Real Person Fic - CW: By the Lion [Part 1/4]

[cherie_morte]

PART ONE

Critics of the Narnian historical tradition have noted a severe tendency for neglect amongst scholars with regard to the development of the kingdom between creation and the first era of the Kings and Queens of Old. Although the importance of Aslan and the royal children cannot be denied, many thousands of years have gone unrecorded by the chronicles of the region, now known as The Lost Years.

In search of a remedy to this oversight, which was undoubtedly a result of the upheaval of the White Witch's reign and not, as so many of these critics have argued, one made with a conscious desire to subvert unflattering portrayals of Aslan's behavior, your humble servant has spent several years collecting lost documents and piecing together the testimonials of many of the living inhabitants from that time. The stories told within these pages are written as true to known history as possible. Please note that they have been compiled without religious or political agenda and do not seek to cast doubt upon the actions of Aslan or of his supporters and bards.

~ Introduction, The Hidden History of Narnia by Mephitidae the Badger

_______________________________________________________________

This is fucking stupid.

He's going quietly, he deserves some credit for that, but Jared wants it on the record that he thinks the whole thing is really fucking stupid.

He worked pretty hard to bring decent grades home his first year of college. He should get a summer to sit at home, relax by Sandy's pool, sleep past noon every damn day, and eat some home-cooked meals instead of ramen noodles six nights out of seven.

But no no. What Jared's parents have decided he needs is three months of character building. Three months of hard labor on some farm in Nowheresville, Texas. Which would be bad enough on its own, except that he's staying with Uncle Frank, and Uncle Frank is frankly unhinged.

Jared is not qualified to deal with the guy, okay?

"Not crazy, just a little eccentric," his mother had said, shooting a look in his dad's direction, obviously begging for back-up. Dad, sensitive soul that he was, had laughed deeply and ruffled Jared's hair dismissively.

Jared has never actually tried talking to Uncle Frank, but that's because Jeff swore on every action figure they'd owned that before Jared was born, he'd had another brother-a brother who had mysteriously vanished after staying at Uncle Frank's for a week.

He's not seven anymore, he knows logically that it's not true. But, you know. You never really know.

The weird thing is that Jared's uncle never actually seemed to want Jared to try talking to him. He was always perfectly content to be scorned; Jared would bet money he doesn't even know Jared's name. He has a graduation card in one of the boxes in his closet back home with the heart-warming message, "Hey, Kid. I guess I'm supposed to send you money now. Best, Uncle Frank." Jared had overlooked the stylistic problems at the time, happy to take the 50 bucks and shrug off his uncle's disinterest. But now these things are all suddenly food for thought.

Frank's been living on this farm for at least as long as Jared's been alive and never needed or wanted help from anyone. Jared is more than a little suspicious.

_______________________________________________________________

Jared stares up at the ceiling in his new room and lets out the deepest of sighs. He's been here for five hours, just long enough to get a tour from a very crabby housekeeper and sit through The World's Most Awkward Family Dinner.

Jared had sipped his pea soup (actually a lot better than it sounds) and tried to hold a conversation with his uncle. Uncle Frank had spoken seven words to him all night:

"Did you know I can do magic?"

Jared's laughter at what he presumed was a joke was not well-received. The rest of the meal was so silent that Jared had to decline a really delicious looking chocolate cake for dessert just to get away. As he made his excuses, Jared thought his uncle gave him a nasty glare, one with just enough of a smile to seem threatening, but by the time he blinked it was gone. He hurried out of the room and spent twenty minutes lost in passageways, trying to remember the labyrinthine instructions the housekeeper had given him.

And now here he is, in a foreign bed at the start of summer, staring at a ceiling painted with bumblebee stripes (why would someone paint a weird design on a ceiling? Jared has no fucking idea), wondering if he trusts Chad's driving enough to risk getting in a car with him for the hours it would take to escape back to San Antonio.

He tables that plan in case his desperation increases over the week.

As his all-night pity party raged on (less exciting than it sounds), great, ancient magic was at work in that room. Jared, who had never experienced magic, did not understand what was happening. He thought he heard something like metal clattering against metal, distant screaming, and put his pillow over his ears, hoping to drown out the mental images of his long-lost-but-probably-imaginary brother being kept in some cage and forced to play the triangle for 19 years.

The room shakes. Earthquakes in Texas. Sure, thought Jared. Why the hell not? If his crazy uncle can conjure up patterned ceilings, Jared will just accept that he can invent his own weather, too.

But the rumbling doesn't stop, though nothing in the room seems to be upset by the trembling. The metal sounds ring out twice as loud. Is that a horse neighing? Because there are horses on farms, sure, but Jared is of the opinion that they shouldn’t be in his room.

He sits up, setting the pillow aside, and stares.

The painting hanging at the end of his bed seems to be the source of the chaos. Jared tries to tell himself he's not impressed. Weird, old rich guy owns a painting that moves and makes sound effects-technology is getting pretty crazy these days. But he almost thinks he can smell what's going on in the painting, taste the dust unsettled by chariots and running soldiers.

He gets out of bed and steps around it, moving to stand right in front of the painting. The scene is from a cliff, overlooking a battle. The soldiers don't look quite human on either side. It's not particularly aesthetically pleasing, not that that's Jared's forte. Still, there's something about the effect that awes him. He doesn't think before reaching up, trying to brush his fingers over the mountain peaks in the distance.

His hand doesn't reach that far, but it doesn't meet the resistance of oil paints or the wall behind it, either. The mountains are just too far off, and Jared is standing in open air.

Open air, on a cliff, overlooking a battle. He doesn't know if it's endearing or really fucking annoying that Chad's goodbye for the summer was to slip him something, but he will admit that whatever it was must have been some good shit.

"You there, what are you doing here?"

Jared turns around-faces what should be his bedroom-and sees…nothing.

Someone clears their throat from the ground. Jared looks down. A dwarf, or a gnome, or something. Of course, makes perfect sense.

"I'm, uh," Jared says, pausing to think. "Tripping balls, apparently."

The dwarfgnomething gasps as he looks up at Jared. "Are you a Son of Adam?"

"My dad's name is Gerald," he replies.

"But are you human?" the thing asks shortly.

"I'm pretty sure? Like 88%. Josh told me I was an alien from the planet Zucchini once, and that I would be abducted back to the mothership one day, but I think that was just another sick joke."

"You must be escorted to her highness the queen immediately."

"Who what the what now?"

