Author Notes

Thank you as always to everyone who has supported this story via reviews, favourites, follows and by PMs - your thoughts, suggestions and feedback are always welcome!

I'd like to announce that I've actually managed to get the prologue out for my new Overwatch crossover series called Overwatch: The Tiberium Saga a lot sooner than I originally thought I would. If the word Tiberium doesn't ring a bell, I've produced a crossover for Overwatch with Command & Conquer (Tiberium universe). If you're interested please check it out and provide feedback as it's a big undertaking!

So the last few days have been pretty productive for me, with Chapter 4 for this story and the prologue for the Tiberium Saga - nearly 8000 words in total so far, not including this latest Chapter. I will admit to not being entirely happy with the last Chapter (4); did it feel rushed to you guys or did the characters seem a bit OTT or did you all like it? I'd appreciate any feedback you guys can provide in regards to Chapter 4, so that if I did make mistakes that seem out of place with the story so far that I can make sure not to repeat them in future chapters (thanks in advance to anyone who does provide any feedback, I really do appreciate it).

Apologies if I butcher any of the little bits of German or French in here, I suck at all languages except bad English - hopefully any Swiss who speak Swiss/German/French can correct any mistakes for me, haha.


Chapter 5

"Angie, you there love?!" Lena asked as she entered Angela's lab.

Her eyes glanced around the lit areas of the lab in search of Angela until she found her sat at her desk, Angela's hair was dishevelled and her face was firmly planted on the desk asleep. Lena giggled and blinked over to her, that was the Angela she knew. She blinked over to the desk, noticing the half finished cup of cold black coffee and papers spread out all over, she gently placed her hand on Angela's shoulder and shook it gently to rouse her from sleep.

"Come on love, wake up, its gone 9 in the morning!" Lena gently soothed, but with a big smile plastered on her face.

Angela groaned, waving her hand slightly at Lena's hand "Nur noch eine Stunde {Just one more hour}..."

Lena giggled, while she didn't understand a word of what Angela had said, she knew that whenever Angela started talking in her native language you knew she was either totally out of it or you were in big trouble. She decided to keep rocking her shoulder until Angela finally opened her eyes and looked out over her desk with a intensely groggy facial expression, her eyes squinting until her gaze landed on Lena. Lena had to try not to laugh at how comical Angela looked at the moment.

"Ugh... I fell asleep at my desk again..." she groaned and gingerly reached her for cup before quickly finishing it's contents in several gulps before sighing as she placed the cup back down.

"You alright love, you seem a bit down?" Lena asked as she leaned against Angela's desk.

"I'm sorry Lena... about last night... after talking with Fareeha yesterday and not sleeping, my head wasn't on straight..." Angela sighed and looked at Lena, who just beamed a smile back at her that warmed her heart.

"It's ok, I know you meant well..." Lena smiled "... so Fareeha that upset?"

"You have no idea..." Angela groaned "... she was practically shouting at me down the phone towards the end. She is feeling a lot of anger towards Widowmaker, anger I suspect she has repressed ever since Ana died. It's understandable, but I think we should try to keep those two apart for both of their own good."

Lena nodded in agreement "Yea... I don't know how I'd feel in her place. I assume that based of what you just said that Fareeha is definitely coming to help us?"

"Ja {Yes}" Angela nodded part way through a yawn before continuing "She will be arriving this evening or tomorrow morning. I was also told by Genji that his brother Hanzo will be here tomorrow with Zenyatta; apparently Hanzo has been doing some of his own soul searching after Genji revealed himself to him."

"Really? From what Genji told me about his brother, Hanzo always seemed so... I dunno... uptight?" Lena said with slight surprise.

"I believe Genji was more surprised than you are when he found out." Angela smiled "I suppose Hanzo sought after Zenyatta, because he had helped his brother."

Lena simply smiled, but before she knew what had happened Angela was playfully pinching her cheek.

"So I expect you to be on your best behaviour Miss Oxton." Angela said in a commanding tone, although her eyes shined brightly with amusement.

"Yes mum." Lena giggled.

