Circus Arcana PART THREE
PART THREE
4 Years Later.
Winter was not Jensen’s favorite month. The trailers needed patching up again, to stop the cold seeping in through the walls. The girls didn’t complain, but Jensen knew they were all feeling it. The trailers had such little room inside that they were huddled together when they were in there anyway, so it wasn’t quite so bad once they all got warmed up, but moving in the morning was never inviting.
It also meant that they drew in fewer marks. Jensen had found luck with this particular travelling show, securing enough space for his crew’s stage and enough business in the first few months to keep them going. But business had died down as the carnival itself acquired bigger and better rides and new attractions. Visiting the same places in a regular rotation meant that Jensen’s show needed a new act every time and they were running out of ideas. He had hung a ‘help wanted’ sign at every town they visited, but all that had got him was robbed of a night’s takings and the loss of Sandy, when she ran away with the thief. He still hung the sign outside their tent and hoped that it would bring him something.
They were back in the Old Town now, in one of the dozen suburbs, and Jensen thought it felt colder here than anywhere. The presence of the Service agents was much more concentrated here than anywhere else and they all felt that had something to do with it.
Stepping out of his trailer, Jensen looked towards the midway and the lights burning there between the rides and concessions. The gates would open in another hour and their first show would take place another hour after that. He had a little time. He unhooked his coat from the back of the door and closed it behind him, stepping down onto the hard ground. He walked down the midway, towards the locked container behind several tents. The key was in his pocket, already warmed from his nervous handling, and he drew it out and freed the chained door from its padlock. Inside was his greatest treasure and something he needed right now. The VRN-X737 gave him a freedom he couldn’t feel anywhere else, quite in spite of his lifestyle. He swung his leg over the saddle and set the engine alight, gripped the handlebars. Kicking the brake off, he leaned forward and accelerated right out of the container and onto the midway. With barely anybody around yet he wasn’t endangering anyone and received no more than a glance up from a bored greenie.
The streets of the Old Town were as quiet as the carnival right now. It was cold enough to keep people inside, and early enough in the evening for most people to not yet be out. There were agents around, of course, and Jensen turned down a different street every time he saw one. It wasn’t until he began to near the carnival again that he met with one he couldn’t avoid. Jensen couldn’t avoid him because the guy stepped right out in front of him, forcing him to kick the brake on so hard that pain shot from his ankle right up his spine. Always quick to assess a threat, Jensen noted immediately the blood on the agent’s blue coat, the slight smell of burning that came with him, and the tear halfway up his sleeve. And then Jensen saw the agent’s face. It was wide-eyed and full of panic.
“Get on!” he cried, shuffling forwards to make room as the agent quickly did just that. “And ditch the coat!”
The agent again did as he was told, tossing the coat to one side as Jensen lit the engine up once more. He spun the bike around and set off.
Chris was outside their small group of trailers, tossing a throwing knife from one hand to the other, when Jensen pulled the bike to a stop nearby. When he saw the agent behind Jensen he got to his feet in a hurry, and threw the knife at the ground where it buried itself two inches deep.
“What the hell?” he started, even as Jensen ushered the agent off the bike and sent him into the nearest trailer. Chris stepped aside for him, seeing from Jensen’s face that any delay would not go down well. Jensen tossed him the bike key and told him to lock it away again, and quietly. “I think the time for not drawing attention is past,” Chris muttered.
“No, I don’t think we were followed. But we’d better be safe and not sorry.”
“Who was that guy?”
“Hide the bike, and I’ll explain when you get back. Is anyone else around?”
“Just Seb. He’s asleep.”
Jensen nodded. Sebastian would be okay. The others would be easier if he talked to Sebastian first. He watched Chris head off and then opened up his trailer door. He felt out of breath, and inexplicably elated, but when he saw the agent huddled up on one corner of the trailer’s only couch, he felt confused. He knew all about the Service, of course, and about how their agents were selected and trained. But this was something he had never expected. He didn’t say a word at first, just opened up the closet and grabbed the nearest shirt that was his and threw it over. The agent lifted one hand to catch it, looking just as confused as Jensen.
“I’m impressed,” Jensen said. “You’ve learnt a lot.”
“How did you know?”
“Jared, I’d recognize those eyes anywhere. So you can control it now?”
Jared nodded, dipping his head. He had filled out in the four years he’d been gone, but Jensen knew that was to be expected. The Service made sure that the ones they selected to become agents were trained to the highest standard, were well fed and strong. He had grown, too. From a runt of a boy to a man well over six foot tall.
“Put it on,” Jensen told him, pointing at the shirt. “It won’t help if the other agents come looking, but at least here you won’t stick out quite so much.” Jared handed over the grey uniform shirt and Jensen caught him before he could put its replacement on. The markings on his body were healed, darkened skin against smooth tan. They looked almost like a tattoo and Jensen ran his fingers over the lines on his shoulder.
