Welcome to another installment of delsys32's Overwatch Oneshots! It should be noted that I rearranged the fics in the series so they're in chronological order. Also, a note on Genji's dragon's name: I saw the name "Soba" used for it in several other fics, and I really like the name and the meaning, so I've decided to use it.
This takes place when Genji was in Blackwatch.
And with that, enjoy!
Jesse woke up to screaming from the room adjacent to his. It took him a few seconds to completely come to his senses, but when he did, he knew exactly where it was coming from.
Genji.
He got up from bed, pulling on some sweatpants and a t-shirt before quickly making his way to Genji's room. He opened the door to see the cyborg thrashing in his sleep, still screaming ("I'm sorry! Please don't please don't I'm so sorry, please don't pl—") and even though everything but his eyes were covered by the mask, Jesse could tell they were squeezed shut in pain, terror, or—most likely—both. He walked over to the side of the bed and reached out to gently shake Genji's shoulder.
"Genji. Genji!" he said, his voice a harsh whisper, but Genji could be especially difficult to wake from nightmares. Jesse ended up roughly shaking his shoulder, shouting, "Genji! Wake up, yer havin' a nightmare!"
The cyborg startled awake, red eyes wide in panic. He reflexively reached over and roughly grabbed the hand on his shoulder and twisted it, perceiving Jesse as a threat in the haze remaining from a nightmare-filled sleep. Jesse moved with the twisting motion so his wrist wouldn't break, and he ended up leaning to the left, his torso bent to allow his arm to move.
"Whoa, whoa! Genji, it's—AGH!—it's me, Jesse!" he said, grunting in pain. Finally, after a few moments, Genji looked at McCree and seemed to recognize him as his mind cleared, though he was very obviously still shaken from the nightmare. He realized what he was doing, and released his vice-like grip on McCree's wrist as if he had been burned.
"I— Jesse, I am sorry! I did not realize it was you, I did not mean—"
"Hey now, it's okay. You were havin' a nightmare," McCree said, rubbing his wrist. Genji noticed the action and looked at him pointedly, yet still filled with shame. "I'm fine! It'll just be a bit o' bruisin'."
"You shouldn't have any injury because of me," Genji said, looking down at his shaking hands in disgust.
"Accidents happen, Genji. And that's okay." Instead of responding, the cyborg opted to look away, clenching his hands into fists and setting them in his lap. Jesse could tell that his statement fell on deaf ears.
"I'm sorry for touchin' ya. I know ya don't like that sorta thing," he said, purposefully changing the subject.
"It is okay. I would prefer to be woken than to relive that night yet again."
What happened, though?! Jesse wanted to ask, to yell, but knew that was a subject best left untouched, no matter how frustrating not knowing may be. Genji would talk about it when—if he was ready.
"So it was that nightmare again, huh?" McCree asked. Genji nodded tiredly, still not making eye contact. Jesse sat down on the bed next to him and offered his hand, palm up. Genji looked at it for a second, then gingerly reached out his still-shaking flesh hand and placed it in Jesse's, who started to gently rub comforting circles on the back of it.
Genji sighed. Jesse was his best friend and the only one who he felt comfortable with physical contact from, and even then not all the time. What Hanzo had done to him had left him skittish and wary of physical contact from anyone—even Dr. Ziegler, who made sure to only touch him during checkups when absolutely necessary.
(Also incredibly self-conscious of his appearance, Genji slept with his mask on so when situations like this occurred, he wouldn't have to bear the shame of his scars. No one but Dr. Ziegler and Commander Reyes had seen his face—Reyes only seeing it once, when Genji was still in the early stages of recovery.)
Slowly starting to relax, Genji grew drowsy again. But he refused to fall asleep, not wanting to have the nightmare again as soon as he closed his eyes.
"Ya gotta sleep, y'know," Jesse said, reading him like an open book.
"I do not want to."
"Ya need sleep, Genji."
"That does not change the fact that I do not want to." Jesse let out a short laugh.
"Stubborn son of a bitch," he muttered with humor in his voice, rubbing soothing circles in Genji's palm, now.
Eventually, the cyborg began to drift off against his will, almost falling asleep sitting up with his head lolling towards his chest.
"Ya'd be more comfortable lyin' down, ya know," Jesse said softly.
"Mmph," Genji mumbled, almost completely asleep.
"C'mon, lets getcha comfortable."
Jesse slowly stood up, keeping a hand on Genji's shoulder so he wouldn't fall over, then gently lowered him down onto the bed. Just as he turned to leave, he felt a hand loosely grab his wrist. He turned around to see Genji looking at him, slightly more awake, but Jesse knew it was because he was scared. Genji looked away as soon as Jesse made eye contact.
"Please do not go," he said quietly, not looking up.
He's ashamed, Jesse realized.
"Don't wanna be alone, huh?" he said. "I know the feelin'. I'll stay with ya. Scoot over." Genji moved over towards the wall, his movements heavy with sleep. With anyone else, he would feel closed in, confined. But as Jesse laid down beside him, he felt safe.
