After all this time, what had he actually accomplished?

Thousands of arrests, the toppling of totalitarian regimes and even the stopping of the Omnic Crisis. On paper he should feel accomplished, should feel something positive about all of it. But right now he could only feel… Numb. Empty. Hallow.

Gabriel Reyes shook his head, he didn't like thinking like that. It was too… emo for his tastes. But with everything that was going on, the exposure of Blackwatch, Morrison, the entire Overwatch under investigation and… the offer.

Just a three days ago he'd been talking with Doomfist in prison, trying to get more information about Talon out of him. He couldn't use any of the usual 'off the records' methods because the entire organisation was under investigation, so it ended up looking more like teatime than anything else.

To his credit he managed to get information, the problem was that it was just a number. Specifically, it was a recruitment number.

"You'll do well in Talon," Doomfist chuckled as he passed over the number. "Just think it over and you'll find that you want to join."

"I doubt it," Gabriel said passively as he put it in his pocket. "I'll just forward it to our intelligence agency as soon as I'm out the door and throw it away."

"I doubt it," Doomfist echoed with a maddeningly confident smirk.

And now three days later only Gabriel was aware of the recruitment number, still untouched in his pocket.

It seemed to burn him, but he couldn't bare to look at it. It represented everything that he fought against for most of his life, they were a cruel and cowardly lot that sought to plunge the world into eternal conflict. By the same token he couldn't bare to be rid of it. He might have had his honor, but he also respected the violence of Talon as a means to achieve their goals and Doomfist was a very charismatic person. More charismatic than Jack was at least.

Jack…

There was a reason to want to leave Overwatch, Jack fucking Morrison. It seemed like he was the golden boy, the responsible one. The person that got all the credit for all the successes while Reyes seemed to be given the burden of all the failures.

It seemed like every time they talked it ended in an argument, in fact that was the reason he was currently where he was. Hiding after another argument.

At the moment he was at the very top of the Swiss base, it was an extremely difficult climb but the view was rewarding. Mountain ranges covered in snow, a low lazy mist and a view of the city of Sion. It was very calming, and usually helped to focus his mind. The immediate small square area was nothing but a mini fridge filled with light beers, two lawn chairs and a small plant he couldn't stand to look at for the second. The reason for the second chair was Genji, as far as he knew the only other person that could reach this high.

Often after missions they'd come up here and just kick back a few cold ones. Although not anymore, Genji was suspended for his involvement in Blackwatch and subsequently left before they could look too closely at his past. They may have bought him on board to dismantle the Shimada clan, but now the UN were more interested in a scapegoat and what better one than the son of a (long dead) notorious crime lord?

It infuriated Gabe to no end, Genji was a fine person, a good person despite his past. But now that they were investigating, they were more interested in persecution over the past despite that past being exactly what he was taken on board for. It wasn't fair. They did their jobs dammit, why were they being punished for it?

The most frustrating thing however was Genji's reaction however.

"I know sir," Genji said without his mask on, hope and melancholy in his eyes. "But this chapter in my life is over, I need to find a new path… a better one."

A better path, Reyes didn't think there was one at this point. Who did Genji think he was, talking about a better path? Gabriel had seen where such thinking had led, had felt the consequences of it. Genji was a fool.

God, was he any better himself? Sitting atop the Watchpoint in the evening and brooding about the unfairness of life, he was starting to regret reading that copy of Nietzsche's work that Winston got him. It was making him sound like an edgy thirteen year old inside his own goddamn head.

But there is one thing that really made the entire situation that much more pathetic…

"Maybe I am a fool," Gabe chuckled softly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that commander."

Reyes jumped in spite of himself, so consumed in his own brooding that he didn't even notice Oxton sneaking up on to him. He took a moment to collect himself and settle his expression into a neutral one before turning to face her.

"Agent Oxton," Gabriel said evenly. "How did you get up here?"

"I'm not half a bad climber," Oxton grinned and gave a flourish with her hand. "Blinks and Recall really helps as well." She gave a sort of half laugh. "Can't say I expected you to be up here though."

Reyes took a moment to assess Oxton. They'd never interacted much, sure he'd spotted her at parties and nodded at her if they passed in the hallways. But that was the extent of their interactions with each other. They had two completely separate social circles, and he never commanded Jack's strike force.

