The Travelers
Prologue
“Jack, no, please! Think about what you’re doing!” Blair pleaded with him desperately as she stood between him and Gabriel.
“He’s ruining Overwatch, Blair, he has to go, no matter how important he is to you!” Jack growled out and Blair heard Gabe scoff behind her.
“What? You afraid I’ll actually take your job this time?” He taunted and Jack narrowed his eyes at him again.
“Both of you stop! Please! You two are friends, practically brothers, don’t betray each other like this!” She had to stop them, she couldn’t let them do this to themselves. If it was the last thing she did, she would save them, she had to.
She could feel Jesse’s panic when she tore herself out of his arms and dashed into the burning building. Heard his screams of her name mixing in with Alicia’s as Reinhardt and Genji stopped them from chasing after her. They knew if anyone could stop the two from destroying each other it was her.
“He betrayed me the minute he accepted the position of Commander!” Gabe hissed out and glared darkly at Jack. “Then he had the balls to boss around Blackwatch, my team, and risk your life! That was final straw, Jack, she sees you like a brother and you fucking betrayed her!”
“Gabe, no, it’s alright! I knew the risks, I accepted them! He didn’t want me to go, it was my idea!” She cried out, tears shining in her eyes at the hurt look he directed towards Jack.
“He knows that doesn’t matter, he knows that he could have sent someone else, that it wasn’t worth it if he was risking your life like that!” Gabe snapped back, still glaring darkly at Jack. Blair saw a flash of regret in Jack’s eyes but it was quickly replaced with a glare as he clenched his jaw silently.
“Please, we need to leave! The building will collapse soon, think of who you’re leaving behind! Ana, Torbjorn, Angela, and Reinhardt…Jesse, he looks up to you two, don’t do this to them.” She pleaded as she held a hand against both of their chests.
“Yes, Jack, don’t forget about Jesse.” Gabe said cruelly as he pushed Blair to the side, closing the distance between Jack and him. “That kid practically had nothing, lived for nothing when we found him, had no family! The one thing he had, the woman that would do anything for him and you threw both of them to the side like they were nothing!”
“Is that really why you’re angry, Gabe? Or is it because I risked the life of the woman you’re in love with? Admit it, you bastard, you’ve wanted her for yourself, you don’t give a shit about Jesse, I’ve seen the way you look at her.” Jack hissed back, a small smirk on his face that quickly dropped when Gabe roared and leapt forward to tackle him.
“No!” Blair screamed and ran towards them, trying to stop them from destroying each other. “Please!” She cried out and felt the breath knocked out of her as she flew back and hit the wall.
Blair groaned as she shook her head, trying to get her vision to stop spinning. Her mouth dropped open as she watched the two men fighting, trying to shoot each other and throw punches when they got too close to one another. She quickly shook her head and bit her lip as tears slid down her cheeks. Gabe…why didn’t you tell me? She thought miserably as she got on shaky hands and knees.
“Gabe,” she called out weakly as she stood. “Please, listen to me.” She let out a harsh pant as she stood and wobbled slightly. Blair shook her head again, to try and clear the dizziness, as she made determined strides towards the two of them. “Gabe!” She shouted and both men stop for a moment as they turned to look at her.
Gabe had a look of despair on his face as he saw her determined expression and the pain in her eyes. She knew now and there was no going back, she was the one thing he had always wanted but could never have. He had been too afraid to admit what he felt for her, to himself and her, he had waited too long and Jesse snatched her away from him.
“No!” She cried out suddenly, when he turned and saw Jack’s gun aimed at him, a look of utter betrayal passed on his face.
“I’m sorry, old friend, but I can’t let you destroy what we’ve built.” He said grimly and pulled the trigger as Blair lunged towards Gabe.
Blair gasped as she felt pain shoot up her body and she winced as she landed on top of Gabe. She looked up at his face to see his eyes were wide with panic. She groaned slightly as she felt pain pulse through her body again and look down to see four bullet holes going up from her thigh to just under her chest.
“No!” Gabe cried out and pulled her against his chest. “No, no, no.”
“Gabe,” she groaned out as he tightened his arms around her. “Fix this.”
“Don’t leave.” He begged and she wiped the few tears that silently slid down his face.
“Don’t let yourself lose him too, fix this, Gabe.” She begged as her own tears shined in her eyes. “Don’t let yourself become the monster.”
“Please, don’t leave me.” He begged as he gently pushed her hair back from her face and shut his eyes tightly, pressing his lips to her forehead.
“Gabe!” Jack cried out, eyes wide, and both looked behind them to where he was pointing. Their own eyes widened seconds before the machinery behind them exploded.
“No!” Blair screamed, but she froze when she realized the silence. She looked down at herself, the blood was still on her clothes, but the bullet holes were gone.
“Blair!” She heard someone scream and flinched when she heard a massive explosion behind her.
