One hour later, the Moon was shining bright. At Amélie's insistence, it was time for both of them to go to sleep. Amélie took a shower and changed back into her Talon bodysuit, and proceeded to sit down on a chair. Lena took a shower and changed. Getting dressed, she walked out into the bed-room, where she observed that Amélie had let her hair down.
"Amélie, I seem to not have done any laundry, so I will have to wear this."
"Your Overwatch standard?"
"Yes, indeed. Should I change into something else, or do you mind if I wear this?"
"Fine with me; it's what you were wearing when you helped me remember." Amélie said fondly.
"Thanks luv. I'll run a couple loads of laundry tomorrow."
Snuggling in, they fell asleep shortly after.
They didn't notice Athena enter through the front door an hour later. Athena walked around, not calling Lena's name on account of how late it was.
She walked to the kitchen and didn't see them. Turning around she re-entered the living room, only to turn a corner and open a door to what she assumed was a bed-room. Softly opening the door, she saw Amélie and Lena peacefully sleeping. Backpedaling, she closed the door behind her. Sitting on a sofa in the main-room, she drew a side-arm from a compartment on her thigh and kept watch on the front door. She had heard the conversation between Genji and Jack, and was worried. She knew that Jack knew where Lena lived, but what she did not know was whether or not Jack knew that Lena was presently in King's Row. If Jack came in the door, Athena would assume hostile intent to Lena and Amélie and would protect them. If Jack came in, she would disarm him if possible, but she'd kill him if she had to.
Dawn came; shining celestial light upon the city of King's Row. Amélie awoke to see Lena still asleep.
Getting up quietly and carefully, Amélie tip-toed out of the room and into the kitchen. She didn't see Athena, and Athena didn't see her. When dreaming last night, Amélie remembered all of Widowmaker's kills, and was overcome with grief. She sank to her knees and sobbed quietly.
Athena heard the sobbing and, getting up from the sofa, she noticed Amélie weeping inconsolably on the kitchen floor. Walking over to Amélie, she hid her side-arm; not wanting to trigger a fight or flight reaction.
"Amélie Lacroix? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" She said in a soothing tone.
Still Amélie wept, not heeding the voice in her head that told her she was vulnerable for attack.
Athena felt a hand on her shoulder. Whirling around, she saw Lena.
"I've got this covered. Don't worry." Lena whispered.
Athena nodded.
"Luv?" There was no way Amélie could mistake that voice for anybody else.
Still she wept, beaten down by her sorrows.
Lena walked over and, sitting down next to Amélie, she hugged her.
"Luv, what's wrong?"
Amélie looked up at Lena dejectedly and smiled a weary smile devoid of honesty. She felt so tired of life with all its burdens.
"I'm drowning, Lena," She said.
"Ahrm, come again luv? We're on dry land."
"In the shallows of Lake Annecy, there lays a living corpse drowning under the weight of my sins." Amélie chanted over and over again.
"Listen luv, those were not your kills!"
Amélie smiled heavily.
"Why do you care for me Lena? I'm a murderer."
"C'mere luv. I've got ya," Lena said; lifting her up bridal style. For some reason, this time it felt more appropos to Lena as opposed to a few days ago. She started walking around; slowly swinging her arms left and right as if Amélie was a big crying baby.
"Do you know what you mean to me? Let me tell you. So, this all starts with those Talon bastards kidnapping you. When that happened, I went looking for you; I was literally going crazy looking for you. Following up on all possible leads I had and such like. Then we found you. Two weeks later, Gerard was dead. Years passed, and we had our run-ins. And three weeks ago, Widowmaker murdered Tekartha Mondatta. I found out that my old friend Amélie was the woman under the shell. I visited Gerard's grave. And right then and right there, I swore an oath on his tombstone that I'd protect you and keep you safe. That I'd keep you happy to the best of my ability. Then Sombra found me. I told her I was trying to help you, and then she gave me your location and some other stuff and made me promise to keep you safe. And anyway, I wasn't going to let myself love you, but you convinced me. So you've only yourself to blame for the fact that I care for you."
