PART FOUR: Looking at the Stars - (J2, R)
Ty Olsson is a brusque, bristly man with a warm handshake. He reminds Jared so much of Jeff Morgan he has to wonder if they’re related. He’s more than happy to take them to Kendor, offers to accompany them to the planet’s surface.
“Anybody that means as much to Jeff Morgan as Jensen does deserves all the rescuing,” he says. “And any friend of Jeff’s is a friend of mine, brother. I owe that man my life. But that’s a story for another time.”
It takes a little over twenty-four hours to get to Kendor. Jared spends most of the time pacing, worrying, desperate and anxious on Jensen’s behalf. He forgets his mission, ignores calls from his university, bites his nails. Olsson’s spacious ship has a gym, so Jared spends a lot of the time with a punching bag, punching until sweat pours down his back and chest, rolls down his face and blinding him, making his eyes sting.
“You know, he might not even be there,” Genevieve warns him. “Heyerdahl may be keeping him somewhere else.”
“Shut up,” Jared snaps. “I can’t think about that right now.”
As it turns out, she’s right. The Kendor Brothel adamantly denies putting out a bounty on Jensen.
“Mr. Morgan paid us fair and square,” the diminutive red-headed owner, Ruth Connell, assures them. “We would never betray that kind of patronage. It would give us a bad name.”
“Do you have any idea where Heyerdahl might have taken Jensen?” Jared uses his most professional tone because he can tell that Danneel would rather shoot someone. Anyone.
“Well, I might have information of that kind, but it would be highly unethical to disclose it. Mr. Heyerdahl was a regular patron until he became an obsessed lunatic.”
Danneel reaches for her gun, but Genevieve puts a hand on her arm, stopping her. They stare at each other in such an intimate way it makes Jared blush.
“How much?” Jared asks, reaching into the pocket of his shirt. He pulls out the wad of bills, meant for the negotiation on Alexandria, and watches as Ruth’s eyes widen.
“My, my, Professor. Anyone would think you’re proposing a bribe,” Ruth says, laying a delicate hand on her slender throat. “Surely not.”
Jared closes his eyes, sucks in a slow breath before opening them. Ruth has moved closer so that she stands close enough for Jared to feel her heat. She lays a hand on his, the one holding the money, and looks up at him, batting her eyelashes.
“So, do we have a deal?” Jared asks.
Ruth takes the cash, thumbs through it, casually counting, then rolls it tight and shoves it into her cleavage.
“For a professor, you make an excellent businessman,” she says, arching her brows at him.
Danneel rolls her eyes and lets out a disgusted huff. Jared and Ruth ignore her. Ruth takes Jared’s hand, leads him to her desk, parks him as close as possible as she uses an extremely ancient quill pen to scratch an address onto a piece of paper. Then she folds it over and takes one of Jared’s hands, the one formerly holding the cash. She tucks the paper into his hand, closing it over the paper with her other hand as she gazes up at him.
“You must have been a beautiful youth,” she purrs. “We could have made so much money together.”
After they leave the room, Danneel rolls her eyes. “That was truly disgusting.”
Jared opens his palm, unfurls the paper to reveal the address written on it.
“Productive,” he says. “Now we know where to find our boy.”
//**//**//
The journey to Maleus Prime takes them more than a week. Jared’s a wreck by the time they arrive, sure they made a fatal mistake in stopping at Kendor in the first place, as it took them out of their way and delayed the trip. Jensen has now been in captivity for at least ten days, probably more, since the wormhole between Kendor and Maleus Prime creates time vortexes on a regular basis, turning weeks into years in some places.
Unexpectedly, Christopher Heyerdahl welcomes them with open arms.
“I’m sure you’d like to see how improved our mutual acquaintance is, now that he’s joined my home.”
Jared hates him on principle, but Danneel’s gaze is hard enough to cut stone.
Genevieve keeps a hand on her arm as they enter Heyerdahl’s compound. The outer courtyard is lined with human statuary, all of naked men in various classical poses, very tasteful but creepy at the same time. The companions’ weapons are removed from them by house security, all handsome men dressed in black, before Heyerdahl leads them into his inner sanctum.
High ceilings, bubbling fountains, and more statuary greet them. In the center of the room is a clear-water pool, where scantily-clad men swim and lounge. Jared’s eyes skim over the nearly-naked bodies, but Jensen isn’t among them. At the back of the room, a long, low table spread with fresh fruit, cheese, and various delicacies sits among several low, soft chairs that seem to be more like cushions. Heyerdahl takes his place at the head of the table, sitting cross-legged on the chair there, which molds around him, with armrests and a chair back that rises up so that he can lean back comfortably.
He gestures for the companions to join him, and Jared does, determined to play along with whatever game Heyerdahl has running, at least until they see Jensen.
Danneel and Genevieve remain standing.
“As you can see, I run a very civilized home,” Heyerdahl purrs. “Very disciplined. You are all guests here, and as such are welcome to sample all the delicacies on offer.”
He waves a hand, gestures both at the table and at the pool full of men.
“We’re here to see Jensen,” Jared says, keeping his voice even.
“Of course you are,” Heyerdahl purrs. “He’s my star pupil, my life’s work, my favorite pet.”
“He’s our friend,” Jared says.
“Of course he is.” Heyerdahl gestures to one of his security guards, who slides a door open in the wall behind them.
A man stands there, in a lighted alcove, wearing nothing but a loincloth. Gold cuffs adorn his wrists, ankles, and upper arms. A gold collar circles his neck, small gold rings hang from his nipples and earlobes. His lips and cheeks are rouged, his eyes lined dark.
Jensen.
Jared forces himself not to gasp. Jensen’s gaze is steady and clear, so at least he’s not drugged. But his eyes meet Jared’s without a flicker of recognition, and when he casts a similar blank look at Danneel, she cracks.
“What have you done to him?”
Heyerdahl smiles. “I’ve trained him,” he says. “He does exactly what I want him to do. For now, he’s a decorative set-piece for our meal.”
Jared’s jaw clenches. “How much do you want for him?”
“Oh, he’s not for sale,” Heyerdahl purrs. “Although, if you’d like an evening with him, that can be arranged. For free, as my guest.”
“You sick son of a bitch.” Danneel spits out, and although she’s standing behind Jared so he can’t see her face, he’s sure she’s scowling. Furious. He can feel her tension.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jared sees Genevieve reach out to lay a steadying hand on her partner’s forearm.
“Now, now, Captain.” Heyerdahl clucks his tongue. “That’s no way to talk to your host. I’ve welcomed you into my home, offered you food and entertainment. The least you can do is be civil in return.”
“You kidnapped and tortured our friend,” Danneel snaps. “The professor here offered you money to release him. We’re not leaving without him, so you can either accept the professor’s offer, or we will take our friend and go.”
“How can you be so sure Jensen would come with you?” Heyerdahl asks with a sly smile. His hand curls around a small black box on the table and Jared realizes with a start that it’s a remote control. At the tap of a button, Heyerdahl can send electric shocks to the cuffs on Jensen’s body.
“Jensen wouldn’t willingly stay here,” Jared says. “If you weren’t controlling him with that, he wouldn’t stay here another minute.”
Heyerdahl’s grin widens. His hand closes around the little black box, picks it up, and opens his hand so that it sits on his palm, small and black and smooth. Menacing.
“This? You think this is controlling him?” Heyerdahl smirks. “Take it, then. You can have it. Here, take it.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Jared senses movement. He looks up at Jensen, catches something flickering in the captain’s eye for just a moment before his expression goes completely blank again.
When Jared reaches for the black box, all hell breaks loose.
“Personal wormhole capacitor,” he hears in his head as he takes the object, and suddenly everything makes sense.
Jensen’s been here forever, and never. He’s here and not here. It’s up to Jared to reverse the wormhole, to take them back where they belong.
Jared’s head spins as he loses conscious thought. The room seems to erupt in gunfire, bodies dropping all around. Jensen’s suddenly moving beside him, raising a blade that looks impossibly long, driving it into Heyerdahl’s body over and over again.
“What the hell.”
Jared closes his fist around the black object but keeps his eyes open as Danneel and Genevieve drop security team members, two or three at a time until there’s no one left, just the three companions, and Jensen.
Jensen’s covered in blood, and Heyerdahl is very, very dead. The room is still. All the men from the pool have disappeared. Jensen draws a breath, leaves the long blade stuck in Heyerdahl’s body, and turns to Jared, hand out.
When Jared puts the black box into Jensen’s hand, Jensen doesn’t hesitate. He drops it onto the table and smashes it with one of the smaller statues, over and over until it’s a pulverized mangled mess. He only stops when Jared lays a hand on his bare back.
“I think you killed it,” Jared assures him.
Jensen raises wild eyes to Jared, who’s never seen so much fury contained in a human face before.
“Come on,” Danneel says. “We should get out of here before anyone else comes.”
Jared grabs the tablecloth off the table, sending food and dishes crashing to the ground, and wraps it around Jensen’s near-nakedness. He wipes blood and makeup off of Jensen’s face with the corner, then slips an arm around him and hustles him out of the house.
Jensen says nothing, lets himself be led away from Heyerdahl’s house of horrors without a word.
In the shuttle, Jensen cleans himself up, pulls on a flight suit and boots. He scratches at his chest and earlobes, takes off the cuffs on his arms, ankles, and neck, and throws them down the disposal chute.
Strangely, they’re not followed. No one tries to stop them or fires on them as they return to Olsson’s ship.
“It’s the fuckin’ wormhole capacitor,” Jensen says. “It’s probably last week by now, or next week.”
Fortunately, the effects of the personal capacitor remain planet-side, so that Olsson’s ship is still where they left it.
“Where’s the Impala?” Jensen asks as soon as he sees the ship. “Where’s my baby?”
When Genevieve reveals that the Impala is still back on the space station at Persium, Jensen curses.
“Probably sold for parts by now. Damn Penikett.”
On board Olsson’s ship, Jensen hits the showers while Jared heads to the mess hall to drown the stress and shock of the day in alcohol and food. When he stumbles to the bathroom to throw it all up, Jensen’s there, comforting hand on his back, rubbing and soothing. Jensen helps him clean up afterward, then leads him into the neighboring bedroom to lie down. Jared blinks up at him, sees the holes in his ears where the earrings used to be, imagines he’s also taken the ones out of his nipples. He smells clean, good, all traces of blood and makeup washed away. He looks like himself again.
As Jensen runs a soothing hand through Jared’s hair, Jared closes his eyes, dozes, comforted by the man he feared he’d never see again.
“Danneel says I was only gone ten days,” he says. “But to me, it felt like ten years. Heyerdahl kept resetting the timeline.”
Jared keeps his eyes closed, afraid to open them for fear Jensen will lose the courage to talk.
