I / Home
She lifted her hair up to tie it into a bun, allowing air to cool down her neck. She ran a much longer way than she usually did, and lost in thought, she totally forgot to tie up her hair from the beginning. She regretted that, her blonde locks were now sticking to her skin and tickling her back so she had to take a break. It annoyed her, it was like it triggered back all the annoyance she wanted to let loose with that run. She kept thinking back to that message she received a week ago, a missed phone call, from a number that she hadn't seen in years. From an old friend, she hoped she would only ever meet again when it was for pleasure, not for work. She leaned against a tree, breathing in an unnatural pace, trying to figure out why the hell her old friend would call for a reactivation of an organization that had ended in a chaos, in blood, in death. The thought of this made her clench her fists, she felt like punching a tree but held herself back because for years she hadn't been trained, and her bones probably couldn't take that blow of anger she had inside her.
"Why?" She muttered, taking out her phone with the message still on the screen. She didn't use her phone much to stay as isolated as possible. "You know where to meet." She read out loud. Huh, Winston still being discreet as ever. It made her mad thinking about how all old faces would come together again, and who knows, how many would have to fall this time. She did not want to lose any more people. And she had to make that clear to everyone who would attend the meeting.
She headed home where she, with an aching heart, opened up the safe that was hidden in her closet. The opening door revealed a white bag, and, some few parts that looked mechanical. She took them out and placed them on her bed. As she wanted to close the safe again, a photograph caught her attention. It was sadness and anger that made her slam that safe door shut, only for the door to jam because something was caught in between.
She looked at the little chain hanging out, and she stared at the dogtag swinging below. She frowned, her lips trembling, to fight back the emotions and the tears that wanted to run down her cheeks. She had done everything in the past years to not be reminded of any of this. Now she was staring down onto the only thing she had found in the ruins, of him, of the one she loved. And lost.
Jack Morrison was engraved into the silver shining plate. She stepped towards the safe, grabbed the necklace and threw it back into the safe. Then slammed the door shut. She sighed, and with heavy breathing she went back to the stuff on her bed. She unzipped the white bag, revealing the white material that had protected her in so many fights.
Staring down at the Valkyrie suit, she shook her head. "Angel" she whispered, then laughed. "What a joke." An angel wouldn't have let her friends die. She didn't want to see let alone wear that suit anymore, that's why it was locked away. But she couldn't return without it, that was for sure. The mechanical parts were what once was her Caduceus Staff, but it broke while she was trying to save her friend. She would have to ask Winston and Torbjörn about this, they would know. Even if it repairing it would be against her will, because her last memory of using it made her feel like she failed everyone.
The only thing that now was missing was her pistol, the blaster, that she kept next to her bed. You could never know who might hunt down the best doctor around, known in the whole world. Knowing for being able to do the impossible, she sometimes was a wanted woman. Sometimes? All the time. That is why she went out of her flat only in the most unflattering clothes, her hair just messily tied up. With a fake ID, and a different name. When she had to work, she would try to hide her skills to avoid showing that she was that doctor as best as she could.
Her gaze went over to the pack of mail that was already clogging her mail box, because the last letter that was put on top was not like the rest of them. It definitely couldn't be another bill, because it said "Angel" on it. Nothing else. With a shaky handwriting, her nickname was written all across the envelope. She frowned. Who would-? She went toward the mailbox and picked it up, opened it, and pulled out what seemed to be a flight ticket to the States. "The States, huh? I know where to meet?" She shrugged. She didn't know a thing. The letter was definitely connected to the phone message she received, the flight was set for the next day. When she caught the date and time on the ticket, she gasped. She had less than 14 hours to get ready if she wanted to take this offer. Well, did she? She sat down. Thinking about her options: staying in Munich and keep taking care of people and machines that needed her help, or travel across the ocean to meet with her – she hesitated – family. She exhaled. She couldn't let them down. No. She stepped across her room and opened up her closet, grabbing everything that she could find. She barely came across anything that she loved wearing, ever since she left Switzerland. She didn't feel like she needed to make herself pretty, nor did she think anyone would notice her anyway. She didn't know she was wrong. She had admirers, people who kept trying to talk to her, get to know her, but she never even realized. If her friends could have seen her, they would be worried. Her glow was gone, her eyes had a dark shade, and she surely wasn't anything like an angel. Her white turned gray, her blonde hair had a dusty shade.
