He felt the blood rushing across his face, a burning pain, a stabbing pain. The world spun around him in a hazy blur. He felt weightless and then he felt nothing. He tried to get up, to move, yet his body wouldn't listen. His vision was blurred but he could distinctly make out a figure standing before a wall of flames. The figure muttered something he couldn't recognize before fading over the lip of the cliff. He reached a hand up to the disappearing figure only to realize it was no longer there. The stump of what use to be his arm fell limply by his side. The vision from his eyes blurred as he gazed up into the night-sky. A shock of golden light was the last thing he saw before consciousness fled him.
Weightlessness was the only thing he could process. It was as if he was adrift in the endless ocean. An incessant beeping, however, brought the realization that he was not adrift. It also made him realize that he was not dead. He forced his eyes open with a groan. His body felt so weak. Just taking in his surroundings took every bit of his focus. There were various machines scattered throughout the large room. The hum of each taking in a myriad of data echoed in the confines of the windowless room. Dim fluorescent lights washed everything in a faint glow. He really was floating, he noted, in a cylindrical container filled with what he assumed was some sort of medical fluid. There were several tubes and cables that attached to his body at various points. A respiratory mask was latched to his face. A familiar shock of gold brought his attention to a figure standing before him.
"Good morning, Mr. Shimada," the woman greeted warmly. She wore a dark blue turtleneck sweater, a black skirt and leggings underneath a long white lab coat. She had a clipboard in one hand and held a pen in the other. She appeared to be collecting data. "Are you feeling any discomfort currently?"
"Where am I," he responded groggily. The voice that came out was robotic, he noticed.
"You are in a secure Overwatch medical facility," the woman responded. There was a softness to her voice that hid at a terrible sadness. "I'm Doctor Angela Ziegler. Tell me; can you remember your name?"
"...Genji," he replied after a moment of searching his memory. He attempted to massage his temple but his body again refused to cooperate. "Shimada Genji."
"Very good," the woman replied. "And, aside from my name, do you remember who I am?"
Genji searched his memory for any inkling of who this woman could be. She'd introduced herself yet he couldn't quite remember. He remembered coffee, passing notes in secret, various rendezvous. He remembered the name Overwatch and meeting in secret. "I was... feeding information to Overwatch," he started hesitantly. Everything seemed so fuzzy and far away. "It... was about the Shimada clan. You were my contact. We'd met a few times... over the course of a month."
He saw the sad smile on her face as she jotted down more notes onto her clipboard. Angela let out a pained sigh, massaged her temples and then focused back on Genji. Her eyes were red, he noted, tired.
"What is the last thing you remember," she asked reluctantly. The injured man thought hard. His eyes closed as he sifted through the cloud that was his jumbled memory. He delved deeper into his mind to try to piece together his recent past. A clash of steel, indistinct yelling, he felt a wave of sadness; betrayal.
"My cover was blown," he replied painfully, eyes still shut tight as he remembered. The beeping of his heart monitor increased with his duress. Angela observed with a worried expression. "My clan –my brother caught word of my deception. He confronted me... we fought."
Genji opened his eyes and looked to the doctor. She held his gaze and shared his pain. A torrent of emotion filled the young man. Had he not been suspended in some strange fluid he was sure he'd feel the tears running down his face. "He killed me," he finished. It wasn't the act that hurt him but more the knowledge that, in the end, Hanzo had chosen to side with the clan than with his own brother.
Angela nodded an affirmative adding another note to her clipboard. There was a heavy silence that filled the room as she planned out how best to explain the situation to the heavily injured man. She took a deep breath and calmed her nerves before steeling herself.
"You are correct," she stated professionally. "That was three months ago."
More silence. Genji stared at the woman incredulously. His heartrate began to rise again. She flipped through several papers on her clipboard before turning it toward the stasis chamber. A picture. His body lay at the bottom of a sheer drop. His legs were shattered, an arm mangled. There was blood everywhere. Burn marred much of his exposed skin and that which wasn't was covered in viscera. He shouldn't have been alive, he thought to himself.
