Chapter Text
You weren’t sure why you’d been nervous. Historically, you were always a thousand times more likely to be nervous about meeting a new human than a new omnic. Not to mention who it was Genji had excitedly dragged you along to his morning meditation to meet. Something deep in your gut just felt… awkward about meeting someone who became so important to Genji after you left his life.
But you needn’t have been.
Tekhartha Zenyatta was a pool of calm whose soft ripples washed gently over your nerves and put you completely at ease for the first time in a very, very long time. He was like a generator of peace, soothing tranquility his renewable resource, and you just sat there and stared at him like a total creep for a good ten minutes.
Unbeknownst to you, Genji had been watching the both of you since you sat down in front of the meditating omnic, only pretending to meditate himself. He wasn’t nervous like you had been, he was just very eager to see how the two of you would interact and get along. You were still as content with silence as you’d always been, and his master certainly possessed a matching penchant for social observation over social interaction.
Sunlight dappled the overgrown grass you all sat in. The bastion unit you’d spotted out there before was, unsurprisingly, still there. It appeared that he’d let an ant colony build a small hill over his foot and was now reluctant to move. The morning was blissful and quiet.
You were brought out of your contented haze when Zenyatta finally stirred. His orbs retracted closer to his neck, blue lights on his forehead flickering gently for just a moment. He looked directly at you and said, “you have questions.”
“Yeah, do you think that meditating before you go to bed every night really does help with falling asleep, or is it like a placebo effect?”
Zenyatta hummed in thought, neither of you paying attention to Genji putting his face in his hands.
“If the desired outcome of rest is achieved, does the cause really matter?”
Ohhh. You sat back on your feet.
“Beyond that, meditation allows us an opportunity to clear unnecessary worries from our minds, that we may slumber without fear of worldly stresses haunting our dreams.”
“Okay, you’ve probably got me there. It’s an honor to meet you, Master Zenyatta.”
You gave him a small bow. Genji came to sit down next to you, introducing you to Zenyatta. The omnic tilted his head forward slightly at your name and repeated it softly, with an emphasized “ the ” honorific. Genji nodded alongside you.
“It is an absolute honor to meet you as well. Genji has spoken much of you in our time together.”
You shook his hand. You shook the Tekhartha Zenyatta’s hand, you couldn’t wait to tell Jack.
Wait.
“He has?”
Genji's shoulders stiffened slightly. You couldn't see his face through the helm, but Zenyatta laughed in good humor.
“I didn't expect such a thing to embarrass you, my student. They are very important to you, are they not?”
Your face prickled with warmth to know that Genji had spoken of you with his master. It was sweet. So you slid a sneaky hand into one of his and squeezed gently. He returned the gesture, voice soft when he replied.
“Yes, they are very important to me.”
--
“I haven't been here… in a decade.”
Casual clothes felt weird against your skin. You missed the weight of your armored jacket, the sturdy do-all of your boots. A simple tee and jeans left you feeling exposed. Which was probably why you were sticking to Genji's side like snot on a wall.
Being in public with Genji was another strange feeling. No mission to focus on, no need to pretend to blend into the crowd. You were part of the crowd, both of you. Just a regular person and their regular cyborg boyfriend on a date. A date that Genji convinced Lena to fly you both to Japan for. You know, like normal couples totally do.
“Neither have I; I'm so glad they're still in business.”
To balance out your nerves, Genji was ecstatic to be out with you. On a date. You'd both been to this arcade together many times in the past. And back then, he'd always wished they were dates. Very often he'd pretend for small moments that they were. Especially when you smiled at him, or grabbed his hand to drag him to whatever challenge came next.
Now it was very real. And it warmed him from his ears to his cybernetic nerve endings to have you against his side, clutched onto his arm like an anchor.
People looked at the pair of you as you entered, but Genji proudly put his arm around your waist and ignored them all. He brought you straight to the token counter, anticipation tingling in his cheeks.
Despite his own excitement, he wasn't at all blind to your unease. Trauma had changed a lot about you and he was dead set on making sure you stayed comfortable and had fun. The higher floors of the arcade were never as busy as the main floor, so he took you straight there. You absolutely dominated him in a shooting game, crushing his score with nearly double the points. He made up for it at a rhythm game. It didn't take long to get you to start laughing along with him, the sound of mirth in your voice a long-missed music.
