Work Text:
A lovely day was upon the Watchpoint.
Many would've taken the chance to enjoy it in its entirety.
All but her, of course.
Angela "Mercy" Ziegler was busy. Far too busy to go out and relish the sunny weather, especially now that her Valkyrie suit—standing in its full glory in the middle of the room—required all of her commitment and attention.
The blonde doctor had been fine-tuning the latest upgrade of her suit, the "Valkyrie-Kampfprozeduren" (Valkyrie for short) to new, better levels for hours on end. Its blueprints were scattered upon the working table, describing in depth each component of the suit. She carefully tinkered with the wings' hydraulics, aiming to attain a better aerodynamic form so that she'd be able to accelerate and fly even faster than before.
Usually, these little modifications would be reserved for either the renowned Swedish engineer Torbjörn, the original creator of the suit, or his talented daughter Brigitte. However, she'd grown tired of constantly disturbing them with work requests, so she gradually began to pick up the task herself.
Working on her suit set her mind at ease; it reminded her of the small moments when she performed maintenance on Genji's cybernetic body. This little task became a time for nostalgia and relaxation, taking her mind off the many tragedies that were happening around the world.
With a pencil held between her lips, the doctor carefully worked on the internal systems using a small screwdriver. She was mere moments away from achieving the result she had envisioned when a knock echoed from the door of her laboratory.
"Doctor Ziegler, it is me," a deep, woman's voice with a thick Russian accent called outside the door.
Mercy blinked. It was strange for Zarya to come to the science bay of the watchpoint. The only time she'd seen her anywhere around Gibraltar was either during meal times or, as anyone would expect, at the watchpoint's gym.
"Come in," Angela said as she removed the pencil from her mouth, straightening up so she could welcome the pinkette inside her laboratory.
The impressive yet intimidating form of Zaryanova entered the room, making a small friendly gesture as a form of salute to the doctor with a warm smile.
"Greetings, doctor."
"Zaryanova, what a surprise!" Mercy greeted back, breaking into a smile. "I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of having you in my office before."
"Да, that is because I never let anything happen to me during missions... war made me careful, contrary to your machine boyfriend."
The blonde doctor snorted at the Russian's bluntness. Genji did have the habit of overextending and putting himself at risk quite often.
"He is a bit reckless at times, I'll say as much."
"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important," Zarya added, her emerald eyes peering attentively at the Valkyrie suit in the middle of the room.
"Not at all, I was just making some minor modifications to the suit. Is there anything I can help you with, Zaryanova?"
The Russian woman smirked as she lifted some empty grey and orange shopping bags that she was keeping behind her back.
"Groceries!" she responded, with quite an excited tone. "Winston put me in charge of getting the groceries for the team today, and I was wondering if you wanted to join me for bonding time! You Overwatch people don't get nearly enough eggs or meat to sustain a body like mine. I need protein intake!"
'Of course she does,' Mercy thought with a snicker.
"You know what? I think I'll take you up on your offer! I've been running low on coffee and chocolate for a while, it'll be fun!"
"Хорошо, then I shall wait for you in the Orca. The flying robot has offered to accompany us, too."
"You mean... Echo?"
"What did I say?" Zarya shrugged, taking her leave. "We leave in 10. Better get ready, doctor."
And with that, the Russian lady closed the door, leaving the doctor by herself.
It had been quite some time since she last took on the task of doing the groceries for the team. As she glanced back at the suit, she realized that stepping away from her work, even for a short while, would definitely benefit her. She didn't want to repeat the mistake of overworking herself again, especially after the last episode where Genji had found her out cold on the floor.
'But first... coffee!'
She gingerly stepped to the coffee table and pressed the power button, waiting for it to heat up in anticipation of one warm cup of liquid goodness.
And she waited,
And waited.
But the coffee machine refused to turn on.
Raising a confused eyebrow, she inspected the machine thoroughly, checking on any possible reason for the malfunction. After an attentive examination, she guessed that perhaps the plug wasn't inserted in anymore, explaining why it wasn't powering up at all.
Except... the machine was perfectly plugged in.
"Don't tell me it's broken again..." Mercy pouted. Her trusty red coffee machine had run its course, and she could get it repaired only so many times before she'd inevitably have to get a new one soon if she ever hoped still to have the beloved hot beverage at her disposal.
Sighing dejectedly, she wrote a note on a yellow sticker, for Genji to find, with a black marker before sticking it on the machine. Once satisfied, Mercy picked up one of her many robes from the locker and headed out of the laboratory.
