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#she hates me lol and always says things meanly at me and yells at me so easily as SOON as my dad leaves the room to stop it
kffandom · 7 years
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i’ve really been in the mood for writing some polyamory lately, and with what’s been on my dash, i felt like this was a good time to do it. this is my first time seriously writing a pairing with more than 2 people involved, so please feel free to give me constructive criticism on how to improve in the future if i did anything poorly. 
it’s very mercy-centric, just fyi. 
thanks~ 
---
angela sees fareeha amari for the first time when fareeha’s 12 and she’s 17. she’s been at overwatch for a few months when ana brings her daughter to work--her nanny was sick, and since ana was just doing paperwork for the day anyway, it was easier to bring her along.
angela, long before she became the graceful guardian angel of overwatch, was a teenager with balance issues and insecurity over her weight, who dressed in baggy clothes underneath a lab coat. she nearly bowls fareeha over and spends a solid three minutes stammering apologies and helping her up under the watchful gaze of captain amari. she thinks that little fareeha looks a lot like her mother, but she has softer eyes.
angela scurries off, busy with work, and fareeha watches her leave before ana’s gently pushing her towards her office.
angela sees fareeha for the second time when she’s lying in the middle of the typical omnic-human warzone and wondering if it’s time for her to just. stop. she could heal herself---it’s a gunshot wound through her middle, and if she would just pick up her staff and click it on---
but she’s tired. has been tired since overwatch fell, since no one would take her into their research programs when dr. ziegler was synonymous with “overwatch’s nanotech research department” for years, since she has been offering her assistance to only the most desperate, because that’s all that would accept her help in the aftermath
(she’s been tired since all of her friends scattered to the wind and she was left alone and had no idea where to go or what to do.)
she swears that if she’s still conscious in a minute, if she hasn’t caught any other bullets, she’ll pick her staff up and fix herself. it’d be selfish to let her tech go to waste when she can keep living and use it to help, but. well.
it’s at forty-five seconds when a mech of some sort lands beside her, conveniently in her line of sight. it stalks over to her, heedless of the fighting still going on, and curls over her as a shield
“miss, i’m going to get you out of here.”
“i’m fine, just--scoot up a bit, i just needed a minute--” angela sits up, with some effort, while this mech pilot continues to shield her. it takes seconds for her staff to fix the wound, and she feels reinvigorated with the residual energy. “alright, you were flying overhead, yes?”
“yes.”
“did you see where help was needed? i’m a field medic. it’d be helpful if you directed me to where i’m needed.”
“let me give you a lift.”
with that, she’s unceremoniously scooped up, and she only yelps a little. the pilot chuckles for just a second.  
she doesn’t know why this pilot was here in the first place, but she assists angela for the rest of the day. flying her from shelter to shelter, assisting where angela needed an extra hand or two, bringing her water after a few hours--
at the end, when both sides have retreated and nothing living remains, angela thanks her.
“it’s no problem, dr. ziegler,” fareeha says as she takes off her helmet. “i’m captain fareeha amari. it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“you as well. your help was invaluable today.”
they look at each other for a moment--two moments--a little longer than is socially appropriate, and angela hurriedly clears her throat when she realizes it.
“if you ever need my assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me,” she says as she pulls out a business card. (it’s the future so i imagine it’s like, all futuristic and holo-techy, so she can just print them out straight from her staff. she spends so much time in the field that when she wants people to follow up with her, i bet it’s just easier to be able to hand them something without having to carry around a box of business cards lol) “i must be on my way.”
“of course. again, dr. ziegler,” and fareeha picks up angela’s hand, angela thinks it’s for a handshake at first but then she pulls it up and presses her lips to it. “it was a pleasure.”
angela laughs for the first time in months and says, “please, captain. angela is fine. i do hope you’ll call.”
she’s pleased to see fareeha flush red and hurriedly put her helmet back on before zooming off with a short, awkward wave. it’s---it’s nice to feel attractive when she’s spent all day running-sprinting-fixing without a break, when she knows she’s sweaty and exhausted.
she does hope fareeha will call.
---
on the other end of things: i imagine after genji’s cyborgification, he has a long, long adjustment period. to me, angela doesn’t seem like that’d be anything she had a hand in---she’s a prodigy, they don’t exactly scream “social skills”, so even though she’s adorable and likable and polite, i don’t think she’d be the best person (or even an option) to be walking genji through physical therapy or any stage of recovery. she’d be there for ensuring his body was calibrated and being taken care of correctly, but i imagine she had little interaction with him after the initial surgery
he pops up afterwards, after he’s been cleared for duty, and he asks her a few basic questions before asking, bluntly, “why did they tell you to put so many resources into saving me, doctor?”
she cocks her head to the side, purposefully ignoring his stance meant to put her on edge. “ ‘they’?”
“overwatch. blackwatch. whoever sent the orders down. it doesn’t particularly matter who. what does matter is why they told you to.”
“they didn’t,” she says simply. “gabriel brought you in--he’s been working the shimada case for years, you understand. he knew there was going to be a blowout and was on standby. when he brought you in, i did what life-saving measures i could--we didn’t have your records, we had no idea if this kind of life is what you would want or if you would prefer to die, and no one could make a decision.
