The Sword of Stars: Chapter 12, Part 1 (J2 AU NC-17, Fic)

[paleogymnast]

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Chapter 12:

Dizziness threatened to overwhelm Jared. One moment he was prepared to die, clearing his mind and trying to convince himself Jensen would be all right and the Union would have enough information to hold back the Insids. The next moment there were images projected on all the banners in the Central Plaza-images of Donna Ackles-and Jensen was by his side, cutting him down, and Father Peleggi was shooting Brother Benedict (who was trying to shoot them), and people were screaming and making scandalized noises of shock.

His ears were buzzing and his skin was tingling and when his feet connected with the solid surface of the Dias, his knees started to buckle. The world swirled before his eyes, a flowing mass of jumbled color, when someone-Jensen-grabbed him and pulled him close to his side.

“I’ve got you, Jared, I’ve got you,” Jensen murmured in his ear.

It was strange, Jensen was vibrating-no, maybe that was him, his entire body was trembling. “Th-thank you. I love you,” he managed to stammer.

“I love you, too,” Jensen echoed, pressing his lips to Jared’s temple. “Now, do you think you can stand? Because we need to get out of here,” Jensen asked seriously.

Jared was clutching at Jensen, head tucked in tight to the crook of Jensen’s neck. Jensen sounded different, more sure of himself-scared but in control-Jared had noticed Jensen becoming more self-confident over the last month, but this was new, different. Jensen was in command.

Jensen nudged him again, forcing Jared to take stock of his body and resist the insistent tug of the current in his mind that had him drifting along a stream of thoughts and slipping farther and farther from awareness. “I-I don’t know,” he admitted, his voice sounded fuzzy and strange to his own ears. “I still can’t feel them very well. Pain, but not...” He shuddered as spasms caused his thighs to seize up and abdominal muscles to cramp.

“Shh, shh,” Jensen quieted him.

It was only then Jared realized he was moaning.

“What did Benedict do to him?” Jensen was talking to someone else, and Jared was vaguely aware they were moving. Jensen wasn’t carrying him exactly, and he wasn’t walking, it was more like Jensen was dragging him along as gently as possible while someone else walked close by and they squeezed and pushed through a colorful, angry throng of bodies towards somewhere... less bright. Jared blinked rapidly as they reached a spot of relative darkness. Oh, maybe his eyes weren’t so blurry, because now he could see, well see better. The shapes around him were more refined and everything hurt less.

“I do not know, Benedict took him to his... laboratory... he did not allow anyone else to visit the prisoner, not even his own guards.” The man-Father Peleggi-sounded stricken and dismayed.

“T-tortured, sensory o-overload and d-d-deprivation,” Jared stammered through clattering teeth. He was shivering. That was not good, really, really not good.

“By the Goddess,” Father Peleggi exclaimed.

“He’s going into shock, help me, please!” Jensen demanded.

Jared was shifted again; he was being lowered to the ground, no, not the ground. There was a small crash of tinkling glass and metal followed by a swooping sound of fabric being shaken out.

“I feel bad about whoever’s booth this is,” Jensen murmured.

Jared felt himself settle onto some sort of tapestry or table cloth, the heavy brocade suns-warmed and luxurious against his skin. He felt someone lift up his feet, while Jensen settled behind him, and settled Jared back so his head was on Jensen’s lap, it was soothing only the change in position made the sun flash in his eyes again and the pain was overwhelming. His eyes watered and his head throbbed and his vision was reduced to blurry streaks and fuzzy auras. “Can’t s-” he tried to explain.

“Oh crap, the-Father, can you hold him for a moment,” Jensen asked as Jared felt him slide out from underneath him, resting Jared’s head on a pooled clump of the fabric.

“I have him,” Father Peleggi replied.

Jared felt unfamiliar hands holding his legs tighter, lifting his feet a little higher. Father Peleggi placed a steadying hand on Jared’s belly, and Jared tried to relax. He could feel how badly he was shaking.

“Close your eyes,” Jensen murmured.

Jared complied, feeling immediate relief as the brightness and pain in his head immediately dulled.

“They took your contacts. Vissandra told me it’s something they always do before executing Scientists because it further strips your dignity and control.” Jensen squeezed Jared’s hand. “She had an extra pair-she and my parents were up here so long they had to be able to make their own, and mom gave her one of the synthesizers; taught her how to use it,” he explained. “She gave me these to help you.” He pressed something into Jared’s hand.

Jared recognized the familiar contours of a contacts case.

“I am going to slide around to your other side, block the light, and slip these into your eyes. I-I’ll try to be gentle, just try not to resist. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Jared thought he might have nodded, but he wasn’t sure. He felt the air move around him as Jensen settled next to his right side and leaned over him.

