"You got called in too?" Lena blinked at Winston as he stumbled out from a side hall. The gorilla was decked in a lab coat and goggles, and was furiously trying to pat a spot of said coat that Lena swore was smoldering.
"Oh, Lena!" He stopped his, in Lena's opinion, futile efforts. That black spot would be there forever, best he got a new coat, "Yes, Commander Reyes told me to report to him, though…" Winston nervously glanced at a nearby clock.
"You lost track of time, didn't you?"
"Is it that obvious?" Winston smiled, one that contained more than a hint of resignation. Lena didn't blame him - the Reyes didn't like it when someone was late. The one time it happened during their exercises, they had all been forced to run an extra twenty laps.
No one was late after that.
Except Winston, apparently.
"Good luck, big guy." Lena patted him on his shoulder, "You're definitely going to need it."
"I really hope he's in a good mood…"
Lena laughed as she and Winston walked in tandem. She herself had been called by Reyes just five minutes ago, telling her to report to one of the hangars. She really hoped that it was important enough that her missed lunch wouldn't have been for nothing.
Knowing Reyes, he might just do that for the hell of it.
Those thoughts vanished as the both of them finally came into the hangar. There, in the middle, were several familiar metal husks.
"Good, you're here." Reyes was standing next to one of them, nodding, before his eyes narrowed at Winston's nervous form, "You, meanwhile are late."
"Yes sir."
"Hm. Guess we're bumping up your training twofold, eh?" Reyes grinned evilly as WInston visibly quialied in despair, "Gotta make sure you're fast enough so that you're not late next time, eh?"
"Affirmative, sir." There was a defeated tone in Winston's voice that made Lena almost feel pity for him. It was overshadowed by the relief she felt at not being included in his punishment.
"Well, I was going to do this separately, but since you're both here," Reyes motioned to the metal that Lena had been trying to avoid looking at.
Eight bodies. Thick, armored plates. Several miniguns. A blade protruding from a single arm.
Bastion and OR14 units. A familiar dread came up to her as she remembered the feeling of being pinned down by a group of them. Moreso when she saw the starburst pattern that went through all of them. These weren't just any old Bastion and OR14 units.
These were the same ones that Archer had killed right in front of them.
"Sir?" Even to her, her voice was small.
"Sorry to bring this up," Reyes' tone had gone softer, a hint of sympathy there that Lena would never have thought possible for the man, "But you're the only up close witnesses we know of." He kicked one of the Orisa bodies, causing a clatter that made Lena wince.
Beside her, even Winston's nervousness faded into solemnity.
There was just something when you saw the fallen bodies of a Bastion next to an OR14.
"I just need to know if you saw what did this." Reyes motioned to one of the holes on the bodies. She internally gulped. Of course she knew, she knew the guy that did it!
But that didn't mean that she could just tell Reyes that. Who the hell would believe that a bunch of arrows, courtesy of a literal ghost, shot from across the city, had saved them? It would be absurd! Nobody woul-
"Um, I believe it was a bunch of arrows, sir." Winston sounded from next to her, "They faded into nothing soon after, which makes me believe that they were made of hardlight."
"What?" Reyes frowned as he turned to the gorilla. Lena was stubbornly silent, not trusting her own voice as she internally screamed. She forgot. She forgot that Winston was right there next to her, and had seen everything that she did.
"Why didn't you include that in your report?" The taller man questioned, "Scratch that, did you even file a report?"
"I did, sir?" Winston was frowning now as well, "I still have the copy on an external drive, as well as the confirmation that it was received, if you would like to see it."
"Ah fuck."
'Archer?' She didn't like the groan that the Spirit had sounded out in her mind. She didn't need to ask anything else. The desperation and confusion in calling his name was enough for him to talk.
"Remember when I was snooping around the base for a while?" She gave a mental nod as Winston pulled out a flash drive and led them to a nearby computer, "Well, I took the opportunity to delete any evidence of my involvement. I'm talking about deleting photos that Overwatch received, modifying case reports to remove any mention of arrows, you know, the works."
'You missed Winston's flash drive.' It was a realization that was easy enough to make when he was telling her this now.
