Broken Angel 11/14
Title: Broken Angel 11/14
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Word Count: ~4700
Rating/Warnings: NC-17 for violence, sexual situations, and references to non-con(but nothing graphic)
A/N: This story is based off a prompt by the amazing imogen_lily . Thank you so much for the gorgeous banner and for letting me play with this idea! I appreciate all the help sweetie!!!
Summary: Senator Fred Lehne has been brutally attacking, raping, and murdering young men for over a decade, but always evades arrest thanks to his money and power. He has everyone fooled, except one team of detectives headed by Captain Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his protege Jensen Ackles. When things become worse, Morgan goes to FBI agents Misha Collins and Jim Beaver for help. They offer it in the form of Jared Padalecki, hotshot profiler who also happens to be Jensen's boyfriend. But there is more to Jared...he also happens to be the only surviving victim of Lehne's...
Jared’s body throbbed and protested despite the soft padding of the chair. His head wasn’t doing much better. He should’ve stayed home and crawled under the covers for the day. No one would’ve blamed him. But no…instead he was sitting at the precinct, surrounded by pictures and files for the trial…his trial against Lehne.
He began to shift a little, wincing as the motions pulled on his still healing stitches. He felt a hand settle on his shoulder and squeeze gently. He looked up to see Jensen’s concerned eyes scrutinizing him. “I’m fine,” Jared whispered.
“Jared…you can take a break,” Jensen whispered back. “We’re just going over some details here. You can go back home and get some sleep or-“
“No…I need to be here. It’s ok. I’m just a little sore. Nothing I can’t deal with, Jen.”
“But-“
“Really,” Jared added softly. He reached over and took Jensen’s hand, squeezing it gently. “Promise.”
Jensen nodded before turning back to their work. Misha glanced over at them before continuing. Neither had noticed he had stopped talking to check on them. Everyone was worried about Jared. He was doing better, but that didn’t mean he still wasn’t having some problems. He’d bee seeing Sam and her friend Eric for a couple of weeks now. He’d been opening up more and more to Jensen each day. It was still hard…and it probably always would be. But he was managing for once.
“So,” Misha continued, “we know Fuller is going to try to slam Jared and the rest of us in court. It’s about the only option he has. The evidence is pretty damning, but with us all being so close to Jared…there’s a chance he could say that way we tampered with it or brought in people who would still do what we wanted with it.”
“That’s bullshit!” Jeff snapped.
“Jeff,” Jared warned. “You know he’s right. You’re my brother, Jen’s my partner…the rest my team. It makes sense for Fuller to do that.”
“Doesn’t make it right…”
“Didn’t say it did, bub. But it’s something we’ll have to deal with for a counter attack. Misha’s right.” Jared scrubbed a hand over his face. He still had the few remnants of bruising.
“So…we’re just supposed to sit back and let him get away with it?” Jeff countered.
“No…but…I-“ Jared stuttered, trying to figure out an answer.
“Think I can help with that problem,” JD called into the room as he opened the door. “I’ve got someone in room 3 that might be able to help us a little.”
“What’re you talking about?” Jensen questioned his boss.
“Mark Pellegrino just walked in…”
“Holy shit,” Misha gasped. “You’re kiddin’ me?”
“Nope,” JD answered with a grin. “Fuller and Lehne want to pin a whole bunch of shit on him instead. So…he decided it was time to switch sides and help us out. At least I think he does.”
“Could be a trick,” Jared sadly added. “I mean…what if…”
Jensen squeezed Jared’s shoulder. “I’ll go interrogate him. That way I can get a feel if he’s screwing with us. Ok?”
“And I’ll be in there too,” Jim piped up from the corner. “JD and I both will. Bastard won’t know what hit him when we’re through with him…”
“Guys,” Jared warned. “You can’t do anything to him…that’ll just screw us more.”
“I know…unfortunately,” Jim grumbled. “Come on, let’s get this over with.” He nodded towards Jensen and JD to follow him out towards the other room.
Jensen glanced at Jared one last time before getting up to follow the other two out of the room. He saw Jeff move closer to Jared as he was walking out the door.
