(And unto you shall be delivered some non-angsty, non-dark R76!)
Jack is so very different from a human. Yet Gabriel sometimes forgets that he isn’t one.
For one thing, Jack’s body is actually quite warm. Certainly a lot warmer than Gabriel. Maybe that’s why he always wakes up clinging to him. Forget all that talk about cold unfeeling metal. Actually, Gabriel has found that he can easily make Jack’s temperature rise just by whispering dirty little things into his ear. The air rises a few degrees, Jack’s fans whir loudly as they try to cool him off, and Jack runs off to stick his head into something cold. The whole thing is adorable. Jack can also eat regular food (and have to go to the bathroom afterwards). He is also by no means perfect. He isn’t good at everything he does, and he makes mistakes like the rest of them.
Most of all, Jack clearly has his own feelings. He has mourned what he has lost, and he is enraged at those who have hurt them. But there is love in him too, love for Gabriel and his friends. He is happy whenever they catch up on lost time, whether it be fulfilling baser desires, or just cuddling with each other. And there are so many others. Jack has a soul, that is the short of it. It isn’t of the type Gabriel has consumed, but it is still a soul.
But there are the differences, of course. The exposed metal is the starkest one. But he’s also seen Jack walk right through hails of gunfire and come out almost completely unscathed. He doubts there’s anyone who could just rip a tank apart with their bare hands. And sometimes, when he wakes up before Jack does, he realizes that Jack is eerily still and silent. He panics and searches his body for a pulse and finds none, and then he remembers that Jack does not breathe, nor does he have a heart. There’s also the fact that Jack is largely immune to the changes time brings. It is something that they have in common; other people around them will grow old and eventually die. But not them. They will be around forever. One because it is in his nature, the other because the grave cannot hold him. They will always have each other, and that is something they are both thankful for.
Gabriel thought about all of this as he cooked breakfast. He couldn’t ’t taste regular food anymore and Jack didn’t actually need to eat, but he wanted to treat his lover nonetheless. And he could hear him padding into the kitchen right now.
“Morning,” Gabriel greeted him, filling a plate with waffles. “I already brewed some coffee so you can chug down something other than motor oil.”
“They’re not actually that different in taste,” Jack kissed Gabriel on the cheek and took the plate.
Jack is unique. There is nothing else like him in the world. And for that, he must be treasured.
After the Swiss HQ explosion, there was a UN investigation of Jack Morrison, to try to discover what had driven him to destroy the base. However, his dossier was suspiciously thin, listing only the most basic of biographical information, and his Blackwatch activities. Further investigation turned up nothing, but did shed light on the more illicit activities of the organization. Assassination, coercion, kidnapping, torture, the damning reports stretched on and on. In the face of this, Overwatch was disbanded. In the aftermath, there were actually rumors that Gabriel Reyes was actually the mastermind behind the plot to destroy the base, only for it to backfire on him immensely. Many former agents hotly denied this, but this did not stop these rumors.
Ultimately, no funeral was held for Jack Morrison. No body had ever been recovered, and some thought it appropriate treatment for a traitor. There was an investigation into his possible whereabouts, but it turned up nothing.
A service was held for Gabriel Reyes, and there were many attendees. Among them was a stranger, dressed in dark, heavy clothing that obscured his face. Some people, like Angela, glanced at him, but did not speak to him. But even though there were no hints as to who he was, he seemed devastated by the loss, as much as the family was. The stranger was also the last one to leave, only kneeling by the grave, long past the point where everyone else had left.
And on every anniversary of the day Gabriel Reyes died, someone came by the grave to leave marigolds behind on it.
“Thank you!” Neil said pleasantly as the woman accepted a pamphlet. “May the Iris guide you to tranquility!” he flashed a peace sign as she walked away.
The sun was setting, which meant it was time to go home. Neil hummed as he walked. Today had been a productive day. More people had actually stopped to listen to him talk about the teachings of the Shambali. And while some people might not actually read the pamphlets, there was the chance that they would and spare some thought about what was written in them.
He was not paying much attention to his surroundings. If he had, he would have noticed the group of men that had been hanging out in one of the city’s many alleys. As it was, he was only alerted to the presence when he heard a low chuckle behind him.
