Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"I'm thinking burgers tonight. Hot off the grill with all the fixin's. You ever had chili peppers on a burger Han?" Jesse mused aloud, contemplating his dinner for the evening. He fires off a random potshot over the crate he's ducked behind.

Hanzo grunts in return. "Now hardly seems the time to discuss the dinner menu." He swiftly leans out from behind his own crate, draws, aims, and releases an arrow. It finds its mark in the head of an omnic, straight through the camera lens. The omnic sputters before falling to the side. Hanzo swiftly ducks behind the metal structure before a volley of bullets fires over his head. "And must you put peppers on everything..."

Jesse gives him a sly grin and a wink. "Nothin' wrong with a bit of spice in yer life, darlin'."  Hanzo rolls his eyes in exasperation.

"McCree, get your head out of your stomach and into the fight." Jack's gruff voice broke over the comm, interrupting Jesse's meal plan discussion and easy flirting. "I think his head was somewhere else." D.Va could be heard mumbling somewhere in the background.  Jack ignored her. "ETA is 10 minutes. What's your status?"

"Still pinned on the south side. We've got a good defense but mobility is shit." Jesse peered over the crate, eying the artillery omnics. "They seem to be waiting us out."

"Good. Hopefully they'll wait long enough. Stay put and keep us updated."

The mission was originally planned to be a simple recon. Reports of Talon sniffing around the edges of Ilios for unknown reasons had caught Winston's attention, and he dispatched McCree and Hanzo to investigate. Given Jesse's naturally magnetism for trouble, the supposedly quiet trip quickly went sour. Talon, upon discovery of the Overwatch agents and not ones to waste an opportunity, had riled up some disgruntled omnic units and set them on the duo.

Over the course of the firefight the two had been forced to take refuge inside of an abandoned warehouse, behind a series of large metal crates. Any omnic that drew too close was swiftly shot down, but it left McCree and Hanzo unable to retreat further. The Talon agents had long fled, seemingly already completed their own mission. They were now forced to wait for backup to arrive.

"Jesse, do you have any flash grenades left?" Hanzo asked in a hushed tone, his eyes tactically scanning the battlefield. Jesse felt along his side, confirming his inventory and held up two fingers in reply.

"You got something?" Jesse whispered, covering up his question with a few shots of return fire. No telling how good the omnics' hearing was and no need to clue them in on their plan.

"Fate has aligned" Hanzo whispered cryptically, jerking his head towards the omnics. Jesse gave their foes a quick glance, and after a moment, realized what Hanzo was hinting at. "Well I'll be damned." Jesse turned back to Hanzo and nodded in understanding. The omnics had started to unconsciously group up. Possibly to concentrate fire. Either way, it left them a perfect target for the jaws of rampaging dragons. Hanzo's tattoo shimmered in the dim light.

Hanzo jerked his head again, this time he pointed at the sole light fixture that hung from the ceiling, giving the warehouse a weak but visible light source. Outside, dusk was falling. He then signed several hand signals, attempting to detail his plan. Jesse did his best to hold a straight face at the comical sight. When he failed, Hanzo punched him in the arm. Jesse got that message loud and clear. 'Get serious'. He choked on a laugh. It was nice to see the normally stoic archer act out, even if Jesse was his target.

"Say Jack, all this talk of food has got us mighty hungry and you're driving too slow. We're just going to go ahead and wrap this up now." Jesse spoke over the comm, dodging another 'get serious' punch from Hanzo.

There was a brief silence of non-comprehension. "Explain."

"Sorry boss, no time. See you in a few!" Jesse gave a cheerful farewell. "No, McCree! Don't you hang-" He silenced the comm, cutting off Jack mid shout. "I'm going to get an earful anyway, might as well be later rather than distracting me now." Jesse says as an explanation.

Hanzo shakes his head in exasperation. "If the omnics do not kill you, the Soldier will when this is over." Jesse just grins and shrugs. No changing the cowboy's ways. They begin to get into position, waiting for a brief lull in the gunfire to make their move.

