Living with the witness
His first memory of Jared Padalecki, Jensen thinks, is when his momma shoved a tiny squirming baby into his arms. At first Jensen hadn’t understood why he had to come with her to see Mrs. Padalecki, their neighbor, but his mom obviously wanted him to meet her.
She told him, very seriously that this tiny bundle was very special and that he needed to take care of him the rest of his life. Jensen had frowned down at the boy in his arms, big blue eyes staring up at him and felt a deep sense of pride that his momma would trust him with something as special as this.
Of course Jensen was only four at the time and his momma wasn’t really serious about the whole thing but it always stuck with Jensen. That his mother didn’t take the task seriously was clear the following year when she divorced his daddy and moved to another town.
Jensen never saw Jared again, never felt the need to look him up because, seriously, he had been four.
His memory at the age of four, Jensen thinks, wasn’t as good as he thought it was.
This Jared didn’t have blue eyes. Yes, they were blue, but that was because he had been punched a couple of times. His eyes however, were a brownish green.
Huh? How about that? Jensen thinks as he slaps the cuffs on Jared. It was obvious to Jensen that the tiny bundle was no more. Jared had grown up to be a man, a big one at that. With long brown hair and hazel tip tilted eyes. He was almost 6’5 and towered Jensen, his body big and full of lean muscle. It was exactly the kind of guy Jensen would have been into, if he hadn’t been one of the more known criminals in Bailey TX.
“Come on, man, I didn’t do anything.” Jared protests as Jensen guides him into the police car.
“Tell that to the guy they are taking to the hospital,” Jensen grumbles, pushing Jared’s head down so he can enter the car.
It had been his first night on call in his old home town. He had moved back there a couple of weeks ago after his break up with Tom and just transferred to the police station here. Of course he had already heard about the trouble-making Padalecki kid from his colleagues and everyone else in the small town.
Of course Jared had an explanation when they questioned him later. The other guy had started it and he didn’t do anything wrong. And then he turned big honest eyes on Jensen, taking Jensen back almost twenty-four years, and he felt some fierce need to protect him. His partner, however, wasn’t buying it.
“Yeah, you tell us that every time, Padalecki. Change your tune and start talking,” Steve grumbles.
Jared shifts but doesn’t say anything and ends up in lock-up for the night.
“Yo, Ackles,” Jared shouts from his cell.
Jensen briefly wonders if Jared remembers him when he realizes that Jared probably heard Steve call him that.
“Don’t I get something to eat in here?”
Jensen sighs. Why the fuck was he on babysitting duty anyway?
When Jensen doesn’t react, Jared sighs, “My mom used to know an Ackles once, used to talk on the phone for hours.
Jensen cringes; he remembers his mom staying in touch with Sherri for almost five years until the friendship just bled dry. He decided he’d better ignore Jared for the rest of the night. It wasn’t like they were really buddies and needed to catch up.
***
“So you know this Padalecki kid,” Chris says and it wasn’t a question.
Jensen looks at his friend and his captain, frowning, wondering what that had to do with anything.
“His mom and mine used to be best friends,” he states, looking into his beer.
Jensen never expected to ever be back in his home town, it wasn’t like he had family left here anyway. Still after everything that happened in LA Jensen was drawn back to the smallness that a town like Bailey provided. He had put some feelers out with Chris, his childhood buddy, to see if he could get a job.
Now almost three months later Jensen had been working his new position for over a week and he found it weirdly relaxing being a cop in a small town. It was so much better than the chaos he was used to dealing with back in LA. The only down side was that everyone remembered him as the ‘little Ackles kid’ and acted like they all knew him, including Jared who was clued in on the fact that their moms used to be close and now was trying to milk it for all it was worth. Although, Jensen considers, it wasn’t worth much.
Chris hums into his beer, taking a long pull, “The kid’s a pain in the ass,” he states.
Jensen nods, he knew that already. Even if he didn’t believe the stories, which he did but that doesn’t matter, he had experienced it himself. In the week he had been working on the street he had arrested Jared three times and the kid spent the night in jail twice. Jensen did not want to be associated with someone like that.
***
It’s a week later when they arrest Jared again. He and Steve are patrolling through the neighborhood, even if Chris said they were too highly ranked for that, when they see Jared fighting with two other men. They arrest him on the spot.
