#Gabriel Reyes defense squad | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

pumpkinofthedale · 7 years ago

Text

With the introduction of Moira, and the discussions and scandal a lot of people (especially those who want Reyes to be an in depth complex character with motivations besides being an evil wicked meaner all along) feel right now in the fandom, I’d like to take just a moment to add my two (or perhaps even five) cents to the conversation.

What we know:

1. The SEP program tampered with the DNA of participants, of which Gabriel Reyes was a pretty early test subject

2. A terrorist known as reaper has been active for decades

3. Blackwatch has been around for a long while, likely just as long as Overwatch (post crisis), and are known for their less than ethically clean tactics that are often needed to keep Overwatch afloat and pretty in the public eye

4. Gabriel Reyes recruited Dr Moira O.Deorain into blackwatch to advise him on matters of genetics that he had a prior interest in

5. Gabriel Reyes feels fear knowing that his body is smoking (and not just because he’s a damn beautiful human hoo boy)

6. Chu confirmed that Moira has a connection to Reaper’s genetics “How can I take this and make it better”; she has both lifesteal and teleportation powers, and he teleportation seems far more refined than reaper’s

Under the cut because this shit got long

Reyes, soldier 24, first strike commander of overwatch had his powers manifest before Moira even entered the picture. He’s soldier 24 which implies that he was in an earlier batch of SEP subjects than Jack Morrison: soldier 76. As such his DNA enhancements were very likely less stable than Morrison’s. Super Soldiers were built to win what was essentially Armageddon, they weren’t necessarily built to last.

Now we must look at things like international patent laws and tightly held government kept secrets. All Super Soldiers belong to the United States government. They are essentially property. They are likely leased to Overwatch, but at the end of the day, their remains would not be allowed to rest on foreign soil. Their genes, their very DNA is highly classified. Very likely to the point where average doctors aren’t legally allowed to do more than put a simple bandage on, and no, I am not exaggerating.

All Super Soldiers would be sterile. They would not be allowed to pass those highly classified government owned genes on. There is no way that the US government did not sterilize every single SEP subject in order to further keep a stranglehold on those highly classified government patented and owned genetics.

Anyone who even wished to be able to work or operated on them medically would have to go through rigorous government screenings, and would likely not be able to perform many procedures especially if they were affiliated with a foreign government. Someone like dr zeigler would likely only be able to perform simple procedures that wouldn’t in any way affect or tamper with those genes, or be able to spread any information about them. It would be the sort of offense that would land her a cell in some sort of military facility used to house terrorists. It would be that big of a deal.

Now let’s take a moment to focus once more on how this would relate to Gabriel Reyes in ways that it might not for Jack Morrison. Gabriel Reyes, an earlier subject in the SEP program likely does have less stable genetics, things that are wrong with him. But when you’re fighting things like omnics, synthetic metal people, you’re a lot less likely to notice things like passively absorbing life force because he likely can’t from synthetic organisms despite in game mechanics.

However, once you’re working on eliminating humans who are a threat, that passive life steal is a lot more noticeable as it leaves behind some sort of noticeably damaged “drained husk” corpse. So imagine you are Gabriel Reyes for a moment, a member of the British Parliament has ties to a major human trafficking ring but there is no definitive proof. You know that this person is evil, but that he is operating on a level where Overwatch and the law cannot reach him, so as a covert operation, you kill him. You leave behind a drained corpse of a politician that was perceived to be a good man by the public. When you do the same thing a few weeks later in Cambodia, you are labeled a terrorist. Overwatch doesn’t have to know that it’s you. No one can know that it was you. You can’t have this linked back to you and jeopardizing the good work you are doing for the world even though it might not seem like it from the outside.

You stop going on so many missions because your work is too noticeable. But your conditions are deteriorating, your organs might be failing... your body wasn’t built to last. Sometimes you almost think you might be falling apart.

At this point, Gabriel Reyes would seek out professional help, likely from the brilliant Angela Zeigler. However Zeigler is an upstanding member of Overwatch who operates legally above the board, and because she cannot legally perform any sort of gene therapy or even give advice because she can’t even properly look at his DNA, she won’t.

Enter Moira, a geneticist without any sort of ethical qualms about doing illegal tests in the name of science. Someone who very likely would have just gone to talon without overwatch funding. Gabriel Reyes recruits her before talon can. With Blackwatch resources, he can gain access to his classified files from the US government for Moira to analyze.

He feels fear because he is falling apart genetically, his body literally turns to smoke at times. Moira isn’t injecting anything into him in the screenshot. In fact those look more like the sorts of things used to check vital signs and electrical signals within the body. Moira doesn’t seem shocked at all, this very likely is not an experiment but rather her monitoring his vital signs or inducing some sort of state to see just how far his body is going.

“To go beyond law and what’s forbidden by morality”, what if she suggested instead of just curing his condition, they weaponized it. His body sometimes begins to smoke? Make it so bullets, objects can pass through him. Give him mobility. Give him the strength he once had and control over some of what were once essentially handicaps.

Reyes, a tactical genius who at this point knows how much of a threat talon is, knows that if Overwatch continues down its current path it will fail. Knows that talon at this point must have pawns the UN. Blackwatch has been compromised. Anything that could make him more ready to face them would be needed even if it went against dozens of international laws.

At this point Reyes must know that Overwatch is a sinking ship; talon is too pervasive. They can’t fight them like they should. They need someone on the inside, someone who knows what to do... What better way for him to infiltrate them than to blow up Overwatch. Sure, hundreds, will die. His best friends may die by his own hand.... But won’t it be worth it to make sure another omnic crisis is averted? Isn’t killing 1000 innocents better than letting millions, hundreds of millions, maybe even billions of humans and omnics die in another crisis? Even if he has to go beyond morality to do what needs to be done... that’s his job.

He knows that Moira may even have connections to talon as well. Very likely even dropping hints about going beyond laws and morality, about how his relationships with the Overwatch cast are failing. Things that talon could sink their teeth into. He would spoonfeed the narrative they wanted and get what he needed out of it.

Reaper isn’t inherently a product of Moira’s tests, her powers come directly from observing his genetic code. “How can I make this better when I apply it to myself”. Her powers are more refined. She controls her life steal and giving of health, her teleportation is her version of going wraith; completely intangible and undetectable.

It makes sense that she says that he was searching for a way to circumvent “their rules”. Reyes’ entire body, his genetic code, is completely classified, strangled in legal red tape. Even if he were sick and dying, he wouldn’t be able to get help from someone outside the US government, and we all know how long it would take for them to actually do anything to help him or his condition.

I still don’t know what happened during the explosion, but I sure as heck still believe Reaper is deep cover, waiting to destroy talon from within.

