Fic: Look Beyond What You See to Find the Truth Behind the Lies - Part 2 chap.3
Title: Look Beyond What You See to Find the Truth Behind the Lies - Part 2 chap.3
Please see Master Post for fic details.
It took two days to get the clearance and all the paperwork in order but they finally got the green light to start.
It had made Jensen twitchy, having to wait, he was used to doing things how and when he pleased but on the upside, at least, he got to meet the rest of the task force that Steve had thrown together. It was a small group, only six including Jensen, but Steve explained that those were the key agents, that there were other agents at the clubs that they were not at. Really, Jensen didn’t particularly care to know that there was a chance that it wouldn’t be him that would catch the guy but he kept that locked down tight. He might not care what the FBI, as a whole thought of him, but he didn’t want Steve or more importantly, Jared, thinking that the chance of another innocent man dying meant nothing to him because it did. It just didn’t matter as much as his need to clear his name, himself.
He kept shifting his jaw back and forth as he moved through the crowd at the club. It wasn’t really all that busy but then again it was a Wednesday night and early. The day didn’t bother him, it didn’t seem to matter to their suspect what day it was, just if he had an opportunity.
“Quit moving your jaw like that.” Steve hissed in his ear. “You look like somebody just punched you.”
Jensen kept the urge to roll his eyes under wraps. “I’ve never liked these things.” He wanted to reach up and poke at the little transmitter/receiver pushed into his ear but he clenched his hand around the neck of his beer bottle instead. It probably wouldn’t draw attention to himself, even if whoever was watching was paranoid but if he started playing with it, he wouldn’t leave it alone until he pulled it off.
“Suck it up Ackles.”
He had a general idea as to where everyone was situated in the single level club and knew that if he really looked for them he would be able to spot them. But he was looking for one particular person and he casually turned as he lifted the, now warm and almost full, bottle to his lips.
“Fuck you Padalecki.” He muttered back before making a show of seeming to take a drink, his eyes locked on Jared’s from across the room.
Jared flashed a grin before he started bobbing his head to the beat of whatever techno crap song was thudding through Jensen’s body. When the lyrics started up he caught Jared’s lips moving and if he couldn’t hear him via the receiver in his ear, he wouldn’t know that he wasn’t singing along.
“Oh baby your wooing skills are awesome.”
It was probably a good thing that he really hadn’t been drinking or he probably would have choked on it. It wasn’t that things between him and Jared were awkward, per se, but this was the first time that they had crossed the line from just, kind of, friends to being comfortable enough to flirt. It was a hell of a time to be doing it though.
“Alright, I think that’s enough.” Steve spoke sharply over the giggling of the female agents. “Jensen that’s your third circuit of the room in a row. It’s starting to look kind of creepy. Go sit at the bar.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He casually made his way to the bar, several stools vacant, for his choosing and settled into the last one at the corner. He supposed it might make him look a little unapproachable but he was only trying to catch the eye of one person and, as far as he could tell, he wasn’t there.
Besides considering the black jeans, that hid nothing, that Steve insisted he wear, and the skintight white t-shirt, he wasn’t too worried about it. He had seen several guys checking him out and a few had approached him already. Somehow he didn’t think putting himself in a corner was going to change anything.
“Check in.” Steve ordered.
“McCoy and Bush, dance floor.”
Even after a couple of nights and the two days before that working with them, Jensen still couldn’t tell which was which by voice alone. He glanced over and spotted them gyrating against each other and, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be completely into each other. For a couple of straight girls, they were doing a lot better than he thought they would but, then again, every girl he had ever heard of didn’t seem to be bothered by dancing with another girl.
“Kane, near front entrance.”
Jensen skimmed over the crowd until he could see the Dallas detective lounging at a table close to the door. It had kind of surprised him when he had first met the cop and realized that he was going to be involved. But it had been him that had set Steve in the direction they were on now. He had no doubt that eventually someone either in the Dallas P.D. or the local office of the FBI would have realized that they had a serial killer in town but who knows how long that would have taken. And if the majority opinion was correct, and it hopefully was or using Jensen as bait might end up being a waste of time, hunting specifically for him through his family.
He took a small sip of his beer to hide his grin as he gave the cop the once over. Chris was a nice looking guy with light, shoulder length medium brown hair and expressive blue eyes, nice looking enough that showing up in ripped blue jeans, a loose white Henley, cowboy boots and a scowl did nothing to deter the hopeful. He could have told him that the regulars saw him as a challenge and if he wanted to be left alone that he should loosen up. But it was funny to listen to his colorful commentary after his latest, would be, suitor was turned away.
“Padalecki, behind Jensen at the bar.”
It was the weirdest sensation to hear Jared’s voice from right inside his ear and from outside of it. It was like listening to a stereo with one speaker set lower than the other.
“Jared what are you doing out of position?” Steve growled.
He felt the gentle pressure of Jared leaning his chest against his back, his warmth surprising but not uncomfortable.
“Come dance with me.”
Jensen wasn’t sure what was more distracting, Jared’s hot breath against his ear or the spicy smell of his cologne making him dizzy.
It was a weakness, Jared was his weakness, and he knew it. He also knew that he should push him away and not just because they were working but because he still wasn’t sure if he completely trusted him yet. But he could clearly remember the few times they had danced together at house parties when they were kids and how good it had felt. And Jensen liked to dance but Justin hadn’t so it had been a fuck of a long time since he had.
He quickly scanned the emptying club, it was almost closing time, and chances were that their suspect wasn’t going to suddenly appear now.
Fuck it. He was tired of breathing but not really living. It was only one dance, what could it hurt?
He let Jared wrap his hand around his wrist and slid off the stool, purposely leaving his beer behind. It was no great loss, he had been carrying it around for at least an hour and it was piss warm, he wouldn’t morn the three eighty he had paid for it.
“God damnit.” Steve growled.
“Ah, let the boys be.” Chris chuckled. “Last call was ten minutes ago. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve hit another dead end tonight.”
Until everything had come out about what Justin had done, the embezzlement, the gambling away all their money, the suspected infidelity, he used to think he was a pretty good judge of character. Now he wasn’t so sure but he couldn’t help but like the cop, he didn’t know if it was because he was a friend of Steve’s or not but Chris sticking his neck out for them went at long way to appearing like a good guy as far as Jensen was concerned.
He couldn’t actually make out if Steve was actually saying anything intelligible or just grumbling but Jared was chuckling as he grabbed him by the hips and spun him around.
His heartbeat speeded up as he was pulled backwards until Jared had them pressed up tightly against him, ass to groin, back to chest.
Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
Jared’s right hand slid around to rest low on his stomach, the last two of his fingers resting just below the button of his jeans. He used his other hand on Jensen’s hip to set the swaying of their bodies against each other.
If he hadn’t been wearing the earpiece he would have groaned. That was what he missed after Jared, before Justin and after him, the sensual feeling of a hard body pressed up against his own, the feeling of being surrounded by some, by Jared, in such a public place in such an intimate way.
Almost without conscious thought, he lifted his arms above his head and curled his hands around Jared’s neck. It left him open and completely in Jared’s hands but he didn’t care.
The prickle of his stubble against the soft skin of his neck had him grinding back mindlessly.
