Chapter Text
Gabriel Reyes poured the fifth mug of coffee down his throat, and stared at the red pinpoints on the map in front of him.
Out there, somewhere in the Blackwatch compound, an unknown intruder lurked.
They were good, whoever they were. Gabe had to give them that. Security had been following the stranger in vain for hours now- yet there the dot was, hiding somewhere in plain sight, moving too quickly to be picked up- likely an omnic, it was too fast to be human. Still, speed, skill, or technology couldn’t compensate for the fact that their guest was on the Blackwatch home base. Our turf. Gabe took one look at the gray lines crossing the compound- he had helped design this place after all, he knew it better than he knew the back of Jack’s head. “Send Group Petra to 12R,” he ordered. “Our friend’ll be within 5 squares. Be ready to engage.”
“Young man, Asian descent, approximately 5’6”, dressed in black,” the head of Group Petra barked into the comm unit. “He’s been disarmed, primary threat screening is clear.”
Now that got Gabe’s attention, more than the fact their intruder was human. No one was ever “clear.” They always had something- at least a comm unit, a cellphone, a notepad- hell, even a toothpick. And Sal was nothing if not thorough- Gabe trusted his skill almost as much as he trusted his own. “Clear?” he scoffed. “Check again.”
“No, sir, I did, I know. But he’s clear. Completely clear. Not even an BitFit. Internal scans are showing up negative too.”
Now that was even more suspicious than if the intruder had come in with pipe bombs strapped to his body. “Who are they, what do they want?”
Gabe leaned back, listening to the muffled interrogation, before Sal’s voice crackled back online.
“Not giving a name, sir. And all he wants is… Let me ask him again to make sure, but he’s asking for- Is there someone here named Jesse McCree?”
Gabe spat out his coffee.
Still in his pajama bottoms, the young man blearily stumbled down the hall behind Gabe’s heavy steps. “Sir?” he mumbled, trying to register even the fact that he had just been pulled out of bed at two in the morning and called up to the security station for no apparent reason. “Whuzzat happening?”
“I don’t know, but whatever you did you’d better tell me now before you dig yourself even deeper in that pile of shit you’re in,” Gabe snapped.
That got his attention. Jesse’s face twisted in indignation. “What? I didn’t do nothing!” he whined. “I swear- er- if it’s about the luncheon thing, I didn’t-“
“I don’t know what the ‘luncheon thing’ is, and I don’t want to know if it means more paperwork.” The older man strode down the hall quickly, lengthening his steps so that the boy behind him had to work to keep up. “Long story short, though, we got an intruder on our hands. Someone broke onto base just to ask for you.” Gabe gave a few short knocks on the heavy door, and it slid open.
He surveyed the scene in front of him- the five members of Group Petra blocking off the front doorway, the security team with their sights trained on the intruder in black in the middle of the room. The young man stood ramrod straight despite the fatigue under his dark eyes and hollowed cheeks. He watched them enter, his expression cold on his fine, regal features.
Gabe felt a chill down his spine. He knew that face, and it meant no good. “Shimada-“ he began, but beside him, Jesse gave a choked-off gasp and rushed forward, leaving Gabe to try grab a bandana that wasn’t there.
“Hanzo,” he wailed, flinging himself on the restrained figure, wrapping the intruder up in his arms and burying his head in the nape of his neck. “Oh my God, it ain’t-“
The Shimada boy sagged in relief, grabbing onto Jesse. His hands fisted around the dingy pajama fabric like he was gripping a lifebuoy.
Gabe opened his mouth to bark a warning to Jesse- the intruder was still an intruder, a potentially dangerous one at that, knowing his background. Beside him, Sal discreetly reached for his stunner. But Hanzo only clung to the agent harder, burying his face in Jesse’s shoulder.
“Babe- what are you doing here?” Jesse asked huskily, holding Hanzo just as tightly. “I thought you…” He hesitated, a puzzled look appearing over his face as he stepped back and looked down in shock. “What’s th- Hanzo, are you pregnant?!”
It had taken some trouble and protest to lock Hanzo up in a hospital room with the on-call physician. But once the dust had cleared, his little troublemaker was nowhere to be seen.
Gabe found him on the edge of the medical wing, hallways away from where the crime lord was getting a fetal heart monitor strapped on, whether he liked it or not. Policy, it was policy- and so were some extremely delicate armament negotiations. “McCree.”
“What?” Jesse looked up unsteadily, swallowing, breathing hard, chewing away at his cigarette. His lips were twitching, Gabe noticed, and his eyes had that wild, cornered-animal look he’d seen only one before, four years ago.
“We have a situation on our hands.”
“Fuck…”
Gabe slammed his hands down on the younger man’s shoulders. “McCree. This is serious. Why is Shimada here? You need to tell me everything you know. Now. Is this about Geonjak? We cannot renegotiate on that.”
