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paranoid-fighter · 7 years

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Overwatch: Reyes - Chapter 9: Reyes makes a call | Jesse makes a call | Morrison receives a call

Oh, how quickly things can change...

Author’s Notes: 1) Well, at long last, it’s here. 2) This contains plenty of mentions of violence - warning you now 3) I cannot even tell you how long I’ve spent writing this chapter. I’ve lost track of the hours. 4) Please let me know what you think 5) Special thanks to @slunkymcgee, @t0asty-marshmall0w, @one-doesnt-simply-walk-in-bagend and @ceata88 for reading various sections for me

Word count: 12030-ish Copyright: Overwatch and its characters belong to Blizzard. Original characters belong to me.

Gabriel Reyes stood before the polished black stone of the Widow's Wall and read over the names of those that had died while in service to him. The list was far, far longer than it should have been and, worst of all, he knew it... just as he knew that he was responsible for their deaths. He traced a finger over the etching of a mockingbird and let out a long, slow breath.

The Mockingbirds were dead. The Hellcats were dead. The Hounds were dead.

They and countless others now marched under the banner of the Last Watch.

He closed his eyes as he lowered his head, but he did not pray.

Prayer no longer soothed his soul.

He walked on.

Gabriel Reyes traced a familiar path through the empty hallways. They were the only thing that remained unchanged during his time as Commander. He never thought he would envy cinder blocks, but he found himself doing just that with each painful step that he took.

The years had not been kind to him. His thinning, greying hair was now hidden under the black knit cap that he refused to remove. His face was lined with wrinkles and scars. Every passing day made the bags under his eyes grow a little darker. Stress had eaten holes in both his stomach and his mind before it turned its attention to his aching joints.

It hurt to exist.

He tried to stave off the failings of his body, but he knew it was a lost cause. Nurse Lori and Nurse Sandy had given him everything they could in the hope that they could ease his pain, but they knew it wouldn't help in the long run. Every morning was greeted with a handful of medications that allowed him to function, but each night ended with the cold reality that he was beginning to live on borrowed time.

He walked on.

Gabriel Reyes had beaten the odds and had done so for well over a decade. He had risen from the trenches and soared through the ranks until his shoulders carried enough stars to rival the night sky. Were he to wear his medals, he would not have to worry about a bullet-proof vest; nothing would be able to pierce his heavily decorated chest.

He hated each and every one of them.

The medals only brought him shame, but he stood proud each time the world leaders pinned another to his chest in the private ceremonies. He would return their salute before facing his soldiers as he fought to remain expressionless. He knew that the polished metal that hung from his jacket had been earned through the sweat, blood and tears of those who died. He wanted nothing more than to throw the ribbons into an incinerator, but, instead, he wore them proudly for all to see. His soldiers would cheer for him, applauding the victories that they and their fellows had won.

Reyes could not share in their joy. How could he? Each award came at the cost of a new name on the Widow's Wall...

He walked on.

Gabriel Reyes launched a counter attack for every mission that the puppet masters ordered. He had spent countless hours planning both the missions and his retaliations, all to ensure that there would not be any true victories for the puppet masters. His efforts had paid off. There had not been any true successes within the past five years. Instead, there were only slim victories. It infuriated the puppet masters. They demanded more from Reyes, more, more, always more. Reyes did what he could to appease his soul and commanders alike, but it had not been easy.

Nothing ever was.

With each new mission, he was forced to play God. He had to choose who would live and who would die. At first, it had been almost impossible to decide who would or would not return from the field.

But now?

Now Reyes knew why God had turned his back on the world...

He walked on.

Gabriel Reyes found himself clinging more and more to his only source of hope. He knew that his struggles were almost at their zenith. At the end of the week, he would release all the documents that he had amassed over the years and would damn the puppet masters straight to hell, without any hope of escape. He had worked tirelessly with Morrison to gather all the evidence of corruption within Overwatch and Blackwatch and had even allied himself with several of Nocte's associates that specialized in computerized espionage. At the end of the week, he would give the order for Giga and her army of hackers to unleash every single piece of evidence they had gathered. Thousands upon thousands of documents would be sent to every major news organization in the world, every government agency she had been able to infiltrate and to more websites than Reyes even knew existed.

He hoped it would be enough.

He came to a stop in front of the door to the firing range. He hadn't passed a single soldier during his entire walk - the base was almost empty now. Most of the soldiers had been sent abroad for a variety of missions - all of which were coincidentally close to their native homes. The only soldiers who remained on base now were the ones who lived within the United States...

...and Jesse.

He pushed open the door and was greeted with the aroma of gunpowder, sweat and tobacco. He saw a blue haze hanging around Jesse and shook his head. He had given up on stopping him from smoking years ago. The only compromise that they had been able to come to was that Jesse now only smoked cigars instead of cigarettes.

Reyes leaned against the back wall as he watched Jesse fire round after round before reloading. Even to this day, Jesse with his beloved six-shooter was still the most accurate shot within Blackwatch and Overwatch alike - not counting the snipers. He smiled as he recalled the day, years ago, when a batch of greenhorns had accused Jesse of robbing them after they lost a marksmanship competition against the wanna-be cowboy. It felt like only yesterday that he had the baby-faced McCree sitting across from him, defending himself...

Where had the years gone?

That was a stupid question, he sighed as he rubbed a sore elbow. He knew exactly where the years had gone. For fuck's sake, each and every damn day left him with another ache in his body, another pain that wasn't dulled by medication.

Reyes pulled himself from his self-pity when the rhythmic firing and reloading came to a halt. He raised his head and found himself staring into the bushy face of Jesse McCree - had he always been so tall? Had he just never noticed? "Boss?" Reyes blinked and shook his head before giving the soldier a smile. "I swear, mijo; every damn hair I've lost has found its way onto your face." He reached out and lightly tugged on McCree's beard. "When did this get so thick, anyway?" "I'unno." Jesse shrugged as he laughed. "Just born with it, I guess." Reyes shared in the laughter - it was too rare that he had the chance to laugh now. "Just confirms that your father must've been a dog. Especially after walking out on your mother." "I was just a snot-nosed kid at that point. Can't really hold it against him." "I can." "And you do." Jesse sighed in mock frustration. Reyes only smiled.

"Any updates on anything?" Jesse asked as he and Reyes came to sit on the metal bench. "No. For once, I'm glad to not have any updates." He stared down at his hands. "Just a few more days. That's all we have left now. Just a few more days." "Yeah..." Jesse took the cigar from his mouth and blew a thick cloud of smoke into the air. "Y'all packed up, too?" "Yes. I'm living out of a suitcase at this point, but I don't care. I want to be ready to go the moment this gets started." "Same here." He returned the cigar to his mouth. "Hey, boss?" "Yes?" "Can I..." He swallowed. "Can I ask you something?" "Sure." "D'you think we're really gonna pull this off? I mean, it's been years. D'you think they've caught on?"

Reyes exhaled slowly as his eyes closed. His shoulders drooped forward, sagging under the weight of his sins. "I... I think they have." He massaged his left wrist. "But I don't think they've caught onto everything. I think we can still pull this off." Jesse nodded as he took a draw off of his cigar. "Can I ask something else?" "Yes." "Are you scared?"

The commander glanced over to his soldier. "Do you have a spare cigar?" "Yeah." Jesse pulled a case out of his breast pocket - a habit he probably picked up from Nocte. "Want me to start it for you? Y'always did have a hard time with that." "Sure..." Reyes sank back against the wall, his eyes closing as Jesse trimmed the end off of the cigar. "Before I answer, I want to ask you the same. Are you scared?" "y-Yeah." Jesse's voice was small. "I am. I mean, hard not to be, y'know?" "I know." He watched as Jesse began to light the cigar. "I am too, mijo. I'm fucking terrified. I know we're good, but are we as good as we think we are?" He frowned as Jesse slowly rotated the cigar over his butane lighter. "You're supposed to use matches to get a better flavor." "Flavor my ass," Jesse grumbled, "ain't smokin' this shit for the flavor." He took a few long draws off of the cigar before handing it to Reyes. "And I doubt you are, too." Reyes only nodded as he brought the cigar to his mouth.

He didn't speak until he had blown his own cloud of smoke into the air. "I've never been more scared of anything in my life, Jesse." He closed his eyes as his head came to rest against the wall. "But we're going to make it through - you and me. We're going to be fine." Reyes sighed and sat up straight as he held the cigar between his teeth. "I was going to hold off on this, but now's as good a time as any." He pulled an envelope out of his pocket and unfolded it, listening to the thick plastic as it crinkled. "Don't open it yet. Open it when we're both safe." "Boss?" Jesse took the vacuum-sealed package and stared down at it. "What is this?" "Adoption papers."

Jesse's cigar nearly fell from his mouth. "w-What? Boss, what did you just say?" "They're adoption papers, Jesse." He met his soldier's gaze. "I've already filled out all the parts I needed to and got them notarized. When we're safe, open that up and fill out your parts and then mail it off." "I don't--" "Jesse, I've called you 'mijo' for long enough. It's time that I made it official." He took a long draw off of his cigar before blowing the smoke over his shoulder. "When we're safe, just fill it out, stick some stamps on there and put it in the mail. It'll go to a contact of mine and she'll get it processed." "Can't we do it now?" Jesse was still in disbelief as he stared at the envelope. "Please?" Reyes shook his head. "In case something goes wrong, I don't want any other links between you and me. I just want them to think you're a soldier of mine and that you didn't have any part of this." "Oh..." Jesse slowly tucked the envelope into his pocket. "That's fair." He slumped back against the wall next to his commander - his soon-to-be-legal father. "Been a crazy few years, hasn't it, boss?" "Yes, yes it has." Reyes smiled slightly. "Do you remember, years ago, the very first day you started your shots?" "Yeah; what of it?"

