Enraptured in Ice Ch. 2

AN: Hey everyone. So I typically like to post the first three chapters of a story before sinking back into rotation. I'm glad to see that so many people have followed and favorited the story already. I'll admit, it's a little frustrating that doesn't have Mei as a taggable character, but even still, I'm sure it'll be fine. Please feel free to leave a review or to send me a PM. I love hearing from people. Seriously, it's like a drug. -Kiba

As Mei disappeared into Winston's office, Dan shook the thoughts from his head. He needed to focus on work. Opening the supply cabinet, he began to assemble the components for Tracer's harness as Winston had shown him. Truth be told, he didn't really understand the science of it too much, but in his personal opinion, if he had a thing strapped to his chest that kept him from ceasing to exist, he'd take a lot better care of it.

Removing the damaged core from Tracer's back, he began to go to work installing the new one. With a painful groan, she began to move, but he quickly urged her to keep still. "Dan? What happened?"

"Do you want the short or the long version?" he asked, making sure to align the flux capacitors.

"Short. I doubt my head could stand the long one," she grumbled.

"You got knocked out."

"That explains the nasty bump."

"All right, your harness is repaired. Let me take a look at that battle scar you just acquired." Pulling away her hand, she let out a wince as I brushed it with my fingers. Sure enough, it was starting to bruise. "We should ice it to reduce the swelling. It's a good thing you got hit in the head and not somewhere important, right?"

"Always the kidder, aren't you, love?" Looking around, she frowned. "Where's the big guy?"

"In his office," he replied, placing the ice pack to the back of her head. "Hold this, please."

"Did they manage to take something? What was it they were after?"

"Not something, some one."

Tracer let out a light giggle. "No offense, love, but I doubt you're so important that it warrants Talon kidnapping you."

"Not me," he murmured dreamily. His eyes went to the equation she'd repaired. She was smart, beautiful, funny...it was inevitable he felt that he'd feel this way.

Tracer's eyes grew wide as a big smile crept across her face. "You have a crush! Tell me, tell me, tell me. I have to know, love. Truly, I do."

"Shhh," I quickly quieted her. "I do not. Just...I don't know, she seems really nice…"

"Oh you've got it bad," she teased. "Come on, come on. Give us a name, then."

"Mei," he answered. Even the way it felt saying it made it hard for him to not smile. "Mei Ling Zhou." When he turned back to his friend, he noticed that she was incredibly pale. "Tracer? Are you all right? The core's working fine, isn't it?"

"The Mei Ling Zhou?" she asked in surprise. Taking a deep breath, she chuckled nervously. "Of course. You always so aim a little higher than your reach, don't you love?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped.

"I'm afraid your crush is something of a celebrity," she explained.

"A celebrity? She told me she was a scientist at a research station."

"Oh, I'm certain she was. I didn't mean a celebrity like or Lucio. She's an explorer and a scientist. She's one of my biggest role models, understand? I've followed her work for quite some time, and up until just now, I'd all but thought she was either dead or in the middle of a jungle somewhere."

"In a sense. Frozen in a cryostasis pod. She was the only one in her entire team to make it out alive. You can thank her for not having a hole in your head instead of a lump. She's the one who bailed us out."

Tracer's hand rested on his shoulder, a surprising tone of seriousness coming to her voice. "Listen Dan. You and I, we've always been mates. You're like a kid brother to me."

"Kid?"

"Be careful. Don't let this crush run away with your head. You're a great guy. You're clever, to be certain. But I'm afraid your princess is just in another castle. I'm not saying not to have those feelings, because I know you can't help it...I just don't want to see you hurt, understand love?"

Brushing her hand off of him, he frowned. "I appreciate the sentiment Tracer, but I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't known the woman for more than a few hours."

"And yet, you're waiting for her to come back out that door like a puppy waiting for its owner to get home from holiday," she retorted. "Just promise me something, Danny, okay?"

It'd been forever since she had called him Danny. The only times she ever really did it was when she was trying to act as if she weren't upset or scared. It was as if by calling him 'Danny' she was telling him that everything would be okay, even though they both knew it wasn't. "I'm fine," he assured her. "I don't understand why you're making this out to be more than it is. It's not important, okay?"

