A/N: Next month is NaNoWriMo! So I'll be taking a break from my fan-fiction to work on a particular story of my own, which I've heavily neglected for the last few years, so I figured it would be appropriate to allocate an entire month to, hopefully, write it up! You can find it over on my Fictionpress, if you're interested in what I have over there, though my first draft is a whole lot more story than is on there; it's titled 'The Kids're Alright', which is a title I may stick with during rewriting- I'll probably delete the chapters over there once I've begun writing.

I've heard from a few people how disconnected they can feel to original characters, so I can totally see how that expands to original stories as a whole, so you're under no obligation to follow along that story; I simply wanted to let you all know why my fan-fiction will be slowing to a crawl for the month of November :p


Genji couldn't help but tense his lips as he laid atop the medical table, only a head attached to something that could be described as a torso, an arm, and that was pretty much it. His body hadn't immediately become this bad, but as the years wore on, his body seemed to be eaten up, more and more, by battles and time itself. He listened to the sounds of nothing much else but parts clattering above him and a few curses in German. To his side, Fareeha leaned against the wall, ashamed, still, by the earlier events.

"Okay," Angela grumbled, more so to herself, as she spun around, "We're going to try this. Mei could at least help when it comes to parts unattached to your body…"

She frowned as Fareeha reached up to her face, gently pulling away the paper mask over her face, "I can go get-"

"Stop!" Angela shouted, covering her own face to direct Fareeha, "You're still in time out for putting poor Genji in here. And keep your mask on, okay?"

"But you're not even wearing-"

Angela glared at her, leaving Fareeha with a sigh before she slid down the wall to sit down, covering her frown with the paper mask. Genji had turned to watch her, the man suddenly beginning to laugh, which pleased Angela little as she watched his torso jumble around in front of her, freely.

"Please, Hakase, poor Amari has already suffered enough. It's not every day you literally tear a human being to shreds, you know."

"Thank you!" Fareeha pointed, lifting a finger into the air as Angela rolled her eyes.

The doctor shook her head, "It's not to make her suffer, anyway. I figured this would be a good time for you two to get to know one another since, obviously, there are some misconceptions from one party involved."

Fareeha sighed, glaring, "I said I was sorry."

Angela grinned at her, propping the metallic arm piece against Genji's shoulder, "Besides, she doesn't know yet."

"Ahh," Genji nodded, "No wonder. Eh, for the record, Amari, uh, Fareeha… My courtesy wasn't meant to impede at all between you two; I simply, uh, how do I put it- I do owe this doctor my life."

Angela shrugged, "Some would say "lives", but yeah, you're probably somewhat accurate."

Genji smirked, turning back to Fareeha, "Trust me; I haven't the ability to take anybody, much less a woman I respect as much as your doctor."

The thought entering Fareeha's head, she groaned, "Well, uh, thanks for clarifying that."

He hummed a chuckle as he returned to staring up at the ceiling as Angela wove what was left of his body into the inner mechanisms of the arm piece she'd shoved against his shoulder. She eyed his face as she did so, speaking curiously as she finished up his limb.

"Your muscles seem to be in better shape than they were. Whatever you're doing with that meditation, it's working," Angela noted.

Fareeha, who'd kept her own eyes on the man, finally spoke Angela tinkered with the metallic arm, running her finger down the soft entrenching of rivers, "Okay, so what exactly happened to, uh, you? Not to be rude or anything."

Genji twisted his lips as he recalled his history while Angela remained focused on his new limb, "Well, it's a rather long story. The short version was that I was left for dead in the bottom of a ravine, Overwatch wanted me because of my family connections, so Angela, here, decided to c- OUCH!"

His head sharply shot toward Angela, who was staring back at him, pithily, as her finger undid one of the fasteners at his shoulder, "Too tight? Oh, my bad."

Fareeha, now more curious, watched Angela as she returned to her work, the doctor's face darkening as she played the memory back in her mind. It was a place she often despised returning to, much less listen to by Genji, relaying it to the last person the doctor ever wanted to know about that part of her own history.

Genji seemed to have gotten the 'subtle' note from her, as he finished, "Basically, my body is a testament to what combat will do to a body. And I don't mean to toss out platitudes; I actually spent a lot of time with a spiritual figure the last few years since the disbanding."

"Really," Fareeha spoke up, rising to her feet, "You don't seem like the spiritual type."

"I'm not, really," he grinned, childishly, "But you know, people often wonder whether or not the have souls, all that stuff- all I saw was metal and a body that wasn't mine; it was just a manufactured mess of parts and fusings. It troubled me greatly, and I had nothing much else to do in the meantime."

He shrugged as best he could, "At the very least, I'm far more comfortable in my skin, now. Well, in my…you know."

Angela nodded as she pulled over part of a leg, "Yes, and if that spiritual side showed up more often than your training, I might not have to keep putting you back together."

Genji laughed, "Oh, come on. That duel with Amar- Fareeha was the most fun I've had in a while. Shame my body resulted in a short fight; I look forward to a rematch."

Fareeha nodded dismissively as she lowered her head, shamefully, thinking of the outcome of their first match. She'd never "dismantled" a man before, she thought, as she scratched her cheek nervously. Angela continued working with Genji's legs, carefully linking up what was left of his nerves with wirings that laid out from the inner mechanisms of the metallic prosthetic.