“I knew you’d come for me,” Jensen murmurs. “Never doubted that I’d see you again.”
Jared leans into his touch, feels Jensen bend down and place a soft kiss on his forehead.
“Bastard was waiting for you, or maybe for Jeff. He wanted to show off what he’d done.” Jensen takes a breath. “I think he knew it was the last thing he’d ever do. Asshole had a death wish.”
Jared lets his eyes slide open. In the low mood light of the bedroom, Jensen’s face is in shadow, but Jared can see his eyes glistening, sees the outlines of his long eyelashes. His hair’s longer than it was before.
“Jensen.”
Jensen shakes his head, slides a thumb over Jared’s bottom lip.
“I can’t talk about it,” he says. “What I just told you is all I can say right now. Probably ever.”
Jared nods.
Jensen leans down, presses his lips against Jared’s, soft and tentative, like that first time back on the Impala.
“I love you so much, Jaybird,” he murmurs as he pulls back. “You saved me.”
Jared’s pretty sure it’s the other way around.
//**//**//
Tahmoh Penikett is as contrite as a man can be who spent over six hours knocked out and locked up in a closet on his own space station. Apparently, Alaina and her lackeys had held a gun to his head while he belatedly answered Jensen’s hail on their return from Persium’s surface.
“I was just lucky Rob Benedict called for a search party,” he tells Jensen. “All six of us were unconscious and tied up. I’m really sorry about your baby, Jense.”
Jensen grumbles, but doesn’t bark. He figures out what’s wrong with the Impala in record time, calls Jeffrey Dean Morgan for the parts he needs, listens to Jeff bitch and curse for a solid minute before he settles down enough to talk about repairs.
“Goddamn it, Jensen, you get kidnapped again, you fuckin’ call me, you hear me?”
“Sure, boss,” Jensen says.
“Alaina Huffman deserves to be fuckin’ court-martialed,” Jeff yells. “Goddammit!”
“Sure she does, boss,” Jensen agrees. “If you can find her. She’s not exactly the law-abiding type.”
“Fuckin’ served with you in the Elites, didn’t she?”
“Until she got dishonorably discharged for stealing and desertion,” Jensen says. “Now she’s just a good, old-fashioned bounty-hunting civilian.”
“Well, do me a fuckin’ favor and fuckin’ kill her the next time you see her,” Jeff orders. “For me.”
“Sure thing,” Jensen nods.
Jeffrey pauses, looks down, and Jared almost wishes he was in another room, not here with Jensen, witnessing this little emotional scene between his lover and his lover’s former lover. It’s awkward.
“You okay?” Jeff asks.
Jensen nods. “Yeah. Jared’s here.”
“Did you fuckin’ kill him?” Jared’s pretty sure Jeff doesn’t mean him.
Jensen nods again. “I did. Jared was there.”
“Okay. That’s fuckin’ it then.” Jeff huffs out a breath. “Damn it. I’m fuckin’ sorry, kid.”
Jensen shakes his head. “Wasn’t your fault, Jeff,” he insists. “You saved me, remember?”
“Not fuckin’ soon enough,” Jeff says, defeated. “I shoulda killed that bastard when I had the chance.”
“Job’s done now,” Jensen reminds him. “It’s all good. I’ll be fine. Somebody might want to stop by the compound on Maleus Prime to clean up the mess, though. Somebody who is not me.”
Jeff nods. “Fuckin’ on it.”
//**//**//
That night, they bed down together on the Impala for the first time in Jared doesn’t want to think about how long. Jensen isn’t ready for sex yet, but he lets Jared spoon him and caress him, although he stops his hand when it wanders south, threads their fingers together and holds it still.
Tahmoh had given them the run of the space station, including a spacious suite of rooms usually reserved for visiting mining company executives. But Jensen preferred to sleep on the Impala, and Jared couldn’t bear to leave his side.
“We’ll get her fixed up and back on the road within the week,” he assures Jared. “Meanwhile, she’ll keep us safe and comfortable right here.”
Jared nuzzles the back of Jensen’s neck and tries not to think too hard about the damages to the ship, nor about the damages to Jensen. For now, having him safe in Jared’s arms, back on the ship he loves, is enough.
//**//**
Danneel and Genevieve leave the station with Olysson the following morning.
“He’s agreed to help me retrieve my cargo,” Danneel tells them. “There’s a guy he knows who has a ship I can borrow. Then we’ll head back to base camp to check in. It’s been a while.”
“Base camp?” Jared repeats. “Where’s that?”
But Danneel gives him an enigmatic smile and a wink. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” she says, tipping his chin with a pointed finger. “And you’re much too pretty to kill.”
Jensen pulls her into a full-body hug, holding her longer than strictly necessary, in Jared’s opinion.
“Thank you,” Jensen says as he lets her go. “For everything.”
“You’d have done the same if it was me,” she assures him. “Besides. I owed you. And you’ll always be welcome if you ever decide to join the rebellion.”
“You, too,” she adds to Jared, “although I don’t know exactly what we’d do with a professor of ancient archeology. Maybe you could join the strategy team. Or you could be in charge of ancient weapons retrieval and identification. Whatever.”
“Thanks, Captain,” Jared nods as he shakes her hand. “I’ll give it some thought.”
He gives Genevieve a hug, and she surprises him by snuggling in close so that she’s practically engulfed by his embrace.
“Take care of yourself,” she says when she pulls back.
Jared’s throat closes up and his eyes fill but he manages to nod.
Jared and Jensen stand together at the floor-to-ceiling observation window as Ty Olsson’s ship pulls out of its docking bay and coasts out into the star-filled blackness of space. When the ship’s wormhole capacitor activates, the ship seems to disappear, instantly transported halfway across the galaxy.
Jared’s in the space station’s impressive gym when Jeff Morgan arrives. He finds Jeff and Jensen already working on the Impala when he comes to find Jensen for lunch. Jeff gives him a hug, has tears in his eyes when he pulls back.
“Thanks for taking care of our boy,” he says, clearing his throat.
Jared nods, blinking back his own emotions.
“It’ll take a while,” Jeff says later, after lunch, when Jeff and Jared linger in the space station cafeteria after Jensen goes back to the ship. “You’re gonna need a fuck ton o’ patience.”
Jared nods. “I know.”
“You leave him now, it’ll fuckin’ break him,” Jeff warns.
Jared nods again. “I know. I won’t.”
“Took him about a year, after I got him out of Kendor,” Jeff says. “Nightmares every night, didn’t want to be touched. You fuckin’ up for that?”
Jared nods. “I am.”
Jeff sighs. “You boys still headed to fuckin’ Alexandria?”
Jared nods. “That’s the plan.”
“Well, maybe it’ll be good for him,” Jeff says. “Keep him busy thinking about something fuckin’ constructive.”
“Yeah,” Jared agrees. “That’s the idea.”
He’s not even surprised anymore that he doesn’t care whether he completes his mission or not. Jensen has become his number one priority, has been since he was kidnapped.
“There’s one more thing,” Jeff says, lowering his voice. “Just in case you haven’t fuckin’ figured it out yet. Jensen’s special.”
Jared frowns. For some reason, the moment back in Heyerdahl’s compound when he heard “personal wormhole capacitor” in his head as clearly as if someone spoke, comes to mind.
“Well, yeah,” he says hesitantly. “He’s intuitive, reads people really well.”
“He’s fuckin’ empathic,” Jeff snaps. “Sometimes psychic. Reads people’s thoughts. Speaks telepathically, when he wants to.”
Jeff lowers his voice. “Don’t tell him I told you,” he says, then rolls his eyes. “But of course he’ll fuckin’ know I did anyway.”
Jared thinks back to moments when it felt like Jensen knew exactly what he was thinking and feeling. During sex, for sure, but other times as well.
“Don’t be too hard on him for not telling you,” Jeff says. “You two haven’t been together that fuckin’ long. He was probably working up to it. It can be a big fuckin’ deal for some folks.”
Jared thinks about that, realizes it doesn’t matter if Jensen has been reading his mind this whole time. It’s kind of comforting. Jensen knows him, knows his innermost thoughts, and loves him anyway.
Then he bristles on Jensen’s behalf.
“Did Heyerdahl know?” he asks Jeff. “Did that woman on Kendor know?”
A psychic prostitute could rake in big bucks.
But Jeff shakes his head. “He never told anyone before me. He kept his fuckin’ secret carefully guarded. Apparently, it’s something he was born with. His grandmother had it. She called it ‘the fuckin’ gift’.”
Jared’s mouth quirks up. “I can’t imagine anyone’s grandmother calling it that,” he says.
Jeff scowls for a moment, then flashes a grin.
“Yeah, maybe not. Anyway, now you know.”
And of course Jensen knows he knows as soon as Jared joins him on the Impala.
“Aw, shit, Jeff,” he scowls at his ex-lover, because Jared’s pretty sure that’s what Jeff is now. Jensen doesn’t cheat, and if Jared wondered before why he knows that, now he doesn’t.
“It’s okay, kid,” Jeff insists. “Jared’s good with it. Right?”
Jared shakes his head. “I guess he knows the answer to that.”
“I would never read your mind without your permission,” Jensen insists. “That would be a violation, and I know what it feels like to be violated. I would never do that to you.”
Jared believes him.
“And I can’t read everybody,” Jensen adds. “With some people, it’s just impressions. Sometimes, there’s nothing there to read. It’s just a blank.”
“But you read me right away,” Jared clarifies. “When we first met.”
Jensen nods. “I liked what I saw in you right away. A lot.”
“If you ever need to raise some quick fuckin’ cash, Jensen’s a stud at poker,” Jeff says.
“Oh my god, shut up.”
Jared thinks about that, though. Since he paid the brothel owner on Kendor for intel on Jensen’s whereabouts, he’s out of cash. And from what Jensen’s told him about Alexandria, he’s going to need it if he wants to negotiate for the stone.
As soon as the Impala’s repairs are complete, Jared projects his idea telepathically to Jensen, who turns to stare at him, wide-eyed.
“You’re kidding, right? You spent all your cash?”
Jared shrugs. “It was kinda important,” he says.
Jensen shakes his head. “Ruth is a three-hundred-year-old witch. She uses black magic to stay looking so young.”
Jared blinks. “Wow. I bet you know a lot of things about people that they don’t know you know.”
“Only when it’s necessary,” Jensen says. “Jeff didn’t have the right to share that with you. I would’ve told you myself eventually.”
“When you felt you could trust me,” Jared suggests.
Jensen reaches up, hooks a hand behind Jared’s neck, tips his head down so he’s got Jared’s full attention.
“I do trust you,” Jensen says. “Don’t ever doubt that.”
Jared nods, pressing his lips together, then hums as Jensen kisses him.
