Chapter Text
Chapter One: Howdy
He was the latecomer to this party. Jesse shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the primary bunks had already been taken over by a few of the first Recalled agents who wanted to stay in Gibraltar. Winston apologized for not having more of the base cleaned up. But he was one gorilla and it was a large base. So Jesse wandered the old familiar halls to one of the unused bunk rooms. Dust and old clutter filled the halls. He just had to remember that this was just another place to lay his head until he was back on the road.
On opening the door McCree stopped short. Someone else was here.
Gear and bags took up half the room. His eyes immediately focused on the unusual choice of weapons laying on one of the beds. A high tech bow and arrows to match. Winston had said nothing about sharing a room with another Recalled agent. Nor could Jesse recall anyone in the Overwatch organization, not even Blackwatch, who used such archaic weapons. There was a ninja who used a sword. Genji had been the odd one out in many ways. Good at what he did, but not the standard peacekeeping agent. Had Reyes kept another unusual agent secret from McCree? Jesse thought that highly unlikely.
No, this person could not be part of Overwatch.
Dropping his bag on the opposing side of the room, Jesse eyed the remaining bags. Neatly packed clothing crammed into two quality pieces of luggage. The case for the weapons. A shoulder pack. And a stack of folded cloth as if waiting for the man to return. Three beds took the brunt of those belongings. No agent would be so demanding of shared space.
There was no getting angry at the monkey. Winston was doing his best. The scientist probably never thought this whole Recall thing through. The living situations. The objectives. The equipment. McCree was not going to complain. But he was going to explain the necessities to the great gorilla. The pneumatic swoosh of the door announced a new arrival and interrupted Jesse’s thoughts.
“Who are you?” The cold, hard demand rankled Jesse’s nerves.
Instead of scowling at the other man, Jesse turned and greeted him with a pleasant smile and a tip of his hat. Manners went a long way. But apparently not everyone could have those. “Howdy. Name’s McCree. Looks like we’ll be sharing the room for the time being.” This short, black haired, broad chested archer did scowl.
In the sweatpants and windbreaker he did not look nearly as imposing as he tried to sound. “Winston did not inform me another was coming.”
“Sorry, partner. Got in at an odd hour of the morning. He did not tell me someone else was already here. But here we are. So, what can I call you?” It seemed rude to ignore an introduction. This was going to turn out to be quite an interesting arrangement.
“Hanzo.” The archer immediately went to the folded clothing and started to change. “Are there any others joining us?”
“Don’t rightly know. Just us for now.” Then Jesse saw it. The intricate blue tattoo blanketing the man’s left arm. His blood ran cold. Shimada Clan. Jesse had read up on the organization during his Blackwatch days. And tried to steer clear of them while bounty hunting nowadays. What were the odds of two from the Shimada family answering Winston’s call. Only one Shimada existed in Blackwatch and none in Overwatch proper. Which meant this one had been invited. By Genji. This complicated things.
The Shimada shrugged into a long sleeved dress shirt without noticing the tension dwelling deep within the gunslinger. McCree flexed his hand and pulled it away from his revolver. The man had been invited so there must be more to the story. Hanzo turned to face Jesse, his visage unreadable. And that was saying something. Jesse made a living off of reading people. “Very well. I will state this so there is no misunderstanding. I value my privacy. The least amount of interactions is preferred.”
“Alright then.” Jesse couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that statement. “Plenty of space here at the Watchpoint. I think we can manage.” That talk with Genji was going to have to happen fast or there would be a fight between the two of them. Jesse could only remain civil for so long when faced with this brick wall. Tipping his hat politely, McCree started to settle in.
So it remained for the next few days. Genji was nowhere to be found but his brother was the silent annoyance around base. Apparently Jesse was not alone in his frustrated dealings with Hanzo Shimada. But then the former crime lord probably did not know what to do within a peacekeeping force gone rouge. Hell, neither did Jesse. That at least was half the fun. But as far as daily living activities, that’s where the frustration began.
Jesse always knew he kept odd hours, but Hanzo took the cake. Workouts had no schedule. He disappeared for long hours, returning only when someone made food for the group. Hanzo kept his side of the room clean and for the most part neat. His belongings still took up more than his fair share of the space. Really he was a silent roommate. Earbuds in and uncommunicative. At least until Jesse pulled out a holographic game of chess. An old past time he hadn’t indulged in while on the road. He was pretty deep into a game against the computer when Hanzo interrupted the quiet night.
“I never took you for someone who played chess.”
“What kind of person did you take me for?”
A strange quirk of the lips ghosted across Hanzo’s face. “Not chess.” The archer returned to his holo-pad and Jesse to his game. Until the next interruption. Two in one night when the gunslinger really wanted to be left alone. It was more of a snort of derision than actual interruption. Still it annoyed McCree.
“What?”
“There are better moves.”
“That was a fine move.”
Hanzo rolled his eyes. If Jesse hadn’t witnessed the elitist archer preform such an obvious display of attitude, he would never believe it. The Shimada continued evenly, “There had been a way to end the game in five moves.” Going back to the chess pieces, Jesse scoured the board for the supposed five moves. “Not any longer. Though you may still end the game in seven moves.”
Jesse was obviously not seeing what Hanzo saw. “How?” He tilted the holo-board towards the archer seeking the explanation. He was not the absolute best at chess, he knew that, but Jesse was no slouch either. What did this guy see that he didn’t. Hanzo actually obliged, coming to sit on the bed next to Jesse.
“Do you want me to finish the game or just show you?” An oddly courteous offer.
“Might as well finish it. It’s just against a computer. Not like I’m in any competitions.”
“Hmm….” Apparently Hanzo thought this amusing. Jesse bit back his own commentary and watched the archer move the kingside bishop. Then as predicted had the computer in checkmate at move seven. “There. You should know enough to follow. I’m not going to explain.”
“Well, I’ll be. That’s the kind of thing that always took me down when playing against my old boss.”
“You learned during your time at Overwatch?” Hanzo had genuine curiosity in his voice now.
Jesse shrugged and save the game so he could review it later. “Yeah. He considered it important to critical thinking.”
“He’s not wrong.” Hanzo stood now that his unique skill set was no longer needed. Just when Jesse was about to claim the man not the total monster described in all of Blackwatch’s case files.
Just to judge the archer’s personality further, Jesse called, “Hey. Fancy a game?” He displayed a reset board.
Eyebrow raised in speculation, Hanzo studied the chess pieces and Jesse in one analytical glance. “You will lose.”
“Say that after we start playing. Getting too cocky will be your downfall.”
With that Hanzo returned to his seat beside the gunslinger. “That sounds like a quote from your boss.”
“Might’ve been. But he was a cocky bastard. Just didn’t vocalize it as often.” McCree grinned under his beard. “Don’t think you can wipe the floor with me just because you saw a move I didn’t.” This was different. Strangely nice. He still hadn’t had that conversation with Genji, the cyborg was not to be found. Jesse had known plenty of assassins in his time, the only stickler was the fact that Hanzo was capable of killing his own brother. Other than that the man wasn’t that bad. Aloof and elitist, but this was proving to be make him decent company. Being easy on the eyes helped.
Their game went long into the night. Conversation followed. They didn’t have much in common, but that made it interesting. Over the next couple of weeks that game of chess turned into other shared activities. Two lone bounty hunters seeking company in another who understood. By the time Genji finally showed his carbon fiber ass, Hanzo’s annoyances weren’t so great. However the cyborg’s cheeky comments asking if they were more than roommates deserved a tongue lashing. Jesse did not expect the peal of laughter from the reserved archer. Perhaps the was a chance of being more than simple roommates.