Gabriel Knows Too Much (part 1)

[moonshadows]

Gabriel Reyes woke up gradually to warm sunshine on his face. That wouldn't have bothered him, but he was lying somewhere distinctly uncomfortable. Had he passed out after getting the Reaper back? But why would there be...sun...

It occurred to him, as he woke up a little more, that this felt...familiar. He'd woken up like this once before and found himself on a cliff, and that's when his life had turned completely upside down.

Or had it?

On the one hand, he remembered killing himself, getting brought back to life and then killing Liao. Oh god, he'd killed Liao. But on the other hand, he remembered walking back to his apartment, accidentally scaring some white girl - Angela? - and then crashing on the couch. The memories of being the Reaper's host seemed...more like a really long, intricate dream.

Wincing, Gabriel sat up and opened his eyes. A thin dirt path, a single shitty tree, the cliff.

Motherfucker.

As he scrambled away from that cliff, he contemplated his options. One, go up the path and see if Ana's house was at the top, confirm or deny his freaky dream. Two, go down the path and...probably get picked up by Mei and get his memories erased, go back to his shitty apartment and hope Angela didn't abduct him again. Three, sit right here and wait for Angela to find him. All assuming his dream wasn't just a really, really vivid hallucination or something.

Slowly, he started walking up the path, trying to remember everything he could so that - once he'd confirmed that his inexplicable knowledge was correct - he could maybe avoid a few of the less-pleasant things. Like being bitten by Genji. And maybe getting 'rescued' from Mei's holding cell. But if he did that, if he avoided the fight in the Burger King, would he still have his Sight trigger?

He tried opening it, like Roadhog had (maybe) taught him.

Nothing.

Well, he'd only been around Liao. And maybe Angela. And whoever stuck him on the cliff, had he ever figured that out? So maybe he needed to be around more supernatural creatures before his Sight would kick in. Again. For the first time.

Fuck, this was confusing.

===

The trail, as it got close to the top, was just as steep as Gabriel maybe-remembered it being. The top was just as surreal as his weird memories had suggested, a grassy plateau with a two-story house. He didn't bother pulling the knife out of his boot as he walked up to the front door with its brass knocker. Fuck, his memories had been right so far, he was probably getting lulled into a false sense of security but-

Gabriel slammed the knocker against the wood of the door three times and waited. When Ana opened the door, looking just as he remembered her, he couldn't help but smile in relief.

"How did you get here?" she demanded politely.

He still didn't have a good answer for that.

"Walked," he said, shrugging. "Woke up probably about halfway down the trail, no idea how I got there."

"You must remember something," she urged, eyeing him critically.

"I think I remember seeing a girl...? I had some, uh, really vivid dreams."

Ana frowned. The whispers he almost hadn't registered got fractionally louder.

"Why don't I LET YOU INSIDE," she said, shouting the last four words over her shoulder without moving out of the doorway. Behind her, scuffling sounds and light footsteps.

Probably Genji and Hanzo going upstairs. Oh god, he was about to get his crotch slobbered on by Jesse. Sure enough, the biggest goddamn dog Gabriel had ever seen somehow managed to nuzzle past Ana's legs and onto the porch. Although he was fairly sure that, being a werewolf, this form wasn't actually a dog. Gabriel already had his hands in motion to protect the family jewels, and Ana was reaching for his collar, but the damn furry mutt still managed to lick the back of one hand before she tapped him on the nose and he slunk back inside the house.

"That's Jesse," Ana said apologetically. "He's a gentle soul, but he thinks he's a lot smaller than he actually is."

He was also a werewolf, but Gabriel decided not to say anything about that. "No harm done," he said instead. "Gabriel Reyes," he added, his un-slobbered hand going to his chest.

"Ana Amari," she replied, nodding politely at him. "Why don't you come in, Mr. Reyes. I'll put on some tea."

Gabriel followed Ana into the house, looking around both because that's what a visitor would do and because he wanted to see if his weird-ass memories were still accurate.

They were. He even saw the hole in the ceiling that Jamison would use to get around the door.

"Jesse, you keep seated or I get a new fur coat," Ana threatened idly as she strode through the living room. The not-a-dog laid his head back down and whined. "Would you like something to eat with your tea, Mr. Reyes?"

"I think I missed breakfast," he joked, "so that would be lovely, thank you."

She gave him a surprisingly piercing look. "You seem remarkably calm for someone who woke up in an unfamiliar place, Mr. Reyes. Aren't you concerned with getting home?"

Did he? Fuck. He couldn't exactly explain that he's been through this before, or at least, he knows what's going to happen. Gabriel gave her what was hopefully a winning smile.

"I get the feeling that I'm not going to get home anytime soon, whether I want to or not," he said instead. "I've watched enough made-for-TV movies to know that much."

That got him a soft smile. "Well, regardless, we're about thirty miles from the nearest person I know of. I'll do what I can to help, but it's going to take a few days. My daughter, Fareeha, can surely guide you back to civilization when she arrives. I'll go see about your tea; you have a seat on the couch, and I'll be right back. If Jesse misbehaves, just smack him on the nose."

As soon as she'd left the room, Jesse's tail started wagging.

"Don't even think it," Gabriel warned him before settling onto the couch. Yup, his butt absolutely remembered this couch.

A few days. Shit, he was gonna get drugged and abducted by Angela...not tonight, but the next night? But he met Jack that way, so he had to stick around and play dumb until then. Now, once he got sort-of-rescued from his abduction...that's when he'd start making some changes. It would give him time to see if he could nudge his Sight into triggering, anyway.

"How do you take your tea?" Ana asked as she came back in with the tea tray.

