Days Behind - Chapter 09
Jensen fell against the wall. “Jesus Christ, Steve! What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that you would have ‘manned up’ by now and told Jared what you did for a living.” Steve looked at Jensen like he’d just grown another head.
“And have him laugh me off the face of the Earth? No thanks.”
“Are you kidding me? He has kids - he’d think that was great. Besides, the man clearly thinks the sun rises and sets on you-“
Christian strolled into the room. “Oh, we talkin’ about Jared again?”
Steve waved his hand in Christian’s direction. “See?”
Jensen started to pace. “Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it? Somebody gave him full backstage passes.”
“Calm down.” Steve moved to put his hand on Jensen’s shoulder.
Jensen jerked his arm back abruptly. “How. Can. I?”
Misha rushed over to the two of them and managed to get a hand on Jensen’s back as he paced. “Whoa. Breathe.”
“…can’t...”
“Okay,” Misha changed tactics and steered him toward the couch. “Let’s sit for a moment -“
Steve went to sit by his band mate. “Better?”
Jensen’s answering glare was enough to make Steve start back for a moment.
“Guys,” Richard poked his head in the door. “We have sound check in five.”
Christian was the first to answer. “We’ll be there in seven.”
“I said five.”
“And I said seven. Take what you get,” Christian growled back. “Now, Monkeyboy, you need to get the hell over whatever is stuck in your craw and get your ass out there for the sound check.”
“Okay,” Jensen stood and dusted his hands off on his pant legs.
“Good.” Christian nodded, turning to Steve and nodding. “Why couldn’t you do that?”
Steve narrowed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Christian before following Jensen out the door.
“Check…check…check…” Steve spoke into the microphone before picking up his guitar.
“Check…Chris, you out there?”
“He’s on the phone,” Misha called back. “I’ll check his mic.”
“Remember to mumble a little…” Jensen sniped.
“All right, kids, let’s just get through this,” Steve gently reprimanded.
Misha bounded over to Christian’s microphone and planted his feet. “Check…check…check…I’m
Francis the Zebra and I am all rugged and awesome…”
Steve shot Misha a warning glare before turning back to the job at hand. “Let’s do a verse.”
“You want me to do it as Joe or Francis?”
“Whatever you want, man - it’s just to check the levels.”
“Oh! Why doesn’t Jensen get on my mic then? He can be Joe, you can be Pericles and I can be Francis!”
“No way, Misha. I’m not Joe, I’m Chip.”
“Haven’t you always wanted to be Joe, though?”
“Never even a tiny bit.”
“That’s too bad. I’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to be every animal in Sassafras Junction, but I only know what it’s like to be Joe.”
“You realize this is only a show, right? It’s not even a little bit real life.”
“Yes, Ch-Uh-Jensen. I know.”
“Sound check, guys?”
“Yeah, on my mark, Steve.” Jensen stood in his own place. “Check…check…yeah, that’s good for me.”
“How about this?” Steve played the opening to ‘Manners, Manners’ and began to sing. “This is where Chris comes in,” Steve sing-songed to Misha.
“Please and thank you go a loooong way…” Misha half-growled into the microphone before breaking into laughter.
Steve relaxed his posture out of frustration and cast a side-glance at Misha. Jensen saw him looking and tried to hold in a laugh.
“You have to admit, Steve, that’s classic Chris…”
Steve let a smile creep across his face. “Okay, yeah, that is pretty classic Chris.”
Misha got a mischievous look on his face. “Listen to me, I’m all growly and rough around the edges. I don’t even know how I got-“There was a loud, ominous crack causing Steve and Jensen to turn slowly to look over at Misha.
Misha held the now broken microphone stand in his hand, looking at it as if it were an alien item.
"Ooooohh, Misha, you better just lie down right now and die ‘cause when Chris finds out you broke his mic stand, he's gonna kill you," Jensen said with the tiniest little bit of evil glee.
Misha knew that he was going to die - or at least be very hurt - because unless Christian Kane was stoned, Misha Collins was his least favorite person. And it was public knowledge that Christian Kane had one hell of a temper. And now Misha had gone and broken the man’s microphone stand.
Misha was mentally planning his escape route when the devil himself walked onto the stage smiling for once. Misha froze in place, the broken microphone stand in his hands, a weak smile on his face and perfect deer-in-headlights look in his eyes.
Christian’s face clouded over with rage as he looked from the microphone stand to Misha, then back to the microphone stand before changing his gaze to Jensen who was watching with what could only be termed eager anticipation of how Christian was going to handle this situation and then Steve, who was outwardly cringing because he felt he knew what was coming.
Christian drew in a breath and ran a hand through his hair as he looked down. “One…two…three…” he muttered as he took controlled breaths. “Okay, Collins. Just tell me you didn’t touch my guitar.”
