His sword arced upwards, colliding with hers from below. Her surprise was only momentary, but her loosened grip and the force of his hit was enough to knock the sword from her hand. She scrambled for it, but he put himself between her and the sword. 

At this point she was on her knees, hands outstretched. And he was barely leaning down, pointing the tip of his own sword at her throat. 

“Damn!” Now it was her turn for her breathing to catch. But the moment lingered, and she managed to get a hold of herself as Claude withdrew his sword and offered a hand instead. “You’re still hard to get a handle on. I think that hasn’t changed in your case.”

“Oh I wouldn’t say that,” Claude gently retorted as Joanna put her hand in his and he helped her to her feet. “You last a lot longer than you did when we were in the Academy.”

“Maybe so. I’d like to actually win one of these days. Or at least surprise you.”

He gave his signature wink. “You might. But I won’t make it easy for you.” Claude leaned in slightly, trying to look encouraging as he squeezed her hand in reassurance. “Hey, you’re doing great, okay?”

Joanna nodded. Silence lingered in the air for a moment. Withe the uncertain expression that formed on her face, Claude wondered if perhaps maybe she needed more reassurance. 

And then, she suddenly leaned in. It was fluttering and fleeting, but for a moment her lips connected with his. In the next moment however, she quickly withdrew, her face mottled from embarrassment and a touch of guilt. 

“I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” She let go of him, eyes averted a moment, gaze turning towards the doors behind them before anxious looking back at him. “I should have asked, I wasn’t thinking, I...”

Well, if she wanted to surprise him. That would certainly do the trick.

But considering years of built of tension, was it really?

“I certainly wasn’t expecting that,” he said, “But it wasn’t unwelcome. I appreciate your apology, but you didn’t need to... in this case.”

“Claude...”

>Keep in mind that Heroes of the Storm is basically one big AU for a bunch of Blizzard games including Overwatch

>So in description of the announcement video for the event, it explains that Junkrat was hired to work with two other characters to rob the richest casino of a sleazy crime city named New Tirisfal City, where Whitemane, the owner of the casino, keeps the entire town under her control with back alley deals and bribery. So real mob boss crime stuff

>I've imagined that after the heist, Junkrat evades the police and Whitemane's goons by hiding in a run down, inconspicuous bar where three patrons, the barkeeper, and a small jazz band are the only others in the building

>He seats himself at the back of the dimly lit bar away from everyone else to count his loot, when he notices a girl in a sequined flapper dress and red feathers in her hair take the stage next to the jazz band (Thats me :3)

>The band accompanies me as I perform this song (altho nowhere near as good as this, as the band is inexperienced and even if I'm a good singer I'm not THAT good ^-^;)

>As my voice fills the small, smoke-filled bar, Junkrat can't focus on a single thing but me, and all the stolen cash sitting in a burlap sack next to him that he almost just died for doesn't matter anymore, and he's immediately smitten with me

>I perform a bit more before asking the patrons of the bar to tip if they enjoyed the show, and although I'm expecting nothing like always, Junkrat walks up and drops an entire stack of hundreds into the jar on top of the piano, and he then approaches me with another wad of hundreds and asks if he can buy my name

>This is a town where you can't trust anybody though, so I defensively say that with that kind of cash he's probably out to buy more than just my name, and I retreat backstage before he has a chance to respond

>He decides to wait for me in the back alley behind the bar, knowing I'm going to come out thru the backdoors, but as he's hiding he notices two other men walk up from the other side of the alley and stand in front of the door, but he's hidden in the shadows so they don't take notice of him

> When I eventually walk out the backdoor I run into the two men, and they trap me while asking where Ms. Whitemane's money is, and I try to explain that I don't have anything to pay my debt and I swear I'll have it tomorrow night, but one of the men pulls out a switchblade and says I've gone too many days past my due date, and I'll need to pay in a different way

> At that point, Junkrat can't just watch anymore, and he rushes in and puts himself between me and the goons while growling at them to back the hell off

>He manages to fight both of them off, and even though he got roughed up pretty bad, they got it even worse and only one guy is able to escape while the other lies on the ground unconscious

> I burst into tears and hug Junkrat tight, thanking him for protecting me and explaining that I owe Whitemane money after getting a loan for my rent over a year ago, and she's been taking all of my tips and half of my paycheck ever since, but I haven't made any tips at this shitty bar for the past two months so that would have been the end for me

> He reassures me that I'll be ok, and he escorts me back to my apartment where I invite him in and patch up the cuts he got and put a bandage over his nose that was unfortunately broken in the fight

> I finally tell him my name, with no payment needed, and he tells me his. I've never had anyone protect me like he did, and he's never had anyone bandage his injuries and care for him like that, so we feel like we can trust each other, and he ends up spending the night with me

>In the morning we talk and learn more about each other, and it doesn't take long for love to bloom between us. He tells me that I won't have to worry about anyone else taking my hard-earned cash now that he's around to take care of me