"Argh"

As it often was for the last few days, loud sounds of fighting echoed through the training room Amélie set up. However, it was no longer occupied by Amélie Lacroix alone, next to her stood battered but determined figure of Lena Oxton. No matter the fatigue gripping her, she managed to dodge the nest punch Amélie threw at her face.

The woman in question halted her assault, and smiled.

"Good job Lena, I think this will be enough for today. You are improving faster than I thought"

Lena was breathing heavily, hands gripping her knees, nevertheless, she flashed Amélie a shy smile.

"Th-thanks, I am grateful you agreed to train me, I would have never managed this alone"

The sound of Amélies laughter filled the room, it was rich and pleasant, one Lena secretly came to adore.

"You are too modest Lena. I always saw the potential in you. It's the least I can do after you helped me so."

Lena looked away, red colour spilling over her cheeks.

"I really didn't do anything special..., especially in comparison with all the things you did for me, who knows what would have happened to me otherwise"

"Hmm..."

Lena, only now realizing how cheesy her words sounded, stared intently at her feet, hoping for a hole in the ground opening and swallowing her. That allowed Amélie to creep behind her, gripping her from behind.

"Eeeek" Lena squealed

"Silly girl, how many times did I tell you to keep your guard up at all times"

Amélie strong arms were wrapped around Lena's midriff, keeping her effectively immobile.

Lena tried to struggle, her breathing growing short and uneven. Not due to pain, in fact, Amélies grip was rather gentle. It was just that being so tightly pressed into her extremely hot teacher had her feeling all kinds of funny things.

For a while they just stood there.

Amélie wasn't exactly overdressed, only wearing a close-fitting sportsbra and shorts. Her hot skin was pressed against Lena's, their sweat mixing as their bodies were squashed together tightly. Lena felt Amélies even breathing, and what's more, she felt her sizable breasts spilling all over her back. At this point, her mind already discarded the idea of escape, focusing on an entirely different stimulls.

Next thing she felt was a tingling sensation on her neck, she quickly realized it was in fact Amélies breathing, her mouth just a few inches from her ear.

"You say that you did nothing special, but that is not correct, just your presence is enough, your infectious laughter, your honest joy, your pure will to live, all of that made my life brighter, enough to let me at least temporarily forget the memories that haunt me.

"Amélie..." Lena whispered, her voice weak and brittle.

Her body collapsed against her Amélie's, who responded by pulling her even closer, not allowing their bodies to come apart, even for a second. The warm hands on her hips, the steady breathing against her neck, the slick curves of Amélis body pressed against hers, it was as if her every sense had been multiplied, leaving her mind in a haze.

Long slender fingers cupped her cheek, guiding her face to the side so it was meeting Amelie's own. They finally looked at each other, Lena's eyes were filled equally with uncertainty and desire, meeting Amélies, clam as ever. There was a silent question in them, one Lena answered by hooking her arm behind Amélie's neck pulling their faces closer.

Amélie tightened her grip, her other hand, full of overflowing brown hair, tilted Lena's head to the side, as she met her halfway.

"Let me show you, how thankful I really am…"

Lena brought her lips against hers

*beep beep beep*

The alarm clock kept beeping for the next few seconds, until a hand hit it, putting an end to the terrible sound.

With an enormous amount of willpower, Lena kicked away her blanket and rose up, leaving the impossibly comfortable warmth of her bed behind. She automatically wiped away the droll that formed on the corner of her mouth, likely a consequence of the steamy dream she was just forced to awake from.

Bidding her bed good bye, she finally stood up, slipping her cold feed into the fluffy slippers Amélie provided her. Who would have thought that Amélie Lacroix owns a pair of bunny slippers, certainly not her, but that was just Amélie, full of surprises.

As she dressed, Lena idly wondered how she should go about convincing Amélie that she in fact just accidentally spilled a glass of water onto her bedsheet, hence the wet spot on the bottom of the mattress.

