Chapter Text
"Jesse! Jesse, stop it!"
Gabriel Reyes turned to the very obvious sound of a distressed older woman trying to care for an unruly child. One of the things to be expected when you sat on the patio outside a cafe. What he did not expect however, was that child's reply.
"Cállate!!" came the shrill shout of a young boy just seconds before he knocked over a potted plant and climbed under the table at which Gabriel sat, attempting to enjoy a lone breakfast.
He saw a flash of brown hair and red fabric before he disappeared beneath the table cloth and frowned, feeling the child settle his hands on his boots momentarily.
He looked up as a unkempt older woman passed by, swearing softly and calling for 'Jesse', stopping some distance away to lean against the wall to catch her breath.
"Your nana?" Gabriel questioned his coffee cup just before he took a drink, looking bored. "Or I guess, your abuela." Having heard the kid use Spanish just a moment before, he ventured the boy might not speak English.
"No!" came a hissed whisper somewhere near his feet, muffled by the fabric between them but not enough to hide the accent the boy had. Gabriel almost smiled at the familiar tone. "She's a mean old cabrona!" Reyes almost heard the boy pouting. "She won't let no one take me!"
Reyes considered his words carefully for a moment, taking another drink of his coffee before he glanced at the woman who had begun her search anew.
"You're an orphan." He said without malice, waiting for the boy to attack him, to scream, to protest- to do something. But he remained silent, unmoving and Gabriel got his answer.
"She's looking under the tables now." He announced to the kid instead and felt him scrambling up and out from underneath the table- running right into the social worker's rumpled business suit.
The swearing resumed, especially as the worker took ahold of both of his arm's and half carried him back down the street while the kid lashed out with kids and bites.
Gabriel watched them, getting a good study of the boy's dirt-smeared face and old hand-me-down clothing- the fury in such young, bright eyes.
Reyes finished his coffee.
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"What am I doing here?" Gabriel whispered to himself, asking harshly beneath his breath exactly why he was here. Former Marine Commander Reyes did not go to this side of town, did not dress beyond casual means, and definitely did not stop at orphanage's.
Jesse, that little kid with dirt seeming to radiate from his nose to his jaw, had haunted his thoughts for weeks. Three weeks. Of course he was sure the kid was adopted or at least fostered now and so, did it really hurt for him to just check in and make sure? It's not like he was going to adopt anyone. No, he wasn't parent material. He never even had a father of his own, so he definitely couldn't be counted on for that. No, he would just go in and look around, maybe ask about the kid to make sure he was safe with some caregivers and then go home.
So Gabriel entered then, looking around for that same brown head of hair.
"Pardon," he saddled up near a social worker who was taping up children's crayon drawings on a board near the viewing room. "I'm looking for a certain kid."
"Oh! Well, we have all types of children here! Of all races and-" She began to deliver her sales pitch but he waved her off.
"No. I'm looking for one child." He surveyed the group again, knowing he'd still not see him there. "Brown hair, brown eyes, gotta be mixed. Social worker called him Jesse."
Gabriel also immediately noticed the sour, haunted look on the woman's face
"Did he steal something from you, sir?" She turned from her job, clutching a stack of drawings. "We can pay small damage fee's, but anything over fifteen-hundred dollars must be discussed with my supervisor."
"He- what? No. Godda-uh, no. I just want to see the kid." He replied, taking in her confused expression. "To speak to him." He heard himself saying without meaning to, scowling fiercely the moment it was out.
"Really, sir, if he's done something-"
"He hasn't."
There was a moment of silence while the woman attempted to figure out what he would want to talk to that kid and that moment told Reyes plenty. What sort of child has this kind of reputation? What little boy has an account just in case of property damage?
"Of course. Please give your identification to the receptionist and we'll set up room three for you two." She finally seemed to agree, albeit with hesitation. "The mirrors are two way, so you will be observed."
Gabriel nodded as he turned, fuming inside. Did they think he was gonna hit the kid? He knew he was wearing a beanie, but he didn't think he looked overtly thug-like.
Shaking the thought clear, he headed to the reception desk. He would ask the kid about his foster family, yeah, and then he'd leave and not think about Jesse anymore.
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"What'da'you want?" Jesse spat at him, glaring. "Come 'ta stare at me? I ain't no citrus freak."
"Cit-" Gabriel tried not to crack a smile, keeping his composure as he pushed his beanie back a quarter inch to scratch at an inch. "Circus freak, is what you're looking for there, kid, and no." He cocked his head. "Just came to see if they got you situated with a family yet."
Jesse laughed, a bitter sound, looking thoroughly older than a boy that age should. His clothes were too big, he noted, and the shoes looked too small. His hair was sticking in a dozen places, slick with grease and sweat, and there was dirt beneath his fingernails and across his forehead near his hairline. The kid was a wreck.
"No. I ain't got no family." He glared at Gabriel again, "don't need one neither. All them old white people is nasty, want me to talk like 'em and dress like 'em." He growled, pulling at the sweater he wore angrily. "I hate this shit!"
They studied each other for a moment before Jesse, apparently, decided to ignore him. He picked up some Lego's and began shaping it into something in particular. Reyes watched silently as it took the form of a gun. He blinked, concerned and impressed, before the kid began 'firing' at the social worker's who stood and walked among the halls. He noted the kid didn't shoot at him or any of the other children and leaned back against his little chair to watch the kid.
"How many family's you had?" He asked.
Silence.
"You must get in trouble a lot."
Silence.
"What happened to your parents, kid?"
An angry glare but silence yet again.
"They abandon you?"
"No!" Jesse shouted suddenly, slamming his gun onto the carpeted ground and breaking it into different hunks as he got to his feet. "No! My Mama loves me! She loves me!" He continued to shout and Reyes lifted his hands, reaching to calm the kid instinctively as tears welled up and spilled over his red cheeks. "She just- she's-" His little face fell into sobs as he curled his hands into little fists against his eye sockets and curled into himself to weep. Gabriel clutched the boys slender shoulders through the thick fabric he wore, freezing as he felt the boy stiffen. He waited, listening to the harsh breathing of the child before he blissfully unwound. All at once, the boy fell against his hip and Gabriel pulled him forward, a hand on his hair and the other on his back.
Jesse, little Jesse, didn't need to tell him anything more.
Former Commander Gabriel Reyes was keeping him.