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blizzardstarx · 3 months

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And you’ll never see the reasons I had, for keeping my claws away when they were close enough to hurt you.

Cat!Vanessa AU Fic

Warning: Child/animal death, child/animal abuse, a LOT of gore, implied suicidal thoughts (?)

A/N: I have not written in years 😭 last thing I've written about cats/warrior cats was three years ago, and my English is kinda ass. Also, everything is the same except they are cats and some things are replaced with cat-related things or actions. The pizza is cat-safe. The animatronics/suits don't exist and instead are replaced with a kind of illusion that is still called suits that makes William or the ghost kids look like the respondent animals. The suits have spring locks. Also, some lines and scenes have been inspired by the movie novelization. Her cat character is slightly inspired by my character study essay of her 💀 which had a bunch of theories and headcanons.

The fic is divided into three parts, marked by the snowflake time skips. Vanessa’s happiest day is the three snowflakes, two snowflakes being the cat retelling of the FNAF movie, and one snowflake is the end scene with Vanessa and William.

Total stats: 6038 words, 33061 characters

Fic word count: 5868

Be compliant. Lay low. Don't disobey him.

❆ ❆ ❆

It was Vanessa's happiest day. She had turned six moons old! She could taste the rich pepperoni pizza that wafted through the air on her tongue, a soft smile on her face as a euphoric feeling filled her body. Today was perfect. Her father, William Afton, was amazing in creating this place. It was going to be the best day ever, spending it at Freddy's with her friends and family!

Vanessa had brought her plane plush with her, the orange toy in her jaws, setting it down on one of the tables. Her father had given it to her just as Freddy’s had had its grand opening. Vanessa remembered the squeal of happiness that had come out of her mouth as he gifted it to her, softly smiling. She recollected her father’s praise, her father pressing his nose to hers affectionately. She’d carried it around everywhere with her since. The she-cat’s ears perked up as she heard the small thudding of her brother's paws, followed by a few others. She turned around, spotting the group of kits. Vanessa bounded towards them, feeling the fuzzy floor beneath her tickle her paws. She approached one particular kit, a light cream tom who was barely taller than her.

A soft yelp came out of the tom's mouth as Vanessa tackled him, her blue eyes shining happily.

"You're here!"

Her brother, Cassidy chuckled underneath her.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss this for anything! And I brought our friends here," he said, a grin on his face as Vanessa got off of him, letting her brother stand on his paws.

Soft chuckling could be heard around her as Cassidy got to his paws, shaking his fur out. Vanessa glanced at the crew gathering around them, seeing a mix of colors. A golden she-kit, Susie, twitched her whiskers as she glanced at the two littermates. They were almost identical, but Cassidy was a bit taller than her, had four light paws, and was a few moons older than her, even though Vanessa felt as if they were twins. The blueish gray tom, Jeremy, was audibly laughing, while the red tom Fritz let out a soft mrrow of amusement. Gabriel, a brown tom, was the most composed, but his brilliant blue eyes shone with held-back laughter.

“This place is so cool, I can’t believe your father made this!” Fritz yipped, the three-legged cat prancing around the place.

Susie’s mouth watered at the delicious scents as she sniffed the air, following after the red tom with her cupcake plushie in her mouth. The four others followed them as they explored the pizzeria, playing the arcade games.

❆ ❆ ❆

They’d settled on sitting down at the table that Vanessa had put her toy airplane on, munching on the delicious pizza and talking. Vanessa closed her eyes as she savored the taste, praising how good it was in her mind. Music played over the speakers, playing in the background as Fritz made up a story about how he lost his leg, even though everyone knew he had been born like that. The pizzeria felt a bit empty, Vanessa’s eyes landing on the empty stage across the room. I wonder what Daddy’s going to put there? She thought, flicking her tail.

No one had yet noticed that Susie was gone, and her cupcake plushie with her.

The five finished their pizzas, and suddenly, Gabriel looked around, his blue eyes wide. “Where’s Susie?” He asked. He glanced down at her plate, that still had half of her pizza on it.

“Maybe she ran off to the arcade games again,” Fritz chuckled, his whiskers twitching.

Cassidy shot him a look before turning to Vanessa, his eyes full of worry. Vanessa returned the glance.

“I’ll go check,” Jeremy meows, the blueish-gray tom getting to his feet and padding away.

Vanessa fidgeted on her paws as she looked around, hoping to see Susie’s golden fur anywhere, to see a hint of the she-kit, to see anything.

Where did she go?

❆ ❆ ❆

Jeremy and Susie had not returned. Fritz’s usual unseriousness was turning into seriousness as the minutes went by. Gabriel shifted on his big paws, the broad brown kit’s eyes darting around nervously. “I’ll go check on both of them…” he murmurs, glancing at the three. Cassidy dipped his head, nodding as he watched the stout tom walk away. Fritz got up as well, following Gabriel.

❆ ❆ ❆

They did not return.

It was just Cassidy and Vanessa alone together.

“...Cassie… why is everyone disappearing? What’s happening to them?”

Vanessa frowned as a dreadful feeling began to creep into her fur, glancing at her brother with her wide blue eyes, her ears flattened and hackles raised.

“I don’t know, Ness… Stay here, alright? I’ll be back.”

“...Okay…”

The tom padded off to the back rooms, a grim and worrisome look on his face.

Vanessa trembled as she watched her brother, feeling as if this was a bad idea. She went against his words, silently tailing him. Cassidy ducked into the shadows, entering the room.

Vanessa saw a flash of cream fur as Cassidy recoiled away from the room, his blue eyes filled with horror and his mouth slightly agape in a silent scream. She darted towards him, revealing her presence as he spotted her. Her brother tried to keep his composure, but he could not hide the look of pure terror in his eyes. “Why did you follow me?” Cassidy yelped, blocking the room with his body, not wanting his sister to see. “C-Cassidy.. What’s happening?” Vanessa mews softly, shrinking as she tries to look past him, trying to catch a glimpse of what he has seen.

“Cassidy.”

Cassidy pushed her away forcefully, shooting her a glance as he turned his back on her. Vanessa got to her paws brushing past him, her brother yelping in horror. Bile rose in Vanessa’s throat as her tongue grew dry, gasping in horror.

Four bodies lay broken and bloodied on the tiled floor of Freddy’s.

Susie’s golden fur was stained with blood, her jaw dislocated and broken, her mouth open in a silent yowl. Jeremy’s body lay limply, his eyes ripped out of his sockets. Gabriel slumped against the wall, his brilliant blue eyes now dull and glazed over, the sticky red liquid pooling beneath him. Fritz’s right eye had been gouged out, tears staining his face.

