The Misadventures of Reaper and 76; "Who the f**k let them into the PTA??"

The sun was beating down on the landscape, forcing the cloaked figure to find shade in the alcove of a building, ignoring the stares that were given towards him. A simple glare sent most on their way, but for those who hung around, the only reassuring they needed was for one of his clawed gloves to rest on one of the twin shotguns strapped to his back. In all honesty, he would have much rather be back in his dark room, but things just didn't work out that way.

Gabriel Reyes, known now as Reaper, was currently leaning against the wall to enter the office building that housed this meeting called a PTA. He didn't see the point in it, but since one of Overwatch's own members was still technically in high school, someone had to be put down as a parental. That fell to the two de facto "leaders", Reaper and Soldier 76.

While neither were leaders any longer, they had both led Overwatch at some point, and so D.VA decided to put the two oldest veterans in as their parentals. This of course meant that every so often, the two of them would have to go to these insipid meetings. It was still early in the afternoon, and school was still in session. Gabriel busied himself while he waited by observing the few delinquents that loitered around the outside of the school, taking great amusement in how a few of them kept glancing his way, their eyes occasionally falling to the shotguns at his back.

A few parentals began to enter the building, brushing past Gabriel without much thought. A few odd looks were sent his way, but for the most part, Reaper was free to lean against the doorframe and observe the school across the street. The building that the PTA was hosted in was essentially, a part of the school grounds, but the group had decided to move the building from being in the school grounds to just outside, because of questionable parentals entering the meeting. Gabriel grinned beneath his mask. If he had to guess, it would be rather easy to pick who the questionable lot was.

Glancing through the blind-covered window, Reaper observed the group within the confines of the building. There were only three parents so far, two mothers who Reaper assumed would be immediate trouble and a father who was nervously twiddling his thumbs. Gabriel rolled his eyes and moved aside as more parentals made their way in, bringing their total up to six.

Looking back at the group, he decided that everyone was there. Looking at the three newcomers, Reyes observed them for a moment. There was one other woman who seemed to be the self-appointed ringleader from the posture in which they held themselves. They pointed an unmarked finger at one of the fathers, who looked like a deer in a truck's headlights. There was some yelling and arguing going on inside the building, causing Gabriel to emit a sigh of annoyance as he rested his head in one hand.

Footsteps approached, and Reyes looked up, spotting Jack arriving. Motioning to the door, Reaper wordlessly portrayed that he would meet 76 inside.

Letting himself shift into his wraith form, purple shadows surrounded him, swirling up like a writhing mass of snakes and fire, before disappearing, taking Gabriel with it.

In the corner of the meeting room, the Reaper arrived, a spiral of shadows dissipating to give way, showing Gabriel's form. He stood there for a moment, simply listening to the mothers gossip with each other.

The fathers immediately caught sight of the angel of Death, their faces paling so fast they almost caused Gabriel to worry about the state of their blood flow.

Almost.

Lifting a clawed glow to his mask, Reaper emitted a low hissing sound, telling the fathers to keep quiet as he turned his attention to the mothers, who he likened to geese, with their asinine gossip. Even still, he listened in. It seemed some part of him still took amusement in the inane gossip.

"Oh my gosh, Glynda. I'm so happy that your kid got a B on that test!" One lady said, pulling the other in for a hug. "Here, come grab a coffee with me and we can talk some more!" The lady looked up towards the coffee machine, but before she could look any further, her eyes stopped on Gabriel. Everything froze.

The lady's eyes widened in horror as she stared at the Reaper, he unnatural silence getting everyone's attention, including the ringleader, who stopped her useless chatter to look for the source of the distraction. When her eyes fell on Reyes, the cup she held dropped to the ground, breaking the silence as the fragile china cup shattered.

Then the woman screamed.

As if on cue, all the women started screaming, causing Gabriel to sigh as the vexating noise continued. When it finally died down, he looked up to see the women were catching their breath from the screaming. He chuckled lightly, before responding with an amused tone, "Oh no, don't stop on my account. I find this entertaining."

The Texas heat is as brutal as ever, the humidity in the air causing Soldier: 76's hair to stick to his skin. He isn't even lucky enough to have any shade nearby, either. Normally he wouldn't be out in such heat, or in public at all, but today he must attend a PTA meeting of all things. Due to one of Overwatch's youngest members-Hana Song, aka D.Va-only being in high school, he and Gabriel Reyes had been listed as her parents...ah, life was full of cruel ironies. 76 isn't surprised that D.Va had included him, considering half of the Overwatch members already considered him the “Dad”, but Reyes? It could only be because of his veteran status; either way, going to PTA meetings is part of being a “parental”, and nobody can call Soldier: 76 irresponsible. He still doesn't get why exactly Overwatch sent D.Va to a Texas high school, out of all the places in the world, but that's not his problem.

