Finding the downed transport wasn't as difficult as Lena had feared; in addition to the black smoke cloud it had created, a crowd of people had gathered around the wreckage.

"All right, everyone back up please, for your own safety," Vasha said, her voice still commanding as much of a presence as it had during their pilot program.

"Still a squadron leader, yeah?" Lena said, smiling slightly as the crowd parted for the two.

"The six inches I have over you helps," Vasha replied.

"Really, you have to go there? I know I'm short, you don't have to keep pointing it out."

Vasha laughed, and the two reached the wreckage of the transport. "I don't see any signs of anyone being here," Vasha said as the two examined what remained of the transport. "No blood trails anyway."

"No bodies either." Lena worried her bottom lip before she added, "Hopefully that means they got out all right."

"Lena!"

The brunette turned at the voice, seeing Winston and Genji approaching.

"Hey, Oxton, you were supposed to grab a parachute," Genji said, though he hugged Lena in relief. "Trying to show us all up?"

"Trust me, I wouldn't recommend an air evac without a parachute. Got banged up pretty good." Lena was relieved to see that her teammates were all right, and once they'd broken apart, she added, "Vasha, these are my teammates, Winston and Genji."

"Ah, this is the Vasha you mentioned before," Winston said, looking at the taller woman.

"Been talking about me I see," Vasha teased, nudging Lena with her elbow. Before the brunette could reply, Vasha offered her hand to the two other Overwatch agents. "Well, I apologize for the less than friendly welcome you received. Numbani isn't usually like this, so we're very grateful that you're here to help."

"Have you told Commander Morrison about Moira yet?"

Angela pressed her lips together tightly; Fareeha was not going to let this matter drop. "No—"

"But you are going to, aren't you?"

The blonde sighed, her shoulders dropping. "Fareeha—"

"We know who killed my mother, and that mad scientist admitted to having a hand in it! That sniper, whatever the hell she is, she needs to pay for what she's done!"

"Moira was a well respected geneticist, and she is brilliant! She just… has questionable ethics and morals."

Fareeha shook her head and crossed her arms. "Why are you sticking up for her? It's like you two used to have some kind of history together."

Angela didn't respond to that; she had hoped that part of her past could remain buried. Her silence did not go over well with her companion.

"Oh my god, did you date her?"

"You don't have to sound so disgusted—"

"How could you even like her, she's crazy!"

"She wasn't always like this!" Angela didn't know exactly why she defended Moira like this, or whether it was for her own sake or the geneticist's. "She was ambitious, and we both wanted to better humanity. We just… we had varying ideas of how to go about achieving that goal, and we drifted apart."

Fareeha didn't look convinced, and Angela didn't entirely appreciate the judgment coming from the younger Amari.

"Fareeha, I had a history before we were together, but that doesn't mean I care any less for you."

Fareeha shook her head, and Angela could sense that she was fighting tears.
"Why does she natter more to you than my mother?"

That tugged at Angela's heart, and she made to gently cup Fareeha's cheek, but the younger Amari moved away. "I am not saying that she matters more, and of course I want justice for Ana—"

"Then why are you remaining silent? There is something not right going on here. We thought the sniper that killed my mother was a Talon agent, but now we know for sure who it was. Moira works for Blackwatch, and she has admitted to having a hand in Widowmaker's creation. It's possible there is more about this woman that you don't know."

Now Angela really didn't like the turn this conversation has taken, or the dark implications it carried. "What are you suggesting?"

Fareeha's gaze was hard. "You know exactly what."

"No. Moira is not working for Talon—"

"And you know that for sure? You honestly trust her enough to say that she would never betray us?"

Angela honestly couldn't, but that was not something she wanted to admit out loud. That would make it far too real, and that would mean it was the truth, and that would just be far too painful. The blonde decided that it was better for all their sakes if she just avoided the question, and instead changed the subject.

"Look, in any case, what happened to Ana isn't Amelie's fault, not entirely. If I had seen the warning signs after we brought her back, if I just kept her under observation longer—"

"Angela, don't tell me you are buying into the guilt Moira tried to place on you. There was no way you could have foreseen what would happen, or what Amelie would do."

"But I'm a doctor; it's my job to notice when something is wrong, and I—" Angela couldn't finish; she couldn't bring herself to admit out loud that she had failed. She had failed Amelie Lacroix, who had in turn been failed by Overwatch. And she was failing Fareeha now by choosing to defend a woman she had once cared for. The blonde covered her face with her hands, doing her best to will away the tears forming in her eyes.

Strong arms were suddenly wrapped around her, and she was enveloped by the scent of oil and some type of spice (cinnamon maybe?).