“so i did. i did what i could.”
he cocks his head at her, and she waits, patiently.
“i apologize if this wasn’t what you wanted. i understand it is a significant decrease in quality of life. to me, preserving life is the most important goal when a person’s desires don’t directly clash with it, and i made a judgment call when you were incapable of responding.”
she isn’t sorry, is the thing. she has no idea if genji wanted to live after what had been done to him, but she had to assume that he did. it’s not hers or any other doctor’s right to say, “well, he would probably prefer to die,” but it is their job to /help/ and to heal.
she did her job. if he hates her for that, if he is miserable and doesn’t want to live this way, then she will offer painless alternatives. if he hates her enough to retaliate---well. she’s lived on borrowed time for many years. it has to run out someday.
she waits.
he nods, finally.
“thank you, dr. ziegler. i apologize for my hostile approach.”
he leaves, after that.
she isn’t his primary physician after he joins blackwatch, but she does treat him a few times. they speak more or less amicably, and they have lunch together a few times. she’s one of the only people who has seen him without his visor on, and if she’s being honest, he’s a very, very cute man. he’s as kind as he can be, she thinks--with the trauma he’s been through, it’s amazing he isn’t nastier. but he’s very, very cold. very distanced.
when overwatch falls, though, he disappears like everyone else. a little meanly, she thinks she’s glad for not letting them become real friends if he was going to abandon her just like the others. she never did find out if he hated her for making him an asset that overwatch couldn’t afford to let go.
(she sort of hopes that he did. that he still does.)  
it’s almost a year later when she receives a letter from him--a handwritten letter, which is incredibly rare in their age. it’s shaky--from a hand that doesn’t write often, or is getting used to fine motor control that isn’t using a weapon, if she had to speculate.
it makes her cry, because she’s been alone for so long and it’s pages of genji thanking her and apologizing for appearing ungrateful for her hard work. apologizing for every time he had been cold or rude, for every time he didn’t thank her for healing him, for every time he demanded her aid---
he thanks her so many times, and at the end he says he misses her company.
she cries for a long time that night. she responds first thing in the morning, and thus begins their correspondence.
she sends him much longer letters than he ever does, and to make up for his brevity, he sends her little things--a rock he thought was neat, a yellow leaf, a ribbon, a feather.
---
when the recall happens, mercy and pharah are two of the first to join up. (pharah received the recall in place of ana, because winston never stopped keeping an eye on her after ana’s ‘death’. and he knows that even if pharah doesn’t want to join up, she’ll keep quiet about it and help where she can. it’s more than he could hope for that she actually responds.)
they greet each other warmly, and spend the rest of the meeting arguing about what direction to take overwatch in. (mercy always wants it to be less violent, more pacifistic, whereas pharah has fought their enemies in the past and knows that they can’t only be reactionary.)
it’s thrilling, weirdly. angela, at the end, is almost huffing from how much she yelled, and fareeha’s face is flushed and has a bit of sweat at her temples. she thinks this discussion is good, in the end, because new overwatch can’t be a group of ‘yes-men’. there needs to be discussion.
it’s later that evening, an hour or so after angela’s taken one of the computer terminals to watch something mind-numbing, when fareeha walks up and says, “your ideals are admirable, doctor.”
“i believe i asked you a few weeks ago to call me angela, my friend,” she responds after a brief pause. “would it be rude of me to request that we keep ‘ideal’ talk to the meeting room? i’m looking for some escapism right now, i’m afraid.”
“with food network?” fareeha asks, a light note of teasing under her tone. “are you a cook as well, angela?”
“i wish,” she laughs. “i’ve never been in one place long enough to own a stove, i’m afraid. i’ve never had a chance to make anything more complex than a sandwich.”
“i believe there’s a kitchen here. fully stocked, if winston is to be believed.”
angela isn’t really certain how fareeha convinced her to bake cookies at midnight, but she did.
it’s a really, really good night. it’s been a long time since angela partook in something she wasn’t automatically skilled at--she really has never done any baking or cooking, so fareeha has to show her how to do everything. cracking an egg, measuring flour, even how much to stir ( “are you sure we’re not over-stirring it?” “it has to be smooth, see. you don’t want any lumps.” “Oh, i guess that makes sense.” “what?” “well i mean. doesn’t that just. bake out?” “If you like lumpy cookies, we can stop now--”)
she’s covered in flour and dough and stickiness, and it’s great. fareeha winks at her as she slides the trays into the oven.
“not bad for never baking before.”
“we had to throw away an entire batch because i didn’t know the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon,” angela says through laughter.
“thankfully, you’re a smart cookie--”
“i cannot believe you just said that!” She starts laughing harder.
while they’re waiting for the cookies to bake, they sit on the floor across from the oven. fareeha’s legs are curled up against her chest while angela lets hers lay out in front of her.
“are you afraid of what rejoining overwatch will do to your reputation?” fareeha asks quietly. “after i met you, i asked around. many of my colleagues spoke of your skill and kindness on the field. you’re highly respected. rejoining may tarnish that.”
