#76mercy

He was almost to the dropship bay when his eyes caught sight of Torbjorn’s workshop in his peripherals. His mind began to formulate an idea, and he came to a sudden stop, his boots skidding on the smooth floor. Dismissing the idea that he was essentially invading the engineer’s private space, his eyes darted from pieces of scrap metal to various devices before landing on the contraption that he instantly recognized. Angela’s Caduceus staff was laid on a wooden desk, seemingly untouched. The soldier picked it up, then proceeded to insert it between his back and bandolier, where the staff stayed tightly in place.

Resuming his sprint, he wasn’t quite sure what bringing Angela’s staff would do for him. Hell, he didn’t even know if the damn thing worked. But he had this feeling that it could be potentially useful, whether as a weapon or a tool. Either way, he’s made up his mind and wouldn’t go on without it.

Entering the massive hangar where the Overwatch dropships were kept, 76 was thankful that they had more than one ship. The others were still gone, and he had assumed that they’d taken a dropship to travel to wherever their mission was. His suspicions were confirmed when he could only see one other dropship still present. He considered waiting for the rest of the team to come back –  safety in numbers and all that – but again 76 was afraid to lose precious time.

Like a mad bull, Soldier 76 hastily made his way into the only other dropship where he was met with a perplexing thought. Gazing at the holographic globe present in his sight, he could feel his heart beat furiously when the realization struck him.

He had no idea where to go.

76 was so lost in his fear that he hadn’t even considered thinking of a solid plan. Such temerarious actions were now coming back to sting him.

‘Shit! Now what? I-I don’t even know where to look for you…’ The anger the soldier was feeling made way for a heavy sorrow that weighed on his entire body. He collapsed to his knees on the floor of the dropship, then pushed his rifle to the side as tears began to steadily flow through his blue orbs. The adrenaline that surged through him was the only thing keeping the man from falling apart, but it quickly dissipated as he was met with a roadblock. Normally these kinds of emotions were kept away, never to be seen by the light of day. Terror. Misery. Heartbreak. But the absence of anyone’s presence made him think that it was okay to release some of it out.

What felt like hours passed by before a beeping sound caught the soldier’s attention. He lifted his head up to see blinking lights radiating off the globe. He recognized the familiar line that began to dance around the hologram. It was purple instead of blue, though. Eventually, it landed on a peculiar location. One that he happened to be well acquainted with.

A pin extended from the globe, as well as a name that translated to: Giza.

The engines of the dropship suddenly roared to life as the aircraft rumbled and began to hover. In any other circumstance, Soldier 76 would have questioned the convenience of the coordinates entering themselves in. But if there was even a chance that this ship was going to take him to where he needed to be, then he had no questions to ask.

The man quickly gathered himself together then sprinted up to the front seats of the ship, where he allowed the aircraft to take him away.

‘Hang in there Angela. I’m coming for you.’

Angela had no choice but to pace around in her prison. That didn’t stop her from making small observations of her environment.

‘Sand. There’s a lot of sand in this makeshift cell. Metal bars. They’re covering the two visible exits. Shafts of cold steel keeping me in here. They aren’t quite secured into the ground, but I’m not strong enough to pull them out myself.’

And she also noticed quite possibly the most out of place thing in this cell. Well, she wouldn’t say it’s a thing. Rather, it’s a person. A woman, too. She was unconscious and lied face down, and Angela wanted to check her pulse or breathing to see if she was still alive. Before she could though, a pair of clawed hands violently grasped the metal bars. The loud sound startled her, and made her jump back towards the nearest column.

“Look who’s awake. Glad to see you up.” The slow and raspy voice was instantly recognized by Angela.

“Reaper,” she spat out.

The ghastly man let out a menacing laugh. “Ah, so you remember me. Are you comfortable in there?”

She didn’t respond, and tried her hardest not to make eye contact.

“Well, don’t worry. You won’t be in there for much longer. That I can promise you, Angela.”

The mention of her name made her heart race, but she wouldn’t be able to think much else of it. From the corner of her eye, she could see the black figure pull out a gun from behind his coat. But this wasn’t your typical gun; there were three blue prongs at the front, with a big yellow circle encompassing the barrel.

