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The sun set two minutes ago with the cold air of desert night approaching rapidly. The two agents stranded in the middle of the Chihuahuan desert. Their escape vehicle blew up in a crossfire the both of them were unprepared for. Cassidy had gotten a few shallow wounds that a spare medkit could solve but Genji had lost a vital cord in his augmented arm, rendering it partly immobile. Sparks occasionally flew from his injury, making him twitch in discomfort. But they managed to keep the intel they were ordered to attain and dispose all evidence of safe and sound.
"I could go for a drink right about now," Cassidy sighed as he sat down by the fire, a safe distance away from Genji's broken arm. His dust coated fingers flipped through the documents idly. Stolen medical records from Blackwatch. They had been strictly forbidden to read these themselves but the curious cat has more lives to give. "I think something's up, with Gabe 'n all. Moira is doin' dubious shit on him."
Genji shrugged, still glaring into the fire they had managed to lit. His body not quite resilient to rapid changes in temperature. "Mercy knows. She's preparing an upgrade on my armor and will send me to Numbani within a month, bet she hasn't told anyone."
Cole stopped himself from speaking his mind, "She cares for you."
"They all say I'm like a son to them."
Another heavy silence fell upon them as Cassidy continued to read with a worried frown on his blood stained face. A silence that used to belong in the past, when Genji was a newly recruited soldier and distant from reality. Not even the drunken one-nighter a few months ago had pulled them back to square one. It was almost as if the air was too thick to breathe. The line between friends and lovers was uncertain and neither of them knew what they needed the most. Still, Genji's human hand skimmed over the thin layer of sand on the ground over to Cole's. His fingers tugged on the leather glove he wore.
"Take it off."
"What?" Cassidy asked, a little confused before realizing what he meant. "Oh, yeah. Sure."
There was a pause between his word and actions. The papers seemed to be glued to his hands. His tired brain was working overtime to accept their future. What were to become of his home, his colleagues. He had nowhere to go if Overwatch did tumble to the ground. His parents were killed, Deadlock was exterminated thoroughly and, to be frank, he had planned to work under Blackwatch's wing until the day he eventually ran out of luck. At the end of the day he only had Genji and Gabriel. And he had taken them for granted, too.
Soon enough he tossed the files into the fire, the flames built into a crescendo as it ate through every last inch of them. It would probably have caused a hazard if the yellow grass plains weren't drenched with rain that passed them by a few hours ago. With little effort pulled the glove off his hand and carelessly let it land on the ground. Genji didn't hesitate to reach out, linking their pinkies together. His pale skin was cold to the touch yet it sent an urge for more through his chest. Wide, irresistible doe eyes bled with a rare sincerity, probably a power that he abused to get whatever he wished for as a child.
"I'll see you someday, gunslinger."
"I'll take your word for it."