Jesse found himself blinking in shock for the second time as he stared down at Reyes' phone. "Holy shit," Jesse breathed. "You've grown into a handsome man, Jesse Gabriel McCree." Reyes smiled as he looked between Jesse's actual face and the face in the photograph. "Look at me... I was just a baby," Jesse found himself laughing. "Look at those cheeks! Smooth as silk!" He looked to his commander. "You kept that picture for all those years?" "Of course." Reyes took his phone back and smiled. "A father has to have baby pictures, you know." "Gawd," he ran a hand down his face as his cheeks burned. "Y'ain't even my dad yet and you're already makin' me embarrassed." "Well, what else am I supposed to do?" Reyes laughed. "There's no way I could be the cool dad that every kid wants." "Just don't start with the dad jokes, or I'm out of here." "Hi, I'm out--" Reyes' laughter redoubled as Jesse groaned loudly...

He and Jesse went their separate ways at the end of the night. They had slightly deviated from their tradition and had gotten burgers on a Monday night - Friday, they would be hightailing it to Mexico and were planning on eating trail rations while speeding to freedom. He sipped the last few dregs of his milkshake and walked into his bedroom. The door locked behind him as he stared around the small room. In just a few days, he'd be leaving this all behind - one way or another.

He just hoped he would leave it of his own volition...

Marigold Lawson's manicured fingers drummed against the table in both nervousness and impatience. She had less than forty minutes before she had to be back at work. The tight deadline frustrated her to no end, but what could she do? She had to return to Prime Minister Garret's office before anyone questioned her absence. She had been his aide for almost ten years now and no one had ever seen her return late from lunch. It would not do for her to show up late now.

She knew it would have been easier to do the meeting after hours. Ever since she had arranged it, she had been trying to convince Prime Minister Garret that it would be better to do at night, but he had told her to get it done as quickly as possible. Instead of calling out the man's idiocy, she only smiled and told him that it would be done.

It left her with a little over half an hour to meet with an internationally infamous assassin inside a closed restaurant and hire him.

Ms. Lawson's nails continued to rap on the table as her frustration outweighed her anxiety. For four years, she had lead a task force that monitored the activities of Blackwatch and Overwatch alike, all of which placed her under even more scrutiny from her fellows. Ever since the failed mission to assassinate Hanzo Shimada, Prime Ministers Garret, Ikanawa, Vittorio and several others had their concerns over the leadership of their armies. They had noticed an increasing amount of failures and causalities. The amounts were still within the acceptable limits, yes, but it was unusual, considering the nearly flawless years that came after the creation of Blackwatch and Overwatch.

In an effort to understand the ongoing trend of slim victories, they placed Marigold in charge of researching the actions of the armies and had given her both the tools and budget to fix their problems. Their only rules were that they couldn't know who she was talking to and that if her activities were exposed, all evidence of her work had to be destroyed. After all, it just wouldn't do to be linked to such shady activities...

Marigold checked her watch. "He should have been here five minutes ago." "Traffic is a problem at this time of day," Andrew put a hand on her shoulder, "he'll show up. You've made him an offer he can't refuse." "I don't like that phrase," she huffed, "everyone can still refuse." "Well, in this case, I don't think he can." "It's true." Hiro nodded from his position by the door. "Taking this job should be a no-brainer for him. It's either this or life in solitary confinement - he'd be an idiot to not accept." "Regardless of what happens," Andrew looked down at the petite woman, "you found him and where he lives. He can't escape now." "Hush;" Hiro stood straight, "I hear footsteps."

Marigold's heart hammered in her chest as she stared at the door. Three years of near-obsessive searching for the man named Nocte was about to come to fruition...

Special Agent Carson Scapine opened the door and ushered a tall, masked man into the room. He closed the door behind him as Special Agent Hiro Nobuya and Andrew Smith stood at strategic points in the room; Andrew stood at Marigold's back as Hiro stood in the far corner. Carson kept his place by the door as Nocte came to sit at the table across from Marigold. His white mask shone in the low light of the private dining room. "Hello, Nocte. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person." She smiled up at the white mask. "Indeed." Nocte's voice was flat. "I must commend you for the effort that you put into finding me. I have not seen such determination and dedication in quite a long time." He placed his gloved hands on the table. "What your technique lacked in elegance, you more than made up for in brute force." Marigold hid her annoyance. She knew this was going to be a difficult meeting. "Sometimes, brute force is the only solution." "Indeed," came the monotone response. Marigold refused to let her smile waver. "I would like to hire you, Nocte. I represent several men and women who want someone--" "Dead. Yes, I am aware. Why else would you go to such lengths to find me?" He tilted his head as he looked to her. "Unless, of course, you wanted to ask me for a date." He gestured to the dining room. "If that is the case, I am afraid I must decline and will file for a restraining order. You are clearly a stalker." He paused as he mulled over his words. "However, I am willing to reconsider your offer for a date if you bring me some wine. I feel that I might need it to settle my nerves." His cheeky smile was audible. "After all, it is hardly fair for you to expect me to perform in front of both your lovely self and these three handsome men." "Enough of this!" She snapped. "Nocte, I want to employ your services."

Nocte was nonplussed; this wasn't anything he hadn't done before. "I would very much like a glass of wine." "What?" She blinked. "Wine. I would like wine. It will make this conversation much more pleasant." "Nocte, pleas--" "I will not talk unless I have a glass of wine." He sat back in his chair. Marigold sighed. "Someone go and get wine. Please." "A bottle, actually," Nocte piped up, "and several glasses." "Please bring what he asked for." She refrained from rubbing her temples. She didn't have much longer until she had to be back at her desk and she didn't want to waste precious minutes arguing with the assassin. Special Agent Carson hesitated but slowly stepped out of the room...

Nocte did not react as a glass of red wine was placed in front of him, nor did he react when the bottle and a second glass was placed in front of the woman. He picked up the glass and stared at it, amused by at how thin it was - it wouldn't take much effort to shatter it. "Thank you," he said as he placed the glass back on the table. "I will let this breathe for a moment before I try it." He met the woman's gaze. "Now that I have my wine, we can discuss business. Who is it that you want dead?" "Do you know someone by the last name of Reyes? He's a rather powerful man." "Reyes is a very common surname. I am sure there are several powerful men with that last name." "Indeed," she poured herself a glass of wine even though she had no intention of drinking it, "but this particular Reyes has been in a military position for many years now." "A military man with the last name of Reyes? That is doing nothing to jog my memory - you would be better asking me about the number of stamens in a rose." "And how many are there?" "That depends on the type of rose." Another audible smile.

Marigold, despite herself, laughed. "Alright, alright. I see your point. I'll cut to the chase, then. The men and women who have sent me to you want a man named Gabriel Reyes dead. He is the commander of Blackwatch - have you heard of Blackwatch?" "Do you know how many stamens are in a primrose?" He turned his attention back to the wine glass. She frowned - surely he knew of Blackwatch. How could he be in that line of work and not know...? "It is the counterpoint to Overwatch, if you will. They handle the things that Jack Morrison and his soldiers cannot." "And why is that?"

Her cellphone buzzed momentarily in her pocket – there were twenty five minutes left until she had to leave.

"Morrison cannot be seen carrying out assassinations or sabotage missions." "How is that different than what Overwatch does already? Are not all missions assassinations or sabotages, but at a larger scale?" "This is different, Nocte." "I fail to see how. A rose by any other name, you know." He picked up his wine and swirled it around the glass. She bit her tongue but refused to show her emotions. "Please trust me when I say that they are different." "You are asking me for trust? That is a bit much to ask, but alright." He placed the glass down. "I am not here to discuss trust with you." He raised his masked face. "I must ask, though; why are you wanting Reyes dead? Why not Morrison? He is the more influential one, it seems." "Between him and Reyes, he really isn't; he's a figure head. Killing him would cause more problems than it would solve. The public would demand action - they like their hero." She frowned. "Fair enough," he nodded, taking a moment to think. "So, you want the leader of Blackwatch dead, yes? That will be a difficult task. I hope you are willing to compensate me for this." "I am, indeed." She pulled a slip of paper out of her breast pocket and placed it down on the table. "You will find my offer on that. It is a generous amount, I know, but we want this to be done as quickly as possible. Preferably by the end of the week, if not sooner than that." She slid the paper towards Nocte.

Another buzz; twenty minutes.

Nocte picked up the scrap of paper and stared at it before placing it back down on the table. He picked up the glass of wine and brought it to his mask, tilting it so that the red wine just barely touched the white surface. He held it there before placing the full glass down. "This is a delicious white wine. Truly. It must have come from a well renowned vineyard." "Is this a joke?" She asked with a faint frown. "No." He picked up the scrap of paper and crumpled it into a ball. "The only joke here is your proposed pay. I hardly get out of bed for this amount." He tossed the wad of paper to the side and, in his anger, knocked over his glass. It fell to the hardwood floor and cracked along the side of the bowl - just as he expected. Nocte leaned down and picked up the broken stem and the larger shards of the bowl. He placed it on the table, just a hair out of arm's reach. "My apologies, but my point remains. Your offer is unsatisfactory, just like the wine." "I see." She forced her smile back into place. "I will double it, then." She noticed that her agents were now standing a little straighter, a little more on edge; Carson stepped closer to Nocte, stopping only feet from him. She forced herself to remain calm and gave Nocte her full attention as he spoke. "That is still not enough. You are asking me to take down the leader of a military force that carries out assassinations. This will not be an easy mission and it will take time - time that you are not granting me. I expected to be compensated appropriately." He placed his hands on the table. "Good work is expensive. Good work done quickly is even more expensive." "Then what would you recommend?" "Triple it." His voice grew firm. "And offer me a favor that I can redeem at an unspecified point in the future." "If I refuse?" "Then I will leave this room." "I am afraid I cannot allow that, Nocte." Her tone grew colder. "I think you underestimate the intentions of the men and women I represent--" "I beg to differ. I think I understand quite clearly." "--they want you to kill Gabriel Reyes. He is a threat and you are one of the best to eliminate threats like this. I know your modus operandii - you specialize in removing terrorists and Reyes is one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world."