Those were the last things she saw before another dart pierced her forearm. Almost immediately, she felt her eyes become heavy. Her legs quickly gave out, and she hit the rough ground face first. Her mind began to slip back into darkness, but not before she could hear the fear-inducing cackle of her captor.

The flight over to Giza was a long and agonizing one for Soldier 76. The thrusters reached their maximum speed a while ago, but time couldn’t pass any slower. Fear was constantly at the front of the man’s head, hoping that it wasn’t too late to save her. He sat at the edge of his seat, legs bouncing and hands tightly clutching the smooth but worn surface of his rifle. 76 tried to focus on the clouds in the night sky passing by the dropship’s hull to try and relax, but the concern still poked at his mind.

‘C’mon you damn thing. Move faster!’

Suddenly, the soldier noticed the glimmer of the moon’s shine on a glossy surface. The familiar sight of the Temple was welcomed, and a brief wave of relief passed through his body. He knew immediately he had finally made it. As if he needed any more confirmation, the dropship began to slow down and descend towards the surface. The landing sequence took place right outside the stone walls of the town. Sand was blown around as the massive aircraft contacted with the desert ground. Soldier 76 sprang up from the chair he sat on and sprinted to the hatch doors. As soon as they completely opened, he bolted outside into the cold desert air.

In the near distance, an abandoned transporter truck menacingly towered over the soldier. He hastily sprinted closer towards it, noticing some surrounding construction scaffolding, as well. They were no match for the enhanced maneuvers of the man, as he easily jumped over them with no problem. Soon enough, the arches of the wall gateway passed overhead and Soldier 76 found himself in the town market, devoid of any other people.

At least, that’s what he thought until he made his way to the entrance of the Temple of Anubis. There, even under the dim light of the moon, he could see the black garbed figure of his old comrade. He stood at the top of the steps with confidence, as if he was waiting for 76 to arrive.

“Reaper,” Soldier hissed under his breath, coming to a stop. His heart pounded both from the run and the tension he could feel between them.

“Took you long enough. That dropship of yours couldn’t move any faster?” Reaper maintained the slow raspy tone, his arms crossed and head tilted upwards.

Soldier 76 didn’t have the patience to deal with this. “Cut the bullshit. I know you know why I’m here, and you are not going to get in my way.”

“Heh. Getting right into it, eh Jack? You haven’t changed a bit.”

Without warning, Reaper quickly drew an unfamiliar gun from under his coat. A dart flew out and was aimed right towards 76. It would’ve pierced into the soldier’s chest had it not been for his heightened reflexes. A helix rocket was launched as the distance between the fighting men began to close. Reaper jumped back to dodge the incoming missile, and made a near audible growl as he began to sprint backwards. 76 followed in pursuit. Soldier knew how this battle needed to end. It was only a matter of doing it that would be the hard part.

Now atop the small bridge leading into the Temple, Reaper swiftly summoned his two signature shotguns, and skidded his boots on the stone as he shifted direction. A barrage of bullets sprayed down the path, with some of them grazing 76. The soldier rolled into cover, hastily opened a biotic field and smashed it into the sandy ground. As soon as his minor injuries healed, 76 poked around the corner and fired a couple shots at the shadowy figure. He too then moved into cover.

The equal strength and tactical prowess of both former commanders would inevitably drag this fight on for an extensive amount of time. Time that 76 was afraid he didn’t have. There had to be some way to turn the tide in his favor…

Suddenly Soldier 76 realized that he might have just the thing. Angela’s staff. The thing was miraculously still strapped to his back despite all his running. Removing the staff from between his back and his bandolier, it took him a moment to figure out how to do what he wanted to do. He could hear the heavy steps of Reaper closing in. He had to act fast.

‘Okay, Jack. You’ve been in countless missions with Angela. This shouldn’t be a problem.’ 76 thought as he took out a spare handkerchief and tied it around the button that would activate the staff’s damage boosting power. Sure enough, the soldier’s ingenuity paid off as a stream of blue nanobots surged through the staff and tethered to his body. Jabbing the device upright into the sand, 76 jumped out of his cover and prepared to aim right at a charging Reaper.

“I’ve got you in my sights.” Soldier 76 wasted no time and fired a flurry of helix rockets, small bolts of electricity escaping the barrel of his gun. Reaper was caught off guard, and was knocked down by the explosive knock-back and damage of the rockets. Before Soldier could finish him off, Reaper reverted to his wraith form and flew away.

