Work Text:
With every day that passed training with her new friend Genji Shimada, the more confident Lena grew in her new found abilities with the chronal accelerator. The pilot had sharp wit and a quick eye for details so fighting was coming along better than some expected. However knowing and executing were two different things.
While her early childhood had been wrapped up in rebellious smoking of weed and concerts at questionable venues. Genji had been started early on the art of absolutely wrecking the human body.
Lena was fast, but keeping up with Genji’s strategies was the harder part.
She couldn’t JUST rewind anymore, Genji had learned to counter that trick with annoying haste.
Lena streaked across the arena at full speed with the cyborg in pursuit. It was yet another day of testing a newly made battery for the chronal accelerator. It was the most finicky part of the technology but with each passing version Lena was able to remain outside of her cage and in normal life. Dr Ziegler had told her that the goal was to make her self sufficient, with little to no need for maintenance if her and Winston could accomplish it.
In the mean time Lena had to endure Genji’s painful lessons in fighting.
Not that it didn’t have its fun moments.
Genji paused in between two pillars when he lost track of the pilot. She couldn’t have gone far since her method of travel was just too noisy. He searched the immediate area, checking the occasional shadow with a lazy shuriken toss.
He heard the movement too late and was rewarded with her bouncing off of his shoulders from a ledge she’d found above.
“Too slow!” Lena cackled when the ninja yelled in surprise then tried to grab her.
With the seriousness of the session ruined, Lena turned into a giggling mess as she dodged her friend several more times. It was when he landed a solid fist to her gut that she rewound out of his reach before teleporting further away, “Rude much!” She exclaimed but returned to trying to actually fight rather than playing tag.
A small sounding alarm reached Lena’s ears, telling her that she’d already burned through 75% of the power with her high speed shenanigans.
Huffing in frustration Lena went try and end the fight. She paused on one side of the arena to face Genji head on. The former Blackwatch agent stood still, hand on his shorter blade’s handle on the small of his back.
Lena lunged forward with a strained grunt.
Weird little things happened when the small woman used her slip stream abilities. Like how she could sometimes see things in slow motion for mere seconds at a time. It wasn’t something she could control yet... if ever.
Half way to meeting each other she spotted him start to draw the blade while his mechanical arm braced to endure the incoming strike... then he dropped his shoulder just barely half and inch.
Her foot connected with the hard edge of his metal chin.
Lena rolled a couple times before landing on her feet, body stinging from losing her momentum mid air, “Oh my god! Genji??” She called, seeing the ninja crouched on the floor. She gimped over to him, his chin having won the battle between metal and bone.
He spit a bit of blood on the floor when came to his side, “Good hit.” He muttered.
“Aww... you spoil me!” Lena ruffled his spiky hair, “Seriously are you ok?”
“I’ve endured worse.” Genji straightened up, holding the side of his face that had said hello to her heel. It wasn’t often that Lena saw her combat instructor in pain, it was usually her leaving with a nasty wound.
Lena abruptly noticed a trickle of blood slide down his exposed neck, “Eh! Genji something’s wrong!” She reached up to staunch the flow, though it was a guess on where the liquid was actually coming from since all his cybernetics were in the way.
“Oh.” Came the nonchalant response.
---
Lena sat with Winston at his computer while he prattled on about stuff she didn’t really understand but knew were important to her regaining some semblance of a regular life. Her thoughts were on the other side of the room however, watching as Dr Ziegler carefully took apart half of Genji’s reconstructed face to find the problem.
It was disgusting to watch.
Not the gore, that didn’t bother Lena. It was watching Genji close his eyes when the good doctor actually had to touch him for longer than a few seconds. How close she actually had to lean into him to better see the smaller parts that needed tending to. Angela chatted idly about nothing while she worked, it helped patients keep calm though that wasn’t an issue for Genji.
“Ow!” Instinct overtook the cyborg and he reached up to grab her wrist.
“I’m sorry!” Angela squeaked.
“No I must apologize, it was reflex.” He let go of her but Lena noticed the lingering touch of his fingers along her arm before Angela fully pulled away to reach for a different instrument.
“Hmm.” Lena drummed her fingers on the table.
Angela left to clean and sanitize her tools once the problem was fixed, she left Genji massaging his scarred face before replacing his mask.
Genji looked up when Lena teleported to his side.
“You’re improving.” He said with an air of pride.
The brunette couldn’t help but feel a warm and fuzzy feeling swell in her chest, “Well thank you! I have a good teacher!” She patted him on his shoulder.
He chuckled but shook his head, “I’m just running at you.”
“And it’s working!”
Lena didn’t manage to hit Genji again till a few days later. Again Angela was there to patch up any wound or cyborg related injury that she caused. Each time Lena would watch as Genji leaned in a little too close when the opportunity presented itself. Yet Angela never really pushed him away, just smiled and readjusted him so that she could work on him easier.
It was another few days later after another striking incident that Lena went to have lunch at Genji’s apartment as had become their tradition ever since they’d become friends.
“Hey, Genji?”
The cyborg looked up from where he sat at the table while she was sitting on the couch drinking the boba she’d ordered.