Her suitcase, that she had always kept close cause she never thought how long she would stay, was not that big. She didn't own much, and if she needed something, she would just buy it somewhere around. She took off her workout clothes and slipped into some comfortable trousers and a too big sweater, throwing everything else into the case in front of her. The last thing she packed was the white bag including her Valkyrie suit and the broken staff. As well as her pistol, making sure it wasn't loaded. Strongly tearing her emotions, she moved towards the safe and with the photo and necklace hidden under the palm of her hand, avoiding to just take a glimpse of it, she threw it into the suitcase as well.
Everything packed, she turned to her bed, thinking about going to sleep. Just killing time to get it over with. After all, she hadn't slept much due to work, and she actually felt really, really tired.
The cab driver opened up the door and offered her a hand to get out of the car. She was surprised, and she certainly wasn't used to this gentleness. She took the hand and lifted herself out of car, then watched the driver dance around the car to get her suitcase out of the trunk. "There you go, miss, and have a nice flight." He said, showing her an honest smile and winking, he closed the door. "Danke", left her lips, slightly blushing that someone random would smile and wink at her. She wasn't used to the open kindness of people on the streets, since she avoided most of the social contact as best as she could. Grabbing her suitcase, she made her way into the airport, with tickets in hand. She didn't want to waste a lot of time, she went straight to the check in. It was three hours before she left into a possibly new part of her life, which made her half worried and half happy. The people, everyone she wanted to see again. On the other hand, she knew exactly why she was going. And what was going to happen.
Smiling lightly, she handed her tickets to the woman behind the desk. She didn't smile, she just checked the ID and compared the angels pale face with the happy one on the photograph. "Your suitcase on here please." The woman ordered and pointed at the space between the desks. The scale to check the weight of her suitcase – which couldn't be very heavy. Besides the staff and her suit, there was nothing in there that could probably weigh a lot.
"Mhm." The woman remarked. "That's some light traveling to the States... for a woman." Then she chuckled. She seemed to lighten up. Mercy smiled back. "You don't see that much around here, you know. Was not meant to be negative. Excuse me."
Mercy always seemed to have that effect on people. Bad mood, grumpy faces – she turned everything around. Even though not feeling perfectly well herself, she still managed to shine. If not from her physical appearance, it must have been her aura.
"It's totally fine. I just..." Mercy answered, trying to find the right words. "I just don't have a lot to travel with." She smiled and took back her ID and the checked tickets.
"Have a wonderful flight overseas, Miss Geizler." The woman behind the desk lifted up the suitcase and put it on the baggage belt that took it somewhere to be transported.
"Thank you", she answered and turned over to the gates. She would just go through the security check and spent the rest of the time waiting for the flight to board. She was used to spending time waiting. She was trained for it. If sometimes she couldn't be head first into the fight with her comrades, she waited and observed from behind. If it was too dangerous for her, she would listen to the commands and stay out of sight. If that meant waiting and have time passing, she would do it. Only then to patch up the wounds and scratches, or save people's lives however it was necessary.
Coming up the to queue for the security checks, she suddenly got nervous. She was seriously heading back to all those people. And probably new people, since they could always use new geniuses and fighters around.
Sighing, she found herself lost in thought and totally missed her cue. There was nobody left in front of her, and the security was trying to get her attention.
"I am sorry," she mumbled. "I was in thoughts."
The omnic working at the security line held his metal detector arm all around her body, but nothing was to be found. In the corner of her sight she then suddenly caught the woman she was checking in to earlier pointing a finger at her, with a security man nodding next to her. Then it hit her. Her pistol. Shit. She started to panic a little, how could she be so stupid? Putting a pistol into a suitcase? Hasn't she ever learned -
Suddenly she was grabbed by a strong pair of hands and pulled out of the line. Roughly, she was pushed into a side room and she only heard a door shut. Then, suddenly, her pistol was smashed on the table in front of her.
"You are under arrest, madam." The man who dragged her said with a steady voice, making her flinch.
She cleared her throat, "I am sorry officer, I totally forgot about it."
"Forgot about it?!"
"I know how I should have handled this but..." The two security men seemed confused. "It's been a while since I had to travel with all of this."
