Fic: Amaranth (Jensen's Song), JA/Others, Sex Corps verse, (1/2)
Title: Amaranth (Jensen's Song)
Author name: Epeeblade
Genre: AU, RPS, slash, kink, sci-fi
Pairing(s): JA/Sophia Bush, JA/Samantha Ferris, JA/Samantha Smith, JA/Tom Welling, JA/Michael Rosenbaum, the overall series pairing is JA/JDM
Rating: NC-17 for sexual content
Word count: 19,079
Warnings/keywords: explicit sexual content, bdsm, bloodplay, d/s, humiliation (non-sexual), bondage, various sex toys, whipping, masochism, tattoos, piercings, fucking machines, illness, minor (very minor) character death, het and yet no incest :)
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. This in no way depicts the real lives of Jensen Ackles or any of the other actors featured therein.
Series: This is part of the Sex Corps verse. Chronologically it comes before " Whoever Brings the Night" although reading that might give a better picture of the universe.
Notes: This series started out as a simple fic written for lapillus She's been so kind as to beta for me.
Title comes from a Nightwish song. Banner at the end of Part 1 manipped by me:)
Summary: Long before Jensen met Commander Jeff Morgan, he had to become a Sex Corps soldier. This is his story.
Amaranth (Jensen's Song)
By Epeeblade
"Why are you here, Cadet?"
Jensen's first instinct was to answer honestly and literally -- because you tied me into this position. But he kept silent for once, knowing the question wasn't meant precisely that way. Whatever Colonel Ferris meant, she'd get to in her own sweet time. If anything, he'd learned patience from her.
She had attached the manacles on his ankles to hooks in the floor, then had him bend over from the waist while she attached the chain to his soft leather wrist cuffs, so his arms stretched out in front of him. He had nothing to grasp onto, no pole or bar, and unless he wanted to scrabble for the chains, he was out of luck. Jensen knew he had to break himself of that habit soon anyway; it was a weakness he couldn't afford. He didn't have a problem holding this position, never had, even with the weights swinging from the clamps attached to his nipples and hung around his balls. He did, however, had a problem with anticipation, waiting as Ferris circled behind him, most likely standing in front of the wall where the toys hung.
Sometimes she'd chain him facing that wall, so he could anticipate his fate. But now, she didn't want him to know.
A smack hard against once buttock brought his attention back. Stupid, he thought, letting himself get lost in thought. His life could weigh on whether or not he paid attention. Jensen couldn't afford to get lost in this. He had to ignore everything, the pain, the embarrassment, the way all of that made his cock so hard he could barely stand it.
"I asked you a question, Cadet. Why are you here?"
So he answered. "To protect and serve my planet and the UP, sir!"
She moved in front of him, arms crossed, and the flogger tucked under her arm. "Nice try."
The sad thing was, it could have been true.
***
He remembered it being very clear that day, bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky, not even any evidence of the smog that sometimes blew its way over their Texas countryside. They were all in the kitchen: Jared at the table chomping loudly on a piece of toast, Meggie finishing her cereal while Mom and Dad rushed around, doing whatever it was that adults did.
Dad was on the phone with Mr. Stewart, the ranch manager. "That's fine, Frank. Just hold down the fort till we get back later tonight. Hopefully their ship won't be too late."
Mom pulled on a sweater and then pulled it off again. "It's always so cold at the Spaceport," she murmured. "Meggie, go get a sweatshirt, just in case, dear."
"Mom," she sighed. "I'm fine."
"You say that now, but once we're up there you'll be asking to borrow mine." Mom ruffled her hair gently.
Jensen took his breakfast dishes to the sink and rinsed them carefully, the water warm over his hands. Jared always teased him about being a neat freak, but he never liked leaving a mess for his mom. Probably a result of him taking oldest child syndrome too far, after Josh's death. "What time is the shuttle leaving?"
"Nine-thirty, we have plenty of time to get to Dallas," Mom looked at her watch and frowned. "You and Jared are going to be late for school if you don't hurry."
Jensen dried his hands and leaned over to peck her cheek. "Don't see why we have to go when Meggie gets the day off."
"I've never been to the Spaceport before!" she said. "It's educational."
"You're just jealous that you weren't born on another planet like me and Jen," Jared kicked her under the table, but not as hard as he would if their parents weren't watching.
"You don't even remember it," Meggie retorted.
"No, but I got dual citizenship and you don't."
"Jared, stop teasing her," Dad came back into the kitchen, clicking his phone shut. "This is the first time she'll be meeting your grandparents."
Jared's grandparents were the only grandparents Jensen had ever known. He barely remembered them from when they lived on Sienna, couldn't even call up their faces. He knew they had let his parents adopt Jared because the Ackles had just gotten their emigration passes back to Earth. The Padaleckis didn't want their only surviving grandson to grow up in the same war zone that killed his parents and brother. They always sent gifts for all three Ackles children, making no distinction about biology. Jensen never questioned it; Jared was his brother in all the ways that mattered.
"Don't be nervous," Jensen told her. "They're very sweet."
"I wish I could remember," Jared said softly. Not just his grandparents, Jensen knew, but the rest of his family too.
"You'll see them soon enough." Mom tucked her sweater into a canvas shoulder bag. "Meggie go get your sweatshirt, it's time to leave. You boys be good, Jensen make sure Jared comes right home after school."
