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[dadication]

The idea that anyone - anyone - would think to bring Overwatch down on Gabriel Reyes over some disagreements that they had been having proved that either people didn't know they were bonded or they just plain didn't care. Reyes had given everything to Overwatch, slipping into the shadows to see that the organization had the information that they needed. The sheer idea that anyone would put the fall of it down on a man who had dedicated his life to making it work was the ultimate insult.

Maybe it didn't help that Jack was bonded tightly to Gabriel, so anyone taking a shot at his bond like this set-up seemed to be happening raised his temperature and boiled his blood as his normally level-headed temper broke almost instantly. No, there was no way that he would stand for this.

Gabriel Reyes was a patriot and a hero!

Wounded or not, Jack was angry enough to lose reason. He pulled back from Gabe, fueled by his anger as he tore himself from the bed and leaving behind his packet of MRE bread to search around for any clothing that had basically survived so he could pull it on. Almost everything was ruined, but he was tearing around looking for tattered pants to pull them on and yeah, he'd be using one of the EMT jackets since his own was thrashed.

"I won't stand for it!" He grabbed up the sniper rifle that Gabe had stolen, ignoring the pain of his injuries as he checked the ammunition. "They can't do this! I won't let them!"

[gr1m]

"Jack!"

Of course he was stunned at first, Gabriel having watched him suddenly get up after pulling away, head snapping in his direction and hissing with the pain, stuck there on the bed for a moment. Caught between what was dawning on him, what was going to happen, and then Morrison launching himself in to it like this.

Within seconds he was scrambling off the bed himself after Jack, catching him by the arm, well away from the end of that sniper. "You can't go out there! We can't go out there! They're still likely going to be on the lookout! Especially if they find that dead sniper!" He hoped it was because they didn't know about the bond, really, really hoped.

[dadication]

While they had the discussion not even an hour ago about how it wasn't safe, how they would be targeted, Jack had hit the point in his anger that was all welcome them to try mode because he was going through anyone that stopped him from putting an end to this conspiracy before it managed to get off the ground. He'd kill snipers and military personnel that tried to stop him too. Wouldn't even hesitate.

He twisted his arm in Gabriel's hold, jerking himself free hard enough to set his teeth on edge in pain. He tucked the rifle under his arm safely and turned on Reyes. "I don't care! They can't get away with this! No one blames you for this mess!"

He would find whoever had put Angela up to such an interview and punch them. He staggered to pull on the jacket, to set himself to just going. "You stay here. You're lung needs to heal, and if I do get shot again, you're going to need to be safe to keep me alive while I rip them limb from limb!"

[gr1m]

Fuck.

He winced himself when Jack jerked free, but that didn't stop him. Gripping the back by the back of that EMT jacket he'd worked himself in to. "I do! You can't go out there while it's still so dangerous! You won't get near the place without getting shot! They'll be all over you within seconds!" Didn't doubt it for a second either. Then where would he be? Stuck on his own somewhere without his bond? What the fuck was he supposed to do?

"I need you with me! Not out there going on some one man army stunt out of anger!" Gabriel wasn't about to let him go without a fight, no matter his own condition. "What do you think will happen once they have you? They'll figure I have to be out there somewhere, too!

"They'll start hunting me down with you!"

[dadication]

He was stopped from forcing his feet back into dirty boots when he felt the grip to the back of the jacket that he had zipped himself into, the only clothing he had that wasn't a completely loss. He twisted to look at Gabe, his expression raw with anger. "I can take care of myself and you know it! I'm a soldier just like you, and I will not stand for them to pain you with the brush of treason, Reyes! Your name will be turned to mud; your family will be left wondering...!" He couldn't do that to the Reyes family.

His nostrils were flared with anger, his eyes a stormy blue as he stared at Reyes and moved to jerk the jacket out of the other man's grip. He needed to go. That interview was live, and if he could leg it hard, he could make it back within an hour.

"I'm telling the truth! I can't let them do this to you. You're my bond, and I promised when we first met that I'd defend your honour!" And he hadn't had to much previously, but he did when Reyes landed himself in political hot water. Not just his job but because he wanted to protect Reyes as much as possible. "Overwatch will believe me. Our allies will believe me!"

