Archive of Our Own

"They're here. They found us."
"How many of 'em? Are you listening? How many?"
"I don't know, couple dozen maybe? There-- there are trucks, everywhere. Big airship."
"An airship? They brought the whole goddamn army... It's time to go, get Steel and take as many of 'em as you can. Take the tunnels."
"Me?"
"No, I thought maybe the ghosts would help us. Go! This isn't a time to fuck around. Get Steel out of here."
"..What about the kid?"
"Leave him there. He ain't one of us."

-

"Commander, what are our orders?"
"Surround the building. I don't want anybody getting in or out but us. Keep me posted on the comm system. I'm heading in through the front. Move out. Kill on sight."

Hopping off the airship, Gabriel flicked the safety locks off on his shotguns, approaching the rundown building with the rest of his men, watching them exiting the three trucks, guns in hand. He stood next to what was assumed to be the front door, waiting as two men carried a battering ram up to it, counting down from three before slamming it into the door, the brute force from two men causing it to swing open with only one hit.

Broken planks of wood and bent metal were scattered on the floor and the air filled with dust as one soldier after another entered the building, guns raised, and within seconds the gunfire started. Gabriel scoffed and walked in calmly, firing his shotguns at every moving target, an unforgiving expression on his face. The deafening sound overlapped the yelling and swearing coming from the gang, almost drowning out the bangs and pops of the incessant firing of the revolvers and rifles.

"Commander, up top!" someone had yelled.

Gabriel had already seen and reacted to the gang members on the balconies however, looking up and firing at them before the soldier alerting him had even finished his sentence. One down, two, then three; dropping dead, one falling over the edge of the balcony in front of Gabriel. He glowered down at the lifeless body before casually stepping over it and traversing through the dark hallway, a line of men following behind him.

They had finished clearing out the building, making their way down to the basement. The tunnel that the gang leader had escaped through had been found, laced with explosives left behind as a message to say "don't bother following me". Six out of twenty men were disarming and deactivating every bomb and tripwire in sight, plotting out what their next course of action would be as the rest of the men cleaned up. A body count was calculated as each dead gang member was put in a body bag and carried out to the truck designated for just their sorry asses.

The only light in the building came through the front door as Gabriel checked for any hidden items and secret panels back up on the main floor. He had been toying with a padlock on a safe in the floor beneath the baseboards before losing grip and stumbling backwards into a wall that seemed to shake from the contact.

"What the hell?" he said as he regained his balance and turned around, pressing his hands to the wall for a moment before hitting a fist against it, hearing a faint whine from the otherwise. Gabriel looked over the section of the wall, feeling for some kind of opening before finding a lock on the very top and bottom, using the handle of one of his shotguns to break them open.

The wall fell loose like a door off its hinges and he pulled on it until it came free, pushing it off to the side and readying his guns to fire again, expecting there to be a whole other section of the place full of more gang members to kill and take in. Gabriel hadn't expected to see what was actually behind the wall.

On the floor in the dimly lit poor excuse for a room, the inner walls broken and grimy with a leaking pipe, sat a scrawny kid that looked to be in his late teens, early twenties, shaking and cowering away like a small animal. He looked up at Gabriel, trying to crawl backwards as the tall man approached him with aggression, the size of both him and his shotguns intimidating and frightening.

The chains and clasps around the kid's arms and neck, however, prevented him from being able to move away and his back hit the wall. He was whimpering and looked like he might combust into a fit of tears as Gabriel knelt down in front of him, trying to soften his features as he set down his shotguns. He reached out, calling to the brunet in an attempt to calm him down before holding his shoulders to still him, feeling the trembling beneath his gloved hands.

The kid had nothing on but thin, torn grey pants, and his dirty skin was ice cold. As Gabriel moved his hands to his face, telling him to look up, Gabriel noticed the bruises and cuts. His cheek was different shades of blue and purple, as was his throat beneath the metal choker around it, and his torso. His ribs and stomach were nearly black with bruises.

Eyes wide with terror, the panicky behaviour ceases as the timid young man stares at Gabriel, unblinking and too afraid to move again. Every tiny movement from Gabriel makes the kid flinch, small gasps coming from him, wincing at the subtle touches.

"Are.. are you afraid of me?" Gabriel asks, lowering his voice, searching blue-grey eyes for something other than pure fear. He was well aware of the fact that his appearance alone seemed to ignite terror in his enemies, but he never expected anyone in this godforsaken place to be afraid of him.

No response, not even a physical reaction to the question. Gabriel sighs and drops his hands for a moment, looking over the brunet, seeing his bones popping out and pursing his lips in distaste before trying to loosen the chains around the kid's arms. He grabs one of his shotguns, watching the kid's eyes widen further, mouth falling open as Gabriel reached around his back, hitting the small padlocks on the wrist clasps until they broke off, as the ones on the wall-for-a-door had.

Gabriel looked at the bigger piece of metal around the kid's scrawny neck, lifting his hands to examine it but just as his fingertips brushed against it, hands were around his wrists, pulling on them. He stopped and held the brunet's face again, stilling him as he made forceful eye contact.

"Hey, listen to me, alright? I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just trying to help you. I need to get this thing off your neck. Cooperate with me."

He went to touch the metal again but the hands on his wrists continued to frantically pull on them.

"What? What's wrong?"

Gabriel looked over the choker as the kid tilted his head, exposing a small red light towards the back of it, flashing, wires connected to it. There was a bomb attached to it. He cursed under his breath, shoulders dropping. He knew the Deadlock gang was dangerous and a little insane in their own ways, but he didn't expect them to pull this shit with someone. Thankfully, he thought, he'd detonated numerous bombs before with careful precision. The man, strong and intimidating as he was, had a way with his hands and was in fact quite gentle and cautious when he needed to be.

"I'm gonna take that off of you, alright? I need you to stay calm, and be very still. It's okay, kid. I know what I'm doing, and you're gonna be fine. I'll be right back." Gabriel said slowly, not blinking as he spoke. Again, no response nor reaction, but instructions seemed to be followed as the brunet took a breath and stayed as still as possible, his head still tilted to the side to expose the wires.

