"How is he?" Morrison asked quietly as he stood outside of the hospital room, his eyes focused on the figure that laid motionless in the hospital bed, and to the figure next to it.
"He's recovering quickly...I mean in terms of healing," Angela replied as she looked at the datapad in her hand.
"Granted he's been out for three days, but he's lucky that they got to him when they did," the woman added as she too peeked into the room.
"Thank god," Morrison exhaled as if he was holding his breath. He was more than thankful for Blackwatch's quick response to rescue the man. Even with all of the squabble, he would be lost without the man.
The entire Blackwatch division was on high alert and he was the last one to learn that Gabriel had been compromised. He had received a sudden call from Kallista while on her field assignment in the United States to update him on the situation. Morrison knew that they had to act fast and debated sending an Overwatch team out to rescue him but quickly crushed the idea, as it would look bad for Overwatch to be seen in the location of Gabriel's mission.
His hands were tied, he wasn't able to drop everything, and he wasn't able to rush to save his friend. He wasn't able to leave, he wasn't able to do anything but to let Blackwatch conduct the rescue mission.
It hurt. It hurt more than he would admit, to not be included in the mission.
The mission was carefully and quickly crafted with the help of Gabriel's Lieutenant and his Intel Director. Kallista returned early from her assignment in the United States and was quickly sent off to the mission location. Together they raided the facility where the man was being held and subdued the target they were meant to capture.
The missions was successful in more than one way, Morrison was thankful for that, thankful for the entire team.
"She's been here ever since," Angela commented quietly. Morrison nodded and focused on the smaller figure at Gabriel's side.
"How is she doing?" Morrison questioned.
"She hasn't really said much or eaten anything for that matter," Angela replied. Morrison exhaled softly.
"Of course, sometimes I wonder if what we are doing is worth it and if it's right..." Morrison trailed off. Angela shifted from one leg to the other and placed a piece of stray hair behind her ear before she spoke.
"Peace is what the world wants. Peace is what we strive for. The people believe that we can maintain that peace and if we cannot, who will?" Angela posed the question to the man before she was pulled away by another nurse.
Morrison watched the woman and another nurse disappear into another room before he turned his attention back to the man and woman in the hospital room. There was a sense of heaviness that pressed down on his shoulders and settled in his stomach. He could sense that something big was on the horizon that could change everything he and the others had sought to maintain.
Maybe he conjured this feeling up and it was just in his head.
Morrison ran a hand through his short blond hair, dragging his hand over his face before he took one more glance at the two figures before he began down the hall.
The soft steady sound of a heart monitor rose Gabriel from his forced slumber, slowly his eyes fluttered open the glaring fluorescent light forced him to squint and attempt to shield his face. A slight tug of his skin on his hand stopped him. Second by second this surroundings began to make more sense, he was in the medbay? No, a hospital, his mind was sluggish but he searched his memory on how he got here.
His mission in Italy, being separated from his crew, captured by the target, a huge mistake on his part. The rest of his memories were hazy at best and knew that it would take more time for his memories to clear. His mind briefly wondered about how long had he been out, was the mission successful, so many questions he needed slowly looked around the sterile white hospital room and to the woman asleep near the edge of the bed.
Cautiously Gabriel reached for her face, his fingertips brushed along her cheek, gently rousing her from her slumber. He watched her eyes slowly flutter open and her crystal blue eyes focus on him.
"Gabriel-!" Kallista whispered as she quickly shot up.
"Hey," Gabriel croaked, his voice was hoarse almost a whisper. He had a small smile on his lips as he continued to hold her gaze. Kallista silently stared back at the man as tears began to stream down her cheeks.
"Kallista-" Gabriel started.
Without hesitation, Kallista climbed into the hospital bed and into his arms, a grunt rumbled in his chest as he welcomed her into his arms.
"I'm here...I'm here," Gabriel whispered as an attempt to relax the woman as she sobbed into his into his shoulder. Gently he tilted the woman's head up to wipe away her tears, he was in pain but seeing her cry pained him as well. Her crystal blue eyes, hazy and clouded with tears as she looked back at him.
