Chapter Text
You accepted the letter from home with a smile of thanks to Winston and pushed away your tray of food. You ripped it open and scanned the contents and felt the blood drain from your face. You read it once again and you felt it fall from your hands, your breath coming in short, quick bursts.
You heard your name being called, the word sounding as if the speaker was underwater. Or maybe you were. The feeling of ice spreading throughout your stomach and into your limbs certainly felt like it. Another call, this time nearly a shout, broke you from your trance and you looked up into the face of the visorless Soldier: 76.
“You alright, soldier?” He asked, his eyes soft and his mouth set into a frown. You forced a smile onto your face as you stared at him.
“Yeah.” You looked around the room to see the slightly confused faces of your team staring at you. You stood up from the table and quietly started to make your way from the cafeteria. “I’m alright.”
~*~
You were certainly not alright as you curled up in the fetal position behind a few large boxes of supplies, tears streaming down your face as you sobbed. You were tucked away in a random supply room of the base, hopefully far enough away that none of your teammates could find you. You had squirreled yourself away after you had received the news. It hit you hard and, even though you put on a brave face for your team, you found yourself here. A brief and tearful request to Athena made sure that the AI didn’t alert anyone to your state or your whereabouts. Another fit of sobs hit you and you cried harder, curling even tighter into a ball to make yourself as small as you could.
Footsteps hit your ears and you smashed a hand over your mouth, desperately trying to stifle the sobs still wracking your body. You heard the steps wander slowly towards your hiding place and then past. You were almost in the clear before a whimper slipped past your lips. While normally too quiet to hear, the relatively empty room and quiet atmosphere made it seem as loud as a gunshot. The steps stilled.
“‘Ello? Anyone here?” The telltale cockney accent gave away who it was and you desperately wished for her to go away. It was hopeless and you heard Tracer walk closer to you. You curled up even tighter as you whimpered again. You felt more than heard a soft sigh from the bubbly woman as a hand placed itself on your back and slowly started to rub circles into your back.
“It’s alright.” Came the quiet coo and you broke, sobs bursting from your mouth as Tracer sat next to you. “Let it all out, luv.”
A few minutes later and your tears ran dry, the sobs slowly stopping. You hiccuped once or twice before you uncurled yourself and sat up. You sent a shy glance at Tracer before looking back down at your lap.
“‘m sorry.” You quietly apologized, a strong feeling of shame and embarrassment spreading through your body. The quiet reassurance dispelled it.
“Don’t be sorry, luv. Everyone needs a good cry now and again.” Tracer smiled softly, a far cry from the near manic grin that she wore on the field. She wrapped an arm around your shoulders and you slowly leaned your head down onto her shoulder. “You want to talk about it?”
You shook your head and the two of you fell into silence. You felt Tracer rest her chin atop your head and you shivered. A tear slipped down your cheek. A pressure built up in your chest. You started to cry again.
“M-my dad died.” You started, your voice shaky. Tracer’s other arm wrapped around you in a hug. “He di-... he passed away from i-illness and I... I just... He’s always b-been there, you know? A-and now-.”
You cut yourself off as you started to sob again, bigger than the ones before and you curled up tight, nearly climbing on top of your teammate’s lap. Tracer hugged you tighter and started to quietly whisper sweet nothings into your ear as you cried.
Flashes of you and your father flashed through you mind. Memories of better times. Warm summer days and cold winter nights spent with your family. The memory of receiving the news of the cancer that had been found in your father. An aggressive strain that had no cure, despite the miracles that modern medicine had made. Visits to the hospital where he was staying at. And then just this afternoon, when you received the news from home. No one else had read the letter, though by how fast you felt the blood drain from your face back in the cafeteria it probably wasn’t too hard to figure out that something bad had happened.
“You feeling better there, luv?” Tracer asked quietly as your sobs halted. You nodded against her neck and snuggled tighter to her, feeling the warmth of your shared body heat spread through the two of you. Exhaustion quickly flooded your body and sleep slowly overcame you as you felt yourself being picked up.
~*~
You woke up in your own bed, a shaft of sunlight shining across your face. You slowly sat up and stretched and deeply breathed in, the events from last night fresh in your mind. The smell of fresh cookies a filled your nose and you glanced at your nightstand. A plate of the pastries sat there along with a note.
A simple drawing of Tracer and you was there, hand-in-hand and both shooting shining smiles outwards. A small chuckle left you as you bit into a cookie as you got ready for the day.
If your team thought it odd that you stuck close to Tracer during missions for months afterwards, viciously protecting her, they didn’t ask.