The Ghost (Part One)
Fic Title: The Ghost
Author: hunters_retreat
Artist:
ladytiferet
Fandom/Genre: RPF
Pairing(s): Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 28,000+
Warnings: d/s themes
Summary: Thirty years ago, humanity was changed. The magic they scoffed at as nothing more than fairy tales and children's illusions was real and the barrier that separated them from that and the world of the fae came crashing down. In the wake of that phenomena, new government agencies were created to deal with the problems of magic in the modern world. Humans relied on the men and women of the DMI to protect them from the abuses of magic. But when Agent Padalecki finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation with a civilian on his scene, he realizes it's not just any civilian. The intruder is the Ghost, a fae that even the high Seelie court fear. Faced with a murder investigation and a possible connection to a string of killings, Agent Padalecki must find a way to work with the Ghost to stop a killer before he can do the unthinkable; start a war between humanity and fae.
Art Masterpost: here
The night air was dark and damp, the sort of night that clung to the skin and made him feel dirty. Or maybe it was just the job. He slammed the door of the car, annoyed at the late hour, but mostly annoyed that he was being called out again. Jared Padalecki loved his job, he loved being able to protect people and making sure that the people he loved were safe, however the other side of that was nights like tonight where a body was waiting for him in the middle of a public park.
The moon was full and he’d have to find out if that was significant once they learned what sort of thing they were dealing with. You could never tell with the crimes he came to witness. The Department of Magical Intervention was just a small part of the justice system but it was getting more and more press lately and Jared was relieved to see the reporters weren’t out yet. It was hard enough to control a crime scene without the media trying to get involved.
Jared eyed the scene before finding the officer in charge, black suited DMI agents already starting to work the perimeter to see what they could find. “I’m Agent Padalecki, DMI,” he said as he joined the police officer that was at the center of the efforts. “What have you got?”
“Officer Hanson,” the man introduced himself. “A local guy was running through the park and found the body. When we got to the scene we found the victim, Matt Abrams. He’d been shot three times with bullets that were engraved with anti-fae symbols.”
“Why is the DMI involved if there was no magic used here?”
“The guy isn’t high on the ladder, but he works at the Fae Municipal Building with the local liaison.”
“Damn.” Even if there was no actual magic used at the scene, regular cops didn’t want to deal with the fae anymore than they had to. There was no clear, discernible law to govern them and it had fallen under DMI protocol to take on all cases that might require the communication with the fae. Jared hated being called onto a case for politics but there was no way around it.
He looked at the body, found lying under an ash tree and watched as the local cops and DMI agents worked through the crime scene. He saw the trail the man had been running through and the path it would have taken. There was a perfect place for ambush, a bend in the path just ten feet from where he’d been found, and a strange man bending over the ground there, his back to Jared. The path, he knew, would take him away from the center of the park and towards the - wait.
He turned his eyes back to the man on the ground, dressed in jeans and a grey hoodie. “What the hell is a civilian doing on my scene?”
It wasn’t just a civilian though because the cop was looking at him like he’d lost his mind, eyes passing over the man where he sat as if he couldn’t see him. Jared turned away from Officer Hanson and stalked towards the figure. “What are you doing at my crime scene?” he demanded.
It wasn’t the smartest move, he knew that. It was never a good idea to antagonize the fae but he was pissed that he’d overlooked him that long, even with the protection he took. The fae was powerful, had to be to make Jared’s eyes travel over him like he wasn’t there against three layers of protection.
The fae’s head cocked to the side and Jared held his breath for a moment. The fae’s profile was silhouetted by the moonlight and he knew then that he was dealing with the Seelie Court. There was nothing as dangerous as the Seelie fae, nothing so beautiful and just a glimpse of high pale cheek bones, soft full lips, and the hint of sea green eyes made Jared’s knees weak. It wasn’t glamour that made him so beautiful, but Jared couldn’t help but think the whole of the Seelie court should probably use their glamour to make them less attractive. Unlike their cousins in the Unseelie court, they didn’t try to cloak their true appearance.
Jared had enough dealings with the Unseelie to know.
“This is a crime scene,” Jared said when he finally got his tongue to stop clinging to the roof of his mouth. “I need you to leave this area and perform whatever rites you need to at another location.” He had no idea what the guy’s needs were but he’d never yet met a fae who didn’t have backup plans, especially not since humans had learned to see them.
Thirty years ago, the fae could have performed his ritual right on top of the body and no one would have known. Thirty years back though the barriers than held magic at bay had changed, giving humans the ability to not only see the fae, but to touch the same magic. It had been a rough time for humanity; powers coming into play before people knew they had them let alone how to control them. The fae hadn’t been too helpful either, showing their disdain for humans and their ability to control and sense magic. In all humanity there were only two populations that the fae seemed to take any interest in; the voids and the latents. Latents were people who didn’t develop their powers until late in life where some event triggered their ability. Voids were unable to touch magic at all. They could still see the fae, but they had no sense of what was magically happening around them. Some people believed that all voids were possible latents if the right events came along but Jared felt he dissuaded that theory. As the leading officer in the DMI unit, he had been in plenty of tricky situations and not one had triggered any sort of latent powers. He was a void, plain and simple, and he preferred it that way.
“You need to contact Ms. Cortese of the Seelie Liaison Office. Tell her that Jensen Ackles is at the crime scene and requests permission to remain here.”
Jared didn’t like this at all. The fae didn’t give full names. Names had power and only the extremely powerful or the stupid gave them out with impunity. He knew better than to think it was a request though. “Kane and Carlson stay on him,” Jared shouted out to the two closest men. That they happened to be his best men wasn’t a coincidence.
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the already programmed number. He hated dealing with liaisons. Most were as nasty as the fae when it came to dealing with humans. He wasn’t sure if it was simply in their nature to hate people or if their association with the fae had created it, but most court liaisons were a pain in the ass. At least it was Cortese. She knew what Jared did and knew how necessary it was. When he had need of something from the fae she had always come through for him. Even if she still kept her nose in the air.
“Cortese.”
Her no nonsense voice came over the line and Jared would have smiled if it weren’t for the dead body and the fae kneeling in the middle of his crime scene. “Genevieve,” he knew enough about the fae to invoke her first name as a sort of familiar protection. She might be human, but she thought a lot like the fae. “I have a problem.”
“Jared Padalecki, I would hope you have a problem since you’re calling me at nine at night. I should be at home already.”
“But you aren’t so I’m not disturbing you. I have a case and I was told to contact you regarding it.”
“What’s happening?”
“I can’t say much, but I’m on the scene and there is a fae here. He said to contact you and tell you he wants to remain on the scene. I can’t let him stay, you understand that.”
“Did he give you anything to identify him with?”
“Jensen Ackles.”
“Ackles is there with you?”
There was fear in her voice and Jared turned around to look at the fae, still kneeling in the dirt path where he’d been left. “Yes.”
“Then you let him do what he wants. Listen, Jared. I know you move around the marginal, picking up information from the fae-wannabes. So you know the rumors about the Ghost, the fae they all fear, the one who polices them. His real name is Jensen Ackles.”
“You’re kidding me…”
The fae stood then, turning to look at Jared. The hood of his sweater covered his face until he pushed it back, revealing the most beautiful man - fae - Jared had ever seen. And he was the Ghost, the most powerful fae in the world. It was said he only bowed down to the Queen of the Seelie court. It was whispered that he only bowed because he chose to.