"You did your best," Fareeha said, her voice uncharacteristically soft.

Angela curled her fingers against Fareeha's shirt, holding herself closer to the younger Amari.

I wish that were the truth.

Vasha set a glass of some liquid in front of the brunette before she sat beside her, letting out a sigh. Lena wondered how much pain Vasha was in even with the machinery to help her walk, and the old guilt once again rose up.

"So, now that neither of us is any immediate danger, let's figure out what's been happening these past three years," Vasha said.

Lena looked down into her drink, pausing a moment before she said, "I am sorry for just disappearing… it wasn't my intention."

"Does your disappearing have anything to do with that contraption in your chest?"

Lena nodded. "Winston built this; my accelerator keeps me anchored to the present. Without it… I don't really know how to explain it, I sort of… bounce between timelines."

Vasha arched an eyebrow before she let out a short laugh. "You always had to outdo me, didn't you? I become squadron leader, so you get the highest marks in our class. My legs become paralyzed, so you do something that keeps you from staying in this time period."

Lena gave her a look. "I didn't ask for this you know, and I lost months of my life! When I finally returned, Captain Amari was—" Lena stopped short, surprised at how much it still stung to talk about the fallen captain. She had thought that old wound had healed.

Vasha's expression softened at that. "Yeah, I heard about what happened to Captain Amari. I'm really sorry Lena, I know she meant a lot to you."

"She took me in when I had no one… gave me a family, a purpose… and I didn't even get to say goodbye." Lena's eyes filled with tears, and she clutched the glass, trying to will them away.

"Hey, she would be proud of you," Vasha said, putting a hand on Lena's arm gently. "After what you did in King's Row, who wouldn't be?"

Lena sniffled a few times, trying to regain her composure so she could find her voice. "You know about that?"

"Lena, the Omnic Uprising in King's Row was international news, and by the time we realized Overwatch had intervened, your team already had the situation in hand."

"So, wait… if you knew I was in King's Row, why didn't you contact me? Every time I tried to get a hold of you, it said your device was disconnected or something."

"Yeaaahhhh, I might have… gone off the grid for a bit." It was Vasha's turn to look into her drink now, and Lena's brow furrowed.

"So you intentionally disappeared?"

Vasha shrugged. "When I returned home, my family was… different. They treated me different. It was as if they were afraid I was too delicate to handle anything, and that I might break at any time. I hated it; I hated being treated that way. It was hard enough accepting that I would most likely be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life; their treatment only made it worse. One day I decided I'd had enough, so I decided to leave and go off on my own."

"So you just decided to cut off contact with everyone? What about your sister?"

Vasha smiled slightly. "She would not let me leave on my own; she was convinced she could 'fix my legs'. Our family didn't want her to leave, so when I left… she snuck away with me. Didn't even realize she was there until I was on bus." Vasha let out a short laugh and took a sip from her drink. "I just… I needed time to myself, and I had to learn how to cope with what had happened. It wasn't anything personal, I just… I wasn't in a good place, and I didn't want to drag you down with me."

Lena nodded, still trying to process it all. She had been feeling guilty this whole time, thinking she had been doing something to betray Vasha, but in reality, Vasha was the one who had made the decision to break things off, such as it was.

Lena's phone suddenly chirped at her, and the brunette patted herself down, trying to remember where she'd stashed it. She soon pulled it from her jacket pocket, surprised to see that it hadn't suffered any damage from the fall. She felt her heart skip a beat upon seeing that it was a text from Emily; more specifically, it was the selfie they had taken before Lena had left, along with the caption "Stay safe so we can take more of these :)".

"Oh, who is this?" Vasha said, taking the phone from the brunette.

"H-hey!" Lena made to take it back, but just as she had done in their youth, Vasha straight-armed the brunette, keeping her back.

"She's cute," Vasha continued. "What's her name?"

"Emily, now come on Vasha!"

Vasha grinned, handing the phone back to Lena. "How long have you two been together?"

"We're not together—I mean, we're not dating exactly—"

"Have you had sex?"

"No!" Lena turned bright red at that, causing Vasha to laugh.

"All right, easy, I'm just teasing you."

Lena looked back down at her phone, feeling an odd ache in her heart as she looked at the picture of Emily. It was an unfamiliar feeling, and she wasn't sure entirely what it meant.

"So what's her story?" Vasha asked.

"We met in King's Row, when I was stationed at the watchpoint there. She was studying law, and the day the watchpoint was attacked…"

"Get down!"

The sound of bullets piercing through glass, the whump of bodies hitting the floor—

"Lena?"

