Well, well. There it was: a little nudge back. Gabe no longer seemed like he was on the verge of passing out, so it wasn’t like it was an accident. Could still just be friendly, but Jack’s instincts told him no, it probably wasn’t just anything, especially when combined with that movie-star grin. That had to be on purpose; even if Jack didn’t know Gabe, he was pretty familiar with Poe Dameron, thanks to Holly sharing her Disney+ account with him early on in his recuperation. With his floppy hair and intense gaze, the pilot was such a guy magnet that Disney had to go out of its way to make him seem straight.
Jack didn’t buy whatever they were selling, and he had a feeling Gabe wasn’t, either. That was the thing about the Powers That Be when you were a reincarnate. Sometimes they were just plain wrong, and the only person who knew the truth was you. (Well, you and a lot of horny fanfic writers on the internet. Over the past six months Jack had gotten pretty familiar with them, too.)
And speaking of the Powers That Be being wrong…
Jack groaned and put his face in his hands. “Ugh, don’t remind me!” The one thing he didn’t watch on Disney+, no matter how bad the boredom got? The Marvel movies. Everybody else came out of those movies looking pretty fucking great except for Clint Barton, who wasn’t just epically useless from the start but also happened to be a goddamn emo ninja murderer who let his best friend die by the end. Jack hated that guy. “Bad things happen to Hawkeyes when they go to space, there’s no way – ”
“Well, so much for a quick extraction!” Without any warning, Matt came storming back into the room, looking more than a little frustrated. He headed straight for Gabe with a glass of water in his hand, and Jack realized, no, he wasn’t really frustrated. He was worried about his friend. Of course he was. Jack remembered nights like this, that never seemed to end even when the action stopped because someone on the team didn’t make it out unscathed. That worry wouldn't go away until someone checked Gabe out and told Matt everything was going to be fine.
“Guess something else went down tonight and all of Camelot’s resources on this side of the country are otherwise engaged.” Matt’s voice dripped with disdain – again, probably more from apprehension than anything resembling insubordination. Matt wasn't really the type to badmouth Camelot, especially when another team probably wasn't doing so hot elsewhere.
Matt handed Gabe the glass and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “They’re sending some people from New York, but it’s gonna take a few hours. You gonna be okay till then?”
“For what it’s worth, I think he’s okay?” Jack offered as he stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. “I mean, I’m not a doctor, but I am kind of an expert in what ‘not okay’ feels like. His eyes aren’t going two different directions, and he’s not talking nonsense, so –”
“You sure about that?” Matt raised an eyebrow. “While they had me on hold, I heard him say you were cool or something. Clearly my best bud’s losing it one marble at a time”