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There was no warning when the explosion went off. No dropping from the sky, of beeping countdown, just one moment where they stood in a partially evacuated city, and another where they were in the rubble of it.
Most of them had at least been in cover. The dust hadn’t even settled by the time Captain Amari was barking out commands to check for civilians and to be careful. The slightest disturbance could cause the unsettled ruble to come down.
“Mercy, can you fly overhead to check the field for survivors?” Captain Amari asked, turning to Genji, who had been struggling up from where he had dropped down to with the explosion. Her eyes went wide momentarily before she asked, “Where is Mercy? I thought she was with you.”
“She was,” Genji said, holding tightly to his flesh side. He felt his own panic quickly setting in as he whipped around, trying to spot the light of the Valkyrie suit of caduceus staff. There was nothing though. Just settling smoke and dust.
“She was just with me,” Genji repeated. “There was a woman and her baby, Mercy flew to them right before the explosion went off.”
Without further delay, Genji managed to reorient himself and ran in the direction he had seen Doctor Ziegler fly in right before the bomb had detonated.
The buildings she had gone between to get to the woman and her baby were nothing but rubble now.
His panic only increased when he spotted the flickering, warm glow of the Valkyrie suit wings. He ran over the crest of the rubble, hearing at least two others not too far behind him. He tried to step carefully coming down the mountain of the destroyed buildings, but it was inevitable when a tremor went through the ground and his foot slipped. He ducked as quickly as he could and rolled down the hill until he could find his footing again.
Mercy was there. She had been between the buildings in the street, so when all of them came down, she was in the perfect position for a kind of crater of rubble. Her back was turned to them, the wings of her suit snapped on one side and barely holding together on the other.
“Mercy!” Genji shouted as he ran to her. He saw her twitch at his voice, and started to carefully move to uncurl. When Genji reached her, he saw the woman and baby under her, the baby crying and the woman unconscious.
“I’ve done a scan of their vitals already,” Mercy said, her voice even but with a twinge of something off. An energy. Adrenaline. “They’re unharmed. Get them out of here.”
“I will carry them to the camp,” Lieutenant Wilhelm spoke behind Genji.
“Thank you,” she said. She tried to sit up more, but ended up falling onto her back, head narrowly missing a sharp cut of rubble. Wilhelm flinched in Genji’s peripheral, but powered through and stepped around her to lift the woman and baby in his arms. He started to step away, but stopped for a moment when Mercy’s hand shot up and clinged to the chink in his armor.
“Vati,” she said, voice strained. Genji couldn't take his eyes off of her. The sight before him terrified him more than he wanted to ever admit. She was just laying there, looking up at Wilhelm with a panic in her eyes Genji had never seen on her before.
“It will be okay,” Wilhelm spoke gently, trying to reassure. What, Genji wasn’t sure. The exchange felt so personal but so off putting. Like they were silently disguising a grave matter, father and daughter. “You will know what to do.”
After that, Mercy let go of him, and Wilhelm made his way back out of the crater.
Genji dropped down to his knees next to her, Captain Amari following suit on her other side.
“What’s wrong?” Genji asked. Begged .
“My legs,” Mercy closed her eyes, a pained expression coming to her face. The adrenalin was wearing off.
“What do you mean your legs?” Genji asked. When she didn’t reply, he looked down her body to where her legs should be. In the corner of his vision he could see Captain Amari making the horrified expression he no doubt echoed.
Rubble pinned the doctor’s legs, just below her knees. Blood pooled out from under it, mixing with the dust and dirt. Too much blood. Much more than there should have been if she was only being pinned there.
Genji quickly moved to start pushing up the rubble and get her free, but the captain’s arm reached out before he could do much and gripped his flesh wrist painfully.
“If we disrupt any of this it could all come crashing down on us,” Captain Amari said, steel in her voice. “Then none of us make it out. Do you understand?”
“Yes Captain, I’m sorry,” Genji said, taking his hand back.
“Angela,” Captain Amari used the doctor’s first name. “What do you need us to do?”
Doctor Ziegler seemed to struggle for a moment, like it was taking everything in her not to scream. The thought made Genji sick.
“I need you to amputate my leg,” she said, voice thin but sure.
Still, Captain Amari asked, “Are you certain it’s the only option we have?”
“I am,” Mercy nodded, her breath coming in wet pants. “They’re crushed beyond what I can repair out here. By the time we got back to base they would be so infected the amputation would need to happen anyways. It’s just as you said, we can’t move the rubble off of them, and even if we could it would be pointless. I need you to amputate them so that you all can finish the evacuation.”
Genji was going to be sick, he was sure of it now. He was frozen, shock and fear making his stomach and heart twist until he couldn’t breath.