He was pretty sure it had tasted nasty. "Uh...I'm not much of a tea drinker," he hedged. "I'll trust your judgment."

Ana laughed and added three spoonfuls of sugar to the cup, then a generous dollop of cream. It still wasn't anything he'd drink for fun, but it wasn't torture to swallow.

"I want to ask you a couple questions," Ana said crisply. "Is that alright?"

"If you think it'll help," he answered, unable to keep the doubt out of his voice.

"I want to get a sense of...you," she replied. "You're not the first man who's come here, disoriented and confused."

Gabriel nodded. She asked him the questions he vaguely remembered: did he remember anything from last night, what was his line of work, did he have vivid dreams. Was it cheating to mention remembering the white girl if he only remembered remembering her? Shit - Ana knew Angela. He kept his description vague enough that hopefully she wouldn't make the connection. Dreams. Fuck. Fuck. Uh...the unnatural blackness and owl face trying to get him. That was safe enough, right?

"You're the first police officer we've been brought," Ana said thoughtfully once he was done. She sipped her tea. "I think something is bringing you on purpose, but I haven't figured out what."

When he glanced at Jesse, his future-memories were right again - the damn walking rug looked guilty. He'd have to try to remember to ask what the mutt had smelled on him.

"Anyway," Ana continued, "a few rules, since you'll be staying here a couple of days. Don't go upstairs. It's off-limits, understand? There are...personal things up there."

A little too personal, if you asked Gabriel, but he nodded. "Gotcha."

"Alright. Second thing: don't go outside without me or Jesse with you. It can be dangerous out there."

The only real danger he was in was being abducted by a harpy, but be nodded again anyway.

"Third and final thing: you're sleeping on the couch. I don't have any other beds."

"It won't be the worst place I've crashed," he said with a slight shrug. "Don't worry about it. You want me to do chores or something, just ask. Uh, thanks for letting me stay here." I'll try to not go days and weeks without letting you know I'm not dead.

Ana looked pleased and a little flustered. "It's no problem. We get so few visitors...anyway, drink your tea. I have to check up on something upstairs, but I'll be right back."

Probably reminding Genji that I'm not a snack, Gabriel thought. He sipped his tea to hide his smirk, but was pretty sure Jesse saw it anyway.

===

The evening was just as forgettable as Gabriel remembered it being, and he fell asleep easily on the couch - on his back, because nothing was going to shake that habit until he had Jack's bulk to protect him. When he found himself back in his apartment, he played along and manifested himself some nice, expensive whiskey to dream-drink. He said nothing but "wipe your feet" as Ana walked in and started poking around, wondering if him being able to detect her in his dreams was a side effect of his impending Sight.

When she asked where he kept important things, he directed her to the bedroom before remembering unnatural darkness. Sure enough, the room was inky black.

"Something's wrong," he said, cop instincts flaring in alarm as he sat up.

Ana shot him a withering look. "I can handle it, Mr. Reyes. Just go to sleep."

"No..." he stood and drew his service weapon, thumbing the safety off.

Something he identified vaguely as 'Reaper sickness' washed over him and he fell to his knees, one hand over his mouth, hoping frantically that he couldn't actually throw up in a dream while Ana looked alarmed. When he looked up at his bedroom doorway, the unnatural jet-black body that seemed to be part of the shadows filling the room was looking back at him with its bird-skull face. It tilted its head at him-

Gabriel woke up with a start, breathing heavily, pulse racing. He was still on Ana Amari's soft, welcoming couch. Moonlight filtered in through the faded curtains, and...

Oh. This was going to be Midnight Talk With Naked Jesse, wasn't it?

He slowly opened one eye. Yup. That sure was the hairiest motherfucker he'd ever seen. Gabriel sighed, too exhausted from - what, fighting the call of the Reaper? - too exhausted to be alarmed at something he'd known was coming anyway.

"Hi, Jesse," he sighed.

The hairy man pouted. "How'd you know it was me?"

Gabriel waved one arm vaguely. "Fur. Hair. Same color." It wasn't a very good answer, but he didn't remember Jesse being all that bright. "Also, you're wearing a dog collar."

"Oh. That makes sense."

Bingo.

"You're not scared of me?" Jesse asked hopefully.

"Nope. Too tired."

"Ana says that people don't like people like us anymore," the werewolf said, pouting again. "She thought it would be better if you didn't see us."

People like us. Everyone upstairs. Oh, right...

Gabriel sat up slowly. "Say, I bet you have a really good nose."

The dog-man perked up. "Uh-huh!"

"Did you smell who left me on the cliff?"

"I need to smell you more for that," he answered apologetically.

Oh well. So much for that.

"Come outside with me," Jesse said suddenly. "I'll turn back into a dog and sniff you!"

A memory floated up: Mondatta, facing a window, telling Gabriel that if he became the Reaper without meeting Ana and everyone (and Jack, especially Jack) then he died horribly. Then he remembered the case. Fuck. Okay, needed to keep the djinn out of things to avoid accusations of favoritism. He was going to have enough trouble with Liao.

"Too tired for that," Gabriel muttered, flopping back down and covering his eyes with one arm.

For a second, he spared his younger - other? alternate? - self some sympathy. Yeah, the moment when your worldview shattered and you realized werewolves were real was mind-blowing, but a few months being the Reaper and falling in love with a griffin kinda dwarfed that.

Then a tiny weight settled on his chest and he remembered who else he was going to have to deal with.

"Oi! Wake up, you cunt! I've been waitin' an entire day to talk to your human ass, and you can't even be fucked to speak to me?"

