Gabriel opens his eyes. Jesse's hair is splayed across his chest, Jesse's ear over his heart, and he wonders if the cowboy can hear the way it beats a little faster. "What is?" he asks, voice a practiced kind of steady.
"This," Jesse huffs. Gabriel swallows. Jesse continues, "All this sneakin' around shit. Creepin' outta your room at ass'o'clock in the mornin'. Tryin' not to look at you some kinda way in public. I hate it."
Gabriel's throat tightens. After a moment, he says quietly, "Jesse."
Jesse deflates, stubble scratching along Gabriel's skin as he moves. "I know," he says softly. "It just...it's real unfortunate, s'all."
Gabriel bites his lip and combs his fingers through Jesse's hair. "It's my fault," he admits.
"Naw."
"It is. I showed you favoritism."
Jesse snorts. "Well, yeah. But that was for who got to sit by you at lunch, not anythin' on missions."
"I made you my partner almost every time I sent you out," Gabriel reminds him.
Jesse preens. "Just 'cause I'm the best," he says.
Gabriel pinches the bridge of his nose. "That aside, everyone knows I favor you. We'd get court-martialed in an instant."
Jesse drums his fingers on Gabriel's belly. "Probably," he sighs. He drops his gaze for a moment, then meets Gabriel's eyes and brushes his thumb over the scar on Gabriel's lip. "Just wish I could kiss you whenever I please, s'all. Or hold your hand, at least."
Gabriel's brows knit. "I wish I could give you that," he murmurs.
"Sweetheart," Jesse mourns, pressing a kiss to his mouth. "Sugar. We gotta retire sometime."
Gabriel's heart quickens again. That sounds almost like a hint at marriage, at getting old and wrinkly and gray side by side. "Sometime," he repeats, imagining it.
"Mmhmm," Jesse hums, pleased. "I wanna get a cat."
Gabriel laughs, chest warm, cheeks flushed. Jesse smooths out his brows and kisses his nose.
Do not steal my art or use it in any shape, way, or form without asking and my written permission.
Day 1: Roadtrip (runaways)
For the Mcreyes Summer Break event organized by @mcreyesevents
Commentary under the read more!
This took 10 hours ;u; I haven’t spent that long on a piece in ages. I am very satisfied with how it turned out though!! After missing the last events, I had to do something for this one. This takes place post everything that has happened in the current timeline and has a bit of my headcanons (or I guess AU instances) in it
Gabriel kept rewinding the footage, not believing what he was seeing. His heart ached inside of him each time he heard the bang! and saw his agent fall to the ground.
He rewinds the video again.
This time he won’t pull the trigger.
But Jesse McCree still stands behind Taylor while he’s in front of the bathroom sink. Jesse McCree still pulls the trigger. The mirror in front of them covers with blood and Taylor’s hollowed head bounces on the sink before his body stumbles to the ground. McCree sheathes Peacekeeper, washes the drops of blood that stain his face and walks away, hat hiding the devil’s eyes.
“Gabriel,” Jack’s soar voice gets him to stop pushing the button. “That’s enough. We need to act now.”
Gabriel frowns at Jack, tired old Jack who let a criminal in between his agents. Who let his own guard down and allowed McCree to sit at his table during lunch. The same McCree he has asked on a few Overwatch missions because he was fitting for a spot they needed to fill.
The same Jesse McCree Gabriel held hands during their winter walks. The ex-gang member Gabriel kissed when the sun woke up on the first day of summer. Jesse McCree, who kissed, caressed and bit every inch and secret spot on Gabriel’s body, who cured his aching bones after battles and sang lullabies to get Reyes to fall asleep during restless nights.
Gabriel gazes over the coffee table of his office, where a nice case is set. Inside, his two shotguns lay comfortable, like a brand new present every time he opens it.
“I’ll take care of it.”
--
Gabriel makes his way to Jesse’s room and plans to not stay long. He won’t linger on the memories they’ve shared between those walls, nor how his own scent is kept between the threats of Jesse’s sheets. When Gabriel slides his card and enters, he feels something is wrong before the lights turn on.
Jesse’s sand colored covers are gone, along with his smell. The drawers of his dresser are opened, what’s left are the dark pieces from Blackwatch uniforms, even his black cowboy hat Gabe gave him for missions remains on top of the dresser. There’s nothing Jesse about this room anymore, but the small chip on top of the nightstand with smeared blood and Jesse’s ID.
--
Gabriel searches night and day for McCree. He starts on base, asking Blackwatch agents to look under every rock and through every air bent. He checks the security cameras and there’s very little sight of McCree. The clearest image of him is walking away from the main entrance. Gabriel believes this is a direct message to him. The cowboy wears his own cowboy hat and bright red serape, he can even hear the spurs from his brown boots fading the further Jesse walks.
It was a clear sign to Gabriel, I’m leaving and taking your damn heart with me.
--
Weeks turn to months when Gabriel gets a clear sighting of McCree. He finds him away from the city life in Texas. Running from a gang after his head. Gabriel doesn’t intervene, he just watches Jesse outrun the older man, dodging every bullet that flies towards his head. He uses his prosthetic arm as cover before shooting, killing two men as he runs.
