a buddy of mine said that he saw jack morrison take his shirt off in the shower

[mylawn]

Who: Angela Ziegler, Soldier: 76, special guest Solid Snake, extra special guests Reinhardt and Reaper and Mei
When: Early February
Where: The Ingress entrance to Eosoros and then some other places maybe
What: Basically the part of Undercover Boss where the boss stops being undercover, except with fewer monetary gifts
Warnings: Blood, medical business, an angry old man

[76 arrives on Thisavrou very, very angry.

He’s usually angry, but generally speaking, he manages to keep said anger to a low simmer if only to function on a day-to-day basis. Arriving on this new planet after the ordeal at the Midway Hub, finding that all he can really do is sit and wait for his number to be called means that anger gets the better of him, even as he attempts to settle in (but 'settling in' is for other people). 76 takes one of the security gigs on Eosoros in a bid to do something productive, and that's sort of when things come to a head.

He’s angry, and he screws up.

It’s not really his fault, he thinks. It’s easy to blame the client (too reckless, an idiot, doesn’t listen to him, gets them both in a bad situation), but probably 76 could have handled this better. He should have bailed when things started to go south or ditched the client entirely or not taken the job in the first place—the money for a security detail wasn’t worth any of that, but he’s still boiling over with ire about the whole situation and that’s enough to make him do very stupid things, like throwing himself down in order to save both their asses when the client proves too incompetent to make it through the stupid torture gauntlet.

Hindsight, however, is twenty-twenty, and he’s not exactly coherent as he drags them both back through the Ingress and is immediately sidelined for medical attention. 76, too angry to care about decorum or not making a scene, immediately makes a scene. Someone is trying to hold him down, if only to keep him from getting blood everywhere before a medic arrives. The Savrii, however, are hard-pressed to subdue an enhanced human like him, especially when he’s in absolutely no mood to listen to reason.

Under duress, 76 becomes all but feral, hissing and spitting and doing everything in his power to get out and away, even if that means ignoring the fact that he's wounded and throwing all his self preservation out the window (said like he had any to begin with). It’s only the nature of his injury that keeps him from making an effective escape, though that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to try.]

Comments

[frostedplum]

"It was, yes! I was glad to be back, but I'd missed so much! And just when I was starting to catch up, I end up here. Well, not here here, but you know what I mean." She wonders if the Ingress would have picked her up if she'd been anywhere else but Nepal. Maybe if she'd stayed in Hollywood, or had joined Winston at Watchpoint: Gibraltar, she wouldn't have been taken. But there's really no way of knowing.

"I had so many tv shows to catch up on," she says lightly, but there was of course more than that: old friends, the state of the world, what happened with the other Ecopoints. There's a lot that's waiting for her back home.

But right now there are samples to collect. Mei spots the rocky terrain and veers towards it, holding up her lantern to spread more light.

"Here it is! I can collect tiny fragments if there's anything loose. If not, I'll have to bang it with a hammer."

[mylawn]

He sets down their gear when they come upon what she's looking for, readying the hammer but watching her, instead. 76 holds out a hand for her lantern so that she can get to work using both her hands, and he's careful to angle the light in such a way that it doesn't cast shadows over what she's trying to do.

Beyond that, he listens. He's not sure how he'd be able to stay so optimistic after waking up the way she did, but somehow she manages it, talking about the tv shows she missed like nothing terrible happened at all.

"Don't think many people could come out the other end of that as optimistic as you."

[frostedplum]

"You don't think?" she asks, putting small rocks into a thick plastic bag as he takes over lantern holding duty. The alternatives to how she's living life now wouldn't be very pleasant. Moping, wallowing, stewing -- they're not her style. There is some amount of guilt, however. It's only natural when you're the sole survivor of a disaster. You start to ask questions like "Why was I spared?" for instance.

"I think it would be doing my team a disservice if I didn't carry on and live life to the fullest." She pauses in her collecting to look up at 76's masked face. "At least, I know that's what I'd want if I was one of the ones who didn't make it and someone else had."

[mylawn]

"I'm saying that's easier said than done."

Means she's strong--resilient. Jack has always been proud of his agents, knows that they're the best people in the world. Hurts him all the more when they're in a situation like Mei's.

"It's a compliment."

Even if it doesn't really sound like one. He's not so good at giving them, anymore.

[frostedplum]

He does have a way of saying things that makes it hard to tell if he means it in a good way or not. The clarification is appreciated here.

"Well, thank you. That's nice of you to say."

It definitely hasn't been easy, but Mei has a way of approaching life that might make it seem that way. No one can see inside her head to see how she thinks, and how not everything is sunshine and rainbows all the time, but overall, she's been handling this well. Except for the survivor's guilt, of course, but that's to be expected. Those who hold a normal conversation with her would never guess at it being there, but it is.

