At dawn the next day, Mccree was boarding the jet. There were a few crew members inside before him, getting preparations ready before they took off. Tracer was the designated pilot, already lounging in the cockpit with her uniform on. He'd be sure to poke fun at her flying later like always. That woman was always flying as fast as she lived her life, and sometimes it meant a bumpy ride for the rest of them. Kept thing interesting at least.

Inside, there was a very familiar tin man sitting with his arms crossed and head nodded low. If he didn't know any better, Mccree would have thought he was sleeping, but the truth was far from the truth. He was observing his surroundings and probably riding the wave of nostalgia came with coming back to the base. Very little things had changed around here after all, so Mccree could relate in that sense.

"Genji! You asshole, I didn't know you were back in town! Where've you been at?" Mccree announced, holding his arms out for a hug and didn't even bother waiting before crushing his old friend in a bear hug.

In response, Genji pushed his face away and leaned back. Mccree couldn't help but think about Satya having similar reactions. Neither one of them particularly liked being touched without warning. The only difference in how he treated them is that him and Genji were long time friends that enjoyed nothing more than pissing each other off.

"I could say the same to you," he replied, once he had been released, and gave Mccree a pat on the shoulder. "It's been a long time, Shitbag. After France, I had a few loose ends to tie, but when I heard you answered the Recall, I thought I'd better check to make sure you didn't get rusty after all these years."

Mccree laughed and rubbed his finger under his nose with a smug grin. "I won't rust like you, y'know; I get better with age, like fine wine."

"…"

The lack of a sharp retort made him chuckle weakly and tilted his head. "What? Do I got something on my face?" Maybe he should have checked the mirror before he left. Last thing he'd need is to have something in his teeth on his first meeting with Genji. Even though he had mellowed out in later years, especially under the tutorage of the omnic monk Zenyatta, that man was still the petty type who loved to bring embarrassing things up when you'd least suspected it. His memory was a steel trap, filled with things Mccree had done to make a fool of himself.

Genji tapped at his temples, the sound of his metal fingertips clinking against his helmet. "Where's the hat?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

Ah. Even worse.

Nervously ruffling his hair as he sat down, Mccree made a noncommittal wave with his free hand. "Oh I, uh, guess I might'a left it behind?" The second the words stumbled out of his mouth, he knew it would make for a pretty weak story. He wasn't expecting Genji to step on a landmine so quickly, but he should've known better. That hat had been on his head for more than a decade that it was practically an extension of him. It was almost impossible to see him anywhere without it that it really shouldn't have been a surprise that Genji picked up on its unusual absence, even after so long. The old thing came with him everywhere.

"Left it behind, huh?" Genji looked out the window behind him and happened to spot a woman dressed in blue. He could vaguely make out a pretty face but couldn't put a name to her. Whoever she was, she was holding the hat in question as if she her life depended on its wellbeing. From here, he could tell that she was staring at the jet while it was taking off, and as the air swirled around it, she anxiously shuffled back and forth before heading out of sight. Probably to keep the hat from getting dirty or blown away, he assumed. "Well, well… and with a woman, no less."

"Haha… Yeah, kinda, maybe… sorta…asked her to take it off my hands for me. Y'know, as safe keeping, so I didn't lose it. It'd be a pain if I lost it in a snow storm or off a cliff out there, right? Winston said that the weather out there's brutal out this season." He laughed again, hoping the conversation would change soon.

Genji ignored his stammering and leaned forward in his seat. "What's her name? I've never seen her around before. Is she new?" he asked, enjoying this a little too much. When was the last time he had gotten to mess with him like this? After all those years of Mccree's teasing about the ambiguous nature of his relationship with Mercy back in the day, Genji was ready to dish it back. Surely, these men were the absolute pinnacle of maturity and growth.

