It was damn cold.

Regardless of the small heater installation on the floor of the room, whenever the air hit Jack Morrison's skin it felt like small pinpricks of ice. However, as he lay on his back on the stiff bed wearing only a tank top and his boxers, the soldier felt utterly hot.

As usual, he felt naked without his visor; he forced himself to stay unmasked during his private time to break the habit before the thrill of being a vigilante became an addiction. Soon, he wouldn't have to wear it anymore. He and the team were making progress, good work.

The Russian Omnium had finally came under siege as of last week.

Ever since he took charge of the team several months back, when the Omnics returned, Jack knew he had found what he was looking for. Despite Talon managing to escape his grasp every single time, it was much easier to stick to their scent as a pack. And, as what had occurred in the past few weeks, they could secretly help nations with the Second Omnic Crisis along the way.

With Zarya as their guide, the team hit six crucial Omnic encampments, miniature Omniums where the steel soldiers could recharge and replicate. Then, before any international authorities could arrive, they'd load up into the dropship, and disappear in an instant, another flake of snow in the wind.

The Russian military followed the scorched Omnic encampments, undoubtedly upset that they had their work cut out for them. In a way, Jack felt sorry for them, but he knew that this way would be faster, more time for him to settle some old scores and finally be at peace with himself. With the world.

It was rare for him to feel that momentary burst of hope and serenity. But here, in the Siberian Front of all places, Jack felt it well up in him as their drop ship encircled the Omnium. What had once been heavily guarded by thousands of entrenched bastions and an assortment of new clankers he didn't even recognize, was now surrounded by the Russians. The perimeter of the walled steel spires constantly spouted gunfire, gunfire that was eagerly reciprocated by the Russians. The image of the colossal Syvatogor mechs standing sentry with their guns aimed to burn the Omnium once and for all was a comforting one. Just for that, Jack had piloted the dropship a few times around to let it all soak in.

For the first time in a long time, they were winning.

Jack opened his eyes suddenly as that memory was abruptly replaced with another, wanderings of his imagination making his heart quicken.

He sat up and let out a frustrated sigh.

Outside the door of the concrete room, he could still hear the firecrackers, the laughter, some new song from that Brazilian goofball they had picked up last month. But he strained to hear something specific. His serum-heightened senses could hear the footfalls of an omnic trooper a mile away or the beep of a suicidal bastion in the midst of gunfire. But strain as he might, the soldier couldn't find the one thing he wanted, even when his ears strained to the point of hearing the blistering snowy wind of Siberia on the other side of the loaned bunker.

When he caught up on Torbjorn's fingers scratching hair that definitely wasn't his beard, Jack gave up.

He lay down again, resting his head into his clasped palms.

Yes, last week's memory was heartwarming, hope that the world could finally find the peace he had grown to love before what Reyes had done to him. But tonight, during a harsh storm that had kept the team and the Omnium a few miles west snowed in, Jack felt hot for another reason.

He closed his eyes tight, frustrated not only at the emotions stirring in his usually adamant heart, but at himself for failing to suppress them.

Although he could not actually hear the desired sound with his ears, he replayed it in his mind.

Her voice.

Due to the snow-in, Mei had the bright idea to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Jack was, of course, opposed to this at first. But eventually, she got her way…like she usually did.

Mercy had comforted his anxieties, saying the noise they made in the large hidden mountainside bunker would be lost amongst the cold wasteland outside anyway and that the Omnics, as were the Russians, were just as snowed in as they were. He had thanked her for her reassurance, but he didn't let her know that his anxiety didn't originate from the party itself, but from how easily he had accepted the idea in the first place.

It didn't take long for him to locate the source of his coercion to the Chinese girl smiling across the room at the time: Mei-Ling Zhou.

Jack had known her decades earlier when Overwatch was still fully active. They were never in a squad or a command room together, of course, considering that, like everyone else at the time, she wasn't a soldier. He had acknowledged her back then, given her permissions and even visited the Antarctica Watchpoint. He only really remembered her because of that one visit to Antarctica. Particularly the tour she gave him.

He was in a crabby mood. Peaceful as it was, dealing with bureaucrats and the media was enough to drive even a soldier insane. The visit to Antarctica was a much-needed break.

From the first step he took within the indoor landing port, Mei treated him with a kindness unmatched. She embodied this, from her wide smile, to her short, cute little bows. At the time, she couldn't have been any less than three or four years younger than him, yet her demeanor suggested younger still. In her blue tank top and her hair hastily tied behind her in a bun, she had led him excitedly through the facility, treating him as a friend she'd known for years than a commanding officer who she'd interacted with less than twice before his visit.

