Second chapter for you ppl! If you want to read the last chapter, you can find it on my ao3, and it's linked to an unofficial sequel written by a friend inspired by this fic :)
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Rating: Mature for fighting scenes n the like, just to be safe
Warnings: none.
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Chapter 02
It was much later when Genji finally managed to get back to his house.
He'd needed to reconvene with the rest of the sentai first to make sure they were alright, and found out that while he'd been spending some alone time with the Cultist, they had managed to round up all the remaining monsters with ease before defeating them.
Spread out as they had been, they were having a hard time fighting the monsters until at one point, for some reason, the creatures had deflated as if in pain, and the sentai used this chance to finish them off before they could recover.
Only Angela, Jesse and Hanzo were actually sentai like Genji –the other two, Ana and Jack, were older masters who had renounced active service and were only called in for help whenever there was no other option, and Genji did feel a bit bad to have asked for the night off when he knew that Lucio, Hana and Lena were all home nursing a cold.
Hanzo, grateful to see his little brother still in one piece, had asked him about the monster, and though Genji had only seen the body after the Cultist had left, he could at least report its definite death.
"It seems it was that one controlling the rest," Angela murmured, kneeling near one of the quickly deteriorating bodies of the monsters. "These were… not quite clones, but something similar. The monster must have split in multiple copies, because all the monsters we fought in different areas of the mall are identical. Their inexplicable bout of weakness coincides with green sentai's arrival on the scene."
"It is probable the monster created a set of copies to send to us, knowing that we would not be able to best them without defeating the original," Ana muttered, shaking her head, and though her face was hidden by her mask, Genji could hear the frown in her voice. "The original thought that he was safe since none of us could chase him, but he clearly did not expect green sentai to join the fight."
Genji hummed thoughtfully. He had not been the one to slain the monster –in fact, he wondered if he, alone, would have sufficed– but he kept quiet, not wanting to reveal to the others about his encounter with the Cultist.
He had to wonder though… did the Cultist know about the monster's powers when he had decided to slain it? He wouldn't have wanted to aid the sentai, but…
"Well then, green sentai!" Angela turned to look at him, and her tone was amused. "It might not be as soon as you had hoped, but it is as soon as we could manage. You are free to go back home to… whatever it is you were doing."
"Probably just enjoying some time with his friends," Hanzo shrugged, not particularly bothered by it.
Genji decided that for the sake of going back home as early as possible, he would not mention that he was actually on a date with one of said friends and leave it at that –after all, albeit well-intentioned, Hanzo butting his nose in Genji's business was not really all that welcomed, even more so when it came to Zenyatta.
With a wave, Genji left.
He took the same shortcut as before, using the rooftops as his personal, private road, and arrived in front of his apartment only two and a half hours after he'd left, which was, if not a record, at least a rewarding feat.
The truly rewarding thing, though, was to find Zenyatta asleep on his couch, back pressed against the soft cushions and hands abandoned on his lap, holovision lit on some Spanish telenovela Genji had never heard about.
Genji's heart –that traitorous bastard– lurched in his chest at the sight, the view so beautiful to him it was almost too much. He lingered by the door, butterflies in his chest and cheeks aflame, for what felt like forever, admiring Zenyatta's profile in the dark, only lit by the holovision light and by the soft, teal glow of his own forehead array.
Sometimes, Genji felt he was truly lucky.
Finally, he stepped closer, reluctant to disturb the peaceful sight but wishing for Zenyatta to wake.
"I'm back," he murmured, and even those words felt sweet on his lips as he touched Zenyatta's shoulder.
Maybe due to the comfortable pose, or the fact that his sweater moved as Zenyatta roused from his cycle of sleep, Genji was treated to a view of his neck pistons shifting as he arched his neck, stretching his mechanical servos, and was reminded that just like many other omnics he'd seen, Zenyatta also had that pretty black collar around his neck.
He'd never taken Zenyatta as someone willing to follow fashion trends, but it looked good on him.
Then again, everything did, on Zenyatta.
"You're back," Zenyatta hummed, his voice so quiet it was almost a murmur. "Welcome back, Genji."
