#pharmei

“Ah…” Fareeha noticed the shiny blue blaster in Mei’s gloved hands. She was wearing a puffy nylon and leather glove that made her fingers look comically large. Fareeha had plenty of practice keeping herself in check or she might have laughed out loud. “Well, alright then. Go ahead and clear all the targets. I’ll keep time but don’t worry about speed.”

She was collecting notes and other information on a white tablet in her hands. She tapped open the timer app and started the clock, nodding for Mei to begin.

“Oh, already?” Mei blinked.

In the next second three of the nearest target bots were down. Fareeha heard the noise, thunk, thunk, thunk, as each of them were hit. The bots short circuited one after the other before eventually clattering to nuts and bolts on the ground. Craggy icicles were sticking out of each of their heads in what would be right between their eyes had they any.

Fareeha’s jaw fell slack and when she looked back to Mei she realized she was ten steps behind. The scientist was half way across the practice range, bounding happily towards a group of moving targets. Fareeha jogged after her to keep up, watching in awe as the gun in Mei’s hands blasted out frothy white air. The ground froze over where they spray of white touched, and the bots were reduced to giant robot popsicles. The ones that didn’t clatter to pieces upon being frozen need only a quick cap in the head.

“Is that it?” Mei asked, turning to her.

“Uh…” Fareeha looked around to see all the moving targets on the ground floor were taken out. “There’s… two more on the second floor.” She pointed up.

“Oh.” Mei looked up at the balcony for a moment as if gauging the distance. In an incredibly curious gesture she pointed her blaster down at the ground. In an instant she built a wall of ice a story high. It rose under her feet, thrusting her up towards the sky. She nearly stumbled before reaching out to take careful hold of the balcony. What slowed her down was actually climbing over the railing. She was a little too short to get her leg over the top rung. Eventually she managed, and just in time too because the ice wall crumbled into slush a second after she found her footing.

Fareeha stepped back to try and see but lost sight of Mei. She heard the definite thunk, thunk of icicles hitting their marks. A beat of silence fell before Mei leaned over the railing and smiled. “Okay! I’ve done it!”

Fareeha stopped the clock on her tablet. It was one of the fastest times yet. Tracer and Lucio had beat her out by obvious margins but no one else had managed to scale the set of stairs to the second story so quickly. Mei actually came in close behind Fareeha’s own time which was slightly vexing. She tried to make notes about the weapon, er – not a weapon – Mei was using. She tapped out nonsensical details into the tablet like ‘Ice’ and ‘Icicle projectile’ and ‘Ice wall’ trying to get it all down.

Mei came trotting happily down the stairs. She moved to stand with Fareeha, smiling sweetly all the while. “How’d I do?” She asked.

"Remarkably," Fareeha told her. She glanced over at Mei and really looked at her this time, reevaluating all her pre-conceived notions. It actually felt quite nice to be proven wrong. Fareeha definitely wouldn't be under estimating her again. "You'll be an asset to the strike team, that's for sure."

"I made the cut?" Mei lit up a little. She holstered her blaster and offered her puffy gloved hand to shake. "Wow, thank you so much! I'm honored."

Fareeha took Mei's hand in her own ready to shake it but immediately yanked back instead. She nearly yelped in surprise. The nylon and leather fabric of Mei's glove was crisp and frozen, ice cold to the touch.

"Oh, sorry! Sorry, sorry. Sorry." Mei quickly bit the tip of her finger and pulled the glove off with her teeth. "The climate manipulator ices over when its running. I always forget how cold it can be. Sorry." Sheepishly, she offered her bare hand instead.

Their second handshake was much more successful. ---

TWO

"I underestimated you." Fareeha admitted, fists shoved deep into the pockets of her brown leather bomber jacket.

The frigid chill of the night air was creeping down the back of her neck. Their busted down excuse for a base out here in Siberia barely had lights or running water much less heat. Still, she would need to head in soon. It wasn't much warmer inside but the walls provided shelter from from the wind and the roof kept the snowfall from wetting their clothes.

Mei was dressed perfectly for the weather, puffy parka zipped up and belted around her body. She was watching the snow come down, head tipped up towards the night sky. "Huh?" She looked at Fareeha over her shoulder. "Me? When?"

"When you first showed up after the recall." Fareeha told her. "Then you proved me wrong in the practice range, and today you saved my ass out there."

Although CEO Volskaya insisted her company's factories were well protected, she would have been shit out of luck today if Overwatch hadn't been there. It wasn't clear yet whether it was Talon, Los Muertos, or some other faction that had tried to make a move on the latest Russian defense mechs but someone had. Someone with multiple operatives and impressive training.

