Between Stars (4/4)
The plan gave Jared a focus he hadn't had before. When he thought of Jensen in Wake's hands and his rage threatened to choke him, he channelled that into going over the details again. They were seven hours away from the big showdown, and that left plenty of time to go over potential problems and obsessively prepare. He started with modifying one of his and Jensen's space suits to fit Genevieve. He brought her back into the engine room where he had the necessary tools. She sat in a chair beside him while he measured the helmet and took out the glass panels to access the recog programming.
He couldn't keep his eyes away from the mark on her face, three curved purple lines. Psynads were campfire story monsters--genetically engineered humans with super abilities, created by any number of shadowy organizations or scientists depending on who was telling the story. They snatched children and drained people's minds dry, or were trained assassins, or were working for the government--never anything good. In all the stories, one fact held true: psynads were signed by their creators with purple marks on their faces.
"So," he blurted out. "Either that's a tattoo or you're a psynad."
He cringed at the way it sounded, words flopping into the air with all the grace of a cold, dead fish. He wanted to kick himself when he dared a glance over at Genevieve and saw that her mouth was turned down in an angry line, her eyebrows an unforgiving slash across her pretty face. "Uh, I didn't mean that the way it sounded--I just meant, I didn't think psynads were real," he hastened to add.
“Well, we are,” she said shortly.
“Right,” he said, running a nervous hand through his hair. “Sorry. Whoa. Let me start over. Hi, I’m Jared, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Genevieve,” she said, and sighed. She looked exhausted, “And it’s all right. I understand it’s a shock."
"No, it was rude," Jared said. "Sorry. Just--I'm assuming that none of the things in the stories people tell are true," he ventured.
She laughed, a soft, bitter little laugh. "Not the ones people think are, anyway. Has Danneel ever told you what happened when she was growing up on Cronus?" she asked, tilting her head.
"No," Jared admitted. "Most of what she's said has been about New Texas."
Genevieve nodded. "I thought so," she said. Her mouth flattened into a brittle, humorless smirk. "It wasn't very pretty."
Jared swallowed. "What did happen? You don’t have to tell me, but… "
She hummed, shaking her hair out over her shoulder so that her face was clear. “I’ll tell you on one condition. You have to let me look at your heart. I don’t know if you’re trustworthy, otherwise.”
“What does that mean? Look at my heart?”
“What it sounds like--taking measure of the kind of person you are. I’m told it hurts a little, though it’s over in an instant."
He hesitated, then gave her a nod. "Do it."
Genevieve pulled her legs up under her chin and looked at him with her luminous brown eyes. His skin prickled and his blood went cold, but he didn’t look away; he knew somehow she was measuring him. He stared back at her, trying not to hide anything. He felt like something was brushing its fingertips over the bottom of his soul, leaving prints over the tender walls of his heart, but he bore it. It only lasted a second, and then it was gone, leaving him blinking in its wake.
She rested her chin on her knee. “Do you know how psynads were created?” she asked bluntly. Jared shook his head.
“No,” she said. “No one does, really, and the government in Central likes it that way. They circulate half those rumors themselves, you know--he ones about us being escaped experiments gone wrong at the hands of mad scientists, especially. They like those, because they get to be the good guys, rounding up all the dangerous stains on society.” She bared her teeth and made a scoffing noise. “The truth is that we were an experiment gone exactly right. We were built to their specifications and we each do just what we’re supposed to.”
“What’s that?”
Genevieve shrugged. “It depends on the psynad. There are 26 ‘generations’ of us, though why they call it that, I don’t know; each generation of psynads is descended from a different lineage, and slightly improves upon the last set. They’re represented by Roman letters. There are 150 to a generation, each with a different power. For example, I’m a telepath. Don’t worry, I can turn it on and off,” she said, sighing. “People always wonder that at first--‘are you reading my mind?’ Like I would just parcel through someone’s thoughts uninvited.” Her lip curled. “I might test people for honesty or trustworthiness by glancing at their heart, but I would never invade someone’s privacy like that.
“Anyway. Since there are 26 generations of psynads, there are 26 telepathic psynads in the planetary system, and 26 of every other kind, too--telekinetics, people with inhuman strength, faceshifters, etc. Each with their own variations from the others.”
Jared shook his head, brain swimming in the onslaught of information. “Okay, 26 generations and 150 in each. So that makes… “ he blinked, reeling back in shock. “Almost four thousand. Almost four thousand? You said you were made for a purpose. What did you mean by that?”
“We were all designed to do specific jobs. Telepaths are supposed to manipulate people.” She laughed shortly. “Obviously. Telekinesis is for builders, strength for fighters, shifting for assassins. The list goes on and on.”
“But… “ Jared trailed off, dropping his forehead into his hand and shaking his head. “But why would Central be making psynads with such a calculated… ?”
“Because we’re supposed to rule the system for them,” Genevieve said.
His head shot up. “What?” he demanded, leaning closer. “What do you mean?”
“I meant what I said,” she said, shrugging. “Central wants the Sector governments dissolved completely and all power in their own hands. The way the Sector governments are now, a Sector can refuse Central planetary or chemical resources if it needs them for its own economic growth or for the good of its own citizens. Central wants those resources, pure and simple.
“They want to avoid war--why waste humans now when you might need the resources later? So they avoided that step all together, and designed someone who could control people, a whole group of us. That's why they like to perpetuate myths.
“Danneel stumbled on this all by accident. She was in housing near the building they were raising us,” Genevieve said. “It was at the far end of the city, just before one of the slums started. Halfville, it was called--half in the city, half not. People aren’t very clever at naming things, are they?” She let her eyes drift closed. “Anyway, when she was fourteen, she started hearing a voice in her head. She thought she was going crazy.”
Her voice was so matter-of-fact that it took Jared a second to really understand what she’d just said. He imagined Danneel at age fourteen, the weight of this all on her shoulders, and wiped a hand over his face. “God,” he muttered. “Was it you?” he guessed.
“Yes.” She bit her lip and looked down. “They kept us locked inside the building--not much for a developing telepath to do. I reached out to see if I could find anybody to talk to. Eventually she realized that I wasn't in her head, and we started talking. About anything and everything--what she'd done that day, a book she'd read, what the ground looked like outside my walls. We got very, very close. It was one of the best years of my life.
"I told her things I wasn't supposed to tell anyone--we were strictly forbidden to share our nature and our living conditions with outsiders, though none were allowed in." She huffed out a breath. "I never felt very motivated to follow those rules, the way they were treating us.
"Danneel was horrified, and she convinced me that I could escape. I'd thought of it before, but never found it feasible; with outside help, though, it was doable. She pledged to help me, and we planned to go underground and hide." She smiled. "It was completely unrealistic, but worth it."
Jared exhaled. "What happened? Is that how you got out?"
She closed her eyes. "No. They found out. I was moved to another facility and held under maximum security until they felt assured of my loyalty. It was in Sector 5, about as far away from Cronus as you can get. My telepathy only works short-range unless it's amplified, so I lost Danneel. Forever, I thought, until today, when I felt her mind again--" Joy seeped into her face. "I never thought it was possible."
Jared stared, horrified. "They just--took you away?"
"They did worse things than that," she said quietly, and he knew better than to ask, but his heart filled with sorrow.
"I did get out eventually. The government keeps files on the rebels, and I stole copies before I escaped. I want them destroyed." Her eyes were steely when she looked at him. "No government should be doing that, and the mark on my face reminds me of that. Generation V," she said, pointing to it. "Number 133. Which left me with GENV-133. Close enough to Genevieve, I thought. It's prettier, anyway."
"It suits you," Jared said. His throat was rough, like he'd swallowed a clump of loose wire, and his eyes were burning.
He couldn't imagine growing up and not even having a name. In the stories people told, psynads were always cold, unfeeling things, less than human and more evolved at the same time. Jared had always pictured them as tall and pale with long fingers and mocking laughs, twisting people like paper dolls whatever way they wanted. Genevieve wasn't a thing like that. Genevieve was just a real person, and the thought that someone had caged her and tried to shovel her along an inhuman path made him feel like ripping something apart with his bare hands. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair, and he felt like he would crumple under the weight of that.
Instead, he said, "I'm sorry I was an asshole," he said, as gently as he could. "I’m sorry. I’m going crazy worrying about Jensen, not thinking straight--but that’s no excuse. I hope you don't hold it against me." He offered her the best smile he could scrape together, and his heart flipped when she smiled back at him, her eyes sparkling.
“You’ve recovered admirably,” she told him, stretching her feet out and wiggling her toes. “I think I’ll move you up into a probationary period, after which I’ll decide whether or not you’re still an asshole.”
He was surprised into a chuckle at her perfect deadpan. "You won’t regret it, officer," he promised, pretending to salute.
Her smile turned sweet, her nose scrunching up cutely. “Okay, I can see why Danneel likes you,” she said.
“I thought it was because of my manly dimples,” he joked.
“’Manly dimples’?” Danneel said, sticking her head around the corner. “I’m guessing that means it’s safe for me to come in now? Nothing important ever has the words ‘manly dimples’ in it.” She put her hands on her hips and smiled down at them both, but her brow was furrowed a little with worry. Wordlessly, Genevieve patted the floor beside her. Danneel sunk down and slid under her arm without hesitation.
“Jared and I were just discussing why you liked him,” Genevieve told her, curling her head into the crook of Danneel’s shoulder. “We’re done talking about Cronus.”
