[Jack shuts the door behind her, watching her intently. He's never exactly pieced together what happened to Amélie, and in fact, hadn't known what had become of her until she took Ana from him. The assumption until then had been that Talon kidnapped her twice.]
Her husband was investigating Talon. They kidnapped her to get to him, but we got her back. Everything seemed fine; she was completely unharmed.
[He's sure she knows what happened--at least surface level. Still, he's somber, if only because he knows that Lena is here looking for an explanation, and yet again he'll have to reveal that he's known at least some of this all along.]
Two weeks later Gérard was dead and she was missing again. Didn't get her back that time. Not for lack of trying.
[Once he knew about Widowmaker, things made a little more sense, though he'd never been able to determine if Amélie had gone back to Talon of her own volition, if they'd done something to her, or if she'd been one of their agents the entire time. No matter what, Jack blames himself for what happened to Gérard.]
[ Information about Overwatch in its infancy isn't exactly top secret, but it's also not well-known. Lena isn't sure how to feel. Maybe he didn't tell her to protect her. To keep her from feeling as torn as she is now. Or maybe it's yet another thing he's decided to handle himself, without asking for help. ]
[Jack will make this distinction very clear as soon as possible--he knows he's already on thin ice with Lena a lot of the time, and the last thing he needs is a misunderstanding.]
I never knew what her relationship to Talon was. If she went back to them willing. Let them do that to her.
After it happened, we thought maybe she'd been a sleeper agent from the start.
[Which means that perhaps it was better that Gérard died, rather than have to live with the knowledge that his beloved wife had been a Talon plant all along. Still, Lena's assurance that Amélie had been tortured is, of course, disconcerting.]
She shot Ana and it’s entirely likely she killed Gérard herself.
[Jack has never been one to shy away from the truth. This won’t be closure, exactly, but it will give him a better idea of what he’s dealing with, when it comes to her.]
[Truthfully, Jack had been as much in the dark about it as Lena, at least until after Overwatch fell and he did some digging of his own. Ana had confirmed it upon their reunion, but the circumstances of the situation obviously made it difficult to uncover the whole truth about what happened that day.]
[ She frowns in a mixture of disappointment and confusion. Another thing he didn't tell her. He found out recently, through Ana herself most likely, but didn't bother telling her anything. Would it change anything? Not really. But she tells him what she knows.
Sometimes it feels like she's reporting to her Commander again, and it's not a feeling she relishes. Especially not after everything they've been through. ]
[He can tell that Lena is upset--but whether it's about this knowledge or about the fact that he knew and didn't tell her is unclear. It's likely both. Jack hadn't told her because it never seemed relevant, and now it's apparent that she's hurt by this lack of transparency.]
Anyone else gonna show up alive? Any other ways Talon's gone and mucked up our lives?
[ In retrospect, she'll know she's being unfair. But right now she's already tense with the knowledge that she's going to have to relive that memory. Learning that he was keeping this from her just pushes it a little too far. ]
[His shoulders slump a little--the truth is that there's so much of this he couldn't anticipate, and there's going to be more than surprises him. Once again, he has to let Lena know how in the dark he really is.]
[He can't make that promise, however, and he's not sure what his word is worth to her anymore, but he tries to say that with as much conviction as he can.]
[ If the look on her face is anything to go by, his word means much less than it used to. It was pointless to make him promise when she knows he'll break it.
But Lena lets it go, opting to sit down on the edge of the bed and fixing him with a serious and somewhat weary look. ]
[Jack isn't sure where to start--he's going into this fairly blind, after all. Maybe he doesn't want to know and shouldn't ask, but his curiosity is going to get the better of him as always.]
[ Lena sags just a fraction when he asks her to begin. She toys with her hands, lacing and unlacing her fingers slowly in a nervous gesture. ]
She was chained to a chair in a dark room. A man came in, started talkin'. He said they were in Paris, somewhere secluded where no one could hear her scream. [ She pauses. ] Not a bunker from the Crisis. Somewhere else.
[ Lena tries to cling to as many details as she can. They might not mean much to her, but maybe Jack could use them. ]
Um... [ Lena frowns, trying to remember the exact wording. ] She said Overwatch and Gérard would find her. He said that was the plan. He said somethin' like "if he had just died like he was supposed to, you could've lived out your life as another Overwatch widow."
[ Lena pauses again, bracing herself for the rest. ]
Talon agents came in. The man said they were 'tilling the soil to plant a seed.' Called it 'neural reconditioning.'
[The pieces are all falling into place, and though it was easy enough to guess, it’s still uncomfortable to hear. Jack had spent his entire adult life trying to make sure people didn’t have to suffer like this.]
They wanted us to find her that first time.
[It’s not exactly a realization at this point, but with the new information, the scope of Talon’s plan has become obvious. It puts his personal failure in a whole new light—if they’d never recovered Amélie, then Gérard would still be alive.