"Mom, I'm fourteen, I'm not a baby," Jared protested when she took hold of his face and kissed his cheek.
"You'll always be my baby."
That was the last time Jensen saw his parents.
He had just come back from lunch, not skipping like the rest of the seniors who had only two months to graduation. Jensen was supposed to wait for Jared and if that meant sitting through study hall and then health, he'd do it. When he got to study hall, the teacher directed them all into the school gym, the bleachers out and folding chairs set on the court to fit the entire school inside.
"Some announcement or something," one of his friends whispered.
"Hope nobody got busted for underaged drinking in the locker room."
"Again?"
Jensen rolled his eyes. Getting the entire school together for underaged drinking? No, this was something big. Maybe a teacher had died or something. He filed in one of the folding chair rows with the rest of his study hall, scanning the crowd as he arched forward to avoid resting against the hard metal back. The freshmen all seemed to be clustered on the bleachers at the far end of the room. He couldn't make out Jared from back here.
The principal appeared on the stage at the far end of the room, holding the tiny mic in one hand. They hadn't set up a podium for him. He quieted everyone down and waited a moment before he started to speak. "I am very sorry to tell you children this, and I wish it didn't fall to me to announce it like this. Today the planet Earth was attacked by Confederation forces." His voice caught as he spoke the last words and he had to stop and compose himself before continuing.
Whispers of shock spread through the room. Jensen leaned forward, his palms sweaty on his thighs.
"The Alfani Spaceport and the moon base were both attacked and destroyed..."
The words cause blood to rush in Jensen's ears and he barely heard any more.
"...no one knows how they got so close without being detected...warships were sent after them...."
He stood and pushed back his chair. He wasn't the only one who moved, everyone was up and screaming. Other kids had parents who worked at the Spaceport or the moon base, or friends or other family there. He just moved, staggering towards the freshman part of the gym. Jared, he had to find Jared.
Jensen pushed his way through, ignoring the principal's attempts to keep everyone calm. "Jared!"
Then he saw him, his little brother standing on the bleacher steps, his phone pressed to his ear, tears streaming down his face. "Jensen," he whispered as Jensen ran to him and threw his arms around the younger boy. "I keep calling and they don't answer. Why don't they answer?"
***
"I'm not lying," he told Ferris, although he knew she couldn't take him at face value. She was only getting started after all.
Jensen could take much more than this, he knew. Every swipe of the flogger against his ass and back only brought him closer to the edge, his dick straining against its bonds. She had thought better of the setup and added a thick leather strap around the base of his cock. Now she could beat him as hard as she liked and he couldn't come. He wasn't Tom, after all, who could come on nothing more than sharp, sweet pain. Unlike Tom, Jensen had staying power, and that, he knew, was part of the reason they valued him.
"There is lying and there is avoiding the truth," she said, running her fingers over his hot, oversensitive skin. He fought to keep from arching into her touch like a spoiled cat, caught up in he way her hand felt on his back and buttocks, almost soothing.
"Is this supposed to test how I'd do under torture?" he asked, honestly curious.
She laughed. Then she slapped him again, harder this time. He could feel the handprint on his ass long after. "No, Jensen, not torture."
She walked away again, leaving him wondering where she had gone, what she wanted. He bit his lip, tasting sweat and salt, and knew his entire body must be flush with it. Jensen felt too hot and wished he could wipe his own forehead down. All he could do was wait, listening for Ferris to return. When she came back, he heard something being wheeled in across the room. Jensen turned his head as best as he could, hoping that sound didn't meant what he thought it did.
Yes, she had brought in one of the fucking machines.
No, he thought, tensing at the thought, she hadn't prepped him at all. Even with lube this was going to be uncomfortable. "I don't understand what you want."
"I think you do."
***
The thing is, they probably could have made it okay. Dad's manager knew his stuff, and he wasn't the type of guy to try to take advantage of a teenage kid fresh out of high school. Jensen could only be grateful he had turned eighteen last month. They couldn't take away the ranch or Jared. They were doing as best as they could, even if Jared cried himself to sleep every night. Jensen put food on the table, he ran the ranch, he made Jared go to school when it started up again in August, and he tried to be parent, brother and friend in the silent house that used to be a home.
And then Jared got sick.
"Mr. Ackles," the doctor greeted him when he entered the tiny hospital office. They had come here on the recommendation of Jared's regular doctor and after so many tests, there apparently was a diagnosis. Dr. Henry wanted to speak to Jensen alone first.
"Please, just call me Jensen," he said, uncomfortable. He wanted to be out in the waiting room with Jared.
"Jensen, then. Have a seat."
He sat, sinking in the too plush cushion, back against scratchy fabric. Twiddled his thumbs and waited.
"You're Jared's legal guardian, correct?"
"He's my brother," Jensen replied.
"But you are not biological brothers, correct?"
He felt his back stiffen. "My parents adopted Jared when he was six months old. He is as much my brother as any biological sibling, as much as my sister...was."
The doctor waved his hand. "No, no, I didn't mean it like that...Let me explain." Then he pulled out Jared's results. "Your brother has a tumor on his spine."
Jensen thought that was the worst news he could hear, but sat back when the doctor continued that it was treatable. Jared would be ok. Now that they knew what was wrong, they could fix it.
"It won't be the last one, I'm afraid."
"What?" Jensen interrupted. "What do you mean?"
