riverviewlogs | closed prompts for may

Entry tags:

✖ overwatch: genji shimada

closed prompts for may

who: genji + various
what: closed prompts for specific characters
when: backdated and all throughout the month
where: all throughout quarantine
warnings: none yet! genji's mingle top level is here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Naw.

[ It's practically a reflex for Cisco, many times when he is offered praise, to brush it off, deny or diminish it. In this case, though, his voice has gone rough with emotion, and he shakes his head with a particular vehemence.]

Strong would've been catching wise to him before that. There were signs, I just... didn't want to see them. And I'm not-

[ He blinks a few times, annoyed by the way his vision is swimming suddenly with the pressure of tears, but he doesn't want to shed them, so he takes a moment to master himself. ]

I don't wanna mislead you, it's not like... there wasn't some big battle. I didn't know about my powers yet, and I was so- I couldn't believe it was true, when I stumbled on the proof of what he was doing. So when he showed up, I just kinda stood there and cried and didn't even try to run away or- or defend myself.

[ It feels very important to Cisco to make that clear. To represent the truth of it as fully as he can, so it doesn't seem like he's trying to make himself sound more brave than he had been. He sets down his tea, too, mostly so he has a free hand whose nails he can chew at to relieve some measure of his feeling of anxiety. ]

Yeah, that's him.

[ Then, belatedly, as some of Genji's words sink in, Cisco asks: ]

Do you mean... are you talking about with Hanzo?

[ Cisco knows, of course, that Hanzo had betrayed Genji. But he also knows that Genji recognizes, now, that it wasn't Hanzo's idea in the first place. And besides... perhaps it's only because he'd met the younger Genji, but something about that phrasing strikes him as strange. Though they undoubtedly loved one another - in a fucked-up dysfunctional way - Cisco doesn't get the impression Genji had really respected Hanzo. He wonders if, maybe, Genji is talking about someone else. His dad? ]

Cisco.

[ Genji's voice is tender, but there's an edge of genuine seriousness behind it. He's not one for a lecture though, and it's absolutely not how he sounds. He reaches over to gently put a hand on his shoulder. ]

You are not weak or unintelligent for being manipulated. People like that, that is what they do. They're good at it because they have no qualms about lying, or hurting people. [ He squeezes his shoulder. ] You hold yourself accountable because you do. But you are not at fault for the cruel whims of an abusive person.

[ Genji has learned a lot, about how manipulative his family was. How he had been manipulative too; he was hardly innocent. ]

And you are not a warrior, you are a scientist. It does not make you weak. You did what you could, and what you had to do. I think seeing your own death and not falling to pieces makes you stronger than most.

[ He removes his hand to give him space, but he's still turned slightly to face him. Genji nods at the confirmation that this is indeed Eoboard Thawne. But at his question... Genji makes a face, a mix between a slight melancholy and nostalgia. ]

Yes and no. I learned about betrayal from my family, but... [ He trails off. ] Did I ever tell you about my Commander back in Blackwatch?

[ Cisco doesn't know what it is inside him, that makes it almost hurt to be spoken to so gently, so patiently. It's like this any time he has a hard day and Eddie is full to the brim with nothing but kindness, or any time Taako just seems to instinctively know the few things to say to make him feel better. There are so many people in his life now, who treat him with such care, and he still hasn't quite learned how to deal with it.

But he is grateful, beyond words, for the reassurances, for the hand on his shoulder and the firm stance that it wasn't his fault. Cisco tries hard not to blame himself, but it can be difficult, at times, not to slip into that mindset. When Genji says he's strong for not falling to pieces, Cisco actually laughs - there's a hint of a sob about it, but also genuine amusement. He raises a hand and turns it from side to side, a hand gesture for iffiness that suggests maybe he fell to pieces a little bit, after all. But he makes no other arguments or objections. He lets himself be comforted, and tries to banish the lingering doubts, the heavy weight of grief and hurt. ]

Okay.

