I don't own Overwatch.
9. Windswept Flights, Part I
"You didn't tell me this back at the store!" Angela cried, per voice pitched higher than usual.
"Well, no," Satya said, "because I thought you were just going to keep it for yourself. How was I meant to know it was a gift?" She handed the ring box over to Angela.
"You know me, Satya! I've never been one for jewels or stones!" Taking the small black case in her hands, Angela thumbed it open, revealing the rose quartz that had been shaped into the dainty face of a bunny. The many facets on the bunny's ears gleamed a salmon tinge as the light coming from the mountain's East funneled through the open window of the headquarter's hallway. Even the silver chain looped into the gemstone glittered.
"Calm down, Ziegler. It's nothing to get fussy over," Satya said.
"Nothing to get fussy over? I can't even return it now that it's been shaped. How was I meant to know that rose quartz meant..." Her breathing quickened as she thought back to what Satya had said. "What did you say it was?"
"The Heart Stone. The Crystal of Unconditional Love. Usually, it's a gift between lovers. It's quite well-known amongst the alternative medicine communities, which is why I thought you would've known as well since you're the medical genius around here."
… Between lovers?!
Cue more spluttering. It was defensive and there was a voice in the back of Angela's mind that told her Satya had noticed the wince she'd made. "But crystal healing is a pseudoscience! I haven't a clue on those practices!" Angela cried.
"I don't see what the big issue is here," Satya said. "I doubt the girl even knew the stone was rose quartz until I said it back at the store. What's got you so wound up?"
"She might…" Get the wrong idea. Angela shook her head, banishing the thought. "Nothing. You're right, it's fine. It's fine. I'm sorry for acting up. Like you said, if I didn't know then she probably won't either."
Please, Lord, I hope she doesn't.
Giving Angela a silent look, Satya nodded slowly. "Exactly. So relax, will you? Besides, I think this is more important than the quartz."
Holding up the textile that was wrapped around her arm, Satya unfurled the Meka's jumpsuit, letting its sleeves and pant legs unroll towards the floor. "With this, you guys should finally be able to start the training."
Taking the suit in her hands, Angela looked it over. With its fusion of blue nylon and contrasting white-blue striated carbon fiber, the outfit looked exactly like the one in the blueprints. The only outlying feature was the word 'MEKA' embossed onto the outer thigh of the left pant leg. Along with the suit, Satya handed over a pair of white neoprene gloves, a firmness in the wrists of each for the wirings and circuitry underneath.
"The blueprints didn't say to stamp 'MEKA' on it, did it?" Angela asked curiously.
"It was a spur of the moment sort of thing. It was either that or 'designed in Korea'. I like my version better," Satya replied, folding her arms. "The gloves took longer than the suit itself because for some reason I have fewer capacitors than usual..." Satya said. "Has Winston been sneaking into my workshop again?"
Yes.
"Not that I'm aware of," Angela said with a shrug. She hated lying, but the condition was if she wouldn't tell Satya that Winston was using her components for his bubble shield, he would fly them to Korea to collect Hana's things.
"Well? What do you think?" Satya asked.
"It's perfect, given that you made it in one night."
With a high chin, Satya replied, "Vishkar didn't pick me as a hard-light architect for no reason."
"I can see why," Angela said with a wavering smile. "I guess all that's left to do now is to see if it fits her."
"Excellent," Satya agreed, waving dismissively before turning to walk the other way. "Tell me how it goes."
Blinking rapidly, Angela felt her blood pressure rise. "Wait, what? You're making me give it to her!?"
"Of course. Didn't you want to also hand over that gift of yours?" Satya said, not bothering to stop.
Maybe not, now that I know what it means...
"Well, I did, but—"
"Then you can help her with the suit as well. Two birds with one stone, as they say. I've got to go tinker with this new shield generator Ana's been bothering me about..."
With an open mouth, Angela watched Satya disappear down the hall. She felt her pulse in her throat as she lowered her chin to her chest. After a long, low sigh, she started walking towards the living quarters, the Meka's jumpsuit and the small ring box in hand. On her way, she had whisked out her phone, dialing a specific number before hugging the thing to her ear.
It rung once. Twice. Three times before the receiver picked up.
"Fareeha?" Angela questioned. "It's me…— Yes, it's finished which is why I'm going to go see her now…— The sooner the better…— Alright, we'll see you then…"
Exchanging farewells, Angela hung up, being unable to think about anything else except the obscure implications of a simple pink rock.
