P.O.V. Of Jack

It had been a week since Gabe had given in and accepted Bek as a part of Blackwatch. She had joined them in training, but there were no missions set yet. Not for Blackwatch or any Overwatch agents really.

"You heading to training with Bek, Genji, and Jesse?" I asked from the bed as I watched Gabe get dressed. My fiancé glanced back at me as he pulled his black t-shirt on.

"Yeah, going to just go overlook them because that was enough of a workout." He winked, bending down to kiss me. I laughed and ran my hands through his short, dark hair.

"Always. But I bet those kids could beat you just like I did the other week, you could really use the practice." I smiled, but not for long. My face fell as I thought of my age. Gabe and I were forty-six and forty-three respectively, so it would be quite late to have a kid. We'd be in our sixties when the kid turned eighteen, and that was if we had them immediately… but how? And on an army base during a war? I mean, Ana had Fareeha between the wars…

"Everything alright, mi amor?" Gabe's voice brought me back to the present.

"Hm?" Oh, just… thinking about, uh…"

"Babies… I can tell by the look on your face. It's the same face every time we talk about kids." Gabe stroked my cheek.

"Which isn't often." I sigh. Gabe kissed me once more before standing up straight again and running a hand through his hair to fix it.

"Perhaps, but you still have that longing look. We can talk about this now. You obviously have had it on your mind since before the engagement."

I nodded, throwing the covers off to get up as well. I grabbed my clothes as I tried to process my thoughts. I had always wanted children, but I had never really thought about how I would go about it, considering my preference in life partners.

"I was just thinking of how old we are and about how we should probably… have kids as soon as possible because we'd be in our sixties when the kid-" Gabe cut me off.

"Then let's do it." He replied simply. I was pretty surprised by this.

"Wait really?" I smiled.

"Really… go talk to Angela. I'm sure she can help us figure out what we have to do to have a kid…" Gabe slipped on his beanie, "Now, I have to go. I just remembered that Moira wanted to continue things in an hour."

"Okay, meet in the cafeteria for dinner?" I asked and my fiancé nodded.

"Of course, mi amor." One more quick kiss and we parted ways. I knew that I had to be timely with Angela because Sojourn and Lacroix has scheduled a meeting. I had enough time.

"Dr. Ziegler? May I come in?" I knocked on Angela's door and waited for her response before doing anything. If Gabe and Genji's story proved anything, it was that knocking was always important.

"Strike Commander! O-of course." I heard her call, then I let myself in. Angela was with Fareeha. Thinking about them, I thought of Ana. She most likely still did not know about the two because she was my second in command and I knew her well. I feel like there would have been some telling signs that Ana had found out, but I had yet to see one. I shook those wonderings out of my head and cleared my throat.

"Hello Angela, Pharah… I wanted to ask you about having a baby."

"P-pardon?" The young doctor blushed furiously and I coughed.

"Gabriel and I! I-I wanted to ask about how Gabriel and I could have a baby." I answered hurriedly.

"Oh, of course!? My apologies… that's wonderful to hear that you two are interested in having children." Angela composed herself and smiled. Pharah gave a curt nod, but said nothing.

"So… what are the best options?"

"For two men, a surrogate." Angela replied, standing up. "And I would like to offer myself to assist you…"

"What?" Pharah an I exclaimed in unison. Pharah stood up quickly beside Angela.

"That's insane, Angela! You would be putting your life and your career on hold for nine months!" The younger woman argued.

"But Fareeha, I want to do this for them." Angela grabbed her girlfriend's hand.

"No, I know you. I know you think you want to help them in this way, but you would regret it. That baby would have your DNA and you would get too attached to be able to let it go. I know that you want kids of your own… of our own. So, if you don't do the surrogacy… I'll come out to my mother and tell her the truth about us." Pharah sighed. Angela looked surprised and kissed Pharah happily, leaving me standing there awkwardly. When the two broke apart, Angela nodded.

"You're right… and thank you." She smiled at Pharah before turning back to me with a more somber face.

"I'm sorry Strike Commander, she's right. I wouldn't want to risk complicating things. We can figure something else out, I promise. I'll do some research and get back to you."

"No, I understand completely. I could never ask you or just anyone to do that. It's a serious commitment… but thank you for the thought."

"Of course and don't worry, there are still options." Angela promised. I nodded gratefully before heading for the door.

"Oh," I turned back to them and smiled gently, "as for the coming out, don't stress Pharah. Ana is one of my best friends and I know her well… she adores you Fareeha. She won't think of you any differently." I assured the twenty year old. Pharah smiled at me, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. I'm sure she was nervous, as anyone would be. I remembered what it was like coming out to my family. My heart had been pounding as I stood in front of my parents.

