Amélie Lacroix's Redemption - Widowmaker No More
is a fanfiction by Strange Thoughts.
As the title would suggest, the fanfic details what a possible future redemption arc for Amélie Lacroix would be like, after being freed from Talon's clutches and having to deal with the immense guilt for the life she lived as Widowmaker. Shedding her previous identity, Amélie joins Overwatch in hopes to avenge her late husband Gérard, as well as the countless other innocent lives she was forced to kill.
Tropes in Amélie Lacroix's Redemption - Widowmaker No More:
- The Atoner: Amélie vows to bring an end to Talon, and to do as much good as she can to make up for her former life.
- Blood Knight: Partial, but there. Amélie still feels satisfaction in killing her enemies, but those enemies are Talon, rather than the innocent, so she views it as Pay Evil unto Evil.
- Cooldown Hug: Winston tightly hugs Amélie while comforting her during her breakdown.
- Dead Person Conversation: Amélie has a conversation with Gérard in her sleeping gas-induced dream, who tells her that she must forgive herself for what happened.
- Deprogramming: Aptly named the Deprogrammer, Winston invented this device to revive Amélie from the depths of Widowmaker's conscience.
- Embarrassing Tattoo: How Amélie regards her spider-themed tattoos after being freed. She keeps them covered whenever she can, as they bring nothing but shame to her. However, when Mercy offers to have them removed, Amélie says she still keeps them as a personal reminder.
- Heel–Face Turn: From Talon agent to Overwatch agent, this is Amélie's redemption after being freed from the brainwashing.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Amélie puts herself down a lot following her awakening, as the guilt is always on her conscience.
- I Have No Daughter!: Amélie's mother Florence disowns her after learning that she was a murderer for the last seven years, which is painful for her to say the least. She comes to regret it in Chapter 11.
- I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: When asked if she's "one of those heroes" by Jaime after saving him from Camp Delta, she responds with this.Amélie: No. I am not a hero, far from it. I am a person who has done many, many horrible things, and I am hoping to at least quell the guilt within my conscience by doing good things. But don't ever think that I could be called a "hero".
- A Million Is a Statistic: Averted. While Gérard's death is the most personal to her, Amélie mourns all of the lives she took as Widowmaker, not just Gérard. She even laments the fact they had family who loved them as much as she loves Gérard.
- My God, What Have I Done?: The beginning of Amélie's awakening starts with her having a breakdown induced by this. Afterwards, while she collects her composure, the state of guilt is practically her default state.
- Her mother, Florence, gets this herself in Chapter 11 when she got a gift of chocolate and flowers along with a tearjerking message from Amélie herself, which made her regret disowning her.
- Nice Girl: We see that Amélie really is a good person at heart, and that makes it even more tragic that she became such a heartless killer out of no choice of her own.
- Not Quite Back to Normal: Despite regaining herself following Winston's deprogramming of her, Amélie still has blue skin as a result of her low blood circulation. It's said she can barely recognize herself while looking in the mirror.
- Redemption Quest: The story details Amélie's quest for forgiveness and redemption to atone for her life as Widowmaker.
- Reformed, but Rejected: By some. There are those who don't forgive Amélie for the many atrocities she committed as Widowmaker, such as Pharah, McCree (initially), and other Overwatch agents. She doesn't blame them.
- What Have I Become?: Amélie asks herself "What kind of monster have I become?", remembering the horrible things she did before and seeing herself transformed into a killer.
