Chapter Rating: Semi-Explicit (No sexual themes, but a lot of violence)
Content Warning: Violence, blood, abduction, crying Gabriel, and an emotional team meeting in the hotel

Notes from the Idiot Author:

I seriously hate myself for this chapter, but I have no shame in believing Gabe would cry in this situation.

Summary:

Your whole view of the world can change when you find out that the person who is your world is in danger.


"Alright, I'm calling it. False alarm, heading back to Riley to go try and cover some more ground before we regroup." Gabriel's held breath loosened in his chest, sharing a small, relieved smile with Ana.

"Glad to hear it. Amari out." She said, setting the microphone down with a sigh. "Why does your boyfriend have to cause both of us such worry, Gabe?" she joked, accepting the offered cup of tea he held out to her.

"Beats me, I just know he's gonna get it when we get back from the mission. His ass is gonna hurt for months after I'm done." Gabriel huffed. He hated worrying, hated losing control. Jack would get it so good for this.

Ana made a gagging noise, rolling her eyes. "Why do you insist I hear such things? What you two do is meant to be your business, not mine." she chastised, but hid a smile behind the rim of the cup. "If I might add, however, I've noticed he seems a lot happier. Less tense and worked up."

Gabriel chuckled, giving a small shrug. "I'm happy to help him." he sighed, turning the styrofoam cup in his hand. "I think I'm honestly falling for him, Ana. Not just the messing around, but…" Ana's raised brow and look of interest pressed him to continue. "We had actual sex for the first time today, after the mission debriefing, and… I almost said I loved him."

"Well, do you, Gabriel?" she pressed, brows now knitted together.

Gabriel swallowed past the knot in his throat, thinking over the question. He knew Jack better than anyone else, enough to know how to piss him off or turn his day around. He knew that Jack loved old music, jazz and swing being two of his top favorites, and a few cheesy love songs - Careless Whisper was a horrendous combination of the two, but Jack loved it - and that he used to want to play football before he enlisted in the Army as soon as he was 18. He knew about Jack's hopes and dreams, his fears and troubles. Nothing brought Gabriel more joy than to see the sunshine that was his smile, the way his eyes crinkled around the edges when he laughed. He wanted to be the one to make him laugh, to make him smile, for as long as he could. For as long as Jack would want him to. "…I think so, yeah. I honestly can't see my life without him anymore." The words were a soft murmur, and Ana smiled at the wisty look in his eyes. God, Gabriel was such a sap, sometimes.

"That's not a bad thing, sadiqi. Love is one of life's greatest gifts, one of the reasons we keep pushing forward." she chuckled, laughter interrupted by the beeping of the comms link. It was Riley. She frowned, answering the call. "Captain Amari here. Any news, Riley?"

"Captain, I'm so sorry- I just- I don't know where- Oh god, Captain-!" The girl's words were a rush of word vomit, and Ana's blood ran cold as she shared a look with Gabriel.

"Riley, take a deep breath and start over. Tell us what's going on."

"Commander Morrison, he- I saw him head to an alley while I was gathering intel from some of the locals. I-I got worried since he didn't come back, so I went to check on him. There's- oh god… There's blood in the alley, and it's fresh, and I think I found pieces of his visor next to it. Th-the blue glass part." The girl took a few deep breaths, voice shaky. "Captain, I'm sorry, I should've gone with him, I'm so sorry!"

Ana's eyes were wide, a hand clamped over her mouth. As the shock flooded over her, she turned to look at Gabriel, and the phrase 'if looks could kill' didn't even begin to cover the rage in his eyes.

No. This wasn't happening. This was some sick joke that Jack was playing. How stupid could he be? Using a rookie to try and make Gabriel worry about him. This was fake. It had to be. Gabriel steadied himself on the back of a chair, fighting the growing panic as hard as he could. No, no this wasn't happening. Not his Jack. Not happening. Couldn't be happening. Not his Jack.

