Notes: *kicks down door and runs in screaming* HI GUYS! I am so so sososo sorry I've been taking so long to update. I just started work and college and things have been crazy. But have no fear, the amateur fanfic writer is here! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and don't worry because I took some extra time to go ahead and rough draft the next several chapters. So from now on, please be expecting weekly updates!
His room was dark and silent. Only the sound of a clock's ticking and the gentle hum of machine made up for the lack of sound. The only light in the small room was the soft glow that emitted from Genji's body. He sat on the edge of his bed, staring down at the floor, with his shoulders slumped and eyes lazily half open.
He hadn't been able to sleep. Not for a while now. Sure he had been trying to get the rest he needed but he couldn't. The moment he ever entered his quiet room the voices and thoughts he managed to keep buried during the day would fight to finally be heard. When he was lucky he would get in a few hours a night, but most nights were like this one. Dark and sleepless, with thoughts and voices swarming through his mind.
Genji started blankly at the ground as he sat there in a trace like state, words and images drifting in and out endlessly. He knew he was alone but he felt as if he was surrounded by faces, peering down on him. Some laughing, others backing away with disgust, others whispering to him in sharp voices.
A woman in a doctor's outfit kneels down in front of him. As he face gets closer to his to inspect it, he sees she has no face and yet she still whispers out,
He's damaged.
As the woman shifts into a older man wearing traditional elder clothing the figure whispers out, slightly harsher,
He's different. A disgrace.
The whispers grew louder and became rapid as the figure shifted into a small girl, she tilted her head as a cruel smile spread across her face,
Are you an omnic mister?
Finally the figure stood and as Genji lifted his head to follow the figure, he saw it shift once more. Tall and proud, tattoo bare and out in the open, the figure looked down upon him and growled,
Worthless
A familiar streak of blue flashed before his eyes just as the sound of the alarm sliced through the voices. After bolting his head towards the alarm, he sighed and silenced it. He could feel his heart beating hard against his chest.
As he got up and walked towards the bathroom to wash his face he paused in front of the mirror. He looked at his reflection starting back at him, the scars and dark circles under his eyes all illuminated by the green glow of his body. Simply put, he was mess and he knew it. He couldn't go on like this but he didn't know what to do. He couldn't bring himself to burden any of the others with his problems. All he would do is inconvenience them. Dragging a hand across his tired face, Genji sighed and walked past the mirror, burying his thoughts once again and beginning to prepare for another long day.
As usual, Genji and Jack met up in one of the conference rooms to talk about the progress on missions for taking down the Shimada Clan. After drinking some of his coffee, Jack pointed down at the map, which had been covered in so many check marks and x's that the landmarks had been buried in them and began to speak.
"We've been making a lot of progress on taking down the factories and chasing down those drug dealers. At this point, I'd say you and I have kicked the asses of pretty much all of the big shots out there. If we leave the rest of the druggies to the lower agents, I think they'll be able to wrap this part up in a month, maybe two." Jack paused a moment to chug the rest of his coffee before slamming it down on the table with an excited grin, "Y'know what that means right? Means here's where the fun part comes in. We'll head out in a few hours and start attacking the main branches of the clan along with the weapon traders. Start attacking the heart of the thing."
Genji looked down at the map and hummed in reply. While he will admit a small part of him was excited for a greater challenge out on the field, he wasn't exactly on a joy ride here. Taking down his clan like this had been emotionally harder than he thought. He held no personal connection to these workers and traders he had been taking down, but he had slowly begun to dread the day when he would have to face his brother again.
Genji nodded and spoke as he stood and headed towards the door, "Sounds like a good plan to me. Overwatch is putting a lot of work into this. With the clan in the state it's in, I'm sure it will fall soon enough."
"Hey.", Jack called out to Genji as he stopped in the middle of the doorway and waited. "Look kid I know it's hard but we're doing the right thing here. You're helping us take down one of the biggest thorns in our side. None of this would be possible without you, so keep your chin up alright?"
Genji looked over at the commander for a moment before nodding once again and leaving the room in silence.
Later that day Genji and Jack arrived at the location with a small team of four other agents and proceeded as planned. After loading their weapons and figuring out their groupings and where each group would enter the building they started the mission. The small group prepared to go in and began to move forward when suddenly the ground shook as the building in front of them erupted into a bright hot burst of flames. The sound of the blast quickly threw off the group as they hit the ground, some having to quickly move out of the way of flying shrapnel. They all stayed down as a second tremor shook through them and another blast went off inside of the building, causing the top floor to collapse on itself. As Genji regained his senses, he looked up at the blazing bright building in time to see three black vans pull away from the building. Still completely thrown off from the blast, he could only watch as the Commander grabbed his gun and quickly stumbled forward as he shot after the vans. The window of one of the vans pulled down and a man wearing all black stuck his head out and shot back at Jack a few times before the vans sped away entirely out of range of the scene. Muttering out a curse, Jack lowered his pulse rifle and turned to help the team. As he helped a woman with a large gash in her arm up off of the group he looked up at Genji, who at this point had managed to recollect himself and help the others as well. They looked at each other for a moment before turning back towards the building and watched the smoke rise up from the burning, crumbling building. Two of the agents carried an unconscious agent who had be knocked out from the blast. Looking to Jack, he ordered them to head back to the carrier and keep an eye out for enemies. After a few moments the team began to make their retreat in silence, with only the sound of distance emergency vehicles and the crackle of the flames to fill the void of sound.
