Art by Solaida on Deviantart (https://www.deviantart.com/zolaida/art/Overwatch-Mercy-612769170)
Disclaimer: I wrote this before the announcement for Overwatch 2 and I think before the mission Storm Rising so some facts might be wrong. I modified a few things when Storm Rising came in but I did not feel like changing all my chapters when Overwatch 2 cinematic was published. So, I'm sorry if it does not follow the last element of the story we know.
Anyway, enjoy!
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"Doctor Ziegler, we need help over here!" someone with a white jacket screamed from afar, calling the doctor for help with a patient. The blonde medic ran to them with her doctor's asset. She examined the sick man on the bed. She rearranged her ponytail before giving orders to others. "Wait, Doctor Ziegler! You're not going to do surgery here? There's no way you can do it if we're not in the hospital in a surgery room!"
"This man isn't going to survive if we're not doing something now," she simply answered, putting a mask and surgical gloves. People she gave orders to came back with what she needed and readied themselves to help her with the surgery.
The other doctor tried his best to resonate with the blonde but she just concentrated on the patient. In the end, he gave up and decided to help, knowing that nothing could make her change her mind. It was a really hot day and they were located in a large tent in the plain desert. Angela Ziegler and some other volunteers came to this country where wars raged everywhere. They came to help civilians and victims of violent wars. It had been months already and the wars were as violent as ever.
Doctor Ziegler was once part of Overwatch, an organization created to help people and who fought during the Omnic crisis. However, Overwatch fall after they faced many crises and after a fight between the commanders of Overwatch and Blackwatch which was followed by an explosion triggered in the headquarters in Switzerland. Both of them were declared dead in the explosion and Overwatch was shut down. All activities within the name of Overwatch were made illegal by the law. Agents who were once seen as heroes were now feared and hated worldwide. After the shutdown, they went on, living their lives and minding their own business. Some became criminals but the agents that stood up the most in the past continued saving the world their own way.
"Congratulation, Doctor Ziegler. You did really well," the blonde was praised at her success of saving the man's life. She thanked them and congratulated everyone for their hard work before she went back to her tent to rest a little. She sat down on a chair and drank some water when someone came in running with a letter. She took it from them and looked at it to see it was from someone unexpected. They did not talk for years but she just received some news from him. She smiled and hurried to open it.
"Dear Doctor Ziegler,
I hope you're doing well. I've been living with the Shambali for a while now. We had not been in contact for years and I wanted to send you a letter to let you know how I was.
Well, to be honest, it's my master, Zenyatta, who forced me to. And I'm happy I took the courage to write to you after leaving you behind. I heard you were busy in a war zone. I hope everything is alright for you and you're unharmed.
Maybe one day, we'll be able to see each other again.
Keep saving lives,
Genji"
"I'm glad he's doing fine." She stared at the letter for a while, thinking about him and their time at Overwatch. Just as she was setting down the piece of paper, a message came from her computer. She turned to it and noticed it was from the Overwatch Emergency signal. Her eyes opened wide at the sight. Did someone try to recall the group? For her, Overwatch was dead and it was better that way. However, she did open the message to see a video of Winston calling all agents for help. She listened carefully to what he said until the end. Once it was finished, she sat there, motionless and lost in her thought. Many questions passed through her mind: Was it a good idea to call everyone? Should she go back and see? Should she just ignore them and the problem that was still present everywhere in the world? She thought about her position, about her condition; about the world's condition. She glanced once more at the screen where Overwatch's logo was showing. After a while, she stood up and walked away in search of her superior.
"Back here we are, uh?" Angela stood in an airport in Spain, looking outside the window to see the bright sun shining. "Not as hot as Saudi Arabia but still hotter than Swiss," she walked out of the airport, waiting for her taxi to send her to the train station. The road to the headquarters in Gibraltar was long and tiring. She was still wondering if it was the best choice to go back there, but she had to see it for herself. She left the war zone two to three months after her superior gave her permission to go.
After four hours, she stood in front of the main door of the headquarters. A knot in her stomach, she rang at the door. "Winston. It's Angela Ziegler," announced Athena in the base.
The monkey looked at the camera to see the blonde medic standing there. "Really?! Doctor Ziegler actually came?!" shouted energetically Lena Oxton. "I thought there wasn't anyone else who was going to come! Hurry Athena and open that door!"
"Right away," Athena answered to the young British girl and the door opened for the medic.
Angela hesitated a bit but entered the place anyway. She walked in the corridor, looking left to right, seeing it hasn't changed a bit. "Doctor Ziegler!" a feminine voice called for her, coming from the other end of the corridor. The brown-haired girl blinked in front of her in no time and gave her a big hug. "It's been so long! How have you been?! I'm so happy you decided to come!"
"I'm doing well Lena. How about you? Did you have any issues with your chronal-accelerator while I was away?" asked the Swiss woman.
"I'm doing fine Doc! Winston was here to help anyway! I heard from Genji that you were in Saudi Arabia! Wasn't it hard? War is still raging a lot around there. Were you fine?" She kept asking questions after questions and despite being a bit annoyed, Angela answered them all.