He felt more than heard Jared’s breath catch in his chest and couldn’t help the surge of pride. After everything that had pulled them apart, not once but twice, he could still affect Jared, even if it was only sexual, it was still something.
His arm tightened against Jensen’s stomach and pulled him as close as physically possible. So close that there was no mistaking that he was getting hard against Jensen’s ass.
Don’t make a sound. He desperately reminded himself silently. The team was probably already getting enough visually to mock them until the end of the sting; he wasn’t going to give them anything verbal to add to it. But damn, it was hard not to.
Jensen could feel Jared’s heart jack rabbiting against his back, his fingers rhythmically tensing on his hip and he was pretty sure he wasn’t gong to stay quiet for much longer. And he knew it wouldn’t be a groan coming from his mouth.
He and Justin had stopped being intimate three months before he was murdered and Jensen hadn’t had any desire to get physical with anyone after what had happened between Jared and him, that last night at his hotel. But now things were different, with Jared pressed up against him, his hot breath against his neck, the hard line of his cock against his ass, and he wanted him.
Maybe after Steve called the surveillance for the night he should suggest that Jared come to his place for the night, maybe...
“Why do all the hot ones have to be gay?”
He hadn’t even realized that he had closed his eyes or that he had turned his face towards Jared’s tucked against his shoulder until the voice of one of the girls broke through the want blurring his mind.
“Nice.” Jared muttered, the feel of his lips searing on Jensen’s shoulder. “What kind of perverts do you have working up here Steve?”
“And that’s a wrap for the night people.” Steve sounded like he was trying not to snarl but wasn’t quite managing it.
“Us?” It was the voice of the other female agent. “We weren’t the ones practically fucking on the dance floor.”
Jared’s head lifted from his shoulder as he released his hip. He felt his arm brush against his shoulder a second before his lips were against Jensen’s ear.
“Take me home tonight.”
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. It was one thing to be considering it but it was something entirely different when actually faced with the possibility. Could he? Should he? Especially since it had only been a little over a year since he had been accused of Justin’s death. How would that look to Steve? And Steve would know because Jared was staying with him while he was in Dallas. What would Jared think after the deed was done? Would he start questioning Jensen’s innocence again?
And the biggest question was, how was he feeling? Was it only sex?
Jared’s hand appeared in his field of vision and he caught sight of his earpiece.
Jared thought he wasn’t answering because he was pissed that everyone else had heard. That was so far from the truth that it was beyond pathetic.
He turned in his grasp and stared up at him. The sight of him chewing his lower lip and trying to look so damn confident when it was clear that he was almost sick with nerves had him wanting to reassure him.
It wasn’t just about sex, not with Jared, it never had been.
“I can’t.” He whispered, not even sure if he could hear him over the still throbbing beat of the music now that he had taken out his earpiece but he didn’t dare lean up and repeat it. If he tried to the answer would change, he knew it would and he was fairly certain it wouldn’t end well.
He tried to smile reassuringly at him as he stepped back but he couldn’t seem to make his facial muscles respond.
Jared tilted his head as his eyes shuttered and for the first time Jensen couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
It didn’t matter that he still had his earpiece in. It didn’t matter that everyone but Jared could still hear him. It had to be obvious what was happening, obvious what Jared had asked.
“Sorry.” He murmured then turned and walked away, pantomiming scratching his ear to pull the earpiece out so that he could no longer hear Steve calling for him.
He met Chris’ eyes briefly as the cop stood up and took a step towards him. Whatever the other man saw in his gaze stopped him in his tracks. With a nod, he turned and headed deeper into the club.
Jensen decided then and there that his instincts about being able to know if a person was good seemed to be coming back, at least, if it wasn’t Jared. Now he just wished that he could figure out what Jared really thought of him and what he wanted from Jensen.
***
Jensen had managed to get out of the club and hadn’t heard from Jared the following day. He was pretty sure that he owed Steve a thanks for that, at least, he hoped that that was the case because the other option wasn’t something he wanted to consider. He didn’t want to consider that Jared had only asked to come home with him because of the heat of the moment, that once he had a chance to calm down that it occurred to him that he had just managed to escape making a big mistake.
He hadn’t really allowed himself to think about his actions towards Jared back when they had been partners. He couldn’t, at the time there had been Justin and anytime that his mind tried to wander down the “what am I dong with Jared” path, he had always managed to distract himself. Then after Justin had been killed and the subsequent investigation, he let himself believe that the betrayal he felt because of Jared was because they were friends but that wasn’t really the truth. He had been devastated because a part of him was still in love with Jared, always had been, and always would be. And if Jared didn’t feel, at least, a little bit the same it would probably kill him now.
Now that he was so close to catching the serial killer, so close to being cleared.
He caught a flash of a familiar dark blue shirt out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to look down the bar at Jared. Jared, who was reaching out to take a fresh beer from the bartender.
Not that he was willing to admit about how he felt about Jared.
It felt weird to be sitting four stools down from him and acting like they didn’t know each other, especially after the night before. If it weren’t for the fact that they were on a stakeout and they couldn’t talk, it would feel like Jared was purposely ignoring him. Jensen wasn’t one hundred percent sure he wasn’t, all the same.
It probably wouldn’t be quite so bad except that the club they had chosen to stake out had amateur stripping on Thursday nights and it apparently pulled in a fairly good crowd and Steve had demanded that they all stay within eye contact which translated into Jared at the bar, Steve and Chris at a table to his right and the girls standing against the wall next to the bar on his left.
He couldn’t get away from any of them and after his and Jared’s display the night before and then his subsequent flight, they were all being eerily silent. It was driving him crazy, making him want to do something stupid just to get a reaction from any of them. He refused to admit that the reaction he really wanted was Jared’s because he really didn’t want to know what he would do if Jared turned out to be indifferent to his antics.
“Always one step behind.” He muttered as he turned back to stare down at the beer in front of him.
“What?” Steve’s voice was a shock in his ear and it dragged him far enough out of his funk to remember that his voice was not his own. Still he didn’t bother to repeat himself, it wasn’t a revelation that he had meant to share.
He had believed that he had been doing the right thing when he had split up with Jared all those years before. It had only taken a couple of days to realize that the real reason he had done it was because he had been scared to move past a high school romance. Been scared to face an adult relationship when he really wasn’t sure he had been ready to. By the time he had figured it out that he had been ready, his foolish pride and hurt feelings wouldn’t let him go to Jared and beg for forgiveness. Then finding out, too late to do anything about anything, where Justin was concerned and all the shit he had been up to. And now Jared again and Jensen running away the night before instead of talking to him.
Always one step behind.
“Jensen?”
He shook his head mutely, knowing that Steve would be looking at him and that he wouldn’t have to speak. He might have been able to have faked it through the meeting at Steve’s before they had split up to make their separate ways to the club but he wasn’t sure he would be able to swallow down his turmoil again to dare speaking now. Steve would call the whole operation off, at least, for the night and he didn’t want to be the reason that happened.
It was loud in the club; he was pretty sure it was louder than any of the other clubs they had been in. It was both reassuring, the pounding bass helping to drown out the inane conversations of the people around him but it was disconcerting when only half of a conversation echoed through the earpiece.
“Jay.”
Jared’s voice was friendly and open sounding, approachable.
“No, I’m not waiting for anyone. Go ahead and take a seat.”
