I did (not) sign up for this (Jensen/Jared, R)
Title: I did (not) sign up for this
Author: Vera
Artist: insane_songbird
Pairing: Jensen/Jared
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Me no own.
Word Count: 6,419
Warnings: some violence
Summary: Jared is Officer Ackles’ first prisoner pick-up.The job should be easy enough. Jensen just never expected that someone powerful wants Jared dead.
Author’s Note: Written for spn_reversebang and based on insane_songbird’s art prompt located HERE. Thank you very much for the inspiration! Thanks to cas166644 for spell-checking.
Jensen had to admit that he was nervous. His first prisoner pick-up. Sure, he was with Beaver since they wouldn’t let a rookie do this alone, and Beaver was an experienced senior officer. And his perp was just a kid, three years younger than Jensen, but still. His files were sealed so Jensen couldn’t find out what he was in for or why he had been called to the court hearing they were going to accompany him to. And the unknown always left him tense. For all he knew the kid was a psychotic serial killer just waiting for the first chance he got to slit Jensen’s throat.
“Out of the car, Ackles!” Beaver barked, rapping his knuckles against the car window. Jensen jumped. “God damn rookies.”
Jensen scrambled to open the door and got out, straightening his uniform. “Sorry, sir. Just… mentally assessing the situation.”
Beaver mumbled something about Jensen being an idjit and Jensen was kind of glad he didn’t fully understand what the older man had said. Together they entered the precinct to collect Padalecki, Jared. The kid was already sitting up front, hands cuffed behind his back, feet cuffed together, guarded by two of the deputies.
Jensen frowned when he saw him. Compared to the mug shot he had seen in the file, Padalecki looked at least three years older if not more. The mug shot wasn’t even a year old, though. Kid was also built and Jensen should not be calling him ‘kid’ from now on.
But then Padalecki looked up at him from behind his floppy hair and he looked as scared as Jensen might have felt, deep down, if he admitted to fear. But he wouldn’t. Being nervous, okay. Being afraid? No. That would be unacceptable.
Beaver filled out the paperwork because Jensen would ‘take too long’, so Jensen positioned himself against the wall opposite Padalecki, hands crossed in front of him, stance stable. Padalecki kept looking at him. At first it was just stolen, careful glances, but since he usually found Jensen staring right back, he was checking him out more obviously now. And suddenly Jensen felt really stupid for not introducing himself.
“Hi,” he started and held out his hand out of conditioning. He pulled it back as soon as he realized what he was doing to the cuffed Padalecki. “Uhm,” he cleared his throat, “I’m Officer Ackles, this is Senior Officer Beaver.” Jensen nodded in the direction of his partner. “We’ll be escorting you to court.”
“I hope you’re wearing bullet proof vests,” Padalecki replied. “Or did he send you directly?”
“What?” Jensen was alarmed. “What are you talking about?”
Padalecki raised his eyebrow. “You know why I’m being transferred, don’t you?”
Jensen bit his lip. Where was Beaver? He couldn’t show weakness, couldn’t confess that Padalecki’s case was way above his pay grade, that he had no access to any information at all. “Of course I do,” he lied.
Padalecki just grunted and leaned back, closing his eyes. “Just make it quick.”
Okay, now Jensen was really creeped out. But Beaver was back, stack of documents under his arm, and one of the guards handed Jensen the keys to Padalecki’s cuffs. “My advice is, keep them on,” the deputy said. “He may look innocent, but Padalecki’s a real son of a bitch when he wants to be.”
“I’ll miss you, too, Black.” Padalecki send him a nasty glare and then looked at Jensen hopefully. Jensen, in turn, looked at Beaver, who shook his head. Cuffs stayed on. He opened and refastened them in the front though, to make it a little easier on him.
While Padalecki hobbled outside, his nasty glare now redirected at Jensen, Beaver took the lead. But he hadn’t even reached the car when bullets suddenly started flying. Instinct kicked in and Jensen pushed Jared down on the ground. “Get down!” He yelled.
His hand flew to his gun and he got it out of its holster and cocked in a matter of seconds. But when he tried to aim, he didn’t see anybody. The next shot grazed his shoulder and he made Jared scramble forward, taking cover behind their car. Beaver had done the same behind a delivery truck, but Jensen could see it had been too late. He’d been shot in the leg and was bleeding profusely.