[ It's not much, but it's the most he can manage to say right then, without bursting into tears, and he'd really rather not do that. He tells himself that it's just because of the fever, just because he's feeling weak and shaky and not himself. But the truth is... some days are just harder than others, when it comes to how he feels about all of it, and today is one of those very hard days.

Which is why he's grateful, in a selfish way, to have the conversation shift away from him, for a little while. It's so much easier to comfort than be the one comforted, and to listen rather than to explain. ]

No. I mean I know... things were kind of shady, and you left, but you didn't really tell me about any of the people you worked with.

[ Cisco had been curious, because of course he was, but he'd avoided prying. It didn't seem like the sort of thing to be talked about lightly. But their conversation has slipped into a heavy place somehow, and maybe... now is the right time. ]

Was he, y'know... Eobard-ish?

[ i.e. THE WORST. ]

[ Genji doesn't keep prodding at it. Poking at a still fresh wound does little to help mend it, after all. He said what he wanted for now, it can be continued later. Genji is glad to take the spotlight for a moment.

He crosses his arms and leans back a bit, tilting his head up to the ceiling a moment. It's always hard to unravel the tangled ball of yarn that is What He Thinks of Reyes and His Alter Ego Reaper now. ]

Not to that extent, no. It's still hard for me to really understand how I feel about it all, but.

[ He shakes his head and leans forward again, turning to look at Cisco. ]

Blackwatch was shady by definition and I was okay with that. Reyes was my Commander and he always did whatever it took to get the job done, to save the day. Anything. He didn't care about recognition or statues or parades, he was the kind of person who did the dirty work because he knew he could handle it. So it wouldn't have to be on anybody else's head.

[ There's still a little bit of respect in Genji's tone. He closes his eyes. ]

He was a good man, at the end of the day. I left Blackwatch a little while later. And then he and the Strike-Commander of Overwatch died when a bomb went off in our Swiss base, destroying it.

[ He opens his eyes, jaw set tight all of a sudden. ]

Soon after, a mercenary and terrorist called 'Reaper' surfaced. And he was systematically going after and killing former Overwatch agents. [ A pause. ] When I arrived here, I ran into Reaper. And... it was him. Reyes.

[ Cisco listens quietly as Genji speaks, not interrupting even when he pauses now and then. Reyes. He thinks that Genji might have mentioned the name, once or twice, in some offhand way. But he hadn't realized the guy used to be Genji's C.O. Or that their relationship was quite so complex.

A small furrow forms between his brows as Genji comes to the part of the story where Reyes supposedly died, and then returned, in mysterious circumstances, on the other side. He rubs a hand over his mouth. There's a question he wants to ask, but he's not sure if he should. After all... there are a lot of good ways to respond to a friend discussing something like this. Interrogating them, seeming to be doubting them, isn't one of them.

But he's been quiet too long, now, too obviously contemplating something, and so there's nothing for it. ]

I'm gonna ask something. And... I don't want you to take it like I don't believe you or anything, 'cause, I mean. You heard. I know backstabbing is totally a thing that happens, but...

[ He draws in a sharp breath. Time to cut the disclaimers and just come out with it: ]

Are you sure it's the same Reyes? Not- not a doppelganger from a different Earth, or someone who copied his shape? 'Cause, see, that's exactly what Eobard did. When he came to the past, he got stuck, and he had to find a way to fit in. So he- he killed this scientist, Harrison Wells, and used some device to steal his appearance, and then just buried his body in the woods and- and took over his life. And nobody realized what had happened, not for a long time. We weren't sure 'til we found the real Harrison Wells's body.

[ Cisco's stomach still turns, remembering that day. That whole time in his life is a blur of sleep-deprived, horror-struck awfulness, but digging up that corpse had been a low point amidst other low points. ]

Maybe... do you think it's possible that happened, with Reyes? Or is he... do you know it's him, for sure?

[ He raises his brows gently and nods, waiting for him to continue. There isn't much Cisco could do or say that would offend him, he's spent enough time around scientists to understand curiosity.

But that explanation is certainly... something. Genji can't quite wrap his head around it, the concept of alternate Earths still quite mind boggling to him. But he listens and exhales through his nose, an almost sad little sound, as his shoulders sag a little.

