Archive of Our Own

Twenty year old Jesse McCree rolled his eyes as his boss breached the surface for a moment in the huge aquarium tank before dipping his head back under water. The new chems in the water made his boss antsy and were clearly irritating his skin even if he wouldn't admit to his discomfort. It was weird being under the apprenticeship of a literal merfolk in an aquarium but it was better than running drugs or some shit with the Deadlocks. Jesse was in his full wetsuit gear and checking on the corral when Gabriel Reyes dragged him up to the surface. While Gabe could talk underwater, Jesse couldn't do the same with his mouthpiece giving his lungs the air he needed to survive prolonged underwater.

“Boss, I could get you the scale cream if the chem levels are making your skin dry up that fast.” Jesse offered with a shrug.

Gabe spat water in Jesse’s face when he came back to the surface and boy was he glad he was wearing goggles over his eyes. Jack Morrison chuckled as he came around on the maintenance floor to Gabe’s tank, pushing a cart with many buckets filled with various meats and fish feed for the marine life that lived in the tank with Gabriel.

“Stop flirting with the rookie, Reyes. It looks bad.”

Gabriel quickly moved to the loading ladder against the side of the tank and perched up on the edge with his arms as he glared at the aquarium owner.

“Bout time you got here. I was about ready to chew his other arm off.”

Jesse swam his way over by Reyes and mimicked his boss as he threw his goggles back on his head.

“Naw. You like me too much to make me shark fodder, Boss.” Jesse smiled, idly kicking his flippers back and forth in the water as they both watched Jack load the buckets onto the elevator platform. He watched Gabe left out a huff and saw his gills flutter as the puff of air passed out under them. Merfolk had both lungs and gills, but it was still something else to watch the flaps move with such life underwater. He was almost envious of his boss and how beautiful he was. Part human and part tiger shark; poisonous, curved, barbed spines going down his back and branching out like that of a fish but with a prosthetic tail he got from a poaching incident when he was younger. Gabe caught him staring but didn't say anything as his eyes went back to Jack climbing up the ladder.

Jesse felt a flush crawl on his face from getting caught staring like that and desperately wished he had his hat. He bet the zebra patterned wet suit just made his flush stick out even more than if he had a black one. Damn scientists and their wet suit studies.

Jack reached the top of the ladder and handed Reyes his lunch bucket. The humanoid hybrid immediately dived down into the water to begin consuming the delicious array of exotic meats that were his payment for his role as an educator in the aquarium.

“Yeesh. He can’t wait five minutes past noon without going at the bucket like a piranha?” Jesse cringed as he watched the blood and scraps float to the surface as Reyes did his thing.

“You’re in his tank, Jesse. You’re technically exotic food to him.” Jack commented as he waited for Jesse to pull his goggles over his eyes and then pass him a bucket filled with fish food.

“Don't even joke like that, Jack. He bit my arm off before and I’d rather not think about losing the other one too.” Jesse huffed, looking at his covered metal left arm before he took the bucket from Jack.

“It’s nature, Jesse.” Jack shrugged dismissively.

Jesse shoved the mask over his mouth and plunged into the water, not wanting to give the old grouch the chance to retort him with another arm lose joke that he could feel coming from a mile away. Gabe was still munching on his food in his hands as Jesse swam down past him and Jesse gave him a friendly wave of his hand. His mentor rolled his eyes and Jesse had to resist laughing.

People thought Jesse was insane for taking a job at the same aquarium where he lost his arm but the experience of being submerged in that literal underwater wild west was too exhilarating for him to be turned off by losing a limb or two. Maybe he did have a screw or too loose in the head but Jack took him in the moment the community officer approached him about Jesse serving his community service time there and now he had been there for three years on the staff.

Jesse saw past the kelp fields towards the bottom of the tank as several folks on the other side of the glass watched him throw the fist of fish food above him. The schools of tropical fish beelined for him and Jesse was surrounded by a swarm of hungry fishes of various sizes and species. The sharks would occasionally pass by out of curiosity but they knew that one of their own would feed them in time. Jesse once tried to ask Gabe if sharks thought he was a poisonous fish due to his stripped wet suit and he just laughed. ‘They’re dumber than a sack of bricks’ was his mentor’s retort.

Still, it was Jesse’s favorite thing to do to feed the fish and stroke his hand over the sharks that swam within arm’s reach. He wore chain mesh over his flesh hand to help prevent bites since Jack couldn't keep Jesse out of the tank even if he tried. The eyes of his audience on the other side of the glass stared anxiously at the nameless man who kept tossing food into the swarm around him and seemed absolutely comfortable in the presence of sharks.

It was calming for Jesse. He couldn't sleep on his days off unless he took a long soak in the tub but even then he was still restless for the tank. Jesse stopped going to school after middle school and ran with the Deadlock gang to prove he could be a badass smuggling drugs until they decided to store some of their wares at this aquarium. But now he was a badass swimming with the sharks and working on completing his GED in the meantime!

He felt something swat the back of his head and looked up to see Gabe passing by with his own huge bucket as a school of sharks followed him to the other side of the tank. It was an asshole thing for Gabe to hit him with his hand, knowing full well the talons on his fingers could rip through his suit and rubber tubes supplying him with oxygen but Gabe was an unapologetically dick. Jesse’s eyes went to the huge crowd outside of the tank and saw Jack standing on the stage with his back to him as he spoke to them. Their aquarium was considered the crown jewel of the state of Indiana and held the biggest aquarium tanks in the United States among other things.

Jesse couldn't hear what Jack was saying but knew the whole noon feeding time presentation by heart. When Jack finished his shark conservation lesson with the crowd Gabe would answer questions the audience had thanks to the handy waterproof mic he had on his headset. Gabe tossed chunks of bloody meat into the water above him as he answered questions and would also hand feed the more docile sharks that waited patiently beside him. Occasionally Gabe would gesture towards Jesse while the cowboy he tried not to focus on how beautiful Gabe looked fully submerged; his long spines resting against his back and curly shoulder-length hair floating around him like an angel underwater. Jesse eventually realized his bucket was empty after taking a glance down in it and swam back up to the surface to swap out the bucket for a half filled ones on the elevator platform.

He dove back down to his spot at the sandy bottom, surrounded by gorgeous coral reefs. Jesse began tossing the hand fulls of the fish feed around him, and was again surrounded by the schools of always hungry fish. Jack always felt it was important to have Jesse and Gabe feeding at the same time, to show that there can be peaceful coexistence between both human and merfolk. While Jack would never think of letting Jesse handle the mic, the cowboy would always make for a good role model for the bright-eyed kids that flocked the tank for the feeding time shows.

Once Jesse had effectively emptied the bucket, he swam back up to the surface and placed the bucket back on the platform. He grabbed the water-proof tablet that was sitting next to the buckets and signed himself in before hooking the tablet case lanyard to his belt. It was easier to get back down to the bottom of the tank without a bucket slowing him down and went back to checking the corral clusters in zone 12. His metal hand had a glove specially made to both cover the prosthetic and allow him to use the his finger on the surface of the tablet. He opened up the spreadsheet as he got in close to the reef, examining it for subtle color changes to the new chemical they introduced into the tank to help ease the cleaning bill for the buildup of algae on the glass.

Jesse checked the reference pictures that Gabe had on the tablet and saw no real change as far as he could see. It was only the second day since chemical introduction but Jack wanted daily observations logged just to be careful. You don't mess with corral unless you want a hefty battle to rebalance your delicate tank environment after all. They ran the stuff for a year in the smaller tanks but Jack was a rightfully paranoid bastard since anything had the potential to fuck up an aquarium and Gabriel was very sensitive to change even if he never said anything. Gabe must have finished up his Q and A session as he came over and took the tablet to scroll over to his sectors to mark them as ‘no change’ in the spreadsheet before swimming back off.

Jesse watched him move so gracefully through the water and watched the way his spines would stand up fully erect when he came to a halt in front of the sector 200 patches of coral in the far end of the long tank. He wanted to know what it would feel like to run his flesh hand over the spines; if they would be rubbery and firm like a shark’s dorsal fin or something soft like human fingers. Jesse released a burst of bubbles from his mouthpiece as he sighed, knowing it would be a cold day in hell before Gabe would let him touch him. It would likely be considered sexual harassment if he ever did act on that impulse one day anyways.