Is this what he had looked like? He couldn’t remember many details of that day, only the sensations that tainted it. Had he begged her to save him in any way she could find? He asked her to cut off the legs that were beyond repair? The arm?
“Okay,” Captain Amari nodded, then looked up past Genji. “Cole.”
“Yes ma’am,” Cole said. Genji didn’t know how he sounded so calm. If he knew anything about Cole Cassidy it was that he loved Angela as a sister and could never bear seeing the people he loved in pain.
Cole paced a hand on Genji’s shoulder, finally drawing his attention away from Doctor Ziegler and her legs and the blood. When he met his gaze, Cole gave him an attempt at a comforting smile and nodded towards Doctor Ziegler.
“Keep her head in your lap,” Cole instructed. He pulled off his cape and handed it off to Genji, followed by his belt which he pulled the gaudy buckle off of. “You can cushion it with the cape. Be careful and make sure she doesn’t hit her head if she thrashes.”
Genji numbly obeyed, shuffling over to sit by her head. He folded the cowboy’s cap and placed it on his lap, then guided the doctor’s head to lay on it. Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly, her jaw tensed.
Cole sat where Genji had been and pressed his belt into Mercy’s hand.
With shaking hands she folded it, then forced her mouth open and jammed it between her teeth.
While they worked to get her comfortable, Captain Amari tore off two long strips from the valkyrie suit, testing the fabric’s strength before nodding in approval and handing it over to Cole.
“Genji, I need your sword,” Captain Amari said, holding out her hand.
Genji’s blood went cold, and he lost his sense of balance. His… his sword?
“Why-”
His voice was cut off by another rumble in the ground. He heard the destroyed buildings shifting around them, begging to cave in.
“It will cause her that much more pain if I use anything else,” Captain Amari snapped, regaining his attention. “If you want her to suffer through this, then be my guest and just sit there, we don’t have time for this.”
Genji denied to himself the way his arm shook as he quickly reached for his sword and drew it from his sheath. He handed it off to the Captain, earning a nod in return before she wiped it down.
Mercy snapped to get Captain Amari’s attention, and Genji watched as with her skittering fingers she drew an invisible line along the skin a bit above her knee.
Captain Amari nodded her understanding, and Mercy retracted her hand in order to fist the fabric of her suit and ground herself.
Then, without warning, Genji heard the familiar sounds of a blade slicing through flesh and bone. Blood splattered as the blade cut through veins and arteries, and the two thirds mark down the bone of her thigh.
Doctor Ziegler screamed against the gag of Cole’s belt, her jaw tightening over it so much that Genji heard the leather creak against her teeth. The muscles of her jaw and cheeks were white with the effort, and wet from the tears that freely streamed down them. Her knuckles were similarly clenched white in her suit, and a thin sheet of sweat covered her skin.
“Sorry Ang, but this ain’t gonna feel much better,” Cole said as Captain Amari quickly moved out of the way for him to reach over and wrap the torn fabric around the stump of her thigh. He jerked back as he made the tight pull to cut off circulation, the white of the fabric already soaking through the fabric scarlet red.
Angela didn’t move or make a sound during the tourniquet process, and it only made Genji that much more afraid.
“Angela, are you still with us?” Captain Amari asked.
It took a few moments, but Doctor Ziegler gave a nod and cracked her eyes open for just a moment.
Another explosion detonated in the distance, shaking the earth again. Rubble came tumbling down on all sides, but none of it hit them. Yet. And they still didn't have the doctor fully freed.
Captain Amari’s comms crackled to life and though Genji couldn’t hear what was being said, he recognized Chief Lindholm’s voice on the other end, shouting.
“They need back up for the evacuation,” Captain Amari said to Cole. “The airships can’t land. We have to get to them.”
“We don’t have time,” Cole shook his head, and finally Genji was able to recognize the crushing fear in his eyes.
“We do,” Captain Amari said, before turning to Genji. “You saw how we did it?”
“Did what?” Genji asked, surprised his voice could even come.
“Amputated her leg and made the tourniquet,” Captain Amari said.
“Captain-”
Genji’s protests were cut off by the captain, “They need back up with the airships now . Which means that we need to get there now . If you stay here with Angela and finish the job, then Cole and I can go and help them. We can’t wait. If we do, we risk severe civilian casualties, and Angela bleeding out. So, can you finish the job?”
Genji looked down at Doctor Ziegler. No, at Angela .
They tried so hard to keep things between them as professional as possible in the field. To keep their judgment from being clouded by their feelings. But looking at her then, Genji couldn’t help it. Hurting the woman he loved was the last thing he wanted to do, but it was to save her life, so he was going to have to stomach it.
“I can,” Genji said. “Go. We will meet you there when it’s finished.”
