(AN: I’ve decided that to get rid of the date problem I’m going to move the timeline up a bit and make this chapter take place on New Years 2006. So the stuff with Reaper took about one year. I’ll be including dates in chapters more often to help me keep track from now on)

1st POV Makenzie

To say I felt stupid would be an understatement. I can’t believe I let myself get locked inside such a dangerous mindset without realising how much trouble I would cause myself. Giving myself another few minutes to let out my pent up emotions I eventually pulled myself together and opened my eyes to look at Mercy and Genji.

Looking at them I felt an immense warmth fill my chest that I haven’t experienced since my death in my first life. But at the same time there was a layer of guilt I just couldn’t get rid of. They shouldn’t have had to do this for me. I should have been strong enough to push through this myself, they deserve to experience their own happiness independent of my well-being.

Shaking my head rapidly I dispersed the thought before it could take hold. I’m not alone nor do I have to be, my situation isn’t like Tracer and Mercy’s hypothesis means that we're all intrinsically connected. Sighing to myself I begrudgingly admit that it will take a long time for my mindset to properly shift away from what it is now. I need to be careful. It would be bad if I fell into another spiral like this one in the future.

Coming out of my thoughts I decided to solidify my new mindset with a real change. Glancing at Mercy who had begun to tidy my admittedly disgusting workstation I took a deep breath to clear my mind and focus on my goal before standing and  speaking up.

“Mercy, come here. I’ll give you your memories now. You being able to regain your memories will make things much easier. Also Genji can you take over my patrols for the next couple of days. I want to let my body recover and get started on the next serum, my body should be stable enough to take it in a week's time.”

Mercy jumped slightly in surprise when I spoke up. Glancing to my left I noticed that I’d been crying for longer than I thought. Almost 20 minutes have gone by. Looking at the bottom left of the clock I jolted slightly in surprise.

“Oh it’s New Years day.” I spoke under my breath taking in for what felt like the first time just how long I’ve been in the Marvel world. 5 years have passed since I took over Makenzie’s life and since then I’ve ripped organised crime from New York city and summoned 2 overwordly heroes to help my cause.

Mercy’s footsteps awoke me from my surprise and I turned to face her as she arrived in front of me and took a knee so we stood at the same height. Annoyingly, my body was very small for my age. Abusing my abilities most likely stopped my first growth spurt from happening. I’ll need Mercy to run a full medical exam to make sure there aren’t any more serious effects I need to know about. My powers may come from the soul but there's no telling what effects an ailing body could have on them. 

“I’m ready Master.” I cringed slightly at Mercy’s form of address. I can’t get used to her calling me Master. Maybe it’s because I’m a degenerate but my mind goes to bad places when she calls me Master compared to when Reaper did. 

Ignoring my thoughts as they rambled on I took a deep breath and gently placed my hand on Mercy’s head and began to imagine her Memories flowing out of my body and into her’s. I stood there for a few minutes and when nothing happened I felt a blush of embarrassment begin to crawl up my cheeks when a warm current suddenly appeared in my chest and started to flow down into my left arm then separate as it reached each of my fingers before finally flowing out of my fingertips into Mercy’s head.

The process was more draining then I expected or my physical body may have finally reached its limit but after the warmth of the current finally flowed completely out of my body I staggered back and almost fell when I felt cool metallic hands grab hold of me gently and bring me down onto my chair.

Looking back at Genji I gave him a thankful nod before my mind finally gave out alongside my body and darkness encroached on the edge of my vision before sleep claimed me.

3rd POV

Catching Makenzie again before he could fall back into his chair Genji carefully lifted him up before moving over to his bed and gently laying him down. Turning around with a silence that had been perfected over years of gruelling training Genji nervously made his way over towards Mercy.

When he was first summoned Genji was reasonably confused especially when instead of recognition and familiar affection Mercy spoke to him as if he was a stranger she’d never met. When he asked her she told him about their “Creator”. 

Genji had been concerned when Mercy had spoken about their Creator. She had spoken with clear reverence and combined with her lacking memories Genji suspected foul play on this “Creators” part.  Mercy upon learning he’d kept his memories upon summoning theorised that their Creator had unconsciously chosen to suppress her and Reaper’s memories so they could find happiness.

Choosing to ignore the mention of Reaper, Genji had spent the next few hours going over all the details Mercy had regarding their Creator's personality. Learning he was a child barely matured had erased some suspicion and the bucket load of weaknesses and faults included in Mercy’s report had helped as well.

Genji severely doubted that if this “Creator” was evil he wouldn’t let his “creations” have any chance of fighting against him. 

Mercy had asked for his story once they were finished and he’d provided a rushed generalised description when Mercy told him they’d have to leave soon. He’d barely finished before they’d arrived at their Creator's home and Genji isn’t ashamed to admit he had lost control of himself upon seeing his “Creator” in person. A small, malnourished, and heavily bruised child sat before a screen of complex rapidly shifting code had been the room's only occupant. 

