Angela sat in the early hours of the morning in her office, blinds firmly closed, looking over the files spread across the wooden desk. She'd spent the last week fitting Gerard Lacroix for cybernetic implants to help repair his damaged spinal cord. His survival was miraculous. When Gabriel pulled him out of the flames, he'd suffered major head trauma from shrapnel and had severe smoke inhalation. The new implants would work similar to her own, but the plating would be slightly smoother to help maintain a more normal appeal, as Gerard was accustomed to. Angela smiled, no one would be able to tell under the suits.
Earlier that week she was called into Jack's office for a meeting, surprised to see Gerard looking healthier as he moved about in his electric wheelchair. Gabriel leaned against the wall, Jesse beside him. Neither were looking at her. But Jack's focus was primarily on her arrival, "Dr. Ziegler, we'd like you to commission a cybernetic spine for Mr. Lacroix."
Angela turned to the Frenchman, surprised he was interested in her help. She was certain he would be more willing to work with Moira, considering they were on more familiar grounds than Gerard and she. She'd done nothing more than stabilize his condition after the Rome attack. Gerard stared right at her, sharp eyes piercing, "Commander Reyes said you were the best. I trust his judgement."
She blinked at Gabriel in confusion and the commander's eyes were firmly on the ground. Jesse crossed his arms, saying nothing, though he looked like he wanted to say quite a bit. Jack rubbed his forehead, clearly stressing but wise enough not to voice his thoughts either. Receiving no vocal confirmation, Angela nodded at Gerard, holding out her hand, "Of course, Mr. Lacroix, let us get your measurements."
Gerard took her hand, shaking it, "After you, Dr. Ziegler."
When he unlocked the brake to his wheelchair, Angela lead the way out of Jack's office to the medical wing.
-0-
Now she had the measurements and the blueprints, but they weren't quite final. She tapped the paper with a white marker, making note of certain wiring that would need special calibrating. She would need to contact Gerard for a nanite appointment, where she would have to test his tolerance for certain strains. Angela grimaced; that was usually the worst part about fitting cybernetics. She'd lost count of how many times she had to perform these tests on Genji.
Even if he held a deep-rooted contempt for his own body that made Angela uncomfortable, she found that she missed having him as a patient. He was polite and reserved, something so uncommon in Overwatch. He was the first patient Moira made sure was transferred to her own care. Angela gripped her marker tightly, not knowing the lengths at which Moira was going to test Genji's body. He wasn't a lab rat, he was a person, and Angela feared Moira's experiments would ruin him psychologically.
Angela sipped her caffeinated green tea, setting the porcelain cup down along with her blueprint marker. She stood and smoothed her lab coat. When she made for the kitchen to make another batch, she was surprised to hear a knock on her door. It was 3:00am local time and hardy anyone outside the guard was awake. She opened her office door to see Gerard Lacroix, shaking and pale in his wheelchair.
Wordlessly, she let him in and he stopped halfway through her office with a jerk. He turned the wheelchair towards Angela, leveling her with a hard stare, "Have you heard at all from Amelie in the past week?"
Angela blinked, "No, I haven't. Not since we had dinner together."
"Yes, when you went out together on our anniversary."
"Mr. Lacroix, it wasn't like that-"
"No matter. I don't suppose you've spoken to her since her drop ship left the base, correct?" His words were prim and polite, but she saw his fingers nervously twitch on the remote of his wheelchair.
"That is correct. Has something happened?"
Gerard swallowed, "Follow me, Dr. Ziegler."
He left, leaving her no room to argue. She locked her office, trailing after him through the hallways to Jack's office. The strike commander was inside, Ana and Gabriel with him. They all looked disheveled. Jack and Ana were dressed in crumpled uniforms, but Gabriel was wearing an unzipped hoodie, plain t-shirt, and track pants. He rubbed his eyes, looking sleepy and sleepless all at once. Something in Angela's chest hurt at seeing him so exhausted. At the same time...seeing him in such casual clothing was giving her a sense of intimacy that made her stomach flutter and she quickly turned her focus to Gerard.
She waited, holding her breath as Jack combed his fingers through his hair, "What's all this about, Gerard?"
"Amelie has been kidnapped."
Angela's head snapped up so quickly it felt like whiplash. She looked at Gerard, reading for a hint of a lie...anything...but he kept his grim expression.
"Kidnapped?" Ana interjected the silence, "Are you certain, Gerard?"
"I am. And I am certain it was Talon."
"They've been trying to assassinate you for some time. It only makes sense they would find another way to get your attention," Angela wanted to scold Gabriel for saying it to cruelly, but he was right. Amelie was the love of Gerard's life...and his greatest weakness.
