A/N This is a direct one-shot follow up to a previously written story of mine, Machines. If you have not read that story, this one won't make complete sense, but I hope the message still comes through okay. In any case, thank you for reading, and please enjoy.
Emily looked up from her hot chocolate, looking out the small window of her flat as she listened to the soft pitter patter of rain against the window, the TV playing some murder mystery in the background. November was always a cold month no matter where she went, whether it be her home city of London, the quiet streets of Wells during a news story, or any other assortment of cities and towns she would visit every so often. One of which, of course, being Canterbury, the resting place of one of Lena's closest and dearest friends, Adam. While Emily herself had never had a chance to meet him, the stories of him and how much Adam had impacted Lena's life touched Emily's heart, and had lead to the both of them visiting his grave together on certain days of the year. The lasts time they had gone to see him was in early September, on his creation day.
She took another sip of her hot chocolate as she recalled their visit. It was nothing too special, they gathered at his gravestone, spoke for a bit about good times, and said thank you as they left. Still, it seemed to make Lena happy that they took time out of their schedules to visit him, so Emily didn't mind the drives out to his grave. Heck, they actually helped give them some time to just chat when they were driving up. Between her being a columnist and Lena being God knew where on any given day, it was a nice way for them to just relax and not worry about anything else for a bit. As she had these thoughts, she came to notice a soft knocking next to her. Raising her eyebrow, Emily turned towards the sound, and immediately smiled.
"Cheers love, the holidays are here!" Lena shouted as she held her arms out and posed in her elf costume from last year. A green Santa hat rested on top of her head, with a matching green worker elf costume adorning her features with golden highlights running along the base and arms of the costume. Topping if off were the pointy green shoes with golden lining around the soles and tip. The only thing off-setting this green and gold was the soft blue light emanating from her chrono accelerator. Emily giggled and looked up to Lena, her blue eyes beaming with excitement and giddiness. Lena had always loved Christmas, being the only day she enjoyed more than New Years. Emily herself was also fond of the holiday, but always tried to wait for December before getting worked up about it. With Lena though...
"Don't you think you're a little early babe? We're only midway through November." Emily said as she lowered her mug to the coffee table. Lena laughed and did a small dance before setting up in another pose, prompting Emily to raise her eyebrow once more.
"Oh come on love! It's never to early to have some holiday cheer! Besides, we always set up decorations early, can't hurt to get a jump start." She said with an infectious smile. Emily chuckled and shook her head as she stood up, turning off the TV and placing her hands on her hips as she simply observed her girlfriend for a moment. As much as she wanted to be the mature one, she could never say no to Lena when she pulled out the elf get-up. Come to think of it, that's probably why she had put it on before coming to talk with her. She sighed as she rubbed her forehead.
"What am I going to do with you..." She said, more to herself than to Lena. That didn't stop her from retorting though.
"Help put up decorations, please?" Looking back up, Emily saw that Lena was now leaning forward, her hands folded behind her back as she gave her a toothy grin. Emily chuckled again as she caved, lowering her arms and nodding her head.
"Yeah, okay. What do you want me to do?" She asked. Lena gave a small jump for joy before standing up straight and pointing towards the bedroom.
"There's a little plastic Christmas tree with a monkey decoration on it in the closet. Can you go get it for me while I get the rest of the decorations?" She asked. Emily scoffed slightly.
"Oh sure, send me off to get the tiny stuff. I see how it is." She said in a mock annoyed tone. Lena giggled before leaning in giving her a soft kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks love, you're the best!" She said before bolting away towards the door. Emily rolled her eyes, going down the hall and opening the door to the bedroom. Inside was the bed she shared with Lena, a small dresser where Emily kept her clothes, a television, a recliner, and a small bed stand with photos of both of them. Emily smiled as she walked past and saw one of the pictures, a snapshot of when they were kids in primary school. She smiled as she gently picked up the picture and observed it, Lena was wearing a plain read hoodie while holding up a hand, as if waving at the camera. Emily simply had her arm wrapped around her shoulders and smiled at the camera, wearing a T-Shirt of some boy band that was probably broken up at this point. She chuckled as she held the picture for a moment longer, then placed it back on the bed stand. Turning her attention to the closet, Emily opened the door to the walk in closet where Lena kept her clothes.
