He wasn't there when I woke up but a message was on my phone.
" didn't want to wake you. You were drooling and looking so beautiful at the same time. Your abilities never cease to amaze me. I love you. Meeting at noon. "
Ugh. Meeting... I rubbed my temples, the stress was slightly elevated. The boxes taunting me from the corner, you try so hard to run from your past , from the things that have happened. From things that shaped you into who you are, and you know that. However it still stings, burns and brings up the shaky stomach clenching fear that ghosts will always be there. Always following to torment you.
I lit a cigarette as I dressed, and applied my makeup. sitting on the counter in the bathroom as I ashed into the sink. My face hasn't changed in years more like a decade... almost two. my hair was really bothering me. Is it safety reasons or is it trying so hard to avoid who I was? Wanting to change something since my face won't... or hiding myself. Probably both. Exhaling smoke I noticed my nails digging into my skin, little fingernail blood spots appeared... fuck. What is going on with me. I'm happy. I'm happy. I know I'm happy, I have my family back... but for how long? How long until someone threatens us again? My own parents sacrificed their lives for the cause and I don't think had a second thought about me...
A soft knock was heard at the door.
I glanced down at my phone, twenty minutes til noon.
I put out the butt of my cigarette. Running it underwater and tossing the butt into a cup.
Carefully I cracked the door, just jack.i let him in and he removed his mask.
" were you..." he started.
I cut him off with a kiss.
He pulled away after a moment stroking under my chin.
" Angela I do believe you are avoiding the question " he said with a slight smirk.
"I would never " I said looking at him guiltily.
" I'm sorry, it's just so bizarre to me" he said
" what?! "
" you. Doctor Angela smoking" he said while shaking his head slightly.
" yeah... it calms me down and I'm working on something " I muttered.
" ah yes. The ' something' you are working on" he teased.
" it's science stuff you wouldn't get it" I lightly punched his arm.
" hey... I'm not a typical meat head" he pouted.
" oh no no. You aren't. It's just complex" I leaned up to kiss his nose. Without my heels it was tough, he caught on and picked me up effortlessly as I kissed up his cheeks.
" are you just trying to make me feel better?" He asked his blue eyes slowly closing as I kissed his lips. My legs wrapping around his hips.
" maybe" I said softly as I broke out of the kiss. My arms around his broad shoulders.
His pocket started vibrating, I lightly moaned and he gently set me down.
" ah. Five minutes til the meeting angel" he said turning off the alarm.
He kissed me, then pulled away " get your shoes on and let's go" he said in a commanding tone. I arched an eyebrow sliding on my heels. He was always punctual. We walked to the room and Winston was already there with bastion.
He happily waved at us whirring while jack and I took our seats.
Slowly the team arrived. Hana and Lucio looking like hungover kids. I'll have to check them for dehydration later. Those energy drinks they chug don't do them any favors. Oh wait. I have to check on Hana and Hanzo later anyways because injections and health evaluations.
" so team. It appears that more threats are happening in Dorado. Los muertos has been dealt with a lot by our very own soldier 76, however the onmiacs are being targeted more and more and the civil unrest there is still bad. So I was thinking we could head there either tonight or tomorrow night. I would rather work by the darkness. Because that's when they work, however I don't feel comfortable with just deploying there without some basic training as a team. " said Winston.
I shuddered slightly, my last work there was tough.
" Angela, you will be coming despite my wariness... however I want you to remain back in the craft with Winston, but working on your defense would be helpful, so 76 if you could work with them some more it would be appreciated. Lucio you need to work on your in field healing as well... torbjorn has been working on setting up a good practice range for healing, Angela you could walk him through healing strategy "
" not a problem " said jack gruffly.
" I will train more, and Lucio I will be more than happy to help you" I said with a forced smile. I wanted to help him, but I'm still worried about him being the only other healer besides Ana. She was more of sniper.
" oh. I'm going to need Hana and Hanzo once this is over , medical evaluation "
Hanzo nodded, and Hana looked up with a slight look of fear " does this mean shots?"
" ah yes. But once you have it you are good for a long long time. " I comforted. She frowned.
" you can bring Lucio for support. He put up quite the struggle" I teased.
Lucio frowned and Hana smiled " ha! No way" she laughed.
" hey that is breaking doctor patient confidentiality" he grumbled.
" I hardly find it a secret since we were all involved in that fiasco" said Ana bluntly.
Jack shifted uncomfortably, fuck. Probably not the best thing for us to bring up.