"Maybe I should actually spill a bit of water there, make the pattern believable and wash away the evidence. Oh well, that's a problem for future Lena, I sure wouldn't want to be that girl."

With the grace of a bear who just woke up from winter hibernation, she slowly stumbled her way to the kitchen.

There, a fresh toast with eggs and a steaming cup of tea was already waiting for her. Amélie sat by the table, already eating through her third slice of ham. How could she devour a serving worth of five grown men in a few minutes, and still look elegant while doing it, Lena had no Idea. Probably had something to do with her French genes.

"Oh Lena, good morning"

Amélie took a brief time to greet her, before resuming to terrorize the heap of food on her plate.

"Good…"

Memories of the dream flashed through her mind.

"Oh Lena, Let me show you, how thankful I really am…"

In one moment, her face went from sleepy and disinterested to aggressively burning. Eyes wide, the red colour swallowing her face, she suddenly found great interest in her feet, staring at the floor, and avoiding eye contact.

This made Amélie put her plate away and look at the distressed girl.

"Lena, are you quite alright?"

"Yeah yeah of course I am, all is good, nothing weird, just about to grab something to eat and…"

The stream of Lena's babbling was cut off suddenly, as she felt a warm hand landing on her forehead .

"Hmm, your face is all red, are you coming down with a fever ?"

Lena bolted away, like the hand was made of hot iron

"No problemo, I am fine, really, feelin good, just eeeeh.. Really excited for a school today"

The deadpan look Amélie gave her might have been her most expressive emotion just yet.

Deciding for diversion, she sat down, and enthusiastically began to stuff her mouth full of toast.

"Do you have the homework for today ?"

Lena's jaw came to a stop, a toast sticking out of her mouth, she looked to Amélie with an honest surprise

"Chrm.. a homework, what do you mean ?"

Before her question was answered, the realization dawned on her. She had homework to hand in today, but with all the stuff happening she totally forgot.

"Oh shit, that, I.. I mean…"

Amélie sighted, handing her a paper

"Here are the answers, make sure to copy them before our lesson"

"Ah.. thanks.., look I am really sorry, I.."

"Dammit Lena, stop with those puppy eyes, that's nothing short of psychological warfare."

She coughed into her hand

"Make nothing of it, we can make up for it once we arrive home, detention is a punishment for me as it is for you."

"Sure, when we get home then"

The look of a kicked puppy was, in split of a second, replaced with a big gleaming smile. Now Lena was grinning like she just won the lottery

"Wow, the psy ops division would kill for people like her, literally."

"Well, seems we are both finished, let's get into the car"

-/ / /-

Human mind is really quick to adapt, Lena thought, as an especially sharp turn threw her body against the door.

And truly, she no longer felt an aggressive urge to vomit, despite Amélies best attempts to give her a heart attack by nearly crashing the car every few seconds. Instead, she just felt a constant sense of unease, temporarily turned into fear for her life every time Amélie pushed down on the gas pedal.

"We-We have enough time, maybe you could slow down for a bit.."

Amélie looked at her like she just suggested the sky is green.

"I paid 130 thousands for this car, I am not going to drive it like a moped"

"Does the 130k get you an ejection seat with a parachute, or at least a built-in coffin ?"

"I can't see the problem, don't you trust me Lena ?"

"My trust is being tested every time we nearly crash!"

"And yet we never actually do, I would say that's a testament to my driving skill."

Knowing this wasn't an argument she was going to win, Lena pressed herself further into the comfortable seat. It may have been made from the skin of some poor exoitc animal, but damm if it wasn't comfy as hell.

"Hey, why don't you let me drive next time, I do have a license you know.

"That would be too dangerous"

"Like… seriously ?"

"Driving a powerful car like this can be tricky, especially if you are not used to it. The dynamic is completely different from a normal vehicle, and one mistake can cost you your life"

"Alright jeez.."

