When she was presented with a beret, she figured it was a joke. She'd studied partially at a prestigious French school as a teenager after all, it was understandable some assumed she was French. Perhaps they heard her speaking to Amélie in French and didn't pick up on her accent. She had convinced herself of it until she saw the tag of who the gift was from.
Love, Ana xo
She blinked in confusion. While Ana, despite her coldness, was hardly incapable of love, she didn't think the second-in-command had held any preferences towards her.
Sure, the two women had many discussions over medical research. Angela was quite interested in seeing if she could create a liquified nanite solution for Ana's darts. The woman could actively put her research in the field, something Angela dreamed of doing but was rejected from multiple times by this point.
She pursed her lips and traced a thumb across the white cotton of the beret. On the front, a small cross and shield decal was placed. A Swiss beret, after all. Still she didn't quite understand what it meant and why Ana would give her such a thing.
In the field, Overwatch agents wore royal blues and whites. It made it easier to detect each other while still maintaining their personal preferences for combat clothing. As she was kept in a lab unless a high-level agent were to need surgery, Angela stuck to her black catsuit and lab coat. Prim and professional with nothing personal about it.
She'd meant to leave and find a mirror, see if the beret looked ridiculous or not with her lab coat, when she was stopped by Ana's presence in the doorway. The Egyptian woman was smirking, looking like she knew something Angela didn't.
Now, she liked Ana. The woman had a bleeding heart, the kind of person that loved with sharp teeth and biting words. Angela didn't know the details, but she knew the sniper was an essential factor in keeping Reyes and Jack from each others' throats. Gossip was common in the medical wing.
Ana's stare unnerved Angela, and she tried her best to keep a neutral face as the woman closed the door behind her. Despite that Angela's office had a windowed wall, it was a soundproof and nobody could hear their conversation.
"I want you on the field," before Angela could so much as speak, Ana continued, "but Jack doesn't."
"He still thinks I am made of glass," Angela stated coldly, turning to look at the beret on her desk. She would feel bad speaking this way about the Commander if she wasn't so frustrated. She'd gotten the funding she needed and was able to properly create a prototype that needed field testing after only six months in Overwatch. Yet, she was beginning to feel imprisoned in her lab. Research could only make her so happy. She needed a social life. Amélie only visited so often between her performances as a prima ballerina in Paris and Jesse was gone on missions more often than not.
Ana spoke again, "You're a precious asset to him."
"I'm a person," Angela furrowed her brows and turned back to the second-in-command, "testing this research is my burden to bear and I can't allow human error to potentially destroy my only prototype."
"I understand," Ana crossed her arms and nodded to the beret, "which is precisely why I convinced him to allow you to come on a mission."
Angela blinked, "You convinced him?"
"It's no vital mission, simply a visit to the front lines of a scuffle we're currently in in Kazakhstan that you will join to help the wounded." Angela didn't know what to do with her hands, so she tangled her fingers nervously. She was worn mentally and physically from sleep exhaustion and stress. Her emotions were unstable and she did her best not to absolutely break down in her office. She grimaced and nodded, allowing Ana to give her a smirk, "Berets look good, trust me I know."
Angela laughed incredulously, biting her lip to stifle her smile as she felt her eyes brim with tears. In her hands, she was clutching the beret with excitement.
-0-
Almaty, Kazakhstan was near a Talon base. That's as much as they had before Blackwatch joined the front lines. Many soldiers hiding behind dilapidated buildings and stone road blocks were locals defending their homes from a terrorist organization. Overwatch agents were sprinkled within, blue and white spots in the sea of gray. Reyes hopped from the hovering dropship down to the dusty ground with Jesse hot on his heels. Jesse flipped back the cloth of his serape to aim his pistol in front of him as they hopped over the barriers between the warring factions.
Blackwatch's style typically was infiltration, but the enemy already knew they were there so they opted for a direct charge. Reyes used his twin shotguns casually as he blew off the limbs and heads of Talon fighters. They reached a second set of barriers where the braver locals and many more agents stood. Reyes pressed his back against a pillar before tapping his comm into the Overwatch frequency just as Ana's voice came over the radio, "Reyes, draw the fire away from the combat medics."
Reyes and Jesse exchanged a glance, confused as to why combat medics would be so close to the gunfire. They searched to stumble upon a group of injured locals, many of them not soldiers and unarmed. They were surrounded by two Overwatch medics and a single armed agent who guarded them as they hurriedly tried to stop a woman's bleeding.
"Don't leave me here," the woman cried, clearly dying from the blood loss. Reyes cursed; they were endangering themselves and the entire group by trying to save someone who was already dead. But he wasn't their commander.
He saw Jesse jerk in surprise when his view landed just to the east of them on a figure who was struggling to help a hobbling man through the rubble. Without permission, he left Reyes's side to beeline for the figure before he could be stopped.
"Hey-" he snarled just as Jesse called out to her.
"Angela!"