"I'm gay."

I had said, swallowing my fear. And of course, my parents supported me unconditionally and absolutely nothing changed. I knew some did not have that right, especially a lot more commonly in the past. Having a family that was supportive of anything, though more likely now, was still very lucky to have.

"Thank you, Strike Commander." Pharah dipped her head respectfully.

"Please, call me Jack when we aren't in a formal setting." I told her, giving one last smile before ducking out of Angela's office. I paused for a moment to take a breath, then closed my eyes. It was happening… I had spoken with Angela. Gabe and I were going to try to have a baby. A fresh happiness in my mind made me far less worried about the meeting that I was now headed to.

When I sat down beside Ana, she smiled at me. Reinhardt was on her other side, which I was surprised to see, as he barely ever took part in these meetings.

"Reinhardt, hello. Ana…" I nodded.

"Hello Jack!" Reinhardt boomed in his loud German voice.

"Yes, we don't know why he's here either." Ana gave a soft chuckle, playfully shoving her friend.

"Glad everyone is here. Gérard and I have two big things to cover. First of all, there has been an attack on Berlin… Omnics overran the city, but the Crusaders are fighting back." Sojourn began the meeting very quick and to the point. At this news, I glanced at Reinhardt with concern. Ana had her hand on top of his in a way to comfort him. Our long time friend and Overwatch partner had once been a German soldier, Lieutenant Wilhelm of the Crusaders. He had been young and a bit reckless during the one of the first Omnic attacks on Germany and had lost the use of his left eye during the same battle in which the leader of the Crusaders at the time, Balderich von Adler, lost his life. Von Adler had actually been the one chosen to join Overwatch during this Omnic Crisis, but after he died, Reinhardt took his place. This is of course how I had met and befriended him.

"So… zis is vhy you called me to zis meeting." Reinhardt stood, "I assume ve vill be sending reinforcements to help ze Crusaders. I want to be a part of zat team."

Ana hurriedly stood as well, grabbing his arm to try and coax him back down.

"Reinhard dear, are you sure you want to do that? We're all getting old. Perhaps it is time to let the next generation step up." She murmured.

"No, I will answer ze call I, always. Live vith honor, die vith glory."

"He's right Ana, we have a job to protect the world." I put in.

"Jack, all due respect… but you are a super soldier with different enhancements. Your age is less of a factor and you are the youngest out of all five of us." Ana said. 'All five of us.' Yes… me, Gabe, Rein, and Ana were very close and went on many missions together in Overwatch's beginning days, even the mission where we were sent to find the fifth person Ana was referring to, Torbjörn.

"Perhaps… but if this is what Reinhardt wants. Besides, SEP aside, Reinhardt is still just as good a soldier as Gabe and I. You are too, Ana."

Gérard Lacroix cleared his throat and took a step forward.

"Well, that brings us to our next point. The American government has informed us that more of the 100-200 round of SEP soldiers are prepared to join Overwatch."

"Which is great timing with the Berlin incident. The new soldiers will be coming at the end of this week, so Jack, I want you in charge or readying them for deployment next week." Sojourn added.

"A week? Only a week to prepare them?! I'm sorry but that is far too soon." I exclaimed.

"I don't care, Strike Commander, you will do as I say. Germany needs backup and Russia is already sending in their forces, so we must act." Sojourn remained firm.

"So send in a team of members we already have been training and preparing, not a bunch of inexperienced novices! Send in Gabe's group!"

"Morrison, you know Blackwatch is meant simply for covert ops and is supposed to be kept quiet and out of public view." Lacroix shook his head/

"All the more reason to send them in on non-covert missions. Don't even let the public suspect a thing. Where is the best place to hide but in plain sight!" I threw my thoughts out there and Gérard and Sojourn seemed to think on it for a moment.

"We'll see how things go with the Russian troops in Germany first. We'll give it until next Friday. The SEP members will have a week here to prepare. We can send a few with Commander Reyes's group to mask anything suspicious, then you will lead a second round of troops if more reinforcements are needed. Sojourn finally spoke. Reinhardt shifted.

"But vhat about me?"

"Your choice, Reinhardt. You can either lead a third party if and when it is needed, or you can choose to join either Commander Reyes or Strike Commander Morrison's groups. But be sure to let us know what you decide so we can be fully prepared." Lacroix said. Reinhardt seemed satisfied with that and fell silent again so Sojourn and Gérard could finish.