“Jen,” JD said, gaining his attention. “You going to be ok in there? I can’t have you go off on Pellegrino. It can’t happen. You going to be ok to do that?”
Jensen nodded quickly, not wanting to be left out of the interrogation.
“I need to hear you say it, son.”
“I know I can’t do anything to him, JD. I’m not. I’m not jeopardizing this case. I want the bastard in jail. I want Jared to be free of this shit. I’m not going to-“
“Thank you,” JD interrupted him, gently cupping the back of Jensen’s neck. “Well, let’s get this over with.”
With that, the three men hurried into the room where Mark was already waiting. He looked pale and haggard in the fluorescent lighting. His head was hanging down, but it instantly shot up as the detectives and FBI agent walked into the small space. He looked at them, not really showing much fear or other emotion. “Officers…”
They nodded towards him and took up the seats across from him. Jensen opted to stand in the back, just in case it did prove to be too much for him.
“Not gonna lie, Mr. Pellegrino,” Jim started. “You’re about the last person we even expected to walk into our precinct.”
“Well…have to do what I have to do…”
“You know we can’t guarantee that you’ll be free of jail time or any punishments. Not with this magnitude of a case.”
“Understand,” he muttered softly. “What can you guarantee?”
Jensen tensed but kept his mouth shut, allowing Jim and JD to take the lead.
“Not much until we know what we’re dealing with here,” JD replied. “But I can guarantee it’s better than what Senator Lehne will do for ya.”
“Yeah,” Mark huffed. “Sonnuva bitch wants to pin all the charges on me. Say I’m the one who raped and murdered all those kids. Bastard wants to claim I took your boy to the cabin and he was trying to rescue him.”
“WHAT?!?” Jensen raged. His hands tightened into fists at his side. The muscles in his arms rippled as his strained to stay in place and not do something he would regret.
“I’m telling the truth,” Mark continued. “I swear that’s what Fuller’s cooking up for is defense. It’s utter bullshit…but with Lehne’s rep…”
“It could sway the jury…unless you give testimony for the prosecutions side instead.”
“Pretty much,” Mark sighed. “Look…I get that you can’t promise me anything. But what am I looking at if I work with you.”
“First you have to tell us what you did for Lehne over the years,” Jim answered. “It’ll depend a lot on that.”
“Fine…I can start from the beginning…”
The three men looked surprised at his response.
“Look, if I don’t do this, I risk being convicted on all this shit and getting death row for something I didn’t do. I’m not gonna sit here and say I am innocent, but I didn’t do what he did.”
“What did you do then?” JD asked.
“I got hired on about eight years ago, so just after Dr. Padalecki’s initial attack. Lehne has always been furious about him getting away, but I didn’t know that back then. At the time, I thought he needed someone on his team with special talents. I’ve always been good at finding people. I worked for security and investigation firms prior to this. I thought that’s the type of work I’d be doing…and to a point I did. But he also had…let’s say extracurricular activities for me.”
“How so?” Jensen couldn’t help but question.
“He…he wanted me to find…find his boys for him.” Mark shifted uncomfortably in the chair. “I thought he wanted dates. He’s never been that outspoken about gay rights or anything…so I thought he just didn’t want anyone to know he was gay. Then,” Mark shut his eyes a little at the memory, “I walked in on him cleaning up from one of his so called dates…”
“Why didn’t you call the police?” Jim countered.
“He threatened and bribed me. I had nephews at the time that were around the age of his victims. I didn’t know his type at the time and panicked. Then he threw money at me. I kept my mouth shut…it was stupid of me…”
“Very much so,” JD said. “Can you prove any of this?”
“I have records…receipts…even some articles of clothing that should have the DNA of both Lehne and some of the victims.” The men gaped at him once more. “I may have been stupid for going along, but I was never naïve. I was never under any allusion that this wouldn’t one day go to hell.”
“You realize we’ll have to charge you as a conspirator?”
“Yes, sir.”
“The fact that you were initially threatened could help you with a jury…the bribery though…”
“I understand…conspirator is better than murderer in the long run.”