The dwarfgnomething sighs in a put-upon fashion and grumbles something that Jared is too high up to hear. He grabs Jared's pants leg and begins walking, and Jared takes a few seconds to realize he is trying to forcibly pull Jared along. He follows because he doesn't want to put the little guy down.

"So…" Jared begins after about fifteen minutes of being herded in uncomfortable silence. "I'm Jared. What's your name?"

"Ginnabrik the Dwarf," the dwarf snaps. "And I am a loyal servant to Queen Jadis of Narnia."

"Oh, awesome," Jared says, even though he has no idea if this is a good thing or not. "I'm a student. I go to UT."

"You will remain silent throughout your interview unless directly asked a question." The dwarf pauses in front of a tent. "And stay on topic," he adds.

The dwarf walks into the tent, dragging Jared behind him and bows. Jared might try to copy him, except that it's freezing inside the tent-definitely below freezing, with ice dripping off everything that isn't covered in fur-and Jared is still dressed for summer in Texas.

"Tell the Queen that her most humble servant Ginnabrik has brought a Son of Adam to her."

The man he's talking to turns, and Jared lets out a pathetic cry. He has a damn bull's head. "Is he one of the Narnian usurpers?"

"Not as I can tell," the dwarf answers. "He seems rather slow for all that."

Jared would argue, but he's busy trembling and staring slack-jawed at the fucking minotaur. Said minotaur looks him over and seems to come to the same conclusion Ginnabrik did. "No matter," he says. "She can still make use of him."

The minotaur pushes him so hard he lands on his hands and knees, and he hears a musical sound, like bells ringing. It's a laugh, and, even though it's at his expense, it's such a nice sound that Jared can't stay angry.

"No need to mistreat our guest," a female voice says.

Jared feels a shiver run through him, hazards a glance up. The woman sitting on the throne before him squashes the uneasy feelings her voice had caused. She's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

"Son of Adam," she says slowly. Her words curl around Jared like a coat, and the chilly temperature doesn't bother him anymore. "You may rise."

He stands, eyes still locked on her. She has black hair to her shoulders and bright red lips, but her skin is unnaturally white. She's wearing a fur coat with a thick collar and a train that drapes like a waterfall over the stairs leading to the throne platform. It may be an illusion, but it looks like she's taller than Jared.

"What is your name?" she asks.

It takes him a few seconds to find his voice. "Jared," he says eventually.

"Jared," she repeats with a smile. "You needn't look afraid, Jared. You and I shall be great friends."

Jared decides he trusts the stupidly pretty queen. What? He's not perfect, okay?

_______________________________________________________________

She feeds him. Jared is no expert on acid trips, but this one leaves him hungry, and he's glad that it comes with an all-you-can-eat buffet. As if it's a game, she tells Jared to think of any food he wants-the more obscure the better-just so she can prove that she can get it for him.

He's on his third steak when another minotaur comes in, bowing hastily. "Your majesty-"

"Does this look like a good time?" she snaps, fingers curling on Jared's shoulder.

"It's important," he insists.

"Very well. Tell me your news."

"The battle is not going in our favor," he says quickly. Jared must imagine the way he flinches.

"I thought you told me that we were guaranteed a victory?" Her grasp on Jared's shoulder tightens to the point where it hurts, but she soothes it and apologizes when he cries out.

"I know, your grace, that I did say that." He nearly whimpers. "But you see, we were. I just…well, I didn't take into account the Quee-"

"The what?"

"The human traitor," he amends. "She is incredibly skilled with a sword, an unparalleled general."

"If I didn't know better, I would think you admire this person."

"Of…of course not, your majesty, I just didn't realize how much influence she could have on their battalions."

The queen's hand curls into a fist by Jared's face. He stops eating. "Didn't realize?" she asks. She raises the stick (wand?) which until this moment had been only a glorious instrument used for the feeding of innocent, lost college boys in Jared's mind. The way the monster cowers, though, makes him think it's good for less comforting things.

She stops just when things are about to get ugly and looks over at Jared, then lowers her arm.

"You must be more careful when you advise me next time," she says serenely. "It pains my heart, as you well know, to send my subjects to their deaths."

The minotaur tilts his head (a rather comical sight, though Jared manages not to laugh) and bows. "Yes, your majesty. Of course, my sweet, merciful queen."

He continues to mumble praises as he backs out of the tent, turning to run as soon as he reaches the door.

"We must move and move fast," the queen announces. "Ginnabrik, prepare my chariot. You there, you are head of a regiment of bears?"

To her surprise, the bear she addresses nods and says, "Yes, my liege."

"Bring this human to my castle. You will protect him at all costs."

She turns to Jared, lifting his chin with a finger. "You must come to my castle if we are separated. If the Narnian traitors catch you, they will tell you dreadful things about me. You can't believe them. You must come back to me, and I will make you my king."

"I don't really know my way around here," Jared protests, though he likes the sound of being married to this queen just fine.

She smiles. "The farther from them you walk, the colder it will get. The colder it gets, the closer you are to me. You'll find your way."

Then she kisses Jared, and he feels dirty for a moment when he tries to kiss back.

As soon as her lips leave his, there's a flurry of movement. The queen is gone by the time he's reoriented himself, and somehow he's almost outside of the tent, surrounded by seven or eight huge brown bears, standing on two legs and talking like it's normal.

They walk for a long time. None of the beasts stop to give Jared a moment to break. He tries to keep up with their pace, but by the time they pause and begin to sniff the air, Jared doesn't care what stopped them and nearly collapses to the ground just to relax.

Something makes a whooshing sound and lands at his feet. Jared feels the wind from how fast it was moving and nearly shits himself when he sees that it was an arrow. Like and actual bow-and-arrow arrow that can kill people. Things begin to seem more serious than an acid trip.

He scrambles out of the way, and the bears all huddle together in some kind of war formation, forgetting he exists. He manages to stumble to a large boulder and fall onto it, gasping for breath, and watches the scene before him unfold.

It's busy, too busy to really track. Jared's seen a plenty of battle scenes in movies, but The Lord of the Rings did not prepare him for actually watching it happen in front of his eyes.

The first thing that Jared realizes is that one of the bears is downed by about four arrows. The others growl, and the sound is met by an equally animal noise-the galloping of charging war cavalry, if movies can be trusted at all. They crash on the bears like waves, ten or fifteen horses. Or that's what it looks like until Jared realizes they, like the minotaurs, are half-human. Centaurs, fighting with long sword strokes and strong muscles.

