Anchored to Shore
Full Summary: The members of Overwatch are coming back together but McCree still doesn't feel right about returning and seems to distance himself from the others. Stevie is a single mother trying to raise her daughter Marina while attempting to get her Bachelors, work on an Internship and a job all the while living under the roof with a mother she has grown distant with. McCree's heart is in the earth, its stable strong yet always growing and adapting. Stevie's heart is with the sea, forever changing, a mystery but motherly all the same. Land and Sea meet one day on a beach and that meeting changes their courses in life.
Disclaimer: The setting is between the times Overwatch is coming back together and after Jesse met Ashe however Echo will not be in this until more information and her character is released. In addition as the tags said there will be themes of suicide and hard cases of depression as the story progresses so just another warning here. If there are questions also about in which the universe if taking place feel free to message me more for clarification.
Chapter 1:
The sun hadn't even come up when the lone cowboy started his drive. A cigar hung from his lips as he drove his caramel eyes looking out over the distant city before him. The new Overwatch base had been dead quiet when he left it. It was still hard to get used to being back. He glances at the review mirror he saw the large building still visible among the other buildings. It wasn't fancy, nothing like it had been but it still was Overwatch. He sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. It had been great to see some people again but not everyone.
A sea-salt scented air washed over him from the open windows as he drove down the quiet roads. Northern California had been the new location and it wasn't too bad really but the city itself was busy and crowded, something McCree had never liked. He blew out a smoke ring from his cigar as he enjoyed the soft cool air on his skin. He had no idea where he was driving he just wanted to get away from the new building and out of the city that was all around him. People were already started to stir for work but it was nowhere near as hectic as it could be in daylight. He stopped at a light and saw a group of homeless people moving about from the main part of the streets, he frowned at the sight. It had been a golden age everyone had said but there was still darkness that crept around the big cities and hidden villages. "I don't think it will ever go away….well at least not in my time." The light turned green and he continued his venture, the cigar back in his mouth as he drove through a tunnel the lights flashing over his window until it opened up to a beautiful view of the ocean. He saw the edges of the cliffs jagged down to the powerful waves crashing into them tearing into the mountain side over and over again, till eventually they would become a sea cave as many other had along the coast.
The road rounded and bended around the mountain until a small towns came into view. McCree didn't detour from his main road, however, he just kept following it. Time trickled on until it had been an hour since he left the base. The truck shivered down the road just as McCree started to see a bit of golden liquid burn on the horizon. It was at this time, that he passed into another little town, down at the base of the large mountains of California. The land wasn't built up so much around the road, there were houses sprinkled here and there, establishment's but mostly it was nature that held on. There was the beaches and green fields where fruits and vegetables were planted accepting the already salty cold air. The cowboy suddenly felt the urge to stop and walk around. No one was really up yet, safe for a few cars passing here and there in a slow laid back sort of fashion. Jesse looked about for a place to park until he found a lot that would lead down to the beach. The lot was deserted when he pulled into a space.
As he stepped out of his old truck, he put out his cigar on the ground and straightened his hat. Many wouldn't recognize the outlaw without his signature belt and serape but in his civilian clothes he just looked like a normal cowboy, not an old Deadlock or a previous Blackwatch agent. He looked relatively normal, though not that many people would see him anyway at this time of morning. He walked down the boardwalk staring out into the sand and sea. A mist was coming from the crashing waves. He shivered, it was a bit chilly than what he originally thought. The cowboy saw a stone picnic table up ahead and sat down, now getting a better look at the dark sea that stretched before him. The sun was still shyly making its way to the sky but the large fog from the sea kept it at bay, the same fog that danced among the ground around him. He should have headed back to base, people would be up now but a part of didn't really care all that much. They probably knew he would do something like this, he had done it not too long ago.
