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Emily knew what she was getting into, when she was the one to ask the cute girl in the pub out on a date, the one to ask if they could be together and hold hands in public for the world to see, the one to ask if they could live together.
Yet, even with all the mental preparation in the world, it still scared her shitless every time. Still made her heart twist with worry with every news flash on every media platform reminding her that Lena was out there in the thick of a world which was falling to pieces. Her anxiety skyrocketed with every call and text she sent that went unreplied, sitting alone at home just, waiting.
But she always came back. Everytime without fail.
Though these days not necessarily in one piece.
During the height of it all, Lena had the best healthcare in the world. Emily had watched Lena her zip across the television as cameramen struggled to catch a glimpse of the Overwatch Agent even as explosions erupt in her face, yet Lena always returned with her clothes lightly torched - and not a scratch on her. Emily couldn’t remember just how many thank you cards she sent to Angela.
However with Overwatch gone and Lena’s little odd family all across the globe, Emily had to become a nurse overnight.
Lena continued to be “Tracer”, vigilante of London, and though the shenanigans were not as violent or explosive as her days in Overwatch, Emily was quick to learn how to remove bullets out of flesh.
Without the nano tech to instantly heal even the smallest of wounds, Lena’s skin began to take on scars. Which bothered her for a grand total of ten seconds as Emily mentioned it while patching up her arm, her opinion about them immediately changing the moment her girlfriend placed a kiss over the long line over her bicep and expressed her attraction to them.
They were proof she was alive, proof that she came home.
It was never anything too serious, being a freelance vigilante came with its close calls, but they were mostly scrapes and bruises. Colliding into walls mid blink to get away from stray bullets or to avoid punches, those scars usually came with embarrassing stories, but it was never anything she couldn’t handle.
Until the Recall.
Emily had her own personal thoughts on the matter. It was obvious the world needed Overwatch again, but it would be at the cost of her girlfriend being out in the field again - and this time with little to no support, both from the people and from the government. But Lena was stubborn, itching to get out there again and make a real difference. At the time, Emily just said her prayers and returned to the anxiety pills.
The consequences truly sink in until Emily was jolted out of sleep at the sound of something pounding against the glass balcony door, five floors up from ground level. She ran out in her pjs and a small robe draped haphazardly over her shoulders and found Lena barely conscious on the ground just outside the door bleeding profusely.
It was possibly the largest bullet that Emily had the unfortunate displeasure of removing from her girlfriend’s body. It barely missed bone and had nearly exited out clean through Lena’s shoulder, had the straps of the accelerator not been in the way. She lost a lot of blood, and it was a miracle she even made it home but then again, Lena was stubborn.
And that was how Emily learned about the Widowmaker.
Lena shattered into a million pieces before her very eyes, sobbing uncontrollably as she told the story of a beautiful woman she once loved named Amelie Lacroix. A silly one sided crush on a married woman who she had befriended during her time as a new recruit, who had disappeared after her husband was found murdered in his own home. Lena herself couldn’t believe it but she knew those eyes as she watched them pulled the trigger.
“It’s her. I know it is. I just….why would she do this?” she cried, clutching her shoulder as pain flared with every movement and choked sob.
Emily remained silent, quietly holding her with a bloodied rag held tight to her wound. It was all she could do as Lena wept for an old friend and broken heart.
As the days went on, Lena returned home more frustrated, angry, confused and more bruised.
“There’s something wrong...I just know it...she’s different. She remembers her name but says that the person I knew is dead but she’s in there. Talon did something to her, I can feel it.”
“Lena, I can make a necklace with all the bullets she’s leaving in you,” Emily sighed, sitting on the couch as she watched Lena pace across the living room.
It was like watching her attempt to solve a puzzle, desperate to put the pieces together and see the whole picture but was only given bits at a time. Every chance she could, she tested the sniper, begging to recall a different time, asking questions amidst a hail of bullets, anything to figure out why, leaving Emily at the ready with bandages and new towels to clean up the mess afterwards.
But all Emily could do was offer a weak smile,“Just...please be careful.”
“She kissed me.”
Emily blinked hard for a moment, like her ears had betrayed her for a moment but the look of utter horror and grief on Lena’s face as she returned was as real as the bruises on her cheek and blood on her jacket. She slammed her back against the door and slumped to the ground, holding her head in shame.