Gabriel groaned, remembering a tiny foot impacting against his derriere. "Look, I'm fucking exhausted. I'll spit in a tube for you or whatever tomorrow if you just let me sleep tonight."

A pause.

"Y-you will?"

"Promise," Gabriel said, not moving the arm over his eyes.

"That's mighty big of you, mate!" the pixie chirped in pleasant surprise. "Alright. I'll see you in the morning."

Gabriel gave it a count of five before saying, "No, Jesse, you can't sleep with me. Even as a dog."

He could almost feel the sullen look he was getting for that, but as long as he woke up without a giant furball on him, he was okay with that.

===

Gabriel woke up thankfully sans mutt in his personal space. The not-dog was, in fact, sleeping on the rug and Gabriel wondered when he'd changed back. Or changed into a person to begin with, since he was pretty sure he remembered something about Ana making him change outside because he breaks things.

As if his thought had summoned her, Ana shuffled into the room holding a steaming mug and looking not-really-awake despite that. Her lavender robe, flannel pajamas, and slippers all looked super comfortable compared to the clothes Gabriel had slept in.

"Good morning, Mr. Reyes. How did you sleep last night?"

Gabriel sat up and stretched. "Ugh. Do you mean the first half of the night, where I had a dream you were in my apartment that turned into a nightmare about the darkness in my bedroom having a face? Or the part after that where Jesse introduced himself wearing nothing but his collar and Australian Tinkerbell thought it was a good time to get chatty? Because after that," he said, trying not to feel gleeful at the guilty look on Ana's face, "I slept great."

"And how do you feel about this?" she asked as she sat in a worn armchair.

He thought about it. Yeah, he wasn't freaking out and wanting to go home. He didn't need the talk about her magic or her daughter's magic or the fact that supernatural creatures existed out in the world. But...

"I'd like to be properly introduced to everyone," he said mildly. His stomach growled. "Breakfast would be nice, too."

Ana smiled. "Fair enough. I'll be back in ten minutes with breakfast. Feel free to explore the house, so long as you don't go upstairs."

"I have absolutely no intention of going upstairs," Gabriel assured her emphatically.

"Good. Oh, and Jamison is a pixie, not a fairy. He gets rather upset if you mis-label him"

"Pixie. Got it."

Once Ana had left for the kitchen, Gabriel headed to where he thought he remembered Jamison's room being. It was just as his memories promised it would be, and he took a minute to stare anew at all the weird assorted things in the room before calling the pixie's name softly.

The pixie fluttered in from a hole in the ceiling.

"Hey," Gabriel said, greeting him with a two-fingered wave.

"This is my room," Jamison declared. "Ana uses it sometimes, I guess. But it's my room!"

"Am I allowed in?" Gabriel asked diplomatically. "I'll go if you want me to, but I came to introduce myself. I'm Gabriel Reyes."

The pixie flew almost into his face, scrutinizing him, then fluttered down to tug him off to the corner with what Gabriel assumed was the pixie's bed. "Jamison. Sit down, asshole, you're too tall."

Gabriel sat. He watched as Jamison pulled out the test tube and added various ingredients.

"Spit in it," the pixie commanded finally. "You promised you would, remember?"

"I remember," Gabriel said soothingly.

Once he'd spit and Jamison had mixed it up and stoppered it, there was a knock on the door.

"Mr. Reyes, are you in there?" Ana called.

Jamison's eyes widened. "Oh, fuck." He grabbed the vial and beat it for the hole in the ceiling.

"Uh, Yeah." Gabriel called back.

"Breakfast's ready. Be careful with the things in there, and don't touch Jamison's bedding. He gets upset very easily."

"I haven't touched anything, don't worry." Gabriel stood carefully and headed for the door.

Ana was nowhere to be seen.

"In the living room, Mr. Reyes."

Ah, right. Gabriel made his way back to the living room and heartily devoured the breakfast he remembered being just as good as it was. He just barely remembered Ana was there.

"I get the feeling you haven't been eating well for quite some time," she said delicately.

There was nothing he could say in his defense there. "I guess not."

"Mr. Reyes, have you considered..." she trailed off, clearly picking her words. "Have you considered staying here?"

"What? No, I-" I'm going to become the Reaper. "I get the feeling that I was brought here for a reason," he said slowly, "but I doubt that reason was to stay here."

Ana looked at him for a long minute.

"I suspect you are correct," she said heavily. "Still, for whatever it's worth, you will always be welcome in this house."

Always? he thought, remembering a vision involving eyes in jars and teeth on a plaque.

"So long as you enter as a friend," Ana added. He didn't think she'd heard his thoughts. "Let me clear the dishes, and then we will see about introducing you to the others."

===

Almost as soon as Ana was out of the room, Genji came bounding down the stairs all friendly-like.

"You're the guy!" he declared, smiling broadly. "The human! I'm Genji Shimada."

Gabriel's boot knife was in his hand so fast it may as well have materialized, and he waved it threateningly at Genji. "You stay the hell away from me," he growled.

Genji's bright smile faltered. "That's not very friendly."

"I'll say this once, Genji. If you ever drink my blood without explicit permission, I'm going to rip your fucking fangs out and shove them up your ass!"

Wide-eyed, the vampire backed up two steps and then fled up the stairs. Gabriel relaxed, but he didn't put the knife away. Jesse gave him a questioning look. He ignored it. Hanzo was gliding gracefully down the stairs, a thoughtful frown on his face.

"I am Hanzo," he said evenly when he reached the bottom. "My brother Genji claims you threatened him with a knife."

"That would be because I did. I also told him that if he ever drank my blood without explicit permission, I'd rip his fangs out and shove them up his ass."

