#mcgenjiweek

Genji can feel it creeping up on him, and he curses softly. McCree groans in his arms, and Genji tries to keep his running as smooth as possible. He glances behind him, and the Talon troopers that were hot on their trail are gone. He scans the room, and quickly ducks them behind a door to the left.

With one last check, Genji shuts the door behind them. He gently sets McCree down on the ground, before backing himself against the door.

This is bad, he thinks, sinking to his knees. Genji knew what time of year it was, and had promised Dr. Ziegler that he’d be fine. The mission was supposed to be a quick in and out - it was nothing more than intelligence gathering.

However, one of Talon’s higher-ups had decided to talk to Genji like he was the help. Reyes had warned him before hand that it would happen - it was just how omnics were treated here. McCree either didn’t get the memo, or didn’t care, and broke character by punching one of them straight in the jaw.

Genji looks at the cowboy with affection. McCree might have lost the fight and blown their cover before they could get what they really came for, but it reminded him why the man has had his heart since he first joined Blackwatch. Not that he’d tell him that, of course. Genji doesn’t think he knows how to do those kinds of relationships anymore, and it isn’t like McCree feels the same. He might flirt with everyone, but Genji has known him long enough to know that he’s picky.

Genji leans forward and rips a strip of McCree’s already battered shirt off. He cleans away what blood he can, and tears off more strips to use as make-shift bandages.

“Oh, go right ahead,” McCree says, weakly. “Didn’t like this shirt anyways.”

Genji’s lips quirk. McCree made sure Reyes knew just how much he hated his undercover outfit before they left base.

“Sorry,” Genji says, even though they both know he isn’t. “I’m not exactly wearing anything that’s able to be ripped.”

“Right,” McCree says, wincing when Genji tightens the fabric on a gash on his upper-arm. “Are you technically always naked?”

Genji snorts. Leave it to McCree to ask the weirdest questions in dire situations.

“Not quite, cowboy,” he says, slouching back against the door.

McCree inspects Genji’s work and whistle lowly.

“Damn, darlin’, you could give O’Dorian a run for her money.”

“Wouldn’t you like that?” Genji teases.

How much McCree hates Moira isn’t exactly a secret to anyone that knows him. Genji remains indifferent, as he does with most people.

McCree opens his mouth like he might retort, but he reaches a hand out for Genji instead.

“You okay?” he asks, and Genji puts his hands on McCree’s chest to keep him from sitting up. “You’re shaking, darlin’. Did they get you too?”

Genji shakes his head, “I’m fine. It’s just the shift.”

McCree’s eyes widen.

“Shit,” he hisses, “we have to get you out of here.”

Genji pushes him back onto the floor.

“We nothing, McCree. You are injured, and a pilot is already on their way. We stay here until they get here.”

“Will you make it that long?”

Genji takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly.

“If I can’t hold it back, just make sure I get onto the ship.”

McCree nods, but he doesn’t look sure. Genji didn’t expect him too; he’s not exactly a dragon tamer.

Genji tries to give him a reassuring smile, but he’s not sure how successful it is with the faceplate in the way.  McCree places a hand on his knee, and he tries to concentrate on the warmth, and not the aching in his bones.

____________________________________

Genji barely makes it to the ship. McCree watches him writhe on the floor with his lip between his teeth. He hates watching Genji shift. It’s like hearing a baby cry, and not being able to do anything about it. It tugs at something deep within you, almost like helping him is ingrained in his instincts. Genji mentioned before that it’s natural - it’s something that dragon’s use to lure in their prey.

McCree’s grateful that Genji is a fairly small dragon, because he’d be the easiest prey Genji has ever seen otherwise. Instead, Genji preys on other animals, rather than people.

Genji’s cries quiet to pants, and it’s suddenly so deafeningly quiet that McCree’s ears ring. He rubs his eyes, and the curled up cyborg is replaced with a small green dragon. It’s piercing red eyes are trained on him, and he can’t help but feel uneasy. The dragon stalks forward, and wraps its body around McCree like a blanket.

“Oh,” McCree says, startled as Genji rubs his scaly face against McCree’s cheek.

