There was no reason or rhyme to it and no way to combat it much to everyones dismay. Some days jack simply woke up with a mind stuck in the past.
Jack was 61 the first time it happened.They were in their bed at the watchpoint, wrapped around each other like physical contact was the only thing keeping them there. It was barely two years after gabriel had rejoined overwatch and only 9 months since the two had rekindled their relationship.
Jack was asleep, subconciously panicing at the feel of being restrained and lashing out with all his power. At first gabe thought it was a nightmare, he tried to wake jack only to end up coming face to face with jacks rifle as the blonde screamed accusations at him, things that they sorted out months ago. Athena alerted the others in time winston and angela to subdue him and move him to the medical wing.
Jack woke up a day later disoriented but calm and demanded an explanation as to why they had moved him. The sight of gabriel didnt set the old soldier off nor could he remember assulting him. Angela took some scans and kept him under observation for a while but nothing really came of it and sooner rather than later things went back to normal.
Six months later it happened again. This time in the common room and it ended with sombra facing down the old commanders gun as mccree scrambled to disarm him and hana calling for gabriel and ana. As soon as gabriel ran into the room, jacks target swiftly changed and gabriel barely avoided a bullet to the head. Jack didnt even seem to recognise ana as she darted him and he crawled away when she tried to approch him before he slipped unconcious.
This time both ana and angela looked over jacks scans and found anomalies in his brain activity. Compared to his old scans it was clear there was deterioration. Deterioration that seemed to be becoming more aggressive.
Over the next 4 months six episodes occured where jack failed to recognise the newer recruits, attacked gabriel and sombra as well as attemped three solo missions on already completed objectives.
There seemed to be no set timeline that jack would remember. He would remember that gabriel and sombra were the enemies but not that overwatch had previously been disbanded. Sometimes he would remember ana was dead and other times he would tell fareeha that he didnt know ana had relatives alive and was she here to visit his second in command?
By the age of 63 jack was only in the present about a tenth of the time. More often than not he would pick verbal fights his body couldnt seem to back up whenever gabriel was in the vicinity. Hana, lucio and zenyatta had heard the welcome to overwatch spiel more times than they could count. Fareeha avoided him whenever she could, nearly forced to tears every time one of her parental figures looked at her as if she was a familiar stranger.
Jacks lucid days were spent with gabe, the first year guilt and annoyance warred in his actions. Apologies started to become redundant, not remembering exactly what you were apologising for took away some of the sincerity. Jack spent his lucid days waiting for gabriel to leave him, gabe spent them trying to chase away that weary haunted look in his husband’s eyes.
When jack turned 65 he told angela to stop looking for a fix. They both knew it wasnt a documented type of brain deterioration, it had to have something to do with the SEP so she should focus on more useful endeavours.
At 66 gabriel took jack back to his family farm, where they spent the first lucid day jack had in just under a year to rediscover each other before gabriel pulled out jacks soul as his body breathed its last and wrapped it gently in his own fading body.
Three years later watchpount Gibraltar attended a joint funeral for jack and gabriel morrison-reyes.