He felt a shock at the idea of them using him to find Reyes. It wasn't unheard of. The bond between pairs living as close as they had for years meant that they could use methods to force Reyes in or force him to find Reyes.

"... I won't betray you. I won't let them take me! I just need to tell them to truth!"

[gr1m]

"My family knows the both of us better than this!" Knew him better than that. Had it really been that long ago since the both of them had spoken with any of his family? Any of the Morrisons? The two groups of people that knew their secret, knew the two of them as well as they knew each other. "You're not at your best- neither of us are! You're not thinking straight either." Not hurt and angry like this, it was the most reckless and foolish thing that could be done when they needed to lay low.

Gabriel wasn't letting go, if anything he was holding tighter, getting a grip on Jack himself again. Not just the jacket. A part of him struck ice cold with fear and worry of what could happen if he let the man out that door.

Horrible what ifs. "There's nothing to believe if they take you out the moment you're spotted, and then keep you held when they notice you don't stay dead no matter what they do!" Because of their bond, "They'll figure it out then, anyone could figure it out then—"

With Talon involved, and who knew who else, they'd resort to anything to get what they wanted. He was sure of that much.

"We're both vulnerable like this, Jack. Please," and he so rarely begged for anything.

[dadication]

"But don't you think all their friends will ask questions? Even a shadow of doubt and it will be undone and you'll be slandered!" He couldn't allow the world at large to think of Reyes that way as the man had sacrificed so much for the Omnic Crisis, had worked hard to save everyone and then keep them safe. His anger burned like an inferno in him as him being able to see the writing on the wall. "I don't need to be at my best to smash some heads together and stand in front of a camera! I can do all of that half-dead and half asleep!"

He struggled against the grip that Gabe managed to slip around him, twisting and jerking to try to get himself free. He was still careful, aware that his bond was injured and wasn't looking to aggravate those wounds more than he had to. "Let me go!" A part of him knew Reyes wouldn't without a real fight.

He instead decided to step on Gabe's foot hard to see if the older man would relent in grip as he struggled at the same time. "I know how to keep a low profile! Stop thinking I can't make this happen!" It would be very bad if anyone learned the truth, could test it and draw Reyes in to come protect him and drag him out of there. "I won't let them take me! I'll come back to you when I say my truth, Gabriel!"

He was yelling at this point, his voice cracking and hoarse, trying to express his anguish that any narrative would go this way. He had to stop it! He had to! He promised that he would protect Gabe no matter what, and if he didn't stop this, he would be failing.

At the actual begging, he made a broken noise and made one last effort to rip his way out of Reyes' grip before faltering and falling to his knees. "Fuck you... you need to let me do this. I have to protect you..."

[gr1m]

"Do you doubt your own family like you want to start doubting mine?" A low and dirty pull maybe, but he felt it was necessary at this point, no real offense taken at what was aimed at his own. He knew it was all anger and fear, worry about what this story the news was seemingly aiming towards would do to his name. He didn't care about what the world thought of him though, hardly ever did. There was only some small part of the world that mattered to him.

A large part of it was struggling against him and trying to break free, act like a foolhardy reckless idiot to defend his honor. "I can't, Jack." Not without fear of losing him if he did let go.

Even as he cried out at the step on his foot, only had him holding on tighter. Refused to let go, couldn't let go, not if he wanted to keep him- "We're out numbered, Jack. This is worse than a suicide mission. Please, you need to stop!" Taking the pain, even if he could feel something hurt, some searing pain somewhere at his side that he bit down.

Sinking right down with Jack and holding him all the more tighter. "The protect me, here. I need you with me, Jack. I need you with me." Those were tears welling up again, all of this just too damn much.

[dadication]

"My family is small, and my parents would shut down any inquiries," he replied carefully, not about to put any blame on the Reyes family. However, Gabe's extended family was massive and some where likely not going to understand the implications of asking about if the news was true. Gabe and Jack kept their bond very close-lipped to their direct family only. "People will talk. Friends of our families will talk. You're well-known... and I can't let them do this to your good name." He cared because Gabe was his bond and he needed to protect Reyes as part of his investment into their deep bond.