“fareeha, i have no reputation that can fall further than it already has,” angela grins as she says it. “i don’t have a medical license anymore, you realize? when overwatch fell the first time around, no one would take me. everything i do is illegal. i volunteer where i can and i take myself where people need me too badly to refuse. i stay as up to date as i can and i do my own work and research when i can, but my savings were only going to last maybe two or three more years.
“I would’ve been in jail or dead eventually if overwatch hadn’t reformed.”
fareeha stares at her, and angela laughs awkwardly. “so, no. i’m not afraid. i’ll keep doing what i’ve been doing and try to help who i can until my time’s up. it sounds like you might be afraid, though.”
fareeha swallows and looks away. “perhaps. i believe that overwatch is the right place for me. it is doing the right thing that other organizations are willfully refusing to do. but it is difficult to walk away from a position i was good at and was meaningful to me.
“i can’t /not/ be part of overwatch---this is where the fight for justice begins. i truly believe that. now that i’ve made the decision though, the future is much more daunting.”
“that’s understandable. but fareeha, you are braver than me---braver than most of the others here--for making this decision.”
“you all are taking the same risks.”
“yes, but we have nothing to lose,” angela smiles. “if i want to continue working, i need overwatch and its resources. and while i believe in its message, you can already see how hesitant i am to take any meaningful steps with it after overwatch’s last failures. i am mostly here because i need to be. i assure you that in their own ways, that’s why everyone else has returned.
“you, however--you had no real ties to overwatch. yet here you are. ready to fight with us because you want to do the right thing.” she stretches briefly and continues, “it’s admirable. you’re a brave woman. i’m looking forward to working with you.”
the timer dings before angela can see fareeha’s reaction (a wide-eyed, confused look, before her eyes darted down to her fidgeting hands), and they keep talking as they eat them. they made a few dozen and eat at least a dozen and a half that night, just between the two of them.
when they go their separate ways, angela sucks in a small but sharp breath when fareeha’s hand brushes hers. it startles her more than she thinks it should.
they click, is the thing. they work well together, and even when they disagree they can sort it out. they can joke around and comfort each other, and fareeha even drops off a box lunch whenever she’s on base and sees that the doctor has been in her lab since 4AM. 
angela is grateful for fareeha’s presence in her life, even if the warm, simmering undertones are somewhat confusing. sometimes their interactions are tense in a not-altogether-unpleasant way and angela is a little ashamed to admit she doesn’t know what to do about it.
so she doesn’t do anything.
---
it’s a few months later when genji shows up, with his friend/teacher/perhaps something more/etc. zenyatta in tow.
“i apologize for my delay,” he says when he arrives, after winston determines he is who he claims to be. “we had to complete prior obligations before we could join you, and i didn’t want to try sending a message when i was uncertain about your position.”
angela runs up to him and stops short, uncertain. they have written each other for years at this point, and while she believes they’re close, are they close enough for physical contact? when he shunned it so determinedly before?
he solves it for her by bringing her into a tight hug.
“dr. ziegler. i am so happy to see you here.”
her eyes water, and she tucks her head into his shoulder. it’s one of the warmest hugs she’s received. “genji, you are more than welcome to call me angela. it is very, very good to see you.”
they pull away, and he’s visorless and smiling at her. it’s a good moment.
when she’s introduced to zenyatta, she feels like she’s met a kindred soul. he radiates kindness and understanding, and he asks her (rather intense) questions about her medical methods and the technology she created when she had overwatch’s seemingly endless resources
“i apologize if i am overwhelming you, dr. ziegler,” he says suddenly. “when genji began to heal, he spoke of you quite at length. i did a great deal of research into your work and it has fascinated me for years now. i was... excited to speak with you.”
“it’s not a problem,” she replies happily. “it’s not often that someone wants to speak about my work in depth. i, too, have questions about your own methods--genji has described them somewhat in his letters, but i admit i’m curious and would love a demonstration and the chance to discuss it with you.”
zenyatta has kind body language, and he isn’t afraid to reach out and take her hands. she lets him because he is so overtly kind. she wonders, idly, how he will fare on a battlefield, or if he is expecting to remain
“you are a wonderfully gifted woman, dr. ziegler. i would be honored.”
she blushes at his sincerity.
angela feels oddly shy around genji at first. she’s feeling out how he is in person--in written word, he’s polite and concise with good humor, but she remembers how he was before he left.
to be honest, she had no idea that he had healed so much. he’s much more comfortable in his skin, and she shrieks the first time he sweeps her up with one arm and runs down the corridor with her on his back just because she said she’d never had a piggyback ride before
“genji!”
“i’m sorry angela, but it had to be done,” he says, faux-seriously. he’s running faster than any human could, and it’s somewhat exhilarating and somewhat horrifying. she holds on around his neck tightly.
he runs all over base, even kicking off of walls and jumping high enough that she could touch the base’s high, high ceilings if she let go of him long enough. she shrieks with laughter and can’t help but laugh harder when she hears his whoops of joy
it’s easier to be open with him, after that. he’s clearly ready to be open and available to her, so she responds in kind.
he starts a trend of appearing, randomyl, throughout the day and dragging her away from non-essential work. he takes her to eat almost every day once he learns that she rarely eats lunch that isn’t directly brought to her. 
