the doctor’s lips. “Although, it’s not much of a party with just Amari here.”

“L-Lena.” She tried to inhale small gasps of air in the moments between where Lena refreshed her hug. “Air.”

“Oh!” Lena dropped her arms, having the decency to look guilty. “Sorry about that love. I was just a bit excited since you’re back and all. I was made to believe that you weren’t ever coming back.”

“It’s good to see you too.” Pushing off the wall, she found herself smiling from the big grin on Fareeha’s face as she watched the two of them talk. “I was just getting an escort to the medbay.”

“Straight to work huh? Some things don’t change I guess.” Restless arms found their way behind her head, both crossed. “I’ll tag along.”

“Weren’t you supposed to be training some of the new recruits?” Fareeha was facing straight ahead as they started walking again, a small smirk formed at the corner of her lips.

“Well, yeah,” said Lena. She flashed Angela a smile. “But I wasn’t going to miss this.”

“Who did you leave to train them?” Fareeha had a good feeling on who Lena chose as her replacement.

“Weeell, I saw that Song wasn’t doing anything so I had her fill in for me.”

“She’s good with people.”

“And I absolutely knew that.” She didn’t. Lena nearly stopped in her tracks, absolutely floored that she got away with leaving Hana in charge of the new recruits. Things were tense after the news leak with Helix and Lena was left astounded that Fareeha was in such a good mood so quickly. Hurrying her pace, she caught up to Fareeha. “You’re in a good mood Commander.”

“I’d like to argue back that I’m always in a good mood.”

Lena closed her eyes in nervous laughter. Is this some kind of test? ‘Cause she definitely wasn’t in a good mood after the whole press conference thing. But then again, that all blew over smoother than I thought. And now that I’m really thinking about it- Lena’s thoughts were cut short when her head whacked into the wall ahead of her. Her face burned from the sound of soft giggling coming from behind.

“You just missed the door Lena. Almost had it.” Amused eyes watched on as Lena rubbed at the growing red spot on her forehead. “I could take a look at that if you want.”

“As generous as your offer is Angela, I think I’m okay.” Lena scuffled to the actual door to the medbay, pressing it open with her free hand. “After you Doctor.”

Fareeha stood next to Lena, a smile on her face as she waited for Angela to walk in first. She wasn’t disappointed by the small gasp that came from the surprised doctor.

“This is…” Several pair of eyes snapped to Angela when she stepped through the door. A flurry of hurried whispering filled the silence, excited eyes hidden behind datapads. None of that registered. Angela was too enthralled with the sight before her. Everything she could ever need was right within reach.

The sudden voice of Hana in her ear had Lena jumping in fright. “What’s going on Hana?” She tried to keep her conversation down so as not to ruin the moment for Angela.

“What’s going on is that you said you’d only be gone a few minutes. Where are you? Aizad basically promised the new recruits a ride on his Raptora. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Stop him then!”

“He’s literally flying in the air. I can’t do anything about that.”

Lena caught the questioning eyes of her commander, giving her a guilty smile in return. “As much as I’d like to stay longer, I may have told Hana that I’d be back soon. Aizad’s causing trouble with the new recruits so I gotta sort that out. Tell Angela I’ll see her later.” With a sigh, she spun around and headed down where Hana was waiting.

Fareeha smiled when she heard Lena shout out, “Hold on for a bit longer, I’m coming!” down the hallway. She pushed off the open door, finally walking inside the medbay to see Angela talking animatedly to the other staff.

“I read your paper on the varying speeds of rejuvenation when using nanomachines.” The excited doctor tried her best not to stumble over her words. “That’s what I’ve been working on for the past year.”

“Oh?” Angela perked her eyebrows up at the information.

“Yes, I only managed to shave off a few seconds an-”

“How much is a few?”

“T-three seconds.”

Surprised eyes could only watch as Angela dragged the woman to the door that connected to the lab. Already diving in. Fareeha saw the remaining crowd of doctors and researchers scatter when they finally noticed her standing in the medbay. She waved them off, focusing on the wide smile slowly taking over Angela’s face.

“I’m going to be busy for a while Fareeha! Come see me for dinner okay?” shouted Angela from the other side of the medbay before disappearing into the lab.

-

Angela was nowhere near done with her work when Fareeha came by for dinner. So, she came back later, finally dragging the woman out of the lab when she was the only one left.

“Working so hard on your first day back.” Fareeha led the doctor out of the medbay towards the direction of the kitchen.

“Dr. Colón managed to shave off three seconds on the rejuvenation time on my nanites.” Angela’s hand tightened around Fareeha’s. “I need to update everything.”

“And did Dr. Colón eat dinner?”

“S-she did.” The heat running up her neck made a straight dive for her cheeks. Angela knew exactly what Fareeha was getting at.

“She’s a smart woman.” Fareeha brought Angela to the table closest to the kitchen, making sure that the doctor sat down. “Just relax. I’ll get you something to eat.”

A pair of hands gently pushed down on Angela’s shoulders when she tried to stand up. “I can do that.”

“I’ll be back soon,” said Fareeha, ignoring the doctor’s protest.

And she was pinned to the chair by the kind eyes, compelled to follow the tall form of Fareeha with her gaze when she started walking to the kitchen. Her thoughts trailed off from nanites to the woman that disappeared into the kitchen. Has she always been so…persuasive? I can’t even move from this chair. I don’t even know if I want to anymore.

A huff. Angela closed her eyes, leaning her head onto the palm of her hand. “I guess that’s why…”

“Why what?”

Angela jumped a bit when a plate touched her arm. She was quick to snap open her eyes, heart pounding at the silent appearance of Fareeha. “Why I came back.”

Curious eyes widened at Angela’s response. Fareeha took the seat opposite Angela. “What did you mean when you said I convinced you?”

“Well,” the enticing scent of hot food had her stomach growling, “I saw the press conference.” She wasted no time in taking a spoonful of the rice dish. “And I was convinced that I made the right choice in refusing to go with you.”

“That was…” Fareeha lifted the spoon to her mouth, putting it down when she couldn’t seem to eat. “I wanted to give it up. To just step down from a position that was handed to me because of a back-door deal.”

“But you stayed.”

“I did.” Anxious hands fiddled with the material of her coat. “Believe it or not but Lena talked some sense into me minutes before I was going to step down.”

“What you did after the press conference is what changed my mind.” Another spoonful of rice found its way into her mouth. “I didn’t have much time to myself when I was working out there, but I always had the news going whenever I could. And all I saw was you. The impact you made when the whole world had its eyes on you. Every good thing you did despite the scrutiny along the way. Even now, it’s hard to believe.”

