Of Wings To Fly (Part Three)
Title: Of Wings to Fly
Author:
hunters_retreat
Rating: R
Summary: Jared Padalecki is the world’s foremost Augmentor, an expert in making life better through technological advancement. He’s designed steam-fueled carriages and even made improvements to his brother’s airship. His passion though is to help the less fortunate, to use mechanics and gear work to help heal broken bodies. In all his years as an Augmentor, Jared has never let any of his clients get under his skin, but no other client has ever been like Jensen Ackles before. Jensen is a Mer with surgically created legs instead of a tail and a broken exoskeleton that should make it possible for him to walk.
It isn’t a simple task. From the first observation, something feels wrong to Jared. His desire to help Jensen takes him on a long journey, through confidantes and betrayal, airship flights and naval battles, to grief and love. As Jared and Jensen find the truth behind the broken exoskeleton, they find an even greater truth. It doesn’t take wings to learn to fly.
Or, the J2 AU Steampunk Little Mermaid.
Jared stared at the file in his hand and closed his eyes. The tests were conclusive. Jensen had to have known they would be. It had taken some time to get the results back and even longer before Jensen had consented to the tests in the first place. Even though Jared had needed to see the work up the laboratory had done on Jensen’s blood, Jensen had been steadfast in his denial and it had taken over a month to convince him of the necessity. He knew why now.
He’d sent word to Jensen to schedule another appointment but he hadn’t told the Mer why. Alona seemed to recognize his frustration because she had been doing her best to cheer him up as the day went along.
“I’ll just bring the tea in now,” she said, setting the silver tray on the serving table at the side of his office. She usually set it on his desk but she sensed his need for a more formal setting.
“Thank you, Alona.”
She smiled at him and placed a comforting hand on his arm. It was perhaps too familiar for a young woman of her status, but they were alone and Alona knew there was no hope that there could ever be anything between them. It was simply a friendly gesture of support.
“I don’t know what has you so concerned today, Doctor, but Mr. Ackles is a good client and he seems to enjoy your company. You should remember that.”
He gave her a tight lipped smile and a nod before she left the office and went back to her own desk. A few minutes later, she was back with Jensen behind her.
“Jared, I was surprised to see you needed to see me so soon,” he said with a small smile.
It was still as warm as it had been the night at dinner and Jared wanted it to mean something but he didn’t know what he could believe about Jensen Ackles.
“Did you have more questions since last week?” Jensen asked. “I don’t know that I can tell you any more about the exoskeleton that you don’t know.”
Jared took a deep breath and let it out before he spoke. This was too personal. Jared felt betrayed in ways that he knew were far beyond the patient-doctor relationship.
“I want to know what really happened, Jensen.”
Jensen sat straighter in his chair and opened his mouth to speak but Jared stopped him.
“The truth, Jensen, or nothing at all. I won’t have you lying to me. I know you don’t have a wasting disease. For the love of God, Jensen, what made you butcher your tail for a set of mechanical legs that don’t even work?”
Jensen’s eyes were wide in shock and his knuckles were white against the rests on his chair. His face was flushed red but after a few attempts to speak, he closed his lips in a flat line and stared angrily at Jared.
“I can’t fix anything if I don’t know what happened.”
“What happened is that I came to the world’s most renowned Augmentor and was told he could make my legs work again. How I got my exoskeleton and the reason I chose to do so are not any of your concern. Why I chose to … butcher,” he spat the word at Jared and he flinched at the vehemence, “my tail is a personal question that you do not have the right to ask.”
He turned his chair around and left the office before Jared could process it. Jared was the one that Jensen had been lying to; he was the one that needed an explanation, so why did he feel so guilty for asking for the truth?
He ran out into the lobby where Alona was holding the door for Jensen.
“Jensen!” The Mer haltered but he didn’t turn around to look at Jared. “Your next appointment is still in two weeks.”
“Are you going to demand something that is not in your right to own?” Jensen asked, his head tilted to the side slightly.
Jared let out a deep breath. “I won’t push, but I can’t help but ask. You can trust me, Jensen.”
Jensen didn’t answer but rolled away. Alona looked between the two of them in confusion but Jared just went back to his office, set his hands on his desk and buried his head there in an attempt to understand just how Jensen Ackles confused and controlled his mind so.
A week later Jared found himself in a quiet corner of a pub that his mentor had introduced him to many years before. His friend was already there in the back booth, a mug of ale in hand. Another mug sat on the table for Jared. Jared didn’t know if Jeff still had business in the city to attend to or if he’d stayed around to be with Jared tonight, but he was grateful he was able to be there either way.
Jeff looked horrid. Dark circles surrounded his eyes and his skin was sallow and sickly. Jared had seen him look worse, but only once. He had a right to it tonight. Jared just hoped that Jeff had found something to get him through the next few days. Something besides ale and whiskey.