Gabriel left the room for a moment after propping his shotguns up against the doorway, off to find the right tools for the job. One of the lower ranks stopped him in his tracks, asking if he'd found something.

"Commander Reyes, you find something back there? What do you need?"
"Ah, yeah, I found something.. I need wirecutters and boltcutters. Detonation."
"You found another bomb? Must be a big one. Could I-"
"It's fine, I've got it. How's the cleanup? What's the bodycount?"
"Almost done, sir. And it's thirteen, sir."
"Thirteen? That's it? I know there were more scumbags in this gang. You must've missed them. Keep looking."

Gabriel took the tools he needed and walked away before the cadet could ask any more questions. He returned to the room, and to his surprise, the kid was still in the same position as before, unmoving, eyes cast to the floor, a timid yet blank expression on his face; it looked like he was dissociating, mind somewhere far away. He looked up as Gabriel re-entered, kneeling in front of him again. He put down the boltcutters and with the wirecutters in one hand, gently pushed on the brunet's shoulder to get him to lean over against the leaking pipe he sat next to, the overhead light now illuminating the choker and the bomb.

Examining the wires closely, all his prior training rushed to mind as Gabriel thought of exactly how he would detonate this thing and get it off the kid's neck. If he made one mistake, his head would be blown off.

Gabriel started snipping wires, paying attention to the red light. As he snipped the second wire, it started blinking rapidly and the bomb started beeping but before the kid even had the chance to panic, Gabriel snipped the last two wires and the beeping stopped, the red light shutting off. He sighed in relief as he leaned back with a subtle smile on his face.

He then took the boltcutters and cut off the large lock hanging off the back of the choker, hearing it fall to the stone floor with a heavy thud. Gabriel pulled the metal off the kid's neck and tossed it aside, watching as the brunet exhaled as though he had been holding his breath this whole time, blinking repeatedly before sitting up straight.

Gabriel thought maybe the kid had finally relaxed a bit but as he went to brush the long strands of hair out of his face, he freaked out again and cowered away from Gabriel, who then took hold of his face once more. The act seemed to work the last time.

"Look at me, hey," he said, but the whining and panicking carried on. Gabriel tightened his grip and forced the kid to sit still. "Look at me!"

He knew he shouldn't yell if the kid was as terrified as he was, with whatever happened to him, but he needed his attention and years of training and experience had taught him that sometimes yelling was the way to go. Sure enough this time it seemed to work, as blue-grey eyes looked up into his, glossy with tears.

As Gabriel went to speak, explain what had happened and reassure him that he was alright, the kid flinched again, hissing as he squeezed one eye shut, trying to turn his head away.

"Are you in pain?" Gabriel asked, moving his fingers up to the kid's temples, feeling a pulse there, causing him to wince again. "Headache? When's the last time you had any water? Or.. ate anything?"

Gabriel massaged the brunet's temples gently, moving his fingers in small circles, feeling satisfied when the wincing stopped and the kid closed his eyes for a few seconds. Gabriel stopped and took the opportunity to now push the hair out of the kid's eyes, standing up slowly and holding out a hand.

The kid tried to stand but his hands immediately went to the side of his ribcage that had been bruised the most, failing to get up. Gabriel leaned over and tucked his arms under the kid's armpits as though he were lifting a baby and helped him up. He made eye contact as reassurance before feeling his ribs for any fractures and breaks. Surprisingly, there weren't any, though the bruising at its extent probably hurt just as much as a fracture might.

Gabriel took off his chest armour and hoodie, laying the armour over his arm as he put the hoodie on the kid, zipping it up. It was too big on him and hung loosely but at least it'd cover him up and hopefully bring him some warmth. Goosebumps had formed on Gabriel's arms as soon as his arms had been exposed to the cold air inside the small room, though he didn't care; his priority was now figuring out what the hell happened to this kid and the first step to that was to gain his trust.

"Come on, kid. It's all clear out here, you're safe. I'm taking you back our base. We'll get you cleaned up, make sure you're not bleeding internally or anything, get you something to eat... And water. You're beyond dehydrated, and it's a wonder how you're still alive at this point."

Gabriel picked up the tools and his shotguns from the floor and stepped out of the room, the kid hesitating, still in shock before taking small steps out of the room, the sleeves of the hoodie covering his hands as he toyed with the strings nervously.

Gabriel headed for the exit, dropping the tools off before making his way back to the airship, occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure the kid was still following. He had hoped he'd gained at least a little trust, as the sound of a truck door shutting had made the kid jump and he saw him step closer out of the corner of his eye, so close Gabriel could feel the energy emanating off of him.

A few glances here and there and some whispers and questioning among soldiers made the kid uncomfortable, but he pressed on, following the taller man up the ramp into the airship, amazed at the size of it.

He was led to a back room, told to take a seat. Gabriel took a bottle of water from the chrome minifridge and opened it, setting it on the table in front of the kid before searching a medkit in a corner cupboard for painkillers. Upon finding some generic acetaminophen, he handed a tablet to the brunet.

"It'll take your pain away. And drink up, alright? You need it. Badly. No dawdling. All of it."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows to show his seriousness, watching the kid blink in response before taking the pill and drinking the water quickly.

"Not so fast, you'll make yourself sick. Slow sips."

The kid questioned why this strange man was helping him, why he hadn't killed him like he killed the rest of the Deadlock gang, why he let him wear his hoodie, why he brought him onto their airship-- but he guessed it was better than being left behind and he should relax at least a little.

As he finished the first water bottle, Gabriel set another one down in front of him, beckoning for him to follow as he headed for the doorway, waiting for a few seconds before leaving. He returned to the front of the ship, to where the rest of the crew was that had come on this ship, to where the commotion was.

Gabriel led the kid to a corner booth of seats, instructing him to sit down before setting his guns on the table in front of it, adjusting his belts mindlessly and looking around the room at everyone.

