Chapter Text

“This was actually one of the first lorry dealers in London back in the day,” the realtor showing them around explained as she lead Emily and Lena into a rough looking room with an old epoxy floor and bare concrete walls, “there’s actually a ramp in the next room that leads to the basement – I understand that’s where they kept the stock.”

Emily looked around, trying to imagine the space filled with tools, counters, shelves, and the like. “That might be useful. Can it be accessed from outside?”

“No,” the realtor shook her head, “so it's of no use as a car park. The big rolling door can still be opened onto the main part of the ground floor here, though, so there’s access to bring things in and out, but you wouldn’t want people to come in and out all day, I’m sure.”

Lena whistled as she paced around the room. “That'd be pretty useful for storing customer bikes and parts, then.”

Emily nodded thoughtfully. “I was just thinking that. What used to be in this space besides that?”

“The last tenant was a brewery." The realtor gave a dismissive snort and toss of her head. "How they went out of business selling beer in London I will never know.”

“Mm.” Emily walked to the ramp – not too steeply graded, though the ceiling was a bit low – no surprise in a building this old. She tried to imagine pushing bikes up and down, or carrying parts on a dolly. It might be a chore with something like a big touring bike, but not that bad…

Lena looked around. “Well, what do you think, Em?”

“There’s a lot of potential,” the mechanic admitted, “and a lot of work to do, too.”

The realtor gave a sympathetic look. “For a building of its age this is in fairly good nick, but in the price range you specified, that will be true of almost any property.”

“Right,” Emily nodded in understanding as she walked the floor, putting a hand to a steel shuttered window, “what about the flats upstairs?”

“Four units,” the realtor answered, “but all vacant. The owner knew he wanted to sell the property so he requested the tenants move out as their leases ended. You could easily live in one and rent the other three for an additional income stream.”

Lena raised an eyebrow – do we want to do that?

Emily met her eye with a little shrug. Every little bit helps.

Lena shrugged back, acknowledging the point, and then turned back to the realtor. “Do you mind if we get a look at them?”

“Absolutely, that’s the whole point. Silly to buy a building and not know what’s inside…”

Sitting on the bed back at the hotel, Lena flipped through the pictures Emily had taken on her phone. “Kitchen’s a bit small in all of the flats.”

“Mm, I know,” Emily agreed, “but the space on the first floor is just about perfect, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely, yeah. The ramp to the basement is neat, and you’ve got all that shelf space pretty much ready to go!” Lena put the tablet down on the bedside table. “So…you feel good about it?”

Emily considered it for a moment, then nodded. “I do, yeah. The flat’s a compromise, but maybe we can remodel.”

Lena nodded thoughtfully. “Speaking of…if we own the building, long as we keep it quiet we can do whatever with it, right?”

Emily’s eyebrow raised. “Got something in mind for a secret lair, Double Oh Tracer?”

Lena smiled as she ran her fingers through her wife’s hair, the redhead curling in against her. “Well, not exactly. I was thinking if I rung up Winston – you know how those emitters and whatnot work, right?”

“Mm, basics anyway. Between helping with miniaturization and the accelerator I got a good course on how to maintain them.” She looked up with a raised eyebrow. “Thinking of getting a spare?”

“That’s not such a bad idea,” Lena admitted, “but what I had in mind was to see if we could put some of those widgets in the walls or something. Not have to keep the kit on or carry it with every time I moved to another room. How tough would it be?”

Emily straightened up, her eyes growing thoughtful. “Oh…oh, yes, that’s something we could do. We just never tried it back at the flat in Gibraltar because I didn't want to deal with the landlord. I suspect they wouldn't have been terribly excited about us chopping up the walls.”

That got a grin. “Well…long as our offer gets accepted, seems to me that you’ll be the landlord, yeah?”

“Mmm. Well, I suppose it would be a major improvement to the life and comfort of my tenant…” Emily grinned. “Besides, even if it’s my name on the papers, you are putting up the money.”

Lena smiled. “There you are, then. Maybe you could even get a tax credit – after all it’s equipment for the disabled.”

Emily snorted as she settled back on the bed. “I’d love to see the paperwork for that. But we’ll see…first thing is getting the building, and from there, well…”

Lena nodded. “So what do you think you’ll call the shop?”

Sighing, Emily shook her head. “Speaking of getting ahead of ourselves…”

Lena leaned in to kiss her wife’s forehead. “Come on, you said the building’s been up for, what, better part of a year?”

