Chapter Text
"Gaaaaabe!"
The high-pitched, breathy sound left your lips between giggles as you struggled against his onslaught. Gabriel's hilarious idea to tickle you awake this morning had turned into both of you becoming a limb-tangled, writhing mess atop his bed.
"Stop it! Gabe! O-okay, OKAY. I'm awake...you WIN!"
You made a squeak you were previously unaware you were capable of as he continued to tickle your sides, hovering above you. You were trying to be serious now, to get him to actually stop, but you couldn't prevent the laughter flowing now, as tears rolled down the apples of your cheeks. Even after two years of being with you, Gabriel still could never help the huge grin that graced his face whenever you failed to contain your laughter. He loved that sound more than any other.
His hands finally slowed their assault and came to rest lightly on your waist as he settled his face against your neck and mumbled.
"I'm sorry, mi vida. I couldn't resist."
He lifted is head to admire your blush ridden face and returned the soft smile you offered him.
"I think I can forgive you just this once, handsome." After a beat of silence staring into each other's eyes, you spoke again. "We should probably get up, I know you've got a meeting today."
Gabriel sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically as he began to untangle himself from you. He did indeed have a meeting today. A boring, Morrison-lead meeting full of plans and procedures he'd probably already heard about ten thousand times, but as the commander of Blackwatch he had to attend. Which meant that no matter how much he would adore spending a lazy day with you, he had to get up and get dressed.
"I wish I didn't, mi vida."
"I know."
Gabriel leaned down from his standing position by the bed to give you a soft and meaningful kiss on the lips before heading to the bathroom to shower. As he walked away you could see the tension in his muscles, the way he somewhat dragged his feet now, the slight hunch is his back that would likely go unnoticed by others...but not you. You knew the weight he was feeling.
The strain between he and Jack had, to some extent, settled down since Ana disappeared. It had been fiery and tense, but in their shared mourning, it calmed...briefly. Now, however, tensions were on the rise again and you knew he was stressed over the strike commander, the UN, Blackwatch's future. What you wouldn't do to hold him close all day and tell him everything would be alright, but you couldn't. It was his job. Holding him back from that would only make things worse between your boyfriend and his former friend. So, he'd go and 'do his duty' as a commander and when he returned you'd be there for him...just like you always were.
You heard the shower turn off as you got up to prepare for your day. Gabriel re-entered the room wearing just a towel and that signature toothy smile he had for you no matter how he was feeling.
"It's about time you made a move. Morrison hates a lazy agent."
"Yeah well, If he's in a meeting with you, how will he know I was a bit late to training?"
He padded his way over to where you were standing in a pile of discarded clothes by his bed and slowly wrapped his arms around you to pull you flush to his chest. You smiled as he looked down at you to place a feather-light kiss on the tip of your nose. You flinched as a rogue water droplet left his hair and found your cheek. Gabriel stifled a chuckle.
"Maybe I'll tell him...tell him you need stricter schedules...need to move to Blackwatch...under my command..."
He punctuated each statement with a kiss starting at your jaw and heading down your neck.
"Oh, really?" You lifted his head with a finger under his chin to smirk at him before giving him a deep, warm kiss on his big, soft lips. "Just get dressed."
You turned to pick up your Overwatch hoodie from the floor behind you and jumped a little when you felt Gabriel give your butt a playful slap. You turned to glare at him, but he was already walking away towards his closet.
The rest of your day went as it normally did. As an agent recently out of recruitment, you didn't know too many of the 'higher-ups' or 'veterans' as they were known to recruits, but Lena had become a friend to you pretty quickly. She'd train with you, eat with you in the canteen, hangout with you in the rec room. She was cool...you liked Lena. Today was a Lena day. After training and other work, you walked with her back to her room.
"D'ya fancy binge watching that show we were talking about?"
You could tell she was eager, but you knew Gabe would likely be in a bad mood after his day of stressful meetings, phone calls and paperwork. So, you opted to be there for him...just like you always were.