“I still don’t know what it is, or why it’s there,” Jared told him, looking up at him. Again, Jensen was caught by the odd light in his eyes. His fingers drifted over Jared’s skin, and came to rest there. He felt strange, and he knew that the sensation was being caused by the contact with Jared. But he couldn’t bring himself to break it.
“What happened out there?” he asked. Then started as a voice came from outside the trailer. He’d forgotten Sebastian was nearby and it seemed to break the spell that was making him keep his hand on Jared. He turned as his friend entered his living space, and watched him stop short.
“My god,” was all he said.
“I’m in trouble,” Jared told them.
“That seems to have been the case since we met you.”
“They trained him up, made him an agent,” Jensen said.
“And somehow he escaped. I’m assuming there was some violence involved?”
Jared nodded, and looked miserable. Then he looked up, panic-stricken once more. “They put this thing in me…oh my god, I could be leading them right to you!”
Sebastian slapped his hand against the nearest wall. “The implant, you didn’t deal with it yet?”
Jensen shook his head. He’d forgotten all about it. Sebastian gripped the back of Jared’s head quite roughly and shoved it forward, holding his other hand out to Jensen and asking for a knife. Jensen knew he took longer than he should have to find one and to hand it over. He was too busy apologizing. He didn’t want to think that he had brought Jared here only to lose him again because he hadn’t thought things through. He watched Sebastian push Jared’s hair forward, and watched his fingers push at Jared’s skin until he found the obvious little lump.
“I would warn you that this may hurt, but somehow I think you’ll handle it.”
Jared still cried out when the knife blade dug in, and Jensen knelt in front of him and let Jared hold him, let him lean his head on Jensen’s shoulder as Sebastian worked the implant free. He tossed it into the sink and quickly set the water going full blast. There was a fizzing noise, and a curl of smoke told him it was dealt with. Jared had a hand to the back of his neck, and Jensen could feel the heat of his skin all over.
“We’ll get you patched up. You’re safe now, you’re with us.”
He had a bandage at the back of his neck and the shirt buttoned up over his chest by the time Chris returned with the others. It quickly got crowded inside the trailer, but Jared didn’t seem to mind. They all recognized him now, and Jensen watched as Danni hugged him tightly and sat down next to him with a comforting arm around him. It had nearly broken her heart when Sandy had left and, since then, she had taken on a far more motherly role with all of them.
“Do you want to tell me what all that was about?” Chris asked, standing just inside the door.
Jared took a deep breath. “I..I think I killed someone. Another agent. I just, I wanted to get away.”
“How’d you find us?”
Jared glanced at Jensen, then back to Chris. “Fate, I think. I wasn’t thinking of where to go, I was just thinking of escaping.”
“So what was with the uniform?”
Jensen shook his head. “You know how they work, Chris. He’ll have been training for it since the night they caught him.”
Jared nodded, confirming Jensen’s words. “It started the day after. I got the implant in the first week. I was locked in with four other boys and we all trained for it. I, uh… I tried to get away that first night. I burned one of the agents and they blasted me with a fire-hose. They didn’t know how I did it, and they believed me when I told them I didn’t know. Put it down to an accident. I learned to control it after that, and eventually they forgot all about it. They trained me to kill, sent me out on patrols. The implant meant they could keep an eye on me.”
“But obviously not well enough tonight,” Gabe observed.
“No. And Chris knows how, don’t you?” Jared stared at Chris, who stared right back for a full five seconds before lowering his gaze. “You’re good,” Jared told him. “But with what they taught me, I think I’m better. I think maybe whatever happened to me gave me some psychic ability before they even got to fine-tune it. I felt like tonight, I could do it. I could escape. So I blocked them out and took out the guy I was with. And I ran.”
“You ran into me,” Jensen said. “I think it must be your lucky night, but the night’s not over yet. We have a show to perform here. The carnival packs up and moves on in a couple of days. You’re going to need to keep a low profile until then.”
“We’re taking him with us?” Chris asked.
“We can’t just leave him here. Those agents find him, he’s dead. No question.”
“Why is he our problem?” Gabe wanted to know. They’d had so many problems over the past four years to get to where they were now that Jensen supposed he couldn’t blame them for questioning him over this. But he also knew he wouldn’t be moved on the matter.
“Because there is something more to all of this, and I want to find out what. Don’t you?” He looked at each of them. “Isn’t that why you all ran away and joined the circus? For the adventure?”
“No way,” Sebastian deadpanned. “I joined for the money.”
