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Undercover work was one of those things that came with being an agent of Blackwatch. Whereas Overwatch would go into a situation, guns blazing, a massive army of people behind them; Blackwatch, as the covert division, was more likely to sneak into a dangerous operation with only one or two people there for back up. Nobody enjoyed undercover operations, they always involved far too much waiting around and nowhere near enough action. Not to mention the fact that larger weapons couldn’t be carried around so many agents were left without their primary weapon. This meant that most of the time the undercover operations were used as a punishment for any agents who pissed off the commander or were undertaken, unwillingly, by the commander himself.
That was how Gabriel Reyes found himself sat in an overly fancy restaurant alongside Jesse McCree as they waited patiently for the leader of a new terrorist organisation to show up. They had already been there for an hour and Gabriel was already 100% done with this mission. The worst part was that Jesse seemed to be enjoying himself although he wasn’t entirely sure how.
“What the hell are you grinning about, Jesse?” He eventually snapped, starting to get sick of Jesse’s ridiculously large grin.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m in a fancy restaurant alone with my boyfriend.” Gabriel rolled his eyes at that.
“This isn’t a date.”
“Why not? We’re dressed up all nice, eating dinner together… seems like a date to me.” Jesse wiggled his eyebrows at Gabriel who sighed.
“We’re on a mission in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Yeah, but right now we’re waiting for this guy to show up and who knows how long that’ll take? Might as well enjoy ourselves until then.” He shrugged and Gabriel shook his head fondly. Trust Jesse to take a pretty boring, crappy situation and make it sound infinitely better. He tapped his ear and activated the Blackwatch channel.
“Any update on the target, Shimada?”
“No sign of him, commander. Just relax and enjoy yourself, I’ll let you know if anything changes.” Genji’s robotic voice answered him and Gabriel huffed. Of course Genji was helping Jesse out, what else had he expected. Jesse grinned at him from across the table.
“Fine. Have it your way. I’ll… ‘enjoy myself’.” It was useless trying to argue with the combined force of Genji and Jesse and the grin of the younger man opposite him was too much for the commander to resist.
“So it’s a date then?”
“It’s a date.” Jesse pumped his fist in the air and Gabriel bit back a laugh. God Jesse could be such an embarrassment sometimes. A loveable, handsome embarrassment but an embarrassment none the less.
***
When Gabriel had allowed himself to relax a little, after Jesse and Genji constantly reassuring him that the target really wasn’t anywhere nearby, he did begin to enjoy himself. Since making their relationship official, the couple hadn’t really had opportunity to go on any kind of date or really spend any time together outside of missions or training. Any attempt to spend time together on the base resulted in them being interrupted by another agent or one of their superiors and there was no way the pair could go out in public without an armed guard.
This situation then, with the two of them undercover as just an ordinary couple, out for dinner in a fancy restaurant, dressed up in fancy suits, was practically a godsend. They could spend time together, like normal couples, eating food, making jokes and generally enjoying each other’s company. The situation was made even better by the fact that Jesse looked damn good in his suit and, if Jesse’s constant compliments and slight innuendos were to be accepted, he thought Gabriel looked pretty damn handsome in his own fitted suit.
For the first time on an undercover mission, Gabriel felt the time just fly past. In Jesse’s interesting and attractive company the hours rushed by in a blur of laughter, compliments and chaste kisses. For a couple of blissful hours Gabriel didn’t feel like the Blackwatch commander on an important mission; he felt like a normal man out for dinner with his gorgeous boyfriend. When he vocalised this thought to Jesse, the man blushed.
“Aw, Gabe don’t say shit like that.”
“Why not?” Jesse looked down at the table and shuffled uncomfortably. Gabriel leaned across the table and took the man’s hand in his own. Concern laced Gabriel’s expression and Jesse sighed deeply.
“Hey, what is it?” Gabriel asked softly.
“It’s just, ya know…” He trailed off. Gabriel gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Jesse, you can tell me anything. You know that.”
“It’s just. You ever wish we were normal people? Not a commander of a covert operations team and his agent?” Gabriel rubbed his thumb over Jesse’s hand in what he hoped was a calming way.
“Is this about me being your commander, Jesse? Because you know that doesn’t matter, we’ve been over this.” Jesse shook his head and looked up at Gabriel through his lashes.
“It’s not about that. It’s more… this.” Jesse broke gently out of Gabriel’s hands and gestured around him at the restaurant.
“What do you mean?”
“Sometimes I just… I want us to be normal people. A normal couple who go on dates, have dinner with their friends, meet each other’s families and talk about raising their own family together. Just… normal.”
The couple were silent for a moment as Gabriel took in what Jesse had said. The younger man had never even mentioned this kind of thing before, as far as Gabriel had known he was completely happy with the way their relationship was. When they had first starting seeing each other Jesse had had a couple of moments of panic about Gabriel being his commander but thanks to some reassurances from Gabriel and, shockingly enough Jack Morrison, he seemed completely at peace with the situation. So this outburst took Gabriel completely by surprise.
