Category: Overwatch
Rating: T
Couples: None
Warnings: Sad, German
Chapter: OneShot
Copyright: Characters & places © By Blizzard, Plot © by me
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He had not expected this. He had known, of course, but he had not truly expected it. They had gone to Eichenwalde and he had not realized the other Crusader would still be there. By the time this battle had happened, he had joined Overwatch. He had not been there when his comrades had fallen to save Germany - and a good number of surrounding countries as well - and he had not had the heart to return after his retirement. Logically, he knew that his presence would not have made a difference. If Balderich had not been able to turn the tide, he certainly wouldn't have.
Reinhardt didn't even notice that someone - if he had to guess, it was probably Ana, bless her kind heart - had shooed out the other's, the omnic at front. It was for the better, certainly. He wondered what some of the younger members would have thought had they seen that there were tears in his eyes.
He put aside his hammer, leaning it against one of the scrap-heaps that had once been Bastion-units. Resting his helmet on the ground before him, he kneeled in front of the Crusader-leader.
"Die Crusader stehen Wache." The old man snorted lightly. "Und werden es auch noch immer stehen, nichtwahr? Du wirst über Eichenwalde wachen bis die Stadt nur noch ein Wald ist..." How easy it had been to just slip back into German. Aside from some small conversations with Angela, he hardly spoke it nowadays. "Ich bin so ungefähr der einzige der noch übrig ist." He chuckled in self-deprevation. "Ich hätte dich nie mich wegschicken lassen sollen. Oh, ich habe überlebt, das nicht, aber... was hatt es gebracht? Ein zweiter Krieg hat angefangen, alter freund. Overwatch war gefallen. Du willst nicht wissen was aus Morrison und Reyes geworden ist."
The Crusader rose to his feet, leaving his helmet and hammer as he approached. "Und ich habe leider nicht deinen Befehl erfüllt." He laughed softly at that. "Keine Kinder die ich Balderich nennen könnte. Dabei müsstest du doch wissen das ich sie eher David nennen würde." He trailed his armoured hand over the carved griffon-armrest. "Noch dazu, hasst du manche von diesen Jungspunden gesehen? Die sind ja fast schon meine Enkel... obwohl ich nicht viel mit ihrem Musik-geschmack habe."
For the first time since ending up alone in the room, Reinhardt looked up at the face of the man sitting in front of him. Granted, with the helmet, he couldn't actually see anything. Not that there probably was much to see after all these years.
"Du hättest sie bestimmt gemocht." The living Crusader sighed in defeat, looking over at the closed door. Somewhere on the other side were the other Overwatch-members. He vaguely wondered how the older generation would have explained this to the younger ones. Would they even have? And how would the Omnic take it? This was after all the aftermath of one of the biggest human-omnic battles from the first war. "Na gut, ich hätte dich ein paar mal stoppen müssen bevor du ihn gequetscht hättest. Aber er ist überraschend... nicht wie eine Machine, wenn du verstehst was ich meine. Er ist ein Mönch, von allen Dingen die ein Omnic sein könnte."
He reached slowly for the weapon of the former leader of his order. "Ein paar von den Alteingesessenen meinten ich musste in Rente gehen." He picked it up, looking at it with a mixture of pride and grief. "Ich werde es aber nicht tun. Nicht solange es noch Unschuldige in dieser Welt gibt die ich beschützen kann. Aber wenn's dann doch soweit kommt... Halte mir ein Plätzchen im Himmel frei, ja?"
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English Translation of German:
"The Crusaders stand guard."
"And will be doing so forever, won't they? You'll stand guard over Eichenwalde until the city is only forest..."
"I am just about the only one left."
"I should have never let you send me away. Oh, I survived, sure, but... what was the use? A second war started, old friend. Overwatch had fallen. You don't want to know what happened to Morrison and Reyes."
"And sadly, I didn't fulfill your order."
"No children I could name Balderich. Though you should know that I'd first name them David."
"Besides, did you see some of these youngsters? They could as well be my grandchildren... though I don't quite agree with their taste in music."
"You would surely have liked them."
"Alright, I would have had to stop you a few times from squishing him. But he's surprisingly not... like a machine, if you get what I mean. He's a monk, of all things that an omnic could be."
"Some of the older members think I should retire."
"I won't do it though, not while there are still innocents in this world that I can protect. But should it come that far... Keep a spot open for me in heaven, alright?"
