Chapter Rating: PG-13
Content Warning: Gabe trying to talk dirty to Jack during the mission, violence, a bit of an unhappy twist (not going to spoil it!)

Notes from the Idiot Author:

I absolutely hate that I have this incessant need to ruin the mood when a good thing is going on T^T If you don't hate this by the end of it, I promise a resolution will happen in the next chapter! (On a side note, I got the urge to add in the ending of this chapter after rewatching the Heroes cinematic. I wanted Jack in an alleyway, and a reason for such anger after he comes back to Dorado as Soldier 76)

Summary:

Flirty words through an earpiece, a flash of purple in the corner of his eyes. What was supposed to be an easy mission takes a turn south, and Jack is left defenseless and downed.

"Jack, you gotta wake up, mi amor." Jack groaned at the disruption to his slumber, burying his face further into the warm wall of flesh in front of him. He felt the warmth rumble, vaguely hearing a chuckle from somewhere above his head. "Come on, get up. We're leaving in twenty minutes, and we're both still butt naked. Ana'll kick both our asses if we're not at the carrier on time."

With a huff, Jack pulled away from the warm embrace, blue eyes cloudy with sleep as he sat up. "Ugh, damn… was I really out that long?" he grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"You were too cute to wake up." Gabriel grinned, hoisting himself out of bed as he pawed at the pile of clothes they had both so eagerly discarded. "Plus, you kept mumbling in your sleep. I was tempted to take a video."

Jack glowered, too out of it to be truly annoyed at the other's teasing. "I'd kick your ass if you did." he huffed, pulling himself out of the warm prison of blankets and stretch. He groaned, rubbing his hips absentmindedly. "Damn, you weren't joking when you said I'd be sore. Feels like I got split in half and glued back together."

The soft, apologetic smile Gabriel gave him drew out a chuckle, leaning over to press a sloppy kiss onto his cheek. Gabe continued his work, separating his and Jack's clothes and handing the blond his uniform piece by piece. "Was it at least worth it? You weren't exactly complaining while we were going at it."

Jack laughed, pulling on each offered article of clothing from Gabriel's hands. "More than worth it. I'd be up for round two if we weren't about to head out." The cheeky response made Gabriel pause for the briefest of moments in buckling his pants, all toothy grins and wiggling brows, and Jack rolled his eyes. "Don't get any ideas. Twenty minutes isn't enough time for a quickie, and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me." Gabriel laughed through his shirt, pulling it over his head before slipping his jacket over. "Doesn't mean I'm not getting ideas for later."

After a quick check over each other and, deeming that they both looked ready to depart and not like they just had sex, Gabriel leads Jack out of the room. The duo made their way out of the room, making it to the carrier just as Reinhardt and the new recruits did. "Ah, my friends! Are you ready to go and scare some sense into the no-good hooligans causing trouble in fair Dorado?" the behemoth of a man boomed, grinning ear to ear and he proudly hoisted his hammer over his shoulder. "Ana should be joining us at any moment. Let us wait for her in the carrier, ready and alert!"

Jack couldn't help but crack a smile, grabbing his pulse rifle from where it was waiting for him at the airship dock. "Sounds like a plan."

The five of them boarded the ship, Jack and Gabriel having to fight back snickers as Reinhardt diligently lectured the two newcomers about properly fastening their harnesses, not to be out of their seat until the pilot said so, and so on. Jack was honestly quite proud of the young lady, seeing in her face and overall attentive posture that she was a quick learner, following Reinhardt's instructions to a T.

A mere five minutes later, Ana ducked into the ship, a stack of folders in her hands. "Ah, glad to see everyone is already here. These are the maps of the area, especially for our newest recruits, and a layout of the patrol schedules." she dutifully handed them out to each member of the team before taking her own seat, the carrier door closing as the vehicle rose and started its journey. "We'll be in groups of two; Jack, Reinhardt, you'll be patrolling with Riley and Jacob, respectively," The two new recruits saluted, the look of dread on the boy's face almost palpable, "And Gabriel, you'll be helping me set up our base of operations in the hotel. We'll set the routes based on the data we receive from the local authorities. Thankfully they're working with us on every aspect of this mission."