//**//**//
The space station on Tivia 3 happens to be halfway to Alexandria, as well as having a drop-in poker game, so Jared and Jensen take the Impala there the next morning. Unfortunately, the game’s usual buy-in is five thousand credits, which they don’t have.
“I paid you ten thousand when I hired you,” Jared protests.
Jensen looks at him. “How do you think I paid for the food rations for Persium?”
Jared’s mouth drops open. All this time, he assumed Jensen had stolen the cargo that got loaded onto the Impala back on Station 6 that morning after he first met Jensen.
“Yeah, I’ve got three thousand left,” Jensen says. “But I’ve got the Impala.”
“You’d do that?” Jared’s shocked. “You’d ransom your baby for a poker game?”
“We’re gonna win, remember?”
Jared does remember. He’s just a little nervous.
In the end, it’s his nervousness that keeps the rest of the poker table convinced he’s going to lose. He doesn’t even have to pretend he’s a total newbie at the game. The other players are so sure they’re going to beat him, they don’t even notice Jensen standing back against the wall, telepathically telegramming all of the players’ cards to Jared.
Nevertheless, things get messy when Jared wins big. Just to keep things interesting, Jared and Jensen had agreed that Jared would lose a couple of rounds first, but when he finally wins, he hauls in twenty-five thousand, which is more than enough to make up for the cash he lost on Kendor.
The other players grumble and glare as they hand over their losses, but they’re allowed to leave. Then they are almost immediately followed when it’s obvious that they’re together.
“He cheated!” One of them shouts. “His partner was signaling him somehow.”
“Hey, Professor! Come back here!”
But Jared and Jensen are already running down the gangplank to the docking bay. They’re on board the Impala and firing up her engines before the players have time to rally the station master and sic the sentries on them.
They’re on the run again, but this time, it feels good. Feels earned.
“Stealing from smugglers and thieves isn’t really cheating,” Jensen insists as he punches in the coordinates for the wormhole to Alexandria. “Cheating the cheaters isn’t the same as stealing from honest business people.”
“Can’t say I disagree,” Jared assures him.
“Plus, that was good practice for what we’ll be facing on Alexandria,” Jensen says as the Impala starts its usual shuddering and straining as Jensen enables the wormhole capacitor.
“Here we go!”
//**//**//
The battered space station orbiting Alexandria is a piece of junk that has definitely seen better days. When Jensen pulls the Impala into the docking bay, the landing pad is eerily dark and empty.
“Better suit up,” Jensen warns. “No telling if there’s breathable air out there.”
Although the station is deserted, there seems to be a working shuttle to take them to the planet’s surface.
“It’s all automated,” Jensen notes as they climb aboard. “This shuttle goes directly to the old spaceport in the main city.”
Jared sends a message to his contact on Alexandria. He’s already expected. He sends another message to his university, letting them know he’s arrived.
“What are you gonna tell them about the cash?” Jensen asks.
Jared shakes his head. “They don’t need to know,” he says with determination. “If it ever comes up, I’ll tell them I had to convert it to credits or risk getting robbed.”
Jensen chuckles. “My, how you’ve changed, Professor. Lying? Risky behavior? Not the man I met three weeks ago.”
“Three weeks?” Jared’s shocked. It feels like three years.
The fleeting look of pain in Jensen’s eyes reminds him that for Jensen it’s been much longer.
On the surface, they’re greeted by a charming blue-eyed man with a permanent smirk on his carelessly handsome face.
“Misha Collins,” he introduces himself, sticking his hand out.
The entourage of security personnel standing silently around him doesn’t raise suspicion at all.
“Jared Padalecki.” Jared shakes the man’s hand, but he’s wary. There’s something off about Collins. Definitely not trustworthy.
“Jensen Ackles, captain of the ship that brought the professor here,” Jensen introduces himself, and Jared sees the swaggering space captain he met all those weeks ago on full display.
Jensen doesn’t trust Collins either.
“Gentlemen,” Misha bows, sweeping an arm toward the tall glass building behind him. “Allow me to show you to your rooms. You are both my guests here on Alexandria, for the duration of your stay. We look forward to showing you all that our lovely planet has to offer.”
Jared nods. “So you’re the king here, then?”
“I prefer Emperor,” Collins says as they walk toward the expansive front door of the building, which might have passed as a high-rise office building back on Earth in the 20th Century. “This is my palace.”
“We couldn’t help but notice that your space station is very quiet,” Jared says, keeping his tone carefully neutral. “Does that mean you don’t get many visitors?”
“We are self-contained here on Alexandria,” Collins says as he opens the door with a wave of his hand. “Visitors are welcome, but not encouraged.”
Obviously, Collins thinks the automatic door is a display of power, so Jared gives him an impressed look before entering. No sense in mentioning that every door everywhere on Earth opens automatically. No sense at all.
“My staff will show you to your rooms,” Collins goes on. “You can move in, freshen up. Dinner is at seven. I look forward to our time together.”
Shit, Jared thinks, projecting so that Jensen can hear him. He either plans to bribe us or kills us.
Let’s hope he’s as stupid as he acts, comes Jensen’s reply, clear as a bell.
Jared gets the impression that Jensen thinks they’re a good team, that he hopes they can work together beyond this particular mission.
Jared hopes so, too.
Collins’ security team shows them to a suite of rooms that have been cleaned recently, the smell of cleaning fluid and disinfectant permeating the space. Hot water pours freely from the pipes, so Jared showers and dresses in clean clothes. Space travel has taught him to take advantage of running water and ordinary indoor plumbing whenever it’s offered.
The view from the room’s floor-to-ceiling glass windows is impressive. Forest and lush vegetation stretch as far as the eye can see in every direction, or at least as much of the view as Jared can see. There don’t appear to be any other buildings besides the one they’re in, which seems strange. Someone must be keeping the water and electricity working.
“Underground, maybe?” Jensen suggests.
Jared nods. “Maybe. This building is such a sitting duck, especially if the planet is as lawless as you say.”
“The home of a very arrogant man who thinks he’s the emperor of a dead civilization,” Jensen says.
“Sounds about right,” Jared agrees.
At the appointed time, two security guards arrive to escort them to the dining room, where Misha Collins holds forth in a massive winged chair at the head of a long, black table. He gestures for Jared and Jensen to take places on either side of him.
“Welcome to Alexandria, gentlemen.”
Servants bring wine and water as they make small talk about the climate, the view from the boys’ room, the power and plumbing for the building.
“All underground,” Collins confirms. “The forest has reclaimed most of the surface of the planet, but the tunnels and caves still serve as homes for workers and servants. My security team lives here in the palace with me, of course.”
Servants bring fresh bread, cheese, and figs, followed by seafood delicacies, which impress Jared despite himself.
“How close to the ocean are we?”
“About a hundred miles,” Collins answers as he takes a bite of something that looks vaguely like a seared scallop. “I have a team of fishers who gather what we need from there when we have visitors.”
The main course consists of various game and fowl, all presumably native to the planet, all freshly hunted and prepared deliciously. The sumptuous feast is topped off with a dessert of some kind of fruit pie, drizzled with honey and fresh cream, served with coffee and a sweet heated dessert drink that reminds Jared of the mead he’s tasted back home on Earth.
The meal is a display of wealth and power, just like the building. Jared’s curiosity gets the better of him, and he asks endless questions about the food. Collins answers with pride and more than a little arrogance. Jared gets the impression that Collins rules with an iron fist, his kingdom a kind of feudal serfdom where most of the people spend their lives toiling, either underground, in the mines and caves, or as teams of hunter-gatherers and farmers, mostly serving the palace and the people who live there.
“In return for the labor, I keep them safe,” Collins finishes, taking a last sip of his spiced wine.
“Safe from who?”
“As I’m sure you’ve heard, when the last great city fell to barbarians many years ago, the remaining citizens banded together to survive as the planet fell into a dark age. When my great-grandfather founded this kingdom, it was his dream that we would bring about a new Golden Age for Alexandria.
“Unfortunately, there are still those who would prevent a new Golden Age from happening. Bandits and brigands roam the forests, seeking to loot and destroy what has been built. My security forces keep our kingdom safe from these savages.”
He raises his glass. “And now that we have recovered the Great Stone, our future is secure.”
Jared and Jensen exchange glances.
“But I thought the stone was for sale,” Jared says. “That’s why I’m here.”
Misha’s eyes widen. “You thought I would sell the Great Stone of Alexandria?”
Jared shifts in his seat. “Mr. Collins, my university on Earth sent me here to collect the stone in good faith. We negotiated a price.”
“Then you and your university misunderstood, Professor. I would not sell the Great Stone for any price.”
Jared and Jensen exchange glances. Jensen’s just as confused as Jared is.
“May I look at the stone?” Jared asks.
Collins visibly brightens. “Of course! I would be delighted if you would feature a photographic record in your university museum. This is the dawning of a great age for Alexandria, and the entire galaxy should join us in celebrating.”
“Okay, total change to our original plan, but sure,” Jared says. “So where is it?”
“Why, it’s in the Sacred Temple, of course,” Collins says, and Jared has the distinct impression he’s being mocked.
He’s starting to wonder if the stone has actually been found, or if this is all some elaborate ruse, although for what purpose, Jared can’t imagine.
“Okay,” Jared says. “Could I see it, please?”
“Aw, such nice manners.” Collins simpers.
Now Jared’s certain he’s being mocked.
“Unfortunately, the sacred temple is a three-day hike from here, through the forest,” Collins says, his smile too agreeable.
“Okay,” Jensen says. He takes over the conversation just when Jared’s getting too annoyed to continue. “So if you’d be so kind as to provide a guide and some camping equipment, we’ll head out in the morning.”
Collins shrugs. “Suit yourself. But I should warn you: the forest is full of wild animals and savages.”
Jensen smiles. “We can handle ourselves. Of course, if you’d care to spare a couple of your armed guards, we wouldn’t object.”
Collins nods. “I believe that can be arranged.”
He’s planning to murder us out in the forest, so he can blame our deaths on wild animals, Jared projects to Jensen.
It’ll be okay, Jensen projects back.
Back in their suite, Jensen reminds Jared, telepathically, that they’re probably being watched. Listened to.
Good thing we don’t need to talk out loud to communicate, Jared projects back. It takes effort to project his thoughts. He has to focus to frame the words in a coherent sentence, as opposed to the scrambled, chaotic way his brain usually works. Then he has to focus on Jensen, to be sure the message is getting through.
Jensen seems to understand, throws him a sympathetic look.
“That was productive,” he notes out loud. “But maybe we should get some sleep, what do you say?”
“I call dibs on the bathroom,” Jared answers.
They go to sleep in separate beds, but when Jared wakes up in the night, Jensen is wrapped around him, spooning him.
He’s too grateful for the comfort of Jensen’s body to worry about what Collins thinks of them. It’s none of his business anyway.
He’s half-hard by the time he falls asleep again.
