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Chapter Text

The sun had sunk below the horizon not but a few minutes ago and created an odd splash of fiery colors in a sky darkened not only by night, but storm clouds. Thunder rumbled overhead and the wind whipped against whistling trees that warned in a soft whisper of the oncoming downpour. As the first fat drops slapped against the pavement, Angela quickly slipped into a building with a glowing neon sign out front that said “Open”.

Like all businesses that opened up after dark, this one was the same. It reeked of booze and buzzed monotonously with conversation and the occasional roar of jovial laughter. Angela angled her neck to look behind her. Outside of the tinted windows she could see the storm was already under way and hinted that it would not stop for awhile.

It was one of the few days that she didn’t have work and rather than be a shut in all day waiting to work some more, she had on impulse decided to take a stroll through the city that Overwatch temporarily placed itself at to monitor the Shimada Clan’s activity. It wasn’t as if her identity was in jeopardy, even with her position as the head of medical research, her face was not one that many would know. Here, no one would recognize her as anything other than a tourist.

While she was here, she decided she might as well take a seat at the bar and enjoy a drink. Her fingers laced together as she took her seat on the wooden stool and crossed one leg over the other elegantly. The bartender, a young man with tired eyes, walked to her. “What would you like?” He inquired in accented English, noting his customer was not from Japan.

“I’ll have whatever is on tap,” Angela replied fluently in Japanese. She didn’t miss the small smile quirking at the corners of his lips. She always received a reaction like that when she spoke the language of the land.

“I never expected someone like you to speak Japanese,” a voice intruded to her right. She pushed away the platinum blonde bangs from her face to get a view of the newcomer. He was in his mid twenties at least with jet black hair and piercingly dark brown eyes. He propped himself up, elbow against the counter and hand on his cheek in the shape of a fist. His features were sharp and his skin free from blemishes.

“What caught you off guard, the skin? Or perhaps it’s the hair?” She asked curiously. “What exactly is unexpected?” Despite Angela finding him rather attractive, she seemed to handle the situation with ease. She always dominated social conversations and she wasn’t about to change that now.

The man seemed taken aback by her response, his cheeks reddening ever so slightly with embarrassment. “Well, yes.” He straightened up in the stool.

So he’s tall and muscular. She thought to herself. She raised her eyebrows, staring straight ahead and tousling her platinum blonde locks of hair. “Fair enough,” Angela shrugged as a stein was placed in front of her. Her slender fingers slipped around the handle of the stein. She was painfully aware that the newcomer was still watching her with awe. It wouldn’t be the first time a man has ogled at her and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. “What?”

The man shuffled awkwardly, bringing up one hand to run through his short black hair. “What brings you to Hanamura?” Laughter boomed like thunder from the back of the bar, and his eyes shifted temporarily in that direction. His cheeks seemed to darken and his brows angled downward at them, as if trying to shut them up.

“I’m just a tourist. I like to take in the sights,” Angela responded. She knew what was happening, but instead of calling it out, she always enjoyed seeing what amusing things men like this had to say to her.

“I know a few sights you could see, if you’d like. Best in town.” And there it was. More laughter erupted from the same corner of the room. The man clearly had friends. At this point, most women would run. The last thing she wanted was to be isolated. She would easily win whatever secret competition she was having with this young man. When it came to fighting him and his goons of friends off, well, that would be a different and much less fortunate story.

“No thank you, I’ve already got plans.” Angela answered, taking another gulp of her drink. She would play this off, make him give up and then things would be normal once more.

“Well, if you’d like to see some sights in Hanamura, I’m the guy you should talk to. My name is Genji Shimada. My family runs this city.” His name made the hairs on the back of Angela’s neck stand up and she shockingly turned to look at him. Genji had just started to stand up from his seat, but upon catching her blue wide-eyed gaze he quickly sat down again. “You’ve heard of the Shimada Clan I presume?”

“Who hasn’t?” She tried to hold back her feelings, to keep her composure, but it was a lot harder to do once she knew that she was standing in front of a Shimada son. Of course out of all the men in Hanamura, the one with the most dangerous family took interest in her.

“So you came to Hanamura even though you were fully aware about us? And I thought you were smart.” This time there was no laughter, only a sly smirk curling on Genji’s lips.

“I don’t like to invoke fear in myself when I shouldn’t. It’s not as if I do anything to alert the Shimada Clan.” Angela explained herself with ease, holding back every instinct that screamed run. If she ran, she would likely get jumped. She had to think of a plan and think of one quickly. Luckily for her, Angela was definitely smarter than her opponent.

Genji paused for a moment, not having expected such a quick answer from the blonde. “My offer still stands.”

“Well, Mr. Shimada, I hope you actually meant to show me landmarks and tourist sites and not the alternative perceivable meaning. I’d say yes to the first, but the second,” she eyed him up and down for a moment. “I have higher standards than that.”

Genji’s cheeks burned, and Angela couldn’t help but smirk as she took another gulp of her beverage.  The laughter in the back of the room from Genji’s friends had become deafening, filling the bar with its elating reprise. “Y-Yes! I’ll show you around.”

Desperate, isn’t he? Angela thought to herself. She reached into her purse, pulling out a pen and a notepad. She scrawled on it quickly before tearing the paper from its notepad and passing it over to Genji. Overwatch has been trying to siphon any and all information about the illicit activities of the Shimada Clan, but if she snuck info out of Genji, the benefits to Overwatch’s investigation would be astronomical! “Text me the details and I’ll see you there,” she said. “I’ve got to get back to my hotel.” Again, she reached into her purse, pulling out some cash and sliding it toward the bartender.

All the while, Genji quietly watched, holding the piece of paper in his hand as if it were a treasure. Not but a few moments later, she was gone, golden ponytail swishing behind her as she walked out the door of the bar. He cocked his head over at his friends in the back, raising the piece of paper in his hand like a flag. “And you didn’t think I could do it!” He shouted at them. Again, his eyes floated to the paper. In perfect handwriting, he read her name again. Angela. It fit her. Her name was one letter off from the English word “Angel”. That’s the only word he could use to describe a woman that fine.

He slipped the paper into his pocket, trying not to show just how careful he was being with it in front of his friends. Victoriously, he returned to the group and was greeted with pats on the backs and hoots of congratulations. “I’m actually shocked; she was practically bending you over!”

“Some women are like that, Yusei,” Genji answered, toothy grin still beaming. The light would not die from his eyes tonight. A foreigner was considered a treat, most people did not come to Hanamura alone, and those who did were most certainly not single, beautiful women. “You just have to take it.”

“Eh, they’re like that now, but later on when it really matters they’ll squirm and lay down like bitches. It’s just in their nature.” Yusei raised his shoulders in a shrug, before tensing up as he was swatted by another member of the group, long dark hair falling into his face before he pushed it away.

“And this is why you have the hardest time picking up girls, Yusei!” Genji teased, elbowing him in the ribs. Laughter broke out among the group, overpowering the sound of thunder outside. He hoped that Angela had gotten to her hotel safely and that he had not rushed her decision to leave.

Throughout the rest of the night, he listened to his friends laugh at each other as they too tried to pick up women who passed into the bar. Some were successful, leaving the pack for a night of fun. Genji’s fingers wandered to his pocket frequently. Once again the digits drummed against the slip of notepad paper. He couldn’t help but feel that he was the only one who truly got lucky that night.

“Angela, I don’t know what you’re thinking but it’s insane.” Gabriel Reyes ran his fingers through his short-cropped sable hair, the stress of the situation getting to him. “You could be killed. You could expose Overwatch and our plans here. It’s just too risky.”

“Well it’s already done, Gabe, I came to you about this because I need your support. It can work. No one recognizes me here and I have this under control. If a Shimada doesn’t recognize my face then who else would? Take the risk and the Shimada Clan could be destroyed a year earlier than planned.” Angela folded her arms over her chest, gazing at Gabriel from the doorway of his office. His fingers massaged his temples. He was definitely considering it. All it took was just one more push…

“Do you have faith in me, Gabe? That’s all I’m asking for right now. I need you to believe me because you and I both know that Jack won’t.” He grunted, the only sign of confirmation that she’d probably get. After all, the Blackwatch agent always did have a soft spot for the brilliant doctor. She successfully hid her joy. Angela always hated the militaristic approach of Overwatch. If she were able to help Overwatch peacefully dismantle the Shimada Clan that would be a personal victory for her.

She turned to go, unwilling to burden Gabriel further. “Wait.” He called, and she turned her head in his direction. He reached into his desk pulling out a pistol and passing it over to her. “My one request is that you carry this with you.” Angela opened her mouth to argue, but he held up his other hand to silence her. “I know you aren’t a fan of guns, but I can’t stand the thought of you going out there without protection. Your words are powerful Angela, but the Shimada Clan would kill you before you could even begin to talk your way out of it.” Gabriel was always very realistic. He knew the serious danger that the pale blonde haired doctor was getting into. Yet he wouldn’t stop her.

Angela closed her mouth, bowing her head in resignation, taking the gun. “It won’t be necessary, Gabriel. You’ll see that soon enough. Thank you for your concern.” She smiled and turned away, holding the gun in her hands. She’d had training in firing weapons before, albeit she did her best to avoid using them. Though she knew in order to win the war, she couldn’t fight every battle.

Her quarters were as she had left them. She shut the front door behind her, pausing at the door before her fingertips slipped down the smooth wood and to the lock on the doorknob. It twisted with a click, barring her off from the others. At last she would get some time to herself. Despite her ability to socialize and socialize very well, Angela prized time alone. She removed her shoes, letting out a relieved sigh as her bare feet sank into the plush carpet. The gun was still in her hand, and she held it with a few fingers as if repulsed by its existence. She slid into her room, putting the pistol on her nightstand beside her purse before collapsing against her bed in a heap.

As she reached up and loosened the band that tied her hair up, a buzzing came from within her purse. She huffed, sitting up and teasing her hair with the tips of her fingers before snatching her phone out of the denim and leather bag. The screen lit up as her finger pressed against the home button at the center. One new notification, just a single text sent an hour ago. She tapped the icon at the bottom of the screen and quickly began to read.

“Meet me at the front of the bar tomorrow at noon and I’ll show you the best places in all of Hanamura. - Genji”

Angela saved the number. She knew well enough not to text back, at least not from her current location. The last thing she needed was the Shimada Clan to come knocking on Overwatch’s door.

With the plan now fully in motion, there would be no backing out. All Angela could do now was get ready for bed and be fully rested for whatever Genji Shimada had planned tomorrow. As she laid down under the soft covers of her bed sheets, she squinted to see better in the darkness. All she could hear now was the ticking of the clock and the soft whirring of the air conditioning. When her eyes adjusted, the silhouette of the pistol became clear. She prayed that she wouldn’t have to use it. Its very existence unnerved her, and in response she rolled over and away from the firearm.

---

Genji stood outside the bar, leaning against the wall with one foot propped up against it. His eyes were locked firmly on his phone. He had sent another message to her, letting her know that he was here over half an hour ago. She had read the message, or at least the first one he had sent. Her lack of response did set him on edge, and he had the poor sense to show the emotion on his face. When his phone vibrated, it completely turned his mood around.

“On my way.”

Those three words were all it took to make him glow with pride. She was actually coming. It wasn’t as if he were some nervous virgin who had no idea how to talk to women. No, it was that Angela had proven herself to be more than just the average easy girl who threw herself at him because of his power. In fact, he was under the impression that Angela wasn’t a fan. That didn’t bother him entirely. Genji had never had a challenge before. It both excited and worried him.

A pale hand waved in front of his face, tearing him out of his thoughts and putting him back into the present. “I waved at you before but you were too busy looking at your phone.”

He quickly shoved his phone into his pocket, straightening himself up and staring her down. She wore a white camisole, denim capris, and sandals. It was a very simple and modest outfit. Genji didn’t quite understand how she could make something so casual look so good. “Sorry about that, I just got your message. I didn’t realize you’d be here that quickly. You look great.”

“Really? You just got it? I had sent it awhile ago. It must be my provider.” She glanced down at herself before cocking an eyebrow at Genji. “Not my greatest outfit, I just threw this on, honestly. Thank you, though.” Her smile made him smile in return as he glanced down at her.

He beckoned her to follow him, and together they walked the streets of Hanamura. As Angela gazed about, she realized with pleasant surprise, or relief, that no one seemed to be following them. Granted, those who would would not make it so obvious. However, Genji was leading her through a popular area of the city.

The silence had begun to get a little too much for the Japanese man, and he piped up to break the ice. “So, where are you from, Angela? The United States?” His question invoked laughter from her.

Angela couldn’t hide her amusement, snickering at his guess. “No, no, not there. I’ve been there before but I’m definitely not from there. Ich bin Schweizer.” She answered, and Genji gazed at her in dumb confusion. He clearly didn’t speak German. “I was born in Switzerland. That was my mother tongue.” Genji bowed his head, seeming to understand now that she had explained it to him in his own mother tongue.

“You seem to know many languages, how many do you speak?” It was normal for most people in Japan to be bilingual, but trilingual was odd. And Angela certainly was not Japanese. The crowds seemed to part for them, stepping out of the way of a Shimada son and whoever this girl was.

“Just German, English, and Japanese.” It was a lie, but Genji didn’t know that. Angela couldn’t give Genji any clues as to what her job might be. Someone who spoke many languages was someone who worked with many people from different areas. She wouldn’t let him get suspicious. Luckily for herself, she was an incredibly good liar. That or Genji was incredibly gullible.

The two came to a point where the crowd dispersed aside from the occasional loiterer. “Where are we going?” Angela asked. She had to speed walk in order to catch up to the taller Japanese man, whose strides were much longer than her own.

“We’re going to one of the best places. I promised the best spots in Hanamura, and I always provide. It’d be a shame if I disappointed you.” He tossed his head back to glance over his shoulder, giving Angela a half grin. She seemed almost bored with the way she stared back at him blankly.

They came to a more populated area, but it was clear that these were much more… Undesirable types. Beggars littered the street, gazing longingly at the gambling booths that were scattered about the square. The unmistakable stench of tobacco filled the air and burned Angela’s lungs. Before the two, flashing neon lights blinked like a beacon. He lead her inside the building before giving her a chance to read anything but the “Open 24 Hours” sign.

The hum of electronics buzzed from all directions. Any noise from the zapping sound of pixilated characters fighting to the chiming of gambling machines; it was a symphony of digital chaos. “You took me to an Arcade and Casino?”

“Yes, but we’re only here for one part.” His eyes gleamed mischievously. A man with money and power had not much else to gain aside from more money and power. While others starved and suffered from the effects of war and terror, those at the head of it all had nothing better to do than throw their money at machines programmed to steal. Angela could feel anger rise within her. It was a wakeup call, Genji was no different than the rest.

It shocked her when he waved her over not to a gambling machine but to one of the arcade ones. She read the side, furrowing her brows in confusion. “Galaga?” She looked to him searchingly.

He tossed that half grin at her again as he slipped a token into the machine. “What were you expecting? Slot machines? No, I prefer a game of skill, not chance.” He readied himself, hunching over the shorter machine to look at the screen. Angela shifted to get a better view. The pixels counted down, three, two, one. And the game began.

Genji’s long fingers glided over the controls, twisted and moving the joystick that controlled the position of the spaceship around. Meanwhile, his other hand pressed the red firing button with a speed not even the game could likely handle. Angela watched with mild interest, she’d never been one for arcade games, but her colleagues were very much into them. She’d always casually hang by, waiting for the entertainment of those who had short fuses to blow up at their game.

This man was different, though. His eyes darted around the screen, as if he memorized each and every move he needed to make in the game. His shots rarely missed and he remained unscathed even as the number up top approached thirty thousand. Angela pursed her lips, she knew enough about video games to know when someone was pretty good. She could only imagine the amount of time Genji had spent there.

“It looks like I’m going to be here for awhile,” Angela commented with a quirked eyebrow, giving the Japanese man a sidelong glance.

He stared at the screen, a toothy grin on his features. “Want to give it a go?” He prompted, glancing over his shoulder at her. “I’ll help you.”

Angela only seemed to blink in surprise. She’d hardly touched games before, proving only to want to be an observer rather than a player. Yet the genuine and excited gleam in Genji’s eyes made her relent. “Okay, I’ll give it a try. Don’t expect anything amazing from me, though.” She took his place as he moved out of the way, standing perhaps a little too close for Angela’s comfort. Angela shouldered her purse and pushed pale locks of silky hair out of her face. Her hands hovered over the controls tentatively and she pensively eyed the pixilated screen. She was very aware of the dark, chocolate gaze that bore into her. It examined her every pensive move.

The rough sensation of calloused hands brushed over hers, gently gliding them to each control. His hand wrapped around hers, closing it around the joystick. “This is how you move,” he mumbled close to her ear. His other hand guided two fingers to the red button. “This is how you attack.” How could such perfect, unscarred hands feel so rough?

It was all in good nature, but Angela seemed to freeze with him in such close proximity. She could feel the warmth of his breath heating the skin of her neck and ear. It took a lot in her to focus, blue eyes training on the screen and pretending not to notice how close he was to her. She knew from the second that she met Genji that he had only seen her as a conquest. Yet the young doctor would not be conquered. As long as she could help it, she would refrain.

“Angie?” Genji’s voice in her ear pulled her out of her thoughts. “Are you alright? You seem a bit stiff.” She glanced over her shoulder, noting how close his face was. The nickname he gave her passed right over her head. It was probably a lot easier for him to say. He didn’t seem to show any intent to move. His laughter was melodic, filled with pure amusement. “You’re not scared to play a little arcade game are you? I told you I’d help.” If Genji hadn’t realized that it was how close he stood that set Angela on edge than it was best that it stayed that way. She didn’t want him to take what he wanted, yet she didn’t want to push him away and make him shut down. “We’re starting. Look at the screen.”

Quietly, she obeyed. At first it was easy. The waves were quickly destroyed with their combined efforts. As the enemies grew in larger number, she could feel Genji push her hand in the right direction from time to time to avoid losing a life. It was inevitable that she would get a game over, but each time Genji would help her back. Soon enough, she was independent of him. Her skinny fingers took a different direction. Where Genji focused on prediction and prowess, Angela was gentle and evasive. When Angela reached a score of twenty thousand, that’s when she threw her hands down. The eight bit ship exploded and game over flashed at the center of the screen.

“Still didn’t get top ten.” Genji puffed out his lower lip in a pout.

Angela stared at him as if he had three heads. “I’m not going to try and beat one hundred seventy five thousand points. I barely reached twenty thousand. I can’t imagine how long you were sitting here. It’s foolish!”

“Well first off, I didn’t sit. I stood. Secondly, never say never.” Genji’s deep brown eyes scanned over her searchingly. “Are you hungry?”

“Not exactly, but I could always go for something light if you are.” She fluffed up the ends of her pale hair, noting how he watched. He lifted his hand, as if aching to run his fingers through the glowing, silky blonde locks. Instead, he raised it to his dark black hair, mussing it and giving himself the bed head look.

“I know a pretty decent place we can eat.” He inclined his head in the direction of the building’s exit, leading the way through the sea of people. Angela had hardly realized just how many people had come in since their arrival. They must have been in here for a few hours. As the two left the building, her stomach sank just like the sun was sinking below the horizon.

“How long were we in there?” She gasped the words out, as if all the air was sucked from her lungs. How could she not have noticed the time flying away from her?

“They say time flies when you’re having fun. I’m a pretty fun coach, huh?” He grinned at her, and she returned it with a weak smile. It’s true that she did enjoy herself. It wasn’t as if she was given many days off. She was always up to her nose with work. It seemed as if having some time off to enjoy life beyond research was more like a chore, a necessity to prevent herself from imploding. Yet for the first time, Angela found herself enjoying life without a book in her hand or at the computer compiling research.

She shook her head, clearing the thought from her mind. As the day had gone on, it became increasingly difficult to think of Genji as heir to a dangerous, illegal Clan of assassins. This man was more like a boy. It’s as if he were a prince, living in the lap of luxury and frequently meeting with his people. He has a special kind of naivety, one of ignorance and blind charity.

They stood there on the concrete steps, and Genji held out his arm to her.”The streets around here get pretty dangerous when the sun sets. I wouldn’t want to see you hurt.” Genji explained. He didn’t even look down at her, just warily eyed the empty streets. It was as if he could see things that Angela could not, even though she strained her eyes in the growing darkness. She linked her arm with his and let him guide her through the creeping night.

There was a terrible sense of paranoia that only seemed to worsen as it got even darker. Angela noted the irony in the situation. The very type of person she was frightened by stood by her as a guardian, protecting her from those who truly intended to do her harm. At this point, Angela felt as if she could trust the Shimada son. After all, it wasn’t Genji’s fault that he was born into a family that committed illegal acts and thrived off of contraband. It really seemed like he was just a regular guy. Perhaps he was put on a pedestal, but he seemed to use it for good purposes.

Genji held her tight to his side, his features outlined by silvery moonlight. He guided her through the most dangerous part of town, glaring at the shadows as if there were monsters waiting there. Perhaps there were, but as long as Angela remained safe, he would be successful.

Soon enough, the sight of glowing street lamps lit up the stone paths. They were beacons of hope. In that moment, the street lights were as safe as Genji’s protective arm. Their glow felt as warm as sunlight on Angela’s skin as she passed under them. She smiled, letting out a relieved sigh.

They parted from one another. The heat left both of them, the embrace of a winter night chilling them to their bones. Though beautiful blossoms and leaves sprouted on the trees, the weather was in that awkward phase of being sweater weather at night and in the morning and sweltering during the day. Angela’s teeth chattered and her arms wrapped around her torso. The spaghetti strapped camisole proved to be a bit of a mistake. Goosebumps rose up on her skin.

“You look cold,” he commented, watching her shiver underneath a lamp’s yellow aura. She seemed to glow beneath that light, her pale skin reflecting it. To him, she appeared like even more of an angel than the prior night when he first laid eyes on her.  “Come here.”

The tone indicated that what he said was less of a question and more like a command. Yet it was soft at the same time, a gentleness he probably never used in combination with a tone unless he was trying to pull at someone’s heart strings. In that moment, he played Angela’s like a harp. She walked over to him and he wrapped his arm around her. His warmth was like a furnace, instantly warming her from the tips of her fingers to the tips of her toes.

Together they walked through the streets. Genji led her along, guiding her with subtle movements. Occasionally, he’d look down at her. He felt something in the pit of his stomach that he hadn’t quite felt before. This feeling seemed different, a mix between true joy and something that felt like falling a very long way. To the Shimada son, it made him rather uncomfortable. This foreign feeling worried him. Yet as he saw her look up and flash a perfect smile at him with eyes the color of a Caribbean sea, those worries seemed to melt away.

They had dinner at a small local restaurant that smelled of salty broths and seafood. With each moment that passed, she came to know more about the rather goofy Genji. It dawned on her that he didn’t talk much about his life at home. It bothered her, but she knew she couldn’t produce results in a single night. That’d be unrealistic. Yet why did she feel relieved that she would get to see him again?

As they stepped out onto the street again, the chill of the night filled their bones. He had offered to walk her to her hotel, but she politely declined. It dawned on her that she may need to stay at a real hotel to keep this up, but for now, she would walk to her private quarters alone. As they bid one another farewell, Genji gently pulled her into a friendly embrace.

“I’ll see you again?” He stared down at her, eyebrows curving upward hopefully.

“Yes, you will Genji.”

They parted and went off in different directions unaware of the tragic path that they began to walk.

Chapter Text

Genji watched the angelic woman go. Her steps were light as feathers, hardly making a noise in the night. She would be safe, he trusted that. Yet as she left, a sense of dread cascaded down upon him at the realization that he would have to return home. He told himself the cold is why he trembled.

Angela returned to her quarters, sealing the door behind her and letting out a loud, audible sigh. What had happened throughout the day had been far beyond what she’d anticipated. As much as she wanted to believe that Genji was a bad person for being associated with a dangerous Clan as well as being the son of the leader, she couldn’t find it in herself.

Bang. One quick fist to the door made her nearly leap out of her skin. Angela turned on her heel, facing the door once more. Briefly, she considered ignoring the knock.

Bang. Bang. She groaned, running her fingers through her hair and pushing the soft locks back. She opened the door, gaze downcast at black boots.

“Hello Gabriel,” she spoke, trying her best to sound pleased with his visit. Truthfully, she wasn’t. What could she possibly tell him? After he’d put so much trust in her. He could get her in a heavy amount of trouble. If Reyes had wanted to, he could have her confined to the temporary compound. It wasn’t as if she was needed on the field.

“Angela. You sound happy.” His voice was low, almost like a rumble. Hazel eyes burned into her skin. “I’ve got something important to do tonight so I’ll be brief. What did you learn from the Shimada?”

Angela bit down on her lower lip, peeling off dead skin nervously. Her blue gaze was still downcast. She hadn’t learned anything of use. “These things take time, Gabriel. I can’t expect to know everything within a few hours.” It was true; she hardly had any time at all to learn anything. Genji hadn’t been too keen on sharing, either. In fact, he seemed eager to run away from it all.

“You can if you did it my way.” Gabriel growled. He shook his head, running his fingers over his closely cropped dark brown hair. “If you don’t bring back anything within a week this is over with. You do not see him again.”

“I do not even want to think about doing it your way. It’s completely barbaric. I wish you could see how much better peaceful resolution is. You’d be less of a stick in the mud.” She offered him a good-natured smirk. All he did was grunt.

“One week, Angela. I will not have your safety at risk for longer than that.” Reyes turned to leave her quarters, not allowing any room for argument. The door shut with a click and Angela was left alone to stare at where he stood not but a few moments before.

A single week to discover everything she could about the Shimada Clan? A single week to pry it out of Genji alone? He seemed to want to talk about anything else wherever and whenever he could. The Japanese man left no opportunity for the brilliant Angela to intervene. He was good at preventing that. The task itself became ever more daunting with each fleeting thought that rushed through her mind like cars on the highway.

She didn’t even realize when or if she had fallen asleep.

--
Six days had passed without a word from Genji about the Shimada Clan. He was keen to show her every tourist attraction in the city. It was as if he were in another place when he’d tell the story of each sight as if he were someone else entirely. With each attraction the concealed pain became more blatant. Angela wished she could do something about it, but every time she attempted he’d dodge it with a lopsided grin and a cheeky comment.

He wasn’t alone. The more Angela failed to get something out of him, the more sullen she became. She had one day left. That meant one last chance to bring anything back to Reyes so that she would be able to see Genji again. It occurred to her that she was thinking less about the benefits for Overwatch and more for the individual. Her caring nature sought to help him. Yet Genji would not let her in that deep, at least not yet.

On day seven she woke up early. The shower she took was brisk and her breakfast small. She pulled on a pair of leggings, a thin sweater, and slipped some flats on. Not much later she was out the door, leaving the compound with her purse over her shoulder and her eyes on her phone. Genji had texted her to meet him at their usual spot. She didn’t strike him as an early morning person, most of the time they went out at noon or later. The doctor wouldn’t argue about seeing him sooner.

The chill of the morning air burnt her slim fingers and tinged her cheeks pink. The golden glow of the sun and the purity of blue sky above showed that it would be warmer later in the day. She rubbed her arm, using friction to warm her skin.

Today she was the first to arrive at the front of the bar. The sign in the window blinked open yet no sound came from the bar. The drunks of last night must have stumbled their way home. She smirked to herself while wondering how often Genji was one of those drunks who tripped over his own feet, trying his hardest to make it home.

A thud against stone two feet from her made her flinch, hand instinctively placed over her heart in alarm. She stared with wide blue eyes, deciphering the newcomer.

“Good morning, Angela,” Genji’s voice was smooth like a perfect melody. He beamed as the morning sun did, a toothy grin splitting from ear to ear.

His smile did indeed warm her heart. The morning chill had all but vanished with the warmth of his endearing presence. “Good morning, Genji. You seem to be in a good mood,” she responded with her own chipper tone, a sweet smile forming on her features subconsciously.

“It is for good reason, I promise,” he explained. One masculine hand extended forward, brushing a lock of blonde hair off her shoulder. “It’s still wet,” he commented, letting the damp strands fall through his fingers. His touch lingered for a moment, sending a shiver down Angela’s spine.

“I just hopped out of the shower not that long ago. I didn’t take you for much of a morning person so I didn’t have as much time to get ready,” She replied, thankful that the cool air held a blush at bay.

He snickered, warm eyes filled with amusement. “You’re not wrong, Angela. I’m the exact opposite of a morning person. You could probably wake the dead before you wake me!” He joked, starting to trot off down the street. Typical that he wouldn’t give her any clues or tell her where they were going.

She had to walk a quite a bit faster to keep up with the lithe man. As the week had gone on, he’d shown less of his gentlemanly side. It didn’t bother the doctor. In fact, it had quite the opposite effect. She enjoyed being treated more like a friend and less like a prize to be won through superfluous courtship.

Genji didn’t stop walking, just tilted his head back to look at her. His dark eyes were full of life and excitement. It was almost endearing. Almost. Angela cocked an eyebrow at him. His lively look turned into that of confusion when Angela’s contorted into shock and alarm, and she vaulted forward to grip his wrist hard. He halted in his steps, staring at her. “If you wanted to hold my hand you could have just said so, I have no problem with that.” Then he had the audacity to wink at her, and she rolled her eyes.

“Have you ever heard the term ‘Eyes on the road’?” Angela queried, dropping his wrist and folding her arms over her chest. Genji’s mouth fell agape as he turned his head around, his nose brushed against that of a stone wall.

“Oh.” He almost seemed disappointed, but just barely. They’d strayed into an abandoned alleyway. He scrunched his face up when he noted her laughter, cheeks starting to burn with embarrassment. “Hey, don’t laugh at me!”