"Shh…"
He brushed a piece of stray hair from her face before he guided her to him and pressed his lips to hers. Kallista slowly pulled back confusion laced in her features, cautiously as if she would break or run away from him if he touched her too hard. He lovingly carded his fingers through her dark tresses, before burying his hand in her hair and pulling her into another kiss.
The kiss was hesitant as if they would break if they pressed to hard or if they sought for too much. They were hesitant but desperate to feel each other to confirm that they were both there, that he was there, that they were on the verge of losing him.
Hesitantly Kallista pulled back from the kiss, a shaky sigh escaped her lips as they pressed their heads together. A gesture they used to calm one another down from the trials of their workload. Kallista pulled back from the small intimate gesture and turned her attention towards the door and the tall woman standing in the doorway. Gabriel turned his attention to the woman as well.
"I can leave if you need me to give you two a moment," Lyudmila commented as she kept her eyes averted from the two. Kallista was the first to move, she wiped her eyes as she slid from the hospital bed and quickly exited the room. Lyudmila watched as Kallista quickly exit the room before she turned her attention back to the man situated in the bed.
"Reyes...how are you feeling?" the salt-and-pepper woman asked as she moved to sit on the chair next to the man's bed.
"Honestly?" Gabriel asked.
"Besides the interruption," Lyudmila added before he could respond.
"I feel like shit, my head feels like it's split open, my ribs are fucking killing me and…" Gabriel trailed off. Lyudmila watched him shift slightly, grunting in pain as he tried to move.
"A sore shoulder…" Gabriel finished.
"That's to be expected...your injuries were...significant," Lyudmila commented quietly, the mission still fresh on her mind.
Gabriel glanced at the woman as she leaned back in the chair and slouched, she looked exhausted, dark circles under her eyes, paler than usual skin. He watched as she covered her face with her hands, hiding some emotion that threatened to spill in front of him. Of course he knew that his rescue shook her and the division to their foundation.
He also knew that she didn't believe in herself to lead, she believed that she was second best and didn't deserve to be in the position that she was in. Even though what happened to her was not her fault.
She had her doubts about everything including herself.
"Gabriel…I...did I do good?" Lyudmila began, her voice strained but muffled by her hands.
"You did. You were perfect," Gabriel said softly.
"Dmitri would be proud of you Lyudmila,"
He saw the woman's shoulders tremble slightly before she exhaled deeply and dragged her hands down her face her hazel eyes focused on the man.
"Update me on what's been going on. Tell me everything," Gabriel said as his eyes slid closed and his form seemed to sink into the hospital bed.
"Let me call the nurse first...to at least get you something in your stomach," Lyudmila began as she reached for the "call nurse" button.
"Fine...but…" Gabriel began.
"Hm?" Lyudmila asked she leaned back in her chair.
"Did…she leave?" Gabriel asked quietly, he grimaced as he began to rub his temples.
"I don't know. Probably back to base to let the others know...but she's been here for three days," Lyudmila replied.
"I've been out for three days hm?" Gabriel questioned.
"Yeah. You have a lot of catching up to do," Lyudmila answered.
"Yeah…"
"I feel like I lost 30 years off of my life," Natalie sighed as she plopped down on the small sofa in Morrison's office, Morrison sighed as well as he sat in his chair.
"How is everyone in the Blackwatch Division?" Morrison questioned.
Lyudmila was unavailable as she quickly managed to pick up all of the responsibilities of ongoing missions and to keep the fallout within the Blackwatch ranks. Kallista was in no shape to answer him she was enthralled with Gabriel at the hospital and helping Lyudmila with containing the fallout. Natalie was his next best choice but made sure to keep it transparent. Their relationship was complicated and wanted to keep it from spreading around like a wildfire.
"They're still stressed, honestly we're still all stressed post-op," Natalie replied.
"I hope he wakes up soon. We're all fucking stressed," Morrison sighed.
"Exactly," Natalie replied.
