#zenyatta didn't know how to levitate until he reached enlightenment because it made him light enough to float

[overdrivels]

could we get a continuation to "change of plans?" like genji's s/o eventually caves to his persistence and joins blackwatch. maybe explore what his s/o's time is like in the organization and how they get along with mccree? (i imagine genji was kinda snippy with him when they first met; i'm curious how their relationship developed over the years.)

A continuation to “Change of Plans”? I can’t say I’ve ever really thought of one, so this one took a little while. But I also very much like exploring character development, so I’mma play around with this a little. At this point, tensions between Blackwatch and Overwatch are starting to plateau. It turned into less of a Genji x Reader and more of a general story that went off on a weird tangent. 

The stress was mounting, and it was coming on fast.

The screens that surrounded you had different articles from varying news sources of the decay of Overwatch, and the dark underbelly known as Blackwatch. Topographical maps for the next mission are also up, enemy posts and potential points of interests such as chokepoints and strongholds are all highlighted by blips of red and green, connected by lines that illustrated theoretical attack and escape routes.

You work tirelessly into the night for your first mission plan in Blackwatch. It took Genji roughly four months, a mock proposal, several handwritten letters, several more stunts (some which may or may not have involved the usage of his shurikens), and long conversation after the failure of a Blackwatch mission to get you to join.

Even now, you don’t know if this is what you should be doing. More than once in the past, you found yourself glad to have been in Overwatch and Genji in Blackwatch. Your missions and his would never intersect, at least, not directly. And it was a boon you both, despite Genji’s insistence to the contrary.

Even now as you continue to study the map, bringing up holograms of buildings, you can’t be sure you belong here.

“Huh. So you’re the newbie.”

Genji steps in front of you defensively before you even have a chance to open your mouth. “What do you need, McCree.” It is much closer to a threat than an actual question, and the sudden change in demeanor makes your head spin just once around. You’re barely able to take a breath, the tension thick.

“Can’t a guy just introduce himself to a new member?” The man says all too casually.

You look at the man Genji calls ‘McCree’ carefully. If he finds him to be dubious, then there’s no reason on your end to doubt that. He meets your gaze and nods at you, then at Genji. “Awfully cute. I hope that’s not their only redeeming feature?”

“McCree!” Genji drops to his stance, and McCree’s hand swings down to his holster, a triumphant grin spreading on his face.

“Hey! Get out of here, you’re blocking up the halls.” Both Genji and McCree jump to attention at once. You yourself take a moment before you realize it’s Gabriel Reyes, your new commander. He stands there impatiently, waiting for all of you to disperse.

McCree takes off his hat for moment, and holds it to his chest. “‘scuse me, boss. Just practicin’ my manners.”

“I didn’t employ for your manners. Don’t you have a mission to prepare for?”

McCree’s eyes fall on you, and places his hat back, his drawl becoming languid but purposeful. “I’ll prepare once th’mission plan’s complete. Wouldn’t want to charge in without one now, would I?”

“What did you say?” There is no mistaking the sharp ‘kshink’ of shuriken slipping out from Genji’s mechanical arm.

“Genji.” Reyes’s voice is stern, and even Genji knows to step back. “Now quit standing here, you all have work to do.”

McCree tips his hat at the commander and gives you a wonk before departing whereas Genji takes you by the arm and hurries you both away. But before you can get completely out of earshot, Reyes says, “I expect results good things from you.”

That was about a week ago. Gabriel has since given you further details on the mission you were to conduct the research for. A factory building omnics needs to be shut down, but as the factory itself builds consumer robots as well, there is a strong opposition against Overwatch’s ‘help’. And so, this mission must be completed with the utmost secrecy and care as to not pin the blame on Overwatch or Blackwatch.

You don’t sleep even when Genji urges you to do so. He will be carrying this plan out along with a small team of two others. You have to get this right. The pages of your carefully crafted plans laid out on the screens before you, and tab after tab of contingencies wait quietly. Profiles of each agent is on a different screen, meticulously gathered statistics fill the space underneath their pictures. The office space (more of a control center) was still bustling with other agents who were trying to perfect the last of their operation plans.

The sun is already rising when you have your plan fully compiled and ready to be presented. When you arrive at your new boss’s door, your nerves rattle. Perhaps you should have asked Genji to accompany you, but quickly shake it from your mind. No, you need to be proud of your plan and sure of it. Some other members have already given it a once-over and approved of it, so there was only the final hurdle.

You won’t disappoint.

“Come in.”

“Good morning, Commander Reyes. I’m here to present my plans for Operation Garm.”

Gabriel looks through the file he’s been presented, mouth drawn in a hard line. It didn’t even take a minute for him to put it down, and tap a finger against it. You straighten your back in attention. You were going to get questioned. This is normal. You are ready. You believe in your plan.

“This,” he says slowly, “is built from your concern for their safety.”