"Jared has a very rare genetic disorder. His body will constantly grow tumors that will need to be removed. Some may be cancerous and some could even grow in his brain. This is a very serious condition."
No, he thought. Jared couldn't leave him too. They were the only family the other had in the world, in the entire galaxy. "You can treat it, right?" Jensen begged, hoping against hope.
"The only way to fight this is with extensive gene therapy."
Jensen didn't know much, then, about gene therapy. He didn't know what would be involved in changing his brother's very DNA. All he knew was that he'd make sure Jared got that treatment, whatever the cost.
First, though, they had to get this tumor out.
Jensen sat by Jared's hospital bed, watching his brother flip through the channels on the tiny 3D viewer on the end of his bed. He hadn't told Jared yet about his disorder, or how there would be more surgeries to come. Jared needed to make it through this first, and spinal surgeries weren't easy.
They weren't cheap either. Although the insurance his parents had purchased for all of them would pay for it, Jensen found it wouldn't pay for the gene therapy. If he sold the ranch, that might cover the cost, but it would leave nothing for generating future income, nor for any additional therapy afterwards. He curled his fingers into fists, still mulling the problem in his mind, unable to sleep at night while worrying.
"There's nothing on." Jared stopped his channel flipping and tossed the remote on the bed, leaving the viewer stuck on some sitcom.
"You're supposed to be getting ready to sleep anyway. They're doing the surgery first thing in the morning."
Jared snorted. "Yeah, I want to be sure to be wide awake for that."
Jensen reached out and covered Jared's hand with his. Before their parents had died, Jared would never have allowed that, but he didn't move, didn't pull his warm hand out from under Jensen's. "You're gonna be ok, Jare, I swear."
Jared didn't answer.
Later, Jensen watched him sleep, the images from the 3D viewer still flickering. He moved to turn it off, but accidentally hit the sound first. That's when, by luck or fate, the ad appeared.
He'd seen it before, promising money for college, the training for a future career, all for joining the military service. Jensen had dismissed it, because he wasn't going to need that, his parents were going to pay for college, once he figured out what he wanted to do. And he wasn't in a hurry to rush out into space and die in the wars. But this time...they talked about standing up the Confederation, about doing one's duty. And they said they would make sure to take care of their soldiers and their families.
For a moment, Jensen believed and that's all he needed.
***
He could work through discomfort, especially when he knew it would not last long. His muscles would stretch, and if he pushed back, just like that, it might even start to feel good. Ferris had hooked him up to the machine -- inserted the long, jelly-like dildo into his ass, set the brakes on the wheels, and then flipped it on. She kept the setting low, so it pistoned so slowly in and out of his body, almost too slow for any real pleasure. But he could not take his focus off of it, was unable to consider anything but the world between his legs.
She had left him here. He heard the door slam behind her, and he felt nothing but relief. The machine was a known quantity, Jensen knew exactly how long and how hard he could take. Unless it broke down, that machine was more reliable than any person who had trained him. The machine wouldn't ask questions he didn't know the answer to.
No, that wasn't true, he thought with a grunt, the sound escaping against his will. Sometimes he found it easier to make noise, to cry out and let the pain go. Even when gagged, he could usually force out a moan or a whimper. Another crutch, he thought, something else he had to work on getting rid of. Otherwise, he was too darn easy to break.
***
Jensen was smart. At least, that's what his teachers told him, and why they put him in advanced classes and made him take those tests. Jensen could have gotten into any college he wanted; he had thrown out the responses unopened when they arrived shortly after his parents' deaths. But he kept that in mind when he went to the recruiter's office in Dallas. He had just come from putting the ranch on the market. Now he needed something more to distract Jared, when he went home to tell his wheelchair-bound brother that they needed to leave their home so Jensen could afford the years-long therapy Jared needed.
From the moment he walked in, he knew the recruiter wanted him to sign up. She didn't blink when he told her exactly what he wanted. Jensen had made up the list the night before. He wanted to keep his brother with him while he went through training. He wanted the best medical care for Jared -- he wanted the cure. And he wanted Jared to be taken care of if something happened to Jensen.
The recruiter smiled at him, handed him an application and signed him up for the physical and mental tests he needed to pass in order to be accepted.
Jensen didn't commit right then. He took the application and her promises home with him. Jared looked up from the couch when he entered and Jensen nearly flinched. Jared had gotten better at maneuvering in and out of the chair, which was only temporary the doctors swore, with enough therapy Jared would walk again, but Jensen always worried Jared would fall, and he couldn't deal with not being here to help.
"Hey, Jen, how did your trip go?"
Jensen sat next to Jared and let his face fall into his hands. He felt Jared's gentle touch on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," Jensen said.
"Why?"
Jared was only fifteen, Jensen thought. Jensen needed to be the adult here. But he couldn't hide the disease from Jared, that he had done so far was outright wrong. So Jensen told him, finally, about the tumors that would ravage his body, and possibly kill him if went unchecked. "The only cure is gene therapy."
Jared swallowed and looked down at his hands. "There is a cure then."
"Jared, it won't be easy. It's the kind of thing that will take years to work." Jensen found himself ruffling his brother's soft hair, like their mother used to do so often. "And the insurance won't cover it. I, I have to sell the ranch."
"Jensen, no!" Jared protested. "You can't sell our home!"
"I'd rather have you alive than a piece of land!"
"Mom and Dad and Meggie lived here," Jared said, his voice thick with tears. "You can't."