--

Jesse was glad that no one could see the maintenance level of the tanks from the aquarium exhibit halls. It allowed him to eat his lunch in peace against the tank while Gabriel relaxed in a shallow private pool located slightly above but also connected to the main tank below for his privacy. The merfolk had a habit of taking an hour long nap while Jesse ate and did math exercises from his book during his lunch break; Jesse just assumed he was keeping an eye on him and would be able to snap at him more easily if he fucked around on the maintenance floor.

Gabe’s shallow tank was basically a sand bar, 50% sand and 50% salt water and the guy was practically a cat with how he pushed the sand around to make his own bed. He napped completely stretched out in the tank, head resting on his folded arms and face half in and out of the water; that was the perfect ‘Gabriel’ napping position. The tank was perfectly even with Jesse’s waist he stood up but instead of napping like a log through the hour, Gabe kept flopping around and splashing the water from time to time. Getting sick of his concentration being constantly broken by Gabe, Jesse got up and headed over to the medical cabinet against the wall to grab the tub of cream the manufacturer made in case he had a reaction to the chemical.

“Get up on the mat, Boss. Time for your meds.” Jesse drawled in annoyance.

Gabe growled back equally annoyed as he glared down Jesse from on his back, making him look significantly less threatening in the process. His hair was tangled and caked with sand, making Jesse’ Andonis of the sea look more like a surfer who got his ass tossed onto the beach by the waves.

“I don't need medicine, Rookie.” He spat.

“Yeah, you do. Jack will have my hide if I let you scratch open your skin and it gets infected. Now get over here and I’ll make it quick.” Jesse patted the platform for emphasis.

Gabe growled as he rolled himself onto the rubber covered elevator platform and let Jesse raise him out of the water by pressing the lift button. He was then thoroughly hose down with water after Jesse locked the platform securely into place then towel-dried his human skin portions gently. Jesse then pulled on some some gloves and opened up the jar before he started covering Gabe’s skin in the pink substance.

“It smells like Calamine cream.” Gabe grumbled as Jesse gently rubbed the cream into his skin as he laid on his stomach.

“Might be some variation of it.” Jesse commented as he watched the thirty year old merman relax under his touch. “Jar says it needs at least ten minutes to be fully absorbed.”

“Great,” Gabe huffed sarcastically. “Ten minutes on my back is going to be fun.”

“You’ll live.” Jesse shrugged, rubbing the cream into Gabe’s scalp as his mentor was less than enthusiastic about having his hair messed with too but at least he didn’t bitch at him this time.

“Give me half of whatever you’re eating.” Gabe spoke suddenly, likely smelling whatever Jesse was eating on his breath as he leaned in close to spread the cream over him.

“I earned Jack’s tuna fish sandwich, Boss. I didn't even have to steal it from the fridge this time either!” Jesse huffed as he finished up on Gabe’s back and hit the timer he prepped on the side of the tank with his elbow. “Besides, you don't have molars.”

“Use your molars for me then.” Gabe spoke like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Jesse flushed for a second at thinking he was asking indirectly for a kiss then realized the hybrid was very much being serious and just about gagged.

“That’s disgusting, Boss!” Jesse yelled.

“Birds do it.”

“Do I look like a bird to you, Boss?!”

“No, but you certainly whine like a bitch.” Gabe grinned rather smugly with that one. Jesse slapped his palm to his face as he realize he just walked right into that punchline without being any wiser. His boss was an ass.

The egg timer then rang and Jesse watched Gabe pluck the timer off the edge of the tank to wind it back to ten minutes for him without even asking. Gabe then plopped it back on the side before he groaned as he rolled over on his back and laid still while Jesse rinsed him off with the hose once more thoroughly before towel drying him off. Jesse softly sucked in a breath as he saw the deep scars on his abdomen from when he got tangled in a net out at sea as a youth; It was the same one that cost him his tail and his freedom since he couldn’t be put back out even with a prosthetic in place. Jesse was gentle as he ran the cream over Gabe’s stomach, expecting the merfolk to be ticklish or react negatively to having the scars touched and frowned in disappointment as he got no reaction whatsoever.

“Are you enjoying yourself, McCree?”

Jesse tensed up as he realized how slow he was being and quickly moved upwards to Gabe’s neck and shoulders after finishing up with his stomach. Boy howdy was Gabe ripped; Jesse did his best to not oogle Gabe’s pecs, but man was it difficult to tear his eyes away the majority of the time to glance to make sure he was covering his skin effectively with the cream.

He then brought his hands up to Gabe’s face and gently smeared the pink cream over his skin gently, taking care to not get it in his eyes. It was unsettling to looking into Gabe’s eyes as he watched him the whole time; Having a crush on his mentor made this all the more difficult as he hoped Gabe wouldn’t notice how flushed his cheeks were. Eventually Jesse felt he reached the limits of what was considered socially acceptable hands-on time and tossed out his gloves in the trash before sealing up the cream jar.

“You feeling better, Boss?” Jesse asked as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to rid the awkward tension he felt between the two of them with that question.

A grunt was all he got in response as Gabe closed his eyes and, hell, that worked just dandy for Jesse. He went back to work on a few math problems as he sat down against the glass before the egg timer eventually went off and Jesse got back up to lower the elevator back into the shallow pool with a press of a button. Gabe rolled off the rubber platform rather quickly and plunged back into the water with a relieved sigh. Gabe was pretty much the only living resident at the aquarium who would tolerate medical procedures without anesthesia and it was mostly Jack they all had to thank for that. Though it seemed like Jack had his work cut out for him since the newer merfolk in the introduction tank, a weird hybrid water serpent from Japan, would not settle the hell down.

Jesse smiled as he watched Gabe stretch back out in in his pool, feeling a lot better now that he helped his mentor out, and went back to eating his sandwich while working on his math problems.

--

“This tank is FAR too small!” The serpent merfolk repeated for what had to be the sixth time as Gabe and Jesse watched from the safety of the general population one tank while Jack explain the purpose of the introduction tank once more to the aggravated newbie. The introduction tank was remarkably small for the long bodied humanoid but there was several very scientific studies that Jack tried to explain as he tried to reason with him. Jesse looked up at Gabe as he leaned back against the glass of the tank from the maintenance floor and Gabe looked down at Jesse from rim of the tank as they pretty much had the same idea in their heads.

Please don’t let him be put in the general population one tank!

“Jesse. Come here.” Jack huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he looked like he was on the verge of busting a blood vessel in his eye. Jesse recoiled at being suddenly volunteered for whatever Jack had in mind and looked up at Gabe, his eyes pleading for him to tell Jack to fuck off.

“Good luck.” Gabe chuckled as Jesse pushed his back off the tank and flipped his boss the bird for throwing him under the bus like the asshole he was. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets as he took a deep breath and counted to ten in his head before saying a word to his other boss.

“Yeah, Jack?” He asked, completely bullshitting his enthusiasm as he came to a halt next to the stressed forty year old man.

“Maybe you’ll have better luck explaining why aggressive behavior gets you killed in the gen pop tanks. I need get something to drink.” Jack sighed as he walked away to the break room down the hall. Jesse blinked for a moment at that odd request before looking over at Gabriel who was equally confused by the sudden responsibility shift.

Jesse shrugged his shoulders as he turned back to the tank to see the new guy for himself through the glass of the tank. He let out an impressed whistle as he saw the serpent's long scaled body and tipped his hat back to look at the sight. “You’re a beauty, that’s for certain.” He whispered to himself before heading over to the ladder to climb up.

“Careful, McCree.” He heard Gabriel warn from the peanut gallery and rolled his eyes at his boss’ sudden need to mother hen him.

“I’m always careful, Boss.” Jesse yelled back with a chuckle, tipping his cowboy hat towards him with a mischievous wink.

“Says the guy whose arm I ripped off.” Gabriel grumbled.

Jesse was at the top of the ladder as he turned back to look at Gabriel with narrowed eyes and a haughty attitude.

“Who knows, Gabe!” Jesse laughed. “Maybe this guy will be nicer than yo-!!”

A sudden splash in front of him was all the warning Jesse got before he was grabbed by the collar and pulled into the tank.

“JESSE!”

--

The serpent's clawed hand covered his mouth and held his flesh arm as Jesse struggled underwater against the him. It was like a repeat of the same shit Gabe did years ago, except Jesse didn’t slip and fall into the tank this time. His clothes were dead weights in the water and his shoes made it hard to pull away as the hybrid pulled him down deeper into the tank. He threw his legs back and managed a solid blow against the soft human torso with his feet before the serpent released him from the shock. Jesse made a mad break for the surface, gasping hard as he breached the surface and heard voices shouting. He paddled his way over to the edge of the tank to grasp the side to see what the hell was going on.

