This Long Silence: Part Seven

[dugindeep]

Previous

At Bub’s, there’s little to prove any part of the Army or Guard has been there, but there are a few regular cars parked in the lot - all at different angles, which alarms the group. J.D. and Jason run around the back of the building to hit up Bub’s shed, and Jensen and Danneel head inside, searching for supplies and perhaps a working phone.

In the store, overhead fluorescents flicker at an uneven rate, unsettling Jensen even more. But it’s quiet, so he considers the possibility that nothing is wrong.

Except the phone is off the hook, just like the others he’s tried before. Nearly all the shelving units have been ransacked already and a light near the front of the store sizzles and audibly pops before fizzing out.

Danneel walks to the far end of the store for the bathroom, and Jensen roams the front area, hand coasting the bakery counter as he circles it. He steps behind the glass case and stalls when he sees Bub’s body sprawled on the floor. He’s facedown with his arms spread wide and blood pooled under his head.

Jensen crouches down to the body and slowly pulls up on Bub’s shoulder to find his face desiccated like Jane Barker, Hardy, and Tim Franklin before them. There’s a smattering of shotgun pellets at the lower half of Bub’s face and across his neck, and Jensen has to wonder if maybe the butcher was taken down with his own gun. He worries for Sharon and prays she escaped before death could find her.

As Jensen stands, he catches movement at the back of the store, just a flash of gray in the corner of his eye. He pulls his gun from the back of his waistband and creeps to the edge of the counter, mouth dropping open with heavy breathing and the want to call out for anyone traveling with him, but he’s afraid to draw attention if it’s something more threatening.

There’s a soft brushing noise from behind the last line of shelves and his attention’s keyed in right to the space, eyes sweeping left and right and back left again.

“Danneel?” he asks quietly. He slowly steps out from behind the counter, tipping his feet just so to minimize the sound of his boots, doing his best to unlock his gun without the safety sounding too loudly.

He creeps down the aisle, keeping his breathing as even as possible and trying to hear above the blood pounding in his ears. He hears another soft brush and raises his gun with his elbows stiff and shoulders angled so he can follow the line of his arm to his gun and aim right over the top of the shelf.

There’s hardly any noise until he jumps at someone in the doorway who disappears just as quickly as they’d walked out. He huffs and lowers his weapon as Danneel shrieks, “Are you shooting me?”

“No, Jesus,” he sighs, walking towards her. “I thought I heard something.” When he reaches the doorway she’s hiding behind, he flicks his fingers at her. “Come on, it’s okay. You can come out.”

When she steps into the doorway, she immediately swings at him, slapping open-handed at his arms, shoulder, and up to the side of his face.

He’s shoving her away and yelling, but then he realizes she’s not hitting all too hard and he smiles, feeling absurd in the moment. He breaks into a soft laugh for the relief from tension for even a split second.

She pushes once more at the back of his head as she passes. “You shoot me and I will kill you.”

“Oh, calm down,” he chuckles.

Danneel glares as she keeps walking to the front door. “I’m going outside where people don’t point guns at me.”

“Good luck with that,” he replies as he heads to the front of the store.

He’s intent to leave, finding nothing of value to hang onto and hoping J.D. and Jason have found something in the back shed. After one last look over the store, he’s about to step out into sunshine when he spots a dark handprint on the glass of the bakery case. On his first pass, the case had been absolutely clean.

Senses on alert, he raises his gun. His elbows and shoulders go impossibly tight and his breathing incredibly shallow as he surveys the area, looking for whatever left that handprint. He creeps up to the front of the store and keeps glancing over his shoulder for any sight or sound.

Something clicks and gears shift, a machine whirring to life. Soft piano chords ring out from speakers above and a gentle guitar picks through notes of an old gospel tune until Elvis’ voice fills the store.

Jensen spins to the jukebox in the far corner and there’s a dark figure huddled over it, ominous in the soft yellow light of the machine’s glow. His breathing gets heavily, and he’s sure that it’s louder than the words of the song. He takes a handful of slow steps towards the machine, but he freezes when the man turns in place.