My friends, I too am on the Gabriel Reyes defense squad and I too felt fear that the good and beautiful devs at blizzard would do him dirty and pull an Anakin with him. But I’ve been thinking long and hard about this, and now that I know that the first comic centered around the omnic crisis that originally portrayed Reyes as a heavily shadowed man had been cancelled, I don’t think that that’s the route they’re going to go down.

#gabriel reyes #overwatch #moira overwatch #Reaper #fan theory #w34ry words #I'm on the gabriel reyes defense squad

90 notes · View notes

gyromitra-esculenta · 5 years ago

Text

A thing I’m definitely not writing that somehow clocks at 4.3k words. Tw*atter thread.

Returning to the small remote town he spent two years of his childhood in to get his father’s estate in order, Gabriel reconnects with his teen crush.

‘Top of the Lake’ inspired. If you’d seen the show, the content warnings would be half-a-page long, but then you know what to expect. Warnings otherwise: substance abuse, referenced domestic violence of several kinds, child neglect, and a lot of past events that are not explicitely said but alluded to.

There’s also a missing transition scene.

The only reason he doesn't slam the brakes the moment he hears the question is the fact he hasn't been paying too much attention to both the road - empty as usual - and the kid.

"What?"

"You want to fuck him, don't you?" Angel repeats, his arms crossed in front of his chest, stubborn frown in its place, and glare fixed on the windshield.

"You asked Jack that, and that's why he was out after working his shift?"

The only answer Gabriel gets is a kick to the door.

"Listen, that's... That's the last thing I'd want to do." He glances at Angel, trying to come up with sufficient explanation for the whole thing, somehow. And failing at it. "It's not that. Things happened. I'm amazed he's even talking to me, at all. I fucked up, kid."

"He'd let you. Everybody knows he's a slut."

Gabriel decelerates and pulls up at the side of the road without a word. Only after he's able to let go of the wheel he turns to Angel.

"You shouldn't be spending time with John and the rest of family if that's what you take from it."

"But it's true." Angel still glares somewhere in front of him, defensive posture and all. It couldn't have been easy on the kid, either, growing up in this shithole of a town with all the bigotry and John's long shadow. This thought is the only thing keeping Gabriel calm.

"It isn't. And even if it were, there is nothing wrong with it." He sighs. "And the last person calling him anything at all should be John. Or any of his fucking progeny. Or you, for that matter." Gabriel pauses, waiting for a reaction of any kind as an excuse to drop the subjec. But Angel remains motionless, refusing to even give indication he's listening. "I know you're feeling you're untouchable and all, enjoying almost carefree life, and Jack had it going for him too, once. 'Morrison Princess', that's what everybody called him. Now, it's you."

"So?"

Gabriel had been a rebellious teenager once, and if they weren't parked on the side of the road and touching on things from fifteen years ago, he would maybe smirk knowingly at the obvious attempt to fish for the story while trying to appear disinterested. "Anyone ever tell you he threw Jack out to fend for himself after he refused to give you up? Yeah, didn't think so," he nods at the alarmed expression on Angel's face.

"People love to put the blame on the victims, makes them feel better about themselves."

The kid's just sitting there, nibbling on his lips, something Jack used to do when thinking hard about anything, a habit he apparently lost in his adulthood. Funny, how he managed to notice it, another thing gone in the years he wasn't there. He starts the engine back. If he had only waited three months before bailing out. The regret has a bitter taste to it even if there was no way he could have known. And with John being the religious hypocrite he was, an abortion had been out of the question. But he was not going to tell the kid that. At least, the old bastard turned out to be less of a racist asshole than he could be, but that probably had more to do with Francis, Angel's status, and John's need to be in control of everything in the town. Gabriel is thankful Angel's not in the mood for asking more questions. Especially, the kind of questions that make him revisit the past and think about all the different possibilities that never came to be - that maybe he could've been calling the kid his own even if he wasn't the biological father. But with everything that had been going on then

The rest of the drive takes too long - at the same time passes too fast, and just like that he's letting Angel out by the school.

"You should really apologize to Jack later."

No answer, only the side door slammed shut, but the momentary grimace on the kid's face tells him all. He hadn't intended to do it, so he took the talk to the heart after all, and doesn't feel unjustly called out on the bullshit he pulled. Now, Gabriel lets himself grip the steering wheel until his hands hurt, releasing it only when he stops at the station's parking.

"You're not looking too good." Ana, with a cup of coffee in her hand, does not bother to start the day with the pleasantries.

"Jack and Angel had an argument, bad one, I think."

"And you know that because...?"

"Because, you know, I'd been driving Angel to school for a month now."

"Because I like hearing that. What was it about?" Ana sours immediately when she sees him just shaking his head instead of answering. "Shit. The last time it happened, Jack totaled his car. On a dirt road. Drunk," she adds, sipping the coffee from the cup.

"Yes, thank you, Ana, I'm not going to worry, then." Gabriel throws the jacket on the chair. "So I'm not going to call the hospital and the morgue now."

"We would get to know first, if anyone finds him."

He's reaching for the work phone anyway. She had once mentioned off-hand the problems with alcohol Jack had, and Jack himself had been forthcoming with a lot of details about those fifteen years, but even with no alcohol involved his mind was running the possible scenarios of everything that could have happened. Animals, ravines, hunters, other drivers, the lake itself, anything really, all that without including the ill intent, and knowing Jack and his affinity for the woods, all the remote places it could happen where no-one else would venture into normally.

"Got you to agonize over something else, haven't I?"

"Again, thank you, but not..." Gabriel drops the receiver when his phone rings and he breathes a sigh of relief at the flashing name. Shows it briefly to Ana before picking up the call. "Where are you? Is everything okay?"

"Gabe, right? You're Gabe?" The voice on the other side is definitely not Jack. A woman, sounding slightly confused.

"Where did you get that phone?" On the other side of the room, Ana perks up.

"You must be Gabe, because that's the last call here?"

"Yes, I'm 'Gabe'. Where is Jack? Can you..." Gabriel closes his eyes when she starts speaking again.

"Oh, it's Lena, you know? We think someone should pick him up, and your number was first..."

"Pick him up from where?"

"So Zen found him on the beach, and we brought him here."

Zen. Zenyatta. While she hasn't answered any of his questions, and he's sure now she's high as a kite, Gabriel can put a face to the name, and the location. That's one place Jack's going to be safe at.

"You're at the commune?"

"Yes. Our little piece of paradise."

"I'll be there in a few. Stay there. Not an inch." He ends the call as soon as Lena starts to talk again, before she can add another word, and throws the jacket back on. "It's not going to be problem, is it?"

"No. Looks like a slow day. If not, I'll call the reserve."

"I'll leave the squad..."

"Take it." Ana leans back in the chair and puts her legs on the desk. "The service there's spotty, at least the radio should work. Try not to get too strict on you-know-what, they're making no trouble and spend a lot of money, so no harm."

