The world was twisted into a dark room. He didn't remember falling asleep. Reyes felt weights under his knuckles, discomforting him. A pressure throbbing between each one. A strange swelling under his jaw and on his right cheekbone. Suddenly it was like he'd been kicked. Grimacing, he doubled over and fell into the water. Hazel eyes looked down, confused. Water? This…this wasn't water.
He stared into the inky blackness. There was no reflection. He felt another pain in his stomach, jerking in surprise. His face suddenly hurt. He reached up, his palm coming back black with a liquid that smelled of metal.
At the sight of it, his world shifted and suddenly he heard shouting. Ana was yelling, strong hands and nails digging into his skin as she attempted to pull him away from Jack.
The Strike Commander's lip was busted and he was fighting Reyes off. The Blackwatch Commander was on top of him, attempting to pound him into dust. His face grew blank, eyes hard and cold as she calmly stood from straddling Jack. Ana looked up at him, horror marking her features as she knelt by the blonde.
Reyes panted and said nothing. Ana removed her communicator from her pocket and radioed for backup. Jack groaned on the floor.
When help arrived, it was in the form of nameless Overwatch agents Reyes had never met. They paused, hesitating for a moment before raising their guns. Reyes growled, Reaper leaking into his voice, "Are you sure you want to do that?"
"Reyes, don't," Ana hissed, standing between him and the soldiers.
Reyes's pupils shifted, black leaking into the hazel, "Wouldn't be worth the energy." He made his way for the exit, passing the soldiers wordlessly. Because of Ana they would not die today.
-0-
Ana found him later as he was washing his face in the bathroom of his dorm. She'd knocked and he let her in wordlessly. He pressed a towel to his bleeding nose, black blood staining the white fabric. Ana furrowed her brows, eye tattoo crinkling with concern. Or maybe that was just the wrinkles that began to show. He suddenly felt terribly old.
"When did your blood become black?"
That was the golden question. He shrugged, tossing the ruined towel in the trash, "I don't know."
"Reyes," she crossed her arms, concern radiating off her posture, "do you remember what happened?"
He looked at himself in the mirror, noting that the usual reddish tone under his olive skin was beginning to dull and fade. Likely because of the black blood. He looked like he was dying, "No."
He heard her take a stuttered breath, "Jack tried to bar you from the field entirely. You were on him like an animal."
His fists clenched, radiating with anger, "He's taking everything from me."
"You need to relax, stop yourself-"
"What, like you do? Your goddamned daughter is 26 years old and you haven't seen her in months." He saw the jab hit its mark and continued on, "You instead choose to sit by Jack's side like a loyal pet."
"Reyes..." she swallowed, hurt and anger in her tone.
"Mind your damn business and stick to Overwatch personnel. I'm not yours to save."
She frowned, looking at him with sad, dark eyes, "You let this monster inside you and now it speaks for you."
"Nobody speaks for me. Get out," he snarled.
"We were friends once, you and I. All of us, with Jack." She stared at him. He didn't reply. "Do not cast yourself in darkness. Jack has faith you will see the light but I know what you are capable of," she said before leaving him alone in the dark apartment. No light save for the one above his sink.
-0-
They fought again two days before the ceremony. Reyes had very firmly declined the invitation to go, instead replying that he should give it to an Overwatch agent.
"You are Overwatch!" Jack yelled, slamming his hands on his desk.
"Overwatch is nothing to me," he glared. The heated exchange ended somewhere between a yelling Reinhardt's shield and Reyes choking Jack against his desk. Torn documents and broken glass littered the office floor. A UN member came upon the scene, disappointment in his brown eyes. He notified Jack that Reyes was to attend the ceremony or he would be benched from the field entirely and charged for attacking his superior officer.
Of course, Jack received no punishment.
They looked at Reyes like a wild bull in a glass shop. Not an will it happen, but a when will it happen. He held hate in his heart for the solemn expressions on their faces. Ana refused to speak to him, having said her piece. She was waiting for Reyes to repair things with her, something he had no interest in doing.
