Fic: Fighting For (Gabe/William, 20,000 words, FRAO, 1/2)

[rsadelle]

Title: Fighting For
Author: Ruth Sadelle Alderson
Fandom: Bandom - Cobra Starship/The Academy Is... (appearances by others)
Pairing: Gabe/William (background Travis/Maja, Mike Carden/Kevin Jonas, Pete/Ashlee)
Rating: FRAO
Word Count: 20,000
Disclaimer: Never happened. Real people in a fictional world.
Summary: William was on the run from the Association when Gabe pulled him out of the battle and into Cobra Camp.
Notes: I fell in love with this story, and I hope you enjoy it too. Thanks are due to M, who asked at least one good question (and probably more I've forgotten about); schuyler, who provided a joke and a name; norwich36, who listened to me babble my way to a solution even though it's not her fandom; and the hand of fate that led me to draw "leaves" and not something else as my prompt for a "describing sounds" writing exercise.


There was a fwoosh as the pile of leaves to William's left caught and started to burn.

They weren't far behind him now.

He kept running. His feet crunched through the leaves on the ground as he dodged the fires catching from the flamethrowers and their spurts of gasoline.

Fall was the worst time to be on the run.

The next burst of flame caught on a tree, dry leaves still clinging to its branches, directly ahead. William barely caught himself in time to dodge the edges of the resulting fire.

Shit, shit, shit. It was probably too much to hope that it had been chance. They were close, and getting closer.

He was so focused on his heartbeat in his ears and the flames coming toward him that he didn't notice the rustling to his right until a large animal and its rider burst through the brush and shuddered to a stop in front of him.

The rider thrust an arm down to him. "Get on."

A horse. It was a horse.

William hesitated only a second before grabbing the rider's arm and letting himself be hauled up behind him. It was a risk, but his other options didn't look good either.

On a horse, they moved faster, and the rider seemed to know the woods well enough to make up for the loss of agility.

The crackle of the flames behind them tapered off until the only sounds were the ones they were making.

The rider slowed the horse to a walk. "That's my girl," he crooned. He bent almost double over the horse's neck as he ran his hands over its - her - coat. "That's my good girl." He pressed a smacking kiss to her neck and sat up again. "We'll be there in twenty minutes," he twisted to tell William.

William resisted the urge to ask where "there" was and instead listened to his heart slow to its usual unobtrusive rhythm. He listened hard, but if they had pursuers, they were a hell of a lot more stealthy than before.

"There" turned out to be a small settlement William didn't even notice until they were practically on top of it.

The young man who met them at its edge looked past the rider to William. "Another one? Vicky-T's going to kill you."

The rider slid to the ground. "Vicky-T loves me." He held up a hand for William to use to steady himself getting down and handed the reins to the other man. "This way."

William followed him across the center of the camp, ignoring the looks coming his way.

The rider pushed through a flap into one of the tents. "Goddamn fucking Association would burn down the whole forest to get to one fugitive."

There was a woman in the tent, strong face, dark hair, studying an array of papers spread out in front of her. "Fucking Association," she agreed. Then she looked up. "God damn it, Gabe."

The rider - Gabe - managed to look sheepish. "I found him in the forest. Can I keep him?"

William was not a pet. "What if I don't want to be kept?"

Both Gabe and the woman looked at him, both of them looking surprised. Then Gabe patted his shoulder. "See? He'll fit right in."

The woman was starting to smile, if reluctantly. "Damn it, Gabe."

Gabe slid his hand across William's back until his arm was around William's shoulders. "That means you're staying."

The woman rolled her eyes. "Do you have a name? Or something we can call you?"

William knew of three other Williams out of favor with the Association, and at least two more likely to be soon, so he gave her his real name, but only his first.

"At least it's not Alex." That didn't mean anything to William, but she kept talking. "I'm Victoria. This is Gabe." She stepped past him and pushed open the flap of the tent. "Ryland, Suarez," she called.

A few moments later, a pair of men came through the door. Victoria introduced the sharp-faced one as Ryland and the other as Suarez.

"We're going to have to confiscate your weapons."

"She decides you're trustworthy," Gabe said, somehow appearing to lean against the canvas wall of the tent, "you'll get them back."

Ryland took William's pack. William handed his weapons over one by one, and then stood still for Suarez to pat him down.

"You'll get back anything safe later," Victoria told him. She dismissed Ryland and Suarez and looked William up and down.

"The Association was after him," Gabe said, still more or less leaning on the canvas. "Full squad, throwers and all."

"The Association is after a lot of people." Victoria threw a look at Gabe. "Not all of them are friendlies." She turned her sharp gaze back to William. "Why were they after you?"

William hesitated. He didn't know these people, and he didn't know if he was going to show up on Association broadcasts.

Gabe pushed himself off from the canvas with the same magic that let him lean against it in the first place and joined Victoria in standing in front of William.

"Why were they after you?" he asked.

"I took out a comm station." If he closed his eyes, he would still be able to see it, the charges going off and taking down the tower, the flames shooting up toward the sky. He kept them open. "The guards weren't as far away as I thought, and they saw me." If he closed his eyes, he would still be able to see his team scattering in all directions, and the guards following only him.

Victoria and Gabe were both looking at him suspiciously, like they knew he was leaving things out. They exchanged a look William didn't know them well enough to interpret.

"Can you cook?" Victoria asked.

William looked at Gabe, but there was no help there. He was just as interested in his answer as Victoria, if a little less sharp about it.

