There was laughter coming from the tables pulled together at Alexander The Geist's Great Food Diner, as a large group had decided they were gonna crash the diner for lunch. The sixteen, well, perhaps 'friends' wasn't the right term yet, but still close acquaintances laughed as they shared stories form their past. Only for the waitress' to come by with their orders. Marcus had ordered the inferno chicken wings, Junkrat had ordered the chilli, Tracer had ordered the soup, Wrench had ordered fires, two orders of them, Genji had ordered ramen (which led many of them to question how he was going to eat it, and some asked the same question of Wrench), Symmetra had ordered a salad, as had Mercy, Reinhardt and T-Bone both ordered (ironically) t-bone steaks, McCree ordered the angus burger, Mei had ordered fajitas, Pharah had ordered a BLT, Sitara ordered some nachos (and had to constantly slap Wrench, Marcus, and pretty much every guy except Genji and Zenyatta to stop them from stealing them), Josh just got some onion rings and was stealing form others, Zenyatta was also there but wasn't eating anything, and Mad Dawg ordered ribs. After their food had arrived, Sitara cast a glance over and noticed that Mad Dawg was munching on a salad he had ordered.

Wow, took you long enough to get to the actual story. Mad Dawg though as he munched on some croutons.

Ignoring you.

"Who are you and what have you done with Mad Dawg?" She asked bewildered. "The Dawg we knew hated salad… and pretty much all vegetables."

"The only green thing he'd eat were those weird leaf brownies Wrench and Marcus made…" Josh dryly commented, not seeming to understand what he was saying, which caused everyone present, except Marcus and Wrench to go quiet and look at the two hackers.

"You… asshole…" Marcus muttered, realizing what Josh had just admitted to. Wrench's mask changed to a shocked expression before he yelled:

"It was all Marcus! I swear!"

"He's telling the truth!" T-Bone exclaimed. "Wrench just introduced the kid to porn and how to make pipe bombs!"

"Shut up Ray! You introduced him to liquor!" Wrench shot back, his mask emoting anger.

"Guys! Calm down!" Mad Dawg laughed. "You ALL introduced me to amazing things that made me who I am today."

"I know, that's why we're pissed." Sitara flatly stated, annoyed at the first things being mentioned by her friends to Mad Dawg's other friends was how they completely screwed him up.

"Hey it wasn't all bad." Mad Dawg continued, trying to de-fuse the situation. "Because of you, I actually had a name."

"Yeah, I've wanted ta' ask for a while, how the 'ell did he get a name like Mad Dawg?" Junkrat asked, genuinely curious. "It's awesome an' all, but where'd it come from?"

"That wasn't his first name actually." Marcus commented. "Back in the day we couldn't really agree on a decent name. I mean, I wanted to call him Ragnarök, T-Bone suggested we call him Mutt, Wrench had a particular name he wanted to call him." He ended with a cheeky grin and Mad Dawg was holding back laughter.

"Marcus, I will hurt you." Wrench scowled threateningly. "Don't you dare say it or so help me God I will shove your stun gun so far up your ass when I pull the trigger it will shoot out of your mouth."

"So, what? You wanted to call him like, Wrench Jr. or something?" Mei asked, enjoying the squabble.

"No that was the name of his sex bot." T-Bone commented before taking another drink of coffee. This got more of a reaction out of the agents who all turned shocked to Wrench who sighed annoyed.

"It was a watcher bot Ray. Pokey was the sex bot Marcus found in the Bratva por- uh… film studio back in San Francisco." Wrench retorted buy quickly stopped, realizing this wasn't something to talk about. "Probably shouldn't've mentioned that…"

"You're correct on that regard." Mercy frowned, giving Wrench a somewhat angered look. And Wrench… just laughed nervously, feeling a cold sweat beginning to develop.

"Right… So, what was his name?" Tracer asked, somewhat grossed out but also seeing the awkwardness it was causing and wanted to move on.

"No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No." Wrench suddenly said, pointing at Josh, Sitara, Mad Dawg, Marcus and then repeating the action. "We're not telling them."

"Wrench, just tell them." Mad Dawg laughed.

"No."

"Do it."

"No."

"Do it."

"No."

"Do it."

"No."

"Do it or I'll tell them myself." Mad Dawg flatly said.