“Open your eyes, it’s safe, I promise,” Jensen coaxed.

Jared’s eyelids fluttered open. Jensen’s shape hovered over him, shadowy and indistinct. He flinched as Jensen touched his eyes, right then left, but then he was blinking and suddenly everything was more muted and yet clearer, easier to see. When he’d regained focus it took him a moment to make out where he was. Stone outer wall of a building to his left, arching overhead. Cobbles underneath the fabric on which he lay. An overturned table and strewn trinkets behind Father Peleggi. An arched opening to his right and beyond it people, dazed shocked, the boom of the speakers playing Donna Ackles’ message. He was in one of the alcoves of the Temple, a vendor stall beside the Central Plaza. He blinked a few more times until his vision cleared completely. “Thank you.”

Jensen lifted him then and slid to his knees behind Jared, once again resting Jared’s head in his lap. “How long have you known about the Scienti?” Jensen asked.

Oh, he was talking to Father Peleggi!

“Long enough to regret not doing something about them sooner. But I didn’t know how and part of me...” Father Peleggi shook his head, expression filled with regret. “I knew the old texts didn’t support the actions the Council was taking. I just wasn’t sure if maybe they were having visions or receiving new information from the God and Goddess themselves... Who was I-”

“It’s okay,” Jensen reassured. “We all felt the same way. I still have moments where I doubt... but I have faith in forgiveness in the love of the God and Goddess, not in hatred. I cannot stand by and watch our world be massacred so people like Benedict can try to prove a twisted point, and I could not leave the people in the dark, with so many suffering.”

“The attack is real? It is imminent?” Father Peleggi asked in horror.

“Yes, but we can stop it. The God and Goddess helped us completely avert an attack once before long, long ago and we know how to help them do it again,” Jensen said confidently. He was rubbing at Jared’s wrists worriedly.

“You have to get out of the city, both of you,” Father Peleggi said with a note of regret.

“Yes,” Jensen agreed, “It isn’t safe for us here not now,” he glanced out at the stricken crowd, and Jared followed his gaze realizing the message was still playing on the banners. “My-my mother didn’t want to tell people like this. She wanted to be gentle. Give them time to adjust. She wanted to force the dialogue, lay... lay open the secrets, but she intended for there to be plenty of time for negotiations and talks and a lot more Scientists living in our midst to help out. That-” Jensen shook his head, looking down to check on Jared with a small smile, “that isn’t possible now, Benedict made sure of it. He hated her,” Jensen tipped his head towards the nearest banner, “he saw her as his protégé and felt betrayed when he realized she didn’t believe the same as he did. I think some part of him wanted me to fill her place, but he was so angry... it came out twisted and wrong.”

Jared watched Father Peleggi’s reaction, saw the recognition there, and realized Jensen must have locked eyes with the Father because of his suddenly sober expression.

“There will be riots, violence this way. But there was no choice. We haven’t stopped the Insids-the alien race that attacked us-yet, and we could still fail or not succeed perfectly. If anything happens, the people deserve to know why. They shouldn’t blame themselves or each other for imperfect faith. The result would be... more tragedy.”

“I understand,” Father Peleggi said. “Jensen, I am so sorry for not standing up for you sooner, for not-”

“You’ve done enough, when it really mattered,” Jensen said, his voice distant.

Jared could feel Jensen turn behind him, and shifted as much as he was able to follow Jensen’s glance... towards Benedict’s body, where it was surrounded by a small crowd of shocked people and a cluster of wary looking guards. Their weapons were raised, but they weren’t doing anything beyond staring dumbstruck at the screens.

“I regret that it came to this, but I saw no other way,” Father Peleggi murmured.

“His guards, the Scienti-both the secret police and the researchers-they will be trouble. Right now they are deep underground, under this hill and I do not know if they are seeing this,” Jensen admitted.

“I will handle the situation. Protect the people, work with those guards whose loyalty lies with Zyreta and not Benedict,” Father Peleggi volunteered.

“Good,” Jensen approved.

Jared felt the press of fingertips against his neck and wrist, and realized Jensen was taking his pulse. He felt better anchored to his body, more aware, and less in agony than he had when they’d laid him down, but he still didn’t feel right. He could feel the phantoms of Benedict’s torture.

“His pulse is steadier, but he’s still not stable,” Jensen said to Father Peleggi. “Do you know what Benedict might have given him-drugs, he might have claimed they were magic or poisons even.”

“No,” Father Peleggi admitted. “Benedict kept his research secret, even from the rest of the Council, from what I understand-Oh,” Father Peleggi paused. “the Council...”

“They may not be as guilty as Benedict, but they all knew what was happening,” Jensen answered. “There is a woman, Vissandra Mirabile; she’s a noble who approves Travel. She has information for you about the Council. Tell her I sent you, and she will give it to you.”

