Their recovery had not been easy. Her insides had turned red and black and rebelled against her own body, the remainder of her hair had fallen from her scalp, her first attempts to eat real food had resulted in immediate and violent expulsion, and there had been nights of pain where there was no relief until she begged Angela to put her under, better to lose herself in sleep yet again than suffer any more. Junkrat and Roadhog never made any such requests, and endured the treatments with the same angry muttering and resigned stoicism with which they had faced other equally unpleasant things. Dr. Ziegler oversaw their medical recuperation with a keen eye, guiding them through their healing with the help of Ana and Lucio (Zenyatta's offers of meditation and renewal arts had been swiftly and viciously denied) while Mei filled out pile after pile of paperwork explaining every minute detail of what had happened during their disastrous expedition into the wastes of Australia; often with Junkrat chiming in to not to forget to include some of the more 'juicy bits'…though Mei wisely decided to leave most of his more scandalous suggestions out.

Winston and Bastion came with yet more paperwork (although this was a great deal more fun to fill out) about possible scientific excursions in the future, and her gorilla friend seemed both sincere and eager to possibly get out of the lab for a while himself, although he hoped it would go a little more smoothly than the mission to the Outback. Bastion had marked several dot locations on the world map, but merely tilted its head when asked what they were and simply pointed to them again, while Junkrat whispered suspicion and threats in the background at its strange behavior. And after that, they had a steady stream of visitors simply coming to see them; from Ana and Roadhog's knitting club, Lucio and stopping by to play video games with Junkrat, and when Zarya had returned from a mission abroad, she had nearly crushed Mei in one of her all-encompassing bear hugs and had visited every day after that; with books, stories, and a Russian stew that she swore would make Mei feel better in no time.

Even Torbjorn had dropped by, though it was merely to drop off the newly repaired Snowball. He had painstakingly worked his way through and around Junkrat's makeshift 'repairs', though even he seemed baffled by how it was functioning at all. The little drone's AI had been transferred into a sparkling new blue hull, and its pixel eyes no longer sputtered or went randomly dead, and it no longer sounded like a flatulent oldworld modem when it beeped hello to her. Mei had been overjoyed to see it back to its old self, and it hovered over to nudge and hug into her arms…before promptly turning around and starting to flash more Mandarin curse words across its screen, aimed at Junkrat. She had been giggling too hard to really scold it as the two started fighting across the room again, and decided to leave her companions as their imperfect selves.

And they had been interviewed numerous times as they lay in their beds. Even Roadhog had been pressed for as much information as possible, though the old junker rarely offered more than his usual grunt or a shake of the head. When the dreaded questions came about Junkrat's and Mei's 'relationship', as they professionally called it, to Mei's relief it amounted to little more than a few awkward inquiries as to their mutual consent. Winston never mentioned any more accusations of Stockholm Syndrome, and instead spent most of that interview cringing and trying to avoid any more of Junkrat's winking and bragging about his self-proclaimed 'irresistible animal attraction, sheer virility and amazing sexual prowess, an absolute vision in the nuddy, and hey are you writing all this down?' while she hid her face in both hands and wished that the radiation had killed her to spare her the embarrassment.

But that had been months ago. Things were starting to get back to normal.

Her hair was starting to grow back in now, and Symmetra had kindly trimmed it into a feminine bob for her so she no longer looked like a shaggy mess. The color had returned to her face, her lungs no longer hurt when she breathed, and she had regained some of the weight she'd lost during her months of ice and fire in the desert. She was beginning to look and feel like herself again, and now she could smile when she brought up the eco-monitor program, watching the red blobs of the radioactive storms roll across the wastes. And though Overwatch couldn't publicly take credit for her work and she had to remain a mysterious benefactor, Winston had let her know that the early warning systems she'd programmed were now a mainstay in the lives of the Outback's inhabitants and was already saving lives.

She had helped. Despite everything, she had helped. She still couldn't say if it had all been worth it. There was still something small and poisonous and black lurking somewhere in her, something even Mercy's medicine couldn't fix, something that made her angry and hurt every time she started really thinking of things…What a cost she'd paid…

But it was over, and she had helped.