"Yes. Because I'm going there to bust some pot-smokers, and not to pick one idiot up." Gabriel grabs the keys on the way out.

"Call me when you know what happened."

"Yes, mom." He almost hears the mandatory eye-roll at the nickname.

"Cheeky bastard."

(scene transition, or whatever goes here, waxing poetic about nature or something, internal monologue.)

Jack, still obviously drunk, looks at him, and immediately makes a displeased face. Would be funny if not for the bruise forming on his forehead, and the bandaged hand. Gabriel could dwell on the pang of hurt but since he's got a pretty good idea it has less to do with just him, and more with him being here and now, he sits down next to the mattress on the floor.

"Where's your car?"

"Ana sent you?" Jack articulates with the drunken kind of care.

"Not really." Gabriel looks at the phone in his palm. "Lena called me. She's baked."

"Half the people here are," Jack answers absentmindedly, and then covers his mouth with a sheepish look of someone who said too much.

"I noticed. What's with the hand?"

"Glass from the bottle. I think. It's just a cut."

"Mhm. A cut." Gabriel puts the phone on the blanket and reaches for the bandaged arm. The dressing looks professional and covers the whole forearm. He doesn't like the implication. "And the car?"

"The old pier. Where we went swimming in the summer." Jack chuckles, his eyes closing. "That summer. The only summer."

"Yeah, I remember. C'mon, you can sleep it off at the station." Gabriel nudges him lightly.

"I don't want to. Ana will have words."

"Yeah, she will have 'words'. Want to stay here then?"

"Don't you have work?" Jack picks at the sleeve of his uniform, and something about the assumption present in the question makes Gabriel almost smile.

"Off the hook about today. Do you need anything?"

"Something to drink?" Jack draws his brows together at the look Gabriel gives him. "Warm."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do." He gets back up, dislodging Jack's fingers from the fabric with caution. He had seen an elaborate kettle outside. "Just don't wander off anywhere."

"Won't."

The kettle itself proves more challenging than he had expected it to be, at least until Zenyatta comes to the table and operates it with ease.

"Samovar, courtesy of Zarya, officer Reyes." The monk hands him a cup full of bitter smelling tea. "I take it you are here for Jack?"

Gabriel nods, noting also another Asian man standing behind Zenyatta.

"Thank you for coming down the other day to give the statement about the altercation with the Morrisons."

The other man mutters something in foreign language, obviously non-flattering, and probably offensive.

"One does not choose the earthly bonds they are born into, what one chooses is what to do with them." A roundabout way of saying that there is no resentment towards Jack for whatever the rest of his family tries to do about the land.

"How bad was his hand?"

"I am, I do admit, adverse to physical harm. It is best to ask Hanzo." Zenyatta inclines his head to his companion.

"Shallow lacerations, many of them." Hanzo does not seem willing to continue, eyeing Gabriel suspiciously, and it does nothing to dispel his doubts.

"It would do good to remember Jack is a troubled soul," Zenyatta lightly touches his arm, "but so are you, officer Reyes. Now, if you excuse me, I have some matters to attend to."

He nods again and walks past him with Hanzo in tow. There is something out of place about the brunet, not just about his status, but rather his whole manner he carries himself with - the kind of predatory confidence - and if the circumstances were different, he would've been the first person Gabriel's gun would be aimed at. But that's something left to ponder for another day.

He returns to the re-purposed cargo container to find Jack curled on his side and sleeping. Definitely better for both of them for him to sleep off the alcohol because Gabriel isn't sure how much more he can take now. From the very first day this fucking town has been out to get him. For years, he only had to deal with the occasional nightmare every few months, until the first night he spent at the house, and for the sake of his own sanity he should get out of here. The sooner, the better. And that would mean leaving Jack behind - Jack, who had never been a part of the equation - in the place that tries its damnedest to kill anything good about it.

Gabriel drinks from the cup. The tea is as bitter as it smells, with a sour and earthy aftertaste. Everything has always been about that one summer, the one he was barely fifteen and fell in love for the first time, with the boy who knew all the secret places in the woods. By the looks of it, and all the failed relationships since then, he never fell out of it, either. But this was the thing, his own feelings were nothing but just that, his own. And Jack could do without any more complications in his life. The fact that he had let Gabriel back in as much as he did knowing he wouldn't stay...

"You're a real piece of work sometimes, you know?"

With no answer coming, and not expecting one anyway, he leans against the wall, thinking, or rather trying not to, to idle the time away.

Excited shouting interrupts the quiet, and for a brief moment Gabriel is presented with the image of Lena running topless towards the lake. One of the other women is fast on her heels, stripping on the way, the t-shirt thrown over her shoulder falling to the ground. Now, he cannot fathom how anyone, even high, would think the weather is warm enough to go for a swim, but that had never stopped him as a kid. Gabriel checks the time on his phone at the groan from the side. He must've napped without anyone bothering them for two hours to just pass.

Jack slowly pulls himself to a sitting position, bleary-eyed, probably still buzzed a bit, and with an obvious hangover setting in. He cradles his left hand to his stomach with a visible wince.

"I fucked up. Sorry." His eyes are focused in his lap.

"Happens to the best of us. Here, drink at least a bit." Gabriel hands him the cup with the remaining tea. "I'll go and get a hot one."

"No. It's good. I... could you just..." Jack inclines his head, and he's not sure at first what he means by that, or that maybe he's misunderstanding, the gesture itself reminiscent of the summer. Jack starts mumbling at his hesitation. "No. I mean, it's stupid..."

"Scoot over."

Some awkward shuffling later, he has Jack sitting between his legs, back to his chest, the blanket loosely draped around the both of them. The hint of late berries and autumn underbrush is still there even hidden under the detergent and shampoo, not only in his imagination. Jack sips the cold tea, seemingly perfectly comfortable with Gabriel's arm resting across his midriff.

"Could you not say anything to Angel?"

"The kid isn't that stupid. He's almost fifteen." Gabriel shrugs.

"We were plenty stupid at his age."

He snorts at that.

"Because we shared one hormonal brain cell between the two of us for the most of the time. If my kid ever tried half the shit we did, they would be grounded well past the age of eighteen."

"I don't think anyone else would try petting a sleeping black bear."

"In my defense, I thought it was dead."

"City boy." Jack tilts his head back. In his voice, it's an endearment, not an insult. "I don't know who had been more scared, you, or the bear."

"I'm betting on me. And don't change the subject. He will know."

"So what do I tell him?" Jack tenses, and the action is enough to put the distance between them, but Gabriel refuses to let go of him. "That I got piss drunk and probably almost killed myself? Not that he's going to..."

"He's going to care. He cares."

"So what do I tell him?"

"You got drunk. You got hurt. That's all." Gabriel shrugs and puts his chin on Jack's shoulder. "What's important, he hears it from you, not from someone else. You think John wouldn't try to exploit that?"

