Work Text:
“So can you go in the water or not?”
“What?” Ana waved a hand over him, and Gabriel self-consciously looked himself over. Going to the beach presented him with the the choice between the risk of drawing unwanted attention with his skin smoking away, or the certainty of suspicion by covering himself head to toe. Enough time being stable and his nostalgia for beach fashion meant he opted for the former, but Ana’s gesture set him on edge.
“I mean, I know you have a lot of control over the vapes, especially now. But still. Is it like a bath bomb situation?”
“Ana.”
“I’m just saying, I’ve never seen you shower. And I need to know how grossed out I should be by that.”
“Ana.”
“Ana,” Jack said, and both of them turned to look up at him as he approached. He handed Ana her margarita, fell into the free chair, and pulled his baseball cap over his face. “Let him live,” he said, his voice muffled by the hat. Ana rolled her eyes but turned her attention to her drink. Gabriel turned his head to the umbrella-obscured sky and thought, for the thousandth time, how strange it was that they were all here.
-
Even finding them had been a struggle. Sombra had a hard time tracking them down, though she had been loathe to admit that. After Talon crumbled and the new Overwatch stabilized, neither the Shrike nor Soldier: 76 had made any appearances. No one in the underworld had a word to say about them, other than some grumbles about being owed a payment or a drink. Sombra had kept eyes on Fareeha, but the one shady email address she had found in her inbox led back to McCree. As Gabriel sat there, listening to Sombra curse at her computer, he tried to tamp down the sickening feeling that he had lost them in the most real way.
But one day, Sombra burst into the guest bedroom of the Chateau and triumphantly shoved a printout of a security still in his face. When he pulled his head back enough to register the image, he saw a woman in an eyepatch walking past an ATM. Gabriel’s heart had not beat in years but he could have sworn he felt it stop all over again.
“How did you find them?” he asked. Sombra grinned.
“Well. You know how she always had a bunch of Jimmy Buffet in her Spotify?”
And so the next day, the small plane Sombra flew touched down in an abandoned parking lot on the west coast of O’ahu. He got out of the plane and paced in the lot for about an hour. Sombra sat there, leaning against a mural of Obama, and watched him.
“You’re going to go eventually,” she stated. He turned to her. She looked bored for the most part, but she could never truly hide when her eyes got sharp.
“Just… what if it doesn’t work out?”
“I don’t know, Gabe. I don’t even know what you think it ‘working out’ is. But at least you’ll know. Get some closure.” He had stared at her, nodded, and then made his way down the main street, to the old bungalow at the edges of the suburbs.
They were sitting on the porch together when he came into view. There was a large dog running around the front yard, and it stopped and barked at him, and that was when they saw him. Gabriel walked up to their house with his hands up, in clothing that could not hide shotguns. Ana had moved herself in front of Jack anyway.
“I’m not here to fight,” Gabriel said, in as calm and clear a voice as he could manage with his vocal chords fried. “I’m not armed. I just want to talk. Can we talk?”
Something bumped up against his leg and he looked down. The dog was staring up at him, wagging its tail.
“Makana,” Jack said hoarsely. “Come here.” The dog glanced back at him but did not retreat. Instead it jumped on Gabriel, whining a little. Gabriel looked back up at the porch.
“I’m just going to pet them,” he said, and slowly lowered his hands until one was resting on Makana’s head. The dog hopped down and leaned into his scratching.
“Her,” Jack said. “Makana’s a girl.”
“Okay,” Gabriel said. Ana sighed and walked to the door.
“Come in. Let’s talk.”
He sat at their kitchen table scratched Makana behind the ears and apologized. For what he had done at Overwatch, for what he had done at Talon. For what he had done to Ana, for what he had done to Jack. He didn’t expect anything from them, he told them. He wanted them to have a relationship again but he had tried to kill Jack. He would understand if they told him to leave, and would begrudge them nothing.
“But you did try to kill me,” Jack said slowly. “I’m not saying that to argue with you. I want–” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t want to fight with you. But the thing is, even before the base, you were angry at me. And nothing’s changed. Are you still angry with me?”
Gabriel answered, “No,” because Jack had not done anything to deserve his anger. Jack sat back and frowned.
“We need more time,” Ana said. She looked over at Jack and after a moment, he nodded. “And we have a guest bedroom.”
He found Sombra in a shaved ice place not far from the plane. There was a surf shack bag on the stool next to her and he knew without having to look that she had bought the tackiest possible Hawaiian shirt for Widowmaker.
“How did it go?” she asked as he approached.