“Good,” Danneel said. She cleared her throat and met Jared’s eyes. “I guess now you have some idea of why I joined the rebellion?” she asked softly, laying her head on top of Genevieve’s.
The tilt of her voice was so cautious, her eyes shining with wariness in the dim glow of the engines. Jared felt his heart ache for the two of them, sudden and sharp--fifteen-year-old Danneel on the edge of a slum, the girl she’d wanted to save ripped away from her in an instant, and Genevieve, who’d been told she was inhuman her whole life and been torn away from the only person who had treated her otherwise.
“I think I’ve been really stupid,” he admitted quietly. “The rebellion--“ he bit his lip. “Jeff wasn’t their fault. The rebellion’s just people trying not to let that happen. And I shouldn’t have been so scared of that. Because if the alternative means going along with things like that… "
He heaved a sigh. "I don't want to make any decisions till Jensen gets back--" if, his mind whispered traitorously, but he ignored it-- "but I'm thinking maybe my brother had the right idea. I don't want to live in a world like this, where everyone's scared of the people that're supposed to be helping us--where they're plotting to take over and strip us of our rights. I don't wanna just watch it get worse."
Saying that felt like sloughing off years of weight. When he looked up at their faces, Danneel's shining with pride and Genevieve's clear and approving--he knew it was the right thing. He hoped Jensen would feel the same, when--when, not if, he told his doubts--when they got him back.
---
He slept for a couple hours on the way to refresh his energy, and woke up feeling the plan was totally wrong. He paced through the ship until he found Danneel, sitting hunched over a screen in the cockpit.
"Danneel, I think you should fly the pod," he said without preamble.
She frowned, tilting her head up so she could meet his eyes. "Uh, what brought that on? Are you sure about it?" she said carefully.
He looked down at the floor and blew out a breath. "Yeah. I am. Me on the pod--it doesn't mae sense. You can fly smallcraft much better than I can and get inside the station way more easily. I'm clunky, obvious--I don't think I have half the chance you do. And we--" his voice trembling, his fingers digging themselves into his thighs. "We need the best we can get out there. Jensen's in trouble, and the impportant thing is that we get him back,not that I make some dramatic rescue and get to see him first." He tried not to make his voice waver. "I know you can do it. I'm not sure I can with the same level of skill. So. Yeah."
Danneel surprised him by folding him up tight in a hug, her chin digging into his good shoulder. "Fuck, Jared. Of course I'll fly her for you. I just didn't want to--"
"Yeah, but this isn't about my pride," he said, closing his eyes and smoothing a hand down her back. "This is about getting Jensen back. And if the way I can help best is to sit here with Rosie, then I'm not gonna fuck everything up by trying to do stupid heroics."
She squeezed him tighter. When she pulled back, her eyes were wet, but she was smiling. "If something goes wrong out there, I'll be fine if that's the way--"
"Don't you dare even talk about that," he said, voice shaking. "Everyone's getting back on this goddamn ship, you hear me? You can't--no. You go get him and you come back."
"Okay, Jared." She put a hand over her heart, like you did to swear. "I will."
Genevieve ducked into the room. "Hey, guys--I think it's about time for me and Jared to get in the pod. I'm starting to get pingwaves from Wake's ship."
"Change of plans," Jared told her. "You and Danneel are going--she can fly better. That all right?"
"Fine," Genevieve said. She looked at Danneel. "Ready to suit up?"
"Ready."
Jared watched as they descended, then turned his eyes to the mainscreen. He watched as the pod crawled closer and closer. Genevieve's notice-me-not vibes seemed to be working if the commstream from Wake's ship was anything to go by. Jared was listening so he could warn them if anything went wrong. Suddenly, he caught a shipwide broadcast:
Arrival at rendezvous point in four hours. Cargo will be transferred and pay received then. Those owed a share, please report to the bridge with your code.
Cargo.
Cargo, Jared thought. Jensen--Jensen, who'd brought him Rosie and then invited him along; Jensen, the truest and best person Jared knew. Reduced to a number of galdrets and a powerplay by a cruel assassin.
For the first time in his entire life, Jared really wanted to kill someone. Wake was on that ship, and he'd still be alive after this, chasing them. He might even get another chance at Jensen. Might even kill him, next time.
He didn't think about it much after that. His hands were moving to his console and flicking open Harley and Sadie's programs before he had a plan, and by the time his brain caught up with him, the next move was obvious. He grit his teeth and jabbed in a series of commands, mind ten miles ahead of his fingers.
On the radar, he watched Sadie's pull off the edge of the ship, sliding sleekly through space. He punched her safety off, viciously. He'd put a cloaking device on her after the success of Rosie's, and he hoped Ved Wake would be too distracted with trying to shoot at Danneel to look beyond superficials. Heart in his throat, he watched her thread her way around gunfire and send out her echo pulses. After a long, tense moment where he thought his blood might just rush out of his veins at the speed his pulse was drumming in his wrists, he saw a message fly out toward Harley. He swallowed.
Moment of truth.
Harley peeled off Rosie's side and made straight for the gun turrets. Jared knew he wasn't strong enough to breach the real hull enough to damage yet, but that wasn't what he had in mind after all, not this time--because of course, the answer was clear in front of him, and he didn't know how he hadn't seen it before. Hull breaching was too obvious for some things; sometimes you needed to slip inside something and take it from the inside. He punched in another set of commands to Sadie, and watched, wincing as she uncloaked herself and started making a lot of electronic noise. Immediately, one of the gun turrets swept towards her; Jared saw Harley dart inside it.
It was a fucking gamble. Jared knew that most big ships like Wake's had a shaft going from the turretsides to the engine room so the engineers could reach them and address problems from up close, but there was no telling whether Wake had left such an obvious oversight. There was no telling whether he'd thought of this already. But there wasn't any hope but to try it.
He switched screenview to Harley's opticals, keeping Danneel's flight through space in his other viewer. Dammit, he would have to try putting a hyperdrive into the pods if they were gonna use them for this kind of flying, he thought absently, adrenaline flashing huge through his body and whiting out all the worry again. His mind was so weirdly clear as he took control of Harley manually. Now that he thought they might get Jensen back after all--that there was the slimmest sliver of a chance he might--he might--
He screwed his concentration tighter and focused on nothing but watching Harley crawl up the gun shaft. The visuals were crap--would have to work on that--and every time he saw a shadow, his hands went tighter around the controls, hoping it wasn't a defense mechanism. He refused to feel triumphant or miraculous when Harley's sensors caught a flash of light on metal. Triumph would be later, if they made it out of this alive. The metal turned out to be a door, which was just what Jared was hoping for. An airlock. If he was right, this would lead him to the engine room. Now to see if Harley could really bust this thing open. He set the command chain going and watched, lip pulled between his teeth, as Harley's wleder torch extended.
Jared, came a noise in his brain; he started and winced at the almost searing sensation of it. Jared, it's Genevieve. Our comm system's shot, but Danneel thinks she can make it back to the ship. It won't be a precise landing, though, so we had to warn you. You ready to fly out of here fast till we can get up to the cockpit?
Yeah, Jared tried to think at her, chest tight. Do you--?
We have Jensen. Can you open the bay? ETA 2 minutes.
Relief flooded him, made his body feel wide and huge and filled with power and possibility. Fuck, maybe they would--but there wasn't time, there wasn't time to think, just to do. He opened the docking bay downstairs with easy flicks of his fingers, keeping his eyes on Harley and watching for any flashing that would indicate someone had noticed him. With a blinding burst of comprehension, he knew he would have to do something phenomenally stupid to get Wake's attention away from Harley when Harley was melting the inner door. So he did. He kept his eyes on Harley and Danneel, and he shot at Wake's ship.
Jared, what are you doing? Genevieve demanded as the turrets swung around to face him. Just hurry up, he told her, putting Harley on autopilot and hoping to all the gods he knew that luck was on his side. Rosie was cloaked, but sooner rather than later Wake's sensors would pick them up some other way. He just prayed Danneel and Genevieve got there before that happened, because he didn't trust himself to be able to evade fire for long.
Jared, you idiot! They're turning to face you!
Get inside! he told her.
The ship juddered with the sudden weight of the pod, and Jared sagged with relief. Tell Danneel to get up here ASAP, he yelled as best he could, poised to unlock Harley's autopilot the moment Danneel hit the copilot's chair. He slammed down on the airlock downstairs and moved the ship down at an angle to confuse Wake's sensors, hoping they were all strapped in down there. He saw the pod door open the second the airlock was down, but flicked that viewscreen off immediately--he couldn't, he couldn't be distracted now. He bit his lip and focused with all his being, body tense, as he waited.
She's coming, Genevieve told him, just as Jared heard steps running toward him. His eyes went wide as a blast from Ved's ship passed soundlessly over them, just hundreds of kilometers away. "Jared, you asshole, what the fuck?" Danneel demanded, but he waved her furiously to the other side, yelling, "Fly us out of here!"
She had her hands wrapped around the controls in seconds, and Jared flipped Harley's autopilot off immediately. Another blast came, closer if the viewscreen was anything to go by, but Jared turned his mind off of anything but controlling Harley. He was almost through the door, but Jared sped it up, adding more heat. Please don't notice, please don't notice, he thought, over and over again. Finally a bit of the inner door melted away; Jared slapped Harley's thrusters on before the vacuum created had time to draw anything too huge to the hole he'd barely made.
He could tell the white hot metal of the door was already burning through Harley's surface because his audio was shot and his optics were going fast, but that was okay--he only needed to make it for another minute. Peering at the blurry picture Harley's transmitters sent while Danneel careened the ship around to avoid another blast and started firing up the hyperdrive, Jared picked out what he thought was the blur of the engine. With a final typed command, he sent Harley straight at it and pressed his self-destruct button. The screen went black.
