In our lifetime 1/3
In our lifetime - Los Angeles, 2048
LifeTech Headquarters
Countdown T minus 10 minutes.
Jeffrey flinched a little when he heard the computer generated voice. It sounded hollow, lifeless somehow, and intimidating. It never had before. He'd always liked it, thought it sounded warm, better than the earlier versions from the late 20th and early 21st century. Now, though, he couldn’t bring himself to care about those anymore.
The intercom buzzed, not because it was old or broken, but because Jeffrey had configured it that way. He liked some warning when someone was trying to contact him, and right now he just knew that any distraction would destroy everything. The fear that something could try and stop him, made him decide to shut off every communication device inside his lab. Even his communicator was offline and stuffed inside his bag. It was too risky to have it online -- it was traceable after all.
Checking his office lab for the tenth time, Jeffrey decided he had everything he needed and could be left as it was. He slowly collected copies of files, work diaries and important components, stowing them into the black backpack he brought with him that morning.
He carefully placed his body so that the surveillance cameras couldn’t capture anything he took or what exactly he was doing. He was grateful for the lack of light, it helped him a lot.
He'd dimmed the lights to their lowest level, leaving the office lab almost dark, save the computer screens, exit signs and the little moonlight that came in filtered through four thick glass fronts. A slight blue hue lay over everything and it was quiet now. The sun would be up in less than an hour, so it was time to set his plan in motion.
The atmosphere was so different from what had been going on not 10 minutes earlier that Jeffrey, just for a second, thought he might be doing the something wrong and that maybe everything wasn’t as bad as it looked during the last three hours.
Then a new column of numbers ran across the screen of his tablet computer. He just scanned them briefly, but it was already enough to set him in motion again. The numbers confirmed what he had feared and suddenly he was more determined than ever to actually try and stop it.
He had no idea if he even could stop it anymore. Now that things had gone too far -- everything was too entangled in the whole process, in the whole company. It wouldn’t be easy and it might end up that he wouldn't be there to see the final result, but he knew that if he didn’t do anything now, or at least try, then he’d always blame himself. Especially if there was a way to stop it.
Countdown T minus 8 minutes.
Light lines were flashing outside the lab, indicating some kind of emergency in one of the other parts of the building. But since it was just a green level warning, Jeffrey didn’t bother to check it out. There were more important things to do now. He really hoped none of the service crew or any of the maintenance robots would check in on the lab. Being discovered now wouldn’t be such a good thing, considering what his plan consisted of.
Reaching inside his jacket, he retrieved a small, flat disk and activated it. The screen flashed and a digital clock was displayed. The countdown was already running and Jeffrey realised he had to hurry in order to prepare everything.
Eights minutes wasn't much when it came to deleting surveillance files, saving data and getting blood and tissue all over the place. He absentmindedly scratched at the bandage on his under arm and wondered if he should have gotten it checked out at the med lab. But then he shook his head, getting anybody else from the company involved would cause trouble, maybe even set them onto his trail. And really, he just didn't need that, not now.
Again he reached inside his jacket, this time coming up with two different vials. One of them held the blood and tissue; the other, a rather mild sedative. Jeffrey smiled at himself for remembering to bring the drug before he sampled the tissue, but he luckily remember that a tox screening might reveal residue and everyone would think something was amiss then. The risk was too high. So taking the blood and tissue samples had been a rather hurtful consequence.
The sedative would lessen the impact of the blow. It wasn’t simply a drug to subdue, in addition it relaxed the bones and body tension. Jeffrey just hoped it would actually work.
The computer voice made him flinch again and he almost dropped the vial. Not much time left and he still had things to sort out. Looking down on the screen that was his desktop, he checked the time, the progress of deleting and saving data and, for the first time, realised his hands were shaking and there was sweat beading on his forehead. He quickly swallowed the sedative.
He could admit that he was a little more nervous now that time was almost up. So far he had been calm, rather detached. But now he couldn’t help but wonder if it would work.
Countdown T minus 4 minutes.
There were only two things left to do and Jeffrey instantly hoped that one of the them would make its way to either Jared or Jensen. If not, well then he knew nothing would ever be the same again and it might be a good idea to just run.
He set the detonation index to high, attached the small disk to the huge window pane and checked again that the countdown was still running correctly. With a last glance through the window down onto the plaza beneath, Jeffrey walked back to his desktop.
He touched the surface so that the screen was set and made sure that the recording device indicated auto play. He attached the holodisk, turned the camera towards himself and then settled slowly into the chair.
Time was precious and he had a feeling that there wasn’t much left. Not for him nor for anyone else.
Countdown T minus 10 seconds.
When everything was said and done, the final move wasn’t as hard as he'd anticipated it to be. His thumb hovered over the red square on the tablet screen and he only hesitated a second before closing his eyes and touching it.