He shakes his head. ]

That would probably make it easier to understand, but no. There's no way it's not him, unfortunately. I saw his face, spoke to him enough. He knew things about my time in Blackwatch that nobody else could have.

[ He looks at his hands, bends his fingers one by one in a rolling movement. It's a habit, a grounding sort of action. ]

Something happened to him. He's not dead but he isn't alive either. His body can't seem to... hold together. I think he mentioned nanomachines. He quite literally can become a ghost, a plum of smoke.

[ He looks back at Cisco, his eyes a little raw. ]

But the thing I was most angry at him about? That he let us think he was dead. I grieved him for five years. [ He shakes his head, snorting. ] But that makes me a bit of hypocrite.

[ Cisco nods as soon as Genji says it's not possible, even the explanations and evidence. If Reyes knew things from the past... chances are that the explanation really is that simple. Cisco feels a pang of regret for even asking, seeing the way Genji is staring down at his hands, moving his fingers in that methodical way. ]

I'm sorry.

[ He says it in that broadest sense - for asking, for how Genji's feeling, for the betrayal, for the whole thing. Cisco listens with mounting horror as Genji explains how Reyes had apparently been transformed into a ghost made of nanomachines? In another situation, it's the sort of thing Cisco would've gone into fits of ecstatic nerdery over. But there's nothing to celebrate about this. No room for humor, when Genji looks up at him with that vulnerable expression. ]

He hurt you. Lying to you like that, letting you grieve when you didn't have to... I would be pissed, too.

[ It's Cisco's turn, this time, to reach out, scooting closer to Genji on the couch in order to pull him into a slightly overwarm hug. That is Cisco's default, when it comes to comforting people. He's always been better at hugs than he is at comforting words, though he isn't too shabby at them, either. ]

It doesn't make you a hypocrite. It's not the same situation. Not at all. And even if it were, you're still allowed to be mad.

[ He gives Genji another little squeeze before letting him go, shifting back on the couch and re-draping the blanket across himself. ]

That must've been a really bad shock. Seeing him again, after all that time, and realizing he'd gone all dark side...

[ Genji really didn't expect the conversation to get emotional on his part, so he's a little blindsided by it. His feelings about Reyes and Reaper were things he kind of kept in the back of his mind, especially after he figured out Reyes left at some point. Maybe he's a little bitter about not even getting a goodbye... he thought they had made some sort of progress.

He manages a smile to Cisco though, although it's soft. ]

He did hurt me, yes. I guess I spent a lot of time trying to convince myself he hadn't.

[ He's a little surprised by the hug, but not in the bad way. Genji's smile gets a little brighter and he hugs back, warm metal encircling Cisco's equally warm and sick frame. He gives his friend a gentle squeeze. ]

Thank you for that. This whole thing is still something I've been processing, so it's difficult at times. Nothing gets resolved quickly, and I should know that better than anyone.

[ When they return to their spots on the couch, Genji rubs at his eyes with the heels of his hands. Takes a breath, in and out. The knot of emotion behind his steel sternum alleviates.

He drops his hands to his lap and nods. ]

It was. It makes you doubt everything. It made me think... if we hadn't come here, he eventually would have found me. And I am not so naive to think he wouldn't have tried to kill me.

[ And probably succeeded. A good portion of his own skill was learned from Reyes. How can you win against a man who quite literally has nothing left to lose now? ]

[ It's not just sympathy Cisco is feeling at that moment, but empathy. Sure, the situations were different in plenty of the particulars. But he knows what it is like to be hurt by people and then try so hard to convince himself he hadn't. There'd been no avoiding the knowledge of how Eobard had hurt him. It had taken much longer, and been much harder, to admit to himself that in a lot of ways, Caitlin and Barry had made that damage worse. Making him relive the memory over and over again for information, making him act the whole thing out again, using him as bait, and then both getting so wrapped up in their own pain and abandoning him for months and months afterwards...it had taken a long time for him to admit to himself how much they'd contributed to how bad off he was, when he first arrived in this place. ]

It's hard to admit that. We try to make excuses for people, and it can be hard to stop once you've started...

