Fic: Blue Thunder--Chapter Three
It was gone midnight when Jared got home from his first day on the job at Air Support and he was both tired and wired.
He checked his answering machine for messages-there was one from his mom asking how his first day had been and asking him to call her back in the morning-and then he grilled himself a steak, baked a potato and tossed a quick salad. He drank a can of Lone Star Beer while he prepared his food and a second can while he ate.
What was he going to tell his mom?
In some ways, his first day had been awesome. Jensen was really cool. And Jared liked being up in the chopper. He hadn’t enjoyed seeing Councilor Devine get stabbed. He wouldn’t wish serious injury on anyone, but he had a lot of respect for Councilor Devine and he hoped that she would recover. She was a Democrat and very liberal; a staunch supporter of civil rights, gay rights and an outspoken feminist too. It would be a sad day for her constituents if she didn’t make it.
Jared was also a little embarrassed that he’d managed to out himself to Jensen and then have a panic attack over it, but Jensen had been kind and understanding and hadn’t treated Jared any differently at all. Then, of course, they’d messed up. Or to be strictly accurate, Jensen had messed up and now they were grounded. Jared frowned. What did a flight observer do if he couldn’t actually fly? What did a pilot do?
Jared cleared his dishes away and went to bed, and if he jerked off into a wad of Kleenexes picturing big full lips and bright green eyes, well, nobody ever needed to know.
--
Jared woke up to his pager beeping. He called in and was told by the officer who managed the duty roster that Captain Beaver had asked her to tell him that he didn’t need to come in today, but that he’d be back on flight duty tomorrow, on a special assignment.
“Special assignment?” Jared said. “What does that mean?”
“Beats me, Sugar,” said the Duty Roster Officer. “Just make sure you show up at twelve o’clock sharp.”
Jared spent the day doing household chores and really wished that he had Jensen’s telephone number so that he could call him and see if he knew what was going on with this special assignment.
By the evening he was restless and horny. It had been far too long since he’d gotten any action that wasn’t delivered by his own right hand; given all the tension at his old precinct he’d been downright reluctant to go anywhere near a gay bar for months, let alone a sex-on-premises venue. But he didn’t work with those assholes anymore and his current colleagues seemed a lot more tolerant. Still, it didn’t hurt to be careful. The bigger gay clubs, like Paradise and Revolvers out in West Hollywood, and the well-known SOPVs were the focus of a lot of police attention since the AIDS epidemic became front page news; there were both drive-bys and the occasional raid. But if he went down to Studio City there was a cowboy-themed gay bar where he’d be very unlikely to run into anybody on the job.
Cowboy Country was an SOPV that had been around since the 60s. There was line dancing and karaoke downstairs, but the club had a quiet area upstairs called The Loft that contained thirty or so cubicles where you could take somebody for a quick, anonymous fuck. Jared liked a proper bed, time, privacy and a name if he was going to fuck somebody, though, so he usually just settled for a blow job.
It had been a really long time since somebody had sucked Jared’s dick.
Before he could talk himself out of it, Jared changed into a more suitable outfit, grabbed his keys and headed out. He parked his car a couple of streets away from the bar and joined the line to get in. Once inside, he grabbed himself a beer and then steered his way through lines of sweaty, bare-chested dancers and ascended the stair case, two wooden steps at a time.
Jared was tall, broad and muscular and the trousers he was wearing were so tight they may as well have been spray-painted on; they didn’t leave much to the imagination and it didn’t take Jared long to find a twink who was desperate to get his mouth on Jared’s cock. If said twink just so happened to have short light brown hair and greenish eyes, well, that was just a happy coincidence.
There were half a dozen cubicles free and Jared headed toward the nearest one, twink in tow. The cubicles in The Loft weren’t very big, maybe a little bigger than the changing rooms in a store; and each one contained a vinyl bench, more or less big enough to fuck on, so long as you didn’t want to stretch out. The cubicles had swinging saloon-style doors, which all but the very shortest men could see over. Jared, at 6ft4 had no trouble seeing the action going on in the cubicles that they passed. He’d almost reached his destination when a sinful moan in a very familiar tone attracted his attention.
Jared stopped so fast that the twink actually crashed into the back of him.
