Jared Padalecki and the Faith of the Feathered Serpent (Chapter Two)
Title: Jared Padalecki and the Faith of the Feathered Serpent
Author: hunters_retreat
Fandom: J2 (CWRPS)
Pairings: Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles
Summary: They were legend, the Egyptologist with a love of mysteries and the General with a love of adventure. Over the years they'd faced everything Egypt had to offer, never backing down and never giving in, until they'd tamed her secrets. What happens when they find themselves leaving their home for the wonders of the new world in search of a missing colleague? What happens when Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki are surrounded by jungles and ruins and find the faith of the fallen serpent?
Jared stared at the paper in his hand, the fading daylight doing nothing to still the darkness he felt sinking around him. He’d known since the first vision struck that something was wrong, but he’d let himself be lulled from that belief. No, he wasn’t lulled. He was just busy and hoping against all instinct and knowledge, that he was wrong this time.
He looked down at the picture again and thought about Chris and the image brought a smile to his face. His friend had taken one look at Jared on his first day at the University and decided that he needed to protect and care for the young protégé. It was a trait Jared brought out in others, it seemed, but in those early days he had been a godsend. Too young to be on his own and far too caught up in his studies to care for himself, Chris had been there to help him through the worst of the pitfalls.
While Jared had been fascinated with Egypt and her sands and intricate history, Chris had been taken with the language of the ancient Mesoamerican cultures. He’d studied the Aztec and Olmec, they’d had debates over Mayan translations and fought over the misconceptions the European settlers had spread about the ‘savage’ cultures. It had been invigorating and challenging and Chris had never let Jared’s age scare him away from pinning Jared on something he said. He made Jared a better scholar where others were afraid he might break with the pressure.
He’d also been the one to get him well and truly drunk for the first time on cheap brandy and laughed at him as he suffered through a hangover the next morning.
Chris had been his best friend and was still one of his closest friends. They were constantly corresponding with one another and even if they didn’t get to see each other face to face often, there was always a great deal of joy in their reunions. He hadn’t seen Chris in more than five years though. Their last encounter had been shortly before Jared met Jensen, a meeting in Cairo where Chris had been brought in by the university to lecture on the importance of undisturbed finds and the dismissal of undocumented ‘facts’ that seemed to bog down their occupation.
He didn’t know about Jared’s visions, those had only started after he’d left the University, but he did know about Jared’s other secret. It wasn’t something he could come out and speak about. It wasn’t something that his peers would understand. He hated hiding who he was, but he had accepted that was his lot in life. As much as he would have liked to have the simple life that a wife and family would give, he wasn’t the type of man to trap a woman in a loveless marriage for the sake of appearances. His predilection towards the male of the species was complete and even if he’d never thought to find someone to share his life with, he’d have been happy with just his work and his place with the eccentrics of academia.
Jensen had changed all that of course. Jensen had no care about social mores, at least not those of current day Egypt. He was discrete about it, respecting the current laws and traditions, but he didn’t allow that to stop the way he acted towards Jared when they were alone.
If anyone at the museum thought it odd that Jared had taken Jensen into his home five years previous, no one spoke of it. Jared was highly respected in his field and his colleagues gave his eccentricities a wide, affectionate berth. The fact that it was Jensen had something to do with it as well. The Green-Eyed was well known in Jared’s circles and widely respected. People were far more interested in how Jared managed to talk him into working on more than one project with him than the fact that they were living together.
At least he hoped. There had been some speculation, a few rumors that surfaced in the beginning, but then no one paid it any mind and Jared had relaxed about it. Not that he would have changed his life over any one else’s opinion, but it was less of a worry.
Chris knew the whole truth about him though and Jared suspected that even without knowing their history, Chris would figure out what Jensen was to him if he talked about him too much. It was why he’d never mentioned Jensen to Chris on their few telephone calls and only in passing over their written correspondence. Chris would approve of course, but it wasn’t something Jared wanted to share with the world. Jensen was his and his alone, the trials they’d faced over the years cementing it in ways that no ring or ceremony ever could.
He hated to think that something had happened to Chris before he could meet the person Jared had given himself over to completely. Chris would not only approve of Jensen and the care he took with Jared, but he would like him on his own rights, one man to another.
“I don’t suppose its good news, the way you’re gripping that,” Jim said as he nodded to Jared’s hand, clenching the notice from the wire service.