Hanzo frowned. "Genji has abstained from human blood for several years."

"He doesn't have your control," Gabriel ground out. "I've seen enough vampire movies to know what will happen the first time I get so much as a scratch around him, so I'm just making sure there's no misunderstandings. Gabriel Reyes," he added belatedly as he tucked the knife away and sat back down on the couch.

"As much as I would like to defend my brother," Hanzo said, seating himself gracefully in one of the armchairs, "I am afraid you are quite correct. You are the first whole-blooded human we have encountered in nearly a decade, and we were nearly rabid last night with your scent in our nostrils."

Jesse padded over to put his head in the vampire's lap, and Hanzo absently began to pet him.

"Tell me, Reyes-san, what walk of life have you taken?"

Gabriel frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Job. What menial labor have you decided to undertake with your limited lifespan?"

Oh, right. "I'm a police officer."

Hanzo thought about that for a moment before nodding. "Admirable, I suppose. Risking your life for others is a noble job, although others might disagree. What would you say to those others?"

"Tough titties," Gabriel answered dryly.

The slightest hint of an amused snort escaped Hanzo. "I applaud that sentiment."

The sound of light footsteps from down the hallway made Gabriel wince. He'd hoped his little threat display would have warned Genji off, but of course he couldn't be that lucky. Little shit didn't know how to take a fucking hint, if his future-memories were to be trusted, and so far they'd proven pretty damn trustworthy. Sure enough, the cheeky little fuck sauntered in like nothing was wrong.

"You found the human!" he announced brightly, smiling at his older brother. "Do we get to-"

"You're not feeding from him and you're not sleeping with him," Hanzo interrupted. "He's a guest, Genji. Behave yourself."

The knife practically materialized in Gabriel's hand again as Genji looked his way.

"But niiiiii-saaaaaan, I haven't had anybody in ages. Besides, it'll rock his world. Wouldn't you like that?" he asked Gabriel, fang-tips making tiny divots in his lower lip as he smiled.

"I'm asexual, asshole," Gabriel snarled. He hadn't wanted to open that can of worms, but phantom memories of Jack's acceptance sang sweetly to him. Better to head that off at the pass, right?

Genji looked personally offended. Gabriel didn't give a shit, especially not when he remembered the vampire making loud...comments...about personal things in the Shambali monastery.

"You see?" Hanzo said coldly. "He has made himself quite clear. He is not interested and if you force him to act upon his threat, I will hold you down myself. You are nearing your first century. It is past time you learned some control!"

When sulky looks got him nothing else, Genji stomped childishly up the stairs. Gabriel didn't relax until he heard a door slam.

"I do not apologize for my brother," Hanzo sighed. "He is quite old enough to make his own apologies. Nevertheless, I am sorry you had to endure his bad behavior."

"You're not turning the vampire charm on in my direction," Gabriel retorted, putting the knife away again. "That's more than good enough, thank you."

Hanzo shifted in his chair. "Reyes-san...if I may say so, you are dealing with this situation exceptionally well. Have you encountered vampires before?"

How the fuck was he supposed to answer that?

"I've had some exposure to supernatural creatures and...transhumans," he said warily. "But I'd rather not talk about it."

"Fair enough." The vampire inclined his head in Gabriel's direction, still absently petting Jesse. "What would you prefer to talk about?"

Actually, he would prefer not to talk at all. Gabriel's gaze dropped to the werewolf, then went back up to Hanzo. "Does he play fetch?"

=

Spending an hour, maybe two, just sitting on the porch with Hanzo, throwing a stick and watching Jesse fetch it, was...remarkably calming. Gabriel hadn't thought he was nearly as frazzled as he would have been without having phantom-lived through this already, but it was still apparently pretty stressful. At least he wasn't freaking out in Jamison's room and being rude to Ana. He wondered who or what had given him this knowledge. Ashton, the god who had hosted the disastrous meeting? Mondatta or one of the other djinn? The Iris Herself?

Suddenly, the world opened up into the confusing welter of overlapping sensory messages he would have been completely unprepared for if it had happened in a Burger King. Fiery and blue right next to him was Hanzo, bloody and composed but still taut as a bowstring. Behind him, sterile thread and cold needles, the whirl of feathers and the scent of an old book.

Angela.

Also, his Sight had kicked in. Gabriel could have hugged it. Instead, he stretched his mind in the way that felt so familiar but was brand new at the same time, and gently closed his newborn gift.

"Gabriel," Ana said from the front door, "Would you like to meet Angela?"

Well, at least this would be as awkward for her as it was for him. "Sure." He threw the stick one last time and stood to face the harpy.

Yeah. That sure was Angela, and that was absolutely the white girl who'd run away with a weird limp - haha, bird legs, of course - when he'd confirmed his identity the night before he woke up on a cliff.

He wondered if she'd come to his apartment to abduct him, only to find that someone had beat her to it.

"Hi," he said awkwardly. Fuck, his future-memories were useless here, all he'd done was ask her if he knew her and then went comatose while he flashed back to that night.

"Hi," she said, just as awkwardly. "You are Gabriel?"

"Last I checked," he snarked reflexively.

The silence stretched uncomfortably. Gabriel realized that Hanzo was radiating hostility beside him, and Ana was radiating grandmotherly disapproval. It was like getting caught between a dueling protagonist and antagonist in some anime; he could almost see their auras flare around them. The knowledge that Angela would abduct him tonight burned unspoken between him and the harpy; they both knew she planned to do it, but she didn't know he was aware of that fact.

"It was nice meeting you," Angela said finally before fleeing back into the house.