If he wasn’t still looking for Angela, Jack would have called Reyes a coward for running away again.

But right now, while he had a moment of respite, he seized the opportunity and pressed on his search. Turning around, 76 removed Angela’s Caduceus staff from the sand and untied the handkerchief. Placing it back between his bandolier, he approached the official entrance of the Temple of Anubis, where he was met with a crude makeshift prison. Glancing between the scrap pieces of metal, he instantly recognized the slouched silhouette of his lover.

“Angela!” the soldier cried as he was met with an intense feeling of relief. As he leaned his rifle on the wall behind him, a desperate 76 attempted to tear the metal scraps out of the ground.

“Jack?” Angela’s voice was low and was heavy with fatigue. “Oh, Jack!”

His sheer strength was enough to rip a couple bars out before he stumbled down the steps and to the one person he cared about most.

“My god, Angela, are you okay?” Although she wouldn’t be able to see it, tears began streaming down the man’s war torn face. “I-I was so worried about you.”

Angela was enveloped in the soldier’s warm strong arms. She wrapped hers around his neck, returning the much-welcomed embrace. “Me too. I thought this was it for me.”

“You know I wouldn’t let that happen. Not now, and not ever.”

The two just remained in silence. They had been through a lot today, and they both knew that they needed a moment of solace.

After a few minutes in each other’s arms, 76 finally spoke up. “We should get you out of here. The dropship’s right outside the town walls.”

Without saying anything, Angela acquiesced and attempted to stand.

“Can you walk? Here, let me help you.”

“W-wait, we should also take…” Before Angela could finish her sentence, she saw that there was nobody else in her cell.

“Take what, Angel?”

But, she was sure that… “N-Nothing. Let’s go…”

The two began to make their way back when a dark mist passed by their feet. “W-What was that?” Angela croaked.

76 knew exactly what it was. Or rather, who it was. Reaper returned and materialized back into his tangible form. “Stay back, Reaper. You don’t want to do this.”

The lack of a response only made 76 more apprehensive of what lengths the garbed man is willing to go to. Reaper took a step forward, shotguns in hands, and visibly clenched them in anger.

“Angela, stay here. I’ll take care of this.” The soldier helped Angela to lean on a nearby stone pillar before slowly approaching Reaper. To his annoyance, 76 realized he had left his rifle right outside Angela’s prison. He didn’t want to risk anything by going for it, so instead he drew his spare pistol and took aim at his former friend.

They stood there silent for a brief second before Soldier took the first shot. It landed directly in Reaper’s chest, but he only laughed as more black smoke encircled the figure. 76’s heart sank as he realized what Reaper intended to do.

“DIE MORRISON! DIE!”

In a blur of motion, Reaper emptied both his shotguns in a bombardment of bullets. Soldier 76 attempted to get out of the way, but was unable to before several of them entered his body.

He collapsed to the ground as he felt his conscience slip away steadily.

“NO!” 76 could barely hear Angela’s terror-filled scream as his eyelids became heavy with darkness.

“Both of your suffering isn’t over yet. I’m still coming for you, Angela!” Reaper shouted at the top of his lungs as he towered over the near dead corpse of the soldier.  “Just you wait and see!”

Before she could respond, Reaper turned back into his wraith form and disappeared into the night. Her heart was left broken, and she made haste for Jack. “Jack?! No, no, y-you can’t die now. Not like this…”

“I’m sorry Angela. I-I should have… should have seen that coming…”

“Please…”

“I… love you, Angela… Don’t think for a second that… that this is going to change that fact.”

Even with his visor still on, Angela knew that the man she loved had taken his last breath. And it was her fault. She wasn’t stupid. She had a feeling that this conflict between the three of them had something to do with her. If it wasn’t, then why hadn’t Reaper just killed her instead of keeping her locked up?

Her tears had been almost run dry before she realized something. Beneath the lifeless body of Jack, was something she was well familiar with.

Her Caduceus Staff.

How had she not realized this before? She blamed her previous grogginess and fatigue on that one. Removing the device from under the fallen soldier, she was thankful that he was smart enough to bring it along with him. Whether it was for this reason, she did not know completely, but was grateful nonetheless.

