Dec 24th : How We Came To This
Title:How We Came To This
Authors: eviltwin & adorable
Fandom: Supernatural RPS - Smoke & Lightning 'Verse
Pairing: None, really.
Rating: PG for language
Summary:A kind of history of Jared and his life with Jeffrey.
Disclaimer:None of the following is true and no profit is made from this work of fiction.
HOW WE CAME TO THIS
11 Years Ago
Jared loathed date nights. He tried everything to get his mom to stay home, including eating Cap'n Crunch crushed up in orange juice and peanut butter to make himself throw up. Sometimes it even worked. Tonight, however, it hadn't. His mom was fed up of it and she'd given him a good smack on the backside and a very stern talking-to. Mr Morgan had shown up afterwards, as Jared was perched on the edge of the sofa, still smarting from the punishment.
"Hey, kiddo," Mr Morgan greeted, once he and Jared's mom were done saying hello.
Jared ignored him until his mother said his name, sharply, and made him look up.
"Hey, old man," he sneered, then went back to staring at the blank TV screen. He hated that asshole. Since his mom left his daddy a few months ago, she'd been dating Mr Morgan three or four nights a week. He kept bringing presents for Jared, but they were ignored, left wrapped up, and never said thank you for. He'd wanted it to be just him and mom and it hardly ever was any more. Mr Morgan always factored in her plans. And he drove a piece of shit car and smelt like old cigars. Jared didn't trust him much at all.
That opinion didn't change until another month down the line, when his mom got taken into hospital for a couple of nights and Jared had to go and stay with Mr Morgan while she was in there. He'd never been to Mr Morgan's house before and he wondered, first, what the hell mom was doing dating a guy from this part of town. But then Mr Morgan had opened up his garage to put his car inside and Jared had stared out at it, awed by the huge motorcycle that dominated the far end. Mr Morgan saw him gawping at it and smiled.
"Just think, someday you'll be able to ride something like her," he said.
"Today?" Jared asked, not taking his eyes off the polished black and blinding chrome.
"Well, I think you oughta wait a couple more years, at least. Not sure your mom would want you out on that right now."
"What's wrong with mom?" Jared wanted to know.
"I don't know, Jay. The doctors have to run a whole bunch of tests to try and find out, but when they do then they'll be able to make her better. Your mom's a strong woman. And she loves you like crazy."
"I know," Jared answered. He suddenly missed her, though they'd only just come from the hospital, and he asked Mr Morgan to take him back.
"I want to, Jay, I really do. I want to see her again too. But the nurses said she needs to have these tests and stuff tonight so if we go back she'll probably be too busy to see us. But if you want then I can take you right before school tomorrow. Think you can get up extra early to do that?"
Jared just nodded. It was mom. He could do anything for her.
Inside Mr Morgan's house was another surprise. He had a dog, a pretty Rottweiler cross. Jared wondered why he had never brought her over. Mr Morgan told him that her name was Bisou, and that she was the softest dog he knew so it was okay to go ahead and pet her; she wouldn't hurt him. Within half an hour Jared was sat on the couch with Bisou laid across his legs, licking the inside of his arm as he stroked her fur. Mr Morgan told Jared to call him Jeffrey. He then told him he couldn't cook to save his life and that was why he was ordering in pizza for their dinner. He also told him it was probably okay if his mom didn't hear about that.
"Mom does let me eat junk food, y'know," Jared told him, not looking up from where his fingers were spread out underneath Bisou's collar.
"I know. I just think she might get mad if I let you."
Jared snorted. "I doubt it. She thinks the sun shines out your-"
"Okay, stop right there." Jeffrey sat down on the couch beside him, shifting as Bisou made herself comfortable across the both of them. "You got a problem with me, huh?" It wasn't so much a question as a statement, but Jared nodded anyway. "All right, I can appreciate that I'm not your dad and that maybe you think I'm stealing your mom away from you a little bit, but I can guarantee you that if it was a choice between you or me? You'd win out every time. I don't think anyone could have as special a place in your mom's heart as you do."
"You think that's my only problem with you?" Jared asked, finally looking up from his hands and into Jeffrey's eyes.
"Well, son, I don't know what your problem is if you don't tell me, do I? Or are you too much of a coward to say it?"
Jared's stare turned hard and he took his annoyance out on Bisou, shoving the animal's head from his lap and getting up, escaping from the couch.