They had come pouring in during the early evening, armed soldiers hell bent on breaking into the factory. Overwatch had joined the Russian military in their defensive efforts. During the skirmish Fareeha had been clipped by a projectile and knocked from the sky. That wasn't so unusual for her, but she had landed much farther away from any friendlies than she would have liked. Combatants had come rushing towards her and her jump jet wasn't ready for a boost yet. Were it not for Mei quickly walling off the six men racing towards Fareeha something nasty could have happened.

"You've done the same for me." Mei pointed out thoughtfully.

They all watched each others' backs in battle was the sentiment, and that was true. Still, Fareeha didn't feel like Mei got enough credit where credit was due.

Fareeha had come out from the shelter of the base to see the snow. A white blanket a foot high already covered the ground but it was all iced over and hard. Soft, fluffy powder came falling down from the sky now. Fareeha had never seen it snow before. It was pretty. Like rain, but quieter and calmer and colder.

Somehow she found it hard to watch the sky with Mei standing next to her though. She was easily distracted by her cute face and the happy expression on it. She watched the snowflakes melt in Mei's hair and bead wet on her glasses. Fareeha was struck with the thought that there was no one in the world like this woman by her side.

Mei noticed Fareeha looking at her. "What? Something in my hair?" She asked, clamping her mittened hands over the top of her head in an effort to hide whatever it might be.

She was so cute it hurt.

"No, you just look really serene and ...beautiful." Fareeha realized this as she was saying it. Then, together, they both realized that Fareeha had just called Mei beautiful. Blushes graced both of their faces.

Mei dropped her hands, twisting them together in front of herself in a charming nervous gesture. "Oh, that's so romantic. I'm not sure how to reply."

Fareeha quirked her head. She hadn't quite expected that response. Mei was always surprising her in one way or another.

"We don't have to say anything." She suggested. "We could just kiss instead."

Mei looked up at her over the rim of her glasses as if to check and see if Fareeha was teasing her. When she realized it wasn't a joke at all she lit up and nodded eagerly. She held still as Fareeha closed the distance between them. Angling her soft face upward she left herself open for a kiss. It was so cold outside that her lips were cool to the touch. Fareeha didn't mind. ---

THREE

"I'm freezing!"

Fareeha looked up from her tablet. Now that Hana Song was part of the team they had a full and complete recordings of their last few engagements. What was a fun video stream for the Korean gamer's viewers proved to be valuable information to Fareeha. She was learning a lot about Overwatch and how they fought during battle just from reviewing these logged streams.

"I'm freezing, I'm freezing, I'm freezing!"

The door to her room had been wrenched open. Mei had come running in, bare feet thudding on the floor. She was dripping wet, hair plastered to the sides of her face. Her big belly was bulging over her blue swimsuit bottoms, breasts bouncing in her bikini top. Fareeha felt a sudden rush of blood go straight between her legs, a pulse of pleasure from seeing her girlfriend half naked like this.

Half of Overwatch were in Ilios for the next week. A recently unearthed archeology sight was making waves. Researchers from all over were flocking to the city. What started as an expedition of one or two people to check out the ruins turned into half of Overwatch volunteering to go along. That probably had nothing to do with Ilios being a picturesque vacation spot.

Lena had decided almost immediately on arriving that a trip to the beach was in order and everyone had gone along with her. Well, Fareeha had stayed back to focus on getting some work done, but everyone else. Apparently the beach trip was over and the team had returned.

Dripping wet, Mei scrambled onto the bed. She burrowed in Fareeha's side getting water all over her. "I'm freezing, Fareeha!"

"Ah!" She was plenty cold, that was for sure. She was also making a mess of the bed. "Are you mad? Go get a towel!"

"Oh, but you're much warmer." Mei giggled, trying to duck her head under Fareeha's muscular arm. ---

FOUR

Fareeha touched down on the ground, thrusters quieting as she found her footing. She did a headcount of the team, trying to locate them all. The massive mountain that was Reinhardt stood out in the middle distance between the towering buildings of King's Row. He was making his way over. Junkrat and Roadhog were already together, though it was hard to separate those two. Junkrat's giggling laughter echoed through the quiet alleyways. Mercy and Mei were still unaccounted for.

"Have you seen Mei?" Fareeha asked. She wanted to get a location on Mercy too but it was no coincidence that she thought of her girlfriend first.

Roadhog only offered a shrug of his massive shoulders. Junkrat jerked his thumb backwards. "I seen her in the street a few minutes ago."

"Get to work trying to disassemble the EMP." Fareeha ordered, nodding towards the massive rolling payload behind them. "Or escort it back to a safe zone. The fight might not be over yet, reinforcements could be coming."

