The Ghost (Part Five)
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
Traveling in shadow was something Jensen loved. Most fae disliked working with shade, though they were far better at dealing with it than humans were. There was a mingling of opposites that made the fae uncomfortable, but Jensen had always been in between worlds. It defined him and made him who he was.
He loved the moment where the world shifted under him and he was left, trusting in his magic to get him where he needed to be. He loved the way it bit into his flesh when he arrived at his destination, taking a payment of pain in its wake. He loved the way it took Jared’s sight and left him in Jensen’s hands, completely helpless until Jensen released him from the hold of the shade that had transported them. He loved that even as strong as Jared was, he didn’t fight it when Jensen wrapped an arm around him and took pleasure from his pain.
His apartment looked no different than the night Jensen had laid Jared out on the bed and he almost wished it did. That night had changed so many things for Jensen. It felt like the room itself should have shifted until it showed something of the events that had happened there.
Jared leaned his head forward, arms gripping Jensen’s forearms as he tried to orient himself with the blindness. Jensen let his lips brush against Jared’s ear before he spoke. “Let me get you something to drink.”
He started to pull away but Jared wouldn’t let go so his words were whispered into the curve of his neck. “You do this to me. You keep me blind when you don’t have to. Why?”
Jensen didn’t realize Jared would have learned so much so quickly but he smiled at the realization. Jared had spent a lifetime working with people who knew magic. He’d devoted his life to the study of magic and defending people from it. It was no wonder than once he actually felt the pull of magic he would be able to put together what he knew from books with the practical experience.
“You’re mine,” Jensen admitted. “I want to feel you helpless in my hands, dependent on my mercy. I want to feel you strong and hard and demanding and begging for whatever I give you. I want to feel your panic and your pain almost as much as I want to feel your pleasure under my hands.”
Jensen could feel Jared’s fingers tightening around his arms as he spoke. He didn’t know how Jared had managed to get by without realizing how affected he was by the effects of pain on pleasure, but he seemed to have accepted that, even if Jensen knew he was holding back in other ways.
“Let me go,” Jared asked in echo of his last visit.
Jensen smiled against his skin, turning in to bite lightly at Jared’s neck. “Never.” He did step back then though, letting go of Jared with the shade. “Now, you said you needed to talk to me about the case?”
“The killer. I didn’t realize before, I couldn’t, you know? But when I was at the scene I recognized the feel of the magic.”
“Jared, that’s impossible.”
“I know, but what I felt was familiar and I realized that it wasn’t something I knew. But it was close.”
“What do you mean?”
“Jensen, where is your father?”
“Not as far away as you might think.” The voice from behind made Jensen turn, moving his body between Jared and the unexpected visitor.
“Carlson?”
The man was supposed to be at the crime scene but Jensen was more concerned with how he knew where he lived. “What are you doing here?”
“Your kind thinks they’re so much better than humans. Did you really think you were invincible? Did you think we wouldn’t find you eventually? It only took one little act of betrayal to figure out where you’ve been hiding all this time. It just took Jared.”
Jensen could feel the anger running off Jared and he knew that whatever Carlson was saying was a lie. He might not know exactly where they stood just yet, but Jared would never consciously betray him.
“How did you find me?” Jensen demanded.
“Are you so sure of yourself that you really believe no one would turn against you?’ Carlson asked.
Jensen shook his head. “There is only one creature in this world that I trust not to betray me. Too bad it just happens to be the man you named.”
Shade was building around Jensen and he could feel the mingling mist of Jared’s power behind him.
“Don’t think about it,” another voice called out.
He felt Jared spin to face the new intruder. He heard the cocking of the gun and Jared’s annoyance rippled back at him through their bond.
“You brought a gun to this fight, Carlson?” Jared threw back over his shoulder.
“Cohen might be a pain in the ass district attorney, but he’s also the police chief’s son and a crack shot. You should know. You’ve been witnessing his handiwork for a while now.”
Jensen didn’t know who Cohen was but it was obvious that Jared and Carlson did. As much as Jensen wanted to make a move though, he couldn’t with a gun aimed at Jared. He couldn’t see what the other man was up against, not without turning his back on Carlson and he wasn’t about to do that.
“You still haven’t answered my question. How did you find me?” He wanted to get Carlson’s attention on him instead of Jared even more than he wanted an answer.
“Jared,” Carlson answered with a smirk. “I thought for sure once you started paying attention to him that we’d have trouble with the two of you, but I never would have believed he’d be the key to getting to you. No one could trace you here, no one and believe you me, we had plenty of people trying. But then you brought Jared here, and he damn near put a bull’s eyes for anyone who was looking the night his powers came out.”