Rain pours down when Jesse loses the gang, but not Gabriel. The commander follows him through the trees and meadow. He runs even through puddles of mud and jumps over logs. Jesse takes shelter in a barn, looks to be abandoned. When Gabriel enters, the cowboy has taken off his hat and serape. He faces Reyes and his eyes widen.
“Gabriel?” Jesse smiles.
The smile ignites Gabriel’s anger, causing him to attack. He grabs Jesse by the throat and pins him against one of the planks holding the barn together. One of his shotguns points at Jesse’s head, but it trembles.
“Sweetheart,” Jesse says, still smiling. “I can explain.”
“Now you want to talk?” Gabriel growls through clenched teeth. “Seems walking away is more your thing. No—running.”
Gabriel can feel Jesse swallowing under his grip. “I had to run, darlin’. They were onto me. I thought of goin’ to you, didn’t think I had time.”
“Who was onto you? Taylor? Your teammate? Your friend?” Gabriel can’t help tightening his hold on the cowboy’s throat.
Jesse chokes, “He was no friend. He was a traitor.”
“He wasn’t the one who shot you, McCree,” Gabriel hisses.
“No, but he killed Ana.”
Gabriel’s hand loosens for a second as his eyes widen, but his guard snaps back sharp. “What do you mean?”
“He’s one of the agents that left her there. They were in on it. They left her alone to get shot, they said she had vanished on them, they left her to die, Gabriel. They’re Talon.”
“Now you’re just rambling.” Gabriel’s shotgun pokes the side of Jesse’s head and his heart clenches. It thumps harder inside his ribcage.
“Hear me out, please,” Jesse’s eyes turn glossy, pleading for life. “I know I broke your trust, I know I hurt you—damn it, I hurt myself too by leaving you, but I had to. Please, hear me out!” Jesse almost wheezes.
Gabriel realizes his grip has gone too strong and he releases Jesse, who falls to the ground coughing. When Jesse looks up, Gabriel’s shotgun still aims at him.
“Two minutes. Talk.”
“I was suspicious about double agents since Ana’s death, Gabe. I’ve seen some things that ain’t right. Other deaths that don’t make sense.” Jesse stands up, the end of Gabriel’s shotgun following his movement. “A week before I left, you left me in your room one morning.” A smile creeps up on Jesse’s face, as if he were remembering one of their many mornings after Jesse crawled into Gabriel’s bed during the night. “I heard someone breaking in; I heard them working on the panel from outside, so I hid. It was Taylor, he hid something in your dresser and left. But I found it, it was the poison they discovered in Lauren when they ran the autopsy on her.”
Gabriel’s eyebrow raises. He remembers finding Lauren late in the gym, asleep. Or so he thought when she looked so peaceful and laid nicely on her side on one of the benches. When Gabriel approached her, she was cold and numb.
“Taylor wanted to frame you, but he did it. And look.” Drops fell quickly from Jesse’s hair as he moved towards a hay stack. Gabriel followed him closely, but lowered his gun. Jesse pulled a backpack from the hay and took out a tablet, not his Blackwatch one, but a cheap one. “I kept some footages to go over after. I got this.”
He tapped on the screen a few times and then handed it to Gabriel. Reyes eyed him, but he found himself still trusting his ex-agent. He sheathed his shotgun and grabbed the tablet to play the video. He sees one of his former agents, Shannon, entering the incineration room with clothes and evidence from past missions Blackwatch is better off destroying. Another agent, Stones, enters five minutes later. Gabriel watches the clock on the corner; ten minutes pass and only Stones comes out. Gabriel remembers Shannon’s tracker going off line. They had checked the room when it checked in as his last location and dared to examine the ashes in the incinerator. As Gabriel had feared then, Shannon’s DNA was amongst them.
“This footage was seen,” Gabriel recalls, handing the tablet back to Jesse.
“They tampered with it. I got someone to find the real ones.”
“Someone? Ones?” Gabriel repeats.
“A lot of the security cameras were rigged in base, to hide agents that were leaving base and coming after hours.”
“And you and this someone managed to find it?” Gabriel asks.
Jesse tilts his head and grins, “No need to worry ‘bout her. Point is, Gabe, I couldn’t let Taylor get away. Do you remember the UN searching Jack’s and your room a few days later?”
Gabriel nods, they had asked for a random check-up and came out negative.
“Taylor send an anonymous tip, saying one of them had something to hide. Once they didn’t find the poison in your room, I knew Taylor’s job wouldn’t be done until you were out.”
“Jesse, you could’ve gone to me.”
Jesse shakes his head. “I couldn’t. You were always being watched, so was Jack. I’m guessing Ana as well. I’m kinda glad we kept our thing a secret, if they would’ve found out we were something, I might not be here.”
Gabriel doesn’t say anything. He takes it all in, even dares to turn around and pace a few steps away from Jesse. He knows Jesse won’t run nor shot him, which irks him at the moment. He saw Jesse shot one of his agents, but he also was a traitor.
