Chapter 12: Best Laid Plans

Sombra's terminal entries quickly started to fill her screen as she went about clearing her logs for the past few days.

Sombra chisme-rig/home Reminder new 15/6 13:00 "Ask Val about mission."

Sombra chisme-rig/home cd /notes

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[15/06-13:35:24] Val being dodgy about mission? Ask Gabe later.

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[15/06-15:08:17] Val and Reaper ducked into a storage closet together. Weird. Lots of private conversations going on lately.

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[15/06-21:05:43] Val and Reaper both being dodgy about mission. Will investigate further.

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Reminder new 16/6 8:00 "Bug Val and Reapers rooms."

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[16/06-7:13:31] Val and Gabe having lunch together? Gabriel doesn't even eat. que?

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[16/06-7:25] Development update: got rid of stupid seconds marker from the timestamp on this notes app finally.

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[16/06-7:26] Thing one and thing two have not left each other's side. They aren't even talking. And Geoff ate the last everything bagel this morning. How am I supposed to investigate like this?

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Reminder new 16/6 19:00 "Sign Geoff up for email spam"

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[16/06-8:10] Checked mission debrief. Those are barely password protected, and not encrypted apparently. El jefe really needs to make his password something besides 12345. Not that there's much in his computer. I got what I needed. The debrief said the mission went fine. Why are they being so dodgy?

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[16/06-12:58] Val and Widow had their lunch together as usual. Gabe was not found like normal, but Val was on his phone a lot. Maybe I should check his phone later.

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[16/06-19:40] I thought I was just being clingy, but Val stood and talked to Gabe in his doorway for a long time. They're being weird. I need to watch them like a hawk if they won't tell me what's wrong. It's gonna keep me up at night.

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[17/06-15:24] Asked Val if he wanted to go dancing with me tonight, he said no! He is gonna watch basketball with Gabe tonight. I can't believe I'm being cheated on :(

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[17/06-18:34] They usually watch basketball on the couch, and today they decided to watch it in Val's room. How romantic -_-. Good thing I bugged their rooms. I will scrub through the audio later

Sombra chisme-rig/home Reminder new 17/6 20:00 "Scrub game audio"

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[17/06-21:56] All they did was talk about basketball. And how weird I'm being. Maybe I should be more subtle.

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[18/06-18:56] Still haven't slept. Been scrubbing their audio like crazy all night and day. They don't talk around anyone else and then around each other they just talk about basketball (a code?) I must be missing something

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[19/06-6:56] Monitor again today? I need to get out of my room. Why won't they talk to me if they're not up to something?

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[19/06-9:58] They have lunch together again. Still no talking. Right when I showed up. Maybe it's me?

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[20/06-12:38] They're avoiding me now, I know it. I didn't see either of them around lunch. They have to be planning something together and it has to do with me. Hopefully it's a surprise party.

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[20/06-15:28] Caught Val in the hallways and tried talking to him. He gave me a dirty look when I asked him where his new boyfriend was. I don't think it's a surprise party. I think he's mad at me for something.

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[20/06-19:10] The sleep deprivation is catching up to me. I maybe let it slip something Val mentioned during the basketball game. He is not easy to gaslight and now he's gonna take out the bug again. I hate getting caught by him.

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[20/06-20:51] They figured out a way around the wiretapping. Those two were in the bathroom and turned on the shower so I couldn't hear them. And were in there forever. They have to be up to something bad to be going to all these lengths to hide from me

Sombra chisme-rig/notes Notes new

[20/06-23:20] Finally caught a slip up. Reaper said my nosiness was gonna get me killed one of these days in one of the audio logs. I thought he was joking. I don't think he was. The hanging out together, the private conversations, the hiding in the bathrooms and closets and their rooms, it all makes sense now. The only explanation is that they plan to kill me, I gotta make a game plan.

Connection closed by server.

Failed to retrieve directory listing.

She decided to finally head to the mess hall, tired and rubbing her eyes as she walked.