Even with his cold demeanor and disinterested eyes, the Chinese girl had kept going, almost ecstatic at some points as her lips spilled rivers of statistics regarding abnormal climate change and the advancements she and her team had made in their months alone. Finally when the tour ended, Jack had actually felt his spirits lift a little, and as he embarked the next day on his ship, he gave her his first smile back.

He could still remember her blushing cheeks and almost shocked smile, as if she were a girl who had finally broken through the cold, unreciprocating of a boy she was trying to impress.

Kind, excited, and undeniably adorable. This was the Mei Jack had met decades ago.

Skip thirty or so years, and he met her again. That day on Watchpoint: Gibraltar, seeing her face was surreal. Especially since it was slightly splattered with blood.

He and a few others of the growing vigilante group had rushed over upon Winston's request; Talon was trying to infiltrate the base again. They were to rendezvous with a few new recruits, Mei being one of them.

In that moment, as she stood over the body of a Talon agent with an icicle nailed into his skull, Jack instantly recognized her. But, more than that, as she bashfully apologized and wiped the blood with the puffy sleeves of her huge insulating coat, Jack felt something run through him that he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

Maybe it was because it was just the odd sight of seeing the frozen bodies she had piled up before they arrived. Maybe it was because in that moment, he realized that she was a soldier too, just like he was. Or maybe it was because, unlike most of the other acquaintances he had (Mercy notwithstanding), Mei didn't look like she had aged a single day.

The young, bespectacled Chinese girl he had left on Antarctica that day had stood before him, grinning as she did all those decades ago. He later learned that she had entered cryosleep, the only survivor of the team she had lauded about during the tour.

And, just like the moment where he had smiled at her, she had blushed that blush.

For a moment, a singular, guilty moment, Jack forgot himself. Him, Soldier 76, behind the intimidating combat visor, in the middle of a crucial operation, let a second pass where he could just behold her.

In the following second, he chastised himself and barked his orders again, and in the following seconds, began sprinting towards the distant explosion that rocked the island.

The months that came after with Mei on their team was just as bad, if not worse.

He didn't know what it was about the girl, but Jack found himself irrevocably drawn to her. In spare moments he would glance at her from the corner of his eye, breathe in a little deeper when she walked past, and, if he was feeling a little naughty, stare at her through his combat visor without her ever noticing. That is, until the one time she looked back at him straight in the eye and waved with her kind smile.

Jack knew what it was he was feeling. Maybe there was something deeper within the layers upon layers of this baggage he had gained since Mei's reappearance in his life, but for now, all Jack knew was that he wanted her.

He felt like a dirty old man, despite her technically being in the same age range.

His attraction to the girl worsened with each passing day, to the point that it truly did distract him during operations, forcing him to assign her to a separate squad than his. It wasn't uncommon for him to daydream about her during his lull times, imagining how her soft lips would feel on his, how hot her skin would be to the touch, how satisfying it would be to grip her rarely-seen curves. At some points Jack even considered to let some steam off the old-fashioned way, his hand slipping beneath his boxers before he'd swat it away.

But the worst part of it all, the thing that almost drove him more crazy than his lack of self-restraint, was the hunch that she felt the same way.

It wasn't uncommon for him to turn and meet her eyes, looking at him with a face that she never usually wore. Her eyes hazy, glazed, cheeks peppered slightly with pink. Or, during the most excruciating moments of the past few months, she'd slip past close to him, teasingly brushing a hand or her chest against his arm, to which she'd apologize in an obviously faux-flustered tone.

Jack didn't need Winston's intellect to decipher what Mei intended. He only prayed that he was just overthinking things.

He swung his legs over the side of the mattress, resting his temples in his palms to clear his mind. Gently he rolled them against the skin, feeling a tinge of sadness at the wrinkles he encountered, the slight ache in his bones. He took another minute to get his mind off of Mei, focusing on these damn wrinkles, remember what they meant and how he had gotten them.

Damned Reyes...damned sheep of the public...damned serums...he looked and felt much worse than he should have at this age. He wanted all of this to just stop. Soldier as he was, he still enjoyed the peace Overwatch had reinforced during the golden age. His entire purpose for living at this point was to stop Talon. To stop the Omnics. To stop it all.

And yet, here he was, unable to sleep or think of anything else because of what he had seen earlier that night. Because of Mei.

Try as he might, the images flashed through him again, his heart pumping like one of a developing adolescent.

