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Genji stalked the length of his room for the umpteenth time. Waiting for someone else to decide his fate was the most irritating thing he could possibly endure. Not that he had much of a choice in the beginning of his career with Overwatch. Serve them or be forgotten in some dark dingy home where he'd have to use a wheel chair for the rest of his life.
Too soon it was too soon to be pulled from his line up of vengeance, there were heads of the family that they hadn't managed to find yet. They couldn't just pull the plug on his soul purpose for being there.
Now what was he going to do? It wasn't like he could just go back to the outside world. There was no way he could make a life looking as he did now with Overwatch's logos basically branded to him.
Like he was a weapon fresh off an assembly line.
A sigh escaped him and he finally chose to sit down on the floor, leaning his back against the side of his bed. It felt childish if he was honest with himself. Having a huge desire to not be throne out despite hating where he was. Everything here was just a spiteful reminder of how his life had spiraled out of his control.
He tilted his eyes up when he heard a soft knock at his door. Only one person knocked like that.
Ok maybe not everything here was a spiteful reminder.
With another exasperated sigh he stood, pulling on a sweater to at least feel like he was dressed. It had been a suggestion to pursue anything that made him feel a modecom of regularity. It helped most of the time.
"Good afternoon!" Came the cheery but subdued greeting.
"Dr Ziegler, what brings you to my part of this prison." He folded his arms. She pushed her bangs behind her ears, a thing she did when she was nervous.
"Well, I was wondering if you could come and give me your opinion on something."
"My opinion?" Genji tilted his head.
Angela nodded, "Winston and I have been working with someone with an... unfortunate circumstance."
"Did they almost get killed by their family too?"
"If you count the Royal Airforce as family then I guess so." Angela bit the tip of her thumb when Genji didn't answer at first.
His shoulders raised in a slight shrug, "What good is my opinion?"
"She needs help, and I believe you're the only one who can help her."
There was a long pause, Angela starting to shuffle her feet a little bit.
"I don't know if I care enough when I'm on the verge of losing... " he glanced away, "I don't think I can help."
The doctor straightened up just a tad, "I know you're worried about what Overwatch will do with you... so I wanted to see if I could provide you with an oppurtunity to stay." Those red eyes snapped back to her, "If you want!" She added quickly. Angela was trying her best to not be pushy. You could lead a horse to water as they say.
It seemed to be a day of sighs.
"I'll take a look but I'm not promising anything."
"I didn't expect you to." A slim hand reached out and rested on his original left shoulder, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"At least thinking about it." A smile tugged at her lips.
"Hmm." He hummed in response.
---
Genji was led to a part of the facility that he hadn't been to for a few years. It appeared to have been converted to other purposes since then. He did notice a very different kind of personel here. At first they didn't notice him, their eyes on Angela as she walked in. They wore military uniforms and their accents gave them away as Britains. He slowed down and remained out in the hall so his presence didn't intrude upon the newcomers.
"Dr Ziegler." One of them greeted her.
"Oh... you're early!" Her stance stiffened, arms crossing while moving her weight to one foot.
"I'm sorry, doctor, I told them that Lt Oxton wasn't ready." That was Winston somewhere further in the office.
"We'd like to see our officer returned if that is indeed possible." One of them said.
"If you'd listened to me on the phone you wouldn't be wasting your time." Angela sighed.
"If it makes you feel any better, doctor, I only came early because my commanders wanted me to barge in." The man seemed sincere in his comment. Angela snorted but her shoulders relaxed.
"You can tell your commanders what Winston said: she's not ready. We've only just managed to stabilize her in our world."
Genji raised an eyebrow at this statement.
"We're going to start stress testing the device soon."
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"I have someone that can be of help to Lieutenant Oxton." Angela finally stepped aside, gesturing for Genji to come forward. He bit his lip underneath his mask before finally stepping into the conversation. At least with most military personelle they were reasonable at hiding their surprise at his looks.
"A former Blackwatch agent?" The captain asked Angela.
Most people would be offended by the lack of acknowledgement, Genji was too used to it now. Plus it wasn't like he could hide all the Blackwatch logos on his person... or even clothes.