So saying, Lena stuck out her tongue in a raspberry of sorts. That made Amélie laugh. Leaning her head into Lena's shoulder, she closed her eyes; enjoying the warmth of Lena's body against her cold, cold skin.
They stood like this for five minutes.
"Can I stand on my own now, mademoiselle Lacroix?"
For a moment, Lena didn't recognize herself, as her last name was still Oxton. Or at least, was still officially Oxton.
"Oui, vous belle femme."
Setting Amélie on her feet, Lena heard
"Thank you for the compliment, dearest Lena."
Lena forgot about the presence of Athena, who was in the room. She was reminded when Athena made a buzzing noise that was instantly recognizable.
"Excuse me, Lena?"
Amélie whirled around and drew a side-arm faster than greased lightning. Lena had to blink in front of her to make sure she didn't shoot.
"Easy, Amélie, easy! This is Athena. The AI for the Overwatch base in King's Row."
"This is no AI, Lena, this is a battle-capable Omnic!"
"Can an Artificial Intelligence not exist if it doesn't have a body, Amélie? Anyways, Lena, I came on important business. There was a discussion last night; remember?"
"Yeah, I do. What about it?"
"Perhaps I should play the audio for Amélie's sake."
"'ang on, hang on! Let's try all that again, but after introductions!" Lena interjected.
"Amélie, Athena. Athena, Amélie. There, can we try again now?"
"It is a pleasure to meet you Amélie; I've heard nothing but good about you from Lena." So saying, Athena extended a hand to Amélie, and Amélie reciprocated. Shaking hands, Athena played an audio file for Amélie. 'You have no idea just how much she's changed, Athena! She's changed! It makes me so bleedin' happy!' That cheerful Cockney accent couldn't be mistaken for anyone else.
"Blimey, Athena! Do ye record and save every bloody thing you hear?" Lena sighed.
Amélie looked at Lena and smiled at her. You'll pay for that, Lena Lacroix. she mouthed.
Lena smiled back and blew her a raspberry.
"Alright Athena, play the file."
An hour later, the clip was done, and Amélie was experiencing mixed emotions. Lena knew she had some choice words she was going to say to Jack Morrison about Amélie, and damn straight. Monster? Talon bitch? Fuck you Morrison! She may have been those things once, but she isn't anymore! Lena thought.
Athena piped up "Long story short, they are in favor of you entering into their ranks as an official Overwatch member that you may hide from Talon, and even strike back against them should you feel so inclined any time soon."
"Thank you, Athena. Now if you don't mind, Lena and I will debate the merits of staying on our own or seeking the refuge offered by Overwatch." Amélie said.
Turning to Lena, Amélie spoke her mind again.
"Lena, I think that even if we were to join Overwatch there would be just as much danger as if we were to go it alone. I personally don't see either side as having any more benefits now that I think about it. This Jack Morrison is planning something about me, and I don't trust him."
Here Athena and Lena piped up at the same time.
"Don't worry about him, I'll protect you." They said in unison.
"Jinx, Athena! You owe me a Scotch." Lena said excitedly.
"Sure, sure. What kind?"
"Aberlour. Make it an old bottle too, please!"
"Deal." Athena smiled. Now she had an idea on how she was going to prank Lena back.
"Alright. Your clowning aside, let's go." Amélie said.
"Ever the voice of wisdom, Amélie!" Lena teased.
"Quite right. Never more so than when I'm around you." Amélie countered playfully.
Standing outside the Cathedral, both Amélie and Lena were considerably nervous. Athena walked inside and then out the back over to the storage closet. Shutting down the Omnic, she transferred her AI to the base power matrix.
"Moment of truth, luv." Lena said. Drawing her pulse pistols and keeping them at her sides, she was being careful.
She and Amélie entered the building...
Amélie activated her Infra-sight, not wanting to be caught off guard. Seeing someone about thirty yards away around a bend, She whispered to Lena
"Someone's coming; don't look up!" So saying, she grappled up to a rafter to conceal herself. Old habits die hard.
The person turned out to be Jesse McCree, who was sent to fetch them; Athena had let everyone know they were coming. Lena stopped to greet him.
