"Just take these twice a day, preferably before a nap and before bed. Any exercise or training is completely out of the question." Dr. Angela Ziegler handed the wounded soldier the small, orange bottle before speaking again, "Now, the nurse will see to it that all your paperwork is completed. Have a nice day and thank you for your service." She quietly exited the room and moved towards the central desk ready to handle a new patient. So far her day had been filled with the usual wounds of soldiers. Broken bones, a few gunshot wounds, even some training injuries here and there. Unlike the other doctors who were too arrogant, she didn't mind tending to even the smallest wounds. She was there to help people. She was happy doing just that. She reached the center desk and leaned over the counter to grab one of the many folders that waited to be opened.
Angela stifled a yawn and she moved to open the blue folder, but a hand came in from the side and snatched it out of hers. "Wha- hey. I have not finished vith that case!"
"I'm not gonna allow you to even start it, love. When did your shift start? You've been here all day." The tall, slender brunette stood with one hand on her hip, the other holding the folder up high.
"Miss Oxton, it's great to see you here. Now. The folder please if you vould. I must be getting back to the patients." The blonde woman reached out, trying to grab the folder back, but the younger girl was too quick.
"Nah uh. You're going to have to be quicker than that, love."
"Lena-" Angela swept her loose bangs back as she tried to grab the folder once more.
"Dr. Ziegler, you arrived here around 9 a.m. Yesterday. It's midnight. You need to go home. Now. Before you collapse." The brunette finally handed over the folder to the blonde woman. Much to her disappointment, the doctor didn't show any signs of taking her advice.
Straightening her lab coat and standing as straight as possible, Angela tucked the folder under her arm and smiled widely before she answered, "Lena. I am the head of the research center, a surgeon, a nanobiologist, and before that, I was the head of the surgery. Sleepless nights are part of my job." She began walking away, but despite the glow she radiated from working, it didn't help the dark circles under eyes.
"Yes, sleepless nights are usual for scientists, Dr. Ziegler. But, it's past midnight and you're here, stitching up minor wounds. There are other doctors here to cover for when your shift is over." Lena jogged to catch up to Angela, obviously not content with her not getting any rest.
"Oh please. Those people are too ambitious. All they do is run around looking for the next big case. They don't step foot in the E.R or the clinic. If I don't, no one does. Now, according to this chart, there is a 36-year-old soldier in room two who needs to be told she is expecting a child," she shook her head as she took into consideration how much of the work she took on in this hospital.
"Oh, Christ on a crutch!" Lena, ran ahead of Angela and swung the door open to the exam room and yelled. "Congrats, love. You're pregnant!" She shut the door and crossed her arms. "There done. Now go home. Or do I need to get the commander down here and tell him to make you go home?"
Angela scoffed, trying to bluff her way out of her situation. "You think I'm scared of that man? He's a solider. I am a doctor. He knows I'm the best doctor down here and they need me. Plus, when was the last time that man set foot in here?"
Raising her eyebrows and throwing up her hands, Lena backed off. "Fine then, love. I'm heading to my room. You stay here and clean up whatever knee scrape comes in."
"Thank you, Lena. Have a goodnight," she waved one hand, ignoring the sarcasm and focused on the chart.
45 minutes and 3 patients later, Angela made her way to the small room designated for employees to take small breaks when needed. She never stayed for long but when she did, it was to chug a few mugs of coffee before heading off to do research. She scanned the shelves, looking for her familiar yellow mug. It stuck out like a sore thumb against all the plain white and grey ones that had been there since the facility opened.
She quickly drank one cup and filled it again to drink on her way to the labs. Turning off the lights and reaching for the knob, she jumped back as it came swinging open. Her mug was knocked against her chest, the contents spilled across her white blouse. She sucked in her breath quickly, trying to stop herself from yelling out during these ungodly hours of the night.
"Gottverdammt." She looked down to inspect the damage done to her blouse and pants.
The lights came on and she looked up to see who it was that had ruined her perfect cup of coffee. Angela was staring into a familiar pair of blue eyes. She immediately shot straight up and a nervous smile on her face.