Jensen shut his eyes and wished that if he stuck his fingers in his ears that he wouldn’t be able to hear Jared responding to someone trying to pick him up. It wouldn’t do any good though, not with the earpiece snug in his ear and Steve would kill him if he took it out.
“Jared I get that you’re blending in but keep one eye on Jensen.” Steve muttered.
Well he guessed that answered his worry from the night before. Obviously Jared had only been looking to get laid. He supposed that he should be happy to have found that out while keeping his dignity.
“Yeah.”
He didn’t know if Jared was responding to Steve or to something his new friend had said and he didn’t care. All that mattered was that if he was stuck listening to it, he sure as hell wasn’t going to sit close by and be tempted to watch. He might be somewhat of a masochist, the proof being that he let himself believe that maybe there was something more between him and Jared than just a sexual attraction, but he wasn’t that much of a masochist.
“Jensen, what are you doing?” Steve hissed, his voice too close in his ear that Jensen had to clench his fingers around the neck of his untouched beer to stop from clawing his earpiece out.
He dropped his chin, projecting the image that he was looking down to ensure he didn’t step on someone else’s feet as he slipped off his bar stool. “Mingling.”
“No. It’s too busy Jensen. Even if we all start moving around we’re going to lose sight of you.”
He moved between two tables, close enough to meet Steve’s eyes but far enough away that neither he nor Chris could make a grab for him without it being obvious. He lifted one should in a shrug before purposely moving around a group of six guys so that he could have a moment of relative peace.
“God damnit!” He growled, “Everybody move and find me Jensen.”
Jensen didn’t bother to look behind him, hoped that if he kept moving easy, like everyone else around him and the fact that only Jared should know him well enough to recognize him from behind, that he could remain anonyms for a few more minutes.
“Call out when you spot him.”
He gritted his teeth against the enviable answer but it never came. He just wanted five minutes without everyone staring at him, cataloguing his every move. It wasn’t so easy being the bait, being the one that has to sit alone and appear available all the time. Hard to be left with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company.
He didn’t miss the irony of that idea, the fact that he had spent months with only his own thoughts as company and had been completely content but now, it wasn’t enough.
“Jared, you’re the tallest, don’t tell me that you can’t find him.” Steve was starting to sound pissed off and a little desperate.
He knew why, he understood that they were basing their whole operation on the idea that the killer would be after him. But they were also basing it on the hope that he was even here in Dallas. But what if he wasn’t? There were FBI agents at all six of the gay clubs in town and there had been for the last four days but still nothing, not even a false positive.
As much as he didn’t want to consider it, what if he really wasn’t in Dallas? Jensen was pretty sure he had been at one point, he had seen the evidence but what if whatever had sent him running from Lake Charles had sent him running from Dallas?
“Jared?”
“I’ve got nothing.”
Jared sounded concerned but he refused to believe that it was for anything other than the real possibility that Steve was going to shut them down for the night because of what he was doing.
“Jen? Come on Jensen, where are you?”
He couldn’t help it, he’d only been able to ignore that tone of voice from Jared twice, once when he thought he was doing the right thing and once when he was so angry he couldn’t see beyond his own rage. This wasn’t one of those times. He dropped his chin, raised his free arm to rub at the back of his neck and opened his mouth to reply when he knocked shoulders with someone.
“Shit, sorry!”
Jensen didn’t recognize the voice but as he looked up from the spreading wet spot from his beer hitting his thigh, he was confronted with a face that he had been thinking of almost non-stop for a week.
Jensen’s mind went blank. After days of looking for him, of beginning to think they would never find him, there he was, right in front of him.
His assessment had been correct that first time he had stared at the police composite sketch. He wasn’t someone that would stand out; he wouldn’t be any more memorable than any of the couple hundred guys in the club. But there was something about him; something about the way he smiled that drew interest.
If he didn’t know exactly what kind of animal the guy in front of him was and his mixed emotions about Jared, he might have been interested. As it was, he was interested just not for the normal reasons.
He had to say something, he had to alert everyone else that their suspect was right there but all his training seemed to have gone out the window. All he could concentrate on was not blowing everything by going for the bastard’s throat.
His smile faltered and he peered closer at Jensen, “Are you okay?”
Shit. Shit! He was freaking the guy out. He had to say something fast before the guy bolted. Especially if he had recognized Jensen the way he had him and began to wonder if something wasn’t going on. Sure it was public knowledge that he was no longer with the FBI but this guy was paranoid enough to risk capture by returning to a place that the cops were looking for him to get rid of the only person who could identify him. It wouldn’t be surprising to think that he was weighing the odds that somehow Jensen had figured out who he was.
“Yeah.” He managed a slight smile. “Just having one of those nights.” He gestured to his beer soaked jeans, “This. Its just par for the course today.”
The guy appeared to relax slightly, “You and me both. How about you let me buy you another and we can trade horror stories.”
“Jensen what’s going on?” Steve was pissed but he could hear the interest, the hesitated excitement, in his voice.
He didn’t want another beer, he hadn’t wanted the one he had been carrying, it had simply been a prop. What he wanted was a way to let everybody else know who was with him. What he needed was to get him away from the crowd so that he couldn’t slip away from Jensen.
He could do this, even without his FBI training, he could pick up a guy in a bar. He mentally shook himself and tried to look interested.
“Actually I was about to head out. But I’d be more than happy for the company, if you’d be willing to buy me a coffee.”
“Jesus Christ Jensen’s got him!” Steve sounded breathless, “Find him God damnit!”
“He’d better have.”
Jensen pushed away the thrill that shot through him at the possible edge in Jared’s voice. He didn’t have time to obsess over what it might mean, not with the suspect starting to look like he was trying to find a way to back out.
That couldn’t be right, not if he recognized Jensen and Steve’s assumption had been wrong? Really he was no one to this guy but Justin Hartley’s surviving partner. He wasn’t like the last victim in Lake Charles; he had never met him before tonight. It very well could be that the only reason they were even looking at each other was because of the spilt beer.
“Come on man, I could really use knowing that I’m not the only one have a shit hole day.” He motioned to his tight jeans, “I’ll even tell you the embarrassing story about why I’m wearing these shitty jeans.”
His eyes flickered down to Jensen’s crotch and then back to his face. He shrugged, “Why the hell not. It’s not like there is really anything interesting keeping me here.”
Except for the guy dancing around on the stage in a g-string behind you. He kept that to himself; it would have been incredibly stupid of him to point out anything that would keep the guy in the club.
The grin he flashed wasn’t completely faked. Now he just had to alert everyone else that they were leaving. Suddenly only being able to hear the agents’ side of the conversation wasn’t the good thing it was while Jared had been flirting.
“Where are you Ackles?”
He pushed the sound of Steve’s voice away, concentrating solely on getting out of the club. Once they were outside of the club, if he said something that spooked the suspect and he tried to run, he would have a harder time of it. There wouldn’t be the crowd there was in the club to duck behind.
“Do you need to stop at the coat check?”
“They’re heading for the exit.”
Jensen winced at t\he volume of Steve’s voice in his ear and quickly glanced sideways at the suspect. He didn’t appear to have noticed anything out of the ordinary, but if Steve kept bellowing like that he would probably hear him for himself once they got into the relative quiet outside.
“Inside voice Steve.” Chris snarled low.