“Jesse!”

Jack was on the platform on the opposite side of the tank where Jesse was clinging to with a harpoon in his hands. Oh god. Jack was going to kill the serpent if he got the chance, no doubt about it now.

Going against his better judgement, Jesse kicked off his shoes and pulled off his socks as quickly as he could before the serpent started to spiral to surface. He dove down hard after kicking off from the side of the tank to push the hybrid aside while a harpoon ripped through his shirt, barely grazing Jesse’s flesh. The serpent seemed completely stunned as he watched the harpoon go by and was now horrified as he snapped his head towards the surface where Jack’s reflection could be seen. Jesse grabbed the serpent's face and made him look at him; he motioned for him to stay at the bottom of the tank with his finger pointing downward and the serpent hesitantly nodded his head before Jesse made a break for the surface.

“Jesse McCree! What the fuck is WRONG with you?!” Jack swore angrily as Jesse breached the surface once more and began swimming over to the ladder.

“Don’t hurt ‘im, Jack!” Jesse coughed as he grasped the ladder.

Jack pulled him out of the water quickly and held Jesse’s waterlogged body against him as he quickly climbed down so he could lay him on the floor. Jesse desperately held onto Jack’s arm to force him to stay with him as hacked out the water from his lungs onto the concrete. Jack rubbed his back gently as he kneeled down next to him and that’s when Jesse noticed a lot of water was on the floor near the general population one tank as well.

After he got his breath stabilized, Jesse looked back at the serpent curled around himself in one corner of the tank, far as he could possibly from the harpoon that rested on the bottom. That was all Jesse needed to look at Jack and grab him by the collar. “What the fuck did you-! Gabe dragged me into the tank too but you didn’t try to kill him!”

“Jesse! I KNOW Gabe!” Jack yelled furiously. “That asshole in that tank could have killed you!” Jack tried to shove Jesse’s hands off him but that just made the cowboy even more desperate to keep Jack down on the ground with him as he tackled him. “JESSE WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“He let me go, Jack!” Jesse desperately pleaded.

“HE ALSO FUCKING DRAGGED YOU IN!”

“Let me ask him WHY then!” Jesse shouted. “He didn’t try anything else after I went back in!”

“Jesse McCree, you are the THICKEST human I have EVER met!” Gabriel spat, far more angry than Jess had ever seen him in his life but it was not enough to stop Jesse when he was this high on adrenaline. He couldn’t see where Gabriel was but he knew he had to be in the tank still.

“I did the same for YOU, Gabe! Am I still dumb?!” Jesse shot back, absolutely crushed that Gabriel was pulling a double standard on him at this time. He expected Gabe to be on HIS side not Jack’s when someone’s life was on the line!

“Stop it! Both of you!” Jack yelled. “I’m not going to kill anyone! So get OFF me, Jesse!”

Jesse slid off him as Jack sat up on the floor.

“It was my fault, alright?” He admitted with a shaky breath as he tried to calm himself down. “I shouldn’t have let you near the tank without supervising the interaction.” Jack stood up slowly and looked at the harpoon that laid in the tank with absolute disgust, mostly directed at himself. “I… I didn’t want to lose you, Jesse. Alright? I panicked.”

Jesse nodded his head as he watched the old man take several deep breaths before approaching the glass of the introduction tank and knocked on it to get the spooked serpent’s attention.

“You alright in there?” Jack asked gently, rubbing his arm as he no doubt knew how terrified the merfolk was of him.

The serpent hesitantly nodded his head but did not look in Jack’s direction.

“Okay. You’re right that we’ve been treating you rather poorly and I’m sorry about the harpoon.” Jack admitted as Jesse watched him. “This will be a safe place for you to live, like I promised you back in Japan, alright? I just need you to work with me a bit and we can get you out of that tank in two days, alright?”

The serpent turned his head to look at Jack skeptically, analysing him for any blatant tells before he eventually nodded his head.

“Okay. Good. You can bring the stuff in your tank back up whenever you feel comfortable touching it. I’ll go get you some food.” Jack then turned to Jesse and nudged his head in the direction of the men’s locker room.

Jesse got up from the floor and sighed as he followed Jack into the locker room. He looked over his shoulder for a moment to look over to see if Gabe was at his perch but saw the rubber mat unoccupied of the side of the tank.

--

“Thanks, Jesse.” Jack spoke gratefully.

Jessie wrapped his hair up in a towel after getting dressed around in spare clothing Jack lent him borrow and quirked a brow as he was handed a mug of coffee. He took the mug with a smile as he walked with Jack into the break room, wearing a pair of sandals and sat down at the table across from him.

“You’ve been trying to keep him off the exotic trade market for a better part of two years, Jack. There was no way I was going to let you do something stupid like kill him after we finally got him.” Jesse replied fondly. “He’ll do a lot better when he gets moved to one of the general population tanks.”

Jack sighed softly as he put the mug down on the table and rubbed his face with his hands with an exhausted groan. Jesse felt bad for Jack, it was a difficult choice when faced with losing the life of his worker or the life of a humanoid he worked so hard to obtain.

“I just didn't think Hanzo would pull you into the tank. I should have been more properly prepared and I wasn’t.”

“No. I should have known better as well, Jack. It's not all your fault.”

Jack looked so tired and it weighed heavily on Jesse’s heart to see him so emotionally drained considering he wasn't having any second guesses on saving Hanzo.

“Jack, it's okay if you’re worn out from worry. I had no idea you cared that much before.” Jesse reassured him before taking a sip from the mug, enjoying the taste of the coffee that Jack made.

“Ha. I was worried but that’s not why I am tired, Jesse.” Jack took a sip from the mug before setting down the mug. “Gabe was dead set in getting into the introduction tank that he purposely left general population one.”

Jesse almost dropped his mug as he lifted it up for another sib and immediately rose to his feet. Jack darted up from his chair and came around the table to keep Jesse from running back to the tank to check on Gabriel.

“He’s fine, Jesse. Sit down.” Jack tried to reassure him.

“No, no! That’s a fucking long as fall to take, Jack! We need to run x-rays on him!” Jesse blurted out, almost falling into a panic attack from worry.

His mind was going a million miles per hour as Jack struggled to keep him seated. Gabe. Not Gabe. What the fuck would jumping out of the tank do to help him?! He couldn't climb up the ladder!

“The veterinarian team is on it, Jesse. They took him after I was certain you were safe.” Jack shoved him down once more and Jesse finally complied with his demands. “God, he fought me tooth and limb to get off the loading elevator while you were under.” He sighed heavily as he went back around the table to sit back down in his seat.

“That fucking asshole…!” Jesse gritted his teeth as he remembered Gabe screaming his name as Hanzo pulled him off the ladder. He slammed his fist firmly on the table as he growled in frustration. “Reckless idiot!”

“You guys are certainly two peas in a pod, alright.” Jack sighed before taking a sip from his mug.

“Shut up.” Jesse mumbled as he took longer drink from his mug.

Jack was right but he didn’t have to be so fucking smug about it.

--

Jesse came to the aquarium right when it opened to the public the next day. Jack seemed to insist on making him wait as long as he could by ignoring his phone calls and forcing him to stand around for an hour before the opening. He immediately pushed past the receptionist as she opened the door and used his keycard to get access to the maintenance floor and rush to the veterinary tanks in the back of the facility. Jack was there waiting for him and Jesse was fuming.

“The hell didn’t you pick up your phone, Jack?!”

“Because you’re just as emotional as I thought you would be?” Jack deadpanned as he kept his foot propped up against the other wall to prevent Jesse from barreling past him.

“I could have been at the hospital after a car blew me out of the crosswalk!” Jesse argued.

Jack just stared at him incredulously before shaking his head and sighing.

“Knowing your luck you’ll just survive it with only a foot amputation. Come on. I’ll let you see him.”

“Hey! I resent that!” Jesse huffed.

“Duly noted, Jesse. Now come on.” He motioned for Jesse to follow him into the restricted zone that even HE wasn’t allowed to go into as he stayed close to Jack. The place was plain and filled with various tanks of different sizes to accommodate the needs of their aquatic residents. Mobile surgical tables were also present against the wall along with their own pharmacy room but his eyes went straight to the pool where a familiar merfolk was laying in a tank half filled with sand. A sunlamp was positioned over the pool to encourage rest since the conditions would better match that of Gabe’s own private tank.