“Very true,” JD added. “We’ll put a good word in for you, but you’re still looking at some time. Is there anything else you can offer us?”
“Talk to Lauren…get her on your side.”
“Why do you suggest that?” Jensen asked. “The girl’s never showed any interest in talking.”
“She’s petrified of Lehne. Always has been. She took the job because it paid extremely well. Lehne is brutal to the girl…you just need to talk to her. She’ll have some evidence on him too.”
“We’ve tried and-“
“Take the profiler with you. She’s never had to see what Lehne does,” Mark admitted.
Jensen glanced at Mark.
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s a little too late for that,” Jensen replied before he left the room. He stepped outside into the hall and slammed his fist into the wall. The pain ran through his knuckles and up his arm as he slumped against the wall. He put his head down onto his pulled up knees and tried to calm himself before going back to Jared.
A few seconds later, someone was pulling his hand away from his lap and placing an ice pack to the bruising knuckles. Jensen startled slightly and turned to look up at the newcomer.
“You know, you really gotta learn that the wall is normally innocent,” Jared said, smiling sadly. He leaned his cane against the wall and slowly slid down to sit beside Jensen.
“You should be sitting like this Jay. You’re still healing and you’ll hurt-“
“I’ll live. Keep that on you hand.” Jared pointed towards the ice pack and took a few seconds to catch his breath from the minor aches and pains. “So I take it things didn’t go well?”
“He’s offering up records he’s kept and some articles of clothing that belonged to some of the boys…”
“Wow,” Jared gaped.
“He also apologized.”
“Huh.” Jared bumped shoulders slightly with Jensen.
“Huh? That’s all you can say??”
“Not much else to say, I guess,” Jared replied, not really showing any anger.
“How can you be so calm over all that?”
Jared shrugged lightly. “Jen, what he did bothers me more than I could ever say. But, he’s doing the right thing.”
“He didn’t really have a choice.”
“I know…but still. He could’ve done something worse.” Jared took Jensen other hand in his. “And hey, it’s not like I’m adding him to our Christmas card list or anything…”
Jensen laughed softly. He then leaned up and gave Jared a kiss on the lips. “You’re pretty incredible.”
The door suddenly opened beside them, and Pellegrino stepped out with JD and Jim pushing him along. He looked towards Jared and gave a slight nod. Jared didn’t say anything or give much of a reply. He tilted his head a little in recognition, but didn’t offer much else. He just stared down the hall as Pellegrino was led down to booking.
“Hey,” Jensen whispered, cupping Jared’s neck. “It’s ok.”
“Yeah…thanks.” Jared let his back relax a little into Jensen’s side.
“Hey guys,” JD said as he walked over towards them. He knelt down beside them both, placing his hand on Jared’s back and rubbing gently. “You doing ok, kid?”
Jared gave a sad smile and nodded. “I’ll be fine. Just glad he talked.”
“Same here,” JD replied. “Now let’s just see if we can’t convince Lehne’s secretary to follow in Pellegrino’s footsteps.”
“What?” Jared asked with confusion.
“Mark wants us to get Lauren to open up to us,” Jensen sighed. “She’s never done it before, but he thinks we should give it a try. I guess I’m heading out to her place in a few…”
Jared worked his lower lip between his teeth for a few seconds. “Let me go with you,” he finally said softly.
“Jay I don’t-“
“Mark said we should have you go,” JD interrupted. “But I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I think we can trust what he’s telling us but-“
“Jensen will be there,” Jared added. “I’ll be fine.”
“Jared…”
Jared shot Jensen a pleading look, turning on the puppy dog eyes.
“Fine…but you follow my lead. If I think he’s setting us up…”
“I’ll stay behind you,” Jared smiled.
“We’ll be back then, Cap.” With that, Jensen pushed himself up to his feet and then helped Jared up. He could tell his boyfriend was still hurting from the movement, but he didn’t say anything on it. He just stood there while Jared caught his balance and everything. Afterwards, they slowly made their way out to the Impala. Jensen helped Jared into the passenger side before climbing in behind the wheel.