Chris rolled his eyes at that. “Adventure, yes. Being on the run from the Service, though…”
“We’ll only be running from them if they decide to pursue us. And how many agents do you know that decide to come and see our show?” None of them answered that, and Jensen nodded like that was the last word on it. He lifted his pocket-watch up and checked the time, then shoved it into his jacket. “And speaking of our show…It’s time to get out there. Jared, will you be all right here for five minutes? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Jared nodded.
Out in their Big Top, Jensen rushed through his introduction of the Circus Arcana to an audience that took up only a quarter of the floor space. He wanted time alone to question Jared, to understand what had happened to the boy - man - over the last four years. He didn’t kid himself that this was the only reason, of course, but it was the only reason he would give the others when they asked. He returned to the trailer in haste, but quietly, and saw a flickering light through the thinly covered window. He pulled the door open carefully and looked in. Jared was sat exactly where he had been left, and he held his right hand a few inches away from his face. A small ball of flame sat on his palm and he turned his hand one way and the other, watching the fire roll over his skin with a rapt expression.
Jensen wasn’t sure he had ever before seen something so beautiful.
“When I said that I learned to control it,” Jared said, startling him from his thoughts, “this is what I meant.”
“It’s incredible,” Jensen told him, truthfully. “Did you ever remember anything else about that night? About the man that sent you here?”
Jared shook his head. “Nothing. But I know that the one who killed him wants to kill me too. I think he’s found a way here. I can...” Jared stopped, folded his fingers into his palm and watched the flame disappear. “I can feel him. Feels like he’s getting closer.” He looked up at Jensen and frowned. “If you want me to leave, I’ll understand.”
“That’s the last thing I want,” Jensen told him. “You could have run into anyone tonight, another agent even. But you ran into me. Kind of tells me that somebody wants me to keep you around.”
“I’m glad you believe that.”
Jensen nodded. “But you’re going to have to earn your keep. The others won’t mind so much if you pay your own way.”
“So you’re going to make me a part of the show?”
“Think of something. We have to draw the marks in, but I don’t want you drawing too much attention to yourself. Not before we move on. So you have a couple of days and we’ll put you in the show once we hit the next town.”
“Okay,” Jared agreed. “Sounds good. I won’t let you down.”
Jensen didn’t think he needed to worry about that. He knew that if it came to it, he’d happily pay Jared’s way and go without just to keep him around. It worried him only slightly, the connection he seemed to have formed to the guy, but he made himself not think about it as he stepped back to the ground outside. “I have to go to work,” he said. “Just… Keep your head down and I’ll be back soon.”
The show ran later than it usually would that night; with Jensen distracted by thoughts of Jared back in the trailer and alone. He trusted him not to go anywhere, and his people had faith in him to be right. Sure enough, when they all returned to go to bed, Jared was wedged into an uncomfortable position on the couch and fast asleep. His shirt was beneath his head and Jensen’s eyes were once again drawn to the markings on his shoulder and chest.
“Jen,” Chris started, having followed him in.
“Just… Get some sleep. I’ll keep an eye on him.”
Chris nodded, knowing there was little point in arguing. The rest of them went to their own trailers, where the beds were shoved together to make most use of the limited space in them, while Jensen slid himself onto the seat opposite Jared. He watched his chest move with each even breath and wondered if this was the first good night’s sleep that Jared had gotten in the past four years. He thought it probably was. He had been lucky, had never spent a night in the care of the Service , but he knew without the experience that it would be hard to relax there. They thrived on violence, after all.
With that thought, he looked over the rest of what he could see of Jared. There were no obvious marks, but that only meant that he had not received a beating in the past few weeks. Jensen thought it likely that they had stopped once Jared bulked out, once he was able to fight back if he wanted to.
“Jensen?”
He looked up to Jared’s face and saw that he was awake now. He felt embarrassed, but tried not to show it.
“Yes?”
Jared pushed himself up. “You should’ve woken me up. How did the show go?”
“Same old,” Jensen told him. “Quiet, easy. We were distracted.”
“Because of me?”
“It doesn’t matter. We have one more show here, that’s all.”
“The show, yeah. I think I know what I could do.” At Jensen’s surprised look, Jared unfolded his legs and sat straight. “You want me to show you?”
“Now?”
“Yes!” Jared smiled. “It’ll look better in the dark, trust me.” He held his hand out and Jensen watched as a tiny spark lit up in the center of his outstretched palm.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said, but Jared didn’t listen and the spark grew into the little ball of flame that Jensen had seen him holding earlier. “Jared-“
“This isn’t it. Just watch.” He wrapped his hands around the ball of flame as though it was a scrunched up piece of paper and then he opened his mouth. Jensen’s eyes widened and he watched Jared throw the ball of flame down his throat. He heard himself swear, but Jared only licked his lips and smiled. “It doesn’t do anything,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt, even. I thought it might hurt, but… Nothing. Isn’t that what your circus is missing? A fire-eater?”
