Chapter Text
It started with Gavin.
It was their first, serious heist as a crew and Geoff couldn't be fucking prouder. He spent a long time collecting a small, six man crew. He grabbed Jack from a street race, collected two mercenaries, Michael and Ryan, picked up Ray, a tiny thief, and kind of adopted a British dork with a penchant for weapons.
They were a bizarre group of criminals, coming to know each other in petty thefts and various hits. It was their first time in a crew and they were all unsure of how to proceed, just making it up as they went.
There were sirens echoing in the air and Geoff was sliding into the car while Ryan floored it, his earpiece shrieking in his ear. Explosions rocked behind them and Michael's maniacal laughter filled the air.
"Go, go, go!"
Choppers rained bullets overhead but by then, Ryan had pulled them out into the street, dodging cop cars and pedestrians. Adrenaline coursed through his body and the bag of money was heavy on Geoff's lap.
Not too bad for a first heist.
Then Jack was screaming, Gavin's voice went silent, and it seemed like everything in Geoff's heart sank to his toes.
"What the fuck is going on?" Geoff screeched into his comm unit. "Where's fucking Bravo Two?!"
"Something happened," Michael said between huffs of breaths. "Fuck, Alpha One, I don't know. The car just blew up and Gav was in it."
"What?!" Ryan snapped, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel. He took a turn too quick, tires squealing on the asphalt. "Where's Jack?!"
"Fuck!" Michael's voice went up three octaves.
"What. The. Fuck. Is. Happening?" Geoff growled. "Fucking, where is Gavin? What happened to Jack? What is going on?!"
Ryan let out a snarl and turned viciously into an alley. Geoff was flung across the seat, sliding across the leather and crashing into Ryan.
"You need to answer, you fuckers," Ryan said lowly.
"Um, listen," Ray said, his voice tight. "Something happened and, um, it's fucking bizarre, Geoff."
"Want to explain?" Geoff managed through clenched teeth. A migraine was building up behind his eyes.
"Just, oh god," Michael gasped. "Geoff, listen, I understand the plan, believe me I fucking understand. But this is serious. Just, fucking, meet us back at the apartment."
Geoff turned to glance at Ryan, giving a shrug. "Fine, we'll met you there. Comms off. See you soon."
The silence was deafening after the screaming and Geoff let out a heavy sigh of relief. Ryan pulled out slowly and carefully drove to the apartment. He desperately tried to piece together what happened with the others.
Gavin had to be dead, he had to be. Geoff could kill himself for sending Gavin into the danger, hearing his comm go silent, the echoes of the explosion haunting him. Then Jack's suspicious silence, Michael's frantic voice.
"What do you think happened?" Geoff asked softly.
"I don't dare think," Ryan replied shortly.
The apartment came up close and they ran inside, Geoff clutching the money bag close to his chest. He pushed the door open and the smell of burning cloth and hair floated towards him. The others were sitting in the living room; all four and all alive.
Geoff let the tension roll of his shoulders. They were alive. He tossed the bag onto the table and took three steps forward. He stopped; something was wrong.
Jack's shirt was riddled with blood and bullet holes even though he was alive and whole. Gavin's hair was ashy, tips smoldering, and his shirt was smoking.
"What the fuck."
"I died," Gavin gasped. His hands were shaking on his lap. "The car exploded and I died. I felt it. Then I came back."
Geoff gaped. "Excuse me?"
"I died too," Jack whispered. "The choppers came in and shot me. I felt every one of them. Then it all went black and I was back."
"Fucking, what?" Geoff sat down, desperately trying to understand.
"I saw it," Michael whispered. "I hid in an alley, blew up the semi, and the cops ran off. Then, fucking Gavin stood up from the wrecked car and Jack was coughing from bullet wounds."
"What the hell?" Geoff turned to Ray. "Did you see this too?"
"Fuck, Geoff, I don't know what I saw," Ray pushed his glasses up and rubbed his eyes. "I saw them die and I saw them come back."
"I've heard of this," Ryan spoke suddenly. "The immortality."
"Immortality?" the others repeated.
Ryan shrugged. "It's kind of a legend. Like a recessive gene in humanity that allows a microscopic amount of people to live forever. Apparently Gavin and Jack have that."
"That's bullshit," Geoff shook his head. "Something else happened because there is no fucking way that they're actually immortal. It's not possible."
Ryan shrugged, pulled out a gun, and shot Gavin and Jack cleanly in the head. Michael and Ray shouted and jumped from the seat. Geoff jumped and punched the gun from Ryan's hand.
Blood was pooling on the floor where Jack and Gavin's dead bodies fell. Geoff didn't normally feel nauseous in the face of blood and gore, but this was different. Seeing Gavin, forehead blown to shit, pale on the floor beside Jack, eyes wide and glassy, was completely different than the others he's killed.
"What the fuck is your deal?!"
"It's the best way to prove it!"
"By fucking shooting them?"
"You killed them, Ryan!"
"They're coming back, calm your tits."
"No! My tits will not be calm when you killed two of our crew mates in fucking cold blood!"
Gavin coughed and sat up, rubbing his forehead where the bullet had penetrated his brain. There was no hole, not even a scar on his forehead. Jack gave a groan and rolled over, his forehead in a similar state of wholeness.
"See?" Ryan said. "Fine."
"You shot me!" Gavin jumped up and pointed to Ryan. "You didn't even hesitate! You just killed me! And Jack!"
"What the hell," Jack groaned. "That is not how you test immortality, Ryan."
"Better here instead of on a job," Ryan shrugged. "Which, by the way, is an incredible asset that we need to use."
"Fucking maniac," Michael shook his head. He stood up and stomped to his bedroom.
"God, Ryan," Ray stood up, hands shaking. "Are we friends or not?"
"You know it's really unpleasant," Jack slowly sat up. "We are literally being thrust back into our bodies after being killed! And dying fucking hurts. I felt that gunshot in my brain."
"Eh, it's pretty cool," Gavin shrugged. "I mean, I think I could get used to it."
"No, no, no," Geoff insisted. "You are not getting used to it. You're not dying again. We don't know if this immortality lasts forever. Maybe it's like cats and you only have nine lives before you die all the way."
"I don't think that's how it works," Ryan said.
"And you!" Geoff turned to Ryan. "I don't want to hear another fucking thing from you until this immortality shit is figured out. You're a trigger happy bastard on the best of days and I don't trust your judgement right now."
Ryan sighed but lifted his hands in surrender. Geoff sighed and sat at the kitchen table pouring a glass of whiskey. First heist and everything went wrong and immortality was suddenly their new reality.