“What?”
“You remember what you told me about not making excuses when it came to important things?”
“Yes, why?” The ninja asked. He straightened up when she abruptly appeared in the seat next to him. Loudly she slurped up the last of her tea flavored drink.
She allowed herself a smug grin, “Then why are you using me as an excuse to get attention from Dr Ziegler hmm?” Lena felt even more triumphant in the fact that Genji’s eyes widened just a tad. The cyborg couldn’t hide behind his mask because they’d only just finished their meal.
Lips pressed together and his eyebrows raised, “What are you talking about?”
“Uh uh!” Lena waggled an index finger, “You can’t fool me good sir. You are LETTING me hit you.”
Quickly he turned away and stood up, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re improving, why’s that hard to accept?” Genji jumped when Lena appeared in front of him.
“Because I’m a fish out of water when it comes to hand to hand combat.” She slurped up some boba balls, “Someone like me doesn’t JUST start hitting a well trained cyborg assassin.”
Genji rolled his eyes, “Well that’s what the reason is.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Genji frowned at her, red eyes narrowing, daring her to continue the jabs.
In response Lenna just cocked her hip and kept smiling at him. Then after a few seconds she added to the silence, “Someone’s crushing hard aren’t they?”
She got thrown out.
“Prickly thing.” Lena chuckled.
It wasn’t the first and definitely wouldn’t be the last time he’d tossed her out of his home. Occasionally she wished there was an actual working security camera somewhere so she could see how ridiculous she looked, a grown (but small) woman getting thrown out of a door.
Lena paused to smell a bright bed of flowers from one of Genji’s neighbors, a lovely older woman that helped in logistics of the base. Slowly she opened her eyes, recalling the day Genji had literally knocked her out of a depressive episode and since then had been her friend. A tall accomplishment, she’d been told. Everyone that wasn’t Angela or Winston received a very cold treatment from him. He’d done the same thing to her but had discovered they were kindred spirits in their life’s struggles.
He’d said it had been years since he felt he could talk to someone about his cyberization. When Lena had asked why didn’t Dr Ziegler count he said it was because it was her job to care.
Lena disagreed.
Except she couldn’t prove why she disagreed because both the doctor and Genji were absolutely rigid in their professionalism between each other.
Lena huffed in frustration, placing her hands on her hips as she walked. Maybe she should cross this bridge of pining for them. Angela showed her own set of signs like smiling a certain smile only around him, asking Lena how he was doing constantly and all the fussing when it came to his quality of life. When it came to Genji touching her back sometimes her face would flush just the faintest of pink but the blonde was reasonable at keeping herself composed around people.
Obviously direct questions got the pilot nowhere but it was fun to watch the doctor squirm. So Lena would make comments about Genji that would make a schoolgirl blush (gay or not).
The pilot abruptly paused and frowned.
Did she need a hobby so badly that she was trying to find all the silly details of this distant admiration between two friends?
Nah, this was as good a hobby as any. She smirked.
---
Genji stepped up his game with Lena in the training arena. No longer did he offer her free shots but most of the time Lena didn’t mind. The point of the exercise was, after all, to have her improve and she actually did manage to make some hits that seemed to be genuine.
Lena managed to slap Genji’s hand away before teleporting to a high ledge. At this point she was extremely aware that Genji could get to most places in the large area so this was just buying her a moment.
She looked beyond Genji and waved, “Oh hi Angie!”
Genji glanced behind him only to get knocked off his own perch by a laughing Lena. Both were sent tumbling to the ground where the pilot landed painfully on her butt while Genji managed to roll at the last second to save himself.
“What the fuck was that?” Genji huffed, catching his breath.
Lena pointed up, “My new distraction technique!”
“What?” Genji snorted.
“You looked didn’t you?” Lena grinned despite the pain in her posterior. She saw him blink a few times then glare at her. The pilot could guess that he might’ve blushed underneath that metal mask of his.
“Focus, Lena. There’s no time for jokes while training.” The ninja folded his arms.
“Oh pshhhh! Says the guy that looked around at Angie!” She looked behind him and again he fell for it. Now his eyes narrowed in irritation.
“Stop it.”
Lena shrugged, “Stop what?”
“You know exactly what I mean!”
“Do I though?” She put on the most innocent face she could muster.
Genji sighed loudly, turning and walking toward his duffle bag to pull out a small towel. He dabbed the sweat off of his neck, “You’re getting bored. I’ll have to think of a different lesson plan.”
“What do you mean bored?? I haven’t ‘hit you’ in a week!” Lena bounced along on her toes to the bench Genji stood at, “Obviously I have things to learn still!”
Genji glared at her.
“Or we could move on to the next part of the lesson plan.” Lena chuckled, “I’m sure Dr Ziegler would be happy to observe me using a gun during the test.”
“Dr Ziegler, has tasked me to help you learn to fight. You’ve improved a lot on hand to hand, now we should add another element to it.”
“Yeah yeah I get it I’m just saying it will be nice to have her around more since she hasn’t needed to be here with the other tests.”
Genji loomed over his friend, “She doesn’t need to be here for all the tests.”