For the most part, society tried to ignore the impact the fae had on their lives. It crept up in ways no one wanted to admit, like clothes styles and particular expressions, but the fae had made their dislike of humans known and humans tried very hard to dislike them right back. Except the marginals who worshipped them like gods. They were on the fringe of society and only the most notorious of fae would have anything to do with them. Or the Unseelie court, which amounted to just about the same thing. Jared wasn’t a marginal, but he did move in their circles to learn what he could. No one knew rumors better than the Unseelie and the Unseelie loved to spill their dirt to the lowly marginals that no one would believe anyway. Except Jared.
The Ghost was their favorite rumor; hero and bedtime story and nightmare all rolled up into one creature. He was supposed to be the most beautiful fae in the world, the most powerful, and the most mysterious. No one would say why but he had no alliance with the Seelie or Unseelie court. The only outward alliance that was known was his alliance to Queen Danneel of the Seelie court. Those that spoke of it sometimes called him her Rottweiler. They always followed it with allusions to animals turning on those that tried to hold their chains.
The Ghost was nothing Jared understood. He policed the fae in ways that human courts would never condone and it sent a shiver down his spine to wonder what he was doing at this crime scene.
“I don’t know the details but he’s been tracking something and the Queen is inclined to let him. So unless you want to present yourself before the Seelie court with a good reason why you can’t work in cooperation with the only fae who is willing to try to keep the fae from using magic against humans, then I suggest you find a way to make this work.”
“So he’s not here officially but I can’t ask him to leave because the Queen will see it as an insult?”
“So there is a reason a void like you became head of a DMI unit,” It was a snide, backhanded compliment but that was what happened when you worked with the fae for too long. He bit his tongue and hung up, declining the customary good-bye he would have given anyone else. He liked Cortese better than most liaisons but not by much.
Jared took a deep breath as he tried to figure out what to do. It didn’t help that green eyes were boring into him, waiting for him to come forward and break the silence. The fae knew that he’d be given free reign, but Jared took comfort in the fact that he’d stayed with Jared’s men and didn’t make a fuss about it. Like he respected Jared’s position at the crime scene. He knew that couldn’t be why he did it, but if he was willing to work with Jared, just maybe they could figure this out, because even if the police hadn’t found magic yet, the fact that the Ghost was there meant there was something darker and more sinister at hand.
He started walking forward then, strides confident and determined. It was still his show, no matter who else was here and if the fae was willing to give him information he’d take it. If he wasn’t, well then Jared was able to play that game too. Being a void gave him a few advantages over those that were influenced by magic and a high immunity to the faes glamour and tricks of manipulation were one of those. He wasn’t completely untouched by it, and he wasn’t stupid enough to leave off precautions, but there was a reason he saw the fae on the scene when none of the other DMI agents had. Still, he slipped off the fingerless glove on his left hand and turned it inside out as he put it back on.
The Ghost smirked.
“Liaison Cortese has asked that we cooperate on this investigation,” Jared said as he stood in front of the fae.
“That’s not what she said,” the Ghost said as he took a step closer. He was shorter than Jared by a few inches but it made him want to puff his chest out to feel like the bigger man, like the dangerous one. The fae seemed to know what was running through Jared’s mind and his eyes widened slightly, lit up with a dark humor that Jared didn’t want to understand.
The fae were cruel to humanity, but they were crueler to one another. He didn’t want to know what that darkness meant.
“I can feel the lie,” he brought his fingers up to brush against Jared’s lips, “right here.”
The fae ignored the sound of guns brought to bear on him, of safeties clicked off, and armed men ready to fire. Jared swallowed hard but there was nothing any more intoxicating about the fae now than there had been. His touch hadn’t been meant to harm or manipulate him.
“At ease,” he told his men and was relieved when they put their weapons down after a second’s hesitation. A second, because it was in that moment where they had to decide if their leader had been compromised by the fae’s touch.
He decided to be honest then, because he didn’t have much of a choice. It was never a good idea to let the fae get the upper hand - which they normally did. “Cortese said I should cooperate with you. She said you’d been hunting something. My men and I just arrived on the scene and as far as the local LEOs are concerned, no magic was used here. So I think maybe we could help one another out.”
“You want to work with me?” There was honest surprise in the fae’s eyes and Jared nodded.
“I want to solve this case. A man is dead with anti-fae marks on the bullet. He worked for the local liaisons. And the Ghost is at my crime scene. There is something happening and I want to get to the bottom of it before someone else dies.”
“The Ghost,” the fae hissed as he took a step back. “You’re marginal?”
Jared held up his hands because the anger in the fae’s eyes was enough to hammer him in place. “I know the marginals. I go to them when I need information or leads. I keep up on their rumors. I’d be stupid not to take advantage of the only source of fae information I have.”
Jared wasn’t sure if he had placated the fae or not but he stepped closer again in a way the fae never did. He looked at Jared, long and hard, and then nodded. “Call me Ackles.” He stepped back then and looked around the ground where he’d been kneeling before. “I have files I can show you when we’re done here. The fae don’t keep such things, but it seemed a good system to me.”
Ackles knelt on the ground again and looked up at Jared. The other men had moved away from the two of them to canvas the neighborhood and look for any other clues so they were mostly alone. It filled Jared with a certain dread and a hint of excitement. He wasn’t a marginal, but he did have a fascination with the fae that went beyond protocol.
“I was trying to ascertain what type of magic was used at the scene. The man’s death was by bullets, I know, but he was held by bonds that originated here. I can’t get a taste of it now though, not with the stink of iron in the air.”
Jared knew what he was asking and he didn’t think twice as he pulled out his iron knife.
“Promise me that you won’t use your glamours on me, that you will treat me with respect, and you will not harm me with your magic.”
He was offering to lower his protection and he couldn’t do that without the fae’s reassurances. Ackles smiled up at Jared, his perfect white teeth reflecting eerily in the moonlight. “I promise to treat you with respect. I will not use glamour or try to manipulate you with magic. And I will not harm you with magic, not unless you ask nicely.”
There was that dark humor again and Jared repressed the shudder that wanted to run up his spine. Instead he dropped to his knee and buried the blade of his iron knife into the ground. Ackles’ eyes went wide and Jared just smiled. The DMI didn’t teach them that. The DMI didn’t teach them how to bargain with the fae to make themselves safe, but Jared taught himself the best he could, using the marginals and the Unseelie fae who’d been willing to teach. Never for nothing, of course, and Jared had more than a few scars for his lessons, but he never thought of it as less than worth it. The things he’d learned had kept him - and his men - alive because what Jared learned, he passed along to his team. No matter how they looked at him for each bit of newfound information.
He watched as Ackles closed his eyes then, lips moving softly, not in incantation or power, but simple words that he couldn’t hear, the same sort of things Jared would say to himself when looking for a lost trail.
With his eyes closed, Jared could watch Ackles more closely, though he didn’t doubt the fae would know he was doing it. Jared had never seen someone of the Seelie court with freckles before. It didn’t detract from his beauty but made him seem more … human … for it. His lips were full, the pink of rose petals in the soft morning light, and his skin was pale like the dark brethren of the Unseelie but seemed to emanate a golden hue the way the Seelie court was wont to do. He wore human clothes as if he was accustomed to them and Jared thought they suited him better than the airy costumes or the antiquated armors of the fae courts would.