Jensen squeezed Jared again, “Do you think you can sit?”

“Maybe?” Jared croaked.

“Father, can you get us some water?”

Jared didn’t hear Father Peleggi’s response, but the priest’s grip on his legs relaxed and they were lowered to rest on the tapestry table covering. There was a lot of rustling, the creak of a door, and pounding footsteps. Then Father Peleggi was back, and Jensen was coaxing Jared up so he was seated leaning back against Jensen.

“Drink this,” Jensen said as he pushed a cool metal cup to Jared’s lips.

Jared managed a few swallows, spluttered and almost choked, and then finished the rest without further incident.

“There’s more, but you shouldn’t drink too quickly,” Jensen said from behind him, and pressed a kiss to Jared’s temple.

“Better,” Jared sighed. “I feel better-Benedict didn’t... I’ve had nothing to eat or drink since he took me from you,” Jared admitted. “He gave me something to make me tell him what he wanted to hear, but it didn’t work right... wore off.”

“We’ve got to get out of here, Jared. Do you think you could walk now, if I help you?”

“How-where do you plan to go-is there anything I can do to help?” Father Peleggi asked.

“We need to go to Losa Desert,” Jensen said, more to Jared than Father Peleggi. “They will need to launch the ship soon, and I should be on hand-if I’ve missed anything, if they have any questions...”

Jared looked down at the scar on Jensen’s right wrist where it was wrapped around his chest. “You could tell them, help them solve it,” Jared finished. “How long?”

“Based on the calculations, they have to launch in precisely thirty two hours from the time I sent the data to Morgan. That was already nearly two hours ago,” Jensen explained.

“Is that enough-”

“Yes,” Jensen affirmed. “Chris had the plans we retrieved. Morgan was tracking him. He should be there now. All I added was specific telemetry, projections-extra data from the Archive that should help them be more accurate and precise... like knowing exactly when to launch.”

“How far is this Losa desert?” Father Peleggi asked.

“Too far to travel by foot and get there on time. A wheeled transport might make it, but...” Jared offered, motioning for Jensen to give him more water.

“I can get you Benedict’s hovercar,” Father Peleggi offered as Jared drank. “Just how...”

“Jared can drive it,” Jensen explained, squeezing Jared’s shoulder in apology. “We can take tunnels to get through the city to Jared’s home. There are supplies there that will help us. We can get outside the city walls from there. Can you have the transport waiting exactly where I say, no questions?”

“Yes,” Father Peleggi agreed, bobbing his head. “It will not take long. May I help you through the tunnels back to Mas-Jared’s residence? Benedict’s guards may be about, and Jared is in no condition...”

“Yes,” Jared answered, looking up and finding agreement from Jensen. “We would sincerely appreciate your help.”

“I will give you the location for the transport when we exit the tunnels,” Jensen said firmly.

“I will not fail you, Jensen.”

“I know you will not.”



The trip through the tunnels was surreal. Jared staggered most of the way, leaning heavily on Jensen, his arm draped over Jensen’s shoulders, and Jensen’s arm wrapped tightly around his waist. As Jared’s head cleared, he was able to complete a more thorough assessment of his body. His head still throbbed, and he realized he probably had a concussion from the blow he’d taken when captured. His entire body ached, but his left leg seemed worse than the rest, and was sluggish, wobbly and uncooperative. He had a feeling Benedict had inflicted a physical, non-phantom damage to it. Jared hoped when they got to the Tavern that they would find the members of their cell had all escaped, but left some supplies behind. He and Jensen would have to make do with whatever they could scrounge and use.

The tunnels themselves were a strange assortment, none of which reminded him of home or of the tunnel complex leading out of their headquarters. The first tunnel they passed through was damp and old, lined with rough-hewn stone that seemed very fitting to the overall condition Zyreta pretended to be in. But after maybe fifteen minutes, they’d detoured through a door hidden in the wall and found themselves in a square, white, brilliantly lit, almost sterile passage that reminded him very strongly of Brother Benedict’s lab. He realized this was probably in part of the hill the Scienti used, and shuddered so hard at the revelation he stumbled and nearly knocked Jensen over.

“I know, I know, this is the fastest way. We’re being quick and careful,” Jensen whispered in his ear.

It was only then that Jared realized Jensen and Father Peleggi were both on high alert, looking warily around the shadow-less tunnel and listening carefully to the stillness around them. Father Peleggi had his weapon raised and at the ready, while Jensen was keeping Jared close to the wall, so he could flatten them both against it if need be.

Still it took too long to get through the twists and turns of white halls. Once they heard voices and the tread of heavy footsteps approaching from the tunnel ahead. Jensen was able to call up an alternate path by visualizing the tunnel schematics in his head-a skill that was a little disconcerting to see in practice as Jensen’s eyes glazed over suddenly and just as quickly cleared again-and doubled back to a T-junction and took them through a series of quick turns that enabled them to bypass the occupied stretch of tunnel.