“I don’t…” Her words faded away, a rush of heat crawling up her ears as astonished eyes stared intently at the plate in front of her. “I only did what I thought was right.”

“And that’s why I’m sitting here in front of you.” The spoon clanked against the plate as Angela desperately scraped up the remaining bits of rice, devouring the last bit of food with one final spoonful.

“Did you want more?” Fareeha was eager to change the subject, jumping on the opportunity presented before her. All the talk surrounding herself made her feel nervous.

“Is there more?” By this point, Angela couldn’t deny that she wanted more. The pangs of hunger and the growling from her stomach made sure of that.

Fareeha pushed her uneaten plate towards the blonde, smiling when Angela tried to shove it away. “It’s fine. Unlike someone I know, I already ate dinner.” She was lying through her teeth but unlike Angela, her stomach didn’t betray just how hungry she was.

It didn’t take much more convincing. Eager hands pulled the plate closer, spoon already digging in to appease the hunger wracking her stomach. “Thank you.”

And Fareeha sat there, ignoring the hunger she felt as she ran through their conversation in her mind.

-

They said their goodbyes, Angela thanking Fareeha for the late dinner. Fareeha had apologized profusely because she had forgotten to make tea. Angela just laughed it off, she didn’t really expect her to remember something said months ago.

It only took a few minutes for Fareeha to get to her room, immediately dashing for the box under her bed. Sitting on the floor, she reached into her emergency stash of granola bars, sighing into the first bite of hunger relief.

“Need to buy more of these so I can carry some.” The first bar went quick, fast fingers already unwrapping the next. A hand drifted down to the pockets of her coat. “I have enough room in my pockets.”

A small chuckle emanated from behind Fareeha. At this point, it didn’t phase her anymore. “What do you want Sombra?” Fareeha reached into the box again, pulling out her third granola bar of the night.

“Aw come on, you could at least act surprised when I’m here.” Sombra appeared on the bed, dramatically taking up most of it with her stretched out limbs.

“If you want to talk to Athena again, you’re going to have to wait until tomorrow. I’m tired.” Fingers dropped from the bed, running through her hair in a comforting gesture. Fareeha ignored it, she ignored all the games Sombra played with her.

Sombra took her time. She just stayed silent for a minute, casually moving her fingers along Fareeha’s scalp as she laid on her stomach. The first time she tried anything like that, Fareeha had slapped her hand away. That was exciting. Now, she basically let her do whatever she wanted, ignoring her all the while. It made everything decidedly more boring. But she played her little games anyway. It was more of a comfort than anything else.

“You mind if I crash here tonight?”

“Like you’d leave if I said no.”

“Hey, you never know. I might leave if you ask nicely enough.”

“Mmhm.”

She laughed. “Thanks, you know I appreciate it.” Sombra tapped Fareeha’s head before she rolled off the bed to raid the Commander’s dresser. “Ooh, you washed my favorite shirt.”

“You mean my favorite shirt.”

“We can both have a favorite shirt. Mine just happens to be owned by you.” She took the shirt, carefully pulling off her clothes so as not to irritate the shoddy first aid she did for herself.

“You’re bleeding.” Fareeha could see the bandages from the corner of her eye.

“Good thing my favorite shirt is black.”

“I can take you to the medbay.”

Sombra popped her head through the shirt, a small smile on her face. She could never get over how nice this woman was. No matter how many times Sombra messed with the Commander, those piercing brown eyes would always shine with concern when she got hurt. “It’s just a scratch. Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.”

Fareeha watched the hacker walk to the bed, hearing the rustling of sheets as she made herself comfortable. Grabbing a fistful of wrappers, Fareeha got up from the floor and tossed them in the small waste bin she had.

Tired hands pulled off her coat, equally exhausted legs walking her to the closet. “Just wake me up if you need to go.” Fareeha yawned as she hung up her coat. She sleepily shuffled towards her dresser, pulling out some worn out clothes to sleep in. One forgetful trip to the bathroom later and Fareeha was on the other side of the bed. The aches of her body came spilling out. She just laid there and waited for all the pain to disappear.

A thought flashed in Fareeha’s mind on the first time Sombra spent the night in her room.

“No.” Fareeha crossed her arms, her brows furrowed in disbelief. “What’s to stop you from doing your hacking thing while I’m asleep?”

Sombra just laughed. “Oh believe me, I’ve tried. Many times. Isn’t that right Athena?”

“The wanted criminal Sombra is correct. To this day, she has attempted to gain access to my systems a total of 1,432 times Commander,” said Athena.

“See? Nothing to worry about. I can’t hack Athena.”

“You still kill people for a living.”

“Well, so do you. You don’t see me judging you for it.” Sombra gave the Commander her best puppy eyes. “Come on, I just want to crash here. I’ll be gone in the morning.”

One yes turned into a regular thing. Fareeha sighed into her pillow.

-

Sombra tried to yank her arm back as Fareeha pulled her through the door to her room. “Just loosen up on the grip okay?” She barely had time to yank the hood from Fareeha’s jacket over her head.

“You got blood on the sheets.” Fareeha let up on a fraction of her hold on Sombra’s wrist. “I told you to wake me up if you needed to go to the medbay.”

“And I’m sorry about that. I didn’t want to wake you up.” You looked so tired.

“Just…” Fareeha slowed down, she let go of Sombra’s wrist, confident that the hacker wasn’t going to run off. “Just wake me up next time.”

The doors to the medbay slid open. Fareeha walked in first, Sombra coming in from behind her. Angela was quick to notice Fareeha, her smile dropping when serious eyes gestured to one of the private examination rooms. She followed after the Commander, curious eyes settling on the person sticking close to Fareeha.

“What’s going on?”

“She needs to get looked at.”

Sombra sat down on the cushioned table. She peeled off the jacket and got to work trying to take off the borrowed shirt.

“What happened?” Angela was already putting on gloves. She was beside the table helping her mystery patient take off the shirt she seemed to be struggling with. One look at the state of the cybernetics running down her spine and Angela knew that her new patient needed more than a check-up.

“How bad is it doc? I had a hard time sleeping last night.”

“You’re going to need surgery for that.” A sigh. “You still didn’t answer my question. What happened?”

“I got in a little scuffle.”

“Okay, care to elaborate?”

“Not really.”

“Just sit there. I need a moment with the Commander.” Angela pulled off her gloves, throwing them in the proper bin. She waved for Fareeha to follow her, not wasting any time in walking out of the room.