"Are all of the missions back on track and moving forward?" Morrison questioned as he leaned back in his chair and focused on the lounging woman. Even in the midst of a crisis or stressful situation, she looked calm, relaxed but he knew it was just a mask to hide behind.
They all had their masks, including himself.
"For the most part. I think the only missions that are on hold are the ones in the Intel department," Natalie replied.
"By Lyudmila's orders or Kallista's?" Morrison asked.
"Lyudmila. Kallista wasn't in the greatest shape when she got back...I felt bad for her…" Natalie's voice trailed off at the end, thoughts of the mission flashing through her head.
"Hopefully it's not too important," Morrison sighed heavily.
"Is that how you feel Morrison? Don't you care about the wellbeing of the Blackwatch agents?" Natalie said as she glared at the man.
"I definitely care about everyone's well-being. I have to fucking search and dig before I find out what's really going on with everyone," Morrison began as he sighed. "Only when it gets to the boiling point does he say anything. I SHOULD be updated more frequently and when I do find out it's a fucking mess," Morrison sighed heavily as he began to rub his temples.
"That's just how he operates though, you should know that…you've been friends with him for ages," Natalie commented as she stood sudden and walked over to the man's desk.
"I know but still. I didn't think it would be that hard to deal with him on something like this," Morrison replied as he watched her.
"I understand…he has his moments," Natalie replied as she sat on the edge of the man's desk.
Morrison was quiet for a moment before he spoke again.
"I also thought about what you asked me…and I think I want to go through with it," Morrison replied quietly.
Natalie looked at his surprised at his sudden answer.
"R-Really? You'll let me?" Natalie stuttered.
Morrison nodded. The woman's face lit up at the man's answer.
"I would kiss you if I could. Thank you I really do appreciate you,"
"I know. Just a little be longer," Kallista murmured.
"Waiting is boring Kalli," Malik commented.
"What's the point of moving preemptively when we don't have anything to base it on? Like Magnus said once we activate Thoth there's no going back," Aleks commented.
"Boo. Let's go in guns blazing," Malik laughed.
"Are you out of your mind?" Linda questioned
"Am I? Maybe? We're all a little fucked up in the head," Malik laughed.
"We don't have-" Aleks began.
"In this room, my orders are the only ones that need to be followed, this assignment...this mission is more than just a simple takedown. Everything that happens from now on is not a coincident, it's planned," Kallista stated. Her accent laced every word that came from her lips, her tone, and firm and with purpose. Everyone in the room turned their attention to the petite woman in between their desks.
"We will activate it when I say so and not moment sooner or later. I know that we have at least a 25-minute window into Black's networks before their IT department picks up on the intrusion. With that in mind, Thoth will disable one of their towers forcing them to manually activate it. We should have more than enough time, but there's something that's bothering me," Kallista began.
"There's that haughty English accent we all love," Magnus teased.
"Quiet," Kallista replied.
"What about orders from Lieutenant Dontsova?" Linda asked.
"I don't fancy repeating myself Linda," Kallista replied.
"R-Right," Linda replied.
"It sounds like someone is about to go over Lyuda's head," Magnus teased.
"I don't know if I could handle the fallout from this," Aleks sighed.
"Director Kaines are you sure?" Linda questioned.
"Don't encourage her Linda," Aleks sighed again
"Kallista I love it when you talk so seriously…" Malik smirked.
"By the way...you're here so that means...Reyes is…" Magnus trailed off.
The room became silent as the mention of the man's name, Lyudmila made sure that she was the one to rescue him, she went with him when he was medevac from the field, and to a hospital in Zurich. She had spent all of her time and energy at the man's side.
"He's awake and Lyuda is with him," Kallista replied
"That's good news!" Aleks spoke up first
"Thank god," Linda sighed as she seemed to sink into her chair.
"Of course he was going to get better. He's Gabriel Reyes, the Peacekeeper, the Wolf Pack leader, the Reaper, our fearless commander. He's not gonna let that take him out so easily," Magnus chortled.
"Ayy!" Malik laughed in agreement.
"Yeah," Kallista replied.