Sitting on a red vinyl bench in a cubicle, with his back against the wall and his pants around his ankles, was none other than his new partner, Jensen Ackles. Kneeling at his feet was a leather-clad bear of a man who was sucking down Jensen’s dick like it was his favorite flavor milkshake.
“Jensen?” Jared said.
Jensen’s glazed eyes roved over him sightlessly and Jared frowned.
“Jensen?”
He got no response from Jensen, but the bear pulled off of Jensen and glared up at Jared.
“Do you have a problem, mister?” he said in a far more high-pitched voice than Jared had been expecting.
Jensen whined at the lack of warm mouth on his dick and Jared reluctantly shook his head. “No. No problem.”
“He’s fine,” the twink said, tugging on his hand. “Just busy gettin’ his brain sucked out his dick. C’mon, man, so I can do the same to you.”
Jared let the twink propel him into the next cubicle. He sat down on the bench and watched with hooded eyes as the twink dropped to his knees and reached for his zipper. Jared’s cock was still soft when the twink took it out, but it soon hardened under his skilled touch. He looked up at Jared from beneath his lashes and then licked his lips before sucking Jared’s dick into his mouth and tonguing gently at the soft mushroom head. Things went quickly after that. It had been a long time for Jared and the knowledge that Jensen was right next door sent him over the edge fast. The twink jerked himself off while deep-throating Jared and they parted ways amicably.
When Jared came out of the stall he glanced into Jensen’s cubicle. There was no sign of the bear, but Jensen was still sitting slumped against the wall, with his jeans pulled up, but open, and his eyes closed.
“Jensen?”
Jensen’s eyes fluttered open, but couldn’t seem to focus.
Jared went inside the cubicle and squatted in front of him, resting his hands on the older man’s knees. “Are you okay, man?”
Jensen blinked and looked down at him. “J’rd? What’r you doin’ here? Where’d Looks-like-Tarzan-sounds-like-Jane go?”
“Are you okay?” Jared persisted.
“Yeah,” Jensen began to push himself to his feet. Jared rose with him and when Jensen staggered slightly and fell against him, Jared gathered him into his arms.
“Woah, buddy,” he said. “How much’ve you had to drink?”
Jensen straightened up and fastened his pants. “Not much. Three shots of Tequila. You know. Dutch courage.”
Jared frowned. Jensen needed to get liquored up to get his dick sucked?
Jensen put a hand to his head. “Dude. Dizzy spell. Must’ve stood up too quick.”
Jared inclined his head to one side and stared at Jensen. His partner was experiencing drowsiness, confusion, impaired coordination and dizziness. Huh.
Jared gripped his upper arms and forced Jensen to look at him. “What have you taken?”
“What?” Jensen pulled away. “Nothing,” he frowned. “Just my meds. It was a shit of a day and… they’re just for, you know, not for every day. Just if I feel…” Jensen trailed off and listed dangerously again. Jared swung an arm around his shoulders. “Okay, let’s get you out of here. Please tell me you didn’t drive?”
“I’m not an idiot,” Jensen said tightly, with a pout that Jared would’ve found adorable in other circumstances.
“What are you on?” he asked as they made their way slowly through the club.
Jensen scowled. “That’s kind of personal.”
Jared pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “Mixing prescription meds and alcohol can be a pretty bad idea, Jensen. I need to know whether I’m taking you home, or to the ER.”
Jensen sighed. “Ativan. One milligram tablets. I took two. And I’m not going to the ER,” he tried to pull away. “I’ll just go get a cab.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Jared said. “You can barely stay upright.”
To Jared’s relief, Jensen didn’t resist when he propelled him down the street to where his car was parked.
“That was pretty stupid, you know,” he said, as he opened the passenger side door and helped Jensen get in, “Mixing tranqs and alcohol is dangerous, man, it can kill you.”
“I only had three tequila shots,” Jensen mumbled.
“It’s not worth the risk” Jared lectured. “And besides, it left you so out of it, that guy you were with, or, hell, any other random guy who came along, could’ve just turned you around and fucked you bare and unprepped.”
Jensen shrugged.
