[ Ana watches them both throughout the exchange. She and Jack haven't talked about this at length, but they haven't really needed to. They came to more or less the same conclusions, and the only reason Gabriel is off is that he's missing a part of the story.
None of them are famous for their luck, but she hopes that this is the hardest thing they have to do, and the worst of it remains buried.
She picks up in the wake of Gabriel's statement, her voice quiet but level. She does meet his gaze - it's the least she can do. ]
[He watches her face closely, knowing that she's lying about this or at least stretching the truth, wondering if this is what's finally going to make them cave. It's telling that Jack isn't the one that says it--if Gabriel didn't already have evidence to the contrary.]
See, that's what I thought too, when Reinhardt told me.
[Of course they must have assumed he was trying to squeeze information out of Reinhardt, and said this to him anyway, so Gabriel is fairly certain this is not the end of the story, as much as Jack and Ana might like it to be.]
But you said you'd been looking for me, before you ended up here. So which is it?
[ It's not that Ana's lying, or even stretching the truth that much. What happened to Gabriel after the explosion is a possibility that he couldn't begin to guess at, not when he's working from a place of logic. What was done to him defies logic, and goes against everything they all thought to be true.
You can't bring people back from the dead. It's a rule, one that most would never think to question. And yet... ]
It's both.
[ Jack speaks up from his spot, removed from the other two, and shakes his head to himself as he stares at the ground a few feet ahead of him. ]
You were dead. [ He'd checked, hadn't he? He hadn't just crawled away from the wreckage without checking. There'd been no way that even Gabriel could have survived. ] But then we got reports of some dark figure calling himself "Reaper" wreaking havoc, making the news. [ Committing crimes and murdering people in cold blood. Taking years of black ops experience and pushing them past the limit, because apparently he just didn't care anymore.
As awful as this is, there is a strange sort of relief in finally saying it out loud. It's a little bit like when you first learn to fire a gun. There's all this trepidation before pulling the trigger, but once the bullet leaves the chamber, you know there's no taking it back. You just have to live with the consequences. ]
[Gabriel sounds thoroughly unimpressed, though he’s really just trying to show as little emotion as possible in the face of a revelation like this. Inside his own head, he’s trying to draw the line from his own condition to Moira’s work to something that might have happened to him in the middle of Overwatch biting it in the worst way possible.
Of course, he wants Jack and Ana to be privy to none of this, so he tries to sound as skeptical as possible.]
Some dark figure?
[He’s really not sure what that’s supposed to mean—given his spontaneous development of abilities and Moira’s interest in them (like she’s seen it before), has him wanting to know just what, exactly, this might entail. If it’s even him at all.]
[ Of course he'd spoken to Reinhardt too. She should have guessed.
Gabriel does a good job of keeping himself contained; he's always been that way. If he's angry or processing something, he can go quiet for hours at a time, or make some glib remark to deflect attention. Even now, Ana has a hard time imagining the kind of outburst that must have occurred at Swiss Headquarters, the kind of pressure that must have built up with no other possible release. ]
You moved like smoke. I've never seen anything like it. [ It's her turn to stare across the living room at nothing. ]
We ran into you in the middle of an op. That was the first time I saw either of you in person after Overwatch fell. [ Ana shakes her head. ] I didn't want to believe it was you, but when I saw your face... and the things you said... It couldn't have been anyone else.
[ No, there's no denying that Reaper is Gabriel Reyes, if a twisted and broken version of him. Even now, Jack can't fully grasp how a friend of his had warped into something like Reaper. As much as he wants to tell himself that they're different people, just like Jack Morrison and Soldier: 76 are different people, he knows better.
It's a bitter pill to swallow, though, especially when he has Gabriel as he used to be right in front of him. It still feels a little like a self-fulfilling prophecy, telling him about all this.
Or maybe it will make a difference, but Jack knows better than to rely on something like hope. ]
You shot me at point-blank range in the back. It's a good thing that Ana was there, or...
