"You're still not dating, Fareeha?" Safiya fixed her niece with an overdramatic, incredulous look. "It's been what, years since your last girlfriend! What, you have trouble finding someone?"

"Uh...not really. I think?"

"Oh, I suppose not. I mean, you take after your ami – and she was kissing people left, right, and center all the time–"

"Safiya," was all Zahra needed to say, punctuated by a pointed look while setting an empty plate in front of her wife, to have Safiya desist. Only two things could make an Amari sister stop in her tracks – a large and well-armed army, or a single word from their wife.

Guess some things do change, Kamilah thought drily. Her smile faded, then brightened once more in thanks when Zahra handed her a plate as well.

"Eh." Safiya waved dismissively before jabbing her fork into a dish of vegetables. "I suppose that means you have more time for your mama. Not like Samir – so busy traveling wherever he wants with his girlfriend–"

"He's on a field trip for work," Zahra reminded her, sitting at the table laden with dinner dishes. "Besides, you were the one who told him to travel more. Or did you forget that too?"

"My memory's not that bad, Zah. But I'm only telling him to travel more so he can have more time alone with his girlfriend! He keeps going on like this, and they'll never get married while we still breathe."

"His marriage is his business."

"You heard your aunt, Fareeha." Safiya clapped a hand on Fareeha's arm. "Since my own son's marriage is not my business, I guess I'll have to make yours mine then."

"I'm...flattered?" Fareeha said with a poker face which threatened to fall apart with the smile she was obviously holding in.

"Good. So, when's the baby coming?"

"Will kittens do?"

"Mm...they would cause less trouble than you did when you were a kid."

"'Causing less trouble than Fareeha' is a pretty low bar, Safiya," Kamilah said with a smile, sipping on broth.

"Of course it is! What's life without at least a little trouble, eh?"

"Peaceful?" Zahra deadpanned.

"Boring, my dear. Boring," Safiya crooned, pinching her wife's cheek. "Speaking of trouble, do you know what happened during our trip?"

While Safiya launched into a recount of her family's lengthy stay in Zahra's hometown, with many additions from Zahra and snarky comments from Fareeha, Kamilah settled for taking one bite of hot food after another. It was lucky that Safiya and the family had been out of town when Ana returned – it would've made things even more unnecessarily complicated, and Kamilah's bitter mood would've made concealing Ana's presence a herculean effort in front of loved ones. But now that Ana was gone, Kamilah finally had a chance to breathe, and Safiya's return injected a sense of gaiety into the subtle gloom hanging over her and Fareeha.

One thing about Safiya hadn't changed, she was able to command a group's attention with as much ease as she had as a general in the army. With a storyteller's flair, she talked about her trip to Alexandria with her wife and son, visiting the spots Zaid had taken her before, during those precious few visits she'd paid him.

Safiya took a swig of tea and sighed. "You know, looking back on it now… It always felt like we never had enough time with him. Or with our mother, for that matter. And now it's...sorry," she added, glancing at Kamilah and Fareeha. "Sometimes I feel like enough time's gone by, but then I try…"

"It's alright," Kamilah said gently, giving Ana a mental slap on behalf of her sister. "And, I don't know about you, but I feel like I've had enough of Ana for one lifetime."

Safiya barked a laugh. "Make that ten!"

Fareeha laughed along too, dotted with a tinge of uncertainty, and Kamilah noticed her passing glance. Act casual, Kamilah thought at her daughter, who wore a mirthful expression that could've been drawn on a plank, but her aunts didn't seem to notice. Thankfully, Safiya had gotten into a bicker with Zahra, giving Fareeha some time to shake off the minute tension.

Kamilah hid her smile easily, and took the time to watch Safiya instead. Her sister-in-law had aged very well; though Safiya kept up with physical training after her retirement, she'd gone easy on herself. She was still trim, but much softer where hard muscle used to be – and she seemed to relish it. Her hands, accustomed to weapons after decades of use, now wielded spades and other tools while tending to the garden she'd set up with Zahra in the backyard. After a rough beginning when all Safiya could do was somehow murder her plants by accident, they started growing little fruits and vegetables to share with Kamilah's household as well. It was one reason why the two families had started eating together more often.

