Summary: Gabriel finally decides to show his scars to his husband, leading to fluff full of acceptance and love.
---
Gabriel finds Sam sitting in their study, researching for one of his latest cases, being a bigshot lawyer and all that. Gabriel doesn’t want to bother Sam, but he finally got the courage and doesn’t really want to back out now. So, Gabriel takes a deep, calming breath and walks towards his husband, embracing him from behind and startling Sam, but getting a smile and a kiss as soon as Sam turns in his arms to see him.
“What’s up, babe?” Sam asks and Gabriel bites his lip, trying to find the right words.
“I...I want to show you something,” Gabriel says and Sam looks concerned, knowing Gabriel well enough to know the signs of his anxiety.
“Alright,” Sam says carefully, turning to fully face Gabriel as Gabe steps back. Sam gives his husband his full attention with wide eyes, trying to figure out what’s going on.
“I know that you must be curious why I never took my shirt off while we got our freak on,” Gabe tries to smile, but he knows it’s warped. Sam reaches for his husband’s hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “And I know that you already know that I’m trans, but it’s very difficult for me to show you and I think it’s about time I did. I mean, you’re my husband and you’ve never even seen me shirtless.”
“Gabe, baby, if you don’t want to show me,” Sam reassures, but Gabriel knows that he has to do this for himself. He wants to show Sam that he trusts him and he wants to thank Sam for his never-ending patience, but he also wants to be completely open to his husband and feel the weight off of his shoulders that hiding has caused.
“It’s not pretty. There were...complications and they had to do a few extra surgeries to fix some shit and they didn’t leave it very pretty, but it’s me, Sammoose, so I want to show you.”
Also from my spirit AU because Jack and Gabe are just??? I love them
It all began only two weeks into SEP.
Gabriel was still trying to figure his roommate out. The blond farm boy looked more like he should be in an IT school than the military. It was a good thing he never said that, or he’d be eating his own words on the first day of training. The guy could use some more work on his upper body but he outran everyone without breaking a sweat.
How was he that fast?
He didn’t bother Gabriel much. A bit chatty and certainly nosy but he respected Gabriel’s space. At first that was fine, as Gabriel wanted to stick to himself.
Jack Morrison, however, had piqued Gabriel’s curiosity.
It wasn’t just his athletics either. Ever since he came back to the room late, Gabriel had been watching him like a hawk. He swore blind he saw Jack’s eyes glowing.
But a week after that, he got his answer.
The higher ups had roommates alternating schedules for injections, in case something went wrong. Gabriel had spent most of the day in the gym, catching up after his last reaction. The movement helped loosen up his muscles, a relief compared to the pain they were in.
He noticed something was off the moment he stepped into the room. Was it colder? He swore the temperature just dropped ten degrees.
“Morrison?” Gabriel dropped his bag on the floor as he headed inside.
There was no response, but he could hear something. There was a muffled clattering and he peered into Jack’s side of the room.
The first thing that stood out was the huge clump of blankets on the bed. He stepped over to it, watching them shake as the chattering got louder.
“Morrison? You in there?”
The blankets shifted and wiggled before Jack poked his blond head out.
“H-hey.” The chattering was coming from his teeth. His skin was even paler than usual, almost blue. Gabriel could actually see faint freckles on his cheeks.
“Jeez, what happened to you?” He tried to count the blankets. “And where did you get these?”
“St-stole ‘em. You can t-t-take yours back if-f-f you need it.”
“Looks like you need it more. The injections do this?”
“Think so.”
“Are those blankets helping?”
Jack weakly shook his head.
Gabriel bit the inside of his cheek. He figured Jack would be fine. The mess would pass like the rest of their symptoms. Still, the guy looked like he was about to to slip into hypothermia.
He couldn’t help but feel a little bad for him.
Did the base have any sort of heaters? He knew there were ice packs in the med bay but were there any for heat? He doubted the people here cared much about sore muscles. The only warm thing he could think of was coffee and he couldn’t just jam that under the sheets.
Would he get in trouble for building a fire in his room?
“Master Reyes you cannot be serious.” Marigold grumbled.
Hey, I shouldn’t use you. I’m supposed to keep you a secret remember?