The woman's head snapped up in their direction. Beneath the dirt and a bleeding lip was the head of medical research trying to walk a man whose leg was clearly broken through a warzone. She was dressed in standard combat gear and the beret on her head was so white it practically shone in the darkness. Jesse helped her get the man to the group of people, all the while staring her down. She didn't acknowledge his look.
Reyes tapped on the mic in his ear, "Ana, these medics are sitting ducks out here."
"I've got reinforcements on the way. They were with more guards but most of them were gunned down before the building collapsed with people inside," she was explaining the situation to him, but she wasn't making excuses. He tried to understand. There were too many variables to predict what would happen on the battlefield.
"These medics should be armed," he glared at the medics as they openly ignored the Blackwatch agents. Only the one agent with them had a gun. Angela was noticeable unarmed, too.
"We're not going to discuss this, just draw the fire away."
He grabbed Jesse's shoulder, turning the cowboy way from Angela as she continued working on the man's leg, "Leave her, we're drawing the fire away."
Angela finally looked up at that, eyes widened in horror, "You can't put yourself at risk like that!"
"We can and we will, doc. That's what we do."
Angela turned to the medic next to her, nodding silently before letting him take over for the local's injured leg. She stood, moving right in front of Reyes and looking him in the eyes, "Let me come with you."
He frowned at her, fingers twitching on the handles of his shotguns, "Not a chance."
"I am not afraid," his words were clear over the sounds of gunfire. Reyes saw the clarity in the blue of her irises and he knew she wasn't lying. She truly wasn't afraid.
Jesse practically snarled next to them, his rare temper snapping, "You'll endanger yourself, Angela."
Her cold blue eyes snapped to Jesse, "In the field you call me Mercy. And I've seen war for as long as I can remember. I am not afraid."
"You're needed here, doc," his voice was calm despite the strange buzzing beneath his skin. She was an anomaly. Out here, she didn't see him or Jesse as intimidating Blackwatch agents or killers. She saw people that she could help, she could protect. He couldn't recall anyone wanting to protect him since his mother died and he was suddenly filled with the strange, irrational need to take her with him, "Where we're going...we're not going to save lives."
His words seemed to deflate her indignation and her shoulders slumped slightly. It was something he would regret later, but he touched her for the first time in five and a half years by gently placing a hand on her arm. Wordlessly, she nodded, not even looking at Jesse as she turned away from them back to the patients.
When he looked at his prodigy again, Jesse was giving him a confused look. All the anger and frustration was drained from the younger man's face before he nodded and followed Reyes back into the firefight.
-0-
She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, hands focused on using her prototype staff to heal the wounded. For the most part, the nanites worked incredibly. They were a little dodgy, left a strange ozone smell on the skin, and tended to leave the skin more tender and prone to being cut again, but they were a success.
The primary objective of the Caduceus project was to create a healing beam. As per her negotiations with the UN, its secondary objective was to boost damage dealt by physical and ballistic attacks. She had yet to begin the secondary part, focusing on the help more than the hurt.
Unfortunately, the mission at Almaty was a mess. Jack was angry, Reyes was angry, Gerard was angry, and Ana was being questioned. In the end, the sniper was right. They couldn't have predicted the building would collapse and all the armed guards with the combat medics would have been taken down so quickly.
Gerard was flown to Gibraltar by the UN to deal with issues regarding combat medics. Angela stood in her office, watching through the window as he passed by without glancing at her. Slowly trailing after, Amélie appeared as well. Only she stopped, flashing a red-lipped smile at Angela before tapping on the door.
Angela opened it and was immediately enveloped in a hug from the lithe ballerina. Amélie placed cool hands on the sides of her face, looking her over, "I'm so glad you are alright, cherie ."
The doctor smiled, nodding, "It was harrowing, but I would rather be out there."
"I know you would, but without a gun? Without something to protect you?"
Angela swallowed, "I have guards who protect me."
"Guards who were all killed, leaving you stranded until Reyes arrived," Amélie walked around Angela to approach her desk. She crossed her toned arms, leaning a hip against the wood furniture.
"So you're going to support the arming of combat medics?" Angela wasn't surprised, but the idea was not a welcome one. To her or any other medics in Overwatch.
"I do. I believe if you can't handle a gun you shouldn't be out there."
Angela squeezed the bridge of her nose, breathing quietly in the silence until finally she spoke, "I have to be out there, Amélie. I spent a portion of my doctorate working in Kuwait. My methods and my nanites can't be tested in any better way except on the battlefield."
Amélie placed her hands on Angela shoulders, reminding the doctor of how Reyes touched her. His hands were so warm and so, so much larger. She could almost feel the gun callouses through the fabric of her sleeves. She blinked the thought away as Amélie spoke, "I believe in you. Jack and Gerard saw the reports and they saw how many you saved with your nanites. What you did by getting on the field has achieved more for your research than sitting in a lab ever will. However, you must be prepared for the hurt. You must."