“Let me see,” Jensen instructed, leaning across the table between them. Jared seemed surprised when Jensen touched his lips, pulling the lower one down so he could inspect Jared’s mouth. He was right. There were no blisters, there was no redness - nothing to suggest that he’d just swallowed a fireball. “That’s incredible,” he murmured. Jared was immune to it inside and out. It made him wonder what the thing was that had done this to him, and where it had come from. It made him wonder what else Jared was capable of. In some ways, it made him afraid. In others, it thrilled him more than anything had in the past several years of his life.
Jared touched his hand then and made him realize that he was still so close to him. He quietly pulled his hand away, cheeks hot as he apologized.
“It’s okay. I’ve had an entire life of people being rough with me. It’s kind of refreshing. So what do you think?”
“About what?”
“The act,” Jared clarified, seeming amused that Jensen was suddenly so flustered.
“I think that you show the others tomorrow night when we finish. And I think that you should watch us perform tomorrow. Closing night is always good.”
“I’d like that.”
It seemed like it should be the end of the conversation; that Jensen should go to bed and leave Jared in peace to get as much rest as he could in the cramped living area of the trailer. But he didn’t want to move. Instead, he settled back in his seat, away from the warmth that Jared’s skin radiated, and asked him about New York. About the universe that he had come from.
“You seemed so taken with the differences between there and here when you first arrived. It’s the thing I remember most about you. It reminded me of being a child and seeing all these new things being invented, and the excitement that they brought out in people. I just want to know how your world could be so different, I suppose. I’ve wanted to ask you since we met.”
“What do you want to know about it?”
“Where you grew up, what your house looked like. Did they have places like this there?”
“We had carnivals. I never went to one, though. It wasn’t something my parents would have approved of. But they weren’t anything like this. It’s like…Like your universe is just what mine would be like if a different path had been taken at one moment in history. Once I looked at things here that seemed weird and I thought about it, I saw that they were just the same things we had, but made in a new way. Or…An old way, I guess. We had steam trains, but we had them way back. We had them until someone came up with a new way of powering them, something that wasn’t so volatile.”
“So perhaps your universe is what we have to look forward to?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. We didn’t have something like the Service ruling over us. We had people in power, yes, but it never felt as oppressive as it does here. Has it always been that way?”
“It’s…” Jensen stopped, struggling to think. “It’s an old idea, but a new regime. It’s worse in the big cities and far worse in the South. We’re heading out north when we move camp. It’s not the same there. There’s still a presence, but it’s easier to handle. They’re more tolerant of us, I think. Maybe because they lack for entertainment more in those places.”
“I’m excited to see,” Jared said.
“I just hope that whatever happened tonight won’t follow us all the way up there. It’ll be easier if they think you’re still here somewhere. They won’t come looking quite so fast and we can keep one step ahead of the game. Maybe even one step ahead of this other guy, whoever he is.”
“Whatever,” Jared amended. “Whatever he is.”
They talked through much of the night, not dozing off until the early hours and well after the carnival itself had closed its gates and shut off the lights. When the trailer had gotten so dark that they couldn’t see one another’s faces, Jared had simply clicked his fingers and held a flame no bigger than you would get from striking a match so that they could see.
Jensen woke to a slight chill late in the morning. Jared gave out such a lot of heat that he had been comfortable throughout the night, even without blankets, but now there was cold air hitting his skin and he shivered. The trailer door had been opened, he saw, and when he got up to close it a quick glance around outside told him that the others were all up and out somewhere. Scoring breakfast, he guessed. Jared was still sleeping, so Jensen relieved himself in the bathroom and used the relative privacy to undress and change his clothes. The grey shirt of the agents’ uniform was still just sitting there, and he took it with him when he went to wake Jared.
“We need to get rid of this,” he said, as soon as Jared seemed responsive enough to understand.
“I’ll take care of it,” Jared told him, taking the shirt. His fingers immediately ignited and he stood, crossed to the sink and held the shirt above it as it burned. He dropped the last piece in and Jensen watched as the fire appeared to be sucked back in to Jared’s skin. The shirt was nothing more than dust and Jared turned on the water to wash it away.
“That’s still an impressive trick,” Jensen said. “But I wouldn’t show it off too much until we leave here.” He turned the water off, reaching around Jared to do so, and drew his hand back sharply at the heat. Jared’s temperature had risen in that moment, Jensen was sure of it.
“Are you okay?” Jared asked.
Jensen nodded, dazed. “Fine. I’m fine. Are you hungry? We should find something to eat. I think that’s where the others have gone to so we should probably…We should follow them.”
Jared gave him a strange look then, which Jensen pretended not to notice. He turned away, ignoring the tremor of his heart, and told Jared to pick out a spare coat from the closet and then follow him.