Jensen paled, body flooded with a rush of adrenaline. He needed to get Jared out. He needed to help his partner. He needed to get himself to safety as well. Aimlessly, he fired in the direction the shots came from.
“Go!” Beaver yelled at him. “Take the car and go. Get the kid to safety.”
“I can’t leave you behind!” Jensen yelled back just as Jared was opening the car door, quickly jumping down in the back, ducking his head. The spray of bullets intensified and the side window shattered, shards raining down on Jared.
“I’ll be fine. Just get out of here,” Beaver barked. “That’s an order, Jensen.” He threw him the car keys.
“Fuck.” Jensen caught them and carefully opened his own door. “Stay down,” he advised Jared and then fired a couple more shots before he quickly sat down. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Beaver getting up, gun aimed and giving him cover and before he could second guess leaving him behind, Jensen turned the ignition and floored it out of there.
The bullets followed them, but thankfully there were no fatal injuries to the either Jensen, Jared or the car. As soon as they were out of immediate danger, Jensen reached for the radio. “Dispatch, this is…”
But before he could even state his name, Jared had suddenly reached forward and snatched the speaker away from him and proceeded to rip it out completely. “Are you crazy?” Jared yelled at him.
“Are you?” Jensen almost swerved the car when he leaned back to glare at his prisoner. “How are we supposed to get help now? My partner is lying there bleeding. He needs…” Jensen’s voice broke. Beaver was lying there, bleeding. He’d covered them. Chances were he’d been hit again. It was probably a fatal shot. He shuddered.
“Think. He’s in front of an entire department of pigs all able to call for help. We, however, do not want to tell them where we’re going.” Jared was oddly calm.
“What? Why not?” Jensen realized his hands were shaking and he slowed the car down. Wouldn’t do them any good to crash. He looked at his prisoner in the rear-view mirror, realisation slowly dawning. “Oh god, this is a break-out, isn’t it? You staged all of it, had my partner killed!” And he was next. That’s why Padalecki had disabled Jensen’s only means of calling for help.
“Yes, that’s why they were aiming at me.” Jared just raised his eyebrow. “That’s some awesome detective work you’re doing just now.”
“But they didn’t shoot you. They shot Beaver.” Jensen’s eyelid started twitching. Not good. Not good.
“So now it’s my fault I didn’t get killed?” Jared threw up his arms as far as it was possible with his shackles. “Police. I swear. You’re either too dumb or you’re corrupt.”
Jensen drove off the main road at the next possible exit, ignoring Jared completely, and kept driving for a while until he felt they were a safe distance away. He parked on the side of the road and buried his face in his hands, taking deep breaths.
“What are you doing?” Jared kicked his seat. “Keep going, god dammit! Do you want to get us killed?”
Jensen was jostled none too gently and turned around with a glare. “I’m gonna throw you in the trunk if you don’t stop.”
“Please. Then at least I won’t have a target painted on the back of my head like right now.” Jared looked around. He seemed honestly frightened and Jensen’s rage softened a bit.
“No one’s following us.” Jensen stated. “And I just… I need a moment.”
“Fine. Uncuff me and let me go, then you can have an hour. I don’t care.” Jared held out his hands hopefully.
“Yeah, right.” Jensen rolled his eyes. “Letting you go is the last thing I’ll do.” Even if Jared wasn’t lying, and they were trying to kill him, then it was Jensen’s job to protect him. And that did not include letting a convict escape.
“You’re dead.” Jared leaned back in the car. “We’re both dead.”
“Was that a threat?” Jensen couldn’t help the cold shiver from going down his spine at Jared’s almost casual statement.
“You’re an idiot.” Jared banged his feet against the back of Jensen’s seat in frustration. “I can’t believe he’s finally going to get me after all. Fuck! Should have just let him.” He stared off towards the woods.
“Who are you talking about?” Maybe Jensen should start listening to Jared. If one of his former partners wanted him dead he had to know who he was dealing with.
