You woke up the next morning to a weight on your shoulders and a splitting headache. Through the fog that clouded your mind, you were able to identify a few other oddities as well. 'Nausea… excessive hunger… pins and needles… fuck, I didn't eat enough sugar last night, did I?' Groaning, you pushed yourself up, nearly knocking Piddie to the floor. Your arms were unsteady beneath you and you would have collapsed back onto the couch, were it not for the large muzzle that slipped beneath your chest to keep you up.

Through slightly blurred vision, you were able to make out the familiar blue glow that sat on the floor next to your couch and the other one that slid up to you with something clenched in its mouth. The dragons both looked up at you with worried eyes, the one holding you up helping you maneuver until you were sitting and the other placing what appeared to be a bottle in your lap.

"Whasthis?" you mumbled, your tongue feeling heavy in your mouth, slurring your speech. The bottle felt heavy in your hands as you picked it up, watching as one of the dragons dashed into the adjacent room. 'A bottle? Water? Or something else? Fuck… I really need to get a handle on this…'

"Hachi?" You quickly swerved your head, making the world tilt as you turned to see Hanzo stepping into the living room, a robe of some kind wrapped around him. Your mind wouldn't provide the word for it in this state.

Without speaking, you held the bottle up, drawing your eyebrows together in question.

"Sugar water," he said, coming to sit beside you. "Do you need me to open it?"

"No." You struggled with the bottle cap, your hands shaking too much for you to really get a good grip on it. "Yes."

He chuckled, gently taking the bottle from you. "You did not drink enough last night."

Groaning, you tilted your head back, closing your eyes. Your fingers found themselves tangling in a soft mane, a heavy head in your lap. This headache you knew was not from the hypoglycemia, but from the hangover. Which was strange, because you didn't remember drinking that much last night. "Drank plenty."

You could practically feel the hard look he gave you. "We made those arrangements for a reason, Hachi. We wanted to avoid this exact scenario."

You shrugged a bit, shaking your head. "Sorry. Is… hard."

His frown was near tangible in the air around him, and he stood, shooing the dragon out of the way so he could crouch in front of you. He picked up one of your hands, looking at it intently before he sighed and looked back up at you. "Do we need to get Angela? Your speech is slurred and you are shaking, Hachi."

You shook your head. You knew how to get through an episode like this, getting Angela wouldn't help. All she could do or tell you to do was to make sure you leveled out your blood sugar as quickly as you could. There was no medication, no treatment plan, just some snacks to eat, maybe a soda or two to drink, though you would prefer orange juice. "No. Just… drink." You held out your hand, reaching for the bottle, but Hanzo stopped you.

"Your hands are shaking too much, you will do nothing but spill it. Allow me to help you," he murmured, waiting for your reluctant grunt to bring the bottle to your lips. You greedily drank the water down, dehydrated and keenly craving that sugar, and it was gone before a minute was up. He waited for you to stabilise a bit before he probed you some more. "Are we going to talk about what happened last night?"

You leaned back, taking a second to appreciate the sugar boost and let it sink in before you spoke. "Getting drunk or Baxter?"

"Baxter."

Groaning, you reached up, running still shaking fingers through your hair. "Baxter's a real piece of work. I don't know what his angle is yet, but he likes me. Gave me his business card after getting kind of handsy."

"You let him?"

You snorted, opening your eyes to look over at Hanzo. It wasn't hard to catch a glimpse of the conflicting emotions. He was upset at the very least, pissed off at the very most. "Han, if we get this deal, if the UN decides to fully fund us again, he's gonna be the big kahuna, my boss's boss. I can't risk him not liking me. In that small chat we had, he called me an idiot, threatened my job, then told me it'd be a shame not to see me around the office because he thinks I'm so pretty. It's easy to see he's reaching for an in, and if I can be that in, if I can make sure we get this funding, hell, I'll play honey trap as long and as well as I need to." He flinched at that, and you sighed, reaching forward to cup his cheeks. "I'm not going to let it get that far. Big boss or not, there are only two men in my life who I will allow to see me in the nip, and Arthur Baxter is not one of them."