“Fuck off Kane.” He growled back but he was quieter for which Jensen was glad. “Let Jensen get the suspect outside before anyone makes a move.”
Obviously they had made it through the crowed. He wanted to turn his head to see how close his back up, Jared, was but he didn’t dare. They were almost to the exit and that was the only thing that mattered at the moment.
“So, since I’m buying you coffee and all, I guess we should exchange pleasantries.”
Jensen let him push open the door and stepped out into the quiet night. The cool night air felt good after the closed, over-heated air, of the club, felt good against his skin and helped clear his head.
“Hmm.” He just had to keep up the air of interest until at least one other person from the team got outside. “I thought you were buying me a coffee because you had drenched me in beer.”
The guy chuckled, “You’ve got me there.” He paused in front of the alley running beside the club and held out his hand. “Eric Kelly.”
It didn’t surprise Jensen that he was using the same name. It wouldn’t really matter since he killed everyone that probably knew it but on the other hand, he had given it to the victim that gave his description to the police before he was murdered. He had to know that the guy had told them his name too. It just showed how egotistical, how confident he was that no one had connected the murders in Dallas to the ones in Lake Charles.
He briefly entertained the idea of give a false name but if the guy, Eric, knew who he was it would just alert him that something was up.
“Jensen.” He grabbed the offered hand, “Jensen Ackles.”
The friendly smile melted off of Eric’s face and his eyes narrowed. He tightened his hold on his hand and yanked him off balance, dragging him into the alley.
He should have been expecting it but he had really thought that Eric was going to try to make a break for it if he recognized who he was. He had been counting on it, actually, and had been prepared to give chase, not be dragged forward.
Pain exploded in his head as he was slammed up against the brick wall of the club.
“The disgraced FBI agent from San Antonio.” Eric smiled in his face. “Isn’t that fortunate”
Jensen blinked several times quickly, trying to clear his hazy vision. He felt more than saw Eric’s arms move and his fingers clawed into the sides of his head.
“For me.”
His head was jerked forward before being slammed back against the wall again.
There was a buzzing in his ears and he was pretty sure there were voices threading through it but he couldn’t make out any words. It was simply background noise; the more pressing matter was getting the suspect off of him.
His arms felt heavy and sluggish but he managed to get them between him and Eric and shoved.
Either his head was harder than any of Eric’s victims or the first hit they had received had been a lot worse because he managed to push him off.
Jensen swung at him but the punch fell short and Eric used his own momentum against him. He grabbed his outstretched arm and tangled their feet together, sending him to the ground.
Eric laughed, “Finally someone with fight in them.” His steel-toed boot connected with Jensen’s left side and more burning pain blossomed as some ribs were broken. “Too bad we’re in such a public place, it would have been fun to play with you longer.”
It felt like everything was moving in slow motion, watching Eric draw his foot back and he knew this time he was aiming for his head. There was no way he would be able to roll out of the way in time to not get him. The best he could hope for was to roll over enough to protect his head and the back of his neck.
“FBI, freeze!”
He heard Jared yell but Eric had already been bringing his leg forward in a vicious kick. The last thing he thought before pain shot down his spine and he blacked out was that, at least, he wouldn’t be getting away.
***
Jensen peered at Jared as he stuck his head around the curtain surrounding his bed in the emergency room; at least, he thought it was Jared. The concussion was fucking with his vision but even blurry he didn’t know anyone else that tall.
“Hey. How are you feeling?”
Yup, it was Jared, his voice was unmistakeable.
“I have two broken ribs, a concussion, seven stitches in the back of my head and a bruised spine.” He grumbled back and then swallowed hard when his stomach rolled over as he tried to pull himself higher on the bed. “And nausea. How do you think I feel?”
“Like shit.”
Jared settled into the chair beside the bed.
“Pretty much.” He admitted before quickly adding, “But not bad enough not to be released.”
“Shocking.” He muttered dryly, “Don’t worry Jen, I’ve talked to your doctor, they’re going to release you.”
“Thank God.”
“If...”
He narrowed his eyes at him, “if” was way too close to “but” as far as he was concerned. “If what?”
“If you can provide them with the name of the person that will be watching you for the next twenty-four hours.”
He sounded far to happy over that little piece of information.
“What, am I five? I don’t need a baby sitter?” He growled quietly.
“No, you have a concussion. You need someone around to make sure you don’t slip into a coma.”
Jensen already knew why he needed someone around but that didn’t mean he had to like it. He especially didn’t like the fact that the only two viable options he had was his mother or his sister. If he called his mother he was going to have to deal with her being overbearing. If he called his sister he would eventually have to, probably in a day, two if he was lucky, have to deal with the guilt trip his mother would lay on him because he hadn’t called her to take care of him.
Neither option was appealing but he was going to pick one because, ultimately, both were more preferable than a night in the hospital.
“What happened with Eric?” He asked trying to forestall having to choose.
“You mean Michael Weatherly?”
He knew his head was bad but he was pretty sure it wasn’t so bad that he would have forgotten meeting someone else tonight. “That was Eric’s real name?”
Jared shrugged, “We don’t know for sure yet. Steve is checking now, but it was the name on his driver’s license. Michael Weatherly from Austin, Texas.”
“So where is he?”
“In the morgue” He answered low.
“You killed him?” It wasn’t that he didn’t think that Jared couldn’t do it but he wasn’t sure of the reasoning behind the action. Even with Jensen incapacitated, there were still another three agents and one cop in their group, not counting Jared.
He shrugged unapologetic, “He tried to kick you in the head but nailed your back and was aiming to take another shot. None of my back up would have made it out in time and he needed to be stopped before he got you in the head.”
“And he knew it was over.” Jensen said softly, “Police assisted suicide.”
“He was headed for the death penalty anyway. I just saved the tax payers from having to fund a lengthy trial and, at least, the one mandatory appeal.”
Jared’s voice wasn’t so much cold as it was devoid of all emotion. It was kind of throwing Jensen off balance, having never seen this side of him before.
“It’s going to be a hell of a lot of paperwork though.”
“Yeah.” He answered softly and stared down at his hands, lying limply in his lap.
He wasn’t sure he liked this side of Jared but he supposed it was better then him being all torn up for having killed Michael Weatherly. If he had it wouldn’t be a good sign for his lasting career as an FBI agent. So he ended up at an impasse within himself, he didn’t like the emotionless Jared but he wanted him to succeed.
“So who do you want to call?”
He frowned, confused, “Huh?”
When he looked up Jared was grinning at him. “To look after your concussed ass.”
Oh, right.
Mom or Mackenzie. Mom or Mackenzie. Obsessive mother henning for at least two days now or a guilt trip that would last for minimum of a week later. Jesus why wasn’t there a third option? He wasn’t counting staying at the hospital as an option at all because as far as he was concerned it wasn’t one.
“Let me do it.”
Jensen focused back in on him to find him worrying his lower lip.
He really didn’t think that was a good idea. He was already having enough problems with his feelings where Jared was concerned; he didn’t think having him around when he wasn’t in complete control would be a good idea.
“Come on Jen.” He pressed and covered his heart with his right hand. “I promise I won’t let you slip into a coma.”
Well he wanted a third option and it was only for one night. What could possibly go wrong?