Grasping her staff in both hands, she raised it skyward and released a surge of restorative biotic energy.

“Heroes never die!”

The yellow glow emanated from Angela surrounded Soldier 76 as it brought life back into the man. 76 gasped as his eyes shot open. They wandered and darted, but eventually met a set of blue eyes. The corners of his mouth perked up.

“I knew you could do it, Angel.”

Angela couldn’t help but let out a nervous laugh despite her tear-stained face. “Welcome back to the land of the living, my love.”

The coordinates for the Overwatch Headquarters had been set, and the dropship was on autopilot back home.

“Feeling okay?” Angela said as Jack had an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” Jack let out an exasperated chuckle, before properly responding. “But, I’ll tell you this: I’ll never get used to that feeling.”

Angela could help but smile. Jack’s positive attitude, despite all the shit that went down, was quite contagious. “I get that a lot. You should just try not to do that often. I don’t think my heart can take it.”

“Well, let me take a listen.” He leaned down to Angela’s chest and listened intently to the beat of her healthy heart. “It sounds quite fine to me.”

“Jack, I’m serious about this.” Angela’s words greatly contrasted with her smirk and laughing.

Jack lifted his head up and made eye contact. He was awfully close to Angela’s face. “I know, and I’m sorry I made you worry, Angel. I promise to not die again.” He began to lean in for a kiss, and she met him halfway.

For a moment, she was happy. She was happy that Jack could save her. She was happy that they could have another chance at this. And yet, she had plenty of questions still. But not all of them did she want answers to. Who was that mysterious woman with her in that prison? Where had she gone? Where had Reaper gone? What did he mean by what he said?

She supposed only time will tell, but for now, all she could do was try to be happy.

“But I mean, if it does happen again, you’ll bring me back, right?”

And with Jack, she knew that being happy wouldn’t be hard.

Whoops. This wasn’t supposed to take more than a year to finish. Guess a married life will do that to you.

“Alright, we’re here! You don’t even know it yet, Angie, but this is gonna be your new favourite restaurant.”

They rounded a corner and Jack pointed at a medium-sized building with a tiny sign in front of it that read “Maurice’s Angel Bistro”. Angela snickered and Jack glared down at her.

“What’s the deal? Are you mocking me for my taste in food?”

“No, no..” Angela laughed. “You do know that I know Maurice, right?”

Jack’s jaw fell to the ground.

“You know THE Maurice? How?!”

“I thought that’s why you brought me here.. He and I met while I was studying for a year in France and after meeting me he decided to branch his restaurant into Switzerland. I’ve been a loyal customer ever since. He’s like family! But we haven’t spoken at all since I joined Overwatch, so I doubt he’ll recognise me..” Angela gave a half-hearted smile and put a strand of her hair behind her ear. They stepped inside and the warm atmosphere was like a shock from the cold air outside. Before they were even barely inside they heard heavy footsteps quickly approaching them. Angela felt a pair of thick arms around her as she was swept into the air.

“Angela! Mon ange!” The man named Maurice exclaimed with a large smile. Angela smiled back with a laugh as Maurice put her back on the floor.

“Hello Maurice, it’s been way too long.”

“Indeed it has, mon cheri. You should know better and call every now and then!”

Jack could barely hear the man trough his thick French accent. He chuckled as Angela was put back down on the ground. That’s when Maurice looked at him.

“My my, isn’t it Jack Morrison, the poster boy of Overwatch itself? What are you doing with my angel out like this?” Maurice raised a brow and leaned in close to him. He was a very tall man, and easily overshadowed Jack.

“Oh, it’s nothing like that Monsieur! I’m just treating Angela dinner.”

“That’s a shame, she’s a very good girl you know.” Maurice whispered to him and grinned with a chuckle. Jack blushed.

“Come on, l’ll get you two a table before I go back into the kitchen.” Maurice led Jack and Angela to a table by a window, a little separated from the rest, and left them with some menus as he went back to the kitchen as he said he would.

Jack noticed there was someone up on the stage playing piano music and an empty mic standing in the middle of the stage. Perhaps it was open mic night?

“Maurice can be a bit overwhelming the first time you meet him, but I promise he’s a good man once you get to know him.” Angela said as she looked up from her menu.