“I didn’t….mean it….fuck Emily I’m so sorry things just...escalated and I just...I don’t know what happened, God I’m so sorry,” she cried, as Emily knelt before her, unsure of how to proceed.
Her chest twisted, a sharp sting of betrayal grasped at her heart that she forced away as she reached out and held Lena close.
Lena clutched at her and whimpered, “I thought I was trying to bring her back but….But now...I don’t know anymore.”
It wasn’t too long after this that Emily began to feel...odd.
Alone in her own home waiting for Lena to come back, she would sit in front of the television, always watching for what kind of wounds Lena would be returning with to prepare - but a sick feeling began creeping up along her spine, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end as she shifted uncomfortably in the couch, unable to shake the feeling of being watched.
She locked the balcony door and closed the blinds of every window but it unnerved her to no end that the feeling never went away.
Of course she didn’t tell Lena, she had enough to worry about - coming home with fresh wounds, but Emily did make a note to hold her extra close and sleep away from the window.
For all intents and purposes, Emily had half a mind to turn the sniper away when they met for the first time. For the pain and suffering Lena had been put through, literally and figuratively, she had every reason to.
Even if she did save her life.
On an evening Lena was out saving the world, Emily decided to go in early for the night. Still feeling being watched, still worried about her coming home she just couldn’t take it, and she hoped that maybe attempting to sleep would help her feel better.
She had barely stepped a foot in the bedroom before a thick gloved hand reached out and grabbed her, slapping over her mouth to muffle her screams and another pulled her arms behind her back. She kicked and and struggled against the mysterious assailant but unfortunately he wasn’t alone. The arms held her tight, pulling her back towards the balcony doors, where from the corner of her eyes she spotted another man holding a syringe with yellow liquid in it.
But before he could get anywhere close to her, another hand grabbed his wrist and twisted sharply, a sickening crack sounding as the man screamed in pain. He was quickly silenced as he was yanked back and slammed into the ground.
Somewhere from outside Emily could hear it, the familiar hum and zip of the accelerator and shots being fired. There were more, but Lena was close by.
The man holding her shoved her out of his grasp in favor of drawing his own gun, but as Emily stumbled to the ground and scrambled back around for a better understanding of what in God’s name was going on, a sight made her heart stop.
The first thing she spotted was eight glowing crimson eyes and cyan skin, the woman they belonged to sneering, her presence fueled in a fury Emily could feel as she lunged forward and wrestled the gun out of the man’s hands.
A familiar flash of blue landed on the balcony, but quickly stepped aside as the man was promptly thrown out of the apartment and over the balcony.
Lena called out for her, prompting Emily to take advantage of the opening and run past the scuffle and into Lena’s arms.
Two shots rang out.
So loud and deafening that she thought for sure she had been hit, but as Emily collided into Lena’s chest, she looked up and saw the absolute terror in her eyes.
The woman stood in the doorway, her fingers clutching frame in a tight grip, slowly falling limp, her knees buckling and dropping down to reveal the first man, still on the ground with a smoking gun.
Lena screamed, pulling out her weapons and unloading an entire clip into his body as the Widowmaker fell to the ground with two shots in her back.
She really didn’t want to help.
Even as the Widowmaker lay on their couch, bleeding and on the verge of unconsciousness while Lena promptly tossed the other man right off the side of the balcony to join the other, she was hesitant to give the sniper the same treatment she did nearly every night for Lena.
“Leave...me…” the sniper wheezed.
The visor of red eyes hissed, retracing from her face as she groaned in pain.
Emily wasn’t sure what she was expecting but the golden eyes that beat Lena mercilessly every chance they could, murdered so many people, and did so without remorse or hesitation looked so...sad...empty, broken, as Widowmaker averted her eyes from Emily.
“I’ve done enough damage."
Emily huffed, opening the medical kit and going to work.
“I’m going to help you whether you like it or not” she said, tugging the sniper by the shoulder to get her to lie on her stomach,“Because I have questions and you’re not going anywhere until we get them.”
Widowmaker laughed, followed by a groan in pain for doing so.
“Why?”
Lena asked, a single question, with all the weight in the world. She was sitting on the coffee table staring straight at the woman on the couch, unblinking and unmoving, finally under less strenuous conditions she had her stuck here. No more vague or cryptic replies to her questions, Lena was willing to sit here all night if it meant getting some answers.