He’d never even thought about the effect that night might have had on his hiding place. He’d always kept his location secret because it gave him one place in the world that he could be safe. It was the one place where there were no expectations of him and no hostility. Now, he’d lost it all and he didn’t know how to process that. Hell, he was still trying to figure out why he’d let Jared into his home in the first place.
“Why are you doing this, Steve?” Jared asked.
“You’ve studied them your whole life, Jared. You know what the fae think of us. Why should we just sit back as they waltz in and tell us who to be and how to live? You know the marginal is growing larger every year. The fae encourage it and they will own us if we don’t stop it now.”
“You were backing the proposed law?” Jared asked.
Carlson sneered and Jensen was just glad that Jared couldn’t see him. Jared trusted his team like they were family and to see the way Carlson was staring at him pissed Jensen off. Jared would be more than angry over it, he’d be hurt, and Jensen had pledged his life to protect the DMI agent.
“No, I wasn’t backing the law. I was backing the war that those idiots tried to stop.”
“They did stop it,” Jensen interceded.
“Did they?”
Jensen gasped because the new voice was one he hadn’t heard in years. One that had never actually been directed at him before.
“Morgan?”
The fae who stepped away from the shadows had dark hair peppered with silver. The smile he wore was cruel with his amusement and Jensen wished he’d never come face to face with the other fae. “Do you really believe the war is stopped? The human law enforcement agents have been arming themselves with weapons that will kill the fae. It’s only a matter of time before something happens that will be inexcusable to the fae and the Queen will have to demand retribution.”
“It won’t happen. The Queen knows the advantages of living peacefully with the humans,” Jensen answered.
Morgan just smiled though. “Perhaps. But civil war will tear apart the courts soon enough and she’ll have her hands busy - or her predecessor will.”
“What have you done?”
“Did you think all of fae would turn away from the obvious disregard for the laws of our kind?”
“The only law of the fae is might,” Jared said. Cohen moved around to stand by Morgan and Carlson and finally Jared was able to face forward with him. He would have preferred to keep Jared from facing Carlson, but he was grateful that the dangers they were facing were all in one place. Cohen and Carlson really should have realized that they were giving up their advantage by putting all weapons where Jensen could see them.
“Exactly,” Morgan answered. “Might is the only law, and yet we are being ruled by a fae who would bow at your feet if you demanded it.”
“No, she would never.”
The other fae smiled again. “You could make her. It was what you were born to do, Son, to take the throne and to ensure the survival of the fae.”
Jensen felt his teeth clench at the way the word son flowed smoothly from the other fae’s mouth. While Morgan was his father, he had never acknowledged his child, not even to defend him when he’d been thrown from the Seelie court to the Unseelie.
It was Jensen’s turn to smile at the words though. “So, you think you can put me on a throne and pull my strings, Father?”
“Father?” Jared and Carlson spoke in unison and Jensen might have smiled at the differences if he weren’t so focused on Morgan. Jared had already figured it out and his question was confirmation that his hunch at the crime scene had been right. That Morgan was indeed the fae who’d been part of the murders. Carlson’s was pure shock. Morgan hadn’t shared that connection to the men he was working with. It wasn’t surprising, not with the way Carlson seemed to hate the fae and how Morgan thought so little of the humans.
“You won’t have a choice. I’ve watched you Jensen. You’re stronger than the others want to notice but they know to fear the Ghost and they’ve begun to wonder if the Queen should be worried about her pet. It won’t be long now before the Seelie begin to doubt her and you know what will happen then.”
Jensen took a deep breath because he knew Morgan was right. “She’ll have no choice but to consider me a threat to her throne and she’ll challenge me.”
“And you’ll win.”
“And the Seelie will go to war with the Unseelie over the unclean, outcast fae that they are too weak to defeat.”
Morgan laughed. “There is no way the humans will remain unaware or untouched. The war will spill over into both worlds.”
“And you think the human’s will just lie down and roll over for that?” Jared demanded.
Carlson shook his head. “You think we got those new weapons for no reason? Kripke’s officers are all sporting them now too, as are police offices all over the country.”
“We make a fortune,” Cohen grinned. “Enough to buy a little slice of property we can remake into a human haven against the fae.”
“So you’re condemning the human race to death except for those who have enough money to pay their way to safety?” Jensen could hear the anger in Jared’s voice and he knew that even though Jared had been working in law enforcement for years, that it hadn’t prepared him for this level of horror. A civil war in the fae courts would be that, as would the resulting loss of life for the humans, no matter if they fought back or not.