"You know," Jack starts after a longer pause, "every time you talk about this stuff, I'm... why don't you have kids? Your own. You'd make a great dad."

"That's... The closest I got, she threw the ring at me, I told you." Gabriel chuckles.

"I thought you were joking."

"I'm over it, anyway." Something he might've realized just now. He takes a deep breath. "Listen, I've been thinking, when I get the estate in order..."

"You're going back to your normal life. I know."

"That too. But I've been thinking, and, come with me. You and Angel."

The silence stretches. Jack turns the cup around in his fingers without a word, almost contemplative, and Gabriel knows he had said something wrong.

"Just until you get your feet on the ground, no strings attached. Away from this fucking town."

"No strings attached, huh?"

He finds himself almost scrambling for some kind of explanation or reassurance, and coming up empty. Instead, with a weary sigh, he pulls up the other hand and brushes his fingers against the blond hair.

"I don't... I can't expect anything."

Jack stops fumbling with the cup but still remains silent.

"Just... just think it over. This place is no good for you, and it's not going to be better for him."

"It's my home," Jack finally answers, setting the cup aside.

"Bullshit. You don't believe it yourself."

"Okay. I'll think it over." There's a touch of irritation to his voice, and Gabriel is not going to push more, not right now. It's still uplifting, at the least because of the change from the earlier despondent mood. Angry is better.

"Good. Feeling up for a walk?"

"A walk?" Jack asks back, incredulous, still sharp.

"To bring around your car." If the old pier is the place he goes to drink, than Gabriel is not letting him go there alone even more than he would otherwise.

"Fine. Hope you don't mind getting your pants wet."

"I was thinking of cutting it short through the woods."

"It's been windy for the last week."

True. He had forgotten about the way the wind pushes the waves over the natural barricades, and the water in some places trickles into ditches and gullies carved by the spring's runoff. Or the often almost hidden under the forest detritus waterholes where the water seeps through the soil, or where the rain collects with no proper drainage. It all made for a dangerous combination any time of the year on its own and many local stories about missing kids. Gabriel had himself came home more than once smeared completely with muck stinking of decomposing plants and, sometimes, something much worse. Even now, he could very well believe there were some pits real skeletons dressed in remnants of fabrics lied sunken at the bottom.

"Not looking forward to that but I'll survive."

"Fine." Jack leans forward and disentangles himself from the blanket. Gabriel is loath to loosen his hold on him, and immediately misses the warmth and the smell. "Don't say later I didn't warn you," he adds, still snappy, standing.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Gabriel gets up. "Need anything? Jacket, anything else?"

"I'm good." Jack doesn't wait for him, stepping outside almost immediately - though, outside is a generous term with how the containers are set up and open to the brisk air coming from the lake.

He gestures something supposedly meaning they're going to be back to a lone person sitting by the table with the kettle, and hurries towards the treeline.

Gabriel follows with palms buried deep into the pockets of his jacket, silent, focused on the path before him. The grassland attached to the beach ends suddenly as if someone just cut away the edges and dumped a completely another world with no blending in-between. Two things become painfully obvious to Gabriel, the first being that even looking at Jack right now makes him feel the cold. The mostly uncovered ankles flashing under the hem of his pant legs look outrageous and fascinating at the same time - which is the other thing - because watching Jack's feet as they find their way through the undergrowth is as magical as he remembers it to be. There's no hesitation, no second-guessing, just another step: shorter, longer, to the side and back, with the ever-changing rhythm, and those slim ankles bending one way or another. Compared to this he feels graceless, dragging now a piece of a stick caught on the shoelace.

"How do they intend to last through the winter?"

Jack slows down for a moment and turns a bit to look back at him.

"They're having some prefab cabins delivered. Tried to get them built but no-one would commit to it."

"Can't be cheap."

"It isn't. Hanzo's paying for everything."

"What's his deal, anyway?" The man is so out of place in his surroundings it's jarring, and Gabriel had learned to trust his instincts when judging the potential danger. It's strange to hear Jack chuckle at his question.

"You wouldn't believe it. He's a real-life yakuza."

Sounds as far-fetched as it can be. Still...

"Money laundering?"

"I don't think so. I don't know the details, but his brother died in a car crash," Jack shrugs and turns around, walking backwards for a few steps, "and he'd been the one behind the wheel."

"So he's throwing money at something that's basically a religious sect, as atonement?"

"One way of looking at it, I guess, but it's a good place." Jack climbs a rotten log, jumping off it lightly immediately after. "The deed's in his name, too."

"So what bit John he's so interested in the land, any particular reason?" Gabriel walks around the log, not trusting himself to not slip on it - and not trusting it to not crumble under him.

"Honestly, I don't know. Francis liked that beach, it's as good reason as any other."

Francis. Another subject only skirted around at best. It's hard to imagine Francis and Jack having relationship that bad, and Gabriel decides to bite the bullet.

"How's he, anyway? Francis, I mean," he continues at the lack of the response.

"Overdose. Almost six years ago."

"Shit, I'm..." He's starting to apologize but Jack stops in place and turns, raising his palm.

"Don't. That's on me. You didn't know. John killed him, but I also did." Gabriel hears the resentment building up in his voice and steps closer.

"If it was..."

"Stop. Just stop."

"Jack."

"No," Jack cuts him off right away. "I told you my case got thrown out because John had money and influence? Well, he also had drugs, and Francis had been clean for half a year then, and he tried to help. He showed up to the hearing completely fucked up."

Whatever this one's going to be, Gabriel understands it can be only ridden out, with how contradictory emotions seem to clash in Jack's voice.

"I don't mean, just fucked up. Almost comatose. He tried to reach out but I was so, so angry. Told him to get shafted every time."

"And he stopped trying, and I didn't care at all. And then..." Gabriel closes the negligible distance between them and puts his arms around Jack's frame - feeling him tensing for a fraction of a second before almost falling into him with his forehead pressed into his shoulder. He doesn't even think there is anything he could say, and even if there is, he probably shouldn't because it wouldn't change the past despite the fact he would very much want it to do so. Another question, was there anyone Jack could ever talk to? Gabriel starts to doubt. He had Teresa and shrinks, and time to make peace with the reality certain things were never going away, but with how there was - is - this raw and untempered emotional quality in Jack surrounding some subjects that the mention of something adjacent opens the floodgates? It makes him afraid as he listens to the still heaving but slowing breaths next to his ear. Afraid because it's only happening as he's here, and when he leaves there won't be a person Jack would trust enough. He's only that - safe, here for a moment, and then gone.

"And the worst..." The mumble at first is barely recognizable and Gabriel tilts his head a bit to hear better. "The worst thing is that's the only way Angel's going to remember him. Not as someone who tried. A fucking junkie. Was a fucking rude wake up call."