"Dan, you're holding my gun," she pointed out. "Do you know how many times I've tried to get you to come to the range with me?"

"It's different in a life or death situation," he argued.

"Promise me, Dan. Promise that no matter what comes of this, be it that you tell her and she doesn't agree or that you hold on to it forever, promise that you'll not leave us because of that."

My heart caught in my throat for a moment. "Are you really that worried about me?" he asked. "I...Tracer, I'm not hanging around here trying to be cool, okay? I love being here, just like you do. Even still, I know that I'm not much. But it'll take a lot more than being scorned to send me away."

"Promise, Dan."

"Fine, I promise."

She took a deep breath before letting it out in relief. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder, giving me a hug. "You're one of us, Dan. Whether you believe it or not, you're one of us."

Mei sat patiently in the chair, her hands folded in her lap. The office was a strange one, as if it were clearly split in half. On one side of the desk, it looked like any other office. Desk, chairs. Even a little poster on the wall with a kitten that read 'hang in there'. But on the other, it was like a jungle gym. Instead of another chair, there was a gigantic tire that Winston had perched himself on. Above him, ropes hung from above and there were potted plants that brought to mind more tropical places.

"Mei, I'm afraid we have a lot to catch you up on, you see…"

"Oh! Daniel filled me in on a lot of it. Sorry to interrupt, I just didn't want you to have to go through more trouble than necessary. From what he told me, humans won the war with the Omnecs, but tension is still high. Overwatch was disbanded, but you and a few others are still carrying on, and that now we're regarded as criminals."

Winston scratched his chest in thought, reaching into his desk drawer, he pulled out a banana and a jar of peanut butter. "That's most of it," he admitted, "but there's more to it than that. Even things that Dan doesn't know. Things that Dan is not allowed to know. When you were working in Antarctica, did you hear about a group known as the Blackwatch?"

"The name was mentioned every now and then around the campfire. Just rumors and stories mostly about the 'dark side of Overwatch'."

"Not rumors or stories," he answered, taking another bite from the banana. "Blackwatch was very real. It's job was to perform covert operations that would be viewed less than positively if brought to light. Assassinations, kidnappings, burglaries, you name it, they did it. Most were just rogues and mercenaries who managed to land themselves in the perfect job to get away with what they wanted."

"That's horrible!"

"Indeed. When the Blackwatch came to light, that's when the government officially shut us down. We'd become too big and too powerful. If you tune in to any news channel, however, you'll find that the world still needs us. Some of Overwatch has returned to active duty, others, however, have not. We can still make a difference. We still have ways to protect the world, even if it feels its better off without us. So, are you in?"

"In?" she asked in surprise. "You mean, you want me to join Underwatch?"

"Underwatch?" he repeated.

"Oh, sorry," she giggled. "It was just a joke between Dan and I. I don't mind helping Winston. But I don't know what use you'll have for a climatologist. I'm afraid I'm not much of a combat expert."

The ape frowned at her. "Please, don't insult my intelligence Professor Ling Zhou," he commented. "I saw how well you handled yourself out there. Even if you're not willing to enter combat, you can still help us. Right now, we're desperate. We're willing to take anyone we can get, and we would be honored...no, privileged to have a scientist of your calibre on our team."

Mei pondered it for a moment. "Winston, if you take everyone who comes back from the old Overwatch, won't the same problems just happen again?"

The scientist blanked momentarily. It was never a possibility that he'd truly considered, simply because of his love for what he viewed as his family. "I suppose so. But I trust you, Professor Ling Zhou."

She sighed. "Very well, I will assist you."

"Excellent! Just…"

"But," she interrupted, "only under two conditions. Firstly, you need to start screening people who come in. I'm sure some of the older members are still honorable, but we need to be careful. In addition to avoiding notice, if we are caught it could really help our case if we show that there haven't been any incidents of corruption."

"Understood."

"Secondly, I'll be needing a lab and some of the old equipment from Antarctica. You brought the Cryopods. Did you manage to find Khione?"