With her face buried in the pillow, Hana groaned. Her pillow case was overflowing with a vanilla fragrance, a symptom from Angela's impromptu sleepover from the day before. The scent was pleasing - and for that, Hana hated herself. It reminded her of Angela. And her face. That stupid, damn, pretty face of hers. Was this what they called Stockholm Syndrome?
Swiping her phone off the desk, Hana looked up the condition. When she found a semi-reputable website, she went through the symptoms and causes one at a time.
'The situation lasts for several days or longer?'
Yep.
'The controller remains in contact with the victim?'
Mhmm.
'The controller shows some kindness to the victim?'
Yep.
'The victim develops sentiments towards their captor?'
… God, no.
Hana didn't like her captors one bit. Even though for the past few days Angela had been nothing but considerate and good-intentioned, Hana couldn't forget the fact that she was basically a hostage being forced into a fight she never wanted to be a part of. She loathed the woman, hated her, abhorred the very thought of her.
...
Right?
Hana let out another long, low-toned groan into the pillow.
It was Day Four now since her disappearance. The news had slowly moved back into fear-mongering propaganda about Omnic invasion. Whenever they did mention the case of the two missing girls at Salesian Academy, they would spout a fifteen-minute biography on Angela, leaving Hana almost completely out of the segment. However, forums and internet boards everywhere had grown impatient at the lack of D•Va's online presence, and that, weirdly enough, gave Hana a sense of comfort. At least she was being missed in a divergent manner, even if it wasn't her they were really missing. It wasn't part of her usual schedule, but Hana was considering whether or not to give her viewers what they wanted and stream for just a couple of hours.
… Fuck it.
Shooting off her mattress, Hana flopped into her chair, firing up her computer. If D•Va was what they wanted, then that's what she was going to give them. It'd be another sliver of familiarity in her foreign surroundings.
Just as Hana slipped on her headphones, however, there was a knock at the door.
She shrugged it off, hoping that whoever it was would take the message that she didn't want to be disturbed. But when the knock came again with a familiar voice asking 'Hana? Are you in there?', she sneered, rubbing a hand down her face before she stood to open the door.
Swinging it open, she stood face-to-face with just who she was expecting. "What do you want, dork?" Hana asked.
"Oh good, you're here," Angela said. She was wearing that floor-length lab coat of hers. In her hands, a neatly folded piece of clothing. "Are you busy?"
Crossing her arms, Hana couldn't take her eyes off the fabric in Angela's hands. "Depends. What if I said I was?"
"Then I'd come back later since I wouldn't want to disturb you."
Hana flared her nostrils, grimacing as she found herself irrationally annoyed at Angela's thoughtfulness. "Well, I am - being busy chatting up all the single Swiss hotties in the area. I can't believe you're still single with all the machos in this country."
Angela froze in place, looking to the side slightly as she tried to cover her flushed face with her hair.
"It's called a joke, doofus," Hana said.
"Oh."
"What's that?" She jutted a finger at the thing in Angela's arms.
"The Meka's outfit." She cleared her throat. "I thought we could see if the jumpsuit fits you."
"Seriously? Right now?" Hana asked, raising a brow. She knew that if she were to turn Angela away right now, the girl would come back sooner or later. Persistence was always a quality of hers. "Fine. Let's get this over with."
With a sincere smile, Angela handed over the garment to which Hana took with a pinched expression. The thing was light. It didn't feel like Hana was holding anything at all. She rolled it over in her hands wondering what the heck the thing was made of to feel so weightless. With a shrug, she tossed it onto her bed, the material looking as if it had floated down onto the mattress.
"You might need help with the—"
"Yeah, yeah," Hana said, slamming the door shut. She stood still for a while, ears vigilant for the sound of footsteps indicating Angela's departure.
There were none.
Sighing, Hana thinned her lips. "You're still there, aren't you?"
"Mhmm," Angela murmured from the other side of the door.
"Ugh. I guess you want me to try it on now?" Hana couldn't see, but she knew from behind the door Angela was nodding.
"If it's not an issue... yes."
Throwing her hands up, Hana was resigned to the girl's request. What would it take for this girl to leave her alone? Did she have to register a damn restraining order? Briefly, Hana looked at the desktop on her screen. Her viewers would have to wait a teeny bit longer.