Meanwhile, across the base Val was leading a crowd of new recruits toward the mess hall, wondering how the hell they kept hiring more people yet didn't have more staffing for him to stop doing this and field work. As he directed the bunch in, he heard someone call out to him.

"Hollywood! I need to talk to you." Val looked over to find Reaper calling out to him. He made sure all of the trainees were in the lunchroom, before taking out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket as he walked over.

"I was going for a smoke anyway, let's go." Val nodded his head for Gabriel to follow, leading him to a more secluded area. The two sat outside, Val sitting atop a small storage chest, and Gabriel a few feet away. It wasn't exactly private, but the loading area towards the edge of the base was only occupied by smaller storage containers, not many people were walking by.

"Hollywood, is a new one, never been called that before. I don't know where you're from, what do I call you?" Val said, and handed Gabriel a cigarette and his lighter.

"I'm from LA, but you don't call me anything." Gabriel lit the cigarette, and gave Val a side eye after he handed back the lighter.

"Right, that explains the Lakers. Maybe I should start calling you that." Val watched the other man stare into the distance for a minute, not saying anything. He pulled his knee up to his chin before he decided to speak up again. "So did you have something to tell me or did you just miss me?"

"I did, but now I feel kind of stupid."

"You already have my attention, I think you'd look more dumb if you made me come all the way out here just to smoke with me. Unless you did, then that's kinda cute." Val smirked as Gabriel glared at him from the side. "It's like you have a crush on me or something." Val laughed as he was shoved over.

"You wish, lover boy." Gabriel sat down on the edge of the storage container next to Val, staring into the distance. "It's fine. It's a dumb question."

"Okay well, now I have to know, you never ask me questions, especially dumb ones." Val leaned over, looking up at Gabriel through his long eyelashes.

"I noticed you make the girls breakfast, but you don't always make me breakfast, that was all." Gabriel stared into the distance again, and Val squinted at him.

"Are you getting butthurt over me making food? I thought you didn't eat!" Val said in shock, getting another glare in return.

"I'm not butthurt," Gabriel said flatly. "And I didn't eat before you started insisting on making food every day. Now I get hungry in the mornings, like today when you wanted to make the whole damn base food but me." Val covered his mouth and turned away as he laughed.

He leaned over and said quietly, "Gabe, I didn't make you food this morning because I came over last night. You had a coronary the last time I made you breakfast." Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"That was different. You don't spend the night." Val only gave a sly smile in response. "Forget it, it was just a question."

"It's ok, I can keep making you breakfast. If you wanted food all you had to do was ask." Val smiled coyly, trying to push the irritable mans buttons.

"You don't need to do that, I was just curious."

"No, no, you're right, it's not fair. It looks like I'm mad at you half of the time."

"I didn't say that. Don't start making me food now, it was just a question," Gabriel growled down at the younger one.

"I don't remember you being able to stop me." Val grinned back, before getting an elbow to the rib, making him laugh again. Looking down at Gabriel's arms, Val noticed peeking out from the other's sweatshirt sleeve a black leather wrist band that looked familiar. "Is that my wrist band?" Val asked, tilting his head.

Gabriel looked down at his arm as Val grabbed his hand without warning and yanked his sleeve up.

"Yeah, you left it at my place. If you want it back you'll have to fight me for it." Gabriel answered dryly, looking over at the leaned over man turning his hand over and inspecting it. Val squinted at him for a second, then sat up straight, letting go of his hand.

"I didn't realize I left it." He gave a sideways glance as he spoke, taking a puff from his cigarette, Gabriel crossing his arms over his chest again, looking over at him. "You should keep it if you like it that much, it looks good on you."

"I was kidding, I wore it so I remembered to give it to you."

"It does look good on you though. It compliments your forearms 'cause you're so built. I'm not as muscular, it looks better on you." Val looked down at the ground, lamenting as he breathed out the smoke from his cigarette, wishing this stubborn man would just take the gift.

"Maybe if you didn't eat like a mouse, I've seen the way you work out you could bulk up."

"Yeah, anyway, I only had it 'cause it came in a pack if you want it. You have nice arms too, you should show them off more." He tried to redirect the conversation from his body to Gabe's, elbowing the other in the arm.

