Work Text:
“In your kingdom
every day becomes enough”
Rafael Cadenas.
The last months of Overwatch were not kind to any of its members. Thousands of workers left to their own luck, unspeakable truths revealed to the public, too much death. The public eye started to shun the violence that had created and fortified Overwatch, and then the widespread acceptance of the Shambali teachings reduced the hate against Omnics to a minimum. When the Iris watched, the hand that fed retired and famine took over.
The fall of such a giant left a crater in the world that slowly got filled with the waters of corruption and crime. When the largest law enforcement group disappears, then all kinds of rats begin to skitter for crime. But it all didn’t seem to matter much, as the news only talked about how good it was that the Big Brother was finally dead. Don’t mind the spikes in homicide all over the world, the new smuggling circles, the international hypocrisy.
It all felt wrong to Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison.
The Petras Act took any chance out of their hands, any intention of correcting the wrongs of the world would shine a spotlight to their stage, all in order to call them a worse criminal than those they tried to stop. Justice became a rather slippery term.
The last time that all of Overwatch’s members were together was in Switzerland. The United Nations had decided to throw a party in honor of the organization’s ‘impeccable’ service and the help given to humanity. Jack and Gabriel handed their resignations ten minutes after the speech.
“Find comfort within yourselves” Oxton had said to them, perhaps quoting Mondatta or any other of the Shambali. Gabriel had been smoking at the balcony of the Palais des Nations in Geneva, not really minding the glowing Non-Smoking Area sign above him. Jack stood beside him, taking in the city lights like a land-locked firmament. “No use in getting blue over this, turn the page and keep going, loves.”
Jack had always liked Lena; her sense of duty was unbreakable and only strengthened by her personality. Not a lot of people in their line of work were as cheerful and positive, and that had to be respected.
Lena said goodbye with a kiss on the cheek for both of them.
The commanders couldn’t do much about their situation. With hands legally bound and without a place to really turn to, they reluctantly followed the woman’s advice and tried to settle down.
Both of them always talked about what to do after retirement, but never expected it would come so fast and unannounced. Jack found golf relaxing and methodical enough to consider it as a potential hobby. Gabriel called him viejito for a solid two months after that, arguing that golf was a sport for old men who couldn’t run anymore so they had to use a dumb car. Jack wouldn’t have minded the name, but one night Gabe decided to whisper it in his ear in a rather crucial moment of their sexual encounters. Mood killer.
On the other hand, Reyes said that he just wanted a quiet place.
“We’ve had enough noise to last three lifetimes, Jackie” Gabriel had been running his fingers along Jack’s short hair. In two months and fifteen days everything would go downhill. The remaining raindrops on the window slowly drifted downwards, the night calm but still cloudy. Jack hated to admit it, but Gabriel’s Blackwatch room felt more safe than anything in Overwatch.
Using Gabe’s ample chest as a pillow, softly caressing over the his scars and body hair, the blond couldn’t help but feel giddy. He liked when Reyes called him Jackie.
“What, do you want to go and live in the woods?” Jack giggled, drowsiness starting to overcome his senses. Gabriel was too comfortable, too warm. “Are you becoming a hermit now, Gabe?”
“You know I want to spend my life with you, asshole.” Instead of sass, Gabriel took Jack’s hand and gently kissed it. “So we’d both be weird hermits”.
Gabriel very rarely used the world love . He felt it was inappropriate. Jack remembered that their very first bad fight had been over Reyes’ inability to speak those four letters. The blond felt very strongly, his passion for Gabriel burning inside and love felt like such a small word compared to his feelings. It doesn’t feel right, Jackie he had said, gaze darkened by the looming thoughts, someone who has brought so much death shouldn’t speak of an emotion like that .
Instead, Gabriel showed his care through other means. The moment they officially had gotten married, Jack was suddenly included in each and every future aspect of Reyes’ life. Breakfasts, lunches and dinners had become sacred hours, moments for them to share without the need to answer orders or calls.
On missions when they were apart, they started sending pictures to each other. Gabe being goofy with McCree, Jack and Lena bathing in the sun when lookout duty was slow. Breathtaking landscapes. Cities they would visit after retiring. Things that reminded them of each other.
