Chapter Text
Getting released was a process that seemed to take forever. Because of the nature of the procedure they were part of, they wouldn't let him go until they were certain his health had improved and he wasn't suffering any adverse side effects. Long story short, it took ten times too long in his opinion for them to even consider putting him back on active duty. And even after they had, it'd been so he could run the training courses and prove without a shadow of a doubt that he wasn't going to keel over the second they glanced away. It was long hours of grueling training just because he'd had a bit of trouble during the treatment.
Big deal. At least he was still breathing, right?
It also sucked that he'd been cut off from Jack, someone he would begrudgingly call a friend, as soon as the blond had left his side. It took finally being released for him to see him again, after he'd dragged himself back to the barracks to crash for a much needed nap.
The other soldiers were in the mess hall, but he felt far from hungry as he crawled into his bunk and laid down, relishing the quiet that would inevitably be broken as soon as the others returned.
The silence was broken sooner than he expected it to be, the door opening with a figure slipping inside.
He kept his back to the door and eyes closed as he listened.
"Gabriel?"
He tensed, rolling onto his back and pushing himself up. "Jack?"
"It's me." Jack moved to sit beside him. "I take it you're still alive?"
"And kicking. I'm back on active duty," he said, giving him a smile.
"Good! I don't think I can deal with this crowd another moment without being able to crack a joke to someone."
He started shaking his head, amusement rising. "I think you're the first person to ever say I have a sense of humour."
"You've laughed at all my jokes so far," Jack said. "Maybe they just didn't have the right kind of humour."
"Or you've just got a twisted one."
Jack shrugged. "That too."
"I've been told this is the only thing I'd ever be good at, killing people," he said conversationally. "I'm not good at talking to people, but I can shoot and can I strategize. That's it."
"I'm sure that's not all." Jack placed a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe you weren't given a chance to find out if you would be good at something else."
"That's not my point. Point is I'm amazed you'd latch onto someone like me." He leaned his head back against the wall, looking down at Jack.
"You're still on about this?" Jack groaned, meeting Gabriel's eyes. "Look, we're soldiers. It doesn't matter to me if you're good at killing people and strategizing, it just makes you more of an asset on the field. But what does is you stepped in before I could get pummeled on the first day."
"You could've held your own, kid, I just stepped in because I was curious about what a runt was doing here. I was convinced you were going to get slaughtered your first mission."
Jack snorted, leaning back against the headboard. "How weak do you think I am?"
"You weren't the one bleeding from the mouth."
"I don't think weird medical reactions count as weakness," Jack said.
"You walked away from it, eight men bigger than you were dragged off in body bags. I almost was too. I think you're stronger than you look."
Jack looked at him, face neutral, considering. "People sometimes refuse to see what's beneath the surface."
He nodded, sighing to himself. He tapped two fingers against his chest. "The treatments aren't going to get any easier after this. I'm not sure how many'll even make it to the end."
"Who knows. Maybe our bodies will build up more of a resistance to the side effects as time goes on." Jack paused, staring at one of the beds that no longer housed anyone. "More than likely, it won't."
"It won't. I'm sure of that."
"Well, you promised me you wouldn't die. So you better stay alive unless you want to be a liar."
He chuckled weakly. "A liar's not the worst thing I've ever been called."
"Oh yeah?"
He started rattling off a list of insults.
Jack laughed, doubling over on the bed. "Man, what did you do to people to get called those?"
He rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I told you. I don't make friends. Some of those were from my sister."
Blue eyes lit up at the mention of his sister. "You have a sister? What's she like?"
He hesitated. "She's brilliant. Top of her class, every year."
"Holy shit, that's amazing!"
"Yeah, she is. Always has been." He ran the palm of his hand over his pant leg. "I'm-"
The door slammed open, much less considerate of the occupants of the room than Jack's entrance had been. An average looking man entered, a half eaten muffin in his hand, eyes lighting up when they met Jack's.
"Well, well, well. I've heard juicy things about you, Morrison, from Emilia Jenkins."
Jack's face flushed beet red.
Gabriel looked between them, scowling.
"Reyes, looks like we have some competition here if Jenkins is to be believed." The man picked up the paperback book that was resting on his bed. "He may be a runt but apparently he's great in the sack," he said before leaving the room entirely to make use of the free time they had in the evening.
He didn't react beyond his hand curling loosely around his pant leg.
Jack was flushed, staring at the wall, hands grasping tightly at his pant legs. "That was... uncalled for," he choked out.
"Ignore them. They'll get what's coming to them," Gabriel assured, voice darkening.
"Heh, yeah." He took several deep breaths, hands clenching and unclenching on his pant legs before meeting Gabriel's eyes. "It's stupid, if it had been anyone else he wouldn't have called them out."
"People are shitty, it's just who they are. Don't worry about it."
"Easier said than done."
"Next time they do something like that, tell them you're seeing me, it'll stop them instantly."
Jack chuckled weakly. "Isn't it a bit too soon to say we're dating?"
"It'll get them to back off. Unless you've got something else in mind that'll work," he replied, shrugging. "I don't care either way. You use that to protect yourself, or you don't, that's up to you."
"I see a bit of a flaw with your plan though."
“Yeah? And what's that?”
"What if I sleep with someone else?" Jack pointed out.
"Open relationship, problem solved."
A startled laugh escaped from Jack. "Well that's definitely one way to do it!" He breathed out between guffaws.
Gabriel waited for him to calm back down, though he wore a faint smile.
Jack's laughs soon died down to chuckles.
"So besides you getting laid, did I miss anything else important?" Gabriel asked.
"Just a lot of training. A fight broke out between two recruits, apparently one guy thought the other was cheating with his training or something."
He rolled his eyes. "So I didn't miss anything."
"Nope. Not unless you find testosterone fueled man fights a good time," Jack said, stretching out his legs on the bed.
"I'm usually one of the participants," he said, tone bordering on guilty. "But it's stupid."
"I wouldn't have been able to guess. I thought you just liked brooding in the corner," Jack joked, nudging his shoulder.
He snorted, smiling down at the blond. "You've got me all figured out, don't you?"
Jack shrugged. "Probably just that part. How much of me do you have figured out?"
"Not much. Just that you're not what I thought you'd be," he said honestly.
"Hey now!" Jack shoved Gabriel playfully.
The older man chuckled. "Am I wrong?"
"I guess not. You're also not how I expected either."
"What did you expect?" he teased.
"More angst and 'no one understands me!'" Jack laughed.
Straight faced and tone serious Gabriel said, "I could do that."
"Please don't. I'd have to stop being your friend if you did."
"Good, because I wouldn't be able to stand it either."