"Maybe some other time? I'm just really tired. Training with you today really took it out of me." You chuckled.
"Sure, some other time, then! Goodnight!"
The excitable brunette hugged you goodbye and left you alone in the long corridor. You turned left and made your way towards Gabriel's room. Once outside his door, you knocked gingerly awaiting his reply.
"Who is it?"
His voice was lower than usual and you knew that meant you were right...he was in a bad mood.
"It's me. Can I come in, handsome?"
You hoped the nickname and cheery tone would make him feel a little better...maybe.
You heard shuffling and footsteps made their way towards the door before it opened. Gabriel didn't look mad or frustrated as he usually did after a day with Jack Morrison...he looked sad. Defeated. That worried you. He pulled you in for a hug and closed the door, seemingly in one swift motion.
"Gabe? What's wrong, honey?"
You spoke as softly as you could, although the worry so evidently seeped into your words like water to a sponge. His beard prickled your cheek as he lifted his head from your shoulder to look you in the eye with his bloodshot ones. Had he been crying? Or was he just really tired? Before you could ask him ,he spoke...just as softly as you had done previously.
"It's bad..." a pause, "It's really bad, mi vida."
"What do you mean?"
"All of this. It's all fucked."
Worry and anxiety flooded your brain and you wanted to yell at him to just get it out, but you needed to allow him the time to tell you whatever it was he wanted to say. You hated seeing him like this. You waited.
He looked towards the floor and seemed to be thinking about how to formulate a coherent sentence. Then he gently took your arm and lead you to his bed where he lay, spread out his left arm and looked up at you with the warmest, sweetest, brown eyes. You accepted his invitation and snuggled into his side. the arm that invited you, snaked around your shoulders and played with your hair whilst the other found one of yours and intertwined your fingers. It was peaceful for a moment. Just silence. Until, it seemed, Gabriel found the courage to break it.
"The UN is investigating Overwatch." He blurted out. "They want us to visit the Swiss HQ."
"Why do you have to go to Switzerland?"
"I don't exactly know, hermosa. Morrison and I are headed out there next week. I suppose it's to give us an opportunity to dispel the 'accusations and allegations' against us."
He let go of your hand to enclose those two words in quotation marks, before quickly returning it to its locked position with yours.
You knew he didn't want to go. He didn't want any of this to be happening at all (that was one thing he and Morrison could still agree on). But it was happening and he had to go. You didn't rightly know how to respond. You snuggled closer into his warm embrace and sighed.
"It'll be alright, Gabe."
"Will it?"
That question and the tone with which he asked it made your heart twitch in your chest. You so wanted it to be true, but the truth was, you didn't know what this meant for Blackwatch or Overwatch...or your relationship.
"I'll be here for you no matter what...just like I always am."
You smiled up at him, a gesture he returned before kissing you lightly on your temple.
"Well, then I know it'll be alright."
You knew there were different ways you could've handled it, different things you could've said. You knew he was still confused, frightened, sad. You hated that there was nothing else you could do to change that. But you got him to smile, even just for a second, and that made you feel happier.
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The week seemed to drag and with every passing day, a seemingly misplaced feeling of dread grew inside of you. Gabriel had been on risky missions taking out terrorists and dangerous criminals; risking his life. Why did you feel so apprehensive about him going to Switzerland? It was so weird to you, but the lingering tension in the air made you uneasy.
Everyone was in low spirits, people were beginning to give up already. Many of the agents you'd gone through recruitment with had left the organisation. People you knew had worked their asses off to be here. They'd left because they were scared for the future. Even a few veteran agents had gone off to do their own thing, unsure of what would happen to them if Overwatch was shut down by the UN. But you were still here. You were here bright and early with Gabe, in front of a dropship set for Switzerland. He kissed your forehead for what seemed like the thousandth time today and followed it up with a gentle peck on your nose.
"Gabe! You need to get on the ship!" You giggled.
He laughed lightly, "I know, hermosa. But I also NEED to kiss you goodbye."
Your giggle continued as his kisses were planted all over your face.
