" YUANFEN " genji shimada.

iv | bloodhound

yuanfen
act five, chapter four.
"bloodhound"

_

THE FOLLOWING MORNING, DAHLIA'S mind was elsewhere as she sat at her station in the medbay. When she arrived, Dr. Ziegler had told her that it was the scheduled day for the agents' monthly physicals, meaning that there would be patients coming in and out of the medbay all day. Dahlia was assigned to take each patient's blood before sending them to the examination room so Dr. Ziegler could finish the rest of the physical. So far, only a few agents had come in, though Dahlia was already looking forward to the end of the day. Her eyelids were heavy and every small movement that she made caused her body to scream at her in protest. After the rather restless night sleep, she wanted nothing more than to curl up beneath a blanket and sleep away the day.

    When she woke up that morning, she had no idea how she was going to face Genji after the rather interesting dream she had about the ninja. The thought of confronting him after he found her in such a state terrified her, and she eventually opted to avoid leaving her bedroom for as long as she possibly could. When she finally did have to leave, however, she simply slipped out of her bedroom and exited her dorm without even a look in his direction. She would've much rather left him with free rein to snoop around her dorm than give him the opportunity to question her about the dream any more.

    Yet being out of his presence didn't help her own mind one bit. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think about anything but the dream. She had no idea what it meant for her, though now that her brain had conjured such an unforeseen idea, she was unable to even look in Genji's direction without being reminded of the events that took place in her mind.

    Dahlia looked up as the doors to the medbay slid open, and she never thought that she'd be so happy to see Jesse McCree walk in. He grinned at her in greeting, though it looked as though he had just rolled out of bed. He wasn't wearing the cowboy hat that she was once half-convinced was glued to his head; because of this, his messy tawny hair was sticking up in several directions.

    "Did you just get out of bed?" Dahlia questioned him, returning his grin with one of her own.

    McCree chuckled lightly, shrugging, and ran a hand through his hair. "Basically. I prefer to get these damn physicals over with as quickly as possible. They're the worst day of the month." He sat down in the chair in front of Dahlia, and she began gathering the supplies needed to take his blood. "But now that I got you to look after me, I don't mind all that much."

    Dahlia smiled at his comment, though said nothing. She prepped the needle, then grabbed an empty vile and placed it on the table beside her. "This may pinch a little," she warned him. She wrapped a rubber tourniquet around his bicep, then stretched his arm out with his palm facing the ceiling. Once she was able to see a vein through his skin, she took the needle and slid it in. She attached the empty vile to the tube, allowing McCree's blood to fill it up. Once she was finished, she gently pulled the needle out and discarded it in a trashcan, moving to wrap his arm with some gauze.

    "You're all set," she said to him.

McCree mumbled a soft "thank you" as he stood to his feet, though before he left, he shot her a cheeky grin and said: "Wait, but can you take a look at my knee?"

Dahlia shot him a confused look, not picking up on the lightness in his voice. "Dr. Ziegler can do that, Jesse. I'm just the bloodhound."

"No, but you gotta look at it," McCree insisted with a shake of his head. "I hurt myself pretty bad fallin' for ya."

A loud laugh escaped from Dahlia's lips before she was able to stop herself. She immediately slapped a hand over her mouth, though her shoulders still shook as she struggled to contain herself. She reached out to shove his shoulder playfully. "Go see Dr. Ziegler, you idiot," she said to him with a good-humored roll of her eyes. McCree smiled down at her, obviously proud of his lame pick-up line. Then, with a tip of his invisible hat, he turned and headed for the examination room. Dahlia stared after him for a moment; for the first time since she woke up that morning, her mind was no longer on the dream that was swirling uncontrollably through her head.

    An hour- and several more patients that were a lot less friendly than McCree- later, Dahlia was thankful to see another familiar face enter the medbay. She perked up as she noticed Lena step through the doors, for she hadn't seen the British girl much since her arrival at the base. Beside Lena was another girl whom Dahlia didn't recognize; she was short, with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail beneath a hat.

    "Mornin', Dahlia!" Lena greeted her cheerfully as she and her companion approached Dahlia's station. She gestured towards the other girl, who was gazing down at the countless needles nervously. "This is Hana Song. She's a new recruit, and I told her I'd accompany her to her physical."

    "Nice to meet you," Dahlia said with a smile.

    Hana tore her eyes away from the needles to wave at Dahlia, though it was obvious she was still nervous. "I hate needles," she blurted out, causing Lena to laugh lightly from beside her.

    "I don't blame you," Dahlia responded with a shrug. "Unfortunately, I still have to take your blood, but we'll get it done quickly. I'm sure Lena won't mind acting as a stand-in stress ball."

    "Not at all!" Lena agreed. Hana let out a deep breath, her lips pursed, and took a seat in front of Dahlia. Lena squatted down beside Hana, allowing the girl to reach out and grip her arm tightly.

    Dahlia quickly prepared her equipment, noticing the way Hana turned away each time she held up the needle. "Don't even look at it," she advised her. "Looking will only freak you out more."

    "No problem," Hana said through gritted teeth. Dahlia wrapped the tourniquet around the girl's arm, wasting no time before she inserted the needle into her skin. Immediately, she saw Hana's entire body tense, and her grip around Lena's arm tightened.

    "Ow!" Lena cried out, though her eyes shone with amusement. "I'm not an actual stress ball!"

    "This sucks," Hana hissed. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and several Korean curses fell from her mouth after every breath she took. Dahlia shared a look with Lena, but she said decided against saying anything. She felt as though anything she could have possibly said would only have made it worse. Once the vile was full, Dahlia slid the needle out of Hana's arm, discarding it into the trash can.

    "Is it over with?" Hana asked, eyes still shut and her head still turned away.

    "It's done," Dahlia confirmed with an amused grin. "Great first impression of me, hm?"

Hana's shoulders slumped, and she let out a deep sigh as her eyes fluttered open. "I want to hate you for putting me through this torture," she said, frowning. "But you seem too cool to hate. Damn you."

Dahlia laughed at this. She liked Hana. She was young, but she was a nice change of pace from the more experienced agents who seemed to have a stick shoved up their asses 24/7.

Dahlia quickly took Lena's blood (who took it much better than her companion) before sending the pair on their way. Lena waved goodbye, Hana shooting Dahlia a warm grin, before they headed off in the direction of the examination room. Just as they turned the corner, McCree reappeared. He mumbled a soft greeting to Hana and Lena as he passed them before approaching Dahlia's station.

"Can I talk to ya for a second?"

    "Of course," Dahlia responded, gesturing to the empty room around her. "I'm not busy."

    "I, uh-" McCree reached up to scratch his head, suddenly seeming nervous. It was uncharacteristic of him; Dahlia was so used to his outspoken, confident persona. "I know I joke a lot with ya, but I really do like ya, Dahlia. I wanted to know if you'd wanna have dinner tonight, in my dorm? I make a real good lasagna."

    His question caught Dahlia by surprise, her eyes widening. The idea of having dinner with McCree wasn't a bad one, though she wasn't exactly eager to get involved with anyone in a romantic sense. It's just one date, her conscience scolded her. What's one date gonna hurt?

    "That sounds great," Dahlia agreed. "But if your lasagna doesn't live up to the hype, I'm walking out on you, cowboy."

    McCree smiled widely. "I promise ya won't regret a thing, darlin'!"