Angela set down her book and stretched, letting out a small yawn at the same time. With her attention free again she slowly looked around the small cafe she had been sitting in for most of the afternoon. It was a small, simple cafe. Two of the walls, the streetside ones, were composed almost entirely of windows, allowing enough natural light in that only a few small lamps were required. Small wood top tables dotted the room, with a bar on one of the remaining sides. Plenty of couples, and a few families, occupied most of the tables. Besides her, there only seemed to be one other person sitting by themselves, a dark haired girl with a bow in her hair who, like Angela herself, was reading.
As a world class, and highly respected, doctor, there were many perks that she enjoyed. Regular days off were not one of them. Especially not since she started working with Overwatch again. Between her research, emergency room hours, and missions, she barely had time to eat or sleep. Thankfully, she had been able to hand off the more routine examinations and new operative screenings to her very capable staff.
So now she sat in her favorite cafe enjoying the sunlight streaming in, a warm drink, and a good book. It was almost heaven for the Swiss doctor, except for the constant barrage of interruptions she kept suffering through. Something about a pretty woman sitting by herself was offensive to the honor of most men, and they constantly kept breaking her focus on her book to bug with simplistic small talk and terrible pick up lines.
Her gaze fell on the black haired girl again. She seemed to be suffering the same problems as her; a constant influx of guys that would not leave the reading girl alone. Angela felt bad for her. Maybe she could go sit with the other girl and they at least could read together. Maybe they would talk and hit it off. With how busy she was it had been a really long time since she had made a friend outside of work or, she blushed slightly at the thought of the other girl, dated anyone. Sure, the girl looked at least a decade younger than the 37 year old, but the doctor had to admit to herself that she was still looking pretty good. If it wasn't for the yellow rose sitting on the table indicating the girl was waiting for someone, she would have already gone and said hi. Still, the girl had been there for almost an hour…
As if on cue, another young man accosted the other girl. Like all the other men before him, he was doomed to fail. Unfortunately for him, his failure seemed to be a bit more spectacular than the others. Barely grabbing the girl's attention before her focus was ensnared by another newcomer. Angela followed the girl's eyes towards the door to the cafe and took in the new girl. Dressed casually in jeans and an untucked button down shirt, her wild blonde hair matched the color of the rose sitting in front of the reading ravenette.
Swiftly striding across the room, the blonde pulled the other girl out of her seat for a brief hug before handing something to the boy and giving him a small push away from the table. The scene, and the look on the young man's face, were comical and elicited a small giggle from the doctor.
The doctor's amusement quickly fell to exasperation as the young man looked like he was going to continue on to her. She didn't know if she should feel complimented that such a young man would still find her attractive, or insulted that she was his second choice. Before she could make up her mind, she was surprised to see a third, definitely female, figure drop into the chair across from her.
"Uh, hello?" Her eyes widened in surprise. Ignoring the previously encroaching young man that looked absolutely crestfallen that his second attempt was also snatched up by another woman, she evaluated the new woman sitting directly in front of her.
The other woman appeared to only be a few years younger than Angela herself, and in very good shape if the toned arms and shoulders shown off by the woman's tank top were any indication. Framed between locks of black hair was the most beautiful set of dark brown eyes Angela had ever seen. Under her right eye was a tattoo that looked eerily familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it before. Despite the woman's caramel skin, Angela could see a small blush rising on her cheeks.
"What's a place like you doing in an angel like this?" While her exotic accent washed over the Swiss doctor, sending a tingle down her spine, the words themselves caused Angela to giggle.
"I think you got that wrong."
The other girl's dark brown eyes widened slightly as she tried to recover. Leaning forward she put on a confidant smile."You're just... I forgot... pickup line... uh, you're beautiful."
"This doesn't seem like your strong suit." Angela deadpanned, slowly marking her place and setting her book down, keeping her eyes on the woman in front of her.
"I'm sorry. I'll just go."
Reaching across the table, the doctor grabbed her companion's hand to prevent her from standing. "I didn't say it was bad. I take it you don't proposition random women often."
"Nope." The women smiled. "I actually just came as moral support for my friend over there." She gestured behind her to the blonde talking to the girl with the bow. "But I saw you sitting all by yourself, and decided why not?"