“You really don’t know?” Jared leaned forward, closer to Jensen, when suddenly they heard the sound of cars speeding up the road. “Uncuff me!”
“No, that…” could be any random number of cars coming up this hill for any random reasons. Though Jensen couldn’t think of anything right now. Illegal race? How high were the chances of this being a coincidence? “But how could they find us?”
”Does it matter? Fucking uncuff my feet at least, god fucking dammit!” Jared kicked out again and Jensen reached for the keys, because, yeah… “Wait, do you have a GPS tracker?” Jared asked.
“Of course. Every police car has a tracking device, so in case we…” Jensen started to explain, though he wasn’t sure why this was important right now.
“Jesus fuck.” Jared roared in rage. “That’s how they found us, you stupid asshole. Should have ditched the car!”
The cars were coming closer now and Jensen gulped. He quickly got out of the car and opened Jared’s door. He bent down to unlock the cuffs around his feet, but drew a line when Jared also held out his arms.
“Oh, you gotta be kidding me.” Jared complained, but he sprang out, taking off towards the woods.
Jensen followed close behind and they hadn’t yet reached the trees when he could hear the cars hit the gravel and the shooting began anew. They blindly stumbled through the trees, failing to duck and run at the same time. This was what Jensen had prepared for at the academy. Well, okay, they didn’t really teach him to escape through the woods with a criminal he had to protect from God knows who, but…
But he should be prepared for this and not feeling completely panicked, out of his element and just plain scared. The bullets were whizzing closer and closer around them but thankfully the woods became thicker so they weren’t easy targets anymore.
As soon as they had enough shelter, Jared suddenly took a sharp left and Jensen couldn’t help but follow him. After a few more minutes, Jared jumped down a small hill, taking cover. Jensen crouched down beside him. “Shouldn’t we keep running?” Shouldn’t he be the one in charge here?
“No good. Can’t outrun them,” Jared wheezed. “They’re too many. They have guns. Now shut it.”
”But…” Jensen started but Jared wrapped his cuffed arms around him, covering his mouth with his hand to muffle the noise. Jensen shut up willingly when the sound of footsteps came closer.
“Jaaaay.” Someone called out. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” The voice came from somewhere to their right. They both froze up. “No? Come on, Jay. I promise if you come out now, we’ll make this quick. But I’m getting more and more pissed here. You won’t like it when I get angry.”
Jared started shivering next to him and Jensen moved closer, covering one of his hands with his own and squeezing it.
“Seriously, boy. You won’t like what’s coming to you.” The man chuckled darkly. “But oh, I will enjoy this. You will suffer before you die.”
Jared started twitching and Jensen could relate. The flight reflex must be strong right now. He looked at him and held his gaze, slowly shaking his head. They‘d chosen to hide, now they had to see this through.
One set of footsteps came closer and closer and Jared’s eyes widened, just as Jensen was sure his own did. Was this it?
“Over here! I think I found them!” a voice called out and Jensen’s stomach dropped. But then he realized the voice was coming from far away, nowhere even close to where they were hiding. The footsteps stopped, then turned and started running in the opposite direction.
“Hold on tight, Jaybird. I’m coming for you.” The man taunted and then his voice, too, faded away with the sound of multiple footsteps all heading the wrong way.
They waited a couple more minutes until they dared to move. “You think they’re gone?” Jensen whispered.
Jared shrugged. “One way to find out.” He took a deep breath and then crouched up the hill. Jensen stayed behind, momentarily distracted by the way Jared’s body moved, and what the fuck was wrong with him? He pulled his gun and followed, ready to aim at whoever was still out there waiting for them. But their part of the woods was empty.
“We should vanish before they realize their mistake and head back this way.” Jared was already up on his feet again.
Jensen followed suit. “You gonna tell me what this is all about?”
“You didn’t read my file, did you?” Jared cocked his eyebrow, then he shook his head and started walking.
“It was sealed,” Jensen admitted. “So?”
“You really wanna do this now?” Jared hissed, sending him another look.
“I guess we should get to safety first,” he compromised.
“Gee, you think?” Jared muttered something under his breath.
“What?”
“I said maybe you should shut up until we’re out of here before we tip them off to our location.” Jared glared at him. “I also think you should finally unlock these damn handcuffs.”