The plan was simple, but required quick action and a good dose of luck. Jesse made the first move, firing off a shot, this time aimed at the light fixture above. It gave a shower of sparks as the light went out. A distraction for the omnics and to briefly confuse their sight as the warehouse instantly went dark. This gave enough time for Jesse and Hanzo to emerge from behind their cover.

Jesse drew out a flash grenade, wound his arm back in preparation to throw it in front of the omnics. The sudden light would again confuse the omnics, which would hopefully give Hanzo cover to summon his dragons without fear of gunfire.

Hanzo stood behind and off to the side, arrow drawn and aimed. The dragons began to emerge from his tattoo, swirling around his arm in an ethereal blue.

"Ryū-"

The thing about luck though, is that it tends to be fickle.

Jesse's arm arched over his head, powering for peak distance in his throw.

"-ga waga-"

 Luck can abandon you just as quickly as it came. Luck can visit your opponents instead.  

A stray bullet, fired from a startled omnic, shoots across the battlefield. It hits the very tip of the flash grenade gripped in Jesse's fingers.

"-teki wo-"

The grenade slips from his grasp, and is sent spiraling backwards instead. Straight into Hanzo. It happens in a blink, neither are able to react.

A blinding explosion rocks the warehouse, like a flash grenade the size of a missile. Jesse gives a shout of surprise when he is knocked off his feet, thrown forward from the force of the concussive blast. Crates and debris tumble with him. The ground shakes and the walls tremble.

Jesse blinks stupidly as awareness catches up to him after a moment. He's laying on his front and his ears are ringing something fierce. He rolls onto his back with a groan, surprised to see that it is not dark anymore. The roof of the warehouse has been blown off, revealing a bright moon shining above. A part of him wants to lay there, admiring the gorgeous view for a while. His body is certainly in no hurry to move. But then everything comes flooding back with a kick, and he jackrabbits up, suddenly remembering the omnic threat. His hand reaches for Peacekeeper, but finds it missing. His gun must have been blown from his hand in the explosion.

Thankfully he doesn't need it. The moon illuminates the inside of the warehouse enough for Jesse to spot the remaining omnics. They lay haphazardly around, motionless and no glowing internal lights visible. The blast must have short-circuited them all out.

"Hanzo!" Jesse turns, coughing as he tries to see where his partner was. He shakes his head to clear the ringing in his ears, but stops when it makes him nauseous.

"Hanzo! Come on darlin, answer me!" Jesse calls again, stumbling through the debris looking for signs of the archer. A glimpse of familiar gold catches his eye in the moonlight, and Jesse quickly makes his way over. He finds himself at the epicenter of the explosion.

"What in the hell..." Jesse knelt down to pick up Hanzo's signature ribbon, only to find all his other clothing in a pile there as well. Storm Bow lay just off to the side.

Jesse pawed at the fabric of the familiar black patterned kyudo-gi, as if to confirm that it was real. Was Hanzo blown straight out of his clothes? Jesse foolishly looked around again, as if he'd find the archer laying nearby, naked. His fingers brushed against something within the pile of clothing, and he pulled the fabric back.

And then promptly dropped it in shock.

With shaking fingers, he picked up the fabric once more, peeling it away to properly show its contents.

"Shit."

Curled within, solid living and breathing, lay a small blue dragon.

Chapter Text

"You calmed down now?" Jesse tentatively asked

Within the mass of coiled scales a pair of bright red eyes emerged to glare in reply. A forked tongue flickered out once in indignation before giving a low grumbled hiss.  Jesse sighed and scratched his head, at a loss on what to do. At least the little guy had stopped trying to leap off the table.

The backup team had arrived shortly after what was dubbed the incident. Given the archer's condition, Jesse was left with the fun task of trying to explain what had happened. It took longer than Jesse had expected as no one believed him, despite showing an actual dragon as evidence.