[ It hurts, though, seeing Genji wiping at his eyes like that, trying to regulate his breathing. From what little he's heard, the situation with this Reyes guy is complicated, but he still thinks anybody who could hurt Genji like this is absolute trash. If he ever runs into the guy, they are going to have Words, regardless of him being a violent criminal ghost made of nanobots or whatever. ]

You're allowed to take as long as you need to process it. Ain't like there's a deadline. And- and any time you need to talk about it or vent, you got my number.

[ Cisco, who has been carrying a little travel-pack of tissues around since he got sick, pulls it from his pocket and extends it to Genji, to take one if he wants. A tiny, wordless gesture, that Cisco isn't going to judge him for crying. Goodness knows he's cried in front of Genji before. ]

The doubt's the hardest part. I mean, it was for me, anyway. I still get... freaked out, any time I realize someone's been hiding something from me. Like it's going to happen all over again. Stupid, right?

[ He wonders if, like him, Genji had gone over his memories again, in hindsight, looking for clues, signs that could have warned him a betrayal was coming. At least it sounds like Reaper might not have been a double agent the whole time, but... who knows when he'd turned? ]

Do you know... I mean, did he say why, at all?

It is.

[ Genji smiles a little, not looking quite so shocked by the feelings stirring in his chest. ]

Thank you, Cisco. I didn't mean to all of a sudden get into this— but I guess I needed it. I always learn something about myself when we talk like this.

[ He looks a little confused by the offer of tissues and when he looks at the heels of his palms there are little damp spots. Oh. He hadn't even realized. Genji accepts the little pack of tissues and dabs at his eyes. Huh. When was the last time he had teared up? He was probably overdue.

Genji shakes his head as he tosses the used tissue perfectly into a nearby trash bin. ]

No, not at all. I, as you could probably assume, have a 'thing' about trusting older male authority figures. [ He looks back to Cisco, an odd little look behind his eyes. ] Between my father and Reyes and whatever happened in Overwatch... they tend to let me down.

[ He looks like he just realized something. ] My master is only twenty years old, considering he's an Omnic. Huh. That makes sense.

[ Genji picks up his tea cup again and takes another sip, his throat having gotten a little dry from all that. ]

'Revenge.' I don't know what for. For doing that to him? I feel like most of the answers lie in what happened the day the base exploded, but I just don't know.

[ Cisco sits quietly, hands folded in his lap, as Genji dries his eyes. He is glad that he could be here, when Genji needed someone to talk to. Glad that Genji not only will listen and not judge when Cisco himself gets emotional, but that he is willing to engage and be vulnerable, too. Even more than Genji's reassuring words, that makes Cisco feel better about getting so choked up, talking about Eobard.

And how strange, that the two of them, who have had such different lives, have found another little (or not so little) thing they have in common. ]

I mean... like, same. I don't know, maybe I'm just sayin' this because I got the same 'thing', but it seems like a reasonable precaution. The most dangerous enemy isn't a raging jackass with a flamethrower stomping through the streets challenging you to battle. It's... it's guys who are charming, and polite, and know how to get people to trust them, and who- who think about people like they're pawns. Just... disposable pieces in some big game they're playing.

[ He has twisted his fingers together at some point, tightly. He can't help but think about Dr. Wells, the night of the blackout, talking about using Tony as a necessary distraction, just minutes after he'd died. And it's only a quick jump from that to how he'd justified that, to him, Cisco had already been dead for centuries...

Cisco is grateful for the distraction, leaps on the opportunity to pull himself from that awful train of thought and ask, voice cracking a bit: ]

Wait, Zenyatta's younger than me?!

[ Cisco had assumed, precisely because he knew that Genji's master was an omnic, that that meant he was probably closer to 100 or something like that. That he must be so wise because he'd been alive for so long, not aging, because he was a robot. Then again, now that he thinks about it, the numbers don't add up, do they? Omnics probably hadn't been invented a century before Genji's time.