The sickened stone in his gut refused to let him believe his own lie, and a shaking hand yanked the microphone from Ana. "Riley, I want you to relay everything you saw and heard to Captain Amari. I'll go after Ja- Commander Morrison. If it's just the glass, hopefully his earpiece is still on him, and we can track him down. Reyes out."

He pushed himself up, head swimming and gut clenching. Ana took a deep breath, grabbing a pen and paper and jotting down the information Riley gave her. Gabriel tapped away at some of the screens, pulling up Jack's information in the system. He activated the GPS, gnawing at his nails as it loaded up. It looked like he was just barely outside of the town limits in an old factory. Gabriel jotted down the address, grabbing his shotguns and storming out of the room. Ana called for him, but all he heard was his pulse thudding in his ears.

Anything and anyone standing between him and Jack… He grit his teeth, hailing a cab and asking to be taken a few blocks away. He hardly paid attention to the drive, having to calm the volatile thoughts in his head.

He'd kill them. He'd kill every last one of them. Every single lowlife that had a hand in hurting Jack would breathe their last breath today; he'd make sure of it.

He took a deep breath, unclenching his fists and busying himself with taking inventory of the ammo he had on him and in his guns. He had more than enough, and there was a burning need to empty every round of shotgun ammo into the bastards that took Jack.

The cab crawled to a stop, and Gabriel paid the man before hopping out. He took a deep breath, finally turning on and placing his communicator in his ear. "Ana, I'm about to go in. Jack still showing up as being in that building?"

There was a brief pause before she answered. "His tracker is, yes. Gabriel, be careful. They could've taken it off of him and set a trap. I know you're angry, I can't begin to understand how badly you're hurting right now, but you need to keep a level head in there. Your first priority is to get Jack back, but you've got to look out for yourself as well."

"I'll be fine, Ana. I dare them to try and trap me in. I need to let off some steam right now." he hissed, scanning his eyes over the heavily vandalized building.

"That's what I'm talking about! You can't lose your cool!" Ana groaned, and Gabriel could picture the woman pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Do what has to be done, but be smart about it. I'm sending Reinhardt to your location and pulling Riley and Jacob from the streets for now. It's not safe for them to be out alone."

Gabriel hummed, hardly even listening. All he had heard was to do what had to be done, and - to him, anyway - what had to be done was the members of Los Muertos in the building suffering a very painful death. Slow would be preferable, but he'd work with whatever hand he was dealt when he got to it.

The sun slowly set around him, the last slivers of orange light fading into shadow, and he gave a dark chuckle. "I'm not waiting for Reinhardt. I'll try and have everything wrapped up by the time he gets here." With that, he shut the communicator off, stuffing it into his pocket as he began his approach. He climbed up an old fire escape, scaling up the side of the building in the cover of the night. He took enough care to check the roof before slipping onto it, keeping on his toes as he began his descent into the building.

The glow of those obnoxious skull tattoos worked in his favor, a shock of neon green showing him exactly where his first target was. A few swift steps and he was behind the man, the cold barrel of a shotgun pressed snug against his back. "Where is he?"

The man bristled in panic, daring to try and make a grab for his gun. The mistake cost him dearly, Gabriel taking no hesitation in shoving him to the ground and planting a boot at the back of his skull. The pleas he cried fell on deaf ears, and Gabriel tutted. "Either you give me the information I want, or you die. Your choice."

"I don't know nothin', please!" It was a pitiful sight, watching the grown man plead for his life. Gabriel sighed, drawing his foot back and kicking as hard as he could. The audible snap and sudden limpness in the man fed something in him, something angry and hungry for blood. One down, who knows how many to go.

He slunk deeper into the building, sticking to the shadows as he sought out his next target. The factory seemed to just be a squatter spot, trash can fires burning here and there along the different levels of the building. A neon orange glow caught his attention, the slightest tug of a smirk on his lips. He crouched, watching the man for a moment as he waited to strike. The stench of liquor nearly radiated off of him, and the half-empty bottle dangling from his hand confirmed Gabriel's suspicion; drunk, unstable, and an easy target.