"I swear we're not prank'n ya! Have ya'll met Hanzo?"
"Yeah, but he's been hanging around you too much."

After much swearing, arm waving, and lots of dramatic pointing at a dragon, they had little choice to but believe in Jesse's explanation, or lack thereof. With Talon in the wind and all other hostiles defunct, the mission was labeled a bust. They ultimately decided to bring along a few of the fried omnics for further analysis, either for clues about the incident or what Talon had previously been up to.

Hanzo, or more specifically the dragon that was previously Hanzo, had remained unconscious until ten minutes after takeoff.  As to be expected, he did not take it well. The little dragon seemingly had little idea what to do with its long body and short limbs, and kept flailing about in a panic. Twice he rolled off the table and nearly collided painfully with the floor if it weren't for Jesse's quick reflexes. All the while it howled and hissed in confusion. Jesse could only assume he was trying to speak, but the animalistic noises were not remotely close to being anything understandable.

Just as the little dragon had appeared to settle down (or as Jesse surmised, quietly hyperventilate), D.Va decided "help out" by giving him a poke. To no one's surprise she got bit instead. Howling Korean obscenities, she was banished to join Jack in the cockpit to keep from tossing the hissing dragon out the cargo hatch in revenge.

Which left Jesse now sitting on one of the jumpship benches, watching the little dragon who sat on the recreational table in front of him. The former archer, finished with his initial freakout, had decided to withdraw completely and somehow coiled his long body in a protective ball of hissing nerves. Jesse chewed on the end of an unlit cigar, feeling a bit out of his depth himself. The dragon was just so small. The panic attack before had shown Jesse just how helpless the little guy was, barely even able to balance on the table without toppling over the side. Jesse didn't want to risk putting him on the floor though, lest the dragon get stepped on by accident. His hands twitched to hold the fragile creature in a protective embrace. The growling told him to do otherwise. It would seem the archer's pride and ego had not shrunk in size along with his body.

"Sorry guys, no luck on the diagnostic equipment." Lucio broke the stiff silence as he skated up to the pair, carrying a first aid kit. The support of the backup team had previously been down in the depths of the cargo bay in search of medical equipment that might clue them into Hanzo's condition. "We've got plenty to patch holes and mend bones, but nothing for things that aren't obvious fixings. I'm thinking of suggesting to Dr. Ziegler that we start stocking some on the jumpships, if things like this are the norm." He pauses and looks at Hanzo sheepishly. "Not that I think turning into a dragon is a regular thing, no offense Shimada." The dragon doesn't grace him with a response. Lucio's mouth thinned into a concerned expression.

Jesse scoffs. "I'm surprised the ship doesn't already have anything fancy tech like that. God knows Reinhardt has crashed headfirst into walls enough times to warrant 'em."

Lucio gives Jesse a quizzical look at this. "Speaking of heads, you good Eastwood? I saw the damage that blast did. From your story, you must have been right at the center of it." The audiomedic gives the cowboy a suspicious once over. "Headaches, nausea, numbness anywhere? You were yelling up a storm with Jack earlier and sounded fine, but don't think I didn't notice you looked a bit wobbly on your feet."

Jesse just waves his off. "Nah, thanks for the concern friend, but I'm fine. Just got a bit shook-up is all." He leans back casually in a show of relaxation and lightly taps the side of his head, withholding a wince.  "Plus you know me, head's harder than a brick."

Lucio just hums skeptically and makes a mental note to amp up the healing song he currently has playing another notch. Probably tip Dr. Ziegler off too, once they rendezvous at Gibraltar. She was better at pinning down the cowboy and making him confess to hidden ailments.

"So what now?" Jesse scratched at his beard, eager to get the topic of health checkups off him and onto more important matters.