The pair hardly ever talked about their own families let alone the pair of them having their own. Gabriel hadn’t known that Jesse wanted kids or wanted to go for dinners with friends or any of the things he’d just said. They were things that Gabriel knew would be impossible in his life and that he assumed Jesse had known too.
“Jesse, darling. You know that’s impossible.” Gabriel said, arms stretching back out to grab Jesse’s hands in his own. Jesse pulled his hands back when he felt Gabriel’s fingers brush against skin and Gabriel cringed slightly at the action.
“It doesn’t have to be impossible, Gabe. We could run away, never come back. Live a normal life!” Jesse was wide eyed, talking quickly and passionately. Gabriel frowned.
“We can’t do that, you know that.”
“Why not? The pair of us have spent years helping people and putting others first, isn’t it time we put us first?” Gabriel took a deep breath.
“We can’t. People need Blackwatch, they need us.”
“Why us? They’ve got Genji and Jack and Ana and Angela- they’ve got so many people, why do we have to stay?” Jesse’s fists were clenched on the table, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
“Jesse, sweetie we can’t. You know that.” He spoke softly, trying desperately to stop those tears falling down his lover’s face. There were a few beats of silence before Jesse looked down, a single tear falling to the table and leaving a single spot on the napkin.
“Don’t you like this? Don’t you wish we could do this every day?” He eventually whispered and Gabriel felt his heart break. He reached once more for Jesse’s hands and this time the man let his hand be grasped in Gabriel’s own.
“I’ve loved tonight, okay. Don’t you dare think I haven’t had the best night possibly of my life. But you know we can’t run away, Jesse. We can’t leave our friends behind; you really want to leave anti-social Genji without his best friend? And like it or not, people need us to be here, fighting oppressors and terrorists and everyone else who wants to hurt innocent people.” Jesse looked up at Gabriel, eyes still brimming with tears.
“You mean it? You’ve really enjoyed it?” Gabriel couldn’t help but chuckle slightly and reach out to hold Jesse’s chin loosely.
“I’ve had an amazing time. Thank you.” Jesse finally smiled and pulled Gabriel in for a soft kiss.
“I’m sorry. This night… being undercover… it just made me realise how much I love the normality.” Gabriel shook his head, shushing Jesse and wiping away the tears that were about to fall.
“Don’t apologise, Jesse. You’ve done nothing wrong.” Jesse’s smile widened although Gabriel couldn’t help but feel like it was still forced.
“I love you.” He said softly.
“I love you too. Now let’s see if we can get-”
“Sorry to interrupt, commander, but the target is incoming right now.” Genji’s voice suddenly burst through his earpiece and Jesse immediately straightened himself up.
“Understood.” Jesse responded, wiping his eyes and plastering a smile and doe eyed look on his face. Gabriel nodded and leant back in his chair, resuming his undercover chilled persona.
The man in question walked in, a ridiculously expensive white suit on and gold rings on each of his fingers. A slim woman in red hung from his arm, looking up at the man with sheer adoration. Gabriel focused his attention back on Jesse and began to make small talk about the food.
“SHIT. He recognised you. He’s on the run!” Genji yelled down the channel and both Gabriel and Jesse jumped out of their seats.
“How the fuck did he recognise us?” Gabriel shouted, already running towards the restaurant’s exit.
“I don’t know but you’re going to have to get him now. We let this guy go he’ll go even further undercover. You have to pursue him.” Genji said urgently.
“Already on it.” Jesse answered, sprinting ahead. Gabriel continued to follow, knowing that although Jesse was considerably faster in the short term, he would lose his breath in a matter of minutes. Gabriel rounded the corner that Jesse had flown around a few moments before to find their target lying flat on the floor, Jesse straddling his back as he put handcuffs on him. He was panting heavily.
“So much for a covert operation, hey boss?” Jesse said to him with a wink and a genuine grin on his face. Gabriel felt relief wash over him.
“Shut up, let’s get this guy back to base.” He responded, shaking his head fondly.
As the pair dragged their target back to Overwatch base, Jesse made small talk with Gabriel and Genji and poked fun at the terrorist leader, all the while with a massive smile on his face. Gabriel looked at his lover with a soft smile. Despite everything he’d said that night, it seemed as though Jesse was still immensely happy with the way his life was. Catching bad guys and making jests with his best friend and boyfriend. Things weren’t so bad after all.
***
Sharp claws held the edges of the photo in his hands. The two men smiled widely at the camera, arms wrapped around each other and a look of pure happiness on both their faces. Reaper growled and tossed the photo onto his desk. He held his clawed hands over his face and felt a tear roll down his ghostly face.
“Should have ran away with you when we had the chance.”