"I've got to check in with everyone, see what was found, what the body count was, make sure nothing went wrong. Stay here."

The brunet stared at Gabriel's back as he walked away, clad in a tight black shirt only after having given his hoodie away. There was too much talking from all directions to really hear anything specific, though he tried to listen in anyway. He wondered if he might hear about what happened to the leader, crossing his fingers underneath the table that he'd been killed and was just another dead body among the rest on one of the trucks.

Eventually, the bright atmosphere and warmth of the hoodie and buzz of indiscernible conversations lulled him off to a light sleep, still sitting upright on the seat, arms crossed tightly. Gabriel, who had been leaning against a wall, looked over at him in the corner, features softening.

"So, who is that? Isn't he one of them?" the cadet next to him asked.
"Not sure. Found him chained to a pipe in some closed off room, had a fucking bomb around his neck. He hasn't said a word, he just kept.. freaking out."
"Should've killed him and left him there to rot."
"Excuse me?" Gabriel glared at the man standing next to him, whose eyes widened at the change of tone.
"Maybe I should've left you there to die. Maybe I should've shot you in the head. Maybe I should've left you to rot, thrown you in with the heap of bodies on the truck, counted you with the rest of them. Last I checked, you're one of our lowest ranks here. Would you like to get any lower? Because I can do that for you if you'd like. You're disposable. If you want to shoot your mouth off like that, spew some bullshit, you're disposable."
"I- Sorry. I'm sorry, sir."
"Sorry doesn't cut it. The kid's a wreck, something happened to him, clearly-- and I need to find out what it was. He needs a safe place, at least for now. You got a problem with that?"
"No sir. That was out of line. My apologies, Commander, won't happen again."
"Damn right it won't. Make yourself useful. Tell me if anything was found in there. Any notes, documents? How many were killed?"
"Uh.." He had lost his train of thought after being scolded, and looked down at the folders on the table next to him, picking one up and flipping through pages. "Found something about them wanting to build some kind of empire? Deadlock empire? Yeah right. That'd go down real well. And.. total count was fifteen."
"Only two more members were found? We're definitely missing some. Did any of you go through that tunnel?"
"No, we were recalled."
"So.. somebody escaped."
"Yes, sir. We have files on one 'Steel'. Gang leader, founder, whatever. Some big guy with ties to various locations, seen as dangerous and ruthless."
"You know who else is ruthless, soldier? Your Commander. We find this guy and take him down, no questions asked. For now, we sit patiently until we get back to base and decide our next course of action, probably tomorrow, and how we'll find this asshole and whoever left with him."

Gabriel grabbed a water for himself and kept an eye on the kid, who had been in a light enough sleep to keep waking to small noises every few minutes. He sighed heavily before sitting down to go through the paperwork while he waited to arrive home.

-

It was dark when the airship had landed, the air outside almost cold enough to snow, chilling the front room of the ship as the door had opened. It was nearing the end of October and the weather was getting darker, with either grey skies and rain, or violent winds. Gabriel turned his attention to the kid as he'd shivered and opened his eyes, frowning, messy hair in his face again.

Gabriel gathered the folders from the table and stood, moving to the opposite side of the room, the other soldiers exiting and sighing in relief of finally being home to relax in whatever way they saw fit. The kid slowly got up, holding his side again momentarily before raising his shoulders in an attempt to cover his neck from the cold. Gabriel put his hood up and smiled because goddamn, he looked tiny in it.

"Let's go, kid."

The brunet followed Gabriel off the ship, looking over his shoulder as the door lifted and closed before being led into a large building, guards on either side of the big door. As soon as they were inside, everyone was talking and laughing with one another. Gabriel kept walking through the crowd, hearing the quiet noises the kid kept making at every sound around him. When something metal had accidentally been dropped on the paved floor and made a rather loud clang, he looked over his shoulder to see the kid jump.

Gabriel held out his hand behind himself as soon as it had dropped and grinned when the kid grabbed his hand and held on tightly, wanting to laugh to himself as he continued to lead the kid through various hallways until he reached an elevator that wasn't crowded with soldiers.

After both of the men had stepped inside, Gabriel pushed the button to take them to the sixth floor, where the higher ups' rooms were. He looked over to see the kid staring up at the light above the door that showed which floor one was on, noticing he had been biting his lip and playing with the strings on the hoodie again.

Gabriel licked his lips and looked back towards the door as it opened a few seconds later, stepping out and heading straight for his room, now having no doubt that the kid was following very closely behind.

Knowing his way around, Gabriel left the kid at the door and walked through his apartment in the dark until he reached the kitchen and turned on the light over the sink. He was nothing but a silhouette as he turned around to call the kid over, who nearly stumbled over on his way to the kitchen.

"Sit down. I'll get you something to eat, what do you want? Just name something and I'll get it for you. And a hot drink? Sound good?" Gabriel said, one hand resting on the edge of the table bolted to the floor. "Still not talking, huh?"

Sighing, Gabriel turned the kettle on to boil some water, while searching through his cupboards and fridge for something to give the mute. He thought that perhaps his throat hurt from a lack of water, and maybe that was part of the reason why he wasn't speaking, so Gabriel had decided on soup.

Preparing it quietly, a silence filled the apartment as neither of them spoke. As Gabriel let the soup heat up on the stove, he made chamomile tea, his one go-to drink nearly every night to combat his insomnia. When he heard the kid shifting about behind him, he tried asking more questions.

"So.. What were you doing back there? With that gang? I mean.. How'd you get yourself into this mess? I understand you don't want to tell me anything but it's important that you do. I can't help you if you don't, and that's all I want to do, kid."

He turned around after stirring honey into the tea and set it down on the table.

"You're safe. Nothing's gonna happen to you. I need you to talk to me. Have some tea, it'll help your throat, and it'll warm you up. It'll help you sleep, too."