He slipped behind him with little to no effort, one hand grabbing the spikes of hair protruding from his head, the other angling a shotgun against his jaw. "Don't even try and scream," he warned, pressing the gun deeper into his flesh at the noise of surprise. The man tried to turn, swinging an unsteady blow at Gabriel. It was all too easy to grab the man's arm, twisting it until he heard a satisfying crack. The wail of pain was silenced with the crash of gunfire as he pulled the trigger. Blood and brains sprayed, and Gabriel pushed the limp corpse out of his way without a hint of remorse.

He ducked into a hallway as he heard footsteps, clamor and panic spreading among the trio of gangly lowlifes that came to inspect the noise. He couldn't even understand it at this point, ears ringing and heart pounding as he pulled the second shotgun from its place on his hip. Oh, he was going to enjoy this.

He ran at them, charging his shoulder into the man nearest to him before they could react. He spun on his heel, sending a spray of gunfire at the man to his left. The cry of pain was music to his ears, watching the man pitifully clutch at the new holes in his chest. A crackle of a machine gun drew his attention, using the man he'd plowed into as a meat shield as he finished off the last of the three with a merciless blast from his gun.

He threw the now limp body to the side, sneering as he felt the sticky warmth of blood staining into his clothing. He turned his attention to the open door the three had come from, stalking his way towards the dimly lit room at the end of the hallway. He heard movement, panicked cursing from what, he assumed, was his next target.

He kicked the door damn near off its hinges, seeing a hint of purple slip behind a door at the other end of the room just in time to avoid the shot he fired. He growled, blood boiling at the thought of one of them getting away. He started after the runner, ready to chase him down and tear him limb from limb, but a weak cough from the corner of the room halted him in his tracks.

"Gabe…? That you, or am I finally bleeding out enough to hallucinate…?" Gabriel's anger melted, turning in horror at the sight of Jack, crumpled and bound to a chair in the corner of the room, smiling weakly at him. "How'd I know you'd be the one to come for me?"

Gabriel dropped his guns, heart clenching as he took in the gut punch of a sight in front of him. He'd seen Jack injured before, but something about the swollen eye, the busted lip, the streaks of blood from horrid gashes… He choked on a sob, rushing to his lover's aid without a second thought.

"Jackie… oh god, Jack, what did they do to you." Gabriel pulled a knife from his belt, carefully slicing away at the layers upon layers of tape holding Jack to the chair. Once his arms were free, Jack gave a groan of relief to have feeling in his limbs again, bringing a hand up to gingerly cup Gabriel's cheek. There was worry in the baby blue eye that wasn't surrounded by bruised and swollen skin, and it did nothing to help Gabriel hide his tears of relief.

"You're covered in blood, Gabe." Jack's tone was quiet, concerned, and Gabriel would've cried at just how weak he sounded alone. If he'd gotten there sooner, if he hadn't wasted time with the bodies down the hall… Regret filled him as he pressed a kiss to the palm, giving a shake of his head before ducking into a crouch, moving to cut Jack's legs free.

"Not mine. There's five fewer members of Los Muertos to deal with. Should be six, but I'm not leaving you to chase the bastard." He wanted to hit himself when Jack stiffened a bit at the body count, but he kept control as he gently pulled away the rest of the tape. The hiss of pain Jack made tore at his soul, and the sickeningly bent angle of Jack's right leg told him that the blond wouldn't be able to walk out of here on his own even if he tried.

"Dios mio… Jack…" He couldn't find the words to say it; Jack's armor had been taken, and his usually pristine white and blue getup was covered in blood and dirt, torn and cut into in more places than he could count. There was a horrendous amount of blood, some coming from the cuts and some having run down from Jack's head. Gabriel had to all but shake himself out of the thoughts. Jack was alive -beaten severely, but alive- and Gabriel had found him. "Let's get the fuck out of here. I don't want more of them to show up." He rose from his crouched position, pulling Jack up into his arms as gently as he could. The grit of Jack's teeth and pained expression cut like knives, but Gabe had to get him out one way or another, and he didn't want Jack to have to hobble along on his only good leg.