”Yeah, you’re right,” Jensen agreed and Jared stopped, holding out his arms hopefully. “We should just shut up and keep walking.” Jensen finished with a smirk, happy to see Jared’s face fall and be replaced by his usual scowl. But his happiness only lasted for a minute until Jared almost tripped over a large tree and he felt like an ass. But he just couldn’t risk it.
They had been walking for about an hour when they arrived at a clearing and a cabin in the woods. Jensen’s first thought was relief and finally he’d get a phone to call this in. Then he realized he had no idea who was living here and in general, fully sane people did not actually live in cabins in the woods. He drew his gun on instinct.
Jared took one look at him, then he chuckled. “You watch too many horror movies.”
“Dude.” Jensen blushed. “You’re the one with the death squad on your ass. You should be glad I’m cautious.”
“Ah.” Jared pointed at him. “I’m glad we’ve at least established that they are indeed trying to kill me. Now if you could please be so kind as to unlock these damn cuffs since I am clearly the victim here.”
“That depends on who’s inside that cabin. If it’s some nice lady, she might feel safer with you in restraints.” Jensen knew he was stalling.
“Right.” Jared just gave him one of the looks. “Because she won’t be freaked out by you waving a gun in her face.”
“I’m a cop.” Jensen replied.
“Why, that really makes a difference. A cop would never actually shoot anyone in cold blood, now, would they?” Jared’s voice was dripping with sarcasm and Jensen scowled.
“No, he would not.” It would be bad enough to kill in self defence. And now that he thought about it… fuck, he hadn’t actually killed anyone today, had he? He’d just fired in a general direction without really looking. What if there… but no. He couldn’t go there. Not now.
Nevertheless, he put his gun back into its holster before he knocked on the front door of the cabin, his hand ready to draw it if need be. There was no reply, so he knocked again.
“Hello? Police. I require assistance,” Jensen offered. When there was still no reply, he tried the door. It was locked. “Alright, wait here. I’m gonna look around back and see if I can find somebody.”
”Whatever.” Jared clearly didn’t think he’d succeed.
And he was right. By the time Jensen gave up and went back to the main entrance, the door was open and Jared was gone. Part of Jensen really hoped he’d actually taken off, if he was honest, but no such luck. “How’d you open the door?” Jensen asked after he closed it behind him.
“Mad skills.” Jared smirked at him, but when Jensen wouldn’t smile back, he sighed. “Key under the doormat.”
”Seriously?” Jensen shook his head. Some people really wanted to be robbed, didn’t they? A look around confirmed that there wasn’t anything of value to rob though. It was just a hunting cabin, probably only used once a year. And, sadly, a hunting cabin without weaponry on hand. There was a phone but the cord was ripped out. Jared had been into the room first and Jensen had no doubt he was the one who did it. By now, he was just too tired to comment on it.
“Handcuffs?” Jared held out his arms yet again.
“Uhm…” Jensen sighed. No. No, he did not want him to run around freely. And Jared must have read it in his eyes because he was on him in an instant, toppling him to the ground and pressing the chain connecting the two cuffs against his jugular.
“If I wanted to hurt you, Ackles, I could.” Jared smirked down at him, pressing a little harder and Jensen tried to gulp, but it hurt too much. “Or is that not it? Do you just like to see me in cuffs? Are you a kinky little bitch, Officer?” Jared rolled his hips into him and Jensen became fully aware of Jared’s body pressed against his. The full length of him. And fuck…
Jensen felt like a deer caught in the headlights. He couldn’t reply. No, no this was not a kink thing. But now that Jared had mentioned it the image was stuck in his brain. Except for it wasn’t Jared who wore the cuffs and … oh god. Jensen groaned and Jared’s face lit up.
“Hit a nerve there, huh?” Jared grinned, thrusting his hips again. He leaned closer, so close that Jensen could feel him exhale. Just a few more inches and they’d be… “Shit, you’re all the same.” Jared’s expression changed abruptly and he jumped up.
Jensen remained on the floor, eyes now closed, trying to catch his breath. But it was hard. He felt woozy. And tired. God, he was so, so tired.