"Unfortunately, the survey team said that all they found other than the cryopods had been completely destroyed. But the lab, I can grant you. We have plenty of empty rooms and buildings here in Gibraltar. Next door we even have some of the old equipment." Standing from the table, he politely opened the door for Mei, following her out to where Tracer and Dan were sitting. "I'll have Dan help you to settle in."

"Speaking of which, I will most likely need a lab assistant. If you have anyone you could recommend me, I'd…"

"I'll do it!" Dan quickly volunteered, before clearing his throat and repeating it more softly. "I'd be happy to be your assistant Professor Ling Zhou."

"Is that okay with you, Winston?" Tracer asked expectantly, biting her tongue to avoid chewing Dan out. Even after she'd warned him, he was still jumping into it head-first. Whatever subtlety she was trying to inflect went over Winston's head, however.

"Sure. I see no problems with it."

"But! What if you need him for something?" Tracer tried, zipping to his side quickly. "I mean, after all, he did fix your shield emitter and my harness, right?" Dan shot her a glare that she brushed off.

"Well...if it's too much trouble…" Mei began.

"No! No trouble at all!" Dan assured her eagerly before giving a signal to Tracer to shut up.

"But Dan, what if Winston ends up being attacked while you're not here? Who's going to help him fight?"

"You mean like he never does," Winston huffed. "Dan, I am giving you permission to assist Professor Ling Zhou. If for any reason she decides you're not up to snuff…"

"I'll do my best," he interrupted before turning back to smile at Mei.

"I'm sure he will make a wonderful lab assistant. If half of what I've heard about his abilities is true, then it will be more than enough. Thank you so much for offering, Dan. I really appreciate it."

Her words caused his heart to flutter. Tracer, however, still was skeptical about the idea. As the two filed out to find her new lab, she turned to Winston. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she lied.

"You're an awful liar," Winston commented, swinging back to his terminal. "What's bothering you? Is there something you know about our mysterious woman?"

"She's wonderful," she admitted. "I've read her journals that she's kept. She's an inspiration to all the women who wished to be part of Overwatch."

"But…?"

"But I'm worried about Dan."

"Dan? Why? He's the closest one to her thus far. Not even an hour and they have their own inside jokes."

"I know, but...can't you tell? He's getting too attached to her, Winston."

The ape sighed, rubbing his temples with one hand. "Tracer, I understand you care for Dan, a lot. I know if you could, you'd try to instate him into Overwatch, assuming it was still here to instate him in. But I also know that you're very protective. Despite what you may see him as, you can't forget that he is an adult. He's allowed to make his own life decisions. Have you said your peace with him?"

"Yes, but you know how he is. Stubborn to a fault, even in his stupidity."

"Hmmph. Sounds like someone else I know," he retorted. "The point is, you've given him your input, but it's up to him to make the choice."

Mei sang softly to herself as Dan escorted her through the large warehouse next door to Winston's lab. He was over the moon that Winston had allowed him to be her personal assistant. Looking up, she continued her song as she stood on her tip-toes, reaching for the component that she sought.

Still unable to reach it and seemingly with more than an arm span out of reach, she frowned and began to scale the shelf, one foot in front of the other, just as easily as if it were a ladder. "Dan, please be ready to catch this when I pass it down to you."

"Yes ma'am," he called up in reply. She was athletic too? With every new thing he discovered about her, Dan slowly sank deeper into his mental image of her, to the point where to him, she could do no wrong.

Finding the item she was looking for, she began to pull it, only to find it stuck. "Zhè shì zuì chà de!" she growled, tugging on it harder. Looking over her shoulder at Dan, she called down to him once more. "It's stuck. I'm going to try to unwedge it!"

"All right, just be careful!"

With one final hard tug, the thing managed to come free. The sudden change in mass made Mei lose her grip and soon both her and the machine she was clutching were now hurtling to the ground.

Immediately, Dan was there, arms outstretched as she fell on to him. Unable to maintain balance the two of them fell to the hard ground, but thankfully, he'd managed to slow her fall enough that neither were hurt. "Are you okay, ma'am?" he asked worriedly.

She nodded with a soft smile. "Sorry I fell on you. I wasn't expecting it to come out so suddenly,"

"Ma'am, you're my boss now. You don't have to apologize to me for stuff. I'm more than happy to follow you anywhere."