“Believe me, it won’t matter in this case.”
Gabriel frowned. What did that mean?
“Trust me.”
Jack had crawled back under the blankets. The stack was still shaking.
Gabriel sighed and kneed the mattress. “Make room.”
“Huh?” It was hard to hear Jack through the sheets.
“Move over and make room.”
“Why?”
“You want to warm up right? Or do you like being a popsicle.”
Jack mumbled something but finally tossed the blankets up. The rest of his skin was worse, the tips of his fingers actually turning blue as he tried to jam them under his arms.
Gabriel decided to not think twice about this decision as he climbed on the bed and tugged the covers over them both. He noticed the temperature right away, even colder than outside. How was that even possible.
“Shit Jack, what are you made of, liquid nitrogen?”
He chuckled at that, the chattering of his teeth slowing down. Gabriel couldn’t see anything with how dark it was and just crossed his arms. His elbow brushed against Jack, and he was about to apologize for it until suddenly his roommate was clinging to him.
The cold hit him harder than getting hit with a bucket of ice water. The chill spread down his spin in horrible slow motion down to his finger tips.
He screamed.
“S-shit, sorry.” Jack let go.
“Holy hell, god damn. I’ve never felt something so cold in my life.”
“Sorry, you’re just... weirdly warm.”
Gabriel scrambled for an excuse. “I just finished up in the gym.”
Jack hummed in acknowledgement. His shivering was shaking the entire bed.
Gabriel sighed as he moved his arm over. This time Jack was a bit slower to take it. The cold was sharp, but after a few seconds it dulled down enough to ignore it.
He struggled to find something to talk about. Jack wasn’t particularly chatty, which was weird. Usually when they did talk Jack did most of it and now Gabriel was left up a creek without a paddle.
“Good gracious you’re hopeless.” Marigold scolded. “Just talk to him.”
Easier said than done. Where did he even start? He barely knew what kind of things Jack liked apart from that hidden stack of comic books. It seemed weird now, with as much as Jack liked to talk, how little Gabriel actually knew about him. Jack must have talked about it before right? Did Gabriel just forget? He remembered a few mentions of a farm, Indiana, his parents and some asshole from high school named Martin.
“So uh,” Gabriel rubbed his neck with his free arm. “You used to run track or something?”
“What?” Jack glanced up at him and Gabriel swore he saw that same glow for a moment.
“You’re so damn fast on the field. How did that happen with those scrawny legs of yours.”
“H-hey,” He shivered. “They aren’t th-that scrawny. Not all of us can have m-monster thighs like yours.”
“Huh?”
“N-nothing.” Jack pressed his forehead against Gabriel’s shoulder. Felt like an ice block. “But n-no I didn’t. Did a few years of hockey though.”
Gabriel snorted, trying to picture his roommate in all that bulky gear. “Hockey? Really? Wouldn’t have guessed that.”
“W-what, you didn’t do any sp-sports when you were younger?”
“Not much, didn’t have the time. Played some soccer in elementary I guess.”
Jack was laughing until another chill hit him, bad enough that his whole body went tense. He pulled Gabriel’s arm even closer, clinging to it. Those cold fingers digging into his skin felt like needles.
“You sure you don’t want see the doctors about this?”
“N-nothing they could,” He had to pause, “do. Just have t-to wait for it to p-pass.”
Gabriel sighed, mulling over the stupid idea hovering before him. He had a possible solution to this, but he didn’t know if he could trust Jack enough with it. Still, he’d never seeing the shining, optimistic and determined Jack Morrison look so bad. Even when curled up on the bathroom floor waiting to puke again he’d flash Gabriel a thumbs up and a small smile.
“Listen,” Gabriel said. “I might have something that can help but... one, you can’t tell anyone. And two, don’t scream.”
“Don’t scream at wha-”
He didn’t want to think twice about it. He held out his hand and snapped up a flame. The dark space under was filled with orange light.
Jack screamed anyways. “Holy shit!” He scrambled back, apparently forgetting they were on a bed. He vanished behind the mattress, hitting the floor with a loud thud.
“Morrison?” Gabriel slid over, lifting the blankets enough to see out. Jack was laying on his back, blue eyes wide as they stared at the ceiling, still shivering.
