Sombra boosts Reaper up on the bookcase next to the newest selection of wet food. So far he's taken only the smallest of bites out of the cans they've tried before ignoring the food completely. She's hoping he'll actually get interested in one of them soon.

She watches as he settles in, sniffing the food suspiciously before taking a bite. And then another. And another.

Sombra holds in the sigh of relief that threatens to escape. This is the most that she's seen him eat in days.

"What?"

Sombra stifles the urge to jump at Gabe's growl from the kitchen and glances over her shoulder. He's paused at the backdoor, keys in one hand and his phone in the other, on his way out to get Jesse for the long holiday weekend. She guesses he's scowling at whoever is on the phone and not at her, but it doesn't quite put her at ease. Things have been less tense for the past day, but she's hoping Jesse at home will help the whole situation.

Of course, Jesse will also probably want to talk about it. But that is just not going to happen.

Gabe steps to the side as Genji barrels in with Haku in his arms, harness leash trailing dangerously close to his feet. But Gabe keeps his phone pressed to his ear and ignores them both, frown etching deeper into his features.

Genji drops his coat on the kitchen table before bending down to let Haku free. But Gabe immediately drops down and picks the ferret up before Haku can escape.

"I'll be right there." Gabe shoves his phone into his pocket and hands Haku back to Genji. "Put him in his cage. Work emergency. I need you to get Jesse."

"Yes!" Genji exclaims, breaking out into a grin before sprinting by Sombra and up the stairs.

Sombra deliberately looks away from the scene and focuses back on Reaper, who has stopped eating but is still sitting near the food dish. Sombra reaches up and tilts the dish, seeing that about half the food is missing. She sets it back down in front of the kitten. Reaper uses her movement closer as an excuse to climb down onto her shoulders.

"Sombra?" Gabe calls from the kitchen.

"Sí?" Sombra asks, turning to face Gabe. Reaper adjusts his weight slightly to stay balanced. Sombra sees Genji standing by the door, coat back on, visibly bouncing in excitement. She'd question how she missed him coming down the stairs, but she knows better.

"Can you go with Genji? I'm not sure I trust his navigation skills alone."

"Hey!" Genji shouts. Gabe easily deflects the smack he aims in his direction.

Sombra smiles. She's heard the stories of Genji getting lost at amusement parks, malls, and pretty much everywhere else more than once.

"I'm allowed out?" Sombra can't hide the disdain in her voice for this entire ridiculous grounding situation.

"Just this once," Gabe replies. "Call it good behavior for talking to me about the damn cat."

Sombra is not going to question it again. It's only been four days and she's already going a bit stir crazy. She removes Reaper from her shoulders and grabs her bag, following Gabe and Genji out the door.

"Call me if you have any issues," Gabe states as they all climb into their respective cars. "I mean it."

"Of course," Genji replies, shutting his door. "This is going to be awesome!" Genji is grinning widely and Sombra feels his excitement rubbing off on her.

"He's just going to meet us at the curb." Sombra buckles herself in and pulls out her phone for directions.

"No, no, no. We need to surprise him." Genji flips through a few radio stations as he drives before settling on one as they get out of their neighborhood. "I want to meet The Roommate."

Sombra shrugs. She will take any excuse to stay out of the house longer. "I guess I'm finding parking too."

"Absolutely." Genji nods. He points a stern finger in her direction. "And do not warn him."

"Why would I do that?" Sombra questions. "That would just give him time to hide."

"I thought you were done with The Roommate Situation?" Genji pauses while he merges onto the expressway. "I believe you threatened Jesse's phone over it yesterday."

"I am." Sombra glances up from the directions on her phone, taking a moment to direct Genji to the correct exit. "But I can make an exception for watching Jesse embarrass himself live. It was entertaining enough when Jesse knew nothing about him."

"How have you not told me about this?" Genji shoots her a look, though it's undercut by his persistent grin. "I need all the details. I am sure that Jesse left all of the best parts out."

"I'm sure he did." Sombra proceeds to tell Genji all the details about Jesse fumbling all over himself, and her, during his move into the dorm. She intersperses it with directions to UCLA and the parking lot outside Jesse's dorm that is thankfully open for families picking up their students this evening.