Jensen’s stopped moving, his back straighter as he opened his eyes and looked at Jared. “There was magic here. It was well hidden, but it’s like the others. It was either a weak fae or a strong human casting the spell, but I’d bet it was fae.”
“Why?”
“They used shade. If I wasn’t adept at its use then I might not have felt it at all.”
Shade. The fifth element that humans tended to have little to do with. There was some sort of natural barrier between humans and the shade, the ethereal element that was the moment of creation and change, the dynamic of water meeting fire, of heat meeting cold, of shadow and light, of pleasure meeting pain.
Even the fae used it as little as possible. It was a powerful element but the very nature of it was unpredictable and its use in even the simplest spells could backfire if the user wasn’t skilled. Few took the dangerous path to learn it. That the Ghost - Ackles - did, said something about him.
“So we have a fae holding people in place while someone shoots liaisons with anti-fae markings carved on the bullets.”
“Plenty of the Unseelie would find humor in that sort of prank,” Ackles offered as he watched Jared.
Jared was looking over at the body though, at the angle and the nature of his wounds. “There was someone else here.” He looked at Ackles. “Would one of the Unseelie work with a human to murder someone?”
Ackles let out a huff of a laugh and it was so human Jared didn’t have time to school his expression to keep the curiosity from showing.
“What?” Ackles asked.
“You’re just … not what I expected.”
The fae looked at him for a minute, like he was sizing Jared up, but then he smiled. “You’re human. I’m fae. I think it’s probably a good thing I’m not what you expected. And to your question, the Unseelie would work with anyone if it got them what they wanted.”
“So it’s possible a fae was working with a human. So we have the victim running through the park when he’d caught by the fae in bonds of shade and held for a human attacker to shoot him with the gun.”
“You’re assuming the shooter is human.”
“I am, because the bullets were iron and the fae would have had to load them. Considering your reaction to iron, it makes sense that the fae was working with a human.”
Ackles nodded. “Alright, but it’s still just as assumption.”
“Just like we’re assuming the spell caster was Unseelie fae.”
Ackles looked at him for a few seconds, licking his lips and Jared had to take a deep breath and swallow hard. Jesus, he was better than this. He’d never had a problem when he’d had to make himself seen among the fae. Why was this guy getting to him so much?
“Come on back to my place.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your men have this under control. I think you need to see the other files and I have them at my place.”
Jared took a look around and realized that Ackles was right. They didn’t need another DMI agent walking the park tonight and if Ackles had something more on the killer - if there had been more than one killing to fit this MO - then Jared needed to see what it was.
“Yeah, alright. Give me ten to talk to my men.”
Ackles nodded as Jared left to find Carlson and Kane. They were talking to the locals until Kane elbowed Carlson to get his attention and nodded to where Jared was walking. They made their excused and met Jared part way.
“Why is the fae still here?” Kane asked without preamble.
One of the things Jared liked most about Chris Kane was his straightforward personality. It wasn’t always the best when they were working, but he never pulled his punches and you knew where you stood with him. “I’m working with him.” He held his hands up to forestall any comments. “Liaison’s office said to give him some cooperation and he seems like he might actually be willing to share with us puny mortals. Seems this isn’t the first kill he’s seen like this. I’m going to take a look at the files he’s kept on the other victims so hold down the fort for me. And get someone who can read shade down here to check out the area the fae is working. He said someone was working there, that the victim was held by shade while he was shot.”
“So it is a DMI case, and not just politics,” Carlson said with a nod. Carlson was one of the most laid back people Jared knew, but he had a keen eye and had been slated for a political career since he was born. Steve never let anyone tell him what to do though so at seventeen he’d up and joined a band, travelling the country until he’d gotten caught up in some dark trouble. He didn’t talk about it but it had ended his band days and set him on a path to become one of the best detectives the DMI had. And he still knew how to play the political game with the best of them.
“Exactly. So keep a sharp eye and call me if anything new comes up.”
“You really think the fae are going to help us?” Carlson asked as Jared was about to walk away.
“I don’t know,” Jared said with a sigh. “But if this case is connected to others and he can tell me about them, then I’ll see what I can find out.”
“He touched you.” Kane said.
“Yeah.”
“You left your iron in the ground.”
Jared hadn’t realized it until then, but Chris was right. His iron knife, one of his layers of protection against the fae, was lying in the ground, buried in dirt to stop its effect on the fae. It wasn’t the type of mistake he made and Jared began to feel the cloud of doubt about Ackles’ touch.
“You’re sure about leaving with him?” Carlson asked.
“Yeah, but at least you know who I left with if something goes wrong. Cortese knows his name.” Ackles had given his name to Jared freely but that wasn’t permission to give it to others and Jared knew that. They needed to know how to get it though, should Jared get into trouble. “Keep your eyes up,” he said with a final nod, then walked back over to Ackles.
“You’re ready?” the fae asked.
“Sure. How do we get to your place?”
Ackles stepped closer to Jared, wrapping his arm around Jared’s waist. “Do you trust me?”
“Absolutely not.”
Ackles’ laughed. “Perfect.”
Jared felt the world spinning around him too late to do anything about it. The Ghost was wrapping shade around them, pulling them through shadows in a blur too fast to make out. When the world stopped spinning Jared found himself dumped on the ground, momentarily blind to the world.
***
Jensen stood in the middle of his spacious apartment and watched as the DMI agent tried to gain his senses back. The shade always took something from humans travelling her ways and Jensen could feel the thrill of pain/pleasure as Padalecki’s panic set in, made all the sweeter by the brave façade the agent gave off. If Jensen had been anyone else, he would never have known the fear that almost paralyzed the man before him.
“You’ll be fine in a moment. Traveling in shadow always takes something in payment.”
Mumbled curses were uttered but Jensen just smiled as he watched the agent get his knees under him.
“Everything the fae do takes payment. You said you wanted to stop this killer, but I don’t think you told me what your payment was going to be for letting me have the information.”
Jensen smiled. Padalecki wasn’t stupid, even if Jensen had been able to throw him off guard enough to leave the iron behind. He would have asked him to leave it behind if he’d demanded on bringing it - traveling with shade was hard enough without iron to work around - but it was more fun to see if he could befuddle the man enough to leave it.
He was headed back towards the blade when Jensen had approached him though and Jensen had to admit that Padalecki kept his wits about him pretty well. It was a relief since he’d begun to doubt his abilities once he realized the agent was part of the marginal human crowd. He claimed to use them for the tidbits they were given by the Unseelie but it was hard to know if a man in the DMI was using the marginals for their information, or if he was using the DMI to get access to a fae obsession. He wouldn’t be the first human to do it and he wouldn’t be the last so long as the magical border between the two races remained down.
“If I had wanted anything I would have told you the price,” Jensen reassured him. “You know my name. I’m not likely to give you reason to hunt me, Agent Padalecki.” It was a little reminder that Jensen still didn’t know his full name, that the agent was playing it safe and Jensen himself was giving him the upper hand. Truth be told, it wasn’t entirely honest. There were few fae alive that could come after Jensen and survive it, let alone a human. It was the only reason he was still alive. The Seelie and Unseelie courts would have torn him apart when his powers came into bloom if he hadn’t been as strong as he was.