“So,” Jared started once they were driving towards Lauren’s house. “What did Pellegrino say?”
“A lot really…Lehne apparently threatened him at first then bribed him enough to keep quiet for so long. Not sure if that’s what he’s really done with the girl though. Mark made it seem like she’s petrified of Lehne and just doesn’t understand the magnitude of what’s going on. I don’t know…I can’t tell what I should believe. He just said we should take you along with us. Lauren’s never had to actually face what Lehne does…”
“What he did,” Jared softly correctly, averting his eyes down to his lap.
“Hey,” Jensen whispered. “I’m sorry, babe. You don’t have to do this…I should take you home and -“
“No.” Jared scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m being stupid. Sorry.”
Jensen pulled over against the curb in front of Lauren’s place. “Listen to me Jay…you have nothing, and I mean nothing, to be sorry for when it comes to all this. Got me?” Jensen waited for Jared to nod. He then leaned over and pulled Jared’s chin up so that he was looking into his eyes. They shared a look before Jensen pressed a kiss to his lips. “Let’s get this over with then and get home.”
After one last kiss, they both climbed out of the car. Jensen pouted a little as Jared dragged himself out before Jensen could help him. He wasn’t trying to be smothering, but he still didn’t love Jared doing a whole lot on his own just yet. He was still having a hard time.
They slowly made their way up to the front door. Jared pressed the bell and they waited. They ended up having to press it again when Lauren didn’t appear.
“Think she’s home?” Jared asked.
“Her car’s in the driveway,” Jensen replied with a shrug.
Jared looked around and noticed the front curtain move ever so slightly. “I’ve got an idea. I think she’ll open up and check to make sure we’ve left if she can’t see us.”
“You’re seriously suggesting we hide?”
“Pretty much,” Jared sighed as he started walking away. Jensen shook his head but followed anyway. They made it look as if they were heading back to the Impala before doubling back out of her line of sight. Just as Jared had suspected, Lauren poked her head out the door to see if they were really gone.
Jensen jumped up from where he was and gently grabbed onto the door. “Ms. Cohan?”
She jumped as he appeared and tried to dart inside.
“Ma’am please!” Jared called from off to the side. He couldn’t move as fast as Jensen with his injuries. “We just want to talk to you.”
“Y-you’re…oh God,” she gasped. “I can’t. I-“
“Please,” Jared pleaded. “It could help a lot and-“
“And I can’t,” she said more sternly. “I just can’t…”
“Why not?” Jensen asked in a similar tone to hers. “It could help nail the bastard you’re supposed to be so afraid of. Don’t you want to see him in jail?”
“Of course I do!” she snapped.
“Then let us in to talk,” Jared said softly. “Mark told us. We know you’re afraid of him. I understand that better than anyone. I know exactly what he’s capable of.” Jared’s voice cracked a little but he kept going. “Please talk to us.”
Lauren looked as if she was debating about what to do for a few minutes before she opened the door up more and motioned for them to follow her inside the house. She moved towards the couch and sat down. The boys followed, shutting the door behind them. Once all sitting, Lauren started fiddling with the hem of her sweater. “I don’t really know what you want from me. I’m just a secretary.”
“Surely you have noticed something that could help us with Lehne. Any files that he asked you to shred that you maybe hadn’t gotten to yet. Overheard something you’d be willing to test-“
“I am not getting up on the stand in front of him!”
“We have a great deal of evidence but that doesn’t always guarantee a jury won’t be swayed by a charming defendant. It happens. Do you really want to see Lehne out there on the streets? If you have something that can help build more of a case…why wouldn’t you want to help?” Jensen asked as calmly as he could. Jared had stayed relatively quiet throughout everything.
“And even if I do help he could still get off and do something to me because of it. I don’t see him ending up in prison, detective…”
“Jensen. Just call me Jensen. And you already know this is Jared…”
Lauren’s eyes flicked over to Jared. She actually looked close to tears as she took in the cane and visible bruising that still marred his face. She closed her eyes before focusing once more on Jensen. “Kurt Fuller is highly intelligent. And Lehne…he’s one crafty bastard. Put them together and I don’t see this going in your favor. He’ll be out and I’ll be screwed. I’m sorry but I think you should leave.” She stood from her place on the couch and started to move towards the door, but Jared gently caught her hand in his own as she moved past him.