When they were outside of the private examination room, Angela whipped around in a fury. “Who is she? What happened to her? How long has she been like that?” Her list of questions was long but she waited for Fareeha to answer before trying to ask any more.

“Sombra.”

The irritation of Fareeha leaving her other questions unanswered was overshadowed by the weight of the name. “Sombra. You just let a Talon agent run around base? She’s a wanted criminal in basically every country.”

“Talon wants to start a war. I don’t like this any more than you do. But it’s not about you or me. So far, she’s the only one that can help us. As much of a pain in the neck she can be, she’s given me good information.” Tired eyes bored into Angela’s. “I’m just trying to do what I think is right.”

Angela stayed silent. Out of everything that could happen with her rejoining Overwatch, she never expected this. But the look in Fareeha’s eyes was sincere. And that look was nothing if not convincing. “Do you trust her?”

“Not really.” Fareeha stood up taller. “But I’m more than willing to put my name on the line for this. If this all turns out to be some sort of elaborate scheme, I’ll take the blame. All of it.”

“I suppose that’s the best we can hope for.” Angela opened the door to the examination room. “Give me an hour, I’ll fix her implant.”

“You’re okay with being alone with her?”

“If you’re willing to stick your neck out for her, I can be alone in a room with her for an hour.”

“You guys are talking as if I’m not sitting right here.”

Angela ignored the comment. “I’ll be fine.” She turned around, mustering up her best glare. “And you’ll be fine if you answer my questions. ‘Not really’ doesn’t cut it.”

“Alright, alright.” Sombra pouted. She wasn’t keen on the doctor getting on her case, but she had a feeling that Fareeha would make it harder for her if she didn’t cooperate. “I’ll tell you what happened.”

-

An hour later, Sombra came bursting through the doors of Fareeha’s office. She gave a dramatic sigh, leaning over the desk for full effect. “I lived.”

“Were you expecting her to kill you?” Fareeha didn’t look up from the datapad in her hand. The news was going on in the screen behind her, the volume low.

“She almost did!”

“Oh come on, it didn’t even hurt.” Angela closed the door behind her. “You complained the whole time just to complain.”

Fareeha looked up at the sound of Angela’s voice. “Thank you, Dr. Ziegler.”

Something didn’t sit right with Angela when Fareeha spoke. “Angela. Just call me Angela.” She’s been calling me Dr. Ziegler this whole time.

The familiar heat she felt when she was embarrassed came traveling up her neck again. “Thank you, Angela.”

“You know you just thanked her twice.” Sombra had taken to sitting on the desk, grinning at the red coloring the Commander’s cheeks.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” asked Fareeha through gritted teeth.

“You know, even Talon gives days off. I’m on vacation.”

Even though she knew Sombra was trying to get a rise out of Fareeha, Angela found herself smiling at the exchange. That is, until Sombra leaned over and kissed Fareeha on the cheek. She felt a vein tic at the sight, jaw set with her teeth clenched together.

“I’m messing with you Commander. I mean I am on vacation, but I do have somewhere to be.” Sombra hopped off the desk, smiling wide when Fareeha wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I’ll drop by soon. Count on it.” With a playful wink and a wave of a hand, Sombra was out of sight, the door opening and closing behind her invisible form.

“I don’t like her.”

I didn’t expect her to outright say it. “Did she try something during the surgery?”

Angela put a hand over her mouth when she realized she said that out loud. She shook her head no, not trusting her words at the moment.

Fareeha smiled. “You didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“I-I need to get back…” Anxious feet started walking backwards, a shaky hand darting out to open the door behind her. “I’ll see you later.” Angela was out the door the moment the last word left her mouth.

Fareeha slumped back in her chair. Brown eyes stared up at the ceiling in contemplation. “Maybe I need a vacation.” She shook her head at the thought. “I’m too busy for that.”

Straightening up in her chair, she raised the volume of the news behind her and went back to work.

-

It’s been months since coming back and Angela couldn’t recall a moment where Fareeha went on a single mission with her. So that’s why she was currently staring holes into the Commander’s flight suit as Fareeha sat a seat away from her on the dropship. At least, that’s the excuse she was running with.

“You’re staring.”

“Am I?”

“Mmhm. Since we left Giza.”

Blue eyes examined the sea of sleeping bodies throughout the ship. It would have been embarrassing if someone heard their conversation about her staring. “I could have sworn I was sleeping like everybody else.”

“And do you normally have dreams that involve staring at me?”

“Hmm, well if I did, I think I’d keep that to myself. In fact, how do I know I’m not dreaming right now? This is the first time I’ve seen you on an assignment. Highly suspicious.”

“Can you feel this in a dream?” Quick fingers darted out and pinched one of Angela’s gloved fingers.

“I hardly felt that.” Angela pressed her lips sealed when a spark in Fareeha’s eyes lit up at the confession.

“You didn’t feel that?”

 She watched Fareeha get up, taking the empty seat that was beside her. “I mean, I did feel something.”

“What about this?” Another pinch, this time on Angela’s arm.

Being honest with herself, it tickled more than anything else. “I felt that one.”

“I don’t think you’re telling me the truth.”

There was a spike in her heartbeat. Fareeha had leaned in close, a gentle hand hovering close. It felt like little sparks danced across her skin. That in itself was impossible give that she was covered from the neck down in her Valkyrie suit. But that didn’t stop the electricity coming from Fareeha’s ghost of a touch. This was quite the development.

“Don’t worry about the bumps coming up. Just some turbulence.”

Tracer’s voice over the intercom didn’t register between the only two people awake. Angela was too preoccupied with trying to figure out the paralyzing feeling she felt as the Commander leaned in closer, a slow hand homing in on the few bits of skin left exposed. Her ear tickled at Fareeha’s touch. She couldn’t help but giggle, closing her eyes when the surprised smile on Fareeha’s face made her heart jump.

“Are you ticklish here?” Fareeha’s smile only grew when Angela pulled her hand away from the ticklish ear.

“Yes, yes I am.” She had to use both hands to keep Fareeha’s wandering hand from budging.

“The other one too?” Fareeha got up from her seat, standing before the doctor with a wicked grin on her face. Her free hand barely left her side when a sudden bump in the ship had her flying forward.

“Sorry about that loves. Hope that bump didn’t wake you.”

Tracer’s words echoed through Angela’s mind. She chose to focus on them instead of the press of the Commander’s body against hers. It took all her willpower not to acknowledge the leg shoved between her thighs or the soft lips pressed against her neck. Don’t think about it. She’s probably embarrassed enough as it is. She felt clumsy hands try to push away from her. Another bump had those same hands clamoring for support as Fareeha was rocked impossibly closer.