Jeffrey continued to stare him down, not flinching under the boy's obvious anger. "Yeah, I thought so. You can spend the next couple days in the room I set up for you, if you want. Not talking to me or Bis, being miserable. Or you can learn to speak up for yourself and tell me what I need to do to stop you being such a jerk."
"You're nothing like my dad," Jared said.
"Well, I'm damn sorry for it," Jeffrey replied. "But maybe that's why your mom gave me a chance in the first place. Maybe she wanted somebody different."
Jared nodded, to Jeffrey's surprise. "I know. I know that's what she wanted. But I'm just waiting until she sees what you're really like."
There was a long pause, in which Jeffrey tried to figure out what the hell Jared was trying to say. "What I'm really like? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Dad was an asshole. Couldn't be bothered with me, unless he'd had a drink and needed a punchbag. So I'm thinking you'll get mom to marry you and turn out just the same."
Jeffrey couldn't think of a thing to say to that. He could feel his blood starting to burn in an anger directed entirely at Jared's father and he clenched his teeth together to stop himself saying something that the boy shouldn't have to hear.
"I'm not your dad," Jeffrey said, eventually. "I'm nothing like your dad. Jay, I don't know how to get you to believe me, but I promise you that I'll never hurt you or your mom. Ever."
Jared was silenced by the statement. He didn't think he'd ever heard an adult speak with such conviction before.
"Just... Think on it. I'm going to take a shower. Bisou will keep an eye on you, so no misbehaving or she'll let me know. Got it?"
He nodded, unable to think of anything to say.
10 1/2 Years Ago
Three months ago, Jared had been a twelve-year-old child, just starting to accept the new man in mom's life. Now he felt like a thirteen-year-old adult as he tried to come to terms with his mom not being there any more. He'd spent two days doing nothing but crying, but now he'd stopped and Jeffrey was worried about him, he could tell. He'd kept his promise. Hadn't ever done anything to hurt Jared or his mom, but everything had gone to shit all the same. Jared had nobody else but Jeffrey now, and that was what saddened him the most. That his mom's family were all gone. He knew his dad wouldn't care and he was glad for it, all things considered. But having to leave the house he had grown up in with his mom and move in with Jeffrey was a real upheaval and he didn't take it very well.
The first time that the cops found him wandering around in the middle of the night they took him home in their car. Let him have the lights and sirens going because they were just relieved that he was okay. Jeffrey had grabbed him up in a warm hug, kissing the top of his head and telling him never to go off on his own again. He'd been worried sick.
The second time, he ran. They couldn't keep up with him and he ran all the way back to his mom's old house. That was where Jeffrey eventually found him, and took him home. Asked him if there was anything he could do to make Jared feel better. Apologized, for no reason that Jared could see, that his mom had been taken from him so early.
The third time was the time it started to get serious. The cops took him to the station and Jeffrey had to come down and sit in with him while the sheriff gave him a talking-to. He'd been caught vandalising private property. The sheriff persuaded the owner of the newly decorated fence not to press charges, explaining Jared's circumstances. Jared had to go and clean everything off the following day. It took him six hours. He didn't feel sorry for it afterwards.
It wasn't until he got taken away from Jeff and ended up in juvenile detention that he started to realize he had to be more careful.
5 Years Ago
On Jared's eighteenth birthday, he got a leather jacket from Jeff, a speeding ticket from the cops and his first gun from Chuck. He didn't tell Jeff about the gun, since he was back there living with his adoptive father on the condition that he'd behave. He didn't tell him about the ticket, either. He worked a few nights extra with Eric and earned the money to pay it by himself.
He never fired the gun after the first test shot. He didn't want to fire it then, but Chuck wanted him to see how it felt. He used the gun to scare people when he went out riding with Chuck and the boys. They gave him the crow tattoo a few weeks later and he started wearing shirts at home again so that Jeffrey wouldn't see it. He knew what it meant and he was pretty sure that Jeff would know as well.
He was part of a long-planned heist. Several gas stations and stores in one night. Chuck promised him he'd pay him enough to get him through another few months. Jared had believed him, up until the moment everything went wrong and they all fled, leaving him to take the rap. They thought he'd do it, too. Thought they'd scared him enough that he wouldn't give them up.
