Chapter Text
“McCree!”
The shout made Jesse groan as he was pulled out of his light sleep. He curled around the pillow and tried to let sleep reclaim. Another shout and a bang on the door made him only more aware of that this wasn’t his bed back at the base.
He didn’t get more time to think about it before the door slammed open, making him sit straight up in bed with his heart in his throat. In walked Gabriel Reyes with a disapproving frown.
“Get up, kid. You got work to do,” he said and dumped a pile of clothes in Jesse’s lap. Jesse blinked and stared blankly at the clothes before he shook his head and glanced towards the clock.
“It’s 4:30, boss,” he groaned and fell back down. “What could possibly need my attention now?”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “Have you forgotten what you are supposed to do?”
Jesse laid still for a moment before he raised his right hand. “We’re supposed to recon the area, right?”
A heavy sigh and a grumble that Jesse didn’t catch. “You are supposed to work undercover in the coffee shop ‘Amelia’s Coffee’ for at least a month. Depending on what we get out of it, it will either be longer or shorter. So get dressed and prepare for work.” With that, Gabriel turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the door wide open.
Jesse gave the door the middle finger and laid still in bed for a minute before he gathered the quilt around him. He shivered when his feet touched the floor, but he resisted the urge to crawl back into bed. After the door was closed, and locked, he took a look on the clothes. A simple white shirt and blue jeans. He grumbled as he pulled them on.
He stifled a yawn as he walked into the safe house's kitchen.
“You’re finally up, good. Get some food in you and get the move on. Don’t want you to be late,” Gabriel said without looking up from the newspaper in his hands.
“Where’s everyone?” Jesse mumbled as he navigated through the cabinets for something to eat.
“Sleeping. Their jobs start later.”
“And then why are you up?”
“To wake up your sorry ass. Now hurry before you get fired. Remember where the place is?” Gabriel glanced at Jesse as he took a seat on the other side of the table with a sandwich in his hand.
Jesse took a bite of his sandwich in thought as he tried to recall all of the information he had gotten. He swallowed the bite and nodded. “Yup, pretty sure of it.”
“Are you sure? You seemed pretty out of it a few minutes ago,” Gabriel said and threw a critical eye at Jesse.
“Because you woke me up from my sleep, you ass,” Jesse said and pointed an accusing finger at the other man.
“Good to see you muttering nonsense again. Eat up and go, you report when you get back here. Give us a ping if there is an emergency.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Jesse knew when he was dismissed and therefore didn’t linger any longer in the kitchen than necessary. After all, he had a new job to do.
~
He hated this. He had barely worked in the shop for two hours and he already hated it. So much people was coming in and out of the shop and while most people wasn’t rude, very few seemed to appreciate Jesse’s work effort. He swore to himself that he would make Gabriel pay for forcing him to work at this place.
“Huh. You’re new.”
Jesse blinked out of his own little world and looked at the new person who was ready to order. His breath got caught in his throat as he took in the appearance of the man in front of him. Long hair that rolled past his shoulders, dark eyes narrowed at him and lips pushed into a thin line.
Jesse tried to shake himself of the stare he slided into, but he couldn’t stop the small flutter in his stomach. He had to stop himself to reach for a non-existing hat to tip.
“Howdy! I’m Jesse. How did’ya know that that I was new?” he asked as he leaned on the counter and smiled.
The man raised an eyebrow at him. “I’ve never seen you here before. A latte please,” he said and Jesse was forced to work on the order, despite that he just wanted to ogle at the handsome stranger.
“So, you’re a regular?” he couldn’t help to ask when he handed the man his latte.
“Yes,” he simply said before he started to make room for the next person.
“I’ll see you then!” Jesse said with a big grin as he waved after the man. He received a huff in response, but it only made him grin bigger.
Maybe these weeks wouldn’t be as bad as he thought.