By the time you ran out of token credits, there was a considerable amount of prize credits built up between you. None of the prizes caught your eye though. What did catch your eye was a little girl staring longingly at a hoverboard behind the counter. You didn't think twice about giving her your prize credits. Even though you couldn't see it, you could just feel Genji smiling at you.
After you left the happy child, he tugged you into a quiet corner behind some fighting games and wrapped his arms around your waist, holding you close.
“I'm glad that hasn't changed.”
He said it softly, keeping it between just you two. You weren't sure what he meant and it showed on your face. So Genji chuckled, carefully pressing the front of his helm to your face. You kissed the metal out of instinct.
“Your kindness.”
He chuckled again as your face burned hot, letting you press your heated cheeks to the the cool plating on his shoulder.
“I've always treasured that about you. A lot of people in your shoes could easily lose their kindness, I'm very happy to see yours is still strong.”
Hiding against his shoulder became just hugging against him. You wanted to say something nice about him, too, but words failed you. Lost in the choked sea of emotion that had begun crashing into you since your reunion. Thankfully, he seemed to understand and held you all the warmer for it.
Before you left, Genji stopped by one last game, a crane game. In under a few minutes, a small toy was falling into the prize slot. It was a pachimari keychain, much like the one he'd given you so many years prior. But this one had red hearts for eyes and you laughed out loud when he dipped to one knee to present it to you. You kissed the faceplate of his helm again as you thanked him. You were going to make damn sure this one didn't get blown up.
--
Jack knew something was up right away.
It was pretty rare you actually asked to meet. Typically, you just kept tabs on each other's locations and met up whenever it was convenient. Despite the unusual request, though, you sounded… eager? Something was definitely up.
There was an old Overwatch safe house in Oregon that you two utilized a handful of times. You asked to meet there. Jack made sure to stock up on munitions and rations before he went, just in case. The safehouse was a cottage in the woods, peaceful and off the beaten path. As he approached on foot, you spotted him out the front window and came to wait on the porch, smiling sheepishly. You looked the most well rested he'd seen in years, some of your former vibrancy breaking through the dark clouds the two of you seemed to live in. Instincts prickled hard, but he fought it down.
He stopped at the foot of the stairs, watching you descend the steps far enough to match your heights.
“Don't get mad.”
He raised a single brow, not that you could really tell through the visor.
“...I went to Gibraltar.”
“Ah.” Yep, he should have seen this coming.
“Not for what you might think. I didn't- I'm not answering the recall. I don't think.” You fidgeted where you stood, confusion and unease creeping into your eyes for a moment. Jack had to fight down his instinct to coddle you harder than he had to fight down his paranoia. He really deserved all the dad jokes you loved tossing at him.
He settled for putting one hand on your shoulder and you smiled, diving straight to the point.
“Do you remember Agent Shimada?”
“...The cyborg kid, former Blackwatch.”
“Right. We're together now.”
You said it so very matter-of-factly that Jack was almost confused by your meaning, glancing to the cottage door behind you.
“He's here?”
“Well, yes, but I mean we're together , like, romantically.”
Jack was quiet for a moment.
“...Dating.”
“Yes, I understand what romantic means. What I don't understand is why you called me halfway around the world to tell me.” He regretted it as soon as he said it. Hell, regret clutched him the moment the words started tumbling out of his mouth. Because the flicker of hurt that ghosted over your face felt like shrapnel in a wound. You covered it without hesitation and Jack felt like shit.
“...He's important to me. I wanted to tell you because I thought I was important to yo-”
“Stop, I didn't mean for it to come out like that, kid. Shit,” Jack grumbled at himself and you watched him with uncertainty as he removed his visor, serious blue eyes locking onto yours “I'm sorry. You're important to me. You are .”
You stared at him, weighing him for dishonesty. That's what it felt like, at least. Jack shifted his gear into one arm and awkwardly offered the other. Your smile was a relief, stepping off the stairs into a rare hug. He held you up easily with the one arm, heading up onto the porch to get out of the open.