“Jared, good to see you my friend,” Jeff said as he tilted his mug up in cheers.
Jared took a seat next to him and grabbed his own mug to drink. It was fine ale, the best the pub had but Jared wished this conversation could have taken place anywhere else.
“How are you Jeff?” he asked as he set his mug down.
Jeff sighed. “She was my bright star, Jared,” he said softly. “She was my everything and don’t think I didn’t notice she had a soft spot for you. She was beautiful. I should have fought harder, you know, to keep her with me. I should have put my foot down and told her no.”
Jared sighed. “Jeff, there was nothing you could have done. Gen was head strong and knew her own mind well enough to fight you for it. She wanted to learn about the bottoms of the oceans and the life of the Mer. Dry land wasn’t enough to hold her.”
“Neither was the ocean,” Jeff said sorely.
“To Gen,” he raised his glass as he spoke. He hoped it would move Jeff out of the angry place he was now but Jared didn’t believe it would.
“Five years ago, you left me alone, baby,” Jeff said softly. “But don’t you worry; Daddy took care of it all. Daddy made sure it wouldn’t ever happen again.”
“Jeff?”
“You’re a good friend, Jared, being with me tonight. I’m not good company and I know it. My mind is going to dark places and I want to wallow in it today. Thank you, for facing that with me.”
Jared gave him a small smile. “I’ll always be here, Jeff. If it wasn’t for you, I would never have made it through University to become an Augmentor. I owe you everything.”
“You did the work, Jared. I just gave you a well-deserved clap on the back every so often.”
Jared raised his glass one more time. “Then, to good friends who will always be there when we need them.”
"Are you ready to tell me how it happened?"
Jensen stared blankly down at his lifeless legs and sighed. A bare hint of head movement and Jared knew it was the most he'd get today. Since their fight, Jensen spoke in a clipped voice if he deigned to speak at all.
He still didn't know what had happened to Jensen. In the four months he'd been treating the Mer, he’d been lied to about what had caused him to acquire legs, and he’d never explained what happened when the exoskeleton ceased to function.
"Fine. I think today we'll start with the connectors that integrate your neuro-feedback into the exoskeleton." He’d spent far more time working through the neurological uplinks and receivers than he normally would but he kept hoping to find a way around the skin and tissue grafting. Each time he had a new idea he went back to Jensen’s system to see if it would work and grew more and more frustrated when he found a reason it wouldn’t work.
Jensen let out a small sigh but it was as close to frustration as Jared had heard from him yet.
"Jensen, I know it doesn't seem like we've made any progress but you have to give it time. Every visit we eliminate some system and that helps us narrow down the underlying problem. It is time consuming and I know you must be frustrated but we have to keep working. I told you on your first visit that if there was any way to repair the damage I would. Please, don’t start to doubt me now. Not because of what I said before."
Jensen looked sharply up at him. He glared at him for a moment before he gave a nod and Jared took that for permission to start working again.
It was a mess, honestly. Jared knew the wiring was deliberately complex, sometimes twisting back on itself to make it difficult to follow and repair. In some places, metal tubing was used in the framework where solid metal would have better supported the frame, but solid metal was used in places where it weighed down the skeleton too much. Jared hadn't said anything about it to Jensen yet, hadn’t been able to voice it aloud yet, but he had begun to believe it wasn’t incompetence of design that had caused Jensen’s exoskeleton to fail. Jared believed it had been designed to.
The neuro-grafting had been expertly done, though the interfaces were placed in areas that would get the maximum damage. There was no way to remove them without permanent damage to the nerves. Any repair would leave Jensen with a painful procedure and a long recovery time, if it didn’t do more damage.
Jared tried not to think of the other aspects of the land enhancements that couldn’t be undone; the surgery that had cut back the delicate webbing between Jensen’s fingers and toes or the way Jensen’s once beautiful tail had been cut and stitched around bone that mimicked human legs.
Jared was horrified that someone had done this to Jensen and he had no desire to know if it had been destructive self-disgust that did this to him or if it had been a crime against him. Whoever had mutilated Jensen’s body, they had taken something truly glorious and turned it into a horror show and Jensen refused to speak the truth of what had happened.
Jared couldn't undo the damage to Jensen’s tail or webbing but he was world renowned for his adaptive mechanics. He had to try to fix the exoskeleton. Jensen couldn’t return to the Mer and his exoskeleton was all the chance that Jensen had to a normal life.
As Jared began probing the connectors to make sure they were in proper alignment, he focused on the mechanical side of the problem and forced his mind away for the ever present ache he had when he had to witness the disfiguration of such a beautiful creature.
