A/N: Hi there!
I'd like to thank those one person who decided to give this a try and followed/favourited.
As usual, follows, favourites, constructive criticism, and reviews are welcome. More news: Mercy has made her first actual appearance!
Medical Room No. 095, Medical Bay, 5th floor, Swiss Overwatch HQ
White flashing. Pain. Searing pain in his lungs. That was all Genji's senses took in right now. He blinked the haziness out of his eyes. Was he really... Alive? Or was this just some cruel afterlife? Then, abruptly, memories started flooding in.
Hanzo. That annoying Overwatch woman. The doctor, doctor... doctor... Moon. His right leg being amputated to stop the infection. A hovercraft. A tall thin man in a lab coat towering above him, examining his lower body.
With one final blink, he was fully aware of his surroundings. He was in a clean white room, in some kind of hospital, perhaps? Monitors were beeping at his bedside. The tall man from before was standing there too, arms crossed, impatiently tapping his foot. Upon noticing Genji's awakening, the man smiled forcedly.
"Ah, Mr Shimada, you are awake! Now that you are awake, let me introduce myself and your...new body to you"
At the words "new body" Genji shuddered. What had this mad-man done to him?
The Doctor smiled. It was the smile of a man whose humanity was long lost to ambition and greed. It was a look Genji knew well. Most Shimadas wore it day and night.
"Now, I am Doctor Sean Dee, head of the Overwatch medical department, „he introduced himself and spat, „and a ten times better doctor than pretty-perfect princess Angela Ziegler."
Genji had heard rumours about Angela Ziegler. That she was a miracle worker, able to bring people back from the dead. That she was a child prodigy, having gotten her degree at the tender age of 15. This doctor seemed to directly despise her.
"And I am also the head of the cybernetics department, and I upon orders have constructed you a new robotic body just as capable of your old, human one"
The doctor said the word "human" as if was something unworthy. As if it made him weak.
"I tried to save as much as I could, but your right arm was already useless and your left leg was pretty bad too. I also needed to re-create some of your organs and part of your spine. You are still capable of reproduction, if you are wondering that", he continued, casually cleaning his stethoscope, as if not caring that he was dropping numerous bombs on Genji right now. Which Genji wasn't quite coping with yet.
"Now, your new features include: A slot for shurriken in your right hand and a compartment for storing them in your lower right arm. Enhanced speed, agility and strength. And..." he made a dramatic pause, "LED light-ups"
Strike Commander Jack Morrison's office, 4th floor, Swiss Overwatch HQ
"And," the doctor paused," LED light-ups"
Gabe looked as though he wanted to punch someone, but restrained himself while viewing the surveillance from the room the Shimada boy was in, to see how it was going. Which in Gabe's eyes, was terribly. Not only had the doctor further amputated the Japanese' left leg and right arm without explicit patient consent, but he had also given him goddamn LED light-ups. That man was downright crazy and nobody noticed.
"But, alas, it all comes at a price. The body takes up so much energy that you're gonna have to use a wheelchair when you aren't on any missions. And you can't taste anymore. And anything you eat or drink will be turned into fuel for your body. Now, I will let you rest a little. I'll be back in an hour."
Gabe groaned. This was gonna be a fucking nightmare to deal with.
As the doctor exited, he turned in the doorway and added,
"By the way, you also have a state-of-the-art lower cybernetic jaw. Your... ah...
Accident crushed it beyond repair, and you've also got some tubes pumping stuff through you in the back side of you. And a cybernetic spine. It was needed for your new body to be able work together with the human of it. Good-bye now, Mr Shimada"
The doctor left. Gabe kept staring intently at the screen, as if waiting for something interesting to happen.
"Jack, this man seems crazier right now than most of the criminals we've dealt with. Maybe giving him a task like this was too daring? His ambition has obviously gotten the better of him and is quickly leading him into madness. I say we choose our next head of the medical department quickly, so that we need not worry about searching for a replacement for too long when we finally get rid of him," Ana, who had returned from her visit to her daughter about an hour before, suggested. Gabriel certainly was not the only one doubting the doctor.
Jack rested his face in his hands and took a shallow breath.
"We probably should. But as long as we don't have Dr Ziegler, the cybernetics department will only start screwing up even more. I'm sure we can convince her once she's seen Genji's terrible condition. Not even you, Ana can deny that we need to get her on the team. It would mean saving more lives than ever!"
Ana's smile was grim, but melted into an understanding one.
"Jack, I see that you want to save lives, but we can't force anybody to work for Overwatch."
Gabe glared at Jack.
"We've already done that. We probably won't mind doing this too."
Jack glared back at him.