“Why are you here beating up your own guys? Why did you take a shot for her? Why are ….why are you doing any of this?”
Widowmaker still refused to look at any of them.
“Emily is a target,” she started, her voice trailing away into something softer as she continued, “They want another one.”
She paused.
“Another me.”
The next few days were a strange blur of an awkward heaviness in the apartment.
Talon had no idea Widowmaker had a hand in their failed operation to capture Emily, she somehow managed to hide her whereabouts and not tip them off of her location. When asked about a tracker, she scoffed - they knew she would never run away or leave, there was no need for one.
Lena fought to stay home, but Overwatch was gaining attention and traction with every passing day. She was needed, and Winston promised to look into Talon’s “Widowmaker Project”- perhaps there were others out there forced to do the unthinkable and become another agent for Talon. Or maybe they were singling Lena out. Either way, Lena wanted more answers and staying home questioning a stubborn sniper wasn’t going anywhere.
She was very convinced it was all an elaborate trap.
To which Widowmaker rolled her eyes into the sun,”I would have killed you both already.”
Lena left, not before giving Emily multiple phones, signals and access to a weapon stash just in case.
Emily rolled up her sleeves, it was her turn for the interrogations.
“You’ve been watching me,” she said, changing Widowmaker’s bandages one afternoon.
“I have.”
“Scoping me out? Or protecting me?”
“Yes.”
Emily shook her head, glaring at the black spider tattoo. She had half the mind to tighten the bandage painfully around her waist but held back, letting out a long sigh she tried one more time.
“Why did you save me? Be honest.”
“No one deserves what I’ve been through.”
It was then she could see it, despite taking care of the quiet sniper and staring at the black spider more than her face, she finally caught sight of something strange beneath the ink. Small circular scars ran up along her spine, barely visible even this close. There was so much more she wanted to asked. What did they do to you? How much do you remember? Are you as emotionless as they say?
But she couldn’t bring herself to, as Widowmaker sat on the couch, completely rigid, staring straight forward and nothing else.
“Thank you.”
“You’re an incredible shot,” she started one night, offering tea to her “guest”. It had nearly been a week now and this was a first, so understandably she hesitated, staring at the warm mug then up at the red head in confusion.
Their interactions before this moment were few and far between, paranoia and hostility at first, morphing into a strange comfortable silence.
The sniper didn’t seem in a hurry to leave and was quite content lounging on the couch while she healed and watched Emily go about her business. On several occasions, Emily would attempt to make friendly contact via asking for opinion on things. Which shirt looked better, the color of her shoes before going out, and the like and every time Widowmaker would reply. At first Emily assumed she was humoring her, but surprisingly the sniper had a lot to say about the color green and how it made her eyes pop.
“Lena is fast, but not that fast…” she tried again, offering once more.
“What are you getting at?” Widowmaker asked, taking the mug but keeping a watchful eye as Emily took a seat on the armrest of the couch.
“I just noticed you’ve been putting less holes in her lately.”
“She’s entertaining, it would be a shame to kill her,” Widowmaker shrugged, taking a sip of her tea with just the slightest smirk on her face.
But Emily wasn’t buying it for a second.
“Uh huh...you tell Lena that and she believes you?”
At this Widowmaker stopped, shooting a suspicious glare from the corner of her eye, “...what?”
“Nothing!” Emily smiled, pushing herself from the couch and walking away with a sly, knowing smile on her face.
The tea was delicious, a common black - but steeped just perfectly.
“I kissed her.”
“I know. She told me.”
It was another afternoon spent on the couch as they waited for Lena to return home, tea in hand and news on the tv the two sat in serene silence until Widowmaker suddenly confessed. Though it was small movement, Emily nearly missed Widowmaker’s shoulders visibly relaxing, even though she was sitting right beside her.
“Good,” she said, taking a quick sip of tea. Emily had quickly learned she liked it with no sweetener and a single lemon slice floating on top.
“Why bring it up?” Emily asked, standing up to refill her mug.
“I wanted to apologize.”
She was halfway to the kitchen before she froze on the spot.
“I didn’t know she had someone, I’m a lady above all else. I’m sorry”
Emily may not have known the world deadliest sniper for long, but this was groundbreaking - not to mention unexpected.