“But I didn’t do anything!’ Jared yells as Jensen shoves him into the car.
Jensen has heard this before, doesn’t care. No matter what Jared says he’s always the one who started this. Steve laughs as Jared hits his head on his way into the car and Jensen curses. Hell, the kid had reason to file a complaint now. Besides, Jensen believes in justice; he hates cops who take matters into their own hands. He isn’t the type of person to rough a criminal up, as they call it.
“Sorry, man,” he mumbles.
Jared gives him a big smile, “I just lost a tooth because some guy punched it out and you’re sorry because I hit my head? No need to worry, man, I’m hard headed.”
For one moment Jensen looks at him and sees the guy who he could have been. Easy dimpled smile, eyes light with laughter. If he didn’t make all those wrong decisions in life, if he had chosen a legal profession, Jared might have been a guy who Jensen could really like. They might even be friends.
Not that Jensen feels sorry for the guy; he made all those wrong decisions on his own, but still.
Then Steve thumps him on the shoulder, a clear sign that they should get moving, Jensen rolls his eyes and walks to the driver’s side of the car.
They decide to put Jared in the drunk tank for the night, figuring it was the only way he would stay out of trouble. Jensen stays at the station because he has some reports to file and maybe talk with his boss about some things at the station that he didn’t like. Some cops seem to be on the take and others seem to think that they were judge, jury and executioner; it didn’t fare well with him. Besides, Chris had asked him to look over a couple of files, maybe think about taking on a case.
There was an active group called ‘the vandals on the street’. They pulled robberies and killed at least one person that they knew of. The robberies were done skillfully, almost professionally.
The first one had been a little jewelry store. The owners were an elderly couple who hadn’t really believed in alarm systems. It was an easy job as far as Jensen knew. They came in through the roof and left through the front door, like it was nothing. No evidence left behind, no prints, no instruments, nothing.
After that, the robberies became more difficult. The small Kristal store then the big expensive designer suit store. But their final piece had been the best by far, the bank of the town.
His detectives were still puzzled about how they had managed to get that one done. There were no signs of break-in. Hell, the alarm didn’t even go off. The bank manager just came in the next morning to find his vault empty except for one body. They assumed that it was one of the robbers, but they had no way of knowing that for sure.
Jensen frowned; this case might prove to be a challenge. Besides, Jensen missed doing real detective work.
“So why did you come back to Bailey?” Jensen looks up from his papers to the overnight jail cells.
He moves a bit closer so he can see Jared laying on the bed, hand folded behind his head looking at the ceiling. His t-shirt had ridden up to reveal a small strip of too thin stomach and Jensen takes his time to look at the guy. His jeans looked old and worn, too old to wear comfortably. Jared was skinny for his size, Jensen hadn’t notice before but he was.
“Jensen,” Jared says moving to sit up.
“What?” he asks, shaking away the thoughts.
“I asked why you came back to Bailey,” Jared says moving on the bed so he could look at Jensen, Cause, my mom said you left in a hurry. I don’t really remember because I was one, but yeah. She seems to be convinced that you and I should be friends.”
Jensen frowns a bit, moving even closer to the jail cell. It wasn’t a smart thing to do. Usually when an inmate tried to talk to you, you moved away from his vision and never got close in case they tried something. But he welcomed the distraction talking to Jared provided him. Also Jared seemed like an alright guy when he wasn’t in a bar. At least Jensen thought it was possible to have a normal conversation with him.
“Well yeah, my mom,” he pauses. Usually Jensen would tell a story about how his mom got a better job but he decides to go with the truth, “She left my dad. Then we had to get out of town because he was,” Jensen frowns a little, “not so nice.”
Jared’s head shoots up at that, hazel eyes meeting Jensen’s in surprise.
“I’m sorry, I….eh sorry, it’s none of my business anyway,” Jared says, lying down on the bed again, hands behind his head.
Jensen goes back to his paper work when Jared starts talking again. This time Jensen stays right where he is, but he does listen.
“When I told my mom about the asshole police sergeant who arrested me, she squealed. Really, there was a high pitched noise coming from her that actually scared me a bit.”
Jensen snorts, hearing Jared’s soft laugh.