Lucio shrugs "Since we don't have any high-tech, we're just going to have to do things old school." He plops down on the bench next to McCree, and pulls out his computer tablet and stylus. "I'm just going to do some preliminary tests for now and give the notes to Dr. Ziegler when we land."

Jesse eyes the tablet quizzically. "Tests? Like what?"

Lucio rubs the back of his neck and grimaces. "Well, for starters, we need to establish how much of Shimada is...well...still there." He taps the stylus to his temple to make his point.

An uncomfortable jolt goes through Jesse. He hadn't even thought about that. Hadn't even considered it. He turns to look at the surly dragon who remained in the defensive ball. He'd just attributed the dragon's bad behavior as Hanzo's usual prickly personality when in situations that left him defenseless.

He bites back a choke that suddenly seized his throat. "So, uh, how do we do that?"  

"Well, obviously there is no test for," Lucio waves his hands in the dragon's direction "This. However, I figured I could run through some of the things we do for concussions, and just go with the rhythm from there. Which leads us to the challenge of step one." Lucio sets the tablet and stylus down on the table in front of him and leans forward, pointedly speaking directly at the curled dragon. "Step one requires the co-operation of the patient. Which means you gotta come out Shimada."

Nothing.

"Shimada, I know you're not exactly big on medical tests." Understatement. Mercy only had a quarter of the necessary medical history info she'd like about the archer. "But we need to do this."

Still no response. Lucio and Jesse share a nervous look.

Jesse tries his luck. "Come on Hanzo, work with us here. We're only trying to help ya out." When he gets no reply he decides to take a gamble and lightly brush a scaled side with a gloved finger. It flinches at contact and a hiss could be heard within the coil. Jesse sighs. "Please, darlin'." He says in barely a whisper.

A long pause of no response. A cold stone of fear drops into Jesse's stomach.

Suddenly the coil gives a long large sigh, sides visibly heaving, and very slowly starts to unravel. Tentatively, and almost shyly, a small dragon head emerges. For the first time Jesse is able to truly admire the little creature. Barely larger than a ferret but its body is long like that of a snake, at least several feet in length. Covered from head to tail in smooth iridescent scales, a rich deep blue in color. The dragonic head, topped with delicate ornate horns, is framed in a mane of dull golden fur that continues down along its long spine to end in a tuft at the tail. On either side of the horns were long, almost cat like ears twitched nervously. Curiously, from what Jesse could see, one clawed forearm had a darker and mottled scale pattern on it than the other. More curiously, he notes it is the same side the iconic tattoo would be on. The dragon head bows slightly on the slender long neck, still hesitant to show itself. The tail still encircled defensively around its body, though loosely. Red eyes look glumly up at them, but to Jesse's relief he sees the spark of intelligence behind them.

"Nice of ya to finally join us." Jesse says in relief, breaking the tense atmosphere. The dragon gives him a huff.

"Step one, complete!" Lucio makes a mock show of checking off a to do list. "Alright Shimada, we're going to take this easy at first. First, give me a nod if you can understand me." The dragon huffs again, focusing on the audiomedic, but does give a brief nod. "Good good! Now we're rolling." Lucio jots down a few notes on the tablet. "Since you can't seem to speak Shimada, I'm just going to ask yes or no questions. Unless you can speak...uh...like that?"

"Trust me, if he could we would've gotten an earful by now." Jesse mumbles teasingly. Hanzo glowers and bares his teeth at him.

"No biggie! I'm just going to ask some simple questions to test your memory. See what you can and can't remember, make sure there are no large gaps. Ready?" The dragon shifts slightly, settling into a more comfortable position, but does give a nod of consent.

"Ok, is your full name Shimada Hanzo?" Nod.  "Were you born in Hanamura, Japan?"  Nod. "Are you currently a member of Overwatch?"  Nod. "Are you currently...uhhhh..." Lucio pauses a moment to whisper something to Jesse, who whispers back. "38 years old?" Lucio continues. Hanzo flicks his tongue in irritation at him, but does nod. Lucio laughs sheepishly. "Sorry."

