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Jesse was leaning against the railing outside of where the meeting was taking place. Apparently Deadlock hadn't trusted him enough to meet with these foreigners to try and sign a deal to connect them. He was forced to leave because they ‘didn't want some newbie fucking everything up.’ instead they put him on guard duty in front of the building to make sure no one disturbed them. Not like anyone would, the city was a ghost town basically.
All the buildings had started to deteriorate, windows busted out, walls caved in from fighting, some buildings had roofs missing. McCree imagined that if they had lived anywhere else, the buildings would be draped in vines and moss, instead of a sprinkling of honeysuckle and milkweed. Sand had built up on windowsills of buildings that still had the glass panes attached to them.
The sun had hit high noon hours ago and the shadows were growing long and the temperature was starting to drop some. So being outside wasn't unbearable but it was still boring as all hell.
He lit up a cigar, glancing down one end of the road to the other. Nothing. Of course there was nothing why would there be? He inhaled deeply, swirling the smoke around his mouth with his tongue.
As he exhaled the smoke he heard something, so soft anyone not listening for it would have missed it. It sounded like soft footsteps, almost like a cat, though Jesse was sure there wasn't a cat nearby it was too desolate. Probably a lizard.
Still he placed a hand on the handle of his gun, glancing from side to side. There definitely hadn't been anyone or anything there a few moments ago and if it was any other Deadlock member they would had introduced themselves in fear if they didn't they would end up at the end of a smoking gun.
There was still nothing in his view, Jesse had checked the perimeter earlier to assure that Deadlock and the ones they were meeting were the only ones there. Of course he wasn't allowed to meet the others as he wasn't allowed to attend the meeting. Jesse only knew the other party were from Japan.
“You seem a bit young to be smoking, America has laws against smoking before a certain age do they not?” Came a voice smooth as silk, Jesse had his gun out of its holster and pointed towards the sound of the intruder and met with a beauty. It took all he could to not whistle out his appreciation, though it didn't keep his eyes from roaming - dark hair, prominent nose and piercing eyes, his clothes hid his body well but he could tell just by the bulk of it that underneath was muscle. He had appreciation of it but he also felt a bit of jealous knowing his current physique.
“Pretty bold of ya to assume my age there sweetheart. With that baby face of yours you can't be any older than I am.” Jesse smirked and the scowl that etched across that pretty face. He still pointed his gun at the stranger, the stranger never even acknowledged the weapon so he was either stupid or not afraid of him. “Not to mention you ain't allowed in the meeting either. So you got put out here on guard dog duty, huh?” Jesse chuckled as the scowl deepened.
“Do not assume that I am a mere guard dog. It is my duty to protect my family.”
“Still they said you were too young to attend the adult business and made you come out here to make sure no one comes around just like me. So tell me, stranger, how old are ya?” Jesse asked, taking a pull from the cigar.
Hanzo sneered at him and curtly responded. “I just turned seventeen, not that it is any of your business.”
“Well no wonder they kicked ya out, you ain’t an ‘adult’ according to them. They’ll let you steal, take a hit or do a run but they won’t let you into any of the good stuff. Meetings and such, can’t really voice your opinion either, ‘Just do as I say kid and maybe you’ll live’, shit like that.” Jesse rolled his eyes and holstered his gun, the stranger didn’t seem dangerous, nor could he see any visible weapons. Hell even if he was harboring a knife, Jesse had confidence that he could take the other out before he was.
“Sounds like an absolute pleasure.” Sarcasm dripped from the stranger’s mouth and he leaned against the building looking very much like a child pouting because he didn’t get what he wanted. “It is disrespectful to me and my family that they would not allow me to attend. Even if father went along with their wishes.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Jesse turned his back to the other, leaning over the railing slightly to flick the ash of his still burning cigar. He kept the stranger in his peripheral vision to avoid being snuck up on again. “Suppose we should do our job and keep a lookout.” The only response Jesse got out of that was a dissatisfied hum.
