It is my first fanfic written in English and also published online! Huge thanks to everyone who supported, helped and convinced me to publish this chapter! Please, feel free to comment and let me know what did/didn't you like! Enjoy! Cheers!

Chapter 1: Reunion

It has been a long and tiring day for Mercy. She sat on the armchair after laying down her bag and grabbing a cup of hot jasmine tea. Stationing in the Middle East was as challenging as she had imagined it to be and definitely in need of her skills. The Small hospital in which she served, was crowded with victims of the civil war and Mercy's hands were full of work. She took off her heels and hid even deeper into the soft cover of the chair.

At first, her thoughts focused on her patients and the plans for the next day but later on - even though she tried not to think about it - she couldn't help but to wonder about her friends and imagined Winston working on something with Lena running around. She smiled at this memory and thought of Pharah and beloved Reinhardt. Then she felt a sharp pain in her chest when remembering Genji and his calm, dark-brown eyes, his sudden leave and then all the events that happened in her life like an avalanche. Ana's death, then Gabriel's and Jack's. Mercy squeezed her eyes tight and took a sharp breath.

She untied ponytail letting hair spread all over her shoulders. After several minutes, she closed her exhausted eyes and fell asleep tightly grasping the blanket.

When Mercy woke up from her nap the sun was already hiding. 'Uh, forgot to drink my tea' she growled looking at the cold cup and after a moment got up and slowly walked to the bathroom to wash her face. She couldn't help but notice dark circles under her red eyes. She lacked sleep but knew that there was so much work to do, even once she was back from the hospital, there were still personal projects Angela was working on.

A Cool breeze entered through the window and refreshed Mercy's senses when she walked into her bedroom. For a moment she closed her eyes remembering the fresh air when stationing at Gibraltar. 'Okay Angela, you don't always come back earlier from work, use it and sleep more than five hours only' she whispered to her-workaholic-self.

Just when she was about to change her clothes she heard it; the hardly recognizable sound of shuttering blinds. She wasn't alone, and she was even more sure no one, except some villagers, knew about her presence in that place. She shook her head to clear her mind and focus. 'Is someone here to kill me?' she thought nervously.

Mercy closed the wardrobe slowly, paying attention to the squeaking sound of the loose wooden planks coming from the kitchen. Whoever intruded the house surely didn't know about them which successfully warned Angela about their presence. The sun was hiding, casting dark shadows around her room, not giving her enough light to find her hidden gun that had been lying useless for months. Luckily, after patting down the bed, she found it under folded blankets. Carefully, not to make too much noise, she moved closer to the entrance of her bedroom. Whoever was there noticed the noisy planks and Mercy cursed quietly under her nose. When she looked through the small door crack she saw the shadow lurking into the living area. It must have been a man, she realized, well built and tall. Quickly she jumped a few steps to the corridor. She Carefully calculated the shortest way to the exit of the house, and although she preferred not to kill anyone, she wouldn't mind knocking the intruder out. The planks squeaked again; Mercy froze stacked to the wall and waited. 'Now or never' she thought and once she noticed the intruder leaving the room, she jumped in front of him quickly, grabbed a cold metal arm and pushed the surprised intruder into the space he tried to leave a moment ago. The corridor was pitch black, and this time breathing fast and loud, Mercy ran towards the door. Grabbed a bag lying on the stool, and ignored deep grunting and the sound of broken furniture, focusing only on leaving this place as soon as possible. She did not have too much time.

After jumping through the window she dived into the nearest bush, trying to find a path through the forest. The rustle of leaves and branches was so loud that she almost didn't hear someone calling her name. She stopped suddenly, her eyes widening in shock. 'Impossible' she whispered to herself.

'As for such a delicate woman Angela, your reflexes truly surprised me' she heard a chuckle coming from the front of the house. Mercy had to make sure it was not only her brain playing jokes on her, and rapidly stepped, almost tripping over protruding roots, towards the house. Genji was gone for years, there hasn't been a day in which Mercy hasn't dreamed of him giving her some sort of life signal. She didn't know whether he was alive or dead. If alive, she wondered if she'd ever crossed his mind. Mercy repeated the moment he came back so many times that now, when he is actually here, she didn't know what to do.

Maybe she was still sleeping and everything was just a dream. But there he was, his metallic, slim figure standing confidently at the entrance of her house. Green visor shining brightly, two Japanese swords tucked behind his back. If not the mask, she'd swear he was smiling widely staring at her shocked face.