A metallic taste filled the air, the sickly scent of blood flooding the two’s mouths and noses. A loud wail came out of Vanessa’s mouth as hot tears fell down her face. This isn’t real, this isn’t really happening. She was rooted to the ground, frozen in fear.

“Vanessa.”

Vanessa shot up in alert at the sound of her name, her hair standing on end. Her eyes landed on the yellow rabbit figure before her, blood soaking his fur, his wide predator-like purple eyes almost glowing in the darkness of the room. The figure flickered before shifting to her father– no. This was not her father.

Cassidy’s mouth drew back in a snarl as he stared at the bigger tom. “What did you do?” He yowled in terror and anger. Vanessa saw a flash of golden fur as William smacked her brother across the face with his left paw, claws still unsheathed and blood dripping down them. Cassidy let out a choked sob, recoiling away as blood filled his mouth.

“Keep your muzzle shut,” he growled, baring his teeth at them. “You’re going to help me clean this mess up.”

Vanessa could not recognize her father. The bloody, crazed cat before her was not the loving and kind dad she’d known. “N-no!” She sobbed, choking out the word between her teeth. Cassidy slapped his tail on her mouth, dragging himself in front of her. “She didn’t mean that Dad, please,” he pleaded, tears streaming down his face.

William stepped closer towards the cowering kits, his eyes narrowed, shining menacingly. “Step aside,” he snarled, glaring icily at Cassidy as he flexed his claws.

“I won’t let you hurt her, too!”

The large tom darted forward, his claws ripping down her brother’s left side of his face, clipping his ear and clawing his eye. Cassidy winced, but he did not budge, determination filling him as he stood his ground, blood rushing down the side of his face. Adrenaline flowed through his veins as he shook in anger, blinded in one eye.

“Did you do this to mom too?”

Cassidy spat, lashing his tail as he glared at his father in fury and pain. This was the final straw for the bloody golden tom. He raised his paw and, to a shout of horror from Vanessa, brought it down onto the small kit, slashing his neck. William coldly raised his head, glaring at his daughter with those blueish-purple eyes.

“This is all your fault.”

Vanessa scrambled back, staring at her brother’s limp and broken body on the ground, feeling more bile rise in her throat as she sobbed. This isn’t real, this isn’t real, she repeated over and over in her mind, covering her mouth with her left paw. Please, please wake up… He- he’s not really dead…

“Vanessa.”

The kit wailed softly as tears fell numbly down her face, unable to take her eyes off her brother’s small frame, her paws frozen to the ground. William noticed this, glaring down disgustedly at his son’s body, taking the small kit’s tail in his teeth. Audible crunching and cracking noises could be heard as he bit down, making Vanessa flinch. With a swift motion, her father jerked his head, ripping most of his tail off.

“You don’t want to end up like your brother, do you, Vanny?”

Vanessa shook her head, sobbing as she tore her eyes away from her brother’s body, looking into William’s purple eyes as he stared down at her.

“Help me clean up the mess you created.”

❆ ❆ ❆

Be compliant.

After they were done, her father had returned to his normal self, his fur softening and flattening. He handed her her toy plane when they had passed by the table, patting her on the head.

“Good job, Vanny. I love you, okay?”

“I love you too, daddy.”

❆ ❆

Maybe one day the loving father she had known would return. The cat with those warm blue eyes, that warm smile, and comforting nuzzles. On and off again, he would come close, but it would never be the same. Vanessa had always walked on eggshells around her father. She’d known that if she stepped a hair out of line, she’d end up just like her brother. Broken and shattered. Dead. As Vanessa grew up, she knew he was capable of hurting her, and so she lay compliant. She became an EMT, to ‘make up’ for the blood on her paws, and to help others who have been injured. But of course, her father took away any control she had over her own life, ‘suggesting’ to her that she should become a police officer and twisting it for his gain, forcing her to cover up his crimes and clean up after him. Maybe one day she’ll move to another state and run away forever, to try to escape her father’s grasp. Vanessa knew she would never be free, harnessed to her father. He will always yank her back. She will never escape him, he will always find her. You don’t want to end up like your brother, do you, Vanny?

After Freddy’s had shut down because of the Missing Kits Incident, her father had trouble keeping intruders out of the place. After all, it was a high-tech building with valuable technology and games, at least for the time. He’d hired security guards, which he’d force Vanessa to ‘clean up’ if they got too close to discovering the truth of the place. Vanessa felt tied to the restaurant, unable to leave, unable to free herself from the abandoned pizzeria. She’d always go there, talking to the ghost kits– her former friends– comforting and listening to their sorrows. It was almost therapeutic for her, talking to her ghost friends and cleaning the suits. Cassidy was never there though. Her friends would talk about her brother, but he never appeared when she was there. Vanessa’s guilt never faded away from that day, shackled and chained to that horrific incident. They would never be free.

❆ ❆

Her father had told her of the newest security guard, Mike Schmidt. Of course, he reminded her of her duty, and she nodded dully. How many security guards have been killed at Freddy’s? Five… Ten… Vanessa couldn’t count how many dead cats’ blood had been on her paws. Their faces blurred together in a mushy mess in her mind, their names long gone and forgotten. Vanessa felt repulsed as she stared at her paws, feeling the layers of blood caked underneath her claws.

Vanessa went to Freddy’s to check in on the new security guard. It took half an hour and she suspected that the kits might have gotten to him, but he finally opened the door. She showed him around after treating the wound on his front leg, showing Mike the performance the animals would give if he pressed the showtime button and gave him the security guard badge.

“There. Now you’re official.”

Those words reminded her of the day shift guard that had worked at Freddy’s long ago. The brown she-cat was a friend of her father’s, so warm and kind towards her. She had given her the badge in the same way, saying those words, and had shown her the showtime button. What happened to her? What did he do to her?

❆ ❆

Stupid.

A group of cats had broken into Freddy’s because Mike had left one of the doors unlocked. Vanessa could never get used to the metallic scent of blood that filled her mouth as she mindlessly washed away the stains on the floor from the kits having attacked the cats. I should have made sure they were locked. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Her father had instructed her to stuff any cats that died at Freddy’s in the parts and services room. He’d deal with them later. Vanessa stared at one of the cats, one that had his face chewed apart, so desensitized to the horrific sight. One of the others, a red she-cat, had her body dismembered in half. She forced her feelings of guilt down as she dragged their bodies one by one to the instructed room, her ears pressed flat against her skull and tail low.