Osric’s face was ashen as he approached Jared’s work table. Jared had asked him to review the schematics of Jensen’s exoskeleton that morning after his first appointment and his apprentice had disappeared with them, along with a small part of the exoskeleton that Jared had removed for further study. Osric had worked through lunch when Alona brought it back to him and he’d never stopped until now.
In his hand, he had the compiled list Jared had asked him to do; the differences between the schematic that Jensen had given him and the one that Jared had made after four months of observation and work.
“Jared, do you have a minute?”
He’d been waiting for this moment since he’d given Osric the task. He’d expected his apprentice to come to him earlier, but it was obvious from the list he’d made and the time he’d taken that he had finished the task before he had come over with his questions.
“Of course, Osric. What can I do for you?”
“You already know what this all means,” Osric said coldly. “Why did you have me look over this too?”
Jared took a deep breath, surprised by the anger the young man was showing but only slightly.
“I know what it means but I needed another opinion. I’ll be honest and tell you that I feel I am somewhat compromised when it comes to my emotional reaction to this client.”
Though it wasn’t spoken aloud, Osric and Alona were both aware of his private inclinations. They didn’t judge him for it and he felt safe enough to admit to his failings to them now. Alona chose that moment to walk past and she stopped at the doorway until Jared waved her in. She was as familiar with his concerns about Jensen as Osric was. It wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret that Jared wore his best outfits when Jensen was supposed to come into the office, or that he cleaned his office up so that he could meet and have tea with Jensen there before they began his assessments.
“Tell me what you found, Osric,” he said when Alona had situated herself.
“Here is the full list of items I found that differed from the schematics that the client gave us as opposed to what we were able to put together ourselves. I know you don’t want me to read it to you. I know what you really wanted me to look for, and I found it.”
He stopped to retrieve a small portion of the exoskeleton. Jared had taken it off so they could begin to repair it but as soon as he’d started he’d realized it was so much more difficult that replacing it piece by piece. That was when he’d asked for Osric’s help. He was still an apprentice but only just.
By this time next year, he would be among the few who could call themselves Augmentors. Jared would be proud to call the man his colleague and he thought that perhaps he might just leave his business to the young man. His brother had asked for help time and time again and while Jared loved the skies, he’d always held back in the hopes of finding something on land. He still hadn’t and he was beginning to think it might be time to turn his romantic notions to something more productive. His career was at its peak but he would love to take a hand at the type of augmentations that his brother had asked for but that he’d never had the time to implement.
“That’s from Mr. Ackles’ exoskeleton, isn’t it?” Alona asked.
“It is,” Osric said softly. “I took both sets of schematics and looked at the piece I had. When I look at the first schematic, it should work. The design is, frankly, brilliant, and the way it was designed would leave little permanent damage done to the exoskeleton or the neural structure of the client.”
“So what went wrong?” Alona asked.
“It wasn’t done according to the schematics. The schematics that you drew up, Jared, are faulty from the very beginning. The wiring doubles back on itself and does so in ways that will be painful to fix. The structure is too bulky when it needs to be light and too light where it takes the most structural pressure. Aside from the wiring and construction, the transceivers are placed in locations that are not only likely to hurt the client but that will take the utmost wear and tear, and therefore will need to be replaced. The replacement process, again, will be painful and time consuming, if not ultimately damaging to the client’s neural pathways.”
“Your conclusion?” Jared asked.
“This exoskeleton was made to fall apart. It worked perfectly for a few months perhaps, but then the problems began and they continued until there was nothing left but a hunk of metal attached to a client who couldn’t remove it, replace it, or move without it.”
Jared let out a deep breath. He’d come to the same conclusion himself but he had hoped it was only his feelings for Jensen that had brought him to that dark deduction.
“I don’t understand,” Osric continued. “I don’t know how someone could do this to Jensen. This Dr. Johns had months to get to know him before he started the surgeries. I don’t know him half as well as you, Jared, but how could someone know Jensen even a little and still want to do this to him? I just… I don’t understand.”
Alona shuddered at the thought and Osric wrapped a protective arm over her shoulder. “He’s a very nice man, smart and funny when you can get him to talk. Can you imagine what he was like before all this?” she asked.
Osric led her out of the office with a tight nod to Jared that let him know Osric would make sure she was alright.
It left Jared alone with the part of Jensen’s exoskeleton, both sets of schematics, and the need for a strong drink.
He looked at the pieces of connecting metal in his hand and his anger began to rise. Jensen was just what Alona had said. Kind. Considerate. He and Jensen had the beginnings of friendship, maybe even something more once this was all said and done. He had no idea how someone could hurt him on purpose.
Was the suit designed for someone else? Had it been intended for another target but Jensen was easier? Had he been the target all along?