"Yeah, actually. Y'all haven't been around inna minute, so figures you wouldn't know about this. That's, uh, Satya Vaswani," he mentioned, seeming a little reluctant to share her name. "She's one of the people Winston's been wanting to recruit, so I took her under my wing this past week. She's from that piece of work company, you know the one. Vishkar."

Very quickly, he added, "Don't worry though, she's completely different from the rest of them. She officially joined us just yesterday actually, but you'll see what I mean when I say she's gonna be a great addition."

Mccree was always pretty loyal to those he cared about, but Genji wasn't so sure he had ever seen him so quick to defend someone he barely knew. Back when they were both edgy little bastards, it took a lot for both of them to trust anyone. Either Mccree was getting soft, or this little lady was lucky and managed to get a fast pass to his heart. "You speak so fondly of her, what is she to you?"

"Huh? To me?" He drummed his fingers on his metal arm. "She's just a new recruit and friend, I reckon, you could say. She's been out on base for a few days, bouta week now maybe, so can't say that I know her entirely well."

"Is that coward's talk for girlfriend material? Or is this more of a summer, or rather, autumn fling?"

"C'mon, she's a real good lady." All this talk was making him feel odd. Of course, he wasn't immune to the fact that Satya was a beautiful woman, but he never thought much about her in that regard. He was just content to being around there for her, and really, she just one year shy of being 10 years his junior according to her files. A relationship was the last thing on his mind. "Keep her outta the locker room talk."

At the mention of a locker room, the fresh memory of him brazenly flirting with Satya came to mind, and he wanted to hide his face in his hands. It was almost as if fate wanted to call him out as a hypocrite, but he waved the thought away. He just wanted to get a reaction of her, nothing more to it than that. Playful banter came him like second nature, so of course, he'd give her a little dollop of it. That's all. He just happened to lay it on a little too thick.

Genji gauged Mccree's facial reactions and knew when to back off. "Fine, I apologize, but that still begs the question. Why did you let her take the hat?"

"She was worried about me, so I left the hat behind with her to comfort her. " He had absolutely zero romantic implications when he handed it to her, but with Genji's prodding, he was starting to worry about if she had taken it a different way. Hell, maybe she was conscious of his flirting and the hat just sealed the deal for her. He wasn't sure how he'd go about that. It wasn't exactly an unpleasant thought or anything, but Overwatch was hardly a good place for romance in the workplace. "She's never been out on dangerous missions like ours before. I kinda took her out on one without her knowing, and I guess it got to her or something. She was frettin' real hard when I told her I was leaving on a longer mission this time. That's really all there is between us though, scout's honor."

Genji let out a long, exaggerated sigh. Just who was this lady that got Mccree acting like such a pure maiden in love? It was equal parts irritating and precious that this idiot cowboy was either unaware or denied that he was budding some sort of attachment to her. Mccree did say she was a new recruit, so there was a chance that he was hesitant becuase they had only just met. That wouldn't be right though, as he'd seen this dumbo be just fine giving complete strangers a taste of that cowboy charisma.

"So it's like that, huh? I guess I can approve…"

"What are you, my mom? Wait, approve of what? I just told ya, there ain't a hint going on between us!" He muttered. His hand instinctively went to look for his hat, only to grasp the air before he remembered that he wasn't wearing it. "A-Anyways, what made you jump on this mission?"

"I hardly think I need a reason for that, but if you must know, I happen to be friends with the one who called for Overwatch's help," he replied, very much aware of the not-so-subtle change in conversation, but he'd let it slide for now. There were plenty of other times to stick his nose into Mccree's business. "You remember my master, don't you?"

"Huh? Yeah, I recall. Never met the guy, but I remember a letter or two mentioning him." Mccree replied, glad that the chat was moving away from Satya. He couldn't afford to be distracted with weird thoughts about her like that. "Why, what's up?"