A slam of a car door brought him out of his reality. Someone at the beach this early? It shouldn't have surprised him, people usually go fishing or jogging at this time of the day. He turned to see a woman probably a little younger than himself pulling something out of her old yellow jeep. It looked even older than McCree's used red truck and that was saying something. It was old. Though what she pulled out was an old surf board. He sat up and looked over the woman, she didn't look dressed for surfing. Denim blue shorts and light blue jacket, but there she was with a surfboard and something else strapped over her shoulders. When she had slammed her door she nearly jumped when she saw McCree. The surfer just stood there and blinked at him, shocked perhaps even embarrassed it was hard to tell. Jesse just stared back, startled that he scared her but realizing his manners he nodded to her and smiled, lifting up his hat from his head in a gentlemanly sort of fashion. The woman with golden hair, just looked, nodded and locked up her jeep. Then taking her things, she walked down the steps to the beach but threw a worried look back to Jesse before disappearing to the beach.
McCree felt a sting of curiosity though but just a pinch. Was none of his business anyway, and the woman didn't seem like the talking type. "Probably made her nervous being a random man just sitting on a bench alone. Almost makes me sound like a creeper." He frowned at this and sighed, laying his elbows on the table and returned his staring to the sea, mind already wandering from the surfer girl. The sea… It was so dark, was it always that dark? He never really paid much attention to the ocean. Jesse saw it when he went on missions back in day but he usually stayed away from it when he could. He liked the earth and desert just fine, even the forest was better than the ocean. The land is where he felt most comfortable: stable and secure. The sea was a whole other world out there. He shivered at the thought. What was in that water anyway? The ocean still wasn't fully discovered right? Who knows what creatures lived down there? Jesse's eyes focused on the waves. He suddenly imaged being on a small boat out in the middle of the sea. The waves tossing and churning about the small boat making it rock back and forth, up and down. McCree winced making a face. He shook his head and laid it down at his arms, a wave of sleepiness and nausea came over him. Just the thought of those waves tossing him about like toy made his stomach churn. McCree thought for a moment of going back to the base but the nausea told him to stay put, so he did. However, soon the sound of the waves and the soft breeze started to sprinkle sleeping sand into his eyes causing him to nod off to sleep.
...
The woman had been too much inside her head as soon as she had woken up before her alarm had gone off. What was the day? Saturday, okay Marina didn't need to go to preschool, mom was watching her. Which meant she herself had work had no internship today, no school. However, she had to work on her paper that was due soon and needed to prepare Sunday for Monday's day at internship. She needed to make sure she had enough gas to get to internship then to school then to job. Did Marina have enough snacks for preschool this week? She couldn't remember, damn she would have to check and then go to the store. By the time Stephanie had already conducted a to-do list, she was already fully clothed and making herself a cup of coffee. Her body shivered. She needed to get out and see the sea, now. Stephanie had glanced over Marina who had already started to wake up, her four year old always waking up as soon as her mother moved. A poorly made plush in the small child's arms as the little girl stood in the door way of their shared bedroom.
"Mama?" Had come the smallest of whispers. Stevie had turned to see little Marina, in a long t-shirt used as a nightgown, much too big for her. Her grey-blue eyes blinking up into her mother's dark blue ones. For that short amount of time Stevie snapped out of her busy mind and kneeled down to her daughter's level. She gave a small kiss to the child's forehead.
"Hey sweetheart," Stevie's voice was soft and hushed like the waves upon the sea. She brushed some dark curly hair from her daughter's eyes. "Mama's just going out to the waves. I'll meet you and gram at the diner all right?" Marina's eyebrows furrowed, she knew something was up, she always knew.
"You okay mama?" Stevie smiled tiredly, yes she always knew.
"Yes, just couldn't go back to sleep-"
"Too much on your mind?" Stevie eyes widened then closed her eyes, nodding.
"Yes."
Marina frowned then paused clutching the plush which by the looks of the old fabric dangling about it could have been a jellyfish or an octopus. "You going to talk to Papo?" Stevie felt a pressure to her eyes and nodded once more. She took in a deep breath then releasing it.
