Back a while, during the Omnic Crisis, I was in the German National Guard, Leutnant Till Lindemann. One year, a fleet of omnics tried to take Eichwalde, a old castle village, my division was dispatched and we were instructed to fend them off until Overwatch reinforcements arrived to push an offensive force.
The two Overwatch officers that were dispatched were Reinhart and Genji. There was a moment when Genji was occupied with some omnics, so he didn't notice the tank coming up behind him, he tried to deflect the shell, but his knocked him back and through his sword out of his hand. He would've been killed if I didn't step in. I leaped on top of the turret and emptied my clip in its top. Genji never forgot what I did and we have remained friends ever since.
Over ten years later, during the beginning of the second Omnic Crisis, I was considering joining the Heer (army) again, and I get a letter in the mail from Genji inviting me to Overwatch's Halloween party on Watchpoint: Gibraltar. I never had a problem with speaking english and it would give me a chance to meet some of the other legendary heroes that stopped the omnics all those years ago.
I dress in a nice suit with a black tie, white shirt, black coat, jeans and red converse. Soldier 76 picks me up in a jet and we fly to Gibraltar. 76 is dressed a lá Rambo and he inspects my outfit.
"Where's your costume?" He asks me.
"Oh, I...I don't have one." I respond sheepishly.
76 shrugs, "I guess it's not important, but Mei might give you some crap for not dressing up."
We arrive shortly and the first thing I see is Winston, dressed in a safari explorer costume.
"Guten tag (Good day)! Sie müssen sein Till (You must be Till)." Winston says in impeccable German.
"Ja, Ich bin Till. Du bist Winston, nicht wahr? (Yes, I am Till. You are Winston, right?)" I respond.
"Ich bin Winston, korrekt."
"We get it Winston, you are super smart and stuff." A voice comes from behind Winston, he turns and McCree is walking towards us. McCree is wearing a costume that resembles the Lone Ranger. "Come on inside, everybody is waiting."
He leads the three of us to the commons where everyone else is waiting. My eyes scan the room and my eyes fall on Genji, he stands up and gives me a hug.
"Till, glad you could make it!" He says cheerfully.
"Genji, it's been too long. What are you dressed up as?" I joke.
"My Halloween costume? Cyborg ninja." He says and starts to laugh.
I laugh too, "Of course."
"Yeah, you sure are Genji's friend." I spin around and my jaw drops. In walks Angela Ziegler, a.k.a. Mercy, wearing a devil costume, complete with tail and devil horns. She looks awesome. "Are you okay?" She asks me, my mouth still hanging open.
I try to think of something to say, when I feel a hand rest under my chin and gently push my mouth closed. I turn again to see Lena Oxton, a.k.a. Tracer, grinning up at me. I'm a 6' 5" and I have my fair share of muscular build (Let's just say my callsign was "Hammer" in the National Guard).
"Careful, luv. You might trip over that jaw." Lena says with a wink.
I turn back to Angela, "I like your costume." I mumble embarrassed.
Lena zapped to my right side and grinned, "Oh, 'ello cute accent! Where are you from, luv?" She asked me, putting her hand on my shoulder.
"Uh…I'm from Bad Aibling; it's in Bavaria." I say, somewhat taken aback by Lena's flirtatious attitude.
"They called you the hammer, right? In the German National Guard?" Angela asked.
Before I could answer, Genji stepped in, "That's right. Leutnant Hammer, he was. Able to smash a omnic in a single swing." He explained.
"I can see why." Tracer says, as she felt my bicep, in somewhat of a trance. She snapped out of it and beamed up at me. "So, a German soldier with incredible build and practically unrivaled strength, originating from Bavaria, and you are nicknamed 'The Hammer'?" Lena calls into the kitchen, "Hey, Reinhart, we found your replacement!"
"NEVER!" Reinhart bellows from the kitchen.
I blush from all the praise, "Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that." I say bashfully. My cheeks turn bright red and Angela, Lena and Genji start laughing.
"You're so cute when you're modest." Angela says; she reaches out and pinches my cheek. I turn redder as she touches my face. I simper and look down.
"Aww, are we embarrassing you?" Tracer teases.
I shirk up, "No."
Tracer and Angela laugh more, "I'm sorry, Till. We're just teasing." Angela says, her accent dripping sensuality.
Lena wraps her arms around my torso and squeezes "We're so mean. Can you ever forgive us?" She asks me.
I shirk up more than I have ever shrunken, softly and shyly, I squeak "Okay."
I don't notice Angela and Lena winking at each other. Angela hugs me from my left side and they both, in unison, stand up and their toes and kiss me on either cheek. I can't help but let out a small giggle as a doofy, lovestruck grin crosses my face.
"Don't tell your girlfriend we did that." Lena tells me with a wink.
"I'm single."
