Chapter Text
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Gabriel looked up from the repair job he had been doing on Jack’s back. Their old Overwatch communicators were the source of the sound, flashing softly on their belts. Jack was about to get up to answer the call, but Gabriel motioned for him to stay in his seat. Gabriel grabbed his communicator and put it to his ear.
Jack watched Gabriel carefully for his reaction as he listened to whoever was speaking. Surprise flickered over his face, followed by grimness. He clicked the communicator off.
“Who was that?” Jack asked.
“Winston,” Gabriel answered. “He’s initiated a recall of all Overwatch agents.”
The news sunk in. A recall for the organization that had lied so much to Jack? Considering how much of a sideshow the old Overwatch actually was, was this really for the best? Could they actually do a better job than last time?
“I think…” Jack slowly said. “We should join.”
“Are you sure? We didn't do the best of jobs, especially regarding you.” Gabriel looked very serious.
“That was a long time ago." Jack said dismissively. "We’ll definitely have a better chance to take down Talon if we work with others. They’re bound to have more resources than us, they’ll almost certainly be able to do a better job fixing me up than us. And,” he bowed his head. “I have to make up for what I did.”
Gabriel placed his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Alright. But I'm still worried, especially about the ones that don’t know the whole story, that think you’re just a traitor. They might try to junk you.”
Jack softly kissed Gabriel. “I know you won’t let that happen.”
Gabriel returned the kiss. “Yeah, I’d just rather not break the limbs of guys who are supposed to be our allies.”
Jack snorted, and stood up. “Now, let’s get ready to come back from the dead.”
“Way ahead of you on that one.”
X
As it turned out, just strolling up to the Watchpoint was not the best of ideas. As they approached the base, an arrow whizzed through the air and struck Reaper in the shoulder. Soldier: 76 started firing in the direction the arrow had come from, while Reaper wraithed up to where the archer was, leaving the arrow to clatter onto the ground. Soldier: 76 quickly scaled the wall and followed after him, and found Reaper grappling with a tattooed man who had decided to expose part of his chest for some odd reason.
“Let go of my brother!”
A familiar cyborg ninja was running towards them, sword raised. This reunion was off to a great fucking start. “Genji!” Reaper shouted. With his free hand, he took his mask off. “It’s me!”
Genji screeched to a halt. “Commander Reyes…? What the hell happened to you?”
The archer took the opportunity to free himself from Reaper’s grasp. “How do you know this man, Genji?”
“That is a long, long explanation,” Soldier: 76 spoke up. On the ground, the rest of the newly-resurrected Overwatch was pouring out to investigate the commotion. “And you can hear it with the rest of the team.”
Once they were all inside, they were given introductions to the new faces on the team. Hanzo, the one who had shot at them, Zenyatta, an omnic monk and Genji’s mentor, and Lúcio, a DJ who had decided to fight the good fight. Not everyone who had already joined were there; Reinhardt, Brigitte, Fareeha, and Jesse were currently out on a mission to Ilios.
“Thanks for the arrow, by the way,” Gabriel said.
“I have heard of your reputation,” Hanzo retorted, scowling. “You worked with Talon, so forgive me for my caution.”
“It’s called working behind enemy lines, ever heard of it?”
“Alright!” Angela stood, arms held up between them. “This is not the time for further argument. Gabriel, what have you been doing all these years?”
Lena piped up. “And why do you look like, well…”
“Like the grave chewed me up and spat me out? Because that’s what happened, thanks to some enhancements a friend gave me. Not exactly the best choice of my life, as you can see."
Gabriel continued. “I’ve been working on taking Talon down. I worked with them so I could get a feel for their methods and tactics. Then a certain friend came back, so I quit and started working with him instead. We hit their bases and recovered whatever intel we could get our hands on.”
“So um, if I may ask, who is he?” Mei asked.
Soldier: 76 took his mask off, and gasps echoed through the crowd, either because they were horrified by the sight, they recognized him, or both. “Jack?” Lena said in a small voice. “Is that really you?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Wait, Jack? As in Jack Morrison?” Lúcio said. “Weren’t you the one who blew up Overwatch the first time?”
“Yes,” Jack clenched his fists. “Talon hacked into me and forced me to destroy the base.”
Hanzo eyed him suspiciously. “Then how do we know that will not happen again?”
Gabriel stepped protectively in front of Jack, but Jack walked past him, hands up in the air. “Because I’ll let you make sure I won’t.”
Gabriel watched after Jack as he left the room with Torbjörn and Winston. His eyes met Ana, who smiled. “Welcome to our motley little crew. You two will fit right in.”
X
Torbjörn stepped back from Jack, and pulled his welding mask up. “Done. I’ve done the best job I can with what we have now.”
Jack got off the bench and stretched his limbs. Already he felt a lot better than he had in five years. “Thanks, it’s great not being so stiff anymore.”
Torbjörn rummaged around his workbench, and pulled out pack of artificial skin. “Now I just have to make you look presentable.”
“No.”
Torbjörn raised an eyebrow. “No?”
“I don’t want my face fixed. It’s a good reminder.”
The engineer shrugged. “Alright, but don’t be surprised if people start screaming whenever they see you in public.”
“That’s what's the mask for,” Jack went over to Winston, who had been patiently waiting for Torbjörn to finish his repairs.
“Are you really alright with giving me access to your AI?” Winston asked.
“I am.” Jack took a seat. “I don’t want to risk Talon turning me against you. Never again.”
Winston nodded and adjusted his glasses. “I just wanted to make sure I had your clear consent.” He took a cable and plugged it into Jack’s head. “Does that feel uncomfortable?”
There was a tickling sensation throughout his whole head. “No, I’m fine.”
“Okay,” Winston began typing, looking through Jack’s entire code, and correcting any errors he could find. “Athena, layer Jack with the best security protocols you can.”
“Affirmative.”
“Winston,” Jack suddenly said.
The scientist glanced away from the screen. “Yes?”
“If Talon does manage to take over me again...you have my permission to use whatever means you can to stop me.”
“Well, hopefully, things won’t ever reach that point.”
“I’m serious. I want to make sure that you guys will be able to do something against me, unlike last time.”
There was an uneasy silence. “You want a self-destruct option,” Winston said flatly.
“If that’s what it takes.”
“I’ll...see what I can do,” Winston said awkwardly, going back to work.
The atmosphere became uncomfortable. Jack was glad when Winston finally stepped back from the console and removed the cable. “I’ve done what I can to fix up and protect your AI. At the very least, Talon will have a difficult time hacking into you again.”
Jack stood. “Winston, I really can’t overstate how thankful I am for this. Thank you so much.”
Winston smiled slightly. “You’re welcome.”
Jack left the lab. Gabriel was there, waiting for him. They took each other’s hands and headed to their new room.
Tomorrow would be a very busy day.