PART FOUR
4 Years Later.
Winter was not Jensen’s favorite month. The trailers needed patching up again, to stop the cold seeping in through the walls. The girls didn’t complain, but Jensen knew they were all feeling it. The trailers had such little room inside that they were huddled together when they were in there anyway, so it wasn’t quite so bad once they all got warmed up, but moving in the morning was never inviting.
It also meant that they drew in fewer marks. Jensen had found luck with this particular travelling show, securing enough space for his crew’s stage and enough business in the first few months to keep them going. But business had died down as the carnival itself acquired bigger and better rides and new attractions. Visiting the same places in a regular rotation meant that Jensen’s show needed a new act every time and they were running out of ideas. He had hung a ‘help wanted’ sign at every town they visited, but all that had got him was robbed of a night’s takings and the loss of Sandy, when she ran away with the thief. He still hung the sign outside their tent and hoped that it would bring him something.
They were back in the Old Town now, in one of the dozen suburbs, and Jensen thought it felt colder here than anywhere. The presence of the Service agents was much more concentrated here than anywhere else and they all felt that had something to do with it.
Stepping out of his trailer, Jensen looked towards the midway and the lights burning there between the rides and concessions. The gates would open in another hour and their first show would take place another hour after that. He had a little time. He unhooked his coat from the back of the door and closed it behind him, stepping down onto the hard ground. He walked down the midway, towards the locked container behind several tents. The key was in his pocket, already warmed from his nervous handling, and he drew it out and freed the chained door from its padlock. Inside was his greatest treasure and something he needed right now. The VRN-X737 gave him a freedom he couldn’t feel anywhere else, quite in spite of his lifestyle. He swung his leg over the saddle and set the engine alight, gripped the handlebars. Kicking the brake off, he leaned forward and accelerated right out of the container and onto the midway. With barely anybody around yet he wasn’t endangering anyone and received no more than a glance up from a bored greenie.
The streets of the Old Town were as quiet as the carnival right now. It was cold enough to keep people inside, and early enough in the evening for most people to not yet be out. There were agents around, of course, and Jensen turned down a different street every time he saw one. It wasn’t until he began to near the carnival again that he met with one he couldn’t avoid. Jensen couldn’t avoid him because the guy stepped right out in front of him, forcing him to kick the brake on so hard that pain shot from his ankle right up his spine. Always quick to assess a threat, Jensen noted immediately the blood on the agent’s blue coat, the slight smell of burning that came with him, and the tear halfway up his sleeve. And then Jensen saw the agent’s face. It was wide-eyed and full of panic.
“Get on!” he cried, shuffling forwards to make room as the agent quickly did just that. “And ditch the coat!”
The agent again did as he was told, tossing the coat to one side as Jensen lit the engine up once more. He spun the bike around and set off.
Chris was outside their small group of trailers, tossing a throwing knife from one hand to the other, when Jensen pulled the bike to a stop nearby. When he saw the agent behind Jensen he got to his feet in a hurry, and threw the knife at the ground where it buried itself two inches deep.
“What the hell?” he started, even as Jensen ushered the agent off the bike and sent him into the nearest trailer. Chris stepped aside for him, seeing from Jensen’s face that any delay would not go down well. Jensen tossed him the bike key and told him to lock it away again, and quietly. “I think the time for not drawing attention is past,” Chris muttered.
“No, I don’t think we were followed. But we’d better be safe and not sorry.”
“Who was that guy?”
“Hide the bike, and I’ll explain when you get back. Is anyone else around?”
“Just Seb. He’s asleep.”
Jensen nodded. Sebastian would be okay. The others would be easier if he talked to Sebastian first. He watched Chris head off and then opened up his trailer door. He felt out of breath, and inexplicably elated, but when he saw the agent huddled up on one corner of the trailer’s only couch, he felt confused. He knew all about the Service, of course, and about how their agents were selected and trained. But this was something he had never expected. He didn’t say a word at first, just opened up the closet and grabbed the nearest shirt that was his and threw it over. The agent lifted one hand to catch it, looking just as confused as Jensen.
“I’m impressed,” Jensen said. “You’ve learnt a lot.”
“How did you know?”
“Jared, I’d recognize those eyes anywhere. So you can control it now?”
Jared nodded, dipping his head. He had filled out in the four years he’d been gone, but Jensen knew that was to be expected. The Service made sure that the ones they selected to become agents were trained to the highest standard, were well fed and strong. He had grown, too. From a runt of a boy to a man well over six foot tall.
“Put it on,” Jensen told him, pointing at the shirt. “It won’t help if the other agents come looking, but at least here you won’t stick out quite so much.” Jared handed over the grey uniform shirt and Jensen caught him before he could put its replacement on. The markings on his body were healed, darkened skin against smooth tan. They looked almost like a tattoo and Jensen ran his fingers over the lines on his shoulder.