She hadn’t even realized where she was until she did. The latent dread within her bore its ugly head once more. Why here? Why would Genji bring her here? Was Reyes correct? Angela never lost in a fight with words. She watched Genji’s mouth move, but didn’t hear the words come out. All she did was stare blankly at him.

“I figured as much,” Genji replied. “Not to worry, I can help you.” Before she could ask him what he had meant by helping her, he began to scale the stone wall he had just been pressed against not but a moment before. It was impressive, he was as agile as a squirrel, making quick work of the ten foot wall. At the top, he went prone, swinging his body around and throwing his hand down for her. It took her a moment to decipher what he had meant before, putting two and two together. She approached the ominous wall, jumping as high as she could with her hand out stretched. His hand clasped hers, her long nails dug into his skin as he fought the force of gravity to pull her up. She noted the roughness of his fingers, calloused and worn. She swung herself over the ledge with his help.

“Don’t get too handsy with me,” she chastised as one hand cupped her waist. “You’ll find that I do have a nasty punch,” Angela warned, trying to make a joke to play off the fear that had gripped her not but moments before. His hands retreated from her, and he held them up in surrender.

“If it’s anywhere near as painful as your nails tearing apart my hand then please don’t punch me,” he said followed by laughter. It was odd that he was going about the city, drinking and messing around when he probably had more important things to do. Things like learning the ins and outs of a highly illicit organization. “Also where we are going is a surprise. I promise you’ll like it though.”

“Say, Genji, do you have any siblings?” Angela asked after the silence had fallen upon them once more.

“An older brother, Hanzo. That’s all. We’re close. Well, we were.” Genji seemed a little unsettled by the question and Angela definitely caught the ‘Can we talk about something else?’ vibe. But this wasn’t about Genji’s feelings. Angela had to bring something tangible back to Reyes or she would never see the Japanese man again.

“Ah, that’s unfortunate. I’ve always wanted an older sibling. It’s nice to have someone to watch over and protect you. I was a lonely little girl. My parents died when I was young. I spent a lot of time in a lot of foster homes.” She hoped that her honesty would bring out something in Genji, but all she got in return was a cold shoulder.

“We are almost there.” Genji had significantly soured since talking about Hanzo. Angela couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty. Seeing the usually carefree man so clearly disturbed by the thought of his own family brought about a strong feeling of empathy in Angela. It wasn’t that she had hated her parents, no she had loved them. But their decision to leave had broken her heart, and their deaths in an unnecessary war shattered it. She knew that Genji wasn’t feeling hatred. Hatred was not strong enough. “Close your eyes,” Genji interjected suddenly. Before Angela could respond he was behind her, hand covering her eyes.

“I think I can close my eyes by myself,” she commented, but rather than push him away she let him have his fun out of her guilt from pushing the tender topic before. Genji steered her in the right direction with a hand on her shoulder, turning her. “Careful, take a big step, there are some big tree roots in front of you.” His breath ghosted over her ear, and she shivered. The contact had been unexpected. If he had felt it, he didn’t mention it. She cautiously took a giant step forward, and he followed close behind. “Alright, don’t open your eyes until I tell you, okay?”

“Are you going to help me with that too?” She pursed her lips, but she got no response from him. The warmth emitting from his body disappeared. For several moments she waited. There was nothing but the sound of birds chirping and the gentle rustle of trees.

“Open them,” Genji’s voice called out several yards ahead of her. She exhaled slowly, opening her eyes and raising one hand up to shade her eyes from the blinding sunlight. Genji stood stock still, an eager smile playing on his lips. Behind him was a beautiful lake with pristine water, sparkling in the sunlight like a bubbly drink. Spring blossom petals the color of rosy cheeks fell softly to the surface and floated at the top lazily. The current was not strong enough to take them away. Her facial expression must have betrayed every feeling inside her. Angela was not one to usually stare dumbfounded, but she must have made just the reaction Genji had been trying to fish from her. The area was completely isolated from the rest of the city, untouched by humanity in every way. There were neither buildings nor park benches. It was just pure wilderness.

“I told you I knew the best places in all of Hanamura,” Genji boasted. She hadn’t even realized that he’d moved to her side. She could feel that dark gaze boring into her and she resisted the urge to meet it, too enthralled with capturing the breathtaking scenery before her.

“You did, color me impressed,” Angela murmured, taking a few steps closer to the lake’s edge. Genji followed, matching her pace for pace. She took a seat in the soft green grass littered with more of the blush blossoms that hadn’t fallen into the lake. Genji stood at a slight distance, teetering on his heels as he gazed down at her. Angela raised her eyebrows at him. She patted at the patch of grass beside her. When he didn’t seem to get the message she huffed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t be shy; You certainly weren’t the night we first met.” He snorted in amusement and padded over to where she was sitting before letting himself flop to the ground. He sat with his legs apart, arms draped over his knees lazily as he stared out at the lake, wincing as the sun’s rays hit his face from an opening in a tree.

“My brother and I used to come here all the time. We would swim here and play fight with all of our friends. Sometimes we’d escape tutoring and come here. Not many know about it,” Genji explained.

Angela crossed her legs, leaning back on her hands and raising her shoulders. “Then why tell me about this place?” She asked, truly curious. What had she done to earn his trust so suddenly after a week of deafening silence? Genji had taken her to a place he deemed sacred; It was sacred to his childhood and clearly his adulthood. What had she done to earn such an honor?

“You’re only a tourist, after all. Besides, I didn’t show you how to get here. I told you to close your eyes,” he argued. “Besides, you wanted to know about my brother. This is the only place I could really explain him to you without thinking so badly of him.” Genji sighed, his eyes turned back to the lake. It was the perfect day to take someone here, he couldn’t help but wonder if it had been fate for him to be able to bring Angela. She’d be gone from his life as quickly as she came in, but some irrational part in him wanted her to stay. If he showed her a place like this, perhaps she’d stay longer and see what else the city had to offer. He turned to her, finding her steady blue gaze locked on his. He took that as his cue to start talking.

Not once did she prompt him to hurry up as he took his time mulling over the words in his head. How could he explain things? His life was not a sob story. His parents were alive and breathing for now, he lived in the lap of luxury, he always had people groveling before him, not once did he have to work hard unless he wanted to. Yet he still felt miserable and always rebelled, especially as he grew older. “I remember the last time he and I came here. It was just as I turned fifteen. Hanzo was seventeen at the time, nearly eighteen. We threw a giant party here with all of our friends. It was probably at the time the best night of my life. It was your typical teenage party, alcohol, drugs,” he paused a moment, staring at Angela, “Girls, too.”

“I especially had a lot of fun with that, the ladies love me, between Hanzo and I, I’m the cuter one.” Angela shook her head and rolled her eyes at the comment, but Genji still kept that stupid grin on his face. “At the end of the night,” his grin faltered into a morose smile, “Hanzo took me aside after everyone had gone. I was drunk off my ass, but his words were enough to sober me up. Talk about a buzz kill.” He let out a heavy sigh. “He told me that he didn’t have time for games anymore and that I should probably start thinking of the future for the sake of our Clan. He said that this should be the last time anything like this should happen. He warned me that father would not be around forever to coddle me.”

Angela stared at him, her expression one of sympathy. Slowly, she placed her hand on top of his arm, letting it lay there encouragingly. He would be allowed to go on if he wished. “They don’t think I know what they say when I’m not around. I hear it from some of my friends in the Clan. ‘Genji, you need to focus on your destiny. This isn’t a choice.’ But I do not care if it is a choice or not. I will make my choice. I just want my life to be mine,” he stopped as his voice cracked. “I envy you, Angela.”

She blinked in shocked surprise. “Me? Genji…” She trailed off, not sure on how to follow up. He was opening up to her, spilling everything on his mind likely for the first time. The way it hurt him made her heart ache.

“You get to travel the world and see places without being chained to a destiny. Your life is completely yours. You do what you want when you want and you never have anyone scold you for it. I wish I could run away with you.” He wasn’t completely off the mark. Angela wished she could tell him the truth, that she did have a duty to not just an organization but to the world itself. She could relate to the burden. It was agony.

The silence that cascaded upon them was like an incessant ringing in the ears. It was relentless, unyielding. It would not make room for any of their voices. Genji broke first. He stood up and reached down, peeling his shirt over his head. Angela watched with a look of bewilderment. What was he doing?

Genji pulled off his pants and she averted her gaze, thankful for the fact that when she did catch a glimpse he was in fact wearing underwear. He spent no further time before taking a couple of bounds before leaping into the lake. The blossom petals split into different directions, making a wide berth after he dipped below the once still surface. The water teetered back and forth, gradually settling. Angela waited with bated breath, looking for the familiar head of black hair to breach the surface.

He did shortly after with a gasp for breath, shaking his hair of water. He treaded water, looking at her as she waited at the bank. He grinned at her wide-eyed gaze of shock. “Come on in. It’s not that cold.”

She knit her brows in confusion. “What!? No. Absolutely not.” She folded her arms, shaking her head. Her blonde hair swayed with the momentum.

“You better come in!” He taunted in a sing song voice. It was as if his moment of sullenness had never happened.

“I am declining that invitation.”

“It wasn’t an invitation!” He retorted, swimming to the shore with long strokes of his arms and legs to propel him there quickly. She tried not to stare.

He pulled himself out of the water, toes covered in mud from the bank. Angela could already tell what was going to happen next. She made a run for it. The flats she wore found themselves lost as she took off. She could hear Genji close behind her. It wasn’t much further before his muscular arms wrapped around her waist. She wailed, struggling in his grasp. Yet she still laughed. Something inside her told her that this wasn’t his true strength he was exercising.

“Not the sweater!” One hand escaped and she slapped at his hand lightly. “Please!”

Genji’s forehead pressed against the back of her head, his lips hardly an inch from her ear. “You should have thought about it when I warned you.” He briefly squeezed her against him, her form warm against his chilled wet one.

“You’ve already gotten my clothes wet! Just at least let me salvage the sweater.” She looked over her shoulder, trying to look at him. He moved his head back to avoid getting bumped.

“Fine, you can protect your sweater. You better get in the water afterward, though. I caught you once. You’re as slow as a turtle. I thought you’d be a lot faster with legs like that.”

She gaped with a mixture of insult and embarrassment. “I am not even going to try to find out what you mean by that!” She yelped. He let her go, and her bare feet rested in the dirt. She went back the way she came, grabbing her flats on the journey back. She went to a nearby tree, dropping the shoes at the base before reached down to the hem of her sweater.

Genji was watching, and he was watching her every move unabashedly. He folded his arms over his bare chest, legs slightly apart in a disciplined stance.

“Don’t look so excited, I’m wearing something underneath.” She pulled it over her head, confirming her words as true.

“I wasn’t looking for that, Angela. I’m making sure you don’t run away. This is just a necessary evil.” He smirked at her and she rolled her eyes. She turned, hanging the sweater over a branch.

“I cannot believe you are making me do this.”

“I cannot believe you’re so upset about it. I’m just trying to have a day of fun with you, Angela. Unless you’d rather spend it trying to beat my high scores in the arcade…” He trailed off, raising an eyebrow and giving her that dangerous grin of his.

For a few moments she did nothing but glare at him. It was not so much a glare of anger, but it warned of irritation. Genji pretended not to notice, swinging his arms back and forth, clapping his hands together in a lackadaisical manner. For once he waited patiently. It was one of the few times she wished he wouldn’t. “Is that all you’re taking off?” He finally asked. Even when he tried it still wore thin quickly.

“It’d be a shame if you had your hopes up for much more. Yes, this is it. You owe me a lot for this, Genji Shimada.”

“Yo, I was just asking,” he threw his hands up defensively. “If it comes to it you can come back to my home or I can just buy you something dry.”

“Is this how you treat all the women you spend time with or am I special?” Angela folded her arms beneath her chest and Genji stared blankly. She rolled her eyes and let her arms flop to her side, a smile on her features. He shook his head a moment, as if coming out of a trance.

“Uh, you mustn’t have learned much about me because I don’t particularly spend time with the same woman for more than a night. So yes, I’d say you are special.” Genji took to her side, wrapping a long arm, slightly damp arm around her bare shoulders.

Angela raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m flattered.” And she truly was. His arm raised to brush against the back of her neck with the movement. Natural instinct made her tilt her head back as the fine hairs there were tickled, and she bit her lower lip pensively.

The world seemed to tip as her body was flipped. It was so sudden that the doctor could hardly do anything but gasp in loud surprise as she was scooped up into Genji’s arms. He held her in a fireman carry, slinging her over his shoulder as if she were a sack of flour.

“Genji, what are you-“

She braced herself, squeezing her eyes shut and holding her breath as she was tossed into the water. The chill of it bit like sharp fangs into her skin as she sank down below the surface. Her flaxen hair floated around her in all directions. Her toes touched the murky bottom, soft mud sinking between them. She pushed up, hard, and fought her way to the surface.

When she broke it she sucked in air, her voice hoarse as she sputtered. Her blonde hair was like a curtain as it cascaded around her face, and she quickly pushed it aside. She blinked rapidly, gaze adjusted to the light. It found Genji quickly, who was sitting at the shore watching her with a perplexed look on his face.

“What’d you do that for?” Angela asked with a dagger sharp tone.

His reply was a snicker, his shoulders shaking as the laughter spilled from him like a song from a singer’s lips. She suddenly forgot to be upset. “You weigh as much as a feather.”

“You didn’t throw me as if I were one. Feathers have a lot of air resistance. That’s why it’s easier to throw a baseball than it is to throw a feather.”

“So you’re saying that you weigh as much as a baseball?” Genji cocked his head to the side, staring blankly at her. It didn’t take long for the smirk to curl on his lips until it was a half grin, white teeth flashing.

“Is that all you got out of that?” she retorted. All he did was let out a short hum of acknowledgement. It wouldn’t bother her. She was used to this by now. “You were so excited to have me in the water, now you’re just sitting there on the shore?”

“Is the siren coaxing me into the water so that she can drown me?” Genji taunted in a purr, leaning back onto his elbows. He dipped his chin into his chest so that he could still look at her.

“Contrary to what you believe, I’m more likely to drown you if you don’t get in here.”

Genji hummed again, one hand traveling to his chin to scratch it thoughtfully. “Alright, Angela.” The way he said her name made her cheeks and ears heat up. He stood up, raising his arms to the clear sky. He flexed and stretched, muscles rippled beneath his skin. Angela averted her gaze.

He was with her in moments, standing in the water mere inches before her. “Hanzo would throw me in too. We both trained quite a bit, but he hit puberty first of course. He was stronger; I couldn’t do much about it. I didn’t mind it, though. We were best friends. Any time with Hanzo back then was fun. Then he had to learn…” He trailed off, seemingly pained.

“Learn what, Genji?” She already knew the answer.

He ran his fingers through his spiked black hair, water droplets clinging to where it could. “He had to learn how to lead the Shimada Clan. He’s the heir after all. He’s the heir and I’m nothing.”

“You’re not nothing, Genji.”

“It is okay-- I don’t want to be something. That’s his dream, not mine. It all works out. I’m unbound. I get to go where I want.” He reached out, his fingers brushing against her wet cheek, still warm with a blush. He pushed her bangs behind one ear. “I get to meet people too.”

“Genji…” She couldn’t find her voice, she grasped for it, swallowing a lump in her throat. He hummed again, waiting for her to find the right words. Yet she couldn’t find them. He rendered her speechless. His hand lingered, cupping her cheek in one hand. She leaned into the touch, the heat of her cheeks warming his rough hand. He brushed his thumb along the curve of a sharp cheekbone, studying her with the ominous dark eyes that only seemed to get darker each passing moment. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close as she nearly dipped below the surface.

“Careful,” he whispered, leaning so close to her ear that she could feel the puff of his breath and the brush of his lips. “I won’t let you drown.”

Yet she was drowning. She drowned in his firm touch, her stomach sank and her heart raced in her chest. She struggled to breathe and her lungs burned. He tethered her, though. Genji was her escape as he was hers. She heard his voice in her ear, the memory of his words striking. You are special to me. Angela realized that Genji was special to her as well. Everything from the past week bubbled to the surface suddenly. Everything from the fleeting touches and excited banter between the two of them struck her like lightning.

Angela Ziegler was drowning, but to her, in this moment, that was just right.

Chapter Text

The sudden revelation that she was falling for Genji Shimada should have concerned her. It was irrational—impossible, even. To develop feelings for the son of a highly illicit crime organization was dangerous. She was a doctor, a healer, a revolutionary mind in the field of nanobiology and cybernetics. Yet with Genji she felt that burden lift from her. With Genji she was Angela, a pretty blonde tourist who wasn’t incarcerated by duty. She was a traveler who set out to absorb the history of the world from one corner to the other.

Genji had his own concerns, as well. He never spent so much time with a single person that wasn’t a childhood friend or part of his family’s Clan. He especially didn’t spend time with women other than for his own gratification. He hadn’t expected Angela to be the way she was. She was brilliant, playful, and to him, drop dead gorgeous. She pulled on the strings of his heart like a puppeteer. Each thought he had would always trace back to something she’d said, or he’d hear her adorable giggle in his mind when making a joke with friends. He didn’t know how to control himself. Angela was better than any drug he’d ever experimented with. After the high went away, she was always there.

“My family is hosting a formal dinner tomorrow night. I’d like to have you there,” Genji pushed aside her blonde hair to look clearly at her strikingly unique features. The sun was setting after their day spent together. It almost hurt to let her leave, but he knew he had no choice. This wouldn’t be the last time. Not yet.

“Of course I’ll be there,” She answered, blue eyes sparkling like gemstones. He knew she’d say that. She wasn’t leaving yet, and that relieved him. “Do we meet at the usual spot?”

“Yes, make sure to wear something formal. It shouldn’t be hard for you,” He grinned down at her. She has the most beautiful eyes that I have ever seen. He thought to himself. He thought that a lot. In fact, it was one of his first thoughts of her. The Shimada family was conservative. To fall for a foreigner… He didn’t let the thought linger too long. Genji had always been one to rebel against his family anyhow. This wouldn’t be something new for them. He wouldn’t let them hurt her, though. No blood would be spilled in their home.

He felt the brush of soft lips on his cheek, pressing ever so gently. They were warm, and they made Genji’s heart flutter and in his head he only heard static. Angela smiled up at him, her perfect teeth a brilliant white. He could only stand there and blush as if he were a young boy. Perhaps he was. This was the first time he’d ever felt this way. She turned to leave, to leave him behind. Not for the last time, though.

Not yet.

Genji walked home, eyes darting from corner to corner of the city. Not that it mattered. No one would dare try to threaten him. He almost always concealed a weapon of some sort on his person at all times. Even if they did get the jump on him, his family would strike back tenfold. Genji would always be safe walking home.

He hoped Angela felt safe too.

The Shimada Castle, as it was called, was the home of his large family. Everyone who held the name and still lived took shelter there. It might as well have been a village in itself with how many ‘houses’ were inside the manor.

Genji slipped around the back end of the castle. It was very easy to steal away from his home. After all, it was humongous. For one person to be missing was nothing noticeable, especially someone as unimportant as Genji.

Well he was unimportant to most. When he opened the window and hit the floor he was greeted by a very familiar face.

“Genji.” He was curt, his dark eyes as black as his tied hair up hair. The beginnings of stubble were showing on his chin and up lip. His arms were folded, a large tattoo inked on his left shoulder. Twin dragons weaved together from his collarbone to just past his elbow. The colors were vibrant, the image easily distinguished. The man glared grudgingly at him.

“Yo, Hanzo,” Genji answered casually. The way he shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably betrayed the tension of their meeting.

“You were out again, I see. You missed training today.” Hanzo sounded more like a scolding parent than a brother. Long gone were the days where Genji could entrust his secrets with Hanzo. Long gone were the days that Genji cared.

“Oh? That was today? Sorry. It just slipped from my mind. I guess it wasn’t that important.” Genji shrugged, shoving past his brother.

Hanzo grabbed at his younger brother’s arm with a grip of iron, squeezing until his knuckles turned white. Genji refused to wince. “I am trying to help you, Genji! You have to take a bigger role in the Clan. For your own sake!”

“You want me to go out and murder people who hire me to do so because they can’t do it themselves?” Genji spat, glaring at his brother from over his shoulder. “Hanzo, you talk a lot about honor. What is honorable about that? You help cowards.”

Hanzo grit his teeth, his jaw clenched tight as he glared at his younger brother. “Genji…” The two brothers glared at one another, neither one daring to break the gaze. Hanzo dropped Genji’s arm. A couple of bruises were not the worst Genji had faced. “Father will not be around forever.”

“Neither will the elders of our family,” Genji fired back, his face reddening with anger. “Piss off, Hanzo. I’m done speaking to you.”

“At least tell me where you’re going,” Hanzo sounded as if he were pleading, his voice was desperate.

“You’ve lost the right to be in my life the minute you sided with them over your own brother,” Genji retorted heartlessly, stomping out of the room. “You’re their puppet, Hanzo. They’re using you.” His voice echoed as he walked into the hall. He didn’t even bother to shut the door as he left. He refused to face the man who he once called ‘brother’.

When he locked the door to his room he collapsed on his bed. He didn’t even bother to take off the clothes he’d worn that day. When he pulled a pillow close to his chest, he couldn’t help but picture himself holding Angela in his arms, the blonde hair tickling his neck and cheeks. He wouldn’t mind it, in fact, he craved it. The scent of her perfume was faint on his clothes, but enough to lull him to sleep.

He slept dreamlessly.

--

When the morning came Genji opened his eyes slowly at first. He groaned inwardly. It was another day. He breathed in deeply, catching the scent of Angela. His heart fluttered and his eyes shot open. How could he forget? Before her, his life hadn’t had any meaning. It was just him in the same home doing the same things and getting trouble for those things. He recalled the time he dyed his hair green. The shock on the faces of his family, they were as white as the sheets he slept in. Inwardly, he hated the dye job. It took forever to get the faded ends to grow out. To Genji, it was just another way to question authority. That was what this always was.

Angela was everything Genji wished he could be. He wished to explore the world, to walk on his own two feet and see everything there was to see. He wanted to see Switzerland, her home, to see what place raised such a brilliant woman. There was much more than Switzerland too. There was Paris and the Eiffel Tower, and London with its ancient buildings. There were Spain’s spectacular cathedrals and Italy’s Mediterranean beaches, all of these places just begging to be explored by an eager mind. Genji was certainly eager.

He realized it was past noon. Even with the excitement of having Angela over to his own home, he still couldn’t find it in himself to leave the comfort of his bed. It took a few seconds for him to finally sit up and swing his long, muscular legs over the edge of the bed. His feet touched cold wood floor, sending a chilly tremor through his body.

It took a bit more time for him to bring himself to his feet, and when he did, he did so slowly so as not to blackout. He stretched his arms over his head, reaching behind himself to grab at the back of the collar of his shirt. With it out of the way, he scratched at his stomach lazily. His steps were audible as he padded over to his bathroom, tossing off bits and pieces of clothing as he went. With the switch of a handle the hiss of falling water and steam cascaded down from the showerhead. Genji stepped into it, relishing the warmth of the near scalding hot water on his skin.

I wonder what Angela is doing… That mostly was what his thoughts consisted of as of late. When he was with her he wanted to know what she was thinking. When he wasn’t, he wanted to know what she was doing. Genji was used to being the one consuming other people’s thoughts. This time, Angela consumed him. Genji braced his fists on the shower tile, blinking water out of his eyes. She’d kissed his cheek last night. The touch of her lips against his skin… It left him scrambling for a coherent thought.

She hadn’t even kissed him on the lips and he was up in arms about it, treating it as if he’d just hit a homerun. Without even realizing it, his fingers were brushing against the spot where it had happened. He could almost feel the tender gesture again.

He left Shimada castle without a word to his family an hour later wearing what had to be pretty uncomfortable for the typically carefree man. A bleached, white button up shirt, untucked of course, with black slacks and dress shoes. He left the top button undone. Any higher and it would have choked him-- at least that’s what he thought. The tie to complete it all lay abandoned somewhere in the abyssal depths of his messy closet. That was not a place he would venture through.

Along the way to their usual meeting spot, Genji shot Angela a text. His thumbs tapped the touch screen keyboard with a barely audible tap tap tapping. Her reply came back quicker than the usual time it took, and the buzzing in his hand almost made him throw his phone in surprise.

I’m already here.

He started to walk faster, taking longer and longer strides to get to his destination. He rounded a corner, and then another. Then he saw her.

He found himself at a loss for words. The mid length dress she wore hugged her curves at the top and flared out at the bottom which flattered her smooth legs. It was cherry red in color and plain in pattern, yet the dress itself was not the centerpiece.

It was as if the sun was a spotlight that shone just for her. Her skin was pale, seemingly glowing in the midday light. Her hair was spun from gold itself. When she turned to look at him, her blue eyes sparkled like clear water.

“ Genji, it’s good to see you,” her voice chimed like a piano, fluid and sincere.

“Angela… Wow,” he gasped, breathless. He brushed his fingers over a bare, slender shoulder to push back the locks of hair. “Look at you.”

“What?” She asked, pursing her lips. He’d never expected her to play dumb. Genji knew it-- she always seemed to know what he was thinking even before he said it. He stared at her lips. She didn’t usually put on lipstick. Today, she did. The color seemed to match her dress perfectly.

“You’re making me look like trash,” he joked, turning around. If he didn’t, he wasn’t sure what he might do. Angela was damn near irresistible and the last thing he wanted to do was something stupid. “My family is going to kill me for looking like a slob when I’m compared to you.” He held out his arm for her.

“I won’t let them,” she stated firmly as she slipped her arm between his, locked together at the elbows. He was aware of her gaze. “What are they like?”

“Uh… I don’t really spend much time with them anymore. They’ve got sticks up their asses,” he answered, feeling the creeping uncomfortable feeling that he had yesterday when asked about his brother. “They really hate me because they think I’m spoiled.”

“You are spoiled.”

“Yo, shut up.”

The two bantered on until they walked the courtyard of Shimada Castle. The only sound heard was the trickling of fountain of water from a pond. Angela examined the many colorful fish. They were large Koi that wiggled their bodies and never deviated from their elliptical path. They submitted to destiny, finding peace in the longest path they were given. It perplexed the blonde woman. There was so much more to discover in that pond, yet they never cared to explore it.

Two broad shouldered Japanese men stood guard in front of the doors. They were dressed in thick armor from head to toe. Swords were strung over their backs in sheathes and another smaller sword was attached to their hips. They stared menacingly straightforward, tensing with the arrival of Genji and Angela.

It must have been some time since Genji had used the front door. It slid open, the two dragons engraved in gold on the read wood split apart, letting them into the main hall.

It was cavernous. The ceiling seemed to stretch to the sky. Glowing yellow lanterns dangled from the ceiling luminously, creating a soft lit environment. Wooden balconies spanned around the edges with doors that lead to more rooms. Paintings hung from the walls as well as tapestries. Faces of what she presumed to be his ancestors, previous leaders of the Clan likely, leered at her from the frames. Dragons surrounded their portraits. Angela was taken aback at the size of the home. It was the work of an absolute architectural artisan.

Genji led her through the home, taking her up a small set of wooden stairs and into another hallway. “When you meet Hanzo don’t tell him-“

“Don’t tell him what?” A man rounded the corner, seething at Genji. His silky raven hair was tied neatly and he was wearing a suit, jacket and all. He folded his arms over his chest. This man’s dark eyes mirrored Genji’s own and Angela realized with suddenness that this had to be…

“Oh shit,” Genji groaned, running his fingers through his black hair. He let his hand fall to his side before gesturing to the woman beside him. “Hanzo, this is Angela,” Genji explained. “I thought I’d invite her to dinner with us this evening. I’m sure father won’t mind.”

“This is a family dinner, Genji. You bring a whore to our home?” Hanzo’s words were sharp as razors. His eyes were not filled with friendliness as Genji’s were. No, they were piercing her, prodding at her like a carrion bird does a corpse. Angela found herself leaning into Genji’s side. They braced on one another.

“She’s not a whore Hanzo. Fuck, no wonder you haven’t been with any woman,” Genji fired back bluntly. If Hanzo was a knife, Genji was a hammer.

“Tch. How long have you known this one?” He spat, his brows lowering with each word he spoke.

“If I may interject-“ Angela piped up, her cheeks tinged pink with what perhaps could have been frustration.

“I’m shocked you know what that means,” Hanzo growled at her, shaking his head with disapproval at Genji. He had shut her down. Genji stared at Hanzo tight-lipped and jaw clenching.

“You’re a real piece of shit, Hanzo,” Genji hissed through clenched teeth, tugging Angela along by her arm. He wouldn’t let her suffer such disrespect. Angela deserved far better than that.

“See you at dinner, Genji,” Hanzo called out from behind them. Genji only quickened his pace, not even sparing a response.

“Genji, slow down,” Angela spoke up as she was technically being dragged behind Genji in her modest black heels. He didn’t slow, just stormed through the house like a tornado without care. He even knocked over a few things in a fit of hurried rage. “Genji!” She shouted, tugging as hard as she could on his arm. It was like trying to pulling a boulder. She nearly felt hers wrench out of socket, gasping in shocked pain as tears stung her eyes.

Genji halted to a stop, pulled from his trance. His gaze softened immediately, fire extinguished as he looked down at Angela with concern. She had pulled away from him, and was rubbing her shoulder. She stared at him in disbelief. “Angela-“

“I told you to stop,” She whispered sharply, still rubbing her sore shoulder. She let out a sigh of relief as she massaged the joint. “You can’t let him get to you like that,” She scolded.

