The Getaway [Jesse & Max]

[Jesse Adams]

“Fuckin’ right I’m not,” the little blond managed to growl out before Max got his hands on him. He didn’t want to admit it. Not in front of his mentor. And especially not in front of Max. It was bad enough he’d already freaked the hell out, but to cry? God, no. He bit down on his lip and tried not to think about what Max was doing. Or, rather, what he was. The fixing thing didn’t bother him all that much. Despite the stinging, he knew it would feel better. It wasn’t pain he was afraid of. He didn’t know what he was afraid of. But it wasn’t pain.

With his eyes closed, he listened to Gabriel talk. Focusing on his voice gave him something to hold on to. Something to keep him pretending that he wasn’t really in Max’s office, and he wasn’t really being touched. Not by two older men, both of which could probably kill him. Gabriel killing him, even puppeting him to his death, didn’t scare him. Not like this did. The sooner it was over, the better. Which was why he didn’t fight Max. He couldn’t, not when he was so close. So much like a cornered animal, he was frozen now. He wasn’t as glad as Gabriel that Max was a healer. He just wanted this to be over.

When Max’s hands left him, Jesse opened his eyes, pressing back against Gabriel harder now. “It stung,” he fired back at the doctor, wanting nothing more than to bury his face in Gabe’s shirt and leave. Now. “I wasn’t scared of you hurting me, dickwad.” And then Gabriel announced he was going to foot the bill for his bloodied shirt. Was the whole world against him now? “Fine, I’ll fucking pay for your fucking dry cleaning.” The teenager squirmed away from Gabe’s touch. “No. No more goddamned injuries.”

His dismissal couldn’t have come soon enough. The second Gabriel wanted him gone, he was gone. He twisted the knob and left the room, running upstairs with his head down. He didn’t want to run into any of the other MSAD members. With his luck, half the compound had heard his hissy fit. As instructed, he washed his face and then sprawled across Gabriel’s bed, face down, to wait.

[Gabriel Underwood]

Gabriel lingered down in Max's room for a moment as Jesse disappeared upstairs. The tension in the room seemed to dissipate and vanish now the blonde teen had gone, and the older man pushed his hair from his face, fingers trailing over his stubble. "Thanks again, Max." He laughed quietly, stretching out and letting his spine clunk a few times. "I'll text you later to let you know when we can go drinking." He added smoothly, bowing his head and walking out, carefully closing the door behind him, assuming Max would need to sit down after all that.

Eventually his footsteps reached the stairs, the diversions to the kitchen and liquor cabinet necessary evils, their bounty lain in his arms. Climbing up to the top floor - where his bedroom sat, well out of the way from the chaos of the lower wings. Nudging the bedroom door open, he looked down at Jesse with an arched eyebrow, then dropped the two subs on the bedside table, along with the glasses and the full bottle of vodka. Flicking a cigarette out from the packet and lighting it, Gabriel settled down on the bed, unbuttoning his cuffs. "There's a drycleaners in Pilot Ridge, ask the twins to give you the address." He said simply, the stick of nicotine bouncing on his lip.

Sliding out of the bloodstained shirt, Gabriel let out a low sigh, then helped himself to the sub. "Explain." He eventually grumbled, turning round to lean against the headboard and listen keenly to Jesse's story. "No lies." He added, eyes flashing dangerously for a moment, before closing, enjoying the meat filled sub. Jesse's story was more or less interesting to the MSAD leader, he wanted to know what was going on, why he'd been an idiot, what had happened... and possibly punish Jesse for his stupidity.

Swallowing the mouthful of food, Gabriel poured the clear liquid into the two glasses, and handed one over. "Start at the start."

[Nathanael Lee]

Max’s eyes narrowed when Jesse spouted disrespect at him again, but as soon as the kid split, the doctor burst out in a fit of laughter. He didn’t realize how bothered he was until Jesse left and his nerves settled. There was something about it that he found humorous; probably the fact that the kid was less than half his age and still managed to get him worked up. “Wow,” he said, still chuckling. “That was quite the experience. You’re welcome, and I really do need a drink now.”

He ran his hand through his hair as Gabriel left, the blond locks falling gently against either side of his face. The entire ordeal was frustrating, but he couldn’t be mad. That was, after all, one of the most entertaining things to happen in a while. He sighed, shook his head, and sat on the examination table to recuperate. Hopefully Jesse wouldn’t get into anymore trouble. If that was the boy on his best behavior, Max didn’t want to know what he would be like otherwise.