“You just, you’re hand is on fire.” He shouted again.
“Heh, yeah,” Gabriel smiled and held it out. “Catch.”
Jack panicked then the flame was tossed into the air. He cringed when he reached out, trying to stop it from landing on the floor. It softly bounced off his palms, hovering above them. Slowly Jack opened his eyes. The chattering in his teeth stopped.
“Whoa,” He brought it closer. “It’s not... it doesn’t burn.”
“Nope, healing fire. Pretty crazy right?”
Jack’s body shivered again and he practically pressed his face into the flames. “How?”
“Uh, this spirit thing. She gives me some crazy abilities.”
“Wait,” Jack lifted his face back up, the flame slowly going out. “You too?”
Gabriel blinked and stared. He’d never even considered it before. Of course this kind of cold wasn’t natural. Of course the glowing eyes weren’t either. Why the hell hadn’t he even considered it?
Wait a second.
Did you know?
Marigold was giggling. Damn bird.
“You have one?” He finally asked.
“Yeah, my uncle gave me this wolf. He has some ice powers so... He mentioned that all this experimentation might cause some weird side effects. That’s why it’s so-” A shiver cut him off. The flame was gone by now.
Can that actually happen?
“Yes, often times drastic changes to your physical makeup forces your abilities to adjust as well. It can take some getting used to.”
Great, did that mean he was going to turn into overdone hotcake at some point? He didn’t want to think about that. Some days this heat was frustrating enough to deal with.
“What’s y-yours?” Jack had his hands tucked under his arms again.
“A phoenix.”
“What? That sounds so cool.”
Gabriel couldn’t help but chuckle. “I think you’re the cool one here, Morrison.”
“F-fuck off.”
“Come on,” He lifted the blankets higher. “Get back under here. I’ll turn it into a toaster oven for you.”
Jack almost seemed to cringe at the idea, but with another shiver he was scrambling back onto the bed. Gabriel lit both hands this time, letting the flames crawl up to his shoulders. Jack was clinging to him all over again, his shivering almost coming to a complete stop.
“‘S like hugging a big toasty marshmallow.” Jack mumbled.
Gabriel laughed. “You serious there, Morrison?”
“What? Makes me think of bonfires.” His voice was drifting off, like he was about to fall asleep. “Outside on a summer evening. Everyone trying to make s’mores, but half the marshmallows catch on fire. Smells like burnt sugar and smoke.” His grip loosened. “I miss all that, sometimes.”
Gabriel had never experienced something like that before, but found he had no trouble picturing it in his mind. “Tell you what, first break we get we’ll buy some marshmallows and I’ll toast them for you.”
Jack chuckled, cold breath against his skin. “Can you do that with phoenix fire?”
“Well I’ve toasted poptarts before.”
Jack’s laughter got louder before it drifted off. His breathing slowed down, but at least his teeth weren’t chattering. Gabriel considered slipping out but instead he stayed there, trying to remember the last time he’d eaten a s’more.
It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep as well.
-------------------
It became a sort of routine between them. Gabriel burned hot. Jack burned cold. Close contact almost became the norm whenever they were in their room, even if it was as simple as leaning on each other on the couch. If the injections caused Jack’s temperature to drop he’d sometimes just cling to Gabriel’s back, even when the soldier moved around the room. Other times when Gabriel got back from the gym, his system unable to cool down, he’d grab one of Jack’s hands and press it against his forehead. If that one got too warm he’d grab the other one.
Sometimes he couldn’t quite tell if it was his abilities or not that were causing Jack to go so red in the face.
Eventually the injections did him in as well. It wasn’t too noticeable at first. He was taking some time to let the nausea pass, lounging on the couch and praying he didn’t puke. His body felt hot, hot enough that he got up to get some water, but that temporary solution vanished. He could feel himself sweating, trying to stay hydrated but after holding the water long enough he could see the top of it steaming.
What the hell?
His shirt got damp and kept clinging to his skin. Sweat pants were obviously not an option. He couldn’t even leave his beanie on with how damn hot it was, his curly hair clinging to his forehead. There was no fan in the room, no ice, and he didn’t have the energy to make it to the lounge area.