“Gabe. Brought someone to see you.” Jack spoke softly as he motioned for Jesse to approach the pool.

Jesse felt something awful as saw the waterproof bandages wrapped around Gabe from chest down to just about where his hips would be if he was a human along with an I.V. in his arm. He looked absolutely exhausted as he craned his neck up to look at Jesse in stark contrast from the last time they spoke right before Hanzo pulled him into the introduction tank.

“Hey. You doin’ alright, Boss?” He asked sympathetically.

“No.” He grumbled.

“Heard you took quite the fall yesterday.” Jesse chuckled as he sat down by the edge of the pool.

Gabriel glared up at Jack as the other man shrugged his shoulders and put his hands up defensively before walking away.

“Don’t get mad at him, Gabe.” Jesse sighed as Gabe redirected his glare to him. “He did what he had to.”

“Oh- I’m just- Starting to- Get mad.” He spoke between heavy breaths. “Just you- Wait.”

“That can’t be good for your health, Gabe.” Jesse frowned as he crossed his leg together and leaned forward.

“Neither- Are you!” He growled.

Jesse knew Gabe didn’t mean that. He always acted like a hard ass but Jesse knew it was his way of showing he cared. Gabe always looked away at some point when he was done talking if he didn’t mean what he was saying; It was one of his biggest tells.

“I still appreciate what you tried to do for me, Gabe. Even if it was the dumbest thing I have ever seen you do.”

“Shut- Up.”

Jesse smiled warmly as Gabe wasn’t able to hold his gaze as he insulted him. He really was just blowing smoke out his ass. Just out of curiousity to see what sort of procedures he had done on him for the fall, Jesse got up and took the medical record off the hook on a pole next to the pool. Jesse grin turned to an expression of horror as he read the numerous amount of surgeries Gabe needed to have in order to save his life; who would have thought that one’s own rib cage could cause so much damaged when shattered?

“It’s- not pretty.” Gabe commented as he watched Jesse read the list..

Jesse put the medical record back on the hook before sitting back down near the edge of the pool. Shit. He didn’t want Gabe to suffer on his behalf like that. There has to be something Jesse could do to help speed this along or at least make Gabriel more comfortable.

“You hurtin’ bad right now? I’ll get one of the vets to give you something through the I.V. bag if it hurts too much to talk.” He asked carefully, not wanting to set off Gabe when he was in such a state.

“It’s- the wrappings.” He explained . “I’m fine.”

Jesse nodded his head as he watched Gabriel struggle to keep his eyes open and frowned at his tough-as-nails mentor. It was still nice for him to tell him what was on his mind and clarifying the situation so Jesse wouldn’t have to worry about him. He was in good hands with Angela as his vet anyways.

“You can go back to sleep, Gabe. It’s good to know you’re okay.” Jesse smiled as he stood up and put his hands in his jeans pockets. “I don’t work until the night shift though so don’t miss me too much, alright?”

“Fine.” He huffed softly, not really putting much effort into sounding annoyed with him as he shifted in the sand bed.

Jesse chuckled and turned to leave, feeling a lot better after seeing that Gabe was alright with his own eyes. Jack was waiting for him at the entrance and the two of them departed from the medical ward together.

“Maybe now he’ll actually get some rest.” Jack huffed.

“Sure hope so. That tank looks awfully cozy if not for the cold water.” Jesse smirked playfully.

“So, it’s the cold water that would turn you away then?” Jack elbowed Jesse as they both chuckled at that. “Anyways. Hanzo tossed your stuff and the harpoon out of the tank last night after lights out so I put them out on the roof to let them dry.”

“Oh? How was the conversation today? He still prickly around the edges?” Jesse asked curiously since Jack brought up Hanzo.

“I suited up and got in the tank with him.” Jack stated simply.

Jesse’s jaw almost fell out his mouth as he stopped in his tracks.

“How are you-”

“He mistook you for me yesterday. I promised him that we could swim together about a year ago and forgot about it.” Jack stopped ahead of Jesse before turning around to face him. “Thank you for saving his life, Jesse.”

“It’s, uh, my pleasure, Jack.” Jesse rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about the huge risk Jack took in swimming in the tank alone but then thought about how oddly gentle Hanzo was with him after pulling him in. “So, how did it go?”

“We’re moving him into general population one tonight after we close the doors.” Jack deadpanned again

“But that’s Gabe’s territory.” Jesse warned. “You don’t go putting apex predators into each other tanks without their consent, Jack. That’s just askin’ for trouble!”

Jack sighed as he ran a hand through his greying hair.

“Gabe kills all aggressive sharks in the tank when they get out of line. He managed to establish a pack hierarchy in a species that normally does no such thing. I’d figure it would be easier for Hanzo to adapt to an aquarium environment if he has Gabe showing him the ropes before we put him in the gen pop two tank that we built for him.”

Jesse scratched the back of his head as he thought about Jack’s idea and how Gabriel usually handled things.

“Gabe isn’t exactly open-minded like you are, Jack.” Jesse frowned. It was the plain fucking truth. He remembered how hard he had to fight Gabe to just let him into his tank and that was just Gabe being PROTECTIVE.

“That’s why I want you to talk to him and explain Hanzo’s story. Maybe he’ll at least consider it instead of immediately saying ‘no’.”

This was going to be a headache and a half to plan out. It was like a combination of art and science to maneuver around Reyes’ mood swings and Jesse was a dropout. But there was always a shot he could get through Gabe’s numerous walls he put up around himself. Gabe always gave him a shot to say anything before determining if the Great Wall would go up between them on a topic or not; There was always a chance that he could possibly consider it even if it was a long shot. Jesse was pretty good shot at the gun range, after all.

“Can’t you delay putting Hanzo in the tank until the morning? That way I won’t have to lie to him when he asks what tank Hanzo was put in?” Jesse asked, hoping that Jack would give him some wiggle room to work out his grand scheme when he went back home to study before his shift.

Jack quirked a brow at him curiously.

“You’re going to break it to him tonight?”

“That’s the plan.” Jesse smiled confidently. “I got a few hours to think about it and prep some olive branches for negotiations. You got any of that tuna fish stuff left over?”

--

Angela shot down the tuna fish sandwich idea almost immediately when Jesse brought it up but kindly suggested that Jesse give him fresh tuna instead. They didn’t have tuna in the general population one tank so Gabriel technically never tasted it unless he had it when he was in the wild. So, Jesse had to drive around to various market places around the city to buy two pounds of fresh tuna then go to a slaughter house to grab a cow leg before beginning his shift at the aquarium. Jack allowed Jesse a one hour window to convince Gabe to let Hanzo into the tank at the end of his shift and took the meat from him to store it the refrigerator while Jesse worked.

By the time everything was done, the doors were locked up and Jesse could finally go broker a peace treaty after he finished feeding the fish in the smaller tanks. Jack handed Jesse the large brown paper bag that contained both of the peace tokens before walking him into the medical ward and leaving him to his own devices as Jesse approached Gabriel’s pool. The rustling of the bag caught Gabe’s attention immediately as he carefully turned himself around to face Jesse. He was still sluggish from the drugs like he was yesterday but at least he was a bit more alert and that was always reassuring.

“What’s that?” Gabriel asked as he pointed to the bag and shifted in the sand to get comfortable on his side so he could look up at Jesse comfortably.

Okay! Gabe was curious! That was always a good first step in Jesse’ book when asking Reyes for favors, or anything really. He sat down and kept the paper bag away from the edge of the pool as he gave his boss a warm, friendly smile. Gabriel’s face instantly shifted to a scowl at that and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Jesse.

“I stand corrected, what do you WANT, Jesse McCree?” He huffed.

Well, shit. So much for the friendly approach.

Jesse took a deep breath to gather his thoughts and then shot from the hip; Just like always.

“Look.” Jesse started as he set the bag on his lap. “We plan on moving Hanzo to gen pop two after-”

“No.” Gabriel interrupted. That wall went up faster than the first time Jesse tried to convince him to let him swim in his tank.

“I didn’t even finish what I was going to say, Boss.” Jesse frowned in disappointment.

“I’m not sharing my tank with him.”