“Fine,” Jack said with his hand resting on Gabriel’s face, fingers petting his chin and messing with the goatee. “A nice cabin in the woods it is.”
Instead of a fairytale house surrounded by pines, they had to settle for a cheap apartment in a busy area that never seemed to sleep. The rush of bureaucracy and media coverage had pushed both of them to purchase whatever was available and dump their meager belongings in cardboard boxes.
Even for trained soldiers, moving was a chore.
And despite how much love existed, stress still destroyed moods and minds.
“Put that box over by the closet.” Jack had finally finished setting up the TV on the wall. Fitting a small base to the wall had proven to be more difficult than he had expected, screws falling over at least a dozen times after he failed to properly secure them. The clunky device was a rather old model to have around these days, but it would suffice. Gabriel was somewhere in the kitchen, shuffling plates around. “Gently! There’s breakable stuff in there.”
“Can you stop shouting orders?!” A cabinet door was slammed, heavy steps making the cheap wooden floor shake. “You’re fucking annoying. And here I was hoping you would drop the whole Strike Commander bullshit.”
Jack turned around and followed Gabriel with his eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” The other man was mindlessly looking for something, throwing kitchenware around.
“Don’t play dumb Jack. That stereotype has been dead for decades.”
“When are you going to move on? You’re like a fucking child, Gabriel. It’s not like I wanted to be in charge of Overwatch; you know the UN picks people without asking.”
A plate flew by and crashed against the wall next to Jack’s head, the wall cracking open
“Then why did you take the position?!” Gabriel’s figure was suddenly advancing towards Morrison, his finger then digging into Jack’s chest.. The blond barely flinched over the threat. “You could’ve said ‘No’! But Jack The Fucking Diva Morrison wanted the cameras all for himself!”
“ This is why I took it, Reyes!” Rare, Jack using Gabriel’s last name. “You’re volatile! Only going around beating people senseless when you run out of words. You have absolutely no media presence. Overwatch was doomed after the Omnic Crisis and you staying in the public eye would’ve made it worse. Sure, you pulled through and earned us a time of respite but when peace comes then men like you need to step down.”
“ Men like me? ” Gabriel chuckled, the venom on his voice sounding bitter and bitter with every passing second. Jack knew that stating things that way without expecting any consequences was never a good approach when dealing with Gabriel; perhaps the title of Strike Commander was indeed rooted way deep into his blood. “Enlighten me, come mierda , what kind of man am I?”
Anger bubbled inside of Jack. Many years alongside Gabriel had helped him to better understand and recognize Spanish curses. Reyes’ insults often came unprovoked. Sometimes Jack even welcomed them when they were intimate, but this time it was obvious that his intentions were just to hurt. Despite that, hesitation made him not want to answer right away.
He still loved Gabe, after all.
Pursing his lips, Jack found himself resting his weight on the wall. He was trying not to make things worse, but did it really matter by this point?
“You’re…A brute. Savage, even. You’ve only known violence, so that’s what you give to others. Add your inability to filter thoughts and your jumping to the assumption that everybody’s out to get you into the mix and you get a very unstable man who prefers to see blood over papers.”
A car alarm erupted from the outside. People screamed from across the street. Dust fell from the hole in the wall after someone ran round the apartment on the top floor.
Was that crack in our foundation how we start to fall apart? Jack couldn’t help but think, rubbing his arm after a sudden shiver, still holding tightly to the red screwdriver. It wasn’t pleasant to think of breaking apart. Reyes was a steady constant in his life. He would always be there, even when everything else failed and crumbled around him, making it all better with his dutiful crown. Jack liked to remind Gabe of the meaning behind his name. It was obvious, specially for the man who had it, but it fit. Jack knew that a King was the owner of his life. Losing that crown meant fading away.
“I love you, Gabe,” Jack swallowed hard, the three words floating heavy in the living room, “but you have no right to say that I had it easy just because you never bothered to ask what I did. You were good at Strike Commander because of how much conflict the Omnic Crisis brought, but I had to keep a sinking ship afloat. You brought peace, I gave up and dropped an anchor.”
Reyes removed his finger.
“Jackie” the softening of his voice made Jack sizzle with anger. Gabriel had no place to be condescending.
