thisavrou | ( video )

[Jack isn't going to pretend that lying to all of them for months on end was a good idea, but despite their varied reactions to learning their commander is not, in fact, dead, he doesn't regret revealing himself the way he did. Better to just rip off the band-aid. He knows his people. They'll come around--the unfortunate thing is that Ana's dragged into it too, without ever remembering that she agreed to keep his secret.]

I, uh--

[He sighs again, scrubbing the back of his neck with a hand. A nervous tic.]

Wouldn't call it a farm.

[It is absolutely a farm. Jack just isn't sure how to feel about coming full circle. And he knows he can't hide the fact that some version of Ana was there with him--maybe he just needs to rip off that band-aid, too.]

You were there, before. You were there with me.

( If there's any surprise at his words it's hidden, or perhaps only noticeable in the slightest raise of an eyebrow. Ana... living on a farm. Jack what did you do, what were their lives?

Even so, she's going with: )

I assume that still stands.

( Look whatever she feels about retirement and farms bunking with him for a time sounds better than being in this complex )

It would give us better opportunity to talk more.

( Did other her leave some tea behind, because this conversation feels like it could lengthen )

[Please, Ana. of course there's tea. Jack is vaguely understanding that this is making it sound like the two of them were settled down, or something, when really it's only been a few weeks. There's so much to explain and so much of it involves ridiculous dimensional shenanigans that he's not exactly sure of where to start.]

If you want.

[He's not going to force her to co-habitate with him if she already has other plans, but he'll motion for them to leave anyway. Jack isn't too keen on sticking around a place like this, not when he's reasonably comfortable in his own place, such as it is. Really, the farm isn't a bad deal--they don't even have to pay rent as long as they donate half of whatever they grow. The choice seemed obvious, especially when he actually knows what he's doing when it comes to farming. Sort of.

And yes, there's tea.]

It's the Ingress. This kind of thing happens. Think of it like parallel universes, I guess.

[Winston might explain it better than he can.]

( Hmm, where was Winston when you needed him? Ana had the most basic idea of the concept but it was a new experience, and though she'd quickly say she wouldn't want to repeat it it seemed she already had )

I would rather not have had to.

( They'd both been in the middle of something pretty important when they'd been taken too. Was that something else that happened?

Picking up her gun Ana follows Jack, a curious eye on her surroundings as they go )

How long was I here? You said seven month for you.

Five months on the ship. One at a place that was supposed to get us home. One here.

[In the event she's still worried about them settling down. Jack hopes that his distaste for the situation comes through in his voice.]

Three months for you, maybe? Four?

[He sighs again, knowing that this is probably not what she wants to hear.]

We have some catching up to do.

Edited 2017-03-08 02:31 (UTC)

It sounds like it.

( There's a mental sigh that Jack probably recognises is there. It isn't the easiest thing to swallow, though the fact that it comes from Jack does help. It's facts, and they are simpler )

Do we begin with the ship or here?

( Here sounds like the more pressing information, being recent with the fallout of his reveal, but only he knows what may have happened to her-- them on the ship )

Ship's not so important. You weren't on it that long.

[But he'll give her a brief primer--the Ingress, the captains, the alleged real captains, how the whole thing had ended with a malfunction of the inter-dimensional transport device (or whatever the hell the Ingress is supposed to be) and a crash-landing on the Midway Hub. How they discovered that the Moira was never supposed to be out in the first place. Going to Thisavrou because there was really no other choice.

And now, here. Jack puts his mask back on when they leave the building. He's not exactly fond of riding the public transport here, but it does the job. He lowers his voice now that they're in public, but what he's saying is fairly innocuous, all things considered.]

Once we got here, they started figuring me out. I'd asked you to keep it from them, but...guess it's all a moot point now.

It may have happened some time if not so soon.

( They were smart people that they worked with, and some of them had been together for a long time. They'd figured Ana out quickly, though they did have an advantage on that )

Perhaps the new situation may make it work.

( Would the same reasons apply? It depends if the same threats were a problem )

Just want you to know what you're walking into.

[And why certain parties might not be so happy with her. He spends a great deal of the trip out in relative silence, recounting the rest of the situation as well as he can. It's only when they disembark in Region 2 that he shifts gears to something altogether more serious.]

Reyes is here.

[That is honestly more important than anything else he's said up to this point.]

( She can see why he saved it until the end, but at the same time... Gabriel is something trickier, and more pressing, given all that has happened )

He was in Egypt, too. Seeing what had happened to him...

( There was more to the explosion than simple debris. Gabriel, what he now was, the things that Ana had heard... it gave her chills )

I expect he tried to kill you again.

Guess it's not so surprising we all catch up to each other.

[Reyes always was one step ahead of him, on a great many things. Obviously Ana wasn't hurt in the encounter, but it boils the anger in the pit of his stomach anyway.]