He’d scanned it twice just to be sure and after noticing nothing on his third sweep (being summoned to a new world suddenly might have made him paranoid) He’d focused back on their Creator. The following conversation and breakdown of their Creator’s toxic mindset had provided Genji all the proof he needed that his Creator was no evil villain but a struggling child in a world that apparently wasn’t his own.

It’s good they didn’t dive too deeply into multiversal theory during this conversation or Genji felt his mind might have fritzed out leading him in a rather precarious position considering this Mercy had no idea how to operate his body. As is he could feel his circuits creaking under the strain of processing the amount of information being thrown at them.

He had all his memories so he knew full well who Makenzie was imitating but what he hadn’t known was that the Tracer he dealt with during the apocalypse had been through 500 years of nonstop fighting that same apocalypse. It had explained a lot of her actions and a lot of the actions his Creator had been making. 

Luckily his Creator was intelligent enough to start breaking down his mindset himself once the flaws were blatantly shown to him. And Genji was familiar with feeling unwarranted guilt. He blamed himself far more than he did Hanzo for how their life’s turned out.

Now as he waited patiently for Mercy, Angela Ziegler, the perhaps most important person in his life to process her former memories, fear creeped up his robotic spine as doubts swarmed his mind. What if this new life changed her? What if something went wrong with the process? Would she still care for him? Would She still accept him in all his robotic glory?

Thankfully he wasn’t left to sink into his fears as with a sudden jolt. Mercy awakened from whatever trance there Creator put her in before raising shakily onto her feet swaying slightly as her mind readjusted to reality. 

Her eyes scanned across the room blankly before focusing in on their Creator’s sleeping form watching his chest rise and fall for a dozen seconds before shifting her eyes to Genji. 

One look into her clear teal blue eyes was all he needed for his fears to dissipate. He could see the recognition and emotion in her gaze and it made him tingle just like the first time they met. Her eyes showed no disgust or fear at his form but instead looked effortlessly under his metal body to see his human heart.

He felt like he was falling in love all over again as Mercy slowly approached him before reaching out with a hand to cup his face. “Angela” His voice came out quietly, his metallic undertone impossible to detect as emotion rolled out of him in waves. 

“It’s good to see you, Genji.” She gave him a smile that melted through his armoured body just as easily as it always did before you left him to go over and kneel next to their Creator.

Against his better judgement Genji felt a pang of jealousy rush through his body as Mercy began to adjust his sleeping form while administering medicine so that his injuries didn’t wake him from his sleep. Genji watched silently as she rolled him over onto his back showing even worse bruising that went all the way down his spine. 

Genji winced slightly looking at the wounds. He’d seen worse but for a child to do something that vicious to themselves willingly over and over? He gained a new respect for their Creator even if it was with a hint of reluctance.

“I’m grateful you came along with me. Without you here to help convince him this conversation might have ended very differently. Thank you Genji.” 

“There’s no need for thanks. I’ll always be here when you need me Angela.” Slowly Mercy rose from her kneeling position and turned to face Genji once again.

“Master usually goes out around 1 in the morning to catch the wave of after party goers. You’ll need to leave to patrol soon. The city is turbulent right now, any weakness and crime will come back like a tumour. You know how it is.”

He did, having spent time of his own as a vigilante and hero of Overwatch but that didn’t stop a feeling of pain from creeping into his chest at the feeling that this was a dismissal. Genji shook his head violently as he turned around. No, he was misunderstanding the situation. This wasn’t a dismissal Mercy was simply prioritising the safety of the city above their reunion. If anything Genji should feel relieved over how similar Mercy’s behaviour was.

Perhaps he wasn’t dealing with all of today’s revelations as well as he thought. Going out to clear his head would probably be for the best. Sighing to himself Genji turned around and quickly vanished from the house.

Meanwhile as Genji disappeared to go fight crime Mercy stood up with a sigh and once again began to walk around cleaning up her Masters home. It took her longer than she thought it would, taking nearly 2 hours to completely clean their home. Her Creator seems to have a bad habit of stacking trash on trash until it became impossible to tell just how much trash was in a pile.

Once more regretting her decision at putting this conversation off for so long Mercy turned around and made her way over to her Master before laying down beside him on the bed. It wouldn’t do for her Master to be alone as he went about changing himself to become a better hero. She’d stay with him to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.

She’d lose most of the momentum she’d built up at Oscorp but it was of little consequence. Just the little project the Widow saw is more than enough to win back the favour of the board. Greedy pricks they are. 

Sighing to herself Mercy allowed her body to relax beside the familiar warmth of her Master as she faced the last and perhaps most difficult problem she had to deal with. Genji’s feelings for her.

She wasn’t blind to them and if she was honest with herself there was a time when she’d shared those feelings but now in this new world she didn’t think she was ready to commit to a relationship. Her Master needed her and even with her memories back she’d sooner give up her life then abandon her Master. Perhaps when everything was over and her Master finally concluded his journey she’d talk to Genji about settling down together but until then she would stay committed to helping her Master save the world.

Mind made up Mercy let go of her final strings of consciousness and fell asleep whispering softly. "Happy New Years Master."