The Kapok Shade Detective Agency for Exotic Solutions, Part Five
Title: The Kapok Shade Detective Agency for Exotic Solutions
Author: tcs1121
Artist: thruterryseyes
Pairing and Characters (in order of appearance): Jensen/Jared, Lauren Tom, Osric Chau, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, D.J. Qualls, Samantha Ferris, Mark Pellegrino, Misha Collins, Nathan Fillion, Alona Tal, Tahmoh Penikett. Mentions and cameos: Chad Michael Murray, Felicia Day, Jim Beaver, Steven Williams, Sterling K. Brown, and original family members
Rating: NC-17, bottom Jensen
Genre: J2 AU, h/c
Word Count: ~37,000
Warnings: Drug addiction and drug rehab, one brief suicidal ideation, one character is a cross-dresser (not one of the Js). This warning under the gray is also a spoiler Minor Character Deaths but not one of the J's. It might be more fun to read without knowing that. ;-)
Disclaimer: Untrue story. Character names are being used without permission. No money changes hands.
~~Special Thanks to:~~
My Tireless Beta: kee who always knows how to talk to me, what to say to help my stories along, and never lets me get away with anything. I love her more than just a little.
My First Reader: SPN_J2fan whose careful attention to detail and kind consideration of these characters makes her a joy to work with.
And Wendy: The ever patient moderator of the SPN-J2 Big Bang I don't know how she does it year after year.
A/N: Two year age difference between the boys. The real Jim Beaver is younger than this James Beaver.
~~*~~*
My Artist: thruterryseyes who went way, way above and beyond for this story.Please read my note of thanks under the fin.
Art Master Post to her many beautiful illustrations: ~~CLICK HERE~~
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Summary:
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Jensen was born an empath. With a touch, he can experience the physical and emotional sensations of another person.
Jared is a claire-clairvoyant, clairaudient, and clairsentient. He can hear, see, smell and even gather emotions from either side of the veil.
With Jensen's ability to feel the subject's emotions and pain, and Jared's extraordinary ability of communication, they work as paranormal detectives seeking the missing, the lost, the dead and the dying.
A new case puts Jensen's life in danger and Jared must use all his exotic abilities to find the perpetrator before time runs out.
~~*~~*~~
Back to Part Four
~~*~~*~~
~~*~~*~~Now~~*~~*~~
"Jensen, come on, babe, wake up." Jared gently shook Jensen's shoulder.
Jensen's breathing was shallow and he was drenched in sweat.
"Please wake up." Jared whispered frantically. Jensen had been out since those first few minutes after the seizure and Jared needed him to open his eyes. Like air.
Jensen's IV display blinked, the heart monitors beeped, and Jared kept his breathing timed with his.
Doctor Collins came in to check for progress and note Jensen's vitals. "I know you don't want to hear this, but he's getting worse. I thought he'd wake up within a few hours after the seizure, but more symptoms are appearing."
"He'll pull through. Once she's dead he'll be fine."
The doctor placed a gentle hand on Jared's shoulder. "You have to find Samantha Ferris before it's too late. Jensen's spiraling downhill fast, and unless you find her and break the connection, it's possible that he could go with her."
"How can that be? It doesn't work that way. This is an empathic connection, not a physical one. Let her die. Let her rot for all I care, this will all be a bad dream once she's in hell."
"That's how we think works, but we don't exactly know what happens when an empath dies during an empathic connection. This is uncharted territory. We can't say anything with certainty."
Misha looked down at Jensen. "Does this look empathic to you? Does this look like a mere connection of energies and not one of physical life forces? Jensen's muscles are weakening, his breathing is labored and his heart is working overtime."
"You don't understand," Jared growled. "Jensen was holding his father's hand when he died and all Jensen got was a little banged up. A connection between a father and son is sacred."
"It's not the same as empath to empath." Misha insisted. "Jared," he gentled his voice. "He's dying. You need to get to work and find a way to break their connection."
Jared squeezed Jensen's hand harder, whispering in his ear, "It's all going to be over soon. We're going home and then we're going on a long vacation. Just the two of us at the beach, listening to steel drums, and drinking out of hollowed-out pineapples. Please hang on, love, hang on."
Misha spoke, insistently, "I don't see a cure being discovered in time for Samantha. The lab is working at full capacity, but it's not going to happen. We need her to save Jensen."
"We don't know where she is." Jared swiped at his bangs. "Fuck Jensen. He said to let her go home instead of jail. Fuck that."
"Focus, Jared." Misha looked him in the eye. "You have to find her."
"I can't leave him."
"You have to. He'll understand. Use the skills you've worked your whole life to perfect to save his life."
"Jare?" Jensen's voice was weak.
"Hey, hey, I'm here. I'm right here." Jared slid over to sit on the bed next to Jensen.
Jensen's eyelids opened to half-mast. He could barely speak, but his eyes shone with the same fire they always had. "Send him away."
Without asking why, Jared turned to Misha, "Shut off the noise and leave us alone."
