Hazard
Chris stood at the edge of the clearing rifle cocked again and ready, the sight before him was enough to make him want to vomit. Jared was hanging by his wrists from a tree, several feet from the ground, his stomach and back were covered in ugly bleeding welts, he also had several ugly dark bruises forming around his rib area where it was obvious he had sustained severe damage to them. His face was badly swollen and he could even see from here that one eye was very badly swollen shut, the jeans he wore were soaking wet and his hair was dripping. They had put him under water, bastards!
Now was not the time to lose it, now he had to be smarter than them, fool them into thinking there was more than him, he sent a silent prayer to Welling, oh please hurry up! Michael’s was the first to react to his presence, the others as usual waiting to follow his lead.
“This ain’t got nothing to do with you no more Kane, just turn around and walk away, and forget you saw anythin’!”
Chris scoffed loudly at that one; “I don’t think so Michaels, see the way I look at it, you would do best now to get in your trucks and drive away, and pray that Jared lives, else it’s murder one and not just assault.”
Michaels laughed outright at that, “Kane, there is only one of you and nine of us, what makes you think for one second I plan on letting this freak live?” He stressed his words with a vicious punch to Jared’s stomach as he swung unconscious by his side. “For that matter, now that you are here, what makes you think that wearing that uniform earns you the right to walk out of here? Maybe we will just bury you out here right alongside him? No one would be any the wiser....” He smiled again, viciously and turned to raise the whip again, but jumped back and yelped in pain when the whip was blown from his hand by a bullet.
“Next time I will take your fucking head Michaels.”
Chris spoke the words with a calm he didn’t feel and stared straight into the face of the man who had cause Jared so much pain. He indicated the other men with the handgun in his other hand.
“Now you call your dogs off Michaels and leave while you can still walk outta here, ‘cause if any one of them makes a move on me or on Jared, I will put a bullet straight through your head first and make sure you go down with me.”
Michaels stood and obviously thought through his options fast before indicating his head at the others and moving away slowly. “This isn’t over Kane, don’t think it is....”
“I don’t doubt it for a second Michaels, but it’s about time you learned that not everyone is afraid of you. I see you within a hundred yards of Jared again, I will shoot first and ask questions later, and that goes for the rest of you.”
Michaels stopped in front of Kane as he left the clearing looked him up and down and snarled, “I will see you later Kane.”
Chris never took his eyes or his rifle from Michaels face as he moved away, but kept it trained straight at him as all the men left. It wasn’t until lights of the last truck had disappeared and he was left with his own truck as a form of light that he slumped with relief. Christ that was too close. He knew Michaels would make good on his threat, and he knew he would in all likelihood see him again before this night was done so he had no time to waste; he had to get Jared down and out of there fast!
He swore softly when he approached Jared and saw the extent of the damage. There was no part of this mans torso that wasn’t marked or bloodied or bruised. Christ he had to get him down, how the fuck did he do that without causing him further damage? The sound of a truck approaching fast drew had Chris tensing up and turning on the spot, trying to shield Jared’s body as best he could as he drew his gun and waited.
The truck stopped as close to the edge of the clearing as it could get and Chris immediately relaxed as he saw it was the police truck and Welling emerged, followed closely by another man who emerged from the passenger side. Chris squinted as the lights of the truck prevented him from momentarily identifying the man who stumbled slightly as he stopped and took in the scene before him. It wasn’t until the man’s body blocked out the glare of the headlight that his heart almost stopped.
“Jensen?”
Chris felt like a fist has closed over his heart and was squeezing it tight, Jesus Christ no, it couldn’t be happening....
Jensen took a step forward and Chris honestly didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh or fucking cry right then as he took two steps toward the stumbling man.
“Jensen! Jesus! How? Fuck!”
Jensen closed the distance between them and allowed himself to be drawn into a hug as Chris wrapped one arm around his shoulders and gripped him tight, the other hand still holding the gun.
“Jensen? What the fuck happened? How? I don’t understand....”
Jensen’s attention was no longer with him though as he glanced over Chris’s shoulder and tensed at the sight before him;
“Oh god no...no....no no no....Jared? Jared!”
Tearing himself away from Chris’s embrace Jensen closed the distance to where Jared still hung, head lolling forward, body slowly turning as if slowly roasting over a fire.
“Jesus Christ...Chris, get him down...help me get him down! Tom! Quickly!”