They continued unhindered for another ten minutes, and Jared realized the tunnel was sloping gently downhill.

They rounded another corner and the tunnel they’d been following seemed to end in a blank wall about 100 meters ahead. At the same moment, they heard footsteps running towards them ahead and to their right. “What?” Jared started to ask.

“The wall ahead of us is a door. It should let us outside one ring street below the tavern. There’s a tunnel fifteen meters ahead. They’re going to try to cut us off. Benedict’s guards know; the Scienti know,” Jensen said quietly. He turned Jared so he was propped against the right wall of the tunnel, holding him loosely by the now-tattered front of his robe. “I need you to run for me. I know it hurts, just please... I almost lost you. I wouldn’t know who I am without you,” he pleaded.

Jared could feel Jensen shaking, his hands were clenching in Jared’s robes rhythmically in neat, precise sets of three with a pause in between. Jensen might seem calm, but Jared knew he was terrified. Jared took stock of his body again. His head was throbbing, leg aching, and if he turned too quickly he got double vision, but 100 meters wasn’t far. He’d run sprints for fun in school. “Yes, yeah, I can do that,” he agreed, sounding more confident than he felt.

“Good, good,” Jensen murmured, “Hit the wall twice and the door will open.” He looked back at Father Peleggi. “I need you to hold them off. Shoot at them if you have to. If you go back around the corner, ten meters back there’s a hidden door, tap the wall twice and it will open. Inside there’s a ladder. Climb up and you’ll come to another door you can open from the inside-they’re not hidden from that side-it lets out into the service tunnel that runs from the monastery to Parish Patience. Don’t stay long. Just make sure I get the door closed and go. We need that transport.”

“I will not fail you, Jensen,” Father Peleggi vowed.

“Thank you. We will let the Scientist Union know you are an ally. They will offer you assistance and protection. They do not want to subjugate our people, only to free them from the Council’s lies.”

“May the God and Goddess smile upon you,” Father Peleggi offered, retreating back towards the corner and readying his weapon.

“And you too,” Jensen replied. He turned back to Jared, released his robe, and said, “Run!”

Jared ran. He ignored the double vision and the pain, limping and dragging his leg along when his knee cramped. But he was past the side tunnel and beyond the halfway point to the end of the hall when the first shouts rang out. He hoped Jensen was behind him. He heard a yelp, a snap of fabric, a body hitting the floor hard, and then footsteps tearing down the hall behind him. He ran faster, hoping the lighter tread meant the footsteps belonged to Jensen. He couldn’t turn to look for he would surely collapse if he did. He still had a quarter the distance to the door when the first shot rang out. He tried to duck and run faster, but he almost lost his footing. Someone had been hit though, because he heard an anguished scream and another body falling followed by more shouting and heavy footsteps. There was another shot and more footsteps, running away from him. His vision blurred, he blinked, tripped, and caught himself on the wall, remembering Jensen’s instruction to tap it twice just in time to smack his palm against it again. The wall gave, swinging forward abruptly, and then he was tumbling forward and through a tangle of vines and onto a dusty cobblestone street.

Jensen, he thought desperately as he tried to scramble to his feet and turn at the same time, but succeeded only in rolling sideways. There was a sudden gust of air and the vines slapped around him, but then someone was grabbing him by the back of his robe and hauling him to his feet.

“It’s me,” Jensen grunted as he slammed himself backwards against the wall closing the door. “Come on, this way,” he said, hugging Jared close and wrapping Jared’s left arm around his shoulders. Jensen took off at a run downhill dragging Jared along.

“Where are we?” Jared hissed as Jensen steered him around a corner and onto one of the spoke streets that ran steeply up hill. “Oh,” Jared said when he recognized the building Jensen was dragging him past. It was a large tailor’s shop that ran the length between too spokes one ring street below the tavern. It had tall grey stone walls that were covered in climbing ivy and vines. Jared had often wondered why the tailor’s shop needed so much storage space, the shop inside was tiny.

“Come on, just a little bit further,” Jensen coaxed as the sound of crashing and tumbling echoed in the street below.

The guards were out of the tunnels.

“In here,” Jensen urged, tugging Jared along, as he unlatched the gate to the merchant’s home next to the Tavern residence.

Jared didn’t understand, but Jensen was urging him to bend over and stay down, so he did, choking back bile when the change of position made his head rebel against him.

“Through here,” Jensen explained, unlatching a second gate that let out into the small, rutted service path that ran along the back of the tavern. “Guards,” Jensen hissed. “On the residence and the tavern.”