It’s his Deputy staring him down, and Jensen lowers his gun a few inches, fingers twitching with confusion and worry because Abel’s face isn’t wrecked like the others. But there’s something troubling; Deputy Abel’s still in uniform with crimson tarnishing the tan polyester. There are no obvious signs of a man gone wrong, but the little tick to Abel’s neck, his head flinching at random moments as he breathes far too roughly for a healthy man, tells Jensen something’s wrong. There are shadows dragging down Abel’s face but they don’t shield how his smirk turns far more sinister.

Jensen clears his throat and lifts the gun again, setting his mouth and jaw tightly because there is no set-up in which he imagined having to point his gun at his Deputy.

“Sheriff,” Abel says with a voice like sandpaper.

“Deputy,” Jensen replies, but he doesn’t dare move.

Not even when Jake takes a few lazy steps forward or when his gaze goes to the ceiling and he smirks. “You know, I always loved the King.”

Jensen tilts his head, stretches his neck, and realigns his aim to Jake’s chest. There is no way wants this going wrong, but he knows what he has to do, if forced. “Why don’t you stay where you’re at?”

Abel tips his head much the same. His smile is dark yet playful as his eyes narrow. “Are you really out to shoot your Deputy?”

“I’m gonna do what I have to do.”

“It’s just me, Jensen.”

“No, it ain’t.” He has no problem saying it; he knows it from the dark, hooded eyes that won’t stop burning into him.

“Maybe.” Abel takes another step forward and Jensen aims the barrel at his head, jaw tightening and teeth grinding. “Maybe you’re wrong. Maybe you’re right.”

Before Jensen can respond, Abel charges him. He gets a shot off but it doesn’t stop Abel from tackling him into a metal shelving unit that crashes beneath them, Jensen’s gun clattering to the ground. Being shoved back into the metal framework again, Jensen feels the stab of a corner to his side, but he fights through it and spins over to grab at Abel with the spike of adrenaline masking the pain.

He lands two punches square on Abel’s jaw, and it gives him a second or two to shift over and reach for his gun. Just as he tucks his fingers around the butt of it, Abel kicks him away. He bares his teeth, bloodied at the gums and mouth wet with spit, but Jensen doesn’t stop because Abel’s gripping at him like Hardy had, fighting fierce and heavy. There’s no choice here and he clocks Abel in the face with his gun to knock him off then Jensen shifts up and fires two bullets right at Abel’s chest.

Abel flinches with both hits and falls to his side, twitching with his last moments of life.

It was all relatively quick, likely just five or ten seconds passing in the blink of an eye. By the time Jensen’s digging his heels to the ground and sliding away, Jason and J.D. are running inside with their guns drawn.

Jason’s is aimed at Jensen, but he drops his weapon as J.D. rushes to Abel and checks for a pulse. Jensen knows there won’t be a single beat.

Jensen groans and rolls to his side, clutching just above his waist where pain slices through him again. There’s a rush of noise as Danneel joins them and they’re all huddled over Jensen, asking questions and tugging at his uniform shirt to see where he’s bleeding. He’s so far beyond the pain he can hardly make out all that they’re saying.

“I’m fine, just fine,” he’s mumbling but no one’s stopping. Not even as he bats their hands away.

Then he realizes they’re suddenly keeping space and won’t dare touch him.

“How’d you get hurt?” Jason demands.

“He came at me,” Jensen grumbles. He winces as he shifts to look down at his side then he feels how the room grows tense and he looks up at them with confusion. “What?”

“Is he sick?” J.D. asks. “Was Abel sick and he got to you?”

“No, I’m fine,” Jensen insists then cringes as he tries to lift his shirt. “My side is killing me but he didn’t get me.”

The other three share a look that Jensen can’t miss but chooses to ignore, not wanting to know what horrors they’re imagining after missing his fight with Abel.

Suddenly, Jason grabs Jensen’s shoulders and holds firmly while J.D. holds his ankles. Jensen twists away and shouts at them, but Danneel gets into pull his shirts up. She releases a hard sigh, telling them it’s a true wound and not something Abel could’ve done to him. Danneel insists he’s safe, and he sighs, too.

“Told you,” he complains, dropping his head to the tile. “Now let me go, alright?”

Danneel holds the tail of his uniform shirt against the wound while J.D. runs to the back office in hopes of a First Aid kit.

