Chapter Text
Fresh faced, newly assigned and with the bone deep ache of the treatments ever present, they moved through one of their first assignments as part of an elite team. Reyes’ boots scuffing lightly over torn up concrete was a gentle comfort as they moved steadily through blood soaked streets.
“Damn,” a voice hummed in his ear, tone almost cheerful. “We missed most of the battle!”
“Stay focused,” Reyes snapped, his voice echoed. He scowled as they turned a corner, dark eyes scanning their surroundings. “Ana, you see anything from up there?”
The piece in his ear beeped to life. “ here is movement ahead. Hostiles.”
“How far?”
“A few blocks. Near you and Morrison.”
Brown eyes met blue. Grips tightened on polished weapons as they set off at a jog. The previous quiet was replaced by the pounding of heavy boots as sudden shots broke through the night.
Then came screams, terrible screams that chilled him to the bone. Years in the army it seemed had not softened the heartbreak of the cries of the innocent. He hoped it never did.
They stopped as suddenly as they began - following the sound of gunshots. The thundering of omnic footfalls started again, moving toward them only to be met by shotgun fire.
The first few fell quickly, armour shredded and limbs sparking. But those behind the first took aim, driving Morrison and Reyes back behind cover.
“Jack, see if you can go through one of the buildings, get behind them,” Reyes’ voice crackled in his ear. He nodded to himself and agreed aloud, following the back alley to the nearest door, pushing it open with his shoulder.
The scent of gunpowder was fresh, the apartment building creaking and settling as the battle continued outside. Old wood protested beneath his feet as he stepped forward.
Something didn't feel right. It was like ghosts hung within the walls, their cold eyes following him through the too quiet halls. He could almost smell the blood.
In and out , he told himself.
Turning the corner, he found that he actually was smelling blood. Fresh blood that still oozed from three still people, red and thick and spreading. One still moved slightly, a dark haired woman with a trail of red dripping from parted lips. But her chest was littered with weeping wounds. Her chocolate eyes met his.
She spoke to him, sweet voice broken and weak, the words foreign. He crossed the room to her, crouching. His hand found hers.
He picked his way through slow Spanish, "La ayuda ya viene en camino."
The twitch of her lips called him out on his lie.
He caught ‘my boy’ in the next thing she said, and she lifted her hand, not tearing her gaze from his until her head fell to the side.
“Ven acá, mijo, ” she whispered. “La ayuda está aquí .”
He followed her unblinking gaze to the bed. Red seeped out from under it.
His hand flew to his comm. “Gabe! There's a kid!”
“A kid? ” a few of his teammates echoed.
His knees scraped on the floorboards, hands slipping in slick blood that coated his skin and clothes. Grasping fingers curled around the soft skin of an arm, pulling, jostling.
Eyes the colour of warm chocolate set in a thin face flickered open, full of terror and pain. They were already sliding shut again.
Worry briefly flashed through him as the child’s breathing stuttered, blood appearing on his lips. Slowly, he spoke to him, trying to get him to open his eyes once more. He knew the kid wouldn’t be able to understand a word of it if judging by the Spanish the woman spoke on her deathbed. He reached out his arms, gesturing for the kid to come toward him, while saying “ven acá” in as calm a voice he could manage.
He watched the child try to shift toward him, mumbling in pained Spanish. The movements stopped, and the boy fell back onto his chest.
“Todo está bien. ” Jack pieced together the phrase slowly, inching toward the child, grabbing onto his arms. “Okay. Let’s go,” he huffed out as he pulled the boy out from under the bed, trying his best to not jostle any of his injuries. It earned him cries and sobs, interrupted by the wet sound of his lungs trying to clear.
“Morrison, the hell’s going on?” Reyes demanded over the comm.
“You know that kid I mentioned?” Jack grunted, pulling the child to his chest. “He’s badly injured. I think he’s coughing up blood.”
There was a growled out curse. “We’re going back.”
Jack nodded. “Copy that.” Bundling the boy as best as he could, he made his way over to the woman who he presumed was the child’s mother, stopping a moment to close her eyes in respect. “I’ll make sure he lives,” he promised before exiting the blood soaked room for good.
“How much blood has he lost? ” Ana asked.