“I’ll believe that when my bones are nothing but dust. If you haven’t come for a price by then, I’ll believe it.”
It was an old saying, people that knew of the fae knew that the price they asked wasn’t always the one you agreed to and Jensen just smiled with it. He leaned down and placed a hand on Padalecki’s arm, taking a deep breath as the panic of the agent’s blindness continued to feed through his body.
Jensen was a practitioner of shade, a creature whose powers were dark by nature. He’d been raised in the Seelie court, hidden from the eyes of his mother and father as punishment for their uncouth coupling. Beautiful even among the Seelie, Jensen had been raised with their power and their sensibility, however when his abilities began to show, he’d been cast into the Unseelie court. No creature of the Seelie had the powers of pain as he had. His hungers for the darker pleasures made him unwelcome among his father’s people, but his father’s looks made him unwelcome with the lower creatures. Jensen was never part of either court, always tossed to the corner because of his birthright and his very nature, up until he gained control of his powers and became feared by them all.
Feeling Padalecki’s pain was sweeter than he’d imagined it would be. Jensen wasn’t above taking a marginal to his bed when he needed some release - he did follow his Unseelie brethren in that aspect - but humans weren’t as solid as the fae, couldn’t take the pain that the fae could, or the pleasure. Jensen enjoyed both and there was something about the agent, about his lack of outward show of disorientation, that made Jensen think maybe he could take what Jensen had to offer.
Jensen let the flow of shade subside then, giving Padalecki his vision once again. He helped him to his feet before letting go of his arm and releasing the last of the turmoil of emotions that Padalecki gave off. It was intoxicating in ways Jensen couldn’t remember feeling before.
As soon as the revelation hit, he took a step away from the agent. Magic had a way of forcing its hand at times and anything out of the ordinary - especially after a use of shade - was to be noted. He nodded towards the kitchen on their left. “Water in the fridge if you need it. I’ll find the files we need.”
The agent nodded, but Jensen could see that he was checking out the studio. It was large and open, nothing hidden behind walls except the bathroom back by his bed. Dark furnishings and dark curtains kept the place in perpetual night. Candles lined the walls and tables, and though Padalecki couldn’t see it protective runes were painted underneath the top coat on the walls. It was his sanctuary and no one - no one - knew where it was or how to get in. It was untraceable and he only travelled with shade to get there. He ignored the oddity that he’d brought a DMI agent there, ignored the pull to push him across the room and see how he’d look spread out on dark sheets, begging for Jensen’s mercy.
He stood in front of his office desk and found the files easily enough. Most of the fae continued to live in their hills as if the modern world hadn’t found them, but to Jensen who had never been welcomed in either court, humans were no more or less offensive than his brethren. He felt more at home in the high rise apartment than he did in the bows of the earth though and with the exception of shade magic, he wasn’t one to mistrust his instinct.
He was comfortable here, with his modern technology surrounded by the trappings of his archaic homeland. He found beauty in the flawless line of the computer screen as he researched human archives or the look of beeswax candles thrown casually into modern containers for easy access when he needed to do spell work.
When he turned around Padalecki was watching him. He was leaning against the large kitchen table, drinking from a bottle of water, another in his other hand. Jensen really wanted to get his hands on that glorious neck but there was only so much willpower he had and if he touched the agent again he wouldn’t be able to help himself. Instead he tossed the files on the table.
Padalecki sat his water down, handing Jensen the sealed water bottle without looking away from the first file he opened. Jensen took the bottle in surprise, and then moved across the table to sit across from him. He cracked the seal and took a long drink of water, watching the agent.
“Anne Brandon. Jason Tomo. Steven Pauls. Alexander Scotts. Jesus, why haven’t I heard about these?” Jared asked as he looked up at Jensen.
The gaze was almost accusatory and it would have riled Jensen up if anyone else looked at him that way, but there was a killer to stop and as much as Jensen hated to admit it, he wasn’t getting anywhere. He hadn’t planned on being seen at the crime scene tonight but the agent had been smart enough to be thrice protected - at least until Jensen convinces him to let go of the iron - and he decided to roll with it. Besides, the guy seemed to know what he was doing and if nothing else he was good on the eyes, especially for a human.
“The local LOEs didn’t want DMI coming in to take over their investigations. Three of them fell under the same precinct. I believe you know the chief, Kripke?” The agent snorted out his disdain and Jensen couldn’t help but agree. The guy was a good cop but he didn’t like anyone’s help. Jensen had no idea how he managed to rise to the rank of Chief with that sort of politics but he was there anyway. Except maybe the fact that his step son, Matt Cohen, was on the fast track for DA if the human rumors were right. Maybe his son was pulling strings that Kripke just didn’t have.
“The other was from the same district we ran into tonight. It’s probably why they called you in so fast.”
“Damn it, I knew there was something more to it all.”
“Yeah. All four of the murders - five counting tonight’s - were aimed at people in low positions within the fae inclusion movement. They all worked for different programs and different liaisons. Other than the fact that they were involved in some small way with the fae inclusion movement, I see no reason why they would be targets of the same killer.”
“And the MO’s matched?”
“The only thing that was different at the scenes was the use of different elements to bind the victims. I don’t know if they were building up to the use of shade, or if the killer is simply using all five of the elements.”
“And if he’s using all five it could be a larger ritual than what we’re seeing here.”
“It could. I don’t think it’s ritualistic enough for something like that, but I’m not ready to discount it yet.”
“What are you ready to discount?” Padalecki asked.
Jensen thought of all the things he could say to that but decided that honesty was really the better policy tonight. He’d kept the agent off balance on purpose and it was time to do it again, but with the reality of the situation. “That I can figure this out on my own.”
“And you think a mere mortal can help you?” There was open skepticism on Padalecki’s face but Jensen understood. Few people who worked with the fae would believe them capable of trusting a human to that degree.
“I’ve got five murders and an angry Queen to deal with if I don’t find the killer soon. I’ve got a DMI agent in my home when I’ve never allowed a single creature to know that I have a home. I’m not like the other fae.”
“No, you’re more dangerous.”
“I am,” Jensen said with a smile. “That doesn’t make me wrong.”
“It doesn’t make you trustworthy.”
Jensen laughed and there was something in the agent’s eyes then, like Padalecki was laughing as well even if there was only the hint of a smile curling up the corners of his lips. He wanted to jump over the table and trace those lips with his tongue, to taste his mouth and swallow his moans, but what he had here with Padalecki tonight was worth more than a night of screams and pleading moans. What he had, he thought, was something he could build on.
What he had was an alliance.
The Ghost didn’t do human alliances any more than he did fae alliances but sometimes fate didn’t give you a chance. It didn’t give you the choice of who to play with and how to play with them. Sometimes it just threw you into the lion’s den and told you to survive. With Padalecki he thought he just might.
He raised his water bottle to the agent and put on his very best smile. “This, Agent Padalecki, looks like the start of something miraculous.”
Padalecki nodded his head, taking a small drink of water as well. And damn if Jensen didn’t think he was right. If the Ghost and DMI could find a way to co-exist, just maybe there was hope for humans and the fae after all.