"Jesse and I should count ourselves very lucky, then," he said softly, giving you a cheeky grin as he turned to press a kiss to your palm.

"Whoever said it was the both of you?" you teased, reaching up to run your fingers through his hair. You liked it when he wore it down, it looked nice on him, made him look less severe, but still pretty. He was pretty no matter what he did to his hair, but having it down was definitely more fun. "Mo phiorra spíceach," you murmured, chuckling at his confusion. "Is ceol mo chroí thú."

He sighed, his lips still pressed against the meat of your palm before they moved to your wrist. "You are being unfair. You know I can't speak Gaelic," he muttered, lacing his fingers with yours.

"All the more reason to use it, love. That way I can call you all sorts of sweet names in public and you can't say a word about it," you whispered, gently tugging him up to bring him to eye level. There was a playful glint in his eyes as he chuckled, shaking his head and kissed you softly.

"There are a plethora of things I could say about it, Hachi," he grumbled, pulling away to smooth down your hair. "I could say plenty of things about you as well, troublemaker."

You gasped, tugging at his robe, pulling him closer. "Lies! Lies and slander! I could sue you for that, you know."

He simply smiled, pressing a chaste kiss to the tip of your nose before he reached down and removed your fingers from his robe. "How are you feeling? Do I need to grab another bottle?"

"No, I'm feeling much better, thank you, mo grhá." You gave his hand a gentle squeeze, groaning when your computer chimed from across the room. "I should probably get to work," you sighed, bringing his knuckles to your lips. "I have a few reports to sort through, some requests to field, and a meeting to schedule. Actually, Athena?" You tilted your head back, talking up to the ceiling.

"Yes, Miss Marsh?" Athena responded immediately, sounding all too pleased to be called on.

"Contact Agent Mills, tell him to come down to my quarters at around," you glanced at the clock on the wall, thinking, "noon. I need to talk to him privately."

Hanzo gave you a look that you brushed aside with a kiss, going to slip off the couch and get ready for the day. "You are inviting another man to your quarters," he said slowly, frowning, watching you walk off into the bedroom with Raijin hot on your heels.

"It's just business, babe. I need to talk to him about some files and I can't have anything on record about them. We don't want to risk mister big britches finding out about Morrigan, do we?" you asked, mostly as a rhetorical question as you picked out a sensible sweater and some jeans. Nothing Overwatch-issued, and definitely not office attire, but it would work for your meeting. Most of the time, you worked in your pajamas, so this would be a change.

Hanzo grunted from his spot in the other room and you knew you hadn't appeased him. Han was a jealous type, after all, and you knew the concept of you inviting over any other man besides his brother and Lucio was never going to sit well with him. He would just have to deal with this for the time being. "I suppose I will get started on breakfast," he said, and you heard him stand. "Any requests?"

"Whatever you're in the mood for, Han," you called back, slipping into the bathroom, the dragon brushing himself against your ankles. "I'll just have another bottle of sugar water with it."

In your life, and in Morrigan's, you'd met many intimidating men. Agent Jordan Mills was not one of them. Tall and lanky, he had the stature of a metal pole, and wasn't much thicker around either. He looked in desperate need of some sleep, probably having been put on reworking some system archives to make room for the UN tech workers. They were hopeful, everyone was, that this would go through and Overwatch would get the funding it needed, the only problem, one you could see quickly coming up on the horizon, was how the UN would hover over you and track every move.

Mills was nervous as he entered your quarters, quick blue eyes immediately drawn to the intimidating archer sat in the corner; Hanzo made no effort to hide his dislike of the man. "You-You called for me, Miss Marsh?" he asked, adjusting his tie with a gulp.

You shot a glare Hanzo's way and waved him out of the room, taking the pot off the oven and pouring Mills a cup of tea with a smile. "Yes! Yes, come in, make yourself comfortable. Athena, privacy mode, please."

Athena let out a soft beep, indicating she'd heard what you said and that everything from this moment on would not be recorded. Good. At least Athena had the foresight to not argue with you on this, though you had a feeling you'd be discussing the ethics of your moves later on.