“it’s not healthy to be cooped up in a laboratory all day, angela,” he chides her gently one day. he pushes a plate into her hand and grabs his own, motioning for her to follow him. “let’s eat outside today. i won’t ask when the last time you saw sun was, but i imagine you could use it today.” 
she doesn’t argue--is exhausted after countless hours spent staring at journals and articles and trying desperately to keep up to date when she’s so isolated from the medical community. she’s an innovator, true, but only through other people’s previous work and help to build off of, and it’s /hard/ not having the personal connections with researchers like she used to. 
they find a soft patch of grass, not too far from the entrance to the base, and sprawl out in it. angela’s laying down completely and shoving half of a sandwich into her mouth at once, hoping there’s some way she can drink her water without having to sit up. 
genji asks, “why do you push yourself so hard?” 
she thinks for a minute before shrugging. “i always have. i don’t think i know how to go easy. and i shouldn’t when i can work hard and accomplish great things. it’d be lazy and irresponsible not to.” 
“it’s not lazy to take breaks.” 
she shrugs. then startles when genji grabs her hands and drags her to her feet. 
“let’s climb a tree.” 
“uh. why?” 
“just because. when was the last time you did something just because you could?” 
she climbs a tree for the first time that day, with genji carefully monitoring and making sure she won’t misstep. they find a branch that’s stable enough to hold her and get her positioned to sit on it, while genji dangles off of the trunk, holding on with only one hand. 
“i need to get back to work.” 
“play a round of ‘I spy’ with me first?” 
so she does. but then he beats her, which means it has to be a two out of three type of thing so she can redeem herself. before she knows it, they’ve been out there for two hours and they’re arguing over whether that flower is blue or purple. 
she feels better, afterwards. 
---
she and fareeha spent a lot more time together before genji arrived, but they still spend plenty of time together preparing for missions together, going on actual missions together, and having their post-mission baking/watching tv/talking/almost-cuddling-but-not-quite-touching/etc. sessions. they’re extremely de-stressing while simultaneously riling angela up in a way she doesn’t want to acknowledge.  angela tries to get across how grateful she is for fareeha’s presence in her life by trying to be as comforting as she is, letting her pick what they make when she’s teaching angela to cook, by not being /too/ pushy. she loves spending time with fareeha, but she worries that she clings to the other woman too tightly.
genji tends to bug her during the day---fareeha feels like she’s imposing if she walks into angela’s lab while she’s working and prefers to let angela approach her or for their work to bring them together, but genji will stop by to drag her away from work without caring if she’s in the middle of something or not, especially if its a mealtime. she and genji rarely are in the field together, rarely spend time right before or right after missions together since she’s with fareeha, so he approaches her during her downtime. she hates it, a little bit, because sometimes she has to firmly turn him away when she really can’t leave the work, and he looks downtrodden. he’s a ray of sunshine when she’s stressed or tired, and she appreciates his work to cheer her up. he doesn’t need her relying on him, though, not when he’s finally content and comfortable in his skin--she doesn’t want to be clingy with him either.
she and zenyatta, too, become fairly close in a different way. they’re the only medics overwatch has, for now, and while zenyatta is skilled---he’s not a trained doctor, for one, but he’s also not a trained medic. angela basically has to teach him general doctor-first-aid that’s a few steps above general first-aid the average person learns, and she has to teach him how to heal in the middle of combat
he’s an excellent student and thankfully a fast learner. angela’s the first to admit she’s naturally impatient, and she’s not sure how well they would’ve worked if he hadn’t been as sharp as she is.
they have a really intense night where he stays late since they’re discussing something, and angela can’t help herself any longer.
she has to ask him it, even though it’s exposing her inner insecurities more than she’s comfortable with. but she has to know.
“what did you see in genji that made you want to help him?”
he cocks his head to the side--a motion he and genji both do frequently, and she wonders who started it. “i saw a lost young man who was struggling to atone for his past mistakes while simultaneously struggling to comprehend the wrongs that had been done to him. i saw someone who i could help, so i did what i could.”
it resonates with her. she asks, “do you. is there--?” she trails off.
he takes her hands in his own, and she gets the feeling that he’d smile at her if he could. “angela. you are not irredeemable. whatever sins are behind you--i have followed your work since i became aware of you. you have done much good. clearly, you are working to remedy the wrongs you feel you have committed.” he pauses, before adding, quietly, “i wish you would stop punishing yourself, though.”
she recoils. “i’m not sure what you mean.”
“helping people is admirable. you are very good at helping people. however, helping yourself appears to be beyond your reach.” he reaches a hand up and cups her face. “you are allowed to do both, my friend.”
“i don’t. i don’t know.”
“if you can’t help yourself, perhaps there are others that can.” his “eyes” meet hers. “you know who i speak of. you reaching out to me means you recognize it as well.”
she swallows.
“think about it.” he says, a little airily as he releases her hands. “i, and others, are here for you.”
---
angela does some soul searching. it’s very meaningful, i assure you, but the important bits are: she’s happier, with fareeha and genji in her life. she thinks she needs to tell them, directly, how much they’ve helped her. she thinks she needs to tell them that abandonment is one of her greatest fears and that she would appreciate reassurance from them that they won’t leave her if she does something wrong.
