how to fuck your soul-eating nanite cloud husband

[ivegotyouinmysights]

a serial drama by jack morrison and a lifetime of YOLO decisions with dubious merit

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[deathblossomisready]

[Reaper takes a very deep, slow inhale, expelling a lungful of smoke and tension. The raid on this Overwatch outpost, long abandoned but still conspicuously powered and possessing an excitingly high amount of security checks, had been successful. His squad of Talon operatives was efficient, for once, capturing three patrollers for questioning. The data he transferred to Sombra made her digital face positively glow with delight. It might even take her a little time to break into, she said.

Maybe he'd actually found something today. Something to get him closer.

So, he's in a good mood. Maybe that's why he's lingering after the rest have cleared out. Walking through the dusty halls, dragging his claws lightly along the lockers. Ran quite a few missions from this place. One of the few outposts Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes had both led out of.

He grumbles to himself. Maybe he should catch up after all, lest his good humor wear off, remembering a dead man.]

[ivegotyouinmysights]

[Not unrelated, Soldier 76 was having a bad day.

The signs of recent conflict had been obvious first from the lack of patrol, second from the dead bodies. No enemy dead, but Talon knew how to clean up after itself, when it bothered. Soldier does a cursory check for vitals and a wound pattern check on each. Automatic, automatic but very sloppy shooting, a waste of bullets. And then: Shotgun. Corpse looked like it'd been pummeled to death by dull razors. It was a shot pattern he was intimately familiar with but mostly one he was wary of seeing these days. Reaper had been here. Was maybe still around. A risk sticking around, but there was still a chance there was something left to find. No chance that thing knew this outpost as well as he did.

Pulse rifle out and ready, Soldier quietly stalks the halls, keeping the ache in his chest at bay as he moves through familiar hallways by straining his senses for the slightest noise. Reaper didn't have to make much, with all that floating. The faint unnatural screech of metal on metal is canon-loud, and Soldier realizes he has the drop on Reaper for certain, and a choice: shoot first, or question him.

Shooting's safer, for sure. But He needs answers, and this constantly shifting game of cat and mouse he'd been playing with the wraith had given him the niggling feeling that Reaper had at least some.

He comes rolling out of cover, sights the helix rockets and aims low to disable. From what he'd seen so far Reaper could take some roughing up.

[deathblossomisready]

[Reaper jolts, spins at the sound, and the jolt of electric signals that rushes through his body from identifying Soldier: 76 causes just enough of a split-second shock to get dead-on blasted by the screaming tear of the rockets. He howls on impact, propels backwards into the far walls, dents four lockers inward and thuds on the ground with a black poof of smoke.

He grunts, rolls up immediately onto his forearms, and tries to get to his feet, only to discover they are temporarily missing. Fucking 76.

Reaper laughs, a low cackle that reverberates throughout the room, laced with menacing static. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten so much - makes him sluggish, makes his body want to stay together.

Still on his ass, he levels a shotgun across the room. Petulant; the pulse rifle has the advantage. Whatever. He fires.]

[ivegotyouinmysights]

[Most of the time Soldier tells himself that Reaper's just a freak in a mask with some fancy toys but being in the same room as the thing, hearing its voice, unsettles him ina way that nothing else ever has. It's uncanny. Inhuman. But susceptible to bullets, which is all that matters.

Soldiers growls in annoyance, fires off a shot to disarm and half-ducks ducks briefly behind a locker, just long enough for the round to sail past him.]

Enough. I want answers from you.

[deathblossomisready]

[Damn. Another nasty growl.

Pain is definitely setting in. With a grunt he dissolves his lower half, gushing smoke as he lifts himself up off the ground like a true wraith. He cricks his neck, slowly, and apparates both of his shotguns. He's got to get closer, but this place is shit for cover and has no top floor, no way to drop down on him. If 76 picked this room to attack him on purpose, he's gotten a lot smarter from their occasional rendezvous.

Curious, and since his position is already compromised, he answers, blithe.]

If I didn't know better, I'd think you're following me, Soldier.

