We're Not In Kansas Anymore
Title: We're Not In Kansas Anymore
Author: hunters_retreat
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Warning: student/teacher
Summary: He pushed Mr. Ackles, trying to get him out of the way before anything could go wrong. Jared was too late though, and before the whirling vortex of sensation could make him black out, he realized Mr. Ackles was tumbling through the reflection too.
Author's Note: This was written for the j2_everafter challenge. This is my take on the Chronicles of Narnia. Much as my last post for this challenge, I knew I wasn't going to be able to do it justice in the time I had. Real life has screwed me over and I spent a lot more time stressing over school and my internship than writing. So... there will be more of this to come. For now, enjoy the boys :P A huge thanks to the mods of the challenge for running it. I adore this challenge. Even if I am a total fail for making y'all wait for the extended version of my stories :P
We're Not In Kansas Anymore
Jared swore as he ran down the hall. It wasn’t his fault that the air car between campus and the science wing had broken down, making him late for detention. He didn’t believe Mr. Ackles would accept the excuse though. His teacher had only been out of the Academy a few years himself and his enthusiasm for teaching the advanced science classes made him explosive when he taught. Jared loved walking into class to find out what experiment they would be attempting each day. Mr. Ackles was the best teacher the science department had but he wasn’t known for his patience with truant students
Of course, experiments in quantum reflections put a damper on Jared’s enjoyment which was why he was in detention in the first place. Not that anyone understood why it bothered Jared. It wasn’t something that showed up on his transcripts and his family had moved from the central quadrant to the outer region so no one had known Jared long enough to understand. He’d thought he’d get himself out of the experiment when he’d gotten himself kicked out of class that day. Unluckily, he’d forgotten that Mr. Ackles wasn’t like most teachers.
Jared turned the corner and stopped in front of the doors to catch his breath before he walked into the classroom. Mr. Ackles was sitting on the edge of his desk at the front of the class, the sleeves of his white button down top folded up to his elbows.
“Sorry Mr. Ackles," he said as he moved to the front of the class.
"I was beginning to think it was me you were avoiding," the teacher said as Jared took a seat.
Of all the teachers Jared might avoid, Mr. Ackles wasn't one of them. Beyond his enthusiasm for the subject, Mr. Ackles was young and smart and gorgeous and had a wicked sense of humor. Jared wasn't sure if Mr. Ackles was aware of the innuendos he threw out or if he recognized the subtle flirting he did with Jared, but it kept Jared at constant attention, wondering what would happen next. Of course, Jared had been waiting for the next thing to happen all year and so far it hadn't. It didn't make him want it any less though. Jared often found himself daydreaming about catching Mr. Ackles at the end of the school year - when he couldn't hide behind a student-teacher relationship - and putting himself on the line. It was a nice daydream but as much as Mr. Ackles might flirt with Jared, he flirted with everyone else too and Jared had no reason to believe it actually meant anything.
“Never. I just ran into trouble getting here,” Jared said as he pulled out his notepad and flipped open the screen, looking up at Mr. Ackles for instructions.
“You don’t actually need that Jared,” Mr. Ackles said. “You missed a really important experiment and when I looked back on your records and I saw that you were absent last year during this experiment also. You can’t pass this class without knowledge of the quantum theories. I know you’re smart Jared and you’ve got a head for science. You just need to get this experiment over with so … it took a little work but I talked the head of the department into letting us turn the quantum reflection on.”
“Sir…”
“Is there a problem, Jared?”
“I’m just … uncomfortable with quantum reflections.”
Mr. Ackles smiled and it made Jared feel worse. “You don’t believe the stories, do you?”
Jared didn’t answer but he could see his teacher’s eyes narrow and his smile fade as he realized that yes, Jared was one of those people.
“Jared, those stories are just that; stories. People who don’t want to admit why they lost a loved one use quantum reflections as an excuse. They aren’t real. We don’t know how to travel from one reflection to another. We harness the power innate in them, but that doesn’t mean people vanish through them and don’t come back. That isn’t science. It’s science fiction.”