(that she still wonders if she had been a better daughter if her parents wouldn’t have died, that if she had been a better person if her aunt wouldn’t have dropped her off at an orphanage and never looked back, that if she had been smarter or kinder or /better/ if she could’ve made anyone stay after overwatch fell--)
when she makes the decision, she feels content. it’s something she needs to do, so she’ll do it. it’ll be scary, but stepping between two guns to get to a hurt omnic is scary too. and she’s done that before.
she gathers up her courage (like fareeha, who’s always so brave) and her confidence (like genji, who went through so much to get that confidence), and she walks into the living area athena told her genji and fareeha were in
and she immediately yelps and backs out because.
wow.
that was a lot of skin.
a lot of. noise.
a lot.
a lot, she finishes.
“angela, wait--!”
“damn it, just-- angela, please!”
she walks down the hallway quickly--not quite running, but very close. she passes lena, who tries to stop her with a, “oi, angie, y’alright there? what’s the matter luv?” and a hand, but she shrugs her off and keeps going.
her lab has very nice doors. they slide open for her automatically because they recognize her, and she can lock them just by clapping her hands. they’re good doors.
she leans back against them and slides down until she’s sitting, and she can’t quite figure out why she’s crying.
(here’s the story that angela didn’t get:
when genji reappeared, he was prepared to woo angela. he and zenyatta are close, and while they don’t have a label, their relationship, while deep, isn’t sexual. and zenyatta has given genji the green light to pursue angela--admires angela long before they meet her, and once he does meet her, respects her and adores her in his own way.
genji didn’t expect competition--she’s very strict about doctor-patient relationships, so any former patients (aka: all of overwatch) wouldn’t be available for at least two years. and now, with zenyatta there, he would be genji’s primary “physician/caretaker” and therefore there wouldn’t be a conflict of interests.
the only obstacle he foresaw was his relationship with zenyatta that was already in place. and perhaps she would be okay with his emotional connection with zenyatta, which is more intimate than family or friendship.
he didn’t expect fareeha, who’s already wormed her way into angela’s heart. who rarely gets injured, and when she does, it’s minor enough that angela isn’t really being a doctor or a medic. there’s no conflict there, and now with zenyatta there, there doesn’t have to be one for angela with fareeha either.
and fareeha’s kind and strong--exactly what angela deserves.
it’s a complication he didn’t expect. it keeps him from brushing hair out of her face, from hugging her every time he sees her, from trying to kiss her when she laughs to see what it feels like.
it /hurts/, and while he’s found peace, that doesn’t mean he isn’t still vulnerable to the occasional turmoil.
fareeha, in turn, recognizes that angela could love genji. and when she starts spending more and more time with him, she’s heartbroken. has no idea how she can compete with someone so funny and cheerful. someone who has fought his way back to angela’s side.
genji is kind and happy--angela could use more than a little of that. they have history, and it’s been long enough that angela’s work on him as a doctor can’t be holding her back.
she stops herself from reaching out to angela, from taking that tension between them and crushing it with their lips---
they would be great together, fareeha knows, and it aches.
the first time genji and fareeha are alone together is. bad. they’re painfully awkward with each other but semi-trying to make an effort because they care for angela and want to support her by being kind to those who care for her.
fareeha says, “angela and i made chicken soup for dinner last night, if you’re hungry. leftovers are in the fridge.”
“you made soup?” he asks, skeptically.
“yes? why?”
“oh. nothing.”
fareeha gives him an unimpressed look. “what?”
“it’s just. angela doesn’t like soup.”
fareeha feels her face flush with anger. “well, she liked this soup.”
“i’m certain,” he says, more than a little disdain dripping out of his mouth. his visor is down.
it does pretty downhill from there. he claims that fareeha doesn’t listen to her well enough, and she retorts that at least she listens to her and doesn’t distract her from work.
they’re not yelling, but it’s close.
eventually, they stop saying anything and just stare at each other. fareeha’s shaking, on the verge of screaming or crying, while genji appears to have locked every joint in place.
“you don’t have to be jealous,” fareeha says tightly. “we’re not--” she cuts off and directs her eyes to the ground, still furious.
“we’re not either,” he snaps. “you have no more right to be jealous than i do.”
they both deflate after a moment. genji snaps his visor up and sighs.
“it’s not easy loving her.”
“she’s painfully oblivious. she needs help---”
“and she never asks for it!” they finish together, exasperatedly. they share a small, tired smile.
“i’m sorry.”
“no, don’t be. i’m sorry.”
“we were both--” fareeha waves her hands ambiguously. “yeah.”
“may i make tea for us both? I believe we need to talk more. perhaps a little calmer.”
