Widowmaker

Hope. It was a word she had long forgotten. Surrounded by hate and death, hope was but a fragment of a dream she used to know.

Yet, hope found a face in the enemy. Hope had short brown hair. Hope housed subtle freckled cheeks. Hope was persistent. Hope didn't give up when she did.

Was it finally time to hope again?

Widow's eyes opened to white. Her head felt numb. Her arms were heavy. This wasn't an unfamiliar sensation. She saw various members of Overwatch's medical team. At the head of them was one Doctor Angela Ziegler. She was a mess. Her hair was utterly dishevelled, and red blotches surrounded her eyes.

'Good evening…' Angela breathed shakily. She paused, swallowing slowly, the individuals behind her reaching into their lab coats. 'I'm so sorry…'

Widow's body tensed, and her limbs flinched into restraints, nearly bending the metal that held her in place. She heard her voice grunt in her throat, and her teeth cracked under the stress.

Angela Ziegler. Primary target for assassination. Kill on sight. Linchpin to Overwatch's health and safety sector. Kill. Kill. Kill. A single death would change everything.

A pinch to her neck, and it was over.

Hope was but a fragment once more.

It wasn't as bright when she came to again. The lab's lights had been dimmed. It was deep into the night. She could tell. She knew instinctively. The rage of not being able to take out Angela Ziegler remained. Failure. She would be punished. Fine. So long as she was allowed to kill again.

'Heya, Luv.'

A pulse wave of lightness coursed through Widow's veins, and her eyes immediately filled with water, as if her entirety was pumped full of a salve.

'Tracer…' She muttered angrily, but then softened, whimpering as she uttered the next word. 'Lena…'

'Hi, Beautiful. Had a rough go of it, huh?' She said quietly, and Widow sniffed, needing to wipe her eyes but unable to.

'She failed…didn't she?' Widow asked helplessly.

'For now.' Lena responded, but even she couldn't fill the words with her usual optimism.

'…What happened?'

'Complications, I guess? Ange was pretty upset. I don't get to see her with a mean face very often, but she went to see Moira.' Lena grinned distantly. 'She said something about it being like disturbing a bee's nest, you know? Thought she knew what was what, but when she started digging…bees.'

Widow could only groan in dismay. Naturally, it could never be so easy. Moira was a madwoman. She invested so much time and effort into warping Amelie Lacroix into Widowmaker. She surely foresaw something akin to this turn of events and set up the appropriate safeguards as if to taunt her eternal rival.

'I wanted to kill her.' Widow admitted, shocked with how much her chest hurt at the claim.

'I know, Luv. She gave you some medicine. You should be doin' okay now.'

'It's losing its effectiveness.'

'Yeah…'

'Which is why I'm restrained once more.'

'Yeah…'

'What is the official word?'

'Official?' Lena shrugged. 'Jack doesn't want to waste any more time on this. There's too much going on in the world. All hands on deck and such. I got a mission lined up and everything. God Programs popping up all over the map. Talon really starting to make some moves. Something bigger lurking in the shadows. The piece of the U.N. supporting us is downright terrified of what's coming. It's not looking good, Luv. Not at all…'

'And here I lay, useless to the cause.'

Lena moved next to Widow, hastily unlocking her restraints and touching her face, the warmth of her skin so painful Widow flinched away.

'Ange did manage to do somethin' for you, Luv. You know that shock collar thing? She had Winston make it into a microchip and got it into you. Somewhere around here.' Lena touched behind Widow's right ear, and although Widow attempted to flick her head away again, Lena held her, looking into her eyes with that same hopeful gaze that had transfixed Widow's soul with the singular question of "why?".

'So, if your brain starts making you do something nasty, I guess it understands to give you enough of a jolt to hopefully get you back on track. Neat, huh?'

'Another temporary solution.'

'Better than nothing, innit?'

'Perhaps…' Widow noted the tentativeness in Lena's voice as the shock of her current circumstances waned. Was it just her imagination? 'I am no better or worse than before, I suppose.'

'I got permission to be responsible for you, at least. Ange convinced Jack that you could still be used on certain missions until a permanent solution can be found.'

Widow blinked.

'She…wishes to continue her work on me?'

'Uh, yeah? Ange takes this kinda thing super seriously. Moira beat her. She might not seem like the type, but girl's got a whole bunch of pride. She ain't gonna take this lying down. She's gonna use her coupla days off to dig into the data and clear her head. When she gets back from Busan, she wants to give it another whirl.'

'I-I see…' Widow knew it was foolish to smile even partially, but she couldn't help it. Hope. Hope. Hope manifested anew in this caring young woman before her and those who supported her selfless wishes.

'I gotta head out on that mission in the next couple days though, Luv. You're allowed to come, but I totally get it if you can't. I've already gotten way too much time off. Overwatch needs its big players on the field. We gotta shut down the God Programs like before, but this time without the U.N.'s full support and Talon's heavy presence. It's gonna be rough.'