"If reinforcement arrive I'll blow them up too." Junkrat announced with manic happiness. He had a detonator in one hand but Fareeha didn't see any explosive devices near by. Her stomach twisted uneasily seeing him playfully click the safety on and off the trigger.

"Just don't blow anything up in the mean time." She cautioned. "I'll find Mei and then we all need to group up."

"A fine plan." Reinhardt called from halfway down the street. His armor clanged heavily as he strode over the cobblestones to join them.

"Do you have a location in Mei?" Fareeha asked hopefully.

Reinhardt shook his big head, helm turning from left to right. "I haven't seen her since the fighting started."

Fareeha tried not to worry. Mei could hold her own. Her visor locked into place and she launched herself upwards, rocketing into the sky. She could see for miles but she focused on the nearby streets and allies of King's Row. She would trace her path all the way back towards the statue of Mondatta in the city square if she had to.

As it happened she didn't have to search very hard after all. She spotted a dark patch of red blood half a block back on the ground. Fareeha's heart bottomed out in her chest. She flew over at once, hitting the ground hard. Smears in the blood lead her around the corner to an ally hidden in shadow.

It was almost an afterthought that she registered the sound of a sniper rifle. If she had been standing still she might have gotten clipped. Instead she was rushing to Mei's side, unknowingly ducking into cover at the same time. Blood so dark it was black stained Mei's coat. Fareeha had plenty of practice keeping herself together in emergency situations or she might have panicked.

"We need a healing." She broadcast into the comms, immediately kneeling down at Mei's side. "Mei, can you hear me?" She found the wound in Mei's shoulder and put pressure on it at once. As horrifying as it was to find her significant other shot and bleeding out Fareeha was a soldier. She knew what to do. She would get Mei through this. She had to.

"Sniper," Mei whispered.

Her lips were pale, and her skin was clammy and cold. Fareeha felt her heart jump in her throat but she didn't panic. She couldn't.

"We require a healer!" She said into the comms, trying not to sound too flustered or angry

"I'm here!" Mercy called out.

Their medic came running down the street towards them. Bullets pocked the ground just behind her heels at every step. Her Valkyrie armor lit up the darkness and she flew the last few feet to them, instantly training the healing beam of her Caduceus staff on Mei.

Fareeha gripped Mei's hand and held it tight, watching with concern and then relief as some of the warmth and color returned to her.   ---

FIVE

Fareeha put the truck into park out front of the gas station convenience store. The driver's side window was rolled down. The hot air of the American desert was baking the brown landscape all around her. Occasionally a nice breeze would roll in and cool the sweat on the back of her neck. Not very often though.

She lifted her aviators up to read the map on her phone. So far as she could tell all she had to do was follow Route 66 right along to Deadlock Gorge. It was a bit of an inconvenience to travel by vehicle. They had flown in from Gibraltar last night but there weren't any airports or landing strips anywhere near their destination.

Fareeha wasn't sure why they couldn't park a small passenger plane out on the empty desert landscape but apparently that was pretty illegal. They were trying to keep a low profile too. Instead the team had flown into a private hangar three hours away from Deadlock Gorge and resolved to travel out by car.

She didn't think much of the dusty pick-up truck she was driving. They had equipment packed in the flat bed that needed to be transported or she would have just joined Hana and Lucio in their car. It was kind of nice to get some alone time with Mei. She just wished she didn't have to trade three hours of her life driving passed flat dusty nothing to be with her girlfriend.

The bell on the convenience store door jangled. Fareeha looked up to see Mei walking out with her arms full. She had sodas and snacks and a cup of something in her hand. She was wearing tight clothes that hugged the curves of her body. Fareeha watched the way Mei's thighs rubbed together and thought about how much she would have liked to be between them in that moment.

Mei's eyes caught Fareeha's and she lit up like they were seeing each other for the very first time that day. She was only ten feet away but she smiled and waved as she made her way over to the passenger side of the truck.

Fareeha smiled to herself. She turned the key in the ignition and let the engine come to life. At once air conditioning began to force out the stifling heat of the cab. She unlocked the doors before rolling up her window. Mei climbed in beside her, happily clicking her seatbelt on before digging into the cup in her hand with a plastic spoon.

"What is that?" Fareeha asked cautiously, staring through the gold tinted lenses of her sunglasses. There were little balls in there, hundreds of them; pale yellow, pastel pink, white and a subtle brown.

"It's the ice cream of the future!" Mei told her excitedly.

She scooped up a spoonful and offered it to Fareeha who tentatively took the bite. It was blessedly cold, with a curious sweet taste like bananas and strawberries. It was good.

"Huh," She said thoughtfully, pulling out of the gas station parking space and onto the road.

