Work Text:
"...What is this."
"Ah. You are awake. We've been taken hostage. I do not know where we are, nor how long we've been here but we are in Talon territory."
"My bow?"
"Taken by Widowmaker along with my blade and communicators. I believe she has Talon guarding them in the next room."
"Your shurrikens?"
"Gone. Fortunately I managed to activate the alert signal before they confiscated our equipment. Reinforcements should be on their way."
"Should be?"
"They crushed the device moments after, but Athena would had picked it up regardless."
"This isn't rope."
"Modified material with spidersilk as its base, courtesy of Widowmaker. It grows stronger under pressure so I suggest you refrain from struggling too much, brother."
"Is that what have you been doing? Sitting here, waiting for people to save you?"
"Did you expect me to fight my way out and carry you?"
"You have nothing on your armor? No hidden blade?"
"This armor is part of me. To have a secret dagger is similar to having it in my ribs. So no, brother, I do not have one."
"Hmph."
"On that subject, that I don't think a blade would work well on this unless you have another idea—"
"You talk too much."
"They are late."
"Talon has this place well-guarded, brother. Considering how they have us captured, Overwatch is likely to take care with their approach."
"Hm."
"Besides, it's only been an hour, brother."
"They installed a clock in you?"
"...Is that what you really think."
"It was a rumor."
"You get good at telling time when training with Master."
"...You call him Master."
"Sensei is probably a better term but a little—"
"Childish?"
"Sadly. There has been a recent boom in people using that term inappropriately. It's amazing how society can make almost anything a fetish."
"And Master is any different?"
"Did I ask to be lectured?"
"Did I ask to be tied up with you?"
"Could say the same about you."
"If it upsets you so, feel free to call a guard to rearrange us."
"Tch."
"..."
"Zenyatta is a great teacher."
"I didn't say otherwise."
"Let me speak, Hanzo. I met him in Nepal during my wanderings. He was not the first monk I encountered but he was the first to not give up on me. I...I was not the calm person you see now. I was angry at everything, at my body and Dr. Ziegler and the world but most of all, I was angry at you."
"..."
"Because of you, I became this. A cyborg with a soul, McCree once called it. It is fitting."
"McCree filters his words akin to debris in a flood at times. Do not listen to him."
"Heh. You would know, wouldn't you, Hanzo?"
"...I do not know what you speak of."
"Of course. As I was saying, Zeyatta trained me for months, then years. It was not easy but his teachings eventually brought peace and with that my soul found serenity and comfort with what I thought I never had. I learnt to appreciate what I have, Hanzo. I learnt to forgive you."
"..."
"That is all. Do you have anything to say, Brother?"
"No."
"If you feel like we are pressed for time, we have plenty."
"You said backup is coming."
"I didn't say when."
"Can you still feel?"
"In what context? If you're asking if I feel pain, physically and mentally, then yes."
"Water through cupped hands, sand on your feet. Wind and warmth against skin. Can you feel, Genji?"
"I'm not dead, Hanzo."
"Mm."
"Dr. Zieger and Winston worked hard on this body. Nerves are a delicate thing but they managed to salvage most of them. I can feel you against my back, but I will admit it is not...exact to what I once experienced. Even so, it's better than being unnervingly numb."
"I see."
"...Were you thinking of the first time Father brought us to the beach?"
"I'm surprised you remember."
"How can I not? It was one of the first times he took the both of us outside Hanamura. It was spring, wasn't it?"
"Borderline summer."
"It was a good day regardless. Perfect weather, high tide."
"Seashells."
"Seashells— you mean you still have them...?"
"Had."
"Had?"
"Forgot. The Division Captain took them into custody after I left."
"We should pay him a visit then. Perhaps he even has my old belongings, but then again the old man might had thrown them out after all these years."
"He didn't."
"And how would you know that, dear brother?"
"I took them."
"Oh."
"The Captain believed that they can lure me back someday. He wasn't wrong. All that's left in his hold are mine, but they are replaceable."
"Why?"
"Why what."
"Why bother with a dead man's things instead of yours?"
"Does it matter?"
"Why else am I asking, Hanzo?"
"..."
"Very well. Be that way. Even after all these years you still brood like an angry hen who has her nest shaken."
"...You promised never to bring that up."
"Too bad."
"It felt wrong to leave them there. They planned to burn or throw most of it away, finding no use for them."
"And you felt it was better in your hands?"
"At least I did not treated it like trash."
"Even the Naruto headband?"
"Are you really asking me this."
"Believe it."
"Genji."
"I am serious, brother."
"Kami-sama— yes, even that damned headband, Genji. Will you please stop asking?"
"You took twenty minutes. Impressive, considering how the silence was becoming deafening."
"You lie about not having a built-in clock."
"So someone saw you leave McCree's room—"
"No."
"But—"
"This is not up for discussion."
"Yet—"
"Do I ask you about your personal life?"
"So McCree is personal."
"Genji I swear if you do not drop this topic, I will hurt you."
"Fine."
