"Either pull the trigger, or accept my presence here, but make a decision Lacroix."
It would be so easy. No one would miss Moira O'Deorain; Amélie knew she'd be in trouble afterwards, sure, but her tormentor would be dead. Besides, it was her association with Overwatch that had put her in Moira's path to begin with.
Amélie's finger tightened on the trigger of her rifle as the image of Gerard's dead body flashed through her mind yet again.
I am ending this here and now. I am tired of being afraid.
As Lena read Amélie's body language, her eyes widened slightly as she realized that the sniper meant to do it; she meant to end Moira.
"No!" Lena shoved the rifle upwards just as Amélie pulled the trigger. The shot rang through the room, and Lena tackled the French woman, bringing them both to the floor.
"Lena, get off!" Amélie almost shouted. The sniper reached for the rifle she'd dropped, but Lena grabbed her wrist, pinning it down.
"I can't let you kill her."
"Why not?! How can you put her before me? Has she done more for you than I have? She destroyed your life, turned you into a weapon, took you away from me!" Amélie could feel tears starting down her face, both from her own anger at Moira, and from learning the truth surrounding Lena's capture. She didn't want to be crying in front of Moira, but she couldn't seem to stop herself.
"I know what she's done… but there is more you don't know about her."
"Such as?"
Lena shook her head. "Can't tell you."
Amélie let out a growl of frustration before she shoved Lena off of her and sat up. "I am giving this woman the death she deserves; don't try to stop me."
Lena let out a low growl, lunging for the sniper again as Amélie stood. The French woman easily caught her arm, using her momentum against her and pinning her to the nearest wall.
"Don't try to stop me; you'll only end up getting hurt," Amélie said as Lena struggled against her hold.
"I have to."
Amélie released the brunette, and Lena turned around, her body language indicating that she was planning on trying to fight the sniper again.
"Tracer. That's enough."
Lena paused before she relaxed slightly, going back over to where Moira was. That obedience to the geneticist felt like a blow to Amélie, and she couldn't hide the disdain in her features.
"I must admit, Lacroix, I didn't think you'd be brave enough to pull the trigger," Moira continued, looking at the French woman. "Perhaps I had more of an influence on you than I realized—"
"No."
"You needn't take it so personally—"
"I do."
Moira's lips twitched. "Obviously. In any case, as you can see, continuing to attack me would be a poor decision on your part."
"Oui; you've turned Lena into your personal bodyguard. One more transgression for which you should be dead."
"I should be dead for many reasons, Lacroix; Fate has just not yet deemed it time for me to part."
The sound of running footsteps stopped whatever response Amélie might have had, and Jack and Angela soon appeared in the doorway.
"We heard gunshots; what happened?" Jack asked as he approached, his own pulse rifle ready.
Moira's multicolored eyes bored into Amélie in that knowing way, and the French woman wanted nothing more than to smack that smug look off her face. "I dropped my rifle, and it discharged," Amélie replied, not looking at Jack as she picked up her weapon.
"Lena, why are you up, you still need to rest," Angela said, moving past the others to where Lena was standing. "Look, you've started bleeding again. Sit down."
"Sorry…"
Jack didn't appear as though he really believed something as innocent as a weapon discharge had happened, but he apparently decided that it wasn't worth getting into. "All right, O'Deorain, you did the job you came here for. Now it's time for you to be moved to a more secure location and await questioning."
Moira frowned slightly. "Well that's not very hospitable of you, Jack."
"Don't make this difficult. Start moving."
Moira paused a moment, looking between the three agents before she let out a dramatic sigh. "I suppose if it will make you all feel better." The redhead started from the room, and action that sent distress through Lena.
"Where are you going?" the brunette asked, making to stand up, but Angela stopped her.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he's just moving me to some plexiglass cell where everyone can gawk at the Talon agent like some sort of zoo exhibit," Moira replied. "Isn't that right, Jack?"
"Just move."
Amélie was mad at her; Lena knew that much. Once Jack had taken Moira away, the sniper had left without so much as a goodbye. Lena supposed she could understand why; Amélie felt betrayed. She obviously believed that the brunette's loyalty should belong to her, instead of to Moira, yet that was whom Lena had chosen to protect.
She has an image of who she wants me to be based on memories that aren't mine.
Lena let out a sigh, rubbing her face. It wasn't that she wanted to be against Amélie; after all, the sniper had been the only person here to stand up for her, to show her real kindness. But all she had seen was a threat to Moira's life, and her instincts had forced her to act on such.
"Hey."
Lena lowered her hands and looked up to see Emily approaching the bed. Her heart rate quickened as she realized that they were the only two in the room, something she knew shouldn't be allowed.
