Chapter Text
Michael watched the convenience store from his position on the rooftop. The store on the other side of the road was closing soon, and apart from the cashier behind the counter was empty of life. He looked over at the blond standing outside the store, phone in hand. The man looked up at Michael and winked.
Michael grinned back and spoke into the microphone attached to his collar.
"You ready to go, Gav?"
"Hell yeah, I'm ready," came the reply through his earpiece. "Born ready."
"Oh, shut the fuck up, you two."
Michael held back his laughter at Geoff's tired voice over the headset.
"You're just jealous because you're stuck in the car with Jack again," he teased. Geoff scoffed at the suggestion.
Michael rolled his eyes and placed his eye against the scope of the sniper rifle. He frowned. The cashier was gone, replaced with a skinny Hispanic man that was greedily grabbing the money from the cash register. Michael's eyes narrowed at the gun on the counter.
"Gavin, wait," Michael warned. "There's someone- I think someone's already robbing the place, like, right now." Gavin paused, hand hovering over the door handle.
"What the fuck?" Geoff's reply sounded exasperated. "Who the hell is it? Is it someone from Rooster Teeth? I told Matt and Burnie to stay out of-"
"Nah, I'd recognise them if it was one of them," Michael interrupted his boss. "This guy is pretty scrawny, he's got glasses... Gav, you should get out of there before the cops show." Michael saw Gavin nod and step back when Geoff spoke again.
"Wait, we have to see who is in there," he disagreed. "Gavin, head in. Interrogate him or some shit, I don't know." Michael let out a frustrated sound from the back of his throat.
"You can't be serious, Geoff. And if the cops show up?"
"Ahh, they won't show. Besides, Jack and I are only a couple of minutes away, he'll be fine." Michael sighed at his flawed logic.
"Okay, fine, and what if this guy shoots him?" he retorted. Gavin slipped his phone into his pocket and pulled out a gun instead. He raised it in the air for Michael to see, and Michael glared back at him. Gavin smirked.
"Hey, you were the one that said he's pretty scrawny, and apparently not from Rooster Teeth, which basically means he's some random ass nobody that wanted a bit of cash. I wouldn't have hired Gavin if I thought he would get himself killed on a job this easy," came Geoff's reply. Michael shook his head lightly, but didn't argue. He could tell this was a losing battle.
"I'm heading in." Gavin sounded impatient. Michael rolled his eyes and pressed his eye up to the sniper scope again.
"Hey, I'll just shoot him now, we can identify the body after. Sounds like a plan?"
"Oh, calm down, Michael," Jack butted in. Michael hadn't even known he was wearing a headset. "You can shoot him if he goes to hurt Gavin."
Michael didn't reply, as the man behind the counter had looked up from his robbery at Gavin's entry. Though Michael was fairly sure Gavin was holding a gun on him, the figure seemed completely at ease. Michael kept his eyes on the gun on the counter the whole time.
"Who the bloody hell are you?" Gavin said, his voice sounding through the earpiece. Michael didn't hear the reply from the stranger's end, but Gavin added in an, "I'm Gavin," after he spoke.
The stranger nodded at him, before dropping to the ground. For a second, Michael thought that Gavin had shot him, but he hadn't heard gunfire. The lights in the store went out and Michael shot at the window, knowing that he wasn't going to hit his target.
His heart leapt into his throat when he heard a gunshot over the earpiece.
"Holy fuck... Gavin? Gavin, you there? Gavin!" Michael shouted into the microphone.
"Gavin, what's going on? Jack's driving us in now, hold on buddy!" Geoff yelled.
Gavin let out a groan. "Shoot the bastard, Michael..." he moaned out. Michael's heart was racing, but hearing Gavin's voice brought him back to the matter at hand, and he looked back through the scope. All he could see was darkness.
"I don't know where he is, I can't see shit," Michael replied, trying to hide the shakiness in his voice. "But, Gavin, are you-"
"It's just my leg, I'll live," Gavin said weakly. "It fucking hurts, though. Hey, I hear footsteps- oi, give that back! That's my mic!" His last few words sounded distant to Michael.