"What made you think I wasn't straight?"
"Well…" The dark haired girl hesitated.
"Yes?"
"We may have watched for a bit from outside before coming in." She waved her arms frantically in front of her. "It's not what it sounds like! She had a blind date and wanted to see what they were like before coming in. I just happened to notice you shooting down all the guys that came up to you."
Angela smirked back. To most people it may have been a little creepy to have been watched for that long, but the doctor thought it was somewhat endearing, especially since the other woman seemed to be so enamored she couldn't even speak properly. She didn't quite want to see the girl go so soon.
"How do you know that I'm not just picky?"
"Well… You just seem like my type of girl." The dark skinned girl put on a brave face.
Inspired by the confidence in the other woman, Angela continued. "How about we give you another chance at this. I'm called Angela, and you are?"
"I'm Fareeha!" The response came enthusiastically as the woman visibly relaxed at not blowing her chance. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"And what's an angel like you doing in a place like this? Come here often?" Angela teased, eliciting another blush from the other woman.
"I'm actually just visiting the country for a few days. I had a job offer that I couldn't turn down and had to come over for an interview. I decided to extend my trip by a few days so I could visit my friend over there." She gestured to the blonde still enthusiastically conversing with her date.
"Oh? What kind of work do you do?"
A small frown creased Fareeha's face. "I hope it doesn't scare you, but I work for a private security company in Egypt."
"And why exactly would that scare me?"
"You just seem like a sweet woman. Most nice girls don't like soldiers."
"You'd have to actually serve in the military to be considered a soldier, otherwise you're just a mercenary."
"I did serve in army first, here the US no less. That's how I know my friend over there. We served in the same special operations unit."
"How did you end up in Egypt then?"
"I actually have dual citizenship. Both of my parents also served as well, my father in America and my mother in the Egyptian army. They met when they worked together in an international military command organization.
"I spent my youth in between the US and Egypt. When I turned 18 I knew I wanted to follow in my parents footsteps, and decided to stay in the US as they had better funding. I left for the private sector when my mother went MIA. Helix gave me the best offer, so I moved back to Egypt and have been there ever since."
"But if you get this job you'll be moving back to the States?"
"I can't tell you that, unfortunately. I'm really not even supposed to be talking to anyone in the first place…"
"You sound like all the guys that try to hit on my by claiming they are CIA agents or top secret researchers." Angela raised her hands, making 'air quotes'. "If I told you I'd have to kill you."
Despite trying to keep a straight face, Angela started laughing almost as soon as Fareeha did. The doctor couldn't remember the last time she laughed for this long with somebody, but it the ability to actually relax and enjoy herself was invigorating. At least until the unthinkable happened. She snorted.
Clasping both hands over her mouth, her eyes open in shock. She looked fearfully at Fareeha who seemed to be in her own state of shock. Though, unlike Angela, the dark-haired woman's expression mirrored that of a child being given an entire bag of peanut butter chocolates.
"That was so cute!" Fareeha gushed. "Do it again!"
"Absolutely not. It's embarrassing." The doctor shook her head vigorously.
After several minutes of fruitless pleading and telling corny jokes, the Egyptian finally admitted defeat.
"You may have won this battle, but I will find a way to make you do it again."
Angela responded wordlessly by pressing her lips tightly together, crossing her arms, and turning her head away.
"Alright, alright. Let's talk about you instead." The brunette leaned forward, trying to catch Angela's eye again. "You're obviously not from here. You are from… Sweesra?
"Sweesra?" The blonde cocked her head to the side.
"Oh. I'm sorry. It's Switzerland. You're Swiss, yes?"
"Well done, most people just automatically say German."
"And what takes you away from your, what I would assume, frigidly cold homeland?".
"It is very beautiful there, thank you." She closed her ideas, briefly imagining herself on the side of one of the many snow-covered mountains of her homeland. "I originally came here when I was a teenager for a doctoral program. As my parents both died when I was young, I was sponsored to attend the best medical by a third party. After I graduated I traveled the world helping people and assisting in research. My specialty is healing nanotechnology.