It was out of his hands now. He'd done everything he could, but now he needed help and if this was the only way to get it, so be it.
The boom was loud and the shrieking of sirens and the alarm procedure was almost enough to send him into the darkness. The contents of the green vial made it mostly bearable, and when he felt artificial arms close around his torso, he almost smiled at the irony. He just hoped that he had programmed everything correctly and that there would at least be some questions left.
Then everything went silent and dark.
***
Los Angeles 2048
This morning could have gone better. Way better if Detective Jensen Ackles was asked. Not one thing had gone according to plan. The coffee maker was broken, his alarm clock looked like it was hanging by the last threads of life and not even the delivery of the 2004 special edition sneakers he'd ordered a few weeks ago worked out.
So, the last thing he needed was trouble at work. If he was honest, it was really his own fault. He should know by now not to let his emotions get carried away. It never worked to his advantage, and this time was no different. He knew he overreacted, he’d admitted as much when the chief had asked him. But he wished it had gone down better than what actually happened.
Not only had Mike ripped him a new one in front practically the entire precinct, but he also sort of threatened Jensen with the revocation of his privileges if something like the robot arrest happened again.
Jensen hated the fact that he couldn’t even guarantee it wouldn’t happen again. Not his fault that robots tended to freak him out. Bad memories were bad memories. Pictures of the day, the weeks after, flashed through his mind. As they always did when he was angry, defiant or exhausted. There were good and bad days, but mostly there were grey days and he could live with those.
It hadn’t been one of the good days so far and Jensen felt tense and tired, a sense of foreboding lingered in his mind and he didn’t know why. He never really believed in destiny or bullshit like that, but he felt like he always knew when things were about to get marginally worse. Unfortunately, he tended to be right in the middle of things when they decided to get worse.
He just sometimes wished LifeTech and their products wouldn't be so embedded into society and consequently into his life. Their robots, AI's and networks were everywhwere, connected everything and everyone. He wished he had more opportunites to leave them behind, to not use them but that was simply impossible. It always left a vague feeling of nausea behind. Jensen firmly believed that humankind shouldn't rely that much robots and all this technical things that were supposed to make like easier but only made people more careless and maybe a bit more lazy than it was good for them.
He had a feeling that something was on the way. He hated that feeling because it always meant he’ d do something to piss people, at least piss them off more then usual and would land himself in even more trouble.
His left cheek twitched slightly, it would continue to do so and would eventually move down to his shoulder if he let it go on for too long. To stop it, he had to go and get checked by the medi robot. Let himself being medicated in the presence of AIs was really not his idea of a fun time, especially since his day was already bad enough.
He tried to ignore the whispers, the looks and the smug expressions of his colleagues. It hadn’t been the first time they'd watched him be a freak, and he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be the last time either. Arresting a robot for stealing a handbag and then figuring out it was just rushing to its owner for medical help was a bit weird, even for him. Jensen briefly wondered if his dream from last night had anything to do with it.
He couldn’t remember much, but when he woke up this morning, something had been off. Maybe it was because he hadn’t dreamt about Jeff in years, maybe it was because he'd forgotten to adjust his nightly dose of muscle relaxants. He didn’t know and he'd kind of decided to stop thinking about it.
So yeah, this morning could have gone so much better. Jensen just hoped the day wouldn’t throw him another curveball.
Because really, it wasn’t even ten yet.
Time for breakfast.
***
It was warm for the season, not too warm but enough that Jensen was sitting at a table outside the café he'd started to frequent. It was a small place, located in one of the old fashioned quarters of the city. Here, he could get his coffee and whatever else without having to constantly tell the annoying waiter-robot that, no he didn’t want anything else and that he didn’t care if he looked too thin or whatever.
Jensen liked this area -- people still waited on customers and the items were mostly house or handmade. He loved the simplicity of everything. His deeply ingrained mistrust of anything not operated by human beings sometimes made living in a world that relied on robots and AI networks hard. Regardless, he still had strong reasons for his beliefs.
Sitting outside not only had the advantage of allowing him to enjoy the sun, but also gave him the opportunity to observe his surroundings. He could watch people interact, watch robots and keep an eye out for anything dangerous. He often thought his job had become more, turning into his life instead of just work. He was drawn into it, more than he ever thought possible. He wasn’t working as a cop anymore, he was living as one.
He let his gaze roam around, looked down the street and growled under his breath at every robot that dared to even move into his field of vision. When Jensen became aware of what he was doing, he snorted. No wonder the guys at the precinct thought he was a tad too paranoid. He really did have a tendency to overdo it, what with the watching and accusing random robots.
“Hey, officer.”
Jensen almost rolled his eyes at that, but couldn’t help the little twitch of lips. Lifting his head from the newspaper screen, he tried to focus on the man standing next to the table, the sun shining behind him made it hard to see anything though. But he didn’t have to see to know who it was.