"I have to say, I'm a little surprised that word of what happened spread like it did. No one thought of us for years, but once I woke up and returned, people knew about it."

[mylawn]

He grunts in acknowledgement, just as bad at receiving complements as he is at giving them. 76 lets her talk while he holds the lantern in silence for a few moments, holding out sample bags for her when she needs them, shifting his weight a little uncomfortably when she mentions how no one thought of Antarctica's crew.

"Bad timing."

Said like he doesn't blame himself more than anything.

"They were busy shutting down Overwatch while you were asleep."

And the Ecopoints got lost in the shuffle.

okay, wait, have a real tag instead

[frostedplum]

"I guess so." But her voice is soft, because she's thought about this a lot. Even though the Ecopoints were supposed to be self-sufficient for the most part, they did need supplies from time to time. What had happened with Athena that didn't have the computer alerting the others to those who were stranded out at the Ecopoints? Did they just straight up unplug her one day? It's weird. If she was more of a conspiracy theorist, she could come up with some doozies for this one.

Now it's just her, traveling across the globe to collect all this lost data from the abandoned Ecopoints. It's weird how none of the others pooled their data and turned it into the UN or anything. After all, even if Overwatch went under, what value was there in ignoring important information regarding the Earth's climate? Well, that's another question for the conspiracy theorists.

"Okay, I think that's enough of this type of rock. Now I just need a slightly darker type. It's further along the ridge here. They say it's leftover from ancient volcanoes."

[mylawn]

"What happened was...it wasn't right."

Sure, it would be easy to keep talking about the rocks that she needs, or ancient volcanoes, but 76 is a giant conspiracy theorist and he's supposed to be confessing his true identity to her, isn't he? That was the point of this trip. He'll follow her along, but he swallows down the temptation to change the subject.

"You shouldn't have been caught in the crossfire."

[frostedplum]

It is a bit surprising that he's staying with this subject, and that he's offering his opinion without her having to prompt him for it. He's not a very verbose guy, but this seems like it's important to him that she knows this. Her steps slow a little so they can walk besides each other along the way.

"Thank you. It's been hard..." It's not something she wants to unload on him, even if it seems like he's all right discussing it. And yet these questions she has just won't go away. "I thought at least someone would have remembered us. But not even Athena did." And then she realizes that he probably doesn't know who Athena is. "She was the computer system we had. I don't know why she didn't alert anyone that she couldn't reach us. If Overwatch was shut down, there should have been a computer message, and one sent to us in Antarctica would have bounced back because our comm tower was damaged in a polar storm."

[mylawn]

"I know about Athena."

Maybe that's how he can ease himself into it--reveal that he's much deeper in Overwatch then any of them know, and let them draw their own conclusions from there. He'd watched the dismantling of the organization, but there was only so much he could do, and it wouldn't surprise him at all if the UN did something to Athena, if only temporarily.

"Something must have stopped the message from getting through. I don't think it was an accident."

[frostedplum]

"Oh? Yes, that's what I've been contemplating myself. They would have known so much sooner that we were stuck in cryo if they'd tried to contact us." She blows out a breath before stooping to examine several rocks more closely with her lantern. "But it's not like I can go back in time and get the answers I'd like, can I?" She'll just have to keep moving forward with the hand she was dealt.

[mylawn]

"You can ask me."

Not exactly how he wanted to segue into his confession, but the words come out easily enough. Surely that will arouse some kind of suspicion.

"I've been digging."

Among other things.

[frostedplum]

"About Overwatch?" she asks, stopping in her examination of these very interesting rocks to sit back on her heels. "Why have you been digging into that?" All Mei knows is that 76 is from her world and knows what Overwatch is. She never would have thought he had some extra interest in it. Is that why he's out here with her? Does he want to get some information out of her? If that's the case, he'd be better off talking to someone like Reinhardt or Angela. Someone who can tell him about their headquarters, since Mei was only stationed there in between trips to different research outposts.

[mylawn]

"Because it was a setup."

Might as well come right out with it, even if he sounds like a crazy conspiracy theorist. 76 has convinced himself, at least, enough to relay all this with a certain amount of gravity and conviction.

"Someone wanted Overwatch gone. I've been trying to find out who."

[frostedplum]

Mei frowns, her gaze shifting for a moment to stare at the rocks in deep contemplation. If what he says is true, then she really should be blaming whoever wanted Overwatch to fall, instead of the people caught up in the chaos who forgot about them down in Antarctica. Well, she can blame them a little bit too, but not completely.

Now she meets his covered eyes, a serious look on her face.

"Tell me what you know so far."