❆ ❆

Vanessa paid a visit to Mike’s house, informing him about the break-in. To her surprise, she saw a small kit with him, a tortoiseshell she-kit with matching amber eyes. Abby was her name. To her surprise, she found out Abby was his sister and sadness filled her as she was reminded of her brother. She’d filled Mike in about the break-in, and he suggested that they should take a visit down by the canal behind his house.

❆ ❆

“So, I used to have a brother. His name was Garrett. And when I was… about twelve. He was… he was taken. They never found the cat who did it– they never found my brother.”

Garrett. The name was engraved into her mind as a flash of recognition flashed in her blue eyes. She quickly hid it as she heard Mike continue his story, telling her of the dream he makes himself recount at night, silently repeating the name over and over, thinking of her toy plane that lay on one of her shelves in her bedroom. The G that had been scratched into the bottom before it faded away over time. Of course, her father had killed him. Of course, he had single handedly destroyed Mike’s whole family, with his father leaving, and his mother dying.

❆ ❆

Vanessa eyed the drawing of the five kits playing with the yellow rabbit on the wall. She remembered the day she’d drawn it, bile rising in her throat as she could only stare in horror, her ears flattened as the guilt prickled her pelt once more.

Vanessa’s ears perked up as she heard Mike unlock the door. “Guys, I’m back! Hey, Vanessa!” A small voice yipped in excitement behind her. She turned around, spotting the tortoiseshell kit bounding around, going towards the stage. Horror and dread dawned on Vanessa as she realized Abby was here. She’s going to be killed. Father- he’s… I can’t let this happen. Not again. She thought, staring at Mike, regaining her composure as frustration rose beneath her fur.

❆ ❆

The cream-colored she-cat rose to her paws as she padded towards the back room to get tablecloths for Abby’s fort, Mike following after her. She didn’t say anything, keeping her muzzle shut, going back to the same room she’d lost everything in. The familiar scent of blood flooded her senses, even though there was none. Vanessa gagged but continued her task, grabbing some tablecloths in her mouth. Mike then walked over to a humanoid suit, unlike the animal suits those kits were in, that her father had also made, tentatively reaching out to touch the exposed springlocks. Vanessa yelped in horror as she spotted what he was doing, dropping the tablecloths, completely losing her composure for a split second, yowling “Don’t!”, her ears pressed flat against her head. She shook her pelt as she regained her composure, her blue eyes wide as Mike stopped in his tracks. “I wouldn’t do that. They’re springlocks. They tend to be pretty unstable.” Vanessa explained, her voice low. “Let’s see.”

Vanessa took the middle of a broom in her teeth, jabbing the handle into the suit, wincing as it snapped the broomstick into pieces. She saw fear, surprise, and suspicion flash across Mike’s face as she turned to face him, dropping the broom.

“As I said, unstable.”

Mike paused for a moment, flicking his ear as he stared at Vanessa, the growing suspicion rising in his pelt. “Is there anything else you want to tell me about, Vanessa?” He asked slowly. “Since you seem to know everything about this place.” Vanessa studied him, her mouth slightly open to file back a retort, seeing the hackles rising on his back as more anger and suspicion grew on the security guard’s face. “And what if Abby had come in here? What if she’d found that thing?” The brown tabby tom’s voice rose higher, nodding his head towards the suit.

“You’re the one who brought her Mike, not me.” Vanessa countered, her voice low and shaky, lashing her tail in frustration. He’s not listening! “What I still can’t wrap my head around is why.”

Mike shifted his gaze towards the ground, deep in thought on whether to tell her or not. He then explained to Vanessa how his dreams were more vivid and how he felt closer to finding his brother just by being here.

Mike has to stop this. Abby- him- they’re both going to be killed!

“Mike, you need to drop this.”

“Honestly, I don’t really see how it’s any of your business.”

In a flash of cream fur, Vanessa closed most of the gap between her and Mike, anger boiling in her as she drew her mouth into a snarl. “I’m telling you to let. It. Go.” She recoiled away slightly in shock, shrinking inwards as she quickly moved back in a flash, staring at the floor, her pelt hot with embarrassment, turning her back on Mike.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Someone…” Vanessa said softly, in an almost kit-like voice. “Someone who’s trying to help.” She stumbled slightly as she stiffly strode away after she had picked up the tablecloths again.

Vanessa wiped away the tears that had welled up in her eyes with the back of her paw as she walked away from the storage room, her back on Mike as she tried so hard to shove her feelings back down and force her fur to lay flat again. Her anger had gotten to the best of her. You’re just like your father.

“Vanessa, wait!

Vanessa flinched as Mike caught up to her, tugging on her foreleg, facing him.

“Talk to me.”

She wiped her eyes again, looking away. “I’m trying— you’re not listening.”

“Please. Finding the guy who did this is the only thing that matters to me,” Mike meowed, staring at her.

“You… you don’t understand.” Vanessa shook her head, glancing at the children’s drawings, frowning.

“Then explain it to me!”

Vanessa opened her mouth before closing it again, closing her eyes as she shook her head.

❆ ❆

Abby had gotten hurt. And it was her fault.

Vanessa knew Jeremy had not meant to hurt her, but she knew Je- Bonnie’s– the name made her sick, erasing the name of the kit she’d once known– guitar had malfunctioned earlier on Mike’s first night… Why couldn’t she have warned the kit sooner? Why couldn’t she have stopped her?

“Go home, Mike. Take care of your sister.”

“What are you so afraid of? In the storage room… I saw your eyes. You were terrified.”

❆ ❆

She had found Mike’s unconscious body just outside of one of Freddy’s and she’d taken him to the police supply outpost, patching him up. The kits had given him so many wounds and injuries, controlled by her father. His brown fur had been soaked in his blood when she’d found his limp and battered body. She heard him stirring awake and walked back into the room. “Careful,” Vanessa meowed as he got to his paws, wincing in pain.

“Where are we?”

“Police supply outpost. I found you and you… you were… badly hurt.”

“They tried to kill me, Vanessa.” Mike stared at her with his amber eyes, the she-cat dropping her head as she averted her gaze.

“But I’m guessing you already knew that. Max. Her brother. And the other men. Did you know about them, too?”

Vanessa opened her mouth as she lifted her head, looking at Mike’s amber eyes with her tear-filled blue ones. “...It’s… It’s complicated.” She mewed softly after a few moments.

