Chapter 1: Untimely Nostalgia
Light slowly seeped between the blinds, slowly grazing across his grizzled cheeks. The warmth was soothing and calming, reminding him of days long since past. His eyes slowly opened, revealing his room. The decorations are minimal but there were some trinkets scattered around the room. An American flag hung on the wall and pictures of locations that looked to be from different cities across the world. His holster was hung on a hook which his Peacekeeper was cradled within and a western styled hat propped on corner of his desk chair. Then the pain hit him like a donkey kick in the chest if his brain was in his chest. The light pierced his eyes like daggers, sending slivers of pain into his head. He quickly pulled the pillow over his head. He was incredibly hung over. After a moment and the pain had slowly subsided, a weak knocking was heard at his door.
"Jesse!? You alive in there? Winston said he saw you drinking an ass load of whiskey then singing cowboy songs till three in morning." the weak voice called from behind the door.
Jesse McCree mumbled something beneath his breath about the voice being too loud and got up from his bed. He slowly stumbled to the door and cracked it open. In front of his door stood a short Asian girl with long brown hair. She was wearing a bunny T-Shirt and denim shorts. She looked up at him and down then with a shocked face covered her eyes.
"Dude! Put some pants on!" she cried and covered her eyes.
Jesse looked down and realized he didn't have a shirt or pants on. He quickly closed the door and scrounged for his black pants and red shirt. Even though Hana was basically Jesse's kid sister, there was something to be said about decency. Once he had properly clothed himself he opened the door and the girl pulled her hands away from her face and gave him an inquisitive look.
"You look like someone hit you with a semi, Jesse" the girl prodded.
"Listen Hana, if you woke me up to give me beauty tips, best pack it in." Jesse croaked.
"Just sayin, I was wondering when you were gonna come out of your room. We're three days from a mission and you're sleeping in till noon while everyone is practicing and getting ready. Everything ok?" she questioned.
"Just...been having a lot of memories Hana, this whole recall thing hasn't been easy for me. Last time Overwatch was this active, Morrison and Gabe fucked that right up." Jesse sighed.
Hana looked at him with curious eyes then grinned.
"Well, as long as I'm here, that shit won't fly with me. We're family and family sticks together." she cheered.
Jesse cracked a grin. Hana Song, a.k.a , was a new addition to the team. She quickly found her place on the team due to her fiery personality and extreme skill with her meka. Her naivety was a breath of fresh air to the team of grizzled veterans, most of which were around during the original fall of Overwatch. Jesse remembered when he was a fresh recruit to the team. That memory had felt like a lifetime ago and yet it still felt so vivid.
"Hey" Hana said as she prodded Jesse's chest.
Jesse had completely missed that fact he had been staring out into space.
"We gonna go get food or what? Torbjorn is working on my meka and I slept through breakfast too." she admitted.
Jesse felt his stomach rumble and chuckled.
"Alright squirt, let's grab some grub, this cowboy needs some bacon and eggs." he said as he grabbed his trademark hat.
"Sounds good, Mister Sheriff" chidded Hana and made finger pistols at him.
The two walked down the hall towards the mess hall.
Maybe someday everything will return to normal...eventually.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The mess hall was mostly deserted besides Tracer, who gave a quick wave then continued her meal. Jesse shuffled to the food line, grabbing a handful of bacon and some eggs. The food at Watchpoint Gibraltar was decent but nothing like his homemade cooking.
One of these days, I should whip up some real homemade country style cookin'. Maybe some steaks and mashed potatoes.
Once he grabbed his coffee, he sat down in his usual spot in the corner with Hana. He quietly ate his food as Hana recalled her video game stories from last night.
"And that's how I pulled that game from out of my team's ass! Bunch of fucking scrubs, like I can only carry so hard. Anyways, what's up? You seem more quiet than usual."
"It's nothing, like I said, been thinkin' bout things".
"What kinda things?" Hana questioned.
"You really ain't gonna let this go huh?".
Hana grinned and shook her head from side to side.
"Fine, since you seem hell bent on knowin' i'll tell ya. Before Overwatch, I was part of the Deadlock Gang. Bunch of bad hombres they were. Well, one day Overwatch caught on to our little operation and crashed our party. I had two decisions: jail time for the rest of my life or join Overwatch. Needless to say, I choose the obvious option." Jesse said as he took a long sip of his coffee.
"Woah woah, hold on. You were in, like, a bandit gang? Like from of those cheesy western movies?" she snickered.
Jesse stop and rubbed his chin before leaning back and giving a hearty laugh.
"Ha! Yeah I guess you're right. Pretty stereotypical come to think about it".
"Did you ever get into a duel with another guy?" she asked.
"Well, come to think of it…" Jesse said as Hana sputtered and started laughing.
"Anyways, when I first joined Overwatch, I was put into the spec ops division called Blackwatch. Super secret covert stuff that shit was. That's how I learned everything I know from...Gabe. Anywho, I was the new kid in town and everyone treated me like a damned child. "Jesse stay away from that!", "Jesse, careful or you'll poke your eye out", "Jesse, don't eat that before bed". But there was someone who was always nice to me, regardless of how much of a little punk I was. Ana Amari. She treated me as if I we're her own son which was both a good and bad thing. Though she constantly nagged me, I could tell she meant well." Jesse chuckled then his eyes grew dark.
"After fuckin' Morrison and Gabe tore our family apart, Ana went underground and no one saw hide nor hair of her. Tore me and Reinhardt a new hole in our hearts. To this day I wonder if she's even still alive."
"You said Amari? I heard from Winston that she had a daughter too right?" Hana pondered.
"Yeah...Fareeha. Haven't heard anything from her either." Jesse's face grew grim.
"A...Anyways Jesse, we should probably get some practice in right? If your aim is better than mine, I'll fuckin' cry." she giggled.
Jesse's grim expression evaporated and was replaced by a playful smirk.
"Heh, alright pipsqueak, then grab some tissues cuz you're gonna need em."
They both got up and after throwing away their trash began to make their way to the outdoor shooting range. Hana continued her usual chatter as they made their way to the shooting range but Jesse was lost in thought.
Fareeha...that name brings back a lot of memories...hope she's doing alright...