Jack moves back with a muttered apology, again unexpectedly guarded, and the ceased physical contact is a new wall, at least for now. He wants to ask about the meaning of the last sentence but the message is clear, it's been more than Jack had intended to say. There's something there, something that's setting his alarms off, and he's too tired to count how many times today already. The day's a fucking rollercoaster, Gabriel decides following Jack. They're not talking anymore for the next stretch of the road. No matter his conscious decision, his thoughts keep wandering back with obsessive insistence, refusing to let go of the hidden message. Running circles around the subject until he can't remain silent.

"What did you mean by rude awakening?"

"It's nothing, don't..."

Gabriel notices Jack had stopped in his tracks only when he walks into his outstretched hand, and pauses looking for the reason, probably some animal - until his eyes follow down below them where in the dip in the forest floor is one of the waterholes, visibly disturbed. She lies there, half-submerged, smeared with the streaks of mud, and with fallen leaves stuck to her clothes. Her blouse, partially torn open, shows a bit of the white bra. Bruises in the shape of clenched hands starkly color her neck.

Not she. A body. It's easier this way.

"Shit." Gabriel reaches for his phone to check the coverage but almost drops it when he hears Jack, the words turning his blood to ice.

"I knew her. She's the fourth one.

#sometimes I write #r76 #reaper76 #substance abuse #child neglect #domestic abuse #i also still love gabe fixating on jack's ankles #samovars are simultaneously the best and the worst invention #john is the first oc i hate with my whole soul #angel is just confused

8 notes · View notes

saltytothecore · 6 years ago

Note

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

WHO WANTS TO TALK ABOUT GABRIEL REYES

ME. Forever. So, we’re talking about Static From My Better Sense.

So much of that fic got cut for time, energy, and pacing reasons. I really meant to spend some more effort delving into Gabe’s mental state. (This post and the fic are part of the same story, though I haven’t called it out before. And also to a lesser extent this one too.) In short, I wanted the reader to understand that while Gabe thinks he’s been reasonable and rational, he absolutely isn’t, but in a “I can understand your rationale when you walk me through it, but your initial assumptions are fucked” kind of way. (In retrospect, Hanzo wasn’t a good foil to make this clear, because Hanzo spends so much of the fic barely keeping his shit together. And honestly, might be as paranoid as Gabe even on a good day.) Gabe hasn’t noticed the changes in himself, Jesse absolutely did before the fall of Overwatch. And Jesse was living with the the guilt of being the catalyst for these changes, though Moira was the real originator.

So, I’m a card carrying member of the Gabriel Reyes Defense Squad. I’ve always read Gabe as being a good person who wanted to do good, but his actions are, in my reading, those of someone who’s worldview underwent a dramatic shift at some point from “the world is pretty okay and more fair that not” to “this shit is fucked how did we let this happen.” And he sees exactly how it could be unfucked, if people would just get their fucking shit together, so he’s going to fucking fix it himself. He’s brilliant and has an iron clad sense of morality, but he doesn’t want to answer to anyone else. He knows what’s right and what isn’t. And he has no patience for people who would get in his way, who would stand between him and a better world. He’s there, he’ll get his hands dirty, just let him work!

(This is in contrast to Jack. A lot of my characterization for Jack is extrapolated from what, to me, is a very telling data point–Jack’s from Indiana, and left. I’ve lived there, I know lots of people from that area, and if they’re happy they don’t leave. If they’re happy and they must, they strive to go back. If they’re unhappy they will do everything they can to go and stay gone. I say that as someone from that second group. A lot of Jack’s actions seem to me to be those of someone who’s always been very aware of how fucked the world is, resigned himself to it, and is trying to make do from within the fucked system rather than tear it down. So he compromises with the UN and pushes and prods where he can and kisses bureaucratic ass sometimes and makes his peace with 80% solutions. Making things better by increments, in a way that will allow you keep on going coughcoughinstead of getting shut down because you had to do shit off books, honey is better than nothing, even if it’s not as good as solving everything. I think this was a part of why he left Ana, because staying for her would have mostly likely gotten other people killed, but Jack is another essay.)

(And their positions are kind of reversed in present day. Jack’s the vigilante who answers to no one, and Gabe is the one manipulating the system from within. Maybe they learned that from each other.)

That conviction that he is right and he can fix things is exactly what makes Gabe so dangerous, and an amazing pick up for Talon. People like that, without guardrails, have done some awful shit throughout history, even when their goals and intentions are good. Through Moira, and through the SEP enhancements breaking down, Talon gets their in. They turn his well founded caution into full blown paranoia. There are enemies, real and imagined, on all sides, where before there were comrades and friends. He pushes away the people that care about him, which just entrenches him further. Talon assumes that if they poison the Overwatch well just so, when the time is right, they can sell him on Talon’s version of a better world and he’ll come along gladly.

But he’s Gabriel fucking Reyes, and he’ll never be that crazy. But he sees the opportunity to get revenge (for Jack, for Ana, for Gerard, for Jesse, for his legacy, for the better world that could have been) and burn something truly awful to the ground, so he takes it. Justifies every death in a way that’s now sickeningly routine (though I think the ex-Overwatch members who are turning up dead, he makes sure it’s the dirty ones at the top of the list), and does these awful things for the greater good.

But he knows, on some level, that he’s gone off the rails. That he’s probably gone too far. He’s still every iota the savvy, cunning tactician he’s always been, but maybe he’s manipulated himself into something he never would have wanted. That’s why he goes after Jesse, because if his sonprotege is still out there, still okay, then he gets to chalk one more little thing in the good column while there’s still time. (I cut a scene about him asking Hanzo about Fareeha, because he really wanted to know if she was okay, but thought it was a risk that wasn’t worth taking to look into her in any capacity. He still cares about the people in Overwatch who became his family, but he’s so alienated from them.)

All of this to say, that I was trying to pack all that into the scene when Jesse finally confronts Gabe. That it’s Jesse, not Gabe who’s got a real handle on what’s going on now and what’s been happening. But right there, right then, Gabe doesn’t hear him. He’s not ready to. And that’s why he decides to leave. Facing Jesse also means facing what happened to him and what he’s done since.

(There’s an allegory here for Alzheimer’s too on Jesse’s side, something I’ve watched claim a lot of my family. I didn’t give myself the chance to express Jesse’s creeping dread that there might really be no helping Gabe. That there was a line that nobody saw that got crossed a long time ago, and now there’s no kind way forward for both of them. That Jesse never really escaped having to see Gabe deteriorate, it’s just happening some other way now.)

#lurkingminx #director's cut meme

20 notes · View notes

cryptidhanzoshimada · 7 years ago

Text

Because I fucked with Moira for about 5 seconds until I remembered my membership to the Gabriel Reyes Defense Squad.