Within a minute Jared was being lowered slowly to the ground and into Jensen’s arms as he sank to the ground cradling Jared’s head in his lap, hands shaking and unsure of where he could touch him without causing further damage.
As Chris quickly and efficiently did a check on Jared’s injuries and Tom went to the radio to call for an ambulance from the nearest hospital two towns over, Jensen stroked Jared’s face softly, hands trembling and talking softly to the unconscious man;
“Jared? Baby? Jared, it’s ok now, it’s all gonna be ok now, I promise you. I took care of Jeff and I will take care of the sons of bitches that did this to you I swear to god, but you got to wake up for me now ok? Please Jared, open those eyes baby, and tell me you’re ok?”
Chris finished what he was doing and glanced at Welling, who was on his way back from the truck;
“Police next town over are gonna be delayed in getting here, there has been a nasty pile up on the highway and the police for two towns are overloaded trying to get the road clear and victims to the hospital, which brings the next problem, the ambulance wont be coming, it was a nasty pile up and all available ambulances are already gone to the scene. They say it will be a couple hours before the road is even clear to get through and even longer before an ambulance makes its way here.”
Chris swore and took in the sight before him, Jensen on his knees on the ground, in obvious need of some medical attention himself if his shaking was anything to go by, and Jared, oh dear god Jared was in a bad way. He knelt down and faced Jensen;
“Jensen, we are gonna have to take care of Jared ourselves ok? At least till the road clears and we can get him to the hospital. His right arm is broken Jensen, and I think they smashed his left kneecap, he has broken most of his ribs and those welts are gonna need seeing to. Jensen? You with me?”
Jensen glanced quickly up at Chris and back down again, and nodded, he visibly pulled himself together, and stroked his hands over Jared’s too still face once more. Leaning over he softly pressed the most delicate of kisses to Jared’s bruised lips.
Taking off his Jacket, Tom passed it to Chris and nodded at Jared’s bare and bruised chest. “Don’t want him getting pneumonia on top of everything else, Kane, and we really should be moving, no telling when Michaels will come back.”
Chris took the jacket and nodded gratefully and kneeling down again he addressed Jensen;
“Alright Jensen, we have to get him moving, its dangerous out here for him now, and he needs to be seen to and gotten out of those wet clothes, you ready?”
Jensen nodded once more and made to rise; laying Jared’s head gently aside and between the three men they moved him as quickly and gently as possible into the back of Chris’s truck.
Jared never stirred.
It wasn’t until they had pulled in front of the station and tried to get him back out that he showed any signs of stirring, and then he fought them feebly, murmuring low under his breath, pleading for them to stop and groaning in pain when between the three of them they got him into the station and onto the large couch in Jim Beaver’s office.
Chris ran for the medical supplies and sent Welling to Jeff’s office to bring back as much as he could in the way of painkillers and bandages, they would need a hell of a lot of those. He hurried back and re entered the office, bringing with him the sweatpants and button down shirt Welling had brought him from his locker before he left.
He closed the door quietly behind him and watched in silence as Jensen sat on the edge of the couch, his hands hovering over Jared’s body, afraid to touch, but stroking his face lightly every so often. Tears came unbidden to his eyes as he watched Jared finally open his eyes and focus on the man who was talking quietly to him. He watched as Jared’s good eye cleared finally and he could tell the second Jared realised who was sitting with him, and he had to turn his face away then as Jared began to sob and reach for Jensen with his good arm.
“Jensen? Jensen...” He couldn’t stop the sobs that tore from his throat, even though every heaving breath he took was like a knife to his chest, he just couldn’t stop the tears.
“I’m here baby, I’m here.” Jensen willingly went to Jared as he reached up with his good hand and cradled Jensen’s face, his thumb wiping at tears that had fallen without Jensen’s knowledge. He moved his own hand and wiped the tears that flowed down Jared’s face as Jared sobbed and sobbed, trying to sit up, trying to get as close to Jensen as he could, but pain driving his body back down. Jensen leant down then and placed his forehead to Jared’s, hands still stroking his face, his arm, rubbing circles soothingly on his shoulder as Jared finally struggled to control himself.
“They tried to tell me you were dead, I ....god Jensen I was so scared they were right...I ...can’t....I can’t do this without you, I can’t breathe when you’re not here...don’t leave me...please don’t ever leave me.”
“I won’t, not ever again I promise Jared, I’m so fucking sorry you had to go through this, I’m so fucking sorry baby, but I’m gonna make it ok now, I’m gonna make them all pay. I promise.”
