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“Hey, how’re you feeling?” Gabriel asked as he walked into his and Jack’s shared room.
Jack didn’t respond. Gabriel could just faintly hear his ragged breathing as he huddled under his blankets. He walked over to Jack’s bunk and gently peeled the blankets back. Dazed blue eyes rolled up towards him out of an ashen face. Sweat dripped down Jack’s face and he was shaking uncontrollably.
“Still not good, huh?” Gabriel sighed as he knelt down.
He pushed his fingers through Jack’s sweat-slicked hair, trying to find something to encourage Jack. The doctors weren’t holding out any hope. It was only their first injections and Jack’s reaction to the chemicals made them positive he was going to die. Gabriel didn’t want to believe that, but he was hard pressed to find some way to make the skinny little kid get better.
“C-cold,” Jack stuttered out.
“Ssh,” Gabriel soothed as he pressed his lips against Jack’s forehead.
Jack was burning up. It actually hurt to touch him. Gabriel pulled away and licked his lips, trying to think of anything that could save his friend. He didn’t want to think about losing him; he was the only person in the entire program that Gabriel felt comfortable around.
They had gravitated to each other when they were all brought into the same room to wait for briefing. Gabriel had six years of service on the skinny little eighteen-year-old from rural Indiana and probably two hundred pounds of muscles, but it had felt right to feel Jack leaning on his arm as they waited. It felt right to stay quiet while everyone else loudly talked to one another. It felt right when Jack shot him a look and arched an eyebrow and quietly asked how long he had served. It had felt right to reassure him that Jack’s inexperience wouldn’t hinder him too much since they were all losing their rank.
He ran his hand over Jack’s cheek before gently pushing him back. “Hang on,” he murmured before in climbed onto the narrow bunk with him. “Let me help you warm up.”
Jack huddled against Gabriel’s chest, whimpering as he hid his face in Gabriel’s neck. Gabriel curled protectively around Jack, holding him close as he wrapped the blankets tightly around Jack’s shaking body. Chest to chest, Gabriel felt something stir between them. He closed his eyes as Jack let out a soft sigh.
He pushed his hands into Jack’s hair and kissed his cheek, murmuring soft encouragement. Jack hugged Gabriel tightly around the chest and fell asleep almost instantly. Gabriel smiled before he rested his cheek on the top of Jack’s head and let himself to drift off.
He woke to the spot next to him empty. It was still warm, so Jack was here only a short time ago. Gabriel sat up, scared and worried about where his roommate had gotten to. He heard the door open behind him and got to his feet, ready to demand answers from the commanding officer that was no doubt going to tell him that Jack was dead. Instead, he gawked at Jack as his roommate brought two trays of food into the room.
“Enjoy your sleep?” Jack asked.
“How are you feeling?” Gabriel asked as Jack set the food down.
“Not one hundred percent,” Jack admitted. “But not like I’m going to drop dead.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Gabriel smiled before he pulled Jack close and kissed him.
Jack turned a lovely shade of red before he ducked his head and squirmed. “Wow, Gabe. Where the hell did that come from?” he laughed nervously.
Gabriel shrugged and held Jack close. “I was scared I was going to lose you,” he murmured. “I think I would have perished too.”
“Gabe,” Jack tucked his head into Gabriel’s chest. “What are you saying?”
Gabriel hugged Jack tightly, pressing that adorable blond head between his pecs. “I think we’re soulmates.”
Jack shivered before looking up at him. “Oh, so you felt it too?” he asked with a shy smile. “I thought it was just a result of the fever.”
“No,” Gabriel smiled, “I felt it too.”
Jack shifted against his chest, purring happily as he blushed more. Gabriel chuckled as he held Jack close, humming softly before he pulled Jack down onto the bed so they could actually eat.
Jack woke to pain. Pain and agony and the understanding that something was very, very wrong. He felt like soup, like his entire being had been reduce to some sort of slop. He couldn’t scream. He couldn’t even think properly. Everything was disjointed and happening all at once inside of his head, like he was shooting off in a million directions at once and unable to keep a hold of one thought at a time. What was happening to him?
“Jack’s awake!” an unfamiliar voice shouted. “Angela! Come see!”
Jack felt something vibrating behind him; what even was behind when he was little more that sentient slop? He tried to open his eyes, tried to figure out which way was up, but he couldn’t. He surged outwards, screaming internally as something shoved him back down.
“Jack, Jack, listen to me,” Angela’s voice broke through his fear. “You’re safe! It’s okay! We have you in an experimental regeneration tank. You’re okay.”
Jack felt himself slide backwards into himself with a sickening sensation. This was not okay, Angela! This was the opposite of okay! HE WAS SOUP! SOUP WAS NOT OKAY WHEN IT WAS THE HUMAN VARIETY! Humans weren’t supposed to be soup! They were supposed to be solid! Mostly, because the whole ‘70% water thing’, but that was beside the point!
“Jack, please, calm down! The nanites can’t do their job if you don’t keep a level head,” Angela soothed.
Nanites? Oh fucking hell, she was experimenting on him with the same fucking thing she’d pumped Gabriel full of. Just. Fucking. Great. He tried to struggle, tried to think of some way to get everything working properly. He was not a science experiment, Angela! This wasn’t fucking ethical!
“Angela, open the container,” Gabriel’s voice snapped. “I told you to keep him sedated until he solidified.”
“I didn’t think he would panic like this,” Angela snapped.
“He’s little more than smoke at this point; of course he’s going to fucking panic,” Gabriel snarled. “Open the damn canister.”
Jack shivered as something billowed over top of him. He arched into it, purring somehow as he was wrapped in something warm and familiar.
“Ssh,” Gabriel soothed as he billowed around Jack. “Ssh, I’ve got you, Jack. It’s scary, I know, but I’ve got you now. You aren’t alone.”
“Gabe,” Jack sighed out. “What did she do to me?”
“You were dying,” Gabriel murmured in his ear. “Talon got you good and you were barely recognizable. I managed to wraith you to the medical bay, but Angela didn’t think you were going to make it.”
“I don’t remember that,” he murmured.
“Good; you were a mess,” Gabriel shivered and coaxed him closer. “I gave her permission to add the nanites to your bloodstream. You were melted almost immediately and I might have panicked. And threatened Angela’s life. And the bodily functions of Lúcio. And make Zenyatta meet the Iris in pieces.”
“Oh, Gabi,” Jack laughed as he snuggled into Gabriel’s essence. “You violent, overly protective bastard.”
“You’re my soulmate; of course I’m going to violently protect you,” Gabriel snorted. “The same way you violently protected me when the UN came for us in Zurich. Still amazed that you blew up a building.”
“That was an accident,” Jack huffed before he felt himself solidifying. “Gabe? Is this container big enough for two supersoldiers?”
“I made sure it was,” Gabriel chuckled before he swam into focus above him. “You feeling okay?”
“Like the world’s spinning,” Jack murmured as he reached up to caress Gabriel’s cheek. “And I hurt all over.”
“You get used to it,” Gabriel smiled sadly before he gently started kissing over Jack’s palm. “I’m sorry I didn’t give you a choice, mi sol.”
“I don’t mind,” Jack smiled and snuggled against Gabriel’s chest. “So long as I’m with you. And you help me not turn into Morrison soup all the time. Because that was fucking terrifying.”
“It looked terrifying,” Gabriel agreed before snuggling against him, billowing himself out to hide Jack from view. “Do not worry, my soldier, I will keep you safe.”
“I know you will,” Jack smiled up at him. “You always do.”