"Why didn't you fight back?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I speak of, Genji."
"Did you expect me to?"
"Of course."
"You are my brother, Hanzo."
"So?"
"So, nothing. Furthermore, you were always better with the sword."
"..."
"I'll say it again. I forgive you, anija."
"It doesn't change anything."
"I know. The past is already sealed in stone, but the future is still in our hands. The fact that you are by my side is a better apology than any spoken words, anija."
"..."
"You are not the only one at fault. I was misguided in my youth and I know what they would had done if you didn't confront me."
"Who told you?"
"It wasn't that much of a secret. The elders always favoured tradition, loyalty above most. With Father gone, they would have more ground than you regardless of blood."
"Hm."
"I won't say what you did was right, but it did save me from another fate."
"And what I did was not worse than death?"
"I'm still here, aren't I?"
"...That you are."
"Why do you emit steam from your body?"
"Because I am hot."
"Are you serious."
"Yes. I am not jesting, anija. My body literally heats up through vigorous activities such as combat, causing me to suffer to something akin to a heatstroke unless the vents release the steam."
"I see."
"But yes. It is also because I am hot."
"I do not understand you."
"It's called a pun, brother. Much like wordplay. I've been using them a few times in since we got here."
"Why?"
"Honestly, to antagonise you."
"Somehow I am not surprised."
"Moving on. So what about you, your legs—"
"That is none of your concern."
"You asked about my vents, asking what happened to your legs is a worthy exchange."
"No."
"Anija, please."
"..."
"I'm not asking to mock or degrade you—"
"Fine, however I will not be repeating myself, understood?"
"As you wish."
"...It happened a year after I left. They sent assassins before, nothing I could not handle so they changed tactics. They sent a single man- no, a boy barely out of his teens, armed with nothing but poison and a bomb."
"I do not see the problem. That is nothing compared to what you've faced before."
"It wasn't that."
"What do you mean?"
"I was...careless. Started working for a company that promised enough protection that I let my guard down long enough to be taken by surprise. The poison was a hallucinogenic, causes paralysis and confusion and when the assassin came in..."
"Hanzo?"
"He looked exactly like you. Saw the bomb too late but even if I could move, I do not know if I could do it. Not again."
...
"I think they are nice. Like deer, lithe and graceful. They fit you."
"How comforting."
"I was trying to be sincere."
"...Thank you."
"Do you ever think about going back?"
"To?"
"Hanamura."
"No, it is no longer my home."
"Is Overwatch home?"
"What do you think?"
"Not yet, but perhaps in time it will mean something to you."
"We shall see."
"Mm."
"Do you miss Hanamura then?"
"I miss the ramen."
"...If it interests you, I have Mother's old cookbook in possession but the ingredients will not be easy to find outside Japan."
"Would you go with me to find them?"
"Perhaps."
"Then it's settled."
"Hm."
...
"Would you also like to invite McCree?"
Clank.
"Ow."
"You were right. They are late."
"How long since?"
"It's been two hours and fifteen minutes or so. They are taking their time."
"What do you think is keeping them?"
"Widowmaker, although Tracer would distract her the moment she raises her head. The second most likely reason is that Talon is doing their best to remain unnoticed. Lastly, they forgot about us."
"Would they really?"
"You sometimes leave the base for hours without a word. I do the same, so perhaps they think we are spending time together—"
"Unwillingly."
"—which in a sense, is true."
...
"I'm tempted to power down at this rate."
"You can do that?"
"It's similar to sleeping, except I get to choose when. A useful thing to have after you're transferred into a new body."
"Don't do it."
"Why, are you g— ow stop moving. I already told you it gets worse when you struggle."
"Fire."
"Excuse me?"
"I had seen the semantics for this material. Resistant to physical damage but wilts under heat— Genji, is your body flammable?"
"Everything catches on fire if you try hard enough."
"Genji."
"I'm fireproof unless alight for too long but— anija?"
"There's a piece of flint my right prosthetic. I am going to force it off and nudge the flint to you. I cannot reach the ropes in my position so you have to strike the flame, understand?"
"Why do you carry flint in your prosthetic?"
"Do you understand or not?"
"It's going to be painful."
"I know, but I refuse to stay here idle any longer. Ready?"
"...When you are."
Click. Shlick. Clang!
"Hanzo?"
"The flame, Genji."
"..."
Shrk. Shrrk— fwsssh.
"It's done! Let me...you're bleeding."
"Nothing serve. Go get our things first, I will catch up— oof! Genji! What do you think you are you doing?!"
"I'm carrying you. What, did you actually think I would leave you after all that?"
"Put me down, you fool."
"I will, but not now."
"You were the one who said you were not going to fight your way out and carry me."
"I changed my mind, but I will drop you if you keep squirming like that."
"Tch. Fine but if I hear a single word from our teammates regarding this."
"My lips are sealed."
"Let's go."
"Don't forget your leg before we leg it."
"Did you just"
"Are you going to pun-nish me?"
Clank!