Another buzz. Fifteen minutes.

She continued.

"What's more, we know exactly who you are, Nocte... or should I use your real name?" Her smile grew darker. "We know all of your bank accounts, all of your home addresses and who you work for. If you do not do this, then I will have to take matters into my own hands." She placed her elbows on the table as her chin came to rest on her laced fingers. "You like your freedom, do you not? All the wealth you have amassed? If you refuse this, you can kiss all of that goodbye." "I see." Nocte frowned. "Fine, then. I will do it - but the pay must be tripled." "No. Doubled is the highest I will go." "Then you must guarantee my freedom after this is completed." "I will." "Wonderful." He smiled as he stood up; his voice was suddenly as cheery as a sunny day. "Let us shake on this." "What?" "I would like to shake your hand to seal the deal. Once that is done, we can discuss how the payment will be made." Marigold hesitated for a moment but slowly stood. She extended her hand to Nocte's and gave a slight smile as his fingers closed around hers while she stared at her own reflection in his mask.

She didn't notice that his left hand was now touching the broken stem.

In one swift motion, he pulled her forward, over the table, as his other hand rose--

Marigold screamed as the glass pierced her eye. Nocte shoved her away. She landed heavily against Andrew as Hiro and Carson drew their guns. Andrew caught her and guided her to the ground. He did his best to keep her hands away from the glass. He knew pulling that it free would only make it worse... but that didn't stop him from wanting to do the same.

Nocte grabbed the bottle of wine and quickly turned as the two agents trained their guns on him. He kicked his chair into Carson's stomach before jumping to the side. He barely landed before lunging forward as his grip tightened on the neck of the bottle. In one upward swing, he shattered the bottle against Carson's temple. He held onto Carson's now-limp body with one hand and pulled the gun from his grasp with his other.

Using Carson's dead body as a shield, he fired a volley of shots at the agent.

Hiro faltered as two bullets struck his vest and shoulder; the first bullet lodged itself in the wall behind him. He raised his gun again as Andrew stood up. Before Andrew could fire, Marigold's bloodied hands grabbed his leg. Her screaming was louder and more disoriented as blood and ichor dripped freely from the now-empty socket. He stumbled, his gun lowering, as Nocte fired a fourth shot.

Both Hiro and Carson fell to the ground in heap of deadweight as Nocte turned and stared at Andrew.

Andrew raised his gun--

Nocte squeezed the trigger.

Marigold's screaming grew fainter as shock claimed her. She saw Andrew fall to the ground. She forced herself to roll over and crawled toward his body as she blindly searched for his gun.

Her fingers wrapped around the grip.

She rolled onto her back as she brought the gun u--

Her body twitched from the impact of the bullet before falling still.

Nocte placed the smoking gun on the table. The assassin knelt down beside Marigold and quickly searched her body. He took her phone and then the pocket book from beside her chair. He tucked the phone into the purse as he made his way over to the dead agents. He took their wallets, badges and phones, stuffing them into the now purse as he went. He tucked the bag under his arm left the room without as much as a backward glance.

He ran through the empty restaurant and through the kitchens as he made his way to the employee entrance. He didn't even stop as he grabbed an apple off of the counter. His gloved hands unlocked the heavy door and pushed it open.

By the time the door closed, he was already in his car.

The assassin removed his mask and gloves as he started the engine. Instead of peeling out of the parking lot with a squeal of tires, he calmly drove towards the main road. One hand held the wheel as the other pulled out his phone. Without looking, he tapped out a number and brought the phone to his ear. "Praise be to the Son of Atilius." Said a feminine voice. "Long may he live." Nocte intoned. "What can I do for you, Nocte?" Giga asked. "I need you to tell me that I am wrong." "If I can, mi'lord." "Marigold Lawson, the woman that wanted to hire me. She worked for a Prime Minister, yes?" "Yes. That is what my research showed. She worked for Prime Minister Garret - one of the founders of Overwatch and Blackwatch." "Shit." "What happened? Was the meeting as bad as you were expecting?" "It was worse." "What--" "She is dead, as are her three men." His car inched forward. "I need to call Reyes. I suggest you get your team ready. I think the timeline is about to change." "Understood. I will be on standby until I receive a call from either you or Reyes. Good luck, Nocte." "The same to you." He ended the call and dialed another number...

"How many stamens in a primrose?" "Equal to or twice as many petals." Nocte said as he made his way through the dwindling lunch hour traffic. "Reyes, we have a problem." "What?" His heart began to race as he sat up. "What happened?" "Someone just tried to hire me to kill you." "What?" He surged to his feet, alarming the cowboy that sat nearby. "Nocte, explain." "A woman by the name of Marigold Lawson and her three agents met with me. She was an aide to Prime Minister Garret - does that name ring any bells?" "Yes--was? What do you mean, 'was?' Nocte, what did you do?" "What's goin' on, boss?" Reyes waved a hand at Jesse as Nocte spoke. "She is dead, as are her three agents." He pulled off the main road and began driving down a side street. "I highly suggest you give the order to Giga now. Get the documents out there and get yourself to safety. Once they find out that she is dead, this will probably grow worse before they ever grow better." "Why did you kill her?" He fought to keep his voice from growing any louder. "Why did--" "We do not have time for this!" Nocte snapped. "I did what I had to do to keep both of us safe. Now call Giga! Tell her that it is time and then get you and your pretty little cowboy out of the country." "What of Jack?" "Tell him to run, too." Nocte rolled down the window as he saw the stagnant river. He pulled a phone out of Marigold's purse and threw it into the slimy water. "I have to call him," Reyes began to pace. "Nocte, I will call you back soon. I have to go." "I will await your call." The assassin ended the call. He placed the phone on his lap as he picked up the apple. He bit into the crisp flesh as he drove back to the main road...

“Boss, what's happenin'?" Jesse was staring up to his commander. He didn't like the tremble in his voice. "The plan changed. Drastically." Reyes dialed Jack's number as he paced. "Stay here with me. I'll explain in a moment."

"From Peru to Cebu," Jack said as he scrawled his name over another piece of paper. "Hear the power of Babylon." Reyes felt his heart hammering against his ribcage. "We have a problem." "What's going on?" "Nocte just told me that someone tried to get him to kill me. He thinks we're about to be found out." "Fuck." Jack stared at the papers in front of him; he had been writing pardons almost nonstop for all the men and women he wanted to spare from the shit storm he and Reyes were about to create. "Gabe, we need more time!" "We don't have it. If Nocte thinks that this is about to go south, then I'm inclined to believe him." He did not look to Jesse; he couldn't stand to see the fear in his eyes. "Get your things and get ready to move. I'm going to be calling Giga soon." "I can't yet! I still have--" "What could be so important that you can't leave?!" "I just need a day. One day. One day." His words were rushed. "Just give me one day." "Twelve hours." "No. I need a day." "I don't think we have it, Jack!" Reyes snarled. "Get ready to leave!" His pacing came to a halt. "I have to call Giga. I'll call you back soon." Jack ended the call without another word.

As Reyes made to dial a number, Jesse grabbed his arm. "Boss, what the fuck's goin' on? Who did Nocte kill? Why do we need Giga?" He let go of Reyes' arm and stared up into his dark eyes. "If you're this worried, let's just get in the car and go now. Fuck it all; leave it all behind. We need to go." "I can't leave yet. I have a few things I have to take care of." "Then do it and let's go!" "I have to get Jack to go with us." Reyes' voice was distracted as he resumed pacing. "He's not going to leave. I know him. He won't leave. I'll have to drag him out of there." "Why are you even concerned about him? It's not like--" He paused and stared at Reyes as his eyes widened. "Boss, are you serious--no, you are serious. You're still with him, aren't you? Even after--" "So what?" Reyes snapped before taking a deep breath. "Yes, I am still with him. I love him, Jesse. He and I have fought through too much together at this point to throw it away. If I'm going to safety, he's coming with me." "But..." Jesse found himself staring at his shoes. "But Gabe, what about me--" Gabe closed the distance between them and hugged the soldier to his chest. "You are my son. You have always been and you will always be. He is my lover. I love you both, but in different ways." He held Jesse's arms and stepped back as he met his gaze. "Jesse, nothing will ever replace you in my eyes. You are the most important thing in my life." "Then let's go," he whispered, "please. Let's just go now. We can be safe. We can escape. We have time." "...Give me two hours," he hugged Jesse back to his chest. "Two hours, then we'll go..."

Jesse left Reyes' side to finish packing as Reyes sat within the empty firing range. He made a series of calls, starting with Giga. He ordered her and her soldiers to remain ready - the moment he landed in Zurich, he would give the order to release the documents. Next, he called Echo and told him to arrive on base. Echo, in an unusual display of professionalism, agreed and ended the call, sparing Reyes from twenty minutes of incessant nattering. Satisfied, Reyes called Sonar and requested that he and his partner fly him to Zurich. Sonar said he would only need an hour to rouse Radar and to fuel the plane in preparation for their trip. He thanked the commander for allowing him to keep the Crimson Angel within the Overwatch hangar; it made last minute requests much easier to accommodate.

