20 Returning to Basics - Gabriel POV (1) & Maritsu POV (1)

Gabriel felt like a heavy weight which he had always been carrying with him, since the trial, could be finally put down. The Watchers were established and although it still would take years of trial and error before it would work how it was meant to be. The most difficult and important steps had already been taken.

For the first time in over a decade Gabriel felt like he could finally breathe again! However, he also lost his goal. He had been working so long and so hard. Pushing everything else aside to establish the Watchers that he wondered what he should do now? He felt kind of lost, not knowing which direction to go in.

He was just really happy that he did what he set out to do. His comrades in arms would be proud and so surprised if they knew what he had achieved. Thinking about the comrades and arms and wondering how they would have responded if they saw where he was now he recalled the days of training together. Those days were though and hard, but so satisfying. They had become one big old family. Having that ripped away was hard and it was a hole that even over this last decade had never really filled.

He hoped by having achieved his goal, the hollow part inside of him could finally start to mend. He restarted to recall the days of training fondly. In those memories he also found the idea of what to do next. It seemed like a sign. He remembered the first days in training under the instructor of the Special forces team Night Hawks. This trainer was pretty old fashioned one. His favorite saying used to be. If you don't know what to do return to the basics. If you ever lose you way practice your basic, until you don't have to think about your next steps and it becomes part of you. It will give you inner peace of mind and show you the way.

Those memories and brought a smile to Gabriel's face. Gabriel's face seemed very weird that way. He just hadn't smiled in so long and it was a facial expression he had almost forgotten how to make. Therefore it wasn't a full blown smile, but a very shallow upturning of the corners of his mouth. "Return to the basics huh?" Gabriel whispered to himself. Alright let's do that then.

Gabriel called in his assistant Maritsu Owari. Maritsu was an assistant, but also very qualified soldier. He had been indispensable in helping create the Watcher program. Maritsu probably was just as invested as him to get this program up and running.

Maritsu had joined the army straight out of high school. As soon as he was old enough he enlisted. Not for a noble cause like serving the motherland however. Not at all, Maritsu's dream had always been to go to a Ivy League college to make his brother and mother proud. These dreams however were shattered when news came of his brother's death.

His brother Jason Owari had joined the armed forces even before finishing high school. His younger brother was smart and had a bright future ahead. However, their mother had been abandoned by their father. Their father couldn't stand the hard life and married a rich lady. Leaving Maritsu's an Jason's mother behind alone, without a support system. When they were young it was still doable. However when Jason turned 17 and his brother was just a few years way from enrolling in high school, their mother became sick.

Maritsu wanted to drop out of school to earn money for his mother's treatment. Jason however wouldn't let him. Maritsu had always been the smart one out of the two. So Jason had told him that he should study and work hard to get in an Ivy League school that was all his mother and Jason would want for him. The next day Jason dropped out of school and joined the army. He had always been a Jock and therefore the physical aspects of the training didn't faze him. What took some time getting used to was learning the responsibilities that came from wearing the uniform.

After all he had only joined the armed forces as a job to pay his mother's medical bills. However, as he learned what wearing the uniform meant he came to love his job. Taking a load of Maritsu's shoulders. The fact that Jason loved his job meant that he didn't have to feel guilty anymore. The medical bills were paid and their mother recovered quickly. She was worried about her son having such a dangerous job, but since he loved the job she wouldn't discourage him of pursuing his career.

Jason being fully devoted to his career worked his way up the ranks quickly, but steadily. Eventually he worked in a black op's team. The black ops team missions were top secret. They couldn't tell their loved ones what they were doing. Every time they went out they knew they might never come back again. Therefore they always left a last will in the mission center. Which upon death would be handed to their family members, with the dog tags they would always wear. Signifying the soul of the soldier.

These black op soldiers only reported to their commanding officer. Nobody else was supposed to know about their missions and targets. Their work was classified and sometimes of the books even. Deniability could be very important to the state. The last missions Jason went on however didn't sit well with him. He had this feeling that the last few missions were dubious. Like it was more a grab for power or monetary gain. The team member who thought the same and raised the issue died mysteriously in his own home. It looked like a suicide, but he would never kill himself. Besides the way he killed himself is the way the black op's team had staged scenes before.

The doubts Jason already had only deepened, because of it. Some team members which he never got along well seemed to have suddenly come into possession of a huge amount of wealth. A wealth which to him was unexplainable. He had this feeling he might not return from this mission. Therefore he left a letter with his brother and told him he left a similar letter at the mission center. That he shouldn't be worried that no matter what happened he would always watch over him.

Therefore when the news came of Jason's death Maritsu was calm. He knew his brother wouldn't have made him worry for no reason. His mother however fell sobbing to the floor. When he asked he was told that his brother died in an explosion. The body unrecognizable and buried in foreign land, because the mission didn't leave them any room to retrieve the body to bring back home. The dog tags were nowhere to be found and were assumed to have melted, because of the heat of the explosion. The fact that the dog tags were missing, gave Maritsu the idea that his brother was indeed still out there, watching in the shadows like he promised.

When he was told however that his brother didn't leave a last will, because the mission happened to suddenly alarms bells went of in his head. His brother had told him he left a last will, he had also been able to warn his brother that this mission felt wrong to him. So the fact that there was no last will didn't make sense to him. How could there be no last will? When his brother had told him there was?