The bears bite back, but it's not a long time before they're falling. Only two of the centaurs bring riders, both female. At the end of the fight, the women are standing in a circle of bear corpses, some of them downed by arrows from the smaller woman's quiver, the rest deep cuts from the centaur's and the other woman's swords.

The woman with the sword is exactly the kind of Amazon Jared would expect to see in such a setting. She's got wild auburn hair in her face and doesn't seem to mind, a blade half her size lowered in her arms, casually dripping blood into the soil. She's breathing hard and smiling wide, despite the blood in the corner of her mouth.

The one next to her, though, is decidedly out of place. She looks elegant with her bow raised, a long, blue-velvet dress and embroidered red cape. Her hair is done up elegantly, only one strand out of place. She looks less comfortable than her companion, but she doesn't hesitate before she begins to pull arrows out of the dead bears and refill her quiver with them.

"You okay, Genevieve?" the Amazon asks, turning to look at the other woman.

Genevieve pauses in her work and smiles up. "You're the one who's bleeding," she points out.

The woman wipes her hand over the busted lip and smiles wider, even as she flinches from the contact. "Well, I was just protecting you," she says.

Genevieve laughs, making a face like she knows exactly how full of shit that is, and returns to her work. "None of them have it," she says after she's gone through all the bodies and reclaimed her arrows. "They aren't carrying anything."

"Do you think the mouse was misinformed?"

Genevieve shakes her head. "It doesn't add up. He told me he'd heard it from the queen herself. I've never known a mouse to risk its honor on a lie. Danneel, what if we didn't get them all? What if the one that mattered escaped?"

Danneel bites her lip. "We'll figure it out somehow," she says, walking over to Genevieve and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you good for another fight if one comes up, or should I call-?"

"You're the one who's injured, dammit. If anyone's getting sent back to Jensen, it's you."

"All right, all right," Danneel says, smiling and walking around the other woman. She places her chin on Genevieve's shoulder and turns her face to nuzzle the other woman's neck. Genevieve rolls her eyes, but her lips turn up just a little. "You're a very capable fighter, my little queen."

"You know what you can do with that 'little queen' bullshit."

One of the centaurs moves very suddenly, looks in Jared's direction, though not quite at him.

"What is it, Nestor?" Danneel asks him.

"A noise," he says. "Very faint." He steps forward, walks a few yards before his eyes land on Jared and he loses just the smallest bit of his composure. He gasps. "Are you human?" he asks Jared.

Jared laughs uncomfortably. "I'm less sure of it every moment I spend here."

"Holy shit," Danneel says, moving to stand next to Nestor. "Holy shit. It's a guy."

Genevieve appears and watches him through narrowed eyes. He shifts uncomfortably. The staring was enough before Genevieve got involved, but the way her eyes move over him makes Jared feel like she's measuring every inch of him.

"Now we know what she was trying to hide from us," Genevieve says.

"Yeah, definitely," Danneel agrees. "What do we do now?" she asks the queen.

Queen Genevieve purses her lips for a moment. "Take him back to Cair Paravel. He looks exhausted, so he shouldn't be too much trouble. I don't think he should be walking, though. Maybe a centaur?"

The centaur between them remains impassive, turns to look at Danneel. Danneel nods. "Call another of your kinsmen, someone willing to bear a rider. We need haste, so choose the strongest, and no one too winded from the battle."

"Yes, your majesty," the centaur says, bowing his two front legs.

Jared kind of wants to ask why they're not taking orders from the queen, but he's pretty sure not talking right now is a better idea.

"Can you ride?" Danneel asks him.

"I can ride horses okay," he replies. "Don't know about centaurs."

Genevieve smiles. "It's about the same. Just don't try to control it."

Jared nods. "Uh, where exactly are you taking me?"

"To our castle," Danneel answers. "Cair Paravel. There Queen Genevieve, King Jensen, and I will discuss what to do about this."

"About what?" he asks, remembering the other queen, the real queen, and her warnings about these people. "It’s definitely not ending in death, right?"

Danneel throws her head back on a laugh. "Almost definitely not," she says. "I don't make any promises."

"I'm Genevieve," says the more stable of the two women. "Queen of Narnia."

"That's Genevieve the Wise," Danneel corrects, giving Genevieve a teasing jab in her side. "And I'm High Queen Danneel the Magnificent."

"What a mouth full," Genevieve mumbles. She looks back up at Jared. "And you are?"

"Um, Jared? The Confused and Possibly Drugged?"

Both the queens laugh. "I like you, Jared," Danneel says. "For now."

_______________________________________________________________

The ride is long. Jared decides right away that he will never trust Genevieve again, because riding a centaur is nothing like riding a nice, friendly horse who actually cares a fuck if you're half-dead and trying not to fall off.

He can't stand by the time they get to the castle, and the queens both laugh at him when they figure this out and have to help him walk, one arm over each of their shoulders. Jared would probably be really embarrassed if he wasn't so busy being sore.

There is a moment of relief when they pass the stone gate and bridge and begin to approach the castle itself. Jared can't focus on hurting when there's this much to look at. It's more than something out of a book or a movie. It's real. There are magical creatures on watch, passing by and staring at Jared like he's the one that's supposed to be made up. Jared gapes, mouth open, at everything they pass, and his eyes make an effort to actually swallow his head in order to take it all in.

Danneel laughs when she sees his expression, leans close and whispers, "I still can't believe it sometimes, either."

Jared makes a note to ask, if things ever get to the point where he has a right to question the queen.

The fairytale romance of the whole thing is spoiled once they get inside. Not that the castle isn't beautiful-it definitely is. There's gold in the walls, bright marble shining on the floors as if it's only just been polished, extravagant tapestries-everything that could be imagined. But the entrance hall's elegance only exaggerates the horror of the scene within.

Bodies are being carried in, bleeding on the finery, groans are echoing off the walls. Fauns and small woodland creatures rush from one injured soldier to the next, directing traffic and attempting to judge how bad the damage is. Space is running out, and Jared can see how stressed they are about it. He suddenly feels very childish for grumbling about being tired and achy, even if he'd only done it inwardly.

"How many?" Danneel asks the first person who recognizes her and begins to mainline for them.

The creature is a rabbit, though it's easily a foot taller than the dwarf at the other queen's campsite had been. "Nearly a hundred so far," she says. "But from what I can tell there's at least fifty more coming."

She frowns. "And where is the king?"

"Cleaning up the worst of it. He's saved twenty already, we only have ten or so more that look like they might be lost before he gets to them."

"Good," she says. "See to it that nothing holds him up."