Jared whirled around to look at Danneel's viewscreen, still showing Wake's ship. For a moment, nothing happened, and his fingers dug into the arms of his chair as his pulse beat wild with adrenaline and fear--then lights flickered on one part of a ship, then another. With a dawning sense of relief, Jared watched as the ship stumbled in space, flickering, flickering. The gunfire stopped; Jared imagined the warning klaxon going inside the ship. Then, before their eyes, it exploded in, pieces flying past them.
"What did you do!" Danneel yelled, jamming down the warpdrive and ducking debris. In a second, they were far enough away from the blast, but a tiny part of Jared whited out with fear at how close it had been. Danneel turned to him, her eyes wild with confusion and her hair mussed. "Jared, what the fuck was that? Did you make Ved Wake's ship explode?"
"I--I think so," he said, not wanting to jinx it somehow. "I mean, I set off a bomb in there, so, uh. I hope so."
"How'd you--"
"Those bots I've been working on. Oh, god." He slumped over as the adrenaline left him, followed by a flood of exhaustion. "Fuck. Thank god you made it, thank god." A thought seized him and he whipped his head up. "Is he--?"
"He's downstairs," she said, face softening. "He was--he was drugged, unconscious when we found him. Gen's checking him over and making sure they didn't put him in a medical coma; if they did, it might be a while before they wake him up. I think he struggled--they did something to his leg." She put her hands on Jared's own, which he realized he'd clenched till the nails were biting into the palms. "Jared, we think he's okay. Gen said his brainfunction was normal."
Jared took a deep breath. "Can I see him?" he said.
Danneel closed her eyes for a moment. "If you're quiet, Gen says," she told him, opening her eyes again. "You can help her bring him up into bed. But Jared, he looks way worse than he is, okay? Just--be strong. We got him back. We can figure everything else out from here."
Jared was down the stairs in a flash, but he stopped short in the doorway, heart stuttering in his chest. Genevieve was huddled over a body that looked nothing like Jensen for a second, its face haggard and bruised and skin stretched and pale. Jared swallowed a few times, then walked forward, slowly picking Jensen out in the figure's features. He tried to take deep breaths and keep himself from panicking, remembering what Danneel had said. He looks worse than he is, he reminded himself, he'll be okay, he'll be okay...
"Jared, can you help me carry him up?" Genevieve asked. He nodded and sprang guiltily forward and pulled Jensen into his arms, being careful of his head like Genevieve instructed. He felt somehow lighter than he should, and Jared bit his lip.
Please, Jensen, please be okay, he prayed, and walked him gently up the stairs. His heart was lying in his arms, and he didn't know what he'd do if this was it, if this was really it.
He shoved the thought out of his mind and helped Genevieve put Jensen to bed, keeping his eyes off Jensen's wan face.
---
The next few days were tense. Genevieve spent most of them at Jensen's bed, monitoring him. She, Danneel, and Jared slept in shifts. Jared slept in the kitchen until Danneel told him to sleep in her bed, and then they curled up together when their schedules intersected. Fear was easier to handle together, after all.
On the fourth day, when Jared was flying Rosie--out to the goddamn middle of nowhere, where no one would bother them until they were ready--Danneel ran in and grabbed his good shoulder. "He's awake!" she whispered, eyes alight with joy. "Jared, he's awake! And he wants to see you!"
Jared didn't have to be told twice. He ran out of the cockpit, past a smiling Genevieve, and stopped, slightly out of breath, at his and Jensen's door. The sight that met his eyes stopped him short and set him grinning fiercely. Jensen was sitting up, smiling right back at him--looking whole and healthier and fuck, Jared couldn't hold back from leaning down and hugging him gently close, his head bumping into the top bunk.
"Fuck, Jensen," he whispered. "You stupid asshole."
"Right back at you," said Jensen, hugging him back. "Shit, is your shoulder okay?"
"Is your entire you okay?" Jared shot back, leaning back reluctantly to sit next to him. "God, Jensen, when I saw you come through, I thought you might be--"
Jensen shook his head, eyes not leaving Jared. "I think they had me out for the whole week," he said. "I fought at first--hurt my leg--then felt something again my neck. Think it musta been cyclitrine or something powerful. First thing I remember after that it Danneel's face as she dragged me out of there," he said. He laughed, shaking his head fondly. "God, she looked intense, like a warrior out of a storybook. I thought--I don't know what I thought, man, everything was crazy. Then I blacked out again, and then the next thing I remember she and Gen were in here, checking my vitals." He smiled at Jared. "And now you. Fuck, I missed you."
Jared smiled back, trying to reign it in. God, it was so much better to hear Jensen talking. It made him swell with love for Jensen, and--well, maybe this wasn't the best time, but maybe it was. Jared didn't ever want to have to wonder if Jensen had died not knowing they loved each other again. He cleared his throat and forced it out before he could overthink it.
"So no kiss for your rescuing princess?" he asked, voice as calm as he could make it. "Woulda been a good time to make your move."
"Maybe if I hadn't already been in love with you," Jensen said quietly, eyes on his hands.
Jared swallowed, feeling something fragile bloom in his chest. "Yeah?" he repeated, perching on the corner of the bed.
Even from here, he could feel the heat of Jensen's body--this new awareness of him, of how fucking precious he was to Jared. His beating heart and healthy blood; his whole, unbroken bones, and his bright green eyes. It was miraculous, and it still made Jared catch his breath a little. He wanted to reach out and hold Jensen close enough that they could sync their breathing, skin up against skin, and not let him go ever. His whole body ached to just make sure Jensen was really here, really okay.
Jensen shook his head, mouth twisted. "Fuck, Jared, you're so oblivious. For a long time, yeah." His hands were tense where they rested in his lap, his thumb bumping up against the bandages on his wrist.
"Are you sure about Danneel?" Jared asked, hunching his shoulders to keep from reaching out to touch. He wanted to be damn sure about this before he made a move; his heart was beating in his throat. "I mean, she told me, but I wasn't sure... "
Jensen huffed out a breath of laughter. "C'mon, Jared. We never expected that to happen, not for real." He shrugged, picking at the skin on his thumb. "We never made any promises, and when we met--man. Just didn't click that way. Probably because we weren't looking to click. And before--well, she was something far away, and you were right here next to me, and I couldn't help it."
Jared bit his lip over a smile. "Yeah?" he asked. "Well--well you coulda said something earlier. When I figured out how I felt about you, I thought I was gonna have to watch you and Danneel get married."
Jensen's head came up, his face tight and his eyes strange. "How you--?"
"Feeling's mutual," Jared said, catching Jensen's eyes and letting all his feelings show through. "In case that wasn't obvious. I love you."
Jensen didn't say anything; just took Jared's face in his hands and kissed him, slow and warm and with something a little desperate underneath it. Jared kissed him back, feeling the same way--a confirmation of we're here, we're here, we're here. We're together. Jensen felt so real this close. He smelled like sweat and his skin felt tight with exhaustion, and Jared's shoulder still gave twinges every now and then. But they were here. They were going to be okay.
"You really?" Jensen said, when he pulled away. His eyes looked luminous this close.
"Yeah," Jared said. "God, forever, I think. But I only figured it out because I was jealous of Danneel."
Jensen laughed. "You didn't need to be."
He kissed Jared again, and from there it progressed to better things, both of them doing their best to keep as quiet as possible. It was clumsy--both of them hurt, laughing when they made mistakes--but Jared knew that this was where he wanted to be for the rest of his life, figuring this out with Jensen, as they lay together afterwards.
They curled together as best they could on the drier side of the bed, arguing good-naturedly about whose fault it was. Jared's heart felt overfull with the giddiness and joy of it--of being right here--and he thought he could probably drift right to sleep. But there was the question he had to ask first. He brushed his lips over the nape of Jensen's neck.
"So, you wanna join the rebellion?" he murmured. "Danneel said maybe... "
Jensen tensed and turned in his arms till they were looking eye to eye, Jensen's a bare and steely grey in the muted light. "Yeah," he said. "I do. I just--things are too fucked up, Jared. I'm not sure I can live with just doing the bare minimum anymore. We have a ship, we have ways to get around the government--that's so much more than anyone else has. We could be doing a lot more than smuggling holocard readers and bacon."
He broke off, shaking his head a little. "You never asked about the most dangerous stuff Jeff did. I knew it was 'cause you didn't wanna bring up bad memories, and thank you for that, but--well--" Jensen's eyes went distant. "I told you the truth about him not being part of the rebellion, and me not having anything to do with it back then. I never did, and Jeff never was a rebel, always worked alone. But he did some stuff that maybe would've qualified as recklessly dangerous and against the government. Like smuggling political refugees."
In spite of himself, Jared sucked in a breath. He'd been trained from birth to think that was the most dangerous thing to do, and the thought of Jensen in danger again was just not one he was prepared to deal with. Jensen reached down to take his hand. "I know it's dangerous, but Jeff trusted them, and I trusted Jeff. I only found out about one time for sure, but he believed he was doing the right thing, and I never would've turned someone in for something like that. He had good judgement, and it got me wondering...
"I never told you this, but the people I took bounties on--they were all on this list Jeff had, of people he wanted to kill someday." Jensen offered a crooked smile. "Like I said, I trusted him. I figured, if we needed the money that bad--if I was gonna have to kill for it again--then it better be someone Jeff didn't trust. So I think I've sort of accidentally been part of the rebellion for a while, without even meaning to."