Zahra was doing well too – after retiring as a flight instructor, she'd picked up a hobby of making wooden toys. Something she'd gotten so well at, that she'd managed to sell some of her own creations online. Even to her niece too, except it was barter trade with Fareeha, who'd exchange the toy planes with imported creams.

We could've been like this, Kamilah thought wistfully. She and her wife could've had a comfortable retirement years ago, picked up some hobbies of their own, and Kamilah could volunteer at the pet shelter she used to visit when she was younger. Maybe even adopted a kitten or two. But no, her wife had to go and play the hero so well, that the world immediately yanked Ana out of their lives. Even now, when Ana had lost all that she'd built, she still refused to give it up, bent on righting whatever wrongs that plagued her from a life lost.

Kamilah had once thought she'd gotten the less rambunctious Amari sister. Over the years, however, it became obvious that she had indeed chosen the rascal of the litter. The absolute, bastard rascal.

Sighing on the inside, and getting a minor sense of satisfaction from snapping that curse in her mind, Kamilah picked at her food and shoved thoughts of her wayward, presumed-dead wife out of her mind. She had family right here, right now. If anything, the years had taught her to cherish what she had in the present.

1.5 years later

Not surprisingly, the Necropolis was its same quiet, abandoned self. Of course, it was much dustier after a year of neglect, and though Ana would've preferred not having to break her back to make this place liveable again, she was grateful for the busy work. After all, she would've gone crazy sitting around with a vigilante partner who'd gone stonily silent after achieving the goal they'd set out to meet...only to have it fall short of expectation.

So the day passed with barely a word passed between them – Jack grunted in reply to Ana's remarks, before their base was filled with the sound of diligent wiping and cleaning down of their living and work spaces. Ana was done with her part of the base much earlier than Jack, though she suspected the man just needed an excuse to occupy his hands, and distract his mind. So she left him to it, and stretched out on her mattress in the corner, lying with hands behind her head, staring up at the ceiling before she drifted into a short doze.

When she woke, Ana was alone in the room. She sated her stomach with some leftover rations from their lengthy mission, then brewed some tea and carried the hot kettle up to the rooftop of the Necropolis, where she knew Jack would be. He didn't look around when she sat beside him, but accepted with care the steaming cup Ana offered him. They sat in silence, nursing their cups of tea, gazing at the nighttime lights of Giza. Neither bothered to speak just yet. After all, having a heavy non-revelation hang over them was not quite a conversation starter.

Their hunt for the Reaper had dragged on longer than expected – but then again, they should have. Both of them knew Overwatch's strategies inside and out, and Gabriel had a leg over them with his Blackwatch experience and Talon expertise. It was no wonder the Reaper had successfully led them to deadends, traps, and wild goose chases over and over again – so many that Ana had fully resolved to strangle the man with her own hands after the first two months of failure.

Just as well – this same anger drove Ana whenever they encountered Widowmaker on the field, the two developing a spite-fueled relationship which had culminated in a mask-to-visor confrontation, Ana gripping the slim wrist she'd broken to keep the Talon sniper from slipping away. Only when Widowmaker had hissed, "Who are you?", was Ana distracted, then suffered a kick to the gut that left her winded, unable to catch to her fleeing quarry.

That encounter was just one of the many which confused Ana and Jack – Talon's inability to discover their identities was uncharacteristic. They had foiled so many of Blackwatch's covert operations, but were confounded by two independent vigilantes? It seems improbable – but they found the answer when they finally cornered Reaper alone, on his visit to a tech facility in Xinjiang. Actually, they'd thought they lost him at first, until a cloud of black vapour caught up to them during their escape, and led them to an isolated corner far from the facility. Gabriel wanted to speak, and more importantly, he wanted to get them off his tail.

He had something important to do in Talon – what's more, his physical condition tied him to the organisation out of necessity. Gabriel was insufferably vague, and Jack had shoved his pulse rifle against Gabriel's gut – cold metal biting into flesh-and-mist. For a brief moment, Ana thought he was going to fire – his finger rested on the trigger, but then Gabriel spoke.

"You have no idea how much I wish you could end it right here," he'd growled tiredly.