Jared shook his head. “No. A friend of mine sent me this picture,” he said, dropping the wire and handing Jim the picture of Chris. After University, Jim seemed to pick up the neespan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">d to take Jared under his wing and Jared had a fondness for the older man that was almost familial. He was a far better father figure than his own had been, shuffling his son off to boarding school at a young age and leaving him there until he’d drunk himself to death. Jim knew a lot of things and he was a good enough man to know when to talk about them and when not to.
If anyone at the museum had an idea of what Jensen was to Jared, it was Jim. He’d been with them, after all, in the adventure that had cemented their relationship. Jim’s support had never wavered over the years though. He’d been true and steadfast in the face of everything. Even as angry as he’d been when they’d traversed the Egyptian desert , found themselves face to face with an Egyptian Pharaoh, and realized that Jared had been keeping secrets about their ultimate goal, he’d known that Jared had done it for good reasons.
He’d also been the one to kick Jared’s ass back into the field when Jensen had disappeared for six months after it all and helped Jensen find him when he’d come back. If Jim didn’t know, it was because he chose not to. Jared had never been more grateful to anyone in his life. He was sure it would break something in him to lose the support of his mentor.
“He was studying the ruins of Yaxchilan in Mexico. His descriptions of the place were amazing but as he got further into the dig I stopped hearing anything. After three months of silence, all I got was this.”
“This is your friend Chris, right?”
“Yes.”
“You always said he was fond of trouble.”
“Yes,” Jared said with a small smile, “he was.”
“What makes you think this isn’t just a misunderstanding?” Jared didn’t answer but Jim only waited a moment. “You had a vision?”
“There was nothing there to indicate something was wrong. It doesn’t work like that, I know, but there was a lingering sense there that I can’t get out of my head.”
“A sense of what?”
“Darkness.”
“What’s Jensen think about it?” Jim’s confidence in the Green-Eyed was like most of the archeological population. Whether they’d met him in person or just knew of him by rumor, their confidence in the Green-Eyed was complete.
“He hasn’t said anything,” Jared turned away from Jim because really that was a large part of his problem. He wasn’t sure if he should say something to Jensen or not. He knew Jared was still waking with nightmares from the damn vision but he hadn’t said anything about going off to look for Chris and Jared was hesitant to ask him. Egypt was Jensen’s home. Except for the time he’d come looking for Jared, they had never left Egypt on their adventures. He didn’t know if Jensen would even be interested in joining him on this and he wasn’t sure he could face this sort of thing alone anymore. Having Jensen at his side meant too much.
He heard Jim sigh behind him. “Any reason you’re keeping secrets from him again?”
He turned quickly to glare at Jim for the censure but it was hard to be angry with someone who knew you so well. “It’s not a secret. We just haven’t discussed leaving Egypt before.”
Jim huffed at that. “Sounds like you need to be having this discussion with someone else then. You’ll need to take some time off from the museum I suppose. I’ll get that covered for you,” Jim said, stopping when a knock at the door interrupted him.
“Jensen,” Jim said, standing up to shake the other man’s hand. “Good to see you my friend.”
“And you,” Jensen said with a smile. Jensen was more relaxed around Jim than any of Jared’s other colleagues. Their shared history meant that Jensen didn’t need to hide who he was and his knowledge of ancient Egypt was never questioned or debated. Jim had been with them, after all, when they’d all learned that Jensen had once been an Egyptian general, slave of a loveless Pharaoh. Jensen had lived his entire life, to that point, with no memory of who he was or where he’d been. When they found one another, racing against a sand storm it had seemed a great stroke of luck. Jared had heard about the Green-eyed but had never met him before. Jensen’s inclusion in their party had been far more than luck though. It had been fate.
He showed up when Jared was having visions that led him to an unknown tomb of a long forgotten, yet beloved General. For love of him, his people had found a way to set his soul free of his body, away from the Pharaoh who could never return the love and devotion he’d been given. At the end of their journey, Jared’s visions had shown him that Jensen was that General, living his life without those memories, looking for the love the Pharaoh hadn’t allowed him in his previous life.
It had been Jared who had cut the heart out of his mummified remains and given it to the Egyptian gods for judgment. The gods had found him worthy and Jensen had been given his life back. The Pharaoh, who had stalked him into the afterlife, had been forced into the underworld where he could not longer haunt the General.
It left Jensen to deal with a lifetime of memories from both ancient Egypt and the modern day world, something that still plagued him from time to time. Jim was one of the few people who knew that and Jensen never had to hide his background from.
“I’m sorry to interrupt. I didn’t know you were here. I’ll let you finish up,” Jensen’s eyes took in the photo in Jim’s hand though and Jared gave him a half smile, not sure what else he could say. “Will you be staying for lunch Jim?”
