Inspired by these gifs. Click here to reblog gifs & story together.
Gif #1 shows Soldier: 76, Jack Morrison – “One of these days, someone is gonna put an end to you.”
Gif #2 shows Reaper, Gabriel Reyes – “I’d like to see them try.”
And so the story continues…
Jack gathers his courage, and raises his gun to Gabriel’s forehead. After a moment of stillness, Gabriel throws down his weapons; they clatter to the ground, kicking up dust. He lowers his hood and removes his mask, tossing it in the dirt at Jack’s feet. He smells like decay and ash.
“Alright then. If it’s you.” Gabriel pauses. “I’d like to see your face one last time.”
Jack’s hesitation is longer, and then he does the same. His mask seems to sing as it falls.
“You got old, Jack.”
“And what happened to you?”
“They took everything good. Left only hate. And memories. Reckon they knew it would sting. That the bitterness would fuel the hate. Even now, I burn to destroy you. But I know I loved you once. My friend.”
“I’m sorry. You deserved the command. You earned it. I should have told them…”
“That was just one piece in the puzzle. I had to fight for everything. But I forgot to fight for my soul, and now it’s too late. There’s no one to blame for that but me.”
There is another moment of stillness.
“Is it too late?” asks Jack. “Can’t you get back what they took?”
“Maybe I would hope so, if they’d left me any hope. No. I’m a lost cause. A condemned man. Getting it back would destroy me anyway.” He hesitates. “I’ve done things even you couldn’t forgive.”
“Yes I could.”
“If that were true, I don’t think I could forgive you. Don’t be a fool. I’m a danger to you and everything you love, and here you are with a clear shot. The only smart move is to kill me.”
“We both know you were the smart one.”
A smile tugs at Gabriel’s lips, but does not quite succeed. “Make it clean, Jack. And do it now. I… hate less than usual. Maybe I’ll even rest in peace.”
Jack hesitates. “You really want me to do this?”
Gabriel steps forward, so that the gun is at point blank range. “We’ve waited long enough. Do your duty, commander.”
They look silently at one another; then, without dropping the gun, Jack looks down and away, and closes his eyes. Something that isn’t anger and isn’t hate flutters feebly in Gabriel’s chest, and he begins to say, “I feel…”
But Jack had already decided; he had already started to pull the trigger. The gun explodes in three quick bursts, deafening, and after a moment of ringing silence, he hears Gabriel’s body hit the floor. It is hard to look; he gathers his courage, and still feels a stab of pain when he finally looks at the body. A face he had loved, hands that had reached out to help him time and time again. Now lifeless, distorted, ruined and bloody. Jack thinks ‘I feel, I feel’ over and over, and he tries not to fill in the blanks.
He kneels and threads his arms under the neck and knees, hoisting the body half off the ground. But there’s nowhere to go. Gabriel’s family buried him decades ago. So Jack remains holding the body, knowing it is nothing but a shell now, knowing it is madness to speak as though Gabriel can listen, and says, “I won’t rest till we’ve stopped them. Not for the world. For you.”
He hugs the body close to him then. He shuts his eyes and presses his face to Gabriel’s scalp; he lets himself cry. He wonders, for a moment, if the others will understand. Then he remembers the photo, decides to trust them, and calls it in.
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2b6oGWs