It was fruitless, and he knew it. If he tried to leave, he'd literally be dragging Reyes with him. It wasn't a risk he would take. He would willingly throw himself into the fire to stop this from happening, but he wasn't about to risk putting his bond out there as well. The two of them might be strongest when together, but even he knew they were a mess and not a functioning team.

"Numbers don't matter to me... I'll fight, and I'll show them that you had nothing to do with this," he murmured, having to bite his lower lip to not hiccup a dry sob. "It's not a suicide mission. I need to do this... I can't let them get away with this." He tried to jerk from Gabe's arms now that he had sunk to the floor, to crawl away even if a burning in his side already meant he had probably popped at least one stitch.

"How can I be a good bond to you if I let you be thrown under the bus like this? How can I protect you here if I can't even stand up for you out there? It's not fair." He punched the floor once, twice and a third time.

[gr1m]

"Size doesn't matter- I trust those who matter not to believe any of it, they know us and they know me—" That was the point he was trying to get in there firmly, without a single bit of doubt. He knew his family, knew the ones who would fight and argue if any blood or not so much as tried to come at them with any sort of accusation or belief of any lies. "Let them talk if they talk, none of them matter." Not to him, he didn't care about others' opinions of himself.

Wouldn't do half of the things he'd ever done if he did care.

At least one stitch had indeed popped, but it wasn't stopping Gabriel from holding on desperately. He was desperate, didn't want Jack to leave, panic pumping through his system, helped ignore his own pain and keep that tight hold. Didn't want Jack to risk himself for anything, not for this- "It is a suicide mission, no matter how strong or capable you are." There was too much stacked against them.

Neither of them were fit for any of this shit right now, let alone either of them doing anything Jack had the idea of alone.

"Jack," A whine to his voice, a silent plea as a hand went around Jack's wrist, pulling his fist up and away from the floor after that third punch. Wanting to cradle it and Jack to himself. "I couldn't ask for a better bond- none of this means you aren't. I need you with me more than ever because of this."

[dadication]

"They'll make you a wanted man!" If the narrative was going to spin as it seemed to be, Gabriel would be a traitor and there was no way that if he appeared again in the public eye that he would be given a fair trial, least of all in the face of public opinion. He could not stand for Reyes being painted as a traitor and a terrorist when the man had spent his entire life fighting against that very idea. "It will if they label you a traitor! Our government executes traitors!"

Of course his righteous anger, once stoked, would cause them both harm. He was too pumped on emotion and adrenaline to notice much at this point, and the weight of Gabe's arms around him kept him from really making a fight of it. He was so damn upset, even tuning out the holovid as he stared at the door as if opening it would burst open and he could run out without having to hurt Gabriel.

"It isn't a suicide mission if I can't die while you're alive," he snarled, curling his lip and not caring how much it flared pain through his wounds that were pulled. "I'll take them down with me and still end up walking away."

His hand flexed when Gabe managed to get a hold of his wrist, knuckles already bruising but the floor had suffered just as much. "Can't let them get away with this. I'm still Strike Commander," he hissed vehemently, flexing his fingers. "What kind of bond am I if I can't even protect you anymore? It was my entire job."

[gr1m]

"It won't matter, because it's not like I'll be showing my face in the public eye again with all of this! They just tried to kill us both!" Whoever all 'they' consisted of, it was hard to tell where the group started and where it ended. "It's not safe for either of us, Jack." Wasn't like he could just pop up somewhere, couldn't be sure he wouldn't be gunned down just as readily.

Couldn't feel anything but the searing pain up along his side, any bleeding caught by the bandaging wrapped around him. Likely be soaked through at some point during all of this, with how he twisted himself to make sure he had a good solid hold on Jack. Refusing to let up or let go, afraid of what could happen if he did.

"And if they decide to paint you a traitor as well because of you going out there and killing people? What good will that do either of us, if they're willing to do it to me." Please just listen—

Holding Jack that much closer to himself. "It still is your job, and I need you right here with me, not running off out there."

[dadication]

"That's a problem!" If they could put the word out there, then any appearances and attempts on them would be assassination. "You can't have all of your freedoms taken away if it goes down like we both think it might!" He was riling up all over again thinking about how Gabe would be forced to go off the grid, into hiding even if they planned a short-term dive into that. They could contact those that knew them and now... maybe not.