“Is that what you wanted to hear?” Perhaps this had been Gabriel’s plan in the first place, to transfer his hatred to Jack. Emotions were energy, after all, and energy can only be transformed. “That you got all the good times? That after you I was a failure ? Here comes Gabriel Reyes, humanity’s savior against the Omnics, with his lapdog Jack Morrison, destroyer of the largest safety organization in the world.”
“Jack” Gabriel’s hand locked around Jack’s shaking wrist, trying to control the threat of a screwdriver lodged to his body. “I’m sorry. Let’s not go there.”
“Right. Now you regret it.” Freeing himself from the other man’ grasp, Jack walked to the kitchen to look for a broom, cutting his feet as he stepped over the sharp pieces of what had once been a perfectly white dinner plate. Streaks of red painting the floor, slowly making more of a mess. Jack wasn’t bothered by the sting, his mind lodged into more important thoughts. The crunch of ceramic joined the other sounds that served as background noise.
Jack reacted only after taking a second step, shards digging deeper and causing searing pain. Instead of stopping, he put a better part of his weight on his other leg and resumed his advances.
That is, until Gabriel’s embrace stopped him.
He held Jack’s head close to the crook of his neck, hips huddling closer to stop any sudden movement. It was something that Reyes liked to do when Morrison’s mind started to go into overdrive, when everything started to get the best of him.
It didn’t matter how much of a leader he was, Jack’s mind was still human after all.
“I’m sorry, Jackie” Gabe’s voice came as a whisper into Morrison’s ear, facial hair tickling against skin. He figured, perhaps a little bit too late, that it wasn’t worth it to fight because of something in the past. The constant need for conflict shouldn’t be filled with them tearing each other apart over petty things. “You know I didn’t mean it. It’s just that--”
A baby cried next door, bloodcurdling screams making both of them flinch. Somewhere outside gunshots could be heard. Then, silence.
Jack sighed against Gabriel’s neck, planting a soft kiss on his skin.
“We need to move” he whispered, warm breath against warm skin. ”I fucking hate this place”
Gabriel laughed loudly, the deep vibrations of his chest warming Jack.
Jack’s whole body was sore. Muscles screaming for him to stop but his mind aggressively urged him to keep moving forward. One more screw for the cabinet, a bit more hammering to stabilize the floor. Working for two was tough, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Bullets and cuts hurt more, trying to sprint with broken rib was worse than running out of breath while moving furniture around.
It was almost the one-year anniversary of Overwatch’s shutdown. Friends had drifted apart, scattered around the world living hopefully peaceful lives. And, on top of that, Living with Gabriel was a daily roller coaster.
His bouts of anger and sudden panic made him dangerous, he kept seeing shadows in the walls and enemies in grocery stores. Blackwatch had taken its toll on him. Jack admitted to not being easy either, restless nights without sleep and the need for a rifle often drowned him to the point of anxiety, the phantom weight becoming unbearable, but not in a way that was entirely violent towards Reyes. At least not in the same dark and haunting ways.
In an effort to become a ‘serious couple’ and finally start to go on with their life plans, Reyes and Morrison invested in a small plot of land right next to a cliff that fell down to the ocean. The entrance to the land was surrounded by woods and greenery. It required a lot of work, but they had built their home from scratch. Peace and quiet, as Gabriel had always wanted. Jack had spent months looking for the perfect spot. A place where Gabriel could wake up to and be at peace, not looking for a gun in self defense.
Pride was not enough to describe it.
Things, however, didn’t necessarily get better. With the anniversary, Overwatch’s threat was revived and the old wounds reopened. With each passing day their moods crept higher towards an unwanted ceiling. As Gabriel became more hostile, Jack’s stress and snappiness bloomed wildly.
Reyes left when both tempers clashed, four days before the fated anniversary. Shaken by the coming winds of winter, their wilted leaves gave away and only the raw sap of their emotions remained. A crater appeared again, this time between them. Overwatch lacerating the ground once again.
A rift that Jack feared he wouldn’t be able to cross.
He had barely slept since then. Rest avoiding him without a crown there.