Lucio continues with the questions, such as current date, if he remembers various people and names, and even has him read some words which Lucio would verbally repeat. A few trick questions were thrown in as well ("Is your brother named Jack Morrison? OW! You don't have to bite!"). He answered all successfully. Eventually the questions led up to their mission and the events that took place, which Hanzo remembers the same as Jesse. Up until the blast itself at least.

"Do ya remember anything?" Jesse implores. Hanzo just looks increasingly frustrated and shakes his head again in negative.

Lucio places a hand of Jesse's shoulder."That's alright Shimada. It's ok if you don't, given what happened. I'm just glad there don't seem to be any major issues!" Hanzo gives him a flat look. "Well, any more issues." He shrugs. "But don't worry, we'll be seeing Dr. Ziegler soon and she'll work her magic. Get you fixed up and back to normal in no time!" He gives Hanzo an enthusiastic thumbs up. Hanzo just grumbles, the forever pessimist.

"Attention BFF, grumpy old men, and babo deulaegon! This is your mighty Captain speaking!" The ship intercom chimes overhead. A scuffle could heard on the other side.
"Hana give me the intercom!"
"No! You won't let me pilot-"
"Because you keep trying to bunny-hop the jumpship boosters!"
"-so I get to do this! We're approaching the Watchpoint! Strap in, losers!"
"Hana no-!"  A click signals the end of the announcement.

"Ya know, if I wasn't currently fearing for my life, I'd find those two great for in-flight entertainment." Jesse grumbles. He can still hear their argument from the cockpit way back where he sat.

Thankfully the landing at Gibraltar was smooth and uneventful, touching down with barely a bump. Lucio moves off to gather his equipment. Jesse stands with a groan, stretching his battered muscles that had stiffened during the flight. He'd been tossed around good in that blast, and would be feeling it for a while. Just as the hatch opened to allow their exit, Jesse caught Hanzo peering over the edge of the table and realized they had one last challenge to tackle.

"Alright partner, let's get out of here." Jesse moves to scoop the dragon up, but a ferocious hiss stops him. Hanzo tries to scramble away, but to little effect as he'd yet to properly work out the tiny limbs. He makes an awkward crawl to the other edge of the table, huffing and growling the whole way.

"Now come on! You gotta get to the medbay somehow." Hanzo hisses in reply, clearly unwilling to be handled. "You can't even reach the floor. Now is not the time for your damned pride." Jesse reaches for him again, but Hanzo bares his teeth in warning.

 Jesse sympathizes with Hanzo's situation, and had the patience to wait him out earlier when the archer-turned-dragon needed space. But patience only goes for so long and Jesse was tired, sore, and hungry. None of which could be fixed standing around in the jumpship. His patience had run out.

The two stare down each other in a standoff. Jesse's hand twitches at his side, ready for the quick draw. Hanzo puffs himself up in warning, ears flat back.

Jesse makes the first move. "I think you'll forgive me later for this darlin'."

-----

Angela stood fidgeting nervously in the Watchpoint's hanger, watching the jumpship land. She had been contacted by Jack on his return flight from assisting the recon team in Ilios. He requested that she be present when they arrived and that there had been an incident. Before he would go into specifics he was cut off by noises in the background, which she thought suspiciously sounded like Hana yelling. He wouldn't say more, just stating that she be ready, before disconnecting the conn.

What she should be ready for, was the question. She hated the unknown.

The hatch to the jumpship opened, ramp extending down. She took several steps forward to meet them, eager to see that everyone was ok. Hana was the first to disembark, hopping by in her MEKA and looking sullen. Next was Jack carrying an arm load of broken omnics. He quickly brushed by her as he strode off towards Winston's lab. Lucio skated down the ramp to join her, but what he was carrying stilled any greeting she had. Piled in his arms she recognized Agent Hanzo's Storm Bow, quiver, and combat boots. She spies the iconic ribbon peaking out of a bag hanging off his arm. All look to have seen heavy combat. She swallows the tight lump that suddenly formed in her throat.

