PoVs/Protagonists/Couples:
Hanzo (character belongs to Blizzard) x Ýri (OC)
Genji (character belongs to Blizzard) x Shizuka (OC)

WARNING:
This story will be a very long one, full of dialogs, drama and violence as well as grammar mistakes because none of the authors is a native English speaker. Some parts are for mature audiences only.

And once again a big thank you to our beta-reader PawsForEffect.

We hope you had a great start into the new year and will enjoy this next chapter. :)

Chapter 35: There and Back again (Hanzo, Genji)

It took them hours to arrive in the Overwatch base in Gibraltar, but since they left, Hanzo and Ýri did not exchange a single word. He had a bad feeling about this. He did not want to move from the Lofoten Islands at all and the closer they got to Gibraltar the darker his mood grew. He did not even move an inch until their shuttle met the docks in the evening.

Hanzo didn't even take the first step out and was already met with a woman charging towards Ýri.

»Whoa, easy, Brigitte!,« Ýri laughed.

»You are finally here! Papa and I are already working on your armor!«

»Now look at that!« A very small man with the most … unique beard Hanzo had ever seen came up beside him. »The little she-bear has all grown up!«

»The dwarf is right!« And there came yet another man. The largest Hanzo had ever seen. »My, Sígurd's little spitfire has grown into a beautiful woman!«

Ýri laughed, obviously very comfortable around these strange people. »You were always such a charmer, Reinhardt.«

What am I just doing here?, Hanzo started asking himself. She clearly won't need me with all those people.

The fear that she might leave him behind cut deep. Very deep. He felt completely out of place here and took a few steps back. Hanzo felt even more awkward when he saw his brother approaching.

»I am not surprised to see you here, brother« Genji greeted him.

»How so?,« Hanzo crossed his arms, cunningly watching the younger Shimada.

»Genji?« Ýri had recognized him as well. »It is good to see Shizuka and you being well and back together.«

»Well, yes. So, brother, this is my mate. Shizuka.« Genji put an arm around the little white-haired woman.

Hanzo had been frozen in place. »You … you are together with … the Hikari?«

»Good evening to you too, Hanzo,« Shizuka answered in a rather reserved tone.

Ýri and Genji both seemed confused. »You know each other?«

»We met briefly a few years ago,« Hanzo replied.

»It was just a brief encounter. We exchanged a few words, then headed our separate ways again,« Shizuka added.

»You never told me that,« said Genji to Shizuka before turning his attention towards his brother again. »Now that you know my mate, you could properly introduce your girlfriend as well.«

»Why?,« Hanzo answered. »She is not my ›girlfriend‹ or something like that. And you know her already.«

Now Genji looked at him very irritated. »Well … I-I thought … «

»You were never a great thinker,« Hanzo told him.

»Something you both have in common then«, Ýri spoke up next to him and Hanzo turned towards her, confused by her sudden icy tone. »But I guess it is at least good to know where we stand.«

Suddenly Shizuka was between the two of them and took Ýris arm. »Come. Let me show you around.«

»A-alright.«

Hanzo looked after them, not knowing what was wrong with her now. »Ýri?«

She ignored him. She did not even look back at him. »Genji, would you mind getting my belongings from the shuttle?«

His brother nodded. »Don't worry. I will bring them to your room.«

»Thank you.«

»Ýri? W-wait! Where are you going?!,« Hanzo shouted after her.

She turned to face him, but her eyes were empty. Hanzo shuddered at the sight. Then, in one movement she ripped his necklace off and threw it at him.

He caught it and looked back at her, hurt. »What are you doing?«

»Just piss off!,« she snarled back at him, before she followed Shizuka.

»You know … you should not have broken up with her right in front of us,« his brother told him silently.

»I did no such a thing!,« Hanzo ranted on him, still not understanding what he had been doing wrong here. »T-this wasn't my intention!«

»Well to me, and obviously also to her and Shizuka it rather sounded like: Let's end it – for whatever it was between the two of us.«

Now Hanzo looked at his brother bewildered. »I was just stating a fact! I just meant … our situation is far too complicated as to refer to her as just my girlfriend!«

»There is nothing complicated here!,« Genji told him. »Either you are in a relationship or you are not. ›Complicated‹ is just a coward's saying, who is not willing to enter a serious relationship. But since you made it clear you don't want to be in a relationship with her, nothing has changed for you. So let's just change the topic.«

»Just keep your nose out of my business!« If they had just stayed in Norway, nothing of this would have happened!