"Bluebird," Jared murmured with sudden comprehension.
"Huh?"
"The government--they thought you were an assassin for the rebellion. Which--I guess you were, without really realizing. That's why they took you." Jared squeezed his hand tight. "They called you Bluebird."
Something in Jensen’s eyes clicked. “That’s what those messages were about! The ones I took to Sam? That word kept popping up!" He whistled low. "God."
"The rebels figured it out. They're really smart. And good people. You'd like 'em," Jared said. He went quiet for a long moment, just thinking. After a while, Jensen reached over to cup his cheek and kiss him.
"Something wrong?" he murmured.
Jared shook his head until he figured out the right way to word it. Some old hurt throbbed under his ris, petulant and insistent. "I don't know why you'd think I wouldn't," he said, finally, softly. "Listen to you, I mean. About the rebellion. Jesus, Jensen. You could have told me. You could have--you could have talked to me." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I mean, you and Danneel--you're right. I was being stupid before. I was thinking this wasn't my fight, but it clearly is. I was being selfish. I was... afraid something would happen. To you, or to our families, like Jeff. I dunno. But I would have listened, you know. If you'd said. I would have thought about it and listened. You could have told me you were thinking about it."
"Jared... " Jensen brushed a kiss over his mouth. "Jared, fuck. Of course I trust you. More'n anyone. Anyone. And you would have listened. I know that, man. But did you ever think maybe I just didn't want you to have to make that decision when I wasn't even sure myself?" He hugged Jared close. "Ever think maybe I was being just as stupid and selfish, trying to keep you safe and close?"
"Oh," Jared said, feeling a rush of affection. He tucked his chin into the crook of Jensen's shoulder and meditated over that for a few minutes. "Well, that was dumb of you. Went and got myself kidnapped and drawn into it anyway."
He meant to make Jensen laugh, but Jensen just pulled him closer, his chin resting on Jared's hair. "Don't you ever do that again," he said quietly. Jared could feel his heart beat faster. "Fuck, Jared. I was so scared."
"Ditto for you, asshole," Jared told him. He cleared his throat. "I want to join too. I think it's time."
Jensen shifted till they were lying side by side again, his brow furrowed. "You do?" he asked. "Really?"
He knocked his shoulder lightly against Jensen's. "Where you go, I go. We're in this together, yeah? You'n me, walking between stars."
Jensen's face broke out in a smile. "You sap," he said, but his voice was soft and full of love, and the kiss he gave Jared after said everything he hadn't in words. "Are you sure?"
"We can talk about it with Danneel, but--yeah. I think so."
"Well, good. 'Cause I wasn't gonna leave you behind, one way or another. Not after this long."
"Now who's the sap," Jared teased. "No, yeah. Besides, I already got one of the government's best bounty hunters, so I guess I'm default rebellion now. They're not going to see it any other way."
"Yeah, Genevieve said you killed him somehow?" Jensen raised his eyebrows and squeezed Jared's hand. "How the fuck you do that, Jared?"
"Harley and Sadie. Wake did get sloppy," Jared told him. He explained the battle, voice shaking at the parts his body remembered. "I thought we weren't gonna make it," he admitted.
"Well, you did," Jensen said. "I can't believe--god. You're a fucking genius. Thank you." He laid his hand over Jared's heart, and Jared covered it with his own.
"Thanks," he murmured. "Even though I killed Harley and Sadie, yeah, I kinda got to blow up an evil guy's lair, so, worth it. Definitely worth it. Besides, he'd kidnapped my princess. What was I s'posed to do?" If his voice wobbled a little, no one could blame him.
Jensen stayed quiet for a long moment. Then his fingers came up to brush over Jared's hair, feather-light. "My hero," he teased, and kissed Jared till his toes curled and his heart felt fit to burst from love in his chest.
-
They went back to sleep for a few hours. Jared dreamed he was flying Rosie again, the whole of space spread out underneath his hands. Danneel and Jensen were back in the kitchen, laughing about something. Up ahead of them, Jared saw a star explode: an octopus of light and heat in technicolor, its arms reaching out to cradle the ship. All around them, purple and gold made swirls and waves, and Jared felt he was right where he was supposed to be.
When he woke up, Jensen was sleeping beside him. Faint starlight outlined the contours of his face, a half-moon of cheekbone and the jut of his jaw. Jared fell in love with him all over again. He watched Jensen's chest rise and fall; traced the line of his mouth and the curve of his neck with his eyes, and thought of touching Jensen, waking him up. But there was a little secret want tucked behind Jared's heart--to keep Jensen, this part of Jensen, as much his as he could for as long as he could. He didn't want anyone to know that Jensen could look like this. That Jensen was as wonderful as he was. He didn't want anyone to know, just wanted this to the two of them alone for as long as they could have it.
So he let Jensen sleep, instead. He watched him for a minute, until he decided that was kind of creepy, then eased his way slowly out of bed and stretched. He pulled on a shirt and some sweatpants from underneath his bunk, and slipped on a pair of socks. He took one last look at Jensen--god, he looked like some fancy painting, lying there in the dark, beautiful in silver and shadows. He shut the door as quietly as he could.
Danneel was sitting in the cockpit, reading something on her commpad when Jared wandered in.
"Hey big guy," she called. "So did you two lovebirds consummate your sparkly gay love?"
"Fuck you," he said, grinning and leaning down to kiss her hair. "Where's your girl?"
She blushed and wiggled out from between his hands. "Don't call her that. I don't even--nothing's happened yet, okay?"
"But it's gon-na," Jared sing-songed, still smiling. "I can tell. Rosie's basically just a loveship. C'mon, if you get to be smug, I get to, too."
"In what universe is that logical at all, dbag?"
"Geeze, you two, do I need to separate you?" came Jensen's voice from the doorway. Jared shivered a little at the husky sound of it, arousal sparking in his belly.
"No," he said, turning and grinning. "'Course not, captain. We can be civilized."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Jensen said, green eyes fond. He limped out toward them. Danneel and Jared both made to rise and help him, but he waved them off. "Hey, I'm an invalid, not helpless. Besides, you two were right where I wanted you. We need to talk."
Danneel tensed beside Jared. "Talk about what?" she asked, swinging around in her chair to face him fully. Jared shifted until he was facing Jensen, too. Jensen eased himself into the co-pilot's chair carefully.
"I mean, you can go with Aldis if you want," Jensen said, holding up his hands in a gesture of peace. "But--" he glanced at Jared. "We'd miss you."
"We would," Jared said. "Man, Danneel, we'd just go back to being a pair of losers without you. You know it's true!" he went on when she covered a little laugh. "You can fly better than me, you know more useful people than Jensen does in all his illustrious smuggling history, and you know how to be a rebel better than either of us. And given that we're about to start being rebels ourselves--"
"What?" she said, eyes going wide. "When'd that happen?"
"After we consummated our 'sparkly gay love'."
"Jared--"
"Her words, not mine!" He bit his lip and glanced at the floor, letting his voice go serious for a moment. "But it's like I told you before. It doesn't really matter if it feels dangerous. Hell, our whole damn existence is dangerous for profit--why not for profit and helping people? We have the means to do something important, and it's not something I'm okay with, anymore, pretending it's not that bad." He took a deep breath. "What happened to Jeff--he would've wanted me to go on, anyway. This is a better way to honor him."
Jensen was looking at him, his eyes full of something proud and bright, and Jared ducked his head and coughed. "Plus, I still haven't beaten you at Deltan poker," he added to diffuse the tension.
"And you never will," she said, catching his eyes a little hesitantly. "Well. Wow. Yeah, I'd like to stay, if you're really okay with that. I'd feel kinda weird leaving you morons now, anyway, letting you fend for yourselves. Because we both know how well that'd go." She beamed up at them.
"Then I guess our pirate crew's grown to three and added another occupation to our list of many," Jensen said, settling back with a satisfied look on his face. "Awesome. That's settled. Just for officialness's sake: you're welcome to fly with Rosie for as long as you like, Danneel Harris. Pay's not great, but... it's home."
"What he said," Jared told her, beaming. "And Gen, too--if it's all right with Jensen."
"I think she gets a free pass since she helped save my life," Jensen agreed dryly.
Danneel bit her lip. "Thank you," she said, softly. A smile grew on her face. "She's not awake, but we can ask her when she wakes up."
"Excellent. So. Now that we've risked our lives for each other, bonded, become fast friends, and killed the bad guy, what's next?" Jared said, grinning.
He knew it was deeper, darker, more important than that--they'd challenged things beyond belief today, and trouble was sure to follow fast on their heels. They might not live too much longer, not if the government was going to start actively chasing them instead of passively waiting. The thought sent a chill through Jared's body. But if that was the case, then fuck--he wanted to live it all the way. He wanted them to have this moment, this triumph, this place; he wanted them to have something good to hold onto. And if there was anything good in the middle of this mess, it was this. Them all together, safe, and happy. That was cause for celebration.
"Well, let's see. First, I'm gonna fry up the rest of that bacon, 'cause we deserve a feast." Jensen smiled at Jared's cheer. "Then, I'm guessing we might wanna go meet up with Aldis, yeah?" Jensen asked, turing to Danneel. "He'll know where it's best for us to be next. And anyway, we need someplace to give Rosie some TLC and rest up ourselves. Sound reasonable to you, Danneel?"