-0-
The air was cool and crisp, a perfect night for an awards ceremony. The International Justice Committee, or IJC, was celebrating its establishment by awarding key Overwatch members with shining gold medals. They were all dressed in black suits with ribbon pins, like soldiers. The getup looked strange on her, she thought to herself, she was no soldier. She was placed by Jack for the photo of the IJC leaders shaking hands, omnic and human working together.
Angela looked at her teammates. Lena, Jack, Winston, Reinhardt, Ana, Jesse and Reyes. All dressed the same and all frowning. They were all miserable, lost in the discomfort of a stuffy celebration and the uncertainty it would bring. The IJC was a direct result of Gabriel's actions in Venice. It was meant to monitor Overwatch, make sure they behaved like loyal soldiers.
Angela stared across from her place to Gabriel, noting how he seethed with anger. Her doctor's eyes noted he hadn't been sleeping well. He didn't look her in the eye. None of them did.
Afterwards, she listened calmly to the omnic diplomats suggestions on her work, fingering the gold medal around her neck as she listened. The thing felt heavy and useless against her skin.
Jack broke her away from the omnic, asking to borrow the good doctor. She smiled at him, "Your lip looks better."
Jack shrugged and she realized she shouldn't have brought it up, "Your nanites worked their magic."
She looked at him with concern, wondering if he was doing alright mentally. That, her doctor's eyes couldn't see, "Jack…"
"It's alright, Angela. Let's just...have a nice night."
The night was nice. She kept to Jack, worry creasing her features. Lena and Winston danced awkwardly, amusing and offending the event's guests. Lena's laughter echoes across the ballroom, warming Angela slightly. Such a soul didn't belong in a military organization. She looked at Ana and Reinhardt, two old soldiers standing side by side. He seemed to be whispering to her, attempting to cheer her up, but something clearly bothered the Egyptian woman. When Angela followed Ana's line of sight, she knew what that something was.
Jesse and Gabriel stood away from the crowd, distant and arms crossed. They spoke in low tones. She clenched her jaw when she saw the look on Jesse's face. He was leaving again. Warning Gabriel before he slipped out. Gabriel was making no attempt to stop him. A hand on her arm stopped her angry trek towards the cowboy and she turned to Jack, who was shaking his head.
"We can't control them, Angela."
"Control them? What are you-"
"You know what I mean."
She paused, pain in her eyes, "Why do they have to be different than us now? I thought we- I thought we were all Overwatch. We're all on the same side."
Jack didn't bother hiding the anger and distaste in his tone as he looked up and his gaze met Gabriel, "They're different than us because they want it to be that way. Jesse included. There's nothing you can do to stop them. There's-" Jack paused, swallowing, "there's nothing I can do. Not yet."
"Not yet? Jack, what are you-" Jack pulled her into a hug, pressing against her. It was calm, but she felt the fear and anger in his body. She wrapped her arms around him, shock and concern on her face.
Jack's voice was barely above a whisper, "Something's coming, Angela. I need to know you're on my side."
She pulled back to look at him, "Jack-"
"I need to know."
She sighed, shoulders slumping as she gripped Jack's arms to steady him, "Always. I'm always on your side."
He seemed to relax, like he hadn't completely expected her to say that. She couldn't help but feel her heartbeat quicken. She knew...she knew he and Gabriel had been fighting. How could she not know? But the look in Jack's eyes said something more. She pursed her lips, trying to put on a brave face, "We'll talk more later."
She spent the rest of the evening with Reinhardt, watching the older man as he helplessly watched a miserable Ana. Nothing he could say would cheer her. Angela turned her head and saw Gabriel standing in the same spot against the back wall, in the shadows. Jesse was nowhere in sight.