Author: hunters_retreat
Artist:
ladytiferet
Fandom/Genre: RPF
Pairing(s): Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 28,000+
Warnings: d/s themes
Summary: Thirty years ago, humanity was changed. The magic they scoffed at as nothing more than fairy tales and children's illusions was real and the barrier that separated them from that and the world of the fae came crashing down. In the wake of that phenomena, new government agencies were created to deal with the problems of magic in the modern world. Humans relied on the men and women of the DMI to protect them from the abuses of magic. But when Agent Padalecki finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation with a civilian on his scene, he realizes it's not just any civilian. The intruder is the Ghost, a fae that even the high Seelie court fear. Faced with a murder investigation and a possible connection to a string of killings, Agent Padalecki must find a way to work with the Ghost to stop a killer before he can do the unthinkable; start a war between humanity and fae.
Art Masterpost: here
The night air was dark and damp, the sort of night that clung to the skin and made him feel dirty. Or maybe it was just the job. He slammed the door of the car, annoyed at the late hour, but mostly annoyed that he was being called out again. Jared Padalecki loved his job, he loved being able to protect people and making sure that the people he loved were safe, however the other side of that was nights like tonight where a body was waiting for him in the middle of a public park.
The moon was full and he’d have to find out if that was significant once they learned what sort of thing they were dealing with. You could never tell with the crimes he came to witness. The Department of Magical Intervention was just a small part of the justice system but it was getting more and more press lately and Jared was relieved to see the reporters weren’t out yet. It was hard enough to control a crime scene without the media trying to get involved.
Jared eyed the scene before finding the officer in charge, black suited DMI agents already starting to work the perimeter to see what they could find. “I’m Agent Padalecki, DMI,” he said as he joined the police officer that was at the center of the efforts. “What have you got?”
“Officer Hanson,” the man introduced himself. “A local guy was running through the park and found the body. When we got to the scene we found the victim, Matt Abrams. He’d been shot three times with bullets that were engraved with anti-fae symbols.”
“Why is the DMI involved if there was no magic used here?”
“The guy isn’t high on the ladder, but he works at the Fae Municipal Building with the local liaison.”
“Damn.” Even if there was no actual magic used at the scene, regular cops didn’t want to deal with the fae anymore than they had to. There was no clear, discernible law to govern them and it had fallen under DMI protocol to take on all cases that might require the communication with the fae. Jared hated being called onto a case for politics but there was no way around it.
He looked at the body, found lying under an ash tree and watched as the local cops and DMI agents worked through the crime scene. He saw the trail the man had been running through and the path it would have taken. There was a perfect place for ambush, a bend in the path just ten feet from where he’d been found, and a strange man bending over the ground there, his back to Jared. The path, he knew, would take him away from the center of the park and towards the - wait.
He turned his eyes back to the man on the ground, dressed in jeans and a grey hoodie. “What the hell is a civilian doing on my scene?”
It wasn’t just a civilian though because the cop was looking at him like he’d lost his mind, eyes passing over the man where he sat as if he couldn’t see him. Jared turned away from Officer Hanson and stalked towards the figure. “What are you doing at my crime scene?” he demanded.
It wasn’t the smartest move, he knew that. It was never a good idea to antagonize the fae but he was pissed that he’d overlooked him that long, even with the protection he took. The fae was powerful, had to be to make Jared’s eyes travel over him like he wasn’t there against three layers of protection.
The fae’s head cocked to the side and Jared held his breath for a moment. The fae’s profile was silhouetted by the moonlight and he knew then that he was dealing with the Seelie Court. There was nothing as dangerous as the Seelie fae, nothing so beautiful and just a glimpse of high pale cheek bones, soft full lips, and the hint of sea green eyes made Jared’s knees weak. It wasn’t glamour that made him so beautiful, but Jared couldn’t help but think the whole of the Seelie court should probably use their glamour to make them less attractive. Unlike their cousins in the Unseelie court, they didn’t try to cloak their true appearance.
Jared had enough dealings with the Unseelie to know.
“This is a crime scene,” Jared said when he finally got his tongue to stop clinging to the roof of his mouth. “I need you to leave this area and perform whatever rites you need to at another location.” He had no idea what the guy’s needs were but he’d never yet met a fae who didn’t have backup plans, especially not since humans had learned to see them.
Thirty years ago, the fae could have performed his ritual right on top of the body and no one would have known. Thirty years back though the barriers than held magic at bay had changed, giving humans the ability to not only see the fae, but to touch the same magic. It had been a rough time for humanity; powers coming into play before people knew they had them let alone how to control them. The fae hadn’t been too helpful either, showing their disdain for humans and their ability to control and sense magic. In all humanity there were only two populations that the fae seemed to take any interest in; the voids and the latents. Latents were people who didn’t develop their powers until late in life where some event triggered their ability. Voids were unable to touch magic at all. They could still see the fae, but they had no sense of what was magically happening around them. Some people believed that all voids were possible latents if the right events came along but Jared felt he dissuaded that theory. As the leading officer in the DMI unit, he had been in plenty of tricky situations and not one had triggered any sort of latent powers. He was a void, plain and simple, and he preferred it that way.
“You need to contact Ms. Cortese of the Seelie Liaison Office. Tell her that Jensen Ackles is at the crime scene and requests permission to remain here.”
Jared didn’t like this at all. The fae didn’t give full names. Names had power and only the extremely powerful or the stupid gave them out with impunity. He knew better than to think it was a request though. “Kane and Carlson stay on him,” Jared shouted out to the two closest men. That they happened to be his best men wasn’t a coincidence.
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the already programmed number. He hated dealing with liaisons. Most were as nasty as the fae when it came to dealing with humans. He wasn’t sure if it was simply in their nature to hate people or if their association with the fae had created it, but most court liaisons were a pain in the ass. At least it was Cortese. She knew what Jared did and knew how necessary it was. When he had need of something from the fae she had always come through for him. Even if she still kept her nose in the air.
“Cortese.”
Her no nonsense voice came over the line and Jared would have smiled if it weren’t for the dead body and the fae kneeling in the middle of his crime scene. “Genevieve,” he knew enough about the fae to invoke her first name as a sort of familiar protection. She might be human, but she thought a lot like the fae. “I have a problem.”
“Jared Padalecki, I would hope you have a problem since you’re calling me at nine at night. I should be at home already.”
“But you aren’t so I’m not disturbing you. I have a case and I was told to contact you regarding it.”
“What’s happening?”
“I can’t say much, but I’m on the scene and there is a fae here. He said to contact you and tell you he wants to remain on the scene. I can’t let him stay, you understand that.”
“Did he give you anything to identify him with?”
“Jensen Ackles.”
“Ackles is there with you?”
There was fear in her voice and Jared turned around to look at the fae, still kneeling in the dirt path where he’d been left. “Yes.”
“Then you let him do what he wants. Listen, Jared. I know you move around the marginal, picking up information from the fae-wannabes. So you know the rumors about the Ghost, the fae they all fear, the one who polices them. His real name is Jensen Ackles.”
“You’re kidding me…”
The fae stood then, turning to look at Jared. The hood of his sweater covered his face until he pushed it back, revealing the most beautiful man - fae - Jared had ever seen. And he was the Ghost, the most powerful fae in the world. It was said he only bowed down to the Queen of the Seelie court. It was whispered that he only bowed because he chose to.