Wrench looked around at the agents and the other hackers before sighing in defeat. "It was Kaiju Megazord McThundercock…"

There was a shocked silence from the agents, some of whom were speechless in shock, until there was a stifled laugh from Zenyatta of all people (or Omnics) and then Junkrat burst out into gales of laughter in the way only Junkrat could. His laughter was infectious, as Mad Dawg joined in, then McCree, then Genji, then Mei, and so on until eventually only Mercy and Tracer weren't laughing. Even Josh and Symmetra were trying their best not to. Mercy was somewhat angered at Wrench, and Tracer was to shocked to respond, but it was clear that the shock was slowly but surely turning to laughter. Wrench's mask was emoting ^ ^ but it was clear he was sheepish about it all.

"Okay… wow…" Genji shook his head. "I don't know if it's to be expected by now, or if I should be shocked by that."

"For the record, none of us wanted that name for him as well." Marcus commented.

"Actually, Marcus voted for it as well." Josh simply stated.

"Not helping…" Marcus scowled.

"So, what else did you come up with?" Tracer asked with a smile, wiping a tear away from the laughter.

"Well, I tossed out Axel, Twitch, and Frewer." T-Bone commented. "Back home I had a real good friend named Frewer."

"I suggested Voltron, Splinter, and a few others…" Marcus added. "At the time, we weren't sure if he was gonna stay or not."

"Why… Voltron?" Symmetra asked bewildered and somewhat unamused.

"It sounded cool." Marcus simply replied, his eyes darting around. Symmetra however, roller her eyes at such a weak excuse.

"Honestly, the only reason why he ended up with 'Kace' and 'Dawg' were because of Josh mishearing us when I suggested 'Casey'." Sitara explained, taking a sip of her drink. "He suggested Kace and we all liked it. Honestly though, Marcus nicknamed him 'Dawg' while we were trying to find a name, and he kept saying it back to us, like it was the only thing he could say."

"I wouldn't be surprised if that was all he could say considering the mess we found him in…" Wrench muttered.

"Really? How'd you find him?" Mei asked.

"With a chunk of steel running through his skull…" T-Bone grumbled, shaking his head slightly, remembering the horrid condition Mad Dawg had arrived in. This did get an audible gasp from almost everyone present, who turned to Mad Dawg shocked, who seemed just as confused as everyone else.

"What? That happened?" Mad Dawg asked bewildered. "I thought you guys just made that up…"

The hackers looked around, suddenly growing somber.

"Well…" Marcus began. "You see…"

Several Years Ago…

Retr0 landed and rolled across the rooftop, taking cover behind an air conditioner. Peaking around the corner he noticed an armed man walking back and forth, patrolling the rooftop. Slowly pulling out his EZ-Stun Gun, he aimed and pulled the trigger. The man began sporadically twitching before falling to the ground unconscious. Marcus ran over and searched him for the access card he needed to access their security systems. Finding his card, he took a picture of it and sent it to the other members of Dedsec.

"That it?" Marcus asked aloud.

"That should do it." Sitara replied, imputing the code into the servers she was stationed near. The screen lit up green granting her access, and she began downloading the cryptocurrency. "With these codes, we should be able to put a hold on some of the Saviours plans."

"Good." Marcus commented as he climbed off the roof onto the nearby garbage bin. "These assholes hurt to many people, someone needs to stop them."

"Any idea what we're gonna do with the money?" Josh spoke up, going straight into his question.

"Pizza party." Wrench simply replied as he finished dragging a member of the Saviors into a corner and then kicking him in the head one more time for good measure. "We've earned it."

"Call some women over, get some booze, I could be talked into that." T-Bone agreed, sitting in the van flipping through the radio stations trying to find a good song.

"No. Just… no." Sitara shook her head as she packed up her tablet and made her way quietly to the exit. "We might take some of it for further operations, but we're not spending it on hookers."

"Whoa, now hold on there, Sitara." T-Bone countered. "I ain't talking about hookers, I'm talking about exotic dancers."

"So, strippers." Josh commented in his flat tone, cutting through T-Bone's attempt at a façade.

"Oh, c'mon kid. Don't tell me you wouldn't be down to party!"

"Well… I've never really been to one…" Josh awkwardly explained.

"Then I'll show you." T-Bone offered, suddenly entering 'Awesome Old Guy Mode'. "We'll be two party animals against the world!"

"Enough you guys." Sitara laughed slightly.

