A few weeks after the incident you're sitting on an airship carrying you to your destination. It's a simple mission to escort some supplies but you apparently got some intel saying that Talon will be there. So instead of you and a couple of foot soldiers you have a whole bunch of the more well-known Overwatch agents with you. More importantly, Angela is with you and seems to be staring at you a bit too often for everything to be okay. At first you think maybe you've got something on your face, or in your teeth, but that can't be it because if there's one thing you know about Angela it's that she says things how they are to you. After a while, Fareeha comes to sit with you both and Angela seems perfectly distracted with her there. You watch them with a smile while your mind wonders to other things.

You wonder if Widow will be there when you land. There's a pretty high chance she will be since Talon always send their top agents to the job. You just hope it isn't Reaper and Reaper alone they've sent. Last time they only sent him and the whole mission was so boring because she wasn't there. Not that you really want to see Widow or anything. Oh, who are you kidding, yes you do want to see her. You want to convince yourself that you just need to talk to her and ask why she saved you, or even just talk to her to try figure out what's going on with her. But really, you just want to see her and check she's alright. Knowing that she cares about you to some degree has really made you feel differently about her. You're ready to admit you also really care about her, and want to make sure she's safe and happy.

You tap your foot impatiently as the wait until you land seems to be lasting forever. You look up from the floor you've apparently zoned out staring at and see Angela now has her attention back on you. You gulp when you see the look she's giving you, it's the look she always gives you when she has you sussed out. You pray to every god you've ever heard of that she suddenly hasn't become a mind reader and knows you're totally thinking about your supposed arch enemy.

"Lena." The tone of her voice alone lets you know you're in trouble.

"Y-yeah, luv?"

"I know that look" she says eyeing suspiciously "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing luv" you reply way too quickly for it to be believable. She narrows her eyes at you, leaning forward in her seat.

"Lena" her tone is dangerous now. You gulp, knowing you have to say something to get her off your back.

"I'm thinking of writing a book, ya know" you blurt out lamely.

"A book?" she asks, her expression turning to one of amusement.

"Yeah luv, a book. I'm thinkin' of the story an' that. It's gonna be a best seller don't ya know"

"Since when have you written anything, never mind a book?" she asks sceptically, her eyebrows raised and giving a look you know just screams that she doesn't believe a word that's coming out your mouth.

"New year's resolution!"

"It's March"

"Aw, come on luv. Give me a break" you whine dramatically making her laugh softly.

"Okay" She says, a small smile on her lips "what's your so-called book about then?"

"Glad you asked!" You grin, trying to make her think this is totally just some story you're really excited about "It's about this girl right. She's got everything she could ever want, an amazing girlfriend, great job, pretty decent income, you know all that stuff. But then she meets this other girl who she thinks is gonna be real bad for her. Turns out the new girl isn't what she seems at all and they get on really well, even her girlfriend seems to like her. And the main girl, she start to get- you know like confused about feelings an' that for the new girl…not sure how it's gonna end yet"

"Hmmm" Angela says softly, tapping her chin as if in deep thought before she meets your eye "Sounds pretty boring"

"Oh ouch luv" You say clutching four chest dramatically "you just broke my heart and stepped all over my dreams of being a well good author"

She flashes you a smile, trying to hold back her laugh but fails miserably. All it takes is her catching your eye and you both burst out laughing. She tries to cover her mouth with her hand and stop but you wiggle your eyebrows at her and make the silliest face you can and she's gone once again. You're both sitting there giggling stupidly at each other when Fareeha makes her way over once again, a smile forming on her face as she sees you both trying to take calming breaths and failing.

"What's so funny?"

"Lena-" Angela tries to say but interrupts herself with some sort of sound you think is the start of a laugh "She wants to write a book"

"Does she? well we better book it out of here to avoid reading it" Fareeha answers, a coy smile on her face which turns into a giant grin when Angela nearly falls to the floor laughing. You want to be annoyed at how incredibly terrible that pun was but you find yourself laughing with them.