She fumbled around for a moment, moving the assorted shirts, jackets, and jeans around and checking the small drawers she kept in the closet for smaller articles, trying to find the decoration she had been talking about. When that provided no results, she moved onto the small shelves just above the hangar rack, and found what she was looking for. Atop the shelf was a miniature Christmas tree with a small monkey on top of it, holding up his hand as if he were waving. Emily chuckled as she reached up to grab it, only to realize it was resting on top of a small box. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed onto the sides of the box before placing a hand on the tree to keep it from falling.
Bringing it down, she looked at it a little closer, noticing that the small monkey was holding a banana by wrapping it's tail around it. She chuckled as she set aside the box and carefully rotated the small decoration, noting the various plastic bulbs on the tree. The more she observed the, the more she realized that they all seemed to be black, gold, light blue, and white. For a moment this puzzled her, before a sudden realization dawned on her, the colors of the Overwatch logo and uniforms. She smiled as she made this realization, Lena must have had this decoration specially made, as to who made it was anyone's guess. She'd have to ask whenever Lena got back.
She was just about to head back out into the living room, when she noticed that there seemed to be an empty spot on the tree. It looked like there was supposed to be another plastic light in the empty space, but there was just what looked like dried on glue. This confused Emily slightly. Had she dropped something by accident? She checked the closet again to see if it had fallen off while she was getting it down, but she couldn't find anything. Scratching the back of her head, Emily pondered where it could have gone. True, it was just one little bulb, but this was clearly very special to Lena. She didn't want it to be ruined on the first Christmas they had it. Looking back to the box she found it in, she decided to check inside of it. Maybe the decoration had been in there and the bulb just fell off.
Upon opening the box, she reared back slightly at what she saw. Rather than the packaging she had been expecting, she saw some sort laptop. What was even stranger was that it seemed to be a noticeably old model, at least in terms of what Lena and Emily herself owned. Still, it seemed familiar somehow. She realized that she'd seen her coworkers carry these things around maybe, five or six years ago. But this just made things even more confusing. Why was Lena keeping a six year old laptop in some random box in her closet? Was it even hers to begin with? Emily carefully opened the device and found that it still booted up, it's manufacturer blaring across the dark black screen as it began turning on.
Emily sat down on the bed as she glared at the screen, trying to figure out what the heck it was doing in Lena's closet. Eventually, the screen finally presented a login screen, with the photo of a chess piece as it's icon, the user name just the standard "Administrator" that one could find on just about any standard laptop. Emily paused for a second as she looked down to the keys. Maybe this was the laptop Lena was using to talk Overwatch agents around the world. That would explain why it was so much older, and why it was hidden in a box. As she had these thoughts, she looked back up to the password screen, the little black line blinked in the password box, which for some reason seemed to make Emily more nervous with every blink. With a breathe in, she decided to test her theory.
Without a moment's thought, she input the first thing she could think of. The day Winston had issued a recall of the Overwatch agents. She paused a moment before pressing enter. Should she really be prying into these things if it really WAS what she thought it was? Couldn't she get in trouble for this? More importantly, what would Lena think? Still, the curiosity was practically screaming at her to press enter, and see if that's what it was. Emily sat still for a moment, pondering what she should do.
"Okay... I'll put in the password and see if I'm right, if I am, I'll just close it... No big deal." She thought to herself. With a press of key, she input the password, only for a white text to inform her she had input the wrong message. Emily exhaled as she fidgeted her fingers anxiously, trying desperately to remain calm. She gently set aside the laptop and moved to the door, checking to see if Lena had come back with the decorations. A slow open revealed an empty, quiet flat. Breathing in, Emily moved back to the laptop. So it wasn't the recall date... Maybe the day Overwatch was founded? A few keystrokes and a click of enter later, she was met with another incorrect password screen. A small text appeared beneath the message this time, asking if Emily wanted a hint to the password. She confirmed, and received the hint;
"D-Day, (Write out Month.)"