Perplexed by his odd wording, Mei simply stood, brushing herself off before offering her hand to him. Taking it, she pulled him to his feet before he stooped down to pick up the device. It was a high-capacity pressurizer. He couldn't help but wonder what she needed it for. "So…" she suddenly spoke up, scanning the shelves for the next item on her mental checklist. "How does someone like you come to find Underwatch?"

"Someone like me?" Dan wondered, scratching his head. "What do you mean?"

"You know: young, smart, brave. There are far more lucrative positions in the world you could have then being a personal assistant to a band of criminals."

"Yeah, I suppose so," he replied. "But, even still, I'm glad to be here. When I was really young, I'd stay up and watch the news about Overwatch. They were like real life comic book heroes and I remember I wanted to be just like them. Then, once I grew older, I realized that that was something that was a very real possibility. When I was sixteen years old, my family and I were pinned down by a squad of omnecs that had managed to corner us when we went out to buy groceries. Then...out of nowhere, ZIP. This girl, the same age as me, comes darting past them, just blasting away wildly. Somehow, though, when I saw her, you could tell that every shot was placed exactly where she wanted it. It was amazing. I had never seen anything like it before."

She beamed. "Ah, so that must have been Tracer. Then she brought you to Winston?"

"Not quite," he chuckled. "One of the omnecs managed to swivel and get a pretty good blow on her. When it did, it managed to crack her harness and sent her flying. Nothing too serious, mind you. I can't explain it, but I knew I had to help her, so I followed after and patched up her gear for her. She was all, 'That was amazing, love! The world could always use more heroes!' It's the same spiel she gives to everyone who helps her when she's caught off-guard. She swore to me that she'd never forget the favor I did for her."

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Mei giggled. "You two must be really close."

"Yeah, you could say that," Dan chuckled. "Anyway, we parted ways after that. Five years later, I was in College when I heard that Overwatch had been shut down. I was heartbroken. Everything I was studying for seemed so worthless now. For another five years, I didn't hear a word, not a peep. Then, about two months ago, something amazing happened. I was going through King's Row in England. I'd used all of my savings to explore the world, you know? This was my first stop. So, I walk into a pub, and there Tracer was, this huge lopsided grin on her face with a drink in her hand."

"That must have been exciting," Mei mused, pointing to another piece of machinery for him to fetch. As he placed it on to the car, she urged him to continue. "So you went and talked to her, right?"

"Hmm? No. No way," he replied. "I'm...really shy at times. So, I just sat at the bar and ordered myself a drink. Well, turns out, Tracer recognizes me immediately. 'Hey! You're that kid that saved me in that grocery store that one time. Look at you! All grown up now, aren't you love?' I'll admit, it was pretty frustrating being called a kid by someone who was only a few months older than me. She still does it, too. Anyway, she tells me that she's going to make good on her promise, and repay that favor. I'm assuming she means she wants to buy me a drink, what have you, but instead she asks me to fly with her to Gibraltar."

"Wow! So what did you say?"

"I was hesitant at first," he admitted. "But, finally, her annoyingness wore me out and she managed to drag me into this small plane before hopping into the cockpit and flying both of us there. I was mortified. As excitable as Tracer is on the ground, she's twice so in the air. She introduced me to Winston, told me he was the one who created her harness, and the rest is just history."

Mei's eyes were shimmering with excitement. "That's so amazing. It's almost like a fairy tale. I can't imagine how thrilled you must have been. Are you sure you don't mind working as my assistant? I would understand if you wanted to stay with Winston."

"Actually, I'm really excited to assist you. Tracer told me that you're quite the explorer yourself. I'm sure my life is nowhere near as action-packed as yours has been. You'll have to tell me one of your stories some time."

"Oh, it's not all that," she assured him. She was beginning to amass quite a pile of machines and tech on to the cart. "Let's see, an exciting story that I have. I must admit, I'm drawing a blank."

"Really?" he asked skeptically. "You were an adventurer but you never went on any adventures?"

"Well, last year a glacier was falling on this arctic wildlife preserve. There were a lot of endangered species there. Some would he be extinct if they were to be killed. So, I developed a machine that could temporarily change the climate of an area and I froze the glacier just long enough for everyone to get the animals out. It was pretty neat seeing all of those unique animals, I guess."