“It’s a long cut, but not deep,” she tells him though she looks more worried than he’s seen in a while.

“No need for stitches, nurse?” he asks wryly.

She pushes down on the wound and he groans, but she doesn’t seem sorry for it.

“Jake, huh?” Jason asks quietly.

Jensen doesn’t bother looking to his friend or the Deputy on the floor. There’s a corner of his mind that is so far in grief for what he’s done that he can’t form the right words. The rest of him wants to compartmentalize those worries until later, when he can breathe easy.

He closes his eyes and stays quiet while Danneel patches him up with supplies J.D. grabbed from Bub’s office.

“Did you find anything else out there?” Jensen asks.

J.D. licks his lips and slowly shakes his head. “Everything’s cleared out.”

Jensen feels his muscles loosen in wanting to quit all of this, just escape from what he’s seen and done this past week. But, the way his body shifts, he’s reminded of the dig in his side and he whimpers before he can hide it.

“How hurt are you?” Danneel asks with a hand sliding over his shoulder.

He grits his teeth and shakes his head to dismiss it. Given all he’s been through in his lifetime, not to mention these last few days, Jensen figures he was due for damage. He’s grateful it isn’t much, even though he feels a twinge of pain as he gets up and has to hold his palm against the area, warm through the bandages and white undershirt he’s now left in.

Outside, Jensen pulls the driver’s side door open and winces for only a second, but J.D. catches him.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“I’ll live,” he replies. And hopes.



J.D. follows Jensen north on 40, and Jensen knows it won’t take much longer until they hit a new place to search: the high school. He punches the gas with no fear for speeding, only for not being where they need to be in time.

At the school, they roam the halls in pairs. Jensen and J.D. take the west wing and Danneel and Jason go east.

J.D. asks Jensen about all that’s happened so far, as though he’s keeping Jensen distracted beyond the few times he glances at Jensen’s side to survey the injury.

Jensen abbreviates the story, but gets the main details down. He’s not attempting to raise fear, just making sure that J.D. understands the gravity of the situation, who to trust and, more importantly, who not to. He’s working like hell, too, to keep his mind off of having to shoot his Deputy, to forget that entire scene, and ignore the dig of heat in his side.

When they find another class room empty with no signs of disruption, J.D. looks at Jensen, eyes sad and tired. “I don’t think they came here.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to think that, too,” Jensen agrees with a long sigh. But then he stands in place and stares through the windows to the north, which face the staff parking lot. There’s just one car there and it’s been left at an odd angle.

J.D. sidles up to Jensen to follow his gaze, and he makes a short noise before spinning and running back from where they came.

“What?” Jensen shouts as he chases after J.D.

“Sam’s car!” he yells back, quickening his pace to race around the next corner and down the north hallway.

Jensen jogs behind J.D. as the man keeps shouting her name and waiting for a response. He can hear and feel J.D.’s desperation; he knows it all too well since Jared went missing.

More rooms are found empty, and J.D.’s voice becomes sharper the longer they look. After traipsing through their wing, they backtrack to the Dean’s Office as J.D. is ready to start the search all over again. Jensen wants to argue that they’re wasting time: minutes that could be spent on the road trailing the missing camp and Jared. But he can’t. He wouldn’t accept it from Danneel, and he can’t force it onto J.D. now.

They take another pass through the west hallway, strolling faster than before but flashing extra glances into each corner and behind every table and desk. Still, they don’t find anything they hadn’t seen before, and J.D. jogs back to the center of the building and insists they try again.

Just as Jensen sighs and walks into the hallway, J.D. steps back to the office, yanking the door open and rushing inside. Jensen hears the jangle of keys and when he follows, there’s a whole ring of them dangling from the lock. Jensen shuffles between the front desk and waiting areas, and in and out of counselor’s offices until he finds J.D. in the back supply closet.

Warmth spreads through him at the sight of J.D. crouched on the ground with Samantha, arms tight around each other, and J.D. kissing the side of her head again and again. Jensen’s overjoyed at the reunion, thankful that the repeated passes had yielded this moment for J.D.

For all the people he’s seen dead this week - some at his own hand - he’s all too happy to have found another person safe.