Jared took his time walking around the car and getting behind the wheel in an attempt to calm himself down. It didn’t work. In fact, by the time he opened the driver’s side door, Jared was winding up to give Jensen a real piece of his mind. He got in the car and slammed the door shut and Jensen recoiled so visibly, that Jared rethought the wisdom of yelling at him.
“Look,” he said, trying to keep his voice gentle, “it’s not the seventies any more, man. Safe sex isn’t just about avoiding a nasty rash and a trip to the clinic for some antibiotic cream. It’s about not dying.”
Jensen nodded, from his position pressed up against the far door. He looked like he was fervently playing ‘anywhere but here’ in his head. Jared sighed and started the car.
It wasn’t until they were a few miles down the road that Jensen spoke again. “You know yesterday when you, you know, admitted….and I didn’t tell you, you know, about me?”
As sentences went it wasn’t a particularly comprehensible one, but Jared knew what Jensen was getting at.
“You want to know if I’m pissed that you didn’t come out to me, after I came out to you?”
“Are you?” Jensen still wasn’t looking at him.
“No. How are you feeling now?”
“I’m fine, Jared. Just a bit…spacey.”
There was silence for a few more miles and then Jensen said, “This isn’t the way home. I live in Mount Washington.”
“Well that’s good to know, but I live in Burbank and that’s closer.”
“We’ve gotta be at work by midday.”
“Right. But work’s closer to where you live. I’ll drop you home on the way in. You’ll have enough time to shower and change and make it to work on time.”
“But-”
“No arguments, Jensen. You’re coming home with me.”
The silence was so dense that Jared had to take his eyes off the road to look at Jensen.
“I’m not gonna let you fuck me,” Jensen said.
Jared wanted to pound his head against the steering wheel. “Good,” he said. “Because I was planning on making you sleep on the sofa. I don’t fuck drug-affected guys who use rough sex as a form of self-flagellation.”
The temperature in the car dropped about twenty degrees and Jensen didn’t say another word the entire way home, just sat staring out the side window.
Jared’s apartment wasn’t very large. It only had one bedroom (although his sofa was big and comfortable) and he would’ve liked a yard; maybe even a couple of dogs. But it would do for now, despite the burnt-orange and harvest-gold kitchen, avocado shag-pile carpet and mission brown woodwork.
“Damn,” Jensen said as he surveyed the living room and the kitchen just beyond it. “You sure it ain’t still the seventies?”
“Shut up,” Jared grumbled. “The rent’s cheap.”
He went to the linen closet and pulled out his spare quilt, which he thrust into Jensen’s arms. “Here. I’m gonna have to get you one of the pillows off my bed. Hang on a sec.”
When he returned with the pillow, Jensen was sitting on the sofa hugging the quilt.
“So, uh, thanks,” Jensen said. “For, you know.”
Jared smiled at him. “Not a problem, man. You’re my partner; I’ve got your back.”
Jensen nodded thoughtfully.
“So, uh, bathroom’s through there,” Jared pointed. “I’ll leave a spare toothbrush out for you. And, uh, I can lend you something different to sleep in if you want?”
“S’fine. I’ll just sleep in my tee-shirt,” Jensen rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I’m really sorry about this, Jared. I swear I’m not usually this pathetic, you just caught me on a bad day.”
Jared sat down beside him on the sofa. “You mentioned it being a bad day earlier. Has that got something to do with the special assignment we’ve been given?”
Jensen nodded. “Yeah. We’ve been asked to test fly a prototype of a special helicopter over the city. I found out today that the guy who’s been the test pilot up until now is an old nemesis of mine.”
Jared stared at him and then snorted. “Nemisis? Dude, you’re not Batman.”
The comment shocked a short laugh out of Jensen. “How do you know?” he waggled his eyebrows, and then sobered quickly. “Heyerdahl and I were in the war together. There was…bad blood between us.”
“Do you mind if I ask why?”