Maybe he could figure something out, Jensen thought, maybe he didn't have to sell the house too. "I, Jared, I won't if I don't have to, ok? I have a way to fix things."
"How?"
Jensen pulled the application out of his pocket. "I could enlist at the military academy."
"Jensen! And go fight in the war and die too?"
"Listen, Jared, please, just listen," and he had Jared tucked into his side, tears still leaking from his eyes. "It's four years at the academy, I get a college education too. By then, who knows, things might have changed, the war might even be over. And they'll pay for everything, cover all the medical bills, and we can still stay together...Jared, it's a chance."
Jared hadn't agreed that night. He didn't speak to Jensen for a week, but Jensen put in his application and took the tests the recruiter had ordered. They had poked and prodded him, asked increasingly embarrassing questions. For a brief moment, Jensen worried they would refuse him, that they had found something lacking, that he wasn't fit to do the job. Then he was invited to a meeting with the recruiter, one of the testers and a solemn looking soldier. The recruiter had smiled and asked if he had ever heard of the Sex Corps.
Jensen hadn't, but learned more than he had ever wanted to know. There was no way he could say no, they had offered him everything he had asked for, and if it depended on him trading on his looks and body in a different way, well, then Jensen would just suck it up and deal. Besides, it was all for Jared.
He tried to save the house for Jared. He sold it to the Corps with the understanding that if anything happened to him, the house and ranch would be restored to Jared. He had to give the kid something to hold on to. Jensen knew that just the thought of losing Jared too tore him up inside. He wouldn't wish that fate on his brother; he didn't want Jared lost and alone. But he wanted his brother to have the chance to live like a normal kid, to grow up and go to college and have a first and second love.
This was the only choice.
***
Ferris came back to raise the settings on the machine. She had told him once, and it might have been the very first thing she said to him during training, he didn't really remember, that she would push every limit he had. She'd bring him to the brink and then take him past it. And that he would never break under her watch.
He held the record on this particular machine, and he wasn't anywhere near his limit yet, but he wondered when Ferris was going to come back. She was always good about adding more lube. Mike had once wondered why they didn't invent a machine that squirted lube while it fucked, and Sophia had just made a comment about SOP at the Scut-house. Besides, Mike was the guy on the other end of the machine, and probably didn't want to get his hands dirty constantly adding more lube. Though, that wasn't fair, Jensen thought, Mike might be a sadistic son of a bitch, but he never caused any pain that wasn't wanted.
The door opened again, and Jensen wouldn't have caught it except that he was listening for it, knew that Ferris was trying to be quiet. He was a good boy though, and didn't call her out. He didn't react until the cold slippery lube hit his ass crack, sliding down to where it was most needed. Then he cried out in shock, shifting against his bonds. The tangy scent of the lube Ferris preferred filled the room, covering the smell of sweat and arousal.
"That was nothing, boy," she told him. "Remember the ice you took for me once?"
Oh, that was something, Jensen shivered at the thought. He could feel the strain on his arms and legs suddenly, his back protesting the position. Ferris ran her fingers along his flank, easing the tortured muscles with her skilled touch. "Can you answer me now, Cadet? How far will I have to go today?"
***
Jensen had seen the ocean before, of course, but never like this, standing in front of a huge picture window that gazed off into the Atlantic, away from the city and the rest of the Sea-base, showing nothing but blue for miles and miles. Most families on base lived in these towers, cylinders that rose into the sky like sentinels over the Space ships that were built out here. Jensen would be living in the barracks once he started training, but right now he and Jared lived here together.
"Jensen, this place is huge." Jared came stumbling into the room, still unsure on his forearm crutches. Jensen bit his lip to keep from smiling. A few weeks ago he wasn't sure Jared would walk again at all. "Why do we need three bedrooms?"
"I guess in case we have a guest?" Jensen suggested. The place had come furnished, and though sparse, it had all the essentials: beds and couches and kitchen table and chairs, and all the appliances they could want. They didn't bring much with them, only the contents of their bedrooms, and those things that belonged to Mom and Dad that he couldn't bear to part with, like Dad's silly Texas Rangers baseball cap and the half-finished bit of needlepoint Mom was working on before they left. He knew Jared had kept one of Meggie's stuffed pink cows, hidden at the very bottom of his suitcase.
Jared looked out the window with him and his lips trembled. "It's beautiful, but I still miss home."
"Yeah, kid, me too." Jensen moved to ruffle Jared's hair, although now he had to reach much higher. His brother was growing so fast.
And so were the tumors inside him. The doctor had found another one, this time growing in one leg, not as quickly as the other had, but still there. They were running out of time. Jensen had made appointments with the base doctors for tomorrow, they were considered some of the best on this half of the planet. The sooner Jared's gene treatment started, the better.
A gentle knock at the door broke into the moment and Jensen moved to answer it, leaving Jared alone for a moment. The crutches were new, and no matter how quickly Jared wanted to get back up on his feet, he needed far more physical therapy than he had gotten. Jensen didn't know who to expect -- recruiters with more information for him, the movers who had forgotten something -- but was even more surprised at the older woman who stood there.
"You must be Cadet Ackles," she said with a grin.
He supposed he had better start thinking of himself like that; soon Jared would be the only person in the world who would call Jensen by his first name. "Yes...and you are?"