At the same time, worry gnaws at him, and his mind wanders to the chance that he won’t find Jared, or that he will, but not alive. Or, worse yet, turned.

Jensen drops to the edge of the closest desk, cringing with the pain in his side, for how his hip still hurts from the fight at Bub’s. He keeps his gun in his right hand and lightly holds his side, eyes dropping to the carpet as he gives J.D. and Samantha their moment. Idly, he pushes pens and papers cross the desk pad to reach for the phone. It’s dead and he flicks a whole row of pencils off the desk in annoyance.

He shuts his eyes and curses the rumble of his stomach and sharp pain of a headache brewing on top of how his bones scream for peace. He’s tired and sore and altogether worn out, but there’s no way he’s giving up. His heart won’t let him quit on Jared.

Mentally forcing himself forward, he focuses on the image of Jared’s smile, the sound of his laughter, the feel of a hand on his shoulder. He can’t let his mind wander over thoughts of what shape Jared might be in now, because he swears that he will find Jared and get them out of this town.



When Maggie hears July brings Jared’s birthday - and his thirtieth at that - she talks the Manns into hosting one of their famous summer barbeques in his honor. One of Jensen’s few friends left in town, Jason never looks far for a reason to invite half the town over for fresh grilling and ice cold beer, so Jensen’s not surprised how quickly it comes together.

Jensen shows late after arguing with himself over the whole ordeal. As Sheriff, he could make an appearance, wish Jared a good birthday, and be done with it. As a friend of the host, he’s expected to party with the best of them. And as the guest of honor’s neighbor, as someone who’s been sharing small conversations with Jared for the past few weeks, he knows he should definitely attend and add to the celebration. But something halts him, confusion filling him at what role he should really play, and for what to expect in seeing Jared away from their homes.

When Jason bumps Jensen’s shoulder, hands him a beer, and demands he head inside to grab the next pack of steaks, Jensen simply tips the brim of his hat and smiles, falling into step as Jason’s friend.

As the evening wears on, he says his Happy Birthday and chats with Jared for a few minutes before Maggie drags Jared over to another single Morgan Falls resident. It seems as though her life’s goals are to gossip about everyone in town and then marry them off.

Jensen spends most of the evening in a lawn chair with his legs kicked out and ankles crossed, hands holding a beer that he drinks slowly, and his hat tugged down tight. It shields the sharp setting sun and an even brighter smile that Jared has for all the guests. It’s a smile that ramps up Jensen’s pulse, but he doesn’t need anyone to realize that.

At times, though, Jared’s smile seems put-on, especially when Jared is cornered by Maggie and her parade of possibilities. Jensen merely laughs at the scene and chuckles harder when Danneel sits beside him with a heavy sigh, rolling her eyes after escaping Maggie herself.

“She never stops does she?” Danneel asks.

Jensen tips his head back to watch Danneel shift in the seat with her legs crossed sharply and both arms settling at the armrest closest Jensen. “Maybe she smells your desperation.”

Danneel shoves his shoulder and tsks at him, but she’s smirking when she settles again. “Whatever. I’m absolutely content.”

“Absolutely,” he repeats with a hint of mockery. After a bit of silence, Jensen realizes that they’re both staring at the sight of Maggie introducing Anna Tyler, a 20-something who’s become the town’s resident daytime nanny and weekend babysitter. She always has the sweetest of smiles and friendliest demeanor at all times. Coming from the Sheriff, Anna seems perfectly fine; as a fellow Morgan Falls resident, Jensen tends to question her sanity.

“Jared and Anna. Really?” Danneel asks quietly.

Jensen watches the introductions, light banter, and shared grins and laughter. He immediately takes a long drag from his bottle to distract himself. It’s warm and burns a little, but so does the way Jared flirts with Anna. “Well, they both smile a lot.”

“Huh.” Danneel makes a face in consideration then says, “I never noticed that before.” More minutes pass of Jared and Anna talking, still chuckling with one another, and Danneel scowls a little. “If I have to deal with a new smug couple and an even more smug Maggie, I don’t know what I’ll do, but it won’t be pretty.”

Jensen eyes her. “You are aware you’re telling the Sheriff you’re planning murder?”

