Hit From The Inside

by Ahvilon

How did the black-clad terrorist known as Reaper come to be? To the eye of the public, Reyes seemed content to stay in the shadows. When would his pent-up rage become his downfall, when would the few people he trusted turn on him and use him as a weapon? Although he cannot remember why Reaper will do anything to take down all those affiliated with Overwatch.

Sirens were the first thing that could be heard when the chaos began to subside. Fading emergency alarms and services alike beginning to rush in for survivors and to see if there would be another explosion to what was the Zurich base of Overwatch. In the distance, there were cries from those who found the remains of their beloved teammates, taken from them in the safety of their own base instead of the raging battlefield most agents were more accustomed to. Although Overwatch had brought a lot of controversy and the public's loyalty to the Strike Commanders' decisions after the Omnic Crisis had been won, no one had ever expected something like this to happen. Overwatch had been hit from the inside. That was the only way that an explosion of this side could've made sense. Though there had been corruption and the UN was constantly on the Commanders' asses for every breath they took, this didn't add up. Why would someone want to take the organization down in this way?

There was a lot of time for these thoughts to go through the Blackwatch commander's mind as it seemed it would take forever for the rescue teams to ever find his battered form. Gabriel's body lay in a strange position, and he was certain that his leg shouldn't be turned that way with there being no pain. Strange, he thought, perhaps he could find O'Deorain or even Ziegler to help but at this rate, that didn't seem like a viable option. But something like a broken leg wasn't going to stop the super soldier. It hadn't in the past and it wasn't going to now. Allowing a moment for his thoughts to straighten and figure out if the rescue crew was actually going to find him or not, Gabriel huffed as he began to shift his form. Rubble fell from where it lay on his back, muscled arms shaking as they supported his large form. It had been many years since Reyes had felt this weak, the last time had to have been before the SEP program or perhaps during it when most of the members, test subjects, of his unit had caught a nasty virus; a side effect from the serum, and were no longer able to continue with the process of the program. Pushing through the exhaustion and pain, Gabriel freed him of the confines of what used to be the roof of his Zurich office. He blinked the dust out of his eyes, not wishing to touch them as he did not want to get any blood in them from his ripped hands. Reyes pushed himself up into a somewhat sitting position, peering out into the distance. How many had survived? Would he be found? What had happened to his body and how injured was her? There were too many questions running through his mind and none of them would be answered any time soon. At least not for a while. Most of his teams had been in the training facility, somewhere that he was going to head after a phone call that had to be taken care of and making up a quick drill plan. The phone call had been to the Strike Commander, Jack Morrison, about some changes that had to be made to one of the upcoming missions Blackwatch would be cleaning up.

Gathering a coherent train of thought, Gabriel began to wonder if the Commander was alright; if he had gotten out of the blast or not. It wasn't probably but Gabe could only hope that his old friend had made it out or at least was alive. He didn't think he could handle losing another close friend after losing Captain Amari to Talon and Jesse McCree walking out on him a few months back. It seemed like everyone was slowly leaving him whether it was intentional or not. Letting out a sigh, Gabriel laid back into the rubble as he was hit with a massive headache, his eyes lazily open to watch the smoke rise to the otherwise clear blue sky. Soon the smoke grew darker until it was pitch black and thick tendrils were surrounding him. It seemed that the explosion had triggered his unwanted ability he had gained from O'Deorain; his form beginning to wain and wraith instead. Although he and the geneticist had been trying to find a way for him to be able to control when he could and couldn't wraith it seemed that he hadn't the energy; mental or physical, to keep himself in one piece.

"I thought we worked on your control, Reyes, or did my teachings go over your head once again?" Came a voice hinted with an Irish accent through his daze. Gabriel lifted his head and turned eyes to where the voice had come from, spotting the red haired medical professional standing atop the rubble with her hands behind her back. Whether it was due to the haze or if he was just delusional, Gabe began to view her as the devil, mostly due to the inverted halo and her darkly coloured combat suit. "You seem uninjured Moira… How?" Gabriel rasped, lowering his head once more to conserve his energy once he realized the doctor was not a threat. Or at least not a large one.

"I was returning from another Watchpoint when we watched the catastrophe from the safety of the dropship." The medic explained calmly, picking her steps across the uneven surface to make her way closer to her boss. "Ziegler and I were both on that ship. I believe she is running around with that staff of hers somewhere. And perhaps you would be the perfect target, subject; sorry, for her to properly test that resurrect she's been perfecting. I believe Angela spoke of tweaking it since the end of the crisis since it was rush finish." She explained, a hint of something sinister in her voice. "I did promise her that I'd notify her if I were to find a fresh corpse for her to continue her testings on. The more tests the better don't you know, Gabriel?" Moira began to hold out her right hand, the tubing of the device on her back beginning to change from a hopeful yellow to a sinister purple. Gabriel was constantly fading in and out of consciousness, his blurry vision barely noticing the change of colour. Hell, he hadn't heard a lot of what Moira had said to begin with. It's not like the doctor had the most captivating of voices to keep him awake at a time like this. Gabriel only hummed in response, succumbing to the exhaustion of staying awake and closed his eyes.

His eyes flew open, however, once an excruciating pain coursed through his already battered body, mouth opening in a silent scream. He tried to move but the beam of purple seemed to follow him wherever he went. All that Gabriel could do was lay there with his silent pleads, gaze his helpless gaze locked onto the medic he had thought was on his side until the world had gone dark. The last thing he was able to utter were the names of his lifelong friends, Captain Amari and Commander Morrison in an apology.

Hey there! It's been a while since I've written a fanfiction on my own; let alone publish one, so I do apologize for how short this introduction is but I promise that it'll get longer. I do hope that my idea of how Reaper came to be will come across in due time.
Disclaimer: I do not own Overwatch or affiliated with Blizzard in any way shape or form. All this is is a small idea I had while waiting for one of my uni classes to come around.