Emily hummed thoughtfully. “Not a lot of people interested in a building that close to the Underground, it seems. Bloody idiots.”

“There you are, then. I bet the owner’ll be chuffed to get someone wanting to take it off his hands.” Lena settled in next to her, her and settling over the redhead’s waist. “So c’mon, out with it…”

Emily paused. “You’re going to laugh at me…”

Lena grinned. “Yeah?”

The normally collected mechanic actually was actually flustered, and Lena’s eyes lit with delight. “I…I kept thinking about it and, well, a lot of shop names are just boring. ‘E & L garage’, or something like ‘West London Mechanicals’ or that kind of thing.”

Lena made an encouraging noise. “A & O garage might be nice – go with our last names.”

“Only for being on top of the listings,” Emily disagreed, “and I wanted to stand out.”

“Sooo….” Lena leaned in, filled with curiosity now. “Go on…”

“Well, I mean,” Emily smiled shyly, “we met in the RAF, and now you have…well. Your things, you know, and I always want you to be part of this no matter what you end up doing…”

Lena raised an eyebrow, letting Emily talk herself into a corner.

Sighing, Emily finally buried her face in Lena’s shoulder before going on. “I thought we could call it Temporal Mechanics. ”

Emily had clearly expected a groan or a laugh. What she got instead was a soft little sound before her wife was hugging her and kissing the top of her head.

“I love it.”

-So how’s the new job?

“Oh,” Lena chuckled as she sat in what would be the living room of their apartment, once they got things like rugs and actual furniture, “pretty good, actually! Flexible hours, which is really helpful. I got to take this whole week off to handle moving and being around while the equipment Emily ordered starts to come in.”

-Sounds nice.

Lena nodded, looking out the window to where she could see an electrician’s van parking in front of what would be the garage’s front door. “So how about yours – did you end up taking that offer you called me about, Fareeha?”

-I did, yes. Fareeha’s voice had an undercurrent of pride for her decision. The training…well. I can’t talk about much, but it’s been demanding in a very good way. Interesting. I’m looking forward to putting it all into practice.

“It’s funny, you know – I got this job offer not too long after yours and I ended up thinking about the same things we talked about. Had to listen to myself, I suppose.”

-So what are you doing, exactly…?

Lena grinned even though Fareeha couldn’t see her. “Oh, you might call it a civil service position.”

- …Interesting.

“Nothing bad! Just kind of an odds and sods sort of thing. But I'll mostly just go into the office a few days a week while Em gets things going here, and most of the time I’m on the tube and home by five.”

-When you put it that way, it sounds very…domestic.

“Something like that,” Lena agreed, “but it’s nice, you know? Pride’s next month and we’re gonna go. First time we’ve…” A thought struck her and she couldn’t help but laugh. “I was about to say it’s the first time we’ve been out together for it, but it’s true, yeah?”

- I can see why that’s a big deal when you put it like that. I wish you both the best, Lena.

“Thanks, luv. You too – don’t be a stranger, all right?”

- I won’t, I promise. I don’t know if I’ll be able to visit before I get my first assignment, but if the chance comes through I’ll give you a call.

“Brilliant. Cheers!”

Hanging up the phone after Fareeha wished her a goodbye, Lena pulled the accelerator back on and took the stairs down to the ground floor, where Emily was discussing something with the electrician, gesturing towards the basement ramp.

“– make sure the fuses won’t blow when we hook the machine tools and welding rig up,”

The electrician nodded, tugging at his cap. “No trouble – the wiring’s been redone in the last few years and the panel replaced. May want to add on to that, with the power draw you’re looking at, but nothing we can’t get sorted.”

Emily smiled. “Wonderful. Come find me when you’ve got the estimate, then.”

“Right-o…” The electrician disappeared down the ramp, and Lena crossed the floor to collect a kiss.

“Things going well, luv?”

Emily nodded. “Quite, actually,” Grinning, she gestured to the ramp. “Once we have the power sorted I can get the heavy tools in – and more importantly, we’ve hired our first employee.”

Lena blinked. “That was fast.”

Emily grinned before raising her voice. “George? Come out here a minute?”

“One moment,” a distinctly flanged voice called back from what would (eventually) be the wheels and tyres portion of the shop, “I’ll be right there.”

To Lena’s surprise, an Omnic came out from the back – the very same omnic who she’d stepped in to help, the day that she’d taken on those two goons and (eventually) fallen into her new line of work.