"That being said, if you are interested, I can teach you a bit. If you do well, I may let you give it a ride or two."

"Really, you would ?"

"Yes, it's almost like I am a teacher or something."

"A joke? Did Amélie hit her head in the morning and suddenly gained a sense of humor ?"

"Yay I can't wait, you are the best"

Amélie chuckled, stopping at the school's parking lot.

"Careful, you don't want to get called a teachers pet"

"Considering everyone knows we live together, it's already established that I am well domesticated. Seriously, you wouldn't believe the question I get asked."

She switched to a high pitch voice, attempting to impersonate her classmates

"Hey Lena, does Lacroix sacrifice a newborn to Satan to come up with homework. Oh and does she force you to ask for permission when you use the toilet? And Lena, what Colour is her underwear?"

"Oh poor Lena, I am sure a french lesson will cheer you up, I already prepared a nice Verb Conjugations exercise, just for you."

"Nooo" Lena begged dramatically

"Anything but that !"

Amélie opened the door, signaling their transition into the student-teacher role.

"See you after school"

-/ / /-

Chaos reigned over the classroom

Pens and textbooks were flying left and right, various sounds from excitement to panic rang through the classroom. Winston was writing down his notes diligently, ignoring the battle taking place around him. In that sense, he was the eye of the hurricane - a mountain of bodies was formed all around him, hands with phones were sticking out, every student desperately attempting to take a picture of the only real source of information for upcoming exams.

Ultimately, the few lucky enough to get readable pics would trade them for various other goods, mostly from the cafeteria. They could also exchange them for more notes of lesser value, proceeding to sell them right before the exams hit for higher price. It was the perfect example of a free market economy, the only difference being that everybody had theoretically the same chances of success, simply depending on how far they were willing to go.

As it turned out, people were willing to go pretty far.

Elbows were thrown, hair was pulled, constant swearing could be heard. There was no mercy, no compassion for your fellow man, only students full of adrenaline and determination, ready to abandon any compassion for the sake of gaining the perfect study material, or just a chance to get free coke for the rest of the week.

Lucio was in the lead, his athletic build allowing him to squeeze through the impenetrable wall of flesh. One strong brown hand was holding others aside, while the other was dangling above Winston's head with a phone, blindly taking as many pictures as possible.

A foot landed on his head, making him nearly drop the phone. Ashe was climbing the mountain of people, naturally without even the slightest concern for the other students' wellbeing. She paid no mind to the shouts coming her way from the people she trampled on, rising above everyone both figuratively and literally.

There wasn't even good reason for her to do so, all it took were a few pretty smiles for Winston to give her the notes to her voluntarily. But that wouldn't give her nearly enough trill as actually fighting for it.

"Ch-Childern, please calm down, today we will be learning about the stratosphere and….. Agh"

Mei-Ling Zhou, the geography teacher, was forced to duck as a book flew her way, hitting the globe behind her

"N-Now this is very important…"

Nobody paid any attention to the weak and quiet voice of the helpless teacher who was just trying her best to impart some knowledge unto the devious, merciless creatures known as teenagers. It was pitiable, but such is highschool - strong thrive and weak perish.

Not everyone joined the fray however. Hana was playing on her phone as always, completely obvious to her surroundings. But then, rather uncharacteristically, she put the phone away, and walked to the only other person currently not participating in the free-for-all battle.

"What's the matter Lena, are you actually skipping the Winston Tournament ? I thought you were aiming for five wins in a row."

"..."

"Leeeenaaaa"

Hana laid a hand on her shoulder and shook

"Eeek !"

Lena jumped from her seat, nearly sending the chair to the ground

She caught herself before she could cause yet more damage to the school's property, and looked at Hana accusingly

"You startled me.."

"Oh cmon, you looked like you were in a trans or something, what got you so worked up, trouble in the paradise ?"