Jim shook his head. “No, I figure I have some things to arrange at the museum before I can get any work done,” he said with a smile. “I’ll be out of your hair in a few minutes.”
Jensen nodded, then backed out of the room with a quick good-bye.
“Hand me those,” Jim said, pointing to the translation Jared had actually asked him to stop by to talk about.
“I’m not quite done.”
“And you won’t be finishing them either.” Jim interrupted. “We both know your mind is already working on Chris and his trouble. You aren’t going to be able to translate anything else while this is hanging over your head.”
“You’re a good friend, Jim,” Jared said as he rolled up the scroll and put it back in the protective cover. He handed it to Jim and smiled widely at him. “I owe you.”
“Again,” Jim reminded him.
“One of these days you’re going to call in that favor and I’ll be in real trouble.”
Jim laughed. “Send me word of your plans before you go so I don’t worry.”
“I will.”
“And take care of the Green-Eyed.” Jim had an oddly protective streak when it came to Jensen. Jared had never met anyone who worried half so much about someone as competent as Jensen.
“He takes care of himself,” Jared said with an exasperated laugh.
“Yeah, well I worry about you both, no matter how old his soul is.” Jim said softly, though he was smiling as he walked to the door.
He escorted Jim down to the front door and they said their good-byes, Jim reiterating that they needed to take care of themselves with Jared reminding him that of course they would. It wasn’t their first adventure together even if it would be the first in the Americas.
When his mentor was gone, Jared went looking for Jensen. He needed to find a way to convince Jensen to go to Mexico with him. He didn’t know what his reaction would be, but Jim was right in thinking he wouldn’t go without the other man. Travelling without Jensen was almost unthinkable anymore so he had to find a way to talk him into it. His lover wasn’t in the library or his office. He wasn’t in his bed room either. He checked the kitchen to see if he was begging the cook for an early treat but the staff was in a flurry of activity and all he did was poke his head in, hoping for a sign of Jensen before backing out again. He’d found it was better not to ask what his staff was doing most times. They were efficient and took great care of them. He’d learned early on to stay out of their way.
When he made his way up to his bed room he finally found the man. Their well used bags were sitting on the bed and Jensen was stuffing clothes in one.
“Jensen, what are you doing?”
Jensen looked up, a small smile curving his lips. “I overheard Jim telling you he’d work on getting you time off. I was sure that meant we were heading out tonight. Was I wrong?”
Jared closed the door behind him and took a few steps closer to Jensen. “No, you weren’t wrong. I need to find out what happened to Chris. Even if I get there and he’s just fallen into a bottle and a local girl, I need to see it myself to know.”
Jensen nodded. “You aren’t exactly subtle Jared,” he said softly. “I’ve known it was coming since you had that vision two weeks ago.”
“And you’ll go with me?”
Jensen shook his head, giving Jared a small smile. “I thought you knew this by now but where you go, I go.”
Jared closed the distance between them, arms wrapping around Jensen as he pulled him in, pressing their lips together in a hungry kiss. He should have known better than to doubt Jensen. “I was afraid you wouldn’t want to leave Egypt,” he whispered against his lips.
Jensen’s mouth moved lower, kissed trailing across his jaw and down his neck. “It’s you I can’t seem to leave, Jared,” he whispered as his hands worked at the buttons of Jared’s vest.
“The staff-”
“I told them to prepare a very heavy late lunch so we could be gone this evening.”
“So they won’t be coming to interrupt about lunch anytime soon?”
“No, they won’t.”
“God, you think of everything,” Jared said, laughing breathlessly as his shirt was pushed off his shoulders. It was always like that when they were preparing to go off on an adventure. Jensen took care of the details of travel while Jared immersed himself in the culture and language. When they weren’t doing those two things, they were with each other, making every moment count in case they weren’t able to get time on the road. They horded their privacy and made use of it but this trip was different. Tonight they would leave. There was no two weeks of preparation as they waited for funding to come through, or for the equipment and men to come together. They only had the afternoon and Jensen wasn’t wasting the time, his fingers sprawling over the newly exposed skin of Jared’s chest.
“Jensen,” he whispered, pulling his lover’s mouth back to his.
Jensen moaned into his mouth and then Jared was undoing the buttons on Jensen’s shirt, letting his hands explore the hard, warm flesh beneath it. His fingers trailed over the skin just above Jensen’s belt and he started working it open, slow and steady as Jensen took control of the kiss, tongues tangling as he stepped them backward towards the bed.