“Alternate universes were just fiction once upon a time too,” Jared said as he eyed the panel on the wall, hidden behind a large tarp. The quantum reflection wasn’t always there but it had been for the last week. Quantum reflection pools were hard to calibrate and scientists didn’t like moving them around. It took a lot of power to get one working as well so Mr. Ackles had to have pulled some strings to get the approval to open it up for just one student. It didn’t make Jared feel any better about the reflection he knew he would see when the tarp was pulled back. It didn’t make him ache any less. His only consolation was that Mr. Ackles knew what he was doing and this wasn’t just a bunch of kids who stumbled into the wrong room at the wrong time.
“Jared, I promise you nothing is going to happen to you. I’m right here and we’re just going to discuss the quantum reflection before we turn it off and let the science geeks have it back,” he said with a wink.
Jared relaxed a little under his teacher’s smile. “You’re the science geek.”
“That I am.”
Jared didn’t have time to worry about it then because Mr. Ackles was moving away from the desk and pulling the cover off the quantum reflection. It wasn’t a mirror exactly. It stood upright like one but the surface moved as if it were made of water, tiny ripples that stirred across its surface growing stronger as they reached the edge. Jared knew what would happen if he looked into the surface of it. Almost every class he’d taken since he entered the science academy gave them at least one glimpse into the quantum reflection. It wasn’t until last year though - he pushed the thought aside and found himself scrambling up next to Mr. Ackles as the man moved in front of the reflection.
“Nothing to be worried about, right Jared?” Mr. Ackles asked.
It was obvious he thought Jared was afraid of the thing. He didn’t quite get it though. It wasn’t that Jared was worried about himself. He was concerned about Mr. Ackles though and he needed to be closer to the man, just in case.
“Can we get this over with?” Jared asked, hating the sullen note that came out but unable to stop it either.
“Of course,” Mr. Ackles said. “As you know, in the theory of quantum-” Mr. Ackles stopped mid word and Jared looked at the reflection. He could see himself next to the man and nothing was amiss. Except if you looked into it you could see a strange light on the other side. “What the hell is that?” Mr. Ackles breathed out.
Jared’s eyes widened as he saw it; a figure superimposed over Mr. Ackles. It was the same thing that had happened before and Jared didn’t think. He pushed Mr. Ackles, trying to get him out of the way before anything could go wrong. He was too late though, and before the whirling vortex of sensation could make him black out, he realized Mr. Ackles was tumbling through the reflection too.
**
Jensen woke with a splitting headache. His whole body ached as he sneezed out the dust that had somehow settled in his nose. He took a deep breath to try to settle the pain and opened his eyes to stare up at a blank white ceiling. Shadows were cast across the room from the high windows but there were no lamps in the room; just the light of the fading daylight.
He sat up quickly, ignoring the ache of his body as he took in his surroundings. He wasn’t in the academy’s small workroom anymore and he felt the rise of panic as he realized he was alone. He stood up too fast and had to brace himself on the steel table before him. It was a lab of some sort, something like the room he’d just been in. Jensen moved around the table as his equilibrium steadied. He wasn’t sure if he was surprised to find Jared with him or not, but relief filled him. He didn’t want to know what Jared would do if he woke up alone, not with the fear he’d shown in the room at the academy.
Jensen didn’t know why Jared was bothered by the quantum reflection and it had intrigued him when he’d put the pieces together and realized that was why Jared had acted out in his class. Jared had always been a good student - in all his classes - but especially in the sciences. Jensen had seen the way Jared shut himself down though when they talked about quantum reflection in class. Looking back at it, he wasn’t surprised that he’d had to throw Jared out of class that day for insubordinate behavior. When he’d gone over the kid’s record, he was still just as puzzled about the why of it though. Jensen had even gone so far as to call his parents and ask about it but they pushed it off as nothing important and promised Jensen that Jared’s behavior would be fine in a few days.