Lena looked away before Hana could spot her red cheeks

"Hannnaaaa"

"Cmon, I am just teasing you"

She lowered her head to look Lena into the eyes, closing the distance between their faces bit more than Lena was personally comfortable with. Neither was she comfortable with the mischievous grin on Hanas features.

"Unless there is something you are not telling me…."

As the blush she just pushed down threatened to return, she quickly backed off, only for the girl to push closer to her, clearly having no qualms about invading her personal space.

"H-hey really, there is nothing weird going on, everything is fine, I was just kinda lost in thoughts"

"Hmmm"

"Do you honestly think I could seduce Am-Proffesor Lacroix ?"

"Yeah, you are right, that sounds pretty unlikely"

"Ufff way to hit my self esteem, even if it's totally true."

Still, she sent fearsome pout Hana's way, voicing her displeasure with Hana's blatant disregard for her romantic abilities.

"Oh Lena, stop being such a baby"

She smiled, sitting next to the frowning girl

"You know, your determination in the face of imminent defeat is charming, but there is something like biting more than you can chew."

"I never said I am into her…"

Hana did not look impressed

"Your eyes are literally glued to her tits every lesson"

"Hey! It's not like I am the only one"

Her cheeks glowing red, she refused to look into Hana's eyes, turning her attention to the ceiling.

"You are not, but most of us at least make an effort to be subtle, you are just staring to your heart's content"

Lena's face now resembling fresh tomato, she desperately steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Yeah, and what do you know about romance anyway? huh"

"I will have you know I played multiple romance oriented visual novels"

"Wow, I bow down to your supreme experience"

"It's still further than you ever got"

That shut her up, not that Hana would leave it there.

"You will need a bit more than that to impress the hottest teacher of the school. You gotta learn how to swim, before jumping into the sea. Experience is the key"

"Are you trying to seduce me Hana ?"

In answer, Hana once again intruded Lena's personal space, leaning against the table, giving Lena a very clear view of her cleavage. She tilted her head to the side, letting her smooth brown hair flower over her left eye, and sent Lena a flirtatious wink.

"And what if I am"

Lena stared at her, eyes wide, with massive blush taking over her features. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest, but stayed motionless.

Hana leaned in

An burst out laughing

"Heh, you are way too easy Lena, if you wish to conquer the fearsome beast known to the mortals as Amélie Lacroix, you gonna need to grow a backbone"

Utterly defeated and thoroughly humiliated, Lena frowned towards the grinning girl.

"Why do you have to kick me when I am already down"

"Why don't you tell me what's actually bothering you"

Lena sighted and looked away, but Hana seemed determined

"Hmmm, Hana was always kinda weird like that, keeping her distance most of the time, but when there was something she wanted, she went all in. Maybe that was the reason why she was one of the first people I befriended. She is also not really the talkative type, not with most people anyway. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea, Hana isn't exactly one for gossiping. And it seems I don't really have a choice anyway."

"Promise you won't laugh at me ?"

The grin on Hana's face disappeared, immediately replaced with a serious look

"I promise"

"Jeez, it's no big deal, really, it's just-"

Lena leaned closer to her, keeping her voice down

"Yesterday, I saw Amélie training, and we kinda talked about her time in the army, and then - she just froze, completely blacked out, for like 15 seconds, I really thought I caused her some traumatic episode…. And When she finally snapped out, she just acted like nothing happened, refusing to tell me what's going on."

"Hmm, does that happen often ?"

"No, that was the first time I saw anything like that happening to her, that's why I was so freaked out."

"Sounds like she was having a flashback of some kind"

"Is that a bad thing ?"

"Well it's a classic PTSD symptom, my uncle was there too, dad told me he still screams from his sleep"

"But the thing is, she acts nothing like that, she's always so calm and composed, but it just feels... Unnatural, like she's a robot or something.

"Trama has many forms, and everybody copes with it in their own way"

"So what should I do ?"

"I dunno"

Lena stared at her.