-0-
Hours later, Reyes unbuttoned the stifling collared shirt one by one, looking in the mirror for any change to his skin tone. Nothing more since his blood went black. He'd opted for asking Moira what was happening, but the scientist just waved him off, "Just a side effect."
He grumbled at the mirror, scars in his face creasing with his scowl, "I'm not supposed to get side effects."
Still, there could have been something worse. His physical form didn't distort unless he, or Reaper, wanted it to.
Speaking to the...thing inside him made him feel like a lunatic. Like a lifetime of war and terror finally made him snap. Reaper rumbled inside his chest, not unlike the feeling of a rapid beating heart. Only more violent. More sentient.
He thought of the ceremony. How he was forced to attend a celebration of Blackwatch's downfall. He couldn't work with some piece of shit justice committee trying to red-tape him. That's not the way he worked and they were going to easily lose great amounts of intel because of it.
The UN forced him to go. They wanted those pictures of the Blackwatch Commander receiving a gold medal in honor of his great fuck-up. He grumbled, unbuttoning the cuffs of the shirt, and thought of Angela. She'd watched him throughout the evening, but stuck to Jack for most of it. He didn't know what Jack had said to her, but he saw the way the Strike Commander touched her. That was the touch of a man who wanted comfort and consolidation. Why did he want it from Angela?
Another rumble of laughter in his chest. He looked in the mirror as he continued undressing, "What?"
"You're jealous."
He glared at his image in the mirror, at not-his-voice coming out of his face, "Leave it."
"Why? It won't leave you."
He turned away from his reflection, running a hand through his hair. Only it was shaved short and only stubble touched his fingers. Angrily, he changed to joggers and a shirt, ignoring as Reaper cackled. He could almost see the damned thing, like a split-second shadow in the corner of his eye.
His vision swam as he felt Reaper's claws dance along his arms and shoulders. A tingling, painfully numb feeling crawled up his spine. He shoved the beanie on his head. Whirling again and to nothing in particular, he yelled, "What do you want?!"
Reaper chuckled, a scathing reply coming, but suddenly perked with interest inside him. He felt his body move to the door, where he turned his head to the side and saw nothing. He listened and there it was.
Before Reyes could question, Reaper had turned their form to smoke and he leaped into the vents. They slithered along the air conditioning and down into water pipes, stopping as a clear smoke just below the carpet.
Angela and Jack stood there in what Reyes could guess was Jack's dorm. Sparse and unused with documents lining every surface. Jack was an old school boy, preffered things on paper. Angela wasn't wearing shoes or her jacket, dressed in just the pencil skirt and white button up of her uniform from the ceremony. Jack was removing his jacket, setting it across a chair unceremoniously. Neither of them were wearing their medals.
Angela took the offering of coffee, ankles crossed as she leaned against the kitchen counter. She let out a long sigh, watching Jack closely as he paced for a moment, then stopped.
Jack spoke first, speaking in the dim lighting, "I want you to know how much...how much your words meant to me. That you're on my side."
"You say your side…" Gabriel saw Angela swallow thickly, "do you mean against Gabriel?"
"He's becoming twisted by that thing Moira put inside him. It thinks for him, speaks for him. Fuck, when he hit me...it wasn't him. His eyes-"
"Stop," Angela set down her coffee, "Please, Jack, don't-"
"Would you go to bat for me? Against him?"
"'Go to bat'? What does that mean?"
He laughed, hollow and bitter, "It's a baseball term. Gabe used to say it alot."
"You speak of him like he is dead."
Jack ignored her words, "If he does something...something to hurt me, hurt Overwatch, will you fight for me?"
Angela pused her lips, worry creasing her features. She looked like she was going to cry, "Don't speak like this."
Jack watched her for a moment, looking at her as she looked away. He became quiet, silence swallowing them until finally he spoke again. His words were surprised, but certain, and very unhappy, "Why?"
"Jack-"
"Why him?"
"Stop."