The dragon huffs a breath in his face, and he coughs at the smell of the spaghetti they ate. While Genji may be small for dragon standards, he’s still big enough to completely engulf McCree as he gets comfortable. He curls around him, and rests his head on his own tail. He looks up at him with an expression that McCree would almost call adoring.

He tentatively reaches out and runs a hand along Genji’s scales. The dragon makes a pleased sound, and he smiles.

“Well, darlin’, I’d say you’re just about the cutest thing that I ever did see,” he compliments, and the dragon preens under it.

McCree laughs and settles in against the dragon. The dragon seems to approve of this, and moves with him, careful to avoid jostling any of McCree’s wounds. He falls asleep with the dragon’s solid back under his head.

_____________________________

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Reyes hisses.

Genji the dragon hisses back, and McCree continues to look on, bewildered. Reyes is stomping out a small fire that Genji spit at him when they’d entered the debriefing room.

Genji lowers himself further to the ground when Reyes steps forward, and he reminds McCree of a cat that’s getting ready to pounce. It’s a warning sign, and Reyes seems to recognize this.

“What’s gotten into him?” he demands, and McCree shrugs uselessly.

“He wasn’t like this with me,” he says, and the dragon’s head snaps in his direction.

All of the tension in the dragon’s shoulders releases when he hears McCree’s voice, and he happily nudges McCree’s stomach with his head. He tentatively pats the dragon’s head.

Reyes steps forward, and Genji is instantly on guard again. He hisses and spits, and Reyes pinches the bridge of his nose.

“I knew this was a bad idea, but the kid insisted,” he mutters to himself. Then, to McCree, “Go see Dr. Ziegler about your wounds.”

McCree nods and salutes. He gives Genji a look before leaving the room. The dragon pads after him happily.

_______________________________

“She’s just making sure I’m okay, Genji,” McCree scolds at the hissing dragon.

Genji eyes the doctor wearily. Angela gives him a smile, and fearlessly scratches under his chin.

“I’m not taking your treasure from you, Genji, I’m just going to fix it up. Pinky swear,” she says, offering the dragon her pinky.

Genji glares at it, but a look from McCree makes him huff and lick it. He jumps up onto the exemption table with McCree, and curls around his back. He watches the doctor move around him with cold eyes.

“What did you mean by ‘treasure?’” McCree asks, holding out his arm for Angela to look at.

The doctor takes it with a feather-light touch.

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Angela says, examining his arm. “All dragons have a treasure that they guard. Most guard gold, like you hear in those old stories. Others guard things that are important to them, though it’s mostly shiny things. Genji seems to consider you his treasure, which is why he won’t let anyone else near you. Dragons are very selfish and greedy creatures, you know.”

“Right,” McCree says, scratching the top of Genji’s head, a bit awed.

The dragon makes a pleased sound, but otherwise stays silent as Angela patches McCree up. He feels a million times better after being in Dr. Ziegler’s careful care, and he makes sure to tell her as such. She smiles and sends the two on their way.

“I suppose you’re sleeping with me tonight,” McCree says, glancing back at the dragon.

Genji’s tale wags happily at the attention, and McCree shakes his head fondly. He opens the door to his room, and lets the dragon in first. It makes itself comfortable in McCree’s bed, and then looks at him expectantly. McCree settles in carefully, and the dragon places its paws and head on his stomach.

McCree strokes down the dragon’s back as it relaxes, and smiles.

“You treasure me, huh?” McCree says to himself, and the dragon makes a small agreeing noise. “I treasure you, too, you know.”

He blushes, and part of him hopes that Genji won’t remember he said that when he switches back. Just because dragon Genji treasures him, doesn’t mean human Genji does.

Jesse was hunting around the data archives of the computer that Blackwatch had just hacked for him, searching for a select few files that they needed. He scrolled through the titles, eyes constantly moving and darting to things that looked like what they needed only to be disappointed.

“Hurry up.” Genji griped next to him, the ninja still crouching and gripping his wakizashi, red eyes glowing slightly in the dim lighting.

“I’m workin’ on it...!” Jesse hissed through clenched teeth, finding the file titled ‘Red Rise’ and clicking it with a triumphant little noise. It started to download onto the flash drive that was hooked up to the computer, and the cowboy continued to search for the next one.

