Just like that, the days passed. More training, more meetings, more of everything that Lena had done for a while now. With everything going around, the pilot was starting to get overwhelmed, yet at the same time, she welcomed the feeling.

Unlike the other times where she had felt out of her depth, the things she was dealing with were mundane. Routine. A welcome change of pace from having her life on the razor's edge.

Sure, there were still missions involved, except those were usually more guard duty than anything. In the following days after the disastrous Havana mission, Talon had apparently gone to ground. Similar to Null Sector, there was nothing of note about the terrorist organization. Or rather, nothing of note that they knew.

Without Lacroix, the woman that is, as an inside agent, Overwatch as a whole had nothing on Talon. Even the informant that had snuck out the info about Doomfist had gone quiet, if they were ever on their side to begin with.

Of course, none of this was ever directly told to Lena.

Her access level was still way below the bar to be kept up to date with all that. That certainly didn't stop Archer from telling her all of it.

While she appreciated being kept in the loop, the headaches with just knowing were becoming just a tad much, if she were honest.

Thankfully, today was not one of those 'Archer is going to say something to annoy me' days. Instead, after training with the dead-on-her feet Sombra, Lena was finally visiting the mysterious Lacroix.

Amélie Lacroix had woken up just a day later after the mission. Well before anyone, including Archer, had expected.

For the past while now, she had been kept in isolation as Angela worked to figure out just what had happened to make her skin blue. Due to that, nobody was allowed to enter her room as Angela had specifically forbidden anyone other than medical personnel to see Lacroix, citing possible infections that could occur.

Sombra had snarked that 'if she'd already been carried through a distillery, chances are she's already infected'. Privately, Lena agreed. Lacroix had been carried on her back, literally, after all. If she was going to get sick, the symptoms and vectors would have already made themselves known.

That didn't mean she found it immensely satisfying to watch the hacker's laps get doubled by Archer.

Lene remembered that Angela had been combing through test after test, even during meals, to see if there were any issues with Lacroix that had been overlooked. Multiple times, Genji had to forcefully drag whatever was in her hand just to make the medic eat. Lena understood the feeling, as even Archer had become interested in finding out what had happened to Lacroix.

Even with Archer bluntly stating that he'd snuck into the clean room Lacroix was in, he'd found nothing. No evidence of what Lacroix had gone through, of what had happened, and why she was in peak health despite all the signs she should be dead.

Lena sighed to herself as she stretched. There was no use worrying about it now. All that mattered was that Lacroix was safe, and that she would be visiting soon as per Angela's request. Apparently, the commanders were thinking of putting Lacroix back into the field alongside Lena's team. Whether her husband agreed to that was never said.

And after that? Well, her and Emily's long awaited wedding was looming closer and closer.

They had the entire thing already prepped - or rather, Emily did. On the side, her fiancée had been hard at work prepping everything. And Lena did mean everything. From the colour theme, to the design of the tablecloths, Emily had been hard at work. And it was mostly her that did the wedding planning. If anything, Lena sometimes felt like she was watching a spectator sport when watching the other woman flit to and from various areas of the apartment, holding whatever needed to be done.

That didn't mean that Lena didn't want to help though. She had picked out the venue - Rome, was supposed to be nice this time of year - and was starting on what she thought looked nice before Emily put a stop to it.

Turns out, Lena just didn't have the best sense of planning. Or theme. Or anything that wasn't 'punk rock'.

'Honestly, mum, I have to side with you on this one. That punk phase? Really bloody awful.'

To that end, Lena had sheepishly handed the reins to Emily with no more inputs from herself, other than when her fiancée would ask.

Speaking of her parents, Lena had had to talk them down from getting the entire family first-class tickets straight to Rome. Not for the wedding day either, or the week, but the entire month. She had to remind her rather jubilant mother that she still had a job to do.

They settled on spending a week already anyway, and already had tickets courtesy of Overwatch. Turns out, being part of everything that had happened in the relatively short time she had spent as part of the organization entitled her to some form of compensation. That the compensation was a weeklong, all-expense paid vacation was not against Overwatch policy.

'Well, all that can wait.'

Indeed, all that she was thinking about would only come once Lacroix was up and about. And looking at the time, it should be right about then.

'Oi, Archer, you there?'

"Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you tone down the punk rock music. It's getting annoying."

'I can't help it!' Mentally coughing, and wasn't that another thing she never thought she'd be able to do on command, she continued, 'You guys done? We're supposed to be meeting Angela soon-ish.'

Right now, Lena was lounging about, waiting for Archer and Sombra to be finished with their training. She had left earlier and had already taken a shower. As fun as it was to see Sombra suffer what amounted to the same super-soldier training that Lena had unwittingly gone through when she first joined, it got old after the first few minutes. Maybe ten, twenty, fifty minutes.

"Hm. Alright, let me wrap things up here. We'll meet you at the infirmary in, say, twenty minutes?"

'Sounds good.'

…

It wasn't twenty minutes later. Rather, five minutes later, Archer met her in front of the infirmary, accompanied by a haggard-looking, freshly showered Sombra in quickly tossed together clothing. Raising an eyebrow at the scene, Archer shrugged with a smug smirk.

"Punctuality is a great virtue, I'll have you know."