"Of course, your majesty," the rabbit says before hopping off, and, despite the obvious gravity of the situation, Jared is really charmed by the bunny in the nurse's outfit.

Danneel looks past Jared at Genevieve. "I don't like this," she says.

"Jensen can get to them," Genevieve assures. "You know he can."

"Yeah, but at the rate we've been going lately, he's going to run out."

Genevieve shakes her head. "He still has three-fourths of the vial, Danny. You have enough to worry about."

Danneel scowls, shrugs, and focuses her attention on Jared, obviously just looking for a distraction. "How far can you walk?"

"Not far," Jared says. "But I can walk."

"We have a hospital wing, but it's upstairs."

Jared looks around the hall again and imagines being set down to rest in the misery. He shivers. "I can do stairs."

"Good," Danneel says. "Let's get you to bed, then."

"Let's get you a guard, then," Genevieve grumbles, signaling for someone across the hall to follow.

_______________________________________________________________

Jared is having a rather beautiful dream when he's woken up. He dreams that he's home, with Sandy, splashing Chad, laughing about that crazy acid trip he sent Jared on and how much it would have sucked if he'd actually had to stay with his uncle instead of just dreaming about it. He thinks that this is real, that whatever had happened before is a dream, and then he's got someone's hand pressed firmly on his shoulder, shaking him awake. He opens his eyes to ruby-encrusted ceilings. Which means he's definitely not at home, where the ceilings are mercifully white, and thankfully not at Uncle Frank's where the ceilings look like a third grader went nuts on them.

Distantly, Jared is aware that someone or something is asking if he's awake. A really stupid question considering Jared was very blissfully not awake until this jerk came along.

He makes a garbled noise that is supposed to be "Where am I?" and gets a deep, rich chuckle as a response. The hand on his shoulder presses him back, and Jared only agrees to go with it because the pillows on the bed he's lying on are apparently made of silk, cloud, and happiness.

"Take it easy," a male voice says. "You gotta relax."

"Relax," Jared replies, closing his eyes tightly. He doesn't look at whoever is talking at him, because he's just not ready for whatever animal head is going to be attached to these nice, warm hands. "That's a tall order."

Shit. Jared really hopes he's not talking to a dwarf.

"Sorry, man," the voice says. "That's the best I can do for you right now."

Jared finally opens his eyes and waits a few seconds for the body hovering over him to stop being a blur. He rubs his hands over his eyes when the man swims into view, because Jared is pretty sure he's hallucinating. If not for the queen Jared had met when he first arrived, he would be tempted to say this was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. Even with the comparison, this guy holds up.

"Wow," he says without thinking.

Beautiful Man presses a hand to his forehead and smiles just a little. "You don't have a fever. I think you just need some rest."

"Feeling pretty feverish," says Jared.

Beautiful Man's smile widens, his eyes fold up in the corners. If he doesn't have one yet, Jared is pretty sure a fever won't be far away. "I'm Jensen," he says. "I'm going to get you all better."

"Jensen," Jared says slowly. "King Jensen? You're the king?"

"Yeah." He shrugs. "But if it's all the same to you, please just call me Jensen."

"Okay," Jared agrees. "Hi, Jensen. I'm Jared."

"I know," he says. "It's nice to meet you, Jared."

Jared looks up at him for a few moments, and his mind is so gone on sleep and pain and pretty that he might have proposed marriage right then if a distraction hadn’t presented itself in the form of the rabbit from downstairs approaching Jensen and whispering something to him.

He nods sharply. "Tell them to bring him up as quickly as they can."

The rabbit is out of the room as suddenly as she'd appeared.

"You all speak English," Jared says as it hits him. "Does that mean I'm still in America? Because we didn't have talking animals in America, but I could be high on painkillers. Did Jeff push me off a roof?"

Jensen laughs. "No, you're not in Kansas anymore. You're in Narnia, it's a whole different world from yours."

"You made an Oz joke," Jared says.

"Huh?"

"Not in Kansas anymore," Jared echoes. "That's a Wizard of Oz joke."

"Huh," Jensen says, looking thoughtful. "I guess it is."

Jared wipes a hand over his face and tries to make his brain stop spinning. "How do you know that movie if you're from a different world than I am?"

"That used to be my world. The queens, too. Humans aren't born in Narnia."

Jared sits up. "But what about everyone el-?"

Jensen pushes him down, forcing him to stop moving so much. "You ask a lot of questions, kid."

Jared grins. "My friends usually just stop answering after a while. You can do that, too."

Jensen looks like he's considering it, then he breaks, laughing a little before picking up the conversation. "As for why Narnians speak English, well, that's a long story, and you don't have the energy for it today."

"Fine, fair enough. How did I get here? How did any of us get here?"

"Magic, obviously."

"Magic doesn’t exist," Jared says firmly.

"Did you want to try telling that to the witch you met earlier? Or the aforementioned talking animals?"

"I'm good," Jared says. "But if you're king of, whatever this place is-"

"Narnia," Jensen supplies.

"Right, that." Jared points at him and continues, "Then why don't you talk all formal and shit?"

"I can talk formal shit just fine when I want to," he replies with a catty smile. "But with a class act like you around, I figured there was no point trying to measure up."

Jared laughs, his head falling back on the pillow. "Okay, I see your point."

The king grins and, just as he's about to say something else, the door to the hospital ward bursts open, and High Queen Danneel appears, dressed more like a queen and looking decidedly less comfortable.

"Just put him over here, on the floor next to the bed," she directs. Of course, she's pointing right next to Jared's bed and within seconds a leopard is being laid down where Jared can see the blood matting his fur, the innards showing through the cut on the animal's side. Jared has always been kind of ridiculous about animals, so he immediately turns away, shutting his eyes.

Jensen squeezes his hand. "Hey, it's all right," he says. And maybe it's fine and dandy for a king who's used to this kind of thing, but no, it's not all right to Jared. Then the king laughs softly and says, "He's going to be feeling better than you are in a few seconds."

Jared's curiosity wins out. He opens his eyes, watches Jensen crouch next to the animal, who whines sadly but licks Jensen's hand when he presents it for inspection. Jensen takes out a glass bottle with something inside that looks like liquid opal, the color shifts beautifully as he pours one tiny drop on the leopard's tongue.

He stands up, taking a step back, and Jared watches in amazement as the skin begins to smooth over, hair growing back. In half a minute, the cut is invisible. Fifteen seconds after that, the cat stands up and walks out like it never felt a thing.