“N-no. I was nowhere near your guitar. Just the microphone. Promise.” Misha backed away as Christian advanced.
“Good.” He stopped in front of Misha. Sure, Misha had a good three inches height on him, but Christian’s take-no-shit attitude more than made up for it. “Because if you had touched her…” he let Misha figure out the rest of the sentence for himself.
Steve put his hand on Christian’s shoulder, making him jump. “Okay, if we’re done with the pissing contest, we should finish this.”
Christian turned to face him. “Yeah, you’re right. Thank Carlson, Collins. He saved your ass again.”
“Thank you, Steven.”
The blast of applause hit the band as they played the last note. Jensen smiled over to Steve, who nodded and then started playing their signature closing song.
“Wash your face...”
“…and brush your teeth…”
“Hug and kiss your Mom and Dad…”
“Run to bed and turn out the lights…”
“GOODNIGHT SLEEPYHEAD!”
Another round of applause went up as the guys headed offstage and to the meet-and-greet area. Jensen surveyed the area, hoping to find a place to hide before Jared and the girls showed up.
“You ain’t gettin’ out of it, Ackles, you may as well just relax and go along for the ride.” Christian slid his arm around his band mate’s shoulder. “‘Sides you got makeup on. Ain’t nobody gonna recognize you.”
“I know,” Jensen sighed. “But still, I…”
He was cut off by the sound of a child crying. Loudly.
“Uh, Jen-Chip?” Christian looked over to him, worried. “There seems to be a small something attached to my leg.”
“Yes, Francis, I see that.”
“Well, Chip, where did it come from?”
“Maybe she is part of the meet-and-greet?”
“Okay, that’s great, but, man, where is her mama?”
Jensen looked around for a frantic parent, but found no one. “I don’t see anyone.”
Christian looked down again and smoothed his hand over the girl’s hair before pulling Jensen closer and whispering roughly. “Not good. Also, how’ d this kid find me? We ain’t even in the meet-and-greet room yet. This is a giant problem. Get Collins. He’ll know what to do.”
“Okay, you stay right here and I’ll be…” Jensen looked down at the still-crying child. “Honey, do you know where your mom is?”
She shook her head and sniffled. “Daddy brought us.”
“Us?”
“Yeah. And Daddy got losted.”
“Get Collins,” Christian whispered again, this time through gritted teeth.
“Mr. Francis?”
“Yes?”
“You’re my favorite, you know.”
“Thanks, kid.” Christian turned to Jensen. “Please hurry.”
Jensen nodded and all but ran through the door looking for Misha and Steve. The first one he ran into was Steve, who was busy making sure his mane was in order and trying to figure out how to smoke without setting it on fire.
“Steve! Thank God! Chris is trapped with a small child clinging to him!”
“Okay, I have to admit that was one sentence I never thought I’d hear.”
“Come on, man, there is a lost child out there and we have no idea what to do!”
“Calm down.”
“We need Misha. This is a Misha-type situation.”
“Hey! I can deal with lost kids too.”
“Then what do we do?”
“First, you realize that it’s not the kid that’s lost - we have the kid. It’s the parent that’s lost.”
“So where do we start looking?”
“Jensen, my friend, I don’t think we have to look too far.” Steve inclined his head. Coming toward them was a frantic looking father. A frantic looking father who looked awfully familiar.
“Shitshitshitshit,” Jensen chanted and tried to turn to leave, but Steve caught him by the tail.
“No way, man. Time to be the hero in this story.”
“I hate you so much right now.”
“Still waiting on that wedding invitation.”
“Shut up,” Jensen growled as the frantic man closed in on them. “I don’t want to do this.”
“Man up, Chip.”
Jensen just rolled his eyes as Jared came face-to-face with them. He was suddenly very glad that he was buried under the tons of makeup his costume required.
“I lost my daughter! She was there and then…” The man standing there realized who he was talking to.
“Wait. You’re Pericles! And you’re Chip! My daughters are never going to believe…Daughters! I lost Eleanor. Do you think you could help me find her? Like, use the loudspeaker or something?”
Jensen put his hand on Jared’s shoulder. “Let me guess, your daughter - Eleanor was it? Is a giant fan of Francis?”
“How did you know?”
“I think I know just where to find her.”
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” And then Jared wrapped Jensen in one of his should-be-patented hugs.
“I’ll just call Sandy and tell her that I found her and that she should meet me with Addison! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”
Jensen smiled over Jared’s shoulder at Steve, who was standing with his arms crossed and eyebrow arched. “Really, it’s okay. It’s my job.”
“She’s right this way,” Steve cleared his throat and pointed down the hallway Jensen had come running down only moments before.
“Oh! Can we go in together? That would make me look so cool!”
Jensen chuckled. “Yeah, sure.”
