Mercy

She was always different. Her mother made this abundantly clear from the moment she could understand her. She made it obvious that she had high expectations. She didn't quite comprehend the toll such silent demands took on one sister while the other quietly fell into place within the familial hierarchy. It was the unfortunate truth of every family with more than one child.

One always excelled. One always didn't.

Unfortunately, for Angela's sister, there was no comparing to genius.

'These scores are remarkable! The best since far before my time! We'll take her! A scholarship will be provided with joy!'

She was accepted to no less than ten of the finest schools her country had to offer. She didn't decide which one she would attend. That decision was made for her.

'Why aren't you going to class, Angie? Mother is furious. The school says you ask to use the washroom and never go back to the lesson. And if you're in class, you're never listening. Just doodling. It's crazy!'

'Because you're not there with me.'

It was the truth. Despite the potential rift that could have easily formed, Angela and her sister were closer than most. She adored her sister. She wanted to always be with her. Being forced to go to different schools diluted any passion Angela had. Her natural intellect in relation to the great expanse of the medical field remained unpolished the moment she began such elite treatment.

'Don't waste this chance, Angie. You could save the world. I'm not kidding. I heard mom talking to one of your professors. You're a once in a lifetime prodigy. They can tell. You're different.'

'I don't want to be different. I just want to be with you.'

'I don't get you, Angie…'

She was smiling when she said this. She was happy. She was always happy when she was with Angela. The feeling was mutual. They weren't that far apart in age. They looked a little similar, too, although Angela's sister gave her outer appearance a little more attention.

'I don't get myself sometimes.'

'Heh. Well, just think about what you could do for the world if you really did take your studies seriously. You could cure cancer! Wouldn't that be something?'

'Maybe…'

'Just think about it, okay? Think about what you're capable of.'

'Hmm…'

'Sister's orders.'

'…Okay.'

'If you don't start putting forth some effort, Angela, you will be grounded until you do. Do you understand? You're wasting too many educators' time. It's embarrassing. Utterly shameful.'

'My apologies, Mother. I'll do my best starting tomorrow.'

'You better mean it this time.'

She did not. She was barely through middle school, and although she passed the tests with relative ease, she did so by her own merit, and without the help of her teachers. They wished to refine her and mold her, giving her practical experience and hands-on applications, but Angela refused it all. She simply wanted to return home to her sister.

Her mother apparently discovered what was holding Angela back, after all this time, and made the appropriate changes.

Once Angela's sister moved in with their father, Angela stopped attending classes altogether. When she wasn't directly escorted and monitored, she was on her own, searching the world and her mind for purpose. A genius. A prodigy. Such esteemed titles meant nothing to her. They never had. She happened to score perfect on a progressive capability test in medicine and biology and was, from that point forward, destined for greatness apparently.

Angela wanted to run away. The life she was being forced to lead was stifling. It always had been. She often wished she could go back in time and warn herself about that ridiculous placement test that solidified her current state of affairs. She found comfort and unfiltered love in her sister. She wanted nothing but to be Angela's friend with not an ulterior motive in sight. She was the only one who gazed at Angela without a semblance of hunger and ambition. Angela was her sister, and vice versa. That's all they were to one another, and Angela loved her deeply for that.

Which is why the moment her sister was gone, Angela fell into a deep depression, uplifted only when she was seldom granted the chance to visit her sibling. Those visits became scarcer and scarcer, but at least Angela was capable of utilizing her school's computers for keeping in touch with her dear sister that way.

The omnic presence in the world was progressively factoring into everyday life once again. Despite the crisis that had nearly eradicated the thought of implementing such machines into society with rights similar to that of a human's, Angela could sense the world's acceptance of such beings beginning to change. She herself wanted nothing more than humans and omnics to coexist. The omnics were clearly more than mere apparatuses.

However, war had a way of changing one's perspective.

When war found Angela's home, she was soon without a mother and hastily shipped off to live with her father and sister. It wasn't the way she wanted to reunite with her sibling. Even if there was resentment, she couldn't not care about her mother, and the loss hit Angela harder than she could have ever anticipated it would.

Seeing her sister helped.

'You've changed! You look so beautiful!'

It was so nice to hear her voice. Angela begged her father to allow her to attend the same school as her sister, and although he was hesitant, he complied in all eventuality. The following months were bliss. Angela was just another girl, and despite her name popping up from time to time amongst the faculty members, their questioning gazes rather irksome, they left well enough alone, and Angela held her sister's hand in the halls, embraced by her group of friends and finally content.