Walking over to her bed, Hana splayed the suit out to see what she was dealing with. She knew the darker woman back at the bazaar had said she was slim, but even this was a bit overzealous. Slouching onto the bed, Hana examined the suit. It wasn't all soft as she expected. There were stiff sections where Hana's collarbone and thighs would be along with the suit itself having halo-white Chelsea boots sewn into the seams. There was a single zipper at the back of it that traversed the spine to which Hana gently unfastened. She dipped a hand into the suit, chafing the material as it provided almost no feedback.
Standing, Hana pinched the sides of her short's, slipping out of them as they fell to the floor. Her tee came next when she grabbed the hem of it to strip it over her shoulders before sending it flying across the room. The morning air felt pleasant against her nape and back, like a cold shower on a weekend morn. She relished in the feeling for a few more seconds before she took the Meka's suit in her hands. She held the gap open, sliding in one leg, and then the other. There was no doubt about it; the thing had definitely been tailored to her. Her arms dug into the suit's sleeves as she shuffled around, settling into them.
Holy crap… It's so…
'Snug' was the only word Hana could think of. It fit to every contour on her body. And she meant every contour. The drab white and blue-purple color scheme was also to her liking. The only notable thing about the whole suit was the pea-green lettering of 'MEKA' along her thigh. Then, with all the gymnastic prowess she could muster, Hana reached over her shoulder for the zipper.
Unfortunately, her flexibility wasn't the best from being desk-bound every night for the past year. She soon found herself writhing around, spinning as she clawed at her back.
"Come on, you piece of…"
"Hana?" Angela called from the other side of the door. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah. Just fan—tas—tic," Hana said between lunges.
"It's the zip, isn't it?"
Hana yelped, a few the zipper's teeth had caught a layer of skin. She hunched her shoulders. "Um… yeah."
Living in an era with British time travelers and glasses-wearing monkeys, and they still haven't solved how to make a self-zipper...
"I knew this would happen," Angela said. "Hang on, let me help with it."
Hana flinched as she opened her mouth to protest. But Angela had already entered the room and was behind her, a hand on Hana's shoulder that was politely asking her to stand still. With a bare back, Hana was speechless as she felt pressure envelope her torso, the zipper being pulled up by Angela's slender fingers. She felt like someone who was being taught how to lace up a bodycon for Senior Prom.
"There," Angela said.
Stepping forward and away from Angela, Hana leaned down to run a hand across her outer calf. The suit followed along showing no signs of resistance or tautness. Twirling playfully on the spot, Hana put her hands on her hips. The suit was comfortable, to say the least.
"Well?" Hana asked, turning to face Angela. "Am I up to your standards?"
There was an awkwardness in the air. Angela stood eerily still, her lips parted slightly, her lapis eyes not leaving Hana for one second. She tried to say something but remained inarticulate, her hands clenched briefly before releasing.
"I honestly don't care if you say it looks like shit. I'm not the one who made it."
With a small shudder, Angela looked to the ground. "No… no. It's not that." Her voice was strained, concealing an emotion in her voice. "It's adequate. Satya did an excellent job."
"Does it really look that bad?"
"I didn't say that," Angela said. She dug into her coat pocket before sticking her hand out, a pair of white gloves in them. "Here, you have to put these on too."
Hana rolled her eyes before grabbing the gloves from Angela. She wiggled her fingers into them, snapping them on like a doctor before surgery. "What am I, a magician now? What's the point of these things?"
"They've got circuitry underneath so we can monitor your vitals. Respiration, heart rate, temperature, all the usual."
"Wow, you didn't wire it with another one of your recording bugs? I'm surprised," Hana said, looking at the back of her hands.
Swallowing, Angela bit her lip. "I'm sorry," she began, her voice almost a whisper. "I really didn't want to do what I did back then. But it was the only way I could get concrete evidence as to who you really were."
"No. You could've also drugged and kidnapped me like some randy abductor and hacked into my phone," Hana said. She put a finger to her lip before opening her mouth in mock surprise. "Oh wait! That's exactly what you did!"
Angela became unnaturally quiet, her hand rubbing her opposite arm nervously as she stared down at her feet. Watching the girl now, Hana could tell Angela felt genuine guilt at her deeds. It was a striking contrast to the confident and gracious student council president Hana had known for the past two years, and it made Hana feel as if she'd just kicked a puppy.