//**//**//
The boys are on the road the next morning, guards and a guide at their side. It’s almost unbearably hot in the forest, so Jared thanks the deities of this strange planet for the canopy of trees over their heads, protecting them from the sun.
Within the day, they encounter “savages”, as Collins calls them. Their clothing is a combination of rags and animal skins, and the weapons they carry are handmade from stone and wood. They shake them at Jared’s group, shouting threats and growling at them. Jared counts ten, outnumbering Jared’s group, and he suspects there are more, hiding in the trees.
The tribe is quickly dispatched by the security guards’ superior firepower, but Jared doesn’t enjoy it. Something about the desperation and obvious poverty of their attackers doesn’t sit right with him.
“They do all right out here,” Callum, their guide, assures Jared.
After setting up camp for the night, Callum Rennie tells them his story. He was born into one of the tribes that roam the planet, foraging, hunting, ambushing, and stealing from other tribes or from the supply caravans that travel between the farms and the Emperor’s Palace.
“The ones closest to the Palace are mostly marauders,” Callum tells them. “Bandits. They’ll take anything they can, including your life. But in truth, there’s plenty of food out here in the forest. They don’t need to ambush anybody.”
Jared gets the feeling there’s more to it, but he doesn’t argue. Instead, he asks Callum how he became a guide for the Emperor.
“My tribe was slaughtered when I was a child,” he says. “A scouting expedition from the palace rescued me, brought me to the Emperor’s Village. When I was old enough, I started joining expeditions into the forest, training up to be a guide. And now here I am.”
Jared wonders if the killers of Callum’s tribe worked for the Emperor. He can sense that Jensen wonders that, too. They both get the feeling that the top tribe on the planet is run by Collins, who seems more interested in power and control by any means than human rights.
Jensen’s got first-hand experience with folks like that. He hates them on principle. Jared hates them on Jensen’s behalf.
They bed down that night and the next with Collins’ security detail keeping watch, but Jared doesn’t sleep well. He can’t shake the feeling that Collins would as soon kill them as let them into the cave where his precious stone lies. Nevertheless, he presses on, determined to acquire at least photographic evidence of his mission.
Late on the third day, they find the cave where the sacred stone lies. Almost immediately, they’re attacked and running for their lives from multiple tribes of “savages.” Two of their security team are killed in the melee.
Getting back to Collins’ compound seems like a miracle.
The Emperor’s surprise at seeing them alive is obvious. He didn’t expect them to make it back, alive or dead.
“We have evidence,” Jared tells him, pulling up the images he took of the stone in the temple. “My university will be pleased.”
They’re grimy, sweaty, and covered with insect bites, but they decline Collins’ offer to stay the night, preferring to get out while they can.
On board the shuttle back to the space station, Jared shakes his head.
“That was close,” he says. “And stupid.”
“And lucrative,” Jensen says, opening his hand.
The stone lies on his palm, looking just as it did in the cave.
“Holy shit, Jen,” Jared says.
“Yeah,” Jensen agrees. “Our Holy Shit now.”
“Are you crazy?” Jared stares. “They’ll come after us.”
Jensen shakes his head. “I left a fake stone in its place. It’ll take them forever to figure it out.”
Jared’s mouth drops open, closes again.
“You really are a thief.”
“I’m the best thief,” Jensen agrees with a wink. “When I make objects disappear, nobody even knows they’re gone.”
//**//**//
Back on the Impala, with the comforting vibration of the active wormhole around them, Jared does his best to process what Jensen’s done.
“I mean, the stone really belongs to Alexandria,” he says. “In a deep, profound way. I see that now. We don’t have the right to remove it from the planet.”
“Right,” Jensen agrees. “Except we do, when it means we have a chance to save the people we love.”
Jared stares. “What are you talking about?”
When Jensen looks away, Jared can tell he’s nervous about what he’s about to say.
“When I was in the Corps, I heard rumors about a magical stone that had the power to find missing loved ones, among other things.”
“So you think you can use the Alexandria stone to find your family?” Jared blinks.
Which is when Jared realizes that this was Jensen’s plan all along. The Alexandria Stone has the power to return Jensen’s family to him, and that’s not something Jensen can easily dismiss.
Then it hits him. Jensen latched onto Jared the moment he realized Jared would get him to Alexandria and the opportunity to steal the stone that might get his family back.
Even before he met Jared, Jensen knew he couldn’t pass up this particular fare.
As the truth sinks in, Jared’s angry. He feels betrayed. Used.
Then he thinks about everything Jensen’s been through, and he feels a stab of sympathy. He gets it. If his family had been kidnapped and sold into slavery, Jared would’ve done anything to get them back.
Anything.
“That was the idea, yeah,” Jensen admits. “I have a fix on their last location, but if they’re not there, I’m hoping the stone can tell me where they are.”
His eyes pinch with pain as he lifts them to Jared, willing him to understand, to sympathize. To forgive.
“I never lied to you, Jay,” he says. “As soon as I met you, I knew I couldn’t betray you.”
“I’m pretty sure not telling me that you planned to steal the Alexandria Stone constitutes lying, Jensen,” Jared says sharply. “Not that I don’t understand why you did it. I do. I just wish you could’ve trusted me enough to tell me.”
Jensen lifts an eyebrow. “Would you have let me come with you if I had?”
“Probably not,” Jared admits. He takes a deep breath. “So where’s this last known location?”
Jensen’s eyes widen. “You’ll come with me?”
“Of course, I’ll come with you,” Jared snaps, still angry. “If it was my family, I’d expect you to help me find them.”
“You know I would,” Jensen answers. He swallows thickly, his beautiful green eyes glistening with moisture.
Jared sucks in a breath, struggling to push aside his frustration.
“So where are we going?”
//**//**//**
Jensen believes his mother and sister are imprisoned on Maleus Septima, in the same star system as Chris Heyerdahl’s compound on Maleus Prime.
The space station orbiting the planet is derelict and empty, much like the one at Alexandria but, just like that planet, there’s an automated shuttle that takes them to the surface. Unfortunately, there’s nothing there. It’s another abandoned civilization, uninhabited for at least the last fifty years. All the buildings are crumbling and dust-covered.
Jensen’s grief and disappointment are palpable. He’s given his all to get here, believing that the Alexandria stone could perform miracles.
“They’re not here, Jen,” Jared says gently. “I’m so sorry.”
Jensen stands in the middle of the floor of the landing port, stone in hand, and closes his eyes. Jared can feel him reaching out with his mind, searching for answers, for explanations. How could he have been so wrong? How could he think they would be here?
Then, in the dim room, something is glowing. Something in Jensen’s hand.
“Jensen.”
Jensen looks down, turns his hand and opens it. The Alexandria stone is glowing brighter now, its light filling the room with an eerie reddish glow.
“Jensen, look.” Jared points to a round table in the middle of the room. Its surface is glowing, almost as if it’s responding to the stone. Jensen holds the stone out, flat on his palm, as he and Jared cross the floor of the empty room until they’re standing over the table. The surface looks like it’s red-hot now, burning without a flame. It pulses for a moment, then starts to dim.
As the surface cools, a word appears, as if scrawled among the ashes of the super-heated stone.
“Cornucopia.”
“What does it mean?” Despite his doctorate in ancient civilizations and archeology, Jared’s never heard of it.
“It’s a place,” Jensen says. “A mythical kingdom. A place of perfect peace and harmony and plenty. Like the idea of Heaven from ancient Earth.”
“So it’s not real,” Jared says. “They’re dead.”
Jensen sends him a look of such anguish and despair that Jared would do anything to take it back.
“There are rumors about it being a real place,” Jensen says. He closes his hand around the stone as it dims. “It’s just so far away, nobody I know has ever been there. Even if you could get there, you’d never come back. Our primitive wormhole capacitors can only bend space so much, and Cornucopia is simply beyond our reach. Some say it’s in the distant past, and even if we could get there, it would be empty and abandoned, like this place. Like Alexandria.”
Jared takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Jen. So sorry.”
Jensen turns to Jared, holds out his hand with the Alexandria stone on it.
“Take it,” he says. His eyes are dark, defeated. “I don’t need it. You can do whatever you want with it. I don’t care.”
Jared takes the stone, feeling its unusual weight. He thumbs over the smooth surface. It’s still warm from Jensen’s hand. So much has happened, since the day Jared took this mission. So much has changed.
When he looks up, Jensen’s looking at him, his gaze inscrutable. Then he reaches out, grabs Jared’s shoulder.
“Come on,” he says. “I’ll take you home.”
//**//**//
Back on the Impala, Jensen sets a course for Earth, then retreats to his bunk to eat and sleep.
Jared stays on the bridge, numb and sad, lost in his own thoughts. Jared accomplished his mission, so there’s no reason to continue. Jensen did his job, so he can go. The moment of parting looms with every space-moment that passes.
You’ll always be in my heart.
Jared tries to find the words to say to make up for the sense of loss they both feel, but it’s basically useless.
You should come to Earth with me, meet my family.
Nothing he can think of makes up for the sense of failure Jared feels. He’s letting Jensen down.
I’ll always wish we could be together, even when we’re not.
“Okay, that’s enough.”
Jared starts as Jensen appears from behind him. He’s been listening in on Jared’s thoughts, and Jared doesn’t even mind. Jensen’s the captain, the one in charge, the only man Jared has ever felt he could surrender to.
“You like it when we’re together,” Jensen suggests, tentative but also brave as hell.
“Yeah,” Jared agrees.
“You’d stay with me, even if it meant giving up your old job, with all its job security.”
Jared hesitates for a split second, then says, “Hell yeah.”
Jensen gestures awkwardly. “I’m looking for a first mate,” he says. “Somebody to sit in the starboard seat, permanently.”
This time, Jared doesn’t hesitate. “I’m your man.”
“The pay’s shit and the risks are many.”
“I’ll take an indefinite leave of absence, let my family know,” Jared promises.
“We may not get back to Earth very often.”
Jared takes a deep breath. “My family will understand. I mean, they won’t, but they will. Eventually. Even if I never see them again, I was lucky to have them for as long as I did.”
“All right, then.”
Jared puts up his index finger. “One condition.”
“Shoot.”
Jared pulls the Alexandria stone out of his pocket. “We take this stone back where it belongs.”
Jensen sucks in a shaky breath. “Okay, but we do it my way. If we ever see that asshole Collins again, it’ll be too soon.”
“Agreed.”
“Also, you teach me to fly,” Jared says. “And shoot.”
The grin on Jensen’s face gets lopsided. “Done.”
This time, Jared follows Jensen back to his quarters, where Jensen gives Jared intimate direction in becoming first mate of the Impala.
Tomorrow, they’ll sail into the sunset together, to the outer limits of the known galaxy, in search of family, adventure, and a mythical kingdom.