The silence stretched out between the two. The worn down buildings creaked ominously in the desert wind, there were the occasional scurrying of claws against wood as the animals settled in for the approaching nightfall. The other never moved from his spot, only staring out into the horizon and not even giving McCree a second glance. Jesse couldn't help his eyes wandering back to the stranger, he was beautiful. He would deny ever developing a crush on someone so quickly, especially to someone who acted so cold right from the start.
Eventually he tore his gaze away to focus on the opposite direction, there was only one road through the town if they kept watch on both sides there was less of a chance someone could drop in unnoticed. Still it was pretty boring, he could be in there and learn the inner workings of the gang.
“Someone is heading this way. Look.” The other pointed down the road, Jesse wouldn't have ever spotted it, there was the slightest stirrup of dust on the horizon. Hell I could probably be a dirt devil but the risk wouldn't be worth it.
As the stranger started muttering quietly in another language, Jesse tapped the com in his ear. “Boss we’re compromised… Got it.” He turned off the mic turning towards the other. “It was a pleasure-" He found us was alone. He didn't even hear the stranger leave.
Later, after the higher ups had gotten drunk, he found out that the meeting was with the Shimada clan from Japan and from the way they were talking about them, the meeting wasn’t going the way they wanted to. It was a shame, really. The gang missed out on a big money source and Jesse missed his chance to learn more about the mysterious man he met earlier.
~*~*~
It had been five years since Jesse was given a second chance. Reyes had pulled him out of his downward spiral, kept him out of prison and gave him a place to live. He joined the ranks of Blackwatch, who did the dirty work in Overwatch’s shadow to keep the organization clean of blood on their hands. He loved the work, it was a lot like Deadlock but in the same sense it wasn’t. It took a while but he eventually felt like he didn’t have to look over his shoulder to make sure that someone wouldn’t stab him in the back if things with south. He finally learned to trust the people he worked with and being with Overwatch had its perks: such as having a pretty doctor to visit when he got injured even if she badgered him about smoking every chance she got, an equally beautiful older woman who took it upon herself to get his manners in check and make sure he was fed properly.
Reyes, Jesse and one other Blackwatch agent had been out on a mission, everything had gone great, until it didn't. Their target got away before they could capture them and the mission was deemed a failure. It was going to be at least a day before they were to be retrieved and they were to lay low until then.
Jesse didn't like the idle time, there was a bar not far from the safe house. It wasn't like they were in danger, they lived in the shadows and no one knew about them. It wouldn't be hard to blend into the locals, acting like a tourist. He was almost surprised when Reyes allowed him to leave as long as Jesse promised he wouldn't bring any unnecessary attention to himself. He dressed down in a tee and jeans, wearing a jacket to hide the gun on his hip, he left his hat at the safe house and made the short walk to his destination.
The bar wasn’t much, there were a couple of tables in the middle of the room, booths along both of the sides of the space and the bar took up the back wall. There were a few small tables against the large glass panel in the front so patrons could watch the foot traffic or weather while enjoying a drink. Out of habit Jesse looked around the room, analyzing everyone before he took a seat at the bar itself far enough from the other denizens to feel safe but close enough to not look like an outcast as not to bring any more unwanted attention to himself than need to be. It was a weekday, fairly late in the evening so the bar was fairly empty. After he ordered his drink, scotch on the rocks, he took a chance to study the people at the bar closer. To his left there was a woman, probably mid-thirties, blonde, dressed nicely in a red dress and judging by the flush on her cheeks looking several glasses of wine in. To his left was a young man of Asian decent, dressed rather sharp in a suit, hair slicked back and and a neatly trimmed goatee with the hint of a five o'clock shadow darkening his chin line. He was also drinking wine and while his face was neutral, his shoulders looked tense. Jesse's first thought was how he would like to ease out that tension followed with how maybe the other could help relieve the stress from a failed mission.
He couldn’t though, not only would Reyes have his ass for going home with a stranger from a bar, Morrison would too. He was trying to keep his life straight and his nose clean.
Instead Jesse bought the man a drink, no harm could come from giving a stranger looking down on his luck a little pick me up.