Reyes placed one final call as he lit a cigarette...

"Nocte, I need a favor." "What do you need?" "I... I need you to watch over Jesse for me. Not every day, not frequently, but just," he sighed, "just check in on him from time to time, alright?" "Why?" "I have a very bad feeling about this." "About what?" Nocte frowned as he sped down the highway. "What are you doing? Or, rather, what are you going to do?" "I'm flying to Zurich soon - without Jesse." "For Jack?" "Yeah," he blew a cloud of smoke over his shoulder, "he won't leave the base. I know he won't." "So you are going to go there?" "Yeah." "Reyes, this is not a good idea. Why are you doing this?" "Because I love him." "Do you love him enough to die for him?" "I..." his voice faltered as he stared down the range. "Yes. I do." “Are you sure?” “Yes.” "And what of Jesse?" "I love him more than anything else in this world, Nocte, but..." Reyes took a long draw off of the cigarette. "I'm not always going to be there for him. He needs to realize that. He's a grown man; he'll be okay if I'm not there." "Who are you trying to convince?" Nocte's voice held his frown. "...myself." "You do not have to go to Zurich. I am sure there is another agent there that I could call upon that can go there for you." "He won't listen to anyone else. I know he won't." "But he will listen to you?" "Probably not, but I'm prepared to pull him out of there." Nocte's left hand was resting in his lap, his thumb idly stroking his and his late husband's wedding bands. "Is he worth your life, Gabriel? Is he worth the risk?" "He is." His voice was resolute. "Then I will not question you further. I understand." Nocte's voice grew melancholic. "You under--?" "We were married for forty three years, five months and two weeks," Nocte smiled sadly. "He passed twenty-one years ago this December. I would still give my life for him without a second thought. I understand why you are doing this, Reyes. I will keep watch over Jesse." "I can't pay you." "It does not matter." "Thank you..." Reyes snubbed out the cigarette. "Nocte, can I ask a question?" "Yes."

"...how old--no.” He thought for a moment. “What are you?" "Do you really want to know?" Reyes frowned; the man's voice made his skin crawl. "...No. No, I don't." Nocte laughed. "Is there anything else that you want to ask?" "Why did you kill her?" "Because she knew too much. Or, rather, I did not want to risk her words being true. She had found me and that in of itself is worrying. I could not risk it. And as good of a friend as you are, I must protect myself, too." Reyes couldn't fault him for that; he stood up and began to pace. "I need to go and pack. Sonar and Radar are going to fly me to Zurich; Echo will take Jesse to the safe house. Once I have Jack with me, we'll fly out and go to the safe house, too. Will you meet us there?" "Not immediately. I am needed overseas, but I will return as soon as I can." "Alright." He bit his lip as his pacing came to a halt; once he ended the call, everything was going to start... "Good luck, Nocte. And thank you - for everything." "Good luck, Gabriel. We will see each other again."

Gabe listened to the silent phone for longer than he cared to admit...

With his bags packed and a poorly knitted blue hat shoved deep into his pocket, Gabriel Reyes stood in his office with an intercom microphone in his hand. Beside him stood Mrs. Ramanaja, a cup of tea in one hand and her unlit cigarette in the other. Their eyes met. She gave him a solemn nod and he turned on the microphone. "Good afternoon everyone; this is your Commander speaking." Reyes' voice was oddly chipper. "I want to start off by saying that serving as your Commander has been the highlight of my life and has given me years' worth of memories that I will never forget. Each and every one of you is a hero - never forget that." The soldiers that still resided within the halls fell still as they listened to their Commander. "It saddens me to say that this is the last day that you will serve for Blackwatch. I am disbanding this army. Your brethren in other countries will be receiving a recording of this message, to let them know what is happening. Each and every one of you is being honorably discharged from service and will be receiving a bonus as a sign of my personal thanks." Mrs. Ramanaja sipped her tea as she watched Reyes give his final orders. "For those that remain within this base, you will need to leave within the next twelve hours. After twelve hours, this base will be nothing but smoking concrete and warped metal. You will receive your full explanation as to why this is happening tomorrow - it will be all over the news, world-wide." He let out a slow breath. "So, soldiers, the remaining vehicles on base now belong to you. Put aside your differences and help each other return home." He smiled faintly. "What you do after you leave is up to you, but just remember: you have to raise hell if you want to get to heaven. And if you're going to raise hell..." "Raise it well!" The soldiers' voices echoed through the concrete halls. Reyes dismissed his soldiers and silenced the microphone as he heard the whooping cries of his soldiers.

"Nicely said, Commander," she said as she placed her empty tea cup on his desk. "You have done more for them than anyone else would have." "They've earned it. It's not their fault they were forced to play in this farce." "Indeed." She placed her unlit cigarette between her ruby lips. "You have done your duty; it's time for me to do mine." "Will you need any assistance?" "No. The base is not overly large; I have plenty of thermite and other explosives on hand. I will make it look like we were victims of an air strike." "Good, good." Reyes stared down at his desk, a bittersweet smile on his face. "So many memories, so many years..." "You are doing the right thing." She placed a hand on his arm. "Go save the world, Gabriel. I will take care of what remains." "Thank you, Sangita," he smiled as she hugged him. "It has been a pleasure working with you." "The pleasure is mine." She returned his smile before he walked to the door. "Gabriel?" "Yes?" "Remember: two parts water, one part full-fat milk, good quality black tea leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and fennel. Boil the milk, water and spices. Reduce it to a simmer. Steep the tea for three minutes, strain and then add sugar to taste... and if I hear that you are using tea bags again, I will be forced to find you and punish you for your poor judgement." He laughed and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." His smile grew fond. "Goodbye, Sangita." "Goodbye, Gabriel." She pulled a lighter out of her pocket and, for the first time since joining Blackwatch, lit her cigarette. Clamping it between her teeth, she went to work...

Jesse frowned as he stood on the small airstrip. Echo was nearby, leaning against his car and whistling a jaunty tune. Only yards away was the Crimson Angel and her pilots; he could hear the pair bantering as they did their final checks. He knew why the pilots were there, but why was Echo? Reyes had told him they would be flying...

He waved to Reyes as the man came jogging up to him. He watched as Reyes placed his bags in the trunk of Echo's car before walking up to him. Jesse shouldered his bags as he looked up to his commander. "Why's Echo here?" "You're going to go with him." "What?" He blinked; his face began to pale. "Boss, no. You're comin' with me, right?" "No, Jesse. Not this time. Not now, at least. I'll meet you at the safe house later." "Boss, no. No!" He stepped closer to Reyes. "No. Just come with me. Please. We can go; we can escape!" "I can't, Jesse," Reyes whispered as he pulled Jesse into a hug. "I can't leave him behind. He's fought just as hard as we have; he deserves his freedom, too." "Then let him get it himself! You don't have to go and get him." Jesse's arms wrapped around Gabe's waist, all but squeezing him in half. "Please, let's just go. Now. We can still be free..." His voice was shaking, filled with unshed tears.

Reyes bit his lip as he stared up to the heavens. He wanted nothing more than to get in the plane with Jesse and fly away from all of this, but he couldn't. He knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to Jack now, just as he knew he wouldn't be able to stomach anything happening to Jesse...

Reyes pressed a kiss onto Jesse's forehead as he hugged him. "Mijo, I could not love you any more than I already do, not even if you were my own flesh and blood. I do not want to do this, but I have to. I hope and pray you understand." He pushed Jesse away, holding him at arm’s length as he met his gaze. "I will see you again soon. For now, though, we have to go our separate ways. I have to go and get Jack." He squeezed Jesse's arms. "Get in the car with Echo. He'll take you to safety. I'll meet you at the safe house. Once there, we’ll all live the life we've earned." "No!" Jesse shook his head as his hands grasped Gabe's arms. "No! I won't. I won't get in the car; I won't go without you. I need you!" Reyes shook his head. "Get in the car, mijo." "No." The commander let out a long, shuddering breath. "Mijo, do not make me do this. Get in the car." "I won't!"

Reyes drew his gun.

“Boss?" "Get in the car, Jesse." He raised the shotgun. Jesse began to tremble but he did not move. "I won't." Reyes pulled back the hammer. "Now." "No." A shot was fired at his feet. Concrete scattered over his boots.

Jesse stared at Reyes, betrayal in his eyes, as the gun was leveled at his chest. He held the stony gaze for a moment before taking a step back, followed by another...

Reyes watched as Jesse climbed into the back seat. He did not holster his weapon until the car was out of sight.

With a heavy heart, Reyes boarded the plane....

He returned the phone to his pocket. Giga had just received her orders. She would begin her mission. He stared up at the Overwatch headquarters. The statue of Jack Morrison loomed over him, a testament to what the world thought they stood for.

He squared his shoulders and marched forward.

Jehová es mi pastor; nada me faltará.

He walked through the first checkpoint.

En lugares de delicados pastos me hará descansar; junto a aguas de reposo me pastoreará.

Guards saluted him as he passed through the second checkpoint.

Confortará mi alma; me guiará por sendas de justicia por amor de su nombre.

The main gates were only feet away.

Aunque ande en valle de sombra de muerte, no temeré mal alguno, porque tú estarás conmigo; tu vara y tu cayado me infundirán aliento...

He pushed open the doors and walked inside...

Reyes paused as a hand came to rest on his shoulder. Turning his head, he found himself staring down at Ana. "Gabe? Why are you here?" He ignored her question. "Where is Jack?" "He's in his office." "Thank you." He let out a slow breath as he met her gaze. "You need to leave the base. Take everyone that you can with you. Get out. Now. Get to safety." "What?" "Just trust me, Ana. Leave. Things are about to get bad." "Reyes, I--" "I don't have time to explain; just get your things and go." He brushed her hand off as he made his way to Jack's office. She frowned at his departing back...

