Hazard
One year later:
Jensen flipped the lid of the cell phone shut, ending the call with a promise to contact them as soon as the final details were ironed out. He sat back in the chair he occupied and let it all sink in for a moment before he allowed himself to grin.
“Well?”
Chris’s impatient voice broke through his private celebrations and he leaned back in the chair, propped his feet up on the desk in front of him and placing his hands behind his head in a relaxed gesture he was far from feeling and grinned wide, his excitement thrumming through his veins;
“You are now looking at the soon to be deputy chief detective Jensen Ackles, of the Philadelphia police department!”
Chris’s jaw dropped for a moment before his face broke into a matching grin and he quickly moved around the desk and grabbed Jensen out of it in a quick embrace.
“Congratulations man! Deputy Chief? Jesus, I thought they just wanted you as detective? That’s awesome man!”
“They did, until I went to meet them last week, seems’ they decided that I was over qualified, and have now offered me the position of deputy chief detective! That was Chief Collins on the phone, to offer me the position himself, they are very anxious to tie me in, of course, I accepted! ”
Chris moved to the coffee pot and poured two fresh mugs, sitting down across from Jensen;
“When are you going to tell Jared? He is going to be so happy Jensen. God I can’t believe you’re going man....and all the way to Philadelphia. I’m gonna miss you dude.”
Jensen grew sober as he regarded his friend, over the mugs of coffee they now shared across the desk. He honestly had no idea where he or Jared would be without this man. He had done so much for them over the past twelve months, so much for this town. Chris had taken over as sheriff shortly after Jared left the hospital, the town had been missing the influence of their sheriff and Jensen had not been interested in taking up that role. The only role he had been interested in at that time was getting Jared well again and back on his feet. Truth be told, the job was Chris’s anyway by right, he had saved Jared’s life that night as he had hung from that tree (an image that still haunted Jensen), and he had singlehandedly gotten a group of nine angry men to stand down. The town’s biggest most influential bigots had stood down and now Chris had their respect. He had worked hard over the last year and the town was changing, slowly, but it was changing. The way Jared was treated now was a testament to that.
Not that Jared wanted or needed that from them now, their treatment of him was burned too deep, and he was never going to forget nor forgive what had happened here. It was the one thing that saddened Jensen the most out of everything that had happened, how Jared had changed. He was harder, he looked at people outside of Jensen and Chris with silent suspicion in his eyes and he trusted no one and made no secret of the fact. The only time Jared was really the Jared he had come to know before was when he was at the hospice, helping and sitting with the terminally ill patients there. He was open with the people he wanted to help, and they adored him. It was easy to see why Jared wanted to go to medical school; he wanted to be a doctor, to save lives.
Jared had struggled long and hard with that one. Jensen silently thanked the counsellor Jared had been seeing for the last several months, she had helped Jared come to see that he was not betraying anyone by following a long buried dream. Jared had always dreamed of being a surgeon, but the fact that Jeff, the man who had tried to kill them, was a man from the same profession that Jared had always longed to be in had almost destroyed that hope. Jared had wanted nothing to do with anything Jeff had touched and he had almost thrown his dream away because of it. But Sharon had helped him see and along with Jensen’s support and strength, Jared had come to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to let Jeff take this from him too and he had gone ahead and applied.
Jensen had been stunned at the exact extent of Jared’s IQ, a fact he had kept hidden for so long. So much so that when he had started applying to places to start his pre- med course, colleges and universities had fallen over themselves to have him. He had finally settled on the University of Pennsylvania, partly Jensen assumed because it was as far away from Hazard as he could get. Money wasn’t going to be a problem, another fact that had surprised Jensen. Jared had never mentioned the fact that while his parents had not been outright wealthy, they had always been very comfortable and his mom had kept a sizable sum away for when her son decided he wanted to go to college. She had never given up hope that someday he would and Jared had always known the money was there, he just wasn’t bothered by it.
The object of his thoughts chose that moment to enter the station, Jensen spying him through the glass window of the office. Standing, he grinned out at Jared as he made his way into the office, limping a little more than usual and Jensen frowned. While Jared was doing brilliantly now, sometimes when he tried to push himself too hard, often staying on his feet for over twelve hours at a time at the hospice, it showed in his walk and his limp became more pronounced. All thoughts of giving him a piece of his mind fled though when Jared opened the door with a slight tap and an open grin on his face as he regarded the two men.
“Hey, I’m not interrupting anything am I?”
Chris rose, and moved to the door where Jared still stood, he clapped him on the shoulder in a manner only two people were allowed and they both stood in the room, and grinned.
“No, not at all, I have a few calls to make, I have a deputy to hire, talk to you tonight Jared, you are still up for that game yeah? I have some money to make back and this time I will kick your ass.”
Jared laughed; they had the same old argument every time they played cards and every time Jared still kicked his ass.
“You can but try old man, you can but try.”
He ducked, easily dodging the half hearted blow Chris sent his way before leaving the room and the two men to their talk.
Jensen met Jared half way across the room stopping first to draw the blinds on the office window; He planted a kiss to Jared’s willing mouth;
“Hey.” He smiled up at Jared when Jared refused to let him go and pulled him in for another kiss which he willingly allowed but pulled back after several minutes, remembering Jared’s pronounced limp.
“Sit Jared, don’t think I haven’t seen the way you’re walking, you’ve been pushing yourself too hard again.”
