Chapter 12
Wake up, Princess
She didn't know what else to do anymore.
The clothes had already been neatly stacked. A small refreshment could be found to the side of the bed in form of a cooled glass of milk and some chocolate-chip cookies. She had redressed herself and put on some of her best perfume to forcefully hide the stench of death, after hastily showering the blood off her body.
She even lit some candles! When else was she going to use them, anyway?
It was getting dark outside. Lena just stared with baited breath at the French girl lying beside her. Was she ever going to wake up? She checked Amélie's pulse again, slowly getting more and more agitated.
…no heartbeat! Fuckfuckfuckfuck Maybeshehadanoverreactiontothechemicalinvolvedinthetranq-
Ba-dum.
Oh. Yeah. Three seconds in between. Right.
That had to be the fourth time she fell for that.
Ever since the events of the store, Lena had been unable to find rest, to think properly. She was back to doing whatever came to her mind. So she carried Amélie home to her little apartment.
Now that she didn't know what else to do anymore, waiting was all the more unnerving. Staring at Amélie was the only thing that gave her peace of mind.
Winston had a very bad feeling. And it was definitely not the peanut butter. He always checked the expiration date.
"Athena, are you still trying to catch him?"
"Yes Winston. The intruder seems to be predicting my calculations. Every time I try to quarantine a cluster, it reappears in another. My core functions will adapt and overcome in approximately 35 minutes and 59 seconds. Correction. 32 minutes and 12 seconds."
This was bad, to say the least. Who was smart enough to outplay an AI, even for half an hour?
"As you can hear, our systems are being compromised. There have been reports of Talon activity on Oxford Street nearby."
He was addressing what little agents were left to him in London, all of them combat ready. They sat in his lab, which also functioned as command room in situations like this. Morrison had quickly recovered from his head trauma and stared at the news report of the Oxford Street attack that Winston had on the big monitor.
"Already saw that one. They want Widowmaker. Since there are no eye witness reports of survivors, they probably underestimated miss Oxton. She's good at escaping, so they may have lost track of her. Which makes HQ the next target."
He had his visor on his lap, so they actually saw him narrow his eyes for once as he went through his logic. Angela solemnly added another concern.
"I tried to reach Lena any way I could, but nothing worked. Talon… also might not know that their other agent is dead yet and come for her, too."
"You two bring up valid points. But Tracer has not fled to this base and our data stores are compromised at the moment. So while I did increase the security level, they might still be on Tracers tra-"
A far-away explosion shook the foundation of the building. The whole room tensed up. Distant gunfire soon followed. The com link before them on the meeting table sprang to life.
"BWEEP-BWEEP-BWEEP DO-BWEEP"
"Translate Athena?"
"Bastion is encountering heavy resistance at the front entrance. He is quite agitated."
The large monitor switched away from the news report, back to a plethora of security cameras. There were at least a dozen Talon agents firing from cover and two very distinctive, Australian criminals laying siege to their base at this very moment.
"What the hell?!"
"How couldn't we see this coming?"
"The intruder manipulated the security cameras. I just now rebooted this subsystem upon Bastion's report. There is one more problem. As you can see on camera 8, the hangar doors are opening and do not react to overwrite commands."
The AI was right. They were all staring at an aircraft lowering itself into their own damn aircraft hangar as they spoke! This was a full-fledged invasion. Winston got serious.
"Reinhardt, Mercy, assist Bastion at the front entrance! Morrison, mobilize the reserves and meet me at the hangar. We'll throw these vermin out personally!"
"HAHA! Ze enemy is at our doorstep! Let's drive them out!"
"Valkyrie online. I'll watch over you, Reinhardt dear."
"Quit screwing around and get ready to move!"
Jack put his visor on, clearly itching for a fight. He already started to balk orders in his own com link while heading for the door. Reinhardt lifted his huge hammer and left with Angela in tow.
There was only one agent left with Winston in that room. The great ape was already lumbering over to his tesla cannon, making himself combat ready while he assigned the last order.
"Your task is to find and secure Widowmaker. If we lose her, Talon wins. Make sure that doesn't happen."