Jack raised his head as the door to his office was thrown open. His wide, panicked eyes met Reyes' as he signed another pardon. "Reyes--" "Grab your shit, Jack. Now. We're leaving." "I need--" "Fuck what you need; I need you to leave." "What the--" "Giga's gone to work. The first sites will be getting hit any second now. We don't have any more time, Jack. This is happening. We've done all that we can. It's time for us to go." "But--" He floundered as he stared around the office. "I'm not ready." "Neither am I, but we don't have a choice anymore. We set this into motion and now it's time for us to see it through." He came to stand beside his lover's chair. "Come on. Sonar and Radar are waiting for us." Jack slowly placed his pen down and stood up. "We're doing this?" "Yes." He stared down at his desk and bit his lip. "Reyes, did we do the right thing?" "We did." Reyes nodded and took Jack's hand. "Come on; let's go. We've earned our freedom."

Jack stared at him for a moment before closing his fingers around Gabe's. He knelt down and picked up his pack. Shouldering it, he followed Reyes out of his office...

Little did they know that there were others who had set their own plans into motion...

Prime Minister Garret returned his phone to the desk as he looked to Prime Minister Vittorio. "It's done," he said calmly. "He will not be a problem anymore." "Wonderful." He sipped a glass of wine as he looked out of Garret's window and admired the bay far below. "It is messy, but, as you said, he will no longer be a problem." "Indeed." Garret poured himself two fingers of scotch. "Now we don't have to worry about what Jack does or doesn't know." He stared sadly into the glass. "To you, Marigold. You are missed." "To Marigold," Vittorio echoed as he touched his glass to Garret's. "If we had known Jack had ties with him, we never would have sent you to meet with him..."

The two men fell into morose silence as they stared at the waves.

Jesse sulked in the back seat of Echo's car as the man drove them to Mexico. Echo had been his usual chatty self as he drove; occasionally he would fall silent, giving Jesse a few minutes of both blessed and damned silenced. Jesse wanted nothing more than to escape his thoughts, but there he had no way to escape. He tried meditating, he tried reading. Hell, he even tried talking to Echo!

In the end, though, he could not find a way to escape the turmoil within his head.

Reyes was thousands of miles away, risking his life for Jack Morrison. He still hadn't forgiven Jack for shoving Reyes after his surgery all those years ago and he never planned to do so, either. He wasn't sure why Reyes had forgiven him - or if he had even forgiven him. With a sigh, he slumped down in his seat as he crossed his arms over his chest. This isn't what he wanted at all; he wanted Reyes with him. Even if Reyes couldn't do anything, it'd still be good to have him here...

Jesse's frown grew deeper as the music was interrupted by an emergency warning tone. His heart began to race as a robotic voice droned over the speakers.

There had been a terrorist attack.

On the Overwatch headquarters.

The number of casualties was currently unknown.

Jesse scrambled for his phone. He hastily dialed Reyes' number.

Each ring was a missed heartbeat. Each moment of silence stole his breath away.

He called again.

And again.

And again...

The robotic voice interrupted the music again. It confirmed that the base had been populated during the attack and that the amount of casualties was rising as rescue workers began to excavate the base.

Jesse scrambled for his phone as it began to ring. He brought it to his ear and felt his world growing dark as he heard Sonar's shaking voice. He and Radar had not been able to find Reyes or Jack. They were still digging through the rubble, but they hadn't found them yet. "We'll keep looking," Sonar assured Jesse. "We'll keep you posted." "Thank you." Jesse whispered as tears began to slide unchecked down his cheeks...

Jack blinked the dust out of his eyes as he stared into the darkness. He could barely breathe. He coughed, dust and debris tumbling from his mouth. Slowly, very slowly, he flexed his toes and fingers. Relief coursed through his body as he felt them moving. He looked around, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, as he tried to see what was pinning him down.

Cold panic flooded him as he realized what was on his chest.

"Reyes?" He nudged the man's body. "Reyes, talk to me." Silence. "Gabe?!" He shook him. "Say something!"

A low groan met his ears.

"Stay with me, Gabe," he whispered as he rubbed Reyes' arms, "just keep breathing. We'll get out of this. I promise." He kept rubbing his arms, trying to keep him awake. "Oh, god, please just keep breathing..."

He lost track of the hours.

Jack shouted for help when he had the strength. Other times, he would shake Reyes as best he could, forcing the man to wake up. He could feel Reyes' heart beating slowly against his chest and felt his own heart stopping each time Gabe's stuttered. He barely even noticed the pain of his own body as he clung to his best friend and lover.

In the long, empty seconds, Jack apologized.

He apologized again and again and again. His tears trickled down his face as he hugged Reyes. They were trapped, crushed under the weight of steel, concrete and their own sins. Reyes had caught the worst of the explosion and oh, what Jack wouldn't have given for them to switch places... "I should've listened," he whispered, "I just should've listened to you. Gabe, you gotta pull through for me. Please. Just keep breathing. Just hold on a little longer. They'll find us, Gabe, and they'll fix us up. I know they will. You'll see." He squeezed Reyes' arms, his ears straining for the sound of Gabe's breathing. "Just keep breathing..."

A sliver of moonlight almost blinded him.

Blinking, Jack raised his eyes to the light above. He felt his pulse quickening as he heard voices. Clearing his throat, he shouted for help.

And again.

He didn't know if they had heard him. He couldn’t tell if his voice had penetrated through the rubble.

He fell into despair as the world grew silent again.

"C'mon, Gabe, wake up," his voice was hoarse. "Keep breathing. I think they found us. I think we'll be safe soon. We'll go home soon. You, me and Jesse. We'll all go home soon. We'll all be safe." He kept his eyes on the moonlight. They had to come back.

...they had to...

Jack awoke in the back of a car.

He placed a hand on his head as he tried to push himself up - only to fall back onto the seat a moment later. "Stay down." A familiar voice whispered. "Stay down and don't move." "Ana?" He frowned as he forced himself to think, despite the clouds within his head. "Ana, what happened? Where's Gabe?" "Gabe is with Angela," her tone was grim. "I couldn't bring him with us." "Why not?" "He's in too rough a shape to transport." She glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "He took far more damage than you." "I know." He pulled the heavy blanket off of his body and frowned as he stared at the makeshift casts. "I broke my legs?" "And more, but we didn't have time to patch you up fully. I don't know if you're aware, but people want you dead, Jack. We did what we could to get you to safety before they killed you." "But what about Gabe? Where is he?!" "I don't know where Dr. Zeigler is, but she's taking care of him. Now lie down and try to rest. Don't make me sedate you again. We'll talk once we're safe." "I need to talk to her. I need a phone." His mind was racing. "I have to call Jesse." "No, Jack," she shook her head. "No. Just rest for now. When we get to safety, you can call..." "But--" "Hush. And put that blanket back over your body. You're supposed to be dead and if you get caught now, I'll kill you myself."

He frowned but did as he was told...

It was all her fault.

It was only a prototype. There hadn't been enough time to test it.

It was all her fault.

It was too late for Commander Gabriel Reyes. He lay motionless before her as the heart rate monitor screamed. His body was broken and bloodied. His eyes closed as he took his last breath.

It was all her fault.

It was hopeless. She placed her head in her hands as she sobbed. The sounds of her anguish were lost in the shrill cries of the monitors.

It was all her fault.

It was too late. The ward was dead.

It was all her fault...

His eyes opened to a grey world.

He blinked slowly as he tried to focus his vision, tried to stare at a spot on the ceiling. The world never stilled. Everything around him was buffeted by a roaring wind that he could neither hear nor feel. He turned his head and found himself looking out into a crowded hospital ward. Beside each shrouded bed stood a mourner. Their cries were louder than any of the sounds of his surroundings. He watched as the distraught men and women clutched the hands of the bodies. Reyes pushed himself upright and frowned as he saw the vast expanse of sheet-covered bodies. There were well over two dozen beds shoved into the tiny room.

Reyes tore his eyes away as he cast aside his own blankets. He had to get out of bed. He had to hide. It wasn't safe here. He knew that people would be looking for him. Slowly, cautiously, he climbed out of bed...

...and frowned as he found himself standing upright without a single pain in his body. This couldn't be right; his spine had been crushed. How was he standing? Why didn't he feel pain?

The man standing next to Reyes' bed looked up to him. "Commander Reyes?" Gabriel slowly turned to face him. "Commander, what happened?" The soldier's face was bloodied. "Who attacked us?" "I... I don't know." He whispered. "Commander, what do we do? We have to protect ourselves. We have to protect our brethren." He stayed next to the bed, his hand on the shoulder of the covered body. "Help us, Commander. We need a leader." "I know." "We await your orders, Commander. Tell us what to do." "a-At ease, soldier." He forced his voice to remain level as he looked around the ward.

The sobbing of the woman to his right caught his attention - it was impossible to ignore the sounds of a broken soul.

She had pulled the sheet away from the body on the bed and was hugging the ragged corpse. "...just wake up..." she whispered.

Gabe felt icy terror pierce his heart as he realized the women had the same face.

He turned to the man on his left and grabbed the shroud. He threw it to the ground as he stared down at the body on the bed. It was a young man, fresh out of boot camp; his eyes were closed as he lay in the quiet repose of death. Gabe looked up to the standing soldier as his eyes widened in fear.

They were the same person.

He ran from bed to bed, pulling the shrouds away. He looked between the dead soldiers and the soldiers standing by the beds.