“I still don’t know what it is, or why it’s there,” Jared told him, looking up at him. Again, Jensen was caught by the odd light in his eyes. His fingers drifted over Jared’s skin, and came to rest there. He felt strange, and he knew that the sensation was being caused by the contact with Jared. But he couldn’t bring himself to break it.
“What happened out there?” he asked. Then started as a voice came from outside the trailer. He’d forgotten Sebastian was nearby and it seemed to break the spell that was making him keep his hand on Jared. He turned as his friend entered his living space, and watched him stop short.
“My god,” was all he said.
“I’m in trouble,” Jared told them.
“That seems to have been the case since we met you.”
“They trained him up, made him an agent,” Jensen said.
“And somehow he escaped. I’m assuming there was some violence involved?”
Jared nodded, and looked miserable. Then he looked up, panic-stricken once more. “They put this thing in me…oh my god, I could be leading them right to you!”
Sebastian slapped his hand against the nearest wall. “The implant, you didn’t deal with it yet?”
Jensen shook his head. He’d forgotten all about it. Sebastian gripped the back of Jared’s head quite roughly and shoved it forward, holding his other hand out to Jensen and asking for a knife. Jensen knew he took longer than he should have to find one and to hand it over. He was too busy apologizing. He didn’t want to think that he had brought Jared here only to lose him again because he hadn’t thought things through. He watched Sebastian push Jared’s hair forward, and watched his fingers push at Jared’s skin until he found the obvious little lump.
“I would warn you that this may hurt, but somehow I think you’ll handle it.”
Jared still cried out when the knife blade dug in, and Jensen knelt in front of him and let Jared hold him, let him lean his head on Jensen’s shoulder as Sebastian worked the implant free. He tossed it into the sink and quickly set the water going full blast. There was a fizzing noise, and a curl of smoke told him it was dealt with. Jared had a hand to the back of his neck, and Jensen could feel the heat of his skin all over.
“We’ll get you patched up. You’re safe now, you’re with us.”
He had a bandage at the back of his neck and the shirt buttoned up over his chest by the time Chris returned with the others. It quickly got crowded inside the trailer, but Jared didn’t seem to mind. They all recognized him now, and Jensen watched as Danni hugged him tightly and sat down next to him with a comforting arm around him. It had nearly broken her heart when Sandy had left and, since then, she had taken on a far more motherly role with all of them.
“Do you want to tell me what all that was about?” Chris asked, standing just inside the door.
Jared took a deep breath. “I..I think I killed someone. Another agent. I just, I wanted to get away.”
“How’d you find us?”
Jared glanced at Jensen, then back to Chris. “Fate, I think. I wasn’t thinking of where to go, I was just thinking of escaping.”
“So what was with the uniform?”
Jensen shook his head. “You know how they work, Chris. He’ll have been training for it since the night they caught him.”
Jared nodded, confirming Jensen’s words. “It started the day after. I got the implant in the first week. I was locked in with four other boys and we all trained for it. I, uh… I tried to get away that first night. I burned one of the agents and they blasted me with a fire-hose. They didn’t know how I did it, and they believed me when I told them I didn’t know. Put it down to an accident. I learned to control it after that, and eventually they forgot all about it. They trained me to kill, sent me out on patrols. The implant meant they could keep an eye on me.”
“But obviously not well enough tonight,” Gabe observed.
“No. And Chris knows how, don’t you?” Jared stared at Chris, who stared right back for a full five seconds before lowering his gaze. “You’re good,” Jared told him. “But with what they taught me, I think I’m better. I think maybe whatever happened to me gave me some psychic ability before they even got to fine-tune it. I felt like tonight, I could do it. I could escape. So I blocked them out and took out the guy I was with. And I ran.”
“You ran into me,” Jensen said. “I think it must be your lucky night, but the night’s not over yet. We have a show to perform here. The carnival packs up and moves on in a couple of days. You’re going to need to keep a low profile until then.”
“We’re taking him with us?” Chris asked.
“We can’t just leave him here. Those agents find him, he’s dead. No question.”
“Why is he our problem?” Gabe wanted to know. They’d had so many problems over the past four years to get to where they were now that Jensen supposed he couldn’t blame them for questioning him over this. But he also knew he wouldn’t be moved on the matter.
“Because there is something more to all of this, and I want to find out what. Don’t you?” He looked at each of them. “Isn’t that why you all ran away and joined the circus? For the adventure?”
“No way,” Sebastian deadpanned. “I joined for the money.”