Silence fell over the room again, Aleks glanced at Magnus who casually glanced at Kallista then to Malik. Malik shrugged in turn, Magnus rolled his eyes and glanced back at Aleks, Aleks glared at the man. Linda watched silently as the three men spoke through eye contact with each other.
"Director Kaines….you should probably rest. Aleks and I can handle the data from the Cheshire cat," Linda began.
"Yeah. Malik and I can handle the additional mission Intel and reports from the recon crew. We'll have the reports to you ASAP to review. We'll even send them to you," Magnus spoke up. Kallista glanced at the four members in the room and sighed.
"So basically you are all kicking me out," Kallista replied bluntly.
"Yes," everyone in the room answered together.
"Fine...I guess," Kallista sighed as she ran a hand through her hair.
They knew that she and Lyudmila had run themselves ragged to make sure that Blackwatch ran smoothly and to keep their commander's shortfall within the ones that were involved with his rescue.
"Call me if anything changes or needs approval," Kallista said as she exited the room. The four members in the room glanced at each other before speaking.
"She forgot her jacket," Linda commented.
"She's in bad shape," Aleks said as he leaned back into his chair.
"Not gonna lie, I can't believe that we let her get to this point," Magnus said as he leaned onto his desk and buried his hands in his thick messy hair.
"Hey. She's an adult. She can fuck herself up if she wants to," Malik commented.
"You know how much Reyes is protective of her-" Magnus started.
"Even so. She knows what she's doing. She's a smart woman she'll deal with the consequences later," Malik replied.
"Smart words coming from someone who doesn't listen to the advice he gives," Aleks commented under his breath
"Wanna say that louder? I can't hear...you know hearing implants," Malik said as he pointed to his ears and the implant.
"If you didn't hear it, it wasn't important," Aleks replied.
"I thought everything you say is important Aleks. Tell me," Malik insisted
"Can we focus here?" Linda spoke up as she took one of her holographic screens and flicked it towards the large screen in the back of the room.
"Here's all the data that was pulled from Sterling Manufacturing. We currently still have Thoth in place but in the meantime, we need to piece together what Idoya and Danica were able to get from the interview with Mr. Black, Mr. Mendoza, and Eve MacAllister," Linda began as she pulled up the corresponding data.
"Right off the bat, the MacAllister twins are the most suspicious along with Sterling's partner, Carmelo Mendoza," Magnus said.
"I preemptively did some queries on the MacAllister twins and I couldn't find anything, so I did more in-depth searching within Sterling's and Mendoza's employees and what I found is that they are employed by both of the men," Malik began.
"Eve works for Mendoza and Ava works for Sterling and yet Eve was involved with the kidnapping," Malik continued.
"So then it's the old switch-a-roo," Magnus commented.
"That seems too easy," Aleks commented.
"It's plausible. They are identical twins so it could make things a little harder," Linda added as she brought up dossiers of the two women.
"For clarification reasons, we are marking the twins as the main suspects of the Cheshire cat and marking Eve MacAllister a victim in the kidnapping of Mr. Black," Magnus stated.
"So a very early hypothesis, Mendoza is up to something and the MacAllister twins are the starting point," Aleks started when his cell phone vibrated.
"So it sounds like we need to look into the twins," Magnus stated bluntly.
"Malik since you already did some research on the MacAllister twins, would you kindly continue to look into them?" Linda asked.
"I guess since you asked so nicely," Malik shrugged.
"The next thing to do is look into Mendoza and Black, and then their financial," Aleks spoke up as he put his cell phone away.
"Sounds like we have a plan in the meantime," Magnus commented.
"Let's get started then," Aleks nodded.
Kallista leaned on the guardrail as she looked down at the open fields that surrounded the Overwatch base. A pink cigarette hung from her lips as she stared into the distance, three days after the rescue mission her mind was still in overdrive without rest. She had convinced herself to keep working, there was a leak from within Blackwatch with no clear sign of its origin and with Reyes being out of commission she stepped up to help Lyudmila keep Blackwatch functioning.
