{Big Bang - J2} Dreaming in Cordite - Cyberpunk AU - 2
Title: Dreaming in Cordite
Author Name: deannawol
Artist Name: sandrainthesun
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Characters: Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Sam Ferris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christian Kane, Various Others.
Rating: 18 Overall - Sexual situations, graphic violence in places and adult language
Warnings: Slash (M/M) relationship, oral sex, violence, off-screen death of a non J2 character.
Word Count: ~51,000
~#~#~
Jared winced as the harsh beep tore through him. It couldn’t be morning already, could it? He frowned and tried to turn over but something was stopping him. He blinked his eyes open before squeezing them shut again against the harsh, florescent light. Groaning, he brought his hand up to his eyes before trying to open them. Something tickled his face. Cracking his eye open a slit, he could see wires and tubes trailing from the back of his hand. They weren’t supposed to be there. Were they?
"You awake, kid?"
It took a second for Jared to place the voice through the haze of drugs floating around his system.
"Juh..." he licked his lips, trying to get some moisture into his mouth, "JD?"
"Yeah, Jay, I'm here. The hospital called me soon as Trauma Team finished with you," his voice was whisper soft.
Jared’s brow wrinkled. JD wasn’t supposed to be soft. He was usually all shouts and harsh language. For him to be quiet… "What...?" Jared his voice cracked.
Forcing his eyes open, Jared turned his head. JD looked a lot older than his forty years as he sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair. His eyes were bloodshot, sunken in a sea of purple. He seemed smaller too, shrunken in on himself under the weight of responsibility. The bodyguard was more rumpled and scruffy than normal. His white shirt was now stained with dried splashes of russet and smears of engine oil.
"’z m’n, ‘u l’k l’ke f’l."
It took JD a moment to work out what Jared’s slurs meant.
"Guessing I feel worse, Jay. Least you got the good drugs running around ya," JD huffed, shaking his head.
Jared closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on himself, or more importantly, his injuries. He could feel the tightness of bandages around his ribs as he breathed but there was no pain. Wiggling his fingers, he could feel the confines of a series of splints keeping his digits straight. As he moved, he could feel a pulling at various points, the combination of stitches and adhesive plasters. That guy had really done a number on him last night. Thank everything that Trauma Team had arrived when they did.
"Aw, Hell," Jared cursed, "Dad's going to be pissed, isn't he? Kill me?"
JD opened his mouth to speak but Jared cut him off.
"Please tell me no one got a picture of the attack, I mean, we can spin the whole thing as long as no one got a picture," Jared's mouth was working overtime, panic swelling up. "What am I saying? We might not have to spin it. I mean, long as we keep the fact that it was the guy that I picked up that did this hidden, we should be fine. Targeted by street scum, managed to get away but got stabbed a bit." He paused to grab a breath, "And I'm sorry I ever skipped out on those martial arts lessons you tried to give me. I swear when we get back and I get these bandages off, I'm gonna be in the gym, ready to go. Anything you wanna throw at me, JD. Anything!" Jared kept talking, mouth running away from him. His eyes were starting to tear up, much to his embarrassment, "He really showed me that it takes a lot more than a couple of implants and the ability to look good in armour to make someone a street merc..."
"Jared," JD started, cutting across the rolling river of words, "Jay, listen to me. There's something..." He ran a hand over his face, rubbing at the sharp stubble of his day-old beard.
Jared looked at him, brows furrowed. He wiped a hand over his eyes to clear them, "What's wrong?"
He watched as JD leaned forward, clasping his hands as his elbows rested on his knees. The man couldn't bring himself to look up at Jared, instead choosing to look at the cracked tiles on the hospital floor.
"Jay, something else happened tonight. Not just to you."
Jared floundered, trying to push himself up, grimacing as pain stabbed into his side.
