They were about halfway to England when Road Hog confronted Junkrat.

The Mantis had a number of spare rooms, as it was designed to hold a company of twenty to thirty clones. There were kitchens, locker rooms, a bathroom of sorts, and a loading bay for cargo at the back. Each one had a sturdy door, and it was in one of the locker rooms that Road Hog cornered his friend and slammed the door behind.

'What's going on?' He growled.

Junkrat's eyes were vague and smoky. 'I… I don't know.'

Road Hog had been afraid of that answer. He didn't consider a particularly smart man, and knew others didn't either. But he was tough and brave and, above all else, loyal. He could tell when something was up with his friends. Something was up with Junkrat now.

'You've been acting weird.' He said. 'Since Japan. I should have stayed with you.'

'Yeah… maybe.' Junkrat scratched the back of his head. It looked like he wanted to say something but didn't have the words. He looked worn thin. There were bags under his eyes, Road Hog now noticed. And his skin had a grey, deathly pallor to it.

'You're not leaving this room until you tell me.'

Junkrat smiled, and there was just the tiniest spark of his old humour. 'Think I couldn't get past you, pig face?' Then he sobered. 'The truth is, I think I've lost my memories. Or at least a few of them, from the past day or so. Nothing's stuck. I don't remember where we were, or what we did. There are brief flashes, images, sounds, feelings… but no coherent picture. It's like I jumped in the billabong and it turned out to be quicksand.'

'That's not good.' Road Hog grumbled.

Life had been simpler before they met this group. It wasn't that Road Hog didn't like them – he actually liked almost all of the group. He, more than any of the others, enjoyed their company. Widowmaker had come around to him on their mission together, Soldier 76 shared old war stories readily…

But Reaper and Mercy had some ulterior motive, an agenda. It was always in the background of Road Hog's mind, and he couldn't help but think that maybe he and Junkrat should have stayed in the canyons and tried their luck against the undead and the robots.

'I'm a little scared, cobber.' Junkrat admitted.

'Being scared is a good thing.' Hog answered, voice as slow and rumbling as delayed thunder. 'Showing it isn't.'

Road Hog had known that for years. He'd been a common thug before the Fallout, muscle for hire, breaking into banks and terrorising men, women, and children of all the countries of the world. It was an exotic, brutal job. He'd worked with Junkrat more than once. Junkrat knew explosives, which was useful, and machines, which was more so. Junkrat was a good driver, and was used to working with cars. After the Fallout Road Hog had travelled to the place he'd last seen Junkrat and, through luck alone, had found his old friend near the Junker village in the canyon.

He'd arrived just in time. That was just after Junkrat had lost his leg to McCree's gang.

'What're we going to do about it then?' Junkrat asked. 'I can't just go asking the others what I did. That's a huge sign of weakness.'

'You saved Mercy's life.' The voice was gritty as sandpaper and sounded dark as midnight. It echoed in their minds and sent a shiver down Road Hog's back. They turned as one and found Reaper hiding in the shadows at the far end of the locker room. He was like the shadow of death, absorbed by the dark places and hidden from the light.

'Then,' Reaper continued, no trace of emotion in his voice, 'you were killed by McCree. Using this gun. He stole it from me. That will not happen again.'

Junkrat looked up at Road Hog, but Hog's attention was already on the door. It would only take a few seconds to go and snap McCree's neck. There was nothing the would-be-Sherriff could do to stop him. Like many of the others, McCree was catching up on sleep. He'd never see it coming, and the dreams would mask the heavy footsteps.

'Wait.' Reaper dived into shadow and reappeared between them and the door. 'That's not the whole story.'

Junkrat, rather than vindictive, looked confused. 'He… killed me?'

'Yes. Mercy brought you back to life but she took too long. There's a part of you missing. Your soul…'

'Souls don't exist.' Road Hog snarled. He was not afraid of Reaper; or at least he refused to show it.

'They do. And Junkrat doesn't have his. That's why he looks like death warmed up. But I can help with that.'

'How?' Junkrat asked, eyes narrowed.

'I am Death warmed up.' Reaper opened his jacket slightly, and all the mists of Hell seemed to shimmer beneath it the sleeves. 'And I have your soul right here.'

'What's to stop us taking it from you?' Road Hog asked.

'Have you ever touched one before? You think you can hold it? Manipulate it? Play catch with it?' Reaper's voice was full of such disgust Road Hog could almost feel it in his bones.

'No? I didn't think so. Only I can give it to you. But I'm not going to do that. Not yet. Because once I do you'll have no reason to help me.'

'Help you with what?' Junkrat asked.

'Stopping Mercy.'

