Heroes
by
Silver-Eyed Rukia
Rated: T
Pairing: Rocket Angel/Pharah x Mercy
Note: Please ignore any mistakes. Or point them out and correct me, whatever you prefer. This time it is not beta-ed.
It was cold when Fareeha exited the small shop and she had to resist the urge to stuff her hands into her pockets to prevent the two steaming hot cups of tea and coffee respectively from spilling into her jacket. She cursed quietly in her native tongue, a small cloud forming in front of her face as she breathed out, before making a mental reminder to herself about not forgetting her mittens. Again.
The jingle of a small bell tore the Egyptian out of her musings as the door behind her fell close and she set herself in motion, one boot-clad foot before the other, long strides taking her from her girlfriend's favourite coffee parlour towards her workplace. It wasn't her first trip to Switzerland, but it was her first trip in winter and even though the snow had already melted, the weather was still way colder than the average temperatures back in Egyptian during this time a year.
A group of giggling teens passed her by, their foreign language sounding familiar yet still strange to her ears, and she caught herself staring at the only blonde of the trio, her golden locks partly hidden beneath a fuzzy beanie that reminded her of the doctor and her own shock of ash-blonde hair. A memory of their morning together passed before her inner eye, limbs entangled and lips locked before a call had interrupted their private time together. The hospital had needed a surgeon and after barely ten minutes Angela had been dressed and ready to leave, perfectly bound ponytail disappearing through the door after they had parted with a short but passionate kiss.
A voice cut through her musings and Fareeha snapped back into reality, realizing that she must have stared for a little too long, because the three women had stopped just a few feet away from their apparent destination: the coffee shop she had just exited moments before. The blonde, who was also the tallest of the group, approached her with a smile, polite but cautious.
"Kann ich Ihnen helfen?"
Fareeha gave a close-lipped smile in return before shaking her head, remembering the meaning of the question from the many times Angela had said them to one of her patients or while speaking to one of the doctors over the phone. ´Can I help you?'
"No, thank you. And my apologies, it was rude of me to stare. You just so happen to look similar to someone I know and I must have gotten a bit distracted."
The teen nodded and turned back to her friends just as Fareeha turned to resume her walk towards the hospital, boots crunching against the snow with every step. The bell gave a merry jingle as the trio entered the small shop and just before the door fell shut the Egyptian heard one of the girls gasp in realization.
"That was Pharah!"
Usually Fareeha wouldn't have minded being recognized, but during her off-time she honestly prefered keeping a low profile so instead of turning around and greeting them properly she gave a quick dash around the corner to hide, keeping the semi-running pace until she had reached the hospital's entrance that was just a few hundred meters away.
"That was close", she said quietly to herself, both hands gripping the cups a little tighter as she stepped through the automatic doors. She loathed hospitals, and not even the many trips together with Angela had quelled her dislike for the establishment one bit.
The interior in the entrace area was held in a combination of the typical sterile white and warm, welcoming pastel shades. Many seats were filled with both patients and their visitors, the occasional nurse or doctor sitting with them. Signs in both German and English hung from the ceiling and pointed Fareeha in the direction she needed to go: the operating ward.
As the dark-skinned woman made her way through the vaguely familiar hallways her gaze strayed off towards the walls, more specifically the many framed posters lining the spaces between the many doors. They were posters from various Overwatch members, both new and old from the looks of it, all with their respective catch-phrases and get-ups. Fareeha's eyes lit up in regocnition and admiration as they landed on a poster identical with the one hanging in her apartment back in Egypt, the print of Reinhardt in his armor standing tall and strong, blue shield dominating the frame as his motto greeted her in bold, golden letters.
"Don't worry my friends, I will be your shield!"
Blinking the former soldier turned towards the voice that had sounded from her right side, eyes landing on the frame of a small boy clad in a hospital gown and sporting what appeared to be a freshly shaven head. She noticed that his smile lacked a front tooth as he grinned up at the woman, green eyes sparkling as he recognized who he was standing next to.
"Pharah!"
"That's right", Fareeha started, placing both the cups on the floor momentarily and kneeling down on one leg to be on eye-level with the boy, "how did you know?"
"You are a hero, just like Reinhardt", he exclaimed excitedly, voice thick with a Switzerlandish accent as he pointed at another poster just a couple meters away that showed her in her blue Raptora. The picture was a shot of her without her usual falcon-themed helmet, her uncovered face easily recognizeable due to her eye of Horus tattoo.
Before either of them could say any more a woman came rushing out of one of the open rooms and immediately headed for the boy, expression worried but voice stern as she addressed him like only a worried mother could.
"Max, du kannst doch nicht einfach so weglaufen! Ich hab mir Sorgen gemacht, Doktor Ziegler hat dir bis zur OP absolute Bedruhe verordnet."
Understanding nothing but the "Doktor Ziegler" part Fareeha rose from her kneeling position and grabbed the two cups again, giving the mother what she hoped to be a reassuring smile.
"Apologies Ma'am, I must have distracted your son a little bit."
The duo exchanged some words before the mother turned towards the taller woman, gently urging her son to go back to his room.
"No need to apologize Miss Amari, I know that my little man has a weakness for heroes and I must admit, I cannot blame him for being so taken with you, you are after all quite famous around here."