“How often do I have to tell you that it’s detective and not officer? If you have to shout it out to the world, you can at least do it right, kid.”
The man settled in the one free chair that stood across from where Jensen was seated. Jensen had to admit that he'd been hoping the other man would show up, waiting for it even. It was that hope that lifted his mood a little, and Jared showing up raised it another two or three notches.
“Sure. And you know, I am not a ‘kid.’ Name’s Jared. I know you know it.”
Jared had become a kind of fixture in Jensen’s life over the last six months. He sometimes wondered when that had happened. Meeting up for breakfast was a fixed date now. They'd bumped into each other one day purely by accident. Jensen had been harsh, annoyed by something he couldn’t even remember anymore, when he'd crashed into Jared.
But Jared had just smiled, apologized and offered to buy him coffee as a sign of goodwill. Jensen knew he was doomed the second time he saw Jared, the other man waiting with a second coffee and those puppy eyes out in full force.
He motioned for Jared to take the other coffee, which made the other man smile slightly.
“Awww, have you been waiting for me? How sweet.”
Jensen snorted and then smiled, probably for the first time in hours. Maybe today wasn’t going to suck that much after all. It’s what they did, they'd already learned to sense each other's moods and Jensen really didn't want to think about what that meant.
Jensen wasn't one for relationships, he liked keeping things casual. Few people understood him, and even fewer wanted to deal with his moods, grumpiness, and paranoia toward robots. And so, casual was less hurtful for everyone, Jensen had his fair share of heartbreak and let downs -- given and taken, equally.
With Jared, though, it was somehow different. They constantly flirted but neither did much more. The next step just didn’t come, and Jensen was amazed how comfortable he felt with Jared. He had to admit that if the kid hadn’t been as young as he seemed, Jensen might have already blown all caution to the wind.
Jared flirted back, though and Jensen was quite aware of the sparks between them. At least he didn’t feel too pathetic admitting to himself that there might just be something going on. Except that it seemed like it wasn’t supposed to be.
There were too many reasons for it not to work, too many things getting in the way and Jensen didn’t have the time or strength to dig through them all. At least not at the moment. He was content enough with the way things were.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Don’t you have school to attend, a job to do or something like that? You always pop up here at the same time.”
“Jensen. Why always the same questions? It might seem like you don’t want me to be here. Do have a job though, just working strange hours. What about you? Have you arrested an unsuspecting robot again?”
“Very funny. Watch it or I’ll confiscate your coffee and you’ll have to live without for the rest of the day.”
“Uhm, Jensen? Your logic lacks ... uhm logic. There's coffee where I work and I could always buy a new cup.”
That was another thing they did, they could bullshit and talk nonsense to each other without either of them thinking it meant more than just conversation. They just clicked and somehow it worked. But there were times when Jensen thought it could turn into something more.
Especially when he caught Jared watching him. It wasn’t as if he didn’t watch back. Because he did and he didn’t feel ashamed or guilty either. It was kind of fun getting Jared a little worked up with stares, while simultaneously enjoying the view.
Jared was ridiculously good looking and freakishly tall. Dark brown floppy hair, hazel eyes that had soul showing through and, of course, dimples to die for. He was wearing old fashioned jeans, a plain t-shirt and a brown leather jacket this morning. He looked like he could have walked out of one of those early twenty first century GQ magazines, looked like he belonged in the beginning of the century instead of the middle. Jensen liked that about him, he really liked that Jared appreciated old fashions more than the current ones. It was something they had in common.
Jared looked great -- sin and youth personified. A combination that would make Jensen drooling under normal circumstances. Drooling and working toward getting Jared into his bed.
But as it was, they were just flirting -- nothing more. Jensen found that this was the part of his day he was always looking forward to. The relaxed atmosphere of their banter, their conversation; it all made Jensen miss something he hadn’t had since his divorce almost seven years ago. And he wasn’t getting any younger, so he took any comfort he could get, even if he sometimes thought being two years away from thirty, unable to hold up relationships for longer than a casual fling and a two year lasting failed marriage wasn’t anything to be proud of.
The easy camaraderie that existed between them and the things they talked about made Jensen realise, from time to time, that he was a loner -- and alone -- in this world.
***
“Ackles! Get your ass in here. We have a case.”
Mike’s shout from across the room jolted Jensen, making him jump a little. He hadn’t been back for very long, the breakfast with Jared took longer then he'd anticipated. And really, he’d never thought Mike would give him another case today. He'd already resigned himself to doing desk work. Making lists about the piles of file work, figuring out which he’d attack first.
Not that he wasn’t happy to get another chance and get back into the field. He just prayed he wouldn’t mess things up again.
Unfortunately, the feeling of foreboding had gotten stronger. He didn’t like that. Something was definitely wrong -- his cheek twitched again, and this time he brought his hand up, trying to rub it away.
