[Its a sore spot, but Sombra has already picked at it enough. Jack's affirmation probably puts a hole in his nice treehouse wall, but ultimately, there's nothing he can do about it.
And regardless of the ultimate outcome, Reaper finished the job, where Jack hadn't.]
you were never the man to finish the job. that's why i was there.
[He's tired and thankful for text so it doesn't come across.]
[He is, quite literally, too old for this. It's not about who can finish a job and who can't--Jack will maintain he always came through where it counted, but if that's true, then how did they end up here, on opposite sides?]
[There is no reply. His choices are to keep trying until Jack finds it in him to turn back around and-- what? Kill him, so that he can come back again too?
There wasn't really a choice here. Continuing cyclically would only jade him further. But that means that ultimately, Jack wins. And his pride won't allow him to admit it.
[He waits for an answer--waits long enough to know that Reaper considers the conversation finished, but Jack isn't about to give up so easily. HIs own murder at Reaper's hands should be proof enough that there's nothing left to salvage between them, and that pressing him further is only going to invite a repeat of what just happened, but Jack is pathologically stubborn. He's not about to be ignored.]
i already killed you. whatever bullshit brought you back, you were dead. i made sure of it.
why are you still trying to talk to me?
[Its more of a dismissal than a question. But some part of him wants to know. Did he think he was going to suddenly see the light and follow him back to his farm to raise bees? Did he still think that there was any shred of him left that still cared about what happened to him or the rest of ex-Overwatch?
[He shouldn't bother. This is just a waste of his time, an attempt to recapture something that's long gone and that he isn't getting back, no matter how hard he tries. His death is evidence enough of that, but Jack finds himself surprised at how not angry he is about it--just exhausted.]
Doesn't seem right to just let this go.
[Or keep going the way they had been--circling each other until something snaps, only to rinse and repeat the cycle. Jack can't honestly say the answer is that he misses Gabriel, not given everything he's done to dismantle the thing they gave their lives to, but how can you spend the better part of thirty years so close to someone only to give up?]
[It was too late. Even if he wanted to go back, even if he could forgive their lost trust in him, it had been too long. He was one of Talon's leaders now. Just like they were too old to keep trying to fight like this, in a world where nobody cared about their personal conflict, Jack had long ago deemed Gabriel's methods too extreme.
He didn't change then. He wasn't about to change now.]
just because it doesn't feel right doesn't mean it isn't. thought you would have figured that out by now.
[But of course not. This is Jack Morrison he's talking to.]
[And it should be easy to hate Reyes for everything he's done and all that he's destroyed--for aligning himself with the enemy and seemingly caring little for all the shared history between them. For all the good they did.
Maybe Jack finds it easier to pretend there's something to save, because the alternative is to finally admit that Gabriel Reyes had never been, at any point, the man Jack thought he was.
That hurts more than he can possibly find words for. Of course he's still going to fight.]
[He's not sure who he's trying to convince, but he isn't going to let Reaper forget this. It's too big a slip-up, even if he was certain Jack would be gone for good.]
[Really? That's his game? Challenging him to kill Ana too?
Its not a bad idea. It would give him something else to focus on. Something else to do, another way to prove Jack wrong about him. But it doesn't escape his notice that it would be just as useless.]
[Yeah, Jack isn't sure where he's going with this, but he seems to think that maybe he can find the chink in Reaper' s armor if he pushes far enough. Doesn't mean it's not frustrating.]
[Its a challenge he'd take any day -- if it were anyone else. But Ana had still shot him, so that should have been enough motivation to move forward.
But it wasn't as if she hadn't taken those shots before, when Jack was involved. He hadn't mattered to them like they mattered to each other in a long time.]
its never going to go back to how it was. we have different things we want for the world. that's just how it is.
if we did any good, we wouldn't be where we are. besides. we didn't do any work here.
these people don't care about you. they don't care about amari. they don't care about me. why do you care so much about what happens to them? to this planet?
i'll tell you one more time. stay out of my way. and if you can't do that, then you aren't tired enough.
text sometime after sombra's post
[SURPRISE BITCH]
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apparently, she was trespassing.
too bad about that.
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not that it would have made a difference.
[He doesn't have a soft spot for Lena Oxton, not really, but nobody talked Sombra out of anything.]
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[Because it seems like it should be--take out who he can while Jack is absent.]