For the most part, society tried to ignore the impact the fae had on their lives. It crept up in ways no one wanted to admit, like clothes styles and particular expressions, but the fae had made their dislike of humans known and humans tried very hard to dislike them right back. Except the marginals who worshipped them like gods. They were on the fringe of society and only the most notorious of fae would have anything to do with them. Or the Unseelie court, which amounted to just about the same thing. Jared wasn’t a marginal, but he did move in their circles to learn what he could. No one knew rumors better than the Unseelie and the Unseelie loved to spill their dirt to the lowly marginals that no one would believe anyway. Except Jared.
The Ghost was their favorite rumor; hero and bedtime story and nightmare all rolled up into one creature. He was supposed to be the most beautiful fae in the world, the most powerful, and the most mysterious. No one would say why but he had no alliance with the Seelie or Unseelie court. The only outward alliance that was known was his alliance to Queen Danneel of the Seelie court. Those that spoke of it sometimes called him her Rottweiler. They always followed it with allusions to animals turning on those that tried to hold their chains.
The Ghost was nothing Jared understood. He policed the fae in ways that human courts would never condone and it sent a shiver down his spine to wonder what he was doing at this crime scene.
“I don’t know the details but he’s been tracking something and the Queen is inclined to let him. So unless you want to present yourself before the Seelie court with a good reason why you can’t work in cooperation with the only fae who is willing to try to keep the fae from using magic against humans, then I suggest you find a way to make this work.”
“So he’s not here officially but I can’t ask him to leave because the Queen will see it as an insult?”
“So there is a reason a void like you became head of a DMI unit,” It was a snide, backhanded compliment but that was what happened when you worked with the fae for too long. He bit his tongue and hung up, declining the customary good-bye he would have given anyone else. He liked Cortese better than most liaisons but not by much.
Jared took a deep breath as he tried to figure out what to do. It didn’t help that green eyes were boring into him, waiting for him to come forward and break the silence. The fae knew that he’d be given free reign, but Jared took comfort in the fact that he’d stayed with Jared’s men and didn’t make a fuss about it. Like he respected Jared’s position at the crime scene. He knew that couldn’t be why he did it, but if he was willing to work with Jared, just maybe they could figure this out, because even if the police hadn’t found magic yet, the fact that the Ghost was there meant there was something darker and more sinister at hand.
He started walking forward then, strides confident and determined. It was still his show, no matter who else was here and if the fae was willing to give him information he’d take it. If he wasn’t, well then Jared was able to play that game too. Being a void gave him a few advantages over those that were influenced by magic and a high immunity to the faes glamour and tricks of manipulation were one of those. He wasn’t completely untouched by it, and he wasn’t stupid enough to leave off precautions, but there was a reason he saw the fae on the scene when none of the other DMI agents had. Still, he slipped off the fingerless glove on his left hand and turned it inside out as he put it back on.
The Ghost smirked.
“Liaison Cortese has asked that we cooperate on this investigation,” Jared said as he stood in front of the fae.
“That’s not what she said,” the Ghost said as he took a step closer. He was shorter than Jared by a few inches but it made him want to puff his chest out to feel like the bigger man, like the dangerous one. The fae seemed to know what was running through Jared’s mind and his eyes widened slightly, lit up with a dark humor that Jared didn’t want to understand.
The fae were cruel to humanity, but they were crueler to one another. He didn’t want to know what that darkness meant.
“I can feel the lie,” he brought his fingers up to brush against Jared’s lips, “right here.”
The fae ignored the sound of guns brought to bear on him, of safeties clicked off, and armed men ready to fire. Jared swallowed hard but there was nothing any more intoxicating about the fae now than there had been. His touch hadn’t been meant to harm or manipulate him.
“At ease,” he told his men and was relieved when they put their weapons down after a second’s hesitation. A second, because it was in that moment where they had to decide if their leader had been compromised by the fae’s touch.
He decided to be honest then, because he didn’t have much of a choice. It was never a good idea to let the fae get the upper hand - which they normally did. “Cortese said I should cooperate with you. She said you’d been hunting something. My men and I just arrived on the scene and as far as the local LEOs are concerned, no magic was used here. So I think maybe we could help one another out.”
“You want to work with me?” There was honest surprise in the fae’s eyes and Jared nodded.
“I want to solve this case. A man is dead with anti-fae marks on the bullet. He worked for the local liaisons. And the Ghost is at my crime scene. There is something happening and I want to get to the bottom of it before someone else dies.”
“The Ghost,” the fae hissed as he took a step back. “You’re marginal?”
Jared held up his hands because the anger in the fae’s eyes was enough to hammer him in place. “I know the marginals. I go to them when I need information or leads. I keep up on their rumors. I’d be stupid not to take advantage of the only source of fae information I have.”
Jared wasn’t sure if he had placated the fae or not but he stepped closer again in a way the fae never did. He looked at Jared, long and hard, and then nodded. “Call me Ackles.” He stepped back then and looked around the ground where he’d been kneeling before. “I have files I can show you when we’re done here. The fae don’t keep such things, but it seemed a good system to me.”
Ackles knelt on the ground again and looked up at Jared. The other men had moved away from the two of them to canvas the neighborhood and look for any other clues so they were mostly alone. It filled Jared with a certain dread and a hint of excitement. He wasn’t a marginal, but he did have a fascination with the fae that went beyond protocol.
“I was trying to ascertain what type of magic was used at the scene. The man’s death was by bullets, I know, but he was held by bonds that originated here. I can’t get a taste of it now though, not with the stink of iron in the air.”
Jared knew what he was asking and he didn’t think twice as he pulled out his iron knife.
“Promise me that you won’t use your glamours on me, that you will treat me with respect, and you will not harm me with your magic.”
He was offering to lower his protection and he couldn’t do that without the fae’s reassurances. Ackles smiled up at Jared, his perfect white teeth reflecting eerily in the moonlight. “I promise to treat you with respect. I will not use glamour or try to manipulate you with magic. And I will not harm you with magic, not unless you ask nicely.”
There was that dark humor again and Jared repressed the shudder that wanted to run up his spine. Instead he dropped to his knee and buried the blade of his iron knife into the ground. Ackles’ eyes went wide and Jared just smiled. The DMI didn’t teach them that. The DMI didn’t teach them how to bargain with the fae to make themselves safe, but Jared taught himself the best he could, using the marginals and the Unseelie fae who’d been willing to teach. Never for nothing, of course, and Jared had more than a few scars for his lessons, but he never thought of it as less than worth it. The things he’d learned had kept him - and his men - alive because what Jared learned, he passed along to his team. No matter how they looked at him for each bit of newfound information.
He watched as Ackles closed his eyes then, lips moving softly, not in incantation or power, but simple words that he couldn’t hear, the same sort of things Jared would say to himself when looking for a lost trail.
With his eyes closed, Jared could watch Ackles more closely, though he didn’t doubt the fae would know he was doing it. Jared had never seen someone of the Seelie court with freckles before. It didn’t detract from his beauty but made him seem more … human … for it. His lips were full, the pink of rose petals in the soft morning light, and his skin was pale like the dark brethren of the Unseelie but seemed to emanate a golden hue the way the Seelie court was wont to do. He wore human clothes as if he was accustomed to them and Jared thought they suited him better than the airy costumes or the antiquated armors of the fae courts would.