[ivegotyouinmysights]

[He didn't fucking do it on purpose at all he just ran in as usual. He keeps the pulse rifle leveled, finger pressing snug against the trigger. This is really the first time he's been so close to Reaper, had a chance to really study him. Without the confusion of a live battle it's more obvious his visor's not just parsing the visual data badly. Everything about the way it moves is unnaturally smooth and impossible. Inhuman.]

Looks like the other way around, to me. Some timing for Talon to start ripping off Overwatch assets.

[deathblossomisready]

[Reaper's bone-white mask slowly tilts to the side.

This is the most words he's actually heard in a row out of the old cat's mouth. There's something about the way he speaks. Something tugging at Reaper, the phantom sensation of crawling under his skin.

He rasps, rheumy and digitized.]

Well-informed for a scavenger. Worried we're moving in on your territory?

[ivegotyouinmysights]

[Soldier grunts assent. Stupid slip; he hadn't had to worry about tipping his hand much lately. Wasn't having a lot of two-way conversations.]

Not my territory. But whatever the hell you're up to, it's no good. What are you looking for?

[deathblossomisready]

[Reaper laughs, again, that low cackle. He dares to drift closer.]

And what are you up to, Soldier Seventy-six?

[he drags the syllables out with a rumble. The old, familiar number.]

Holding that rifle like it belongs to you.

[ivegotyouinmysights]

[That sly emphasis. A frission of tension jolts through Soldier's body. Could mean nothing, could mean everything. Maybe Reaper was just well-informed but no, there was a thread of venom to his words that snagged at Soldier's gut. A ghost, tearing up the same old haunts as him... But what did it mean? No way this thing could gave been part of Overwatch, not even back when it was maybe human.]

Looks like it belongs to me now. [he hefts it a little higher, effortlessly.] Stay the hell where you are. You're pretty well-informed yourself, Reaper. Been doing some reading up?

[deathblossomisready]

[Reaper laughs again, a snickery, off-balance heh heh heh. As if in on some private joke.]

That is Talon's thing. Reading up.

[He shouldn't be able to lift that gun so easily. That's eaten at Reaper from the moment he first saw him holding it and felt more twitchy than he had in years. Talon's info on the thieving mercenary was impressively bereft. The gut instinct to build his own profile had been distracted away with other business. All he had to go on were their brief encounters. And now this one.

76 had a familiar cadence in his voice -- and a twang. Gravelly, but there. Reaper ought to rush him, but he goes very still instead. Too many little things abruptly piling up and freezing him, although his black smoke flicks and roils from unrest as he stares at the Soldier.

When was the last time Reaper felt this on edge? It's like all his artificial nerves are electrified. Incredible that this man can still stand there and level that rifle at him as if he can possibly threaten Reaper's life; 76 is standing his ground where anyone fucking reasonable would be getting the fuck away from him. If flashing smoke and growling his voice was doing anything, 76 wasn't showing it. He growls a blunt statement:]

You really think you can threaten me.

[ivegotyouinmysights]

You haven't taken me down yet.

[And nothing else had. This husk of a body had survived death when no other part of his life had.

But it was strange how they kept... dancing around each other. Haunting each other's footsteps. In a sick way, 'Reaper' was Soldier 76's only acquaintance, and maybe that accounted for the atmosphere between them, heavy and unshakable as a shroud.]

You already slipped up once, Reaper.

[deathblossomisready]

Hmmm.

[he rolls his shoulders and neck v e r y s l o w l y, then shrugs wide, palms (and shotguns) up. Fair enough.

And there's something else. It's on the tip of his tongue, crawling up his spine. He can't remember the last time he felt like this, keyed in. Suddenly this wasn't a little game of tag anymore. Now Soldier: 76 is a puzzle he's hungry to solve.

He drops his guns, with a loud clatter, keeping his hands up. Eyes fixated on the streak of red in front of him. It is true that if he takes another direct hit, he's fucked for a while. His voice reverberates throughout the room, like digital thunder.]

I suppose once is all it takes.

[ivegotyouinmysights]

[Kind of funny. Soldier had been raiding these outposts so long, and the only real clue he had found was Reaper.

Soldier coils back at the sound of the guns hitting the floor, ready. He doesn't trust this, not when the damn thing can pull those guns out of thin air. Lines up for the headshot, just in case. The reverb of his voice seems to settle in his bones, sloughing off their usual dull ache.]