Damn it...
Sighing internally, Hana took a harder look at Angela. She was only doing what she was told. She wasn't any different from a pawn being moved on the board. "Anything else you want to give?" Hana asked, hoping to alleviate Angela's thoughts.
Looking up with reflective eyes, Angela's gaze met Hana's. The sternness Hana had always seen in them faltered, and it showed when Angela was at a loss for words. She had reached into her coat pocket, fumbling at something mildly cube-shaped inside it before she uttered an unconvincing 'no'.
"Great, because if that's all, then please get out," Hana said. If she was going to stream, then she sure as hell wasn't going to do it in front of Angela. And especially not in this garb.
"Wait. Fareeha and the others are waiting for us in the hangar."
A flashback to the woman Lena had called 'Birdy'. "That crazy woman? What the hell does she want?"
Angela's reply was a knowing smile. "We have to meet them now that you're suited. You don't have aviophobia, do you?"
"Uh… I don't know what that means."
"Aviophobia. A fear of flying."
Placing a thumb to her chin, Hana mused the question. "When you dragged over my limp body from Nepal, was I kicking and screaming unconsciously on the way?"
"No."
"Then I probably don't have it."
"That's... not how phobia diagnosis works."
"I'm not scared of flying, alright?" Hana said, flexing her fingers.
"Good," Angela said, "then you won't have to take any Xanax."
"Xanax? Christ, you make it sound like I'm going to have an aneurysm or something. Just what exactly are we doing?"
She smiled. "Flying," was her response. With that, Angela turned on her heel and out of the room, leaving the door open as she glanced at Hana expectantly to follow.
Looking back to her computer, Hana felt a sour taste in her mouth.
It looked like D•Va was taking a hiatus for yet another day.
"There she is!" Lena exclaimed. The girl's cinnamon eyes sparkled and gleamed as she bounced from foot to foot. She was waving ecstatically to which Hana felt obliged to sign a meek wave of her own. "I'm so excited! She's actually going to do it!"
"Dial it back, Lena."
The ashen old lady still had that dignified look about her as she watched Hana and Angela walk towards them. Radiating superiority, she glared intensely at Hana and the new suit she wore. She looked at Hana from head to toe, appraising the Meka's jumpsuit before appearing satisfied with a cocky grin.
"Satya's work?" Ana asked Angela.
Angela gave a crisp nod. She looked around the hangar. "Where's Winston?"
"He's dealing with Satya. Something about missing capacitors and the such," Ana stated. "We're going to have to start without him."
'I think I'd prefer it like that,' Hana thought. She didn't think she could contain another reaction at the gorilla.
"Birdy is warming up her jets outside," Lena said. "You know how the captain's daughter is, right Angela? She won't admit it but I know she loves showing up looking cool and all… Don't tell her I said that."
Angela held a hand up to her mouth, holding in a laugh.
Heart racing, Hana took one glimpse at the elephant in the room. The Meka, standing menacingly beside Ana and Lena, dormant, unmoving as the dark shade of its paint sent chills down Hana's spine. She felt a shakiness in her limbs that forced her to gulp down a breath in order to stay quiet.
"Are you ready, child?" Ana asked.
It took a moment for Hana to realize Ana was speaking to her. Her mind was too preoccupied with surveying the metal husk that she was about to be put into.
"Do I got a choice?" Hana asked.
"No."
'Then why'd you even ask?' was what Hana wanted to say.
But before she could, a deep, rhythmic clanking cut through the hangar, sounding like a dull hammer striking an anvil over and over. Hana looked from side-to-side trying to identify the sound's source, but the other three seemed undisturbed by the noise.
"Here she comes," Lena said, looking over Hana's shoulder.
Facing in the direction Lena was looking, Hana found her mouth ajar, stifling a tiny gasp as to who - or what - she saw.
With a glint in her lone iris, Ana clasped her hands together. "Let's begin, shall we?"
A/N: Early update because I wouldn't have been able to do it tomorrow with festivities and all. I tried to describe the suit as best as I could without boring you guys too much (left out some details on purpose...)
Also, check out Blizzard's 'Reflections' comic. It's amazing. And not just because of what they revealed about Tracer.
I appreciate all your reviews, crit and thoughts on the story alike.
Happy Holidays~
