AN: This is the first real actiony bits. Let me know what you think. Should I go back to happier fluff? Should I do more romancy stuff? Let me know!
"Ah...Master Zenyatta…." Brian forced a smile onto his face as he stepped into the small room that Orisa and he usually had tea in. "Pleased to see you."
The omni monk laughed softly as he sat back onto his chair. He had already given his anti-grav unit to Efi and Timmy to look over. Which was probably a good thing. It had been a while since he had it maintained, and considering the things he and Genji got involved in… Well, it was more than due.
"You do not need to look so uncomfortable young man," Zenyatta gestured to the chair across from him. "Come and sit. Orisa has left me with this rather wonderfull smelling tea.
"Ah, yeah, it's a darjeeling that I am fond of," Brian nodded as he pour some of the still hot tea into the teacup that had been left out for him. "Orisa gets it for me. I don't even know where she finds it."
"Miss Orisa, yes," Zenyatta nodded, an amused air almost radiated from him. "I spoke with her last night. She is quite an interesting and intelligent girl."
"Isn't she?" Brian smiled warmly. "She is probably my second best friend at this point. We seem to have a lot in common," Brian paused and tilted his head slightly. "Although, she is so young that she may just be copying my tastes because it's what she encounters."
"That does not mean she does not enjoy them," Genji said, scaring the living shit out of Brian and making him nearly leap out of his chair. "My apologies. I tend to erase my presence out of habit."
"It's fine," Brian cleared his throat while attempting to reclaim at least some of his dignity. "You're a fancy ninja man, you just be the best ninja you can."
"I will do that," Genji laughed softly,
"Anyway," Brian turned back to Zenyatta and changing the subject. "What is it you wished to speak to me about?"
"I was curious about your energy," Zenyatta said, looking Brian in the eye. "One does not expect to encounter a human with omnic energy. Let alone the amount you seem to have."
"Ah, fuck me," Brian sighed, one hand rubbing at his eyes as he slumped downward in his chair. "See, this is why I had been avoiding Shambali monks whenever they came through town."
"Even my student, Genji, does not contain omnic energy, despite his extensive implants and grafts required for him to survive," Zenyatta continued. "Of course, you do not need to speak of it, if you do not wish to."
Brian sat and stared at the monk for a long moment before glancing at Genji. Then he took a deep breath. "It doesn't leave this room," Brian said at last. "Timmy especially cannot know."
Zenyatta nodded like the sage he was. "If that is your choice, we will, of course, respect your wishes."
"Indeed," Genji nodded as well. "I can understand the burdens of family, as well as the need for secrets."
"Alright," Brian sat up and leaned his elbows on the table as he organized his thoughts. "I'm going to start with Moira O'Deorain."
Genji was startled.
Well, he stood up a little straighter, anyway. It wasn't like he suddenly drew a weapon or anything weird like that.
"Moira was a student of, and worked with Timmy and my parents in Oasis," Brian glanced at Genji. "When our parents were killed during the battle between Overwatch and Doomfist, she was legally responsible for us. She helped us geet set up here, things like that that are not important."
"I...am sorry that we failed your family," Genji bowed his head, true regret in his voice.
"Forget it," Brian waved a hand. "I didn't say it for pity. Just try not to talk about it around Timmy. He gets...weird."
"Of course," the ninja nodded.
"Anyway, when she and my parents worked in Oasis, there was an...accident," Brian made a bit of a sour face. "I don't really remember it, and neither my parents nor Moira would ever talk about it. But, I was injured. Like...badly. You could say, I was killed."
"I see," Zenyatta nodded.
"All I know is that it involved attempting to reverse engineer Doctor Zeigler's biotic technology," Brian said, raising an eyebrow as he noticed Genji tense again before continuing. "I spent a long time recovering. Close to a year or so. In fact it took close to six months before I was able to speak again."
"Honestly, I can't tell you what they did to me," Brian shrugged. "But...I don't exist."
Zenyatta sat and watched Brian for a long moment. "In the grand design, none of us truly exist. We are all one in everything."
"Yeah, okay, whatever," Brian snorted with almost disgust. He knew he was being rude, but honestly? Fuck that existential bullshit. "But seriously. Brian is gone. Dead. Eliminated. Me? I'm a figment of my parents imagination. They, and Moira, pulled me out of...nothing, and spun their version of 'Brian' out of whatever they found."
Brian leaned forward over the table, his face turning dark, and angry. "They knew that I was wrong. They always treated me...different. They would go quiet if I entered a room. They would look at me and turn sad. When they were dying, all they could say was that they were sorry for what they did to me, and make me promise to take care of Timmy. Whish is what I will do. It is the only reason I exist!"
"Perhaps…." Genji stepped forward. "Perhaps they regretted your injuries. Perhaps they blamed themselves for what they needed to do to save your life, Brian. Perhaps they blamed themselves so hard that they couldn't face you."