"You are having a weapon in your suitcase, madam. That is against the law and definitely nothing to be handled differently." One man said and made her sit down on the chair at the table. Roughly, he pushed her down on the wood, then holding her shoulder to ensure she wouldn't run. Why would she? She has passed these safety checks hundreds of times, so did everyone else, and they always knew they had their special safety rules about their weapons. But she totally forgot.
"Were you planning on shooting with it?" The other man asked her, sitting down on the chair on the opposite of the table.
Mercy seemed startled. "Me? No! It is not even loaded, I do not even have ammunition with me!"
Realizing she didn't make any of this better with the things she said, she quickly added "I am a doctor, I have this to defend myself."
She definitely couldn't seem to find the right words to make it any better.
"You might be traveling to the US, but guns are prohibited in this country. No matter if you are a doctor, a lawyer or whatever."
"No, you don't understand, I -" She was interrupted by the other man, who dragged the broken staff and the Valkyrie suit out of her suitcase.
"Mind explaining this stuff? This does not look like you are on a normal vacation trip."
Mercy sighed. "I'm not on vacation. I am -" She felt like having her throat clogged, she didn't use this explanation in years. It felt weird and sent a shiver down her spine. "On duty. Mercy, Angela Ziegler."
The man, who was by now inspecting her pistol, put it back down. "Not loaded, true." He muttered, then caught the surprised expression of his colleague.
If only she had remembered the security issues, she could have had traveled under her anonymous name. But she messed up. And had to reveal herself against her will. Probably giving away the discretion Winston tried to keep up with all his effort. She reached to her pocket, catching the worried sight of the security men. She stopped. "May I?" Waiting for the men to nod slowly, she got her small purse and looked for that white card that she still carried around for an emergency case like this, something that would state her real identity. Worried, she showed it to them, trying to hide the logo on the right edge with her fingertips. The men took it from her though, fully revealing the logo of the organization she was headed back to. Overwatch.
"Miss Ziegler?" The man asked, then stared down on the stuff that they had got from her suitcase. "It is an honor." The other man continued, now smiling. "Overwatch is active again? I haven't heard -"
"It's not." She quickly interrupted. She was embarrassed and just wanted to get this over with. "It is a duty call. But -" She cleared her throat again. "I am truly sorry for the circumstances."
Charming as she could be she smiled at the two men, who seemed to be totally distracted by the Overwatch hero sitting in front of them. Even though the organisation went down and it received a lot of negativity, years after people would talk about their actions and tell stories about its heroes.
"We are sorry for taking your time." One of the men answered, trying to put her things back into her case as tidy as possible. "The gun isn't loaded and we will hand out a permission to you. Just next time, be more careful. This could have ended badly for you, madam." He lifted the suitcase and gave it back to the third security man who had been standing in front of the door the whole time. "We'll make sure it will be on board," he said, then opened the door and moved his hand, gesturing to leave the room.
"Thank you." Mercy smiled and took the paper she was handed. She rushed out of the room, knowing that this had cost her a lot of time. That time, she actually wanted to use to spend like a normal traveling person before her life might change back to the opposite of normal. But she couldn't. Catching the time on the clock that was up next to the departure sign, she gasped. She had ten minutes to get to the gate and catch the flight. If she wouldn't get it, everyone could be worried she wouldn't want to come back. It made her panic a little. Maybe for the better, because with her heart racing and her feet taking faster steps, she managed to rush down the hallway to find Gate 6, the flight to Colorado. She hurried to the staff that was obviously waiting impatiently for the last passenger to arrive.
"I am so sorry." Mercy said out of breath, getting no other response than a hand showing her to hurry through the tube-like hallway leading to the airplane. With the staff hurrying behind her, she suddenly felt very nervous.
A loud beep was echoing through the hallway, then a voice followed. "Ladies and gentlemen, the last passenger found her way to the plane. We can now leave Germany with a slight delay, apologies for the circumstances."
Mercy blushed. She felt sorry for being the reason of people being impatient, only because she was sloppy and didn't pay attention to old formalities. Then, to her surprise, as she wanted to go right to the economy class seats, the flight attendant shook her head and led her the other way. Her ticket was first class. When sitting down in the comfortable small cabin-looking seat, she smiled a little. Winston must have known how a little bit of luxury might be good for her. She had to thank him for this.
With the plane taking off, it flew right above the breaking dawn, orange and red was filling the small windows to the sides of passenger seats. Soon, she would be in another life again. Or maybe, she would be back home.