"Oi, Jesse!"
"Howdy do, Lena. How've you been? Courting death by helping that assassin remember. Is she really Amélie?" He said excitedly.
"See for yourself... Amélie, you can come down; it isn't Jack." She said into her comm unit.
"Where is she? And why is she afraid of Jack?"
"Apparently Jack has something planned for Amélie, and-"
Amélie dropped down, landing and gracefully transitioning into a roll. Jesse drew his Peacekeeper on reflex, and kept it trained on Amélie for a moment, believing it was Widowmaker.
When she didn't do anything, he lowered his revolver.
"My apologies Amélie; the uniform threw me."
"It's alright, monsieur..."
"The name's McCree. Jesse McCree."
"Amélie Lacroix."
"Pleasure to meet you. You know, I'm not sure about Oxton over here, but I intend to make Talon pay for kidnapping an innocent lady such as yourself, Amélie."
"Oi, It's Lacroix, not Oxton." Lena said irritatedly.
"Wha'?" Jesse said dumbstruck.
He opened his mouth to try again, but shut it right after. This happened two more times.
Apparently he was satisfied with how he assembled the question in his mind, because when he opened his mouth, out came a coherent question.
"Do ya mean to say you two already consider yourselves married? Damn, that was fast; how long ago was it when you helped her remember, Lena? Three days ago? Four? I always knew you were a womanizer." he teased.
Amélie laughed at the strange back-and-forth banter that these people shared. It reminded her of when she was still Gerard's wife. To Lena, it was a beautiful sound, and more precious than a heart-moving symphony from those musical composers from about two-to-three hundred years ago that she couldn't presently remember the names of. Even more beautiful what with Amélie's recent mood-swings.
"That was beautiful, luv. Every time I hear you laugh, I wanna hear it again and again."
"We should probably get goin' Lacroixes; The rest of the gang'll wanna see Amélie. But Lena, in all seriousness, you should know that we've had several meetings recently, in several of which we discussed whether you should face charges or not." McCree said.
As he said this, Lena and Amélie exchanged significant looks.
"We ended up deciding that you're innocent, and that this is legitimate, but people might still need a bit of convincin' that this is Amélie, especially with the whole Widowmaker bodysuit thingy."
"Thanks for the heads-up, but Athena dropped by my flat and played us the whole audio. Amélie and I are thankful that you and Genji believed in us. I've got words to say to that sonuvabitch Morrison." Lena said.
"No you don't," McCree said.
"Why? You gonna stop me?" Lena said coldly, perceiving it as a challenge, and thus a possible threat to Amélie's safety.
"Easy Lena, easy. Right now you sound like I did back when I was in the Deadlock gang. You don't have words to say to him 'cause he left this morning, as it happens. Said he'd give us a week to change our ways and throw you out, or his days as Soldier: 76 weren't done. He's still upset that you shot him to protect Amélie here... Speaking of, I have to ask; did you really shoot him? Or is he just making it up?" McCree asked.
"Lena, you shot your friends?! fille stupide! Why didn't you tell me this?"
"Amélie, I didn't kill him, I just took away his ability to pursue and shoot at us. Same for Angela. I'm not denying that I shot them; I shot them, and I'd do it again without qualms if it kept you safe."
Amélie shook her head and smiled.
"Well, I guess I should be grateful that you love me that much."
Amélie whirled around when she heard the sound of something thudding to the ground.
That was when she saw Jesse's cigar on the ground, and his mouth agape at the two of them.
"Remind me to stay off your bad side, Lena. Anyhow let's get goin'." So sayin, he stomped out his old cigar and grabbed a new one from a pouch on his belt, next to his flashbangs.
"So Jesse, how did you fare in that quick-draw contest that you challenged Genji to?" Lena inquired.
"Well, you've heard me say 'I'm the quick, you're the dead.' right? Well Genji is the quicker, and I'm the deader; I nearly got my damn head blown off when he deflected my bullet mere inches away from my face."
"Did you challenge him again?"
