Conflict Resolution

The psychologist folded his hands together in his lap and looked at the two other people on the opposite side of the coffee table. Both of them were dressed rather oddly. One was wearing a shirt of some kind that only covered one side of his chest while leaving one arm completely bare. The other was wearing what he assumed was a robot costume.

Okay…

They were definitely a bit odd, but they were hardly the strangest people the psychologist had met during his career in family conflict resolution. Besides, whomever he had spoken to on the phone had been quite adamant that these two men needed his help. Indeed, the man with the weird shirt was alternating between glaring at the man in a robot costume and reaching for the bow he'd carried into the room.

The psychologist checked his notes one more time and then decided to get the session started.

"Good evening," the psychologist said. "Do you mind if I address each of you by your first names? According to the information I have, you both have the same surname. Are you two brothers?"

The man with the bow scowled. "Very well. I am Hanzo. He is Genji. We are indeed brothers."

"Can you tell me why you're here?" the psychologist asked. He could guess why the brothers had scheduled a counselling session, but he thought it would help if they could say it themselves. People needed to admit they had a problem before they could fix that problem.

Hanzo frowned. "Because I murdered Genji and plunged myself into years of existential torment during which I abandoned my clan and forsook all that I had worked so hard to achieve." He paused. "Plus, Genji is a self-righteous jerk who always thinks he knows what is best for others." He paused again. "And one of his friends booked this appointment and tricked me into going. I assume it was Tracer."

"You say you murdered your brother," the psychologist nodded sagely. "Yet he is sitting right there beside you. You must mean that your hurt him deeply somehow. Genji, can you tell me how your brother hurt you?"

Genji glanced at his brother for a moment and then looked back at the psychologist. "He shot me with dozens of arrows before unleashing his most devastating technique and leaving me for dead."

The psychologist blinked. "Okay… you and your brother do enjoy talking in metaphors, it seems. That's wonderful. It's something you have in common. What sort of arrows did he use, Genji? I'm going to guess that you're using arrows as a metaphor for insults. Did he insult you as a person, Genji? Did he make fun of your life goals? Perhaps he made light of some of your emotions?"

"No," Hanzo said. "I used my bow and shot him with actual arrows before summoning a spirit dragon to attack him. He was like a burning pin cushion by the end."

"What?" the psychologist blurted.

"Yes," Genji said. "You seem to be labouring under the impression that he didn't try to kill me. He did. This outfit I'm wearing isn't for show. I'm a cyborg now, and I went through years of existential angst regarding my dual machine and human nature." He scoffed. "Then I visited this idiot to explain to him that I was not dead, and that I would be happy to fight alongside him once more if it was to protect this world from evil."

"And… uh… how did that go?"

"He tried to kill me again, but I beat the crap out of him."

"You did not beat the crap out of me!" Hanzo growled. "I let you win because I felt bad about almost killing you earlier!"

"If by letting me win you mean that I beat you like a drum, then, yes, you let me win." Genji chuckled. "You should have seen the look on your face when I redirected your technique. It was hilarious."

"It was a load of crap! You can't just deflect someone's ultimate technique like that. It is an insult to my honour."

"You insulted your own honour when you tried to kill me."

The psychologist cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, please. It's nice that you're talking, but you need to talk with each other, not at each other. Resolving a family conflict requires give and take between both sides. So, please, calm down. We can work through this together."

"Fine." Hanzo looked away. "How many sessions will this take? One? Two?"

The psychologist shook his head. "No, I'm thinking it may take us a few more sessions that that to work through this."

X X X

The psychologist breathed a sigh of relief as the Shimada brothers left. Good grief. It was a miracle they hadn't tried to kill each other in the middle of the session. Ah, well, it was time for his next session. Surely, this one couldn't be any stranger.

The door burst open, and the psychologist could only stare as three women walked in. Actually, that wasn't quite right. Two of the women walked in. One of them was a slim woman wearing goggles and with a strange glowing device on her chest. The other woman was a mountain with pink hair. The taller of the two had a blue-skinned woman thrown over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Naturally, the blue-skinned woman was bound and gagged.

"Evening, love!" the shorter of the two women on their feet zipped over to a chair. "We spoke on the phone earlier. I hope those two brothers straightened things out a bit. Now, I didn't have time to explain everything to your receptionist over the phone. What do you know about undoing neural conditioning?"

"Did you kidnap that woman?" the psychologist asked. "Did you?"

The woman with pink haired tossed the bound woman into one of the chairs and sat down in the other. She crossed arms thick with muscles over her chest. "No. She is here of her own free will." Her eyes burned into his, all but daring him to disagree.

The psychologist glanced to the side. The woman with blue skin was spewing what he strongly suspected was a steady stream of threats against her gag. "Oh… okay… uh… how about we start from the beginning…"

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I do not own Overwatch. I am not making any money off of this either.

This poor psychologist has his work cut out for him. It'll take more than a few sessions to fix things up between the brothers. Think several hundred sessions. And let's not forget the trio at the end. There is going to be a lot of trouble once Widowmaker gets free.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.