So as to avoid suspicion, Reaper, Junkrat, and Road Hog moved their conversation to the loading bay. There, while rummaging, Junkrat found enough scraps and spare parts to start rebuilding his weapons collection. A few new traps, detonating explosives, grenades, and even the tyre of a damaged car he could rig up like a missile. He fiddled while Road Hog and Reaper talked. It seemed like a distraction to Road Hog, but he could tell why his old partner in crime might need a distraction. It was heavy talk to find out you had been killed, and your soul was being held ransom.

'Why do you want to stop Mercy?'

Reaper looked between the two. 'You may not realise this but we came here to Earth with a single purpose; to find out what was happening that stopped the dead from dying. Why they kept rising. Why they were restless and violent.'

'I'm fairly sure you told us that.' Junkrat said.

'Well, I lied. I know exactly why.'

'Why?'

'It's my army.' Though Reaper wore a mask on his face there was a hint of ruthless pleasure in his voice as he spoke the words. 'With them I will take over the world, and then some. But first…'

'Wait, how?' Junkrat waved a hand. 'How did you do all that?'

'I'm an Angel of Death. A spirit of the afterlife.'

'Yes, but…'

The echoing sound of Reaper's sigh spoke of incredible disappointment. 'The Fallout. I don't know what caused the Omnic virus, and I don't know what caused the Fallout, but it was the perfect opportunity for me. Over six billion simultaneous deaths. I simply shut the doors and walked out. The dead had nowhere to go but back up, and I led the way.'

'If any of that is true, you could have stopped death at any time.' Road Hog mumbled.

'You're right. But it would have been noticed and stopped too soon by Mercy and her kind. This way it looks like an accident. It looks like I have no idea what's going on either. It looks like death is crowded and I want to fix it, but that's not true. The truth is I could stop it at any time, but I won't.'

There was a pause. Junkrat had finished his tyre and needed help strapping it to his back for easy access. Road Hog assisted as Reaper watched impassively. They all glanced back at the door, making sure it was sealed shut, then resumed their conversation.

'I'm not sure I like the idea of you controlling death.' Junkrat said. 'I think I'd rather die now then help you and get my soul back.'

'Don't be an idiot.' They almost heard Reaper roll his eyes. 'Once I use the dead to stop the Omnics I'll leave what is left of civilisation to you. To the humans. I didn't cause the Fallout, I didn't want so many to die.'

'But so many are dead.'

'Not my problem. Humans did that to themselves. And once I've stopped the Omnics you can deal with it yourselves.'

Road Hog and Junkrat exchanged a glance. It seemed a fairly reasonable request, all things considered. But there was still at least one thing bugging Road Hog.

'Why not just tell Mercy? She'd probably be on board with it.'

'You don't know her like I do. She's duty bound to stop those dead and give them peace in any way she can. That means stopping me and releasing the souls as soon as possible. She doesn't care about you when you're alive, just the dead. She'll leave the last remnants of civilisation to the mercy of the Omnics before she lets me control my dead army for a single minute.'

'Then why stay with her?'

'Mercy's powerful. More than she admits. I might have been able to take her when it was just the two of us, but now that she's got so many allies I need a team to take her down. Someone strong enough to get straight into a fight, someone who can deal some damage…' Reaper looked between the two thieves.

'The three of us can save the world?' Road Hog asked. It sounded unlikely. He'd never thought of himself as a hero. But he wanted to a better man, didn't he? He'd never told anyone about his past, before the Fallout. Only Junkrat knew what he'd done. This was his chance to build a new future, a new legacy, a new person. One that was admired, loved, respected. Not hated.

Sometimes he felt like Frankenstein's Monster. But this… this opportunity…

He nodded to Reaper. 'I'll help.'

Junkrat shrugged. 'Me too, I guess. Can I have my soul back now?'

'Not yet. Soon. And in the meantime don't kill McCree. I don't want any more of this rivalry. We have to appear to have moved on, and stay as close to Mercy and the others as we can. The longer this absurd mission goes on, the less she will trust me.'

Junkrat didn't look pleased by the answer. 'The longer it goes on the more allies she'll get, too. Mercy's a smiling face, mate. You're not.'

'I'm hoping I can get Widowmaker, and perhaps this new criminal Sombra onto my side, after we find her.' Reaper explained. 'They seem like they would share my philosophy. Not everyone likes a smiling face.'

They wrapped it up then. There was more that all of them wanted to say, but Reaper and Road Hog were not traditionally very open people, and it seemed like they had spent far too long in such close quarters for it to be comfortable. Besides, there were other people on the ship, and they were getting closer to England every minute. The last thing they wanted was for someone to wonder why they were spending so much time together.

So they left the loading bay, Reaper heading back to the cockpit to watch the landing procedure, and Road Hog going for a power nap, while Junkrat sat awake and pondered life as an undead.

None of them realised that the intercom system had been active the entire time, and that Soldier 76, piloting the ship with his headset on, had heard the entire conversation.