The agent nodded. With his face being as it was, it was impossible to tell what he thought of his new objective. He went on his way without so much as producing a sound. Then Winston was alone.
He had this curious feeling that he forgot about something, but couldn't put his finger on it.
She yawned, eyes opening with several blinks.
Oh god… How long have I been out?
Hana tried to lift her upper body to take a glance at the clock on the nightstand, but in addition to the aching bruises, there was a weight on her stomach holding her down somewhat. She gave in for the time being and groaned.
That's odd. What could…
As she looked to her side towards the clock, she was suddenly aware again what exactly had been her reason for passing out.
'It', or rather she, was lying by her side under the blanket. One of the Mexican girl's arms hugged her form possessively while it's owner was apparently sleeping. Her face was way too close. Memories of herself being pinned against the wall and savagely taken by those lips resurfaced in her mind, projecting themselves onto her suddenly burning cheeks.
That… that bastard probably took advantage of me while I passed out!
That was her first thought, but feeling herself down, she realized that the Zero Suit she was wearing still clung to her form perfectly sealed. Hana felt anger evaporate, being replaced with confusion instead. She moved on to stare at the girl while absent-mindedly turning to the side towards her, still unable to avert her thoughts from that wild kiss.
She actually looks… kinda cute when she's sleeping…
That train of thought lasted for a while, her mind drifting towards not at all unpleasant fantasies of how sweet it would taste to steal a kiss herself. Her mind immediately stopped when Sombra opened her eyes. The Mexican girl had a dreamy, charming smile on her lips upon recognizing Hana.
"Mhh, buenos días Chiquita.~"
For just a moment, Hana blushed furiously at that. Her heart skipped a beat. She had never been in a situation like this, waking up together with somebody else like lovers would, only knew them through soap operas and fanfics. She was paralyzed with excitement.
What… what am I gonna do…
That whole moment lasted for about as long as it took Sombra to slide the hand out of her own panties, bring it up and begin to lick her fingers clean.
Hana blinked incredulously. Her body trembled from embarrassment, humiliation and the sheer insolence.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED YOU FUCKING DEVIANT!"
The Mexican girl couldn't help but giggle groggily until a small fist punched her straight in the face.
"YOU'RE AWAKE!"
Amélie looked up into hazelnut eyes, inches away from her own. She flinched at the beyond excited exclamation, way too close to her sensitive ears. It was a bit much to process at first, so she shoved her hand into Lena's face and pushed the giggling girl away while rubbing one of her eyes awake.
"Too close, Chérie…"
Lena didn't let that interrupt her giddy mood.
"Finally! You're awake!"
To the contrary, she started wildly blinking about the bedroom.
"WOOHOO!"
Blink. Amélie tried to follow with slight irritation.
"YEAH!"
Blink. By the gods did her head hurt, but watching this impossible bundle of energy jump around in joy because of her made it outright impossible not to smile.
"AWESO-"
With a telling POMF Lena blinked directly into solid surface. Amélie gasped and already wanted to come to her girlfriend's aid, but not a second later Lena landed on top of the French girl again by recall.
"Phew, I think I hit a wall there!"
A pair of arms and legs pulled the bubbly Brit down to Amélie's level, hugging her possessively so that she may not attempt anything so stupid again. Hurriedly she planted a kiss on those happily smiling lips in an effort to calm Lena down somewhat.
It was very effective. Lena's breathing steadied itself after so much excitement, coming into sync with that of her lover.
They were just lying there in each other's arms for a while, enjoying their first, true time alone together.
The kiss slowly faded and their mutually loving gazes reconnected. Amélie whispered below her breath.
"Don't scare me like that, mon Coeur."
"Sorry darling, I was just so excited!"
Lena started to get giddy again, so Amélie quickly brought her down with another heartfelt, albeit short kiss to the lips. Once she could be sure to not have her hit a wall again, their little exchange continued.
"Whatever happened? I can only remember being in that favorite store of yours. Where are we?"
"We're at my lovely apartment! You just, uh… passed out. Someone lost life signs nearby."
