The Strange Affair Of The Ghost On Franklin Street - Part two
Jared 2013
When Jared steps through the door from the studio-apartment into the office the next morning, Felicia is in already. He quickly checks his watch, but he’s not late, she’s early.
“Do you smell smoke too?” she asks him.
He sniffs the air. “Not now, but I did yesterday. Weird, must be coming from the neighbors or something.”
Jared looks Felicia up and down. “You look nice, traded in the skirt suit for something more leisurely I see. Does that mean I can wear jeans and a t-shirt to work now?”
He’s expecting a ‘no’, but she can’t blame him for trying.
“Nope, you can’t. I can, ‘cause I’m the bosslady. I’m allowed,” she laughs and then adds, “by me.” She points her thumbs to herself.
Jared expects her to stick out her tongue, but she doesn’t.
“What do you think about the case?” Felicia asks.
“It’s interesting and great to have an actual case on our hands. Plus she seems nice.”
Jared notices a tinge of red infiltrate Felicia’s normally pale face. She’s definitely into Alaina.
“I hope we can help her, though. It’s not like we have tons of experience in this sort of thing. I’ve started by studying most of her research last night.”
Felicia bends down to pick up her pink pencil that had rolled off her desk. “That’s a good start, but you have to trust me on this. I did learn some useful stuff while I got my PI- license, you know. I suggest that today we-.”
The stack of Alaina’s research on Jared’s desk topples over. Most of the papers fall to the floor, but one of the pictures drifts through the air, only to land in front of him, on his desk.
“Well, that’s odd,” Jared says. “I bet that wouldn’t happen again if we tried.”
Felicia just stares for a moment with a puzzled look on her face. “Yeah, what are the chances?” She walks over to his desk. “Who is it?” she asks.
“It’s the one of Pellegrino, the owner of ‘The Sparkly Devil’ nightclub,” Jared says as he starts collecting the scattered papers from the floor. “Hey, Felice?” he says unsurely a moment later.
She looks up from the picture. “Yeah, Jare?”
He knows she really doesn’t like the nickname, so she counteracts with a name he hates.
“Look.” Jared points to a piece of paper by the wall. “Did that note just slide halfway under the baseboard?”
At the exact moment Jared says ‘baseboard’ the lights start to flicker, causing Sadie starting to bark in the apartment.
Felicia utters a shriek, which in turn makes Jared jump, causing him to accidentally push the note further under the wall.
“Where did it go?” As a perfectly formed o-ring of smoke appears from nowhere, discernable right in front of Jared’s mouth. It’s like he blew the smoke out with his last word, except he didn’t. “What the-?”
He’s starting to feel really uneasy now, and if it hadn’t been for Felicia - his employer - he would’ve ran out of the office right about now.
“I have no idea, you go look!” Felicia says, half hiding behind Jared and rubbing her arms for warmth. “This is fucking creepy. Maybe we should let Sadie in from next door, you know, for protection.”
“Nah, she’s no hero. She’d probably hide under the desk,” Jared almost whispers.
Jared shuffles closer to the wall with Felicia following close behind, refusing to let go of his jacket.
He tentatively feels the baseboard, and when he finds nothing unusual, he moves on to carefully touch and tap the wall-panels. When he gets to the third panel to the left of the door, almost exactly where the piece of paper disappeared, a hidden door opens.
They both jump back a few feet in surprise.
When Jared’s gathered enough courage, he opens the door further.
“Jared, it’s a secret closet,” Felicia whispers under his arm. “How exciting!”
The closet is full of stuff, all hidden underneath layers of dust.
“Look, I found a hat,” Jared says as he picks it up and dusts it off. “I’ve been thinking about getting one of those.”
Felicia is flipping through the documents, folders, and pictures stacked up on one of the shelves.
“I love mysterious old stuff. You never know what you might find,” Jared says as he rummages through a box containing a stapler, an empty whiskey bottle, some pens, and a PI-badge. “Now I have one too,” Jared holds up the badge to Felicia, “I’ll just have to change the picture and name to mine. Look, he’s cute. According to the badge it belonged to J. Ackles and it was issued on the third of October 1943, so probably not valid anymore,” he adds with a grin.
Felicia just rolls her eyes. “You and cute guys. He’s probably old enough to be your grandfather. If he’s not dead already.”
“On second thought, I might keep his picture,” he rummages on, “and here’s a police badge as well, that’s cool.” He puts it in his pocket. “Hmm, a tin of ancient Squirrel creamy peanut butter, I wonder if that’s still edible.”
“Come on, help me get these files to my desk,” Felicia says in her bossy voice.
Jared puts the box on his desk, helps Felicia transfer the files to hers, and moves his chair so that he can sit down next to her. First a week of boredom, and now a case plus a secret closet in two consecutive days.
“This folder is filled with black-and-white pictures,” she says. “Let’s start with this.”
The first picture is of a little boy wearing a cute sailor’s costume, standing next to a wooden rocking horse. The second one shows a man with his arm around a woman, both drinking and smoking, and clearly having a good time. The next one is of a dark haired pin-up girl. She’s standing with her legs spread, wearing a white bikini, high heels and a nurse’s cap.
“She’s hot,” Felicia says.
But Jared’s mind is already turning. “I think I’ve seen her before,” he says. He walks over to the pictures they received from Alaina and looks at some of them. “Ha! I knew it. It’s the same woman as in this picture. She’s Ginger Valentine, the singer.”
Felicia turns the picture they found in the folder from the closet over, and reads the handwritten words on the back, “Danneel Harris.”
“Huh,” Jared says, “they could be twins.”
Felicia reaches for the keyboard and types ‘Ginger Valentine Danneel Harris’.