They talked while walking into the corridors in the direction of the main hall where the people who answered Winston's call were. Not many people came back from what Tracer said. After a few minutes, they stood behind the door of the hall. Angela looked at it for a moment, hesitation grew inside of her as she wondered if she made a good decision in coming back here. What was waiting for her behind that door? Finally, she took a deep breath and opened the heavy door slowly then peered inside the room to see some of her old friends here. Eyes wide open, she looked around to see a few, but much more than she thought, former agents from Overwatch, and Blackwatch too, were here. She was so surprised to see Jack Morrison, the former commander of Overwatch that everyone thought as dead, Ana Amari, who was also thought of as dead, and Genji Shimada, an agent from Blackwatch. He retired before Overwatch was shut down but she only received a letter from him a few months ago. He was the last person in her mind to come back here – minus the two "supposedly" dead people. He hated this place and felt like an outcast because of his cyborg body that she gave him herself to help him survive. Ever since that day, she felt so guilty for imposing on him such a heavy burden – only for Overwatch to have a weapon against their enemy. Gabriel Reyes was their commander but he died during the explosion in headquarters where Jack Morrison supposedly died as well. She was greeted by everyone but she didn't pay them much attention, she was obsessed with the three people in front of her. Despite the fact that Genji wrote her a letter, deep down, she was afraid that he hated her for what she had done in the past.
She talked to the members present for a long moment. For now, the Overwatch team was composed of Tracer, Ana, Genji, Jack, Winston, Reinhardt, Brigitte, McCree, Pharah, Torbjörn, Echo, herself and a few others that decided to come to help as well. Torbjörn mentioned as well of an omnic that followed him here but it was docile. Once she finished talking with a few of them, she started to look for her cyborg friend but she could not find him. She decided to search for the Japanese guy but could not get a hand on him. She sighed with despair and decided to go outside to take a breath.
She walked on the grass and sat down on a rock near a cliff, looking at the sunset reflecting on the sea. The breeze felt nice on her skin, and her blonde hair who flew in the air showed a beautiful gold. She closed her eyes for a few minutes before she felt something cold but quite nice and gentle land on her shoulder. Angela turned her head to see the person she was looking for. "Genji," it sounded almost like a distant whisper. They stared at each other without realizing it for some time like they were the only one around and nothing could disturb this peaceful moment. The ninja was the first to notice the long silence and he took off his hand quickly before hiding it behind him.
"D-Doctor Ziegler! I-It's been a long time," he said awkwardly to break the silence between them. He was so mesmerized by her beauty under the sunset that he almost forgot to breathe. He remembered her being the most beautiful woman he had ever seen but was so blinded with anger and revenge ten years ago that he never really took her into consideration. But now, she was in front of him and he could not take his eyes away from her. And how happy he was that his mask hid his face.
"Oh, Genji. I was looking for you," she stood up before him with a serious face, the sun reflecting now on her back making her look like a goddess more than an angel.
"You," he gulped in the middle of his sentence to keep his temper. "You were? I'm sorry, I didn't know. Did you need anything?"
She looked sadly at the ground but soon shook it off and looked back at him. Genji did not understand her sudden sadness he just saw in her eyes but let it slide, thinking it was nothing too serious. "I never thought I was going to see you here. I thought you hated this place."
He stayed silent for a few seconds before looking at the headquarters behind him with the Overwatch logo on it. "I did hate this place before. However," he turned back to her, a hand on his heart. "Thanks to Master Zenyatta, I'm at peace with who I am now and forgave Overwatch as well as my brother for what they did."
The blonde stared at him blankly before letting out a sigh of relief and gave him a bright smile. "That's good to know."
Genji stared at her smile, once again fascinated by her beauty. He never saw anybody that beautiful and he saw a lot of women as he was a playboy in his younger years when he was a fully human being. He changed a lot since those times and he never really tried to seduce a woman for having fun with; in other words, having a sexual relationship. But he didn't see the doctor this way, he just admired her in secret, blushed when she would stare at him or every time she smiled... He had this weird feeling inside of him that he could not explain and he did not know what to do neither how to react around the woman.
Angela went to her old room when she was still part of the team. "It hasn't changed... Athena, did someone take care of it?" asked the Swiss woman to the AI.
"Agent Tracer took care of it when you were out," Athena answered at her question. Angela smiled and sat down on her bed.
"I need to thank her tomorrow then," she laid down on her double bed, staring at the white ceiling before looking around at the pictures on her cupboard. "Brings back memories," she whispered to nobody in particular, taking one of the pictures of her, Ana, Gabriel, and Jack.
"Do you want me to show you the photo album?" suggested Athena in her usual robotic tone.
Angela shook her head, putting the picture back where it belonged. "It won't be necessary. It's not like those times will come back."
She stood up, going to her bathroom to put on her pajamas and went to sleep right after. She was tired of all the emotions she felt in the past few days. First, Genji's letter then, Winston's call and, Jack and Ana alive? It was hard to believe that. She closed her eyes, hoping that tomorrow will not be as full of emotion and rather peaceful.