CYOA – Life And Death Situations – Chapter 27

Rather than focus on one POV, we switch between the brothers...

---

Hanzo feels good. His limbs are nice and loose, warmth still prickling at his fingertips even though he’s spent the last two hours blissfully sleeping. While obviously the sea was a much better environment, he could not fault the sleeping places that humans had devised.

They were… amenable.

He spends a while showering, soaking in the water. It is not the same as home, but it will do. He has the added bonus of watching McCree outside the stall, standing at the sink and taking care of his beard with an amount of care that Hanzo would not anticipated, given his general usual… state.

There are angry red bruises on his back from Hanzo’s fingers and nails but his general energy was calm. Smug, even. Hanzo could feel it shimmering through that strange bond that has manifested between them. He frowns and focuses back on the water, thoughts still pleasantly dulled.

McCree is dirty and loud and brash but Hanzo has to admit that he has some… skill as a lover. It’s been his first time playing with anyone but Genji, and while his brother is obviously superior, he can’t deny that there has been a merit to those big rough fingers and wide, greedy mouth.

The thought of McCree’s slow, self-indulgent kisses burning into his skin has goosebumps rise along his spine. When he looks out again, he is startled to see that Jesse has turned and is watching him now, his gentle brown eyes dark and intent.

“I can do that again if ya want,” he drawls, and Hanzo flushes as he realizes that the human must have been able to deduce a lot – if not all – of what Hanzo had been thinking of. He scoffs and turns away, closing his eyes in the spray of the shower.

Hmmn. Pleasant.

.o.

They prowl out of the bedroom to get something to eat. Hanzo has completely lost track of time and is a bit startled to see how dark it has become outside. They flip on the light.

He’ll never forget the rush of shame at how long it takes him to notice that Genji is not there.

His breath catches when he turns to the living room and realizes that it is empty. The seat on which he had left Genji playing with Zenyatta is no longer occupied, though the fish bowl is still where it had been put earlier. The fabric doesn’t seem that dark with fluid anymore. It adds to the surrealness of the picture. How long had Hanzo been in the bedroom with McCree?

“Genji?” he calls, the pleasant warmth from his tryst dissipating with the frantic pulses of his heart. His throat seems to close off when there is no reply.

Jesse, alerted to the change through their bond, steps away from the fridge with a frown. He lets his gaze swipe over his living room, Hanzo can feel his presence in his head even before he can feel the warmth of the body at his elbow.

“Genji?” he calls now as well. Grunting in confusion he starts to walk around the couch to see if they are lying on the ground, then leaves the room again to presumably see if they are in any of the other rooms, but Hanzo knows better.

He has reached out to his brother, his hands curled into trembling fists at his sides.

Genji is not here. He’s not even close to anywhere near their vicinity. Hanzo becomes nauseous as he realizes how far his brother is from him. He can hear Jesse calling behind him to hold up, but he is out of the door in a moment, naked feet slapping against the cold tiles of the hallway outside the apartment, heart racing.

He needs to go to his brother.

.o.

Genji wakes slowly, all his senses coming online somewhat disjointedly. He hears a weird beeping and humming around him before he even feels that he is gently floating in water. He moves his tail instinctively to keep himself in place, but as he lowers it it touches a ground that is weirdly smooth and cold. His heart squeezes painfully.

Come to think of it… why did he have his tail? The last time he remembered… the last time…

The beeping in the background starts to speed up with his rising trepidation. He opens his eyes and twists, realizing that his arms are bound behind his back. The scenery around him does not make any sense; there is a lot of grey and blue. The room is large, but when he automatically jerks forward he painfully hits his nose against a glass wall that he hadn’t really paid attention to. He hisses, bubbles streaming from his gills. His nose hurts something fierce but he can’t even rub at it.

Blinking around, Genji realizes that he is in a large tank. Across from him on the other side of the room is yet another large glass contraption, though empty.