[ Even now, it's hard to put it into words, but Reyes will get the idea. ]
[Still, Gabriel does his best to show nothing on his face, considering the scenario, but it's a long moment before he speaks again. He's clearly trying to puzzle things out, perhaps with information that Jack and Ana don't have in turn.]
You must've given me a good reason.
[He's not quite sure what the reason is, but he's sure there is one--he'd be lying if he said he hasn't entertained thoughts of shooting Jack when he's doing something particularly frustrating or stupid, though Jack is implying some kind of killing intent. With more of the puzzle pieces now, things are starting to make a little more sense.]
You sure I was dead, when you ran?
[When Gabriel says that, it's pointed. Did you check?]
[ When Reyes implies that he must have been justified in trying to kill someone who was supposed to be his closest friend, it pushes almost all of Jack's buttons. Even now, with them telling him what he becomes, he's sitting here and trying to justify. Sure, it's probably not an easy thing to hear, but Gabriel's inability to take any of the blame has Jack tightening his jaw and clenching his fists to stave off some sort of outburst.
At least Ana is here to mediate. All those fights that had erupted after her disappearance hadn't gone very well. Simply having her here is enough to reign Jack in. ]
I checked. I had gone into shock and had a concussion and who knows what else, but I still checked.
[ His voice is steely and cold, because he can tell that Reyes is accusing him of abandoning him. He'd said something similar after shooting him in the back, and Jack can't begin to understand how Gabriel could think he would ever leave him to die if there was another option.
He's not that kind of person, and the implication that he might be is what hurts the most. ]
[ It takes a lot to kill people like them, so Jack isn't saying this kind of thing lightly. Ana had carried him home after that fight. If she hadn't intervened, Gabriel's shots would have killed him.
Still, watching them argue is living proof of exactly how things got to be that way. ]
I don't doubt that you had a reason, Gabriel, but whether it was a good one is up for debate.
[He imagines they have some thoughts, but it's not like he can speak for his future self, and he won't be held accountable for any of it, either. He doesn't think there's much more he can gain from this situation--already he's suspicious that there are still gaps in the story, and he can't quite buy that Jack did everything he could to make sure he was really dead.
Not with the way things have been going for Gabriel and his enhancements recently, anyway.]
[ They'll never know unless Gabriel ends up going back into stasis and coming back a changed man, but that's the one thing he's fairly certain all three of them can agree they would rather not happen. It's true that they can't blame Gabriel for something he hasn't done yet, and if he does have any insight about why he became so set on harming them, he obviously isn't going to share it.
In that sense, Jack has to agree that there's not much more to talk about right now. Given that he's barely keeping his temper in check, it's probably for the best. ]
All right. I'm gonna go get some air.
[ He needs the distance, and some time alone to think. Taking a walk through the city seems like the best way to go about that.
He still turns and gives Ana a small nod (they'll talk later), but he barely even acknowledges Gabriel before he walks out the door. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ Ana watches them both throughout the exchange. She and Jack haven't talked about this at length, but they haven't really needed to. They came to more or less the same conclusions, and the only reason Gabriel is off is that he's missing a part of the story.
None of them are famous for their luck, but she hopes that this is the hardest thing they have to do, and the worst of it remains buried.
She picks up in the wake of Gabriel's statement, her voice quiet but level. She does meet his gaze - it's the least she can do. ]
No, Gabriel. We lost you in the explosion.
[ Its true enough. ]
no subject
See, that's what I thought too, when Reinhardt told me.
[Of course they must have assumed he was trying to squeeze information out of Reinhardt, and said this to him anyway, so Gabriel is fairly certain this is not the end of the story, as much as Jack and Ana might like it to be.]
But you said you'd been looking for me, before you ended up here. So which is it?
no subject
You can't bring people back from the dead. It's a rule, one that most would never think to question. And yet... ]
It's both.