You surprised him with a small, light kiss on the cheek as he put you down, voice soft, “thank you, Jack.”
He only hummed in response, fighting the nervous urge to snap his visor back into place, if only to cover the blood flushing under his skin. Clearing his throat, he asked, “so do I need to load my rifle before I meet this kid again?”
Hearing you snort, eased the last of his nerves.
“Your rifle is always loaded, dad .”
“M'notyerfather,” he mumbled only to himself, knowing he was a lost cause. You were right, though.
He let you lead the way inside, taking a moment to put his gear down. Genji was waiting patiently in the living room. His helm and weapons sat on the coffee table in front of him, eyes closed in calm meditation. But they opened quickly when he heard the two of you enter the room, standing smoothly. He'd definitely physically changed from what Jack remembered. His easy smile was also new to Jack, as was the pure affection in his gaze when he looked at you.
“Morrison,” he greeted Jack simply, but respectfully, offering his hand to shake. His grip was strong, confident. “I was uncertain we’d ever meet again.”
“Yeah, that makes two of us. Life’s kinda funny like that.” Jack spared you a brief, fond look of his own.
“I’m glad to see you are in good health.”
Jack grunted a chuckle, “you taking a jab at my age, kid?”
A very brief look of panic came over Genji’s face, but you laughed it off, punching Jack lightly in the arm.
“Ease up, old man.”
“Alright, alright.” The springs of the loveseat groaned under Jack’s weight when he sank into it with a long sigh. He’d been on the road for days. “Well, sit down. May as well get this out of the way first so I can get some rest.”
Genji sat again, you joining at his side. Jack took a moment to just look at the both of you. It was a weird sort of relief he felt, seeing you as a pair. You’d always deserved better than the life you’d been living, mostly alone. Often when you’d met up in odd safehouses, you looked empty inside. Your body moving and surviving out of trained instinct while your mind checked out for a time. Next to Genji, though, there was light in you again.
“It goes without saying,” he started, “but I’m gonna say it anyway. You ever hurt them, physically or emotionally, I’ll make sure there’s nothing left of you for Angela to put back together again. Understand?”
“I understand.”
“Good. Now, you.” He looked pointedly at you, and you sat up straighter on a long-forgotten instinct. “I know you said out there that you’re not answering the recall, but I think you should.”
Jack surprised even himself, but he didn’t let it show, or take it back as you fumbled for words.
“What-why?”
Jack sighed heavily. “We’ve been doing this for what, seven years, eight? I’ve watched you take shit jobs, make almost-impossible hits, and stare blankly at walls without eating or sleeping for days on end. This life is killing you in the worst way, slowly.”
You didn’t respond so Jack went on.
“But this right here,” he gestured between you and Genji, “is the most alive I’ve seen you in years. Whatever it is Gibraltar has to offer you, you need to take. Because I’m not gonna watch you waste away. If a sense of security is what you get from them, from him, you deserve to take it. ...You deserve the chance to heal.”
You looked at each other long and hard, a thousand more words passing between you in silence, spoken in looks you’d spent years learning from each other. With glassy eyes, you finally nodded, voice too choked to say anything else at the moment.
Together, the three of you stayed in the cottage until the next day. Jack let himself sleep longer than normal, feeling confident in who he was sharing the house with. You cried quietly in Genji’s arms that night. A cleansing cry, with softly muttered apologies every few minutes for being unable to get a grip. Genji reassured you every time that it was alright to let it out, that he’d hold you as long as you needed, that he was there for you. Before Jack left, you caught him alone again.
“Does this mean we’re not gonna see each other anymore?” You asked with a frown. “If I help them?”
Jack finished tightening his boots, nabbing his jacket to put on next.
“You know how to find me, kid. Even if you just want to see me. I’ll probably still contact you for back-up when I need it, too.”
“Promise?”
He zipped the jacket up, trying his best to give you a smile.
“I promise.”
Jack bid you both goodbye, giving Genji one last serious look before clicking his visor into place. He wasn’t worried about you though, for the first time in nearly a decade. And as he made his way out of the state, he noticed, for the first time in a long time, that it was actually a beautiful day.