1
Lena fell.
Looking above between the gaps of two buildings, the night sky was clear and beautiful. The only thing on her mind was that; how it was so beautiful.
Silently, Lena accepted her death.
Then impact, and her vision cleared.
She was suspended in air, held by a person. A whiff of her fragrance swept over her, sweet and sensual.
Widowmaker leaned in, looked down at Lena.
And her worst foe said,
"I saved it; your life is now mine."
x
It doesn't matter what you have or who you are; morning sucks, or at least it sucked for Lena Oxton, or her other name, Duchess of Westminster. She loathed mornings and all that followed from it; unfunctioning brain, sick stomach, low blood pressure, and today was no exception.
"Lady Lena!" yelled her maid as she knocked on the door. "Your breakfast is getting cold!"
"Five more minutes..." Lena groaned into her pillow.
"It's been twenty minutes already!"
"Alright alright... I'll..."
"Lady Lena!"
Five minutes later she finally made it to the breakfast table. Sitting on the edge of a needlessly long and needlessly grand table, Lena mindlessly stirred her coffee and took a sip, hoping her mind would wake up sooner today.
"Here you are, my lady." Her only maid said as she laid down her breakfast in front of her.
"Thanks, Emily." Lena mumbled, before reaching for her fork.
As she shoved eggs and bacon down her throat, Lena reached for her newspaper, but before she could touch it Emily brought her second cup of coffee. News could wait. Coffee was the ultimatum in the morning.
"How long have you been awake last night?" Emily asked.
"Uhm... three in the morning."
Lena sipped her coffee, and decided to add more sugar.
"...Lady Lena."
"I know, I know. Don't stay up too late, no matter whatever's going on."
Lena sighed and emptied her cup, and filled it again from the pot.
"Any progress on the current case?"
"...I'd rather not get to the specifics, but yeah."
The specifics involved how it was found out that instead of being killed by a robber, the victim had been beaten to death by one of the family members. Not something to mention on the breakfast table.
"...Lady."
"Emily, don't."
They had gone through this argument before, and Lena knew what Emily would have said if she hadn't stopped her.
Could you please stop chasing criminals.
As last of the family member to carry on the Oxton heritage, Lena did not need a job to support herself. Although her activities in fighting crime has never brought her money, even costed her a few times, she had no intention of stopping at any cost.
Lena looked at the newspaper to avoid Emily's eyes. Same old boring stuff. Queen Victoria had made a speech, London had the worst weather again, the prime minister had done something stupid but not fatally stupid, there was a new car model, and...
Lena's eyes, which had been glazing over the words, stopped at what she saw.
'French Politician Assassinated' the title read.
Lena quickly read through the article; the politician have been killed in public, however the precise method was not mentioned in the article.
"I need to see Kate."
Lena said briskly before leaving house.
x
Once, there had been an organization named Overwatch. It was the first ever military organization the world has grouped together, and together they fought for peace, against crimes, terrorists, and wars.
Lena had been one of the founding members. As the most wealthy nobility of the kingdom of Britain, she had finally found a cause to contribute to after a life of nothing, of being put up as a doll for the heritage. Finally, she had found a passion to devote herself to.
And then Overwatch was shut down. Because of reasons Lena only half-knew.
For some time after that, Lena lived with nothing to do.
It was not long until she began to contact every police officer she knew. Only one of them saw to her cause, and established partnership. That person was Captain Kate Irving of Scotland Yard, the one who she was meeting right now.
Kate was a tall blonde woman who wore her long hair in a ponytail, and looked at Lena out of thin-framed glasses.
After exchanging mild pleasantries, they got straight to the point, as both of them liked.
"There hasn't been a new find in the Harvy murder."
"That's not what I called you for."
Kate raised her brows. Lena pulled out a handful of newspaper clips.
"I want you to tell me about the person behind all these assassinations."
"What makes you think it's the same person?"
Kate was cool and collected, the way she always was. Sometimes it irritated Lena.
"They're always the same; a major personnel has been assassinated, but no reference to what really happened. No description of the culprit, the method, anything. Don't tell me these are just coincidences."
Lena said in a lowered voice, and Kate nodded.
"Indeed you are right."
Kate sipped her coffee before continuing.
"But I am not authorized to give you all information I know. Only some. Three."
"Three?"
Kate nodded and raised a finger.
"First, she's member of the Talon. A high-classed member at that."
Lena's eyes widened. Kate raised another finger.
"Second, she is a sniper. Evidence suggests she has succeeded in sniping over distance of two kilometers."
The world record was held at 1271 meters.
"Third, her codename. It's the Widowmaker."
Kate sipped her coffee.
"That's all."
"...What's going on, Kate." Lena asked, her voice low. "The Talon? But... but they had been gone, right? Gone with the Overwatch."
Talon, the greatest criminal organization in this world. What Lena knew was that they and Overwatch warred, and both had gone down.
"They're back. Now you understand why the information had not leaked to the press?"
"...Yeah."
It would seriously freak out too much people at the same time.
"Here."
With that, Kate pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to Lena. It was a photograph, a bad one, very blurry. However she still met eyes with the one in the photograph, and for a fleeting instant, Lena felt a shiver down her back.
It was a strange shiver, not cold, instead, hot, almost.
After exchanging a little more information on recent crimes, or to put in other words, after asking if there were other cases she could participate on, Lena made to leave Kate's office when Kate stopped her.
"Duchess Oxton."
Lena had asked her to call her just Lena. Kate had never obliged.
"Yes?"
"Would you be interested in being a bodyguard?"
"...Tell me more."
x
Two evening later, Lena was standing above the tall buildings of London. The sun was just setting, painting everything orange.
In front of her vision was a platform, and on it, a person was giving speech. The person was one of the leading figures in ecology movement.