That seemed to take Jack off-guard, but he didn't shift his rifle from Gabriel – who closed his eyes. He was the one who'd masked their identity, Gabriel explained, wanting them to stay off Talon's radar. He insisted they agreed to leaving Talon – or at the very least, Reaper – alone for the time being, to not rouse suspicion that could bring Talon's arsenal down on their heads.

"Stay out of the way," Gabriel said. "Or you won't live long enough to find out what they have planned."

Ana looked at Jack – whom she'd promised to give the reins. "You'll keep us updated," Jack growled.

Gabriel smirked wryly. "No. You'll know when the time comes."

Then he'd disappeared in a waft of black mist. Only after the longest discussion with Jack, did they agree to fall back to the Necropolis – no doubt Gabriel had risked much to give them this simple warning, and he would've only done so if there was much at stake.

And now, the only question was…

"So," Ana said slowly. "How do we move forward?"

Jack drank more tea in quiet thought. "Not 'we', Ana."

"You're gonna abandon me now, aren't you?"

He stared at her for a long while, before his gaze dropped and returned to the horizon. "In a manner of speaking."

"You heard what Gabriel said. You think I can sit still with another thing brewing?"

"Even if you can't, you should."

"And here I thought we were getting along so well," Ana said drily. A sliver of dread rose in her – at a tired dilemma which pulled her in opposite directions.

"I'm serious, Ana. You've done your part. Left your mark on the world. Made it better, even if most of it hates you now."

"Thanks a lot."

"And, what's more important – you still have something left even after all we've been through. It's time you focused on keeping it."

"Jack–"

"Ana," he interrupted. "This life I have? You don't deserve it. None of us do. Me? I have nothing left to lose. That's why I'm still here, doing the same shit I've done all my life. But you? You still have people missing you."

"Didn't I tell you I'm presumed dead again?"

"You don't believe that."

"I don't," Ana admitted. "But it makes staying here a little easier."

"That's an excuse."

"I can't leave you to do this alone."

"I can, and you will." Jack clenched a fist, then relaxed. "You–, we have done our part, Ana. The world can't rely on just two broken old soldiers to protect it. There'll be others to take up the mantle."

"Yeah? So I'm going into retirement? And what are you going to do?"

Jack's gaze lowered to the ground. "Give myself something to live for."

1 month later

It was close to midnight, and Kamilah was peacefully dozing off in the master bedroom's couch when a car horn nearly gave her a heart attack. She jumped, and set one foot on the floor, listening – it sounded like it'd come from–

Another short beep from the horn...from the vicinity of their garage. Kamilah frowned. Who is that–?

"Mama!" Fareeha barged into the room, though her voice was hushed as if she didn't want anyone to overhear. "It's her."

Kamilah's frown deepened. After a year had gone by, she'd given up waiting for her wife. And now, without warning, Ana just showed up on their doorstep. Again. She...should be happy.

"How do you know?"

"She just popped her head out the window and waved?" Fareeha seemed exasperated.

"Alright," Kamilah said slowly, tossing aside the cushion she held. Her back creaked as she stood. "Then let her in."

Fareeha groaned. "It's too late for this shit," she muttered under her breath as she walked out of the room.

I agree. Kamilah smiled faintly, stifling a yawn as she strolled her way down, overtaken by the harried footsteps of her daughter, who thumbed the remote for the garage door. Fareeha reached the garage before Kamilah, fixing the truck with a glare, arms folded as the vehicle was parked neatly behind the bikes.

Ana got out of the truck, flashing them a bright, if tentative smile. "Hi. Sorry to wake you up."

There was no reply, but it seemed she'd expected it, and went on undeterred. "So, uh… I have quite a few things to unload. Could I get a hand, maybe? I'd appreciate it."

Kamilah felt amused when Fareeha looked to her as if for permission, and she nodded. Letting out a sigh that only Kamilah could hear, Fareeha moved forward and picked up a sturdy cardboard box.

"This is...light," Fareeha commented, almost to herself.

"The heavyweights are with me, don't worry about it." Ana had stuck herself back into the truck, reaching for her things in the passenger seat.

As Fareeha neared the door with the box in hand, she looked at Kamilah in question.

"Guest room," Kamilah answered, getting a raised brow from her daughter, and a lighthearted laugh from her wife.

"I've been upgraded, huh? Now I wish I'd been back sooner." Ana smiled, hauling a sleek dark-grey case out of the truck – and Kamilah's brows drew together in a scowl.