But even if she wasn't one of his, he couldn't help but notice certain ticks. The way her stance was tense, fingers were moving anxiously, eyes had just a hint of desperation and a smile that was just ever so slightly too fake. Oxton had come up here to be alone, just like he had.

"Well I was just about finished up her anyway," Reyes said as he began to rise from his seat.

"No, no, Don't leave on my account, I'll just… find somewhere else, yeah." Oxton began to edge backwards.

"No, just stay, I- could use the company," Gabriel lied through his teeth.

"I uh, sure!" Oxton scrambled, about a convincing a liar as Reyes himself was. "I uh, company… company would be good."

With that, Gabriel took his seat and Oxton took the other. Both of them craving solitude, but neither wanting to be awkward about it. Naturally in a cruel irony, the next five minutes was some of the most awkward in his life. Including the silence after he accidentally

Fortunately for his sanity, Oxton decided to break the ice.

"So, you're the one who brought all this stuff here?"

"That's right," Gabriel nodded a little stiffly. "I guess you've been here before then."

"Yeah, stumbled on to it when I was first trying out my powers," Oxton replied. "Was just going all over the place when I found it, view helped me centre myself, always wondered who set it all up."

"It was me and Genji, we found it doing some climbing training," He chuckled at the memory. "I say training, but it was second nature for him."

"He's one of the few that can keep up with me," Oxton gave a melancholy smile. "I miss him, wish he didn't have to go."

"Same here, I enjoyed working with him," Reyes said with no attempts to hide his fondness. "But with him gone, I can't help but worry some of the others will follow."

Namely, he couldn't help but worry about Cassidy. Much like Genji, the cowboy had a checkered past that he was hired for. What was to stop the UN's investigators from prosecuting the cowboy? What was to stop them from going after everyone in Blackwatch and persecuting them simply for doing their job?

"Hey, no one's going anywhere," Oxton nudged his foot with hers. "Everything's going to be fine. I'm sure that the investigators will clear you and the rest of us then it'll be business as usual."

There was a clear bit of genuine optimism and hope in her tone, something that he couldn't help but admire. His optimism and hope that the world could change had long died out. Damaged when his arrests of thousands of criminals did nothing to even slow down crime. Permanently wounded when the regimes he toppled as a soldier where replaced with Megacorporation's that did the same atrocities those countries did. Then finally put out of its misery in the Omnic Crisis.

All that senseless carnage, the endless dead and the nightmares that followed, It surprised him he was able to sleep some nights. It seemed like Oxton could see what he was thinking as she looked right into his eyes.

"Everything's going to be fine," Oxton repeated with conviction.

"Everything's going to be fine," Gabriel parroted back with much less.

And like that, they returned to awkward silence. Horrible, uncomfortable silence. Gabriel gave a long suffering sigh as he once again became enveloped in his own thoughts. Brooding about the past, present and future all in one.

He took out a cigarette and lit it, he offered one to Oxton who shook her head, well she could suit herself. He enjoyed the sensation, the feeling of it on his lips, up here Angela couldn't hound him about lung cancer or other health problems. He could simply enjoy himself, not that he actually was of course, too much on his mind for it. But it was nice regardless.

"Angela would have your head for that you know," Oxton said after a few moments.

"She would," Gabe acknowledged. "But honestly? I need it right now, with everything that's going on."

"That's fair, it was never for me… but I can understand it, needing something to take the edge off sometimes." Oxton said, sounding every part like she knew exactly how Gabe was feeling, and well, he hated that someone that young should know what it's like.

"Do you have family Oxton?" He asked softly after a moment or so. "Someone to go home to?"

"I- maybe," Oxton hesitated. "I don't have a family anymore really, no parents or siblings, but I have a girlfriend, Emily."

"What's she like?"

"Kind, honest, funny, beautiful," Oxton gushed. "I don't think there's anyone that helped me feel more grounded, more safe than her."

"Think you'll marry her one day Oxton?"

"I'm not sure, but I think I'd like to," Oxton said before looking at him. "And please, call me Lena."

"Only if you call me Gabe," He smiled back. "I have a family as well you know, I don't see them as often as I'd like to but… They're out there."