Crap, well then how were they going to, oh...

Jensen was crouched down and had leaned Jared up against the back wall of the tavern and was fiddling with something... oh right, the delivery entrance, so they didn’t have to bring spirits past the patrons or through the residence-one of those controlling, manipulative quirks of Zyretan law that was actually helping them out.

Jensen managed to get the narrow, dark-stained, double thick porlo wood door open, and was glancing back and forth up and down the alleyway checking for guards.

Jared could see the distinct, military-styled violet pants and jackets that signified one of Benedict’s minions, but the guard was looking away.

“In,” Jensen demanded.

Jared half-tripped, half-threw himself inside, stumbling to the wooden floorboards with a bang as he bumped into one of the many heavy crates inside and causing the bottles it contained to clang threateningly. Jensen was right behind him and had closed and locked the door before Jared had righted himself.

As Jared staggered to his feet, Jensen dragged the offending crate over a half meter so it blocked the door.

“Think they heard that?” Jared asked.

“Probably,” Jensen acknowledged, “but we’re not sticking around long enough to find out.” He reached out and pulled Jared close once more, supporting enough of Jared’s weight that he could walk, and slipping out of the storeroom and into the bar.

“Down,” Jensen commanded again as they moved into the line of sight of the tavern’s windows, ducking low enough so the counter sheltered them.

Jared could see guards outside the windows. More of Benedict’s men, and they were looking around frantic and agitated, searching for a source of noise they couldn’t place. “How long do you think before they realize they haven’t covered all the exits?” Jared whispered.

Jensen shrugged against him-it was a habit he’d only begun to pick up since spending time with scientists and, well, getting all that information dumped in his brain. “Probably not long, but we’ll be no where to be found.” Jensen poked his head around the end of the counter, clearly checking to see if the guards were looking. “Then again,” he snorted, “Benedict has always had problems with the really obvious-sometimes he un-underestimates people and it hurts him. He really didn’t believe I would defy him. That’s the only reason I was able to get into the Archive as easily as I did, the only reason I could get to you. He thought I might try to avoid watching your execution, but he believed he controlled me through fear.” Jensen paused and stuck his head out clearer. “On three, run to the taproom. Stay low. I’m right behind you.”

Jared braced himself. He was so glad they’d taken the time to show Jared around the tavern when they’d finally come clean to him. Then again, maybe it didn’t matter. Jared wasn’t so sure Jensen had been in all those tunnels before...

“One... two... three,” Jensen whispered.

Jared ran as hard as he could, bent over, just like he had in the tunnel. He banged his shoulder hard into the right side of the door jamb. It stung, but it wasn’t nearly as upsetting of the sight that met him. Two of Benedict’s guards were trying to force open the door to the residence, which Sam had apparently locked and barricaded. “Oh, crap,” he breathed, momentarily frozen, as one of the guards looked up and saw him.

The guard’s eyes went wide.

Jared’s eyes went wider.

The guard screamed. Shouts surrounding the building followed.

Jensen was suddenly beside Jared and yanking him by the arm. He slipped them both through the curtain into the tap room and reached into the machinery and hit the catch, jerking Jared back and out of the way when the floor started to open. As soon as the floor had revealed enough space to squeeze through onto the stairway below, Jensen hissed, “go,” and released Jared.

Jared stumbled through the gap, landing awkwardly on the second step and grabbing the railing as the sounds of glass shattering and wood splintering greeted his ears.

The guards were shouting. They were inside, from both the tavern and residence sides, apparently.

Jensen slipped into the space behind him, curling himself into a ball on the top step. He had already hit the inside catch to reverse the process and the floor was quickly closing overhead, leaving them in eerie darkness. Jared liked the dark, but he wasn’t so sure he liked this-headquarters wasn’t supposed to be so dark or so silent.

The floor / ceiling clicked into place with a subtle hiss, and the staircase was bathed in blue emergency light. Not a moment later, footsteps sounded overhead. Jared knew, intellectually, they weren’t actually hearing the guards’ footsteps directly-the underground space was sound proofed after all-but rather listening to the sounds of what was going on in the taproom as collected through hidden microphone’s and fed into the security system.

“They’ll figure it out and get through. They know exactly where we disappeared! It might take them a little while to find and make out the catch, but they’ll find it,” Jared realized, he whipped his eyes up to meet Jensen’s, ignoring the dizziness and nausea that followed. “We have to seal it,” he realized dismayed. There was a heavy, metal, magnetically locking seal they could slide into place, locking the complex from the inside. They could still get out through the tunnels, but no one would be able to get in. The problem with that though was that no one would be able to get in through the primary door. If they or any other Scientists wanted to return, they’d have to find their way back in through the tunnels.

“No,” Jensen disagreed, shaking his head as he reached up in the tight space and pried the cover off of something that contained a lot of glowing wires.