“But he was- He. Angela, he called you a whore, ” Genji argued. “Did you think I’d just stand there and be okay with that?”

“Genji, you’ll be shocked to believe this but it’s neither the first nor the worst name I’ve ever been called. It won’t be the last, either,” Angela’s tone was soothing, calm. “Thank you for standing up for me, Genji. I’m fine, though. I can handle myself.”

Genji placed his hand on her shoulder, engulfing her own hand there in his much larger one. “I don’t want him talking to you like that. He’s supposed to be supportive of me, but all he’s been is a dick.”

“He is a dick,” Angela agreed. “But that doesn’t mean you should let that hurt you. Or let it hurt others you care about. It’s not healthy.”

Genji stood still for a moment and then let out a deep sigh. He didn’t necessarily agree with her, but he didn’t want to raise any argument to upset her. He’d already done enough. He squeezed her shoulder gently. “Is your arm okay?” He asked. His voice sounded meek. Genji hadn’t intended tohurt her. He’d lost his temper and his only thought had been to get Angela away from his brother. “I’m sorry, Angela.”

“It’s fine. It got your attention,” She said, reaching up to place a hand on his cheek. “Don’t worry about it, Genji. I know it wasn’t intentional.” He leaned into her touch, doing his best to ignore the pit of fear and guilt in his stomach. How could he ever do such a thing to someone who treated him so well? She was perhaps the first that actually cared beyond his father.

They stood there for several moments, both just trying to find some way to calm down. Genji was the first to speak. “My family should be at the table, right now. We can go join them and I’ll introduce you to them.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Angela smiled at him, brushing her thumb across his cheek.

She’d soon find that it wasn’t. As Genji brought her into the dining room, she was painfully aware of two dozen faces staring. All conversations halted and bitter silence descended upon them. Genji smiled and waved. “Yo, how are all of you? I know it has been some time since I last joined a family dinner.” He was greeted by nothing but silence. He hid his anxiety well, but not well enough for Angela to notice the small tremble in his arm. “This is Angela. I thought I’d bring her here tonight.”

The man at the head of the table shuffled in his seat. He stroked his beard, analyzing the two of them as if partially in disbelief and another part in pleasant surprise. Finally he lowered his hands and bowed his head. “Genji, my son, how pleasant you join us this evening. Please feel free to sit down with Miss Angela.”

Genji guided Angela around the table to the free seats at the left of the man, Genji’s father, whom had just spoken. Heads turned like windmills as they did. She stuck out like a sore thumb among all of them—that was painfully obvious. She let out a deep breath. She’d given speeches before to many more than this. This was nothing in comparison. That thought made her sit up in her seat just a bit taller.  

Genji, on the other hand, took his seat. He eyed each of his family members with distrust except for his father. His uncle Kaito glared at him. His hair had significantly grayed the last time Genji had seen him. That put a devious grin on his face.

“Where did you meet this woman?” His uncle asked from across the table, throwing Genji into the spotlight. As if he wasn’t already there. Genji’s father tried not to show his curiosity, but ultimately failed as set down a spoonful of soup. Hanzo just glared at him, as if ashamed.

“We met by chance. She’s a tourist. I became a guide for her. I thought the Shimada family would show hospitality to a guest.” Genji explained with ease. He could see the looks of shock across all of their faces. Each had the same question running through their mind: Who would want to come here?

Angela was painfully aware that they were looking to Genji to speak for her. It unsettled her, as she was used to being in a position of power. Her words as a medical professional were law. Here, though, here she was deemed nothing. She hadn’t even said a word. She locked gazes with Hanzo, her blue eyes shifting quickly to avoid the glare. Hanzo simply snorted.

“Where is she from?” An elderly woman asked from across the table. She was the first woman to speak up. The woman was adorned with shiny jewelry and fine clothing, and the fact that no one looked as if they were insulted when she spoke up helped Angela figure out that this must be Genji’s grandmother. “She’s not from here.”

“Well obviously,” Genji snickered and clapped his hands together. “Why don’t we let her tell you where she’s from?” There was an unmistakable shuffle of awkward discomfort rising from the entire table. Even the younger children looked away. Genji turned to her, brown eyes gleaming with excitement.

She was aware that he was using her as fodder for his rebellion. Regardless, she gave him a knowing smile and stood from her seat so that all would be able to get a good look at her. “Good evening, all of you. Thank you for allowing me into your home.” It wasn’t exactly an invitation. Genji was the only one who wanted her here. Out of courtesy, they all bowed their heads. “For those curious,” She set her deep blue gaze on the elderly woman, “I am from Switzerland. I decided to come to Japan to learn its history. I never intended that I would end up in the home of a family that has certainly made its place in the very pages of a textbook. It is an honor,” She spoke as if she’d rehearsed it, bowing her head before taking her seat once more.

There was a rumble of grudging approval. Her very existence was discord to their lives. “Fascinating, isn’t it?” Genji piped up, setting his gaze on his uncle. “Uncle Kaito, don’t you think so?”

Kaito gripped his soup spoon until his knuckles turned white. “Fascinating,” he spoke firmly, as if gritting his teeth. The only truly fascinated people were the children, who blinked in awe at Angela. They craned their necks to try and get a better look at her from where they sat at the opposite end.

The awkward silence enveloped all of them, the tension of the environment rising with each passing second. Angela glanced at Genji, and Genji looked as if he could fly to the moon with his malicious glee. “Why is her hair like that? Did she change it like Genji did?” A small voice asked, shattering the painful silence. A young woman shot daggers at the child who had spoken, her cheeks flaring pink with embarrassment.

Genji’s grin only grew as he looked straight at his uncle. If looks could kill, the sinister one on Uncle Kaito’s face would have left Genji a bloody mess on the dining room floor. “Angela, did you dye your hair?” Genji angled his neck, too enthralled with the chaos he was causing to even look at her.

“No. I was born like this. In Switzerland, we have a different gene pool. A lot of people where I come from have fair skin and light hair,” Angela answered with a voice as sweet as honey. She knew she’d never have children on her own, but to her, all of the children she’d helped with their colds or injuries were hers. So were the ones that she’d teach.

The child didn’t ask any further questions, hiding in embarrassment and fear of the punishment that he’d most certainly get for speaking out of turn with adults around. “Yuno, you don’t want to end up like Genji. Speak only when you’re spoken to,” Uncle Kaito chastised. He shot a glare at Angela, and she batted her lashes at him in surprise.

Genji snickered. “Aw, Uncle, don’t be like that. You know-“

“ Enough! ” Hanzo hissed, slamming his fist into the table. Genji’s grin faltered. “Genji, may I speak with you out in the hall?” Hanzo stood up from his chair, smoothing his suit. “ Privately,” He added, his blazing dark gaze flicking to Angela for a moment before she could even make an attempt to stand.

Genji raised his hands up in playful surrender. “Alright, alright. Don’t start the duck without me!” He called over his shoulder while leaving the room. Hanzo violently gripped Genji’s arm, wrenching him out into the hall.

Hanzo looked as if he were sickened, disgusted at Genji’s display. “You’re a complete idiot, ” Hanzo growled, dropping Genji’s reddened arm and turning on his heel. “Why are you like this?”

“I could ask the same thing,” Genji retorted with a shrug. Hanzo’s next move was too sudden for Genji to react. His back slammed against the wood paneling of their home. It left Genji gasping for breath. “Fuck!” He spat out loudly, shrinking in size. Hanzo dug his fists into Genji’s collar, holding him against the wall.

“You do not KNOW what you are doing Genji! This isn’t like when we were kids. Uncle Kaito wants you dead . Why do you throw rocks at beehives? It doesn’t make sense!” Hanzo was inches from Genji’s face. Genji blinked rapidly, heaving in air to catch his breath.

“H-hanzo,” Genji replied hoarsely, inwardly despising himself for getting caught off guard by his brother.  He sucked in air, steadying himself. Their glares locked like two rams clashing together. “I know what I’m doing. It is you who is blind. You cannot see what is so clearly in front of you. I throw rocks at the beehive that is in my own home. They are destroying everything, and you are their puppet. They’ll lick your ass until you cum because they want you to be on their side. They took you from me, Hanzo. I never left you. You left me. ”

Hanzo dropped Genji’s collar, fists clenching and teeth gritting in rage. “Genji, we could have created an empire.”

“But why would we want to?”

“We could have brought our family honor!” Hanzo roared, the rage within him bubbling over. The veins in his neck were visible and his face was red.

“There is no honor in what our family does!” Genji shouted back with enough venom in his voice to be lethal. “We are assassins, we commit crimes against others! Tell me Hanzo, what is honorable about slicing open someone’s neck, or disemboweling them? Where is the honor in our clients that we serve? What the fuck do you even know, Hanzo? You know nothing. You tell me I’m coddled, I’m telling you that this is my choice. I just want to a normal man. I want my life to be my own. I want to be able to get drunk and see women-”

“Oh that’s another thing. Angela,” He spat out her name as if it were no better than dirt. It made Genji clench his jaw and fists in anger. “What were you thinking, Genji? You brought her here knowing what would happen. Is that something someone who cares about another would do? Is she not your puppet?”

Genji was taken aback by his words. It wasn’t like that at all. Or was it? He had brought her here without his family knowing. He knew Angela would be immediately disliked by his family. He knew that he wanted to show them further how he didn’t give a damn about their rules. But Angela was more. “Don’t bring her into this,” Genji sounded weak, shaking his head in denial. “She has nothing to do with this.”

“She has something to do with this and you’re lying if you tell me otherwise. She doesn’t belong with you, Genji. It is not too late to change your fate. You can still fix this,” Hanzo reached toward his brother, but Genji ducked out of the way.

“There’s nothing that I want to change, Hanzo. I’m happy with life as it is. At least I have someone who genuinely cares rather than have people pretending to care about me because I’m going to get some petty crown. If you showed any sign of weakness they’d rip it off your head. They’d do the same thing to you that they’re doing to me. Make one mistake, see what happens.” Genji straightened his collar and smoothed his wrinkled shirt.

“They are family, Genji,” Hanzo explained. “You cannot turn your back on family.”

“Then I guess I have no family,” Genji snapped, turning his back on his brother as his brother had on him. He stormed back down the hall, entering the dining room. There was a distinguishable silence cast among them. All faces were pallid, as if the blood had been siphoned out of their bodies. Undoubtedly, they heard the screaming fit between the two brothers.

But that’s not what they were looking at.

Genji gazed wide-eyed in horror as he watched his father grip his chest. He was sweating bullets and his eyes were bugging. His lips smacked together, clawing desperately for air. It was happening all too fast and agonizingly slow at the same time. He slumped in his chair. His chest was no longer rising and falling. The sign of life had been snuffed from him like a candle’s flame as he stared with wide eyes.

Panic broke out suddenly and everyone began to scream in frantic terror. Chairs flew back, slamming onto the wooden floor. Some ran to the Master’s side. It was a cacophony of chaotic wailing. Children were ushered out of the room by mothers. Genji’s grandmother stared with quiet shock, her lips parted as she stared at her son sitting at the head of the table. Kaito ran to his brother, gripping his shoulder.

Genji’s gaze settled on Angela. She seemed contemplative, as if struggling to make a hard decision. She stared at him, blue gaze filled with tears that threatened to spill. No hesitation was involved as he ran to her. His hands found their way to her shoulders. Her head tilted in the direction of Genji’s father, the man that protected his decisions of freedom. He was the man that wanted Genji to live his life as he wished. Now, he lay dead.

Father won’t be around forever. Hanzo’s words echoed in Genji’s mind as he turned, catching Hanzo beneath the arch of the dining hall door. Hanzo’s features held only the slightest amount of shock at their father’s corpse. Dread held Genji in the coldest of embraces.

He wiggled out if its frigid grasp and did the only thing he thought to do. He grabbed Angela by the hand and he ran.

Chapter Text

His hand gripped Angela’s tightly as she staggered along in heels behind him. They’d left through the window, leaving Shimada Castle in frightful hurry. Genji heard her whimpering. It was if he could feel the tears dripping down her cheeks, or maybe they were his own. He had no time to check. The inevitable had happened, but Genji hadn’t expected it to happen this soon.

They rounded a corner, slipping into a shadowy alleyway. Angela was gasping for breath, arms wrapped around her torso as she coughed. Her blue eyes were red and her makeup had run, giving her a raccoon’s appearance. Genji spun around, bracing against the wall of a building. He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at it. His breathing was labored, struggling. Did that really happen? He let out a low, guttural groan. “No… No, no, no…”

The word spilled out like a cup filled too quickly, pouring out of his mouth without control. He glared up at the sky, throwing his hands down and slapping at his arm. Pain stung him. It was real. This was real. It came without warning. He didn’t even get to say goodbye. There was no chance, nothing that Genji could have done to have saved his father. It bothered him terribly. How could he have just watched it happen?

Angela fell to the ground. She buried her face in her knees, arms wrapped around them. She curled into a shell, her hair windblown from their escape. “Nein, Gott,” She sputtered, crying out more indistinguishable words that Genji couldn’t quite catch in her native tongue.

Genji crouched down beside her, and she tilted her head up. Tears mixed with black mascara stained her cheeks. She looked away quickly, bringing a hand to her mouth. Her shoulders shook violently and she sniffled loudly. He felt useless. He couldn’t help her or dry her tears. He couldn’t even dry his own. “A-Angela,” He stuttered, reaching out with a trembling hand, letting it rest on his shoulder.

She was hyperventilating. He assumed she was in such distress because she had never seen someone die before, let alone mere inches from her. The first time he’d seen someone die he was the same way, distraught by the loss of life. The first time is always the worst.

In reality, she was upset because she had done nothing to save the man who had died so violently and suddenly at the dinner table. She’d seen Genji’s father show hints of what was to occur. The little winces of pain and reddened cheeks, his rapid and labored breathing, it was going to happen and she didn’t budge. What good can a doctor do if she were not to save lives? To her, all lives were sacred. Yet she selfishly abandoned Genji’s father to avoid mass confusion and conflict. Or maybe she did it to avoid Genji hating her for her lie. She continued rambling in German, thankful that Genji didn’t understand her. She cursed herself, cursed her selfishness. She apologized profusely. Apologizing won’t bring him back.

Genji wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close to him in that dark little alley. She huddled in close, burying her face into his shoulder. He breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of her shampooed hair. He hoped she wouldn’t feel his tears

For several moments they embraced as two great supports on a bridge. They kept one another anchored to the present, to the reality. “Angela, we have to keep moving… I don’t know where we’ll go...”

“We can hide at a hotel or a motel,” She suggested, her voice wavering.

“It’d be too easy to just ask for one of our names,” Genji answered, brushing gold hair over her ear.

“We don’t have to check in,” She added, batting the tears from her eyes with long lashes.

Genji paused, thinking it over. It wasn’t a terrible idea. Granted, it was a dangerous gamble, but it wasn’t as if they had much to lose in the first place. It would be simple enough to break in through a window or door and bunker down.

--

They arrived at a small and discreet love motel. It was pretty easy to tell which room was empty and which one wasn’t. Just listen to whether or not they were noisy or not. Genji slid open a window from the outside. He hoisted Angela in, averting his gaze when he could see under her dress. It certainly didn’t help his pounding heart.

The two bunkered down, locking the window and double locking the door. Genji sprawled out on his stomach against the single mattress in the small room. The entire room smelled of tobacco, alcohol, and sex. Not quite an unfamiliar scene for him but it made Angela’s face scrunch up in disgust.

“It smells awful in here,” Angela commented, covering her mouth with one hand as she closed a curtain.

“Well dirty things do happen here,” Genji replied with a grimace.

She frowned at his tone, sitting down on the bed and placing her hand against his back. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault that he died. He has been sick; I’ve just been too stupid to believe it. Now I’m going to die too.” It was the undeniable truth. At this moment, he was likely being hunted down by all members of his family who were trained to kill, trained to assassinate. Genji was no longer under the protection of his father, and he had become a liability to the Shimada Clan. These assassins would find him eventually, he knew that. He just hoped that Angela wouldn’t get caught with him. He would not leave Hanamura alive.

Angela stood and kicked off her heeled shoes and padded over to the bathroom.

Genji rolled over, watching the door shut behind her. He let out a deep sigh. What was he going to do? He didn’t want to give up, that was certain. If he was going to give up he may as well have just walked right into Shimada Castle. If he was going to try and survive he needed to do better than bunker down in some one star broken down motel.

Angela stepped out of the bathroom and Genji sat up quickly. Her golden hair was plastered to her skin and her makeup had washed away. A robe was tied around her. The cheap carpet itched against her feet as she slowly walked to the bed.

Genji swallowed a lump in his throat, turning away. The weight of the bed dipped as she sat beside him. The warmth of her breath tickled his neck, sending shivers up and down his spine as she laid her head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Genji,” She breathed, her voice weak and pained. He told himself that it really wasn’t her fault, he knew that. There wasn’t anything that she could do. Yet she was wracked with guilt and remorse.

“It’s okay, we just… We need to find an escape plan. They’ll find us here eventually. We need to keep one step ahead of them. I know how they work, they’ll check alleys and the shadier sides of town, and then they’ll spread out to the outer city. It’ll be hard for us to get out with any sort of transportation; they’ll likely be blocked off.” The more he talked about it, the less hopeful he became about getting out of here safely. How were they going to escape the most dangerous crime syndicate in the world?

Angela placed her hand on top of his, gripping it between her slender fingers. “I have an idea.”

Genji angled his head to stare at her in almost disbelief. A glimmer of hope flashed in his warm eyes. “What is it?” He asked hopefully. She raised her head from his shoulder, face to face with him.

“I can’t tell you, because it’ll complicate things. I’ll take you there tomorrow night,” She crawled under the scratchy sheets, blankets burned by the ends of cigarettes. She squeezed her eyes shut, curling in on herself.

“What do you mean it’ll complicate things?” Genji demanded. She didn’t answer, just laid there. He could see her trembling. Her shoulders shook and he could have sworn he heard choked whimpers. He turned away, laying his head against a too flat pillow. He trusted her to get him to safety. She’d already risked so much just being there with him.

Despite the desire to sleep and the heaviness of his eyelids, Genji would not sleep. He studied the room in the darkness, eyes having adjusted to the lighting. He stared at the grooves in the night stand by his bed. There were chips and dips in the finishing. He found himself wondering what they could be from. What sort of event had transpired to cause such an injury to the wood? Was it a fight? Or maybe it was a particularly exciting evening. Genji had had his fair share of those. Yet he didn’t think so fondly on them now lying beside Angela.

He rolled over. She was dozing peacefully. Cheeks were stained with tears and her breathing was perhaps a bit rough, but she seemed to sleep effortlessly. Once again he found himself envying her.

In the morning Genji had somehow fallen asleep. He didn’t realize when it came, but it must have. His eyes felt as heavy as stones and he stirred when Angela sat up.

“We forgot to get food,” She mumbled, words slurred by a yawn. Feet met the cheap floor, and she rose from the bed with arms stretched overhead. “We’ll have food when we get to where we’re going.”

It was uncomfortable for her to have to put the unwashed dress on from yesterday. She was displaced in time, hardly believing that what had happened had only happened yesterday. To think that she was on the run, trying to protect Genji from a terrible fate disturbed her. It didn’t cross her mind how Reyes or Morrison would handle the situation. She hadn’t returned that night and that would easily be a concern for either one of them. Reyes would likely be under fire from Morrison and unable to say anything about her whereabouts. When she’d show up on Overwatch’s doorstep with a Shimada in tow, it could lead to problems. Perhaps not even her silver tongue would get her out of it, but if it was a chance to save Genji’s life then it was what she needed to do. Anything was worth keeping him alive.

Genji’s hair was shaggy, falling down into his face without his product spiking it. He frowned at this when looking in the mirror. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” He asked, looking at Angela with his eyebrows curved upward.

“I think the way your hair looks is the least of your problems right now.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” He grunted and shoved his way out of the bathroom.

They spent the day going over the plan of escape. Angela would lead the way through the city. The walk would take an hour at the very least given the distance. Throughout that time they needed to remain undetected and keep Genji from being recognized. On Genji’s phone, she typed in the coordinates, marking it on its GPS in case they were separated.

As the sky darkened for sunset, they wrapped their arms around one another, whispering good fortune and praying that this plan would work. If it didn’t, it’d mean their lives.

Not a single soul aside from the two walked the streets of Hanamura. It was eerie, sending shudders down Genji’s spine. He squeezed Angela’s wrist, frightened.

Despite his fears things were quiet. He checked his phone, the screen lighting up his face. Safety was only a mile away. This was going too well for the both of them. For once maybe things were going to be alright. The glow of a station was visible to him in a forest not so far away. How did Angela know about this place was beyond him, but the relief of safety superseded the thought.

It was just too good. From the shadows a figure stepped forward. He raised his head.

Their plan had failed. Angela stared in horror at Hanzo Shimada. A sword was strung over his back, another gripped in his hand. Daggers clipped to his hip.

Hanzo paced like a feral feline does its prey. He stalked with slow, fluid movements, aching to pounce the two of them. “You’ve had so many chances to change fate. So many chances that you have ignored and tossed aside,” He began. His words were filled with an absolute seething. Yet his shoulders were sagging and his burning gaze was filled with pain.

“Go, Angela,” Genji turned to her, looking down into those beautiful blue eyes of hers. He tried to burn the image into his mind, engrave it. Those blue oceanic eyes glossed with tears.

“Genji, I refuse to leave you.” Defiant as always, she stood at before him. He glared at her for a moment. If he could help it she would not die here today.

“You will not. You will go and get help and be useful,” Genji snapped. Hanzo kept his distance. He’d given his brother so many chances to be a part of the Clan, to reduce the threat his little brother imposed. Yet it was never enough and now Hanzo had to do the worst. “I’ll be okay,” he lied, trying to reassure her. That didn’t keep the dam from bursting.

In a moment she stood on her toes. One hand rested delicately on his shoulder while the other threaded through his hair. Time stopped as she leaned forward, closing the gap between the two of them. Her lips pressed to his, soft and right. There was no hesitation as his hand sought out the curve of her cheek and the slope of her waist. He held her to him, relished the feel of her hand on his solid chest. Her hand slipped down to the base of his neck.

He could feel the warmth—her warmth, fill him. For the first time in a long time, he thought he could truly do no wrong. Angela had touched his heart as no one else had.

When she pulled away, her hand latent at the nape of his neck, the sorrowful expression on her face spoke louder than any words could. This was goodbye.

“Go,” He whispered, holding back his own tears as he brushed the back of his hand along her cheek. In seconds she was gone.

Icy fear gripped him, consuming any warmth he had just felt as Hanzo extended a sword to him. It crushed his heart, gripping it in its frigid grasp. It was his sword.

When Genji couldn’t move, Hanzo shoved it forward. “Take it,” He growled. The blade was balanced in his hand—impeccable craftsmanship.

“Hanzo, you don’t want to do this,” Genji attempted to reason. He was a scared animal, cornered and trapped without any escape. The only way out was to convince his brother to show mercy.

“I do what I must,” Hanzo replied, the pain tightening his features further. He sounded hollow. It made Genji shudder. When Genji wouldn’t take the sword, Hanzo tossed it at his feet. It landed with a thud a couple inches in front of him. The sound of a sword leaving it’s sheathe made Genji whimper. Hanzo’s sword glinted with malicious intent. There would be no reasoning.

Genji knelt down at a painstakingly slow pace. He clutched the hilt, lifting the sword that had been crafted specifically for him. He could see his reflection distorted in the steel. His eyes stared back at him in disbelief.

“I won’t fight you,” Genji stated with a sudden ferocity, staying his blade.

“You should have thought of that before you dishonored your Clan and denied your duty as a Shimada, Genji,” Hanzo hissed. The blade ripped through the air, pointing directly in his little brother’s direction. “You will fight or I will execute you. There is no escape.”

“You said family is important,” Genji raised his voice even louder, not a single falter. He would be brave. “Is that not true?”

Hanzo’s lips curled into an infuriated snarl. “You are no brother of mine! Is it not you who said it yourself?” He spun his blade, settling himself into a fighting stance with his feet apart and his sword gripped in hand.

Genji couldn’t even get a single word out before Hanzo lunged at him like a cat at a mouse. Genji leapt away as Hanzo’s sword nearly disemboweled him. The chase was on.

Genji tore through the outskirts of the town. He bounded over fallen logs and weaved through trees. Not a soul was around to hear their struggle. Genji scaled an old stone wall, leading out of the town into more forest. He rolled to the ground, twigs and nettles ripping at the white dress shirt that had been worn a day too long. He scrambled to his feet, Hanzo close behind him.

The whip of a sword slashing through air made Genji turn on his heel, raising his blade to parry the attack. The clang of metal on metal rang throughout the woods. Birds fluttered out of their places from trees and crickets stopped chirping. His chest was heaving and his eyes were wild with terror. How could this be happening? They were brothers. Hanzo was his brother…

Genji stumbled backward as a foot met his gut, sending him sprawling backwards. Hanzo walked forward as Genji crawled away, rolling to one side as a blade struck into the earth where he’d been half a second before. “Please stop!” Genji cried, his voice cracking. His heart beat was beating so fast that he was sure that it might explode. How could he be brave when he had never felt so terrified in his life?

Genji rolled again as a blade sliced. Sharp pain ripped at the flesh of his arm. Blood flowed from the open wound down his forearm. He yelped and found his footing again, running away and clutching the wound. He’d dropped his sword.

Hanzo was relentless. He would not stop until he eliminated the threat. His brother was now unarmed, yet he kept his head clear. It was Genji’s choice not to fight. He marched on, cutting through branches and following his brother’s trail. Blood stained leaves and Genji’s screams of panic echoed in the forest. At some point Genji would have to stop running.

And he did.

Genji stumbled to a halt. He was at the rocky outcrop of a cliff. Forward meant death. Turning back in the direction of Hanzo meant death. Hanzo’s sword was in its sheath as he approached Genji. Hanzo lunged forward, taking a dagger and piercing Genji’s shoulder, leaving it there. Genji stared at Hanzo as the younger brother dropped to his knees in shock. There were no tears or screams, no begging for his life. There was something else, something only those about to die experience. Those who have come to terms with what was to happen before it even did. Acceptance was the last step.

Hanzo’s knee connected with the side of Genji’s face, bones cracked and his jaw hung slack. Hanzo drew another dagger. He pressed the flat of it to Genji’s face as he leaned over him. “This is what has caused you more trouble than you could have asked for. Imagine if you’d have been born looking like a mutt. You’d still be able to live.” Fingers twisted in Genji’s black hair as Hanzo pressed the knife into his cheek. A path of crimson following in its wake as it sliced across his cheek, nose, and dangerously close to one of his eyes.

Genji said nothing. He didn’t even tremble. He laid there as if he were already dead while his face was sliced into over and over again. His eyes stared into Hanzo’s.

“You know, we looked into that girl of yours. Angela, is it? Such a shame how she lied to you.” Something flashed in Genji’s eyes, yet he still remained silent. “She’s a part of Overwatch, if you didn’t know. Doctor Angela Ziegler. She’s the head of medical research. She’s unmistakable; I’m just surprised you were gullible enough to think that she was here as a tourist. She used you,” Hanzo spat at him.

He was already numb and his heart was already shattered, what else more could have been done to upset him? Genji was already numb. He waited for the blade to pierce his chest or rip open his jugular, but it never came. Hanzo stared at him thoughtfully. Genji tilted his head, shifting on the ground.

“Do it,” Genji slurred with his broken jaw, blood dripping into his mouth from his nose. Hanzo pressed the tip of his blade against his brother’s heart. He was going to kill him. Genji let out his last breath, or so he thought. Hanzo stood.

“Do you think it’s that easy for me to kill you? To chase you down and murder you? It’s not, Genji. You abandoned me and your family. You abandoned your father. I loved you! This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” Hanzo spoke through clenched teeth. He blinked tears from his eyes.

Genji didn’t move. He closed his eyes.

“I never wanted this to happen,” Hanzo whispered. “You shattered the family. I need to do this.”

And then Genji was falling. He hadn’t even felt Hanzo push him. He sucked in air through his nose, sputtering as he breathed in blood. Impact shattered his body and made his mind go blank. Life shut off like a light switch. One moment everything worked, and the next…

Atop of the rocky outcrop Hanzo saw his brother’s body crash into the ground below. Limbs were twisted at odd angles and blood seeped from compound fractured wounds. He closed his eyes, trying to remove the grotesque image from his mind. He reached for the sword on his back, pulling off the leather sheath and threw it to the ground before him. The daggers at his belt snapped off, one by one, thumping against the earth. Never again would he wield a sword, a weapon he couldn’t use to end his brother’s life. He was unworthy.

--

Angela ran through the woods, coming closer and closer to Overwatch Headquarters. She burst through the doors, pushing past any who stepped in her way. It was a shot in the dark but it was the only chance that Genji had.

She dialed a code on a keypad into the Medical Research Facility, swinging open the door. Lab equipment was scattered across tables. She ran down the aisle of them, being careful not to tip anything over. In the back of the dimly lit facility was a glass case with a print analyzer. She pressed her palm to it and a glass door slid open.

The Valkyrie Suit was still in beta testing. The nanobiology infused in its stitching worked flawlessly to heal its wearer, and the staff itself worked fine with the occasional glitch. The key component to the usefulness of the Valkyrie suit was its wings, which caused anyone who attempted to use them to violently crash. The only thing that saved some of its testers was the nanobiology within.

She showed no hesitation as she pulled off the red dress, relieved of its prisonlike confines to put on the suit. It cushioned her gently, fit into the contours of her body as if it were made for her to wear. When she took a step, it was as if she were walking on clouds. She was weightless. She reached for the staff, toggling a few switches. She would be able to save Genji…

They had had their first kiss, after all. She’d be damned if it would be their last.

