Nova always did his best to not jump when he was scared, tried to stick as close to Genji and Jesse as he was allowed to be, and he was slowly introduced to everyone else at Overwatch. He befriended a girl named Lena, and found it easy to talk to her regardless of how many other people were around them. He kept interaction with others to the absolute bare minimum, only leaving his room if he had to. In his room, he would sit and hold his locket, thinking about his pets and his childhood. A knock on the door had him jumping and closing his hand around the object as he stood and moved to open the door. Lena stood in front of him, smile as wide as Texas on her pretty face. "Hi, Nova. Have you eaten yet?" The teen shrugged. "Well there's chips and soda in the mess hall if you wanna join us. Somebody stocked up on too much junk food instead of healthy food." Nova let himself smile before he looked down to hide it. "What's in your hand? Can I see?" He used his thumbnail to open the locket and hold it up for Lena to see its contents.

"Aw I didn't know you had a dog, how adorable." Nova dragged his thumb across his throat and Lena's smile fell. "Oh I'm sorry. Was it recent?" Nova shook his head. "You ok? You seem tired." He shrugged again. "Well alright, party pooper. I'll bring you some snacks later, alright? Relax." Nova shook his head at the offer of food. Lena sighed. "If you're sure. You know...you don't have to be afraid of us, we don't bite." Lena reached out and gently cupped Nova's cheek, making his heart stop and he found himself standing stiff at the touch. "Well see ya!" With another cheery smile, Lena bounded off and left the teen to his thoughts. He went to turn and go back inside, when Jesse's voice stopped him. "She's right, we don't bite. How come you don't hang out with us?" "Too many people..." "Right, I forgot." Nova buried a yawn in his sleeve and the cowboy chuckled. "You're just the darlin'est thing I ever saw. You gonna eat?" Nova shook his head. "Get some sleep, Kid. You're gonna need the energy tomorrow." The teen waved good night to him and went inside without so much as another breath in his direction.

"He is adjusting well. Though I worry the pressure will become too great." "I got faith in 'im. You eatin'?" Genji said he wouldn't, but followed nontheless. In the mess hall, Lena was chattering about the youngest, and newest, addition to their little group and wondering what his voice sounded like since she hadn't heard it. Nova only verbally spoke to Genji and Jesse, Reyes when he had to, everyone else got gestures or a shake of the head. Or silence. Sometimes the kid didn't say anything at all, leaving some to believe he was mute. "Nah he can talk, just scared-a strangers." "Why does he talk to you, then?" Morrison didn't want anyone on his team if they would cause a problem, silence was a major issue for everyone. If they couldn't communicate properly, things would go very wrong and people could die when they didn't have to. "He didn't have a choice really." Reyes knew the reason Nova didn't talk, he could see it clear as day. "Well he's your problem, not mine. If he steps one toe out of line on my watch, I'll kill him." A snort of laughter drew their attention to Nova, who had gone to the room to talk to Lena.

"What is it, darling?" She asked, moving next to the teen when waved over, and she leaned down to hear the quiet talking. "Oh, sure. Come with me." Lena took the teen to her own room, leaving the others to wonder what the interaction was all about. "He's not afraid of death, just people who wanna kill him. He's too scared to step outta line." "Whatever, just don't let him screw up." Everyone wanted to know about Nova and his abilities that only the three men he first met knew about, and the others began to doubt it was even real. "You'll see for yourself." Jesse assured them, going to make coffee. "We can show you his ability if you are willing to keep an open mind about it." Genji waited for some kind of response and most people agreed, the rest not believing it was possible. "He can point out your emotions, pick out exactly who feels what and where you are. Without being anywhere near you." That made it seem even more impossible, when Reyes picked up on what Genji was suggesting.

"I'll get him. Stay here and listen to Genji if you wanna see for yourself." Jesse stopped his coffee stirring to pay closer attention, curious to see where his partner was headed. "Do you remember what we had him do to prove his ability to Reyes?" The ninja asked, he gave a quick nod. "This time he will be blindfolded and we will act on steps." Jesse wanted no part of it and the others listened more closely as Genji gave the instructions, almost seeing it as a game. When Nova came back, he had his back to everyone, being guided by Reyes, and at the door, Reyes was given a cloth to put over Nova's eyes which had the kid squirming and ducking the piece of cloth. "Come on, hold still." The elder gently shushed Nova and got him to hold still enough to cover his eyes. "Can you see anything?" He shook his head. The second they went in the room, Lena following close behind out of sheer curiosity, everyone walked in the room and Nova whimpered, scrambling back and away from the large ominous, threat of death. The agents walked in, silent as a ninja, and regarded Nova as a traitor.

