"You have made me legitimately scared of tracer... Let this be a lesson. Don't piss off small English people." – CTHULHU
It appears as though I have done what I set out to do. I wanted to scare readers with this chapter, and I seem to have done that.
"So why spy left his son I wanna hear the reason pls." – Anonymous
That's what I'm gonna do in this chapter.
"Do you know how long you're going to be writing this? I don't want it to end!" – A loyal reader
I don't know how long I'm gonna keep doing this, but it will end at some point. I gotta be honest, though, I didn't expect it would last this long. But I promise that unlike some other writers on this website, I will finish this fanfic. I will not stop writing it until the status says Complete.
"I find HanaxScout to be a cute couple. Somebody did something like this before with a harem, but it wasn't as great as a single pairing. I can imagine the both of them try to outwit each other in video games." – Lord Demolitions
I'm still unsure about doing a true Scout x D. Va pairing, because I don't feel like they have the same chemistry that Scout and Tracer have. I just don't think they have a real ship-worthy bond. I set up an interaction and argument between them in the last chapter, but that was just so that it would be a possibility somewhere down the line. But I just don't think they make that great a couple, so I'm a little unsure how I would pair them.
If you can think of something that they could do or would happen to them that might lead to a romance between them, then go ahead and tell me. Maybe I will incorporate it into my story at some point. And if not this one, then maybe another one. I have some ideas for a sequel to this fanfiction.
I like the video games idea though. I have thought about Scout using Winston's portal machine to travel to the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s to buy new video game consoles on release and then competing with some people (particularly D. Va) in games such as Mario Kart.
I've even thought about him already owning a Magnavox Odyssey and a Pong console, because that's the latest in video game technology in his time (which was the late 1970s).
On with the show!
Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…
The heart rate monitor in Mercy's sickbay was beeping very slowly. The patient whom it was attached to was in critical condition. He had pipes and tubes running into his face and chest. His arms were covered in blood-stained bandages and his body was covered in burn ointment. He had a stopper plugged up his nose and in his mouth to stop them from bleeding. His breathing was very slow and his heart rate was no better. An X-ray showed dozens of broken bones and torn muscles in his body. This was a man who had just had the beating of his lifetime.
This man was the Spy.
He was in a coma now, and he was lying on the bed in the sickbay for a few hours now. His body was so damaged after having gotten the crap beaten out of him by Tracer, over his parental devotion to Scout, or lack thereof. Medic and Mercy's healing beams had been directed at him this entire time. They were the only things keeping him alive now.
"How long vill it take, doktor?" The Swiss angel asked.
"For most men, full physical recovery could take up to six months, and that's if they even have a chance. And if they were lucky enough to pull zhat off, full psychological recovery would take even longer. He's lucky to have us as his healers. He vould have probably died if ve veren't here to save him."
"How bad is it?"
The German doctor without his license continued, "Cracked skull, possibly even some brain damage, broken nose, missing teeth, shattered humerus, ankles, and knees, nine ribs cracked, four broken, fractured colarbone, twisted nerves all over, burst capillaries, vhich means internal bleeding, inflamed diaphragm and testicles, and broken bronchioles.
I vill say zhis, his heart is extremely powerful. It seems helping him survive zhis harsh beating, but I don't zhink he vould survive vithout us," he said, holding up his smashed Dead Ringer. "Vith our beams, he should be fully recovered vithin a veek, though he might still feel some trauma after zhat. Of course, now ve have to go back to 1978 and get him a new one of these." He threw the (actually) dead ringer in the trash can.
Mercy shook her head. "I can't believe Tracy vas capable of doing zhis."
"What I can't believe," Medic said, "Is vhy Spy – Ja, he is so mysterious, I don't even know his name – Didn't even try to stop Lena from doing zhis. He is very strong and sneaky, and can easily defeat heavily armed enemies, much less unarmed ones, but vhen Lena put him in zhis coma, he didn't even try to stop her."
"Vhat do you mean, doktor?"
"Vhen Lena went ballistic on him, he never pulled out his revolver or knife – vhich he alvays keeps in his pockets – on her, and vhen she vas beating him, he actually begged her for mercy." The Swiss doctor giggled. "Ha-ha," Medic sarcastically laughed, then continued. "Anyvay, he begged her to stop. He never does zhat. Even in ze face of certain danger, he eggs on his foes to kill him. He has never begged zhem to stop. I vonder vhy he did earlier."
"Vell, I don't know – Remember, I still don't know mental health very vell – But maybe he does feel guilty over everything Lena accused him of. Maybe he does feel bad over leaving his son vhen he was a young boy, and didn't even try to defend himself because he felt zhat guilty over it."
Medic looked a little surprised. "Huh. I never zhought of zhat before. But now zhat you say it, it does make sense. Spy has never been the most loving fazher figure to ze boy, but he never showed any hostility towards him, even if Scout did intentionally try to get on his nerves. Come to zhink of it, I now vonder vhy Spy didn't tell him about it at all before. He did have many chances to."
"Maybe he vas afraid of ze young Jeremy doing ze same zhing to him," Mercy suggested.
"Nein," Medic denied. "He has never been afraid of Scout doing anything to him. He is much smaller and weaker than his vater. He was most likely more afraid of hurting his son and making him feel betrayed and lied to."
It was at that moment when Spy started to stir in his bed. He was coming out of his coma, but he was still badly hurt from his scuffle with Tracer. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up. He noticed that stoppers plugged up in his mouth and nose and tried to pull them out.
"Nein," Medic said. "Let me do it. It could be very painful and damaging otherwise." Medic gently pulled the stoppers out. Despite his warnings, it still felt a little painful to Spy. "I'm sorry, Herr Spy, but it would be much vorse if you did it yourself." He pulled the stoppers out with a groan in agony from Spy. The bleeding had mostly stopped, but a little bit of blood was still trickling out.
Spy smiled weakly. "I've had worse," he said. "Remember Gray Mann's robots? Thank God you had that reviver in time for our war against them."
Mercy gasped in shock. "You could revive people back zhen?! Mein Gott, is zhere anyzhing ve on Overvatch are doing zhat hasn't already been done?!"
