Kamilah woke blearily from where she lay on the bed, blinking as she wondered if Fareeha's voice was a figment of her dream…and just how the hell did she fall asleep? They'd just reached home from the airport, and Kamilah had lain down on the bed to rest her back, only to drift off in a few short minutes.
"Mama, where's the tape?"
Ah, so it wasn't a dream.
Kamilah pushed herself up with a groan, dragging a hand down her face as she sat with shoulders slumped. She listened to the dull thumps downstairs as Fareeha searched the drawers, followed by louder footsteps making their way up the stairs. It trailed into Fareeha's room first, and a few clicks and rustling later, the door to Kamilah's room was flung wide open.
"Mama, I've been calling you for so long!" Fareeha complained, holding a pair of scissors in her hand.
"Leave a message, then…" Kamilah muttered under her breath. She sniffed, looking her daughter over. "Why are you holding the scissors?"
"I wanna put up the posters," Fareeha explained. "But I can't find tape anywhere."
"You want to put up the posters now? That's fast." But Kamilah bit down her protest when she saw Fareeha's eager gaze. "Hold on, think I have some here."
Fareeha waited by the door, watching Kamilah rifle through the drawers of her writing table, before fishing out a roll of double-sided tape. She tossed it over to Fareeha, who caught it and ran back to her room with her mother in tow. Kamilah sat on the girl's bed, while Fareeha pulled the poster from its tube, and unfurled it carefully.
It was one of the first few Overwatch posters that would be released to the public next month – mostly to boost recruitment efforts to support their rapid expansion. Fareeha was given a sneak peek during their visit in base, and she had the honour of being the world's very first owner of an Overwatch poster. The one she'd chosen included all of the original Strike Team, posing heroically as they gazed off purposefully into the distance, with the Overwatch flag flying high behind them.
But as Fareeha looked upon the poster adoringly, Kamilah couldn't help but feel amused by it. It seemed like a piece of propaganda to her – which it was – but what tickled her more, is that the Overwatch team felt more like…celebrities now.
Yes, that was the right term. The notable figures of the Strike Team were like idols to the public now – a goal, even an ideal, that people strove to be. It was not uncommon to hear that someone's dream was to join Overwatch one day – and Kamilah herself was witness to the results of that inspiration, meeting so many recruits who only saw the army as a springboard that would propel them into the ranks of Overwatch. It was annoying for the instructors, really. But the fact that Overwatch was inspiring an entire generation of people to action… It was quite impressive, indeed.
Still, Kamilah felt the posters might be a bit much. Celebrities, Kamilah huffed to herself. And it didn't help that Fareeha was gazing at her Overwatch poster the same way Ana looked at her Beyoncé posters.
She let Fareeha find her own way around the tape first, cutting off little strips and pasting them to the back of the poster, then holding it up to the wall experimentally. Kamilah stood to help Fareeha hold the poster straight, while the girl patted it to the wall with all the care in the world. And when she was done, they took a step back to admire their handiwork.
Hm. Kamilah squinted at the poster. They'd airbrushed Ana's face a little…and her hair seemed darker than normal, devoid of the faint grey at her temples that Kamilah was used to seeing. Figures.
"I'll be in there, someday," Fareeha said, pointing at the poster.
Kamilah snorted a laugh. "Really?"
"Yeah! You think I can join Overwatch when I'm older?"
"Hm, depends. What do you want to be?" Kamilah asked, sitting in Fareeha's chair by the study table.
"An agent, duh. Like Jesse!" Fareeha smiled and put up her fingerguns, while Kamilah's heart dropped an inch. "He's told me all about his missions, and it sounds so cool. He'll follow Uncle Gabe, then walk into a room and go pew, pew!" She made those airy gun sounds with her mouth, like Jesse had taught her. "I wanna do that too."
Kamilah bit on her bottom lip, fingers fidgeting in thought. "They like to talk big, Fareeha. The entire team does. They may make it sound easy, but what they do is dangerous. Very dangerous. They fight, and often times, they'll get hurt. They suffer a lot of pain in their line of work, you know?"
"Yeah, but it's worth it." Fareeha puffed out her chest, raising her chin. No doubt an imitation of Jesse too. "Heroes save lives, and always come out on top." When her mother didn't reply, she continued, "Besides, you know it too, right? You're kinda like ami."