“They invited me to stay with them for a couple weeks.” Sombra set down her styrofoam cup and clapped her hands. He winced.
“So it worked out!”
“I don’t know, Sombra, they want me to stay because we have so much more to talk about, there’s so much we haven’t even touched on, everything's so weird–”
“It’ll work out,” Sombra said confidently. “I know it will.” She picked up her cup and bag and clapped his shoulder as she passed him. “Give me like, a day’s warning for when you want to be picked up. If you want to be picked up.”
Sombra knew a lot of things. But he did not believe her, those first few days. He could feel the routine established in the bungalow buckle and jam around him. Ana and Jack were both fearful of leaving Gabriel alone with the other, and were awkward when they were together with him. Gabriel saw Ana watch Jack drinking, and saw her turn from it back to her holovid. Makana’s walks had become sprints and the dog did not seem pleased with this development.
But on the fourth day Ana had scheduled a visit to Fareeha’s that she was unwilling to reschedule. He and Jack revolved around each other, Jack drinking in an armchair and Gabriel sitting on the floor, playing some fps video game Ana had gotten into. That night, Jack broke orbit.
“Can you still have sex?” Jack asked. Gabriel dropped the controller. His character was gunned down almost instantly. He turned to Jack, ignoring the respawn screen.
“What?”
“I mean, like. You said you wanted to have a relationship again. And before in our relationship, you and I had sex. But uh.” Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “I know you said you’re stable but with the uh, smoky stuff, I wasn’t sure if you could…”
“I can bottom,” Gabriel said, once Jack had petered out. “My nerve endings still function, but I don’t have. Fluids. So…”
“Right. Right. Makes sense.” Gabriel nodded, unwilling to make eye contact. “Do you. Want to have sex?”
Gabriel looked Jack over, noticed him adjusting slightly under the scrutiny, and smiled. “Yeah,” he said.
Jack led him back to the guest bedroom, not the master. “It’s what Ana and I agreed on,” he explained, and Gabriel had nodded and thought about how that meant Jack had had sex with other men here, and thought about how he had no idea how he felt about that. He pulled off his shirt and laid down on the bed. Jack opened drawer of the bedside table and slammed it shut after he had retrieved a condom and lube.
“You’re eager.”
“Sorry,” Jack said. He put the things down at the foot of the bed and straddled Gabriel’s waist, and started unbuttoning his shirt. Gabriel felt content to lay there and watch. “It’s just been a while.”
He thought about asking Jack what exactly he meant by that, but then Jack leaned in and kissed him, and Gabriel tried to focus on that. Jack had more stubble now than he had had in a long time. His hands were rough and calloused when they skirted his sides. And he was old now, something Gabriel had obviously known but now truly felt, his fingers bumping over wrinkles as he traced his hand down his face. Jack ground down on him and Gabriel could feel that he was starting to get hard. He wondered what Jack was thinking, touching him like this again. Jack had grown and changed and could change still. Gabriel was static in the most alien way.
Gabriel hooked his thumb under the waistband of Jack’s shorts. Jack pulled back a little, breathing heavily. When Gabriel popped the button on his fly, Jack said, “Stop.”
Gabriel removed his hand instantly. Jack was staring down at him with his brow furrowed, but he did not move. Gabriel felt a spike of irritation. “What?”
“Your arm,” Jack said. Gabriel looked down and oh. Where his right arm had been, there was just a black cloud.
“Sorry,” Gabriel mumbled. He closed his eyes and counted to eight, trying to focus just on the numbers and the void at his shoulder. When he opened his eyes, his arm was back and Jack was climbing off him. Jack sat next to him on the bed.
“Are you still angry with me?” Jack asked.
Gabriel answered, “Yes,” because he was. He and Jack had gone through everything together, survived the SEP together, the war together, their bodies had been broken down and rebuilt and chipped at ever so slowly by identical forces. Until one day Gabriel had woken up and his body had been wisping away. And Jack remained the same. It had been absurd, it had been terrifying, and Gabriel had been alone. He could handle the Strike Commander position passing over him, preferred it in fact, but when Jack left him behind here it felt like the worst betrayal.
And then Ana was gone and Jack had taken her last moments all for himself. And then Gabriel had woken up in the wreckage of the Swiss Headquarters and reached out for Jack and Jack had not been there. And then the last of his body had given way.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said, in that tiny bedroom, windows open but still too hot, the hum of insects filling up the silence. Gabriel rubbed his eyes and shook his head.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But you were scared,” Jack said. “And you felt alone. I wish I could have been there for you. Maybe it wasn’t my fault,” he said, and took Gabriel’s hands, “but I’m sorry.”