"Boil water," he finally answered. "Heat up field rations."

"Know anything about horses?"

William shook his head. "Never seen one in person before today."

"Sew?"

"No."

The line of Victoria's mouth had curved down with each answer.

"What can you do?" Gabe asked. He hadn't moved, but there was something in the way he was watching William that made him sure that Gabe was taking in everything he said.

"Sing," he said, and there was a memory of Sisky telling him, "Always give the useless answers first," that he tapped down before he could remember any more about the team he might never see again.

Gabe smirked; Victoria folded her arms across her chest.

"Anything else?"

"Assemble a bomb. Hit a moving target nine times out of ten. Intercept Association comms with equipment that isn't fucked all to hell." He had other skills, too, but that was probably enough.

"Sounds like a revolutionary," Gabe said, and he and Victoria had another one of those silent conversations. This one ended with Victoria sighing and dropping her arms to her sides.

"Welcome to Cobra Camp," she said to William. "Everyone here outranks you. Anyone gives you shit about it, you tell one of us."

"That shit's not cool in Cobra Camp," Gabe put in, smiling at William now.

"Gabe outranks me," Victoria continued. "No one else does. I tell you to do something, you do it. No questions." She crossed her arms across her chest again. "This is a working camp, but we have families here too. You put them in danger, you answer to me."

"You don't want to have to answer to her." Gabe's smile was still open and friendly.

"You'll be on camp chore duty for the time being." Victoria tapped the fingers of one hand against the opposite arm. "You'll work with Nate to learn to take care of horses, and," she paused and frowned, "the cooking Alex," she finally decided, "to learn to cook." She stepped back and looked at something pinned to the wall. "We'll put you in with Ryland and Suarez for the time being."

Gabe snorted a laugh. "They're not going to be happy about that."

"They can deal." Victoria leaned out the tent flap. "Ryland!"

He couldn't have been far away, because he came into the tent moments later.

"William's staying with you and Suarez," Victoria told him. "Show him the tent, and then turn him over to Alex to help with dinner."

William looked back as he followed Ryland outside. Gabe was watching him with half a smile on his face, even as he cocked his head to listen to whatever Victoria was telling him.

***

William settled into a routine. Nate taught him to feed and groom the horses. The cooking Alex taught him how to cook. The gardening Alex taught him to tend the gardens that meant Cobra Camp didn't rely solely on rations. The singing Alex taught him which Alex was which. Ryland and Suarez, who was actually another Alex, taught him a collection of songs he didn't already know. Between them, they had a pair of bongos, a flute or pipe of some kind that William wasn't allowed to touch, and an acoustic guitar. William had never seen an acoustic. It was a joy to play.

He got used to conversations stopping abruptly as he approached, to Ryland or Suarez always being awake when he was, to looking up and finding Gabe or Victoria watching him, to never seeing the tech he knew they had to have somewhere, to not being left alone with the camp's children.

He was absorbed in his routine the day Ryland and Suarez came back and said, "This guy tried to shoot us," and someone else said, "You were trying to shoot at me," surprisingly chill for someone who'd maybe been in a firefight, and William knew that voice.

"Travie." The name was out of his mouth before he'd even finished turning around.

"Holy shit, William." Travis wasn't restrained by anything other than the aim of Ryland and Suarez's weapons, but he was smart enough to stay put and let William come to him. "Holy shit," he said again when he had his arms around William, and it was the first time anyone had touched William like this, friendly, since the goddamn fuckup of the comm station. William forced himself to pull away before he melted into it any more than he already had.

"What the hell is this place?" Travis asked, and William couldn't help grinning at him. They might not trust him yet, but.

"This is Cobra Camp," he answered. "This is it, Travie, the Resistance, the real thing, not the kid stuff we've been doing." William grabbed at Travis's arm. "They're organized, and they're making progress."

Travis and Suarez looked surprised, Ryland resigned, and Gabe, who'd come out from wherever he'd been to meet them, considering.

Travis shook his head. "Should've known you'd land on your feet. How long have you been here?"

William counted back. "Three weeks."

Travis's fond amusement folded into something uncomfortable and unhappy. "Then you haven't heard."

"Heard what?"

Travis didn't sugar-coat it for him. "Sisky's dead."

William couldn't help the wounded noise that came from his throat.

"I'm sorry." Travie pulled him close again, and this time William clung and let Travie hold him up.

"Perhaps," Gabe said, his voice cutting through the moment, "we should take this out of the town square." The look on his face was something William couldn't interpret.

They went to the command tent, of course, where Gabe had brought William that first day. William had been there once or twice since. He was confident enough - or defiant, or tired - to sit on the cushions this time, and pull Travie down with him. Travie slung an arm around him; William leaned against his chest. It was warm, and familiar, and William relaxed for the first time in three weeks.

Victoria stood in front of them, arms crossed over her chest. "Seriously, Gabe," she said. "You have to stop."

"Hey, Ryland and Suarez found this one." Gabe's hands were up to protest his innocence, but his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Yes," Victoria said, "but he appears to belong to one of yours."

Gabe looked down at William and Travis for a long, silent moment, and then he crouched down in front of them. "What were you doing in the woods?" He had an intense look about him that William had only rarely seen.

William pressed back against Travie, trying to silently tell him it was okay to answer, and that he should tell the truth. It didn't work.

"Taking a walk."

"What were you doing in the woods?" The question came from Victoria this time.

"Travie," William said. He twisted to look up at Travis. "Please?" He watched Travis watch Gabe and Victoria until he gave in.