"Dr. Ziegler. I'm so sorry about that. Here let me-" The man in front of her reached for one of the towels that were folded neatly on the shelf.
"Commander Morrison, it's not a problem, really. I was on my way to my research lab. I have another pair of clothes there. There's no need to worry." Despite her smile, she was mentally swearing at both Jack and Lena. First, Jack had ruined her coffee. Second, that damn girl really had the nerve to call the commander on her.
"Huh. The research lab? At this time? How long have you been here?" He crossed his arms as he stared down at the doctor in front of her. It wasn't the first time he had been told of her long hours in the hospital, but he had just figured she worked a few late shifts every now and then when things were busy. He hadn't realized it was almost a daily thing.
"I've only been here since 9, Commander. It's no bother really. After a few rounds of the clinic, I go there straight after." Angela shifted towards the small opening Jack had left when he opened the door. She tried side stepping but failed when he held up his hand as he backed up, successfully blocking her exit. "Commander, please, if you would, I have work to do." She held her head high and kept a kind yet determined face.
"If you don't mind, Dr. Ziegler, I'd like to accompany you and see what it is exactly you work on after the- unnecessary I made add- 36-hour shifts you do here.." He crossed his arms and looked down at her, obviously trying to get her to admit the time spent in the hospital and research lab. Angela, obviously not going to give in, pushed her lab coat a little back as she placed her hand on her hip.
"Very well, Commander. If all of a sudden you have the sudden interest in my work, please allow me," Angela offered the way to him. She sounded sweet but her sarcasm was the double edged knife that had Jack smiling as a person who liked someone rising to challenge him, and Strike Commander Morrison frowning, as he was to be talked to respectfully and without challenge, especially from a doctor.
They walked side by side across the large hospital floor and reached the large glass doors that led to the outside. Outside there was a cool chilly breeze and the night sky was dark, the clouds only visible because of the moonlight. It was a beautiful facility if Angela did say so herself; it was well lit, with lots of greenery. The large courtyard was the only thing standing between the hospital and the facility where she did her research. She didn't like being so far from the main building, but she could appreciate the quiet and solidarity it offered her.
The automatic doors opened and they were standing in a walkway that had separate little halls that led to each researcher's lab. The farthest down the hall had a small plaque that read, Dr. Angela Ziegler, Head of Research, Nanobiology… the list went on and on.
"That's quite a plague you got there." Jack raised an eyebrow as Angela unlocked the door with a simple swipe of her ID.
"They couldn't fit the rest of the titles on there." She said with a smirk, feeling proud that she had so many. "Now here we are. You can sit there," she pointed at the small, grey couch that was the only clear surface in the entire room, "while I go change into something with a little less coffee on it." She walked away, shrugging her coat off as she went, leaving Jack alone in the room. He looked around, taking in the building he never cared to step foot in. It looked well enough for the head research. The high ceilings and in-wall bookshelves gave the place an open feel. There was one large window that reached from the ceiling to the floor. The rest of the light came from the skylight and lamps that hung around.
Jack shrugged off his long blue overcoat, leaving him in a tight black tee that had the Overwatch logo on the arm. He walked over to the largest table in the room and looked around for what exactly what kept his head of research awake for more than 24 hours straight. He figured she had lied and had a boyfriend at the hospital. She was pretty and seemed kind. Jack never really had the chance to get to know her much as he was constantly busy. When he hired her it was due to her achievements and medical experiences, he hadn't had a chance to do even conduct an actual interview of who he was hiring.
In the end, she did her job and he didn't care much for what happened in the hospital as long as his soldiers were healthy by the end of the day. He pushed around some papers and came across a sketch of a suit. It had some sort of armor on it and...wings? The suit looked small and it had an angelic design to it.
Hmph. This is it? My head of research doodling some comic book character? Maybe I should've gone with-
He didn't have a chance to finish his thought when out of nowhere the sketch was ripped from his hands.