Medic tried to defend himself. "It required a special machine attached to zhem. And even zhen, I had to revive zhem in a certain amount of time or I vould lose zhem." Mercy glared at him. Eager to change the subject, Medic turned to Spy and said, "Anyvay…Spy…How are you feeling?"
Spy shot him a dirty look. "I'm riverdancing on the stairway to heaven right now. How does it look like I'm feeling?"
Medic backed off, clearly not amused by the sarcasm. "All right, all right! Es tut mir leid! I vas only trying to show some care tovards dich!"
Spy huffed. Caring was one thing. Asking stupid questions was another. "Aaarrgghhhhhhh," he groaned. "That was the worst beating I've ever taken in my entire life! This makes all those mob bosses seem like first-year boxers competing for the lightweight title. I had no idea that little girl could pack such a powerful punch."
"None of us did," Mercy said. "Even Winston and Pharah, and zhey're ze strongest ones on our team, vere too scared to go up against her. She really caught us by surprise vith zhat blow."
"I zhink ve're both learning zhings about our young blood zhat ve've never known before," Medic said. "Our poor Scout is suffering from depression and has suicidal zhoughts, and your young British punk can go absolutely ballistic on people vhenever she's angry enough to do so."
"I guess you're right," the Swiss angel said. "It seems as though the most unlikely of people vould be ze ones to carry such heavy burdens. I vish ve could do more to get zhrough to and help zhem."
"But zhat's not ze biggest zhing that perplexes me," the German doctor said. "Vhat I vant to know from you, Spy, is vhy didn't you stop her? You were more than a match for her. I know. I've seen you take down stronger attackers zhan her, but you didn't even try. It looked like you just let her do it. Vhy?"
Spy looked like he didn't want to answer that question, but felt like an explanation was owed, not just to them, but to Scout and Tracer as well.
He cleared his throat and said, "All right. Let me start from the beginning. I have to do that, so that my answer to your question will make sense later." Medic nodded.
"I first got involved in espionage when I was a young boy. My parents were murdered in cold blood by an assassin that I had never seen in my life. Well, you can imagine what that did to me as a little boy. I was not only sad. I was angry. I wanted to get revenge. I wanted to see the man who killed my loving mother and father and give him a taste of his own medicine. And I wanted to see him suffer as I was doing it.
Well, in my quest to find this unknown man, I got involved in all sorts of gangs and crime circles. One thing led to another, I made lots of money, and just as many, if not more, enemies. Rival gangs, drugs lords, cops, government officials, you name it. They were all after my head, but through my various modes of cunning, I always got the best of them.
One day, I found my parents' killer, and I got my long-awaited revenge on him. But by that time, I was already wanted throughout all of France. I had to flee as quickly as I could. That's how I came to America. And it was there when I met Jeremy's mother. I was in my 20s at the time. I hoped that with her, I could start my life over and become a good man doing good to the world. Maybe I could even be a father, and a very good one at that.
Sadly, after we had about three kids, I discovered that some of my old enemies had also came overseas and we out looking for me. I knew that if they knew that I was loving somebody and even had kids with them, then they would become targets of their schemes. So I left them. I regretted my actions, but I wanted to keep them safe from harm. Sometimes, when I felt I was safe for some time, I would return home to my lover and her kids. We even had a few more together. Jeremy is, what, our sixth child?"
"Eighth," Medic said.
"Eighth child," Spy corrected himself. "He was the only one that never saw his daddy. I left before he was born and I have never returned there since. It was around that time when Redmond Mann had summoned me to fight in his gravel war.
But despite all that, I felt very guilty over the lack of attention I was spending with my children. I wanted to keep them safe, but I knew that someday they would grow old and strong enough to look after themselves and wouldn't need me to keep them safe anymore."
"Can I ask you a quick question, Spy?" Medic said.
Spy sighed. "What do you want to know?"
"Have any of your boys ever found out about what you've been doing?"
"No," Spy said firmly. "I told their mother about why I was leaving her, but I also told her not to tell any of our children this. I didn't want them to follow in their daddy's footsteps and become killers like him. This wasn't a life I choice. This was one that was chosen for me. I hoped that by distancing myself from them, I might be able to make that a choice for them. And I hoped that if they could choose not to live a life of running and hiding and killing, they would."
He paused for a moment and sighed. "But it appears as though my youngest son has become involved in this great conflict, so it may have all just been a pipe dream."
"But you still haven't answered mein question," Medic said. "Why didn't you stop Lena from beating you up?"
"Because I needed to be beat up," Spy said after a moment of silence. "Even if I left him because I didn't want him to become involved in my cold, murderous life, I had plenty of chances to reach out to him. I could have been back there for birthdays, for Christmases, for his high school graduation, I could have even sent him letters under a fake name to let him know that his father is alive and thinking of him.
I could have even told him at any time when we were fighting together under Redmond Mann, any time after that conflicted ending, any time during the Robot Wars, and any time during our time here at the Overwatch! But I never did. I was too scared to. I was afraid of what he would think of me and of himself. I didn't want to cause either him or me any more unnecessary stress.
But I know realize that being a good parent means being openly honest and truthful to your children. I never told him anything. I never comforted him. I never showed the slightest bit of fatherly love towards him." And with that, his eyes began to water. "And because of this, I hear and see that he's locked himself in his room, about to shoot a pistol bullet in his mouth. And it was that British runner who saved his life, and not me. I hardly did anything.
So, doctor, to answer your question, I took that beating because she was right. I let her beat me up into a bloody mess because I deserved it. Because I was a bad parent who did very little to help his son in his time of hurt and need." He was now crying.
Medic was a little surprised to see him cry, but understood why he was. Even Mercy felt sad hearing this.
"Can I ask the two of you for a favor?" Spy suddenly asked.
"Sure."
"Of course."
"Don't let Lena tell him the truth about me." Noticing the doctors confused faces, he continued. "I don't want him hearing the truth from somebody else. He needs to hear the truth, but I must be the one to tell it to him. He would probably not believe it if he heard it from somebody else. Because of that, nobody can tell him the truth except me. And as soon as I get out of here, I will not waste any time getting that done. How much longer will I be forced to stay here?"