Jared heaved a heavy sigh as he lowered himself into the chair, stretching his bad knee out in front of him. It had been twelve months and it still hurt like a bitch when he did too much, he knew it would improve even more with time, but he was impatient now, to move on, get out of this place and start new with Jensen.
“It’s ok babe, I’m ok, just a little sore is all, honest.”
Flashing his best honest face that didn’t fool Jensen in the least, he reached out and grabbing Jensen by the wrist pulled him forward so he stood between his outstretched legs. He sat up and placed his head against Jensen’s flat stomach, wrapping his arms about his waist and breathed him in deep, sighing contentedly as Jensen relaxed and ran his fingers through Jared’s hair. Sometimes it got too much, and Jared just needed Jensen, just needed to know he was there, and he would pull him in and hold on just like this, just for a while. Not halting his fingers in their massage of Jared’s scalp as they ran through his hair, Jensen enquired;
“Wanna talk about it?”
Jared sighed and breathed in Jensen’s scent again before reluctantly lifting his face so his chin rested lightly on Jensen’s stomach and he gazed up, a troubled look on his face.
“It’s nothing, I.....it’s just......” He blinked and Jensen could see he was trying to hold back, trying not to unload himself onto Jensen. Bending down so he was on his knees and looking at Jared in the eye he softly wiped the damp lashes.
“Talk to me baby, what’s up huh? Come on now, we made a deal remember? No hiding things, we talk about everything ok? You lean on me and I lean on you, you said that right?”
Jared couldn’t help the small smile that broke out on his face,
“Yes I did, and you have used it to get every last thought out of me since the day I said it. I do love you Jensen.”
Jensen leaned in and gently kissed Jared’s lips, pulling back he looked at him again, “Now talk to me...”
“I got a call, from Wilkinson, the DA who prosecuted Jeff Morgan?” At Jensen’s nod, he continued, “Jeff’s execution date has been set....I know we talked about this, and I know we said we would stay away but....I want to go, I need to see him go under, once and for all, I need to bury this Jensen. Will you come with me?”
“Woah, he called you? Why didn’t he contact here directly?”
“I uh...I kept in touch with him, it won’t be sent out to official sources till the morning but, he called me, he thought I would want to know.”
“Ok, ok...Jared, are you sure about this? Are you sure you want to do this?”
Jared leaned forward then and grasped Jensen’s hands, “Jensen I need to bury this, I need to see with my own two eyes that he is never going to come after us again, then maybe....maybe I can stop being so afraid all the time, I can stop flinching whenever someone touches me....I’m going away to train to be a doctor soon Jensen, and I still flinch away from strangers...how am I supposed to do my job? I need to do this; please...I know I’m asking a lot from you, I know he hurt you too and I......”
Jensen stopped Jared’s tirade with a press of his fingertips to his lips;
“It’s ok Jared, of course I will come with you, I wouldn’t let you do this alone you know that.”
Jared nodded gratefully and pulled him in for a hug and sighed deeply, and Jensen held on, grateful that Jared was making such tough decisions and acknowledging what he needed to do to move on and terrified for him all at the same time. But he would get there, for Jared in the last twelve months, had shown such determination and strength of character in his quest to over come not only the physical but the mental aftermath of what he had been through. He was sure that any other man would have been left crippled, but not Jared and he had told Jensen often that he would not be where he was without the love and support Jensen had shown him.
“Hey, I got some news!”
Jared raised his head and smiled at Jensen’s obvious changing of the subject,
“What’s that?”
“Chief Collins called me; they want me to take up a position as deputy chief detective now instead!”
Jared’s eyes widened and then he grinned wide and full his whole face radiating with pride and joy at Jensen’s excitement. He grasped Jensen and kissed him soundly, his leg still too achy to stand and hug him properly.
“Oh Jensen that’s fantastic! I’m so proud of you! You are going to do a great job, man I can’t believe we are actually doing this!”
Jensen grinned and rose, pouring Jared a coffee and bringing it back to him and he watched leaning casually on his desk as Jared sipped it gratefully.
“Have I told you lately how proud I am of you Jared Padalecki? Because I am, you have come through so much and damn I can’t believe you are all mine, how brave you have been uprooting everything.”
Jared looked up at him and lowering his mug he rose stiffly and limped the couple of steps to where Jensen relaxed against the desk. Jensen never moved except to place his hands on Jared’s waist as Jared leaned into Jensen and placing his forehead against Jensen’s whispered;
“I am who I am because of you, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, you were right in encouraging me to leave, and I will never be sorry, where you go I go. I love you.”
Jensen smiled through a rush of such love for this wonderful, brave man and whispered huskily “I love you too.”
Chris quietly closed the door behind him, and left the two men alone once more. They obviously hadn’t heard him knock and he could see why, he sighed and leaned on the closed door for a moment, feeling his heart break just a little at the thought of not having these two men in his life constantly . In a month they were leaving here, leaving Hazard, he wasn’t sure where the road would take them, or him for that matter, but he knew his place was here, straightening out this town and being the sheriff this town needed.
But he knew that wherever Jared and Jensen went from here, and no matter the mountains both had to climb, that as long as they held onto the love they had for each other, they would be fine.
Moving way from the door, he headed back to the office to return a call left by a possible replacement for Jensen, a man by the name of Steve Carlson. He smiled to himself softly, he had spoken to the man a couple of times now, over the phone, and he had sounded interesting and needed a change from the police department he was currently at. He had learnt the man also had a love of music, and also owned a guitar like Chris; maybe they could get together and play a tune or two...
Maybe.
The End