Jared and Jensen stayed in that position for several minutes, not able to hold each other as tight as they wanted to, so just settling instead, for the hands stroking each others faces and foreheads pressed together as they exchanged soft whispers and kisses that both soothed and reassured both men.
“Did he hurt you?...Jeff, did he hurt you?”
Jensen marvelled at the man laid out beneath him on the couch, he had been beaten half to death by bigots and cowards and he worried if one man had harmed his Jensen. He shook his head and smiled reassuringly;
“No, no baby, it’s just a scratch...” He replied when Jared’s hand hovered over the gash on his arm.
“Believe me, Jeff is much worse, and he won’t be coming after you again.”
“Did you.....? Did....”
“No, I didn’t, even though I wanted to so badly, but I didn’t, I want him to face the law for this, I want to watch him die the same way his brothers did...”
He broke off as he realised what he had said, and Jared’s breath hitched.
“You know?”
“Yeah I know, but we will talk about that later ok? We got to get you fixed up alright?”
Turning he indicated to Chris who came forward with the supplies he had found and the ones Welling had dropped in while Jared and Jensen had talked. This was gonna be hard, and this was gonna hurt Jared like all hell, but it had to done.
“Jared? Chris and I, we need to get these wet jeans off of you ok? I know your leg is busted baby and we will be as fast and as careful as we can, just lift your hips when we say and let us do the rest alright?”
Ten minutes later, they settled a heavily sweating Jared back against the cushions of the couch, his knee having been strapped as much as they could and dry sweatpants now on him. They looked at each other as they contemplated how to go about seeing to the rest of his wounds. In the end, Jensen moved to seat himself behind Jared on the couch, settling Jared’s head against his chest and rubbed his arms up and down Jared’s shoulders and kept his mind occupied as Chris worked to clean and bathe the welts, with stories of how they got together. He got Jared to tell Chris how he had first seen Jensen when he was just twelve years old and Jensen was the new kid in town at sixteen, and he told him through heaving breaths, as Chris strapped and put his broken arm up on a makeshift sling, how he had never seen anyone more beautiful in his whole life and how even then he had known he loved Jensen Ackles.
As Chris wrapped Jared’s ribs as best he could, Jensen got him to tell him how he had cared for Jensen’s mother in her last days and how Jensen had sought him out to thank him. How their friendship had been slow and their eventual relationship even slower in happening and how he wouldn’t change a damn thing about it now. Not one.
Finally Chris was done, Jared’s body cleaned and bandaged as best he could, his face now swollen almost beyond recognition, and Jared was exhausted. Jensen eased himself out from behind him and settled him back against the cushions Welling’s shirt lightly covering him, as the painkillers Chris had given him pulled him under and he slept.
Jensen moved to Jim’s desk and thankfully took the coffee that Chris now offered him.
“Any news on the road clearing? He needs a hospital.”
“No, but Tom is keeping in contact with them so as soon as it’s clear we will know. You ok Jensen? How bout you let me take a look at that arm huh?”
Jensen nodded gingerly, his arm was throbbing a lot more than he had let on to Jared, the cut was deep and nasty, and the fight had been bloody. As Chris once again worked, he asked questions and Jensen answered as honestly as he could, now was no time for bravado. Yes, Jeff was still alive unfortunately, but he was locked up tight in the cage he had kept Jensen in. No Jeff wasn’t too badly hurt, was Jensen tired? Yes, and hungry? No. His wrists and ankles bore the marks of the chains that had held him for the last two weeks and he had definitely lost a lot of weight, but he was fine. He just wanted to get his hands now on Michaels, and Chris didn’t doubt for a second that he would.
“Did you talk to Jim?”
Jensen nodded and told him how he had come straight here, when he had gotten free, he had taken Jeff’s truck and come straight here. He had met Welling inside the station, and he had then come across Jim, who at this stage had been awake and barely coherent. Jim had been stunned and shocked and after a fast greeting and assurances that he was ok, Jensen had left him with directions to where Jeff was, and headed straight out with Welling.
“So that’s where Jim has gone? Out to make Sure Jeff stays where he is?”
“Yup, whether he wants to bring him in here or not is completely up to himself, but in Jim’s present state I would think he will leave him there till reinforcements arrive.”
Jensen glanced over at the sleeping man on the couch and back to Chris again;
“You saved his life Chris, I don’t know....thank you.”
