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[dadication]

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[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.

[gr1m]

"As far as they're concerned I'm probably dead and an easy scapegoat!" Nothing more and nothing less, it was convenient and as long as he was actually dead they wouldn't need to do anymore more than spin a story. He was fine using that against them. "Let them believe I'm dead, that they have nothing to worry about. Both of us can prove them wrong together in such a way they'll never be able to do it again!"

They'd strong arm others in to playing along, or make deals, he wasn't worried about those being left in the wake of this mess. Most of them had already distanced themselves, others had been on their way with Petras breathing down their necks.

"You won't get anywhere near the cameras because of the fucking snipers!"

Even if they couldn't know either of them was alive; anyone stumbling across the boy could figure someone else might've survived and taken shit out. There was no way to know it was either of them—

His lung was burning, and something else died on his tongue for a moment, sitting on the floor as he coughed, sounding like he was hacking up a lung. Felt like it too, hand over his mouth. Not that he let it stop there, even as he tasted blood in his mouth, didn't doubt it was staining his teeth. "I'm treating you like a fellow soldier acting on his heart instead of his head, endangering both of our lives in what he's thinking." It was hissed.

"So ready to leave me alone when we're both vulnerable, weak. When I need you more than ever."

[dadication]

"And so am I!" He could already see it with the narrative ammunition that Angela had given them. "Don't you see... they're going to use our arguments as a way to paint it as you bringing down Overwatch and fighting me for power?" He had no doubt that Reyes had already seen the writing on the wall, was as many steps ahead on the narrative as he was. "I can nip this in the bud now."

He knew that their closest friends and allies would never believe such a narrative, but he understood the wraith of public opinion. If they didn't catch this, Gabriel would always be judged as guilty in the eyes of the public and that could ruin a lot more lives than just their own. People had long memories for events like that, and they would not be easily convinced.

"Fucking snipers that won't be able to identify me if I'm in disguise! Look at me!" He was yelling now. "My face is ripped to shreds! You think anyone is going to recognize me?! I'm a fucking disaster physically and where I'm not stitched together, I'm covered in bruises and scrapes!"

It hurt to yell, definitely did, but his anger and frustration was quick to switch to alarm when Gabriel coughed up blood, able to see it on his teeth when he spoke. He stood rapidly from the bed he had seated himself on and was quick to grab the oxygen tank and drag it over, practically slapping a mask over Reyes' mouth and nose before turning on what little was left in the tank. They had one in reserve. "You used my full name," he accused. "Ma only did that when I was in trouble. Now breathe and shut up. You've caused your lung to fill with blood."

He wasn't a doctor, but he was already moving to investigate Reyes' side where he had drained air from a collapsed lung the night before. There was bruising there, but it was hard to tell if there was blood needing to be drained.

Point was made though. "Fine, I'm staying. You're a wreck and you'll apparently drown in your own blood if I go." He made a disparaging noise at the entire situation. "Always so damn dramatic."

[gr1m]

"Of course I see that!" Mind had already raced all of the possible stories, and the only one that fit the most was scapegoating him and Blackwatch as a whole and martyring Jack because of how hard he'd still been fighting for the right thing so very publicly. Trying to ease the fears of the public despite outcries for his head and the end of Overwatch. There was no possible way that he could be painted as some villain of any story.

Gabriel was the one who fit that role better, him and whoever was left of Blackwatch with their existence being public knowledge now. A rebellion from within, an argument likely turned towards physical fighting—

The next words were far more stressed, "The injuries would give you away." There was no way for him to slip in unnoticed, or to hide how injured he was. No one in their right mind would miss any EMT or any other disguise Jack could come up with that badly injured as anything but out of place.

Fingers curled around Jack's wrist once he was close again, but he wasn't fighting him or the placement of the oxygen mask. Eyes locked on to his face again, there on the floor, lung and sides burning from it all. "To catch your attention," knock him out of his train of thought and listen, because it was so very rare that Gabriel ever used his full name, let alone called him John.