"We're offering Shimada a chance to take revenge on the family that betrayed him. And it's a good idea to weaponize him. He's a cyborg now, and even though tensions with the omnics were relieved, some people might not take to him that well. He's gonna need to be able to defend himself. So why not give him the weapons he's probably used to?"
Gabriel grumbled something. Ana, clearly noticing the uprising argument, decided to step in.
"Whereas I don't agree with your decision, Jack, you should also both consider perhaps showing that poor man that you don't just want him as a weapon, but also because of his knowledge and experience as a trained assassin," she suggested.
Jack and Gabe glared at each other, muttered something, and sighed.
"Fine"
"Only if Jack admits that he fucked up", Gabriel called.
Another sigh, this time purely the Strike Commander's, sounded through the room.
"Fine. I messed up", he admitted.
"Thank you," Gabe cried exasperatedly.
Ana smiled. Now she could sleep in peace again for another night. It was not upon few occasions that Gabe and Jack's arguments caused her sleepless nights.
"May I suggest that we bring forth our requests to him and leave him some time to think and get used to his new body? Perhaps we could give him some city leave and some time to get to know Jesse. If he agrees, they will be on a team together, so they should know each other," she suggested to her friends.
"Sounds like a plan."
Jack smiled an awkward half-smile, and Gabe shrugged.
Medical Room No. 095, Medical Bay, 5th floor, Swiss Overwatch HQ
Genji could not do anything but despise the doctor. He had made his outlook on life worse than it already was. Now he was not just widely presumed dead, but he had also turned him into a living weapon.
His doctor had returned an hour after he took his leave, as announced, but didn't do much but run a few check-ups and test out his functionality.
He opened and closed his right hand over and over, twisting and turning it. He could barely stand up, and his left arm hurt.
The door opened and closed. Genji looked over. It was not the doctor, as he had expected, but a tall, buff blond man in a blue uniform and a slightly taller and much more intimidating man with grey clothes and a black beanie. Both of them carried that sense of authority his father and the elders had always carried.
He made his best efforts to glare at them and show that he did not want any social contact. Who even would want to come in contact with him? He was not even human, he was a cripple, and all he was good for now was boring offices jobs. The two men sat down in the chairs near his bedside.
"Hello, Mr Shimada. I am Jack Morrison, Overwatch Strike Commander," the blond mean introduced himself.
"Hi," his companion greeted Genji unceremoniously. The Strike Commander frowned at his companion, who hastily added,
"Gabriel Reyes, Blackwatch Commander. If you agree to work with us, you'll be working for me."
'Blackwatch? What the heck is Blackwatch?'
The two men paused, and seemed to have a silent argument, which Commander Reyes must have won, because he got a smug look on his face as the Strike Commander sighed.
"Blackwatch," he began to explain," is the covert-ops unit of Overwatch. Blackwatch handles all the dirty work that the public wouldn't want to see from their protectors, but needs to be done. Seeing as most if the world thinks you're dead, and you were raised as an assassin in a crime syndicate, we thought it would be wisest if we offered you a position there."
"We want your help taking down the Shimada clan's criminal empire. That's why Morrison asked Dr Dee to create a new cybernetic body for you. Much to our disappointment, the 'good doctor' did so without your explicit permission."
The Strike Commander gazed right into Genji's eyes.
"So? Do you take the offer? We give you your ability to walk back, well, walk as much as possible, and you help us take down the criminal empire you so much despise?"
Before Genji even had time to progress what the man had said, the man continued.
"Whether you agree to work for us or not, we're giving you some city leave for the next three days, so you can get used to your new body and its...pros and cons. We'll give you today to rest, and then tomorrow we'll introduce you to one of the Blackwatch members. He can show you around."
The next day, still in Genji's good ol' hospital room
"For today, Mr Shimada, I grant you the permission to spend time outside of a mission out of the wheel chair, but please, do not over-exert yourself," Dr Dee ordered his patient, who seemed fairly relieved by the news.
"We have also taken the liberty of organizing you some comfortable clothes, seeing as your current look would only attract attention, which I am afraid Agent McCree already does more than enough. If I were his commanding officer, I would have told him to drop the cowboy act long ago," the doctor proclaimed.
"But Commander Reyes is, frankly, not in control of his people."
He huffed.
"Or perhaps not in control of himself? He did hire that disgrace of a geneticists Moira O'Deorain as his team doctor."
He shuddered.
"Ghastly woman."
He leaned forward and lowered his voice significantly, so that only his patient could hear him hissing: "Do me a favour and don't trust her!"
He straightened up and turned so abruptly, that his lab coat bellowed in the air behind him, making him look a little like an overgrown pelican.
"Enjoy your day, Mr Shimada," he called to the young man lying in the hospital bed as he exited the stark white room. In the corridor outside, he almost bumped into Commander Reyes and Agent McCree.
