You and me and Genji makes three

[moonshadows]

"Hola, mi Sombra.”  

Gabriel didn’t even look up from the report he was reading. Behind him, Jade’s invisibility faded as she deactivated her stealth devices and sighed.

“I thought I was gonna really surprise you this time!” she griped, throwing herself into the chair across from him at the table. “What gave me away?”

Gabriel looked up and grinned. “Draft against my bare ankles. If I’d had the window open, you’d have gotten me. I think it’s ready for a field test, hija.”

The young woman, officially an adult by both human and gryphon standards, beamed. “Can we try it against Dad? Please, Papi?”

He set his pad down, chuckling. “Only because you said please,” he teased his daughter. “And because you’re early. We weren’t expecting you for another two days.”

“Got word from Jesse,” she said, grinning as the words made Gabriel sit straighter. “He’s in Japan.”

Gabriel let out a low whistle. “Taking that wanderer thing seriously. What’s he doing in Japan?”

Jade took a deep breath. “Apparently…he met some dragons.”

~Three days ago, in Japan…~

It was the green dragon he saw first, crawling out of the forest towards the stream that sparkled like a silver ribbon from the air, and his motion-sensitive raptor eyes were the only reason he even saw it, because it was the color of new grass and barely lighter than the foliage. Jesse pulled his banded wings in tighter and circled, wanting to observe the lanky creature before he approached to say hi. As he descended, he noticed that the reddish design on the dragon’s body didn’t seem to be very regular. Then, as he got closer, he realized it wasn’t a design at all.

The dragon was bleeding.

The dragon was dying.

Jesse pulled his wings in and dove, watching as the dragon stopped mere feet from the stream, its head stretching for the water but apparently the beast didn’t have the strength to keep going. It barely had the strength to look up as Jesse’s shadow suddenly appeared by its head, and then he was backwinging frantically to break his momentum as he landed with a shuddering thud on the bank of the stream.

“Who-”

The dragon didn’t have time for more than that one word before the gryphon was licking him all over, trying to get his tongue on every cut that marred those green scales, working front to back and then back to front, praying that he wasn’t too late.

“What are you doing?” the dragon demanded, and fuck, he didn’t sound much older than Jesse.

“I’m healing you,” Jesse slurred, mouth full of blood.

The wounds were closing. The dragon arched his neck with effort, watching the first cut to have been tended. “But why?”

Jesse sat back, a look of indignation on his avian face. “I gotta have a reason for saving someone’s life?”

Before the green dragon could answer, a dragon the color of the cool sky burst out of the forest and came to a startled halt, head up in surprise.

“Who are you?” the second dragon demanded, and he sounded barely older than Jesse.

“Who wants to know?” the gryphon shot back, leopard tail lashing in a slow warning.

The blue dragon’s tail also began to lash. “I am Hanzo of the Shimada clan. It is my duty to slay that pitiful creature behind you.”

“Over my dead body,” Jesse shot back.

“I have bloodied my claws already this day. I will not hesitate to do so again.”

“You gonna talk, or you gonna fight?”

The blue dragon glared at him. “So be it.”

At first, it seemed Hanzo might have the upper hand. His body coiled around the gryphon, intent on squeezing until something broke. Jesse squalled, not as loud a cry as his Dad could manage but the scream of a giant raptor at close range was enough to make the coils loosen as the dragon flinched away from that sound, and then Jesse had the upper hand. He feinted with his wings, lashed out at eyes with his talons and raked with his hind claws, years of play-fighting with his siblings and parents and cousins coming to his aid as he writhed and bit, unbothered by the wounds streaking his flanks. By contrast, Hanzo seemed almost reluctant to follow through on his threat to bloody his claws, and a handful of minutes later the blue dragon lay limp under the gryphon’s feet, his beak on the back of the dragon’s neck.

“I am defeated,” he growled. “You have won. My life is yours.”

“Good,” Jesse muttered, releasing his hold on blue scales. Then he started licking himself, alternating closing his own wounds with lapping at the ones he’d caused.

“What…” Hanzo craned his neck around. “What are you doing?”

“Healing you,” Jesse muttered. “Duh.”

“Why do you not end my life?”

Jesse gave him an indignant look. “Why should I?”

“I…do not understand.”

The green dragon laughed. “That makes two of us, brother.”

“Alright,” Jesse announced, “we’re all gonna need a good, solid meal to recover and explanations can come later. What do y’all eat?”

Both dragons exchanged a helpless shrugging sort of look.

