Of all the years he'd spent training rookies, of all the agents he had worked with throughout his life, both Overwatch and SEP, Jack Morrison had never felt this kind of personal responsibility towards a single one. From the moment she'd stepped foot into the London HQ, from the moment she'd accepted the job and reinserted herself into his life, Jack had felt this innate need to protect her. Of course, it could have had something to do with his failure to do so when she was a child, a need to make up for his past failures, but Jack liked to think he took Briallen under his wing for less selfish reasons.

She reminded him of himself at that age. Cocky, witty, selfless, eager to please, and far too stubborn for her own good. It was no wonder the media had tried to depict her as his daughter, and he must admit his fondness for her did nothing to help deny those rumors. Sometimes, when she flashed an enigmatic smile, or laughed a certain way, even he had doubts; she was young enough to be his daughter, after all, if he had ever had one. She didn't help by pulling stupid stunts like this. Charging into a fight against an unknown enemy without a weapon and spouting off some stupid one-liner? That definitely sounded like something he would have done in his early SEP days.

But, then, he'd remember, there was no possible way she was his daughter; he was gay. He'd never even looked at a woman that way, let alone gone so far as to help one conceive a child. Her age further disproved this conspiracy; he would have been in his late twenties when she'd been born, too busy leading and molding Overwatch into what it was before the fall to have been in any sort of relationship.

Briallen Marsh was just a young woman who reminded him of who he used to be, before life had changed him. She brought out a nurturing side to him, one he had thought was gone for good, and, in turn, he hoped he was passing on important life lessons and providing a sturdy support system for her.

The thoughts reeling around in his head dissipated as the transport hit a bump, jostling him in his seat. He glanced to his right to see Briallen still lost in her own thoughts and he sighed, reaching over to lay a hand on her shoulder. "You okay, kid?" he asked, offering a small smile when she jolted and looked at him.

She dropped her hand from where she'd been resting it over her mouth, her lip was slightly swollen from how much she'd been chewing on it. She returned his smile, though her eyes betrayed her worry. "Uh, yeah. I'm okay. But I'm not a kid, Jack." Her voice further betrayed her, soft and lacking her usual conviction.

He chuckled and shook his head. "No, I suppose you aren't. You're a reckless teenager who doesn't think things through before she does them."

She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out a bit, her smile becoming a little more genuine and there it was, a little more of the old Jack Morrison shining through her. "And who are you to say, my dad? I bet you were just as "bad" as I am when you were a teenager."

"You're right, I was. My early SEP days were filled with recklessness and snark, but the difference between you and I is that I grew out of it," he teased, chuckling at her wide eyes and her gasp.

"Well, excuse me! At least I don't have a stick up my ass," she shot back, her smile growing brighter as she nudged his shoulder. "My teammates hang out with me because I'm likeable, not because I'm their commander."

He laughed, shaking his head. "I could have you suspended for that," he warned, though his threat held no bite.

She stuck her tongue out again. "But you won't, because you love me."

"That is true," he conceded with a smile, sitting back, keeping his eyes on her. "What was on your mind earlier?"

She sighed, her smile fading. "I… I guess I'm just worried about what that mutant said. About what both mutants have said. They both knew me, intimately by the sound of it. But I don't remember any of it… And I think Aderyn might be after me."

Jack cringed. He'd known this would end up happening sooner or later, he couldn't keep her out of Aderyn's sight as long as he had wanted to, not with the media showering her with attention. Briallen had been Aderyn's greatest weapon, it would make sense that she'd want her back. "That is a possibility. Aderyn didn't adore you, but you were her favourite."

Briallen went quiet, looking down at her hands folded in her lap. It took him a second before he realised she was shaking.

Suddenly, a wave of concern and protectiveness crashed over him and he frowned, moving closer to place a hand on her arm, surprised when she leaned over to press her side against his. "Talk to me, kid," he murmured, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. The action came as naturally to him as it had when he'd done the same thing for Lena years ago, when she was just a cadet, grieving over her father.

"I-I don't know," Briallen whispered, shaking her head. "I… I don't remember a single thing about her, but… Just the thought of Aderyn terrifies me. What did she do to me, Jack?"

'What have you done to her, Aderyn?' He sighed, gently rubbing her arm, quietly cursing himself for never having acted on his gut instinct to take her away from the doctor back when she was a child. "I wish I could say I know, but I don't. All I can say is we won't let her get to you. No one outside of your team and the high ranked agents knows you're going to Gibraltar, you'll be safe there."

She nodded, taking a shaky breath and letting a bit more of her weight settle against him for a couple seconds before she sat up and dug through her jacket pocket. "I was given this a little while ago, at the explosion scene by a young woman I treated. I don't know why she gave it to me, or what she was risking by doing so, but it's evidence that Aderyn has had people tailing me for a while."

Jack took the usb she held out to him, brows furrowed. "Do you remember what this woman looked like?"

