Smoke & Lightning, Heavy Metal Thunder (45/?)
MASTER POST
Title: Smoke And Lightning, Heavy Metal Thunder (45/?)
Authors: bloody_adorable and eviltwin
Fandoms: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jensen Ackles / Jared Padalecki.
Rating: PG.
Wordcount: 3,947
Summary: AU. Jared's a classic case of rich kid gone wrong, whose only sense of family comes from his motorbike, the guy he rents a garage from to live in and the precinct cops who know his face better than most already. Jensen's a hard-working student whose family are helping push him towards great things. What happens when their two worlds collide, and will Jared's troublesome nature be too much for Jensen to handle?
Disclaimer: None of the following is true in any way, and no profit is made from this work of fiction.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
He really had to bite the bullet and speak to his father, but the thought of it made Jensen's skin crawl. He'd gotten away with barely seeing the man up to now, but Chris agreed with him that he needed to start asking questions and find out just what was happening with Jared. Jensen wanted to go to Mickey's while it was open, too, so that he could talk to some of the other bikers there. Not Chuck's crew, because he had a terrible feeling that they knew something he didn't. But some of the other people that Jared knew might be willing to give him some information. He chose to go to Mickey's first, but that decision was almost ruined the following night after school when his father demanded his presence at the dinner table.
He refused at first, telling his mom that he didn't want to sit and eat with the man, but she begged him, told him that Alan wanted to tell him something about Jared. That got his attention and he gave in to her, steeling himself with a few deep breaths at the bottom of the stairs before he went into the dining room. Kenzie and Josh were both present too, and both looked pissed off. Jensen took the empty place between his brother and sister, trying not to meet his father's eyes.
"For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us thankful," his mother intoned, in her soft voice, and Jensen whispered an 'amen' in reply. He stared at his plate, not bothering to reach for any food, until his mother touched his arm across the table and asked him if he was going to eat.
"I really don't have much of an appetite," he told her, his gaze finally moving to his father's face. Alan was watching him, his mouth a thin, tight line. Jensen hadn't noticed just how old the man was looking lately. "You wanted to tell me something," he stated, wanting this over and done with so he could go back to his room and get ready to go over to Mickey's. Chris had said he would pick him up later to head over there.
"I wanted to remind you that you made the right choice," Alan told him. "That boy is nothing but trouble. He was in a fight in prison a few days ago."
Jensen's eyes widened. "A fight? Is he okay?"
"He's in a lot better shape than the other man that was involved."
Figured, Jensen thought. Jared could take care of himself, no doubt about it.
"The other man was a member of a gang known as the Crows. A gang that Jared himself was a member of. Did you know about this, Jensen?"
"You're honestly going to sit and talk to me about this over dinner?"
Alan slammed his palm down on the table and Kenzie jumped at the noise it made, while Jensen just kept his eyes fixed on his father's face, unflinching. "I will talk to you however and wherever I damn well please, son. And you will realize that you are better off away from that family. Jared Padalecki was always trouble and he will only ever be trouble. Sooner you can get that through your thick skull the better, boy."
Jensen stood from his seat, fuming, and his father got to his feet as well, staring him down. Daring him to say something. Jensen shook his head. It seemed like it didn't take very long for his father to forget just what kind of man Jensen had become now. "Yes," he said, his calm voice belying his need to throw a punch. "Jared was trouble. Yes. He still is trouble. And I don't give a shit about that, because I know he's not a murderer. You know he's not a murderer. He's just a man who's had a tough life and who has to do what he needs to do to survive it. That's never included killing anybody and I'm not going to let you force him into starting!"
His mother had stood up now, while Kenzie was pressed back into her seat, her eyes wet with tears. Josh had his arm around her shoulders, his eyes narrowed at his father.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Is that what the plan is, Dad? Get him in prison with a bunch of Chuck's cronies, since you just know they all want a piece of him? They hurt him so bad he has no choice but to kill to keep himself alive and then you don't even need to worry about the other case being such a pile of fucking bullshit!" He was shouting now, not even aware of his mother's hand on his arm.
"Were you there the night that Chuck died?" Alan asked. "That's right, you weren't. So don't pretend to know everything about your friend, Jensen. You know nothing."
Jensen took a deep breath, clenched his fists at his sides. "It's you who's blind. You don't even know your own son any more, and I'm sorry Dad, but I'm not taking this crap now. I know Jared didn't do it."
"Then prove it. Just try and prove it."
Jensen wanted to tell him that that was his job, but he didn't. Instead he left the table, in spite of Alan commanding him to get back there. He went into the hall and grabbed his keys, jacket and boots. His father came out into the hall and saw him pulling the boots onto his feet. Jensen was ready when Alan grabbed the top of his arm and pulled him up. He wrenched his arm free and pushed Alan across the corridor, until he hit the wall.