“Oh, that was nothing. He seems nice.” Jack chuckled and closed his menu, having already decided on his dish. “Pick whatever you want, by the way. My treat.”

Angela wanted to resist and urge him that she could pay for herself, but knew she would be starting an already lost argument. She smiled in response and looked back into the menu.

“I’ve never been here on an open-mic night before. You think anyone will sing?” Jack asked as he looked back at the stage, making him miss Angela’s eyes widening with an expression similar to fear.

Not today. Any day but today, she thought to herself.

“I-I don’t know, no one has ever sung when I’ve been here!”

She tried to laugh away her nervousness but failed horribly.

Not long after they had been seated Maurice returned with a expensive-looking bottle of wine which he poured up in two glasses and placed them in front of Angela and Jack. They made their orders and Maurice took the menus. That’s when he glanced at Angela with a smirk.

Angela shook her head furiously.

“No, Maurice I am not going up there! I haven’t…”

“Nonsense! Pierre is here, he remembers your song well! Couldn’t you do it, just for this old fool? S'il vous plaît? For old times’ sake!” Maurice batted his eyelashes which made Angela laugh. Jack was staring at the two, wondering what in the world was going on.

Maurice then suddenly grabbed Angela’s arm and pulled her out of her seat.

“I’m very sorry, Monsieur Jack, but I am going to have to steal your angel for one moment. You will see her again soon, I promise.” Maurice winked and hurried with Angela towards the stage.

“I’m sorry, Jack!” Angela called back to him with a nervous smile before she was rushed away. Jack just chuckled, still very confused about the whole situation.

Jack watched Angela get put onto the stage and sat down on a bar-stool type of chair by the mic. The man by the piano finished his piece and looked at Angela, awaiting her call. She looked very nervous. Somehow Jack’s eyes met hers despite the distance between them and Jack gave her a reassuring smile. It seemed to calm her down as she smiled back and looked at the man by the piano who started playing soft notes. Then she started singing.

“Oh, the devil has a secret… And he’ll keep it as long as he can… He will mask his face any time or place, but beneath is one hell of a man.”

Jack was absolutely baffled and mesmerised by her voice. He could never have imagined that she could sing, especially like that. His heart seemed to flutter just listening to her.

“But when he calls out my name, I submit to his game… I remember the night when he followed my light as he came face to face with my flame…”

Jack never wanted that magical moment to end, but as the song drew to a close he cheered and clapped loudly along with the rest of the audience. Angela bowed with a wide and bright smile on her face before she made her way down from the stage back to their table. As she saw his gaping mouth she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Should I take that as a positive response?”

“Angela, that was absolutely amazing! I had no idea you could sing like that.” Jack gave her the most genuine smile he could as they sat back down and their food arrived. During their dinner, Angela couldn’t help but glance up at Jack’s few times, who looked very handsome in the candle light. She caught Jack’s glance a few times as well, thinking she had been caught when it in fact she caught him staring at her.

They said goodbye to Maurice on the way out of the restaurant to brace the great outdoors. It had already gotten dark and the only light now came from the moon and the dim streetlights. It had also started snowing, which left the both of them shocked. But it served as a reason for Angela to stay close to Jack so they could both be warm.

“Well, here we are.” Angela said as they closed up on her apartment building. She stayed close to him, wrapped around his arm all the way to the door.

“I had a great time at least, filled with lots of surprises.” Jack chuckled and looked down at her.

“I had a lovely time as well. Thank you for dragging me out here, Jack.” She smiled up at him. She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek but Jack’s head turned at the last second, by accident or not she’ll never know, and their lips met with a weird mix of cold air and warm breaths. What surprised them both was that neither of them pulled away at first, they simply stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity. Jack’s arm wrapped around her back and held her close, even when they parted. They both had a deep blush on their cheeks. Then they started laughing. Her laugh was one the most beautiful things he’d ever heard in his life, tied with her singing.

“Goodnight, Jack.” Angela smiled and kissed him on the cheek this time before slipping out of his grip and walking into her apartment building. She waved goodbye before she was completely gone. Jack’s heart felt like it was beating a thousand beats per minute and he grinned to himself as he made his way to the bus stop.

He just kissed Angela.

This had surely been the best day of his life.