“That should be the last of it. We’ll be landing in about half an hour.”

Red faced and embarrassed beyond words, Fareeha finally took control over her unresponsive limbs and peeled away from the silent blonde. “S-sorry.” She didn’t even dare to look at Angela.

“It’s okay.” Her heart was running a kilometer a minute. “These things happen.” Angela’s body was still currently remembering every bit of the experience, replaying the feeling over and over in her mind. It was an accident. Get your head on straight.

Eyes still firmly glued to the floor, Fareeha made a shuffling motion away from the doctor. “I-I need to get my suit on. I’ll see you in a bit.” She sped off down the ship, shaking awake the rest of the sleeping Raptora pilots, disappearing behind a door in the blink of an eye.

The moment they stepped off the ship, Fareeha was a different person. The blush that painted her cheeks beneath the visor of her helmet had disappeared. Nervous lips smoothed into a relaxed curve and the weight of her embarrassment melted away.

She gave the order for the mission to start like the incident on the ship never happened. Always excited to fly, Angela waited for her team to get into the air before taking off with them.

It was always like a dream to fly with the Raptora pilots. She could see everything, no teammate too out of the way for her to reach. It was an experience to try to get used to but Angela loved every minute she spent in the air.

She was flying with Tariq, listening to Fareeha speak into the earpiece every now and then. There was the burn of guilt tingling the back of her neck at how she would get distracted every time she heard Fareeha’s voice. Her mind would reel back to the moment on the ship and she’d tense up at the ghost of a feeling slowly creeping back into her senses.

“Hello?” Tariq waved a hand in front of the dazed woman flying next to him.

“Huh?” Angela tightened her hold on her staff, getting a little closer to Tariq when she noticed she had drifted a bit.

“Don’t fall asleep mid-air. I know a guy that did that and it wasn’t pretty.”

Angela felt her face flush. Falling asleep wasn’t the problem here. She was just…distracted. Eyes flickered to the woman leading the team. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Well,” started Tariq, “if you do fall asleep, I’ll catch you. Commander wouldn’t like it if I let you fall.”

There was conflict on the ground but everything seemed hazy. One moment there were bullets whizzing past her face, the next she was on the ground patching up minor injuries with practiced ease. Angela would listen for the familiar sound of screaming, nothing but distant gunfire in the distance. It was peculiar. Any free moment she had was spent searching for that striking blue in the sky.

Angela couldn’t quite place it but she knew this feeling had to do with Fareeha.

Aizad had dropped down, walking up to his squad mate that was sitting on the ground next to the doctor. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her but she sat there groaning away.

“Mara, quit flirting with the doctor. We’re going east of the city, commander says there’s a bit of activity other there.” He crossed his arms, shaking his head at the dramatic moaning.

“I need a bit more time with the good doctor.” Mara smirked, giving Angela a drawn-out wink. “That bullet did a number on me.”

Of course, Angela knew Mara was fine, but she humored the woman anyway, doing an extensive examination to “reassure” her. Now that her “patient” was needed elsewhere, Angela stood up from the ground. “You’re clear. Everything looks fine.”

Mara’s face fell. She was quick to recover though, piecing together her armor in record speed. “Thanks for patching me up Dr. Ziegler.” She shoved her helmet back on, giving Aizad a slap on his suit as she walked past him. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go.”

Aizad smiled at the doctor. He waved, muttering out a quick thank you. “We’re always grateful for your work.” He looked anxious to go, barely making sure that Angela heard him before flying off with Mara.

“Mercy?” Angela pressed a finger to her ear piece, hand nearly jolting when she heard Fareeha’s voice over the comms.

“I’m here.”

“Tariq should be on his way to you. If there are no more pressing injuries in the area, I’d like for you to be at my location. The medics here are having a hard time.”

Angela gave a quick once over of the area. It was basically a ghost town. Mainly tired soldiers talking amongst themselves, relieved smiles covering most of their faces. “I’ll leave as soon as he gets here.”

It didn’t take long. Angela could already see Tariq’s smiling face speeding towards her from above.

“Sorry if I took so long, I tried to get here as fast as I could.”

Angela tapped her chin, trying put some pieces together. “You all are acting different. It’s not as hectic as it usually is. And everyone’s being so polite.”

Tariq shrugged his shoulders, answering her queries as if it was the easiest thing in the world. “It’s because the Commander’s with us. We don’t want to let her down.”

Angela blinked, not expecting the answer to come so easily. “Really?”

He nodded. “You should have seen her after the press conference. She was breaking her back to prove herself. That sort of thing is contagious.” He rubbed at his neck, visibly uncomfortable with mentioning the ordeal. “We wanted to prove that no matter what the circumstances were, bringing back Overwatch was the right thing to do. So we’re always going to give it our all, especially when the Commander’s with us.”

Angela could only smile at the admission. She reached out to thump Tariq’s visor. She felt happy knowing that everyone was trying their best for Fareeha. 

Tariq coughed into his hand, seemingly embarrassed enough as it was. “So, you ready to go?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

-

Fareeha had fallen asleep during the trip back. Angela sat opposite her, smiling at the way Fareeha’s cheek seemed to fuse with the seat. There was a familiar feeling bubbling beneath her skin. She finally knew what it was and she chose not to ignore it. Because it was so warm. It felt good for her thoughts to drift back to the person in front of her.

She couldn’t pin the exact moment she started to feel this way, but it was there. And it wasn’t going away anytime soon.

That’s why it took a lot of willpower to sit by and watch as Aizad walked Fareeha back to her room. Even though she knew what she was feeling, it didn’t mean that being in the same room in the dead of night was a good idea. At least, not at this moment.

-

“So, you got a thing for the blonde doctor or what?” Sombra was sitting on her usual spot on Fareeha’s desk. She was halfway through eating the sandwich Fareeha made. She had paused in eating to try and punch a hole in the juice pouch Fareeha gave her.

Fareeha nearly dropped her chicken sandwich. “W-what?”

“Ziegler.” Sombra poked the straw through the bottom of the pouch, happy she could finally drink it. “You’re always giving her ‘the look’. I’m a romantic at heart, so I know about these things.”

“What look?” Fareeha was staring intently at her sandwich. Anything else would have been too much.

“They go all soft and they start to sparkle.” She crammed half of the remaining sandwich in her mouth, watching with mirth as the cool and collected commander tried and failed to resume eating.

“I-” Fareeha couldn’t really deny the observation. There was just something about being called out on it that shook her off balance.

“You know, I’m pretty sure she likes you too.”

Now that was something worth hearing. “You are?”