"Well, since you can't take care of it, I guess I'll hang onto it for you." Val smiled and shook his head. "I think your lunchmates might be waiting for you by now."

"Come walk me, stranger."

Together, the two of them walked to the mess hall, and just so happened to bump into Sombra on the way into the building as they were tossing their cigarettes.

"Where have you two been, having another knitting club meeting?" Sombra asked as she approached.

"We're smoking over by the loading bay trying to save your precious baby lungs." Val patted her on the head before the three of them headed into the lunchroom together to grab food.

Once they grabbed their food, the three took their trays to a table where Widowmaker already sat waiting. Of the three, the two taller men easily pushed their way around the tiny hacker, and sat next to each other before she got a chance to sit down. She stood behind the two, glaring down at them for a few seconds before saying anything.

"Wey! Can you stop riding Val's ass for one lunch and let me sit next to him? He's my boyfriend today, not yours, you get him on weekends."

Gabriel turned to look at her over his shoulder in annoyance, then stood up to move while Val chuckled at him.

"Don't worry, we can cuddle later on the couch while we watch the game," Val cooed, which got him a swift punch in the arm.

"Shut up, you're gross." Gabriel said, and Val stuck his tongue out at the other. Val noticed Widow out of the corner of his eye raised her eyebrows and averted her gaze, but she made no comment, so he brushed it off. If she had a problem she could say something.

"That's all you two ever do is watch TV together. You know, I like basketball, how come you guys don't invite me?" Sombra squinted at Val, which he knew was because he would break first.

"Not my house, ask Reyes." Val said, taking a bite from his food so he couldn't say anything. Sombra looked over at Gabriel expectantly.

"You talk too much. You drink too much. You drank all my beer last time, and ate all my food. If I wanted that, I would've had another kid."

Sombra stared back at Gabriel with her mouth agape, then looked over at Val.

"His house, his rules. He had a list for you bro sorry."

"V." Widow tapped Val on the arm, interrupting their conversation."Your best friend is here, on your 3."

Val looked over, spotting a very tall Mauga making his presence known in the mess hall. The purple haired twink put his face behind his hands, looking over at Widow wide-eyed.

"Oh, shit, someone hide me. Do you think I fit under the table? Tell me if he's coming." He whispered. He leaned down and put his arms over his head, slowly sinking to underneath the table.

"Don't get under the table." Widow said flatly. "He's already seen you anyway."

Of course, Mauga's obnoxiously loud footsteps approached, stopping right behind Val, who refused to lift his head off the table, hoping if he didn't move, the problem couldn't see him.

"Hey, guys, I just came to say hi to my friend V here." Yay. "Hey there buddy, long time no see," Mauga said, his resonant voice just as grating as usual against Val's ears. The smaller popped up off of the table, forcing a smile. Everyone else at the table quietly watched the two of them interact, mostly with curiosity.

Val unenthusiastically said, "Hey, Mauga."

"I almost thought you were trying to avoid me." Mauga placed his large hand very roughly on Val's shoulder, and Val could feel his eyebrow start to twitch.

"Mhm, yeah, don't touch me." Val stared forward, feeling his skin start to boil from his anger as he tried to hold it in.

"Come on, little guy, don't be like that, I know you missed me. Did you do something with your hair? It's a different color isn't it?" The much larger man now started to grab a few strands of hair from Val's ponytail, which Val tried to shake him off in response.

"I'm six foot three, that's not little genius. And no, it's the same color it's been for the past two years. Now quit touching my hair before I bite you again." Val waved him away rapidly, which only got a hearty laugh out of the other.

"That's no fair, I'm thinking about doing my hair." Mauga with one hand firmly on Val's shoulder, leaned down, heads side by side. "What do you guys think, should I dye my white streak to match?" Mauga said, with an all too comfortable smirk. Using the other hand he held up Val's purple strands of hair against his head, driving the quietly raging man up the wall. Val felt his breathing grow heavy and his vision started to blur.