Puzzled, she thought out what D-Day might have been referring to. The first thing that jumped to mind was the day Lena joined Overwatch, but that seemed too obvious. The second thing that came to mind was World War II, since she knew one of the biggest days of the war was referred to as D-Day. But, that couldn't be it, could it? That was so random, and didn't make any sense to be the password. Then again, wasn't that the sign of a good password? It was worth a shot... With another breathe in, Emily typed out her third guess.
June061944
To Emily's surprise, the screen welcomed Administrator and began booting up the home screen. Emily exhaled and was about to close the laptop when she saw the background for the computer. She had expected a big Overwatch sign or symbol in the background, but instead, it was a hilltop with three crosses on top of it, a setting sun sending a golden, peaceful light across both the crosses and the hilltop. Emily narrowed her eyes again in bewilderment. There was no way this was Lena's laptop, she could tell that now. But... Who's was it then? Hoping to get some clues, Emily looked around the home screen, but found only a few listed shortcuts, one leading to the internet, one leading to a recycle bin, and one that simply said "video files."
With a slight big of caution, she decided to open up video files, and received a small pop up with a large list of file names. Nothing especially jumped out, most of the names were just things like "Repair - Coffee Machine" or other repair and maintenance related names. So... was the owner of this laptop a mechanic? Still determined to figure out what this laptop was, Emily scrolled through the list of files, only finding more and more of them titled with various repair and maintenance videos, so much so that she wondered just how much this maintenance worker was expected to do. Emily sighed as she rubbed the back of her head. Maybe this was all just some big prank... something Lena was doing to be funny. She almost allowed herself to believe this, before stopping herself for a moment. If that was the case, how would she have known she would even open the box? Get the right password? Be curious enough to even care in the first place? No, there were WAY too many variables here.
With a groan, Emily looked back at the list of files, and continued scrolling down. Finally, one file seemed to jump out from the rest. Emily leaned forward and read the name of the file aloud.
To Lena's Future Wife
Future... what? Hold on, what was going on here? Emily shook her head and pondered her thoughts for a moment. So this laptop DID have something to do with Lena, but... what? The only thing that was on here aside from that one thing was repair videos, what could-
Emily's eyes widened as she suddenly had a realization. The crosses, the repair videos, the fact that Lena was keeping this thing in her room. This must have been Adam's old laptop. It made sense, in a weird way, that Lena would keep it. She'd mentioned how Adam hadn't had a proper family, it kind of made sense that whatever he had would go to her. And it's not like Lena would just go around changing things on his laptop, hence everything being so bare bones. Still, Emily sat on the bed, staring at the file name. It was almost as if it were written specifically for whoever Lena ended up with. Her and Lena had been talking about marriage, they just needed to buy a house. So...
For some moments longer, Emily sat looking at the file, wondering if she should click it. Would it be... Invasive? What if Lena was trying to save the laptop for some reason? Still... Lena had never been one to keep things from her, and she never got angry at her when she overstepped. Maybe... Should she? After some minutes of deliberation, Emily sighed and motioned the cursor over the file, a small highlight extending over the file name. She held her finger for a moment longer, before taking a deep breath and clicking on it. Uncertainty and anxiety flooded her body as a small window popped up, a small circular loading icon in the center of the screen as a sinking feeling developed in her stomach. There was no turning back now.
Finally, an image a normal apartment came into focus, various Christmas decorations in the room. However, what caught Emily's attention was an omnic reaching towards the camera, and slightly pulling back as he checked it. The omnic wore a green jacket and seemed to have a red shirt on underneath it. It's face was composed of two circular holes for his eyes, and one horizontal one below those, which seemed to be glowing slightly. Emily immediately knew who this was. Adam. She was seeing Adam. The omnic pulled his hands away from the camera and folded his hands together on what looked like a desk, as Emily realized that he was sitting down. An instrumental of Silent Night seemed to play in the background as Adam looked to the camera.