"There've been rumors."

Victoria's gaze sharpened. "What kind of rumors?"

"Safe places," Travis answered. "More of them in the forest than in the city." He tightened his arm enough around William that William curled his hand over Travis's to offer comfort. "Maja's pregnant again." Travis's voice had dropped so he was talking only to William, even though Gabe and Victoria were still listening. "Association's narrowing in on targets, and she and the girls need to be somewhere safe."

"If it means anything," William said to Gabe and Victoria, "I'll vouch for them."

Gabe stood and went to the camp map on the wall. "He'll stay tonight at least. We'll put him in with Ryland and Suarez. William, move your stuff in with Nate and get back to work."

William wanted to insist he be allowed to stay with Travis, but he knew it would never happen. Too many lives on the line for trust to come easily.

"Gabe," Victoria said softly.

"It's what you would have done anyway," Gabe said, sounding oddly defensive to William's ears. "Go on," he said to William.

"Travie-" William started.

"Travie," Gabe said, putting just a little too much emphasis on the name, "is going to stay and chat for a while."

William stiffened, but Travie squeezed him close, pressed his lips to William's cheek, and then let go. "I'll be fine."

Victoria rolled her eyes at him. "We're not going to hurt him. Aren't you supposed to be in the garden with Alex this afternoon?"

"Go," Travis said, so William went. He glanced back before he let the flap fall shut behind him. Gabe and Victoria were settling onto cushions across from Travis.

William moved his pack and bedroll from Ryland and Suarez's tent to Nate's. He rushed through it and into the garden without giving himself time to think about Sisky. If he thought about Sisky, he'd start thinking about the rest of his team and what might have happened to them.

He was successful in putting it off until after dinner. He was leaning against Travis again, on a log in front of the central fire, when Gabe crouched down in front of them. He had a silver flask with him.

"To fallen comrades." Gabe drank from the flask and held it out.

Travis took it first. "To fallen comrades." He drank and passed the flask to William.

"To fallen comrades." William could barely get the words out. The liquor burned all the way down.

Their fingers brushed as he handed the flask back to Gabe.

Gabe looked like he might be about to say something, then his look turned to something listening, and then almost rueful. "Fucking Wentz and his goddamn timing," he muttered, and William realized with a shock that he didn't just have tech, he had embedded tech. When Gabe stood, his usual grin was in place. "Pete," he called.

A guy who was probably even shorter than Victoria disentangled himself from what seemed to be half the camp trying to hug him at once and came over to hug just Gabe.

"Saporta," he said. "Cobra Commander."

"What the hell, Pete?" Gabe asked. "Surprise inspection?"

"Something like that." Pete looked past Gabe and his eyes widened when he saw William. "Holy shit," he said. "Holy shit. I'm going to retina print you." William didn't have a chance to say anything before Pete pulled up one of his sleeves and held his wrist in front of William's face. It was only a short, uncomfortable second before Pete grinned and said, "William Beckett, holy shit." He turned back to Gabe. "One of my strike teams lost a guy. I found them a new one. One of his conditions was that I watch for some people." Pete grinned at Gabe. "William Beckett, and I'll bet you've got him on restricted camp duty."

"You know how Victoria is." Gabe's posture was loose and easy, but his eyes were sharp and focused on William.

"I know Victoria doesn't do anything you won't approve of." Pete's grin flashed in the firelight. "Except sleep with Alexes."

"Who was it?" William asked.

Pete blinked at him. "You'd have to ask her."

"Not that," William snapped. "Who asked you to look for me?"

"Oh. Jon Walker. He's safe. Well," he amended, "as safe as he can be with a strike team. He brought in Chislett and Butcher." William let himself feel the relief that news brought him. "We're still looking for Carden and Siska."

"Siska's dead," Travis said, saving William from having to do it. He wondered if saying it got easier with repetition; hearing it didn't.

"Damn," Pete muttered. "Any ideas about where we might find Carden? I'd like to get your whole team with us."

"Maybe," William said, turning it over in his mind. "I make contact with him, and Travis has people who need to be safe."

"Done," Pete said without even the slightest bit of hesitation.

"You're a terrible negotiator," Gabe laughed. "Too softhearted."

"Gabriel Saporta," Pete shot back, "you take in twice as many strays as I do. Besides, this is William Beckett and now he's ours." He leaned down to hug William and then Travis. "Welcome to the Resistance. Now Gabe and I have important leader business to discuss."

Gabe squeezed William's shoulder as he followed Pete away from the fire.

***

Travis took off with a team in the morning. Gabe sent William back to his usual chores with a promise to plan the mission to look for Carden after lunch.

"Pete's here," Gabe explained, rubbing his forehead. He looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep. "There's too much to do. This afternoon, I promise."

"Fine." William turned and headed toward the horses. He'd only taken a few steps when he turned around again. "Gabe," he called.

Gabe turned, too, to look at him. "Yeah?"

"Take a fucking nap. You look like shit, and I'm not going on a mission you planned after pulling some kind of mysterious leader business all-nighter."

Gabe flipped him off, but he also laughed, and William spent the morning with the horses. They'd always treated him like part of the camp.

***

After lunch, William followed Gabe, Pete, and Victoria back to the command tent. The table William had only ever seen covered with papers had been cleared to reveal itself as an impressive piece of tech. A holo map hovered in the air above it.

"Okay," Victoria said. "Where are you going?"