A few days; when the quantum reflection experiments were over. None of it made sense before. Now, Jensen didn’t need it to. First and foremost he needed to be there for Jared when he woke. Whatever else happened, that was his priority.
Jensen stared down at Jared who was still unconscious but breathing. There was no reason to believe Jared was injured beyond the headache Jensen himself has experienced so he took a deep breath and regained his calm, watching the sleeping student.
Yeah, because that wasn’t creepy or anything. Jensen was all too aware of the thin line he skated with Jared. Maybe it would have been easier if he’d had Jared as a student the last couple years so he could have seen him as nothing but a young kid. Jensen had no such luck though. Jared had arrived new to the academy for his senior year and looked like a Greek god; sun-kissed skin and rippling muscles included. He was smart and athletic which was a combination Jensen could really appreciate; especially when he caught a glimpse of Jared running shirtless through the academy’s training hills. Jensen did his best to keep his interest in Jared strictly professional, but there was only a five year difference in their ages and Jared had a lingering darkness in his eyes that drew Jensen in.
Not to mention he had one of the most naturally talented scientific minds Jensen had ever met. He made connections that took most of the academy professors’ hours to get and had a way of thinking outside of the norm that made Jensen’s inner geek rise to the surface.
Jared moaned and Jensen knelt down beside him, pushing away his thoughts. “Hey sleepyhead,” he said, trying to keep Jared from being alarmed. Jared sat up, looking at Jensen with sleepy eyes. “Nice of you to join the living.”
Jared stared up at Jensen, frowning as he looked away and catalogued their environment. “Where are we?”
Jensen sighed as he thought about what to say to Jared. “It looks like an old dusty lab. I haven’t tried to explore it just yet, but I’m pretty sure we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
Jared let out a bark of laughter and Jensen smiled his best to try to loosen up the tension he felt building. Jared looked around them and nodded. “Well, looks like we better see what we’re in for. But if you call me Dorothy I’ll kick your ass.”
Jensen laughed honestly then and stood up, offering Jared a hand up. “No worries. Come on Toto, let’s see if we can find the Emerald City.”
Now continued! Chapter Two
Author: hunters_retreat
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Warning: student/teacher
Summary: He pushed Mr. Ackles, trying to get him out of the way before anything could go wrong. Jared was too late though, and before the whirling vortex of sensation could make him black out, he realized Mr. Ackles was tumbling through the reflection too.
Author's Note: This was written for the j2_everafter challenge. This is my take on the Chronicles of Narnia. Much as my last post for this challenge, I knew I wasn't going to be able to do it justice in the time I had. Real life has screwed me over and I spent a lot more time stressing over school and my internship than writing. So... there will be more of this to come. For now, enjoy the boys :P A huge thanks to the mods of the challenge for running it. I adore this challenge. Even if I am a total fail for making y'all wait for the extended version of my stories :P
We're Not In Kansas Anymore
Jared swore as he ran down the hall. It wasn’t his fault that the air car between campus and the science wing had broken down, making him late for detention. He didn’t believe Mr. Ackles would accept the excuse though. His teacher had only been out of the Academy a few years himself and his enthusiasm for teaching the advanced science classes made him explosive when he taught. Jared loved walking into class to find out what experiment they would be attempting each day. Mr. Ackles was the best teacher the science department had but he wasn’t known for his patience with truant students
Of course, experiments in quantum reflections put a damper on Jared’s enjoyment which was why he was in detention in the first place. Not that anyone understood why it bothered Jared. It wasn’t something that showed up on his transcripts and his family had moved from the central quadrant to the outer region so no one had known Jared long enough to understand. He’d thought he’d get himself out of the experiment when he’d gotten himself kicked out of class that day. Unluckily, he’d forgotten that Mr. Ackles wasn’t like most teachers.
Jared turned the corner and stopped in front of the doors to catch his breath before he walked into the classroom. Mr. Ackles was sitting on the edge of his desk at the front of the class, the sleeves of his white button down top folded up to his elbows.
“Sorry Mr. Ackles," he said as he moved to the front of the class.