They were all the same.

Reyes found himself standing near the infirmary door, facing the soldiers and their corpses. Their hollow eyes were staring expectantly at Reyes. "What are your orders?" The first soldier shakily asked; his hand never left the shoulder of his body. "Stay here." Reyes said with a resolve that he himself didn't feel. "I will take a look around and see what else I can find. Stand down, soldiers, and rest. I think we're through the worst of it." He returned their salutes before leaving the room.

He tried not to notice that he had difficulty grasping the door knob.

He ran through the halls, unnerved by the silence of his own footfalls. Despite all of his shouting, no one answered his calls. Soldiers would not look at him as he ran by. A pariah within the base, he could not catch the eye of any man or woman that he passed. Even when he shouted an order, no one acknowledged him.

His frantic pace slowed as he neared the door to the doctors' break room. He had yet to find Angela or anyone who would tell him where she was - surely she would be here? Swallowing hard, he pushed open the door and strode inside...

Her head was buried in her hands as her tears fell like rain. She was alone in the dark room, illuminated by the flickering lamps that had managed to survive the bombing. "Doctor Zeigler," he stood beside her. "Look at me." She wouldn't raise her head. "Doctor." More sobbing. "Angela!" He grabbed her shoulder--

A shiver ran through her body. Her head raised from her hands. She looked for the source of the sudden chill and shook her head a moment later.

There was no one there.

Reyes stepped back as he stared in horror at his own hand. It felt as if he had just burned himself and the ashen skin did nothing to assuage his thoughts. "Angela!" He shouted, standing only feet away. "Angela, look at me!"

Her sobs started anew...

Reyes made his way back to the ward, his eyes downcast. He had left Angela's side when it was apparent she wouldn't look at him. He had tried to stop other soldiers within the halls, grabbing their arms or shoulders. No one reacted past a shudder. No one looked at him. No one saw him...

Reyes pushed open the door to the ward and found himself staring back at dozens of black eyes. "What are your orders, Commander?" "...Dismissed. All of you. Dismissed. Leave. Go home." "We can't." A woman hiccupped. "We can't leave. We swore our lives--" "Your lives are over!" He snapped.

The room fell still as the soldiers stared at Reyes, their faces warping into expressions of shocked horror. "What?" "We can't be dead--" "--we're still here--" "--where will we--" "Silence!" He walked toward the first soldier that had spoken to him. "Look. That is your body. You are dead." He stared at his body in silence, slowly processing what Reyes had told him. He then looked to the empty bed beside him and then up to his Commander. "...where is your body?" The soldier asked. "You can see us, hear us. No one else that came in here could. They put the shrouds back on the beds, but they wouldn't talk to us. We talked to them, but they wouldn't respond..." He shook his head as he met Reyes' gaze again. "Where is your body, Commander Reyes?" "I..." Reyes frowned and shook his head. "No more questions. Leave. Now." "I can't." "Leave!" Reyes grabbed the soldier's arm--

--the soldier vanished without a sound.

Reyes stared down at his hand as a breath of fresh air filled his lungs--

"You killed him!" A soldier screeched. “He's dead!" “Commander Reyes killed him!" "No!" Reyes shook his head as the soldiers began to gather around him. "No. He was already dead!" "You killed him!" "I didn't!" Reyes took a slow step backwards, followed by several faster ones as they came closer...

Reyes screamed as soldier after soldier vanished from sight.

He dropped to his knees as his body convulsed. He could feel his heart hammering against his ribs and could feel warm air within his lungs. His hands had lost their pallor and he could feel the ground beneath him once again. His mind raced as he sat alone in the now-empty room. The soldiers dissipated as soon as they had tried to hurt him, had touched his bare flesh.

He knew he should have felt remorse for the death of the soldiers, but instead, he could only revel in fact that he felt alive...

He forced himself back to his feet and pushed his elation aside as he heard footsteps approaching. He couldn't risk being seen now. With a final check of his pockets, Reyes left the infirmary and made his way through the ruins of the base...

Miles away, Jesse sat in the back of Echo's car as he stared out of the window. His tears fell steadily down his cheeks as he sat with his small phone in his hands. He hadn't been able to move ever since he received Sonar's last phone call. They had not been able to find Reyes, even after hours of searching. The pilot apologized to the shell-shocked soldier before ending the call. He and Radar couldn't stay any longer; they had to leave before the rescue workers discovered they weren't who they said they were.

"Jesse?" Echo glanced to the rear view mirror. "What's the verdict?" "t-They couldn't find him," he whispered, "they couldn't find him." "Jesse..." "He can't be dead. He can't be." "Jess--" "No. He's not dead. Boss always told me that you're alive until your body's dead and warm." He wiped away a tear. "So, he's not dead until they find a dead, warm body. He's not dead. He can't be." "Jesse, I--" "No!" He shook his head, biting his lip. "I know it. I know that he's not dead. I'd know it if he was." His hand touched his chest as he sniffled. "I'd know it, Echo."

The driver said nothing; he had heard that line far too many times before and knew better than to argue. Instead, he fell back into his uncharacteristic silence as he drove. It'd be easier for everyone if he gave Jesse the chance to mourn...

When night fell, Jesse found himself sitting alone in the safe house. Echo couldn't stay with him and, honestly, Jesse was glad for it. He wanted to be alone.

He needed to be alone.

He paced through the small home near the shore. He could hear the faint sound of the waves and the mournful cries of the gulls over the creaking of the floorboards. For the first time since joining Blackwatch, he felt lost. He had nothing now. He couldn't return to Deadlock and Blackwatch had been disbanded. What was he to do? Where was he to go? Reyes had told him that they'd spend time here by the shore, until the world calmed down, but Reyes wasn't here now.

His pacing came to a sudden end as he heard his phone ringing.

Jesse ran to the couch and grabbed his phone. His pulse raced as he saw Reyes' number flashing across the screen. "Boss!" He all but yelled into the receiver. "Boss, you're alive!" "Jesse!" Reyes heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, god, mijo; you're okay." He forced himself to keep running. "Are you at the safe house?" "Boss?" "Jesse? Jesse, can you hear me?!" His pace quickened. "Jesse, you should be at the safe house by now. Please, please just stay there. I'm coming. It'll be okay, mijo. It will. Just stay there. We'll figure this all out." His words all but spilled from his mouth, matching the frantic pace of his running. "Please, mijo. Just wait for me. I'll be there." "Gabe? Gabe, I can't hear you..." Jesse's voice grew thick with a new wave of tears. "Reyes, are you there?" "Jesse!" He all but screamed; his chest tightened. "Jesse, please, just listen. I'm here. I'm... I'm coming. I'm not okay, but I will be. I'll figure it out. I promise. Just wait for me, Jesse. I'll be there. We'll be okay, mijo. I promise." "Boss..." Jesse sank down onto the couch. "Boss, all I hear is static. Are you there?" "Mijo," his running slowed as he realized he could no longer hear the sounds of his boots crunching on the pavement. "Please, please listen. I'm here. I'm coming. I'll be there as soon as I can. Just wait for me!" "I can't hear you, Reyes. I... I can't hear you at all." Jesse bit his lip as his gaze grew distant. He wouldn't hang up, though. He couldn't force himself to end the call, even if all he heard was the sound of empty air, in hopes that he'd hear Reyes' voice...

Reyes found himself standing still in the middle of the road, his phone held fast. He watched the cars passing by him but could not feel the air moving around him. He frowned as he realized that no one was shouting at him to get out of the road, nor were there any blaring horns.

It was as if he was invisible...

Reyes took a long, slow breath. "Wait for me, mijo," he whispered. "I'm coming home."

With a heavy heart, he ended the call.

Jesse placed the phone down onto the couch as his body trembled. He bit his lip as he tried to stifle his tears, but it was to no avail. With a bleeding lip, he threw his head back and screamed his broken heart to the heavens...

#overwatch #trans gabriel reyes #trans reaper #the birth of reaper #jesse mccree #trans jesse mccree #gabriel reyes #jack morrison #morreyeson #overwatch mercy #overwatch ana #mercy #ana #paranoid-fighter writes overwatch #violence warning #gore warning #please please please let me know what you think #feels warning #the fall of overwatch

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starlit-scifi · 5 years

Text

Chapter 10

First•Previous•Next

When the day comes, you meet her for an early breakfast. You’re both too nervous to really eat, but she prods you into having some dry toast.

“How are you feeling?” you ask, desperate for something besides your whirling thoughts to fill the silence.

“Fine. Excited." She catches your eye for a brief moment, then looks away. "And, not gonna lie, a little scared… but it’s not a big deal. Not like we’re totally going in blind here.”

“Yeah, all the work we did was definitely worth it. And we'll be able to contribute a lot to the archives through my half of the project, if it all goes well.”

“Like what?” The genuine interest in her voice warms you inside. You spend the next twenty minutes rambling about the general importance of microscopic organisms in ecosystems, and you’re so wrapped up in it that when the call goes out for your group to report to the shuttle dock, you've almost forgotten to be scared.

Loaded down with gear, you board the shuttle. The equipment you're taking is all pretty standard-- enough to take DNA samples, grow and maintain a few microbial cultures, and even collect and preserve a couple small specimens. It’s a bit heavier than what you’d like to carry, but you’re not going to complain. Sure, you could have asked for the bare minimum and just digitally archived a lot of genetic information for later genomic analysis, but you know there’s more value in actually working with organisms. You’ve read enough of the past student projects on your planet to know that there’s a lot to be done here that you’re fully capable of doing.

Lori sits beside you, still fiddling with the straps even though she's already secured herself in her seat. You know that it’s out of nervousness. You elbow her gently, and she replies with a “‘sup?”