In all honesty, Soldier: 76 didn't like PTA meetings. Okay, he hates them, but again, he takes his responsibility as a recorded parental very seriously, and that means attending every single meeting. It doesn't suit a man like him, all the gossip and running in circles, getting nowhere, but at least the other parents mostly leave him alone. All their disdainful looks towards the scar that marred his face and poorly-disguised dislike of Overwatch is nothing new to him; they could disapprove of him all they like. 76 is too damn old to care what people think of him now, and besides, he's already set himself up to be mocked by wearing a certain pastel sweater.

Somehow, D.Va had discovered the ugly sweater hidden in the depths of a Texan tourist shop, one with alternating orange-and-pink stripes and an embroidering that read “#1 DAD.” When she'd given to him, 76 hadn't the heart to tell her it was the single most hideous thing he'd ever seen. Any other man would have died from the mortifying embarrassment of being seen in public wearing it, but Soldier: 76 has seen worse hells than an unflattering sweater. Besides, he's made a promise to D.Va that he'd wear the thing to every PTA meeting, and it didn't read “#1 DAD” for nothing.

Admittedly, it was entertaining to see the busybody parents be torn between being intimidated by him or laughing at the colourful stripes.

76 makes his way to the building where the meetings are hosted, noting the fact that Reyes is already there, and in the full cloak-and-mask no less. Well, nobody can deny the man is superhuman now, wearing that in the midst of this heat. Reyes motions to him, obviously intending to go on ahead of him, and 76 catches sight of the telltale shadows signifying that Gabriel is about to teleport into a building full of easily-intimidated civvies.

”Tell me he's not actually-” Too late, he was. 76 is ready to shoot himself in the foot-and Gabriel too-as the other morphed into a wraith, looking like a doodle ripped from a teenager's sketchbook. Gritting his teeth and ready to declare himself a single father, Soldier: 76 marches stiffly towards the building's door, the sound of shattering glass easily reaching him along with...was that screaming? Of course it is; 76 is uncannily used to people screaming when Reyes is around. With a resigned sigh, the old soldier follows after, using the door like a normal person. Inside, all of the other parents look like rabbits in a wolf's den, and 76 can't blame them. Reyes has that effect on a lot of people, and in his usual overdramatic fashion, he's even brought along those twin shotguns of his. Forget being an assassin, the man is a professional at making Soldier: 76's life a thousand times more difficult.

”Reyes, we've talked about this,” 76 says in an even tone; he's the only person in the room lucky enough to be used to both Reaper's appearance and unnatural teleporting. Poor bastards. His appearance has drawn only a couple of eyes away from the man himself, and even his ridiculous sweater can't save the wide-eyed expressions of the ones who do look his way. Part of him wonders if they're questioning his genuinely calm demeanor. ”Do you really have to do this every time you show up?”

{I'm having too much fun with this AU}

The screaming was cut short when Jack stepped into the room, the hideous pastel pink and orange sweater pulling a light chuckle from Gabriel as the soldier entered through the door. What a simpleton, using such boring measures to enter the building. ”Reyes, we've talked about this,” Reaper rolled his eyes behind his mask, smirking. "We have." He confirmed, completely disregarding the hysterical women who had bypassed screaming and were now just quietly sobbing from their fright.

”Do you really have to do this every time you show up?” The exasperation in 76's voice was evident, something that Reyes was rather familiar with. "When they stop reacting as such," he gestured to the women who were now beginning to calm down after his sudden appearance. "Then I will stop, because then it won't be as fun." He said, tilting his head to the side as one of the women recovered and jerked a shaking finger at his mask.

"You're insane." She breathed, the woman's hair was disheveled, and her eyes were somewhat dilated from their previous fright. "What is wrong with you? Scaring us senseless, you should be ashamed!" Gabriel chuckled, only causing the woman to grow more pissed. "How dare you! Who even is your kid? Some freakish mutant?"

Oh.

Oh now that was not okay.

In one fluid movement, Reaper unclipped one of his shotguns, pointing it at the lady, who shrieked and backpedaled. The angel of Death lowered the weapon only slightly, a low growl forming in the back of his throat. "Say it again, I dare you." He hissed threateningly, only to be met with the woman's frightened whimper. "Thought so." Spinning the gun around on one finger, he holstered it quickly. "Anyone talks shit about D.Va and they will be introduced to the live shells of my shotgun." He warned, grabbing one of the chairs which was very quickly vacated by one of the other despicable women.

Dragging the chair over to the door, Reaper sat down and leant back, crossing one leg over the other and crossing his arms over his chest.