Tonight, it’s just them, and Jared’s more sure that it’s just the way it’s meant to be than he’s ever been of anything.
fin
“Anybody that means as much to Jeff Morgan as Jensen does deserves all the rescuing,” he says. “And any friend of Jeff’s is a friend of mine, brother. I owe that man my life. But that’s a story for another time.”
It takes a little over twenty-four hours to get to Kendor. Jared spends most of the time pacing, worrying, desperate and anxious on Jensen’s behalf. He forgets his mission, ignores calls from his university, bites his nails. Olsson’s spacious ship has a gym, so Jared spends a lot of the time with a punching bag, punching until sweat pours down his back and chest, rolls down his face and blinding him, making his eyes sting.
“You know, he might not even be there,” Genevieve warns him. “Heyerdahl may be keeping him somewhere else.”
“Shut up,” Jared snaps. “I can’t think about that right now.”
As it turns out, she’s right. The Kendor Brothel adamantly denies putting out a bounty on Jensen.
“Mr. Morgan paid us fair and square,” the diminutive red-headed owner, Ruth Connell, assures them. “We would never betray that kind of patronage. It would give us a bad name.”
“Do you have any idea where Heyerdahl might have taken Jensen?” Jared uses his most professional tone because he can tell that Danneel would rather shoot someone. Anyone.
“Well, I might have information of that kind, but it would be highly unethical to disclose it. Mr. Heyerdahl was a regular patron until he became an obsessed lunatic.”
Danneel reaches for her gun, but Genevieve puts a hand on her arm, stopping her. They stare at each other in such an intimate way it makes Jared blush.
“How much?” Jared asks, reaching into the pocket of his shirt. He pulls out the wad of bills, meant for the negotiation on Alexandria, and watches as Ruth’s eyes widen.
“My, my, Professor. Anyone would think you’re proposing a bribe,” Ruth says, laying a delicate hand on her slender throat. “Surely not.”
Jared closes his eyes, sucks in a slow breath before opening them. Ruth has moved closer so that she stands close enough for Jared to feel her heat. She lays a hand on his, the one holding the money, and looks up at him, batting her eyelashes.
“So, do we have a deal?” Jared asks.
Ruth takes the cash, thumbs through it, casually counting, then rolls it tight and shoves it into her cleavage.
“For a professor, you make an excellent businessman,” she says, arching her brows at him.
Danneel rolls her eyes and lets out a disgusted huff. Jared and Ruth ignore her. Ruth takes Jared’s hand, leads him to her desk, parks him as close as possible as she uses an extremely ancient quill pen to scratch an address onto a piece of paper. Then she folds it over and takes one of Jared’s hands, the one formerly holding the cash. She tucks the paper into his hand, closing it over the paper with her other hand as she gazes up at him.
“You must have been a beautiful youth,” she purrs. “We could have made so much money together.”
After they leave the room, Danneel rolls her eyes. “That was truly disgusting.”
Jared opens his palm, unfurls the paper to reveal the address written on it.
“Productive,” he says. “Now we know where to find our boy.”
//**//**//
The journey to Maleus Prime takes them more than a week. Jared’s a wreck by the time they arrive, sure they made a fatal mistake in stopping at Kendor in the first place, as it took them out of their way and delayed the trip. Jensen has now been in captivity for at least ten days, probably more, since the wormhole between Kendor and Maleus Prime creates time vortexes on a regular basis, turning weeks into years in some places.
Unexpectedly, Christopher Heyerdahl welcomes them with open arms.
“I’m sure you’d like to see how improved our mutual acquaintance is, now that he’s joined my home.”
Jared hates him on principle, but Danneel’s gaze is hard enough to cut stone.
Genevieve keeps a hand on her arm as they enter Heyerdahl’s compound. The outer courtyard is lined with human statuary, all of naked men in various classical poses, very tasteful but creepy at the same time. The companions’ weapons are removed from them by house security, all handsome men dressed in black, before Heyerdahl leads them into his inner sanctum.
High ceilings, bubbling fountains, and more statuary greet them. In the center of the room is a clear-water pool, where scantily-clad men swim and lounge. Jared’s eyes skim over the nearly-naked bodies, but Jensen isn’t among them. At the back of the room, a long, low table spread with fresh fruit, cheese, and various delicacies sits among several low, soft chairs that seem to be more like cushions. Heyerdahl takes his place at the head of the table, sitting cross-legged on the chair there, which molds around him, with armrests and a chair back that rises up so that he can lean back comfortably.
He gestures for the companions to join him, and Jared does, determined to play along with whatever game Heyerdahl has running, at least until they see Jensen.
Danneel and Genevieve remain standing.
“As you can see, I run a very civilized home,” Heyerdahl purrs. “Very disciplined. You are all guests here, and as such are welcome to sample all the delicacies on offer.”
He waves a hand, gestures both at the table and at the pool full of men.
“We’re here to see Jensen,” Jared says, keeping his voice even.
“Of course you are,” Heyerdahl purrs. “He’s my star pupil, my life’s work, my favorite pet.”
“He’s our friend,” Jared says.
“Of course he is.” Heyerdahl gestures to one of his security guards, who slides a door open in the wall behind them.
A man stands there, in a lighted alcove, wearing nothing but a loincloth. Gold cuffs adorn his wrists, ankles, and upper arms. A gold collar circles his neck, small gold rings hang from his nipples and earlobes. His lips and cheeks are rouged, his eyes lined dark.
Jensen.
Jared forces himself not to gasp. Jensen’s gaze is steady and clear, so at least he’s not drugged. But his eyes meet Jared’s without a flicker of recognition, and when he casts a similar blank look at Danneel, she cracks.
“What have you done to him?”
Heyerdahl smiles. “I’ve trained him,” he says. “He does exactly what I want him to do. For now, he’s a decorative set-piece for our meal.”
Jared’s jaw clenches. “How much do you want for him?”
“Oh, he’s not for sale,” Heyerdahl purrs. “Although, if you’d like an evening with him, that can be arranged. For free, as my guest.”
“You sick son of a bitch.” Danneel spits out, and although she’s standing behind Jared so he can’t see her face, he’s sure she’s scowling. Furious. He can feel her tension.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jared sees Genevieve reach out to lay a steadying hand on her partner’s forearm.
“Now, now, Captain.” Heyerdahl clucks his tongue. “That’s no way to talk to your host. I’ve welcomed you into my home, offered you food and entertainment. The least you can do is be civil in return.”
“You kidnapped and tortured our friend,” Danneel snaps. “The professor here offered you money to release him. We’re not leaving without him, so you can either accept the professor’s offer, or we will take our friend and go.”
“How can you be so sure Jensen would come with you?” Heyerdahl asks with a sly smile. His hand curls around a small black box on the table and Jared realizes with a start that it’s a remote control. At the tap of a button, Heyerdahl can send electric shocks to the cuffs on Jensen’s body.
“Jensen wouldn’t willingly stay here,” Jared says. “If you weren’t controlling him with that, he wouldn’t stay here another minute.”
Heyerdahl’s grin widens. His hand closes around the little black box, picks it up, and opens his hand so that it sits on his palm, small and black and smooth. Menacing.
“This? You think this is controlling him?” Heyerdahl smirks. “Take it, then. You can have it. Here, take it.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Jared senses movement. He looks up at Jensen, catches something flickering in the captain’s eye for just a moment before his expression goes completely blank again.
When Jared reaches for the black box, all hell breaks loose.
“Personal wormhole capacitor,” he hears in his head as he takes the object, and suddenly everything makes sense.
Jensen’s been here forever, and never. He’s here and not here. It’s up to Jared to reverse the wormhole, to take them back where they belong.
Jared’s head spins as he loses conscious thought. The room seems to erupt in gunfire, bodies dropping all around. Jensen’s suddenly moving beside him, raising a blade that looks impossibly long, driving it into Heyerdahl’s body over and over again.
“What the hell.”
Jared closes his fist around the black object but keeps his eyes open as Danneel and Genevieve drop security team members, two or three at a time until there’s no one left, just the three companions, and Jensen.
Jensen’s covered in blood, and Heyerdahl is very, very dead. The room is still. All the men from the pool have disappeared. Jensen draws a breath, leaves the long blade stuck in Heyerdahl’s body, and turns to Jared, hand out.
When Jared puts the black box into Jensen’s hand, Jensen doesn’t hesitate. He drops it onto the table and smashes it with one of the smaller statues, over and over until it’s a pulverized mangled mess. He only stops when Jared lays a hand on his bare back.
“I think you killed it,” Jared assures him.
Jensen raises wild eyes to Jared, who’s never seen so much fury contained in a human face before.
“Come on,” Danneel says. “We should get out of here before anyone else comes.”
Jared grabs the tablecloth off the table, sending food and dishes crashing to the ground, and wraps it around Jensen’s near-nakedness. He wipes blood and makeup off of Jensen’s face with the corner, then slips an arm around him and hustles him out of the house.
Jensen says nothing, lets himself be led away from Heyerdahl’s house of horrors without a word.
In the shuttle, Jensen cleans himself up, pulls on a flight suit and boots. He scratches at his chest and earlobes, takes off the cuffs on his arms, ankles, and neck, and throws them down the disposal chute.
Strangely, they’re not followed. No one tries to stop them or fires on them as they return to Olsson’s ship.
“It’s the fuckin’ wormhole capacitor,” Jensen says. “It’s probably last week by now, or next week.”
Fortunately, the effects of the personal capacitor remain planet-side, so that Olsson’s ship is still where they left it.
“Where’s the Impala?” Jensen asks as soon as he sees the ship. “Where’s my baby?”
When Genevieve reveals that the Impala is still back on the space station at Persium, Jensen curses.
“Probably sold for parts by now. Damn Penikett.”
On board Olsson’s ship, Jensen hits the showers while Jared heads to the mess hall to drown the stress and shock of the day in alcohol and food. When he stumbles to the bathroom to throw it all up, Jensen’s there, comforting hand on his back, rubbing and soothing. Jensen helps him clean up afterward, then leads him into the neighboring bedroom to lie down. Jared blinks up at him, sees the holes in his ears where the earrings used to be, imagines he’s also taken the ones out of his nipples. He smells clean, good, all traces of blood and makeup washed away. He looks like himself again.
As Jensen runs a soothing hand through Jared’s hair, Jared closes his eyes, dozes, comforted by the man he feared he’d never see again.
“Danneel says I was only gone ten days,” he says. “But to me, it felt like ten years. Heyerdahl kept resetting the timeline.”
Jared keeps his eyes closed, afraid to open them for fear Jensen will lose the courage to talk.
“I knew you’d come for me,” Jensen murmurs. “Never doubted that I’d see you again.”
Jared leans into his touch, feels Jensen bend down and place a soft kiss on his forehead.