Without a word, Collins pressed buttons on the displays, silencing the mechanical sounds, and exited the room. All that remained were two soul mates in a quiet ICU cubicle, huddled side by side on a hospital bed.
"Jared." Jensen's voice was thin. "Jared?"
"Right here." Jared gathered Jensen into his arms and held him.
Jensen breathed choppy, uneven breaths; his nose buried in Jared's hair.
"Relax, love," Jared whispered. "I've got you."
Jensen trembled, but eased down onto Jared's chest. He asked, "Did you know that I was Catholic once?"
"Yeah." Jared smiled softly. "Little Jensen in choir robes."
Jensen grasped at the hem of Jared's shirt, but his grip was so weak he couldn't hold on. Jared sniffed, but held it together.
Jensen cleared his throat, "Yeah, I was an altar boy and everything."
"No kidding. So, you speak Latin?"
"Never." Jensen smiled.
Jared kissed Jensen's hand, fingers and palm. A tear finally dropped and mingled with the desperate kisses.
"So, uh, do you want a…anything?"
Jensen's abdominal muscles cramped. He folded in on himself and worked his way through it by taking deep breaths and hissing out small syllables of pain.
Jared kept his hold on Jensen's hand, waiting for the hurt to let up.
Finally, Jensen settled into an uneasy heap, closing his eyes.
"I maybe want," Jensen held Jared's hand for dear life, "I think I want a priest. Can you ask for one?" He opened his red-rimmed eyes.
"Of course I will, but first," Jared swallowed and continued, "I don't want you to give up. Don't give up on me-on us-on this life. Not for one second, because I am going to fix this."
"Shh, Jared. Shh. This isn't about me giving up. Believe me. If there's anyone in this world I trust. Anyone in this world I believe in. Anyone in this world I would live for, it's you." Jensen caught his breath and held back a sob. "I would do anything for you. But, I don't know if I can take much more of this without…" Jensen faltered, and he covered his face with his hand.
"Easy, Jen. Take it easy."
"I don't want to fail. I don't want to fail you. I couldn't…I couldn't bear it."
"I don't know what you're talking about. You could never fail me. No matter what happens, you are my hero." Jared's voice cracked on the last word.
"Jared, you're everything I've ever loved." Jensen smiled as best he could. "But you know that."
A wicked muscle spasm caught him off guard, curling him up into a ball of misery at the edge of the bed.
"Shit…fuck…oh, fuck," Jensen groaned.
"I've got you. I've got you." Jared murmured into Jensen's ear as he rubbed his sweaty, fevered muscles. "Hang on, Jensen. Please, Jen. Hang on."
Jensen finally settled. Small tremors flitted uncontrollably through his body. He shivered and then settled.
Jared brushed his hand through Jensen's short hair. Jensen's whisper was thin-as-rails, "I trust you, Jay. I just don't know if I…"
"I love you, Jen."
"I know. And that goes a thousand times for me. You've been by my side through thick and thin. You've helped me, saved me, understood me, I…I can't imagine anyone more perfect than you."
"Why are you saying this? You're talking like you're going to die." Jared was earnest. "That's not going to happen. You're all I've ever known. I'm not letting you go."
"I've realized that I don't say these things often enough, or, like, you know, at all." Jensen's voice caught. He clutched his stomach and moaned. "Wait…wait," he gritted out. "Oh, God."
His voice ended on a low moan, his arms and legs twitching and spasming.
Jared wiped Jensen's face and with a cool wash cloth until Jensen unfolded his legs and breathed easier.
Jared knew what he had to do. "Jen, listen, I'm going to find Samantha and bring her back here. We'll get her to end this. And I promise you-I promise you-I am going to make such fun of you about this when it's all over."
"I don't…I don't think so, Jay."
"Then I'll do the thinking. Promise me that you'll hang on as long as you can. Hang on until your last bitter breath, as long as there's any thread of life left. Hang onto it and wait for me."
Jensen blinked his wet eyes. He caressed Jared's face with the pads of his hot fingers. "I'll try. I swear I will. That's the most I can promise."
"I'll take it."
Jared held Jensen's tremoring body against his chest. Heat, like simmering coals, radiated under his skin. Jared pressed his forehead against Jensen's and whispered, "I have to go, but I won't be far. You need to feel this-feel me." Jared pushed every emotion he had into Jensen as best he could. His hopes for their future, his fear, his anger, his love, all of it.
Jensen made a humming sound and closed his eyes.
In a whisper-soft voice, Jared sang, "Did I ever tell you you're my hero? You're everything I wish I could be."
A tiny smile played at Jensen's lips.
"Oh and I, I could fly higher than an eagle, 'cause you are the wind beneath my wings."
Jensen stirred softly, all the tension in his body finally relaxing into unconsciousness.
"You are the wind beneath my wings."
~~*~~*~~
Jared drove up to Samantha Ferris's home and saw two cops in an unmarked car sitting across the street. He swore he heard the lock slamming shut on the horse-empty barn.