Vasha's voice pulled her from the memory, and the brunette could see that she was wearing a concerned expression.

"She came back to the Switzerland HQ with me when I pulled from King's Row," Lena concluded.

Vasha's eyebrows rose at that. "She left King's Row to go with you?" She shook her head before she added, "Shit Lena, you need to ask her out before someone else does."

"What?"

"She left her home to be with you; what the fuck are you waiting for?"

"No, it wasn't because of me; she came to work for Overwatch—"

"Lena, are you serious right now?"

What Vasha was saying… it was something Lena had considered, but she hadn't dared to really believe that she was the reason Emily had been willing to leave King's Row. That would mean admitting to these feelings she had for the redhead, and that would mean admitting that she might actually be in—

Oh no. That panicky feeling was building in her chest again, making her heart beat against her ribcage. It was almost as alarming as the way she was beginning to feel in her trousers, the way she had been feeling recently whenever she so much as thought about Emily.

"You do like her, don't you?"

Lena forced herself from her thoughts as she looked back at Vasha, who looked more curious than anything. "I… I have feelings for her, I think, but…" Lena was unable to finish; now that she was face-to-face with Vasha again, it seemed too difficult to say the truth out loud.

"But what? This better be a hell of an excuse."

"But you and I—it's not like I was trying to replace you—"

Vasha put a hand over the brunette's, giving her a look. "Lena, listen to me: I was the one who stopped contact. I didn't expect you to wait for me; that would have been entirely unfair, asking you to put your life on hold because of my issues. You obviously like this girl, so why are you torturing yourself?"

"I just… I wasn't sure how I felt…"

Vasha rolled her eyes. "Once again, I have to explain the obvious to you. You had a crush on me, but this Emily… whatever you feel for her is so much stronger."

Even at night, Numbani was considerably warmer than Switzerland, and as Lena stood outside on the balcony of their room at the watchpoint, she almost didn't need her jacket. The brunette let out a sigh as she leaned against the railing, looking out across the lit city. Her conversation with Vasha earlier still hung in her mind; she had finally gotten the closure she craved, but it occurred to her that she had never considered once she would do afterwards.

Lena looked down at her phone, pulling up the picture of her and Emily again. The brunette worried her bottom lip for a few moments before she pulled up her contacts, selecting Emily's name and raising the phone to her ear.

"I hope you're staying out of trouble."

Lena smiled slightly at Emily's voice, looking down at the sleeve of her jacket. "Always, luv."

Emily laughed before she said, "What's up? How's Numbani?"

"It's… warm." Lena paused, unsure of how to voice the real reason she'd called.

"Is that all?"

"I found Vasha; she's alive."

"That's good news, right? You've been worried about her."

"Yeah…"

Emily seemed to notice the change in her tone. "What's wrong?"

"Emily, I… we…" Lena couldn't seem to summon the courage, and her voice failed her more than once.

"Lena, I understand if there is still… something between you two. I know you never really felt like it had ended—"

"I love you!" That came out very differently than she intended, both in volume and delivery. Lena hadn't intended to yell it at Emily, but the conversation had taken a turn that she didn't want it to. She didn't want Emily to believe that things between them were over; the thought of losing the redhead had scared her more than she anticipated.

Emily was silent, and Lena feared she had upset her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you—"

"What do you mean, you love me?" Emily's voice was softer than usual, and she sounded like she was choosing her words carefully. "Do you mean like 'Hey there's Emily, I sure love that girl', or do you mean that you 'love me' love me?"

"Well, I mean, both, really..."

Emily was silent again.

"I'm sorry, I know this probably isn't the right time or way to do this, but I just wanted you to know, and I needed to say it out loud because I have all these bloody feelings just building in my chest and sometimes I feel like I'm going to explode—"

"I love you too."

That stopped Lena cold. "… You do? Even though I'm a huge mess and run into doorframes and fall up stairs—"

"Yes, Lena, I do."

"… Oh." Lena was too shocked to say much else.

"Listen, I have to go, Dr. Ziegler is giving me a look which means she needs me for something, but I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"O-okay, yeah! Tomorrow!" Now that the initial shock was wearing off, Lena was beginning to feel very giddy, almost as if every part of her being was vibrating in excitement. "Good night, Em, sleep well yeah?"

"I'll sleep better when you come home safely."

The two hung up, and Lena paused for a few moments before she jumped and pumped her fist into the air. "YEAH!" The brunette turned and ran back inside the room, practically shouting, "SHE LOVES ME! WINSTON, GENJI, I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!"

The two agents exchanged a look before Winston sighed, "Great, now she's going to be impossible to put to bed."