“Are you ready?”

She looks off into an unseeable distance and lets out a long sigh.

“As far as being trained for this, obviously. But if I’m being completely honest with myself? No.” The engines begin to hum, and you feel the subtle change of air pressure and gravity as the shuttle’s systems turn on. The hand that’s resting on her thigh balls up into a fist, and she lets out a short, harsh laugh. “And it’s a little too late to turn back now, so.”

Something in your stomach goes tight. Impulsively, you reach for her hand and squeeze. She glances over at you, her cool grey eyes gone soft, and squeezes back.

One of your instructors comes down the center aisle, and her hand drops away. You lace your fingers together in your lap, and breathe deep and slow in an attempt to calm your racing heart.

And you're off! You quickly exit Unity's artificial gravity, and you watch the stars glide by in the tiny windows. Open space! Adventure! Everything you've dreamed of since you were a kid and prepared for through years of schooling… it's completely underwhelming and you wish you had your personal airscreen so you could read a book or something. A couple minutes pass and you're given the warning that you're about to go into hyperspace. Lori opens the note app on your shared airscreen. You raise an eyebrow and mouth “why?” at her, but she shakes her head and nods toward the screen as she types something.

-I hate this part. So much.

-It gets easier

your fingers quickly shape in reply.

-Don’t hate me if I puke on you

-You're going to be fine.

She shrugs, looking pale. You give her your most optimistic smile and dig a tiny vial out of your pocket and hand it to her. She raises an eyebrow.

Anti nausea drops, they're crazy strong, they knock me out sometimes but it works.

How did you get these? Also you know I have to be okay to fly when we get there

I needed them as a kid and keep them just in case. 1 drop under your tongue, works fast, and you won't be sleepy by then

Okay, I'm trusting you. Thanks

She takes it, making a face at the taste, and slips the vial back to you. You tuck it back in your pocket, and brace yourself a minute later as you feel the waves coming on. One doesn't ever truly get used to the feeling of phasing into unreality, and it's a reminder that you're so very, very small, however much your species has tried to make up for it.

Now her hand grasps at yours again, almost tight enough to be painful. The universe

bends around you for some time

that oscillates

between

eternity and an instant and

you think you keep breathing

but the only sensation

that makes it

through to your consciousness

is her skin,

something

electric

where she's against

You make yourself breathe deep and slow as your senses come back into focus. She looks over at you and offers you a tight smile, eyes watery.

You lace your fingers with hers, and she slumps against your shoulder with a shuddering sigh. She sleeps peacefully as the twenty of you in your fragile shell navigate the vast un-everything, spiraling off into uncertainty.

But in it all, there's one variable you think you've figured out: you can feel safe when you're with Lori like this.

You let your body relax by hers.

It gets easier.

---

You're the eighth pair out, and as you pop back into realspace in the Bernubos system, you start to get a little jittery again. You nudge Lori awake, and her sleepy expression is soon replaced by one of pure excitement. Pair seven, some girl who you vaguely recognize from last year's Computer Systems class and a big burly mil guy, get in their lander pod, and you watch as they hurtle through the atmosphere into a sea of orange clouds. The unmanned pod returns several minutes later...

And you're next.

You don’t need to go hyper to get to your planet, so the two of you get to watch as you get closer and closer, just twenty minutes at near-lightspeed. The aqueous oceans of Bernubos-3 look gorgeously blue from up here. Green-and-brown land masses dot its watery surface, its atmosphere is wrapped in lacy white clouds, and its orbit contains three small pinkish moons.

Earth-like, they call it. You really wonder.

Lori sighs beside you.

“It’s gorgeous,” she murmurs. “Never seen anything that beautiful.”

And you know she really hasn’t. She’s seen Lotanak from orbit, probably, but that’s terraformed desert: the only green there is in long, robotically maintained bands of crops and trees planted to stave off redesertification, the only blue from artificial ponds and canals that criss-cross the habitable zone.

“Six weeks” slips from your lips. She looks over at you, eyes shining like captive starlight and you realize how much of her is a stranger to you, even now.

“Six weeks,” she repeats, soft as a prayer.

In mutual silence the two of you undo your seatbelts, grab your bags, and make your way to the back, pulling your weightless bodies through the airlock and into the landing pod. You both strap in, and from there it’s just like the hundreds of times you’ve run the pod simulations together. You fall into your rhythm and she into hers; you calmly feed her information as she carefully pilots the landing pod. Smooth as could be, she lands you both safely. You save the instrument readouts to your computer, double-check the sensors, tighten your shoelaces, and nod to her.

She grins and hits the button.

You have sixty seconds to grab your things and leave the landing area. The door hisses open, filling your senses with a palette of light and scent and sound you’ve never experienced before, and it all whirls in your brain as you begin the mad dash across the clearing you’ve landed in. You know Lori’s holding back, and you’ll have cleared the distance in the allotted time anyway, but you still push yourself and scramble up a little hill that should shield you from most of the blast from the engines when the lander takes off automatically--

--and yelp as you tumble over it, landing face-first in the dirt.

“You win,” she shouts over the pod engine’s growing roar, laughing and laughing. You grimace, knowing that there will now be footage of this moment not only sent off to your instructors and permanently stored in Unity’s archives, but also preserved in that lovely little highlights reel that plays over and over in your head on your more self-loathing nights…

But Lori’s skidding down the hill, sunlight making a fuzzy halo of her sandy-blonde hair, and she's still smiling as she crouches down beside you while the pod takes off. You're caught in her magnetic gaze as the heat of the engines washes over you.

"You good?" The wind almost snatches her words away.

"Yeah," you shout back. You both catch your breath, watching the pod ascend until there's nothing left but the trail of exhaust.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

She stands and offers you a hand. You grab it, but when you try to get up with your heavy pack you’re off balance and you stumble into her, giggling helplessly and desperately trying to control yourself while keeping either of you from toppling over. Finally she just holds you as you catch your breath.

“Y’okay?” you hear it from deep in her chest, and you take one more deep breath before you can look up and answer, “yeah.” And she smiles, and it’s warm, and there’s not a hint of pity or laughter at your expense, and you can breathe.

“Good,” she says, and you remember where you are, what you're supposed to be doing, and take a few steps back, careful not to trip over yourself again. She reaches into a pocket and retrieves the much-outdated airscreen. Though it’s stripped down of everything but the necessities and the data analysis programs she wrote, it still takes a few seconds for the map to pop up, and a couple more for your saved landmarks and routes to show up on the holographic image.

It’s not like you haven’t reviewed it all together before, but planning this out is one thing, actually being about to live it is another. You pick at a hangnail before remembering that it’s not a good idea, possible pathogenicity or not.

“Nothing we can’t handle,” Lori says, and you wonder if it’s as much for herself as for you. She skims over the glowing landscape once again, then nods and turns it off. She looks up at you, and her eyes are bright with excitement and determination that she rarely shows to anyone.

But the rules are different down here, you remind yourself. She doesn’t need to pretend to be some tough no-nonsense soldier, she gets to have fun. You get to see her have fun.

“Ready?”

You nod, trying to squash down the butterflies in your stomach that oh so unreasonably decided to show up now. She raises a hand, and for a split second yours floats up to meet it, before you realize she’s just waving you forward.

You quickly brush a strand of hair from your face instead, and follow.

---

It’s humid. It’s hot and it’s humid and you hate your itchy uniform and your over-prepared bio nerd self and the twist of cosmological fate that led to not one, but two suns hanging overhead. They’re not all that bright or hot, but still.

“Now would you rather be stuck on a dead moon watching me fetch coffee for the actual diplomats?” you ask Lori bitterly after you’ve stopped for a water break. She considers it for a moment with a smirk.

“Maybe, except then I might be stuck in a dress uniform for six weeks, so... no.” She takes a sip from her water bottle. “Whatever happened to your love for adventure?”

You sigh. “I think I sweated it out two hours ago.” She chuckles, and you pick at a rock embedded in the sole of your boot rather than let your eyes linger on the shape of her lips and the smile in her eyes. “How much further?” you ask, turning the offending pebble in the sun to look for sparkly bits.

She fiddles around with the map a bit. “About two miles. We can take our time.”

“Can I see?”

“Sure.”

You’re in a wide valley between two old, highly eroded mountains, and you’ve been heading towards the river all afternoon. You’re happy to see that you’ve mostly stuck to the plan you both made, besides stopping for this extra water break. You flick through the filter options, and notice Lori peeking over your shoulder.

“Interested?”

“Kinda. I mean, I’ve seen them all, but you never explained why you wanted most of them.”

There's only amusement, no annoyance in her eyes, but you still feel a rush of embarrassment-- and you find that it is possible for your face to get hotter and sweatier than it already was. “Oh. Well. Time to change that, I guess.” You scroll back through the menu. "So... this one’s foliage density from the past solar cycle, and when I overlay average rainfall, see the correlation? --and this one’s neat, it’s from a previous drone-survey of insect species, so we have a good idea of what’s living where for about half of the area we’ll cover, and that also correlates with foliage density and type--” You’re aware that you’re kind of rambling, but she’s letting you talk with a kind of quiet patience that makes you feel at ease.

“It’s probably been a long enough break,” you say, after you’ve run out of anything else to really say. She sighs and rolls her shoulders.

“You’re right. We’re still okay on time, though.”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s not like we have true nightfall to worry about for, like, weeks.”

She laughs. “Yeah.”

You get started again, and walk a few minutes in silence before a question comes to mind.

“What are sunsets like, on Lotanak?”