Still, weird to think about, and he hadn't even met the guy. ]

But you didn't do anything to him. And you said... he was just going after random Overwatch agents, right? Or... was it maybe not random?

[ Not that that could justify it, but there was maybe a pattern, a connection... ]

[ Kindred spirits are hard to find, but Genji is more than happy to have found one with Cisco. It's comforting to know that experiences are universal, that someone from an entirely different world and time can understand his own. Human beings are quite remarkable like that.

He just nods to that solemnly. ]

You aren't wrong. I would much rather deal with some super villain type who loudly monologues their intentions. I am quite tired of manipulative people.

[ Cisco's reaction makes him laugh, a genuine one, and tilt his head back slightly. ]

Indeed. Omnics haven't been around very long in the scheme of things, and they don't have a traditional 'childhood' like humans do. He's twenty, but it's really more like he's twice that age. I don't know much about his past, honestly, but I don't really think anybody does.

[ He sobers and sets his jaw again, the brightness in his eyes dulling. ]

It seemed like it was everyone. Everyone. Even including McCree.

[ Upon saying that, Genji realizes he doesn't think he's told Cisco about his former colleague turned friend. As if he remembers something, Genji suddenly gets up. ]

One moment.

[ In a streak of green after image Genji rushes to his room to grab a photo. He's received it from the maze around Christmas time; he didn't keep it out all the time, tucking it away in a drawer when the memories made his ribs ache too much. Maybe sharing this memory with Cisco will help.

He heads back into the living room and sits back down, showing the picture. It's him, Reyes and McCree after a mission. Long before Venice. He was in a rare good mood, explaining the haphazard peace sign. ]

I figured you could use some faces to names. Reyes is in the middle, my friend McCree on the right.

I feel that. You know... I think that's part of reason I fell for Eddie in the first place? 'Cause, he hasn't got a manipulative hair on his head.

[ To some people - people like Eobard - the fact that Eddie isn't a scientist and doesn't play games with people was a sign that he was lesser. That he was somehow stupid. But Cisco knows better. Eddie is just smart in different ways - ways that had let him see through Eobard's veneer of charm immediately. And even compared to good people that Cisco had known, like Barry, or Joe, he is straightforward, direct, and honest. ]

I mean. That, and, have you seen him?

[ Cisco can't help trying to inject just a little humor into the conversation. It feels good to chuckle, in defiance of all the bad stuff that has happened to the both of them. To show that they can still find things to smile about. ]

And since he's an Omnic he probably doesn't sleep, huh? So a day for him is like, twice as long...

[ He blinks when Genji disappears with a streak of green light, but it doesn't startle him all that badly. He know Genji's fast, has seen him move that fast - even if it was only in a dream. Cisco brushes his hair from his face, unperturbed. When Genji returns, Cisco raises his eyebrows slightly but doesn't comment, waiting to see what he's brought back.

Cisco feels a little lurch in his stomach when he realizes what it is. Of course. He has pictures, too. Of Team Flash, before things broke bad with Dr. Wells. He can even bring himself to look at them, sometimes. So it makes sense, that Genji might have similar artifacts, remnants from when things had been different.

Reyes doesn't look at all like what Cisco had pictured - he's not really sure what he expected. He looks... interesting. Fun. Charismatic, certainly. No point in trying to look in his face for any signs of the future. You couldn't tell just from looking at somebody. And the other guy, Cisco's never seen before, and doesn't recognize the name. Still, Genji didn't say someone I worked with, he'd said a friend. And there had been something about the way he phrased it... that Reaper wanted to hurt them all, even this McCree guy... ]

He was in Blackwatch with you?

[ Genji chuckles at that. ]

He is quite handsome and charming, one can't deny that. And absolutely smitten with you too.

[ When he returns with the photo and settles back down on the couch, he watches Cisco's face. Blackwatch, despite it's name and work, wasn't always doom and gloom. Genji was determined to be gloomy back then, but looking back on it there were plenty of good times. It gave him an outlet; goodness knows what he would have done or turned into without the guidance. (Probably been recruited to Talon, which twists his stomach to even think about.)