"The first we knew about it was when we lost contact with the guys out with your brother tonight. I sent another team out just to make sure but when they got there... I’m sorry, Jay,” JD took a deep breath as Jared’s heart stopped. “Your father sent me out with the rest of my team to oversee the investigation but..." JD stopped, voice thickening, "...They took the opportunity to attack the Padalecki Foundation Gala dinner."
Jared felt numb. There was a huge wave of emotion building but right now, he couldn’t fell anything. His voice was quiet, "What… What are you saying here, JD?"
"I'm sorry, Jay. By the time I got back..." JD shook his head, finally raising his head. His eyes were wet with unshed tears, "Trauma Team nearly beat us there, but there was nothing they could do. It was - no, you don’t need those details, Jay. All you need to know is whoever did this? They went to a lot of trouble to made sure that it was final."
"Then the guy in the club?" Jared asked.
"You were lucky, Jay. Guardian Angel musta been working overtime!"
Jared's eyes were unfocused as he tried fitting all the pieces together. Someone had targeted him and his family for and they'd obviously done their homework. This was a first. Usually they got the disgruntled employees or the scum who wanted to make a name for themselves. The sorts that usually got stopped way before they had a chance to get close to the family. This was very different. A simultaneous attack on all of them at once. Shit! That took planning and precision. Whoever was behind this had to be good. JD was known to be ex-mil and extremely paranoid when it came to protecting his charges.
The merc that had targeted him hadn't done anything except get himself noticed, although that might have just been luck on his part. For all Jared knew, he may have had an infinitely complicated plan for how to separate him from the pack and then leave his corpse somewhere nice and public.
Jeff, his older brother, was supposed to be out entertaining some investors. He knew because Jeff had made a point of letting his little brother know so that their paths had no chance of intersecting. His parents had been out at a charity Gala that JD had spent weeks planning the security for. A mouse couldn’t have gotten in there without an invite, so how the hell did some hired gunmen manage it?
That left Megan home with a couple of friends... Shit Megan.
"What about Meg?" Jared asked, terror driving him up. He could feel stitches ripping and choked against the weight suddenly crushing his chest.
“Easy! Jesus, Jay, take it easy. You’re not going to help anyone if you finish the bastard’s work for him!” JD waited until Jay stopped moving before answering the question, "She and one of her friends were making cookies with Sam." The corners of JD's lips curled up, "Lemme give you a work of advice here, Jay. Don’t ever go up against a woman in her own kitchen. Got a phone call from her, she’s wanting a new rolling pin. Broke it over the head of one of the. Broke his skull in four places. Didn’t hear what she did to the others but Megan’s fine. She’s got every one of my guys I could find covering the block around her, and Sam, of course. She’s not letting Megan out of her sight.”
Jared slumped back, panting with relief, "That woman scares me sometimes."
"Me too, son, me too, but at least she's on our side,” JD patted his shoulder as they shared a rueful smile.
And then the distraction was over and Jared was back trying to deal with the fact that it was just him and Megan left. His mind shot back to the last conversation he’d had with his father. Well, conversation was overstating it. It had been a proper shouting match that ended with Jared shouting that he wanted nothing to do with the man or his ‘empire’. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d brushed off his mother’s goodbye as she’d headed out. And now he’d never get the chance to take any of that back or to tell them how much he loved them. And his brother. He’d never have the chance to sneak up onto the roof with Jeff again to share a beer and just talk about life, love and Jared’s latest adventure. He could feel the tears welling up again and raised a hand to shield his eyes.
JD was beside his, hand on his arm, "Jared, I ain’t gonna lie to you. This is gonna hurt for a whole long time. Ain’t nothing gonna make this better but time. But you’re alive. Meg’s alive and I am going to hunt down the bastard behind this and he’s gonna discover a whole new world of pain before he dies. I swear, Jay. Just breathe. We’re gonna get the bastard, I swear.”
Jared turned to stare blindly at the sterile wall, tears trickling down his cheeks. JD rubbed his back in sweeping circles, voice low and soothing, “Ain’t no shame in crying, Jay. Don’t ever let anyone tell you different. There’s no shame in grievin’ so you just take the time you need. Ain't nothing you have to do but get better. Christian’s gonna take care of everything until you're ready."