Suitcase in her right hand, phone in her left, she followed the description to the place that Winston had sent her just a few minutes ago. The cab dropped her off a few blocks away from where it actually was, keeping up with all the secrecy she was taught in most of her life.
"Are you sure this is not too heavy for you, Miss?" The driver had asked her while lifting the suitcase out of the trunk. She wasn't sure if he was trying to be sarcastic. It was not heavy at all, she was not even wearing heels like she did usually when going to work. "I am totally fine, thank you." She answered and flashed a small smile into his direction, handing him the money plus probably too much tip for what he must be used to. His eyes were shining, replying to her smile with an even wider grin on his face.
She was walking on the heated up pavement along a street without trees, making the just rising sun burn in her face. Time zones were not her thing, ever. Traveling to operations all over the world made her be used it most of the time, but it had been too long. Jet lag was no excuse for her to be tired though, she had been sleeping through most of the time of the flight.
Tall building with gray brick walls, a doctor's office sign. The latter for disguise, obviously. She was looking around while passing all the buildings in the busy city, the air humid and already warm enough to tell it was going to be a hot summer day. Early in the morning the temperatures were far different than back in Germany.
Gray buildings were literally everywhere. Thanks, Winston. But she did as best as she could, walking back and forth in the street that was being described to her, she kept her eyes focusing on all the signs around. When she found the first sign saying "doctor", she took the small steps up to the door, and rang the bell. After a few seconds passing, the door buzzed and she could push it open. No intercom or anything asking for who she was, she guessed that she must be at the right address.
Just after entering the building with the huge, empty hallway, with her footsteps echoing behind her, she heard someone shout her name.
"Angie!" a too familiar voice shouted, and soon after that arms were around her neck, making her gasp for air. When she finally was let free out of the grasp, she eyed the person in front of her. Pharah. Seeing this beautiful, grown woman stand in front her put the widest smile on Mercys face.
"Fareeha," She started, knowing too well that as a teenager she had hated this name. "my, you've grown so beautiful!" She then stated louder, taking a few steps back to inspect her friend, her younger sister for many years.
"I couldn't believe that we hadn't heard a word from you. I was starting to believe you weren't coming." Pharah seemed to be in her best mood from what Mercy could tell.
"Well, you know, after everything..." She was paused then by a hand on her back, pushing her to move forward.
Pharah knew the past was no good idea to bring up, not around Mercy anyway. So she made her stop before even starting to think about it, leading the way to the back. There was one other big door, not see-through. Pharah held her hand on what seemed to be a scanner, then the door opened. She seemed to notice Mercys frown.
"You know Winston." She remarked, making both of the girls giggle. As soon as she stepped through the door, she felt the weight of a dozen of eyes staring at her.
She gasped. She really wouldn't have known the emotions that would be released in her as soon as she saw all the familiar faces again. Her heart was melting to a warm, fluttering center of her body. She couldn't hold back the grin and the tears of joy as her eyes scanned every single person sitting across the whole room. From her left side, a slight cough caught her attention, and not soon after another pair of arms were around her. Jesse McCree, who was now holding her tightly, exhaled heavily. "It is so good to have you back, Angela." He said, then, taking a few steps back. "You look horrible." He then added, which sent a wave of giggles and laughter through the whole team. Being honest and kind as ever, her friends, her family, was really all that she could have wished for. She was so wrong about having any doubts going back, and she felt that now. How could she possibly stay alone, when she could have all these people around here? People who actually cared about her?
"We definitely need to change that." Another voice she recognized said from across the room. "You know we can't afford to have a messy angel with us." Reinhardt stepped forward to give a hug to the woman half his size.
"Still the old grumpy grandpa, I see." Mercy giggled, making the old man roll his eyes, who then lifted the head of the blonde woman up with his hands under her chin. "It's good to see you smile, Angel."
Goodness, how could she not love these people?
"Aaaaaangie!" A voice screeched from behind her, and with a few audible blinks, a new pair of arms were around her waist.
"Lena." She smiled even more. This little dorky woman was so full of love and energy. Literally. Tracer dug her face under Mercys chin. "I am not letting you go. Not ever again." With another giggle from Mercy, she messed up Tracers hair, knowing exactly how to get rid of her.
