June 2022 Drabble #1 (Patreon)

Part 1 (This Part)

Part 2 (Patreon Link)

Cole/(Hanzo) – corruption – Overwatch got Cole back after he got put through his paces by Talon... but it might be just too late.

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Overwatch is holding a lunatic in their basement cells and they’re at a loss for what to do about it. It feels wrong to have Cassidy locked away like this but keeping him above ground had been even worse; he’s kept them all awake for almost a week before they’ve made the hard decision to get him deeper where the walls are thicker and he can’t scream at odd hours during the day and night with the malicious intent of wearing them down.

Hanzo has taken over most of the guard duty, sitting with a stony expression on the other side of the cell while Cassidy prowls the perimeters of his prison and spits vitriol at him.

The man they’re holding right now is not Cole; that much all of them are positive of. He might sound like him and have a vague resemblance but… there is nothing in him that would suggest that a year ago he’d been a more-or-less gentle soul out to drink and have fun.

Whatever Talon had done to him; it had left a lasting impact on the agent.

Jack and Angela are currently watching both Cassidy and Hanzo over the video feed when the communicator Jack never lets out of his sight crackles to life, startling the both of them.

Genji’s voice fills the room once Jack establishes the connection.

“I got the data. On route back.”

Jack exhales with relief but Angela’s face becomes, if possible, even darker, her shoulders tight as she stares at the video feed where Cole is pressing himself against the bulletproof glass, probably trying to goad Hanzo into something-or-other again.

Shaking her head, she reaches out and moves her fingers over the screen to zoom into the left side of Cassidy’s head.

“I am not sure the data will do us any good. In fact, I am certain that it will only cause us more heartache. The ‘how’ is pretty clear to me.” The both of them stare at the metal device slightly embedded in Cassidy’s skin. It looks all but stamped into the side of his head, a vicious red light steadily blinking.

Every now and then, as if it were a tic, Cassidy’s face twists into a downright demonic grimace, prompted by an irregular current coming off of the device.

“We will sift through it regardless. Maybe we will get a clue how to revert what they did,” Jack growls under his breath, willfully ignoring the tears glistening in Angela’s eyes. She’s made it clear that she does not think there is a way to reverse anything.