That Sombra was now muttering something along the lines of 'Diablo' under her breath made her wince in sympathy. Only slightly though.

"Shall we then?"

"You fi-"

The door opened, and they were greeted face to face by none other than Gérard Lacroix. The man startled back, clearly not having expected anyone to be there. Lena did the same, though quickly composed herself with a salute, "Sir!"

"Oxton." The Overwatch agent nodded, "I assume you're here for Amélie's conditioning?"

"Yes sir!" It was the main reason why Angela had asked them to come, after all. The medic was versed in healing people, but not as versed in the physical exercises that would be needed. Instead of putting the woman into the gym immediately, Angela wanted to at least observe and check if anything was wrong during their exercises.

"I see." The man sighed in response, a note of resignation in it, "Then, may I request one thing?"

"Of course, sir." It was the tone that really got to her. Just the defeat that had bled through his voice.

"Please, please take care of her." Gérard pleaded with the three of them, Sombra righting her posture the moment he started, "I've already lost her once, I don't know how I could handle losing her a second time. I…I don't have the authority to take her off active duty, as much as I want to. But I just want to know that she'll be alright."

Lena's heart sank at his words, feeling the weight of his fear and helplessness. Despite the strength he usually carried, seeing him so vulnerable tugged at her. She exchanged a quick glance with Archer and Sombra, both of them clearly understanding the gravity of what Gérard was asking.

Gérard was near the top of the food chain. He was the architect responsible for most Talon-targeted operations in Overwatch. That he was willing to be as vulnerable as he was right now spoke volumes.

"We'll do everything we can, sir." Lena promised, her voice firm. "She's in good hands."

Gérard gave a weak smile, his eyes filled with gratitude but also deep worry. "Thank you." He muttered, stepping aside to let them in.

As they entered the infirmary, the sterile scent of antiseptics hit Lena's nose. Angela was already waiting inside, standing beside a bed where Amélie Lacroix sat, her once serene face now marked with uncertainty. The vibrant blue hue of her skin was even more startling in person, now that she was actually moving.

Before, the woman almost seemed like a doll. A weirdly coloured one, but a doll nonetheless. Lena could almost pretend that the person was not real. Now that she was moving, it was disturbing to see.

"Oxton, that's starting to sound mighty racist."

'Oi!'

Archer's sarcastic remark knocked her out of her quite rude staring. Still, the awkward silence persisted, the white-haired man preferring to stay quiet and Sombra being unashamed in gawking.

Angela broke the silence with her usual calm professionalism, though there was a hint of tension in her voice. "Lena, Archer." She didn't mention Sombra, to Lena's amusement, "Thank you for coming. We're ready to begin the tests and conditioning. I'll be monitoring her vitals, but your job will be to take her through light exercises."

"Sounds good, doc." Lena replied, eager to move past the awkwardness. "Let's get this started."

Archer nodded in agreement, his usual smirk replaced with a more serious expression.

Angela guided them through the process, starting with simple movements. Flexing fingers, rolling shoulders. Her movements were fluid but mechanical, as though she was relearning how to use her own body. Lena noticed how Archer's eyes tracked each movement carefully, narrowed at every twitch that she did.

Soon enough, Angela passed the torch to them. The session began with Lena and Archer leading Amélie through a set of light exercises. Simple stretches and balance drills, nothing too strenuous, but enough to get her body moving. Amélie was stiff at first, her movements slow and deliberate, like a machine shaking off rust.

Despite the stiffness, Amélie pushed through the routine with a quiet determination. There was no hesitation, no complaints, just a mechanical precision in each movement.

Archer kept a close eye on Amélie, his gaze followed her every movement, and Lena knew he was looking for any sign of instability or abnormality, any indication that something wasn't quite right. Sombra, on the other hand, leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching with a mixture of curiosity and detachment.

Angela stayed close, monitoring Amélie's vitals, her eyes flicking between the machines and the woman in front of them. "Her heart rate is stable." She murmured, more to herself than to anyone else. "No signs of distress."

Lena, trying to lighten the mood, flashed a grin at Amélie. "You're doin' great, love. Just keep at it."

Amélie glanced at her, a small, almost imperceptible nod in return. Her face was still a mask of uncertainty, as if she wasn't quite sure of what she was feeling.

Around forty minutes later, Angela called for the session to end. So far, there were no abnormalities that would indicate anything wrong, and that in itself was odd. Amélie's core temperature never went above what her now-normal temperature was at, nor did Amélie even start to sweat.

It was weird, unnatural, and overall, Lena had never seen anything like it. And yet, as Archer called the clearly bored Sombra to join them to leave, the pilot heard a soft voice call from behind them.

"It was nice meeting you all. Thank you." It was the first time that Amélie spoke to them. Looking back, Lena could see the other woman smiling slightly, and Lena couldn't help but smile back.

"You too. And I hope you aren't tired of us already - chances are, we'll be working together!"

"I look forward to it."

With a last wave back, Lena could honestly say that it had been a very productive day. With any luck, they'd be heading to Rome by the end of the week!

It was this daydreaming that led to the pilot completely missing when Sombra passed something to Archer.

…

A/N: If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.

And a special thanks to: FireRogueWolf25, brutalcrab and Tassimo.