Technically, Jared didn't have permission to trespass onto the property. Legally, he didn't have the authority to break into the house. Literally, Jared didn't give a fuck.
Using a set of lock picks, Jared opened the back door and stepped into what would be called a mud room or laundry room in any other house. In this one, however, there were inset mahogany shelving units for hanging clothes built floor to ceiling. Low shelves were available for shoes, boots, and umbrellas. The high capacity front loaders were sitting up in their matching built-in mahogany cabinets. There were wide windows with window seats, Jared guessed so the kids could watch their parents do the laundry?
He walked into the large, modern kitchen of this grand, old, renovated Victorian mansion. Samantha and Nathan bought this house twelve years ago and over the course of their life here, spruced it up from top to bottom. They lived here with their daughter until Nate died almost four years ago. Jared was trusting that the spirit of Nathan Ferris was nearby.
Jared walked slowly around the kitchen. The walk-in pantry door was ajar and the Viking stainless steel appliances reflected the moonlight shining through the floor-to-ceiling casement windows.
Jared sat on a tall stool at the quartz-topped center island and thought, no matter how grand a house may be, the kitchen is always the heart of the home. He folded his hands and concentrated his senses, seeking to communicate with any spirits in the vicinity.
A familiar warm chill passed through him and he relaxed into it.
Jared filled his lungs and released his breath in a slow, measured exhale. Years of practice had honed his talent to an art. He closed his eyes and waited until the psychic energy in the room made his neck hairs tingle.
The chill in the air became more pronounced, but only just, and then Jared opened his eyes.
"I took my wife's last name, you know." Nathan stood next to the refrigerator with his hands in his pockets. "She was two years older than me, so that gave her seniority."
"I didn't know that's how it worked," Jared said.
The ghost of Nathan Ferris smiled. "I didn't think so, either, but I'd never been in love like that before, so I believed everything she told me. You're not here by accident; you're here to talk to me, and while I'm flattered that you went out of your way to contact me, there's probably a very bad reason for it."
"There is. I need your help, Mr. Fillion-Ferris."
"You know more about me than I thought. I'm intrigued." Nathan hiked his unsubstantial hip onto one of the stone countertops. "Go on."
"Your wife is dying, and so is ..." Jared stopped-blocking the words from coming out.
Nathan didn't notice. "I thought I sensed her life energy weakening." He hopped down from the counter and paced over to the double oven. "As bad as this may sound to you, I'd love her to be here, face-to-face and nose-to-nose with me again. Why do you think I'm still in my kitchen? It's because I don't want to move on to the next journey without her. Anyway, there's nothing I can do about it."
Jared steeled himself against as much emotion as he could and said, "She was poisoned. A new, uncatalogued neurologic toxin was used in a deliberate attempt to murder her. She doesn't know how it got into her system, only that it happened about a month ago. We need to know who had the knowledge to concoct and administer such a murder weapon, and who would want to kill her."
Nathan stood stock still and frowned. His whole appearance misted away for a moment, and a cold wind blew through the kitchen.
"Someone poisoned her? Who did it?"
"I don't know."
Ice crystals appeared on the range hood, and Jared's breath frosted in the air.
"There's more," Jared said. "Samantha's an empath and so is my partner. She empathically infected him with the same poison as an incentive for us to find her attacker. The poison acted fast, and he's really sick. I can only assume that your wife is as sick as he is. Tell me who would do this."
The frigid air slowly dissipated as Nathan strolled back around.
"People are pretty much the same dead as when they were alive. I'm not omnipresent, I mostly stay right here. I wasn't clairvoyant in life, like you are. I'm not any more skilled in reading minds or knowing the future now that I'm dead. You, of all people, know that death doesn't give the dead special powers. Why would you expect that?"
"You didn't answer my question. I didn't ask if you knew who did this; I asked who would do this to your wife?" Jared stared into Nathan's lifeless eyes.
Nathan's sigh was heavy for a spirit. "If Sammy dies, will your partner die, too?"
"We don't know, but he was very ill when I left him to come here." Jared stepped closer to the shadow-presence standing by the refrigerator door. "I believe he will die. That's why I left him alone in the hospital, because I have to do everything I can to keep that from happening. Jensen believes he's dying, too. Otherwise he would never have told me how perfect I am."
Jared was holding it together by a thread. "Your wife has gone missing and she most certainly is dying. Please, if you have any idea where she is, or who could have created a poison like this, tell me. Samantha poisoned my partner because she wanted to live so badly." Jared paused as a thought occurred to him. "Nathan, did you know you were going to be a grandfather?"
"A what?" Nathan's outline sparkled and a burst of lilac-scented mist filled the room. "Allie? My baby girl? She's having a baby of her own?" The lilac fragrance grew sweeter as it wafted through the air.
"Yes. That's why your wife was so desperate to live."