"Oh man" you say wiping tears from your eyes "That was soooo bad"

"I do try my best, and she loves them" Fareeha answers with a shrug, placing a hand on a now much calmer Angela's shoulder.

You watch the two of them for a moment, almost in awe. The way Angela is looking at Fareeha is so full of love and happiness that you find yourself not able to look away. A thought crosses your mind that you wish someone would look at you like that. But you know Emily has looked at you like that, and you sure as hell know you look at her like that all the damn time. But as you watch them there's this tiny thing gnawing at the back of your mind. You want to push it away but it's quite literally eating away at your thoughts. You love Emily, hell you love her more than you've ever loved anything in your life, but something isn't there. It used to be fine and everything felt right but something is off now and you can't figure out what. You have a funny feeling that it's definitely something to do with Widow though.

The pilot's voice coming over the speaker pulls you out of your thoughts and informs you you'll be landing in a few minutes. You stare at the floor, trying not to let your mind wonder too much but it seems impossible. There's only one person on your mind, and when you finally touch down you practically run to the door when it opens.

"Tracer, remember your orders?" A rough voice that stops you in your tracks says. You turn towards him, giving the masked soldier a nod and a small smile.

"Scout ahead for any Talon agents and report back, sir" you reply trying to sound as serious as you can. You know a certain level of professionalism is expected of you even if it isn't like you at all.

He nods, slinging his pulse rifle over his shoulder "Be careful Keep your com on" you give him a grin and little salute before turning towards the door again. You've already blinked away when you hear him shout after you to call for back up if you need it. You know you won't be needing back up if everything goes your way.

It doesn't take long for you to find a few Talon foot soldiers gathered by the supply storehouse. They're either incredibly stupid or had no idea you'd be there because they seem completely oblivious to your presence until you've blinked right into the middle of them, a pulse bomb already in your hand.

"Alright lads, havin' fun?" you ask with a grin before shoving the bomb on the closest one and recalling out of there. There's a sharp shriek from one man before the bomb explodes and the majority of them fall to the ground. The surviving ones seem too surprised to shoot you quick enough and with a few burst from your gun, the five or so men are down.

"Aw just when I thought you guys would be a challenge" you say with a laugh before blinking away to find more foot soldiers. You come across a few more, picking them off slowly and then reporting back to your team that you've cleared a path.

"Good job Tracer, rendezvous back at the storehouse" Soldier says as calm as ever. You can hear the rest of your team preparing to move out over the mic. It's mostly just mumbled words but then you hear Angela's laugh and you know Fareeha's making more bad puns to keep the team in high spirits.

You're making your way to their location when your com crackles to life "Tracer!"

"Yeah luv?"

The sound that you no longer fear echoes around the surrounding buildings before you hear a reply from your team.

"Sniper. Has us pinned down. Can you relieve us?"

"Course I can, Tracer out!" you say with probably way too much enthusiasm. It's pretty obvious to everyone that you have a strange fascination with Widowmaker. Luckily, they all just think you like to fight her, that you guys have some real intense rivalry. If they knew the truth you know they wouldn't let you be near any sort of mission where there was a possibility she'd be there. You intend to keep them in the dark for as long as you can. Well, until you can find some sort of evidence that she isn't really evil and that you need to rescue her if she does in fact want or need rescuing anway.

Another shot rings out, hitting just close enough to where your team is behind cover to keep them there, but nowhere near close enough for any lethal shots to be made. You know she isn't trying to kill anyone. A strange feeling stirs in your stomach and you think that maybe she cares about you that much that she doesn't want to kill anyone close to you. Or maybe you're just over thinking things way too much and she really is just wanting to keep them pinned down until reinforcements arrive. Either way, you need to get up there and stop her to both keep up an appearance to your team, and because you want to talk to her.

