#zieglera

ash: what happened??

me: I DROPPED MY CAKE

woiwoi thank ye mah baaabe

Kamilah walks by.

Ana: *sighs dreamily, and takes a deep breath* I lo-

Fareeha: “Yes, you love mama, I know, you love mama so much, she's the light of your life, you love her so much, you just love mama, I KNOW, you love mama you fucking love mama ok I know, I get it, YOU LOVE MAMA. I GET IT.”

Angela walks by.

Ana: :3c

The first shot is always indicative of how their duel is going to unfold, and how important their mission is. When it’s lighter and the lives of innocents aren’t at stake, it’s always frivolous shots at random targets. A screw head in a street sign. A car antenna. The bulb of a street light ridiculously far away. The neck of an empty soda bottle sitting on a rooftop’s ledge.

When the stakes are high and neither can indulge in a private duel, the shots are always more dangerous. Warning shots for the other to stay back or else. A bullet grazes over Ana’s head, causing her hood to fall back. A scope in Widowmaker’s visor shatters, red light going dark. It’s not confined to the snipers themselves, either. The tip of Pharah’s yellow visor is broken off by a shot taken while Ana’s watching. Sombra’s SMG falls out of her grasp, as she cradles a wrist impaled by a dart.

Zarya joined Overwatch later than Hana, and doesn’t know she’s been in the gym a lot. So when Zarya offers to help with her workout, Hana accepts with a small smirk on her lips, watching Zarya’s brows rise higher and higher as she demonstrates how much more weight she is able to lift without breaking a sweat. So they workout together, Zarya giving weightlifting and bodybuilding tips, while Hana teaches her Taekwondo and how to be nimbler on her feet.

Zarya smiles proudly when Hana surprises the team one day by flinging Jack effortlessly out of the sparring ring during a training session, the man landing quite some distance away. “Too bad you can’t nerf these,” Hana says, flexing and kissing her biceps.

Soon they become a terrifying team in hand-to-hand combat training, having learnt how to fight together during their sessions. More than half the team ends up on the floor after they’re done, all of them sporting bruises. Although Mei does seem to get off much lighter than everyone else. Every single time.

“You know she’s terrifying in battle, right?” Hana tells Zarya in private.

“That is when she is most beautiful,” Zarya sighs dreamily.

The first night is quiet. To be honest, Widowmaker doesn’t want to stay at all, but she accepts the cup in a gesture of ‘friendliness’ that Dr. Ziegler had encouraged her to demonstrate. Ana, picking up on her intent, lets her sit in silence. She watches the Frenchwoman sip at the tea mechanically. Drinking, but not tasting.

It is pouring the second night, rain pattering relentlessly on the kitchen windows they sat by. “Nothing like a good cup of tea to keep you warm, hm?” Ana says, breaking the silence. Widowmaker stares down at the light brown liquid in her cup, steam still wafting from its surface. It is hot, but she feels none of it. “No.”

Widowmaker shows up at the kitchen again and again in the nights that follow. Ana always welcomes her with a soft smile, a second cup of tea ready and waiting for her companion. Conversation comes as easily as coaxing a few dribbles of water from a rusty tap, but Ana manages. She asks about Widow’s day, how she feels about leaving Talon, how she is adjusting to Overwatch. Answers are succinct, but are given with less hesitation as time goes on.

After one difficult mission, Widowmaker sustains heavy injuries and is confined to the med bay. She lies in bed, eyes closed in meditation, until she opens them at night when Ana shows up with her tea set. She blinks; she wasn’t expecting any visitors. “I know how cold the med bay can get.” Ana winks, and hands her a cup of tea. Widowmaker cradles the cup in her hands, before lifting it to her lips. Odd. It is…warm. The med bay’s fault, no doubt.

“Are you going to stick with ‘Widowmaker’ 24/7?” Ana asks one night. “Or may I call you by your name?” Widowmaker doesn’t answer. When the pot is empty, she finally murmurs, “Amélie is fine.”

After Ana’s said ‘no’ a few times (”Fareeha dear, we really don’t have time to take care of a pet. Definitely no time for a cat.”), Fareeha’s still adamant and sometimes returns from school with a stray animal in her arms. A cat. A dog. A lizard. A rabbit. A bird. (How does she find them? No one knows.)

It just so happens she only picks up strays when Kamilah’s the one picking her up from school. Kamilah bites down on her lip to hide a guilty smile whenever Ana comes out to greet them and has to play the devil and take the animal away from their daughter, who’s pouting with all her might.

Time passes, Fareeha grows up and forgets about wanting a pet, and they never did get one. (Although, Ana tried giving Fareeha a pet rock once. But they had to take it away when Fareeha drew wings on it and threw it out the window to ‘help it fly’.)

Fast forward 60 years, Ana returns home and surprises her family with a small mewling kitten in her hands.