Smoke & Lightning, Heavy Metal Thunder (44/?)
MASTER POST
Title: Smoke And Lightning, Heavy Metal Thunder (44/?)
Authors: bloody_adorable and eviltwin
Fandoms: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jensen Ackles / Jared Padalecki.
Rating: Adult..ish.
Wordcount: 3,513
Summary: AU. Jared's a classic case of rich kid gone wrong, whose only sense of family comes from his motorbike, the guy he rents a garage from to live in and the precinct cops who know his face better than most already. Jensen's a hard-working student whose family are helping push him towards great things. What happens when their two worlds collide, and will Jared's troublesome nature be too much for Jensen to handle?
Disclaimer: None of the following is true in any way, and no profit is made from this work of fiction.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
It was the first hit that really brought Jared back to his old self. He remembered having to fight for such menial things, even for the honor to have that crow tattoo. He'd done a lot of things to get it. A lot of bad things that he never told Jeffrey or Jensen about.
It was the first hit that really cleared his mind. Jared let it happen, let his head snap back, let the blood flow down his mouth and chin, from his nose. He reached up and set a hand to the blood, then spied down at his fingers. He smiled and looked back over at the inmate. The man was shorter than him, but that didn't mean he would be easier to beat. Jared didn't recognize him, so the guy must've been doing time while Jared was in Chuck's crew. Brothers don't turn against brothers, so it was normal to have a few guys absent in the crew -- someone covering for his brothers, or someone not willing to incriminate the clan, which is what they thought Jared had done.
A crowd was gathering by the time Jared had wiped his nose clean on the hem of his standard-issue white T-shirt. The orange jumpsuit was tied around his waist, more an annoyance than anything else. Sniffling through his nose, Jared looked over at the enraged inmate. "What's your name, man?" he asked.
He sneered, showing his crooked, yellowed teeth. "I'm Venom."
It took everything Jared had not to laugh in the guy's face. He dabbed at his nose again, his shirt pulled up so that he could use the hem of it, and smiled a little brighter. "Well, Venom," he said. "I got news for you."
"You think words are gonna make a difference, fish?" he snarled.
Jared let go of his shirt and shrugged. "Might," he offered. "See, I didn't rat out Chuck and the crew." He shrugged again, his arms open wide. "It came from somebody else. Probably the same asshole that killed him. And," he said, before Venom could interrupt him. "Your name.." He paused to shake his head, and give the inmate a sympathetic look. "...Is ridiculous."
That was all it took. Venom had had enough disrespect for one day. He lunged at Jared, his fist connecting with Jared's nose again, causing a fresh flow of blood. They tumbled backwards and the crowd around them tightened, the men cheering their favorite on. Regardless of the man's bulk, Jared was strong enough to flip Venom over his head. He felt Venom's hands try to grip at the chest of Jared's shirt for leverage. Jared was thankful that he wasn't allowed to have the nipple rings in prison, because that move would have nearly crippled him and given Venom the upper hand.
Venom landed on the floor hard. While the man was momentarily dazed, Jared jumped up and stood over him, one of his feet at either side of Venom's body. He took hold of Venom's orange collar and pulled his fist back. He let it fly once, twice, three times -- and just kept punching. He felt the splatter of the man's hot blood upon his face, but didn't let it stop him from landing another blow. He heard some of the encouraging shouts turn to ones of mercy, telling him to give it up.
He didn't, though. Not until he felt hands upon him, pulling him away from Venom. He thought, at first, that it was some of the other inmates. He fought against the hands, and spun around to take down whoever was stopping the fight.
He came face to face with one of the COs. The officer pointed a finger in Jared's face, his jaw clenched, and snarled at him. "You hit me, boy, and you'll get more than the Shu," he warned.
Two other correctional officers restrained Jared, and the sneering CO led the way to solitary confinement. Jared had been there before, and while he hated it, it would also bring a welcome retreat right now. Still high on adrenaline, Jared fought against the officers. He was dragged through the corridors, but couldn't make heads or tails over where he was being led. Was it the west end? The south end? He couldn't tell. Roughly he was shoved into a tiny, dimly lit room. The door squeaked loudly when it was shut. Jared slammed his fist against the metal door, making a loud thud that echoed through the room and hallways.
"Let me out of here!" he shouted.
The CO peered through the small window at the top of the door. "Two days, Padalecki."
"Two days?" he repeated. "That fucker started it, and you know it."
"Two days," he said again. "And if he's hurt bad, you're in deep shit."