𓆰
"... bloody hell Brig, what were you thinking?"
Tracer asked Brigitte at her side while walking with a hand over her own bruised wrist as she winced in pain.
"I told you I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard!" The Swedish girl justified, her face a worried frown. "I'm so used to giving it all I got with Genji when I train, I didn't realize I was putting that much strength in my blows!"
The two had been training for a while to work on Brigitte's reflexes and improve her aim with her mace on a fast, moving target. Everything went smoothly until the latter surprised Tracer with a surprise technique she had been working on with Genji. It worked far too well, and Tracer had instinctively covered her head with an arm as the mace ran down upon her with a dangerous, mighty blow; making her lose balance and sprain her wrist.
"I can tell..." the British girl pouted, trying to ignore the pulsing pain, "I hope nothing is broken at least."
With that said, Tracer knocked at the door of Angela Ziegler's office:
"Doc, you in there?"
The duo waited for a response that never came. They looked at each other with a puzzled expression, but no response came.
"Maybe she's in the bathroom?" Brigitte asked.
"She would have heard us regardless," Tracer explained, before grabbing the handle and slowly welcoming herself inside the laboratory, suspicious as to why the door was left unlocked if she was absent.
They looked around, but there was no trace of the blonde doctor. Her iconic Valkyrie suit was standing in the middle, along with different tools set on a worktable on top of some blueprints.
"It appears Angie isn't here at the moment, I guess we'll have to wait."
Brigitte huffed, shaking her head.
"Seems today is not your lucky day, huh?"
Tracer grumbled back at her, giving a quick scan around before she ended up in front of the coffee table, the small, yellow sticky note catching her attention as she quickly read its content.
"... Oh my God," she breathed out in shock.
Brigitte, who heard her, turned to look at Tracer, who stood completely still in front of the coffee machine.
"... Lena?"
Confused by her reaction, Brigitte approached the petrified Tracer.
"Hello? Earth to Lena? What's up with you all of a sudden?"
Tracer said nothing, pointing at the sticky note on the coffee machine in bemusement.
Brigitte redirected her eyes towards the note, and her eyes widened as she read the words written.
𓆰
𓆰
"Oh no... " Tracer’s expression paled, "No-no-no... This is horrible! How did this happen?!"
"Is this for real? Do you think Angela is breaking up with him?"
"Don't you see? Something awful must've happened between the two of them for Angie to end their relationship!"
"But... I don't get it, why would she redirect Genji to speak with Papa?"
"Brig, isn't it obvious?" Lena elucidated, raising a finger, "Torb's married! Maybe he has been giving them relationship advice in secrecy…, or he was going to after he heard the news!”
"And here I thought they were doing so well together..."
"Me too! But for Angie to leave a note like this... Genji must've goofed up big time!"
Tracer picked up the sticky note, ripping it in half before Brigitte, whose eyes bulged out at her friend's actions.
"Lena! What are you doing?!"
"Duh? I'm disposing of the evidence!"
"But that's wrong! You can't leave Genji in the dark like that!"
"Brig, listen to me for a sec... " she started, bracing the girl's shoulders, "there's a chance we can still save their relationship, I just need more time to find out why the Doc wants to dump Genji! There's a chance I can still convince her to change her mind and—"
Knock knock knock
A knock coming from the door petrified them both in place.
"Angela?" a male voice called, with an unmistakable cybernetic timbre. "Are you in there?"
It was Genji.
"Shit!" Tracer whispered a curse behind gritted teeth, "Brig, I need you to distract Genji while I inspect the lab for any other clues."
"What?!" Brigitte's eyes widened. "How am I supposed to do that?!"
"I don't know, get creative!"
Genji knocked again.
"Angela?"
"Brig! Please! "
"Förbaskat —" Brigitte cursed, rushing to the door. Genji stepped back in surprise to see Brigitte, not Mercy, exit from her laboratory.
"Heeeej Genji!" Brigitte greeted him in an unnerving friendly manner, shutting the door as she positioned herself between it and a bewildered Genji.
"How is life?"
"Uh... good?" Genji tilted his head at her, "I was looking for Angela, is she in there?"
"No—I mean—! She is! But she's sooo busy... You don't want to disturb her right now."
"Ah... is that so?" Genji questioned, "I thought I had heard you talking to Lena there. Did something happen?"