"Though, after awhile, I pined for home again, so I up and left back to Switzerland. Still, the world always needs more help, so I moved back here just less than a year ago. Now I head a international medical and research program."
"One that if you told me about you'd have to then kill me?" Fareeha smirked.
"I don't think that is something I would be able to do, even if I wanted to." Angela smiled back with a wink. "Especially since I really would hate to lose something so beautiful."
The Egyptian looked around thoughtfully. "We should get out of here, I'm ready for some walking around. What's there to do around here?"
"Anything you want." The doctor smiled slyly in return.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Angela guided her new friend around the city, stopping at shops and for ice cream, visiting all the parks and attractions.
Exhausted they made their way make to Angela's apartment where one drink became 7 or 8. The idle chit chat slowly petered out as Angela found herself falling asleep in someone's arms for the first time in a long time.
When Angela finally woke up the next day the sunlight was already streaming in through the window. Groaning to herself, she tried to move but stopped immediately as a piercing pain shot through her head. She was never going to drink that much again.
Reaching over to the other side of the bed, she felt nothing but empty space. Sitting straight up with a wince, she slowly looked around the room.
"Fareeha? Where'd you go?"
When she didn't receive a response of any kind she gingerly stepped out of bed and clothed herself with a robe. Tenderly stepping down the hallway she went into the kitchen of her apartment, where she saw a small piece of paper sitting on the counter.
With trepidation she sat down and read the short note.
Ya Amar,
Sorry for not being here when you woke up. I got a call super early this morning about an emergency requiring me to leave back to Egypt immediately. I didn't want to wake you as you still seemed pretty exhausted from yesterday.
I really did enjoy spending the day with you yesterday and, while it might not be soon, I am certain we will see each other once more.
I promise I will look for you until I find you again.
XOXOXO,
Your Liebling (or so you kept telling me)
PS - I made some Muesli for you. It's in the fridge next to the yogurt.
Delicately folding the note, she slipped in into the pocket of her robe. She hoped Fareeha was right, and they would see each other again.
"Ugh, I'm so sore!" Angela groused to her speedy companion. She was currently walking down a corridor in Overwatch's base in Turkey, unfortunately injured from her latest mission where she had to leap into enemy fire to rescue almost half a dozen other Overwatch agents.
"What did you expect?" Lena poked the doctor in the side, eliciting a groan from the blonde woman. "You're the medic. Who's supposed to take care of you when you get hurt?"
"I'm supposed to have a crack team of doctors and nurses, but those are all back in New York."
"Why didn't you bring them with you?" Lena poked Angela in the side again. "This is a dangerous place."
"It's also a small base that isn't considered 'high priority'. I was lucky to even get more than one trauma specialist and a handful of nurses, and they are all treating higher priority patients."
"Apparently they aren't quite on your level." The speedster smirked sideways at her companion. "At least you're off active duty until you heal up. I'm sure Zenyatta can take your place in the field until you are better."
"If only that squishy ray of sunshine could cover for me!" Tracer giggled as an annoyed looked crossed the doctor's face. "The least they could do is let me carry my normal gear while I was staying at the base. I can't even have my Caduceus Blaster!"
"Well, the brass is always worried about infiltration and assassination attempts. The less distinguishing features we have, the harder it is to try something."
Angela merely snorted in response. "An assassin isn't going to look for what kind of gun or jumpsuit you are wearing. At least with my Valkyrie suit I could protect myself."
"If only that chick you met up with a couple months ago was here. I'm sure she would've protected you."
"I wish." The doctor groused. "All I could get was her first name. No last name or even an email address. Apparently, she was breaking some kind of rule for even talking to me in the first place."
"I dunno! Sounds like she could have been scamming you for a one night stand!" Lena poked the doctor again.
"Would you stop poking me." She tried to scowl at her giggling friend. "I don't think so, she seemed more honest than that."
Angela looked down at her feet as the two continued walking. She had believed everything Fareeha had told her and desperately wished the see the dark-skinned girl again. Too bad she hadn't mentioned Overwatch, something she wasn't supposed to do anyways. If the Egyptian even possessed half the skills and abilities she claimed to, she would be a valuable asset the organization. Not to mention she had received a personal 'demonstration' of Fareeha's athletic prowess.