"Those are weapons." She recognised the case, similar to those which had been tucked away in Captain Amari's quarters at HQ. "You brought weapons home?"

"I…feel safer with them around," Ana said slowly, glancing down at the case. "Like I'm not so exposed. They're not heavyweights, I swear."

Kamilah glared back into Ana's pleading gaze, biting on her bottom lip, before closing her eyes and hating herself for being so soft. "Make sure I don't see them. Got it?"

"Got it." Ana smiled.

Kamilah approached the truck herself, intending to take a box as well – as an olive branch, which she really, really felt like snapping when she spotted another case in the passenger seat. She whirled around to face Ana, who'd been watching her. "Two cases?"

"Old habits," Ana said sheepishly.

"Ugh." Kamilah turned away from her wife, determinedly not looking at the case. Instead, she reached for one of the boxes in the back of the truck, and yanked one out. "God give me strength."

"You don't need it," Ana said airily, following her into the house. "You have enough for an army."

Kamilah's heart squeezed, and she wished Ana would just shut up for a moment. Before she simply talked her way back into Kamilah's good graces.

Between the three of them, they managed to haul Ana's luggage up to the guest room in no time at all. Kamilah peered at the stack of boxes in the corner, marveling at the fact that Ana's vigilante life could just...be packed up in a few containers. Distinctly much less belongings than she had before her 'death'. Kamilah wondered how she'd gotten by – these would've allowed only the most spartan of lifestyles.

"I've been thinking," Ana broke the silence with a smile. "It's gonna be tricky coming up with a cover story for me, huh?"

"You could always say you found her in a garbage dump," Fareeha deadpanned at Milah, from where she stood in the corridor, leaning against the door frame.

"Rather telling of my taste in women," Kamilah replied flatly, trying hard to ignore Ana's crooked smile. "Your cover story is that you're my new partner. The entire neighbourhood already thinks so, anyway."

"Great! That's a part I can play well enough."

"We'll see." Kamilah turned to leave, but stopped when Fareeha spoke.

"Are you staying for good this time?"

A pause – during which Kamilah's heart sank.

"Yes. For good, this time."

She let out a breath she didn't know she'd held.

A knock on the door sent Kamilah into a fleeting moment of panic. Every single sound from their main door set her on edge now, what with her supposedly dead wife living in the house full-time. There was a chance Ana would be discovered, but she was always quick to flick the holo-imaging 'bracelet' on her wrist to mask her features whenever someone did enter the house. Usually, it was a neighbour who popped by – but today, it was family.

"Hello?" Safiya sang loudly from outside.

Kamilah looked at Ana, who'd been sorting through her old books in the living room's shelf. Her expression had gone stiff. But when she looked around at Kamilah, she nodded slowly.

Frowning as Ana rose to her feet uncertainly, fingers hovering over her bracelet, Kamilah hesitated before leaving...whatever was Ana's decision up to her. Walking up to the door, Kamilah took a breath to brace herself, then pulled the door open. She was immediately clamped in a firm one-armed hug as always, Safiya's voice booming in her ear.

"There you are! I thought you'd fallen over on the way here," she laughed, handing Kamilah a container. "Our tomatoes turned out really sweet this time. Zahra says it's because I wasn't the one who grew them. Pfft."

Kamilah closed the door behind them with a smile, and followed Safiya into the house.

"By the way, do you mind if I borrowed some black pepper? I don't know how we–oh! Oh, here's the woman everyone's been wondering about!"

Kamilah had to force herself to keep breathing when Safiya spotted Ana – now masked in different features – standing in the living room.

"You're Milah's new girl, aren't you! I've been waiting for her to tell us about you, but it seems I won't have to wait anymore." Safiya laughed, approaching the woman. "I'm Safiya, her kind-of, sister-in-law?"

"You're still my sister-in-law," Kamilah supplied drily from the corner where she stood.

"Aw, that's sweet. But don't worry about it – we're just one big family here." Safiya grinned back at the woman. "And, you are?"