It was a few hours earlier, the main hangar of the mountainside bunker absolutely covered in red streamers and decorations. Round, red lanterns floated in varying heights above the entire scene. Even he was surprised at how quickly the team had put it together. Tapestries and swaths of scarlet covered their dropship. Tables of food taken from surplus rations were set up in fashionable circles with red tablecloths, savory smells of Chinese and Korean dishes no doubt prepared by Hana, Mei, and Reinhardt, their go-to chef.

Walking into that hangar, vibrant with the warm lighting of the dropship's spotlights, the cheery laughter of the crew, and the general bustle of a party, Jack felt at home. He cracked a smile as he walked over to a table for a dumpling before he stopped dead in his tracks, heart beating at a rate that wouldn't stop for hours.

A considerable number of team members had donned traditional costumes and Lunar-themed garb custom-made by some talented hands and cutting-edge technology courtesy of Satya. Despite the fact that they were snowed in in the middle of a covert war, the Chinese-themed costumes looked flawless; 3D-printed silk never looked so convincing.

But one costume in particular caught Jack's attention and held it, one dress that had his mouth gaping pathetically as his hand completely missed the dumpling on the serving platter.

His eyes glued themselves to Mei as she sauntered about, conversing and giggling with the rest of the crew, looking absolutely ravishing in a tight, cheongsam, a silk one-piece dress that left none of her curves to the imagination. Jack found himself walking idly closer to her, activating his inner stealth-mode to avoid detection. The white dress hugged Mei's body as if it were sewn onto her skin, beautiful real silk that seemed so natural for her figure. Her smooth arms were mostly left in view, the sleeves of the dress short. Scarlet traced itself along every edge of the dress, along with scarlet clasps that held it together in a row from her hips, across her chest, up to a golden decorative clasp on the collar. The scarlet echoed itself in a pair of new glasses that framed her delicate face, as well as a red rose barrette clipped into her brunette hair, and two very scarlet heels. The dress cut itself very high up her thighs, making Jack gulp at the sight of her long, smooth legs that he rarely saw, the silk of her dress beautifully accentuating her pale skin whenever she walked.

In his eyes, Mei was the picture of beauty. And in that moment as he saw her, in the next minute where his gaze was suddenly returned and she blushed her blush, Jack knew if he didn't leave now, those repressed emotions that had festered in the past months would burst. The last thing he saw before he turned tail was Mei walking towards him, her mouth opening in greeting.

He had walked briskly to his room. His ears could hear her heels getting faster behind him. As soon as he was out of sight, Jack had nearly sprinted to his bleak sleeping chamber, panting, sweating despite the cold.

The memory made Jack that much more disappointed in himself. That much more lonely.

He looked up, off the floor. Looking straight back at him, his combat visor gleamed a blood red.

Another sigh.

Maybe he had just been Soldier 76 for too long. Maybe it was time he was Jack Morrison again.

Then, as soon as the epiphany came to him, it turned to vapor in his mind as he suddenly heard her. Mei.

He swiveled his head towards the source. It wasn't her voice, no, but it was her breath, her heartbeat. Her pulse was fast. Nervous, almost scared. His nose twitched. Instinctively Jack rose from his bed, silently stepping away as if on the hunt. How come he was just catching her with his senses? Surely, if he could catch the mere taps of Symmetra's fingers against her dainty little machines in the hangar then-

That's when Jack realized where she was, his skin sensing her presence, her heat.

This entire time, Mei had outside, leaning on the wall next to his door. His senses had focused themselves so wholeheartedly to the party to search for her, he didn't even bother to think that she was here.

Jack gulped. He could practically feel the blush on her cheeks, the shallow, nervous breaths passing through her thin lips. Before he could process this or react, he felt her take in an inhale as if resolving herself to face something, then heard her turn on her heel.

Three successive knocks sounded out in the small concrete room.

Jack dazedly and hurriedly threw on a pair of trousers, forgetting the shirt. He too felt the nervousness on his cheeks, and, to his annoyance, the blush present there as well.

"Jack?"

Mei's soft voice called out to him through the door.

He grunted a "I'm here. Let me open the door," not knowing what else to do at this point.

His hand gripped the cold steel. He swore to God he could feel hers on the other side.

Then, with a deft turn, he let the warmth of the hallway wash over him. As his eyes adjusted, there she stood in that delicious dress, smiling nervously with that blush on her face.

"Hi," she said.

Jack scratched a spot on the back of his head.

"Hi."

They stood there then, both of them knowing that the other did not know what to do.

And no, the skin in this isn't the one from the game, but the one in the cover for the story.

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