Several hits appear on her screen. She opens a page titled ‘Burlesque Hall Of Fame’. “It says here that Danneel Harris was the real name of the famous burlesque performer and singer Ginger Valentine. She performed from 1945 until 1947 in ‘The Sparkly Devil’ nightclub here in town. Now isn’t that a coincidence,” Felicia says. “Wow, I’d really loved to have the opportunity to talk to her about her life, she must have met some amazing people. Too bad Alaina already found out she died. Let’s see who else we recognize in the pictures.”
The next picture had been cut out of a newspaper. It’s of Pellegrino, Ginger, and a guy holding his arm around her. The title of the article is ‘Highroller Left High And Dry’.
“Danneel looks scared in this one,” Felicia says sadly.
“Yeah, and Pellegrino seems angry at the other guy. Wait a minute, isn’t that…” Jared takes his newly found PI-badge from his pocket and holds the little picture against the bigger one.
“Yup, that’s him alright,” Felicia says. “So our angry nightclub owner, hot burlesque singer, and handsome Private Investigator all knew each other.”
“And,” Jared says as he walks over with another photograph from Alaina’s collection, “Mr. J. Ackles is in this picture too.”
“This is turning into one big string of coincidences,” Felicia says.
Jared feels the need to investigate and compare further. “Let’s take a look at the files from the closet.”
They quickly thumb through several case files. All but one of the files contain a stamp ‘Case solved’ on the outside.
The apparently unsolved case is marked ‘Mrs. Alona Tal - Missing Emeralds’. Inside the folder, they find several more pictures of ‘The Sparkly Devil’, Pellegrino, Ginger Valentine, and a picture in color from the emeralds that went missing.
The folder also contains notes of Ackles’ detective work, including reports on stakeouts in the club and transcripts of unofficial talks he had with Ginger.
“He thought Pellegrino had the jewels stolen, and Ackles was planning to swap the fake jewels for the real deal,” Felicia says. “But it appears that he didn’t actually solve the case. Let me check the internet.”
Jared compares Alaina’s pictures again to the ones they found in the closet.
Felicia accesses the online archives for the local newspaper. “Aha, got it,” she says after a short while. “Private Investigator Mr. Jensen Ackles was found dead by his fiancee, Miss Danneel Harris in his office on Franklin Street on the sixth of July 1947. He appeared to be the victim of a mugging gone south. Cause of death was a shot through the heart.”
“Jensen, huh?” Jared says as he stares at the black-and-white picture on the screen. “Hey, that looks like our office. He died right here?” He looks around and touches the wall reverently, “Someone was murdered here. Cool.”
“Jared, focus please,” Felicia says. “I guess that explains why he never got to solve the case. Too bad we didn’t find the missing emeralds in that closet. That would have been a story! Not to mention an instant solution to our money problems.”
“Maybe Jensen had a point with Pellegrino being the thief. He looks kind-of-evil in this picture,” Jared tosses the picture back in the file. “Hey, maybe Pellegrino is the one threatening your dear Miss Huffman. How old would he be now? Nah, I suppose he’s dead and buried. Bad guys always die young.”
“So, what now?” Felicia asks.
“I guess I’ll have a talk with the two men Alaina interviewed about the nightclub. They should still be alive. See if one of them is likely to have threatened her.”
“Let’s put Alaina’s and Ackles’ files in the closet for now,” Felicia says. “I’ll start digging up more on the history of the club on the net.”
Jared closes the secret closet with a click after they’ve safely stored the pictures and paperwork.
Felicia starts to walk over to her computer, but stops in her tracks, causing Jared to bump into her.
“L- look,” she says pointing her finger to his desk.
The lights flicker ominously again. It’s very disconcerting.
Jared looks over and sees the end of her pink pencil protruding from the photo of Pellegrino that was left on his desk, its sharp point has been stabbed right through his heart.
“Erm,” Felicia says, ”I don’t know who did that, but it wasn’t me. Tell me it was you, Jared, because otherwise I’ll have to freak out,” she squeaks.
“It wasn’t me,” he says as he glances around the office, looking for clues, desperately trying not to follow in Felicia’s footsteps and freak-out.
“Jared, do something!”
“What do you want me to do?” he asks. “I know I wanted this job to be more exciting, but this might be too much excitement, even for me.”
He’s trying to think of a plausible explanation for the strange occurrences in the office and apartment. He considers the possibility of a ghost, but seriously, ghosts aren’t, can’t possibly be real. It’s probably just some kind of freakish draft. He decides to have a little fun with Felicia instead of wasting his time with improbable theories.
“Quick, look up something for me,” he says to her.
She’s clearly relieved that he’s taking charge and she can do something other than panic.
“Search for the number for the Ghostbusters,” he says standing behind her, almost doubling over with laughter.
“You think you’re being funny, but you’re being really, really childish,” she says angrily as she turns around to face him.
“Wouldn’t it be great though, to have our own, live-in, dead, hot PI-guy!”
He starts humming the theme song to Ghostbusters as he moves across the office, mimicking holding a large ghost vacuum in his hands. “I ain’t afraid of no ghost.”
Jensen 2013
The next day, Jensen still is a bit angry and disappointed that Felicia and Jared didn’t get the clue that Mr. P. is his killer or that he’s haunting them: Jensen The Friendly Ghost. On the other hand, he’s quite happy with himself for pointing them towards the hidden closet.
He’s exhausted from the interactions though, the ghost tricks really take it out of him. He’s just been hovering in the apartment, unable to communicate, but able to watch and listen in on Jared.
The past eight days with Jared have been much more exciting than the last sixty odd years he’s been bound to these crappy premises. Since his murder, several occupants took residence in the office and apartment, mostly boring people like accountants and insurance salesmen. The faith healer had been fun though. He’d enjoyed messing with her now and again.
When he’d learned that the new tenant was going to be a female PI, he’d been excited. And when he saw she hired a hot male partner, he’d been ecstatic. Well, as ecstatic as a composed, tough, dead PI could get.
That night Jared walks tentatively into the apartment.