"They didn't tell you. Of course they didn't." She ran her fingers through her long blond hair, her blue eyes wrinkling at the corners when she smiled at him. "I'm Samantha Smith. They assigned me to your case."
"My case?" Jensen asked, still with no clue what exactly was going on.
"Your brother. He'll need a caretaker while you're in training. I'm also a registered nurse."
In the beginning he didn't want to like Sam. She invaded their lives with a motherly touch that neither of them could stand at first, the pain still too fresh. Later though, when the bad nights came where Jared woke up screaming in pain, the constant treatments that never seemed to work, her gentle touch healed them both.
Sam would stay with Jared while Jensen went into basic training. All cadets, Sex Corps or not, had to endure the same six weeks long bootcamp. Jensen would live with his unit in the barracks, he would live and breathe UP military. The only contact a new cadet in bootcamp had with his or her family until the grueling training period had ended was a rare telephone call on the weekends. It would be the longest Jared and Jensen had been apart since their parents had died.
Jared had watched him leave, leaning against the doorway, his crutches clutched in both hands. Jensen felt his eyes on him all the way to the apartment's elevator tube. He carried nothing but a duffel bag slung over his shoulder with the essentials ordered in his introduction letter. It wasn't nearly enough to hide himself from view. Jensen didn't turn back; he couldn't turn back now.
He had to rely on Sam to take Jared to his appointments, to do the things Jensen couldn't. He had made an agreement, signed the papers that promised his life away in exchange for this care for Jared. And though Jensen desperately wanted to be by Jared's side when his brother underwent his second surgery, he knew it was more important that he fulfilled his obligations. The military would be the ones paying for the surgery, providing the best doctors, ensuring Jared would recover fully. Jensen couldn't turn around and simply stay. It would have to be the first of many separations.
Jensen had a red band on the arm of his cadet uniform, and when he showed up with the rest of his unit the first time, he saw only eight other cadets with the same band. Three were in his unit.
Mike was the first to approach them all, being his usual loud self, making sure all the Scuts sat together at lunch. At first Jensen didn't get Mike, who wasn't unearthly beautiful like Tom or alluring like Sophia. Mike just drew people to him, somehow, and even when he criticized them harshly, no one ended up mad or angry with him. Later, when Jensen learned more about himself, he finally understood Mike's presence in the Corps.
"I heard Cadet Hartley turned down placement with the Scuts," Mike announced that day during lunch. It was week three and Jensen hadn't yet had a chance to call Jared and check up on him.
Sophia looked up from gobbling down her gooey mashed potatoes at that comment. They had little time to eat and at this point during Basic had learned how to swallow fast and not think about the food, they needed the energy just to keep up with the physical demands. "No way. I thought you couldn't say no."
"They bust you down to infantry, I thought," Tom said.
"His placement is Planetside," Jensen said. The other three looked at him and he blushed at the attention. "Hey, you're not the only one people gossip to, Rosenbaum."
"I'm sure you just threw that Texan drawl and they melted all over you, Ackles," Mike shot back. "Who was it? Cadet Bell's in his unit. Don't tell me you're getting some with her on the side."
Sophia slapped his arm. "Ackles wouldn't fuck with someone in Alpha unit, even if she is a Scut, too."
Jensen hated that term at first: Scut - Sex Corp Slut. Everyone threw it around like it was official, even their drill instructor, Colonel Judge. Right now Jensen was being treated like any other military Cadet, but soon his training would change drastically, and he'd be one of them, nothing more than one of the sluts.
"No, he's saving himself for me," Mike shot back and Tom rolled his eyes at both of them.
"What's wrong with Planetside?" Tom turned the conversation back and Jensen shot him a grateful look.
"It's the worst posting. You're pretty much stuck on Earth, you don't get a ship, you don't get to see any action, and you're at the bottom when it comes to promotions."
"That's what he gets for turning down the Scuts," Mike scoffed. "They don't ask just anybody."
"Hah, the way they tell it in Alpha, all you need is to spread your legs and you're in." Sophia frowned.
"So nobody in that unit is smart enough to know it was a Scut that foiled the assassination attempt on the president last year?" Tom snapped.
"You know, guys, I think Cadet Hartley and the rest of Alpha needs to be taught a little lesson," Mike cracked his knuckles.
"We don't know it was Hartley who's been spreading that bullshit," Jensen protested.
"The hell we don't." Mike stood with his tray. They didn't have much time before lunch was over. "I'll get you proof, Ackles, and then you'll see. We'll teach him."
Mike cornered Hartley in the showers the next day. Jensen watched as Mike made sure Hartley got his turn late by getting rid of all available towels, so the Cadet had to go back to laundry to pick up some new ones. Mike, Tom and Jensen stayed behind as everyone filed out, not wanting to be late to roll call.
Hartley got out of the shower, holding his towel around his waist and eyeing the three of them. "What the hell is this?"
"This is just a friendly conversation, Cadet," Mike smiled that creepy little smile. For some reason, whenever he saw it, it sent a little thrill through Jensen. He squirmed now, uncomfortable, but felt that frisson of excitement at watching Mike work.
"I didn't think Scuts were known for talking," Hartley shot back.
"So it's true," Jensen blurted. "You did turn down the Sex Corps."
"We want to know why," Mike cut in, like he had planned Jensen's outburst.
Justin got real close, nearly in Mike's face, like he didn't give a shit that there were three of them. "I don't fuck guys, pretty boy, not even on UP's payroll."
