Chapter Text
It wasn’t your average day at the Blackwatch-Overwatch headquarters, Jesse could tell. There was always a lot of commotion, but today, no one seemed to be able to sit still. Blackwatch soldiers rushed around Jesse, nearly shoving him out of the way.
Jesse McCree was only seventeen, but he was more adjusted to the excitement than some of the oldest Blackwatch agents. He passed a few Overwatch Soldiers who were gossiping about the “new one” nervously.
Blackwatch received around five or six soldiers a month, so it wasn’t usually a big deal, but for some reason, people seemed to be more hyped than usual. Jesse gave the gossiping soldiers a warning glare, then continued his trek through headquarters, t aking turns here and there; mostly following the flow of agents, who all seemed to be heading in the same direction.
He heard a distant yell followed by more shouting. Arching an eyebrow, he began shoving his way past everyone to the source of the noise. It was coming from one of the smaller doors to the airstrip. A few low-level Blackwatch medics were trying to push their way through the swarming crowd of agents. They were directing a higher-ranked medic through the crowd. The higher medic was hurriedly pushing a cart with a covered form on it.
“Everyone get out of the way!” The medics shouted at the horde of people, as they slowly parted. Jesse began shoving people back yelling nonsensical orders at his subordinates, trying to move them out of the way.
One medic gave him an appreciative look before turning back to the others, yelling over the deafening noise.
“Get him to Doctor Ziegler, now!” She shouted, holding out her arms to keep people back. The medics pushed the cart through the crowd and continued to Angela’s lab, which was on the other side of headquarters. Jesse watched them disappear before turning to the medic, who was now leaning on the wall, breathing heavily.
“So, what was all that about?” He asked, frowning. The medic looked up at him with a surprisingly amused expression.
“That’s the “new one” everyone’s been running their mouths off about. Although I imagine that they didn't expect us to cart him in mostly dead.” She responded
“Er… mostly dead? I didn’t think there was much of a difference between mostly dead ‘n completely dead.”
“Oh yeah, you see, mostly dead is still somewhat alive. And Dr. Ziegler can bring back anything that's somewhat alive.”
“Huh, well suppose that makes sense; thanks for yer time darlin’,” Jesse said with a small chuckle. The medic nodded and walked away, leaving Jesse alone at the door.
He stood there for a while thinking about what the medic had said. Mostly dead? Now I reckon you could be half-dead or maybe even almost dead, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a ‘mostly’ dead. He thought, looking around. I wonder what happened to the new guy, what with him arrivin’ here in multiple pieces.
McCree was jolted out of his thoughts by a hand carefully placed on his shoulder. He whipped around to see Commander Reyes standing with a smug smile.
“You seem jumpy Jesse… You been snooping around again?” He asked with an arched eyebrow. Jesse shook his head quickly.
“Not at all sir, I was, uh, just talkin’ to the lovely medic. What’s her name, uh, Amelia? Yeah, see she was, er, tellin’ me about how she became a medic, and I reckon it wasn’t too easy, y’know?” Jesse babbled, waving his hands around.
“So you’re suddenly interested in being a gunslinger-medic?” Reyes asked, his smile slowly turning from smug to amused. “I wasn’t aware that was a thing, but I’m sure we could find a medics’ outfit that would fit you.”
Jesse, now completely unable to speak properly, just sighed and shook his head.
“Commander, you already know I was lookin’ for info on the new guy. I guess I didn’t expect him to arrive horizontal on a medic cart.”
Reyes sobered up a bit and gave Jesse an unreadable look. After a moment of silence, he sighed and scratched the back of his neck.
“I don’t blame you for being curious, but this is strictly classified until Doctor Ziegler allows me to release to his information. However, to keep you from going against me and digging around, I’m allowed to give you his name.” Reyes said calmly. Jesse took his hat off and nodded excitedly, looking like a kid on Christmas Day.
“Why sir, I promise I’ll keep ma’ nose outta stuff.” He said with a bright grin. Reyes rolled his eyes.
“It’s Genji,” Reyes stated flatly. Jesse opened his mouth, then paused for a moment before speaking.
“...The hell kinda name is that.”
“A Japanese one, Jesse,” Reyes said with an amused expression.
“Huh, I didn’t think about that,” Jesse said with a confused expression.
Reyes nodded a bit, then walked away, muttering something about paperwork. Once again, Jesse was alone with his thoughts. He looked down at his hat, it was still pretty new, but had some wear. He had picked it up during his time in the Deadlock gang. He shoved it back on top of his head and carried on his way.
He slowly strolled past the things that he passed on his way there. The gossiping agents were still there, but they had “broken up” and were pretending that they hadn’t been talking before Jesse had passed again. He snorted and rolled his eyes as he passed; Overwatch agents were all the same. He wandered around a bit more, before heading to the cafeteria. This is where they would soon be serving their “late lunch” which was mostly for the agents who couldn’t make it to normal lunch for any reason. It would be another thirty minutes until they started serving, but it would be empty so Jesse was formulating a list of perks for arriving early:
- Getting a spot at the beginning of the line (which means a good seat in the cafeteria).
- It would be quiet for a while.
- He wouldn’t be bothered.
Jesse nodded to himself, content with the reasons to go early, and walked in through the double doors. Just as he had suspected, it was completely empty, minus the scrawny Overwatch soldier who timidly asked for Jesse’s ID card. Jesse shot him a threatening look, which nearly made the soldier faint. The bean pole of a soldier shakily nodded and gestured at the empty room. Jesse smirked and walked in, sliding into a seat at the nearest table.
After a short while, a stream of soldiers started to trickle in. Jesse noticed that he didn’t recognize any of the soldiers, even the Blackwatch ones.
He made a small “Hm” sound before turning his attention to the quiet clinking sound that was coming from the table across from him. A young soldier was shaking a box of bullets onto the table, then loading them into his gun. Jesse watched with a frown. Stupid Overwatch soldiers and their lack of manners. He sighed, they were all the same. I wonder if that new guy’s goin’ to Overwatch; I sure hope not.