“Ghosty?” Jared asks to the empty room. “Nice ghosty, good ghosty. You wouldn’t pierce nice Jared with a pencil, right?”
Then he seems to shrug off his apprehension and says to the dog, “Sadie, look at me, how pathetic am I?”
”Pathetic isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when looking at you, kid.”
Of course Jared can’t hear him, but it’s nice to have a conversation every now and again, even if it’s just one sided.
“Hey ghost, are you here?” Jared asks with more confidence looking around the apartment, clearly not expecting an answer. “Can you hear me?”
”I didn’t get blasted in the ears, kid.”
Jensen hopes Jared has a bit more sense in him than to expect a ghost to suddenly start yapping at him. Well, Jared’s undershirt of the day says that he can’t even think straight. It will be an enormous disappointment if his roommate turns out to be a fat-head. He decides to have some fun with Jared and flickers the lights off and on several times.
Jared doesn’t jump this time, Jensen has to give him that. “I was just kidding about you not being real, haha,” he says forcibly, keeping close to his dog.
It’s quiet for a while and the Jared says in a slightly shaky voice, “Hey, you could maybe use the trick with the lights to answer me. Once for yes, twice for no.”
Jared clearly waits for Jensen’s answer as he looks around the room for clues.
”That might work if you asked me a question, you dummy.”
“Oh, wait. I guess I should ask you a question for this to work. Erm. Are you Jensen Ackles?”
”Nice to finally meet you.”
Jensen turns the lights off and on.
“Yes! That was a ‘yes’, right? Huh, this actually works? This means there’s a ghost in my apartment. Right now. I’m here in my apartment with a ghost. Ghosts are real. Quick, think, is this scary or cool? I thought the light-thing was just crap they showed in the movies.”
”Are you done freaking out yet, kid? My ears are starting to bleed.”
“You're probably not even here, and I'm feeling stupid talking to an empty room like this, but still… Uhm, there’s this possibility that I can ask you questions and you can answer, and I can’t not try, but what should I ask you? Ehm. Are you gonna kill me? No, that’s a bad question, might give you ideas. Uhm, I’ve got it. Listen, you might know we found the secret closet, but the emeralds weren’t there. Do you know where they are?”
”No, don’t know the answer to that one, kid. I was out of it for a day or so after I died. Danneel must have moved them in that time. I assume she put my private belongings in the closet before the cops came. She was the only one who knew about the closet but me.”
Jensen turns the lights off and on twice.
“Aha, that’s a ‘no’ then. You answered, so I guess that means you’re really here. Look, erm, no disrespect but, are you here to stay?”
”Haven’t been out in quite a while, kid.”
Jensen turns the lights off and on.
“Because, and I don’t mean to be rude, but… I’m running kinda late and when I miss these appointments, Felicia won’t get off my ass about it,” says Jared as he quickly puts on his dress shirt and tie.
”It’s a fine looking ass, I can see why she wouldn’t.”
“So, what I’m saying is, I have to go out now. I have to interview some people today to determine if they’re involved in threatening Alaina, you know? Our client? I’m not sure if you heard what she said, but I can’t explain right now. I really have to go.”
”Oh great, you’re off rambling again.”
“But I’ll be back later, because, well, this is my apartment, yours too now I guess, anyway. I’ll see you- talk to you later.”
Jared slips his jacket on. “Hey, I’ve just thought of another question. Is this your hat?”
“That’s mine. Was mine, I mean.”
Jensen turns the lights off and on.
“Do you mind if I take it? No, wait. Can I wear it?” Jared asks.
”Sure kid, just don’t get killed in it, like me. That would be a shame.”
Jensen turns the lights off and on again.
“Great, see you later,” Jared says as he walks out the door and turns the lights off himself. “I just hope I’m not going crazy here,” he mumbles as he leaves the apartment.
”Swell, another day with that drooling dog and nothing else to do but fantasize about touching Jared’s naked- Whoah!”
Jensen is hauled out of the apartmentment and through the office by an invisible force.
”Well, this is new.”
The next moment, Jensen is seated next to Jared in his car. Well, to call the beige, old heap of metal a car would be rude to all other cars that Jensen has seen ride past the window of the apartment.
Jared turns on the radio and whistles along to some horrible song that Jensen’s glad he’s never heard before.
Jensen isn’t one to complain too much since he’s finally been released out of the apartment he’s spent more years inside than out. It must be the hat that’s allowing him outdoors.
After a pleasant drive through a city he understands little of anymore, they stop in front of a modern, well-kept house with a pool to the side. Jared gets out and rings the doorbell, and Jensen feels himself being pulled towards Jared. It’s a strange sensation.
“Hello Mr. Sheppard.” Jared takes off his hat and extends his hand with a broad smile, ”Jared Padalecki. It’s so nice of you to grant Bebop Magazine the honor of interviewing you on your impressive career in jazz music.”
”He looks familiar. Yeah, I think he was a musician at the club.”
“Mr. Sheppard…” Jared starts.
“Just call me Mark, boy, no need for formalities here,” Sheppard says in a British accent.
”Ah yes, I recall now. Mark, the pianoman. Nearly didn’t recognize you there, baldy.”
They find out from Sheppard that Danneel, after discovering Jensen’s dead body, hid out at his place. He was still employed at the club at the time and had seen how angry Mr. P. had been after the night Danneel quit. Danneel only left Sheppard’s when Mr. P. got shot by a rival mobster, and that’s the last time Sheppard saw her. The way he speaks about her, it’s clear he loved her. Turns out, the old man wrote his most successful song - ‘Day Dream’ - about her.
Jensen has dealt with lots of thugs and creeps in his days as a cop and PI, but this man comes across as a genuine friend to Danneel. He doesn’t look like the threatening type.
When Jared’s about to leave, Sheppard asks, “Will you be talking to her as well?” He looks at his hands, “Please don’t tell her about the song.”