Why did this tone bother Widow so? Was it the medicine corrupting her perspective? No. She knew Lena well enough by this point to tell something was off. Lena relaxed around Widow. It was something she took a shameful amount of pride in.

'Did something happen while I was out?' Widow ventured, and Lena went still, her eyes focussed on the shimmering floor in the dim light.

'Heh. We're at that point, huh?'

'Pardon?'

'The point when you can tell I'm hiding stuff.'

'Oh. Perhaps…' Widow swallowed sharply, her brain hurting, and the aching where she had been penetrated for the procedure prominent.

'I can't lie to you, Beautiful. I won't lie to you. You don't deserve that.'

'Much appreciated.' Widow wasn't sure she meant it.

'…Emily sent me a text. The night we…kinda did stuff, she said she wanted to talk.'

Widow's pulse stopped altogether for a split second, but then everything resumed as normally as it could. She wasn't upset. She wasn't.

'Have you spoken with her yet?'

'Nah. I just told her I was crazy busy – which is true – so, yeah, that's on hold.'

'But you are torn because of your supposed "feelings" for me?' Widow felt the anger building now. Why was she becoming so furious? It wasn't simply jealousy. It couldn't be. She cared for Lena, admittedly, but she hardly "loved" her in any capacity.

'Well, yeah.'

'Spare me.' Widow snapped, feeling guilty for the reaction based on Lena's confused stare but incapable of taking it back. 'We are nothing. Acquaintances at best.'

'I'm gonna chalk that up to the drugs and post-operation talking.' Lena's face construed.

'Don't. I've made it clear since the beginning. Nothing has changed.'

'Oh?' Lena's eye twitched angrily. 'So, getting off from me sexing you up didn't mean a thing, did it? Nothing at all!?'

'It was a means of showing my thanks. You deserved that much.'

'Hell no, Luv!' Lena stood up now, a rare showing of unfiltered rage filling her normally charming features. 'You'd be the one servicing me if that was how it was happening!'

Widow grounded her teeth together, rising from her bed abruptly as well now.

'You still fixate on such things? So be it!' And Widow lost herself in the pain of it all. She grabbed Lena's wrists and threw her to the ground, a small "yip" escaping the Brit's throat as she was pinned, her loose top torn apart and Widow gripping between her legs roughly, pinching into her womanhood and pushing the pant material deep into the younger girl.

'A-Amelie…!' Lena gasped, and Widow muffled her voice with her other hand, shoving her fingers into her throat and choking her as she ripped her pants and underwear down to her knees, kneading her swollen bud and allowing the fluid from the agent to soak her palm.

'Surely you can take a rather bountiful load, hm? What with all your experience!' Widow sneered, biting Lena's right breast and pushing three of her fingers inside the confines of Lena's warmth with more effort than expected.

A sharp pain bit threw Widow's hand suppressing Lena's voice, and another source of injury struck her cheek before a final blitz of electricity practically immobilized Widow, rendering her instantly motionless and dazed.

'What the bloody hell!?' Lena snivelled, backing away on the floor and pulling her clothes into some form of reasonable sense. 'Jesus…' She wiped her reddened eyes, and Widow's mouth hung open, dismay and fear encapsulating her.

'I…' Widow began, mortified as the understanding of what she had just attempted hit her harder than anything she could remember in recent time.

'Not okay, Luv…' Lena muttered, full of hurt. 'Bloody…not okay…'

Widow shook her head, but then nodded slowly, praying Lena wouldn't leave her then. Praying against prayer she wouldn't be alone again.

A heavy silence filled the room, and Athena dinged over the speakers, filling the desolate nothingness.

"Widowmaker recently suppressed in current location. Report?"

Lena steadied her breaths, shuffling into what was left of her shirt.

'Tracer here. Everything's fine. Widowmaker is contained. Thanks.'

"Hints of apprehension identified in agent Tracer's recorded regularly dictated intonation. Report?"

'Nothing, Luv. Tell Winston it's all good.'

"…Affirmative."

Only the soft hums of the remaining machines in the room remained, and Widow found herself waiting to see what Lena would do. She had every right to leave her. Widow almost wished she would. Anything and anyone who got close to her could only be hurt. The glimmer of hope at having a regular life had been effectively snuffed the moment Widow awoke and could feel the corruption in her mind still. The poison that drove her to kill without reservation. The chaos that forced her hands around her husband's neck. The numbness that allowed her to watch passively as her child was denied a chance at life.

'I'm…sorry…' Widow gasped shakily, gripping at her arms, wanting to break skin and feel her own blood dripping upon her body. She felt so trapped. So lost. So angry and scared at the same time. She pushed when she wanted to pull. She screamed when she wanted to whisper. She killed when she wanted to love.

Lena's hands were around her within half a second of her apology. It's as though she blinked to Widow it happened so quickly. And this only made Widow cry harder and louder. She held onto Lena and sobbed into her, the rush of filtered emotions like a broken dam barely restraining that which it was meant to contain.