"Sounds perfect," Danneel said. "It'll be tough from here on out, you know. Being real rebels, killing Wake--the government's gonna be hot on our trail." Her face creased with worry.
"Yeah," Jared said. He smiled, and caught Jensen's gaze. "But we can handle it."
The stars around them almost seemed to shine brighter in agreement.
END
He couldn't keep his eyes away from the mark on her face, three curved purple lines. Psynads were campfire story monsters--genetically engineered humans with super abilities, created by any number of shadowy organizations or scientists depending on who was telling the story. They snatched children and drained people's minds dry, or were trained assassins, or were working for the government--never anything good. In all the stories, one fact held true: psynads were signed by their creators with purple marks on their faces.
"So," he blurted out. "Either that's a tattoo or you're a psynad."
He cringed at the way it sounded, words flopping into the air with all the grace of a cold, dead fish. He wanted to kick himself when he dared a glance over at Genevieve and saw that her mouth was turned down in an angry line, her eyebrows an unforgiving slash across her pretty face. "Uh, I didn't mean that the way it sounded--I just meant, I didn't think psynads were real," he hastened to add.
“Well, we are,” she said shortly.
“Right,” he said, running a nervous hand through his hair. “Sorry. Whoa. Let me start over. Hi, I’m Jared, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Genevieve,” she said, and sighed. She looked exhausted, “And it’s all right. I understand it’s a shock."
"No, it was rude," Jared said. "Sorry. Just--I'm assuming that none of the things in the stories people tell are true," he ventured.
She laughed, a soft, bitter little laugh. "Not the ones people think are, anyway. Has Danneel ever told you what happened when she was growing up on Cronus?" she asked, tilting her head.
"No," Jared admitted. "Most of what she's said has been about New Texas."
Genevieve nodded. "I thought so," she said. Her mouth flattened into a brittle, humorless smirk. "It wasn't very pretty."
Jared swallowed. "What did happen? You don’t have to tell me, but… "
She hummed, shaking her hair out over her shoulder so that her face was clear. “I’ll tell you on one condition. You have to let me look at your heart. I don’t know if you’re trustworthy, otherwise.”
“What does that mean? Look at my heart?”
“What it sounds like--taking measure of the kind of person you are. I’m told it hurts a little, though it’s over in an instant."
He hesitated, then gave her a nod. "Do it."
Genevieve pulled her legs up under her chin and looked at him with her luminous brown eyes. His skin prickled and his blood went cold, but he didn’t look away; he knew somehow she was measuring him. He stared back at her, trying not to hide anything. He felt like something was brushing its fingertips over the bottom of his soul, leaving prints over the tender walls of his heart, but he bore it. It only lasted a second, and then it was gone, leaving him blinking in its wake.
She rested her chin on her knee. “Do you know how psynads were created?” she asked bluntly. Jared shook his head.
“No,” she said. “No one does, really, and the government in Central likes it that way. They circulate half those rumors themselves, you know--he ones about us being escaped experiments gone wrong at the hands of mad scientists, especially. They like those, because they get to be the good guys, rounding up all the dangerous stains on society.” She bared her teeth and made a scoffing noise. “The truth is that we were an experiment gone exactly right. We were built to their specifications and we each do just what we’re supposed to.”
“What’s that?”
Genevieve shrugged. “It depends on the psynad. There are 26 ‘generations’ of us, though why they call it that, I don’t know; each generation of psynads is descended from a different lineage, and slightly improves upon the last set. They’re represented by Roman letters. There are 150 to a generation, each with a different power. For example, I’m a telepath. Don’t worry, I can turn it on and off,” she said, sighing. “People always wonder that at first--‘are you reading my mind?’ Like I would just parcel through someone’s thoughts uninvited.” Her lip curled. “I might test people for honesty or trustworthiness by glancing at their heart, but I would never invade someone’s privacy like that.
“Anyway. Since there are 26 generations of psynads, there are 26 telepathic psynads in the planetary system, and 26 of every other kind, too--telekinetics, people with inhuman strength, faceshifters, etc. Each with their own variations from the others.”
Jared shook his head, brain swimming in the onslaught of information. “Okay, 26 generations and 150 in each. So that makes… “ he blinked, reeling back in shock. “Almost four thousand. Almost four thousand? You said you were made for a purpose. What did you mean by that?”
“We were all designed to do specific jobs. Telepaths are supposed to manipulate people.” She laughed shortly. “Obviously. Telekinesis is for builders, strength for fighters, shifting for assassins. The list goes on and on.”
“But… “ Jared trailed off, dropping his forehead into his hand and shaking his head. “But why would Central be making psynads with such a calculated… ?”
“Because we’re supposed to rule the system for them,” Genevieve said.
His head shot up. “What?” he demanded, leaning closer. “What do you mean?”
“I meant what I said,” she said, shrugging. “Central wants the Sector governments dissolved completely and all power in their own hands. The way the Sector governments are now, a Sector can refuse Central planetary or chemical resources if it needs them for its own economic growth or for the good of its own citizens. Central wants those resources, pure and simple.
“They want to avoid war--why waste humans now when you might need the resources later? So they avoided that step all together, and designed someone who could control people, a whole group of us. That's why they like to perpetuate myths.
“Danneel stumbled on this all by accident. She was in housing near the building they were raising us,” Genevieve said. “It was at the far end of the city, just before one of the slums started. Halfville, it was called--half in the city, half not. People aren’t very clever at naming things, are they?” She let her eyes drift closed. “Anyway, when she was fourteen, she started hearing a voice in her head. She thought she was going crazy.”
Her voice was so matter-of-fact that it took Jared a second to really understand what she’d just said. He imagined Danneel at age fourteen, the weight of this all on her shoulders, and wiped a hand over his face. “God,” he muttered. “Was it you?” he guessed.
“Yes.” She bit her lip and looked down. “They kept us locked inside the building--not much for a developing telepath to do. I reached out to see if I could find anybody to talk to. Eventually she realized that I wasn't in her head, and we started talking. About anything and everything--what she'd done that day, a book she'd read, what the ground looked like outside my walls. We got very, very close. It was one of the best years of my life.
"I told her things I wasn't supposed to tell anyone--we were strictly forbidden to share our nature and our living conditions with outsiders, though none were allowed in." She huffed out a breath. "I never felt very motivated to follow those rules, the way they were treating us.
"Danneel was horrified, and she convinced me that I could escape. I'd thought of it before, but never found it feasible; with outside help, though, it was doable. She pledged to help me, and we planned to go underground and hide." She smiled. "It was completely unrealistic, but worth it."
Jared exhaled. "What happened? Is that how you got out?"
She closed her eyes. "No. They found out. I was moved to another facility and held under maximum security until they felt assured of my loyalty. It was in Sector 5, about as far away from Cronus as you can get. My telepathy only works short-range unless it's amplified, so I lost Danneel. Forever, I thought, until today, when I felt her mind again--" Joy seeped into her face. "I never thought it was possible."
Jared stared, horrified. "They just--took you away?"
"They did worse things than that," she said quietly, and he knew better than to ask, but his heart filled with sorrow.
"I did get out eventually. The government keeps files on the rebels, and I stole copies before I escaped. I want them destroyed." Her eyes were steely when she looked at him. "No government should be doing that, and the mark on my face reminds me of that. Generation V," she said, pointing to it. "Number 133. Which left me with GENV-133. Close enough to Genevieve, I thought. It's prettier, anyway."
"It suits you," Jared said. His throat was rough, like he'd swallowed a clump of loose wire, and his eyes were burning.
He couldn't imagine growing up and not even having a name. In the stories people told, psynads were always cold, unfeeling things, less than human and more evolved at the same time. Jared had always pictured them as tall and pale with long fingers and mocking laughs, twisting people like paper dolls whatever way they wanted. Genevieve wasn't a thing like that. Genevieve was just a real person, and the thought that someone had caged her and tried to shovel her along an inhuman path made him feel like ripping something apart with his bare hands. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair, and he felt like he would crumple under the weight of that.
Instead, he said, "I'm sorry I was an asshole," he said, as gently as he could. "I’m sorry. I’m going crazy worrying about Jensen, not thinking straight--but that’s no excuse. I hope you don't hold it against me." He offered her the best smile he could scrape together, and his heart flipped when she smiled back at him, her eyes sparkling.
“You’ve recovered admirably,” she told him, stretching her feet out and wiggling her toes. “I think I’ll move you up into a probationary period, after which I’ll decide whether or not you’re still an asshole.”
He was surprised into a chuckle at her perfect deadpan. "You won’t regret it, officer," he promised, pretending to salute.
Her smile turned sweet, her nose scrunching up cutely. “Okay, I can see why Danneel likes you,” she said.
“I thought it was because of my manly dimples,” he joked.
“’Manly dimples’?” Danneel said, sticking her head around the corner. “I’m guessing that means it’s safe for me to come in now? Nothing important ever has the words ‘manly dimples’ in it.” She put her hands on her hips and smiled down at them both, but her brow was furrowed a little with worry. Wordlessly, Genevieve patted the floor beside her. Danneel sunk down and slid under her arm without hesitation.
“Jared and I were just discussing why you liked him,” Genevieve told her, curling her head into the crook of Danneel’s shoulder. “We’re done talking about Cronus.”
“Good,” Danneel said. She cleared her throat and met Jared’s eyes. “I guess now you have some idea of why I joined the rebellion?” she asked softly, laying her head on top of Genevieve’s.