Bruising and so very obvious popped stitches with how much blood had soaked through bandages just below there. Had done something stupid, the both of them, but it was just how both of them were in such stressful and high-emotion situations wasn't it.

"In my blood." The dramatics, and a morbid joke all in one right there.

[dadication]

Jack was fuming and still angry, but he couldn't leave Reyes like this, bleeding and coughing fits that could leave the older man in bigger trouble. He gave up the argument and the need to leave for the time being, but in revenge, he reached out and shut off the holovid so he didn't have to see the news cycling through the destruction and all the questions without answers. He couldn't watch that right now when he had a bond to worry about.

He removed his wrist from Reyes' grip, needing both in order to start to unwrap Gabe's side to reveal the pulled stitches on his side which now caused an open bleed all over again. They healed well, but not even they could mend this kind of damage quickly when there was so much of it. He hissed at the sight that greeted him and immediately reached for a cloth to press hard to the wound. "Drop a hand here and apply pressure. You've blown some stitches and they'll have to be replaced." He sounded angry still but mostly at the situation.

He moved away long enough to grab their pack of medical supplies to drag it over, settling in next to Reyes now sucking on oxygen and began to leaf through their supplies until he had what he was looking for. "I hate being called John. You know it's a dumb family tradition to name their first born sons 'John'."

He glared at Reyes for the joke, shaking his head. "Not funny, you jerk. Okay, move your hand. I need to see what I'm doing while I stop your damn bleeding."

[gr1m]

For the better it be turned off at that moment, honestly; they'd have to tune back in at some point later of course, or would see some headline if they never did. Wasn't the best background noise, and Gabriel's own temper was fuming, even if it was multi-directional then and there. The situation, the fact it had happened, and the fact Jack's heart was once more overwhelming his senses to the point of acting so damn rash. Even if t wasn't a surprise it was still so....

Frustrating. More so given just how damn low they were knocked, and the fact in was in both of their interests in sticking together instead of one of them going out on a mission to protect the other's honor.

Of course he hissed, a bit of blood spattering the inside of the mask from what was still in his mouth. "I doubt I'm the only one who has." More so because of the struggling, didn't doubt there'd be some he'd have to replace on Jack. Still, a hand went over the cloth to apply the needed pressure, even if he still had his own metaphorical hackles raised over what had more or less been an argument.

"I know you do, all the more reason to use it. You're thinking more with your heart than your head right now."

The glare was returned, "if I'm a jerk then you're a fucking jackass." Still hissed, but he was doing as told. No sense in fighting on that as well.

[dadication]

He understood the logic of sticking together, but it still chaffed more than it should. Reyes had been out on more than his fair share of dangerous mission while Jack entertaining the political circles. This wasn't the time to prove he could handle himself in combat still, not with Reyes blowing stitches and spitting up blood. He would bide his time; he could be patience and his anger was not one that forgot easily.

"Yours are much more serious," he quipped back as he moved to a better position to have light on the wound on Gabe's side that needed attending. "Just breathe. We might have to consider draining your chest again if you keep coughing up blood." Not a prospect he was looking forward to as it could collapse Gabe's lung all over again.

He set to work slipping three sutures back into place on Gabe's side, being as firm but gentle as he can. "I'll always be a jackass to you."

[gr1m]

Even behind a desk Jack was still helping the most he could, Gabriel knowing that if some hiccup occurred during any of his out missions someone he trusted was at his back; even if not physically. It was a different playing field than the one during the war, and he trusted Jack could handle what his new role meant. Hell as it was, the political circles were more cut throat than anything else.

"Yours will still need attention," snorted a bit. Still moving as needed and then holding still as he could for the other man to work. "For all I know my throat's that irritated from all the smoke and ash we were both breathing in," because fuck if he wanted to deal with blood flooding his lung again. Hadn't been fun the first time, even if he knew it was possible with how poorly they'd been treating themselves already.