You hold your head high. You can’t falter when it comes to presenting your ideas. “Yes.”

He laces his fingers together, regarding you with a casual expression, but his eyes are shrewd. “It’s good, but your plan is not suited for my men.”

Your brain sinks straight to the ground, and you utter a shaky, “…excuse me?”

“My men can take care of themselves; they don’t need a plan that gets them back safely. They need a plan that will complete the mission.”

You take a step forward, weariness stripping you of your filter. “But sir, with all due respect, if we don’t take the necessary precautions, our agents wi–”

“We need a plan that will stop the production of these omnics before someone uses them for something they’re not meant for, agent, not a plan that forces my men to drop out at the first sign of trouble.”

Your mind splutters for a moment. Didn’t he realize that this factory was also outfitted with state-of-the-art security bots? If the agents engaged them in a fire fight, they’d lose. Heck, if they engaged any of them in any sort of skirmish, they’d immediately alert everyone in the vicinity–the whole city will converge on them and trap them and then Blackwatch will be implicated. Among these agents were Genji, and if he suffered any more than he already has then…

“I can’t compromise the safety of our agents for any reason,” you say breathlessly.

“You are compromising the mission.”

His word ignites your anger. The mission? Did he care at all about how his men acted? About securing points for them to rest? Their equipment? Nothing? Just the mission itself? Frustration eats at you in relentless chucks, and you try to get the impassive man in front of your to understand.

“I know I’m out of line, but because of that sort of thinking, Blackwatch is getting into more and more trouble! Our plans need to have our agents carefully consider their actions and take them carefully.”

“Because of your thinking, we’re going to end up with more casualties. We don’t do things half-assed here.” The words ‘like Overwatch’ hung unspoken in the air.

Embers inside you become a flame. How dare he.

“I didn’t know you were this sort of man,” you hiss, patience long evaporated.

“And I didn’t know you had so little faith in our agents,” he responds coolly.  

“I have faith in them! That’s why–”

“–that’s why you created a plan that forsakes the mission. That is not faith.” He takes a dramatic pause to look you in the eye and whispers, “That’s fear.”

Perhaps it’s because he’s absolutely right and he dug straight to the core of it and yanked it out without regard, or perhaps it’s because he’s entirely wrong and there’s nothing cowardly about prioritizing the survival of your teammates, but you shout, “I CARE about our agents, I’m not going to send them off to die!”

“Cool your head,” Gabriel orders, unfazed by your outburst having dealt with much, much worse. “Come back to me with a new plan with the mission as priority. I want it on my desk by the end of day, tomorrow.”

You salute half-heartedly and turn your heel, instantly more angry as the door slides open instead of granting you the satisfaction of slamming it behind you. The silence you leave behind in Gabriel’s room is tense even without your presence, but from a blind spot in the room, hidden behind a cabinet and a wall, McCree emerges, a low whistle escaping his lips.

Gabriel remains motionless, face still hidden behind crossed fingers.

“Ain’t that a lil’ too harsh, boss? First plan ‘n all.” There is little sympathy in his voice however.

“I already said it: I have faith in my men.”

Jesse skims over the plans strewn over Gabriel’s desk with mild interest, and scoffs after the first few bullet points. “Genji’s nabbed a sweetie, but sweetness ain’t got anyone nowhere; Blackwatch ain’t for bleedin’ hearts.” Again, he looks over the papers. “Awfully nice of ‘em though,” he adds as an afterthought.

Gabriel does not agree, but he does not refute it either, getting up from his chair, your plans in hand.

Zenyatta catches you storming out of Gabriel’s office. It is strange to see the omnic walking around Blackwatch territory, but then again, it isn’t as though you knew exactly where he goes all the time.

The omnic waves at you. “Greetings.”

“Agent Zenyatta,” you politely nod in his direction which he returns in kind. You have worked with him before, arranging for reinforcements and protection whenever he goes on his trips to negotiate on behalf of Overwatch. However, with the recent troubles Overwatch seems to have gotten into, Zenyatta’s job was becoming more and more difficult to handle–no protection meant an easy target, but more protection meant bringing in hostilities to any diplomatic meetings. It was a horrid paradox.

“You seem distressed. Is something the matter?”

An immediate ‘no’ comes to your mouth on the account of your pride, but remains there. Of course something was the matter, but how could you even begin to tell someone unrelated to the situation that ‘oh, it’s no big deal, it’s just that one of my plans that I slaved many nights over just got rejected when I’ve been doing the same damn thing for YEARS and isn’t good enough because apparently I care too much’. The frustration that gnaws at you is beyond words.

Zenyatta, sensing your trepidation, says, “Perhaps elsewhere then.”

It doesn’t take long before you unleash your torrent of grievances and insecurities on Zenyatta, who pries them out of you with practiced ease. You both talk and talk–other rather, you talk and he listens, an occasional nod of his head or a helpful quip to show he is listening.