War was merciless. The Omnic Crisis was officially over, but remnants of such a widespread battle tended to linger. A shadow began creeping much more prominently across the land. Angela could sense it, but she could do little against it.

It took her father, and many others.

And then…

'Leave me, Angie…'

The heat of the fire and the screams of others buried in rubble or injured beyond saving rung in Angela's head. The city had been bombed, infiltrated by omnics and some form of dark-clad military.

'Never! Never! Take my hand!' She grabbed at her sister, trying to avoid looking at the way her lower half had been completely crushed by pieces of a building. Blood was soaking her torso, and her face was so pale.

'Even if I did, I'd bleed out before we took two steps. Heh…'

'N-no…' She knew it was the truth, but she wouldn't accept it. She tugged again, but her sister simply touched her hand, shaking her head weakly.

'It's okay. Really. You're alive. I feel a bit better knowing that.'

Angela felt the push before she knew what was even happening. If her sister hadn't reacted so quickly, or if she had saved herself instead, Angela would be the one dying.

'Please…!'

'Live a full life, Angie. Don't forget me. Be happy. That's all I ask.' Always so selfless. It's part of why Angela loved her. Never jealous beyond reason. Just full of affection and kindness. She deserved to live. Not Angela. Not the arrogant, selfish, Angela.

'I-I can't. Not without you…!'

'Sister's orders. You cannot deny them.'

'I…I…'

'Don't cry. Please don't cry.'

But that's all Angela could do, because she was losing the most important person in the world to her, and she had no means of preventing the devastating blow to her reality.

Angela found herself at a crossroad shortly thereafter. She spent nearly a week fading away in a shelter provided by the government. She hardly ate, and only drank enough to keep the facilitators happy. Her mind swirled with regret and shame, wondering if she could have saved her sister somehow. The pain that burrowed into her heart left her ravaged and broken. Losing her sister twisted her psyche, and Angela fell into a blackness she would never remember succumbing to in the following years.

'Angela Ziegler?' She was approached one day.

'That is I…'

'I am here to offer you an opportunity.'

He was the head of surgery at a prominent hospital in Switzerland. He took Angela in and provided her schooling. At first, Angela rejected the visitation to her past, but when her new guardian suggested that she had the ability to pioneer a new wave of biological breakthroughs that could alter the very landscape of science and medication, Angela could only think of her sister and how she had failed to save her.

What if she had taken her studies more seriously and proven herself able then?

That was the deciding factor. From that very moment onward, Angela pushed herself in memory of the sister she had lost, and this drive – this unfathomable ambition – accelerated her into obtaining her M.D. and P.H.D. while also being scouted once or twice by Overwatch, going so far as being welcomed into what would eventually be a historical picture of the group.

Angela became a true prodigy and worldwide name when she did as was prophesied by her guardian, and pioneered a breakthrough in the field of applied nanobiology, radically improving the treatment of life-threatening illnesses and injuries. She single-handedly presented methods and techniques that improved the quality of life for millions the world over.

But it wasn't enough for her.

Angela came to the conclusion that, in order for her to continue bettering mankind, and to redeem herself forevermore, she would need to live longer while simultaneously pushing the very boundary of what it meant to be mortal. She was granted the funding – even with her demands being astronomical – and began her work on nanomachines and what they could do for the human body at its very core.

The pain Angela bore because of the loss of her sister erected an impenetrable barrier around her heart. She never wanted to feel such raw, deep agony ever again. Even once she joined Overwatch, and even though she did feel a substantial amount of comradery for many of her fellow agents, she kept any and all at arm's length quite adamantly. She never – never – wanted to go through such heartache again. Never.

A hand was holding her own. It was strong, but so very, very warm. It felt like it belonged in hers. It was a perfect fit. Angela's eyes cracked when she tried to open them, and a hot cloth passed over her face, allowing her lids to flutter open to bring forth a world of shapes and illogical colours.

'A-Angela…!' A voice called out. It wasn't her sister's, but it made her heart remember her. The notion of affection was so incredibly similar.

'Fareeha…' She whispered through chapped lips and a sore mouth. She began to cry. The room was cleared, thanks to the younger woman's quick demands, and Angela knew she was breaking for more reasons than she wished to relay.

'I was so scared…' She whimpered, and the gentle embrace that followed was unlike any before…which was even more frightening.