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[the_reapers]

He forgets, often, that Gabe can't read texts. He takes for granted that Gabe can get them read to him by an app or an onlooker.

So it's late at night, beyond midnight, when he texts, "I'm about to be arrested you down to pick me up? I got cash to bail me out at my apartment."

Comments

[minuteofangle]

Ah, Gabe thinks, and closes his eyes. He isn't feeling the E yet, but he will. Soon enough.

"It's hard to keep a family going when you're overseas."

[the_reapers]

"She thought I did it to run away from her and the baby." And maybe he was. He was eighteen, not prepared for the rigors of a newborn and a girlfriend deep in depression. "But I always made sure they had what they needed, no matter what it was. And after Korangal, when I came home, she took me back. But I don't know. I scared her I think."

[minuteofangle]

You were just a baby yourself, Gabe thinks, but knows better than to say. He just shakes his head and takes the beer, downing the last of it and setting the bottle down on the nightstand. Sometimes, things just don't work out. Nobody gets that fairytale ending, not a single soul.

"Scared her?" Gabe murmurs.

[the_reapers]

"I don't know, man, I just couldn't sleep without a gun. And she didn't like that. And you know how noises get sometimes in the city. I drew on her a couple times. First time I did it she cried and hugged me. Second time she took the baby and moved back in with her parents." He sips his beer. "And now she's a thousand miles away."

[minuteofangle]

A thousand miles and a lifetime away. Might as well be on the moon. Gabe just sighs and reaches over, tapping his fingers lightly against Austin's arm.

"You've got us," he promises gently. "You've always got us."

[the_reapers]

He takes Gabe's hand and unabashedly scoots closer to him, laying his head on Gabe's shoulder. "You guys are what matters most. Maybe Pope's right. rest of the world can't handle us."

[minuteofangle]

"Rest of the world doesn't get it." Gabe puts his arm around Austin, holding him close. Breathing out slow. "That's okay. We don't need them. Right?"

[the_reapers]

He wraps an arm around Gabe's stomach. "Even other guys in the service don't always get it. You know that? I ran into a group who never went to the Valley of Death. It was like looking in a weird alternate dimension."

[minuteofangle]

"I do," Gabe agrees softly. "The ones who were never in the bad shit, not really. They don't know what it means."

They don't understand the weight of it.

"The think they understand, but they don't. They can't."

[the_reapers]

"You ever meet Riley? He was there and he still doesn't get it. I think only Pope could make it all make sense." Thank God for Pope. "Man I wouldn't still be here if not for you guys. Even when Rochelle was here and we were trying, it just...she couldn't get it. Maybe it's better she's gone."

[minuteofangle]

"Once," Gabe admits. He doesn't really know what he's supposed to say about someone like Riley, who survived all that shit and turned out angry but almost normal. Sometimes, Gabe envies him for it. Sometimes he hates the man. But he can understand why Carver loved him, loves him, will probably always love a part of him. "But don't say that shit. We're all here. We got you, kid."

[the_reapers]

"I got you too." He'd bail Gabe out if he called. Hell he'd dig him out with a spoon if he had to. "How's that E treating you, you feeling good?"

[minuteofangle]

"Mhmm. Real nice." Gabe ruffles Austin's hair. "You got the good stuff. Good beer, good drugs."

[the_reapers]

"Good 'cause you gotta teach me to dance!" He tugs on Gabe's arm, slides off the bed.

[minuteofangle]

"You and dancing," Gabe teases, but he allows himself to be pulled up, laughing a little as he steadies himself. "Shit, okay. Put your hand on my hip, we'll give it a shot."

[the_reapers]

He obeys easily, half holding onto Gabe for support. "Okay there's a tv stand like six feet to your left," he says, and then the bed, but nothing else to get in the way.

[minuteofangle]

"Just mirror me. Like we're doing drills." He takes Austin's hand, and begins showing him the steps to a waltz. Something slower, a little easier to master. "Nice and easy, just like this."

[the_reapers]

He laughs when he gets it. Austin picks movements up quickly, and he moves along with Gabe. "This isn't the sexy dance I woulda got if we went to the restaurant though."

[minuteofangle]

"Oh, you wanted sexy?" Gabe laughs, his eyebrows going up as they sway. They're both more than a little high, but they've got training and good footwork on their side. They make it work. "Can't resist my charms, huh?"

[the_reapers]

"Aw man you know you're hot," he laughs, moving with Gabe. And, very high, has to add, "Your shirt feels so good on my face."

[minuteofangle]

"That's the E talking, kid," Gabe replies gently, leading Austin through the steps. "But hey, now you can waltz. That'll impress your girl, yeah?"

Quietly, secretly, Gabe thinks she'll never let Austin near her or their daughter again. He'll never say as much. It'd break Austin's heart.

[the_reapers]

"You think? Yeah it makes me look classy. I could get a suit, get her in a gown..." she'd like that. "We didn't get to do prom 'cause she had to drop out into junior year. Maybe this would make it like we went."

she has so many reasons to hate him, he thinks. He'll just do better. Make it up to her. Show her how much he's making with Pope, that it's a real job with real benefits.

"Hey who do you wanna impress with your dance moves? You ever show Mancea?"

[minuteofangle]

"Classy, grownup prom," Gabe agrees, even though they're just dreaming. Sometimes that's all you've got, though. "Not yet. Think that'd impress him?"

He's thought about it, though. Going out dancing with Mancea. Maybe even dressing up for it.

[the_reapers]

"Hell yeah it will. You have fancy feet, my man," he turns them back to the waltz, humming out a song. "You should teach him. Really. Hell maybe he already knows, dancing was a big thing when he was a kid right?"

[minuteofangle]

"He's not that old, Jesus." Gabe huffs, squeezing Austin's hand. "I like it, though. Moving with somebody like this. It's like, peaceful and shit. Yeah?"