“Yeah.” Sombra had finished the sandwich, loudly slurping the remaining juice from the pouch. “She always looks like she wants to rip off my head when she sees me. She’s jealous.”

“Angela jealous of you?” Fareeha whipped her head in Sombra’s direction, looking at the hacker with surprised eyes.

“I’m going to pretend that wasn’t insulting.” She threw the juice pouch across the room, smiling when it landed in the trash. “But yeah, she’s jealous. Who wouldn’t be?”

Fareeha let the words roll over in her mind, trying to recall if she’s seen Angela act jealous. “How do you know?”

“Like I said, I’m a romantic. Have you ever tried to romance a spider?”

Fareeha shook her head, confused by the odd question.

“I don’t recommend it if you’re looking for looking for a more…conventional relationship. But! This spider in particular gets my heart beating like none other. And thanks to my romantic nature, she finally agreed to go on a date with me. I’m pretty much an expert at these sorts of things.”

Sombra hopped off from the desk, sliding up to the commander real close. “But you don’t have to take my word for it, I’ll show you.”

A knock sounded on the door, Sombra was already smirking at the noise. “Just on time.”

Angela stepped in. Her pace was fast, head buried in the tablet in her hands. She had gotten used to the open-door policy the two of them had with each other. Since she was one of the few that knew about Sombra, Fareeha didn’t see a problem with Angela coming into her office when she needed to.

“Do you have a moment?” Angela finally looked up, almost freezing in place at the sight of Sombra sitting on Fareeha’s desk. “I can come back if you’re busy.”

“We were just eating lunch, nothing important.”

Sombra faked a gasp, clutching at her chest as if the words pierced her heart. She leaned in close, breath tickling Fareeha’s ear. “Just watch,” she whispered.

“Oh Commander! It hurts that you just brushed me off like that.” The dramatic acting wasn’t very good.

Fareeha felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, mischievous fingers brushing her hair back behind an ear. Her eyes couldn’t look anywhere but in front. The way Angela’s eye seemed to twitch, mouth in a thin line and a hand balled into a fist. She was starting to think that maybe Sombra was onto something. But either way, Angela was obviously uncomfortable with what was going on.

“Sombra.” She heard a quiet sigh, the hacker already bringing her hands to herself and jumping off the table. “If you could give us a minute?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sombra waved off the request, shooting Fareeha a quick wink before heading towards the door. “I’ll be back in a bit. I actually do have something for you.” She passed by the statue-like doctor, blowing a small kiss in Angela’s direction before stepping out of the office.

“Does she really have something for you?” Angela nearly flinched at the sound of her clipped words.

Fareeha leaned back in her chair, breaking eye contact with Angela to stretch out her arms. “Usually, if she says she does, she means it.”

“Oh.” Angela had already come to terms with the fact that she basically despised how close the hacker got to Fareeha. It took a lot of effort to not let it show. Sometimes little bits of her feelings slipped through the cracks. “If you actually need to talk to her, I can go.”

“No, no, no it’s fine. What did you want to see me about?”

Angela held her tablet out, pointing to the image on the screen. “The Raptora suits. I want to try integrating a nanite dispersal system. Even though being airborne had its advantages, you can’t deny that the Raptora squad is highly targeted.” Angela paused to take a deep breath. Fareeha’s unwavering attention was getting to her. “I think it’s good way to keep them safe.” To keep you safe.

Fareeha eyed the designs on the tablet. She was impressed on just how much Angela did for everyone’s safety. “I’ll send word down to Engineering. I’ll tell them a really smart doctor is coming over with a really good idea.” She couldn’t help but smile when Angela’s ‘Sombra’ demeanor finally dropped. The blush coloring her cheeks was a welcome change.

“That’s it?”

“Was I supposed to review it for a month or something?”

“N-no. It’s just…”

Fareeha got up from her chair, walking around her desk to lean in front of it. “It’s a good idea. I want to start it as soon as possible because you’re right, the Raptoras, we are highly focused targets. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?”

Angela shook her head. She brought back her tablet, a question dying on her lips the moment she tried to speak it.

Keen eyes were quick to see the subtle facial movements. “That looked like an almost question.”

Angela shook her head furiously. “It’s fine. I know that you’re busy.”

“Oh, I don’t know, I think I can make some time for whatever it is you wanted.”

“Even for dinner?” It just came spurting out, Angela unable to take back what she said. Now that she said it, she was anxiously waiting for an answer. Nothing on the earth could tear her eyes away.

“I’d love to.”

She tried to hold in her excitement but the jump in her step gave everything away. “So, is tonight okay?”

“More than okay.”

“I’m not very good at cooking so I’ll just order something for us to eat.” Angela nearly ran out of the office, a hand darting out to clutch at the doorframe to stop herself from leaving. She had forgotten to ask about the time. Face red, Angela slowly turned her head, smiling anxiously at Fareeha who had a wide smirk on her face. “…what time are you free for dinner?”

“I know it might be a bit late but does nine work for you?”

“O-of course.” She cleared her throat. “I’ll come pick you up here at nine with the food.” Angela stood there, staring at Fareeha’s smiling face as she tried to remember if she was missing anything else. She didn’t want to look like a fool again. Nothing came to mind so she bid her farewell and walked calmly out of the room. She started sprinting towards the medbay when she heard the door close behind her.

“Believe me now?” Sombra appeared next to the door. She was leaning against the wall, inspecting her nails.

Fareeha just turned around and walked back to her chair. She leaned her chin in her hand, thinking over everything that just happened. “You might be on to something.”

“Might be? I definitely know she’s got the hots for you.” Sombra laughed when Fareeha’s head slipped from her hand. “Just enjoy the date she just asked you out on and say, ‘Angela, I totally have the hots for you too.’ And then make-out or something.” She winked. “It might turn out to be a hot night for you.”

It took a lot of willpower to keep the hundred different scenarios Sombra’s words prompted at bay. Her eyes were staring holes into the desk and the embarrassed smile on her face didn’t seem to go away. “W-what was it you needed to talk about?” Fareeha was hoping the change in subject would help calm her down.

“Oh, that.” A small cube of purple appeared, Sombra stretched her fingers out, expanding the cube into a screen. “Got some info you should look at. It’s not Talon, but I figured you’d be interested anyway.”

The screen displayed some sort of tracker on a truck carrying a bomb. It was stopped for the moment, having been sitting in a warehouse for the past 5 hours. Focused eyes snapped back to Sombra when she saw the destination of the truck. Dorado, Mexico.