You manage to make your way to the rooftops, a smile pulling at your lips as a sloppy shot wizzes past your head. She's still several rooftops away, but you can see by the way she has her rifle now slung cockily over her shoulder she's more than ready to play your game. You blink forward, rapidly closing the distance between you both firing a few shots at her feet and grinning when she simply sidesteps them.

"Aw, not wanting to do your fancy acrobatics for me today luv?" you ask teasingly, watching a small smile pull at her own lips.

"Non, wouldn't want to waste my energy on an annoyance"

"Ouch, tryin' to kill me with insults instead?"

"I could use bullets if you prefer, Cherie" she says, her voice calm and expression neutral, although there's this wild sparkle in her eyes.

You grin "That'll be more fun"

"If you prefer to dance, we can dance"

"Wouldn't have it any other way"

You make the first move, blinking forward and spraying bullets at her. She easily dodges and whips her rifle up to fire a few pot shots at you. It's an un spoken rule now that you won't ever injure each other seriously, after all as she pointed out when she saved you, the game would end if one of you ended up dead.

She turns a bit too harshly when you blink to the side and nearly loses her balance, you use the opportunity to charge her and before you know it you have her on her back pinned to the ground. You're both breathing heavily just staring into each other's eyes. At first you think she's going to smack you and try get free but she falls limp under where you have her body pinned and she just looks up at you with a strange expression. You grin, trying not to over think everything, but it's pretty hard with her this close to you and looking at you the way she is.

"Okay" You start, seeming to bring her back to reality. She blinks once, twice, her eyes on yours once again and the ghost of a smile on her lips "think you owe me an explanation"

"Explanation for what?"

"The other week. Ya know, when you quite literally swept in and rescued me an' all that"

She shrugs, well as well as she can shrug under your weight "I explained my reasons at the time did I not, non?"

"You can't seriously tell me that ya just saved me because you like fighting me"

"I've killed countless people and none have put up half the struggle you have" she says softly, her voice smooth "Besides, if anyone were going to kill you, it would be me Cherie. I wouldn't let some low life take your life"

"Alright alright, you can say all that, but what about Emily"

She seems to actually freeze up at that for a moment, for once actually showing some sort of human emotion. "She…She is special to you"

"You got that right, by why should that matter? You're my enemy, you're supposed to use my weaknesses against me, aren't ya?"

You're about to go on about how she should have killed you a thousand times before this but then you look into her eyes and see the first genuine emotion you've ever seen her show. Sadness, or something like it is shining in her eyes so strongly that you actually find yourself backing off her slightly. She takes the opportunity to sit up and you realise you're pretty much sitting in her lap. You try not to think about it too much and hide the blush spread across your face. If she notices she doesn't say, although she does look rather lost in thought, you're not sure she really does notice at all.

"Cherie" she all but whispers, her hand moving towards your face. At first you think she's going to hit you, but then you feel her fingertips slowly tracing down your cheek. Your eyes widen as do hers and she immediately takes her hand away, trying to scoot back to create some space between you both. You open your mouth to try say something, anything about what just happened but she beats you too it.

"I won't be what they've tried to make me be" is all she says and it takes you a moment to get exactly what she means.

"But you're Widowmaker luv. As in deadly assassin will kill you if you look at her wrong Widowmaker"

"I am, always will be. But there are things I have control over" she says softly, her eyes now on the ground next to where her hand is "I won't become the monster they tried to make me. I had no control over what happened to Gerard but…I felt every emotion which came with it"

"Amelie" You say, realising too late that you've used the name you didn't think she even remembered. Something which looks like fear crosses her face and she interrupts you.

"Amelie Is dead, she has been for a long time. Her memories are gone but her emotions are still under the surface. Without the treatments, they come up so strongly that- that sometimes I can't breathe. They're suffocating, the compassion and kindness. It's like she's in my head and won't leave"

You don't know what to say to any of that. There's this tiny little voice in your head saying you should be celebrating that you and Emily's theory that she still remembers and feels Amelie's emotions is right, but really you don't feel like celebrating right now. You stumble back off of her, getting to your feet and watching as she still keeps her eyes on the ground. You swear you see a tear drop from her face, but if she's crying she's doing an incredibly good job hiding it.