Genji's cheeks burned crimson and he felt the sudden impulse to lean forwards and press a kiss against the surface of Zenyatta's face plate, the need so strong it almost burned him out.
Again he did not have time to overthink his own desires because tilting his head forwards, Zenyatta pressed the edge of his mouth piece against Genji's cheek and he felt a small trickle of omnic energy lick his skin.
For the second time, Zenyatta had kissed him first. Genji needed to up his game.
"Forgive me," Zenyatta moved away, sounding almost self-conscious. "I must have fallen asleep as I was waiting for you. How long…" he paused, checking his own inner clock. "Oh. It is… quite late."
"Zenyatta, I am so sorry about my emergency. I… Hanzo called and I couldn't–"
"Genji." Zenyatta's hand wrapped around one of his own, interrupting his hasty apology, "You have nothing to apologize for. I know that you are close to your brother, and you wish to do right by him. I do not mind. If I wanted to go home, I would have left already, but I chose to stay."
Genji licked his lips, so content and happy he knew it must have been obvious by the wide grin on his face. He shuffled to sit on the couch at Zenyatta's side, pleased when Zenyatta still held his hand. "Thank you for waiting for me, Zenyatta. You being here is… so much better than coming back to an empty house."
"Oh… I understand more than you think." There was a discordant tone to Zenyatta's voice that Genji did not miss, and he frowned, surprised.
"Why… oh, is it because Mondatta keeps having to go out of town for his sermons? He has been so busy these past few months I don't' think I've seen him even once around…" Genji hesitated, racking his brain. "I don't think I saw him on the news either. Weird. I thought the media followed him around all the time."
The hand around his own tightened enough that for a moment Genji was concerned –though Zenyatta's face could not convey any emotion, Genji could read him pretty well, and the edge of… wariness… he picked up from the way his shoulders were drawn back, head tilted low to avoid meeting Genji's gaze… it was concerning.
"… Zenyatta? Is there… is there something wrong with…"
For a few seconds, Zenyatta did not answer, though his shoulders twitched, as if in pain, and he quickly tugged up the collar of his sweater; had he not been an omnic, Genji would have read that action as Zenyatta being cold, or maybe wishing to hide his face, but as it was he did not quite understand.
"I… Genji, I–" something glitched in Zenyatta's voice, and Genji almost flinched away, the sound grating to his ears. Zenyatta's shoulders slumped a little, his fans spinning just a little bit faster, as if compensating for something. "No, Genji," he finally murmured. "But my brother, he… he has been sick, lately."
"Sick? Ho-how? There were no reports and… you said nothing?"
"It is not… life threatening," Zenyatta still did not look at him, but his tone conveyed enough pain Genji could understand his reticence. "But he had to be taken… somewhere else, and it was done quietly, so no one knew. I could… not tell you, either."
"Yet it is something that worries you, and you're left behind unable to do anything about it." Genji sighed, one arm coming to rest around Zenyatta's shoulders. "I'm sorry if I asked you out when you are so worried… I had no idea, but…"
"No, Genji. I want… I love spending time with you. It delights me. Your company makes this situation… much more bearable, even under… these circumstances." Zenyatta's other hand remained around his neck, wrapped tightly around it. "I did not wish to taint our time together with such dark thoughts, and yet…"
"He'll be alright, Zen. Mondatta will come back safely, and will go back to nagging at you for being around me in no time."
That stole a little, shaken laugh from Zenyatta's synth, which Genji counted as a win. "Why don't we just… watch a movie together and you stay here, tonight?" Zenyatta, startled, looked at him and he rushed on "I mean, you… don't really want to go home, right? Because right now Mondatta isn't…" at Zenyatta's curt nod, he continued with a little more determination, "I also do not want to stay here by myself. I'm not… I'm not offering because we're dating, Zen. I'm offering as your friend, just like before. You stay the night and we both get some company."
Zenyatta's shoulders trembled a bit, but he nodded, leaning heavily against Genji's chest, and Genji did not need any further prompting to wrap both arms around Zenyatta's shoulders, holding him tightly.