"No." The sudden deep chill hit Jared like a steamroller. "That's not the reason, at least not the only reason." Fillion's voice echoed off the tiled floors. "Sam wanted to keep a motherly eye on Alona, especially now."
"Tell me." Jared tried to keep from pleading outright.
"She was too young to get married. Certainly too young to marry him."
"Marry who?"
The apparition that was Nathan Fillion-Ferris sat heavily in the padded kitchen chair. "My daughter married Tahmoh Penikett about four and a half years ago. Tahmoh was a research worker in one of our PharmCare labs. She was eighteen and smitten, he was twenty-eight. But, when she set her sights, no one could say no to her." Nathan laughed in a sentimental way.
"Being the boss's daughter didn't hurt either," Jared added.
"That's true, but we made it clear that he wasn't going to get any special favors from us, that he would have to work his way up the ladder just like the rest of the staff." Nathan shifted in intensity. "We didn't want him using her."
"Did you like him? Did you get along?"
"We didn't not get along. He was disappointed that he couldn't afford to buy that new townhouse by the water because Sam and I didn't give them more of a down payment. We both thought he was kind of a spendthrift, but that may have been the opinion of two overly protective parents. Mostly, he was an enigma to us. Alona, though, seemed happy enough with him."
"But," Jared prodded.
"Happy enough, wasn't happy enough for Sam and me." He looked apologetically at Jared. "She's my only daughter. I wanted her more than just okay. I wanted her to be happy. Like I was, with Samantha."
Nathan paced back over to his comfort spot by the fridge. "They separated once for a couple of months. Allie moved back here and seemed much happier, but, again, that may've been a dad wanting to see what he wanted to see."
"Then what happened?"
"I died. Fell asleep behind the wheel after working too late." Nathan's form blurred. "Don't let that happen to you. Work is never more important than family. Nothing is more important than family."
Jared felt Nathan's energy dissolving and knew he had only one question left.
"Working in a PharmCare lab, would Penikett know how to synthesize a dangerous neuro-toxin?"
Nathan put his hands back in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "Absolutely." He was barely a translucent mist when he said, "Sam had them for dinner here at least twice a month."
And then he was gone.
~~*~~*~~
~~*~~*~~
"Jeff!" Jared ran to his car, shouting into his phone.
"You got something?" Jeff's voice crackled.
"Yes. Meet me at Samantha Ferris's daughter and son-in-law's place. Alona and Tahmoh Penikett. I need the address." Jared fired up the motor.
"We've already been there and questioned them. We got nothing."
"Did you search the house?"
"No, we didn't search the house. No strange answers, no weird sounds. From what I read they were concerned and cooperative. We had no probable cause for a search."
"We have cause, now. Nathan Ferris told me his son-in-law is capable of making the poison and that Samantha had them over for dinner twice a month. He could have put it in her food. Means and opportunity. Two out of three. Did you address that with him?"
"Of course not. As I said, they checked out."
"Nathan addressed it. As an Exotic Investigator, I have a special consideration when it comes to questioning a potential suspect without tangible evidence after questioning a non-corporeal." Jared revved the engine.
"Yes you do, but you can't accuse, or harass. We still need a motive."
"I know. I'm working on it. Let's go."
"We're going in easy, Jared. We're only knocking on the door and asking questions. Understand?"
"Yes. Yes! I need the address."
"Hold on." Jeff's connection hissed. "1841 Harborview West."
"That's by the water, right?" Jared's tires skidded out of the driveway.
"Right, off the 301 downtown. I'll be there in thirty."
"Make it twenty and we'll be pulling up at the same time." He cranked the wheel to the right and floored it.
"On it. Morgan out."
~~*~~*~~
~~*~~*~~
1841 Harborview West was a big, beautiful townhouse overlooking the water. The outdoor lights were on, illuminating the wraparound porch and front double doors. It was an end-unit so the porch wrapped around the front and the side of the cedar-sided home.
1839 Harborview West was dark and had a For Sale sign on the lawn.
Jared turned off his headlights and pulled into 1839's driveway. As he drew his key from the ignition, a police vehicle pulled in beside him and cut the lights.
"Remember what I said. Easy." Jeff climbed the steps to the Penikett's home with Jared close behind. "I'm doing the talking."
"You're talking. Got it." Jared's fingers itched to open the door and charge inside.
Jeff knocked and called, "Metro City PD."
A vague shuffling was heard from inside, and Jeff knocked louder. "Metro City Police Department. We have an update on Samantha Ferris's case."
Another minute went by before the door opened. A chain lock allowed the door to open three inches. The big, brown eyes of a petite, blonde woman peered up at them. There was a faded bruise under her left eye. "Can…can I help you officers?"
Jeff flashed his badge. "Are you Alona Penikett, Samantha Ferris's daughter?"
"Yes, I'm Alona."
"We have some information regarding your mother's investigation."
"Tell them it's a bad time." A male voice called from within.
"It really is a bad time," she said. "We'll cooperate any way we can, but could you come back tomorrow?" Allie's wet eyes were wide and she made the barest shake of her head.