Trouble was, Jeff scared him more. Jeff was his last link to his mom and when they saw each other the night after Jared's arrest, Jeff made it clear that if he loved his mom then he'd do what he was asked because she was watching over him right now and Jared's behavior was probably making her sick. He told Jeff that he wasn't a child and Jeff had lost it. The cops had let him, too.
After that, Jared tried to stay on the straight and narrow, because there was no way he ever wanted to see that side of Jeff again.
Now
He'd stayed out of trouble for almost five years. Earned his money the hard way, working for Eric when he could, collecting glasses in a couple different bars a night, fixing bikes in his spare time. It got so that he knew them inside and out. So that he could take a bike for a ride round the block and instinctively know what might need doing to it to make it run better, faster and smoother. He took pride in it and loved doing it, and that people were willing to pay him for the service was an added bonus. Jeff didn't blow up at him any more. He started treating him like a man again and stood up for him any time one of Chuck's boys thought to say something. Jeff had a rep just like Chuck did, and those arguments didn't often end in punches being thrown.
Jeff taught Jared how to fight mean and dirty if he needed to, but only if he had no choice. He taught him a hell of a lot in the few years after his brief spell in jail. Enough that Jared never wanted to go back.
It was late summer, still gorgeous weather out, and Jared was sat in his garage and staring at a long gouge in the paintwork of his latest project. The Kawasaki belonged to someone that Jeff knew from Mickey's, and Jared had taken it out for a quick spin after he'd fixed the engine up on it. He'd been going too fast, he knew that, and he didn't quite manage to stop in time when someone had made a turn ahead of him. He'd swerved to get out of the way and ended up running the bike the entire length of someone's garden fence. The fence had held, fortunately, but the wood had scratched the fuck out of the left hand side of the bike.
He gave up staring at it, because there was no way out of this, and took it out of the garage. He rode the bike over to Mickey's and left it there, hitching back to Jeff's place.
Jeff was out when the owner of the bike came round to call. Jared didn't run, because that wasn't what he did any more, and they came to an agreement that Jared would pay the money to have the paintwork fixed up or he would get his face rearranged and, no, that wasn't some kind of figure of speech.
That was when he came up with the awesomely stupid plan of robbing a gas station.
And that was when he met Jensen and his life changed forever.
end
Authors: eviltwin & adorable
Fandom: Supernatural RPS - Smoke & Lightning 'Verse
Pairing: None, really.
Rating: PG for language
Summary:A kind of history of Jared and his life with Jeffrey.
Disclaimer:None of the following is true and no profit is made from this work of fiction.
HOW WE CAME TO THIS
11 Years Ago
Jared loathed date nights. He tried everything to get his mom to stay home, including eating Cap'n Crunch crushed up in orange juice and peanut butter to make himself throw up. Sometimes it even worked. Tonight, however, it hadn't. His mom was fed up of it and she'd given him a good smack on the backside and a very stern talking-to. Mr Morgan had shown up afterwards, as Jared was perched on the edge of the sofa, still smarting from the punishment.
"Hey, kiddo," Mr Morgan greeted, once he and Jared's mom were done saying hello.
Jared ignored him until his mother said his name, sharply, and made him look up.
"Hey, old man," he sneered, then went back to staring at the blank TV screen. He hated that asshole. Since his mom left his daddy a few months ago, she'd been dating Mr Morgan three or four nights a week. He kept bringing presents for Jared, but they were ignored, left wrapped up, and never said thank you for. He'd wanted it to be just him and mom and it hardly ever was any more. Mr Morgan always factored in her plans. And he drove a piece of shit car and smelt like old cigars. Jared didn't trust him much at all.
That opinion didn't change until another month down the line, when his mom got taken into hospital for a couple of nights and Jared had to go and stay with Mr Morgan while she was in there. He'd never been to Mr Morgan's house before and he wondered, first, what the hell mom was doing dating a guy from this part of town. But then Mr Morgan had opened up his garage to put his car inside and Jared had stared out at it, awed by the huge motorcycle that dominated the far end. Mr Morgan saw him gawping at it and smiled.
"Just think, someday you'll be able to ride something like her," he said.
"Today?" Jared asked, not taking his eyes off the polished black and blinding chrome.
"Well, I think you oughta wait a couple more years, at least. Not sure your mom would want you out on that right now."
"What's wrong with mom?" Jared wanted to know.