"I hope that you see them soon then, what're they like?"

"Well, Martina's my wife, she's steadfast and determined, a strong sense of justice about her," Gabe said with a warm smile on his face. "A bit hot tempered, but she's defiantly my better half even if she hates violence. Then there's my boy, so bright and curious about everything… He wants to go camping the next time I'm home."

"I'd love to meet them some time," Lena's eyes were brighter than they were before starting the conversation. "Maybe you can bring them over next time you find yourself in London. We could all go for dinner or something."

"Or something," Gabe agreed, he looked into the distance and hummed as the sun began to set.

The silence was more comfortable this time as they watched it slowly go down over the mountains, the setting sun providing Gabe with a perfect metaphor for what was happening. The sun setting on Overwatch and Blackwatch, only it's pale reflection left to watch over them even then it might be obscured by dark clouds. The era of heroes was at it's end, only darkness to follow.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Lena asked, sounding in awe of the simplicity of a sunsetting behind the mountains.

"I've seen better ones," He paused as he recollected them. "You should see the ones in Cuba, over the water as you sit at a beach and watch it reflect on the waves, I'm probably not describing it the best, I'm no poet, but it's simply beautiful."

"I was only in Cuba briefly, when we were bringing in Maximilien, didn't get the chance to look at the sunset," Lena sounded like she regretted the fact. "Well, always next time."

"If they ever let us go on missions again," Gabe sighed. "Honestly kid, I don't think they ever will. Blackwatch, Overwatch, it's all over. Done. Our time's over."

It was the truth, as sure as the sun was setting, he felt it in his bones that Overwatch would end. He wasn't sure when or how, but he knew it was coming and the world would be all the worse for it.

"I don't believe that for a minute Commander," Lena's eyes shone with a passion.

"Why not? The world doesn't need us anymore, it's moving on."

"Rubbish, the world could always use more heroes," Lena said with such conviction and belief behind it that he couldn't help but believe her for just a moment.

Then the moment passed.

"Heroes, is that what you think we are?" Gabe felt his bitterness once again rise and boil. "We were never heroes, we were always soldiers. They sent us out to fight, to die, in an unwinnable war and battles with impossible odds. But we survived, we won that war. Sure we had to get our hands dirty, but we stopped so many terrible threats and things that would've toppled nations. The battle of Madrid. The Siege of Kiev. The letzter Ausweg project. We. Won."

He knew that he sounded bitter and angry, he knew that this was just how the world worked. But he didn't care.

"We kept the peace in those uneasy years afterwards, but then they don't let us do our job, they start to prosecute some of us for doing it in the first place while giving others all the respect and recognition, in spite of all we'd done for them. The truth revealed, we were never heroes Lena, we weren't even soldiers. We were tools, bought in and discarded without care. That's the truth."

Gabe breathed heavily after his rant, a weight off of his chest from finally speaking out loud some of these things that had been on his chest, he dared a glance to Lena, she was looking at him. Expression thoughtful, but with a hint of something he couldn't identify.

A heavy silence was between them as the sun's final decent started, only a the top of it left poking out over the mountains.

"Are you okay Gabe?" Lena finally asked, and he could only answer honestly.

"No, I'm not." He sighed. "I haven't been for a long time."

"Okay," Lena simply let it hang in the air for a moment. "Do… do you know why I joined Overwatch?"

"All the usual stuff I suppose, make a difference, make the world a safer place that sort of thing." Gabe guessed.

"That was defiantly a part of it," Lena laughed a little. "But the truth, the real truth that is, is that I wanted to fast. Used to say one day they'll call marathons Tracer-thons, and I got my wish. Course it was a real monkey's paw about it."

"You were put into the Slipstream project due to your previous work in the RAF," Gabe filled in what he knew happened.

"Bingo. Course RAF fast tracked me because I was a prodigy and they were desperate to replenish numbers after the Crisis." She explained. "Then came the worst experience I ever had in my life, the pain, feelings of isolation and terror. Angela almost vetoed me continuing any Overwatch work at all on psychological grounds, did you know that?"

"I… I didn't," Gabe replied softly as he heard what she was saying. "I'm… sorry that that happened to you."