Jesse turned his attention to the holovid playing as her nursed his scotch. He kept the other man his his side vision so he wasn't surprised when the seat beside him was taken by the man in question, the hand high on his thigh did surprise him and Jesse barely contained a gasp.
“I would like to thank you for your generosity.” The man purred close to Jesse's ear sending a shiver down his spine.
If he hadn’t been on a mission Jesse would have taken the offer in an instant. The large warm hand on his thigh was very inviting and it had been quite some time since he had had any type of fun. With a lot of reluctance he sighed. “Sorry darlin’ I’m on a deadline, ain’t got the time to play.” He looked to the other with a smile, “Any other time I’d give ya the ride of your life, name’s James and what can I call you sweetheart?”
“Ryu and it is a shame you do not have the time to spare.” Ryu gave Jesse's thigh a squeeze before releasing him to focus on his drink.
Jesse continued to stare, sorely missing the heat from Ryu’s hand on his thigh. He watched the other drink, taking in all the details he could from dark eyes that looked like they were lined with equally dark eyeliner (or maybe it was the dark atmosphere of the bar playing tricks on him) to the bob of his Adam's apple as he took a drink. Jesse was just about throw in the towel and say the hell to the mission just to have a night with this man. Or he was until his phone chimed. Under the disguise of ‘dad’ there was a message of ‘ plane landed earlier than expected ’. He quickly responded with ‘ meet you there ”.
Reality came crashing back down and he went back into mission mode as he downed the rest of his drink. “Sorry gotta cut this date short.” Jesse fished a few bills from his wallet and placed them on the bar, standing then offering his hand to Ryu. “Pleasure meetin’ ya tonight.”
Ryu stood (shorter than him, he noted mentally), there was the barest hint of something on Ryu’s left arm as the man adjusted his suit (tattoo maybe?) and he gripped Jesse's hand firmly. “Pleasure was all mine.” Those sharp eyes bore into him bring up a familiar feeling like they had met somewhere before. Jesse dismissed the thought almost as quick as it came.
“See you around darlin’.” Jesse could feel the man's eyes on him as he left the pub. It wasn't safe to go back to the safe house now that he had brought some attention to himself so he wondered down a few roads, changing direction randomly always looking over his shoulder before he deemed it safe enough to meet up with the others.
Reyes would probably have his ass for this anyway.
~*~*~
Years later Blackwatch began further investigating the Shimada clan when the sudden passing of Sojiro put his eldest son in power. When pictures of the scion’s face graced the screen, Jesse immediately recognized the elder brother as the man he had met in a bar years ago. It had been a tattoo he saw on the man’s left arm, a few of the pictures they had obtained showed the ink in its full glory. They had kept tabs on the Shimada clan over the years but the clan never did anything to arouse suspicion of Overwatch. The Japanese government also rejected requests into the clan’s activities so all they could do was send undercover agents to live in Hanumara. Jesse requested to be one of the agents, not only did Reyes tell him he was too valuable to send on a long recon mission is that he would stick out like a sore thumb.
Jesse agreed, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Reyes was his boss and as close Reyes was with the strike commander he was sure that he would be denied the recon mission anyway so he didn’t fight it. It didn’t stop him from keeping close tabs on the intel coming in.
When they made their move on the clan after some suspicious activity was occuring they were finally able to make a move on the clan. However when they got to Hanamura they found Genji cling to life and finding Hanzo became a backburner to saving the younger Shimada son’s life. Genji agreed to be saved by Overwatch in exchange for his services to the organization.
After Genji’s recovery, Blackwatch set into action to begin the dismantling of the clan with the younger brother’s help. The mission was both successful and unsuccessful as Hanzo had vanished shortly after the fight with his brother and the clan was in a disarray, taking down the Elders was a cakewalk as no one had stepped up into power after Hanzo’s mysterious disappearance.
Jesse watched as Genji’s demeanor changed over the course of the next year. He was never close to the ninja like Angela had been, but they were required to work together frequently as Blackwatch was few in numbers compared to Overwatch, Jesse figured that the anger stemmed from Genji unable to confront his brother.