"Whoa, whoa! What's happening?" Lena asked, bending down to try and help the teen. "St-stop this! I didn't do anything! Ah!" Nova clutched at his leg as he felt it get cut with a thin, but very sharp, blade, but there was no blood. "Wh-why did you do that?!" Lena watched as the agents around her hurt themself somewhere on their body, minimal damage of course, and Nova responded as if he was the one being hurt. The agents watched in fascination, amusement, and fear. Genji had instructed them to enter silently and pretend he had infiltrated the place with the intent of gathering precious information and leave them all dead. Needless to say, it worked. "Genji! Why did you do this?" Nova asked, moving to tug the cloth off his eyes but Reyes's grip was iron strong and he moved Nova's hands back down. Nova let out a choked grunt as his injured arm got twisted behind him. "Stop...stop, let me go!" Lena couldn't stand to watch it anymore and she shoved at Reyes. "Get off of him! Whatever you're doing is hurting him!" Tears streamed down Nova's face but he grit his teeth, refusing to make anymore noise once Genji revealed the truth.

"Nova who's Talon, do you work for them?" Reyes asked, getting silence as an answer, then a tiny whimper as he jerked Nova's arm up higher. "Tell me or I'll break it off!" He wouldn't do that, but Nova knew he would if he had to and he didn't care. "That's enough, let him go." Morrison stepped in, unable to watch any longer. Reyes slowly let go of the teen, who used his left arm to push himself up and rip off the cloth, his right arm hanging uselessly at his side. He glared at the people he trusted most, fighting a noise of anger. "Stay. The fuck. Away. From. Me." He turned and stomped out of the room, Lena trailing after him. "Nova, wait!" As they left, Reyes gave the agents a look that said 'see?' And he was met with a cocktail of emotions across the others' faces. "That was somethin'." "What the hell was that?" Genji stepped up to answer again as they began to clean and dress their wounds. "He becomes the person whose emotions he feels. As if he were inside them, did you notice how he reacted when we hurt ourselves?"

"Yeah, that's crazy. Is that it? He didn't point out anyone specific." "Because there was nothing to point out, until I slipped. For that, I apologize." Jesse never liked the idea in the first place, but after watching what he did, he felt regret that he didn't stop it. Morrison had an idea, similar to Reyes's, and he wondered what kinds of torture Nova could endure. He wouldn't be the one to test it out though, he had a soft spot for kids. Jesse placed the now empty cup in the sink and grabbed a soda on his way out of the room. Once he was out of the room and into the hallways, he asked Athena where Nova and Lena ran off to. "They're in Lena's room. Would you like me to tell them you're coming?" "Yes, please." When he made it to Lena's room, he knocked three times and the door opened after a brief moment of silence. Lena stood there with a glare that could pierce any bullet proof armor. "Hey, just wanted to apologize. Brought somethin' for him. He ok?" Lena huffed and stepped aside to show the gunslinger what Nova was doing, but not moving back enough to let him in.

Nova had his left arm wrapped around his legs which were propped up and held against his chest, whole body trembling, teeth dug into his lip with never ending tears that streamed down his face, and an angry, betrayed look on his face as he glanced up at McCree. "I know you didn't want to do it. I'm not mad at you." He could breathe easy after that. Lena wasn't so forgiving. "Why didn't you step in when Reyes had his arm like that? Look he can't even move it now!" "Really? Is it bad?" Now he felt even worse. "It's fine. It'll go back to normal eventually. Not the first time that happened." "Lena can I come in? Just for a sec?" The angry girl looked back at Nova who gave a tiny nod. Jesse was allowed inside and he held the unopen can to the teen who took it and just held it, enjoying the cold against his overheated skin. "I'm real sorry, Nova. You're right, I should have stepped in." "I know they didn't feel that way, except the blonde guy. He really thinks I'm up to no good."

The blonde guy was Morrison, he just hadn't heard the name before. "Why does he think that?" Lena asked, leaning against her wall. "He thinks that I'm too scared and easily startled to get anything done-" He shut his mouth when the man in question stepped up to the doorway. "You're right. A team can't function without proper communication and you don't know how to do that. While you're here, things are gonna change. You've been here long enough to know this works, now you're gonna prove you can take it." Lena looked horrified and spun to face her leader. "Do you see how bad he's shaking? He is in NO state to be put under that kind of pressure!" "I can take it. It won't be any different from my childhood." That made the girl's jaw clench and her heart stop dead in her chest for a second. "Good. You start when you come back from tomorrow's job. Reyes agreed to hand you over for it." "Hand him over?" "Hand me over? I'm leaving?" "No, not leaving. Think of it as visiting a training center." With that, the man turned and walked away.