“Bastard was waiting for you, or maybe for Jeff. He wanted to show off what he’d done.” Jensen takes a breath. “I think he knew it was the last thing he’d ever do. Asshole had a death wish.”
Jared lets his eyes slide open. In the low mood light of the bedroom, Jensen’s face is in shadow, but Jared can see his eyes glistening, sees the outlines of his long eyelashes. His hair’s longer than it was before.
“Jensen.”
Jensen shakes his head, slides a thumb over Jared’s bottom lip.
“I can’t talk about it,” he says. “What I just told you is all I can say right now. Probably ever.”
Jared nods.
Jensen leans down, presses his lips against Jared’s, soft and tentative, like that first time back on the Impala.
“I love you so much, Jaybird,” he murmurs as he pulls back. “You saved me.”
Jared’s pretty sure it’s the other way around.
//**//**//
Tahmoh Penikett is as contrite as a man can be who spent over six hours knocked out and locked up in a closet on his own space station. Apparently, Alaina and her lackeys had held a gun to his head while he belatedly answered Jensen’s hail on their return from Persium’s surface.
“I was just lucky Rob Benedict called for a search party,” he tells Jensen. “All six of us were unconscious and tied up. I’m really sorry about your baby, Jense.”
Jensen grumbles, but doesn’t bark. He figures out what’s wrong with the Impala in record time, calls Jeffrey Dean Morgan for the parts he needs, listens to Jeff bitch and curse for a solid minute before he settles down enough to talk about repairs.
“Goddamn it, Jensen, you get kidnapped again, you fuckin’ call me, you hear me?”
“Sure, boss,” Jensen says.
“Alaina Huffman deserves to be fuckin’ court-martialed,” Jeff yells. “Goddammit!”
“Sure she does, boss,” Jensen agrees. “If you can find her. She’s not exactly the law-abiding type.”
“Fuckin’ served with you in the Elites, didn’t she?”
“Until she got dishonorably discharged for stealing and desertion,” Jensen says. “Now she’s just a good, old-fashioned bounty-hunting civilian.”
“Well, do me a fuckin’ favor and fuckin’ kill her the next time you see her,” Jeff orders. “For me.”
“Sure thing,” Jensen nods.
Jeffrey pauses, looks down, and Jared almost wishes he was in another room, not here with Jensen, witnessing this little emotional scene between his lover and his lover’s former lover. It’s awkward.
“You okay?” Jeff asks.
Jensen nods. “Yeah. Jared’s here.”
“Did you fuckin’ kill him?” Jared’s pretty sure Jeff doesn’t mean him.
Jensen nods again. “I did. Jared was there.”
“Okay. That’s fuckin’ it then.” Jeff huffs out a breath. “Damn it. I’m fuckin’ sorry, kid.”
Jensen shakes his head. “Wasn’t your fault, Jeff,” he insists. “You saved me, remember?”
“Not fuckin’ soon enough,” Jeff says, defeated. “I shoulda killed that bastard when I had the chance.”
“Job’s done now,” Jensen reminds him. “It’s all good. I’ll be fine. Somebody might want to stop by the compound on Maleus Prime to clean up the mess, though. Somebody who is not me.”
Jeff nods. “Fuckin’ on it.”
//**//**//
That night, they bed down together on the Impala for the first time in Jared doesn’t want to think about how long. Jensen isn’t ready for sex yet, but he lets Jared spoon him and caress him, although he stops his hand when it wanders south, threads their fingers together and holds it still.
Tahmoh had given them the run of the space station, including a spacious suite of rooms usually reserved for visiting mining company executives. But Jensen preferred to sleep on the Impala, and Jared couldn’t bear to leave his side.
“We’ll get her fixed up and back on the road within the week,” he assures Jared. “Meanwhile, she’ll keep us safe and comfortable right here.”
Jared nuzzles the back of Jensen’s neck and tries not to think too hard about the damages to the ship, nor about the damages to Jensen. For now, having him safe in Jared’s arms, back on the ship he loves, is enough.
//**//**
Danneel and Genevieve leave the station with Olysson the following morning.
“He’s agreed to help me retrieve my cargo,” Danneel tells them. “There’s a guy he knows who has a ship I can borrow. Then we’ll head back to base camp to check in. It’s been a while.”
“Base camp?” Jared repeats. “Where’s that?”
But Danneel gives him an enigmatic smile and a wink. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” she says, tipping his chin with a pointed finger. “And you’re much too pretty to kill.”
Jensen pulls her into a full-body hug, holding her longer than strictly necessary, in Jared’s opinion.
“Thank you,” Jensen says as he lets her go. “For everything.”
“You’d have done the same if it was me,” she assures him. “Besides. I owed you. And you’ll always be welcome if you ever decide to join the rebellion.”
“You, too,” she adds to Jared, “although I don’t know exactly what we’d do with a professor of ancient archeology. Maybe you could join the strategy team. Or you could be in charge of ancient weapons retrieval and identification. Whatever.”
“Thanks, Captain,” Jared nods as he shakes her hand. “I’ll give it some thought.”
He gives Genevieve a hug, and she surprises him by snuggling in close so that she’s practically engulfed by his embrace.
“Take care of yourself,” she says when she pulls back.
Jared’s throat closes up and his eyes fill but he manages to nod.
Jared and Jensen stand together at the floor-to-ceiling observation window as Ty Olsson’s ship pulls out of its docking bay and coasts out into the star-filled blackness of space. When the ship’s wormhole capacitor activates, the ship seems to disappear, instantly transported halfway across the galaxy.
Jared’s in the space station’s impressive gym when Jeff Morgan arrives. He finds Jeff and Jensen already working on the Impala when he comes to find Jensen for lunch. Jeff gives him a hug, has tears in his eyes when he pulls back.
“Thanks for taking care of our boy,” he says, clearing his throat.
Jared nods, blinking back his own emotions.
“It’ll take a while,” Jeff says later, after lunch, when Jeff and Jared linger in the space station cafeteria after Jensen goes back to the ship. “You’re gonna need a fuck ton o’ patience.”
Jared nods. “I know.”
“You leave him now, it’ll fuckin’ break him,” Jeff warns.
Jared nods again. “I know. I won’t.”
“Took him about a year, after I got him out of Kendor,” Jeff says. “Nightmares every night, didn’t want to be touched. You fuckin’ up for that?”
Jared nods. “I am.”
Jeff sighs. “You boys still headed to fuckin’ Alexandria?”
Jared nods. “That’s the plan.”
“Well, maybe it’ll be good for him,” Jeff says. “Keep him busy thinking about something fuckin’ constructive.”
“Yeah,” Jared agrees. “That’s the idea.”
He’s not even surprised anymore that he doesn’t care whether he completes his mission or not. Jensen has become his number one priority, has been since he was kidnapped.
“There’s one more thing,” Jeff says, lowering his voice. “Just in case you haven’t fuckin’ figured it out yet. Jensen’s special.”
Jared frowns. For some reason, the moment back in Heyerdahl’s compound when he heard “personal wormhole capacitor” in his head as clearly as if someone spoke, comes to mind.
“Well, yeah,” he says hesitantly. “He’s intuitive, reads people really well.”
“He’s fuckin’ empathic,” Jeff snaps. “Sometimes psychic. Reads people’s thoughts. Speaks telepathically, when he wants to.”
Jeff lowers his voice. “Don’t tell him I told you,” he says, then rolls his eyes. “But of course he’ll fuckin’ know I did anyway.”
Jared thinks back to moments when it felt like Jensen knew exactly what he was thinking and feeling. During sex, for sure, but other times as well.
“Don’t be too hard on him for not telling you,” Jeff says. “You two haven’t been together that fuckin’ long. He was probably working up to it. It can be a big fuckin’ deal for some folks.”
Jared thinks about that, realizes it doesn’t matter if Jensen has been reading his mind this whole time. It’s kind of comforting. Jensen knows him, knows his innermost thoughts, and loves him anyway.
Then he bristles on Jensen’s behalf.
“Did Heyerdahl know?” he asks Jeff. “Did that woman on Kendor know?”
A psychic prostitute could rake in big bucks.
But Jeff shakes his head. “He never told anyone before me. He kept his fuckin’ secret carefully guarded. Apparently, it’s something he was born with. His grandmother had it. She called it ‘the fuckin’ gift’.”
Jared’s mouth quirks up. “I can’t imagine anyone’s grandmother calling it that,” he says.
Jeff scowls for a moment, then flashes a grin.
“Yeah, maybe not. Anyway, now you know.”
And of course Jensen knows he knows as soon as Jared joins him on the Impala.
“Aw, shit, Jeff,” he scowls at his ex-lover, because Jared’s pretty sure that’s what Jeff is now. Jensen doesn’t cheat, and if Jared wondered before why he knows that, now he doesn’t.
“It’s okay, kid,” Jeff insists. “Jared’s good with it. Right?”
Jared shakes his head. “I guess he knows the answer to that.”
“I would never read your mind without your permission,” Jensen insists. “That would be a violation, and I know what it feels like to be violated. I would never do that to you.”
Jared believes him.
“And I can’t read everybody,” Jensen adds. “With some people, it’s just impressions. Sometimes, there’s nothing there to read. It’s just a blank.”
“But you read me right away,” Jared clarifies. “When we first met.”
Jensen nods. “I liked what I saw in you right away. A lot.”
“If you ever need to raise some quick fuckin’ cash, Jensen’s a stud at poker,” Jeff says.
“Oh my god, shut up.”
Jared thinks about that, though. Since he paid the brothel owner on Kendor for intel on Jensen’s whereabouts, he’s out of cash. And from what Jensen’s told him about Alexandria, he’s going to need it if he wants to negotiate for the stone.
As soon as the Impala’s repairs are complete, Jared projects his idea telepathically to Jensen, who turns to stare at him, wide-eyed.
“You’re kidding, right? You spent all your cash?”
Jared shrugs. “It was kinda important,” he says.
Jensen shakes his head. “Ruth is a three-hundred-year-old witch. She uses black magic to stay looking so young.”
Jared blinks. “Wow. I bet you know a lot of things about people that they don’t know you know.”
“Only when it’s necessary,” Jensen says. “Jeff didn’t have the right to share that with you. I would’ve told you myself eventually.”
“When you felt you could trust me,” Jared suggests.
Jensen reaches up, hooks a hand behind Jared’s neck, tips his head down so he’s got Jared’s full attention.
“I do trust you,” Jensen says. “Don’t ever doubt that.”
Jared nods, pressing his lips together, then hums as Jensen kisses him.
//**//**//
The space station on Tivia 3 happens to be halfway to Alexandria, as well as having a drop-in poker game, so Jared and Jensen take the Impala there the next morning. Unfortunately, the game’s usual buy-in is five thousand credits, which they don’t have.
