Reinhardt again

[moonshadows]

 

Almost a week later, feeling worn down but pleased with the way things were going, Reaper lurked in the back of a sedan with tinted windows as Kowalski drove him to the safehouse. Jesse, true to his word, had let Angela examine him and then stuck around for a few days, staying at the safehouse and not drinking. They’d played board games and card games – although nothing more serious than Go Fish – and watched a few movies, and once, he’d used the special keycard Gabriel had given him and visited the Talon building where he and Sombra seemed to hit it off fairly well.

Jack refused to visit the building, preferring to stay away from anything resembling the reins of power and pointing out that anywhere he went was liable to be watched. He didn’t want to jeopardize anything just by being there. Gabriel understood, but he made sure Jack had the keycard anyway. Just in case.

“Tell your boy that I said to eat his vegetables and brush his teeth,” Reaper said warmly as the car parked near the safehouse. “And if he gets all good grades on his report card, I’ll bring him an extra-special present for his birthday.”

Kowalski laughed. “I’ll do that. Thank you for humoring his obsession.”

“How can I turn down the unbridled admiration of a child who wrote to me instead of Santa because I’d already given him what he’d wanted for Christmas?”

“I still can’t believe you got him a bike, or that you actually posed for pictures and ate the cookies.”

Reaper grinned. “Go big or go home. And speaking of…”

The back window rolled down. “Right, right. See you tomorrow at eight, sir.”

Reaper flowed out of the car.

=

Reinhardt was sitting in the recliner when Reaper peeked in through the living room window, and only the fact that Kowalski had driven off already prevented him from fleeing.

Well…that and the knowledge that Jack was expecting him, and he would be hurt and distressed if Gabriel didn’t show up. So he misted under the back door and curdled in the kitchen, out of sight, debating the merits of just hiding under the bed against the risk of being seen if he chanced it and listening with half an ear to the conversation happening on the other side of the wall. After a few minutes, Jack voiced his intent to get himself a drink. Reinhardt declared a need to use the bathroom, and two sets of footsteps sounded against the hardwood floor.

The instant the bathroom door closed, Gabriel was clinging to Jack from behind, with Jack’s hands reassuringly tight on his.

“It’s okay, sweetie. You don’t have to talk to him. Want to get settled on the couch while I’m getting my drink?”

Gabriel nodded against Jack’s back and flowed off to re-form under the blanket, curled into a ball with his back to the room. Jack followed a minute later, holding his drink out of the way so that Gabriel could get comfortable with his favorite pillow – Jack’s thigh – and a minute after that, Reinhardt concluded his business and sat back down in the recliner. The conversation resumed with no mention of Gabriel’s presence, nor how Jack was gently petting his hair. He let the words flow over him, relaxing until he slipped into a comfortable doze.

=

“Sweetie?”

Gabriel found himself nudged gently awake by that one word. Jack and Reinhardt were silent, waiting for him to respond. He spent a moment silently being grateful that he’d been able to teach the swarm that Jack’s voice – unless there was a certain amount of urgency to it – was not a reason to trigger the alarm routine, and that if Jack said ‘sweetie’, Gabriel wanted to wake up.

“Mmph?”

Fingers in his hair. “We’re going to order pizza. You want the usual?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. There’s going to be a knock or the doorbell in about half an hour. I’ll let you know if it’ll be longer.”

Gabriel reached up to pull Jack’s hand down enough to kiss. “Thanks.”

He waited while Jack called the order in.

“Thirty to forty minutes,” Jack said when he’d hung up.

“Okay,” Gabriel murmured.

In what passed for his quiet voice, Reinhardt asked, “So the UN approached you?”

“Yeah.” Jack resumed the slow, comforting motion of his fingers in Gabriel’s hair. “I told them that their predecessors had nearly gotten me killed and then blamed the man who saved my life for all their mistakes, so I was in no rush to go back to being their whipping boy. On top of that, I’m still legally dead, which I think is just a little insulting, but it suits my purposes. Can’t ask a dead man to come out of retirement and be the world’s punching bag again.”

“Hah!”

“The truth is, my sweetie took over Talon and is ruthlessly using it as a force of good. He found out I was holed up here and made sure I had money and ID and everything I’d need to be comfortable. I’m happily retired, and more than content to be his support and encouragement.”