Neil turned around, and fear filled him. About 7 men were there, and from the skeleton tattoos they had all over their bodies, they were Los Muertos. Two were carrying weapons, a baseball bat with metal plates stuck to it, and a piece of pipe. The one with the bat was grinning viciously, and it was clear he was eager to use it. Neil backed up, only for his back to hit another thug. The thug roughly shoved him back, and they closed in around him.
“So, what’s a tin can like you doing out so late? You’re not trying to cause trouble, are you?” the thug with the bat asked.
“N-no,” Neil frantically shook his head. “I was just going home.” He held up the pamphlets. “I was sp-spreading the w-word of the Sh-Shambali. W-would you like a – ah!”
A thug slapped the pamphlets out of his hand. “Please, leave me alone,” he begged pitifully. “I-I can give you money – “
The bat connected with Neil’s head, leaving a large dent in it. Neil could only curl up and cry as the thugs beat him into the ground.
“Don’t young punks like you have better things to do besides pick on Omnics?”
The thugs stopped beating Neil to look at the newcomer. Neil uncurled and saw a tall, white-haired stranger, wearing a mask with a red visor. Now he was afraid that this stranger was going to get beaten up as well. “Please…” he said softly.
“It’s a bucket of bolts,” one thug said. “What? You gotta problem with us getting rid of trash, pendejo?”
The stranger stepped forward. “I advise you to stop. Or else I’ll have to make you.”
The thugs laughed. “Make us? Oh, that’s rich, coming from a guy with no weapon!”
“Give me your best shot then.”
Two thugs ran forward. One thug punched the stranger in the chest, but he was the one who pulled his fist back, cradling it in pain. “Ow! What the hell…?”
The other thug threw both of his fists at the stranger, only for the stranger to easily grab his arms. “Hey, let go of me! Let go – AAAAAAAHHHHH!”
The stranger squeezed the thug’s arms, and a sickening crunch was heard. The stranger let go, and the thug dropped to the ground, still screaming in agony from his shattered arms. The stranger looked at the rest of the gang, who were now all plainly terrified.
“You punks should get your friend here to the hospital. Or are you all too stupid to know when to quit?”
Nobody moved. Then one thug pulled out a knife. “Let’s get him!”
The thugs all roared in response and rushed at the stranger. The stranger struck like lightning. He grabbed the knife-wielding thug by the wrist and snapped it before kneeing him in the gut, sending him flying. One jumped him from behind, only to get elbowed to the face and tossed off. The thug with the bat raised it, only to get a solid punch to the jaw, and he landed in an unconscious heap, some of his teeth now scattered across the ground. Then a pipe connected with the stranger’s head. But the stranger didn’t go down. Instead, he glared at the thug and growled. He grabbed the pipe, knocked the thug to the ground, and firmly planted his foot on his back. The thug screamed and begged as the stranger bent the pipe and wrapped it around his wrists.
Only one thug was left, and he had only managed to avoid injury by keeping his distance the entire time. The stranger slowly approached him. The thug fumbled at his holster, and pulled out his pistol. The stranger casually swatted it out of his hand. He roughly grabbed the thug by the shirt. “Don’t let me ever catch you punks making a mess on these streets again. Otherwise it’s going to be a lot more hospital visits for you, and each one will be more unpleasant than the last. Understood?” The thug nodded fearfully, and the stranger threw him aside.
The stranger walked over to Neil and helped him stand. “Thank you…” Neil said gratefully. “Who are you?”
“Just a soldier. Soldier: 76. Where can I find someone who can fix you up?”
“Jennifer,” Neil gave Soldier: 76 her address. “She helps all Omnics who need repairs.”
“I have a question. Can she keep a secret?”
“Yes, she can. Why do you ask?”
Soldier: 76 removed his mask, showing Neil his face. “Oh…” he said, understanding. “Yes, she will help you too.”
Soldier: 76 put his mask back on, and they headed to Jennifer’s place together. While they walked, Neil spoke. “I greatly appreciate you helping me back there, but…did you have to use so much force against them? It seemed…excessive.”
“Hurting people is what I’m good at. It’s what I was made for.”