Jensen rubbed at the back of his neck again. “What you found out today? There aren’t many other people who know. The guys at the clubs who, you know, obviously they know that I’m…but they don’t know me, it’s all anonymous. As far as people who know me are concerned, I’m deep in the closest,” Jensen took a deep breath. “I mean, not just back where you keep the winter coats and the stuff you’re planning to give to the Goodwill, I mean so deep in the closet that my closest neighbors are a lion and a witch. Apart from you, the only people who know are Jim-uh, Captain Beaver and my best friend Danneel,” he paused briefly and then added, “And Heyerdahl. He managed to get photos of me at a bar in Saigon and he used them to blackmail me into doing things I should never have agreed to do.”
Jared was horrified and he knew that it showed on his face. “You mean he-”
“No,” Jensen shook his head sharply. “Nothing like that. He’s not interested in having sex with men.”
“Then what?”
Jensen shook his head again. “Nothing I’m proud of. Let’s just leave it at that.”
Jared held his gaze for a beat and then nodded. “Okay. If you ever want to talk…I know I talk a lot, but I’m a good listener too. Also, I have some experience with,” he trailed off and then cleared his throat. “My older brother’s best friend was in Vietnam. He accidentally overdosed on prescription medication and alcohol.”
Jensen sketched him a small salute. “10-4,” he said. “And thank you.”
--
Jensen woke up the next morning surprisingly well rested. By the time he’d washed up in the bathroom, put his clothes back on and run his fingers through his hair to straighten it, Jared was in the kitchen brewing coffee.
“Morning,” Jared said.
Jensen grunted a reply and went and stood over the coffee pot, willing the coffee to drip into it faster.
“Not a morning person, huh?” Jared said. Way too perkily.
The coffee seemed to be done filtering through into the pot so Jensen switched the machine off and lifted the pot. “Cup?” he said.
Jared gave an amused snort and took two white mugs down from a cupboard and put them on the counter.
While Jensen filled the cups, Jared got out the sugar and the half-and-half. He held them out to Jensen who looked at him in horror.
“You’re already sweet enough, huh?” Jared said as he loaded his coffee with both cream and sugar.
“Coffee shouldn’t be polluted like that,” Jensen said, shaking his head sadly. “Although that sugar overload sure explains a lot.”
“Hey, we can’t all be as naturally sweet as you,” Jared cooed. “So,” he opened the pantry. “I have…waffle mix,” Jared looked at the box dubiously, “which may be past its use by date. Also…Cheerios. And Captain Crunch. And, uh, that’s about it.”
Jensen raised an eyebrow.
“You know what?” said Jared. “We’ll drive through McDonald’s on the way to work.”
“Outstanding,” Jensen said
Jared grinned. “I’ll just go and,” he gestured toward the bathroom.
“I’ll wait here,” Jensen said. And then blushed pink because, duh. The idea of Jared in the shower might make great jerk off material, but Jensen was in no way ready for the reality of naked Jared in the flesh. Oh God. Stop thinking Jensen.
He looked up at Jared whose expression was a strange mixture of amusement, fondness and longing. “Yes you will,” he said gravely, flexing theatrically, “because seeing me naked would cause untold damage to your ego,” and he flounced out of the kitchen leaving Jensen with his mouth hanging open.
--
When Jared came out of the Air Support locker room dressed in his flight suit, there was a dark-eyed, dark-haired woman waiting for him by the entrance.
“Hola, New Guy,” she said. “I’m Danay Garcia, Jensen’s old partner.”
Jared stuck a hand out. “Jared Padalecki,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”
Danay inclined her head and her smile widened. “Nice to meet you too, Jared. How’s my old partner going?”
“He’s doin’ okay,” Jared said.
Danay pursed her lips. “For real? I like Jensen a lot, kid, don’t get me wrong, but there were some serious cracks showin’. I don’t want him to get himself, or anybody else, killed is all. So tell me, is he doin’ okay for real?”
If there was one thing Jared prided himself on, it was being a good judge of character, and Danay seemed to genuinely care about Jensen, so he gave her an honest answer.
“Truthfully? He’s coping. His coping methods aren’t always the healthiest, but we had a pretty decent deep and meaningful last night and…I think I can help him, Danay, I really do.”
Danay raised her eyebrows. “You got him to open up? I’m impressed,” she paused and looked at him thoughtfully. “You know, there’s been talk about you.”
Jared’s lips thinned. “Is that right?” he said flatly.
