Remembrance (Overwatch: Reaper x Reader)

Chapter 19: He's Fading

Something was happening to him, and I couldn't tell what. He wouldn't tell me, and it hurt. I thought he trusted me. I suddenly became afraid. Afraid that I might lose him too. But then why did he suddenly stop showing up? Was it something I said?

I saw in a chair by my bedroom window, resting my chin on the palm of my hand. I clutched an old piece of paper in my free hand. Reaper's case file. Angela was right, he was a mess to begin with. He never cared.

     "What's wrong with me?" I groaned in defeat, crumpling the piece of paper and throwing it into the corner of the room. "Boys are so stupid..."

     "I know right?"

I looked up slowly and blushed, "L-Lena!?" I squealed, falling backwards, "How long have you been there?"

     "Um," she checked an invisible watch. "Three minutes, and twenty-four seconds."

I blinked, brushing back strands of hair. "You're weird--ah!" I flinched when I realized she had blinked right in front of me. My (e/c) eyes found hers, "Um, Lena?"

She was eyeing me up and down, lips pursed in such a way that her dimples were showing. "You look horrible."

     "E-Excuse me?"

She blinked around to stand behind me, small hands gripping my shoulders. "You look like Cupid's arrow struck way to hard!"

     "I-what?" I stood up and whirled around, "I look fine!"

     "Mhm, nope!" Tracer leaned over the chair, a big bright smile captivating her face, "You look just like me when I first realized I liked Emily!"

     "L-Lena, what are you--?"

     "You got a crush on someone!"

I froze in place. My face burned hotter than the sun, and my palms had begun to sweat. "I-I do not!"

     "Who is it? Lucio?"

     "No!"

     "Reinhardt?"

     "What? He's basically my dad!"

     "Roadhog? Jamison?"

My eye twitched, "Lena, you're not helping." She frowned, eyes narrowed behind her visor. "Lena...don't give me that look."

     "Is it, Jesse?"

     "No, at least, I don't think so." My eyes wandered towards the crumpled piece of paper, "I...I don't know."

Tracer giggled, "(Y/N) totally likes the cowboy!" She bounced around childishly before skidding to a halt, "Oh! Hana and I can help hook you two up!"

     "Whoa," I threw my hands up defensively. "That is not, necessary."

     "What? Is it not Jesse?"

     "No! It mean, it's not--I don't...!" I groaned, rubbing my hand down my face, "Lena..."

I looked away, unsure of how to answer. Unsure if I wanted to answer. I knew who I liked, and they were gone. They both were.

     "You just seem, off." Lena tilted her head, "Are you sick?"

     "No! I was just thinking--!" I gasped as glass flew past me, shards just barely grazing the tip of my nose.

Lena stood wide eyed, having blinked just in time to avoid a large body that tumbled into the room. 

     "Oi, bloody hell!" She stepped back, bending over to examine the situation further, "Um...this a friend of yours?"

I took a step back. It took a moment to register what happened, and who it was. "R-Reap--?" I fell to the floor beside him, hands violently shaking his shoulder, "Hey! Wake up asshole!"

All that elicited was a groan from the man beneath me. "You never told me you were friends with the HotTopic manager."

I glared at Lena, giving her the hardest 'Now's not the time!' look I could muster. I looked back at his trembling form. "C'mon, what's wrong with you?"

I managed to haul him to his knees, draping his right arm over my shoulders while I wrapped my own around his waist. Lena gasped, causing my head to shoot up immediately.

     "Don't. Say. Anything." My words were harsh but my eyes wavered, "Please."

     "But, (Y/N), that's--!"

     "I know!" I quickly dragged him over to my bed, throwing his unconscious body onto the mattress, "Go, get Mercy! Quickly!"

Before I could blink, she was gone. I turned my attention to Reaper. My unsteady hands slowly pulled his coat apart, revealing a deep and hideous wound in his side. In fact, his entire lower torso seemed to be covered in blood. 

I pressed my ear to his chest and let out a sigh of relief. He was still breathing. I draped my arms over his midriff and leaned against him, "Be okay..." 

I stayed like that for a few moments, waiting and praying he'd at least make some sort of noise. I finally sat up again. I stared at his face, quickly getting up and grabbing a cloth on my bedside table. I doused it in water from a water bottle and raised my hand above his mask.

I could feel the heat radiating off of him. He was spiking a fever, that was certain. I hesitated, brushing my fingers over the cool surface of the only thing that was between me and his true identity.  I hesitated before finally making up my mind.

I slowly peeled back the mask, pulling it out of place before coming to a halt. I dropped it on the floor with a clatter. For a moment, I stopped breathing. I hadn't even noticed I was crying until I reached up to brush back my hair, my thumb wiping over something wet. This wasn't real, it couldn't be. He was supposed to be dead. 

It all suddenly came crashing down on me. His amber eyes, the way he would look at me. The way he'd scold me, and the way he'd praise me. How he'd call me Lieutenant, or the way he'd say my name when we were off duty. How I'd fell for him, and how inappropriate that was. I was his subordinate, and he was my superior.

     "What...happened to you?"

I stepped away from the bed slowly, but my eyes never left his face. His skin was darkened, and almost gray. Cuts and scars slashed across his face, a few even cutting into his lips. His hair was still curly, but his goatee was slightly faded and laced with the occasional silver hair here and there.

      "No," I shook my head violently, clenching my eyes shut as I tried to rub the images away. "You're dead, he's dead!" 

But when I opened my eyes again, he was still there. Laying silently in my bed, eyes closed and chest rising and falling unevenly.  "Why didn't you...stay dead...?"

     "Hey, (Y/N)!" Lena stopped, panting in the doorway, "I brought Ang--(Y/N)?"

Mercy walked into the room. How did I know? Well aside from Lena's outburst, she had let out a quiet gasp and 'Oh no.'

     "(Y/N)," she whispered, holding her hand up to her face while leaning on her Caduceus Staff. "I...I've wanted to tell you for so long."