Work Text:
Everyday, Gabriel Reyes makes a phone call. No matter where he is, no matter how busy he is, he makes a phone call. As the monotonous beeping tone stops, he always starts with “I’m your Gabriel.” He waits right afterwards, for the three words to travel through the atmosphere, into the other’s eardrum.
“Gabriel? I only have one Gabriel.” Came the reply.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Oh, Gabriel where are you?”
“I’m in Indiana.”
“Why didn’t you come see me yesterday? When will you come to see me?”
“I visited you yesterday. Just left this morning.”
“Really? I don’t even remember. When will you visit me again?”
“Next week.”
“Who… Who are you?”
“I’m your Gabriel.”
“Gabriel? I only have one Gabriel. Where are you?”
“I’m in Indiana.”
“Why didn’t you come see me yesterday? When will you come to see me?”
…
When Gabriel visits him in Indiana, Gabriel, who do not require sleep anymore, given his… condition, always decides to sleep with Jack. He tucks him in like a child, making sure that Jack won’t catch a cold, before playing him the recording. A recording from a lifetime ago of Gabriel passionately playing a guitar to his favourite golden-haired boy. Soft songs about how Jack is his sunshine, about how Jack is his angel, about just how much he loves him.
Setting the audio up and pressing play, Gabriel proceeds to turn off the lights, only leaving the little lamp in the bathroom on, before laying down next to him. Waiting, waiting for him to fall asleep. When he hears the familiar soft and peaceful breaths, indicating that Jack is off to dreamland, he gets up to continue his work - his work of gathering more intel to prepare for the day when he brings down Talon once and for all.
The sky starts to brighten, that’s when Jack lightly walks to him, before silently sitting down next to Gabe. Do all old men do that?
Body which gets thinner everyday, steps which are lighter everyday, voice which is weaker everyday, expression which is more emotionless everyday…
In other words, reducing into nothing but a shadow. Do all old men do that?
Still looking at his work, Gabriel asks, “Why are you up so early? You want a hot cup of milk?”
Jack says nothing, silently staring at him, before whispering, “You look like my Gabriel.”
Gabriel raises his head, before brushing Jack’s snowy-white hair with his hand. “Jack, I promise, I am your Gabriel.”
Jack looks at Gabe with an expression that can only be described as pure surprise, blended with content and joy. “I knew it! I looked at you for hours, thinking that you looked like him. Didn’t realise it really was you! But… But it’s weird. Last night, there was someone lying on my bed. He was very friendly, he also said that he was my Gabriel, how weird.”
“That was me last night.” Gabriel said while pouring cold milk into a glass, before putting it in the microwave oven. Distantly, he hears a cockcrow.
“Then where did you come from?” A confused Jack asked,
“I came from Rialto to visit you.” It is obvious that Jack is trying his best to process the information. He received the cup of hot milk, before continuing his enquiry, “If you are my Gabriel, then why aren’t you by my side all the time? If you didn’t spend your time with me, who did you spend it with?”
Gabriel sat down, then gently grabbed Jack’s skinny hand and placed it in his palms and looked at him. He started from the beginning, “We were married right before Overwatch was founded, you became the Strike Commander, but we still always looked after each other…” Gabriel hesitated. He did not want to go over their fallout, the explosion, the constant fights between Reaper and Soldier: 76. He did not want to tell Jack about them, not just because he did not want to emotionally hurt Jack, but also since these events are reminders that Gabriel has wasted so much time, that Gabriel wasn’t there when he needed him most, that Gabriel did not even realise that Jack was diagnosed with dementia until the day Ana busted through the door of the safe house he was in, hitting him while screaming at him about Jack’s situation.
He decided to only tell Jack about the happy memories, the lovely mornings they shared, the magnificent nights they had…
Gabriel talked and talked and the sky lit up more and more. The sun is raised from that distant mountain, shining rays of sunlight into their room.
…
Sometimes, Ana accompanies Jack and they travel to different parts of the world. After Gabriel found out, he always drop the things he had on hand to travel with them. This time, they are going to Hanamura. Gabriel first brought them to a hot spring. Sitting inside the hot water, Jack curiously stared at all the visitors, humans and Omnics alike. It’s a good thing that Gabriel grabbed his hand on time, before Jack can point at an Omnic and say, “Ha, I thought those tin cans were not waterproof!”
Next up, they were going to take a tourist train around a beautiful mountain with blossoming sakura. As the train steadily travels, Jack silently looks at the scenery outside the window as it fly pass his eyes. The glass pane reflects his facial features, ones that are blurred with the pink sakura outside. Jack’s eyes are focus-less, as if he’s in another universe. Perhaps he is, in Jack’s mind, he’s living happily ever after with Gabriel, like they are supposed to be - no pain, no fights, no fuss, no heartbreaks, just them.
After the train stops, they got off. Right as they’re about to leave the platform, Gabriel got an idea and said, “Jack, this is the first time you’re riding a train. Come sit on this bench, I’ll take a photo of you.”
Jack soundlessly sat on the bench, with hands on his knees. There were blooming sakura trees behind him, perfect.
“Your Gabriel wants you to smile, Jackie.”
Jack looked at him, before giving out a warm smile. That’s when he realise he was wearing a plain white T-shirt with casual trousers. The same that he wakes up seeing Jack in while giving Gabriel a warm kiss on the cheeks. The same that Jack always wore in the happy memories.