"I was beginning to think it was me you were avoiding," the teacher said as Jared took a seat.
Of all the teachers Jared might avoid, Mr. Ackles wasn't one of them. Beyond his enthusiasm for the subject, Mr. Ackles was young and smart and gorgeous and had a wicked sense of humor. Jared wasn't sure if Mr. Ackles was aware of the innuendos he threw out or if he recognized the subtle flirting he did with Jared, but it kept Jared at constant attention, wondering what would happen next. Of course, Jared had been waiting for the next thing to happen all year and so far it hadn't. It didn't make him want it any less though. Jared often found himself daydreaming about catching Mr. Ackles at the end of the school year - when he couldn't hide behind a student-teacher relationship - and putting himself on the line. It was a nice daydream but as much as Mr. Ackles might flirt with Jared, he flirted with everyone else too and Jared had no reason to believe it actually meant anything.
“Never. I just ran into trouble getting here,” Jared said as he pulled out his notepad and flipped open the screen, looking up at Mr. Ackles for instructions.
“You don’t actually need that Jared,” Mr. Ackles said. “You missed a really important experiment and when I looked back on your records and I saw that you were absent last year during this experiment also. You can’t pass this class without knowledge of the quantum theories. I know you’re smart Jared and you’ve got a head for science. You just need to get this experiment over with so … it took a little work but I talked the head of the department into letting us turn the quantum reflection on.”
“Sir…”
“Is there a problem, Jared?”
“I’m just … uncomfortable with quantum reflections.”
Mr. Ackles smiled and it made Jared feel worse. “You don’t believe the stories, do you?”
Jared didn’t answer but he could see his teacher’s eyes narrow and his smile fade as he realized that yes, Jared was one of those people.
“Jared, those stories are just that; stories. People who don’t want to admit why they lost a loved one use quantum reflections as an excuse. They aren’t real. We don’t know how to travel from one reflection to another. We harness the power innate in them, but that doesn’t mean people vanish through them and don’t come back. That isn’t science. It’s science fiction.”
“Alternate universes were just fiction once upon a time too,” Jared said as he eyed the panel on the wall, hidden behind a large tarp. The quantum reflection wasn’t always there but it had been for the last week. Quantum reflection pools were hard to calibrate and scientists didn’t like moving them around. It took a lot of power to get one working as well so Mr. Ackles had to have pulled some strings to get the approval to open it up for just one student. It didn’t make Jared feel any better about the reflection he knew he would see when the tarp was pulled back. It didn’t make him ache any less. His only consolation was that Mr. Ackles knew what he was doing and this wasn’t just a bunch of kids who stumbled into the wrong room at the wrong time.
“Jared, I promise you nothing is going to happen to you. I’m right here and we’re just going to discuss the quantum reflection before we turn it off and let the science geeks have it back,” he said with a wink.
Jared relaxed a little under his teacher’s smile. “You’re the science geek.”
“That I am.”
Jared didn’t have time to worry about it then because Mr. Ackles was moving away from the desk and pulling the cover off the quantum reflection. It wasn’t a mirror exactly. It stood upright like one but the surface moved as if it were made of water, tiny ripples that stirred across its surface growing stronger as they reached the edge. Jared knew what would happen if he looked into the surface of it. Almost every class he’d taken since he entered the science academy gave them at least one glimpse into the quantum reflection. It wasn’t until last year though - he pushed the thought aside and found himself scrambling up next to Mr. Ackles as the man moved in front of the reflection.
“Nothing to be worried about, right Jared?” Mr. Ackles asked.
It was obvious he thought Jared was afraid of the thing. He didn’t quite get it though. It wasn’t that Jared was worried about himself. He was concerned about Mr. Ackles though and he needed to be closer to the man, just in case.
“Can we get this over with?” Jared asked, hating the sullen note that came out but unable to stop it either.
“Of course,” Mr. Ackles said. “As you know, in the theory of quantum-” Mr. Ackles stopped mid word and Jared looked at the reflection. He could see himself next to the man and nothing was amiss. Except if you looked into it you could see a strange light on the other side. “What the hell is that?” Mr. Ackles breathed out.