Kamilah raised her brows. "Hm?"
"Yeah! Ami says you saved a lot of lives in two wars."
"Only because I had to, my dear. Trust me."
"Duh, you have to. You're a medic. But that kinda makes you a hero too, doesn't it?"
"I'd…rather not be one," Kamilah grimaced. She looked at her daughter's confused frown, pondering her next words. Personally, Kamilah would rather keep Fareeha away from the violence of the frontlines – and she knew Ana shared her sentiments as well, even if they hadn't really discouraged the girl's dreams. It gave Fareeha something to look forward to, and if nothing else, it gave her the motivation to study and do well in school. Besides, how could one ever pop a child's dream in good conscience?
"We'll see how it goes, Fareeha," Kamilah said carefully. "When you've grown up, who knows? Maybe your interests will have changed."
"Nope!" Fareeha declared with confidence, beaming up at the Overwatch poster. "I'm pretty sure."
Kamilah breathed a quiet sigh, then rose from the chair. "Yeah? So you wanna be a hero, huh?"
"Yep!"
"Well, then." Kamilah bent down to pinch Fareeha's cheeks. "How about you get your math and science in order first, hm?"
Fareeha whined, pouting back at her mother. "You don't need math and science to be an agent."
"Oh, trust mama on this one," Kamilah laughed. "You need them. Or you'll end up a weirdo like Jesse."
Fareeha giggled when Kamilah let her go. "Yeah…he's kinda weird."
2 years later
Kamilah slipped her phone surreptitiously from her handbag, flicking the screen on to check her chat with Ana, who hadn't replied Kamilah's last message. In fact, she hadn't been online for the past two hours, which was quite odd – given that it was Fareeha's graduation ceremony that she was missing. Ana's last message was: [Keep me updated yeah? Will be back soon]
And since then, the chat's been filled only with Kamilah's updates…and nothing else. Wondering if an urgent mission or some such had grabbed Ana's attention, Kamilah sighed to herself and typed another message: [Ceremony's starting soon. Can see the students lining up outside.]
With that, Kamilah pushed the phone back into her bag and sat up straight, leaning back into her seat. A constant murmur filled the hall where they were seated – parents and relatives who were attending their respective child's graduation from preparatory school. She glimpsed the white and green colours of the students' uniforms by the open doors of the hall, and the nervous yet eager expressions of the kids started to enthuse her as well. She glanced around the large hall in her boredom while they were kept waiting, and when the principal took to the podium to invite the students in, her eyes whipped back to the doors.
A long line of 14-year-olds walked in, each with varying degrees of nervousness and joyful pride on their faces. Kamilah took her phone up as an afterthought, and kept the camera lens focused on the children – like so many other parents were doing – until she caught sight of Fareeha. The girl, who'd been scanning the audience for her mother, grinned and put up a V-sign next to her cheek, allowing Kamilah to snap a clear photo. Kamilah chuckled and gave her a thumbs-up, and Fareeha turned away to file into the row of seats assigned to her class.
Kamilah smiled to herself as she looked at the photo, then sent it along to Ana.
[She looks so much like you now.]
She kept looking at the photo a little longer, feeling one bit of her life click into place, that sense of accomplishment welling up in her. Fourteen years of raising this little scoundrel, and now, after sharing many headaches with her daughter over complicated homework, Fareeha had finally completed her basic education with solid A's and B's. So much better than Kamilah had done before.
Taking a breath, Kamilah put her phone down and paid attention to the principal, who was speaking to the quiet audience. His speech – complete with statistics of the graduate's grades – ended just shy of ten minutes, and he gave way to allow the awards ceremony to begin. Kamilah clapped along politely, and perked up twice during the whole process – Fareeha had received awards for her vast improvement in grades, and her performance in interschool sports as well.
The entire graduation ceremony didn't take long after that. The chosen valedictorian gave a speech, and the principal offered his last encouraging words to the graduating class, before bringing the event to a close.
Kamilah waited in her seat while those around her dispersed to find their child, and when Fareeha neared her position, she stood and spread her arms, a grin parting her lips when Fareeha flew in for a hug.
"My smart little baby," Kamilah crooned, squeezing her tightly.
Fareeha giggled. "I'm not a baby anymore, mama. Or little."