His own bandages were reflecting the difficulties of their struggle against each other, but he ignored it, pointedly wouldn't look down at them right now. He pushed at the arms around him, trying to pry them off even if meant dropping the sniper rifle and ended up with him leaning more on Reyes than away.

"I'll only take out anyone that stands in my way." It might not even involve killing, though he was feeling like he could definitely be in that mode. "I'm their golden boy and the public will be less willing to think of me as a traitor." It might still work, but he wasn't thinking clearly either, too angry, to hurt.

He finally looked at the hand that he had beaten the floor with and recognized a broken knuckle with how displaced it was. He shook his head, a dry choked sound leaving him. "I damn well broke my hand. What sort of asshole does that?" He shook his head at the same time he shook his head as if that would correct the problem. "I can't protect you from this..."

[gr1m]

"I know." He knew full well what a story like that would mean for him, do for hi chances of just going out anywhere in public. He'd already decided against showing his face anywhere the moment he had dropped in to this sort of survival mode however. Fully prepared for the consequences it meant. "I know."

Took advantage of that leaning in to him, get that much more of a secure grip around Jack. Doing his best to avoid tearing open any stitching anywhere, but it couldn't be helped, had felt like a couple of his own had popped. That searing pain along his side, under the bandaging, was all the proof he needed.

His head shook. "The public was calling for your head this week as it was, Jack." Turned against him so easily.

"The type of asshole you are," as if they needed more aches and pains from this entire experience. Coaxing Jack's head to rest against his chest, keeping the man held so close against him. "Please."

[dadication]

If anyone knew the implications as well as or better than he did, it was Reyes. This would make any sightings of them even more precarious, made them have to get to that safe house even more imperative because they couldn't be seen. No bodies meant no proof of death, but it also meant the public might be on the look out for their very public faces. "This can't happen... you're a patriot."

He was stunned by the implications of the narrative, horrified how it might play out, imagining a worst case scenario. It allowed him to be tucked more securely into Gabe's grip, which he had sort of stopped fighting again, but he was tense as if he might take flight at any moment. His nostrils were flared, eyes fixed and staring at nothing in particular, and he made a soft whining sound of pure pain and not all of it physical.

"...are we both going to be traitors?" Would the UN stoop so low? He'd never considered the possibility before.

He resisted his head settling on Gabe's chest at first but then gave in if it was pushed over and over. He ran his fingers over his busted knuckles and forced them back into position with a hiss of pain and a trembling. "...they taken everything from us. There's no... media interview I can give to make any of this better, to make up for the people we lost..."

[gr1m]

"It doesn't matter to them what I am."

Hated seeing Jack like this, but he wasn't about to let him go because of it. That hopeless and lost sort of look despite his anger. The worry an fear of what could be, of what might be coming, could be coming. What all they would be walking out in to once they did leave this room, there was so much uncertainty ahead of them. Gabriel was determined that they'd both get through it.

"I don't know. Can't even begin to guess what they'll do for you." Who knew how low they'd stoop at this point.

Fingers curled in to Jack's hair then, once his head did settle. Trying to soothe him even as he hissed from fixing his knuckles. "We still have each other, got that much at least."

[dadication]

"It should... it should matter to everyone. You gave almost everything to keep the world safe..."

But safe wasn't profitable apparently. He shook his head, still looking towards the door, now worrying at his lower lip with his teeth as his mind ran through all those scenarios again, trying to find a way around them, trying to find a way to make it stop. That's what he was supposed to be good at, heading off the bad situations before they happened, saving the day, settling down emotions before they flared too high. All of his efforts, all of his skills seemed to be out of reach now... how was he supposed to stop this or protect Gabe?

What were they going to do for him? His reputation was less concerning to him, but if they were both traitors? "...how could we be traitors?" One or both of them. It was beyond him; he was gobsmacked by the sheer notion of it.

He tucked his hand against himself, almost throwing up from the all around situation. He held it down, even if his eyes continually went for the door. "Yeah we have each other, always will... but everything we've done, worked for... it's gone. I can't protect us anymore..."

[gr1m]

"It doesn't."

Kept trying to get Jack to look anywhere by the door, worried with how often he was. Even more- actually was afraid of letting go, as if the very second he did the other would be gone and there'd be no getting him back without them both ending up dead. Trying to do whatever he could to just- get him thinking more with his head than his heart, which tended to always be too difficult in some situations.