Jack had noticed the look of disappointment on Gabriel's face at not being paired up with Jack, but the blond gave him a small nudge and a smile. The silent reassurance soothed him, and Jack was grateful that he didn't try and make a scene. They'd talk about it later, and Gabriel would probably pound away his frustrations in the form of a well wanted 'punishment'. Jack had to stomp out the thought as quickly as it came up; he needed to focus on the mission, not what he hoped Gabriel would do to him after they were back at the base. "I'm assuming comm links will be routed through to you two at the base in the hotel?" he asked, flipping through the papers in the folder, all but memorizing the details on the descriptions of some of the already cataloged miscreants. A gang of brats calling themselves Los Muertos, each one already booked having the same skull and bones tattoos. Jack hummed, glad that at least they made themselves easy to spot.

"You assume correctly. Gabriel and I will take turns on covering the communication hub, and the other is free to either patrol the area surrounding the hotel or communicate intelligence to the authorities. We'll regroup for reassignment at 8 o'clock sharp, then separate again to cover each other while we take breaks from patrol for meals and sleep. Gabriel and I will be switching out with whoever is resting, so we're aiming to have two groups out at each time, with at least one person awake at the base at all times. Everyone understand?" Ana took a deep breath, looking over each of their faces for any looks of confusion. She smiled when she found none, closing her folder and resting it in her lap. "Alright, I wish you all the best of luck out there. Hopefully, our presence in the city alone will help to scatter them like rats, but make sure to be on your guard just in case."

A collection of affirmative responses satisfied her enough, and she busied herself with a polite conversation with Reinhardt. The two rookies chatted among themselves, leaving Jack with an opening to speak to Gabriel. "Look, it's only for a couple of days. Besides, you get the easy part for most of the day." he teased, giving him a soft grin.

"I'd still rather be patrolling with you," Gabe mumbled, giving a soft huff of annoyance. "You and I both know that I'd be of more help on the ground with you rather than cooped up relaying orders."

"Like I said, it's only for two days. I'm sure you'll live." Jack cast a quick glance at their team, noting that they were still in their own conversations, before leaning in to murmur in Gabriel's ear. "Besides, after this is over, there'll be plenty of time for you to take out some frustration about being stuck on comms duty if you know what I mean."

A hint of a blush washed over Jack's cheeks at Gabriel's grin. "Jack Morrison, you never fail to surprise me. I'll make sure and take out every bit of frustration I'm holding onto once we're alone again. That's a promise, mi cariño."

Jack laughed but was relieved that he could divert Gabriel's attention away from his annoyance with the mission, the two of them slipping into light chatter as the carrier made it's way to Dorado.

Jack couldn't be mad at Gabriel for the stolen kiss on the cheek as they left the carrier, parting to go with their respective teammate as the mission officially started. Jack made polite conversation with Riley, learning that she was from the States as well, liked cats and poetry, and that her mother had told her stories about heroes and saviors all throughout her childhood. It had led her to train throughout her youth and join Overwatch.

He didn't laugh at her for gushing about how cool she thought Reinhardt was, how he was the living version of a storybook hero in her eyes. However, he couldn't help but let his mind wander as they patrolled the town. A soft chirp of the comms activating in his ear almost made him jump, rolling his eyes as he heard a familiar soft whistling on the other end. He brought his hand to the panel on his ear, fighting a grin as he hushed his response. "Gabe, you do realize that the comms are for communicating information, not for your attempt at music."

"Aw, and here I was hoping to soothe your boring trek with something to listen to other than the kid." The whiny tone suited Gabriel, and Jack glanced over at Riley as she spoke with a local, "And before you worry, I'm only broadcasting to your headset."

"Ah, my own personal shoulder devil. How comforting."

"I'm almost offended, Jackie. If you want, I could just leave you be. All by yourself, stuck with a doting rookie talking about how great Reinhardt is."

Jack fought down a grimace, laughing it off. "Alright, you've got my hands tied."

"Unfortunately, mi cariño, I don't. I'd very much prefer if I did. I think it'd look good on you. Some nice blue ropes to match your eyes." Gabriel's tone was a dulcet purr in his ear, and it made Jack want to shiver.