"Don't give me that look, I am not psychologist, you didn't seriously expect me to give you some magical answer that would fix everything"

"Yeah I guess you are right"

Lena flashed her friend a small smile

"But thanks for hearing me out, already makes me feel bit better than before, I knew I could always count on you "

It was Hana's turn to look away with a slight blush

"Yeah well, ehm, why don't you go see Doctor Ziegler, she knows more about this stuff than I do"

"I planned to, but.. don't you think it's kinda weird to just waltz in and start asking her about all this stuff, what if she tells Amélie, I will look like a fool."

"Tsk Lena, Lena, you really could do with more backbone, oh well that's what friends are for I guess"

Before Lena could ask her what she meant, Hana got up and walked to their teacher.

"Professor ?"

"..."

"Professor Mei, are you there?

An eye peeked through the teachers table. When it saw no school supplies flying in its direction, a head reluctantly rose from beneath the table. Mei-Ling Zhou eyed them through her glasses with a mix of fear and suspicion, likely evaluating them as no threat, for she actually emerged from her hiding spot, though still holding onto her table, ready to jump back at a moment's notice.

"I-Its professor Zhou…."

With a wavering voice, Mei attempted to recover at least a fragment of her authority, which would be more convincing if she wasn't shaking like a leaf, and with a literal battle taking place behind her.

"Ehm sure, professor Zhou, Lena told me she has a headache, can she go to the infirmary ?"

"Oh, sure, you are free to go, I hope it's nothing seriou… eeh!"

Like a lightning, Mei vanished behind her wooden fort. Split second later, a pen hit the table and fractured, like a miniature grenade.

Just as Lena turned to leave, she decided to take pity on her terrified teacher, walked up to her, and whispered something into her ear.

Mei nodded furiously, and when the door closed behind Lena, she got up, rallying all her strength, and shouting:

"If you don't stop right now, I am going to tell professor Lacroix !"

Silence commenced

In a moment, the classroom went from a war torn battleground into a church during the sunday prayer.

Those that were holding each other by the neck just few seconds ago, now sitting with their pens in hand, looking at her expectantly, like the scene from before never happened.

"Damm, it actually worked, I have to remember to give Lena few bonus points for the next exam, she deserves it…."

-/ / /-

When the door to the infirmary opened, it revealed Angela sitting on her chair, reading through medical records of some kind. As the little bell above the door gave Lena away, Angela looked up, and immediately jumped to her, looking her up and down for any signs of injury.

"Lena ? what happened ? It's not even the P.E. period yet, did you slip somewhere ?"

"N-No, no I am fine"

Lena stammered, doing her best to ignore the way Angela's soft hands were traveling around her body to find the nonexistent wound.

"I just.. wondered if we could talk, that's all..."

Bright, radiant smile spread over Angelas features, giving her almost a divine aura.

"But of course…"

Lena hat to push down the inner disappointment, as Angela's gentle touch disappeared

"...Sit down Lena, do you want a tee ? cookies ? I should have them stashed somewhere around here…"

Before Lena could formulate an answer, a plate of food was already laid in front of her. Angela poured the hot steaming tea into their cups, and finally turned to the embarrassed girl.

"So, I take it it's about Amélie.."

Angela looked into her eyes, wearing an unnaturally frightening expression.

"Did she touch you at funny places ?"

"What ? No !?"

"Unfortunately" her traitorous mind added.

"Ah I see.."

Angela coughed into her hand, once again smiling like a personification of good will.

"But if she ever did, you can tell me, I will put her back in line"

"Ehm ok, but it is about Amélie"

Angela leaned in to listen

"Ok so yesterday, I saw her training, just asked her if she could teach me, and we kinda got to the topic of her time in the army. She looked like she was thinking, and then just froze. I tried calling to her, even shaking her, but for a good quarter of a minute, she was just frozen solid, completely non responding. After that, she just walked away, like nothing happened."

Angela breathed in and out, taping her glasses a few times, clearly deep in thought.