He nods to Cisco's question. ]

Yes. Jesse McCree. [ He snorts. ] Quite a name for a cowboy. He was there before I was, and was essentially Reyes' right hand man.

[ He looks at the picture. He misses McCree quite a lot, but he was glad to see he was doing alright when he was here briefly. But the man couldn't stay in one place for long, not after everything that had happened. ]

We had rather similar backgrounds. McCree was part of a gang when he was a teenager, and that's when Reyes found him. But he took him in instead of putting him in jail. Jesse— [ The switch to his first name sounds a little more tender, more familiar. ] —was closer to him than I was.

[ Genji sighs, shaking his head. ] It's just hard to think that any of that was a lie. I don't think it was.

[ Cisco's eyebrows raise at that. It's obvious, from Genji's tone of voice, to the softness around his eyes, to the careful way he's holding the photo, that this guy meant a lot to him. And that naturally makes Cisco curious about him. ]

A cowboy? They've got those, in the future?

[ He grows more serious listening to Genji reminisce. He can see how Genji, younger, hurt and sharp-edged, might have an easier time making friends with someone who had had some hard knocks, too. And McCree, from the sound of it, wasn't one of those assholes who held it against Genji that he was a cyborg. Sounds like the kind of guy Cisco wouldn't mind getting to know.

But his stomach twists awfully when Genji says that Reyes took him in. To Cisco, it's starting to look like a pattern. Genji, indebted for saving his life, traumatized and vulnerable, going to work for Blackwatch, following their orders and killing for them. And apparently McCree, facing incarceration, already used to violent exploitation from being in a gang, being offered a 'better option'. Sounded to him like Reyes knew just who to pick, to make sure his soldiers weren't in a position to say no. ]

Did that bother you, that they were closer? Was it a competitive thing?

[ The fact that Cisco leapt to that assumption and question is a lot more telling about his own experiences than anything else. But, of course, if this Reyes knew anything about Genji and Hanzo, he could've easily used that, arranged things to echo that dynamic just enough to keep Genji under his thumb...

He chews at his nail again, looking at the photo, at the smiles on their faces, Genji's carefree (or it looked that way, anyway) peace sign. He hopes he's just projecting. That it's different for Genji than it had been for him - not a lie all along. ]

I... hope it wasn't, too.

[ It's hard to not become friends with someone you're knee deep in the proverbial muck with. Their banter always made it a little easier to get through missions, Genji always reminding him to not be so reckless. So he wouldn't 'need a body like his.' How times change. ]

He might be the last one, but he is. Hat, spurs, accent and all. You know how many times I heard the phrase 'high noon' when we worked together?

[ Genji's already long since had the same kind of thoughts that are going through Cisco's mind. Upon realizing Reaper was indeed Reyes, it was hard not to. It was hard not to doubt every instance of kindness. Doubt every intention. But things could be meant in earnest at one point, and then someone can just... change.

He never doubted his brother loved him. What happened between them still happened.

But at Cisco's next question Genji looks genuinely confused, like he suddenly couldn't even understand what he was asking. ]

Competitive...? No, not at all. Neither of us did anything specifically for Reyes' praise. Nor would he have wanted us to.

[ He signs and leans over to put the photo on the coffee table, picking up his tea cup again. Genji shakes his head. ]

I feel it is safe to say both of us are tired of being disappointed by people we cared about.

Damn. That's commitment to the theme, anyway. Did he have a horse?

[ Cisco has a feeling that horses didn't much help with covert violent black-ops missions, but he's not actually curious about that, just wanting to make Genji laugh, a little, if he can. The cowboy thing is a little odd, sure, but Cisco gets it. It's the same reason Oliver calls himself the Arrow, the same reason Barry's suit has lightning bolts on it. A little flair, a bit of a persona, could help make it all make a bit more sense, be a bit more fun. ]

Was McCree still around, when you left Overwatch?

[ He knows that Genji had walked away, after all, left the organization and struck out. But now that he knows he'd had a friend (not to mention a... whatever Reyes was to him), it complicates the whole thing a bit. ]

Gotcha. Cool.