The sound of a door opening and closing made her turn sharply on her heeled boots. Reyes stared back at her with anger, shock, and most of all worry.

“Where the hell have you been, Angela? We were worried sick about you!” He yelled, brows furrowing as he marched forward.

“Gabriel, I wish I could explain this to you, but I need to go. I need to go right now.” The pleading look in her blue eyes, glossy with tears and burning with desperation spoke louder than her words did. Gabriel folded his arms over his chest.

“I can’t just let you take that suit. It’s dangerous. You’ve never piloted it before. You’d be putting your life at risk.”

“Nothing about what we do is safe, Gabe. We are constantly putting ourselves in the line of fire. You go on missions even when you could get hurt. Yet you always come back. I will come back too.” She pushed past him, steps slow and elegant. She was as graceful as a swan, and he couldn’t tell whether it was because of the suit or Angela herslf.

She left the compound, running as fast as her feet could carry her. The heels of her suit pressed into dirt, yet it never impeded her. She may as well have been floating. The wings extended, their color was a luminescent gold like that of an eagle lit up the darkness of the forest’s night. She followed the screams that chilled her to the core. Genji’s screams.

The toe of her heeled boot hit something that clanged on impact. She looked down, staring at the sword at her feet. The same sword Hanzo had given to Genji. Angela’s heart was in her chest, choking her. She didn’t think her stomach could sink any lower than it had before. Genji was out there and unarmed.

Broken branches and messy foot prints stuck in mud led her to a rocky outcrop. Neither Hanzo nor Genji were in sight. Her heart raced with fear, more weapons laid there without a wielder. She blinked slowly, sickness turning her stomach. She could feel the Valkyrie suit try to soothe her, but nothing could calm her. She stepped at the edge of the outcrop, bringing her hands up to her mouth. Strangled cries, choked and pained escaped her.

“Genji!” She screamed, her voice echoed. The suit’s wings outstretched to take flight and glowed like a candle in the pitch black darkness. She leapt from the rocky cliff. For the first time, the wings of the suit worked correctly as she glided down. She reached out for him with one glowing hand, the other clutching the caduceus staff.

He opened his eyes, slowly, half-lidded. Death had come to greet him and he’d be food for worms soon enough. But his soul burned. It was lifted into warm arms that held him and reassured him that there was nothing left to fear. He caught a glimpse of a halo and wings of pure gold. He never believed in religion, but in this moment, he was sure that it was an angel who held him. He sank into her arms, limp and lifeless.

Chapter Text

She held him in her arms, the staff clipped in between the wings of the suit. The wings lifted her high into the sky, between the treetops and glittering stars. His pulse was faint, slipping through her fingers. He would be safe soon, if he could only hold on for a little longer…

A crackle of static came on through a communications system built in the suit. “Dr. Ziegler, are you alright?” A male voice came through static, clear and deep.

“Jack, get an emergency operating room prepared. I have Genji Shimada in my custody,” She answered. “I will not let him die, Jack.” Determination swelled within her as she looked down at Genji. He was unconscious, jaw crooked and arms and legs both shattered. He would live. Letting him die wasn’t an option, but how much would he be able to feel? He’d likely never walk again.

There was silence from the other end for a few minutes. “It’s being done, but you have plenty of explaining to do, Angela.” Captain Amari’s voice spoke, smooth and commanding.

--

After tireless hours of operation, Genji was finally stabilized. Angela had taken off the Valkyrie suit, returning back to a white lab coat and slacks. She sat in Morrison’s office, and he paced back and forth. Captain Amari stood beside him, arms folded and eyes peering at Angela.

“Mr. Shimada is stable?” The Captain asked.

“Yes, he will live. His back is broken, however, and we will not know how much sensation he has until he wakes from a comatose state,” Angela reported. It was as if the life was sucked from her, just like it had nearly been from Genji. She didn’t realize how serious the situation was until she noticed the shocked gasp from the other doctors.

“How did you know where he was?” Jack demanded, slamming the palms of his hand flat against the desk. He leered at Angela, yet she remained stoic. Blue eyes met one another, two waves crashing together.

“You already know the answer to that question,” Angela replied hoarsely. She’d already been through enough. Nothing else would faze her.

Jack ran his fingers through his short cropped blond hair. “Jesus Christ, Angela… How long?”

“A week and three days. I met him at a bar late one night. I thought I would be able to get some information out of him. Things went different from what I planned. I didn’t ask or tell anyone about this, I was acting on my own. Genji Shimada was hated by his family. His own brother was the one to attempt murder.” She felt empty; her voice sounded like it came from someone else. It was drained of life, of spirit.  

Amari put her hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Jack, Genji Shimada can be useful to us. If he was hated by his family, we could take advantage of that.”

Jack tapped his chin. “Angela, would you be able to apply the cybernetics technology to Genji?”

Angela was stunned out of her stupor. “Excuse me?” She couldn’t believe her ears.

“Will you be able to apply your knowledge of cybernetics on Mr. Shimada?”

“That is not for me to decide,” Angela fired back, disbelief and horror filling her.

“That’s not what I was asking, Angela. Whether or not you will be able to turn him into a weapon against the Shimada Clan is what I am asking,” Jack answered neutrally.

There was nothing but the prickle of ice to chill her to the core. She sat there in that chair, squeezing the armrests of it. She knew very well what would happen. If she waited for Genji to come out of his coma and he wouldn’t be able to walk, any second chance would be enough for the man. He’d say yes.

Trembling, she looked up at Jack. “Yes,” She choked the word out, tears and pain glistened. All of the lies that she had told seemed null by the truth in a single word.

--

His eyes flew open and he sucked in air. He tried to sit up, struggled with all of his will. Yet he couldn’t. Where was he? He had no idea. Was he dead or alive? His jaw ached. The sound of heels clicking against the floor made him turn his head to the side. It was the only movement he could do.

What he saw was more painful than anything he’d faced already.

Angela stood before him, blonde hair tied into a bun. Her eyes were ringed by dark circles. He wondered how many nights she went sleepless. She wore a white coat that draped down to her knees. A stethoscope was wrapped around the collar, hanging loosely as she moved toward him with a clipboard in hand.

“I was starting to worry that you might never wake up,” Angela admitted, reaching toward him. He couldn’t feel her touch, nor could he wrench away despite how much he wanted to.

“You lied to me,” Genji stared at her, brows furrowed.

She pulled her hand away. “I never meant to hurt you,” Angela whispered.

“I understand. But you still lied to me. Why wouldn’t you tell me about all of this? Did you think I’d have you killed after all you learned about my family being so against me? They’ve been begging to cut my throat since I was in my teens.” Genji let out a chain of coughs, squeezing his eyes shut as they wracked his body.

“Genji… There is a solution to this.” She hated to bring up the topic, hated the idea of removing his humanity, hated that he seemed so interested in it. She swallowed her horror. “I can make you into something stronger. As long as you join Overwatch.”

She was pouring oil on an already living flame. Revenge was never the answer, but it was for Genji. “Do it,” He was already in without hearing the details.

“Don’t you want to hear-“

“Look Doctor Ziegler, I don’t give a shit what happens to me right now. I’m going to destroy the family that tried to destroy me. If you can make me stronger, I don’t care what you do. Everyone has already done their worst. What more can you possibly do to me, Angela?”

Angela was taken aback at the way he spat out her name. She felt as if her heart were split in two, cleaved in half by Genji himself. Of course there was reason for him to attack her. He survived to find out everyone around him had betrayed him. She gave him a curt nod, saying nothing as she left the room.

Jack Morrison stood up straight. He’d been waiting outside the hospital room as he had been every day for a month. “The look on your face tells me he woke up today. About damn time, too. Three months…”

“I’m having an operating room prepped. The cybernization process will take awhile. Good day, Commander.”

--

Angela averted her gaze from Genji’s. She felt shameful about what she was about to do. Genji seemed to be smoldering with unbridled aggression.

This surgery had never been performed before. Genji’s former limbs had already been amputated one at a time during the three months of comatose state. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t mend the shattered bones that grew out at odd angles in his legs and twisted arms. It became a matter of whether or not he could keep his limbs or die from infection. She chose the former without hesitation. It wasn’t as if he needed them had he wanted them anyway. His spine was broken and he had no sensation from the neck down.

Day one of surgery was extensive. She’d spent months agonizing over the perfect strategy to perform the surgery. She decided against giving him sensation on the first day. It would be the procedure that would take the longest to perform, and the most pointless without limbs to attach the sensors to.

She’d sculpted new prosthetic limbs, attaching each of them to his torso. Synthetic muscles would remain latent until attached to the main core which would be installed along his spine. She knew the tissues had little to no limits. She’d only tested a prosthetic once on another agent who had lost an arm on a mission. The result was better than she’d thought, frighteningly so. She could scarcely imagine what an entire body of these tissues would result in.

Over the course of a month she rebuilt Genji Shimada’s body. Tireless hours were spent testing reactions and flexing joints. All the while Genji watched with particular silence. He’d only answer yes or no questions, keeping his distance. He tried to pretend that he wasn’t, offering her small smiles from time to time. She knew it was because he thought he had to.

Eventually she didn’t even get smiles when a visor was given to cover the scars of his face, which he still seemed to shy away from on every reflective surface. He seemed to like the matching set of armor that could be clipped into ports scattered across his new body.

He had become notorious across the entire Swiss Compound when Angela was transferred there five months after Genji’s body was rebuilt. Naturally her patient had to come along with her. One day she’d come into the room, eyes scanning over the previous day’s test results only to find a certain cowboy who always had a knack for trouble showing Genji how to spin a gun.

“That better not be loaded,” Angela remarked with concern in her voice. She despised guns and made a point to show her disgust with it. Jesse spun around on her stool, legs spread apart. He tipped his hat at her and grinned, disregarding her distasteful look.

“Not this time, ma’am,” He jested with mischievous glee sparking in his eyes.

“Have you given up smoking, yet?” Angela inquired. “You know you’re going to get-“

“Cancer, my lungs will collapse and I’ll die. I’ve heard it before. Y’think I’m gonna live long in my line of work? Might as well let me live while I still can. Already lost an arm, y’ain’t making me quit even if I burn a hole in my throat.”

She rolled her eyes and gestured with her thumb for him to leave the room. He grunted and waved a farewell to Genji. He made his move to leave, belt jingling and boots clicking against the polished vinyl tiles. Genji’s snicker made her turn on her foot, catching McCree making a mocking face behind Angela. Her cheeks burned.

“Do you want me to talk to Gabriel?” She threatened, a pout on her lips. “And you-“ She pointed at Genji, “I have some words for you.” She couldn’t tell what his expression was, but the way he scooted back into the bed made her think she’d scared him enough.

“My deepest apologies, Doc.  I meant no disrespect. The last thing I need is Grumpy Gabe up my ass for somethin’ so silly as the cyborg havin’ the hots for ya.” Genji seemed to writhe in protest, gasping out loud.

“Then you best get a move on, Jesse. Out.” That was enough to send the cowboy out of the room without any hesitation. She let out a sigh of relief and approached the hospital bed. With clipboard in hand she sat down on her rolling stool.

She waited for several minutes, scanning over the pages of data she’d entered throughout the week. Genji audibly swallowed. “Angela, what Jesse said-“

“How are your limbs working, having you been doing the movements I’ve told you to do?” She cut off. This was not the right time for them to have this conversation.

Genji caught her drift and followed along. “Yes, I’ve been working on them every morning when I wake up and every night before I sleep.”

“Speaking of sleep—How is that working?”

“It comes and goes. I do not sleep as long as I used to. Usually three to four hours.”

She hummed in thought. “Nightmares?”

“Sometimes.”

She scribbled some notes down on the paper. “Can you remove your visor for me?”

The familiar click of the helmet came undone. His black hair hung limp in his face and his brown eyes stared anywhere else as she examined his face closely. She set her clipboard down, using both hands to apply pressure to different points on his jaw. “Does this hurt?”

“No.”

She pulled her hands away and pushed back on the floor. Her stool swerved away from the bed. “Stand for me.”

He obeyed. At this point he was used to the intrusive medical examinations nearly every day. She’d check on him, help him with the movements of the limbs, and ask about his mental health. He had to admit that it was admirable how dedicated of a doctor Angela was. He’d think back on his time spent with her before everything had gone wrong from time to time with a longing he’d try to ignore. It all made sense, the way she carried herself and her intelligence, her knowledge of many languages—which he found out that she knew more than she had claimed from Mei.

“I believe you are ready to get into training,” Angela intruded into his thoughts. “You’ve made incredible progress.”

Genji cocked his head at Angela. “You mean I don’t need to stay in here all day?”

“Yes, from what I’ve been told your personal quarters are ready. Since you’ve gotten along with Jesse so well, I’ll ask Reyes if he can spare the cowboy to give you a tour.”

“You don’t want to give it to me?” Genji asked, clearly confused. She shook her head.

“I’m far too busy right now. There’s plenty of research to be done and data to be entered. Later tonight I’ll be in training as well since I am the official pilot of the Valkyrie suit.” She reached up to an earpiece, pressed down and spoke into it. “Reyes, this is Dr. Ziegler requesting agent McCree to med room thirty-one.”

He wanted to ask what that was—The Valkyrie suit. This was the first time he’d heard of it.

Jesse burst into the room. “Well I wouldn’t be one to complain but if you were gonna make me come back here what was the point in having me go?”

“It’s called Doctor-patient confidentiality, Jesse. Even I am bound by those laws. Besides, it’s for good reason. Can you show Genji around the compound? Make sure he knows where his quarters are. Floor three, hall B, room twenty.”

Jesse looked over to Genji, averting his gaze quickly as he realized that the cyborg was without his visor. Genji placed it back onto his face, embarrassed by the American’s reaction. It wasn’t as if he was blaming Jesse, but this was the first time someone other than Angela had seen the remaining remnants of what he once was.

He knew very well that he was unattractive now, that his once handsome features were marred. Hanzo had ruined it alone with a dagger and his knee. Of course it wasn’t a face he expected his little brother to have to live with. Hanzo had meant for Genji to fall to his death that night, not to be rebuilt into something between man and omnic. One day he vowed to rearrange his brother’s face.

Leaving the Swiss hospital felt as if he were breathing for the first time. He walked with little issues after much practice with his new arms and legs. Overall, she’d rebuilt his body nearly precisely to his old one.

Jesse pointed to different buildings on the way. The nearest one was the training facility, where they’d both be going later in the evening. “There are plenty of obstacles for you to test those new kickers of yours out. I remember when I first got mine,” He flexed his prosthetic arm, showing off the metal digits to the cyborg. “You can dent metal with these things. Can’t imagine much in there will survive you. You have any training at all?”

“Uh, yes. I have training in many blades. I did well with shurikens in my training,” Genji replied with an amount of uncertainty. He was taught English, but he was never as proficient with the language like Hanzo was. Granted, there was never really any need for Genji to care. At least he had thought so.

“So you’re a ninja,” McCree mused. “Not gon’ lie partner, but that’s pretty damn cool.”

“My entire family is,” Genji explained. “We all grew up learning to kill. We were trained at a young age to learn how to assassinate quietly.”

“Everyone in your family? Sheesh. Family dinners must be a wild ride,” Jesse said with a shake of his head. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a cigar from a tin box. He lit it and inhaled deeply, letting the smoke out before leaving the cigar to hang there. “They say these things are for celebratin’. Guess I’m just gonna have to party every day. Angie hates it.” He pointed to the next building they came upon at their right. “That’s the mess hall. Stay away from the pancakes. They always burn ‘em or make ‘em too soggy.”

The mess hall was a one floor building with stairs leading up to a wall of glass doors. The visor helped him see into the building, rows of tables and people in all sorts of uniforms scurried about. “Everyone eats together?”

“Yeah, it’s just easier that way. Of course, y’could make food in your quarters but you’re not gon’ find yourself eating a loaded baked potato up there.”

“Jesse, the doctor and I, it’s not what it seems,” Genji brought up, thinking of the conversation from earlier before Jesse had left the room. He’d said that he’d had feelings for Angela, and he did, but it was far more complex than just simple attraction. It was a tangled mess of red string all over the place.

“Every time I visit you talk about her. There’s somethin’ there, I ain’t stupid. All of us here adore the good ol’ Doc. She’s got nothing but good intentions in that head of hers. She doesn’t like guns or violence. From what I know, she became an orphan early in her life. First omnic crisis, parents were sent to war, never came home. Poor Angie was left with purpose. Next thing y’know, she’s graduated college as a valedictorian and a master surgeon. Overwatch recognized her publish on nanobiology and took her on to research it. From that came the technology in my arm and your body. She had nothin’ easy, but she made somethin’ of herself. That’s why we all admire her, but you, you take it a lot further than that. That’s how I know.”

“I knew the doctor before I knew her as the doctor,” Genji admitted. “She lied to me. Hard life or not, she didn’t tell me who she was. Everyone I cared about betrayed me. I do not know how to feel about her anymore.”

“Yeah, let me put it this way. ‘Hey, Mr. Shimada, you’re the son of a man who leads an incredibly dangerous and illegal crime syndicate! I’m the head of medical research at Overwatch! Let’s be friends!’ Is that reasonable? Angela ain’t stupid, but hell, you may be.” Jesse shook his head as he led the way into one of the residential buildings. He placed his good hand against the scanner and typed in a pass code before the doors opened for the two of them.

Genji grumbled to himself in his native tongue, to which Jesse seemed to pay absolutely no mind to. Jesse had a point, and he begrudgingly admitted that Angela may have had a point as well. But the fact that she could lie and not show any signs of it disturbed him deeply.

Jesse led the way up the stairs to the third floor. He took a left at the wall with a large B on it, leading the way to the very last room. Marked on the door was Genji’s name. “So they put you in the same hall as Dr. Ziegler in case you need to ask her for… Well whatever it is you need to ask her for. She’s in room twelve.  Your neighbor to your right is Reinhardt. He’s loud, but a great drinking buddy. Y’ever want to get smashed he’s the one to do it with.” Jesse paused. “Can y’even get smashed now?”

Genji halted, thinking on it and shrugging. He wasn’t sure what he could or couldn’t do now. He knew that his basic needs were not as important as they were when he was completely human, a request Angela insisted wasn’t what she had wanted for him. She explained that it was to improve his efficiency out on the field.

Before Overwatch, before his brother’s betrayal, perhaps Genji would have been upset by his lack of ability to possibly be immune to intoxication. Now, he thought of it as trivial. There was only one thing on Genji’s mind.

He’d have his revenge.

He craved to see the light die from each and every single pair of eyes in his family. There would be no mercy, no forgiveness. Why should he forgive them? After all they were the ones that wanted the same for him.

Anger consumed him; it drove him to adjust to his new body. It drove him to embrace himself as what he was—A weapon of silent destruction. He saw less and less of Angela. He thought less and less of her.

It felt as if he couldn’t speak with her aside from the mundane check-ups on his body. He pretended not to see the storm in her blue eyes when she looked at him. She wanted him to let her in. It pained him greatly, but no matter how many times she banged on that door, he’d cover his ears.

There could be no distractions.

Genji healed, and was soon marked fit to serve. His stomach turned at the horror in Angela’s eyes as she signed off on the form.

His first mission was a dangerous one. Over the course of a few months he’d poured all of his knowledge about the Shimada Clan into Overwatch’s database. He would soon be in Japan to take down one of his family’s bases.

A knock at his door as he was preparing made him straighten up. He always received plenty of visitors. He sauntered to the door, silent as a prowling panther. In hindsight he should have checked who was at his door. When it swung open, he nearly slammed it shut.

Angela stood there, sullen and exhausted. Rings of darkness rimmed blue eyes. Her blonde hair was a shaggy mess, sticking out in different directions. She stared up at him, biting her chapped lips. She’d been gnawing at them. “Can I come in?” She asked in a hoarse voice, as if she’d been crying.

He was tempted to refuse her request, to tell her that he was leaving soon. Something in those blue eyes told him that it was important. So he dipped his head in a nod and stepped to the side to let her in.

Her shoulders were slumped as she tentatively took a few steps in. His apartment was incredibly clean, not a spot of dirt or mess was in sight. It made the room look much larger than it actually was. She tried to keep her gaze from wandering around the room. Genji gestured to a white sofa, and she took a seat gratefully. Not sure what to do, he took a seat beside her.

“You’re managing well, I see,” She commented, meekness in her voice making him hesitant to answer. “That’s good. I’m happy for you.”

“Angela-”

“You are taking care of the armor well, too. I’m glad you,” She paused, taking in a deep breath before continuing. “I’m glad that you are taking care of yourself.”

“What makes you think that I don’t take care of myself?” Genji asked, almost offended by her implication.

“You hardly talk to anyone anymore, except for when they visit you. You eat alone and you have this… this energy about you. I’ve seen depressed people before, Genji. I deal with victims of war.”

He was blown away. “You think I’m depressed?” His voice raised and the fire within him flared. “Do I look sad to you?”

“I don’t think it, Genji. I know it. I know it’s hard to live with what you’ve become-”

“You don’t know anything about what I’m feeling, Angela. I’m not the same foolish idiot that fell for you so long ago. That Genji is dead. I am a weapon, a mindless being built to execute the enemies of our world.”

She shook her head, covering her mouth as she blinked tears out of her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Genji… This isn’t what I wanted for you.” She reached out to him, and he pulled away.

“What did you want for me, then?” He hissed.

She was stunned in silence, unable to find her voice.

“Of course you don’t know. You know nothing about what you-“

“To live…” She whispered. He stiffened, gritting his teeth beneath the mask. “I wanted you to live so what we had wouldn’t be over. But it has been over for a long time, hasn’t it?”

“A weapon doesn’t have any purpose for love. It is my duty to hate,” Genji answered, standing. She stood up as well and he stared down at her. “How am I supposed to love in a body like mine?”

Her hand pressed against the left side of his chest. “It is the heart that loves, not the body. You still have everything that makes you yourself inside.” The slender hand, a touch he could not feel under the armor of his suit moved upward. He stood still as a statue. Her other hand joined on the opposite side of his face, pulling off the visor to reveal his heavily scarred face.

He flinched as her fingertips ghosted over the sensitive flesh, pallid from months of being hidden. “You are mistaken, Angela,” He spoke with a longing in his voice, fighting away the dormant feelings that she had woken within him once more. “I am not the man I once was.”

“Genji, please,” She begged. “I’m so sorry for everything that I have done. I know it changes nothing, and I know you despise me. I was too late to realize that I could have saved you… I could have saved your human body. But I didn’t… I should have known, Genji. I’m so, so sorry…” The tears flooded down her cheeks, dripping to past her chin and onto her collarbones.

He could have said many things, could have comforted her. He could have told her that it was going to be alright. He wanted to do that for her, for himself. She braced against him and he remained a rock, unmoving and achingly silent.

“I was too late,” She whimpered, pulling away from him and turning away. She dashed out of his quarters, shutting the door with a loud bang. Her footsteps echoed down the hall.

He was left to stand there like the monster he’d become. The pain twisted like a knife in his chest, his shattered human heart ached for what could be.

Like Angela said:

It was too late.

Chapter Text

Genji pressed his blade to a guardsmen’s throat. The weapon sank into the flesh, blood oozed onto the steel. The man swallowed something thick, Adam’s apple bobbing up against the blade. The guard was breathing rapidly, his eyes darting from side to side as he took in the bodies of his comrades. Limbs and blood were scattered around the safe house. Glazed eyes stared at nothing, faces contorted into terrified expressions. The only guard that remained, the lone survivor, was held in Genji’s grasp.

“Where is Hanzo Shimada?” Genji demanded, thirsty for the blood of the man whom he once called ‘brother’.

“I-I don’t know,” The guard stuttered. Fear burned in his youthful eyes.

Genji snarled. “You are useless to me, then,” He hissed, digging his blade in deeper. More blood dripped out of the wound.

“N-no! Wait! I know where Kaito Shimada is!”

“I already know where he is. Useless.” Genji pressed down hard. The blade dragged clean across the young guard’s throat. For a moment he appeared shocked. Genji knew the feeling almost too well. The life died from those eyes. When the time came for Hanzo to be in the guard’s place, Genji would not back down. He vowed to take his life, to give him a death of honor.

Genji wiped both sides of his blade clean on the guard’s uniform and then dropped the dead body to the floor. It hit the concrete flooring of the warehouse with a splitting crack. The sound had become so familiar that Genji scarcely batted an eyelash behind his visor. Stepping over the body, he did a quick search of the building. There was nothing new and of use to his crusade. Sighing, he sheathed the blade at his hip and turned on his communication system.

“It is safe to come into the building. There is much of the ‘merchandise’ here that you have been looking for,” Genji spoke into the microphone in his visor. Not but a few seconds later, several agents entered the building. Captain Amari joined him at his side.

“It was a good idea to keep you alive,” She stated before turning away, getting to work with the other agents on seizing the illegal substances and weapons.

“I am not alive,” Genji said in turn, turning his back on his Captain. An act of insubordination was usually punished, yet the Captain stood there dumbfounded because of the cyborg’s words.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked as he began to walk away.

“I must continue my mission here,” Genji stated.

Two weeks of trying to find someone who knew where Hanzo was proved futile. Not a single soul in the Shimada Clan knew where their master was. Or former master, as he soon figured out that Hanzo had disappeared without a word’s notice from the Clan. Genji snorted when he found that one out. Of course his Uncle Kaito would force his older brother to take his life under the impression that it was for their family’s honor. Not soon after Genji’s ‘death’, Hanzo met his own end.

His Uncle Kaito took the reins as the Master, proving to be as ruthless a leader as he was a critic. There was an obvious ripple of fear when his name was mentioned to any of the underlings Genji encountered. That wasn’t his problem.

It wouldn’t be theirs either as Genji set his sights on the castle.

The mansion loomed ahead. It was the prize of Hanamura and once Genji’s home. It was hard to believe that he had fled from this place a little over a year ago. He took his usual route, climbing up and down the wall that surrounded the home. Guards roamed everywhere. No doubt that the new Master had heard of the attacks on his people.

Genji slid open the window to his former room, stepping inside so silently that it’d fill an owl with envy. He gazed around the room, the lights of his suit flicked on with a soft hum. It created just enough light for him to see. Boxes were filled with old heirlooms from all three of the supposedly deceased Shimada’s, Genji, Hanzo, and their father.

His breathing hitched when he opened a box in particular. The ache in his chest, his human heart, it burned like the breath of a dragon. He lifted a picture frame into his hands. His father held Hanzo in his arms. The younger version of his brother was making a pout at the camera. Not much had changed, he snorted. His mother, on the other hand, was holding a smirking little boy with messy jet black hair. This child stared smugly at his brother, as if he were the reason that Hanzo was pouting.

Genji didn’t have any recollection of when this was taken, but he knew it was one of the few pictures remaining of them as a family. He set the frame down, lifting another frame. His shoulders slumped and he bit down on his lip beneath his visor.

There they were. Genji still had green hair in this one. He stood side by side with his brother, arm wrapped around his slightly shorter older brother. Genji had it taken just because of that. Hanzo had his arms folded, scowling at the camera menacingly. Genji, on the other hand, was giving the same smug half-grin he had apparently since he was young.

Genji wished he couldn’t feel. He dropped the picture frame onto the box, reeling with rage and a melancholy that bit down into his skin like a tick. It sucked the life out of him. She could rebuild my body, but she couldn’t take my emotions?

His eyes met the picture once more, the glass of it shattered so terribly that he couldn’t distinguish the image anymore. It felt good.

The room went dark.

He slid open the paneling, stepping out into one of the many halls. He pressed up against the wall. He unsheathed the blade at his hip, holding it in his hand with intent to kill whoever crossed his path. The entirety of Shimada castle was dark.

Genji approached the now dim main hall. He froze as he caught sight of someone, someone dressed completely in black. The man was hanging a tapestry in the hall, attaching it in the very front. Two rungs held a sword, and Genji’s stomach sank with recognition.

How is that my sword?

It was his, down to the engraved hilt. The figure kneeled before the tapestry and sword. He set down a bowl, dipping two incense sticks into it. He lit them, a thin trail of smoke rising in the air as he bowed his head. From inside one of his pockets he pulled out a feather. Genji zoomed in with his visor to try and get a closer look.

The feather of a sparrow rested as an offering before him.

The man’s voice rumbled and he tilted his head back.

“Genji, I hope you see what I am doing,” He spoke, wracked with misery. “You were right. All along, you were right.”

Genji gazed with disbelief. It’s not possible.

The man stood, leaving behind his offerings. He left with haste, disappearing down a hall on the other side of the vast room.

Genji resisted the urge to follow the dark figure, whose identity he was almost certain of. As much as he wanted to satisfy his curiosity, it wasn’t time to do so yet. Now that he was here, in this moment, he wasn’t sure if he could follow through with it.

Hanzo had been able to kill him so easily. Why did Genji struggle?

He turned his attention away from his fleeing brother, delving further into the castle. Bodies littered the floor. Arrows stuck out of necks and heads. Blood stained the floor. When he reached the master chamber, he’d realized that Hanzo had already finished off his target.

His uncle stared at nothing, eyes wide. Arrows pierced every inch of skin, blood still oozing from the wounds. The jaw was cracked and shattered, just as Genji’s had been. Genji cocked his head, confused by the scene. He felt a vibration of anger tear through his body as he growled, unsheathing his sword and slicing clean through his Uncle’s neck. Arrows cracked, splintering onto the bed. His Uncle’s head rolled off its place on his shoulders, sliding off and smacking against the floor.