Meanwhile, Marcus was walking back to the van when he tripped over something. Shaking his head, he looked around then saw what he had tripped over. Lying on the ground, trying to use a pizza box as a blanket was a small boy with a noticeable wound on the side of his head. Actually, on further inspection, it seemed like a chunk of his temple was simply gone, with a shard of metal stuck in where it should be. Marcus was horrified, both by the wound and the fact that a small boy was abandoned in the alleyway. The boy (who was still asleep) turned over and now Marcus noticed that he was wearing incredibly torn cloth, not even a shirt… and his body was covered in bruises and scars, all of his ribs were noticeable and his stomach seemed so concave his spine was noticeable. His hair was more than halfway down his back and it was mangled and knotty, he wore shredded pants and had a noticeable scar across his leg.

"Holy crap…" He breathed, unsure of what to do. "Uh… guys?"

"Everything alright?" Wrench asked.

"No. Most definitely not." Marcus shakily answered.

"Where are you?! I'm on my way! Well, as soon as you tell me where you are." Wrench exclaimed, clearly ready to drop everything and go, but quickly realized the error in what he was saying.

"No, I'm… I'm fine… It's… Oh my God… Listen, do we have a med kit in the van?"

"Josh looked around and then replied. "Yes. Why?"

"I… I can't explain. Not over the phone. I'll be right there." Marcus said before hanging up. Silently slipping off his jacket he slowly wrapped the small kid up in it before picking him up. Then, a thought raced through his mind.

What the heck was he doing?

Marcus however, shook his head expelling those thoughts as he made his way towards the van, doing his best not to wake the small child. He didn't know much about first aid, but he did know this kid was gonna die if he didn't do something.

"Hang in there, kid. We're gonna get you patched up." He muttered. He understood this looked weird to anyone walking down the street but he didn't care. Seeing the van, he got to the back and banged on the door and T-Bone opened it.

"What the hell were you going on abou-Holy crap." T-Bone began to question but stopped when he saw the bloodied child in Marcus' arms. "Get him in here."

Closing the doors behind him, Marcus unwrapped the small boy and T-Bone set to trying to get the supplies needed to clean his wounds.

"Okay, can someone please explain to me-" Sitara began as she entered but went into a silent shock as she saw the small boy on the van seat in what she hoped was sleep. "What happened?" She quietly asked.

"I… Okay, don't get mad." Marcus began awkwardly. "I was walking down the alleyway towards the van, and this kid was lying on the ground. I know this ain't exactly what Dedsec does, but I couldn't leave him there. Right now, we need to be careful, try and be quiet, when he wakes up we can try and ask-"

"THE HELL!?" Wrench exclaimed as he saw the kid on the seat. The hackers turned angrily to him and the small boy bolted up awake.

"Wha-wheam-" He mumbled out. The looking around he saw a group of adults he didn't know, and a man wearing spiked clothing. Needless to say, he began freaking out. He jumped onto the ground and tried to run to the back door of the van, making the hackers scramble. Marcus grabbed his stun gun and aimed it at the kid until Wrench grabbed him.

"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" He shouted.

"Wuarouywheami?!" The boy exclaimed, still terrified, trying to hide his face from the hackers.

"Calm down kid. Where not going to hurt you."

Everyone was shocked when Josh of all people got down onto one knew to be more at his level, speaking in his calm but somewhat flat tone. And it seemed to work, the small boy stopped trying to escape but was still shaking, clearly terrified. Josh slowly reached out and put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"It's alright, we're here to help."

"Idonwanurtomor…" The boy mumbled. His eyes filling with tears.

"It's alright, we're gonna help you, we'll get you feeling better." Josh said as he set him back down on the seat. "We need to get back to the hackerspace."

"Whoa, hold on." T-Bone said surprised. "The hackerspace? Josh, the kid needs a hospital. NOW."

"Yeah, he does, but we can't take him there." Josh reasoned. "If we show up with a bloodied kid, there's gonna be questions, both for us and for the kid. And I don't think hacking government records to get a kid medical attention is the best thing to do. Yes, people do see us a sort of 'heroes' but not like those… those…"

"Overwatch guys?" Wrench asked.

"Yeah, them." Josh nodded. "It just dosen't seem like a good idea to take him to a hospital right now."

"I don't like it… but Josh has a point." Marcus conceded grimly. "Whatever we choose, I say we do it fast, I don't like the condition this kid is in."

"Alright, all for the hospital?" T-Bone asked, and received no response. "Hackerspace?"

"Yes." Was collective said.

"Haxerspahe…" The boy gargled out. Sitara sat down next to him and gently wrapped her arm around him, pulling him close.