“Ackles?” Jared’s voice sounded concerned. Concerned for him. Wasn’t that funny? Jensen chuckled to himself. “Aw, fuck, is that blood?” Jared asked and suddenly he was kneeling down next to him again.
It was the last thing Jensen remembered before he passed out.
When he woke up, he was lying in a strange bed, not his own, and when he tried to roll over, a sharp stab of pain went through him. He frowned, rubbing at his eyes. His shirt was gone and his left shoulder was bandaged. Slowly recent events came flooding back to memory and he really wished he hadn’t woken up.
Right on cue, Jared entered the room. He was out of his handcuffs and dressed in sweatpants and a button down shirt. Obviously he’d been busy while Jensen had been out. “Good, you’re awake.” Jared was carrying fresh bandages and a half-empty bottle of whiskey. “Though for this it would have been better if you’d still been passed out.”
“What do you mean?” Jensen’s mind still felt foggy. But he didn’t have to wonder for too long, because as Jared proceeded to change his bandages, he poured the whiskey over the wound and fuck, yes. Jensen really wished he were still unconscious as well.
“How do you walk two miles through the woods and not notice you’re slowly bleeding to death?” Jared asked him in a scolding tone.
“Adrenaline?” Jensen guessed. Truth was, he had no god damn clue. He hadn’t even realized he was hurt until just now.
“You’re an idiot, Jensen.” Jared walked out again and came back with breakfast - a heated can of beans - and coffee and maybe, just maybe, Jensen actually loved him just a little right now.
“Hey, wait. How do you know my name?” Jensen’s brain was slowly waking up.
“Went through your stuff.” Jared shrugged like it was no big deal. “And by the way, your condom expired last year. And you shouldn’t keep them in your wallet anyways.”
Jensen flushed. “I keep it for sentimental reasons. Those I use I have, uh, elsewhere.”
“Uhuh.” Jared clearly didn’t buy it and Jensen wondered why he should feel bad for not having had sex in a while. He led a busy life. And all the nightshifts he pulled didn’t really help getting him out there in clubs and bars unless it was to book underage kids and the assholes selling to them.
Jensen took a large gulp of coffee. “Alright, you gonna tell me who’s after you now?”
“You wouldn’t believe me.” Jared sat down in a chair next to the bed. It didn’t belong there and Jensen wondered if Jared had slept on it last night to watch over Jensen. But no. Why would he?
“Try me.” Jensen realized that Jared’s cuffs were gone. But as he so clearly demonstrated the night before, he didn’t need his hands free to hurt Jensen. Then again, Jensen had obviously already lost too much blood. No wonder Jared was able to beat him so easily.
“Jeff Morgan,” Jared confessed.
Jensen frowned. Jeff Morgan. Jeff Morgan? The name sounded familiar, but… “Sergeant Morgan from Vice?” Jared’s look confirmed it. “No way.”
“See? I told you.” Jared scowled and got up, but Jensen reached out with his good arm to keep him in the room.
“Wait. Tell me what happened.” He owed him this at least. After all, Jared didn’t just grab his stuff and take a run for it. For all intents and purposes, Jared has saved his life.
Jared sighed, but he sat back down. “I didn’t know who he was. Well, I did, but I only knew him as Jeff, the biggest drug distributor around my block. He was a mean son of a bitch, too. Ruled by fear. Later I realized that it must have been easy for him to get on top and stay there. He could just take out the competition with a police raid.”
Jensen’s world was spinning again. Sergeant Morgan? He was legendary for his busts. Always caught big fish. Everyone was in awe about his hints and instincts. Rumour had it he had a couple dozen unofficial informants at least. So if he was ‘undercover’ in the worst sense of the word, that actually would explain a lot. “Go on.”
“He’s…” Jared hesitated. “I dunno why, but he caught me hustling on the streets a few times and somehow got it to his head that I owed him. Wanted… He wanted…”
“By hustling you mean…” Jensen just had to ask. Had to.
“Card tricks. Scams. Whatever gets you through the day without starving to death,” Jared clarified. “But not… No.” He wrapped his arms around himself. “There was no ‘no’ for Jeff though. He just took what he wanted.”