"Uh, hello there. I'm sure this must be... kind of odd, for you to see. If you even are seeing it at all, anyway..." He started. Emily covered her mouth with her hands as she watched Adam rub the back of his head and rest his arm along the desk.
"Well, uh, my name is Adam. Short for Autonomous Delivery and Maintenance Module. I'm an omnic who's been dating Lena for about, two years now, and I've been friends with her for a little over four. Yeah, a bit weird but uh..." Adam sighed and pulled away from the camera, rubbing his head slightly as he looked to the ceiling
"I'm sorry, I didn't really script out what I wanted to say..." He said. Emily lowered her hands and continued watching, seeing Adam rest both hands on the desk as he shook his head. After a moment, he looked back up to the camera and fumbled with his hands.
"I uh... I know that Lena doesn't really like men the same way she likes women. I learned about it last year on New Year's Eve. We're still together, but... I think it's very clear to me, that..." Adam paused for a moment as he clenched his own hands and looked down, Emily placing her hands back to the keyboard as she waited for what he was going to say next.
"That... I'm not the person God intended her to be with. I just have this feeling that she would be happier with someone else, and it's a feeling I can't shake." Adam looked back up to the camera and folded his hands together.
"Which is why, I've started praying for you." He said. Emily's heart lit up a little when she heard these words. She folded her own hands together as Adam continued.
"If there's one thing I know, it's that God will bring you into Lena's life, and you are going to make her so happy. She'll be so in love, and knowing her, she'll have picked one of the kindest, most loving people there is. So... I just want to thank you, ahead of time." Emily's lip slightly lifted, forming a slight smile as she brought her hands to her chest, blown away by what she was watching.
"I want to thank you for loving her, taking care of her, and just being the best friend that she could ever have. These past few weeks I've really been asking myself what I truly want for Lena. And... I want her to be happy, and to have the best life that she can. And, I know that life is with you." Emily felt her eyes begin get wet as she brought her hands to her lips. Adam continued.
"So everyday for the past two weeks, I've been praying for you. For your health, for your happiness, for your continued safety, and that God will bring Lena into your life. So that you both can have your happily ever after with each other." Emily felt tears welling up in her eyes as she continued watching, Adam finally seeming to relax and fold his arms on the desk.
"I know that you're going to be the best thing that's ever happened to her. And I know that you'll always love her and support her. For that, I can't thank you enough. And, until you both walk down that wedding aisle... I'll keep praying for your continued love and happiness. Because I know... At that point it'll be true, and deep love that will unite you. And nothing will ever break that." Emily wiped her eyes a bit to keep the tears from coming, only for her eyes to immediately grow wet again. Adam sighed and leaned back.
"So, whoever you may end up being, Amber, Brenda, Nancy, or Emily..." Emily's heart skipped a beat at the mention of her name. Adam continued.
"I wish nothing but the best for you. I pray that you live the best life possible, full of happiness, joy, and never-ending love. God bless you now, and to the end of all your days. Merry Christmas." He said. With one last sigh, Adam gave a short chuckle and reached back to the camera, where the recording ended. Emily simply sat in silence for a moment, her heart beaming with admiration and respect. It was as if Adam had been speaking directly to her. His kindness had extended even to the person he knew was going to take Lena away from him... To love Lena so much to be willing to let her go, and be with someone who made her so happy... Emily simply didn't have the words.
Closing the laptop Emily inhaled once more before looking back to the Christmas decoration Lena had sent her in for initially. She inhaled deeply and let out a long, emotionally fueled breath as she gently patted the laptop in her lap. Looking down to it, she smiled once more and smiled.
"God bless you too Adam... God bless you..."
The End
A/N Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all have the best holidays and happiest lives you possibly can. God bless you all.