"Hi honey, do you have a name?" She asked in a kind tone.

"Batafivstephensex." He said in his mumbled way.

"Aww… C'mere honey." She said with a smile, pulling him closer and patting the top of his head. "Get some rest sweetie, we'll patch you up, you'll see."

The boy tentatively calmed down, and despite his best efforts finally let his eyes slowly close and drifted back to sleep. Sitara adjusted him in her lap then looked back up.

"What are we gonna do?" She finally asked.

"Clean him up, get that steel out of his head. Go from there." Marcus answered. "This is… messed up."

The drive back was quiet, aside from the occasional murmur from the small boy. When they returned they went down to the basement they were operating out of and set him on a table and all got a good look at him. There were cuts and burns up and down his chest and arms, on his lower left side of his torso, a tattoo of a grey 'T' was noticeable.

"Okay, I'm gonna get some supplies." Wrench stated suddenly seeming much more serious than anyone had seen him before. "Josh, I need you to get some towels and a bucket of water, and a bottle of alcohol. Actually, make that two. Marcus, I need you to go topside and try and keep an eye out in case anyone followed us, Sitara, stand by him and hold him down in case he starts to freak out, and T-Bone? Grab the gas mask."

"Wait. What?!" Sitara exclaimed shocked. "We're NOT giving him drugs!"

"Sitara, I'm gonna have to pull steel out from his head. He's gonna be in a LOT of pain."

"That could kill him!"

"And leaving it in there will kill him as well." Wrench reasoned. "There isn't time!"

After cleaning the supplies, Wrench set to work cleaning and stitching the wounds as best as he could. All of a suddenly he stopped and watched in shock as some of the cleaned wounds began closing and repairing themselves, leaving a small mark, but even that seemed to disappear.

"What the hell?" Wrench muttered in disbelief. "Yo, Ray. Did you see that?"

"I saw it, but I sure as hell don't believe it." He shook his head.

"What? What happened?" Sitara asked worried.

"His wounds… they're healing on their own!" Wrench exclaimed, his mask emoting shock. "My God! He's a superhero!"

As time went on, Dedsec tried to understand how he could be healing, but also appreciated it because it made patching him up easier. In time, Wrench had cleaned all the noticeable wounds, and they had closed themselves. The boy had remained quiet but was still crying noticeably, trying not to complain about the pain. Sitara sat next to him gently talking to him sweetly, keeping him distracted. Finally, there was only one issue left… the large chunk of metal in his head. Now, Wrench and T-Bone were looking at it from a distance, trying to determine what to do about it.

"We gotta take it out." Wrench finally sighed. "Like it or not, it's gotta go."

"You really think the kid's ability will heal that?" Ray asked questioningly. "Ripping it out could kill him."

"I don't know. But… I dunno." He shook his head walking over to the table. "Hey, kid. Can you understand me?"

The small boy nodded in response.

"Listen… you've got a lot of metal in your head, we can remove it. But it'll hurt. Do you want us to do this?"

After a few moments with no response, Wrench received his answer with another nod.

"Alright. Ray, get the mask. Let's do this."

After 'medicating' the small boy, Ray grimaced as he held the boy's head while Wrench inhaled deeply while holing a pair of plyers.

"Hey, everything good down her- what the f**k?!" Marcus exclaimed as he walked into the room, seeing what T-Bone and Wrench were doing.

"Marcus, not now." Wrench grimaced. "Here we go."

Suddenly pulling back hard, the room was filled by the agonized screams of a child, blood began flowing out from the side of his head as the somewhat rusted metal squelched against flesh and muscle. Wrench continued to struggle as he used the pliers to keep pulling the scrap out.

"For snake's sake Wrench! You're killing him!" Josh shouted, genuinely terrified.

"Almost there!" Wrench replied.

By now, the blood-soaked metal was making its way out, and was nearly gone. Wrench strained against it as it seemed to catch on something, praying to whatever was above that he wasn't ripping the kid's brains out. With one final pull, the long, jagged shard of metal was torn out from the child's skull and everyone stopped, shakily breathing. Wrench fell backwards and onto the ground and groaned annoyed as he grabbed the metal and threw it into a nearby bucket of junk. The kid stopped breathing and then didn't move.

"Oh my God… he's dead!" Sitara whimpered, seeing the boy was not moving.

"Oh… God…" Wrench groaned.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Marcus mumbled.

"Damn…" T-Bone sighed.