“But you could be more than that!” Neil cried out in dismay. “Like the rest of us, you could be more than what you were made for!”
Soldier: 76 laughed, and it was a hollow, bitter sound.
(The final chapter of the first Robo!Jack installment! But rest assured, more of this AU is coming!)
“The connection’s been established. We can now access its data and its programming.”
“Good. Time to give Overwatch a big surprise.”
X
When Lena saw Jack come through the doors of Overwatch HQ, she didn’t suspect that anything was wrong. “Hey Jack!” she chirped. “Wanna hear a joke? I got it from Winston. ‘What does a subatomic duck say?’‘Quark!’” she laughed.
It was then that she caught sight of Jack’s eyes. Instead of their usual blue, they were red. “Jack, did you get new contact lenses or something?”
Jack lifted his pulse rifle, aimed right at her chronal accelerator, and fired.
Lena was barely able to blink away in time. “Jack! Why did you do that?” She pulled out her pulse pistols and aimed at Jack, even though she didn’t want to open fire on a friend.
Jack did not answer, only continuing to fire at her. People in the lobby started screaming and running, while security did their best to escort them safely out of the building and help Lena fight Jack. Someone hit the alarm, and it began blaring throughout the whole building.
While some of their shots did hit their target, none of them seemed to phase Jack. He kept on walking forward, firing relentlessly.
Lena pulled out a pulse bomb. “Sorry luv,” she said, and lobbed it at Jack.
The bomb landed at Jack’s feet. He saw it, and took cover behind the visitor’s desk. The bomb went off, only taking several tables as casualties. Lena and the guards began firing at the desk, but then the desk came flying at them, and they had to dive out of the way.
They had no reprieve. Jack fired helix rockets at them. Lena grabbed onto the guards who had landed near her, and blinked away before they could be blown up.
Jack grabbed one guard by the neck and lifted him into the air. Lena kept her pistols trained on Jack, but she couldn’t fire on him, not with him having a meat shield. Jack looked at her, then promptly tossed the guard at her. They both fell to the ground, groaning.
With no more opposition, Jack strode away, deeper into the base.
Lena turned her comm on. “Athena! Patch me through to every Overwatch agent!”
“Affirmative.”
Every Overwatch agent in the area was called in to help with the situation. Among them was Gabriel. As soon as he heard there was an emergency he rushed to HQ as fast as he could.
When he arrived, crowds of people were already gathered outside, many of them frightened. Ambulances had been called in to transport the injured to the hospital. Spotting Angela, he ran up to her. “Angela! What’s going on?”
“It’s Jack. He’s gone berserk. Winston suspects that he’s been tampered with by outside sources, from what Lena told us. Likely Talon, they were the ones who made him in the first place.”
Gabriel cursed. “I’m going in after him.”
“No,” Angela said firmly, grabbing his arm. “You know better than anyone that he’s practically unstoppable. We’re focusing all our efforts on evacuating everyone out of the building, it’s the best course of action.”
“I have the kill switch. I can shut him down, and then we can clean out everything Talon from him.”
She scowled. “I can just tell by the look on your face that nothing I say will convince you otherwise, even though this is completely foolhardy…”
He kissed her on the forehead. “I promise I’ll be back.”
He ran into the base and patched into Athena. “Athena! Where’s Jack right now?”
“In the sub-basement level of the base.” The AI replied. “I have put them on lockdown, but the bulkheads are only slowing him down.”
“Is the elevator still operational?”
“It is.” The elevator doors opened, and Gabriel got inside. Once the elevator ride was over, Gabriel looked around. Jack had left an easy path for him to follow, he could see where Jack had either pulled the bulkheads apart, or made holes in the walls themselves to go through. Gabriel followed the trail, and it eventually led him to the armory. The heavily reinforced door was hanging loosely from its hinges, and Gabriel went inside.
He looked around, frowning. Most of the guns were still here, so what had Jack taken-
“Joder!” Every goddamn explosive in the armory was gone.
He contacted Athena again. “What’s Jack doing now?”
“He is back on the ground floor, setting up explosives. You need to hurry.”
“You don’t need to tell me!”
Gabriel rushed back to the elevator, aware that any second the base could collapse on him. After a maddening wait, Gabriel ran out, searching for Jack.