"So, I'm assuming Geoff is on the other side of this thing," the stranger's voice spoke coolly into Michael's ear. "I can't hear shit, because I don't have an earpiece on, so I guess I'll talk, you listen. Oh, no hard feelings, yeah? I was hired to do this, so nothing personal."
Gavin let out a yelp on the other end of the line, followed by distant yelling, "Hey, you bloody stood on my leg - you know, the one you just shot! You prick!"
Michael's fists clenched by his sides, and he tried to calm his breathing down, his anger starting to cloud his judgement. God, he wanted to head over there right now, he was going to kill the asshole that thought he could fuck with his crew, his boi...
"I've been keeping an eye on Fake AH for a while now, you're really got a name for yourself. I'll give the kid here my card, put it in his pocket in case you ever need a bit of help."
Sirens sounded in the distance. "Guess that's my cue. I'm going to head before I get arrested. Nice talking to you." The sound of static filled Michael's ears, and he assumed that this stranger had broken Gavin's microphone.
"God fucking damnit, Geoff, I told you he shouldn't have gone in!" Michael yelled.
"Jack and I are pulling up out back now, he'll be fine," Geoff's voice broke through the static.
"We'll be gone by the time the cops even show," Jack added in.
Michael frowned at the cars fast approaching in the distance. "Hey, if you see that dickhead that shot Gavin, shoot him in the head for me."
"I'm in the place," Geoff commented. "I've got Gavin - Jesus Christ, you weigh nothing. The other guy's fucked off to nowhere, though. We'll be over to you in a minute, Michael."
Michael started to pack up his equipment and made his way down the stairs. The car was already waiting outside by the time he got down. He opened the back door and jumped into the car. Jack's foot was on the accelerator before he had even closed the door.
Michael pulled the Brit beside him closer to him and the boy laid his head on Michael's lap.
"Oww, fucking prick bastard pleb. That hurt like hell. After he shot it, he stood on it. Stood on it. And did you hear him call me a kid, like he's actually older than me? Fucking nerve."
Michael stroked Gavin's hair lightly. His eyes travelled to the bullet wound on Gavin's thigh, and he clenched his teeth.
"I'm going to kill him," he growled. "Who the fuck was that?"
"He said... Narvaez? I didn't recognise the name, anyway," Gavin mumbled, letting out a hitched breath when the car went over a bump. "Oww..."
"We're pulling in now. Caleb'll fix you up in no time," Jack assured him, pulling into the driveway. They must have called Caleb on the way to collect Michael.
After much protest from Gavin, Michael managed to convince the blond to let him carry him inside. Caleb had already laid out a white cloth over the dining table, and Michael placed Gavin on it.
Caleb gave him a nod of dismissal, but Michael ignored him. He squeezed Gavin's hand and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Let Caleb fix me up, you munthead," Gavin teased weakly. Michael raised an eyebrow at him.
"He can fix you up with me here," he retorted. Caleb was quick to protest.
"Actually, no, I can't-" Michael's glare was enough to shut the medic up. Gavin let out a small laugh, which soon turned into a grimace.
"I'm fine, Michael, I've been shot before. Hell, I've shot myself before," he said, winking at Michael. Michael rolled his eyes dramatically at the memory of the Brit accidentally shooting his own foot.
"Come on, Michael. I wanted to discuss some things with you and Jack, anyway," Geoff spoke up. Michael sighed.
"Alright, alright, Jesus," he said. He leaned over the table to kiss Gavin, one hand sliding into the boy's jean pocket as he did. Gavin lifted his head to meet his lips as Michael's hand clasped on to a piece of card in his pocket. He pulled back, taking the card with him.
Gavin smirked at him. "See you later. Hopefully, I'll be a bit less bloody then." Michael gave him a lopsided grin, but failing to hide the worry in his eyes. He followed Jack and Geoff down the hall.
They stopped in the middle of the hallway, just outside of Michael and Gavin's room. Geoff's eyes lingered on Michael's clenched fists before meeting his eyes.
"Don't know why you're so mad at Narvaez, anyway," he commented. Michael went to protest, but Geoff raised a hand to silence him. "I just mean that the guy said he was hired by someone. We should really be pissed at whoever gave him the money to do that."