A few minutes later, Angela had left to get herself cleaned up which reminded Lena she needed to do the same as she had left Widowmaker's room and gone straight to searching for Angela without the courtesy of a wash and clean clothes, so Lena went to her room. When she entered her room she took off her Chronal Accelerator and flung it onto the bed as she sat down next to it and stretched enjoying being free of the contraption; her room like Widowmaker's had technology built into it to keep her anchored in time and provided her with a bit better quality of life than she would of had without the room's technological convenience. She briefly looked around her room, it was significantly larger than Widowmaker's room.

She had a couple of shelves above her desk full of scale model planes from various eras that she had built herself, with most of bare white walls wall having been plastered with Overwatch posters of varying heroes as well as group pictures from happier times within Overwatch (or what she called 'family photos'). In addition to her desk that had a computer terminal, desk chair, and wardrobe, she also had the addition of a chest of draws. She also had an on suite like Widowmaker's as well, but again it was larger to include a bath as well as a shower cubicle, sink and toilet. Opposite the bed, a smart holo TV was hung on the wall. That wasn't the part she loved the most though, that was reserved for the view she had out of the panoramic windows that looked out across the Strait of Gibraltar. Otherwise the room was surprisingly tidy although in need of a good dusting.

Lena sighed slightly as she enjoyed the view for a few minutes before finally stripping out of her clothes and jumping in the shower. As she cleaned herself off she couldn't help her thoughts wandering onto the previous night and what had happened with Widowmaker. It had all happened so fast, she had been so cold and distant up to that point, but had become so emotional and had accepted comfort so readily she wasn't sure exactly how to process or understand it, a part of her wondered if she was truly the same person, the same Widowmaker that everyone feared anymore. She seemed to brittle and damaged at the moment a part of Lena couldn't look at her as a danger anymore.

She then groaned as she washed the shampoo from her hair, remembering what had happened that morning and she decided that Widowmaker was definitely still Widowmaker at least in part, she had thoroughly enjoyed playing with Lena when she had woke up and Lena would being lying if a part of her hadn't enjoyed it at the time either. It did however add to her confusion as it was totally out of Widowmaker's character to flirt or joke like that, not that Lena had seen her beyond their confrontations during a mission until Widowmaker's capture, but she had always been so cold before. It again came down to just being too much to fast for Lena, she just quite couldn't wrap her brain around the fact that Widowmaker's memories and emotions were returning probably faster than she could deal with and resulted in exaggerated reactions to everything. Although Widowmaker had otherwise appeared much calmer and stable this morning which she supposed was a good thing, maybe she just needed an outlet? That or a friend or perhaps both, although Lena wasn't sure if Widowmaker wanted a friend.

With her thoughts quickly descending into a never ending loop of questions without answers, Lena quickly finished off her shower and got herself dried off and dressed in fresh clothes, throwing her dirty clothes and towel into a dirty laundry bag with her name plastered over it in big black letters by her door and putting her Chronal Accelerator back on before she left to go and find Winston to check in with him.


=Meanwhile in an apartment somewhere in Gibraltar=

Reaper growled as he looked out from the apartment building into the distance where he could see the supposedly defunct and abandoned Watchpoint Gibraltar, which he knew for certain was not so abandoned as it had appeared. He had arrived earlier that day with a recon team to gather intelligence about what they would be facing, and it wasn't much although he kept the recon team out there so that he could be alerted if things changed. He knew they inevitably would.

They were so weak right now, so open and vulnerable to attack and the fact that he had to wait for his pathetic excuse of a logistics team to get his men out here was grating on his nerves to no end. He could almost taste the lives he would soon claim, and the anticipation was almost killing him. However he would have to remain patient, while he was confident enough in dealing with a single Overwatch agent or two, he had no intention of going up against five; the few volunteers they had on base didn't even register as worthwhile to consider, they were ants that he could step on without noticing. He'd let his scrub forces deal with them... once they arrived.

"Death will walk amongst you soon." he growled a promise at no one in particular as he stared out at the Watchpoint before he chuckled darkly and began his strategizing.


=Several minutes later, Winston's Lab, Watchpoint Gibraltar=

"Alright big guy! How are you hangin' today?" Lena blinked next to Winston with a giggle, if he hadn't been use to her sneaking up on him, he would of jumped out of his skin almost.

Winston was sat at his computer terminal in the upper level of his lab, and gave a slight chuckle at her bad joke "Hi Lena... have a good night?"

"You could say that..." Lena cocked an eyebrow at him with a grin.

