Chapter Text
The smooth touch of the rain could erase any pain, or that’s what some people like to believe. A cold embrace, that could drip away your thoughts, nightmares, even bad memories. Just by listening to the soft sound the drops made, breaking against the window. But that rainy night, wasn’t a gentle one for the humble Hana Song. She was grateful for the roaring thunders, which muffled her screams.
Hana was a simple girl, and also a gamer, who enjoyed mostly every kind of game. RPG’s for boring days, dancing ones for rainy days, MOBA’s for depressing days, nothing better than carrying a bunch of noobs to cheer up. Portal saga and Graphical Adventures, for those weird days that left a sour taste in the tongue, and a knot in the gut. JRPG’s were especially for bright days, ready to ship to a new adventure!
Indies had a special place, they were like some kind of wildcard, useful for every type of day, but in particular for those awful days, when everything and I mean EVERYTHING, went wrong. And last, but not least, Starcraft, her addiction, which she is not shy to admit to. Too much wasted time to be shameful of it! It was something she always was good at, and nobody was able to change her mind about it, because she was sure that she would be the best Starcraft II player in the whole world.
Yeah, that expression is wrong, but she loves it anyway, cause she is determined to beat everyone, and everyone is EVERYONE, so it needs double the emphasis. Actually she was kind of an odd girl, but simple in her own way. She loved her games, roleplay games, doritos and mountain dew, and playing with her dad to those awesome games, like the time they beat The Last of Us in a day!
Oh! Hana loved her dad more than anything in the world, even more than her videogames, more than her Pachimari plushie, and even more than her merchandise figures. Jack made the best pancakes for weekend breakfast, he gave the best hugs when Hana was sad, or had just lost in one of her videogames. In return, she gave her dad the best hugs to scare away those awful nightmares of war.
Hana was adopted, her parents died in an omnic attack in South Korea. Jack Morrison was deployed there and, after rescuing her from the attack, he decided to adopt her. The war ended the very same day. At only 25 years, Jack became a parent and a war veteran. For that, Hana has been eternally grateful, no matter what people said, no matter what people thought, people’s opinion didn’t matter to her at all. She had the best father she could has ever dreamt of.
They made an odd pair, the veteran soldier and the mutant. Yeah, Hana is a mutant. The omnics released some unknown energy wave, the same day the war ended. At first, nobody was sure of its effects. But in the following days, people of all nations around the world started to develop weird habits and abilities.
Some could fly, others became invisible, or could pass through solid things. Those were just the beginning, because the future was dark and with a wickered face. Some mutants -that's how people started calling them - were delinquents, villains, evildoers... to classify them in some way. This started a strong racist movement against them, fueled by insecurity and fear.
The government never knew how to confront this twist, nobody knew. With the fear of people who could explode, in a matter of seconds, without warning. Society quickly delimited mutant’s hierarchy, lower than an omnic. Rejected and denied of certain rights, mutants were categorized as the wicked last resort against humanity. A new plague after the war.
But Hana knew she wasn’t a delinquent, nor a criminal or even a terrorist. She only was a simple girl, with odd abilities and a cheerful personality. No matter her condition, she was happy and determined to achieve her dreams.
Sadly, for Hana this rainy night was full of fear. Thankfully, the neighbours couldn’t hear her, they would look weird at her anyway, like they always did. But Jack did hear, and slammed the door open, to see Hana floating over her bed. Her eyes glowed faintly in a pink color, a chair was tossed violently close to Jack. He backed by instinct, but the chair was aimed at the mirror next to him instead. Small fragments of glass circled around Hana, creating a vortex that protected her.
Jack wasn’t afraid of Hana’s telekinetic nightmares, but this one was the worst she had ever had.The entire room was shaking feebly, and the vortex of shards surrounding Hana prevented Jack to getting closer. Jack had to admit, that all his military years prepared him for the most dangerous scenarios, except a teenager with telekinetic powers out of control during a nightmare.
Hana’s screams of help brought him to reality, without thinking twice he threw everything that hadn't already been thrown by the vortex. He tilted it to it’s left side, grabbing the upper legs to use it as shield. He counted to three and with determination crossed the vortex, hearing how books and other things hit the desk’s wood. He felt a few cuts of the mirror shards cutting his forearms, he ignored it, after all it was nothing compared to bullet wounds, so he could take care of it later.
He threw the desk to a side, making a loud crash against the floor. The telekinetic force of the vortex tried to absorb it, but it barely moved it while stopping some of the stuff that hit its surface. Jack stood on Hana’s bed and softly cradled her body against his broad chest, carefully lowering them onto the soft mattress. He whispered soft murmurs while caressing her right cheek, trying to relieve her nightmare and bring an end to this wild night.
