Gabriel Reyes had changed from the military. His face was crossed with unfamiliar scars. The once sun kissed skin had taken on an ashen tone and his hair had darkened to almost black instead of its usual chocolate color. His eyes were red on black instead of brown on white. But it was him. There was no doubt in Glitch's mind that it was him. He had survived to. "You're alive!" she said with tears in her eyes. He was alive. Her hand dropped from his wrists in surprise. Millions of questions welled up inside of her, but he held one claw up to her lips. "Sssh. It'll be alright niña ruda" he said quietly. She gave him a playful shove and smiled a bit. "You still never taught me Spanish ya jerk. Had to learn it all by myself" she joked. He chuckled and sat down next to her. They leaned together and simply enjoyed the others company. Eventually Glitch tried to get up again. It was slow going, especially because Gabe kept saying she should rest. "I'll be fine, your overreacting Gabe. Just let me get the mail and then it's back to bed" she insisted. Gabe finally agreed to let her do that much. "But if I let you call me Gabe I can still call you Mara" he pressed. She nodded and went outside. Walking was a pain, but she made in down her driveway and to her mailbox alright, and no one saw her. She made it inside alright and sat down at the kitchen table. Nothing interesting came in and she started to get up when an increasingly familiar pair of claws guided her back down. Gabe then put a plain bagel with butter down in front of her. "You don't have much food to work with, but I remember this is what you'd eat all the time when we snuck out for breakfast" he explained quickly. Glitch-no, not Glitch. Her name was Mara-giggled and gave him the best hug she could from where she sat in the chair. After wolfing down the bagel Mara stretched out completely forgetting about her injury. She winced in pain and immediately Gabe was at her side. "Calm down, I'm fine" she chided him. Using the wall for support she made her way to the back door. "Where do you think you're going?" Gabe called from the kitchen. "Just going to relax outside for a bit Reyes" she said. She made her way outside and all but collapsed into a hammock. Her ribs were killing her. Gabe must've set it up for her because there were pillows in it and her ukulele was nearby. She got comfortable and started strumming gently. The world melted away with the peace of it all. A breeze blew through rustling the leaves. One fluttered into her strings and she had to pause to get it out. That's when she heard the muffled gunfire. Then combat, definitely hand to hand. Someone was fighting Gabe in her house. They were both in danger.
Mara stumbled into the house as quickly as she could, but her vision was already being clouded with the pain of her broken ribs. She was moving way faster then she should be in this condition. Still, she opened her backdoor to Jack and Gabe fighting on the ground. Their guns lay nearby on the floor and there were bullet holes in the walls. The front door was thankfully closed, but neighbors would be by any second to investigate the noise. She picked up all of the guns and tossed them to the side. Then she did the most stupid thing she possibly could have done. She threw herself right into the middle of the fight. Both men were still fighting but the extra opponent stunned them both just long enough for her to get them on opposite sides of the room. "Both of you stop!" she yelled at them angrily. She was not going to have her two best friends kill each other, especially not in her own house. Jack looked at the bandages peeking out from Mara's shirt and flew into a rage. He attempted to launch himself at Gabe only to have Mara jab him in the ribs. "You still have the same weakness Morrison. Learn to cover it up" she growled. While he was recovering she did her best to walk over to Gabe. Tears shone in her eyes from what she was about to do. She dropped her darts on the floor, pretending that they had been lost in the fight. Then she was back in his arms. "Gabe," she whispered "I need you to get out of here. You can't come back. I'll find you again, but right now you need to leave". He opened his mouth in a silent protest, but she silenced him and took off her dog tags. Then they were slipped around his neck in a silent promise and she got up. She'd have t face Jack to give Gabe time to escape. Before she could turn around she felt a sharp prick in her arm. She looked down and saw a dart in her arm. There was one in Gabe's to. Her vision clouded over with darkness. She was faintly aware of someone catching her before she could slam into the floor. She might have called someone's name, but she didn't know who's if she did. Then nothing.
Mara did not wake up in her own house. She wasn't sure where she woke up. There were no windows, so no way to tell the time of day. After a quick survey of her little room she saw a door. Promising. It was locked though. Even though her ribs screamed at her not to she still kicked at it. After four tries it came down. Jack was already in the hallway to investigate the noise. Still no windows. Mara looked at all the closed doors. Gabe was behind one of them. Jack stopped her from going any farther though. She was still to drained from everything that had happened in the last three days to resist him. He led her back to the room and sat her down on the bed. She didn't want to, but Mara broke the silence. "Where is he?". They both knew who she was talking about. Jack shook his head a little. "Mara, I don't think you should-"
"Where is he Morrison!" she lashed out at him. She needed to see that he was okay. She just got him back. She wasn't about to lose him again. Jack sighed and took her outside. She used the wall for support rather than him. While he led her to Gabe's makeshift prison he tried to talk to her. After getting no responses he grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her to face him. "Look Mara I know you're mad at me right now, but you have to listen to me. This isn't the man you once knew. He's changed. He works for Talon now". There was concern in his voice that made her consider his words carefully. He was right. Gabe had changed. But she refused to think that the man she once knew was gone. She gave Jack a hug and said, "I know he's changed. But we all have. Just let me at least get some answers". He hugged her back and nodded. Then he led her past a few more doors until he unlocked one. Before she went in she asked him one more question. "Why did you attack when you did?".
"I was watching your house. You were in perfect health when I saw yo and then two hours later you're sick? Not very likely. Then you go to garb the mail and you can barely walk. I wasn't going to have you get hurt."
"Jack," Mara said quietly, "Why were you watching my house?"
Jack's eyes turned cold and he shoved Mara into the room. She fell onto her ribs and pain shot up her side. "Because I knew you were hiding something. I didn't expect it to be him though". He put his visor back on and turned away from her. "I can't lose another friend to Talon Mara. I'm not giving Reyes the chance to take you away". Mara glanced around the room and didn't see Gabe anywhere. She screamed as Jack closed he door. "WHERE IS HE JACK!". She pounded on the door as hard as she could. It didn't budge. Her ribs were screaming at her to stop and she did. But she still howled through the door. "JACK HE SO MUCH OF IT IN HIS SYSTEM ALREADY! IT WON'T BE A FAIR FIGHT! HE MIGHT NOT EVEN BE AWAKE, JACK COME BACK HERE! GET BACK HERE AND AT LEAST TALK TO ME! JACKAREYOULISTENINGLETMEOUT! JAAAAAACK!". She was frantic. It felt like hours before she settled into the corner of her prison. Then she slipped back into a familiar darkness. She never heard Jack come in and take her to the bed. She didn't hear his apology. And she most certainly did not realize there was a vent in the wall.