Winston smiled and shook his head at her before turning around to make sure she hadn't secretly brought in more jars of peanut butter or a bunch of bananas. Seeing that his lab was clear of her usual practical although caring jokes he focused his gaze back on Lena who was grinning mischievously knowing what he was looking for.

"What did you do?" Winston asked with a frown.

"Nothing yet love." Lena giggled.

"Yet?" Winston questioned only to earn a laugh from Lena.

"So how's my idea coming along love?" Lena asked trying to deflect his questioning gaze and turn slightly more serious, although she couldn't keep the grin from her face.

Winston at first didn't seem to buy it and seemed to want to ask Lena what she was planning, but he sighed and turned round to his computer terminal again and brought up some schematics.

"Quite well... we should have a working prototype in the next few hours, maybe sooner as I'm only disabling functionality in the end. It's a lot simpler than adding new functionality. Although you do realise in doing this you won't have a spare anymore as I don't have the spare parts to make another?" he stated.

Lena nodded "Yea, I figured as much... not like we have all that juicy government funding anymore."

"Indeed..." Winston chuckled before talking in a much more gentler and softer "... I must admit I'm surprised you suggested this, I know how you feel about your condition and not having backups... I know I keep asking this, but are you sure you are ok with this?"

Lena frowned for a moment, she looked almost sad for a moment "Yea... I'm sure... got to try and make things right at least."

Winston smiled at her gently "You really do care don't you?" Lena simply nodded in return.

Winston put a giant arm around Lena and hugged her gently, to which she giggled and hugged him back.

"You know me... can't keep my nose out of trouble" she quickly chirped with a smile before she took a step back.

"You do seem to enjoy the attention." Winston quipped, earning a surprised expression from Lena.

"Did you just make a joke love, I swear I just heard you make a joke, you feeling alright?" Lena giggled, earning a short booming laugh from Winston.

"Maybe I did..." he replied with a gigantic grin "... but don't worry, once I'm done I'll let you know... in fact you'll be the first to know, how does that sound?"

"You got a deal big guy..." Lena grinned before giving a thumbs up "... I'll get off so you can do your work."

"Alright Lena, I'm sure I'll see you later." he smiled

Lena giggled and then blinked away, leaving a stack of bananas and a jar of peanut butter behind.

"LENA!" Winston shouted after Lena, all he got in return was a distant hearty laugh to which he couldn't help but smile at.


=10 hours later, Widowmaker's Room, Watchpoint Gibraltar=

Widowmaker was sat on her bed, her back propped against the wall while resting the data pad Lena had left on her desk from the previous night against her knees as she typed away on a virtual keyboard. She had been pleased when she and picked it up and switched it on to discover it had a word processor on it so she could put her thoughts 'on paper', even if it was virtual paper. She found expressing her memories and emotions allowed her to better understand them which in turn allowed her to regain her self control without said memories and feelings overwhelming her as they had been doing, it gave her a second anchor to hold onto; the first being Lena.

She wasn't entirely sure where the desire to write had come from, she did have vague flashes of memories of Amelie doing such a thing, so she assumed that it may have something to do with the long dead woman. She had written it down as she had her nightmares of Gerard's murder, her brutal torture at the hands of Talon, some of the missions she remembered, some of the kills she had made, and how she felt about it all.

She soon realised she regretted her life even if it her life hadn't been her own. She regretted the killing, not because she had an issue with killing but because looking back at it, it had all been so pointless if not entirely destructive; fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, mothers, wives, sisters daughters - they had all fallen to her crosshairs. To many seats were now empty at family tables never to be filled by loved ones again. She hated that she had inflicted that void on anyone now that she had experienced it herself, she felt an aching void inside of her at all times, a void that was only soothed when she wasn't alone. She briefly thought about how comfortable she felt around Lena, and how the girls constant positivity made her feel safe.

It hadn't taken much soul searching while writing for her to decide she was angry, no, enraged at what had been done to her and what others had forced her to do. She knew with absolute certainty that she would make those responsible pay, before she too would have to pay for her own actions. It was an inevitable conclusion that her past would eventually catch up to her and that she would never know peace or be able to live a normal life and that she would most likely never fully recover from what had happened to her; she would always suffer from haunting nightmares, Amelie would never be able to return for that personality had died long ago and only fragments of memories remained.