"Emphasis on the former... he is one of our best fighters."
The three soldiers conversed with each other quietly. While this happened he chanced a glance at Angela but her focus was on the guests. Two of them really did not seem happy a bout this.
"Alright doctor, thank you for the update. We will return at a later and preferably at a less inconvenient time." His voice was kind despite his professional demeanor.
"That would be appreciated."
First the lower ranked officers headed out, the kind one finally looking directly at Genji. The cyborg did not move except to keep eye contact, taking pleasure in making people in power uncomfortable.
Once the door closed Angela finally released a breath, "I'm sorry about that... Genji. I truly did not expect them till tomorrow."
"It's fine." Genji said curtly before stepping further into the room. The scene was familiar, data pads, pieces of marked paper and white boards all with a language that was Genji had not bother to learn while in university. He'd had other things on his mind at the time. His sharp red eyes finally found the person attached to all this research.
A military profile picture of a short haired, round faced girl.
"So... tell me about this lieutenant." Genji finally asked.
"Long story short, the RAF lent us a proper fighter pilot to test out some new technology." Winston said.
"That... back fired in more ways than one." Angela picked at her nails.
"Ok. You mention stress testing?" He resisted the urge to reach up and grip her hands. Genji hated seeing Angela fidget, it meant she was scared or nervous. This woman didn't scare easily.
"More like, her own fortitude. The technology that's keeping her here is as solid as we can make it." She replied earnestly.
Genji pulled his hand out of his pocket to point, "You've said that twice now, what does that mean?"
"She was lost in time for several months." Winston piped up.
Now Genji completely lost his scowl, "Sorry... what?"
Angela stepped in to explain in as much detail as she could without getting too far into the scientific details.
"You know... after all that you've done for me... I'm not surprised." Genji finally said after a few moments of silence, "So you want me to stress test... her. Why?"
"She can't go back to the RAF." Angela huffed.
"But you just said..."
"Right now if i say the wrong thing to the right people we lose the funding to help her. Then she gets tossed into some cage somewhere and left to just rot."
"... so she's in my situation."
Angela flinched when she picked too hard and broke a nail, "Yes, yes she is."
"Then you're just buying time before the tossing starts."
"Will you help her or not?" Angela's demeanor abruptly changed when his did.
Oops.
He held up his free hand to show he hadn't meant any harm, "Relax, I didn't say I wasn't going to help. If anything it will give me something to do while I wait for Overwatch to decide what to do with me."
Those blue eyes softened, "Thank you."
Genji nodded before giving the picture one last glance then stepping back to leave, "Tell her tomorrow at 0700."
---
A little spark of nervous energy found itself slipping into Genji's mind when he arrived a little early at the testing area meant for someone like him or the lieutenant. It had an overlook where Angela and Winston would reside, overseeing for any potential problems.
Genji was sitting cross legged with his wrists resting on each knee, sword lain carefully in front of him. When he heard the door open he opened his eyes to find the lieutenant and Angela enter. The young woman looked like she'd seen better days. It wasn't that she appeared unhealthy, quite the contrary she seemed physically fine. Except her eyes were heavy, lids half drooped over them and they were puffy like she'd been crying.
Despite this she spoke in a cheerful tone to Angela who was helping her with a rig that Genji had never seen before. It must've been the device they'd mentioned that kept the girl in their space and time.
"Ok Lena, you should be ready to go." Angela was saying while checking a strap one last time.
"I'll be alright, doctor. Easy as a walk in the park." The brunette saluted.
Angela smiled, "Hold that thought." She said before leaving.
Lena frowned in concern at the comment. Then shrugged before turning around to see who else was in the arena with her. When her eyes fell on him she raised an eyebrow rather high.
"I take it you're Genji?" She asked.
He didn't answer, if anything to see how she'd react to him.
"Well... You can call me Lena." She practically bounced across the empty space and held out her hand to him.
Interesting.
Genji looked at the extended hand before standing up, left hand plucking up his sword while the mechanical one grasped it.