[ Cisco rubs the back of his neck, and then, because he figures it is probably already pretty clear. ]

Dr. Wells... Eobard, I mean, he liked to kind of- he had a way of making it feel so important to compete to be his favorite. He kind of... used that to stop us from asking too many questions, you know? Worrying too much about stuff he didn't want us noticing. Keeping us in line.

[ Cisco's face feels hot with embarrassment, even shame. It sounds so childish, so ridiculous, in hindsight. But it had worked, on all of them. Him, Hartley. Caitlin, in her own way. Ronnie was the only one really outside it, and only because Ronnie was the sort of person who didn't ask a lot of questions to start with. ]

Safe to say, yeah.

[ Cisco chews at his bottom lip. Talking about the past was one thing, but... ]

I worry sometimes... what I'd do if he showed up here. Like if he showed up from a different part of the timeline, or whatever, or even after he'd died. It happens sometimes, with the portal.

[ That had been how Eddie showed up here; Cisco knows it's not out of the question. And so whatever closure he'd had, in those months after the singularity, that he would at least never see Dr. Wells again, is a little less closed, now. He can't help but think about it as a possibility for the future.

Without thinking about it much in advance, Cisco blurts: ]

When he was dying, he turned and ask for help. Like, he'd been ranting about how he was going to fucking murder all of us, including me, about thirty seconds before, and then he had the nerve to...

[ He trails off, with a shrug, letting that awkward pause be the end of that little revelation. ]

[ It does get Genji to laugh a little. ]

No. I don't actually think he's ever ridden one, which is quite funny.

[ He doesn't know much about McCree's past, but he gets the impression that a lot of what his friend presents is what he's decided for himself. Their kind of pasts, not a lot of things to make your own. ]

Yes, but not for long. He grew disillusioned after a certain mission we had in Venice. I suppose after I was gone he couldn't find any more reasons to stay. [ A sigh. ] He probably would have died in the explosion if he hadn't.

[ Genji looks back to Cisco as he listens to him speak. He mulls it over in his head... no, he doesn't think Reyes ever did that with them. But he doesn't want to sound naive, like he's trying to defend a man who doesn't need it anymore. It's just— so hard to wrap his mind around someone changing so much.

He's hardly one to talk though. There was a reason his brother had such a hard time accepting he was even still alive. ]

That is just a tactic that manipulative people have in their arsenal. Like I said, you are not weak or in the wrong for being preyed upon. It is not something to be ashamed of.

[ Have another gentle shoulder squeeze. Now that was a tough thought... ]

I have wondered that too. If the Reyes I remembered showed up one day, I'm not sure what I would do. You can't condemn someone for something they may not have even done yet, can you?

[ Genji tilts his head at the last part, and a look crosses his face. ]

Sounds quite cowardly. Most manipulators are, at the end of the day. They get everyone else to do the 'hard' work for them. When you make a choice, you should be prepared to face the consequences. Whatever that may be.

Sounds like you both got out while the getting was good.

[ Cisco thinks about asking about the mission that Genji alludes to, what it was that made McCree become so disillusioned. But then he thinks better of it. From the sound of it, McCree was a pretty hardened dude; for something to shock him out of loyalty to Overwatch, it must have been pretty messed up, and probably violent and awful. Genji was there, it sounds like. Cisco knows that Genji killed people, back then. But he's happier not thinking about it, and not knowing too many of the details. It makes things easier, probably for both of them. ]

If he ever shows up here, I'd like to meet him. McCree, I mean.

[ He... would also want to meet Reyes, but only to keep an eye on him in case he tried to start shit or did anything to make Genji unhappy or unsafe. Cisco doesn't care how scary the guy is. Nobody fucks with his friends. ]

Yeah. I can see how that'd be kinda tricky. Since... Reyes really did change, sounds like. I mean, with Dr. Wells, I'm pretty sure I'd condemn any version of him that showed up. Like, the reason he got stuck in the past ten years before I even met him was he was trying to pull a Terminator and wanted to murder a fucking little kid, so. Kinda think he's just a sick evil bastard and always has been.