Didn't Hanzo have some kind of anti-harpy prejudice? Gabriel thought he remembered a heated argument between Ana and the vampire. Considering he was going to need Angela fairly soon, he'd rather not get that bad blood flowing if he could help it.

"So, Ana," Gabriel said, deliberately ignoring the glares. "Is there anything I can do to help prepare lunch?"

=

Under Ana's supervision, and with the aid of future-memories, Gabriel picked tomatoes and dates and a whole basket of strawberries. It was more relaxing than he thought it would be: just
him and the plants and Ana nearby doing her own thing. They would be making jam after lunch, Ana said just as he remembered it. He also remembered her half-giant husband nearly hugging the life out of him. When they got back into the kitchen and the booming knock came from the front door, he opened it and managed to duck the first hug.

The second hug still got him, and Reinhardt carried him and the deer carcass into the kitchen bellowing happily about his wife having hidden a human. Ana got the half-giant to let go, Gabriel was shaken but unharmed, and he fled to the living room to wait while lunch was prepared. Bored, he started to pick at a half-healed scab but suddenly remembered that it would bleed, and snatched his hand back as if burned. He did not want to attract the vampire's attention, not when he had only a combat knife to defend himself with.

Gabriel found himself missing being the Reaper's host, even though he'd never been, and the bizarreness of looking forward to hosting an ancient entity of blood and death inside his body distracted him until Ana brought out a plate of food for him and a cup of tea. Thankfully, the conversation about bleeding for Genji - like he'd ever let that brat taste his blood, knowing how carried away he'd get? - didn't happen and Gabriel was allowed to eat his lunch in peace. The venison still tasted weird, but not a bad weird. He ate it first, then the vegetables in their seasoned, buttery sauce, and then the thick slice of seed-and-nut bread that was every bit as strangely good as his future-memories promised.

After lunch, he let himself be recruited as a kitchen helper for jam-making while Reinhardt told the story of a cursed princess finding true love with an ogre...

Wait. That was the plot of Shrek.

Internally, Gabriel shrugged. The half-giant told it well enough.

After lunch came explaining what a cop was to Reinhardt, and finally giving up and couching it in terms of knighthood. He supposed the code of chivalry was close enough to the code of conduct. Dinner was more of the same, with the vampires feeding separately from the deer's blood. Jesse stayed in dog form, eating happily and noisily out of a bowl on the floor. Reinhardt invited him outside to watch the sunset and, remembering that he would be abducted before dawn, Gabriel figured why the fuck not.

It was a gorgeous sunset.

"So," Reinhardt rumbled in a surprisingly quiet voice, "you have been snatched out of your mortal life and set unknowingly on the path of some adventure or quest."

Gabriel snorted. "Something like that. And if I know the way these things go, this is just my first stop and I'll be moving on soon."

"Ah, that is very likely. You are remarkably settled for having been so rudely introduced to our world."

"Only on the outside," Gabriel assured him. "Inside, I'm doing a lot of screaming."

Reinhardt laughed.

Once the sun had set, Gabriel stretched out on the couch and waited for sleep, and abduction.

He didn't remember the dream until he was already in it.

Liao, chewing his ass out for beating the shit out of a scumbag who deserved worse. Gabriel stalked off, both because he remembered doing that and because he knew it was a dream. He didn't want to get into the can of worms that was Liao, not yet. Ana fell into step beside him.

"What did you do?" she asked in curious horror.

He wondered if she was regretting welcoming him into her house. "I kicked the shit out of someone who deserved it, then stormed off. Liao was pissed at me for weeks." He kept the words neutral through force of will.

"Could you tell me about-"

"He was a serial rapist. Deserved everything he got." Despite his efforts, the words came out as a snarl. "If Liao hadn't pulled me away, I would have ripped his fucking balls off with my goddamn teeth."

Ana didn't seem upset about that, at least. Maybe a little concerned or disapproving. "You're rather vicious, Mr. Reyes."

He thought about reassuring her that he wouldn't follow that dark path that led to eyes in jars. He thought about holding the naiad's soul in his hand, and shoving it back into her lifeless body.

"Only to people who deserve it," he said darkly.

"How long have you been like this-"

"Listen," he hissed suddenly, turning to face her. Any second now, he was going to get abducted. "I'm going to be fine. Don't let Hanzo and Jesse go off after me. I'll try to keep in touch-"

And then everything went hazy, heavy, like his muscles were filled with lead and dizzily he thought, Finally!

He woke up.

Angela was looming over him, a cloth pressed against his nose and mouth. He looked her dead in the eyes and inhaled, then let his eyelids slip shut. Moments later, she removed the drugged cloth and hauled him over her shoulder. He wasn't nearly as dizzy as he'd been the first time- uh, as he would have been? Fuck, that was still confusing. Whatever, he wasn't as dizzy, and he focused on keeping his body limp as she carried him outside and laid him on the ground.

This part was going to suck.

Angela gripped him firmly in her bird feet and started flapping. Resolutely, he kept his eyes shut as he felt himself lift off and then he was just - hanging.

Actually, it wasn't so bad when he couldn't see.

The wind whistled past him as he bobbed up and down with the harpy's wingbeats, and he knew she wouldn't drop him, knew he would be safe until Jack intercepted her. God, he hoped Jack would intercept her. He didn't think he could deal with this if he didn't have the griffin's solid, reassuring presence to anchor him.

Hurry up, White Bread. Don't leave me hanging.

His lips twitched briefly at the pun, but his stomach still churned.