Jensen had to stop kissing him to move the bags off the bed, but then he was pushing his pants off and falling to his knees, working at Jared’s pants. Jared bit his lip to keep from moaning just at the sight of Jensen, tan, naked flesh calling to be touched, the only item on his body an ancient Egyptian necklace that hung around his neck.
When Jensen’s hands gripped his hips and pushed him back, Jared sat down heavily on the bed. Jensen licked a stripe up Jared’s cock and he had to grip the down comforter to keep from grabbing his lover’s hair and making him take his cock into his mouth.
He knew Jensen was teasing him when he worked his way lower, kissing the inside of his thighs as he spread them further, his tongue laving at his balls. “Lay back Jared,” he said softly and Jared couldn’t do anything but comply.
He felt his legs being lifted and he pulled them up on the edge of the bed, knees bent high as Jensen kept his hips where they were. Jensen’s lips trailed over his thigh, lower until he was nipping lightly at Jared’s ass. Jensen’s tongue licked over his hole then and Jared gripped the comforter again, trying to reign in his need to moan. They didn’t normally do this when the staff was around and the last thing he needed was someone coming to find out why Jared was making those sorts of noises.
“Shhhh,” Jensen soothed, though Jared knew if he looked down there would be a smile on his face. He licked a circle around Jared then pressed at the ring of muscle with the flat of his tongue.
“Jense, please …”
Jensen didn’t make him beg, instead he pressed in with the point of his tongue, sliding past Jared’s muscles. He slid in and out a few times before Jared felt the first finger pressing into him beside it. He never stopped licking him open, his tongue lapping at his entrance as a second finger was pressed in, twisting and stretching him.
“Jared,” the need in Jensen’s voice took his breath away.
“Now Jensen, god now.” It was all he had to say before Jensen was pulling his fingers free. Jared moved up the bed and pulled back the covers to lie on the soft cool sheets as Jensen crawled up the bed between his legs. His hand was stroking up and down his cock, slick and wet with the sweet oil they kept for just these moments. He leaned over then, his lips trailing across the top of Jared’s shoulders as he pressed his whole body against him. He slid back slightly and then he was pressing into Jared’s body, stretched and aching to let his lover in.
Jensen bit his shoulder as he bottomed out, silencing his own groans. Jared’s hands came up then, one to the back of Jensen’s head and the other gripping his hip, pulling at him as if he could get any closer.
Jensen didn’t need him to say anything, just took his movements for the permission they were as he slid slowly back and then in again. Jared arched his body, the steady glide in and out almost too much when Jensen had him so worked up already.
He could feel Jensen trembling above him and he let his eyes linger for a moment longer on the way they moved together before he looked up into his lover’s eyes. Jensen’s lips crash down into his and Jared opened immediately, letting his wicked tongue explore his lips and teeth and tongue.
Jensen pulled back, resting his forehead against Jared’s. “God Quick-Tongue, what you do to me,” he shivered as he spoke and Jared framed his face in his hands, pulling at him so he looked him in the eye.
They didn’t say anything but there was no need to. He was lost in that green gaze, unable to think past the feel of this, of his lover pressing into him, seeing into the darkest parts of his soul. He felt the slow build of pressure and then he was gasping as he painted their stomachs in white stripes. Jensen’s hips stuttered to a halt and he was biting his lip to keep in the delicious sounds that normally came from their coupling.
He couldn’t stop looking at Jensen, staring up at the man above him. Something dark came to the front of his eyes, something that Jared knew well and he let his thumb caress under Jensen’s eyes. Jensen seemed unable to move and Jared just smiled up, tilting his head enough to kiss his lips gently.
“God how you are loved My General.”
Jensen buried his head in Jared’s shoulder and he could feel the tremors in him. He pulled away a moment later, leaving Jared as he grabbed for a towel to wipe them clean. Jared didn’t say anything as he did, but when Jensen sat at the edge of the bed, his back to Jared, he pulled him down, spooning up behind him.
“Stop thinking for a few minutes. We’ll get dressed soon and then you can continue with that mental list of things you need to see to before we leave,” he whispered into Jensen’s ear.
He felt the tension leave Jensen’s body and then he was turning onto his back. Jared slid in under his arm, taking his place with his head resting against Jensen’s chest.
“I love you Jared,” the words came out a sigh against his temple. “Never doubt that.”
Jared closed his eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing as he felt Jensen’s hand soothing up and down his back. “I’ve never doubted you, not since the day we met.”
“Sap.”