After a few seconds of soft whispers, Hana closed her eyes slowly, the vortex vanishing at the same time. She opened them, brown gaze instead of the eerie glowing pink. “Dad? What happened?” Jack smiled to her and tenderly bumped their foreheads together.
“Don't worry, bunny girl, you’re safe now.” Hana sank on the warm feeling of her dad’s touch, hiding her head in the crook of his neck, hugging him when she noticed the chaos surrounding them.
“It was me, right?” Hana asked, small sobs escaping her throat. “I did this!” Jack soothed her with his right hand on her back, but that didn't stop the burst of tears and crying, that Hana released in the next second.
“I’m so sorry dad! I couldn’t stop it! I dreamed again with the Bastion units killing you, I felt weak and hopeless, I just wanted them to die and leave you!” Jack placed his hands on Hana’s cheeks, bumping their foreheads again.
“Hana, I’m with you now. Your dad is here and he will always protect you, okay?” Hana nodded softly, tears flooding her eyes and whimpers out of her mouth. She grabbed her dad’s hands, letting out all her distress. They stayed there, foreheads together and holding their hands under the moonlight seeping through the window. The storm outside subsided, clouds dissolving with the feeble wind remaining.
Jack hummed quietly, letting Hana lean on him until she calmed down. Jack got up abruptly and stood in front of the bed, Hana looked surprised at him. “Your highness, if you allow me I shall escort you to your chamber in no time!” Jack bowed dramatically, being careful to not get cut with the broken crystals. Hana couldn’t avoid to laugh, certainly her dad was the best thing in her life without a doubt.
“Dad cut it out! I’m not your little princess anymore.” Hana tried to not smile but Jack knew her too well. “Who is that dad you speak of? I’m no one but Sir Morrison, dutiful guard of Queen Hana, the best gamer and most adorable gremlin in the realm.”
“Dad! Don’t call me that!” Hana couldn’t avoid to pout a bit, Jack meanwhile looked thoroughly confused. “I guess that if you aren’t a queen, then I’ll have to tell queens Midna, Peach and Zelda that you can’t attend their royal gala tomorrow.” Jack got up and was turning to get out of the room when Hana grabbed him by the wrist.
“Wait! Those looser can’t save their kingdoms without me, so this time you might proceed with the protocol Sir Morrison, but tomorrow I shall have pancakes for breakfast.”
“Of course my queen, anymore request I might need to know?”
“I know I should go but, can I skip class tomorrow please? I don’t think I’ll be able to act like nothing happened.”. Jack’s face changed, his smile dropped and a serious gaze in his eyes.
It barely lasted a second or two, smiling back to Hana and restarting his walk to his bedroom. “Actually, I think you will have to take the whole week.” Hana’s eyes widened in surprise.
“What? Why so much time?” Jack opened the door to his room letting Hana get in.
“I’ll give you all the details tomorrow, now you need to sleep.” She let him tuck her in his bed, and set a specific alarm on his phone before leaning next to his daughter.
Jack was about to turn off the lamp on his nightstand, when suddenly Hana stopped him with a phrase.
“Dad, I’m sorry for being a monster, your life would be easier without me.” Hana yelped, when her dad abruptly grabbed her shoulders and locked their gazes, angriness mixed with kindness.
“Listen carefully, Hana Morrison-Song, this is the last time I hear those words coming out of your mouth. Of course it would be easier, if I only cared about myself, but I vowed to be your father. So, no matter what happens or what people say and think about you. You are my daughter, mutant or not, I will always love you.”
He hugged her and whispered. “You are my light Hana, and the decision I feel most proud of.” Hana started crying silently again. Jack dragged them both to rest on the soft mattress, and started to sing quietly until Hana fell asleep.
After a few minutes Jack stopped. The room fell completely silent, the only exception their hushed breathing. He gently caressed her hair, and finally let himself fall in the sweet embrace of sleep. Deciding before, that he would make that call, no matter how much would it cost, as long as it allowed Hana live a normal life.
Gabriel Reyes could look like a menacing man: tall, bulky, gruffy expression mostly 24/7. The average L.A. thug that could (and probably would) kill you, if you irritate him enough. But the actual truth, is that he is a cinnamon roll, a spicy mexican cinnamon roll. He is actually extremely fond of those who love and care for. The kind of guy that will jump to the throat of your enemies, the moment they open their mouth, no matter if they said something, he will sense the jackassness in them and will act.
This specially applied to his son and daughter, Jesse Reyes-McCree and Raquel Reyes, also known as Sombra. And today Gabriel was beyond pissed. Frustration, impotence, anger, disappointment... the list could go on for a while.
The humble door of their house slammed against the wall, alerting Sombra of their arrival. The surprised girl leaned on the door frame that led to the hall. There she saw her father shut the door with equal remiss. She also noticed that he was carrying her older brother, who, for some reason, was wearing one of those medical white masks, a pair of sunglasses and what seemed to be ear plugs.