"He's great but sometimes I just wanna grab him and squeeze his neck til his head pops off." Nova slid his legs out in front of him and leaned forward til his face was pressed against the bedsheet, making Jesse whistle. "Nova, I don't think this will be anything like your childhood." Lena started. "It will. He wants to see if I can keep using my empathy without letting it get to me, he wants to see if I can hold up if I were ever tortured." "That sounds like something Reyes would want." Jesse piped up. "Nova, will you be ok?" Lena asked, sitting at the teen's feet and grabbing the soda, opening it for him. Nova took it with a smile and sipped at it. "I'll be fine. It's really nothing I haven't already gone through. He doesn't understand that it's not about the torture." "Enough talk about torture. You need some sleep and you," She pointed at McCree who had his arms crossed, "need to leave so he can sleep." Nova carefully got off the bed. "Wait, where are you going?" Lena asked. "I can't sleep if someone's in the same room as me." "Fine."

"I'll walk him there." "Hold this." Nova handed his drink to the cowboy, who took it, and Nova turned, giving Lena a careful, one armed hug. "Thanks for helping me." He said as she hugged him back. "No problem. Stay safe tomorrow." Nova nodded and let go, taking his drink back as he stepped into the hallway. Jesse followed and walked beside him. "Never seen you hug anyone before." "She earned it." That made Jesse pause, he understood of course. In a life like theirs, gentle touches were foreign and often frightening. "I really am sorry 'bout all that." "I know you are, stop saying it." Nova shied away from Jesse whenever he accidentally brushed against him, holding his arm around himself protectively. "I don't wanna put you through anymore than you already have been, but can ya tell me what Genji's feelin' right now?" There was a pause as Nova focused his energy. "He feels a lot of things. He wants people to understand my empathy and that it's real, he thinks it was kind of funny. I hate being tested like that, it fucking floods me and I can't shut it off." Nova started rambling everything the agents felt in the room, how Lena felt, how Jesse's currently feeling, and other emotions he soaked up from people that weren't even in the building.

"Ok, ok. Calm down. Damn, didn't know it was so strong. You sure you're gonna be ok?" Nova nodded. "The job should be enough to scare it out of me." That didn't sound good or healthy to Jesse, but he kept his mouth shut since they arrived at Nova's room. "It's not so bad...this time, because they were all feeling the same thing. Imagine being in a room of over thirty people all feeling something different." "No thanks, I get the idea just watchin' ya. Ya know it's weird. You're all jittery an' shit, scared to death or whatever, but you're right. I can't feel nothin' from ya. Almost like yer a ghost and I can put my hand through you. I don't know how to feel about that. You gonna be ok by yourself?" Nova nodded, then shook his head. "I have sharp stuff in here...get it out please." He gave a gentle smile as he stepped in the room after Nova, who pointed at his pillow. "Un-underneath." He moved and lifted the pillow up to see three small blades lying underneath.

"Nova...where did you get these?" "Pencil sharpeners." He didn't even wanna know, carefully picking up the objects and moving slowly, gently putting a hand on Nova's shoulder, noting that he didn't flinch this time. He could see shame and embarassment in the teen's eyes. "Have you used any?" He shook his head, pulling his arms out of his sleeves as proof. "That's good." Jesse could see tears start to gather in Nova's eyes and he guided the kid to his bed, sitting on his knees in front of it. "Nova, look at me." He slowly lifted his head to look at Jesse's face. "You did good, kid. As long as you didn't use them on yourself, you do good. Know what I mean? It's ok to have them as long as you keep them away from your body." Nova barely covered his mouth before sobs wracked his body and he leaned forward, wrapping his right arm around Jesse, despite his body's protest of the movement. "Aw, kid..." Jesse wrapped his own arms around Nova and rubbed his back, letting him cry on his shoulder. No other words were said as he let his emotions out.