"What has he done to deserve-" Jack cut himself off, lowering his tone, "Angela he's incapable of giving you what you deserve."
She rubbed her face, flushed with anger, "You speak like I don't know that already. I've known this for years. Please-"
"Angela-"
"Please, stop. Just stop, Jack. I'm leaving."
Jack approached her, tentative steps that made Gabriel's blood boil with, what? Possessiveness? He didn't know. He heard Reaper chuckle.
Jack cupped her face, running a thumb down her cheek, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I pushed you."
She sighed, "I know. Let's...let's just talk about this later. I can't think straight right now."
He smiled sadly, letting her go, "I understand. Just...heed what I said, alright? With him...there's no hope there. I've known him for decades."
Angela gripped the counter tightly, "I know." He left Jack's dorm alone, her cup still on the counter.
-0-
When Angela reached her own dorm, she blamed the tears on the wine. Angrily, she swiped at her face as she looked for her discarded shoes. Putting them away, she set out to make some ginger tea for bedtime. It was her own personal hangover cure, in case the wine was indeed too much.
She let her hair down, strands falling along her shoulders. She sniffled slightly, moving to the bathroom before she paused. The air felt thick and abnormal. Cold. She checked the thermostat, finding it normal, "Hmm…"
When she moved to close the blinds of her living room, she nearly jumped out of her skin. A silhouette stood in front of the opened blinds. The fake window displayed a nighttime starry sky. It would have been beautiful had she not been so shocked. She stood stock still, watching with wide eyes until, "Angela."
She blinked, "Gabriel? How did you get in here?" She watched him form, turning from a black silhouette to his own self. His hazel eyes were distorted for a moment, reflecting images and light. Then they were normal again. She felt so small, seeing such a supernatural act in person. Yet it was Gabriel himself standing in her living room. "Gabriel?"
"He loves you, you know." the Reaper's voice left Gabriel, smoke curling from around his feet. Angela felt the tendrils on her bare ankles, cold and moving.
"Leave," she grimaced, not falling for his tricks, his deception-
Gabriel moved forward, cupping her face. Just like Jack did, only closer, warmer. Suddenly he was Gabriel, looking at her with no trace of the Reaper. She almost cried in relief, momentarily forgetting herself, "Angela...Angie…"
"Don't do this to me," she whimpered.
She was suddenly taken back by his lips against hers. Soft and gentle. A kiss she'd never received from him. It shook her to the core, startling her with its intensity. Whining, she pressed closer and wrapped her arms around his neck. Gabriel spoke into her mouth, "Let me take care of you, tonight."
She placed her hands on his face, mirroring what he'd done earlier, "You're the one suffering."
"So are you."
She felt her lips tremble, nodding slightly as she felt him kiss her again. His arms wrapped around her waist and he lifted her effortlessly. Lost in the kiss as his tongue touched hers, she simply wrapped her legs around his waist. Her skirt hiked up around her thighs.
He pressed her against the wall, sitting her down on top of her bedroom dresser as he practically tore off his shirt, beaning leaving with it. She ran nimble fingers down his chest and stomach, feeling the hard lines of muscle. Muscle she'd sewn back together countless times. She kissed his collarbone, running open-mouthed kisses up to his neck. He pulled back and unbuttoned her shirt, pulling it from her skirt. He pushed it back, leaving her in her brassiere. She cupped his face once more, feeling the coarse hair of his beard, and her voice came out in a whisper, "Are you still Gabriel?"
"I'm always me."
"Not always," she pressed the issue.
He sighed, reaching and taking her hand from his face. He pressed her wrist to his lips, "It's me, Angie."
She blinked, watching him with shining eyes. She kissed him again and he pulled her flush against him. He picked her up, once again, and pressed her down onto her mattress. She shuffled back towards the headboard on her elbows and he followed, unzipping her skirt as he went. He pulled it off her legs, kissing up her thighs, moving over her underwear, till he was kissing her stomach then her collarbone. She sighed and he kissed up her body, beard scratching lightly at her skin.