“Complicated? More complicated than a bunch of ghost kits murdering innocent cats?”

“They- they weren’t innocent!”

“Well, Abby is!”

Vanessa shrank away, staring at the ground as her eyes swam in tears, flinching away every time Mike would raise his voice.

“You saw her play with those things. You knew what they were capable of, and you didn’t say anything.” Mike spat in anger, stepping forward. Vanessa took two steps back. “Mike– please– just—”

“Abby’s in danger!”

Vanessa took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm down. “…Tell me what happened.”

Mike paused for a moment, staring at the ground. “In my dream, they wanted Abby. And I… gave her to them. It was a mistake, and when I tried to fix it…” Mike raised his gaze towards Vanessa. “What do they want with my sister?”

Vanessa shifted her eyes, not answering his question for a few minutes as she took in deep breaths.

“They want to make her… like them.”

She shifted on her paws as she paced back and forth, a dark look on her face as she grimaced.

“In the ‘80s, when those kits went missing… The police searched every inch of Freddy’s, from top to bottom. But… they never found them. The man who took them… he was… a very bad man. A very… cruel man.”

Vanessa knew she was visibly trembling, her voice shaky and soft. She didn’t care, wiping her eyes once more with the back of her paw. He’s going to kill me. What will he do if he finds- no, he will find out. I’m going to end up just like my brother.

“Also a very clever man… He knew the parents would cry and the police would come looking. He knew there was one place that the police would never think to check. Because… why would they?”

She raised her head to face Mike. “Why would anyone?”

❆ ❆

Vanessa felt like a little kit again, her head hung low and slightly tilted to the side, a weak smile on her face. “You have to understand… the kits.. The kits don’t want to hurt anyone, It’s him. He influences them somehow.”

“Who?”

“It’s not their fault!” Vanessa was almost pleading, urgency in her voice. “They were scared and alone, and they didn’t know any better. You have to believe me.” The words were like a double-edged sword. She wasn’t just talking about the kits.

It wasn’t her fault. She didn’t know any better.

The she-cat shrank inwards towards herself, hot tears streaming down her face. She was shaking badly, backing away from Mike, consumed in her pain and sorrow. “He took everything from them that they don’t remember.“

“Who, Vanessa?”

“I tried to warn you… I really did try. But it– it’s too late now. He knows you’re looking for him.”

“You need to tell me who he is.”

Vanessa looked away, her vision blurred with the incredible amount of tears that fell down her face. I’m going to die. I’m going to get hurt. I’m going to end up like Cassidy. Thoughts raced through her head, echoing over and over as she held back her sobs.

“His name… is William Afton.” Vanessa could barely choke her words out, closing her eyes, still not meeting Mike’s amber eyes. A bright light shone above her head as she sat on her hindquarters.

“He’s my father.”

❆ ❆

Vanessa held a piece of paper in her paw, sliding it towards Mike. She knew he wouldn’t be happy seeing what was in the photo. It was her, as a kit, almost 6 moons old, holding the toy plane her father had given– had murdered Garrett to give to her in her jaws, with a big yellow rabbit beside the small kit. How many kits had been killed, had been robbed of their belongings, just to give to her? How many?

Mike took a step back as he dropped the photo to the ground, lifting his head to look at Vanessa.

“You… knew.”

“Mike…”

“You knew? This whole time. My brother, you knew.”

Vanessa shook her head, lowering her eyes as she shifted on her paws. “N-not about Garrett, no. At least… not when we met.” Please. “I’m so, so sorry…”

“Tell me how to stop them. Tell me how to save my sister!”

Like a kicked dog, Vanessa shrank even more, her teary blue eyes so wide as she quavered, telling him how to deactivate the suits but that it was only temporary.

“Come with me. You owe it to me and you owe it to them.”

No, I can’t. I can’t- Please.

Vanessa stumbled on her paws as she backed away from the brown tabby, shaking her head violently. “I- I can’t. If… if he’s there… I…” She weakly murmured as tears rolled down her cheeks. A thud came from behind her as she slumped against the wall, sinking in her paws. “I won’t be any use to you, believe me.” Use. She’d always had to prove her usefulness to her father. She had to be useful, otherwise, he’d kill her, disposing of and throwing away his toy once she’s lost her usefulness. Vanessa silently sobbed, her mouth drawn back, her eyes swimming in her tears. I know what crazy looks like, Mike.

“He really messed you up, didn’t he?”

❆ ❆

Vanessa heard Mike’s paw steps leave the police supply outpost and the sobs she had suppressed spilled out of her mouth, filling the room. They echoed back at her, almost mockingly, taunting her as she sank to the floor, collapsing, burying her head into her paws. She was supposed to be a good girl. She was supposed to obey her father.

What was a broken dog to its master? Useless. One that needed to be put down.

Even now, Vanessa could feel his piercing, icy blueish-purple eyes glaring at her in the shadows, feeling as if he was there. As if he was over her shoulder, his dagger-like eyes stabbing into Vanessa’s fur, trained on her, watching her every move. She could taste the sickly scent of blood and death again, the scent emanating from him.

❆ ❆

What did she have to lose anyway? She’d lost everything. Her father, her brother, her friends. She had to save Abby and Mike. She had to stop him from hurting anyone ever again. Maybe that’ll make up for the things she’s done.

Vanessa got to her paws, wobbling slightly as she closed her eyes. She shook her fur out, wiping the tears that stained her face with her right paw, taking shuddering breaths and walking out of the building.

❆ ㅤ

“I need to go get you somewhere safe so I can help your brother, okay?”

Vanessa watched as the tortoiseshell kit scrambled away to hide, looking so much like herself as a kit. She closed her eyes, getting on her paws, padding towards where Mike and William were, sealing her fate, the hands of death clamping around her.

Abby’s said brother was lying limply on the ground, blood running down the left side of his head, covering his eye as he lay there, unconscious. She watched as her father— the yellow rabbit— raised his right paw, his claws catching in the light. “Farewell, Michael Schmidt.”

A rush of adrenaline kicked in as she drew her lips back in a snarl, unsheathing her claws, trembling.

“That’s enough!”

The yellow rabbit paused, slowly lowering his paw that hung dreadfully over Mike’s body.

“A little old for temper tantrums…” The rabbit turned, changing back into her father. Vanessa shook even harder at the sight of him. “…aren’t we, Vanessa?”

Death and blood reeked from the cat before her as she felt bile rising in her throat.

“I’m not kidding, Dad.”