Jeff made a shooing motion with his hand and she backed up. "We only have a couple of questions, but you're right. It is late." Jeff nudged Jared to back up, pointed to the door, and assumed a wide-based stance. Jared prepared his stance as well. "Sorry to bother you. We'll come back tomorrow afternoon if that's convenient."
As one, Jeff and Jared kicked full force at the open door, tearing off the door chain and damaging the hinges.
Alona placed her hands on her mid-sized baby bump and pressed herself against the wall. A male voice yelled, "What the hell? Hey, get out of my house!" A loud, shivering moan came from the back bedroom and they all went into motion. Jeff went after the man and Jared ran toward the back, stopping first at Alona.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm okay." She straightened up and followed him.
Jared walked into the dim bedroom. The smell of sickness permeated the air and Jared could feel her energy waning. Samantha's groans were louder now, and her voice trembled with the intensity of her misery.
"Please, can you help her? Can you help my mother?"
Jared looked down at the frail woman, surrounded by blankets, hot water bottles and wash cloths. Her ashen skin was soaked in sweat. Tremors wracked her body and her breathing was uneven.
"No," he said, sadly. "I can't."
Alona brought her hands to her lips and tried, unsuccessfully, to hold in a sob. "He brought her here because he said he had the cure, but it didn't work. I'm sorry, momma, I didn't know."
"No, baby, I'm sorry." Samantha could hardly breathe. Speaking was a tremendous effort, but she turned her eyes to Jared. "I thought, I thought I had more time. I never would have done this to your partner if I had known." Her fevered eyes shone as she gazed into Jared's. "That man was hurting my baby girl and I was too sick. I needed your help." She gulped in a trembling breath. "Please, forgive me."
Jared recognized the sound of her wheezing. It was the same as Jensen gasping for air.
He reminded himself how much he hated this woman, wishing her to rot in hell for attacking Jensen. He despised Samantha Ferris for poisoning Jensen, causing him to suffer like he was at death's door.
But then Jared stared into her sick, scared, bloodshot eyes. He knelt beside her bed and took her hot, sweaty hand in both of his. "Of course I forgive you, Sam." He pressed his lips to her forehead and stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry we couldn't solve the case in time to save you."
Alona's sobs echoed softly in the background.
"Maybe someday, Jensen could…try to…forgive me, too?" Samantha looked so earnest and so fragile.
"I'm sure he already has."
All the tension left her face and the lines of pain softened. Her eyes opened but she couldn't see.
"'Lona? You here, baby?"
"Here, mom." She took Samantha's hand from Jared and hugged her arms under and around her dying mother.
"I love you, baby girl."
"I know." Alona kissed Samantha's hair. "I know."
"Tell my grandkid that I'll always be…their… guardian angel. I'll watch…forever."
Sirens blared in the distance. Jeff must have called 911.
"I love you, mom." Alona was crying openly, now. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
Jared quietly left them to say their good-byes-and to keep the EMTs from interrupting them. There was no need for them now.
Tahmoh Penikett looked remarkably unscathed, sitting handcuffed on the sofa with nothing more than a bloody nose. He was stonily silent with a defiant look in his eyes.
"We know you had the knowledge to make the poison. We know you ate dinner at your mother-in-law's house twice a month, giving you the perfect opportunity to slip something into her drink."
Penikett sniffed and shook his head.
Jeff walked from one side of the room to the other. "What I don't know is why."
Flashing lights from the backup Jeff called began lining up on Harborview West.
"You have a beautiful wife, a lovely home, and a baby on the way. These are the things dreams are made of."
"Stingy, penny-pinching in-laws," Penikett said under his breath. "More money than God, and I had to get her pregnant before mommy dearest ponied up the down payment."
A light, cool mist wafted in the air and Jared breathed in. Lilacs. Centering himself he let out the breath and narrowed his eyes. Nathan Ferris shimmered into existence by the bedroom door. A wail of sorrow pierced the house and everyone stopped what they were doing as a sign of respect.
Samantha Ferris came up behind Nathan and tapped him on the shoulder. He took her hands, spun her around and smiled. They both glittered away.
"Tahmoh Penikett, you are under arrest for the murder of Samantha Ferris. You have the right to remain silent…"
~~*~~*~~
~~*~~*~~
Even more blue and red lights lit up Harborview West since Jeff had called for the coroner.
Penikett remained silent after requesting a lawyer, quietly submitting to being taken in to Metro City's Twenty-third Precinct.
There was so much commotion that Jared didn't feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. He didn't hear its soft electronic buzz a few minutes later, and a few minutes after that. He didn't think to check it as the grieving daughter accepted his arms as a modicum of comfort for the cold-blooded murder of her mother, by her abusive husband's hand.
Jared said his last good-bye to Alona and helped her into the front seat of an officer's vehicle. When Jeff approached, he was grim-faced.
"Jared, you need to get to the hospital."