Jensen ignored the tiny voice inside his head that was trying to remind him that he had thought pretty much the same thing about one little dance the night before.
Epilogue
Please see Master Post for fic details.
It took two days to get the clearance and all the paperwork in order but they finally got the green light to start.
It had made Jensen twitchy, having to wait, he was used to doing things how and when he pleased but on the upside, at least, he got to meet the rest of the task force that Steve had thrown together. It was a small group, only six including Jensen, but Steve explained that those were the key agents, that there were other agents at the clubs that they were not at. Really, Jensen didn’t particularly care to know that there was a chance that it wouldn’t be him that would catch the guy but he kept that locked down tight. He might not care what the FBI, as a whole thought of him, but he didn’t want Steve or more importantly, Jared, thinking that the chance of another innocent man dying meant nothing to him because it did. It just didn’t matter as much as his need to clear his name, himself.
He kept shifting his jaw back and forth as he moved through the crowd at the club. It wasn’t really all that busy but then again it was a Wednesday night and early. The day didn’t bother him, it didn’t seem to matter to their suspect what day it was, just if he had an opportunity.
“Quit moving your jaw like that.” Steve hissed in his ear. “You look like somebody just punched you.”
Jensen kept the urge to roll his eyes under wraps. “I’ve never liked these things.” He wanted to reach up and poke at the little transmitter/receiver pushed into his ear but he clenched his hand around the neck of his beer bottle instead. It probably wouldn’t draw attention to himself, even if whoever was watching was paranoid but if he started playing with it, he wouldn’t leave it alone until he pulled it off.
“Suck it up Ackles.”
He had a general idea as to where everyone was situated in the single level club and knew that if he really looked for them he would be able to spot them. But he was looking for one particular person and he casually turned as he lifted the, now warm and almost full, bottle to his lips.
“Fuck you Padalecki.” He muttered back before making a show of seeming to take a drink, his eyes locked on Jared’s from across the room.
Jared flashed a grin before he started bobbing his head to the beat of whatever techno crap song was thudding through Jensen’s body. When the lyrics started up he caught Jared’s lips moving and if he couldn’t hear him via the receiver in his ear, he wouldn’t know that he wasn’t singing along.
“Oh baby your wooing skills are awesome.”
It was probably a good thing that he really hadn’t been drinking or he probably would have choked on it. It wasn’t that things between him and Jared were awkward, per se, but this was the first time that they had crossed the line from just, kind of, friends to being comfortable enough to flirt. It was a hell of a time to be doing it though.
“Alright, I think that’s enough.” Steve spoke sharply over the giggling of the female agents. “Jensen that’s your third circuit of the room in a row. It’s starting to look kind of creepy. Go sit at the bar.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He casually made his way to the bar, several stools vacant, for his choosing and settled into the last one at the corner. He supposed it might make him look a little unapproachable but he was only trying to catch the eye of one person and, as far as he could tell, he wasn’t there.
Besides considering the black jeans, that hid nothing, that Steve insisted he wear, and the skintight white t-shirt, he wasn’t too worried about it. He had seen several guys checking him out and a few had approached him already. Somehow he didn’t think putting himself in a corner was going to change anything.
“Check in.” Steve ordered.
“McCoy and Bush, dance floor.”
Even after a couple of nights and the two days before that working with them, Jensen still couldn’t tell which was which by voice alone. He glanced over and spotted them gyrating against each other and, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be completely into each other. For a couple of straight girls, they were doing a lot better than he thought they would but, then again, every girl he had ever heard of didn’t seem to be bothered by dancing with another girl.
“Kane, near front entrance.”
Jensen skimmed over the crowd until he could see the Dallas detective lounging at a table close to the door. It had kind of surprised him when he had first met the cop and realized that he was going to be involved. But it had been him that had set Steve in the direction they were on now. He had no doubt that eventually someone either in the Dallas P.D. or the local office of the FBI would have realized that they had a serial killer in town but who knows how long that would have taken. And if the majority opinion was correct, and it hopefully was or using Jensen as bait might end up being a waste of time, hunting specifically for him through his family.
He took a small sip of his beer to hide his grin as he gave the cop the once over. Chris was a nice looking guy with light, shoulder length medium brown hair and expressive blue eyes, nice looking enough that showing up in ripped blue jeans, a loose white Henley, cowboy boots and a scowl did nothing to deter the hopeful. He could have told him that the regulars saw him as a challenge and if he wanted to be left alone that he should loosen up. But it was funny to listen to his colorful commentary after his latest, would be, suitor was turned away.
“Padalecki, behind Jensen at the bar.”
It was the weirdest sensation to hear Jared’s voice from right inside his ear and from outside of it. It was like listening to a stereo with one speaker set lower than the other.
“Jared what are you doing out of position?” Steve growled.
He felt the gentle pressure of Jared leaning his chest against his back, his warmth surprising but not uncomfortable.
“Come dance with me.”
Jensen wasn’t sure what was more distracting, Jared’s hot breath against his ear or the spicy smell of his cologne making him dizzy.
It was a weakness, Jared was his weakness, and he knew it. He also knew that he should push him away and not just because they were working but because he still wasn’t sure if he completely trusted him yet. But he could clearly remember the few times they had danced together at house parties when they were kids and how good it had felt. And Jensen liked to dance but Justin hadn’t so it had been a fuck of a long time since he had.
He quickly scanned the emptying club, it was almost closing time, and chances were that their suspect wasn’t going to suddenly appear now.
Fuck it. He was tired of breathing but not really living. It was only one dance, what could it hurt?
He let Jared wrap his hand around his wrist and slid off the stool, purposely leaving his beer behind. It was no great loss, he had been carrying it around for at least an hour and it was piss warm, he wouldn’t morn the three eighty he had paid for it.
“God damnit.” Steve growled.
“Ah, let the boys be.” Chris chuckled. “Last call was ten minutes ago. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve hit another dead end tonight.”
Until everything had come out about what Justin had done, the embezzlement, the gambling away all their money, the suspected infidelity, he used to think he was a pretty good judge of character. Now he wasn’t so sure but he couldn’t help but like the cop, he didn’t know if it was because he was a friend of Steve’s or not but Chris sticking his neck out for them went at long way to appearing like a good guy as far as Jensen was concerned.
He couldn’t actually make out if Steve was actually saying anything intelligible or just grumbling but Jared was chuckling as he grabbed him by the hips and spun him around.
His heartbeat speeded up as he was pulled backwards until Jared had them pressed up tightly against him, ass to groin, back to chest.
Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
Jared’s right hand slid around to rest low on his stomach, the last two of his fingers resting just below the button of his jeans. He used his other hand on Jensen’s hip to set the swaying of their bodies against each other.
If he hadn’t been wearing the earpiece he would have groaned. That was what he missed after Jared, before Justin and after him, the sensual feeling of a hard body pressed up against his own, the feeling of being surrounded by some, by Jared, in such a public place in such an intimate way.
Almost without conscious thought, he lifted his arms above his head and curled his hands around Jared’s neck. It left him open and completely in Jared’s hands but he didn’t care.
The prickle of his stubble against the soft skin of his neck had him grinding back mindlessly.
He felt more than heard Jared’s breath catch in his chest and couldn’t help the surge of pride. After everything that had pulled them apart, not once but twice, he could still affect Jared, even if it was only sexual, it was still something.