"Get the fuck off me," he snarled, and pulled his jacket over his shoulders. Alan didn't try and stop him again.
It was a good distance to Chris's house, but Jensen jogged over there, his anger urging him on. He knew where he needed to go, and it wasn't Mickey's. He got there and pounded on the door a couple of times, out of breath. Chris's mother answered, smiling when she saw him.
"Jensen. We haven't seen you here in a while, honey." She frowned. "Is everything okay?"
"No, nothing is okay. I need to see Chris. It's urgent."
Upset by his tone, Mrs Kane quickly turned and shouted her son's name. They heard a door open upstairs and then feet hammering down the stairs, and then Chris was there, looking as worried as his mother.
"Jen, what's up? What's happened?"
"Jared got into a fight in jail. I need to go see him."
"Right now?"
"Yes, right now."
Chris's mother had a hand to her mouth, shaking her head. "Will they let you do that? It's pretty late at night, I thought-"
"I don't care. I want to see him. I want to see that he's okay."
Chris stepped out onto the porch. "Mom's right, man. They're not gonna let you see him right now. No way."
Jensen slumped. They were both right. There was no way he'd get a visit with Jared at this time of evening. He probably had curfew or something soon. He'd probably be locked in his cell right now, waiting for the lights to go dim so he could pretend that he was getting some sleep. The thought of it made Jensen's heart ache.
"But we can go first thing in the morning."
"Chris-"
"Mom, it's okay. I'll call tomorrow and find out what time we can go visit. We can skip school for just one day, right?"
Jensen smiled and nodded. "Right."
"Do you still want to go over to Mickey's tonight?"
"Absolutely. I've got to find out what happened."
Chris turned back into the house to get his boots and jacket, along with the keys for his truck, and his mother told them both to be careful. It seemed that, like Jensen's own mother, she had long since despaired of controlling what her son did.
Mickey's was packed out, more so than it usually was at this time of night. There was a long row of bikes outside and only a few cars and trucks in amongst them. Chris parked up and they both hopped out, exchanging worried looks as they headed for the door. Jensen recognized the guy on the door as Satan and smiled nervously at him as they got closer.
"What do you two want?" Satan asked, his tone gruff but not unfriendly.
"Hoping to speak to a couple of people about Chuck's death. We're trying to find out what really happened to him."
"Tryin' to get JT out, huh?"
"Yessir," Jensen answered.
"I don't think you boys picked the best night. There's a lotta Chuck's crew in there right now. They're workin' out who's gonna be in charge."
"Right. Who's winning?"
Satan laughed. "Fuck knows. Ain't a competition, boy, just a lot of grown men bickerin' and throwin' punches. 'S'why it's best you stay out here."
"Do you know anything?"
The man shrugged, the chains on his jacket making a heavy jingling noise as he did. "Heard they wanted Jay in the joint, but you can't do nothin' with rumors. I guess you already know that."
"You think one of Chuck's men set him up? Get rid of Chuck, let someone else take the fall, and then they take charge of the gang?"
"Wouldn't be the first time," Satan answered. "And Jay yellin' at him a few days before won't have helped him none. Anyone who was here that night woulda heard it and that's all it takes for some people."
"So who's in there that might have the balls for something like that?"
Satan looked over his shoulder, into the crowded and extremely noisy bar. "No clue. There's at least four guys in there who want Chuck's job. And another ten that just plain wanted the man dead. So if you're lookin' to work out which one then I wish you the best of luck, son."
Getting back into Chris's truck, Jensen sighed. They were no closer to figuring anything out and the need to see Jay again was becoming a physical ache in his gut. Jay had blanked him the last time he'd seen him, had given up, and that had frustrated him into almost giving up himself. But now he no longer doubted Jay's innocence, he had to get the other man to fight alongside him. He had to show him that he still needed him.
Jensen stayed overnight at Chris's house, knowing that he would not get a warm welcome if he went home tonight. He also didn't want to give Alan the chance of talking him out of anything. He sent Kenzie a message to her phone so that she could tell their mom that Jensen was all right, but then he turned his phone off and joined Chris on the internet. It turned out that the Crows had their own Myspace page, and a recent post there told them that a new boss had been decided. Chris scrolled through it, scanning over the lines, when Jensen noticed the time that the post had been made.
"That's way before we got to Mickey's tonight. Someone was pretty confident, huh?"
"You think that could be the guy who did it?"
Jensen shrugged. "It's possible."