"That sounds... rather serious actually, I did not know that, not like Amélie would ever tell me.

Clear look of irritation flashed over Angela's face.

"As ever, keeping her strong facade, not willing to ask for help even if she was on the verge of death. Probably not to be "a bother", even if I told her thousand times I am always here for her!"

As her rant finally died down, she looked to the silent girl in front of her, as if only now she noticed her presence.

"Ah sorry, that's not something you need to worry about."

The smile she put on was clearly stained, not that Lena was willing to call her out on it.

"As to what you just described to me, it is fairly common among retired military personnel, essentially a reaction to reliving an especially traumatic memory, I believe it's commonly referred to as a flashback."

"So what do we do about"

"I…"

Angela bit on her lip in frustration"

"I am not sure. My speciality is picking apart people's bodies, not their minds. Perhaps I should contact her psychologist, she could definitely give us better answers, but I am fairly sure Amélie wouldn't be very thrilled about that."

"Psychologist ?"

"She never told you ? Amélie is required to visit a psychologist every week or so. I am surprised you don't know, she loves complaining about it. The only reason she actually attends the sessions is because the alternative to that is forced medical therapy."

"Yeah, that does sound like her…"

"Doctor Satya Vaswani is one of the best psychologists in the country, but I am afraid Amélie doesn't exactly make it easy for her"

Angela sighted heavily, leaning against her chair. The kind blue eyes ridden with multitude of emotions, though none of them positive.

"It's hard you know, we know each other since I started working here, I still remember her as a student. She was always so lively and cheerful, despite being a bit shy, you kinda remind me of her, honestly. It feels like yesterday, when she would come to this infirmary, faking an injury so she had an excuse to chat with me"

"She did that ?"

Angela laughed, clearly lost in her memories, it was rich and warm sound, immediately putting her at ease.

"Yes, all the time - "Ehm doctor Ziegler, my head hurts can I stay here for a bit"

Lena could only stare in amazement, it was almost impossible to imagine the Amélie she knew now saying something like that

"It was so adorable, I never had the hearth to refuse her. When she returned here as a teacher, we bonded immediately, becoming best friends. Well, both of us had feelings for the other, far over simple friendship, but neither had the balls to confess. I still remember the moment she told me about the letter of conscription."

Amélies smile vanished, falling apart like made of glass. Her face was torn equally in sadness and anger, pain reflecting off her big blue eyes. It was a terrible sight to Lena, someone so kind as Angela had no business looking this hurt.

"It wasn't even for her you know, she volunteered instead of her brother. That was just like her, willing to sacrifice anything for her loved ones. When she returned, I was overwhelmed with joy, thanking gods for listening to my prayers and keeping her alive. But soon, I realized she was... Not quite alright. Not that I expected her to be, after all she must have seen.

Angelas expression twisted with regret.

"I thought that if I simply stayed by her side, she would get better eventually, but it was false hope. I was always there for her, no matter the circumstances, to lend her a shoulder, to share her suffering - but she refused. Day by day, we began growing apart, I wasn't able to understand what she was going through, and she wasn't willing to open up to me."

"I will help her !"

Lena herself was surprised by the sheer determination in her voice

"I have to, after all she has done for me, even if it looks impossible, I have to try…"

She suddenly felt something soft on top of her head, Angelas smooth fingers ruffled her hair.

"Yes, keep at it, perhaps you will succeed where I failed"

-/ / /-

After that, the two women said their goodbyes and Lena left, though not before receiving a smothering hug from Angela. She hoped it cheered her up a bit, the kind doctor did not deserve to suffer.

Even if she didn't really receive an answer to her question, it's not like she was leaving empty handed.

"Satya Vaswani, that's the name of Amélies psychologist. If someone is gonna be able to give me the answer to this, it will be her."

Her next target known, she jogged back to the classroom

"One thing is for sure, I don't wanna be late on Amélie's lesson"

Satya Vaswani is symmetra, in case anyone forgot.