“I didn’t say murder,” she replies sweetly. “Merely thinking out loud about something less sinister if Jared and Anna become the next arrogant couple.”

“Don’t even worry about those two,” Jason says as he joins the conversation and leans on the back of Danneel’s chair.

“Why’s that?” she asks as she and Jensen both tip their heads up to Jason.

“I’ve heard things.”

Jensen’s chest expands with relief that he’s nearly ashamed of. But he wisely keeps silent to let Danneel to be the one to ask, “What kinds of things?”

“Like, Anna’s not interested in people like Jared.”

Danneel snorts. “What? Tall and good looking? They’re not a dime a dozen around here, ya know.”

Jason laughs back, but it’s tinged with aggravation. Jensen knows Jason well enough to hear it. “There’s me and Jensen.”

“Yeah, but you’re you,” Danneel says flatly. One eyebrow angles sharply as she looks at Jensen. “And he’s the Sheriff. No one’s gonna go there.”

“People go there,” Jensen grumbles before taking the last sip of his too-warm beer.

She leans at the edge of her chair again and grins at him. “Like when?”

“Can I get another beer?” he asks, motioning his empty at Jason.

“No. I wanna hear this,” Jason says, crossing his arms with a lazy smile.

The answer would be at least a year. He drove for nearly two hours to hit a population big enough to go unrecognized and enjoy a bar where he could be something other than a uniform. But he can’t tell that tale. Not here.

Jensen decides to deflect again, and he gives them both a skeptical look. “I think Jason’s just worried Anna’s talking to someone other than him.” Danneel laughs heartily and Jensen adds on, “Or maybe you’re hurt Jared’s not falling at your feet.”

It’s Jason’s turn to snicker and Danneel’s speechless until she manages to turn and smack Jason in the gut, which makes him grunt then go silent.

Jensen smirks and turns back to the scene to catch Jared watching them, not paying much attention to Anna at all. Beyond a random nod or his minor smile, his eyes are right on Jensen, and Jensen can’t ignore it.

That is, until Jason and Danneel bicker over who’s more jealous at the moment and why, and Danneel finally rises and huffs. “I don’t care either way. Jensen can have them both, given his dry spell.” When Jensen looks insulted, she gives him a surprisingly kind smile. “You want another beer, sweetie?”

She doesn’t wait for an answer and drags Jason with her back to the house with Jensen shifting to watch them. He catches Jason giving her room to move up the stairs first and then patting at her lower back as they walk through the door. Jensen’s thoughtful about that for a moment, but he can’t dwell on it because Jared takes Danneel’s seat and drums his fingers at the arm rests.

“You start some kind of fight here, Sheriff?”

Jensen stares at Jared’s tiny smirk until he’s got one himself. “I thought I said no Sheriff after hours?”

“Okay,” Jared says slowly before licking his lips and putting on a wide grin. “Did you start some kind of fight here, Jensen?”

He tries to ignore the way Jared’s inflection gets under his skin. He chuckles as he reclines in his chair. “No, but you did.”

Jared looks over his shoulder and then back at Jensen, clearly confused. “What did I do?”

“You let Maggie drag you around the party, and then talked to Anna Tyler, and liked other people, and I don’t know, something else,” Jensen mumbles, drifting off when he realizes he’d been rambling.

With a strange glance, Jared replies, “I didn’t really want to talk to Anna Tyler, if that helps.”

“Maybe. You’d have to ask Danneel, I guess.”

“And why’s Jason mad?”

“Because Danneel was? I don’t know,” he says as he waves it off, wanting so badly to shut up and wishing that he had a fresh beer to focus on instead of this topic.

Jared looks over his shoulder to where Jason and Danneel had gone, and then faces Jensen again. “Really? Those two?”

“I have no clue, just a guess,” he says easily. Suddenly, he snaps to attention and fires Jared a stern look. “But you didn’t hear it from me. I hate gossip.”

Jared grins. “Clearly.”

Jensen pulls his hat off, runs a hand over his hair, and tugs the cap back in place. “It’s just, everyone talks around here. You can’t tell a soul one secret. It gets out, and fast.”

“Yeah, I get that feeling,” Jared says quietly. A moment later, he’s back to smiling, small and mischievous, as he leans on the armrest closet Jensen. “What kind of secrets would they have on the Sheriff?”