He attempted to ignore the looks and sniggers he got as he pushed his chair back and stood. It was the usual procedure when he was called into the chief’s office. Nothing new, nothing to get riled up about. Didn’t mean he had to like it, though.
He grabbed his gun of the table, an automatic with real bullets, not the laser shit the rest of the squad was so fond of. He hated the new weapons, didn’t feel comfortable with a gun that seemed to have a mind of its own. Guns should never be allowed to make decisions that ran contrary to the ones cops made. It just wasn’t safe in dangerous situations.
His colleagues had pegged him a gun addict long ago and he never did anything to correct them. He hated guns in general, had his own bad experiences with them, but having his own automatic non-digital one made him feel, at least a little bit, safer. It might also be one of the reasons he hadn’t had a real partner in years.
They were afraid of him going even more mentally instable and shooting them with his gun which didn’t have a stunning mode and was maybe a little more deadly than it was desired these days. Not that being mentally unstable wasn’t already enough to ensure him solo gigs whenever he got out into the field.
At least automatic guns with bullets were still allowed within the force. He took comfort in the fact that he wasn’t the only cop carrying one, not by a long shot. He was just the only one in his precinct. It granted him special status among his colleagues, something he'd started to appreciate once he realised that it was better if he kept his set of opinions and ideas to himself.
Holstering his gun and grabbing the black leather coat of the back of his chair, Jensen set off to the chief’s office.
Mike sat behind the desk, deeply immersed in a conversation with one of the screens behind him. Jensen couldn’t see who he was talking to, but it seemed important judging from the low voice Mike used.
Jensen closed the door, let himself slump against it and looked around the room. For all of Mike’s insistence that the precinct and its employees had to have the newest gadgets and needed to be connected to the best technology, his own office looked more like a scene out of a 1920’s detective novel.
Everything was made of wood or something imitating it. The panels along the walls, the huge desk, even the cupboards and drawers shimmered in a dark wooden hue. It made the office less clinical, less impersonal then the rest of the precinct. At least that was the impression Jensen had.
There was something warm, something old and more human to it. Rarely did Jensen have a second thought to why he felt at peace in here.
When he scraped his shoes along the carpeted floor, Mike looked up, smiled briefly and went back to his conversation. It wasn’t the easy dismissal but the smile that had Jensen on the edge. Chief Michael Rosenbaum only ever smiled when something was up, and that was even more likely when that something was connected to Jensen.
“Sit Jensen. Please. We gotta talk.”
Jensen hadn’t even realised the other conversation had ended and that Mike was looking at him enquiringly. With a sigh and an even greater sense of unease, Jensen took the only free chair in the cluttered office.
“What is it, chief?”
“I just got a call from LifeTech. It seems that there's been an accident. And .. well, I don’t really know how to tell you this, but ... it’s Jeffrey Morgan.”
“Jeff? What?”
“There was an explosion at the LifeTech headquarters. Apparently it started in Dr. Morgan’s office lab. They found blood and tissue traces, determined that he died on site because of that evidence. There isn’t much left. I'm sorry, Jensen. I really am. I know what he meant to you and what he did for you.”
Jensen swallowed hard, tried to focus on Mike and not lose his mind. He hadn’t seen Jeff in years, had only mailed or voiceposted and even then it was only from time to time. They'd both been busy, probably too busy for their own sakes. But this? It wasn’t how Jensen wanted to hear from him again.
“Yeah ... okay. So what do you need me for? Isn’t that some kind of conflict of interest?”
“Not really. At least not on my front. I think someone might object you working the case because of your widely known opinion about LifeTech, but not because you know ... uhm knew ... Dr. Morgan.”
“I ... What exactly happened?”
“That’s what you are supposed to find out Jensen. The LifeTech guys ruled it a suicide and local police seems to agree based on the evidence. They found a disk at the scene, genetically encoded to you. So I'm sending you to find out what’s on it, not to search a crime scene. Because, honestly? It doesn’t look like there actually is much of a crime scene.”
“Suicide? But Jeff would never… He just wouldn’t.”
It couldn’t be. There was no way Jeff would ever even think about it. Something was wrong. And Jensen was going to find out what it was. Mike’s pitying looks didn’t make it any easier for Jensen to hold his composure.
With a final nod, Jensen stood and left the office. There was work to do.
***
When Jensen arrived at the scene, everything was already secured and shut down. The flashing warning lights kept onlookers from coming too close. It felt surreal, not something he’d thought he would see on the LifeTech main plaza.
Debris, broken glass and twisted steel pieces lay splattered on the concrete marble surface. Somehow it looked like a very macabre version of art. If it hadn’t been for the blood splatters sprinkled on some of the glass pieces, Jensen might have thought it was just that, an art piece installed to shock.