"… thank you, Genji."
"No problem, Zen. Anytime."
"You were supposed to distract him until the other sentai were separated and defeated. What, exactly, went wrong?"
Standing outside of the balcony of Genji's apartment, Zenyatta looked down at the holographic projection of the person video-calling him, the image tinged in blue and faltering slightly in the moonlight.
Inside, Genji was deeply asleep on the couch, snoring lightly, unaware that Zenyatta had quietly left his side when his phone had started to vibrate, rousing him from his own sleeping cycle.
"It is not my fault he believes his duty as a sentai ranger to be more important than dating me," Zenyatta replied, smugness bleeding into his tone. There was no bitterness in him at all –in fact, he was proud of that. "If I had tried to stop him, he would have started to suspect that I know something. Wouldn't that have been counterproductive?"
On the other side of the screen, the person snorted. "It is not me you gotta convince, bot, it's them. " she leaned forwards, lips curled up in what could have passed for a smile if it wasn't so stretched out. "Remember we've got some leeway on ya, so you'd better behave. You're lucky this was just a test run, though it's not clear how your pretty boyfriend managed to defeat the copycat monster we sent his way."
Zenyatta hesitated, fingers curled up together in front of him in what he hoped would be a passable compliant pose.
"He is stronger than you think," he finally said, and though spoken to hide who truly had defeated the monster, he did believe his words. "As he constantly proves during every fight."
"Listen, Zenyatta…" the screen flickered, and the caller leaned forwards enough that most of the screen became a close-up of her face. "I am not saying you can't have some fun with the guy. He's pretty cute –and he has quite the hot butt aaaah yes… but if you don't start working harder on becoming a hindrance for him, they're going to get pretty mad and then your brother…" she made a curt motion with her hand, mimicking cutting wires –neck wires, to be exact. "Comprende?"
Zenyatta's core stuttered, and he had to fight to keep his calm demeanour, discord swelling within his chest.
"So I'm.. sorry about that, but they said you need to learn where you stand here."
That was all Zenyatta had as a warning. With a flicker of her wrist, her gloves sparkled purple and Zenyatta felt pain blossom through his body, electricity cutting through his wires and circuits, relentless and absolute.
He dropped onto the floor with a wheezing gasp, his voice box disabled as the collar he wore around his neck sent wave after wave of electric shocks through his body.
Again and again, the punishment for failing to obey his orders washed through him until he was left on the ground, gasping and trembling, fingers twitching against the bricks of the balcony.
"If this doesn't work, they'll have to find a better way to use you."
The video-call ended with a sharp click, and Zenyatta was left alone in the night, attempting to recover, synth crackling and servos shaking.
"It's been really quiet today, isn't it?" scouting ahead, Genji squinted against the sun shining over the reflective surfaces of the surrounding skyscrapers.
"Hmmm–hmmm," Lucio tapped his rollerblades on the surface of the railing he was idly strolling on, shifting his body easily to keep his balance. "It's not just today, it's been… a quiet week, isn't it?"
Above them, shooting across the sky and twisting to leave behind puffy pink clouds against the blue, Hana manoeuvred her mech to move closer to them, her voice crackling into their communication devices. "Seems like those monsters know when to keep their distance!"
"Well, that's just way less work for us, overall," Genji perched on the corner of a building and hummed, in a good mood. "Means I'll be able to see Zenyatta today!"
And that did make him happy. He'd noticed Zenyatta grow ever so distant for the past couple weeks, ever since his admission about Mondatta's health, and Genji was worried that his constantly asking him about it had left Zenyatta even more distraught than before.
Zenyatta was… selfless, and never wished to let others see him in pain if he could avoid it, but with something like Mondatta's health, he would be probably worrying himself sick all on his own, and Genji wanted to make him realise he was not alone in this. He did not have to bear such heavy weight without sharing the burden with others –with Genji, who was willing, who loved him, who was there– and Genji wanted to make sure he knew, in any way he could.
So, even if he could do nothing about Mondatta, at least he could offer his presence, and reassure him that he was going nowhere.