"She's been missing for four days. I assumed she'd just left early for her trip to Milan. Sometimes she forgets to call. However, I called only to find out she'd never arrived for her practices…"
Gerard tried to breathe evenly, but he was beginning to tremble. Angela approached him, leaning down, "We will find her, Mr. Lacroix." She'd expected Gerard to shove her away in some semblance of pride, but his cool hand turned, palm up. She placed her own in his, surprised by his strong grip.
Gerard looked at her with sad eyes, "I know where she is." Jack, Ana, and Gabriel all looked at him in interest, "Two hours ago I received an audio message. It only contains coordinates."
Jack turned and played the message Gerard had sent him. A voice came over the speakers. Amelie's voice. It was monotone, coldly reading out numbers in English. Angela shuddered, gritting her teeth. Something about that voice...it was so lifeless. He felt Gerard's hand trembling in hers. She looked to Gerard, seeing how his thoughts were parallel to hers.
Gabriel roughly straightened from against the wall, shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets, "This could be a trap."
"It most certainly is," Ana agreed.
Jack furrowed his brows and Gerard looked to the strike commander, "Please Jack...this is my wife."
Angela pursed her lips. Amelie was her friend. She had no dog in this fight. Straightening and moving her hand from Gerard's to his shoulder, she looked at Jack, "I'll go."
"Dr. Ziegler-"
"If nobody else is willing to go I will."
"It's not your call," Ana sighed in frustration.
"You heard her voice, Ana. They've done something to her. If we find her and she's hurt-"
Gerard closed his eyes, grimacing, "She is most certainly hurt. That voice...that is Amelie...but that is not my wife."
Angela approached Jack, placing her hands on his desk, "Jack, please."
Gabriel cut the tension, "Blackwatch will go. We'll be able to tell if things aren't what they seem. Moira will be able to assess her condition once we find her."
Despite Angela's hot glare, Jack nodded in agreement, "Go ahead. We can't waste any time on this."
Gabriel nodded, sharing a meaningful look with Gerard before leaving the office. Ana stood next to Jack, tucking her hair behind her ears, "I'm going back to bed."
Jack nodded, "I'll update you on Blackwatch's progress in the morning. Reyes will hopefully having something for us in the next few hours."
"Those coordinates are in the Alps, which means they can't be too far by drop ship," Gerard responded hazily, like he was caught in a nightmare. Angela supposed he was.
She still glared at Jack and he decided to stop ignoring her when Ana left, "Angela, it's Gabriel's call. He wants Moira on this."
Angela clenched her jaw, "Then I suppose I should state my case."
"Don't piss him off, Angela-" she turned on her heel and stormed out before he could stop her, leaving Gerard and Jack in the office.
-0-
Angela wasn't surprised to find him in the armory. He was changed out of the track pants to his normal cargo pants, zipped up the hoodie, and was strapping on his chest plate. She left the door open behind her when she saw that Genji was with him. He was adjusting his jaw plate, grumbling in annoyance.
"Genji, please leave us."
Without consulting his boss, and despite Gabriel's glare, Genji nodded, "Of course, Dr. Ziegler."
Genji closed the door behind him, not looking back as Angela shot Gabriel a nasty scowl. Gabriel tightened the chest strap on his side, moving to pull on his shotgun holsters, "Don't waste your breath trying to convince me."
"I'm not here to convince you. I am coming with you."
"Last time I checked you're not a part of Blackwatch."
"Last time I checked neither was Gerard. If you're going to blur the lines then you have no right to start drawing them again."
Gabriel pulled on his beanie roughly, turning to shoot her with another glare, "This isn't the place for you. I can't concentrate on the enemy if my team has to cover your ass on the field."
If it had been a couple of years ago, the comment would have stung. But she was a hardened shell and her Valkyrie's armor was harder, "Then tell them to keep out of my way. I'm much more capable than any combat medic in the field and both you and Jack are aware of that."
"Moira's capable. I entrust her to take care of Amelie."
"You entrust her with entirely too much. You may allow the Blackwatch agents who put their lives in yourhands to be entrenched in her claws, but Amelie is different."
The room grew darker, hazier, and Gabriel straightened to stand in front of her, glaring hotly, "Watch yourself, doc."
"Spare me your intimidation tactics, Gabriel, I've faced scarier men than you."
Gabriel smirked a little crookedly, "Nobody's scarier than me." The voice wasn't his. Despite the fear clawing her spine, Angela stood her ground.
Her tone was softer now, less indignant, "You told Gerard I was the best."
He seemed to calm at that, "That was different."