“McCree, hurry up dammit! Something’s not right!” Genji growled, shaking Jesse’s shoulder and getting a smack in response.

“Shut the fuck up, I’m goin’ as fast as I can.”

Jesse’s comm buzzed and he rolled his eyes at the new distraction before jamming his fingers against it to activate the speaker.

“Yeah boss, I know, I’m workin’ on it, as fast as I fuckin’ can.”

“McCree, Shimada, you need to get out of there now, you’ve got twenty hostiles coming your way from the East. We’re already choked up here, I can’t afford to send backup.” Reyes told them in his usual calm and commanding tone, but Jesse could tell he was worried.

“How much time ya reckon we got?” Jesse asked as he clicked the second file he needed, scrolling even faster now.

“Not enough, now move your asses!”

“Boss, this is the only chance we got at this. Tell me. How much time have I got?” Jesse demanded, eyes flicking back and forth continuously at this point, Genji pacing at his side. This mission was too important to just leave half finished, these files too detrimental to their next step to take out one of the largest suppliers of the blackmarket Talon used in the United States. He and Reyes both knew that, and Jesse was willing to take some risks to get the job done.

“Shit, two minutes max, okay? So get what we need and haul ass, you got it?”

“I hear ya Jefe.” Jesse affirmed curtly, switching the comm off and focusing completely on finding the last file they needed. His eyes scanned over the words until they stopped on what he needed, and he quickly clicked on it, pumping his fist. Now all they had to do was wait a few seconds for it to download.

“Jesse...Jesse they’re coming...”

Jesse ignored Genji’s warnings, waving him off with an irritated grunt and throwing a glance over his shoulder. The hall was still quiet and empty, but it wouldn’t be for long.

“Jesse...Come on we have to go.” Genji muttered, tugging on the cowboy’s sleeve as Jesse pulled the flash drive out of the computer and tucked it into a pocket that zipped up.

“An’ we’re done here. Let’s go.”

Genji grabbed his arm and immediately took off, Jesse having to sprint to keep up with the ninja’s pace. They ran down the hall and scrambled around a corner, Jesse sliding from the sharpness of it but managing to keep his feet beneath him. Genji then did his fancy double jump onto a higher level of the building when they came to a foyer, Jesse glaring.

“A little help would be nice since some of us don’t have kick ass enhancements!” He called, Genji rolling his eyes as he reached down to help pull Jesse up.

“Come on Jesse, get on your feet!” Genji teased, Jesse grumbling and about to retort when a bullet went whizzing past his ear.

“Oh shit!”

“Jesse?!”

The gunslinger ducked down lower, shoving Genji along and jogging until they reached the corner, where Jesse pulled out his gun and pressed his back against the wall, the ninja doing the same next to him. There was the sound of heavy boots hitting the metal flooring coming towards them, along with tactical gear and weapons shifting together with movement. They were definitely going to be outnumbered.

“Ya ready?” He asked, Genji nodding sharply with his hand gripping his wakizashi, body tense.

“Now!”

Jesse turned the corner, his gun hovering over Genji’s shoulder as the ninja deflected the bullets coming at them and keeping them safe. Jesse downed six in one go, quickly reloaded, then hit another six before Genji’s arm started to slow from all the fire on them.

“Back, get back.” The ninja shouted over the blasts of gunfire, and Jesse rolled behind the wall once more, Genji darting after him not a split second later. Jesse was about to ask if he was okay when he heard a very specific clicking sound, and his eyes widened as he scrambled to get up and pull Genji out of the way.

“Grenades!” Was all he managed to get out before Genji slammed into him from the force of the explosion, the both of them thrown out of the hall with a billow of smoke and fire. Jesse’s back and head hit the wall on the opposite side of where they just were with a wet sounding crunch, Genji’s body hitting his own and knocking the breath out of him as the metal points of his faceplate slashed a cut open across the cowboy’s cheek, the ninja’s head shattering his nose. Jesse cursed when he could breathe again, spitting blood and dragging his screaming body into a kneeling position as he rolled Genji over.

“Hey, Gen, wake up. Come on wake up wake up wake up!” Jesse yelled, ears still ringing from the explosion, Genji’s head lolling in his lap as the dust started to settle. The gunslinger cursed, then looked down at the ninja’s legs, eyes widening and breathing in sharply. Genji’s prosthetics were mangled and severed horribly, one of them completely missing while the other hung on by a few sparking wires, a mixture of blackish red liquid dripping from the wounds.