“No. The human race needs culled. The strong will remain and those will be allowed to enter out new haven. The rest, the weak and sick, will be sacrificed to make a stronger nation.”
“You’re insane,” Jared choked out.
Cohen raised his gun again and Jensen moved between Jared and the weapon.
“Don’t do this Jensen,” Morgan said softly. “Even a creature like you who has a taste for pain will find these bullets a nasty surprise.”
Jensen thought about his options. He could try to get them away, push them out of the way just far enough to shift them away into the shadows but they would never find the others again. He knew this was their only chance of ending this conspiracy.
“Oh I have no intention of killing him, Morgan,” Carlson said with a sneer. “I want the Ghost to live. They say the more you use shade, the more you feel of the death around you. Imagine how he’d feel when I kill Padalecki.”
“What the hell did I ever do to you?”
“You’re a god damn traitor!” Cohen yelled at Jared. “The fae destroyed your family and yet here you are, side by side with one of them. It’s disgusting.”
Jensen didn’t know what Cohen was talking about but he could feel the surge of pain from Jared at the mention of it.
“What happened to my family wasn’t the fault of the fae. My mother couldn’t control the magic but it wasn’t the fae that killed her or my sister.”
Morgan let out a short laugh and Jensen knew what was about to happen. He couldn’t stop it any more than he could have stopped the events of his birth but he knew it would hurt Jared. He was surprised by the depth of pain he felt at the idea of losing Jared because of it.
“It wasn’t the fae’s fault?” Morgan asked. “It was the fae who broke the barrier between the world of the humans and fae. It was the fae who gave humanity their sight and their magical gifts.”
“What?”
Carlson’s eyes traced back to Morgan and Jensen knew that this story was new to him as well. Cohen seemed to know the truth and was simply waiting for a chance to shoot Jensen.
“There are a lot of things the Seelie do to keep their world safe. One of them was to separate the Seelie and the Unseelie. However, thirty years ago such a coupling happened and a child was born of it. At the moment of his proscribed birth, the barriers between worlds fell and humanity became victim to its own magic. Because of my son’s birth, your mother gained the power of fire and never learned to control it. Because Jensen was born, your sister died when your mother boiled her.”
Jared took a step back, the words a visceral blow and while the others were distracted by his reaction, Jensen called shade and fire to him and pushed without bothering to control it. Flame and smoke filled the apartment and Jensen was diving at Jared, throwing them both to the floor and rolling them towards the cover of the couch that sat between the bedroom area and living room.
He felt the sting of iron in his arm and cursed as he rolled to his feet, reaching for Jared even as the other man was pulling his weapon. Jared’s eyes were a fury of emotions that Jensen was having trouble deciphering even with the bond between them. Jared’s jaw was clenched and overriding everything else was a sense of determination that Jensen understood well. They would see this done tonight, no matter what else they did.
There was no time to plan it out, just a simple nod from Jared to indicate he was moving across to the other end of the couch. Jensen took a deep breath and focused on the shade around him. He could feel Morgan pulling a great deal of earth and air to himself and Carlson was working water into something. He wasn’t near as strong as the fae but it was another attack and he hated the advantage they had over him. He had an almost incontrollable urge to shift Jared to safety before coming back to fight on his own but he knew that whatever chance he had of keeping Jared his depended on keeping him in the fight.
Instead he waited until Jared started to move and stood up from behind the couch. Morgan was waiting for him and chunks of the drywall came off, hurling towards Jensen. He used fire to burn them all as they got close but then Carlson was throwing waves of water into the flames, filling the room with steam. He kept his shield up, forcing both attacks back, though Morgan’s projectiles were getting through, leaving Jensen with stinging bruises. Guns were going off to the side and Jensen ignored his fear for Jared, concentrating on the knowledge that the pained grunts were coming from Cohen on the other side of the room. He didn’t know if Jared was okay, not the way he was darting out from behind the chair for each shot and then back behind it again for cover.
“Why are you doing this Steve?” Jared asked his earlier question again over the roar of the fight. “You were a good agent. We were doing good work.”
“The DMI is a joke Jared! Good work? How could they do good work when they spent the last five years run by a void?” Carlson laughed. “I only joined you because I knew it would give me better access to the names I needed.”
“You’ve been planning it, all this time?”
“It took a while for Morgan to get the courts to see the threat Jensen was to the throne,” Cohen’s answer was breathier than it had been before and Jensen took that as a good sign.
He pulled shade to him again, only this time he felt the pull of Jared’s magic as well, felt Jared giving himself over to Jensen’s shade the same way he had the first night they’d been together. He felt the way Jared could reach into his chest and felt the way his magic pressed into the corners of Jensen’s soul and filled him with more power than he’d ever held before.
