Chapter Text
Gabe wasn’t sure who needed a shower more, him or the kid. The drop ship wasn’t due to pick them up for a few hours so he dragged him to the nearest public pool and practically shoved him into the nearest shower stall before finding one for himself. He changed into a clean pair of clothes and pulled out an old overwatch hoodie and spare sweatpants, left them on the kids towel and packed up both their dirty, blood stained clothes.
Just as he finished packing, Jesse emerged from the changing room. “where’d my clothes go, whose are these?” he picked at the large faded hoodie that hung off him.
Clean for the first time since Gabe met him, Jesse looked young. Impossibly young. He had tanned skin, as if he has spent his whole life outside, dark smudges under his gold flecked brown eyes. A previously hidden bruise had blossomed on the right side of his jaw and various cuts and were scattered across his forehead and cheek. Nothing that would leave a scar, they were consistent with being tackled into a rocky ground. His too long, and now slightly fluff hair had lightened several shades to a lighter brown, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of stubble on his face. The oversized clothes drew attention to just how skinny he was. He hadn’t been starved, Gabe knew what malnourishment looked like, but he certainly hadn’t been getting as much as he should have. He was a head shorter than Gabe, either hadn’t had his last growth spurt yet, or his body didn’t have the calories to spare. And his hands, when he held them up the gesture at his new attire were calloused, in a way Gabe was very familiar with. he had the same callouses on his hands, as did jack and Ana.
Gabe lift up his duffle to show the kid. “I put them away. We can’t be walking around covered in blood. We’re lucky this place even let us in the door with the way you looked. And those are my clothes. you can keep them until you get some of your own.” he handed the old Stetson to Jesse, it looked special. You don’t hand on to something so beaten up without good reason. As predicted, the kid jammed the hat back on his head and lifted his chin up a bit. Gabe led him out of the pool, drove them to the nearest fast food chain, picked up enough food to feed an entire team and pulled into the parking lot of a deserted mall that had been chosen as the pick up spot. He tossed a burger to Jesse and watched him inhale it like it was the first thing he’d eaten in days, which Gabe knew wasn’t the truth. He’d made sure the kid got feed at the station.
“Jesus kid. Slow down.” He passed another burger and a water over to him before starting on his own. “food’s not going anywhere. I got plenty.”
Jesse’s cheeks reddened a bit and he slowed down enough to chew his food a couple times before swallowing. “s’rry. Hungry.”
“yeah. I can see that. Not exactly the type of food you should load up on though.”
Jesse shrugged and shoved a handful of fries into his mouth. Gabe rolled his eyes and chewed his own burger. He’d never been a big fan of fast food, but he didn’t exactly have access to a kitchen, or enough food to feed a ravenous teenager.
He spoke after he finished his second burger and unwrapped his third. “so… Gabriel, err… Mr. Reyes?”
“you can just call me Gabe, kid.”
“ ‘ight. So… Gabe…” he started again but trailed off.
“you got a question in there? Or are you just trying to learn my name?”
“No! I just…” he picked at his burger bun and didn’t look at Gabe. “Why’d ya do this? chose me ‘n all? Plenty of other guys in there were better fighters than me.”
“Maybe. But they weren’t the type of people I’d like to have on my team.” He waited until Jesse looked him in the eye. “I interrogated every single person we arrested. They were all, excluding present company, Bastards. I pride my self on being a pretty good judge of character. I don’t think any of them had it in them to change, they weren’t looking for a second chance, and they didn’t want one. And they’re not the kind of people I could ever trust to watch my back, or my teams back.”
“But I am?” he said, so quietly and unsure it pulled at Gabe’s war hardened heartstrings.
“I think you could be. I think you got mixed up with the wrong group way too early. I won’t ask you, that’s your business and I only want to hear it if you want me to.” He added hastily when a panicked look crossed Jesse’s face. “I grew up with a lot of people who joined up with gangs for all different reasons. For most it was about survival. I can tell the difference between someone who wants a reputation, and someone who wants to survive. I chose you because I could tell you’ve got a good heart. I thought that if you were given a chance, you could do some real good. The least I could do is give you that opportunity. You’re way too young to spend the rest of your life rotting behind bars because you were forced into a bad situation when you were 12 years old.”
The teen chewed in his lip, eyes wide and a little watery, like no one had ever thought of him as anything more than another gun. “what if you’re wrong? What if I’m turn out to be a complete asshole?”
Gabe laughed “Kid, most people on Blackwatch are complete assholes. They’ve all done bad things. Hell, most of them have bounties on their heads and aren’t legally allowed in certain countries. But they are my team. They may be rude, insubordinate assholes, but I wouldn’t let them on my team if I didn’t believe in them. and kid, once I decide to put my faith in someone, I don’t give up on them. I don’t care how much of a fuck up you think you are. I will always have your back. You hear?”
Jesse nodded and Gabe pretended he didn’t see him wipe his eye. “yeah. I hear ya. I thought you were like, a recruiter or something. You’re like a captain right?”
“not exactly. I’m the commander, I created Blackwatch. Split off from Overwatch after the Omnic crisis.”