The lights were turned off in the room -- something Jared knew was against regulations. The COs didn't care though. Frustrated, Jared raked his fingers through his hair, pulling hard. "Fuck!" he screamed. His voice bounced off the walls, almost like it did in the garage at home.
Resting his back against the wall, Jared slid down to the floor, curling up as much as he could. He set his head in his hands and wished, once again, that this would all be over. He wanted to go home.
Chris didn't know what he'd expected when he arrived to the Ackles household, but he certainly hadn't expected this. In all of their years as best friends, he had never been locked out of Jensen's room. Ever. Kenzie was there, pounding upon Jensen's door, calling out to her brother.
"Let me in, you loser!" she called.
"Go away, Mackenzie," came Jensen's voice from inside the room. "Leave me alone."
"You can't stay in there forever, you know!" she reminded him.
"Watch me!"
"What if you see me in school?" she yelled to him. "Huh? What then?"
"Then I'll run away like everyone else does."
Chris smiled at the taunt and stepped closer to Jensen's doorway, listening to Kenzie complain at her brother's words. "Hey, kiddo," he said gently. "Let me give it a try."
Kenzie scoffed and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. "Good luck," she returned, crossing her arms over her chest. "He's mean now."
"He's got a lot going on," Chris reminded her. She only shook her head at him and walked away, frumping as though she'd just been refused the fuzziest puppy in the world. She grumbled as she went, but Chris knew she would forgive Jensen in a heartbeat if he asked.
Knocking on the door, Chris stood tall, jamming his free hand into his jeans pocket.
"Go away, Kenzie," Jensen snarled. "What part of that don't you get?"
"Maybe it's because you're using more than one syllable," Chris returned, a slight smile upon his lips.
It was quiet for a second, as if Jensen was trying to figure out what was going on. "Chris?"
"Yeah, open the door."
"No, go away."
"Dude, you've never shut me out before," he said. "Get your ass over here and unlock the door or I'll break it down. And you know I will, Jensen."
Chris thought he heard a heavy sigh, and could almost see Jensen slumping towards the door. A few moments later, the door was unlocked, and swung open.
Jensen looked at Chris, who was now leaning against the doorjamb. "Don't look so fucking pleased with yourself," he said, unsmiling. He stepped back, letting Chris inside, and then closed the door again, re-locking it.
Chris did a quick once-over to Jensen's attire -- or lack of it. The only thing he wore was a pair of black pajama pants with small Harley Davidson logos scattered upon them. The drawstring was tied in a bow, and Jensen's bare feet poked out from the wide legs. His tattoos were on full display, but Chris had gotten used to them, and he thought that, if he saw Jensen without them, it wouldn't be his Jensen at all.
"Hey, man, what's going on?" Chris asked, following Jensen further into the room.
"Oh, other than the world's end?" he asked, opening his arms for a moment. "Nothing, why?"
"A little dramatic, aren't you?" He received no verbal answer. Instead, Jensen just looked at him, his hazel-green eyes much harsher than they used to be. "Alright, I admit that things are rough right now. But you decided to move home."
"No," Jensen said, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "Jared and Alan decided that. I wasn't given a choice in the matter." He looked around the room, peering at it, as if he was in a cell, rather than Jared. "So, now I'm stuck here until I can graduate and get the fuck out."
Pursing his lips together, Chris walked over to the bed and sat down beside Jensen. It was quiet for a few seconds, Jensen staring down at a book that was in his hands. Chris hadn't realized he'd been holding it until just then. Leaning close, Chris nudged Jensen's shoulder with his own. "Let's go get drunk," he said.
Jensen seemed to think about it for a moment. "Ah," he finally grumbled, shrugging one shoulder.
"Come on," Chris encouraged. "It's Friday night. Let's go have some fun."
Quiet for a few seconds more, Jensen finally shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "I really don't feel up to it."
"Alright, so we'll stay here," he shrugged. "I'll order pizza via Donna's kitchen, and we'll watch some old-as-shit gangster movie on DVD. It'll be just like when we were younger."
This time, Jensen smiled and looked over at his best friend. "It's eleven o'clock at night," he said. "Mom's not going to make you a pizza."
"Miniscule detail," Chris grinned. "I miss you. I want to spend some time with my best friend."
Jensen looked away from him. He glanced up at the ceiling and took a deep breath, sighing softly. "Alright," he gave in. "Second drawer has some pajamas. And I get to pick out the movie."
"You picked out the last one."
"Dude," Jensen returned seriously. "That was seven years ago."
"Still makes it my turn, asshole."