'Genji' she whispered, getting closer to him.

'I am no ghost Angela' he said quietly, this time with a pinch of sadness in his voice. With saying no more, she dropped her bag and slowly walked towards him, noticing his body getting stiff. At each step she was taking, Mercy felt her heart beat faster and the world around getting quieter. Now, Genji was no further than a step away from her, she reached towards his face plate and with a soft click, slowly took it off. Genji didn't flinch a bit, letting the doctor take control. His body was still stiff, his fists clenched and eyes closed. After a moment he heard silent gasp and felt gentle fingers brushing over his scarred skin. Surprised because of her closeness, Genji was too scared to look at her. To see disappointment in her eyes, anger or even hatred.

Mercy cupped his face with one hand, staring at the grimace painted on it.

'Angela I-' he started but soon after was disrupted by her arms wrapping around him in a tight hug.

'Hush Genji' she mumbled and hid her face in between his shoulder and neck. The sun was almost gone, leaving just a stripe of pink shade on the sky. He returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her small body and felt something heavy dropping down from his heart.

Genji didn't pay attention to how long they stayed this way until Mercy whispered 'You could've just knocked on the door Genji'. Tension left his body in a second and he laughed letting Angela go. 'I'm sorry, that was indeed irresponsible of me' he answered awkwardly staring at blue-eyed woman. She smiled and then quickly, as if she forgot something, grabbed her bag lying on the ground and handed Genji his mask. She moved towards the entrance of her house glancing at him and said 'I suppose we have a lot to talk about, please come in'. She waited for him to unsurely step inside until closing the door behind them.

Angela led the man to the living room and instantly noticed the table with broken legs shattered on the ground. 'I'm sorry for pushing you Genji, but I can't deny, you deserved that for spying on me' she giggled, carefully gathering wooden pieces.

When Mercy was making tea in the kitchen, Genji decided to explore her small house.

He approached an old shelf with several photos on it and grabbed the first one. He smiled looking at the photo of Winston's graduation during his service in Overwatch. His gaze fell on a smaller frame containing adorable picture of Mercy, Pharah and Tracer smiling widely at the photographer. And lastly, his sight fell on a hidden picture and reached for it. It was him; Mercy standing beside in her lab coat, looking at him in his full armor. He heard Mercy returning to the living room and quickly moved away from the shelf. She was carrying two cups of steaming liquid.

'Jasmine tea is all I have right now, hope you don't mind' she said while putting both cups on the small stool and then sat down in her armchair.

'It's perfect Angela, thank you' he answered taking a seat on the sofa. He glanced at her and immediately saw so many questions forming on her face that, embarrassed, he turned his head away. Silence felt like ages for both of them.

Angela just kept biting her lower lip while Genji stared at the window tightly grasping his cup. She still tried to calm her heart down and secretly pinched her thigh to keep her mind clear and focused. He was here, yet with his thoughts he seemed to be so distant. Mercy wanted to know, hell, she needed to know what was happening to him when the worst crisis rolled through Overwatch.

The silence was almost hurting her ears, if it was even possible, and just when she was about to talk, Genji looked at her with his brown eyes, so full of guilt it shut her mouth instantly.

'I can't even imagine what you must have gone through Angela' he started. 'Back then, when you saved me, I really tried to think I was going to get used to my new body, my new life. I'm afraid I've failed you all, I lied to myself and tried to run away from everything what reminded me of that miserable false hope I had. The only thing that I was sure of, was that I was not going to get any better if I had stayed.'

Genji's honesty shocked Mercy, even though she felt the real reason why he left before, hearing it at the moment hit her unexpectedly. Genji chuckled 'You know, I've travelled quite a lot, tried to find some reason why I shouldn't just rip off that armor of mine. At that time, I've heard about problems occurring in between Overwatch and U.N, but didn't think it was going to lead to that...' he whispered leaving the rest of this sentence for Mercy's thoughts. She knew what was it leading to. 'I stationed in London when I met someone. I think I was at break of giving up back then, you see, and he saved me.'

'Who was that?' Mercy asked automatically being led by her curiosity.

'An Omnic - Tekhartha Zenyatta.' Genji answered, twisting his fingers after putting the cup to the side.

Previous exhaustion, by this time, was completely gone for Mercy.