"Not very talkative are you, Genji?" Despite the exhaustion in her eyes, she managed to chuckle.
"No."
Her eyes widened along with her smile. She pivoted in place to look up at the viewing platform. Angela had made it up there, she just winked in return.
Genji snorted, "Do you have any experience in hand to hand combat?"
"Does a mosh pit at concerts count?"
He couldn't help but blink a few times, "Sure?"
"Then yes."
Oh boy.
He pulled the straps over to reattach his katana to his back, "Alright, let's start then." Genji looked up at the two scientists.
"Ok, Lena, we need you to use your chronal accelerator and try to push it this time, we need to make sure it can have that threshold." Winston said through the intercom.
Lena faced Genji again, "Did Dr Ziegler tell you a trick I figured out?"
"No."
"Alright then! She told me to tell you to just tag me... like the game tag ya know?"
Before Genji could respond there was a blink of light and the pilot was gone. Quickly glancing around he heard that same 'zipping' sound somewhere behind him and spotted her just in time to see her trip and fall on her posterior.
"Oof!" She rubbed her tail bone, "Ugh... too much Winston!"
"You're just not used to it! You'll be ok!" The monkey responded.
"No pain then?" Angela asked.
"Nope."
Lena suddenly squeaked in surprise when she found Genji upon her from all the way across the room. When he tried to reach for her there was a flash of light she vanished. Genji wasn't surprised this time, just listened for that strange sound before putting his eyes on his target. At first he only picked up speed in increments, then in large leaps as he came to realize that a normal running speed just wasn't going to cut it.
Whatever the universe had done to the lieutenant, Winston and Angela had formed into something quite strange and unique. Another thing Genji could be impressed from them.
Lena teleported to the top of a ledge, wobbling in place before catching her balance. She gagged a little, holding her stomach.
"Do we need to stop?" Angela asked.
Genji didn't allow Lena to answer, he ran up the wall like a spider and nearly caught the surprised girl again.
"Genji! Chill!" Lena called but had to teleport again to evade the ninja.
Upstairs Angela gripped her clip board against her chest, "Should we tell him to stop?"
"No, as much as I want to. We need to make sure of the perametors of the accelerator are correct. Real life testing is the only way to be sure."
Lena found herself struggling to keep ahead of Genji's pressure. The dark haired man wasn't even breathing hard.
By the time Lena used the last of her energy, Genji had caught up to her antics and simply waited when she disapeared.
When she reappeared after the rewind Lena found herself standing with a blade at her throat.
"Tag." he said.
She slumped down to her knees, "Thank god!" Her skin had paled a few shades and sweat beaded on her forehead and neck. The device on her chest was blinking erratically, a few red lights starting to appear. Genji backed up a step when her body suddenly grew transparent then rippled before reforming again.
"That's good! We have what we need!" Angela announced before swiftly making her way downstairs. Once Lena was stabilized Winston came to collect her.
Genji was surprised when the brunette slapped him on the shoulder, "That was fun! First fun I've had in... in a long time." She chuckled coldly.
While the monkey and Lena went off to wherever they needed to go, Genji followed Angela back upstairs to the office.
"First impressions?" Angela asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
"She's a bumbling idiot."
"Harsh... but I trust your judgement."
Genji plopped down on her desk chair, pulling up a foot to check a minor kink that he felt forming, "Is that all you need from me?"
She set her cup down, kneeling to grab his ankle and examine it herself, "I'd like you to teach her to manage her energy. Then eventually... it would be helpful if you taught her how to fight properly."
"Why?"
Angela looked up, fingers half way into his prosthetic foot where a small stone had lodged itself, "She needs a place in this world... I would like to provide that if I can."
"A place like servitude to Overwatch? Agh!" He yelped when she just so happened to pinch a couple sensitive wires as she plucked the tiny stone out.
She just stood there and looked at him for a minute. The corners of her mouth twitching like she had something to say. Instead Angela turned away and strode across the room and shuffled through some papers.
"Are you going to help Lena or not?"
"I said I would."
"Good."