"Ooooh, someone's smitten~!" Hana chuckled, and with a few, practiced twists of her mech, she formed a heart-shaped cloud trail that was soon blown away by the wind currents.
"Always said you two were a good match," Lucio stretched his body, and though his sentai mask covered his face, Genji could hear the smirk even if he could not see it. "It's getting serious, is it?"
Flustered under his own mask, Genji hunched his shoulders a bit but nodded, pleased with himself. "Yeah. We've been friends for a long time and now it's just… he's…" fumbling with his words, Genji thought about how ironic it was for him, who used to flirt and fool around with so many people in the past, to be now tongue-tied over someone he did really like. "I'm happy."
For a few seconds, the three remained silent as they kept moving across the rooftops, Genji ahead with his speedy bounced, followed by Lucio skating idly and Hana up in the sky.
"You planning on telling him soon, then?" Hana broke the silence next, her voice a little more subdued, and it was obvious what she meant.
"I… I don't know." Genji bit down on his lower lip, suddenly nervous. "I mean, it might be dangerous if he knew. It's… this job is…" he paused, considering what he wanted to say. "Zenyatta knows how to fight, I've seen it, but… what we're doing as sentai is dangerous and I don't want him to be in any danger just because he knows I'm the green sentai. I want him to be safe."
"I get you buddy, but he has a right to know why you keep flunking out of your dates together to go somewhere just 'cause your brother calls you." Lucio shrugged, spinning around on his skates. "On that note, we got no problem covering you with Hanzo but I think he ought to know you've been tying the knot with your friend for the past month or so, you know."
"I know, I know, I just don't like him butting his nose in my stuff, and…" Genji shuffled, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't want him to try saying something mean about Zenyatta again."
"He stopped doing it early on, though," Hana interjected, her voice still amused. "I'm pretty sure none of us were happy about his grumpy ass."
Both Lucio and Genji chuckled at that, and Genji tried to relax. It was true –at first, Hanzo had made a few… disparaging comments about Zenyatta, when he and Genji had started being friendly, but none of the others had been happy about it, first of all Genji, and he'd quickly stopped. Genji was sure he'd changed his mind –Zenyatta was… sweet, and gentle, and nice, and honestly no one who'd met him could ever hate him, not even omnic haters, Genji was sure of it– but the idea of having to share Zenyatta with anyone… he didn't like it.
He liked this private, precious time he spent with Zenyatta without having to worry about what anyone else thought, it made him feel better even after a day of fighting monsters, or squabbling with his brother about this or that.
Yet, Lucio was right –he ought Zenyatta to be honest about them dating, because he did not want him to believe he was hiding their relationship out of shame or embarrassment.
"I'll tell him," he finally muttered, lips set in a determined line. "I can always send my dragon to bite his butt if he doesn't behave."
"Don't worry buddy, we'd be right behind you with that," Lucio reassured him, laughter obvious in his tone. "Hey, what about we keep this patrol up and you cut it short and go pick Zenyatta up instead? This is boring and it's not going to change anytime soon, but we can definitely handle it."
"What if something–"
"If anything happens, you're just a call away, right? And maybe this time you can actually tell Zen where you're going," Hana interjected. "C'mon, lover boy, accept this gift and off you go!"
With a soft laugh, Genji leaned forwards and bumped Lucio's offered fist with his own. "I owe you both one," he flashed them a thumbs up since he couldn't flash them a smile, and then darted sideways, directed at Zenyatta's apartment.
The idea that he could get to see Zenyatta again and earlier than expected made Genji's heart race in happiness. He enjoyed their time together, enjoyed Zenyatta himself so much, and was so glad he'd appeared in his life, and Lucio and Hana were right –he ought to tell him about his secret identity, if only to come clean about his recurring disappearances.
The trip to Zenyatta's house took less time than usual, if only because Genji entertained himself with daydreaming about what Zenyatta's reaction could be –part of him, really self-indulgent if he had to admit it with himself, thought up a few nice settings, some of which ended in many kisses and in a wooed, charmed Zenyatta fawning over him for protecting the city, though Genji felt foolish in thinking so. Zenyatta mentioned the sentai rangers rarely if at all, but he did appear grateful and impressed with their job, so… Genji still hoped in a positive reaction.