Months of designs, Jared thought as he wrapped his hand around the metal. Preparations for surgery. The care and keeping of the client as he recovered from the operation that mutilated his hands, feet, and his tail. Hours upon hours of consultations to get the right measurements and fit for the exoskeleton and then the hours of labor to craft the metal and wiring. The final surgery to place the neural transmitters and receivers and to attach the exoskeleton. Not to mention the time and expense of setting up a false identity and a false office. How morally bankrupt could a soul be to dedicate that amount of their time and resources to inflict that sort of pain on someone else?
The metal clenched in his fists was cold and light and nothing that it should have been. There were no markings to identify the false doctor and there was no way to trace this back to the man who should have healed Jensen, rather than break him further.
Jared’s anger got the best of him and he screamed his rage at the wall. The metal piece shattered as he threw it, unable to withstand even that simple pressure.
Jared slid down to the ground in front of his desk and pulled his knees up to bury his head there. He didn’t let his tears fall, but he mourned the Mer Jensen had once been, and he mourned the chance to see him as he had wanted to be.
Jared couldn’t fix the suit without doing possible damage to Jensen’s body. He’d have to start with a while new design, a whole new concept, or admit defeat.
When he looked at the shattered metal, he let out a shaky breath. No matter what else happened, he could never give in and let this bastard win. He would find a way to get Jensen back on his feet. He would do more than make him walk. He would make Jensen fly.
The next morning Jared was left to face the mess alone. Alona and Osric weren’t due in until later and Jared wanted to clean up the pieces of Jensen’s shattered exoskeleton before they came in.
He scooped up the pieces and placed them back on the desk, grateful that most of it had broken into a few big chunks. He grabbed those and placed those on his table before he began to sort through the mess.
He went through each piece and inspected it to see if there was any structural damage. If it could be used again. he put it in a pile. The pieces that couldn’t were set aside to be melted and remolded into new parts.
It was tedious work but he was the one who had thrown it in a fit of temper and he would have to be the one to go through it now.
There were two other pieces of Jensen’s exoskeleton in the drafting room and he planned to have Osric give them the same treatment.
He turned over a small hollow tube - one that should never have been on a structural component - and gasped at the one thing he had never expected to find.
He traced his fingers over the small brand on the metal tubing and walked over to the desk. He sat down at his chair and flipped on the lamp. He grabbed his oculus and set it to one of the lower magnifications so he could see the brand more clearly.
“No,” he said softly as he looked at the three pointed flower design. It wouldn’t mean much to someone outside their field but it was a brand that told Jared just who the maker was. The last thing he had expected to see was the maker’s brand when the maker had worked so hard to cover his identity. It was a mistake but a crucial one that told Jared who had done this to Jensen.
And he knew that design. He’d been there when a young woman had brought the design to her father for his approval. He’d been there when it had been made into a metal stamp. Jared had been there the first time it had been set to metal.
Jeff used it for private projects, the ones that he deemed the most problematic and those that had significance to him on a personal level. It was his mentor’s design and it was with a sick feeling in his stomach that he realized Jeff was capable of targeting someone for such horrors.
Five years ago, Jeff had nearly fallen apart at his daughter’s death. She’d loved the ocean and the Mer and she’d been happy there. Five years ago, she’d died wearing one of Jeff’s waterlungs and he’d blamed himself and the Mer in equal measure. Six months later, Jeff had come to grips with his grief, or so Jared had believed. Now Jared knew why. Jeff hadn’t learned to cope; he’d set himself on the path of vengeance.
Jared didn’t know how Jensen had become the target of Jeff’s rage though. He wanted to talk to Jensen and figure it out, but he knew Jensen would never talk. What he needed was to understand more about the Mer political world as it currently was. He was only peripherally aware of the comings and goings of the Mer these days but he had a horrible feeling that there was something larger than just a broken tail in all of Jeff’s plotting. He remembered the dark words of Jeff’s on the anniversary of Gen’s death.
A knock at the door drew his attention away and he mustered his best smile as he saw a young boy watching him. “Dr. Padalecki,” he said as he came forward with a stack of letters, tied with a string. “Captain Noah said you’d be wanting these, Sir.” The young man handed him the stack of letters and Jared reached into his pocket and handed him a coin in exchange for the delivery.
“Is Noah on the ship today?”
“Yes Sir, and he said he’s always available if you need him, Sir.”
“Let him know I’ll be by for tea this afternoon. I have some appointments to see to first but I have a matter I need to speak to him about. It’s rather urgent.”
“I’ll let him know, Sir.”
The boy headed off and Jared took the letters out to Alona’s desk and left them for her to find when she came in. He closed the door to his office then, intent to finish his perusal of the broken pieces, see if any others bore Jeff’s mark, and then to see his one appointment before he could make it over to the airship in time for tea.
