It was getting later in the evening and a lot of the crew members were turning in for the night. It was nice that the whole crew wasn't here. Winston had taken Bastion with him to a repair garage with Zenyatta, Reinhardt, and Torbjorn. Hanzo and Genji also needed to return to their homeland as they were hired to keep a watchful eye on an important figurehead. Roadhog arrived much later in the evening, riding a motorcycle he pawned off some chap. And by pawned, he really meant stole. Some habits were hard to stop.
Tracer was the first to say her goodnights. Though DVa, Junkrat, and Lucio soon followed suit. The three of them arguing who would get to brush their teeth first.
As far as rooming went, it was Tracer, DVa, Pharah, and Symmetra in one room. There were two full-sized beds to share and the ladies had to pick their sleeping partner. Like always, DVa picked Tracer so the two could tell spooky ghost stories under the sheets while the other two tried to sleep. Mei and Zarya said they would be more than happy sleeping together on the pull-out couch. Roadhog and Junkrat volunteered to sleep in the loft in the barn, claiming they liked the heat. McCree let Lucio have the reclining chair, which left McCree to toss some blankets on the floor and call it a day. 76 was also given the same option to sleep on the floor but decided he didn't want to be clustered in the same living room with the rest. Instead, he sought out the office which was across the hall from his old bedroom. If he had it his way, he would have been sleeping in his bed but someone else had claimed it-Jack Jr and his mom.
Still flabbergasted by the whole realization that he was a father, 76 didn't really know what to do. If Mercy wasn't sleeping with the kid, he would have went into the boy's room and admired the new layout and look. Would have told the lad vague stories. And then asked if he would mind sharing his room with the masked stranger.
Instead, he was left to stand in the hallway with his ear to the door and eyes peaking in between the cracks as Mercy spoke with their son.
"Mama, mama," he jumped up and down, "did you see it?"
"The shooting star?" Her hand ruffled Jr's hair.
"Yup! Madison said if you share your wish with someone you love, it has to come true." He turned his cheeky face up to the stars. "And I wish for daddy to come home."
"Jack," Angela bit her lip.
"But mama, you said you didn't find his body. What if he's still out there. Looking for you. For us."
"He didn't even know you existed."
"He does," Jr protested. "I can just feel it. Right here," his hand fell over his heart. "Today he learned. I know he did. I think he follows you. He wants to protect you."
Angela pulled her son close before kissing his forehead. "You think so? You really think he's out there?"
Just then, the door creaked open further and Skippy wandered in. But not before pestering 76 who was trying not to give his position away. The damn cat really knew how to mess things up. Thankfully, Jr was quick to call the Maine Coon in.
"See, even Skippy knows."
Mercy shook her head. "Skippy knows everything. Especially when someone isn't in bed!" Her hands flew across Jr's body, tickling him until he broke into a fit of laughter. "He's come to eat your ankles and demand all ze Whisker Lickins!" When he eventually started to hack up a lung from having too many tickles, she stopped.
"Who's the best mom?" Her lips were pulled into a smile.
"You are!" His hands wrapped around her until his head was pressed against her breasts. She was warm. Nuzzling her, Jr smiled up at her before reaching a hand out to stroke Skippy. "All we need now is daddy."
God did it kill 76 to sit out there in the hallway. He was half tempted to push the door open and take off his mask. Go right up to Angela and kiss her while pulling Jr into his enduring, loving embrace. He just wanted to collapse on the floor before them and say he was back. That he was sorry he was gone for so long. That he was sorry he missed 5 years worth of birthdays and that he would make them up to Jr somehow. That he still loved Angela and couldn't imagine life without her.
But he couldn't. He just couldn't tell them. They couldn't no. No one could. This was his burden. His hell. His purgatory. He wasn't meant to have a happy ending. He was meant to stop the bad guys and expose the truth. If he didn't, who would? Overwatch was tainted due to poor decisions and those bastards needed to be called out.
Still, the idea of retiring and having a family sounded nice. Too nice. Maybe he was getting too old for this. Maybe it was time he let the younger generation-DVa, Lucio, Junkrat, etc.-take over and fix what he created.
Sighing, 76 just rested his masked cheek against the wall while he looked in at the pair on the bed. He had a son. A son.
A yawn gripped Jr, something Mercy saw and was quick to respond to. "All right, mister, off to bed."
"But moooom," he flopped against the pillow, "you didn't tell me a story."
"And what story do you want?"
"My favorite?"
"Again?" Merc sighed. If there was one story that she got sick of telling, it was this one. Good thing it was a funny story.
"Yup! I love hearing about how dad picked Skippy."
"Very well," she helped roll the child into the bed before pulling up the covers. "It was a crappy day. Cold and on the verge of raining. Your father wanted to go camping with me but the weather wouldn't allow it. I was so upset. I had never gone horseback riding before. Never seen a mountain lion. Never really experienced nature like he had.
"He knew I was bumming so he decided he would take me out to see some animals. We hopped in his old Wrangler-the blue one in the barn that gramp's is fixing-and he drove us into town. Now, I had no idea where he was taking me. I mean, town? How would I see any animals in town?
"Little did I know that he was taking me to the local adoption agency. His parents had been talking about getting a cat for weeks. They were having issues with mice and silly ol' me didn't put two and two together.
"When we get to this massive gray building with scary edges, I turned to Jack and was like, 'This is a joke, right?' He just laughed and told me to get out of the car. He was very serious. I was scared but I trusted him so out of the car I went.