She looked up to see that she was outside of their headquarters again and the small group of her friends, her family, stood in front of her. Ana was hugging Angela as they both cried silently and Genji was clutching Alicia to him as she sobbed, whispering comforting words to her.
“No! Let me fucking go! I have to get her, please, I have to get her!” Jesse screamed out as he tried to rip himself away from Reinhardt, who had a hardened expression on his face, refusing to release him.
“Jesse,” Blair murmured, a heartbroken look on her face, as she lifted her hand towards him. Alicia pulled away from Genji, her hand over her mouth and she tried to hold back her sobs as she went over to Jesse.
“Please,” He said weakly and she hugged him tightly as she fell to the ground with him. “Blair... I have to get her, she can’t be…” His voice broke off as a sob tore through him and Alicia held him tighter as he buried his face in her neck.
“Jesse,” Blair choked out as she fell to her knees next to him. “It’s okay, Jesse, I’m right here.” She sucked in a breath as she tried to place her hand on his back only for it to fall through.
“C’mon, Lissy, let’s get you two away from here.” Genji murmured as he gently began to help up both her and Jesse.
“No.” Blair murmured as she looked up at her family, tears in her eyes. “Wait, please, I’m right here!” She cried out as she stood as well to follow them.
She gasped when she was suddenly yanked back from following Genji, Alicia, and Jesse. A small sob broke through her lips as she watched the two lead a stumbling Jesse away.
“I will go and look for them, or their…” Blair turned to stare at the four that were left as Reinhardt spoke quietly. He trailed off as he looked down at the ground and Angela placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Reinhardt, you don’t have to…” Angela started to say, her voice sounding weak, but she trailed off when the large man shook his head vehemently.
“I was forced once to leave my family behind and I swore to myself I would never do so again, I have to at least look for them.” He said, his voice strong despite the pain in his expression and Angela nodded in understanding.
“I’ll go with him.” Torbjorn said with a sigh as he watched the other three walk away. “The lad should at least be able to mourn her properly.”
“But I’m right fucking here!” Blair screamed in frustration as she glared at the four. She didn’t want to consider the possibility, she didn’t want to think that she was…she shook her head and turned away from Ana and Angela, ready to follow Torbjorn and Reinhardt back into the burning building.
…
The farther they got inside the harder she found it to convince herself that she was still alive. The building was absolutely destroyed with rubble everywhere. If the initial blast didn’t kill her, surely the aftermath had.
“Blair didn’t deserve what those two caused.” Torbjorn said gruffly as they carefully made their way through the wreckage. “They cared too much about being the damned leader and look where it got them!”
“I will not believe any of them to be dead until I see it with my own eyes.” Reinhardt said stubbornly and Torbjorn sighed.
“Look around you, Reinhardt, how could anyone survive this?” He asked, his expression full of doubt and Reinhardt gave him a weak smile.
“We have seen some incredible things, things that never seemed possible, and those three were…special.” He said, but the doubt didn’t lessen on Torbjorn’s face. “If anyone could survive all of this, it would be those three.”
Blair suddenly stopped as she heard a noise to her right, it almost sounded like murmuring and it felt like something was pulling her toward it. As she turned her head, vague memories of only an hour before returned to her and she bit her lip. She glanced over at Torbjorn and Reinhardt as they walked in the opposite direction of where they should have be going. She had no way of directing them either.
Goodbye, my friends…she thought sadly as she watched them walk away. She had the distinct feeling that it would be a long time before she saw them again, if ever. She watched them for a moment longer before quickly turning and following the faint sound.
“Blair, I’m sorry.” She paused in what would have been the doorway of the room as shock flooded her body. From where she stood, she could see Gabe kneeling on the floor as he hugged her limp body tightly to him. “I’m so sorry.”
She bit her lip as she began to slowly walk into the room. She was almost afraid that she would disturb his mourning even though she knew by now that no one could see her in this form. Gabe was beaten to hell, but somehow still alive. She felt tears fill her eyes as she saw that her own body was even worse. She couldn’t see her own face because of Gabe hugging her to himself so tightly.
“You didn’t deserve this, it’s all my fault.” Blair watched him silently as he rocked back and forth, his forehead resting against her own bloody one. She could see the tears slowly roll down his cheeks as he sucked in a breath. She wished that she could comfort him, but she could only kneel in front of him as she watched him fall apart. “I should have told you, you mean so much to me. I’m so sorry.”
Blair blinked as she begun to feel dizzy and placed her hand against her head. Are ghosts even supposed to get dizzy? She thought to herself as nausea flared up in her stomach. She had never been dead before, thankfully, but she knew something wasn’t right. She tried to stand, only to wobble in place for a moment before falling back to the floor again.
“Gabe.” She moaned out, her eyes seeking him out fearfully. She didn’t know what was happening and her fear only increased as she realized she would have to face it alone.
She laid there, gasping on the floor as the corners of her vision began to turn black. She crawled her way over to Gabe and her body, something urging her, telling her that was where she needed to be. It was only a moment longer before it all went black.