Chapter Text
McCree woke up to a breath of warm air on his face.
He was sure it’d been days since he’d felt anything slightly warm, trapped here in Talon’s cells. Captured almost four days ago, the entire affair has consisted of nothing but torture and freezing his ass off, the empty cell’s metal floors not conductive to keeping body heat. He asked for a blanket on the first day, trying to pass the time by driving them a little nuts. They’d responded by turning down the temperature another five degrees.
Him and his big mouth.
He opened his eyes, hoping the warm air wasn’t from a guard about to haul him out for another round of “interrogation.” To his surprise, no such guard was there, the cell as empty as ever. McCree blinked, wondering if he’d imagined it. He was almost about to go back to sleep when he heard a small huff and looked down.
Right there, lying right next to one of his bare feet was one of the dragons. Hanzo’s dragons.
It didn’t look the same as usual when it was small, see-through instead of solid, but it still kept its small form, blue light coming from its scales. It looked at the chains around McCree’s ankles and growled, swiping forward at them. Its paw went right through.
“You?” He said louder than he intended. When no guard came he leaned forward. “What are you doing here?” A terrible thought settled in his gut. “They didn’t get Hanzo too?”
The dragon shook its head. McCree let out a sigh; that was a relief. But it didn’t answer his question.
“Then how are you here?”
The dragon stared, then swiped at the cuff again. Still nothing. It looked at McCree.
“Did Hanzo send you?” A nod. “I didn’t know he could do that.” The dragon titled its head. McCree had a feeling Hanzo didn’t know he could do it either, at least till recently. “Is your brother with you?”
The dragon shook its head, speaking a sentence in Japanese. McCree wished he’d bothered to learn: he’d sure it prove useful right now. He looked down at the dragon and gave it a smile. It hurt his broken nose, but he considered it worth it.
“Well, I’m thankful at the company at least. You here for the rescue attempt? Cus I ain’t gonna be running too fast with a broken ankle.” The dragon ignored him, swiping at the cuff again. No effect. Letting out a sigh, it climbed up onto McCree’s leg, and then up his torso before settling on his shoulder. While McCree couldn’t feel its steps, each point of contact provided a faction of warmth. He could feel his shoulder warming up as it settled there, looking him over. Its eyes settled on McCree’s ankle first, then his ribs, then his broken prosthetic, finally settling on his nose. It growled.
“I’m fine.” The dragon looked unconvinced. “No, really I’ve had worse. This is nothin.” The dragon was unmoved. “You’re as bad as Hanzo. Is being a worrywart a shared trait? Or is it a dragon thing?”
The dragon blew onto his face and McCree chuckled, his voice soft. He was feeling warmer now with it on his shoulder.
“You can get back to Hanzo right?” The dragon nodded. “You can go do that. Give him a nice word from me. Maybe tell him to let the rescue team know to bring a warm blanket and some coffee.”
The dragon eyed him for a moment, but it didn’t move. McCree watched the blue light from its scales hit the cell walls. It was rather beautiful, he thought. A nice glow in all this darkness.
“You’ll have to leave when the guards come in,” he said. “I doubt them knowing you can get here will be good for the operation to save my ass.” He let out a deep breath. Took in another. “They’re comin’ for me. Right?”
The dragon looked at him for a long moment. Its whiskers twitched. It said something quick in Japanese and while McCree didn’t understand the exact words, the tone gave him his answer.
“Of course, you fool.”
“Alrighty then.” McCree closed his eyes. Reminded himself that this wasn’t like Blackwatch, wasn’t like before, where they’d forget about him in the mess of everything else. They would come for him. He’d get out. And maybe even have a warm blanket at the ready.
He began to whistle, determined to pass the time. A soft tune, one he knew as a boy. After a minute, another voice joined in too, humming in key with every note.
Dragons, McCree thought, made lovely music.
It was with that thought, he went back to sleep, the dragon guardian watching on his shoulder.