"We have quite a bit to talk about, Agent Mills," you said, handing him a cup as he perched anxiously on the edge of the couch.

His eyes wandered to your wings, and you felt them twitch behind you. As soon as he noticed you watching him, he averted his gaze, instead looking down at the tea in his hands. "I-I'm not in trouble, ma'am, am I?"

"Of course not," you soothed, settling down in the armchair next to him, keen eyes locked on his face. Raijin had slung himself over the back, looking more regal than you'd ever seen him, and rested his tail protectively against your shoulder.

This was all a longshot, a really, really stupid longshot whose probability of success you didn't want anyone calculating. You couldn't order Mills to keep silent about this if Winston asked any questions. While you were his superior, you weren't his boss, and you had no true authority over him, even if he didn't know the whole of it.

"No, you're not in trouble, Mills, but what I need to discuss with you is very important." You watched as he eyed his tea nervously, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed thickly. There was fear in his posture, in the quick glances he kept shooting your way. That was strange. Mills should have no reason to fear you, you hadn't given anyone, save the people who knew your past, any reason to- Oh.

Shifting in your seat, you took a slow sip of your tea. English breakfast, four spoons of sugar, a splash of milk. You let the taste dance over your tongue before you spoke. "But before we get to that, we need to talk about what's got you so nervous. You've read the files, haven't you?"

He nodded, still refusing to meet your gaze. "I-uh, yes," he managed, his voice catching a bit. "I have. I, um, I was put in charge of shifting the archives and I found… It was attached to your file. I-I know I shouldn't have read it! I'm sorry! It was just, no one else has a file like that and I was worried it might be a bug or something and-"

"That file is locked under level five security access," you interrupted, eyeing Mills curiously. "Whether or not you were tasked with moving archive files, you shouldn't have been able to access the contents of that file."

Mills flinched, rubbing his thumb against the handle of the tea cup. "Yes, well, um."

"You cracked it, didn't you?" you pressed, sitting forward in your seat. Something in you lit up, a fierce curiosity that begged and prodded you to demand him to grant you access to that file. You wanted, you needed to know what was on that file. You'd already spent so long trying to decipher everything and- You couldn't focus on that right now. In fact, you weren't sure you really, truly wanted to know what secrets were kept in the file. Your memories were bad enough, you didn't want to know more, not right now, not when you were just starting to get your life back together.

"I- Might've cracked it open, yes," he said, wincing and looking anywhere but at you.

Leaning forward, you reached out to rest a hand on his knee, the closet bit of him to you, and caught his gaze. "Mills, you're not in trouble. I promise. I understand that normally you would be, but I have a proposition to make. If you have any interest in ensuring that little bit of information doesn't get out, I urge that you seriously consider it."

He swallowed thickly again, eyes flicking between you, the dragon glaring at him from the back of your chair, and the room Hanzo had been banished to earlier. "A prop-proposiston?" he squeaked, chuckling and nervously pulling at his collar. "I-I'm flattered, but, um-"

Suddenly aware of how your actions had made the situation seem, you patted his knee and offered an apologetic smile. "Nothing along those lines, I assure you," you said, leaning back in your chair. You raised a hand, scratching underneath Raijin's chin to calm the twitchy dragon. "I have enough drama in my life to add another office romance into the mix. No, I have another idea. I need you to destroy the file."

Jesse sat in the waiting room, bouncing his leg restlessly as he played with his hat in his hands. It'd been just over a week and a half when he got the notification, when Athena told him his presence was required, not requested. He hadn't been back at headquarters long, only just having gotten back from some stupid political meeting. They were trying to use him as an example of the amnesty programme gone right, trying to keep that possibility for others who might come along. While he understood the purpose and the importance of the programme, he didn't like the fact that they were dragging him into it, especially didn't like that he might become their posterboy. Jesse McCree was in no way shape or form entirely "reformed", his days after Blackwatch were proof of that.

But right now, none of that mattered.