"Hey!" Tracer shouted out, then returning the favor. "See how it feels when someone does this to you." She said, then blinking behind Mercy and messing up her hair.
Usually, she would have been mad. But how could she? She hadn't even cared about her hair since years.
"We said no blinking within our facilities, Lena."
Mercy knew that voice too good. With the sound of paws tapping on the floor, she heard the monkey coming closer from another door to the right.
"Angela." He said and sounded very formal, but he just couldn't resist also giving a hug to the doctor.
"You're crushing me, Winston." Angela said against his fur that was pressed against her skin.
"Oh, uhm," Winston let loose. "I am sorry." Taking a few steps back, he eyed the doctor carefully. "Why the delay?"
"Oh you know, I kinda put my gun into my suitcase." She said and shrugged.
People around her laughed and moaned at the same time.
"Really, now?" Winston asked her and looked kind of disappointed.
"I am sorry, Winston. I just, I don't know. I guess I just didn't care. I wasn't even sure if I should come back."
Offering her a place at the big assembly table in the room, McCree shifted the chair back and let her sit down. Everyone else was taking a seat as well. With everyone following into the room, they soon were so many people. The two Shimada brothers also sat down, but not without heartily welcoming their angel back. Same for Mei, Zarya, Zenyatta, Lucio, Symmetra, and of course Torbjörn. Standing a bit further back, she saw Roadhog and Jamie, who wanted to be called Junkrat, standing in a corner. They waved towards her, but were rather doing their silly things than joining the meeting.
"What do you mean, you didn't want to see us anymore?" Lena asked, making everyone nervous by tapping her nails against the wood.
"No, I," Mercy exhaled. "I just was too overwhelmed. I hoped I'd never have to be part of this again. But then, just when I entered the room here, I realized how much you all mean to me."
"Aww, now, you melt my heart." Lucio stated from the back of the table. Mercy smiled faintly.
"I suppose I don't have to tell you in detail why we are back here?" Winston asked.
"No, no, you don't. I've seen the news. And I suppose we are here to save the world?" She tried to make it sound sarcastic, but it made a wrong impression.
"No, we aren't here to save the world. We just don't want war to win."
"Aren't we still illegal?" Pharah stopped playing with the strand of her hair and put the serious face on, facing Winston.
"Technically, yes, we are." He cleared his throat. "But in the middle of war and evil rising, I suppose we couldn't care less?"
Mercy sighed. "People hated us." She looked down, not trying to recall too many details of the past.
McCree now spoke up. "They might have hated us, but do you think they still will when people try to clean up the evil and help citizens? Morrison and Reyes didn't die for nothing. Yes, they had a bad reputation, but it doesn't mean that we all carry it on." He had slammed his fist on the table while talking, fingers clenched. "And we know most of the stories about them were not true, anyways." He muttered, slightly more quiet.
The sound of the the two names send goosebumps all over Mercys body. Overwatch. What was the meaning of all of this? It was shut down for a reason. Maybe it should stay that way -
A voice was ripping her out of her thoughts. Torbjörn, who had noticed her frown, turned to her.
"Doc. All we need from you is a yes."
"From me?" Surprised, she spun her head to Winston and shrugged. "Why from me?"
"Because we're all in if you are. We need you with us. Without you, how should we keep a cool head about anything?" Torbjörn jokingly answered upon her startled expression.
"Well," she started, now slightly trying to think of any reason that would speak against it. Her pretending to think about it was totally unnecessary, she was already here, feeling the warm welcome of anyone she could ask to be around. How could she say no?
"yes." She answered, then catching a nod from Torbjörn and Winston. "Under one condition." She had the attention from everyone again. "I need this fixed." She stood up, went to her suitcase that she left in the corner of the room, and brought back her broken staff. Putting the pieces on the table in front of her, she carefully eyed the the broken end that would release the nano particles to patch up anyone in need. "I have only been working with direct nano tech and some things I figured out to help people. I totally forgot it broke." She sighed. "What am I to Overwatch without this? Do you think you could fix it?" She turned to Torbjörn and Winston, who possibly knew the most about this technology.
"Just leave that to me." Torbjörn stood on his chair to reach for the broken pieces, to examine them closer and made sure to not leave one spot unseen. "It might take a while though, Doc."
"That is okay, thank you." Mercy now smiled slightly.