Genji remained seated even when the doctor had left. His rising blood pressure was loud in his ears.
---
As promised Genji continued to show up for these test sessions. Each time Lena would learn something new quickly and do her best to excecute them. They were still just playing games of tag but that's all she seemed able to handle at the moment. Her glaringly positive attitude was actually starting to irritate him just a tiny bit.
It was a minor grievance though, the bigger one was the fact that she always seemed very distracted.
One day Lena said she didn't feel like testing out her rig's limits.
"Why?" Genji asked.
"I'm just... I'm not feeling it today ok?" Lena planted herself on the floor defiantly. The cyborg glanced up at the viewing dock to see that it was only Winston up there but he seemed to be distracted by something.
Genji's red eyes fell back on the brunette, "You don't give up this easily. What's wrong?"
"I can't get a hold of Emily." She shrugged while folding her arms tightly against herself.
"Who's that? A sibling?"
"My girlfriend." Lena looked up, "Or... was. She probably thinks I'm just some prank caller just trying to ruin her life." For once Genji finally saw the dejection pour out of her eyes just for a few moments before she angrily wiped it away.
"She thinks you're still dead then." The former Scion finally spoke.
Her shrug was half hearted, "I tried to talk to my superiors but they're being frustratingly vague about things."
A quiet wrinkle of distaste formed on Genji's lip. He twirled his wakizashi blade from one hand to the other a few times before saying, "Then maybe you should get off your ass and keep training."
"I told you I'm not feeling it today." She glared.
Genji glanced back up at the viewing platform to see that Angela still had not returned. He took a moment to remove his sweater for the first time in Lena's presence, tossing it lazily to the sidelines.
"Let's change it up then."
Lena's brows squished together in concern as she watched Genji walk over to the weapons rack near the door.
"What do you mean?"
The metal doors screeched open in protest, practiced hands reached for a pistol that he checked then loaded a magazine into it.
"You have gun training right?"
Lena stood up, "What are you doing?"
"Dr Ziegler said I needed to help you learn to fight, so that's what I'm doing." He handed her the weapon, "Dont worry, you won't hurt me... not like how you are now."
"But-." Lena howled in surprise when she was grabbed and thrown across the room, hitting the ground hard enough that the piece skittered out of her reach. By the time she recovered Lena had to blink out of the way as Genji attempted to stomp on her.
"Genji! Genji wait!" Lena cried but he didn't appear to be listening. She yelled when he pulled out his wakasashi blade and managed to cut her shoulder before she could escape. In a flare of light she tried to rewind out of his reach but he'd learned her habits very well.
He moved and waited at the last spot he remembered her being before kicking her in the gut and tossing her again across the room.
Lena groaned while laying there, slowly rolling over to push herself to her feet. She held her bruised side, Genji on the other side of the space with an obnoxiously calm look on his face. He waited till she stood up before lunging at her again.
This time Lena feinted blinking one way then went immediately to the other practically flying to get to the pistol she'd lost. When she reached for it a shuriken hit the gun and sent it flying. Lena didn't bother to look she already knew Genji was upon her, this time when she rewound she was too far for him to do anything immediately.
Genji grunted when the tiny woman managed to dive behind him and latch onto his back. Lena wrapped her arm around his exposed neck in an attempt to choke him out but instead Genji backed up, slamming her against the wall. The force stunned her for a second but she recovered and blinked away.
The brunette finally managed to grab the pistol off the floor, pointing it at the ninja, "STOP!" She cried, lungs burning from all her effort. Her rig was beeping loudly, lights blinking faster than any other time they'd trained. Genji did not submit, but he didn't approach her either.
Casually he walked a circle around her, metal feet echoing across the hard flooring. Lena kept him within line of sight, gripping the gun tight enough enough that her hands shook.
He pointed with his wakizashi blade, "You feel that?"
Lena only continued to glower.
"That feeling, that anger that burns in your heart right now. All that frustration about your current situation."
"What the hell about it?!" She gritted her teeth.
"Use it to survive your sadness."
Whatever answer she'd been expecting, it hadn't been that. Her glare softened to confusion, "What?"