After being frozen in shock for a full minute, and odd sound was heard, slowly but surely the hole in the side of the boy's head closed, an odd crunching sound was heard as the skull re-formed and then muscle and skin re-grew over it closing it.

"Wait. Is he-"

Before the question could be asked, the boy coughed and leaned up, looking down at his chest. Sitara rushed to his side and gave him a tender hug, tears of relief flowing down her face.

"Nomoow." He mumbled, seeming… happy. Looking over to the hackers he added: "Thanyou!"

"Aww!" Sitara cooed, picking him up in the sheets and bundling him up. "You're so adorable!"

The boy responded with a sound that sounded like a laugh and Sitara smiled down at him. After some clean up (both of the table and Sitara drawing a bath for the kid) Marcus had found an oversized Dedsec shirt which the kid was now wearing as a sort of shirt-gown and was sitting on the couch, slurping down some ramen noodles T-Bone had made, while the hackers stood off to the side.

"So… what are we gonna do with him?" Marcus finally asked the question everyone was thinking.

"He seems like a lost puppy…" Wrench commented, leaning against a support beam. "We should keep him!"

"Seriously Wrench?" Sitara asked questioningly. "He's not an animal! What if he has a family?!"

"If he had a family, why was he out in the streets for so long?" Marcus asked. "Just look at him, it seems like he's been out there for months at this point."

"Regardless of how long he's been out there, he does need a home, at least temporarily." Josh commented, nodding in agreement.

"Maybe it's just me, but I see nothing wrong with him staying here." Marcus shrugged. "Even if we find his family-"

"And beat their asses for abandoning their kid!" Wrench cut in.

"…and he goes home, I'm fine with him crashing here."

"I'm fine with it." T-Bone shrugged.

"Look, are we really the most competent people to take care of a kid?" Sitara asked. "I mean… is this the right place for a kid to grow up?"

"Well, Dedsec was always sort of a place for those who needed a place to come together and grow stronger. And right now, this kid needs a place to stay." Marcus commented. "Besides, he seems to like you."

Sitara paused thinking it over. Was this the best place for a kid to stay? If not, where would he go? She hadn't even known him a full day, but was she getting attached?

"Well? What's it gonna be Sitara?" Ray asked.

"Sithara?" Came a small voice, the boy's face slightly peaking over the top of the couch, his large eyes innocently looking at them. "Plethletmestay…" He whispered in an innocent voice, probably believing they couldn't hear him, and at that moment, Sitara's heart melted.

"Are you really gonna say no to that Sithara?" Marcus asked with a cheeky grin.

The hackers looked around to one another then over to the small boy who yawned audibly as he laid down on the couch, Sitara smiled and pulled a blanket over him.

"Welcome home kid." She said with a smile. She stroked his head for a few moments before seeing he had fallen asleep. Getting back up and turning to the others.

"It just occurred to me… What's his name?" Wrench asked.

The hackers looked around before Marcus finally spoke up.

"I got it. Kaiju…"

Present Day…

"So, after that, what happened?" Mercy asked, somewhat shocked by the story, as were most of the agents, it seemed so… harsh, that Mad Dawg had been found in an alley way, and yet he seemed so… optimistic despite everything that had happened to him.

"Well, for a few years the kid lived with us. We taught him the ropes." Marcus explained, but then saw the saddened look on Mad Dawg's face before shaking his head. "And… Well, y'know."

"No. We don't." Genji commented in his cybernetic voice. "That's why we're asking."

"We're not gonna go much further than what we've said." Ray commented before taking a bite of his steak, and the heroes understood that this wasn't for them to ask questions.

"So, you taught the kid how ta make bombs?" Junkrat asked Wrench. "Mate, I think you an'I are gonna be good pals."

"Hell yeah." Wrench said, his mask emoting happiness and high-fiving the Junker.

"You two got a lot in common, you refuse to wear shirts, your both probably slow, and don't like showing your real faces." Mad Dawg smirked.

Wrench and Junkrat looked at one another until Junkrat spoke up.

"Wanna break his spine?"

"Oh hell yeah."

"Try it bitch." Mad Dawg retorted, only for Mercy to elbow him in the ribs to get him to calm down.

"Hey, at least I've got the balls to show my face, I don't spend my days hiding behind a damn mask."

"And here we go again…" Mad Dawg muttered, shaking his head. "Calm down you two or I'm getting the shirt out."

"The shirt?" Reinhardt questioned.

