Wraith

Gabriel Reyes, Blackwatch’s commander. He was making a renowned covert operations team, recruiting people from all over the world for their skills. The man already recruited two men to his team; Genji Shimada and Jesse McCree. Word got out that there was a scientist, a doctor, that was making groundbreaking progress in the world of genetics with rather questionable methods. Gabriel searched for them and ultimately recruited them. That person was Moira O'Deorain.

Moira thrived in Blackwatch, no longer being silenced or told to be cautious. Reyes requested her help to further enhance his abilities from when he was in SEP. Her genetic tampering created a being from Gabriel’s genes. They were similar yet so very different. As the genetic tampering continued, the being grew in sentience and intelligence. Eventually, it learned to communicate with Reyes through their shared body and mind though it preferred to create its own physical body to communicate with the commander, only when the man was alone of course.

They continued to bond with one another, soon figuring out that the creature created from his genes and nanites would heal Gabriel’s wounds quickly. Reyes found this fascinating and used it to his advantage in battles. He became bolder in battle, taking normally lethal shots for his teammates or making risky plays that he shouldn't have survived from. What the man didn't know was that he was slowly killing himself with each wound that was healed.

Gabriel jokingly called the creature ”Wraith” one day, explaining it away as it being a fragment, a ghost, of himself. He always meant it in good humor and the creature knew this. Wraith proudly took on the name its genetic template provided for it.

During a particularly deadly operation, Reyes had taken a far too lethal blow for Moira, she was preoccupied with other things to notice the sniper dot trained on her back. The bullet entered his chest then ricocheted to pierce one of his lungs. He went down, gasping for breath and quickly drowning in his blood. Wraith had no choice but to take over to heal the man, it's host and only friend, it's sudden appearance be damned. Healing Gabriel was an undertaking. He was seconds away from death, previous wounds not having time to heal before this new one. Moira did notice the black nanite creature that almost looked like smoke. She'd question the commander about it later, for the time being, she needed to save the idiot.

With the help of Moira’s biotic healing, Wraith was able to speed up Reyes’ recovery. It sank back inside the man's shadow before Genji and Jesse came over, worried about their commander. They quickly evacuated, calling the mission a half success. Though, it didn't go unnoticed by Genji and McCree how Moira looked at Reyes now; with such unbridled interest that bordered on obsessed curiosity. What happened before they arrived to make her so? They both didn't particularly like the woman, constantly put off by her need to better the human race with genetic manipulation.

When they arrived back at base and Gabriel made his way towards his office to file a report of the mission, Moira followed. She confronted him about the creature she saw. She knew it was her doing. Gabriel hated that Wraith was found out this way, by his carelessness out on a mission. Who knows what she’ll do now, Reyes. She wanted to run more tests, wanted to know when this thing came to be and how much it knows. Gabriel only agreed to her running more tests. Which she did extensively, it was agonizing for him. Needles and more chemicals. Was it really necessary? Reyes didn't know at the time but Moira wasn't running tests on only him but Wraith as well.

Months went by with her tests every so often to test Gabriel’s new abilities and immunities. He was stronger and faster at this point. Though, he wasn't feeling like his usual self anymore. He wasn't so happy and emotive. He’d become emotionally guarded, letting few get close. This strained his relationship with his best friend, Jack, as well as strained his relationship with his team members. Moira didn't mind nor did Genji. Jesse, however, hated this new Reyes. That's not the man that recruited him.

Tensions grew within Overwatch over the next few years with Gabriel’s careless actions in missions getting Blackwatch revealed to the world. Eventually, things got so bad Reyes decided the best course of action was to fight Morrison. Their fighting resulted in the base exploding. Officially, Morrison perished in the blast, and Gabriel barely survived, hanging on by a thread with Wraith’s assistance. Medics were eventually able to find the man and get him to the best possible doctor they had; Angela Ziegler.

Gabriel fell into a coma before he got to Angela’s care, his body having lost too much blood and taken a beating. Angela tried everything she could to help the man heal yet his wounds healed exceptionally slowly. Wraith hated seeing Gabriel in such a state. It's only friend was on the verge of death and it was doing everything it could to just keep him stable. The damage was too extensive, though.

As time passed, this gnawing hunger was growing within Wraith. It's never been hungry like this. It waited until after Angela checked on Reyes before separating itself from the man then going to find a source of food. It didn't normally eat human food but it's a start to ending this hunger. However, Wraith picked up a sickeningly sweet scent in the air almost instantly upon exiting from the window of the room. It's smelled something like this before, only briefly. It followed the scent to a retirement home. Death. This place smelled of death and it was sickeningly sweet to Wraith. Licking its sharp teeth, it made its way in to find those who were closer to death. It wasn't disappointed to find quite a few of them were. It feasted that day. Consuming their souls while they rested, passing on in peaceful slumber. It saw their lives as it feasted on their souls. Wraith enjoyed the sweet and sour tasting souls and hated the bitter tasting ones.

Upon Wraith’s return to Gabriel, the man’s wounds quickly began to heal. Oh. Souls can speed up his recovery. A give and take relationship? Take the souls of others to heal another? Interesting. It was still hungry. It needed Reyes, it'll do this for Reyes. Wraith spent the next several months taking the souls of others to heal Reyes. The man fully recovered physically but still hasn't woken up from the coma. He wouldn't respond to Wraith's questions either. Had it lost him? It's only friend? It's only source of knowledge in the world? No! It couldn't be. It wouldn't accept that. It couldn't accept that.

When everyone who knew Reyes entered the room suddenly, several of which were already quite emotional, it's nonexistent heart dropped. No… It's not his time. There wasn't anything it could do to stop them without revealing itself. It feared they’d think it was the cause of Reyes not waking up. It wasn't, it swore.

As each and everyone said their goodbyes to Reyes, the time came that Angela took him off life support. Watching Gabriel’s vitals plummet broke Wraith. No, it wouldn't allow Reyes to die like that. With newfound determination, Wraith rejoined the man's body and slowly began to take over. It'll just pilot Reyes until he awoke from his coma! It'll use its bond with the man to mimic him until then!

Needless to say, everyone was surprised when Reyes awoke suddenly. They just watched his vitals plummet and stop, right? Maybe this was one of those ”died but came back to life” situations that are rare but have happened. Angela quickly got to work on checking the man out, making sure everything was okay both physically and mentally. Reyes was out for an entire year, give or take. Everything checked out save for obviously missing a year of life with those he knew. They could forgive him for that now that he was awake.

If only they knew the truth.

After Wraith, disguised as Reyes, was cleared to head back to his room, he needed a plan. He paced the room to figure out how to go about things. Where should he start? Where could he start? Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. Moira. She created it. If she hadn't then Gabriel wouldn't have been so careless and fought with his best friend! Right? No, it's correct. This was her fault. She should've just left him alone. With newfound determination, Wraith knew what it must do now. It had to avenge Reyes by killing the geneticist. It'll get revenge for his death and it's creation.