“Ones that’ll get you jailed,” he answers firmly, but then he can’t help the tiny smile working its way on his face. Or how his cheeks warm to Jared’s slight grin and nod.

“Alright. Fair enough. You’re a lockbox and there’s no getting in.”

A cold beer is pressed against his shoulder and Danneel’s smiling down at him. He takes it as he replies, “Something like that.” Before he can thank her, she’s off to another conversation across the yard. It’s then that Jensen glances around and realizes no one is within twenty feet, as if he and Jared have been given room to have this moment.

“Did I do something wrong?” Jared whispers, also realizing the sudden space around them.

No one is giving them odd looks or carrying on in whispers, but Jensen still can’t be eased by the lack of attention. If anything, he grows more paranoid that the other guests know he wants to do more than have a playful conversation with Jared, do more than show up to birthday parties, and live next door to him.

Jared’s voice cuts through his thoughts with a low tone that makes Jensen’s hairs stand on end. “Or is everyone afraid of the Sheriff?”

Jensen turns back to a soft smile from Jared and thick air between them, and he has to ignore the fact that Jared keeps calling him Sheriff even when he’s insisted otherwise. There’s a good kind of burn beneath his skin, and he returns the fond look. “Are you?”

The tell-tale slide of Jared’s eyes down his face speaks more than any interaction they’ve had before. “Not at all.”

Jensen brings his beer to his mouth and positions it to hide his smirk. Even if he doesn’t have the nerve for action, he’s grateful to not be lost on intuition.

The smirk continues to sneak up on Jensen because Jared doesn’t leave his side for the rest of the night, whether they talk or not, and they both seem to stay longer than originally planned.



His eyes open when Danneel rushes into the office with emotional laughter and hugs Samantha. Jason hugs her, too, even while they’re none too close. Jensen recognizes the joy of finding another person alive and healthy, to know they’re not all that’s left of this town.

Jason smirks at Jensen as he settles next to him on the desk, shuffling a hand over Jensen’s head. “All’s not lost.”

Jensen braves a smile and nods, eyes tight on J.D.’s elation to have found Samantha and for how close J.D. holds her at his side. He imagines doing much the same if - when - he finds Jared.

Everyone else focuses on Samantha talking about why she’d run to the high school, escaping residents who were tearing through homes and had entered hers just before she fled out her back door and drove off in a stream of dust and gravel.

She says she’d stopped off at the high school when she saw one of the Army’s caravans coming up the state road, miles behind her but still seeming to be a threat. She’d pulled into the parking lot and watched it continue north until it hit Interstate 21 and headed west.

“To the mall?” J.D. asks.

“It’s possible,” she replies.

“The place has enough empty spots,” Jason considers. “They could just set up everything there out of sight from anyone else.”

Jensen doubts it; he figures the caravan would just keep on west until it hit a major town and could disappear within a mass of other people. But it’s the only lead they’ve got.

“Alright, we’ll go west” Jensen instructs as he stands.

“Maybe we should pack up first?” Danneel asks. “Do you think the cafeteria’s got anything we can grab?”

“We have to head out before we lose more time,” Jensen argues.

“No one’s eaten in a day,” Jason laughs humorlessly. “Like you’re not dying for water at least?”

Four voices join together to argue him on it and he finally sighs, raising his hands in consent. “Alright, okay. But make it quick.”

It takes longer than he wishes it would, but Jason and Danneel return with a sack full of vending machine drinks and snacks for them all to share. When Jason passes him a cola, he has to admit that he’s grateful, and he smiles in thanks. The can is drained in seconds and he allows himself a second to smile at Danneel, too; she had found more packs of antiseptic and bandages from the nurse’s office and seems more than happy to be stocked up and that she can help.

She cleans up the mess of a bandage she’d put together at Bub’s where they lacked good medical supplies. The fresh ointment makes him cringe with its cool alcohol burn, but he’s thankful for the change, especially since the one application has a numbing agent that lets him move more freely.

When she’s finished, she hands him a granola bar - “They were out of lollipops,” she smirks - and he eats as they leave the building, feeling a bit of energy return.

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