Back in the room that dude just exited (does anybody here know how to do those fancy linebreaks everyone always put in their fics?)
Genji's doctor had barely left the room when the door opened yet again and Commander Reyes and a young man in a black cowboy outfit - cape and all - entered.
"Good day, Commander Reyes," he greeted the Commander respectfully.
"Hey there, Shimada," Reyes greeted him in return.
"Have you made your decision yet?" he asked.
Genji had pondered the decision of joining Overwatch long into the night, and he had come to a verdict.
"Yes. I will join," he affirmed.
What may have been the shadow of a smile flickered over the Blackwatch Commander's face.
"Happy to hear that. Let me introduce you to your co-agent and tour guide for today, Jesse McCree. Jesse, meet Genji Shimada, our new team mate. Figured since you two are around a similar age, you'd get along the best. Also, I'm busy, and as much as I trust Moira, I don't think she'd make an adequate tour guide."
The cowboy tipped his hat and smiled the type of grin you see on your everyday cocky youth. Genji would know. He'd been one himself.
"Howdy."
"Hello."
The two looked each other up and down awkwardly.
Commander Reyes cleared his throat.
"Alright! Now, Jesse, would you please take off the vape and hat? I know it's 'your thing'," he made air quotes around the 'your thing', „but I don't want you kids to draw too much attention. Genji already has LED-light-ups - blame that incapable Dr Dee - and a mostly robotic body, I don't want you to show up in your little cowboy outfit and make everybody suspicious."
The look the Blackwatch commander gave McCree could have killed him in an instant, if looks could kill.
Shortly after, in the entrance hall of the Swiss HQ
Genji had gotten his hands on some casual jeans and a baggy grey hoodie (he borrowed one from Gabriel) and was now spectator of the mess that was McCree's outfit.
"Did anybody ever even teach you how to dress? "He questioned the cowboy, glancing his terribly mismatched outfit that showed off just how childish his guide was.
The cowboy laughed.
"Nah, never. I've spent all my life a cowboy, and I ain't letting go so quickly."
Genji could not help but role his eyes.
"And by that, you mean wearing a Clint Eastwood shirt and leather pants?! "He cried, slightly exasperated.
McCree looked unsure how to answer that, so he just dragged Genji out the door outside.
"C'mon, I'm gonna show you 'round town. I can show you some nice places to eat, all the best bars, the coolest game stores..." Jesse started counting off as they waited for the bus into the city.
It was rather funny how Jesse suggested to Genji to go to the games store, since Genji had spent hours of each wasted day of his youth in the arcade. He'd owned all the high scores, and he'd always managed to befriend people by actually befriending them, and not by scaring them into becoming his friends by using his family name. He'd been a free spirit, a cocky teen, and that had gotten him in trouble. After his father's death, Hanzo became the new leader of the clan, and the elders wanted Genji to engage himself more in the shady business of the clan. Genji had had no interest in becoming a criminal, so then the elders decided he had to go. And Hanzo had to do it.
He suddenly felt a hand on his left shoulder. He turned to see Jesse giving him a worried look.
"You okay, pardner? You seemed a little upset."
Genji shook his head, try in to clear his thoughts.
"It's nothing."
He walked to the newly arrived bus with Jesse staring after him, muttering,
"It sure was somethin'."
When they arrived in the city, Jesse immediately dragged Genji into his favourite bar, which, well, didn't work out that well. Meaning Genji took one look inside and then went out again. In the earlier, more luxurious days of his life he would have gladly entered and started a bar fight, but now... everything was different, he did not find joy in such things anymore. And he was pretty sure Gabe would not like it if his protégé/son got into a bar fight first thing in the morning. So they spent their morning touring the city instead. For lunch, they went to a fast food restaurant. They sat down at a table together, and Genji could see how much McCree relished his burger. Genji envied him from the first hungry bite. Genji had lost his sense of taste, to him the burger was nothing but a source of energy.
After their meal, McCree yet again dragged Genji off to a beautiful park near a hospital*. McCree sat down on the grass and kept a lookout for hot nurses. Genji simply lay down on the soft yet prickly grass, put his hands behind his head and relaxed his tensed up muscles. Even the mechanical parts of him, constantly whirring and humming, seemed calmer. It did not relieve the constant pain, yet, as he was lying there on the grass, feeling the warm April sun on his face and left hand, he felt calm as he gazed about the park. It was a week day, so the only people about were students from the university and one or the other hospital worker. A few couples were cluttered about, some of them with some very young children. Under an oak tree not far off, Genji spotted a stunning young woman, who was leaning against the tree and reading a book in what Genji guessed to be French**. It was too far for him to see correctly. Genji quietly lay there and watched her out of the corner of his eye whilst McCree wolf-whistled whenever something attractive passed by. Genji ignored him. Yet again, the activity of sitting around and keeping an eye out for attractive women was something he would have done not too long ago, but now, everything was different. He had not been a cyborg back then. He had not seen her before then. He had never seen a woman so beautiful, so enchanting. He had been trained to have a watchful eye, and he was very capable of taking in her appearance without directly looking at her. She had icy blue eyes framed by pale blonde bangs, her hair tied in an untidy pony tail as she read her book. Genji felt as if he had just seen an angel. He would have loved to go and talk to her, but doubt cursed through him. No being so perfect would want to have anything to do with him. She would just walk away in fear or disgust of what he was. Jesse trying to pick up a date also wasn't very helpful. So Genji simply stayed where he was, silent and unnoticed, observing the angel that had fallen from heaven right next to him.