“And to dote on the man who dotes on you?”

Jack chuckled. “I think I’ve wanted that since midway through the Crisis.”

Gabriel drifted off again.

=

A knock on the door woke him. He was sitting up almost before he realized he was awake, Jack kissing his temple as he stood to open the door. Kneeling on the couch, draped in his blanket with his back still to the room, he stretched and reviewed the conversation he’d slept through. Reinhardt hadn’t talked about him – him, present, the one under the blanket – and hadn’t used his name when referring to him, past tense, the man he’d been before everything went to shit.

Jack must have had one hell of a talk with him.

Cautiously, doing his best to ignore that there was someone else in the room, Gabriel turned around and sat on the couch. His hands clutched the sides of the blanket, which had flopped down to hide most of his face, but he could still see Jack signing for the pizza and Reinhardt holding the door, no doubt deliberately giving himself a reason to not be looking at the interior of the room. This theory was strengthened when Jack turned away with the pizzas and Reinhardt closed the front door and fiddled with the lock.

“How’re you feeling, sweetie?” Jack asked as he set the boxes down and leaned in for a kiss.

“Better,” Gabriel murmured against Jack’s lips.

“Hungry?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay with company?”

At the door, Reinhardt still had his back turned.

“Long as I don’t have to talk.”

Jack kissed him again. “Of course not. Whatever you’re comfortable with, sweetie.”

Gabriel kept his eyes down as Reinhardt collected his pizza box and retreated to the recliner, focusing on his own pizza and the warm, comforting bulk of Jack sitting next to him.

“I wish to thank you, Jack,” Reinhardt said in a subdued rumble after they’d all had a slice or two of their respective pizzas. “In my youth, I was reckless, rushing in without paying attention to what I was rushing in to. I had thought the years had taught me to be better than that, but on my first visit I rushed foolishly into what I did not understand and caused harm I never intended. I know you were angry, but you explained patiently what I had done, and why it was harmful. Now, forewarned and forearmed, I have been able to avoid causing further harm.”

Gabriel sighed. “It’s not your fault I’m a fucking wreck,” he said quietly, leaning against Jack’s shoulder and letting the blanket hide most of his face again.

“Nor was it yours that I was…hmm…high strung when first we met, but you never prodded those fresh wounds. It grieves me that I repaid your consideration so poorly, even unintentionally.”

“Hey.” Gabriel glared at him from under the blanket. “No one expects a monumental badass to nope out at the first hint of chiding. You’re off the hook.”

Reinhardt offered him a tentative smile. “Well, you certainly earned points for finding the most dramatic way to make an exit.”

Gabriel snorted. “Go big or go home. You should have seen me avoiding Jack.”

“You wouldn’t even let me get two words out!” Jack sounded exasperated, but amused at the same time. “And then you up and vanished…”

“I was busy taking over Talon,” Gabriel countered with manufactured petulance.

Jack kissed him. “Uh-huh. I think you just wanted to avoid the ‘I know who you are’ conversation.”

Reinhardt hastily swallowed his bite of pizza. “What was this?”

“I got ambushed by security on a construction site. This little troll saved my life again, which confirmed my suspicions about his identity. I shouted his name in a moment of frustration, and not only did he flee the site but it was shortly after that that all Talon activities just stopped. I had no idea where to find him or how to reach him.”

Gabriel smiled into his shoulder. “Sorry, Jack. Can’t talk, running Talon.”

“I must admit,” Reinhardt deadpanned, “I have never wanted to avoid talking about something badly enough that I took over a shadowy, global organization to evade discussion. You have performed many feats of breathtaking audacity over the years, but I believe this takes the cake.”

“Go big or go home, and I didn’t have a home, so…”

Jack kissed Gabriel softly before holding his melting sweetie to his chest. “You have one now. Home is where the heart is, right?”

“And you wondered why I kept showing up in your bed drunk,” Gabriel murmured.

“My friends,” Reinhardt declared, “I must confess: you two are adorable, and I am pleased beyond words that you are able to share your affection at last.”

Jack hugged Gabriel just a little tighter. “Well…that makes three of us.”