Commander Gabriel Reyes died on a Thursday, buried under five feet of rubble, the sounds of sirens all around him, and watching smoke rise into the clear blue sky through a small gap in the concrete, steel, and glass above him.

He thought he knew how this day was going to go. He thought he knew how all the players on the board would move. Jack would sit in his office all day, pandering to the media and the UN, hiding from Gabriel behind bureaucracy and chain of command. The UN would squabble and continue to pretend like they didn’t know that Blackwatch existed. Like they didn’t directly order Gabriel and his teams to do half the missions they did. And this… disease, that was slowly infecting Blackwatch, would continue to slowly grow, unaware that Gabriel was two moves away from finding out who they are and annihilating them from the organization he worked so hard to build from nothing.

He had prepared for this day meticulously. Spreading out the suspected moles across the world and isolating them. Forging papers and mission plans so it looked like he was still in Russia for three more days. Making sure Jack would be here and unable to avoid him.

But the infection was larger than he thought.

Somehow, they still knew.

It could be worse he thinks, as he feels the rubble shift and crush the bones in his left leg even more. Ana could be here, screaming her voice hoarse and injecting her own biotic solutions into herself to hold on a little longer, sure that help would come. But she has already died a quick and merciful death, or so Gabriel assumes. Reinhardt could be here, breaking his back under the strain of holding the rubble up, protecting other survivors from their fate. But luckily he’s in Germany, spending his days as the perfect uncle with the Lindholms. Jack could have been right next to him, either shouting blame or whispering apologies. But he was on the other side of the base. Maybe he got out before the explosions reached him.

His boys could be here, Genji relieving the day of his first death, Jesse relieving the day he lost his arm. But Genji was last spotted in Egypt by a trusted friend who owed Gabriel a favor. He looked like he was looking for someone, or something.

Gabriel hopes it was peace.

Gabriel hopes he found it.

The last message he got from Jesse told him that his cowboy was in New York and making his way west. He was going to buy a motorcycle, a vintage Harley, and do a cross-country road trip back to Santa Fe to try and find the family he only remembers snapshots of.

Gabriel hopes he keeps up with his blog that he thinks no one knows about.

Gabriel hopes he stays out of trouble and that he gets the safe, normal, boring life he’s earned twice over.

The rubble shifts again and Gabriel braces for more pain. But it doesn’t come. It actually lessens.

In his limited space Gabe looks down and sees the inky black wisps of smoke rising out of his skin.

Ah, that would explain it.

We need better soldier. To win the war. The UN said. (Even though the war was long since won.)

She is the key to our progress and success. (Doctor O’Deorain was the key, but not to their success.)

Gabriel wanted to say no, but the UN was looking for any excuse to steal Blackwatch from him. They never said it outright, but he saw it in the shifting of eyes and the shuffling of paper.

Fine. But you don’t touch any of my soldiers until I say the process is safe. (He was so worried with protecting everyone else that he forgot to protect himself.)

Gabriel would have permanently disposed of Moira as soon as he realized his mistake, if she wasn’t the only one capable of keeping his body from disintegrating into nothing.

He watches his body break apart, and the smoke spread into the gaps of the concrete and steel. His shotgun stops digging into his bicep, as his arms and legs slowly disappear. His breath slow and slows as the holes in his lungs widen. His vision goes out of focus, then starts to fade as the smoke reaches his face.

Gabriel hopes that this disaster makes everyone find out the truth.

Gabriel hopes he finally gets the rest he’s wanted for years.

***

Pain comes in jolts. Vision and hearing comes in flashes.

A voice tells him to pull himself together. Another voice says that in this state, his mind will be more accepting of the reprograming.

Overwatch abandoned you. They left you to die.

You want revenge.

You work for us now. You work for Talon.

No no no no.

More pain as his body is forcibly knit back together until his skin itches, his nerves burn, and his consciousness remembers how to be alive.

With a gasp of air he never expected to take, Gabriel wakes up to blinding lights, grating beeps, nauseating antiseptics, and tight restraints.

“Welcome back, Commander,” says a voice from just beyond the lights. “Do you remember arriving at the Swiss headquarters?”

Gabriel hesitatingly nods his head.

“Do you remember the explosion?”

Another cautious nod.

“Good, good. Last question,” the voice walks out of the shadows. Gabriel’s eyes widen when he sees Doctor O’Deorain, but otherwise controls his emotions. Gone is the white lab coat and pantsuit, replaced by a black and purple bastardization of the Valkyrie Suit. “Who do you work for?”

The pieces fall into place.

The experiments.

The moles.

Talon.

Anger boils in his veins. Rage ignites in his eyes. He finally has a name and it’s too late.

Well, it’s too late for Commander Reyes. But he died.

Gabriel does want revenge, but not on Overwatch.

He’s spent so many years creating convoluted plans to sneak around in the shadows. It’s time to go back to the basics. Talon infiltrated Blackwatch and took it down from the inside. Let’s see if they like the taste of their own medicine.

“Talon. I work for Talon.”

Moira smiles. She walks over to the table Gabriel is strapped down on and looms over him. “Welcome to Talon, Reaper.”

#overwatch #gabriel reyes #reaper #moira o'deorain #fanfic #xana yells into the void #My writing

793 notes · View notes

zenyattasperceptrons · 7 years ago

Text

jesse: gabriel reyes defense squad

jack: gabriel reyes defense squad FOUNDING MEMBER

#hiddenlayer.txt

5 notes · View notes

thefloorisbalaclava · 7 years ago

Text

Just ordered my Gabriel Reyes defense squad button! I'm so excited!!!

3 notes · View notes

baronvontribble · 7 years ago

Photo

I got all ABSFLADJFADKJF about potential Reaper story stuff so I painted him since I hadn't in a while. Gabriel Reyes is my darkhorse favorite and I will always be part of the Gabriel Reyes Defense Squad. The reaper buffs cannot come fast enough, I swear.

I should probably tag this for gore, huh.

#gore///#overwatch #gabriel reyes #reaper

518 notes · View notes

itsohh · 7 years ago

Text

Cariño Part 2

Source

A/N: I had some time at school before my production and thought I would upload. Feel free to request stuff btw.

Summary: Reader settles into Talon and does a mission with Reaper

Word count: 2107

Warnings: Possible swearing, and violence. Smut will be in the part. Possibly worse. You have been warned.

Master list Part One Part Three

Gasping you awoke in the middle of a hospital bed, perhaps it was all a dream, maybe you would turn and see Angela standing there ready to explain how they came and found you. But when you turned to your side it wasn't Angela you saw, it was him. He definitely was attractive even though his entire body was covered. It was strange you had just met the guy but you felt like you had known him for so much longer and you automatically felt so comfortable and safe around him. "Ugh remind me not to drink so much." You joked which earned you a deep chuckle from the man, barely loud enough for you to hear. "So um, uh. What happens now, like I'm pretty sure I've been in there for a hella long time. Is um Overwatch like still a thing or like?" "You have missed a lot. It would just be easier if Sombra explained." He told you and on queue, Sombra skipped into the room. "Good to see your still alive." She sang before sitting on the edge of the bed. She pulled up a small timeline of everything that happened, video clips and news articles which went along until you took control for a second and pulled up some news footage.