===

Gabriel remembered that this would take a while, and also that it was fucking freezing being carried through the mountains, in December, at night. He stuck his hands in the pocket of his hoodie and settled in to wait. He hadn't gotten as much of whatever drug it was this time, but it was still making him sleepy. This time, he didn't fight it. He tried to relax and let himself drift and not worry about if his not-yet-boyfriend would still come to rescue him.

WHAM!

The mid-air collision jerked Gabriel awake, eyes flying open and adrenaline sending his pulse pounding as Angela screamed and they dropped several feet.

Jack. It was Jack, it had to be. Gabriel's heart leaped into his throat. Another impact, Angela releasing one shoulder to kick out with the other, and he heard Jack cry out as the blow landed.

Come on, Jack. Don't let her keep me.

Angela grabbed his other shoulder again and booked it, but the griffin was faster. He roared, and while half of Gabriel was still viscerally terrified, the other half was elated. Fuck, he thought as paws closed around his leg, they were gonna play tug-of-war with him. He twisted frantically, but not to kick out at the owner of those paws. Instead, he grabbed his knife and slashed upwards, at Angela's legs.

The harpy let go with a screech, and giant lion teeth closed on the back of his hoodie as he dropped, Jack dropped, and they both went diving towards the trees at a speed that made any terrified scream Gabriel might have been inclined to voice decide fuck that, I'm staying in here. Above them, Angela screamed in outrage and alarm. Gabriel was sure she'd chase them, and sure enough, she swooped in beside them to rip at the griffin's feathers.

"Don't drop me!"

The words burst out of him a moment before he was sure Jack's mouth would have opened. The paws around his leg shifted until those big, solid lion arms were wrapped around his torso, holding him to Jack's chest. Mouth now free, the griffin growled at Angela and snapped at her. Then, abruptly, he clamped his wings and dove again.

Gabriel was absurdly grateful that he wasn't falling to his near-death this time.

They shot down towards the treetops, Angela's scream of denial faint over the wind rushing in his ears. Gabriel closed his eyes, not because he didn't want to see where they were going, but because the wind was just too harsh. The dive changed to a horizontal trajectory, veering wildly left and right around trees he couldn't see, until finally the griffin backwinged and gently released him before settling to all fours.

Fuck, the fight in the clearing.

"I'm not gonna stab you," Gabriel gasped. He shoved the knife back into his boot and sat up to get his first actual look at his savior.

White fur. Blue eyes. Scarred face. Silky mane. Fuck, he wanted to just curl up against Jack's bulk and sleep for a week.

The griffin padded closer, sniffing him with concern, or curiosity, or both.

"I'm alright," he said softly, resisting the urge to bury his face in that mane. "I'm not hurt, just cold. Really fucking cold," he added as the adrenaline wore off and the shivering set in.

Jack made some lion sound Gabriel couldn't interpret.

"I'll let you take me home," he joked through chattering teeth, absently rubbing his hands together, "but I don't kiss on the first date."

"Rah," Jack said, and - wait - his whiskers were tilted forward. Yes! He was amused!

Gabriel smiled in relief. "So..uh...how...?"

Jack padded around to behind him, then nosed him forward onto his hands and knees. One paw curled around his belly again, then Jack shifted and crouched, clamping the other foreleg around Gabriel and launching himself into the air almost at the same time.

Much better than his future-memories said.

Gabriel tried to stay awake for the rest of the journey to Jack's hoard, but the night had been too stressful; between the excitement, the drugs, and having Ana in his dream, he was exhausted. His eyes slipped shut and the world went dark.

===

Sunlight in his eyes woke him - again - but this time when he opened them, he found himself in Jack's hoard, curled up in the soft bed of moss, leaves, and blanket scraps that was in the narrow end of the ravine but still caught the early-morning sun. Across the wider center of the ravine was the griffin's hoard, but Gabriel made no motion towards it. Maybe he'd need to meet Roadhog and Mei and Zarya and maybe he wouldn't, but he was not about to shoot Jack and go running off like a madman again. They'd talk about it like fucking adults.

Just as soon as Jack got back.

A few minutes later, the griffin came bounding down the sides of the ravine and proudly dropped a dead squirrel in front of him. Right. He'd forgotten about that.

"Hey, how about we skip breakfast for now and talk instead?"

Jack sat on his haunches and looked curiously at him.

"I know a bit about transhumans," Gabriel pointed out dryly. "Enough to know when I'm in a griffin's nest, and to not touch the hoard even if it is guns and not gold."

"Rah," Jack said, whiskers tilted forward again. Then he shrank with the usual (when did he start thinking of that as usual?) sounds until he was standing there in jeans and the 76 jacket, arms folded. "Okay," he said, and Gabriel's heart leaped at hearing his gravelly voice again. "Let's talk."

He knew he should bring up the Reaper thing, but what he found himself asking was, "Why did you kidnap me from the harpy?"

Jack looked away, uncomfortably. "Heard through the grapevine that a harpy had abducted a human man."

Gabriel frowned. "But the only people who knew that live on top of a mountain. How..."

"I told you." Jack pointed to a vine trailing down the edge of the ravine. "Ana Amari called me through the grapevine, so I went out looking."

A literal grapevine. What was this, a fucking Xanth novel? Whatever; it was a good opening.

"Did she tell you why I was abducted?"

The griffin shook his head. Gabriel took a deep breath.

"I've been chosen as the Reaper's next Mantle."

Jack visibly recoiled. "You're what?"

"I'm going to be the next Mantle," Gabriel sighed. "Gabriel Reyes, by the way."

He held out one hand; Jack shook it, then sat next to him.

"Jack Morrison. I'm not sure I like what I've gotten myself into, but even if I knew...I still would have kidnapped you. The Reaper is..." he shuddered. "I lost a lot of friends to the Reaper."