"Tell me, you've seen torture victims. Do you really think Amelie will want to be cared for by Moira when I could be there? She's one of my closest friends. Let me give her that care, if not just for medical reasons but for her own mental well being. She's going to be terrified."
Gabriel clenched his teeth, turning to strap his hellfire shotgun to his hip. When he finished with the other one, he snarled, "Just get ready, Angela. We're leaving in half an hour."
-0-
Jesse was pissed, but what else was new. It seemed he could do nothing to quell the cowboy's temper since Blackwatch was exposed to the world. Fortunately, this meant they didn't need to do any sneaking when they left by drop ship to the Austrian Alps. The coordinates were given to the pilot by Reyes, where he could watch their navigation on his tablet.
He leaned with his elbows on his knees, watching the tablet as they wove between mountains. Jesse was glaring out the window, Moira quietly sitting beside him. The scientist was dozing off, having stayed up all night working on God-knows-what.
"Here, let me see," Angela offered to Genji, who was fiddling with his face plate, "you've been trying to adjust it all night."
"Ah, that is alright, Dr. Ziegler," Reyes could swear he saw Genji's pale face flush under the mask. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.
Angela frowned, taking his hesitancy the wrong way. She shot the sleeping Moira a daggered look before standing to head to the back of the ship. Jesse roughly stood, nearly startling Moira awake, and trudged after her. They stayed in the back of the ship, harshly whispering to each other. Reyes tried to ignore it all, not moving until they arrived at the location.
They landed between a series of strange stone buildings, mostly crumbled. An abandoned village in the mountains. The morning sky was gray and rumbled with a coming storm. When they dropped from the drop ship, Angela activated her wings. If the drop ship wasn't obvious enough that they'd arrived, the bright blue of her Valkyrie was enough to draw attention. Unfortunately, the forest in these mountains was dense and they had no choice but to break any potential cover they had.
Reyes trudged first, unholstering his shotguns and leading the way through the buildings. Genji and Jesse flanked him, darting in and out of the structures, clearing them of enemies. It wasn't until they got closer to the main building in the middle of the old village that the turrets came out.
Angela and Moira darted behind structures while Genji sprung to action, slicing the machinery down while Jesse shot them from his cover. Reyes waited behind a pillar, searching for any sign of human enemy.
The waves came one by one, mostly reprogrammed omnics before the humans came. Guards came out of the main building, soon shot down by Reyes. The battle was long, but easier than it was in Venice after he shot Antonio. Angela flew to Genji's side, monitoring his health while Moira healed a bullet graze on Jesse's shoulder. So far, so good.
They'd arrived at the building, Genji going first to sneak through the shadows. He came back minutes later, shaking his head. No enemies. Reyes was confused. There was no way they would just let Amelie go like this. There had to be more.
But there wasn't. Once they'd cleared the entire building, they reached the large open room where Amelie sat in the middle. She was dressed in dark clothing, looking pale but uninjured. Angela held up a hand to Jesse, softly approaching the woman.
Amelie looked up, blinking in confusion before surprise graced her features, "Angela?"
"Amelie…" Angela knelt before her, holding out a hand. Gasping, Amelie launched herself into Angela's arms, making Reyes flinch in a sense of protectiveness. He looked around the room while Amelie began to cry into Angela's chest . No guards, no furniture, nothing but dust. They couldn't have kept her here all this time.
Angela rubbed Amelie's back, soothing her, "It's alright, Amelie, I am here."
Amelie gasped, "Gerard sent you?"
Angela smiled, "He sent us all. Let's take you home."
She helped the other woman stand, wrapping an arm around her waist as they warily left the large room. Just as they passed the first row of stone buildings towards the drop ship, they heard a mayday and a static yell from their pilot. Reyes heard the faint sound of ships landing, "Cover, now!"
Angela used her wings to fly Amelie to safety and the rest of them dodged behind the dilapidated buildings as the Talon agents began shooting. Amelie clung to Angela as they hid while the rest of them fought the agents.
Moira found Reyes in the fighting, "Use the upgraded death blossom!" Before he could reply, she continued, "I am aware it's in the testing stages but we cannot take them all down without it."
He snarled, "It could kill me, Moira!"
Moira rolled her eyes at him before turning to continue the fight, "It is a risk we have to take."
He watched Jesse lend Angela a hand as they got Amelie into the ship. The medic turned around, looking for Genji who wove between enemies, slicing as many as he could. But they just kept pouring out from the forest. When Angela and Genji disappeared into the forest, he knew what had to be done.
"Moira, get with Jesse and protect Amelie. Genji will know to warn Angela."