On to Chapter Four
Author:
hunters_retreat
Rating: R
Summary: Jared Padalecki is the world’s foremost Augmentor, an expert in making life better through technological advancement. He’s designed steam-fueled carriages and even made improvements to his brother’s airship. His passion though is to help the less fortunate, to use mechanics and gear work to help heal broken bodies. In all his years as an Augmentor, Jared has never let any of his clients get under his skin, but no other client has ever been like Jensen Ackles before. Jensen is a Mer with surgically created legs instead of a tail and a broken exoskeleton that should make it possible for him to walk.
It isn’t a simple task. From the first observation, something feels wrong to Jared. His desire to help Jensen takes him on a long journey, through confidantes and betrayal, airship flights and naval battles, to grief and love. As Jared and Jensen find the truth behind the broken exoskeleton, they find an even greater truth. It doesn’t take wings to learn to fly.
Or, the J2 AU Steampunk Little Mermaid.
Jared stared at the file in his hand and closed his eyes. The tests were conclusive. Jensen had to have known they would be. It had taken some time to get the results back and even longer before Jensen had consented to the tests in the first place. Even though Jared had needed to see the work up the laboratory had done on Jensen’s blood, Jensen had been steadfast in his denial and it had taken over a month to convince him of the necessity. He knew why now.
He’d sent word to Jensen to schedule another appointment but he hadn’t told the Mer why. Alona seemed to recognize his frustration because she had been doing her best to cheer him up as the day went along.
“I’ll just bring the tea in now,” she said, setting the silver tray on the serving table at the side of his office. She usually set it on his desk but she sensed his need for a more formal setting.
“Thank you, Alona.”
She smiled at him and placed a comforting hand on his arm. It was perhaps too familiar for a young woman of her status, but they were alone and Alona knew there was no hope that there could ever be anything between them. It was simply a friendly gesture of support.
“I don’t know what has you so concerned today, Doctor, but Mr. Ackles is a good client and he seems to enjoy your company. You should remember that.”
He gave her a tight lipped smile and a nod before she left the office and went back to her own desk. A few minutes later, she was back with Jensen behind her.
“Jared, I was surprised to see you needed to see me so soon,” he said with a small smile.
It was still as warm as it had been the night at dinner and Jared wanted it to mean something but he didn’t know what he could believe about Jensen Ackles.
“Did you have more questions since last week?” Jensen asked. “I don’t know that I can tell you any more about the exoskeleton that you don’t know.”
Jared took a deep breath and let it out before he spoke. This was too personal. Jared felt betrayed in ways that he knew were far beyond the patient-doctor relationship.
“I want to know what really happened, Jensen.”
Jensen sat straighter in his chair and opened his mouth to speak but Jared stopped him.
“The truth, Jensen, or nothing at all. I won’t have you lying to me. I know you don’t have a wasting disease. For the love of God, Jensen, what made you butcher your tail for a set of mechanical legs that don’t even work?”
Jensen’s eyes were wide in shock and his knuckles were white against the rests on his chair. His face was flushed red but after a few attempts to speak, he closed his lips in a flat line and stared angrily at Jared.
“I can’t fix anything if I don’t know what happened.”
“What happened is that I came to the world’s most renowned Augmentor and was told he could make my legs work again. How I got my exoskeleton and the reason I chose to do so are not any of your concern. Why I chose to … butcher,” he spat the word at Jared and he flinched at the vehemence, “my tail is a personal question that you do not have the right to ask.”
He turned his chair around and left the office before Jared could process it. Jared was the one that Jensen had been lying to; he was the one that needed an explanation, so why did he feel so guilty for asking for the truth?
He ran out into the lobby where Alona was holding the door for Jensen.
“Jensen!” The Mer haltered but he didn’t turn around to look at Jared. “Your next appointment is still in two weeks.”
“Are you going to demand something that is not in your right to own?” Jensen asked, his head tilted to the side slightly.
Jared let out a deep breath. “I won’t push, but I can’t help but ask. You can trust me, Jensen.”
Jensen didn’t answer but rolled away. Alona looked between the two of them in confusion but Jared just went back to his office, set his hands on his desk and buried his head there in an attempt to understand just how Jensen Ackles confused and controlled his mind so.
A week later Jared found himself in a quiet corner of a pub that his mentor had introduced him to many years before. His friend was already there in the back booth, a mug of ale in hand. Another mug sat on the table for Jared. Jared didn’t know if Jeff still had business in the city to attend to or if he’d stayed around to be with Jared tonight, but he was grateful he was able to be there either way.
Jeff looked horrid. Dark circles surrounded his eyes and his skin was sallow and sickly. Jared had seen him look worse, but only once. He had a right to it tonight. Jared just hoped that Jeff had found something to get him through the next few days. Something besides ale and whiskey.