Widow remained as she was, as if nothing had occurred, sitting on the couch, drinking tea and watching the news, though it was difficult to tell if she was just staring at it for the sake of it or paying attention.
It was then a mischievous smile spread across Emily’s face.
She placed her mug down on the counter and briskly walked back to the couch, standing directly behind Widowmaker.
Widowmaker blinked out of her haze as she felt the presence of someone looming over her, and though it was awkward, and against her better judgement she turned her head - just in time to feel a warm hand gently drag against her jawline and bring her head up just enough to catch her lips gently against warm ones.
“Now we’re even,” Emily said with a smile before turning on her heel and walking away.
The television was showing some kind of commercial, going dark for a few seconds, just enough to catch a glimpse of the reflection on the screen, of Widowmaker’s wide eyed expression, slowly placing the mug of tea back on the table and lying back down on the couch with her hand against her lips in complete and utter shock.
“Hey, remember when we first started dating we gave each other kink lists?”
Lena, who was well on her way into a deep sleep was yanked out of it via a question with a voice of uncertainty. She rolled over to face Emily, who was lying flat on her back, staring at the ceiling with her thumbs twiddling in anxiety.
“...yeah…?”
“So...do you remember what was on both of our lists?”
“You got a crush on us.”
There was literally no other explanation. Lena may have known the woman much longer, but Emily just could not deny the signs. The little body language that she did do was telling, avoiding eye contact, misplaced smiles, on several occasions she caught Widow watching Lena when she bent over, granted she noticed only because she was also looking.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
And based on her immediate defense of quick denial it only proved her theory further.
“How long have you been watching me?"
“That’s not your concern.”
Emily hummed in thought, recalling around when she was beginning to feel like she was being observed. Possibly a little under a month but still within that time frame was enough for her to have...seen things.
“...did you ever watch us-”
“I’m NOT answering,” Widowmaker spat, clutching her mug tight as her shoulders tensed. If Emily didn’t know any better, she was blushing in embarrassment.
“Ok, ok you don’t have to…I’m just...well I’ll just say that...you’re more than welcome to come back when you’re fully healed…”
Widowmaker huffed, staring down at the empty cup of tea in her grasp in defeat as Emily stood beside her, hand out and awaiting the mug to refill it as she had all week. But as she held out the cup to her, Emily took the mug and her hand, placing a quick kiss over her knuckles.
“We rather like having you around.”
“Getting bored, cherie?”
“Oh gods you have no bloody idea!” Lena groaned, pulling her harness and jacket off in one practiced sweep before she flopped over on the ground in an overdramatic heap right beside the couch.
“You really don’t appreciate things til they’re gone and lemme tell you!” she pouted, her arm raised high and pointed directly at Widowmaker who lounged on the couch like a lazy cat, looking over the cushions at the exhausted agent with a small sly smile.
“I REALLY miss you!”
“If it makes you feel better I also miss breaking your nose on occasion.”
“Could you maybe not? It’s cute and I like it” Emily called out from the kitchen over the sound of popping corn in the microwave.
“Thanks love!”
“You know I’m going to just for that right?”
Lena winked,“Don’t be jealous.”
Widowmaker said nothing, just a small hum of annoyance with her nose held high as she flopped back onto the couch, and thus out of sight for Lena as she lay on the ground giggling to herself.
“This feels like a weird sleep over,” Lena commented as the bowl of popcorn was handed to her upon Emily’s arrival.
Somehow Lena came home at a reasonable hour and they agreed to a movie night, granted Widowmaker didn’t exactly say she was for or against this idea she didn’t make a fuss when the blankets, snacks, and movies were pulled out.
“If you count the fact that I’m here against my will,” she said as she pulled a blanket around her shoulders, closing it in front of her like a cocoon of warmth she supposedly doesn’t feel.
“Bullshit, you could have left like, days ago if you really wanted,” Lena laughed, shoveling a handful of popped kernels into her mouth as she sat up, her back against the couch and head leaning back just inches from Widowmaker’s frame.
“Just admit it, you like hanging out with us,” she grinned, playfully tossing a single popcorn fluff backwards to hit her.
She easily caught it and popped it in her mouth with a shrug, “Emily makes good tea.”
“Right though? The best!”
As the movie played, snacks got consumed and blankets spread around over the occupants, Emily couldn’t help but feel like she had acquired a cat.