Chris nodded, guilt surging through him;
“I just wish I had seen his innocence sooner Jensen, I...Jesus I hurt him pretty bad when he was brought in first, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for that.”
“But you did see it, that’s the whole point, you saw it and stood by him, you saved his life. He would be dead now if you hadn’t gotten to him when you did; I think that more than makes up for any wrong doing earlier don’t you?”
Chris nodded gratefully; just glad that Jensen wasn’t looking to kick his ass, because he would deserve it. He watched Jensen as his green eyes flashed pure ice as he contemplated what could have happened.
“Hey, hey It’s ok Jensen, It’s over, It’s alright, he is alive and he is gonna be fine, we will get him to a hospital and he will be good as new in no time.”
“They took out his kneecap Chris, he will never be the same again,” His eyes narrowed and flashed green ice as he regarded Chris, “I will take that son of a bitch apart for this, he did this to him in my name and I swear to god, he is gonna wish I was dead when I’m done with him.”
Chris was spared answering when Tom came in;
“Roads clear guys, but the hospital reckons you will be better off to try and get Jared to them, especially if he is as badly injured as we think. They say an ambulance will be at least another two hours before it gets here, they are backed up pretty bad.”
Jensen rose at that and nodded his thanks to Tom;
“Ok, you guys ready? Tom, can you stay here, we need someone here in case Jim calls or comes in with Jeff, just give us a hand to get Jared out to the truck, he is pretty much out of it.”
He moved over to Jared and placed a soft kiss to his forehead before rousing him as gently as he could,
“Jared? We need to get you to a hospital now ok? The road is clear and I want you looked after. We are gonna move you now, and we will be as gentle as we can, can you help us?”
Jared nodded, still drowsy and a little out of it and Jensen, Chris and Tom moved to get the injured man to the car.
Ten minutes and a lot of pain later, Jared was safely tucked in the back of the truck, broken leg stretched in front of him and his head laid back against the back of the seat. The night’s torture and subsequent events had completely drained him and he was finding it hard to focus for more than minutes at a time. He just wanted Jensen close, needed to know he was there and he was safe. It was for this reason that Jensen was sitting in the back seat, with Jared’s head lying in his lap when Michaels stepped in front of the car ten minutes outside of town, and it was the reason he never saw Jensen in the back seat, presuming in his arrogance that it was an injured Jared.
Chris swore loudly and slammed on the brakes, barely stopping the truck within inches of the man standing there wielding a gun. Michaels grinned and ordered Chris from the car, giving a quick glance in the rear-view mirror and barely able to make out the nod from the shadow in the back seat he slipped from the truck and out in front of Michaels effectively distracting him from the movements of the silent man slowly making his way around the truck from the back, his green eyes flashing pure hatred.
“I told you I would see you again Kane, friend of mine has been monitoring the police frequency, told me you were heading out this way with the freak, I’m here to finish what I started, alone this time.”
Chris smiled coldly; “See now Michaels, I think that was your first mistake, you never ever go anywhere without back up.” He moved to lean nonchalantly against the bonnet of the truck and Crossing his legs at the ankles and folding his arms at his chest, continued, “Your second mistake Micheals, was not monitoring the frequency yourself.”
Micheals was a little put off by Kane’s show of complete indifference, and couldn’t help but ask, “And why should I have monitored it myself? He got me here didn’t he?”
Another smile, “He did, he did, but...he didn’t tell you there are two of us besides Jared in the car Michals,” He grinned as Michaels’ eyes widened as he realised his mistake, “Jensen would like a word.”
Michaels didn’t get a chance to reply before he was gripped hard from behind and turnedand the gun ripped from his grasp. His eyes met nothing but flashes of green as he stared into the face of the man he had resumed dead. Jensen’s voice nothing more than a low cold growl as he spoke.
“That man you beat half to death? That man lying in the back of that truck? His name is Jared, he is my boyfriend and the man I’m in love with, he is no freak, you are the freak.”
He let his fist fly then, and it connected hard with Michaels jaw, causing the man to stagger backwards and barely kept his footing, it only caused Jensen’s eyes to flash brighter with anticipation and he advanced.
“I was held captive for over two weeks, and the only thing that kept me sane was the thought of getting back to him, so you can imagine how I felt when I discovered you had hurt him...ah ah...you don’t get to talk now, you didn’t give Jared a chance to talk, he never got a chance to defend himself did he?”