She watched the taut muscle of his back as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her chest, between her breasts. She knew he could feel her beating heart under his lips. He looked down at her, hovering over her body, just watching.
She let him watch, looking into his eyes. She saw something in his expression. Something far away and sad. No, not tonight. She wouldn't let him be sad. She reached up, playing with the band of his pants, "Let yourself be human, Gabriel."
He gave her a sad, crooked grin, "Too late for that, doc."
"Nonsense," her hands pushed down his pants and she watched him close his eyes. He helped her get them the rest of the way off, leaving them only in their black, standard-issue undergarments. Nothing fancy or sensual. She almost laughed.
He kissed her when he saw the smile on her features, hand cupping her shoulder. His free hand reached back and unhooked her bra. She let the straps fall off her shoulders and down her arms until the stifling garment was off and her skin could breathe. She sighed at the cold air on her breasts. That cold air was quickly replaced by Gabriel's warm mouth and she gasped.
He busied his hands with pulling down her underwear as she wiggled slightly. If it weren't for Gabriel's place between them, she would be rubbing her thighs in anticipation. A shuffling of fabric and movement of their positions, and he'd entered her so easily she was shocked at the feeling of being filled.
She gasped and he groaned into her neck, composing himself for a moment. He gripped her hips, tight enough to bruise as he tested a thrust, then another. He licked and sucked her neck, marking her up as she tossed her head back, fingers pressed into his back, "Gabriel, oh-"
"Shh, shh," he murmured into her neck, hissing when he hit a particularly deep thrust. She whimpered and wriggled her hips for more friction, whining until her gave her what she wanted. She watched a feral grin grace his face, though this one was all Gabriel's. She'd seen it a hundred times when he was having a good time teasing someone.
It was like a dream. She gasped, nails digging into his back as his groans increased in volume. Suddenly he bit her neck and she gasped, craving the sensation. She watched as tendrils of black smoke swirled around the bed, around them, as he thrust into her.
She shrieked, coming so hard her thighs clenched, and still he went on. He didn't pause for a moment, gripping her thigh and hiking it higher around his back. He moved up slightly, angling his thrusts so that his skin slapped against hers.
She bit at her fingers, so as not to scream, and threw her head back again. He took her fingers from her mouth and she let out a whine, "Gabriel!"
"That's it," he groaned, strong thighs tensing as he switched from pounding to slow and deep. She blinked, looking at him through watery eyes, "that's it, Angie."
The black tendrils held her hands down by her wrists, cool and calming her. She felt no panic in her bones, even when she saw as Gabriel's irises began to blacken. She watched, whimpering again as Gabriel smirked at her. No, not Gabriel.
His grip was bruising on her skin and she bit her lip so hard she nearly drew blood as she came a second time, suddenly surprised as Gabriel growled like an animal and spilled himself inside her. The sensation was strange and she stared up at the ceiling, panting to catch her breath. She left Gabriel release her legs and pull out of her. Wetness ran down her thighs, but before she had a chance to move and clean herself up, Gabriel was pressing his face into her neck.
His voice sounded strained, like he'd been screaming, "I…couldn't...he was-"
"Shh," she wrapped her arms around him, kissing every part of his skin she could reach. Her voice sounded just as strained, "it's alright. He's still you."
Gabriel didn't reply, just pressed into her neck further. She clung to him just as desperately, watching the smoke around them flow and bounce off the walls. It was...it was almost comforting now. Because Gabriel had been radiating smoke and darkness so long it was a part of him. It meant he was here with her.
This is what Jack was worried about. She turned her head, waiting for him to look at her. When he did, she kissed him, full and deep. Her fingers ran through his beard. Their bodies were drenched with sweat and sex. She could not find it in her to move, for she feared that it would break the spell of whatever was happening.
And when the spell broke, everything would come crashing down.