She didn't have time for rest, regardless of the steady throb and pressure of her migraine, the stinging pain of her dry eyes, she needed to keep going.
"An' here I thought I'd find Morrison up here an instead I find you, Kalli,"
Kallista kept her attention focused out on the fields, lighting her cigarette.
"Don't call me Kalli. It's too close to Talli," Kallista replied sharply.
"Oh damn, I felt that cold shoulder all the way over here," Jesse chuckled as he casually strolled over to her.
"What do you want Jesse?" Kallista questioned
"Came up here to check up on ya," Jesse replied.
"I'm still alive," Kallista replied.
"An' smokin' I see," Jesse commented.
"Only in stressful situations," Kallista sighed before she took a drag of her cigarette and slowly exhaled the pink colored smoke.
"Kallista you've been doin' this for three days now, Reyes would have my ass if he knew that you were like this," Jesse began, his tone was serious.
"What are you? My dad?" Kallista glared at the man.
"Well..." Jesse grinned sheepishly.
"Jesse. I swear to god," Kallista started, the man laughed as he confirmed her suspicions of underhanded dirty joke.
"You know you're quite the ass," Kallista huffed.
"It happens, but in all seriousness. He's alive an' I assume movin' and talkin' 'bout now. You don't need to keep up your big girl act," Jesse said as he yawned.
"It's not an act," Kallista replied.
"Sure it ain't" Jesse replied as he took out his cell phone.
There was a moment of silence that fell over the two, they knew what was at stake, they knew what would happen if they failed, they also knew they couldn't fail.
"You did good Kallista. Real good," Jesse said, breaking the silence between them. Kallista took one last drag of the cigarette before she snuffed it out, the bright bubblegum pink paper now black.
"Thanks…Jesse" Kallista murmured as she leaned her head onto his shoulder, Jesse chuckled as he moved an arm around her shoulders.
"Way to scare the shit outta of us Reyes," Hayden sighed heavily.
"Got to keep you on your toes some way," Gabriel replied
"Was that supposed to be funny? Because it wasn't," Talli commented.
"How about we lay low on the jokes, Gabe," Mikael sighed.
"You all passed my test now get out," Gabriel laughed slightly and winced.
"You ass. We went through all of that trouble just to get your old ass back and now you're kicking us out? Rude," Natalie huffed.
"We're glad that you're back commander," Idoya commented quietly.
"I'm proud of all of you numbnuts," Gabriel smirked at the group of people in front of him.
"Boo. He's broken. Let's return him and get our money back," Natalie scoffed, a smirk on her lips.
"Natalie. I'm kicking your ass tomorrow," Gabriel frowned at the woman.
"Bring it old man," Natalie laughed.
"How much longer are you going to be here?" Talli questioned.
"Til tomorrow. So you all better get your shit together before I get back," Gabriel replied.
"So we goin out partyin? Tonight?" Hayden smirked as he looked at the group.
"I'm down to get shit faced," Malik smirked.
"I'm going this time," Talli chimed in.
"Ok. Everyone out. The commander needs rest," Angela said as she stood in the doorway, Konrad stood next to her.
"So you guys were going to tell me about this party too right?" Konrad said as he entered the room with the blonde.
"We'll make sure to let you know when we leave," Mikael nodded.
"You guys better, you all left me last time," Konrad commented bitterly as he checked the IV levels and the man's vitals.
"A doctor's job is never done," Talli commented.
"I'm a nurse," Konrad replied.
"I tried," Talli shrugged.
"Perfect, plan all of your drinking in front of your commander. Real smart all of you," Gabriel commented.
"It's not like you can have us train or anything, not when you aren't around," Malik shrugged.
"Why would you challenge him like that?" Hayden nudged the taller dark-skinned man, Malik shrugged.
"I'll take that as a challenge-" Gabriel started
"Ok, enough. I don't even want to think about your drinking habits, I already know that Dr. Hasibuan and I will see at least three of you in the medbay with a hangover," Angela sighed.
"We just wanna say Hi," Talli smiled.