“But they’ll-” Jared protested.

“No, we’ll seal it, just so we can get back in,” Jared reassured. He pried a few wires free, slipped a data wafer out of a slot inside the panel and held it over the scar on his wrist, closing his eyes as he touched one wire to the jagged scar tissue and the other to the wafer. His eyes fluttered as the wires hummed and something moved from his wrist to the wafer. Then Jensen slipped the data wafer back into its slot and moved a few more wires, revealing a keypad Jared hadn’t known was there. Jensen punched in a series of numbers and letters, the mechanism chimed, he repeated the sequence, and it chimed again, a more affirmative, happy noise than the first. Apparently satisfied, Jensen nodded, slid the wires back into place, reconnected the two wires he’d freed and snapped the faceplate back on.

“What did you just-”

“A trick of my mom’s, the WorldLock systems the Intelligence Ministry uses all have backup keypads for extra security and emergencies. At least, all the ones of this era do. I don’t know if they’ve changed it. Anyway, she wrote a bypass program that adds an extra security layer and requires a specific hexadecimal code to be punched in twice, with a chime in between. I didn’t have the right interface tools or time to upload the program manually, but my mom stored the code... so I forced the coding to clone from my bioelectric chip to the data wafer and then once it was synched up, I programmed in the code,” Jensen blushed. “It’s the date we met in hexadecimal as represented on both the System Standard calendar and the Zyretan calendar in that order.”

Jared just stared back eyes wide and jaw slack.

Jensen shrugged again, squeezing his nails into his palms. “It’s mostly locked from the outside now, but we can both still get in, as can anyone who we give the code. They can’t break or shoot through the floor,” Jensen added.

“No, I know that,” Jared managed. “Reinforced triple layer titanium alloy shell, I know that. You-you’re sure they can’t force the door commands to open?”

Jensen shook his head. “Benedict had my parents executed without getting any information from them beyond what they wanted him to know,” Jensen said quietly.

“Oh, Jensen-” Jared stammered, “It’s okay... well it’s not, but it’s not your fault. Without the information my mother gave me, we’d both be dead. I am... proud of my parents’ resistance,” Jensen said, squeezing Jared’s shoulder. “Now come on, we don’t have much time and we need to get supplies and get you checked out and make it out of the tunnels in time to get the transport before it... a-arouses suspicion.” Jensen slipped down three more steps in his crouch and started to rise once he had enough vertical clearance to do so.

“W-wait,” Jared stammered, reaching out to grab Jensen’s sleeve.

Jensen turned to him.

“Those tunnels, had you been in then before, or was that all information-” Jared asked.

“I-I hadn’t been in them before; I tried to find tunnels I was certain I’d never used because I-I almost didn’t get to you in time, Jared,” he said, voice tight, pained. “When I was taking the tunnels to the Central Plaza for... It was the same tunnels they took my parents through for their execution. I was with them. Benedict made me watch.”

Jared swallowed around the lump that was suddenly in his throat.

“He was going to make me watch again. He wanted me to watch you die, but he didn’t trust me to be there... I was supposed to watch by ‘magic’ in Father Peleggi’s office. I think he thought it would be... fitting, and only he would know.” Jensen looked away, his eyes getting a glassy, far-away look. “I was walking through the tunnel and it hit me, the flashes, you know? One moment I was here, the next I was a little boy and watching myself. I kept getting them. It all came back so fast, but I couldn’t move, and there was no time...”

“You made it; you got me,” Jared offered. It was a small consolation though. When Jensen didn’t even react he knew something more was going on. “What is it?”

Jensen flinched, grabbing hold of the railing to steady himself, and shuddered. He let out a long sigh and hung his head. “You know,” he squeezed the railing seven times, “you know how the memory thing-the functional amnesia and the perfect memory recall, how we know my mom needed some trigger to activate it?”

“Yeah?” Jared asked, warily.

“I think... I think I know what it was.”

Jared was suddenly cold, frozen, as a chill gripped and shook him. No, it couldn’t be...

“I tried remembering what came next. I couldn’t at first-I’m still learning to unlock the memories without triggers. I thought it might happen when I saw you on the dais, but it didn’t. But later, while Father Peleggi was getting you water? I remembered. What my parents looked like up there as they were ready to hang them... My dad smiled at me, and my mom looked me right in the eye and said, ‘three things you can never forget,’ and then they lowered the trap doors, and... it’s like a recording shut off. There’s just nothing. But now I can remember my earliest memory as me, just Jensen,” Jensen said, his voice hitching.

“Oh no,” Jared protested. “No...”

But Jensen was nodding. “The first thing I can remember is not knowing where I was and standing in a huge crowd where people were screaming and jeering and cheering, I was so confused, and I turned to Benedict-and he was wearing the same prayer belt-and I asked, “Who are you? Where am I? What’s my name?”