"I don't know, Jay. The doctors have to run a whole bunch of tests to try and find out, but when they do then they'll be able to make her better. Your mom's a strong woman. And she loves you like crazy."
"I know," Jared answered. He suddenly missed her, though they'd only just come from the hospital, and he asked Mr Morgan to take him back.
"I want to, Jay, I really do. I want to see her again too. But the nurses said she needs to have these tests and stuff tonight so if we go back she'll probably be too busy to see us. But if you want then I can take you right before school tomorrow. Think you can get up extra early to do that?"
Jared just nodded. It was mom. He could do anything for her.
Inside Mr Morgan's house was another surprise. He had a dog, a pretty Rottweiler cross. Jared wondered why he had never brought her over. Mr Morgan told him that her name was Bisou, and that she was the softest dog he knew so it was okay to go ahead and pet her; she wouldn't hurt him. Within half an hour Jared was sat on the couch with Bisou laid across his legs, licking the inside of his arm as he stroked her fur. Mr Morgan told Jared to call him Jeffrey. He then told him he couldn't cook to save his life and that was why he was ordering in pizza for their dinner. He also told him it was probably okay if his mom didn't hear about that.
"Mom does let me eat junk food, y'know," Jared told him, not looking up from where his fingers were spread out underneath Bisou's collar.
"I know. I just think she might get mad if I let you."
Jared snorted. "I doubt it. She thinks the sun shines out your-"
"Okay, stop right there." Jeffrey sat down on the couch beside him, shifting as Bisou made herself comfortable across the both of them. "You got a problem with me, huh?" It wasn't so much a question as a statement, but Jared nodded anyway. "All right, I can appreciate that I'm not your dad and that maybe you think I'm stealing your mom away from you a little bit, but I can guarantee you that if it was a choice between you or me? You'd win out every time. I don't think anyone could have as special a place in your mom's heart as you do."
"You think that's my only problem with you?" Jared asked, finally looking up from his hands and into Jeffrey's eyes.
"Well, son, I don't know what your problem is if you don't tell me, do I? Or are you too much of a coward to say it?"
Jared's stare turned hard and he took his annoyance out on Bisou, shoving the animal's head from his lap and getting up, escaping from the couch.
Jeffrey continued to stare him down, not flinching under the boy's obvious anger. "Yeah, I thought so. You can spend the next couple days in the room I set up for you, if you want. Not talking to me or Bis, being miserable. Or you can learn to speak up for yourself and tell me what I need to do to stop you being such a jerk."
"You're nothing like my dad," Jared said.
"Well, I'm damn sorry for it," Jeffrey replied. "But maybe that's why your mom gave me a chance in the first place. Maybe she wanted somebody different."
Jared nodded, to Jeffrey's surprise. "I know. I know that's what she wanted. But I'm just waiting until she sees what you're really like."
There was a long pause, in which Jeffrey tried to figure out what the hell Jared was trying to say. "What I'm really like? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Dad was an asshole. Couldn't be bothered with me, unless he'd had a drink and needed a punchbag. So I'm thinking you'll get mom to marry you and turn out just the same."
Jeffrey couldn't think of a thing to say to that. He could feel his blood starting to burn in an anger directed entirely at Jared's father and he clenched his teeth together to stop himself saying something that the boy shouldn't have to hear.
"I'm not your dad," Jeffrey said, eventually. "I'm nothing like your dad. Jay, I don't know how to get you to believe me, but I promise you that I'll never hurt you or your mom. Ever."
Jared was silenced by the statement. He didn't think he'd ever heard an adult speak with such conviction before.
"Just... Think on it. I'm going to take a shower. Bisou will keep an eye on you, so no misbehaving or she'll let me know. Got it?"
He nodded, unable to think of anything to say.
10 1/2 Years Ago
Three months ago, Jared had been a twelve-year-old child, just starting to accept the new man in mom's life. Now he felt like a thirteen-year-old adult as he tried to come to terms with his mom not being there any more. He'd spent two days doing nothing but crying, but now he'd stopped and Jeffrey was worried about him, he could tell. He'd kept his promise. Hadn't ever done anything to hurt Jared or his mom, but everything had gone to shit all the same. Jared had nobody else but Jeffrey now, and that was what saddened him the most. That his mom's family were all gone. He knew his dad wouldn't care and he was glad for it, all things considered. But having to leave the house he had grown up in with his mom and move in with Jeffrey was a real upheaval and he didn't take it very well.