“What are you doing?” Morgan demanded as Jensen’s shield became impenetrable.
“They said that if you’d been able to stop yourself that you never would have been with her,” Jensen answered softly. “They said if it hadn’t been for the way the magic pushed the two of you together that I never would have been born. I never believed it. I thought you did this on purpose for some reason I could never divine. At least until I met Jared because then I knew what it was like to have the magic pushing you towards something. When his powers came out, it bound us together even stronger than my protective bond could have. What we are, we have no words for. But you can either surrender yourself to the Queen’s justice, or you can face my wrath.”
“Your wrath? I am trying to make fae strong once again!”
“You are trying to take from me what is mine!”
Morgan’s eyes became steely and Jensen didn’t hesitate. He drew all the shade and their combined magic would allow and he pushed it out at Morgan and wrapped it back around through Carlson. He had no idea what it would do; shade was never predictable, especially when used in large quantities. Morgan’s eyes went wide as the shade ran through his body. Blood welled in his eyes and began to fall like tears as trails of it also ran from the corner of his lips and down from his nose. It was hard to kill a fae, but Jensen watched as the shade decayed the fae from the inside out, face and hands turning ruddy before they took a gray tint. Smoke began to rise from his skin just as Carlson’s began choking. Jensen watched as Carlson spat up mouthfuls of water but never seemed to empty. He drowned in Jensen living room with Morgan next to him, skin cracking and hardening like lava.
When Jensen let go of the magic, the two men were dead and he pain edged his world. He gripped the back of the couch, trying to keep control of the pain that filled his body. It was the price of shade but he wasn’t ready to give it yet, not when he needed to see Jared safe.
“Jensen!”
He didn’t hear Jared’s warning in time to do more than turn but it was enough to make the bullet hit his shoulder instead of his heart. He staggered back with the blow of it and then watched as Cohen was screamed - Jared had tapped into Jensen’s power and was forcing the man’s screams. Cohen was just a mortal though and he crumpled under the agony.
Jensen fell to his knees, barely able to keep his consciousness. He felt Jared before he heard him. At first the words didn’t make any sense but then he realized that Jared was talking to Kane, giving him the address to get the team there along with an ambulance.
Jensen wasn’t sure an ambulance would do any good. It wasn’t the bullet that was taking his consciousness, but the shade. There was nothing they could do to save him if the shade demanded his life in payment for the use tonight.
“Jensen, you listen to me. The others are coming. Don’t flip out when they get here. Shit, I don’t know how Carlson managed to get through the evaluations but the rest … Jensen they’re safe, alright? You have to trust them, alright? For me?”
“Not gonna be here when they arrive, Jared,” Jensen said softly. He raised his arm, grunting in pain from where the bullet had grazed him early on, and fisted Jared’s hair. “Can’t stay much longer.”
“Yes, you can. It can’t take you from me, not now that I think we might actually be able to figure this out. I won’t let it. So I’m gonna do this thing Jensen and then you’re gonna do everything you can to save me.”
“Jared?” He felt the pressure ease up then, felt Jared’s hands on his chest and then Jared was in his chest again, his power flowing through him, all around him as Jared pulled the pain away and into his own body. “Jared, no!” He was too weak to fight it though and as he felt his own pain shifting into pleasure, Jared’s body convulsed over him, eyes rolling back into his head before he collapsed onto Jensen’s chest.
He scrambled up, getting Jared on his back and opening himself up to the bond they shared. He didn’t know if there was anything he could do but damn it he wasn’t about to let Jared die for him. The connection between them was far weaker than it ever had been but he could feel the pain radiating from Jared. He didn’t know what else to do, but as Jared grew weak, Jensen fed him everything he could, his emotions and his magic and his pain. His very soul was slowly going into the man to keep him there.
He heard the door thrown open and only gave it enough attention to realize it was Kane. He heard the gasp of the others but kept his mind on Jared. He heard the soft calm voice of Beaver in the background and it soothed him as much as anything Jensen could remember. The words weren’t clear, though he could remember things like ‘keep him going’ and ‘sustaining him when his spirit was too weak to keep going’ and ‘just give him a little’.
“For Jared,” Kane said close to his ear and suddenly there were hands on his shoulder and McCoy’s fire and Tal’s water were filling up the places he had emptied into Jared. He had no idea how long they kept it up, but McCoy and Tal were replaced by Able and Murray, then Milton and Kane. Beaver was the last and it was the press of shade into his body that finally forced Jensen to shut down, his body giving in the moment he realized Jared’s soul was taking what it needed and no longer needed Jensen to be conscious of the flow.