He eventually found Jack, arming an explosive. Gabriel pulled out the kill switch. “Lo siento mi sol,” he said softly, and he pushed the button.
Nothing happened. Jack was still standing. Gabriel pressed the button several more times, only to get the same resort. Talon must’ve blocked the kill switch signal somehow.
But he was still going to try and stop Jack. He pulled out his shotguns and fired, right into Jack’s back.
Jack turned around, facing him with those red eyes. He aimed his pulse rifle at Gabriel, only for Gabriel to unload right into the rifle itself, rendering it useless. Jack dropped his weapon and simply bull rushed Gabriel.
Gabriel sidestepped Jack, and Jack crashed into the wall. Jack recovered and threw a punch at him, which Gabriel dodged, leaving a sizable crater in the wall. Gabriel hooked his arms under Jack’s own, restraining him.
“Jack!” Gabriel shouted. “I know you’re in there somewhere! Snap out of it!”
Jack continued to stay silent. He stomped on Gabriel’s foot, hard enough to make him yell. Jack backed up fast, slamming Gabriel into the wall. But still, Gabriel did not let go.
Gabriel glanced at Jack’s hand. The detonator! He reached out for it. Just a little bit…
Then Jack pressed the button, and they were both consumed by fire.
X
Jack’s vision flickered to life. He groaned and sat up. What had happened? Where was he?
He looked around, and found himself surrounded by flames and debris. How had he got here? What-
Then it all flooded back to him in a rush. Shooting at his fellow Overwatch agents. Tearing through the base. And-
A cold rush of fear filled him. “Gabriel.” He frantically dug through the rubble. “Gabriel!”
He caught sight of an arm, and he pulled it out of the rocks. “GABRIEL!!!”
But Gabriel was gone. “No…no, no, nonononononono…”
Jack cradled the lifeless body and wailed. “Gabriel! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Jack desperately wished that he were human. Not just so that he would be able to truly cry, but also because then he would feel physical pain. Real pain, pain that matched the anguish in his heart. He also would’ve died in that explosion, as he deserved.
Jack considered staying where he was. People would find him, and destroy him, rightly so. But another thought came occurred to him. He was responsible for destroying all that he had loved and cared about, but who had made him? Talon. Talon had made him to hurt people, and hurt people he did. For that, they had to pay.
Jack gently laid Gabriel’s body onto the ground, out in the open where it could be easily found. He gave his lover one final kiss. “You deserved so much more than me, Gabriel,” he said softly. “But I’ll get our revenge for us, I promise you.”
And Jack walked away from the wreckage. He had a lot of work to do.
X
They met again, years later.
Soldier: 76 was standing on the rooftop of a building, watching the streets of the city below. When black smoke coalesced into a dark figure behind him, he did not turn around. “How are you alive?” the vigilante asked.
“Angela,” Reaper replied. “I’m still not sure what she did to me.”
The silence stretched between them. “Jack,” Gabriel stepped forward and removed his mask. “What happened to you?”
Soldier: 76 faced him and removed his mask. Much of the artificial skin on his face had been burned away, exposing much of his jawline, teeth, and left eye. His nose was completely gone. Gabriel was willing to bet that Jack was missing skin in more areas.
“You tell me,” Jack said. “I’ve never really known anything about myself.”
Gabriel did not answer. Jack turned away and sat down. Gabriel noticed that Jack’s movements were much stiffer than they had been. He took a seat by Jack and laid a hand on Jack’s back.
Jack hunched forward, and his body shook. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
made a robo body for the handsome AI Jack l mean common how long till they find a way to get him out of Rhys’ head before the both cant take each other?? so l though of designing a robot body for him most of the clothing is made of metal except his last jacket he puts a real one on. the”skin” parts have copper lining giving the man a richer look as a substitute to gold.
His face plate projects his eyes and mouth but is eyebrows are on little sliders so he can wiggle them allllll day and he can make outer projections like Zero so he can project a giant hologram fuck you to ya XD. The outer plate on jack’s leg pops out with a hidden gun tho l don't know why they would trust him with a gun in the first place.
but um yeah l didn't know which looked better super shiny or shiny so l did both :P
