Chapter Text
It had seemed like a stupid idea at first—so Gabriel had said no. He could see how heartbroken Jack was about it, sadness shining behind those baby blues like shattered glass. But it would never work—and Gabriel kept reminding him of that the first few years.
“It’s not that I don’t want to be with you, Jack, it’s just…marriage? Now?” He crossed his arms, looking around their bunker. “In the middle of all this? We’re soldiers, Morrison.” Jack had recoiled from his last name like he’d been hit. He had known he was being overly optimistic, expecting Gabriel Reyes, of all men, to agree to a shotgun wedding, but it still hurt being outright rejected like this.
Stupid. He thought. You didn’t even buy a ring. Get secretly married?? Stupid, stupid stupid. He let himself fall back onto the bed, putting his head in his hand.
“I’m sorry Gabe. You’re right. It’s dumb. We can just…….stay like this. For now.” He shook his head. He should’ve known. Even with stupid laws and stuff being repealed, even with it being legal…it was bad news for the public image of their company.
It was worse news when Jack got promoted. That was likely when he had completely given up on the idea of marrying Gabriel, even if they were stuck together for the rest of their lives. As he stood on stage and delivered a thank you speech, all he could think was that this cemented the fact that he’d never get Gabe to wear his ring. At least, that’s what he had thought until their leave together—Gabe had gotten them some fancy cruise trip for their vacation, and Jack was enjoying it, sure…and then, on deck watching the sunset, Gabe had gotten down on one knee. His enjoyment of the cruise skyrocketed from an average vacation level to over the moon.
“Gabriel…I thought…”
“I was being an idiot. Jack, of course I want to marry you. Fuck public image.”
“Gabriel—Gabe—yes. Of course yes.” Jack tugged his now fiancé off his knee into a tight hug, the sun still shimmering on the water as the last sliver of it slowly dipped down beyond the horizon.
~~~
Jack Morrison was too much of an optimist to imagine how heavily the troubles would start rolling in after that.
“Why are you still wearing that?” Gabriel pointed to Jack’s ring as he twisted his off his ring finger, placing it on his nightstand in their bunker. Jack froze, a spike of ice lodging itself in his heart.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I mean…why be so obvious? You could wear gloves, I guess.”
“What are you talking about, Gabe? What happened to ‘fuck public image’?!” He tore his eyes from Gabe’s face to stare at the ring sitting on the dresser. He heard Gabe sigh and snapped his head over to glare at the man.
“Jack, come on, don’t be like this.”
“Like what? I’m sorry, what happened to us not caring? To not being afraid of…this. Why are you acting like you’re ashamed of me?!”
“It’s not that I’m ashamed, it’s just—“
“It’s just you don’t want anyone to know. Fine.” Jack took the ring off his hand, being unnecessarily rough, and slammed it down on Gabe’s nightstand next to the other.
“Great. Now you don’t have to worry.” He stalked to the door, ignoring Gabe’s protests. “It’ll be like we’re not even married at all.”
~~~
It wasn’t a matter of if the news would break—it was a matter of when. The fact that it had technically been Jack’s fault only made it worse when they both found out. He had known it was stupid to go on a date—but Gabe’s entire thing about not wearing their wedding rings in public had shaken him badly. A marriage that was no more than signing paperwork by themselves, and now they weren’t even wearing their rings? Thinking back to how romantic their engagement was started to fill him with nothing but disappointment for how quickly things had spiraled into the same sneaking-around-out-back ways they had kept up while unmarried.
So he wanted some comfort. Something to make him feel like Gabe wasn’t really ashamed of him. It was clear by how he caved that Gabe knew that as well. So they went on a date…something simple. Out to the city for a day. Nothing big. He was being stupid to think that something like that would work for them—Commander Morrison, charming blonde, blue-eyed face of their military, and Reyes, the almost-as-famous second in command (although his fame sometimes looked more like infamy). There was nothing ‘simple’ in their lives.
Gabe even told him he was being stupid when he brought the newspaper to him, slamming it against his chest roughly, the paper crinkling.
“Just a date. Yeah, right.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Read the damn paper Jack.” He tugged it off his chest and out of Gabe’s hands, smoothing out the pages to see his own face on the front page—washed out from poor photo quality and poor printing, but there was no doubt it was him. America’s golden boy, smiling his perfectly white smile across the table at none other than Gabriel Reyes. Holding out a spoonful of ice cream, wedding ring glinting on his left hand.
“Wh—‘A Secret Date? A Love Affair? Married Man Morrison Cheating With His Second In Command’…we….cheating? What?!”
“They can’t see my ring in the picture. They probably assumed you’re married to some American Dream Housewife, Jack.”
“Well…We…we can clear this up. I mean, they’ll want me to make a press announcement anyway. I’ll just tell them what’s really happening.” Gabriel’s face said all Jack needed to know about that prospect.
~~~
Jack took a deep breath. Tried not to focus on the absent space where Gabriel would usually be standing during speeches like this. The cameras pointed at his face burned, like he was being faced down with laser beams. He forced himself to continue.
“—which is why accusations of cheating are unfounded, due to the fact that Reyes and I are married. However, because of…complications, our marriage is now undergoing annulment. I thank you for your time and your willingness to listen.” He took more deep breaths. Another reminder to not think about Gabriel’s absence. A reminder to try and keep the divorce papers out of his head, despite just mentioning them.
“However, I would like to comment on the willingness of our news media to latch onto people’s personal lives and attempt to sensationalize them. While the annulment of our marriage is not due to the media’s interference—“ Lie. “—it is not hard to imagine that this could happen to other couples, whether celebrity or well-liked politician, due to this kind of reporting.” He nodded his head, and the men in suits at the two corners of the stage motioned to the photographers and newsmen that it was over. He said another, quieter “thank you” before moving away from the podium, and walking through the space where Gabriel should be standing.
He only hoped the divorce was a quick as possible. He didn’t know how long he could take this.
~~~
If anyone asked Jack about the next few years, he wouldn’t be able to answer in much detail. Everything passed in a blur—Gabriel transferred to another company, and word of him only trickled through after months of waiting, if that. His new second-in-command was an older soldier, who he quickly became friends with, but he couldn’t remember much of their deployments or missions if asked.
Two years into Gabriel being gone, he heard news of him after a long period of silence. Something about an honorable discharge.
A year later, he was in an accident. What was left of him wasn’t the pretty All-American Boy that the military wanted as their poster boy anymore.
That turned out to be fine—in another three years, the decisions of his higher-ups made in other countries were under fire…and although he hadn’t been poster boy in years, he found himself under fire as well. The common people didn’t want to hear about how he had no real power as the commander of a single unit. They wanted to aim for the devil they knew—not the higher-ups, whose faces they almost never saw, hidden behind desks and piles of paperwork.
He retired, scarred and tired, his newfound friends from his unit leaving with him, but staying in contact. It was Angela who gave him the idea of his new job. Reinhardt helped him relocate to London, mostly to escape the idea of the press in America.
An ocean and years away, he hoped Gabriel would stop haunting him…but he knew better than to fool himself into believing he’d ever stop thinking about him.