Or not. He has a sneaking suspicion that they would’ve gotten to him anyway. Jack shakes his head, admonishing himself.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[Jack shuts the door behind her, watching her intently. He's never exactly pieced together what happened to Amélie, and in fact, hadn't known what had become of her until she took Ana from him. The assumption until then had been that Talon kidnapped her twice.]
Her husband was investigating Talon. They kidnapped her to get to him, but we got her back. Everything seemed fine; she was completely unharmed.
[He's sure she knows what happened--at least surface level. Still, he's somber, if only because he knows that Lena is here looking for an explanation, and yet again he'll have to reveal that he's known at least some of this all along.]
Two weeks later Gérard was dead and she was missing again. Didn't get her back that time. Not for lack of trying.
[Once he knew about Widowmaker, things made a little more sense, though he'd never been able to determine if Amélie had gone back to Talon of her own volition, if they'd done something to her, or if she'd been one of their agents the entire time. No matter what, Jack blames himself for what happened to Gérard.]
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You knew? I thought she was lyin'.
[ Information about Overwatch in its infancy isn't exactly top secret, but it's also not well-known. Lena isn't sure how to feel. Maybe he didn't tell her to protect her. To keep her from feeling as torn as she is now. Or maybe it's yet another thing he's decided to handle himself, without asking for help. ]
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[Jack will make this distinction very clear as soon as possible--he knows he's already on thin ice with Lena a lot of the time, and the last thing he needs is a misunderstanding.]
I never knew what her relationship to Talon was. If she went back to them willing. Let them do that to her.
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All those years and he never knew for sure whether an ally had been working against them all along.
He deserves to know what she knows, at least. There isn't a delicate way to say it, but Jack prefers his answers to-the-point anyway.
Quietly: ]
They made her a sleeper agent.
[ Her eyes flicker away and she struggles to repress a shudder. The memory of what she saw haunts her. ]
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[Which means that perhaps it was better that Gérard died, rather than have to live with the knowledge that his beloved wife had been a Talon plant all along. Still, Lena's assurance that Amélie had been tortured is, of course, disconcerting.]
What did you see?
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Are you sure you want to know?
[ She's not sure how close he was to Amélie, but it's not something that can be forgotten once known. ]
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[Jack has never been one to shy away from the truth. This won’t be closure, exactly, but it will give him a better idea of what he’s dealing with, when it comes to her.]
I want to know.
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It was her?
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[Truthfully, Jack had been as much in the dark about it as Lena, at least until after Overwatch fell and he did some digging of his own. Ana had confirmed it upon their reunion, but the circumstances of the situation obviously made it difficult to uncover the whole truth about what happened that day.]
I didn't find out until later.
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Sometimes it feels like she's reporting to her Commander again, and it's not a feeling she relishes. Especially not after everything they've been through. ]
Anything else I should know?
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Anything you want to know?
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Anyone else gonna show up alive? Any other ways Talon's gone and mucked up our lives?
[ In retrospect, she'll know she's being unfair. But right now she's already tense with the knowledge that she's going to have to relive that memory. Learning that he was keeping this from her just pushes it a little too far. ]
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No.
[But of course, he can't be certain.]
Anything else comes up, it'll be news to me.
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He's breached her trust over and over. Lena can't help it.
But she seems satisfied that he's not lying. ]
And you'll tell me. Yeah?
[ It's not really a question. ]
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[He can't make that promise, however, and he's not sure what his word is worth to her anymore, but he tries to say that with as much conviction as he can.]
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But Lena lets it go, opting to sit down on the edge of the bed and fixing him with a serious and somewhat weary look. ]
Her memories. What did you want to know?
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[Jack isn't sure where to start--he's going into this fairly blind, after all. Maybe he doesn't want to know and shouldn't ask, but his curiosity is going to get the better of him as always.]
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She was chained to a chair in a dark room. A man came in, started talkin'. He said they were in Paris, somewhere secluded where no one could hear her scream. [ She pauses. ] Not a bunker from the Crisis. Somewhere else.
[ Lena tries to cling to as many details as she can. They might not mean much to her, but maybe Jack could use them. ]
Um... [ Lena frowns, trying to remember the exact wording. ] She said Overwatch and Gérard would find her. He said that was the plan. He said somethin' like "if he had just died like he was supposed to, you could've lived out your life as another Overwatch widow."
[ Lena pauses again, bracing herself for the rest. ]
Talon agents came in. The man said they were 'tilling the soil to plant a seed.' Called it 'neural reconditioning.'
[ Her voice cracks quietly. ]
Waterboarding. Probably even worse later on.
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They wanted us to find her that first time.
[It’s not exactly a realization at this point, but with the new information, the scope of Talon’s plan has become obvious. It puts his personal failure in a whole new light—if they’d never recovered Amélie, then Gérard would still be alive.
Or not. He has a sneaking suspicion that they would’ve gotten to him anyway. Jack shakes his head, admonishing himself.]
I was an idiot.