This one was even more or a challenge, neither of them were doing great. "I don't know- they'll spin anything."

A hand rested against the side of Jack's face, trying to get him to look at himself, curled against him a bit. "It is gone, we don't know what will exactly be waiting for us out there- but please... You can still, even if it's more physically, keep my back while I've got yours. We need to stick together, Jack."

[dadication]

Jack made a frustrated sound, but there was no more argument to give. What he thought and what was reality was obviously very different, especially if the news still playing in the background was any indication. If only he could make the public see, didn't want to let this narrative run its course. He felt helpless and trapped.

His fingers flexed on the rifle that had mostly slipped from his grip, needing something to hang onto. He felt renewed nausea as he considered the far-reaching implications. If his bond was blacklisted... what could he even do? Gabriel was his everything now more than ever, and he was totally thinking with his heart, stopping this runaway train before it left the tracks.

"But... we served. We've always served..." he murmured, eyes glancing towards the television and then back to the door. Escaping Gabe's grip was next to impossible now, so he remained in it not fighting.

Slowly his eyes shifted from the door at the insistence to look at Gabe, but his expression was deeply unhappy and worried. "I want to protect you from this possibility," he murmured softly, a touch heartbroken. "I'll always have your back. You can trust me in that."

[gr1m]

This situation just got worse and worse it seemed, as if everything being blown up, countless dead, and attempted murder upon themselves wasn't the end of it. He felt like this was planned, what was going to happen if they were both dead and buried at the bottom of it all. this was all planned, and they were going along with it no matter what happened to the two of them.

"We served, we protected, we both did what we needed no matter the role to keep people safe." Jack either in front of a camera or at his desk. On phones, kissing ass and stroking egos to convince them that action was needed. To get permission when it was needed and wasn't something Gabriel could do under the radar. "It shows how afraid of us those behind all of this really are."

To get rid of them, wipe them off the board as completely as possible.

Gabriel stroked along Jack's cheek slowly. "I need you right here with me, Jack. I need you more than ever to be with my physically, no running off on me. This isn't something I can do alone, need you to move with me, not without."

[dadication]

He was rested enough and paranoid enough from the explosion that he also suspected that all of this was planned, that their enemies had been way more than they had suspected, and that they had allowed hundreds of people to die because they hadn't been able to piece the clues together. Now the media was being pushed to sew a narrative where even if they survived the blast, they wouldn't be able to easily show their faces to the world again. It was such a well-played and well thought out plot that it caused his brain to jump to all manner of possibilities.

The only thing that kept him from slipping from the door or even pacing the room was Reyes' hold on him, keeping him tight and secure against the older man. "And after all of that... they are playing this narrative that will destroy your good name." He growled at the end of that statement, eyes once again returning to the door. He would make them pay dearly for that if it continued to go in that direction. "They have every right to be afraid... I'm going to ruin them when I get my hands on them and their plots."

It was still a miracle that they survived, so they had a small amount of wiggle room. No one else knew they were alive. He was going to use that to his advantage in the chaos of the recovery effort.

He searched Gabe's expression, hearing the words but finding they made him even more unhappy. How many times had he needed Gabriel but let him go on missions well away from him? How many risks had Reyes taken that he could not? It never felt like such a disparity until that moment.

Slowly, he nodded his head, agreeing to stay. For now. "I'll stay for now, but if this goes the way we both think it might... nothing will stop me from hunting those responsible down. Do you understand?"

[gr1m]

He well wasn't going to tell Jack he shouldn't be angry, because as far as Gabriel was concerned the man had every right to be. Both of them did. He also knew that going out now would do nothing but have them that much more dangerous to the both of them. Wounded and shaken as both of them were, this was something different than any shell-shock they'd been through during the Crisis.

This was damn well far more personal than any of that.

"John Francis Morrison-" Oh. Huh, well. "-if you think for even a single goddamn moment that I plan to have us just sit back and let this be? You don't know me at all, do you." There was that tone of voice that could be frightening to those who knew him well, that despite ow he felt, the pain and something else in his eyes, that his expression and voice was so calm. Something so deadly behind it, but that wasn't being aimed at Jack in thought.