“Come on, Boss. He needs someone to show him the ropes and you’re really good at it.” He pleaded. “He’s never been in a tank with an ocean environment in it. God, He ain’t even seen corral before and you just want Jack to drop him into gen pop two?!”

“Not after he tried to kill you!”

Jesse smack his forehead with his palm. “He mistook me for Jack, Gabe!”

“That doesn’t make it any better!” Gabriel spat. Okay, Gabe had a really good point but he couldn’t afford to back down now. Jack would force the issue anyways by dropping Hanzo into the tank like the stubborn optimist he was and that was asking for a bloodbath if Jesse couldn’t get Gabe to see Hanzo in a different light.

“Hanzo wasn’t trying to kill anyone! He wanted Jack to swim with him!” Jesse explained. “Jack promised him back in Japan to swim with him and-”

“Do I look like I give a fuck, Jesse McCree? Because I don’t!” Gabriel growled. “They could have kept him in a toilet and he STILL wouldn’t get ANY shred of sympathy from me!”

“Because he dragged me into the pool by accident?!” Jesse shot back, growing angry at his boss’ stubborn attitude.

“Do you have ANY idea how easy it is to kill you by ‘accidentally’ pulling you in the water, Jesse McCree?!” Gabriel yelled as he sat up, body quivering in agony while he spat at Jesse. “Do you have ANY idea of how many sharks I’ve killed just so you can sit at the bottom of my tank and fucking PET them as they swim by you?!”

“Gabe, come on!” Jesse sighed heavily as threw his arms down on his side. “This isn’t a dumb shark we’re talking about!”

“You’re right, Jesse McCree! It’s a fucking dragon that’s as smart as me and I wouldn’t be able to do a FUCKING thing if you pissed it off!” Gabe dug in further, making Jesse feeling like he might actually lose this argument and his mentor’s respect if he backed down now.

“I’ll tell Hanzo to keep away from me when I’m in the-”

Gabriel dragged himself to the edge of the pool and used his arms to push himself out of the water as much as he could as he glared up at Jesse. “He touches you? He dies. That’s the ONLY way I’ll agree to this shitty idea you and Jack cooked up, alright?!”

Wait. WHAT?! Did Gabe actually- He did meet him halfway! Gabriel Fucking Reyes fucking conceded to him, even if it was a VERY violent promise that Jesse knew he would go through; Wait. That’s technically a ‘threat’ more so than a promise. Whatever! There was no way Hanzo would touch him after that whole ordeal anyways with the harpoon so he did get his ‘yes’ anyways!

“Sounds like a deal, Boss.” Jesse grinned and watched as Gabe slid back into his pool, absolutely livid with him since his spikes were standing fully erect curled off his back. “Okay. Okay. I brought you some nice things for dinner.” He reached into the bag to pull out the wrapped tuna and the cow leg. “Which do you want to start with? The tuna or the cow leg?” Jesse leaned forward to let his scowling mentor look at the meat for himself before he rolled his eyes.

“Cow leg. Go get Jack.” Gabriel growled his demand.

Jesse happily tossed the leg gently into the pool and watch Gabriel grab it as he kept his glare steady on him. He got up from his spot and headed over to the exit of the medical ward, while whistling a tune, where Jack was leaning up against the wall.

“Looks like things went well?” Jack asked the smiling Jesse as he marched on over.

“I wouldn’t suggest putting anything near the edge of the tank that you don’t want bitten off.”

“Good work then. I’ll go talk to him.” Jack patted Jesse’s shoulder approvingly before heading off to the medical tank as Jesse took his spot against the wall.

It sounded like Gabe calmed down quite a bit from munching on the leg as the two weren’t going at each other’s throats like he expected to happen. Jack then headed back over to him with a thumbs up and another pat on the shoulder.

“Gotta tell me what slaughterhouse you visited to get miracle meat that makes Gabe cooperative.”

Jesse laughed at that before handing him the business’ information card and then heading back over to the pool to talk with Gabe more.

--

They had the aquarium closed for the next two days so Hanzo could get used to the gen pop one tank and allow for Gabriel to be reintroduced as well. Jack was in his own striped wetsuit as the other workers helped raise Hanzo on a rubber platform with a forklift before Jack helped ease him into the water. Jesse watched from outside of the tank while Jack held Hanzo’s hands as he moved backwards on the surface of the water, allowing more of the water serpent's body to uncoil from the platform into the water. Everyone cheered excitedly as the tail made the final plunge into the water at last and Hanzo seemed rather uncertain of all the open space he now had at his disposal.

“Don’t look down yet, Hanzo. We’re just going to swim around on the surface for a bit.” Jack reassured him and continued to hold onto one of his hands as they swam side by side slowly to the center of the tank.

Jesse had his phone out and captured the whole beautiful thing. He wondered if he did the same thing with Gabriel when he introduced him to the tank. His eyes went up to the rubber mat that Gabriel would hang out on, expecting him to be there and making insults about the sickeningly sweet pair or something. It felt wrong for gen pop one to exist but not have Gabriel in it. Jesse shook the sad thoughts from his mind as he went back to enjoying the sight of Jack swimming with such a magnificent humanoid. To think they saved Hanzo from being sold to the Chinese or worse.

Eventually, Jesse had to admit that he felt envious watching Hanzo and Jack swim around together like that. Gabe only came near him when he wanted to and it was usually to call him an idiot or to correct an error he found on the spreadsheet. Gabe was literally his boss while Jack and Hanzo… Jesse stopped recording and tucked the phone back into his pocket. He had to go clean and feed the penguin exhibit today.

Jesse ended up wandering into the medical ward after impulsively swiping Jack’s master keycard off his desk and headed over to Gabe’s pool. The vet team was busy looking over his sutures while he laid calmly on a rubber mat for them. Jessie kept his distance and leaned against one of the walls as his hand fiddled with his phone in his pocket. Jesse never took a picture or video of Gabriel before, did he?

“The sutures should fall off on their own tomorrow, Gabriel.” Angela chuckled as she rewrapped his torso with the waterproof bandages before lowering the elevated platform back into the pool.

Jesse brightened at the head vet’s words and tipped his hat towards her as she gathered up her things to leave with her team. She rolled her eyes at him disapprovingly as he swung Jack’s keycard around his finger but gave him a smile; She wouldn’t go ratting on him anytime soon, it seems. Now that the doc was out the door, Jesse headed over to the edge of the pool and took a seat. Gabe shifted the sand below him to make a path over to Jesse and partially lifted himself out of the water by resting his arms on the edge.

“Looking good today, Boss.” Jesse grinned as he gave him the old finger gun and wink combo.

“I see you managed to find your hat.” Gabe gestured to the offending article with his Talon as Jesse brushed his finger over the brim.

“Yep.The shoes are a lost cause though.” He chuckled as Gabe rolled his eyes.

“Never understood why you needed them anyways.”

“You ever lay in broken glass before on the beach? It’s like that but on our feet and you know we bipeds like to support our whole weight on those.” Jesse shrugged.

“Makes sense.” Gabe commented simply.

Jesse quirked a brow at his Boss for being oddly passive today. No quips about his hat or his ‘BAMF’ belt buckle today and it felt really out of character for Gabe. God, Jesse was so used to being mocked for his attire on the daily when Jack didn’t confiscate the articles in question that he might have thought Gabe hit his head or something.

“How’s Jack?” Gabriel suddenly asked. Most likely curious with the tank introduction ceremony but didn’t want to directly ask about it, like usual. Maybe he actually was okay then.

“Havin’ the time of his life in the pool with Hanzo.” Jesse commented with a sigh. “Never seen him smile so much.” Maybe he was baring his envy a bit too obviously with that one but Gabe didn’t seem to catch the hint. Gabe merely gave him a toothy-grin as he looked up at Jesse and the cowboy felt any envy he had towards Jack and Hanzo disappear in a flash.

“Please tell me you got blackmail material on that.”

Jesse took out his phone and gave his boss a mischievous wink.

Gabe smirked as he nodded his head approvingly.

“Good job.”

--

Jesse jumped into the tank in his full diving gear as Gabriel was escorted into the maintenance floor via forklift platform the next day. Jesse could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest as he breached the surface to turn and see what Jack and Hanzo were up to as everyone in the aquarium all saddled up for Gabe’s reintroduction to the tank. Hanzo was apparently made big gains yesterday to overcome his open water fear as he and Jack watched the procedures from the safety of the other side of the tank. Jesse’s thoughts went back to yesterday and how Jack gently eased Hanzo into the tank with encouraging guidance with his hands. Unfortunately, Jesse didn’t even get the chance to hold his hands out to Gabe as his boss immediately plunged into the water by himself after the platform was leveled with the rim of the tank. Jesse frowned at the lost opportunity but what really was he expecting? Gabe to just offer his hands and ask Jesse to lead him in?