“I can’t say. Looked like he was lying in a pool of it.”
“He needs immediate medical attention. Do you see a wound?”
Jack placed the child down gently, making sure there were no omnics in sight. Carefully, he checked him over for any injuries. He saw minor lacerations on his fingers and arms, but nothing that would cause blood to pool out. Slowly, he flipped over the boy, his shirt feeling damp as opposed to the caking dry blood on his front. Gently he lifted it up, a bright red wound oozing blood greeted him.
“Found it.”
“Where? ”
“Looks like it’s toward the bottom of his rib cage.”
“It’s his lungs.”
“Shit. Okay, I’m heading back to camp. I only have the equipment to dress basic wounds.”
“I’ll meet you there. Reyes, I’m moving.”
“We’ve got it under control here,” Gabriel said back.
The comms went silent, leaving Jack with the sound of the child’s unsteady breathing.
Hoisting the child in his arms once more, he started to retrace his steps. Climbing over old carcasses, both human and omnic, while often checking the boy’s breathing, speaking quietly about mundane farm tasks as he went.
The child shifted slightly, cutting off a pained whisper, before asking something in a small voice.
Unable to make out what was said, Jack resorted to stroking the boy’s hair, beginning to hum a song he remembered his mother singing to him when he was a small boy recovering from an illness.
The boy didn’t speak again, even as the others came into sight.
As soon as Jack made out the familiar forms of Reyes and Ana, he waved them over, gesturing silently to the child, not wanting to disrupt what little peace he had received.
“May I?” Ana asked, reaching for him.
He nodded, passing off the child to Ana’s awaiting arms. She cradled him to her chest, already beginning to check his condition as he squirmed and reached for Jack.
Hovering, Jack followed Ana as she placed the boy on her sleeping bag, quickly getting rid of his bloody shirt and pulling out her medical supplies. He gasped and whimpered, fresh tears filling his eyes as he coughed and choked, fresh drops of blood trailing from his mouth.
The hopeless look being directed at him was one Jack did not want to see on a child ever again. While Ana tended to the boy, he grasped his small hand, and held it, letting the boy squeeze it if the pain became too much for him to handle.
“He’ll be alright,” Ana told him softly, her eyes meeting Jack’s.
He nodded, lightly squeezing the boy’s hand and letting go. “I promised his mother he’d make it out alive.”
“He will. You found him in time. He needs rest.”
Giving him one last glance, Jack left his bedside, leaving Ana to tend to him in peace.
“Jack,” Reyes called.
“Yeah?” Jack ran over to him.
“I’ve got Liao looking into who the kid is, if he’s got family. If not, the higher ups are going to send for him and he’s going to be put into foster care. So try not to get too attached.”
He frowned. “I hope for his sake that he does have family left. I’ve heard horror stories about foster care. And when was the last time I’ve gotten too attached to something? I’ve been doing good.”
He got a glance complete with raised brow and a smirk pulling at the corner of Gabriel’s mouth.
Turning away, he crossed his arms in front of his chest defensively. “Okay. Fine. I’ll try to not get too attached to the kid, but I can’t make any promises.”
His companion chuckled.
“Did everything go smoothly on your end?”
“We pushed back the omnics, it’ll have to do for now.”
He nodded. “As long as we don’t get ambushed. Especially with a kid here. He’s seen enough bloodshed.” He looked back to where the boy was now sleeping peacefully on Ana’s bed roll, curled up on his side.
“We can’t protect them all,” Gabriel reminded. “I’m taking Reinhardt, we’re going to scout out the area, make sure the omnics are under control.”
“Got it. Stay safe, Gabe.” Jack clapped Gabriel on the shoulder, moving back to where Ana was dutifully watching over the small boy, cleaning the blood from the clothing she had removed from his unconscious form.
She had him help her, to keep his hands busy. They hung up the clothes to dry and she set him away to rest.
He gave her a nod, knowing that he should do as she told. She was in her ‘doctor mode’, which wasn’t too different from when she was being motherly. However, too much residual energy still flowed through his veins, and he soon felt himself becoming restless lying in his makeshift bed, mind wandering. He didn't like it. After rolling over for the umpteenth time, he decided to give up on sleeping, resorting to keeping watch on their camp.