When he stood in the clearing, surrounded by countless enemies, he unleashed the Reaper. It was more power and control than he was ever comfortable with releasing before. And the Reaper relished the feeling. The death blossom was magnificent, waves of black smoke suffocating enemies as he blew them apart with endless weaponry. Reaper's voice came out of his mouth, "Die! Die! Die!" When he was done, smoke burned his eyes and he was standing in the middle of a pile of corpses. It looked like a bomb had gone off. The black wisps coming from below his feet continued trailing between the bodies, drinking their life essence. After a moment, it was like he regained a second wave of energy.
He walked with a stagger, finding himself in a collapsed building as the rain begin to fall from they gray sky. Faintly, he heard a voice, sounding strained and worried. Then he saw blue, nothing but bright neon blue blinding his vision.
Then everything cleared and Angela stood in front of him. She was soaked, her hair sticking to her face with rain, and the light in her wings was dimming, "Gabriel! Gabriel, what was that? Are you alright? Can you hear me?"
Her questions were rapid-fire and they didn't cease until his hands were on her, roughly pulling her towards him. She flinched and tensed in surprise, a soft gasp escaping her lips as Gabriel kissed her.
He faintly felt her arms around his waist, clinging to him in worry as he pulled her impossibly closer. His tongue was pressed to hers, an insistent need to devour her enveloping him. The Reaper wanted her. Reyes wanted her. He'd be damned if he let her fly away. He would break those wings if she tried.
He gripped the back of her head with one hand, the back of her thigh in the other. It raised slightly towards her ass and she jumped. He bit her lip teasingly and heard her whimper. Suddenly her hands were on his chest and she was breaking the kiss, looking at him like she'd just awoken from a dream.
He stared at her numbly, wondering if the Reaper was beginning to leak into her mind as well. Suddenly her eyes widened and she looked terrified, grasping his face in her hands, "What is happening to you?"
She looked like she wanted to cry and he released her like she'd burned him. Turning, he stalked into the drop ship. She trailed behind him after a moment, approaching his side as he grabbed his face.
He sat in his usual seat, head in his hands as she knelt by him. Amelie was placed in the back room, sleeping as Jesse closed the door. Genji came to the drop ship last, looking tense and distracted with something. Reaper had felt him nearby. It was entirely possible he caught their little show, which spurred Reaper on that much more.
He felt wisps of smoke leaking from between his fingers. After the drop ship lifted from the ground, pilot safely out of his hiding spot, Angela hotly stood and faced Moira, "What have you done to him?"
Moira's face was impassive, "Why, doctor, you saw for yourself. Not that it's any of your concern."
"It is my-" Angela cut herself off sharply, "you're going to kill him."
Reyes growled, clenching his head as hot stripes of pain crossed his brain. He heard Reaper cackle. He would blame it on the pain, but right there in front of everyone he reached for Angela. He cool fingers intertwined with his and she held her ground as he tried not to let the pain effect his strength. He didn't want to break her hand. "Shit," he grumbled.
Jesse and Genji remained stone silent, watching from the back of the room. Moira looked slightly interested at Reyes's show of weakness. Angela knelt down next to him, urging him to breathe as they continued the journey back to the Swiss HQ. It wouldn't be long now.
-0-
When they landed and Jesse helped Amelie to the medical wing, Angela tried leading Reyes there as well. Moira interjected, "He's my patient, Dr. Ziegler."
Angela scowled, "I'm the head of medical research and he's a top priority patient-"
"Moira's right. Just focus on Amelie, doc."
Angela stared at Reyes in confusion, "Gabriel-"
"The commander's spoken. Follow me, sir." Moira turned with a flip of her coat and Reyes shared a long look with Angela before following. She didn't recognize those eyes.
Angela felt a clench in her chest and hot tears threatened to spill, "Angela?" she heard Jesse say gently next to her.
She brushed off his concern, wiping the fear out of her eyes, "Just...don't. Amelie needs us."
When Amelie was checked over, Angela gave her a clean bill of health. Gerard had been by her side the whole time. Angela watched numbly as Amelie and Gerard embraced, sharing words of unshakable love.
She headed back to her office, changed back into scrubs, and picked up the blueprints of Gerard's new spine. Jesse came to her and tried to talk to her, tried to ask her what it was that Genji saw between them that made the cyborg so quiet, but he stopped the interrogation when Angela broke the empty teacup in her hands.
She gave her bleeding hand a dazed expression as Jesse found her first aid kit. He pressed some gauze to her wound, watching her with concerned eyes, "This is going to destroy you, Angela."
She didn't reply, vision blurred with unshed tears.