With that, she tapped on the collar around Amélie's neck, insinuating that a shock had been responsible.
'You lie to me.'
A shiver ran down Lena's spine at the sudden accusation. She had to contain herself, it was not the real Amélie talking.
Not directly, I didn't! It's… for the better. It's no good if you worry!
"Oh, that is… awkward. You carried me all the way then?"
Amélie was looking around the bedroom, getting accustomed to her new surroundings. In the meanwhile, one of Lena's eyes still twitched from deceiving the French girl. It felt like a cardinal sin, but she told herself that she had to do it. Amélie had to stay sane, become pure, for Lena was neither of these things anymore.
"Y-Yeah, the whole way, haha! Even got all our clothes outta there. That was quite the load, it was! Oh, uhm, not that you're heavy or anything, you're like uh… a fresh summer breeze or… ah…"
A curved eyebrow was raised, amusedly listening to the Brit's attempts at averting disaster.
"…a leaf gently sailing on the wind, yes yes! It's even a blue leaf, y'know? Quite unexpectedly exotic, if I must say so myself."
Lena nodded in the most serious manner she could muster. That hit the mark. Amélie couldn't help but giggle at her goofball of a girlfriend.
"Tu es si maladroit, ma petite bête…"
Saved! That had to be a compliment. God she's so hot when she's talking French!
Lena seized the moment to delve down to Amélie's neck, planting her lips on them all along.
"Mon dieu, whatever would I do without you? Merci beaucoup, ma Chérie.~"
"D'aww, it was nothing, really!"
They giggled with each other for a while before falling into another inevitable kiss. Amélie was obviously thankful, caressing Lena's cheek and cuddling up to her in an unfamiliar, playful mood. But the groan that followed had to come sooner or later.
"Mhh… my throat is pretty dry… and it's sadly not going to get better from kisses alone."
"Oh! I have some nice and cold… uhh… formerly cold milk for you!"
Amélie looked at the nightstand beside the bed and held back a laugh.
"Do I look like père Noël?"
"Who?"
"Never mind. That is very nice of you, Lena but…"
"But what, luv?"
"I'm lactose intolerant."
"Oh."
A smile was stuck on Lena's face, more so than usual, if that was even possible.
Who wouldn't grin like a bumbling idiot when they had a hot lady like that waiting in their own apartment, two rooms away in their own bed, only waiting to resume the sexy times. Her head was spinning from all the kisses. Amélie had a curious way of calming her soul with those, making her thoughts and emotions flow at ease.
"Crap!"
They were flowing a bit too easily right there, as she completely forgot to stop pouring water into the now overflowing, pink-tinted glass. Lena quickly went for a paper towel and drank some off the top after that, to avoid any spilling on the way.
She felt a sudden wind draft.
Did I leave the kitchen window open…?
Lena couldn't remember doing so. So she went up to it and blinked in surprise at who was kneeling on the other side.
"Genj! What are you doing here?"
Green light from the cyborgs body illuminated her. He cocked his head.
"Hello. I am here to bring you two securely back to the headquarter."
"We would like to stay, thank you very much! Perfectly secure here, no need to worry."
"Talon is on the move. It was not hard to find you. It is only a matter of time until they do."
"Well then watch the house or somethin'!"
"Lena we must-"
That's where she SLAMmed the window shut in front of him. Then she pulled the curtains, too.
Genji sighed and shook his head in disappointment. He had to remind himself that it was not her fault.
"She is only human."
That had been more than irritating. It felt bad enough to ignore all of Angela's calls to find a little peace and quiet with Amélie. Now Genji was outside her apartment! All Lena wanted was for them to be left alone for just one night after all this trouble Amélie had gone through.
It's not fair… She deserves to rest.
Well, at least she had made herself clear towards the cyborg. He hopefully wouldn't bother them anymore. Lena made an effort to recreate the smile she had a few minutes ago and took the cool glass to her bedroom.
"Here we go! Got ya some nice and cool-"
"Oh, Lena. Our friend Genji came to visit! He was just telling me that it is not safe here."
Lena blinked awkwardly as she stood in the doorway with that glass of water. Genji was in the middle of her bedroom and seemed to have a pleasant conversation with Amélie, who was sitting on the side of the bed.