This was not Hanzo’s battle to fight. It infuriated Genji how his older brother, the same one that tried to kill him, thought that he could just turn around and try to justify what he’d done. As if killing the targets Genji wanted for himself was going to bring the Genji he once knew back to life. What is dead remains dead, and Hanzo should know very well that he’d made his decision a year ago. Vents unlocked, steam rising from them to keep him cool. He swung again, sword splitting apart wood posts for the bed’s canopy.

His foot connected with his Uncle’s head, and Genji leaned down to pick it up. Holding it by the hair, he sheathed his sword and pulled the window open. He took one step back, tossing Kaito Shimada’s head out the window and into the courtyard. It landed beside the guards that were supposed to protect him. Genji climbed out the window as bells rang. Guards ran toward the castle, cracking the doors open. Genji crawled onto the pagoda roof. By now, Hanzo was long gone. He’d given his brother enough of a head start.

Genji had a feeling that this wouldn’t be the last he’d see of the masked figure.

If Hanzo was killing other members of the Shimada Clan that meant that they’d find one another at some point. Genji vowed that he would follow through with his intents the next time. He vowed that he would enjoy it, as well.

He escaped the castle, returning to Overwatch’s base of operations. The same one that’d he been brought to when he was at the edge of death. From there the agents travelled back. He’d have to thank the Captain at some point for holding the hangar plane so that he could continue on with his solo mission.

Arriving back at home, he was immediately greeted by Jesse, who had become his confidant after Mei went had gone on her mission in the Antarctic. Jesse tipped his hat, letting out a puff of smoke from his mouth.

“Y’know, it’s always hard t’tell what you’re thinkin’ with that damn mask on. It’s like those old cartoons where the ugly character wore a brown paper bag over their head to hide how ugly they are. Ain’t no one gonna flinch.” Jesse always had a way with his words. Genji remained quiet. “Great talk, bud.”

The returning agents were always given a special dinner. As always, Genji never ate with anyone. He immediately returned to his room, Jesse followed along.

“Hey, I’m talking to you, Genji. What the hell happened? Did I leave some demeaning evidence on that hangar? Shit, I thought I hid ‘em good.”

“It is not important what happened,” Genji responded, his voice reverberating.

“Shit, you’re a bad liar,” Jesse teased. “Come on, lemme in and we’ll talk.”

Genji paused at his door. He let out a deep, exasperated sigh and unlocked the door. He left it open for Jesse to step in, and the American obliged. He didn’t even bother to take off his shoes. Genji almost mentioned it, but decided against it. The cowboy flopped down on the couch. Legs spread and arms splayed, he tilted his head back and let out another puff of smoke. Genji shut the door behind them, locking it. He cursed in Japanese, shaking his head.

“So what’s botherin’ ya?”

“It is not simple,” Genji explained, giving Jesse the chance to back out while he still had the chance.

“Nothin’ we do is simple,” Jesse replied. “Is it girl problems? You afraid she won’t like that mug of yours?”

Genji’s vents popped with a hiss of steam, trying to hold back his anger.

“Relax, I was teasing.”

“I saw my brother, Hanzo.”

“Haven’t you been tryin’ to find him so you can disfigure him like he did to you?” Jesse asked, as if disappointed that it wasn’t something bigger. He kept quiet, allowing Genji to continue.

“I didn’t kill him.”

“Y’know what? You confuse me. Before this mission you were all ‘I’m going to twist his face into somethin’ unrecognizable!’ Now you stop?” Jesse shook his head, pulling his hat off and running his fingers through his hair. “Jesus Christ.”

Genji just stood there awkwardly, shuffling from foot to foot. “He killed the Master of the Shimada Clan. I think he left the family.”

“I guess makin’ a solid decision is really hard in your family,” Jesse commented. He snorted and straightened up. “Look, Genji. I’m not tryin’ to say that this ‘betrayal’ thing Hanzo is doin’ now ain’t making your decision to kill him complicated, but you have to decide whether or not you’re gonna stay angry about all this. If you ain’t killin’ him, forget about him.”

“I will kill him,” Genji stated coldly. “He ruined my life.”

“I’d say you have it pretty good, toots. You’re breathin’, you’re literally a robot ninja, and you still got your bits so you can whack off. Unless you can’t, then you have my sincerest apologies. The doctor is still head over heels for you, too. She always asked about you in between checkups. If you can get a girl like that, what the hell do you have to complain about?”

“I shouldn’t express myself. It is a weakness.”

“Yawn. Dramatic, look. Y’just got back from a mission. Go and do somethin’ fun. There’s no need to brood. I already deal enough with these shenanigans with Baby Gabey.” Jesse slouched forward, grabbing his hat as he stood. “Y’need to get out, partner. You’re wastin’ time. Get out of here and go knock on her door. Don’t y’dare come back until you’ve sorted shit out. I’m tired of playin’ therapist to every single agent in this damned compound.”

Genji clenched his fists, threateningly taking a step toward the American. Jesse stood stoic, throwing his hat back on his head. He tipped it at Genji.

“Y’ain’t gonna do nothin’. Stop bein’ an idiot. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of your cave of a home. Just please fix your shit before it swallows you whole.”

Genji turned on his heel, gritting his teeth in anger as he stomped out the door and into the hallway. What could he possibly say to Angela? After everything he’d already said—or rather didn’t say. He shut the door in her face. He vowed not to let her distract him from his true cause. Could he really not keep his promises?

Her room was close to his, number twelve. He stood in front of it, hesitant. He didn’t have anything he could say to her, but there was something he could do.

With the back of his metallic knuckles, he rapped on the door twice.

For several moments he stood there wondering if he should knock again. It was quite possible that she wasn’t home. She was always very busy. Of course Jesse wouldn’t have factored that in.

He was just about to turn away when the door clicked open.

“Genji?” Angela questioned, as if hardly believing her eyes. “What…?” He turned around slowly, taking a step toward her. She was so close to him that she tried to take a step back. But his hand was at her waist before she could. She froze, blinking at him with her brows curved. “Genji?” She asked again. With his body he pushed her into the room, guiding her there. He shut the door behind the two of them.

“Angela,” He whispered her name in a low, husky voice. He could feel the shiver down her spine. He flipped them around, pressing her against the door with ease. He reached up to pull off the visor, letting it fall to the floor. His black hair needed to be cut, it hung in his face. Between the locks of hair, his deep brown eyes bore into her. It took her breath away.

“Genji, what are you doing?” She asked, her voice wavering with repressed excitement.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” He replied, lips teasing and breath warm against the sensitive skin on her neck. She gripped at his shoulders to hold herself up. One of his legs pressed in between hers.

“G-Genji, wait,” She spoke up. A gasp escaped her when one prosthetic hand groped a breast. “Genji!” She yelled, pushing him away with trembling hands. When he was thrown back, he watched her as she dropped to the floor. His arm dropped to his side as he knelt down and picked up his visor. There were tears in her eyes as she reached over to him. “Genji…” She reached out to him.

His eyes were trained on the linoleum flooring in the doorway, hiding his face from her in shame. “I’m sorry,” He said simply.

As he tried to stand her hand around his pulled him down. “I don’t want it if you do not want it. That’s not how this works,” She explained.

“I am a tool to be used, Angela,” He replied, tears streaming down his scared cheeks. “You don’t need to worry about what I want. If this is what you want from me, it’s the least I can do.”

Her thumb brushed the tears away from his eyes as his head sank, resting in her lap. She held him there, running her fingers through his tangled black hair. She undid them, smoothed them until she had no resistance. “You are worth so much more than that.”

No I’m not. He thought to himself.

--

Somewhere in the night they’d both fallen asleep in that same position. Genji wriggled free of her embrace. She slept soundly, even in such an uncomfortable position. Refusing to leave her like that, he scooped her up into his arms. She was weightless in his arms as he carried her into her room.

He set her down on the bed, tucking her into the blankets. She curled up immediately in their warmth.  It was warmth that he could never provide.

As silent as he was when he went in, he was just as silent as when he left. He shut the door behind himself, keeping it from clicking too loudly. He slipped into his room with a little less care for the noise. He glared at the snoring cowboy sleeping with his boots on his couch, hat tipped down over his eyes and arms splayed out in different directions. The TV chattered with conversation and the remote lay across Jesse’s stomach.

“Wake up,” Genji said, withholding emotion from his voice as he flipped the hat off of Jesse’s head. The hat landed on the floor without a sound.

Jesse made a sound somewhere between the snort of a pig and a confused grumble. “Wha’th’fuck,” His words slurred together. He grasped at his head, trying to find his hat but only finding shaggy brown locks of hair. He huffed when he angled his head over his shoulder, catching sight of Genji, still in his armor. “You look like a glowstick,” He commented.

Genji stood stark silent. “It didn’t happen.”

“Why the hell were you gone so long for then?” Jesse swung his legs over, standing up and reaching down to grab his hat.

“She didn’t want to.”

“Or didya not want to?” When Genji fell into silence, it gave Jesse answer to his question. Jesse sighed and pushed his hair back and out of his face. “Weren’t you a playboy before all this?”

“I didn’t care about those women,” Genji stated with stinging harshness.

“So y’care about Angela?” Jesse prodded.

“Of course I care about her,” Genji snapped, anger blazing in his eyes. He felt like he was caged and pressed into a corner. The pressure crushed his head.

“Then what is your problem?” Jesse returned, keeping his calm despite Genji’s threatening tone. “Y’can literally just walk in and tell her how much y’want her and she’ll probably be putty in your hands. How can y’live with all the sexual tension built up in you? Everyone else is just hopin’ y’all get it over with so that we don’t have to watch this shit anymore.”

“I don’t deserve her,” Genji admitted. He was thankful for the mask he’d put back onto his face. Hot tears trailed down his cheeks, dripping down to his chin. He tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling. “I’m a monster, Jesse. I was built to kill, not…”

“But you are her monster,” Jesse snorted and shook his head. Genji snapped his head in the direction of the American. “Shit, that didn’t come out right…”

“Get out,” Genji’s tone was like ice. It was bitter with a hidden threat underneath it. Genji could and would break. He’d show Jesse how much of a monster he’d become.

Jesse snorted. “Look, Genji, I’m not tryin’ t’give ya shit. I’m tryin’ to help you.”

“The last time someone tried to help me they threw me off of a cliff. Now get the fuck out.”

Jesse shook his head. “I’m still gon’ keep tryin’ til ya realize. Just think on it, partner. You ain’t doin’ anythin’ good for anyone with your shitty attitude. Especially yourself.”

Jesse picked up his hat, dusting it off on his shirt and throwing it on top of his head. He stared down at Genji, grunted, and then turned to leave. He shut the door with a loud slam.

Now Genji was alone with only the incessant chatter on the television. For at least two minutes he stood there contemplating every decision and every memory in his mind. He thought about everything from his brother to Angela. His chest heaved as he breathed in and out rapidly, rage boiling in him until it spilled over.

He let out a loud screech, pulling his sword out from its sheath and slamming it into the television. It flew off the stand. The electricity unleashed crackled violently. The shattered screen slammed into the wall. Debris flew onto the carpet and dents marked the wall. Vents popped open, steam rising from them. He gripped the sword tight in his hand, chest heaving. He knocked his head back, letting out another loud wail, dropping his sword and then to his knees.

He felt arms wrap around his shoulders, a hand guiding the back of his head to a shoulder. He dipped his head into it, didn’t even bother to look. He already knew, and he didn’t understand. “Why me?” Genji sobbed, clenching his teeth to bite back a dam of tears.

“I don’t know, Genji. But I’m with you.”

Her voice was sweet as honey; it never grew old nor lost its luster. It warmed him to the core. “Why didn’t you take my emotions away?”

“Because I would have really made a monster,” She answered. Her hands pressed against his mask, taking it out of its place. “You are not a monster, Genji. No matter what you think, no matter what power you have…”

Genji stared at her with wide brown eyes, tears leaking down his cheeks. “I will never have a normal life. That’s all I ever wanted. I never wanted blood on my hands. I saw Hanzo, and I couldn’t kill him. I couldn’t take the life that tried to take mine. If I didn’t have emotions, I would have been able to do it.”

“There is a reason for that, Genji,” Angela ran her nails across his scalp through black hair. “And that’s because you’re not heartless. You will never be able to do what Hanzo did because you are different from him.”

“But—But there’s more to it, Angela,” Genji whispered, his metallic hands curling into fists. “He was killing our family too. He was doing the same thing that I did. He made—He created a memorial for me. He’s honoring me and I don’t understand. Why would he ruin my life and then go and kill the rest of the Shimada family? What is he trying to accomplish? It makes no fucking sense!” He slammed the fist onto the carpet, shredding some of the fabric with brute synthetic strength.

Angela pursed her lips, not quite sure what to say. It perplexed her all the same. It made no sense. Why would Hanzo make that sort of decision and then completely turn on it not but a year later? It dawned on her. “Remember when you told me all of the fun you and Hanzo used to have together? When you’d both skip out on training and go to the lake. You’d sit beside one another and confess anything that was bothering you. Perhaps…” She tilted his head up by the chin. “He misses that. He misses you.”

“Why would he change his mind when it’s too late?”

“Sometimes it takes something big for a person to realize when they’re too late,” Angela whispered. Her true blue eyes glossy and her blonde hair a tousled mess. She wasn’t only referring to Hanzo. The silence held for minutes. They were suspended in time—two souls standing in front of one another face to face. A decision would have to be made, and it wasn’t Angela’s to make.

No matter how hard Genji tried to bring himself to speak, he couldn’t. She may have rebuilt his body, but she would not be able to bring his mind solace.

“Let’s just get you to bed. It’s not good to stand in this mess,” Angela said, reaching toward Genji. He let her grab his wrist, let her guide him away and into his room. Her bare feet stepped cautiously over sharp debris, tip toeing through it until it was safe.

He sat down on his bed, watched her as she dropped to her knees in front of him. He angled his head away. Piece by piece of his armor was removed, exposing leathery gray synthetic tissue. She gradually stood, peeling off shoulder and chest plates, setting them aside. His real skin tone showed on his chest, scars scattered about.

His silence disturbed her, though it didn’t come anywhere close to shocking. She sighed, patting his cheeks gently. “I’m sorry, Genji. I tried to give you a life, but all I did was ruin it. I knew this would happen. That you would regret the choice you made. I just—I want you to know I had no jurisdiction on whether or not to make you into a weapon. I gave you all of the human qualities that I could, despite it being against the decision of Morrison and Amari. They wanted you to be great for the field. All I wanted was to give you some semblance of a normal life.”

“I’m sorry that I woke you up,” He mumbled. He slouched, the muscles in his back rippled as he leaned forward.

“No, don’t worry about me. I’ve functioned on less sleep than this,” She dismissed him before he could find more reason for self loathing. She took in a deep breath, running her fingers over his scalp and pushing back flat black hair. It wouldn’t stand up like it used to with the lack of product. “It pains me to see you hurt so much, but your feelings are justified,” She admitted, taking a seat beside him on the bed.

Their arms linked together, a gesture of comfort.  He leaned into her, conscientious of where he rested his metallic jaw.”Why do you keep coming back?” The suddenness of the question caught both of them off guard.

“I know you really don’t want me here, but I am here because you need my help,” She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and her hand rested on his arm.

“I never said I didn’t want you here,” Genji retorted. “I’ve only said that it’s not good for you to be here. I could—I could hurt you. If I ever did something like that, I don’t know—“

“I trust you not to hurt me, Genji.”

“You’ll regret that.”

She tried not to flinch, but the darkness in his voice sent a chill throughout her.

“You may not believe that I will now, but I can tell you this, Angela. I’m a monster. For your sake, stay away from me.”

She stood up, face to face with him. There was a fire, a blazing determination in her eyes that he’d never seen before. “I will not give up on you, Genji. No matter what you do, I will not give up. I’m a healer, and I will fix you.”

“What if you can’t?”

“I’ve already done the impossible. I’ve cured virtually every disease in existence with a single strategy. I’ve given life back to those who never thought that they’d live a normal life after war tore them apart. If I can’t help you, then I’d fail to save someone for the first time.” She smiled at him, ruffling his hair. “I’m confident, Genji. Now get some rest, you need it.”

He wasn’t sure if he believed her or not, but the fact that she was so determined sparked the most miniscule flame of hope. He fell back against his pillow, rolling onto his side to face away from her. He closed his eyes tight, aware of her presence just by the warmth she radiated.

Only when she left did he shiver, pulling the blankets over the body that wasn’t his.

Chapter Text

The training suit was tight. It squeezed him and showed off every contour of synthetic muscle. He tensed up, those muscles rippling as he dashed forward with inhuman speed. The sword cut through steel and wire like a knife into butter, clean and executed. His next mission would be coming up in a few days. More Shimada Clan activity in Japan had set off Overwatch’s radar. Even if his Uncle was dead, there were others who would take his place with ease. He couldn’t imagine who or why, but his family line extended far beyond just uncles, aunts, and cousins.

He stood up straight, sword extended downward stiffly in metal hands. He flipped the blade around, sliding it back into its sheath on his back. The remnants of the robot were taken away hastily, but Genji didn’t stop too long to watch the process. He was interested in something else. Something he considered forbidden to him.

Angela stood dressed not in a training suit, but something far more complex than the simple gear. She clutched an intricate staff in her hands, standing at the top of a very tall ledge. Her halo glinted under the training facility’s lights as she pushed platinum bangs from her face. She seemed very relaxed despite being up so high. The very thought of being up there made what little human skin Genji had left crawl.

The next thing she did took his breath away. She leapt off the edge, falling for a moment before golden feathers flexed outward. Her speed decreased, and she guided herself slowly through the room.
She was an angel, and the scene was painfully familiar.

It struck him like a ton of bricks when he realized. The warmth and the angel—He’d seen this before. How could he have forgotten? His brush with death had been prevented by an angel’s mercy. Angela’s mercy.

She landed before him with a gentle click of her heels against the concrete flooring. She flashed him a smile, one that captivated him. “I’m doing well with the suit now. I’ve tweaked it with Torbjörn’s help. It’s starting to work proficiently since our modifications.” She braced against her staff, cocking her head to the side at him. When he continued to stare blankly at her through his visor she shifted her weight. “Genji?”

“It was you?” He wondered aloud.

“What was me?” Angela furrowed her brows, trying to decipher exactly what he was saying.

“You were the angel,” He mumbled with awe. He already had known that she was the one to perform the emergency operations to stabilize him. What came as a surprise was that she was the one to actually pluck him from the ground and bring him to safety. His memory of the time was hazy, as to be expected. Yet the memory of being held by winged beauty stuck out in his mind.

Angela let out a light-hearted giggle, covering her mouth. “Genji, there’s no way you could have been conscious for any of that.”

He dipped his head. “Yes, of course,” He replied, words drifting off in a murmur. “But I suppose I did the impossible.”

She blinked rapidly at him a few times, hand dropping to her heart. A steady beat began to quicken in her chest. He’d repeated her words she’d spoken to him a week prior. She brought the staff closer to her body and cleared her throat. “I need to test a new technology in the Caduceus Staff. Would you mind helping me?” She asked, diverting the topic to something other than the night where everything had gone wrong for Genji. It saddened her to see him stuck so far into the past. Each week he only seemed to disassociate further away from others.

He gave her a curt nod. “What do you need me to do?”

“Just attack the targets and keep calm. If you’re overwhelmed at any point, tell me to stop and I will.” She raised her staff, pointing it in his direction. She nodded at him, and he unsheathed his blade. “Ready?”

“I am ready,” He responded in an even tone. A stream of blue shot out toward him. It felt as if he were powered with the rawest form of energy. He breathed in and out rapidly. After his cybernetics treatments he’d felt power course through every circuit that lay beneath the gray flesh of his prosthetic limbs. He was a force to be reckoned with before. Now he felt invulnerable. He dashed forward, blade extended outward. He practically flew through each target, deadly swipes of his blade practiced. He glided through the air, tore through each target until nothing was left but shattered pieces of non-sentient robots. He turned to her when there was nothing left, visor lighting up with a hum.

The blue tether of energy disappeared and she aimed the staff’s end upward once more. She was at a loss for words. “I didn’t think it would work that well.” She turned to see that a crowd had formed around the little arena both she and Genji stood in.
Genji stared at the crowd, visor hiding his expression from all of them. He rolled his shoulder and spun the blade. Angela had a feeling that it was just to show off. Cyborg or not, bits and pieces of his old personality would still step out of from the shadows.

From the crowd Commander Morrison stepped forward. He beckoned at the two of them with one hand, already on his way out. Angela followed. The wings of her suit folded back against her figure. Genji reluctantly joined, slipping the sword back into its sheath. He didn’t spare a glance as the crowd parted for him. It was good that they wanted to keep a wide berth. The last thing he wished to do was harm any of them. If they stayed out of his way, their chances of an accident with him were lower.

Morrison led them through the compound. They exited the building, passing through the massive bulletproof glass doors in the training hall. Time to time, people would stop in their tracks and throw up a quick salute in respect to the Commander as a formality. Morrison would nod in their direction.

The Commander took them to the strategy hall, pushing open a door and gesturing them inside. There were already people in the small briefing room as Genji and Angela stepped forward.

“These two agents have the skill set we need for this mission,” Morrison stated all business.

Angela felt dread gnaw at the pit of her stomach. She’d been stationed as a medic in other areas before, but never as one who went out onto the field unless it was at a safe zone. She certainly did not partake in Overwatch’s missions and was inclined to interject. The look of warning in Blackwatch leader Reyes’s eyes twisted her tongue as he watched her struggle with the idea.

“Shimada has already shown prowess on his first mission,” Morrison continued, blue eyes like chips of ice resting on each person in the room.

“He also went AWOL after the mission was complete,” Reyes grunted. “He is not trustworthy. Also why would we send our esteemed doctor into a red zone? That just seems like poor planning. Would it not be simple to just send Blackwatch in to do the missions we usually do?”

“Blackwatch has too many agents in it with the wrong assets for the mission. My plan will work because Dr. Ziegler is not allowed to leave Shimada’s side, as it is vice versa. If either one leaves each other, it is likely they’ll be killed in their investigation and execution. Shimada will be more conscientious of his footing, and the Doctor will take care of him should he find himself ‘tripping’. Her empowering technology makes our most deadly weapon yet even more elite. They are the only two agents for this task.”

“I mean no disrespect, Jack, but I do not see myself in the line of duty—”

“You’re an agent of Overwatch. After you donned that suit for the first time to save Shimada’s life, you committed yourself to being its pilot. That means that should you be sent out on a mission, you must go. Does it make any sense that we let the Valkyrie suit go unused on the field?” Jack cut her off.

She pursed her lips, knitting her eyebrows together before nodding in slow, solemn resignation.

When there was no further argument, Jack gestured for both Angela and Genji to sit. Both took the two empty seats that remained.

Angela pulled at the bottom of the Valkyrie suit, shoulders raised as she stared at the cheap laminate table. She could only hope the mission was not one where she had to partake in any violence.

Genji sat stiffly in his chair. He had been through this scenario before and was ready to go through it again. It didn’t seem to bother him at all, or at least he didn’t show it, that Angela was coming along with him on this mission.

After the briefing, she could not sleep. Her eyes gazed up at the ceiling. Though her lids were heavy, they would not fall. She tossed and turned to no avail. No matter what, her mind would not flee from the weight of her future. The morning came too soon, and so did her deployment.

The engine of the ship thrummed with energy, piercing her chest like a dagger and shocking her heart with an electric shock. She’d never been in one of these ships before. It was smaller, compact. Despite that it still had the luxuries of the larger ships. Genji sat beside her, strapped into the chair. The other secured seats were empty.

She glanced at him. His eyes were forward, or at least she thought so. It was hard to tell with his visor on.

“Doctor Ziegler,” his voice tapped in through her earpiece, filling her head. “Do not worry. Once we are up in the air we are allowed to move around. Feel free to close your eyes and slip off. I will wake you when it is safe to move around.”

True to his word he gently tapped her shoulder as they neared the landing zone. The lights of the city twinkled outside the window. The ship shook, rocking her head back and forth as it took its landing. Angela wondered if there was something wrong, but it must have only been the weather.

The ship hit the runway, all lights dimming as it took several long moments to cease moving forward. Angela was too eager to leave the seat, throwing the safety bar up over her head and leaving the core of the airship.

Thunder cracked like a whip overhead, shaking the foundations of the compound as stinging rain spattered against Genji's metallic body with audible thuds.

They'd landed in London. The white lights in the cockpits of jets scattered about the airstrip were all that stood out in the crushing darkness. Genji wouldn't risk flashing his own. London had always struggled with legislation for omnic rights. Though Genji was not exactly an omnic, he was far from human. No matter what Angela thought.

Angela winced as wind blew her blonde hair about her face wildly at first before the rain flattened it. She seemed somber, her blue eyes reflected the weight of their mission.

Amelie LaCroix, wife of Gérard had gone missing. She'd been captured after a failed assassination attempt on Gérard. Morrison had tasked the two of them to find and exterminate whoever had captured Madame LaCroix.

The idea of killing unsettled Angela, of course. She despised it, advocated against it strongly since first joining Overwatch. She was not an assassin, nor would she ever be. The only reason she was here was to make sure that Amelie received immediate medical attention, because surely she would need it once they retrieved her.

Angela looked to Genji, keeping pace with him as they walked to a small brick building not too far away from the landing strip. She couldn’t help but feel as if this were a mirror to the night when she first met him in that bar. It was a storm about as bad and loud as this.

A storm had changed both their fates once. Perhaps another could change it again.

“Genji,” she started, trying to find the words to relay her thoughts to him.

“It is best if we do not talk until we are under cover,” Genji spoke quickly. At least he seemed as if he wanted to talk. That was progress to Angela.

When they stepped into the building, Angela was thankful for the heaters. Her clothes were practically stuck to her skin from the rain, and they hadn’t even been out there all that long. Genji on the other hand seemed unphased by the water dripping down his metallic body. The ribbon on his helm stuck to the back of his shoulders.

Men in suits ushered them away quickly, taking them into a small room and quickly sealing the door shut. Genji seemed bored, prosthetic fingers resting on his metallic chin in an almost bored fashion.

“We’re here to give you another brief on recent evidence. We’ll allow the two of you to go over these files while we stand guard outside. There’s trouble afoot, agents. Watch your backs.”

And then they were alone.

Angela immediately reaches out to rest a hand on his shoulder. The words she used to have in her head had fled, leaving her at a silent loss.

Genji doesn’t seem to be bothered at all, opening the manila folders to look at various pieces of evidence and clues. He doesn’t even realize her hands close to his face until his mask clicked out of its place. He blinked at her, shocked, furrowing his brows and averting his gaze from her own.

“I’m sorry,” Angela said, holding the mask with the tips of her fingers.

“What for?” Genji asked, squinting see the evidence better.

“It’s hard to tell what you’re thinking when I can’t even see your face,” Angela answered, setting the faceplate aside as her eyes went to the evidence. They quickly return to Genji’s face. It was impossible for her to focus when she had something else on her mind entirely.

“We need to find Madame LaCroix,” Genji stated simply. “They sent us here to London because they have a few suspects in mind. Namely the organization that is advocating against Omnic rights and aren’t afraid to use violent means to show their hatred.”

Angela shook her head of any thoughts, nodding. “Right, right. What are they called? They’re a fairly small group, are they not?”

“They’re called ‘Talon’ and more or less. As far as we know,” Genji replied. He opened another envelope and nearly jumped out of his seat. His expression was that of a bewildered animal, his hand reaching around behind his back and clutching at the hilt of his sword.

Angela’s heart nearly jumped into her throat as his sudden, angry reaction. Genji looked as if he were about to destroy something. The anger in his eyes burned hotter than any flame that she’d witnessed. Despite his murderous look she remained in her seat, trying to show that she wasn’t afraid of him.

Except a tiny little voice in her head told her she was.

“W-What’s wrong?” She stammered, cursing herself inwardly for sounding so small when she needed to seem unafraid.

“It’s fucking him,” Genji growled, slamming his fist on the table.

“Who?” Angela whispered, standing and reaching out to put a hand on an armored synthetic muscle.

“Just look at him,” Genji spat, pushing the folder over to Angela.

It took her a moment to flip it open, taking the first picture on the top. “Genji the date on this--”

“I know,” he interrupts.

“I thought you--”

“I know, Angela. I thought he was fucking dead too. He must have known that someone would come for him.”

In the picture, plain as day and night, was Kaito Shimada. Genji’s brutish uncle who had ordered his execution. The new leader of the Shimada Clan seemed to be making ties. The only issue with this image was that Genji had seen his uncle’s body. He’d severed head from body and thrown it into the courtyard for all there to witness.

Yet the man in the picture was unmistakingly the Shimada Clan’s master. Angela couldn’t imagine how Genji was feeling. What this meant was nothing good, nothing that Angela wanted for him. The anger, the rage, it made the vents of his mechanical body pop and hiss at the shoulders.

“Genji,” Angela’s voice came out softer, doing what she could to soothe the enraged man at her side. “Genji,” she repeated, this time more forcibly when he didn’t turn to face her. Her hand sought out his cheek, bringing him to her. His eyes were like a wild animal’s, his nostrils flared as he breathed in and out. His lips were set in a scowl, and his jaw was clenched.

Though somehow the sight of the tender look on Angela’s face made him let out a long breath. His eyelids fluttered closed as he visibly relaxed. “Forgive me,” he mumbled weakly, raising one trembling cybernetic hand and opening his eyes just the slightest. He craved to touch her, to be able to feel her against him. All of these feelings that he just couldn’t, no he shouldn’t, have. This was not Angela’s burden to bear.

Angela swallowed her disappointment, not letting it show on her face. For she too wanted him, needed him. There was just too much sadness between the two of them, too much sorrow unneeded. But she understood, she really did. He needed his space.