"I know." Jared smiled, tiredly-yawning and stretched his arms wide. "Thank God, it's all over. Jense and I can take a couple of months off to bake ourselves brown on the beach. Or in Jensen's case, bake himself a freckled pink."
"Jared." Morgan turned Jared to face him. "Jensen's not doing well. Dr. Collins needs you back, now."
"What do you mean, he's not doing well? Samantha's dead. I'm sorry that we couldn't save her, I truly am, but when she died, the empathic connection she shared with Jensen should have been severed. He'll be fine."
"Jay." Jeff led him over to his police cruiser and opened the passenger's side door. "Jensen is not fine. Get in."
Jared stared blankly at Jeff's devastated expression and got in.
~~*~~*~~
Collins met them in the hospital lobby wearing the same serious expression Jeff wore.
Jared hurried up to him. "How is he?"
"Jensen's body is wearing out. He's barely hanging on."
"That's not true. You don't know him like I do. Jensen is the strongest person I know. We just have to wait until he senses that the connection is severed and then he'll realize that he's free of her and he'll be okay. He'll be okay. Let me see him."
"Jared, listen to me." Misha held his gaze. "It was bad. He's not in any pain and he's calm now, but I'm guessing the only reason he's still alive is to," the doctor cleared his throat, "is to tell you good-bye."
Jared had heard Samantha's moans and rattling breaths. Imagining Jensen going through those same death throes was unthinkable.
"Let me see him. Please."
Misha nodded and turned toward the elevator. Jared was at his heels when the doctor said, "I need you to understand something."
"What?" Jared mashed the UP button over and over.
"Jensen did the right thing." He aimed his piercing blue stare at Jared. "He'd want you to know that."
Jared would think about that later, what he wanted now was the fucking elevator.When the doors finally opened Jared said, "Dr. Collins?"
"Yes?"
"He wanted... Jensen asked…" Jared bit the inside of his cheek and tried it again. "Jensen would like to see a priest."
~~*~~
The lighting in Jensen's room was subdued and the machines hooked up to measure his vital signs had all been muted.
It looked as though the bedding was fresh, and Jensen wore a clean hospital gown.
It must have been bad.
Jared tried to ignore it, tried to explain it away, but Jensen's life energy was so faint it was almost non-existent.
Almost.
"Hey, sweetheart. I'm here." Jared smoothed Jensen's sweaty hair away from his face. "Right here."
His eyes were closed, but a slow smile spread across Jensen's chapped lips. "Jay," he sighed. "My Jay."
"I'm sorry I took so long to get back, but everything's okay, now." He held onto Jensen's hand, willing all his heart and soul into his touch.
"I love you too, Jay. So much." Jensen's breathing slowed. "I'm sorry."
"Don't go, Jen. Stay with me." Jared twined Jensen's fingers with his.
Jensen's chest rose and fell and stilled.
A warm, tender breeze puffed against Jared's face. Cut grass and summer rain.
"No, Jense. No."
A diffused aura fizzed in the corner. Jensen's outline was barely visible but it was him. He smiled, and said, "I'm glad you made it back in time."
"Jensen, you don't have to go." Jared squeezed Jensen's hand while staring at his apparition.
"It's not really a choice at this point, love." Jensen's hand grew colder and his aura grew sharper.
Jared opened wide his mind and spirit, as he had done so many times in the past. It was Pavlovian now on Jensen's part, and Jared felt the familiar empathic energy-weakened almost to nothing-but there nonetheless, tremoring weakly up his arm from Jensen's hand.
Jensen's outline blurred. In the hospital bed, his chest rose and fell again two more times and then stopped.
Strength and affection radiated out of Jared, powering straight for Jensen's heart, hoping to keep it beating.
"You were right. It was bad, Jay." Jensen's spirit coalesced. Stronger this time. "I didn't think I'd be able to hold on long enough to see you this one last time, so I," the spirit flared then contracted, "I asked for something for the pain. Something strong."
"Good. You needed medical help and you got help. I understand that. I never would have forgiven you if you didn't do everything you could to make it back to me."
Jensen in the bed made a small, shallow gasp for breath.
Air in, air out. That's all Jared cared about right now.
Everything in him made Jared want to break his promise and look into their future. He wanted to show Jensen how they would mellow and age and grow old together. He wanted to convince him to stay because he knew they would have a wonderful future ahead of them. But, he couldn't because he didn't know. He realized that these might, in fact, be their last moments together on this plane of existence. If it was, he wasn't going to risk it by looking into their future and breaking the most solemn promise he had ever made.
Remembering what Nathan had said, that people were basically unchanged after traveling through the veil, Jared pulled a card from his sleeve.
He addressed the presence in the room. "You said you would do anything for me."
"Anything I can, Jay."
"I made you a promise that I would make fun of you when this was over."
Jensen laughed, fondly. "And that's an incentive to stay?"
Jensen's chest rose and filled completely when his spirit laughed. And that gave Jared another card to pull.
"I intend to keep that promise, you brat."