Lucio said nothing, giving her a half-smile, and turned to look over his shoulder at the jumpship. She peered around him, hoping to be wrong. She wasn't ready for this.

The silhouette of Jesse soon appeared, and he staggered down the ramp. In his arms he was carrying...carrying…Her mind stuttered to a halt, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

Gripped tightly in his hands was a thrashing blue...snake? lizard? furry lizard? The creature's upper body was held by Jesse's prosthetic hand, the snarling head desperately trying to chew through the mechanical fingers that held it - with little luck. The lower body was held in Jesse's other gloved hand, tiny feet kicking and long tail wrapped tightly around his arm.

Jesse stepped up to Angela with an embarrassed smile. "We uh, kind of had an incident?" He held up the hissing creature to show her, as if she might not have noticed it. A million questions spun in her mind. She looked down at the creature, and then back up at the cowboy.

"Wha?" 

Chapter Text

"I know you don't like being here, but unless you have any other solutions, you'll just have to make do."

Hanzo sits stiffly on the exam table, resisting the instinctive urge to yet again curl into a defensive ball, wishing he was anywhere but here. His newest appendage, a tail, twitches slightly from side to side. The long limb has an apparent mind of it's own, and Hanzo is tempted to sit on the damn thing to keep it from moving constantly. The doctor stares down at hims critically, but Hanzo does not meet her gaze.

Angela sighs at his obvious reluctance at being examined by her. "I'm not going to hurt you, Mr. Shimada. I just want to help."

Hanzo shifts uneasily. His relationship with the Swiss doctor has always been cool and distant. She was after all the one who pieced back together his brother, saw first hand the damage Hanzo had caused. When Hanzo was recruited to the newly reformed Overwatch, she did not speak out against his membership, but neither did she welcome him. He does not blame her, considering his past sins, but he does not trust her either.

"Until Genji returns, we'll just have to make due with what tests I can run to see if there is anything that might lead towards what caused your...condition." Angela continues, busying herself with setting up various pieces of equipment.

Hanzo scowls, small scaled nose crinkling in frustration. His brother was currently not here at the base, gone on some trip with his omnic teacher back to Nepal. A vacation, he had called it. Hanzo has only been reunited with his brother for a short time, and their relationship is still rocky at best with many old wounds still coming back to haunt them. However when Genji had left for his trip, leaving Hanzo behind, he was unsettled to find how much he missed his brother's presence. It was a feeling much like all those years ago. Hanzo ended up volunteering for the Ilios recon mission with McCree to distract himself from melancholy.

Speaking of distracting cowboys, McCree had left as well, at least from the medbay. The doctor had shooed him away as soon as they arrived in the medbay, telling him to shower and change. Hanzo resolutely does not examine the feeling of missing the cowboy's presence either. He simply wishes there was another person in the room, uncomfortable at being left alone with the doctor in such a defenseless state.

"Mr. Shimada. Hanzo. Are you listening to me?" Angela interrupts his inner musing, staring down at him with exasperation and concern. Hanzo turns to coolly acknowledge her. He is forced to crane his neck upwards to look at her.

"I need you to pay attention to me. Until we can determine a solution, we need to be sure that your condition won't affect your mental state as well." She picks up a tablet, thumbing through pages of notes. "Lucio did quite a thorough job with your initial mental exam, I must commend him for his notes later, but I want to do more tests to ensure there is no future deterioration." She explains in a clinical tone. Hanzo's lip curls at this. He may be trapped in this tiny, useless body, but his mind is perfectly fine. If only he could speak, he would not have to use his teeth to get his point across.

"What I'm going to do for now is take several measurements for a base-line, both physical and mental, while looking for any irregularities." She continues. "Can I have your assurance that you will behave slightly better than how you arrived in my medbay?”