“You love it,” Jared said grinning against his chest.
“Yeah, maybe I do.”
Author: hunters_retreat
Fandom: J2 (CWRPS)
Pairings: Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles
Summary: They were legend, the Egyptologist with a love of mysteries and the General with a love of adventure. Over the years they'd faced everything Egypt had to offer, never backing down and never giving in, until they'd tamed her secrets. What happens when they find themselves leaving their home for the wonders of the new world in search of a missing colleague? What happens when Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki are surrounded by jungles and ruins and find the faith of the fallen serpent?
Jared stared at the paper in his hand, the fading daylight doing nothing to still the darkness he felt sinking around him. He’d known since the first vision struck that something was wrong, but he’d let himself be lulled from that belief. No, he wasn’t lulled. He was just busy and hoping against all instinct and knowledge, that he was wrong this time.
He looked down at the picture again and thought about Chris and the image brought a smile to his face. His friend had taken one look at Jared on his first day at the University and decided that he needed to protect and care for the young protégé. It was a trait Jared brought out in others, it seemed, but in those early days he had been a godsend. Too young to be on his own and far too caught up in his studies to care for himself, Chris had been there to help him through the worst of the pitfalls.
While Jared had been fascinated with Egypt and her sands and intricate history, Chris had been taken with the language of the ancient Mesoamerican cultures. He’d studied the Aztec and Olmec, they’d had debates over Mayan translations and fought over the misconceptions the European settlers had spread about the ‘savage’ cultures. It had been invigorating and challenging and Chris had never let Jared’s age scare him away from pinning Jared on something he said. He made Jared a better scholar where others were afraid he might break with the pressure.
He’d also been the one to get him well and truly drunk for the first time on cheap brandy and laughed at him as he suffered through a hangover the next morning.
Chris had been his best friend and was still one of his closest friends. They were constantly corresponding with one another and even if they didn’t get to see each other face to face often, there was always a great deal of joy in their reunions. He hadn’t seen Chris in more than five years though. Their last encounter had been shortly before Jared met Jensen, a meeting in Cairo where Chris had been brought in by the university to lecture on the importance of undisturbed finds and the dismissal of undocumented ‘facts’ that seemed to bog down their occupation.
He didn’t know about Jared’s visions, those had only started after he’d left the University, but he did know about Jared’s other secret. It wasn’t something he could come out and speak about. It wasn’t something that his peers would understand. He hated hiding who he was, but he had accepted that was his lot in life. As much as he would have liked to have the simple life that a wife and family would give, he wasn’t the type of man to trap a woman in a loveless marriage for the sake of appearances. His predilection towards the male of the species was complete and even if he’d never thought to find someone to share his life with, he’d have been happy with just his work and his place with the eccentrics of academia.
Jensen had changed all that of course. Jensen had no care about social mores, at least not those of current day Egypt. He was discrete about it, respecting the current laws and traditions, but he didn’t allow that to stop the way he acted towards Jared when they were alone.
If anyone at the museum thought it odd that Jared had taken Jensen into his home five years previous, no one spoke of it. Jared was highly respected in his field and his colleagues gave his eccentricities a wide, affectionate berth. The fact that it was Jensen had something to do with it as well. The Green-Eyed was well known in Jared’s circles and widely respected. People were far more interested in how Jared managed to talk him into working on more than one project with him than the fact that they were living together.
At least he hoped. There had been some speculation, a few rumors that surfaced in the beginning, but then no one paid it any mind and Jared had relaxed about it. Not that he would have changed his life over any one else’s opinion, but it was less of a worry.
Chris knew the whole truth about him though and Jared suspected that even without knowing their history, Chris would figure out what Jensen was to him if he talked about him too much. It was why he’d never mentioned Jensen to Chris on their few telephone calls and only in passing over their written correspondence. Chris would approve of course, but it wasn’t something Jared wanted to share with the world. Jensen was his and his alone, the trials they’d faced over the years cementing it in ways that no ring or ceremony ever could.
He hated to think that something had happened to Chris before he could meet the person Jared had given himself over to completely. Chris would not only approve of Jensen and the care he took with Jared, but he would like him on his own rights, one man to another.
“I don’t suppose its good news, the way you’re gripping that,” Jim said as he nodded to Jared’s hand, clenching the notice from the wire service.
Jared shook his head. “No. A friend of mine sent me this picture,” he said, dropping the wire and handing Jim the picture of Chris. After University, Jim seemed to pick up the neespan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">d to take Jared under his wing and Jared had a fondness for the older man that was almost familial. He was a far better father figure than his own had been, shuffling his son off to boarding school at a young age and leaving him there until he’d drunk himself to death. Jim knew a lot of things and he was a good enough man to know when to talk about them and when not to.