"You'd sent word to us that you were discovered," she said, breaking him from his thoughts. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and continued. "It wasn't hard to find you. After all, your fight with your brother left a lot of collateral damage. Just had to follow the fires. Unfortunately, we weren't fast enough. When we finally arrived, this was the state you were in."
The recurring silence once again filled the void between the two. Genji's focus seemed to drift away as he attempted to come to grips with what had happened. The doctor game him the time to process everything. She didn't want to press the man too hard after just finally waking up but the messages from her superiors were forcing her hand. Just then another notice appeared on her wrist-com. 'Has he agreed, yet?' It read. Angela immediately deleted the message and replied with her own. 'Give it time.'It infuriated her how impatient Commander Reyes could be. At least the Strike Commander would listen to reason on occasion. Times like these made her regret joining the organization.
"What is to become of me," Genji asked breaking the woman from her musings. He had a look of defeat on his face. Tired resignation to the fate that befell him. It broke her heart to see the vibrant young man she had come to know reduced to such a state. She sighed and forced herself to act the Doctor.
"I have been ordered by my superiors to inform you of your two options," she stated, breaking Genji out of his musings. In all honesty she wanted to put this discussion off onto another time. Several months after he woke up preferably. When he made no inclination of interrupting she continued. "Your first option is to sit in your stasis chamber while we continue assembling your synthetic limbs and organ replacements. Once they're complete well begin the process of mending what is left of your body. Once you're successfully rehabilitated you'll be free to leave. This all will be free of charge; as a thank you for your services and sacrifice during this mission. Just note that this option can take years of rehabilitation while your body acclimates itself to the synthetic replacements."
"And the second option," he asked tentatively. She took a moment to gather herself. It became apparent that she did not want to reveal what the second option was.
"We begin immediate cyberization of your body and you will undergo treatment to better facilitate the transition. What organs you have lacking will be replaced with machines to regulate your body's natural homeostasis. What remaining body parts will be cybernetically augmented; your sight, hearing, etcetera. You will become more machine than man, however, you will also become stronger and more agile. You will become a living weapon. Rehabilitation will not take as long since we will be fine-tuning everything to your preference. However, taking this option will bind you to the organization. You will become a tool for use by Blackwatch under the command of Commander Reyes," she paused for a moment and chewed her bottom lip. "Bear in mind that your decision doesn't need to be immediate. You may take a long as you want to choose your path. Yet, as a pacifist I would highly suggest against the second option."
Having said her peace Angela gave the man a slight bow and turned to leave. Before she could get two steps towards the door the doctor heard the question that would haunt her dreams for years.
"What has become of my brother and the Shimada Clan," he asked with deadly intent. She turned and saw the look of tempered fury in his eyes. Gone was the joy that he had once held. Angela knew what he was thinking. Even if she lied to him he would know the truth. Averting her gaze, she brushed her hair aside.
"We've been running raids with the information you've supplied for us since the incident," she started hesitantly. "However, the Shimada clan is more resourceful than we gave them credit for."
"And Hanzo?"
"Missing," she replied. "He went into hiding shortly after we recovered you. Whatever he's been doing has been completely hidden from not only us but from the Shimada clan as well."
The doctor heard him mutter a 'coward' before affixing his gaze back onto her. She wanted to leave. To not have to look at his smoldering eyes. She could practically feel the hate that radiated from him like a bonfire. "That will be all, doctor," he finally said, dismissing the woman. He closed his eyes and drifted back into unconsciousness within his tank.
Doctor Ziegler quickly left the room. She'd never felt as defeated before. It wasn't the pain that losing her parents during the omnic crisis was; a gripping, powerless feeling. This was a wrenching pain; twisting. A pain that came from failing after giving herself entirely to a goal. She wanted to save Genji, to repay him for his service, and to thank him for all he'd done and given. Not just as his contact and pseudo-mission partner, but as a friend. She let out a tired sigh as the echoes of her footsteps reverberated down the hall, growing fainter as the neared her office. Fading away like the man who she'd grown so close to.