William reached his hand into the map. It responded - either left unlocked or already keyed to him - and he moved and zoomed it until he located the corner he wanted. "There."

"What is it?" Pete asked.

"Snakes & Suits. A bar."

"Association has a capture or kill order out on you," Victoria said. "Your name and picture are on it. You can't just walk into a bar."

"If Carden's not there, they'll be able to get a message to him. And he's not going to listen to someone he doesn't know," William added to forestall what was likely to be their next idea.

"Four-person team," Pete said. "Go in at dusk so patrols won't be able to see his face clearly. Two on guard, William and one of ours go in."

Victoria continued to frown at the map. "I don't like it."

"The bar's friendly." William shrugged. "We might be able to bring in a few other people too."

Pete nodded with an unseemly amount of enthusiasm. "We're doing it."

Victoria pulled up what looked like a duty roster.

"Don't bother," Gabe said. "I'm going, which means you'll send Ryland and Suarez."

"No way," Victoria said over the top of him.

"You always send them with me."

"You're not going." Victoria pointed a finger at Gabe. "I'm not chancing you on a mission we could send the littlest Alex on."

"I'm going," Gabe said again.

"No."

"Victoria." Gabe's voice was sharp that time. "I'm going in with William. Ryland and Suarez can back us up."

Victoria frowned. "I don't like it."

Gabe's stance softened. "I know. I'm doing it anyway." To William he said, "We'll go tomorrow."

***

Travis and the team he'd gone out with came back just before dinner with Maja and their girls.

"Uncle William!" Astrid leaped at him, and William swung her up in his arms.

"Hi, sweetheart. I've missed you." He didn't realize just how true that was until he said it.

Astrid wrapped her arms around his neck. "You were gone and then Daddy left and it was scary, but we still had Mommy to protect us."

"Your mommy's always going to protect you." William shifted Astrid to one side so he could lean down and hug Maja.

"Of course I am," she said. She held William close for a long time. "We were very worried."

"I'm sorry. I've been safe."

Maja stepped back and looked him up and down. "Travis said you've been here for three weeks. It's done you some good. You're not so skinny."

"Neither are you," William said without thinking, because she was beginning to show.

Maja grinned and put her hand over the swell of her belly. "Baby number three." She reached out to Astrid. "Give your sister a turn."

William passed Astrid to her and turned to take Ingrid from Travis. She sniffled a little and curled into his chest. William cradled her a little closer and looked up at Travis and Maja for an explanation.

"It's been a tough couple of weeks," Maja said.

"We're all safe," William murmured into Ingrid's hair, "and we're all here. You're gonna like it here."

He looked up to find Gabe standing on the edge of their little group watching him with a look he couldn't interpret. When William caught his eyes, he seemed to shake himself out of it and put on his usual smile.

"Hello. I'm Gabe. You must be Maja."

Maja did the thing she did where she took someone in with just a glance and made up her mind about them. She seemed to approve of Gabe because she smiled at him.

"Yes," she said. "This is Astrid. William has Ingrid."

"Hi, Astrid, Ingrid."

Ingrid turned her head to hide against William's chest.

Gabe smiled a little softer. "We have a tent set up for you, and dinner should be ready in just a bit." Gabe gestured for them to follow him. "You can rest up for a while or William can show you around the camp."

***

Victoria gave William back everything they'd confiscated when he'd arrived. He was a lot happier at the prospect of going on a mission with his own gear.

They took horses. William knew them well enough now that he had a relationship with the one he was riding, and Gabe's too. William was sneaky enough that Nate had never noticed him slipping her extra treats as a thank-you for helping Gabe save his life.

They left the horses at an unstaffed way station close to the forest's edge and went on foot into the city. They'd come in close enough that it wasn't too much of a walk before they were crossing a street onto Snakes & Suits' block.

"Standard signals," Ryland said as they approached. "Keep your comm open."

"I have done this before," Gabe told him.

"Sure," Ryland agreed, "but we lose you on this one, Vicky-T'll have our heads. Fangs up," he added as he broke away from them to take up a position across the street.

Suarez stopped next to the door. "Don't make Vicky-T kill us."

"Nothing's going to happen," Gabe said.

William pulled the door open just wide enough to slip through. He could feel Gabe's presence behind him as he did a visual sweep of the room. Mike was at one end of the bar, Nick behind it, three men sharing a pitcher in a far corner.

Mike looked up. William flashed the hand signals for "quiet" and "careful" before he could say or do anything more. Nick would know to be circumspect.

William jerked his head at a table near the back, away from the other customers, and held up three fingers at Nick in a silent order. Gabe followed him to the table and Mike came over a moment later and dropped into a chair.

"Christ," Mike said. "Seriously, Bill, what the fuck?" He stopped talking while Nick put three beers on the table in front of them.

"This is Gabe," William said when Nick was out of earshot again. "He's part of the Resistance. Real deal, organized and everything."

Mike snorted. "They're all organized." He eyed Gabe skeptically. "You can't believe every guy who tells you that just because you want to fuck them."

William ignored it, but he could feel Gabe's eyes on him. "I've been at one of their camps for three weeks. Jon's in, and he's been having them keep an eye out for us. Butcher and Michael are in." William sipped his beer to give Mike a moment to let that sink in.

Mike looked from William to Gabe and back again. "And you're deep in."

William leaned forward. "This is it, Mike. They're making progress."

Gabe leaned forward too. "For the past three weeks," he said, "we've had William doing safe camp chores only. No field missions, no fun stuff, and no propaganda. We only found out someone with us was looking for him two days ago. He doesn't believe in us because we've talked him into it."