"Don't be, it's in the past now, no point in dwelling on it," Lena said with a melancholy grin. "Course, past likes dwelling on me from time to time. Part of the reason I came up here you see, my Chronal Disassociation isn't just physical, mental as well." She tapped the side of her head. "Sometimes my brain gets all confused about where and when I am, and I panic. Course some people help me feel grounded, Winston and Emily are the big ones." She smiled fondly. "And you."

"…Me?" Gabe blinked in confusion. "But… I- we barely interact."

"And you were still able to help bring me out of it," Lena said with a kind smile. "I'm good at hiding it, but when I came up here I was trying to shake off an episode, I could feel it coming. Then you come in with your talks about sunsets and family that just… grounded me."

"I- I didn't know it was that, but I could tell something was wrong and I wanted to help."

"Yes, because you're a hero."

He laughed at that, but for once it wasn't an ugly laugh, but one of disbelief. "Believe me, I'm about as far from a hero as possible. Look at Morrison if you want a proper one."

"He's a bit boring though," Lena said teasingly. "At least your willing to break the rules to do the right thing, and that's something I agree with."

"Thanks," Gabe gave a genuine smile, it had been a while since he'd had one of those. "You're very kind Lena."

"Going to make me blush Gabe," She pushed him jokingly. "But seriously, I've had a lot of bad things happen to me and seen a lot of bad things happen to other people. But in my time fading in and out, the thing that stopped me from just giving up and fading away forever? It was the fact that there is good in this world, good people that are trying to make the world a better place. You, your one of those good people, you're a hero. You've improved so many people's lives."

"Have I? It seems like all I've done is uphold a status quo that's not been changed from when I've been born." He replied morosely. "I'm not sure if I've made a difference."

"Of course you have," Lena shot him some finger guns. "Can you hear me? When it rains and shines, it's just a state of mind."

"Did… did you just quote the Beatles at me?"

"Hey, I'm a big fan."

They both held their breathes for a moment before inexplicably breaking out into laughter, a long, happy and vibrant laughter.

As it died down, Gabe let out a noise that even he wasn't sure what it was as he mulled over her words. It was certainly a much more optimistic view than his, and while he couldn't bring himself to believe it… He respected the hell out of Lena for sticking by it even after everything that happened to her.

The last ray disappeared over the sun and he revisited his metaphor, darkness falling after Overwatch and Blackwatch had ended. But the sun would rise again, a new generation of 'heroes' as she would put it. It was the pathetic part of everything that he'd though about earlier, even after all of everything he'd went through, he still had hope that tomorrow would come and be brighter than yesterday.

He glanced at Lena and thought that maybe that hope wasn't misplaced after all. Still… for the hope he had, Talon's number burned in his pocket and no matter what he tried to envision for the future, he couldn't see himself as part of it. He couldn't see Gabriel Reyes a man with honor still living and breathing among heroes.

But even if that was the case…

"Lena, I'd… like to give you something." He hesitated. "It's something important."

"Oh! Of course Gabe, what is it?" She looked at him curiously as he fished around his pocket.

"When I was younger, I was a cop in LA," He explained a little self-consciously. "My first proper crime was stopping this punk kid from robbing a small local shop," He chuckled a little at the memory. "I tackled the kid to the ground and tied him up, then this little girl in the shop. She looks up at me, and well, she calls me a hero, gives me this small sports medal she'd been carrying around."

He fished out said medal that he'd kept on him for so long, a reminder of that little kid's gratitude and presented it to Lena. "Well, I'd like you to have it. Something to remind you what you fight for so you don't end up like me one day."

"I don't see anything wrong with ending up like you," Lena said softly. "You should keep it. Remind yourself eh?"

"Alright, but if Overwatch does get disbanded, well I'd like you to get it from me, as a keep sake." He requested.

"Sure thing Gabe," Lena said with a smile. "Not that I'll need to, after all… everything's going to be fine."

"Everything's going to be fine," Gabe parroted back, and in spite of himself, he believed it.

A week later in the rubble of the Swiss headquarters, they'd not find a body for Gabe, nor Jack. Only others that were injured and a lone badly damaged bronze medal that Agent Lena Oxton would hold onto as a reminder.

It would be sometime before Lena Oxton and Gabriel Reyes met again.