He lay face down on the floor, at least wishing for an outside breeze.
“Jesus Reyes,” Jack said when he came in. “Are you baking in here or something? What’s-”
He forced himself to look up to meet Jack’s gaze, almost confused by how red his face was. In fact that blush was crawling down to his neck. His grip on his bag went slack and it hit the floor with a thump.
“Hot,” Gabriel muttered.
“Oh, you okay? Need some more water?”
“Leave me out in a blizzard.”
Jack laughed, “None of those around I’m afraid. Come on, off the floor.”
“Sofa’s too hot. Bed’s too hot.”
“You can’t lie down there.” Jack grabbed his arm. Cold, cool, refreshing, like landing in a pool in the middle of July. Gabriel knew it was probably out of bounds but he shot up and clung to Jack anyway. One hand on his neck he pressed their foreheads together, feeling that cold sensation rush over his skin. He thought about jumping off the diving board, having splash wars with his mother and how it felt the first time he learned to float on his back.
“Um, Reyes?”
He let his eyes flitter open, somehow surprised by how close Jack was. Once again he was reminded that this probably wasn’t okay but for a moment he couldn’t move. He’d never get over how blue Jack’s eyes were.
Finally, he snapped out of it.
“Sorry,” He let go. “But it’s like feeling that first blast of air conditioning after being stuck outside for two hours.”
“Trust me, I can relate.” Jack rubbed his shoulder. “Side effects?”
“I’m guessing so. I was making my damn water start to boil earlier, just by holding it.”
“Fine, I’ll go sneak some ice packs real quick. Put some pants on will you?”
“Aw, what’s wrong Morrison, don’t like what you see?”
That blush was returning but Jack’s face got surprisingly serious. “Well, you might want to put a shirt back on too. Unless you don’t mind anyone else seeing those.”
Suddenly the heat fled Gabriel’s system as his blood went cold. He glanced down at the still visible scars on his chest.
Shit.
“Going to get ice packs.” Jack said.
Gabriel’s hand shot out, snatching his friend’s wrist. “Wait. You’re not... You’re not going to tell anyone are you?”
Jack frowned. “Of course not. It’s none of my business and it’s not like it changes anything.” He offered a small smile. “I have the taste of that sparring mat memorized because of you.”
Relief washed over him and he let go. “You got that right. You really need to work on being so predictable.”
“I’ll be right back.” Jack said and headed to the door. “I like your hair, by the way.”
Gabriel ran a hand through the curls, feeling how damp they were. He’d have to show it to Jack again sometime when he wasn’t almost drenched from head to toe. Hell, maybe he should take a cold shower while he waited. It’d certainly help wouldn’t it.
He headed for the bathroom but nope, too hot. Once again he found himself lying on the floor and groaning.
Jack was a blessing when he came back, cooling down Gabriel enough to get him to the shower. Freezing water normally bothered him but now it felt like a god send. Jack had some clothes ready for him, and leaving one of the cold packs pressed between them kept Gabriel from sweating through them in the first five minutes.
“Here, let me hold your water.” Jack said. “Keep it cool.”
“Fine,” Gabriel wasn’t paying much attention to the holocaster as he buried his forehead against Jack’s shoulder. He never thought he’d enjoy the cold this much. Even before this phoenix he’d always been one for summer sun.
Jack didn’t say much, occasionally handing Gabriel his water or getting up to grab more. Any time a specific spot got too warm Gabriel would change position, burying his face against Jack’s stomach, his neck, and even his leg.
“What are you doing?” Jack was almost laughing as Gabriel leaned so far down on the sofa half his body was on the floor. He’d tugged Jack’s leg over so his friend’s calf rested on his forehead.
“Cold spot,” Gabriel muttered.
“Alright.”
It became even more routine after that. In fact they often wound up sharing a bed, although making Jack sleep at night was sometimes an entirely new chore. That wolf of his gave him insomnia, and nothing terrified Gabriel more than waking up and seeing Jack’s eyes glowing in the dark.
Gabriel would hang onto their coffee to keep it warm. Jack held onto their water bottles during training. When Jack pulled a muscle in his shoulder Gabriel kept a hand on it. When Gabriel bruised up his knee during a training run Jack returned the favor. Sometimes it was so sub-conscious they had to keep each other in check when other people were around.