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
Traveling in shadow was something Jensen loved. Most fae disliked working with shade, though they were far better at dealing with it than humans were. There was a mingling of opposites that made the fae uncomfortable, but Jensen had always been in between worlds. It defined him and made him who he was.
He loved the moment where the world shifted under him and he was left, trusting in his magic to get him where he needed to be. He loved the way it bit into his flesh when he arrived at his destination, taking a payment of pain in its wake. He loved the way it took Jared’s sight and left him in Jensen’s hands, completely helpless until Jensen released him from the hold of the shade that had transported them. He loved that even as strong as Jared was, he didn’t fight it when Jensen wrapped an arm around him and took pleasure from his pain.
His apartment looked no different than the night Jensen had laid Jared out on the bed and he almost wished it did. That night had changed so many things for Jensen. It felt like the room itself should have shifted until it showed something of the events that had happened there.
Jared leaned his head forward, arms gripping Jensen’s forearms as he tried to orient himself with the blindness. Jensen let his lips brush against Jared’s ear before he spoke. “Let me get you something to drink.”
He started to pull away but Jared wouldn’t let go so his words were whispered into the curve of his neck. “You do this to me. You keep me blind when you don’t have to. Why?”
Jensen didn’t realize Jared would have learned so much so quickly but he smiled at the realization. Jared had spent a lifetime working with people who knew magic. He’d devoted his life to the study of magic and defending people from it. It was no wonder than once he actually felt the pull of magic he would be able to put together what he knew from books with the practical experience.
“You’re mine,” Jensen admitted. “I want to feel you helpless in my hands, dependent on my mercy. I want to feel you strong and hard and demanding and begging for whatever I give you. I want to feel your panic and your pain almost as much as I want to feel your pleasure under my hands.”
Jensen could feel Jared’s fingers tightening around his arms as he spoke. He didn’t know how Jared had managed to get by without realizing how affected he was by the effects of pain on pleasure, but he seemed to have accepted that, even if Jensen knew he was holding back in other ways.
“Let me go,” Jared asked in echo of his last visit.
Jensen smiled against his skin, turning in to bite lightly at Jared’s neck. “Never.” He did step back then though, letting go of Jared with the shade. “Now, you said you needed to talk to me about the case?”
“The killer. I didn’t realize before, I couldn’t, you know? But when I was at the scene I recognized the feel of the magic.”
“Jared, that’s impossible.”
“I know, but what I felt was familiar and I realized that it wasn’t something I knew. But it was close.”
“What do you mean?”
“Jensen, where is your father?”
“Not as far away as you might think.” The voice from behind made Jensen turn, moving his body between Jared and the unexpected visitor.
“Carlson?”
The man was supposed to be at the crime scene but Jensen was more concerned with how he knew where he lived. “What are you doing here?”
“Your kind thinks they’re so much better than humans. Did you really think you were invincible? Did you think we wouldn’t find you eventually? It only took one little act of betrayal to figure out where you’ve been hiding all this time. It just took Jared.”
Jensen could feel the anger running off Jared and he knew that whatever Carlson was saying was a lie. He might not know exactly where they stood just yet, but Jared would never consciously betray him.
“How did you find me?” Jensen demanded.
“Are you so sure of yourself that you really believe no one would turn against you?’ Carlson asked.
Jensen shook his head. “There is only one creature in this world that I trust not to betray me. Too bad it just happens to be the man you named.”
Shade was building around Jensen and he could feel the mingling mist of Jared’s power behind him.
“Don’t think about it,” another voice called out.
He felt Jared spin to face the new intruder. He heard the cocking of the gun and Jared’s annoyance rippled back at him through their bond.
“You brought a gun to this fight, Carlson?” Jared threw back over his shoulder.
“Cohen might be a pain in the ass district attorney, but he’s also the police chief’s son and a crack shot. You should know. You’ve been witnessing his handiwork for a while now.”
Jensen didn’t know who Cohen was but it was obvious that Jared and Carlson did. As much as Jensen wanted to make a move though, he couldn’t with a gun aimed at Jared. He couldn’t see what the other man was up against, not without turning his back on Carlson and he wasn’t about to do that.
“You still haven’t answered my question. How did you find me?” He wanted to get Carlson’s attention on him instead of Jared even more than he wanted an answer.
“Jared,” Carlson answered with a smirk. “I thought for sure once you started paying attention to him that we’d have trouble with the two of you, but I never would have believed he’d be the key to getting to you. No one could trace you here, no one and believe you me, we had plenty of people trying. But then you brought Jared here, and he damn near put a bull’s eyes for anyone who was looking the night his powers came out.”