"YES! Yes, actually uhm—" Brigitte's eyes darted back and forth, "It's exactly about Lena! She got very sick, probably caught the flu or something, and she wouldn't stop coughing during our training, so I had to bring her to Angela so she could visit her. You really don't want to get inside and catch what she has."
Brigitte then forcefully elbowed the door, "Lena got a really... " and again, "bad... " and again. "COUGH."
A few seconds passed before Tracer got the int and started simulating a fit of hacking coughs, strong enough that could be heard from the outside.
"... it sounds pretty serious." Genji asserted, folding his arms as he listened attentively.
"I know, right?! Best we go elsewhere for the time being, in fact... "
Brigitte grabbed Genji's arm, dragging him with her.
"Why don't we go to the training hall right now? I wanted to show what I've been working on, and also that special technique you've taught me!"
"But... what about Angela—" he weakly protested, almost slipping.
"You'll see her later!"
Tracer breathed out in relief as she heard their footsteps getting further and further away from the laboratory.
There was no time to waste, she immediately blinked around the room and checked literally everywhere for any other clue or sticky notes, you never know if she wrote multiple ones so that Genji wouldn't miss the nefarious news!
Except, to her surprise, she found absolutely nothing. Could Angela really have left just one small note for Genji to find?
If that was the case, there was still one thing to take care of.
Tracer blinked to the desk and hastily dialed a number on the telephone. The phone rang twice before a gruff voice answered the call.
"Angela! What is it? You know I'm busy working at this hour—"
"Torb, it's me."
"Lena? Why are you calling me with Doctor Ziegler's phone? Did something bad happen?"
"... Yeah, bad stuff indeed." She let out a deep sigh, realizing that Torbjörn, to her dismay, was completely unaware of what was going on, making her the only possible bearer of the dreadful news.
"You're not gonna believe this, but... the Doc and Genji are breaking up."
Torbjörn quieted down on the other side of the line.
"... You can't be serious."
"I am!" Tracer protested, "Something must've happened, I know it!"
"No, you don't—"
"I found a note, Torbjörn! And it mentioned to have Genji speak with you!"
"What nonsense are you babbling about?!" Torbjörn bellowed in her eardrum, almost stunning Tracer with only his voice. "Is this a prank?!"
"You know I wouldn't joke about this stuff, ever!" Tracer protested.
The Swedish engineer sighed, calming down his nerves.
"Listen, lass. I know for a certainty that those two are closer than a wall and a well-hammered nail. There's no way they are getting separated, none."
"And yet the note mentioned you."
"What in the world does a note have to do with me?!"
"Well, duh? You're the one married here, of course, she was gonna redirect Genji to you for relationship advice!"
"Oh for the love of— Tell me what was written."
"It says: 'Genji, I'm sorry but this isn't working, please speak with Torbjörn.'"
"Well, that doesn't help me in the slightest!"
"Does this mean you haven't been giving couple advice to them?"
"What the— Of course not! I'm an engineer! I fix things, not couples!"
Tracer sighed deeply, closing her eyes in resignation.
"I don't get it. They've been sickly affectionate with each other for weeks! Even for Angela, breaking up with Genji by leaving a note on a coffee machine is way out of character. Something must have happened, I hoped you would know—"
"Wait, the coffee machine?" Torbjörn halted her.
"... Yeah? You know about it?"
"Of course I do! Genji has been pestering me for hours on the phone over that accursed, old piece of junk!"
"So you do have something!"
"For the last time, I know nothing! He wouldn't stop calling me to get that thing—"
A knock on the door made Tracer gasp in surprise and caused the phone to slip out of her hands and fall on the floor. She cursed softly, scrambling to get the phone back and bring it close to her ear again.
"Sorry, Torb, I've got company. I'll call you later."
"Have you listened to a word of what I just said—?!"
Tracer hung up, turning to look towards the door getting slowly opened by a surprised-looking Mercy, carrying a paper bag filled with many supermarket goodies in her hands.
"Lena?" the blonde doctor asked, raising her eyebrows, "What brings you here? Is something amiss?"
"Doctor Z!" the girl exclaimed with an unnerving smile, ignoring the pain in her wrist as now, all priority was directed to the task at hand, "I was just... passing by and wanted to visit you! I'm peachy, as usual!"
"Oh, well... that's a relief to hear!" Mercy moved closer to her, laying the grocery bag on the coffee desk, "I heard you talking to somebody on the phone from the outside, so I knocked before entering. I assume there's nothing to worry about?"