Christian Kane, the son of a family friend, had been orphaned young and taken in by the Padalecki's, rather than trust him to unknown family or leave him to the negligent Child Services. Jared had grown up thinking of Christian as another older brother up until Christian had had a disagreement about how the company should be run and Gerard Padalecki had shipped him off to the Houston branch. Christian had called a couple of times since then, emailed once or twice but that was it apart from the occasional “family meal” or corporate event. But despite that, everything Jared did was compared to either Jeffrey or Chris and he never quite measured up. It was yet another reason that Jared kept his distance from the business. He didn't need another arena to fall down in.
"Hey, my ears are burning, you talking about me?" A voice came from the door.
Jared looked up to see Christian blocking the doorway. His shoulder-length, dark blond hair was tied back from his face but stray strands fell loosely around his face. The light twinkled off the small square glasses perched half way down his nose. He was wearing a rumpled business suit that looked as if he’d slept in it. This was entirely at odds with Christian’s usual neat look. As he came closer, Jared could see the red rims around his eyes.
"Shit, Jay, I’m so sorry. I came as soon as I heard the news. I’ve been on and off the phone with JD and Sam making sure that you and Meg are doing okay but I had to come see you. You doin' okay, Jay? They taking care of you?" Chris asked as he walked to the bedside, reaching out to lay a hand on Jared’s arm.
"Yeah, they got me on the good drugs."
"Jay, man, I know that you and me haven't had a lot of time to hang recently, but if you need anything, anything at all, you call. I’m staying here in Dallas for foreseeable, so I don't care what you need or what time it is. I got your back," Christian's voice was soft, barely carrying, "I know what you're going through, Jay. If you need to talk, or not talk even."
Jared nodded, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, "Thanks Chris."
"No problem, little brother," Christian smiled gently and patted his arm, "You just focus on getting better and then we'll worry about everything else, okay?"
"Sure thing, Chris," Jared smiled weakly.
“You should get some rest. We’ll talk again, real soon. Okay?” The older man turned and walked away.
"Hey Chris," Jared called after him.
Chris looked back, "Yeah, Jay?"
Jared didn't quite know what to say, so he settled for genuine sentiment, "Thanks… ya know for handling all this for me. I'll be up and about in no time, don't worry."
Christian smiled, "No rush, man. Everything will still be there when you're better. Take your time, make sure that you're okay. It's going to be a rough ride for the next while, Jay, but you still got family around, don't forget that."
Jared closed his eyes, the reality of the situation starting to hit home. A couple of thousand employees, all watching and waiting for what his next move was gonna be. Shareholders sitting there watching and waiting to see how the situation played out. And Meg, too. Too many people would be watching him now, waiting for him to fuck up when all he wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry. It was a very good thing that Christian was still here. At least, he’d keep most of the attention off of Jared. Last thing that the company needed was a rookie at the helm. This way he could just focus on being a good brother.
"Thanks Christian," Jared said, his voice heavy.
"No problem, man."
With that, Christian turned and left. Jared watched as four dark suited men fell into step behind him. He looked over at JD, who had moved back to the hard, plastic chair, brow furrowed.
"Everyone gets a security detail until we find out who did this and deal with them,” JD’s voice was the voice of God, laying down the law.
Jared nodded, sinking back into the pillows behind him. He could feel the drugs forcing him closer towards sleep. The world started to fuzz out around the edges and he could feel himself starting to drift. He blinked, slow and drawn out, afraid of the nightmares that would be waiting for him. A strong hand closed around his undamaged wrist and JD’s rumble broke through the haze of drugs.
"You just sleep, Jay. I'll still be here when you wake up."
Jared wanted to say something but he couldn't remember what. Just before sleep took him, he felt JD's hand tighten on his arm and soft words followed him down into the dark.
"I promise we'll get them, Jay. I swear to fucking God. We’ll get them!"