A knock on the door tore them out of their unspoken moment. Reality was a crushing force. Amelie LaCroix was still missing and they were on a mission.

Second checkpoint was a lot easier to pass through than Genji had thought. London was a harsh place for someone like himself. The fact that he belonged to neither human or omnic groups left him an outcast. Regardless of that, they made their train.

They flew beneath the English Channel, destination Paris. The idea was for them to arrive in the city and make camp at a hotel close to Amelie and Gerard’s apartment to begin investigation in the morning.

Overwatch never spared expenses, at least not when it came to government money. That’s why Genji is not surprised when he steps into their lavish room.

Landscape paintings adorn the walls displaying splashes of color in many varieties, yet they all matched the deep crimson walls adorned with gold accents. Laminate floors reflected light from the sconces that hung around.

Angela’s fingers traced over mahogany head rails of one of the beds. She’d not been used to living in a place like this. Not even Overwatch’s many stations were as luxurious as this room was.

Genji stood in front of the massive bay window, eyes settled somewhere off in the distance. He’d not decided to take off any of his armor, despite the fact that they were to get started in the early hours of the morning on their hunt for Amelie.

They spent many minutes wordless, just taking all of it in. Dinner came, and they enjoyed French cuisine in silence at a small glass table.

After dinner, Angela sat on the bed. Blue eyes studied the evidence, the clues that were given to them. She searched for something, though she was not exactly sure what that something was.

Genji was back to pacing like a cat in front of the window. He couldn’t sit still. Angela didn’t bother to bug him, he did need his time to process everything that they’d found out so far. She set the folders aside, pulling out her ponytail and combing her fingers through the blonde locks.

The cyborg couldn’t resist the urge to spare a glance in her direction. He scolded himself for it. But he supposed there was no harm in looking.

If Angela had noticed that he was looking she didn’t say anything. She disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. He heard the distinct hissing sound of the shower.

And then he was back to pacing.

How could his uncle be alive? After everything that has happened. He could have sworn that he saw him dead in the master bedroom of Shimada Castle. Obviously Kaito was alive.

That didn’t make it easy for Genji to accept it, or want to accept it. He vowed to wipe out the Shimada Clan. He had already crippled it in the year of him being a part of Overwatch. Genji had taken out important outposts and higher ranked individuals in the ladder. Of course he had help, unbeknownst to him at the beginning of his crusade. Hanzo too had been just as vehement about ripping apart the Shimada Clan. For what reason, Genji did not know. His brother had always been a difficult person to understand and this situation did not make him any easier to decipher.

His eyes drifted to the towering buildings of the city and the sparkling lights. It was hard to believe that such an enchanting place held such terribly dark secrets in the quietest of its corners. It reminded him of his own life. On the outside, before his duel with Hanzo, he played the role of the happy-go-lucky playboy. All of life’s greatest joys were at his disposal, and he divulged in them as frequently as he could. He chose to ignore the path that had been laid out for him, it did not match the lifestyle he wished to live.

But darkness worked its way in. It struck him down, dragged him into the abyss. Now there was no light. Nothing except…

He turned around as the bathroom door swung open. Angela stepped out, wrapped in a fluffy red bathrobe. Her golden hair hung in strings, saturated with shower water.

She gave him a smile, soft pink lips curving upwards at him. Once again he felt that familiar pang in his chest that hadn’t gone away since that fated night that they met. Angela was still the angel she’d always been.

“How are you holding up?” She asked, a touch of gentleness in her voice, ruffling her hair with one of the hotel towels.

“I am fine,” Genji hummed in reply.

“Can you promise to tell me if you’re not?”

He swallowed the lump in his throat, thankful that she cannot see his face because of the visor. She would be able to read him like a book. The nod is slight, hardly noticeable. It would have to be enough for her.

It clearly wasn’t, that much was evident by the way she kneaded her lower lip between her top teeth pensively, as if trying to come up with some sort of rebuttal to his lackluster agreement. But there was nothing that she could do to stop him. He didn’t disagree, after all. She just had to trust that he would do as he said.

Genji’s gaze flitted back to the city lights. “I never expected my first night in Paris to be like this,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Oh?” She questioned, lofting a brow in interest. “It is a little unexpected for your first visit to the historic city to be under these circumstances,” she added. There was a brief silence before she coughed awkwardly. “What did you expect it to be like?” She wondered aloud.

He snorted. “Definitely not like this. My ideal image of my first night in Paris was me getting wasted and dancing around a bonfire naked with plenty of wild drunken European girls.”

“When did it stop being your ‘ideal image’?” Angela asked, a bit amused by his flat honesty.

That caught Genji, clearly. He didn’t expect her to ask that. The lump in his throat would not be swallowed, no matter how hard he tried. There was no other choice, he had to let it out. “It stopped being something I wanted after I’d met you,” he admitted, refusing to look at her.

And she was both thankful and disappointed that he didn’t. Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of rosy pink and her lower lip caught between her teeth. She wanted to reach out to him, to let him know that it was going to be okay. Yet he made an uncomfortable barrier between the two of them by refusing to give her his face.

“I’m going to get ready for bed. You should sleep,” Genji stated. What little emotion he’d displayed earlier had vanished. It was all business, devoid of all feeling. He made his way across the room stiffly, still refusing her his gaze. The door to the bathroom opened and closed.

Angela cast her eyes downward, blonde hair like a curtain around her face. She slipped into some pajamas, and then wormed her way beneath the soft, satin sheets. The material made her shiver at first, a chill running up her spine.

She curled up, nestling into the pillows and blankets. All she could do was ignore the painful beat of her heart in her chest as it ached for Genji to let himself be happy. There was some guilt that stung her eyes, making them glossy with her regret. She should have waited, should have fought more for Genji. He was consumed by rage because of her actions.

Her eyes fluttered closed and tears dripped down her cheeks. She was lulled to a fitful sleep by old memories. It felt like a lifetime ago, not a year, since they shared their only kiss. It felt like a farewell at first, and perhaps it was. She hoped Genji would not hear her shuddering breaths and silent whimpers.

She lost consciousness before Genji left the bathroom.

--

A shrill ringing sound made her sit up straight, sucking in breath. It hadn’t been the first, nor would it be the last time, since she would have to wake up for an alarm. On instinct, her hand hovered over to the clock on the table beside her bed. She was about to hit snooze. As a doctor she sometimes let herself have that luxury, and given that her rest was nothing close to peaceful she thought that she could enjoy just five more minutes.

Wincing in the darkness, she paused. The clock continued to scream, but she didn’t hear it blare. She pressed down automatically, switching the clock off. It didn’t make much of a difference.

Genji’s bed was empty, made pristine as if it hadn’t even been touched. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed, feet then laid flat against chilly laminate. She twisted the plastic switch on the shaded lamp, squinting as soft yellow light filled the room.

“Genji?” She called out, testing. Maybe he’d woken up early? Yet as she looked around the room there seemed to be no trace that he even existed.

There was no answer to her call so she stood from her bed. He could be in the bathroom, so she went over to the door. Light peeked out from the bottom of the door. She tapped the door with the back of her knuckles, calling his name out questioningly again.

And once again she received no answer.

Her hand wrapped around the door handle, twisting it open.

The bathroom was empty. He could have gone on a walk, or went to go get some food. It was possible. Genji wouldn’t abandon her.

Or would he?

She gave him some time to show up again. She pleaded with whatever higher power that was watching right now. Don’t let him be gone.

Ten minutes went by and he still had not shown. Twenty minutes after that--the same. She paced back and forth. Two minutes later and she had her hair up in a ponytail, the base armor of the Valkyrie suit on.

It felt like she was taking way too long, this was an emergency. When she’d put on her wings, she cursed herself for being so caught up in her worry that she’d missed the most important detail that she could. On Genji’s bed rested several manila folders. One was open, and as she approached it she had come to know where Genji had gone.

Kaito Shimada’s cruel face glared heavily, at the security cameras that took the picture. His face was half hidden purposefully, but it was undeniably him.

She dashed out the door, fear clutching her heart. Jack Morrison’s words echoed back to her. If they did not stand together, they would both die alone. Genji could not do this on his own, he had to know that. Perhaps he just didn’t care. Not even the incentive of protecting Angela from danger had stopped him.

Angela was bolting through the streets of Paris, Amelie and Gerard’s apartment stood tall before her. Not a soul was near. She unfolded the picture of Kaito, looking closely at it. She tread down the street a few yards.

And then she stopped. She looked up and down at the picture, turning on her heel. She didn’t even see the security camera, she searched, peering, trying. She did not find it, nor would she. She was standing at the same place Kaito Shimada had been not but forty-eight hours prior.

She slipped into the alleyway where Kaito had, and likely where Genji had followed. It was still dark out, dawn just around the corner. She wouldn’t have been able to tell where she was going had it not been for the light of the Valkyrie’s golden wings.

It surprised her when at the end of the alley, there were a set of stairs leading underground. Whatever fear she should have felt, she didn’t. It took nothing for her to descend down the stairs.

She flexed the wings of her suit outward, effectively brightening up the wide open space. The humid smell of mold, mildew, and something else, all unpleasant, invaded her senses. It appeared to be an abandoned boxcar train station from almost a century prior.

Genji must have gone down this way, but how far did he go?

“Genji?” She called out, down into the empty tunnel. She hugged the wall, sliding against it. There was hardly enough room for her, and she was thankful for the railing behind her keeping her from falling backward onto the tracks.

Every now and then, she called out to him, hoping he’d hear her. So far she’d found nothing to tell her that he’d come this way, but the gut feeling she had told her that this had to be it. Her own investigation brought her here, and Genji was just as experienced as she was intuitive in tracking someone down.

Eventually she reached a new platform. In the light of her wings her eyes caught something, a shape of some sort laying on the ground in the shadows of the far corner. As she got closer, kneeling before the shape, she turned it over. A shocked scream escaped her, one of shock and horror. She fell backward and slid, pushing herself away from what she’d seen.

It was the body of a human, blood had poured from sliced wounds. Whoever it was had not seen the attack coming. His throat was cut clean open, dried blood turned turned a deep color of red, almost brown from saturation. It was recent, the blood had not completely dried.

It had to be Genji’s doing, the proof was overwhelming. The wounds were done by a razor sharp blade, and were clean in their execution. She’d seen similar wounds on Genji from Hanzo’s doing. As awful as the death of this person was, regardless of who they were involved with, Angela was grateful that she finally had some sort of confirmation that Genji had been there.

“Genji!” She yelled out, hoping maybe he’d hear now. She’d covered a lot more ground, less stealthily and careful than he had, so perhaps he’d be close.

She did not hear the footsteps behind her. All she could see was the world go dark as something was thrown over her head and hands grabbed at her like snakes biting. No matter how hard she struggled, they didn’t let go. She tried desperately, kicking back as she was dragged.

Flashes of white flickered across her vision as something slammed against her head, filling her with nothing but pain. She went limp, helpless to her attacker’s advances. Was this the way she’d go? She groaned, dazed and weakened. The bag tightened around her neck as she was pulled away, somewhere.

There was so much she wished she could have said or done, so many things she needed to do before she died. Though Angela had seen life end abruptly, she didn’t think it would happen to her.

No one cheated death, and it felt as if it had come for Doctor Angela Ziegler, Overwatch’s Angel of Mercy.

Chapter Text

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The beat of her living heart proved that she was somehow miraculously alive. The rumble of a vehicle’s engine was all she heard. Angela tried to move. Starting with just the tips of her fingers.

Tap. Click.

There was no light, nothing to help tell where she was or where she was going. The pain didn’t go away from the assault on her earlier. She was aware of it, aching, beating, making each breath a struggle. It was a noose around her neck that pulled tight, never ceasing to let go.

She finally rolled to one side, though her movement was restricted by binds around her wrists and ankles. She tried to flex the wings on her back, feeling a strain on them as they attempted to push outward. She realized rather quickly that they too, were bound by restraints.

She opened her mouth trying to form some sort of sentence. All that she did was let out a choked, hoarse whimper.

“Shut up,” someone snapped sharply, voice gruff and accent foreign. They hit something near her that jingled, almost like the sound of wire mesh. And it probably was. They clearly took no liberties to keep her under their thumb.

How was it that people thought they could do this was beyond Angela’s belief. How could anyone do something so terrible?

“I don’t know how you did it, or if you even did,” that grating voice growled at her. “But we found you with a body, one of our own men, and you’re going to tell us who the hell did it or take their punishment yourself.”

Angela kept her mouth shut. He wanted her quiet after all, didn't he? She had been trained to never give in to the demands of those interrogating her. If it meant her own death, then so be it. She would feign sleep. It hurt for her to talk anyhow.

The rattle of the wire mesh startled her when his foot slammed into it again. It shook her, made her flinch further into the corner, but she would never relent.

She wondered about Genji, wondered where he was. Did he even know that she was missing? He had obviously been the one to take the man in the abandoned subway’s life. When would he realize that she had been taken?

The more she thought about it the more she began to realize that she would need to find her own way out. She was still in the Valkyrie suit. It could be done. As long as she was in the suit her chances were slim but possible.

The vehicle came to a stop. It lurched her forward, and she had to tense to avoid rolling into the walls of the cage.

At least she had some success. It was a good start. The doors to the vehicle clicked open, and she felt the oddest feeling of weightlessness. It was not a comparable feeling to the feather light ascent of the Valkyrie suit. No, it felt like she were a stone being lifted, like a boat floating in the air. There was no trace of the ocean below.

It made her stomach roll, nausea washing over her like a tidal wave. The only thing she thought to do now was squeeze her eyes shut to avoid the whirlpool in her stomach from growing stronger.

She only knew that they had now entered a building because the sound of her captors’ footsteps echoed as they clicked against cement floors. Angela curled in on herself, praying that the swinging of her cage would stop soon.

Thankfully, it did. She was set down abruptly, the grating sound of metal wire mesh against cement made her clench her jaw. Hands on her arms pulled her out of the cage, throwing her into a chair. The mask was lifted off of her head.

Before her sat a man with pointed, scarred features. His eyes were a chilling blue, as if they were made from chips of ice. His hair was a chestnut brown. “Bonjour,” he greeted, pushing his receding hair back. “Voulez-vous un verre?”

Angela only greeted him with stubborn silence.

“No French?” He asked. “No matter,” he shrugged. “I’m Talon Agent Louis Beaulieu, but there is no need for you to introduce yourself. We know who you are. In fact, we know all about you, Doctor Ziegler. We only wonder why you’re here. And who you’re with.”

Angela brought her eyes to his. She remained as quiet as ever, thoughts rolled through her head. All she had known about Talon is that it was just a small group that incited tensions between humans and omnics. Somehow she had the twisted feeling that they were so much more than what she had anticipated. Talon had its grown in the shadows. Overwatch had ignored the problem and it had taken full advantage of that.

“Unless, it has something to do with a certain missing wife,” Louis said, quirking a dark brow. “Hm?” He prompted. The sharp look Angela gave him made him chuckle. “Figured as much. Doctor Ziegler, a woman on a mission. Though I highly doubt you were sent here to rescue her all by your lonesome.” He vaulted forward, stretching across the table to grip her by the jaw. “You better start speaking, Angela.”

Angela wrenched herself away from the man. “Where is Amelie?” She asked, keeping her voice relatively calm despite the fear swelling inside of her.

Louis swallowed, pushing back his slicked back chestnut hair. His silence unnerved her, and she shuffled where she sat before him. He stood up, walking around the shoddy table to stand at her side. His eyes bore into her skin, making it raise like goose flesh. “I ask the questions around, do you understand? You answer them. Now I’m a nice man, benevolent as you or anyone else. I don’t want to hurt you. But I will if you ask me another question.”

His smirk curled upward as she visibly shrunk in her chair. The silence in the room seemed to stretch on for hours on end. She mustered up the courage, blue gaze refusing stagnantly to meet his, and she spoke. “I came here alone to rescue Amelie.”

Fists slammed into the table in front of her. The crash echoed throughout the confines of the small room. “Bullshit. You didn’t have any weapon except for that peculiar staff and a shitty pistol. Unless you spout blades out of your fists like the Wolverine I sincerely doubt you killed our man. He had a family, you know. A baby daughter and a widowed wife,” Louis growled.

“I’m sorry about your man but I don’t know who did it. I only happened upon him,” Angela sputtered in reply, her voice going up an octave in fear.

Louis twisted his fingers in her ponytail, yanking it back so that their eyes would meet. Fear swam like fish in her blue eyes, and he ate that up. “We’ll get it out of you one way or another,” he seethed in a scathing serpent-like hiss.

“Beaulieu, that’s enough. Take her to the hostage room with the others.” Others. Angela’s stomach dropped with worry at the sound of a voice coming through a speaker in the corner. How many ‘others’ were there? She could only pray that Genji was not among them. But then again, he likely wasn’t. One look at Genji and they would know that he was the one who had executed their agent.

She was pushed and shoved ahead, her gaze downtrodden at the floor as men with large guns shuffled her along through the building. She tried to create a map, some sort of mental blueprint that she could use if she needed to escape. Wherever she was going was definitely deeper into the building because the fluorescents only seemed to grow brighter to fight back the encroaching darkness.

“Strip down,” a guard barked, pushing her into a small room. Their eyes didn’t leave her.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and it showed blatantly on her surprised face.

One guard’s finger toyed with the safety on his weapon. “Did you not hear? Remove the suit.”

She fought back the wave of nausea that threatened to bowl her over. Piece by piece of the Valkyrie suit was removed, placed onto the floor nearby until she was only in a compressed tank top and thigh length spandex leggings.

The guards sensed her pause and nodded firmly. “Turn around, place your hands against the wall. Feet apart.”

There was only one thing anyone could do when large guns are pointed at them. Angela knew that one thing well. She obeyed. She bowed her head, biting back tears as she heard the guards move around her. Piece by piece of the Valkyrie suit, a creation meant to help, was gathered up.

“All clear,” one guard gruffly spoke from behind her to the left. A loud buzz followed and two hands grabbed her shoulders to pull her back. The wall slid open where her hands had been not but moments before. Wide-eyed, she was for what probably had been the millionth time in the last five minutes, shoved into the room. The guards pushed her down a winding hall. The passage did not shut behind them.

Barred off cells housed a few people, their hands snaked around the metal as they watched Angela like caged tigers. She recognized one ‘hostage’ as a member of the Los Muertos gang. Their skull tattoos were an unmistakable mark of their membership.

The last cell was empty and Angela couldn’t help but find that so incredibly convenient. The guards opened up the door, pushed her inside, and locked her in. Without a further word they left her there, ignoring any jibe from other prisoners.

For a few seconds all Angela could do was stare straight forward, dumbfounded. How did she get here again? The process of it all was overwhelming. It choked her up, clutched her heart and squeezed. She felt herself waver, and she took a seat on the thin mattress on the metal bunk jutting out of the wall.

“Angela?”

She lifted her gaze from the floor, blue eyes leaked like a tap down her cheeks. Tears dripped onto her lap, and she batted them away with long lashes. When her vision cleared she could see, and the air in her lungs was sucked away.

“Amelie…” She breathed the gaunt woman’s name out.

Amelie’s long black hair, once silky and clean lay messy and clumped. Her pallid cheeks were visibly sharp, lips were cracked and bleeding. She clutched a bar of her cell, leaning forward. “Are you real?” She asked, honey-brown eyes lost their glimmer they’d once had when Angela had first met the wife of Gerard.

“Yes, I’m really here,” Angela answered, standing up to grab her own cell bars. “What have they done to you?”

Amelie’s gaze fell, and her ghostly skin blanched moreso, as if all the blood had been drained out of her body. “I… I don’t know, I… They,” she stopped to look up at Angela, brows curving upward as she gazed straight into Angela’s eyes. “We have to get out of here.”

“Y-yes, we’re going to get out of here,” Angela assured her. Though Angela did not know whether or not that was true. Genji was out there, but could he really take on an entire outpost of armed guards? That was if he even found them.

“How?” Amelie whispered, her voice haunted with the pain of whatever she had endured during this. It became apparent to Angela that there were dark purple bruises scattered all across her body. Welts and cuts went untreated. Her nails were broken and bloody. She’d been gone for around two weeks. Any who had gone after Amelie before had either been killed.

“I can’t say, Amelie, you know why, but have hope. We’re going to get out of this, okay?” Angela offered her a smile.

Amelie swayed as if a gust of wind blew in. It was obvious-she did not share the same optimistic outlook on escape. Her bony fingers released the bars of her cell as she stumbled back onto the metal bunk. She brought her knees to her chest, staring off somewhere else.

“Amelie,” Angela called out after her.

“Sh,” Amelie whispered, hushing Angela. She raised one finger pointing to the ceiling. “Do you hear that?”

Angela furrowed her brows, following Amelie’s finger to gaze at the ceiling. There was nothing but the electric whir of the lights overhead. “I don’t hear anything,” Angela answered after waiting several seconds.

“They want to kill me,” Amelie gasped. She took on the look of a feral animal backed into a corner. Tremors ripped through her as if her body were experiencing a personal earthquake.

“Amelie, relax, it’s okay. You’re safe, you’re safe,” Angela tried to reason. A chill crept up her spine.

But Amelie did not hear her. Instead she let out a caterwaul, a screech as her fingers dug into her skin and raked the flesh with broken chipped nails. It left a trail of crimson in its wake. “No! Stop! Stop killing me!” She screeched, lashing out at her invisible assailants. “I won’t do it!”

By now a few guards had dashed in, unlocking her cell and running in. All the while Angela watched with horror in her eyes. What had they done to her to make her act this way?

A gun smashed against the bars of her cell. “Back away from the bars!” The guard yelled at her. Angela fell backwards, landing on her bottom. All she could do was watch as two guards grabbed the struggling broken woman, two holding her arms and two holding her legs. She squirmed and writhed, fighting and screeching as if it were her last moments alive.

“I won’t do it! I won’t! Gerard! Gerard, help me! Please!” Her cries were filled to the brim with anguish as they bounced and echoed off of every wall in the damp cell hall.

Angela’s heart twisted painfully in her chest. She could do nothing to help Amelie, nothing to save her from the undoubtedly excruciating pain she was experiencing. The only thing she could do was watch as they dragged her fighting body out of her cell and down the hall where Angela had first come through.

And then something happened. The light started first. There was a flash of red and then the shrill screech of an alarm. Angela had to throw her hands up over her ears as it pierced the hall. The guards started to yell, but she could not make out what they were trying to say because of the blaring alarm. It threw everything into chaos.

Whatever was happening was happening fast. Somewhere beyond the hollow call of an intercom piped up, no doubt informing the base of the situation. The guards pulled Amelie, whatever their argument had been about their first concern must have been handling her first.

But it seemed so strange. What was so important about Amelie that she couldn’t have been thrown back into her cell while the alarms went off? It bothered Angela. The words Amelie had screamed before being taken away, whatever she had been hearing. It was all too eerie.

Something wriggled in the pit of her stomach as realization dawned on her. They’d done something to her. What, Angela had no idea of. But they’d done something to her not only physically, but psychologically. And no doubt they were going to do it again.

Angela was struck with new ambition to escape. She frantically searched all around her cell. Was there anything she could use to break through? The alarms had become background noise at this point. She lifted her mattress, turned it every which way, searching for any ray of hope.

A hole on the underside of the mattress sparked it. She hooked her finger in and pulled with all of her strength. The cheap material tore easily. Stuffing fell out onto the floor. Maybe she could use a spring?

“Angela.”

She froze.

Slowly, she turned to look over her shoulder. Her eyes must have been playing tricks on her.

“What are you doing?” Of course only he could be amused in a situation like this.

She dropped the mattress, because that didn’t matter anymore. She rushed to the bars of her cell, clutching them and staring into the green glow of Genji’s visor.

“I was trying to find a way to escape. What are you doing?” Angela fired back.

He tilted his head, reaching down and fiddling with the lock. She could hear keys jingling, a lot of them. Even if she couldn’t see his face she could feel his frustration as he tried several out. “I’m sorry I got you into this. I just didn’t want you to get hurt. I thought I could find Madame LaCroix on my own.”

“I already found her. The guards that were here took her somewhere else a couple of minutes before you arrived,” Angela said.

Genji let out a low hiss in frustration. “Damn,” he muttered.

“You didn’t really think I would just let you do this on your own, did you?” She asked, her hands reached through the bars, resting on either side of his cool helm. Crimson stained her fingers, and she came to the realization that he was certainly covered in a lot of blood. “Is this yours?”

“No,” Genji said curtly. He mumbled a curse under his breath as he tried another key, arm jerking as he tried to twist the lock open. When it didn’t give. He stepped away from Angela’s touch. “Stand back.”

“Genji, you realize you can still hurt yourself-”

“Stand back, Angela,” Genji said more firmly this time, “Please.” He added more softly.

She took one moment to stare at him, and knew that he too was staring back at her. She backed away to the furthest corner of her cell, sucking in a breath to hold as he took a couple steps back.

And then he dashed into the metal bars. She let out a small yelp when she heard the hiss of his prosthetic body shattering in somewhere. He let out a low grunt, trying to hide how much it hurt. The bars had bent inward, widening the gap. A robotic hand went to clutch his shoulder.

Angela rushed to her feet before Genji tried to do something else incredibly stupid. She scrambled through the gap with a bit of a struggle. It wasn’t all that wide but it was enough for her to pull herself through.

“Where’s the Valkyrie?” Genji asked, hissing low when Angela slapped his hand on his shoulder aside to look over his self-inflicted shoulder wound.

“They took it. I think it should be in whatever lab they have here.”

“How do you know they have a lab?”

“I just have a feeling,” Angela answered, fixing some of the frayed wires in his shoulder. She remembered the way Amelie had acted. They had to have a lab if they were able to conduct experiments on her. When the sizzling in his shoulder had stopped she stepped away. “That should help for now, we have to find Amelie.”

Angela had already started to almost run, feet slapping against cold cement floors. Genji shook his head as if pulled out of some stupor. “W-Wait,” he called after her as she blindly left the cell block. “Angela!” He yelled, swiftly running after her. He caught up to her easily, but she’d already realized why he was yelling.

The floor had become hotter, which had caused Angela to stumble backward. An orange glow danced and flickered in the distant room. Angela’s hands were on her beet red feet as she sat on the floor. “Of course, it’s on fire.” She glanced to Genji, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him.

Genji only rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re on the upper level of the building. I had to come through the bottom floors. There was a…” he paused, tapping his chin and then he finally said, “I don’t know the word for it, and then the fire started and that’s when the alarms went off.” Immediately after he explained the series of events, albeit poorly, he crouched down. “I think this is the best way for me to carry you. In the event we run into someone. But I don’t think anyone wants to stay in a burning building.”

Angela sucked in a deep breath and then let it out slow. She crawled onto his back, wrapping her legs around his waist and snaking her arms around his neck as he stood up.

Genji unsheathed the short blade hanging from his lower waist before running into the burning room. Smoke made it nearly impossible to see for the average eye, but thankfully his visor made his path clear. The vents in his body hissed, letting out the extra heat that had begun to warm him. He broke through a door leading to a set of stairs.

Angela was coughing because of the smoke, and Genji realized with horror that she had nothing to ventilate it like he did. “Do you need a break?” He asked.

She kept coughing, shaking her head in a ‘no’ but Genji waited regardless until it subsided into the occasional gasp.

And then he continued downward further. At the base of the stairs there was a map, and it appears that Angela had been right. There was a lab fairly close by. If she had been right about the other thing, both Amelie and the Valkyrie suit would be there.

He opened the door to the lower level. “Bury your face in my ribbon,” he commanded, and she did so as a cloud of black smoke encased them. She held her breath as often as she could and he kept as low as he could to give her as much fresh air as possible. He weaved through the floor, remembering the directions the map had given. Soon the air began to clear when they came to the other side of the building that had not yet been hit by fires.

When they came upon a set of glass doors and a dark room Angela lifted her head. “It must be the lab,” she commented, shifting to get more comfortable on his back.

“I think the ground here is safe for now,” Genji commented, and Angela lowered herself to the ground. He rolled his injured shoulder, clearly grievanced by the pain.

She pushed the glass doors open, thankful that they wouldn’t have to break through. Another set of doors led to the lab, and the two made their way in. It was very dark in the lab, so dark that Angela had to feel in front of herself blindly.

Genji saw this, and took her hand in his to guide her through the dark. Hand in hand they made their way through the abandoned lab. Amelie was nowhere to be seen. Though his eyes did catch something familiar laying across a table.

Genji was never one for scientific tools, so he had no idea what had been picking at the Valkyrie suit. He let the lights of his suit glow brighter, helping Angela find the suit and what may have been wrong with it.

Her relieved sigh made the tensions in his shoulders relax. She started to pull on the various pieces. She tested the wings, flexing them outward. The golden wings lit the room up like candle lights, fading into the dark as they relaxed against her back. She took the staff into her hands.

Her heels clicked against the floor as they continued onward, taking one another by the hand again as Genji led them through the dark. A faint yell instinctively made Genji throw himself against the wall, pressing flat. Angela’s arm, which had nearly been tugged out of its socket by the sudden action flew straight into him with a gasp.

He gazed down at her wishing that he could apologize for it, but all he could do was put a finger to her lips when she tried to protest. He jerked his head toward the sound of the noise. He could see her knit her brows in confusion, until the screams sounded again.

It had to be Amelie.

Her hand instinctively at this point found his as he started to creep forward. Following the sounds of Amelie’s screams, they slipped into a narrow, dark hall. Her cries for help grew louder and louder, more desperate than ever before when Genji and Angela came face to face with a large, heavy black door. There was only one way to get through.

Genji pushed without thinking.