The ringleader of the meeting stood up, clearing her throat. "M-mister Morrison, nice to see you here again. And you as well Mister Reyes." The woman said, trying to push the sudden appearance of the heavily intimidating assassin behind them.

"W-we can get into discussions, if you want." She said, looking back at the woman who had aggravated Reaper earlier. "Linda, please refrain from agitating mister Reyes." She said, setting some papers down on the table. Reaper watched from afar, tapping his clawed gloves on the black armor that wrapped around him. With any luck, the rest of the meeting should go well, and he probably wouldn't have even needed to come.

Soldier: 76 didn't need to see behind that mask to know Reyes is enjoying every second of tormenting these people. "When they stop reacting as such. Then I will stop, because then it won't be as fun."
”Always the charmer,” Morrison remarks, looking for a spot that would place him at a nice distance away from everyone else. One of the women seemed to overcome her fear, confronting Reaper in a surprising show of guts. Most civilians didn't tend to talk back when an armed assassin materialized in their midst, and as much as Soldier: 76 dislikes the officious attitude that permeates these meetings, he could at least begrudgingly give her that.

"You're insane. What is wrong with you? Scaring us senseless, you should be ashamed!" Lady, you don't know the half of it. 76 doesn't want to think about the sort of things that would make Gabriel Reyes feel ashamed of himself, and the man laughing off the angry words as though they were a joke only served to further infuriate the already pissed-off woman. "How dare you! Who even is your kid? Some freakish mutant?" Before those three words, Soldier: 76 had been annoyed, but neutral towards the other parents. Maybe, just this once, they'd tone down on the condescending tone and actually get something done. Hearing that single, short sentence set that tiny thread of optimism on fire; nobody insulted his kid and got away with it. Anybody who called Hana Song a “freakish mutant” could damn well expect to have a hellstorm of parental wrath rained down upon them.

”What did you just say?” 76 growls, well aware that even in this sweater and lacking his pulse rifle, his stature is still intimidating among other people. Nobody wants the supersoldier pissed off at them. Reyes, however, decides to go a little further than simply scaring people with his appearance; no, he does what Reyes does best, and aims one of those shotguns right at an unarmed civilian. 76 is starting to regret not bringing a weapon with him. "Say it again, I dare you." To Morrison's relief, the woman says nothing; the last thing he needs is someone getting shot. Admittedly, it is a bit satisfying to see someone who insulted D.Va be so quickly shut down, but did they really need a shotgun to do that? 76 couldn't say he expected anything less from Gabriel, but still, this isn't exactly what he had in mind regarding “parental wrath.” "Thought so." God damn it, Reyes.

"Anyone talks shit about D.Va and they will be introduced to the live shells of my shotgun." Silence reigns in the aftermath of Reaper's threat, the others wisely choosing not to give any sort of response. Lovely. This is just a wonderful start to what will no doubt be a productive, friendly meeting. As usual, Soldier: 76 is going to have to be the one to deal with the aftermath. He takes a place that's a little too close to the others for comfort, but with the fiasco that just happened, his plans to stay in the sidelines have flown straight out the door.
”Let's try not to shoot anybody,” 76 reminds the completely conspicious assassin who has taken a place near the door, though if another insult is aimed at D.Va, he might just go back on that statement...only kidding. Maybe. A part of him wants to suggest they both ditch this meeting before something else can go amazingly wrong, but again, his sense of responsibility is too great. Damn.
"M-mister Morrison, nice to see you here again. And you as well Mister Reyes," another woman says, and while 76 cannot immediately recall her name, he remembers her as the self-appointed 'boss' of these meetings. A self-appointed boss trying not to give too much attention to Reyes' previous threat, it seems. "W-we can get into discussions, if you want."

”Sounds good to me,” 76 responds with a shrug. Judging from previous meetings, he doubts anything he says will be taken that seriously, but he's willing to play along if it means ending this as soon as possible.

"Linda, please refrain from agitating Mister Reyes."
”Smart choice,” Jack agrees, sending a self-indulgent glare in Linda's direction; that insult towards Hana is still under his skin. Barbed words aimed at him tended to simply bounce off, or be ignored entirely, but being derogatory towards his kids? That is a far cry from acceptable, and he can allow himself to speak with a little less composure than usual because of it. 76 looks back to the ringleader; this meeting's barely started and already he feels exhausted. It must be a new record. Well, he's already given his answer regarding discussions, so hopefully they could move onto that, though 76 has no idea what they would be talking about this time around. The leading woman looks prepared enough, thankfully, and with any luck everyone else would follow her prerogative of not making Reyes angry. It's the least Soldier: 76 can ask for.