"That sounds exactly like Jesse," Genji chuckles as they climb the stairs up to Jesse's floor. Sombra matches his grin, but pauses to lag a step as her phone buzzes. She glances down at her phone as to check the text message.

Gabe : You haven't been killed in a unfortunate accident have you?

Gabe : Or did Genji just get lost and end up in Mexico.

Sombra rolls her eyes. She didn't realize that they needed to be checking in every step of the way. This is probably the price of being allowed out of the house while still grounded. She begrudgingly begins to type out an assurance that they are really not dead in a ditch somewhere as Genji gives a perfunctory knock on the dorm room door before throwing it open.

Sombra starts to follow Genji inside, head still bent over her phone. Before she can cross the threshold, she runs right into Genji's back as he suddenly seizes up. The both of them end up sprawled on the ground in a heap, Sombra's phone flying underneath what she assumes is Jesse's desk based on the clutter.

"What the hell?" Sombra grumbles as she tries, and fails, to shove Genji off of her. Genji is dead weight, not moving or helping her extract themselves from the situation.

"Genji?" she asks, punctuating the question with a hard shove, freeing her upper body enough to sit up. She quickly ducks down again as a human shaped object vaults over the top of the two of them and runs out the door.

She finally gets sat up again and locks eyes with Jesse. Jesse glances between her, Genji, and the door multiple times. Indecision is written all over his face.

Genji shakes himself and rolls off of her, staring at the open door. He pulls himself to his feet and glances around the room, face blank.

"Go," Sombra tells Jesse. "I've got him." She has no idea who just ran out of this room or why, but it is clear that Jesse wants to go after them.

Jesse nods once, throwing a belated, "Thanks," over his shoulder as he sprints out of the room and down the hall.

Genji is still standing in the middle of the room, looking a little shaky to Sombra. She might not be sure who or what that was, but it's obviously rattled Genji. Sombra grabs the desk chair closest to her and throws a backpack off of it, uncaring when it spills some of its contents onto the ground.

Sombra shoves Genji's shoulder, prodding him to sit down in the chair. She stares him down, studying him and trying to figure out what to say, and staunchly ignores the buzz of her phone from somewhere under the desk. But she can't figure out what to say as Genji's stunned face and utter silence send chills down her spine. She's never seen him like this before.

Eventually, a chirp from Genji's phone breaks the heavy silence. He jerks, but makes no move to grab it. It seems to break the trance that he's fallen into though.

"How is he…?" Genji trails off, glancing around the room again. He seems to actually be taking in the view this time before focusing in on the other desk, and Sombra glances over to see for herself.

The room is clearly delineated down the two sides. What is obviously Jesse's side reflects the usual chaos of his bedroom back home, blankets on the loft all askew, desk piled with papers everywhere.

The other side of the room is neat. The bed is perfectly made. The desk is organized. Not a single thing appears out of place. Not that there are many belongings on that side to be out of place. There's nothing personal hung on the walls or sitting on the shelves above the desk.

Genji reaches out and grabs a piece of paper off of the neat desk, and Sombra has to revise her assessment when she sees a little green statue sitting in the back corner of the desk. There is one personal item on this side.

"It was…" Genji sets the piece of paper back on the desk before pulling his legs up into the chair and taking a few deep breaths. Sombra recognizes the mediation breathing and stays quiet.

She grabs her phone from under the other desk, silencing it when it keeps buzzing. Genji's phone chirps again, but he doesn't break his breathing pattern or move to grab it.

A few minutes later, Genji opens his eyes. He's visibly calmer even though Sombra can see that he still isn't completely there.

"Want to explain?" Sombra asks as Genji makes a move to get up.

"My brother," Genji says, voice flat. He glances back towards the door. "Jesse's roommate is my older brother."

Sombra gapes at him. "I thought you said he would be on the east coast." She kicks herself for not looking into Genji's past, even though he'd asked her not to. She could have prevented this entire situation. She starts mentally reviewing everything Genji has told her about his family and planning how to find out more. Not that she has her computer to carry them out, but that is an easily resolvable situation.

"He should be," Genji agrees, cutting into her rapid fire thoughts. "That was the plan set out for both of us from before we were born. The family I left would not have accepted anything less. And the brother I left would never have disappointed them."