"You are on the verge of losing everything you've known and loved. This is the absolute worse time to have your resolve waver."
That despair started spilling out her her eyes again, the gun went slack in her hands.
"Don't fall short of the finish line, Lena." Genji used her name for the first time in her presence. Usually it had been 'lieutenant' or 'Ms Oxton'. It seemed to be the straw on the camels back because the small woman crumbled to the floor.
This was when Angela showed back up at the insistence of Winston. She burst into the training area chewing Genji's ears out. He stood still and endured it patiently. At one point his eyes fell to Lena who seemed to be drying up of tears.
"Dr Ziegler!" She finally croaked, "It's ok!"
The irate doctor turned away from Genji, "What??"
"It's ok." Lena repeated, "Can we please just get me out of this rig it's hurting."
Angela gave Genji one last glare before tending to her patient.
---
The cyborg did not return the next day, figuring it would be better to let Lena recover and for Angela's tirade to cease. He sat in his room bouncing a rubber ball off the wall like he used to do as a kid. Occasionally he would use his prosthetic arm to throw just to spice things up with the speed.
Sunlight angled into his room with an orange tint, signaling the approach of evening. Genji missed the next bounce and the piece of rubber bounced off his arm, hit the ceiling then smacked the top of his head.
Cursing quietly, he rubbed the tender area that was now forming a bruise underneath his hair. A loud knock startled him into dropping the ball and it bounced out of sight. He sighed before pushing himself to his feet to go answer.
He was surprised to find Lena standing there with a bag in her arms.
"You didn't show today." She frowned.
"I assumed you'd need time."
"I have all of that thanks to Winston." She brushed past him.
"What are you doing?" A pinch of annoyance in his voice.
"Dr Ziegler said you normally don't eat in the cafeteria so I brought some food here." When only silence answered her she turned around, hands on her hips, "Listen twat, if you're going to force me to see things in a reasonable fashion I'm going to force you to be my friend, got it?"
Genji's scarred face contorting into a mixture of annoyed and amused.
"What if I don't want a new friend?"
"Too bad you have one." She plopped down on the floor next to the coffee table.
The man considered throwing her out... but only for a few seconds.
"You're not put off by me?"
"I was having a bad day yesterday."
"I mean... it's not like I'm completely human." He gestured to himself.
Lena reached into the bag to pull out the food, "So?" She didn't even look up.
It was his turn to be surprised.
"Your looks never bothered me... you scaring the sadness out of me did." Lena winked, tasting the dish with a plastic fork, "Also throwing me across the room... I didn't know you could do that."
Genji finally chuckled, "You're small, it wasn't that hard."
"Jerk."
"It worked, didn't it?"
It was odd but pleasant to have a dinner guest. Sure Genji had had people over like Cole, Gabriel and a few times even Angela but his old Blackwatch partners were usually intent on getting drunk and passing out while Angela tip toed around him. Lena just bowled into his life head first.
"She isn't mad at you anymore." Lena said, watching Genji go back to bouncing the rubber ball off the wall.
"Who... Dr Ziegler? I know."
"You do?"
"She's never mad for long, says it's a waste of energy."
Lena slouched down into the cushions of the couch, "How efficient of her."
"She deals with orphans like us all the time."
"Orphan, huh. What's your story then?" A delicate hand pointing to his prosthetics. A soft single beep interrupted them, a red light winking on one side of the machine that kept her stabilized.
"What's that mean?"
"Ugh... it's running out of power, that's what Winston and Dr Ziegler are working on. More reliable power." She stood up, straightening her clothing, "Will I be seeing you in the morning?"
"Same time... provided Dr Ziegler doesn't smack me upside the head and chase me out." Genji smirked.
"She'd sooner grab your ass than chase you out." Lena laughed when Genji got hit in the cheek with the rubber ball, since his face mask was off it was going to leave a particularly nasty bruise in its wake.
"I'm sorry?" He coughed.
"Nothing... just wanted to confirm a suspicion."
"Get out." The ninja growled.
"Cheers, love!"