Chris rolled his eyes at that. “Adventure, yes. Being on the run from the Service, though…”
“We’ll only be running from them if they decide to pursue us. And how many agents do you know that decide to come and see our show?” None of them answered that, and Jensen nodded like that was the last word on it. He lifted his pocket-watch up and checked the time, then shoved it into his jacket. “And speaking of our show…It’s time to get out there. Jared, will you be all right here for five minutes? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Jared nodded.
Out in their Big Top, Jensen rushed through his introduction of the Circus Arcana to an audience that took up only a quarter of the floor space. He wanted time alone to question Jared, to understand what had happened to the boy - man - over the last four years. He didn’t kid himself that this was the only reason, of course, but it was the only reason he would give the others when they asked. He returned to the trailer in haste, but quietly, and saw a flickering light through the thinly covered window. He pulled the door open carefully and looked in. Jared was sat exactly where he had been left, and he held his right hand a few inches away from his face. A small ball of flame sat on his palm and he turned his hand one way and the other, watching the fire roll over his skin with a rapt expression.
Jensen wasn’t sure he had ever before seen something so beautiful.
“When I said that I learned to control it,” Jared said, startling him from his thoughts, “this is what I meant.”
“It’s incredible,” Jensen told him, truthfully. “Did you ever remember anything else about that night? About the man that sent you here?”
Jared shook his head. “Nothing. But I know that the one who killed him wants to kill me too. I think he’s found a way here. I can...” Jared stopped, folded his fingers into his palm and watched the flame disappear. “I can feel him. Feels like he’s getting closer.” He looked up at Jensen and frowned. “If you want me to leave, I’ll understand.”
“That’s the last thing I want,” Jensen told him. “You could have run into anyone tonight, another agent even. But you ran into me. Kind of tells me that somebody wants me to keep you around.”
“I’m glad you believe that.”
Jensen nodded. “But you’re going to have to earn your keep. The others won’t mind so much if you pay your own way.”
“So you’re going to make me a part of the show?”
“Think of something. We have to draw the marks in, but I don’t want you drawing too much attention to yourself. Not before we move on. So you have a couple of days and we’ll put you in the show once we hit the next town.”
“Okay,” Jared agreed. “Sounds good. I won’t let you down.”
Jensen didn’t think he needed to worry about that. He knew that if it came to it, he’d happily pay Jared’s way and go without just to keep him around. It worried him only slightly, the connection he seemed to have formed to the guy, but he made himself not think about it as he stepped back to the ground outside. “I have to go to work,” he said. “Just… Keep your head down and I’ll be back soon.”
The show ran later than it usually would that night; with Jensen distracted by thoughts of Jared back in the trailer and alone. He trusted him not to go anywhere, and his people had faith in him to be right. Sure enough, when they all returned to go to bed, Jared was wedged into an uncomfortable position on the couch and fast asleep. His shirt was beneath his head and Jensen’s eyes were once again drawn to the markings on his shoulder and chest.
“Jen,” Chris started, having followed him in.
“Just… Get some sleep. I’ll keep an eye on him.”
Chris nodded, knowing there was little point in arguing. The rest of them went to their own trailers, where the beds were shoved together to make most use of the limited space in them, while Jensen slid himself onto the seat opposite Jared. He watched his chest move with each even breath and wondered if this was the first good night’s sleep that Jared had gotten in the past four years. He thought it probably was. He had been lucky, had never spent a night in the care of the Service , but he knew without the experience that it would be hard to relax there. They thrived on violence, after all.
With that thought, he looked over the rest of what he could see of Jared. There were no obvious marks, but that only meant that he had not received a beating in the past few weeks. Jensen thought it likely that they had stopped once Jared bulked out, once he was able to fight back if he wanted to.
“Jensen?”
He looked up to Jared’s face and saw that he was awake now. He felt embarrassed, but tried not to show it.
“Yes?”
Jared pushed himself up. “You should’ve woken me up. How did the show go?”
“Same old,” Jensen told him. “Quiet, easy. We were distracted.”
“Because of me?”
“It doesn’t matter. We have one more show here, that’s all.”
“The show, yeah. I think I know what I could do.” At Jensen’s surprised look, Jared unfolded his legs and sat straight. “You want me to show you?”
“Now?”
“Yes!” Jared smiled. “It’ll look better in the dark, trust me.” He held his hand out and Jensen watched as a tiny spark lit up in the center of his outstretched palm.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said, but Jared didn’t listen and the spark grew into the little ball of flame that Jensen had seen him holding earlier. “Jared-“
“This isn’t it. Just watch.” He wrapped his hands around the ball of flame as though it was a scrunched up piece of paper and then he opened his mouth. Jensen’s eyes widened and he watched Jared throw the ball of flame down his throat. He heard himself swear, but Jared only licked his lips and smiled. “It doesn’t do anything,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt, even. I thought it might hurt, but… Nothing. Isn’t that what your circus is missing? A fire-eater?”