" okay. So tomorrow night then" said Winston. " unless something happens before then"
We nodded, jack turned to me " once you are done you can meet me and bastion in the range. tell Lucio to show up about an hour after you, I'll update Winston on it seems he has an idea because he stationed you with bastion " he said.
" sounds fine" I said squeezing his hand before walking to Hana and Hanzo.
Their check ups went normal. Hana squirmed a lot and Lucio distracted her thankfully.
Hanzo was stoic the entire time, I knew his medical history since I gave him regular checks when he would visit. Goodness knows I've patched up his wounds a lot.
I headed to the range hearing jack softly talking as I entered.
Bastion whirred softly at me. Holding up his little holo pad that read " hello Angela "
" hello darling" I said to Jack then turned to bastion " hello my wonderful friend" I said with a smile.
Bastion made a happy noise.
" he let me fire my pulse rifle a few times. But... your blaster might be more appropriate. He hit the targets perfectly"
" not a problem, bastion it makes a softer noise okay? I'm just going to load it and fire in a moment. If you need me to stop I will. "
Bastion whirred sounding slightly scared.
I stepped away to load my blaster, when I returned I heard jack softly speaking to him again.
Bastion sounded calmer as I told him I was going to start.
I fired a few, and he started getting agitated.
" give us a minute" said jack. I walked over to the bench and thought over some strategy notes to help Lucio.
"Okay angel. Go into the range , I'm going to run the practice firing bots. So you need to dodge and fire"
" are you sure this is..." I said arching a brow looking at bastion.
" it's fine. I have it set up for slow fire" he said.
I loaded my blaster and walked in taking a breath.
Bastion was anxiously whirring behind me.
" okay go" said jack.
I darted around avoided shots. Bastion started fully panicking. So jack turned it off and spoke to him again. I guess I'll just stand here then... Fiddling with my blaster and looking at the set up. It was interesting to say the least. You could see the health bars and stuff. I hadn't trained with ones like this in ages. Bastion started chirping as Lucio came in.
They exchanged hellos and bastion walked out.
" alright alright I'm here!" Said Lucio happily.
" okay, so you need to be careful. But since you are a fighter and healer you need to-"
" fighter and a healer!"he sang out.
I arched a brow.
Jack shook his head sighing.
" you need to focus" said jack
" man I am focused! This is how I focus!" Argued Lucio.
I just looked at both of them and sighed heavily.
" okay! So... mccree usually gets hit the most, don't ask me why, he just does... Genji gets internally impacted harder so it registers differently on him. Sometimes he panics... not so much anymore, but that's something I need to work on tweaking. Hana should be fine without your help frequently. Uhmmmm j- 76 will be fine most of the time due to his biotech field. Torbjorn and Reinhardt are usually pretty good but make sure to help him when his shield is up, as he has more vulnerabilities to his back during that time. Normally he puts it down but eh ... he is stubborn. " I said.
" okay I got it. " he said. Turning on his device he skated out into the range. I sat back with jack as he started the simulator.
He did okay. Not great but okay. Which cause my stomach to knot. I'm relying on him to take care of those I love. I felt my brows furrowing.
" again" called out jack.
This continued for quite some time...: he would mildly improve then completely miss his marks.
" calm down angel, he will get this" said jack while I dug my nails into my palms.
" I should be the one out there"
" well that's not a risk we are willing to take right now, the fact you are allowed to come is-"
" wait. Wait. Did you meet with Winston this morning?" His implication was hinting at it. Especially leaving while I was asleep. Fuck. Or am I being paranoid?
He let out a sigh.
" Angela this isn't the time to discuss this"
" so I'm right. You did!"
" Angela! " shouted Lucio happily.
" not now! " I yelled.
" fine. Yes... you are lucky you are allowed to come at all!" He hissed.
I could feel my heart pounding. I wanted to scream, I wanted to know what exactly was said. I hate this. I always hated this , jack would always go and fix things for me, or make safety modifications in place for me. Instead I just angrily stomped around for a moment trying to hold back a scream. I'm acting like a child, ugh.
I walked back over to jack and whispered " how the hell do you expect him to take care of everyone?"
Jack slightly laughed.
"What?"
" he just did" he said showing me the notes from Athena. Sure a few hits and minor injuries but... overall basics were taken care of.
I slumped back onto the bench.
Lucio was dancing to his music his device made, oblivious to my minor breakdown.
" good job kid, try running through it a few more times and then you can leave" said jack.
Lucio gave him a thumbs up and went back to practice.
Jack sat next to me and softly spoke
" look, he's going to do fine, as long as he focuses. Plus you will still be there incase any large injuries happen. It's going to be okay"
" it just. It sucks"
" I know, but you know what would be worse than not having you on the field ? "
I frowned at him
" not having you at all" he said " and that's horribly cliche of me"
" mein gott! You said cliche " I exclaimed.