The blond swallowed hard, fighting the heat welling in his cheeks. "Gabriel, I'll mute you if start trying to talk dirty to me while we're both supposed to be working."

"But I have nothing to do, Jackie. I already checked on Reinhard and the other kid; no new information. Just dusty streets and graffiti on their end. Same as yours, am I right?"

Jack huffed, pursing his lips. "Yeah, you're right. Riley is talking with some of the locals, seeing if she can get any leads so that we're not just pacing around like show ponies. Kid's got a good head on her shoulders."

"I'm sure her head is fine, but I think I'd rather have yours." A confused pause from Jack pushed Gabriel to continue. "I mean the head of your dick, Jack. C'mon, I'm trying to sweet talk you."

Jack groaned, stepping away slightly. "Gabriel, I'm warning you…"

"You've gotta be at least a little turned on by this, aren't you? I know I am." Jack could practically hear the smirk in his tone, "You getting to hear me right in your ear, saying anything I want to get you all hot and-"

"Gabriel Reyes!"

Jack jumped at the shout in the background, holding back a snicker at the yelp of surprise that he heard on Gabriel's end. "Busted."

There was a quiet scuffle in the background, and Jack could hear Gabriel whining at a distance from the microphone as Ana took it from him. "Jack, please tell me you were against Gabriel's childish flirting."

"I was just about to mute him if he kept it up, Ana. Promise."

A well-worn chuckle at the other end of the line. "I'm proud of you. Gabriel, on the other hand, is losing his comms priveledges for now. Anything new on your end, aside from his mischief?"

"Nothing yet. Riley is-" A flash of neon purple in an alley a few meters away caught his eye. "Hold that thought. I think I saw something in the alley just now." Jack gripped his pulse rifle, glancing back at Riley. She was taking down notes, listening eagerly to the elderly woman she was speaking to. "I'm just going to pursue alone. Riley's getting intel from the locals." he walked towards the alley, hastening his pace enough to be quick about it, but not draw attention. "Besides, it's probably nothing."

"Be careful, Jack. It could be nothing, or it could be something. Keep your guard up." Ana's tone was apprehensive, yet surprisingly calm.

"Understood." Jack lowered his hand from his ear, eyes narrowing as he reached the edge of the alley. A quick glance inside gave him little to nothing. Between the shadows from the surrounding building, the setting sun, and the sheer depth of the alley, he couldn't see much. "I can't make out any clear visuals. I'm just gonna poke in and double check. It was probably just a flyer or something."

"Please, be careful, Jack."

"I hear you." he chuckled, honestly touched by the hint of worry in the woman's voice. He walked deeper into the alley, one hand gripped tight on his rifle, the other still on his communicator. "I'm fine, Ana. I don't even see anything. Probably just a false alarm." He stopped, listening for any signs of movement. He couldn't hear anything, just the general rumble of the busy street outside of the alley. "Alright, I'm calling it. False alarm, heading back to Riley to go try and cover some more ground before we regroup."

"Glad to hear it. Amari out."

Jack sighed, laughing at himself a bit. What was he so worked up over, anyway? This was going to be an easy mission, in and out, over and done with. He shook his head, chalking this up to Gabriel riling him up with all his dirty talk moments earlier.

He turned on his heel, ready to head back out and continue the patrol. Just as he lifted his foot to take a step, he heard a rush of movement behind him, and something hard and metal collided with the back of his knee. "Fuck!" He tried steadying himself against the wall, pain coursing through his leg as he turned to face his attacker. Neon purple was all he saw before a metal plated bat collided with his temple, knocking him to the dirty alley floor. A shaking hand struggled to reach for his earpiece, and a heavy boot on his wrist stopped the movement before he could even try.

"Don't even think about it, cabrón. Your little friends aren't gonna come running in to save you. These are our streets, not yours, not anyone's but ours. Can't have you Overwatch assholes ruining that." A cackle of a laugh erupted above him, and Jack struggled to glare up as his attacker, only seeing the butt of the bat just in time for it to ram into his face, knocking him out cold completely.