Medic and Mercy looked at each other and then Medic said, "I zhink you should stay here for a few more days, Spy. You're very fortunate that you have us as your healers, but even vith us, this will take some time. Ve can probably let you go in about drei oder vier days, but even zhen, you may have to valk vith a cane. A full physical recovery should not last longer than a veek, assuming ze girl von't try to beat you up again, but a full psychological recovery may take longer zhen zhat."
Spy groaned. "Could you at least to the girl and tell her not to tell my son the truth and that she should let me do it?"
"Zhat I zhink I can do," Mercy said.
"Thank you."
"And now," Medic quickly said. "Until zhen, you need to rest. Ve can heal you, but it vill take time and it vill go faster vith you lying still."
Spy lay back down on his bed, trying to go back to sleep.
Medic and Mercy left the sickbay and went back to the Mess Hall to get some food.
"Vow. Zat vas truly a story," Medic said.
"Ja," Mercy replied. "For mercenaries with 'no morals or standards,' you surely carry a lot of veight and even question your own life and choices."
"Vell, ve try," said Medic. "Sometimes, zhough, ve make some pretty bad choices. But sometimes, they end up creating ze healing formula zhat turns zhem into gods!" He laughed, but quickly noticing Mercy's stern look, he said, "But it usually does more harm zhen gut."
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"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Emily."
"It…It's OK, Lena."
"No! No, it's not! I scared you! I scared my own girlfriend! I don't know why I just jumped out and beat him up like that! I just wanted to teach that slimy, gutless coward what it feels like to be the victim of unreasonable neglect! But you're right. It got out of control, and I didn't want to scare you!"
Tracer was upstairs in her bedroom, trying her hardest to patch things up between her and her frightened girlfriend. D. Va and Mei were giving her tea and cookies to try to calm her down after her meltdown with Spy. "Thank you loves," she said, sipping on a cup of lemon tea, with just a bit of honey added in. "I'm feeling much better already."
"Lena, I overreacted as well. I should know full well that you wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I had no reason to be scared of you right then, and now I know that."
Lena took some deep breaths and continued talking. "I know, it's just I feel so guilty doing anything to intimidate the one person whom I love so much."
"'The one'?" Emily asked.
Lena looked up in surprise. "Of course, Emily. Do you think I could possibly love anybody else?"
"Well," Emily said skeptically. "It seems to me like you love Jeremy as well."
"What?!" Lena shouted. "Well, yeah, I mean, I do love him, but not that kind of love. Not the kind of love that I have for you!"
"Really?" Emily asked, a little bit doubtful of what she was hearing. "From what I've been hearing, it seems like you and him are more than just good friends. You two have done a lot of things together here without me. You've apparently been eating together, fighting together, watching TV together, from what Winston tells me, he's even been teaching you music and how to play instruments. You and him appear to have such a strong bond. I sort of feel like he has a special place in your heart that no one, not even I, can fill it with."
Lena couldn't believe that Emily was saying this. She actually detected a hint of… "Emily, are you feeling jealous?"
"Jealous? ME?!" he scoffed. "No, of course not. Why would I? How could I possibly feel jealous knowing that you're always somewhere else, having the time of your life with someone else, much less a man. You've never fallen in love with a man in your life, I know that, but-"
"WHOA! Hold on! Stop right there! Who said that I was in love with Jeremy?"
"Oh come on, I can tell. You always talk so lovingly about him. You're always going on about he is the perfect boyfriend, about how he is so talented and gifted, and about how he is so fragile and weak and needs someone to look after him.
Lena, tell me the truth. Do you love him?"
Lena was beyond shocked. Emily was jealous of Jeremy and the relationship he and her seemed to have. She couldn't have this. She had to clear things up and she had to do it now. "Emily," she said slowly. "I'll tell you the truth, but you must not overreact and you must hear everything that I have to say."
Emily looked scared. She was now fearing the worst was to come from Lena. "OK, I will," she said weakly.
Lena sighed. "Yes, it's true. I love him so much." A shocked Emily was opening her mouth to say something, but Lena stopped her. "Let me finish. Yes, I do have strong feelings towards him, and I won't lie, this is the closest I've ever felt to loving a man. But," she firmly added, knowing what Emily would say to that, "That doesn't mean I want to commit myself to a serious relationship with him. That doesn't mean I want to be a serious girlfriend of his. I don't love him so much that I want him to move into my house, have him sleep with me, and…" she paused for a minute, knowing that what she would say next would make her feel uncomfortable, "and, I don't want to shag him", she said with slight irritation. "I don't want to touch his body and suck on his willy and have him stick it in me," she paused again. It was clear to Emily that Lena really didn't like saying this. "The only person I want to sleep with is you, Emily.
What Jer and I have, I like to say is more like a sibling relationship. I really want to be there to look out for him and make sure his life is sailing smoothly. I want him to have a person that he can come to when he needs someone. You know, he's never had that. All his life, he's been told to cover it up, suck it up, move on, forget about it. I…I want to change that. I want to be the first person in his life who has actually cared about him and his feelings. That's what he and I have. I want to watch over him and make sure that he's always doing well.
I also love him for who he is. I love that he's a very talent musician. And he almost never brags about it. He doesn't shove it in my or anyone else's face. And I wanted to learn some of what he knows about it, because lately I've come to respect people who can claim to have that level of talent and artistry. He's also very funny. He cracks a lot of jokes that make me laugh, and he's not afraid to speak his mind, even if he can get a little vulgar at times. But above all else, he is so kind and sincere. He would go to the ends of the earth for the person that he loves. I have seen that he would go to great lengths for me to be safe and happy. And I truly love him for that. And you're right, Emily. He does have a special place in my heart. And it's a place that nobody else can fill.
But now, I guess I can understand why you might be jealous. I have talked so much about him that it makes even me question how much I actually love him. And looking back on that day," she shuddered as she said this, "That day when he tried to kill himself, it hurt me so much to see that. It makes me so sad to know that he could be so lonely that he would even consider suicide to be an acceptable option for him." Her eyes were now watering as she said that. "And hearing Mercy say that she couldn't revive suicide victims made me realize just how precious and valuable his life is. And how someone should do everything they can to keep him from…ending it. And no one before me has. No one before me has even tried. He's always had to do this by himself." She was now crying again from saying that. D. Va, still in Tracer's room, was also crying because, as much as she wanted to hide it, she did have a crush on Scout, and hearing about the time he tried to kill himself made her cry as well.
