Chapter Text
“When ya kill me,” His voice doesn’t waver. “Promise ya will do it quickly.”
Gabriel startles so badly he actually squeaks. It’s high and loud, like a dog toy. It surprises him and it surprises the kid so much the teenager actually jumps back, falling to his back. The kid’s eyes are so large it’s almost comical and he stares at the Blackwatch Commander with such mixed emotions Gabriel wants nothing to pull his beanie over his face so he can hide in shame.
Instead he crawls forward and the teenager scoots backwards in panic until his back hits the wall. But Gabriel reaches out and, ignoring the kid’s flinch, he grabs hold of the bony shoulders. The kid looks so scared, but there is also confusion mixed in his expression. The whole situation clearly confuses him and he doesn’t know how to handle it.
Gabriel almost want to shake the kid but he refrains himself from doing so, it will do nothing to help the teenager feel less afraid.
“Why would you ask for that?” His voice almost cracks. “Out of everything, why that? What about some protection? What about freedom?”
The fear slowly ebbs away from the kid’s expression, leaving behind only deep confusion. The teenager is staring at him as if he’s speaking a different language. He just frowns for a long moment and as he opens his mouth, Gabriel can hear the hesitation in his words.
“But...I have nowhere to go.” He blinks. “And why wish for somethin’ I can’t have.”
He sits up a little bit more and his eyes harden with superstition, mixing with the confusion.
“Ain't that what ya’ll came here to do? To kill us off?”
Gabriel wants so badly to lie, but finds that he can’t. Yes, he can come up with some shit story about how the rest of Deadlock is already behind bars, but something tells him the kid already knows everyone else is already dead. The teenager will see through the lie, if Gabriel allows it to pass his lips.
And he also finds that he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to lie to the kid, doesn’t want to give him empty promises.
So he won’t.
He opens his mouth to speak, only to stop as there is a knock on the door. Both of them startle and Gabriel looks over his shoulder. He feels the kid zero in on it as well and spots in the corner of his eyes how the teenager presses himself closer to the wall. The fear is back in his eyes and Gabriel almost wants to snarl in frustration
Instead, he lets go of the kid and stands up. He turns towards the door and takes a step so he stands in front of the teenager, effectively shielding him. He feels the kid’s eyes on him, can sense the confusion. He hears the kid scoot a little to the left so he’s even more hidden and Gabriel crosses his arms over his chest, levelling the door with a glare.
“Enter.”
The door opens slightly and MacKenzie sticks his head through the small gap. The man’s nose is taped but Gabriel can still spot the bruising beneath the white tape. He doesn’t seem faced by the Commander’s glare and only sends the other man a smirk.
“Hey, Boss. Just making sure you haven’t been murdered in here.”
Gabriel arches an eyebrow.
“Your admiration in my capabilities is astonishing, MacKenzie.”
His agent chuckles with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Now don’t be like that, Boss. The kid packs a punch.”
Gabriel feels the kid flinch behind him and his eyes narrows further, his voice taking on a dangerous tone as he addresses his agent once more.
“Is there another reason for your interruption other than making sure I wasn’t dead?”
MacKenzie actually hesitates and something deep in Gabriel’s churns alive.
“Actually Boss, Big Blue has called four times in an hour.”
Gabriel swallows.
Fuck.
He’s in trouble.
He gathers enough courage to glance at the clock hanging on the wall and nearly winces.
He should have called in hours ago.
He turns back to MacKenzie.
“What did he say?”
“If you don’t call him in the next hour, he will fly out and kick your ass himself.”
Shit.
Gabriel knows it’s not an empty threat, it’s a promise. And getting his ass handed to him was not something he had the time to deal with right now.
But the thing is, he’s not ready to end the mission yet. There is still one thing he needs to handle.
And that something is currently hiding behind him.
He glances over his shoulder and his hearts aches. The kid has scooted back into the corner and has once more curled up, his arms wrapped around his legs that are pressing against his chest. His shoulders are taunt and his head is lowered to his chest in an attempt to make himself appear smaller.
But this time, his eyes are focused on MacKenzie, rather than the Commander. His eyes are narrowed beneath locks of brown and Gabriel can spot the fear in them from where he’s standing.
He looks as if he expects MacKenzie to sprint into the room and strangle him if he looks away.
Gabriel wishes he could take all that fear and crush it, bury it where it can never be found again.