Right. Amelie's grudge against Overwatch. Gabriel squeezed Jack's hand in a silent gesture of comfort.

"But the host influences the Reaper, right? I mean...a good person isn't going to just go on a murder spree because they happen to be hosting it. I'm a cop. Los Angeles Police Department."

Beside him, Jack stiffened. "LAPD? Is your - do you know a woman named Liao?"

Play it cool, Gabriel. "Oh, she told you about me?"

Jack ran both hands through his thinning hair. "Fuck. I promised her I'd look out for you if you ever came into my forest. We've got to get you somewhere safe."

"Jack..."

"I can carry you back to Ana's. It'll take a while, but-"

"...Jack."

The griffin turned to him curiously.

"The Reaper's been after me for three years. It's getting desperate. It's going to get me. I was abducted out of my own apartment, for fuck's sake, and then abducted out of Ana's living room."

"What are you saying, Gabriel?" he asked slowly, warily.

"I'm saying there's nowhere on Earth I could go that would keep me safe for long." Gabriel drew in another deep breath. "I'm going to be the next Mantle. I've made my peace with that. But it would be a lot easier if I had a friend at my side."

Jack looked anguished, torn between sympathy and horror. "But...Liao..."

Gabriel closed his eyes, not nearly as at peace as he'd thought he was, and leaned against the griffin's shoulder. "Please don't let me go through that alone," he whispered, his voice shaking.

The leather of the 76 jacket creaked as Jack wrapped an arm around him tightly. "I won't," he whispered back. "I promise."

Whether it was terror, relief, or both...Gabriel cried.

=

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Jack sighed as they prepared to leave the ravine. "We're going to take a cross-country hike hoping the harpy will find us and then talk to her about your willing abduction and immanent..."

"Ascension," Gabriel supplied. "Yeah. I'm having a hard time with it myself. But I've unintentionally been a pain in the ass to get a hold of for three years, and the Reaper's got to be pretty desperate by now. I think, as long as I'm willing, we shouldn't have a problem talking her into letting you come along. We just have to find her - or let her find us."

Jack sighed again. "Okay. I'm going to shift back. You sit right behind my shoulders, really clamp down with your legs and get a good grip on my mane. I'll carry you out and then we'll go for a stroll." He shot Gabriel a sly smile. "You sure you don't want the squirrel?"

Gabriel groaned. "I'm a city boy, Jack. I can barely figure out what to do with meat that's pre-skinned and packaged for me."

"Alright," Jack conceded, chuckling. "I'll see if I can find a nearby campsite or something."

The memory of uncooked hot dogs made Gabriel's stomach growl, but fear dampened his hunger. "No. We stay together. I don't want to risk her coming for me while you're out of earshot."

And more importantly, he thought, I don't want to risk you winding up a prisoner again...or worse.

A long moment passed as Jack gave him a searching sort of look, but finally, he nodded. "Okay. I'll take you up and then shift back. We can get to know each other as we walk."

=

Gabriel had no idea how much ground they'd covered by the time the sun set. There were no convenient campsites to raid, and when Jack shifted back to provide a warm body for Gabriel to curl up against, all he had in his stomach was a handful of sour berries and some cold stream water.

===

Gabriel opened his eyes and found himself sitting at his desk back at the station.

Right. Another dream. The owl serial killer flashback. Having his memories wiped. He could do without getting those repressed memories triggered again. Liao brushed past him and he let her go, looking around instead for Ana. She walked in a moment later, looked around, and then dashed for him. Gabriel stood and braced for impact, remembering that she would hug him, and she did.

"I told you I'd be okay," he said as she pounded him on the back, and sure enough, when she released him she was close to tears.

"Jamison woke me up and you were gone!" she half-accused him. "Hanzo immediately blamed Angela but I forbade him from leaving to try to find her. What happened?"

"Angela drugged and kidnapped me," he said dryly. "Don't- I told you, I'm okay. Jack Morrison found me. But Ana - listen, I'm going to be the Reaper's Mantle. I'm okay with that. It has to be someone, and I'm taking steps to ensure that I don't go crazy. But I'll be out of contact this way because the Reaper's host doesn't dream. Do you have some kind of magic cell phone number..."

Gabriel trailed off because Ana was already scribbling on some random paper from his desk. He snatched it up as soon as she was done, committing the numbers to memory.

"One last thing before I wake up," he blurted. "Please - don't leave Genji home alone. I may drop in unexpectedly."

Ana opened her mouth to respond - to ask why, maybe, or how he knew - but he woke up.

===

Jack was human when Gabriel woke up, the two of them spooning in the hollow his griffin bulk had made in the pile of leaves. Gabriel blinked back tears at how comfortable it was to have Jack at his back again. A soft sound of contentment slipped out as he snuggled closer, still half-asleep.

"You seem pretty comfortable," Jack said dryly.

"Mm. Good morning to you, too."

"Not going to leap away and protest at being spooned by another man?"

Gabriel frowned. What was Jack getting at?

"I knew you were a man. You're comfier as a griffin, but...meh."

No response. Gabriel rolled over so he could see Jack's expression. It was...warily conflicted.

"Gabriel," he said slowly, "are you...attracted to me? I'm not offended," he added quickly. "I just want to know what I'm getting myself into."

May as well get this over with, Gabriel thought. He took a deep breath.

"I'm asexual."

Jack blinked. "Oh."

"But aside from not having any interest in getting into anyone's pants and not wanting anyone to get into mine...I'm not sure I've really figured the rest out yet. Maybe it's just because you literally rescued me, but I feel...comfortable...with you. If something develops, we can talk about it, but right now, that's where I stand." Gabriel swallowed, suddenly nervous. "Uh. How about you?"