Emily had now regretted her feelings of jealousy after hearing that. "Lena, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just jumped to conclusions like that. I really need to stop making so many untrue assumptions about you."
"But you're right to," Lena said. "I have done some things lately that need to be questioned. I would call you stupid if you didn't question my sanity after beating a man within an inch of his life."
"Boy, and beat him within an inch of his life, you did," Mei said. "According to Mercy, he's trapped in her sickbay with more than half of his bones broken and muscles ripped, and not in a sexy way."
"Serves him right," Lena instantly snarled, her anger rising up again. "That invisible rat deserved what he got." Quickly realizing how angry she was, she immediately turned to Emily and said, "Love, I'm sorry for getting angry again. I want to make it clear that I'm angry at him and not you."
"Yes, I know that now," Emily said. "And don't worry. I feel OK speaking to you again."
"Thank you!" Lena cried, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend and giving her a full kiss on the lips. "I love you so much, Emily. I don't want our relationship to end over something like this. Blimey, I don't want it to end at all!"
Emily was happy to hear this. "Neither do I, Lena. I love you so much." They kissed passionately for a long time. Mei eventually got impatient having to wait for them to finish that she got up and left the room. D. Va remained behind. They knew that soon they were going to speak to Jeremy about the future, and she wanted to go with them to apologize to him for her earlier outburst at him and let him know that she was available to be his girlfriend.
Finally the two stopped kissing, but only because Lena had more to say. "You know, I'm glad we have these conversations, Emily. They really assure me, and I hope you as well, that we truly love each other and we want to spend the rest of our lives together."
"But you also want to spend the rest of your life with Jeremy as well," Emily added.
"Well…yeah," Lena admitted. "But as a close friend. That's why I'm not inviting him to move in with us, but at an apartment that's close to our house. The truth is, Emily, I want to spend the rest of my life with both of you. With you as my soul mate, and with Jeremy as my little brother."
Emily now felt better, hearing Lena say that. "I understand," she said. "It now makes sense why you want both him and me to be with you forever."
D. Va , having had something on her mind for a long time, now spoke up. "Lena?"
"Yes, love?"
"I just want you to know that…Now that you've expressed how you feel about Jeremy, I want you to know that I've always looked at you as my big sister. Throughout our entire time together, you have been that one person that I felt safe around and could openly talk to. You have been my best friend ever since our first day together. That's why I know that you would be an excellent big sister to Jeremy."
Lena felt happy hearing Hana say that. "Thanks, love!" She happily chirped, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "And I'm glad I've known you as long as I have! You've been such a great person to me as well!"
"And that's why I'm hoping," D. Va continued, "That I can patch things up with Jeremy after what I said to him this morning so that he might want to be my boyfriend. That way, I can live the rest of my life, not just with him, but with you too, since you're going to be living next door to him! I hope he wants to be with me! My life will be so wonderful! All of our lives will be!"
"Well, I'm not sure that we've quite convinced him yet," Emily said. "I think we need to do some last bits of reassurance to him so that we can convince him that moving next to us to start his life over will be the wise thing to do."
"I agree," said Lena. "We need to go talk to him after this so that we can truly sell him on the idea, because as much as he may not want to admit it, he needs me."
"Why wouldn't he want to admit it?" D. Va asked.
"Well, since he can't have me, he does tend to get jealous real easily, and he doesn't want to try to ruin my and Emily's relationship so that he can get a shot with me. That's another thing I really respect about him. He's choosing my happiness and well-being over his own. That's how I know he truly loves me and doesn't just want me for sex. He listens to me and wants me to do what I want to do. And even if it's not what he wants, he won't object. He'll just let me do it. And that's why," she said, turning back to Emily, "I said that he is the best boyfriend ever. Because whoever ends up getting him will be the luckiest girl alive." Hearing this, D. Va desperately hoped that she had a chance with him.
"Well then," she said, jumping around excitedly. "Let's go! Let's go to his room and speak with him! We're wasting time just sitting around here!"
"Hold on," Emily said. "He probably doesn't want to speak to you right now because of what you did to him earlier, remember?"
D. Va's happy mood immediately went flat. Like helium draining out of a balloon, her face immediately went from happy to sad. "Oh. Right," she said sadly. "Well then, could you at least tell him that I'm sorry and that I love him? Could you at least try to convince him to speak to me, possibly even ask me out?"
"We can try," Lena said. "We'll do the best we can, but we don't know if it will convince him to change his mind. We can't force him to do anything. We can only do so much."
Despite this response, D. Va tried to remain hopeful. "Thank you. At least try to talk him into it."
"We will," Emily said. "But we can't make any promises."
"You know," Lena immediately said. "Why do we have to go to his room? It's always me who goes to him. For once, I want it to be the other way around. I want him to come see me and try to strike up a conversation with me. I'm getting a little tired of always being the ice breaker."
"You really want to stand around and wait for your prince charming to come to you?" Emily asked skeptically.
Lena's face fell. Emily was right. She was never one to sit around and wait for things to happen to her. If she wanted something done, she would always get up and do it herself. She would rarely, if ever, wait for someone else to do it for her. Besides, if they did just stand around and wait for him, it might take forever. So she changed her mind.
"You're right," she sighed. "Let's go to his room."
"Great!" Emily shouted enthusiastically.
"What's gotten you so hyper?" Lena asked.
"Well, you said that he played music, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, I kinda wanted to see it for myself. I wanted to see the collection of instruments that he has and I also want to see him play for us. I want to see if he really is as good as you say he is. Maybe I can even convince him to teach me a little bit. I'm sure playing music really is as sexy as it looks!"
Lena laughed. Unlike herself until recently, Emily had always been into music. She never had much of interest in playing it, but maybe that would change soon enough.
"OK, Love. I've learned a little bit about this from Jer as well. Maybe I can surprise you with my musical skills." She said, grinning.
"Oh please. There's no way you're good enough to wow me," Emily retorted.
"Yeah, you're right. I was just hoping that I could make a dramatic introduction," she sighed.