Jesse’s head snapped toward him. “what? You’re the commander? you were part of overwatch during the crisis? did that Morrison guy also fight during the crisis?”
Gabe nodded. “you really had no idea who he was.” Jesse shook his head. “when did you drop out of school?” as much as he enjoyed someone not recognizing jack, it was a little worrisome how little Jesse knew.
The kid shrugged. “’bout a year before I joined deadlock. I ain’t stupid though. S’not like I’m illiterate or anything.”
“I never said you were.” He made a mental note check if Blackwatch agents were eligible for the U. N’s GED program.
The flight to the swiss headquarters was long, Jesse had fallen asleep after 2 hours in the air and managed to sleep through the entire flight. The ship’s wheels hitting the ground jarred him from his sleep, he pulled the blanket Gabe has tossed over him off and stood up.
“well kid.” Gabe said as the door to the ship opened. “welcome to Overwatch.”
Overwatch’s swiss headquarters was massive. Easily the largest thing Jesse had ever seen, White walls and gleaming windows nearly blinded him. the ship left them on a training field built on top of a cliff. Gabe grabbed Jesse by the elbow and dragged him toward the building. “Pick your jaw up off the floor vaquero. This isn’t even the main entrance.”
“its not?” Jesse gazed around as the older man lead him inside. There was a garage not to far away, a few jeeps and smaller helicopters sat outside it.
“no. this is the Blackwatch section. Built into the side of this cliff. Overwatch is on the other side, so the public can see their heroes at work, take the occasional tour.” he pulled him inside the first set of doors, a blue ray can down from the ceiling and swept over them, if Gabe hadn’t had a firm grip on Jesse’s arm he would have jumped.
“welcome back Commander Reyes.” A disembodied voice came from the ceiling, and this time Jesse did jump. He broke out of Gabe’s hold and pressed his back against the wall, looking for the source of the voice.
Gabe rolled his eyes at the boy. “Hey Athena. I brought back a new recruit, I’ll get him in the system once I get to my office.” He waved Jesse back over. “Athena, meet Jesse McCree, Blackwatch’s newest rookie. Jesse, meet Athena.”
Jesse look at the ceiling, then back at Gabe, then back at the ceiling. Gabe sighed and continued on. “Athena is Overwatch’s A.I she is the eyes and ears of this place.”
“oh.” Jesse tipped his hat at the ceiling, and immediately felt stupid. “Howdy miss Athena. Pleases to meet ya.”
“Hello Agent McCree.” Athena’s voice came through the ceiling again. “welcome to Overwatch. I look forward to working with you.” The door slid open in front of them.
Jesse followed Gabe through the empty halls of the Blackwatch wing of the building. He pointed out his office, which over saw the training rooms, the training rooms themselves which he couldn’t access until he was issued a pin and com, various briefing rooms, and the Rec room before he brought him to the Dorms.
“every agent gets their own room. It has a bed, closet, truck and bathroom. There aren’t enough Blackwatch agents to justify separating quarters by gender or rank, besides official rank means next to nothing here anyway. You’ll be in room 15, at the end off the hall. Its been vacant for years, so you’re not taking a dead man’s room. I’m going to leave you to get settled, I have to finished up some work in my office if you need me, do you remember where that it?” Jesse nodded and Gabe continued. “Great. You’re free to explore this wing. the weapons storage, garage and the rest of the base is off limits for the moment. Athena will be monitoring your movements and will alert me if you try to go anywhere you are not supposed to. I’ll come find you in a few hours for dinner. Any questions?”
“yeah. If rank don’t mean shit, do you live here too?” Jesse shoved his hands in the front pocket of his borrowed hoodie.
“no. turns out Commander is the one rank the does matter, we have our own wing.”
He briefly wondered what the other commanders were like. He’d met Morrison, but the Strike-commander probably had his own god damn mansion. “where are the other agents? I ain’t seen hide nor hair of anyone since we landed.”
“on leave or missions. You’ll start seeing them around soon. I’ll introduce you to some people at dinner.” He turned to leave but paused. “oh, and one more thing. I’d keep that tattoo of your hidden for a while. Quite a few agents died and many more were hurt during the deadlock operations. I really hope I don’t have to tell you not to tell anyone about the agents you killed. If someone confronts you about being the one that shot them, that’s fine, you can own up to that. But do not admit to killing anyone. If anyone give you trouble you come right to me, do not, and I mean this Jesse McCree, throw the first punch. I do not allow fighting outside the training room.”
The teenager tugged on the cuff of his sleeve and nodded. He watched his new Commander walk away and tentatively entered his dorm. Ignoring the ball of anxiety eating at his stomach, he locked the door behind him and took it in. there was a single bed up against the far wall, with a military issue footlocker at the end. A simple desk sat under a window that looked out over the field, a dresser and closet stood empty next to a door Jesse assumed was the bathroom. He hadn’t had his own space since he was 10 years old. The room felt too big, too empty, too quiet. It was unsettling.
Jesse kicked off his boots, gently placed his hat on the nightstand and sat on the bed with his back to the corner so he could see the door. He pulled his knees up and waited.