Sombra was looking everywhere but at Fareeha. “I can’t disable the truck because they’re using a hulking piece of junk from 2008.”

“I’ll contact the Grand Mesa watchpoint. We’ll get a team going as soon as possible.”

“Yeah?” Sombra looked up at Fareeha. She was surprised and hopeful. The tension in her head smoothed away when Fareeha re-affirmed what she said. “That’s good.”

“You could have told me this earlier.”

“I didn’t want to be asking for too many favors.”

“Like you don’t already?”

Sombra suddenly found the wall very appealing to look at. “That’s different.”

“Just tell me right away next time. I know that this,” Fareeha gestured towards the screen, “is important to you.”

The corner of her lips lifted. It took enormous strength to keep the tears held back. “You mind if I spend the night too?”

“Make yourself at home. I washed your favorite shirt too.”

-

Angela walked with a brisk pace, a bag in each hand. It had just turned nine when she got back to the watchpoint. The trip to get the food wasn’t that long, but she was anxious in making sure that she’d be on time. She had thanked the restaurant owner profusely when she was handed her food. The man just looked back at her curiously, not understanding that this meal could hopefully be the beginning to something more.

Fareeha’s office door could be seen down the hall. Angela nearly tripped when she started sprinting towards the door. Stepping through the door, she stopped in her tracks.

Fareeha looked to be sleeping. Her head was resting on her arms, peaceful face facing leftward. Steady breathing indicated that she had probably passed out a while ago. Angela placed the bags down on a chair, closing the distance to the desk.

She’s sleeping. A careful finger reached out to brush the hair away from Fareeha’s eyes. Should I wake her up? Angela let her hand hover above Fareeha’s shoulder. As much as she wanted to make that dinner happen, it would be better to let Fareeha have her rest. I’ll just walk her to her room. The hovering hand gently conformed to Fareeha’s shoulder, soft shakes trying to ease the sleeping woman into wakefulness.

“Fareeha.” Angela stopped when Fareeha started to move. “Hey, let’s get you to your actual bed.”

“Hmm?” Brown eyes blinked open. They studied the wall for a moment before Fareeha actually registered that Angela was in the room with her. “Oh! What time is it?” She glanced at one of the screens on her desk, sighing in relief when it was just ten minutes past nine. She started to get up, smiling at Angela. “We have a dinner to get to.”

Angela’s hand moved on its own, cupping Fareeha’s cheek. Her thumb moved to brush away a stray eyelash. “Maybe you should just get some sleep.”

Fareeha covered Angela’s hand with her own. She squeezed it gently, smile widening when she saw the blush on the doctor’s cheeks. “I’d rather spend this time with you.”

There was a tingling running down her arm. All thoughts of trying to get Fareeha back to sleep flew out the window. “Okay.” She turned her hand over, grabbing Fareeha’s in her own. A soft pull had Fareeha following her.

Angela never did let go of Fareeha’s hand as she led them up to the roof, bags of food rustling as they ascended the steps. She smiled nervously at the set up they were greeted to. Earlier, Angela had asked Tariq and Lena to help her with her not-a-date-but-totally-a-date date. They didn’t skimp on anything.

A trail of rose petals led to a little table with two chairs situated beneath it. A blanket was draped over one of the chairs. There were lights along the railing. The table had a candle in the middle, a note attached to the bottom of it. Angela let go of Fareeha’s hand and snatched up the piece of paper. She closed her eyes after reading it. For the romantic effect.

“Angela?”

Angela turned around, meeting Fareeha’s questioning eyes. “Hmm?” She couldn’t quite find her voice for speaking.

“Are we on a date?”

It’s either now or never. “If you want it to be.”

“Well, if it’s that easy then yes, I’d like this to be a date.”

Angela nearly dropped her bags because it would seem it was that easy. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” White teeth poked through a smile at the way Angela seemed so anxious, relieved, and surprised all at the same time. A laugh bubbled from her throat when Angela pulled out one of the chairs, gesturing for her to sit in it.

“After you.”

Fareeha felt the chair being pushed behind her when she sat down in the offered seat. She couldn’t help but to keep laughing. It was apparently contagious, she could see Angela chuckling to herself as she took the seat opposite her.

“I didn’t know you were so polite.”

Angela nodded dramatically, eyes closed for full effect. “I am the politest person you’ll ever meet.”

“Even more polite than Winston?” She smirked when Angela’s face fell.

“I am the second most polite person you’ll ever meet.” She reached out and grabbed Fareeha’s hand, placing a gentle kiss on top of it. “Count on it.”

And they both ended up laughing at the absurdity of the statement. Angela wasn’t a saint. This was known between them, especially when it came to Sombra.

“Okay so for tonight’s menu I got…” Angela dug into the bags, pulling out the food, “these fancy sandwiches. And of course, you should always eat your vegetables so I got a mix.”

“I have to say,” Fareeha took the offered food, unwrapping her sandwich a bit, “you have impeccable ordering skills.” She took a much-needed bite, almost moaning at the flavor. “This is from my favorite restaurant.”

Angela could feel herself smirking. She thanked Tariq in her head a million times for giving her the suggestion on where to order the food. “You know, I had a good feeling you’d like it.”

Suspicious eyes locked on the smirk slowly overtaking Angela’s face. “And something’s telling me that this wasn’t exactly your idea.”

“Mmm, I might have asked for some help. But in my defense, it was for a good cause.” Angela finally picked up her sandwich, taking her first bite.

“And what cause would that be?”

“To woo the cute commander.”

Half-way through her sandwich, Fareeha almost dropped the thing. “You think I’m cute?”

“Cute, beautiful, smart, brave, caring, incredible, one-of-a-kind, take your pick.”

“Alright, I take all of the above.” Fareeha couldn’t deny that the compliments were making her heart pound like crazy.

“A good choice. I’d say it’s highly accurate.”

Fareeha tapped her chin, making a show of looking like she was contemplating something. “Is it accurate, or are you just being biased?” She laughed when Angela whacked her on the arm.

“Don’t make me take back what I said about you.”

“If you took back everything you said about me, would you still like me?”

Angela felt the heat rising in her neck. Her feelings for the other woman tightening around her heart. “It doesn’t matter if I took it back, I can’t help how I feel.”

And Fareeha’s eyes softened at the honest confession. She reached out, brushing her fingers along Angela’s arm. “I feel the same way. I can’t help how I feel about you.” It made her heart jolt to see the immediate reaction to her words.

Angela had sat up so quick, taking a sharp inhale of breath as she grabbed onto the hand on her arm. “I’ll have to add professional wooer to the list.”

She felt the fingers mingling with her own, grinning at the joy reflected in blue eyes.

