GOLD [Book 2 in the JESSE series] | Completed

Chapter Seventeen: Reconciliation

Quick disclaimer: This chapter contains more detailed descriptions of how (Y/N) was tortured in Santa Fe, so if that grosses you out I'll have a disclaimer before it's mentioned. Also some mild romance. Again, I'll put disclaimers right before so you can skip it.

Your week with your family passes quickly, and you soon find yourself back at the Overwatch headquarters on a bright Sunday afternoon. The while building towers above you and reflects bright sunlight down at you. Your heart starts beating rapidly as you think about what you need to do tonight, but until then, you're going to savor every moment. 

You enter the familiar building. The entryway is huge, with the overwatch symbol in metal inlaid in the floor, a large, circular skylight matching with the huge symbol. You walk up to the front desk of sorts and put your watched wrist into a small scanner. It beeps, and you say, "Gold Commander (Y/N), (L/N). As you finish speaking, there's another beep, and the door swings open to the main building. You walk down the long, white halls to the agent barracks. 

As you enter the Gold Common room, you see Hunter and Ginger having conversation over lunch, which they opted to take in the barracks. 

"Hey guys!" You say as you enter.

"Hey, welcome back!" Ginger says. She's changed significantly over three years. Her face is freckled from the sun, and she's cut her blonde hair and shaved a bit off of the side. Hunter's hair has changed too from your time in Gold Team, he has it a bit shorter, to the point where he can't quite make a full man-bun. 

"How was your trip?" Hunter asks, eyeing you knowingly. 

"It was great. I got to spend a lot of time with my dad and my brother. I miss them a lot when I'm here. Hopefully I can actually make Christmas next year." You say, putting your things down to hug them both.

"Oh, right. What emergency mission were you on last year?" Ginger asks.

"It was a Null Sector invasion in Russia, I believe. Got a bit out of control. We showed up long after they called, and the battle was pretty intense. I'm assuming their mechs knocked out a lot for us beforehand." You say, thinking back. Work has already started and I haven't even been here for five minutes. You think to yourself.

"Hopefully the forces of darkness can hold off for Christmas this year," Hunter says with a cocked eyebrow and a small smile.

"Hopefully. Well, I'm going to unpack, what's on the docket for today?" You ask Hunter.

"I didn't schedule you for today, remember? You have between two and three more weeks off if you want to take them. Just rest today, we can talk about saving your vacation days tomorrow." He says. You had forgotten that Morrison had given you so much time off. 

You unpack your things and settle back into your room. You adjust the photo of you, your dad, and your brother on your nightstand, and grab an old photo from the closet. You put it next to that photo. You move your thumb to uncover the face of Jesse McCree in the photograph. You steel yourself. You know what you have to do.

Hours pass, with small conversations here and there, but you mostly just stay in the common room.

Eventually, you go to dinner, and watch some exercises, trying to remember that you're on your time off. Eventually, you find yourself sitting in the Gold common room, waiting for the Gold Teams to go to sleep. Everyone files through, saying goodnight. Hunter gives you a two-fingered salute before turning in, and you lock eyes with him and smile. There are no missions in the morning, so it takes longer for everyone to head to sleep. But soon enough, right around eleven at night, the common room is empty. You don't really want anyone to know where you were headed, considering they might spread rumors.