Her office was a cluttered mess. Various folders, tablets and other notes and books lay strewn about haphazardly. Angela sat at her desk with her head in her hands. She ran her fingers through her golden hair tiredly. There was a knock at her door; three gentle raps. She sighed, yet didn't respond. The tired doctor absently wondered if ignoring the visitor would come back to haunt her. Figuring it to be better to deal with the unwanted guest than to sort through any disciplinary actions from ignoring a superior officer, she called out a tired, "enter."
Proving her intuition true Captain Ana Amari entered the room with a curious expression as the older woman took in the mess. Angela attempted to stand and salute the woman, but was immediately dismissed by the Captain.
"That won't be necessary," she said placatively. She wore a gentle smile that seemed to compliment the slight wrinkles she was starting to develop. "I'm not here as the Captain right now, just a concerned friend. When you didn't show up at the meeting I had grown worried."
The doctor mentally chided herself. She'd forgotten all about the meeting. She was supposed to meet with the other department heads to discuss everything current with the organization. Mostly it was another opportunity for the Strike Commander and Commander Reyes to butt heads again. Something that had been growing more frequent over the past few years.
"Sorry," Angela said. Ana gave a soft laugh and placed a hand delicately on the doctor's. She told her that it was alright and she understood. There were few people who could grasp how busy Angela was keeping herself with Genji's recovery.
"So how is the young man," Ana asked, leaning back into her seat. "I would assume that was the reason you'd forgotten the meeting?"
"He's awake finally," she replied with a sad smile. "He's become colder than I remember, but at least he's awake."
"Did you inform him of his options?" She asked with a frown. She hated the situation just as much as Angela did. There were enough weapons in the world, there didn't need to be more.
"I did," she felt her heart sink with her reply. "I can already tell he's going to opt for the cybernetics. I even offered the synthetics for free, but he was so angry. I wish I could change his mind, but I'm afraid that he's forgotten about much of our time together. He only remembers that I was his Overwatch contact."
The two women went quiet for a moment, each in their own thoughts. Ana looked at a picture that hung on a nearby wall. It was a group photo from Angela's first year in the Overwatch. Jack, Gabe and Ana stood off to the left side with a young Fareeha in between herself and Jack. Reinhardt was leaning forward his arms practically around everyone. Angela was bright-eyed and joyful standing behind Torbjorn with a young Jesse McCree standing behind her. Gerard and Ororo both to the sides looking as smug as they ever were. Ana smiled at the memory of happier days. She drifted back to Gabe's dour expression and was reminded of how she'd failed to keep her friends together.
"I want you to promise me something," Ana stated, not taking her eyes off the photo. Angela looked at her with a curious expression. "No matter how bad it gets, no matter how angry he becomes, or how dark the times may be; don't give up on him."
When Ana finally locked eyes with Angela she could see the hurt that lay within. In that moment Angela knew what failing to help Genji would lead to. The doctor nodded her head bringing a small smile to the older woman's face.
"Perhaps you could succeed where I failed," Ana stated with the smallest bit of hope. After Angela nodded an affirmative to the request Ana stood from her seat and bade the doctor goodnight. "You should get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a rough day."
"I will," she replied. Ana smiled and then left the office, gently closing the door behind her. Deciding to heed the Captain's order, the blonde haired woman got up from her seat and made her way to her own room. When she reached her quarters she quickly undid her hair, undressed and practically fell onto her bed. She couldn't remember the last time she had a good nights sleep. The past few months had been restless and stressful. Rolling onto her back, she closed her eyes and finally fell asleep.
A/N: And there we go. First Gency fic I've written. Heavily inspired by a few stories I've been reading as of late. I think I might try to tie it into the other Overwatch story I've written (which never got updated since the two chapters I was working on in tandem had been lost on a computer that died with no back ups. TT-TT. So much work lost.)
Not entirely sure I like how this one ended up turning out. Might just be because I'm rusty. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things. Anyway, thanks for reading. Hopefully I won't lose the will to work on this one as I did my last story.