Ana seemed stricken, staring back at Safiya wordlessly despite her sister's warm expression. Her eye flickered to Kamilah, then returned to Safiya. She opened her mouth, but only managed to croak, "I'm, uh…"

"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm doing that whole overbearing thing again, aren't I?" Safiya raised her hands, backing away from Ana, who looked so uncomfortable, it bordered on distress. "Sorry, Zah's still training me to tone down. I'll just–uh, go get the pepper, yeah?"

As Safiya walked away, though, Ana finally said, "Safiya – wait."

"That's freaky," Safiya chuckled, turning around as she reached where Kamilah still stood. "She sounds exactly like Ana. Is that why–?" She looked at Kamilah, expression turning perplexed when her sister-in-law merely stared back at her in stony silence. "Alright, what's going on? Why's everyone acting like...someone's about to drop dead, or something?"

Kamilah held onto Safiya's arm, partly to steady herself, and to hold the woman in place as Ana strode forward slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, Kamilah noticed Fareeha coming to stand at the stairs on the second floor, leaning against the railing.

"Don't freak out," Ana said, hand reaching for her holo-imager. "And don't tell anyone."

"I...don't get what's–?" Safiya fell dead silent when Ana's holo-features fell away. She stared for what seemed like an eternity, then took a step back. "No, that's–, come on now." She turned to Kamilah, as if for help. "She's dead."

"That's what I thought too," Kamilah deadpanned. "But it's her."

"Yeah, it's me. I just–, I've just been away. For a while."

"'For a while'?" Safiya snapped back. "You're dead, you idiot! You're supposed to be 'away' forever!"

"Felt like it for a while," Ana muttered.

"And you!" Safiya turned back to Kamilah. "You knew? Fareeha–?"

Fareeha nodded from the upper floor.

"We didn't know if she was going to–" Kamilah glanced at Ana. "We didn't know if she was going to come back."

"What? What do you–" Safiya clutched at her head. "Will someone fucking explain what the fuck is going on?"

"Long story short," Ana replied. "You know how the news said I died on a mission? I didn't. I survived, stayed out there for a while, and came home. Then...went back out there again. But I'm back for good this time."

"You–, you came back, then fucked off again? Without bothering to tell me, your sister, that you're alive?" Safiya barked a cynical laugh. "Of course you did! Who gives a fuck about anyone else when the great and important Ana Amari has shit to do?"

"Safiya–"

"It's been three years, Ana! I thought you were dead! I still–" Safiya's voice broke, before returning in force. "I deserve better than this, Ana! Your family deserves better than this!"

"I know–"

"You know? Then why the hell did you go off again when you came back the first time?"

"I had something important to do?"

"Oh? Something more important than, I don't know, making sure your family's alright? That they've recovered from their grief over you? Grief which, it turns out, they didn't even have to bother with in the first fucking place!"

"Safiya, I'm sorry. But there were–"

"Excuses?" Safiya interrupted. "You're gonna give another excuse now, aren't you? Save it. I've been watching you for all those years, and let me tell you. I'm sick and tired of all those excuses you feed to your wife and daughter, to justify your abandoning them here!"

"Safiya, I don't–"

Kamilah stepped forward in alarm when Safiya grabbed Ana's collar in both hands, dragging her sister closer, so they stood nearly nose-to-nose.

"Look at me, Ana. You look me in the eye, and tell me you haven't failed your family in any way since–"

"I know I failed them, alright!" Ana bit back, as fierce as her sister. "That's why I'm here now–"

"Only now," Safiya laughed bitterly, giving her sister a shake. "But you know what? Good! Good – because you listen to me now, asshole. You're sixty. You've been out there going at it for thirty, forty years. But guess what? The world's already moved on! It's torn down your precious Overwatch, and they're gonna find their own way now. They have people – strong, smart ones like your daughter to take charge – and they don't need decrepit old husks like us to fuck it up anymore! No offense, Milah," she added.

"Some taken," Kamilah said flatly, and Safiya's mouth curved into a smirk as she looked back at Ana.

"Mama always told us that family is the most important, Ana. Seems you forgot that a long time ago."

"I'm remembering now," Ana whispered.

Safiya glared at her longer, fingers tightening around the sweater's collar, before letting go. Then she yanked Ana in for an embrace, arms wrapped around her sister so tightly that Kamilah felt her own bones being crushed in sympathy.

"I missed you, bitch," Safiya uttered.

Ana laughed thickly. "I missed you too."