"Oh, before I forget." Reinhardt suddenly threw in. "We have new recruits. We should decide, we should train for our operations next week."
"We already have operations?" Lena started tapping on the wood table again.
Winston nodded. "Yes. The earlier we begin to prevent this war, the better. I made a plan I want to talk to you about. But first," he looked at Mercy, "let us decide about the recruits. And you girls should show Angela where she can stay."
Symmetra was moving towards a door on the left, then making a gesture for people to follow her in. Walking through the door was a small girl, pink clothes and brown hair. Followed by a mysterious man wearing a red mask in front of his eyes. She recognized the girl from posters and ads all over the town.
"Hana Song." Mercy said, then catching a wide grin on the girls face.
"It's an honor to me!" She said in a high-pitched voice, then waved to everyone else.
"She has a robot with her that could prove quite useful in fights for us. It is both offensive and, most important to us, defensive. She could help the old man out." McCree was chewing on a cigar and slightly grinning towards Reinhardt.
"And it goes BOOM!" A crazy laughter followed from the corner. Junkrat gestured a giant explosion with his hands.
"Yes, yes it can go boom." Hana ensured, grinning wide.
"Are you sure you want to sign up for this crazy bunch of people?" Mercy liked her already. She was like some fresh breeze of air coming towards her. Youth, playfulness, excitement. Just like she was when she was introduced to Overwatch.
The girl nodded her head hectically, making people worry it might fall off.
Mercy giggled. "Fine. We need to run some fitness tests and, of course, the combat training." She hadn't used any of these terms in years. It felt different.
The girl smiled. "Nothing easier than that."
"So, everyone?" Mercy asked looking around, catching a okay-with-me-look from everyone. Then she turned to the man still standing half in the door frame, and she could already tell that she wouldn't like him. He seemed smug and distracted from everything that was actually going on. "What is your name?" She then asked, but because of the mask she couldn't tell if he actually realized she was talking to him.
"Soldier 76." A deep voice answered from behind the mask, making Mercy frown.
"That is no real name."
"I don't have a real name. That is all you need to know."
"And why would we want you to join us?"
"Cause you need every person with skill that you can get. I'm a solider, consider yourself lucky."
She frowned even more. Yes, she definitely did not like this man. If they were all supposed to take a new person into their family, they needed honesty. But since Winston and Reinhardt insisted of keeping an experienced fighter with them, she agreed to give him a chance.
Unlike Hana, the soldier denied any kind of fitness tests and also would not be convinced to join the combat training. Which was, to Mercys surprise, more fun than she remembered.
"No, no. Lena, you shouldn't stay with us in situations like these." Pharah pointed out, while putting on her suit that would help her fly. "You are a distraction. You annoy everyone around you."
"Hey! I heard that tone in the last part." Lena pointed out, while loading her guns with fake ammunition. While everyone else was trying to figure out the best composition for the team, Mercy was observing the stranger carefully. He was standing at the entrance to the hall they were training in. It was huge, in the basement of the building. Winston filled it with obstacles for cover as well as practice targets for the shooting. The soldier held a jacket in his hands that had 76 written all over the back in color, but apart from that, he didn't do anything else. He was just standing and she didn't even know if he was staring or not.
"I think," Lucio started, "if anything, I should go with Junkrat, Genji, Zarya and Mei. I can speed boost us all up in front and keep you patched up if needed."
Symmetra nodded. So did Winston. "I will be up front with Tracer, , Symmetra, Zenyatta and Roadhog. So if anything, we can have a teleporter should there be an emergency and we have to pull back."
"Great idea." Torbjörn said. "So I will be in the back with Mercy, Reinhardt, Hanzo, McCree, Pharah and the Soldier 76. We can make sure everything is protected, and defend ourselves at range as well. And our angel can fly out with Pharah if it gets too much. We need her in one piece."
To Mercys surprise, the soldier didn't object. Being a soldier, she thought he would want to be in the middle of a fight. Instead, he nodded to the agreement about the team compositions from the distance.
Now with everyone busy trying to figure out the perfect plan to move and act should they ever get into a firefight, Mercy was missing her staff to actually practice what she could do best. So taking the chance of training her own combat movement, she grabbed her blaster and loaded it with the fake ammo. Aiming at one of the dummies, she tried to focus on the heart as best as she could. A thud was released from the pistol, and she heard the bullet hit the wall behind the dummy. She had totally forgot how off her aim was. She, thankfully, never had to use the pistol after the fights with Overwatch. She aimed again, only to wince to a voice behind her and sending the shot into the wall again.