“Yeah. I heard how you were an outstanding cop who got treated like shit by the team that should’ve had his back. We’re not like that here,” she put a hand to his arm. “I’m not sayin’ everyone here is,” her tongue darted out to lick at her lips, “uh, comfortable with the idea of that lifestyle, you know what I’m sayin’? But ain’t a one of us gonna give you any grief and ain’t a one of us doesn’t have your back.”
Jared was absolutely not going to cry. Not. Going. To. Cry.
“Thanks, Danay,” he said, blinking furiously. “That means a lot.”
“Sure,” she grinned wickedly. “And in the spirit of welcoming you to the team, I’d like to give you this hat.” She handed him a black ball cap with JAFO printed on it in big orange letters.
“Thanks,” Jared took the cap and turned it over in his hands. “What does JAFO mean?”
Danay chuckled. “Look up, look down, look right, look left,” she patted Jared’s cheek. “Forget about it.”
She started to walk away and Jared stared after her perplexed.
“What? But what does-”
Danay glanced over her shoulder at him and laughed. “I said forget about it. You’ll find out soon enough! I gotta get going.”
She headed to the elevator and reached it just as it pinged open to reveal Jensen on his way in. “Oh, hey, Danay,” he said, holding the elevator door for her. “I’ve actually got something I wanna talk to you about, you got a minute?”
“Sure,” she entered the lift. “Ride back down with me?”
Jensen nodded and then called out to Jared that he’d catch up with him in a moment.
Jared watched as the elevator doors closed on the pair and then went to wait for his pilot out by the sliding glass door that led to the helipad.
--
Meeting Danay as he’d been coming off the elevator had been just perfect, Jensen thought, as he pushed the button for the underground car park. There was no one else in the elevator and the privacy was just perfect for the conversation he wanted to have. Still, he started out with small talk, just to be polite.
“How are you doing on days?”
“Good,” Danay replied. “The kids like having me home for supper and their bedtime story. How’s the new boy going?”
“Great so far. He’s quite a character. Kind, empathic and downright respectable one minute; the next he’s like some over-hyped child on a sugar high,” Jensen frowned. “If kids came with an R rating”
Danay laughed. “Sounds like quite a challenge.”
Jensen shrugged. “I like him. And he doesn’t think that working with me is some kind of punishment.”
Danay looked at him carefully. “Maybe he thinks you’re being punished with him? You do know about him, right?”
Jensen narrowed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Do you know why he left his last precinct?”
Jensen swore softly. “That’s common knowledge now is it? Goddamn cops. Gossip more than a bunch of old women.”
“So you do know.”
Jensen nodded.
“And you don’t have a problem with it?”
“Why would I?” Jensen said testily.
“No reason. I just thought, you know, with you being an ex-Marine-”
“There’s no such thing as an ex-Marine,” Jensen interrupted. “And being a Marine doesn’t make someone a hardassed bigot, you know. Just like being a female cop doesn’t make someone a lesbian. Those are just bullshit stereotypes.”
Danay held up her hands in surrender. “Touché,” the elevator arrived in the car park and Jensen stepped out with Danay. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” she asked.
Jensen reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the piece of paper that he’d found at Councilor Devine’s house. He explained what it was to Danay and asked her if she could translate it for him.
Danay looked at it dubiously. “It’s pretty badly damaged,” she said, “but I’ll see what I can do. Hey, me and Ernesto are taking the kids to the Griffith Park Train Ride on Saturday. Maybe you and Danni and Tim could meet up with us there? We can have a family day and I can tell you what I find out.”
“Yeah,” Jensen nodded. “That sounds great. I’ll have to talk to Danni, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Thanks, Garcia.”
--
Jared stood beside the sliding glass door that led out to the helipad and watched with a very dry mouth as Jensen strode toward him like sex-on-legs wearing his fitted blue flight suit and a pair of aviator sunglasses.
Jared bit at his bottom lip hard. The very last thing he wanted was to get a boner while wearing his flight suit, because it didn’t hide much.
“Ready?” Jensen said. He glanced up at the cap Jared was wearing and grinned, before striding past him and opening the door.