After they managed to get cleared from the medical bay back at the headquarters, Jack led Genji through the halls and back towards the meeting rooms. Genji had seen him step out earlier and make a few calls and from what he heard, he could tell the commander was not a happy man.
Doing his best not to set him off, Genji spoke up as he followed, "What do we do now? Those people from earlier were without a doubt not from the Shimada Clan, and from your reaction I wouldn't expect you to say they're on our side either. I'm assuming you have some sort of idea of what happens next." Jack sighed and cracked his next and he turned a corner and spoke back to Genji,
"Well with these new mystery bombing friends of ours, I'd say it would do us some good to get a few more experienced hands on deck. And I've got just the people I need for that right here." As Genji followed the Commander into one of the familiar meeting rooms he saw that Ana, McCree, and a man in black with a beanie were all already sitting around the table. He glanced at the man sitting in the corner with his feet kicked up on top of the table, leaning back with his arms crossed and eyes closed as he sat down in between Ana, who was quietly drinking her tea, and McCree who honestly just looked entertained just by being there. "Alright then, so for the most part you all already understand what Genji and I have been working on. At this point we've already crippled the Shimada Clan's drug dealership to the point where the rest of the lower agents will be able to run them straight down into the ground on their own. Things had been running damn smoothly until our last mission. Whole building went up in flames before we could get close. Couldn't get close enough to see the guys, but we know there were three black vans, no license plates, leaving the scene. We have absolutely no clue who these guys are, but it's clear they're no friend of ours or the clan."
As Jack recalled the events of the mission and went into detail about the suspicious attackers, Genji glanced up in time to see a smirk sneak onto the face of the man across from him as he opened a single eye to glace over at the Commander. It was sudden and subtle and by the time Genji had blinked the man had already returned to his relaxed position and once again looked as if he was merely asleep. Genji started at the man with a puzzled expression before bringing his attention back over to the Commander.
"All that being said, Ana. I want you to come with us for the rest of these missions and keep an eye over our shoulders. Gotta say, nothing puts me more at ease then having you to cover our sorry asses out there."
Ana smiled and set down her cup and replied, "These brats out there have got you that shaken up? Stick to the plan, and if you get in trouble, I'll bail you out.
"Heh. Fair enough." Jack nudged Gabriel's leg on the table, making the man look up at him with a irritated glare.
"Reyes, mind if I borrow your cowboy for a bit? It'll be good for him, plus I'd like the extra help on hand."
Rolling his eyes before standing up and pulling out a smoke he said, "Sure thing, take him for as long as you need. Don't feel obliged to bring him back in one piece either. It'd do him well to get a bit more backbone out on the field."
Chuckling, McCree watched Gabriel as he leaned against the wall next to the doorway and lit his cigarette, "C'mon now you know you love having me around. I bring that good ol' spark to Blackwatch that it always seems to missing."
As McCree grinned slyly, Gabriel rolled his eyes and growled out a low laugh as he blew smoke from his mouth, "You bring something to Blackwatch that's for sure."
Letting out another small chuckle, McCree turned back over towards Jack and suggested, "Hey what do you think of heading over to the next point a bit early? Gives Amari a chance to scope out the place and a chance for me to scope through the town and pick up some supplies."
Wrapping his arm around Genji's shoulders he pulled Genji closer and looked up at Jack, "It'd give Mr. Cyborg Ninja here a change to get out aside from a mission for once too. He can go to town with me and everything. What'dya think Commander?"
As Jack looked over at the clearly nervous Genji, he thought for a moment before nodding and looking back at McCree. "Alright. I've got a guy that owes me a favor over there so it should be fine, but you two got to stick together alright?"
Gabriel looked up and pointed a finger at McCree and narrowed his eyes, "No wandering off and getting lost like a fool like last time got it? I'm not gonna be there to drag your ass back in time for the mission like usual."
McCree nodded with an excited grin as Genji threw a pleading look back towards the Commander who was too preoccupied with writing the change down in his notes to return the glace.
As Ana got up and everyone began to make their way out the door Jack called out, "Keep an eye on your inbox's. Should be getting a mission debriefing soon enough. Be prepared to head out in a day. See you all there."