Gabriel stared, watching as the cup was lifted with shaky, boney hands, hoping for a response, though as expected, nothing came. He sighed with a bit of annoyance as he turned back towards the stove, stirring the soup. He had been trying to work on his patience for months after lashing out at too many people for not doing something fast enough.

After another bout of silence, he heard the kid clear his throat a few times, feeling his heartrate pick up at the sound in anticipation.

"Was.. part of it.."

His voice was low, hoarse; he probably hadn't said a word in a long time. Gabriel looked over his shoulder, though the kid sat completely still, staring into the tea in his cup, and he wondered if he'd been hearing things. Though sure enough, thank the heavens, the kid had actually spoke.

"Th'gang. Was in it."
"In it? Why? ..What were you doing chained up, then?"
"Thought maybe.. if I joined, be doin' somethin' better than jus' sittin' around. If they paid me, could've done anythin'. At first it was okay, fun n' games, but then they started killin' people. Said it was the.. 'Deadlock way'. Said I had to join in. Had no idea."
The kid sipped his tea slowly, and Gabriel decided to just keep stirring, didn't bother responding in case the interruption would make the kid stop talking.

"M'friend was in it. Started attacking innocents. People that done nothin' wrong. M'friend started acting funny. They started feedin' us somethin' new. Tasted great so no one complained. Started to notice I.. followed orders real well. Stopped caring. Stopped feeling any kind o' remorse. Started killin' with the gang. All of us versus a couple. 'Nd there were women, children, they didn't care. 'Don't stop shooting no matter who you see'. We always did what we were told. Heard stories... 'bout people that didn't listen..."

His voice trailed off and all that could be heard for around a minute was the incessant stirring Gabriel was doing.

"Felt sick one day," the kid started again. "Couldn't eat. Noticed that I didn't feel like killin', didn't feel like listening to their orders. Thought that was.. kinda strange. Ate again the next day. Feeling came back. We breached this small house, took out an entire family, just for a couple hundred 'n a single shotgun. Stomach felt funny... Didn't eat again. Started feelin' real guilty, sick to my stomach over what I'd done in that house... but.. he said I did good. Said I did real good."

"But I realized, they were puttin' somethin' in our food. Had to be. So I started throwin' up every meal. All the while, try'na do my best, keep following their orders, his orders, kept gettin' praised.. felt awful. Then they caught on to what I was doin'. Half the gang approached me, questioned me, demanded answers.. started callin' me names, insulted me about a hundred times. All these threats.. even my friend joined in. Said I was worthless to them. Leader said the worst things. Started beating me. All of them. Kicked and punched, even took to a bat, until I couldn't breathe and was spitting up blood, an' then they beat me again..."

He was stuttering a bit now, talking too fast, unblinking. Gabriel ladeled some soup into a bowl quietly and grabbed a spoon, setting it down on the table. He leaned against the counter, the small amount of light from above the sink just barely illuminating the brunet's face.

"Leader then threw me in that room. Left me for awhile. Had no strength, but I tried hitting the door. He came back, chained me up so I couldn't move. Put that thing on m'neck, said I didn't dare try anything stupid. Brought food like.. once every few days, maybe. Probably put somethin' in that too. Considered eating my own flesh. Was so hungry... He'd come in sometimes. Stare at me. Then he'd hit me. Wouldn't stop 'til he felt like it was enough. I stopped fightin' back..."

"Started usin' these.. tools.. Electrocuted me. Cut me, burned me.." His voice cracked and his breath hitched. "...Branded me."

Gabriel saw the kid touch the back of his neck, wincing again in obvious pain. He moved his hand away and pushed his hair out of the way to see the Deadlock symbol burned into the back of his neck, a mean red colour surrounding it. It did not look healthy.

"Th'attacks kept gettin' worse..." he slurred. "Was one.. really bad night. Four of 'em came in. Up against one weak, useless piece of filth.. at their disposal.. to do whatever they wanted to do t'me... hands everywhere, holding me down, forcin' me to..."

Gabriel could see him swallow, he was so thin; saw him clench his jaw, lip quivering, grimacing at the thought. Gabriel caught on to what he was talking about, cursing under his breath and rubbing his forehead.

"I'm sorry, kid... I wish I could've gotten there sooner. You didn't deserve to go through that. That.. disgusting-"
"N-no, I.. I deserved it. Didn't listen. Didn't do what they told me to. Didn't follow orders. Didn't.. behave."
"Hey, now wait a minute," Gabriel rested a hand on the brunet's shoulder. "That wasn't your fault. You did good by not listening to them, they're bad news, they're not good people. Killing innocent people, women and children? For nothing? That's not okay, that's not right. You didn't deserve any of that."
"What about listenin' to your elders?"
"That's one thing, but the things they were doing... if it's wrong... Do you see what I'm saying? You didn't do anything wrong by not doing the things they wanted you to, you did the right thing. Even if.. it got you hurt. But you're here now, you're safe here and I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

The words seems to spill from Gabriel's mouth faster than his mind could process just exactly what he was saying to this punk teenager. He swallowed and looked away for a moment before noticing he was being stared at, in confusion probably, perhaps even awe.

Gabriel took a seat on the other side of the table, not saying another word as he waited for the kid to finish eating the soup and drinking his tea. It didn't take long, now that he'd finished explaining what happened and was probably starving, he seemed to scarf it all down. It was surprising that he hadn't choked on any of it.

It was getting late and Gabriel's mind was racing, thinking of what could be done about all this.. about what happened to this kid, about what to do with him. He decided he should let him have a shower, put him in some clean clothes, and disinfect that burn.

"Follow me."

Looking up and watching Gabriel walk away again, the kid quickly got up and briskly walked after him. He looked around at the end of the hall to see he'd made it to what looked to be Gabriel's bedroom, light filtering in from the left side. He could hear water running, and peeked into the room.

"You can shower, right? I mean.. Can you stand up long enough for that?"
"..I think so."
"Good. Okay. Uh.." Gabriel stepped back out of the small bathroom and went through his dresser. All he had was various outfits, all the same as what he wore today. Scoffing, he pulled something out and handed it to the kid.