”Did he…?” Jensen paled, expecting the worst.
“No.” Jared flashed a short, sad smile. “Not for lack of trying though. But I always got out of it. Last time, I ended up having to break a bottle over his head, because he got too… handsy.”
“He didn’t like that,” Jensen guessed.
“Not one bit,” Jared confirmed. “So he made up these bogus charges about me soliciting him. Only found out he was a cop then. Also placed a bag of coke in my apartment before they came to get me, the bastard.”
“Shit.” Somehow, Jensen believed him. “But okay, that still doesn’t explain why he would want you dead now.”
“That trial you were gonna drive me to? I’m the key witness against him. Saw him shoot a man. Fellow cop, as it turned out. Probably one of the few good ones left or Morgan wouldn’t have disposed of him.” Jared looked out the window. “I was just walking home. Wrong place, wrong time, I guess.”
“Right place, right time, I’d say,” Jensen corrected.
“Yeah, but it’s gonna get me killed. Morgan didn’t know about this before or I’d be dead already. I just wanted my get out of jail free card. I did not sign up for this.” Jared gestured around, eyes landing on Jensen’s shoulder.
Jensen raised his eyebrow. Just as Jared seemed to be able to read him, by now he could read Jared. And this was a load of crap. He wanted to see Morgan punished just as much as Jensen had to protect him, even if he also did not sign up for protecting a criminal against a cop. Then again, no. He did sign up for this. Especially since Jared was not the criminal here, Morgan was. “I think I know who we can call.”
“No!” Jared flinched. “They’re all in with him. Someone tipped him off about my transport today, too. You can’t tell anyone, Jensen.”
“But what are we gonna do? Just hide out here forever? They’re gonna find us, Jared, and you know it.” The woods weren’t that big. And if Morgan declared this an official prison break, they’d get the resources to locate them faster than Jensen could say heat cameras and bloodhounds.
“Trust me,” Jensen promised. When Jared didn’t reply, he rephrased it to a question. “Do you trust me?”
“I don’t trust anyone.” Jared rubbed his face. He looked tired. Worn out. Ready to give up.
“I need a phone.” Jensen got out of bed, wobbly on his legs and Jared reached out a hand to steady him.
“Lie back down. I’ll go get it,” Jared declared defeated. He helped Jensen back into bed carefully and Jensen marvelled at his strength. And did he have to be so close? He smelled nice. Jared had taken a shower, obviously.
Jared huffed. “You look dazed.”
Jensen bit his lip. “Lost a lot of blood.”
“Uhuh.” Jared smiled at him. “Which is why you should stay in bed.” Jared pointed a finger at him and then left the room. He was gone for so long that Jensen started to wonder if maybe he’d ran after all, but when he came back, he was carrying a phone. “Fixed it.”
Jensen nodded impressed. “You’re handy.”
“Have to be when you leave home at fourteen,” Jared’s smile was sad and Jensen wondered what happened to make him run away. But this was not the time to ask.
He reached for the phone and punched in the numbers he knew by heart. He didn’t even really have to explain. Turned out Morgan had been a suspect all along, IA just never had anything they could pin on him. Until now. Misha knew all about Jared and he sounded clearly relieved when Jensen told them where they could be found.
This also explained why Jensen couldn’t open Jared file. If IA sealed it, there was no way even Beaver could have read it. “They’ll send help.”
“And you trust this Misha guy?” Jared asked dubiously.
“With my life,” Jensen nodded. Though he knew this wasn’t very reassuring to Jared. “We met in the academy. He’d just started teaching, but he’s not much older than me. He’s pretty damn smart though. Not ambitious.” Jensen smirked. “But things always end up falling in his lap.”
“And this makes you trust him why, exactly?” Jared had tensed up again.
“We kind of… hooked up,” Jensen confessed. “I know him. He’s a good cop.” The best he knew. Misha would never sell them out. And he’d never play dirty. On the job, that was. He bit his lip again, remembering the good times.
“So he’s your… lover?” Jared sounded strange.
“Oh, fuck, no.” Jensen shook his head. “It was just a fling. We ended it after a few months. But he’s still a friend.” Sneaking around made them bond. They’d also needed a reason to spend so much time together, so they pretended to be friends. Until they realized they actually had a lot in common and became real friends.