"Yeah, just felt I needed to go talk to him today and see the sea." Marina nodded knowingly. She closed the gap between her mother giving her a hug and Stevie returned it with a strong warm one. She kissed the top of her daughters head. "I love you baby. You are the best thing that has happened in my life, you know?" Marina nodded as the warble was evident in her mother's voice.
"I know mama, you always say that." Marina smiled back to her mother who just given her a tighter hug. Stevie kissed Marina on her head once more, before pulling away gently. "It's true though." The woman had a wider smile on her lips before tickling Marina who giggled softly batting her mother's hand away. Stevie laughed before pulling her daughter in for one more hug before letting go and standing. "Now you go on back to bed, I'll leave a note for gram and we can all have breakfast together before I go to work at Susannah's all right, sound good?" Marina looked back up at her mother with those grey eyes and nodded.
"Yep," she waved her little chubby hand to her mother before sneaking back into their shared room. "I love you mama."
"Love you to baby girl, see you soon."
...
Stevie had made sure Marina was asleep once more before she scribbled a note on the fridge's notepad, gathered up her bag and then headed out the door. The sun wasn't even up yet and the air was chilly. She slipped on her thin blue jacket before tossing her bag into her old pastel yellow jeep. She then moved to a small storage shed and carefully pulled out an old surfboard. Stevie held it for a moment close to her before sighing and moving back to the jeep to gently slide it in. After that she stepped into her jeep and took of down the scenic road to the beach.
She drove about twenty minutes before she got to the parking lot. Her mind had been buzzing once more since she had left home again. Was Marina all right? Stevie needed to not let her daughter worry about her so much, she showed too much. Marina would pick-up on that and made that would damage her psychologically and it would be Stevie's fault. "Damn it!" She slammed her hand against the stirring wheel as she pulled in, not even noticing an old crimson pickup and a stranger a table not too far down the boardwalk. The woman continued fighting within herself. "Mom told you to go see a psychiatrist. But where the hell am I going to get the money? The base will cover it. Bull shit! They don't jack squat." She growled to herself as she slammed the car door shut. That slam suddenly awoke her out of her thoughts for she soon met the eyes of the stranger at the bench. She froze. People weren't here usually and if they were they were jogging not sitting at the table staring. She then noticed the truck. Shit! How did she not notice that? She would have driven further down just to avoid another human being at that moment.
Stevie remained still for a moment as did the stranger perhaps just as surprised to see her. He made the first move of nodding, smiling slightly (or so she thought, it was hard to tell at this distance) and taking off his –was that a cowboy hat? Lord he was tourist. She inwardly made a noise of disgust, damn it. Though she thought she might as well let him know she saw him but nodding to him. She negated her eyes from him after that however and grabbed another bag from the backseat. Stevie then walked around to the back and took out her surfboard. She felt something bump against her hip. A small pistol she had purchased after Marina was born. It was reassuring to have it there, not that she had needed it….yet. However the presence of a stranger-a male stranger at that, made her nervous. Though not nervous enough to fire it mistakenly. She was nervous but not stupid.
Stevie pushed the bag over her shoulder and gently held the surfboard, she felt the man's eyes on her. She tried to push her anxiety out of her mind as she glanced over her shoulder at him and headed down the stairs. The sun was coming up now, making it probably a little after 5: 30. Stevie pushed herself through the sandy beach and walked a ways. The woman wasn't inclined to stay near where the man was, but it wasn't not only that her thinking spot wasn't so close to the stairs anyway it was further. So she continued walking for another thirty minutes until she came to a hollowed out sea cave. The high tide consumed most of it the land there this early in the morning. She slipped off her shoes and socks and walked the rest of the way into the water. As soon as the water hit her it was as if something spiritual occured. All her troubled, doubts worries dissipated with the strength and pull of the sea, dragging it away from the ocean woman. Stevie released a breath and closed her eyes. The waves were cold and tempermental, nothing like the ones from her birthplace had been but it was all right. It was the ocean, just a different part of it and that's all that mattered. She let the waves wash over her bare legs for a few minutes before pressing forward. She was close to her haven, her temporary paradise. The sea cave gave her much needed privacy. As Stevie reached it there was a large ledge above the waves. There were jagged rocks under it and small ledges too that if one were skilled enough they could use those to get to the said ledge. Stevie stood on tip toes as she slip surfboard onto the ledge that was above her before nimbly climbing her way up to it. It was just enough space for the surfboard and herself.