William pointed a claw at her as he sneered. “You may have forgotten your loyalties, but I assure you, they—“ He nodded towards the stage, where Bonnie and Freddy stood watching. “—have not.”

“Mike!”

Vanessa stared in horror as Abby ran out of her hiding spot, bounding towards her brother’s unconscious body. “Please, wake up!” Abby mewed as she tried shaking Mike, but to no avail.

“Now… help me clean up the mess that you created!”

“Please, please Mike, please…”

She could only watch the sight of Abby pleading for her brother to wake up, unable to meet her father’s piercing eyes, her body trembling even more.

“Oh come on… we both know you won't—“

Vanessa darted forward, slashing at his chest. It took out a few tufts of fur, but didn’t do anything to stop him. In fact, it made him much, much angrier. Bonnie and Freddy flickered for a second, appearing to be the ghosts of Jeremy and Gabriel before the kits changed back to the blue rabbit and the brown bear.

Don’t disobey him.

Her father charged at her, baring his teeth, reeking of that awful scent. He jabbed his claws at her chest. She flinched as he got so close to stabbing her, but still holding his gaze. “You had one job, one! Keep them in the dark, and kill them if they got too close.”

A flare of resistance welled up inside of her as she spat, “That’s two jobs,” lashing her tail.

Her father grabbed her by the throat, wrapping his left paw around her neck, his claws digging into her fur. Before she had a chance to react, he slammed her into the claw machine behind her. Vanessa let out a yelp of pain, gasping for air as his hold tightened around her throat, thrashing weakly in his paws. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at her father’s purple eyes, her ears pressed flat against her skull, looking like a wounded and cornered dog. “Dad…”

He didn’t budge, tightening his grip around her throat, snarling. Vanessa could barely breathe. Then, suddenly, Vanessa saw that something caught his eye as he turned, his mouth slightly agape. He dropped her onto the ground, and she hit the floor with a crack. She weakly raised her head, turning to see what he’d seen.

It was Abby, carrying a drawing in her mouth. She had gone up to the wall that was full of kits’ drawings from back when Freddy’s was open. The kit tore the drawing Vanessa had made so long ago off the wall, and Vanessa watched her father take a step towards the tortoiseshell kit.

No, stop! I can’t- Abby can’t get hurt.

With a surge of energy, she grabbed onto her father’s right hind leg, wrapping her paws around it.

“No!”

“Let go!” He snarled, lashing his tail in anger. Her father grabbed her once more, lifting her up as her paws flopped in the air. With a flash, he dove his head down onto her neck, sinking his fangs into her fur.

Vanessa’s face turned pale as she felt thick, coppery liquid fill her mouth, She let out a short gasp, staring at her father.

I have to make this worth it.

Her father grunted as he tried tugging away, but Vanessa wrapped her forelegs around him. She wouldn’t let go. She couldn’t let go.

“I won’t let you hurt her, too.”

❆ ㅤ

She’d always known it’d end up this way. One fess up and she’d end up like her brother. She was shacked, harnessed to her father’s paw. Every time she’d try to escape, he’d find her. He’d tug on her leash, her chains, and send her back to him once more.

Vanessa struggled under William’s grip as she tightened her wrap around his neck, almost like a hug. I love you, Vanny. She could barely hear the roar of anger that came from his mouth as the action had made him sink his teeth deeper into her throat, the cry rippling through her fur. Black spots started to dot her vision as her face grew paler and paler, blood flooding out of the neck wounds he had given her. He beat at Vanessa’s back, clawing tufts of fur out in frustration, but Vanessa wouldn’t relent.

I love you too, Dad.

She could feel her strength sapping as her grip grew looser around her father’s neck. Her body was slick and coated in red, blood dripping down her father’s mouth and flowing from her wound. Vanessa’s arms started to drop away from him, her face now a stark white. “I’m sorry, Daddy,” she weakly mewed like a little kit, her eyes glazed over in pain, tears streaming down her face.

“Get off me!”

William ripped his head out of Vanessa’s neck, blood splattering his face as he grabbed her tail in his teeth, a loud crack sounding out as he flung his daughter to the side, spitting out the bloody fur he had in his mouth. Vanessa felt a blinding sear of pain as she heard the sound, losing her sense of balance. She collapsed onto the ground, pressing her right paw against her neck to try to stop the bleeding, coughing up the hot iron-tasting liquid, blood pooling beneath her.

Is this what love is?

Her vision flickered as her eyes grew heavy, feeling pain everywhere in her pelt, slipping in and out of unconsciousness.

Vanessa slid her paw away from her neck.

@send-me-a-puffalope HERE IT IS!!!

KILLS MYSELF <333 I’M SO PROUD OF THIS FIC SCSHCSOHVSHOVS

i finished it a few hours ago but was scared to post it 💀

constructive criticism is appreciated!!

#blizz’s writing #cat!vanessa au #vanessa shelly #vanessa afton #william afton #fnaf missing children #tw child abuse #tw blood #tw child death #tw animal death #tw animal abuse #me when i fail my chinese ancestors and suck ass at chinese while also sucking ass at english 😭😭😭#tw #fnaf movie #vanessa fnaf

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nitewrighter · 10 months

Text

I Got Thyme

I saw on twitter that it's currently Yeehan Week! And one of the prompts for this year is plants! It made me think back to my whole "Watchpoint Garden" headcanon, and I realized it would be a really fun thing to explore for pre-relationship YeeHan. Did you know contact with dirt can raise serotonin levels?

Oh, also this is part of my fic continuity, so if you're new here, you'll want to check out Family Reunions and First Impressions for context.

----

"Do you attempt to break all new recruits with hard labor?" Hanzo asked as they walked.

"Look," Cassidy was rubbing his eyebrows with his thumb and forefinger, "If you stay here, you gotta help, and you're not exactly in a position to go on missions yet."

"I assure you, I would be more competent against Talon than at least half this Watchpoint."

"No one's sayin' you ain't good at killin'. But part of keeping this whole watchpoint moving means having food, and man does not live on shitty RTE's and shelf-stable dry goods alone."

"I am not a farmhand," said Hanzo.

"And what's wrong with bein' a farmhand?" Cassidy was giving him a raised-eyebrow, half-lidded look that told Hanzo to choose his next words very carefully.

Hanzo narrowed his own eyes at Cassidy. "I simply do not believe this is the best use of my time, or the best use of me as an asset,"

"You know 'probationary period' means we're still figuring out if we want you as an asset," said Cassidy.