Jensen’s stopped moving, his back straighter as he opened his eyes and looked at Jared. “There was magic here. It was well hidden, but it’s like the others. It was either a weak fae or a strong human casting the spell, but I’d bet it was fae.”
“Why?”
“They used shade. If I wasn’t adept at its use then I might not have felt it at all.”
Shade. The fifth element that humans tended to have little to do with. There was some sort of natural barrier between humans and the shade, the ethereal element that was the moment of creation and change, the dynamic of water meeting fire, of heat meeting cold, of shadow and light, of pleasure meeting pain.
Even the fae used it as little as possible. It was a powerful element but the very nature of it was unpredictable and its use in even the simplest spells could backfire if the user wasn’t skilled. Few took the dangerous path to learn it. That the Ghost - Ackles - did, said something about him.
“So we have a fae holding people in place while someone shoots liaisons with anti-fae markings carved on the bullets.”
“Plenty of the Unseelie would find humor in that sort of prank,” Ackles offered as he watched Jared.
Jared was looking over at the body though, at the angle and the nature of his wounds. “There was someone else here.” He looked at Ackles. “Would one of the Unseelie work with a human to murder someone?”
Ackles let out a huff of a laugh and it was so human Jared didn’t have time to school his expression to keep the curiosity from showing.
“What?” Ackles asked.
“You’re just … not what I expected.”
The fae looked at him for a minute, like he was sizing Jared up, but then he smiled. “You’re human. I’m fae. I think it’s probably a good thing I’m not what you expected. And to your question, the Unseelie would work with anyone if it got them what they wanted.”
“So it’s possible a fae was working with a human. So we have the victim running through the park when he’d caught by the fae in bonds of shade and held for a human attacker to shoot him with the gun.”
“You’re assuming the shooter is human.”
“I am, because the bullets were iron and the fae would have had to load them. Considering your reaction to iron, it makes sense that the fae was working with a human.”
Ackles nodded. “Alright, but it’s still just as assumption.”
“Just like we’re assuming the spell caster was Unseelie fae.”
Ackles looked at him for a few seconds, licking his lips and Jared had to take a deep breath and swallow hard. Jesus, he was better than this. He’d never had a problem when he’d had to make himself seen among the fae. Why was this guy getting to him so much?
“Come on back to my place.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your men have this under control. I think you need to see the other files and I have them at my place.”
Jared took a look around and realized that Ackles was right. They didn’t need another DMI agent walking the park tonight and if Ackles had something more on the killer - if there had been more than one killing to fit this MO - then Jared needed to see what it was.
“Yeah, alright. Give me ten to talk to my men.”
Ackles nodded as Jared left to find Carlson and Kane. They were talking to the locals until Kane elbowed Carlson to get his attention and nodded to where Jared was walking. They made their excused and met Jared part way.
“Why is the fae still here?” Kane asked without preamble.
One of the things Jared liked most about Chris Kane was his straightforward personality. It wasn’t always the best when they were working, but he never pulled his punches and you knew where you stood with him. “I’m working with him.” He held his hands up to forestall any comments. “Liaison’s office said to give him some cooperation and he seems like he might actually be willing to share with us puny mortals. Seems this isn’t the first kill he’s seen like this. I’m going to take a look at the files he’s kept on the other victims so hold down the fort for me. And get someone who can read shade down here to check out the area the fae is working. He said someone was working there, that the victim was held by shade while he was shot.”
“So it is a DMI case, and not just politics,” Carlson said with a nod. Carlson was one of the most laid back people Jared knew, but he had a keen eye and had been slated for a political career since he was born. Steve never let anyone tell him what to do though so at seventeen he’d up and joined a band, travelling the country until he’d gotten caught up in some dark trouble. He didn’t talk about it but it had ended his band days and set him on a path to become one of the best detectives the DMI had. And he still knew how to play the political game with the best of them.
“Exactly. So keep a sharp eye and call me if anything new comes up.”
“You really think the fae are going to help us?” Carlson asked as Jared was about to walk away.
“I don’t know,” Jared said with a sigh. “But if this case is connected to others and he can tell me about them, then I’ll see what I can find out.”
“He touched you.” Kane said.
“Yeah.”
“You left your iron in the ground.”
Jared hadn’t realized it until then, but Chris was right. His iron knife, one of his layers of protection against the fae, was lying in the ground, buried in dirt to stop its effect on the fae. It wasn’t the type of mistake he made and Jared began to feel the cloud of doubt about Ackles’ touch.
“You’re sure about leaving with him?” Carlson asked.
“Yeah, but at least you know who I left with if something goes wrong. Cortese knows his name.” Ackles had given his name to Jared freely but that wasn’t permission to give it to others and Jared knew that. They needed to know how to get it though, should Jared get into trouble. “Keep your eyes up,” he said with a final nod, then walked back over to Ackles.
“You’re ready?” the fae asked.
“Sure. How do we get to your place?”
Ackles stepped closer to Jared, wrapping his arm around Jared’s waist. “Do you trust me?”
“Absolutely not.”
Ackles’ laughed. “Perfect.”
Jared felt the world spinning around him too late to do anything about it. The Ghost was wrapping shade around them, pulling them through shadows in a blur too fast to make out. When the world stopped spinning Jared found himself dumped on the ground, momentarily blind to the world.
***
Jensen stood in the middle of his spacious apartment and watched as the DMI agent tried to gain his senses back. The shade always took something from humans travelling her ways and Jensen could feel the thrill of pain/pleasure as Padalecki’s panic set in, made all the sweeter by the brave façade the agent gave off. If Jensen had been anyone else, he would never have known the fear that almost paralyzed the man before him.
“You’ll be fine in a moment. Traveling in shadow always takes something in payment.”
Mumbled curses were uttered but Jensen just smiled as he watched the agent get his knees under him.
“Everything the fae do takes payment. You said you wanted to stop this killer, but I don’t think you told me what your payment was going to be for letting me have the information.”
Jensen smiled. Padalecki wasn’t stupid, even if Jensen had been able to throw him off guard enough to leave the iron behind. He would have asked him to leave it behind if he’d demanded on bringing it - traveling with shade was hard enough without iron to work around - but it was more fun to see if he could befuddle the man enough to leave it.
He was headed back towards the blade when Jensen had approached him though and Jensen had to admit that Padalecki kept his wits about him pretty well. It was a relief since he’d begun to doubt his abilities once he realized the agent was part of the marginal human crowd. He claimed to use them for the tidbits they were given by the Unseelie but it was hard to know if a man in the DMI was using the marginals for their information, or if he was using the DMI to get access to a fae obsession. He wouldn’t be the first human to do it and he wouldn’t be the last so long as the magical border between the two races remained down.
“If I had wanted anything I would have told you the price,” Jensen reassured him. “You know my name. I’m not likely to give you reason to hunt me, Agent Padalecki.” It was a little reminder that Jensen still didn’t know his full name, that the agent was playing it safe and Jensen himself was giving him the upper hand. Truth be told, it wasn’t entirely honest. There were few fae alive that could come after Jensen and survive it, let alone a human. It was the only reason he was still alive. The Seelie and Unseelie courts would have torn him apart when his powers came into bloom if he hadn’t been as strong as he was.