When Mei was finished with her future ice cream she discarded the plastic cup into one of the convenience store bags. She relaxed back, leaning into the cool blast of the air vent nearest her. She reached across the center console to tangle her fingers with Fareeha's, loosely holding hands. Her touch was cold from holding the ice cream container.

Fareeha thought of the first time she had taken Mei's hand in her own and found it shockingly cold. That day on the practice range. She had no idea what to think of this tiny bundle of climate knowledge with glasses and a messy bun. If she had known then how hard she would fall for this girl...

"Don't worry about me." Mei said softly.

Fareeha was pulled from her thoughts. "Hm?"

"On this mission." Mei explained. "I know you worry about snipers. I'll be careful, and Lucio will be there."

Fareeha squeezed Mei's cool fingers and smiled. "I wasn't worried." She had long since learned her lesson about underestimating Mei. ---

PLUS ONE

“There’s a tub.” Mei said, voice coming from the open doorway that lead into the bathroom.

Fareeha was unpacking her bag, pulling out her clothes for the next few days. Her folded shirts were sitting on the bed but she wanted to hang them up before they got too wrinkled. She already felt out of place in this city, a soldier and not a scientist, the last thing she wanted to do was look messy or unkempt.

Due to her expertise in climatology Mei had recently been called to Oasis where a group of colleagues were studying the data that she had collected during her stint at Ecopoint: Antarctica. She likely could have gone alone to meet with these people, but talking about her time on the Ecopoint was still hard for her. Fareeha had come along for emotional support. Oasis being the most beautiful, most educated, and most technologically advanced city in the world did have its appeal though. While Mei was off working Fareeha planned to explore the city and the extensive libraries nearby.

The best part of all was that the Ministry of Geology was footing the bill for the incredible hotel Fareeha and Mei were staying in. It was gilded and glistening from top to bottom, sleek of design and architecture, and furnished with beautiful tables and chairs. They had a full bedroom, a dining room, a kitchenette, a living room, and a giant master bathroom. Also, apparently, a tub…

Fareeha noticed Mei beside her and then felt a hand on her own, clasping it. “There’s a tub.” Mei said again. She pulled Fareeha away from the large queen bed and it’s many pillows.

“I’m putting my clothes away.” Fareeha barely protested, allowing herself to be pulled along.

To be very fair, when she finally saw it she could also conclude that it was indeed an impressive tub. It was one of those massive Jacuzzi types that could fit two people at the same time. There even appeared to be massaging jets and everything. “Yes, it’s very nice.” She agreed. Fareeha had plenty of practice keeping herself together so it was easy to hide the amusement in her tone.

“We have to get in!” Mei insisted. She leaned over the tub and picked up one of the complimentary toiletries, a little bottle. “Oh, there’s bath soap too we can make bubbles.”

Fareeha considered. They had never taken a bath together before. For a while on Watchpoint: Gibraltar the only bathroom with running water was a communal one, so technically they had showered together a few times. Fareeha had knelt down and thanked Allah the day they got the rest of the base up and running. No more washing up with the Junkers over her shoulder whipping towels at each other and cackling with laughter.

Bathing sort of was a cute thing for couples to do, she supposed. They had never bathed together before, so the suggestion seemed a little out of left field. Mei was already plugging up the drain and turning on the faucet. She squealed with delight as crystal clear water began flowing into the tub. Then it occurred to Fareeha that they had never stayed anywhere that even had a bath before. Suddenly she realized why Mei was so excited.

Fareeha was absolutely willing to take a bath together but there was more to it than that. This weekend was all about making Mei feel happy and safe. She stepped forward, coming up on Mei from behind. She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and stooped low to kiss her shoulder. “Alright,” She allowed. “We’ll need lots of bubbles, of course. We should set out fluffy towels for afterwards as well.”

Mei giggled. “Good thinking.”

They divvied up the work, Mei in charge of bubble duty and Fareeha in charge of towels. She found them in a linen closet nearby, thick and pure white and perfectly fluffy. As the bath slowly filled with water they took to undressing. Fareeha helped Mei pull her shirt up over her head and unhooked the clasp of her bra for her. They left their clothes strewn on the floor. When they were both naked they stood waiting for the bath to finish filling. Fareeha pulled Mei in for a sweet kiss, touching their foreheads together after.

“I love you.” She said softly. It wasn’t the first time she had said it, but it was still a new thing for them. New enough that Mei softened, melting with happiness every time she heard it.

“I love you too.” Mei told her.

They kissed again before breaking apart, deciding the tub was full enough. Fareeha climbed in first. She held out her hand, helping Mei into the tub. They laid on top of one another, Mei resting her back against Fareeha’s chest. The water rose up to their shoulders. The solid inch of bubbles covering the surface clung to their skin and caught in their hair. The hot water was an all-encompassing warmth that surrounded them.