“Jared, good to see you my friend,” Jeff said as he tilted his mug up in cheers.
Jared took a seat next to him and grabbed his own mug to drink. It was fine ale, the best the pub had but Jared wished this conversation could have taken place anywhere else.
“How are you Jeff?” he asked as he set his mug down.
Jeff sighed. “She was my bright star, Jared,” he said softly. “She was my everything and don’t think I didn’t notice she had a soft spot for you. She was beautiful. I should have fought harder, you know, to keep her with me. I should have put my foot down and told her no.”
Jared sighed. “Jeff, there was nothing you could have done. Gen was head strong and knew her own mind well enough to fight you for it. She wanted to learn about the bottoms of the oceans and the life of the Mer. Dry land wasn’t enough to hold her.”
“Neither was the ocean,” Jeff said sorely.
“To Gen,” he raised his glass as he spoke. He hoped it would move Jeff out of the angry place he was now but Jared didn’t believe it would.
“Five years ago, you left me alone, baby,” Jeff said softly. “But don’t you worry; Daddy took care of it all. Daddy made sure it wouldn’t ever happen again.”
“Jeff?”
“You’re a good friend, Jared, being with me tonight. I’m not good company and I know it. My mind is going to dark places and I want to wallow in it today. Thank you, for facing that with me.”
Jared gave him a small smile. “I’ll always be here, Jeff. If it wasn’t for you, I would never have made it through University to become an Augmentor. I owe you everything.”
“You did the work, Jared. I just gave you a well-deserved clap on the back every so often.”
Jared raised his glass one more time. “Then, to good friends who will always be there when we need them.”
"Are you ready to tell me how it happened?"
Jensen stared blankly down at his lifeless legs and sighed. A bare hint of head movement and Jared knew it was the most he'd get today. Since their fight, Jensen spoke in a clipped voice if he deigned to speak at all.
He still didn't know what had happened to Jensen. In the four months he'd been treating the Mer, he’d been lied to about what had caused him to acquire legs, and he’d never explained what happened when the exoskeleton ceased to function.
"Fine. I think today we'll start with the connectors that integrate your neuro-feedback into the exoskeleton." He’d spent far more time working through the neurological uplinks and receivers than he normally would but he kept hoping to find a way around the skin and tissue grafting. Each time he had a new idea he went back to Jensen’s system to see if it would work and grew more and more frustrated when he found a reason it wouldn’t work.
Jensen let out a small sigh but it was as close to frustration as Jared had heard from him yet.
"Jensen, I know it doesn't seem like we've made any progress but you have to give it time. Every visit we eliminate some system and that helps us narrow down the underlying problem. It is time consuming and I know you must be frustrated but we have to keep working. I told you on your first visit that if there was any way to repair the damage I would. Please, don’t start to doubt me now. Not because of what I said before."
Jensen looked sharply up at him. He glared at him for a moment before he gave a nod and Jared took that for permission to start working again.
It was a mess, honestly. Jared knew the wiring was deliberately complex, sometimes twisting back on itself to make it difficult to follow and repair. In some places, metal tubing was used in the framework where solid metal would have better supported the frame, but solid metal was used in places where it weighed down the skeleton too much. Jared hadn't said anything about it to Jensen yet, hadn’t been able to voice it aloud yet, but he had begun to believe it wasn’t incompetence of design that had caused Jensen’s exoskeleton to fail. Jared believed it had been designed to.
The neuro-grafting had been expertly done, though the interfaces were placed in areas that would get the maximum damage. There was no way to remove them without permanent damage to the nerves. Any repair would leave Jensen with a painful procedure and a long recovery time, if it didn’t do more damage.
Jared tried not to think of the other aspects of the land enhancements that couldn’t be undone; the surgery that had cut back the delicate webbing between Jensen’s fingers and toes or the way Jensen’s once beautiful tail had been cut and stitched around bone that mimicked human legs.
Jared was horrified that someone had done this to Jensen and he had no desire to know if it had been destructive self-disgust that did this to him or if it had been a crime against him. Whoever had mutilated Jensen’s body, they had taken something truly glorious and turned it into a horror show and Jensen refused to speak the truth of what had happened.
Jared couldn't undo the damage to Jensen’s tail or webbing but he was world renowned for his adaptive mechanics. He had to try to fix the exoskeleton. Jensen couldn’t return to the Mer and his exoskeleton was all the chance that Jensen had to a normal life.
As Jared began probing the connectors to make sure they were in proper alignment, he focused on the mechanical side of the problem and forced his mind away for the ever present ache he had when he had to witness the disfiguration of such a beautiful creature.