“I’ll believe that when my bones are nothing but dust. If you haven’t come for a price by then, I’ll believe it.”
It was an old saying, people that knew of the fae knew that the price they asked wasn’t always the one you agreed to and Jensen just smiled with it. He leaned down and placed a hand on Padalecki’s arm, taking a deep breath as the panic of the agent’s blindness continued to feed through his body.
Jensen was a practitioner of shade, a creature whose powers were dark by nature. He’d been raised in the Seelie court, hidden from the eyes of his mother and father as punishment for their uncouth coupling. Beautiful even among the Seelie, Jensen had been raised with their power and their sensibility, however when his abilities began to show, he’d been cast into the Unseelie court. No creature of the Seelie had the powers of pain as he had. His hungers for the darker pleasures made him unwelcome among his father’s people, but his father’s looks made him unwelcome with the lower creatures. Jensen was never part of either court, always tossed to the corner because of his birthright and his very nature, up until he gained control of his powers and became feared by them all.
Feeling Padalecki’s pain was sweeter than he’d imagined it would be. Jensen wasn’t above taking a marginal to his bed when he needed some release - he did follow his Unseelie brethren in that aspect - but humans weren’t as solid as the fae, couldn’t take the pain that the fae could, or the pleasure. Jensen enjoyed both and there was something about the agent, about his lack of outward show of disorientation, that made Jensen think maybe he could take what Jensen had to offer.
Jensen let the flow of shade subside then, giving Padalecki his vision once again. He helped him to his feet before letting go of his arm and releasing the last of the turmoil of emotions that Padalecki gave off. It was intoxicating in ways Jensen couldn’t remember feeling before.
As soon as the revelation hit, he took a step away from the agent. Magic had a way of forcing its hand at times and anything out of the ordinary - especially after a use of shade - was to be noted. He nodded towards the kitchen on their left. “Water in the fridge if you need it. I’ll find the files we need.”
The agent nodded, but Jensen could see that he was checking out the studio. It was large and open, nothing hidden behind walls except the bathroom back by his bed. Dark furnishings and dark curtains kept the place in perpetual night. Candles lined the walls and tables, and though Padalecki couldn’t see it protective runes were painted underneath the top coat on the walls. It was his sanctuary and no one - no one - knew where it was or how to get in. It was untraceable and he only travelled with shade to get there. He ignored the oddity that he’d brought a DMI agent there, ignored the pull to push him across the room and see how he’d look spread out on dark sheets, begging for Jensen’s mercy.
He stood in front of his office desk and found the files easily enough. Most of the fae continued to live in their hills as if the modern world hadn’t found them, but to Jensen who had never been welcomed in either court, humans were no more or less offensive than his brethren. He felt more at home in the high rise apartment than he did in the bows of the earth though and with the exception of shade magic, he wasn’t one to mistrust his instinct.
He was comfortable here, with his modern technology surrounded by the trappings of his archaic homeland. He found beauty in the flawless line of the computer screen as he researched human archives or the look of beeswax candles thrown casually into modern containers for easy access when he needed to do spell work.
When he turned around Padalecki was watching him. He was leaning against the large kitchen table, drinking from a bottle of water, another in his other hand. Jensen really wanted to get his hands on that glorious neck but there was only so much willpower he had and if he touched the agent again he wouldn’t be able to help himself. Instead he tossed the files on the table.
Padalecki sat his water down, handing Jensen the sealed water bottle without looking away from the first file he opened. Jensen took the bottle in surprise, and then moved across the table to sit across from him. He cracked the seal and took a long drink of water, watching the agent.
“Anne Brandon. Jason Tomo. Steven Pauls. Alexander Scotts. Jesus, why haven’t I heard about these?” Jared asked as he looked up at Jensen.
The gaze was almost accusatory and it would have riled Jensen up if anyone else looked at him that way, but there was a killer to stop and as much as Jensen hated to admit it, he wasn’t getting anywhere. He hadn’t planned on being seen at the crime scene tonight but the agent had been smart enough to be thrice protected - at least until Jensen convinces him to let go of the iron - and he decided to roll with it. Besides, the guy seemed to know what he was doing and if nothing else he was good on the eyes, especially for a human.
“The local LOEs didn’t want DMI coming in to take over their investigations. Three of them fell under the same precinct. I believe you know the chief, Kripke?” The agent snorted out his disdain and Jensen couldn’t help but agree. The guy was a good cop but he didn’t like anyone’s help. Jensen had no idea how he managed to rise to the rank of Chief with that sort of politics but he was there anyway. Except maybe the fact that his step son, Matt Cohen, was on the fast track for DA if the human rumors were right. Maybe his son was pulling strings that Kripke just didn’t have.
“The other was from the same district we ran into tonight. It’s probably why they called you in so fast.”
“Damn it, I knew there was something more to it all.”
“Yeah. All four of the murders - five counting tonight’s - were aimed at people in low positions within the fae inclusion movement. They all worked for different programs and different liaisons. Other than the fact that they were involved in some small way with the fae inclusion movement, I see no reason why they would be targets of the same killer.”
“And the MO’s matched?”
“The only thing that was different at the scenes was the use of different elements to bind the victims. I don’t know if they were building up to the use of shade, or if the killer is simply using all five of the elements.”
“And if he’s using all five it could be a larger ritual than what we’re seeing here.”
“It could. I don’t think it’s ritualistic enough for something like that, but I’m not ready to discount it yet.”
“What are you ready to discount?” Padalecki asked.
Jensen thought of all the things he could say to that but decided that honesty was really the better policy tonight. He’d kept the agent off balance on purpose and it was time to do it again, but with the reality of the situation. “That I can figure this out on my own.”
“And you think a mere mortal can help you?” There was open skepticism on Padalecki’s face but Jensen understood. Few people who worked with the fae would believe them capable of trusting a human to that degree.
“I’ve got five murders and an angry Queen to deal with if I don’t find the killer soon. I’ve got a DMI agent in my home when I’ve never allowed a single creature to know that I have a home. I’m not like the other fae.”
“No, you’re more dangerous.”
“I am,” Jensen said with a smile. “That doesn’t make me wrong.”
“It doesn’t make you trustworthy.”
Jensen laughed and there was something in the agent’s eyes then, like Padalecki was laughing as well even if there was only the hint of a smile curling up the corners of his lips. He wanted to jump over the table and trace those lips with his tongue, to taste his mouth and swallow his moans, but what he had here with Padalecki tonight was worth more than a night of screams and pleading moans. What he had, he thought, was something he could build on.
What he had was an alliance.
The Ghost didn’t do human alliances any more than he did fae alliances but sometimes fate didn’t give you a chance. It didn’t give you the choice of who to play with and how to play with them. Sometimes it just threw you into the lion’s den and told you to survive. With Padalecki he thought he just might.
He raised his water bottle to the agent and put on his very best smile. “This, Agent Padalecki, looks like the start of something miraculous.”
Padalecki nodded his head, taking a small drink of water as well. And damn if Jensen didn’t think he was right. If the Ghost and DMI could find a way to co-exist, just maybe there was hope for humans and the fae after all.