Oh no. "Going out while we're like this? With only anger and a need to protect my name in your mind? Will end in failure and endangering the both of us far more than we already are." His hold wasn't about to loosen. "What we need is to remain together, get our feet under us.

"To do that? I need you right here with me, not out there running on your heart. They will find out how much of a mistake they've made, but launching right in to it won't go how you want."

[dadication]

Jack could be frustrated and annoyed rather easily, but he was harder to stoke to a full temper. There were very few subjects that he would throw down for with little provocation and one of those was definitely the health and well being of his soul bond. They were connected and sometimes he couldn't help but give into an anger that was able to spread between them. He fed on Gabe's anger when he opened himself up for it, which he was doing now.

Yet, his head snapped back on his neck at the use of his full name, the name he no longer went by. It was the name used to scold him like a child, to knock him off of his game, and its use was like a betrayal as he looked at Gabe holding onto him. His mother used that name to bring him to heel when he was misbehaving. "I know you better than anyone," he snarled back. "It's not all about your plans! I can make plans just as well, and I won't have you thrown to the wolves like this. I won't!."

Perhaps unreasonable and stubborn, but he was hurting in all ways possible. Knew Gabriel was as well, but this slight against Reyes stoke his anger to a frightening degree. "Don't treat me like a child, Gabriel Reyes," he snapped back, though he wasn't fighting the hold on him. "Launching at them now when they least expect an attack sounds like a perfectly reasonable opportunity to take advantage of. They are looking in the rubble, not in the trees."

Still, he released his grip on the rifle as if to prove he wasn't going to go tearing right out the door. Giving in to Gabe's need for now. He could wait, let his anger boil beneath the surface.

[gr1m]

"Would you rather throw me to them by your own hands then?" He could snarl right back, lurch in such a way there was no denying that several stitches had been popped through the struggle of Jack earlier. A searing burn he wasn't going to hide, let it be freely shared. "Because that's exactly what this damn plan of yours is going to do- throw me to the wolves by your own hands, leaving me to rush off in your righteous anger and need to defend my honor to those I couldn't give less of a fuck about!"

The world at large could burn for all he cared if they believed whatever story about him. He had faith that those who mattered wouldn't believe a word of anything said against his name. His only worry for it was more his family than himself.

"They have people perched in trees, or are you forgetting about the one we grabbed half these supplies from on our way out?" There was a shove then, pushing Jack the rest of the way to the floor and grabbing up the dropped rifle, tossing the damn thing to the other side of the room as he continued to look over Jack instead. "They're waiting to see any sign of us, an idea they might not have killed and ready to do it that way.

"You won't even plan with me, that it? You see me as that damn helpless you're not willing to work with me again? That all I am to you?" Hitting low, but at the moment he was so stripped raw and hurt in so many ways he wasn't going to bite it back.

[dadication]

"I'm trying to protect you! I'm trying to protect everything you are, as I always have in my position of power!" He wanted to protect Gabriel from this, but it was futile and he knew it. He wanted to stop this from happening, but the only way he could would likely bring more fire down upon his own head. He was still convinced he had a chance. "If they can do this to you, they can do it to anyone else left behind! My job is to protect you and them!"

Those that were left behind in the aftermath of all of this would hear stories and they wouldn't entirely know the truth. Lies would be sewn, doubt would be seeded. This would just be the start, and he was sick on the idea that someone might think this could be the beginning of a long trials of busting down reputations and ideals.

"Oh, are you talking about the sniper that shot me in the shoulder? No, I certainly haven't forgotten that one!" He knew there would be snipers, but if he could make it into it all in paramedic's gear, he could find his way in front of a camera. He could find Angela, find survivors.

He grunted as he was shoved, rolling and clutching his side where he too had blown a few stitches in the struggle. He curled there for a moment before he roused himself enough to push himself to his hands and knees and then to his feet where he wavered, pale and sweaty. "They won't risk killing me with cameras on."

He made an angry frustrated sound and moved to the bed to sit on the edge of it, touching his pained side. "You aren't helpless. You're treating me like a child," he barked back, anger simmering but not quite as violent as it had been before. "How dare you..." That was all low blows, and he turned his face away to stare at the headboard.