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Niran and Satya were oblivious to the two people watching their current interaction, but Ana and Reienhardt weren’t oblivious to what was happening. They’ve seen this before, two people so deeply in love with one another but unable to ever take their chance and make something more of it. A morbid dance between duty and longing cast upon the lovers like a heavy veil, a tune the two Overwatch agents have danced to years ago when their friends were still Gabriel and Jack and not people who would rather forget their past than anything else, people who have since developed a deep hatred and longing of their own for one another.
“Isn’t it funny?” Ana commented, her eye fixated on Niran’s flirtatious nature and Satya waving him off dismissively but still holding love inside her brown eyes and the softest hint of a smile on her lips. “You’d think the youth would know better.” Reinhardt didn’t say anything for a second, his eyes going from the lovers towards the woman beside him. A sinking feeling was in his stomach, unspoken words of affection glittering in the blue of his eye but he decided not to say anything. Only letting out a boisterous laugh like usual.
“Well, Ana.” The older man started, a sort of sadness behind his usual confident voice “We can’t always have trust in the young.” He nudged her gently, not wanting to hurt her due to his strength and size. In return he got an amused scoff from her and it made his heart flutter, just like back in the old times when her eyes were set on him. God, how he missed those times. The times where the two of them would sit together and Reinhardt was trying his best to impress the pretty sharpshooter while she waved him off but still smiled so softly, the night where they danced in the command center until dawn was shining down onto Gibraltar. It was foolish back then, to him, however, nothing has ever changed. He was still a fool.
Ana turned her head towards her companion, searching his face for any hint of something deeper and of course she found it. They both knew they were hanging onto something that could never be, a tragedy spun by fate herself perhaps. Long forgotten memories bubbled up inside of her but she pushed them down again, focusing on what was in front of her again. “Don’t say that, Reinhardt. They’ll figure it out when they’re older.” With age comes wisdom, after all. Was what she wanted to add, but has she gained the wisdom she wished? The wisdom that, despite it all, her and Reinhardt could have had something more than fleeting glances and stolen kisses in the darkness of the headquarters.
Life was not simpler back then, the two always pushing down their feelings. Their longing and yearning for one another as if it was a burden. An impossibility to ever be more than what they were, and even then she still didn’t know what exactly they ever were. Fate was cruel, or perhaps they were oblivious to her trying to push them together. Their sense of duty to protect the other bigger than any sort of romance could have ever been. That didn’t mean this didn’t hurt any less, seeing another tragedy just before their eyes.
“They remind you of us.” The German commented, catching the Egyptian off guard for a second before a solemn smile was on her face. “I can never hide anything from you, it seems.” She replied as her hand reached out before settling back on the teacup in front of her, lifting it to take a sip. “They remind you of us too, don’t they?” The shorter woman quipped back, noting the nod from the taller man that came with his expression of quiet regret.
Silence washed over them, neither saying anything and the only thing breaking it was the clinking sound of Ana setting her teacup back down, looking into the red liquid and her reflection. She has lost a lot and so has Reinhardt, those losses might have held them back. Maybe it was just their stubbornness of wanting the other to achieve their dreams without holding them back, the need to see the other become the version they always wanted to be.
Reinhardt usually blamed himself, sure he was tall and strong. But he was more brawn than brains. He couldn’t give Ana what she deserved, what she needed. At least in his eyes. What would such a smart and talented woman want with someone like him? Those affectionate moments back then always brought him to his knees, begging for her to touch him again to make him feel that he truly deserved her as much as she told him to.
Ana did the same. She felt too closed off, too busy with Fareeha and her job to give Reinhardt the woman he needed. But oh, the sweetest moment of him trying to impress her with anything that was possible warmed her heart so often. The fact he came to her when he was hurt on a mission or in private made her chuckle, especially when it was just the smallest of scratches.
Was there ever use in dwelling in the past? Neither of them knew, all they knew is that they were yearning for something that could never be. That will never be. Old memories playing like a movie in front of them, but how they wished both Niran and Satya wouldn’t end up like them. But when have wishes ever come true?