If anyone at the museum had an idea of what Jensen was to Jared, it was Jim. He’d been with them, after all, in the adventure that had cemented their relationship. Jim’s support had never wavered over the years though. He’d been true and steadfast in the face of everything. Even as angry as he’d been when they’d traversed the Egyptian desert , found themselves face to face with an Egyptian Pharaoh, and realized that Jared had been keeping secrets about their ultimate goal, he’d known that Jared had done it for good reasons.
He’d also been the one to kick Jared’s ass back into the field when Jensen had disappeared for six months after it all and helped Jensen find him when he’d come back. If Jim didn’t know, it was because he chose not to. Jared had never been more grateful to anyone in his life. He was sure it would break something in him to lose the support of his mentor.
“He was studying the ruins of Yaxchilan in Mexico. His descriptions of the place were amazing but as he got further into the dig I stopped hearing anything. After three months of silence, all I got was this.”
“This is your friend Chris, right?”
“Yes.”
“You always said he was fond of trouble.”
“Yes,” Jared said with a small smile, “he was.”
“What makes you think this isn’t just a misunderstanding?” Jared didn’t answer but Jim only waited a moment. “You had a vision?”
“There was nothing there to indicate something was wrong. It doesn’t work like that, I know, but there was a lingering sense there that I can’t get out of my head.”
“A sense of what?”
“Darkness.”
“What’s Jensen think about it?” Jim’s confidence in the Green-Eyed was like most of the archeological population. Whether they’d met him in person or just knew of him by rumor, their confidence in the Green-Eyed was complete.
“He hasn’t said anything,” Jared turned away from Jim because really that was a large part of his problem. He wasn’t sure if he should say something to Jensen or not. He knew Jared was still waking with nightmares from the damn vision but he hadn’t said anything about going off to look for Chris and Jared was hesitant to ask him. Egypt was Jensen’s home. Except for the time he’d come looking for Jared, they had never left Egypt on their adventures. He didn’t know if Jensen would even be interested in joining him on this and he wasn’t sure he could face this sort of thing alone anymore. Having Jensen at his side meant too much.
He heard Jim sigh behind him. “Any reason you’re keeping secrets from him again?”
He turned quickly to glare at Jim for the censure but it was hard to be angry with someone who knew you so well. “It’s not a secret. We just haven’t discussed leaving Egypt before.”
Jim huffed at that. “Sounds like you need to be having this discussion with someone else then. You’ll need to take some time off from the museum I suppose. I’ll get that covered for you,” Jim said, stopping when a knock at the door interrupted him.
“Jensen,” Jim said, standing up to shake the other man’s hand. “Good to see you my friend.”
“And you,” Jensen said with a smile. Jensen was more relaxed around Jim than any of Jared’s other colleagues. Their shared history meant that Jensen didn’t need to hide who he was and his knowledge of ancient Egypt was never questioned or debated. Jim had been with them, after all, when they’d all learned that Jensen had once been an Egyptian general, slave of a loveless Pharaoh. Jensen had lived his entire life, to that point, with no memory of who he was or where he’d been. When they found one another, racing against a sand storm it had seemed a great stroke of luck. Jared had heard about the Green-eyed but had never met him before. Jensen’s inclusion in their party had been far more than luck though. It had been fate.
He showed up when Jared was having visions that led him to an unknown tomb of a long forgotten, yet beloved General. For love of him, his people had found a way to set his soul free of his body, away from the Pharaoh who could never return the love and devotion he’d been given. At the end of their journey, Jared’s visions had shown him that Jensen was that General, living his life without those memories, looking for the love the Pharaoh hadn’t allowed him in his previous life.
It had been Jared who had cut the heart out of his mummified remains and given it to the Egyptian gods for judgment. The gods had found him worthy and Jensen had been given his life back. The Pharaoh, who had stalked him into the afterlife, had been forced into the underworld where he could not longer haunt the General.
It left Jensen to deal with a lifetime of memories from both ancient Egypt and the modern day world, something that still plagued him from time to time. Jim was one of the few people who knew that and Jensen never had to hide his background from.
“I’m sorry to interrupt. I didn’t know you were here. I’ll let you finish up,” Jensen’s eyes took in the photo in Jim’s hand though and Jared gave him a half smile, not sure what else he could say. “Will you be staying for lunch Jim?”
