His mouth gummy with sleep, Jesse forces his lids open and shut, groaning as new aches from the night he'd spent on a cheap motel mattress with cheap motel whiskey make themselves known. A quick glance at the clock reveals it's only around 6. Weeks on his own couldn't kick the ingrained habit, it seemed. Rolling over onto his stomach, he gropes blindly for the remote, then flicks on the television. He doesn't even have to change the channel.

Images of fire and ash immediately jump out at him, a picture of a world gone to hell. Firefighters, paramedics, and Omnics rush into the rubble for survivors, working together to pull out the injured and the dead as Jesse watches without thinking, his mind blank. Snippets of dialogue brush past him, phrases like "explosion", "Overwatch", and "ongoing search."

He doesn't remember reaching for a bottle.

He doesn't remember much of anything for a while.


Clinks, rhythmic as windchimes, fill the kitchen in the early morning as plates of pancakes, eggs, and greasy strips of bacon are silently passed around. It's too early yet for conversation. For now, the latenight livestreamer and the DJ are sucking down the sustenance necessary to truly join the others in alertness, chewing with steady determination as the doctor and crusader watch with visible amusement.

Soon, Genji joins them, as well, sitting down beside Angela with an alertness and grace that causes to briefly scowl. "How are you like this?" Wagging a forkful of eggs in the nonplussed cyborg's general direction at the same time that Lucio nearly nods off into his orange juice, she continues, "It's this early, yet you're fresh as a daisy!"

"It's 11, Hana," he gently corrects her, before reaching over the table to move Lucio's drink slightly to the right. "If I am rested, it is because I did not spend the entire night speaking to my adoring fans."

Setting more comfortably into her chair, she frowns. "Do you even need sleep, though?"

Though Angela bites her lip to stifle a gasp, Genji allows the comment to roll off his shoulders. "My mind is entirely too human, Ms. Song. It, like yours, will degrade without rest."

"Dudes," Lucio stares hard at the pair of them, his mouth turned down at the corners, "It's too early for this. Can y'all chill until I've at least finished my breakfast?"

"Just make sure you eat with your fork and not your face, gaeguli."

From where he stood cleaning dishes at the sink, McCree ruefully shakes his head, blowing a clump of wet bangs he'd accidentally dislodged out of his eyes since he'd taken a shower shortly after waking up and left his hat behind. Part of his upbringing, or at least the earlier bits, was knowing not to wear hats inside or at the table. They were for keeping off dust and sun and dirt, not a fashion statement.

Actually, Reyes had been a stickler about that, too.

Breakfasts hadn't been like this in good ol' Blackwatch. Not this personal. Folks were too afraid to step on any toes to ask questions, too wrapped up in their own problems to look out for the little guy. Plus, now that Genji has his head on straight - it'll be hard for Jesse to reconcile this calm and collected version of him with the bloodthirsty killer he'd been back in the day, but he'll manage - things are starting to look up.

With outlaws, ex-yakuza, and revolutionary leaders on its payroll, Overwatch isn't the same as it used to be- which sits right with Jesse because the old Overwatch fell for a reason - but it isn't Blackwatch, either. It's something entirely new, and maybe, this time, they'll get it right.

It's when he's finished stacking the pans and washing the suds from his hands that he notes that the conversation has diminished once more, meaning Reinhardt will likely take advantage of the opportunity soon to regale them with one of his war stories. Of course, the kids will groan, or at least Hana will, but that's alright.

There are plenty of worse ways to spend the morning.


A/N: So I'm going to be completely honest in saying this isn't supposed to be angsty. It's not about that. I started this for the sake of a joke, but ended up really likely the peaceful atmosphere of an everyday average breakfast in the early days Post-Recall. And that's all this is. A day among many like it where nothing of note happens, except these guys know each other a little better than before. (And also Jesse's still recovering from when the Swiss base blew up that one time ayyy)