Her hand pressed against the ridged segment that made up the kneecap, her face wincing as she did so, finally sighing as she struggled to pull away, not doing so until Genji gently pushed her away, "Move along, doctor."

She nodded, readily, completing her checkup as Genji's head fell back toward table, "I've tried to. It'll be more difficult with you reminding me on it."

Fareeha's eyes stared up at the two from below, curiously, unable to figure out their history. After her first, and last, foray into Angela's past, which resulted only in an inaccurate choice of book, the good doctor had threatened a great deal of punishment were Fareeha to delve into her past without permission.

She couldn't ever figure our wherever it was because Angela was ashamed of her past, or frightened of it.

Angela patted down Genji's robotic foot as she finished up, sighing happily as her fists rode her waist as she stood back, happily, to admire her work, nodding to herself. Genji sat up, slowly, his face wincing in pain as his body ached, grasping ahold of his side.

"Doesn't ever get easier," he smirked as he hung his head low, gritting his teeth.

Fareeha stepped up to him to help him to his feet, gently taking ahold of his hands as he pushed himself on to his feet, groaning, "I mean, through the pain, I can already tell this setup is better."

Angela smiled, sadly, watching him, "Well I'll get Mei and Jamison up here and you can thank them yourself. Even if you managed the trip down there yourself, I'm not letting you into that icebox, so don't even try it, okay?"

Genji nodded boyishly, as if obeying orders wasn't a concept he even understood, though his eyes slowly opened wide as his head locked onto the door, his body shaking in worry. Angela quickly turned to find Lena there, the girl's face horrified at the sight as she swung open the door, forcefully.

"G-Genji!" she shouted, bursting through the door before Angela suddenly dove at her, tackling her to the ground before the two began to wrestle, Fareeha only able to stare, worriedly, as she kept ahold of the patient.

"Genji! I needed to see y- OW!- before you left!" Lena barely managed as Angela wrangled her down.

Angela squirmed, "C-Calm down! He needs to rest; you don't- don't touch me there!- you don't need to go grappling onto him!"

In a burst of ozone, Lena evaporated in Angela's arms, warping to her feet alongside Genji as the doctor stared up toward her, angrily. To her credit, Lena kept her arms behind her back as she examined the ninja carefully, her face saddened by the sight.

"It's alright," he laughed, "Once I get better, I may be able to even keep up with you, though."

Lena smiled, lightly, before speaking up, "I'll hold ya to that! Winston's having me head on out, so I needed to make sure I saw you again and said goodbye."

Genji smiled as he turned to Fareeha, who had moved a hand to his shoulder at the appearance of Lena, "Well, if Fareeha doesn't mind helping out, I'd be more than happy to see you off. What are you off to, anyway? I didn't hear of any assignments."

Without answering, Fareeha carefully walked alongside him, figuring it was the least she could do, still, as Lena spoke up, excitedly, "I'm goin' to the states! All those beacons that Winston sent with everybody for a possible recall? All of them have been shut off except for one."

"Jesse?" Genji figured, quickly, "I can't think of many others who'd be over there. At least not many who Winston would personally assure their well-"

He paused, lowering his head, "Ah."

Angela nodded as the four left the room, turning down the corridor that lead down to the hangar, "So you've kept up with everything?"

"Well, enough," Genji answered, his eyes shifting, "So Gabriel really, uh…"

"Yes," Angela replied, lowly, pointing to Fareeha, "He nearly killed this one. We don't know much about it, but he seems to be the one behind Talon targeting Overwatch agents."

"So that explains the recall," Genji nodded, shaking his head, "Never would have taken Gabe for a traitor, but I mean, you know."

Fareeha's eyes peered toward the others curiously, having been one of the newest to the group. Despite taking a round of whatever hellish ammunition that Reaper carried in his firearms, she really hadn't been told all that much, about the man Gabriel Reyes or about the Reaper that nearly ended her life. So listening to their discussion, it was a topic she was happy to glean.

"That's why we need to get Jesse," Lena explained, seriously.

"Yes," Genji agreed, "If he isn't answering the recall… I'd hate to think he's following his former mentor into madness."

"I'm sure he's fine," Angela shrugged, "I'm sure he just has something going on. If anything will get him to come back, planting Lena in his backyard will certainly get him to escape back here."

Lena eyed her, unamused, rolling her eyes as she muttered under her breath, "Like he'd like to see the doctor who recommended he get a prostate exam again…"

"Huh?" Angela asked, sincerely.

Fareeha laughed as lightly as she could at Lena's observation, only adding to Angela's confusion as the four entered the hangar. Lena excitedly burst through the air, up toward the Splitstream, her hand enthusiastically slapping at the top of the open door as she jumped in with a loud shout.

"The cavalry's here!" she shouted, accompanying the aluminum bang above her as she rushed into the craft to prepare.

"So much for goodbyes, huh?" Genji laughed.

Angela shook her head disappointedly, "The girl just has no manners. She just needs a-"

"I CAN HEAR YOU," blared the speakers atop the Splitstream, Lena shooting Angela a stare from the cockpit before burying herself deeper into the ship.

The doctor wore a sardonic frown as she turned back toward Genji, "As I said."