Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Who is it?”

Jack looked down at himself. He stood in the shower, soaked in water and covered in bubbles. He wasn’t exactly in a position to have a conversation with anyone. 

“It’s Gabe.”

“Uh. I’m in the shower.”

“Yeah, I can hear that.”

Jack rolled his eyes. He could practically hear the smirk in Gabriel’s voice. 

“Alright, y-”

Before he could finish, Jack heard the door open. He spun around and pressed a button in the shower and the glass of the shower fogged up so Gabriel couldn’t see him. 

“Aw,” he heard Gabriel say playfully. 

“Is this urgent?”

“Just wanted to check up on you. Holding up okay?”

Jack watched Gabriel’s form from behind the frosted glass. “I’m alright. How about you?”

Gabriel paused and Jack wished he could see his face. “You know me. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t.”

He heard Gabriel chuckle. “Do you worry about everyone this much, Jackie?”

“Not everyone makes me worry as much as you do.” Gabriel went quiet and Jack added, “it’s not a problem.” Jack leaned against the wall, peering through a bit of clear glass in the corner of the shower. He flashed him a smile. “I like worrying about you.”

Gabriel grinned. “Alright, you softie,” he said, waving a hand. He paused before continuing. “Mind if I join you?”

The smile slipped from Jack’s face. “Are you serious?”

Gabriel’s grin turned anxious. “Not if your answer is no.”

Jack caught his lip between his teeth, thinking about what saying yes would mean. 

He thought he liked the idea. 

“Sure,” Jack said, his voice sounding a lot less confident than he would have liked. 

Gabriel lit up and Jack bit back a smile. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Gabriel pulled up the hem of his shirt but stopped when he met Jack’s gaze, who was still watching him through the glass. “Hey, no peeking.” He shot him a wink as he pulled up his shirt about halfway. “You’ll see more than this soon enough, cariño.”

Jack pushed himself off the wall and looked down at the ground, his face flushing bright red. “Do you, um..think they’ll mind?”

“Who, the SEP?”

“Yeah.”

“Nah. They don’t care who’s screwing who or who’s showering with who.” Gabriel’s belt hit the ground. “Besides, with all these chemicals they’re loading us with, I bet they’re not surprised to see everyone getting horny.”

“I’m not horny,” Jack said stubbornly. 

“Sure you aren’t.”

Jack scowled but wiped that expression off his face when the door to the shower opened and Gabriel stepped in. The Gabriel Reyes stood only a foot away from him, completely naked. 

Jack was only aware he was staring after he’d been staring for a while. He looked away quickly but a soft “hey” from Gabriel drew his gaze back to his face. “Can I kiss you?”

Jack froze. 

God, he was lucky. 

“Yeah.”

And then there was a strong arm around Jack’s waist and a hand on the back of his head and warm lips on his own, kissing him slow. He could feel Gabriel’s whole body against him as he pushed him up against the wall. It felt like the heat from his cheeks had travelled through his entire body. 

Gabriel kissed from his mouth down to the base of Jack’s neck, hands moving to hold his hips. Gabriel looked up at him, mouthing over his collarbone. “I’m guessing you don’t want me to put marks where the others can see?”

Jack hesitated. He wasn’t ashamed to be doing this with Gabriel, but he knew that the other soldiers would go crazy if they heard about it. “..Yeah.”

“Mhm.” He kissed his skin gently, making Jack’s stomach flip. “That’s my golden boy.”

Jack placed his hand on the back of Gabriel’s neck. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing.” He slid a calloused hand up Jack’s stomach and Jack’s back arched up into his touch. “I admire that about you. I admire that you care.”

Jack’s hand moved to cradle Gabriel’s jaw. “And you don’t?”

“..No.” He leaned against the wall of the shower, moving his arm back around Jack’s waist. Jack pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “You’re a team player. You protect everyone. You risk your life for other people.” He ran his fingers through Jack’s wet hair. “But I don’t play by the rules and I don’t stick with the team. I go off and do my own thing and people get hurt because of me.”

“Are you saying you don’t care about them? The people that get hurt?”

Gabriel avoided his eyes. “Yeah.”

“That’s a lie.” Gabriel looked back at him, startled. “You care more than anyone I’ve met. That’s why you’re here in the first place. That’s why you’re doing this.” He took Gabriel’s hand, kissing a scar on his arm. “You got this scar protecting people.” He met his eyes. “You care so much and I can see it. I know you act like you don’t because you don’t want to get hurt. But you don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Gabriel went quiet for a long time. He realized that Jack knew him better than anyone - Jack had figured out things that he never wanted anyone to know. 

But Jack knew all of these things and he embraced them. He still looked at him like Gabriel was the best thing he had ever seen. Gabriel had never had someone look at him like that. 

So Gabriel grabbed him and kissed him and Jack threw his arms around his neck, laughing against his lips. 

Yeah. That was his golden boy. 

Chapter Text

several years later
post fall of Overwatch

The door clicked shut. A rush of water came from the shower head. Steam fogged up the mirror. 

Gabriel looked down, running a finger along the scar on his arm. 

You got this scar protecting people. 

Gabriel shook his head, trying to shake his voice out of his mind. 

I’m not going to hurt you. 

And yet, Gabriel could remember how that adoring look transformed into a look of rage. He remembered the last time he ever saw Jack. 

Gabriel’s hands shook. 

“You hurt me,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have trusted you.”