“perhaps,” she teases lightly. “i’ll grab some snacks to go with. meet back here in fifteen?”
things get better rather quickly. they’re more alike than they thought, and they have weekly tea. there’s a certain camaraderie they formed, with their mutual unrequited love that neither feels they have a right to take action on.
it’s unspoken between them that the choice is angela’s. she could choose either or neither.
fareeha appreciates that she can be boisterous with genji. she punches him in the side when he gets too exuberant and he just laughs in her face and shoves her back. they get to the point where they tease each other and wrestle and generally annoy the crap out of each other, but with bright smiles on their face
they also drink together, because anyone else on base who would drink with them either 1) really shouldn’t unless someone’s willing to be sober and keep an eye on them or 2) really shouldn’t drink in general because they probably have a problem. genji’s a fun, bouncy drunk, and fareeha is lazy and happy to throw an arm over him to pin him down and keep him from running up the walls.
he’s giggly too, and. it’s not surprising when he pecks fareeha on the lips, tasting like cheap rum. it’s meant affectionately, playfully, but it lingers a little longer than a drunk-friends-aren’t-we-cute kind of kiss would. it’s very surprising when fareeha pulls him back for another one.)
---
they’re maybe kind of dating. kind of? it’s complicated, because it’s no secret that they both still love angela, but they’re starting to care for each other. and it’s really nice to have someone, and to hold someone.
they both think, on separate occasions, “this is nice.”
it feels semi-dishonest, because they don’t tell anyone except zenyatta (zenyatta knows, of course, because genji tells him everything. fareeha and zenyatta aren’t more than somewhat aware of each other, but they’re amicable. they have a few conversations, where zenyatta, rather bluntly, says, “you are aware of genji’s feelings for dr. ziegler, yes?” and she responded with, “as much as he is aware of mine for her as well.” other than that, they’re acquaintances but not close. not yet.)
but they don’t tell angela or anyone else because they’re both still sort of waiting to see if angela will pick one of them. they also don’t feel “serious” enough to warrant telling people, because outside of the sexual aspect, they’re mostly just friends. they don’t feel any obligation to the other.
but again. both of them still are close with angela, and when fareeha comes back to her room after post-mission de-stress with angela or when genji comes back to his room after getting angela out of her lab for a few hours, the other one’s there with sympathetic eyes and open arms.
it’s complicated. especially for genji, who is already emotionally intimate with zenyatta and juggling these similar but still different emotions for three (3) people
and then angela walks in on them.
fareeha barely got her bra back on and her pants pulled up, and genji got himself situated and threw sweatpants on, before they’re running after her while cursing at each other
( “you and your stupid exhibition kink, we shouldn’t have been in the open--” “you weren’t disagreeing when i brought it up! don’t act like you don’t like it--god, did you see her?” “she looked /crushed/, genji.”)
they reach her lab just moments after she shuts the doors. it’s the first time fareeha’s banging on the door while genji hesitates, wondering if they’re welcome.
“angela, please--can we talk? can we talk about this?”
genji crosses his arms and looks away, feeling hollow and /bad/. fareeha’s near tears and still knocking until athena comes onto the speaker near them and passes on a request from angela to stop
it’s very quiet, after fareeha stops knocking. they don’t look at each other.
everything is very complicated and messy and neither really knows what to do. so it’s days until anything happens. zenyatta gives them both unimpressed hums when he sees their stress because this could’ve all been avoided if they had talked to angela before.
(he’s a little ticked because he literally just got angela to decide to open up to them and they blow it. he’s aware it’s irrational because it’s not their fault that she wandered in at an inopportune moment and it’s not their fault that she’s confused and hurt but. he’s twenty. he’s allowed to be a little irrational, according to television.)
it’s a few days before angela has a mission when genji and fareeha approach her. they carefully walk into her lab, where the doors are wide open and she’s only working on inventory. she has a clipboard in front of her and is making tick marks and muttering. she has tired eyes, but greets them with a bright smile.
“hello there. i--” she clears her throat and says, eyes carefully not meeting theirs. “i’m sorry for walking in on you two. i will endeavor to knock before entering rooms from now on. i also apologize for my, ah. overreaction.”
“you don’t need to apologize,” genji says slowly. “but fareeha and i do believe that we need to talk. all three of us.”
angela juts her chin out and says, tightly, “do you really need me to say it?” she doesn’t wait for an answer before almost hissing, “i fell in love with you, genji, when you came back and smiled and tried to get me to dance with you to stupid, ridiculous pop music. when you smiled at me, and you just kept smiling. and all i ever want to do is make sure you keep smiling, and i want you to smile because of /me./”
before he can react, she shoves the palms of her hands against her eyes and says, loudly, “and i fell in love with you, fareeha, when i found out you learned how to make homemade doughnuts just in time for the holidays because i said i missed them, and when your eyes were so /bright/ when i ate the first one, when you were so happy to share it with me.” her voice cracks. “your eyes are so beautiful, fareeha, and every time you look at me i want to be a better person and do better, i want us to make overwatch something amazing but even more than that i want us to be something amazing because i know--- i know that we could be, i do.” 
they don’t say anything and she lets her hands fall to her sides and smiles oddly.
“i want to say that i’m happy for you two,” she says, almost normally. “but i’m selfish. so i’m not, really, because i don’t want you two to be together without me. and that’s not fair of me to ask, i know that.” she turns around and starts to walk back to her desk. “i would appreciate some time alone to come to terms with this development, thank you.”
“what if we’re offering?” fareeha says quickly. “what if you don’t have to ask?” 
“don’t tease.” 
genji speaks up, just as quickly. “i fell in love with you when i found you asleep at your desk with at least three journals about prosthetics and adjusting to their use under your head, a week after my surgeries. when in that same week, you made the adjustments that made everything more /real/ and gave me the ability to feel and touch back.” 