Angela finally nodded after watching the French woman's intense stare. She bit her lip, feeling so young despite Amélie being four years her junior. Amélie broke away from her, gripping her hand lightly. She left Angela's office to join her husband and an hour later Jesse knocked on her door.
Despite only six months in Overwatch, Jesse was the closest friend she had. As she saw from his anger on the battlefield, he was fiercely protective. She ignored him in the moment, angry and determined, but now she wanted to understand.
He took off his hat, tossing it on her desk before looking at her strangely, "You and Reyes know each other or somethin'?"
Her eyebrows raised in surprise, offput by the question, "No more than I know Commander Morrison. Why do you ask?"
Jesse deflected her question, "Nothin'. You gonna go back out there?"
She bristled, "Jesse, please understand that I have to-"
"I know you do," he seemed to be thinking over something, "I saw the way you told Reyes you weren't afraid. I know you have to be out there helpin' people. At least let me teach you how to shoot."
She rubbed her eyes, "That's what it's going to take isn't it?"
"You afraid of the idea?"
"I'm not afraid of guns. I'm Swiss. We have a very strong and active gun culture, especially after the Omnic Crisis. It is the killing I am not willing to do."
"But would you be able?"
She thought about her time in Kuwait and living as a child without parents during the Omnic Crisis. She thought about her father's work as a soldier keeping her army nurse mother alive, "Yes, I would be able."
"Let me teach you how to use them for defense. These guys at Overwatch that they'll want you learnin' from don't understand self-defence. They're going to train those combat medics to be killers."
Angela sighed shakily, nodding once in defeat. If they were going to strap a weapon to her, she'd rather learn from someone who has had to defend himself rather than from a military organization.
She glanced towards the documents on her desk, the huge binder full of plans on expanding and improving her Caduceus into a full staff with healing and damage support. It lay on top of a newer set of plans, the rough outlines of a full suit she would eventually name the Valkyrie.
She clenched her fists tightly, remembering the look Reyes gave her on the battlefield when he touched her arm. He and Jesse were the only ones who understood what she was about to do. She wasn't Blackwatch, but he knew the UN wouldn't like her new proposals. And after she showed them just how capable she was going to be on the field, she knew the UN would give her all the power and funding she would ask for.
-0-
2061: Three years later.
She felt like she was going to a wedding. Only she was the bride and the dress to be presented was her Valkyrie suit. Amélie got the privelage of seeing it first, watching in awe as the blue-tipped wings lit up. It covered her combat medic armor and went along with Overwatch's whites and blues. The shining silver of her wings matched the metal of her blaster and her prized Caduceus staff. The staff had already been in practice for years.
Each head Overwatch agent had experienced it at least once. Even Blackwatch, when her mission in had Ukraine overlapped theirs. Jesse had been pleasantly shocked at the damage booster, whooping in victory as he popped off a shot that took down a whole fleet of enemies in one go. Long numb to the sight of death, Angela had simply nodded and tried to be happy for him. To him, his work was saving lives. They chose not to argue the point.
The last time she used it on Blackwatch was Reyes, who was struggling to take down a large omnic the size of a truck. It was reprogrammed by Talon against its will to essentially work as a giant turret. When he got shot in the chest by a bullet, Angela was at his side, scrambling over rubble on foot. The aching in her ankles was something her Valkyrie suit would help prevent as well.
She pressed her hand to the wound, grabbing Reyes's attention as he snarled. He was out for blood and wanted to move, but she wouldn't let him until the wound was healed. With strong and gentle hands, she grabbed Reyes's shoulders and looked him in the eye until he calmed down.
He was watching her with an eerie quietness, silent except for the gunfire of the turret and the yelling of the soldiers around them, her free hand was still on his chest, over the bleeding wound, as she activated her staff.
The healing beam highlighted their faces in the dim lighting. When it cut off abruptly with a snap, they were in the darkness again. She suddenly felt how close he was to her, leaning back against the steel wall as she pressed towards him. They were aiming for secrecy, but the result was them pressed tightly like two lovers.
She nearly flinched at her own wandering thoughts, suddenly well aware of his breathing and how he hadn't moved a muscle. She could barely tell, but she chalked up his eyes on her lips as her imagination.
She breathed quietly in the dark, feeling him tense as her hand moved from his healed wound to the back of his neck. The hood of his jacket was down. His hair was long and soft and still combed back out of his face. She broke the silence, "Hold still, Commander."
Suddenly she flipped the switch and the staff's boosting beam ignited. The light was now blue, illuminating the color of her uniform. Reyes jerked, but kept stiller than when she usually boosted people.
With a gentleness neither of them expected, she backed away from him. He picked up his twin shotguns, looking more on-edge than usual for the stoic Blackwatch commander. His words were raspy and uncertain, "I know you got that piece now, but stay out of the fire, doc."
Her fingers twitched with a strange want when he left, able to take down the turret with ease now than he was doing twice the damage. She had a bad feeling that she was already too close to the flames.