Brian let out a small sound that was almost a growl, but Genji held up a hand, forestalling him. "Brian, I was killed by my brother. But Angela, Doctor Ziegler would not accept my death," Genji reached up, disconnecting his mask and slowly lowering it, revealing the damage underneath. "She rebuilt me with her technology. At this point, I am truly more machine than I am man. But underneath it all, is still a soul. It took me a very long time, and Master Zenyatta's incredible patience, for me to swallow my anger and become comfortable with what I have become."
"Yeah, that's shitty," Brain shrugged with a frown. "But I don't care. I'm not you. I can't be you. Your point of view sounds rough but it doesn't affect my life. You are more human than me."
Standing, Brian pulled his shirt off and indicated to the large scars on his chest. It almost looked like somebody had sliced open his ribcage, right over his heart, with a large knife. "This," Brian said, angrily. "This is where a heart should be, in a normal person. Instead, I have an omnic generator. It's the only one of its kind. My parents, and Moira made it to pull a body out of nothing."
"You said you were nothing before," Zenyatta looked at the young man, and Brian felt like the omnic was looking through him. "That you didn't exist and were a figment of imagination."
"Yeah, because I am," Brain shook his head as he put his shirt back on. "I read about Tracer. The whole slipstream thing, and the time stuff. Being a ghost. I'm...similar. It's something to do with quantum level bullshit. I don't understand it. Moira doesn't really either. It was mostly my parents work. But my body is made of theoretical particles, not matter. I can become really dense and heavy."
Brian picked up the fork that sat on the table and swung it hard at his arm only for the tynes to bend away, as if he had stabbed the fork at a rock. He then dropped the fork on to the table and stared at it for a moment before smirking. "I owe them a new fork," he chuckled, even as his voice took on a small, unstable note, before looking back at the man and omnic. "I can also become like a ghost." This time, the color seemed to leech out of Brian's hand as he passed it through the table.
"That is unique," Zenyatta nodded, looking at Brian's face, not at the spectacle the young man was making. "You are made up of the same material as a star, young Brian. You once beat with cosmic flame. Yet, you think. You exist. The material you are made of has not changed. You simply have the ability to control the energy that is uniquely yours."
For a long moment Brian stared at the monk, only for him st stare back.
Brian blinked first, slowly sitting again. "Maybe. I don't know. I...the things from before the accident are all...hazy. Like a half remembered dream. But i have to take care of Timmy. He needs to grow up and normal as possible. As normal as I can make it for a boy smarter than almost anybody I have ever met."
"The boy is amazing," Zenyatta nodded, humor in his voice. "Keeping him grounded in reality is probably a good thing. His mind reaches for the cosmos far outside of himself, though he has little ability to guide it in his excitement."
"Yeah, well, things had been going fine for the last couple years," Brian sighed. "Until the incident in the museum. I was stupid enough to use the Doomfist and hit that blue lady, Widowmaker. I used my power in a weird way, and it's almost like I flicked a damned weird magnet switch."
"Yes, Lena was telling me about that," Genji nodded. "As I understand it, there was no way that anybody should have been able to activate it as it was."
"Mass is just a from of energy. I just changed it a little and kickstarted the thing," Brian shrugged as if using particles that hadn't been proven to exist to power a small weapon of mass destruction was not a big deal. "I put more mass into my arm than I meant to, broke the fist, nearly knocked my own ass out, and still just pissed off the crazy lady."
"I think I shall stay in this city for a while," Zenyatta said, seemingly randomly.
"Master?" Genji frown, looked at the monk.
"Being drawn here and meeting these young people was not an accident," Zenyatta nodded, glancing at his pupil. "Destiny has brought us together. I shall stay. If you permit it, Brian, I would teach Timmy, as well as yourself, how to focus. How to control yourselves. I can help the boy direct his imagination. And I can help you master who you are."
"I don't need help," Brian scowled. "I'm just fine. I've gotten this far without relying on my power, I can keep going."
"There will come a time when you are forced to use what you have been gives," Zenyatta leaned forward slightly. "You must master yourself, or you may hurt others, unintentionally."
For a long moment, Brian scowled. "Maybe," he said at last. "Maybe. But-"
There was an explosion. The building rocked violently as thunder echoed.
"TIMMY!" Brian screamed as he leapt to his feet, rushing into the main building. Around him, the ceiling crumbled, rock and concrete fell, smashing apart anything unfortunate enough to be underneath.
He scrambled over fallen beams and hunks of metal. Desperately searching. Then he saw it. Orisa stood, a glowing dome over her as she held Timmy close to her body.
"EFI!" the boy yelled, pointing. As Brian turned, following the finger,
The girl was under a desk, wide eyed with fear. There was a cracking sound above her. Brian didn't think. He dove for her. He reached her, just as the building above gave way, burying the tow under a mountain.