"Yeah, Sitara has this oversized t-shirt that says 'This is out get along shirt'. And she'd force us to wear it when we fought. It happened A LOT."

"We should get one of those for you and your brother." Pharah commented, looking over to Genji who stopped eating and let out a long exhale.

"No."

"Now I really wanna see the two of them in one." Tracer grinned.

"I will stab you if you try that." The cyborg commented, a hint of anger in his tone.

"Perhaps this 'Get Along Shirt' would be helpful for you." Zenyatta commented.

"Not you to master…" Genji grumbled.

"So, his real name is Kace?" Symmetra commented with a raised brow. Trying to get away from the fight that was moments away from breaking out.

"Well, we came up with Kace Horatio Teller, but after about a month, we changed it to 'Dawg'." Sitara rolled her eyes. "Kace became his alibi."

"Really? Why didn't you stick with Kace?"

"Because he couldn't pronounce it." Sitara sighed.

"It was funny as hell." T-Bone laughed. "The kid was going around trying to say it, but he had some sort of speech impediment growing up and it came out as something much, much worse!"

The agents paused, thinking it over, then McCree fell face fist onto the table laughing as he realized what they were implying. Then Mad dawg, Junkrat, and a few of the others started laughing as well.

"I'm surrounded by children…" T-Bone muttered.

"Agreed." Reinhardt commented as he and T-bone toasted drinks before drinking.

After the meal, the hackers and agents weren't sure as to what was next, but Mad Dawg and Tracer were outside the diner watching the cars go by.

"This… feels wrong." Mad Dawg chuckled.

"How so?" Tracer asked, her curiosity piqued.

"I dunno man… It's just… you all are so… accepting of all this. Of everything I did, after all my mistakes you still care."

"Aw, we could never hate you love!" Tracer smiled over at him.

"Yeah…" Mad Dawg smiled, looking down. "I'm glad to know that now." Mad Dawg then took a cigarette out from his pocket and lit it, he paused for a moment before taking it out of his mouth and looking at Tracer who was confused as he was. "Why do I even have these?"

"I… you… you don't smoke." Tracer simply commented.

Suddenly, Sitara appeared and grabbed the cig from Mad Dawg and threw it out seeming angry with him.

"That shit'll kill you Kace!" She snapped.

"I don't even know where I got it! Skorch, what the hell?"

I dunno, seemed like the kinda thing you'd do in this scenario.

"I don't smoke!"

What about that time with McCree?

"I was trying them because he peer pressured me into doing that!"

And that time with Lúcio?

"That was different." Mad Dawg muttered, then suddenly realized something he had been missing the entire time since he had gotten back.

"Lúcio…" He muttered in realization.

"Um. Are you alright love?" Tracer asked confused as to why Mad Dawg was yelling at the sky.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm… I'm good." He nodded before looking over to Mercy. "Cruz dosen't know I'm back yet, does he?"

"Well, I don't believe he does." Mercy thought it over. "He's been busy making new music ever since the… um, fallout. And he hasn't been back since."

Mad Dawg went quiet seeming saddened again before shaking his head. No. No more crying, not yet. Not here.

"Listen Angela, I think I'm gonna need a day or two off." He said. "I know I just got back, but I gotta deal with something."

"Of course, dear." She smiled. "I'll let Jack know you're dealing with personal business."

Mad Dawg began walking away, thinking about something when Sitara turned to Mercy.

"He hasn't been smoking has he?" She asked.

"No, I've caught him doing it once or twice, but that was only because Jesse, ahem, 'pressured' him into it." Mercy replied with a sigh and a roll of her eyes.

"No one forces my little Dawg into something like that…" Sitara grumbled. "I'm gonna… Talk to him. You wanna help?"

"Of course." Mercy grinned as the two women walked into the diner to 'talk' with a familiar cowboy.

Two Days Later… In Las Vegas

Lúcio Correia dos Santos walked down the hotel hallway towards his room, high-fiving an employee as he went. After entering his room, he flopped back on his bed and sighed loudly, cracking his neck to each side the Dj finally felt like he could get some rest. From the moment, he set foot back in the recording studio, it felt like he couldn't get a moments rest. Over the past four (or so) months, Lúcio only may have released four new songs, but they were mega hits. The first of the three, titled Virus Detected was a 'Tribute' to the ex-musician who Lúcio hated now more than anyone, the hardest part about the past few months was having to act sad when the news broke that Virus was dead… And not being able to tell the truth about the skitso-psycho's true nature. Techno Jungle was his most energetic of the three, being a base-heavy rave song that he performed numerous times when he went to nightclubs, either for a gig or not, people and Omnic loved it. Even The Crimson Phoenix had posted something on his social media proclaiming his love for the song. His third song No Mercy had become a meme online, and Lúcio loved that, as much as it could be considered 'unprofessional' Lúcio loved listening to the meme remixes during the day, there was a lot of talent behind some of them… And some of them were utter garbage.