"Tragedy struck today here in the Overwatch Switzerland-based HQ where a massive explosion has claimed the lives of Strike Commander Jack Morrison of Overwatch and suspended agent Gabriel Reyes. While their bodies have not been found it is confirmed that they were indeed in the explosion and there is no possible way that they could survive." Sombra looked up at you to see the tears pricking at your eyes as you covered your mouth with one hand and she turned it off. "No, no, no." Was all you whispered as the tears escaped and rolled down your face. Your breaths were unsteady as you held yourself, grieving for the loss of your partner. "You close with them?" Sombra asked and you made eye contact with her, trying to stop your tears while you were sniffed them away. "I love him, I always will." "Jack?" You snorted at her question. "Gabriel." After that day you caught up fully on everything and soon joined Talon even though there was the Overwatch recall. After all, they did abandon you there, like hell you were going back. You worked well with Reaper and couldn't deny that you were attracted to him however you were so conflicted, you felt like you were falling in love with Reaper but you also had Gabriel and your love towards Gabe would always be so strong. You trained with Reaper to try and get you back into the shape you were in before what happened. You were too caught up in your own thoughts so when you felt yourself pinned under Reaper it was a large shock to you. "Dead." He spoke before getting off you and helping you back up. "Something's on your mind. It's distracting you. What is it?" He bluntly asked and you frowned. "Sorry, I've been thinking about what happened and I just don't understand why no one went after me. I mean they went to Kings Row anyway and Gabriel knew exactly where I was going, so why did they just dump me there. I knew I was expendable to them but I guess I didn't know how much. Like I should have known with Jack but I-I thought Gabe cared." At the end, your voice was just a whisper. "I guess that sounds kinda pathetic." You then added before getting in a defensive stance. "Use that." He spoke and you looked up at Reaper. "Use that emotion, turn it into anger and use it fight." "Why do you work for Talon, Reaper?" You asked taking a jab on the left side of him. "They have resources." You eyebrows raised, you hadn't expected him to answer honestly. "Why do you need resources?" "Revenge." He almost brought you down however you dived to the side and then collected yourself again. "Ooo, who against?" A small smiled was placed on your face as you blocked Reapers attack. "Overwatch." You hadn't been expecting that answer. "Does that include me?" You wondered out loud. "I have no reason to hate you. If anyone could understand it would actually probably be you." "What did they do which makes you hate them so much?" "Where do I start?" Reaper joked. That's something that didn't happen that often. "They turned me into this thing if you want a quick answer." He grunted as you caught his arm and twisted it to the side. However, he had been expecting this and countered you giving the advantage he needed and pinned you down on the ground again. You just lay there under him, puffing as he kept you still. "Why did you save me?" "What they did was inhumane and Overwatch never should have left you there." "How did you know what was-" "They documented it all. There were videos." "Oh. Gross."

It had been about three months since you joined Talon and about a month since you started doing missions again. You had become rather close with Reaper, Widowmaker and Sombra. Sombra was your best friend now, someone who brought light in the gloomy place. It was hard for you to get past what was done to Amelia but you eventually moved past it and she soon became close to you. You never really did get to know her in Overwatch so it was nice to get to know her now. Reaper, you had a strange relationship with him, the pair of you liked to be close but at the same time, you were both distancing yourself. It was also pretty hard that he reminded you so much of Gabriel. Sometimes it was hard for you, how could you move on when you were being constantly reminded of something?

You were on a mission with the group of them, you all had become a small squad. Sombra had gone in ahead of the rest of you while Widow covered from behind. You and Reaper were together and slowly entered the building without notifying the place. However, things didn't go to plan when the alarm went off. "Sombra." Reaper hissed into the intercom. "I stopped us from tripping the alarm." "It was someone else." You realized out loud. A large group of armed men came your way. You scanned the area for a hiding spot but gasped when felt Reapers arm snake around your waist. Before you could speak it happened, your body turned into smoke before reappearing after the men passed. Coughing you turned to Reaper who stopped you from talking, "later." However, his efforts were for naught when you were soon found immediately. It wasn't the guards though. It was the people who also infiltrated the facility, Overwatch. A gunshot whizzed past your head and you looked over to see an old woman with a sniper rifle at the top of the building. Widow was at the other side of the grounds so you highly doubted she would be able to get the woman. "Ana, she's switched to bullets most likely to do damage against me." Reaper started running with you to get to cover, but the pair of you went different ways. She could only shoot you one at a time. "Regroup at Widows location." Reaper instructed as you ran back into the facility away from Ana. As soon as Ana was out of range you were knocked to the ground by a large muscular man. By using the momentum he had created you grabbed him and smashed his face into the ground. You picked yourself up and automatically went into the defensive position while he got up and ripped his now broken visor off his face. He paused as the pair of you made eye contact. "Agent." He spoke with a voice you could never forget. Jack Morrison. You heard Reaper in your ear again. "Did you copy instructions? Regroup at Widowmakers location. He asked, you were kinda busy. "Noted." You muttered to him as Jack took a step forward. "Did Talon take you?" He asked. "They saved me." "Saved you? You saw what the did to Am-" "You left me to fucking die! I was tortured I was experimented on and you never even fucking tried to find me. Talon took me away from that. Gave me my life back." You hissed at him, anger boiling in you. He grunted and raised his gun and you dodged the rockets he fired at you which smashed into the wall behind you. He didn't care, he was trying to distract you. The large bulletproof coat you wore stopped any casual singular bullets which came at you, however, there was only so much your coat could take. You noticed Reinhardt swinging his hammer towards you. You rolled to the side but at your side so you felt a sharp pain in your side which cause you gasp out. You were outnumbered and overpowered. "Report." Reaper spoke in your ear. "Leave me, go and finish the mission." You replied, there was no point in coming back for you. "I'm not leaving you behind again." He growled back before the com went silent. Again? Ignoring the pain in your side you ran into a side room and slammed the door close. Normally you would have gone in the vents but there was no way you could hoist yourself up with your injury. There was only so much time before Reinhardt's hammer would break through the metal door. However, there was another door at the other side of the room but you knew you weren't in the shape to outrun them. Blood continued to flow from your wound which you used to your advantage and created a trail outside of the door. Then you managed to stop the trail for a few meters as you walked behind the desk on the left side which stretched across the entire room. You held your breath as the door was smashed open and Jack ran through, what was his name he used? Soldier 76. He was followed by Reinhart who fell for the false trail and pause when it finished. “Split up, she injured and won’t be able to fight.” He spoke before the pair ran off down the fork in the path. However, you soon heard more footsteps, heavy footsteps. Had Solider come back? Did he realize? You raised your two pistols towards the sound and let out a sigh of relief when Reaper was in front of you. He crouched down and examined your wound, the blood kept forming around and was slowly pooling on the floor around you. “Take your jacket and shirt off.” He instructed, you did as he told, wincing when you had to lift your arms. He took your partly bloody shirt and ripped it in half before wrapping it around the wound. He tied it tightly around your abdomen where the bullet had hit. Ana had probably switched from her usual gun as they weren't as effective on Reaper. You put your jacket back on, now only in a black bra and your jeans. He gently helped you off the group before picking you up in a bridal state. “You shoot, I’ll move.” He told you which you responded with a nod. “The others have gone on and finished the mission and have left already. We are on our own but there is a safe house not too far away from here. The chopper left behind a bike, do you think you can ride it?” He asked as you turned the corner and immediately shot the three guards which were running towards you. “With your arms around me, I could do anything.” You smiled weakly. “Yeah but I don’t think I'll be able to hang onto you from behind.” You then added in more seriously. The pair of you had eventually got to the bike and then the safehouse however by the time Reaper opened the door you had nearly passed out, your vision was hazy and you couldn’t hold on your guns any longer. Reaper placed you on top of the metal table in the middle of the kitchen. He had taken off his gauntlets before disappearing for a minute and reappearing. He had taken off his mask and robe and had a white box in his hands. You tried to focus on his face to see what he looked like but failed as your vision finally failed.