In the end, Hanzo built and lit a fire while Jesse hunted, and the three of them gorged themselves on bear. Hanzo told the gryphon about their clan, and how the elders had demanded he slay his younger brother Genji to be worthy of inheriting their father’s place as leader. The green dragon – Genji – did not dispute the story or argue against any part of it.

“But I have failed,” Hanzo finished, “and my life is forfeit twice over.”

Jesse cocked his head to one side. “You wanna run that one by me again?”

“If he returns,” Genji said quietly, “the elders will surely slay him for failing in his duty. But beyond that, you have bested him. His life belongs to you.”

“What kinda fucked-up…” the gryphon shook his head. “It don’t matter. Your brother was about half an inch from death before I got to him, so it ain’t your fault he didn’t die, and if your life is mine then you sure as hell ain’t going back to those assholes if they’re gonna kill you!”

The blue dragon snorted. “I fail to see what other choice I have.”

“Yer comin’ with me,” Jesse declared. “Both of you, if you ain’t got anything better to do, Genji. I saved yer life, too. I ain’t leavin’ you to die.”

The green dragon looked hopeful at that. “I have wanted to see the world,” he said. “Come, brother. This will be an adventure!”

Hanzo looked unconvinced, but all he said was, “My life is yours, Jesse. If you command, then I must obey.”

“We’ll figure out the rest tomorrow.” Jesse yawned, his beak gaping wide. “You two gonna be okay? I don’t know how good dragons are with cold, or if y’all huddle for warmth, but my feathers are plenty warm and gryphons like sleeping in a big ol’ pile, so don’t be shy. If y’got human forms, my wings make great blankets.”

Genji was the first to shrink into a human, his clothes rent and torn, and he shot his brother a significant look as he crawled under one of Jesse’s wings to curl up while the gryphon got cozy and rested his head against his forelegs. Only after it seemed like both of them were asleep did Hanzo shrink as well and crawl under Jesse’s other wing.

~Back to the present day in Switzerland…~

“Met some dragons,” Gabriel repeated, arms crossed. “That’s not very specific. What else did he say?”

Jade shrugged. “Just that they’re part of his pride now and he’s bringing them to visit. They’ll be here tomorrow, and that’s why I’m here early.”

“How many…?”

“He said they’ll be good in his room,” she answered, shrugging again. “Could mean anything.”

For a moment, Gabriel massaged his temples. “Alright, mi Sombra, you need to get out of here before your Dad walks in and spoils the surprise. Three-thirty tomorrow at the usual picnic spot. Scram, hija.”

Grinning, Jade scrammed.

~The next day, at three-thirty…~

“Alright, Corazon,” Jack said as they stopped in the perfect clearing they’d designated ‘their’ picnic spot, “what are you plotting?”

“Who says I’m plotting?” Gabriel countered, arms sliding around his husband’s waist, lips finding the curve of Jack’s neck.

“Our daughter’s not due until tomorrow and date night was two nights back.” The kisses were very nice, but Jack wasn’t going to be dissuaded.

Gabriel slipped around to his husband’s back. “Maybe I just want you all to myself,” he murmured against the nape of Jack’s neck.

“Mmm. Or maybe you’re plotting.”

“You’re doubting me?”

Jack turned to grin at his husband. “You’re not grinding against my ass.”

And that’s when Jade leaped out of nowhere with a shriek of “Dad!!” to tackle them both to the grassy ground.

Once the shouts of surprise and laughter had died down and Jack had been kissed into submission, he complimented her on the stealth devices.

“Didn’t see or hear a thing,” he said again. “You going to share the design? Sell it?”

Jade flopped over, hands behind her head. “I don’t know yet. But there’s something I do know.”

“What’s that?” Jack asked, petting Gabriel’s hair as his mate mirrored their daughter’s position but with his head in Jack’s lap.

One purple-nailed finger pointed at the sky. “That’s not a bird, or a plane, and it sure as hell isn’t Superman.”

Three specks were rapidly growing closer.

Less than a minute later, the three in the air had landed while the three on the ground had shed human shape for fur and feathers. Jack licked his son’s head in welcome before turning to the two dragons, who were hanging back, while his mate and daughter greeted Jesse.

“Jack Morrison, leader of Overwatch,” he announced in a rumble.

Both dragons lowered their heads in obeisance. “Hanzo,” said the blue one. “Formerly of the Shimada clan. My younger brother, Genji.”

Jack’s ears flattened slightly. “Formerly?”

“Your son defeated me in combat and saved the life of my brother. We are honor-bound to his side.”

