The Miracle of Science | Winston x Reader

II. Old Wounds

Artist: https://lavelis.tumblr.com/

(C/N): Code name

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The female soldier sat alone in her dorm, slowly chewing the last piece of her bagel. The repetitive clicking of her twentieth century, rotary clock above her door nearly struck 8 AM. She was supposed to stay in the lab at least until 11. Afterwards, she figured she'd work out for an hour, wash up, tidy up her bedroom a little, read a few chapters on a Crusaders history book Mr. Wilhelm gave to her, video call (S/N), and by 4 PM, she'd...

... hang out with Winston again.

As stated before, her free time was very limited. Carrying the responsibilities of being an international task force agent was non-stop. Sometimes, with a brush of misfortune, an emergency operation would force (Y/N) to cancel her day off. And believe it or not, she didn't see the gorilla as often as she'd like other than in select missions where they were teamed up together or in the cafeteria, especially when they handed out peanut butter cookies. Sometimes training too.

Spending time with the scientist was like a precious jewel, and here she was, wasting it by herself.

A gentle knock emitted from behind her door. The young woman grew somewhat tense but decided against her resistance, calling out, "... Wh-Who is it?"

"It's Angela. May I come in?"

What a relief.

"Of course, doctor," (Y/N) replied, getting up from her bed, gulping down her cold coffee, and dusting off her clothes for any crumbs.

The door slid open, revealing an elegant woman in a lab coat. She walked in, granting a warm smile to the other as she took off her glasses and tucked them in one of her coat's pockets. "Thank you. How are you this morning?"

"I'm well, Dr. Ziegler. And you?"

Mercy gave an expression of amusement. She's lost count of how many times she's insisted that (Y/N) call her by her first name. Even though they didn't spend much time together, Mercy considered her a friend. But her look of happiness wouldn't last for long.

"... In all honesty, I could be better." The doctor's bearing gradually vexated. It was odd to see her that way since she was always a beam of light. "We last saw each other in Ilios, but my time was filled with Torbjörn's injuries. I couldn't even see you out there."

"That's alright. Our duties come first. I saw that old geezer yesterday in great condition," the female soldier responded, crossing her arms. "I uh, had my hands tied on escorting most of the residents. Good thing Captain Sojourn was there to help out; don't think I could've done it myself."

(Y/N)'s line of sight mainly focused on the floor. Reminding herself of that event and how more strenuous it was than she originally anticipated, made her give off a long exhale.

The medical woman moved her head to the side, holding a small frown. "I was told that one of the children urged you to rescue his puppy after you fought a group of Talon henchmen."

"Oh God, heh. Yep, the puppy was saved," the young girl stated as she squeezed the bridge of her nose. "That was before I had the captain's back-up. Luckily, I only had six civilians to care for during that. Among them were two young men willing to help me fight off any troops who tried to attack. Morrison honored them medals of bravery afterwards. And if I'm not mistaken, I think they're joining."

The doctor's frown slowly erased, her eyes shining. "How wonderful! I wish I could've been there. I was called shortly after the mission had ended to aide in Nepal. A unit of B73's were released there and I haven't had much rest since then."