In all the years that it had taken Lena to get under Widowmaker's skin, she'd never expected to see her melt so quickly. She'd even started to crack a smile twice in one day!
She looked pretty good with her 'natural' skin color applied in the form of makeup, too. The contacts that she wore to make her eyes a more normal shade of green went well with her complexion and dark wig. Except for the eye and hair color, she looked almost like the photos of Amélie Lacroix she'd seen in Widowmaker's files, though it was pretty obvious Talon had done some facial reconstruction. Lena liked the look, even if Widowmaker still hated the name.
Widowmaker's Cairo safehouse only kept them safe a few more hours before they felt like they had no choice but to move. Lena insisted that she felt well enough for it. It was mostly bravado, but sitting in one place made her nervous. To Lena's secret and eternal delight, Widowmaker wore a long, black dress. It was relatively modestly cut but it was still a dress. Both women wore head scarves to blend in, and Lena mused on cutting her hair once they had a chance to breath. Her rakish look was familiar to a lot of people and she needed to do something to throw casual observers off. But it had to be stylish.. Something sharp. Anything less wouldn't do.
Getting out of Cairo was complicated. The clothing she wore hid her harness, but Widowmaker still stuck Lena under blankets inside a truck, and she spent the next several hours bumping around, completely blind to the world. There were several stops, but nothing very long and Widowmaker hadn't come to let her out before they started moving again.
She only guessed where they were going when she could smell salt water. The blankets were suddenly lifted up, and she looked up into Widowmaker's eyes. She'd pulled the hair covering off, leaving her hair down. It framed her face in a way that made it hard for Lena to breathe. "Oh nice...that'll do..."
Lips twitching ever so slightly, Widowmaker helped Lena out of the truck. "We will remain below decks until we reach Greece. I have a safe house in Agrinio where we can stay for a few days and plot our next course of action."
Lena could have suggested several people in Athens who could have helped them. Helped her anyway since Widowmaker was shoot on sight with all of them. She'd spent the whole ride trying to decide if they should part ways here, but she hadn't wanted to leave Widowmaker on her own. She was starting to be human again and Lena had to help her and she figured the assassin had probably said more words in the past day and a half than she had in the previous three weeks. "Lead on, luv. I'm the one at your mercy."
"You would think that." Turning sharply on her heels, Widowmaker stalked up the gangplank, leaving Lena to fend for herself.
The hold they stowed away in was actually less cramped than the safe house had been. Much more damp, which aggravated Lena's wound, but less cramped. She sagged against her unlikely ally, leaning her head on Widowmaker's shoulder and wondering how she wasn't as exhausted as she should be. Almost imperceptibly, she felt Widowmaker press closer.
"I can't keep calling ya Widowmaker, people will freak out," Lena suddenly pointed out. "And ya don't want to be called Amélie. So I'm just going to call ya 'W' until ya figure shite out."
Widowmaker mumbled something.
"Wut?"
Lena looked at her, then smiled to herself. Widowmaker had given in to the exhaustion she'd stubbornly insisted she hadn't been feeling. "Tell me tomorrow, luv."
Rough seas and a not entirely direct route meant that they were stuck on the ship for nearly two days. There wasn't much to do except stare at each other. Widowmaker studied Lena's face. She had memorized it long ago, yet the circumstances were different now. She wasn't looking at an enemy, but an ally. She looked at Lena differently, and realized that she hadn't looked at her as an enemy in a long time. She knew a dozen ways to end Lena's life, but her fingers itched to simply touch her face. "When we get to Athens, what will you do?"
Widowmaker's question startled Lena. She lifted her head, looking across at her. "Follow ya,I guess."
"Is that what you want to do?" Her finger trailed across Lena's knuckles, her eyes focusing on her hand and not her face. "You would be a valuable hostage, but you are not my prisoner."
Lena's breath hitched. "Couldn't forgive myself if sommat happened to ya an' I wasn't there to help."
"You're barely in condition to walk, let alone fight." Widowmaker's finger moved to Lena's wrist, stroking lightly at the vein just below her palm.
Lena's wound burned, and she was quickly becoming out of breath. She watched Widowmaker's fingers with heavy eyelids. "Pretty sure I can shoot straight."
She moved her hand, caressing Widowmaker's fingers with her own. Then she rubbed her thumb at the same spot on Widowmaker's wrist that the assassin had been vexing her with just moments before. This time it was Widowmaker's eyelids that sagged and her breath that caught. "Feels nice, don't it?"
Widowmaker could only nod, a feeling not unlike an electric charge crackling along her skin.
"Want me to stop, luv?"
"No."
"Mm." A smirk spread slowly across Lena's face as she lifted Widowmaker's wrist to her mouth. She kissed lightly, brushing her lips across the skin before sucking. Widowmaker's fingers curled against her cheek and a visible shudder ran through her body.
Her reaction scared her. She felt suddenly too hot, a sensation that she just wasn't used to. Her pulse quickened, still slower than Lena's but much faster than usual. Scooting away until her back hit the wall of their little hidey hole, Widowmaker cradled her arm against her chest.
"Sorry," Lena rasped, sucking in her lip but not looking particularly repetent. She'd just found one of Widowmaker's on switches, though with great power comes great responsibility, or something.
It took a full hour before Widowmaker closed the distance again. She pulled something out of a pack. "I bought cards."
Lena pushed herself up. "Oh! What's your poison? What do ya wanna play?"
Widowmaker gazed at her for a long moment, before she smiled and started to deal the cards.
Two hours, half of Lena's clothing and an IOU for four-hundred quid later, Lena threw her hand down into her lap and folded her arms. "Bugger this! I can't read your bloody face!"
"You're pouting like a child," Widowmaker noted, tossing her shirt back to her. She tucked the IOU down the front of her dress. That she'd collect on.