He never got a chance to find out either. Reyes introduced Moira to the Blackwatch team and he grew more distant from the team. Then Venice happened. They had been exposed and linked to the attack on the Shimada clan. Overwatch had no choice but to shut down Blackwatch’s operations. Most of the members migrated into Overwatch’s operations, including Genji. Moira was dismissed as Overwatch had rejected her in the past. Jesse started to break away from the organization and shortly after the omnic uprising in King’s Row, he disappeared all together.
~*~*~
It had been three weeks after the incident on the train when Jesse found himself in Castillo, a place where he could hide in plain sight. No one paid him any mind and he could do as he pleased, rather it was sitting by the Dorado bay smoking a cigar or sitting in his favorite tavern getting wasted until all hours of the night. Here he wasn't Jesse McCree, the locals knew him as Joel. Occasionally some would recognize him but he'd just respond with a shrug and “ Yeah I get that a lot .”
It was nice not having to be a wanted criminal, at least for a little while. The authorities had their hands full with dealing with the Los Muertos so much so that they wouldn’t give Jesse more than a curious glance. Still it didn’t keep the bounty hunters at bay, a few times when he has visited the city there had been times when he was confronted by bounty hunters and had leave town to a safe house below Dorado.
A week into his stay, Jesse was at his favorite bar, chatting with the bartender, Luis. He learned what had happened when he was away for the past couple of years, not long ago a vigilante had came through Dorado and stirred up some trouble with members of the Los Muertos gang as they were trying to transport weapons, and that the bartender had married and had a family of his own. Jesse smiled at him.
“I see some things have changed about you as well. What happened there?” Luis pointed to McCree’s left arm.
Jesse chuckled, finishing up his drink and tapping the empty glass on the counter to signal a refill. “Well, ya know, I don’t always have the best luck in the world. Had a pretty little doc fix me up real good though.”
“Suppose that’s where you’ve been these past couple of years then?”
“You could say that.”
Luis nodded at him and didn’t press the issue further. It was late in the night and the bar had cleared out from the earlier rush and Luis was cleaning up for the night. He scanned the remaining people in the bar, most of the people remaining were locals except a man sitting in the corner. There was something achingly familiar about him. Jesse’s alcohol addled brain couldn’t quite make the connection, however, it didn’t stop him from getting out and introducing himself to the stranger.
“This seat taken?” Jesse gestured to the empty seat across the table. “Ya know, you seem awful familiar, ain’t I seen you before?”
The other man frowned slightly when Jesse took a seat across from him. “I highly doubt it.” Came the arrogant response.
“Well that’s a shame, name’s Joel.”
“Hiro.”
Jesse grinned, “Well then, Hiro, what brings you to this part of the world?”
Hiro’s frown deepened, “That… is none of your concern.”
Jesse raised his arms in slight defense. “A man’s business is his own, just thought you’d want some company. You were looking mighty lonely sittin’ over here. Just thought you’d like some company.” Jesse couldn’t shake the feeling he knew who this man was, he studied the other’s face, as Hiro was paying more mind to his drink than to Jesse himself. It was finally the eyebrows that made the connection. They looked just like Genji’s and just like that the connection in his brain finally clicked. He was sitting across from Hanzo Shimada, the once former head of the Shimada clan was looking like he had seen better days, his beard had grown wild, his hair had grown wild since he had last seen pictures of him and there were bags under his eyes.
“Have you nothing better to do?” Hanzo sighed.
“Sorry, sweetheart, just thought you’d enjoy some company, guess I’ll be getting on my way then. Pleasure meetin’ ya Hiro . If you ever do feel like some company you know where to find me.” Jesse gestured towards the bar with a wink and chuckled as those dark eyes narrowed at him.
Hanzo gave him a slight smirk, stood, paid his tab and left the bar. Jesse didn’t follow. He never saw Hanzo at the bar again.