"Oh shucks, that is awful! Why would that be, Genji?"
He repeated himself and spared Lena the embarrassment of clueing the French girl in on that, even though Lena stared daggers at him. He did clue her in on another matter though, somewhat by accident.
"Talon is on the move. You should know that, since you killed three of them some time ago."
Lena briefly pondered what her chances were to throw Genji back out of the window he came from. Those thoughts melted away in shame as she felt the French girl's astonished gaze upon the skin of her neck. She went over to her with an unsteady smile, tried to pass her the glass of water.
Amélie looked at it for what seemed like an eternity.
"We were attacked?"
"Well, kind of, but it was nothing really… "
"You didn't think I would want to know?"
"I didn't want you to worry, luv!"
"Who were they?"
Lena blinked at that question, struggling to understand it's purpose. Those amber eyes were serious enough for her not to ask about it out in the open. Tension in the room was growing palpable. The glass of water still waited to exchange hands and the cold slowly began to become uncomfortable for Lena.
"Why, just… three Talon agents."
"Nothing more? Just another three Talon agents?"
This was getting more and more irritating for Lena. There was a sting veiled in Amélie's words. She would only feel worse if she withheld irrelevant information now, so Lena racked her brain.
"Well, she did, their captain that was, did say that they were a reconnaissance team, I guess? Was a short woman, black ponytail and two soldiers with masks on, so I couldn't really see them."
Amélie's face looked more dismayed by the second, as if she didn't want to believe. It finally dawned upon Lena that the former Talon agent knew these people. Amélie's voice was calm and reminiscing.
"There is only one female recon captain in Talon. Her name was Yang. Her team spotted targets for me in countless missions. She had been very good at that. But every single time when it came to an engagement, she panicked and hid like a child."
Her voice turned sour with consternation.
"She wouldn't hurt a fly out of fear. She was a weak, pathetic woman. Like I am now. And you killed her?"
Lena was shocked to the core. She had just assumed that Amélie would feel only contempt for all of Talon. Yet here she was, being looked at in disgust for what she had done, by the person that meant more than the world to her.
"I… b-but they attacked you…"
Amélie talked herself into a quiet, seething rage.
"It really wasn't even the shock collar then, like you wanted me to think? They wanted to capture me? You were the only one with killing intent, Chérie, weren't you? Is that your strength?"
Amélie stood up. She towered over Lena with bitterness and disappointment in her voice. Lena felt powerless and small and wrong.
"Shouldn't I be just another Talon agent to you, too? Or am I? Am I your toy that has to be sheltered and lied to, lest it would break?"
The Brit bit her lip. Breathing was getting harder. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
"N-No, Amélie of course not! Please, I didn't know, I didn't think…"
Amélie was so wrought up, she couldn't even express herself in English anymore. She just said what was on her mind, and her mind had her talking French. This would be the first time that Lena heard her calm, yet so venomous and saddened at the same time while doing so.
"Un héros sanglante tu es. Tu n'est pas différent de ce que j'étais avant!"
Amélie turned sharp on her heels and stormed out of the apartment. Then, nothing. There hadn't even been the courtesy of a slap to partly numb the pain of Lena's heartache with a physical one.
Genji lingered only a moment before following outside.
Lena was left standing and speechless, her gaze stuck on the door. Her hand lost its will to hold on and unceremoniously dropped the glass of water. She could feel despair as her heart broke inside her chest. All she had wanted to do was protect Amélie, be there for her. Tears began running down her cheeks.
'No matter what you do Chérie, you just keep failing.'
Lena couldn't help but laugh.
père Noël ~ Santa Claus
Un héros sanglante tu es. ~ A bloody hero you are.
Tu es si maladroit ma petite bête ~ You are so awkward, my little fool
Tu n'est pas différent de ce que j'étais avant! ~ You are no different from what I was!
There is just no time to rest for our poor lovebirds.~
Was it unfair? Understandable? Too assuming? Did Lena get what she deserved?
I'm dying to know your thoughts, dearest reader <3