Yeah. Too many teen romance movies fueling the particular fantasy.

Jesse sighed deeply and chastised himself before he pulled his mouth piece into his mouth, ready to dive down into the water to get to work. He wasn’t any sort of prepared before a pair of hands wrapped around his waist and pulled him under.

Jesse flailed in the water, fighting back as he started to panic reflexively. After the incident with Hanzo and Gabriel’s lecture, Jesse grabbed onto the wrist to twist them off his waist until it kind of hit him. Hanzo and Jack were over at the other side of the tank still when he looked over and no one else was permitted into the tank to pull that kind of a cruel prank on him; Except Gabriel. The sight of his beautiful prosthetic tail fin near Jesse’s flippers confirmed it. Eventually, Gabriel released his waist and gently smacked the back of Jesse’s head lightly to get him to turn around.

For a guy who lectured him on how easy it was to kill a land walker like Jesse, Gabe sure had a sick taste in humor to pull him under like that. Maybe he was trying to reinforce his point from earlier? That seemed like a dick thing Gabe would do the moment he was put back into the tank with Jesse.

Jesse turned himself around to see Jack swimming over to them while Hanzo watched them from his corner of the tank. He signaled for the three of them to breach and they all swam up to the surface for whatever Jack wants to talk to them about.

“What the hell, Gabe?!” Jack spat as he threw off his mouth piece. “You know better than to drag Jesse under like that!”

“Mind your own business, MORRISON!” Gabriel barked at the aquarium owner.

“It is my business when you break the goddamn rules, REYES!” Jack countered. The both of them sounded like two dueling mothers at a PTA meeting rather than two grown men having a discussion. At least Jesse assumed that was how PTA meetings went down like they did in movies. Still, someone had to stop them now or they would be arguing for the next hour over something petty.

“Woah. Woah. Woah!” Jesse got between the two of them as he used his hands to hold them apart. “It’s fine, Jack.” He reassured Jack but that only made him redirect his anger towards Jesse.

“You panicked, Jesse! You certainly didn’t think you were fine!” Jack spat, hitting the nail right on the head.

He thanked god Jesse had goggles on so that no one could see the flush on his face.

“Well… Maybe Reyes COULD have given me a little heads up.” Jesse conceded as he twiddled his index fingers together and earned a groan from the merfolk next to him in exchange.

“You…! Does nothing-!? Fuck it!” Gabe dove back underwater, leaving Jesse and Jack confused as to what all that was about. It wasn’t until a moment later that Jack sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Now, I get it.” Jack deadpanned.

“I certainly didn’t.” Jesse huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. Jack always had a leg up on him when it came to understanding Gabe’s motives behind his mood swings and Jesse always felt inferior in that regard.

“That’s the point, Jesse.” Jack sighed before pulling his goggles back over his eyes. “You’re a smart kid though. You’ll catch on to it eventually.” Jack commented as he placed a firm hand on Jesse on the shoulder. He then put his mouthpiece back in and began swimming back over to Hanzo, who was waiting patiently at the other end of the tank.

Jesse sighed as he put his own mouthpiece back in place and dove down into the water to catch up with his boss. He pushed his way through the kelp fields and eventually found Reyes in one of the harder to reach grottos. One peek into there showed Reyes sulking like some grouchy, put off cat, and Jesse knew better than to try to pursue Gabe when he didn’t want him around. It was rather disheartening that after all the time they spent talking in the medical ward that Gabe would push him away while Jack was swimming together with Hanzo near the surface.

The grass was always green on the other side, right?

Jesse pushed himself away from the grotto and got to work checking on some of the fish they had tagged under the ‘watch’ list for possible medical intervention on the tablet. They didn’t mess with any of the small fish in the tank (unless they were expensive) but one of the sea turtles had a possible growth on one of its rear fins that needed to be checked out. Ned was their oldest sea turtle and kind of a recluse who never really stayed in one section of the tank as a personal preference. Jesse spent a good amount of time moving from sector to sector looking for the sea turtle until he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He likely wandered into the section that Hanzo and Jack were in and Jack looked at him curiously until Jesse pulled up the tablet to show him a picture of Ned.

Jack made a thumbs up sign before looking to Hanzo and pointing at the tablet. The hybrid drew in close to Jesse as he looked at the tablet inquisitively, not quite understanding what he was suppose to be focusing on since Jack obviously was still working on breaking Hanzo’s open water shyness. Jesse understood this and enlarged the picture so Hanzo could see the details of the sea turtle better. Hanzo nodded his head in understand and mimicked Jack’s ‘thumbs up’ before the two of them turned to go back to searching in their section. When Jesse turned around and went back to searching he found a rather pissed Gabriel waiting for him with his arms crossed over his chest.

What the fuck was his problem?

Jesse sighed as he went over to his boss and held up the tablet, showing the picture of Ned he showed to the other two. Gabe rolled his eyes and relaxed a bit at that before turning to survey the surrounding area for the elusive sea turtle. Jesse looked back over at Hanzo as he went over to Jack with one of the younger sea turtles in his hands for the aquarium owner to inspect. He felt himself smile at that as he remembered making the same exact mistake but to Gabe instead of Jack a few years back. Another light smack against the back of Jesse’s head drew his attention back to Gabe as he looked at Jesse with that ‘what are you standing around for?’ look in his eyes. Jesse rubbed the back of his head bashfully before moving back through the sectors he already swept through while Gabe handled the other half.

Jesse didn’t want to admit that his attention was sorely lacking on finding Ned as he kept looking at Gabriel in the distance from time to time, forcing himself to constantly check the area immediately behind him to make sure the turtle didn’t swim by when he wasn’t looking. Eventually, Gabriel looked up at something and Jesse followed his gaze to see what he was staring at. Ned, that motherfucker, was swimming up in the kelp fields like the haughty jackass he was. Jesse swam upwards to have a go at the turtle, too excited in the moment to think about stealth before Ned bust it into turbo to evade him and Gabriel, who almost caught him. Needless to say, his boss wasn’t very pleased with him and jabbed his finger in the direction Ned swam off to for Jesse to go get him.

Jesse took off in pursuit of the sea turtle, kicking his flippers as fast as he could after Ned as he went into Hanzo and Jack’s side of the tank. Hanzo seemed to notice Jesse’s pursuit and weaved his body through the water quickly as they tried to corner Ned. Jesse was mesmerized by how elegant Hanzo’s movements were and how beautiful his blue scales were as the light practically danced off them. Jesse ran smack dab into the tank glass with a thud for his efforts but Hanzo did manage to grab the sea turtle because the distraction caught the turtle’s eye. Jack and Gabe came over eventually as Jesse recovered and correctly showed how Hanzo should restrain the sea turtle properly by guiding his hands into the right positions. Jack gave a thumbs up to Hanzo and Jesse while Gabe moved in to gently turn Jesse around, checking the air pressure of his oxygen tank gauge before turning him back around; likely to check that his accident into the glass didn’t ruin his diving equipment.

“Enjoy losing more precious brain cells, McCree?” Gabriel huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as his voice past easily over to Jesse from how close they were.

Jesse just rolled his eyes at his boss and the four of them went to the surface with Ned in tow.

--

“Is sand really that comfortable to lay in, Boss?” Jesse asked curious as he took a bite from his tuna fish sandwich during his lunch break. Gabe was once again in his resting pool, stretched out with his face near where Jesse was sitting back against the glass, basking under the sunlamp like a content house cat.

“Do you HAVE to talk when I’m trying to sleep?” Gabriel grumbled, shifting the sand around him with his enormous tail.

“You don’t have to take your nap break when I’m on my lunch break either but that’s just me.” Jesse countered as he read Huckleberry Finn while eating his sandwich. To be honest Gabe could technically take breaks whenever he wanted to but he almost seemed to always nap when Jesse was on break. The maintenance floor was usually quiet around this time and Jesse kind of enjoyed pilfering off the warmth from Gabe’s sunlamp after being in the tank for a few hours.

“It is just you.” Gabe huffed. “I have to supervise you when you’re in the tank.”