"Sounds like some of you need to get good," Natalie muttered.
"I'm sure, but everyone out. You're stressing me out with all of your bad drinking habits and you're breaking the visitation limit. Out all of you," Angela ordered.
It was well past midnight when the two women were able to reconvene with each other. They had been swamped with work for the past three days and now with an assurance that their commander was on his way to a full recovery it took some of the edge off their work.
Lyudmila took on the role as the Commander and made sure that everyone returned back to their missions, continued to plan integral missions to maintain the peace and still partake in missions and collaborations with the Overwatch Division
Kallista maintained her role in addition to monitoring the possible fallout of the mission failure and stepped up as a temporary lieutenant in assisting Lyudmila where she couldn't be, mission debriefs, mission planning, all while handling the aftermath of the shortened visit to the United States.
"I think everyone should be up to speed now. I believe I caught all of the leaks, but we'll have to see," Kallista sighed as she leaned back in her chair.
"Hopefully there aren't anymore. Right now it seemed like everything has calmed down but with Reyes being awake and healing faster than usual it will not be much longer until he's back," Lyudmila replied.
"But this wouldn't have gone as smoothly without your help. Thank you Kallista," Lyudmila sighed and leaned back in her desk chair.
"Honestly, I just followed you, adapting to what you needed. You did all the work," Kallista shrugged.
"Give yourself more credit Kallista," Lyudmila stated, Kallista shrugged again.
"Not for this. This was all you," Kallista replied casually. Lyudmila sighed softly, a yawn slipped past her lips as she ran a hand through her graying hair.
"More importantly….about what you mentioned," Lyudmila began.
"C'mon lieutenant…" Kallista tilted her head and smirked. Lyudmila's hazel's eyes met Kallista's sharp blue ones, a blank stare.
"Fine," Kallista sighed.
"I didn't find traces from Blackwatch or Overwatch. It's likely that there was a leak in communications. I can't point out the leak due to it not being real time. I can only give hypothetical points and whatever triangulates from our communication points in Italy," Kallista began.
"So...a third-party source," Lyudmila said quietly.
"A possibility," Kallista replied. An uneasy silence blanketed the women as they looked at one another, things were happening too quickly in succession.
"Kallista..." Lyudmila began.
"It could be. The elusive leaker is back," Kallista commented in a hushed tone.
"You think so?" Lyudmila commented.
"The timing…" Kallista trailed off.
She already had the suspicion that this mole had the experience and knowledge of technology and how to hide their tracks. Kallista knew that she practically had access to all of Blackwatch's files and networks but was slightly limited when it came to Overwatch. There were some things she couldn't access, some things she couldn't touch without raising suspicions against her.
In short, she had her hands tied when it came to Overwatch, but yet she had one lead and that was Ana Amari. Kallista purposely left that one detail out, accusations was the last thing that Kallista needed. She needed facts and was going to keep that one detail to herself until she was able to investigate.
"Too convenient," Lyudmila commented.
"Exactly," Kallista agreed.
"This...is a bad omen," Lyudmila whispered.
"We'll be fine. There are just some hiccups...I'll find them. I have to...that's why I'm here..." Kallista trailed off. Lyudmila glanced at the woman and then to her computer terminal.
It had been almost five years since Kallista was forced to join Blackwatch under the guise of capturing the mole in Overwatch of Blackwatch. That was the central reason as to why she was recruited has been lost in all of the missions, support, and more. It was as if she was always a part of their team
"Yeah...by the way...he asked for you," Lyudmila suddenly said as she turned on her computer terminal. Kallista placed a piece of loose hair behind her ear as she looked away from the woman.
"Oh yeah? Is he up yet?" Kallista asked.
"Not yet. Tomorrow he will be back on base," Lyudmila replied as she took out her cellphone.
"Ok. I'll check on him when he gets here," Kallista replied.
"You're avoiding him," Lyudmila chuckled.
"No. I need sleep. I was already chided by the entire Intel crew and Jesse even had the balls to get on my case," Kallista huffed.