"Raise your head up." That voice behind her said, low, then speaking up. "Back straight, arm slightly in an angle, not straight forward. You have to consider recoil." Soldier 76 was walking around her back, watching her move around with the pistol.
"It's not I am doing this for the first time." She claimed. She didn't trust that man, and she had no reason to.
"I believe you, but, your aim sucks." He then added. Did she just hear him laugh?
"Are you making fun of me now? I am pretty sure I -"
"I am not making fun of you. I respect women that fight. But I'd respect it even more if they know how to shoot in the head."
"I was told it was the heart."
"Head is safer. Instant." He then made a movement and held his palm up toward her. "May I?" The voice behind the mask asked, and she lowered the pistol. She handed it to him and took a few steps back, then watched him carefully.
"See?" He asked, standing with one leg slightly behind, his back a straight line and arms in a light angle to the left. Then he shot, hitting the dummy directly between the drawn on eyes.
"Nothing easier than that." Mercy remarked and suddenly felt unsure about fighting. How could she possibly remember this if it ever came down to a fight between her and somebody? Sure, she had done this before, she had defended herself plenty of times. But the thought of death that she would have to look in the eye made her worry a lot. Could she even handle it?
"Try it again." The raw, a little metallic sounding voice demanded. She grabbed the pistol from his hands and aimed again. This time, she tried to have the right stance for the perfect shot. Taking her time with it, she then managed to hit the dummys forehead.
"Impressive." Another voice remarked. She turned about to find McCree applauding. "Didn't think you'd still have it in you."
"You better don't fight with me, Jesse." Mercy said jokingly and laughed lightly.
Oh, the sound of her laughter. He had missed it. So much. Watching her understanding the movements of a fight, a woman so strong he couldn't even believe she existed. She kept talking and joking with McCree, while 76 kept observing. Back then, people would always ensure Mercy was okay, she was safe. He thought she could be pretty tough herself these days, even though the glow that he loved about her had vanished. She certainly didn't look like she could turn from that innocent, sweet girl into a fighting Valkyrie in the next second. On that thought, he smiled.
Then they were approached by Pharah. "Okay, gentlemen, I am sorry but I am going to steal this woman from you." She said, grabbing Mercys pistol and unloaded the ammunition. "You look tired and terrible and it's time for some rest. The next weeks will be hard work."
"Who are you, my mom?" Mercy asked, and then she found herself completely lost in such a heart warming center of people. She chuckled. "I owe you all big time for what you do to me." She caught a wink from Tracer in the corner, then she turned over to Pharah who had already left her battle suit in the locker. She would show her a bedroom with a way too over sized bed, a bathroom that was at least twice as big as her whole flat back in Germany.
"You should use it all." Pharah said, handing her towels from the closet. Her suitcase was already standing in the corner of the room.
"We all have these rooms?" Mercy asked and Pharah nodded.
"Winston had this building remade soon after Switzerland. He was living here alone after the attack on Gibraltar. Then thought it might be the best thing for all of us."
"I can't believe I ever had the thought of never wanting to see you all again." Mercy sat down on her bed.
"Hey, now." Pharah said, sitting down next to her. "You're here. And you should, for once, just forget about the past." She put her hands around Mercys back and hugged her close. "We need you and we all know how hard it is." Mercy exhaled. Then returned the hug.
"Thank you."
When Pharah let loose, she put her hand on Mercys cheek. "You better get your rest. Put your glow back on and we will kick asses next week. Like I always dreamed of."
"Yes, ma'am." Mercy smiled. Color was flushing back into her cheeks. Then Pharah slowly left the room. With that, Mercy thankfully filled the big bathtub with as much hot water as she could. Slowly sinking into the high temperatures, she exhaled. Her thoughts were still torn between the past and present. She loved these people, but couldn't put her mind to rest about the blood and death she might be able to see. It scared her. As if the water would wash away the doubts, she let it soak her skin. She suddenly felt that being all alone again was like haunting dreams and memories were just destined to come back. Se realized how the presence of all the people around her would keep them away. She didn't remember for how long she was in there, but it was the only thing that would keep her sane in that very moment.