"Fuck, I really screwed up this time, huh?" Jack's weak chuckle drew a glare from Gabriel, the man barely having the thought to grab and holster his guns on his way out.

"Don't you fucking dare think you need to apologize, Jack." Gabriel swallowed hard, careful to slip out the door without Jack bumping into the frame. "This isn't your fault, not in the least."

"If I hadn't gone in the alley-"

"Don't." Gabriel's tone wasn't one to be talked back to, and Jack settled for a soft sigh.

A short bout of silence hung in the air between them before Jack spoke up. "I got a few good hits in, even from the chair."

"Jack…"

"I'm pretty sure I knocked the guy's front teeth out. Definitely broke his nose. I'm pretty proud of myself, if I can toot my own horn a bit."

Gabriel choked on his laugh, a fresh stream of tears clouding his eyes. "You absolute idiot… You're an inch from bleeding out in my arms, and you're bragging about breaking some assholes nose?"

Jack huffed, fighting a small smile. "For one, I doubt I'm gonna bleed out. Too much crap pumped into me from good ol' SEP to let that happen. I do feel nauseous as all hell, so sorry ahead of time if I puke on you."

"I'd be fine with that." Gabriel laughed, carefully taking a seat on a stack of rocks, keeping Jack held in his lap.

Jack chuckle warmed Gabriel's heart, chasing away the darkest of thoughts encroaching his mind of what could've happened if he hadn't shown up when he did. "And two, I broke his nose while restrained. I think I deserve to be proud. You of all people should appreciate a well-placed headbutt."

Laughter shook through Gabriel's chest, and he ducked his head to cry into Jack's shoulder. He felt so relieved for Jack to be here, in his arms, safe, but the guilt of how beaten up he was… It was like a hot iron stabbing into his gut.

Lights fell on them as a vehicle approached, and Gabriel tensed slightly before he saw who was driving. "Jack! Mein Gott, you look like Hell has tried taking you, and Hell lost the fight!" Reinhardt called, hopping out of the truck and rushing over to them. "Gabriel, help me get him into the truck. Ana's already readying a med kit, but oof…" he frowned, looking over the extent of Jack's injuries. "Dare I say she might need to prepare two? You've taken the beating many lesser men would've passed away under."

Jack gave a small laugh, smiling up at the man. "It sure feels like it. If Gabriel hadn't busted in like he did, I might've just croaked."

Reinhardt grinned, taking Jack off Gabriel's lap to let him stand, the two of them working together to get him into the truck with as few complications as possible. He closed the door, turning to take a look at Gabriel. "I haven't seen you wince even once, my friend. I'm assuming the blood isn't yours?"

Gabriel nodded, a frown tugging at his lips. "I took five of them out before I found Jack. A sixth got away, but I didn't want to pursue and leave Jack alone."

"I think that's understandable. His safety is a higher priority than chasing some coward." The two made their way to the other side of the truck's cab, Gabriel carefully sliding into the middle next to Jack before Reinhardt hopped in, heading back to the hotel at just barely under the legal speed limit. They arrived at the hotel in record time, and Ana, Riley, and Jacob were all waiting outside for them. Reinhardt hopped out, letting Gabriel around to the other side to help Jack out of the cab, pulling him up into his arms and carrying him to the doors. The gasps of shock between the three were expected, and the rookies looked like they were going to be sick.

"Oh god, Jack." Ana's eyes were wide, filled with shock and sorrow at the state he was in. "Let's get you inside. I'll examine your wounds. Gabriel, you get to be my nurse today."

Gabriel noticed the hint of a smile on Jack's tired face, rolling his own. "Don't even, Morrison." he huffed, but a smile pulled at his own lips at the fact that Jack was at least feeling well enough to have taken Ana's words in a lighthearted, joking way.

Ana fought a sad smile, quickly fixing her features back to that of a professional. "Reinhardt, take these two to get a bite to eat or something to drink. I'll call you once Jack's patched up and we have everything sorted out."

He nodded, giving a brief salute. "Yes ma'am! Young ones, follow me! I'm pretty sure I saw a bakery just a brisk walk from here!" Reinhardt smiled, ushering the two recruits away from where they were locked in place, still staring at how horrible Jack looked.