“Just need to make a call.” Jared pulled out his phone and Jensen couldn’t help but notice that the screen picture was one of the twins. “Sandy? Yeah…I found her…well, not me, but - and you are never going to believe this - Chip the Monkey…yeah…no, really…I promise…so, uh, you can just meet up with us now…you’re at the back of the line?” Jared looked to Steve and Jensen with puppy-dog eyes to see if they had heard. Steve rolled his eyes and let his shoulders droop for a moment before nodding.
“Hey, Sandy? Pericles says they’ll send someone to get you so you guys can just meet us here…no waiting…yes, that Pericles…I don’t know if that’s appropriate to say to him, Sandy…no, you can tell him that yourself…okay, bye. See you soon.”
The group rounded the corner to the meet-and-greet room to find Christian crouching to talk to Eleanor and the girl giggling behind her hands. When she heard the approaching footsteps, she looked up and spied Jared.
Jensen didn’t think the girl’s face could get happier, but he was wrong. Eleanor launched herself at
Jared and he caught her before holding her so tight she couldn’t breathe.
“Daddy…too tight…” she gasped, a hint of laughter in her words.
“Oh, sorry, Ellie. I was just so worried about-“
Eleanor cut her father off. “You didn’t have to be worried. Francis was telling me stories about when they had a skunk loose in the Junction!”
“Is that right?” Jared smiled over to Christian, who shrugged. “Well, that was very nice of Francis, wasn’t it?”
“Oh, Daddy, you know he’s my favorite.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Where’s Addy?”
“She and Sandy should be here soon.”
“Good. I want her to be able to meet Francis. And Chip. He’s her favorite.” Eleanor leaned to Jared’s ear and whispered, quite loudly, “And Auntie Sandy can meet her favorite - Pericles!”
Jensen laughed and cleared his throat in Steve’s direction, earning him an elbow to the ribs.
Misha joined the group. “Guys, they’re opening the meet-and-greet now - picture smiles!”
Jensen plastered on a smile, though how much was fake and how much was watching how much Jared loved his daughter was hard to say.
“Psst,” Steve nudged his band mate. “You should maybe stop staring.” Jensen shook his head to break the stare. “And this isn’t over, Jensen. You have to tell him.”
“I will, I will.”
“Pinky promise me?”
“What?”
“Pinky promise me you will tell him.”
“Why?”
“That shit is binding. Do it. Now.”
Jensen sighed and did as Steve asked, “Happy?”
“Yes. Now, let’s get this over with.”
Jensen had gotten through the meet-and-greet with flying colors and was more than happy to be walking through the door. He had barely cleared the threshold when his phone started to beep.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Jensen! I didn’t catch you at a bad time did I?” The drawl warmed him instantly.
Jensen smiled into the phone. “No, Jared, you caught me at the best time possible, actually, I just walked through the door.”
“You have a date?” Jensen could hear the frown from the other end.
“Nah, I had to go out and get dinner.” He rattled the take-out bag for Jared to hear. “Exciting life of a single man, you know.”
“No, actually, I don’t…”
“Oh, right. Anyway, what’s up?”
“I just got the girls to sleep and had to tell you about the night I had.”
Jensen fell onto his couch, bag rustling as he settled in. “Okay, go.”
“First, the show was great! Sandy and I had as much fun as the girls. Though, when it was over and we were going to the meet-and-greet, somehow, Eleanor got away from us.”
“Really? What happened?”
“Not really sure - she just got away from us. But it had a happy ending.”
“I’m assuming, seeing as you aren’t freaking out right now.”
“Yeah, you’re right about that.” Jared’s short chucklelaugh went right to Jensen’s heart. “But the best part is that she was found by none other than Francis himself!”
“Francis?”
“The zebra - oh right, I keep forgetting you don’t know. I really should give you a lesson in Sassafras Junction-ease one day.”
Jensen smiled, even knowing Jared couldn’t see him. “You know, Jared, that sounds like a great idea. I’d like that.”
“You free Wednesday?”
“What?”
“Wednesday - you free?”
“Sure?”
“Good, you can come over, we can have dinner, and you can be taught a lesson by the biggest experts I know.”
“You want me to meet the girls?” Jensen’s throat felt suddenly dry.
“Let’s be honest here. When I was at the concert tonight, all I could think about was how much more fun it would be if you had been there with me instead of Sandy.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and at one point, I even thought I heard your voice. Crazy, huh?”
“Insane.” Jensen bit his lip. “Listen, Jare, I have something to tell-“
There was a loud thud from the other side of the phone. “Jensen, can I call you right back? I think one of the girls fell out of bed…”
“Yeah, sure, go on. I’ll be here.”
“Thanks! Talk to you soon.”
Jensen smiled and hung up, looking around the dark room. “Jensen, you stupid fuck…”
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