Genji's phone chirps again and he pulls it out of his pocket, silencing it without even checking the notifications. His expression darkens.

"There is only one reason that I can think of for him to be here. And it is not good at all."

Sombra reaches out and grabs Genji's arm when he takes a purposeful step toward the door. "And what would that be, Genji?"

"To bring me home." Genji's voice is cold and hard, a tone Sombra has never heard from him before.

"Why?" Sombra curses her lack of background knowledge. She's useless here without knowing all of the details.

Genji doesn't even look at her, his narrowed gaze fixed on the doorway. "Because I made a deal to get away. I should have known better. There is no way that they would leave me be."

Sombra frowns. She can see that from the pieces that she's gleaned from Genji over the past year. But that doesn't add up with the guy Jesse has been talking about in detail for the past few months.

And Jesse is normally good at reading people.

"Are you sure that's the only reason he could be here?" Sombra has to ask.

Genji exhales. Then he reaches out and pulls the paper towards him again, obviously thinking over his answer. Sombra looks down at the paper, seeing a drawing of two dragons. The line work is all beautifully done. The coloring is just started—swirls of silver and blue—and what is done looks perfect.

"Maybe not," Genji offers, tracing a finger along the inked scales of one dragon. "The brother I knew would never have left this out." Genji sweeps back along the other dragon before leaning forward to carefully set the drawing down again. It obviously has some sort of deeper meaning to him. "And he would never have been pierced," he adds with a frown.

Sombra doesn't remember seeing any piercings, but she didn't exactly get a good look at the guy this time around. She knows that there were none there last time she met him.

"I suppose that it is worth asking him about it," Genji says. He looks over the desk one last time and snatches up the little figurine, the tense curl of his fingers shielding it from Sombra's view. He stares at it for a second before turning sharply and running out of the room, figurine still in his grasp.

Sombra drops down into the chair, staring out the door. There's no way that she would be able to catch Genji now, and she has no idea where he was headed. Hopefully to wherever Jesse and the roommate—brother—whatever went. Nothing to do but wait until someone returns.

Her phone buzzes again, and she finally pulls it out of her pocket. There is one more thing that she can do.

She ignores Gabe's texts for now and scrolls to the bottom of her contact list until she finds Zenyatta's number. She takes a deep breath before hitting the call button.

Jesse pounds up the stairs after Hanzo, wondering if this is going to become a habit. He's a little concerned when reaches the roof door. It's not propped open. Did Hanzo not come this way after all? Jesse pushes through and scans the roof with quick sweeps, a shred of dread settling in his stomach. If Hanzo's not up here, he's not sure where to look for him instead.

He breathes out in relief when he does spot Hanzo, hunched over on his knees against the far edge. As Jesse nears, he can see Hanzo's forehead nearly touches the low wall surrounding the roof. His knuckles are white, fists clenched over his knees.

He slows his approach. "Hanzo?" he calls softly, stopping three feet from his roommate.

Hanzo shakes his head, his breathing deliberate and even. Jesse waits him out. And just when he's starting to think he won't say anything, Hanzo turns his head a fraction of an inch to look at him. His eyes are wild.

"How is he here?" he asks through gritted teeth.

"Genji?" Jesse frowns when Hanzo does a full body flinch at the name. "I take it y'all know each other, then?"

Hanzo growls low in his throat. "How is he here?" he repeats, the last word little more than a guttural snarl.

Indignation rises hot through Jesse's chest and he feels the need to defend his friend, no matter his feelings for Hanzo. "Look, if you've got somethin' against him, you'd better have out with it right here and now," he says, unable to keep his voice from rising. It'd come out much more challenging than he'd intended. His instincts scream at him not to pick a fight—especially on the edge of a roof with a guy that could bench press him with little effort. It seems his mouth has other ideas.

And there's no sense kidding himself. If it comes down to it, Jesse will defend his best friend if Hanzo does turn all the simmering anger he can hear in his voice outward.

But to Jesse's surprise, Hanzo seems to lose interest in him. He sinks back on his heels as his breath leaves him in one long gust. Jesse's ire blows out at once when Hanzo rocks back a little and starts muttering, "He cannot be here," over and over under his breath.