Gabriel sighed, pressing a soft kiss to Jack's cheek once the three were well out of their sights. "I want to punch those kids for how they looked at you."

Jack frowned, huffing a small sigh. "Gabe, they're new. Fresh from training. They probably haven't seen stuff like this in real life yet."

"Still, they should show some respect," he grumbled, carrying Jack up the stairs to the room, Ana opening the door for them and locking it behind before she gathered the supplies she'd brought from the ship.

"Lay him down on the bed, and grab me some spare towels from the bathroom, Gabriel," Ana ordered, receiving a nod. Gabe set him down gently, stepping aside to let the woman work. She was already slipping back into the mindset of her days as a field medic, removing what remained of his visor as gently as possible before trying to unbutton the tattered remains of his jacket.

"You sure he can't be the one to help me get my clothes off so you can patch me up?" Jack gave a small grin, trying to rouse a laugh out of the two, and Gabriel frowned deep enough to cover for Ana's distracted scowl.

"Jackie, mi cariño, any other time I'd jump on that offer, but Ana's the medic out of the three of us. We've gotta listen to her, okay?"

The frown that spread across Jack's lips tugged at Gabriel's heartstrings, but he didn't rescind his statement. He headed to the bathroom, grabbing a few of the towels that were folded neatly on the shelf, grimacing as he got a glance of himself in the mirror. He… he looked nothing like himself, if he were being honest. Blood coated the entirety of his side, rusty red and sticky on his cheek all the way to where it seeped into his clothes. No wonder Jack had thought he was injured. He snapped his gaze away, pushing out of the bathroom and returning to Ana's side. She'd gotten his jacket removed and set in a sad crumple next to the bed, currently working at cutting away his shirt with a pair of scissors.

Gabriel felt a surge of rage flood him as she parted the halves of the shirt, showing the injuries that weren't as obvious as the hurt Jack's face had sustained. Deep, ugly bruises plagued his ribs, some very clearly in the vague shape of kicks and stomps, and there were cuts that went deep enough to still be oozing blood as his body fought to scab over the gashes. He had to look away, swallowing down the guilt in his chest.

"I'm sorry, you guys… I shouldn't have gone off on my own to investigate." Jack's words felt like a knife to Gabriel, but even he was shocked when he heard a sharp slap, head jerking to see Jack as surprised as he, a hand on his cheek where Ana's hand had just made a harsh connection with.

"I swear to god, Jack, I will beat you twice as bad as whatever they did to you- no, thrice as bad- if you try and blame yourself for this." Ana's words were soft in volume, but held a resounding strength that Gabriel envied. "You were doing your job, and that job put you in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's not your fault, so stop trying to apologize. Are we clear?"

Jack swallowed past a lump in his throat, but gave a nod, laying back down as she resumed cleaning and dressing the wounds. Silence stood like a stone wall between the three of them, Ana silently working on fixing what she could with what she had. After a while she let out a long sigh, wiping her hands on one of the cleaner towels and rising up from her position next to the bed. "I think that's the best I can do for now. You need rest. I'm calling the mission off. Surely Gabriel sent a good enough message to Los Muertos." she cast a glance of him, and Gabriel let out a huff.

"Serves them right." He felt no shame in the fact that he didn't feel guilty for killing those men; they deserved far worse than death for what they'd done to Jack, and his only remorse was that he didn't have time to give it to them.

"Gabe…"

He sighed, pushing off from where he had been leaning on the wall. "Go get a bite to eat with Reinhardt and the others, Ana. I'll keep an eye on Jack." He noticed the look of hesitation on her face, and he gave her a small smile. "And I promise I won't try any funny business on Jack while he's injured."

She let out a chuckle, shaking her head but heading to the door. "I'll bring back something for you both." With that, she headed out, leaving the two alone.

"So," Jack broke the silence, a lighthearted grin on his battered lips. "You planning on keeping that promise, or…?"

Dear god, the man he loved was an insufferable one.