"I see…" Angela says, she looks at Lena and they give eachother a devilish look.
"Okay, Lover Boy, let's go." Freemah Amari, a.k.a. Phara, places her hands on my shoulders and walks me over to the couch and sits me next to McCree and Mei, the latter of which the only other person, besides Genji, to witness it. I look over to her and she has the most ecstatic expression I have ever seen. Mei is dressed up like a panda.
I clear my throat, "What?" I ask, playing naïve.
"That. Was. So cute!" Mei says, excited. "Wait, why aren't you in costume?" She changes expressions almost instantly, which throws me off slightly.
"Oh well-" I don't even finish my sentence when a folding chair flies out of nowhere and hits me square in the nose. I slump over, my head hanging back from the whiplash. Everyone pulls out their weapons and scan outside for Talon soldiers. I hear 76 instruct Angela to get me somewhere safe and tend to my wound. Mercy glides over to me. She reaches for my head to see what hit me, but I just sit back up and look around like nothing's wrong. I shake my head to wake up. "Whoa, that came out of nowhere." I say nonchalantly. They all stare at me in disbelief.
Reinhart charges out of the kitchen, grabs me and throws me out the door, I land on my back and roll over so I'm on my feet. Reinhart leaps from the threshold and lands seven feet away from me, he holds his hand out to his side.
"Reinhart, what are you doing!?" Pharah calls out to him. Reinhart doesn't say anything. His hammer flies into his hand, like a magnet.
"New trick?" I ask, trying to seem all tough and badass because Angela and Tracer are watching.
"You know it." Reinhart shoots back.
"Reinhart, stop it!" Lena calls to him.
"Reinhart, don't!" Mei shouts.
Reinhart raises his hammer.
"Reinhart, no!" Angela pleas.
"Winston, go!" I hear Soldier 76 bark, and I see Winston charging at us.
"HAMMER DOWN!" Reinhart roars. He throws his hammer down, aiming for my head.
"Till, no!" I hear Lena call out again.
There is a large flash and Winston is thrown back and he lands in front of everyone else. He stands up. "What just happened?" He asked, confused.
They all look on, shocked, as I hold the hammer up with just one hand. Reinhart rests his hammer on his shoulder. "Still got it, ey Till?" He says.
"You know it, Pop." I smile at him.
"Pop?" McCree wonders aloud.
"What the hell was that?" 76 demands
"They do this everytime they see each other." Genji says, shaking his head.
Winston adjusts his outfit, "Say again?"
"Didn't you know?" wonders Genji.
"Know what?" Lena asks.
"Till is my Grandson!" Reinhart answers proudly.
Everyone looks at me, then to Reinhart, then to me again. I nod in confirmation.
The party continues on with no incident after that, once midnight rolled around, everyone decided to head out, except for me and Lena. "You know, my quarters are on the other side of the base," Lena says subtly, "Want to walk me there?" She inquires.
"Sure! I-I mean...ja, okay." I say, keeping my composure. We start walking to her quarters.
"So you said you were single." Lena mentions.
"Yeah, I don't have a girlfriend." I tell her. I brush it off as a conversation-starter. "What about you? Boyfriend? Girlfriend?"
"I have a girlfriend." I feel a wave a disappointment. "But we do like to experiment. Every once in awhile." She says.
I stop walking and stare at her in disbelief. I am waiting for her to tell me she's kidding. I hold my breath. She looks up at me with an almost-evil smile. She brushes my cheek with the back of her hand and then turns back around and walks up to her door. "This is me." She tells me. Lena leads me into the living room and sits me on the couch. "You want anything to drink?" She asks me.
"Oh, uh...no thanks, but what was that one thing you said?"
"Oh...that." She sits down next to me. "Go ahead, take off your jacket get comfortable." I follow her instructions; I remove my jacket and loosen my tie. She sees the tattoos on my back through my shirt. "Hey, what is that?" She says, poking at the shapes.
"Oh these?" I confirm. I unbutton my shirt and pull it down and rest in by my elbows. "These are my tattoos." Lena pulls at my shirt and slips it off my arms and tosses it on a lazy chair across the coffee table. In the center of my back, there is an antique silver hammer surrounded by the words "Blut und Ehre", which meant "Blood and Honor" and "Schutz der Unschuldigen", which meant "Protect the innocent". On my side, there was a list of 5 names.
"Wow! That is so cool!" Lena raved, "Who are these people?"
I run my fingers along the names and remember who they were, "These people...they are people I fight for. My parents, Grandpa, my...my brother. He was in the National Guard with me and...he was killed.
Lena looked up at me, "Wow. I'm so sorry." She wrapped her arms around my torso, comforting me. I lie on the couch and she nuzzles up to me and rests her head on my chest. I place my hands on her back. That was one of the few times I could fall asleep peacefully, with Lena in my arms.