A fishman!McCree AU that I’m sharing ‘cause I thought it was different enough from my usual aimless fishman-meets-humans stories. ----- In his youth, McCree was part of a ragtag pack of fishmen that viciously harassed humans mostly just because they could, and because they saw the ocean as their territory and them non-scaly, finless folk don’t belong there. The group was finally captured by Overwatch, but McCree was recognized as being particularly clever and a quick study. So it was decided that he would be educated enough to be used for underwater missions for Overwatch. It was rough going at first, for McCree was none too pleased at being shuffled around between various tanks and forced to learn the ways of the humans. There were plenty of escape attempts, but those were obviously wasted effort given that fighting on land is pretty hard when you have no legs, need your arms for walking and your head’s only a few feet from the ground. Despite this, he did manage to get some good damage in with his calculated tactics and sharp teeth. Even though he was causing trouble, many couldn’t help but feel impressed - especially Reyes, who thought the loudly hissing fishboy thrashing around like an upset earthworm would do just fine after enough discipline. Fortunately, it didn’t take too long for him to take a shine to humankind and their world. McCree eventually became close friends with plenty of Overwatch’s members and settled into comfortable routines with how his life was managed. He took pride in completing missions to the best of his ability and greatly enjoyed the many commodities that could only exist on land – the food, entertainment, etc. After Overwatch shut down, he was unwillingly released back into the wild, but… He’d been living with humans for more than ten years, with only a little bit of contact with other fishpeople. It was only natural that he couldn’t fit in with his own kind anymore. As the years continued to pass, he tried to keep helping humans out in the ocean, with mixed results. Some were afraid of him and treated him like a dangerous animal; others were kind and offered him meals to reward his good deeds. (Not much else you can give someone who lives in water…) I’ve got a bit of a branch here: In the more realistic version, McCree lost his arm due to a conflict with either other fishmen or a human. The past few years have been even more of a struggle than before thanks to that, and he’s really lonely and desperate for human interaction. Someone from the old days finds him wandering around on a beach somewhere and “brings him home”. He’s given his prosthetic arm and the news that Overwatch is possibly coming back together. In another version, I considered going the Little Mermaid route and have him willingly sacrifice his arm to a mysterious being in order to become human. Is it science or magic? Whichever it is, McCree has to adapt to having a human body and is conflicted on whether this was a good idea or not. Being warm-blooded is pretty darn nice, though.

Horrible story time! Have you ever played or watched SOMA? Great game. This might be a mild spoiler, but… I’ll just say that it’s got various robots in it who have the memories of humans, and they are in such denial of being robots that they actually perceive themselves as having human bodies. This denial is supposed to prevent them from going completely insane, which is what happens to most of the people who ended up accepting that they aren’t human anymore. I’ve seen a couple of jokes about McCree secretly being a robot in old posts from before he was ever shown without the prosthetic arm. What if…that was true…and McCree didn’t even know.

McCree didn’t just lose his arm. He was killed. The original Jesse McCree is dead, and the one in present time is an extremely advanced android (not sure if Omnic? Omnics seem to be a very specific type of android) that had McCree’s memories put into it. He’s so convinced that he’s a flesh-and-blood human that he doesn’t properly process when non-human things happen to him. His thoughts just kind of skate over it. He thinks he feels hunger, pain and fatigue, but it’s all in his head. None of it is real. His memories are just plugging in what he thinks he SHOULD be feeling. When people question his seemingly unnatural strength and durability, he’ll give casual responses about how he’s just blessed like that, or his training paid off. Just like in SOMA, whenever the topic of him being a robot is insisted to him, he becomes increasingly more aggressive and violent until he blacks out. Upon regaining consciousness, he can’t remember the most recent things that he’s seen and heard. This happens every time he needs repairs. Normally he’s pretty good at avoiding the kind of damage that would require repairs, but when he does take an especially brutal hit, he always sees open flesh and blood instead of the machinery and lubricant that’s actually there. So he’s utterly baffled when whoever’s treating him pulls out wrenches and other equipment that you wouldn’t use in human surgery. He can’t be an android, that’s just ridiculous. Isn’t it? ISN’T IT?? After he’s patched up, he either has false memories of being treated as a human or doesn’t remember the session at all. I don’t know how many of the other Overwatch members would know about this. His death occurred during the time of Overwatch’s disbandment, so I don’t even know if he was made into an android by someone affiliated with them or not. …I think I actually made myself cry a little the first time I explored this concept. McCree was having one of his denial fits at Angela. After he wakes up after the blackout and, seeing that Angela appears upset, concernedly asks what happened… She just has to lie through a smile to keep from setting him off again. *breathes slowly*

People’s memories not working properly always messes me up. People around those people wanting to help them and not knowing how messes me up even more. Why did I do this. Curse you, scientific exploration.