The day after, 5.20 a.m.; Angela Ziegler's apartment, Zürich
Angela yawned sleepily as she hit the "snooze" button on her beeping alarm clock. Drowsy and not yet quite awake, she waddled into her kitchen and got herself a coffee and prepared herself a good breakfast. Being a doctor was a full-time job, and she wouldn't have much time for food later in the day. She finished her meal, got dressed, packed some last things into her bag, grabbed her keys, looked the door and left her apartment.
As she wandered out into pleasant April morning, she sorted out her plan for the day in the head. She'd arrive at the hospital, treat her various patients, if time came up, she'd go for a walk in the park, or perhaps to the library, then she'd eat a bite and have a coffee, and then continue working with patients as long as needed. Even though her daily routine rarely alternated - except in there types of injuries and illnesses she had to treat, she enjoyed making a new plan every morning. It gave her a sense of comfort and familiarity.
She walked through the city, enjoying the peace and quiet of the near-empty roads and lanes she walked down. She entered the hospital, greeted the young woman at the front desk, and proceeded to her office.
A few hours later, Medical Room No. 095, Medical Bay, 5th floor, Swiss Overwatch HQ
Genji had had a surprisingly pleasant sleep last night. Well, if it could be called "sleep". It was more of a trance-like state where his body functions still went on full gear, but the remaining human part of him was almost asleep. It allowed him to get energy and empty his head a little. He even dreamt a few dreams now and then. Most of the time they were nightmares, but not the last night. The silhouette of an angel had walked his dream.
"Good morning, Agent Shimada. I trust you have rested well?" A female robotic voice echoed through his room. Genji jumped at the sound and almost fell out of his bed in the progress.
"Y-y-yes"
"The Commanders will be pleased to hear that," the voice answered.
Genji shifted awkwardly.
"Pardon me, ma'am, but who are you?" he asked curiously.
"I am Athena. I am the computer system and AI of Overwatch. You can always talk to me, I am installed in every room and vehicle and at every Watchpoint and Ecopoint," the AI said pleasantly.
"If you want to know anything, just ask me. I can also run errands for you and carry messages," she added. Genji decided to call her a "she".
"Thank you. Did you want to tell me anything else?"
"Yes. Commander Reyes wants me to tell you that you will be going to town alone today. Jesse is busy, and so is everyone else, but the commanders still want you to go out today. They trust you know the city well enough to be able to find your way. Seeing as you are alone, and the risk of your systems malfunctioning if you over-exert yourself and are not in companionship of a fellow member is too great, and you still need to get used to using a wheelchair when not on missions, Commander Reyes and Dr Dee have decided that you should go out in a wheelchair today. The doctor will be here shortly to give you a basic guide to using a wheelchair, "Athena further explained. Genji could not help but sigh. Whereas he would be free to go where he wanted, he would be limited in his movement today. But perhaps... Perhaps he could see her again.
He heard footsteps on the corridor outside. Shortly after, the door opened.
"Good morning, Mr Shimada. I trust you have rested well?" His obnoxious doctor greeted him cheerfully.
"It was. Has Athena not told you so yet, doctor? Or are you simply being polite?" he answered, not in the mood for the doctor's talk.
"Well, I'm happy to hear that", the doctor continued, fully ignoring Genji's bad mood, "You slept pleasantly. Now, to business."
The doctor continued to explain to Genji how to do various things in his wheelchair, and then had him practice his control over it for a while. When the doctor seemed satisfied, he dismissed Genji with a quick "Bye" and strut out of the room, his lab coat flying behind him.
Notes:
*The park described here is the park next to the Universitätsspital, an actual hospital in Zürich, which is right next said hospital and near the university. Since it is the university's hospital, I thought it most probable that Mercy would work there before Overwatch, and that's why it's kind of lain out as if she works there.
**Mercy speaks fluent French here because most Swiss people speak at least two of the languages spoken in Switzerland (German, French, Italian and Romansh) fluently/as their mother tongue