His arm tightened against Jensen’s stomach and pulled him as close as physically possible. So close that there was no mistaking that he was getting hard against Jensen’s ass.
Don’t make a sound. He desperately reminded himself silently. The team was probably already getting enough visually to mock them until the end of the sting; he wasn’t going to give them anything verbal to add to it. But damn, it was hard not to.
Jensen could feel Jared’s heart jack rabbiting against his back, his fingers rhythmically tensing on his hip and he was pretty sure he wasn’t gong to stay quiet for much longer. And he knew it wouldn’t be a groan coming from his mouth.
He and Justin had stopped being intimate three months before he was murdered and Jensen hadn’t had any desire to get physical with anyone after what had happened between Jared and him, that last night at his hotel. But now things were different, with Jared pressed up against him, his hot breath against his neck, the hard line of his cock against his ass, and he wanted him.
Maybe after Steve called the surveillance for the night he should suggest that Jared come to his place for the night, maybe...
“Why do all the hot ones have to be gay?”
He hadn’t even realized that he had closed his eyes or that he had turned his face towards Jared’s tucked against his shoulder until the voice of one of the girls broke through the want blurring his mind.
“Nice.” Jared muttered, the feel of his lips searing on Jensen’s shoulder. “What kind of perverts do you have working up here Steve?”
“And that’s a wrap for the night people.” Steve sounded like he was trying not to snarl but wasn’t quite managing it.
“Us?” It was the voice of the other female agent. “We weren’t the ones practically fucking on the dance floor.”
Jared’s head lifted from his shoulder as he released his hip. He felt his arm brush against his shoulder a second before his lips were against Jensen’s ear.
“Take me home tonight.”
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. It was one thing to be considering it but it was something entirely different when actually faced with the possibility. Could he? Should he? Especially since it had only been a little over a year since he had been accused of Justin’s death. How would that look to Steve? And Steve would know because Jared was staying with him while he was in Dallas. What would Jared think after the deed was done? Would he start questioning Jensen’s innocence again?
And the biggest question was, how was he feeling? Was it only sex?
Jared’s hand appeared in his field of vision and he caught sight of his earpiece.
Jared thought he wasn’t answering because he was pissed that everyone else had heard. That was so far from the truth that it was beyond pathetic.
He turned in his grasp and stared up at him. The sight of him chewing his lower lip and trying to look so damn confident when it was clear that he was almost sick with nerves had him wanting to reassure him.
It wasn’t just about sex, not with Jared, it never had been.
“I can’t.” He whispered, not even sure if he could hear him over the still throbbing beat of the music now that he had taken out his earpiece but he didn’t dare lean up and repeat it. If he tried to the answer would change, he knew it would and he was fairly certain it wouldn’t end well.
He tried to smile reassuringly at him as he stepped back but he couldn’t seem to make his facial muscles respond.
Jared tilted his head as his eyes shuttered and for the first time Jensen couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
It didn’t matter that he still had his earpiece in. It didn’t matter that everyone but Jared could still hear him. It had to be obvious what was happening, obvious what Jared had asked.
“Sorry.” He murmured then turned and walked away, pantomiming scratching his ear to pull the earpiece out so that he could no longer hear Steve calling for him.
He met Chris’ eyes briefly as the cop stood up and took a step towards him. Whatever the other man saw in his gaze stopped him in his tracks. With a nod, he turned and headed deeper into the club.
Jensen decided then and there that his instincts about being able to know if a person was good seemed to be coming back, at least, if it wasn’t Jared. Now he just wished that he could figure out what Jared really thought of him and what he wanted from Jensen.
***
Jensen had managed to get out of the club and hadn’t heard from Jared the following day. He was pretty sure that he owed Steve a thanks for that, at least, he hoped that that was the case because the other option wasn’t something he wanted to consider. He didn’t want to consider that Jared had only asked to come home with him because of the heat of the moment, that once he had a chance to calm down that it occurred to him that he had just managed to escape making a big mistake.
He hadn’t really allowed himself to think about his actions towards Jared back when they had been partners. He couldn’t, at the time there had been Justin and anytime that his mind tried to wander down the “what am I dong with Jared” path, he had always managed to distract himself. Then after Justin had been killed and the subsequent investigation, he let himself believe that the betrayal he felt because of Jared was because they were friends but that wasn’t really the truth. He had been devastated because a part of him was still in love with Jared, always had been, and always would be. And if Jared didn’t feel, at least, a little bit the same it would probably kill him now.
Now that he was so close to catching the serial killer, so close to being cleared.
He caught a flash of a familiar dark blue shirt out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to look down the bar at Jared. Jared, who was reaching out to take a fresh beer from the bartender.
Not that he was willing to admit about how he felt about Jared.
It felt weird to be sitting four stools down from him and acting like they didn’t know each other, especially after the night before. If it weren’t for the fact that they were on a stakeout and they couldn’t talk, it would feel like Jared was purposely ignoring him. Jensen wasn’t one hundred percent sure he wasn’t, all the same.
It probably wouldn’t be quite so bad except that the club they had chosen to stake out had amateur stripping on Thursday nights and it apparently pulled in a fairly good crowd and Steve had demanded that they all stay within eye contact which translated into Jared at the bar, Steve and Chris at a table to his right and the girls standing against the wall next to the bar on his left.
He couldn’t get away from any of them and after his and Jared’s display the night before and then his subsequent flight, they were all being eerily silent. It was driving him crazy, making him want to do something stupid just to get a reaction from any of them. He refused to admit that the reaction he really wanted was Jared’s because he really didn’t want to know what he would do if Jared turned out to be indifferent to his antics.
“Always one step behind.” He muttered as he turned back to stare down at the beer in front of him.
“What?” Steve’s voice was a shock in his ear and it dragged him far enough out of his funk to remember that his voice was not his own. Still he didn’t bother to repeat himself, it wasn’t a revelation that he had meant to share.
He had believed that he had been doing the right thing when he had split up with Jared all those years before. It had only taken a couple of days to realize that the real reason he had done it was because he had been scared to move past a high school romance. Been scared to face an adult relationship when he really wasn’t sure he had been ready to. By the time he had figured it out that he had been ready, his foolish pride and hurt feelings wouldn’t let him go to Jared and beg for forgiveness. Then finding out, too late to do anything about anything, where Justin was concerned and all the shit he had been up to. And now Jared again and Jensen running away the night before instead of talking to him.
Always one step behind.
“Jensen?”
He shook his head mutely, knowing that Steve would be looking at him and that he wouldn’t have to speak. He might have been able to have faked it through the meeting at Steve’s before they had split up to make their separate ways to the club but he wasn’t sure he would be able to swallow down his turmoil again to dare speaking now. Steve would call the whole operation off, at least, for the night and he didn’t want to be the reason that happened.
It was loud in the club; he was pretty sure it was louder than any of the other clubs they had been in. It was both reassuring, the pounding bass helping to drown out the inane conversations of the people around him but it was disconcerting when only half of a conversation echoed through the earpiece.
“Jay.”
Jared’s voice was friendly and open sounding, approachable.
“No, I’m not waiting for anyone. Go ahead and take a seat.”
