Disclaimer: I do not own any properties tied with Overwatch.
Soldier 76 leaned on the railing on the rooftop of the base, overlooking the Mediterranean sea. It was nighttime, with a full moon overhead. His thoughts were swirling to the battle they had earlier today.
When the first Overwatch built the Gibraltar base it was decided that carving it into the side of the Rock of Gibraltar would give it a formidable defensible position, it also had an unplanned bonus of giving the base crew a spectacular view of the Mediterranean. It was a popular base to be stationed at, second only to Zurich.
After the fall of the original organization, it was decommissioned and remained abandoned until Winston reactivated the facility to launch his communications satellite and bring back the Overwatch communications system for the recall notice. It also became the defacto new base of operations for the reformed Overwatch.
This is what attracted the attention of Talon, and had prompted a sudden attack on the facility to capture it. The shadowy terrorist organization wanted to use the communication system for their own ends. The heroes had managed to fight off the terrorist attack, and drive them off the peninsula.
'We got lucky today,' Soldier 76 thought to himself. If it wasn't for Mercy and Lucio keeping up on the healing they would have been overrun and killed. The ex-solder absentmindedly touched his chest, remembering Reaper's blade's slicing open his chest, spraying blood everywhere.
'Another inch deeper and my heart would have been shredded,' Jack shuddered as he rubbed the scar through his shirt. He managed to fire off a rocket blast into Reaper's face at point blank range. It wasn't enough to kill his former friend, but he knew it would give him a nice headache for a good while. His healing field managed to close up the wound, but it left behind another scar on his already marred body.
His mind considered if he should start wearing some form of body armor with chain mail. Even with his super soldier augmentation, his body couldn't seem to stop bullets or knives. His black t-shirt wasn't cutting it. Before he could further analyze the tactical advantages of his current costume, the sound of laughing from within the base had echoed out to his ears.
The rest of the hero's had decided to celebrate their victory with a party and insisted that everyone attend. Soldier 76 did so, but he stayed on the periphery of it just to observe and made small talk when it was necessary. He had waited for the party to get into full swing and everyone else was distracted to quietly slip away. He found his break when Reinhardt had one too many lagers and fell through a table.
In his old life as Jack Morrison, he would have gladly partied with his old comrades and would have challenged the old German to a drinking contest; swapped shooting techniques with McCree; or would have gotten a dance from Mercy.
'Angela,' Jack thought before he shook his head. Part of him was glad to be working with his old teammates, but aside from Ana, he kept his true identity a secret from the rest. The Jack Morrison they remembered died years ago in that explosion in Zurich. He could work with the rest easily, but had to keep his distance from Mercy. In his old life their was an attraction there that could have blossomed into something special had things not deteriorated with Reyes as they did.
He could see in her eyes that she still carried a flame for Jack, and had a sorrow in her eyes he caught on a few occasions. Part of him wondered if she had seen through him already, but he brushed that thought away as she had treated him as a stranger since his recruitment. He figured as long as he kept his distance, then she'd be none the wiser.
76's thoughts circled back to the rest of the team, and he saw that in his old life he invested his emotions heavily into them as if they were his family. In a way, they were, as his real family had died in the Omnic wars so long ago. Overwatch became his surrogate family, and that's why the rift caused by Reyes had affected him so much. He was acting like a parent trying to hold together a family and was blinded by the danger signs his subordinate was showing.
It was something he came to realize only after his alleged death and the years after spent in solitude. He wondered if re-joining the group was the best idea, but his only other choice was to stay a vigilante and either wind up dead or imprisoned. At least he knew now what mistakes not to make again, and with the rest of Overwatch he could fight his war properly.
The former soldier let out a breath and focused his attention back out to the Mediterranean, the shimmering stars on waves of the horizon. The view made his mind reminisce to a similar night in Zurich long ago. A clear night at their former headquarters, in his darkened office. The moonlight providing the only illumination, and giving a certain blonde doctor a healthy glow. His mind remembered her bright blue eyes, her warm embrace, and soft lips. It was a special night, that would have been the start of something special, had Reyes not decided to kill him the next day.
Jack shook his head again to forget, and to bury it like he's buried everything else of his past. It was at that moment he caught the sound of a footstep behind him. He cursed mentally at himself for letting his guard down, and not keeping a better handle on his surroundings. Though he didn't expect to be attacked tonight, so he figured it was just Ana checking up on him.
"What do you want Amari?" 76 said over his shoulder in a displeased voice. Instead of an Egyptian woman's response, he received one from a certain Swiss doctor, "It's only me."
76 whipped around in surprise and beheld Angela Ziegler standing before him. She was in her white medic dress, with the moonlight making it and her glow.
The former soldier stood stunned as his mind thought back to that night in Zurich but he quickly clamped down his emotions and spoke in his normal gruff voice, "What do you want Mercy?"
"I wanted to talk to you alone Jack," the doctor's blue eyes bore into 76's red visor.
"My name is not…," he began.
"I know your real identity," Mercy cut him off. "I know you're Jack Morrison."
"You can't prove that."
"I have DNA proof. The torn up shirt you threw away? It had enough blood for me to run a sample against the sample I had in the archives. Ninety-nine percent match," The doctor stated matter of fact.
Jack cursed under his breath for making such a small slip-up and not throwing that shirt in the incinerator. "Who else knows Angela?"
"No one else Jack. I waited for you to slip away so we could talk alone," she stepped closer to him.
76 tried a different tactic, "The Jack Morrison you knew is dead Angela."
Instead of looking horrified at hearing that statement, the doctor smiled at him, "No he isn't. I've seen you fight. You're still the very brave and reckless soldier I've healed and watched over years ago."
Angela was now in his personal space, and Jack could not backup as his back was already at the railing.
"What do you want Angela?"
"I just want to talk Jack," she put her hand on his chest, over his heart. "Take off your visor and mask. I want to see your face again. I want to see the face of the man I fell in love with."
'Turn away Jack, turn away now,' his mind ordered his body. However, Angela's blue eyes sparkled under the moonlight and her hand burned a path to his heart. Before he knew it, his hand slowly took off the tactical visor and face mask to pocket them in his jacket.
Angela's smile widened as she took in Jack's face. It was older than the last time she saw it and it had scars from the explosion, but it was still the same face and blue eyes she lost herself in. Her eyes began to water.
Jack saw the tears on her face and he involuntarily cupped her face and wiped one away with his thumb, "Why are you crying?"
"I'm so happy you're back," she held his hand to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too Angel," he replied in a softer tone as he let his buried emotions to finally surface. Before Mercy could reply, 76 leaned in and captured her lips. Angela was caught by surprise but she moaned in delight and put her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. It lasted for as long as their breath would allow. After that, they held each other under on that roof under the stars and letting their emotions flow through them.
Eventually Angela lead Jack back inside the base, which the former soldier assumed was to go back to the party. He raised an eyebrow at her when he noticed they had stopped outside her quarters. With reddened cheeks, she replied that he needed proper healing, and that she could only do that in her personal quarters. Jack Morrison only smiled and said that he always followed doctor's orders.
Fin