Master Fic Post | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Epilogue | Master Art Post | Soundtrack
Author Name: deannawol
Artist Name: sandrainthesun
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Characters: Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Sam Ferris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christian Kane, Various Others.
Rating: 18 Overall - Sexual situations, graphic violence in places and adult language
Warnings: Slash (M/M) relationship, oral sex, violence, off-screen death of a non J2 character.
Word Count: ~51,000
~#~#~
Jared winced as the harsh beep tore through him. It couldn’t be morning already, could it? He frowned and tried to turn over but something was stopping him. He blinked his eyes open before squeezing them shut again against the harsh, florescent light. Groaning, he brought his hand up to his eyes before trying to open them. Something tickled his face. Cracking his eye open a slit, he could see wires and tubes trailing from the back of his hand. They weren’t supposed to be there. Were they?
"You awake, kid?"
It took a second for Jared to place the voice through the haze of drugs floating around his system.
"Juh..." he licked his lips, trying to get some moisture into his mouth, "JD?"
"Yeah, Jay, I'm here. The hospital called me soon as Trauma Team finished with you," his voice was whisper soft.
Jared’s brow wrinkled. JD wasn’t supposed to be soft. He was usually all shouts and harsh language. For him to be quiet… "What...?" Jared his voice cracked.
Forcing his eyes open, Jared turned his head. JD looked a lot older than his forty years as he sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair. His eyes were bloodshot, sunken in a sea of purple. He seemed smaller too, shrunken in on himself under the weight of responsibility. The bodyguard was more rumpled and scruffy than normal. His white shirt was now stained with dried splashes of russet and smears of engine oil.
"’z m’n, ‘u l’k l’ke f’l."
It took JD a moment to work out what Jared’s slurs meant.
"Guessing I feel worse, Jay. Least you got the good drugs running around ya," JD huffed, shaking his head.
Jared closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on himself, or more importantly, his injuries. He could feel the tightness of bandages around his ribs as he breathed but there was no pain. Wiggling his fingers, he could feel the confines of a series of splints keeping his digits straight. As he moved, he could feel a pulling at various points, the combination of stitches and adhesive plasters. That guy had really done a number on him last night. Thank everything that Trauma Team had arrived when they did.
"Aw, Hell," Jared cursed, "Dad's going to be pissed, isn't he? Kill me?"
JD opened his mouth to speak but Jared cut him off.
"Please tell me no one got a picture of the attack, I mean, we can spin the whole thing as long as no one got a picture," Jared's mouth was working overtime, panic swelling up. "What am I saying? We might not have to spin it. I mean, long as we keep the fact that it was the guy that I picked up that did this hidden, we should be fine. Targeted by street scum, managed to get away but got stabbed a bit." He paused to grab a breath, "And I'm sorry I ever skipped out on those martial arts lessons you tried to give me. I swear when we get back and I get these bandages off, I'm gonna be in the gym, ready to go. Anything you wanna throw at me, JD. Anything!" Jared kept talking, mouth running away from him. His eyes were starting to tear up, much to his embarrassment, "He really showed me that it takes a lot more than a couple of implants and the ability to look good in armour to make someone a street merc..."
"Jared," JD started, cutting across the rolling river of words, "Jay, listen to me. There's something..." He ran a hand over his face, rubbing at the sharp stubble of his day-old beard.
Jared looked at him, brows furrowed. He wiped a hand over his eyes to clear them, "What's wrong?"
He watched as JD leaned forward, clasping his hands as his elbows rested on his knees. The man couldn't bring himself to look up at Jared, instead choosing to look at the cracked tiles on the hospital floor.
"Jay, something else happened tonight. Not just to you."
Jared floundered, trying to push himself up, grimacing as pain stabbed into his side.
"The first we knew about it was when we lost contact with the guys out with your brother tonight. I sent another team out just to make sure but when they got there... I’m sorry, Jay,” JD took a deep breath as Jared’s heart stopped. “Your father sent me out with the rest of my team to oversee the investigation but..." JD stopped, voice thickening, "...They took the opportunity to attack the Padalecki Foundation Gala dinner."