She was obviously referring to his previous disagreement with McCree about being manhandled off the jumpship. While it infuriated him that his useless claws had little effect on the cowboy's grip, he had at least managed to pry off a protective panel from one of McCree’s prosthetic fingers. In the overall picture it had done little, the cowboy had simply sighed in frustration, but it made Hanzo feel slightly better. Hanzo schools his expression to not show how satisfied he is at the thought, as the doctor is watching him closely. Instead he gives her a reluctant nod. He is not so foolish as to disagree the doctor in her own medbay, when he is left so defenseless.

“Excellent. Then let’s get started.”

Gratefully, with the assistance of Athena and cutting-edge technology, the tests are quick and mostly painless. Most are digital scans that simply require him to sit motionless. The only pain he experiences is when she takes a small vial of blood for analysis, if only due to her piercing the delicate skin under his scales with a needle felt so foreign. He can see as the tests are being taken the various readouts and pages of data collected, but the doctor gives neither negative or positive feedback as she examines the results.

"It will take some time for me to thoroughly go through the results, but from a cursory scan I don't see anything abnormal." Angela says as sits on a stool in front of the exam table, to better be at his level. Possibly as an attempt to ease his wariness of her. Upon seeing his glare at the 'abnormal' remark, she elaborates. "What I meant, is that there doesn't appear to be any indication that your current form is unnatural. You have perfectly functioning skeletal, musculature, and organ systems." She brings up a display of the x-ray and various scans of his body. Upon seeing the strange outline of his dragonic form, Hanzo is struck with a sudden realization of his situation. Like a strange confirmation that this continues to be real. A sickness settles into his stomach, and he looks away.  Unaware of his internal anxiety, Angela continues on. "Granted, your body temperature is higher than a human's, but given that there is nothing else for us to compare to, we will have to assume it is within normal range. I want to run more tests again tomorrow to see if there are any changes."

At this, Hanzo is at his limit. He can no longer tolerate being in the medbay, being described as non-human. He needs to leave. The doctor has her data, and presumably his presence is no longer required. Standing the best he can on tiny limbs he turns away from her to make his exit, only to meet a familiar obstacle. Tables and their significant height away from the floor.

He peers over the edge, trying to judge the distance. Why was something as simple as an exam table such a huge obstacle? Maybe he could fly, much like the dragons of legend? He doesn't know the limits of this body, but he figures he'll have to test them eventually. He's considering dropping down tail-first when he hears Angela stand and the sound of the stool she had been sitting on roll away. Likely to prevent him from using it as an escape route. Drat.

"Ah! Just a moment Mr. Shimada, there is one last thing we need to discuss before I permit you to leave." She says calmly, but with a hint of firm authority.

Oh he does not like the sound of that. Permit him to leave? He cranes his head back over to look at her, on guard. He'll still jump if absolutely necessary.

Angela takes a moment to clear her throat, gathering herself. "I understand that how you are now is very difficult for you." She begins, slowly. "I will work to the best of my abilities, and then some, to help you regain your former body. However, there are certain realities we must face, and those realities are that you are not as indestructible as you once perceived yourself."

Hanzo scowls at this, not liking where she was going. His tail twitches again in unease.

Angela continues. "The Watchpoint is by all accounts an active military base. A very active base. While the design and operations of the base are built for the agents' use and comfort, the same cannot be said for someone of your current - stature. To be blunt, the base is too dangerous for you as you are now."

Hanzo grunts in surprised anger. Dangerous!? Does she think he is some untrained fool? The only thing remotely dangerous on this base was the cooking, if only because most agents didn't have an once of culinary skill.