"Around here?", Fareeha inquired but was only met with a polite smile before the mother joined her son in the doorway, his tooth-missing smile as bright as ever.
The ex-soldier sighed as she finally found the employees only section, mind still busy mulling over the somewhat confusing exchange she had had just moments earlier. She shook her head and decided to think about it again later, shoulder pushing open the door leading to the designated smoking area as she at long last laid eyes upon the one person she had been looking for. Fareeha was just about to greet her lover when she noticed the smoke rising from where Angela stood so instead of saying anyhing she just came up to the smaller woman and leaned against the railing seperating the smoking area from the smoke free zone, left hand reaching out to hand the blonde her favourite beverage.
"Danke."
The doctor took one last drag of her cigarette before extinguishing the stub in the ashtray, lips folding around the cup's lid gingerly as she took the first stip of coffee for the day.
"That bad?"
Angela finally looked at Fareeha and was met with her favourite pair of mocha-coloured eyes boring into her own blue ones with a knowing intensity.
"Three surgeries since I left this morning, but that was to be expected", she replied, staring at the already half-empty container in her hands as if it had been the one asking the question. "I am more worried about tomorrow."
"So worried that you broke your damn near one-year abstinence it seems."
The former field medic sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew that Fareeha absolutely hated cigarettes and anything related to them and she repeatedly gave Jesse shit about it. She had actually managed to make the man cut down on his consume of the cancer sticks by almost half of what he used to smoke before after all. But sometimes Angela just needed it, despite her better judgement.
Before she could apologize Angela felt an arm wrap itself around her shoulders, the scent of black tea wafting over her as Fareeha pressed a kiss against her forehead, one calloused hand stroking over her from the wind cooled cheek.
"What happened, ya amar?"
Her own arms wrapped themselves around her girlfriend's midsection reflexively and she breathed in the familiar and calming scent that was, for lack of a better explanation, simply just Fareeha Amari, half-empty cup sitting forgotten on a table nearby as her now free hands burried themselves in the security chief's thick bomber jacket.
"Brain tumor, very aggressive. The chances are barely 50/50." She paused and squeezed her eyes shut, years of trained professionalism winning over her emotional streak and supressing the stream of tears that had dared to spill from her eyes. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she uttered the next few words into her lover's chest.
"He just turned 8, Fareeha."
The tallerof the pair pulled back slightly and looked down at the blonde, tenseness of her jaw betraying her own inner emotional turmoil.
"Is his name Max?"
"How do you-?", Angela started but interrupted herself when she saw her lover bite her bottom lip so hard she feared it would split any second.
"I met him while I was looking for you. He impersonated Reinhardt as I stopped in front of one of his posters lining the hallways. He looked so proud that he was able to say it in English, even though his accent was really thick. He must've practiced a lot himself, seeing that he's barely eight."
She paused to swallow the growing lump in her throat before continuing, giving Angela a small smile.
"He even recognized me, sans my Raptora. His mother told me that he has a weakness for heroes."
"I know", the doctor replied, a smile much like Fareeha's now adorning her features, "how excited do you think he was when I was assigned to be the surgeon for this procedure?" But the smile died as quickly as it came, memories of the old Overwatch surfacing and overshadowing the reputation the so-called "heroes" used to have.
"Overwatch and its members aren't what they used to be, all that remains are the memories and the posters to help us remember those times."
Fareeha placed both her hands firmly on Angela's shoulder, giving them a slight squeeze to catch the doctor's attention. When she spoke her voice was harsh and sincere and it sent a shiver down the medic's back in almost fearful anticipation.
"You are right, heroes don't look like they used to, sparkling uniforms and dashing appearance with a catch-phrase to go with it. They look like you do now, doctors and nurses that save countless lives every day."
It was Angela's turn to swallow a lump forming in her throat as the intensity of the spoken words settled in, the sincerity and determination in both Fareeha's voice and face moving her to a point where she could feel tears prickling at the corner of her eyes. Overwhelmed the doctor did the first thing that registered in her mind and she wrapped her lover tight in an embrace, two pairs of lips finding one another in what Angela hoped to be the most effective way of showing her gratitude and affection for the woman she loved. The kiss lasted but a few seconds but when it ended, all the worries and fears had been wiped from her mind and nothing but her honest feelings for Fareeha remained.
"Danke."
Because for Angela, Fareeha was her own, personal hero.
Translation:
Ya Amar (يا قمر) - My Moon (which means my most beautiful) (Arabic)
Danke - thanks (German)
Max, du kannst doch nicht einfach so weglaufen! Ich hab mir Sorgen gemacht, Doktor Ziegler hat dir bis zur OP absolute Bedruhe verordnet. - Max, you can't just run off! I was worried, doctor Ziegler has ordered strict bedrest until your surgery. (German)
Don't have much to say except that I apologize for the lack of stories on my end, I really hope it'll get better soon ._.
This is my participation in Pharmercy week, we'll see if I'll do more with one or two of the next prompts^^
Phrase of the Day
Heroes represent the best of ourselves, respecting that we are human beings. A hero can be anyone from Gandhi to your classroom teacher, anyone who can show courage when faced with a problem. A hero is someone who is willing to help others in his or her best capacity.
~Ricky Martin