“Wait…can I say one last thing?” His voice was timid and extremely shy. When Lauren didn’t protest, Jared let go of her hand and began to unbutton his flannel shirt. He then pulled down the black t-shirt underneath, just enough that you could see the area above his heart where his wound was. He slowly pulled the bandage away from his skin to reveal red and puffy lines that were shaped into the lily.
“Oh God!” Lauren paled at the sight. “He…”
“Y-yes…he did this. It’s wh-what he does to all of us…all his v-victims,” Jared chocked out. “He...” Jared closed his eyes, a few tears slipping through. “He normally starts out really small, just going a little into the skin. He then goes deeper and deeper until you have so many of your veins ripped open and bleeding. It’s torturous and a lot of guys have died that way at his hands. Do you really want another one to, ma’am?”
Lauren bit her lip and allowed a few tears to escape. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but them just shook her head and walked away towards another room. Jensen just looked at Jared, whose hands were now shaking as they struggled to put his shirt back together.
Jensen reached over towards Jared. He ran one hand through Jared’s hand while the other made quick work of the buttons. He then grabbed Jared’s shaking hands in his own before kissing him on the lips. “You gonna be ok, babe?”
Jared gave him a wane smile and nodded. “Think so…”
“H-here,” Lauren said as she returned. “It’s files he wanted me to shred. They…they’re all on some of the boys he…well…”
“Thank you,” Jensen said. “Is there anything else?”
“I’d get a warrant to search his office at the children’s center. He spent a lot of time there. So might have something…”
“We’ll check into it. Thank you.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Jared added softly.
Lauren glanced at his chest as he stood up. “I’m sorry.” Before Jared could really reply, she began leading them to the door. She handed Jensen her card. “If you need anything else, all my contact information is there. Just promise me that I’ll be protected if this does fall through…”
“Of course. Thank you.” Jensen slid the card into his pocket before putting his arm around Jared and walking back to the car. Jared trembled a little once inside the familiar Impala. “You’re ok, Jay.” Jensen once again ran a hand over Jared’s head. He squeezed back of Jared’s neck.
“I…I don’t know why I showed it to her. It-“
“Was what got her to talk to us, babe. You were incredible in there!”
“No I wasn’t I just-“
“Got us another witness for our side. That’s pretty damn amazing last I checked.”
Jared’s lips twitched into a little bit of a smile. “Thank you.”
“Any time, Jay. Let’s drop these off at the precinct and head home. We’ll have Jim work on the warrant.” With that, he pulled away from the curb and headed off down the street.
*********
“You sure about this, Jay?” Jensen asked for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning.
“I’m fine, Jen,” Jared sighed.
“But last night you were-“
“I was sick because I took those pills without eating first last night. I’m fine…”
“You still look pale. I think you should’ve stayed home and-“
“Jensen! Calm down,” Jared laughed. “I’m ok this morning. I’m a little tired where I was up half the night sick, but I’ll be fine. I’m just going to go in and clear out my office while you and Jim go through Lehne’s. I just had a few files I wanted to pick up. It will just take me a minute. Then I’ll lay down on the couch in there and wait on you…ok?”
“Fine,” Jensen huffed. “Still think you should’ve stayed in bed…”
Jared rolled his eyes at his boyfriend and kept walking down the hallway. “My room is over here. I’ll wait on you here.”
“It shouldn’t take us too long. We just have to box everything up and bring it in for Danni and Chris to sort through it all. We’ve got another team coming in to double-check our work tomorrow. We’ll make this quick so you can-“
“Go on already, Jen. Jim is gonna kick your ass if you make him do it all…”
“Hmph,” Jensen pouted. “That’s so true. Alright, I’m going.” With that, Jensen rushed down the hallway towards Lehne’s old office.