“Who doesn’t need to be around for tests?”
Lena smiled up at the cyborg who froze for just a second before she leaned to the side in order to see Angela, “Genji was just talking about - !” The small woman squealed when Genji wrapped his arm around her head, using his metal hand to clamp her mouth shut.
“Teaching her a few things about getting out of someone’s grasp.” Genji finished for Lena and shrugged, “Being so small it’s important.” He didn’t budge an inch as Lenna started flailing around dramatically for freedom.
Angela raised an eyebrow at them but since these two had a stranger dynamic than Genji and Cole so she decided to leave it alone for now, “Well that’s good, I guess.” She stepped forward and pulled out a sealed folder to hand to Genji, “It’s the commander’s orders for you.”
“Really?” Genji released Lena immediately and reached for it. The brunette coughing a few times and giving him a dirty look.
The cyborg suddenly gave Angela a look, “Do you know what they are?”
Angela fiddled with her nails and blushed, “Nope!” She whirled around and quickly exited the arena. Lena watched Genji’s eyes soften but it was only for a second before his usual stoic expression returned.
Lena leaned against his arm, “You gonna open it?”
“Yeah, later.” Without warning Genji walked away and the pilot fell off balance with an indignant squeak.
“Later?? Haven’t you been bitching since I met you about what Overwatch wants to do with you?” Lena stomped after the ninja since it seemed like they were done for the day.
He exhaled slowly, “You aren’t the one who could be potentially homeless... or taken apart.”
“I highly doubt Angela would allow them to just dump you on the streets with just an arm.”
“Half this shit can’t just come off me unless I’m dead. It’s not standard cyborg stuff.”
“Oh. Well then WHY are you waiting then?!”
“Just... just leave it please. I need to think.” His normal irate tone vanished, catching Lena off guard. She watched the ninja leave, a sour line on her lips.
With a frustrated grunt she sped off after the doctor instead.
She caught up to Angela going back to her office in the medical ward, “Angie!” Lena halted next to the doctor, “Tell me you know what those orders say.”
“They’re not mine to look at.” Was all the blonde said without slowing down. Her hands were shoved into her pockets, a tick Lena had learned was her way of keeping her hands still.
“Don’t you want to look and see? They’re about Genji’s future!”
Angela finally paused, closing her eyes for a moment, “Of course I want to know, but it’s not my choice whether I know what they are or not.” She tried to walk away but Lena was having none of it.
“What if they’re going to take him apart for his.... parts?”
“If that were the case they wouldn’t have given him any orders. They’d try to sneak up on him. Pfft... sneak up on a man who’s entire life revolves around stealth. What idiots.” Angela muttered angrily.
Well this was a dead end... for the moment. Lena left Angela to her devices, her rig needed to be recharged anyway.
---
Lena sat cross legged in the machine that kept her in the present, chin in her hand and a partially finished meal in front of her. It was just difficult to eat when she was worried for her friends.
It wasn’t just that, Lena wanted to repay them in some fashion other than cheesy jokes and a good attitude. They’d done so much for her already.
Movement caught her attention and she spotted Angela come into the windowed office that Winston was currently in, going over numbers from the most recent session. The giant scientist often stayed with Lena to keep her company, and get her anything she might want while waiting. He was easy to please, a giant jar of peanut butter and bananas and the gentle mutant monkey would give his life for you. It was endearing but in a sad way to Lena. Then again she didn’t know the monkey’s whole story.
Winston said something, whatever it had been Angela dropped the object she’d been fiddling with. She pushed the pale bangs out of her face but just stared at the thing on the floor. Winston came up and placed a hand on her shoulder, no doubt apologizing.
When Angela left at the behest of Winston, the giant scientist ambled into her chamber with her freshly recharged chronal accelerator.
“You should be good for a couple days unless you train with Genji.” Winston was saying as he helped her back into it.
“Was she upset because of said ninja?” Lena asked.
“Oh... um...” he glanced from the office back to her a few times, “I don’t think-.”
“You always do that when I’m right.” Lena snorted.
The scientist huffed then shrugged, “Yes, she’s upset.”
“Why?”
“Because she doesn’t want Genji to leave.”
Lena stepped out of the chamber, “Not fresh news, but I’ve never seen her actually upset.”
“I know, me either.”
“Genji was upset as well when he got the orders. Don’t know what they said, he didn’t seem to want to open them.”
“Hmm, curious.” Winston yelped when the girl grabbed him by his cheeks.
“We can’t let them go their separate ways, Winston!”
“What do you mean?” He managed to say with his face all scrunched up.
Lena squished him further, “They have feelings for each other but the sun will collapse before they admit a damn thing!” She gritted her teeth.
Winston pried her hands off and wiggled his face, “You’re asking the wrong ape about that department of humanity.”
“I don’t need you to be a professional love doctor I need someone to help me help them!”
“Oh Lena it’s not our business!”
“It is when it could make them sad! Now!” The brunette took a seat in Winston’s giant chair looking like a queen, “You’ve known them longer than me, I’d like to pick your brain about them.” Her smile was syrupy sweet, but Winston couldn’t help but feel terrified.