“Even when Jack’s there?” Jesse countered with a slight huff, not liking Gabe’s attitude one bit.

“He’s not going to be able to keep a shark from biting a hole in your oxygen tubes, Dumbass.” Gabe growled in annoyance.

Jesse thought about that for a moment before a smirk lift the corner of his lips..

“Oh? You STILL feeling bad about biting me all those years ago, Boss?” He asked sarcastically, not expecting to hear the sound of shifting water behind him and watching his book get wet as Gabriel was now hanging over the side of the tank above where he was sitting. “HEY!” Jesse wiped the droplets of the pages with his shirt before scrambling away from the tank. “What the hell, Boss?!”

“I was angry, Jesse.” Gabriel suddenly spoke. Not a hint of anger or scarcasm in his voice as he looked down at him. “You fell into my tank and I lost it hard that day.” Gabriel admitted as he rested his arms on the rim of the tank. “I never got around to properly apologizing to you.”

Woah. Back up! Gabriel being sincere and apologetic?! Jesse was very uncomfortable with the sudden heavy mood shift from their playful back and forth just a second ago. Why the hell was he apologizing for it now, of all times?

“I-I was just joking, Boss! No need to apologize.” Jesse chuckled nervously as his heart was pounding in his ears. He stood up to face his boss, not wanting to be on the ground anymore if Gabe was going to talk to him straight.

“It’s not a joke to me, alright?”

Jesus. Why was he being so calm and serious? Gabe almost never talked to him seriously unless he fucked up hard and needed to be set straight.

Jesse sighed as he set his personal effects away from the tank and walked over to his boss.

“I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was bein’ insensitive, Boss.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he looked at his boss with a frown.

“I know, Jesse. But I wasn’t the one who lost my arm.” Gabriel answered more firmly, sounding like he was lecturing Jesse now rather than apologizing. It grinded Jesse’s gears something fierce to hear him say that.

“You almost lost your LIFE, Boss! My arm was peanuts to replace by comparison!” Jesse emphasized as he grasped the tank rim on either side of Gabriel, looking down at him. “Don’t act like your life has no value! Cause you’re the most beautiful person I have ever laid eyes on!”

“Now you know how I feel every time you climb into my fucking tank, Jesse McCree!” Gabriel yelled, full on in lecture mode now with a mix of built up anger slipping into his words. Why did he have to be such a stubborn prick all the time?!

“So, fucking what?! I’m safer in your goddamn tank then I ever was in the streets! Hell, I could die by falling down the stairs on my way to work- !”

Gabriel grabbed Jesse’s shirt collar and pulled him down into a frustration-filled kiss as Jesse caught himself against the rim, the incident with Hanzo pushing his reflexes into high gear fight or flight mode; He didn’t even have time to process the kiss since Gabe quickly took his lips off him and continued to glare up at him. “Don’t you EVER say that, Jesse McCree. Do you hear me?” He growled. “You’re a fucking moron but I won’t hand you over so easily to death while I’m here!”

Jesse’s face was bright red as Gabe released his shirt collar and slipped back into his resting tank. Jesse’s mouth dropped open as his brain finally added up everything and before he could even say anything to Gabriel the sonova bitch slipped right back into the general population one tank. All he could think about for the rest of the day was Gabe kissing him after he finished up his lunch and got back to work. Thank god he was done with tank swimming for the day because he needed the time to process all that just happened.

--

He thought having yesterday evening to logic out the kiss as just being the fish equivalent of someone smacking his face would help, but Jesse had trouble even looking at the gen pop one tank, much less climbing up the ladder to dive in with his wetsuit the next day. His mind was dead set on determining that Gabe hated him and that there was no other logical interpretation until Jack peeked over the edge of the tank to see Jesse looking at the concrete floor outside of the gen pop one tank. Jesse was suited up and ready to get to work for the day but he couldn’t get his feet to budge from the floor.

“What are you doing, Jesse? Get the lead out!” Jack barked.

“R-right!”

Jesse hustled his way up the ladder, his face red from embarrassment for being caught standing around, and cringed as he saw Gabe waiting for him at the surface of the tank.

Shit.

“You’re LATE!” Gabriel barked much more harshly than usual at him.

“Sorry, Boss!” Jesse apologized as he pulled his goggles on and put in his mouthpiece before slipping backwards into the tank from the platform. He just had to focus on his work and nothing else. Gabe meant nothing with that kiss. He meant nothing by it at all. Do fish even get feelings? Jesse shook his head of that ridiculous thought; of course Gabe had feelings and independent thoughts like he did! He was a fucking certified marine biologist with an IVY League degree!

Jesse pulled out his tablet and started scrolling through the ‘to-do’ list Jack made for him that day. Like usual, he had to do the corral cluster condition counts and the daily noon feeding time presentation. He figured Gabe had went to work already with his sector counts until Jesse released his tablet to his side and saw Gabriel staring at him. A clawed hand gently reached out for him and took Jesse’s hand as he led him down to his own sector, making Jesse think they were just going to start with this section first until they swam past it.

Now, Jesse wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box and tend to fire from his hip more so than others but he still couldn’t get a beam on Gabriel’s intent as he continued to lead him around at the bottom of the tank. Hell, he was still thinking that Gabriel needed his help with something, much more realistic than the alternative, and needed Jesse’s fingers to handle it like moving a rock that fell or something. Gabe had made him do grunt work like that before and that’s just what Jesse thought it was until Gabe stopped to look at him. They were right over the grotto Gabriel liked to sleep and hide away in when he didn’t want to use his pool attached to the tank. Jesse looked down and tried to see what was wrong with the place for a good few seconds before he felt a light whack on the head from the back of Gabe’s hand. The man was pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance and Jesse shrugged his shoulders since he had no clue what Gabe wanted him to do.

Gabe looked around his immediate surroundings before letting out a sigh and leaning in close to Jesse. “I want you, Okay? Stop making this so awkward.”

It took Jesse a second before he let out a stream of bubbles from his mouth piece.

WHAT?!

Jesse pointed to his chest then back at Gabe, trying to communicate his thoughts before Gabe rolled his eyes and instructed Jesse to take a deep breath before taking the mouthpiece off.

“I don’t understand you, Jesse McCree. Say it.”

“You love me?” Jesse asked, firing ever so honestly from his hip with that question as he looked at his boss, wanting to make sure there absolutely was no misunderstandings at this point.

Gabe froze at that and Jesse immediately took his mouthpiece back from Gabe’s hand so he could take another deep breath before speaking again.

“I didn’t mean it like that it just kind of came out that way and I panicked-”

Another inhale of oxygen from the mask.

“If I got this completely the wrong way then I’m so sorry, Boss!”

Gabe pretty much forced the mouthpiece back into Jesse’s mouth as he pinched the bridge of his nose again while keeping Jesse from taking it out. He took a slow breath once and then twice before looking at Jesse.

“Do you want me, Jesse McCree?” Gabriel asked firmly.

Jesse nodded his head.

“Like a lover?”

He nodded his head much more frantically at that.

“You won’t call me anything fucking stupid like ‘honey’ or ‘darling’, right?”

Jesse paused for a fraction of a second before Gabe turned away.

“No deal then.”

A flurry of bubbles left his mask as he grabbed Gabe’s arm, his heart slamming in his throat from both fear of retaliation and the desire to be with his mentor.

“Please!” Jesse begged before bringing the mouthpiece back to his lips to take a breath as Gabe didn’t pull himself away or hiss at him like he thought he would. “I’m a fucking idiot but I couldn’t sleep when Jack said you hurt yourself trying to get to me that day, Gabe! Please!”

Gabe grumbled and Jesse brought the mouthpiece back up to his mouth to be able to breath right. His hand was still clutching to Gabe’s wrist as he waited for Gabriel to say something, even if it would break his stupid pinning heart before removing his mouthpiece to speak once more.

“I promise I won’t do anything stupid like climb into tanks of merfolk I don’t know again!”

Gabriel threw back his head and laughed hard at that; A loud, hearty laughter that almost terrified Jesse as he shut his stupid pie hole up with the mouthpiece before releasing Gabe’s wrist. He didn’t expect Gabe to now grab HIS wrist as he finally ceased his laughter.

“Jesse McCree, your lies are the worst.” He smiled. “Come here.”