“Oh fuck, shit fuck fuck...Gen? Gen can ya hear me? Come on, please I need ta know yer okay...” Jesse muttered, mostly to himself, though Genji groaned softly after another moment. The gunslinger didn’t have time to be relieved though, the hostiles that had shot at them coming from a different hall this time since the other had been blown apart, their boots loud in Jesse’s oversensitive ears. A sudden static noise filled the cowboy’s head, and he grunted in pain, pulling the ruined comm out of his ear and tossing it to the ground angrily.

“Fuck! Shit, no no...”

Jesse searched Genji for his comm, unable to find anything that even remotely resembled one, and he glared in frustration. That was their only way to communicate with the rest of the team, the only way to get help and evac. The sound of running had the cowboy’s head whipping around, and he scooped up Genji’s limp form quickly before taking off in the opposite direction. It was up to him to get them out of this now, up to him to get them through this alive, to survive, and Jesse was damn sure that he wasn’t going to let Genji die. 

He could only run at full speed for so long-his whole body protesting with every step and every shift of Genji in his arms, and it all throbbed painfully-but he still managed to get them down a level. Jesse wasn’t about to jump out any windows or try to run across roofs with Genji unconscious in his arms, so he would have to get to the ground level to escape. There was an alleyway that led to the heart of the city on the North side of the building, and if he could get there, it would be pretty easy to blend in with the crowd enough to find a safe place to call in a rendezvous if Genji still had a working comm. Jesse focused on that, not the pounding footsteps behind him, the pain wracking his entire body, or his ragged breaths, just surviving. 

The cowboy chanced a glance over his shoulder-eight men chasing after them-then he shifted Genji, tossing him over one shoulder and pulling out Peacekeeper with his free hand. Jesse took a steadying breath in, then spun abruptly, time seemingly slowing as the air around him got a red tint as it grew heavy and hot, letting his breath out slowly. He locked on to each of his targets in turn, bullets whizzing past him in an odd silence as Jesse tuned everything out but this, like the world itself was zeroing in on this moment just for him. Jesse’s finger tightened on the trigger, and eight shots rang out, a rush of sound and colour flooding the gunslinger’s senses as eight bodies hit the floor in a spray of blood with a bullet square between the eyes.

He cursed and doubled over slightly, his eye burning as he slapped his hand over it, but he didn’t have time to focus on it. Jesse hoisted Genji and continued to jog down the halls, going down a flight of stairs at a haphazard speed before skidding to a panicked stop. Ten men turned to stare at him, but the gunslinger already had his gun out again, locking on to their heads before they could even raise their own weapons. Jesse shouted in pain after the bullets hit their mark, and this time he dropped Genji, falling to his knees and clutching at his head. This power came with a price, and Jesse always paid his dues. After a moment of breathing heavily and only the sounds of static and echoing gunshots filling his head, the cowboy focused on Genji once more, unable to fully open his right eye.

“Hey, ya alright? ‘M sorry ‘bout that...”

Genji’s eyelids fluttered but stayed closed, the skin that could be seen on him a sickly pale colour.

“Shit, yeah we gotta hurry outta here huh?” Jesse muttered to himself, wincing as he picked Genji up once more and reloaded Peacekeeper. Jesse stumbled towards the door on the other side of the foyer they were in, and beyond the glass was the pitch black of night. The gunslinger listened at the door for any sounds of movement or voices, and he cursed quietly when he heard more than a few shouting about the previous gunshots. Jesse ducked behind the wall, setting Genji down against it and making a ‘stay’ motion with his hands.