"To be fair, I didn't think he'd make a backup the moment he sent those reports." Archer sounded almost berating, not to her, but to himself. Reyes was now reading a file that Winston had opened.
"Still," Archer's voice turned just a bit more relaxed, "It's not like that that's going to help, right? I mean, nobody uses a bow and arrow in this day and age. At most, it'll just be a quirk of some random vigilante, and they'll leave it at that."
"Looks like it's all here." Reyes rubbed his eyes in annoyance, "I swear, there's going to be hell to pay for whoever screwed up your reports, Winston."
"There's, uh, no need sir?"
"Don't." The Commander waved him off with a scowl, "This is a serious breach of security. The person that modified your report didn't want the guy who did that to be found. Might be working with them. We'll need to secure our data a bit better from now on."
"Al-Alright then, sir."
"Good, now," Reyes nodded approvingly at Winston before turning back to the screen, "Arrows, huh? What do you think about this, Shimada?"
Both Lena and Winston were confused at the man's question, before a red and black figure dropped from the ceiling. The ceiling was at least twenty meters off the ground.
'How the hell didn't he break his legs?'
Genji Shimada stared at the report, then at the corpses of the Omnics. He quietly walked towards them, before kneeling and staring at the holes in their chassis.
"You thinking he's behind this?"
"I cannot say for certain that it was he that did this." Genji's words were tinged with a rage that took Lena aback. She'd heard the cyborg speak before, and while he wasn't the friendliest person out there, he didn't strike her as particularly vengeful.
His eyes told another story.
There was an anger there that Lena thought would only be in movies. An anger that Lena knew for certain, would lead to Genji killing whoever he was talking about.
And she still didn't know who that was.
"I would not put it past him, however," Genji continued as he paced around the Omics, inspecting them as much as he could, "The Shimada Clan has had dealings with Vishkar in the past. It would be trivial to acquire a hardlight projector for personal use."
"Any ideas where he could be hiding?"
Genji crouched down and turned his head in several ways, "There are some old contacts in the city. I shall…pay them a visit to see if they know anything."
"Sorry, but," Lena bumped in. All heads turned to her as she raised her hand, "Who are we talking about?"
Genji stared at her, ruby red eyes glistening in an unspoken need for violence, "My brother."
Oh.
Reyes picked it up after Genji stayed silent for a moment, "Hanzo Shimada, scion to the Shimada Clan. Internationally wanted fugitive. Reports say that the man uses a bow and arrow, though he's also apparently an accomplished sword user."
"Oh."
The three others in the room, as well as Archer, spent the next few minutes filling in her gaps in knowledge. Who Hanzo was. His crimes, public and some private. The more that Genji talked, however, the more Lena could see that he was getting angrier and angrier.
"If he's in London, then I shall find him." Genji continued with a certain sense of finality, "I shall finish what he started."
Lena's head was spinning with the revelation that Genji basically outright admitted that he was going to murder his own brother, while the Commander stood there as if it were some normal occurrence.
She and Archer had inadvertently framed a yakuza heir. Mostly Archer and his arrows, but she was an accomplice if nothing else.
'I wholly blame you.'
"In my defense, who the hell uses a bow and arrow when you have guns?"
'You?' She groaned as she ran after Genji's now retreating figure.
"I'm the exception, not the rule."
"Genji, wait up!" She called out to the cyborg. Said cyborg turned to her with narrowed eyes.
"What is it?"
"Look, all that stuff about your brother," She winced as he started glaring at her full force. It was unnerving, to say the least, having Genji's blood red eyes bore holes into her head, "That's not the full story, is it?"
It couldn't have been. There was too much hate there. As much as some people try to deny it, blood really was thicker than water. Genji wouldn't have left the life of a Shimada for nothing. No, if she had to guess, his brother had something to do with it.
She was honestly surprised when Genji barked out a laugh, one devoid of any humor whatsoever, "I forget that you have no idea who I am." The 'or so you say' was left usaid.
"Look at me now, and what do you see?" Genji gestured to himself.
"A…cyborg?"
"A half-man." Genji corrected bitterly, "This is what my brother robbed from me. The chance to be human. Now, I am forced to cling to a cursed half-life." He turned to fully face her now.