“I was born ready,” Jared quipped as he walked through the door that Jensen was holding open for him. “Hey, Jensen, I was talking to Pete while I was waiting for you and he told me you looped one of these things. He said you looped a helicopter. Is that true? Or is he just messing with me?”
Jensen glanced up at him. “He ain’t messing with you, Jay.”
Jared’s mouth fell open. “No way. You really did that? You really looped a chopper?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. When did you do that?”
Jensen laughed and led the way toward Heyerdahl and the waiting helicopters. “When I was young. And stupid.”
Jared shook his head. “You don’t seriously mean you did a full 360? Right over the top?” he swung his helmet all the way around in demonstration.
“Yep,” Jensen said. “A full loop.”
“Wow,” said Jared. “I thought that was impossible.”
“Oh it is,” Heyerdahl called out as they neared him. “It’s aerodynamically impossible. And anyone who tells you any different is a damn liar.”
“This,” said Jensen, gesturing toward the man with an insincere smile, “is Colonel Heyerdahl.”
Jared raised his chin and gave a hollow smile, but didn’t even deign to meet Heyerdahl’s eyes. He’d been ready to dislike Heyerdahl on principle after what Jensen had told him, but now that he’d met him, he could safely say that Heyerdahl was an arrogant dick.
Heyerdahl stared at him for a moment and then smiled thinly. “Right. You boys will take the ranger; I’ll be in my bird. We’ll have a little game. Follow my leader.”
“Follow my leader,” Jensen imitated Heyerdahl’s nasally tone at Heyerdahl’s retreating back and Jared choked back a snigger.
Heyerdahl paused at his chopper’s door and stuck his forefinger out and his thumb up like a gun which he then mimed shooting at Jensen. “Catch you later,” he said.
Jared looked at the scowl on Jensen’s face and decided not to say anything.
Ten minutes later they were up in the air and following Heyerdahl in a sedate flight over the city.
“Ackles,” Heyerdahl spoke over the radio. “Join formation with me, echelon right, and keep it tight.”
“Yessir, Colonel, Sir,” Jensen said. His tone bordered on insubordinate, but he took up position to the right and just behind Heyerdahl’s bird, none-the-less.
“Want to show me that loop now, Ackles?”
Jensen looked at Jared and rolled his eyes and Jared bit back a laugh.
“Not really,” Jensen said.
“Didn’t think so,” Heyerdahl sneered.
They flew in echelon right formation for a little while and then Heyerdahl instructed Jensen to slide over to his left.
“Boring,” Jensen muttered as he flew to the left. “I was doin’ this back in primary flight training.”
“Come on, Ackles,” Heyerdahal heckled. “Keep it tight.”
“Is he serious?” Jared raised an eyebrow. “Any closer we’d start eating blades.”
Jensen edged a couple of inches closer and Jared’s sharp intake of breath was audible.
Jensen turned to him and grinned. “Relax. I’m actually good at this.”
“It’s not you I don’t trust,” Jared said. “It’s him.”
They flew in echelon left formation for a few miles and Jensen made a show of yawning loudly into his headset several time.
“Okay,” Heyerdahl said finally, his voice tinged with irritation, “push it over and pick up speed.”
Jensen sighed loudly. “We gonna proceed to advanced flight training drills any time soon?”
“Just follow my leader, Ackles,” Heyerdahl said.
Jensen rolled his eyes toward Jared. “We’re following his leader, Jared.”
“Now follow me through a high speed timing turn,” Heyerdahl said.
Heyerdahl executed the move and Jensen followed suit.
“Yeehaw!” Jared crowed, pumping his fist in the air. “That was awesome.”
Jensen grinned at him.
“Level out at 500 feet,” Heyerdahl instructed.
“All right,” Heyerdahl said finally. “Your turn. I’ll follow your lead. Show me what you’ve got, Ackles.”
“Finally!” Jensen said. He turned to Jared. “Now you’ll see some flying.”
Jensen pointed the chopper’s nose downwards and dived and Jared whooped in delight.
Jensen turned to him and grinned.
And then the chopper’s engine died.
“Oh shit.” Jensen said, lowering the collective for an immediate descent.
“Say your prayers, Jared,” he told his observer, as he put the bird into autorotation. “We’re goin’ down.”