He summoned a knife into his hand without even thinking, pressing it against the man's throat, continuing to stare down at the table, trying not to go ahead and murder the man anyways for doing this type of shit every time they met.

"Get your hands off me Mauga. I'm not fucking around right now." Val clenched his jaw, for a split second everyone at the table froze. Mauga lifted his hands in the air and took a small step back, then gave a small laugh.

"You usually last longer than that, you in a bad mood today?"

"I said don't touch my fucking hair."

Mauga patted his shoulder, much more gently this time. "Alright kid, I'll see you around."

Mauga started to walk away, waving as he did. Val dug his knife into the table, his eye twitching, trying to keep himself from insisting on having the last word.

He gave in and said, "Don't let your big ass head knock out any doorways."

"Don't worry, I'll tell them it was you." Mauga replied coolly over his shoulder.

"What did you just say? Hey!" Val started to yell, standing abruptly, as the other man just kept walking.

"V, sit down, you're making a scene," Widow said, flatly as always, but it was too late.

The knife cut through the air, stabbing into the wall across the room with a thud. Val breathed heavily, his arm having thrown the knife towards Mauga's head before his mind realized, only getting the other to stop and look back over his shoulder with that stupid cocky smile still across his face.

"I'm talking to you! What the fuck did you just say to me?" Val stormed toward him, gesturing wildly as he approached. "My big ass head? Your big ass everything knocks the fucking planes out of the sky when you fucking walk in here! Man, shut the fuck up, I should kick your ass for fucking touching me." Val stopped next to Mauga and pulled his knife out of the wall.

"You want me so bad, it makes you look stupid," Mauga said, smugly staring down at him.

"I want you dead, maybe! You know what, fuck this, I'm leaving! I'm not hungry anymore!" Val threw his hands up and marched off, leaving behind his lunch at the table with the other's.

Gabriel, Widow, and Sombra all stared down at the table, hands over their eyes to shield themselves from the embarrassing display. Once it was over the three gave each other a glance and continued to eat their food silently.

"Do they do that every time, or just today?" Gabriel asked after a few moments of silence.

"It's every time. I think they dated but don't quote me on that," Sombra said while scrolling on her screen absentmindedly.

"Do you ever stop spreading rumors?" Widow sneered.

Sombra only shrugged as she kept eating. Once she finally looked up from her screen, she nodded at Gabriel with a confused expression.

"What's with the sleeves?" she said, and Gabriel looked down at his rolled up hoodie sleeves.

"Why do you need to know? What are you a cop? Mind your business."

"Jeez, I was just asking. Can I ask where you got your wristband then or are you gonna be chillón about that too?" Gabriel only glared at her. "Alright, Val has the same one that's all. I thought maybe you two got it at the same place," Sombra said, going back to eating her food. Gabriel got wide eyed for a second, before collecting himself.

"I don't remember. Quit being nosy," he said, standing up and deciding to leave to avoid further questions.

Sombra stared out of the corner of her eye as she waited for him to leave the mess hall, then turned to Widow.

"Those two are up to something, I know it." Sombra leaned in and whispered, "I think they're trying to kill me." Widow gave her a sideways glance.

"It's about time."

"I'm serious! I think they're planning something, I just don't know what, and if I catch them I could be in serious trouble."

"Don't try to involve me in one of your conspiracies."

"I'm not involving you, I just need a witness while I confront them. Right now I can't trust either of those two."

"I don't care." Widow stared down at her plate.

"Would you do it for twenty bucks?" Widow looked back up at her blankly for a few seconds.

"Thirty."

"I only have twenty. I have a Panera bread gift card in my bag too."

"I'll take it."

"Great, so later, you just sit in the living room while I talk to them." Sombra gave a little salute, and waved goodbye as Widow rolled her eyes.

Sombra then headed back to the housing block, walking into the building and finding Val standing out in the living area perplexed by a vase of dark red flowers on the coffee table.

Sombra stood next to him asking, "What's with the flowers?" as she stared with him.

"I don't know, I was about to ask you. They were here when I got here. The note says they're for Reaper," he said, and smiled as he looked over at her.