The tilt of her voice was so cautious, her eyes shining with wariness in the dim glow of the engines. Jared felt his heart ache for the two of them, sudden and sharp--fifteen-year-old Danneel on the edge of a slum, the girl she’d wanted to save ripped away from her in an instant, and Genevieve, who’d been told she was inhuman her whole life and been torn away from the only person who had treated her otherwise.
“I think I’ve been really stupid,” he admitted quietly. “The rebellion--“ he bit his lip. “Jeff wasn’t their fault. The rebellion’s just people trying not to let that happen. And I shouldn’t have been so scared of that. Because if the alternative means going along with things like that… "
He heaved a sigh. "I don't want to make any decisions till Jensen gets back--" if, his mind whispered traitorously, but he ignored it-- "but I'm thinking maybe my brother had the right idea. I don't want to live in a world like this, where everyone's scared of the people that're supposed to be helping us--where they're plotting to take over and strip us of our rights. I don't wanna just watch it get worse."
Saying that felt like sloughing off years of weight. When he looked up at their faces, Danneel's shining with pride and Genevieve's clear and approving--he knew it was the right thing. He hoped Jensen would feel the same, when--when, not if, he told his doubts--when they got him back.
---
He slept for a couple hours on the way to refresh his energy, and woke up feeling the plan was totally wrong. He paced through the ship until he found Danneel, sitting hunched over a screen in the cockpit.
"Danneel, I think you should fly the pod," he said without preamble.
She frowned, tilting her head up so she could meet his eyes. "Uh, what brought that on? Are you sure about it?" she said carefully.
He looked down at the floor and blew out a breath. "Yeah. I am. Me on the pod--it doesn't mae sense. You can fly smallcraft much better than I can and get inside the station way more easily. I'm clunky, obvious--I don't think I have half the chance you do. And we--" his voice trembling, his fingers digging themselves into his thighs. "We need the best we can get out there. Jensen's in trouble, and the impportant thing is that we get him back,not that I make some dramatic rescue and get to see him first." He tried not to make his voice waver. "I know you can do it. I'm not sure I can with the same level of skill. So. Yeah."
Danneel surprised him by folding him up tight in a hug, her chin digging into his good shoulder. "Fuck, Jared. Of course I'll fly her for you. I just didn't want to--"
"Yeah, but this isn't about my pride," he said, closing his eyes and smoothing a hand down her back. "This is about getting Jensen back. And if the way I can help best is to sit here with Rosie, then I'm not gonna fuck everything up by trying to do stupid heroics."
She squeezed him tighter. When she pulled back, her eyes were wet, but she was smiling. "If something goes wrong out there, I'll be fine if that's the way--"
"Don't you dare even talk about that," he said, voice shaking. "Everyone's getting back on this goddamn ship, you hear me? You can't--no. You go get him and you come back."
"Okay, Jared." She put a hand over her heart, like you did to swear. "I will."
Genevieve ducked into the room. "Hey, guys--I think it's about time for me and Jared to get in the pod. I'm starting to get pingwaves from Wake's ship."
"Change of plans," Jared told her. "You and Danneel are going--she can fly better. That all right?"
"Fine," Genevieve said. She looked at Danneel. "Ready to suit up?"
"Ready."
Jared watched as they descended, then turned his eyes to the mainscreen. He watched as the pod crawled closer and closer. Genevieve's notice-me-not vibes seemed to be working if the commstream from Wake's ship was anything to go by. Jared was listening so he could warn them if anything went wrong. Suddenly, he caught a shipwide broadcast:
Arrival at rendezvous point in four hours. Cargo will be transferred and pay received then. Those owed a share, please report to the bridge with your code.
Cargo.
Cargo, Jared thought. Jensen--Jensen, who'd brought him Rosie and then invited him along; Jensen, the truest and best person Jared knew. Reduced to a number of galdrets and a powerplay by a cruel assassin.
For the first time in his entire life, Jared really wanted to kill someone. Wake was on that ship, and he'd still be alive after this, chasing them. He might even get another chance at Jensen. Might even kill him, next time.
He didn't think about it much after that. His hands were moving to his console and flicking open Harley and Sadie's programs before he had a plan, and by the time his brain caught up with him, the next move was obvious. He grit his teeth and jabbed in a series of commands, mind ten miles ahead of his fingers.
On the radar, he watched Sadie's pull off the edge of the ship, sliding sleekly through space. He punched her safety off, viciously. He'd put a cloaking device on her after the success of Rosie's, and he hoped Ved Wake would be too distracted with trying to shoot at Danneel to look beyond superficials. Heart in his throat, he watched her thread her way around gunfire and send out her echo pulses. After a long, tense moment where he thought his blood might just rush out of his veins at the speed his pulse was drumming in his wrists, he saw a message fly out toward Harley. He swallowed.
Moment of truth.
Harley peeled off Rosie's side and made straight for the gun turrets. Jared knew he wasn't strong enough to breach the real hull enough to damage yet, but that wasn't what he had in mind after all, not this time--because of course, the answer was clear in front of him, and he didn't know how he hadn't seen it before. Hull breaching was too obvious for some things; sometimes you needed to slip inside something and take it from the inside. He punched in another set of commands to Sadie, and watched, wincing as she uncloaked herself and started making a lot of electronic noise. Immediately, one of the gun turrets swept towards her; Jared saw Harley dart inside it.
It was a fucking gamble. Jared knew that most big ships like Wake's had a shaft going from the turretsides to the engine room so the engineers could reach them and address problems from up close, but there was no telling whether Wake had left such an obvious oversight. There was no telling whether he'd thought of this already. But there wasn't any hope but to try it.
He switched screenview to Harley's opticals, keeping Danneel's flight through space in his other viewer. Dammit, he would have to try putting a hyperdrive into the pods if they were gonna use them for this kind of flying, he thought absently, adrenaline flashing huge through his body and whiting out all the worry again. His mind was so weirdly clear as he took control of Harley manually. Now that he thought they might get Jensen back after all--that there was the slimmest sliver of a chance he might--he might--
He screwed his concentration tighter and focused on nothing but watching Harley crawl up the gun shaft. The visuals were crap--would have to work on that--and every time he saw a shadow, his hands went tighter around the controls, hoping it wasn't a defense mechanism. He refused to feel triumphant or miraculous when Harley's sensors caught a flash of light on metal. Triumph would be later, if they made it out of this alive. The metal turned out to be a door, which was just what Jared was hoping for. An airlock. If he was right, this would lead him to the engine room. Now to see if Harley could really bust this thing open. He set the command chain going and watched, lip pulled between his teeth, as Harley's wleder torch extended.
Jared, came a noise in his brain; he started and winced at the almost searing sensation of it. Jared, it's Genevieve. Our comm system's shot, but Danneel thinks she can make it back to the ship. It won't be a precise landing, though, so we had to warn you. You ready to fly out of here fast till we can get up to the cockpit?
Yeah, Jared tried to think at her, chest tight. Do you--?
We have Jensen. Can you open the bay? ETA 2 minutes.
Relief flooded him, made his body feel wide and huge and filled with power and possibility. Fuck, maybe they would--but there wasn't time, there wasn't time to think, just to do. He opened the docking bay downstairs with easy flicks of his fingers, keeping his eyes on Harley and watching for any flashing that would indicate someone had noticed him. With a blinding burst of comprehension, he knew he would have to do something phenomenally stupid to get Wake's attention away from Harley when Harley was melting the inner door. So he did. He kept his eyes on Harley and Danneel, and he shot at Wake's ship.
Jared, what are you doing? Genevieve demanded as the turrets swung around to face him. Just hurry up, he told her, putting Harley on autopilot and hoping to all the gods he knew that luck was on his side. Rosie was cloaked, but sooner rather than later Wake's sensors would pick them up some other way. He just prayed Danneel and Genevieve got there before that happened, because he didn't trust himself to be able to evade fire for long.
Jared, you idiot! They're turning to face you!
Get inside! he told her.
The ship juddered with the sudden weight of the pod, and Jared sagged with relief. Tell Danneel to get up here ASAP, he yelled as best he could, poised to unlock Harley's autopilot the moment Danneel hit the copilot's chair. He slammed down on the airlock downstairs and moved the ship down at an angle to confuse Wake's sensors, hoping they were all strapped in down there. He saw the pod door open the second the airlock was down, but flicked that viewscreen off immediately--he couldn't, he couldn't be distracted now. He bit his lip and focused with all his being, body tense, as he waited.
She's coming, Genevieve told him, just as Jared heard steps running toward him. His eyes went wide as a blast from Ved's ship passed soundlessly over them, just hundreds of kilometers away. "Jared, you asshole, what the fuck?" Danneel demanded, but he waved her furiously to the other side, yelling, "Fly us out of here!"
She had her hands wrapped around the controls in seconds, and Jared flipped Harley's autopilot off immediately. Another blast came, closer if the viewscreen was anything to go by, but Jared turned his mind off of anything but controlling Harley. He was almost through the door, but Jared sped it up, adding more heat. Please don't notice, please don't notice, he thought, over and over again. Finally a bit of the inner door melted away; Jared slapped Harley's thrusters on before the vacuum created had time to draw anything too huge to the hole he'd barely made.
He could tell the white hot metal of the door was already burning through Harley's surface because his audio was shot and his optics were going fast, but that was okay--he only needed to make it for another minute. Peering at the blurry picture Harley's transmitters sent while Danneel careened the ship around to avoid another blast and started firing up the hyperdrive, Jared picked out what he thought was the blur of the engine. With a final typed command, he sent Harley straight at it and pressed his self-destruct button. The screen went black.
