The Girly Watch Remade

Chapter 10 Rewind

 Lena Oxton's Point Of View 2 Years Ago

Lena's thumb tapped an anxious staccato against her thigh as she watched the Omnic surgeons work. She winced involuntarily as they extracted a tangle of wires from the back of Amelie's skull, followed by a long, wicked-looking needle coated in some unknown viscous substance from the base of her brain.

Raising a hand, Lena rubbed at the deepening bags under her eyes, seeking solace in the cold sterility of the recovery room's harsh lighting and antiseptic smells. Anywhere but the haunting images seared into her memory from that night in Russia.

"Mom—I mean, Angela—she said you could use some company."

Hana's voice shattered the tense silence, startling Lena from her trance-like reverie. She turned to find the young former mech pilot gingerly lowering herself into the visitor's chair, face contorted in a grimace as she jostled her injured arm.

"Really ought to get that thing looked at, love," Lena nodded toward the IV line snaking into Hana's forearm.

"I'm fine," Hana brushed it off with an unconvincing wave of her hand. "Just...needed to get out of that hospital bed, y'know? Too much lying around drives me stir-crazy."

"by the way Angela'll have a heart attack if you call her that again," Lena quipped, adjusting the IV line as Hana winced. The hospital had been closed to the public hours ago, but the two former Overwatch agents kept their solitary vigil.

Lena over their prisoner, Amelie. And Hana...well, Lena wasn't quite sure why the younger woman insisted on staying.

"So why are you really here?" Hana asked, dark eyes searching Lena's face as she settled into the creaky plastic chair. "Just watching over the prisoner," Lena replied curtly, her gaze sliding back to the blue-skinned woman's motionless form.

Hana frowned but said nothing, clearly perceiving there were deeper currents at play. An uneasy silence stretched between them, broken only by the whirring fans and mechanical arms of the Omnic surgeons.

"Pharah told me you haven't slept since Russia," Hana ventured after a moment. Lena stiffened ever so slightly at the mention of the mission.

"Don't want to talk about it," she deflected with a dismissive shake of her head. "I always get a bit wound up after jobs like that, you know how it is."

But they both knew this time was different. Hana worried, her hands in her lap, squeezing them together tightly.

"Is this...because of what happened to 76?" she asked hesitantly.

The name made Lena flinch as if struck. "His name was Jack," she ground out, leather gloves creaking as her fists clenched.

Hana bobbed her head in apology. "We're all just...torn up about losing him. But he went out a hero, Lena. You know that's how he would have wanted to go."

Lena's hands dropped heavily to her sides, the bone-deep weariness crashing over her in waves.

"I can't believe Reinhardt killed him," Hana said, voice barely above a whisper as she shook her head slowly. "It just doesn't make sense."

Lena's jaw clenched hard enough to grind enamel. "I couldn't believe it either," she lied through gritted teeth.

"No, you don't understand," Hana insisted. "I can't wrap my head around Reinhardt killing Jack Morrison of all people. He would never hurt one of his own, let alone his oldest friend and brother-in-arms."

A tremulous sigh slipped from Lena's lips.

"Who knows what really happened out there," Lena murmured, turning away from Hana. Her gaze fell upon the inert form of the former Widowmaker as the Omnic surgeon finished their grisly work.