The two of them then got up and walked out of the room. After they left, D. Va decided to follow them. She wouldn't go in with them, but maybe she could listen in to the conversation so that if Jeremy confessed any love he had for her, she would hear it from him before anyone else would.
As the girls left, she stayed behind for a few minutes, and then followed. I hope he says yes, she thought. It will be embarrassing to confess it in front of everyone, but at least I would have him, and he would have me. D. Va had learned long ago to take a relationship slowly at first. Don't ask him the big questions at first, like sex. A good relationship starts with some trust and builds up after that. It shouldn't be any more than hugging and kissing at first. Then come the dates, then the cuddling, and then the fucking. But she had to slow down in her thoughts. She wasn't there yet. She had to hear him say "I love you" to her before she could continue doing anything else. But after that blowup at breakfast, it seemed like she would never reach that stage. It seemed a bit like a pipe dream now, now that reality was beginning to kick in to her, but she decided it was better for her to remain hopeful than depressed.
However, unknown to any of them, another woman was listening in to their conversation and was interested about where it was going. And it was none other than the French Talon-turned-Overwatch sniper known as Amélie Lacroix, better known as Widowmaker, also known as the Spider. She had switched sides, yes, but not out of a change of heart. Rather, she was bribed by Winston. But after hearing Scout's story, she noticed how similar it was to hers, and for the first time in her life, she began to question her logic and decisions. She began to wonder if she was right to even join Talon in the first place. Very much like Scout, she had a tragic event in her life, and this is what started her down the dark path to become the cold and ruthless killer that she had become. Now that she heard that Scout was in a similar spot to what she was in, she wondered if it could have been possible for her to avoid going down that said dark path. She needed to hear more about this, she decided, and so, she followed the ladies down the hall to Scout's room, though, like D. Va, she would remain outside the door.
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It was now a few hours since breakfast. After he had eaten, Scout took a short nap. After waking up from that, he decided to practice music a little bit more. He didn't dwell too much on D. Va snapping at him that morning, but he did wonder what he could have done that would warrant it. Come to think of it, what did he ever do to make her hate him so much? Ever since he first joined the Overwatch, she had done nothing but yell at him, throw insults at him, say that his taste in rock and roll music sucks, and a bunch of other things.
Scout scoffed. Why did he care so much about what she thought? She probably doesn't have anything against him in particular, he thought. She was just a bitch. She probably acts this way towards everybody she meets. It's a wonder how the others here at Overwatch are able to put up with her. I'm surprised that gorilla hasn't already kicked her out, he thought.
He resumed playing his guitar, thinking that nobody was hearing it. He decided he was in a Beatles mood today. His number one favorite artist was Tom Jones. He was a huge fan of Tom Jones, so much so that before coming to Overwatch, he invested in a large amount of Tom Jones memorabilia, which made him ridiculously rich after Jones' death (at the hands of his own teammate, nonetheless). He liked Jones, but the Beatles were a close second.
He admired the cool vocal harmonies that they put on their records, and he especially liked how each of the four Beatles had their own singing style, easily distinguishing them from each other. He also liked how the Beatles had such tricky chords and playing styles in their music. Ever since he was a kid in 1964, Jeremy tried his hardest to discover the opening chord to their song "A Hard Day's Night." But he just could never figure it out. Apparently, no one could. Nobody in his lifetime could tell what that damn chord was.
"Wait a minute," he said. "I'm living in 2077 now. It's been more than a hundred years since that chord was first heard. Surely somebody has figured it out by now." He quickly ran to his computer, which he was still learning how to use, and then used it to call up Google, still the popular search engine at that time.
Typing on the computer was a real challenge for Scout, since all the letter keys were arranged in a very unusual way. He expected them to be layered as A, B, C, D, E, and so on in alphabetical order across and down the keyboard. Instead, they were arranged as Q, W, E, R, T, Y, and all the others in the strangest order ever. "How are these keys arranged? What was the thought process behind this?" he groaned.
After some struggling, he finally typed "A Hard Day's Night opening chord" in Google, but to his surprise, the search results didn't yield an answer. He saw an article which read, "A Hard Day's Night, 100 Years Later, and a Mystery Still Unsolved." He clicked on the link, and it led him to a website which had an article that said,
It has been over one hundred years since John, Paul, George, and Ringo hit the music scene with their landmark feature film A Hard Day's Night, and its' associated title song.
And yet, all these years later, one puzzle still confuses people all over the world: The song's opening chord.
The chord, played by George Harrison on a Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar, was unlike anything that the world has ever heard before, quite literally in fact. No one in 1964 could tell what chord that was. And nobody ever has since.
As of 2077, the opening chord remains unknown. It is known to some Beatles fans as the "Magical Mystery Chord."
Jeremy was absolutely stunned. He has travelled in time over one hundred years into the future, and still nobody knows that damned chord? And by now, all of the Beatles and anyone else in the studio at the time had died, so they can't say for themselves what it is. The Beatles must have truly been musical gods, playing a chord that nobody else can play. It must have been the "lost chord" that Keith Richards had been searching for his whole life.
He gave up trying a long time ago, but mostly because he lacked a 12-string guitar. Maybe now he should use some of his not-so-hard-earned money to buy one. He then went back to Google and typed in "Guitar Center Gibraltar" into the search bar, and showed that there was a Guitar Center not too far from Watchpoint. It was time for him to head over. Especially after an announcement on the PA system came on. It was Genji saying,
"Attention! All Overwatch personnel! Due to circumstances beyond our control, lunch will now be served."
Ugh. As good as Torbjörn was at making chocolate pancakes, he could not fix anything else if his life depended on it. Jeremy picked up his wallet and ran out the door, which now had a sign on it that read "The Swamp." That was the name of his room now. He was tired calling it a number like 7G. But as he ran out his door, he ran into a familiar face and an unfamiliar one, with red hair and freckles, and a red-and-white-polka-dot shirt and skirt.
"Hey, love!" Lena said.
"Can't stop, Lena," he said, panting. "I don't wanna be near-"
"We know, love. We're getting out of here, too."
Without asking any further, Jeremy said, "My car's in Symmetra's workshop. We'll hop in it and get outta here."