The silence stretched while Jack looked like he was wrestling with himself.

"Most griffins have an eagle's head," he started slowly. "Being a lion-headed griffin...my urge to form and protect a pride is stronger than normal. But I don't really want to get into anyone's pants, either, or have anyone get into mine, so that makes things...awkward. Hard to settle down with a mate when you don't really want to do the mating."

Well, that was something his Potential Future Self had never learned. Slowly, Gabriel became aware that his eyebrows were raised as high as they could go and made an effort to lower them.

"So...friends? Friends who cuddle?"

Chuckling, Jack shook his head slowly as if dispelling disbelief. "Friends who cuddle," he repeated. "And if anything else develops, we can talk about it. But in the meantime, he said, sitting up and stretching, "we have to keep going. Try to find us both something to eat. And hope Angela finds us."

Grumbling, but sort of smiling at the same time, Gabriel stood and stretched. Walking all day again wasn't his idea of fun, but Angela should - hopefully - find them today, and hey, at least this time he wouldn't snap and run through the woods like a lunatic.

===

They found more berries after a few hours of walking, and sat to eat them and have pity on Gabriel's legs. They'd discussed their various upbringings to distract themselves, Gabriel forcing himself to open up in order to get Jack to open up in return. When Christmas rolled around, the griffin family traditions would not take him by surprise.

"Are you scared?" Jack asked quietly when all the berries were gone.

Gabriel sighed. "Kind of."

Jack snorted. "I'm terrified, and I'm not even the one who's going to be the Mantle."

"I'm more scared about the possibility of having to go through it without you," Gabriel confessed quietly.

Startled, Jack turned to look at him. Then, slowly, he slid one arm around Gabriel's shoulders. "I'm here for you, Gabe," he said in an equally quiet voice.

Gabriel chuckled. "You know, normally I hate people calling me that. It feels too close, you know? I only tolerate it from Liao." He laid his head on Jack's shoulder. "But it sounds good coming from you."

Jack stiffened, then did something that felt like lipping Gabriel's hair.

"What...?"

"I'm preening you," the griffin growled. "It's a comfort thing. Shut up."

"But you've got a lion's head."

"I know. Doesn't mean I don't still have preening instincts."

Gabriel laughed softly. "Okay, okay. It's a comfort thing. Thank you."

They sat in silence for a while, leaning and preening, Gabriel trying not to think about the tangle that was Liao and how much of her friendship over the last decade had been an act. It was still depressing, even if relaxing in Jack's company was soothing away the stress of the last two or three days.

Finally, Jack sighed. "I guess we better get moving again."

Gabriel groaned, but let Jack help him to his aching feet.

It was about an hour later before Jack lifted his head, scanned the sky, and muttered, "Finally."

Angela landed ten feet away from them a few minutes later. She looked annoyingly clean and rested.

"Gabriel!" she exclaimed. "I have been so worried! You disappeared completely. I asked the nymphs and the birds and even went back to Ana's, but you'd vanished off the face of the Earth!"

"I've been with him," Gabriel said, nodding in Jack's direction. "He's been watching over me."

Angela took a few awkward bird-steps closer to Jack. "I appreciate your help. I'm terrified of what could have happened if he'd been stuck in the woods by himself," she said, just as patronizing as he remembered.

Jack gave her a charming smile. "It was a pleasure," he said. "He mentioned being chosen as the Reaper's next Mantle...?"

"A change in host has been overdue for almost three years," she confirmed. "We absolutely cannot delay. I imagine you'll want something in exchange for watching over him, but I must take him back with me immediately."

"I want to go with you," Jack said in a tone like velvet over steel. Angela looked taken aback. "He feels comfortable with me."

"I'll go willingly," Gabriel said, "but only if Jack comes with me. I feel safe with him."

Angela looked critically at both of them. "He will need considerable attention while he adjusts to hosting the Reaper," she said cautiously. "Are you willing to help him eat, dress, and clean up after him?"

The future-memory of all the gross substances he'd be expelling made Gabriel flinch.

"I am," Jack said in a voice that practically dared a listener to question him.

Still, Angela didn't look convinced. "I can't carry both of you."

"I'll carry Gabriel. You lead the way."

Before the harpy could respond to that, Jack stretched and bulged into his griffin form. Gabriel climbed quickly onto his back, holding as tightly as he could with his knees and winding his fists into that silky white mane. Angela clamped her lips shut in a thin, disapproving line.

"Ready when you are," Gabriel announced just a hair too smugly to be innocent.

"Outsiders can't learn the location of-"

"Angela," Gabriel interrupted in his cop voice, "I'm going to be the next Reaper. Jack is my friend. I want him with me. I can either be a very difficult patient, or a very cooperative one. It all depends on how well Jack is treated."

She was wavering, he could see it.

"One of the Reaper's powers is teleportation, right?" He waited for Angela to nod before continuing, "The Reaper has been set on me for three years. Chances are, I'm going to be exceptionally compatible. Do you want to risk me teleporting out into the wilderness looking for my friend? Because I will."

Jack started in surprise, and he patted the griffin's neck.

"I won't do this without Jack, Angela."

The harpy sighed. "Very well. Follow me, then."

She started running, getting up speed before leaping into the air, wings beating hard. Jack made a soft sound that Gabriel interpreted as hang on and leaped after her.

This was definitely better than running through the woods and then getting abducted out of a Burger King, Gabriel thought. And having Jack there to help him through the first shitty few days would be even better.

He hoped.