"William," Mike said, "has a bad habit of falling for unsuitable revolutionaries."

"Travis and Maja brought the girls," William told him.

Mike paused with his glass just touching his lips, and then followed through and drank. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Come with us." William reached out and put his hand on Mike's arm. "Be a part of this."

Mike shook his head and looked down into his glass. William knew he was going to say yes.

***

Gabe didn't bring up what Mike had said about William wanting to fuck him.

***

One of the Alexes found William to let him know Gabe was looking for him. William headed to the command tent and was surprised to find Gabe alone. Victoria had been there every other time William had.

William settled onto a cushion across from Gabe.

"Pete's going to invite you to go with him," Gabe said without preamble, "if he hasn't already. He'll offer you your own team, even your old team if you want, and your pick of missions." Gabe rested his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers together. "If you stay here, you'll go on the missions Victoria and I give you with the team we assign you. You'll be on camp duty rotation, too - everyone is. The difference here is that Pete's leading a revolution, and we're going to win, but he's not thinking much about afterwards. We," Gabe waved one arm out to encompass the camp, "here, we're building the future. We have the highest proportion of children and families of any of the camps, and no one is exempt from keeping it running. If you stay with us, you can be a part of that." Gabe sat back.

William wanted to say yes, wanted to throw himself at Gabe and follow him to the end of the fucking world. But there was the rest of his old team to think about, and Travis and Maja.

"Just think about it," Gabe said. "This isn't a one-time offer. If you go with Pete, you can always come back, and I'm sure Pete's offer is the same."

"I'll think about it," William promised.

Gabe looked at him thoughtfully, but didn't say anything other than to dismiss him.

***

William found Travis and Maja lounging beneath a tree watching the girls play with a bunch of other kids. They scooted apart to make room for William between them. It was one of the things he loved about them.

"Are you going with Pete?" he asked after enough time had passed that his breath had synchronized with theirs.

"Yes," Maja answered for them. "His camp is safe, and the girls will already have a home when I can go on missions again."

"You're staying," Travis said. It wasn't a question.

"Gabe said I could." That wasn't quite an answer either.

Travis hugged him closer. "Pete says messages go back and forth all the time."

Maja leaned into him too. "And you can come visit us."

"I'll miss you," William said in barely a whisper.

"We'll miss you." Travis pressed a kiss to William's temple. "Gabe and Victoria damn well better keep you as safe as they can."

William nodded wordlessly and pressed closer to both of them.

***

Mike also left with Travis, Maja, the girls, and Pete in the morning. He seemed resigned to the fact that William wasn't going with them.

"Don't let him get you killed," he said before he left.

"You either."

"Not the same thing," Mike said. William followed his gaze to where Pete and Gabe were standing together. "I'll say no if Pete wants me to do something that's going to get me killed."

"I'm not going to get killed."

Mike sighed and hugged William. "Don't. I'll tell Butcher and Chiz you said hi."

William swallowed back the way that reminded him again about Sisky and what he was giving up by not going with his old team.

Travis, Maja, and the girls all hugged him, too, with both Astrid and Ingrid clinging to him until he had to give them back to Travis and Maja to leave.

He was watching them all go when Gabe slung an arm over his shoulders. Gabe didn't say anything, just stood with him until they were out of sight.

***

Gabe and Victoria sent William on a couple of simple recon missions and worked him into the regular camp duty schedule. Conversations continued even at his approach. He learned where and what the camp's tech was. His camp duty rotation included child care.

Gabe joined him on his first time on child care duty. "It's like playing hooky," he said, "except Vicky-T lets me get away with it." Gabe knew every kid's name and threw himself into playing tag, mediating disputes, and making sure everyone knew when and how to throw up the fangs, Cobra Camp's signal of solidarity. William suspected that last was at least partially for his benefit.

And then came the day when he answered a summons to the command tent and found Gabe grinning maniacally, Victoria smiling fondly, and Suarez, Ryland, and Nate waiting patiently.

"We're taking out a comm station," Gabe told him. "And we thought since you have experience with that you might be able to help."

"And this time you're not going to get the Association after you," Victoria added, but she was smiling so it wasn't meant to be mean. "We're much better informed."

She put William in charge of explosives. He had to take a minute, when Gabe took him to the armory to pick out what he needed, to think about what that meant, now, that they would let him.

"Quit stalling," Gabe said. "Let's blow this popsicle stand."

"I know how to make bombs just strong enough to kick your ass without killing you," William warned.

Gabe held up his hands to protest his innocence. "You're the expert."

"Damn right I am." Their armory was amazingly well stocked and organized. It didn't take William long to assemble what he needed to take out a comm station - and no extras to kick Gabe's ass, although he was tempted for a moment.

They put Gabe and William in the middle of their formation once they got close enough to the comm station for it to matter.

"Going silent," Gabe said, his voice echoing in the comm in William's ear.

The comm station came into sight, and they all stopped, crouching down to watch. Their information said that this side of the station should be unguarded now. They watched long enough to know it was true before they moved out in a wide arc.

Association comm stations were all built on the same plan, and William had done this before. It was easy enough to plant charges in the right places to disable the comm station without taking out any of its personnel.

They got out without a hitch, too. Having the Resistance's resources made a huge difference.

"Want to watch?" he asked when they'd pulled back far enough that Gabe lifted their radio silence.

"Vicky-T?" Gabe asked, his voice whispering in all their ears, even as they moved back in together for their return to camp.