Jensen dismisses the attendants that had carried the leopard in and turns to the queen. "What did I tell you about coming in here like that?" he asks coldly.

"Give me a break, Jensen, it was an emergency."

"I could have saved him just as easily if you'd taken the ten seconds to knock." He puts his hands on his hips, and Jared can't help being reminded of his mother when Jared does something stupid. "It's a hospital. There are people here who can't handle being shocked, Danneel."

"I know, dear, I know," she says, shaking her head. "I forgot."

She steps toward Jensen and gives him a quick peck on the lips, and he rolls his eyes. "Don't forget again, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." She smiles. "Hey, we won."

"Didn't look that way in here," Jensen replies, frowning as he turns to look across the ward. It's the first time Jared realizes it's full, and he wonders how the hospital can be so busy when Jensen can save someone from death so easily.

"It's never going to look good from inside the hospital, Jensen. If you'd been at the battle, though-"

"Enough," Jensen snaps. "I have work in here, and I know that sister of mine must be thinking something up to keep you busy."

Danneel shrugs. "How's the mystery man doing? Has he woken up?"

"A little." Jensen glances back at Jared. "He seems okay."

"Kind of a baby, that one," she says. "All they did was walk him a few miles, honestly."

"I'm pretty sure even you had to get used to being in Narnia once upon a time, your magnificence."

"My own husband, siding with a stranger." Danneel throws her head back dramatically, pressing her hand to her forehead. "What has the world come to?"

Jensen laughs, and turns her towards the door. "Go see what my bratty sister is doing and get out of my hair."

Danneel smirks. "Oh, gladly."

"I don't want to hear about it." Jensen shakes his head as he closes the door.

Jared's already feeling a little hazy before Jensen sits next to him, and he doesn't hear what Jensen says, can't quite focus on what he's doing with his hands, but it makes him slip into a perfect, dreamless sleep.

_______________________________________________________________

Jared feels like he's slept for a lifetime when he finally wakes up again. He looks around the room, finds that many of the beds that were full are empty, and doesn't let himself wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Jensen is standing in the middle of the room, talking in hushed tones with a kangaroo. Jared shakes his head and wonders why that seems totally fine and normal to him. After a few minutes, the kangaroo nods and exits the room, and Jensen turns. He sees Jared and smiles.

"Finally up, sleeping beauty?"

"Aww, you think I'm pretty," Jared drawls.

Jensen tilts his head.

"It was a joke?" Jared backpedals, really hoping he's not about to be sentenced to some awful punishment for hitting on the king.

"No, I got that," Jensen says, shaking his head. "Your accent. It was…familiar?"

"I don't imagine you've ever been to Texas?"

Jensen's quiet, then shakes his head. "I don't know," he says. "Yes. Maybe. I don't know."

He seems unsettled by the question, so Jared grabs for a new conversation topic. "Can I have some water?"

Jensen almost jumps at that. "Of course! What was I thinking? You must be starving, too, are you starving?"

"I could eat." He grins.

Jensen moves behind the curtains at the other end of the hall and comes back out with a pitcher of water and a cup. He pours Jared a drink, then sets the pitcher on Jared's nightstand, and motions to Jared to hold on for one moment. He comes back into the room shortly thereafter with the rabbit Jared had been so amused by when he first arrived. She's wearing a different nurse outfit, which Jared takes to mean he slept for at least a day, and introduces herself as Gracie. She has a bowl in her paws, and Jared wonders what it means that the pea soup she sets down on a tray for him smells and tastes exactly like his last meal back in the real world.

Jensen leaves while Jared's eating, Jared doesn't notice until after he's gone, but he doesn't stay away long. He never does. Except at night, Jensen is almost a permanent fixture in the hospital wing, and Jared should be dying of boredom as the room begins to empty out (all the other inhabitants, thankfully, are dismissed when they're healthy, and if it hadn't been for the battle he'd witnessed, Jared would suspect people don't actually die in this world). Instead, he gets more attention as Jensen gets fewer patients, and he likes that just fine.

Jensen doesn’t. For the fifth day in a row, Jensen is sitting by his bed, looking completely puzzled with his palm pressed against Jared's forehead.

"You know how nervous this little routine of ours makes me, right?" Jared tries joking.

Jensen shakes his head a little, like he's remembering Jared's in the room. He smiles, but it looks forced. "Don't get nervous, you seem to be okay. I just," he worries at his bottom lip, "I don't get why you're still sick. They tired you out, yeah, but I've managed to help everyone else who came in here, and almost all of them were worse off than you were. I'm usually better than this."

Jared reaches out to slap at him, he ends up hitting Jensen's thigh. "Dude, don't beat yourself up. This is the best anyone's ever taken care of me." Jared smiles. "Hell, my body's probably just staying sick because it knows it won't get pampered anymore when I'm better."

Jensen doesn't look entirely convinced, glances down at the vial he keeps on his belt at all times and hesitates before nodding. "Okay," he agrees. "Yeah. You're probably just not used to the air here or something."

Jensen goes about his business, leaves Jared to doze off and eat and generally relax for a bit, so Jared doesn't connect the importance of the next question Jensen asks with the conversation they'd had earlier. If he had, he almost definitely would have chosen to answer differently.

"Jared, you were with the witch for a few hours when you first got here, right?"

"You mean the snow queen lady?"

"Yeah," Jensen replies, and Jared can tell he considers correcting Jared about the queen thing, then decides it doesn't matter. "Did you take anything from her? Accept food or drink, maybe?"

Jared thinks back on the feast, the way she'd eagerly watched him devour. The answer is a big, steaming pile of 'yes.' But the way Jensen's looking at Jared makes Jared feel guilty, like he's been caught doing something truly awful. Something he should have known not to do. The way Jared sees it, he didn't do anything wrong, and he likes Jensen-he really does-but he doesn't need some king judging him for being hungry.

"No," he lies. "Nothing."

Jensen looks surprised, but he nods and accepts the lie as fact.

_______________________________________________________________

"I've figured it out."

"Figured what out?" Jensen asks. "The reason you're still sick?" he asks hopefully.

"No, the reason you say good morning like this." Jared looks up at Jensen's palm pressed against his temple.

Jensen pulls the offending hand away and grins. "Oh, yeah? Why's that?"

"It's because you're hot for me."

Jensen laughs outright. "Mmm, yeah, baby," he says. "You caught me. Can't keep my hands off that forehead of yours. When I see something that big, I just have to grope it."

Jared is starting to really like Jensen.