We've been back and forth a few times.

[In the 'trying to kill each other' department. It's largely undetectable now, but Jack is still favoring the leg that Reyes didn't shoot out from under him a few months back.]

( He isn't alone in the feeling. Knowing what Reyes has done, or could have done, both here and in their home-- Ana may not remember all of it but she has imagination and knowledge enough. Gabriel wouldn't be done with them, or perhaps the others, quickly )

And the others? How much do they know of him?

( Of 'Reaper'. Had they been told enough to connect those dots, or was he just a threat? )

Knew about him before they knew about me.

[So that's a thing. Has been a thing. Jack shrugs, indicating that there really isn't much he can do int his department--not for lack of trying, of course.]

Not sure where he is now.

He will appear when it is time.

( They can keep listening but Ana has already gathered that this place is fairly large, not only with the complex but the planets. Locating Gabriel would not be simple, and then what would they do? )

That silence should be good for now, even if it may not end that way.

Usually does.

[Jack thinks he'd know if Reyes was gone, after all. By now, they're on the grounds of the farm, and he's bracing himself for what she might say about it. Certainly more quaint than might be expected of him, and he knows how close this edges towards 'retirement'. He expects her to say as much, so when he gestures, it's a little sheepishly.]

This is it.

( She doesn't actually go there, or at least not quite in such an obvious (negative) reaction. It's close to retirement, and it's cosy. Part of that is nice -- with missions, and then what came after Overwatch, it's been a while since either of them have known such a comfort. They might have both said that they didn't need it, but there's still something nice about it )

I'm surprised you didn't recognise it as a farm.

( Given his earlier slight rejection that it was completely a farm. She knows what it is, and knows he also does, but she's a big girl. She can handle a little comfort, because she doesn't have to stay retired the rest of the time. Ana doubts that Jack's gone back to just farming )

How did you get it?

[He offers her little more than a sigh in return, relenting. It's a farm. He knows it's a farm. He's a genuine American farmboy, and this is his farm.]

They offer you housing when you get here.

[And there's a fairly surprising selection, too. Jack's choice is perhaps a little obvious. ]

Don't have to pay rent if you donate half of whatever you produce.

( There's a noise that Ana makes, and she's smiling now )

Well I am glad that I have returned to see this.

( Let her get a chair to sit and watch you farm, it'll be a wonderful sight. Maybe she'll offer some commentary on it )

And what are we selling?

( She's definitely taking your proceeds and not farming. That's how it works, right? )

[That's definitely how it works. Jack won't object.]

We've got bees.

[Meaning that they're selling-slash-donating the honey, not the bees. This particular farm is outfit for beekeeping of all things, which Jack considers advantageous in that it's more a part-time gig than anything. Of course, that might change.]

But we can grow whatever you want.

[There's room for it. He has enough money from security contracts to buy the necessary supplies.]

( Tea plants. There's a business there )

I will think on it. It seems like a sensible idea.

( A good, quick solution for living, especially when he'd been wanting to hide his identity )

And something to keep you busy. I know that stopping is not easy.

( Stop her if you've heard this before. She's not trying to switch the topic just saying she gets it. At least he's keeping busier than she did )

[Little does she know...there is already the makings of a tea farm here. They'll get to that soon enough, but Jack and Ana have already had this conversation when they decided on the farm. Between security details and mercenary work, Jack isn't going to have time to full-time manage a place like this, so small, part-time things like tea plants and the bees seem to be a good compromise.

And, hey. No rent, but Ana is right. Stopping is not easy. Jack has a mission to complete,
and sitting around waiting for his number to come up is going to drive him crazy sooner rather than later.]

This is not exactly what I had in mind when I thought about retirement.

[Read: he doesn't think about retirement.]

Hah. You should be glad this is all it is.

( She's been there, it was exactly as awful as they'd always thought it would be. Death tended to come before retirement in their plans -- they wouldn't stop until their mission was complete and their mission seemed to never be complete )

It could be a lot worse.

( There could be no farm to keep him busy )

You sound like you're speaking from experience.

[They've done a fair bit of catching up, but the years Ana spent in hiding are still a bit of a mystery to him. He knows her well enough to make a few guesses, but he could probably stand to hear it straight from her.]

After I was shot I spent some time recovering.

( Recovering, dwelling.... wallowing. She had guilt, and pain, and there had been more recovery than just with her eye )

You could say it was retirement. It was not so pleasant a time.

[So did Jack--he'd been in no shape to get up and move after pulling himself out of the rubble, and had spent a not insubstantial amount of time in a safehouse trying to recover. It had given him plenty of opportunity to watch the dismantling of Overwatch in real time, something that played a large part in his decision to stay dead.

He imagines that Ana went through something very similar.]

Where did you go?

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