It’s late into the afternoon by the time you both part ways, your chest already lighter without the burden of your troubles.

“I heard about what happened with Reyes,” is the first thing Genji says when he sees you in the canteen. He doesn’t normally eat, at least not a lot, but he needs the structure of pretending by ordering it anyway.

“He went over it with us,” he continues as you shovel another forkful of food into your mouth. “I told him we should do it.”

You almost choke. “You wha–”

“I believe in your plans, that’s why I asked for you to transfer here. I believe in you.” His words are resolute, even more so than you are about your own ideas. There is a fire in his voice that transfers over, warming you.

“Genji…”

“I trust your plans. I made that clear to Reyes today.”

You immediately perk up. “Is he…”

“He says he will think on it more, but still wants another plan. He was just…hesitant because it is not Blackwatch’s way of doing things.” Genji says slowly, his human hand resting reassuringly on your thigh.

You grumble slightly. “Then what is Blackwatch’s way?”

The cybernetic robot does not answer for a long while, but when he does, you nearly drop your drink. “Perhaps not the right way.”

In the end, you go see Commander Reyes again, and with some slight modifications to the original one, he begrudgingly accepts it with a warning that follows you throughout the whole time you await the results of the mission. “Your intentions are good, but they’re going to come bite you.”

You tell him with unwavering confidence that they won’t. You’ve designed many plans and spearheaded several projects for Overwatch, and this should not be any different. The only difference is your faction and the fact you’re sending someone you’re intimately close to on a mission of your design.

“I trust you, so you better come back safely,” you say to Genji just before he leaves.

He gives your hand a squeeze, and you realize just how cold yours are in comparison to his. “And I trust your plans, so I will. Do not doubt that I won’t.”

You let him go reluctantly, and watch as he joins the other members of the team who then shortly disappear into the dead of the night. You can only hope it goes well.

But hope by itself does not manage to put a damper on Murphy’s Law. The mission goes terribly. The three-man team was forced to abort almost immediately upon reaching the target, unable to execute any contingencies while under siege by the city’s police force which you had not anticipated to be so deeply entangled in this mess.

The agents managed to have their lives spared, a bloodless escape that was long calculated into the plan coupled by Commander Reyes’s supervision, but the mission itself–

Plastered all over the news in another smear campaign against the tyranny of Overwatch and Blackwatch, who in their words, are attempting to make themselves relevant by now interfering with the daily lives of civilians. Some even suspect that Overwatch sends Blackwatch to create havoc so that Overwatch themselves may come in to ‘rescue’ everyone, securing their position in the world as peace-keepers while secretly doling out evil deeds.

The stories becomes unbearably ridiculous, and is reported suspiciously quick.

However, you were deaf to all of this, rushing desperately to the medical bay, Gabriel hot on your heels. Genji. He sits in one of the offices alongside the other two agents who accompanied him, clearly agitated but uninjured–just like your plan dictated. But when he catches sight of you, breathless and wide-eyed, he immediately gets up.

“I’m sorry. Your plan–”

You don’t bother letting him finish, flinging your arms around his shoulders, still mindful of the tubes and wires that protrude from his back. Relief and anguish tumble inside you, fighting their way out at once. “Thank god–thank god you’re okay, I’m just so glad you’re not hurt, I’m so sorry, Genji–”

You babble on and on, Genji’s touches and reassurances unable to soothe you. You fell into the exact trap that you yourself had spoken against prior to joining Blackwatch. How could it have gone so badly? It wasn’t supposed to be this way–it was supposed to be simple, an in-and-out mission with all factors accounted for.

“That’s enough, good to see you all still alive,” says Gabriel, stepping forward. Genji untangles himself from you, and joins the other two agents in rigid salute.

“Thank you. sir,” they all say in unison.

“Gabriel Reyes.” All of you jump, except the man in question, jumps at the irritable and booming voice.

“Jack.”

“The hell was that? Operation Garm. Not even Zenyatta is going to be able to put out this fire you’ve caused.” The blond commander was practically seething, angrier and more exhausted than you’ve ever seen him. You meekly step forward, a growing dread in your stomach.

“I’m sorry, sir, that–”

“Yeah, I sanctioned it. Got a problem with that?” Gabriel practically shields you with his body without actually seeming to do so. Sharp blue eyes turn toward your new commander.

“Let’s take in this my office.”

There is no room for argument in Commander Morrison’s order, and he turns tail, fully expecting Gabriel to follow. Gabriel gives you something of a sympathetic look, he pats your shoulder with a heavy hand and squeezes, a slight resemblance of comfort and reassurance, before he dismisses everyone with a nod of his chin and follows after Jack.

Genji and yourself stand there for several long moments, and you try to wrap your head around what’s just happened and what you have gotten yourself into.