They stayed on the roof after finishing their meal, long after the candle had gone out. Fareeha had turned off the lights, the two of them sitting on the ground to stargaze. She took to showing Angela her favorite constellations underneath the warmth of the blanket they shared. And they made new ones together, the newly discovered Strike Commander and Combat Medic quickly becoming Fareeha’s favorite.

Angela would have preferred to stay there forever, but the soft breathing coming from Fareeha as she leaned against Angela tipped her off to the fact that she was asleep. Of course she knew that, had known for the past half hour, it was just that her legs were starting to go numb and she had a sneaking suspicion that Fareeha’s legs were probably already numb.

So, she gently shook the sleeping woman awake, giggling when Fareeha complained about the pins and needles sensation in her legs. Angela had a supportive arm around Fareeha’s shoulders, waiting patiently for the woman to be able to walk.

It was a slow walk. Angela didn’t mind as much. Fareeha was warm against her side, murmuring cute gibberish in hear ear. When they got to Fareeha’s room, the sleepy woman managed to get the door open.

Angela turned on the lights for her, standing stock still at the sight of Fareeha’s bed.

Sombra was fast asleep in the middle of Fareeha’s bed. The hacker was on her stomach, a mess of blanket coiling around her body. The cybernetics running down her spine could be seen clearly from how high the shirt she wore was bunched up.

She didn’t even try to be quiet in her outburst. “You’re sleeping with her? You said you wanted tonight to be a date but you failed to mention this.” Angela let go of Fareeha. She tried to back out of the door, feeling a shock go through her body when Fareeha quickly grabbed her wrist.

Fareeha was dragged with Angela into the hallway, the doctor was trying so hard to pull away. She wasn’t going to let go. Tonight had gone too well for everything to crumble away because of a misunderstanding.

“Angela please trust me when I say that’s not what’s happening.” She let go of the doctor’s wrist, hoping that she wouldn’t just sprint away. The panic faded a bit when Angela stood there, waiting for an explanation. “She just spends the night sometimes. It’s better if she stays in my room.”

“In the same room, on the same bed, wearing your clothes.” That familiar feelings she felt around the hacker came rushing back.

“Sombra takes what she wants.”

Angela crossed her arms and looked away. “Which is you.”

“No.” Fareeha leaned her tired body against the wall. “My room, my bed, and my clothes. Not me.” A tentative hand reached out to touch Angela’s shoulder. “You already have me.”

And it all happened so quickly. It was like her mind was in a haze. Angela had turned around so fast, arms encircling around Fareeha’s shoulders, holding her tight. Her lips were warm, moving so softly and careful, looking for any reason to stop.

Fareeha kissed her back. She could taste the peppermint on her lips from the mints Angela always had in her pockets. She could feel Angela’s fingers tightening around her shoulders and the doctor’s tension floating away.

She ended up with reassuring arms wrapped around Angela’s back as the doctor buried a smile in Fareeha’s neck.

“If I have you, then she can keep everything else.”

Fareeha kept her lips sealed. She was fairly certain that it’d ruin the moment if she told Angela that Sombra was basically their number one supporter. So, she just let Angela hold on to her, the relief of disarming the misunderstanding bringing back the overwhelming fatigue she felt earlier. Fareeha yawned after a moment, her eyes blinking slowly, trying their best to stay open.

“I’m so sorry!” Angela immediately peeled away from Fareeha when she heard the yawn. “You must be so tired. You’re here trying to make me feel better and I’m just keeping you awake.”

“It was a worthwhile endeavor.”

A smile. “I think the next one is you getting some sleep.”

“I like the sound of that.” Fareeha leaned in placing a light kiss on Angela’s temple. “Thank you for tonight.”

Angela smiled at the sign of affection. She started to lead Fareeha back to her room, feeling a little guilty that they left the lights on. The guilt piled on when she saw Sombra had placed a pillow over her eyes. “I should be thanking you. I need to add ‘extremely patient’ to the list.”

“For you, I have all the time in the world.”

“Hmm, I think some of that time should be spent sleeping. I’ll see you tomorrow okay?” She leaned up, placing a quick kiss to Fareeha’s cheek before backing up to the door and disappearing into the hall.

“Finally!” Sombra tossed the pillow off her head, readjusting herself under the blanket. “I would have turned off the light myself but I didn’t want to ruin the moment.” Sleepy eyes watched Fareeha disappear into the bathroom. “I have to say though, I didn’t think you were a fellow romantic. That was real smooth Strike Commander.”

Fareeha came bursting back into the room after Sombra spoke. “You heard all that?”

Sombra tapped an ear. “I have good hearing you know.”

Fareeha pushed a stray leg to the other side of the bed, grabbing some of the blanket for herself. “You were right though.”

“About what?”

“She was jealous.”

“Really? I never would have guessed.” Sombra smirked when Fareeha flicked at her arm. “But then again, who wouldn’t be jealous of me?” She turned around to face the other woman. “I’m happy for you though. You deserve some romance with the hot blonde doctor.”

Fareeha sighed, making a show of rolling her eyes. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

She couldn’t stop the smirk if she tried. “It was a compliment.” Turning back around, Sombra got herself comfortable again. “Good night smooth talker.”

-

Some months later, Angela had gotten used to seeing the world wanted hacker around. The jealousy went away when she learned that Sombra was the touchy-feely kind of friend. Plus, it didn’t hurt that she was the one that had Fareeha’s heart.

So, when she walked into Fareeha’s office that afternoon for lunch, she wasn’t surprised by the sight of Fareeha and Sombra talking. Except, this time, something was off.

The two of them spoke quietly, Angela couldn’t hear a word between them. The hacker had a death grip on the desk, an anxious foot tapping the ground. Angela couldn’t see Sombra’s face, but she knew she wasn’t wearing that familiar smirk.

They stopped talking after a few moments, both of them just staring at each other for a while. It was Sombra’s voice that first filled the room.

“Just be careful.” Purple gloved hands let go of the desk, they dropped to Sombra’s sides like dead weight. She turned around, finally giving Angela a view of the expression on her face.

Angela could see Sombra’s purple eyes were outlined with red. Dried tears had marked her cheeks and a tight-lipped frown formed her mouth. She watched as they hacker wiped away the newly forming tears. Sombra didn’t even bother to say a word to her. She just walked out the room, silent as ever.

“What’s going on?” Angela was quick to get to Fareeha’s side, leaning on the desk for support.

Fareeha sat quietly at Angela’s question. Somber eyes looked to the ceiling. A million thoughts ran through her mind, everything stopping at once when a worried hand touched her shoulder. “It’s nothing.”