"Somehow I doubt your organization can afford such exclusivity."

"Well, we certainly can't be picky when it comes to farmhands, I can tell you that much," Cassidy adjusted his belt as they walked.

A growling 'hmm' rumbled deep in Hanzo's throat as they approached the orange trees bordering the watchpoint garden.

Hanzo soon quickly regretted the ‘hard labor’ and ‘farmhand’ comments as it became immediately clear that whoever was available and not on a mission or working on some other immediately technically demanding task around the Watchpoint was working in the garden. He recognized a few faces from the night of his arrival. Satya was over near one of the few spaces of wall not covered by an orange tree, setting up a lattice. Ana was pruning back some ornamental perennials they were presumably using for pollination and pest control. Orisa was rearing back on her hind legs with some large shears, trimming away dead branches on the orange trees. Hanzo watched as her head swiveled at him and her optical sensors narrowed. A part of him knew he would have to apologize to her, if he was going to start getting any respect and traction from the rest of this group (but did he really want it?) and yet at the same time he was still so frustrated by this ridiculous 'probationary program' that they had clearly cooked up because of his presence and had not had as an established longstanding policy, that he didn't want to dignify the concept of having to earn this Watchpoint's respect.

An almost equally large, blocky robot was tilling up a new patch of soil. Hanzo's brow crinkled at the sight of the bastion unit. He knew it was on the watchpoint from his preliminary recons on the watchpoint--in truth, its presence had only made him more suspicious of Genji's organization. What kind of people would keep something that had caused such horrific devastation? But seeing it now threw him off. It was making chirruping beeping noises as it worked, in some eerie imitation of humming, as a yellow bird dizzily circled its head and tweeted tunelessly along.

"Yeah, Bastion gets that reaction a lot," said Cassidy, and Hanzo snapped out of his focus.

"Why would you keep something like that around?" asked Hanzo on reflex.

"Bastion's Torbjorn's..." Cassidy hesitated.

"Pet?"

"...buddy," It was clear Cassidy had some skepticism himself on the matter, but was far more used to Bastion's presence.

"Does it go on missions as well?"

"Not that often. We've brought it along on some missions outreaching with omnic communities, some non-combat ecology missions. I can think of like, maybe two missions where there was actual combat but that wasn't really planned. Other than that, it's a bit of a homebody."

"Non-combat missions?" Hanzo arched an eyebrow.

"Yup."

"That is a gun with legs," said Hanzo.

"Well, it doesn't want to be a gun with legs. It wants to be a gardener, and we're more than happy to help it with that."

"So happy you could join us, Cole," Ana stepped up to both of them and Hanzo felt himself tense at the words 'Join us.'

"Well, I figured y'all could use a little extra muscle," Cassidy demonstratively put a hand on his own shoulder and circled his arm with a grin.

Ana's gaze shifted Hanzo with a deliberate slowness. A slight smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. "So you're really going along with Winston and Jack's plan, then?" she said, her eyes flicking back to Cole.

Hanzo hated being referred to as a 'plan.'

"Just helpin' where I can," said Cassidy with an easy shrug. He bumped his shoulder into Hanzo's, "And he's here to help, too."

"You all... seem to have the. matter well in hand--" Hanzo started, glancing around awkwardly.

"Trust me, we're playing catch-up. I'm sure you'll find something," said Ana, before looking over at Cassidy, "In fact, Cole, we were hoping you could take a look at the irrigation Satya and Torbjörn have planned for the new plot, seeing as technically you have more experience with those systems than a lot of people here."

"Ah hell, I was just a teenager," Cassidy itched at the hair poking out under the brim of his hat.

"That experience is still worth something," said Ana.

A prickle of realization went up the back of Hanzo's neck.

What's wrong with bein' a farmhand?

Of course... Hanzo thought grimly, watching as Cassidy pushed up the sleeves of his shirt and followed Ana over to the area that Bastion was digging up. Hanzo moved to follow over, though he wasn't exactly sure what he would do, when he heard a polite, "Excuse me?"

"Hanzo, right?" a voice piped up next to him and Hanzo glanced sharply over and down at a round, pleasant face, with sunlight catching in glasses.

"We haven't met yet. I'm Mei, would you like to help me in the greenhouse?"

Hanzo's brow crinkled.

----

It really wasn't enough of a 'house' to be called a greenhouse. More of a green 'shed,' or a green 'shanty.' Hanzo frowned over the seedlings in the egg carton before glancing up at Mei, who was carefully cutting out her selections from their egg carton with some shears. He glanced over at several seedlings growing out of cut up cardboard tubes. For one of the leading scientists of her time, Mei wasn't picky when it came to seed containers, and apparently neither were the plants.

"Just separate out the bigger sprouts from the littler ones," said Mei, "We want the most viable plants for the new plot. If you see an extra sprout in the cell, you can just clip that one short. We don't want to risk damaging the roots this early. we want about 6 plants each of tomatoes and peppers."

"I... see..." said Hanzo, who was still helplessly watching her hands as she worked and feeling even more foolish to be afraid of using gardening shears after decades of skillfully handling deadly weapons.

"We've been wanting to expand the growing area for a while," Mei was talking, "It's just, we knew that would mean re-doing the irrigation, which isn't that hard, and honestly it really is now or never with these seedlings looking the way they are. It's just one of those things people easily forget about with all the missions and with their own things..."

She had, as she had explained for most of their time in the greenhouse, been back in China researching aquifers in Shanxi when he first arrived on the Watchpoint. Hanzo wasn't sure if she had been briefed on all of the events of his arrival, and was stuck in the annoying limbo of, 'Does she not know or is she actively choosing to ignore all of that?' as Mei spoke. There was a pause and Hanzo realized Mei was waiting for him to respond.

"And... Shanxi was... your business?" Hanzo said slowly, feeling like an idiot. The more time he spent here, the more he heard people talk to each other, the more he realized how few and far between his interactions with people over the years since leaving the Shimada clan had been.

"Honestly, I think water tables are everyone's business already, or at least they should be," there was a giggle in Mei's voice, "But, some work you do with Overwatch, and other stuff... well, you can't."

"Because Overwatch is operating illegally," Hanzo said flatly, cutting away at a cell which seemed to have a strong seedling.

"Er... yes," said Mei, tucking some hair back, sheepishly, "But, even when I'm on my own, I like to think I'm doing the same work I was doing with them 9 years ago, even if a lot of things are different now."

"And... you are not a soldier, but a scientist."