Gabriel turns his attention to the floor for a moment as his thoughts run wild. He knows he has to make the call if he wants to avoid a disaster but at the same time, the thought of leaving the kid alone again doesn’t sit well with him. He has gotten somewhere with the teenager and he fears that if he walks out now, it will all be for nothing. He can’t allow that to happen.
The kid can’t be left alone, but Gabriel also isn’t comfortable with having someone else stay with the kid. He knows the teenager won’t tell them anything and he knows he can’t be sure his agents won’t lay a hand on the kid, not after what he did to them.
The Blackwatch Commander sighs heavily and rubs the back of his neck. He looks towards his agent and waves a hand in dismissal.
“Give me half an hour.”
MacKenzie nods without a word and slips out of the room, but not before he shoots a glance at the teenager. Gabriel sees a flicker in the other man’s eyes and almost allows a smile to pass his lips.
MacKenzie has always had a soft spot for kids.
Taking a second to steel himself, Gabriel turns back to the teenager and must force a smile back once more. The kid has uncurled, no longer trying to hide. Instead, he leans back against the wall with his arms resting on top of his knees, his head tilted to the side as he blinks at the now closed door.
He no longer tries to hide.
Brown eyes flickers over to him and Gabriel arches an eyebrow as the kid stares at him in what he can only make out to be confusion.
“Ya’re not gonna let him beat me up?”
Gabriel recoils slightly and draws a breath that lodges itself in his throat. The teenager continues to stare at him like he expects an answer, but Gabriel finds himself unable to speak. Because the kid doesn’t look scared, he actually looks fucking confused to why he wasn’t beaten up by a man more than twice his size.
Because he expected it to happen.
He expected Gabriel to allow it to happen.
Just what the hell has this kid been through?
Gabriel isn’t sure he wants the answer. He isn’t sure he can bear it.
“Why the Hell would I let him do that?”
The kid just shrugs and focuses his attention on his hands instead. His knuckles have stopped bleeding and the blood has started crusting over the split skin. He rubs at it, not hard enough to reopen it but firm enough to make some of the crust fall to the floor.
Gabriel watches it fall before he sinks to the floor. He sits with his legs crossed and lets his arms rest comfortably in his lap. He knows he should be walking out the door to make the call, but he still can’t make himself leave.
So he doesn’t.
“We made a deal, kid. What can you tell me?”
The teenager doesn’t say anything for the longest moment and Gabriel doesn’t push him. The kid’s shoulder’s slump as he sighs and he leans his head back until it rests against the wall. He stares up at the roof of the room, his eyes glazed over and lost.
“I really don’t know much. Ain’t high enough on the food chain for that kind of info. But,” He pauses and swallows. “But there is a hideout in the mountains, in the east from here. The entrance is hidden behind a rock that’s between two dead trees at the foot of the mountain. Ya can probably find out more shit if ya go there.”
Gabriel nods as the teenager falls silent, storing the information away in the depths of his mind. He will handle it later, when his current situation is resolved.
He focuses on the kid as the teenager lets out a sighs. The kid doesn’t move, but his head lowers slightly so their eyes meet.
“I kept my part of the deal.”
Gabriel nods.
“You did.”
The kid doesn’t even blink.
“Ya gonna keep yars?”
Gabriel finds no words.
The teenager looks at him with a face that lacks any real emotions. Instead, he just looks tired. His eyes close halfway and a smile makes its way to his lips, but it’s a smile that makes Gabriel want to scream.
“Yeah,” The kid scoffs as he turns his head to look at the wall to his right. “I figured ya wouldn’t.”
Gabriel tries to speak, but his tongue is too thick in his mouth. They sit in silence for a long moment, before Gabriel finally is able to find his voice. When he speaks, his voice is quite.
“You really want to die, kid?”
He sees the kid blink before those brown orbs turns their focus back on him. The kid moves his head to rest against the wall to his right and he just look at Gabriel for a moment. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t move.
Gabriel sees emotions swirl in the kid’s eyes, emotions he once more can’t name. All he knows is, such emotions shouldn't belong to someone so young.
“I don’t know.” The kid finally says and Gabriel knows it’s the truth. “Don’t really matter, does it? Ya either kill me now or ya send me to prison. Either way, I die.”
He shrugs his shoulders.
“Never mattered what I wanted. Aint gonna change now.”
“And what is it that you want, kid?”
The kid looks taken back by the question, but Gabriel needs an answer. The kid takes a moment to answer but when he does, his voice is quiet but sure.
“I want to not feel pain.”