X x X

Back at Gibraltar, Symmetra didn't have an inkling of romance on the mind. Instead, she was conflicted of what to actually do with his hat. While the gesture was very kind, she was standing in her room trying to decide if she should just leave it on the dresser as is, or if she should make a display case for it, just in case. Nothing would cause her more grief if her new ward suddenly got lost or damaged. For the whole rest of the day, she carried it around with her and couldn't make up her mind. Even if she wasn't so absorbed in making pros and cons of both options, she still wouldn't have noticed the curious stares around her.

In the end, she took the hat to bed with her and let it rest next to her on her pillow. Mccree's familiar scent of the open road, cigars, and gunpowder, something she initially would have detested, aided her in sleeping without worrying too much about him. He had promised he would return anyways. Whenever she'd wake up in the middle of the night, all she did was gently run her fingers along the wide brim and smile to herself.

Yes, Mccree would definitely come back to her.

At least she hoped so.

The mission would end up taking a few days longer than they had previously thought, and by then, Symmetra was getting antsy. While living here on the base had slowly become a part of her new daily routine, the uncertainty of not knowing Mccree's circumstances still weighed heavy on her mind. Even though they occasionally got updates, The digital calendar she had made to keep track of time had already been marked down to the week. It was slightly unnerving having one string unraveled.

It got to the point that part of her daily schedule was to make time to wait outside, starting very early in the morning. If she had it her way, she would have been out at the crack of dawn, but Mercy consistently steered her towards the cafeteria to get a healthy start for the day. The doctor made it a point to pile on a perfectly balanced meal on her plate. Consequently, she would also seek out and drag Satya away from her post when it was time to eat lunch and dinner as well.

While no one had bothered her much during that period of time, save for Torbjorn who always had a thing or two to say about engineering, she didn't particularly want to indulge that she was excited to see Mccree. Every time she finished her meal, she would always excuse herself and claim that she wanted to enjoy the good weather and be one with nature. A few giggles always erupted behind her whenever she left, but she would have to skip out on the conversations.

For the rest of the time, she set up a little hardlight stool and idly scouring the skies to no avail. The only sight to see were the passing clouds drifting along the colors of the air hanging over a deep ocean blue and migrating birds heading to warmer lands. If she wasn't out here for a specific purpose, the natural view would have been a speculator sight, but she clicked her tongue out of impatience. Sometimes, she found herself too restless to sit and would pace back and forth, rubbing her forearms to keep herself stay warm as the salty breeze grazed her skin that she would have to wash off later to feel clean.

Every so often, someone would come outside just to ask if she needed anything, but each time she politely turned them down. Other times, they would simply make up an excuse to keep her company, so she wasn't completely on her own. Day by day, she was becoming acquainted with more of the other members, even though she wasn't quite sure how to handle it.

Part of her felt a little guilty for spending so much of her time out here for so long. When was the last time she sat around without doing anything productive? Of course, she still helped around the base where she could, but to have all this idle time to herself was far more than what she had ever allowed herself.

If he could see her now, Sanjay would have reprimanded her for wasting such valuable time when she could be working. Even now, her fingers occasionally danced with familiar patterns, and an assortment of little trinkets began to pile up on either side of her.

"What do you think of this, Miss Vaswani?"

On that day in particular, it seemed like it was Reinhardt's turn to stay at Satya's side. Or rather, he was gluing himself to her. Truthfully speaking, she wasn't exactly sure what to make of this man. Ever since Mccree had left, he had started approaching her and was so obvious that even she was able to tell that he was worried about her feeling lonely.

While the thought was nice, there was just one main problem she had with him. Reinhardt was extremely... loud. Everything from his footsteps to his booming voice always rang in her ears even after he'd leave any room. After purposely trying to keep to herself, Satya found that it was impossible to avoid him becuase he was so physically large that he could spot her immediately and would call her out in that hearty voice down the hallway, long strides always capable of catching up with her even if she tried briskly walking away. He was so earnest that it was hard to find an excuse to get out of talking with him.

"What do I think of what, Mr. Wilhelm?" She asked, while dialing down the volume on her headset now that he was keen on having another conversation with her.