***

The sweet breeze of the ocean air of Gibraltar felt cool against her face and ruffled the ends of her hair against her cheeks, bringing some small relief from the hot sun. She sat on one of the far rooftops by one of the communications tower, listening to the crash of the waves and the shrieking gulls as she scribbled in one of her personal notebooks.

"Tried to read your diary there one time, ya know. Your lil' journal thing?" Junkrat was laying stretched out on a towel a small distance away, his mechanical limbs discarded nearby and a comically large set of sunglasses on his nose as he lay basking in the sun. Like Mei, he had recovered and was looking his old self again. His own hair had grown out at a record pace, even over most of his bald spots, and his eyebrows were as mysteriously bushy and healthy as ever, as if they had grown back overnight.

"Oh?" She looked up from her writing, glancing over.

"Real smart of you to encrypt it all in Chinese, love, real smart."

She smirked and went back to scribbling. "Do you want me to write some in English for the next time you decide to spy on me?"

"Sounds great. Be a doll?" That familiar toothy grin spread across his face, tucking the stump of his arm under his head. "Mostly I just wanted to see if you ever wrote about me. You know, silent yearning from afar, who's that mysterious man, maybe a kinda sexy intrigue? That sorta thing."

"Well, I can assure you that that was really not what I was writing about you back then…It was probably best you couldn't read it," she admitted.

"Owch, darl."

"Sorry! I mean, it wasn't anything terrible, just…not the nicest, either," said quickly. "But I've written more about you since then!"

He leaned up slightly, adjusting his sunglasses with suddenly renewed interest. "Is it real good?"

She smiled demurely, looking away. "It might be good. It's a shame you can't read any Chinese..."

"Owch again! That's ice cold! C'mere, you." He waved his good arm as she scooted a little closer, pulling her in. "I know that look. Somethin' bothering you? Is it the pills? Is it your hair? I like it short, looks real nice on you."

She shook her head, laying down beside him with a little nudge to make room. "Nothing. It's just hot out."

"Pft, this ain't hot. Still, you wanna go in?"

Another shake of her head, closing her eyes against the sun. "It just reminds me of being back in that little house again, back in the desert. For a while there I kept thinking I would wake up and be back in that shack. It's just like when I would wake up and think I was back in…back when it was cold instead of hot. Jamison, are you…Are you glad we came back?"

"Of course I am! They saved ya!"

"But…are you glad? That we're back here? I'm sorry, I don't even know why I'm asking…"

His gaze turned a little wary behind the lenses of his goofy glasses, his bushy brows furrowing slightly. He was silent for a long moment, shifting restlessly atop the towel, before replying with a low "Well, that's a bonzer of a question, ain't it? Arright look, I know you ain't actually asking me, you're asking you. But! For what it's worth, my answer is…'I don't know'. You got no idea how much this place pisses me off, most of the time. But, it ain't all bad. Got my own place, food whenever I want it, getting paid by a monkey to blow things up, and they got the doctorin' facilities that saved my most favorite lady in the world…and then I got fucking bullied into the doctoring stuff too, might I add."

"Oh, that wasn't bullying!" She protested half-heartedly. "And I'm glad I did. I'm glad you're better."

"See! Then there's something to be glad about! Yours truly! And I don't mind saying that's a lot to be glad of, you snagging the most handsomest and humblest bloke this side of Oz. Look, you don't gotta figure out the answers all the time. And you don't gotta be happy, neither. Sometimes things are shit, but it's better than being attacked by bees, ya know? Dunno if I'm glad to be back. Just glad you're here, wherever. And if you go trying to find whatever you're trying to find, I'll go with ya."

There he was again, cutting through to the heart of the matter she could only ever dance around, blunt as always. He could blast a path of destruction wherever he went, and this was no different. No matter how many walls she put up, he was one of the only ones who could tear them down just as quickly. Sometimes it irked her, and sometimes it was exactly what she needed most, even if she couldn't come out and say it. It hadn't been the desert that had broken through her ice. Not really. It had been him. She'd been cold before, for so long, and it still felt like his body heat was burning even warmer than the sun above them. She could feel it against her cheek as she pulled in closer to his side, running her fingers up his side and feeling the sharp angles of his jutting ribs. "You're awfully philosophical, you know. And maybe romantic. In an extremely odd way. I never would have guessed it before."