Captain Amari handed off his sword, and Cole the torn fabric. Then they both stood and ran, carefully through the rubble and uphill until they were out of sight.
Genji had to think for a moment. He couldn’t just leave Angela’s head on the ground, cape or not. She would hit it too hand and then they would have a whole new list of problems.
Before he could come upon a solution, he saw his metal arm glow green, and Soba danced down his arm.
The little dragon worked herself between Genji and Angela, wrapping her long tail around Angela's neck to support it while growing just big enough to properly hold onto her head.
“Thank you Soba,” Genji whispered, then moved out from under, going to Angela’s side.
Another explosion in the distance and more displaced rubble. This time it was harder to weather, and Genji struggled to hold Angela and himself in place.
The fabric slipped from his fingers and fell into the pool of blood beneath Angela. He tried to catch it, but knew right away that it would be too slick to work for its purpose.
“Angela,” Genji said, voice choked slightly. “I can’t make the tourniquet.”
Angela shook her head. She struggled, at first, but reached up and pulled the belt from her lips.
“Use this,” she said, voice horse, and held out the belt.
“You could crack your teeth, or bite off your tongue,” Genji argued.
“It’s all we have,” Angela panted. “Please just do it.”
Genji took the sword, waiting for Angela’s fingers to draw that imaginary line to guide him. He positioned his sword over the imaginary line and took in a deep breath.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Soba stop licking at Angela’s tears and chirping at her, her attention now fully on him. Her head was tilted to the side. Curious. Confused.
Genji wondered how long it would take for her to forgive him. Which “her”, he wasn’t sure.
In one quick movement he pushed the blade down and sliced through Angela’s leg. He felt the way it cut through, moving smoothly until it hit the bone, then just slightly slower as it broke the dense substance, then faster again when it came out the other side. Blood splattered onto his hands and arms in a steady pulse, even splashing up to his chest and face.
The scream Angela let out was a sound Genji had never heard before. Pure anguish and terror. And yet it resonated in his chest like it was a familiar feeling to his heart. He was sure it was because it was a sound he had made before.
Genji wrapped the belt around Angela’s bleeding leg and positioned it correctly before pulling it tight, eliciting another scream from Angela.
He heard Soba growling something dangerous at him, but he couldn’t look at her. He couldn’t look at Angela.
He felt it as he was losing touch with himself. The tears stopped streaming down his face, the tremors stopped running through his body. His stomach settled and his heartbeat and breathing became steady again. He saw the feelings compartmentalize themselves until he was numb.
He reached out to pick her up, but Soba’s growling grew into hisses and screeches , and claws threatening his hands.
He ignored her, and pulled Angela into his arms. Soba wouldn’t hurt him. Not really. She couldn't.
Angela had passed out from blood loss and shock. That was okay though, it would make his job of carrying her back up easier. He wouldn’t have to worry about comforting her.
(The small part of himself that he could never manage to shut away screamed and cried that it was a terrible thing to think after what he had done to her).
Genji made his way slowly up the mountain of rubble again, still ignoring the ways Soba growled at him. T was a persistent sound, like the engine of the ship if something metal were to get caught in it. Mean and ugly, and everything he wouldn’t let himself feel yet.
After a while of walking, Soba seemed to realize her anger was doing nothing against Genji. She didn’t calm down, still coiled as though ready for an attack, but she instead redirected her attention.
Soba slipped from around Angela’s neck and curled up on her chest. Every so often her tongue flicked out to catch Angela’s tears. She purred deeply, and Genji was reminded of a time when he and Angela laid together in their bed trying to figure out what domestic pet Soba resembled the best.
“A ferret,” Genji had argued, smiling wide as Angela giggled.
“But her purrs emit the same frequency as a cat’s,” she said through her fit.
“What does that have to do with it?” he scoffed.
“Cats purr at a frequency that encourages healing and calmness,” Angela explained.
Soba continued purring, and Genji couldn’t help feeling grateful.
At least one of them was helping her heal.
They reached the airships in no time, and Genji was relieved to see they had been able to land and board the civilians, some of the airships already flying away to the evacuation camp.
Cole spotted him from the crowd and waved him over. Neither spoke, Cole just led Genji onto the Overwatch ship so that he could deposit Angela in a temporary cryopod they had brought over from the Blackwatch ship for the sake of the danger of the mission.
Soba stayed in the pod with her, but they didn’t worry about it. She was a spirit after all, if she chose to, she couldn’t affect the world and the world couldn’t affect her.
“She’s going to be okay,” Cole said, resting a hand on Genji’s shoulder.
“No, she’s not,” Genji said bluntly. She turned to walk to his seat, shrugging off Cole’s hand. “None of this is going to be okay.”