He laughed " I blame you and Lena "
" she would be so proud" I said.
We watched Lucio work his way around again and again before letting him go. He was doing well, and I should trust him and the decision that was made it's just hard.
" at the end of the day it's important that we all survive. Having more life saving tech is important, even when you are on the field you cannot be helping everyone at once. That's why you made the biotech field, just channel your emotions into more healing tech like that"
" ugh. You are correct. As usual"
" part of my charm"
Felt my eyes rolling.
" sweet" he teased.
I made a slightly annoyed growl and walked back over to watch Lucio closely.
He was happily skating about switching between healing and fighting. I will admit slight jealousy. He was fast, he could switch easily between his two tools, he's going to be great. Why the jealously though...
Once he finished another round he skated over to us.
" well?!" He asked
I looked over the results with jack. Not that we needed too since we kept looking back and forth between him and the evaluation.
" you did well kid. " said jack gruffly.
" yes I am also quite impressed, good work" I said. I felt robotic when this should be a happy moment, like this is exciting more ways to heal people and the ones I love. The only big worry is he has no medical knowledge... but everyone knows by now to alert me of any injuries. I'm going to stop this internal power struggle... somehow.
" I mean did I really ?" Asked Lucio tapping a skate.
Jack handed him the holopad containing results and the progress he made.
" woah! I was on fire" he happily cheered.
" don't let it go to your head, on the field it will be different and you need to constantly stay alert" said jack.
" you got it. Am I done here for the day?" Asked Lucio.
I shrugged and jack replied " go rest up".
Hana peaked her head in " are you done?!" She asked.
" yeah! Come check out my
Scores!" He happily said. Jack handed the holopad to him again and I half smiled.
Hana was bouncing over, I really need to find out how to recreate her energy, then again it's probably all the sugars.
" pffft. I could so beat you !" Said Hana looking at the holopad.
" oh yeah?! " said Lucio.
" you two do two completely different things, I don't think there's any real accurate way to prove anything " I said.
Hana frowned and looked back at the holopad.
" alright. You ready to go?" Asked Hana to him after a minute.
" yeah yeah" he responded.
" oh hey you two need to actually get sleep tonight. And maybe eat something other than sugar?" I suggested.
Hana scrunched up her face and frowned
" okay fine mom" said Lucio
I glared.
" ooooooh! That's perfect! We will be good moooom" said Hana giggling.
I groaned and leaned into jack.
" oh wait! It's mom and dad!" Laughed Hana harder.
" I'm not your father" grumbled jack.
" sorry! It's your name now!" Hana said with a smile.
" you... you can't be serious" sighed jack.
" go to bed children" I said
Lucio shook his head and walked off with Hana.
" so do you need me to run through that again or?"
" yep, get in there" he said and smacked my ass as I headed for the range.
" not. Fair" I uttered.
" I figure it helped so much last time"
" true ..." I replied as he started up the range.
I spent the next hour running around dodging and firing.
" Ange I wanted to check on your self defense too" he said as I sat on the bench.
He glanced over at the mats and I sighed. I was terrible at hand to hand combat. But back in the day he taught me after I failed and freaked out on Reyes. Reyes had a way too tough approach. That is what you need in combat. But not with basics, jack took over for him. Ugh Reyes... the whole damn reason I'm being held back.
We stood on the mat and jack charged. I was in a tight hold by him and started thrashing, before swinging my elbow up and smacking between his ribs.
" very good" he said as he let go and did this a few more times. Each time I got more and more furious as I thought about that stupid asshole Reyes.
I got stuck a few times trying to break free but jack carefully instructed me how to get out as we went through the motions.
I zoned for a moment, my mind wandering, and I swung a bit too hard into his neck.
" fuck!" He shouted.
" sorry sorry"
" no it's fine" he said while rubbing his neck " that was good, I think that's enough for today"
His hands pulled off his mask for a moment, due to all the training today it was better if he kept it on. His hand cupped my face as he pulled me into a kiss. I want to take this and him back to the room...
"I love you" he said as he pulled his face away.
" aw I love you too" I breathed.
" you should also get some rest. I know you probably have stuff to prepare" he said while gently planting a kiss on my hair.
" we have til tomorrow evening " I pouted.
" now that doesn't sound like the doctor I love" his lips curled into a smirk.
" you are right... I have stuff to do" I should prep my medical gear, check that I have all I'll need. I kissed him and rushed off to get prepped.