His grin returned, leaning to press his nose to hers smugly. "Heh! S'truth!"

She had felt trapped here before, would probably feel trapped here again if she stayed too long…but it was nice, in its own way. It was a place at least worth returning to. How could she be too sad when the sun was shining, the birds were calling, and the sea was lapping gently so close by, and with her strangely charming companion smiling at her like that? Maybe it wasn't ever going to be her idea of home, but maybe she'd been too hard on it.

Maybe she'd been too hard on a lot of things.

She was distracted by a pair of lips on her jaw and neck, starting to creep downward, and she squirmed as he started to roll on top of her, pressing both hands to his bare chest to keep him at bay. "Jamie?"

"Too much thinkin'! Live in the now! Give your brain a rest, lovey. Lemme help get your mind off your troubles, eh? We got a good thing going here, and I'm gonna enjoy every second of it. And I plan to make you enjoy it too, multiple times, kinda like last night…How bout I wind you up until you're ready to explode? Lemme show you one of my newest and most favorite specialties…"

"Lewd!" she gasped, even as she leaned her head back to give his lips more access to her throat.

His hand was just starting to slide down her side when both their communicators went off at the same time. Her shoulders slumped a little in disappointment and Junkrat cursed loudly, but moved off her so she could roll upright, struggling to get her hair in order. She still wasn't used to it being so short, but at least he said he'd liked it this way? Clearing her throat, she activated her comm, seeing the icons of other agents lighting up one after the other. "Zhou Mei-Ling and Jamison Fawkes present."

Winston's gruff voice piped up on the other end. "We've just had call go out that Talon has made another advance into Oasis. I want following agents; Pharah, McCree, Genji, Mercy, Mei, Junkrat and Roadhog, Symmetra, and Zenyatta to mobilize immediately. You have an hour before the Orca is fueled and stocked, get ready to move. Over."

Mei groaned audibly as she clicked her affirmative response. "Another desert? I was hoping for something a little more…snowy? I'm going to get another awful sunburn on top of my other sunburns, I just know it."

Junkrat snorted, strapping his prosthetic into place on the stump of his thigh. "Well, don't be too hasty about the snow thing, lovey. But ugh, sending us into the middle of posh bot central? S'the only place worse than Numbani. Makes me sick."

She thought for a moment, then pressed herself to his back and wrapped both arms around his narrow shoulders as he started to pull on his arm. "I guess it beats sitting around here wasting away in bed, or getting attacked by bees?"

He pulled off his sunglasses, his scowl soon replaced by his usual toothy smile as he rested his head against hers. "Now you're getting the hang of things! Guess I might even be more careful this time, can't stand the thought of another minute in that fuckin' hospital ward again. "

"Good," she leaned to press a kiss to his cheek before pulling herself upright. "I want you to take care of yourself out there. Although it'll be nice to get back in the field again. I've had lots of time to make adjustments to my endothermic blaster, now my icicles are sharper than ever. Time to show those Talon agents what we're really made of!"

"Oh yeah, those blokes are in for it. You chill 'em, I'll kill 'em, heh, get it? Oh, I'm liking this side of you…After we're done with all that, might have to get you in one of them fancy-arse Oasis hotel rooms and wind you up, just like I said before." His lanky body also heaved upward to stand, his height looming over her as he spotted a familiar, similarly giant figure slowly making its way across the field towards them. "Oi, there's Roadie! Guess I'd better go start double-checking the frags and getting everything ready to move out…" He hesitated, seeing her pause again and look out over the ocean, although he couldn't see what was in her eyes this time. But when he took her hand, she readily looked back to him. "If you need me out there, I'll be right beside ya."

She nodded slowly, and her smile returned. "I know."

"And if you get pinned down in the field, just give me or Roadie a shout and we'll be right there. From now on, I'm the only one allowed to pin you down!"

"Ugh, really?" She elbowed him lightly in the arm, and he elbowed her right back. "…You ready?"

Pulling her forward, he let her take the lead into their next mission. "Let's go!"