“Yes, boss? What did you – oh!” The omnic’s optics flickered in a blink of surprise as he took in Lena, the accelerator, and her position beside Emily. “Hullo, miss.”

Emily gestured to the omnic – George, apparently. “George here was curious about who was opening up shop, and we got to talking.” She smiled. “George, meet the missus - my wife Lena. She’ll be living upstairs with me – might pop in to help here and there when she isn’t off on her own jobs.”

George extended a hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Lena. I didn’t get a chance to thank you properly the other day.” His sensors dimmed and his head tilted slightly in a way that Lena read as slight embarrassment. “Too busy running for my life, if I’m honest.”

Grinning, Lena offered a warm handshake. “If it makes you feel better, I was doing the same once the Plod showed up.”

Emily blinked as she looked between them. “You’re kidding – the same one – really?”

“Funny old world,” George observed, “isn’t it?”

Lena shook her head. “You’ve no idea. So you like bikes, then?”

The omnic’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I was originally a construction unit. I’ve got advanced welding and fabrication modules still. But it’s not easy to find much work outside of the Underground, and…well.” His optics dimmed. “You saw. That’s why someone opening up this old place was such a surprise. I don’t know so much about motorbikes, but I like having work to do, and I’m certainly capable of learning.”

Lena grinned. “Oh, good, so I won’t be the only one with no idea what they’re doing.”

George’s optics brightened and his stance shifted in a way that clearly communicated amusement. “Well. Not all the time, at least.”

That got all of them laughing, and once that was done Lena pitched in with getting a few more of the new shelves up while Emily went to negotiate with the electrician on just how much of a bite he was allowed to take from their budget.

Lena watched as Emily and George carefully installed the field emitters Winston had sent into the ceiling of their flat, holding up her phone so that the scientist could watch from back at Gibraltar.

“So how much effective range will this give me?”

-Well, I wouldn’t recommend trying to leave the building without having the accelerator on, but as long as the grid has been energized properly, you’ll be able to move throughout the building without it.

Lena whistled. “That’s...wow, big guy. You’ve done some work, haven’t you?”

- I still have a goal of making an accelerator for you that will be a lot less...hm. Conspicuous, I suppose. Maybe not one that would be combat rated, but to help with giving you something a bit easier to live day to day. The main issue is keeping the field stability intact. Fortunately, with a building, we can spread that across multiple redundant nodes through the structure, so it makes things a bit simpler - not to mention that the building doesn’t need to move .

“I appreciate it, Winston.” Lena blushed. “All of it - including You Know What. It means a lot to me that you’re still keeping on.”

-I still believe in what Overwatch was supposed to be. Besides, if nothing else, it’s a fascinating technical challenge! Speaking of which, I have some firmware updates to send you for your current accelerator. Emily can install them once you get my email - you’ll want to have them in place before we power up the building’s array.

“Right, I’ll pass that along.”

Lena looked down at her chest as Emily tapped at her tablet, an adapter cable running from the handheld device into the accelerator’s maintenance port.

“So,” she asked, “why did we need to do this update before we try turning up the building?”

Emily looked up from her tablet. “Remember how the first time we tried the portable rig, it gave you that sensation of being tugged in two directions at once?”

Lena winced. “Hard to forget. That’s the one part of having the place fixed up I haven’t been looking forward to.”

Emily nodded. “Well, if I’m reading this right, you won’t have anything to worry about. It looks like Winston’s set up a way for this” - she tapped at the top of the accelerator’s fairing - “to detect if it’s inside a larger field and basically go into a sleep mode, and then automatically fire back up when it detects that you’re about to breach the perimeter.”

“So no getting zapped back into the middle of the flat if I run out to get the mail?” Lena shook her head in mock resignation. “Shame! I was thinking that’d save me a whole lot of running up and down stairs.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Sorry, darling, I’m afraid that’s your cross to bear.”

The tablet made a cheerful sounding beep, and the mechanic popped the cable free, then closed the panel. “All set!”

Lena nodded as she checked her watch. “Right, just in time. My cab will be around in a few minutes.” Looking around, she sighed. “Ought to get a car soon.”

Emily chuckled. “Once I finish fitting out downstairs and get some parts inventory in, we’ll be done with the starting out costs. Should be able to afford something half decent after that.”

Lena smiled. “Or maybe I could buy a right clunker and hand it over so you have something to do.”