Jared whirled around to look at Danneel's viewscreen, still showing Wake's ship. For a moment, nothing happened, and his fingers dug into the arms of his chair as his pulse beat wild with adrenaline and fear--then lights flickered on one part of a ship, then another. With a dawning sense of relief, Jared watched as the ship stumbled in space, flickering, flickering. The gunfire stopped; Jared imagined the warning klaxon going inside the ship. Then, before their eyes, it exploded in, pieces flying past them.
"What did you do!" Danneel yelled, jamming down the warpdrive and ducking debris. In a second, they were far enough away from the blast, but a tiny part of Jared whited out with fear at how close it had been. Danneel turned to him, her eyes wild with confusion and her hair mussed. "Jared, what the fuck was that? Did you make Ved Wake's ship explode?"
"I--I think so," he said, not wanting to jinx it somehow. "I mean, I set off a bomb in there, so, uh. I hope so."
"How'd you--"
"Those bots I've been working on. Oh, god." He slumped over as the adrenaline left him, followed by a flood of exhaustion. "Fuck. Thank god you made it, thank god." A thought seized him and he whipped his head up. "Is he--?"
"He's downstairs," she said, face softening. "He was--he was drugged, unconscious when we found him. Gen's checking him over and making sure they didn't put him in a medical coma; if they did, it might be a while before they wake him up. I think he struggled--they did something to his leg." She put her hands on Jared's own, which he realized he'd clenched till the nails were biting into the palms. "Jared, we think he's okay. Gen said his brainfunction was normal."
Jared took a deep breath. "Can I see him?" he said.
Danneel closed her eyes for a moment. "If you're quiet, Gen says," she told him, opening her eyes again. "You can help her bring him up into bed. But Jared, he looks way worse than he is, okay? Just--be strong. We got him back. We can figure everything else out from here."
Jared was down the stairs in a flash, but he stopped short in the doorway, heart stuttering in his chest. Genevieve was huddled over a body that looked nothing like Jensen for a second, its face haggard and bruised and skin stretched and pale. Jared swallowed a few times, then walked forward, slowly picking Jensen out in the figure's features. He tried to take deep breaths and keep himself from panicking, remembering what Danneel had said. He looks worse than he is, he reminded himself, he'll be okay, he'll be okay...
"Jared, can you help me carry him up?" Genevieve asked. He nodded and sprang guiltily forward and pulled Jensen into his arms, being careful of his head like Genevieve instructed. He felt somehow lighter than he should, and Jared bit his lip.
Please, Jensen, please be okay, he prayed, and walked him gently up the stairs. His heart was lying in his arms, and he didn't know what he'd do if this was it, if this was really it.
He shoved the thought out of his mind and helped Genevieve put Jensen to bed, keeping his eyes off Jensen's wan face.
---
The next few days were tense. Genevieve spent most of them at Jensen's bed, monitoring him. She, Danneel, and Jared slept in shifts. Jared slept in the kitchen until Danneel told him to sleep in her bed, and then they curled up together when their schedules intersected. Fear was easier to handle together, after all.
On the fourth day, when Jared was flying Rosie--out to the goddamn middle of nowhere, where no one would bother them until they were ready--Danneel ran in and grabbed his good shoulder. "He's awake!" she whispered, eyes alight with joy. "Jared, he's awake! And he wants to see you!"
Jared didn't have to be told twice. He ran out of the cockpit, past a smiling Genevieve, and stopped, slightly out of breath, at his and Jensen's door. The sight that met his eyes stopped him short and set him grinning fiercely. Jensen was sitting up, smiling right back at him--looking whole and healthier and fuck, Jared couldn't hold back from leaning down and hugging him gently close, his head bumping into the top bunk.
"Fuck, Jensen," he whispered. "You stupid asshole."
"Right back at you," said Jensen, hugging him back. "Shit, is your shoulder okay?"
"Is your entire you okay?" Jared shot back, leaning back reluctantly to sit next to him. "God, Jensen, when I saw you come through, I thought you might be--"
Jensen shook his head, eyes not leaving Jared. "I think they had me out for the whole week," he said. "I fought at first--hurt my leg--then felt something again my neck. Think it musta been cyclitrine or something powerful. First thing I remember after that it Danneel's face as she dragged me out of there," he said. He laughed, shaking his head fondly. "God, she looked intense, like a warrior out of a storybook. I thought--I don't know what I thought, man, everything was crazy. Then I blacked out again, and then the next thing I remember she and Gen were in here, checking my vitals." He smiled at Jared. "And now you. Fuck, I missed you."
Jared smiled back, trying to reign it in. God, it was so much better to hear Jensen talking. It made him swell with love for Jensen, and--well, maybe this wasn't the best time, but maybe it was. Jared didn't ever want to have to wonder if Jensen had died not knowing they loved each other again. He cleared his throat and forced it out before he could overthink it.
"So no kiss for your rescuing princess?" he asked, voice as calm as he could make it. "Woulda been a good time to make your move."
"Maybe if I hadn't already been in love with you," Jensen said quietly, eyes on his hands.
Jared swallowed, feeling something fragile bloom in his chest. "Yeah?" he repeated, perching on the corner of the bed.
Even from here, he could feel the heat of Jensen's body--this new awareness of him, of how fucking precious he was to Jared. His beating heart and healthy blood; his whole, unbroken bones, and his bright green eyes. It was miraculous, and it still made Jared catch his breath a little. He wanted to reach out and hold Jensen close enough that they could sync their breathing, skin up against skin, and not let him go ever. His whole body ached to just make sure Jensen was really here, really okay.
Jensen shook his head, mouth twisted. "Fuck, Jared, you're so oblivious. For a long time, yeah." His hands were tense where they rested in his lap, his thumb bumping up against the bandages on his wrist.
"Are you sure about Danneel?" Jared asked, hunching his shoulders to keep from reaching out to touch. He wanted to be damn sure about this before he made a move; his heart was beating in his throat. "I mean, she told me, but I wasn't sure... "
Jensen huffed out a breath of laughter. "C'mon, Jared. We never expected that to happen, not for real." He shrugged, picking at the skin on his thumb. "We never made any promises, and when we met--man. Just didn't click that way. Probably because we weren't looking to click. And before--well, she was something far away, and you were right here next to me, and I couldn't help it."
Jared bit his lip over a smile. "Yeah?" he asked. "Well--well you coulda said something earlier. When I figured out how I felt about you, I thought I was gonna have to watch you and Danneel get married."
Jensen's head came up, his face tight and his eyes strange. "How you--?"
"Feeling's mutual," Jared said, catching Jensen's eyes and letting all his feelings show through. "In case that wasn't obvious. I love you."
Jensen didn't say anything; just took Jared's face in his hands and kissed him, slow and warm and with something a little desperate underneath it. Jared kissed him back, feeling the same way--a confirmation of we're here, we're here, we're here. We're together. Jensen felt so real this close. He smelled like sweat and his skin felt tight with exhaustion, and Jared's shoulder still gave twinges every now and then. But they were here. They were going to be okay.
"You really?" Jensen said, when he pulled away. His eyes looked luminous this close.
"Yeah," Jared said. "God, forever, I think. But I only figured it out because I was jealous of Danneel."
Jensen laughed. "You didn't need to be."
He kissed Jared again, and from there it progressed to better things, both of them doing their best to keep as quiet as possible. It was clumsy--both of them hurt, laughing when they made mistakes--but Jared knew that this was where he wanted to be for the rest of his life, figuring this out with Jensen, as they lay together afterwards.
They curled together as best they could on the drier side of the bed, arguing good-naturedly about whose fault it was. Jared's heart felt overfull with the giddiness and joy of it--of being right here--and he thought he could probably drift right to sleep. But there was the question he had to ask first. He brushed his lips over the nape of Jensen's neck.
"So, you wanna join the rebellion?" he murmured. "Danneel said maybe... "
Jensen tensed and turned in his arms till they were looking eye to eye, Jensen's a bare and steely grey in the muted light. "Yeah," he said. "I do. I just--things are too fucked up, Jared. I'm not sure I can live with just doing the bare minimum anymore. We have a ship, we have ways to get around the government--that's so much more than anyone else has. We could be doing a lot more than smuggling holocard readers and bacon."
He broke off, shaking his head a little. "You never asked about the most dangerous stuff Jeff did. I knew it was 'cause you didn't wanna bring up bad memories, and thank you for that, but--well--" Jensen's eyes went distant. "I told you the truth about him not being part of the rebellion, and me not having anything to do with it back then. I never did, and Jeff never was a rebel, always worked alone. But he did some stuff that maybe would've qualified as recklessly dangerous and against the government. Like smuggling political refugees."
In spite of himself, Jared sucked in a breath. He'd been trained from birth to think that was the most dangerous thing to do, and the thought of Jensen in danger again was just not one he was prepared to deal with. Jensen reached down to take his hand. "I know it's dangerous, but Jeff trusted them, and I trusted Jeff. I only found out about one time for sure, but he believed he was doing the right thing, and I never would've turned someone in for something like that. He had good judgement, and it got me wondering...
"I never told you this, but the people I took bounties on--they were all on this list Jeff had, of people he wanted to kill someday." Jensen offered a crooked smile. "Like I said, I trusted him. I figured, if we needed the money that bad--if I was gonna have to kill for it again--then it better be someone Jeff didn't trust. So I think I've sort of accidentally been part of the rebellion for a while, without even meaning to."
"Bluebird," Jared murmured with sudden comprehension.
"Huh?"