He’d never even thought about the effect that night might have had on his hiding place. He’d always kept his location secret because it gave him one place in the world that he could be safe. It was the one place where there were no expectations of him and no hostility. Now, he’d lost it all and he didn’t know how to process that. Hell, he was still trying to figure out why he’d let Jared into his home in the first place.
“Why are you doing this, Steve?” Jared asked.
“You’ve studied them your whole life, Jared. You know what the fae think of us. Why should we just sit back as they waltz in and tell us who to be and how to live? You know the marginal is growing larger every year. The fae encourage it and they will own us if we don’t stop it now.”
“You were backing the proposed law?” Jared asked.
Carlson sneered and Jensen was just glad that Jared couldn’t see him. Jared trusted his team like they were family and to see the way Carlson was staring at him pissed Jensen off. Jared would be more than angry over it, he’d be hurt, and Jensen had pledged his life to protect the DMI agent.
“No, I wasn’t backing the law. I was backing the war that those idiots tried to stop.”
“They did stop it,” Jensen interceded.
“Did they?”
Jensen gasped because the new voice was one he hadn’t heard in years. One that had never actually been directed at him before.
“Morgan?”
The fae who stepped away from the shadows had dark hair peppered with silver. The smile he wore was cruel with his amusement and Jensen wished he’d never come face to face with the other fae. “Do you really believe the war is stopped? The human law enforcement agents have been arming themselves with weapons that will kill the fae. It’s only a matter of time before something happens that will be inexcusable to the fae and the Queen will have to demand retribution.”
“It won’t happen. The Queen knows the advantages of living peacefully with the humans,” Jensen answered.
Morgan just smiled though. “Perhaps. But civil war will tear apart the courts soon enough and she’ll have her hands busy - or her predecessor will.”
“What have you done?”
“Did you think all of fae would turn away from the obvious disregard for the laws of our kind?”
“The only law of the fae is might,” Jared said. Cohen moved around to stand by Morgan and Carlson and finally Jared was able to face forward with him. He would have preferred to keep Jared from facing Carlson, but he was grateful that the dangers they were facing were all in one place. Cohen and Carlson really should have realized that they were giving up their advantage by putting all weapons where Jensen could see them.
“Exactly,” Morgan answered. “Might is the only law, and yet we are being ruled by a fae who would bow at your feet if you demanded it.”
“No, she would never.”
The other fae smiled again. “You could make her. It was what you were born to do, Son, to take the throne and to ensure the survival of the fae.”
Jensen felt his teeth clench at the way the word son flowed smoothly from the other fae’s mouth. While Morgan was his father, he had never acknowledged his child, not even to defend him when he’d been thrown from the Seelie court to the Unseelie.
It was Jensen’s turn to smile at the words though. “So, you think you can put me on a throne and pull my strings, Father?”
“Father?” Jared and Carlson spoke in unison and Jensen might have smiled at the differences if he weren’t so focused on Morgan. Jared had already figured it out and his question was confirmation that his hunch at the crime scene had been right. That Morgan was indeed the fae who’d been part of the murders. Carlson’s was pure shock. Morgan hadn’t shared that connection to the men he was working with. It wasn’t surprising, not with the way Carlson seemed to hate the fae and how Morgan thought so little of the humans.
“You won’t have a choice. I’ve watched you Jensen. You’re stronger than the others want to notice but they know to fear the Ghost and they’ve begun to wonder if the Queen should be worried about her pet. It won’t be long now before the Seelie begin to doubt her and you know what will happen then.”
Jensen took a deep breath because he knew Morgan was right. “She’ll have no choice but to consider me a threat to her throne and she’ll challenge me.”
“And you’ll win.”
“And the Seelie will go to war with the Unseelie over the unclean, outcast fae that they are too weak to defeat.”
Morgan laughed. “There is no way the humans will remain unaware or untouched. The war will spill over into both worlds.”
“And you think the human’s will just lie down and roll over for that?” Jared demanded.
Carlson shook his head. “You think we got those new weapons for no reason? Kripke’s officers are all sporting them now too, as are police offices all over the country.”
“We make a fortune,” Cohen grinned. “Enough to buy a little slice of property we can remake into a human haven against the fae.”
“So you’re condemning the human race to death except for those who have enough money to pay their way to safety?” Jensen could hear the anger in Jared’s voice and he knew that even though Jared had been working in law enforcement for years, that it hadn’t prepared him for this level of horror. A civil war in the fae courts would be that, as would the resulting loss of life for the humans, no matter if they fought back or not.