Jared let go of Jensen's hand and squared off with his ghost. Jared was clairsentient. Literally, an empath for spirits. "I'm going to make such fun of you for telling me how perfect I was. How I'm the only one your teen-aged heart ever desired, and your favorite boyfriend in the whole world…evah."
Jared winked and flashed a dimpled smile. Jensen's apparition faded to a chuckling echo while his actual lungs filled deep and released.
Jared stepped closer to the ethereal presence, smiling. "You're the only one for me, too, babe. I told you once, I'll tell you again. You're all I've ever known. I'll show you what our life could be like if you stay."
Jared walked right into Jensen's aura, mingling completely with Jensen's essence. He felt the softness of Jensen's spirit all around him, like smooth silk caressing his bare skin. A kiss of warmth on his face. The fragrance of cut grass and rain intensified, mingling with the scent that was purely Jensen.
Since he couldn't foretell their real future together, Jared made it up. And, being that he was in total psychic connection with Jensen's emotions, he unabashedly amped it up as only Jared could.
His eyes rolled back.
They were standing on a snowy mountain top, Jensen swathed in wool and Jared in a puffy down jacket wearing a Sherpa hat with pigtails. Jensen had on skis and held a ski pole in each hand. After Jared stepped down and applied the bindings of his snowboard he closed his eyes and put his fingers to his temples. "I can see the future, and…and." He cocked his head to the right. "I see us. Yes, it's us at the bottom of this hill."
"Is that the best you can do?" Jensen asked, amused. "Some psychic you are, I can't even ski."
"The Great Padalecki sees more. I see us in our cabin, on a bearskin rug, making sweet, sweet love in front of a crackling fire. I'm licking the Hershey bar chocolate, roasted Stay Puft Marshmallows and Honey Graham cracker crumbs off your stomach and chest." He raised an eyebrow. "And I want S'more."
Jensen leaned back onto his poles, laughing. "No, you did not just say that."
"Oh, but I did," Jared said, nodding sagely. "But we're," Jared cocked his head to the left, "undecided about something. Something that needs to be resolved."
"And what is that, oh, Great Padalecki?" Jensen asked, chuckling.
"We need to know who…who?" His voice shook with mock strain. "Aww, what the hell, winner gets to pick the position." Jared nudged Jensen's shoulder and whooshed down the slope. "And the condiment!"
"It is so on!" Jensen's laughter called after him.
~~
Jensen's spirit body laughed and faded to gray. Jensen's lungs breathed in time with Jared's.
~~
In the next instant, Jared had them dressed to the nines, sitting on fold-up chairs on the stage in the Metro City Municipal Hall with a host of other well-dressed people. The audience was filled with news cameras, reporters, and the upper crust of the city's society. City Mayor, the Honorable Sterling K. Brown was at the podium delivering a speech.
"…and that is why we are here-to honor the civilian individuals and agencies for their
commendable service to the citizens of Metro City. These individuals, whom we have the privilege of honoring tonight, have gone above and beyond their civic duty and made it their priority to protect and serve the people of this great city. We are here to award these acts of valor. Some acts of heroism involve voluntary risk of life and limb. Others are honored for sustained meritorious performance of duty."
"You dream big, don't you?" Jensen leaned in, speaking softly.
Jared held his hand in the air. "Wait for it."
"One particular agency has demonstrated outstanding, selfless, unprecedented heroism in the face of danger, adversity and personal harm."
Jensen laughed out loud, "Outstanding, selfless, and unprecedented heroism?"
Jared nodded, "In the face of danger, adversity and personal harm."
"Metro City is proud and honored to present to the Kapok Shade Detective Agency for Exotic Solutions…"
"Oh my God, Jared," Jensen was laughing uncontrollably now.
Jared grinned. "Keep waiting, here it comes."
"The Key to the City."
Amid thundering applause, Mayor Brown held up a huge, mounted skeleton key with Metro City engraved on it.
"We award this key to Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles for consistently solving cases faster, with more finesse and for being better looking than the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books."
The applauding audience rose to its feet.
"You don't just dream big, you create imaginary galaxies!" Jensen stood and turned in a circle, both hands raised in the air. "You must be some kind of elephant. You never forget."
"Never, baby. Never."
~~
Jared saw Jensen's chest rising and falling in a normal, easy, rhythm. The color had begun to return to his cheeks, but Jensen's apparition was still far too present for Jared's comfort. He squeezed his eyes shut, rolled them back one more time, and hoped for an ace.
~~
They were stretched out in lounge chairs on the sands of an island beach, a shimmering prism of color appearing in the clouds right behind the setting sun. Ukuleles played and pahu hula drums pounded a sultry rhythm, flooding their bodies with a deep and sweltering beat. A sweating Blue Hawaii was in Jared's hand and Jensen sipped on a Mai Tai mocktail as they lay on the darkening beach. Tiki torches fired up one-by-one, like Christmas lights all along the tropical shoreline.