“I’ll guess it didn’t go well.”
Gabriel hurled his house keys without caring where they could land, acknowledged his daughter’s words with a grunt, and proceeded to carefully place his son on one of the kitchen’s chairs. Jesse came to life and grabbed his head, trying to remember something about the last couple of hours.
Gabriel took a glass from one of the kitchen shelves, poured some water and tenderly asked his son to drink, with a pill that was placed on the table.
Jesse muttered a thanks and drank the water with the pill, his face changing from disorientation to disgust. Gabriel sighed with frustration, leaning his hands against the table’s surface, fixing his gaze so hard it could blaze.
“So, what went that bad?” Asked sombra, after watching how his father was about to start a rampage, if given the chance.
“We spent two hours waiting for an inexistent queue, to finally being told the hospital would never treat such an…” Gabriel's voice broke. Jesse, who got rid of his glasses, looked at him worried.
“Aberration, they called him aberration!” Gabriel slammed his fists on the table’s surface. Both siblings fearing for a moment it would brake. Jesse got up carefully, unsteady steps as a result of the sensory overload that he had been suffering for the entire afternoon. Sombra quickly helped her brother, passing her left arm over her shoulders, so he could lean on her.
Both of them noticed how their father started to shake, making noises that escaped from the bottom of his throat. For the first time in their life, they watched how their father, Gabriel Reyes, the most feared parent in the neighbourhood, crumbled to pieces in front of his children.
They were frozen for a moment, it was the first time they saw their father so vulnerable.
“Years…”
“Years of sacrifice! Fighting in that fucking war, to finally free a country of fucking xenophobic hypocrites!” Gabriel punched the wall, which started to crack upon the merciless venting of Gabriel's wrath. “¡Malditos hijos de puta! ¡Ojalá se pudran en su propia mierda!”
Jesse hurled himself over his dad, her sister following him, both trying to stop Gabriel’s slaughter against the innocent wall. He collapsed on the floor, his children at each side of him. He glanced to his son and without being able to stop himself, he started to cry.
“I’m so sorry Jesse, I failed you as a father. I only wanted the best for you, and now I can only watch how you suffer without being able to do anything. You deserve something better.”
Jesse hugged Gabriel, who was unsure to give it back. Sombra soothed her father’s back.
“Don’t be silly papi, you are the best papi Jesse and I could ever have. It is you who scares the bullies away when they call me nerd. It is you who teached Jesse how to drive. It is you who let us taste alcohol while you were sure it wasn’t too much for us. It is you who sew our clothes when they worn out, and it is you who also made us new clothes with your own design.”
“Sombra is right papi, we would be nothing without you, so please don’t ever say something like that, you had never failed us, you have always been there for us, and that’s something we will never be able to be thank you enough.”
Gabriel lifted his gaze, looking at both of them. Smirking a bit he grabbed them and squeezed them in a bear hug.
“Malditos diablillos, even if you can be quite the pain in the ass, I cannot deny how much I love you.”
“We love you too papi” said them at the same time.
They stood hugging on the kitchen’s floor for a few minutes, until Jesse decided to break the silence.
“Hey papi! What if the three of us sleep together tonight? Like when Sombra and I were young!”
“I have to say hijo, that I was about to ask the same thing. But only this time, I don’t want to spoil you too much.”
Sombra rolled her eyes, helping Jesse to get up, her dad joining and both of them carrying him to the bedroom.
“By the way papi, I found a place where they can help Jesse, one of my contacts gave me some info about a place that help mutants adapt to their powers.” Gabriel eyed his daughter warily, sighing tiredly at the thought of lecturing her again, about how dangerous the dark places of the net could be. He decided that, for once, he could let her try, after all it could help Jesse’s condition.
“Leave that for tomorrow, I just want this day to end already.” Said Jesse, leaving no room for any discussion of the matter.
Meanwhile, several kilometers away, in one of the most advanced research facility in Zurich. A young man dressed with his lab coat, studied five brown folders that floated in the air in front of him.
“Jack Morrison, Hana Morrison-Song, Gabriel Reyes, Jesse Reyes-McCree and Raquel Reyes. Definitely an interesting crew.” The folders slowly rested on the desk and the man turned his back, admiring the Dawn of Zurich.
“Dr. Rivers, we informed Sombra about the existence of Overwatch, and we expect Jack Morrison to call Ana Amari as soon as he wakes up. What should we do now?”
The man leaned against the window, coating the surface with the mist of his breath, drawing absently for a moment.
“Excellent! Inform Winston so he can prepare the Watchpoint.” Dr. Rivers fixed his gaze on the sun that shyly loomed over the horizon.
“Cannot wait to meet them!”