[mylawn]

Now it seems like he has her attention. Good—it’s easier that way, easier for him to segue into the confession. Unfortunately, the truth of what happened to Overwatch is complicated at best, a wild conspiracy at worst. He isn’t sure if she’s just going to write him off as paranoid or crazy or both.

“I have reason to believe the UN had a hand in it.”

That’s the crazy conspiracy part, but he’s convinced himself it’s not so far-fetched.

“The organization was going off the rails. Too much of a liability. Just shutting it down wouldn’t have been final enough.”

He offers a shrug.

“Take out the leadership in a coordinated attack on HQ. Make it look like an accident. Like Overwatch ate itself.”

[frostedplum]

Immediately, her forehead creases, because this seems to go against everything the UN stands for, doesn't it? They needed Overwatch to keep the peace too. If they wanted to attack HQ, who would they get to do it?

"Do you think they hired mercenaries?

[mylawn]

"I think they collaborated with Talon."

So, worse than mercenaries. 76 has very little evidence in the way of this theory, but this is his gut instinct, and he's learned to rely on that more than anything else in the years following Overwatch's fall. Maybe he sounds crazy, but he's never been more sure of anything.

[frostedplum]

Mei's eyebrows lift in a nearly comical display. Now that seems a little too far. Talon is the antithesis of everything Overwatch had stood for! Even if the UN wanted them gone, why go to such lengths?

"But that would be so risky! Talon could blackmail the UN and threaten to release proof that the UN was involved, couldn't they?" She gasps. "Is Talon blackmailing the UN now?" Okay, she seems to be on the conspiracy theory bandwagon already. She wants an explanation for being forgotten.

[mylawn]

"Could be. Don't have enough intel, unfortunately."

Too many missing pieces in the puzzle. He's working on it, but he's only one person, and the whole world is out to get him, quite literally. Chasing ghosts he isn't sure even exist.

"Trying, though. This goes deep."

[frostedplum]

"I'd imagine so." She frowns and looks back at the rocks. Suddenly they don't seem as interesting anymore. Not in light of all this.

"How did you get involved in all this?" Because that's the part that doesn't add up. Sure, the UN being involved seems crazy, but it also seems plausible, since Overwatch had become pretty big and powerful.

[mylawn]

Here it is—the right opportunity for him to come clean, but it still takes him a moment to build up the resolve. 76 takes a breath, on that raises and lowers his shoulders in the process. Then, slowly, he brings his hands up to his mask and unfastens it, pulling it away.

“Had a front row seat.”

[frostedplum]

Mei only has a moment to register that he's taking off his mask before the deed is done and she's staring into the worn, scarred face of Strike Commander Morrison. Which -- like so many other things -- should be impossible. But that's the funny thing: nothing seems quite so impossible anymore. The fact that they're here on another planet outside their own solar system is proof of that.

But all right, so the impossible is possible and he's alive. Is it really so surprising when she takes into account that he was one of the American super soldiers? Winston had told her all he knew about the explosion at Swiss headquarters, but she had taken his word for it and hadn't considered that a man like Jack Morrison could actually survive such a blast. With a few scars, it seems.

She's almost nervous now, staring up into the face of Overwatch. They were never close, but she worked under him and was proud of the work Overwatch was doing with him in command. She always believed no task would be too dangerous for her as long as she had a soldier like him watching her back.

The nerves have her tucking a loose tendril of hair behind her ear and blushing. It's silly; she knows that. Overwatch is gone and he's been gone and she's been gone while in cryo and-- it's just silly, isn't it? To look at the Commander and feel like she has to do something impressive or hand him a report with her findings. These aren't the old days anymore.

"Commander?" she says tentatively, a shy smile coming to her face. "It's very good to see you. I'm glad you're alive."

[mylawn]

"Didn't mean to keep up the act for so long."

He sounds a little contrite, shoulders sagging.

"Was trying to find a good way to tell you."

But it's out now, which means things are going to get a little easier. Jack watches Mei for a long moment, taking in her reaction--he doesn't expect the waterworks he got from Angela and Lena, but then again, he'd never been particularly close to the scientists in the Ecopoints. An Overwatch initiative that he'd had a hand in launching, but otherwise let them operate fairly independently. A necessity, given how remote some of the stations were.

That doesn't mean he hadn't been proud of the work they were doing. He finds himself wishing he'd let them know that more.

"I really am sorry about what happened."

They all deserved better than that.

[frostedplum]

"I appreciate you telling me," she says, knowing that since she wasn't in any search and rescue or special ops divisions that she's at more of a distance than some of the others here in Thisavrou are. They all worked together often on missions and she was just one of the many faces passing by in white coats that were there one day and gone the next on scientific expeditions.

"It's okay. You've been through a lot too." Though that does beg the question of where he's been since Overwatch fell. "What have you been doing these last few years?"