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[He doesn't want to talk to you, Jack. You're supposed to be dead.]
whatever you want, i can't help you.
and i wouldn't anyway.
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[NOT. Because he is here and not dead, clearly.]
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[Its a sore spot, but Sombra has already picked at it enough. Jack's affirmation probably puts a hole in his nice treehouse wall, but ultimately, there's nothing he can do about it.
And regardless of the ultimate outcome, Reaper finished the job, where Jack hadn't.]
you were never the man to finish the job.
that's why i was there.
[He's tired and thankful for text so it doesn't come across.]
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[He is, quite literally, too old for this. It's not about who can finish a job and who can't--Jack will maintain he always came through where it counted, but if that's true, then how did they end up here, on opposite sides?]
How much longer can we keep this up?
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There wasn't really a choice here. Continuing cyclically would only jade him further. But that means that ultimately, Jack wins. And his pride won't allow him to admit it.
So instead, he says nothing.]
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Gabe
[Come on.]
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i already killed you.
whatever bullshit brought you back, you were dead.
i made sure of it.
why are you still trying to talk to me?
[Its more of a dismissal than a question. But some part of him wants to know. Did he think he was going to suddenly see the light and follow him back to his farm to raise bees? Did he still think that there was any shred of him left that still cared about what happened to him or the rest of ex-Overwatch?
That time of his life was over. It had to be.]
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[He shouldn't bother. This is just a waste of his time, an attempt to recapture something that's long gone and that he isn't getting back, no matter how hard he tries. His death is evidence enough of that, but Jack finds himself surprised at how not angry he is about it--just exhausted.]
Doesn't seem right to just let this go.
[Or keep going the way they had been--circling each other until something snaps, only to rinse and repeat the cycle. Jack can't honestly say the answer is that he misses Gabriel, not given everything he's done to dismantle the thing they gave their lives to, but how can you spend the better part of thirty years so close to someone only to give up?]
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[It was too late. Even if he wanted to go back, even if he could forgive their lost trust in him, it had been too long. He was one of Talon's leaders now. Just like they were too old to keep trying to fight like this, in a world where nobody cared about their personal conflict, Jack had long ago deemed Gabriel's methods too extreme.
He didn't change then. He wasn't about to change now.]
just because it doesn't feel right doesn't mean it isn't.
thought you would have figured that out by now.
[But of course not. This is Jack Morrison he's talking to.]
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[And it should be easy to hate Reyes for everything he's done and all that he's destroyed--for aligning himself with the enemy and seemingly caring little for all the shared history between them. For all the good they did.
Maybe Jack finds it easier to pretend there's something to save, because the alternative is to finally admit that Gabriel Reyes had never been, at any point, the man Jack thought he was.
That hurts more than he can possibly find words for. Of course he's still going to fight.]
You didn't kill Ana.
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[He regrets that. It wasn't necessarily because he cared, though some part of him might have hoped that she wouldn't have taken that shot.
But it had just proved that he was right all along. It was never about respecting his position. It was always about Jack Morrison.]
leaving her alive was a better idea while you were still dead.
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[He's not sure who he's trying to convince, but he isn't going to let Reaper forget this. It's too big a slip-up, even if he was certain Jack would be gone for good.]
I won't let you forget that.
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Its not a bad idea. It would give him something else to focus on. Something else to do, another way to prove Jack wrong about him. But it doesn't escape his notice that it would be just as useless.]
what do you want me to say, jack?
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Where do you think you can go from here?
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[Its a challenge he'd take any day -- if it were anyone else. But Ana had still shot him, so that should have been enough motivation to move forward.
But it wasn't as if she hadn't taken those shots before, when Jack was involved. He hadn't mattered to them like they mattered to each other in a long time.]
its never going to go back to how it was.
we have different things we want for the world.
that's just how it is.
so stay out of my way.
both of you.
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[Which says something, Jack thinks.]
Can't. Not as long as you're trying to undo all the good we did.
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besides.
we didn't do any work here.
these people don't care about you.
they don't care about amari.
they don't care about me.
why do you care so much about what happens to them?
to this planet?
i'll tell you one more time.
stay out of my way.
and if you can't do that, then you aren't tired enough.
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do what you want.
but consider yourself warned.
i'll kill you again.
and i will kill her too.
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