"Hey…so how about you shoot me and we'll call it quits for today?" you ask, trying to lighten the mood. It seems to work at least a little bit because she scoffs and actually looks up at you. She's giving you her best glare but you can see this secret little smile you've learned is only reserved for you. You stick out a hand to her to help her up, and after a moment of hesitation she takes it. She barely puts her weight on you but you understand it's definitely more of a gesture rather than she actually needs the help. You're both standing there, eyes locked on each other, and for the first time this incredible urge to hug her comes over you. You stomp it down, telling yourself she could very easily stab you and kill you right there or something, but you know deep down the real reason you won't make a move like that.

Suddenly her head whips violently to the left. You follow her gaze, seeing nothing, and turn back to her to ask her what's wrong. She shoves you hard and you practically fly across the roof top, sliding to a stop on your side behind a small half wall decently far away from where you were just standing. You're about to get up and ask her what the hell that was about when you hear a deep voice calling out to her.

"Widowmaker, did you get rid of our little pest?"

"She got away, as usual" She replies back simply, keeping her eyes on the dark showy figure making his way over to her. He seems to sense you watching them and snaps his head in your direction. Luckily, you're just out of sight and he only spends a couple of seconds surveying the area before turning back to his colleague.

"Have you found it yet then?"

"Non, I haven't"

"You've been watching her for the last three weeks now, you must have found something"

"I haven't…Lena Oxton has no weaknesses"

He takes a step closer, his hand grabbing her chin roughly and forcing her to look at him. "I don't believe you. You're hiding something from me, and that means hiding valuable information from Talon, you know what the punishment for keeping secrets is"

She stares him down, looking damn scary before she practically snarls at him. "Remove your hands from me before I put a bullet in your head"

He scoffs, standing off to her for a few more seconds before dropping his hands "They could never wipe that attitude from you no matter how hard they tried. Maybe another treatment will stop your disobedience for another few months"

"We both know you don't have the authority to issue those orders. You can threaten me all you want, but it won't get you anywhere"

He grumbles something under his breath that you can't hear, but you can tell by Widow's reaction it isn't anything good. They stand there in silence for a couple of moments before Reaper speaks up again.

"Last chance since you know exactly what Talon will do to you if you've failed this mission. What is Tracer's weakness?"

Widow looks straight at him, the fiercest expression you've ever seen on her face "Lena Oxton has no weaknesses, and I will no longer try to find one"

With that she shoots her grapple hook onto the next building and makes her escape. Reaper tries to make a grab at her when she swings past him but she's too fast. He makes this deep sort of growl noise in the back of his throat and starts grumbling to himself about how he's like a glorified babysitter before he disappears in a puff of smoke.

You're left sitting there dumfounded at what you've just witnessed. If there was any doubt in your mind that she cared about you it's now gone. She's straight up lying to the organisation who have literally brainwashed her so she tells them everything. You're not sure if Emily made such a lasting impression or if Widow cares about you a little bit more than she's letting on. Either way you stand up filled with a new determination to rescue Widow and help her at least remember who she used to be.

The rest of your mission goes off without a hitch thanks to the lack of any Talon agents at all. The team all happily celebrate when back on the ship and on the way home. You pretend to be happily celebrating with the rest of them, but the only thing on your mind is What Widow had told you, and how you can possibly help her.

After half an hour of people chatting happily to you, you can't take it anymore and nip the bathroom with your phone in hand. Once the door in locked and you're slumped helplessly against the wall just staring at your phone in despair, you know there's only one person in the world who can comfort you at such a time. You press a few buttons and hold the phone to your ear. It rings once because she picks up.

"Em, ya won't believe what just happened luv"