Osric’s face was ashen as he approached Jared’s work table. Jared had asked him to review the schematics of Jensen’s exoskeleton that morning after his first appointment and his apprentice had disappeared with them, along with a small part of the exoskeleton that Jared had removed for further study. Osric had worked through lunch when Alona brought it back to him and he’d never stopped until now.
In his hand, he had the compiled list Jared had asked him to do; the differences between the schematic that Jensen had given him and the one that Jared had made after four months of observation and work.
“Jared, do you have a minute?”
He’d been waiting for this moment since he’d given Osric the task. He’d expected his apprentice to come to him earlier, but it was obvious from the list he’d made and the time he’d taken that he had finished the task before he had come over with his questions.
“Of course, Osric. What can I do for you?”
“You already know what this all means,” Osric said coldly. “Why did you have me look over this too?”
Jared took a deep breath, surprised by the anger the young man was showing but only slightly.
“I know what it means but I needed another opinion. I’ll be honest and tell you that I feel I am somewhat compromised when it comes to my emotional reaction to this client.”
Though it wasn’t spoken aloud, Osric and Alona were both aware of his private inclinations. They didn’t judge him for it and he felt safe enough to admit to his failings to them now. Alona chose that moment to walk past and she stopped at the doorway until Jared waved her in. She was as familiar with his concerns about Jensen as Osric was. It wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret that Jared wore his best outfits when Jensen was supposed to come into the office, or that he cleaned his office up so that he could meet and have tea with Jensen there before they began his assessments.
“Tell me what you found, Osric,” he said when Alona had situated herself.
“Here is the full list of items I found that differed from the schematics that the client gave us as opposed to what we were able to put together ourselves. I know you don’t want me to read it to you. I know what you really wanted me to look for, and I found it.”
He stopped to retrieve a small portion of the exoskeleton. Jared had taken it off so they could begin to repair it but as soon as he’d started he’d realized it was so much more difficult that replacing it piece by piece. That was when he’d asked for Osric’s help. He was still an apprentice but only just.
By this time next year, he would be among the few who could call themselves Augmentors. Jared would be proud to call the man his colleague and he thought that perhaps he might just leave his business to the young man. His brother had asked for help time and time again and while Jared loved the skies, he’d always held back in the hopes of finding something on land. He still hadn’t and he was beginning to think it might be time to turn his romantic notions to something more productive. His career was at its peak but he would love to take a hand at the type of augmentations that his brother had asked for but that he’d never had the time to implement.
“That’s from Mr. Ackles’ exoskeleton, isn’t it?” Alona asked.
“It is,” Osric said softly. “I took both sets of schematics and looked at the piece I had. When I look at the first schematic, it should work. The design is, frankly, brilliant, and the way it was designed would leave little permanent damage done to the exoskeleton or the neural structure of the client.”
“So what went wrong?” Alona asked.
“It wasn’t done according to the schematics. The schematics that you drew up, Jared, are faulty from the very beginning. The wiring doubles back on itself and does so in ways that will be painful to fix. The structure is too bulky when it needs to be light and too light where it takes the most structural pressure. Aside from the wiring and construction, the transceivers are placed in locations that are not only likely to hurt the client but that will take the utmost wear and tear, and therefore will need to be replaced. The replacement process, again, will be painful and time consuming, if not ultimately damaging to the client’s neural pathways.”
“Your conclusion?” Jared asked.
“This exoskeleton was made to fall apart. It worked perfectly for a few months perhaps, but then the problems began and they continued until there was nothing left but a hunk of metal attached to a client who couldn’t remove it, replace it, or move without it.”
Jared let out a deep breath. He’d come to the same conclusion himself but he had hoped it was only his feelings for Jensen that had brought him to that dark deduction.
“I don’t understand,” Osric continued. “I don’t know how someone could do this to Jensen. This Dr. Johns had months to get to know him before he started the surgeries. I don’t know him half as well as you, Jared, but how could someone know Jensen even a little and still want to do this to him? I just… I don’t understand.”
Alona shuddered at the thought and Osric wrapped a protective arm over her shoulder. “He’s a very nice man, smart and funny when you can get him to talk. Can you imagine what he was like before all this?” she asked.
Osric led her out of the office with a tight nod to Jared that let him know Osric would make sure she was alright.
It left Jared alone with the part of Jensen’s exoskeleton, both sets of schematics, and the need for a strong drink.
He looked at the pieces of connecting metal in his hand and his anger began to rise. Jensen was just what Alona had said. Kind. Considerate. He and Jensen had the beginnings of friendship, maybe even something more once this was all said and done. He had no idea how someone could hurt him on purpose.
Was the suit designed for someone else? Had it been intended for another target but Jensen was easier? Had he been the target all along?