As they ran towards the workshop, they heard another voice, "HEY! Wait for me! I don't wanna eat Torbby's disgusting slop!" D. Va shouted.
They broke into the workshop, and found the car still sitting there, with a bunch of supplies lying around. Symmetra was obviously working on converting it into an electric. "Shotgun!" D. Va shouted, with a grin on her face. She hopped in the car on that side before Jeremy could stop her. Deciding that he didn't have time to kick her out, Jeremy got in the driver's seat, while Tracer and Emily hopped in the back. Jeremy slammed on the gas and he and the girls sped off.
It was much easier for him to get around on the road now. He still had the GPS installed on his dashboard, and it was broad daylight outside. It was a very nice day outside. The sun was shining, and there was a light breeze blowing.
After a moment of silence, Lena spoke up. "Love, thanks for getting us out of there. Last time I had lunch from Torbby, I got food poisoning. It got so bad Mercy had to take X-rays of my chest."
"I'm sure those came out really beautiful," Jeremy said, smirking.
Emily giggled at hearing that while Lena blushed. Jeremy just could never kick his wisecracking side if he wanted to. She punched him in the shoulder and said, "My chest is none of your business!" He just laughed at that.
Emily then spoke up. "You're Jeremy, right?"
"Yeah. Nice to meet you," he said, shaking her hand. "And you must be Emily, Lena's girlfriend?"
"Indeed I am. I've heard a lot about you. I hear that you run, play music, tell lots of jokes and are a very nice person."
Jeremy blushed a little bit himself and said, "Oh, pish-posh. She exaggerates all the time. I take it that you're a really nice person? I know Lena well enough that she'll never have a relationship with anything less than that."
"She is, and I love her for that," Lena said, giving Emily a kiss.
"So, now that we're away," he said, trying to change the subject to hide the jealousy he was feeling, "What are we gonna do for lunch?"
"Have you ever been to Five Guys?" Lena asked him.
"Five Guys? I've seen a restaurant like that in town last night, but I didn't go in it."
"I heard from some of your RED Teammates that you might like that place. It's a burger restaurant, but it had a lot of variety to offer. We think that you might really like it."
Jeremy was intrigued. "Well, I've never eaten there, but I'm willing to give it a shot. That does sound like something up my alley. Let's go." He typed in Five Guys on his GPS and began to follow the route to that place.
D. Va was doing her hardest to try to catch a glimpse from him, but he seemed to be doing his hardest to not look at her. She got the feeling that she was only with him because he didn't have time to kick her out before Torbjörn or anyone else caught them. If he could have fled before she had caught up with them, he would have. But not only did she catch up, but she hopped in the passenger seat so that she could be sitting right next to him. Realizing that he would try to speak to her himself, D. Va decided to strike up the conversation on her own.
"Jeremy?" she said. "I…I'm sorry for what I said to you in the mess hall this morning. I was just feeling upset…and…I wasn't thinking clearly."
Jeremy finally looked her way, with a look of surprise on his face. He wasn't expecting Hana Song to apologize to him for anything. "Well, thanks for that," he said. He didn't sound very convinced, though.
"I…I…I didn't want you to know, but I…have a crush on you. I love how funny and kind and even strong you are. Any girl would be lucky to have you, and I want to be that lucky girl. I want you to give me a chance with you."
Now Jeremy didn't expect this. A girl actually saying to him that he is kind, strong, and funny. And not even pointing out his flaws or insulting him. He actually looked touched to hear this. And for the first time in his life, a girl had come to him and asked to be his girlfriend. It had always been the other way around for him.
"Well…" he said. "I don't know…I mean, I always thought that you were just bitchy and mean and didn't care much about other people's feelings, but now, maybe I was wrong. I always thought there was more to me than people can see. Maybe that's true for you, too."
D. Va looked hopeful after hearing this. She did feel sad to think that Scout thought she was bitchy, but it looked like he was having second thoughts about making that statement. Maybe she did have a chance with him after all. And now, she was going out to lunch with him. Along with Tracer and Emily, maybe she could look at this as sort of a double date.
They arrived at Five Guys. D. Va surprised Scout by saying that she would pay for his food. Scout couldn't tell if Hana was doing this just to bribe him into accepting her relationship offer, or if she was genuinely caring about him, but he went ahead and let her.
The restaurant looked very familiar to Scout. It looked like those diners that he went to and ate at when he was in the '60s and '70s. He noticed the checkerboard floors and red and white paint job on the walls and ceilings, similar to those in the '60s. But it looked much more modern, with fluorescent lights, state-of-the-art grills, fryers, and touch-screen soda machines. Jeremy thought he could get used to this. "This is the best burger restaurant I've ever been to!" And it looked like other reviewers agreed with him. He looked at some reviews on the walls.
The Willy Wonka of Burgers
The hand-cut fries alone are not to be missed.
This place blows Jack in the Box and Carl's Jr. out of the water.
The best burger restaurant in this or any other dimension.
When they placed their orders, he found out that he and D. Va had similar tastes. They both ordered bacon cheeseburgers loaded with onions and jalapeno peppers. This made her blush a little bit. Tracer seemed to like a lot of organic food on her burger. She ordered it with lettuce, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, pickles, and avocado. Emily, however, preferred a southern barbecue style. She ordered her burger with bacon, grilled onions, and barbecue sauce, with some A1 Steak Sauce on the side. They ordered a large plate of fries to share, and just about every sauce that the place had.
Jeremy was fascinated by the touch-screen soda machines. They seemed to have every kind of soda imaginable. They had the basics, like Coca-Cola, Sprite, Barq's Root Beer, but they came in all sorts of flavors, like Orange Coke, Raspberry Sprite, Mango-flavored lemonade, strawberry-watermelon Powerade, Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, you name it. Jeremy picked the Orange Coke. That just had to have tasted great.
What really stood out to Jeremy was all the free peanuts that the restaurant offered. He couldn't believe it. He hadn't even eaten yet, and he could already tell this was better than McDonald's. This was the biggest burger joint he ever visited. Nothing could ever top this. D. Va brought back a large tub of peanuts for him and the girls to share. Tracer said, "It's a good thing Winston's not here with us, or we would get kicked outta here." As they were waiting for their food, they snacked on the peanuts.