Gabriel kept still, eyes closed at times rather than letting himself react to any bit of pain in other ways. "You're my jackass."

[dadication]

He wasn't in danger like Gabriel had been, and sometimes it was hard to measure how difficult his job was when it was compared to the sheer amount of danger that Reyes and his teams had been in. Overwatch missions weren't easy affairs either, always a chance for something to go wrong, but he ran his operations from the front when possible and from the back when necessary. He was, overall, in less danger than Reyes had been in his mind.

"Maybe once we tend to you and get you into bed to breathe better with some pillows propped under you," he replied as he set his hands in motion, so much steadier today than the night before when they had been sick with loss, shock and wounds. He applied new sutures to Gabe's wounds, replacing those that had pulled through.

Only three this time, but it could have been worse if their fight had continued. "All the more reason to keep breathing oxygen until it's no longer an option for you." He patted the now re-stitched wound and set about reapplying a belly bandage to it. "There. Now up you get and into bed. I'll bring the oxygen over while you move."

[gr1m]

Was sometimes better for Jack not to know the amount of danger he'd been in at times; the missions where Gabriel had taken out an assassination attempt during one of those times the Strike-Commander had to appear on camera, during a statement or even a conference. Always made sure he was there to have the other's back, even if he never said anything about those times, just passed off as some other mission.

Funny how much only a few popped stitched could bleed, even if not at all surprising with how it needed healing. "You're either going to let me do it after, or let me watch you do it yourself." Stubborn, but because he worried and cared, even if they had been arguing seconds ago.

"You joining me?" Even if he was getting up and moving, didn't look like he was going to get right in to bed without an answer.

[dadication]

Jack knew that Talon had wanted him out of the picture at times or there were other political or corporate individuals that saw his policies as a threat to them. He carried on, aware that even taking a shot wouldn't kill him so long as his bond lived and breathed. He would teeter on the edge of death but always find his way back. One of the reasons he remained behind a desk, to be assured that the same with be true if a mission went wrong for Gabriel.

"You're getting into bed and will make no arguments about my wounds. They're healing just fine, now go." He was still furious that he had been stopped from leaving, but he was calm enough to just be bitterly stubborn at this point. He was putting away supplies and then reaching down to grab the oxygen tank to carry it closer to the bed where Reyes could settle in and start some of the healing process all over again.

"Yes, I'm coming to bed," he growled, aware that for a second time, they had abandoned food rather than eating it. Apparently they were going to manage on reserves for another time. Once the tank was set up, he stiffly walked around the bed to the other side, grabbing the bag of medical supplies to drag it with him. He lay down on his side, keeping his back to Gabriel in his usual you're in the doghouse stature.

[gr1m]

Eyes remained narrowed, and for the moment it looked as if things would simply remain that way, even as Gabriel got himself in to bed. But the fact he was silent should have been a clue to something. The anger of Jack's was one thing, but there was something he wasn't going to sit and take.

Jack acting as if he was the one in the wrong.

Gabriel cut off the connection without a word, not even looking at Jack. Let that dead air hang.

[dadication]

Reyes was a vengeful man, always had been and the need for theatrics never helped in that manner. He knew that he would pay for his attitude and pay he did. When the connection between them suddenly shut off, he made a surprised sound of a man choking for a second in the shock of it, jerking in the bed next to Reyes. Then he realized what had happened and growled.

He said nothing but refused to close off his side of their connection, leaving wide and searching. The only thing he knew instinctively was that Gabriel was alive but other than that, he had nothing. It was deeply lonely; it was amazing anyone went their whole lives with this feeling and didn't go mad.

He lay with his back turned, fuming and achingly lonely but said not a word.

[gr1m]

It was also very, very rare that Gabriel went so far as to cut off his end of the bond like that, even if angry with Jack over something. If nothing else it was a testament to just how angry he was over the entire thing, on top of the fact Jack had the nerve to act as he was over the entire thing.