Jesse risks taking a few steps closer. "Why can't he be here, Hanzo?" he asks, putting effort into making his voice low and level. "What's wrong with him being here?"

"He cannot be here," Hanzo says once more, the words sounding like they've been scraped out, "because he is dead."

"He—what?" But the missing piece clicks into place with the finality of a steel door slamming shut. Jesse breathes out, "He's your brother?"

"My brother," Hanzo confirms, voice somewhere between a snarl and a sob. "The one I failed. He is back from the dead to haunt me, I am sure of it."

"Hanzo, he's not dead," Jesse says. He throws caution to the wind and lays a hand on Hanzo's arm. He's so tense it feels as if he's made of stone. "He ain't, I promise. He's really here."

Hanzo shudders under his touch. "How?"

"How did he survive, you mean?" Jesse sighs, rubbing an absently soothing circle on Hanzo's shoulder. "Because I'm pretty sure he just drove here. In my Jeep, no less."

Hanzo blinks and finally straightens, meeting Jesse's eyes for the first time. He doesn't brush off Jesse's hand. "Your…Jeep?" he asks. He looks lost, like he's trying to follow Jesse into this new reality and is struggling with the transition. "Drove from…where?"

"Not the afterlife," Jesse says. "Pasadena. He's been living there for, oh, five years now? Safe and sound, I promise."

Hanzo stares at him for a long silent moment. He still doesn't look as though he believes it, but Jesse can see the first glimmers of hope at the very core of his gaze. He shakes his head. "I don't…"

Jesse keeps his reassuring grip on Hanzo's shoulder, fighting the urge to drape his arm around him. "You ain't dreaming, darlin'. Genji's really here."

"As you see," Genji says suddenly from right behind them. Hanzo and Jesse both jerk at the sound, spinning to face him almost as one. Jesse frowns. Genji's face is blank, and his voice is far colder than Jesse's ever heard it. Even when he first came to them.

Jesse feels more than hears Hanzo take a deep, steadying breath before he shakes Jesse's hand off. Hanzo stands, movements stiff but no less graceful, and Jesse follows suit. His instincts tell him to stay back. And even though he wants nothing more than to do something, anything, to help two people he cares for, he heeds it. This is between Hanzo and Genji.

Hanzo squares his shoulders and steps forward. Genji meets his gaze evenly. Up close together, the similarities between them are striking. Any lingering doubts Jesse has evaporate at once.

"Brother," Genji says. Jesse detects the deep undercurrent of bitterness to the otherwise bland tone, noticeable only thanks to his ability to read his friend. Hanzo notices it too, if the tiny shudder that runs through him is any indication.

But his solemn voice gives nothing away when he nods and says, "Brother."

They stand in silence, staring at each other for a long minute. Jesse opens his mouth and forces himself to clamp it shut. This is torture.

Jesse's afraid they'll stand here, carven statues of stone, for the rest of eternity. But then Genji seems to run out of patience, something Jesse hasn't seen since the early days of their friendship—and Zenyatta's tutelage. He fidgets, eyes narrowing. "Tell me," Genji says, his voice still deceptively calm even if the rest of him isn't, "to what honor do I owe this meeting? Is there anyone in particular I should thank for sending you to me?" He gives Hanzo a smile, but to Jesse it seems mostly teeth. "Anything in particular they requested we discuss?"

Hanzo shakes his head. He works his mouth, but nothing comes out. He still looks a little glassy-eyed.

Genji breathes out sharply through his nose. "Come now, brother. Tell me what the family has to say to me now."

Hanzo stays silent once again.

Genji's eyes narrow even further and he steps right up into Hanzo's face, scant inches separating the two now. "Who sent you? What game are they playing now?" Genji's voice is cold and hard. Jesse gives into his instinct to take a step back. He's not sure what training Hanzo has, besides the bow, but he knows Genji has years of martial arts mastery behind him, starting even before he washed up in Pasadena. He doubts that Hanzo has any less. If this dissolves into a fight, he's going to give them space.

Hanzo growls and turns away from Genji, looking out over the campus. "No one sent me."

Genji laughs with no trace of real humor. "You expect me to believe that, brother?" He steps back up into Hanzo's space. "Who sent you?"