After a few minutes of recovery, he hopped down and started putting all the unused equipment away. It was a shame that he couldn’t update his files, but he really didn’t want to anymore. When the room was orderly again, he slid Jesse’s folder into his filing cabinet, hung his coat on the coat rack, and went back to the study were his tea awaited him. It would be cold now, but he could deal. He’d be getting something a little stronger soon enough, anyway. All there was left to do was wait for the text.

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse had the feeling they were laughing at him downstairs, back in Max’s office. Not that he really cared. Now his nose was fixed, he just wanted to go and die in a hole. He’d always worked to look tough in front of Gabriel. Strong. This had just shot that all to hell. He wasn’t happy with himself, and he wasn’t happy with Horus. He was gonna kill that Richmond kid. If he ever got back on campus. Or saw him around town. He didn’t care how they met up at this point. As long as they did. He was going to make him pay for this.

The young blond didn’t even stir when Gabriel came back in. Not at the sound of him, and not at the smell of food. He just lay there, his face buried in the pillow. Even the feeling of Gabe beside him didn’t make him move. The comment about the dry cleaner’s was given only a noncommittal grunt. Yes, he’d take the stupid shirt to the dry cleaner’s. And yes, he’d pay for it himself. If it was one way to get back into Gabriel’s good books, he’d take it. Lame as it was, he’d do it.

The invitation to explain, however, made Jesse stir. He rolled onto his side and sat up, catching the look on his mentor’s face when he commanded no lies. He took the vodka glass and knocked back a quick mouthful before setting it on the night stand. “It wasn’t my fault,” he hissed. He wanted to make it clear, and it wasn’t really a lie. “Look. The other night, when you cancelled our training session, you said to go train myself. So I did. There was a chick sleeping in the courtyard, and I just... nightmared her. She spazzed out and then she fuckin’ told on me. I didn’t think she would. And then the fuckin’ therapist guy had his normal session with me today. An’ I was tryin’ to be good. I kept my mental shield up, but goddammit.” He slammed his fist into the headboard. “He trapped me. And I couldn’t get out of it. I had to run away. That’s when I called you.”

This was the part he didn’t want to admit. He sighed heavily and rubbed at his face. “When I was packing, the little troll I roomed with came in. An’ I guess he wanted to be the knight in shining armour. He punched me for messing with his little girlfriend.” And that was it. That was all there was to his story. Hopefully Gabriel would see that he really wasn’t all that much at fault. (Even though his explanation really didn’t make all that much sense to anyone but himself.)

[Gabriel Underwood]

Gabriel sat silently listening as Jesse explained himself, knocking back the vodka and pouring himself another. Stress slowly melted from his pores and dispersed away from him, breathing calmer, cigarette no longer being puffed furiously. Pressing his fingers to the pillow, then over onto his thigh, the man sighed gently, his lips pursed against the glass as Jesse's tale unfolded.

"I see." He eventually said, his voice low and smooth. "Then what you did is at least understandable. Foolish, yes, and childish, but I forget sometimes you're only a teenager." He passed the other sub over, then took another bite from his own, studying it thoughtfully before turning on his side to look over Jesse with a slightly arched eyebrow. "I'll say it again, Jesse. The best situation is the one where you can guarantee you wont be detected. To fuck around and leave breadcrumbs is asking for a punch on the nose." His voice was ever so faintly teasing, but it passed quickly, instead changing to a fondness that flashed across Gabriel's casually thoughtful face.

Pushing his sandwich aside, Gabriel leant over Jesse, smirking in a devious fashion, teeth flashing. "Want me to kiss it better?" He growled, pushing the blonde's hair from his face and staring into his eyes. Oh yes, it was clear that Jesse was Gabriel's favourite, from protege to something a little more... sordid and not so legal. "Or will you snap like Frederic at Jake's ankles?" His voice lowered further, one hand rested on the blonde's shoulder, before blowing smoke in his face and drawing back. "Want one?" He asked with a chuckle and a nod to the cigarettes on the table.

Maybe having Jesse around more would have more than one advantage. The smirk on Gabriel's lips told a story that not even I want to know. "Lets help you unwind." The man's voice tickled the air, eyes flicking back to Jesse's face with meaning.

