76 startles, trying to step away from Gabriel as his arms entrap him but finding Gabriel's grip too strong to pull away from, even as he begins to struggle, pushing at Gabriel's chest and twisting his own torso to try and find freedom. He can't accept a kind touch, not from Gabriel, not from anyone. He doesn't deserve it, and Jack's starved himself of human contact for so long he's scared of indulging, even in the confines of his own dreamscape.

"Let me go," 76's voice isn't strong, it wavers like Gabriel's does, it refuses to stay steady and 76 can't handle the emotional intensity of the situation. Reaper would never allow vulnerability, he'd never let himself be soft, honest, or true. The last person 76 had spoken to that had said a kind word to him had been Ana in Cairo, but even that seems like a fever dream that 76 came up with after a particular serious battle with a few bottles of scotch.