Jared took a deep breath and nodded. He picked up the CB radio microphone with a shaking hand and said, “Mayday, mayday, this is Charlie Alpha, we’re goin’ down. We’re, uh, somewhere over Willowbrook. Request ambulance, fire. Oh shit.”
Shutting the fuel off, Jensen licked at his lips. “It’s gonna be a rough landing.”
Jensen really didn’t have much time to maneuver, given how low they were and the speed of their descent. Scanning the terrain below for the most suitable emergency landing place, he picked out a building site and aimed his bird at it.
The construction workers saw and heard him coming and scattered. As the helicopter approached the ground, Jensen pitched the nose up to flare. But they’d been travelling too low, too fast, and Jensen wasn’t able to stop the tail of the helicopter from hitting the ground.
“Hold tight, JAFO,” he said, as the chopper bounced, then skidded, then bounced again, before flipping onto its side.
Men in hardhats came running from every direction, pulling the glass out of the chopper’s windows and reaching in to help Jared and Jensen out of the downed helicopter. Jared was bleeding from a cut to the head, and Jensen had to shake him and shout his name several times before he responded, but Jensen was more-or-less unscathed. There rescuers were kind and concerned…until they spotted the LAPD badges on their flight suits and then the mood turned ugly.
“Fucking pigs,” spat one man.
“I hope you broke your fuckin’ necks,” said another.
“Goddamn spying assholes,” said another. “Comin’ around, stirring up trouble. Get the hell outta here!”
Several squad cars and an ambulance came screeching onto the scene while Jared and Jensen were being none-too-gently escorted off the building site.
While the ground patrol officers secured the crash scene, the paramedics gave Jared and Jensen a quick once-over. Jensen, they said, was free to go. Jared however, had a suspected concussion and would need to go to the hospital. Jensen watched the ambulance pull away, carrying his observer, and then he asked one of the ground patrol guys to take him back to HQ so that he could report in to Captain Beaver.
--
“You okay, Jensen?” Jim said, coming around his desk to embrace Jensen.
“Yeah,” Jensen hugged the closest thing he had to a father these days just as hard, and then pulled away. “Jared has a suspected concussion and the bird; sorry Jim, the bird’s totaled.”
Jim grimaced. “As long as you boys are all right. What happened?”
“The engine flamed out. We were flying low and fast when it happened and even though I was able to get the collective pitcher lowered immediately in order to attempt a landing by autorotation, when I executed the flare, I couldn’t keep the tail off the ground.”
Jim ran a hand over his chin. “Given that the boys from Washington were using this test flight to assess your suitability to pilot Blue Thunder, I’m going to order a full investigation into the crash. I want you and Jared to take the rest of the week off.”
“Yessir,” Jensen said.
Jim raised an eyebrow. “What? You’re not gonna argue with me?”
Jensen shook his head. “Jared may have a concussion.”
Jim stared at him for a moment and then a small smile edged across his face. “Oh,” he said.
Jensen frowned. “What? Oh! No. Whatever you’re thinking, stop. It’s my fault he’s hurt, it’s on me. And he’s gonna need someone to keep an eye on him for a couple of days, make sure his brain doesn’t start swelling.”
“Okay,” Jim said. “Dismissed. You go take care of your boy, Jensen.”
Jensen flushed pink. “He’s not my boy.”
He really didn’t like the smug look on Jim’s face; not one bit.
Jensen left Jim’s office and took the elevator down to the car park. He was reaching for the Impala’s door handle when Heyerdahl came screeching to a halt beside him in a fancy red sports car.
“That was a really close shave today, eh, Ackles?” he smirked. “I heard your engine failed. Or was it your flying?”
Jensen stared at him stonily. “Back off, asshole.”
“Ooh,” Heyerdahl said, licking at his fingers and using them to comb down his hair. “What’s that I hear? Threats? Well, what a change. We are acting brave nowadays.”
Jensen glared at him over the roof of the Impala.
“Are you threatening me, Ackles?” Heyerdahl said.
“No,” Jensen opened the Impala’s door. “I’m telling you. Back off.”
Heyerdahl made his trademark gun gesture and mimed shooting at Jensen. “Catch you later, Ackles,” he said, before putting pedal to the metal and screeching off out of the car park.