"That is not what we are here to look at, Jack. Now please, away from this desk." Now she was pushing him away from her desk, at the same time she tried covering more of her sketches with papers full of words. Jack slightly fought against the woman, his head craning to read what some of the papers said.
"What's Valk-" Jack began speaking but was stopped when Angela shoved a tiny metal canister in front of him.
"This is a biotic field canister. It's small, simple and heals those around you quite a bit. I created it with the help of the head engineer. The short one, I believe his name was Tory. No Torbjorn! I'm planning on showing it to Ms. Amari. Maybe she'd be able to implement it for all Overwatch agents."
"Well. It's certainly something. Now that I'm here, I could give it a test run." His hand moved down to the holster attached to his right thigh. Jack got the blaster and offered it to Angela, handle first. She looked at the gun in shock, her eyes wide.
"Wha-what? You want me to shoot you?!"
Jack smirked slyly as she seemed to shy away from the gun.
"You aren't scared of a little bit of blood, are you doc?"
Her face turned a bright red, both insulted and embarrassed at such a questionable request.
"I-I- I am not scared! I am a surgeon. I do not fear blood. I took an oath, sir. An oath to do no harm."
"That was as a surgeon. Here, you are the head of research. That oath no longer applies to you."
"And you swore an oath to protect life and it's freedoms. Are you telling me that after this is over you'll no longer stand for that?"
She placed her hands on her hips, a smirk of satisfaction on her face for Jack stared slightly down at her, his lips slightly spread apart, waiting for a good enough answer to respond with.
"Exactly my point, Commander. Now please, if you would I have work to do. Feel free to take the canister. Maybe you'll see if it can become useful to the rest of Overwatch." Angela moved and started to push Jack out of the office lab.
"Dr. Ziegler, if you ever have something like this that could help, please, by all means, get in contact with me and we'll see what we can do to use these in the battlefield. If you have any weaponized form of helping, even better. We have special funds set aside for projects such as these." He had stopped walking and was facing the small woman. "You have a talent for finding ways to help others, Dr. Ziegler. That is something I value in those around me."
She gave him a small smile and then looked down at her feet.
"Then I guess I should tell you now. I do not and will not make any form of weapons. I am highly against this whole militarized form Overwatch has taken. I do not value lives being taken and I will not have that on my conscience." Jack raised an eyebrow at her. Obviously taken back by her comments.
"Then why be a part of this? You know what we did and what we do."
She sighed as she walked over to the couch; she picked up his overcoat and she sat down. She ran her fingers over the patch that was stitched in on the shoulder. Angela handed it to him as he moved to sit next to her.
"I realized that I am able to help more as part of Overwatch. I have an infinite amount of resources and opportunities here. While I've decided to stay away from the combat, I am able to assist those you are left behind in the destruction."
"You do realize we try to minimize the amount of damage done to those in the combat areas right?"
"Yes, Commander I do, but that does not mean the damage left behind isn't significant. I've seen those who were left behind and forgotten and I specifically remember those who left them there. Now, it is almost 2, and I have some things I need to start working on before I start my rounds in the morning, so I vould appreciate it if you left me to my tasks." With these last words, she stood up and stuck out her hand. He stood up as well and shook her hand, surprised at how firm her handshake was.
"Well then Dr. Ziegler, it's been a pleasure. I hope to hear from you soon again."
He quietly walked out, a smirk on his face as he made his way back to the hospital rather than the residential hall.
Still standing in the center of her lab, Angela shook away the thoughts of the conversation she had just had with the Strike Commander. Did he really ask her to shoot him? What was he thinking, asking her to do something like that. Also, she wasn't too content that he had found her sketch of the suit. Her suit that she had been designing for over a year now. He probably assumed that she was wasting time doing some doodling while on the job, but this suit, this Valkyrie suit had been her entire life's work. She didn't want to risk it losing any credibility due to it being revealed prematurely. She would put it through testing phases and fix it as she went, but she would do it with as little help as possible. Nothing would hurt her more than to see her creation be turned into something that could be used as a weapon. Angela was prepared to not let that happen. If it came down to it, she was prepared to destroy what she had worked so hard for.