Or, Angela clenched her hands into fists, Lena's joke could be accurate and she was troubling her heart with someone who had just feed her a bunch of lines to get in a night of fun with a random stranger. Still, looking down and engrossed in her own thoughts, she rounded a corner and bounced off a rather solid object, causing the medic to topple over. Now furious, she prepared to glare up at whoever it was that knocked her over until a familiar voice rang out.
"What's a place like you doing in an angel like this?" That same accent and terribly delivered pickup line was music to her ears.
Looking up she saw that smile, those beautiful brown eyes and dark locks of hair, the unique tattoo under one eye. It only took her a moment to decided what she was seeing was real before accepting the hand proffered to her, allowing Fareeha to pull her up into an embrace.
"You know," Angela looked up at the taller woman. "I think you got that wrong."
"You're just.." Fareeha replicated their first conversation with a wink. "I forgot my pickup line. You're beautiful, Ya Amar"
"I still don't think this is your strong suit, Liebling." Angela pulled the brunette into a short kiss. "But I don't care."
Just when Angela thought the situation couldn't get any more perfect, a loud guffaw pierced the air. Glancing over, she saw Tracer doubled over, clutching her stomach, and laughing raucously. After a few seconds the Brit seemed to have calmed herself enough to stand back up and wipe the tears off her face.
"You two are such dorks!" Lena barely managed to giggle out. "Do you know how long you have been barely missing each other? Between base transfers and missions, you just haven't been in the same place in the last couple months."
"You knew she was part of Overwatch and didn't tell me?!" Angela jabbed an accusatory finger at the speedster.
"Hey, to be fair, she knew you were part of Overwatch." Lena in turned pointed at the tall brunette. "I've been trying to get you two in the same place for the last 2 months!"
"Wait. How did you know that?" Angela focused back onto the woman holding her.
"Well, during my interview and skills evaluation Reinhardt mentioned that someone by the name of 'Angela' wasn't there because she was busy operating on critically wounded agents. After I found out you were a world class doctor that invented the healing nanotechnology they showed me while I was there, I sort of put two and two together.
"Also, I remember meeting an incredibly talented and young doctor-in-training when I was little named Mercy who would play with me whenever my mother would bring me to headquarters." The taller woman smirked. "I did saw we would run into each other again."
"That was you?! I knew your tattoo looked familiar! That would mean your mother was Ana and you father is…"
"Morrison? Yup!"
"Wait, wait, wait." Tracer interrupted. "You're telling me that you're 76's daughter?"
"Yes, but not so loudly." The brunette gave the effervescent girl a scowl.
Angela sighed and leaned back into Fareeha again. "Thank you, Lena, for helping us."
"No problem. I think I'll leave you two lovebirds to get reacquainted. See ya later, Angie. Good luck, Pharah!"
"Tchuss!"
"Thanks, Tracer!" Fareeha waved at the zippy Brit as she disappeared into a blue blur.
"What did she mean by good luck?"
"Heh." Fareeha rubbed the back of her neck with one hand and the other pressed a little more tightly around Angela's waist. "Just that you are much loved around here and many horrible things were promised to me if I hurt you in any way."
Mercy giggled and and hugged tighter. "Only if it is in a bad way, right?"
"What other ways are… oh!" The taller woman blushed sheepishly. "I'd assume so."
"Good." Angela pulled away and lightly stretched. "I think I'm ready for a nap anyways. Care to join?"
Fareeha smiled and took the blonde's hand. "Absolutely, and this time I will be there when you wake up."
I had to fudge with lore a little as it says Mercy was the head of surgery at a Swiss hospital before joining Overwatch, but when Ana was released there is a picture of a teenaged Angela and (younger) Fareeha hanging out with the original Overwatch crew. So I chose the 'Ana version'.
I accidently worded a part like a Dr Who reference and I refuse to apologize for it.
Apparently, Fareeha is best buds with Yang. I, for one, think they would get along splendidly. Angela and Blake would probably just try to start a book club or something.
Anyways, let me know how it was!