"Oh, he's gonna get a kick out of that," Sombra said, starting to grin as she stared at them, not wanting to show she was suspicious of the two. "Should we wait for him then?"

"Definitely. I texted him that there was a present for him on the table already, now we just wait."

Later, Widow had joined in on the staring, though no one wanted to touch the flowers in case they were rigged to explode or something. Finally, Gabriel did walk in the door, finding the three standing around the vase and looking at them confused.

"What the hell is this?" He paused at the door, pointing at the flowers, just as confused as he was agitated. He walked over to the table, and pointed at Val. "Is this you? Are you messing with me?"

"No, these were here when I got here. We've all been waiting for you to come read your note." Val pointed at the card sticking out of the top, neatly folded over.

"Oh fuck no, those are going straight in the trash, this is ridiculous." Gabriel picked up the vase and started walking over to the kitchen.

"No! Wait! Let me get the card!" Val ran after him and reached over to grab the card out of the bouquet, immediately opening it. Gabriel stopped walking and stared at him agitated, which Val only looked up for a second to wave him away. "Ok now you can throw those away." Gabriel walked away, tossing the flowers, vase and all, in the trash as Val read over the note.

"What does the card say?" Widow asked.

Val started to read out loud, "It says

'Dear Reaper,

I'm too shy to tell you face to face, so I hope the flowers will do. Just like the voices, I couldn't get you out of my head, ever since I first laid eyes on you.

With Love, Girard.' and she drew a pretty little heart with flowers around it."

"Aw, how cute it rhymes," Sombra said.

"Yeah and she hears voices. You guys are perfect for each other, mentally unstable." Val and Sombra leaned on each other, making doe eyes at Gabriel as he glared at them, snatching the note from their hands.

"You better be joking, the rookie?" Gabriel read over the note quickly, before frowning in displeasure. "That's disgusting." He crumpled up the note and tossed it over into the trash, banking it off the wall.

"It's kind of cute, she's had a little crush on you since she's started." Val covered his mouth as he snickered.

"Yeah, you get that sugar baby Gabe," Sombra said, nodding.

"She's 19. I'm not a cradle robber, that's fucking disgusting. This better not get mentioned again by any of you, because I'm telling her to cut her shit out the next time I see her. I know how you two are." He pointed at Sombra and Val. "I'm going to my room to watch basketball, don't bother me."

"Wait, you should watch it out here, I have to ask you and Val something." Sombra said.

"Are you going to give us another presentation on the Castro kid conspiracy? Or the JFK assassination this time?" Val said, rolling his eyes.

"It's a surprise. I hacked the TVs in the rooms so you have to use the living room anyway."

"The game doesn't start for an hour, ratón," Gabriel said, staring down at the tiny hacker.

"Then I will see you two in an hour in the living room. Perfect time for your cuddling session," she said, smirking as she turned invisible.

"You little shit, get back here! Fix my TV!" Gabriel shouted at the air where she used to stand, Val giggling at the man looking like he was senile.

The boys sat on the sofa next to each other, entranced by the players on the TV, as Sombra stood observing them from the kitchen. Widow stood next to her, pouring herself a tall glass of wine. Sombra drummed her nails impatiently on the counter as she waited for Widow to hurry up, and the tall sniper picked up the glass in one hand, then decided to just take the whole bottle in the other hand. After entering the living room, Widow sat in the single seater chair, and Sombra stood in front of the TV, turning it off with the remote.

"Hey!" The two men shouted at the same time.

"It's recording. You two have been gathered here today, with Widowmaker as my witness, to stand trial in the court of Talon." Sombra stood with her hands on her hips, as she spoke with confidence. Val stared back with his mouth agape in confusion, Gabriel only giving a blank look.

"This oughta be good." Gabriel sighed, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"The court of what?" Val asked.

"You two are facing charges of conspiracy to assassinate me, how do you plead?" Sombra pointed at the two of them, waiting for a reply.

Val gave a small laugh. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Alright, allow me to present," she said, as she manifested one of her holographic screens, pulling it down like it was a physical projector screen. "The evidence!"