Jensen shut his eyes and wished that if he stuck his fingers in his ears that he wouldn’t be able to hear Jared responding to someone trying to pick him up. It wouldn’t do any good though, not with the earpiece snug in his ear and Steve would kill him if he took it out.
“Jared I get that you’re blending in but keep one eye on Jensen.” Steve muttered.
Well he guessed that answered his worry from the night before. Obviously Jared had only been looking to get laid. He supposed that he should be happy to have found that out while keeping his dignity.
“Yeah.”
He didn’t know if Jared was responding to Steve or to something his new friend had said and he didn’t care. All that mattered was that if he was stuck listening to it, he sure as hell wasn’t going to sit close by and be tempted to watch. He might be somewhat of a masochist, the proof being that he let himself believe that maybe there was something more between him and Jared than just a sexual attraction, but he wasn’t that much of a masochist.
“Jensen, what are you doing?” Steve hissed, his voice too close in his ear that Jensen had to clench his fingers around the neck of his untouched beer to stop from clawing his earpiece out.
He dropped his chin, projecting the image that he was looking down to ensure he didn’t step on someone else’s feet as he slipped off his bar stool. “Mingling.”
“No. It’s too busy Jensen. Even if we all start moving around we’re going to lose sight of you.”
He moved between two tables, close enough to meet Steve’s eyes but far enough away that neither he nor Chris could make a grab for him without it being obvious. He lifted one should in a shrug before purposely moving around a group of six guys so that he could have a moment of relative peace.
“God damnit!” He growled, “Everybody move and find me Jensen.”
Jensen didn’t bother to look behind him, hoped that if he kept moving easy, like everyone else around him and the fact that only Jared should know him well enough to recognize him from behind, that he could remain anonyms for a few more minutes.
“Call out when you spot him.”
He gritted his teeth against the enviable answer but it never came. He just wanted five minutes without everyone staring at him, cataloguing his every move. It wasn’t so easy being the bait, being the one that has to sit alone and appear available all the time. Hard to be left with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company.
He didn’t miss the irony of that idea, the fact that he had spent months with only his own thoughts as company and had been completely content but now, it wasn’t enough.
“Jared, you’re the tallest, don’t tell me that you can’t find him.” Steve was starting to sound pissed off and a little desperate.
He knew why, he understood that they were basing their whole operation on the idea that the killer would be after him. But they were also basing it on the hope that he was even here in Dallas. But what if he wasn’t? There were FBI agents at all six of the gay clubs in town and there had been for the last four days but still nothing, not even a false positive.
As much as he didn’t want to consider it, what if he really wasn’t in Dallas? Jensen was pretty sure he had been at one point, he had seen the evidence but what if whatever had sent him running from Lake Charles had sent him running from Dallas?
“Jared?”
“I’ve got nothing.”
Jared sounded concerned but he refused to believe that it was for anything other than the real possibility that Steve was going to shut them down for the night because of what he was doing.
“Jen? Come on Jensen, where are you?”
He couldn’t help it, he’d only been able to ignore that tone of voice from Jared twice, once when he thought he was doing the right thing and once when he was so angry he couldn’t see beyond his own rage. This wasn’t one of those times. He dropped his chin, raised his free arm to rub at the back of his neck and opened his mouth to reply when he knocked shoulders with someone.
“Shit, sorry!”
Jensen didn’t recognize the voice but as he looked up from the spreading wet spot from his beer hitting his thigh, he was confronted with a face that he had been thinking of almost non-stop for a week.
Jensen’s mind went blank. After days of looking for him, of beginning to think they would never find him, there he was, right in front of him.
His assessment had been correct that first time he had stared at the police composite sketch. He wasn’t someone that would stand out; he wouldn’t be any more memorable than any of the couple hundred guys in the club. But there was something about him; something about the way he smiled that drew interest.
If he didn’t know exactly what kind of animal the guy in front of him was and his mixed emotions about Jared, he might have been interested. As it was, he was interested just not for the normal reasons.
He had to say something, he had to alert everyone else that their suspect was right there but all his training seemed to have gone out the window. All he could concentrate on was not blowing everything by going for the bastard’s throat.
His smile faltered and he peered closer at Jensen, “Are you okay?”
Shit. Shit! He was freaking the guy out. He had to say something fast before the guy bolted. Especially if he had recognized Jensen the way he had him and began to wonder if something wasn’t going on. Sure it was public knowledge that he was no longer with the FBI but this guy was paranoid enough to risk capture by returning to a place that the cops were looking for him to get rid of the only person who could identify him. It wouldn’t be surprising to think that he was weighing the odds that somehow Jensen had figured out who he was.
“Yeah.” He managed a slight smile. “Just having one of those nights.” He gestured to his beer soaked jeans, “This. Its just par for the course today.”
The guy appeared to relax slightly, “You and me both. How about you let me buy you another and we can trade horror stories.”
“Jensen what’s going on?” Steve was pissed but he could hear the interest, the hesitated excitement, in his voice.
He didn’t want another beer, he hadn’t wanted the one he had been carrying, it had simply been a prop. What he wanted was a way to let everybody else know who was with him. What he needed was to get him away from the crowd so that he couldn’t slip away from Jensen.
He could do this, even without his FBI training, he could pick up a guy in a bar. He mentally shook himself and tried to look interested.
“Actually I was about to head out. But I’d be more than happy for the company, if you’d be willing to buy me a coffee.”
“Jesus Christ Jensen’s got him!” Steve sounded breathless, “Find him God damnit!”
“He’d better have.”
Jensen pushed away the thrill that shot through him at the possible edge in Jared’s voice. He didn’t have time to obsess over what it might mean, not with the suspect starting to look like he was trying to find a way to back out.
That couldn’t be right, not if he recognized Jensen and Steve’s assumption had been wrong? Really he was no one to this guy but Justin Hartley’s surviving partner. He wasn’t like the last victim in Lake Charles; he had never met him before tonight. It very well could be that the only reason they were even looking at each other was because of the spilt beer.
“Come on man, I could really use knowing that I’m not the only one have a shit hole day.” He motioned to his tight jeans, “I’ll even tell you the embarrassing story about why I’m wearing these shitty jeans.”
His eyes flickered down to Jensen’s crotch and then back to his face. He shrugged, “Why the hell not. It’s not like there is really anything interesting keeping me here.”
Except for the guy dancing around on the stage in a g-string behind you. He kept that to himself; it would have been incredibly stupid of him to point out anything that would keep the guy in the club.
The grin he flashed wasn’t completely faked. Now he just had to alert everyone else that they were leaving. Suddenly only being able to hear the agents’ side of the conversation wasn’t the good thing it was while Jared had been flirting.
“Where are you Ackles?”
He pushed the sound of Steve’s voice away, concentrating solely on getting out of the club. Once they were outside of the club, if he said something that spooked the suspect and he tried to run, he would have a harder time of it. There wouldn’t be the crowd there was in the club to duck behind.
“Do you need to stop at the coat check?”
“They’re heading for the exit.”
Jensen winced at t\he volume of Steve’s voice in his ear and quickly glanced sideways at the suspect. He didn’t appear to have noticed anything out of the ordinary, but if Steve kept bellowing like that he would probably hear him for himself once they got into the relative quiet outside.
“Inside voice Steve.” Chris snarled low.
“Fuck off Kane.” He growled back but he was quieter for which Jensen was glad. “Let Jensen get the suspect outside before anyone makes a move.”