Dan's jaw had dropped in awe. "You built a device that can change the weather?"

"Only in a 30 meter radius," she admitted. "I never was able to make a larger scale one for the world. Besides, the climates are far too complex. It'd be better to have one for each area, though even then you'd have to find someone who knows how to work it."

"And the most exciting part of that story were the animals?" he laughed. "Also, weren't you frozen last year?"

Mei came to a halt, the smile now gone from her face. "I'd never really thought about it, until you mentioned it," she whispered. "Five years of my life have gone by, and I was just...I was just in a block of ice? I...I let down my team. I let down Overwatch." Her eyes began to glisten with tears as she quickly turned away with a sniffle. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin the mood."

Dan felt incredibly conflicted, watching the young woman's struggle to hold herself together. After a moment of hesitation, he shyly went to her and hugged her. She seemed surprised by the sudden display of affection. "You didn't let anyone down," he assured her, trying to give her some comfort. "Besides, you still have a long life to lead ahead of you. Five years...I mean, in respect to your life, that's not much of anything. Besides, your body was perfectly preserved in the ice, so you didn't 'age' five years, you simply...skipped them."

Smiling, she returned his embrace briefly. "Thank you, Dan. I appreciate you trying to comfort me. But it doesn't change the fact that my entire team died because of me. I'm the one who instructed we go into cryostasis."

"If you hadn't you'd have starved to death, completely forgotten by Overwatch. You made the best decision you could with the knowledge you had," he pointed out, the two separating. "Besides, being a leader isn't just about making sure people come out unscathed. Sometimes it happens. A good leader puts themselves last and their team first. You stepped into those cryopods, same as them. It was just luck of the draw, I guess."

"Even still. As their leader, their deaths are on me." She remained silent for a moment before her usual shy smile returned to her lips. "Anyway, let's get on a less depressing topic. What do you like to do for fun?"

"I don't know, to be honest."

"Oh come on. Surely you have some sort of hobby. I already know you like to tinker with machines and rescue girls from giant ice cubes. What else? What do you and Tracer do when you take her out on a date?"

"On a date?" he asked in surprise. "No, you misunderstand. Tracer and I aren't dating, we're just friends. We're more like brother and sister than like that."

"Oh," she whispered, turning red from chagrin. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"It's fine, honest. I don't really have a girlfriend or anything like that. I've always been too busy, be it with work or school or travelling. Kind of regretting it, to be honest."

"Well, maybe I'll let you off early some days so you can go find a nice girl to treat special. Underground or not, you still have to have some sort of social life."

"Well what about you?" he tried, desperate to change the subject to something other than himself. "I can't help but notice that you weren't exactly scrambling for a phone to contact someone. Anybody special in your life?" He was trying hard to not sound eager for her answer, and in the end, Mei's oblivious nature allowed him to keep his secret.

"No, I suppose not," she pondered. "Most guys I met found me intimidating, and they never really could keep up, so I guess I just left them behind. Not literally, of course. I wouldn't abandon someone on a mountain or something cruel like that. The only friends that were close to me were in the Watchpoint. It's...still hard to imagine them gone."

"Well, of course," Dan stated matter-of-factly. "It's only been one day. No one is expecting you to just get over this. If anything, I admire your ability to hold it together as well as you do without seeming like you don't care."

"That's sweet of you to say. Thank you."

He couldn't help but to feel overwhelmingly proud of himself that he could cheer her up, even a little bit. He would struggle with this at first, but he hoped, in time, that maybe she'd come to feel for him, too.

"So...what is it that we're making?" he asked, eyeing the pile of scrap.

"Well, our data from Arctic was lost when the building collapsed on the console. I wanted to recreate some of the experiments that we did at the arctic, but to do that I'll need an artificial environment to work with. The only way to do that is for me to rebuild my old climate converter." Pausing for a moment, she softly added, "If you want, I could show you how it works."

It was apparent to Dan that she was hopeful he would take her up on the offer. He could barely fathom just how much she may actually have to teach him. Not just about Climatology, but about technology too. "I'd really appreciate that! I'm sure that I can learn a lot from you Professor."