“I paid you ten thousand when I hired you,” Jared protests.
Jensen looks at him. “How do you think I paid for the food rations for Persium?”
Jared’s mouth drops open. All this time, he assumed Jensen had stolen the cargo that got loaded onto the Impala back on Station 6 that morning after he first met Jensen.
“Yeah, I’ve got three thousand left,” Jensen says. “But I’ve got the Impala.”
“You’d do that?” Jared’s shocked. “You’d ransom your baby for a poker game?”
“We’re gonna win, remember?”
Jared does remember. He’s just a little nervous.
In the end, it’s his nervousness that keeps the rest of the poker table convinced he’s going to lose. He doesn’t even have to pretend he’s a total newbie at the game. The other players are so sure they’re going to beat him, they don’t even notice Jensen standing back against the wall, telepathically telegramming all of the players’ cards to Jared.
Nevertheless, things get messy when Jared wins big. Just to keep things interesting, Jared and Jensen had agreed that Jared would lose a couple of rounds first, but when he finally wins, he hauls in twenty-five thousand, which is more than enough to make up for the cash he lost on Kendor.
The other players grumble and glare as they hand over their losses, but they’re allowed to leave. Then they are almost immediately followed when it’s obvious that they’re together.
“He cheated!” One of them shouts. “His partner was signaling him somehow.”
“Hey, Professor! Come back here!”
But Jared and Jensen are already running down the gangplank to the docking bay. They’re on board the Impala and firing up her engines before the players have time to rally the station master and sic the sentries on them.
They’re on the run again, but this time, it feels good. Feels earned.
“Stealing from smugglers and thieves isn’t really cheating,” Jensen insists as he punches in the coordinates for the wormhole to Alexandria. “Cheating the cheaters isn’t the same as stealing from honest business people.”
“Can’t say I disagree,” Jared assures him.
“Plus, that was good practice for what we’ll be facing on Alexandria,” Jensen says as the Impala starts its usual shuddering and straining as Jensen enables the wormhole capacitor.
“Here we go!”
//**//**//
The battered space station orbiting Alexandria is a piece of junk that has definitely seen better days. When Jensen pulls the Impala into the docking bay, the landing pad is eerily dark and empty.
“Better suit up,” Jensen warns. “No telling if there’s breathable air out there.”
Although the station is deserted, there seems to be a working shuttle to take them to the planet’s surface.
“It’s all automated,” Jensen notes as they climb aboard. “This shuttle goes directly to the old spaceport in the main city.”
Jared sends a message to his contact on Alexandria. He’s already expected. He sends another message to his university, letting them know he’s arrived.
“What are you gonna tell them about the cash?” Jensen asks.
Jared shakes his head. “They don’t need to know,” he says with determination. “If it ever comes up, I’ll tell them I had to convert it to credits or risk getting robbed.”
Jensen chuckles. “My, how you’ve changed, Professor. Lying? Risky behavior? Not the man I met three weeks ago.”
“Three weeks?” Jared’s shocked. It feels like three years.
The fleeting look of pain in Jensen’s eyes reminds him that for Jensen it’s been much longer.
On the surface, they’re greeted by a charming blue-eyed man with a permanent smirk on his carelessly handsome face.
“Misha Collins,” he introduces himself, sticking his hand out.
The entourage of security personnel standing silently around him doesn’t raise suspicion at all.
“Jared Padalecki.” Jared shakes the man’s hand, but he’s wary. There’s something off about Collins. Definitely not trustworthy.
“Jensen Ackles, captain of the ship that brought the professor here,” Jensen introduces himself, and Jared sees the swaggering space captain he met all those weeks ago on full display.
Jensen doesn’t trust Collins either.
“Gentlemen,” Misha bows, sweeping an arm toward the tall glass building behind him. “Allow me to show you to your rooms. You are both my guests here on Alexandria, for the duration of your stay. We look forward to showing you all that our lovely planet has to offer.”
Jared nods. “So you’re the king here, then?”
“I prefer Emperor,” Collins says as they walk toward the expansive front door of the building, which might have passed as a high-rise office building back on Earth in the 20th Century. “This is my palace.”
“We couldn’t help but notice that your space station is very quiet,” Jared says, keeping his tone carefully neutral. “Does that mean you don’t get many visitors?”
“We are self-contained here on Alexandria,” Collins says as he opens the door with a wave of his hand. “Visitors are welcome, but not encouraged.”
Obviously, Collins thinks the automatic door is a display of power, so Jared gives him an impressed look before entering. No sense in mentioning that every door everywhere on Earth opens automatically. No sense at all.
“My staff will show you to your rooms,” Collins goes on. “You can move in, freshen up. Dinner is at seven. I look forward to our time together.”
Shit, Jared thinks, projecting so that Jensen can hear him. He either plans to bribe us or kills us.
Let’s hope he’s as stupid as he acts, comes Jensen’s reply, clear as a bell.
Jared gets the impression that Jensen thinks they’re a good team, that he hopes they can work together beyond this particular mission.
Jared hopes so, too.
Collins’ security team shows them to a suite of rooms that have been cleaned recently, the smell of cleaning fluid and disinfectant permeating the space. Hot water pours freely from the pipes, so Jared showers and dresses in clean clothes. Space travel has taught him to take advantage of running water and ordinary indoor plumbing whenever it’s offered.
The view from the room’s floor-to-ceiling glass windows is impressive. Forest and lush vegetation stretch as far as the eye can see in every direction, or at least as much of the view as Jared can see. There don’t appear to be any other buildings besides the one they’re in, which seems strange. Someone must be keeping the water and electricity working.
“Underground, maybe?” Jensen suggests.
Jared nods. “Maybe. This building is such a sitting duck, especially if the planet is as lawless as you say.”
“The home of a very arrogant man who thinks he’s the emperor of a dead civilization,” Jensen says.
“Sounds about right,” Jared agrees.
At the appointed time, two security guards arrive to escort them to the dining room, where Misha Collins holds forth in a massive winged chair at the head of a long, black table. He gestures for Jared and Jensen to take places on either side of him.
“Welcome to Alexandria, gentlemen.”
Servants bring wine and water as they make small talk about the climate, the view from the boys’ room, the power and plumbing for the building.
“All underground,” Collins confirms. “The forest has reclaimed most of the surface of the planet, but the tunnels and caves still serve as homes for workers and servants. My security team lives here in the palace with me, of course.”
Servants bring fresh bread, cheese, and figs, followed by seafood delicacies, which impress Jared despite himself.
“How close to the ocean are we?”
“About a hundred miles,” Collins answers as he takes a bite of something that looks vaguely like a seared scallop. “I have a team of fishers who gather what we need from there when we have visitors.”
The main course consists of various game and fowl, all presumably native to the planet, all freshly hunted and prepared deliciously. The sumptuous feast is topped off with a dessert of some kind of fruit pie, drizzled with honey and fresh cream, served with coffee and a sweet heated dessert drink that reminds Jared of the mead he’s tasted back home on Earth.
The meal is a display of wealth and power, just like the building. Jared’s curiosity gets the better of him, and he asks endless questions about the food. Collins answers with pride and more than a little arrogance. Jared gets the impression that Collins rules with an iron fist, his kingdom a kind of feudal serfdom where most of the people spend their lives toiling, either underground, in the mines and caves, or as teams of hunter-gatherers and farmers, mostly serving the palace and the people who live there.
“In return for the labor, I keep them safe,” Collins finishes, taking a last sip of his spiced wine.
“Safe from who?”
“As I’m sure you’ve heard, when the last great city fell to barbarians many years ago, the remaining citizens banded together to survive as the planet fell into a dark age. When my great-grandfather founded this kingdom, it was his dream that we would bring about a new Golden Age for Alexandria.
“Unfortunately, there are still those who would prevent a new Golden Age from happening. Bandits and brigands roam the forests, seeking to loot and destroy what has been built. My security forces keep our kingdom safe from these savages.”
He raises his glass. “And now that we have recovered the Great Stone, our future is secure.”
Jared and Jensen exchange glances.
“But I thought the stone was for sale,” Jared says. “That’s why I’m here.”
Misha’s eyes widen. “You thought I would sell the Great Stone of Alexandria?”
Jared shifts in his seat. “Mr. Collins, my university on Earth sent me here to collect the stone in good faith. We negotiated a price.”
“Then you and your university misunderstood, Professor. I would not sell the Great Stone for any price.”
Jared and Jensen exchange glances. Jensen’s just as confused as Jared is.
“May I look at the stone?” Jared asks.
Collins visibly brightens. “Of course! I would be delighted if you would feature a photographic record in your university museum. This is the dawning of a great age for Alexandria, and the entire galaxy should join us in celebrating.”
“Okay, total change to our original plan, but sure,” Jared says. “So where is it?”
“Why, it’s in the Sacred Temple, of course,” Collins says, and Jared has the distinct impression he’s being mocked.
He’s starting to wonder if the stone has actually been found, or if this is all some elaborate ruse, although for what purpose, Jared can’t imagine.
“Okay,” Jared says. “Could I see it, please?”
“Aw, such nice manners.” Collins simpers.
Now Jared’s certain he’s being mocked.
“Unfortunately, the sacred temple is a three-day hike from here, through the forest,” Collins says, his smile too agreeable.
“Okay,” Jensen says. He takes over the conversation just when Jared’s getting too annoyed to continue. “So if you’d be so kind as to provide a guide and some camping equipment, we’ll head out in the morning.”
Collins shrugs. “Suit yourself. But I should warn you: the forest is full of wild animals and savages.”
Jensen smiles. “We can handle ourselves. Of course, if you’d care to spare a couple of your armed guards, we wouldn’t object.”
Collins nods. “I believe that can be arranged.”
He’s planning to murder us out in the forest, so he can blame our deaths on wild animals, Jared projects to Jensen.
It’ll be okay, Jensen projects back.
Back in their suite, Jensen reminds Jared, telepathically, that they’re probably being watched. Listened to.
Good thing we don’t need to talk out loud to communicate, Jared projects back. It takes effort to project his thoughts. He has to focus to frame the words in a coherent sentence, as opposed to the scrambled, chaotic way his brain usually works. Then he has to focus on Jensen, to be sure the message is getting through.
Jensen seems to understand, throws him a sympathetic look.
“That was productive,” he notes out loud. “But maybe we should get some sleep, what do you say?”
“I call dibs on the bathroom,” Jared answers.
They go to sleep in separate beds, but when Jared wakes up in the night, Jensen is wrapped around him, spooning him.
He’s too grateful for the comfort of Jensen’s body to worry about what Collins thinks of them. It’s none of his business anyway.
He’s half-hard by the time he falls asleep again.
//**//**//
The boys are on the road the next morning, guards and a guide at their side. It’s almost unbearably hot in the forest, so Jared thanks the deities of this strange planet for the canopy of trees over their heads, protecting them from the sun.