“What-what did he say?” Jared asked not really wanting to know.

“I am Brother Benedict, and you are in the St. Pious Plaza. Your name is Jensen, and your parents left you all alone.” Jensen’s voice as he answered was as distant as his gaze, with odd, long pauses as if he was repeating someone else’s words.

Jared realized Jensen was watching it play out in his head. Jared slid his hand forward along the railing and squeezed Jensen’s hand.

Jensen came back to himself then and released the railing, tangling his fingers with Jensen’s. “I love you,” he whispered. “And I’m angry my parents had to die and sad I’ll never get to know them, but I will never be sorry for their sacrifice because it brought you to me and allowed me to save you.”

Jared squeezed back, “I love you too.”

“Now come on,” Jensen said, tugging Jared off the step and helping to balance his weight. “We’ve got a planet to help save.”

“Actually, a whole star system,” Jared replied, letting out a chuckle.

“All the more reason to hurry,” Jensen replied.



Their time in the headquarters-once they’d left the staircase behind-was a jumbled blur in Jared’s mind. It was creepy, unsettling. The terminals were all dark, the lighting and fans and everything but the backup life support and glowing blue emergency lights was shut down. The barely audible hum of those systems and the eerie blue glow that was nothing like the soothing light of elchani slugs or the now-familiar godlamps above, made the familiar surroundings seem hostile, alien, and dead.

Jensen left Jared half-propped, half-sitting on a chair at the far end of the right side of the right row of terminals while Jensen dashed through the doors to the hallway on the right in search of medical supplies and equipment and any other useful tools Danni and their other friends might have left behind. It only felt like a few minutes, but Jared didn’t really know how long he was there, he stared at the doors after they closed behind Jensen, and tried wishing-willing-him to come right back... only he got lost, drifting, the exertion and stress and fear and trauma of the day combined with his existing injuries and threatened to overwhelm him. His adrenaline was crashing again, and if he wasn’t very lucky, he’d slip back into shock.

Jensen burst through the doors a few moments later laden down with so many bags and supplies Jared wasn’t sure how he was staying upright. Plus it was almost comical seeing so much Scientist paraphernalia against Jensen’s very Zyretan clothes. “What’s all that?” he asked, maybe slurring his words a little. Okay, definitely slurring his words judging by the look of shock on Jensen’s face. “Danni and the others left some stuff for us, and I grabbed some more. Food and other things well need too,” Jensen said looking down at his supplies. He had three separate carrybags looped over his shoulders on their long straps and had a handheld scanner clutched in his left hand. “Come on, we’re going to our room to get you sorted out.”

Jared tried to stand again and sort of fell on Jensen, who he now realized had arranged his many burdens so he could support Jared’s left side.

The trip through the tunnels to their room was slow and exhausting, but not quite as unsettling as the main room had been. It was always too big and too quiet and kind of haunted back here, and their friends had left the regular lights on once they reached the second corridor, so it didn’t feel all that different from usual. However, the strain of covering that distance was almost too much. Jared could feel his body shutting down and by the time they rounded the last corner, he could feel Jensen shaking beside him-whether from fear or exhaustion or exertion, Jared didn’t know.

When they reached their room and stepped through the door, they were greeted by a small pile of items carefully arranged on their bed accompanied by a datapad.

Jensen helped Jared sit down on the end of the bed and picked up the datapad. “It’s from Chris,” he said passing it to Jared.

A document was open on the pad, and Jared scrolled through it quickly.

You’d better have made it! We took the liberty of gathering some things for you in case you make it back here and need help reaching Losa. The encrypt / decrypt we’ll be using is stored on this pad Jensen can unlock it. There’s two mobile comms in the bag. Hurry. If this goes like a rock slide through a slug preserve, I want to know you two are at least underground or near an evac ship. Danni, Sam, Eliza, and Chad say “hi.” Oh, and Eliza wants me to remind you she left two mark-three blasters with extra energy cells and plasma converters in case you need to get out of any sticky situations. Good luck and travel safe. -Chris

“It’s got decrypt on here, says you can unlock it,” Jared mumbled.

Jensen had set down his bags and was going through the stash on the bed, clutching his stuffed woolpup in one hand and holding the two mobile comms in the other. “Look at this,” he said incredulously.

“They care about us, about you, Jensen. They got us the stuff that really matters,” Jared replied, noticing his battered, weather-beaten field manual and the stained print copy of his sister’s article on that elchani mural were in the pile.

Jensen smiled, looking genuinely surprised. “Give me that,” he said, holding out his hand for the datapad as Jared started to list to his right.

Jared handed it over.