"The song, of course!"

"The song?"

That's right, he did mention something about putting on some classics for them both to relax to earlier. She had hardly been paying attention; he tended to just go on and on without ever needing a response. Now that it was pointed out to her, whatever music he was playing on the speakers, it sounded extremely dated. It had to be from the era that came before the Omnic Crisis, long before she was even born.

"You're still so lost in your thoughts… Hm…" he scratched his beard and thought for a moment. His face lit up when he came to a conclusion all on his own and slapped his thigh eagerly. "Aha! Why don't you tell your dear, old Reinhardt what is running on through your head? I always have an ear to lend to a friend! Come, now, don't be shy!"

Symmetra turned her gaze to the man sitting across from her. Part of her had been hoping he'd leave her be, but lingering her sights on the scars that scattered across his face and arms, she thought that maybe he would be able to help her sort her thoughts after all. "Were you frightened?"

"Frightened? By what?" He asked, a little surprised by the sudden topic. He had to agree with the others that Satya was a trick and a half to figure out, especially when Mccree wasn't around. She kept her cool in all situations that whenever she spoke up, her comments would sometimes seem to come out of left field. On top of that, her icy stare made it hard to tell if she was genuinely bothered or not. Then again, if she hadn't said anything about him tagging along thus far, then he was certain she wasn't as cold as she appeared.

She circled her finger in front of her face. "You recieved those scars during your days in Overwatch, did you not? I have heard you talk about some of your stories from the past. You've gone on several missions for quite a long time."

"Haha, you've heard of my tales! I had no idea you were listening!" A lively laugh rumbled out of him with a grin, looking rather proud of himself.

"You speak painfully loud that I have no choice in the matter," she cooly replied, crossing her legs politely and gently bobbing her foot in the air.

He was used to such remarks that he didn't think twice about whether or not she meant to be rude. "Your honesty is appreciated," he said with another loud laugh. "But why are you asking me such a thing? Are you afraid of start going on adventures with the rest of us?"

"No. Well… perhaps, but that wasn't what I was concerned with." She mused, touching a hand to the side of her cheek. It was true that her first unofficial Overwatch outing was less than pleasant, but she had yet to fully picture herself being part of the actual team that she hadn't even given that a complete thought to what that would be like yet. "When I overheard you recalling your heroic days, I noticed that you spoke so confidently about them. As if you were happy to have gone on such a dangerous crusade. I guess what I have been wondering is… were you not scared? Was it easy to leave your loved ones behind?"

Reinhardt's smile faded slightly, but there was still an undeniable sparkle of warmth in his eyes. So that's what she was getting at. No wonder Mccree was enraptured by this woman. At first glance, even he thought the two clashed in personalities that it was interesting to know how they even got along. To think it was this simple.

"Might I ask if this is about our mutual friend, the cowboy? You must be worried about him, no?" He asked as quietly as he could. He didn't want her to embarrass her when she was opening up for the first time to him.

It came as another surprise when she nodded her head. He thought she would deny it outright based on what he had heard of her. What an amusing little lassie.

"It's only natural to feel something of the sort, I would think. Not just him in particular, the whole team is putting their lives at risk for a world that wants nothing to do with them," she explained. "I was just thinking… it's been much longer than the estimated amount of time. You see, I am quite particular in my scheduling, and so anything that tears me out of that orderly agenda makes me quite anxious. I have been doing my utmost best to adapt, but the irony is that it is hard to be consistent."

She ran her hand through her hair and sighed. Now that she was talking about it, she realized that she was more stressed about this than she previously thought. "I just find that I cannot completely comprehend what it means to be a hero despite my oath to make the world a better place. How can they fly off to fight for their cause without a second thought? There are so many liabilities and things that could go wrong at any time. Are they really that fearless? and- what is it? Why are you laughing?"

"I'm not!"

"You are."

"Very well, you caught me, but worry not, I'm only laughing at myself," Reinhardt said with a grin.

