Despite walking into the gym with her hands up in the air like a prize fighter entering their match, there were only a handful of "spectators". It didn't matter much to Lena, though, who had taken the time to find a Union Jack to tie around her neck like a cape, spinning around as the cheers from Mei echoed in the small gymnasium.
Angela simply stood on the opposite end of the passed floor, trying to readjust her chin strap so that her headgear wasn't so uncomfortable. Somewhat content with that, she leaned down, yanking at her knee pads to accomplish the same goal as her chin strap, though as she straightened up again, her headgear had messed up again, so she returned to pulling it around her head.
It was truly a sight to behold between the two of them.
Fareeha finally walked up to her, undoing the strap and removing the helmet, "Okay, you know what, I think you've got this. Just…"
She didn't finish her sentence, leaving Angela with the slightest sense of dread, though it quickly vanished as she watched Lena kissing her flag before tossing it into the stands, right at Reinhardt, who simply examined the clothen banner curiously. Lena then began running in place to warm up, periodically falling into stretches while Angela simply stood there.
"Go Tracer!" Mei shouted happily, before turning to Angela, red-faced, "I still love you, Doctor!"
Angela eyed her sarcastically before beginning to run in place herself to warm up as Fareeha massaged her shoulders, leaning in to whisper into her ear, "Okay, just remember what we practiced. She's not afraid to fight dirty, so if it comes to that, you know what to do."
Angela nodded, but slowly turned her head back toward her, "Wait, the thing with the arms or the legs?"
"The thing with the deltoids," Fareeha clarified, "Works every time."
Angela nodded, turning back toward Lena, who was now doing "warping jacks", and jumped into a fighting stance, keeping her fists above her as she made her way toward her starting position. Lena followed suit, warping into her place as Reinhardt grabbed at the whistle around his neck.
"Alright ladies, I want a GOOD, CLEAN fight, alright?" the old man clarified simply, "If you both do that, we'll go get some dessert or something- everybody's a winner, alright? We'll crank up some Hoff, have a good time!"
He chopped the air in front of him, starting the match, leaving the two fighters to circle around, watching their opponant seriously, their eyes both narrowed. Suddenly, Lena stood up straight, holding her fists on her hips as she stared angrily behind Angela.
"Mei!" she shouted, pleadingly, "Come on, that's not a nice sign to put up!"
Angela quickly whipped around, but only found Mei sitting there, shocked at being called out in such a manner. Realizing her mistake, Angela's eyes grew wide, but in that second, Lena had made up ground, throwing a dastardly punch at the passed armor wrapped around Angela's chest, knocking her to the ground.
Mei stood and cheered as Fareeha dropped her head, rubbing her face in disdain. Lena began throwing her hands into the air in triumph, pumping up the crowd, which only really affected Mei, who began hopping up and down in excitement. She reached over and pulled Jamison to his feet as well, though he was more uncomfortable, being more new than the others.
Angela got back up to her feet, her face comforting in a serious manner as Lena continued rousing the crowd. In Lena's theatrics, Angela dashed up to her, throwing a punch at her passed chest, knocking her to the ground and sending her sliding, leaving Fareeha dismayed at the lack of skill parties.
Angela pounded her passed hands together, goading Lena as her eyes stared up at her, "Come on, Oxton; you wanna go?!"
Lena jumped up to her feet in an instant, the two finally resorting to a more traditional sort of match, though it was definitely slower than anything Fareeha would have expected for her own matches. Mei was still intensely into the who battle, however, wrapping her arms around Jamison and furiously shaking him as she watched, unable to contain her excitement.
Suddenly, becoming more and more upset that Angela was actually keeping up with her quite readily, Lena began warping during the fight, progressing more and more until she began flying at Angela at different angles, forcing her to quickly try and reorient her entire stance. Fareeha watched seriously, noticing Angela's back foot turning to its side in preparation for what she'd been instructed to do in such an occasion.
Certainly, the widest part of Lena's body was her shoulders, and with Angela's skillful eyes, she could somewhat make out her figure as it broke from and into space. As Lena popped from one side to the other, Angela managed to reach up into the air, her hands already prepared to grab her even before she appeared. In an instant, Angela pulled all her weight onto her back foot, yanking Lena's body down onto the ground, almost pinning her as she fell atop of her, holding her shoulders against the ground.
Fareeha pumped her fist in the air in triumph, "Yes!"
Angela grinned down at Lena, who returned an unamused stare, "Sorry Oxton, but you just have to know who's boss around here."
Lena pulled her lips to the side in a sneer as she suddenly vanished, leaving Angela to suddenly fall onto the floor with a start, her eyes wide in surprise as she quickly scrambled to her feet, turning around. Though, to her horror, Lena was nowhere to be found. She quickly darted her head back and forth, turning her body as everybody in attendance, save for Mei, showed an equal amount of shock.
Lena could only teleport a few feet at a time, but she couldn't remain in that spacetime she was flowing through- she couldn't stay invisible, nor could she have left the room unnoticed. Angela kept her eyes on the lookout as she held her brave face, but within her, her mind was racing with questions and her heart pumped quicker with unknown anticipation.