Behind them, the silhouette of Mount Kilauea smoked ash into the twilight sky. Jared stood and looked down at Jensen. He wiggled his toes in the still-warm sand, and swayed side to side.
The grass skirt he wore swished from right to left with the movement of his hips, and the flowered lei around his neck, made of orchids, hibiscus and pink lokelani swung in a gentle counterpoint. He smiled wickedly as he twirled around, fanning his grass skirt out and, in a low, steamy voice sang, "Day-oh! Daaay-oh. Daylight come and me wan' go hooome."
Jensen sat up so fast, his beach chair tipped back. "What?"
"Day! Me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say daaay-oh. Daylight come and me wan' go home."
"No, no, no! What are you singing that for?" Jensen was laughing and trying to catch his breath at the same time.
Jared moved his arms and hands up and down in gentle wave-like motions, as he swished his hips in a circle, singing, "Work all night on a drink of rum! Daylight come and me wan' go hooome."
"Oh my God, Jared, stop." Jensen hiccupped.
He shot Jensen a look and then shook his hips so the grass quivered madly. "Stack banana till de morning come!" Then turned in an opposite circle, waving his arms. "Daylight come and me wan' go home."
"Stop, please stop, that's so wrong for so many reasons." Jensen dissolved in gales of laughter.
"Six foot, seven foot, eight foot, BUNCH." Jared leapt up in the air, landing on all fours in front of Jensen. "Daylight come and how low can you go?" He waggled his grass-skirted ass from left to right.
"You win, oh my God, you win. Besides, I don't limbo," Jensen's otherworldly laughter echoed around them, but then he sobered. "God, I want to stay with you." He looked at himself, lying in the bed, as the Hawaiian vision melted away. "I want to stay so badly."
"Then that's all you need to do."
"It's not that easy. Not for me." Jensen's apparition smiled sadly, "I never forgot the promise I made to you to never take drugs again."
"What happened wasn't the same thing," Jared protested. "Not even close."
"Our whole lives, all we've been through, the only two things you've ever asked of me were to trust in you and not give in to drugs, and I caved-on both counts."
"Jensen, c'mon, man that doesn't matter. You needed something strong to get you through."
"It matters. I don't know if you know how often I fight these terrible battles with myself. I tell myself that one Percocet won't hurt. They're easy to get. I do have migraines and that's a purely plausible justification. But so is, 'Take the Vicodin, it'll ease the pain in your back -and the sorrow of having to tell Mrs. McKinney that Julia's never coming home.' Jared, I'd won battle after battle with my chemical demons until tonight. Tonight I failed, except that I got to see you."
"You did the right thing. It was a necessity, not a relapse."
"I don't know." Jensen glanced over to his body. "I could need them, you know. The drugs. I could become addicted again. It would be so easy. But, if I go now, I wouldn't have to risk that-or face how I let you down."
"Why are you stupid? Nathan said that we're still the same after we die, but you turned into an idiot. On the one hand, you're not dead, on the other, I am ready to strangle you." Jared shook his head. "I'll chalk it up to the near death thing because if you think, A, that I'm disappointed that you got pain relief, and, B, that dying because of it is a good idea, You. Are. A. Moron."
Jensen in the bed made a heavy sigh.
"I saw what Samantha went through at the end, and if you went through that, you didn't cave, you did the exact right thing because you were suffering." Jared paused, needing a breath. "Jesus, you went through all that, and I wasn't even here."
"Don't, Jared. I was pretty out of it."
"Thank God you got some relief." Jared shuddered. "Thank God for that."
Jensen's spirit faded to a white mist and, in the bed, he took deep, even breaths.
"Stay with me, Jensen, and don't be afraid of the future. Whatever problems may arise from the medication you took, we'll deal with them. You and me, together." Jared turned away from the spirit-smoke and sat on the bed. He kissed Jensen's temple and whispered into his ear. "Stay. Stay with me, my love."
"You have this knack of getting your way with me," Jensen's spirit said, from the ether.
"We both know that's bullshit."
The dwindling apparition threw its head back and laughed before flashing, and then fading completely.
Jared felt as Jensen's forces flew apart and filled the room. Then they settled down into the familiar waves of his normal energy patterns.
Jensen slowly opened his eyes. "I am not a brat."
"You are absolutely the brattiest brat that ever bratted." Jared looked down into Jensen's beloved face. "And I wouldn't have it any other waaay," he whisper-sang.
He kissed Jensen's pale lips, holding an open palm against his strongly beating heart. To his relief, Jensen deepened the kiss for several seconds before pulling back to breathe. He touched Jared's lips with the pads of his fingertips.
"It's over. It's all over," Jared said. "You're going to be fine."
"Thanks for not letting me give up." He looked into Jared's eyes. "For reminding me of what I have right here."
"Don't thank me," Jared grasped both of Jensen's hands in his. "How about you marry me instead?"
Jensen closed his tired eyes and smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."
~~*~~*~~
On to Epilogue
~~*~~*~~