It Takes Time / Reaper x fem!OC

12. Did You Miss Me?

Waiting for Reaper the next day was agony.
'What am I supposed to say to him?' Sienna asked herself, furious.
Stuck between wondering he'd done it just to play with his 'toy', or to mess with her head, it was making her claw at herself in anguish. Every time she considered it, Sienna couldn't quell the tiny, nagging voice that suggested maybe - just maybe - something there was real. Something had gotten through to him... Like it had with her.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she banished the though and closed her mind to the world.

By the time the evening came, Sienna waited not-so-patiently on the sofa, attempting to watch the sunset as she usually did and not panic about what to say when he got back.
Did it mean anything?
The thought kept driving itself back to the front of her mind, insatiable without an answer.

But in the end, an answer wasn't necessary.
Reaper didn't come home, and Sienna wasn't sure whether to panic or be relieved.
'He managed to survive when you weren't here to patch him up,' Sienna told herself, 'so he'll be fine on his own. He's lasted long enough without me. I'm sure he's fine.'
The last sentence didn't sit well in her mind, but with light fast-fading over the horizon Sienna had no choice but to accept her words, hoping he wasn't lying dead in a ditch, or worse deep in a battle with Jack: with Soldier 76.
Still holding onto the small hope that he might return, she stayed sat on the sofa until sleep finally claimed her hours later, just as the dawn chorus began out in the city.

Waking up at noon, Sienna's heart dropped to find herself still on the sofa, with no black, masked man in sight. Pushing aside her frantic mind, she calmed herself.
'I don't need to care about him.' But seconds later her own voice betrayed her. 'Easier said than done.'
It had finally come to the point where Sienna had to accept the fact that she cared for him - in all his threatening, intimidating glory, deep down inside there still was a normal man who felt compassion, loneliness and maybe even... Love.
Love, that was it. That was the word Sienna had originally banished. Along with the panic swelling inside her stomach there came another feeling; something that squeezed her heart and left her reeling, gasping for breath. As much as Sienna wanted to deny it, her heart told her otherwise. Moving her hands to her arms and hugging herself, she cried for the first in a very long time.
The tears streamed down her reddened cheeks, making her ruby lips glisten as they became swollen. Unable to stop them coming once they had started, she raised her hands to her face, cupping her eyes and sobbed.
An immeasurable amount of time passed as Sienna lay curled up on the sofa, taking refuge in her solitude this time, allowing the sofa cushions to envelop her and take her away. At last, Sienna felt as if being alone was what she wanted, and the tears continued to fall, when a shadow fell upon her.

'Sienna'

The voice was low and soft, and she sat up and turned to it immediately, eyes still wet, shocked. A familiar blue masked visor faced her, with the trademark 76 jacket adorning the man's broad shoulders. Seeing her face, he stopped walking towards her, halting in his tracks. As if lost for words, he opened his arms wide in a surprising gesture for a hug;

'Did you miss me that much?'

Jack's finally come for me.
Unable to think of anything else except her missing soldier, she gratefully accepted his hug, jumping off the sofa to him. His arms wrapped around her, strong, tight and warm. Even after everything that happened, Sienna couldn't help but compare Soldier 76's cologne-dusted smell to Reaper's more earthen, natural one and the memory hurt.
Slowly coming back to her senses, she felt Soldier 76's hands rubbing her back in a slow, soothing motion. His hands moved to her arms, her shoulders, her neck and her spine in turn and it took Sienna a moment to recognise he was checking for injuries.
She sniffed, controlling her tears finally, embarrassed that he had to see her like this. 'It's okay, he didn't hurt me. You're here now, anyway.'

He pulled her back into a hug again, avoiding eye contact, and his voice was gruff, low. 'I shouldn't have let you go. It took me too long to find you - and it's clear you're not okay. I'm... Well, I'm sorry.'

Sienna pulled away, shocked at the man's apology. He was never one to apologise - his pride too high and his personality too stubborn to allow it; but here he was. Before she could comment, he interrupted urgently. 'We have to go, now. Quickly.'
Turning out of the hug, he took her by the arm and led her down the corridor to the skylight that lit the dark shadows. Looking up, an old familiar face greeted her - one that she hadn't seen in a very, very long time.

'Winston!'

The gorilla gave a small chuckle, and smiled down at her from the cut open glass.
'Sienna. It's good to see you again, I'm glad to see you're safe. Jack worried us all when he contacted us; I've never seen him so agitated.'
The gorilla peered through the light, lowering a metal cable to them both.

'Don't be unnecessary, Winston.'
Jack Morrison wrapped his arm around her waist, hooking a clasp to the cable. A winch above them hoisted them up, and Sienna gave one last look to her prison for the past week.
Not so much a prison as a home. I could never admit it to those two, but I'll miss this place.
Unable to say it out loud, Sienna was silent for a lot of the journey back. She didn't recognise the route anyway - Winston had told her they had a new base.
'You managed to bring Overwatch back together? Winston that's amazing!' Having been out of the loop since the omnic crisis, Sienna's eyes widened to find out all of the original members were at the new base, still in secret, hidden from the evil Talon organisation.

'Yes, well...' The gorilla looked mildly embarrassed at the acknowledgement, turning a slight shade of pink.
'When the world needs us, it's our honour-bound duty. Anyway, welcome to the new headquarters, it's not much but it's home to all of us.' Winston waved a haired arm at the repurposed aircraft hanger that loomed above them in all its grandeur.
The outside was peeling, metal rusted and screws hanging precariously; but the inside was a technological hub, computer lights and new equipment everywhere:  It was clear Winston had been busy.
Speechless, mouth agape, the soldier had to tap her lightly on the arm to check if she was okay. Stunned, she turned to him.
'Am I allowed to be here? I'm not really... I mean, is it okay? This is a secret, right?' Worried she wasn't welcome, Sienna started to back off a bit, but Jack held her by the arm to stop her.
'It's fine. You're a good person, Sienna. You'd never betray us - I've known you too long to think that... We all have.'
Winston nodded too.
'You're one of us, you know that. Therefore-'
The gorilla stopped as a zipping sound rebounded off the walls towards them, a trail of pale blue light tailing behind. Winston continued.
'-It's time you met the rest of the team.'

Suddenly, a short brunette blinked into existence in front of Sienna, grasping her hand and shaking it rapidly up and down enthusiastically. She grinned up from under her fringe 'Hiya, love! Great to finally meet ya!'
A bit stunned, Sienna shook the woman's hand back, but the British pilot's smile was contagious and she couldn't help but return the grin. What a friendly woman, might help me forget about the past week.
'It's good to meet you too, I'm almost in shock - you're Tracer, right? You were my idol, back in the day.' Sienna admitted slightly abashed, feeling the woman take both her hands in her own.

'Your idol! I can't believe it.' She gave a giggle before tugging at Sienna's hand and hopping from foot to foot.
'This is so exciting! I want to introduce you to the test of the team, they're gonna love you, sweetheart.'
Unable to hold back her smile, she looked back to Winston and Jack to see if it was okay, finding them deep in serious conversation. Suddenly remembering her rescue, she was desperate to ask about how they found her... And whether they had anything to do with that phone message Reaper got the night before.
Not wanting to interrupt, she guessed she would find another time later, and let the adorable childish brunette lead her by the hand to a door on the other side of a hangar.

Taking a deep breath, she fell into step next to Tracer and plastered the smile back on her face, banishing any distracting thoughts of the Talon member who had captured her heart.