~*~*~
Jesse had been in Dorado when he received Winston’s encrypted message. Of course even though the organization had long been disbanded and deemed criminal by the Petras Act, they still had tabs on the agents that used to work for them. Jesse had settled comfortably into living in Dorado, he had picked up a job as a journalist and blended into the community, settled into an apartment overlooking the city square. His other ‘job’ may had taken him away from the city, sometimes weeks at a time, he always returned and wasn’t quite ready to give up the life he had settled into.
Months had passed since he received the message and he hadn’t answered it. He received a few other messages from the agents who had rejoined, though he never responded to them. Until he got the message from Genji. Of all people to rejoin, why had Genji? Curiosity got the better of him and he finally responded to Winston’s message and prepared to leave the life of Joel Morricone behind and return to being Jesse McCree again.
Walking on Watchpoint: Gibraltar brought back a wave a nostalgia, he could remember seeing this place for the first time when he was younger and more naive. Some things were the same and others were not. Lena was the first one to greet him, she was the same as she was all those years ago, a ball of energy with a bubbly personality. He couldn’t help but to smile at her as she practically threw herself in his arms in a bear hug.
“Nice of you to finally show up love, didn’t think you’d ever show!”
“Well Genji said he had something to show me.”
Her eyes lit up, “Oh! Yes it’s quite interesting. Just wait until you see!” She giggled and grabbed his hand, leading him further into complex. As they walked she talked about who had already answered the recall and even some of the new recruits they had acquired as well. Most of the original team had strike team had come back. The next person after Lena to answer the call had been Reinhardt and with him he had brought his squire, Brigitte. Torbjorn had followed them as well. Genji had shown up about a month after that with an omnic named Zenyatta. Mercy had shown up not long after that as well as Mei (who Lena picked up close to Antartica after she got ahold of Winston). There were two others who would be joining them soon, Hana, a girl from Korea and Lucio, a musician turned freedom fighter from Brazil. Jesse knew of them from his travels doing his mercenary work but he didn’t bother trying to derail the pilot’s conversation. “And there is one other who we didn’t send out the invite to but he joined of his own free will. You’ll meet him in just a moment!”
As soon as the door to the conference room was open, Lena was gone in a literal blue flash. Something Jesse never had gotten used to. When he caught up with her he was greeted warmly by old members of the group, he shook hands of the new members as they introduced themselves. Finally he got to Genji, who had changed a lot over the past years, he now donned a full cybernetic suit, the red accents of his Blackwatch outfit was replaced with green lights, he quickly removed the faceplate of his armor and smiled.
“It’s about time you finally showed up.” Jesse shrugged at him and Genji rolled his eyes. “Come on I have some people for you to meet.” He led the gunslinger to the corner of the room where an omnic was floating close to the window and beside him was another man, both were looking out the window at the sea. “Jesse, I would like you to meet my master, Zenyatta.”
The omnic turned toward them and waved. “Greetings Jesse, I am Zenyatta, peace be upon you.”
“Howdy.”
“And this…” The man turned around and Jesse stood shocked at the man before him. “This is my brother, Hanzo.”
“Hello.” The greeting was simple but Jesse could see that the connection clicked in the other’s eyes, even if the stern face didn’t show it. He looked better than the last time they had met, his beard was back to being neatly trimmed and
“Nice to finally meet you Hanzo.” Jesse held out his hand for a shake, though Hanzo didn’t extend the offer, he instead bowed and turned his attention back to the outside.
Jesse tipped his hat, tilted his head towards the door, Genji took the hint and followed him outside. The gunslinger lit up a smoke, “Never thought I’d see the day you’d be introducing your brother to me Genji. What changed? You seemed to hellbent on revenge back in the day.”
“I have finally accepted myself for who I am, and doing so I learned I wasn’t angry at Hanzo. I was angry at myself. With my master’s help I was able to forgive him. He hasn’t forgiven himself for what he did. I hope with Zenyatta’s help he can.” Genji explained.
“So how did you get him to join?”
“Every year he went back to Japan on the day he thought he had killed me and I confronted him this year. I believe he has come to redeem himself.”
Jesse flicked the ash from his cigar. “If you think so.”
Genji nodded, “I do, I still have hope for him, Jesse.”