Jared felt numb. There was a huge wave of emotion building but right now, he couldn’t fell anything. His voice was quiet, "What… What are you saying here, JD?"
"I'm sorry, Jay. By the time I got back..." JD shook his head, finally raising his head. His eyes were wet with unshed tears, "Trauma Team nearly beat us there, but there was nothing they could do. It was - no, you don’t need those details, Jay. All you need to know is whoever did this? They went to a lot of trouble to made sure that it was final."
"Then the guy in the club?" Jared asked.
"You were lucky, Jay. Guardian Angel musta been working overtime!"
Jared's eyes were unfocused as he tried fitting all the pieces together. Someone had targeted him and his family for and they'd obviously done their homework. This was a first. Usually they got the disgruntled employees or the scum who wanted to make a name for themselves. The sorts that usually got stopped way before they had a chance to get close to the family. This was very different. A simultaneous attack on all of them at once. Shit! That took planning and precision. Whoever was behind this had to be good. JD was known to be ex-mil and extremely paranoid when it came to protecting his charges.
The merc that had targeted him hadn't done anything except get himself noticed, although that might have just been luck on his part. For all Jared knew, he may have had an infinitely complicated plan for how to separate him from the pack and then leave his corpse somewhere nice and public.
Jeff, his older brother, was supposed to be out entertaining some investors. He knew because Jeff had made a point of letting his little brother know so that their paths had no chance of intersecting. His parents had been out at a charity Gala that JD had spent weeks planning the security for. A mouse couldn’t have gotten in there without an invite, so how the hell did some hired gunmen manage it?
That left Megan home with a couple of friends... Shit Megan.
"What about Meg?" Jared asked, terror driving him up. He could feel stitches ripping and choked against the weight suddenly crushing his chest.
“Easy! Jesus, Jay, take it easy. You’re not going to help anyone if you finish the bastard’s work for him!” JD waited until Jay stopped moving before answering the question, "She and one of her friends were making cookies with Sam." The corners of JD's lips curled up, "Lemme give you a work of advice here, Jay. Don’t ever go up against a woman in her own kitchen. Got a phone call from her, she’s wanting a new rolling pin. Broke it over the head of one of the. Broke his skull in four places. Didn’t hear what she did to the others but Megan’s fine. She’s got every one of my guys I could find covering the block around her, and Sam, of course. She’s not letting Megan out of her sight.”
Jared slumped back, panting with relief, "That woman scares me sometimes."
"Me too, son, me too, but at least she's on our side,” JD patted his shoulder as they shared a rueful smile.
And then the distraction was over and Jared was back trying to deal with the fact that it was just him and Megan left. His mind shot back to the last conversation he’d had with his father. Well, conversation was overstating it. It had been a proper shouting match that ended with Jared shouting that he wanted nothing to do with the man or his ‘empire’. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d brushed off his mother’s goodbye as she’d headed out. And now he’d never get the chance to take any of that back or to tell them how much he loved them. And his brother. He’d never have the chance to sneak up onto the roof with Jeff again to share a beer and just talk about life, love and Jared’s latest adventure. He could feel the tears welling up again and raised a hand to shield his eyes.
JD was beside his, hand on his arm, "Jared, I ain’t gonna lie to you. This is gonna hurt for a whole long time. Ain’t nothing gonna make this better but time. But you’re alive. Meg’s alive and I am going to hunt down the bastard behind this and he’s gonna discover a whole new world of pain before he dies. I swear, Jay. Just breathe. We’re gonna get the bastard, I swear.”
Jared turned to stare blindly at the sterile wall, tears trickling down his cheeks. JD rubbed his back in sweeping circles, voice low and soothing, “Ain’t no shame in crying, Jay. Don’t ever let anyone tell you different. There’s no shame in grievin’ so you just take the time you need. Ain't nothing you have to do but get better. Christian’s gonna take care of everything until you're ready."