The first time that the cops found him wandering around in the middle of the night they took him home in their car. Let him have the lights and sirens going because they were just relieved that he was okay. Jeffrey had grabbed him up in a warm hug, kissing the top of his head and telling him never to go off on his own again. He'd been worried sick.
The second time, he ran. They couldn't keep up with him and he ran all the way back to his mom's old house. That was where Jeffrey eventually found him, and took him home. Asked him if there was anything he could do to make Jared feel better. Apologized, for no reason that Jared could see, that his mom had been taken from him so early.
The third time was the time it started to get serious. The cops took him to the station and Jeffrey had to come down and sit in with him while the sheriff gave him a talking-to. He'd been caught vandalising private property. The sheriff persuaded the owner of the newly decorated fence not to press charges, explaining Jared's circumstances. Jared had to go and clean everything off the following day. It took him six hours. He didn't feel sorry for it afterwards.
It wasn't until he got taken away from Jeff and ended up in juvenile detention that he started to realize he had to be more careful.
5 Years Ago
On Jared's eighteenth birthday, he got a leather jacket from Jeff, a speeding ticket from the cops and his first gun from Chuck. He didn't tell Jeff about the gun, since he was back there living with his adoptive father on the condition that he'd behave. He didn't tell him about the ticket, either. He worked a few nights extra with Eric and earned the money to pay it by himself.
He never fired the gun after the first test shot. He didn't want to fire it then, but Chuck wanted him to see how it felt. He used the gun to scare people when he went out riding with Chuck and the boys. They gave him the crow tattoo a few weeks later and he started wearing shirts at home again so that Jeffrey wouldn't see it. He knew what it meant and he was pretty sure that Jeff would know as well.
He was part of a long-planned heist. Several gas stations and stores in one night. Chuck promised him he'd pay him enough to get him through another few months. Jared had believed him, up until the moment everything went wrong and they all fled, leaving him to take the rap. They thought he'd do it, too. Thought they'd scared him enough that he wouldn't give them up.
Trouble was, Jeff scared him more. Jeff was his last link to his mom and when they saw each other the night after Jared's arrest, Jeff made it clear that if he loved his mom then he'd do what he was asked because she was watching over him right now and Jared's behavior was probably making her sick. He told Jeff that he wasn't a child and Jeff had lost it. The cops had let him, too.
After that, Jared tried to stay on the straight and narrow, because there was no way he ever wanted to see that side of Jeff again.
Now
He'd stayed out of trouble for almost five years. Earned his money the hard way, working for Eric when he could, collecting glasses in a couple different bars a night, fixing bikes in his spare time. It got so that he knew them inside and out. So that he could take a bike for a ride round the block and instinctively know what might need doing to it to make it run better, faster and smoother. He took pride in it and loved doing it, and that people were willing to pay him for the service was an added bonus. Jeff didn't blow up at him any more. He started treating him like a man again and stood up for him any time one of Chuck's boys thought to say something. Jeff had a rep just like Chuck did, and those arguments didn't often end in punches being thrown.
Jeff taught Jared how to fight mean and dirty if he needed to, but only if he had no choice. He taught him a hell of a lot in the few years after his brief spell in jail. Enough that Jared never wanted to go back.
It was late summer, still gorgeous weather out, and Jared was sat in his garage and staring at a long gouge in the paintwork of his latest project. The Kawasaki belonged to someone that Jeff knew from Mickey's, and Jared had taken it out for a quick spin after he'd fixed the engine up on it. He'd been going too fast, he knew that, and he didn't quite manage to stop in time when someone had made a turn ahead of him. He'd swerved to get out of the way and ended up running the bike the entire length of someone's garden fence. The fence had held, fortunately, but the wood had scratched the fuck out of the left hand side of the bike.
He gave up staring at it, because there was no way out of this, and took it out of the garage. He rode the bike over to Mickey's and left it there, hitching back to Jeff's place.
Jeff was out when the owner of the bike came round to call. Jared didn't run, because that wasn't what he did any more, and they came to an agreement that Jared would pay the money to have the paintwork fixed up or he would get his face rearranged and, no, that wasn't some kind of figure of speech.
That was when he came up with the awesomely stupid plan of robbing a gas station.
And that was when he met Jensen and his life changed forever.
end