"You say that you don't know who I am, that you don't know the circumstances of my life despite the stories that have been going around." Genji spoke, his eyes glowing redder with something, "Then I shall tell you now. You speak to a freak of nature. You speak to the rotting remains of what used to be a man.
"I hate it. But there is nothing I can do about it. The dye has been cast, but the night doesn't end till the sun rises above the horizon. And the sun shall only rise when my blade is between my brother's throat, or his blade to mine."
"You don't mean that."
"I do." It was now that Lena started to realize what she was seeing. The look in his eyes was insanity incarnate. Genji didn't care about his own wellbeing anymore. He didn't see the worth in his own existence. His only purpose was to kill his own brother.
And with how easily he spoke about it, this was probably common knowledge among the Overwatch agents. Yet another reason why they avoided him, she supposed.
Lena could see why Angela was so worried about Genji now.
"I tire of this. If you know what is good for you, you shall stay out of my way."
The cyborg walked away, and this time, Lena let him.
'Archer, can you keep an eye on him?'
"I can, but why?"
'I made a promise to Angela, remember?'
"If I recall, it was just a promise not to treat him any differently than anyone else."
'Yeah, it was. That's why I want you to keep an eye on him.'
"Ha. What a troublesome woman."
'Hey! You're supposed to praise me there!'
A laugh bubbled into her throat despite the heavy feelings that she felt.
'...Was he right, Archer?'
"About what?"
'That the only way this ends is for one of them to die.'
"I can't say."
A moment of silence between them, before the Spirit sighed.
"Look, if you're serious about making friends with the guy, then I'll offer you some advice."
'Hm?'
"You feel helpless, don't you? That you can't help him? You can. You, and Ziegler. The both of you talked to Shimada more than any other person here combined. But it will take time. You expect that you'd be able to help him immediately, for him to talk to you as if you were already friends.
"For others, it might be so. For most, friendship, that bond between humans, takes time. I suspect that the incident between Shimada and his brother happened recently. That sort of betrayal is enough to burn a man from any attachments.
Just…give him time. Don't make him feel like he's being smothered by you and Ziegler. He needs to come to terms with who he is, and the only person that can do that is himself."
Another beat of silence, before a snort came from Lena's throat, a grin stretching across her face, 'Thanks, Archer. I'll keep it in mind.'
"Anytime."
'Who knew you had it in you to give me a pep talk like that?'
Lena felt Archer shrug, "What can I say, I have some experience in similar matters."
She didn't question what he said there. As a Spirit, Archer had probably experienced way more than Lena had in her shorter life. Still, it was a burden lifted from her shoulders, if only a bit.
She knew that she was probably trying a bit too hard there. But she really did want to help Genji, and at the same time, make good on her promise with Angela. She thought that providing a listening ear would have been a good start.
She was wrong.
Genji hated himself. Genji hated what he had become, and no amount of talking from Lena would change that.
How could it, when in his eyes, she was nothing more than a stranger with unknown intentions.
The best thing she could do now, was try and break through the bitterness and rage he felt, not by forcing herself, nor by forcing him, but by just trying to support him when she could, and when Genji was willing.
Lena gave a wry smile as she entered the clinic. Angela better appreciate what she was doing.
Far above, on top a crane overlooking the city, the red clad Archer watched. He frowned as he recalled the conversation he had with Oxton. The thoughts that she had inadvertently been shouting through their connection.
It was familiar.
That selfless, selfish want to help. To be a hero.
A smile of someone being granted salvation. A desperate need to reach that same contentment.
For the first time, Archer thought about how much Oxton really dragged out of Unlimited Blade Works. Was it really just Archer himself? Or did something else come along?
Because looking at Oxton now, it was like looking into an old mirror.
And yet, he couldn't bring himself to hate her. He knew she'd make mistakes, that she'd cry and despair, but he couldn't hate her as he did his past self, once upon a time. No, not when he knew one thing. That despite his trials and tribulations, he still knew one fundamental truth.
A smile graced his features as he astralized into motes of light.
It wasn't wrong.
A/N: If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.
And a special thanks to: Oliver vazquez, brutalcrab and Tassimo. Happy Early Mother's Day!