“They were gonna kill Hanzo if he didn’t kill Genji,” Jesse protested. “I wasn’t gonna let that happen, ‘specially since I saved Genji before I knew what was going on!”

“And then he ensured we had adequate nourishment, and kept us warm at night,” Genji added.

Jack licked his son’s head again, undeterred by him shrinking back to human halfway through. “I’m proud of you,” he murmured.

Jade and Gabriel took human form as well, and when they were all done hugging each other, Jack had joined them and claimed a hug for himself. The dragons exchanged a look and assumed their human forms, clothes now spotless to represent the intact state of their scales.

“It is an honor to meet you,” Hanzo told Jack, bowing low. “Both because you are the Strike-Commander, and because you are the father of the man to whom I owe my life.”

Genji bowed, but not as low, and the smile he gave Jack was impish. “Can I have a hug, too?”

Hanzo gasped. “Genji!”

“But brother, these are not dragons. Their ways are not the ways of our clan. We are of Jesse’s pride now, which makes us kin. If hugging is how gryphons greet each other, then should we not do the same?”

Genji sounded completely unrepentant, which made Jack laugh. “He’s got a point. Come get your hug.”

The younger dragon bounced up and hugged Jack as warmly as Jack hugged him, then found himself subjected to Gabriel’s crushing hug followed by Jade’s gentler embrace. Hanzo seemed shocked, and while Jack kept his hug restrained, it was still warm and tight.

“My husband and mate, Gabriel Reyes,” Jack said as he passed the older dragon to Gabriel for a hug. “And our daughter Jade.”

Hanzo looked distinctly rattled after he’d been subjected to three hugs, and Gabriel clapped him on the shoulder in manly reassurance.

“Relax,” he told the dragon. “It’s okay to not be as touchy-feely as we are. I used to be pretty uptight about getting close to anyone, myself. The secret is to remember that it takes more strength to open up than it does to keep yourself closed off. If you’re afraid of seeming weak, then you’re already weak because the fear is winning. Just a word of advice from the most badass gryphon to ever birth three gorgeous children.”

“That…is normal among gryphons?” Hanzo asked in surprise.

Gabriel laughed. “Hell no. Gryphons like me, we’re rare. More rare than reverse gryphons like Jack. Granted, some of that might be because we hide our natures but screw that. Anyone wants to mock me for having the ability to bring forth life, I’ll kick their ass if my mate doesn’t get to them first.”

“And I’m more than willing to defend my Papi’s honor,” Jesse declared stoutly.

Oddly, that seemed to relax Hanzo a bit. It made Genji smirk, but only Jade noticed.

Jack clapped his hands. “You three must be hungry,” he said. “Let’s go back and get you something to snack on, give you a tour, and decide where we’re going for dinner.”

He and Gabriel led the way back, with Jesse and Hanzo following them and Jade bringing up the rear with Genji, where they could whisper together and not be heard.

The other transhumans in Overwatch were thrilled to meet the two dragons. Ana greeted them in Japanese with a traditional draconic wish for good health. Reinhardt (a half-giant, Jack had learned to his chagrined surprise because really, that should have been obvious) clasped forearms with Hanzo rather than subject him to another hug, and very gently hugged Genji when the younger dragon insisted. Torbjörn greeted them with less gruffness than usual and the news that Sabine, his wife, was expecting.

Angela seemed almost flustered by the dragons, one hand running nervously through the end of her ponytail as the introductions were made. She perked up when Jesse mentioned having healed then both, and explained that she had very few opportunities to study a gryphon’s restorative saliva in action but would love to examine one of them to see if there were any magical traces from the experience. A slightly-subdued Genji offered himself for immediate examination – before the traces faded further, he said – and assured the gryphons that whatever they picked for dinner would be fine with him if it was fine with Hanzo.

Four gryphons and a dragon trooped back to the Commanders’ suite, where they had a remarkably energetic but civil discussion of the various Asian restaurants in the city. Eventually, they settled on a Korean place. Genji hadn’t returned yet, so talk turned to Jesse’s wanderings – where he’d been, what he’d done, where he expected to go next.

“Well, it’s only fair I visit Jason, isn’t it?” Jesse grinned at his parents. “Gotta make sure my great-uncle knows he still ain’t the toughest thing in the valley. Check the cousins, hug Grandma and Grandpa, give Uncle Randall a hard time, that sort of thing.”

Gabriel grinned at his mate. “I have to admit, Sunshine, he’s got his priorities in order.”

Although Jack tried not to laugh, it was a futile effort. “My father is one of the three pride leaders,” he told Hanzo. “It’s a position my uncle, his younger brother, has coveted for many years. Unfortunately for my uncle, the entire pride knows that Gabriel kicked his ass while pregnant and his social standing has never recovered.”