"He's probably covering his ass," Lyudmila commented.
"I'm not a kid that needs to be coddled," Kallista huffed and stood. Lyudmila looked up from her cell phone and stared at Kallista.
"Don't give me that look-" Kallista began.
"When was the last time you ate? Drank water? Showered? Slept?" Lyudmila began questioning the woman.
"Are you saying I stink?" Kallista questioned, appalled.
"You smell of cigarettes," Lyudmila replied.
"I get it. I'm going. Thanks, mom," Kallista said as she made her way to the door.
"I better not see you for the next three days Kallista," Lyudmila threatened, Kallista waved off the woman's threat as she exited from the office.
0500
The sun had barely peaked over the horizon when Gabriel had been transported back to Overwatch HQ, he and Lyudmila were slowly on their way to his office.
"You sure you should be moving around so quickly?" Lyudmila questioned.
"I'll be fine. You know SEP," Gabriel replied.
"You're still human. Your bones did break," Lyudmila countered.
"Am I?" Gabriel joked.
Lyudmila arched an eyebrow at the man, she was surprised by the man's answer. Silence fell between the two as they continued down the hall.
"Haha. Real funny. You're still human Reyes," Lyudmila replied sourly as she opened the door to the man's office.
"Sometimes I wonder about that...but I apologize...that was really shitty of me to say...," Gabriel grunted as he made his way to his desk and sat down. Lyudmila grimaced at the man's comment, Lyudmila gently pushed the door closed and moved towards one of the chairs in front of the man's desk, just as she was about to sit down the door opened. Gabriel cracked open an eye as Lyudmila turned to see who had entered.
"Strike Commander-" Lyudmila began.
"Morning. You sure do move fast for someone who is injured," Morrison nodded to the woman as he made his way into the man's office.
"Keep up boy scout," Gabriel commented as he shifted carefully in his chair.
"Put a sock in it. As much as I want you to rest, I need to talk to both of you," Morrison said as he entered the room, locking the door behind him.
"What's going on?" Lyudmila questioned as they moved over to the two chairs in front of Gabriel's desk.
"There was an attack in Detroit at city hall, humans were targeted and the Omnics were the only ones left unscathed. The anti-omnic group in South Korea declared war on the omnics, officially the Japanese government has banned Overwatch let alone Blackwatch from the country," Morrison began.
"I'm out for three days and all of this shit happens?" Gabriel groaned as he ran his hands through his thick hair.
"When did those reports come in?" Lyudmila questioned.
"They all came in today, the decision from the Japanese government just happened. Petras is shitting bricks, to put it bluntly.
"It sounds like we have our work cut out for us Reyes," Lyudmila said as she glanced at the man, his brows furrowed as he leaned back in his seat.
"That's not new at all," Gabriel huffed.
"It's a lot to throw at you all of a sudden, but we're going to have to move fast on these before they snowball into something worse," Morrison replied.
"I understand," Gabriel replied.
Maybe Lyudmila was right, maybe she did avoid him. The day was almost over when she finally gathered enough courage to actually face him. The sun had set hours ago and it was well past midnight when she tracked him down to one of the smaller mission control rooms.
She had to talk to him, she had to know if this was the end and if she needed to move on.
Kallista stood silently outside of one of the smaller mission rooms, she hesitated to enter and faced what stood behind the door. She exhaled softly before entered the room.
"Reyes are you sure you should be up? How are you feeling?" Kallista asked as she casually walked into the room.
"Hey, I don't feel any pain right now...the meds are working," Gabriel replied as he watched the woman stop next to him and focus on the mission board, he too turned his attention back to the mission board.
"That's always good," Kallista replied
"It numbed me to all of Morrison's whining,"
"He does that sometimes. Well, he has a reason to this time at least," Kallista chuckled.
"Oh yeah...:" Kallista started as she dug into her bomber jacket pocket and pulled out a new black beanie. Gabriel glanced surprised at the woman before his a small smile spread across his lips before he took beanie from her and put it on, adding that missing piece of him.