_______________________________________________________________

Jensen comes in well past noon and looks decidedly disheveled for a king.

"You're late," Jared says.

"I was seeing them off," he replies, sliding a stool next to Jared's bed, absently checking Jared for fever and god-knows-what. Over the week or so he's been here, Jared has figured out that Jensen could pretty much do his job with his eyes closed.

"Seeing who off where?" Jared grins. "Was there a plank involved?"

Jensen raises an eyebrow.

Jared waves a dismissive hand at him. "Oh, like you never wanted to be a pirate."

He shakes his head. "Never."

"Wanted to be a king, instead? I think there's supposed to be some kind of metaphor about the type of people we are in there."

Jensen doesn't quite frown, but his expression is off. "What if I didn't want to be a king?"

"Well, that would make you a malcontented asshole."

Jensen barks a laugh. "I was seeing the queens off for another battle," he explains.

"You don't go with them, huh?" Jared asks.

Jensen shrugs. "It's not my thing."

"You can't fight?"

"I can," he defends.

"Touchy, touchy. Sounds like you're hiding something."

"I can fight, okay? I just don't enjoy hurting things." He laughs and ducks his head. "I guess I'm missing an essential Narnia gene."

"No," Jared says, taking his hand. "I didn't mean to say that."

"You didn't say it, I did." Jensen looks speculative. "I'm not useless, though." He raises his arms and wiggles his fingers. "I got these healing hands."

For some reason, the playful gesture sits hot and low in Jared's stomach, and he coughs to buy time to regain his composure. "Yeah, I'd noticed."

Jensen smiles. "See, there. Your sorry ass would still be crying if I went off to battle instead of staying here to make sure you have enough pillows."

"Without a doubt." He looks Jensen in the eye and smiles. "Thanks for that, by the way."

Jensen's eyebrows draw in. "For what?"

"Taking care of me."

"Oh." Jensen frowns. "You don't thank me for that," he says slowly. "No one thanks me, it's just what I do."

"Doesn't mean I shouldn't appreciate it?"

Jensen tilts his head, remains quiet for a ridiculous amount of time. "I guess?"

"It's kind of awesome, you know. I don't think I could do it."

Jensen half-smiles. "With those bear paws? I'm pretty sure your talents don't lie in tender love and care."

Jared sticks his tongue out. "That's not even what I meant, asshole."

"Oh?"

"Letting your wife and your sister ride off to war, I mean, what do you tell people?"

"The truth," Jensen replies, as if he doesn't get the question. "What else would we tell them?"

"I dunno. I just don't think I'm self-assured enough for that."

"Some people think it's a good thing," Jensen snaps, and Jared realizes he's coming off wrong, seeming like he's judging Jensen or trying to challenge his masculinity, when really Jared just respects the guy. "Do you know what they call me? 'Jensen the Gentle.'" He shrugs. "Danneel doesn't brag about that one as much. But I kind of like it."

Jared, who had been firmly convinced of the ridiculousness of the titles the queens were so proud of, can't help thinking that he likes this one, too. "It suits you," he says, then adds, "in a good way" when Jensen looks up at him.

He smiles very sadly and then stands up. "I shouldn't be talking to you so much," he says.

_______________________________________________________________

Jensen's answer and his coldness for the rest of that day stir something in Jared, something that had been buried but bugging him since he arrived. He feels cold and bitter and realizes much later than he should have that however wonderful Jensen may seem, the kings and queens are exactly what the real queen had warned him against.

Traitors. Violent, usurping traitors. And maybe the reason Jared isn't getting better is that they don't want him to. After all, Jensen could fix him with one little drop of his medicine, but Jared's only getting sicker. It doesn't add up unless it's intentional.

"Why shouldn't you talk to me?" Jared says as soon as Jensen tries to sit next to him for his morning check-up. Jared says it like an accusation and can see from the way Jensen's expression changes that the tone isn't lost on him.

"It's not important, Jared."

"No, really. I want to know. What's wrong with talking?"

Jensen shrugs. "We haven't decided what we're going to do about you yet," he says simply. "If I get attached, as I tend to do with my patients, I won't be able to think clearly. My judgment will be clouded."

"You 'haven't decided what to do about me yet'?" He narrows his eyes. "What exactly are you debating?"

"Well, it involves planks," Jensen says, smiling softly at the allusion.

Jared doesn't find the capital punishment joke quite as amusing, seeing as he's the one who'll be dead if two trigger-happy queens and some guy he hardly knows decide he's a threat.

Jensen frowns when Jared only scowls at it, and he tries to soothe him by checking for fever. Jared swats his hand away. "I'm serious!"

"Jared, don't worry about it, man. Right now, all you need to be thinking about is getting better. We won't hold the counsel until you're well."

Jared doesn't really see the mercy in letting him get better just to kill him in prime health. He decides he's well enough to last on his own for a few hours, and he has a better chance of improving his health away from the castle rather than in it.

"You can make me better with that vial," Jared points out. "If you're in such a hurry, why are you still leaving me like this?"

"First of all, I'm not in any hurry, I just want you better." Jensen looks down at the bottle and pulls away from Jared just a little. "As for the vial…I can't waste it on things I can cure otherwise," he says. "There's no way to get more."

Jared rolls his eyes. "You're done doing the daily status-check. Don't you have something better to do?"

Jensen's lips turn down. "I didn't realize I was bothering you so much."

Jared crosses his arms over his chest. "Well, I'm tired, and I'm not going to fall asleep with you staring at me."

Jensen hesitates before standing up, leans closer and looks at Jared critically instead. "Are you sure you didn't take anything she gave you?" he asks after about half a minute.

Jared doesn't even feel bad about lying this time. Before he leaves that night, Jensen turns and gives Jared an imploring look. "Don't do anything you might regret, Jared," he says. "Please, okay? Just…tell me before you do anything."

Jared waits until he leaves the room to scoff. He figures Jensen's definition of regrettable is a world away from Jared's-and no way is he about to tell his jailer that he's planning to spring.

With Queen Genevieve's consent, Jensen dismissed the guard that had been stationed by Jared's bed after three days. At the time, Jared thought it was a sign of trust, but now it's obvious they just weren't worried about him anymore. They think they've kept him too weak to escape. He's determined to make them the ones with regrets. That night, after everyone falls asleep, Jared slips out.