“I guess we have no other choice.” Jared walked towards the window, looking out into the forest. “I just hope you’re right about him.”
“I am.” Jensen watched him for a while. Poor kid. He wasn’t completely innocent but he didn’t deserve to be in jail. He also shouldn’t be so ridiculously hot. “Can you give me my shirt?”
“I had to cut it off,” Jared replied, turning around again. He went towards the closet and opened it, getting out a fresh shirt. Whoever lived here seemed to be coming more often than once a year after all. “Let me help you.”
Jensen sat up and Jared dressed him, warm hands brushing his naked chest. Jensen had to bite the inside of his cheek to suppress a whimper. “Jared…” He looked up, meeting his stare.
“Don’t,” Jared licked his lips, gaze falling to Jensen’s.
Jensen leaned closer hand coming up to cup Jared’s cheek. But just as he was about to kiss him, a commotion outside startled them.
There was a loud bang at the front door and Jared jumped up, running to the window to look out. “It’s them. Oh fuck!”
“How can you be sure?” Jensen’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Maybe it’s Misha and his men.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so, unless they’d surround us, a couple dozen guns aimed at the house.” Jared sunk down to his knees, closing his eyes. “I guess that’s it then.”
Jensen scrambled out of bed. “Where’s my gun?”
“You only have one bullet left.” Jared informed him, but he pointed at the nightstand. Jensen opened it to find his gun neatly tucked away. He’d expected Jared to have it on him, just in case and he looked over at him in reverence. Jared trusted him. He’d be damned if he let anything happen to him.
“That’s enough to take out Morgan.” Not like it would help with those other guys. He wasn’t even confident he’d be able to get close enough to fire it. But he’d worry about that when he got there.
“I know you’re in there!” A voice boomed from outside and there was a loud bang against the door.
“I put the couch up in front of it.” Jared explained. “He shouldn’t be able to get in.”
Jensen nodded and with Jared’s help, he slowly made his way down the stairs. “Morgan. I have a proposal for you,” he called out.
Silence. Then, “What’s that, Officer Ackles?”
“I’ll give you Jared, even kill him for you, but you let me leave.” As soon as Jensen had announced it, Jared grew still next to him, looking at him with big eyes. Jensen shook his head. He wouldn’t actually do that. Geeze!
“That all you want? Just leave?” Morgan’s voice boomed back and suddenly a window crashed and shots came flying through the house. Jensen ducked, pulling Jared with him.
“Careful, we have explosive ammunition in here. If you don’t want the whole house blowing up, taking you with us, then you better stop shooting.” Jensen tried, surprised himself at how steady his voice sounded.
“You’re bluffing,” Morgan stated.
“You willing to risk it?” Jensen yelled back. He could hear muffled noises outside and the shooting stopped. He let out a sigh of relief. “Also, the deal just raised. Now I want 50,000 dollars to go with it.”
“You think I have this much money? I’m with the force, same as you. You know our salaries,” Morgan replied.
“I also know about your side business. Selling drugs. How much does crime pay, Morgan? Don’t tell me you can’t pay your way out of this. What’s Jared worth to you?” Jensen found Jared’s hand and squeezed tight, needing to reassure him that he was just bullshitting here.
“Get him to me alive and we have a deal,” Morgan suggested.
“You wanna get your own hands dirty? Why?” Jensen closed his eyes. Fuck, he could see why Jared was so terrified.
“Let’s just say we have some unfinished business to attend to. Don’t we, Jay?” Morgan added. “Throwing you in jail was a mistake. I thought it would teach you a lesson and you’d be more appreciative when you got out. But obviously you want it the hard way.”
“So we have a deal?” Jensen asked. He had no idea what to do next. He couldn’t just open the door with his gun drawn and hope the first one would take Morgan down and his goons would leave like that. This was not how it worked.
“Deal.” Morgan affirmed. “Give me Jared and you can leave.”
“What about my money?” Jensen stalled.
“You can work for it. I think I have room for someone like you in my organisation.” Morgan offered.
“Alright, we heard enough. Let’s wrap this up.” A voice boomed at them from a speaker. Misha, Jensen realized. Misha!