“See if you can get undressed, we-we need the clothes if we’re going to be among scientists and I need to see what Benedict did to you.

Jared complied as Jensen fiddled with the pad and then yelped as his finger caught on something.

Jared looked up, his robe unbelted and bunched up under his arms, his leggings and boots still firmly in place.

Jensen was sucking his finger. “Apparently it wanted a DNA sample,” he said waving the pad around. There was a new file open on it. “At least it doesn’t also need to in-int-interface,” Jensen grimaced, “with my bioelectric chip.

Jared hated that Jensen still had problems recalling some Scientist vocabulary, but then again, it had only been a little over five weeks and Jensen was still integrating his memories.

He must have been making a face, or possibly grimacing himself with pain, because Jensen asked, “Can I help?”

Jared nodded.

Jensen reached out to help him lift the robe over his head. As it was sliding over Jared’s head, Jensen let out a shocked hiss. “Oh, Jared, what did he do to you?” Jensen asked in dismay.

“Hook-hooked me up to a Scientist sensory isolation and monitoring unit that the Scienti had modified. Pumped me full of drugs and tortured me. What-what do you see?” He mumbled through the fabric. The robe pulled free of his head and he looked down. “Oh,” he gasped.

His torso was covered with a rainbow of bruises, including a few reddish brown patches that suggested blood was pooling under the skin.

“Did he beat you?” Jensen asked, reaching out tentatively to trace something that ran along the inside of Jared’s left elbow.

Jared followed Jensen’s gaze, sucking in a breath when Jensen’s feather-light touch stung. “It looks like an electrical burn,” he murmured, feeling nausea rise in his throat whether from the concussion or the surprise of his injuries, he wasn’t sure. “No, like I said he overloaded my senses or blocked them entirely-I was unconscious for a while,” he recalled. “And out of it too, he could have done anything and I wouldn’t have known.”

Jensen had picked up the scanner again and had it turned on and was running it up and down and left and right in front of Jared’s body, and around his sides, reaching over his head to scan his back. “Says some of these are from physical blows,” his eyes went wide, running the scanner by Jared’s head. “I think they must have beaten you with their weapons after they knocked you unconscious,” Jensen concluded. “You have three broken ribs. The-the rest,” he swallowed hard looking a bit green, “the rest of the bruising is due to muscle damage from your muscles over-contracting. The burn is-it says several needles were inserted there, apparently he ran electrical current...” Jensen’s voice trailed off.

“It’s okay,” Jared reassured, reaching up and cupping Jensen’s cheek even when his shoulder protested at the angle. “I survived.”

“You’ll recover, too,” Jensen murmured, staring down at the scanner’s screen, but you’ll probably be weak and sore for a while. Let’s... take off your pants?” Jensen asked.

Jared chuckled grimly. That should be a prelude to something fun. He wiggled and squirmed, hissing when he put pressure on his broken ribs, and with Jensen’s help, eased the leggings down and off. His legs were covered in more mottled bruises with two more electrical burns from arcing needles, one on his left fine and one on his right calf. His left knee was swollen.

“Says you have a torn ligament,” Jensen explained. “I-that’s more than I can treat now, but I can brace it.”

Jared nodded, staying carefully still as Jensen opened one of the bags he’d brought with him, pulling out ointment for the burns and another gel for the bruises, an injection of pain relievers, and an immobilizer for Jared’s knee. Jensen moved quickly and surely, helping Jared into a long-sleeved black t-shirt and easing jeans over his braced knee. Jensen passed over Jared’s thicker-treaded, more flexible boots, and began changing himself. “Thank you,” Jared sighed when the pain had finally begun to ease. Even his head felt a little less hollow, and the double vision and nausea had stopped.

Jensen leaned over and kissed his lips, soft and lingering, before finishing slipping out of his robes. “You’re welcome,” he said, and pulled the thick charcoal sweater and stepped into a loose pair of black pants-Zyretan, but not so obviously Zyretan that Jensen would stand out in a crowd. “Here,” he passed Jared the comm. “Hang onto that. I am going to organize our supplies, and then we must go. We’ve stayed too long already.”

Jared nodded and drifted on a narcotic haze while Jensen puttered around, consolidating everything, including the scanner, their soiled Zyretan clothes, and the items Chris had left on their bed, into the three bags.

“Come on,” Jensen coaxed, helping Jared to his feet.

Jared was relieved to find he was able to put more weight on his leg now, and with less pain, dizziness, and nausea moving wasn’t such a chore.

“I am going to miss this place,” Jensen said, as they paused on the threshold, of their room.

“Maybe we’ll back someday under better circumstances,” Jared answered, pressing a chaste kiss to Jensen’s temple.

With one last look, Jensen led him out of the bedroom and into the tunnels.

Continue to Chapter 12, Part 2

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