"Towel's in there. Take as long as you need. If you need me, just call. I'm not leaving, I'll just.. be setting up a place for you to sleep."

The kid nodded and nervously turned on his heel, entering the bathroom and shutting the door. He unzipped the hoodie and looked at himself in the mirror, seeing all the bruises on his body and frowning. He traced the outlines of them with his fingers before looking back up to the hoodie around his shoulders and smiled before taking everything off and getting into the shower. The pressure wasn't particularly strong, nor the water too hot, but it aggravated every mark on his thin body, and he hissed when it hit the burn on the back of his neck, immediately covering it with a hand, staring at the floor of the shower, watching dirt and dried blood spin into the drain.

Meanwhile, Gabriel had been sitting on the foot of his bed, listening to the sound of running water, thinking about what he'd been told, about the torture and the beatings, and absentmindedly clenched his fists in anger. He was sure that this 'Steel' character was the one who did this to the poor kid. He'd pay for what he did. They just had to find him first...

Opening the bathroom door, a much cleaner brunet stepped out, hair dripping onto the hoodie he wore, it and the black pants he wore too big.. or rather, the pants were more of a normal fit, considering they were tight on Gabriel. He looked over to see an electric fireplace he hadn't noticed before lit, the blankets on the bed pulled back neatly. He stood still, not sure what he should do next. He stayed there for awhile, thankful when Gabriel came back into the room, holding a folder in one hand and a cup in the other. He glanced over at the quiet younger man, looking him over from head to toe and couldn't help but smile again at the fact that his clothes were too big on him.

Setting the cup down on the nightstand next to the bed, which the kid could now see was more tea, and putting the folder on a desk by the door, Gabriel took the towel from the kid's arms and draped it over his head, ruffling his hair to dry it more. He combed through it with his fingers, smoothing it down, happy that the kid finally wasn't pulling away from his touch. He continued to smile down at him as his eyes began to slowly shut.

"Sleepy?"
"Mhm.."
"Sleep, then. But first, I want to look at that burn."

Gabriel led him towards the bed, and helped him into it. He stared at the fireplace, hands on his thighs, waiting patiently. Gabriel went into the bathroom to grab an assortment of basic wound-cleaning items--alcohol, peroxide, antibiotic ointment, a cloth, a bandage--and carried them over to the bed, kneeling on it behind the smaller man.

Pushing the long strands of hair away from the kid's neck, Gabriel looked at the burn mark more closely, seeing the mangled skull shape, and shook his head. He unscrewed the cap of the rubbing alcohol and pressed one corner of the cloth to it, tipping the bottle over. Soaked in alcohol, Gabriel carefully dabbed at the burn, hearing the brunet inhaling sharply and almost panting at the stinging pain.

"Sorry. I'll be done in a minute."

After the burn seemed clean, Gabriel took the peroxide next, pouring it onto the opposite corner of the cloth and dabbed the burn again, watching the whole burn turn white, fizzing. He'd always hated that part.

Once the burn was dry, Gabriel rubbed the ointment into it, covering every inch and then some for good measure before placing a bandage on it, just barely big enough to cover it. He got off the bed and put everything back in the bathroom before returning to the bed, in front of the fireplace.

The brunet laid down and pulled the blankets up to his neck, so high they covered the lower half of his face, looking from the fireplace to Gabriel and back again. Crouching next to the bed, Gabriel rested a hand on the brunet's side, seeing a change in his eyes; the look of fear was mostly gone, replaced with comfort and trust. He rubbed his side, knowing it wasn't the one with all the bruises, watching as the light from the fireplace danced in his light eyes.

"Get some sleep, okay, kid? You're safe in here. I'm gonna find whoever did this to you. And if you need anything at all, I want you to come get me. I'll be in the other room."

He stood up from the floor and took a step back, preparing to leave, though he stopped himself.

"Oh, what's your name? I can't keep calling you kid."
"..Kinda like it." He said, finally smiling a bit. "Jesse."
"Jesse..?"
"McCree." "Jesse McCree. Goodnight, Jesse McCree."

Gabriel turns and heads for the door, but stops when he hears movement, turning around. Jesse pushed the blankets away and sat up.

"W-wait! ..What's yours?"
"Ah... Reyes."
"Commander?"

Gabriel nodded in response, a cheeky smile on his face. He sighed softly and left the room. Jesse blinked a few times, registering that the Commander of some organization had rescued him. I'm in the Commander's bed... he thought to himself, chuckling before laying back down. He watched the synthetic fire for a few minutes and didn't even sip his second tea before falling fast asleep, and stayed asleep for the whole night, for the first time in what felt like an eternity. He was finally in a safe place.

He wasn't safe from his own thoughts, though, it seemed-- a few hours after falling asleep, Jesse had a nightmare, the same one he'd been having for weeks. He had dreamt of the night he was taken advantage of, but never managed to wake himself to get away from it. He had to relive it, through his dreams, again and again...

"Hiya, sweetheart. We've come to make all your wildest dreams come true. Or.. were those our dreams?"

Steel laughed, and the other three men joined in, the sound almost reverberating through the small room. Jesse backed away from the men but he had nowhere to go. Steel grabbed his ankle and pulled him down across the stone floor. No words needed to be said, the other three apparently knew what to do; this had been planned in advance. Hands roaming across his body, thumbs dipping beneath the top of his tattered pants, they scratched him then rubbed the red marks away.

Jesse kicked his legs as the leader had begun to pull on his pants, tried hitting at least one of them, but with his lack of nutrients and dehydration, he had grown weak. Four against one, they overpowered him, held his arms down, free hands still touching his chest and stomach, exposed. Steel forced his legs apart, held onto them so tight Jesse could feel them bruising too and he wanted to scream, though his voice had left him.

The men laughed and continued to have their way with Jesse as he was too weak to fight back any more and simply wept, trying to think of anything else to get out of this awful experience. Anything at all.