"Fine, fine. But it's gotta be Cagney."
Twenty minutes later, Chris was in relatively the same attire as Jensen, wearing only pajama pants, these ones with red chili peppers decorating the black fabric. The movie was James Cagney's Angels With Dirty Faces, playing on the flat-screen television Jensen had gotten for his last birthday. They weren't really paying attention to it, though. They were both stretched out on the double bed, feet propped up on the headboard, staring up at the ceiling. They talked about simple things, things of the past, how Jensen's being a sickly child held him back from one year of school, and how that move had been a blessing, because they'd found each other the following year. Chris kept him sane, and Jensen -- he still didn't know what he provided Chris with.
They got into more complicated topics, like high school term papers, graduation, college, and Dani. Jensen could tell, without even looking at Chris, that there was still some tension there.
"You love her though, right?"
Chris nodded. "More than I ever have anyone else," he said. "Present company excluded."
Jensen laughed, nudging Chris with his elbow. "Shut up," he mumbled. "I'm serious."
"Yeah," he said, serious again. "I do. And I really see myself staying with her for as long as she'll have me. It's just..."
Jensen turned his head to look at Chris as best he could in the close proximity. "Just what?"
Chris didn't look back at him. "Well, since New Year's," he explained. "Since Steve's..."
"Oh."
"Yeah," he frowned. "She and I -- we've talked about letting someone else in with us. But she's stuck on you and Jared. No offense, man, 'cause I love you, you know that. But, I just don't think I could with her there. What we did... That was just a one-time thing, y'know? But it was also something between just us. Dani, though, she wants you guys in on it."
"And it weirds you out."
Chris chuckled and nodded his head. "Is that awful of me?"
Smiling brighter, Jensen shook his head. "No," he answered. "I do think that you should talk to someone."
Chris seemed almost offended as he finally turned and looked into Jensen's eyes. "Dude, I'm not talking to a shrink about this shit."
Jensen tried not to laugh too loud. "I don't mean a shrink, nimrod," he returned. "I mean, you should talk to Trevor. He'll know someone that's trustworthy for that kind of thing."
"Really?"
Jensen nodded. "Jay trusts him," he said.
Chris returned the nod. "Good enough for me."
Interrupting them, there was a soft knock at the door. Jensen knew it wasn't Kenzie, just by the gentleness used. And he knew it wasn't Alan, because there was no biting bark of his name after the knock. Josh was out with Cathy, gone to see an old Indiana Jones rerun at the drive-in. That left Mom.
"Jensen?"
"Yeah, Mom?"
"Honey, I made you and Chris a snack."
Jensen looked at Chris for a moment, his brow furrowed. He smiled as they both sat up, Jensen hopping off the bed and heading towards the door. Chris followed him a moment later, peeking his head out the door when Jensen opened it. Donna was there with a big tray, full of goodies.
"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I put a few of everything on."
The comment was directed mostly towards Chris, but it was true enough that she didn't know Jensen as completely as a mother should. She smiled at them and handed over the tray. Her eyes quickly scanned over both boys' bare chests and a moment of panic squeezed at her heart. "You two aren't..."
Jensen looked at Chris and then rolled his eyes. "No, Mom," he said. "Thanks for the food." He closed the door again and locked it. Alan should be home any minute, and Jensen didn't want to give the man an opportunity to just waltz into his room.
"What do you mean, no?" Chris teased. "You say that like it could never happen."
"Shut up, you freak."
Chris set the tray down on Jensen's desk. "Dude," he said happily. "Your Mom made you cocoa and sandwiches."
Jensen chuckled. "Yeah," he returned. "Trying to make up for lost time, I think."
The mattress had to have been made in Hell. Jared had decided that just after an hour of sitting on it. Sleep didn't come to him, at least not for very long, while in the Shu. He mainly dozed, uneasy and furious. He wanted to get out, and he probably could have, if he'd been willing to rat Venom out. Even though the guy attacked him, he refused to crack.
"Come on, son," the CO had encouraged just hours after his solitary time had started. "If you give us the details, we can get you out of here, make sure you're safe."
"Fuck off," Jared had said through the steel door. "I ain't no rat."
It was almost the end of the two days though. He'd made it with nothing more than the silence ricocheting off the walls, and the voices mumbling in his head. It wasn't time, but he still heard the keys in the door.
He squinted against the light that poured in from the corridor, slanting across the floor and walls. He raised his hand for a moment, shielding his eyes against the sudden brightness.
"You're lucky, Padalecki."