Gabriel nodded mutely and tugged. Jack got the hint and lay down, and Gabriel wrapped himself around him. His snoring had somehow gotten worse since Gabriel had last slept next to him. Gabriel had missed it so much.
The day after Ana came back, Jack told them he was going to Maui for the day, to get a part for the car he needed. Gabriel doubted the legitimacy of that claim and he imagined Ana did too. They watched each other carefully throughout the day, waiting for the other to make the first move.
Gabriel’s reunion with Ana was nowhere near as stilted as was the one he had with Jack. Ana had just told him, “I’m going to bed,” Gabriel had seen his opportunity squandered, and he had folded in on himself, hyperventilating.
She rushed over to him, alarmed, and knelt down next to him. “Gabriel, what’s wrong?” He shook his head, his hands over his mouth. Everything was wrong, everything was too much, he had done too much, Ana’s hand on his back burned.
“I’m sorry, Ana,” he said. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“It’s okay, Gabriel,” she said. “I forgive you.” He shook his head violently.
“I can’t, Ana. I love you so much and I didn’t know what to do with that when you were gone. I ruined everything, Ana. I burned down everything we built together because I didn’t want it if you weren’t there to have it. It was the most selfish I’ve ever been. It was the worst thing I could have done to your memory. I can’t forgive myself for that. I’m sorry.”
Ana hummed. The hand on his back moved in a small, calming circle. “Okay,” she said. “But I forgive you. And I want you here, Gabriel.” Something in her voice made him look up. Her good eye was to him and it was shining. “I missed you so much, you being gone hurt so bad, and finding out you were alive didn’t help like it did with Jack.” She wiped at her eye. “Fighting with you made me sharper, stronger, kinder. Fighting against you broke my heart. I’ve been given so many more chances than I deserve, but I never thought I’d get this one. I love you. Please don’t take this from me.”
“Okay,” Gabriel said softly. “Okay.” Ana looked up at him and he met her gaze. She frowned. “What?”
“You’re, ah, smoking.” He groaned and felt around his face. “Left ear.”
“Thanks.” He swatted at the vapor collected at the side of his head, and felt it reform. “It just does that sometimes. When I’m emotional.”
Ana stood up and looked him over. “So you’re all smoky now, yes?”
“Yes…?”
“So does that mean you weigh less?”
“I mean, I suppose so–” He cut himself off with a yelp as Ana leaned over and picked him up. She grinned down at him as he glared up at her.
“I’ve always wanted to do this,” she chirped, and carried him across to the master bedroom. Gabriel rolled his eyes and put his arms around her neck.
Ana dropped him on the bed and then crawled in next to him. She was aroace, his relationship with her was very different from what he had with Jack. But holding her again felt just as much like coming home.
She fell asleep soon and Gabriel remained there, arms around her. Soon after, he heard Jack coming home, and coming into the bedroom. Gabriel couldn’t sleep, they both knew that, and so it must have been force of habit that led Jack to be painstakingly careful as he lowered himself into bed and wrapped himself around Gabriel’s back. Jack fell asleep and Gabriel lay in between them, awake and utterly at peace.
In the morning, the two of them started to stir at around the same time. Gabriel cleared his throat. “I can get started on breakfast,” he said. “That is, if you two let me out.”
They responded by wriggling closer to him, trapping him further. Gabriel snorted into Ana’s hair but did not complain.
-
Now they were here on the beach, all together, and it was impossibly strange. Gabriel dropped his head on Ana’s shoulder. She looked up from her margarita and smiled at him, and put her arm around his shoulder. Makana trotted up to them and settled at Jack’s feet.
“I can go in the water,” Gabriel told her. He spoke quietly, so he wouldn’t wake Jack. “Do you want to go swimming later?”
“In a little bit,” Ana said. “Right now, I’m happy here.” Gabriel nodded against her shoulder and she leaned on him.
Four-odd months had elapsed since that first week. Ana had brought a cat home and Gabriel had gotten scratched up trying to keep Makana from getting swatted. He had planted hibiscus flowers with Jack and consoled him when Jack overwatered them and they died. Ana had held his hand as he Skyped with Fareeha for the first time and after three hours of tears and yelling, they made plans to visit in the fall. He and Jack had finally had sex again– at first, more awkward than it had any right to be after decades together, but getting more familiar every time. He did not know how any of it had happened. The only thing he knew about the future was that in a little bit, he and Ana were going swimming. And Gabriel knew that was good. He was happy here.