-

Jesse awoke to the familiar yet long lost scent of breakfast cooking, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He looked over to see the cold cup of tea still sitting on the nightstand and chuckled, picking it up and carrying it out to the kitchen.

"Morning, kiddo," Gabriel said without looking his way, flipping pancakes.
"Mornin'..." Jesse grumbled, watching Gabriel cook. He realized after a moment that he had been standing close enough that their arms touched, and side stepped away.
"Did you sleep well? Also I see you didn't drink your tea- that's fine."
"I did.. Mostly."
"Mostly?"
"Just.. bad dreams. It's nothin'."

Gabriel finished plating some of the pancakes and handed them to Jesse with syrup.

"I don't normally eat these sorts of things, but.. Here."
"Thank you. You don't have to help me, y'know."
"I think I do. Eat up, gotta make plans soon."
"Plans, right."
"I don't want to make this any harder on you, but... the guy that did this to you... Was it someone named 'Steel'?"

Jesse stopped chewing and stared blankly at Gabriel's hands, and that alone was enough of an answer.

"Well.. I'm gonna find this prick, end him. He can't exist anymore."
"You sound like some crazy edgelord."
"Edgelord?" Gabriel laughed. "I just want to fix what needs fixing. I don't see how that makes me edgy."
"So you're a mechanic."
"A mech-- Eat your breakfast." Gabriel glared for a moment before smiling.

Jesse chuckled as he finished eating, occasionally looking up to see Gabriel reading more files, licking his lips every so often. He took the opportunity to study him, really look at his features, and noticed he was wearing earrings.

Unbeknownst to Jesse, Gabriel could feel his gaze and was well aware he was being looked at, though he carried on with what he was doing anyway. However, just to see the kid's reaction, he quickly looked up and saw him almost jump in response to being caught staring. Gabriel had seen that he was looking just away from his face and guessed he was looking at his earrings.

"Like 'em?" he said, going back to reading. "You want earrings?"
"Me? No, I.. I'd look mighty stupid."
"Nahhh. You'd look fine. I'll pierce them for you."

Jesse didn't know if he was being serious or not, so he stayed quiet and looked around, paying more attention to his surroundings than he did the previous night. All the walls were dark, as was the floor and a majority of the furniture. Even the appliances were black.

Gabriel put down the papers in his hand and pulled out a cellphone, sending texts to other cadets, ordering them to meet up in the briefing room to prepare to head out again. He then put his phone away, crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, staring at Jesse, his hair framing his face.

"..How old are you?" Gabriel asked, his voice catching Jesse off guard.
"Twenty-five."
"No you're not." Gabriel laughed mockingly.
"..Seventeen."
"You're seventeen? What the hell are you doing in a gang at seventeen?"
"Well I'm not in it anymore, am I?"
"Smartass, I see. Glad you're opening up. Seriously, Jesse."
"I told you. Wanted to do somethin' else than just nothin'."
"So you joined a gang. The Deadlock gang... of all things..."
"Apparently I'm pretty stupid. At least, that's what they kept telling me when I was in that room."
"Don't think about that. Listen, you're old enough to join us, so that's what you're gonna do."
"You want me to join another gang?"
"We're not a gang, Jesse." "Oh right, Commander, you're the army. Or somethin'..." he spat the words out. "Army can't do shit..."

Gabriel squinted at Jesse, glaring at him for awhile before speaking again, getting up from the table.

"We're part of an organization called Blackwatch. It's the... darker, more serious, and in all honesty, better alternative side to Overwatch. We're not the army. We do what most won't. We do what we have to. We do the dirty work. And since you think you're all tough being in a gang, you can join us."
"What makes you think I want to?"
"What makes you think I'm giving you a choice? Look, would you rather I left you there alone in that room to starve to death? Die of dehydration? Maybe Steel would come back and beat you again and rape you again."

The smug look on Jesse's face faded into the same look of fear he had last night, swallowing hard at what was being said. He was thankful for being rescued, if you could call it that, he just didn't know how to say so.

"I'm sorry. It was either I leave you there, or kill you there... or you come with me, and you join us."
"Why.. can't I just.. leave?"
"To go back to what, Jesse?" Gabriel lowered his voice into almost a whisper.

He was right, Jesse thought, he had nothing to go back to, nowhere to go. There was no point in leaving and afterall, he wanted to do something than just sit around and waste away to the world like his parents had. This could be a grand opportunity for him, the first he's ever had. Something good in his life for once. He got up, straightening out his clothes and stood tall, arms at his sides.

"As you wish, Commander."
"Good. Let's go. You get a gun. You can shoot, right?"
"Of course I can shoot. Ain't stupid."
"Fine. And you'll stick close to me. I can't have you getting lost somewhere."
"I'll be your puppy, sir. Should I bark?"
"..Don't even."

Gabriel left his apartment with Jesse following closely behind and they took the elevator down to the first floor and headed for the briefing room. Everyone Gabriel had texted was already there, waiting for orders. Upon entering and sitting down where instructed to, Jesse watched as Gabriel stood at the end of the table, leading the people before him and he smiled. He had also noticed they were wearing the same outfit, save for all the belts around Gabriel's waist, to which Jesse remembered about his belt that was left behind at the Deadlock gang's hideout.

"Boss, who is this?" one of the soldiers asked, nodding towards Jesse. All eyes were now on him.
"This is Jesse. McCree. I have taken him in and will be providing him with thorough training, but as for today, he'll be joining us with what he already knows. Jesse will be accompanying us when we go back to the hideout."
"..Yes, but sir, where's he from?"
"...Jesse is..."
"A friend." Jesse chimed in, wishing as soon as the words came out of his mouth that he hadn't said anything, but sighed in relief a moment later.
"Yes. Jesse is a friend of mine. His previous locale does not matter. Be tough on him but not too tough. If I find out he's being harassed, I'll drop your rank."