"Nope, everything's great!"
"I see, well... if you don't mind me, I still have some work to attend to now." The doctor gestured at the suit in the middle of the room, sitting down in the chair on the verge of resuming her work.
"Actually, Doc... there is something I'd like to talk to you about."
"What is it?"
Tracer sighed, closing the distance while her hands were clasped.
"You know... " she commenced, her voice going quiet, "if there's anything that troubles you, Doc. I'm always happy to lend you an ear."
Mercy looked at Tracer and smiled softly.
"Of course, I know you're a good listener, Lena."
"Then... is everything alright?"
"Yes, I'm doing just fine."
"And Genji?"
"He's also doing quite well, last time I checked."
"Are you sure everything is fine?"
"Yeah, nothing bad happened so far this day."
"Angie..." the British girl took a deep breath, "I'd appreciate it if you'd stop lying to me."
Mercy blinked twice, stopping in the middle of her work.
"I'm... not?"
"If there's something wrong between the two of you, it should be sorted out!"
"But there's nothing wrong between us... "
Tracer's eyes squinted at Mercy, getting impatient. The latter was taken aback by the sudden change of attitude from the British girl and wondered what she'd done wrong to make her upset.
"Please, Doctor, you gotta understand I cannot sit by while two of my best friends are in peril, you gotta be sincere with me."
"But... I don't get what you're referring to—"
"I found the note you left for Genji, Doc." Tracer firmly spoke, "About you wanting to end your relationship with him."
As silence fell between the two of them, Mercy's expression then slowly softened. Her friend was doing all of this because she cared about her and Genji, it wouldn't have felt right to scold her for being the first to find the note she had left in plain sight after all.
"Well... if you put it this way, I guess I don't have any other choice but to talk to you about it."
Lena's expression lightened up.
"But before that, would you mind fixing me a cup of coffee?"
Tracer gingerly nodded, blinking at the position of the coffee table, and hastily tapped on the power button, all under the watchful eyes of the blonde Doctor.
The coffee machine whirred and made a few noises that reminded her of a strained wheeze, before abruptly shutting down by itself.
"Doc, I think something is wrong... "
Mercy smiled knowingly behind Tracer, resting her chin on the top of her hands.
"So it seems."
"I think it's broken."
"Correct observation."
"Wait... you knew?" she questioned, turning around with a raised eyebrow.
"That's right, the coffee machine is completely kaputt."
"Why would you ask me to make you some coffee if you knew the machine wasn't working?"
The Doctor smirked at her in silence, and Tracer was about to speak before she connected the dots on what she just said.
I'm sorry, but this isn't working.
It wasn't working.
The coffee machine wasn't working.
"Oh my God... don't tell me—"
Mercy's smirk grew larger, almost deviously.
"Go on."
"The note you left... wasn't about Genji at all!"
"Mhm."
"And the part about Torbjörn... "
"... was because Genji has been hearing from him to try and get the coffee machine fixed, with poor results, may I add." Mercy softly giggled, "Genji was so fixated on getting it to work again that he had been hearing from Torbjörn every day, and while I appreciate the thought... I believe he still has a long way to go before becoming a handyman."
She then stood up from her seat, her lips curled upward in a soft expression as she closed the distance.
"You mustn't worry about us, Lena. Me and Genji are very much in love with each other, and I would never leave him using a sticky note. I appreciate that you care this much about the both of us, but you would have saved yourself a whole lot of worries if you didn't let your mind run as fast as you do."
"Gosh, Doc... I'm so sorry, you've no idea how mortified I am at this moment, I feel so stupid—"
"You shouldn't! I know you were doing this only because you wanted to help, besides... no harm done!"
"That's easy for you to say!"
"Lena... please, I mean it. Don't beat yourself over it."
"No, Angie! I promise I'll make it up to you... somehow."
The door to the laboratory then opened, making way for none other than Genji and a worried-looking Brigitte just behind him. The latter mouthed a word of apology to Tracer in silence for not having stalled Genji longer.
"Lena, are you feeling well now?" the cyborg immediately asked, "Brigitte told me about your cough."
Tracer hesitated to respond, turning to look at the blonde doctor who gave her an encouraging wink. They exchanged a small smile in understanding.
"Yeah... I'm doing just fine now, the Doc outdid herself yet again."