"The government--they thought you were an assassin for the rebellion. Which--I guess you were, without really realizing. That's why they took you." Jared squeezed his hand tight. "They called you Bluebird."
Something in Jensen’s eyes clicked. “That’s what those messages were about! The ones I took to Sam? That word kept popping up!" He whistled low. "God."
"The rebels figured it out. They're really smart. And good people. You'd like 'em," Jared said. He went quiet for a long moment, just thinking. After a while, Jensen reached over to cup his cheek and kiss him.
"Something wrong?" he murmured.
Jared shook his head until he figured out the right way to word it. Some old hurt throbbed under his ris, petulant and insistent. "I don't know why you'd think I wouldn't," he said, finally, softly. "Listen to you, I mean. About the rebellion. Jesus, Jensen. You could have told me. You could have--you could have talked to me." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I mean, you and Danneel--you're right. I was being stupid before. I was thinking this wasn't my fight, but it clearly is. I was being selfish. I was... afraid something would happen. To you, or to our families, like Jeff. I dunno. But I would have listened, you know. If you'd said. I would have thought about it and listened. You could have told me you were thinking about it."
"Jared... " Jensen brushed a kiss over his mouth. "Jared, fuck. Of course I trust you. More'n anyone. Anyone. And you would have listened. I know that, man. But did you ever think maybe I just didn't want you to have to make that decision when I wasn't even sure myself?" He hugged Jared close. "Ever think maybe I was being just as stupid and selfish, trying to keep you safe and close?"
"Oh," Jared said, feeling a rush of affection. He tucked his chin into the crook of Jensen's shoulder and meditated over that for a few minutes. "Well, that was dumb of you. Went and got myself kidnapped and drawn into it anyway."
He meant to make Jensen laugh, but Jensen just pulled him closer, his chin resting on Jared's hair. "Don't you ever do that again," he said quietly. Jared could feel his heart beat faster. "Fuck, Jared. I was so scared."
"Ditto for you, asshole," Jared told him. He cleared his throat. "I want to join too. I think it's time."
Jensen shifted till they were lying side by side again, his brow furrowed. "You do?" he asked. "Really?"
He knocked his shoulder lightly against Jensen's. "Where you go, I go. We're in this together, yeah? You'n me, walking between stars."
Jensen's face broke out in a smile. "You sap," he said, but his voice was soft and full of love, and the kiss he gave Jared after said everything he hadn't in words. "Are you sure?"
"We can talk about it with Danneel, but--yeah. I think so."
"Well, good. 'Cause I wasn't gonna leave you behind, one way or another. Not after this long."
"Now who's the sap," Jared teased. "No, yeah. Besides, I already got one of the government's best bounty hunters, so I guess I'm default rebellion now. They're not going to see it any other way."
"Yeah, Genevieve said you killed him somehow?" Jensen raised his eyebrows and squeezed Jared's hand. "How the fuck you do that, Jared?"
"Harley and Sadie. Wake did get sloppy," Jared told him. He explained the battle, voice shaking at the parts his body remembered. "I thought we weren't gonna make it," he admitted.
"Well, you did," Jensen said. "I can't believe--god. You're a fucking genius. Thank you." He laid his hand over Jared's heart, and Jared covered it with his own.
"Thanks," he murmured. "Even though I killed Harley and Sadie, yeah, I kinda got to blow up an evil guy's lair, so, worth it. Definitely worth it. Besides, he'd kidnapped my princess. What was I s'posed to do?" If his voice wobbled a little, no one could blame him.
Jensen stayed quiet for a long moment. Then his fingers came up to brush over Jared's hair, feather-light. "My hero," he teased, and kissed Jared till his toes curled and his heart felt fit to burst from love in his chest.
-
They went back to sleep for a few hours. Jared dreamed he was flying Rosie again, the whole of space spread out underneath his hands. Danneel and Jensen were back in the kitchen, laughing about something. Up ahead of them, Jared saw a star explode: an octopus of light and heat in technicolor, its arms reaching out to cradle the ship. All around them, purple and gold made swirls and waves, and Jared felt he was right where he was supposed to be.
When he woke up, Jensen was sleeping beside him. Faint starlight outlined the contours of his face, a half-moon of cheekbone and the jut of his jaw. Jared fell in love with him all over again. He watched Jensen's chest rise and fall; traced the line of his mouth and the curve of his neck with his eyes, and thought of touching Jensen, waking him up. But there was a little secret want tucked behind Jared's heart--to keep Jensen, this part of Jensen, as much his as he could for as long as he could. He didn't want anyone to know that Jensen could look like this. That Jensen was as wonderful as he was. He didn't want anyone to know, just wanted this to the two of them alone for as long as they could have it.
So he let Jensen sleep, instead. He watched him for a minute, until he decided that was kind of creepy, then eased his way slowly out of bed and stretched. He pulled on a shirt and some sweatpants from underneath his bunk, and slipped on a pair of socks. He took one last look at Jensen--god, he looked like some fancy painting, lying there in the dark, beautiful in silver and shadows. He shut the door as quietly as he could.
Danneel was sitting in the cockpit, reading something on her commpad when Jared wandered in.
"Hey big guy," she called. "So did you two lovebirds consummate your sparkly gay love?"
"Fuck you," he said, grinning and leaning down to kiss her hair. "Where's your girl?"
She blushed and wiggled out from between his hands. "Don't call her that. I don't even--nothing's happened yet, okay?"
"But it's gon-na," Jared sing-songed, still smiling. "I can tell. Rosie's basically just a loveship. C'mon, if you get to be smug, I get to, too."
"In what universe is that logical at all, dbag?"
"Geeze, you two, do I need to separate you?" came Jensen's voice from the doorway. Jared shivered a little at the husky sound of it, arousal sparking in his belly.
"No," he said, turning and grinning. "'Course not, captain. We can be civilized."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Jensen said, green eyes fond. He limped out toward them. Danneel and Jared both made to rise and help him, but he waved them off. "Hey, I'm an invalid, not helpless. Besides, you two were right where I wanted you. We need to talk."
Danneel tensed beside Jared. "Talk about what?" she asked, swinging around in her chair to face him fully. Jared shifted until he was facing Jensen, too. Jensen eased himself into the co-pilot's chair carefully.
"I mean, you can go with Aldis if you want," Jensen said, holding up his hands in a gesture of peace. "But--" he glanced at Jared. "We'd miss you."
"We would," Jared said. "Man, Danneel, we'd just go back to being a pair of losers without you. You know it's true!" he went on when she covered a little laugh. "You can fly better than me, you know more useful people than Jensen does in all his illustrious smuggling history, and you know how to be a rebel better than either of us. And given that we're about to start being rebels ourselves--"
"What?" she said, eyes going wide. "When'd that happen?"
"After we consummated our 'sparkly gay love'."
"Jared--"
"Her words, not mine!" He bit his lip and glanced at the floor, letting his voice go serious for a moment. "But it's like I told you before. It doesn't really matter if it feels dangerous. Hell, our whole damn existence is dangerous for profit--why not for profit and helping people? We have the means to do something important, and it's not something I'm okay with, anymore, pretending it's not that bad." He took a deep breath. "What happened to Jeff--he would've wanted me to go on, anyway. This is a better way to honor him."
Jensen was looking at him, his eyes full of something proud and bright, and Jared ducked his head and coughed. "Plus, I still haven't beaten you at Deltan poker," he added to diffuse the tension.
"And you never will," she said, catching his eyes a little hesitantly. "Well. Wow. Yeah, I'd like to stay, if you're really okay with that. I'd feel kinda weird leaving you morons now, anyway, letting you fend for yourselves. Because we both know how well that'd go." She beamed up at them.
"Then I guess our pirate crew's grown to three and added another occupation to our list of many," Jensen said, settling back with a satisfied look on his face. "Awesome. That's settled. Just for officialness's sake: you're welcome to fly with Rosie for as long as you like, Danneel Harris. Pay's not great, but... it's home."
"What he said," Jared told her, beaming. "And Gen, too--if it's all right with Jensen."
"I think she gets a free pass since she helped save my life," Jensen agreed dryly.
Danneel bit her lip. "Thank you," she said, softly. A smile grew on her face. "She's not awake, but we can ask her when she wakes up."
"Excellent. So. Now that we've risked our lives for each other, bonded, become fast friends, and killed the bad guy, what's next?" Jared said, grinning.
He knew it was deeper, darker, more important than that--they'd challenged things beyond belief today, and trouble was sure to follow fast on their heels. They might not live too much longer, not if the government was going to start actively chasing them instead of passively waiting. The thought sent a chill through Jared's body. But if that was the case, then fuck--he wanted to live it all the way. He wanted them to have this moment, this triumph, this place; he wanted them to have something good to hold onto. And if there was anything good in the middle of this mess, it was this. Them all together, safe, and happy. That was cause for celebration.
"Well, let's see. First, I'm gonna fry up the rest of that bacon, 'cause we deserve a feast." Jensen smiled at Jared's cheer. "Then, I'm guessing we might wanna go meet up with Aldis, yeah?" Jensen asked, turing to Danneel. "He'll know where it's best for us to be next. And anyway, we need someplace to give Rosie some TLC and rest up ourselves. Sound reasonable to you, Danneel?"
"Sounds perfect," Danneel said. "It'll be tough from here on out, you know. Being real rebels, killing Wake--the government's gonna be hot on our trail." Her face creased with worry.
"Yeah," Jared said. He smiled, and caught Jensen's gaze. "But we can handle it."
The stars around them almost seemed to shine brighter in agreement.
END