#reaper x reader #reader x reaper #gabriel reyes #gabriel imagine #gabriel x reader #reader x gabriel #reaper imagine #overwatch #overwatch imagine #talon

48 notes · View notes

segadores-y-soldados · 8 years ago

Note

I want more r76 headcanons now.. When did 76 call reaper gabe again? Was ir an accident during the mission? Was it during panic? Was it habit- that gabe pointed out something or gave jack coffee and it just slipped out? "Thanks gabe." Did jack even notice he said it? I.. i need more.. Please.. I am a lowely memer... spare some headcanons.. please...

SHAMELESS PLUG FOR MY NEW FIC “OLD HABITS” COMIN TO AN AO3 NEAR YOU THIS FRIDAY.LOTS OF SWEARING HERE. YALL BEEN WARNED.

(Context: a bully starts yelling at Jack on the first day of boot camp. Before Jack can react, another cadet steps in.)---------

“Holy shit,” the other cadet - Reyes - breathes with exhilaration, “Qué chingados, cabrón, that was fucking BALLSY what you just did - holy shit, I cannot believe you just talked us out of that - ”

“Uh, hello?” Smith asks, “We helped too.”

“You didn’t put on the fucking waterworks, man, holy shit, dude,” Reyes turns towards Jack, “I legit thought you were crying in there.”

“A few tears are easy - you gotta sell the part where you’re ‘trying but failing to be stoic,’” Jack grins at him, and winces a little at how his left cheeks smarts up at the motion, and he gingerly puts a hand to the sore spot, muttering, “Damn, you got a mean right hook too.”

“Yeah, uh, sorry about that - I was trying to hold back,” Reyes chuckles, but he doesn’t look the slightest bit apologetic.

Doesn’t matter to Jack though.

What matters is that Reyes had gotten mad and reacted before Jack could even decide what to do.

And that means more to Jack than anything else.

“...How long have you been boxing?” Jack asks curiously, and Reyes looks at him in surprise, muttering, “Is it that obvious?”

“I’ve been punched more than I care to admit,” Jack replies and he hears Jackson snort at that, and Jack grins, “Okay, so maybe sometimes, I deserved it. But you can always tell when someone’s actually practiced and when someone just fucking throws a fist.”

Reyes stares at him with an unreadable expression and then sighs, “About two, almost three years now. Took it up when mi tío suggested it instead of - you know, yeah, just about three years.”

There’s a story there, behind that hesitation.

Jack smiles genuinely, patiently at him.

He’s always willing to wait for a good story.

Reyes looks at him with a little bit of embarrassment until Jack sticks out his hand.

“What?” the cadet asks in surprise and Jack just grins, “Name’s John, but I fucking hate it, so call me Jack.”

“Are you fucking serious - ” Reyes breathes, “A goddamn handshake?”

“Aww, after all we went through, and you won’t even shake my hand?” Jack mocks at him and Reyes glares at him fiercely before smirking wickedly, “I can see why people want to punch you, jackass.”

“I mean, it is my kink - ”

“I am going to regret saying that to you,” Reyes sighs before taking Jack’s hand.

His hand is rough around the knuckles and joints from years of boxing, but it’s warm too.

“Gabriel,” he mutters.

“Encantado, Gabríel,” Jack beams at him and he sees Gabriel’s left eyebrow quirk a twitch at the Spanish, but Jack rolls on, “This is the part where you tell me you hate the name ‘Gabriel,’ so I can call you ‘Gabi,’ right?”

“Oh, holy fuck, now I really see why people want to hit you, pendejo.”

“Haha, should I put you down on the waiting list?” Jack laughs as they begin the walk back to the track, and Gabriel smirks at him, “I think I deserve the top spot considering how I knocked that motherfucker out.”

“Oh god, he just went down,” Jackson sighs happily, “Just ice fucking cold. Damn, Reyes, you gotta show me how to do that.”

“Me too,” Fremont says gleefully, “I might want to take a few swings of my own at him.”

“Guys, c’mon,” Jack says, but he’s smiling too, “We can’t fight him again. They’re gonna be watching us.”

“They don’t have eyes in the back of their heads,” Gabriel mutters, but there’s mischief in his tone and Jack -

Jack finds himself grinning too.

“Can’t believe we made ourselves the ‘problem group’ on the second day,” Smith moans a little, “My parents are gonna kill me.”

“Ey, ey,” Gabriel snaps at him, “We’re in the ‘fun group.’”

“Is that what you call it?” Jack chuckles at him, and Gabriel rolls his eyes, “What else you gonna call it?”

“The Morrison Defense Squad,” Jack suggests and Gabriel chokes a little as Jackson grins, “The Fuck Jones Crew.”

“I already said - ” Jack snaps playfully, “I don’t want to fuck him.” Gabriel rubs at his eyes, muttering, “Dios mio.”

From over the buildings behind them, the rising sun begins to burn away the morning mist.

#old habits #anonymous #reaper76 #Jack hits him with the Gabe Gabi and Gabo fast and early #Gabriel has no idea how to stop him #Jack is a menace to Gabriel's heart and needs to be stopped #shameless plug #my writing #old habit stuff #Anonymous

72 notes · View notes