Ping! The sound of a bullet made him duck low to the ground. He pushed Angela back, and she too hit the ground. Staff in hand waited with wide eyes behind Genji.

But he was not waiting for her. Genji darted in without a second thought, heavy door slamming closed before she could slip in after him. The sounds of screaming and yelling, a struggle on the other side of the door she couldn’t see. Gunfire was the loudest instrument in their orchestra of battle. Angela pounded on the door, trying desperately to push it open. It felt like it was blocked by something so she couldn’t get in.

It all lasted for around thirty seconds before there was nothing but silence and the fading screams of Amelie LaCroix.

Angela’s heart pounded in her chest, blood roaring like a wild river in her ears. “Genji?” She found her voice, somewhere, but she could hardly hear it. The sound of something on the other side scraped against a floor. Then the door opened from the other side.

She waited for death, waiting for someone to potentially end her life as they may have done to Genji. She had to see who it was, to meet their eyes before it happened. Proudly she opened her wings, the golden light bringing them into view.

Blood stained his body and spatters of red were scattered across his scarred face. Dark eyes burned into her own. The start of scruff hinted around his mouth and chin. His body glowed as he gazed into her eyes. Yet this was not the face that brought fear into her heart.

It brought sorrow and longing.

“I don’t want you to see,” he whispered, holding the door open with a hand alone as he stared down at her. “You’ll think that I am a monster,” he began. “That I am a man without any morals. If you were to come into this room, you will see that I am not the flustered man you had once met by chance at a bar during a storm. That I am not the same man who could not stop staring at your name and number on that piece of paper. It’s selfish of me to keep you from the truth, but I want you to keep looking at me the way you do. I want you to keep looking at me as if I am that same man.”

“Genji,” She whispered his name, bringing herself to her feet. “Genji, you know that’s not true.”

“After becoming the thing I am now,” his voice cracked as a tear fell down his cheek. He clenched his jaw, visor clutched in his hand. “Am I even allowed to call myself human?”

“Of course you’re human,” Angela snapped, taking a step toward him. “You’re as human as I am, Genji.”

“Angela, you know that if that were true you would not be trembling right now.”

“That’s not the reason why,” she retorted defensively. “I’m trembling because I thought you were dead! I’m trembling because you are acting foolishly to protect me from what I already know. Do you think that I don’t know what you’re capable of?” Tears had started to cascade down her cheeks. “I rebuilt your body. I did my best to give you as much humanity as I possibly could given the circumstance. I wanted you to have a life, I wanted you to…” She trailed off, cut off by her own sobbing.

“Wanted me to what?” He asked in a low, deep accusing voice, leaning down to get a better look at her in the dark.

Ever so slowly her tearful eyes met his own. She breathed in deeply. “Genji,” she murmured his name with a tenderness that made his heart beat in a painful reminiscing of a time before all of this had happened. “I wanted you to be able to eat the foods you loved and enjoy their tastes. I wanted you to be able to sing songs and dance happily in celebration of your favorite holidays. I wanted you to be able to fall in love and feel the burning passionate love from another. I wanted you to feel alive. And I’m so sorry I couldn’t give you that. I failed you, Genji. I made you feel like a monster.”

Genji swallowed the lump in his throat, his breath labored by the aching pain in his chest. “You didn’t-”

“I’m not asking you to pretend to feel happy about this, Genji. I’m not trying to guilt you into feeling better about yourself. I just want you to know that no matter what you feel about yourself, know that I love and care about you. And I’m-”

He cut her off with a crushing kiss, his arms wrapped around her tightly. She melted into his arms, lips melding with his. She’d waited so long for this moment to come again, to be able to feel him against her. Her fingers wound in his thick black hair as their kiss deepened. Their pent up desires making them desperate for as much of each other as possible given the situation. His scarred lips parted from her soft swollen ones to gasp and press more kisses to her chin and then her ear.

A soft, breathy moan escaped from her, and he ate it up hungrily with another kiss to her lips. His fingers hooked under one of her knees as he lifted her up. Her free leg wrapped around his waist as he carried her into the room. Everything he’d been thinking of before had been forgotten as he lost himself in the desires he'd suppressed for too long.

“Genji, ah,” Angela whispered, laughing softly as he tugged on her lower lip gently before bringing her back into another kiss. She broke it soon after, and he tried to chase her mouth. “Genji, wait,” she said more sternly this time, bringing a hand between them.

He grumbled in protest, but knew that this moment had to come to an end. It was not exactly the best time for them to be making out, as much as he wished it were. He felt a shudder run up his spine as he remembered the way she moaned into his mouth. If only they were somewhere else.

“Where did they take Amelie?” She whispered to him. She didn’t look around the room they’d managed to kiss their way into.

He stared at her blankly, as if confused. It was like there was nothing but static in his head. She’d short circuited him. Or rather, he short circuited himself by kissing her.

“Genji, focus. This is serious,” Angela chastised.

The hazy cloud of lust began to lift when he turned to look away from her. Retracing his memories, before their kiss, he remembered the guards taking Amelie out of the room. Without so much as another word, in his panic, he came back to. He ran through the room, jumping over bodies and gun shells. He bashed through a door, swinging it open and nearly off of its hinges.

The sound of a gun going off within the room he’d left Angela in made him whip his head around. His brown eyes went wide, jaw going slack. Angela wavered for a moment, a mixture of shock and fear flashing in her eyes. She brought her hand to her abdomen, a pool of red beginning to stain the white suit of the Valkyrie.

Again he’d left her behind. The revving of a helicopter taking off in the background, the helicopter where Amelie was. But Angela was here, in front of him, bleeding. She let out a choked cry.

“Shit,” Genji screamed, jumping into action. He ran into the room, more gunshots went off, but he found the source. A dying man, bleeding, bloody on the ground. “What have you done?” He yelled, ripping out his short blade and slicing off the hand that held the gun. The man’s screams echoed in the room. Genji left him there to suffer.

He ran to Angela, scooping her up in his arms and taking her out to the courtyard. Smoke rose from the building. Sirens from fire trucks wailed in the distance. The only thing Genji could do was helplessly watch and listen, standing there as the helicopter with Amelie LaCroix flew away and Angela lay bleeding in his arms.

They’d failed their mission.

Chapter Text

They were trapped in the courtyard for what felt like several hours until the Overwatch mission ship came to pick them up. Angela’s cries had weakened, and Genji kept coaxing her to stay with him and keep her eyes open.

“Is Amelie okay?” She asked at one point, blue eyes clouded with pain.

Genji glanced briefly to the sky, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t fast enough.”

Talon’s outpost had fallen apart, nothing remained except for the inner metal skeleton and too much rubble. French first responders were in the process of looking for any survivors, though it was assumed for the longest time that the building was abandoned and thus the investigation was only as a comfort for others and less of an actual search and rescue.

On the ship, an emergency medical team began to strip the suit off of her to get a better look at the wound. Genji strained to listen, gnawing on his scarred lips with worry over her. He heard terminology that seemed somewhat familiar from months of Angela talking medical talk to him, the bullet had been a “through and through”.

When they shooed him off for crowding them, he was sent to the common recreational. room. There he paced, alone and terrified. What if the bullet had hit one of her organs? What if she needed blood? So many terrible scenarios played out in his head. What if Angela had died there? If only he’d not brought her in there. If only he would have made sure that they were all dead. Instead, he let his emotions get the best of him.

“Agent Shimada?” A voice interrupted his anxious pacing. It came from a small woman with a bun and scrubs on. “I just wanted to inform you that we’re almost at Swiss Headquarters and that Doctor Ziegler is going to be alright. The bullet missed all major organs on the way through. We patched her up. She’s going to be on medications and in need of rest for a little while. When we land you can-”

“Can I see her now?” Genji asked.

The woman let out a deep sigh, and then beckoned to him with a hand. Eagerly he followed. She stood off to the side of the medical bay door, waiting for Genji to make his entrance. He didn’t hesitate. He had to see that she was alright.

The medical team stood around her bed. Angela was already awake and likely talking about how her procedure went, as was her nature. The pause in conversation made her turn her head, blonde hair swaying with the motion. Genji shuffled from foot to foot awkwardly.

Angela turned to mutter something to the other doctors, likely asking for some privacy. They seemed reluctant at first to leave her alone, especially so soon after she just woke up. Angela was stern in her choice, however, assuring them she’d call for help if she needed it.

When they were left alone there was a very long stretch of silence. Angela was the first to break it, as always. She patted her bed with one hand.

“Come sit, you look lonely over there,” she said, smiling dopily at him.

“Are you in pain?” He asked, making his way across the room before taking a seat on her bed. His gaze burned into the floor.

“No, no, they gave me plenty of medication to stop that,” Angela slurred, yet still somehow managed to articulate her thoughts in an organized manner. Her hand fumbled over to his, resting there idly.

He turned to look at her, expression unseen because of his visor.

“Come closer?” She whispered.

And he did, slowly. He scooted over to her, breath hitching when her hands found their place on either side of his visor. He heard it click, felt air on his scarred face. He blinked to get used to the light. “Angela, I’m sor-”

“None of that, it’s not your fault,” she hushed in a soothing tone. Her hand caressed his cheek, running over the bumps and dips. It made him shudder, eyes fluttering closed as he let out a soft breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

“Angela,” he opened his dark eyes to stare deep into hers, searching for the truth. “Did you mean what you said?”

“I said a lot, all of it true,” she affirmed, thumb brushing along his cheekbone. “It’s awfully foolish to lie about something like that.”

“What do you want from me?” He whispered in a hollowed voice.

“What do you want from me?” She echoed, her eyes never leaving his.

“This,” Genji said honestly, leaning into her touch. His eyes now closed, he couldn’t bear to face her. How could someone like her love someone like him? An ex-criminal, a former womanizer, scarred from a battle he did not wish to fight. She was beautiful, and he was nothing to look at. Yet she still touched him as if he were forged in gold.

“I’m more than happy to give you this,” she mumbled, combing her fingers through his hair and pushing it back. “It’s what I’ve wanted to do for so long.”

Genji pushed forward, pausing just as their noses bumped one another. He could feel her breath against his lips, smell the smoke from the burning fires they trudged through. He waited with his eyes open just the slightest.

Hers were closed, soft pink lips relaxed and waiting for his. When she didn’t feel his for several moments she blindly pushed forward, molding them together. Genji let his eyes close completely, and he quickly took control of the kiss when a cybernetic hand went to cup her cheek.

She shivered when his tongue teased hers. His fingers found themselves playing with the ends of her blonde hair, twisting the strands before pushing them behind her ear.

When they parted she was gasping for breath, and he watched her curiously, with an almost amused expression.

She caught that amused look on his face, red cheeks only further darkening in embarrassment. “What are you looking so smug for?”

For the first time in a very, very long time, Genji allowed himself to laugh. It felt foreign, but wonderfully good. He pressed his lips to her forehead, and she gazed up at him with a slight frown.

“Genji, what?”

“Oh nothing,” he dismissed, running his fingers through her wavy blonde hair that had been darkened by smoke and ash. He wished he could feel how soft it was. He tried to recall any memory he had from before of how it felt. Their blissful moments in the past made his heart feel light.

He remembered the time where he took her to the arcade on their first ‘date’. It was more of an outing, a tour really. But he recalled wishing that it were one. He remembered the way she twisted her expression in concentration, the heat radiated off of her in warm waves that made him more than happy to press close to her. He remembered the softness of her skin beneath his hands as he guided her across the game controls.

He remembered the way she felt in his arms as they floated in the cherry blossom pond. She was so beautiful with her hair laying flat against her bare shoulders. Then again, Angela had a way of being beautiful all of the time. He remembered, with amusement, about how she tried to remove as little clothing as possible while he had stripped down to his briefs unabashedly. He remembered musing that she must have been a virgin for her chasteness.

“What are you thinking about now?” She said with a teasing nudge that drew him out of his stupor.

“How you thought that white tank top would hide your bra,” he admitted without taking a second to filter himself. He scratched the back of his neck, feeling himself heat up.

“What?” She asked, confused and definitely embarrassed.

“That day when I took you to the cherry blossom pond in Hanamura,” Genji said. He might as well keep going and explain himself. There was no turning back now.

“Oh, goodness, that was awhile ago,” she stated, pleasantly reliving the memory of their time together away from the reality of their lives. She wished she had known what would have happened. “Wait, you could see through it?”

“Oh uh, yes, that’s what happens when you wear white and it gets wet. Don’t worry, I thought it was a very cute bra.”

She shook her head, laughing and falling back on the temporary hospital cot. “Mein Gott,” she muttered, bringing her hands to cover her face and cool her cheeks. “Genji, you should have told me.”

“But then you’d have probably punched me for looking. Or scratched me with those nails of yours,” he reasoned.

“I’m a pacifist, Genji.”

“I think you still would have. I was definitely staring more than I should have been.”

“That definitely makes me consider it more now,” she joked, placing her hand on top of his. “Ah, but I should have known that you would have been able to see through it. Or maybe I did.”

“You definitely did not,” Genji said with a snicker.

She acted her revenge by ruffling his hair, pushing it in every which way. For the rest of the way they sat with each other, reminiscing on old times that they’d had together. Genji could actually let himself smile, and it hurt his cheeks because it had been so long. Deep down he knew that the sadness was still there, that living on memories alone would not help him. But for now he could live in bliss with her laughter in his ears and smile lighting up the room.

When they arrived back at headquarters Angela was taken to the hospital wing and Genji followed. Her bandages were changed and Angela insisted that she tend to Genji’s wounds now that she had the resources. So she ‘stitched’ him back together, filling bullet holes and mending his shoulder.

Genji had been cracking jokes, leaning in close when Strike Commander Morrison walked in. It was a rare sight for anyone to look at Genji without his visor, and Morrison’s eyes immediately drifted away. Genji scooted away and averted his gaze.

“Blackwatch agents are being deployed in various locations to help locate Amelie LaCroix. It’s good that you found that she is still breathing. What I’m wondering is how this situation came to be? And why is Madame LaCroix not with us in this infirmary?” Morrison, as always, was all business and strict posture.

Genji kept his face hidden, staring at the hospital bed sheets. “I was stuck between chasing after a helicopter and saving Angela’s life. I didn’t know whether or not I could catch the helicopter, but I did know I could save Angela.”

Morrison raised an eyebrow at him, but again quickly averted his eyes from Genji’s scarred face. Instead he looked to Angela.

“It’s true,” Angela stated in her matter-of-fact way.

“I want mission briefs on my table in three days,” Morrison gave a quick salute and left the room, stopping in the doorway. “Get well soon, Dr. Ziegler.” And then he was gone.

Genji swallowed the lump in his throat, still avoiding showing his face to the door. The truth was that he probably could have caught the helicopter. He could have risked Angela’s life to save Amelie’s life. He should have, because Angela was going to be just fine. But could he leave the woman he loved in the same room with an armed guard? Clearly not. He heard her confession in his head all over again, her declaration of love and all of her regrets. She’d said she meant every word.

As he went to put his visor on, a hand on his arm stopped him. His tearful eyes darted to meet sky blue ones. His gaze lowered to her lips, she was saying something to him.

He strained to listen, wanted to hear her voice, but his own thoughts were so loud. They drowned everything and everyone else out, stole the words from others and replaced them with self deprecating jabs. He was selfish. He chose his own love over Gerard’s. How could he face the other agent after that? He’d be ashamed more than he already was of himself. If Gerard knew, no, there’s no way that he wouldn’t once he demanded to read the mission reports. He would want to know why Genji failed. Why did he want to get lost in Angela and forget about everything else? If Genji had had it his way, he would have kissed her until she melted and begged him for something more. It was all that he could think about in that moment. How could he think such explicitly carnal thoughts when someone else’s love had been taken from them? How dependable was he really on missions? He was not rebuilt for this in the eyes of the majority of Overwatch.

And then there was still the Shimada Clan. Kaito Shimada was still alive and breathing out there. Hanzo was still alive and breathing. How could he think of himself when his sole purpose is not being fulfilled? Genji Shimada was not the same man from his memories.

With every breath he breathed he desperately wanted to be that young and attractive guy. He wanted to be able to feel Angela with his old body. He wished he had told her of his troubles. He wished he didn’t make taunting his family into a sick, dangerous game. He wished he could have given her all of him before it was too late.

He put his visor on, felt it click back onto his face. “I am going to my room to write up the report,” he stated monotonously, the numbness chilled whatever of his veins remained. He would never provide the warmth she deserved. He stood, and her hand darted out to pull on his robotic one.

The look she gave him made his heart burn and sink. There was concern, fear, and worst of all, hurt. He had hurt her. What kind of an excuse for a man was he? “Genji, please come back as soon as you can,” she held his cold fingers in her own, squeezing them. He could feel the pressure but none of the warmth.

Wordlessly, he nodded and walked backward, separating their hands.

In his room her worked on the report, removing his visor and the chest armor he could so that what little of his bare skin there was would feel the stagnant air. He could still feel her fingers in his hair, her lips on his. It was hard to focus. He stood up, dragged his hands along his face, and took a deep breath.

A knock on the door made him furrow his brows. He grabbed his training jacket, the orange, black, and white emblem of Overwatch displayed itself proudly on his back. He went to check who it was through the peephole before he groaned and opened the door.

Jesse McCree waltzed in, shoes still on. He didn’t even wait for Genji to invite him in, although that was pretty typical of Jesse. An open door meant an opportunity, and Jesse wasn’t one to hold himself back from those.

“Wasn’t interruptin’ anything, was I?” He asked, eyes darting over to the laptop screen that still glowed on the mini-kitchen table.

“No,” Genji answered simply, shutting the door behind Jesse and going over to the white couch. He fell back against it, sighing.

“Good, I’d hate to bother a man when he’s takin’ care of business,” Jesse said, snickering at himself. “Wouldn’t be right.”

Genji furrowed his brows, avoiding looking at Jesse. He had other things to think and worry about. He leaned against the armrest, hand on his cheek. It made him shiver. He hoped it didn’t feel this cold for Angela. That was a terrible thing to hope for.

“I’m bein’ sent off to finish what you started. I reckon I’ve got about, three hours or so before I’m off of Swiss headquarters and goin’ out to Japan.”

That made Genji turn to look at him. “Japan?” He questioned, furrowing his brows. “Why are they sending you there?”

“Because they think that your family may have somethin’ to do with Talon, some shit like that,” Jesse explained, spreading his legs out and leaning back. “Can I smoke in here?”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t.”

Jesse grunted. “Well, anyway, they think your family has somethin’ to do with it so I’m gonna investigate. Doubt I’ll find Amelie there, but anything is possible. Don’t worry, I’m not here to ask you to play tour guide. I just came to tell you that I was told not to tell you that I was going to Japan.”

“So why are you here?” Genji asked, eyes narrowing.

“Because I want something in return,” Jesse explained as if it were as simple as saying that ‘grass is green’.

“What do you want?”

“I want to know where I could find your brother,” Jesse sat forward, elbows on his knees and arms dangling freely.

“Hanzo? I only found him once. How can you think that I would know where to find him on a regular day?”

“What was so special about the day you did find him?”

“That was the day, as far as he knows, that I died. He was trying to honor me.”

“Jeez, and here I was thinking it was a regular thing to honor your loved ones,” Jesse muttered. “If you can’t help me it’s fine, but if you know anything, please let me know now before I’m gone.”

A long silence was held between them as Genji tried to organize his thoughts. If there was any place for Hanzo to be? It wouldn’t be Japan. “Hanzo, in the end, did not love me. There was a time where I could once say with confidence that he did, but that time has long since passed,” Genji’s frown deepened, and anger boiled in the pit of his stomach. “If you find him, don’t let him know that I am alive. There’s no place that he could be that I haven’t already checked myself. Hanzo is crafty and rarely predictable. Good luck, McCree.”

With that, Genji stood and retreated into the mini-kitchen. He tapped a couple of buttons on his laptop, and it started to glow again. His eyes scanned the report, and once again he delved into his thoughts.

Only to realize that Jesse hadn’t left. Jesse was standing behind him. And worse, Jesse was reading the report.

“You should probably leave that part out,” he commented, flashing a smirk as crooked as his hat on his head at Genji.

Genji felt his ears redden. “If I have any time gap, Commander Morrison will know something happened that I won’t share.”

“So lie about the time. Simple. You don’t think everyone else does it? Trust me, it will only help you and Angela,” Jesse said with a wink. He patted Genji’s shoulder, wincing at the hardness of metal he’d just smacked his hand against. He shook it off, mouthing something before leaving the kitchen. “Speakin’ of Angela, if you two are together now, why ain’t she here?”

“We haven’t established anything yet and she’s in the infirmary. That’s my fault,” he admitted with guilt flashing in his eyes.

“Jesus, you have to be careful with her. A man like you can’t just go buck wild on a lady like that. You-”

“We didn’t have sex,” Genji snapped, overly defensive. But they would have if he had the opportunity. He decided to leave that part out. He tried not to think about how badly he wanted her. “She’s in the infirmary because she was shot. I didn’t finish off one of the guards. They fired at her and now she’s hurt because of my carelessness. Amelie is gone because I couldn’t help myself and-”

“Genji, calm it,” Jesse interrupted. Genji’s mouth shut, and his eyes flew to the ground. He clenched his fists in anger. After a moment of silence shared between them Jesse started again. “First, I want to say that you have no fault in what happened to Amelie. You are not the reason she is gone. These Talon fuckers are the reason she is gone. Secondly, you’re allowed to have emotions and react to those emotions. You’re allowed to kiss the woman you’ve loved for a long ass time, especially when it just happens in the moment. And don’t try to tell me you don’t love her, because even though I don’t seem like the type to know these things I am. I’m a sap at heart, and Genji, just. Just let yourself enjoy something. Leave that part of your report out. When Blackwatch gets back from our mission we’re having a Halloween party. Go with her. Enjoy your life because damn, you probably know better than anyone else here that life is too fucking short to be pissing around the edge of the bowl.”

Jesse left after that, leaving Genji alone with his thoughts again. The report went untyped, and instead Genji stumbled to bed. To say that it had been a very long day was a drastic and absurd understatement.

It had been a very long time since Genji had fallen asleep and had dreams. It had been an even longer time since he had had a dream like this.

He knew right off that it was a dream, because it didn’t make any sense. Angela’s hair draped around her red face. Her lips were parted and her blue eyes dark. Little gasps escaped her as she bounced up and down on top of him. He heard her say his name in a way that made his heart beat quicker and sent a shuddering wave down to one place. He touched her body, hands following curves he’s only felt through clothing.

She was so beautiful like this, he couldn’t keep his gaze off of her. His imagination ran wild with the thought. It toyed with him in a way he never asked for, but he never realized how badly he needed it. It was the first time since he was a teenager that he’d had a dream like this. After that, all of his urges had been satisfied by going out and recklessly sleeping around.

Something about Angela in this dream was drastically different than the dreams he had from when he was a teen. There was something else he was very focused on as a wild youth. He couldn’t make out the details of Angela’s body. In every other sex dream he has ever had, his main focus, of course, was less of the face and more of the body.

He parted lips were swollen and red, bitten by kisses he had likely given her. Kisses he wanted to give her. Her cheeks were warm to the touch, and so incredibly soft. It was something he didn’t get to feel in person.

In pure truthfulness, he was desperate for this kind of attention. But it felt wrong to let this dream continue. As much as he wished to do more, he opened his eyes and let the lewd image fade away to reality.

Reality was a plain ceiling shadowed by the dark and the sound of heaters revving in the walls to cut the chill of October out of the agent’s rooms. Reality was also a raging hard-on making a tent in a pair of overwatch logo gray sweatpants. Reality was having to will it away.

When it wouldn’t, a cold shower became the best course of action. Icy drops burned his bare chest and face, dripping down his cybernetic flesh. When his problem was gone, and it was gone quick, he turned up the heat. He was thankful for the warmth after having to stand shivering in glacier-like temperatures.

After shampooing and washing blood and ash off of himself, he stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He wiped a towel across the mirror to clear the steam from it, gazing at his reflection. It made him grimace, each scar reminding him of each swipe of a dagger biting into his flesh. His eyes darted away from his features.

He brushed his teeth and pulled on that same pair of sweatpants and his jacket from earlier, heading out the door without even bothering to check the time. The halls were empty, and as he passed by Angela’s door he almost knocked before remembering that she was still in the infirmary. When he left the residential building of the compound, he glanced up at the dark sky. It wasn’t frequent that he went out without his visor on to cover his face.

Deciding that it was probably too early in the morning to visit Angela, he instead decided to take a stroll around the outskirts of the compound. It was a clear night, and the chill made him burrow further into the jacket. Puffs of breath were visible, and he stuffed his prosthetic hands in his pockets.

He wasn’t really paying much attention. After a lifetime of paranoia, it was nice to just lose himself to the night. To walk around and pretend that he was just a normal man on a normal walk. It was peaceful, and for once he could just let all of his thoughts drift away. He didn’t think about his grudge or about the scars on his face. Instead he thought about Angela. He thought the Halloween party, something when he first arrived he shunned to instead hide away in his room. Jesse had tried to get him to come, but Genji had double locked the door. It was hard to believe that that had happened a year ago.

It was harder still to realize that it was almost a year and a half ago that he ended up something between human and machine. It wasn’t as if he had expected time to stop, but he didn’t expect so much to change so quickly within such a small period of his life.

As he roamed with no particular destination in mind, he ended up behind the training facility and on the four hundred meter track that was there. It was strange to see it so barren. He felt as if he were the only person alive. He passed the track, reaching the outdoor obstacle course. There was the mud trenches for low crawling, barbed wire hanging over it to snag those who dare to raise themselves up too high. There was a large wall with several knotted ropes hanging there. He watched them idly sway as a fall breeze blew past them.

There were also metal monkey bars with a monkey ironically sitting on top of them.

Genji froze.

Something didn’t seem right. He had to do a double take as he passed the bars. But his eyes were not deceiving him. There was in fact a gorilla sitting on top of the bars, gazing out beyond the tree line and mountains in the distance.

Now, Genji never preferred to pay attention in school, but he was fairly certain that gorillas did not make their home in Switzerland. And this gorilla was wearing clothes. And glasses. He stumbled backward, instinctively trying to grab at the blade at his waist that he didn’t bring with him on his way out.

The gorilla turned to him, nearly jumping as well when catching sight of Genji. “Oh, excuse me!” The gorilla spoke in a deep masculine voice.

“You are a gorilla,” Genji stated with wide eyes.

“Yes?”

“You… Gorillas do not speak, I am very confused,” Genji said, scrambling for a coherent thought. He had seen a lot of strange things. He himself was a very strange thing.

“Oh, I was an experiment from the Lunar Colony. I’m a scientist for Overwatch. I just recently arrived here from the Watchpoint to help with the new Slipstream program. My name is Winston, what’s your name?” Winston explained himself as if he were used to the sudden shock and surprise that he could actually talk. It wasn’t as if he could actually get angry by the oddness of his situation. Genji could relate.

“I am Genji Shimada.” He may as well go along with it. This gorilla, Winston, was in fact talking to him in the middle of the night. Accepting the facts would make this a lot easier for the cyborg.

“Genji? It’s an honor to finally meet you. You know, I uh, I helped suggest some designs of your armor to Doctor Ziegler. How’s it treating you?”

Genji shrugged, leaning against the bars and staring off into the distance with Winston. “It’s fine,” he answered curtly. In reality he wished he didn’t need it at all, but there was nothing that could be done to fix it now. Nothing except revenge. “I feel awfully odd that I haven’t heard of you before. I feel like you’re someone that isn’t easily forgotten.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Winston said as he readjusted himself on the bars. “I’m not much of a socialite, unfortunately. The public doesn’t really know what to do when they come face to face with me. I’m just surprised Doctor Ziegler didn’t manage to tell you about me. I guess she has a lot on her, uh, mind right now. She is a very busy woman. With a remarkable mind like hers, it is inevitable. Scientists never have it easy.”

“She is,” Genji affirmed. “She is an incredibly brilliant woman. I met her before… Everything happened to me. In Japan. Everything about her made sense only when I found out about who she really was.”

Winston hummed. “You know, Genji, I hope I don’t seem too, um, bold for saying this, but since we’re out here in the early hours of the morning with no one else around. I think you’re an incredible story. You are Doctor Ziegler’s greatest success.”

Genji huffed, blowing a cloud of cold breath from his lungs. “It is a lot more complicated than that. You said the public has a hard time coming face to face with you, but look at me. I am not all that different from you, Winston. I would hardly call that success.”

“I see,” Winston said. “Sorry for being so bold.”

“It is fine. I do not think ill of Angela for it. I think ill of my brother and the Shimada elders for what has happened. I just wish that it did not have to come to this. I would rather not make people flinch away from me, like I am going to hurt them.”

“I know that feeling all too well,” Winston relented, heaving out a great sigh. “It’s the reason why I keep myself away from the public. A talking gorilla such as myself will never fit into society. Not when it’s already hard for omnics to get their rights. Even if I am an innovator for Overwatch technologies, I doubt anyone will consider that when looking upon me.”

“I am guilty of having a shocked reaction myself,” Genji admitted. He climbed up the bars and took a perch beside Winston.

“It’s hard being one of a kind,” Winston stated. “But that doesn’t mean we should pity ourselves for it.”

Genji remained silent and quietly skeptical. He held onto the bars, keeping still. Not a muscle moved as his eyes never left the horizon. What was Winston trying to tell him? Was Genji’s self loathing that obvious?

“I know what you’re going through, albeit not exactly. It’s difficult, but take peace with the ones who care about you. You’ll find yourself feeling a lot happier if you don’t focus too much on what others think.”

“You say you hide, I hardly think that is addressing the ones who are quicker to judge you,” Genji fired back boldly, gaze never wavering from the sun that had begun to peek above the horizon.

