The man sat at the table, head bowed, hunched over, as she walked into the room. She drew the chair out and sat down in front of him.
She spoke slowly and calmly, enunciating her words so there was no mistaking them. "So. Criminal activity. Breaking and Entering. Vandalism. Destruction of corporate property. Murder."
The man chuckled, still not looking up, and when he answered his voice was deep and raspy. "Heh. You're just another one of them. Looking to bring me in? It won't work, Ziegler."
Angela Ziegler drew back in surprise. How did he know her name? No matter. She just laughed, and in her smooth, Swiss accent, she replied, "Nein, my friend. We want to offer you a job position. I assume you have heard of the infamous organisation known as Overwatch?"
He laughed again, and looked at her. She recoiled, as she saw the mess of scars covering his face, but most importantly, what lay beneath them.
He grinned. "I think I'd like my job back."
Mercy, as she was called now, couldn't speak. This man… he was dead. "Jack?" She whispered, horrified. "It- it can't be! You're dead!"
Ex-Strike-Commander Jack Morrison looked at his old comrade, and the mess of scars on his face distorted as he tipped his head back and laughed, before looking back at her. "No, Angela. Reyes is gonna have to try a lot harder than that to keep me in the ground. Don't tell me you didn't at least suspect?"
Mercy shook her head. "No. Winston had his suspicions, but… he was the only one with any video, sound, anything. And he didn't tell any of us."
The tears were brimming in her eyes now, and as she leaned forward and unlocked his handcuffs she felt his arms close around her as he pulled her into a hug. "I've missed you, doc."
She pulled out of the hug and stumbled towards the door, unlocking it with a chip in her staff before yelling down the hallway. "Everybody! Get here right now! You need to see something!"
Angela hadn't had an opportunity to talk to Morrison since the others arrived and he had been swept up. Some of the new members, such as Lucio or Hana, who had arrived with the recall, hung back, unfamiliar with this new man. But others still, such as Reinhardt and Torbjorn or Fareeha, who remembered him from her childhood, were crowding around him and welcoming him back. Through the bodies swarming him, he met her eye and smiled faintly, and she could feel the smile tugging at her cheeks as she looked upon his infectious happiness. He was happy, of course. They had been as close as family. Well, some of them. Again, the young ones didn't know him, and some, like Jesse or Genji's brother just downright disliked him like he disliked them, due to their past transgressions.
They were sitting now in the main lounge area of Watchpoint: Gibraltar, and while they had originally been clumped together, they had spread out. Angela was sitting on one side, sipping the tea that Lena had made her, while on the other side of the room Jack and Fareeha were talking about her mother, Lucio, Genji and Hana were in the corner playing with some gaming console, and Reinhardt and Torbjorn were busy digging around for embarrassing photos about Jack. Then Lena walked – well, blinked – in. Everybody's eyes were drawn to her, of course, because that flash of blue attracts your attention. But Lena was staring at Jack, looking smitten (Though surely because of his reputation and her memories, not his looks) and Jack was staring back at her and smiling as he remembered her.
Angela felt a tugging in her chest, one that made her slightly frown in Lena's direction before realising what it was. Jealousy. Why was she jealous? Lena and Morrison used to be good friends. Surely, that was the explanation.
It was easy to tell Jack had returned. The lightening of the atmosphere, the spring in everyone's step and, of course, the raised count of infirmary patients.
Angela finished applying the nanobot stream to an intern's leg, who thanked her. "The doctor's advice is to avoid training." She told him, hinting at keeping away from Jack's harsh training scheme lest the leg break again. She sent him on his way with a smile before turning to her next patient… Jack.
"Guten Tag, Jack. What brings you here?"
He pressed a hand to his back and grinned wryly. "That McCree kid's a good fighter. You can tell Reyes trained him. I'm not as young as I used to be, doc."
She rolled her eyes and raised her Caduceus staff, fixing the strained muscle in his back. "Bitte. Auf wiedersehen, Jack. Until the next time you hurt yourself."
He grinned and waved. "Later, doc."
As he walked out of the office, she couldn't help but wonder. There was no way Jack was gonna get beaten in a fistfight. He could deal with Reinhardt and win. Reyes never was as good as he was, anyway. So how did he get hurt? Unless…
He did it on purpose.
Angela sighed as she pulled up her medical records. "You know, Jack. This is the eighth time you've been in here with an injury. Is something wrong?"
He blushed. "Nah, doc. I'm just not as young and quick as I used to be."
Kuhscheiße. She watched Jack train. The new kids had nothing on him. Only Fareeha ever got close, but somehow it was never Fareeha causing the injuries.
She grinned shyly at him. "You know, Jack, It's almost like you're here on purpose. If you want to see me, you could just ask."
He shrugged and flashed a disarming smile. "Okay. Wanna go get a coffee sometime, doc?"
She blinked, certainly disarmed. She really wasn't expecting that. "Uh, um, uh…"
He laughed. "Don't worry, doc. I'll take that as a yes."
With that parting comment, he stood up and walked out, as annoyingly confident as ever. That confidence had made her comment completely backfire on her, in the best possible way.