“that was years ago,” she cuts in, turning around and shaking her head. “it’s not--” 
“i fell in love with you again,” genji continues over her walking forward and taking her hands. “when i returned and you had my favorite tea stocked, as if you were certain i’d come back eventually. when you let me show up at three in the morning for company, when i felt alone, and even though you were busy, you sat and played hangman and tic tac toe and other, ridiculous, schoolchildren games with me. i fall in love with you every time you smile at me. i didn’t know how to tell you, and i faltered. i am so sorry for ever letting you believe i didn’t love you, angela.”  
angela can feel her lip tremble. 
fareeha steps forward too, and reaches out to get a hold on angela’s shoulder. she says, “i fell in love with you when you tried to ice the chocolate cake we made and broke the bag, and you decided to just smear it on with your hands. i l fell in love with you when you fell asleep on my shoulder after watching your favorite movie. you drooled. i remember wishing that i could have you drool on me every night after,” she laughs gently. “i want you, and your drool, and your poor taste in movies, and your sometimes painful optimism, because you make me the best i can be.” 
fareeha reaches up to cup her cheek and swipe a thumb across, catching a few tears, and genji’s hands tighten around hers. fareeha continues, “i love you, and i know it because only that could make me cowardly enough to not tell you until now. you talk about how brave i am, yet i couldn’t tell the woman how i felt. i never want you to feel unloved again, angela. i am so, so sorry.” 
she can’t talk for awhile, and she lets the two of them hold her. when she has herself together, she clears her throat and grabs back at them. wraps an arm around fareeha’s waist, tentatively until she steps closer to make it easier for angela’s arm to fit. she wraps her other arm around genji’s shoulders, again tentatively until he moves closer. 
they’re in a warm, tight circle that’s almost a hug but not quite. 
“thank you. i don’t--we need to talk more. but maybe after a nap?” she says quietly. like a secret, between the three of them. “i’ve been up for thirty-six hours.” 
she can’t help but grin when they both pull out of her grasp to gripe at her and tug her towards one of their rooms. 
( “angela, you must take better care of yourself--” “thirty-six hours! you are ridiculous, habibti, you look like you’re about to fall over!” ) 
--- 
they talk. 
(unsurprisingly, so does everyone else. they don’t worry about it too much, though genji gets self-conscious sometimes when all three are being affectionate in public) 
---- 
zenyatta is eventually officially genji’s boyfriend, though he’s not involved with angela or fareeha. he and angela are good friends, but once they are more involved in missions and providing support, their relationship becomes more like a “brothers-in-arms” and they tend to turn to each other for support they can’t get from their significant others. 
zenyatta and fareeha are sort of like workplace friends. they get along well enough and can talk and joke readily enough, but they don’t really interact outside of events where they need to be near each other. they work together for genji’s surprise party, though fareeha almost blows it--twice. 
zenyatta reassures her that it’s not a character flaw that she can’t think of lies easily. fareeha tells him that just because genji has synthetic taste buds doesn’t mean that he would like joint grease in his cake so please don’t stir with your own hands. 
/
genji and fareeha’s relationship stays much the same, as in: they don’t really go out on dates with just the two of them, because while they both love angela and care about each other, they’re not really great together romantically. they like to sleep together every once in awhile, and they like sharing a bed when it’s all three of them together, but generally if angela’s on a solo mission, genji stays with zenyatta and fareeha lounges in their king-sized bed and spreads out for the night. they bug the crap out of each other while loving every minute of it, and they dote on angela separately and together. they love to organize huge romantic gestures together to surprise her with. 
they’re the ones who get into short but sharp arguments, who are the first to accuse the other of not being completely invested in all of their partners equally. (which they never mean, but it’s a fear they all share and they try to be open about it and reassure each other when it pops up) they’re also the first to forgive, though. they make up after their arguments almost immediately. 
they watch hockey together! don’t ask me why hockey, it just seems fitting--that’s Their Thing. they like to buy jerseys for each other from teams that have bird mascots. angela gets them tickets to go to the stanley cup in america for fareeha’s birthday. 
/
angela and genji go dancing, frequently. when it’s just the two of them, they have dates geared towards fun. they like to try to get off base and they very much act like two young kids in love--when 76 sees them alone together, he will literally turn around and walk in the other direction because they’re sickeningly sweet. they’re the “oh let me feed you this by hand~” and gaze into each other’s eyes type of together. their arguments are painfully 
when they argue it’s almost scarily civil. it’s generally milder but about more serious things, because neither of them like to bring up sad/bad things unless they have to, so it’s generally been simmering for awhile by the time they get to “discussing” it. they try to follow the “don’t go to bed angry” rule, except neither is really sure when the situation’s been solved adequately because they’re both passive aggressive and go, “oh okay. no it’s fine. really.” things do eventually get resolved but it takes a little while longer
they watch sad movies together and see who cries first. whoever cries first has to be the in-between squished one in bed that night. (all three of them hateeeee being in the middle for longer than twenty minutes because it’s gets hot with all of them squished together but someone has to bear that cuddly and toasty burden) genji likes to pick angela up but angela likes to hold genji when they’re cuddling or sleeping. 