_______________________________________________________________

If he was worried the queen's unclear directions were going to mean trouble for him, the notion is quickly dispelled. As soon as he's past the gates of Cair Paravel, Jared feels a tug and follows it. The temperature drop becomes immediately apparent-more pronounced as he goes like she promised-but Jared doesn't suffer from it. He feels refreshed. More bitter about Jensen and the queens and spending so long in one room being toyed with, but invigorated by the hate he feels.

He reads this as a sign that he made the right decision.

It takes him a day and a half (including breaks for sleep and the food he's lucky enough to find along the way) to reach a castle carved out of ice rather than stone. It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is where the queen lives.

At first, the reception is less than stellar, and Jared has second thoughts. A wolf answers the door and gives Jared a nasty look. Every moment Jared spends describing who he is and why he's there, he imagines the wolf thinking over the best ways to eat him. But finally it smiles a sharp grin, attempting not to look too threatening (and failing at it), and welcomes Jared inside.

Her reception is generous enough. She doesn’t look surprised to see him, but she makes a great fuss over how tired he must be and orders a feast for him. She doesn't ask him to name something for her to conjure, but Jared remembers the way Jensen had looked at him when he'd asked if Jared had accepted food from her and his stomach twists with guilt despite everything. He figures a feast will do; he's more than happy going through a meal without magic.

The queen-Jadis to you, Jared, you simply must call me Jadis-remains just as gracious through the night, but by the next morning, she seems to have forgotten that she likes Jared. At first she's just uninterested in him, though she lets him sit at the smaller throne by her side. Jared watches her dole out punishments for servants who displease her-horrible punishments-and it only gets worse when her guards begin to drag in creatures that have been caught working against her for judgment.

Jared doesn't need to watch very many people-or, maybe not people, whatever, Narnians-get turned into stone to figure out that he fucked up. The longer he spends with the queen-the witch-and watches her tyranny become increasingly severe, the more he misses Jensen and Genevieve and Danneel and that white rabbit with the pink nurse outfit who always brought him an extra serving, even when Jensen expressly told her not to let Jared eat through their entire kingdom's rations.

He begins to shiver on the icy throne instead of feeling safe inside it-his hate melts, his mind clears from some awful mist, and he wishes a thousand times over that he hadn't been so rash, wonders how he could have ever been stupid enough to question the way things were in Narnia.

Unfortunately for Jared, the witch notices. He tries to hide it for as long as he can-more out of pride than because he'd realized it would tip Jadis off-but his shivering gets worse, until his teeth are chattering noisily by her side. By the end of his first full day with the witch, she looks at him with a cruel smile and then addresses the wolf.

"Maugrim, he wearies me. See to it that he doesn't make it back to the traitors. That's all that matters at this point." The wolf licks his lips, and as if he needed ideas, the witch continues, "I don't need him alive. In case you're feeling hungry."

She strolls out of the room then, with several dwarfs attending her, and Jared swallows hard. "Uh, hi," Jared says to the wolf.

The wolf throws his head back and howls.

_______________________________________________________________

In the end, Jared escapes by incredibly stupid, blind luck. Maugrim's howl calls the other wolves outside the castle, so that within a minute or so, Jared hears responding cries approaching from all directions. Maugrim forces Jared outside, where four or five wolves are already waiting, and none of them look likely to be sympathetic.

One stands; it approaches slowly and grabs one of Jared's arms. Maugrim is still holding firm to the one he'd been using to steer Jared.

"The queen," he begins, addressing all the wolves. Jared sees the number growing exponentially. There must be ten or fifteen by now. "Sends us a gift. He's human, and he can't be left unaccounted for. She wants us to make sure he's not a threat."

The wolves laugh-if wolves can laugh-and Jared shuts his eyes tightly, already imagining the feel of sharp teeth ripping into him. A third wolf grabs one of his legs and he's just being picked up, undoubtedly raised to drooling snouts, when something makes them pause.

At first, Jared thinks it's just another wolf howling. It's not until the beasts holding him stop in their attack that he questions it. The sound comes again-more of a roar than a howl. Less canine, more cat.

"Was that a lion?" one of the wolves asks.

"Don't be stupid," Maugrim answers. "No lions in these parts, they can't stand this kind of cold."

"Not normal lions," another voice answers. "But what about monster lions?"

Jared almost wants to laugh, but the crowd of wolves suddenly dissolves into a loud burst of terrified speech, more whining than actual talking.

The same wolf continues, loud enough to be heard over the riot. "What if it's-?"

Maurgrim's claws dig in to Jared's arm. "If one of you so much as thinks that name, you'll be replacing the human as dinner."

It works at first, but then there's another roar, this one much closer than the others. Jared has only heard lions on TV and in movies, but this is sounding decidedly MGM.

"It really is a lion!" someone in the crowd yells.

"It's him! It's Aslan!"

Jared opens his eyes in time to watch all of the wolves scramble, running in the directions they came from. Even Maugrim looks terrified. He gives Jared a hateful look, holds on as long as he can before the last of the roars shakes the stairs of the ice palace, and then he flees just like the others had done.

Jared waits for the threat to appear-it had been getting closer, it must have smelled them. But it never does, and, after a while, Jared decides that Maugrim won't stay scared long. He has two options: (a) stay at the entrance of the ice palace and die an awful death or (b) head into the forest, try to find his way back to Cair Paravel, risk death by lion mauling or being stabbed before he can explain himself to Danneel, and more than likely die an awful death. It's a tough call, but he reasons that there's at least a chance he'll make it out alive if he chooses (b).

Plus, it's better to die free than live as a prisoner…or whatever Mel Gibson said in Braveheart.

_______________________________________________________________

The journey back is nothing like the journey out. As if the entire damn world knows what Jared did and wants to punish him, everything goes horribly, horribly wrong along the way. The bushes that had been ripe with fruit are shriveled, like the cold is following him. The rivers are frozen solid, impossible to drink from. The thin clothes he's wearing do nothing to shelter him.

Still, he presses on. Jared would rather be dead than back at that palace, watching the queen kill people (or worse) for every minor indiscretion, or waiting for the wolf to pounce on him again. He doubts he'd have the energy to turn back if he wanted to, anyway.

After a few hours he gives up, at least for the night, hoping the next day will bring sun and better travel conditions. He curls up in a patch of cool grass, his back pressed to a boulder that feels more like an iceberg, and closes his eyes, waiting until it all gets to be too much and his body shuts down and lets him sleep…or just shuts down.

He awakes the next morning, the sun bright and demanding. He waits for the cold to overcome him again, but he actually doesn't feel so bad. He turns in his place and realizes there's a huge, fur blanket draped over him and the remains of a small fire by his feet. There's still smoke rising from it.