"Alright! Alright!"
He stopped to look at your smiling face and tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear as he stared. Your eyes found the floor as you bit your bottom lip lightly.
"I love you." He almost whispered, ducking his head slightly as to catch your eyes again.
"And I love you." You said, returning to the glossy gaze of his deep, chocolate eyes.
That's when you caught something in them. Something strange, sad...knowing. You tilted your head at him and frowned.
"Is everything okay, handsome?"
He snorted, "Of course it's not, I'm leaving my baby for a whole week or more for another country!"
You couldn't quite pin point what it was, but you had confidence he'd be okay. He had to go.
"Reyes! We need to leave! Our arrival is scheduled for 800 hours. Get moving!"
Jack Morrison's voice was never one Gabriel enjoyed hearing, especially when he was trying to be romantic. He rolled his eyes, held your face between his hands and gave you one last deep kiss on the lips before letting go and turning towards the ship with a final whispered, 'I love you'.
Before he was too far away, you called his name. He turned back with a small smile. You don't know why you said it, or where the thought even came from, but...
"Promise me you'll come back...I need you to promise me."
Gabriel gave you that special toothy smile that you knew and loved and as his fingers made a cross over his heart, he shouted back.
"Mi vida, I promise I'll come back to you."
He blew you a kiss and threw his arms open dramatically walking backwards towards his gear. You laughed. A real laugh, straight from your gut as you 'caught' the kiss.
When the heel of his boot hit his gear, he turned around to pick it up and carry it onto the dropship. Just before the doors closed he smiled the most genuine smile at you as you gave him a little wave. Then he was gone.
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For weeks after the explosion you'd closed yourself off from everything and everyone. Lena had tried her best to get you to leave your small apartment and go to lunch with her or hang out with her or at least do something. You always refused. Always said you needed to be alone. You'd hardly eaten since the fall, hardly slept either. That was the hardest thing...sleeping. It was a strange feeling being in a bed that was yours and not his. A bed in an apartment that he'd never been in. You'd sometimes fall asleep on the couch to the soundtrack of a TV show you were never even watching, but that short sleep was always interrupted by his face. He'd be smiling, at first, that smile. But then he'd be crying, yelling, screaming your name and you couldn't get to him no matter how hard you tried. He was always too far away.
You didn't go to the memorial service they held for them. What was the point? To hear some UN official talk about how much of a true hero Jack Morrison was and how 'Commander Reyes was brave too'? No. There was no point. You didn't need people you barely knew pitying you either. Pretending they were 'sorry for your loss' when they couldn't even begin to understand what you'd lost. Instead you stayed home and stared blankly at a TV screen where some random woman rambled about her favourite cheese to use when making homemade pizza rolls.
There was nothing left for you anymore. No family. No Overwatch. No Gabe. You weren't even allowed pets in this apartment.
So you carried on. Carried on just...being.
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Years later...
There you were. Just how he remembered you. Just as sweet and beautiful.
A black sweeping mist swirled its way around him and the tree he sought the cover of shadow under. He peered at your shivering body as you closed the door after re-entering the nice, homely cottage you lived in. He wanted nothing more than to make you feel warm again.
You laughed as you watched your puppy run around like crazy as you returned to the cosy front room of your house. The fireplace was roaring and provided a welcoming change to the frosty, snow covered world beyond the window. You'd only gone outside for a minute to take out the trash, but he acted like you'd been gone for a whole week. He was cute though.
You curled up on the sofa and patted your knee. The fluffy little dog bounded its way into your lap and snuggled against tummy. You stroked his head as you flicked through hundreds of TV channels which seemingly showed nothing new.
He smiled sadly beneath his bone white mask as you stopped on his favourite movie and settled in to watch it. He knew you hated that movie.
He stood there admiring every little detail of you. He stood there for hours. He stood there through the whole movie, into the start of the next one, and whilst you and your puppy fell asleep.
You were there...just like you always were.
He knew you didn't know he was there too, but he came back to you like he'd promised.
He came back.