She beamed at him, simply exuding happiness that someone else would be interested in hearing about her work. "Please, just call me Mei. Professor makes me feel so old. I tried to get the other researchers to stop calling me that, but I just gave up on it after a while."

"All right, Mei."

Now completely equipped with what she needed, Dan made sure to collect any necessary tools they'd need as well before the two, now fully laden, returned to the empty building that Mei would soon call her lab.

Setting up, every now and then, his eyes eyes would wander to the voluptuous woman who was bent over the cart, rummaging for the next thing to set up. Once, she'd caught him looking, but he just flashed a smile at her as if he hadn't been staring at all.

Returning it, Mei finally put the last piece of the standard equipment in its place. "Ta-da!" she announced. "We're done for today. If you like, you can head home. What time will you be here tomorrow?"

"Head home?" He chuckled. "No, I actually live here on Watchpoint." Raising his finger, he pointed to a door on the far side of the lab. "Those are barracks in there. It comes with ten cots. Don't worry, I make sure the sheets are cleaned and beds remade every week. We never know when guests are coming, and Winston snores like an ape, understandably. It used to be where I sleep, but if you'd like some privacy of your own, I don't mind going to my crash bed in Winston's lab."

"No, no! That's fine. I lived with 19 other people in Antarctica and it was even smaller than this facility. Truth be told, I'm actually kind of relieved that someone else will be here. I was afraid I'd get lonely, otherwise. I'm sorry, I must sound really weird."

"I understand completely," he assured her. "If it helps, Tracer also usually sleeps here when she stays. Also, there is good news and there is better news. Good news is, we have running water and our own bathroom, right next to the barracks. Better news, the water's hot."

Mei stretched out, her back curving in a way that accented her body even further, causing Dan to casually look away. "Mmm, a hot shower would be fantastic. I can't remember the last time we had one. Back at the research lab, we had to boil snow before letting it cool down and using that. It was a real hassle and a lot of us didn't have much in the way of toiletries. They're not exactly in common supply there."

"I can imagine it'd be hard to keep well stocked in the most remote place on Earth. I have some stuff. You're more than welcome to borrow my shampoo or whatever you need."

"Or…" a voice called from the door before with a zip, Tracer showed up between us, causing us both to take a step back. "You can use mine, Mei. I also have some clothes for you to borrow if you like. At least until we get some of your own, I mean."

"Oh, thank you Tracer," she beamed. "I really appreciate it."

"No worries, love. Any time. If you like, shower's open. I'll make sure this one doesn't try anything." Tracer jerked her thumb towards Dan to indicate who she meant. "He can be quite the pervert if you're not careful."

"What? I am not!" he protested.

Mei just giggled to herself. "You two really are like brother and sister. But I will take you up on the shower Tracer." Looking to Dan, she put a finger to her lips. "You don't mind if I go first do you?"

"No, no. Of course not. I imagine today has been...pretty hectic."

She nodded. "Yeah...though not all of it was bad."

"I'll lay out the clothes for you just outside the shower," Tracer called after her.

Once she was out of earshot, Dan scowled at his friend. "Tracer, what the hell is your problem?"

"You need to cool off," she replied, playfully flicking his forehead. "You're taking a nosedive from atmosphere, love. I'm just trying to...act as your thermal shielding."

"You're cock blocking me."

"I am...yes. I am cock blocking you."

Dan threw up his arms in exasperation. "Look, Tracer you know me. I'm pretty shy. I've never really dated before and as you've said on many occasions, I'm not stupid. I'm not just going to go stand out of the shower on one knee with a ring. She just woke up after five years to find all of her friends dead, today. I think there is a better time and place for all of this, but that doesn't mean that you can just interfere like this."

"Just watch me, love," she shot back.

He crossed his arms. "Though you're only going to make it harder on yourself now."

"What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously.

Now it was his turn to smirk. "Mei is borrowing your clothes."

"So?"

"Well, I don't mean to draw any attention to it, but I believe there is something of a drastic difference between you two in...erm...tracks of land." Tracer turned a bright red, not having had the realization before this moment. "I mean, if you want to give her clothes that are super tight and accent every curve of her body, I won't complain. But, it seems kind of like my 'thermal shielding' would be torn off."