He recognized the CO's voice before he really saw who it was. The same guy that had thrown him in there. "Why?" he asked. He didn't consider being released two hours early any sort of real luck.
"Because someone finally told us what really happened."
The guard stepped aside, revealing Horton standing there. The man looked nervous, as if every little sound was someone coming after him. Jared had thought for sure that his cellmate was going to be nothing but annoyance and trouble. Seemed the man had proved him wrong.
They didn't take Jared back to his cell. Instead, he had a short-and-not-sweet meeting with Alan, filled with positive-negative statements. All is going well. The evidence they have seems irrefutible, but we're not giving up without a fight now, are we?
Jared hated the man. He hated the sound of his voice, the stench of his fucking cologne. He found himself grinding his teeth while the lawyer talked. By the time he was back in his cell, his jaw ached.
Horton was there when he returned, laying on the top bunk. He sat up when Jared walked into the cell. They looked at each other for a few minutes, nothing but silence between them. Horton jumped down from his bunk and scratched at his blonde hair.
"I'm gonna be late for PI," he said. "Boss don't like it when I'm late."
Before Horton could leave for his prison job, Jared reached out to him, taking hold of the man's arm. "Hey, Horton," he said. He paused for a moment, trying to smile. "Thanks."
Horton returned the half-hearted grin, nodding. He turned to go again, but Jared halted him once more.
"Can I ask why?"
Horton looked up at Jared again, silent for what seemed like a long time. Finally, he shook his head. "Paybacks are a bitch, right?"
Jared eyed him. "Venom hurt you?"
"Not just me," he said. "There's plenty of others."
"I'm sorry, man."
Horton laughed, but there wasn't an ounce of humor in the chuckle. "Do me a favor, man?"
Jared shrugged. "What?"
Horton picked up a bible that sat upon his top bunk. He fipped some of the pages and picked up an envelope, sealed and addressed. "Somethin' happens to me," he said. "Mail this? It's to my girl."
Jared looked down at the letter, at Horton's chicken scratches.
Chuckling, Horton pointed at the envelope. "Don't go readin' it now. It's private. Tells her all the things I should have said when I was alive."
Jensen. Jared was reminded of all the things he should have said to him, too. Sighing, he shook his head and handed it back to Horton. "No way," he said. "You can tell her all of that when you get out."
"I might not get out."
"Hold on, man," he said. "There'll be a new Pres and VP in Chuck's crew. And if they're who I think they're gonna be, you don't have to worry. You'll be okay."
Horton smiled, much sadder than before. He looked down at the letter, and then back up at Jared. "But they ain't in here, JT," he explained. "And there's a lot of other crows here." He nodded, looking into Jared's eyes. "Mail that for me."
"This is fucking insane."
"Shut up, already."
Chris sighed. "Well, it's freezing," he complained. "Tell me why we had to sneak out and come here? Leave a perfectly nice warm room and bed, to freeze our asses off?"
"Do you want to talk to Alan? Explain where we were going?"
Chris frowned at Jensen. "Fuck, no."
"There you go then."
Jensen knocked at the door again, then jammed his hands into his coat pockets.
"It's too late," Chris said. "He's asleep, let's go."
"He is not, he just got back from closing up the bar, I'm almost sure of it."
Before Jensen could even finish his sentence, the door he'd been pounding on was whipped open. "What?"
A little scared, Jensen and Chris stared up at Rock. Out of the corner of his eye, Jensen saw Julius and Mace nearing them, in protect-mode. "H-hey," Jensen greeted. He cleared his throat and tried to speak without sounding like a terrified Boy Scout selling something no one wanted or needed. "Hi, I'm Jensen and this is Ch--"
"I know who you are," Rock interrupted. "What's up?"
Jensen cleared his throat again. "We were wondering if you could tell us anything about the night Chuck was killed."
Rock shook his head and leaned up against the doorjamb. "Can only tell you what I told the cops," he said. "Jay was at the bar until late. If he killed Chuck, he'd have to be able to run like the Flash, man."
Jensen chuckled and nodded. "That's a cool character," he mumbled, quickly straightening and becoming more serious when Chris gave him a reprimanding look. "Okay, but you told the cops that Jared was with you?"
Rock nodded. "Yeah, man," he said. "I ain't got a clue why they don't listen."
"They said they have some of Jared's clothes with Chuck's blood on them."
"Told them about the fistfight they got into too," Rock continued. "I don't know what's going on, Jensen, but you best find out soon. I know his lawyer is your old man, but somethin' ain't right."
Jensen took his eyes from Rock and met Chris's gaze. No, something definitely wasn't right.