It didn't look like she was expecting that answer, and she blinked a few times before responding. "I beg your pardon? Yourself?"

"To answer your question, in my prime, back when my hair was glorious, I did believe that I was fearless and could take on the world. Chasing glory and honor into battle, I got a rush from it all," he started, eyes glazing over as he reminisced over his past, something he had come to terms with long ago. "However, it wasn't until I made a grave mistake, found myself on a losing edge, that I finally realized, the rush that I felt stemmed directly from my fear. Even if I didn't acknowledge it before, everyone is afraid when they are out putting their lives on the line."

Satya had heard him mention how his past recklessness that had caught up to him the day his mentor had died, and how Reinhardt had changed for the better. She had no idea that he had reflected upon it to this degree. "If you know how dangerous it was, then why would you? Why wouldn't you stop?"

"Because of the very people I love and had to leave behind, of course. They are the reason I can, no, that I must fight!" He said, throwing up his hands in a gesture of grandeur but lowered them when he noticed her flinch from the suddenness of his actions. "My fear is natural and is what makes me human, what makes all of us human. I use that very feeling to keep myself alive, to see another day and to see those familiar faces again and again. After all, I would be empty as a knight if I fought for no cause. That is why we at Overwatch keep marching on. It is for the people who need us to protect them."

"I see," was all she said, but as she glanced away, hand curled on her face, it was clear that she was soaking in everything that he told her.

After a small bout of silence, she looked back at him and continued, "I have this unpleasant feeling in my chest when another day has passed, and the team has not returned yet. I simply do not enjoy the loss of control being left up to fate… but it would be selfish to not support the cause. It seems so obvious as a conclusion now that you have explained it to me, but I would not have been able to come to terms with it on my own. Thank you, I appreciate it."

Her honesty really was refreshing. Mccree was lucky to have such a person holding him fondly in her heart, Reinhardt thought. Actually, more than that, Overwatch was lucky to have found this diamond in the rough.

It wasn't until the midsts of the afternoon that she heard a distant rumble, and an unfamiliar sensation filled her chest with a warm bubbly feeling. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, but she couldn't put a finger on what it meant. The feeling increased as if her heart would burst the second she saw the jet emerge from the clouds, and she had to resist from running right onto the landing pad.

"I have waited nearly two weeks as it is, I can certainly wait just a few moments," she told herself as she held her hair down in place while the jet buzzed and anchored itself onto the ground. The last thing she wanted to do was greet Mccree with a tangled rat nest on her head.

Tracer was the first once to exit, popping out of the cockpit and zipping past with a quick wave and greeting. A few members, some that she didn't recognize, came out of the main exit. One of them, a silver and green cyborg, or maybe an omnic, held her gaze longer than she expected. The stranger looked her over but didn't say anything other than a small "Heh," as they joined the others. On a normal day, she would have found the suspicious behavior a little unsettling, but her mind was too engrossed with finding the cowboy.

As luck would have it, Mccree ended up being the last one out of the jet. He looked a little tired and yawned as he walked down the ramp, leaning to crack his stiff back from sitting so long. His fatigue all but vanished when he saw who was waiting for him, and he pulled his shoulders back.

She made long, impatient strides to met him halfway, extremely conscious of her steps to avoid twisting her ankle or anything that could ruin the moment. It was so unusual to see his hair fluttering in the wind, free from his treasured hat. She half expected him to show up wearing an exact replica of it.

Hat or no hat, though, all the worries that had built up were no more now that shew could visually see that he was here in the flesh. Just as she was ready to welcome Mccree back home, her gaze lowered to the makeshift bandages wrapped firmly around his bicep. From the looks of it, he had ripped off the bottom of his shirt to do so. Blood had already seeped through the materials as if he hadn't bothered to use the first aid kit that she knew for a fact was on board.

