Prologue - The World as it Appears to Be
"Remember to breathe, Winston. Just remember to breathe".
With every step he took towards Lena's quarters, he told himself this until it became a mantra. Just ten minutes before, he had been holding her in his arms, her lips pressed against his. It hadn't been the first time they kissed, but this time it had been filled with such passion, he didn't know how to process it. So enthralled he was, he didn't realize that Lena had broken the kiss and was pulling on his hand to get him to follow her. Her girlish, yet charming, giggle finally broke him out of his stupor to ask her where they were going.
"To me quarters, Luv", she answered with a wink. "Can't very well show you 'ow much I care for you with this thing on", as she tapped the Chronal Accelerator on her chest.
"Why do need you to take it off? It's not malfunctioning, is it?" Oh, wait. She doesn't mean… The realization of what she was suggesting hit him like a metric ton weight. "You're not saying what I think you're saying… are you, Lena?"
She smiled then, and it occurred to Winston how wonderful it was, like the sun breaking though the clouds on an overcast day. "I love you", she declared, "With all me 'eart. And I 'ave, for a long time, and I know you feel the same, and likely for a lot longer".
She had cupped his face between her hands as she had spoken her words and locked eyes with him. In her soft, brown eyes, he saw the love she spoke of – pure, deep, and abiding. It was the same as his love for her, of that there was no doubt, but doubts still remained.
"Are you sure you want to do this… with me? I mean, how do we do this? You're human...and I'm..."
She finished for him, "A genetically-enhanced, super-intelligent gorilla… from the moon", ending the sentence in another giggle, as if just then realizing how silly it all sounded. "If we work together, we can figure it out. Just like we've done everything else up to this point".
He reached out for her, lifting her off her feet as he held her close, mindful of his strength and her small frame. They kissed again, and Winston had wondered if the Chronal Accelerator was truly malfunctioning, for time stopped, and didn't start again until they ended the kiss. He gently placed her on her feet, then stated, "If we are going to do this, we should both get into something more comfortable. Let's meet in your quarters… fifteen minutes?"
"Make it ten, Big Guy. Don't keep me waiting". With a quick peck to his lips, she was off, blinking away in a streak of blue light.
And now, Winston found himself out of his armored space suit and in the best clothes he had – a pair of tan shorts and a blue and orange floral print shirt. He never had much in the way of a wardrobe. He had a tux once, for an ill-fated mission. It didn't survive, but Winston never cared for it much. McCree called it a "monkey suit", without realizing what he had said and who he had said it too. He apologized, but Winston had agreed. It wasn't for him, and a tux right now would be too much. He needed to relax, as his nerves were starting to eat at him.
"Remember to breathe, Winston. Just remember to breathe".
He was mere meters way from the door of Lena's quarters when the more rational part of his brain started to panic. It was telling him this was crazy, it wouldn't work between them, it would ruin everything they had worked for, and destroy their friendship. It took all his willpower not to run at that moment – to just leave and then go hide in his lab – until… when, exactly? Until morning, or until Lena became tired of waiting and came looking for him? Then what? Explain to her every doubt he had? Every fear? How the world would NEVER accept them together? If the world couldn't see humans and omnics together as lovers, how could it ever see them as more then just friends? She was human, and he was… a monkey, an ape, an animal,…. A beast. Bestiality, the world would call it. An abomination and perversion of the natural order. The newly formed Overwatch, for all the good it had done, would be destroyed again by scandal, all because its co-leaders couldn't keep their emotions and more primal urges in check.
He could explain it all to her, and she would protest, but then she would reluctantly agree. Then it would be over – not just what could have been, but what they had as well. There was no way their friendship could survive if he broke her heart. Then what of OverWatch? Would it survive? Could it? The two of them could still work together – as professionals – but nothing more. How long would that last? One of them could leave, but which one? If he was the brains of the operation, Tracer was the heart. OverWatch couldn't last long without either one of them, but with both of them gone? It would die a quick death, and then where would the world be without its heroes?
Winston realized he was trapped. No matter which course of action he chose, everything was doomed - OverWatch, and their friendship. But was it?
Always remember… Never accept the world as it appears to be. Dare to see it for what it could be.
His mentor, his namesake, his father-figure - Dr. Harold Winston's words to him, spoken for what seemed a lifetime ago, were his greatest inspiration, and formed the basis of everything he dedicated his life to. For without these words, OverWatch would not exist again and all the good it had done – all the lives saved, and all the hearts and minds changed – none of that would be if Winston had never heard those words, remembered them, and took them to heart. The world changed, for the better, because he dared to see that better world.
But what of the two of them – Winston and Tracer… Lena. Could their love change the world for better? His thoughts drifted now, as he stood before the door to her quarters. Before he chose to cross that threshold, he thought back to the day he first met hot-shot pilot, Flight Lieutenant Lena Oxton.