Jared looks confused. “Who?” he asks. “Danneel Harris? I thought she passed away a long time ago.”
“No, as far as I know she’s alive and well,” Sheppard says.
Jensen is so surprised he accidentally knocks over Danneel’s picture on the piano behind Sheppard.
Sheppard luckily doesn’t notice and continues, “She got married to some rich guy, has two kids and four grandkids and lives in a big white house near where the club used to be,” Sheppard says.
“I thought you hadn’t seen her since she left your house sixty years ago,” Jared asks surprised.
Sheppard’s cheeks turn red - almost the same color as Danneel’s lipstick - “I, erm, I have a PI-friend who keeps me informed. Nothing creepy, just making sure she’s okay.”
”Danneel’s still alive. That means Miss Huffman lied to Jared and Felicia. Why would she do that? Maybe I can get over there to see how she’s doing.”
As Sheppard shows Jared out, Jared slips in a casual, “A friend of mine told me she spoke to you a while ago, Alaina Huffman?”
Sheppard looks very honestly surprised. “She must be mistaken. I don’t know her, sorry.”
Next up is the visit to the ‘bodyguard’, as Miss Huffman had put it.
Jared gets out of the car and takes off his jacket and tie. He rakes his long fingers through his hair.
”Kid, you could really use a visit to the barber’s.”
Then Jared proceeds to roll up his sleeves.
”Hot dog! Nice arms.”
Jensen accompanies Jared to the front door of the dilapidated house. When the old man opens the door, Jared flashes Jensen’s police badge in front of him. Luckily the man doesn’t appear to have a 20/20 vision anymore.
Jensen quickly recognizes the old man as the stupid goon that busted him up in the alley on the night he met Danneel.
”As a cop, you won’t get anything from this dumb gorilla, kid.”
Jared steps into the house, but Jensen can’t follow. The strange force pulls him back to the car, preventing him from entering the house. He feels like a rubber band, stretched too tight. Of course, Jared left his hat in the car.
He can hear Jared trying to talk calmly to the man, but as it is, Jensen turns out to be right: the only words the geezer utters are idle threats and curses.
Jensen can see Jared through a dirty window as he steps up to the man and flexes his muscles. “Sir, we have reason to believe you threatened someone’s life. It’s in your best interest to cooperate.”
The old man then has the nerve to push Jared in the chest.
It makes Jensen so angry that he lets the goon’s TV explode, at which point Jared decides to leave the house.
Back in the car, Jared says, “Okay, I learned two things in that shithole. One, that man is totally capable of threatening someone. Two, I am too. Three, I know you’re here.”
”It’s a good thing you didn’t become an accountant.”
“You are here, aren’t you?”
”I’m having a grand time, kid.”
Jensen blinks the car lights off and on.
Jared parks the car near their office in Franklin Street, takes his jacket, tie and hat, and gets out.
Jensen is glad Jared doesn’t forget the hat this time, so he won’t be stuck waiting in this old heap of metal.
“Honey, I’m home,” Jared calls into the empty apartment as he turns on the lights. “Are you back here too?” he asks grinning.
”There’s no place like home.”
Jensen turns the lights off and on.
“I’m just gonna take a shower. No peeking!” Jared says.
He doesn’t need to peek to know what the kid looks like naked. He’s seen Jared get dressed, take showers, and service his johnson several times since he moved into the studio.
And he knows the kid is not really a kid, he’s a strong, attractive man. It’s been so long since Jensen has seen a prime specimen up close, let alone touched one, it’s impossible not to look at those firm muscles and fine buttocks.
Jensen walks through the wall to the bathroom and through the shower curtain until he stands next to Jared in the spray of the shower. The water falls right through him.
Jensen reaches out to touch Jared’s face, and he wishes his hand won’t collide, isn’t stopped, but he swipes all the way through Jared’s head anyway.
Jared opens his eyes. “Jensen, are you here?”
Jensen doesn’t flicker the light, he’s a bit ashamed of being there, and Jared continues to wash his hair. After rinsing the shampoo out - the bubbles glide so beautifully over his back - Jared wraps his hand around dick and starts jacking long, twisting strokes.
Jensen wishes he could do that to himself, but he can’t. Apparently ghosts aren’t supposed to act upon their sexual desires.
Jared continues to get himself off. He groans, and his stomach muscles are tightening irregularly, and Jensen longs to feel that too. It’s been so long since he felt an orgasm rushing through his body, it’s just not fair. Jensen places his see-through hand on Jared’s abs, he pushes slightly inwards and suddenly feels a rush of excitement. He quickly withdraws his hand.
”What the heck was that?”
What he felt for a short moment wasn’t his own arousal, it was Jared’s. Jensen extends his hand again and steps forward into Jared’s naked body. He senses the warmth of the water on his back. It’s amazing to actually feel a body, to experience pleasure again.
Jensen revels in the sensation of his contracting muscles, his hand on his johnson, and his orgasm building. He thinks about how good it would be if Jared would tighten his grip just a bit more. Jensen squeezes his own hand mentally around Jared’s dick and...
“Oh, yeah,” Jared groans, “Jensen!”, and he comes with long white spurts that land on the tiled wall.
Jensen is yanked out of his ecstasy and tumbles from Jared’s body. The feelings linger as he watches Jared’s eyes searching around the bathroom, probably looking for him. He’s not about to make Jared any wiser, besides Jensen has to think things over. Like what the hell just happened in that shower?
Later, when Jared is sleeping, Jensen lays down inside of him, sharing Jared’s warmth and relaxation. If he lays very still, it almost feels real.
Danneel 2013
She hears a noisy car halt in the driveway. When she looks out of the window, Danneel sees a young red-headed woman get out of an old beige car. The woman waves to the guy in the car, he studies his phone for a moment before he drives away.
Danneel is curious to hear what this female PI from Detective Agency Day & Night exactly wants from her, ever since she got the phone call yesterday evening requesting an interview. When Miss Day told her they’d found Jensen’s belongings in a hidden closet, her heart had stopped for a brief moment.