"Hey, I'm back," he said with a carefree smile, acting like he wasn't injured with a bullet embedded in his upper arm. He held out his arms for a hug, but she didn't make another step. There was an unexpected silence between the two. Both of them stood there, awkwardly staring each other down.

Mccree tilted his head and finally broke the ice, knowing she most likely wouldn't. "Didn't you miss me?" He asked, hoping that his one fear hadn't been realized. He'd shoot himself in the foot if he managed to singlehandedly ruin his friendship with her with a bit of flirting. Honestly, it was something that kept him up late at night, probably why he ended up being so careless in the first place to get shot. Of course, it had to be the day that they were leaving. He could never tell her, lest she blame herself for his own stupidity.

Symmetra blinked, completely flabbergasted that he would be asking that and not for medical help. While she couldn't tell how serious the wound was, for there to be that much blood on it, it had to be something that needed to be examined as soon as possible. "You're injured."

"Yeah, funny story, you'll love it," he smiled, pointing finger guns at her.

"There is nothing humorous about getting shot, you are going to the infirmary right this very instant. I shall call Dr. Ziegler down if she isn't there already."

"Nahh, Satya, don't tell that old nag," he snorted, though he found it charming how worried she was. Maybe if it was her, he wouldn't mind getting nursed back to health, even if he hated being in anything that remotely resembled a hospital.

In an instant, there was a pale, thin hand on his shoulder, and it gripped onto him harder than the claws of the grim reaper. His fairytale daydream of Nurse Satya shattered, leaving him behind with a cruel reality. "My, do tell who is an old nag, Mccree?"

"Aw shit…"

"You, more than anyone, should know that if you are injured, you are to report it as soon as possible to get treated. You wouldn't want the wound to be infected… but if you insist on being so careless, we may have to say goodbye to another limb once and for all."

"I know the drill," he said with an overly dramatic sigh, already blocking out the rest of her lecture. It wasn't the first time he had heard it, and it probably wouldn't be the last time.

"Ms. Vaswani, sorry to cut your reunion short, but you can see Mr. Mccree after he gets himself patched up. Hopefully for the last time. "

When Mercy wasn't looking, Mccree mouthed "Help me, Satya," and clasped his hands together, desperately shaking them.

Symmetra had to cover her mouth to hold her laughter in. Even when he was most likely in pain, he was still always finding ways to make her happy. "I understand, I will leave you to it. Please make a quick recovery, Mccree, I will wait for you in the meantime."

God, he did not deserve Satya, no one did.
- - -

"Oh my, have you been sitting out here this whole time? I was just about to call you over on the intercom, I didn't know you were still here." The nurse replied, a little startled when she was met with two curious golden eyes right outside of the infirmary.

"Yes, I wanted to be close by. Ah, just in case."

A knowing smile crossed Mercy's face. "Is that so? Well then, he should be fine for visitation. It's not the worst he's gotten himself into, so I'm certain he'll be up and about in a few days." She turned her head and spoke louder, "That is if he maintains proper upkeep instead of doing something stupid to reopen the wounds. Like usual."

"Stop talking about me like I'm some kinda brat! I can hear you, y'know!" Mccree huffed from inside the room.

The two women shared a quiet laugh. "I'll leave you two be, but before I go, let me give you this," Mercy said, taking out what looked like a microchip from her pocket. "I realized I wasn't able to contact you directly, so this should help in the future. It's software that all Overwatch members have installed on their equipment. It should be compatible with your headset; we had it prepared not too long after your arrival, but we never had a chance to give it to you. May I?"

Symmetra leaned her head down in response and stayed put as Mercy found a slot on the earpiece of her visor. Once it clicked in, the Overwatch logo appeared on the visuals, and the software immediately started downloading itself. Familiar with this sort of thing, she figured this was a copy of their AI system that they used to keep a private line with each other. To confirm this, a symbol identical to one she had seen on the jet popped up once it had completed. She wondered what other features it had since the program seemed to have more bulk than just communication, but she'd inspect it later for fun. "This is Athena, is it not?"