"So you'll let them ground you instead. Well you showed them," Tom said.
Faster than Jensen thought he could move, Hartley whirled, grasped Tom by the collar of his jumpsuit and slammed him into the lockers behind him. Jensen winced at the sound as Tom's head collided with the metal. Tom only grinned. "Go on, hit me. You know you want to."
"Welling," Mike growled under his breath.
Hartley let Tom go and stepped back. "Fuck all of you. I'm not playing in your special club."
He didn't need to play with them, Jensen thought. They just wanted the same respect the other cadets got. Badmouthing the Sex Corps to his unit meant they had to show Hartley they weren't weak and they wouldn't back down.
Mike got the rest of Bravo unit in on it, and a week before Basic was to end, the members of Alpha unit woke up the morning of inspection to find that all of their clothing, every stitch from underwear to dress uniforms, had been replaced with fetish gear. Jensen didn't know where Mike managed to get it all, but he sent them all a message all right.
After supper, Colonel Judge ordered the three of them to come into his office. Jensen frowned at Sophia, who only shrugged. How had Judge known the three of them had orchestrated the whole thing? Jensen filed in after Mike and Tom, closing the door behind him and prepared to get chewed out.
Instead, Colonel Judge raised an eyebrow and grinned. "So that is why you needed all that equipment, Cadet Rosenbaum."
Jensen's eyes widened. Colonel Judge was in on it?
That's when he found out the colonel was a Scut too, a fact the other cadets would have picked up on had they noticed the red instead of black behind the gold on his uniform trim. He avoided the classic Red uniform for a reason, Judge explained, and that was so he could tell who didn't hold his Scuts in high esteem. They tended to change their minds after meeting the huge colonel.
"Now get out there and look like I yelled at you," he ordered. "And not a word to anyone about this."
"Sir, yes sir!"
On the phone with Jared that weekend, Jensen came so close to telling his brother the whole story. But then he'd have to explain about the Sex Corps and he had never mentioned his assignment to his brother. The kid was only 16, Jensen didn't even want him thinking about sex, never mind that he himself had lost his virginity at age 14. That's what he told himself, every time Jensen skirted around the issue and avoided talking about what exactly he'd be studying in the academy.
It wasn't as if he were ashamed, no, that's what the whole prank had been about. Jensen was proud of his friends, proud to be doing his duty, proud to be a member of the UP Sex Corps.
"You're different," Jared had said when Jensen came back.
So was Jared. Back in the wheelchair for now, although he could still hobble around on one leg, he looked thin and pale. His once floppy hair hung limp and lank around his face where dark circles looked like they had taken up permanent residence. The second surgery had been hard enough, and apparently he'd gotten his first round of injections for the gene therapy.
Jensen hated himself for going away for so long. "Is it the haircut?" he asked, running his fingers over his shorn hair. He'd gotten the regulation buzz cut six weeks ago and it was just beginning to fill in nicely.
Happily Jared had laughed. "No, though it looks good on you. It's how you move. You're just different."
"C'mon." Jensen got behind the chair and started to wheel Jared into the kitchen. "Tell me everything that happened while I was gone…did Sam get you registered for school yet? Do we need to get you a uniform?"
He let Jared talk, not always listening to the words, but just happy to let the cadence of his brother's voice wash over him. He had missed him so very, very much.
***
"Please," Jensen begged, still not sure exactly what he was begging for. Longing grew in the pit of his stomach and he just knew that he needed. He could only beg and hope she'd know what to give him.
Ferris's hands were in his hair, sharp tugs pulling his head up and exposing his neck. He could only gaze at her, standing before him like the pinnacle of everything military, everything he was pledging himself to be, in her starched uniform, colonel's insignia bright on her lapel. "Please what?" she demanded, an order he couldn't refuse.
The machine still pummeled him inside. She had turned up the setting after adding more lube, watching him carefully, as Jensen's body bucked and shuddered under its force, now almost too full, too raw. Her will had reduced him to this, nothing more than a body at her mercy. Need swelled inside him and Jensen's cock felt so swollen, nearly painful. "Let me come," he begged, held right on the edge and unable to cross over, not with that ring around his dick.
"Do you think you deserve to come? Have you been a good boy? You haven't answered my question." She tightened her fingers in his hair, roots straining. "Why are you here?"
***
His first day at the academy, Jensen couldn't help his thoughts from wandering to his brother. Sam would take Jared to his first day of high school on the base, filled with other kids who had family in the service. He'd have to repeat sophomore year, missing most of it the first time around from being in the hospital. Jared had stubbornly taken his crutches and refused to show up at school in the wheelchair, despite recommendations that he not push himself so fast. After surgery and beginning gene therapy, Jared needed to take it easy, but he could out-stubborn Jensen when he needed to.
This time, however, Jensen would be going home each night and during the weekends. Unlike the other students, he didn't have to live in the dorm. It was an exception he had demanded.
At first, Jensen had worried exactly what his training would consist of. He was surprised to learn he'd be taking classes in foreign languages, politics, psychology, and diplomacy among other topics. There were only two courses in his schedule dedicated to what he thought of as true Sex Corps training: "A Cultural History of Sex" and "A Hands-on Approach to Sexuality."
"You report to medical yet?" Mike had appeared in the hallway, Tom trailing behind him as usual.
"Medical?" Jensen repeated, his head still not quite on his day. He shook it, reminding himself that he'd see Jared later on.