Or a more than positive one.
No one could fault him for that, right?
His happy, bubbly dreams came to a sudden halt the moment he reached the apartment complex where Zenyatta lived.
Something… something was wrong, and all of sudden Genji's instincts went off, alarms flaring up in the back of his head, enough that his dragon roused at the edge of his consciousness.
The apartment complex housed quite a lot of omnics, attracted by the cheap prices, and usually there were always a lot of them mulling about, or even humans coming to visit. The area was residential and lived in and at most times of the day and night there would be life and chatter but…
Around him, the complex was empty, and eerily silent.
Genji's heart jumped in his throat as he landed out of sight, quickly releasing his sentai form to turn back to being just Genji, and then made his way up the stairs and to Zenyatta's apartment, which was on the second to last floor, third apartment on the right.
His fears flared up twice as much when he arrived at the entrance and found the door ajar, which… Zenyatta never left it open like this, not when there were thieves and who-knew-what around, hoping to steal from an omnic all they owned.
"Zenyatta?" Genji entered slowly, warily, ready for anything that could potentially be waiting for him inside… and then stopped dead.
The house was a mess.
All the knick-knacks and ornaments Zenyatta owned, which were usually on display on various shelves, together with Mondatta's stuff, were scattered across the room. Most of the furniture had been moved as if pushed around by force as someone shoved their way inside, and there were… scratch marks on them, and on the walls, too.
Books, chairs, piles of documents… they were all over the floor too, giving the room the appearance of a battlefield.
Now panicking, Genji ran around the apartment, looking for clues; Mondatta's room appeared empty and cold, as if abandoned, the door parted slightly, while Zenyatta's room, albeit lived in, was equally empty. Neither seemed in the same state of disarray as the sitting room, but there was nobody there.
"Zenyatta! Where are you?! Answer me!"
No answer.
Genji ran back to the sitting room, eyes wide and breath coming out in quick, panicking gasps, but there was nothing that could tell him what had happened.
Zenyatta was gone, and–
His phone rang in his back pocket, making him jolt, and he fumbled with it, hoping it was not Lucio calling him for help –he was the one who needed help right now, Zenyatta was gone and he was panicking and did not know where he could be and…
On his screen, Zenyatta's name flashed to the side, followed by the picture Genji had set for whenever Zenyatta called him.
"Zenyatta?! Where are you?! What happened?! Are you safe?!" hands trembling, Genji almost screamed into his phone, hoping against hope that Zenyatta would be able to give him a reasonable answer, one that could help him understand.
"Your pretty boyfriend is not here, Shimada Genji," someone murmured on the other side of the phone, voice low and pleased, and Genji stiffened. "Or should I say… green sentai?"
In that instant, all of Genji's world tunnelled into a single, tiny speckle of sharp focus, his body going still in shock.
How–
"I thought I could extend an invitation for a meeting," the voice continued, apparently unperturbed by the silence on the other end of the phone, "So what do you say? I have your pretty, cute omnic with me and he seems so scared, and pathetic, calling your name over and over. Oh, he's confused. He didn't even know he was the boyfriend of such… distinguished public figure now, did he?"
"Leave Zenyatta out of this!" finding his words again, voice filled with venom, Genji hissed and clenched his hands on the phone so hard he could feel it creak in his grip. "What do you want?!"
"I do not think it would be fair to leave him out of this, green sentai. After all, being your boyfriend makes him a… very targetable prey, is it not?" the voice laughed, amused and mocking. "I want you to come to the location I'm sending to your phone. Alone. I might just give you back your toy if you comply and obey."
The line went dead, and for a second Genji gaped, motionless, before he scrambled to open his phone again and check where Zenyatta was.
He did not care if this was supposed to be a trap –nothing mattered except getting Zenyatta back. Nothing.
They would soon discover that no one could dare threaten the life of someone Genji cared so much for without setting off the rage of a dragon.