--TBC--
Title: Smoke And Lightning, Heavy Metal Thunder (44/?)
Authors: bloody_adorable and eviltwin
Fandoms: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jensen Ackles / Jared Padalecki.
Rating: Adult..ish.
Wordcount: 3,513
Summary: AU. Jared's a classic case of rich kid gone wrong, whose only sense of family comes from his motorbike, the guy he rents a garage from to live in and the precinct cops who know his face better than most already. Jensen's a hard-working student whose family are helping push him towards great things. What happens when their two worlds collide, and will Jared's troublesome nature be too much for Jensen to handle?
Disclaimer: None of the following is true in any way, and no profit is made from this work of fiction.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
It was the first hit that really brought Jared back to his old self. He remembered having to fight for such menial things, even for the honor to have that crow tattoo. He'd done a lot of things to get it. A lot of bad things that he never told Jeffrey or Jensen about.
It was the first hit that really cleared his mind. Jared let it happen, let his head snap back, let the blood flow down his mouth and chin, from his nose. He reached up and set a hand to the blood, then spied down at his fingers. He smiled and looked back over at the inmate. The man was shorter than him, but that didn't mean he would be easier to beat. Jared didn't recognize him, so the guy must've been doing time while Jared was in Chuck's crew. Brothers don't turn against brothers, so it was normal to have a few guys absent in the crew -- someone covering for his brothers, or someone not willing to incriminate the clan, which is what they thought Jared had done.
A crowd was gathering by the time Jared had wiped his nose clean on the hem of his standard-issue white T-shirt. The orange jumpsuit was tied around his waist, more an annoyance than anything else. Sniffling through his nose, Jared looked over at the enraged inmate. "What's your name, man?" he asked.
He sneered, showing his crooked, yellowed teeth. "I'm Venom."
It took everything Jared had not to laugh in the guy's face. He dabbed at his nose again, his shirt pulled up so that he could use the hem of it, and smiled a little brighter. "Well, Venom," he said. "I got news for you."
"You think words are gonna make a difference, fish?" he snarled.
Jared let go of his shirt and shrugged. "Might," he offered. "See, I didn't rat out Chuck and the crew." He shrugged again, his arms open wide. "It came from somebody else. Probably the same asshole that killed him. And," he said, before Venom could interrupt him. "Your name.." He paused to shake his head, and give the inmate a sympathetic look. "...Is ridiculous."
That was all it took. Venom had had enough disrespect for one day. He lunged at Jared, his fist connecting with Jared's nose again, causing a fresh flow of blood. They tumbled backwards and the crowd around them tightened, the men cheering their favorite on. Regardless of the man's bulk, Jared was strong enough to flip Venom over his head. He felt Venom's hands try to grip at the chest of Jared's shirt for leverage. Jared was thankful that he wasn't allowed to have the nipple rings in prison, because that move would have nearly crippled him and given Venom the upper hand.
Venom landed on the floor hard. While the man was momentarily dazed, Jared jumped up and stood over him, one of his feet at either side of Venom's body. He took hold of Venom's orange collar and pulled his fist back. He let it fly once, twice, three times -- and just kept punching. He felt the splatter of the man's hot blood upon his face, but didn't let it stop him from landing another blow. He heard some of the encouraging shouts turn to ones of mercy, telling him to give it up.
He didn't, though. Not until he felt hands upon him, pulling him away from Venom. He thought, at first, that it was some of the other inmates. He fought against the hands, and spun around to take down whoever was stopping the fight.
He came face to face with one of the COs. The officer pointed a finger in Jared's face, his jaw clenched, and snarled at him. "You hit me, boy, and you'll get more than the Shu," he warned.
Two other correctional officers restrained Jared, and the sneering CO led the way to solitary confinement. Jared had been there before, and while he hated it, it would also bring a welcome retreat right now. Still high on adrenaline, Jared fought against the officers. He was dragged through the corridors, but couldn't make heads or tails over where he was being led. Was it the west end? The south end? He couldn't tell. Roughly he was shoved into a tiny, dimly lit room. The door squeaked loudly when it was shut. Jared slammed his fist against the metal door, making a loud thud that echoed through the room and hallways.
"Let me out of here!" he shouted.
The CO peered through the small window at the top of the door. "Two days, Padalecki."
"Two days?" he repeated. "That fucker started it, and you know it."
"Two days," he said again. "And if he's hurt bad, you're in deep shit."
