Thread by @jacksgabe

how old do you think Pharah was when she had a lightbulb moment and realized that her mom used to or was dating both Jack and Gabe

like they were always around and such good friends with her mom, when did it click oh my god they’re dating she’s seeing both of them. romantically

Ana comes home to her quarters after a long day and Fareeha is sitting at the table with her arms crossed. Ana can see she’s in a Mood but she knows her lil girl and she doesn’t play into it, just asks how her day was. Fareeha gives her short answers until she finally bursts

“Are you dating Uncle Jack?”

Ana doesn’t flinch. “It’s not like that,” she says. “You know Jack is my commanding officer.”

“What about Uncle Gabe?”

“What about him?”

“I saw you, mom!”

“Saw what?” Ana pushes her hair back and turns on the kettle for hot water.

“When you left the other night, he came to pick you up! You thought I was sleeping but I wasn’t. I saw. I saw him kiss you, right there in the hall.”

Ana remembers. Gabe had been in a good mood, hands at her waist while he leaned in to kiss behind her ear and down her neck.

But it had gone no farther, they had left quickly knowing Jack was waiting.

No point in denying it now.

“So,” she says calmly, listening to the kettle hum. “So I am dating Gabriel. You like him, don’t you?”

Fareeha makes a face and looks away. “Yes. He’s nice.”

“Then why the fuss?” Ana looks over at her daughter fondly, seeing the familiar stubborn sulk on the face so like her own.

“I thought you were seeing Uncle Jack, that’s all. You never said it but he’s always looking at you and smiling and he comes over here late at night.”

“For work, yes. He comes.” Ana doesn’t want to lie to her daughter, and here she doesn’t have to. Jack only comes her quarters on official business - because of Fareeha.

Fareeha’s scowl deepens. “But he loves you.”

Ana’s hand slips as she reaches for a mug.

She steadies herself.

Love.

It’s all well and good, dating, fucking, her best friends, and certainly, she loves them. But her ten year old daughter probably doesn’t mean love the same way she thinks of it.

“He’s my very good friend. He loves you too.”

“He told me he loves you. I don’t think it’s the same.”

“He what?” Ana sets the mug down and turns to look at her properly.

“When you were in Paris and I stayed here and he was taking care of me I asked him.”

Ana feels with a little wound the delicacy of Fareeha’s word choices

‘In Paris’, stepping around the fact that they both know she’d been deployed on a mission and that Fareeha had cried when she left but never asked her not to go.

“What did you ask him?” She measures tea into the mug with precision, treading carefully now.

Ana senses Fareeha look away and hang her head but it makes sense when she speaks again. “I told him - I said I hated my dad because he’s never here, and I asked if he was going to be my dad. I know it was stupid.”

Ana takes a moment to process this blow. “I’m not mad,” she says

Fareeha flicks a nervous glance over her and continues. “He said... he said he’d always be there if I needed him but he couldn’t be my dad. And I asked him if he loved you. And he didn’t answer right away and when he said yes he looked sad. I think he’s in love with you.”

Ana wasn’t there, but she can picture the scene as clear as day anyway. She knows exactly what Fareeha means, how Jack goes quiet before he tells a half truth, and it makes her chest tight to think of sunny, brave Jack, locking away his heart, and she can’t deny this truth

She pours the water in her tea without answering her daughter, contemplating how to respond.

“Am I right?” Fareeha demands. “I am, aren’t I? That’s why you’re not saying anything, and I think you already knew, cause you look guilty, and you’re dating Uncle Gabe instead.”

She should have been more careful, she thinks. Why had she let Gabriel pick her up here? Why did she let him crowd her against the wall with a flash of white teeth, a mischievous smile, clever hands tugging at her belt?

If Fareeha had never seen it, she could explain it her way

For the same reason, she knows, for the reason Jack couldn’t lie to her daughter. It’s all gone too far now, too long and in too deep to stop it easily.

She should have seen this day coming. It’s not like she never thought of it before. She’d thought there’d be more time.

“You know Jack is the commander,” she stalls, diverting the conversation. “I couldn’t date him even if I wanted to.”

“Are you saying that because you don’t want to or because you do?” Fareeha’s gaze is unrelenting. “Uncle Gabe is a commander?”

“A different kind of commander.”

Fareeha is quiet for several moments. “I don’t like it,” she says at last. “So you’d rather be dating Uncle Jack but you can’t so you’re dating Uncle Gabe? That’s not right.”

“No, sweetheart. It’s not quite like that.”

“Then what?” she demands.

Ana takes her mug from the counter and blows across the top while she makes her decision. Fareeha is too young to understand the full truth, and there’s no easy way to say it.

“Even if Jack weren’t the commander, I wouldn’t be with him,” she says honestly.

“You’re too young to understand now, but when you’re older, you will. I know, I know,” she raises a hand, already seeing Fareeha’s mouth open in protest. “It’s not what you want to hear. But I promise. Someday, all right?”

Fareeha’s mouth closes slowly. “All right,” she says.

“How old do I have to be?”

Ana shrugs, taking a sip. “A teenager, I suppose.”

Fareeha bites her lip. “That’s not very long,” she announces. “I won’t forget.”

“I’m sure you won’t. Now off to bed. It’s late.”

“I’ll come check on you when I finish my tea,” she promises as Fareeha kisses her cheek.

When she’s sure she’s heard the bedroom door slide shut, Ana leans back in her chair with a deep sigh and wonders how she’s going to explain to Gabriel that they’re dating now.

unroll