»Sígurd's daughter belongs to us! She is part of our family! So if you need some random fuck, find yourself a whore, because this poor foolish girl was obviously serious with you! She does not deserve that!,« Genji shouted at him.

»She surely does not belong with your kin! It is my responsibility to protect her and I would rather die than letting you or that Cowboy lay a hand on her!,« Hanzo yelled back, releasing his fury and confusion upon his brother.

»What are you even thinking of me?!« An angry green glow appeared on some parts of Genji's enhanced body. »I really thought this woman would mean something to you, but obviously I lost my mind! You are just the same stone-hearted bastard as always!«

»You have no right to judge me, brother!,« Hanzo snarled.

»I don't, so leave! No-one cares about you and no-one wants you here! But I guess you are already used to that!,« Genji scoffed.

»At least I don't lie to myself,« Hanzo defended himself. »Do you really think they want you here as well? You will stay a Shimada to them. We're destined to end up alone.«

»I have Shizuka. I have my mate,« Genji told him. »I managed to change into the man she deserves. In that hell, you are rotting on your own, brother.«

»I may be damned but don't try to make yourself seem good,« Hanzo replied in a cold tone. »You are just playing with her to get what you want. She's a Hikari after all.«

»I see you are still completely Shimada inside,« Genji answered and headed into the shuttle getting Ýri's luggage. »And concerning the fine jewelry you are currently clutching … there is a merchant back in town to sell it to. Or several trash bins.«

»Over my dead body … ,« Hanzo whispered and was even tightening his grip around Ýri's necklace.

»Fine. Then proceed and do us the favor. No-one will miss you,« his brother growled, turning his back on Hanzo and just leaving him standing there.

»Don't I know it, Genji … don't I know it.«

Hanzo did not remember how he managed to make it back to the small town. He simply did not care. He felt like a solid rock, determined to not let any feeling get close to his heart. He only ended another contract. That's what it was and nothing more. He protected her and left her with her friends in the safest place possible. He would just take one of these late trains and move on. To his old assassin's life. To a new city. To a new contract. And then to the next and so on …

Hanzo checked the time table and purchased his ticket. Nevertheless, he had some time left before the next departure. It did not matter anyhow where the train was going to bring him. He would find contracts everywhere.

He stopped at a nearby Asian bistro. They offered just three different kinds of ramen, but it would do. Hanzo ordered two and retreated in to the remotest corner he could find. He stared down onto the table admiring the structure of the wood and only looked up as a confused young Asian served him two steaming bowls of ramen.

»Why two?,« Hanzo wondered.

»Because you ordered two, sir,« the lad answered irritated.

»Why would I-« Now that Hanzo could get a closer look at the second bowl, he recognized: Udon noodles in a curry ramen with chicken and several vegetables as topping – Ýri's favorite …

His rocky shell cracked and the pain rolled over him like a tsunami. It became unbearable very fast and with a furious outcry he swept both bowls from the table. They gave a loud crash.

»Leave! Get out of my eyes!,« he yelled at the poor lad, who ran back into the kitchen in fear.

Hanzo returned to the train station hoping the fresh air would ease his pain. It did not and cut even deeper when he saw the forest on the other side of the rails. The trees reminded him even more of her. He fell to his knees clutching the necklace in his jacket's pocket. He smashed the other fist into the ground and released another cry of pain and frustration. Meanwhile his train arrived and disappeared again, but he did not move.

From one minute to the other, he had lost everything important to him. Why did she send me away? She knows what an … idiot I can be sometimes … But maybe that was an excuse she was no longer willing to accept …

Genji breathed in the wonderful scents of the market district in a small town not far from their new Overwatch base in Gibraltar. The air was humid and the fresh sea breeze gave a welcoming feeling. He pulled his arm tighter around Shizuka's waist and ranted good-naturedly.

»Phew. One more mission and I would have gone crazy. Who would've thought Winston to drown us with so many of them.«

Shizuka put her arm around him as well. The amused glint in her eyes told him that she was enjoying their free time just as much as he did.

»And yet here we are, going shopping like two completely normal people. Not even a week after we arrived.«

Genji watched a passerby giving him a guarded, almost hostile look.

»Well, almost. Cyborgs are still not what the most people would consider normal.«

Shizuka rolled her eyes. »Let them stare, I don't care. Besides, it is because of you that we're here now.«

His cheeks grew red. »It's not my fault your clothes rip so easily!«

Now it was her turn to blush. »Not so loud! Or do you want the whole market to hear?!«

He grinned cheekily. »Well, now that you mention it … «

She slapped him lightly with the shopping bags she carried. »Idiot,« she said fondly.