“No. The human race needs culled. The strong will remain and those will be allowed to enter out new haven. The rest, the weak and sick, will be sacrificed to make a stronger nation.”
“You’re insane,” Jared choked out.
Cohen raised his gun again and Jensen moved between Jared and the weapon.
“Don’t do this Jensen,” Morgan said softly. “Even a creature like you who has a taste for pain will find these bullets a nasty surprise.”
Jensen thought about his options. He could try to get them away, push them out of the way just far enough to shift them away into the shadows but they would never find the others again. He knew this was their only chance of ending this conspiracy.
“Oh I have no intention of killing him, Morgan,” Carlson said with a sneer. “I want the Ghost to live. They say the more you use shade, the more you feel of the death around you. Imagine how he’d feel when I kill Padalecki.”
“What the hell did I ever do to you?”
“You’re a god damn traitor!” Cohen yelled at Jared. “The fae destroyed your family and yet here you are, side by side with one of them. It’s disgusting.”
Jensen didn’t know what Cohen was talking about but he could feel the surge of pain from Jared at the mention of it.
“What happened to my family wasn’t the fault of the fae. My mother couldn’t control the magic but it wasn’t the fae that killed her or my sister.”
Morgan let out a short laugh and Jensen knew what was about to happen. He couldn’t stop it any more than he could have stopped the events of his birth but he knew it would hurt Jared. He was surprised by the depth of pain he felt at the idea of losing Jared because of it.
“It wasn’t the fae’s fault?” Morgan asked. “It was the fae who broke the barrier between the world of the humans and fae. It was the fae who gave humanity their sight and their magical gifts.”
“What?”
Carlson’s eyes traced back to Morgan and Jensen knew that this story was new to him as well. Cohen seemed to know the truth and was simply waiting for a chance to shoot Jensen.
“There are a lot of things the Seelie do to keep their world safe. One of them was to separate the Seelie and the Unseelie. However, thirty years ago such a coupling happened and a child was born of it. At the moment of his proscribed birth, the barriers between worlds fell and humanity became victim to its own magic. Because of my son’s birth, your mother gained the power of fire and never learned to control it. Because Jensen was born, your sister died when your mother boiled her.”
Jared took a step back, the words a visceral blow and while the others were distracted by his reaction, Jensen called shade and fire to him and pushed without bothering to control it. Flame and smoke filled the apartment and Jensen was diving at Jared, throwing them both to the floor and rolling them towards the cover of the couch that sat between the bedroom area and living room.
He felt the sting of iron in his arm and cursed as he rolled to his feet, reaching for Jared even as the other man was pulling his weapon. Jared’s eyes were a fury of emotions that Jensen was having trouble deciphering even with the bond between them. Jared’s jaw was clenched and overriding everything else was a sense of determination that Jensen understood well. They would see this done tonight, no matter what else they did.
There was no time to plan it out, just a simple nod from Jared to indicate he was moving across to the other end of the couch. Jensen took a deep breath and focused on the shade around him. He could feel Morgan pulling a great deal of earth and air to himself and Carlson was working water into something. He wasn’t near as strong as the fae but it was another attack and he hated the advantage they had over him. He had an almost incontrollable urge to shift Jared to safety before coming back to fight on his own but he knew that whatever chance he had of keeping Jared his depended on keeping him in the fight.
Instead he waited until Jared started to move and stood up from behind the couch. Morgan was waiting for him and chunks of the drywall came off, hurling towards Jensen. He used fire to burn them all as they got close but then Carlson was throwing waves of water into the flames, filling the room with steam. He kept his shield up, forcing both attacks back, though Morgan’s projectiles were getting through, leaving Jensen with stinging bruises. Guns were going off to the side and Jensen ignored his fear for Jared, concentrating on the knowledge that the pained grunts were coming from Cohen on the other side of the room. He didn’t know if Jared was okay, not the way he was darting out from behind the chair for each shot and then back behind it again for cover.
“Why are you doing this Steve?” Jared asked his earlier question again over the roar of the fight. “You were a good agent. We were doing good work.”
“The DMI is a joke Jared! Good work? How could they do good work when they spent the last five years run by a void?” Carlson laughed. “I only joined you because I knew it would give me better access to the names I needed.”
“You’ve been planning it, all this time?”
“It took a while for Morgan to get the courts to see the threat Jensen was to the throne,” Cohen’s answer was breathier than it had been before and Jensen took that as a good sign.
He pulled shade to him again, only this time he felt the pull of Jared’s magic as well, felt Jared giving himself over to Jensen’s shade the same way he had the first night they’d been together. He felt the way Jared could reach into his chest and felt the way his magic pressed into the corners of Jensen’s soul and filled him with more power than he’d ever held before.