"Think about it." She sharply continues, ignoring his visible displeasure at her words. "There are frequent vehicles and other machinery that move about the base. Live weapons that definitely do not always stay within the testing ranges, and an increasing number of agents running about. They cannot be expected to be on the look out for you underfoot. Not to mention the threat of attack by our enemies. Additionally, with your unique situation, I believe it would be wise that you be monitored in case of any changes arise. It is my job to oversee the safety and welfare of all agents, especially if they are in a compromised state. This is why, Mr. Shimada, that I simply cannot let you leave my medbay unattended." Angela crosses her arms across her chest as a sign of finality to her decision.

Hanzo gives a squeak of protest, momentarily forgetting his inability to speak. He was not some child who needed to be coddled. She could not force him to remain here against his will. Growling he moved to leap off the table, determined to leave regardless, but an audible beep from the medbay doors interrupts him. The doors click shut. He turns back to the doctor, teeth bared in outrage. Angela holds up the remote she used to lock the doors.

"If you'll let me finish. As I said, I am aware of your displeasure at being in my medbay. I am also not in the habit of keeping people here against their will unless medically necessary. Therefore, I have a proposition for you. You can make a choice." She pauses to ensure he is listening. She holds up a finger. "Option one, you stay here in my medbay under observation until a solution can be found." Hanzo visibly recoils in disgust. Angela continues on, holding up two fingers. "Option two - I allow you to leave my medbay, but under the escort of another agent at all times. Additionally, everyone else on base will be notified of your condition." Hanzo opens his mouth, almost as if to speak, but Angela cuts him off. "And no, you cannot stay in your room alone the whole time. As I said, I want you under observation should anything happen. These are your two, and only two, choices."

Hanzo grunts in displeasure. His choices are solitude, but in this hellish place. Or a babysitter and showcased around to everyone else on base. Hanzo taps his claws against the metal table surface in frustration. Neither options are ideal. He'd rather hide away in peace until his brother returns and they can begin to brainstorm a solution. Hanzo looks up at the doctor, who is patiently waiting for his decision. 

A knock on the medbay doors interrupts his thoughts. "Just one moment!" Angela calls to whoever is on the other side. "Your choice, Mr. Shimada?" She asks softly, turning back to him.

Hanzo looks around at the sterile and cold medical room. His gaze happens to catch the window leading outside, where night has fallen. A bit of the moon can be seen. In his mind he can almost smell the sea breeze air. He looks around the room again and sighs.

He turns back to the doctor, and stretches out a short foreleg holding up two clawed toes.

Angela smiles softly and nods. "Option two it is. And it just so happens that your escort is here." She clicks the remote again and the doors to the medbay slide open. In steps -" JESSE MCCREE! What have I told you!?" Angela suddenly yells, pointing at the cowboy angrily.

Jesse blinks stupidly for a moment. "Oh shit-" he hastily plucks the lit cigarillo out of his mouth and smothers the smoking end against his prosthetic palm, smiling sheepishly. "Ah, hehe, you wanted to see me?" He stuffs the used cigarillo in the pocket of his shirt and strides over to the exam table, ignoring Angela's disapproving scowl. He looks down at Hanzo, who was glaring up at Angela like she had committed a great betrayal against him. "Still tiny and blue, eh darlin?" Hanzo sticks his tongue out at him.

"We've finished up all the testing for today. He can leave, but I do not want him unsupervised around the base. That is why I'm tasking you with watching him, Jesse."

"Me?"

"You've already demonstrated that you can handle him. I think you'll do fine." Angela smiles knowingly. Hanzo's lip curls in disgust. "Now, Winston has called for a team meeting and this will be the perfect opportunity to inform everyone of your condition, Mr. Shimada. Shall we?" Angela gathers her tablet before sweeping out of the medbay, leaving the cowboy and dragon to sort themselves out before they could protest.

Jesse looks down at the dragon, and Hanzo up at the gunslinger. A feeling of déjà vu settles between them, as well as a tense silence. Jesse nervously scratches at his beard. He decides he does not want a repeat of their fight on the jumpship.

"What do ya say we get outta here, partner." He holds out his flesh hand to the proud dragon. "Shall we?"