"You'll always be 'little' to me, little one." Kamilah smiled, pressing a kiss to Fareeha's cheek. She had to tip-toe a little now, because Fareeha had grown much taller since puberty hit, and Kamilah had no doubt she'd grow even taller in the year to come.
Fareeha shrugged, then took Kamilah by the arm, steering her towards the exit. "Let's go. I'm hungry."
"Don't you want to stay with your friends?"
"Nah, they're all going too. We're meeting up this week anyway. Oh! Has ami replied yet?"
"Er." Kamilah plucked out her phone to check the chat, and to her surprise, found a single message from Ana: [Still at the school?]
She showed it to Fareeha, whose lighthearted expression was marred by a small frown, and a sliver of disappointment. "That's all?"
"That's all," Kamilah confirmed, patting her daughter's cheek gently. She typed in a reply as they climbed down the stairs, then walked through the school's foyer on the way to the parking lot. But as they strolled along the kerb, a taxi pulled up at the school's entrance, and not a moment later they heard that one important voice ringing across the road.
"Milah! Fareeha, wait!"
They whirled around in surprise to find Ana running towards them in a hurry. She spread her arms as she neared, and grabbed them both in a hug.
"Oh god, I'm sorry I'm so late," Ana huffed. "My flight got delayed, and I rushed here as soon as I landed. Oh, and congrats, habibti!" She turned to Fareeha, clamping her daughter in another hug. "Ami is so proud of you!"
"Thanks." Fareeha beamed, looking remarkably brighter than she had been minutes before.
"Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" Kamilah asked, when Ana pecked her on the cheek. "I could've reserved a seat for you."
"I wanted it to be a surprise." Ana shrugged, adjusting the duffle bag slung over her shoulder. "Besides, I only got my seat at the airport this morning. Wasn't sure if I could make it. But I'm here!" she proclaimed, throwing her arms up. "So, what do you want to eat, Fareeha? You get to pick today."
"I want a burger. And fries."
"McDonald's it is." Ana cackled when Kamilah slapped her shoulder in jest, then linked their arms together as they walked to the car.
"I'm bringing her to a Western restaurant. And now that you're here, the meal is on you."
"Of course, my darling," Ana cooed. "And, Fareeha? You get to order two bowls of ice cream today."
"Really?" Fareeha squealed, throwing her arms around Ana's shoulders. "I love you, ami!"
In all honesty – and as she told her family – Ana's return home was not planned in the slightest. She'd felt increasingly guilty since she told Fareeha that she couldn't attend the graduation, and it finally culminated in a work frenzy the night before the ceremony. Ana only grabbed two, maybe three hours of sleep in her office, before she stormed over to dump a stack of documents on Jack's desk, asked him to cover for her, then rushed off to the airport to grab a flight home.
Since she hadn't any missions under her charge for the time being, Ana was able to stay at home for three full days, spending some unexpected time with her family, while dealing with work problems through texts with Jack. Since Fareeha was on vacation, she drove the girl around the city to relax and have fun, and even gifted her with a new gaming device as a reward. They bought a new phone for Kamilah on the sly as well – which would be their present for her birthday, that Ana would be missing…again. Fareeha solemnly promised to keep the phone safe until the birthday, and to be on her best behaviour for her mama.
While Fareeha ran around outside with her mother, Kamilah was content to just stay at home, and have Ana warming up the spaces she'd left behind. As always, this meant helping out in the kitchen, and doing whatever little chores that Kamilah assigned to the Strike Captain – anything that made Ana's dearest wife happy. But truly, nothing could beat being Kamilah's bolster at night; having a wife to fall asleep on top of her was a luxury she always sorely missed while at base.
In fact, being with family was a luxury for each member of the Strike Team. None of their loved ones had moved to Zurich, and they're forced to fight for the time to return home for a precious few days. Even after spending years in Overwatch, this was still a difficulty; but each time Ana was able to see her family, safe and sound at home, she would remind herself that the trouble was all worth it.
When Ana flew back to base, she was unsurprised to have Jack drop an even larger stack of files onto her desk, the man looking tired and immensely relieved that she was back. He'd sat in the chair by Ana's desk with a deep sigh, then brought her up to speed with all that had happened during the short time she was away – including the recent activation of Overwatch's A.I., Athena.