Brigitte gaped at Tracer in shock as the latter approached her side.
"Lena, what are you doing?" Brigitte asked, her voice barely audible as she whispered.
"Let's just leave them alone, Brig," Tracer responded, taking the arm of the very confused Brigitte as they walked out of the laboratory.
"What is with those two?" Genji asked, his arms folded as usual.
"Who knows... " Mercy giggled, slowly approaching Genji and placing her hands over his head. "Hello, mein Lieber."
Genji chuckled softly.
"Yo, Tenshi."
Angela gently grasped the back of his head and unclasped his neon-green visor, her slender fingers delicately tracing his head as if there was delicate skin, not metal, around him. With the visor gone, she lost herself in the rich, sepia tone of his sharp eyes. When their gazes met, her face softened instantly, mirroring the warmth in his own expression as his eyes crinkled in response to her loving gaze.
"I missed you, Angela," he breathed out.
"You realize we've been separated for only a few hours?"
"That's a few hours too much."
Genji encompassed her petite frame with his arms, bringing her closer as her sapphire irises gleamed in the sunlight.
"I've been thinking... " she trailed off, looking to the side. "We've been working so hard as of late. Would you like to go out, this weekend?"
"You're inviting me on a date?" Genji chuckled, "Such directness, Doctor!"
Mercy pouted in annoyance, eliciting an amused reaction out of him.
"I'd love to go out with you, Angela. Just tell me the place and I'll be there."
She smirked, a playful expression adorning her blushing visage.
"I'm afraid that is not doable, normally."
Genji tilted his head at her, puzzled by her odd choice of words.
"What could you ever mean by that, my angel?"
"You'll see..."
𓆰
The summer winds carried the scent of jasmine, pine trees, as well as coffee and perfectly cooked pastry.
Genji and Angela were comfortably sitting at their table on a beautiful terrace of a historical Italian cafè that gave a view of the gigantic masterpiece that was the Colosseum, it almost felt unreal to be there with her.
She was beautiful, dressed in a yellow dress that accentuated her curves perfectly.
He did not wear his cybernetic suit, opting instead for a simple cerulean shirt and black pants. His helmet was missing, he didn't need that anymore now that his confidence had built up again since the day they started dating.
Angela had always complimented how handsome he was, but whatever beauty she saw was nothing in her presence, catching all sorts of looks from men and women alike. He felt like the luckiest man in the world.
"I must say, I'm positively surprised." Genji spoke, chuckling a little to himself, "When you asked me out on a date, I expected something much more... modest."
"Modest?" she repeated, with a hint of a smile.
"Yeah, something like a take-out dinner or a movie night with popcorn. Certainly not a date in one of the most refined cafès in Rome!"
As they chatted, a waitress with slicked brown hair dressed in an elegant suit approached their table.
"I signori sono pronti per ordinare?" she kindly asked.
"Due caffè lisci, per favore. " Angela responded quite effortlessly.
The waitress nodded, heading back inside the cafè.
"I didn't know you spoke Italian," Genji commented, genuinely impressed.
"I know a little of it, I am Swiss after all."
He chuckled.
"I suppose I should expect my beautiful, smart angel to speak multiple languages, considering she's the most brilliant doctor of our era."
Mercy scoffed, waving her hand deliberately.
"Are you trying to flatter yourself into my graces, Mr. Shimada?"
"Perhaps... is it working?"
It definitely was, but she'd never admit to his face. He had enough ego as it is.
"... I'm happy that you're here with me," she softly spoke, catching him off guard as his cheeks slightly blushed.
"As I am, Angela. Every minute spent with you is worth a hundred—no, a thousand years."
She giggled, her cheeks reddening as well.
"And I'm happy that you are here without the helmet, for a change."
"Hey! The helmet makes me look cooler," he quipped, folding his arms, "unless you enjoy looking at one big mess of scars."
"The scars are part of your charm." Mercy pointed out, tracing one on his chin with a finger.
"My my, Angela... you're really into bad boys who get into a lot of trouble."
He smirked while she huffed and shook her head. The waitress returned with a silver tray and served them two coffee cups made of the finest porcelain.
"You'll have to explain to me, however... " Genji trailed off, inserting two cybernetic fingers inside the handle to grab hold of the cup. "How did you convince Lena to go through all the trouble to bring us over here in Rome?"
Angela winked at him, raising her cup to take a sip of prime-quality espresso.
"That... is a secret."
𓆰
𓆰