Victoria's sigh echoed in their ears. She muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Boys," and then said, loud enough to be heard clearly, "Stay clear. You should have time."

With their optics, they had a good view of the comm station. William kept an eye on the time. His charges went off exactly when he'd set them to, a coordinated burst of sound and fire.

"Damn." Gabe's admiring whisper came in stereo from both beside William and over the comm in his ear.

They watched the building empty out and the fire spread until Victoria said in their ears, "Association knows it's down. Personnel are all clear. Get back here before they find you."

William was on, focused, all the way back to camp. It wasn't until they'd turned the horses over to Bryan, one of the Alexes-who-wasn't-but-might-as-well-be, that his usual post explosives op jitters set in. Something about setting bombs always ramped up his adrenaline.

With his old team, they would have partied or played music until everyone was calm again, but this was his first explosives op with Gabe's team, and he didn't know what their rituals were.

Their first stop was the command tent to report in to Victoria, who grinned at them. "Good work."

Gabe wrapped an arm around her and smacked a kiss onto her cheek. "You know we always get the job done."

Victoria chuckled, and leaned into it for a moment before pushing Gabe away. "Anything unusual, anything we didn't get over the comms?"

"Smooth as butter," Gabe assured her.

"Good work." She waved everyone but Gabe away. "Get out of here. You're off duty for the afternoon. Enjoy it."

"Victoria," Gabe said.

"Gabriel," she said. They stared at each other for a moment, and then she sighed. "Go!"

Gabe grinned brightly at her. "I love you, too, Vicky-T." He grabbed William's wrist. "Let's get out of here before she changes her mind," he stage-whispered.

Nate, Ryland, and Suarez peeled away from them as they moved away from the command tent, but Gabe kept his grip on William's wrist. It helped with his post-op jitters, having something concrete to focus on.

Gabe pulled him along with enough determination and purpose that people stayed out of their way. Gabe eventually dragged him into a tent William realized must be his when he saw shoes he recognized lined up neatly along one wall.

"What?" he asked, not sure how to finish the question.

Gabe let go of his wrist long enough to tie the flap shut and flip the switch for the sound dampener. When he turned back, the look on his face was something darker and more predatory than anything William had seen from him before.

"You," he said, "drive me crazy."

Before William could even begin to figure out an appropriate response to that, Gabe's hands were on either side of his face and Gabe's mouth came down on his.

William fought back into the kiss, grabbing at Gabe and biting his lip. Yes, yes, this would do as a come-down.

He pushed Gabe back. "Wait a sec." He took off his pack and carefully set it down at the edge of one of the walls.

He pressed himself back up against Gabe. With the pack out of the way, Gabe was free to dig his fingers into William's back. William retaliated by sinking his teeth into Gabe's neck.

Gabe let out a startled groan. "I'm going to fuck you," he promised into William's ear.

Yes, William thought, but. "You think you can?" He moved his mouth a few inches and bit down again.

"I know I can." Gabe bit him back, sucking deep against the underside of his jaw.

William didn't doubt it, but he was still running down his adrenaline, so he was going to make Gabe work for it. They grappled and bit and scratched their way naked. William knew that if they'd had more space, it would have been even more of a fight.

Gabe was just bigger enough, and William was just this side of pulling his survival instinct that wanted him to win, that William ended up pinned face down on Gabe's bedroll. He made sure to push back up against Gabe's hold instead of melting into it the way he wanted to. It was easier when Gabe pulled him up onto his knees. He tugged against Gabe's hands on his hips and got his ass bitten for it. He barely managed to keep himself from falling forward at that.

Gabe chuckled a little and slapped over the bite. "Hold still."

William let his head drop and waited until he felt the first push of Gabe's cock to start moving again. He put every bit of muscle into bracing himself against the bedroll and the ground beneath it so he could slam his hips back into Gabe's. It left him without a hand for his own cock, and Gabe wasn't touching him either. But then it didn't matter, because Gabe scraped his nails down William's side and bit his shoulder and William came without needing to be touched.

His adrenaline had pretty much burnt out, so he stopped forcing his arms to hold him up and let his chest collapse down onto the bedroll. Gabe held his hips up with a grip tight enough to leave marks. William reached lazily back to cover one of Gabe's hands with his.

Gabe half choked out William's name and dug his fingernails deeper into his hips as he came. He stayed there, close against William for a moment before he let out a shuddering breath and moved to lie next to him instead.

William turned on his side to face Gabe. He was too tired to do anything other than just look.

Gabe leaned in, though, and kissed him, slow and deep, and nothing like their earlier kisses. They traded kisses for a while, William fighting sleep to do it, until Gabe got the listening look he had when he was getting something over his comm. Then he sighed and kissed William a little more firmly.

"Commander's work is never done." He rolled to his feet. "No," he said when William started to push himself up. "You stay." He pulled on his pants and leaned over to press his lips against William's. "You still get the rest of the afternoon off."

William watched him shrug his shirt back on, pull on his socks, tie his shoes. Then he knelt over William again. He cupped William's face in his hands, his thumbs rubbing across William's cheek.

"Hey," Gabe said.

William smiled against his hands. "Hey." He leaned up and met Gabe's kiss halfway.

Gabe pulled away. "I'll see you later." He pressed his lips against William's forehead. "Get some sleep. You did good work today."

William pushed at Gabe's shoulders. "I always do good work. Get out of here."

