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“It’s not often i see you being injured Doctor Ziegler, let alone being the one being brought in “ Lena said, as Mercy was wheeled into the ER tent on a stretcher.
“Drink this” said the attending doctor, as he handed Mercy some medication and water. Turning to the doctor, Mercy took her medication coughing slightly as she swallowed the pill. “This isn’t a good look for me is it Tracer,” she chuckled, “Also, aren’t you supposed to be out there?”
“Yeah, but my Accelerator’s running low on juice,” Lena replied as she knocked on her chestplate, “Closest socket from where I was, is the power cell here at the medic’s tent” she gestured over to the generator next to an empty bed which had an extension cord running all the way from the other side to where she was beside Angela’s bed.
Craning her head to see past Tracer, Mercy asked questioningly “Are you sure that that’s safe Lena? That looks like a very serious tripping hazard”
“It’s fine Mercy, “ Tracer picked up a segment of the extension cord. “the cable is passable” she made a karate chop with her other hand. It deformed as if it were made out of putty, but as she does that Mercy heard the sound of crashing metal behind Tracer. An omnic doctor had fallen over, his tray of bloody bandages had scattered all over the floor creating a grotesque splatter of red and brown over the tent flooring
“Lena.” Mercy scolded.
“Look,” Tracer tried to explain, “Winston’s still working out some kinks when it comes to metal ... so it’s still a bit of a hazard for omnics...” as she said that, another crash caught Mercy’s attention, Genji was on the floor. And though his mask covered his entire face, Mercy could feel his embarrassment as the nurse he was trying to flirt with laughed as she helped him back up to his feet.
“... And Genji… ” Tracer commented. Trying to shift the topic to something else, Lena asked Mercy how she ended up at the Medic’s station.
“As much as I rely on my armour’s regenerative capabilities to keep me out on the field,” She answered, “it doesn’t hurt to get a second opinion every now and then. Especially after an omnic EMP attack sends you crashing from 3 storeys up.
“It weirdly feels really nice to feel mortal again. “ Angela chuckled. Lena had taken a seat on an empty bed beside Angela eager to hear more about the doctor’s monologue.
“I mean, I love what i do right now,” Angela continued, “Out in the field, making sure that my comrades stay healthy, and all that jazz. But it also makes me want to push myself past 100%. Of course it gets results, but in the long run it will take a toll on your body.” Angela’s doctor comes back holding a clipboard “Mercy,” he says, “While you’re still very much alive, you have been showing some signs which could probably fool a couple of doctors that you could probably be over the age of forty.”
“Excuse me?” Mercy asked, “What do you mean ‘over forty’?” Adding air quotes over her last words. “Well,” the doctor started, “for one, while your armour does heal you, it doesn’t really do your makeup. You’ve got telltale signs of ageing written all over your face, crow’s feet, the signs of wrinkles starting to form around your forehead. Another is that it doesn’t hide the fact that the way your body has been compensating for the constant regeneration is by releasing more and more stress hormones, on top of all the ones that you expect in this line of work, on the field or in the office.
“Don’t even get me started on how it tries to compensate for scars…”
“Look, I may only just be a field medic, but I’m still going to give you a prescription.” Handing Mercy a piece of paper, the medic gave her a nod as he moved onto the next patient.
Curiously, Tracer peeked over Mercy’s shoulder to see what the medic had written. “As i thought” she said, “I still can’t read doctors’ handwriting no matter what the situation is. You’d think a war zone would encourage them to write things neatly for ease of communication, but it’s still all just scribbles to me.”
“It’s nothing special,” Mercy said back, “It honestly just says that I need to take some time off.” Taking a deep breath, Mercy laid back on her makeshift bed as she waited for her equipment to power back on. “I know i need the rest, but we’re in a warzone here” Tracer pulled up a chair and sat beside her, “Love, you’ve done so much for the cause, from the huge improvements in field medicine, to you literally finding ways of bringing people back from the brink of death!”
“Now that I think about it,” Tracer continued, “You’re probably one of the only few on our team who’s never taken a proper break, besides a few others namely some doctors from the medical team.” With a sigh, Mercy said “That’s just it Lena, I’m a doctor, and people will get hurt. It is my duty to help tend to them.”
“This isn’t your PHD thesis Mercy,” Tracer replied, “There are plenty of others who can, will, and are obligated to pick up the slack with or without you. That’s what it means to be a part of the Overwatch team, or at least that’s how I interpret it” Mercy sat up, “Not to sugarcoat Lena, but you can be sickeningly positive at times”
Shrugging off the comment, Tracer continued, “I know I can be Love, but when somebody’s version of calm is basically falling off a cliff, I take that as a sign that you’re too wound up.” Mercy let out a slight chuckle. “Okay, Maybe I am a bit too buried in work right now,”
“How about this,” Tracer said, “Once we get back from this, maybe I can show you around London with Emily, she knows all the best pubs around town” smiling as she told Mercy about her girlfriend, “Maybe you can even bring along a special someone” Tracer winked as she pointed towards Pharah who had just entered the tent.
“Mercy. Tracer. Good you’re both here” Pharah said as she came over, “Orders from the upper brass have come in.” Bringing herself back onto her feet, Mercy asked, “What is it now?”
“We’ve basically pushed the omnics back to the production facility and we need you two back on the front lines asap for the final push.” Tracer’s eyes lit up, “Yes! At this rate we’ll be back home by the weekend!” powering up her chronal accelerator, she turned to Mercy, “So, are you willing to take me up on the offer?”
“What offer?” Pharah asked Tracer “ Don’t tell me you’re forming another mercenary group?” waving her off, Tracer answered, “Nah, I was just asking Mercy here if she wanted to go on a double date pub crawl around London with me and Emily when we get back”
“Who’s the lucky guy?” Pharah asked, “Angela doesn’t seem to talk much of her personal life at all in our history working together” Fareeha’s face turned bright red when Tracer pointed towards her, “Really? I never thought Angela’s door swings that way” Looking towards Mercy Pharah could see that she was also shyly pointing a finger towards her direction. “I mean, I don’t really have a crush on you,” Mercy said, blushing “I just need someone to bring Lena and Emily home afterwards”
“Well” Pharah said, “I’ll think about it after we take down the Omnium” Tracer let out a little cheer, “As for now, I need you two to get back into shape ready for the-” Pharah tripped on Tracer’s charging line as she made her way to the exit.
“Oops…” Tracer said, waving her hand in apology, ”My bad! I’ll let Winston know as soon as I can”