Emily’s eyes danced as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I think you just want to see me with my hair up and my arms half covered in grease.”

“I’ll never tell,” Lena winked, then kissed the redhead on her cheek on her way to the door, “back soon.”

“See you, love. I’m going to ring Winston while you’re out, see if we can get the emitter grid going.”

“Sitting comfortably?”

Lena nodded as she settled against the overstuffed chair. “Right as rain.”

“Good, good.”

Lena had been nervous about taking advantage of some of the resources she’d been offered, but after so many suggestions she see a mental health professional, she also knew it was well past time.

Dr. Sigorini (or as he preferred, Angelo) was a good one, she’d found. He was barely taller than she was, with a reedy tenor voice and thick horn rimmed glasses that made him look a bit owlish, but he had a calming air and a friendly smile, and she’d learned he tended to treat their sessions as conversations rather than appointments, which had gone a long way to making her more comfortable.

“How are things in your new place?”

Lena smiled. “Coming along really well. Would you believe Em’s shop isn’t even open yet and she’s already found a helper?”

The therapist raised an eyebrow with amusement. “Aside from you?”

“Heh. Yeah, seriously though. Nice guy, name of George, lives nearby in the Underground.” She shook her head at the coincidence. “Same bloke I helped out when I broke up a mugging, same day as I got the new job.”

“It’s funny how those things work out, sometimes.” Angelo leaned back in his hair, sipping at a glass of water. “So, how many clocks have you put up so far?”

She couldn’t help but wince. “Five. Two in the bedroom, one in the bath, kitchen, living room, and the foyer.”

“Mm. Why two in the bedroom?”

“Well, I wanted a bedside clock for an alarm, but if Em sleeps on that side of the bed I can’t see it without sitting up.” Lena sighed. “I know that sounds silly but I...there’s days I can’t handle that. So I put another up on the wall by the dresser. I can see it no matter what.”

“That’s not silly,” Angelo gently corrected, “it’s a response to what you’ve experienced. You’re allowed to have those reactions, Lena.”

Lena nodded slowly. “I...yeah. I’m just used to…”

Angelo raised an eyebrow as she trailed off, but let her find a way to explain things rather than interrupt.

“Especially once they started sticking me in front of the cameras, I needed to be the nice one, you know? Laugh things off, have a smile. Make it look good.” She shrugged. “Tracer’s a hero, who ever heard of a hero getting panicked because she doesn’t know what time it is?”

“I’ve heard of a few,” Angelo offered, “and more importantly the one who is sitting across from me right now shouldn’t feel ashamed of talking about what she needs to feel comfortable. Especially when it comes to her own home.”

Lena smiled hesitantly. “When you put it like that, yeah...that’s true. I do. It helps, you know?”

“You’ve been through some very unique experiences,” the therapist admitted, “but there are a lot of patients who have experienced similar symptoms.” He took a sip of his water, then leaned forward. “Which is why I’d like to suggest some similar methods of treatment.”

Lena found herself leaning in as well, matching his interest. “OK, such as…?”

Angelo smiled back at her. “Art therapy is usually very helpful for re-grounding after dissociative episodes.”

“What, like coloring books?”

The therapist shrugged. “If that’s a good outlet for you, but any kind of creative activity that makes you feel relaxed and accomplished is a good start for a grounding technique. I like to brew beer at home.”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Mmhmm. I started a Belgian grand cru last weekend - should be ready to try in a few weeks.”

“So you’re saying that you…”

“Well,” Angelo raised a hand, his eyes twinkling, “everyone is different, but you’d be amazed how many people go into this line of work because it helps us figure out our own diagnosis.”

Lena couldn’t help but laugh. “Takes one to know one?”

Angelo grinned. “Something like that.”

Lena sat back in the chair. “I’ll think about that. Maybe try a few things and see what feels good.”

“That’s a wonderful way to get started,” the therapist agreed, “next time you come in, let me know how that’s going.”

Lena nodded, tapping her hand against her thigh. “So if that’s one option, do you have others?”

“I think that as we work through some things, there’s a technique called Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing that might be worth trying, but I want to take a little time before we start working with it.”

“All right,” Lena agreed, “you’re the expert.”

Angelo grinned. “Sometime I’ll have to ask you to tell that to my wife.”

Lena giggled. “We’ll see. So, how was your week?”

“Well, aside from the beer, I got some new tyres for my bicycle…”