For once, Lena didn't say a thing. She simply held Widow and let her broken psyche unleash its sorrow. Widow hated being so vulnerable, and yet, she couldn't imagine being with anyone else in that moment…not even Gerard.

Eichenwalde. The destination of her next mission. She was accompanying only three other agents on this rather high-priority search and destroy mission. Two were Grandmasters. One was Diamond. The last – Widowmaker herself – wasn't officially ranked. Tracer, Reinhardt, and Brigitte. A rather powerful group; even Widowmaker could identify as much. If she had been assigned to take any of them out while still working for Talon, it would have been considered one of the most difficult undertakings in her career. There was a reason few agents in Talon wished to take the two Grandmasters on at any given time. There was a reason Reinhardt, even at his incredible age, was considered the lion of any battlefield he waged war on. He was the king. The living embodiment of courage and chivalry. And the king now had a cub, who had readily demonstrated she wasn't resting on the laurels of her father or master's accomplishments. She had proven herself in the most recent battle, and would only get stronger with every experience and Reinhardt's guidance. Tracer had shown time and time again she wasn't just a big mouth. Widow knew very personally just how strong and resourceful she was. She had taken a crippling experience and harnessed it as her own power; power that had few rivals. Widow had dealt with such power on numerous occasions and could only barely scrape by because of her own inhuman modifications. Any normal agent would be helpless.

Widow adjusted her skin-tight outfit and looked in the mirror. It felt and looked familiar enough. Even her gauntlet equipped with a retractable grappling hook was near identical to what she once had. Lena evidently asked for her gear to be as close to her original Talon outfit as possible while adding a flair of Overwatch's aesthetic. She clicked her multi-angled visor into place, tracking numerous perspectives simultaneously in her changing area; a task that would be impossible for any normal human's brain.

'Almost ready, Luv?' Lena asked from outside the room; her room. Widow didn't deserve a space of her own yet. She wasn't capable of something as rudimentary as that, still. The fact she was allowed on a mission was only due to Lena's own encouragement and the fact Angela was so skilled through the operation that hardly any recovery time was needed. Still, Widow knew something was off about her inner workings. Lena described it as disturbing a bee's hive. While the swarm had certainly settled, Widow understood her corrupted workings well enough to comprehend that a piece of herself had been dislodged, and it made her erratic even with the help of Angela's new restricting remedy she had hastily concocted before flying out to Busan for a deserved break.

She had assaulted Lena again. That was proof enough she was cracking anew.

Lena and Widow's relationship had shifted alongside her altered behaviour. There was a space between them that hadn't existed before; even when they were trying to "kill" one another. Indeed, Lena was much more professional and factual, providing Widow air she didn't ask for, but knew she could benefit from. The concept of acting on any form of sexual desire evaporated the night Widow attacked Lena. It was a loss of control Widow deeply regretted even when her mind attempted to glorify the memory. It was an unnatural loss of character Widow stored alongside the murder of her husband, and that frightened her.

'Yes…' Widow answered, opening the door and stepping out to see Lena in her "Tracer" gear. The default outfit she equipped that the world knew. The superhero costume she deserved.

'How are you feeling? Any weird urges?'

'Because of my clothes?'

'Yeah. I figured they'd be the most comfortable, but we kinda worried you might get closer to Widowmaker because of them, you know?'

'A fair assessment.' Widow agreed. 'At this moment, all seems to be well.'

'Great!'

A pause. A heavy, painful silence Widow didn't know she could hate so. She wanted to ask if Lena had contacted Emily. She couldn't tell. The need to have an answer perpetually grew, and Widow shook her head in annoyance.

'Anyway, we got a good team going on this mission, but I gotta tell ya, Rein is still kinda butt hurt about the whole Ana thing. If he's acting a little cold, that's why. Brigitte will keep him in line, I'm sure, but that's the deal, alrighty?'

Widow barely registered what Lena was saying. She couldn't turn away from her lips. They were producing words that sounded like everything was fine, but Widow could distinctly feel the damage done, and she couldn't determine a way to mend it.

So, she would destroy it completely.

'Did you speak with Emily?'

Lena blinked, her facial features twitching some. She hesitated to answer, and that was as good as any reply. But those agonizing words returned, manifesting into daggers that Lena couldn't know she flung without regard.

'Last night. Thought I better before the mission. Black omnic. God Program. The works. It's a doozy. Just wanted to clear some things up.'

'…Good.' Widow sneered. 'You're better with her.'

'That's not what happened, Luv. Really.'

She was lying. Widow could tell that much. That was the end of it. Widow wouldn't punish herself further. The urge to hold Lena and throttle her neck fought for supremacy in her mind. Thus, she pushed past the Overwatch agent even with the knowledge she wasn't quite allowed to officially be on her own without surveillance in the form of Lena Oxton, her saviour and captor.