"No one sent me!" Hanzo shoves Genji away. Genji rolls with it, taking a step back, but never breaks his glare even though Hanzo won't meet it. Hanzo exhales sharply and spits, "I thought you were dead. Ask him."

Jesse raises his hands, palm out, and stops himself from taking another step back. But both of the brothers ignore him.

"Sure, brother," Genji scoffs. "Because you are incapable of lying."

"I am not lying!" Hanzo's voice drops, taking on the same cold, hard edge that Genji has been speaking with. Hanzo spins back to face Genji and closes the scant distance between him and his brother. "I returned from Japan that summer and was informed that you had died at the hands of muggers whilst running away from home."

"And you believed that." Genji's voice drips disdain. "You believed that the family lost one of its own with no retribution." It's Genji's turn to shove his brother out of his face.

Hanzo rocks back with his shoulders, but otherwise doesn't budge. Genji growls and lunges for him. Jesse's breath catches in his throat, his entire body thrumming with tension as he tries to follow the fight. But the brothers are both too quick to track. It ends as quickly as it began, mere inches from the edge of the rooftop with Hanzo pinned beneath his brother's weight.

"You are either an idiot or a fool to believe that," Genji states, looming over Hanzo. "And I know that you are neither. You should have come up with a better story, brother." The last word is spat out as an insult even as Genji stands up, releasing Hanzo.

Hanzo's face shuts down, losing all trace of emotion, and he makes no attempt to move. "If you believe that, then I have truly lost you once again." Hanzo's eyes close and his voice lowers to a point where Jesse can barely make out the words. "It is no more than I deserve."

Jesse steps up now, unwilling to let things go any further, instincts be damned. He doesn't know the full story and he will side with Genji 'til his dying day, hands down. But he finds it hard to believe that Hanzo has been lying this entire time, that he has really been setting this whole thing up since that first day in the dorm room.

But he bites his tongue and halts, hands hovering at his sides, when he sees Genji close his eyes tightly and work through a breathing pattern that he knows well. He used to see it often in the early days, when every small thing used to trigger Genji's rage.

Genji releases one final breath before turning back around and facing Hanzo. "Tell me your side then. Explain to me how you are here and not following Mother's wishes." Genji reaches into his pocket and pulls out the small green ferret statue Jesse has grown used to seeing on the corner of Hanzo's desk. He tosses it onto Hanzo's chest. "Explain this to me."

That action seems to shake Hanzo out of his stupor. He grabs the statue off of his chest, sits up slowly on the edge of the roof and tucks his legs beneath him. He holds the tiny statue like a precious heirloom.

Hanzo takes a deep breath before he begins talking, eyes never leaving the statue. "I remember getting a few emails from you while I was in Japan and then they stopped suddenly. I was unconcerned at the time, thinking we would speak when I returned home. I bought the statue on a whim. I was…hoping you would appreciate a token after being left behind in the States."

Hanzo pauses. Genji steps closer, sinking to sit on the edge of the roof as well. He leaves a few feet of space between him and Hanzo.

"I returned home at the end of the summer, and Mother and Father picked me up from the airport together. They informed me, quite matter-of-factly," Hanzo swallows hard, "that you died. They said you tried to run away from home and were killed by a mugger in the attempt." Hanzo's breath shudders, and Jesse has to physically resist the urge to step to his side and lay a hand on his shoulder. "Your room has already been remade into a generic guest room, your belongings discarded. The statue meant for you was all I had of you, so I kept it."

Genji nods slowly, face blank. "That does not explain how you are here."

"It does not explain how you are here, either," Hanzo counters.

"That is true. It does not," Genji concedes. Jesse sees him rubbing his wrists in the ensuing silence.

Hanzo sighs. "How can I make you believe me?"

"I do not know," Genji says, sounding defeated. Then he snorts. "Although your new look is in your favor."

Hanzo's free hand reaches up to touch his new piercing. "I cannot imagine what Mother and the elders would say about it."

"I can." Genji ruffles his own vibrantly green hair. "They had plenty to say before I left that summer."

The brothers lapse into silence. Hanzo pivots to face Genji, sitting crossed legged. He twists the statue around in his hands. Hanzo swallows once before saying, "It may be selfish of me and I may be unworthy, but I would not lose you again."