“Get down!” He threw himself over Jared, blanketing him close to the ground and then the bullets started flying. They flinched when they hit the house, splinters of wood grazing their arms and legs. Jensen protected his eyes. Shards of glass came next, then the bullets started penetrating the wall right next to them.
They curled up closer and Jensen send up a prayer to whoever might listen to him. Then, just as sudden as it had started, it was silent again. There were voices outside, but no more shooting.
“Jensen?” Misha rapped on the door. “You can come out now.”
Jensen relaxed, whole body shuddering. But when he tried to disentangle himself, Jared held on tighter. “Don’t leave me.”
“Don’t worry,” Jensen whispered, placing a kiss to the top of Jared’s head. “We’re safe now. It’s gonna be okay.” And when he looked back on it, it was probably the most clichéd shit he could have said and done. But he wasn’t responsible for his actions anymore.
“Jensen?” Doubt was creeping into Misha’s voice. “Come on man, tell me you’re okay in there.”
“Fine!” Jensen managed to yell before he finally let go of Jared to stumble to the door. With his last strength he pushed the couch away and opened up.
“Jesus fuck!” Misha took one look at him, then opened his radio. “We need some paramedics in here stat.” And it was the last thing Jensen remembered before he passed out yet again.
This time he woke up in a hospital bed with no one sitting on his bedside. Jared was back in jail, Misha was closing up the case.
However, four weeks later, he was getting released. He’d struck a good deal with Misha and while his conviction couldn’t be overturned, they were releasing him on good behaviour. Jensen was waiting for him outside the building, leaning against his car and waving at Jared as soon as he spotted him.
Jared came over, confusion written all over his face. But Jensen also saw him desperately trying to hide his smile. “Officer Ackles.” Jared nodded. “I don’t need to duck and run next, do I?”
Jensen smirked. “I dunno. You got some other unfinished business you neglected to tell me about?”
Jared pretended to think about it. “I think we’re safe.” He put his bag down on the ground. “You came to escort me to my assigned shelter?”
“Uhm, I found you an apartment, actually.” Jensen opened his trunk and put in Jared’s belongings, avoiding his gaze.
“You serious?” Jared gaped.
“And a job. If you… if you want it. At an electronics store. It’s just stocking up, but Jason said if you prove yourself, they can move you to repairs.” Jensen scratched the back of his neck. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous, but Jared just had that effect on him.
“You got me a job and an apartment? Why?” Jared cocked his head. “What do you want in return?”
“What?” Jensen frowned. “Nothing. I just… I kind of felt responsible for you, and… uhm. Coffee?”
“Coffee?” Jared asked.
“What I want. A coffee date.” He bit his lip. Wrong word. Wrong word! “Err, meeting. A parole meeting over coffee.”
“What, now you’re my parole officer as well?” Jared sounded amused. Good.
“If you want. I made a deal. But if you’d rather never see me again, that’s fine as well.” Jensen had done too much, hadn’t he? It wasn’t nice anymore, it was creepy. Shit.
“No, that’s…” Jared shook his head with a slight chuckle. “I thought I’d probably never see you again.”
“Oh.” Jensen sighed. “So…”
“Let’s go get coffee.” Jared walked around the car. “And then you can tell me all about that new job of mine.”
Jensen smiled. “You’ll like it. It’s a small store, but they don’t judge.”
“Hey, how’s your shoulder?” Jared asked after they both got into the car.
“Fully healed. Doctor said I’m as good as new.” Jensen moved it and flexed his arm muscles to show off.
“Good to know.” Jared winked and smirked at him and Jensen felt a flush creep up his cheeks. He’d never thought that his first prisoner pick-up would lead to this. Even though apparently it had all been arranged by Morgan - IA was supposed to pick Jared up in a secure van the day after - and Beaver got hurt a lot worse. But they’d survived. Jensen should maybe send Morgan a little thank you note to his prison cell. He’d love that. Jensen grinned.
“Coffee?” He started the car.
“Coffee.” Jared affirmed with a nod and a blinding smile that had Jensen melt. Yeah. Sometimes life had it’s way to work out for the best after all.
**
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