'Before, I thought that Japan was my only home and couldn't imagine my life anywhere else. Although, after all that happened I thought I lost my home forever. Zenyatta became my mentor, and I followed him to Nepal. To a beautiful temple hidden in the snowy mountains. It's an amazing place, Angela' he smiled at those words and continued 'I was lost, but Zenyatta helped me discover that there is more of me than just a pile of metal stacked to my devastated body'

Angela couldn't help but smile softly and whispered 'You seem well now, Genji', and when he looked straight into her eyes, so confident and serious, she felt like the air was sucked out of her lungs.

'I am a different man now. I Am whole'.

They just stared at each other until Genji resumed 'Time flew differently in there and it took some more time for any information to be delivered' he lowered his sight almost as if he was ashamed. 'The explosion, Reyes and Morrison dead, Overwatch disbanding, the trial. I heard about all that weeks after, saw you in the court with Winston.' Angela squeezed her wrists remembering that day, the accusations and interrogations. 'I didn't leave Nepal immediately, I wasn't ready to face the world I so longed to avoid, even if it meant leaving you all. I was selfish and even though I thought I learned a lot from monks, I made a mistake. Zenyatta reached out to me again, helped me to reorganize my mind'

Mercy looked at him mysteriously and whispered 'what made you come back?'. Such a simple question, but she felt that she needed to know the answer immediately, she hasn't felt so impatient in years.

Genji took a deep breath "I feel something coming Angela, and this time, I cannot hide. I have to face my brother and whatever is awaiting".

Do you have anywhere to stay now?' Mercy asked some time later, looking at Genji. She couldn't help but feel her eyes closing. It was past midnight and as much as she wanted to keep talking, she had to remember about her work on the next day.

'I suppose I will find somewhere, I did not realize it's so late Angela, forgive me for keeping you awake' he said with guilt in his voice and stood up. Mercy answered immediately, getting up even faster than she'd want.

'Stay' she said quickly and hoped the darkness hid her blushing cheeks, she didn't want him to go. 'There is plenty of room here, let me prepare something for you' and without waiting for his answer doctor left the room.

Genji stood there without knowing what to do. He felt that rejecting Mercy's offer would be rather impolite, besides he couldn't help but to be secretly happy for the invitation.

Angela came back after a while with a pile of blankets in her arms 'I hope the sofa will suffice for the time being, we can look for something better tomorrow' and smiled widely at him while organizing his 'bed'.

She was about to leave the room when Genji grabbed her arm gently and whispered shyly, avoiding her surprised gaze 'thank you Angela'. His voice sounded so fondly that Mercy's heart beat faster 'I-I'm glad to be back'.

He let her hands go and took a step back. She gazed at him without any words escaping her mouth and she felt the situation to be so intimate, it scared her.

She quickly put a wide smile on her face and wished Genji to sleep well. Soon after softly closing the door she threw herself on the bed, holding her red hot cheeks, breathing rapidly and trying to keep her sobs within thin walls. She was not prepared for that, she was not prepared for Genji to come back, Especially now, when she felt her life to be stabilized. Some hidden wound started to open again causing her intense pain.

Years ago Mercy tried her best to forget about the green-haired man, tried to hide how devastating his leave was.

She loved him, there was no doubt.

She had realized that one year after Genji was brought half-alive to Overwatch headquarters. He was always there for her, helping her with patients in his spare time when he was not sent on a mission, walked around gardens and talked, and supported her during fights. Yet, for a long time she hadn't realized the wreck of a human he'd become and when she did, it was too late.

'He is so different now' Mercy whispered through her sobs quietly. Her aching heart finally started to calm down and her tired eyes closed.

Genji stood in the living room motionless and although his bed was prepared, he didn't feel like sleeping at all. He rubbed his eyes and silently walked towards the main entrance, once he was outside he sat under the nearby tree. The city was distant and quiet, no wonder Mercy decided to live here. The Bright beam of city light was perfectly visible from the hill, an ideal distraction Genji needed right now. He felt that seeing Angela was unavoidable but now, the guilt of disturbing her peace started to soak into his body. Her face looked tired, dark circles under her eyes and visible wrinkles around her eyes and mouth corners. Somehow it didn't surprise him; she was a workaholic and always placed other peoples' needs before hers.

The younger Shimada closed his eyes and took a deep breath, enjoying the cool night breeze. 'I disturbed something, master. And I don't think I will be able to stop it' he whispered as if he spoke to Zenyatta. Then his sight fell on the small house and his thoughts were filled of its owner. His fist tightened and cheeks felt hotter. 'She suffered enough' thought Genji remembering why he has to stay away from the doctor who kept him alive all this time.