Falling back in the daily routine was much like riding a bicycle and ten years of training didn’t just vanish. Overwatch was still illegal so they adopted many of the Blackwatch protocols on handling things, both Jesse and Genji gave insight to that as they were the only original members of the covert ops to answer the call. They spend most of their time training, determining everyone’s strength and weaknesses, learning how to work with each other and getting to know each other again. Hanzo was another story, he committed himself to training, proving to be a valuable asset, but he kept everyone at arm’s length. Jesse kept an eye on him, in the past he had known the older Shimada as both Ryu and Hiro, as well as an unnamed kid he met long ago, all of them had been arrogant. The man he knew now was nothing of the sort, sure he still had that regal since about him that made him seem unapproachable, but over time Hanzo began to soften.
After a successful mission McCree invited him out for a drink, to his surprise Hanzo accepted. They sat on the bank of the Gibraltar strait. They sat in silence drinking for a time, Hanzo was the most relaxed Jesse had ever seen the other man be.
“You know this isn’t the first time we’ve drank together.” Jesse almost regretted his question when he saw Hanzo stiffen up, then the man laughed.
“No, I guess it is not.” Hanzo looked to him with a grin. “I guess you have known for a while who I was.”
“Darlin’ I’ve known who you were every time, may have not known it at the time but I eventually found out it was you.” The cowboy took a drink from his flask. “So what would have Ryu have done with me if I hadn’t left?”
“Ryu would have had his way with you and leave you begging for more.”
“Well shit, should have ignored that text. What about Hiro?”
Hanzo shifted, staring out over the water again. “Hiro was my low point. If you have pursued harder I may have given whatever you desired, no matter what it was.”
“Guess I’m glad I didn’t, suppose we wouldn’t be here now.”
The archer chuckled, “The universe is mysterious sometimes.”
~*~*~
Years later...
Jesse didn’t remember what had happened, the last thing he remembered was getting on the transport and the next was the steady beep of medical equipment. He opened his eyes to see Hanzo sitting beside the bed looking at his tablet. Jesse shifted in the bed, trying to get comfortable, his body objected to the movement and he let out a pained groan. “Fuck, what happened?”
“Talon. You were ambushed at the drop point. I do not know what happened. Dr Ziegler stabilized you as soon as you were back on Watchpoint. You have been out for a few days now.”
Jesse studied the archer’s face, noticing the dark circles had formed under the other’s eyes again. “How long have you been in here?”
“It does not matter.” Jesse was about to protest the answer when he felt a pair of lips touch his in a chaste kiss leaving the gunslinger wide-eyed in disbelief. “All that matters is that you are awake.”
As quick as Hanzo moved to kiss him, he retreated slowly and despite his body’s protest to the movement, Jesse grabbed Hanzo’s arm and pulled him closer. “Don’t you dare, you don’t know how long I have been waiting for you to do that, now get back here and do it properly.”
Hanzo smiled softly and kissed him again.
~*~*~
Jesse watched what was once an illegal operation grow into something respectable with the the popularity of D. Va and Lucio the duo brought the glory back to Overwatch. They became the face of the organization vowing to be better and greater than they had ever been in the past. With their connections to criminal and illegal operations; Jesse and both Shimada brothers decided that they would leave the organization to the new generation.
Genji and Zenyatta offered Hanzo a home in Nepal before they headed back north.
Hanzo and Jesse decided it was time to change their looks. Jesse stopped wearing his hat and now that his hair had grown out more he wore it back in a ponytail. Hanzo shaved the underside of his hair and pinned the longer part to the back of his head. They both ended up getting piercings as well and while Jesse only pierced his right ear, Hanzo pierced both and the bridge of his nose.
After much discussion on where to go, they both decided to take up Genji’s offer of Nepal, where they made a home for themselves. Finally out of the eyes of the world, Hanzo and Jesse were allowed to finally enjoy the pleasures of a somewhat normal life and growing old together.
They shared stories of their youth, their different upbringings and the hardships along with it. They laughed about the times they had met in the past as if and unknown force kept bring them together. In the end they thanked the universe for the chance that they were given to be happy.