After a while, they started playing a game with them. D. Va said, "Hey, Jeremy! Catch!" She threw a peanut his way, and he caught it with his mouth. That gave him an idea. He cracked open a shell and threw one back at her. She too caught it with her mouth. Tracer and Emily now got involved as well. "Down the hatch, Lena!" Emily said. At first, it was only Jeremy throwing peanuts at Hana and Emily throwing peanuts at Lena, but soon they were throwing them all around. Some of the other customers were getting disgusted by their little game, but they didn't care. It was too much fun to stop.
Finally, their order came up. Tracer went to get it. She brought it back to the table saying, "Cheers, loves! The calories are here!" She handed each of the burgers out to their owners, and they began eating.
Jeremy was now feeling so much better about himself and Tracer. He may not be able to be her boyfriend, but if she and her could still go out on dates like this, he could probably get used to it. He still felt jealous that she had given her love to somebody else, but now that he met her girlfriend, he found that she and him could be friends. Maybe he and Hana could be good friends as well. He could get used to being around her, and she especially liked it when she shared her fries with him, like she was doing right now.
D. Va was enjoying herself. Maybe she did have a chance with Scout after all. He seemed to forgive her for her outburst at him that morning, and it looked like he liked being around her. He appeared to enjoy eating lunch with her. Life would be perfect if only she could get him to say yes to her relationship proposal. Then, she would move in with him AND be living close to Tracer as well. Still, she had doubts about him having the same loving feelings that she had for him. But she knew that she couldn't try to speed things along herself. She had to wait for him to make his decision. But it was hard. At one point, she grabbed a long fry, but didn't know that Scout had grabbed the other end until it was in their mouths, and as they were eating it, they noticed who was at the other end, and their lips stopped just inches from each other. Emily and Lena were both saying, "Oooooooooooh," at them. Nervous, D. Va tugged, and the fry broke off. Jeremy looked like he was blushing at that gesture.
She felt a little more confident after one incident that Jeremy just had. He ate one jalapeno pepper that was particularly hot and spicy. It was making his throat burn and snot run down his nose. He could barely speak, and he couldn't eat while this was going on. Thinking fast, D. Va rushed to the soda machine and filled her cup up with Sprite. Citric acid, more so than any cold drink, is good for quelling those burning feelings that spicy peppers can give off. She forced it down his throat, and that made him feel so much better. "Thanks for that," he told her. "You are a very lovely person, Hana." D. Va blushed, out of happiness. She tried her best to hold back the giddiness that she felt from hearing him compliment her.
After that, Tracer went up to the cashier and ordered a large Oreo milkshake. When she got it, she was surprised by how huge it was. It was big enough for four people. Thankfully, there were three girls and one boy ready to slurp it down. She went to the soda machine, grabbed four straws, and went back to their table.
After they drank it up, ending it with loud slurping that was annoying the other customers, they decided they were so stuffed that they should leave. But it would take some time to get out of the parking lot. A crowd of car enthusiasts at stopped to admire and take pictures of Jeremy's old '67 Chevy Impala. "Hey, that's my car!" Jeremy shouted. "Get your hands off of it! GET OUTTA HERE!" He pulled out his pistol, and everyone, in a panic, fled. "Jeremy," Lena said sternly after that, "You're not supposed to pull out a weapon like that! You could get us into trouble!"
"Yeah, I know. But I had to do something to get them to go away."
They got in the car and sped off before law enforcement showed up.
"So," Emily said once they were away, "Back to Watchpoint? I'm sure the Swedish chef has made everyone puke by now."
"Well, actually," Jeremy said, "I was going to run by Guitar Center to buy some new gear for my musical practice."
D. Va didn't like what she was hearing, as she wasn't interested in guitars or rock music, but she decided not to show it. She wanted to help her chances as much as she could.
"OK," Lena said. "I've always wanted to check out that place anyway."
"Always?" Emily asked. Even Scout was surprised to hear this.
"Yeah! Always since I met Jeremy!"
"OK, that makes sense," Emily said.
"What are you getting, love?"
"I want to get a 12-string guitar. I'm trying to figure out a tricky guitar chord on a song I know."
"Wow. They make 12-string guitars?" Emily asked.
"Yeah. They were very popular back in the '60s. I remember when that sound was everywhere. The Beatles, The Byrds, The Who, everyone was using that instrument."
When they got to Guitar Center, each of the four young people fled to a different department. Scout went to the guitars, Emily checked out the bass guitar section, Tracer sped to the drum room, and D. Va unexpectedly found herself in the keyboard section. She heard a tune from a K-Pop song that she liked being played on a synthesizer.
D. Va was amazed. She never thought much about musical skills, but here was a song that she liked being replicated on an electronic keyboard, and it actually required some skill to play. She decided to try playing it, but she could not make it sound good.
"Ugh. This thing just sounds horrible!" And she knew that it wasn't the keyboard itself. It was how she was playing it. For the first time in her life, she now wished that she knew how to play an instrument. But she never had any interest before. She never wanted any lessons. But now those days were gone, and she wasn't so self-assured. Now she found she changed her mind and opened up her mind. Maybe I can get Jeremy to teach me, she thought. He's taught music to Lena, and plans to teach Emily, surely he'll teach me how to play this keyboard. She made up her mind. She picked up the synth and took it to the cashier to pay for it.
Meanwhile, Scout was in a practice room, completely soundproof from the outside. He was trying out a Fender 12-string on an amp in there, to see if it was the kind of instrument that he wanted. He liked the sound, but he wasn't sure about its' sustain very much. It just sounded very weak and wimpy. But he had some distortion pedals back in his room at Watchpoint. Surely that would remedy this little shortcoming.
Just then, he heard a knock on the door. It was Emily and Lena. He got up and opened the door to let them in.
"Hi, love! Trying out an instrument?"
"Yep. I think I might go ahead and get it."
"Can we listen to you play it?"
Jeremy looked confused, and then skeptical. "That's not what you came in here to ask me."
Lena sighed. "You're right, it's not."
"Cut the crap. What do you want to ask me?"
"Emily, you want to tell him?"
