GENJI'S POV
I awoke to a pounding in my head. Instinctively, I reached to feel the outside of my helmet, but instead my steel-clad fingers met with my own bare skin.
A little startled, I sat up and realized that I was somewhere else; it wasn't the parking lot, but a dark and damp cell. Chipped cement walls surrounded me, and there was one source of light: the steel bars on my left side.
I turned and made eye contact with none other than (y/n), sitting on a wooden chair with her legs crossed. The first thing I noticed was the lack of a mask. She was sitting plainly with her face openly exposed.
She looked up from the knife she was polishing, and immediately narrowed her eyebrows.
"You're finally awake."
"Yes, ma'am. No mask?" I gasped theatrically. "Are we on face-showing basis now? My, we're moving fast..."
She seemed hardly amused. That familiar expression of annoyance was almost too much for me to bear. "You already know what I look like. Hardly any point of wearing one here."
I nodded. "Where are we, Guantanamo Bay?"
"I... do you ever take anything seriously?" she hissed. "And honestly, it might as well be. Escape is impossible."
"I wouldn't want to escape from you."
She was pretty.
I had almost forgotten how pretty she was. Even with the low light, scarring on her cheeks, deep dark circles, she was still drop-dead gorgeous.
But there was a colder glint in her eye. A corpse-like shade beneath her skin. She was (y/n), but... not the way she used to be. I remembered suddenly the aggression she had showed against me earlier. The way she had swung her knives with killing intent.
Seemingly bothered by my unwavering gaze, she flicked the end of her knife. "Good. Anyway. You had plenty to say earlier. Aren't you gonna ask why you're still alive?"
"To be honest, it doesn't come as a surprise. You were always a pretty curious person. That kind of thing doesn't go away, no matter how much a person is brainwashed."
"Brainwashed. Maybe that's what it seems like to you. But I was saved."
"Come on. If you really believed that, then I wouldn't be here."
I approached the bars. She seemed to be on her guard, sitting up straighter, her eyes not looking away from me for a second. But there was only so much I could do from inside a cell. I sat civilly, with my hands folded neatly in my lap. "Now that you see my face..." I began. "Do you remember anything?"
I couldn't hide the desperation in my voice. I searched her eyes for a spark of recognition, though the low light made it hard to see properly.
She sighed. "Not now, I don't. But earlier... I think maybe I did remember something." She struggled with her words, as if she couldn't find the right way to express what she was feeling. "I couldn't kill you. That, I know. So I want to ask you. Who am I... really? "
I stayed quiet for a moment. So Talon hadn't been successful at erasing everything about her past, after all. I was angry in an instant, thinking about how much they had taken away from her. But I diffused myself. Perhaps years ago, I would have let my anger get the best of me. But since I had met with someone as wise as Zenyatta, I learned that anger usually made things worse.
Look where it got us. If I had listened to her and turned down Hanzo's challenge, none of this would have happened.
I took in a deep breath. Could she handle everything all at once?
I looked into her eyes, which were almost glistening with curiosity.
No. Not all at once. I would tell her about the good times first. The memories that she would never want to forget.
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Y/N'S POV
I listened intently as he described this person that he seemed so familiar with. Born and raised in Hanamura, Japan. Trained in ballet at a young age. Smart as a whip.
When it came time to explain how we met and who he was to me, my cheeks burned with embarrassment.
"Huh?!" I exclaimed. "No way I'm your ex!"
"Why is that so hard to believe?!" he shot back, crossing his arms with a pout.
"You're an immature, impulsive idiot!"
"I've gotten a lot better! Be glad you don't remember how I was when we were teenagers."
"So let me get this straight. You saved me from the bullies, ignored me for years, and then failed a couple subjects on purpose just to get my attention..."
"Mmhmm."
"And we... f-fe-fell-"
He grinned deviously, leaning forward so that his face almost touched the steel bars. "Fell in love."
"Yeah... THAT... while I was tutoring you?"
"You've got it."
"You said something about anime and videogames?"
He stuck out his tongue. "Yes. You big nerd."
I scoffed. "And you taught me how to fight..."
"Yes. And that's why I can predict your attack patterns like so."
"And then! We saved a kid and wanted to become heroes..."
He sat back, the solemnness returning to his face. He avoided my eyes as he nodded. I suppose it was an appropriate response. He was a hero. He had succeeded. Me? Not so much.