She pondered it for a few moment before a grin crossed her features. Dan knew that wasn't good. "Oh don't worry your sweet little head, darling. I always have a plan of some sort, don't I?"

"No, you almost never have a plan."

"Exactly! Which is why when I do, they tend to work."

"That...doesn't make any sense."

"Don't you worry about it. I'll be right back." With a quick zip she vanished, leaving him to sigh in frustration. Soon, she'd returned, this time holding up a long plain white and frumpy nightgown. "Eh? See. Told ya. Tracer always has a plan."

"A mumu? Really? Fine. Play dirty all you want, Tracer. You're not going to chase me away. After all, I am her personal assistant. We'll be spending a lot of time alone together." With another flash, Tracer had folded the mumu neatly on the bench before returning to her cot next to Dan's.

Sitting on it, she looked to him, crossing her legs and setting her hands in her lap. "Danny, you know I'm not doing this to be mean. I'm trying to protect you. You don't understand, but heartbreak...it's one of the worst feelings in the world. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I know why," he answered, "but that doesn't make it any better. I don't know if I stand a chance with a woman as amazing as Mei. I agree, she's really something else. But you miss 100% of the shots you don't make, and maybe not today, not even tomorrow I will make that shot. Understand?"

Tracer sighed, turning to lay down with her hands behind her head and her legs outstretched. "Just don't forget your promise, Dan."

"I won't," he promised, "and Lena…"

The pilot looked at him in surprise. It wasn't often that others called her by her real name. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I just...this will probably cause us to argue a lot. I just don't want you to think that I hate you. You're my best friend. Please don't forget that."

She simply smiled. "Don't you worry your little head, love. I know you don't hate me. I'm too cool to be hated."

"Erm, Tracer?" Mei called shyly, stepping out from the bathroom. Despite the frumpiness of the gown, she'd managed to completely fill it out. It only went to her thighs instead of her knees like it had on Tracer, and it did almost nothing to conceal her bust. "I appreciate this. But I hope you don't mind. I think I may have stretched it."

"No, no problem," she replied, completely shocked.

"If you like, the shower's open."

"Ladies first," Dan offered. Tracer, grabbing her towel and a change of clothes grumbled to herself before disappearing into the bathroom. The young lab assistant was struggling to hide his grin until Mei came and sat on the cot beside him.

"Hey," she grinned. "Do you mind if I take this one?"

"Not at all," he replied, briefly noting in his head that there were dozens of other cots she could have chosen. Was this a sign?.

Catching his gaze, Mei blushed slightly before pointing up. "This one is under the vent," she explained. "I know it sounds silly, but I prefer to sleep in the cold. You don't mind do you? If this is too close, I'd understand."

"It's fine, honest," he urged. "And it's not silly. I prefer to sleep in the cold, too. Though I imagine you've learned to sleep much better in it."

He was referring to the time she lived in the Arctic, but she just chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. I did sleep for five years after all."

The two sat awkwardly for a few moments, neither one sure what to say after that. Finally Dan cleared his throat. "Look, about what Tracer said earlier, I'm not…"

"I know," she interrupted. "You don't seem that kind of person."

"How do you know that?"

She simply smiled at him. "When I fell and you caught me, you didn't try to grope me. You apologized profusely for unzipping my parka when you were trying to save my life. And, most importantly, you've yet to not look me in the eye when we talk." She paused briefly to tug at her gown which had now ridden up her thigh slightly. "These clothes are so tight," she complained before realizing she'd spoken out loud. "Don't tell Tracer I complained, please. I don't want to seem ungrateful."

"Relax. Your secret is safe with me. Tomorrow we'll buy you more clothes and then...we start working on your machine, I guess."

She yawned, stretching sleepily before nodding. "Yeah. That sounds nice. I hope you don't mind if I cut our conversation short, Dan, but I'm exhausted. Don't worry about me. I'll be just fine. Thank you for being so kind to me."

"Anytime," he whispered, watching as she tucked herself into her blankets to roll over and go to sleep. "Sleep well, Mei. I hope you have sweet dreams." With that, he too curled up in his bed and fell fast asleep.

To be continued...