"There's our old commander...but it looks like you need a haircut," Kallista chuckled. Gabriel took off his beanie and ran a hand through his hair, his thick hair curled around his fingers a clear sign that it needed to be cut.
"What you don't like it?" Gabriel chuckled.
"I didn't know my opinion mattered," Kallista smirked.
"Just curious...by the way thank you for the tea, it helped me rest a little better," Gabriel said as he turned back to the mission board and flicked through the screens.
"I figured it was the least I could do for you," Kallista replied casually as she glanced at her cell phone.
"You've done more than enough for me Kallista," Gabriel said as he finally turned his attention to the woman next to him.
"Have I?" Kallista questioned a small smirk on her lips.
"More than enough," Gabriel repeated.
"Speaking of which...thank you for rescuing me,"
"You're welcome. You came for me, so I came for you," Kallista replied as she glanced at the man when their eyes met Kallista noticed a small smile on the man's lips.
"I won't hold you up. You have missions to catch up on," Kallista said as she shoved her phone into her pocket. She wasn't ready, the tightness in her chest was too much, and her mind was still raced towards the worst case scenario. She couldn't do it right now.
No sooner than she turned to walk away Gabriel grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"Wait," Gabriel said.
"Hm?" Kallista turned to look at the man, she pursed her lips together in an attempt to keep her weak facade of being calm together.
"Wait," Gabriel whispered as his gaze met hers again. There was a brief pause between them before Kallista spoke.
"...Is this the part where we talk?" Kallista questioned, Gabriel took one more look at her before he focused on the holographic screen.
"Yes...but before I say anything. I want you to know that I didn't intend for any of this to get this far," Gabriel said in a hushed tone as if someone listened to their conversation.
"I don't think either of us did...our intentions were clear…" Kallista replied, her voice also hushed. Gabriel scoffed at the woman's response.
"They were and yet I found myself being drawn to you, needing to see you every chance I got, needing to be close to you as I could get without breaking my own rules and the policies set here and yet…." Gabriel trailed off as he turned to look at the woman standing a few inches from him.
"Here I am breaking every damned rule that I have and I know that I'm going to break more and I don't give a damn," Gabriel finished.
"Gabriel what are you-" Kallista began
"What am I saying? I'm saying that I think about you more than I should, I'm saying that I've fallen for you….I'm saying that I want more than just booty call texts, Kallista," Gabriel explained as he turned his complete attention and form towards the woman.
"I'm saying that I want more," Gabriel added.
A heavy silence fell between them, those words were so simple and yet it held so much meaning for the both of them. Their affair started with a simple kiss, gentle touches in a way to soothe and distract them from the pain they both experienced. Nothing was supposed to come from this and both of them were caught in each other, tangled in each other's thoughts.
"I may be the hard-ass Commander of Blackwatch but I am also a man with emotions, needs, desires and my own ambitions," Gabriel started as he continued to hold Kallista's gaze.
Kallista moved silently over to the man and placed her head on his chest, Gabriel remained still as he felt the woman's shoulders tremble before she spoke.
"I fell for you a long time ago Gabriel…but I didn't say anything because...I didn't want to seem too clingy to the commander...I didn't want to get in your way...I didn't want to burden you," Kallista murmured.
"You tried keeping it professional and here we are breaking every rule," Gabriel said as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her tighter against him regardless of the soreness of his muscles and the tinges of pain that shot through him, he needed to feel her against him.
"Gabriel…" Kallista began as she wrapped her arms around his neck, tears threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes.
"Kallista…" Gabriel groaned softly as he wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to take her lips in a heated kiss. Hesitantly they broke the kiss, only for air, Kallista gently pressed her head to his chest as the man continued to keep her close to him.
"Are we going to tell them?" Kallista murmured.
"It's none of their business," Gabriel replied softly. Kallista agreed with a slight nod.
"Mm..." Kallista agreed with a nod and sighed softly as she felt the man's hand carding lazily through her hair.
"Kallista..." He began.
"Hm?" Kallista moved slightly to look up at the man curious.
"Thank you...for everything,"