“My brother Jason kicked his ass while still half-fledged,” Jesse put in, snickering. “Served him right for trying to tell Jase that Dad and Papi didn’t love him ‘cuz they gave him what he really wanted for Christmas – being able to live with the pride instead of being raised here with me and Jade.”

“So besting him in combat is a…family tradition?” Hanzo asked hesitantly.

Jack grinned while his mate and children collapsed into identical giggles. “I don’t think you actually need to fight him. Once he sees that you’re a dragon, he’ll probably run away.”

The dragon sat a little straighter at that. “It will be my honor to prove myself as part of Jesse’s pride by making him flee.”

“I like him,” Gabriel chuckled. “He’s got spirit.”

“Me too,” Jack replied. “Good work, Jesse.”

Jade leaned over and draped one arm over Hanzo’s shoulders. “We’re not always like this,” she said reassuringly. “Sometimes, we’re worse.”

A snort of laughter escaped Jesse. “Unfortunately, she’s right.”

And as the gryphons laughed, Genji and Angela stepped into the suite.

~A few hours later…~

Dinner would have been quiet and intimate if not for the fact that it was warm and raucous. The restaurant was more than happy to seat them in a private room – all seven of them, since to everyone’s surprise Angela took the evening off to socialize. Genji announced that he wanted to stay, to join Overwatch or Blackwatch, to use his training for the good of the world, and that prompted a round of toasts for good luck and farewells between the brothers. Both dragons and half of the gryphons opted to partake of the excellent sake available, leaving Jack, his daughter, and the unicorn to trade wry smiles as the others progressed amusingly from tipsy to drunk.

Herding them back to the command suite was fairly easy; Jade drove one VIP cart with her brother and his surprisingly-cuddly dragons, while Angela drove the second and tried to pretend she wasn’t aware that Gabriel was sloppily kissing his husband in the back. It took both the unicorn and the female gryphon to urge the drunken trio to their feet and half-carry them to Jesse’s room, and once there they got the three into Jesse’s huge bed and called that good enough.

Neither one even looked at the door to Jack and Gabriel’s room. They knew what was happening behind it.

The next morning, Jade helped Jack prepare more than enough breakfast and coffee for everyone and kept her commentary to a smirk as three hung-over transhumans straggled out of Jesse’s room while her Dad took a tray into his bedroom. During the slow and quiet course of breakfast, she gathered enough hints to conclude that Genji’s decision to stay had quite a bit to do with the unicorn, and that it might be mutual.

What made things interesting was that during her whispered conversation with the younger dragon, she’d learned that some dragons also shared her Papi’s ability to bear young while otherwise being male, but that inevitably they were also attracted to males, and that Hanzo had often questioned his path because while leading the clan was a yang role – decidedly masculine –he was one of those dragons whose yang and yin were in perfect balance. Perhaps Genji might have chosen to stay anyway, in hopes that traveling alone with Jesse would help his brother find peace with his own nature. But if they both happened to find happiness, well, where was the harm?

Jesse and Hanzo stayed for two more days, securing the various things they’d need to travel as humans since flying across the Atlantic without a ship of some sort was out of the question. They obtained luggage and clothes, toiletries and identification, and discussed places they might want to visit. Genji, too, obtained falsified identification and was inserted into the system as a Blackwatch agent. Both dragons spent their nights in Jesse’s room, although Genji confessed cheerfully to Jade that he was doing it to pressure his brother into sleeping in a pile with the gryphon, hoping to get him used to the physical contact.

Finally, the small flightcraft registered in Jesse’s name was delivered, and it was time to see the two wanderers off. Hanzo still looked almost offended by the enthusiastic hugs lavished on him, but he no longer looked shaken, so that was an improvement. Gabriel whispered something to him as they hugged, and whatever it was seemed to bolster the dragon’s confidence. When Hanzo wished his brother happiness, it was genuine and sincere, and their embrace was tighter than anyone expected it would be. But eventually, all the well-wishing and good-bye hugs were completed, and the two climbed into the small ship.

“Bye-bye, boys,” Gabriel called, one arm around Jack’s waist and the other waving as the ship began to take off. “Have fun storming the castle!”

“What did you tell Hanzo?” Jack asked curiously.

The ebony gryphon snorted. “That I top.”

Jack blinked. “You think…”

“I’ve got no fucking clue, Sunshine. But if our grandkids wind up having scales, I told you so.”

Slowly, Jack smiled.