To his right, a door opens and two humans hurry inside, their eyes large as they stare at him, though one starts beaming just a few seconds later. They advance on him, and he pulls back until his bound arms hit the other side of the glass container.

His head is pounding, memories coming back in waves. Zenyatta on his lap… touching him… Genji touching Zenyatta in turn… right until he suddenly went stiff and distant in his lap and started to crawl off of him.

Zenyatta acting so weirdly… like he was another person altogether…

“You are awake. I am glad. That does make things considerably easier, I think. I hope, at least.”

Genji stares at him. The longer he watches those humans the more he is sure that he’s seen them somewhere before… and not just from however long ago, following Zenyatta out- them driving up in a car and pulling him insi-

“Where is Zenyatta?” he asks, agitated. He swims closer again, pressing himself against the glass. “Where is Zenyatta? And where is my brother?!”

The men stare at him with a small frown. He can understand them, albeit a little dull and echoing, but the same does not seem to pose true the other way around. Genji’s throat goes tight, heart thumping faster and faster. The accompanying beeping in the background is like a little hammer to his brain.

One of the humans frowns and turns away to walk to an array of TVs while the other shakes his head and puts his hand up against the glass. His sleeve slips up a little as he does so, and Genji sees a dark mark on his skin… not unlike Jesse’s.

Something slots into place in his brain. He suddenly understands. Those have been the humans who had taken Zenyatta from him and done… things… to him. This man’s face is the face that had looked down on him from over the rim of a boat.

The fin along his spine and tail starts to lift aggressively. Bristling, he bares his teeth, but the man just smiles pleasantly back at him.

“You don’t need to get so agitated,” he promises. “Though maybe it is better that way. Your brother can sense your distress, can he not? It will surely urge him to be a bit quicker in coming here.”

Genji feels like his stomach drops out. He scrabbles to sense Hanzo and somehow let him know not to come closer, but he’s confused and nauseous and there is something that just seems to… block him from accessing that part of his brain properly.

The man in front of the tank smiles close mouthed, looking very pleased as he turns around to the other human in front of the TVs.

“The drugs’re working.”

“Hmm… good…” the other murmurs, obviously lost in thought, then waves him closer impatiently. “Here- look at this.”

Genji is left floating in the small tank, feeling helpless and panicked and having no idea how everything could have gone this bad this fast. What… had happened? Where was Zenyatta? He tries to remember more, but his brain refuses to accept the one conclusion he comes to time and again: Zenyatta had led him to be picked up by this men.

.o.

Hanzo hadn’t heard Jesse in a while. He must have lost the human shortly after zipping out of the entrance of the building and winding his way around a few buildings. He has no idea where he is; he is just blindly following the pull leading him to his brother.

His vision has narrowed to a pinpoint. He feels like he must have bumped into one or two humans but their shouts of indignation fall on deaf ears. He has to get to Genji. He doesn’t know where he is – except that he does.

He knows it on a fundamental, instinctive level. He knows that they have gotten their hands on him, though he does not understand how they had done it. Ironically, he does not suspect Zenyatta until he sees him sitting at the edge of a narrow dirt path closer to the sea. Hanzo must have run for an hour straight, his lungs burning and his feet feeling numb. There are scrapes on his hands and the jogging pants are dirty over his knees. He must have fallen a few times, but he can’t remember when that might have happened.

His feet are bleeding sluggishly. The sting reaches the back of his head just as dull as the panic from Jesse he can feel pushing at their connection. The distance between them seems to wear on that thread that has spun them together.

Hanzo slowly walks closer to Zenyatta. He’s never seem him slumped like this. Lifeless. He keeps his distance, cautiously moving around him to peek into that new smooth face of his. The sight of him just being able to remove his… head (?) like that is still sending goosebumps down Hanzo’s spine.