Suddenly, a jarring slam came to her back, knocking her forward, but before she could fall to the mat, an invisible forced knocked her backward, her body falling and then slamming into the mat just as Lena appeared again, quickly wrapping herself around Angela's limbs to keep her pinned down.
Angela grunted as Lena kept her subdued, but the pilot simply snickered, "Call me boss!"
Refusing, Angela continued trying to free herself, but found herself unable to, instead looking up toward Reinhardt, "Uh, ref?"
He only shrugged, "Nobody mentioned warping out of a pin in the rules."
Angela sighed, rolling her eyes as she stared up at Lena's body atop of her, a prominent frown across her face as gave a final few struggles, finally groaning in defeat. She took.a breath, her breath building up as her words began to roll off her tongue, prepared to-
"What is going on here?!"
A loud female voice burst into the room as everybody turned as quick as they could, particularly Reinhardt and Fareeha, whose bodies immediately bolted in the proper direction, though Fareeha's had a light sense of dread attached to it. Ana Amari walked into the room, eyeing Angela on the ground with Lena, upside down, sprawled over her.
"Am I interrupting something?" she questioned, more curious than anything.
Reinhardt burst into a laugh, patting his stomach jovially, "NO, NO! We're just enjoying a little sparring match, my dear!"
Ana's curiosity turned into skepticism, "This isn't any sort of resolution I've ever seen in a sparring match."
Fareeha scratched the back of her head, "Well, uh, neither of them were particularly experienced, so they both sort of, er, winged it."
Groaning aloud, Ana ran two fingers up either side of her nose, exasperatingly, "Well, as long as Jack is away, I do hold superiority. Up, you two; let's clean this mess up."
"B-But-!" Lena shouted in protest, "She needs to call me boss!"
"The only boss here is me, now," Ana reminded, a slight grin showing up on her face, "Now up!"
Lena groaned, rolling off of Angela, who lankily rose to her feet, rubbing her arm which had been caught between both of their bodies, leaving it slightly numb. They stood beside one another as Ana shook her head as she approached Reinhardt.
"Alright, just a quick status report," Ana began, "Lena, you are to report to the dock and begin preparations for traveling to the Southwest United States."
"It was approved?!" she replied, shocked, "Sweet! I'll do my best, captain!"
Ana nodded before continuing, "Good. Also, Mr. Shimada will be visiting later today, so if you'd like to stick around, you'll have to finagle something with Winston."
"Genji?!" Angela shouted in shock, "What's he doing back? He's not due back for a few more months!"
Ana shrugged, "He was with Jesse in Blackwatch for a time, right? Maybe Winston just wants to have a chat. I may be in charge at the moment, but even I-"
She scowled at the smarmy grin that shone over Lena, her bright voice speaking up, "I thought the only boss here was-"
"Oh, hush," Ana sighed, turning to Reinhardt, "These children, I swear…"
Reinhardt chuckled warmly, quickly waving Lena off before wrapping a massive arm around his lady, "Now, now, my sweet adenium."
Ana smiled lightly at Reinhardt's grip, but suddenly shouted aloud as she saw her daughter across the room, "Fareeha!"
"Y-Yes ma'am!" she shouted, instinctively.
Ana eyed her for a moment before nodding, "I read the report. Good work down there; you have promise."
Almost lost in amazement, Fareeha just barely managed to speak back up, "O-Oh, th-thank you."
Her mother nodded once more before she and Reinhardt turned around, back to the door, leaving the others alone as Angela covered her mouth, holding in her excitement, "Oh my god, Genji's coming back already!"
Jamison cleared his throat, "Y'know, for all us new folk, uh… Who is this Genji fella?"
"I'd like to know, too," Fareeha noted, curiously.
Mei rustled in her seat, "Oh, he's awesome! He's a cyborg ninja, so he's all "pew pew pew!" with his shuriken, and he had a sword with a laser running through it, and he's super funny too, and- and-…"
"Cyborg ninja, eh?" Jamison pondered, "Hmm… Sounds like somethin' I'd be if I ever ended up blowin' my body to bits!"
"Oh, he didn't blow himself up," Mei clarified, "See, his brother left him for dead down in-"
She suddenly noticed Angela's face darken as the doctor's face lowered toward the ground, leaving Mei to quickly adjust the topic, "A-Anyway, he's really cool. He shows up periodically to get his body checked out. Dr. Ziegler was the one who saved his life, so he's sort of in her debt."
She cleared her throat, looking away in feigned humility, "-even if she didn't build the cybernetics…"
Fareeha watched her lover's anguished face, her own face showing sorrow in empathy. She couldn't see it, but in Angela's mind, she ran through that night all over again, on Mei's inadvertent reminder. She saw nothing, now, but rain, darkness- a hell on Earth she never wanted to see again.
Fareeha walked up to her slowly, resting a hand on her shoulder, which seemed to surprise her as her face shot up toward her, "You okay?"
"Oh, sorry," Angela muttered, "I was just- Oh, Fareeha, you're gonna love him too! Just wait!"