Genji twists around mirroring his brother's posture, lips pressed in a thin line. "I believed that the deal I made for my freedom included losing any contact with you. And then you appear here of all places. Where did the family want you to go?"

"Harvard," Hanzo responds with no hesitation. "I applied as they expected, was accepted, and my first semester's tuition was paid."

"And then?" Genji questions.

Hanzo glances down at the figurine for a moment before meeting Genji's eyes once again. "I also applied here and to a few other schools in secret. I was granted a partial scholarship upon acceptance here and took it. I left the house with a small bag for the airplane out east. The rest of my belongings had been shipped. I said goodbye to the chauffeur dropping me off and walked through the airport to the bus station on the opposite side. I bought a ticket for LA and came here instead."

Hanzo looks down again before continuing to speak slowly, reluctance apparent in his voice. "I tried to cover my tracks, but I could not do so as well as I wanted to. I am sure it is a matter of time before the family…contacts me. Every day I expect to see one of their emissaries when I look over my shoulder." Hanzo looks back up, staring earnestly into Genji's eyes. "But I swear I was not leading them to you. I did not even know you were here."

"I am having trouble believing that," Genji admits.

"I know." Hanzo sounds defeated. "I would as well."

The brothers lapse into silence again. The tension lessened, but still present. Jesse waits it out for several minutes to see if either of them are going to break it. When silence is all that remains, Jesse steps up. He scuffs his boot and makes enough noise to warn the two if they have forgotten his presence.

"Genji," Jesse says, a little reluctantly. "We should probably get goin'. Gabe'll be wonderin' where we are."

Genji nods, climbing to his feet. "He was concerned when he was unable to get you himself." Genji glances down at Hanzo, who has not moved. "Where are you going for the holiday?"

Hanzo looks up. "Nowhere. I will be here, working."

"Work—?" Genji cuts his own question off, instead nodding slowly "May I come see you again?"

"If you wish," Hanzo replies, turning again to stare out across campus. "Pull up and to the right on the door handle to get back downstairs. It will pop the lock."

Genji watches him for a long moment before he turns away and stalks across the roof. Jesse hesitates, but opts to follow him silently and leave Hanzo in peace. Genji opens the door following Hanzo's instructions, and leads Jesse down the stairs without another word. He stops on the bottom step and sits down. Jesse takes a seat next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders when Genji drops his head into his hands.

Jesse thinks over everything he heard on the rooftop while he waits for Genji to work through another breathing exercise. Though he understands Genji's caution, his instincts tell him Hanzo is being truthful. At the same time, he recognizes he's not the most impartial of judges at this point. So he keeps his thoughts to himself.

"Do you not believe 'im?" Jesse asks instead, pulling Genji a little closer to him. Genji goes without a fight, collapsing against Jesse's side.

"I do not know." Genji rubs at his face one last time before pulling his hands away, his eyes suspiciously red but dry. "I want to. So badly. But you do not know my family. And the brother I knew would never have betrayed or abandoned them like this. He was unwaveringly loyal."

Genji's shoulder begin to shake, and he drops his face back into his hands. Jesse wraps his other arm around his friend pulling him closer. "It'll be all right. We'll figure it out." Jesse pauses. "And you know Gabe and Zenyatta will never let anythin' happen to you, no matter what."

They sit there for a few more moments before Genji pulls away, wiping at his face with his sweatshirt sleeve. "I would love to believe you, but you do not know the deals I had to make for my freedom." He sniffs, looking away. "And if they have decided they no longer like the terms…"

Jesse swats his arm. "Gabe came rushin' headlong into one of the biggest gangs in the Southwest to get me. He'll do no less for you, and he's got the trainin' to get it done." Genji grins, though it looks reluctant. Jesse gives him a more gentle one-armed hug. "You're not alone this time. We got your back."

"Thank you, Jesse." Genji stands up from the stair. "We should be getting back."

"Let's go get Sombra, then." Jesse pulls himself to his feet. "And gimme my keys. I'm drivin' back."

"Fine," Genji whines, though without his usual flair as he hands over the keys. "But only if you tell me everything that Hanzo has said to you about our family on the way."

Jesse nods. "You got a deal."