Gabriel eyed Jesse with a strange, cunning look in his eyes and the faintest smirk before continuing to explain their course of action. They would keep their guard up upon reaching the hideout again, and the order was to shoot on contact once again, though after Steel's picture had been shown--to which Jesse stared at his hands until Gabriel took it off the screen on the wall--it had been decided that they weren't to kill him yet, but to instead capture him if possible. Only if he ran, were they authorized to fire.

Everyone filed out of the room and out of the building, armour, weapons and gear in hand. They made their way to the airship again, only ten of them, and they took off back to the Deadlock hideout they had infiltrated the day before.

As the ship was landing, Gabriel looked towards Jesse to see he was doing what had become a bit of a symbolic thing, playing with his hoodie strings. Gabriel pat him on the back and gave him a reassuring smile, glad that that alone seemed to calm him down. If he had PTSD, he really shouldn't be coming back here, but Gabriel went against his better judgement and brought him anyway. It may not have been a smart idea, but he decided they'd find out later. A part of him wanted to see how easily the kid would break, or if he'd be strong enough to withstand it. Boy Scout would never approve of this, he thought.

They exited the ship and Jesse's eyes widened as he saw someone bringing Gabriel's shotguns to him. He didn't understand how shotguns could be so big, but decided it didn't matter, and that they suited Gabriel. And just like before, Gabriel switched off the safety and exhaled slowly, almost in a whistle before approaching the building. Jesse had been given a pistol only--though he'd requested a revolver several times--and took to resting his hand on it, the gun sitting in a holster strapped to his thigh.

"Two men around back. The rest of us go in the front. There shouldn't be anyone in there, but prepare for anything." Gabriel said, and they all followed orders, two of them heading behind the building and the rest following him and Jesse through the front door. The first floor was thoroughly checked out again, and before heading to the basement, Jesse grabbed the back of Gabriel's hoodie to catch his attention.

"Wait. There's a.. a belt I wore, it's somewhere in here." he said.
"You seriously want to look for a belt right now?" Gabriel responded.
"It'll only take a minute."
"Fine. If you don't find it in three minutes, then you're shit outta luck."

Jesse skipped off to a room with lockers and counted them in his head until he reached the ninth one, opening it to see clothes, two packs of cigarettes and his belt. Gabriel stood behind him, looking around the room, waiting for the kid to hurry up.

Jesse put the belt on and smiled, turning around with his feet apart, thumbs in his belt loops. Gabriel turned around and looked straight at it, the light glistening off of the golden buckle, illuminating those four letters. His mouth fell open and he rolled his eyes.

"Badass motherfucker? Really? That's the belt you insisted on retrieving?" he asked in complete disbelief.

Jesse grinned in response, the same cunning look in his eyes that Gabriel gave him in the briefing room. He turned back around and looked at the stack of clothing, pondering over what he should do with them for a minute before slamming the locker door shut. He wanted to leave behind everything that had anything to do with this place, except his godawful belt.

Gabriel shook his head as he walked past the kid towards the wooden staircase leading downstairs, Jesse following him down. They checked the entirety of the basement again as well before heading for the tunnel, where everyone else was.

"If this is an escape route, this guy could be long gone by now." One of the soldiers said.
"Jesse, where does this go?" Gabriel asked the brunet at his side.
"I don't know, I was never allowed in it. I heard talk of.. some kinda treasure? Like a safe room or somethin'."
"You think it could lead to a safe room? Or maybe a vault-- It must also have an escape route, though. I don't think they'd be dumb enough to trap themselves in there with us upstairs. Let's go. Please, pay attention to everything you see? I don't need any of you blowing off your limbs or missing some important information. You do that, you're gonna wish you were dead."

Gabriel adjusted his grip on his shotguns before moving through the tunnel, small lights on the floor every two or three metres, just barely lighting the way. Some of the soldiers were equipped with rifles that had flashlight addons, and so they turned them on, the whole tunnel brightening up.

It was a long, winding path, and it felt like they'd been walking for an hour by the time they reached a hole in the ground, a ladder tipped over on the floor below. It wasn't a big enough drop to seriously injure anyone, but it was annoying to say the least.

"Break a leg." Gabriel said in a deadpan voice despite its humorous context, making puns even in the potential face of death.

He jumped down, a cloud of dirt and dust surrounding him as he stood up, looking up at everyone staring down the hole. He moved his head in a way to beckon them down and turned, looking at the ladder on the floor. They can get down without it. When all but Jesse had jumped down, Gabriel looked back up through the hole at him, one of his men shining the light on their gun up at his face.

"Get down here."
"To break something? No way."
"Jesse, I swear to God. Get your ass down here."
"Make me."

Gabriel tilted his head before propping up the ladder and going up a few bars, just enough to reach up, before grabbing the kid's arms and dragging him down, almost falling onto the floor with Jesse clinging onto him. When he stood up straight and let go of him, the kid glared up at him, brows furrowed. Gabriel fought to keep a stern expression on his face, wanting to burst out laughing at the hilarious expression of pure non-threatening annoyance and anger on the kid's face. He tried to look angry and mean but it did nothing to Gabriel. Instead he raised his eyebrows, a gesture to let the kid know not to test him again, then tapped the backs of two fingers against Jesse's belt buckle.

"Prove it."

He turned around and continued walking, smiling now that the kid couldn't see his face, some of the other soldiers chuckling. A few more metres along, and they'd reached a set of doors, probably barricaded or blocked in some way on the other side. They all went quiet as Gabriel listened for some type of movement or talking, though when none came, he decided to go just go for it.

Gabriel kicked his foot next to one of the doorknobs, and it swung open with the single kick. The rest of the crew quickly filed in, aiming at anything and everything, seeing a reactor in the centre of the room with a staircase wrapped around it, two dead bodies lying in front of it. They looked up to see light, presumably the exit to this place, and for a moment, Gabriel thought that the leader had escaped after killing his last two gang members.

"You really are that dumb." he said seconds later, seeing movement out of the corner of his eye. In an unlit area of the circular room, beneath a wooden catwalk, a man with silvery white hair was trying to get up on his feet as quickly as he could, raising what looked to be a cheap semi-automatic rifle.