The lights were turned off in the room -- something Jared knew was against regulations. The COs didn't care though. Frustrated, Jared raked his fingers through his hair, pulling hard. "Fuck!" he screamed. His voice bounced off the walls, almost like it did in the garage at home.
Resting his back against the wall, Jared slid down to the floor, curling up as much as he could. He set his head in his hands and wished, once again, that this would all be over. He wanted to go home.
Chris didn't know what he'd expected when he arrived to the Ackles household, but he certainly hadn't expected this. In all of their years as best friends, he had never been locked out of Jensen's room. Ever. Kenzie was there, pounding upon Jensen's door, calling out to her brother.
"Let me in, you loser!" she called.
"Go away, Mackenzie," came Jensen's voice from inside the room. "Leave me alone."
"You can't stay in there forever, you know!" she reminded him.
"Watch me!"
"What if you see me in school?" she yelled to him. "Huh? What then?"
"Then I'll run away like everyone else does."
Chris smiled at the taunt and stepped closer to Jensen's doorway, listening to Kenzie complain at her brother's words. "Hey, kiddo," he said gently. "Let me give it a try."
Kenzie scoffed and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. "Good luck," she returned, crossing her arms over her chest. "He's mean now."
"He's got a lot going on," Chris reminded her. She only shook her head at him and walked away, frumping as though she'd just been refused the fuzziest puppy in the world. She grumbled as she went, but Chris knew she would forgive Jensen in a heartbeat if he asked.
Knocking on the door, Chris stood tall, jamming his free hand into his jeans pocket.
"Go away, Kenzie," Jensen snarled. "What part of that don't you get?"
"Maybe it's because you're using more than one syllable," Chris returned, a slight smile upon his lips.
It was quiet for a second, as if Jensen was trying to figure out what was going on. "Chris?"
"Yeah, open the door."
"No, go away."
"Dude, you've never shut me out before," he said. "Get your ass over here and unlock the door or I'll break it down. And you know I will, Jensen."
Chris thought he heard a heavy sigh, and could almost see Jensen slumping towards the door. A few moments later, the door was unlocked, and swung open.
Jensen looked at Chris, who was now leaning against the doorjamb. "Don't look so fucking pleased with yourself," he said, unsmiling. He stepped back, letting Chris inside, and then closed the door again, re-locking it.
Chris did a quick once-over to Jensen's attire -- or lack of it. The only thing he wore was a pair of black pajama pants with small Harley Davidson logos scattered upon them. The drawstring was tied in a bow, and Jensen's bare feet poked out from the wide legs. His tattoos were on full display, but Chris had gotten used to them, and he thought that, if he saw Jensen without them, it wouldn't be his Jensen at all.
"Hey, man, what's going on?" Chris asked, following Jensen further into the room.
"Oh, other than the world's end?" he asked, opening his arms for a moment. "Nothing, why?"
"A little dramatic, aren't you?" He received no verbal answer. Instead, Jensen just looked at him, his hazel-green eyes much harsher than they used to be. "Alright, I admit that things are rough right now. But you decided to move home."
"No," Jensen said, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "Jared and Alan decided that. I wasn't given a choice in the matter." He looked around the room, peering at it, as if he was in a cell, rather than Jared. "So, now I'm stuck here until I can graduate and get the fuck out."
Pursing his lips together, Chris walked over to the bed and sat down beside Jensen. It was quiet for a few seconds, Jensen staring down at a book that was in his hands. Chris hadn't realized he'd been holding it until just then. Leaning close, Chris nudged Jensen's shoulder with his own. "Let's go get drunk," he said.
Jensen seemed to think about it for a moment. "Ah," he finally grumbled, shrugging one shoulder.
"Come on," Chris encouraged. "It's Friday night. Let's go have some fun."
Quiet for a few seconds more, Jensen finally shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "I really don't feel up to it."
"Alright, so we'll stay here," he shrugged. "I'll order pizza via Donna's kitchen, and we'll watch some old-as-shit gangster movie on DVD. It'll be just like when we were younger."
This time, Jensen smiled and looked over at his best friend. "It's eleven o'clock at night," he said. "Mom's not going to make you a pizza."
"Miniscule detail," Chris grinned. "I miss you. I want to spend some time with my best friend."
Jensen looked away from him. He glanced up at the ceiling and took a deep breath, sighing softly. "Alright," he gave in. "Second drawer has some pajamas. And I get to pick out the movie."
"You picked out the last one."
"Dude," Jensen returned seriously. "That was seven years ago."
"Still makes it my turn, asshole."
"Fine, fine. But it's gotta be Cagney."