“What are you doing?” Morgan demanded as Jensen’s shield became impenetrable.
“They said that if you’d been able to stop yourself that you never would have been with her,” Jensen answered softly. “They said if it hadn’t been for the way the magic pushed the two of you together that I never would have been born. I never believed it. I thought you did this on purpose for some reason I could never divine. At least until I met Jared because then I knew what it was like to have the magic pushing you towards something. When his powers came out, it bound us together even stronger than my protective bond could have. What we are, we have no words for. But you can either surrender yourself to the Queen’s justice, or you can face my wrath.”
“Your wrath? I am trying to make fae strong once again!”
“You are trying to take from me what is mine!”
Morgan’s eyes became steely and Jensen didn’t hesitate. He drew all the shade and their combined magic would allow and he pushed it out at Morgan and wrapped it back around through Carlson. He had no idea what it would do; shade was never predictable, especially when used in large quantities. Morgan’s eyes went wide as the shade ran through his body. Blood welled in his eyes and began to fall like tears as trails of it also ran from the corner of his lips and down from his nose. It was hard to kill a fae, but Jensen watched as the shade decayed the fae from the inside out, face and hands turning ruddy before they took a gray tint. Smoke began to rise from his skin just as Carlson’s began choking. Jensen watched as Carlson spat up mouthfuls of water but never seemed to empty. He drowned in Jensen living room with Morgan next to him, skin cracking and hardening like lava.
When Jensen let go of the magic, the two men were dead and he pain edged his world. He gripped the back of the couch, trying to keep control of the pain that filled his body. It was the price of shade but he wasn’t ready to give it yet, not when he needed to see Jared safe.
“Jensen!”
He didn’t hear Jared’s warning in time to do more than turn but it was enough to make the bullet hit his shoulder instead of his heart. He staggered back with the blow of it and then watched as Cohen was screamed - Jared had tapped into Jensen’s power and was forcing the man’s screams. Cohen was just a mortal though and he crumpled under the agony.
Jensen fell to his knees, barely able to keep his consciousness. He felt Jared before he heard him. At first the words didn’t make any sense but then he realized that Jared was talking to Kane, giving him the address to get the team there along with an ambulance.
Jensen wasn’t sure an ambulance would do any good. It wasn’t the bullet that was taking his consciousness, but the shade. There was nothing they could do to save him if the shade demanded his life in payment for the use tonight.
“Jensen, you listen to me. The others are coming. Don’t flip out when they get here. Shit, I don’t know how Carlson managed to get through the evaluations but the rest … Jensen they’re safe, alright? You have to trust them, alright? For me?”
“Not gonna be here when they arrive, Jared,” Jensen said softly. He raised his arm, grunting in pain from where the bullet had grazed him early on, and fisted Jared’s hair. “Can’t stay much longer.”
“Yes, you can. It can’t take you from me, not now that I think we might actually be able to figure this out. I won’t let it. So I’m gonna do this thing Jensen and then you’re gonna do everything you can to save me.”
“Jared?” He felt the pressure ease up then, felt Jared’s hands on his chest and then Jared was in his chest again, his power flowing through him, all around him as Jared pulled the pain away and into his own body. “Jared, no!” He was too weak to fight it though and as he felt his own pain shifting into pleasure, Jared’s body convulsed over him, eyes rolling back into his head before he collapsed onto Jensen’s chest.
He scrambled up, getting Jared on his back and opening himself up to the bond they shared. He didn’t know if there was anything he could do but damn it he wasn’t about to let Jared die for him. The connection between them was far weaker than it ever had been but he could feel the pain radiating from Jared. He didn’t know what else to do, but as Jared grew weak, Jensen fed him everything he could, his emotions and his magic and his pain. His very soul was slowly going into the man to keep him there.
He heard the door thrown open and only gave it enough attention to realize it was Kane. He heard the gasp of the others but kept his mind on Jared. He heard the soft calm voice of Beaver in the background and it soothed him as much as anything Jensen could remember. The words weren’t clear, though he could remember things like ‘keep him going’ and ‘sustaining him when his spirit was too weak to keep going’ and ‘just give him a little’.
“For Jared,” Kane said close to his ear and suddenly there were hands on his shoulder and McCoy’s fire and Tal’s water were filling up the places he had emptied into Jared. He had no idea how long they kept it up, but McCoy and Tal were replaced by Able and Murray, then Milton and Kane. Beaver was the last and it was the press of shade into his body that finally forced Jensen to shut down, his body giving in the moment he realized Jared’s soul was taking what it needed and no longer needed Jensen to be conscious of the flow.