A debtor to Mercy alone

He should have seen this coming, and he should have been more thorough with his job when it was given to him so many years ago. The Shimada clan was not nearly as prominent as it had been in its hayday, when they controlled the crimes of the streets with an iron fist. He should have known that they would scatter when he made his attack, and while he'd managed to strike many of them down, there were some that had escaped.

Angela was the sole reason that Genji still walked among men, a prime target for those that wished to punish the one who had turned their sparrow into a monster. The message had been vague, but it didn't take a genius to decipher what they wanted. They wanted him, he was walking into their trap, but they didn't know what to expect from the youngest son just yet.

Genji was swift and silent in his movements as he scaled the walls of the building, close enough now to hear a mocking voice as the man stepped into the room with the bound doctor.

"You have awakened." The man's voice was low, a threatening yet casual purr, "do you know why you are here?" He strolled around her, unaware of the eyes that watched him behind a visor beyond his line of sight, "you brought shame to the Shimada name. It is because of you that he became a monster. A disgrace." The man slipped a gun from his cleanly pressed coat, "and now we will punish you for it."

At the sound of the gunshot, there was a smoking hole in the wooden floor below her, just to her left where the man's shot had missed. Where words tried to tumble out of his mouth, only blood gurgled out, bubbling at the corners of his lips as he began to claw desperately at his throat, where three shurikens were buried deep in the man's neck.

His movements were like lightning as he dropped to the floor, making the barest sound as he touched down to the ground. He should have moved sooner, but the man's words had given him pause, almost too much pause, his folly had nearly cost the doctor her life, and he would never forgive himself if he allowed that to happen to a woman as good as her.

The sparrow didn't say a word as he approached the gurgling man, who'd thumped to the floor writhing, setting a foot against his chest and leaning close, "remember this face as your life leaves your body." There was a menace in his voice as he watched the man struggle for a few moments longer, before he finally went limp with a soft death rattle.

His demeanor immediately loosened up and he calmed when the man was dead, and he turned to the doctor to approach her carefully, "Doctor Ziegler, it seems I am returning the favor." There was a soft humor in his tone as he set on untying her, "are you okay? You appear to be unharmed." He let out a breathy sigh of relief, pulling away and helping her up when he had her free, "how did this happen, Angela?" He brushed a strand of hair from her face, relief of his face, though it was hidden from her view by his visor.

He felt little for the man that now lay dead on the wooden floor, casting a glance at him when Angela insisted he needed care, "no, Angela, it was my duty many years ago to wipe them from the earth." He knelt down beside the man as he dug for any form of identification, "it seems my task is not entirely complete." There was a remorseful tone to his voice, as heinous and ill-meaning as these people were, they had once been his family, before he fell and became what he was.

He tried not to be deterred by the recoil, though his face read hurt behind his visor, "I am glad you are unharmed." He said simply, getting to his feet and glancing around, "we cannot stay here." He spoke softly, "no doubt they will have more lookouts posted." He glanced at her, "we will leave through the back." He waked a hand for her to follow as he slipped through the shadows to a small exit, "They must have been waiting for you then. Biding their time." He mused this softly as he led her out of the building.

When they were safe, or relatively so, he finally relaxed and settled into a more casual stroll beside her, "how have you been, Doctor Ziegler?" He let out a soft chuckle and shook his head, "up until now, that is, I imagine you are less than well at the present." After a pause he craned his neck to see the stars, "it is good to see you again."

He turned his hidden eyes to her when she grasped his hand, wanting to say something, but the proper words wouldn't come to his lips, so instead he gave a soft sigh of slight relief. He was used to people looking on at him with horror, with fear and disgust, it was his life now, and though he'd made peace with who and what he was now, these things still wounded him. He was glad for the comfort that such a simple gesture from the doctor afforded him, and he let a soft smile flit over his features, though she couldn't see it behind his covered face.

Genji let out a soft chuckle at that, glancing to his side at the woman walking beside him, "yes. It is unavoidable in our line of work." Her words gave him pause however, and he tilted his head, "do you think me selfish?" His voice was soft and he glanced to the side, "do not take me as a remorseless killer, Doctor Ziegler." He looked at her, "I am a machine in body alone." His tone became somewhat somber as he continued, "they are my family, my clan...Or they were." Years worth of pain hid behind those words, the family that he was not good enough for, the brother that had cut him down and broken his wings, "I feel...Pain...Killing them. But it must be done." There was a finality in his tone, it had been his mission in exchange for his life.