"Alright, and until we find out who that is, I'll be directing all my anger onto that shithead," Michael retorted.
"Roosterteeth?" Jack suggested. Geoff shook his head.
"Doubt it. We've been getting on well with them lately, kept to our territory. There wouldn't really be any reason for them to hire someone to rob a store, especially considering it would cost more than it's worth. Not their style, either."
"So, what, we've got another gang trying to invade our territory?" Jack asked, lips tilting downwards. Michael shrugged, only half paying attention to the conversation, the other half focusing on the card in his hand. He was itching to go into his room and call the number.
"I'm heading to my room, going to get to sleep," Michael butted in, shoving past the two before either could speak up.
He slammed the door closed behind him and waited for their voices to fade down the hallway before taking out his phone. The card he had stolen from Gavin's pocket seemed to be a business card of some sort. It had the name Ray Narvaez Jr written across the top, obscure details of jobs he could be hired for underneath.
Michael punched in the phone number and held the mobile to his ear. His stomach twisted at the sound of the ringing. He knew that Geoff was going to be annoyed he called before consulting with them, and contemplated hanging up just as the call went through.
"Hey, who's this?" the voice he recognised from earlier said lazily. Michael took a seat on the bottom of the bed, a scowl spreading across his face.
"I fucking swear to God, I'm going to-"
"Oh, Michael," Narvaez interrupted, sounding completely unperturbed by Michael's tone. "I'd figured you'd call. What's up?"
"Shut the fuck up, Narvaez," Michael hissed back, anger overtaking any curiousity as to how the man knew his name. "You shot my boyfriend."
"Yeah, I remember. How's Gavin doing, anyway? It was just his leg, I'm sure he'll be grand." There was a pause, before he added on the end, "I prefer Ray, by the way. It's easier than Narvaez."
Now the dickhead had the nerve to ask about Gavin? God, Michael couldn't wait until Kdin tracked the fucker down and this kid got what was coming to him
"Listen here, asshole," Michael's voice was growing louder, his Jersey accent slipping back as he got angrier. "I'm going to fucking find you, and I'm going to put a bullet through your head."
There was silence on the other end of the line, and for a moment Michael thought he had finally intimidated the guy. Then his voice came back, sounding completely bored with Michael's threats.
"Nice, very Liam Neeson-esque," he commented, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Now, if you excuse me, I have better things to-"
The door opened and Michael didn't get to hear the rest of Narvaez's sentence. Geoff furrowed his eyebrows at the fuming ginger.
"Who is that?" he asked. Michael held up the business card for Geoff to see, not even bothering to pretend it was anyone else. Geoff's eyes widened, before turning into a glare. He was probably pissed that Michael had called before telling him, but he couldn't care less.
"Who is that?" this time, the question came from over the phone. "Is that Geoff? Oh, put him on, anyone I can have an intelligent conversation with, for the love of God."
Geoff reached his hand out for the phone. Michael slammed it into his open palm with an eye roll. Geoff held the phone up to his ear.
"Narvaez," he breathed, making his way out of the room. He gestured for Michael to go check on Gavin, and Michael headed down the hallway reluctantly. "I've a few questions for you..."
Geoff's conversation was soon drowned out by the sound of Gavin's complaints. "This sucks. Jesus Christ, that hurt. Hey, Caleb, do you have any more pain meds, because seriously-"
"Gavin," Michael interrupted from the doorway. Gavin looked over at the man and smiled.
"Hey, Michael," he greeted. He was now sitting on the table, legs dangling over the edge. Caleb was packing away his equipment on the other side of the table. "I'm good. Well, it still hurts like hell, and I won't be able to walk for a while, but you know. I'll live, or whatever."
"I told you that you shouldn't have gone in," Michael said. He walked over and hopped onto the table, sitting beside Gavin. "See, this is why you're the idiot, and you should always listen to me, and agree with me. Forever."
Gavin rolled his eyes, a grin forming on his face. "You love me, really."
A smile spread across Michael's cheeks in spite of himself. He shoved Gavin's shoulder lightly.
"Yeah, fuckface, I guess I do."
There was a small pause, as the boy's just sat in each other's company, before Michael added with a small smirk, "Just a little bit, though."