"There's a link to the guy's personal profile." Chris clicked the mouse button down and another window opened up. A tattooed face that Jensen really didn't recognize looked back at them. He didn't know who the guy was, since the page only listed his gang alias, but he thought he knew someone who would.
"Print out that photo. We need to go see Eric."
"Tonight?"
"No, first thing tomorrow, before we head out to County."
"You know we're going to get no sleep tonight, right?"
Jensen smirked. "Why, what're you planning on doing, Kane?"
Chris nudged him hard in the ribs, shaking his head. "Dick. I just know you. You'll be thinking too hard about this, is all."
Jensen didn't agree out loud, but he knew Chris was right.
They both wound up unable to sleep; Jensen through thinking too hard and Chris because Jensen couldn't sit still. They wound up turning the TV on at around 3am, with the volume off, and whispering over reruns of South Park. Three hours later, Chris's mom came and told them to get a shower and she'd cook them both some breakfast. Jensen felt guilty and apologised profusely for waking her up, but she told him not to worry and that she'd see him downstairs. They took it in turns to use the bathroom and Chris lent Jensen a clean shirt to go over the jeans he'd worn over last night. Once breakfast was done with, they agreed it was still a little too early to go and see Eric, so they spent a couple of hours tiredly playing video games. Jensen switched his phone on before they started and halfway through the game, while Chris went to use the bathroom, he checked it and saw that he had several missed calls and a couple of messages from his little sister.
He didn't bother replying to either of them. He knew if he did, he'd only worry her even more.
Around mid morning they headed to Eric's place, hoping to catch him in and alone. They were lucky on both counts.
"Jensen," Eric greeted. "And who's this?"
"My friend, Chris. Meet Eric. Best tattoo artist in the state."
Eric snorted as he shook Chris's hand. "Wouldn't go that far, son. What're we looking at doing today?"
"You heard about Jay, right?"
"Sure did. Don't think it's right, not at all, but I can't do anything about it."
Jensen took the photo out of his jacket pocket and unfolded it, handing it to Eric. "Yes, you can. You can tell us where we'd find this guy."
"That's not a guy you want to be looking for, I can tell you that much."
"We tried Mickey's, but we weren't allowed in. They were too busy having a fight."
"Sounds about right. But this guy ain't around Mickey's all that much. He's got a girl that works in one of the other bars in town. He spends more time there unless he's got business to deal with."
"Can you tell us where the bar is?"
"Sure, but you're not going to get in there. Just what are you trying to find out, anyway?"
Jensen explained his theory to Eric, who nodded as he talked and told him that it made a lot of sense. He also told him that there was no way he was going to get Lewis to admit to it.
"His name's Lewis?"
"Lewis Beatty. That's the name on his birth certificate, anyhow."
"How the hell do you know that?" Chris asked.
"Asked for ID the first time he wanted a tattoo off me. Boy didn't look any older than sixteen. Turned out he was." Eric picked up the photo again. "Didn't age well, did he?"
"Not really. So if we can't talk to him, then maybe we can talk to his girlfriend. Who is she?"
Laughing, Eric handed the picture back to Jensen and turned away. "Yeah, good luck with that. Leanna's a real piece of work. She'll eat you boys alive."
"We'll take our chances. Where do we find her?"
Eric had been right about Leanna, Jensen thought, as he watched her shove a roll of bills down the front of her bra without so much as a backwards glance. Chris was beside him, trying to figure out where the hell he should look, while Jensen rolled his beer bottle between his hands and watched the redhead walk around the bar as if she owned the place. Maybe she did. She was the only girl wearing more than a thong and high heels, after all. And Jensen had to admit, she was pretty easy on the eyes. It was lunchtime, and the bar was half-full with businessmen and the jobless. They had an hour before they could go and see Jared, and Jensen wanted to use it to find out what had really happened. He wanted to be able to go to Jared and tell him that he was going to get him out.
Leanna was walking their way now and Jensen acted fast. He pushed his chair back and caught her arm before she could pass them, pulling her up against him.
She kicked him in the shin, the point of her high-heel connecting painfully with his bone. He winced, but didn't let go.
"You want me to scream the place down, sugar? Could get you beaten to a pulp faster than you could blink."
"I want to talk to you about Lewis and JT," he told her, thinking that if she knew who Jared was at all, then she'd know him by his nickname.
"And just who the hell are you that I should even consider listening?"
"Someone who knows just where you were the night that Chuck died." Jensen knew it was a risk, because he didn't know anything, but the look on Leanna's face at those words filled him with hope. She waited until he relaxed his grip on her, then took his hand and tugged on it, making him follow her out to the back of the bar.