"Hi…"
"How are you feeling?" Emily asked, having reached the side of the bed. There was genuine concern on her face, Lena looked down at her hands; it was too hard to look at something she didn't deserve.
Lena shrugged; she wasn't entirely sure how to answer that. She was alive, but she wasn't sure if she would say she was any better. "Okay, I guess," she finally said.
Emily nodded, pausing a moment before she said, "Where's my aunt?"
Lena struggled with how to answer that without giving away exactly what had happened. "Stepped out," she finally said.
"Oh." Another pause. "It still seems odd to me that she was called here. I mean, I haven't see her in at least a decade; she just cut off contact with my family, and now… well, she's all I have left I guess."
Emily was still talking, but her voice sounded muted and far away, obscured by the sound of Lena's blood pounding in her ears. Her guilt was eating up at her again, and it was just too much, too much, too much—
I can't do this anymore.
"Emily."
The redhead stopped at her name. "What's up?"
"I… have to tell you something." Lena's fists clenched tightly as she tried to prepare herself for the truth that was about to come out.
"What is it?" Emily placed a hand over Lena's, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You can tell me anything."
Say goodbye to ever feeling normal; after this, Emily will hate me forever.
"I…" Lena paused, her voice failing her. She couldn't back out now; Emily needed, deserved to know the truth. Lena's gaze fell on the door to Angela's office, and she slid her legs over the edge of the bed before she stood.
"Should you be getting up—"
"I'm okay… I have to show you something…"
Emily's brow furrowed, but she followed Lena through the door to Angela's office. "Lena, what are we doing here?"
"That night… when your parents were killed… it was me. I was the assassin."
Emily's brow furrowed. "What… why would you say that?"
"Because you deserve to know… I can't keep this from you anymore…"
Emily shook her head. "No. No, this isn't true. I don't know why you're saying this, but you need to stop."
"Emily—"
"No, it wasn't you that night because that—that thing murdered my parents, and you are not a killer, you're not, so just stop!"
Lena let out a sigh; she had feared Emily would react this way, hence why she had brought her to Angela's office. She needed to show the redhead the proof. The brunette opened a drawer, pulling out the helmet from her assassin suit. She took a deep breath, turning back to face Emily.
Emily's gaze fell on the helmet, and Lena could see recognition beginning to set in. "What… why do you have that?"
Lena didn't reply, and it took every ounce of courage she had to put that helmet back on. She had hoped she would never have to do so again, and she immediately felt claustrophobic upon putting it on. There was a pause before the display lit up, and she heard Emily inhale sharply. The eyes must have lit up as well, and Lena knew then that Emily believed her.
It seemed to take Emily a few moments to find her voice, and once she did, it was dangerously soft, but firm. "Take that off."
Lena did so, holding the helmet uncertainly and unable to meet Emily's gaze.
"It was you this whole time…"
"I'm sorry—"
Her apology was cut off with a harsh slap across her face, and Lena recoiled, though she knew she deserved it.
Emily was shaking now, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Why? Why did you kill them?"
"I didn't have a choice—"
"Bullshite! You could have killed me, but you didn't! You obviously made a choice there!"
"Emily—"
"Shut up! I don't want to hear your excuses, or apologies you don't mean!" Emily began to hit Lena repeatedly, her vision slightly obscured by the tears starting down her face. "Come on, fight back! You killed my parents without a second thought, now fight back you coward!"
"Emily, stop!" Angela was suddenly in the room, pulling the redhead back and stopping her attack. "What is going on here? You know Lena is still recovering—"
"You knew, didn't you?" Emily said, yanking herself free from the doctor's grasp. "You knew the truth! This whole time you all knew what she was, what she had done, and just let her live here and pretend like everything was okay! You let me get close to her…"
Angela's gaze fell on the helmet still in Lena's hands, and she understood then what had happened. "Emily, I know you're upset, and you have every right to be, but try to understand that this isn't Lena's fault—"
"Not her fault?! She's a killer, she admitted it to me! How can you defend her?!"
"You don't know the whole story—"
"What more is there? She broke into my home and destroyed my life, and she won't even tell me why!" Emily made to lunge for Lena again, but Angela quickly caught her and held her back. "Why'd you leave me alive?! Why didn't you kill me that night? What sort of sick game are you playing here?!"
"I'm sorry… I never wanted to hurt your parents, or you," Lena said, hoping her apology sounded genuine; she had hoped that telling Emily the truth would ease the burden of guilt on her shoulders, but she only felt marginally better, if that much.
"Then why did you do it?!" Emily seemed to be overtaken by her emotions at this point, and she sank to the floor, her frame shaking as the tears began down her face. "Why…"
Angela knelt beside the redhead, pulling her into an embrace. Emily held herself close to the doctor, clutching at the front of her lab coat.