Widowmaker had already chosen to accept that fate in the end. She would however make sure that no one would ever have to be in her position again, the Widowmaker had a few more kills left in her before the end.

She wrote it all down, leaving nothing out of her frenzied memoirs of thought, memory and feeling. She knew others would read it and didn't care, it felt good to write, it felt good to be able to rebuild her discipline and self control again. She felt centred within herself since the first time she arrived in this room, she felt a new purpose for her existence on the horizon, she would not be denied the vengeance that Amelie and all of her past victims deserved and she would give it to them.

Retribution was coming, and it would be swift and merciless.

Widowmaker was quickly brought out of her thoughts of revenge when she heard the mirror door hiss open to Lena almost skipping into the room carrying a box.

"Evenin' love, missed me?" Lena said with a grin.

Widowmaker scoffed slightly in response as she placed the data pad down on the bed beside her before changing to a cross legged sitting position, a smirk on her face before teasing "You'd like that wouldn't you Cherie?"

"Well you seem to be feeling better at least." Lena said with a genuine smile before carefully and gently placing the box on the desk, before turning to face Widowmaker.

"Oui... after your help last night, and being able to write... I feel more composed, but I think it will take time." she answered quietly.

Lena gave a slightly surprised expression to the answer "Didn't expect you to be so honest with me love..."

"I could lie to you if you wish Cheri... I just don't see what it would accomplish." Widowmaker answered bluntly.

"Guess you do have a point." Lena giggled slightly, she then quickly pointed to the data pad beside Widowmaker "I see you found the data pad I left without telling you, sorry about that... is it ok?"

"Bon {Good}" Widowmaker answered, before giving a quick glance to the data pad "It is suitable, thank you. You can read it if you wish, I know your friends will regardless of whether I gave them permission or not."

"Er, well... we just want to help you ya know..." Lena blanched slightly at Widowmaker's accusation.

"That's why I gave you permission, Lena." Widowmaker smirked, she knew that Lena would soon learn one way or another about how Widowmaker considered her somewhat important to her, she might as well encourage her to learn quicker without outright telling her, she was one for enjoying her games after all.

"You called me Lena?" Lena replied in further surprise "That's twice now ya know."

Widowmaker simply shrugged "It's your name, isn't it?"

"Yea but you usually call me by my call sign..." Lena quickly answered.

"Things change, as I'm sure you will soon find out." Widowmaker replied looking directly at Lena, before her gaze glanced down to the box "... So what did you bring Cheri?"

Lena then grinned "I brought you a present..."

Lena quickly picked up the box and brought it over to the bed, sitting down with it on the edge before offering it over to Widowmaker. Widowmaker looked at it with confusion at first, but she slowly reached out towards it before gently taking it from Lena's grasp. She rested the box in her lap just staring at it for a moment.

"Well go on, open it." Lena smiled "... its from me and Winston."

Widowmaker nodded slightly and carefully opened the box, only to have a gentle blue light reveal itself and light up her face. Within the box was a Chronal Accelerator almost identical to the one Lena was wearing. Widowmaker's eyes went wide in surprise as she looked up at Lena.

"What is this Cheri?" Widowmaker asked in shock.

"It's exactly what you think it is love." Lena giggled before her face turned serious "... but as a heads up, we did disable all of its abilities, its simply an anchor. We are extending an olive branch of trust to you by giving this to you, and you won't be allowed out of your room unsupervised, but it's a start. Baby steps and all that."

"Je comprends, merci {I understand, thank you}." Widowmaker replied, still wearing an expression of surprise.

"Sorry love, I don't speak French." Lena said feeling slightly self conscious.

"Sorry... I feel a little overwhelmed... I understand Cheri, thank you." Widowmaker said quietly, she was grateful to have the opportunity to get out of the bland white washed and metal room she had been kept in for nearly a week "... I must admit that I'm surprised, why do you trust me with this?"

"After last night I think I saw enough to know you aren't the same woman who served Talon... You're still Widowmaker, but you aren't... it's a new you, a better you and I want to help you be that person. If you'll let me." Lena said with genuine sincerity in her voice and in her facial expression.

"Cheri, it almost sounds like your asking to be my friend." Widowmaker smiled slightly as she looked down at the Chronal Accelerator in the box as she gently placed her hand on it, feeling the cold smooth metal against her skin.

Lena smiled "Maybe I am."