Twenty minutes later, Chris was in relatively the same attire as Jensen, wearing only pajama pants, these ones with red chili peppers decorating the black fabric. The movie was James Cagney's Angels With Dirty Faces, playing on the flat-screen television Jensen had gotten for his last birthday. They weren't really paying attention to it, though. They were both stretched out on the double bed, feet propped up on the headboard, staring up at the ceiling. They talked about simple things, things of the past, how Jensen's being a sickly child held him back from one year of school, and how that move had been a blessing, because they'd found each other the following year. Chris kept him sane, and Jensen -- he still didn't know what he provided Chris with.
They got into more complicated topics, like high school term papers, graduation, college, and Dani. Jensen could tell, without even looking at Chris, that there was still some tension there.
"You love her though, right?"
Chris nodded. "More than I ever have anyone else," he said. "Present company excluded."
Jensen laughed, nudging Chris with his elbow. "Shut up," he mumbled. "I'm serious."
"Yeah," he said, serious again. "I do. And I really see myself staying with her for as long as she'll have me. It's just..."
Jensen turned his head to look at Chris as best he could in the close proximity. "Just what?"
Chris didn't look back at him. "Well, since New Year's," he explained. "Since Steve's..."
"Oh."
"Yeah," he frowned. "She and I -- we've talked about letting someone else in with us. But she's stuck on you and Jared. No offense, man, 'cause I love you, you know that. But, I just don't think I could with her there. What we did... That was just a one-time thing, y'know? But it was also something between just us. Dani, though, she wants you guys in on it."
"And it weirds you out."
Chris chuckled and nodded his head. "Is that awful of me?"
Smiling brighter, Jensen shook his head. "No," he answered. "I do think that you should talk to someone."
Chris seemed almost offended as he finally turned and looked into Jensen's eyes. "Dude, I'm not talking to a shrink about this shit."
Jensen tried not to laugh too loud. "I don't mean a shrink, nimrod," he returned. "I mean, you should talk to Trevor. He'll know someone that's trustworthy for that kind of thing."
"Really?"
Jensen nodded. "Jay trusts him," he said.
Chris returned the nod. "Good enough for me."
Interrupting them, there was a soft knock at the door. Jensen knew it wasn't Kenzie, just by the gentleness used. And he knew it wasn't Alan, because there was no biting bark of his name after the knock. Josh was out with Cathy, gone to see an old Indiana Jones rerun at the drive-in. That left Mom.
"Jensen?"
"Yeah, Mom?"
"Honey, I made you and Chris a snack."
Jensen looked at Chris for a moment, his brow furrowed. He smiled as they both sat up, Jensen hopping off the bed and heading towards the door. Chris followed him a moment later, peeking his head out the door when Jensen opened it. Donna was there with a big tray, full of goodies.
"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I put a few of everything on."
The comment was directed mostly towards Chris, but it was true enough that she didn't know Jensen as completely as a mother should. She smiled at them and handed over the tray. Her eyes quickly scanned over both boys' bare chests and a moment of panic squeezed at her heart. "You two aren't..."
Jensen looked at Chris and then rolled his eyes. "No, Mom," he said. "Thanks for the food." He closed the door again and locked it. Alan should be home any minute, and Jensen didn't want to give the man an opportunity to just waltz into his room.
"What do you mean, no?" Chris teased. "You say that like it could never happen."
"Shut up, you freak."
Chris set the tray down on Jensen's desk. "Dude," he said happily. "Your Mom made you cocoa and sandwiches."
Jensen chuckled. "Yeah," he returned. "Trying to make up for lost time, I think."
The mattress had to have been made in Hell. Jared had decided that just after an hour of sitting on it. Sleep didn't come to him, at least not for very long, while in the Shu. He mainly dozed, uneasy and furious. He wanted to get out, and he probably could have, if he'd been willing to rat Venom out. Even though the guy attacked him, he refused to crack.
"Come on, son," the CO had encouraged just hours after his solitary time had started. "If you give us the details, we can get you out of here, make sure you're safe."
"Fuck off," Jared had said through the steel door. "I ain't no rat."
It was almost the end of the two days though. He'd made it with nothing more than the silence ricocheting off the walls, and the voices mumbling in his head. It wasn't time, but he still heard the keys in the door.
He squinted against the light that poured in from the corridor, slanting across the floor and walls. He raised his hand for a moment, shielding his eyes against the sudden brightness.
"You're lucky, Padalecki."
He recognized the CO's voice before he really saw who it was. The same guy that had thrown him in there. "Why?" he asked. He didn't consider being released two hours early any sort of real luck.