Sometimes Gabriel let himself foolishly think that he could hang onto Jack forever.
“You should tell him that.” Marigold would taunt back.
Like hell he would. There was no room for that in a place like this. There wasn’t even a guarantee they’d meet each other again when the program was up.
That thought always tore his heart to pieces. He tried not to think about it but sometimes it was so hard not to. Strangely enough, it didn’t go unnoticed.
“You okay?” Jack suddenly sat up, forehead creased with worry.
“Of course, why?”
“You uh... you suddenly got... cold.”
What? Was that even possible for him? He glanced at his skin like he expected to find something but of course not.
“It was weird it’s like... your flame just burnt out. You sure you’re okay? You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“Just...” Gabriel rubbed his neck. “Just sometimes think about how when this program is up we could never see each other again.”
“Oh,” Jack fell back against the couch, eyes staring straight forward. “Yeah, guess that’s true. But hey, hopefully by then you can make it by without constantly needing an ice pop, yeah?”
Jack’s laughter sounded hollow and it left Gabriel feeling nauseous.
“What?”
“I mean, you know, your always hanging onto me cause of all these weird chemicals in our systems. At least by then it’ll balance out and thing will go back to normal.”
“What... what the fuck, Jack.”
That startled him, making his laughter cut off as he glanced over.
“That has to be some kind of sick joke. You really think I hang around you this much just because you’re some kind of personal air conditioner?”
“I mean,” Jack crossed his arms and curled up. “You never really did before.”
Shit, hell, Gabriel growled and put his palms over his eyes, angry because he knew Jack was right. They didn’t start talking until this mutual temperature control took off. Gabriel had never seen their relationship that way, but he’d never given Jack a reason to think otherwise.
Jesus christ he was an asshole.
“Damn Jack, no. I don’t hang around you because you’re a walking freezer. If I wanted that I’d just lock myself inside the one in the kitchen. Less noisy.”
Jack snorted. “Sorry I like to talk.”
Hell, that came out wrong. “I know you do and I like it too damn it.” He sat up and turned to face him. “I don’t... I don’t talk to anyone else here Jack. I don’t trust them. I keep up my front because I’m scared if they start learning who I am I’ll lose all their respect.”
“What are you talking about Gabriel? You’re the best out of all of us.”
“Yeah and how do you think most of them will react finding out that I’m trans. I mean, hell, I even have all these cool fire powers but the worst thing they could do is make you sweat.”
“At least you’ve figured out what they can do. What have I done outside of tiny ice sculptures and night vision?”
“Ugh, we’re getting off topic.” Gabriel ran a hand down his face. “Look, Jack, my point is I’m not going to miss you because of your cold skin. I’m going to miss you because you’re my damn friend, and I’m sorry if I made you feel otherwise.”
Jack’s expression softened before he sighed. “No, I’m sorry for just assuming you didn’t care.”
“Well it’s not like I was being clear.”
He actually smiled this time, letting himself slide over, resting his head on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Yeah, you can be kind of an asshole.”
“Jackass.”
He felt Jack’s laughter against his neck, not thinking when he pressed his cheek against his hair. He didn’t want to lose this. He wasn’t sure he’d feel this safe around anyone else.
“You should tell him that.” Marigold hummed.
Gabriel wasn’t sure he had the confidence for that. Still, “Hey Jack?”
“Yeah?”
“Promise me something?”
“What?”
“If we do get separated, promise me we’ll find each other again.”
“Promise.” Jack curled up even closer.
There were no chills, no waves of heat. Gabriel focused on the sensations, picturing the gentle warmth of the California sun while an ocean breeze rushed over his skin. He tried not to think on it too hard, how perfect it all was. Fire and ice, hot and cold, it had to be some kind of coincidence that they found each other. There were plenty of other spirits with these kinds of abilities after all. Gabriel couldn’t bring himself to believe in something like fate.
Just chance that they were both chosen for this. Just chance they wound up in the same room.
Just chance, right?
Well then, maybe that same chance would keep them together. For the first time in years, Gabriel decided to be hopeful.