Jesse first looked at the dead bodies, gasping when he recognized one as his friend before looking around Gabriel at the man pointing a gun at them, realizing it was Steel. He froze on the spot, half hiding behind Gabriel, but he'd already been spotted.

"Jesse!" the man laughed, extending one arm out as if to offer a hug. "Fancy seein' you here! Did you come back for more treatment? I got so much more for you."
"You lay a fucking hand on him, I'll rip it off myself." Gabriel said, pointing one of his shotguns at him.
"Aww, daddy came to save the day, did he? Too late, big guy, the little brat's already been branded and marked as mine." His voice had dropped into a growl, the same way he spoke when he attacked Jesse every few nights. "..And I don't take kindly to people taking what's mine."

Steel raised his gun and began firing without any regard for who exactly he hit with the bullets, Gabriel pushing Jesse behind a stack of crates, another round of gunfire starting. Eleven versus one seemed so humourously simple until a door they hadn't noticed on the opposite side of the room opened, a dozen other gang members coming through it. One carried what looked like a rocket launcher, aiming directly at Jesse.

Gabriel saw the man, running through the gunfire to pull the launcher out of his hands, hitting him in the face a few times with it until he fell to the floor, and Gabriel hit him again with the butt of the launcher, crushing half of his face and killing him instantly.

One of the soldiers tossed Gabriel's shotguns towards him, dropped on the floor next to Jesse when he went for the gang member with the launcher, and joined in on the gunfire. His attention had been turned away from Jesse for a moment too long, and Steel had made his way towards him.

Jesse started screaming, profanity spilling out of his mouth as Steel dragged him off, and Gabriel turned around, dead bodies dropping around him as he went towards the silver haired man, who he could now see had a scar over one eye. He was ready to tear the asshole's limbs off with his bare hands when he stopped walking a few feet behind them.

Jesse had mustered up enough strength to kick the guy hard enough to retaliate, turning around as soon as the arms around his waist let go, and he swung at him as hard as he could. Steel was knocked off balance, falling to the floor, groaning in pain as Jesse dropped to his knees over him, gritting his teeth, the only thought on his mind being to hurt this scumbag that had hurt him so much before.

Swinging one punch after another, the hitting didn't cease until Jesse could feel Steel's jaw break under his knuckles, blood covering his face and the dirt floor beneath them. With a mangled jaw and a swollen face, Steel tried to speak, barely making any sort of noise, struggling to breathe.

"J.. -esse. Do it."

As everyone waited, watching the fight on the floor with hostility, prepared to fire if they needed to, Jesse held his fist up in the air, staring down at the man beneath him, listening to his labored breathing. Gabriel anticipated a few more punches, his heart racing from watching the sudden vengeful aggression from the kid, though they never came.

"You don't deserve an easy way out." Jesse said, getting off of Steel, standing tall over his dying body. "I'll leave you here to fucking suffer. Just like you did to me."

Jesse spat out the words with such venom and hatred, disgusted in the poor excuse for a man. He spit in his face and turned around, a hardened expression on his face of zero remorse, for doing the right thing for once, even if it involved violence. He could hear Steel coughing, choking on his own blood, trying to call him back, call for help as he walked up to Gabriel.

He could see out of the corner of his eyes that everyone else had lowered their guns and were simply staring, in some weird type of awe and astonishment. No one expected this once timid, punk kid to come out on top, and he'd surprised them all.

"Was that proof enough?" Jesse asked, his fists clenched at his sides, the knuckles of his right hand caked in Steel's blood.

Gabriel said nothing as the kid walked past him after a moment, and the room was cleaned out as the building had been. They gathered all bits of information needed, some of the men carrying out more dead bodies, Steel included. They had taken the spiral staircase up and out of this hole in the ground and made their way back to the trucks and the airship. The Deadlock gang was no more, Jesse thought, as he watched someone with a clipboard walking amongst all the dead bodies in black bags on the ground, writing down something, probably another bodycount. He wondered which one Steel was in, thinking about the way his attitude had changed in that room and how violent he'd become. It wasn't favourable, but perhaps it was a good thing, if he was to be a part of this Blackwatch crew.

As the bodies were carried into a truck and everyone prepared to take leave, Gabriel approached the kid, calling out to him.

"You did good back there, kid. I'm proud of you. I never expected you to do what you did. Honestly, I thought you'd break. But you've proved yourself, proved you can do good, even if there's a dark way of doing so. Proved you can live up to those letters on your belt. Welcome to Blackwatch." he said, turning the safety locks on his shotguns back on and adjusting the sleeves of his hoodie.
"Why, thank you." Jesse responded, the cold look in his eyes finally leaving and being replaced with an innocent, playful happiness. He looked up at Gabriel with trust and admiration, as Gabriel tucked one gun under his arm to ruffle Jesse's hair.
"You ready to go home?"
"Home?"
"Back to the base."
"Do I get a room?"
"..You'll be in mine for a bit. We'll see how quickly I piss you off."

The two laughed for a moment together, the smile never leaving Gabriel's face, something no one in the organization ever saw. Jesse stared up at him, unblinking before hugging him, his arms wrapped tightly around Gabriel's waist. It caught Gabriel off guard, his arms hovering over the kid's body for a moment before intentionally dropping his guns on the ground and hugging him back.

After a hug that carried on far too long, Gabriel picked up his shotguns and took a few steps past Jesse, towards the airship. He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Oh, by the way..." he said, taking a deep breath, for this was something he never told anyone. "My name's Gabriel."

Gabriel gave that same subtle smirk he'd given Jesse earlier at the base before continuing on his way back to the airship, boarding it with everyone else, expecting Jesse to follow when he was ready.

Jesse gawked, his eyes lighting up and he sighed, smiling softly as he watched Gabriel walk away, a strong demeanor of leadership about his stride.

"Gabriel." he repeated. "Just like the angel."