She would have liked to be a PI too, at first. In her day, being a female PI was simply not permitted. The job was considered to be too dangerous, and after Jensen died, she didn’t want anything to do with the profession ever again.
Danneel greats Miss Day at the door and shows her inside. Miss Day seems very excited to be there, going by the way she can’t seem to stop stop chattering about Danneel’s golden days until they are seated in the living room.
After Danneel has served drinks - because who drinks coffee when you can have a Martini - she motions for Miss Day to begin.
“So, as I’ve told you over the phone, we discovered a secret closet in our office on Franklin Street, and from its contents we found that you used to work there. I was wondering what you can tell me about Jensen Ackles and the case of the missing emeralds,” Miss Day says.
“Oh my, it’s been a long time,” Danneel says. She’s not about to reveal everything to a woman she doesn’t know.
“If you don’t mind me asking… Do you know who shot Mr. Ackles?” Miss Day asks.
Danneel stays quiet for a while. “I didn’t see him get - you know - shot, thankfully.” She takes a sip from her cocktail. “I was out running some errands, and when I came back he was… He was just sitting there in the messy office, hat over his eyes, blood on his shirt.”
“I’m sorry,” Miss Day says. She puts her hand on Danneel’s arm and squeezes softly. “Do you know who-?” she asks.
“I’m not sure, but I heard through the grapevine that it was Mr. P. - Pellegrino, my boss at the nightclub - who probably did it. He could’ve done so easily. He was quite violent when he was angry, and boy, did we make him angry. Jensen took his emeralds, his lead performer and his future wife away from him, all in one evening.”
“Were you supposed to marry Pellegrino?” Miss Day asks surprised.
“Yes, but Jensen took me away.” Danneel stares into her glass and stirs her drink with the olive.
“Was it you that hid Mr. Ackles’ belongings in the secret closet?”
“Yes, I did. I grabbed Jensen’s personal belongings and everything I could find relating to his cases, including this one, and hid them in the closet before I called the police. It’s what Jensen would have wanted. He had a strong sense of confidentiality ethics, and I thought I might return later to finish what he’d started. Jensen always closed his cases.”
“But you didn’t?” Miss Day asks softly.
“No, I never did,” Danneel says. “At first, I hid out at Mark’s - such a sweet, talented boy - and then, after Mr. P. got shot, I couldn’t bear to go back to Franklin Street. The memories were too vivid, too awful,” she sighs.
Miss Day starts, “You don’t have to tell-.”
“No, I’m okay. I was young and selfish back then. Later, I realized that he saved my life, and paid for it with his own.” She looks down at Jensen’s ring on her finger. “I expected more from him than he was able to give.”
Miss Day looks at her with compassion in her eyes.
Danneel continues in a much lighter tone of voice, “So, I sold Mr. P.’s engagement ring and made a living as a taxi driver for a while. That’s how I met my late husband. We had a good life together, complete with two children and four grandchildren to show for it.”
Miss Day seems to get that Danneel doesn’t want to talk about Jensen anymore, because the next question relates to the case.
“Do you know what happened to the emeralds?” Miss Day asks.
“As far as I know, they must still be hidden somewhere, because Mark told me that Mr. P. didn’t find them, and the appointment with the client to return the jewelry was scheduled the day after… So...”
“So, you don’t know…?” Miss Day tries again.
Danneel stays silent and shakes her head. Although she seems very pleasant and nice, this PI woman doesn’t need to know where the emeralds are.
Maybe the time has come to return the jewels to the rightful owner. It will be easier to get to them, now that she knows who’s renting the apartment, but returning them will fall to Danneel. She owes it to Jensen to finish his work. She can’t afford to trust a stranger with this task.
Miss Day’s phone rings.
“Excuse me,” she says as she gets up and walks to the hallway.
Danneel watches her walk away. Miss Day reminds her of herself when she was that age, same red hair, and petite figure. Only Danneel knew how to dress better than this woman who dresses like a girl. It’s a shame really. She would clean up well in a dress and some heels, she’d look more professional too.
Miss Day comes back into the room. “I’m sorry, that was my colleague. He’ll be here in thirty minutes to pick me up. Is that okay?”
She walks past the dresser with family photographs and stops in her tracks. Then she seems to become aware of Danneel looking at her.
“Nice pictures,” Miss Day says casually, as she picks up the frame. “Who’s this? She looks a lot like you.”
“That’s my granddaughter Alaina.”
“Ah, she’s beautiful. Do you get to see her much?” Miss Day asks.
“She comes by every now and again,” Danneel says.
What she doesn’t say is that her granddaughter came by last month to ask about the emeralds too. Said she was writing a book on ‘The Sparkly Devil’, but Danneel’d seen right through her, and she’d told the greedy girl and her no-good boyfriend nothing.
“I know this picture of you. You look beautiful,” Miss Day says as she picks up one of Danneel’s pin-up pictures. “It was in a folder with some other pictures in the closet we discovered. ”
“About that,” Danneel says. “I was thinking, I would appreciate the opportunity to see those pictures, and maybe rummage through Jensen’s belongings one last time. I hadn’t thought of the events on Franklin Street for a long time, but I think I’m ready now. Relive some of the good memories as well.”
“Sure, I’ll have Jared - my partner - bring them by.”
They look through several photo albums of the time when Danneel was a singer and dancer at The Sparkly Devil, while they wait for Jared to pick her up.
“I wish I knew how to dress like that,” Miss Day sighs. “You look stunning in each and every one of these pictures.”
Danneel really shouldn’t, because she hardly knows the girl, but who can say no to a make-over?
“Thank you, dear,” Danneel says as she gets up. “Wait here a moment, please dear.”
Danneel comes back with a white, flowery dress and green pumps.
“Here, try these on. They must be about your size.”