A presentation was already prepared for the two, in the style of a red thread conspiracy board, and she whipped out a metal pointer to assist in her argument.

"You two may take me for a fool, but as you can see you shouldn't underestimate me. I've even gone without sleep to collect this evidence, and I have plenty." Sombra paced back and forth in front of the screen as she spoke. Val scanned over the various pictures, starting to nod, then crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back into the sofa similar to Gabriel.

Widow stared at the screen with CCTV footage of the two men with an eyebrow raised. She then chose to stare at the two boys.

Sombra continued. "You two have been spending a lot of time together the past week or so, having a lot of private conversations. The sneaking around, the texting outside of the group chat, the group bathroom breaks to avoid me, I notice everything. I know what you're doing, and I know you two have been planning a hit on me!"

The boys gave each other the side eye, then stared up at her blankly. It was silent for a moment before Val finally decided to speak.

"Are you sure about that?" Val said, starting to crack a smile. "I think you might want to check your work there prima, you forgot to carry a one or something." Val covered his mouth, trying to hold in a laugh. Sombra looked at him confused, then looked over at Gabriel, who stared into the middle distance and avoided Widow's gaze by very slowly pulling the strings to his hoodie tighter around his face.

"I thought you would be upset, why are you laughing?" Sombra asked, used to Val's brushing things off but not Reaper's unusual reaction, realizing the lack of sleep might have caught up with her.

"Ah, I now know why I am here," Widow said, chugged her glass, then turned to look at Sombra. "They're fucking, you idiot."

"What? No! You and Gabe are a thing, no?"

"That's disgusting, no." Widow sneered.

"I bet it doesn't even get warm down there." Gabriel sank lower into the couch, black smoke starting to trail off of his body, his face fully encased by his hood so he couldn't see Widow's death glare even if he wanted to.

Sombra stared back at her, squinted, then turned and looked at her conspiracy board. CCTV footage and photos of the two men covered the screen, making physical contact in most of them, laughing in a lot of them. Synapses started firing in the hacker's sleep deprived brain, re-reading her notes by each photo, 'at Gabriel's apartment', 'hour long shower', 'group bathroom break.'

"Wait, so, ew no! He's still old enough to be Val's dad! They would never, right?" Sombra looked over at the men sitting on the couch, Gabriel barely a shadow of a man on the couch, Val smirking at her.

"Reyes?" She said tentatively, only getting a groan in response. She looked at Val's smug grin. "Val, you're gonna tell me this is just a coincidence right?"

"Can you zoom in on my butt in that 3rd picture? It looks really good," he replied, pointing at the picture while smiling. Sombra frowned, feeling her throat burn and her stomach turn over.

"I think I'm gonna vomit," she said.

"Whatever, don't be dramatic." Val rolled his eyes. Sombra then ran over to the kitchen, and started to dry heave into the sink. "Oh, fucking hell," Val said, getting up to follow after her, leaving Widow and Gabriel alone in the living room.

"Congratulations, you made her vomit, are you happy with yourself?" Widow said, having started to chug the wine straight out of the bottle.

"I plead the fifth." Gabriel was a black puddle of smoke on the floor by now.

"It's purple, what the hell have you been drinking?" Val said, raising his voice over the commotion in the kitchen.

"It's energy drink," Sombra said between heaves. "It's all I've had since yesterday."

"Alright, let's get you to the bathroom you're worse than when you're drunk." Val's heavy boots stamped down the hallway.

"Were you planning on telling me about you two sometime soon at least?" Widow glared down at the black smoke on the floor, waiting for a response. He formed back into a human shape, sitting on the couch, leaning back with his hood pulled over his eyes.

"Ugh, don't be dramatic about this. I have enough drama queens in my life."

"So you weren't planning on telling me?"

"There's nothing to tell you! It's not a thing, it's nothing serious, calm down."

"Mhm. The last time you said that you got married."

"Stop."

"I'm only bringing this up, because if you think I'm being dramatic, wait until he finds out about Martina."

"Whose Martina?" Val cut in.

Author's note: My cat says

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