[ Some logical part of Cisco's brain knows that Eobard probably wasn't always quite as awful and homicidal as the version he'd known, for his whole life, but he doesn't really care. He's not interested in the backstory. He just wants to not ever have to deal with him again.

He pulls out his phone, taps at the screen a few times. Convenient, that all his files can be accessed remotely, and he'd taken some time a few weeks back to scan that photo album he'd gotten in the maze, in case anything ever happened to it. (Considering all the disasters and monsters and chaos in this place, you can't be too careful). Cisco flips through to the selfie Barry snapped of all of them after he caught the Royal Flush gang, and holds his phone out mutely for Genji to take, pouring the both of them a little more tea once his hands are free. Cisco looks younger in it - not just the one year that he's aged since then. It seems like more than that. ]

[ Genji nods to that. ]

Indeed. I've never felt particularly guilty about it either, truthfully. There was nothing that I, or he, could have done to try to "change" anything.

[ And that's a nice thought. He definitely thinks McCree would get along with Cisco nicely; goodness knows they'd have plenty to talk about. McCree isn't a scientist, but he's plenty intelligent. (Plus, all those old pop culture referenes.)

Genji smiles. ]

I think you would like him. I am sure that one day he'll show up, tumbleweed and all.

[ Genji listens and his expression hardens a tad as Cisco talks about Wells. Or Thawne, whoever that sociopath he dealt with was. ]

Some people are just bad and there isn't anything that can be done about it. Not everyone is capable of changing.

[ Genji takes the phone and examines it. Ah, yes, a sentiment he can understand. Easier times, happier times. Less complicated. Cisco does look younger.

He points to the man at the bottom. ]

So that is him, then?

Damn, Genji. Why you always gotta make having a healthy attitude look so damn easy?

[ There's clear fondness in Cisco's voice as he teases, laughing a little at his own joke, even though it makes him cough for a minute or so after. He takes a sip of his tea once he catches his breath, then goes on: ]

No reason you should feel guilty, as far as I can tell. You'd already given them plenty.

[ Again, that temptation to ask what it was that had happened on that Venice mission, or that had convinced Genji to leave Overwatch. But is it really worth the risk of upsetting Genji, and possibly upsetting himself, just to satisfy his curiosity? ]

Yeah.

[ It's stupid, how much it still hurts looking at that picture. Cisco tries to tell himself the tugging in his chest is just from the coughing, but he's not fooling himself. Then, realizing some context might be needed: ]

He, uh- pretended to be paralyzed from the waist down, after the particle accelerator exploded. I mean, for a year and a half he had us thinking he had to use a wheelchair. I guess... at some point, what's one more lie.

[ Cisco feels a twinge of nausea remembering those first awful weeks after the explosion, when he thought Ronnie was dead and it was all his fault, when Wells 'recovering' in the hospital and Cisco went to visit him every day. He doesn't know how he'd managed to hoodwink the doctors. Just one of those questions he was never going to get answered.

Suddenly, though, it seems important to make sure Genji knows, the extent of it. How much devastation he'd left in his wake. So he points to Barry, says in a slightly choked voice. ]

He came back in time trying to kill him, when he was a little kid, but he fucked it up, so instead he just murdered his mom and framed his dad. He was in prison for twelve years. [ He points to Caitlin, next: ] She was my best friend back home. Kinda like you and McCree. She lost her fiancé 'cause of Wells. She cried herself to sleep for weeks. And he just- used her grief to make her even more loyal.

[ It wasn't just Cisco, who he'd hurt. Not by a long shot. And, in a sick way, it's easier to hate him for the things he'd done to other people. People Cisco cares about more than he cares about himself. ]

He tortured Eddie. Kept him tied up in the dark all alone for weeks, and starved him, and told him all this shit about- about how he didn't matter, and his life wasn't worth anything, and he was a failure.

[ He... probably shouldn't tell people all that without Eddie's permission, but, well, it's Genji. Cisco trusts him not to go spreading it around, or to be weird about it. And if he's listing off Eobard's crimes, well, it would be wrong not to include those two weeks as one of the biggest. ]

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