Jared’s eyes widened as he saw it; a figure superimposed over Mr. Ackles. It was the same thing that had happened before and Jared didn’t think. He pushed Mr. Ackles, trying to get him out of the way before anything could go wrong. He was too late though, and before the whirling vortex of sensation could make him black out, he realized Mr. Ackles was tumbling through the reflection too.
**
Jensen woke with a splitting headache. His whole body ached as he sneezed out the dust that had somehow settled in his nose. He took a deep breath to try to settle the pain and opened his eyes to stare up at a blank white ceiling. Shadows were cast across the room from the high windows but there were no lamps in the room; just the light of the fading daylight.
He sat up quickly, ignoring the ache of his body as he took in his surroundings. He wasn’t in the academy’s small workroom anymore and he felt the rise of panic as he realized he was alone. He stood up too fast and had to brace himself on the steel table before him. It was a lab of some sort, something like the room he’d just been in. Jensen moved around the table as his equilibrium steadied. He wasn’t sure if he was surprised to find Jared with him or not, but relief filled him. He didn’t want to know what Jared would do if he woke up alone, not with the fear he’d shown in the room at the academy.
Jensen didn’t know why Jared was bothered by the quantum reflection and it had intrigued him when he’d put the pieces together and realized that was why Jared had acted out in his class. Jared had always been a good student - in all his classes - but especially in the sciences. Jensen had seen the way Jared shut himself down though when they talked about quantum reflection in class. Looking back at it, he wasn’t surprised that he’d had to throw Jared out of class that day for insubordinate behavior. When he’d gone over the kid’s record, he was still just as puzzled about the why of it though. Jensen had even gone so far as to call his parents and ask about it but they pushed it off as nothing important and promised Jensen that Jared’s behavior would be fine in a few days.
A few days; when the quantum reflection experiments were over. None of it made sense before. Now, Jensen didn’t need it to. First and foremost he needed to be there for Jared when he woke. Whatever else happened, that was his priority.
Jensen stared down at Jared who was still unconscious but breathing. There was no reason to believe Jared was injured beyond the headache Jensen himself has experienced so he took a deep breath and regained his calm, watching the sleeping student.
Yeah, because that wasn’t creepy or anything. Jensen was all too aware of the thin line he skated with Jared. Maybe it would have been easier if he’d had Jared as a student the last couple years so he could have seen him as nothing but a young kid. Jensen had no such luck though. Jared had arrived new to the academy for his senior year and looked like a Greek god; sun-kissed skin and rippling muscles included. He was smart and athletic which was a combination Jensen could really appreciate; especially when he caught a glimpse of Jared running shirtless through the academy’s training hills. Jensen did his best to keep his interest in Jared strictly professional, but there was only a five year difference in their ages and Jared had a lingering darkness in his eyes that drew Jensen in.
Not to mention he had one of the most naturally talented scientific minds Jensen had ever met. He made connections that took most of the academy professors’ hours to get and had a way of thinking outside of the norm that made Jensen’s inner geek rise to the surface.
Jared moaned and Jensen knelt down beside him, pushing away his thoughts. “Hey sleepyhead,” he said, trying to keep Jared from being alarmed. Jared sat up, looking at Jensen with sleepy eyes. “Nice of you to join the living.”
Jared stared up at Jensen, frowning as he looked away and catalogued their environment. “Where are we?”
Jensen sighed as he thought about what to say to Jared. “It looks like an old dusty lab. I haven’t tried to explore it just yet, but I’m pretty sure we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
Jared let out a bark of laughter and Jensen smiled his best to try to loosen up the tension he felt building. Jared looked around them and nodded. “Well, looks like we better see what we’re in for. But if you call me Dorothy I’ll kick your ass.”
Jensen laughed honestly then and stood up, offering Jared a hand up. “No worries. Come on Toto, let’s see if we can find the Emerald City.”
Now continued! Chapter Two