Gabriel had packed some of his things into Jack’s duffle bag, his favorite one, and just slammed the door behind him. A first for him, which is why it had stung so hard. They needed a better approach for their discussions, even shooting each other was a better alternative than just walking away.
Two heavy steps announced the arrival of another person. Recoiling, Morrison knew what was coming.
“What now, Gabe?” Jack had only begun to rejoice in the fact that the sink finally worked after hours of piping work when the door opened. No need to look, Morrison knew how Gabriel moved by heart. He could recognize the sound of his boots anywhere, knew first-hand that the smell of cheap-brand cigarettes indicated he’d been smoking to relieve some stress. “Have anything else witty to say? Three days away is a lot of time for you to come up with jokes. I’m actually surprised you haven’t made fun of my cooking yet.”
He was just so tired of everything. Another fight was something he didn’t want.
Just to make sure, Jack got out from under the sink, metal tools banging against each other as the blond threw them carelessly. He then turned on the faucet and smiled when water came out of it without an explosion or something breaking. Jack cleaned his hands while waiting for the threat to come. More arguing and growling. Another night of conflict in this supposed time of peace.
In a turn of events for Jack, Gabriel’s voice came out soft and toned down after the thud of something hitting wood. A small moment of silence hanging around then on a web
“You always talk about your farm” Fearing something bad, Jack turned around to find the other man crossing his arms and looking away. Jack knew he was trying hard not to be flustered. On top of the kitchen table rested a blue duffle bag. “And how you want to have a coop someday.”
Three days were not a long span of time, but it had been enough for Jack to notice the clear differences in Gabriel’ well-being. The bags under his eyes had deepened, something that had only happened during the long, sleepless nights of Blackwatch. His hair was unruly, the perpetual beanie lost for the time being. He looked exhausted. At least in that aspect they both matched.
Only right there and then, with his mind cleared and Gabriel in front of him, Jack realized how empty that new house felt, how cold he was, how big their bed felt. Justifying days of non-stop hard work with ‘ finishing ´ their dream house had been delusional, childish; .an obvious attempt to run away from his demons, or rather to speed up the pace for their return. An attitude that Jack hadn’t been able to afford while in Overwatch, one that had taken over as soon as all control in his life had been taken away.
"Where were you Gabe?” Jack frowned, tugging between confusion and worry.
“You talked so much about it that somehow your words got etched into my mind.” Reyes licked his lips, shifting his weight to the left leg. Jack wanted to reach out, but the violence of their previous fight still held back any form of care he could give. “Jesse didn’t need much convincing; you know how much McCree likes the countryside. Didn’t even notice when the plane landed, or when customs checked our luggage,” Gabriel let out a short chuckle “it was the heatwave that really shook me awake. Jesse drove and talked for ages, I think I held a conversation but can’t really recall any of it.
“Your farm is still there, a little run down but it holds up.” Jack’s throat immediately closed up, he almost knew that Gabriel was making his way towards that point, but the surprise still got the better of him. “The people living there now are nice. They recognized both of us from all the propaganda. The younger girl asked where was my blue suit .”
Gabriel chuckled more openly, his white smile captivating Jack. He wondered where Gabriel’s blue suit was, too. Probably tossed aside to the trash, after his sudden decommission.
“Lucky, that all of them liked us still.” Reyes continued without missing a beat, still avoiding Jack’s eyes. “You should’ve seen Jesse: he almost jumped out of his skin when the father of the family took him to check the horses. While those two messed the barn up, the mom and daughters took good care of me, I think I gained a few pounds from eating so much.”
Gabe smiled and scratched the back of his neck, reaching towards his bag. Despite trying to harden himself, Jack’s eyes watered.
Reyes laughed sheepishly, unzipping one of the side pockets.
“I never really thought I’d be happy so see so much corn” He said, sticking his hand inside “The color reminded me so much of you, and your stupid hair, back when we first met. I guess that’s really when I understood why you made me so angry at times, or why I can’t really spend a lot of time without thinking of you. Who would’ve thought that this occurred to me while surrounded by farm animals and ears of corn?”
Gabriel took out a cardboard box with small holes on the sided.