“Look, maybe there was another way, but the thought of Taylor, or anyone else, getting their hands on you got me mad.” Jesse steps closer to Gabriel until the older man can feel his breath tickling the back of his neck. “You’ve burn in me something fierce for years, amor, I couldn’t let that fire cease.”
Jesse leans closer until his lips press just above the neck of Gabriel’s tactical gear. He takes in the scent of rain on Gabriel and the taste of sweet water.
“You killed mine, Jesse.”
Jesse stiffens and sighs through his nose, causing Reyes’ skin to tingle.
“I’m sorry, darlin’. I’m real sorry.” Jesse’s cold lips move against Gabriel’s skin. He trails small kisses up his neck to his hair line. The path is short, but it’s enough to make Gabriel turn around and kiss the younger man.
Jesse answers, wrapping his arms around Gabriel’s neck to pull him closer. Gabriel’s hands wrap around Jesse, not having him close enough. They kiss with passion, with that fire in Jesse spreading through his veins and passing it on to Gabriel. The commander can feel his heart thumping faster than it has in months. He recognizes the beats, they are different from when he goes on missions. The way his heart beats around Jesse is more exhilarating, stronger and he can feel the pulse on his wrist.
“Come with me, darlin’,” Jesse murmurs between their mouths. “We can finish them from the outside. Clear them out, save the lives of those who have fought by your side.”
Gabriel looks at Jesse’s eyes and its suddenly hard to breath. They beg him take Jesse’s hand and never let it go as they run through the world, as they crumble buildings and burn Talon to the ground.
--
Gabriel returns to base alone, but with a heavy brain full of thoughts. He knows everyone’s down for diner, but he acts quick. As soon as Jack hears Gabriel returned, he will be up in seconds to ask about his hunt for Jesse. To ask if he did something or let him go. Gabriel packs his clothes, leaves Blackwatch uniforms behind. He even leaves the nice case for his shotguns and hides his weapons on an old guitar case he has kept. The guitar rests nicely in his closet, forgotten to collect dust.
He asks Athena to erase any minutes of the security footage he appears in after he leaves his room. Athena hesitates, but obeys like she’s programmed to do to his voice. He leaves behind his ID and his tracker with wet drops of blood. Before he leaves his tablet, he sends Jack a message.
Watch your front, blondie. I still got your back.
--
Gabriel and Jesse are situated on the worn out watch tower hidden between trees, across from an old army base. They listen to Jack and his agents talk below them about the activities they’ve caught on tape from the supposedly abandoned base. They believe Talon is using it to do executions or experiment on people. They had heard of this from Kimura, one of the loyal agents now working for Overwatch since Gabriel left. Once they heard Jack would be joining the team, Gabriel didn’t hesitate to move.
They waited as they listen to the conversation. Gabriel was leaning his head on the moist wooden wall and wrinkled his nose when a firefly stood on it.
“Stop fighting them,” Jesse says by his side, as fireflies decorate his hat and light his face, making him look younger. “You’ll blow our cover.”
“These things will, it’s brighter in here than the fourth of July.”
Jesse chuckles, “Yer exaggerating. They’re pretty. Reminds me of childhood.”
“You used to catch them?”
“No, but aren’t they bright? Pure light.” Jesse follows one with his eyes and Gabriel’s annoyance with the insects ceases. He felt sad for Jesse suddenly, knowing full well Jesse didn’t have much of a childhood or youth. He wanted to pull his lover closer, let him admire the flying lights until dawn, but the comm Kimura gave them buzzed.
“I’ll check this building with Evans and Ford, the rest of you spread out.” Jack’s voice comes through. “If you find anything, call me.”
“Yes, sir,” the agents respond.
Gabriel and Jesse situate themselves behind the snipper riffles set on the ground, aiming through the gaps of the wood. They both see Jack through the focus and the two agents following him. They follow him through the windows of the office they entered. They watch carefully as one of the men stays behind while Jack does most of the inspecting.
They wait until the agent behind Jack pulls out his gun. In a blink, Gabriel fires and the agent falls. Jack turns even faster, before the body hits the ground, his riffle aiming. Jesse watches over the second agent as he pulls his gun at Jack’s head. Jesse fires and the agent drops dead.
Jack faces the man and looks around, but he doesn’t say a word. Jack slowly looks at the holes in the window, follows the path. He squints and Gabriel can clearly see his gaze through the focus of the snipper riffle. Jack found them and nods in a thank you.
--------------------------------------------
Added that fireflies scene at the end so it would make more sense for the prompt. But when i first saw it the ‘catch and release’ idea, it caught my attention more and this came to mind. Originally, Gabe was meant to let Jesse go alone, but the idea of them destroying Talon in Overwatch from the outside as vigilantes spoke to me.
Guess who is late to the party as usual Hint: it's meeeeeeeee This is the mcreyes summer break day three prompt which was fireflies And here I got a nice new black paper sketchbook and my brain came up with an idea, and this might be crappy but I'm happy I went through with it