Gabe grinned and ducked out of the tent, retying the flap behind him. William pulled Gabe's bedroll around him and dropped off into sleep.

He woke up feeling sore and satisfied in a way he hadn't in a long time. There wasn't an obvious clock in Gabe's tent - he probably used his implanted tech to get the time - so William dug one out of his pack. Late enough that he should get up if he wanted dinner.

He cataloged the marks on his body as he got dressed. The scratches on his hips were deep lines of red but Gabe hadn't broken the skin. There were tender spots across the back of his shoulders and under his jaw. He poked around until he found a mirror; the only thing that would show once he was dressed was the bruise under his jaw, and if he was lucky, no one would notice it in the growing twilight.

He considered taking his pack to the tent he was sharing with Nate, but now that he was up and moving, he just wanted food. Besides, he was hoping to come back here afterwards.

A rush of cool air greeted him when he untied the flap, so he ducked back in and grabbed the spare sweater out of his pack to pull over his shirt.

He was eating and listening to a couple of the Alexes argue about vegetable storage when Gabe found him. Gabe sat close enough that his knee rested against William's. Victoria came with him and sat on William's other side, but a few inches farther away.

"That was the cleanest explosives work to ever come out of our camp," she said. "Think you could give some pointers to some of our other teams?"

Gabe leaned over, his shoulder against William's. "Vicky-T's gearing up for head of education after the revolution."

"Ignore him," Victoria said. "What do you say?"

"We talking pointers, or we talking Explosives 101?"

"More like Explosives 102 for most of our people. Alexes probably need 101."

"I'm going to need some space," William told her, already thinking through supply lists and lesson plans. "Cleared and isolated."

Victoria nodded. "I might have a place. I'll let you know."

After she left, William turned back to Gabe. He was talking to one of the teenagers about something that might have been poker strategy, but he reached over and squeezed William's knee.

The usual parade of people wandered by to talk to Gabe about everything from mission details to intercepted entertainment broadcasts. When things started to slow down, Gabe leaned in close to William. "Why don't you go move your things from Nate's tent to mine."

William could feel his lips moving to match the curl of warmth spreading through him. "Yeah?" He'd wanted nothing more than to stay with Gabe maybe since the moment Gabe had pulled him up onto his horse.

"Yeah." Gabe's voice dropped into a low growl. "I'm not done with you yet."

"I'm not done with you either," William promised. "And I had a nice long nap, so I'm very well-rested."

Gabe gave an exaggerated yawn. "I'm very tired." He winked. "At least that's what I'm going to tell Vicky-T."

***

"The bitch of it is," Gabe said when he pushed through the flap later, "that I really am tired." He lined his shoes up with the others and flopped down with his head in William's lap.

"Commander's work is never done." William pushed his fingers through Gabe's hair and then scritched at his scalp.

Gabe groaned. "It is worth every second of it if I get to come home to you."

William knew he was grinning like a loon, but he couldn't stop. "You could just let me do all the work."

"While I lay back and think of England?"

"Nah, you lay back and think of me." William tugged at Gabe. "But first let me get you out of those clothes."

"All you had to do was ask." Gabe only half cooperated, though; he kept insisting on kissing William instead of just letting William undress him.

"Stop it," William laughed as he said it, "or I'll tie you up."

"I don't think I have the energy for that tonight." Gabe actually looked sorry to be saying it. "Maybe next time."

That time William kissed him. "Then stop getting in my way." He got the rest of Gabe's clothes off and pushed him down into their combined bedrolls. He made a show out of getting his own clothes off, which Gabe appreciated if his growing erection was anything to go by.

He crawled his way up Gabe's body, dropping kisses along his legs until he got to Gabe's cock. He didn't bother teasing, just took Gabe in as deep as he could and sucked.

"Fuck! William!" Gabe's hips made an abortive upward thrust.

William held the taste and feel of Gabe, heavy and full against his tongue, in his mouth for a few moments longer before he resumed kissing his way up Gabe's body.

"I love your mouth," Gabe said fervently after William kissed him again.

"It's yours," William said without thinking. He didn't want to take it back anyway. While Gabe's hands ran over his face, he reached behind Gabe for the slick he'd made sure was where he wanted it when he was moving himself in.

"Hey, wait," Gabe protested when William pushed two slick fingers into himself. "I thought you were doing all the work here."

"I am." William put his dry hand on Gabe's chest and slicked the other one over Gabe's cock. "You just lie there."

"After earlier," Gabe said, watching William's face, "you're already going to be feeling me for a week."

"So I'll feel you for two."

"William," Gabe said, still watching him, "you can fuck me."

"And maybe next time I will," William said, watching him back. "This time I'm going to ride you."

Gabe reached for him and cupped his hands around William's hips. "I don't want to hurt you."

William scowled down at him. "I don't need taking care of."

"It's one of the things I like about you," Gabe said evenly. "I still don't want to be responsible for hurting you."

"You're not." William ended the discussion by sliding down onto Gabe's cock. "You're giving me what I want." He covered Gabe's hands with his and squeezed, pressing them into the marks already on his skin.

He managed a couple of rolls of his hips before Gabe was tugging at him. "No, wait." Gabe used his grip on William's body to pull himself up.

William's frustration bubbled up into a noise at the back of his throat. "What-"

"I want- Will you just move with me?" Gabe pushed and pulled and tugged until he had his knees under him. "There," he said. "Now you can ride me."

It put them close enough that Gabe could wrap his arms around William and grab his hips from around his back. It also forced William's legs wider.