"Good night, Genji," Jesse said.
"Good night, Jesse." And then, barely whispered, but still there: "Thank you."
Morning sun streamed through the open blinds, but that wasn't what woke Jesse this time. Again, it was Genji. But instead of screaming in terror, he was mumbling tiredly:
"Soba." A pause. "Soba, stop." Another pause. "Soba! Go bother someone else."
There was silence after that, and Jesse tried to go back to sleep, figuring Genji was just having an odd dream. But that was soon interrupted by the feeling of little clawed feet crawling up his chest. He was reminded of the days when Cocoa—his beloved cat he had when he was younger before his Deadlock years, named after his favorite drink—would wake him up by kneading his chest and purring. And for a moment, just a moment in the fog of sleep, he believed that he was back at home with Cocoa, before everything went to shit after his Ma died.
"Mornin', Sweetheart," he mumbled sleepily, reaching up to pet her, but his hand met nothing but empty air. He patted around his chest a few times, looking for Cocoa before he opened his eyes and realized where he was. Blackwatch. Cocoa's not here, he thought with a pang of sadness. Boy, I miss that cat.
He brought his hand up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Blinking a few times to clear his vision, he caught a glimpse of green at the foot of the bed. He brushed it off as his imagination, chalking it up to still waking up. But then he saw it a second time, and for more than a few seconds—it looked like. . .a glowing tail? Damn snakes. Looks like one got in here. But then he realized: snakes don't glow. He reached towards the nightstand for Plan A: Peacekeeper—but found only a sword. "Genji's room," he said quietly. "Damn it!"
Time for Plan B: wake up the person who could use the swords.
"Genji!" he whispered harshly. "GENJI! Wake up!" The cyborg just groaned, apparently exhausted from the nightmare. Jesse glanced back to the foot of the bed. Nothing. Maybe I really did imagine it. ...Wait, what am I sayin'? 'Course I did. Nothin' in this world glows see-through green. Sighing in relief, McCree turned back and mumbled:
"Guess I can just let Genji—"
But then a green, glowing-yet-transparent dragon popped up from behind Genji's shoulder.
"—slEEP!"
Jesse squeaked and flailed back in surprise, the small dragon watching intently as he fell out of the bed. It peeked over the edge of the bed at Jesse, who scrambled backwards until his back hit the wall. He glanced at his immediate surroundings for some sort of weapon as the dragon jumped down stalked closer, winding like a snake through grass.
McCree had been trained for a lot of things, for a lot of situations: gun fights, hand-to-hand combat, disarming an enemy six ways to Sunday, and—perhaps most importantly—to stay calm while he did it. But nothing had prepared him for a dragon.
It stretched out its neck towards Jesse's bare foot and sniffed it, then made a clearly disgusted face.
Had Jesse not been hyper-focused on the perceived threat to his life, he would have noticed Genji leaning on his forearm and looking over the bed, doing his very best to stifle his laughter. ...Which he could no longer do when his dragon—Soba—made the face. Both he and Jesse were startled by a burst of electronic laughter. Soba vanished into thin air, and Jesse jumped half out of his skin.
Seeing Genji's reaction, Jesse put two and two together and realized that he had something to with the dragon, or the whole situation, or both. He glared daggers at his best friend and shouted:
"What the hell was that?!"
But Genji only laughed harder in response, and a shrill beeping soon filled the room as the oxygen alarm went off from the ventilator in his mask, unable to keep up with how hard he was laughing.
After a few seconds of the noise, he seemed to finally realize that it was going off. He sat up, took a deep breath, and held it, feeling for the releases on the back of his mask. It came off with a hiss and fell onto the bed, and Genji took several gasping breaths, clutching his chest. Once he felt he was no longer in danger of passing out from lack of oxygen, he took one look at McCree's expression—who was noticeably irked at this point—and began laughing again, the widest grin McCree had ever seen on anyone on his face.
"Genji! Answer the question!" McCree yelled, and back to the hysterical laughter for another solid minute it was. Once Genji had finally calmed down and wiped the tears from his eyes, he figured he owed the still-glaring McCree an explanation.
"I am sorry, Jesse," he said, suppressing a giggle. "Soba did not mean to scare you, I am sure. My guess is he has taken a liking to you, and was simply curious. Is that right, Soba?"
Nothing happened, and Genji sighed.
"You may come out, Soba. Jesse did not mean to yell. Right, Jesse?" he said, giving McCree A Look as the cowboy slowly stood up from his spot on the floor.
"Uh, that's right," he said, going along (probably against his better judgment) with whatever Genji was planning. And sure enough, Soba peeked out from behind Genji's shoulder, watching him warily.
"Soba is harmless to allies. He will not hurt you," Genji said, noticing the way McCree was watching Soba—like the dragon would pounce at any moment. He glanced to Genji.
"Y'promise?"
"I promise."