"So, from the messages from the SEP, we have concluded that a total of fifteen have finished their treatments and are being sent out. Once they have arrived and had a day to settle in, we will have some training where you, Gabriel and I will determine fits for each of them. Reinhardt, you are welcome as well if you decide you wish to lead a troop. We will categorize them into who will take who, got it?" Sojourn seemed rest to draw the meeting to a close. She looked at me. "Please infirm Commander Reyes of the things he missed… and see if he can try to attend more meetings. I understand that he is working with Dr. O'Deorain, but if they could perhaps schedule whatever… experimentation they are doing at better times, that would be fantastic."

"Of course, I'll talk to him." I promised her.

"Good. Meeting adjourned." She nodded.

As we all left, I checked my watch. It was getting close to dinner time and I was excited to meet up with Gabe and tell him about my talk with Angela. Of course, now I had to tell him about the meeting as well. I did find myself wondering about how the work with Moira was going, as he never really spoke about it. Well, seeing as it was still early, I decided to go back to the hospital wing to meet up with Gabe there.

I was just about to try knocking at the door of Moira's makeshift office when I heard my fiancé's frustrated voice arguing with the geneticist.

"What the hell is going on with me? I haven't been feeling right and look at this!" Of course, I had no idea what he could be showing her, as I had just seen every possible inch of his body before this and hadn't noticed anything different about him.

"Interesting…" Moira's voice came.

"That's all you have to say? 'Interesting'?! What does it mean?" I heard Gabe growl.

"It means it is starting to work… just be patient, Commander." Moira purred in response.

"Patient? I don't want this to become my life. If you can't help me, perhaps we should stop before things leave irreversible damage."

"Absolutely not. The change is a sign of good things to come. You want to have regenerative abilities and learn more about what my research can do for us, yes?" Moira's voice was cold and calculating. I heard Gabe sigh.

"Fine… I'll give it more time, but no telling anyone about the true dangers and side effects, not even Jack."

"I had assumed I would have been the one to make that suggestion… Commander." I could hear the mysterious smile edge in her voice, making me frown. What could Gabe not want me knowing about? Why would he want to hide anything from me? Deciding I didn't want to hear anymore, I quickly ducked out to head to the cafeteria.

"Hello Strike Commander Morrison." Cadet Luxton greeted me when I entered.

"Oh, hello Bek, how is your training with Blackwatch going?"

"It's going quite well… any idea when we may have a mission?" She asked.

"Good that you ask that actually… more of our SEP-mates are coming this week and there has been an Omnic attack on Germany, so we will be putting together to go in and help support the Crusaders. I tried to convince Sojourn and Gérard to let Blackwatch join the fight as long as there is no public knowledge of Blackwatch as a group. You wouldn't be on a covert ops missions, just simply be another regular troop like the rest of Overwatch." I explained. Bek nodded understandingly.

"I get it, what's the point of having a covert ops team of The whole world knows that it's a cover ops team? Want to sit with Genji, Jesse, and I?" She asked, motioning over to where the two mentioned agents sat at a table.

"Well, I was meeting Gabe here but sure, why not?" I smiled as I grabbed my meal and followed her. I sat down next to McCree and Bek next to Genji. Gabe had told me about the two's intense encounter and it left me wondering if we had more couples on base than I thought. Dating during a war on an army base was not easy, that was for sure, but I couldn't imagine my life without Gabe, so who was I to judge anyone else who decided to try to find love?

"Guys, Strike Commander Morrison just told me that we may have a mission!" Bek told her teammates. They sat up at this, obviously interested.

"Really? What is it?" Genji asked her.

"Wait, shouldn't Commander Reyes be here for this?" McCree added. I laughed and made a hand motion for them to calm down.

"It's nothing Blackwatch related just yet, but you are still going to be led by Commander Reyes, of course. It's just simply a regular mission to Berlin." I told them and McCree nodded.

"Ah, gotcha… I heard about the attacks."

"Yeah, me too. I want to help." Bek had a look of determination in her eyes that brought fire to even my old self. I remembered being the same way when I was their age. I had even received the nickname Golden Boy and even Boy Scout from Gabe and the rest of our SEP-mates because of how bright eyed and energetic I was. I remember the same positivity and desire to be a hero that I heard in Bek. It made me proud to see that new faces were coming in to prepare for the day when I was done.

Or died…

"Look, there's Commander Reyes now!" Bek exclaimed. I looked towards the cafeteria doors to see my fiancé looking very tired. I forced a smile as to not look suspicious or worry him. I knew I had to talk to him about the meeting and my talk with Angela, but his words with Moira still rang harshly in my ears…