For a split second, Gabe was genuinely concerned that Jack was going to try and vault over the railing with grappling hook in hand to meet him at the bottom. Not that he didn't think he could do it, Jack wasn't just a well seasoned member of Camelot, he was also a superhero. But he'd also just recovered from some pretty major injuries, and it would kind of suck if today ended with a trip to the hospital instead of all of the other things that Gabe had been thinking about the entire trip over here.
Things that at this point Gabe was more or less completely committed to.
He'd had plenty of time to back out of this. Gabe had even tried to convince himself of that at various points throughout the last few weeks. As much as he wanted Jack (and he really wanted Jack), the potential ramifications of actually following through on something he'd been having thoughts about for... way longer than he wanted to actually admit to himself, were potentially catastrophic. Gabe wasn't in the military anymore, and Camelot might as well be the exact opposite of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' era, that wasn't the problem. The problem was everything else, and Gabe's reluctance to rectify what he really wanted with the manner in which he'd built his life, and the people who were in it.
Didn't stop him from immediately jumping in his car and speeding most of the way to Jack's place though, once he was on the other side of the MTN with no excuse good enough to turn back. Already halfway there, and no care large enough to make Gabe rethink what he was doing now. In all honesty, he'd passed that point awhile ago. Every heated text exchanged between them was like one more gaping hole in the list of flimsy excuses that he used to hold over his head for why he never put himself out there with another guy. And Jack? He made it really easy to push those aside.
Catching the end of the rope easily, Gabe barely thought about it before grabbing onto it with both hands and using it to reach the first level of the fire escape. What was the worst that could happen? Gabe had dealt with more tricky situations than this on ops missions. Getting a good hold on the first rung, Gabe let go of the rope and immediately started to climb, every thought of Jack only increasing his desire to get up there as fast as humanely possible without actually injuring himself.
God, the man was hot. Even from down on the ground, Gabe could make out that crooked smile, and something in his lower abdomen gave a hard twist. Not like Gabe had forgotten what Jack looked like, but it had been long enough since he'd seen him and long enough since their hot but too brief encounter that his mind had started to replace some of the fuzzier memories of Jack's face with the more acute memories of the other man's firm touch. Memories that were more than enough to kick Gabe's adrenaline into high gear and he practically flew up those final rungs to meet him.
Finally reaching Jack's level, Gabe hoisted himself over the railing with ease and as his feet landed firmly on the balcony mere inches away from Jack, Gabe flashed him a sheepish grin. "Sorry, would have called first but, uh, I broke my phone on the ride back to base this morning."
Too late, Gabe realized the implication of his words and inwardly winced. The last thing he wanted was to sound desperate, which racing over here the same day he'd gotten back from a mission could be construed as. Also, the last time they'd seen each other they'd been entangled in a cramped car. Scratching the back of his head, Gabe was momentarily unsure of what to do with his body given all this space. "You sure this is okay?"