When Miss Day is done changing into Danneel’s vintage clothing, a car horn honks outside.
Miss Day looks very beautiful and happy in her new outfit.
“That’s my ride,” Miss Day says. “Thank you so much for your stories and the dress.”
She gives Danneel a kiss on the cheek and waves as she walks to the car. Yes, a lovely young girl. Maybe she’ll invite Miss Day back one day, and they can talk about the exciting and dangerous cases Miss Day solved. Danneel’s life could do with a little more spark nowadays.
Jensen 2013
Jared and Felicia discuss the missing emeralds on the way to Danneel’s house. When they pull into the driveway a lovely white house is revealed from behind the trees.
Felicia gets out of the car and waves at Jared.
As soon as she’s out of hearing range, Jared asks, “Are you here, Jensen?”
Jensen’s about to flicker the car lights when an elderly lady with bright white hair opens the door to the house. Jensen is instantly mesmerized and floats through Jared to the frontdoor.
He recognizes her instantly, she still looks very beautiful. She has aged of course, but he easily sees the extravagant woman that she was, only more of a grande-dame now.
Jensen’s glad she did well for herself, relieved he doesn’t have to worry about her anymore. She smiles when she shows Felicia inside. He follows them into the hallway when he hears Jared start the car.
When Jared drives off, Jensen is once again yanked back into the car.
Miss Huffman is already having a cup of coffee and a donut on the terrace to the side of the cafe when Jared arrives to their meeting.
Jensen is glad Jared chose to wear his old hat with that boring work suit, it shows a bit more of the vibrant Jared he’s come to know. Plus, Jensen knows that underneath his button down, Jared is wearing a shirt with the words ‘Orgasm donor’ on it. In Jensen’s limited but pleasant experience, it seems to be an accurate statement.
“Hi, good to see you again,” Jared says. He sits down in the shade next to Miss Huffman and takes off his hat and jacket.”
Miss Huffman reminds Jensen a bit of Danneel. It’s not just the look, but also the confidence with which she presents herself.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have much time. I’m on my lunchbreak,” she says.
“Okay, I’ll be brief then, I think the former bodyguard is the most likely suspect.”
Miss Huffman looks surprised. “Oh,” she says, “but I thought you said you discovered something important in the office?”
“Yeah, I was coming to that,” Jared takes out the files and pictures from his briefcase.
“Is that all?” she asks.
Jensen could swear she sounds disappointed.
”Why are you not intrigued by this information? It’s great stuff for your book.”
“Well, we also found a box.”
She sits up at that news.
“Did you find the-,” Miss Huffman takes in a quick breath. “Erm, I mean, anything good in the box?”
“Nah, just some old personal stuff from the PI who used to work there. I’ll leave these copies with you, maybe there’s something interesting in there for your book,” Jared gets his briefcase and jacket, “I won’t keep you any longer then. Have a great lunch and enjoy the sunshine. I’ll call you when we have more news.”
Jared walks inside the cafe, and disappears into the men’s room.
Jensen remains seated while waiting for Jared to come back. He might be a Peeping Tom, but he’s not into that sort of thing.
Miss Huffman picks up her telephone and starts typing into it.
Jensen walks around the table to see what she’s doing.
I think they have found the emeralds Miss Huffman types. She presses the green button and the text ‘message sent’ appears on the little screen.
Miss Huffman’s telephone buzzes and she reads the words on her screen. The message makes her frown, it says: Go get them then
“That little bastard,” she mumbles.
Just me? she types.
The reply comes shortly after. Yeah, you go tomorrow afternoon. And bring a gun. Just in case.
OK. Love you.
She doesn’t get a reply.
Jared walks out of the cafe and across the street a bit further to his car. Jensen follows him, but when he wants to get into the car he can’t.
”Jared, you forgot your hat!”
Jensen rushes back to see Jared’s hat on a chair by the table. Miss Huffman looks around and picks the hat up. She tries it on, smiles, and goes into the cafe to pay for her lunch.
Jensen can feel himself being pulled along with her. What can he do to tell Jared?
He thinks he might try typing on the telephone to Jared. Jensen mentally reaches for Miss Huffman’s telephone - luckily he’s been practising on focusing his thoughts after the shower-incident - and he sends Jared a message.
You forgot my hat
Who is this? Jared replies.
Miss Huffman looks surprised at the message on her telephone and deletes it. She walks out of the cafe, and turns right, away from Jared and the car.
Jensen sends another message quickly, as he keeps looking at Jared in the car.
J. Ackles - PI
Jensen can see Jared gasp for air.
Jared texts back: Neat trick
Miss Huffman has stopped and is staring with a puzzled look at her telephone.
I’m magical, what can I say?
Jared then gets out of the car, and walks over to the terrace looking for his hat. He’s just in time to see Miss Huffman walking off with his hat.
“Miss Huffman! Wait up!” Jared yells across the sidewalk. “Thanks, you found my hat,” he says.
”She nearly stole your hat and me, kid.”
“Wow, you look pretty,” Jared says as Felicia steps into the car.
“Thanks, they’re a gift from Danneel. She told me to get my hair done too, so drop me off at the hairsalon on our block,” Felicia says.
”That sure sounds like my Danneel.”
They drop Felicia off at the hairdresser’s. When Jensen looks in the rearview mirror, he sees she walks into the shop next door instead. He wonders what made her change her mind.
When they’re back at the apartment, Jared asks, “So, you wanna tell me what happened back there at the cafe?”
Jensen sends a message using Jared's phone, which buzzes shortly after receiving the text.
I seem to be attached to your hat
“Ah,” Jared says, and he starts to sing. “Papa was a rollin’ stone, wherever he laid his hat was his home.”
Jared takes off his hat and dramatically places it on his bed.
Jensen sends another message.
So, I take it you want to play house with me?