"That's right, you catch on quickly. I'm sure I wont have to tell you how to navigate it, but all the active members are registered in the database. You can even contact them when they're away on missions," she hinted. "I thought you'd find it useful. Well, I'll be back to check on Mccree after I check in with some other errands.."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to let you know if we need any assistance." Symmetra bowed her head slightly as she passed by. When she entered, she took the opportunity to familiarize herself with the infirmary. She never had a reason to come here before, but knowing Mccree, this wouldn't be her last visit.

The first thing she noticed about the room was that it was pretty simple as far as the decor, but like the rest of the base, it was stocked with high tech machines. Not that she knew much about medical procedures, but she was still impressed by how advanced Overwatch was in this regard. But most of all, she was pleased by how clean and sterile everything was, as a medical room should be. She would have nothing to worry about far as Mccree's rehabilitation.

The man in question was laying in one of the beds, and he made a fake whine to get her attention. "Satyaaaa…" he wheezed, beckoning her closer as if he was on his deathbed.

Such child's play went unnoticed, but nonetheless, she sat on the chair near his bedside. Oddly enough, the chair didn't look like it was here before as it didn't match the rest of the furniture. How nice of Dr. Ziegler to bring it in for her. "How are you fairing with your injury?"

"Better now that you dropped by. It ain't nothin I can't handle," Mccree said as he attempted to sit up, but the sharp pain in his arm made him grunt and slide back down. "Still stingin' a lil though."

She held her hands up, prepared to prevent him from getting up again. "Please, do not overexert yourself. I am not versed in medical aid, and I would like to avoid any situation in which I need to call Doctor Ziegler only minutes after she has left."

"Fine, you win… By the way, where's my hat?" he asked, mostly to redirect the subject away from Angela. That devil of a doctor could be summoned at the drop of a hat any time he so much as spoke her name in vain, something he wanted to avoid as much he could.

Satya realized that she had been so preoccupied with his return that she had failed to remember to bring the hat along with her. "It's still sitting in my quarters, I'll retrieve it for you at once. One moment please," she quickly said, getting up to her feet.

"Hey, don't worry about it, I'll get it back from you later. You don't have to go all the way there and back for it. Keep an old, sick man company a lil longer, will ya?"

"Fret not," she said as she weaved the basic structure of her teleporter with hardlight. It had been some time since she had needed to use it, but the blueprints were so deeply imbedded into her mind that her memory could never fail her. She could craft several in her sleep. In less than a minute, a fully operational unit was laid on the floor. "The path is open, I will only be gone a second."

It quickly became apparent that Mccree had never actually seen her utilize her power before, at least not in front of him. Back in Route 66, his back had been facing her almost the entire time they were on the hovercycle. Every time he saw a shield hovering from the corner of his eye, he had assumed she had been carrying some sort of hand tool to create the shields. In retrospect, there was no way for her to have anything on her since she had everything confiscated from the start as a precaution.

He had heard of Vishkar's use of hardlight prior to her coming here though. The only thing was that all of the discussions surrounding their work had been so out of his line of interest, and it definitely didn't help that Winston kept using a flurry of sciencey jargon that made it almost impossible for anyone not in the loop to understand. The concept of using light to create tangible objects was a lot more exciting when seeing it in person. "Wait, wait, wait… you did… you? You can do that?"

Satya paused right in the middle of her teleporter, half of her body already in the other room. "Er, yes…?" This entire time, she was under the assumption that everyone in Overwatch was aware of her hard light abilities, especially since it was a large part of why she was scouted in the first place. It was strange that he had no public knowledge of it either.

Then again, Overwatch had disbanded far before Vishkar began to collect contracts with countries outside of India. From the theories and news stories, several of the ex-heroes went "underground" so to speak. It was rare to hear about any of them doing anything in the public eye, save for Ms. Ziegler, that she supposed that it wasn't that much of a surprise that he was in the dark about this.