(they are gentle and loving, and they are great together.) 
/
angela and fareeha are still a force to be reckoned with on the field, and now off the field they’re almost always in sync. they still have explosive arguments about overwatch’s direction, but they’re actually pretty good at not taking work “home”. when it’s just the two of them, they like to relax and just. appreciate each other.  at every base, they call dibs on the room with its own bathroom and enjoy taking scrunched up baths together when they can. angela bought fareeha this cozy bathrobe, and they both race to jump out first when the water gets cold to put it on and revel in its plushness. 
they don’t get into as many arguments with each other as they do individually with genji, and sometimes genji brings up concerns that maybe it’d be better if they split into genji and zenyatta, and angela and fareeha, rather than sticking with fareeha + angela + genji(zenyatta). they both cling to him a little bit when he brings up those worries, and eventually angela finds the right way to explain it to him. ( “we argue so much about overwatch in general and how it should be run that by the time we get back, we’re so relieved to be done with those types of arguments that not much pisses us off more than what we were just arguing about. we’re still evening out to the same amount of irritation---we don’t get angrier with you, i love you very much, liebling.” 
“besides that,” fareeha adds. “the reason we don’t get into full scale arguments between the three of us is because you play mediator and keep a cool head when it’s all of us.” 
it makes him feel a lot better, and they spend the night together to cement it.) 
angela and fareeha play board games--i’m serious. trivial pursuit, cranium, sorry!, uno--they get so competitive and they’ll have entire tournaments trying to determine who’s the “best”. angela’s the reigning champ at jenga, but fareeha kicks her ass at scrabble and any trivia game. 
fareeha loves hugging. not even cuddling, necessarily, but she goes out of her way to hug angela every time she sees her. loves to bury her face in angela’s hair and be squeezed in return. angela likes to give hugs where she squeezes as hard as she can and it makes fareeha laugh because her partner is so, so cute. 
(there’s talk that they’re following in jack and gabe’s footsteps. that they could bring overwatch to new heights, together. the difference between the two pairs, though, is that there’s no resentment between angela and fareeha. they want the best for each other and while they have differing opinions, they both are idealistic and they want overwatch to be great--they want to do good. 
they’re leaders, and they’re good ones. they’re great together, on and off the field.) 
all three of them together is something adorable. it’s very affectionate--fareeha and genji together are snickers and banter, talking-jabbing-kissing in rapid succession. genji and angela together are sweet, almost shy glances and touches that just are barely there. angela and fareeha together are lingering, smoldering looks and soft sighs. but when it’s all three, it’s just warm and kind, all around. 
they revolve around angela, if they look at it objectively. she’s the center for the most part (bed positions generally excluded, because she claims an edge before the other two about fifty percent of the time). on angela’s end, it’s comforting when both of them are on either side of her and just /being/ there. she’s clingier to both of them when they’re all together, even when they’re in public. 
she likes to hold their hands, even if that leaves both of them with one hand free to pinch and tease the other. sometimes she wishes they loved each other like she loved them--thinks it would be easier, because she wouldn’t worry so much about them developing a rivalry of some sort from their already playful relationship or paying more attention to one over the other 
then she realizes she just fought fareeha for a solid five minutes to get the last bite of genji’s ice cream when he said he didn’t want it, and she and fareeha had at least 12 rounds of rock-paper-scissors before there was a winner. so if anyone has a rivalry, it’s really her and fareeha. 
and then she realizes that it’s not a matter of paying attention--she pays attention to both of them. and it’s not like she can keep track of how many hours she spends with each in a week. not when their schedules are so clashing, and genji spends half of the week with zenyatta and fareeha goes on more solo missions than either of them combined and angela has her own work to do. if they’re happy, she’s doing fine. it doesn’t have to “even” out. 
and they are happy. they all check with each other frequently to ascertain this isn’t too much to handle, and they eventually instate a rule saying that if anyone is feeling neglected, they need to schedule a date for all of them as soon as they’re all at the same base, and if that’s longer than two days away, they have an immediate video call. 
it works, for them. there are obstacles and some fumbling, even after they get into the swing of things, but overall--- 
overall they’re great together. it’s as close to perfect as they could make it. 
(i bet they get cheesy promise rings after a few years, and it’s the first time any of them see fareeha really cry. like she’s gotten teary-eyed before, but this was full on waterworks, and that set genji off who was like “you’re not supposed to be the crier damn it you shocked me into crying you’re such a jerk” and then angela’s hiccup-crying and trying to tell the jeweler their ring sizes. it’s a #mess and they’re all pretty embarrassed by the time they leave the store. 
and then when they actually get the rings it’s even /more/ crying, except this time it’s a little more solemn and meaningful because they’re actually putting them on each other, and they feel a little silly doing it so intensely but also like it’s something they need and want to do since marriage isn’t really an option with their vigilante-esque lifestyles 
they joke about being dr. and mrs. and mr. ziegler, which sets angela off again because it’s not like her last name is anything special, but she was the last one in her immediate family and having other people with her name would actually be really heartwarming. and she’d love to share that with them. 
maybe someday, they all think quietly.) 
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