The good kind.

Finally, there was A Dog's Day a slower, but no less energetic song. Lúcio had thought about adding lyrics to it, but when he tried to sing the lyrics he had, a story about a man and his dog growing old together, only for the man to outlive the dog, his throat seized up and he couldn't as he remembered who wrote the first draft of the lyrics.

Mad Dawg.

Lúcio refused to simply be defeated like that, and finished the song. People and Omnics all over began sending him messages about how it reminded them of their pets or family remembers they missed, and how this song meant so much to them. On the new album lyric booklet thing, Lúcio had added Dedicated To: MD. He still kept in touch with Overwatch, but was a little bit bitter still over how Dawg was treated, and hadn't gone back yet. Shaking his head to clear it, he grabbed a can of Accelerator Energy and cracked it open as he turned on the tv. After flipping through a few channels, he stopped on a movie, Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny. Lúcio grinned widely as he kicked back onto the bed to enjoy the comedy, thinking back and trying to remember how many times he had seen this film. His smile suddenly faded when a song began to play, a slow, sad guitar song. Then, the lyrics hit him.

Dude, I totally miss you.

"Oh, come on!" He grumbled, changing the channel, he was trying NOT to be reminded of Mad Dawg! Why was this so hard?!

"I hope you're okay Dawg. Where ever you are…" Lúcio thought sadly, before closing his eyes and letting sleep overtake him.

Or at least, that WOULD have happened had he not just shotgunned half an energy drink. After a few minutes of nothing, Lúcio groaned annoyed and jumped off the bed and walked to the balcony. Leaning against it and looking out over the neon colours. He heard what sounded like a jetpack (he knew that form hanging out with Pharah) and his eyes widened in surprise as the Crimson Phoenix ascended up to the balcony.

"Hello Mr. Santos." The Phoenix said in his deep voice. "Your music is awesome. I am a huge fan."

"No way! The Crimson Phoenix!? I wasn't expecting this!" Lúcio laughed in amazement. "Man, you have no idea how much I've wanted to meet you! C'mon in dude!" Landing on the balcony and following the Dj into the room, the Phoenix looked around and whistled.

"Can I get you a drink?" Lúcio asked.

"I'll take a White Russian… But don't let me drink more than one. Drinking and flying… It does not end well. I should know."

Lúcio laughed as he remembered a certain friend of his having too much then crashing into a snowbank last New Year's Eve…

"I've got a friend who would agree with you there." He chuckled. "Hey, if it ain't too much to ask, mind telling me how you got your start?"

"Well, if I'm bring honest. It was because of you." Phoenix relied, thinking it over.

"Me?"

"Yeah, I was listening to your song, Rise Up and it… Inspired me. I wanted to fight and help those who couldn't help themselves. After I heard your story about how you led your neighbours against whatever they're name was, I wanted to help people, fight for the innocent, Y'know… Rise up."

Lúcio smiled at the Phoenix before handing him his drink.

"A lot of people tell me my music inspired them, but listening to your story… It feels good man. Knowing I was able to help someone who went on to help others, that's the stuff I love man."

"I can agree." Phoenix nodded. "Many have said they want to help people after seeing me fight for justice, they might not all be able to wear a jetpack and fight criminals, but to me, it's a do what you can sorta thing."

Lúcio nodded, pouring some vodka into a glass, something about Phoenix's voice seemed… familiar. Or maybe he was just tired. Probably that.

"Mind if I ask you something?" Phoenix asked after a few moments of peaceful silence.

"Fire away dude."

"In the new album, it was dedicated to someone. Who's 'MD'?"

"Oh… MD…" Lúcio coughed. "He was a friend of mine. He got into some trouble and decided to take the high road while everyone tried to drag him on the low road. His name was Marcus Devin, cool guy."

"Marcus Devin?" Phoenix asked, scratching his chin slightly despite wearing the mask. "Hm. How long did you know him?"

"Years, we've known each other for nearly a decade." Lúcio lied. "He was a good dude, he helped me with some of my songs."