“Am I that obvious?” Jared asks. “Hey, with you texting and all, I remembered this horror movie I saw - Hell Hazers II, I think - and they used the camera in their mobile phone to see ghosts. We should definitely try that.”
Give it a shot
Jared holds up his telephone in front of him and looks at it intently. “Where are yo- I see you. You’re on my bed. You’re kinda vague though.”
Jared walks closer.
“You’re wearing your, or my hat. And what’s that on your shirt? Is that-? Ew.”
I didn’t drop dead by accident, kid
“Nice suit though.”
Jared stretches out his hand and tries to touch Jensen, but his hand waves right through him.
“I remember feeling this- Hey, were you touching me inappropriately in the shower?”
Jensen raises his eyebrows and shrugs his shoulders in a ‘I-couldn’t-help-myself’ gesture, now that he knows Jared will be able to see.
“I thought you were engaged to Danneel?”
Jensen nods.
She knew I was batting for the other team
“The other team huh?” Jared asks with a bright smile. “My team, you mean?”
Well, not the whole team. Just one particularly promising pitcher
Jared kneels on the bed, next to Jensen.
“So, care to explain to me how this ghost-sex business works exactly?”
I can’t touch myself
“That’s a bummer.”
But when I’m touching you, I can feel what you’re feeling
“Okay, touch me then,” Jared says as he keeps pointing the camera to Jensen.
It works better when I’m in you
“Do it, I want to make you feel good,” Jared says, and his voice drops to a sexy whisper.
Jensen floats towards Jared. He’s sure Jared feels him entering his body, because Jared shivers.
Now touch yourself
Jared strokes his dick through his pants, and Jensen can feel every movement. It feels even better than that time in the shower, because Jared is here with him. He wishes they could kiss.
Naked is better
Jared removes his pants first and then his button down. He’s only wearing his t-shirt and dark blue socks now.
Jensen lifts his head out of Jared’s body in order to see him pushing up his shirt and pinching his nipples. Jared moans and a wave of pleasure shoots through Jensen’s body.
“Can you feel this? Is it good for you too?” Jared asks.
Jensen turns the lights off and on.
“So, we’re back to the lights? Is sexting too much to handle for an old timer like you?”
Jensen squeezes Jared’s right nipple extra hard.
“Ouch, that’s not fair,” Jared says, mock angry.
Jared continues rubbing and stroking his dick and it feels to Jensen like Jared is directly touching him, stroking him. It feels so good, so right. If Jensen doesn’t think too much about their situation, it’s almost like regular sex. He really needs to experience that again.
Jared’s phone buzzes. He picks it up to read another text from Jensen.
I need more
“What do you mean? Like this?” Jared asks as he lubes up a finger and teases his hole.
Jensen turns the light off and on.
“I thought you might like that,” Jared says, “Cause I know I like it.”
He gently pushes his finger in, and Jensen could swear he’s pushing into him. Jensen can hardly think when he texts.
MORE!
“Such a demanding ghost. I think I have just what you need.”
Jared reaches into the bedside table and gets out a pink dildo. He lubes it up and pushes in.
This is exactly what Jensen’s been craving for over sixty years. To feel full and complete and finally satisfied.
Jared pushes the dildo all the way in and then teasingly slow, out again. He starts rubbing it against his prostate and Jensen thinks he might fall apart. As if he's dissolving into Jared until there’s no more distinction between their bodies. The pressure inside builds until it overstimulates all of Jensen’s long-dead nerves, and he can feel every muscle in their bodies, every inch of their skin rubbing against the bed.
Jensen musters up enough energy to push the dildo in as far as he can and then they come. Jared screams out loud and Jensen mimics Jared in a voice that only he can hear before he blacks out.
When Jensen pulls himself together, he sees Jared hopping on one leg trying to put on his pants and shoes as quickly as he can. God, he could use a smoke about now.
“Felicia’s walking up the stairs. No more flickering with the lights. No more moving objects. We cannot tell her just yet, she’ll freak out. Hell, I’m kinda freaking out,” Jared says as he straightens his hair.
When Felicia walks into the office from the hallway, Jared enters from his apartment.
“Hiya, Felice. You look stunning,” Jared says in a too cheery tone of voice.
“Ah, drop it, Jare,” Felicia says. “I know what you’ve been up to.”
Jared’s smile falls. “Oh, you do? I thought I-”
“You can’t hide from me that you’ve been napping on the job. You’re not even wearing your button down, Mr. Orgasm Donor,” she says with a smile.
Orgasm donor indeed
Jared reads the message and he can barely conceal his smile. He cleverly diverts Felicia’s attention by asking about her hair appointment. It turns out Jensen was right, she got distracted and went to the neighboring computer shop instead. She shows Jared the new computer games she bought.
”Danneel’s influence over people is not as strong as it used to be.”
“Danneel asked me if she could have the box with Jensen’s things. I guess that’s alright?” Felicia asks as she puts away the games.
“Sure, I’ll bring it by her house later today.”
Jared takes the box from the closet and sets it on his desk.
“Although I’m not sure why she’d want to see this junk,” he says staring into the box. “Ooh, I almost forgot the peanut butter,” he says with glee.
He takes out the plain looking tin.
"Hm… This says ‘eat by one year’. Hey Felicia, how do you think sixty-three year old peanut butter tastes? Extra crunchy?"
“Ew, gross. Nobody can be that hungry,” Felicia says as she turns away from Jared with a disgusted look on her face.
Jared opens the tin and sniffs. He puts his finger in, and scoops out a hunk.
”That can’t be healthy, kid.”
"Uhm. Felicia, I think my stomach solved the case," Jared says.
He lifts a peanut butter covered necklace out of the tin.
“But how? Why? Who puts jewelry in peanut butter?” Felicia asks wide eyed.
Danneel must have put them there. It’s her peanut butter
Jared takes a look at his telephone.
“Jensen says that Danneel must have put them there. It’s her peanut butter.”