On Jack's command, the A.I. flickered to life on Ana's holopad on the desk, and greeted the captain personally. Ana was pleasantly surprised when Athena asked after the family, and she was glad to see that the labs had succeeded in giving the A.I. a personality of her own. Though it wasn't necessary for a program whose primary function was mission control, Athena's distinct personality would help her bond with the agents, and her sentience could provide intuitive assessments that a cold machine was incapable of.
They were enjoying their chat with Athena, and asking if she could blast any song upon request, when the A.I. flickered out of sight, then blinked back to life on the holopad.
"Agent Tien's team has just returned. All members have sustained heavy injuries, and are being escorted to the medical wing." Athena paused for a second. "Their mission has failed."
"Damn," Jack muttered. He stood with Ana, who swiped the holopad from the table.
"Tech retrieval in Mali, wasn't it?" Ana asked as they left her office behind, walking towards the medical wing.
"Yes, ma'am. Shall I bring up agent Tien's report? It is currently incomplete."
"No, Athena. We'll hear him out ourselves. But thanks."
"You're welcome, Captain."
With that, Athena disappeared from the holopad, leaving Ana and Jack to make their way to medical in silence.
There was a small hubbub at their destination, and they stuck close to the wall, giving way to stretchers being wheeled hurriedly towards the operating theatres. A few were already in use, and Ana wondered just how badly the mission had gone. They turned into the private ward where Tien was located, and the soldier struggled to sit up in bed when he saw them, snapping off a weak salute before being pushed back down by the doctor. Ana eyed the bandages covering his naked torso, the burn wounds over his left shoulder and arm, and the long cut up the side of his jaw.
"Sir. Ma'am," Tien rumbled, sounding a little woozy from painkillers. "I'm sorry. The mission was a failure."
"It's alright, Tien. We know," Ana replied.
Tien chuckled. "Let me guess: Athena?"
"She notified us the moment you landed."
"Should've known you'd snitch on me, Athy."
"It is not snitching when it's my job, agent," Athena's voice crackled through the sole speaker in the room.
"True." Tien sighed. "You know, Jack, you should've let Athena handle our mission. I know it'd be her first time, but damn if it wouldn't have given us the extra set of eyes we needed." He pushed himself farther up in bed with a groan. "We were ambushed. By who – we have no idea. But they were coordinated. Blinded our personal sensors and hit us from behind. Would've taken the whole team out too, if I hadn't thrown down a barrier before the grenade went out." He pointed at the burns on his body.
"Then you did well," Ana consoled him. "Would've been a pity if we lost all of you today. But then again, our doctors could've done without all this hassle. Right, Herschel?"
Herschel glanced drily at Ana, already used to the Strike Team's occasional fatalistic humour. "Honestly, Captain, I prefer all this hassle."
"Lucky us," Tien quipped.
"Lucky you, indeed." Herschel went quiet as he bandaged Tien's burns, and the cut on his face. Straightening from his patient with a sigh, he said, "Honestly, our department is still very much understaffed. I'm afraid we won't be able to handle much larger emergencies unless we get more hands on the team. Captain, have you seen the roster I've sent you?"
"No, actually. I've just returned last night." Ana pulled out her holopad again, thumbing its datapad mode, and swiped through the numerous reports in her mailbox.
"Is the patient up for a bit of interrogation, doctor?" Jack asked, stepping towards Tien's bed.
"Yes, but don't take too long. He needs rest." Herschel moved towards Ana, making way for Jack to sit beside the bed.
"Interrogation. How exciting," Tien drawled, bringing a slight smile to Ana's face as she opened the list of potential recruits, sent by Herschel himself.
She scrolled down the names – doctors picked from countless hospitals around the world, and combat medics serving in their country's respective medical corps. Ana nodded to herself, finding no trouble with any name on the list, until she stopped dead at one of two names chosen from Egypt's medical corps. Icy anger poured into her veins, and Ana whipped her sharp gaze up to Herschel, nodding at the door. She stalked out of the room with the doctor on her heels, and shut the door behind them.
"Mind explaining why my wife's name is in here?" Ana asked, tone hushed and dangerous.
Herschel cocked his head, not understanding her anger. "The original list was forwarded to me by Ms. Adawe herself, Captain. I merely chose those with the best credentials. And if I remember correctly – your wife is an instructor, yes? As it stands, Overwatch is severely lacking combat medics. She would be able to train new recruits, if not lead them in the field herself–"
"Herschel," Ana growled, taking one step towards him. "I will say this only once – you will keep her out of this. Do you understand? Never bring my family into our affairs again."