[ Jack speaks up from his spot, removed from the other two, and shakes his head to himself as he stares at the ground a few feet ahead of him. ]
You were dead. [ He'd checked, hadn't he? He hadn't just crawled away from the wreckage without checking. There'd been no way that even Gabriel could have survived. ] But then we got reports of some dark figure calling himself "Reaper" wreaking havoc, making the news. [ Committing crimes and murdering people in cold blood. Taking years of black ops experience and pushing them past the limit, because apparently he just didn't care anymore.
As awful as this is, there is a strange sort of relief in finally saying it out loud. It's a little bit like when you first learn to fire a gun. There's all this trepidation before pulling the trigger, but once the bullet leaves the chamber, you know there's no taking it back. You just have to live with the consequences. ]
no subject
[Gabriel sounds thoroughly unimpressed, though he’s really just trying to show as little emotion as possible in the face of a revelation like this. Inside his own head, he’s trying to draw the line from his own condition to Moira’s work to something that might have happened to him in the middle of Overwatch biting it in the worst way possible.
Of course, he wants Jack and Ana to be privy to none of this, so he tries to sound as skeptical as possible.]
Some dark figure?
[He’s really not sure what that’s supposed to mean—given his spontaneous development of abilities and Moira’s interest in them (like she’s seen it before), has him wanting to know just what, exactly, this might entail. If it’s even him at all.]
no subject
Gabriel does a good job of keeping himself contained; he's always been that way. If he's angry or processing something, he can go quiet for hours at a time, or make some glib remark to deflect attention. Even now, Ana has a hard time imagining the kind of outburst that must have occurred at Swiss Headquarters, the kind of pressure that must have built up with no other possible release. ]
You moved like smoke. I've never seen anything like it. [ It's her turn to stare across the living room at nothing. ]
We ran into you in the middle of an op. That was the first time I saw either of you in person after Overwatch fell. [ Ana shakes her head. ] I didn't want to believe it was you, but when I saw your face... and the things you said... It couldn't have been anyone else.
no subject
It's a bitter pill to swallow, though, especially when he has Gabriel as he used to be right in front of him. It still feels a little like a self-fulfilling prophecy, telling him about all this.
Or maybe it will make a difference, but Jack knows better than to rely on something like hope. ]
You shot me at point-blank range in the back. It's a good thing that Ana was there, or...
[ Even now, it's hard to put it into words, but Reyes will get the idea. ]
no subject
You must've given me a good reason.
[He's not quite sure what the reason is, but he's sure there is one--he'd be lying if he said he hasn't entertained thoughts of shooting Jack when he's doing something particularly frustrating or stupid, though Jack is implying some kind of killing intent. With more of the puzzle pieces now, things are starting to make a little more sense.]
You sure I was dead, when you ran?
[When Gabriel says that, it's pointed. Did you check?]
no subject
At least Ana is here to mediate. All those fights that had erupted after her disappearance hadn't gone very well. Simply having her here is enough to reign Jack in. ]
I checked. I had gone into shock and had a concussion and who knows what else, but I still checked.
[ His voice is steely and cold, because he can tell that Reyes is accusing him of abandoning him. He'd said something similar after shooting him in the back, and Jack can't begin to understand how Gabriel could think he would ever leave him to die if there was another option.
He's not that kind of person, and the implication that he might be is what hurts the most. ]
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Still, watching them argue is living proof of exactly how things got to be that way. ]
I don't doubt that you had a reason, Gabriel, but whether it was a good one is up for debate.
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[He imagines they have some thoughts, but it's not like he can speak for his future self, and he won't be held accountable for any of it, either. He doesn't think there's much more he can gain from this situation--already he's suspicious that there are still gaps in the story, and he can't quite buy that Jack did everything he could to make sure he was really dead.
Not with the way things have been going for Gabriel and his enhancements recently, anyway.]
I think I've heard enough.
no subject
In that sense, Jack has to agree that there's not much more to talk about right now. Given that he's barely keeping his temper in check, it's probably for the best. ]
All right. I'm gonna go get some air.
[ He needs the distance, and some time alone to think. Taking a walk through the city seems like the best way to go about that.
He still turns and gives Ana a small nod (they'll talk later), but he barely even acknowledges Gabriel before he walks out the door. ]