"The closer we got to the door, the more scared I got. I thought he was going to do something bad. This place didn't give me a warm and cozy feeling. There were scratch marks on the pavement. There was dots of blood here and there. I wasn't sure what this place was, but boy was I scared. I thought about running away but when I saw the face of a little old lady at the front desk with the world's fattest cat, I couldn't. The sign on the wall behind her said 'free adoption day; come get your new pet.'
"Oh did I smack Jack so hard. Called him a jerk. He was purposely trying to scare me. Make me think he was going to do something bad when in reality he was just taking me to get a cat. He went out of his way to take me to the back entrance; the one that didn't have this lovely blue front with the words 'Get your new pet today' on the front. No, instead he picked the sketchy backside.
"He stepped up to the counter and asked which way for the cats. She pointed to the right so we went to the right. Skipping up behind him, I took his hand in my own and we skipped down the hallway until we reached the door at the end. In big, black letters read the word FELINES, that's fancy talk for cats.
"Your father, the gentleman that he was, held the door open and let me walk in first. When I walked through, I saw we were in a small hallway, one about the size of your room."
"Heeheehee," Jr giggled. "This is my favorite part."
"Jack didn't tell me why there was a hallway. He just opened that door and in spilled a dozen cats. All of them mewing and attacking my legs. They were crawling up my pants, another was trying to eat my shoe laces. Oh and let's not forget the one that decided to sleep on my shoes. It was a complete mess. All the kittens and cats were running wild.
"Your father," she puffed out her cheeks, "had called ahead of time to ask them to let all the cats out. He told them his girlfriend wanted to experience nature at its..." She groaned. "Feline-ist." Her eyes rolled. "His puns were awful. Though he would be quick to argue that they were 'pawesome.'" She gagged while wearing a smile. In reality, she loved them. Jack was just a big, goofy dork. And she loved the shit out of him.
"What about Skippy!" Jr held up the Maine Coon. "When did he show up."
"Well, as I was trying to unlatch the kittens from my legs, Jack was busy fighting off the fluffliest little ball of orange I had ever seen. The thing was this big," she gestured with her hands something about the size of a large grapefruit. "And he just wouldn't leave Jack alone. No matter what Jack did, that kitten followed. It purred so loudly I could hear him over all the other cats.
"I cried out to him, telling him he had done this to himself. Said he shouldn't have unleashed a horde of cats on me because karma would get him back."
Jr was giggling. "Daddy is silly sometimes."
"Very silly." Angela corrected. "Well, the next thing I saw was this ball of fluff leaping up and into Jack's arms. The thing jumped at least 4-feet in the air. A thing this big. This big! It was so impressive!
"Jack started screaming, because he didn't expect the cat to do that or what followed. In seconds, this orange puff ball was sitting on his head and..." Mercy stifled back a laugh. "Pooping on him."
Jr flew into a fit of laughs. "Skippy?" He held up the cat, "Did you really poopy on daddy's head?"
"Oh he did. Dad was so so so mad. He wanted me to take the little kitty off his head but the little orange guy refused."
"What happened next?" Jr leaned in as if he didn't know the story.
"You know what happened next," her lips spread into a grin.
"Daddy stomped out of the building," he pretended to march away while laying in bed, "with Skippy still on his head. Said he was keeping this cat and giving him a bath to show him who was boss. And daddy drove all the way home with Skippy on his head. When he got home grandma laughed and pappy said it was the best cat."
Angela giggled. "Yup, they said it was the cat Jack deserved."
Running a hand over Skippy's plush fur, Jr yawned again. "Skippy is best cat."
"Yes, yes he is." Angela curled around her son, pulling him closer to her chest.
"Think he'd remember dad if he came home?"
"Oh I think he would. It's hard to forget the first person you poop on," she teased.
Pulling up the blanket just a little more, Angela ran a hand through Jr's head. "Sweet dreams, my little soldier."
"Love you, mommy," Jr cooed before falling asleep beside the beautiful blonde.
Taking his visor off, Jack rubbed the tears from his eyes. Never before had he been in so much pain. It was killing him. There he was, hunkered down outside his son's door, listening to old stories about he and Angela. If only he had the courage to go charging in. To tell them the truth.
Curling away from the door, silent sobs seized him. There was little he could do. He was miserably. Felt like the world's worst father. He was so selfish, completely blind to the fact that Angela could have been bearing and caring for his child, his own flesh and blood.
A cold wet nose pressed against his cheek, which caused him to flinch. "Hey," his voice was a gruff whisper. "You're not supposed to me without this mask," he cooed while giving Skippy a good scratch right on the left cheek. It was his favorite spot, as noted by the wad of drool that formed in a bubble between his lips. "You been watching over my boy?" He tugged the cat up into his arms, burying his face in the cat's long, orange fur. "Keeping him company while I've been away?"
Skippy didn't say anything. Instead, he just purred. Happy to know that his best friend, Jack Morrison, was alive and well.
"I've missed you so much," Jack wrapped his hands around Skippy's head before tugging the fur back to make Skip's eyes bulge out some. Chuckling, he rolled up from the floor while Skippy still in tow. "I'm not letting you out of my sights tonight," he whispered while nuzzling the cat. "I can't sleep with my son but I can sleep with you."
Into the office he went. Door closed and mask to the side of the pillow, he stroked that soft fur until the sand in his eyes finally caused him to fall into a peaceful sleep.