»Your idiot,« he purred back.

After a while of comfortable silence, he mused out loud what he had been thinking about ever since the two of them had been allowed some down time.

»It was kind of Ýri to volunteer to go on the mission in our stead,« he said and continued a little more reluctantly, »She seemed to get over the whole mess with my brother pretty fast.«

Shizuka sighed. »Oh sweetheart, this is far from over. Women don't get over it … they get even.«

He had to pause at that. Don't I know that too well myself …

»But … she seems okay. She did well in every one of her missions and she acts completely normal with the others at base,« he pointed out.

Shizuka still didn't lose her sudden melancholy look. »That is all a façade to hide her true feelings.«

He tilted his head. »Is that why she rather sleeps in the forests near the base? I thought that just had been an old habit of hers.«

His little priestess shook her head. »No, more likely she is seeking refuge there.«

Genji shrugged and said: »She will find someone better in time.«

That comment earned him a raised brow. »Just like I was supposed to?«

He winced. That one struck true. Nevertheless he tried to defend himself. »Oh come on! Everyone is better than my brother! Literally everyone else, even Jesse!«

Shizuka remained unimpressed. »And Angela told me everyone is better than returning to you. Yet here we are, together again, because I still chose you, despite what she says.«

He smiled a little. »Can't deny I'm not glad it turned out this way. I have no idea what I did to deserve that chance.«

»You were willing to change,« was all she said on the matter.

Genji thought to himself: If only my brother were willing to change as well … they could be so happy together … He looked back at the woman at his side. Just like we are.

They were passing the train station on their way back to base and Genji stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a familiar flash of black and blue. Speak of the devil and he shall appear …

He nudged Shizuka. »Look. There,« he pointed at his brother leaning against a wall in near the departure zone, »What is he doing here?«

Shizuka didn't take her eyes of the still form of Hanzo, appearing for all the world as if he were just another traveler waiting for his train. »I don't think it would be wise to trouble him right now,« she finally said.

But Genji wasn't so easily deterred. »Why hasn't he left already?« Then he scoffed and answered his own question: »Probably hasn't found a new contract yet.«

Shizuka sounded strangely certain when she spoke. »He is not searching for something like that.«

»He just stayed because Ýri was the only one who cared about him. And with her now out of the picture there is no reason for him to linger here any longer.«

»You care about him.« It was said with even more certainty. He wanted to scream and curse and blast it all, but she was right. He still cared about his brother. Who is about to make the same mistakes I did years ago … argh, dammit!

»I hate you.«

She smiled. »Love you too.«

He grumbled, causing her to laugh softly. »Now go and talk to him. And when you come back home, I will have tea and dinner waiting for you.«

Before he could usher a single word in protest, she kissed his cheek and disappeared in the crowd.

»That wicked woman,« he said to no-one with a small smirk.

Genji sighed and made his way over to his brother, who still hadn't moved from his spot. But as he got closer, he could see that Hanzo had something clutched tightly in his hand. Genji didn't need to guess that it was the necklace his brother had once brought for Ýri …

Something within him twisted at the pitiful sight.

»Hey … Hanzo?,« he carefully called out. His brother didn't even react. So he kicked him. Lightly, of course. It earned him a vicious growl.

»Sod off! Leave me in peace!«

As if Genji would do that. »What are you still doing here?,« he asked instead.

»Can't wait til I'm gone?,« Hanzo scoffed.

He shrugged. »Honestly? Yes. But that doesn't answer my question.«

The snarl grew louder. »This is all your fault!«

A pause. »Pardon?«

»You and your ›We must save the world‹ Overwatch buddies. Everything was fine until that damned message from Winston reached us!,« Hanzo barked out. Thankfully the passerbys didn't seem too interested in the brothers' squabble.

Genji rolled his eyes. »Sure. Maybe you should search the blame by yourself first instead of placing it on the next best thing.«

Hanzo didn't ease up. With a bitter laugh he said: »Oh, I know my mistakes clearly. But it was coming here that changed things between us!« Hanzo didn't have to specify just who exactly he was talking about. Genji resisted the urge to facepalm. Barely, but he did it.

»I can hardly believe your interactions were any different in Norway than they were here. You still are the same obnoxious bastard I know from all those years ago.«

»We were happy there!,« came his brother's angry response.

Genji sighed and decided to sit down next to his brother. Patience, Shizukas voice chided in his head. You won't get anywhere here if you force it.