Jim shook his head. “No, I figure I have some things to arrange at the museum before I can get any work done,” he said with a smile. “I’ll be out of your hair in a few minutes.”
Jensen nodded, then backed out of the room with a quick good-bye.
“Hand me those,” Jim said, pointing to the translation Jared had actually asked him to stop by to talk about.
“I’m not quite done.”
“And you won’t be finishing them either.” Jim interrupted. “We both know your mind is already working on Chris and his trouble. You aren’t going to be able to translate anything else while this is hanging over your head.”
“You’re a good friend, Jim,” Jared said as he rolled up the scroll and put it back in the protective cover. He handed it to Jim and smiled widely at him. “I owe you.”
“Again,” Jim reminded him.
“One of these days you’re going to call in that favor and I’ll be in real trouble.”
Jim laughed. “Send me word of your plans before you go so I don’t worry.”
“I will.”
“And take care of the Green-Eyed.” Jim had an oddly protective streak when it came to Jensen. Jared had never met anyone who worried half so much about someone as competent as Jensen.
“He takes care of himself,” Jared said with an exasperated laugh.
“Yeah, well I worry about you both, no matter how old his soul is.” Jim said softly, though he was smiling as he walked to the door.
He escorted Jim down to the front door and they said their good-byes, Jim reiterating that they needed to take care of themselves with Jared reminding him that of course they would. It wasn’t their first adventure together even if it would be the first in the Americas.
When his mentor was gone, Jared went looking for Jensen. He needed to find a way to convince Jensen to go to Mexico with him. He didn’t know what his reaction would be, but Jim was right in thinking he wouldn’t go without the other man. Travelling without Jensen was almost unthinkable anymore so he had to find a way to talk him into it. His lover wasn’t in the library or his office. He wasn’t in his bed room either. He checked the kitchen to see if he was begging the cook for an early treat but the staff was in a flurry of activity and all he did was poke his head in, hoping for a sign of Jensen before backing out again. He’d found it was better not to ask what his staff was doing most times. They were efficient and took great care of them. He’d learned early on to stay out of their way.
When he made his way up to his bed room he finally found the man. Their well used bags were sitting on the bed and Jensen was stuffing clothes in one.
“Jensen, what are you doing?”
Jensen looked up, a small smile curving his lips. “I overheard Jim telling you he’d work on getting you time off. I was sure that meant we were heading out tonight. Was I wrong?”
Jared closed the door behind him and took a few steps closer to Jensen. “No, you weren’t wrong. I need to find out what happened to Chris. Even if I get there and he’s just fallen into a bottle and a local girl, I need to see it myself to know.”
Jensen nodded. “You aren’t exactly subtle Jared,” he said softly. “I’ve known it was coming since you had that vision two weeks ago.”
“And you’ll go with me?”
Jensen shook his head, giving Jared a small smile. “I thought you knew this by now but where you go, I go.”
Jared closed the distance between them, arms wrapping around Jensen as he pulled him in, pressing their lips together in a hungry kiss. He should have known better than to doubt Jensen. “I was afraid you wouldn’t want to leave Egypt,” he whispered against his lips.
Jensen’s mouth moved lower, kissed trailing across his jaw and down his neck. “It’s you I can’t seem to leave, Jared,” he whispered as his hands worked at the buttons of Jared’s vest.
“The staff-”
“I told them to prepare a very heavy late lunch so we could be gone this evening.”
“So they won’t be coming to interrupt about lunch anytime soon?”
“No, they won’t.”
“God, you think of everything,” Jared said, laughing breathlessly as his shirt was pushed off his shoulders. It was always like that when they were preparing to go off on an adventure. Jensen took care of the details of travel while Jared immersed himself in the culture and language. When they weren’t doing those two things, they were with each other, making every moment count in case they weren’t able to get time on the road. They horded their privacy and made use of it but this trip was different. Tonight they would leave. There was no two weeks of preparation as they waited for funding to come through, or for the equipment and men to come together. They only had the afternoon and Jensen wasn’t wasting the time, his fingers sprawling over the newly exposed skin of Jared’s chest.
“Jensen,” he whispered, pulling his lover’s mouth back to his.
Jensen moaned into his mouth and then Jared was undoing the buttons on Jensen’s shirt, letting his hands explore the hard, warm flesh beneath it. His fingers trailed over the skin just above Jensen’s belt and he started working it open, slow and steady as Jensen took control of the kiss, tongues tangling as he stepped them backward towards the bed.