He sits up.

"Hello?"

No response except for the rustle of the wind in the trees. It almost sounds like laughter, but Jared dismisses the thought. Trees don't laugh, not even here. Jared is pretty sure.

"Hello, is someone there?"

Reluctantly he stands, letting the fur drop away. Then he realizes it's a coat and snatches it back up, wrapping it around himself. He walks in circles around the area for a few minutes, hoping to spot whoever had taken care of him, but he has no luck.

He decides they must have just been passing through, saw him and felt sorry enough to help but not to hang around, so he starts to mentally prepare himself for another long day of walking. He hadn't gotten nearly as far in his first day as he should have.

There's a note, though, sitting on the boulder he'd huddled against for protection.

"Hey, asshole," it reads. Jared huffs a laugh, glad they got his name right.

"The castle is to the left. Get there before sunset and bring my fucking coat.

My humble compliments and greatest respect,

Misha the Faun
Elected Leader of the Free Fauns of Narnia and Adviser to Her Majesty Danneel the Magnificent, High Queen of Narnia, Empress of the Lone Isles, Lady of Cair Paravel, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Lion, Bane to Pretty Much Everything She's Tried Fighting; Jensen the Gentle, King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel, Protector of the Fords of Beruna, Master of Medicine in Charge of Healing; and Genevieve the Wise, Queen of Narnia, Chief Adviser to Her Majesty the High Queen, Most Benevolent Conqueror of the Western Wild

P.S. When you get here, please consider helping me petition the royals about paying for my ink, because, as you can see, writing out all these titles is getting expensive."

Jared shakes his head, entirely perplexed by the letter, but shrugs because at least it gives him some direction. He folds it and tucks the thin parchment into a pocket and begins walking to his left, really hoping the faun had guessed which way he would be standing correctly.

He must have-or maybe it was magic, at this point that makes as much sense as anything-because after a few hours of walking in what he hopes is the right direction, he begins to see the imposing castle looming in the distance. The sky isn't even beginning to change colors yet. He sends a silent 'thank you' to whoever that faun was that helped him and begins to run toward the castle in his enthusiasm, forgetting that he's starving, exhausted, and injured.

He makes it about five yards before something hits him over the head, and he blacks out.

_______________________________________________________________

He comes to in the courtyard.

He's on the cobblestone floor and immediately rises to his hands and knees. He sees the bottom of two extravagant dresses and one carefully tailored pair of breeches and adjusts himself into a bow.

One of the three snickers.

"Your majesties-" he begins, preparing for a long, impassioned speech on how wrong he was, how sorry he is, and how much he will strive to improve in the future.

The High Queen nips it in the bud. "Oh, good, you're awake. Now I can kill you."

He looks up at her, hoping to see a playful expression, but instead there's a huge centaur handing her an also-huge blade. He gulps.

"Danneel, dear, let's not be rash," Queen Genevieve says. "He hasn't been tried yet."

"Treason!" Danneel cries. "God only knows what he told her."

"It's not like he knows anything important," Genevieve points out. "How much harm could he really have done us?"

Danneel glares. "Maybe none. But if we let him live, he may become a better spy."

"I still think we should give him a trial," Genevieve responds. "If only for show."

"Yeah, listen to her," Jared agrees.

"Shut up!" they both snap at once. Jared raises his hands in surrender.

"If we explain his crime? Conspiring with the goddamn White Witch? They'll be glad we saw to it he couldn't cause any more trouble."

Genevieve thinks it over for a few seconds, then nods. "Yeah, okay. Kill him."

"You're no better than she was," Jared says, a little shocked by it. He looks over to Jensen, because at least Jensen has to have a little pity.

The king doesn't hold his glance for more than a few seconds. He looks sad, conflicted even, but he turns away and says nothing for Jared. Which, okay. Jared probably deserves that from Jensen, but it still makes his stomach tighten. That was his last hope turning away.

"We tried to take care of you!" Danneel cries. "You spat in our faces, put my kingdom at risk. I'm not letting her hurt my people. Not for you."

She raises her blade, and Jared can't look away, sees it begin to come down before something gets in the way, stopping it. He shuts his eyes tight and waits for Danneel to overcome the obstacle, but to his surprise, things are quiet for a few seconds. Finally he dares to look, sees that it's Jensen holding on to her, his fingers tight around her wrist. Danneel looks absolutely flabbergasted, but she doesn't fight him.

"Stop it," he says. "Don't kill him, it wasn't…" He hesitates, then looks at Jared coolly and shrugs. "It wasn't entirely his fault."

Genevieve and Danneel make confused faces at him, and Jared's pretty sure he looks about the same as they do.

"Go on," Genevieve says.

"He was poisoned," says Jensen. "He ate in her tent the first day he was here."

"You tell us this now?" Genevieve asks.

"I wasn't sure until it was too late. But I'm sure now. He couldn't help it, Danneel, put down the sword. You know he couldn't help it."

She looks furious for a few seconds, then nods and lowers her arm, though if Jared thinks he's off the hook, he's sorely disappointed. "If you want a puppy, Jensen, dear, we'll find you one that doesn't bite."

"He's right, you know. If you kill him now, you'll be as bad as her. People can change, give him another chance. He didn't know what he was doing."

"You're sure he was under a spell?" Genevieve asks him.

"Would I lie?" he asks, giving her a nasty look.

Genevieve shakes her head and moves to stand at his side. "I agree with Jensen," she announces. "I think he should be given a second chance."

"You do?" Danneel looks at her closely, like she's not really believing it.

"Yes. I do."

Danneel hands the sword back to the centaur and looks down at Jared. "Put us in danger again, and I'll wear you like that coat," she tells him. She turns quickly, centaur and Genevieve following on her heels.

Jensen crouches by him, lingering on the wounds where the wolves gripped too tight and shaking his head at the rest of Jared's cuts. Jared reaches out to him. "Thank you," he says. "Thank you so much, you won't reg-"

"Save the thanks," Jensen replies. "If that was how you show your appreciation, I prefer to go unappreciated."

"Jensen," Jared tries again. "You said it yourself I was-"

"You lied to me, man," he shakes his head, "before that shit ever got a hold of you, you lied."

"I know," Jared replies sadly. "I know, I'm so sorry."

Jensen pushes damp hair out of Jared's face and sighs when he brushes his fingers over a wound, making Jared suck air in sharply. "I could have fixed you right up if you'd just been honest."

ON TO PART TWO
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