"Because someone finally told us what really happened."
The guard stepped aside, revealing Horton standing there. The man looked nervous, as if every little sound was someone coming after him. Jared had thought for sure that his cellmate was going to be nothing but annoyance and trouble. Seemed the man had proved him wrong.
They didn't take Jared back to his cell. Instead, he had a short-and-not-sweet meeting with Alan, filled with positive-negative statements. All is going well. The evidence they have seems irrefutible, but we're not giving up without a fight now, are we?
Jared hated the man. He hated the sound of his voice, the stench of his fucking cologne. He found himself grinding his teeth while the lawyer talked. By the time he was back in his cell, his jaw ached.
Horton was there when he returned, laying on the top bunk. He sat up when Jared walked into the cell. They looked at each other for a few minutes, nothing but silence between them. Horton jumped down from his bunk and scratched at his blonde hair.
"I'm gonna be late for PI," he said. "Boss don't like it when I'm late."
Before Horton could leave for his prison job, Jared reached out to him, taking hold of the man's arm. "Hey, Horton," he said. He paused for a moment, trying to smile. "Thanks."
Horton returned the half-hearted grin, nodding. He turned to go again, but Jared halted him once more.
"Can I ask why?"
Horton looked up at Jared again, silent for what seemed like a long time. Finally, he shook his head. "Paybacks are a bitch, right?"
Jared eyed him. "Venom hurt you?"
"Not just me," he said. "There's plenty of others."
"I'm sorry, man."
Horton laughed, but there wasn't an ounce of humor in the chuckle. "Do me a favor, man?"
Jared shrugged. "What?"
Horton picked up a bible that sat upon his top bunk. He fipped some of the pages and picked up an envelope, sealed and addressed. "Somethin' happens to me," he said. "Mail this? It's to my girl."
Jared looked down at the letter, at Horton's chicken scratches.
Chuckling, Horton pointed at the envelope. "Don't go readin' it now. It's private. Tells her all the things I should have said when I was alive."
Jensen. Jared was reminded of all the things he should have said to him, too. Sighing, he shook his head and handed it back to Horton. "No way," he said. "You can tell her all of that when you get out."
"I might not get out."
"Hold on, man," he said. "There'll be a new Pres and VP in Chuck's crew. And if they're who I think they're gonna be, you don't have to worry. You'll be okay."
Horton smiled, much sadder than before. He looked down at the letter, and then back up at Jared. "But they ain't in here, JT," he explained. "And there's a lot of other crows here." He nodded, looking into Jared's eyes. "Mail that for me."
"This is fucking insane."
"Shut up, already."
Chris sighed. "Well, it's freezing," he complained. "Tell me why we had to sneak out and come here? Leave a perfectly nice warm room and bed, to freeze our asses off?"
"Do you want to talk to Alan? Explain where we were going?"
Chris frowned at Jensen. "Fuck, no."
"There you go then."
Jensen knocked at the door again, then jammed his hands into his coat pockets.
"It's too late," Chris said. "He's asleep, let's go."
"He is not, he just got back from closing up the bar, I'm almost sure of it."
Before Jensen could even finish his sentence, the door he'd been pounding on was whipped open. "What?"
A little scared, Jensen and Chris stared up at Rock. Out of the corner of his eye, Jensen saw Julius and Mace nearing them, in protect-mode. "H-hey," Jensen greeted. He cleared his throat and tried to speak without sounding like a terrified Boy Scout selling something no one wanted or needed. "Hi, I'm Jensen and this is Ch--"
"I know who you are," Rock interrupted. "What's up?"
Jensen cleared his throat again. "We were wondering if you could tell us anything about the night Chuck was killed."
Rock shook his head and leaned up against the doorjamb. "Can only tell you what I told the cops," he said. "Jay was at the bar until late. If he killed Chuck, he'd have to be able to run like the Flash, man."
Jensen chuckled and nodded. "That's a cool character," he mumbled, quickly straightening and becoming more serious when Chris gave him a reprimanding look. "Okay, but you told the cops that Jared was with you?"
Rock nodded. "Yeah, man," he said. "I ain't got a clue why they don't listen."
"They said they have some of Jared's clothes with Chuck's blood on them."
"Told them about the fistfight they got into too," Rock continued. "I don't know what's going on, Jensen, but you best find out soon. I know his lawyer is your old man, but somethin' ain't right."
Jensen took his eyes from Rock and met Chris's gaze. No, something definitely wasn't right.
--TBC--