She shook her head. "No, she wasn't very memorable, and she disappeared into the crowd after she gave this to me. It's filled with pictures of me - of Monarch - in the field, starting with my debut."

'Her debut? Do we have a leak? No one should have known about that before it happened.' Jack's frown deepened and he shook his head a bit, tucking the usb into his pocket. "Why didn't you give me this sooner? We might have been able to do something about it."

"I… I thought it might give me some answers… As to my past, you know? I didn't realise the woman was handing me evidence of a secret admirer." She rubbed at her face, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry, I know I should have given it to you right away. But you can't possibly know what this is like, Jack. I'm missing more than half my life, there are so many things I don't remember, so many people who know me and hate me and I have no clue why… I'm tired of not knowing." Her eyes were glued to the floor of the transport before they jumped up and met his, filled with a subdued anger that reminded him far too strongly of Aderyn's. "Jack, I-"

"That's not a conversation for right now," he warned, shaking his head again.

She narrowed her eyes, sizing him up for a second, before the anger fizzled out and she let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, okay. Whatever you say, Commander."

For some reason, the switch from her playfully calling him "dad" to calling him by his title stung, and he sighed. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked over at her. "I'm sorry, kid, I just… You'll learn about everything when you're ready."

"I am ready," she murmured, looking away from him and down at her knees as she pulled them up to her chest. "I've been ready."

"You're not. I know you think you are, but you aren't. Give it some time, kid." He smiled sadly and shook his head. "You're too much like me, too stubborn, too impatient."

She snorted. "You? Impatient? Yeah, nice try, Einstein. I'm not gonna fall for that one."

He chuckled. "I'm serious. I may not be as impatient now, but I was very impatient back in my youth. I always wanted everything to happen as quickly as it could, but that's not how the world works… What I'm trying to say is, while I may not understand exactly where you're coming from, I understand some of what you're feeling. You're not alone, kid."

A small smile cracked her lips as she nodded, hugging her knees a little tighter. "I get it. Thanks, Jack."

There was a small crowd waiting for Briallen when the transport arrived back at HQ. It made Jack surprisingly happy to see how well she got along with the rest of the agents, to see how much her friends cared for her. He wasn't too happy about the fact that she had started dating both McCree and Shimada; he intimately knew about Jesse's history and antics, and he could only guess the kind of things Hanzo had gotten up to in his youth, but they made her happy, so he let it slide. He could practically hear Gabe's good natured "Let the boy be, they're all happy. Let it stay that way."

His slight smile faded at that, a slight edge of pain latching on to his contentedness. He had loved Gabriel as a friend, perhaps even more than that at one point, and his betrayal still hurt to this day. Sometimes, the things Jesse did reminded Jack of Gabriel, that boy certainly had soaked up a few of Gabriel's mannerisms; the way he would flick out his cigarettes, the slight tilt of his head when he caught sight of someone he knew and smiled at them, the way his shoulders shook when he laughed. Sometimes these things hurt, even if Jesse didn't mean them too, and Jack tried his hardest not to let them get to him.

He watched as Jesse reached out a gentle hand, brushing back a few strands of Briallen's hair, his voice soft as he checked in with her. Her wings twitched happily and she leaned into his side, laughing as Lena chatted animatedly at her, Lucio and Hana by her side. It was nice to see her able to relax so easily after what happened, good to see she had a support system outside of him and Angela. It would be important that she continued to strengthen those ties over time - the closer she was to her teammates, the easier things would be, and the less burden she'd be taking on by herself.

Having Jesse and Hanzo was also good for her in a more emotional sense. For all the grief Jack gave him, Jesse knew who Briallen had been and was willing to forget that in favour of learning - and loving - who she was now. To say Jesse was sweet on her was an understatement, he had gravitated to her from the moment he had seen her first back in August, and it wasn't hard to see how he watched her every move adoringly. While Hanzo didn't display it openly, Jack had noticed he watched Briallen a little more closely than he did Jesse, whether that had something to do with her episodes or her habit of not drinking enough, Jack couldn't tell, but he knew she was well protected with both agents watching over her.

Knowing she was in good hands now that her friends had found her, Jack took a deep breath and turned away from them, heading towards his office. "Athena, I need Ana, Angela, and Reinhardt in my office as soon as possible."

"Yes, Commander, of course. Director Baxter has been looking for you, he wishes to talk with you about what happened at the studio today." Athena said, opening the elevator doors for him.

"Of course he does. Where is he?"

"Outside your office, Commander."

Jack rolled his eyes, rubbing at his face. "Tell him I'll be there shortly. Postpone alerting the others until he's out of the vicinity. Also…"

"Yes?"

"Double check the security locks on any information pertaining to Organic Omnics," he said, masking his concern. Briallen didn't need to be reading anything about Aderyn right now. That could wait until she was more secure in herself. "No agents under level five should have any access to that information."

"I will look into it, Commander."