“What?” Felicia says as she steadies herself on her desk. “Did you just get texted by a dead man?”
Jared drops the brown, gooey jewels back into the tin as Felicia walks over to stand in front of him. She looks quite scary and scared at the same time. He tries to look innocent. He hopes it comes out as kind of sweet.
“Oh, yeah,” Jared says casually. “I’ve been meaning to tell you about that. See, Jensen Ackles - the dead but gorgeous PI - is actually a ghost. He can communicate by switching lights off and on. And he can text me, that’s how I know about Danneel and her peanut butter. Oh, and I think I might have the hots for him.”
”Feeling’s mutual, kid”
“I- I don’t believe you,” Felicia stammers.
Jensen walks over to Felicia and steps into her body. His hat sticks out of the top of her head, because she’s much shorter than he is. He leans in and kisses Jared on the mouth.
“Ew!” Felicia yells as she jumps back. “That’s just… gross!”
Jared just smiles brightly. “You’re a great kisser, Felice. I didn’t know you liked me that way,” he says making fun of her.
She looks around and hits the air with her fists. “Don’t you ever do that to me again, you filthy ghost rapist. I don’t care if Jared likes it, but I sure as hell don’t.” She wipes her mouth on the sleeve of her dress.
“So, do you believe me now?” he says with a grin.
Felicia just glares at Jared.
Jared continues, “Besides, aren’t we forgetting something really important here? We found the emeralds! We can finally close Jensen’s case and return the jewels to the Tal family.”
Felicia perks up at that, “We might get a finders fee. It would give us a chance to class up our act, advertise in the newspapers, get some more paying clients. That reminds me, I almost forgot to tell you about Alaina. She turns out to be Danneels’ granddaughter and she knew Danneel was alive. I wonder why she lied about that?”
“And Sheppard told me he didn’t know who she was. Something’s not right here.” Jared looks at his watch. “I’ll call her and set up a meeting next Saturday, and get to the bottom of this.”
“Alrighty, I’m going out to get us some bubbly to celebrate closing the case and getting rich,” Felicia says as she walks out of the office.
Jared calls Alaina on the office phone. He’s playing with his hat, flipping it in the air and catching it on his head, while he waits for her to pick up.
”I have to tell Jared about Miss Huffman’s messages to her boyfriend. And that the broad lied about the whole thing. She clearly just wants the emeralds!”
Jensen tries sending Jared a message on his own telephone, but this time it’s not working. He walks over to Jared’s mobile phone on the bed and sees that all the little lights have died. The battery must be down.
Then he quickly tries to reach Felicia’s telephone, but she’s too far away already.
”This is not good. The boyfriend told her to bring a gun.”
Jensen turns the lights off and on repeatedly.
“What is it, Jensen?” Jared asks.
”Get out, go away!”
Jensen opens and closes the office door.
“What are you trying to tell me?” Jared asks, sounding concerned.
At that moment Miss Huffman walks into the office. She pulls out a gun before Jared can say anything.
“Give me the emeralds,” she says.
“I don’t know what you-” Jared starts.
“Don’t lie to me,” she shouts as she waves the gun around. She starts tearing up the office, going through their files and opening drawers and cabinets randomly.
Jared reaches for his drawer and gets out his gun.
Miss Huffman turns around and is startled by the look in Jared’s eyes and the gun that is pointed at her. She panics and shoots. Jared squeezes the trigger at the same time. His bullet hits her in the stomach, hers hits Jared straight in his heart.
Jared takes a long time to drop to the floor, it’s as if time has slowed down. Jensen hears Miss Huffman gasping for air as he rushes over to where Jared is laying on the floor, blood spreading out from his body like spilled wine.
”NO! JARED!”
Jensen doesn’t hear Miss Huffman as she sags down into Felicia’s chair, holding her hand pressed to her bleeding wound. He doesn’t notice Felicia standing just outside the office, silently crying, calling the cops. And when the police finally show up, it doesn’t fully register that they take away Miss Huffman in handcuffs.
All he sees is Jared. His Jared. Dead on the floor.
Jared 2013
When Jared opens his eyes, he’s surprised he’s still laying on the floor in the office and that there's no blood. He remembers being shot. There should at least be a little bit of blood.
He sees Felicia walking towards his desk and picking up the box.
“Come here, Sadie,” she says, and “Good girl.”
”Felicia?”
”She can’t hear you.”
That’s not Felicia answering him, but a man’s voice. And then he sees Jensen, more clearly than he's ever seen him before. He can see the fabric of Jensen’s suit, the green of his eyes, and the freckles on his nose. The blood has disappeared from Jensen’s shirt. He looks beautiful and radiant.
Jared looks down at himself. Still no blood on his t-shirt.
”Am I dead?”
”I’m sorry, kid,” Jensen says.
Jensen kneels down next to Jared and strokes his cheek. He smiles at him. Jensen’s never smiled at him before. It’s a lovely smile.
Jared can feel the touch of Jensen’s hand on his face.
”How is this possible?”
Jensen leans down and kisses Jared’s lips.
”I thought I told you not to get shot in that hat,” Jensen says.
Jensen motions towards a bright light at the other side of the room. ”Come with me.”
Jared gets up. The white light grows stronger and pulls them in; Jared stops to look over his shoulder and sees Felicia putting on his hat. She looks sad but strong.
”Can we stay?”
”And haunt her?” Jensen asks.
Jared smiles. ”Just a little, but mostly to help her.”
”We could play house some more,” Jensen says with a wicked smile.
Then he looks down at Jared’s t-shirt, “They probably wouldn’t have let you into the light wearing that shirt anyway.”
Jared takes Jensen’s hand as he looks into his eyes and lets the feeling of absolute contentedness wash over him.
Together forever, there are worse places to be.
<< Part one - Masterpost
Art prompt (manip) by angstpuppy
Additional art (drawings) by kjanddean
Go squee, you know you want to!
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