"Actually, yes I did, only I clarified, and said I was curious who could draw a lead-thrower such as Peacekeeper here faster. I was faster."
"Shit! Really?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Congratulations; all those Wild Wild West days have paid off for you."
"In ways both good and bad. Much obliged, though." he said.
Looking at Amélie, he felt like he should give her a warning on what she should expect.
"Amélie, I have to warn you, that you will be treated as a bit of an oddity for a bit. When the luster fades, people will start treating you as Amélie again, you mark my words, hear me?"
"Merci, monsieur McCree."
Halting outside the conference room, Jesse had one last thing to say to Amélie.
"Now, Amélie, people will think you're Widowmaker, so you'll have to start talking fast, and claim the floor. Lena and I will support you. Genji and everyone else believes you deep down, but the fact that you're back in that bodysuit is gonna give them pause for a bit. So be careful."
Unto the breach...
When they both entered, everyone was startled to see Amélie in the Widowmaker bodysuit, but McCree was able to calm them down. Amélie stood tall and took everyones gazes in for a second before addressing them.
"Bonjour everyone. My name is Amélie Lacroix, and I want to thank you for your offer of refuge from Talon. Over the past week, Lena has helped me remember, and the more I remember, the more I want to stay with her, instead of being abducted by Talon again. I understand that this 'Jack Morrison' is against you allowing me to stay here, but I will do my best to earn your trust. This all must come as a shock, but I really am glad to see you all on friendly terms."
"Greetings, Amélie, it is good to see you." Genji said, standing up and walking over.
Amélie shook the proffered hand, and continued to stand with Lena when everyone else sat back down.
"Well, it's good to see you Amélie, but I'm sure we all have a few questions we'd like to ask you, if you don't mind." Winston said.
"Very well, I will do my best to answer them..."
This had gone on for about twenty minutes when Amélie's left eye started twitching.
Lena didn't notice at first until she heard Amélie start rapidly muttering panicked phrases in French.
"Arreter. Arreter! Faire cesser! S'il vous plait faire cesser!"
Lena took action fast, realizing that Amélie was panicking.
"Everybody stop talking! Amélie's having a panic attack."
"Gerard, s'il vous plait aidez-moi! J'ai peur pour ma vie! Ils veulent me casser et faire de moi une arme!"
Speaking to Amélie in her native tongue, Lena was worrying about Amélie. When she heard the responses Amélie gave, her concern only increased.
"Amélie, écoutez-moi! Vous êtes très bien. Rien de ce que vous êtes se souvenant qui se passe réellement; vous êtes s'en souvenir dans votre vie qui se sont déjà produits. Me concentrer sur ma voix, je t'aiderai à obtenir par ce biais!"
"Qui es tu?"
That hurts. Lena thought.
"Je suis ta femme, Lena!"
Angela gasped; following the conversation in French.
"Ma femme? J'ai épousé un homme!"
That hurt Lena even more, but she knew Amélie was panicking, or she'd have gotten angry about that.
"Vous avez fait, mait ensuite Talon avait voues tuer. Ses la meilleure moitié d'une décennie depuis que vous étiez marié à Gerard Lacroix. Vous êtes devenu cet assassin légendaire femelle, et je vous ai aidé n'oubliez pas. Vous rencontrez une attaque de panique! S'il vous plait se souvenir de moi!"
"Vous mentez! Je vais te teur!"
Shit. Lena thought as Amélie leapt for her throat and started choking her, much to the dismay and surprise of everyone there.
The look of pure hatred in Widowmaker's eyes sent shivers down Lena's spine.
Lena saw McCree rapidly moving his hand to Peacekeeper when she said weakly
"McCree, don't! Everybody don't move! Angela, when the time comes; you do what you have to do. This is the only way I can help her remember!"
Turning to Amélie, Lena choked out.
"Fais-le. Faites-le en sachant que dans la vie," Lena gasped.
"Dans la vie et la mort, je vais toujours t'aime, Amélie Lacroix."
Widowmaker snapped Lena's neck and ran out into the night.
So died Lena Lacroix, lover and unofficial wife of Amélie Lacroix...