He slowly moves his hand in front of Zenyatta’s face, but the thing does not even twitch. He lightly pokes his shoulder. It is unusually cool to the touch. As if something that had powered Zenyatta up until now has just… given up.

Hanzo frowns and goes down into a squat, peering into Zenyatta’s slitted eyes. There is some… light glowing in them, but just weak. Maybe he is… resting or some such thing. Maybe he will wake up again in due time, but Hanzo does not have the luxury to wait around for that – no matter how badly he wants to do things to Zenyatta for obviously betraying his brother.

In the end, all he can do is let him sit where he is to keep pursuing Genji’s worryingly weak signature like a dog on a trail.

.o.

“I saw him. He’s ducked behind those rocks.”

“Alright. Grab your stuff, we’ll go out and collect him.”

Genji swims back to the front of the tank, his heart feeling like it is cramping. Dark spots swim in front of his eyes; he keeps trying to reach out to Hanzo, to make him see reason, but… but he can’t. He’s never felt this alone in his own head.

“No! Leave him alone!”

The two men briefly look over to him when he makes a ruckus. Their faces remain blank – they can’t understand him. Not his words, at least. Genji grits his teeth. When they turn away again, equipped with scary looking mechanical things strapped to their backs, he slams his tail against the glass. The space around him vibrates but he can’t see any cracks in his prison. He slams again and again, not only his tail but his whole body, trying… something. Anything. His head is all weird and he needs out of here before they can do anything to Hanzo.

Where is Zenyatta? What happened?

They stare at him, one face more or less blank, the other – the one he scratched – flushing, a pleased smile brightening his expression. He nods toward him, then turns to his companion. They exchange glances-

and then they leave.

Genji presses his forehead against the glass, eyes wide. This can’t be happening. It just can’t.

.o.

Genji’s mind is running wild with all the possibilities that could be playing out right now. Hanzo is out there getting hunted down like one of the glittering fish that he and Genji like to eat, and all Genji can do is try to somehow get out of his little prison cell.

He keeps trying to contact his brother, but whatever these men have done to him, it inhibits his senses enough that he becomes unsure about what is even coming through to Hanzo. He becomes nauseous from the vibrations around him whenever he slams himself into the glass, his chest and tail ache in dull throbs. By the time the door opens once more and the two humans come back in he has nearly sunk to the bottom of the tank, trying to wriggle his way out of the bonds holding his arms behind his back.

Genji pushes himself up when he notices the movement, heart spasming painfully when he sees the unconscious figure between them: Hanzo.

No… No!

He roars, slamming himself against the glass yet again. Pain rips along his arm when suddenly he manages to wind his hand out of the sling, the coppery scent of his own blood hitting his senses within seconds. He only spares a brief glance to his wrist, the skin ripped open from the shackles before focusing back on his brother.

Hanzo’s head his lolling down. He is completely limp between the humans who visibly fight with the dead weight of his body. Genji screams, slamming his arms into the glass, digging his claws against it- but no cracks are appearing in its surface.

The two humans throw him only small, annoyed glances but they are obviously preoccupied with not dropping Hanzo.

Where is Jesse? Does he know Hanzo is here? What happened since Genji had left with Zenyatta?

Zenyatta…

The men climb up a small set of stairs, dragging Hanzo with them as they go. Genji quiets down as he just watches it happen, his wrist stopping to bleed eventually.

When they are on the top of the set of iron stairs, they start to undress Hanzo. When he is naked, they push him into the water where Genji can watch his body automatically adapt, legs becoming his tail once more. The same must have happened to him when they got their hands on him; dragging him in like a dead catch, undressing him and throwing him into the water.

Hanzo is floating liveless, suspended in the tank; only the fine stream of bubbles occasionally coming from his gills signaling that he is indeed still alive.

The men clap each others shoulders. They look very satisfied with their accomplishment.

Genji slowly moves a bit away from the glass and sinks down to the ground of the tank.

What would happen now?

What did they even want to do?