thisavrou | ( video )

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?

Egypt.

( It shouldn't be surprising -- it was home, somewhere she'd long fought to protect. It wasn't the only place that ana had been over the years, and not the first place she'd gone to, but it was the most important )

It felt different, but necessary.

Easy to hide close to home.

[Home. He can understand it—but Jack didn’t get back to the states until long after Overwatch was shut down, and he hasn’t set foot in Indiana for years. Even before the Moira, he never stayed in one place to long, cutting a path across the American midwest to Colorado then south to Mexico.

Then, he’d dropped everything to get to Egypt. It shows on his wanted posters, the international something to be vaguely proud of, maybe, if only for the fact it means he’s a thorn in the sides of people the world over.

There is, however, one thing he'd like her to know.]

I went back. I looked for you until they made me stop.

[Because the last thing he wants is for her to think that he abandoned her--gave up.]

( She gives a hum, a mild agreement with his words. It had been easy to hide, and that had been exactly her intention. She had wanted to disappear, struck by failure, embarrassment -- self pity. Those were more the things that Ana had felt in the aftermath -- much pain, and regret, and though she had thought of those that she had left behind she hadn't thought about how much they would have looked for her.

No, that was a lie. Ana knew Jack too well to ever believe that he wouldn't look for her, which was why she'd hidden as well as she had. Ana had known that Jack would have searched, that he could have found her and helped if she'd allowed him too, but she'd felt vulnerable -- more vulnerable than he'd seen before, and more than she'd wanted them to know )

I didn't want to be found.

( Which she supposes he knows now since she hadn't actually been dead. After the explosion... sadly Ana can't say that she'd given the same search for him. She'd asked questions, tried to find the information but doing so without revealing her own status had made her search less in depth. It wasn't until more recently when she'd sought him out, when she'd been ready, that she'd truly gotten her answer )

I don't know that I can explain it.

( Or that she wants to. Their trust had ran deep, still did, but how did you explain wanting to be dead? Or how she'd felt )

You don't have to explain it.

[Because although he didn't quite get it at first, he understands now that he's done it himself. He knows what it's like to feel as though the world doesn't need him, that everyone would just be better off if he stayed dead. To fail so thoroughly that the only course of action is to remove oneself from the equation, because it's for the best.

It still hurts, to know that she didn't want to be found--that she allowed him to believe he got her killed (because she must have known how he'd take it--but Jack thinks he's too glad to have her back to keep dwelling on it. They both did what they had to do and all they can do is move forward from here.]

I think I understand.

I am not glad that you do.

( It isn't something that you can understand unless you've gone through it yourself, and Ana knows that he has. He hadn't just hidden to keep people safe by letting them believe that he was dead, or because it meant that Talon wouldn't try to hit at him, but because he'd felt as she had. Guilt, disappointment. That he was no longer needed.

Ana had hated the feeling in herself, but knowing that someone she cared for her also felt it? It struck low, especially with all that Jack had done -- all of the good, and the hope. He had done much for the world, and to be left feeling that way was as if saying none of it matter.

But in the aftermath of the explosion it hadn't. Overwatch was done, Jack Morrison dead, and the good that they had done had been shattered. It's painful to think of )

If there was another way-- here could be something different.

( If the secret was out perhaps. There was only them, no one else. No one knew of their world, or Overwatch. It wasn't a fresh start but their actions could count again, if needed )

[It helps, at least. Even if the circumstances that brought them both to this point is not ideal, they’re back together now and that’s what matters. Jack doesn’t begrudge her for what she did as much as he might have, because he’s gone and done it himself. He knows what she’s feeling—wishes they didn’t have to shoulder their respective burdens, but it’s easier when they’re a team. They can help each other, just as they always have.]

Still haven’t given up on getting home.

[He needs something to drive him. It’ll be too easy to get complacent if he doesn’t have a goal to work towards, even if all he’s doing is sitting around waiting for his number to be called.

Jack's fingers itch again, wanting a more substantial touch than just a friendly hand on her shoulder, but he visibly hesitates.]

We've got work to do.

( There's another nod, and honestly Ana would be more surprised if Jack did ever give up on going home. They're creatures of habit, and being forcefully relocated and having to settle is never something they'd be any good at.

Settling was a joke itself.

But they're here, they'll work, and even fight -- for home, and to keep themselves busy )

I trust you have something on that.

( For now something could be small, even the slightest bit of information that would give her anything about their prospective chances of going home )

Not much, unfortunately.

[He's going to dig, once he gets settled, but even on the ship it was all a brick wall. The Ingress is decidedly beyond him, and he's wished Winston was here on more than one occasion. From what he understands, however, all they can do is sit and wait.]

They've gotta match your signature to the right world before they can send you back.

[So he understands, anyway.]

Might not be the truth, but can't go home either way.

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