Angela’s brows furrowed with concern. “It doesn’t seem like nothing.” She knew Fareeha was trying to hide something from her. There was no imagining what it was.

A forced smile appeared on Fareeha’s face. She reached for Angela, pulling the doctor into her lap in one movement. Her lips found the soft skin of Angela’s cheek, peppering it with kisses until she saw a smile appear. “It’s nothing now that you’re here.”

Angela instinctively brought her hands up to cup Fareeha’s cheeks. She searched those brown eyes for an answer. For anything that wasn’t the adoration shining back at her. The questions she wanted to ask faded away when Fareeha leaned down to capture her lips. Too enamored with the feel of warm lips against her own, all her worry faded away.

-

Angela was surprised to see Sombra again that night. She was up late checking the newly installed nanite systems in the Raptoras when the hacker suddenly appeared out of the blue. The tears staining her face from earlier in the afternoon were long gone.

“Did you need something from Engineering?” Angela watched Sombra examine the modified Raptora suits.

“I just have a question for you.”

“What’d you want to ask?”

“Do the helmets have that nanite stuff in them?”

Angela blinked. It didn’t occur to anyone to modify the helmets. “No, why?”

Sombra walked over to Fareeha’s Raptora, picking up the helmet from the stand. She turned it around a few times in her hands, idly rubbing the metal under her gloved fingers. She only said one word, a sense of despair filling the room as she spoke it. “Snipers.”

Ice cold chills ran through her body at the way Sombra said the word. It echoed through Angela’s mind, bouncing faster in her skull when she saw the careful way Sombra put back the helmet.

-

Rushed steps echoed through the long white hallway. The bustling of people didn’t register as Angela hurried to her destination. At one point, she had bumped into a nurse. She couldn’t remember if she apologized or not, only that the nurse had nodded and went on her way.

The door gave way instantly. Angela wasted no time in closing it behind her. She nearly saw red when she finally noticed the other occupant of the room.

“Get. Out.”

A head of purple tipped hair barely moved at the harsh words. Sombra just continued to sit on the bed, body faced away from the angry blonde. A bare hand held on loosely to Fareeha’s.

Angela was starting to shake, frustrated and angry tears threatening to spill over. “You knew. You knew they were going to do that to her and you let it happen anyway. Get out.”

Sombra finally started to move, puffy red eyes looking straight into pained blue. “You think I wanted this to happen?” Her hand squeezed Fareeha’s tighter. “She’s my friend. I love her.”

“You still let it happen. You let them send Widowmaker after her and you didn’t do anything to stop it.”

It was like someone took hold of her heart, squeezing it tighter with every accusation thrown her way. Her voice cracked as she spoke. “I love her too. What was I supposed to do? Get her killed? I tried my best with what I could. It was Fareeha who said that I didn’t have to choose. I told her to be careful.”

Sombra started crying again. “They would have killed Widowmaker if she helped me. Akande lets a lot of things slide. But when it comes to Overwatch, that’s where he draws the line. They would have killed her, and then they would have gone after me.” She tried to wipe away the tears, failing miserably when they just kept coming. “Fareeha told me not to worry about it. But she still went out there.”

Angela took a spot on the other side of the bed. Fingers instinctively curling around Fareeha’s free hand. A flurry of images flashed through her mind. The state she found Fareeha in. The terror in Aizad’s face as he watched the commander fall out of the sky. There was so much blood, a puddle of it pooling beneath Fareeha’s helmet. The strained gurgle Fareeha let out when Angela dropped to her knees forever burned into her memory. Her heart broke every time she saw the hole going through Fareeha’s helmet.

It was a miracle at all that the modified helmet even worked. Angela had rushed for the change in design, urged on by the bad feeling that enveloped her body when Sombra had left her alone in Engineering that night. She let out a shaky breath, not having the strength to stay angry. “I’m in love too.”

Sombra didn’t look at her. “I know.” She got up from the bed, taking in the view from the sixth story window. “She’ll pull through, she’s just being stubborn about it. Has to make us worry.”

And Angela went along with it. What else could she do?

-

It was dark like always. Angela looked over the sea of bodies taking up every available seat of the transport ship. Everyone was too hyped to sleep like they normally would. The anxiety of the mission ahead kept their eyes peeled.

Angela had busied herself with running her fingers through Fareeha’s hair. It was all she could do to keep the worry from spiking through her system.

“You okay Angela?” As much as she loved it when Angela combed through her hair, the doctor wasn’t too big on showing affection during missions. There had to be something bothering Angela for her to ignore her own rules.

A thumb moved down to trace over the scar where the bullet pierced through. Those awful memories were all she could think about. Fareeha lying in the hospital for weeks had taken a toll on her. Angela had grown too concerned for the woman she loved. It got to the point where she felt dread course through her system whenever Fareeha left for a mission.

“Just let me have this moment.” That was all Angela could ask. Because she couldn’t stop Fareeha from putting her life on the line. It wasn’t fair to ask her of that.

Fareeha took the wandering hand in her own, gently kissing the individual fingers one by one. “Of course.” She knew Angela didn’t like when she left base, not after what happened. So Fareeha took every opportunity she could to shower her with affection. She never spared any expense to try and reassure Angela. That was the best she could do.

“I want you to stay safe.”

“I can’t promise that.”

“Please, please just come back to me.” A shiver ran down her arm when Fareeha placed gentle kisses along her knuckles.

It was the same conversation they had before every mission. It pained Fareeha to see Angela look at the scar every time they had this talk. Because it meant she was remembering that moment. The moment where Angela screamed desperately into the air for Fareeha to stay with her, bloodied hands clinging tightly to dented armor.

Fareeha stayed silent, her thoughts would drift back as well. Memories of Widowmaker staring down her rifle, taking the shot that sent her spiraling into a world of blackness. Her mind wandering as a throbbing ache echoed through her skull. She reached up, touching the scar on her forehead. She should have died. She looked down at the helmet in her lap. It had been upgraded since then, able to protect and treat her more efficiently.

Fareeha stopped making promises about coming back after she woke up in the hospital. She didn’t want to die a liar. But she was a woman in love. It pained her to see that hurt look seeping through Angela’s eyes each time she refused to make that promise. It ate away at her each time she came back, Angela holding her tight for the rest of the night, sometimes crying into her shoulder from pure relief.

So that’s why it in that moment, Fareeha changed her mind. She wanted to see a smile before she left, to see that hopeful look shining through blue eyes. 

“I’ll stop this war, and I’ll come right back to you.”