“Okay, okay okay okay. One more time. That’s all I need, then we’ll be relatively safe. Please, just one more time.” Jesse murmured under his breath, pulling out Peacekeeper and hefting her weight before closing his eyes. He let out a steady breath, slow and controlled, then spun out from where he was hiding, eyes snapping open with vision engulfed in red so dark it was almost black. Peacekeeper seemed to rise slower than usual, was heavier in hand, and everything around him was moving sluggishly. Jesse could see the bullets leaving the chambers of his attacker’s guns, could have watched them fly past if he didn’t feel like his body was being engulfed in a flame. One of them grazed dangerously against his temple, a numbed burning sensation flaring up at the wound, blood dripping off the bullet as it continued past him, but he ignored it. Pulling the trigger took more strength than it ever had before while using Deadeye, but his aim was still true, leaving another eleven people dead in its wake. This time Jesse screamed as his full senses came back, his revolver falling to the floor with a loud clatter as he stumbled and slumped against the wall with his hands gripping at his head. His breath came in heavy heaves, and the cowboy’s eye felt like it had been shot, head pounding and spinning at the same time.

“God...Fuck, shit...Son of a motherfuckin’ bitch...” Jesse gasped, gently wiping his eye and cursing some more when his fingers came back slick with blood. He was pretty sure it was swollen shut after all the use, and he knew that it wouldn’t work again if they happened to run into anymore hostiles.

“Goddammit...Okay, alright...Fuckin’ hell this hurts...” Jesse hissed, slowly making his way back to Genji after recollecting Peacekeeper and collapsing next to him for just a moment.

“...Jesse...?” Genji’s voice came as barely a whisper, and the gunslinger looked over at him, his good eye widening.

“Gen? Ya alright? Can ya hear me?”

“Mmm...Yeah, I’m...What the hell happened to you...?” The ninja’s eyes fluttered open as he spoke and his brows were furrowed low, Jesse giving him a bloody but toothy grin.

“Got hit by a grenade and shot! Now come on, we gotta move!”

Genji made an incredulous sound as Jesse hoisted him once more, running out into the street and then the alley as the ninja flailed.

“Wait what?! Jesse, where are we going?! Where the hell are my fucking legs?!”

“We’re gonna go get some evac an’ I don’t have a fuckin’ clue where at least one of yer legs are, got lost in the explosion, sorry! The other is still kinda there though! Does yer comm still work?”

“How did I lose my FUCKING LEGS JESSE?!”

“Yer comm darlin’, does it still work?”

“OH MY GOD HOW IN THE HELL—“

“GENJI, YER COMM!”

“RIGHT YES! Sorry, I’ll just worry about my missing limbs later, sure. My comm still works.”

“Fuck yeah! Give it here!”

Genji messed around with the clasps on his helmet for a moment before his comm was dropped into Jesse’s hand, and he wasted no time in turning it on while he ran.

“Boss? McCree reportin’, Agent Shimada an’ I need immediate evac at our location, preferably with a doc or two.”

There was a moment of static and silence before Reyes’ smooth voice cut through the line.

“Jesus christ, you two fuckheads survived...?”

“Aw, don’t sound so excited, yer makin’ me blush.”

“You’re gonna be the death of me, you know that? Alright, we’re on our way now. Stay there, eta five minutes.”

“Thank ya kindly Jefe.”

Jesse grinned, setting Genji down carefully after they were properly hidden and lowering himself next to the ninja with a pained grunt. Genji stared at him, then just barely brushed his faceplate against Jesse’s bruised and swollen cheek in a little kiss, taking his hand and squeezing it lightly.

“You look like you got hit by a car. Multiple times.”

Jesse laughed, then groaned at the pain it caused in his ribs.

“Feel like it too...”

“Are you okay?” Genji asked, tone nonchalant but worry dancing in his eyes as he inspected all the wounds and blood covering the cowboy.

“‘M great darlin’. Except fer some internal bleedin’, probably, an’ I ain’t got a clue what my eye is doin’, but it ain’t nothin’ ta worry ‘bout!” Jesse told him through a grin, interrupted by him spitting crimson onto the concrete before he went back to smiling. Genji gave him a slightly disturbed look and huffed a laugh, then sighed and shifted as much as he could without his legs.

“Oooookay. Whatever you say, cowboy.”

They leaned against one another for support until the drop ship came for them, Reyes striding out along with the medical team as Jesse threw his arms into the air.

“We’re alive!!!” He cheered, Genji throwing up a peace sign next to him through the completely bored expression of his eyes.

“Shut the fuck up and get on the ship cabrón.” Reyes sighed, relief making his shoulders sag as he helped the doctors get the two agents on the ship and back home.