After everyone else had left the room except for himself and Jack, Genji leaned against the edge of the table and asks, "Are you sure about this? Me being in public like this so soon? I don't think people will take too well to someone who… looks like… this."
Jack hesitates for a moment before he picks up his papers and heads towards the door. "Yeah I'm sure. The Doc will probably think of something to help you blend in a bit, plus if anything, you'll have Jesse there with you. Should be fine, besides it will only be a few hours at most, like the guy said, it'd do you some good to get some outside time."
Following Jack towards the door he stops, causing Jack to stop and turn towards him, his hand resting on the door handle.
"Alright then, I suppose you're right, I trust how you all feel on this. Although something had caught my attention. I hadn't really heard about this Blackwatch before… Or the man from earlier. This may come off a bit rude but he seemed a bit sketchy."
Jacks eyes widened a bit before he gave a small laugh, "Oh that? That's nothing kid, I get asked about that all the time! Reyes practically runs the place with me. Sure, I run Overwatch but he's like my right hand man. I trust him with my life. The guy could have a gun pushed into my skull and I'd still trust him not to shoot. As for Blackwatch, well that's the other side of Overwatch, somewhat undercover and all that. You've got nothing to worry about, I know him like the back of my own hand."
Genji accepted this response and as he parted with Jack and walked through the hallways, the flash of that smirk and the image of the vans pulling away went through his mind. Despite what Jack said, he couldn't help but still have a bad feeling.
Later on that night, Genji found himself wandering through the gardens. Mercy had shown him this place a few weeks back when he had been looking for a place to escape the constant rush of voices and energy that carried itself throughout the members in the headquarters. It was a small, simple place, tucked away in the far back corner behind the buildings. He had rarely seen anyone out there other than the gardeners in the morning. He found this place to be extremely relaxing at night and found himself wandering there when his mind was consumed with anxiety and overwhelming thoughts.
Which is exactly how he found himself starting at the doctor sitting on a bench by the water, with the soft white light of the moon in the night sky illuminating the small space.
As he walked closer, Mercy looked up from her wistful gaze at the water and turned her attention to the green glow that came from his body. As he walked up to her she smiled and moved over, patting the space on the bench next to her.
They had only run into each other like this a few times before, but when they did they both found that they seemed to have a lot on their mind. Sometimes they would share bits and pieces of their worries, others they would just sit in comfortable silence and watch the small fish slowly swim around in the dark water or gaze up at the stary sky.
As he sat down beside her and the green glow from his body dimmed, she looked at up at the sky and spoke, "You seem to have something on your mind. Care to share?"
Genji looked down as a smaller fish swam in slow circles, "Just worried about the mission I suppose. Did you hear about it yet?"
Mercy's face twisted slightly in annoyance before she spoke, her words slightly sour, "Yes, I heard. Had the pleasure of hearing about it from Jack himself. Told him he was an idiot."
Her expression softened as she looked over towards Genji and leaned forwards slightly, "You know you don't have to go if you're not ready. There's no need to force yourself to go out in public if you don't feel prepared yet."
Genji didn't reply for some time, just simply watched the small fish as it created ripples through the water. Mercy watched with him for a while, before he spoke with a slightly worn out voice, "I think… it will be fine. I won't lie, the whole omnic appearance thing has been on my mind since that party. Sure it had occurred to me before but not like this. I, honestly have no idea how to deal with this feeling. Maybe getting out will help me, maybe it won't. But I won't really know unless I get out there and see for myself…"
As the green light dimmed even more with the energy in his voice, Mercy paused for a moment before resting her head on his shoulder, "Don't worry, you'll be ok. I know you will be. You won't be alone and you're strong. You'll get through it and I'll be waiting here with the others when you return."
Humming in quiet response, Genji stared down at the water and sat there in silence with Mercy for quite some time. As time crept into the later hours of the night and the cool breezes of the night swept through the trees and across the water's surface, Mercy and Genji finally headed back towards the headquarters. After parting and making back to his room, Genji sat down on the edge of his bed.
Through his exhaustion he felt a gentle warmth in his chest, and found himself far more relaxed after spending time with Mercy. After he turned off the light and placed his visor on small nightstand beside his bed, he closed his eyes and let the warm feeling and the images of the night lull him to sleep. But as he lost consciousness, he could still feel the prick of concern in his chest as he fell into darkness.
More Notes: Ok so I forgot to mention this in the notes last chapter and some people noticed it so allow me to clarify! This story only follows the canon Overwatch story about 90%. Smaller things like Phara being younger will happen from time to time because I want to play around with the writing a bit, but it will stick to the main timeline and events for the most part. I am open to any and all questions regarding anything anyone may notice and I will do my best to answer them all. Thank you very much and as usual all comments, follows, and likes are greatly appreciated. See you all next chapter!
