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The clouds in the sky were rapidly gathering, a promise of a storm in the dying light. First drops fell, but he didn't feel them. Hanzo was dragging another omnic to his safe place.
Living in the world after the doomsday was hard. Humans were scarce these days. After the crisis had fully blown, omnics were most what was left.
Hanzo had taken perhaps unnecessary risks saving his new companion. He had never seen an omnic in a cowboy hat before. It felt somehow personal – familiar. Both good and bad memories filled his mind. He kept dragging the heavy robot after him.
He had not been this excited in ages. However he tried to keep it down. He stopped for a small break, admiring the orange colors of dusk swallowing the sky and the clouds. Now he could appreciate the beauty in it. But it had not always been so.
Hanzo patted the omnics shoulder, cold metal under his fingers.
Cowboy omnic.
It reminded him of an agent he had worked with years ago. The one that had teached him what it meant to be a real person – and how to love. How it felt to be loved… So Hanzo felt instant fondness with the newcomer.
~~~
Hanzo looked at the cowboy omnic, finally smiling.
It had taken them weeks of work with his brother and his friend Zenyatta to repair him. The ravagers had got to him pretty bad, but not too bad. Hanzo took charge of him, the other two not seemingly as interested.
They had been getting the newcomer used to his replaced body parts. Some were in good shape, some barely working, but regardless he was now a functioning robot.
"What's your name?" Zenyatta asked after observing them for a while, interrupting one of their many sessions to get used to his new body.
"I never had one. My model is C-455 –"
"Jesse. We will call you Jesse," Hanzo interrupted.
The cowboy omnic smiled a little. He accepted his new name happily.
Genji and Zenyatta exchanged glances. Things had processed faster than they had thought.
Days and weeks went by. Jesse started to be pretty good at it, living in his new body. Learning new things at a rapid pace. Hanzo got his hopes up the more he could get Jesse to understand any human feelings. When he tried to teach him old Jesse's cowboy accent, Hanzo could burst from joy.
Hanzo felt like he had gotten something precious back.
"Hanzo will just hurt his heart," Zenyatta whispered to Genji when Hanzo stepped into the room.
"I know, but–" Genji fell silent as his brother came in.
Hanzo tried to ignore them. It wasn't impossible. Others had learned it before. Jesse just needed a little more time, Hanzo assured himself.
Jesse wasn't just some cold hearted machine…
Hateful speech like that was what had led into the crisis in the first place. Hanzo held his head high. He would defend them against anyone, even his own brother.
~~~
Most of the place was now torn down, but Hanzo had wanted to come to their old place on the rooftops for a long time. When they had worked together, he had been there on their spot at the rooftops for the first time. It was only fitting to bring Jesse here. Share this place with him as well.
After weeks they were finally here.
Hanzo had picked up a sunflower earlier. It was Jesse's favorite spot, few still grew in the old garden, now mostly dust and destruction, like the rest of the base.
Their rooftop was still standing strong. Just like their love.
They sat there for a long time, waves crashing on the cliffs below. Hanzo gave Jesse the sunflower, moving his bangs out of the way before he spoke.
"I think I love you, Jesse," Hanzo confessed.
"Oh."
That wasn't what he expected. Completely blank reaction. Hanzo felt like tearing up, but he couldn't. Unable to produce a single tear.
"Well? What about you?" Hanzo tried to poke him.
There had to be more, something, anything!
"What is love? I don't know," Jesse answered, voice cold mechanical and flat.
Why did it sound so cold? It wasn't any different from his usual talk. Well, this Jesse's usual.
Hanzo buried his face in his palms while Jesse leaned back and took a rest. It was too early. He had been rushing things. Of course Jesse wasn't ready yet.
Hanzo should have known better.
"Ya know, Han. This is a nice place."
It didn't make Hanzo feel any better.
~~~
"Do you think he got the virus?" Genji whispered to Zenyatta.
The couple had just returned to their safe place, and Genji tried to keep it down. It was still pulling his heart to watch his brother like this.
"I don't think so," Zen answered. "He doesn't have any of the other symptoms of the lovesick. I think it might be real." He realised too late Hanzo had entered the room.
The omnic's face was as blank as usual. Hanzo swore even Jesse had more emotion showing from his face.
Who was Genji to judge him?
"We visited the rooftops," Hanzo said. The other two didn't need to know how it had gone, so Hanzo didn't elaborate. Too bad for him, Genji knew him well enough, so he didn't even have to.
Genji shook his head.
"Should we tell him?" Genji asked Zen the other day. This had been going on for too long.
They had to do something.
"He already knows," Zenyatta replied, sounding sad.
Genji cursed.
"We put 'McCree' back together, together. He should know he is missing the parts," Zenyatta explained.
"Completely unable to?"
"Completely."
Genji looked at his brother, sadness washing over him. He had never thought his brother could end up in a mess like this.
Hanzo tried to kiss Jesse, with another loud clink as their metallic faces hit together. It was clear Jesse tried to replicate Hanzo's actions, to give his saviour what he craved for. Not understanding what or why. Unable to comprehend what was needed.
Genji turned his face away and winced at another sound of metal brushing against metal. It scraped his heart as painful as the metal sounded. His heart might be just a piece of metal, but he could feel like any other omnic.
Well, almost any.
Old real Jesse had been dead for over a decade. And the new Jesse could never love Hanzo back.