Lena watched the two uncertainly, unsure of what exactly she should do now. She had expected Emily to be angry with her, of course, but seeing the redhead break down like this… Lena hated herself all the more for being the cause of it. Her gaze caught Angela's, and the blonde gestured towards the door with her head. Lena understood that that meant she needed to go, and with a sigh, she set her helmet down before she left.
Moira let out a sigh as she paced the cell for what seemed like the umpteenth time. While being confined didn't make her as restless as it made Tracer, she still didn't enjoy it. Being kept away from her research and her lab, forced to wait and follow Overwatch's schedule, stuck in this cell for who knew how long…
This is the decision you made. You chose to come here, knowing the consequences.
Yes, she really had no one to blame but herself.
Approaching footsteps caught her attention, and Moira turned to see Angela on the other side of the plexiglass wall. A small smile played across her lips, and the geneticist approached the wall.
"You know Doctor, if you keep up this type of behavior, I'm going to start falling under the impression that you don't dislike me as much as you claim," Moira said.
"Lena told Emily the truth."
Moira's expression faltered at that. "Oh, I see." The redhead paused a moment before she added, "How much of the truth?"
"The truth about her parents, that she was the one who killed them."
Silence.
"Was that all she told her?" Moira prodded.
Angela shook her head, looking slightly disgusted. "You're more concerned about yourself than your niece—"
"I need to know what she knows—"
"Well, you can rest easy because your involvement is still a secret; Lena won't give you up even to defend herself."
Moira felt slight relief at that, though she didn't appreciate the guilt that accompanied it. "How did Emily take it?"
"How do you think? She found out that the person she'd trusted and started bonding with is an assassin."
"So she was upset then?"
Angela gave the geneticist a flat look. "To say the least."
Another silence passed between them.
"Did you ever think Lena would be the one to tell her the truth?" Angela asked.
Moira shrugged slightly. "Tracer has been unpredictable for some time now; that coupled with her time here means that she could be capable of anything really. I had thought that guilt was an emotion I'd eradicated, but it would appear not."
The blonde sighed. "You still think of her as an experiment, don't you?"
"She still has research value—"
"Mein Gott, Moira—"
"What, you expect me to throw away almost a year of research and work just because of what has happened and where we are?"
"I don't know, maybe I expected you to show some human empathy for once."
Moira paused for a moment before she said, "Tracer is still exhibiting important developments that need to be recorded—"
"Stop calling her that."
A slim eyebrow rose. "That is her name—"
"You and I both know it's not."
Moira let out a sigh, rolling her eyes. "I don't see why you should care so much what I call her; this is just like you, to draw us into an argument about such trivial matters—"
"Don't you even start that with me, Moira—"
"O'Deorain."
Both women looked up at that, and Moira shifted her expression to a more neutral one as Jack approached her cell. "I was wondering how long you would force me to wait. Let's not waste any more time and begin this ill-guided attempt at questioning me, shall we?"
"You knew, didn't you?"
Amélie turned at the sound of Emily's voice, seeing the redhead standing in the doorway to her room. "Knew what—"
"You knew what Lena was before she came here. You lied to me… told me she was an agent…"
Oh. So Emily knew the truth now. Amélie supposed she should have expected it would get out eventually. "Who told you?"
"Lena; that's really the worst part, isn't it? Everyone keeps telling me they'll keep me safe, but the killer ends up being the only one who actually tells me the truth."
The sniper let out a sigh as she approached the redhead. "We just didn't want to overwhelm you—"
"Don't even start with that crap." Emily shook her head. "And then Angela defends her, tells me it isn't her fault—"
"It wasn't."
"Why does everyone keep sticking up for her? She killed my parents without a second thought—"
"Not because she wanted to."
Emily let out a frustrated noise. "It still feels like you're all keeping part of the truth from me. I want to know what the hell is going on; what do you know that I don't?"
"Look, Lena never wanted to be an assassin, but O'Deorain didn't care about that when she decided to make Lena into what she wanted—"
"Wait, what did you say?"
Amélie paused, noticing the expression on Emily's face.
"Are you saying my aunt had something to do with this?"
Oh, so she hadn't known that part. Amélie wondered for a moment if perhaps she should try to backtrack, but quickly decided against that. Why should she try to protect Moira? Let Emily know the kind of monster her aunt was.
"Your aunt had Lena kidnapped, and spent months torturing her to remake her into the assassin that killed your parents. Lena had no say in the process; Moira O'Deorain took everything from her. If you want to be angry with someone, that's who you should direct your anger towards, not Lena."