Just like that, Gabe pulled him into his arms and held him the best he could with the oxygen tank strapped to Jesse’s back. The water was cold but Jesse felt nothing but warmth as he rest his head on Gabe’s shoulder and held him in return. It was familiar in a ways. Didn’t Gabe hold him in a similar manner way back then when he fell into the tank? Jesse’s eyes widened as he finally remembered what happened that day. It happened so fast that maybe his memories did merge in the most unpleasant ways. He shoved Gabe away to arms’ length as he kept a firm grip on his shoulder with one hand while the other pulled out the mouth piece.

“You fucking bastard! You didn’t bite me all those years ago! It was one of the other sharks!”

Gabe was justifiably confused at Jesse suddenly pushing him back but he seemed to relax a bit when he realized it wasn’t a flat out rejection. Jesse took a deep breath from the piece before continuing onwards in his rage.

“Why the fuck would you take the fall for one of your sharks!? Everyone demanded your head on a pike!” Jesse spat, his heart absolutely aching as he remembered the protests and the swarm of news cameras outside of the hospital and the aquarium while he recovered.

“Because they were all that I HAD! Jack and I spent years working for shark conservation! Who would kill a real-life talking merfolk, Jesse?!”

“You fucking GAMBLED your LIFE on a fucking shark?!” Jesse shot back. He was red in the face and wanted to deck Gabriel in the face with his metal hand. Jesse only restrained himself because he knew it wasn’t worth straining their relationship with a punch since he would hate himself for doing it later.

“Look who's fucking talking, Mister Street-Slick-Cocaine-Hustler-Who-Fell-Into-A-Fucking-Shark-Tank!”

“I don’t do that anymore!” Jesse protested before quickly bringing the mouthpiece back up as was gasping for breath when he started breathing the oxygen again. This could not be good at all for his health but at least it gave them some privacy to have it out on each other.

“And I don’t keep aggressive sharks in my tank anymore either!” Gabe huffed before taking a deep breath to calm himself and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I thought you had the facts straight all these years and were just playing along with Jack and I on the topic.”

“Well, I didn’t!” Jesse threw his hands up before taking another breath.

“You never acted like I seriously took your arm, Jesse McCree!” Gabriel argued justifiably. “You never were afraid when begged Jack and I to let you into the tank!”

“Well, I’m a stupid fuck, aren’t I?!” Jesse huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest

“You are the luckiest dumbfuck I know.” Gabe deadpanned.

“Thanks.” Jesse rolled his eyes at the comment.

“But, I still want you regardless.” Gabriel added. “You’re good at surviving and not letting shit luck get you down when it happens. I admire that.”

Jesse was touched by that admittance and felt himself smile as he took the piece back out. God, he was a dumbass who was angry one minute with Gabe and then all sunshine and rainbows when his mentor gave him a rare compliment. If Gabriel was anyone else, he would have thought he was being manipulated but he knew when Gabe was trying to manipulate him and this wasn’t it.

“Really?”

“Really really. Now keep your damn mouth piece where it belongs before you break it.” Gabe rolled his eyes and Jesse was more than happy to comply by shoving his mouthpiece into his mouth. “Let’s get to work. We’ll talk later, alright?”

Jesse nodded his head and the two of them parted to go check the corral conditions of their own respective half of the tank. He was on cloud nine for the rest of the working day, always making sure to wave at Gabriel as saw him perched on his rubber mat on the rim of the tank as he worked on the maintenance floor until it was finally time for lunch. Gabe was snoozing away in his private pool as Jesse plopped down with his bag against the back of the tank to pull out his third tuna fish sandwich that Jack made for him that week. He began unwrapping the tin foil from the sandwich and took a bite from it when he remembered Gabriel asking for a taste of it two weeks back. Jesse’s face flushed as he remember Gabe suggesting he chew the bite for him and had a suspicious feeling his boss might have been asking for something more than just the food.

“Gabe?” Jesse chewed and swallowed the bite as Gabriel didn’t respond, or at least not loudly enough for his voice to carry over the top of his pool. “Gabe?” He asked a bit louder this time as he felt his heart speed up in his chest when Jesse heard the tall tell signs of Gabe moving in his tank. Jesse got up on his knees and turned around as he was now face to face with a slightly annoyed Gabriel.

“What?” Gabriel grumbled as he rest his arms on the rim of the glass and set his chin down on it. Jesse admit he looked rather tired but he held up his partially eaten tuna fish sandwich in the tin foil for Gabe to see as he smiled.

“You want some now that you’re feeling better?” Jesse asked with a mischievous smirk that had Gabriel quirking a brow at him suspiciously.

“Pretty sure Jack will dock your pay if he catches you feeding that to me.” Gabe commented drly.

“Jack’s not here, is he?” Jesse gave him a playful eyebrow waggle as he held up the sandwich to Gabe’s nose so he could smell and look at the inner contents of the sandwich himself. Gabriel was intrigued as he leaned in and looked at the white mixture between two white bread piece before taking a quick sniff.

“That doesn’t really smell like tuna.” Gabe observed as he narrowed his eyes at it and then Jesse suspiciously. “Explain, McCree.”

“I’m pretty sure Jack mixes mayonnaise into the tuna after he strains all the water out. He’s not very creative when it comes to making food.” Jesse explained the best he could. “Mayo is kind of like a sauce we bipeds put on our food to take it taste better.” He quickly added before Gabe could ask him the inevitable mayo question. Gabriel was still perplexed as he looked from the sandwich then back to Jesse.

“Still doesn’t solve the fact that I don’t have molars to properly enjoy it if it tastes as good as you’re making it sound like.” Gabe commented and watched Jesse as he pulled the sandwich back towards him with a shit-eating grin. “Jesse McCree. Do I even WANT to know what you’re thinking?” He asked oddly hesitantly.

Jesse said nothing as he took a bite and leaned forward towards Gabe as he chewed.

“Oh. You’re just going to be an asshole and make me watch you eat it then?” Gabriel huffed as he got up to turn back to lay back in his pool, not wanting to deal with Jesse’s childish bullshit. Jesse quickly grabbed Gabriel’s shoulders and kissed him firmly, confusing the hell out of Gabe until he felt Jesse’s tongue licking his lips. Gabe rolled his eyes as he got the idea and opened up so Jesse could do the transfer. He still had no molars to chew so he just rolled it around against his rows of teeth to get the flavor out before swallowing. Jesse was a deep cherry red as he went back to munching on his sandwich as he waited for Gabriel’s verdict. “It’s… Okay, I guess?” Gabriel offered. “Not as fun when there’s no blood involved though. Chewing through the bones and tasting the salty blood on your tongue is the best part of eating an actual tuna.”

Jesse just rolled his eyes at that and Gabriel chuckled slightly at how uncomfortable his protege was. “It’s not like I get bones in my meals nowadays much less have fresh prey to hunt, McCree. You bipeds just enjoy your food differently than I do.” He explained like he would to a curious child asking him a question during the Q&A portions of the noon feeding presentation.

“So. Uh. About that thing you said about blood.” Jesse cleared his throat as he tried to nervously get his question together. “Let’s say you bit me but not in a serious bite kind of way, would it trigger a feeding frenzy in you like it does in normal sharks?”

Gabriel just stared at the red-faced McCree as he stared back at him anxiously. “You want me to bite you but not in a ‘serious’ sort of way, right? Any particular situation you could give me that would involve that?”

“E-Erm…! Like…! Nipping gently at my neck and shoulder when we make out…?” Jesse asked with such a tiny voice that Gabriel remembered he was dealing with a twenty year old male human who had a giant crush on him for years. Gabe smirked at Jesse and leaned in as he beckoned Jesse closer with a talon. Jesse complied hesitantly.

“I might be able to draw the line of how physical we get right there, Jesse. Though I don’t think Jack or Angela would be happy about me chewing up the wetsuits. It kind of gives off a bad impression.” Gabriel chuckled as he brought a talon up to trace the back of it against Jesse’s cheek. “As for me? No messing with the gills or I’m kicking you out of my tank, got it?”

“O-of course, Gabe!” Jesse grumbled. “Maybe I’ll come in on my off-days and just hang out with you in my swim trunk in your pool. If that’s cool with you, of course.”

“Sounds like we got a date tomorrow then, Jesse McCree.” Gabriel smiled before gently flicking the brim of Jesse’s stetson down so it covered his face and began pushing himself off the rim of the tank with a yawn. “I’m going back to sleep.”

“Sweet dreams, Gabe.” Jesse chuckled fondly as he readjusted his hat on his head before turning to sit back down on the ground.