Jensen had to stop kissing him to move the bags off the bed, but then he was pushing his pants off and falling to his knees, working at Jared’s pants. Jared bit his lip to keep from moaning just at the sight of Jensen, tan, naked flesh calling to be touched, the only item on his body an ancient Egyptian necklace that hung around his neck.
When Jensen’s hands gripped his hips and pushed him back, Jared sat down heavily on the bed. Jensen licked a stripe up Jared’s cock and he had to grip the down comforter to keep from grabbing his lover’s hair and making him take his cock into his mouth.
He knew Jensen was teasing him when he worked his way lower, kissing the inside of his thighs as he spread them further, his tongue laving at his balls. “Lay back Jared,” he said softly and Jared couldn’t do anything but comply.
He felt his legs being lifted and he pulled them up on the edge of the bed, knees bent high as Jensen kept his hips where they were. Jensen’s lips trailed over his thigh, lower until he was nipping lightly at Jared’s ass. Jensen’s tongue licked over his hole then and Jared gripped the comforter again, trying to reign in his need to moan. They didn’t normally do this when the staff was around and the last thing he needed was someone coming to find out why Jared was making those sorts of noises.
“Shhhh,” Jensen soothed, though Jared knew if he looked down there would be a smile on his face. He licked a circle around Jared then pressed at the ring of muscle with the flat of his tongue.
“Jense, please …”
Jensen didn’t make him beg, instead he pressed in with the point of his tongue, sliding past Jared’s muscles. He slid in and out a few times before Jared felt the first finger pressing into him beside it. He never stopped licking him open, his tongue lapping at his entrance as a second finger was pressed in, twisting and stretching him.
“Jared,” the need in Jensen’s voice took his breath away.
“Now Jensen, god now.” It was all he had to say before Jensen was pulling his fingers free. Jared moved up the bed and pulled back the covers to lie on the soft cool sheets as Jensen crawled up the bed between his legs. His hand was stroking up and down his cock, slick and wet with the sweet oil they kept for just these moments. He leaned over then, his lips trailing across the top of Jared’s shoulders as he pressed his whole body against him. He slid back slightly and then he was pressing into Jared’s body, stretched and aching to let his lover in.
Jensen bit his shoulder as he bottomed out, silencing his own groans. Jared’s hands came up then, one to the back of Jensen’s head and the other gripping his hip, pulling at him as if he could get any closer.
Jensen didn’t need him to say anything, just took his movements for the permission they were as he slid slowly back and then in again. Jared arched his body, the steady glide in and out almost too much when Jensen had him so worked up already.
He could feel Jensen trembling above him and he let his eyes linger for a moment longer on the way they moved together before he looked up into his lover’s eyes. Jensen’s lips crash down into his and Jared opened immediately, letting his wicked tongue explore his lips and teeth and tongue.
Jensen pulled back, resting his forehead against Jared’s. “God Quick-Tongue, what you do to me,” he shivered as he spoke and Jared framed his face in his hands, pulling at him so he looked him in the eye.
They didn’t say anything but there was no need to. He was lost in that green gaze, unable to think past the feel of this, of his lover pressing into him, seeing into the darkest parts of his soul. He felt the slow build of pressure and then he was gasping as he painted their stomachs in white stripes. Jensen’s hips stuttered to a halt and he was biting his lip to keep in the delicious sounds that normally came from their coupling.
He couldn’t stop looking at Jensen, staring up at the man above him. Something dark came to the front of his eyes, something that Jared knew well and he let his thumb caress under Jensen’s eyes. Jensen seemed unable to move and Jared just smiled up, tilting his head enough to kiss his lips gently.
“God how you are loved My General.”
Jensen buried his head in Jared’s shoulder and he could feel the tremors in him. He pulled away a moment later, leaving Jared as he grabbed for a towel to wipe them clean. Jared didn’t say anything as he did, but when Jensen sat at the edge of the bed, his back to Jared, he pulled him down, spooning up behind him.
“Stop thinking for a few minutes. We’ll get dressed soon and then you can continue with that mental list of things you need to see to before we leave,” he whispered into Jensen’s ear.
He felt the tension leave Jensen’s body and then he was turning onto his back. Jared slid in under his arm, taking his place with his head resting against Jensen’s chest.
“I love you Jared,” the words came out a sigh against his temple. “Never doubt that.”
Jared closed his eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing as he felt Jensen’s hand soothing up and down his back. “I’ve never doubted you, not since the day we met.”
“Sap.”
“You love it,” Jared said grinning against his chest.
“Yeah, maybe I do.”