Christian Kane, the son of a family friend, had been orphaned young and taken in by the Padalecki's, rather than trust him to unknown family or leave him to the negligent Child Services. Jared had grown up thinking of Christian as another older brother up until Christian had had a disagreement about how the company should be run and Gerard Padalecki had shipped him off to the Houston branch. Christian had called a couple of times since then, emailed once or twice but that was it apart from the occasional “family meal” or corporate event. But despite that, everything Jared did was compared to either Jeffrey or Chris and he never quite measured up. It was yet another reason that Jared kept his distance from the business. He didn't need another arena to fall down in.
"Hey, my ears are burning, you talking about me?" A voice came from the door.
Jared looked up to see Christian blocking the doorway. His shoulder-length, dark blond hair was tied back from his face but stray strands fell loosely around his face. The light twinkled off the small square glasses perched half way down his nose. He was wearing a rumpled business suit that looked as if he’d slept in it. This was entirely at odds with Christian’s usual neat look. As he came closer, Jared could see the red rims around his eyes.
"Shit, Jay, I’m so sorry. I came as soon as I heard the news. I’ve been on and off the phone with JD and Sam making sure that you and Meg are doing okay but I had to come see you. You doin' okay, Jay? They taking care of you?" Chris asked as he walked to the bedside, reaching out to lay a hand on Jared’s arm.
"Yeah, they got me on the good drugs."
"Jay, man, I know that you and me haven't had a lot of time to hang recently, but if you need anything, anything at all, you call. I’m staying here in Dallas for foreseeable, so I don't care what you need or what time it is. I got your back," Christian's voice was soft, barely carrying, "I know what you're going through, Jay. If you need to talk, or not talk even."
Jared nodded, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, "Thanks Chris."
"No problem, little brother," Christian smiled gently and patted his arm, "You just focus on getting better and then we'll worry about everything else, okay?"
"Sure thing, Chris," Jared smiled weakly.
“You should get some rest. We’ll talk again, real soon. Okay?” The older man turned and walked away.
"Hey Chris," Jared called after him.
Chris looked back, "Yeah, Jay?"
Jared didn't quite know what to say, so he settled for genuine sentiment, "Thanks… ya know for handling all this for me. I'll be up and about in no time, don't worry."
Christian smiled, "No rush, man. Everything will still be there when you're better. Take your time, make sure that you're okay. It's going to be a rough ride for the next while, Jay, but you still got family around, don't forget that."
Jared closed his eyes, the reality of the situation starting to hit home. A couple of thousand employees, all watching and waiting for what his next move was gonna be. Shareholders sitting there watching and waiting to see how the situation played out. And Meg, too. Too many people would be watching him now, waiting for him to fuck up when all he wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry. It was a very good thing that Christian was still here. At least, he’d keep most of the attention off of Jared. Last thing that the company needed was a rookie at the helm. This way he could just focus on being a good brother.
"Thanks Christian," Jared said, his voice heavy.
"No problem, man."
With that, Christian turned and left. Jared watched as four dark suited men fell into step behind him. He looked over at JD, who had moved back to the hard, plastic chair, brow furrowed.
"Everyone gets a security detail until we find out who did this and deal with them,” JD’s voice was the voice of God, laying down the law.
Jared nodded, sinking back into the pillows behind him. He could feel the drugs forcing him closer towards sleep. The world started to fuzz out around the edges and he could feel himself starting to drift. He blinked, slow and drawn out, afraid of the nightmares that would be waiting for him. A strong hand closed around his undamaged wrist and JD’s rumble broke through the haze of drugs.
"You just sleep, Jay. I'll still be here when you wake up."
Jared wanted to say something but he couldn't remember what. Just before sleep took him, he felt JD's hand tighten on his arm and soft words followed him down into the dark.
"I promise we'll get them, Jay. I swear to fucking God. We’ll get them!"
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