"The amount of times I've heard that!" said Mei with an eye roll.

"So... you are a non-combatant as well? Like... the Bastion unit?" Hanzo clipped a stray sprout in its cell, and felt oddly guilty in doing so.

"It's not 'the bastion unit' it's just 'Bastion,'" said Mei, easily clipping away at her own seedlings, "But... no, I fight."

"You fight?" Hanzo repeated incredulously.

"Well it's not usually that direct, it's more like the cryo-gun has a lot of applications that can help my team. Raising barriers, creating platforms to get us to higher levels, sometimes creating temporary fixes to unstable structures... it's not all guns blazing all the time!"

"...clearly," said Hanzo, looking at his own seedlings.

"Well, I think we're all set for the tomatoes and peppers!" said Mei, with their selected seedlings all lined up.

"What about this one?" Hanzo held up one of his own seedlings, not wanting to admit that he was a little hurt that she seemed to favor her own selections over his.

"Well, we only have limited space in the garden and these guys are going to get a lot bigger--but you can just keep that one for yourself, if you like? I'm sure we have a spare pot lying around..."

Hanzo glanced at the seedling, and then looked at Mei. "...why?"

"Plants are good for you! I honestly think the Watchpoint could use more green outside the garden. Think of it like... a welcome gift!"

"I am only here on probation," Hanzo said flatly.

"Oh..." Mei said quietly.

"But... I do not know when I will be leaving so... I will see that it is taken care of until then."

"Oh--um, good," said Mei.

A long pause passed between them. Mei was awkwardly sweeping spare bits of dirt off of their worktable.

"Hey, so... you weren't trying to hurt anyone when you came onto the Watchpoint, right?"

So she does know, Hanzo thought sourly.

"No," said Hanzo, "But... I apologize for damaging your security drone."

"What security drone?" Mei tilted her head and a half-sphere-shaped robot suddenly hovered to her side, making a quizzical whirring sound. Okay, so she hadn't heard everything, apparently.

"Eh--" Hanzo stammered at the robot. How many pet robots do they have? he thought, bewilderedly.

"Oh, sorry! This is Snowball! Snowball, Hanzo." Mei gestured at Hanzo to her robot, "But sorry, you were saying about a security drone?"

Hanzo remembered, at this point, how he had managed to make everyone who had confronted him that night hate him by referring to Orisa as a security drone, and he had simply referred to her as a security drone in that moment because he was too frustrated with the concept of apologizing to someone whom he was just meeting now for something she hadn't even been here for to remember Orisa had a name.

"There was--" Hanzo started, but then there was a creak of the greenhouse door opening and Ana leaned in.

"Mei, do you mind if I borrow him for a bit? We're shelling the last of the broad bean harvest."

"Do you mind?" Mei looked at Hanzo.

Hanzo minded a lot of things about the current situation, but now was in a position where he wasn't sure if he was more annoyed at Ana talking as if he didn't have a choice in the matter, and Mei talking to him as if he did. Where was the damned discipline in this place? But instead, all that came out of his mouth was, "...beans?"

---

Both Hanzo and Ana sat at a temporary hard-light table with hard-light chairs in the shade of one of the orange trees. Each of them had a small bowl in their lap to catch the beans as they shelled them. A large bowl, slowly being filled with shelled beans was between them, and a slowly growing pile of empty bean pods was at their feet. Hanzo hated to admit that he liked this work far more than working with the seedlings. In a way it reminded him of crafting his own arrows, in a more menial, mindless way.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot," said Ana, tossing down a

"You shot me with a sleeping dart."

"You broke onto the watchpoint and attacked both Orisa and Cole."

"They attacked me--"

"Did they attack you, or did they talk to you first?"

"...they... told me to lower my weapon."

"The weapon you had at the ready while breaking onto our Watchpoint."

"...yes."

Ana was giving him a steady, tired-but-patient look. "You're very used to doing things on your own terms, aren't you?"

Hanzo returned her gaze with a mild glower.

Hanzo wasn't exactly sure how long he would keep up the glare, but the moment of tension was abruptly ended when Bastion clunked up to them and gestured at the bean pods at their feet with a questioning chirrup.

"Yes, dear, thank you," said Ana as Bastion scooped up the bean pods and clunked off again towards the compost pile.

"...you fought in the crisis, didn't you?" Hanzo asked.

"I did," said Ana.

"And you have no issue living with a Bastion unit?"

"You seem a bit hung up on that."

"I have no issues with omnics, I've worked with many in my travels, but that is clearly not a typical laborer unit, and I am trying to understand why it is here."

"Why 'it' is here..." Ana repeated musingly and Hanzo felt the back of his neck burning.

"If it does not fight..." Hanzo trailed off.

"Not everything is about combat," said Ana.

Hanzo gave Ana a skeptical look.

"Overwatch was initially formed to combat the omnic crisis, this is true, but many believe that our greater contributions were in our relief efforts, in our scientific research and advancements," Ana looked over at Bastion, turning over the compost pile with a rake, "It's taken some getting used to, but I think I like what Bastion's presence represents to me."

"And that is...?"

"That we are more than the battles we fought. That we can shape ourselves beyond the circumstances we were made in."

"To be... gardeners," said Hanzo, watching as Bastion took up a shovel-ful of more broken down compost and clunked over to where Cassidy was hoeing up an extra square foot onto the end of their new intended plot. Hanzo's eyes lingered over Cassidy and the way the plaid of his shirt stretched taut over his back muscles, the way his belt stood stubborn over the movement of his hips. Cassidy pushed himself up to his full height, tilted his hat back with his thumb, and wiped the sweat from his brow, his gardening gloves leaving a smudge of dirt amidst the salt and shine, the topmost buttons of his shirt straining with his breath.

"Among other things," said Ana. Hanzo instantly gauged that she could tell where he was looking and shoved his eyes down to the bean pods in his lap.

"It would be more efficient to just attach a hard-light plow to the OR-15 unit," Hanzo muttered, shelling beans faster than usual.

"There's not really enough space for that. Although, you're welcome to try and put a plow on Orisa," Ana said with amusement.

Hanzo's lips just thinned and he shelled in silence. Eventually, though, his eyes did trail back to Cassidy.

"...I should have asked you, how are you two getting along?"

"He... worked on farms prior to this?" said Hanzo, watching as Cassidy guzzled from a water bottle to the point where it was running down his neck. Not realizing he wasn't really answering Ana's question.