“Let me see,” Jensen instructed, leaning across the table between them. Jared seemed surprised when Jensen touched his lips, pulling the lower one down so he could inspect Jared’s mouth. He was right. There were no blisters, there was no redness - nothing to suggest that he’d just swallowed a fireball. “That’s incredible,” he murmured. Jared was immune to it inside and out. It made him wonder what the thing was that had done this to him, and where it had come from. It made him wonder what else Jared was capable of. In some ways, it made him afraid. In others, it thrilled him more than anything had in the past several years of his life.
Jared touched his hand then and made him realize that he was still so close to him. He quietly pulled his hand away, cheeks hot as he apologized.
“It’s okay. I’ve had an entire life of people being rough with me. It’s kind of refreshing. So what do you think?”
“About what?”
“The act,” Jared clarified, seeming amused that Jensen was suddenly so flustered.
“I think that you show the others tomorrow night when we finish. And I think that you should watch us perform tomorrow. Closing night is always good.”
“I’d like that.”
It seemed like it should be the end of the conversation; that Jensen should go to bed and leave Jared in peace to get as much rest as he could in the cramped living area of the trailer. But he didn’t want to move. Instead, he settled back in his seat, away from the warmth that Jared’s skin radiated, and asked him about New York. About the universe that he had come from.
“You seemed so taken with the differences between there and here when you first arrived. It’s the thing I remember most about you. It reminded me of being a child and seeing all these new things being invented, and the excitement that they brought out in people. I just want to know how your world could be so different, I suppose. I’ve wanted to ask you since we met.”
“What do you want to know about it?”
“Where you grew up, what your house looked like. Did they have places like this there?”
“We had carnivals. I never went to one, though. It wasn’t something my parents would have approved of. But they weren’t anything like this. It’s like…Like your universe is just what mine would be like if a different path had been taken at one moment in history. Once I looked at things here that seemed weird and I thought about it, I saw that they were just the same things we had, but made in a new way. Or…An old way, I guess. We had steam trains, but we had them way back. We had them until someone came up with a new way of powering them, something that wasn’t so volatile.”
“So perhaps your universe is what we have to look forward to?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. We didn’t have something like the Service ruling over us. We had people in power, yes, but it never felt as oppressive as it does here. Has it always been that way?”
“It’s…” Jensen stopped, struggling to think. “It’s an old idea, but a new regime. It’s worse in the big cities and far worse in the South. We’re heading out north when we move camp. It’s not the same there. There’s still a presence, but it’s easier to handle. They’re more tolerant of us, I think. Maybe because they lack for entertainment more in those places.”
“I’m excited to see,” Jared said.
“I just hope that whatever happened tonight won’t follow us all the way up there. It’ll be easier if they think you’re still here somewhere. They won’t come looking quite so fast and we can keep one step ahead of the game. Maybe even one step ahead of this other guy, whoever he is.”
“Whatever,” Jared amended. “Whatever he is.”
They talked through much of the night, not dozing off until the early hours and well after the carnival itself had closed its gates and shut off the lights. When the trailer had gotten so dark that they couldn’t see one another’s faces, Jared had simply clicked his fingers and held a flame no bigger than you would get from striking a match so that they could see.
Jensen woke to a slight chill late in the morning. Jared gave out such a lot of heat that he had been comfortable throughout the night, even without blankets, but now there was cold air hitting his skin and he shivered. The trailer door had been opened, he saw, and when he got up to close it a quick glance around outside told him that the others were all up and out somewhere. Scoring breakfast, he guessed. Jared was still sleeping, so Jensen relieved himself in the bathroom and used the relative privacy to undress and change his clothes. The grey shirt of the agents’ uniform was still just sitting there, and he took it with him when he went to wake Jared.
“We need to get rid of this,” he said, as soon as Jared seemed responsive enough to understand.
“I’ll take care of it,” Jared told him, taking the shirt. His fingers immediately ignited and he stood, crossed to the sink and held the shirt above it as it burned. He dropped the last piece in and Jensen watched as the fire appeared to be sucked back in to Jared’s skin. The shirt was nothing more than dust and Jared turned on the water to wash it away.
“That’s still an impressive trick,” Jensen said. “But I wouldn’t show it off too much until we leave here.” He turned the water off, reaching around Jared to do so, and drew his hand back sharply at the heat. Jared’s temperature had risen in that moment, Jensen was sure of it.
“Are you okay?” Jared asked.
Jensen nodded, dazed. “Fine. I’m fine. Are you hungry? We should find something to eat. I think that’s where the others have gone to so we should probably…We should follow them.”
Jared gave him a strange look then, which Jensen pretended not to notice. He turned away, ignoring the tremor of his heart, and told Jared to pick out a spare coat from the closet and then follow him.
PART FOUR