[Jesse Adams]

While Jesse talked, he watched Gabriel. He wanted to be able to move fast, if he was angry. He didn’t want him to be angry with him. He’d only been following instructions. Granted, he had been childish about it. Impulsive. He should have been smarter about it. He knew that, now. At the time, he’d just been looking for a stress relief. He’d found it. It had backfired, and badly, but at least now he was where he belonged.

He finished talking and knocked back some more vodka, nearly emptying the glass. He liked the burn the alcohol provided. Gabriel was okay with it. He understood. It was more than he could have asked for, and he was going to take it. He took hold of the sub and tore off a bite, realizing how hungry he was now. Maybe it was the stress of the escape, or maybe it was the healing process. Either way, he was starving. “I know,” he managed to grumble around his food. “But I was pissed off. ‘m sorry.” Apologies out of his mouth were rare. But when he was with Gabriel, he felt he owed him that much. He wasn’t just sorry for dragging him out to Hammel, but for the fuss he’d just put up.

As Gabriel leaned over, Jesse dropped his sandwich on the nightstand. This kind of attention from his mentor made him squirm, still. He wasn’t as bad as when he’d first started training with him. Any touch had resulted in a flinch away. Now, he could handle it a little better. Certain touches had him nervous, but this was okay. It wasn’t threatening. He just stared up at Gabriel, calm. “I’m not gonna snap,” he mumbled, closing his eyes as he blew the smoke at him. “Fuck yes. Give it.” A little shot of nicotine was just what he needed to calm down. Nicotine, alcohol, and Gabriel.

“How?” He had his own ideas on how to unwind. They all involved violent movies, or gun play downstairs. He wasn’t sure about the expression on Gabe’s face. He didn’t know what it meant, exactly. He just knew that he wasn’t angry, and that meant everything.

[Gabriel Underwood]

Gabriel's smirk widened at Jesse's response, and he wordlessly lit another cig, passing it to the blonde casually. It was then that he pulled Jesse up and, with a disarming softness, pressed a little kiss to the teen's snout. Chuckling throatily, he then manipulated the teen into his arms, and slowly massaged his shoulders. "Oh, I can think of a few things." He said vaguely, laughter tinting his words. "But how about we start by finishing our food and drink, hm?"

Still with one hand on the back of Jesse's neck, thumb moving in a lazy circle, Gabriel leant back and stabbed his cigarette in the ashtray, admiring his protege thoughtfully. Sure, Jesse was impulsive, and still needed to keep his emotions in control, but he was slowly shaping up to be better than anything Gabriel had ever imagined. A strong, cunning, powerful meta-human, and with a pleasant disregard for rules. Swigging another mouthful of vodka, the man couldn't help but smirk wider, his lips curled dangerously.

"All fucking up aside, you're the best student I've ever had." He growled, moving his other hand back to knead Jesse's lower back, breathing against his ear. "I'm proud of you." He admitted, voice softening just a notch, before returning his attention to Jesse, or more specific, Jesse's body.

[Jesse Adams]

As soon as the cigarette was passed over, Jesse snatched it and took a long, satisfying drag. That was what he needed. But the smoke was exhaled in a rather ineloquent cough when he felt Gabriel’s arms on him, and the kiss to his nose. He pulled a face. Gabriel was special but he still wasn’t all that used to the touching thing. If someone was touching him, he was expecting a smack. Thus far, Gabe hadn’t hurt him. It meant that Jesse was starting to trust him in a new way. He stilled in his mentor’s arms for a moment, before relaxing against him again. “N’kay,” he managed to grumble, taking another drag of his cigarette.

With Gabe’s hand still on his neck, Jesse leaned forward and snagged his sub, biting at it quietly. He couldn’t tell what was on Gabriel’s mind. Not that he really cared. He wasn’t that angry at him for his epic fuck up. That was good. He’d seen what could happen when you found yourself on the wrong side of him. He never wanted to end up in Jake’s position. He liked being favoured, the lap dog, so to speak. It was an easy life. He knew he’d have a rough time ahead of him, training to be an operative. But being a favourite of their leader would help.

The comments made him pause, though. Best student? Better than... someone like Jake? Paulo? ... Max. Better than any of them? (He could only imagine that Gabe had taught most of them, because Max just... didn’t seem like a criminal. Unless there was something he was missing. Something he didn’t want t know.) “I... don’t wanna disappoint you. Not like some people around here.” Was that a shot at Jake? Why yes, yes it was. He couldn’t just say thank you, though. Instead, he just leaned into Gabe’s touch and abandoned his food.