Right now, he was anxiously awaiting possibly one of the first intensely emotionally charged moments of the new year. They'd finally cracked through Briallen's brainwashing. From this day forward, there was no more hiding, no more begging Han for daily updates, no more pinning from behind a closed door, she was free. His little sunbeam was free.

It felt like he'd been waiting in that room for forever, even though it had only been about ten minutes, and the anxiety was only building, until the door knob jiggled. Immediately, he was up on his feet, clutching the brim of his hat while he watched the door. The moment she walked out of that office, it was like his whole world lit up. He drank in the sight of her, no mask, no fancy clothes, just her, and it felt like he was seeing her for the first time all over again. He'd never noticed the tiny dimples she had, or the particular way her eyes crinkled when she smiled at him, had never gotten the chance to really count the freckles on her cheeks or to admire the way her eyes shifted colour the further from the pupils they went, going from a dark chocolate in the middle to a warm honey gold around the edges. But he saw all that now. He saw her, flaws and all, and it made his heart ache.

"H-Honeybee?" he asked softly, still standing near the chairs, almost afraid to approach as much as he was relieved to see her.

Her nose scrunched up and she gave him a wry grin, shaking her head so that her hair fell in tiny little cascades around her cheeks. Her wings twitched in amusement behind her, catching and glowing in the light. "Now that one's just lazy, Jess."

In an instant, he had crossed the room, engulfing her in an embrace and holding her tightly against his chest. Tears lined his eyes as he held her, breathing in that sweet, familiar vanilla honey scent, his fingers carding through her hair. "Fuckin' hell, darlin'," he murmured, chuckling even though his chest hurt. "Ain't ever lettin' you outta my sight again."

She clutched at his jacket, burying herself in the embrace, and he could feel her tremble a bit. He expected her to argue, to tell him it wasn't fair, because it wasn't. It was selfish of him to feel like that, to want to lock her away where she couldn't ever get into trouble again, but she just laughed softly, pushing herself back to look up to him, those soft hands coming up to caress his cheeks.

"Okay," she murmured, a few tears of her own slipping down her cheeks. She looked into his eyes, wiping away his tears, and Jesse could feel how much she had missed him. He had felt some of it back at the party, even through her anger, but here, it was so loud and on display, it made him ache even more.

He let out a shuddering chuckle, recognising the look of "Is this even real?" in her eyes, and he surged forward, peppering her face with kisses, basking in the warmth of her laughter. This was real, she was here, she was safe, and she wasn't alone, not anymore. He pulled her into a kiss, needing that touch, that reassurance as much as she did. "Been wantin' to do that since ya got back," he murmured, smiling when she pulled away, breathless. "Love you, babygirl."

Her cheeks caught a flame, turning a full shade of red as she leaned forward, hiding her face in his chest. "I love you too," she whispered, keeping her face hidden for a few seconds before she looked back up at him, all smiles and sunshine and warmth.

Jesse swore his heart burst at the sight. She'd never said that to him, not in person, and to hear it from her now meant everything and the world to him. She meant the world to him and seeing her in person, hearing her voice again, it felt just as right as rain.

Her eyes, those pretty little pools of shifting amber, tore away from his to glance to her right. He jumped when he turned to see what she was looking at, surprised to find Hanzo walking up, as silent as ever.

"Jesus, Han," he chuckled, wrapping an arm around her and holding the other one out for his boyfriend. "Didn't even hear you come in, sweetheart." He held Hanzo tightly against his side, pressing a kiss to his forehead as the smaller man laughed.

"Good, that means I have not quite lost my touch yet. Though I feel I cannot sneak up on you, Hachi," Hanzo murmured, reaching forward to cup one of Briallen's cheeks, running his thumb affectionately across her scars.

She giggled softly, shaking her head. "It's not hard to miss the scent of cherry blossoms and sandalwood when I've been living with it for the past month."

Jesse looked down at the two of them, beaming. This was it, this is what he'd been waiting for, the moment he wanted most in the world. Just the three of them, together at last. Nothing standing in between them. He let out a soft breath he'd been holding, and pulled them closer, closing his eyes. 'Thank you.'