I was confused. Despite having gotten some answers, I still felt like I was wading around in the dark. There was still so much I didn't know.
I shook my head. "If what you're saying is true, then... how did Talon get their hands on me?"
For the first time since he woke up, he was at a loss for words. It seemed like he was holding something back. Something bad.
I wasn't stupid. He was trying to shield me from something.
I scowled. "You can't draw blank on me now, cyborg. You decided to run your mouth, so finish the story."
"(Y/n), maybe we should stop here for now..."
"Why?"
"I just... think it would be better if I slowed down a bit..."
"Why?!"
"Sal?"
Airi stepped forward from the shroud of darkness by the staircase, a metal tray of food in her hands. She eyed the two of us with a bit of awkwardness. Genji seemed grateful for her interruption.
"I got his food."
I relented, leaning back on my chair. "Just slide it under."
She did as I asked, and then pushed her glasses up, which was a clear indicator that she had something she wanted to say.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's Moira. She contacted me. She's wondering where we are." The concern was clear on her face. "I'm kinda scared, Sal. I hate to say that but we don't exactly have a good excuse for disappearing."
I looked back at Genji, annoyed. It looked like I would have to save my other questions for later.
I rose from my chair, simultaneously sheathing my knife and grabbing my mask off of the wooden desk next to me. "Don't be scared. We'll head back now. You let me do the talking."
"Don't go back there!" Genji cried, grasping the bars with intensity. "Don't! Please!"
I jabbed a finger at Genji. "Where do you get off, telling me what or what not to do?! You're still my prisoner, no matter who you were to me in the past. And I'm not done with you yet. You will answer my questions, or I'll cut the answers out of you."
Realizing he couldn't stop me, his grip on the bars loosened, and he smiled tiredly. "Looking forward to it. Just... come back. Please. I lost you once. I can't lose you again."
His words shocked me. I stopped walking for a moment, feeling a dull ache in my head once again. If only I could remember. If only I could understand why he felt so strongly about me.
"Sal!" Airi's voice broke me out of my thoughts. I shook it off and followed her.
As I ascended the staircase, he called out to me one more time. I turned abruptly, eyebrows raised in question.
"Be careful."
I scoffed, turning away. It may have been out of concern, but I didn't take well to people underestimating me.
"Of course."
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When we got back to base, it seemed like Moira had been waiting for us right at the entrance. Airi grimaced as she made eye contact with her, her entire body stiffening with fear.
Moira glanced from me to Airi, as if she was already drawing her own conclusions. "Where have you been?"
I cleared my throat. "Recon. I took Airi along with me while I tried to gauge out Overwatch's presence in Tokyo."
"I never ordered you to do that."
"You never ordered me not to."
I bit my tongue after I let those words fly. They didn't sound like me. I needed to be compliant, without even a hint of defiance, in order to make this plausible.
Judging by the look in her eyes, I had already failed. There was no recovering from this. I just had to focus on taking the heat off of Airi, and hopefully saving my own skin somehow...
Damn. When did I start thinking so emotionally?
"Sal, you seem to be a little... different."
"I apologize," I said, attempting to sound more bland. "Perhaps a new treatment is in order?"
"You're right. We need to fix you before this gets out of hand."
Shit. It suddenly occurred to me that I didn't want a new treatment; I didn't want them to weed what little memories I had managed to gain. I didn't want to forget. Not when I had they key to my past right in my hands.
I didn't want to forget.
I didn't want to forget him.
"I understand," I said, forcing a steady voice.
"Airi, you're on thin ice. I'll keep you on suspension until you've proven your loyalty to Talon and not your mentor."
"Understood!" she squeaked.
"Now, Sal. Before your treatment, I do have a task for you."
I sighed silently with relief. I thought she would call for the others to come and restrain me and do the treatments immediately, but that didn't seem to be the case. As long as she let me out the base, I could escape.
"Alright."
"You and Widowmaker are to assassinate the omnic speaker Tekhartha Mondatta at his next speech."
A/N: Hey cuties! Alas, we're approaching the end of the story. :') I don't know how many chapters are left exactly, but the days of this book are numbered. You've heard it so many times, but thank you so much for the support you've given me so far, and I hope you'll see it through to the end! I cannot possibly respond to every comment and DM, but I do read them all for the most part, and it keeps me going like no other.
Love you thiccies. See you in the next one. <3