The center was pretty quiet this morning. Only a few kids were milling about on the playground outside when they arrived. The game room inside was fairly empty though. Jared was thankful for it all. It meant he didn’t have to see the look on all the kids’ faces. He knew his own had been plastered to the news and magazines…it was unavoidable given the high profile nature of the case and Lehne. It still wasn’t fun.
With a sigh, Jared pulled the door to, leaving it just cracked open. He flicked on a light, illuminating the extremely messing office. It looked as if someone had turned his space upside down. He wouldn’t be surprised if Lehne hadn’t once he knew who Jared really was. Jared hobbled over to the small desk and pulled out some of the drawers. They were all pretty much empty. He then moved his hand down to the other side where he had locked a draw using an old locker lock. He quickly did the combination and pulled it open. All his important documents he had stashed away were still there.
They weren’t anything too crucial, but he still wanted them. He had found some things at the center that he had taken note of here and there. Some children he had wanted to keep an eye on in case Lehne, God forbid, was freed. He also had taken notes of some ways to improve the center that he wanted to be able to pass along to the next moderator.
Jared leaned back in the desk’s chair so that he could stretch his leg out in front of him. The tight muscles started to relax and allow Jared a reprieve from the soreness that had settled in them. He was flipping through the papers when a soft shuffling sound made him look up.
A smaller boy stood in the doorway, shyly looking up at Jared. He had an oversized hoodie covering his gangly frame. His long bangs hung down into his eyes. He shifted from foot to foot on his dirty converse. He looked a lot like Jared had at that age, all arms and legs. His hazel eyes flicked up to Jared and then back to the ground.
“Hi,” Jared called over. “Can I help ya kid?” Despite Jared’s kind tone, the boy shrank more behind the door. “Hey,” Jared said even more softly. “Are you ok buddy? You can come in. I won’t bite.”
The boy looked hesitant but slowly came inside the room. He shut the door a little as he came inside. He kept his eyes towards the floor again until Jared started to get up. Jared’s leg buckled as he tried to put the pressure on it, so he opted to use the chair to move over towards the kids. He unlocked the wheels and pushed himself to the side of the desk and over towards the boy with his good leg.
The boy started to shake a little as Jared came closer, but he stayed in his place. “Y-you’re the g-guy L-lehne h-hurt…r-right?”
Jared startled a little at the question but tried to recover quickly for the boy’s sake. “I am…”
“I’m sorry,” the boy whispered. “You were so nice to us here…”
“Thank you.” Jared scooted closer. “What’s your name?”
“C-colin…”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jared…but I guess you already knew that.”
“You taught us how to shoot a free throw.”
“I did,” Jared laughed.
Colin smiled a little then turned more somber. “You made it fun here for me…”
“Was it not fun before?”
“Used to be…until I turned twelve last year and hit a growth spurt. Lehne changed after that…”
“H-how so?” Jared asked with trepidation.
“He…he always came over to me and talked. It was ok at first…but…then he got weird. Would say things about how handsome I’d be when I got a little older. How perfect it would be. Always touched me…”
“Wh-where did he touch you, kiddo?” Jared’s throat felt tight with emotions.
“N-not…not there…not like you,” Colin mumbled. “Always on my shoulders, arm, back…but he started to move lower on my back each time. Would grab my arm when I’d try to leave. Hurts…” A few tears started to course down Colin’s pale cheeks. “He…he was going to do more to me, wasn’t he?”
Jared cautiously pulled the boy towards him and wrapped his arms around him. Colin cried into Jared shoulder. “Shhh…it’s ok. I don’t know if he would’ve Colin. I don’t know.”
“But he can’t now right? He’s going away forever now, right? You’re putting him away?”
Jared felt his own tears start to fall. “You bet I am…”
Jensen had tears of his own streaming down his face. He made his own promise right then and there while standing on the other side of Jared’s office. Lehne would not be seeing the light of day if he had anything to do about it…
Next Chapter -->
Masterpost
A/N: Sorry this took so long and I also apologize for any typos. I didn't get the chance to really edit and I wanted this up before I watched the new SPN ep tonight!