“Well anyway, she said that you used to watch over me when I was a baby. Stand outside my room whenever you and your mom came to visit, demanding to know who entered my room. Anyway, she told me about your mom and how we used to be neighbors, until you moved anyway. It’s too bad I don’t remember you.”
Jensen is actually glad Jared doesn’t remember him. When he was four he took the world very seriously and the tasks his mom gave him even more. He doesn’t really remember watching over Jared but it sounded like something he would have done. The great protector, even then. Jensen smiles to himself, thinking that he obviously made the right career choice. He turns his attention completely to his paperwork, berating himself for making small talk with a criminal.
“Hey,” Jared says, softer this time, “are you still there?”
Jensen doesn’t answer, just keeps taking notes on the case.
“It’s just that I hate feeling alone, man.”
Jensen looks up from his place, doesn’t say anything but unconsciously moves into Jared’s line of vision. He doesn’t smile when he hears Jared sigh of relief, really he doesn’t.
***
Jensen is at the station changing out of his jeans and shirt two weeks later when a shooting is called in. He feels the familiar rush of adrenaline he usually got when they received these calls in LA, changing into his uniform quickly before joining the others at the scanner. Then he hear it’s Chris’s voice calling it in and the adrenaline is accompanied by fear. Jensen runs to his car to rush to the scene.
On his way there Chris’s call repeats itself in his head - ‘taking fire, one cop down. Suspect fleeing the scene’.
When he gets to the scene there are two ambulances already and Chris is sitting with a doctor inside one of them. Chris is in half out of his uniform, looking generally pissed off. Jensen lets out a sigh of relief. He knows being a cop is dangerous, but he hates losing Chris to this. He rushes to the other man, wanting to get an update on everything.
“Almost got the fuckers,” Chris grunts the moment Jensen is within earshot.
Jensen raises his eyebrow, noticing the doctor working on Chris’s arm.
“Just a bullet graze, fuckers,” Chris says when he sees where Jensen is looking.
Jensen nods to the other ambulance, “Who’s that?”
“Murray. God, Mike is going to be so angry,” Chris says, pulling away from the doctor and walking toward Jensen’s car.
Jensen follows him, but stays silent, waiting for Chris to start the story all on his own.
“Called in a break and enter, asked for back up. So I went. When I got here there was a full shoot-out going on with Murray and Padalecki in the middle of it.”
“Jared?” Jensen asks.
As far as he knows Jared wasn’t hanging with the big criminals, of course he wasn’t sure about that. He wondered if Jared was already in lock-up again or if he got away with the others.
“Yeah, they were going to shoot him and probably leave him on the scene when Murray arrived.”
“Wait, they were what?” Jensen asks almost falling over his own feet at this news.
He stops walking forcing Chris to do the same so that they can look at each other and Jensen can give this story his full attention. Chris glares at him with cold blue eyes, obviously wanting to move on
“Yeah, I don’t know, man, but you might wanna take a look at the scene,” Chris says, pushing away the doctor that was catched up with him to finish his work.
Jensen walks towards the lines, seeing blood on the floor, probably Chris’s or Chad’s. He knows Chris calls everybody by their last name, keeps his distance. Jensen was never like that and he feels his stomach turn when he sees the amount of blood.
Then he looks up at the store. It looks like an exclusive clothing store and there is red and blue spray paint everywhere. This time there is writing too.
‘SNITCH’
Jensen looks at it for a long time before turning to the closest cop, “I want the report on everything that went down here and what you collect in evidence.”
Maybe almost getting caught made them drop the ball somewhere. God, Jensen hoped so.
“So this is my case,” Jensen states, getting in the car where Chris was waiting for him, “Shouldn’t you go to the hospital?” he asks his friend.
Chris shakes his head, “Not yet, maybe later to visit Padalecki. You have to drive me home though, can’t drive. So you’re taking the lead on this one?”
“Yeah,” Jensen says, offhanded, focusing more on the first part of Chris’s sentence. “Jared’s in the hospital?”
“Yeah, they didn’t really get him, just knocked him out or something. He was the first to leave the scene. With police escort, of course.”
Jensen smiles, even if they didn’t get anything from this scene that was something. They had a witness, one that lived to tell the tale. The down side was that it was the criminal himself, so the chances that he talked were slim. He was most likely to get his own revenge, or get killed trying.
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