So he kept his back turned to Jack, laying on his side and curled in a way that left him as far away from the other as physically possible. While remaining on the bed. Gabriel wasn't about to compromise his health by pulling another move like going to the bathroom, even if something like that had crossed his mind.

He simply remained like that.

[dadication]

Their anger was potent but boyish, always had been. Usually it was a hissing fight, a punch or two and then they would find common ground again, but with as many injuries as they had, that wasn't possible. Hell, they could still barely stand for more than a few minutes at a time, so rolling around in a fight was not going to happen.

With Gabriel hooked back up to oxygen and them occupying the bed as far away from each other as physically possible, Jack suspected there would be no walking away from him at least. The opposite wouldn't always hold true, though he was wary of going to the bathroom after how frightfully cold he had been once he had woken. His body couldn't cope with another stunt like that.

He lasted about half an hour in the quiet, listening to the distant sound of emergency sirens. It wasn't often that their link was cut and if it was, Gabriel let him know ahead of time for mission security sake. It was stifling, and he was being punished.

After thirty minutes, he made a wounded sound and pushed himself up from the bed, slipping from it to head to the bathroom himself. He grabbed the blanket still in the filthy tub and tossed it out, kicked the door closed and turned on the water to the shower. He shouldn't get his wounds wet, but he was filthy and impotently angry and hurting.

He pulled off his clothing gingerly, some of it sticking to him from dried blood and dirt. He had to remove his bandages just as carefully, ignoring the blown stitches on his abdomen and reached out to touch the water to check for heat. The water was blessedly warm even if the tub made him thank god he was taking antibiotics. He stepped in and shut the shower curtain after him, just standing under the spray and watching dirt, blood and who knew what else streak down his body and swirl down the drain.

[gr1m]

Felt it was apt if Jack wanted to turn his back on him, act as if he wasn't there; may as well step it up and let him feel as alone if he was going to hold up that attitude. Try and punish Gabriel for not letting him run out on some foolish self appointed mission. How he felt at least with his own anger, and it wasn't dying down even as time passed.

A punishment in turn for another, more or less. More so when he felt it was undeserved; there were times he knew he'd earned it, but this damn well wasn't one of them. One unfairness called for another.

He kept shoulders hunched in his own curl, ignoring the fact Jack was there. Gabriel kept arms wrapped around himself in his curl, eyes closed after that half hour rather than boring a hole in to the wall with a stare. Didn't open them when Jack started moving, and didn't move when he heard the door kicked close and the water turn on.

Anger and stubbornness combined, and he wasn't about to move, let alone let the connection fall back in to place. That remained cut off.

[dadication]

Cooler heads were supposed to prevail, but the water wasn't exactly helping with that, not as it poured over him unevenly, the stream not of best quality but it was warm and washed away the filth that covered him slow but sure. His hair might even be back to some odd silvering blond by the time he bothered to step out of it. Maybe.

He knew it was stupid to run off, but he wanted to, needed to. Gabriel was his everything, especially now. If the road was closed for the man in future, he had no idea what the way back was. His only course seemed to be trying to head it off, but it was reckless. He still thought he could do it, could make it, could trick the snipers.

It didn't matter in the end, did it? Cut off from his bond, life honestly lost most of its meaning. Unprepared for it as he had been, injured and broken, nauseous and worn thin... it weighed on him more than usual. Yet another loss, even if it wasn't permanent.

He reached up, slowly rubbing a hand through his hair and wincing, the broken knuckles lighting fire down his fingers. He punched the tiles in the bathroom hard, undoing all of his previous work resetting them. Just to feel anything at all.

He slowly washed one handed, letting the broken one hang by his side. He didn't end up staying too long in the shower, not about to stand under cold water so when it was heading that way, he finished up and shut off the tap. He stood silent and miserable, letting himself drip dry for a few minutes before deciding on an off-white towel and had dubious stains that had been unsuccessfully removed. He basically threw the towel on his head and another around his waist.