“Mmm… Orange. I mean, everything’s always kinda orange, but at sunset the sky glows like molten gold. Pretty, some days, especially if there’s been rain. How about yours?”

“They’re okay… Pink and violet, mostly. I live where there’s aurorae-- yes, my parents are so original when it comes to names -- anyway, those are really pretty.”

She smiles. “I bet.”

Silence again. Well, it's not complete; there's always the chatter and hum of insects and reptiles and the occasional breeze making its way through the canopy. Silence between you feels like it could be comfortable, like maybe it should be, but you're worried that it might not. You want to fill it up with something, a story, some commentary on a totally irrelevant but interesting thing, but there's nothing. Nothing but the dirt under your boots, the sweat on your back, and the feeling that, yep, you were probably a little ambitious in your physical goals today and you will probably pay for it tomorrow.

Even she’s showing signs of tiredness when you get to your first night’s camping spot, and you’re just about ready to pass out, though you don’t want to admit it. She notices and makes you sit while she does some of the heavier work. Eventually you pull yourself together enough to help her finish setting up camp and figure out dinner, since you're both starving. You both dig into your first preserved meal of many in satisfied silence as the alpha sun looms low on the horizon and insect chatter crescendos. She squeaks as a huge fluttering bug darts at her face, and she swats at her cheek with a shudder.

“You okay?”

“I still can’t get used to real insects,” she says, scowling as she wipes her hand on her pants. “Ours are all bots, and they stick to the ag areas anyway.”

“Ooh, right, I read about that once. It’s a really great way of handling resources efficiently, apparently.”

She shrugs. “All I know is, they stay away from me and I stay away from them.” She looks down with a grimace and tries to shake a beetle off of her ankle. “Don’t know what problem these have with me.”

You grab a set of forceps from your bag and gently pull the little clawed creature off. It struggles in your tool's steely grasp, antennae wriggling. “We’re covered with salt and a bunch of assorted metabolic products right now, and given the lifespan of most of these insects and the frequency of visitors to this area of the planet, they have quite literally never seen anything like us.” You carefully set it on the ground, but the beetle has had enough of the interaction and flies away, revealing bright orange wings that catch the light of the pinkening sky. You gesture to take a picture before you realize that your airscreen is back home. Lori notices, and shakes her head, smiling.

“What?” you ask, and feel your self-consciousness tickle you in a weird way.

“Nothing, just…” She frowns and looks away. “Never mind. We should finish up and go to bed. We've got a long day tomorrow.”

“You’re right,” you say, though you can't help but wonder what she had really meant to say.

You busy yourself with cleaning up and putting the dinner things away, while she double checks the tent and the perimeter of your campsite. You’re closing up your pack when you hear a muffled shriek, and turn to see that Lori has a large, colorful-winged insect crawling in her hair.

“Get-- get it off! Oh stars it's trying to eat me, I don't want to touch it--”

“Just shake it off!” You run towards her with a rag. “Here, let me brush it away--”

You're not sure whether she trips first, or you stumble into her, but you end up on the ground, sprawled on top of her, the insect fluttering away disjointedly. You can feel her breath, hot and quick, against your neck, and her hand gripping the front of your shirt. Once she realizes what's going on, she stumbles through a red-faced apology and tries to disentangle herself, and you do your best to help.

“Are you okay?” you ask nervously as she dusts herself off.

“Y-yeah, just… that was a bit of a scare,” she says, her laughter forced. She makes eye contact with you for a moment before her eyes dart away. She bites her lip. “I… I really don't like bugs.” She sounds so small, so uncertain. You wordlessly offer a hug, and she takes it awkwardly.

“It's okay,” you soothe her, just like you would any of your close friends. You pat her back and when you separate there's a mix of gratefulness and confusion in her eyes that stabs into your chest. She stares at you long enough that you're certain she wants to say something, but she just nods and turns away to start taking stuff into the tent.

The silence drags on as dusk falls-- or what passes for dusk, anyway. At this point in the cycle, the sunlight will intensify again long before you've managed to get your eight hours of sleep. Lori disappears into the tent, and you stay outside to check your insect trap one more time. It seems to have captured a bug similar to the one that had liked Lori so much. You'd mention it to her, but it seems like it would be a sore subject.

It can't be like this, you think to yourself, echoing the same words she'd said to you weeks ago. We really do need to be able to talk.

“Hey, Lori?” you call softly as you enter the tent. She's wearing just a t-shirt and shorts as she lies down, messing around with the airscreen.

When she looks over at you, brushing her loose hair aside, even in the dim bluish glow you can tell she's been crying. She clears her throat before she asks, “What's up?”

“I-I need to input some data, and…” You know you have to ask. “Are you okay?”

She shrugs, pushing herself up to a sitting position. “Been better. I… I've just been stressed out all day, I guess.”

You sit beside her on your sleeping bag. “It's okay. I'm surprised I'm holding together as well as I am.”

“I won't write about how much of an emotional wreck you are if you do the same for me,” she says with a tired smile, handing the controls to you.

“Deal.” You open up your species ID spreadsheet, and add in one annoying orange bug. You glance over at her. She's combing her fingers through her hair as she stares blankly at the display. “You're… not feeling sick anymore?”

She blinks in surprise at your sudden question, then shakes her head. “Thank the stars, no,” she says with a tired laugh. “Oh, I threw up so many times my first time out to Unity, they made me go through a second round of medical tests as soon as we boarded. Turns out I'm just unlucky and also never had a chance to get used to the whole space-jumping thing as a kid, unlike practically everyone else up here.” She laughs again. “Up there. Damn. I still can't believe this is actually happening.”

“It's crazy, isn't it?” You lie back and project the map so it's above your heads, painting with your finger along the marked trail. “And we hiked this much today… and then in a few days we go this much further... you know, over this whole time we're going to travel a tenth of the distance between where I live and where Hayleen lives?”

She snorts. “That doesn't give me any sort of idea how far that is. Tusies, you think the galaxy revolves around you.”

You roll your eyes, but smile at her good-natured teasing anyways. “It's kind of a problem. That's half the reason I went into relations as a second major.”

“And the other half?”

“Continuing my family legacy.” She hums in affirmation and you play around with the map a bit more before asking,“Why did you pick Unity? And the mil track?”

She sighs. “Honest answer?” A moment passes before you realize it wasn't a rhetorical question.

"Yes," you say quietly. "If you're okay talking about it."

“I am. It's just… I'm not quite sure how to put it without sounding like… well, exactly what some people think about people from colonies like mine." There's a bitter edge to her voice. "I know I should only care about the future of the Alliance, about the legacy of Unity. I should be able to say I'm doing something completely honorable and selfless but…” She scoffs. “It's about money. Pure and simple. Score good enough and everything is paid for. My family has to feed one less mouth, and I come back with something of value, whenever I do. If I do.”

“Ouch,” you mutter. You got in on your own merit rather than your parents' names, unlike some people you know, but the stakes were never as high for you as they are for her.

“Yeah. Maybe two dozen Lotanis have graduated from Unity in these fifty-odd years? Most died in combat, or moved to some other colony after serving. The former option at least means that their family back home gets enough of an income in compensation that they can live comfortably.”

”That's… bleak.”

“That's life on the overgrown asteroid I call home,” she says. “All of us are born from the dust, some of us are lucky enough to end up stardust.”

You really don't know what to say to that. You look over at her. She's staring at the map above you, the shadow of a sideways smile on her lips, and through those pale eyelashes her eyes look so sad. You wish you could just…

You don't know.

And for the sake of keeping things together, you don't really want to know.

She shakes her head and looks over at you. “Sorry I'm being such a downer. I'm… really tired.”

“We should probably sleep then. We have some pretty intense science to do tomorrow," you add, trying to inject some cheer into your voice.

She rolls over to to perch her chin on her hands, a big smirk on her face. “Do we now, miss bioarchivist?”

You're turning pink, you know you are, and knowing doesn’t help a thing. “Yes, and I believe I vaguely explained it to you before but I should really go through the procedures again.”

“Sure. Hit me with it.”

You mock-angrily act like you're going to whack her with the airscreen computer, and she dodges, laughing. But she really listens when you start to walk her through your specimen-collecting plans, and even asks some questions about the more technical things that you're going to do, though her eyes kinda glaze over the longer you go on with that. You don't blame her; you're exhausted too. You both decide to call it a night soon after you finish, and once you’ve pulled down the heavy shades over the tent and settled down in your sleeping bags, you elbow her.

“Hm?”

“Thanks for being such a good partner,” you say softly. “Really. I don't think anyone else would have been as good as you are.”

“Same. You're… pretty resilient. And not bad for a Tusie.” You elbow her again, harder, and she chuckles and elbows you back. This devolves into play-fighting, until you hit something soft and she yelps.

“Are you okay?” She's making a muffled noise that you're not sure is laughing or crying, so you gently touch her shoulder.

“I'm fine, I'm fine,” she says, shrugging you off and definitely laughing. “You just got me in the boob. You win.”

“Sorry,” you squeak.

“It's okay. It happens. At least you don't bite like Manda does.”

“No promises,” you tease. Not that you would, actually, and it's not like if your mouth was so close to her skin you'd...

You bite your lip, grateful she can't see your flushed cheeks in the darkness of the tent. And of course she doesn't, she just chuckles and makes herself comfortable again.

"Goodnight," she says, good humor bringing warmth to her voice. You mumble "goodnight" in return.

Her breathing slows as she falls asleep. But you're all wound up now, and you stare off into the darkness for what feels like a long time.

Stars… I need to keep it together.

First•Previous•Next

#chapter 10 #update #starlitscifi #i missed writing about these nerds so much yall #sorry it's such a long chapter #but i guess i owed you

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