"Impressive. At this point I'm sure you've heard this a thousand times at this point, but I still want to say it. I loved A dog's story, the arrangement was beautiful, soothing yet energetic. I'm sure Mad Dawg would've loved it."

Lúcio nearly dropped the drink he had made as he slowly turned around to face the masked vigilante.

"Who are you…talking about?" He shakily asked. Feeling a chill run down his spine.

"Who do you think?" The Phoenix asked, his voice suddenly jumping back up to its normal tone. With a slight rustling, "I know Mad Dawg loved it." The Crimson Phoenix finished removing his helmet, with a shake of his head and Mad Dawg smiled at Lúcio. "Hey dude."

"No…nonononononononononoNO WAY!" Lúcio shouted, his shock turning to joy as he ran and hugged Mad Dawg tightly. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! YOU'RE ALIVE DUDE!"

"Miss me?" Mad Dawg asked cheekily.

"What the hell do you think?!" Lúcio shouted in a mix of sarcasm and anger. "I'VE BEEN HOPING YOU WERE OKAY!"

Mad Dawg smiled and hugged his friend back as they laughed. Mad Dawg lifted the musician off the ground and kept on hugging him. Setting him back down Mad Dawg took his Phoenix suit off and cracked his arms.

"Grab a seat dude. We've got some stuff to talk about." Mad Dawg commented.

Over the course of the next few hours, Mad Dawg explained everything. From McCree's kidnapping, to his history with Dedsec, to the truth about him and where he came from. Lúcio just sat and listened, shocked, saddened and in the end, happy that his friend was back.

"So, it's true… You are a mutant…" He mused. "I'll be honest, me and a few of the others guessed you may have been a mutant. But… Geez… I never would've thought all that was part of it…"

"Yeah." Mad Dawg nodded. "Listen Santos, I wanted to apologize, for lying, for getting you dragged into this-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up." Lúcio cut him off. "You didn't drag me into anything. I chose to go looking for you, I chose to trick Reaper into joining forces with me. I chose all of this, don't blame yourself."

"I… Look, I've done this song and dance way too many times at this point, I'm just happy to be back. I wanted to come tell you I was back in person though. And what I said was true, part of my motivation to become the Crimson Phoenix was your music, when I was hanging with you and the others, I felt like a hero. I wanted to help people like we did back then."

Dude, you 'saved' people by running at them with a chainsaw.

Shut. Up.

"I believe you." Lúcio nodded. "And that means a lot, thank you."

"Listen… Is it okay if I crash here tonight? I don't have enough jet fuel to get back tonight."

"No problem." Lúcio grinned. "There's a couch you can crash on."

"Awesome! Thanks man!" Mad Dawg smiled before yawning. "Holy crap. It's two in the morning…"

"Eh, this is normal to me." The musician shrugged.

"Yeah? Well, I'm still technically a teen. You've been doing this for years."

"Touché."

"G'night Lúcio." Mad Dawg said as he got up and headed towards the couch.

"Night Dawg."

"Hey, thanks for everything. I mean that." Mad Dawg added before heading to bed.

Lúcio lay back on his bed, feeling like he could sleep now, knowing his teammate, and his friend, was finally back.

The next morning, Mad Dawg groaned as the sun slowly made its way into the room. As he dragged himself up and went into the bathroom, his phone began buzzing. It was too early to be taking calls, but at the same time, he didn't want to alienate any of his teammates.

"Yeah?" He answered tiredly.

"Hey, Mad Dawg. You alright?" Brigitte's voice came from the other side.

"Peachy." He yawned.

"Good. Listen, I… have an odd question for you."

"For the last time, I am not an ancient reincarnated spirit of death. That Forrest Valley thing was beyond even my understanding."

"That wasn't my question." Brigitte flatly replied.

"Oh. What do you want?"

"…If you're not doing anything next week… Would you like to come to my family's thanksgiving dinner?"

A.N. Oh boy, next chapter is gonna be GOOD!

And that's pretty much it for this story arc, Mad Dawg's doing his best to mend relationships and trust. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the past few chapters (and followed and favorited, you are all awesome) especially Rea. Ev (you know who you are). So even though I'm Canadian, the next chapter will be the second Thanksgiving special. And it'll be… interesting to say the least. I mean, think about it. A Talon-Bred genetic monstrosity having dinner with the man he accused of starting what is essentially WWIII? And meeting his family? Bring popcorn is my advice. Until then, see you around.