He did his best to crane his neck just to get a glimpse inside of the portal without straining his arm. Sure enough, the familiar sight of her neat and orderly room was just a few paces away. He had seen a lot of fancy machines in his days, but these hard light gadgets were something else. "Since… when have you been able to do this? I mean, shields are one thing, but that's a whole ass teleporter straight outta a sci-fi movie."

"I studied hard light architecture since I was a child. There was an Academy that children all over India enrolled in. We were taught how to weave and manipulate hard light, and those that graduated went on to work."

Satya hadn't thought much about the Architecture Academy in several years. In actuality, it wasn't accurate to say that any child had actually enrolled. Though some parents willingly put their child in the school, many more children were stolen away from their poverty-stricken parents whether they wanted to leave or not. Any child who showed promise was immediately targeted, and Vishkar employees would never take no for an answer. She would never forget the day that they had come for her, separating her from her routine in life. How many other children had been affected? Was the school still running, or did it crumble in the aftermath?

Mccree almost wanted to mention that this was child labor, but she already seemed like she was coming to that conclusion on her own. "So, you've been doing this whole for that long? And you haven't shown me once?"

"I have."

"Okay, yeah, but you could say I was a lil busy that day, so I didn't get a good look at what you were doin back there," he laughed, leaning back into the pillow. The bedding here was never that comfortable here, and was every bit dreary of a real hospital. His back would certainly feel stiff the second he could hightail it outta here, and yet, this had to be the most comfortable visit he'd ever had. "Somehow, you manage to amaze me everyday, Satya, and I don't just mean your gadgets. I'm glad I could meet you, as rough as we started."

The praise filled her with a delight that she had only known since she allowed herself to befriend him. As much as it made her soft, she found that she wasn't quite sure how to respond to such sincerity. Symmetra quickly left to retrieve the hat and handed it to him without another word. His skill with weaving words into pretty sentences was to be admired.

"What's so funny?" Mccree asked, leisurely reaching up to brush stray strand of hair away from her face. She tilted her head down and closed her eyes as his hand grazed her cheek. Her skin was so baby soft, and he couldn't help but lingering his hand on her cheek for as long as she'd allow it.

"It seems like I am laughing more often these days, so much that I hadn't noticed I was even laughing to begin with," she mused, gently touching her lips. "I was just thinking that I've never been so proud of my abilities that I'd want to show it off. It was always just expected of me to be the best, but… for a lack of a better way of saying it… thank you. I still greatly appreciate the change you've brought to me, Jesse."

The heart monitor that Angie had pressured onto him earlier had been fairly stable, beeping steadily along until that moment. The rapid pinging interrupted their conversation, and while Satya's attention turned to the machine, he jerked his hand away. No wonder Angela looked so smug when she slapped those stickers on his chest despite his protests. He wanted to rip them off, but Satya would probably scold him while she was here.

"Your heart rate has increased, shall I call Dr. Ziegler?"

"… No. It's fine. I'm sure she's busy enough. It's… normal," Mccree tried to respond coolly, but his face felt like it had spiked up a few degrees. There was no way he was infatuated with Satya. Don't forget, you didn't feel anything of the sort until everyone kept badgering you about this hogwash, he told himself, enough times to make it a new mantra.

Give another week or two, and this would all blow over. If there was any inkling of attraction, he'd just play it up to the combo of he rarely met new people and the fact that Symm different than what he was used to, which made her interesting to get to know. Okay, and the fact that she was absolutely radiant, but surely he could appreciate her the way he'd appreciate fine art without any emotional attachments, right?

Right?

"Jesse?"

"Yeah, Satya?" His voice cracked a little, and he wanted to die on the spot.

She took his hand and held it between both of hers. "I'm glad you're home safe. You must have been quite frightened being out there, but I appreciate your nobleness enough to protect those in need."

"Haha…ha… just a normal part of the job, really."