»And what did you do there that actually made you happy?«

Now Hanzo sank back into himself, like all the anger suddenly vanished. I hate it when Shizuka is right … even when she isn't here …

»We could spend time together. Just the two of us. Without someone judging us or interrupting us with constant missions,« he said wistfully.

He couldn't help it. »So you … have been sleeping with her.«

Hanzo suddenly turned into a suffocating ripe tomato by the look which overcame his face. He had to cough a few times just to be able to speak again. Genji had to admit he found it quite amusing.

»N-NO! What are you thinking?!«

He shrugged. »By the way you are looking at her? What else am I supposed to think? Nevertheless something must have happened between the two of you. Otherwise she wouldn't have reacted the way she did,« he continued.

»Well … we both wanted it … a relationship, I mean,« Hanzo finally admitted.

»Then what's stopping you?,« Genji asked already feeling a deja-vu creeping up on him. The reasons then were different, but he had made the same mistake with Shizuka as his brother was about to make with Ýri and it cost them precious years.

»The better question would be: What isn't there to stop us! The whole world seems against it! But it's safer that way for her … «

Deep breaths … Beating my moronic brother to a pulp in the middle of a train station isn't the best way to go about this.

»No. You know what the main problem is? You may have left the Shimada ten years ago, but you are still stuck in their ways. Which makes you nothing more than a coward, too afraid to think for yourself and start living your own life.«

Hanzo growled threatingly. »And have you forgotten that as soon as a Shimada, even a deserter, openly cares for something it is taken from him by force sooner or later?!«

Genji wasn't impressed. »So you are content with just being a silent observer of her life? Being forced to watch her eventually taking a lover, marrying or having a family? Without you?«

Hanzo opened his mouth a few times, but no words came forth. Finally in barely a whisper he said: »I rather have her living without me than dying early as my beloved.«

Genji chuckled dryly. »I guess she sees it the other way around. You have to realize that it's not only you making the decisions here. Ýri is part of it as well and deserves that much from you at least.«

Hanzo scoffed, but he looked like he was beginning to doubt. Finally, it looks like I am getting through that thick skull of his.

»And you know that so much better than me, how?,« Hanzo asked with a sarcastic edge.

»Because I made the exact same mistakes ten years ago«, Genji responded dead serious.

»Y-You did?« came the hesitant question.

»Yes. I left Shizuka behind, because my fury and longing to take revenge on you was so much greater. Shortly after I left, the base she was working in was ... blown up,« Genji said in a heavy voice and continued, »She almost died that day. And I wasn't there, because I thought my revenge more important. ... I was a fool.«

Hanzo nodded. »I heard about it. Many died on both sides that day. Is that also why you don't want my death any longer?«

A small smile made it onto Genji's lips. »One of the reasons. But mostly because killing you wouldn't have reversed your actions or that of the Shimada or my own and I wouldn't be happier either.«

»But your duty-,« Hanzo began.

But Genji interrupted: »The only duties I have are to her and my friends and family. Not to the Shimada. Never again.«

»But you're risking her safety that way!,« Hanzo argued.

Genji wanted to sigh. They were making such headway and now his brother's stubborn side seemed to have emerged again.

»Her safety is always at risk, no matter what I do. Better I am right at her side and make sure she comes out of it alive then sit back or walk away and one day hear of her unfortunate demise. Besides, she is a strong woman on her own and survived so much already. So is Ýri.«

As Hanzo wanted to argue, but Genji held up his hand. He was determined now to say his piece and then leave to let his brother think over his words alone and make his decision.

»Hanzo, you are nearly forty now. Almost half your life is over, if you're lucky enough to die of old age. You have to ask yourself now how you want to spend the remaining half.«

He put his hand on Hanzos shoulder. »Don't make the same mistake I did. I wasted years brooding in the Himalaya cursing my existence. Years I could have spent together with her. Even though I knew there would never be another woman for me. You have to ask yourself, if Ýri could be that woman to you and if you are willing to try and change for the better. For her.«

With that said, he stood up. »Either way, you have to decide on your own and before it is too late.«

Hanzo didn't look at him. It was a long while before he spoke again. »I … I will think about it.«

Well, this is better than nothing at least. His brother obviously needed time to think still. No matter how much Genji would like to pound his head into the wall until he saw sense.

»Very well. I will go home now. If you need me, you'll know where to find me,« he said, turning around and walking away.

Genji did look back once, but shook his head and carried on. There was a lovely priestess waiting for him with tea and dinner ready.

[Next chapter on 15th February.]