Without warning his fist flew again and this time he backhanded Michaels across the face hard and he stumbled back another two steps, Chris grinned and followed at an easy pace. Jensen advanced on the man slowly, taking his time and chatting to Michaels like he had all day, with each sentence he finished it with a punch, to his face, his stomach anywhere he felt like it, always careful not to cause the other man to fall...not yet.... Michaels made no attempt to defend himself, he wasn’t that stupid, he just kept backing away.
Jensen finally grew tired of this cat and mouse game, his knuckles hurt from hitting the man, and Michaels face was bloody. He moved so he was face to face with him and spoke in a voice that promised murder;
“Now I have got to get Jared to a hospital, you are in my way, But I will be back and I will deal with you, properly, but know this, if you ever ever come near Jared again, if I ever hear a word against him again, or even called a freak, I don’t care who says it, I will come looking for you. This town is full of bigots and cowards and you are the biggest one here. Stay away from me and stay away from Jared, or believe me, I will kill you and they will never find the body.” With that his fist landed squarely in Michaels face and Jensen felt the satisfaction of feeling a bone snap underneath this fist as his nose caved in, one more fist and Michaels was out cold, laid out on the side of the road. Jensen looked down at the unconscious man and oh how he longed to end him, just beat him until he wouldn’t be recognised again. He took a deep breath and stepped back, turning to look at Chris who had been following on at a slower pace, grinning all the while.
“Damn I missed you Jensen!”
Jensen turned to grin at Chris but something caught his eye, the back door of the truck lay open, and he frowned;
“Did you open the back door Chris?” He felt a cold hand squeeze his heart as Chris looked back and shook his head.
“Oh god...Jared...we left him alone....” He took off at a run and ran the hundred yards or more that he had wandered from the truck and stopped dead and stared in horror at the empty seat.
“Son of a bitch! It was a set up! Michaels had friends with him, fuck how could we have been so stupid!”
“Lose something Jensen?”
Both men turned at the sound of the familiar gruff voice and were frozen to the spot at the sight of Jeff Morgan standing just to the side of the road, with an almost unconscious Jared held firm in his grip, a knife to his throat.
“I told you Jensen, I said I was gonna finish this didn’t I?”
Jensen took a step and Jeff tightened his hold on the man in his grip, his whole body lax in his arms, held up only by the arm about his neck, Jared’s eyes fixed firmly on Jensen’s face.
“Ah ah Jensen, not a good idea, you know, it’s amazing how much hurt you can inflict with just a little of this...” At those words he kicked his leg out and met Jared’s shattered knee from behind causing it to bend and a scream was torn from Jared’s throat, tears of agony escaping and Jensen lost it.
But Jeff was quicker, and with a grin of complete madness, moved the knife from Jared’s throat and dug in firmly into his side hard before dropping him at his feet. It was in slow motion that Jared fell, his eye’s wide with shock never leaving Jensen’s face as he went down, but by the time he hid the ground they were closed. Jeff ran to meet Jensen then, murder in his eyes as Chris ran to Jared, pulling his jacket off in a vain attempt to staunch the flow of blood from the gaping wound in his side. Jeff had struck his side, intending for Jared to bleed to death, and it looked like he was going to get his wish.
Jensen moved with a speed he didn’t think his body capable off at this stage and with flashes of Jared falling in his eyes fuelling his rage he easily dodged the swinging knife, and grabbed the hand that held it twisting it until Jeff dropped it. What happened next was a blur, he only felt rage and grief and from a distance he could hear his name being called again and again... he slowly emerged from the blind rage that took him, Jeff was lying unconscious underneath him and Chris was frantically calling his name;
“Jensen! Goddamnit Jensen! Leave him, he isn’t worth it! Jared needs you, Jensen we got to get him to a hospital, he is losing too much blood!”
The sound of sirens followed by the flashing blue lights of a police car met their ears and within minutes two police cars from the next town over had stopped, quickly taking over the two men on the road, leaving Jensen to frantically try and staunch the flow of blood from Jared’s side as Chris drove like a mad man for the nearest hospital.
Holding a blood soaked shirt firmly to Jared’s side and not caring anymore about busted ribs, he held Jared to him and prayed, completely unaware of the tears that flowed, falling on the dying mans face.
“Don’t leave Jared, please don’t you leave me, I’m sorry, I’m sorry please don’t leave me, I’m sorry...” The words were repeated as if on a loop, as he repeatedly kissed and stroked Jared’s face, and as he broke every speed limit in the book racing to save Jared’s life, Chris cried with his friend.
Chapter 11