"C'mon," each of them took a hold of his arms and propelled him down the hallway. "Scuts have to report first of every month. We get physicals more often than the other cadets."
And what Jensen also got was a complicated series of injections. Later he found out they were all given a cocktail of drugs to raise their libido and increase resistance to sexually transmitted diseases. And, of course, they were all made temporarily sterile.
"It's reversible, Jensen, stop freaking out about it," Sophia said during Sex Lab, which is what their little group had taken to calling their last class of the day. That's where they learned most of what was being done to their bodies. "Personally, I think it's great. No time of the month."
"No more excuses for being a bitch," Mike tossed their way.
"At least I had the excuse. What's your reason?"
"Shh," Jensen hushed them as Colonel Ferris, their instructor, finally entered for class.
That's when they learned how truly interactive this course was. Jensen had needed to learn how to lose all shame over his body quickly. Colonel Ferris explained how she would pick volunteers from the class to demonstrate because "you ain't gonna learn this stuff in books," and then proceeded to the class roll where she selected the first name alphabetically -- Ackles, of course.
Jensen walked to the front of the class, his heart pounding in his chest. He could feel his face heating and he just knew he was blushing, before the woman had even started anything. All eyes in the classroom were directed on him, Jensen's friends, classmates, people he barely knew. Then Ferris asked him to strip, indicating where to put his uniform.
Later, he wondered why he didn't question her at all. Jensen had said "yes, sir" and done her bidding, stripping down to nothing in the front of the room, his entire body pink with embarrassment. He couldn't hide at all, and he really couldn't hide his erection. It surprised him, then, how he could feel so mortified and yet be so turned on at the same time. Ferris didn't even raise an eyebrow at him, merely moved his body the way she wanted to and began her demonstration. His skin felt hyper sensitive where she touched him and somehow he wanted more, though even then he knew better than to ask for it.
Jensen tried turning it over in his mind at home, how he had felt while on display. It was more than simple exhibitionism, Hell, they all had seen each other naked before in Basic. It had something to do with the way Ferris had commanded him, something in the desire to please and do well, and how it all got mixed up somehow with sex in his mind. Her commands were nothing like his orders during bootcamp, otherwise, he would have gotten hard every time he had to drop and do twenty. Of course there he was simply one of many, with Ferris, he felt singled out, special. He didn't come up with any answers then, and merely shook his head in relief that Sophia would come next in the roll.
Ferris would often pick on him as one of her volunteers, and he'd have to come to the front of the classroom and strip off his gray Cadet uniform for whatever demonstration she had planned. Jensen never could stop blushing, no matter how many times they did this. Though one time he counted and he swore Ferris called on him more to volunteer than anyone else.
"I think she likes the way you blush," Sophia had said.
"She probably just doesn't want to call out for 'Bush' all the time," Mike snickered. He never got tired of mocking her name. When General Beaver addressed the group at assembly, he had to shove his entire fist in his mouth to keep from embarrassing them all.
"She always calls on me to demonstrate the kinky stuff," Jensen complained.
"Like you don't love it," Tom protested.
Jensen blushed, because he did. He couldn't hide it any longer, they were taught never to ignore their bodies and Jensen's responded to each of the items Ferris tried out on him. His list of demos included nipple clamps, cock rings, collars and leashes. Today they were going to do butt plugs and he just knew his ass would end up on that huge table at the front of the lecture hall. "You ever wonder how they choose us for this? Who gets to do what?"
"You know, why don't we find out?" Mike gave them all that same mischievous grin from Basic.
That was how they all ended up, hours later, sneaking into the Academy office to hack into the computers that held their records. They all had sore asses this time, because Ferris had distributed the plugs and made everyone try them out, taking turns practicing on both male and female partners. Jensen found himself struggling with the contradiction between the intimate and the perfunctory. How could he look at Sophia or Tom now, knowing what he had done to them earlier? How could he not?
"Got it," Tom said, cracking the seal quickly. He wasn't chosen for the Corps solely for his good looks.
They all gathered around him as he pulled up each of their records. Jensen frowned at his own rating of 'submissive,' that wasn't how he thought of himself at all, and complained.
"Oh?" Mike said in his ear, "Then how come whenever Ferris makes you get on your knees you pop a boner so fast you break the sound barrier?"
Jensen shivered at the dark voice. How did Mike do that? "I just...I'm not weak," he protested.
Sophia looked over at him. "Oh, Ackles. You have been sheltered, haven't you?"
"Shut up," Jensen said, not wanting to deal with the revelation right then. So he pointed to the screen and Tom kept flipping. Mike got rated as a sadist -- no surprise there -- to Tom's listing as "masochist - rank 1." Sophia's ranking -- switch -- had a note indicating 'can be anything required for situation', which had her grinning smugly. They were all rated with bisexual tendencies.
"Do me a favor and look up Hartley," Mike said. "If they were considering him, he must have a rating."
"You still stuck on him?" Tom spat. "He's not that hot."
"Not even in the leather shorts?" Mike teased, running a hand down Tom's back, nails first scratching hard. Tom shuddered at the touch before focusing his attention back on the screen.
"Huh," Tom said. "He's from a military family. Both parents in the Corps, Space not Scut."
"'Course," Mike murmured. "His rating?"
"Dominant, heterosexual," Tom replied.
"Clearly," Jensen rolled his eyes. "Like that's a big surprise."