One last time, Reaper. You looking for company? Because there's nothing left here but ghosts.

[deathblossomisready]

[Reaper makes a sharp, staccato hah. Very still, staring at that rifle. The smoke he's keeping himself upright with in place of legs is the only movement in the room.

When he answers, it's deliberately slow. Who are you, Soldier?]

As it should be.

But instead, regular patrol. In stolen uniforms, with fake IDs, and a well-maintained server room.

I thought that was interesting.

[ivegotyouinmysights]

[Soldier's not sure what's going on anymore and he doesn't like it. Is Reaper buying time? More wounded than Soldier had thought? He keeps his grip on the rifle tense and ready.]

But that's not why you came. [Impatient, growling] Talon's looking for something. What is it?

[deathblossomisready]

[DID YOU MEAN: SPOOKY GHOST GUSHES INTO A BLACK CLOUD AND RUSHES DIRECTLY AT YOU]

[ivegotyouinmysights]

[yes, weirdly enough.

Jack shoots on pure instinct, knowing it won't do any good. Twists to the side, trying to get a wall against his back, trying trying to keep just enough distance between them as the seconds sing past in his head. He can't keep it up forever; Jack just needs to be shooting as soon as it counts but there's no damn room to go any further. Reaper will be right on top of him.

So Jack angles the rifle to the ground un front of him and pulls the trigger on the helix rockets as soon he can feel that cool mist start to fold in on itself.]

[deathblossomisready]

[Oh.

He knows that move, he knows how he fights, how he thinks. He knows him, it's him, it's got to be him, it's so FUCKING obvious, it's him it's him it's him.

Reaper growls and funnels into the air, barely missing a debilitating hit. He can't be taken out now. He reforms, unable to avoid it any longer, so he tries to body 76.]

[ivegotyouinmysights]

Hrrgh—!

[He's just not fast enough to bring the gun up and his visor's scrambling to distinguish the smoke from Reaper's body anyway, making it impossible to aim. Reaper's weight and strength catch him completely offguard, slams him hard enough into the wall he almost drops his gun. Stunned for a moment, vision blipping out. The three second stun seems to crawl for minutes, and Soldier imagines he can already feel the muzzle of the shotgun burying against his stomach. And something else, almost deja vu.

Maybe his life flashing before his eyes.]

[deathblossomisready]

[Reaper's breath is ragged, his bone mask fixated on the flickering visor. Any exhaustion from keeping himself upright is forgotten. He shoves the rifle hard, pinning it between them.]

I know who you are.

[ivegotyouinmysights]

I'm no-one [Comes the snarl, Soldier's whole body jerking like the shell had torn through him after all, shock pounding through him.]

[deathblossomisready]

[Reaper's laugh is barked out in shock. Pressing hard, forcing him in place. He feels like he might blast apart entirely. The slightest hesitation, doubt in his rationality, trembles through his grip. The rest of him cannot possibly stop the adrenaline rushing through him.

He whispers, rasped, manic.]

I knew. I knew you were alive. I knew you that explosion wasn't enough. How does it feel, living in the shadows? Once you see the filthy underbelly of Overwatch you can't look away, that's why you've been hunting, isn't it? Isn't it?

[ivegotyouinmysights]

[He knows too much he knows too much he knows too much. As the picture becomes clear he can recognize what he'd tactically overwritten as delusion. The way Reaper fought, moved. His rolling voice, dripping bitterness and betrayal and a hint of that madness that had made Soldier doubt him, years ago. The way he roved Overwatch's wreckage just like Soldier, animated with furious grief.

Gabe... [It's not a plea or a question or a shocked exhalation. It's not even really addressed to Reaper. Just a tired grunt, mostly to himself. Soldier can't really believe it's the literal ghost of his past to kill him, but he can believe he deserves it.

It had been his last word for so many close calls. He'd figured it would be that name on his tongue when the real deal took him out.]

[deathblossomisready]

[That little breathy name hits Reaper so hard his smoke trembles, billows, like a disturbed fire.]

Jack.

[The Soldier's guard is down. He's dropped it entirely. Instead of taking advantage, Reaper finds himself unable to respond properly. Rationally. Because this is Jack. He's found him. He's alive.

He reaches up to take his mask off.]