"Who else knows?" She asked, as soon as the door was shut behind them.
"My friend back there. I told him all about it. Listen, all we want is to get JT out of jail. We don't want to put you in there." He lifted a hand and touched her chin. "You're too cute to be in jail."
Her eyes hardened. "Fuck you. Don't patronise me."
"I'm not, I swear. I just don't think you should take the fall for something that Lewis did."
"How do you know his name?"
Jensen shrugged. "I know a lot of things about a lot of people."
Leanna laughed at him. "You sound like an idiot to me."
"Think what you want to think. But I know that Lewis killed Chuck, and I know that you lied to the cops and told them you saw JT coming out of Chuck's house that night. Probably because Lewis threatened to hurt you if you didn't."
She'd stopped smiling. "Who are you? Some fucking kid shouldn't know-"
"I want JT back. I want you to tell me the truth."
"Why should I?"
"Because they'll work it out with or without you. They will. And if they figure out that you lied before you go and tell them you did, then you're the one who's going to be in trouble. You and Lewis both. You know what perjury is, right?"
"I'm not dumb."
"Then you'll do the right thing, won't you?"
Leanna didn't answer, but he could see that she was thinking about it. He let her go, heading back out into the bar and telling Chris it was time to go. They waited outside the bar until they saw Leanna, now dressed in jeans and a tight white teeshirt, leave the building.
"You think it worked?" Chris asked, as they watched her get into a little red convertible parked across the street from where they were sat in his truck.
"I guess we'll know soon enough. She's either going to the cops, or she's going to Lewis. We, however, are going to jail."
Chris grinned as he started up the engine of the truck. "Damn right we are."
Stomach tight with anticipation, Jensen waited until he was directed where to sit. He'd thought he knew what to expect from watching crime shows on TV, but this was nothing like he had thought it would be. The setting was similar, sure, but the atmosphere was completely different. He heard a door open beyond the partition in front of him and saw Jared and a few other inmates being led to their chairs. He hadn't expected, either, the way that Jared would look. He didn't know why he'd expected him to remain clean-shaven. He didn't know why he'd expected him to look exactly as he had when Jensen had seen him last.
Jared looked tired, still bruised from the fight he had been in, and he had a beard of thick stubble. His hair was curly with sweat around the edges of his collar and there was a cigarette tucked behind his left ear. Jensen frowned at that, but decided not to ask about it at the look Jared gave him then.
"What're you doing here, Jensen?" Jared didn't sound pleased to see him. Just exhausted and annoyed.
"What do you think? I wanted to see you."
"You've seen me. Maybe you should go home now."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm in jail. Do I look fucking okay?"
"Dad told me you were in a fight."
Jared scowled, slouching back in his chair. "I bet he did. Bet he told you I started it too."
"Did you?"
"What the fuck do you think? You just believe every goddamn thing he tells you, Jen. I know that's all he wants from you."
Jensen bit his lip, swallowing down the sick feeling in his throat. "Not everything. I know you didn't kill Chuck. I figured out who did."
"You want a frigging prize?"
"Why the hell are you being such an asshole, Jay?"
"I think I earned the fucking right! I've been in here how long, huh? And this is the first time you come see me?"
"After how you gave up on me the last time I saw you, I didn't think you'd want me here."
"I gave up on you? You doubted me, right? You wondered for just that brief moment if I could actually kill someone. Thought that maybe I did."
"Jay, I-"
"Admit it. Please."
Jared had leaned forward in his chair, his eyes searching Jensen's face. Jensen had no idea what to say, because whatever he did now he thought Jared would end up hating him. He had to opt for the truth.
"The way you tuned me out, I didn't know. How the hell did you expect me to react? To just think you were sat there making deals with my Dad because you actually killed someone and needed me out of the way? You want to know what I thought, Jay? I thought that you just didn't love me. I thought that Chris and me... That me telling you about it bothered you more than you said. The way you threatened Chuck the last time we saw him, I thought maybe he pushed you too far. Maybe you fought back too hard. But then I went home and went over it and I knew you couldn't have done it. You're not a killer, Jay. You might talk tough and you might be able to hold your own, but you couldn't kill someone. Not like that."
Jared's angry glare had turned softer and he gazed at Jensen with an expression that the younger man couldn't figure out. "You thought I didn't love you?"
That question wasn't what he had been expecting. It made him feel sad in a way he didn't want to think about. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
Jared looked like he wanted to say something else, too, but at that moment they were told that their visit was over. His demeanor changed again and he stood, avoiding Jensen's eyes. Within moments, Jensen was staring at an empty chair and wondering how everything had gone so wrong.
--TBC--