He laughed with more feeling at her mocking quip, smirking though it was hidden, "of course, I would not be here were it not for you, Angela." He did look surprised behind the mask when she admitted she was looking for him, the thought was warming, "I am well." He looked thoughtful a moment before reaching his hands to release the mechanism that held the piece over his face, pushing it back over his head to reveal a face that at one time was handsome, and still might be so, though it was lined with scars now, "When you found me, when I awoke in this body, I was afraid." He mused, turning his eyes to the side at her, "I was angry, at myself, at my brother. I felt like an abomination, a machine for murder." He put a hand over his chest, "but I have made peace with this form, I am still a man, I still hold a human soul, and a human mind." He gave her a smile, "I was lost then, but now I feel whole."

He was somewhat comforted by her words, for as many people as he had met in his life travelling the world, there were few who did not look upon him as an emotionless killer, that it was a comfort to be reassured that at least a few did not see him that way. He glanced in her direction, "I am glad. Many people think such things of me." He sighed, "that I have lost my humanity...And perhaps for a time I did." His voice was somber as he spoke, recollecting those of his own blood that he'd spilled without a thought, "I was at war with myself, and perhaps I lost my humanity for a brief period. But that is no longer a part of who I am." He said this as if to reassure himself as much as he was her.

"I do not blame you or your company, Angela. I willingly traded my blade for my life." His tone was soft, and he afforded her a small smile now that she could see the expression on his face, "one cannot carry such burdens on their shoulders, I am alive, and I am happy." He gave her a meaningful expression, "I could only wish the same for you, Angela." He knew there was a heavier burden she carried than what she let on, he didn't know if he could offer the same peace that he'd been afforded, but he could reassure her that he held no grudge against her or Overwatch.

Genji didn't flinch or pull away when she lifted her hand to trace his scars, letting out a laugh that was slightly weaker, "people are often more put off by my face than what I am, you know, it is somewhat funny." At her question, he smiled more earnestly, "after I left Overwatch behind, I spent a length of time among the Monks of Nepal. My teacher, Zenyatta, led me down the path of tranquility and acceptance. I would be a different man entirely if not for his guidance." He did flinch slightly at the mention of his brother, glancing to the side with a somewhat haunted expression.

"Hanzo." He said simply, glancing back up at her, "our clan was not satisfied with my desicion not to lead the family alongside my brother." His voice was tight now, heavy with years of hurt, "I did not want to lead their life of crime. So they ordered Hanzo to put me in line." He turned his eyes to her, "so he did. And the result is the state that you found me in." Genji heaved a sigh, "I forgave Hanzo long ago." He looked up at the moon, "but Hanzo refuses to forgive himself." There was a distinctly sad tone in his voice now, "I miss him. I wish for nothing more than to have my brother back..." He trailed off after this, putting a hand over his chest, where his heart was, surprised even now that it could still hurt even after so long.

He put a hand over her's and chuckled softly, "it was not as if I did not want to be saved..." His face became pensive, and he sighed, "that is not true, at the time I feel I would have faced my own mortality gladly..." It hurt to admit that, but the fight that had left him in that condition, a fight that he did not entirely fight back for, had left a wound that ran deeper than any of the physical injuries he'd sustained, "I am glad now for what you did, despite what I became because of it." He let out a soft sigh, "I am glad for the second chance." He only wished Hanzo could accept the second chance that Genji had offered him as well.

At the mention of his scars, he shrugged, dismissing the notion, "perhaps, but as you say, the pieces that make up the body mean nothing, it is what is within that makes one human." At her admittance that he seemed sound, he couldn't restrain his own laugher alongside her's, nodding, "I like to think that I am, thank you, Angela." He gave her a genuine smile.

"Zenyatta is younger than me, but you would never believe it speaking to him, he is wise beyond his years." He glanced at her with a smile and chuckled, "he is an omnic, as well." He looked thoughtful, "I believe that is why he was able to help me. He helped me find balance and acceptance between the parts of me that are human, and the parts that are not." He mused, "I am man, but undoubtedly machine as well, but I am human where it counts. In my heart and in my soul."

He nodded and chuckled softly, "Hanzo is a man dedicated to duty and honor, and at the time this meant obeying the elders." He looked over at her, "I am." He said simply, glancing to the side with a mournful expression, "because more than anything I wish to have my brother back. He is the only family I have that is not scattered to the four winds." He looked surprised by her statement, eyes widening as he smiled, "I am made of nothing different than you, Angela." There was laughter in his voice, "I am no wiser than any human, I simply see the world differently." He glanced at her, "just as a wound to you looks different to me, because you are brilliant in that where I am not."