"Details are confidential, but we suspect he might be Widowmaker's next target. He's planning to give a speech at 17 o'clock in public space. We told him against it, but..."
Kate said, as she showed Lena the pictures and physical information of her would-be-client.
"We're planning on preparing maximum security, but Widowmaker is known for having success even in such situations. That's why I'd like you to be on the scene."
"You want a gifted... because you suspect she's one too."
"Precisely."
Gifted, empowered, or freaks. There's no set word for what a number of people in this world were.
Limited to her own body, Lena was capable of warping time. This was an ability impossible to describe even by contemporary science, and all other people with such abilities were called so.
Lena checked her weapons, a set of daggers, and felt relief from the weight it provided. She had literally gone through hell with the pair in her hands.
And Lena started her watch.
Being on a watch was one of the most nerve-wrecking thing a person can experience. One almost starts wishing the crime will just happen so that further watching will be unnecessary.
A minute passed that way. Then two. Then several. Nothing happening except the speech going on, and on, and─
What Lena saw was just the tiniest flash. It could have been anything. Any flicker of light.
Her instincts told her otherwise.
Lena flew.
Across the sky, she became a blue dash, her existence merging with time itself. She ran above the buildings, drew her daggers, and flung herself downward.
And it was how the two of them first met.
One, dropping down. Other, looking above.
Their eyes, gold and gold, met for the first time, and for a moment shorter than an instant, everything became meaningless.
Meaningless under her beauty.
Widowmaker was a tall, feline woman, her eyes, sharp and predatory, her defining trait, seemed to pierce into Lena's heart and see everything inside. And in her gaze, Lena was trapped as surely as fox gets trapped by a huntress.
Then the moment broke, and Lena put her dagger in front of the barrel of the sniping rifle Widowmaker held, a sleek beauty, and deflected the bullet that had been fired.
Lena went back in time to kill the recoil, and at the next moment, jumped inside the room through the window, taking a stance with both daggers poised and ready to strike.
"Who are you?" Lena said, and Widowmaker, with daggers pointed at her, smiled.
Deceitfully, playfully.
"I'm known as Widowmaker."
She spoke, and her voice seemed to crawl around Lena, wrapping her up before entering her ear.
"It's a pleasure to meet the famed Duchess Oxton... however I'm afraid I don't have time for idleness right now. Could we pass that to later tonight?"
"No. You're suspected for being behind multiple assassinations across the world. I want you to come with me to the police."
"I'm afraid I cannot. Right now, I have to kill."
She said that with a smirk, and brought her hand around the hilt of the rapier she wore.
Lena moved lightning fast, closing the distance between them and raising her dagger to Widowmaker's throat. But this time, her dagger was the one that was blocked. Widowmaker's rapier was drawn in the same tiny piece of time Lena used to move, and had parried her. Lena withdrew, and lashed out again, but met with the same conclusion; both her daggers blocked perfectly.
Holy heavens, Lena thought to herself, as sweat broke out, her sword was more than good. She was godly.
"I have good eyes." Widowmaker said, that smirk still on her face, and Lena realized that she had been toying with her.
We'll see if you can keep that up, Lena thought as she moved behind her, and struck. This time there was no toying. Widowmaker's rapier managed to parry, but it was almost touching her own skin.
"So the rumours were true. You really are one of us." Widowmaker said.
"One of... so you too?"
"I have good eyes."
And Lena saw that Widowmaker's eyes were faintly glowing in the dark. That she had been gifted with some sort of vision enhancement ability, Lena was certain, but the details were unknown.
Lena blinked again, this time to Widowmaker's left, and once again struck. For the first time Widowmaker came to offensive, and reflected a strike back, leaving a slight scratch on Lena's cheek that she removed by going back in time.
For the first time, Widowmaker showed a surprised expression when she saw that Lena's wound was gone.
"That must be very useful." She said as she made to maim Lena.
"Not really. You can't use it without people getting suspicious." Lena said as she dodged a blow that would have cut her right arm off, held down her rapier by one dagger while striking with another. A few strands of Widowmaker's hair fell as she turned her body sharply away.
Dagger clashed against rapier. Lena's impossible movements were tracked completely by Widowmaker's eyes.
They fought, moving and changing space as they did. Rapier sweeping over a desk, jumping over a chair, dodging by the railing, and gradually they went up the stairs, one by one, until they came to the roof, on which they fought freely now that they had more space.
After exchanging blows after blows, Widowmaker jumped over to another building. Lena immediately followed, and again their swords shone, catching the dusk on their blades.
Once more Widowmaker jumped over, and again Lena made to follow, only to realize in mid flight that the gap was greater than any human could possibly make. Her startled eyes saw Widowmaker swinging across using a sort of hook.
But she can't get away with that, Lena thought, she would have to─
Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Widowmaker raise her sniping rifle. Lena realized that unlike her, Widowmaker did not necessarily have to triumph over Lena; she just had to kill, and it was her victory.
Lena threw her dagger. Her aim was accurate, and it headed straight to Widowmaker's rifle, breaking the scope.
Got ya, Lena thought as she fell, there was no way she could snipe a person in this distance now. She'll just get back and─
And Lena realized she was still falling.
What!? She thought as panic started to settle in. Go back, go back in time! She screamed at herself, but her body was moving none.
And she saw Widowmaker pull the trigger.
She was smiling.
In that moment Lena knew that the man she was guarding was dead.
And she also knew that she was not going to stop falling.
Then impact, and her vision cleared.
She was suspended in air, held by Widowmaker. A whiff of her fragrance swept over her, sweet and sensual.
Widowmaker leaned in, looked down at Lena.
And her foe whispered into her ear,
"I saved it; your life is now mine."
Then Widowmaker's lips were on her own, and everything disappeared in sweetness.