"We were able to find some temporary working documentation with a few agro-corps in his records when we first recruited him. He doesn't like talking about it much, but he does have some skills in that area," said Ana. She paused. "He's not a thug, by the way."

"What?" said Hanzo.

"That's what you called him your first night here. A 'thug serving the word of whomever's most convenient to him.'"

Hanzo's shoulders shrank a little.

"He didn't have a lot of say in the matter when he first joined us either," Ana went on, "But he's been one of our most loyal agents over the years, even knowing us at our worst. He knew when we were doing wrong, he knew when things were going rotten, but we were all he had so..." she trailed off, "I don't think he's ever done anything out of 'convenience.'"

Hanzo watched as Cassidy struck down with the hoe once more, jamming a booted foot on top of it, apparently working with a particularly rooty, hard chunk of earth.

"I... spoke more out of emotion than recognition of my environment that night," said Hanzo, "It will not happen again."

"It always happens again," said Ana, "To everyone."

Hanzo gave her a sidelong glance and turned his attention down to his beans. "I can't afford that sort of misstep. And I can't see how you all can sit around gardening and shelling beans when, if Genji is to be believed, you stand on the brink of annihilation from Null Sector and Talon."

"What do you think Genji and the others are doing right now?" said Ana, dumping her own bowl of shelled beans into the larger bowl between them, "There is always the fight, but there's also the garrison. There's making sure there's a place to regroup, to recover, to strategize, to assess the threats present to us" she demonstratively shook a bean pod at him, "To eat."

Hanzo snorted softly.

"You have been alone for a long time," Ana said quietly, casting an empty bean pod to the ground.

"I have," Hanzo admitted, "And... I am not sure if I am capable of helping build what you are describing."

"According to your dossier, you're, in theory, a highly proficient strategist and organizer."

"That was for criminals. This is..." Hanzo trailed off.

Ana just shrugged and continued shelling. "You know," she said, "In the military, there's two kinds of people--well, it's more of two ends of a spectrum, really. You have the people who joined because they like the concept of order, both having discipline put in their lives, and being able to have order over others--the ability to say something, and then see others put your words into action. Then there are others--they join for their own reasons, they don't take to the authority as well, but they prove themselves highly adaptable in combat. No one is 100% of either, and you need people who have a well-balanced mix of all those attributes, or a good mix of people who lean more towards one or the other, to have a successful team. A team that's too dependent on falling in line can't adapt when things change, and things will change, and a team that's full of self-declared mavericks can't pull together as a unit."

"Why are you telling me this?" said Hanzo.

"I don't think I've ever met someone who is such a thorough mix of both those aspects in a way that completely bites them in the ass before you," she paused, "Well, except maybe Jack."

"And you can make this judgment when I've only been on the Watchpoint several days?" Hanzo didn't look up from his own bean pods.

"I've been doing this a long time," Ana said easily.

Hanzo glanced back at Cassidy. "And which type was he?"

"I'll give you one guess," said Ana, and Hanzo gave an amused huff.

----

The shadows were long on the watchpoint by the time they had the irrigation completely set up and all the little seedlings planted at their respective plots. Bastion tweeted as it spread out mulch and raked up stray dirt and clippings. Most of the gardeners dispersed to put away equipment or prep for dinner in the mess hall.

"Whatcha got there?" Cassidy asked as they both walked away from the garden.

"It's...nothing," said Hanzo, holding the small seedling at his side away from Cassidy.

"Doesn't look like nothing," said Cassidy, craning over Hanzo's shoulder to get a better look. He smelled like sweat and crushed leaves and orange rinds and sweet earth.

"It's a plant," Hanzo said flatly, "It was a gift."

"Look at you, makin' friends already," said Cassidy, pocketing his hands, "So what do you think? Now that we all ain't in pajamas and pointing guns and bows at each other?"

Hanzo kept his eyes fixed forward. "I am still trying to understand how you organize yourselves. I came here under the impression that this was a mercenary group, but actually observing you..." he trailed off.

"It's not all gardening, obviously," said Cassidy, "There's maintenance, inventorying, surveying watchpoint security 'n where we need equipment, whether we can whip something up on-site, other means of acquisitions and what-have-you, Winston keep sending out these 'team morale evaluations,'" Cassidy used finger quotes at this, "Yup. I think this was a pretty lucky day to see the Watchpoint like this, t'be honest. And you can bet the old Overwatch wasn't exactly keeping itself fed with a victory garden either—I mean aside from what they'd have for Ecowatch photo-ops. We do what we can to teach each other different jobs. 'Course everyone has different areas of expertise, but you figure out ways to carry each others' loads. Somehow shit pulls together. The wheels haven't fallen off yet."

"Fewer resources and personnel means a more fluid hierarchy," Hanzo murmured to himself.

"I guess," Cassidy shrugged, "You think about what you want out of all this?"

"What do you mean?" said Hanzo, managing to suppress the question of 'What is there to get out of all this?'

"I mean like... You talk about wanting to fight alongside us---"

"I want to fight because I won't have the only family I have left dying for you."

"And that's great! It is! I mean, I want to think it's great. Again--you're still on probation--"

"You don't have to keep telling me."

"But I'm asking about you. Your plans. We all make it through this, what are you going to do? Are you just going to keep following Genji around? Go back to Japan and try and take that big ol' palace back? Ride off into the sunset?"

Hanzo's jaw set grimly and he didn't answer. Cassidy watched him for a few seconds in silence. Hanzo's eyes met his only briefly, expecting contempt but not finding it. Instead, Cassidy's face had softened. Pity?

"...You don't have to answer that," said Cassidy, a bit too late.

"What about you?" asked Hanzo.

Cassidy just pocketed his hands and fixed his eyes forward. "Ride off into the sunset?" he said again, shrugging, then after a beat he said, "...maybe turn myself in. Get a lawyer. Say my piece. Do my time if I have to. Hell, maybe the system'll be working then."

"...You don't know if you're going to make it out of this alive," Hanzo said quietly.

"I'm just more worried about getting everyone else through this alive," said Cassidy, "You included, believe it or not."

Another long silence passed between them as they walked.

"Don't tell the Captain that, though," said Cassidy, "She fusses over me enough as it is."

"I can tell," said Hanzo. For once the corners of his mouth were pulled in something that was not a frown.

#Hanzo has a lot of mixed feelings looking at Orisa and a lot of those feelings are 'horse'#yeehan #ana: First of all let me set the record straight about MY BOY #cole cassidy #hanzo shimada #ana amari #overwatch

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