Herschel opened his mouth, then closed it again in thought. He regarded her quietly, and nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I apologise."
Ana let out a breath. "As you were, doctor. I'm sorry for taking your time."
She gave a tight smile as the doctor bowed his head, and slipped back into Tien's ward. Ana stood in place for a moment, then brought up the holo-datapad again. With two quick taps, Kamilah Amari's name was deleted from the list, and would hopefully never appear again. Briefly clenching her jaw, Ana turned the datapad off and pocketed the device, watching as a bandaged agent was pushed past her in a stretcher.
As long as Ana breathed, she would never allow her own family to be put in such danger. It might be selfish of her – Kamilah was more than capable of training Overwatch's field medics, that was true. But all medical personnel in their ranks were obligated to serve in the field should the need arise, and Ana would be damned if she let them pull Kamilah back onto the frontlines again.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Ana walked back towards her office, touching the tattoo on her wrist absentmindedly. She missed Kamilah, but was also glad that her wife wasn't here with her.
Kamilah was sprawled out on the sofa, dressed in her oversized t-shirt and shorts, and playing on the new phone that Ana had bought for her birthday. It wasn't much of a surprise, to be honest – it was now standard practice that Fareeha would present Kamilah's gift, should Ana not be around. Still, it was a touching gesture, especially with the card Fareeha had made for her, with her hoverbike painstakingly drawn in detail by her daughter.
But that wasn't their only gift for her. When Kamilah had switched her phone on, Fareeha opened up a little building game they'd installed on the device, and Kamilah was greeted with a castle-like home that Ana and Fareeha had spent weeks building for her. She'd chuckled and hugged her daughter in thanks, then spent some time learning how to play the game – which was a good way of keeping the family connected, Kamilah had to admit. So she made sure to invest a few minutes each day checking in, leaving little notes and goodies for her wife and daughter.
Tapping at the screen, Kamilah harvested the crops that were planted in neat rows outside the family home, and tossed a few ingredients into the oven to be cooked into food. She threw some logs into the fireplace to keep it burning, bought a new carpet with the gold she'd saved, then went to retrieve the gift that Fareeha had left on her bed – a stack of five broccolis, and a note saying 'EAT VEGGIES'.
Kamilah smiled to herself, putting the veggies into her bag. Then she pulled out the apple pie and pizza from the oven, and placed the pie on Fareeha's desk with a note: 'Eat fruits too.' She carried the pizza up to the master bedroom, and put it on Ana's nightstand – 'That's amore.'
Done puttering about their castle, Kamilah switched over to the plot of land that she shared with Ana alone, which had a cozy little cottage and a pond beside it, filled with ducks and fish. She nipped into the house to find the fire still burning, and mere seconds later, Ana's avatar came running down the stairs to greet her.
'Was about to go to bed,' said Ana's avatar, a white-haired warrior with a scar on her face.
'Then sleep?' replied Kamilah's avatar, a remarkably normal woman who looked like herself.
'Nah. I wanna show you something first.'
Ana led her up to the balcony, where an orange tiger lay sleeping on the floor, and a large diamond ring sat on the picnic table.
'How long did you take to find these?'
'Pretty long. But I told you I could do it. Heh,' Ana replied. 'They're for you.'
'Thanks.'
'Going to sleep now,' Ana said, inching her avatar forward so she could press her face to Kamilah's in a kiss. 'Good night. Don't stay up too late, alright?'
'Ok. Sweet dreams.'
':D'
':heart:'
And Ana's avatar vanished.
Kamilah spent a few minutes petting and feeding the tiger, then equipped the diamond ring – which showed up as a comically large gem on her hand. She did one last run about the house, then logged out of the game as well. Kamilah yawned, dropping her phone onto the sofa and stretching her body, before turning her head to see Fareeha nip into the kitchen.
She heard the fridge door opening, then Fareeha said, "Mama, there's three pieces of cake left. Wanna share?"
Ah, yes. The rainbow cake Ana had bought before leaving. Kamilah glanced at the clock – it was nearing 11pm, but she pushed herself up from the sofa anyway.
"Give me one. You can have the rest."
"Yes!"