“You’re right. I’m not saying that it is easy to ignore them. I went into hiding because that’s what worked for me. I found peace with myself by surrounding myself with the only people that really mattered to me.”

Genji’s teeth worked on his scarred bottom lip. “I see.”

A comfortable silence settled between the two outcasts as they watched the sun rise up in the sky, lighting the world up with the pastel colors of dawn. Despite the awkwardness of their conversation, it seemed to make Genji’s stomach settle a little easier than it had before. It made him think about different realities. It made him think there might be something else beyond this constant game of play pretend.

As the minutes droned on of silence, Genji was aware of the scientist growing more and more tense. When he let loose a sigh, it sounded like one of defeat. Genji turned to him with a questioning gaze.

“Unfortunately, people are going to be coming out soon. I’d better not be here when they do. It was nice to finally meet you Genji. Thank you for the company. I look forward to being able to talk again.” Winston brought himself to the ground, hands and feet hitting the dusty earth with a thud. It seemed strange at first that Winston would want to wear clothes, to try and fit in with humanity. But it was not all that strange of a concept to Genji. He knew exactly how Winston felt. They were both stuck somewhere in between. Not exactly one or the other.

It was hard to live a life where everything he wanted to do and be was always a philosophical question up for debate rather than common sense.

But that was fate for Winston.

And that was fate for Genji.

Chapter Text

Three weeks had passed after Genji had that conversation with Winston. Three weeks had passed and Genji had not said a word about their sudden meeting. There was so much to think about from that conversation, so much that he didn’t feel like could share with anyone. Not even Angela.

As for her, Angela had been released from the hospital two weeks prior. Her gunshot wound had healed without a hitch. She was quite proud of the medical team, a team she practically got to hand-select years ago. She did not stop explaining each of their talents to him for a few days. It was not as if it bothered him, he liked to listen to her prattle on about things that made her happy, but if he was being honest with himself it wasn’t as if it was the most interesting thing to talk about. He would much rather talk about her and her talents. In the end, he was simply happy that she had recovered well from her injury.

Their newfound intimate moments, however, those greatly interested him. Angela was busy a lot of the time writing medical reports and treating patients. Genji had too much free time, most of it was spent on working out in the training hall. It was the best place for them to meet when Angela had training scheduled. While they trained with the others they’d catch one another staring, eyes locking for just a fraction of a second. That fraction of a second held a thousand words of unspoken conversation. It was an understanding. They would train for about an hour with the other agents and then Genji would leave to take a ‘break’. She’d see him and follow not but a minute later.

Today was just like those other days.

X

Genji was leaning against a wall in the low traffic corridor they always met in, visor already off as she approached. He flashed her a wink, and she shook her head, rolling her eyes at him with a playful smile on her lips.

He folded his arms, unmoving as she stood in front of him. He glanced down at her. “Hello Angela, what brings you here?” He teased, flashing her a very knowing, toothy grin.

“Kiss me, Genji,” she demanded with flushed cheeks. The first time they stole away he had teased her with small talk. They had carried on a conversation for several very long sexually tense minutes until she had asked him to just kiss her already. He was all too eager to oblige, then.

Just as he was now. His hands found their way onto her hips, bringing her flush against his solid chest roughly but not so much as to hurt her. Her lips parted in a gasp from the sudden action, and he captured them with his own. Her eyes fluttered shut as her fingers tangled into his hair.

Genji possessed plenty of talents beyond that of just swordplay and shurikens. Angela learned that very quickly. The more often their lips met, the more rust he chipped away on those latent skills. Angela learned all too fast about his hidden playboy nature. He was very observant of how to coax the most sounds from her throat. He knew where to kiss her, where to touch her, what sweet nothings made her tremble. Genji was a man who had absolutely perfected his craft.

His tongue darted out, teasing hers in a playful way before he flipped her around so that she was now the one with her back against the wall. One hand was chastely on her hip while the other dropped to suggestively squeeze her thigh through the Valkyrie suit. She moaned into his mouth, a desperate small sound that made him pull back slightly to grin against her lips. He brought his lips to her ear, working on the lobe gently with his teeth and she turned to give him better access.

“What was that?” He whispered hotly against her ear, spreading the heat throughout her entire body in a tremor.

“G-Genji,” she said his name in a breathy way that made his heart pound hard against his chest and his already dark eyes grow even darker from lust.

“Yes, Angela?” He responded, tongue against the shell of her ear before lowering his lips to press several kisses in a trail along her jaw. The hand on her hip traveled to her cheek, cupping it gently in his cold palm. His other hand dared to sneak higher up her thigh. “What is it?”

He tilted her head toward his. Her darkened blue eyes gazed into his. Wordlessly she raised her arms, clicking something and letting the wings of the Valkyrie fall to the ground. She unclipped the chest armor, leaving her in the basic black undersuit. Even further still, she removed the form fitting long sleeved shirt beneath it. Only a white frilly bra covered her breasts. She pushed the pile of her armor aside with her heeled boot, her gaze never leaving his.

For once he was on the back foot. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Blood rushed in his ears and other increasingly more obvious places. Her pale skin was the color of a bright red tomato, and he felt as if his own was on fire. “Are you sure?” He asked, suddenly unsure of himself. His eyes dropping from hers to stare at the pale exposed skin of her chest.

“Please touch me, Genji,” she practically begged.

How could he say no to that? His lips found their way onto her neck, exploring all too excitedly. His hand on her cheek fell down to grope one of her breasts and she shivered from the chill of his metal touch. Her fingers trailed down his arms, playing with the pressure sensors wired into the synthetic limbs. And then one hand found its way between his legs, unexpectedly palming his erection. He pulled back from leaving a small red love bite on her neck, pressed his forehead against her shoulder and let out a shuddering gasp.

X

It took him a serious second to contemplate what had just happened. And when he did realize his eyes flew wide open and his scarred cheeks burned with embarrassment. He licked his lips and brought a hand to the back of his neck, running his fingers through the back of his hair.

She seemed more confused, moving her hand away from his crotch and batting her eyelashes at him. “Are you okay? Did I do something?” She questioned, looking over him with concern in her eyes.

She definitely did something. And it stabbed him right where it hurt most: his pride. Ashamed, he turned his face away from hers, hands placed flat on either side of the wall beside her head. “Shit,” he muttered, mentally kicking himself over and over again. How could it have happened? How could it have happened now, and like this?

“Genji?” She prompted again. “What’s-” and then she realized. “Oh…” Her blush was vibrant. “Genji, it’s fine, really. It’s okay,” she said, bringing her hand to his cheek to make him face her. “I know it’s been awhile. These things happen, sometimes.”

It took him more time before he could bring his eyes to her, and the shame was beyond humiliating. He couldn’t imagine how disappointed she must have been. It was hidden very well, but he knew that deep down she had to at least feel a little upset. She took his hands in hers, squeezing the metallic digits and guiding him to the floor. They sat side by side with each other, backs against the wall.

He leaned over, resting his head in her lap. At least he had a five star view trying to look up at her.

“It’s actually quite flattering,” she said, breaking the silence between them. Her hand sank into his hair, combing it back.

He scoffed at that, deciding to put his focus on her breasts. More specifically, the bra was awfully familiar. He realized that she’d worn it that one time that they’d gone swimming. He wondered if she had done that on purpose or if it was the only cute bra that she owned. Not that it exactly mattered. It just helped him forget how uncomfortably sticky his training pants had become.

“Genji, I’m serious! I really mean it,” she attempted to convince him. “I thought it was cute.”

“I was not attempting to be cute, if you were unable to tell,” Genji pouted, his features set in a disappointed frown. Thinking about what could have potentially happened didn’t help that, either.

“It’s not like this was your only chance, you know,” she tried again.

He grumbled and sat up, legs spread apart. He slumped forward, eyes on the ground. “You do not have to hide your disappointment, Angela,” he said, sighing. “I myself feel it. The way I acted definitely made it seem as if I knew what I was doing.”

“You definitely knew what you were doing,” Angela argued. “Don’t be so upset with yourself over something so trivial. I really enjoyed it. You’re a fantastic…” She trailed off, as she was unsure what to call him. They hadn’t exactly put a label on what they were, and neither one pressured the other to do so. For now, it simply was as it was. Genji didn’t think boyfriend and girlfriend were complex enough to cover what they were to one another. “And besides, if anyone doesn’t know what they’re doing, it’s me. Being a revolutionary mind in medical sciences since a young age hasn’t exactly given me a lot of time to be sexually active.”

“So you are,” he muttered under his breath, letting out a short huff of breath. That answered a question he had had for quite some time. One he had even before he had become a cyborg. He then shook his head, eyes floating to the ceiling.

“Pardon?” She asked, confused at not having heard what he had said. She leaned forward to hear him better, but he didn’t get the chance to repeat himself.

An echo of a voice down the hall made both of them tense up. When it repeated itself, louder, Genji and Angela sprang into action. Angela hastily threw her long sleeved undershirt back on, while Genji hastily tried to buy her time. He was thankful for the dark coloring of his training pants covering up the mess he had made on himself. It could have made for an even more painfully awkward encounter.

“Genji?” The voice called out searchingly, clearer now as Genji grew closer to its source. The drawl was familiar, and Genji decided that he would meet them head on. He rounded the corner, folding his arms. His visor had already been clipped back into place. Bracing against the wall, he watched Jesse nearly jump three feet as Genji seemingly popped out from the shadows. “Jesus, you’re a spooky son of a bitch,” he exclaimed, fixing the hat on top of his head. One hand was on his heart as he caught his breath.

“It was not my intention to frighten you,” Genji stated, crossing one leg over the other. “What is it that you need?”

“I was just comin’ to get you for a meeting amongst the agents scheduled for training. Figured your whole bathroom ruse was a bit of a, white lie. I’m lookin’ for Angie too, after all. I assumed that she was with you considerin’ the circumstance,” Jesse explained, tapping at his holster out of idle habit. His grin widened when he stood on his toes, not that he really needed to, Jesse was tall. But he did anyhow as he caught sight of Angela peeking out around the corner. “There ya are!”

“Hello, Jesse. Did you get the nicotine patches I sent you?” Angela greeted, stepping out from behind the corner with a smile curling on her lips. She was trying to play this off as a nonchalant coincidence.

“Right in the trash with the remnants from my ash tray!” Jesse joked. He saw right through Angela, as the disheveled look of her appearance and kiss bitten lips were more than enough to give what the two had been doing away. “Anyway, lovebirds, it’s time to head back for the meeting. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone where I found you,” Jesse said with a wink, clapping his hands together and spinning around on his heel.

“We appreciate that greatly, Jesse,” Angela thanked, the facade she put up melted away and she brushed some messy blonde hair from her face. With the back of her hand, she patted at her cheeks in an effort to cool them. She followed behind Jesse, turning around to give Genji a sympathetic and apologetic look. She couldn’t imagine how uncomfortable he was. At least it wasn’t noticeable. Well, it wasn’t unless she tried to find the several scattered damp spots.

The three of them entered the training hall where everyone else was grouped and waiting. Reyes had his arms folded, expression dark as he followed them as they joined the others standing around. Jesse gave him a wicked grin and a wave, inciting a short amused grunt from the Blackwatch leader. Ana Amari stood to Gabriel’s left, separating him from the Strike Commander. She kept her gaze forward, waiting and patient for the entire group to gather together. There was a tension between the three of them, as if it were a three-way game of tug of war. Reyes and Morrison did not seem to even acknowledge one another’s presence.

Genji stood tall, subtly examining each and every single person who was present. The group was larger than usual, the training hall was absolutely packed with agents. Some of them were not even meant to be in the hall on this day of the week. Yet they still stood there, eyes on Reyes, Amari, and Morrison. There was a twinge of disappointment in Genji’s chest when he didn’t see Winston amongst the group of agents. But then again, he quickly recalled that Winston preferred to stay away from large social groups for fear of judgement. He felt that judgement too. It was a heavy weight to bear on his shoulders, especially as he noticed several questioning eyes and hushed whispers directed towards the three who had just arrived.

“Don’t worry, guys! I found ‘em,” Jesse addressed the hall, grin never fading as he stretched his arms out. He brushed off accusatory questions like it was nothing to him and that the only person in the world that mattered was himself. Genji supposed that that might actually be true. He was a lot like Jesse before he lost his overabundance of confidence. A seed of newfound envy found itself being planted in Genji.

They became a part of the crowd, disappearing into the sea of many faces. Jesse joined the other members of Blackwatch while Genji preferred to stay further to the back of the crowd where he could observe everyone. Angela followed along, which may have been a tad obvious to anyone who was still watching.

Ana Amari cleared her throat loudly into a small microphone, her voice carrying out throughout the hall. A hush fell upon the crowd, attention once again being brought to the three standing stoically at the front of the crowd.

“As you all know, three weeks prior after the conclusion of the third mission of agents Shimada and Dr. Ziegler, we immediately deployed out Blackwatch agents to follow up on Talon, and conclusively Amelie LaCroix’s trail,” the Captain started. There was an awkward shuffle amongst the crowd. Normally the Strike Commander gave these types of speeches. The Captain swallowed audibly, gaze resting on the crowd before falling once more. “It is my pleasure to announce that we have successfully retrieved Madame LaCroix early this morning. And it would not be so without the singular heroism of Blackwatch Commander Gabriel Reyes.”

Gasps of relief exploded from the crowd, as if everyone had been holding their breath waiting for the worst. Applause filled the hall, cheers and hugs being shared by the many agents. Despite it all, Gabriel Reyes still stared on with a dark, unreadable expression. Angela turned to Genji with sparkling blue eyes and a bright smile. He glanced to her from the corner of his eye, seemingly expressionless with his visor. It made him jump slightly when he felt some of her fingers lace with his, a touch that was barely visible. With slight alarm and blood rushing in his ears, he twisted his head around to make sure no one else was looking at them. Despite the anxiety it invoked in him he didn’t move his hand away from hers. He adored her touch.

The Captain waited patiently for the hall to quiet down after the eruption of relief and joy. Not even she could hold back the smile from her lips. When all of the noise settled, again she cleared her throat to address the hall. “When everyone else had given up as the timers ran out on the mission, he continued to search for Madame LaCroix. He did not stagger in the face of overwhelming defeat. He showed us all why he is the only one worthy of the title of Blackwatch Commander. He showed us all that he has a heart made of iron,” Captain Amari continued. “Each of us should learn something from Blackwatch Commander Reyes, today. Each of us should feel proud of the valiant efforts displayed, and strive to be more like the leader of our sister organization. Because here, at Overwatch, our agents like to call themselves heroes. But what makes us heroes?” She let the question hang in the air, a wave of murmurs passed through everyone as they waited for the Captain to continue. When no answer had been given, she continued. “Does it make us heroes to train daily, to strengthen ourselves to fight someone else’s battles for our government pension? Or does sacrificing a part of ourselves to save another, regardless of financial reward, regardless of what others say, praise or not, and regardless of what obstacles stand in your path; Is that not what a hero truly is?”

More applause followed, whistles and hoots echoed and bounced off of every wall. Angela’s fingers squeezed Genji’s tighter. There was an unmistakable feeling of joviality. There would be inevitable celebration for this, as any success typically sends the agents into a celebratory frenzy. It would help to have it all monitored and halls cleared for the wild agents to party in. “In celebration of this singular victory, and the holidays ahead, you are all dismissed to get ready for the party being hosted in the Founder’s Mess Hall!” The Captain concluded, waving a salute at the crowd who reciprocated.

Everyone flooded out in a stampede, excited to get home. Yells of surprise were heard as they exited the training hall. Genji and Angela were in the back of the group, and only when they too were out in the open air did they see what all the excitement was about.

Illuminated, carved pumpkin heads hung from trees. Their sinister faces glinted with mischievous malice at the massive crowd of agents that had just left from the hall. Fake spider web material tangled in the branches of trees. Animatronic arachnids crawled across them. Fog filled the streets and bales of hay were scattered around almost every corner. It was an eerie setting, but it filled Genji and Angela with a sense of mystical wonder as they took a second to admire the transformation of the compound. Training bots were equipped with masks and outfits to represent zombies, witches, and other fantasy beings. There was an array of tombstones set up in front of the Founder’s Mess Hall in the far distance. A makeshift, archaic metal fence lay trampled and broken. Tombstones lay fallen or crumbling. Lights flickered in the pitch black of the windows and the crack of thunder could be heard over the compound speakers. The Swiss Overwatch Compound had been completely transformed into Halloween Town in not but a few hours.

Some agents hitched rides on the stray horses and wagons traveling around the compound. Genji and Angela made their way through the darkness with only the light of the jack-o-lanterns’ guided them to their residential hall. It was crowded trying to get in. The elevators up were packed and some were waiting. The stairs were worse yet, packed with people trying to get through the small opening at each floor. When Genji and Angela had finally managed to find their way to their hall, he hesitated to continue on to her door.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, noticing his hesitance almost immediately. She didn’t have to see his face to recognize the sudden tension in his shoulders.

“Do I have to wear a costume?” He said, voice reverberating from behind his mask. “I think I am already wearing one.”

“It’s an awfully handsome costume if that’s what you are going to be calling it,” she retorted, placing her hand on the side of his visor where his cheek would be. “You only have to wear one if you want to, Genji. It is completely up to you. Come to my door in fifteen, I need to change. You do too, costume or not.”

He allowed himself to let out a small huff of laughter as she disappeared behind her door with a wave. She had to have sight issues if she could see him as handsome. Not that he was going to complain. At least not completely. He just wished she were more honest about the way he looked. He shrugged past others coming from the opposite way to get to their rooms. It took a lot longer to get into his room than he would have normally liked.

When he finally did, he locked his door behind himself and began to pull off his training outfit, pants first. He tossed them in his laundry bin to clean later, and then he took a brief shower to clean himself off. He dried his hair off with a towel, not sparing himself a glance in the mirror. He considered what to wear. It wasn’t as if he had a costume, so it wasn’t all that big of a deal.

His thoughts drifted to a more curious place. What was Angela going to wear? He imagined she’d dress up in something simple. She was likely the type of person who wore the same costume year after year. He would probably be able to find out what she was going to wear if he just knocked on his neighbor’s door. But Reinhardt was probably already in the mess hall, getting drunk with fellow agents.

He pushed through the limited clothing options he had in his closet. Most of what he had were variations of the standard Overwatch training suit. Of course there was his official field armor, but that seemed like it would be a bit too much to wear. Wearing an armor and bringing weapons into a crowd of people who wanted to get away from all of that seemed a bit insensitive. The last thing he wanted was to seem too out of place. Well, more than he already was. He had a formal outfit, a suit and tie with a vest for a professional situation he would never find himself in. It had never been worn.

He checked himself out in the bathroom mirror, the only mirror that he owned. When he first arrived he had gotten rid of the rest. He adjusted the jacket over his shoulders, furrowing his brows at himself. The scars on his face looked gruesome. It looked as if even after all of this time they still hurt. In a way, they did, but not physically as some may think. He brought a digit to the metal plates that kept his jaw from falling apart. The more he stared at himself in the mirror, the closer he was to putting his visor on.

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. He went to answer it, grabbing his visor, holding it in one hand as he opened the door, grabbing onto the frame poking his head out to greet his guest.

Despite the plates keeping his jaw from dropping, it may as well have at the sight he was greeted with.

Angela stood in the doorway, smile beaming at him and cheeks tinged pink. A pointed hat sat on top of her head. Her shoulders were covered with a flare of material, gloves reached to her elbows. A corset squeezed her torso, cutting off at a very low point and leaving a very enticing amount of cleavage. More than that, she was essentially wearing a leotard. Fabric hung in the front and back, giving her more coverage. But the pale flesh of her upper thighs was very visible and very tempting. It made him swallow thickly. To top it all of, she was wearing thigh highs and a matching set of heels to her outfit.

“Wow,” he breathed, unable to believe what he was seeing in front of him. “Angela, I love your costume,” he said, unable to think of anything else to say. Once again she had been able to take away every coherent thought that he’d had.

She brought her fingers to her lips, laughing lightly at his stunned reaction. “Thank you, Genji. I love your suit. That vest really suits you.” Her fingers pressed against his chest gently. Her eyes drifted to his visor, and a flash of disappointment briefly darkened her expression. “You don’t have to bring it,” she said suddenly, hand on his chest falling to her side.

He looked at the visor in his hand, frowning slightly. “I am unsure if most of the other agents know I have a face beneath this mask,” Genji stated.

“It doesn’t matter what the other agents think,” Angela reasoned.

“If you are going to say that it only matters what I think, I think my face is a grotesque sight to look upon. I can not even face the mirror, Angela. It is hard to fathom how you can bear to kiss me.”

“I wished you wouldn’t say things like that,” she whispered, her hand pressed against his scarred cheek. Even through the fabric of her gloves, warmth seeped into his flesh.

“Not everyone is as kind as you are, Angela. I am already received as an outcast as it is,” he answered with a hollow truth to his tone. He leaned into her touch, closing his eyes and letting out a heavy sigh. By now the halls were empty, everyone had already filtered out of the residential halls to get to where the action was.

“Tonight's a night of celebration and letting go of any worries that plague us. Tonight we are allowed to forget what troubles us,” Angela started, her brows curved upward. “I understand if you still want to wear it regardless of that notion. Just know that you have the freedom and the right to step out into public without a mask to hide from what others might think. You’re a wonderful man, Genji and I’ll support whatever you decide.”

Reluctantly, he slipped away from her embrace. He backed into the darkness of his room, setting his visor on the couch. Something in his stomach told him he would regret doing this and that this was a grave mistake. Before he could change his mind he surged out of his room, shutting and locking his door behind himself. He held his arm out for her, and she took it with both hands and a sweet smile on her lips.

They left the building, arm in arm. The closer they came to the Founder’s building, the louder the music got. Agents were already strung out all over the streets, hooting and hollering. Red plastic cups lay abandoned here and there. Some particularly cruel agents chased the lightweights in terrifying disguises across the compound, their terrified screams only added further to the ambience.

Genji snickered, watching them jump over hay bales and non-sentient prop bots. As they entered, the music went from loud to deafening. Lights flashed in the darkness and agents danced wildly without care. No one looked their way as they came in. That in itself sparked a glimmer of hope for Genji. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

Angela took the lead, dropping his arm to walk in front of him. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her, following her as she guided him across the outskirts of the dance floor to the bar where Reinhardt, Torbjorn, Captain Amari, and a few others that Genji didn’t recognize were sitting. Like Angela, they all sported various costumes. Reinhardt was dressed as a navy marshal, Torbjorn a viking, and Ana a ghoul.

Reinhardt’s stein was massive, and he reeked of booze. In fact, the entire corner smelled of it. Even Captain Amari was pouring them down. The small crowd turned to the two of them when they approached. “Ah, Angela!” Reinhardt exclaimed. “Come have a drink on me! Your friend can have one too!”

“I suppose one won’t hurt,” Angela figured, beckoning Genji closer. “Also, Reinhardt, this is Genji! You’ve met before!”

Reinhardt leaned in close, his one good eye directed onto Genji. “So it is! I couldn’t tell! I didn’t realize you were a man with so many battle scars, Genji!” He probably didn’t even realize that Genji had a face behind the mask he always wore.

Genji gave the large man a sheepish smile, shuffling uncomfortably from foot. He stood close to Angela, leaning over the bar counter.

“Those are real scars? But there are so many,” quipped an older teenaged girl with dark skin and black hair in a Egyptian Anubis costume standing beside the Captain. Genji realized with a suddenness that the girl must be related to the Captain somehow. The girl was practically a much younger version of her.

“Now Fareeha,” Captain Amari began to scold the curious teen. “There are many people here who have been through a lot.”

Angela squeezed his arm gently in a supportive way, knowing that the second it was said Genji felt a pang of regret. Genji just looked to her and shrugged, pulling his arm away to rest his elbows on the bar counter. He didn’t say a word.

“Of course they’re real scars!” Reinhardt piped up. “I have seen many scars in my lifetime to know when a brave man has been marked by battle,” he explained, clapping the teen girl on the back. It nearly sent her flying, and it definitely knocked the breath out of her because she let out a loud “Oomph!”

If Genji had told Reinhardt the truth of how he’d have gotten them, he was definitely certain that the praise would turn to pity. Genji received the scars out of cowardice. He refused to fight back. He pleaded for his life. There was nothing brave about him. He knitted his thick black brows, glaring at the table.

He saw Angela flash them all a look, one that a chastising mother might give to a bunch of children. Genji remained wordless. Two steins were pushed toward them, one for Angela and one for Genji. He swiped at the handle, bringing the beer to his lips and chugging it down. He never was a fan of beer, but right now he was. It had been so long since he’d had a drink that after two full steins the effects were already starting to make his head pleasantly fuzzy.

The more he drank down, the less distinct the music filling the mess hall became. “Genji, I think you should take a break,” Angela suggested. He shrugged the suggestion off in a rather dismissive way. It wasn’t as if he disagreed with her, she was probably right. But that wasn’t going to stop him. Just one more wouldn’t hurt. He kept telling himself that.

It didn’t help that Reinhardt was egging him on after the Captain and her daughter had left to join another conversation. From the corner of his eye he could see Angela chastising the crusader. “There’s nothing a good drink can’t help a man do!” He cheered, raising his stein. Torbjorn raised his as well to that, smashing their glasses together before laughing obnoxiously. The little viking hat on the small man’s head skewed to one side as he knocked back the drink. Droplets of the beer dripped out and onto their beards. Genji drank as well, and Angela brought a hand to lightly rest on the arm of his coat.

He opened one eye, drunken vision making him take a second to focus on her. He smiled dopily at her. “Something you want to say?” He asked, leaning close with breath smelling of the beverages he’d chugged down. His cheeks were red. Hers were too and that ignited something in the pit of his stomach.

Reinhardt and Torbjorn let out a loud boom of laughter at Angela’s reaction. “Yer gonna make her slap ye if ye don’t watch out!” Torbjorn warned, taking another huge gulp of his drink. “Hell, it’s what my wife would do, and she’s my wife!”

Angela furrowed her brows, narrowed her eyes, and puffed out her lower lip in an evident pout at Genji. “How about you show me how well you can dance?” She challenged, the pout disappearing almost instantaneously.

Genji had been close before, but now he was so close that his lips nearly touched her ear. “Only if you come with me,” he murmured with a sultry undertone that made her shift on the bar stool she’d gotten comfortable on. He pulled back, dark eyes piercing into hers and making her ears and neck warm.

Angela let out soft laughter, tucking some hair behind her ear. “I wouldn’t let you go out there alone,” she answered with a sweet smile. He wanted to kiss her then, but even with how much he’d drank he was not drunk enough to make a mistake like that.

It was already controversial for humans and omnics to have relationships. They existed and happened but were never received well. The fact that Genji was somewhere in between did not make it any easier for acceptance, especially since most members of Overwatch participated in fighting during the Omnic Crisis. Genji didn’t want to put Angela through that stress; she had enough to worry about. It was bad enough that the other agents didn’t know much about him. Questions of his humanity were whispered under the safety blanket of secrecy, but he always heard them. They always came around one way or another.

Furthermore, they still hadn’t clarified what their relationship was. They were close friends and colleagues of Overwatch. But they definitely did more than the average friend would do with one another. Close friends did not sneak off from training to make out against a wall and grope each other.

She pulled him off of the stool and out of his surprisingly profound thoughts for a man who had drank as much as he did. Her fingers tugged chastely on his forearm. He wondered what it would be like if she laced those delicate, practiced fingers with his metallic ones as she had done partially in the training hall. She guided him to the dance floor. The beat continued to boom. They were in the middle of a sea of costumes- of pirates, cowboys, witches, wizards, wolves. Too many to define. He lost himself in the blur of motion and music. He lost himself in her.

Angela’s laughter made him even more dizzy than he already was. It brought a smile to his lips, so he took a step forward. He closed the comfortable gap between the two of them. His hand found hers, and he twirled her about to the rhythm of the fast paced song. Their arms raised to the ceiling, and hundreds of fingers reached as well when the DJ commanded it. Genji hadn’t felt so carefree in so long.

Jesse twirled into the little world he’d created with Angela, tipping his hat. He already had his costume, a cowboy. Halloween was every day for him. Genji supposed he had that in common. Jesse, with his crooked grin and perfect teeth swooped in and took Genji by the arm. He spun him as the cyborg had to Angela not but moments before.

“Lookin’ good out here, partner,” Jesse said, flashing a thumbs up to Genji before glancing at Angela as he dropped Genji into a dip, one hand place firm on the small of the cyborg’s back. “Hope y’don’t mind me takin’ Genji for a spin,” he joked.

Angela put a hand to her mouth, unable to stop laughing at the flustered look on Genji’s face. “Not at all!” She answered. “Just as long as you return him one piece!” And then arms hooked beneath hers as she was all but dragged backward into a crowd of women. She let out a loud squeak and then laughter when Fareeha, Mei, Ana, and many more pulled her away with bright grins. She would be well taken care of.

Genji watched her go with his eyes focused on the curves of her body and the beautiful and, for once, worry free smile. He couldn’t help but think about how revealing that costume of hers was, and he definitely wanted to reveal more of it later.

Jesse pulled him up from the dip, arm squeezing on his wrist. Genji, still drunk, stumbled as he tried to stand up straight. “I found him,” Jesse said with a serious tone. Any trace of the crooked grin and jesting personality had disappeared, nowhere to be seen.

Genji blinked a few times, staring blankly at Jesse as he tried to comprehend what he was just told. “I am sorry?” He asked. He needed to hear it again. There was no way that Genji had heard right.

“I found Hanzo,” Jesse repeated. And it was as if everything else went dead silent.