As he moved closer, he could see that LifeTech workers and police officers where already trying to clean up the place. Anger curled inside of him, anger at their eagerness to get rid of the evidence, to get rid of the memory. Jeff deserved better than that.
One of the officers approached Jensen when he finally was aware of her presence. She had something clutched in her hand and Jensen instantly knew it was the disk Jeff had somehow prepared for him. The officer nodded and handed it over.
Jensen’s look though lingered a little longer on her as she moved aside to give him space and some privacy. She was kind of petite but not fragile, had those brown dole eyes he remembered seeing before. She looked a lot like Sophia. And that was something Jensen didn’t need right now, not with Jeff gone and his own emotions on a rollercoaster. He didn’t need to be reminded of her, had enough memories stacked away in his mind. Filled nightmares with it, thank you very much.
She smiled briefly at him, clearly uneasy with the scrutiny she was subjected to. Jensen just looked down on the disk lying heavily against his balm. It wasn’t fair. Nothing that has happened was. Not Jeff. Not Sophia
It took Jensen a minute or two to decide what to do, if he even wanted to see what was on the disk. Turning the disk around in his hand, Jensen looked at the scene again. He tried to see something different, to catch new evidence that this hadn’t happened. That Jeff wasn’t gone.
“Jensen. I don’t have much to say. I'm sorry. But you know the key is to watch, so watch the kid. You promised. I am sorry.”
The hologram flickered out before Jensen even realised he'd touched the disk. He blinked, looked around if anybody had been watching and sighed in relief when no one seemed to be interested in him or the disk. Figured. It was just one of these days and one of the cases where they were glad that the black sheep of the precinct was working it instead of them.
He had no idea what that message was about. Too shocked to see Jeffrey’s hologram pop up in front of him, Jensen hadn’t really paid attention to what Jeff was saying. He replayed the message again, noted every flicker of eyes, every turn of eyebrows or tilt of head. He knew the words by heart when the message ended and he still didn’t know what they, even though he'd heard them clearly this time.
He once had promised Jeff to help him if the need should arise and as it seemed that day had come now. Jensen just wasn’t sure what to do and how to help Jeff. The message itself just didn’t make much sense.
Suddenly the disk got scorching hot, burned the inside of his hand slightly and made him drop it with a soft cry of pain. This was not how things were supposed to be. Evidence was not supposed to self destruct after it was touched or played. What the hell was going on?
Jeff always had been cautious, maybe even a little paranoid, but this was too much, even for him. Something was up. Definitely. Jensen was sure of it now. But what the hell was he supposed to watch for and who was the kid he was supposed to be looking out for?
A slight cough brought him out of his musings. He knew the look the officer was shooting him. Knew just all too well. A mixture of pity, discomfort and outright mistrust. It’s a look he got from almost everyone on the police force. Just another thing he had to deal with, his reputation wasn’t the best. Not that he cared much, though.
“Mr. Murray wants to talk to you, Detective.”
“All right. Lead the way.”
Jensen almost rolled his eyes when the rookie officer, because that’s what she was, green and innocent and already biased when it came to Jensen, just nodded slightly and turned on her heel. With a last look to the disk, already melted to a round pebble, Jensen set to follow the officer. He led Jensen to a man in an extremely expensive suit, who'd been standing in the middle of the closed off area since Jensen had arrived.
Chad Michael Murray, CEO of LifeTech and one of the rising stars in prominent business circles, stood almost motionless, face set to a blank expression, eyes stony and cold. There wasn’t the slightest hint of emotion present when he greeted Jensen. Just nodded, told him he was sorry about Jeff and that he didn’t know anything about what had happened.
Jensen didn’t believe him for a second. The guy knew more than he wanted to admit. Unfortunately, Jensen had neither the authority nor a real reason to question anything Murray said. He wanted to, but he couldn’t. And he certainly knew how to avoid making his own life harder than it was supposed to be, confronting Murray would probably be the easiest way to fuck himself and his career up even more. The man was powerful.
Asking for help wasn’t beyond Jensen, though. It definitely surprised him when he got it and was granted access to Jeff’s lab. It wasn’t the crime scene and police had already searched it, so there was no reason to stop a homicide detective from going over the place again. Jensen just wanted to see it, wanted to make sure that the whole thing wasn’t some sort of set up. That everything was the way it was supposed to be.
“Well then, let me introduce you. He'll be the one you have to go through when you need any help or need access to LifeTech.”
Jensen almost snorted, wanted to say that he could get access without Murray knowing, but he refrained from mentioning that. One threat of losing his job was enough for a day. He was stunned when he followed Murray’s lead and saw the tall man standing at the edge of the plaza.
The last person he'd expected to see there was Jared.
Murray didn’t seem to care for Jensen’s momentarily flustered expression or for the fact that his employee had blushed quite a bit when he had recognised the officer walking next to him. He just rushed right into the introductions, as if he was eager to get everything over with it, to get away from the whole scene.