I heard Lucio and Hana yelling excitedly in the main area. They had put up their games on the wall and were lounging on pillows and stuffing their faces with snacks.
Lena popped up behind me " they are quite the adorable pair arent they?!" She giggled.
" they really are. It's very sweet" I commented with a slight smile.
" overwatch sure is different now! Before we wouldn't be caught even holding hands! " she laughed. Then looked at me.
" oh Ange. I shouldn't bring that stuff up I'm sorry"
" it's really fine. " I said softly.
" well ya seem to be doing better! I mean that soldier fellow he's fit isn't he?"
" I'll say!" I slightly blushed.
" I am sorry though. I need to watch my big ol mouth. I'm used to being with filterless Jesse!" She giggled again.
" Lena. I would never ask you to change who you are" sincerity pouring from my words. She gave me a big hug rocking us from side to side.
" anyways I should probably let you get to it " her eyes twinkling.
" oh I just have stuff to prep that's it, I don't mind talking for a bit"
" naw I got things to screw... er do!"
" alright then!" My laughter coming out in between my words.
She laughed and hopped off.
As I went to the lab to grab the un-maker and some serums. Carefully putting them into my large medical bag. These items would become staples for my kits from now on. I also mixed jacks medication, slipping it into my pocket.
As I walked back to my room Lucio and Hana were chattering loudly. So cute, and young and strangely perfect for each other.
" hey no way I totally could beat you at anything!" Argued Hana.
" not EVERYTHING" shouted Lucio.
" uh yeah! Haven't you seen how many times I've owned you in every game?" She giggled.
" oh yeah?! You. Me. Rockband. " said Lucio happily.
" hey that's not fair. and it's so retro! " she pouted
" oh totally fair! You said everything!"
" oh it's on!" She yelped.
They continued arguing down the hallway, as I opened the door to my room I was greeted by the boxes. Poking them to see which one would be the least upsetting. Settling on the shoes or what feels like shoes box I opened it. A smile forming as my shoes tumbled out. The most ridiculous pair was neatly wrapped up. My thigh high boots, they are so deliciously ridiculous, but I had a lot of fun nights in them. Stepping into the shower and rinsing off. Then sliding into my robe. I heard a familiar knock.
" come in" I left it unlocked knowing that we pretty much shared the room now. He would lock it once he entered which he did.
" oh hey... shoes..."
" ah! No. My collection of shoes " I corrected. He walked over to where I was seated and spotted the thigh high ones.
A smile crept onto his face, as he leaned into a kiss. His soft lips with slight stubble surrounding them encompassing and intoxicating.
" we will have to revisit those later" he whispered into my ear.
" or now?" I asked softly.
He groaned slightly.
" I wish, but I'm actually exhausted. "
His hands traced my body, sliding over the silk. Then gently lifted my chin and kissed down my neck.
" if you are too tired then this is torture " My voice came out whiny.
" sorry angel" he kissed my lips " I should probably shower then you can give me my shot"
" alright, I'll put these away" God Angela try to not sound so bitter. He disappeared into the bathroom, the water running enticed me but I have things to do. Carefully organizing the shoes in the closet and tossing the dirty clothes into the hamper. Yes, I am an actual mess of a human. But I feel that was a more normal level of mess. Not my usual papers everywhere and pinned on large boards with no rhyme or reason. I dropped a box as I was putting it into the closet. Scheisse! I could hear the water turning off as I scrambled to shove various photos and research papers into a box. I coded all my secret stuff but fuck.
" are you okay?" He asked beyond the door.
" uhhhh yes. Perfectly fine. " I responded. No secrets, this stuff isn't a secret. Just painful... finally putting the last bits of things back into the box and sliding it into the closet when the door opened.
" did you drop something? I could have helped you move those" he said. His mostly naked body standing in front of me...
" huh what? "
He slightly laughed and scooped me up, carrying me to the bed.
" I believe it's time for my medication" he said.
" uh huh" I reached for the kit on the nightstand and prepped his arm then injected him.
" you okay?"
" yeah... I just. Your body" I stammered.
" well get over here and let me hold you " he said.
As I disposed of the needle I hopped into bed with him, he pulled me close and rested his chin on my head as I listened to his powerful heartbeat slow into rest.
When suddenly a loud alarm went off.
" heading to dorado, massive attack is happening. All team members grab your gear and report to the jet " came Winston's worried voice.
A/N: Hey! so i adore all of you who continuously have been reading this, i know i seem unsure most of the time, so i try to channel that into my writing. So that's probably why i worry so much about producing decent chapters! Anyways! thank you so much for reading and being such awesome support! 3