"Come on, let's get out of here," Sophia said, prompting Tom to shut down and set the alarm to turn back on after they left.
Jensen walked Sophia back to her dorm, the guys splitting with them to head back to the male dorm on the other side of the building. His head swam with what he had learned. Jensen had never put a label on himself and before coming here to the Academy, had never thought his sexual experiences made him out to be submissive at all. Although Ferris' labs seemed to bring that out in him, coaxing responses he wasn't sure he could have given normally. He couldn't blame Ferris, even if he wanted to, Jensen couldn't deny the reactions of his own body, no matter how much his mind protested.
"I don't have a roommate," Sophia said suddenly.
Jensen gave her a sideways look, thoughts interrupted and uncertain exactly where she was going with this.
"It's one of the Scut privileges," she smiled at him. "They want us to bring people back to our rooms."
He was going to throw back a joke in reply, something about wanting to bring as many people back as possible, but then he finally got what she was hinting at. "Oh, you want, you mean."
Sophia laughed. "Come on Ackles, show me how submissive you aren't."
He wanted to prove her wrong, he really did, but from the moment she locked the door behind her, Sophia had him at her mercy. She let down her long dark hair from its regulation bun and fixated her smoldering, dark gaze on him. Jensen could do little more than worship her, sliding his hands over smooth skin, cataloging each touch that made her shiver or moan. He held her heavy breasts in each hand, dipping down to kiss them, soft wet kisses that became suckling on her nipples. She tasted of smoke and salt, her nipples tight against his tongue, he breathed her in, taking in the rich scent of female musk.
She prodded him towards the bed, helping him out of his jumpsuit - when had it gotten so difficult to undo a simple zipper? Now she took the time to explore, finding out exactly what made him writhe beneath her fingers. He arched up when she pinched his nipples - he had found how much he enjoyed that type of play when Ferris had placed the weighted nipple clamps on him not that long ago - but he moaned when she licked that area just behind his balls.
"You're so sensitive," she marveled, cupping him with one hand. Jensen threw his head back, closing his eyes against the sight of her straddling him, hair brushing over her full chest. If he didn't look away now, this would be over all too soon. "You," she said again, her voice hushed and low, "Look at you, it's like you were made for this."
He didn't know exactly what she meant by that, but didn't have time to think about it, because then she was over him, sliding him up inside her with one swift motion. Jensen caught her around her hips, in some misguided attempt to control the motion. Sophia could never be guided, she always moved at her own pace. So he merely held on, nothing more than her toy to be ridden. He arched up when he felt her clamp around him, encasing him in slick heat that was nearly painfully tight. She cried out above him and he let himself go, coming up into her in heavy spurts.
That was the first time he slept with Sophia, and one of the few times they managed it outside of class and duty. She always seemed to know what he needed, her own gift, he supposed. That night she made him remember all the things he liked about sex when it wasn't a duty or a demonstration. He found freedom between her thighs, healing at her hands, and a deeper connection with a dear friend. Jensen discovered his power in this, the power to worship, to let go, and fall deeper into the simplicity of desire.
Jared gave him an annoyed look over the breakfast table the next morning. "I heard you coming in!"
"You shouldn't have waited up," Jensen retorted, pouring some milk over a bowl of cereal.
"I didn't, you came home after my morning alarm went off."
"Oh. Jared." Jensen sat down, feeling ashamed that he had left his little brother home without word, despite Sam's presence in the third bedroom. Before he could apologize, Jared quirked a grin at him.
"So, was she hot?"
"I am not having this conversation with you." Jensen could feel himself blushing and cursed his stupid pale skin.
"What, like I didn't know you were sneaking Lauren into the hayloft back home?"
"You were thirteen!" Jensen thought back, trying to remember if he had noticed Jared following him back then.
Jared just shook his head and rolled away from the table. Jensen frowned at the presence of the wheelchair. "Rough night?"
His brother reached out to rub at his knee. "Had a treatment yesterday. They make me feel achy sometimes. Want to save the walking for school."
"Did you talk to Sam about the aches?" Jensen asked. He had to remember to question her thoroughly about Jared's treatment, about exactly what was going on and how much pain he'd be in.
"They're changing my entire DNA," Jared grumbled. "I'd be more worried if it didn't ache."
Jensen touched Jared's hair, gently. "Still, I don't like it when you're in pain." And Jared wouldn't be, if Jensen could help it.
***
Jensen could feel the tears pooling in his eyes. He fought to keep them open, to not let Ferris see the frustration rising up in him. So much depended on him keeping control, keeping a tight reign on himself, even in the midst of a scene. She frowned down at him and just when he thought she might slap him, Ferris leaned down and brushed their lips together in a kiss. The gentleness startled him, it was such a contrast between the machine pounding into his ass - which was really starting to get sore now - and the strains in his muscles, the bruises all along his back.
It was the gentleness that did it. Jensen let himself fall, knowing she would catch him. Right now she was his master, she would give the care he needed. So when she finally whispered, "Why are you here, Scut?"
"Because I need it," Jensen gasped back. He knew he must look all fucked out, skin flushed, lips bitten to hell, hair all askew from her fingers. Ferris liked him like that. He wanted to oblige, he wanted to be the boy she deserved.
Ferris let go of his hair and stepped away. When she turned off the machine and pulled it out of him, Jensen finally let the tears fall.
Part Two