Jesse hesitated, but eventually began to slowly walk forward to get a better look at Soba. Genji patted the bed beside him—on the side where the dragon was. Jesse sat down reluctantly. Hope I don't come to regret this.
"Give me your hand," Genji said, and McCree looked at him suspiciously. Genji looked almost hurt. "Do you not trust me, after all the missions we have been on?" Jesse sighed, resigned to whatever Genji had planned. He held out his hand, which the cyborg took and gently raised to his shoulder, right next to Soba. McCree tensed as the dragon sniffed his hand and then looked back to Genji. "Go on," he said.
Soba gently stepped onto the back of McCree's hand, watching him closely for a negative reaction. When there wasn't one, Soba stepped completely onto his hand, then crawled along his arm up to his shoulder, steps becoming more sure as he went. With Soba now perched right next to his face, McCree decided:
"He's actually kinda cute." Soba nuzzled the side of Jesse's face, and the cowboy couldn't help himself. "Awwwe," he said, and slowly reached up to pet the dragon, who accepted scratches under his chin with a small rumbling sound—almost like a cat's purr. "Y'know, ya remind me of Cocoa," he said quietly, and Soba seemed to sense his sadness, licking his face to try to comfort him. Jesse laughed and patted the top of the dragon's head.
"I am glad to see you two are getting along," Genji said, smiling. Jesse turned to him to reply, but realized something.
"Hey, yer not wearin' that fancy mask o' yours!" Genji's eyes widened as he brought his hand up to his face, realizing that Jesse was right. He quickly turned his head and reached beside him, fumbling for his mask. Jesse decided to break Genji's rule—just this once—and gently placed his hand on the cyborg's shoulder. He froze. "I didn't mean that as a bad thing." Still refusing to turn around, Genji balled his hands into fists. "It's... It's nice to finally see yer face."
"Do you— Do you really mean that...?" he said turning around just enough to look at Jesse hopefully.
"I sure do, partner."
Genji took a deep, shuddering breath and slowly turned back around to face him, but wouldn't make eye contact.
"Hey, look at me," Jesse said, and Genji reluctantly did. "This—" he gestured to the artificial parts of Genji's body, to his face, to the scars and to the synthetic material that replaced his bottom lip, chin, and covered most of his jaw and the front of his neck, "—ain't somethin' to be ashamed of. If anythin', it shows how strong ya are—ya lived through things that would have killed anyone else. And I think that's somethin' to be right proud of."
Tears pricked at the corners of Genji's eyes, and he looked away once again.
"But I am— I am no longer human. I am a monster, Jesse. An unholy combination of machine and man that should not exist. I—"
"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up! I'm gonna stop ya right there, because ya just said it yerself: machine and man. Yer still you, Genji. Just because ya've got a different body don't mean yer not still you. And I know this whole thing ain't gonna be fixed with one conversation, but I hope this'll getcha headed in the right direction. Because ya don't deserve this. Ya don't deserve to put yerself down like this, to hate yerself, to believe ya ain't worth a damn, because ya are. And I hope that one day yer gonna come to see that."
There was silence for several long moments, and Jesse worried he had gone too far. Just as he took a breath to apologize, Soba leapt from his shoulder to Genji's and pawed at his cheek, getting the cyborg to look at him. There seemed to be some sort of silent exchange between the two, Soba looking at Genji with an expression that said, "He's right, you know," and Genji's expression eventually softening into a small smile. He reached up to scratch Soba's chin, who closed his eyes in contentment and let out that soft rumble in response.
"I suppose that sometimes it is good to hear these things—whether one believes them or not—because then they know that someone does believe them." He looked back to Jesse. "You are right: it will take more—much more—than one conversation to fix this, but you give me hope. Thank you, both of you." Genji paused, looking thoughtful. "...But I think there is something more pressing that we need to address." McCree looked at him blankly, beyond confused.
"Oh? And what'd that be?"
"You squeaked," Genji said, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"I wha—" he then realized what Genji was referring to:'Guess I can just let Genji slEEP!'
"Jesse McCree—" he announced, grinning like a madman, "—former gang member, current Blackwatch member, bullseye-shooting badass, squeaked. And fell off the bed." Jesse looked mortified.
"HEY! It ain't every day a green-glowin' dragon pops outta yer best friend's shoulder!" Genji just looked at him, that glint only growing.
"Genji, don't ya dare!"
"Jesseep—"
"Hey, ya hear me, ya li'l shit?! Don't—"
"—McSqueak."
"GOD DAMN IT!" Jesse shouted, standing up indignantly and whirling around to glare at Genji, who only grinned and pointed at a smug-looking Soba.
"He started it."
Jesse continued to glare, but Soba just stuck his tongue out. After about three more seconds of solid silence, the glare dissolved into laughter, and Genji joined in while Soba looked particularly pleased with himself. Jesse sat back down, smiling.
"What am I gonna do with the two o' ya?"
And that's that! I hope you enjoyed reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. 'Til next time!