“Gabe what are you— “
“This here is my way of saying I’m taking us seriously.” Gabriel handled the cardboard box so gently that it might as well have been a bomb, his expression suddenly desperate. “I’m sure this will come back to bite me in the ass, but I need you by my side, Jackie.”
This had happened before. Once, at a rather risky mission in Australia, they had discussed how to approach the base of a mob boss that was heavily-secured. Gabriel had decided to go by himself on a stealth mission; cut the head of the monster and the body falls. He strongly believed that most of the people in those circles were misguided, McCree being a clear example. Jack, on the other hand, kept his resolution. Every single one of the criminals deserved to be taken into justice and they needed to pay for their crimes. No opportunity for the hydra to recover.
The day before the raid, Gabriel snuck into Jack’s room holding a box of assorted donuts. “A peace treaty, if you will. Don’t abandon me on this, Jackie. I need you.”
Jack knew there were no donut shops in that small town.
“Jack Morrison.” Gabriel walked quickly towards Jack, bringing him back to the present. He was clutching the box in such a way that the sudden movement didn’t disturb it. Morrison’s mind went black as Reyes kneeled, his heart immediately pumping at the speed of sound “Will you build a coop with me?”
Gabriel opened the box. Inside, a little yellow chick peeped as Jack’s eyes confirmed that, indeed, it wasn’t a ring. Shocked, Jack pet the baby chicken with one finger. The fluffy animal trembled at the touch, then welcomed it after making sure Jack wasn’t hostile. Suddenly taken back to days of awful heat and sun itching his skin, dirt always covering his teen hands, acres of green growing under his care. Moments where he was undoubtedly lost, his only guide being plots of vegetables and farm animals. He had been happy , once.
Simpler times that he wanted back.
The bird looked around curiously, peeking out of the box but never really daring to do anything else. Jack didn’t know if this was actually happening. Perhaps the sink had really exploded and he was in a coma-induced dream.
"A chicken.” Jack spoke after a moment of silence.
“We spent a lot in this house.” Gabriel shrugged, still maintaining the box raised and his eyes fixed on Jack’s face. “And I know you’re trying hard to make it a home for me. So, why not build something you like together?”
“You’re proposing to me with a fucking animal.”
“And I’m starting to regret it, if we’re being honest.”
Silence reigned both in the room and in Jack’s head. The contrast of what he was expecting against what was actually happening wasn’t covered in his soldier training, at least not this time. Jack knew Gabriel was growing restless by how his mouth pouted; he had never been the patient type.
The day they got married, Jack swore to follow Gabriel anywhere he would go. Reyes was a natural born leader, and if his orders were to walk into hell, then Jack would be right by his side wearing just enough sunscreen. It had been a silent promise, one founded on the love he had for the man that had decided to share a life with him. Gabriel was already a part of him, crucial for his normal functioning. Another beating heart inside his chest.
The fact that Gabe thought a chicken coop was so crucial for their relationship, for Jack’s happiness, somehow mended any form of harm that had taken place. Words were like knives, truly, but commitments and actions were mountains. A blade has no chance against magnificent rock formations.
Again, Jack prolonged his silence for way too long.
“Just answer the question, for fucks sake.” Gabriel swayed up and down, disturbing the small animal on his hands. The scared peeps of the chicken alarmed Jack slightly “It doesn’t matter what just fuckin-“
“Yes.” Jack’s confirmation came out suddenly. “A million times yes, Gabe!”
Jack didn’t really care for the coop. Were the birds loveable and meant a steady income of eggs? Correct. But Gabriel was proposing . Down on his knees, a king pleading for a metaphorical hand. The chicken’s home could come and go, but Jack would treasure this instant for as long as he lived.
Gabriel’s shoulder relaxed the second he heard the yes , finally lowering down the chicken. In a second, Jack had taken the box out of Reyes’ hands and placed it on top of the table. Then, he hugged his husband tightly.
“I missed you, Gabe” Jack kissed him on the cheek, fingers running through thick hair “but don’t think you get to name the chickens”
Gabriel abruptly ended the hug, shock painted on his face.
“Wait, name them?”
“Well, fuck Gabe” Jack started half-joking “How can you have kids without giving them names?”
The blond almost felt bad after smiling at Gabriel’s horrified face.