Within the day, they encounter “savages”, as Collins calls them. Their clothing is a combination of rags and animal skins, and the weapons they carry are handmade from stone and wood. They shake them at Jared’s group, shouting threats and growling at them. Jared counts ten, outnumbering Jared’s group, and he suspects there are more, hiding in the trees.
The tribe is quickly dispatched by the security guards’ superior firepower, but Jared doesn’t enjoy it. Something about the desperation and obvious poverty of their attackers doesn’t sit right with him.
“They do all right out here,” Callum, their guide, assures Jared.
After setting up camp for the night, Callum Rennie tells them his story. He was born into one of the tribes that roam the planet, foraging, hunting, ambushing, and stealing from other tribes or from the supply caravans that travel between the farms and the Emperor’s Palace.
“The ones closest to the Palace are mostly marauders,” Callum tells them. “Bandits. They’ll take anything they can, including your life. But in truth, there’s plenty of food out here in the forest. They don’t need to ambush anybody.”
Jared gets the feeling there’s more to it, but he doesn’t argue. Instead, he asks Callum how he became a guide for the Emperor.
“My tribe was slaughtered when I was a child,” he says. “A scouting expedition from the palace rescued me, brought me to the Emperor’s Village. When I was old enough, I started joining expeditions into the forest, training up to be a guide. And now here I am.”
Jared wonders if the killers of Callum’s tribe worked for the Emperor. He can sense that Jensen wonders that, too. They both get the feeling that the top tribe on the planet is run by Collins, who seems more interested in power and control by any means than human rights.
Jensen’s got first-hand experience with folks like that. He hates them on principle. Jared hates them on Jensen’s behalf.
They bed down that night and the next with Collins’ security detail keeping watch, but Jared doesn’t sleep well. He can’t shake the feeling that Collins would as soon kill them as let them into the cave where his precious stone lies. Nevertheless, he presses on, determined to acquire at least photographic evidence of his mission.
Late on the third day, they find the cave where the sacred stone lies. Almost immediately, they’re attacked and running for their lives from multiple tribes of “savages.” Two of their security team are killed in the melee.
Getting back to Collins’ compound seems like a miracle.
The Emperor’s surprise at seeing them alive is obvious. He didn’t expect them to make it back, alive or dead.
“We have evidence,” Jared tells him, pulling up the images he took of the stone in the temple. “My university will be pleased.”
They’re grimy, sweaty, and covered with insect bites, but they decline Collins’ offer to stay the night, preferring to get out while they can.
On board the shuttle back to the space station, Jared shakes his head.
“That was close,” he says. “And stupid.”
“And lucrative,” Jensen says, opening his hand.
The stone lies on his palm, looking just as it did in the cave.
“Holy shit, Jen,” Jared says.
“Yeah,” Jensen agrees. “Our Holy Shit now.”
“Are you crazy?” Jared stares. “They’ll come after us.”
Jensen shakes his head. “I left a fake stone in its place. It’ll take them forever to figure it out.”
Jared’s mouth drops open, closes again.
“You really are a thief.”
“I’m the best thief,” Jensen agrees with a wink. “When I make objects disappear, nobody even knows they’re gone.”
//**//**//
Back on the Impala, with the comforting vibration of the active wormhole around them, Jared does his best to process what Jensen’s done.
“I mean, the stone really belongs to Alexandria,” he says. “In a deep, profound way. I see that now. We don’t have the right to remove it from the planet.”
“Right,” Jensen agrees. “Except we do, when it means we have a chance to save the people we love.”
Jared stares. “What are you talking about?”
When Jensen looks away, Jared can tell he’s nervous about what he’s about to say.
“When I was in the Corps, I heard rumors about a magical stone that had the power to find missing loved ones, among other things.”
“So you think you can use the Alexandria stone to find your family?” Jared blinks.
Which is when Jared realizes that this was Jensen’s plan all along. The Alexandria Stone has the power to return Jensen’s family to him, and that’s not something Jensen can easily dismiss.
Then it hits him. Jensen latched onto Jared the moment he realized Jared would get him to Alexandria and the opportunity to steal the stone that might get his family back.
Even before he met Jared, Jensen knew he couldn’t pass up this particular fare.
As the truth sinks in, Jared’s angry. He feels betrayed. Used.
Then he thinks about everything Jensen’s been through, and he feels a stab of sympathy. He gets it. If his family had been kidnapped and sold into slavery, Jared would’ve done anything to get them back.
Anything.
“That was the idea, yeah,” Jensen admits. “I have a fix on their last location, but if they’re not there, I’m hoping the stone can tell me where they are.”
His eyes pinch with pain as he lifts them to Jared, willing him to understand, to sympathize. To forgive.
“I never lied to you, Jay,” he says. “As soon as I met you, I knew I couldn’t betray you.”
“I’m pretty sure not telling me that you planned to steal the Alexandria Stone constitutes lying, Jensen,” Jared says sharply. “Not that I don’t understand why you did it. I do. I just wish you could’ve trusted me enough to tell me.”
Jensen lifts an eyebrow. “Would you have let me come with you if I had?”
“Probably not,” Jared admits. He takes a deep breath. “So where’s this last known location?”
Jensen’s eyes widen. “You’ll come with me?”
“Of course, I’ll come with you,” Jared snaps, still angry. “If it was my family, I’d expect you to help me find them.”
“You know I would,” Jensen answers. He swallows thickly, his beautiful green eyes glistening with moisture.
Jared sucks in a breath, struggling to push aside his frustration.
“So where are we going?”
//**//**//**
Jensen believes his mother and sister are imprisoned on Maleus Septima, in the same star system as Chris Heyerdahl’s compound on Maleus Prime.
The space station orbiting the planet is derelict and empty, much like the one at Alexandria but, just like that planet, there’s an automated shuttle that takes them to the surface. Unfortunately, there’s nothing there. It’s another abandoned civilization, uninhabited for at least the last fifty years. All the buildings are crumbling and dust-covered.
Jensen’s grief and disappointment are palpable. He’s given his all to get here, believing that the Alexandria stone could perform miracles.
“They’re not here, Jen,” Jared says gently. “I’m so sorry.”
Jensen stands in the middle of the floor of the landing port, stone in hand, and closes his eyes. Jared can feel him reaching out with his mind, searching for answers, for explanations. How could he have been so wrong? How could he think they would be here?
Then, in the dim room, something is glowing. Something in Jensen’s hand.
“Jensen.”
Jensen looks down, turns his hand and opens it. The Alexandria stone is glowing brighter now, its light filling the room with an eerie reddish glow.
“Jensen, look.” Jared points to a round table in the middle of the room. Its surface is glowing, almost as if it’s responding to the stone. Jensen holds the stone out, flat on his palm, as he and Jared cross the floor of the empty room until they’re standing over the table. The surface looks like it’s red-hot now, burning without a flame. It pulses for a moment, then starts to dim.
As the surface cools, a word appears, as if scrawled among the ashes of the super-heated stone.
“Cornucopia.”
“What does it mean?” Despite his doctorate in ancient civilizations and archeology, Jared’s never heard of it.
“It’s a place,” Jensen says. “A mythical kingdom. A place of perfect peace and harmony and plenty. Like the idea of Heaven from ancient Earth.”
“So it’s not real,” Jared says. “They’re dead.”
Jensen sends him a look of such anguish and despair that Jared would do anything to take it back.
“There are rumors about it being a real place,” Jensen says. He closes his hand around the stone as it dims. “It’s just so far away, nobody I know has ever been there. Even if you could get there, you’d never come back. Our primitive wormhole capacitors can only bend space so much, and Cornucopia is simply beyond our reach. Some say it’s in the distant past, and even if we could get there, it would be empty and abandoned, like this place. Like Alexandria.”
Jared takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Jen. So sorry.”
Jensen turns to Jared, holds out his hand with the Alexandria stone on it.
“Take it,” he says. His eyes are dark, defeated. “I don’t need it. You can do whatever you want with it. I don’t care.”
Jared takes the stone, feeling its unusual weight. He thumbs over the smooth surface. It’s still warm from Jensen’s hand. So much has happened, since the day Jared took this mission. So much has changed.
When he looks up, Jensen’s looking at him, his gaze inscrutable. Then he reaches out, grabs Jared’s shoulder.
“Come on,” he says. “I’ll take you home.”
//**//**//
Back on the Impala, Jensen sets a course for Earth, then retreats to his bunk to eat and sleep.
Jared stays on the bridge, numb and sad, lost in his own thoughts. Jared accomplished his mission, so there’s no reason to continue. Jensen did his job, so he can go. The moment of parting looms with every space-moment that passes.
You’ll always be in my heart.
Jared tries to find the words to say to make up for the sense of loss they both feel, but it’s basically useless.
You should come to Earth with me, meet my family.
Nothing he can think of makes up for the sense of failure Jared feels. He’s letting Jensen down.
I’ll always wish we could be together, even when we’re not.
“Okay, that’s enough.”
Jared starts as Jensen appears from behind him. He’s been listening in on Jared’s thoughts, and Jared doesn’t even mind. Jensen’s the captain, the one in charge, the only man Jared has ever felt he could surrender to.
“You like it when we’re together,” Jensen suggests, tentative but also brave as hell.
“Yeah,” Jared agrees.
“You’d stay with me, even if it meant giving up your old job, with all its job security.”
Jared hesitates for a split second, then says, “Hell yeah.”
Jensen gestures awkwardly. “I’m looking for a first mate,” he says. “Somebody to sit in the starboard seat, permanently.”
This time, Jared doesn’t hesitate. “I’m your man.”
“The pay’s shit and the risks are many.”
“I’ll take an indefinite leave of absence, let my family know,” Jared promises.
“We may not get back to Earth very often.”
Jared takes a deep breath. “My family will understand. I mean, they won’t, but they will. Eventually. Even if I never see them again, I was lucky to have them for as long as I did.”
“All right, then.”
Jared puts up his index finger. “One condition.”
“Shoot.”
Jared pulls the Alexandria stone out of his pocket. “We take this stone back where it belongs.”
Jensen sucks in a shaky breath. “Okay, but we do it my way. If we ever see that asshole Collins again, it’ll be too soon.”
“Agreed.”
“Also, you teach me to fly,” Jared says. “And shoot.”
The grin on Jensen’s face gets lopsided. “Done.”
This time, Jared follows Jensen back to his quarters, where Jensen gives Jared intimate direction in becoming first mate of the Impala.
Tomorrow, they’ll sail into the sunset together, to the outer limits of the known galaxy, in search of family, adventure, and a mythical kingdom.
Tonight, it’s just them, and Jared’s more sure that it’s just the way it’s meant to be than he’s ever been of anything.
fin