Even through his shock of seeing Jared, Jensen forced himself to take everything in. Murray was behaving rather strangely. Too cold, too robotic. And if that wasn’t irony, he didn't know what was. It almost made Jensen snort and ask if Murray was real. But then he saw the man flinch a little when his eyes caught destroyed windows of Jeff’s lab. So maybe not robotic after all.
But he definitely was hiding something, that much was clear. No one could stay that calm and cold after a supposed friend and employee died. Jensen decided to keep an eye on Murray.
“Detective Ackles, meet Dr. Morgan‘s one and only protégé. The only man that ever excelled in the doctor's courses. Jared Padalecki.”
Jared just stood there for a moment and Jensen thought he looked rather pale. Nothing compared to the laughing, happy guy from this morning. And when he looked closer Jensen almost swore he saw red rimmed eyes. So Jared knew Jeff and had apparently been close to him.
For a split moment Jensen hoped Jared wasn’t one of those whiny types who burst into tears every second or buried themselves in their grief, then he cursed himself for even thinking that, he knew Jared at least a little. When the guy was upset he went calm and silent, not teary-eyed and sobbing.
“Detective Ackles. Let’s go up to Doctor Morgan's lab. I think you might want to take a look at it.”
Jensen tried to convince himself that he did not jump at Jared’s voice, and that Jared’s voice did not sound gravel and rough. This was going to be a long day and at the end of it he will unbury the bottle of pure colorless liquid he kept hidden in his closet and would mourn Jeff how he deserved it. Now though, he had a job to do.
***
Jensen almost stormed to the elevator that would lead up to the 12th floor, up to Jeff’s lab. He still couldn’t believe what he'd seen, what he'd heard down at the plaza. Jeff’s message was replaying over and over in his head, his thoughts about Murray were mingling and then the fact that Jared was there. To say that he was confused would have been an understatement.
He had no idea what was going on or what he was supposed to think. Stopping in front of the elevator door, Jensen whirled around and almost smacked right in to Jared, who'd been following him and was way closer than Jensen expected.
“You lied to me.”
“No, I didn’t. I just didn’t tell you where I worked.”
“Same thing. Omitting things. Same as lying.
“Not even close. And you never asked, you know. You wouldn’t have talked to me if you'd known and I didn’t know you knew Dr. Morgan. So I wasn’t lying.”
Jensen had to admit that the kid was right. Not really a good quality in a cop, missing out on intel. Sometimes he wondered how he'd made it so far with missing major clues like that. He almost punched through the touchpanel to call the elevator. He was angry and he didn’t even know why or who he was angry with.
Inside the cabin, awkward silence spread between them. The tension was almost palatable, like a thick wall between them. And it wasn’t Jensen’s anger alone that made it so tense, it was all the things they'd never talked about that hung between them, making things even more awkward.
Except there were still sparks, still some kind of electrifying lust present. Jensen had a hard time holding himself back. He wanted to punch something, wanted to get violent and let it all out. But at the same time, he just wanted to press Jared against the shiny surface of the elevator cabin and ravish his mouth.
Instead, they both stood rigid, didn’t talk and kept staring at the mirrored door they both wished would open to let them step out of the rather surreal situation. Jensen could feel himself tremble with emotions, could feel his cheek starting to twitch again. He silently told himself to calm down and be a professional again. This was not the right moment to freak out, no matter what justifiable reason he might have.
Jensen let Jared lead and purposefully didn’t try to look into every lab or office along the way. He didn’t want to know what those mad scientists would come up with next. He felt safer not knowing.
When Jared opened the sliding door to Jeff’s office lab, Jensen slid through the gap first and took a cautious look around.
“Don’t worry. No evil robot will jump at you. There are none around.”
“Funny. Really. Thanks for the heads up, though.”
If he could have managed any more sarcasm, he would have used it. Seeing Jeff’s lab and the broken window where he supposedly threw himself out of when he theoretically killed himself made Jensen shiver and abort his acid reply to Jared.
“Yeah. Sorry. And, well, sorry for not telling you about my work, I guess. But you really never asked and I thought it wasn’t all that important. Guess I should have known you’d freak over it.”
“Hey …” Jensen looked up from where he was crouched down, riffling through some of the scattered debris of the lab. “I'm not freaking out, okay? It just surprised me. If I had known I …”
Well, what would he have done if he'd known? Stopped talking to Jared, stopped their breakfast meetings? Jensen couldn’t say. Jared seemed to read his mind, almost sneering when he looked away from Jensen, turning to go over the screens that were still functioning. When he spoke again, his voice was low, almost defeated. Jensen didn’t like it, that wasn’t the Jared he knew.
“What would you have done if you had known? Not talked to me? Not bumped into me in the first place? What, Jensen? Tell me.”