Coming to sit next to the sniper, Emily had playfully suggested that she could still lie down with her head on her lap instead of a pillow. But to her surprise Widowmaker did so without hesitation, pulling her arms up and over Emily’s legs, she lay her head on her lap, eyes glued to the screen with just the faintest blush over her cheeks.
Even Lena froze in place, popcorn dangling from her mouth at the scene.
This wasn’t a house cat occupying their couch and now in her lap, any wrong move could set her off if they weren’t careful.
As the movie went on it seemed to capture both Lena and Widowmaker’s attention, but Emily just couldn’t bring herself to focus. She was unsure with what to do with her hands, leaning one on the armrest while the other awkwardly grasped the top of the couch.
She bit her lip, feeling a rush of confidence as the sniper seemed to be relaxed and on the verge of falling asleep, she brought her hand down, fingers just barely touching the ends of her hair.
Emily gulped,“Is this ok?” she whispered, just daring to slip her fingers a few inches further up the strands and comb them out.
Widowmaker nodded.
Emily couldn’t stop a stupid smile from forming on her face, gently dragging her fingers through Widowmaker’s hair, slowly creeping up further and further until her nails caressed the base of her skull and ran all the way through.
A small noise may have escaped her throat.
All three women violently blushed and proceeded to pretend to have not heard it.
“You’re leaving?”
“They’re going to notice that I’ve been away for too long.”
“...This was nice.”
“It was”
Before she left into the night, the Widowmaker of Talon leaned in and gently brushed her lips against Lena’s,this time without shame or hesitation from either.
“Goodnight cherie.”
It would be a month before Emily would see her again.
Within that month, she couldn’t help but feel the immense emptiness of the apartment once again while Lena was out saving the world. The living room felt massive without her savior/patient occupying it like a lazy cat sleeping for hours on end.
Even if they didn’t speak much or often it was a wonderful comfortable silence that now felt void.
Though if she had to pick, she preferred her side of the story than Lena’s.
It was back to work as usual for her, which meant meeting Widowmaker on the battlefield. Granted now they pulled their punches, which wasn’t by much as she still continued to come home with bruises the size of a small melon, but those yellow eyes didn’t spark with malice as they used to.
Unable to take the missing piece to their lives any longer, Emily had demanded that Lena send a message the next time they crossed paths.
“Not gonna lie I wasn’t expecting to see you again.”
“Why would you think that?” she asked, feigning innocence as she put her sniper rifle aside in exchange for the second mug in Lena’s grasp,”You know that I enjoy Emily’s tea.”
“I know we didn’t talk much about it...I guess which is where I had my doubts. Maybe we were thinking too much into it but…”
Widowmaker stood there, watching in awe as Lena fidgeted, tapping the side of her cup in uncertainty.
“You’re always welcome here. You saved her life, I’ll never forget that but...we really miss having you around.”
Widowmaker smiled.
A true sincere upturn of her lips as she took in Lena’s words, of her being missed.
Stepping forward, she leaned in and kissed her quickly, her tea was getting cold.
“I missed you both as well.”
Lena’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas.
“Oh good, mutual feelings then?”
“Very.”
“Yes! Cheers love!”
She rolled her eyes but humored her, and together they clinked their cups together before enjoying the tea.
The sound of another clearing their throat with a cough caught their attention.
The sight however, neither could have prepared for.
There in the door frame of the bedroom was Emily, in a tight green satin nightgown that hugged her curves in all the right places,barely covering her bottom she smiled coyly at the two, casually toying with her hair that was all brushed to one side of her shoulder,exposing the small thin strap that fell off her freckled shoulder.
Lena spat out her drink, nearly choking on whatever was in her mouth, while Widowmaker just completely dropped her mug entirely. Both stared stupidly at the beautiful redhead who laughed and began to slowly turn away.
“Whenever either of you are ready I’ll just be over here...”
They both were covered in scars.
Any chance she could, Emily would take her time finding each one and placing a kiss over every last one them.
And there were a lot.
Though she had prepared herself to worry herself away waiting for Lena to come home, she wasn’t ready for this but she wasn’t about to regret it. Not as she lay in between the two who had wrapped themselves around her.
But each scar still meant the same thing.
They were alive, and they came home to her.
And it was all she asked for.