Obviously they had made it through the crowed. He wanted to turn his head to see how close his back up, Jared, was but he didn’t dare. They were almost to the exit and that was the only thing that mattered at the moment.
“So, since I’m buying you coffee and all, I guess we should exchange pleasantries.”
Jensen let him push open the door and stepped out into the quiet night. The cool night air felt good after the closed, over-heated air, of the club, felt good against his skin and helped clear his head.
“Hmm.” He just had to keep up the air of interest until at least one other person from the team got outside. “I thought you were buying me a coffee because you had drenched me in beer.”
The guy chuckled, “You’ve got me there.” He paused in front of the alley running beside the club and held out his hand. “Eric Kelly.”
It didn’t surprise Jensen that he was using the same name. It wouldn’t really matter since he killed everyone that probably knew it but on the other hand, he had given it to the victim that gave his description to the police before he was murdered. He had to know that the guy had told them his name too. It just showed how egotistical, how confident he was that no one had connected the murders in Dallas to the ones in Lake Charles.
He briefly entertained the idea of give a false name but if the guy, Eric, knew who he was it would just alert him that something was up.
“Jensen.” He grabbed the offered hand, “Jensen Ackles.”
The friendly smile melted off of Eric’s face and his eyes narrowed. He tightened his hold on his hand and yanked him off balance, dragging him into the alley.
He should have been expecting it but he had really thought that Eric was going to try to make a break for it if he recognized who he was. He had been counting on it, actually, and had been prepared to give chase, not be dragged forward.
Pain exploded in his head as he was slammed up against the brick wall of the club.
“The disgraced FBI agent from San Antonio.” Eric smiled in his face. “Isn’t that fortunate”
Jensen blinked several times quickly, trying to clear his hazy vision. He felt more than saw Eric’s arms move and his fingers clawed into the sides of his head.
“For me.”
His head was jerked forward before being slammed back against the wall again.
There was a buzzing in his ears and he was pretty sure there were voices threading through it but he couldn’t make out any words. It was simply background noise; the more pressing matter was getting the suspect off of him.
His arms felt heavy and sluggish but he managed to get them between him and Eric and shoved.
Either his head was harder than any of Eric’s victims or the first hit they had received had been a lot worse because he managed to push him off.
Jensen swung at him but the punch fell short and Eric used his own momentum against him. He grabbed his outstretched arm and tangled their feet together, sending him to the ground.
Eric laughed, “Finally someone with fight in them.” His steel-toed boot connected with Jensen’s left side and more burning pain blossomed as some ribs were broken. “Too bad we’re in such a public place, it would have been fun to play with you longer.”
It felt like everything was moving in slow motion, watching Eric draw his foot back and he knew this time he was aiming for his head. There was no way he would be able to roll out of the way in time to not get him. The best he could hope for was to roll over enough to protect his head and the back of his neck.
“FBI, freeze!”
He heard Jared yell but Eric had already been bringing his leg forward in a vicious kick. The last thing he thought before pain shot down his spine and he blacked out was that, at least, he wouldn’t be getting away.
***
Jensen peered at Jared as he stuck his head around the curtain surrounding his bed in the emergency room; at least, he thought it was Jared. The concussion was fucking with his vision but even blurry he didn’t know anyone else that tall.
“Hey. How are you feeling?”
Yup, it was Jared, his voice was unmistakeable.
“I have two broken ribs, a concussion, seven stitches in the back of my head and a bruised spine.” He grumbled back and then swallowed hard when his stomach rolled over as he tried to pull himself higher on the bed. “And nausea. How do you think I feel?”
“Like shit.”
Jared settled into the chair beside the bed.
“Pretty much.” He admitted before quickly adding, “But not bad enough not to be released.”
“Shocking.” He muttered dryly, “Don’t worry Jen, I’ve talked to your doctor, they’re going to release you.”
“Thank God.”
“If...”
He narrowed his eyes at him, “if” was way too close to “but” as far as he was concerned. “If what?”
“If you can provide them with the name of the person that will be watching you for the next twenty-four hours.”
He sounded far to happy over that little piece of information.
“What, am I five? I don’t need a baby sitter?” He growled quietly.
“No, you have a concussion. You need someone around to make sure you don’t slip into a coma.”
Jensen already knew why he needed someone around but that didn’t mean he had to like it. He especially didn’t like the fact that the only two viable options he had was his mother or his sister. If he called his mother he was going to have to deal with her being overbearing. If he called his sister he would eventually have to, probably in a day, two if he was lucky, have to deal with the guilt trip his mother would lay on him because he hadn’t called her to take care of him.
Neither option was appealing but he was going to pick one because, ultimately, both were more preferable than a night in the hospital.
“What happened with Eric?” He asked trying to forestall having to choose.
“You mean Michael Weatherly?”
He knew his head was bad but he was pretty sure it wasn’t so bad that he would have forgotten meeting someone else tonight. “That was Eric’s real name?”
Jared shrugged, “We don’t know for sure yet. Steve is checking now, but it was the name on his driver’s license. Michael Weatherly from Austin, Texas.”
“So where is he?”
“In the morgue” He answered low.
“You killed him?” It wasn’t that he didn’t think that Jared couldn’t do it but he wasn’t sure of the reasoning behind the action. Even with Jensen incapacitated, there were still another three agents and one cop in their group, not counting Jared.
He shrugged unapologetic, “He tried to kick you in the head but nailed your back and was aiming to take another shot. None of my back up would have made it out in time and he needed to be stopped before he got you in the head.”
“And he knew it was over.” Jensen said softly, “Police assisted suicide.”
“He was headed for the death penalty anyway. I just saved the tax payers from having to fund a lengthy trial and, at least, the one mandatory appeal.”
Jared’s voice wasn’t so much cold as it was devoid of all emotion. It was kind of throwing Jensen off balance, having never seen this side of him before.
“It’s going to be a hell of a lot of paperwork though.”
“Yeah.” He answered softly and stared down at his hands, lying limply in his lap.
He wasn’t sure he liked this side of Jared but he supposed it was better then him being all torn up for having killed Michael Weatherly. If he had it wouldn’t be a good sign for his lasting career as an FBI agent. So he ended up at an impasse within himself, he didn’t like the emotionless Jared but he wanted him to succeed.
“So who do you want to call?”
He frowned, confused, “Huh?”
When he looked up Jared was grinning at him. “To look after your concussed ass.”
Oh, right.
Mom or Mackenzie. Mom or Mackenzie. Obsessive mother henning for at least two days now or a guilt trip that would last for minimum of a week later. Jesus why wasn’t there a third option? He wasn’t counting staying at the hospital as an option at all because as far as he was concerned it wasn’t one.
“Let me do it.”
Jensen focused back in on him to find him worrying his lower lip.
He really didn’t think that was a good idea. He was already having enough problems with his feelings where Jared was concerned; he didn’t think having him around when he wasn’t in complete control would be a good idea.
“Come on Jen.” He pressed and covered his heart with his right hand. “I promise I won’t let you slip into a coma.”
Well he wanted a third option and it was only for one night. What could possibly go wrong?
Jensen ignored the tiny voice inside his head that was trying to remind him that he had thought pretty much the same thing about one little dance the night before.
Epilogue