Jensen shrugged, it was all he could come up with as an answer. But just thinking about not knowing Jared, not having him in his life however small that chance was, had him admitting that he already knew the answer.
But instead of replying, Jensen returned to going through Jeff’s things. He was trying to find any hint, any evidence that it things weren't exactly what they looked like. His fingers moved through the tiny piles of glass, steel, plastic and screen parts until they bumped into something bigger. He lifted it out of the pile it was hidden under.
It was some kind of round surface, like some part of a wrist watch or wrist communicator. Looking at it more closely, Jensen could see the tiny numbers of an ancient kind of watch. Seeing this brought Jeff’s message back to him. Jensen just had absolutely no idea what to make of it. Nothing seemed to make sense.
It made about as much sense as Jeff’s death did, which was to say none at all. He still couldn’t believe that Jeff was gone, that Jeff would actually have committed suicide. That was just something Jensen couldn't believe Jeff would do, he was sure of it. So the question that remained was why he'd done it and what made him react in such a way. What was so horrible in Jeffrey’s life that he couldn’t stand to live anymore?
Jensen was about to ask Jared about that, when the other man took a call that was chirping loudly from the cell phone attached to his jeans pocket. Jared was still wearing the same clothes as he had that morning, save for the company issued jacket and the ID hanging from it.
Seeing Jared like that, with the jacket, talking to someone from the company made Jensen twitch slightly. He still harboured some of the resentment that made him snap at Jared earlier and he crawled back into his mind. He didn’t even know at who his anger was directed at.
Maybe at himself for suddenly judging Jared just because of his employer, at Jared for working at LifeTech and developing the very same technology that was Jensen’s nightmare, or at Jeff for pulling such a stunt and making Jensen work with LifeTech. Jensen really didn’t know what to think. He pocketed the broken watch and slowly wandered off toward the opposite side of the lab.
When Jared finished the call, Jensen was on his hands and knees looking under a still standing work desk. The low whistled made him surge upwards and smack his head in the very same table he had just been looking under.
“Oh, Fuck. I'm sorry, Jensen.”
“Yeah, yeah it’s all right. Just help me up, will you?”
Back on his feet, Jensen rubbed his head and glared a little at Jared before going back to searching the areas he hadn’t covered yet. He tried hard not to think about how Jared’s hand felt in his. There was a time and place for everything, and this definitely wasn't the time or place.
“Man, why do you have to work for fucking LifeTech anyway?”
Jensen hadn’t planned on saying it out loud and flinched a little at his own voice. Sometimes he really could be an insensitive prick and, of course, this seemed to one of those times. He just hoped Jared knew him well enough to look over his outburst.
“So what? Your friends aren’t allowed to work for LifeTech? And if they do, they aren’t your friends anymore?”
Jared stood next to the damaged lab window and was carefully trying to set aside some bigger pieces in order to reach everything that was lying under them. For a second, Jensen wanted to scold him, snap at him for walking through a crime scene and touching evidence, but than he remembered that it wasn’t even a crime scene and that Jared could do what he wanted. Damn Jeff.
“I don’t have friends.”
Both of them flinched. Jensen wanted to ignore it, wanted to not see the hurt look on Jared’s face but he found that he couldn’t.
“I mean, I didn’t used to have friends. So I never had anyone close to me working for LifeTech. Well okay I know, uhm ... knew Jeff and he worked here. But that's a bit of different. And well ... yeah …”
He didn’t know what made Jared smile, the words, the rambling, or both. But Jensen was immensely pleased to see the dimples again. It was such a ridiculous thing to be happy about, especially in their present situation that Jensen actually smiled back.
“You have issues, Jensen.”
“What? You don’t say.”
It provoked a bark of laughter out of Jared, even complete with head throwing back and hair flopping into his eyes. Jensen stared for a long moment before he could even think of composing himself. It was getting close to that unspoken level of unprofessional behavior. It wouldn’t be the first time Jensen was accused of something like that, though.
Jared moved closer to the window and frowned. Jensen instantly knew something was wrong. He stood and walked to stand at Jared’s side.
“Something isn’t right, Jensen.”
“With me having issues or with the window?”
“Jensen … Not everything is about you. Even though I wouldn’t mind if it was.” Jared said it all with a smile and Jensen almost didn’t hear the flirty tone or the words that were spoken because he was fixed on the dimples again. He knew he should stop and make this purely a job thing, nothing more. Jensen just wished it would be that easy, but knew it wouldn't. Trying to ignore the fluttering in his stomach, he looked over at Jared in time to see him frown at the scattered pieces of glass again.
“So what is it?”
“It’s too clean.”
“Huh?”
Jared pointed down at the glass and then at the plaza below before continuing.