Months of designs, Jared thought as he wrapped his hand around the metal. Preparations for surgery. The care and keeping of the client as he recovered from the operation that mutilated his hands, feet, and his tail. Hours upon hours of consultations to get the right measurements and fit for the exoskeleton and then the hours of labor to craft the metal and wiring. The final surgery to place the neural transmitters and receivers and to attach the exoskeleton. Not to mention the time and expense of setting up a false identity and a false office. How morally bankrupt could a soul be to dedicate that amount of their time and resources to inflict that sort of pain on someone else?
The metal clenched in his fists was cold and light and nothing that it should have been. There were no markings to identify the false doctor and there was no way to trace this back to the man who should have healed Jensen, rather than break him further.
Jared’s anger got the best of him and he screamed his rage at the wall. The metal piece shattered as he threw it, unable to withstand even that simple pressure.
Jared slid down to the ground in front of his desk and pulled his knees up to bury his head there. He didn’t let his tears fall, but he mourned the Mer Jensen had once been, and he mourned the chance to see him as he had wanted to be.
Jared couldn’t fix the suit without doing possible damage to Jensen’s body. He’d have to start with a while new design, a whole new concept, or admit defeat.
When he looked at the shattered metal, he let out a shaky breath. No matter what else happened, he could never give in and let this bastard win. He would find a way to get Jensen back on his feet. He would do more than make him walk. He would make Jensen fly.
The next morning Jared was left to face the mess alone. Alona and Osric weren’t due in until later and Jared wanted to clean up the pieces of Jensen’s shattered exoskeleton before they came in.
He scooped up the pieces and placed them back on the desk, grateful that most of it had broken into a few big chunks. He grabbed those and placed those on his table before he began to sort through the mess.
He went through each piece and inspected it to see if there was any structural damage. If it could be used again. he put it in a pile. The pieces that couldn’t were set aside to be melted and remolded into new parts.
It was tedious work but he was the one who had thrown it in a fit of temper and he would have to be the one to go through it now.
There were two other pieces of Jensen’s exoskeleton in the drafting room and he planned to have Osric give them the same treatment.
He turned over a small hollow tube - one that should never have been on a structural component - and gasped at the one thing he had never expected to find.
He traced his fingers over the small brand on the metal tubing and walked over to the desk. He sat down at his chair and flipped on the lamp. He grabbed his oculus and set it to one of the lower magnifications so he could see the brand more clearly.
“No,” he said softly as he looked at the three pointed flower design. It wouldn’t mean much to someone outside their field but it was a brand that told Jared just who the maker was. The last thing he had expected to see was the maker’s brand when the maker had worked so hard to cover his identity. It was a mistake but a crucial one that told Jared who had done this to Jensen.
And he knew that design. He’d been there when a young woman had brought the design to her father for his approval. He’d been there when it had been made into a metal stamp. Jared had been there the first time it had been set to metal.
Jeff used it for private projects, the ones that he deemed the most problematic and those that had significance to him on a personal level. It was his mentor’s design and it was with a sick feeling in his stomach that he realized Jeff was capable of targeting someone for such horrors.
Five years ago, Jeff had nearly fallen apart at his daughter’s death. She’d loved the ocean and the Mer and she’d been happy there. Five years ago, she’d died wearing one of Jeff’s waterlungs and he’d blamed himself and the Mer in equal measure. Six months later, Jeff had come to grips with his grief, or so Jared had believed. Now Jared knew why. Jeff hadn’t learned to cope; he’d set himself on the path of vengeance.
Jared didn’t know how Jensen had become the target of Jeff’s rage though. He wanted to talk to Jensen and figure it out, but he knew Jensen would never talk. What he needed was to understand more about the Mer political world as it currently was. He was only peripherally aware of the comings and goings of the Mer these days but he had a horrible feeling that there was something larger than just a broken tail in all of Jeff’s plotting. He remembered the dark words of Jeff’s on the anniversary of Gen’s death.
A knock at the door drew his attention away and he mustered his best smile as he saw a young boy watching him. “Dr. Padalecki,” he said as he came forward with a stack of letters, tied with a string. “Captain Noah said you’d be wanting these, Sir.” The young man handed him the stack of letters and Jared reached into his pocket and handed him a coin in exchange for the delivery.
“Is Noah on the ship today?”
“Yes Sir, and he said he’s always available if you need him, Sir.”
“Let him know I’ll be by for tea this afternoon. I have some appointments to see to first but I have a matter I need to speak to him about. It’s rather urgent.”
“I’ll let him know, Sir.”
The boy headed off and Jared took the letters out to Alona’s desk and left them for her to find when she came in. He closed the door to his office then, intent to finish his perusal of the broken pieces, see if any others bore Jeff’s mark, and then to see his one appointment before he could make it over to the airship in time for tea.
On to Chapter Four