"But make it fast. My knees can't take this for long."

"You're awfully bossy for someone who's supposed to be letting me do all the work." William rolled his hips, trying to figure out what was going to work best like that.

"And you're awfully uncooperative for a guy who's getting what he says he wants." Gabe slid one hand down from William's hip to his ass. "I'm fucking you, okay? So stop fighting me." Gabe covered William's mouth with his and rolled his hips in counterpoint to William's.

Together they found a rhythm without talking, and Gabe's hand moved from William's ass to his cock where he stroked in the same rhythm.

It didn't take long before William was curling over Gabe and coming across both their stomachs. He kept moving, for Gabe, until Gabe's low groan let him know he didn't need to anymore.

Gabe kissed him sloppily for a while before William pushed him back down onto the bedroll. He reached for the cloth he'd also made sure to have nearby and cleaned them both up before settling in next to Gabe and pulling the bedroll around them.

"Are you always that much trouble in bed?"

William glared at Gabe, but he was sated and well-fucked, so it was less than sincere. "And here I was trying to make it good for you."

"Oh, it was." Gabe reached out to kill the lights and then tugged William closer, so they were pressed together from shoulder to ankle. "It was very, very good," he murmured into William's ear.

William closed his eyes and shifted so he could cuddle himself against Gabe's body. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept with someone he trusted enough to actually fall asleep with. It was nice.

Gabe's hand running through his hair was also nice.

"I thought you were tired," William said after a while. Gabe's hand stopped moving, and there was the press of his lips against William's temple.

"You make me forget that I want to sleep."

William turned his head enough to find a patch of Gabe's skin to kiss. He didn't want to think about what his voice might give away if he responded directly to that.

"Why Cobra Camp?" he asked instead.

Gabe huffed out a breath that might have been a laugh. "Not many people know this story."

"I won't tell it," William promised.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing you're already in my bed." Gabe's fingers started moving through William's hair and across his skin again.

William grinned. "That kind of story, huh?"

"Probably not how you think." William could hear the answering grin in Gabe's voice. "I was working with this team, and I was pretty tired of it. I still believed we needed to get rid of the Association, but." Gabe shrugged, enough for William to feel it but not enough to displace him. "I didn't think we were getting anywhere with what we were doing. So I hooked up with this group that was traveling around, and I ended up in the desert where there are still a few tribes. I ended up going on a sort of accidental vision quest."

William couldn't help laughing. "How do you accidentally go on a vision quest?"

"Hush." Gabe was almost laughing too. "There was peyote and a snake bite, it was a thing." He quieted again. "I saw The Cobra. It told me that what we were doing wasn't working, and that I needed to bring a new way to the resistance. It has to be about dancing and love, and working for a future that's better than this one."

"Like Emma Goldman," William said.

"Yes." There was a pleased note in Gabe's voice, and his fingers pressed warm and flat against William's body. "I'd met Pete before, so when I worked my way back, I talked to him and he said he'd help me set up a new camp."

"And then you got Victoria," William guessed.

"No," Gabe corrected. "Nate came first, and then Ryland and Alex. Suarez. And then Elisa." There was a hard edge to the name. "She was Association."

William caught one of Gabe's hands in his and threaded their fingers together. After a long moment, Gabe exhaled and relaxed against him.

"Vicky-T came later. And then others, families, the Alexes. And you."

"And me," William agreed. "I haven't seen much dancing," he said after a moment.

Gabe's laugh came warm and bright in the darkness. "We'll have to do more of that, then."

***

William woke up before Gabe. If he'd let himself think about it he might have guessed Gabe would be as used to early mornings as he was now, but maybe Gabe liked to sleep, or maybe he relied on his tech to wake him up. Either way, he watched Gabe in the light starting to seep in around the edges of the tent flap. He could tell when Gabe woke up, his face tensing and relaxing again.

"People in the cities don't know."

"Don't know what?" If Gabe was surprised or troubled to be having a discussion before he even opened his eyes, it didn't show.

"About any of this. There are rumors about people in the woods, but no real information." William sat up and looked down at Gabe. "They don't know that there's anything else. They don't know there's a real Resistance. They don't know there's another way."

Gabe opened his eyes and reached out to run a hand down William's side. "We haven't had a lot of luck before."

"So try again." It came out a lot fiercer than William expected.

Gabe's mouth stretched into a wide grin, and he propped himself up far enough to get to William. "I like you better every time you yell at me," he said after he kissed William. William scowled at him, and Gabe chuckled.

"It's probably time for me to go visit Pete anyway." Gabe used his grip on William to pull himself up so he was sitting too. "You want to come with me?"

"Yes," William answered without hesitation. He'd sent a few messages back and forth to Mike and to Travis and Maja, but it would be good to see them.

"Vicky-T's going to kick my ass for taking you away after she's finally figured out a way to get you to teach something." Gabe didn't look particularly upset by the prospect. He pressed a quick, firm kiss against William's lips. "Probably be a couple of days before we can leave. She'll have you on regular duty rotation until then."

William nodded and looked down.

Gabe tipped his head up with one finger under his chin. "You're staying with me, you know."

William turned his head into Gabe's hand. "Am I?"

Gabe pushed up onto his knees, which brought him closer and meant William had to look up at him. "You are." He kissed William long and deep, and then broke away to swear. "Vicky-T's insisting I stop canoodling and get to work. She's not going to let me get away with keeping you here all morning." He stood up and started sorting out his clothes from William's, tossing William's back toward him.

Part 2