“Well, according to the surveillance stream and the traces found here and down on the concrete, it was a massive detonation. Like, massive enough to blow out two glass fronts, bend the steel frames and rip a human body apart in the process. The detonator was found on the ground below, with some blood and skin tissue. Blood was also found here in the lab. The thing is, though, with such a massive explosion and that level of destruction, the amount of human remains found is a little low. I’d say there's too little blood around here. It’s too clean.”
Jensen blinked, tried to process everything Jared had said and at the same time tried to stamp down on the hope welling up inside of him. He'd never thought he would see the moment where he was happy to see blood.
“Too little blood?”
“Yes. I mean, if he was really ripped apart, there should be so much more.”
“Well, they did say there was a fire. So maybe things got smoked, got burned to a degree where we can’t identify them anymore. Might have happened fast with all the chemicals and stuff in here.”
Jared nodded, but then he frowned again.
“Look around Jensen. Does this room look burned to you?”
“Uhm.. not exactly. No.”
“Fire was only down on the plaza then. I heard something about the debris hitting a service bot. “
Jensen couldn’t help but snort at that, Jared just smiled at him, shook his head and went back to searching the part of the lab where they were standing.
“And anyway, even if there had been a fire up here, fire extinguisher and the sprinkler system would have worked immediately, so a human body burning down to nothing but ashes would have been impossible. There would have at least been bones left. Not, say, something scanable for the genetic department. But there was only the blood and tissue traces that were reported.
“Man, I have to tell Chad. Something is not right here.”
Jensen looked up sharply.
“Jared, slow down. Let’s get over it again before we do anything. And what you do you mean, Chad? And by the way, who is Chad?”
“Mr. Murray.”
“Right. What would Chad do anyway? I'm the cop here and I'm investigating. If something is amiss, then it’s my job to find it, not Chad’s.”
Jared stood there for a minute, almost motionless except for tracing his fingers slightly over the edge of the overturned desk. It seemed innocent, almost like Jared tried to find answers in the dust he smeared along the surface. For a second Jensen was deeply saddened by that. Jeff’s death had left a deep impact not only on Jensen but on Jared as well.
Jensen waited for Jared to decide, because for some reason it was suddenly important what the other man thought. He, was after all, one of the few connections to Jeff Jensen still had. And if things really turned out to be mucky, and Jensen would find that out, then Jensen would need all the help he could get.
“All right. Yeah, okay. So I guess there really is something that doesn’t add up here. And I never really thought Jeff would do that. He loved his life and his work way too much.”
“I know, Jay. I know.”
“What I don’t get is why AMANDA didn’t alert anyone when it became clear what Jeff was about to do or you know, supposedly about to do. And I don’t get why the surveillance stream didn’t show anything other than Jeff in his office standing by the window and then the explosion. It goes against the robot laws. Self harm has to be prevented. I just don’t get it. I mean… I don’t know. Jeff, he wouldn’t.. Never.”
The last part of Jared’s little outburst was almost whispered, sounded defeated, sad and lazed with grief. Jensen had no idea what to do, how to comfort the other man when he didn’t even know what was going on and couldn’t believe it himself. He was about to go back to his pile of debris when something Jared had said caught up with him.
“Okay, wait a sec ... who the hell is Amanda and why was she watching Jeff?”
“Artificial Multidimensional Autoworking Network Data Agency. Amanda. The brain of the whole company, really the whole city, I guess.”
“Right. Dork.”
Jared just nodded proudly as they went back to riffling through the last quarter of the office. Jensen cursed slightly when he ran smack into the metallic frame of small cot hidden behind one of the working desks.
“Jeff slept here. Must have been an important project he was working on.”
“Was is right. It got taken away from him some months ago.”
“Why?”
“I don’t really know. He never told me much about it. Just said something about the military and robot laws, but that was it. He said I should be careful and that if something happened to him, that he would notify someone and that I should trust that someone. I guess that’s you.”
Jared’s voice was calm but Jensen could still detect some underlying sadness in it. Jared tried to appear calm and collected and Jensen guessed it was because of him being there. But it seemed like Jared wasn’t really willing to believe in Jeffrey’s death either and maybe that fact gave Jensen a little spark of hope. Maybe Jared would help him after all.
“Yeah, guess so, too. That man had it with cryptic messages though.”
“What do you mean?”
“Huh? Oh nothing. All right. What next? I think we're done here and I got nothing.”
Jensen smiled a little when Jared moved to straighten some of the photos hanging askew on one of the walls. He briefly wondered how close Jared and Jeff really were, but dismissed the thought as soon as it had crept into his mind. Not the right place nor the right time.
“We could look at his house. Chad gave me the day off anyway.”
“Yeah. Okay. Let’s go.”
With that, Jensen walked out of the lab office and let Jared close it up again.
Neither of them saw the small recording device that was strategically placed right behind one of the surveillance stream lines. The scowl that was on the receiving end of said device might have caused them revise their decision.
Part 2