"I'm sorry, Jesse. I don't mean to do this..." "Stop, it's not a problem. I'd rather find you in a puddle of tears than a puddle of your own blood." When he could stop crying, Nova pulled back and wiped at his eyes. "Th-thank you. I appreciate your...genuine...ness, I don't know how to say that." Jesse chuckled and stood up. "Sure thing. Get some sleep if you can." "I'll try." With a final smile over his shoulder, Jesse stepped out of the room and let the door shut. He started walking to his own room when Genji snuck up behind him. "What were you doing in there for so long?" He asked before he saw Jesse's closed fist. "What are you holding so tightly?" Jesse's grip on the blades loosened a bit. "I was holding him while he cried his damn heart out. He had these under his pillow and was ashamed of having 'em." He opened his hand and let the ninja see the blades. "Genji...that was fucked up. You saw how scared he was, neither of us stepped in but it was your dumbass plan! At least I apologized. Goddammit, Genji he's scared shitless. He soaked up every ounce of fuckin' emotions everyone had in the damn room!"

Jesse felt his blood boil and knew he'd end up at the shooting range. "How bad is it?" Genji asked, voice quiet. "He said he's lucky y'all were feelin' the same thing and that it'd be worse if everyone felt somethin' different. I don't know about his arm though. Genji he's fucked up real bad. I'm worried about him..." "I will apologize to him tomorrow." "He's not mad at you, I know that. He said he hated being tested like that, I think other people have done it before and I think...I think he even saw it comin'." The next day, Genji showed up at Nova's door and knocked on it. Only a moment passed before the door opened to reveal the teen who looked drowsy. "Did you get any sleep?" Nova nodded. "Yep, been up for an hour. Don't bother apologizing, I'm over it. Just give me coffee please." "Come on, we leave in an hour and a half." Genji held his left hand out and Nova took it, being pulled to the mess hall. "Whoa! Jeez you got a lot of energyyyy!"

Nova felt like the flag on a car going down a highway. That is, until Genji stopped and Nova ran into him. "Ooph! Hello." He took a step back and looked up, peeking around the ninja's side to watch him turn the coffee pot on and reach up to grab a cup. "Sit down." The teen yawned and took a seat...on the counter. "You sit on the counter?" Nova shrugged and watched Genji move around to make his coffee. He ended up falling back asleep and fell forward, against Genji's metal shoulder. His cheek pressed against it, facing Genji, and he snored softly. "That is too cute. Did he get any sleep?" Reyes spoke quietly behind the ninja and walked up to them, next in line for the coffee. "He said he has been up for an hour. Knowing him, he was too afraid to come out and make coffee to stay awake." "Yeah. Want me to take him off your hands?" "No, just pull a seat out for him." Their leader pulled a chair from the table and Genji wrapped his arms around the sleeping teen, and felt the small arms wrap around him in response. He paused and looked at Nova's face, wondering if he woke up but found him sleeping peacefully.

He felt something warm in his chest and he held Nova tighter against him. "Genji, you gonna let go?" He snapped back to reality and gently set the teen in the chair, having trouble getting him to untangle and let go of him. "I think he likes you." Reyes moved his hands under Nova's to hold them so Genji could move away. "Y'all look like an assbackwards circus family, the way you're holdin' onto him." "Shut up, McCree." Jesse couldn't keep the smile off his face at the sight of his heart-of-stone leader and cold-as-ice partner treat a teenager like he was their own child. Genji set the coffee in front of Nova after he mixed up the cream and sugar. Reyes gently nudged the teen. "Nova get up, you can't sleep anymore." Half a beat passed and Jesse got an idea. He moved closer and reached behind Nova to gently drag his finger along Nova's back, half an inch above the waistband of his pants and cackled with laughter when the teen shot up with a strange squealing sound and he rubbed at the very sensetive spot.

"Fuck...what the fuck was...what the hell?" "What the hell was that?" Reyes asked, having stepped back when Nova jerked up. Nova spun around and saw the culprit rolling on the floor, clutching his sides. "Jesse! Why would you do that? That's sensetiiive!" Nova whined. "I kn-know! It was the only way to wake your ass up." "That spot is ticklish?" Genji asked, almost afraid of the reaction from Nova at the touch. "Sensetive in general but yeah. It's hard to wear certain clothes sometimes, getting in a shower's a pain in the ass for about two seconds-ooh coffee!" His attention was quickly drawn to the cup in front of him. "I hope it will do, I don't know what you like." Nova took a tiny sip before he drank like it was the oasis in a desert. "Oh. My. God. Can you do that forever?" He finished in record time and set the empty cup down with a happy look on his face. "That good huh?" Jesse finally picked himself up and Genji put the cup in the sink to be washed later. "Yeah. Thank you. When do we leave?" "About an hour."