This specific location wasn't really visited much. It was fenced off above and not many people went out of their way to get to the cave. IF they did get to the cave not many would try to climb to the ledge or at least not at the time of day Stevie would go to it. Never this early with high tide. She situated herself comfortably on the ledge and looked out over the sea and while her hands gently ran across the blue and orange striped body of the surf board. Stephanie didn't say anything and just closed her eyes listening to the sea until she eventually reached in her bag pulling out an antique picture frame. She held it close to her. Her loose pony tail came free as if the breeze had freed it for her, making her golden hair dance about her like a halo. The woman breathed in an out, until it became rhythmic with the waves. She continued to be quiet until she slowly opened her eyes and glanced at the picture placing it on the surfboard gingerly. "Hey Papa, I'm sorry, it's been awhile….." The woman spoke softly while the waves hushed out the sound around her, creating a small bit of sanctuary for her, and her alone.
…...
Eeeeheeehh!
McCree suddenly snapped awake with a loud gasp and looked around dazed. His eyes suddenly landed on the sound of the screecher. A seagull stared at him with a blank expression before screeching at him again and flying away. Jesse grumbled and rubbed his eyes. "Well good morning to you too." The cowboy stretched, yawned and again looked around to suddenly realize the sun was up. What time was it and how long had it been asleep? He glanced at his phone, which despite there being a few new messages he decided to ignore, it read 6:30. He rubbed his eyes again looking over to his truck to see the pastel yellow jeep was still there. Guess she was still here as well. He stood up and stretched one more time before his stomach let out an angry growl. He put his mechanical hand over it, damn he didn't each much the night before and now he was paying for it. "All right all right I'll get you something to eat." He muttered looking around looking at the road that would lead further into the main part of the town. "Guess I could eat here somewhere." The cowboy thought tiredly as he hopped into his truck and then proceeded to follow the road to the main street.
Now that the sun was out people were definitely up now, opening their shops, walking their dogs or jogging some even waved to him as he drove down the street. He didn't feel the need to rush here, waving at someone walking their golden retriever. It was calm, casual, laid back, just what he liked. All the shops along the main street were all brick and petite, not a big fancy corporation name in sight. These were all mom and pop joints as they used to call them. The windows were still down in his truck providing the air to blow about him bringing new smells from the restaurants and bakeries, all of which made his mouth water. "All right Jesse now don't get picky just pick a place and eat there. You probably should head back to the base soon anyway." The unanswered messages blinked in his mind. He would look at him when he got to restaurant. He had a feeling he knew who they were from but he really didn't feel like talking still…not yet. McCree pushed the thought out of his mind, he'll deal with them later right now it was time to find food.
Most of these places looked as if they didn't really serve breakfast accept a few bakeries but it wasn't really into bready stuff at the moment. Though as he was stopped at a light something caught his attention. "Well lookie here didn't know they had a diner out in these parts still." He whistled at the sight of it on the corner, pushing up his cowboy hat to see it clearly. It was a small little place with red and faded yellow awnings with red flowers that bobbed their heads lazily in the breeze. An old sign stuck out from the building reading 'Leo's Diner' in blue and gold letters. A bit of nostalgic hit the old cowboy and with that Jesse nodded to himself as he took a left turn down the street where the old diner was. He pulled into a spot and jumped out to be welcomed with the smell of newly fried bacon and coffee. Dear lord the coffee smelled good, nothing like the dirt at Big Earl's diner that he used to frequent on Route 66. His stomach growled again annoyed, "I'm gonna feed you so much you will stop all crying till supper!" He thought as he opened the windowed door being welcomed by a small chime of a bell and sweet voice of Dolly Parton.