"Why should I tell him? This whole thing was your idea! You even came up with the idea of catching him in this room so that all of our speech would be muffled to everyone outside!"
Lena sighed again. "OK. There's something that she and I want to talk to you about, Jer."
Jeremy sat down. He could tell that this was serious.
"Jeremy, even though I love Emily so much and want to be committed to her and not you, I want you to know that I still love you very much. I don't want to have to choose between one of you. I want to spend the rest of my life with both you and her.
I know how strange that sounds, but hear me out. There's an apartment building just across the street from the house that Emily and I have in London. A space just opened up, and we want you to move into it."
Jeremy pretended to act like this was the first time he had ever heard of this. Winston told him about it in the car last night, but he told him that the girls didn't want him to say this to Jeremy. They wanted to do it themselves.
"We hope that you will take this apartment, so that we can still see you every day and do fun things with you like what we just did at Five Guys and what we're doing here."
"We know that life's been tough on you," Emily said. "And as much as you probably would like to try, you can't go through life by yourself. You need help. You need someone to love you and provide caring and support when you need it. You've never had that before in your life, and Lena and I want to change that."
Scout looked unsure about this again. He was so sure about it earlier, but now he was reminded of the jealousy he would feel, knowing that the girl he loved lived just across the street from him, and that he would never be able to call her his girlfriend.
"I…I don't know…" he said. "Maybe it's…best that I just…never get a girlfriend if-"
"Why?" Tracer asked. "What about Hana? Why don't you try to hook up with her?"
"Yeah," Emily added. "It's very obvious that she loves you."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can tell. And I admit, she wasn't as bitchy as I once thought she was."
As they were speaking, Hana stood outside the practice room. She couldn't tell what they were saying, because the walls were soundproofed, but she had a feeling that they were talking about her. She just hoped that she hadn't blown her only shot with him at breakfast.
"It's just…I don't feel the same connection with her that I feel with you, Lena. I don't want to be in an unhappy relationship. I want to be with someone I know that I love. I want to be with someone that I know will lead to a long and happy life."
"What makes you think you won't get it with her?" Lena asked. "Better yet, what makes you think you would have gotten it with me?"
"I'm not sure, I've just always felt like you and I had a special connection. I loved how you and I are very similar. We're both 'young and spunky punks,' as your friend Jamie likes to say."
Tracer laughed. "Love, don't call Junkrat Jamie. He hates being called that."
Scout didn't share her laughter, though. In fact, he looked very sad. "I'm sorry. It's just…You and I have so much in common. We both seem to understand each other. We both seem to be destined to be soul mates. And yet, standing here right now…knowing that I can never love you…knowing that we can never be soul mates…knowing that the girl I love…has given…her love…to someone else…" he was tearing up now. He couldn't hold it in any longer. He let out a long cry and covered his eyes with his hands.
Tracer felt she was about to cry from seeing him do so. "Oh, love, come here," she said softly. "It's OK." She gave him a hug and Scout put his face on her shoulder and cried into it.
"It hurts…" He sobbed. He didn't even try to stop now. "It hurts so much…"
"I know, love. I know."
Emily put her hand on his back and said, "It's alright, love. I know it's hard for you, but everything will be alright. I know it will be hard for you to live next to us and being jealous because you can't be Lena's boyfriend, but trust us, it's your best choice."
"All we want to do is make things right for you. We want to keep you from trying to kill yourself again. And we love you, Jer. We still want to be with you. You don't have to go through this alone. So, please," Tracer begged him. "Don't push me away."
"Don't push us away," Emily added.
Jeremy now felt conflicted. On one side, he wanted to live his life without being jealous, which he knew he would be living close to the two girls. But on the other hand, he knew they were right. He needed some help. He needed a therapist to help him overcome his struggles. And besides, it seems like Tracer really wants him to live close to her. If I say no, I have a feeling she won't take it well, he thought. And if I really love her, wouldn't I do what she wanted?
Now with that in perspective, it was obvious that refusing their offer would be rather an anticlimax after what they've just been through with him. After all the good times they had fighting Talon, telling jokes, playing music, eating lunch at Five Guys, and now taking the time to speak to him about this apartment right here, right now.
For the first time in a long time, Jeremy heard a voice in his head, and it was telling him,
Time to choose.
And…another cliffhanger. Yep. I wanted to end it right here just to keep my readers invested in the next chapter.
Which, while I'm talking about it right here, let me ask. What would you like Scout to say to the girls in the next chapter? Should he take their offer for housing close to them or refuse it? You let me know through the review section.
I also want to say a few more things right here. First off, someone once asked me if this fanfiction turned out as how I originally envisioned it. For this chapter, it did and it didn't.
Going in, I always knew this would be a three-part chapter. First part being Spy's confession to Medic and Mercy, second part being just Tracer and Emily talking, and the third part being them speaking with Jeremy about the apartment. However, a few things to come in right as I was writing this.
Since I had Tracer talk so much about Scout during the preceding chapters, it got me thinking that Emily would probably start feeling jealous from all the attention that her girlfriend is giving him. So I wanted an interaction between them in which Tracer confesses that while she loves him, she doesn't love him like she loves her, and that she wants both to always be by her side, with Emily as her lover and Scout as a surrogate brother that she loves so much.
Also, the double date at Five Guys and Guitar Center was unplanned. At first, this whole conversation was just going to happen in Scout's quarters at Watchpoint. But I realized that they never really gave him any reason why he should stay. All I've ever written is why he should leave. So I added in them going to Five Guys (which I put in instead of some fictional restaurant in order to create a sense of realism) to make Scout think that living close to them might not be so bad after all.
I also had D. Va tag along simply for the possibility of a Scout x D. Va ship in the future. I honestly don't know if I want to do it, and I'm not even sure how to, but I set it up just so that it's possible for a ship between them to happen, especially by having D. Va change her attitude about music after hearing a favorite song of hers being played on a keyboard synthesizer.
As with all my chapters, I've dropped some Easter eggs and references in this chapter. See how many you can find.
I apologize if I've kept you waiting on this chapter. This is a very long one. My first one to go over 10,000 words, in fact. Also college and work have been preventing me from finishing this sooner. With that said, thanks for reader and I hope to post the next chapter soon!