“Asshole,” Jensen scowled, before getting into the car and making his way to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
He found Jared sitting on a gurney in the ER, arguing with an increasingly frustrated doctor about whether he ought to be admitted overnight for observation.
“Officer Padalecki,” the doctor said, “you have a grade-three concussion, sensitivity to light and sound and blurred vision-”
“But I passed your co-ordination and reflex tests,” Jared interrupted. “And you said that neither of the scans showed any bleeding or serious brain damage.”
“It can sometimes take a while for a more serious injury to reveal itself,” the doctor countered. “Maybe if you didn’t live alone-”
“Excuse me, Doctor,” Jensen interrupted. “I’m Officer Ackles,” he flashed his badge, “Officer Padalecki’s partner. If I agree to sleep on his sofa for the next couple nights, will you let Jared go home?”
The doctor turned and looked Jensen up and down thoughtfully.
“Will you make sure he gets plenty of rest, doesn’t do anything strenuous, and doesn’t drink any alcohol?”
“Yessir,” Jensen said.
“You’ll also need to keep a close eye on him, make sure he doesn’t try to tough it out. Wait here a moment,” the doctor moved over to the nurses station and came back with a pad full of forms. “All right, I’m going to release you, given that you’re not going to be alone. This is a Patient Instruction Sheet,” the doctor began to make notes. “I want you to take aspirin as needed, not exceeding the recommended dose. I want you lying down and resting as soon as you get home. I want you to take a week off work and if you experience repeated vomiting, if the headache gets worse or just doesn’t go away, if you find yourself getting confused, restless, or agitated, or the difficulty with your vision gets worse, or if you start to have difficulty with walking or balance, and of course if you start having convulsions or seizures or you lose consciousness again, then I’ll expect Officer Ackles to bring you straight back in. Don’t worry,” he said, when he saw Jensen’s concerned frown. “I’ve written all that down, you won’t need to remember it.”
Jared climbed down from the gurney. “So I can go?”
The doctor handed him the Patient Information Sheet. “You can go.”
Jensen helped Jared into the passenger seat and then got in behind the wheel.
“We have to go get my car,” Jared said.
Jensen started the engine and shook his head. “I’ll go pick it up for you tomorrow,” he said. “You’re not driving with a concussion.”
Jared glowered for a moment and then rubbed at his forehead and relented. “Okay.”
“What do you drive?” Jensen asked.
“A silver Datsun.”
Jensen pulled a face. “Okay, I’ll get Danni to come with me to pick it up, that way she can drive it back here and I won’t have to suffer the humiliation of people seeing me driving a Japanese car.”
“Hey,” Jared spluttered. “The Japanese make awesome cars. Very economical, fuel-wise. Not like this gas-guzzling American monster of yours.”
Jensen gasped in mock outrage. “Cover your ears, Baby,” he said. “The man’s concussed. He didn’t mean to call you a monster.”
Jared rolled his eyes and then rubbed at his forehead again.
“How are you feeling?” Jensen asked.
“Like I just survived a helicopter crash,” Jared sighed. “I’ve got a bitch of a headache and I’m having a bit of trouble focusing, but otherwise, I’m fine.”
They drove in silence for a moment and then Jensen said, “I’m really sorry, Jared. I should’ve been able to put the chopper down a lot better than I did.”
“Dude, you were amazing,” Jared said. “You didn’t have a lot of time and space to maneuver and we were going down fast. You were so calm, Jensen, so in control. Thanks to you, I wasn’t scared.”
Jensen glanced sideways at his passenger. “Still should’ve been able to land the bird without flipping her,” he muttered.
Jared looked at his partner silently for a moment and then said, “I think you’re being too hard on yourself, but I guess you’re the expert. And speaking of,” Jared lifted his ass off the seat and took his folded ball-cap out of his pack pocket. “What does JAFO mean? Garcia gave me this cap, but she wouldn’t tell me.”
Jensen grinned. “I can’t tell you either. You have to find out for yourself.”
“Oh I will find out,” Jared said. “Just you wait. I’m good at research!”
Jensen didn’t doubt him for a second.
<
| NEXT>>
Back to MasterPost