“Fuck- No. Look. Boss. Look, this is a lot for me,” Jesse snapped, wringing a pen in his hands until it snapped. Blue ink splattered across his worn gray t-shirt. “I- This is bullshit. He’s here. He’s here and- Fuck. A baby. He’s having a baby and it’s mine. This is a lot.”
“What’s a lot for you? What do you know, McCree?” Gabe barked, trying to push the boy back into more pressing matters. “And who else knows? Who sent him? Who knows he’s here? What are they-“ Gabe’s questioning was cut off as a sudden burn flared in his cheek.
Jesse stood there, panting, face wild and hand red from where it had smacked his commanding officer across the face.
Gabe looked at the young man, his lips in a tight line.
And for the second time in his life, Jesse McCree turned tail and fled.
“We’ve stabilized him. Mostly dehydration, nothing I’m worried about right now. Also, confirmed- he’s pregnant, about four months along,” Dr. Tippin said, typing away at the data pad in front of her. “What happened to your face?”
“So…” Gabe said slowly. “The Shimada kid.”
“Uh-huh…”
He crossed his arms. “What does he want? Who sent him here? I need to know.”
“Uh-huh-“
Gabe stared down at Dr. Tippin. “I asked you-“
“He barely said a word to me. If you want to talk to him, now’s a good time. But I’m running on fumes, sir, and I have to finish this note.” Dr. Tippin pointed at the door to the private ward. “He’s right over there.”
“Thanks. You’re a star,” he said apologetically, making his way to where she gestured.
Gabe had met with Hanzo before- just several months ago in fact, when he was trying to negotiate armaments for a potential Watchpoint in Korea. The young, stern-faced man was sharp businessman and a ruthless politician- and an absolute pain in the ass whenever Blackwatch tried to step so much as a toe in their Korean associates’ turf. There were nights Gabe still had nightmares about the one-twenty pages of Times New Roman size 6 single-spaced contracts Hanzo brought to the board room. But now, without the sharp suit and armed guards, Hanzo looked a great deal younger- boyish, unsteady. He was dressed in only a rumpled gray hospital gown. His hair was fluffed into a mess, and he looked scared. Small. He’s just a kid, Gabe thought, with some surprise. The silent, glaring figure across the conference table- he was just some kid.
And right now, that ‘just some kid’ was sitting ramrod straight, his IVs yanked out and bedrails down. Despite his bedraggled appearance he was trying so hard to look tough that it was almost funny.
All right, it was hilarious. Gabe didn’t laugh out loud, though. “So. Hanzo Shimada.”
“Gabriel Reyes,” the young man said coldly.
“You broke onto our base.”
“I don’t need your permission to contact an associate,” Hanzo replied haughtily.
“Actually, when your associate’s one of my underlings, you do. And I’m finding it hard to believe that you took the trouble of sneaking in here just to say hi.”
“Confidential. Let me speak with McCree,” Hanzo commanded.
“Does the Shimada Clan know you’re here? Would your father be surprised if I rang him up asking why the hell his son is-“
“Let me speak with McCree,” Hanzo repeated, louder. “Our last agreement provided for an open line of communication on both ends. Keeping him from me is a breach of contract.”
Gabe shrugged. “Actually, I’m not keeping you from him. I’ve been trying to get a hold of him too, but he just ran off and he’s not responding,” he said truthfully.
Hanzo blinked, his lips parting slightly as he struggled to understand Gabe’s statement. “What?” he asked in a very small voice.
“You heard me. He just upped and left, Mr. Shimada,” Gabe repeated, keeping his voice casual, as he watched the Shimada heir’s face turn to shock. “Look. I don’t know what you’re playing at. And I don’t want to make enemies with you. But whatever you want, you negotiate with me, not with McCree. I don’t know what he told you, but he has no authority, understood?”
“Are you saying,” Hanzo croaked, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he struggled to keep his voice steady. “Please clarify. You mean McCree- left? He is not…?”
“He’s not here, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Hanzo just stared at him in confusion.
Gabe sighed. “You came out of nowhere, Shimada. This is a military base. You should know you can’t just come waltzing in anytime you want. I have a phone number.”
“I don’t understand. Jesse, Jesse has run away?” Hanzo repeated again, in disbelief and fear.
“Whatever you want with Overwatch, get back on an official channel-“ Gabe began but he stopped, as in front of him, Hanzo Shimada crumpled down, face breaking in pain. “Shit…” He had thought it was terror, but it hadn’t been fear on the kid’s face. It was grief. His second realization came on right after, that this had nothing to do with Geonjak.
Hanzo stared dumbly as Gabe’s words finally sunk in. He hiccuped, and hiccuped again- the distinctive noises that only came from someone trying not to cry.
“Look, just… It’s four in the morning. Go get some sleep,” Gabe said gruffly, barreling to escape the room before Hanzo started bawling for real.
Just a kid. He’s really just a kid.