This is a mini fic interlude! It happened in the middle of the events of Ch. 4, right after Symm and Mccree left Winston's office :
"Jesse, I would advice you to heed Dr. Ziegler's warning of not eating any of those cookies. She seemed quite firm on not letting you in here. I think it is best if you turn around now. I'll have you know that I will not lie on your behalf if she asks."
"Yeah, yeah I'll deal with her later. She's all bark, no bite," He whispered back, beaming as he leaned against the mess hall door to open it as quietly as he could. The door made a long squeak, and he had to cover his mouth to not make a laugh at the sudden breech of noise. It almost felt like he was a kid again, and despite what Symmetra was saying, she still was willing to go along with his shenanigans. It made the heist he was about to pull that much more fun. He even noticed she was walking on the balls of her feet, so her heels wouldn't tap on the floor.
Once it was open enough for him to slip inside, he pulled her in the room with him. "Besides, we came this far, not like we can turn back now."
"Yes, we can," she flatly responded, shaking her head as she let him lead her into the dark room. She was thankful she knew her way around, so sneaking back to the kitchen wasn't that big of a problem since they weren't tripping over any of the tables or chairs. If anything, they just kept bumping into each other because Mccree kept stopping to crouch and put a hand to his forehead as he looked around as if he was scouting the perimeters. Every couple of minutes, he'd put a finger to his mouth to shush her, though she was certain he was the one making the most noise, especially when he was humming the Mission Impossible theme song.
Once they made it to the kitchen, Mccree turned on one of the smaller lamps. Though still dim, it was enough to see their surroundings. Symmetra pressed her back against the side of the fridge and watched as he raided the room in search of the baked goods. She noticed he was checking places that she personally would not store something if she wanted to keep safe. "If the doctor intended on keeping them away from you, I doubt she would place them in plain sight."
He tapped a finger on his temple. "That's my girl, always two steps ahead of the game. The real brains behind this operation."
"I should have not said anything…" she sighed, crossing her arms.
Mccree searched a few more places, and he finally found the plate on a shelf in the utility closet, carefully protected with saran wrap. "Jackpot!" He seemed pleased with himself as he brought out his prize and set it on the counter next to her to unwrap it. "You're the Bonnie to my Clyde, Satya."
"I would not think that cookie thievery would be comparable to armed robbery, but there is a first for everything, I suppose."
"I like the spirit," he said, waving a cookie at her before taking a bite. Almost instantaneously, he made a face as he pulled it back out and sputtered, making sounds that could make a professional trumpeter jealous. "The hell? Was that paper?"
"Oh. There was a note on there. I thought you had seen it, so I didn't think to mention it," Symmetra said as she plucked it out, wiping the paper on the side of her dress before she unfolded it. "You ought to be more cautious of what you are eating."
"I'll keep that in mind before more people decide that fortune cookies aren't the only things you should put paper in. Wassit say anyways?" He grumbled as he brushed some stray crumbs off of his beard. He was already reaching for a second one, this time examining it on both sides, before popping it in his mouth along with the first.
"It says 'Nice try, Mccree," Symmetra reported and it was then that she understood that Mercy was even more steps ahead of either one of them.
Mccree rolled his eyes and stubbornly biting into his treat, ignoring the taste of the charred bits. "Yeah well, jokes on her because I don't mind em a bit well done. Crispy that way, and they aren't all that bad." He looked at the pile and grabbed the nicest looking one he could fine. "Here, might as well take one since it's from the reject."
One thing Symmetra noticed was that half of the batch, despite cooked a little too long, were perfect heart and star shapes, while the other half looked like they were drawn by a preschooler. She wondered what had gone wrong for them to turn out so unusual. "It's not healthy to eat so late before sleeping, no thank you."
"One cookie won't kill you, not even a burnt one," he said with a grin.
"Very well, but I want this one," she said, giving in and picking up one of the disfigured blobs.
"What, really? I thought you'd have like the better shaped ones. These ones aren't that burnt, just a little too brown on the edges."
"What are you talking about? This cookie is the exact likeness an elephant, look Jesse. An exquisite piece, my compliments to the one who crafted it. A shame it was a little burned," she said, admiring it.
Mccree squinted and just nodded his head. From experience, he knew that anything that looked pretty questionable was probably Mercy's doing. She had probably intended on making the same heart and start cookies that Reinhardt had baked to perfection, but somehow all of her creations ended up like lumpy Area 51 subjects. "Yeah… that… uh, sure looks like what they were trying to do. An elephant."
"Now that I think of it, I have only seen one with my own eyes once before, though I was a child. I think it was during a festival in India quite some time ago. When I was sent to Vishkar's schooling program and transferred out as an architect, I never had many opportunities to see the native fauna in the countries I traveled to or even local zoos for that matter. Sometimes, I'd stay up late reading books at night about animals."
When she looked at Mccree's face, she suddenly felt embarrassed from her inability to read his expression. She set her cookie down on the counter, and her shoulders drooped a little. "I apologize, I have no idea why that came to mind. I was just reminded by the shape of this thing, but I'm sure it sounds rather childish of me."
He resisted every urge he had to grab both of her hands in his. He never really thought about whether he had missed out on in his younger years. He had joined Deadlock when he was a young teen, and while he regretted the involvement he had later in life, there were a few things he did get to do that he wouldn't have gotten to otherwise. He felt like it kind of balanced out, but it definitely didn't sit well with him that she was denied from even the most normal things, and it made him wonder what else she wasn't able to do.
"I don't think it's childish at all. I'll take you to one, anywhere you want. Every damn zoo in the world if that's what you want."
"I don't think it's possible to visit every zoo in the world."
"I'll die trying."
"One zoo is more than enough, no need to put your life on the line," she insisted.
"All right then. One zoo."
They spent another hour or so talking about places they'd like to go together. Symmetra had an entire lifetime to catch up on, and Mccree was sure as hell going to make sure she could experience everything that she could.
"Goodnight Jesse. Do make sure to put everything away before you go to sleep."
"Yes, Ma'am, the evidence will be gone before sunrise."
She hesitated before smiling and admitting, "I had fun being your accomplice, even if our efforts were thwarted."
"We'll get em next time. Night, Satya."
After she was gone, he noticed that she had left her treat behind. Even though he was pretty sure no one would want it, he went ahead and found a ziplock bag to put it in and a sharpie to write her name on it for her. After he cleaned up, throwing the inedible cookies in the trash and putting the plate in the sink, he put her cookie in the pantry.
He glanced over to make sure that he was definitely alone before sliding down onto the floor. "An elephant?" Jesus, there should be a limit to how cute someone should be.
