spn-j2-bigbang: Compulsion Part 5

[candygramme]

Walter Reed Hospital

Dr. Collins's lab was a lot smaller than Jared had expected, and there were no chairs with straps and flashing lights that he could see. At Collins's instruction, a strangely subdued Special Agent Ackles lay down on an examining table and submitted to the brief tests that had the doctor frowning as he made notes.

"Okay, Jensen," he said at last. "I'm going to get you ready by using a little narcosynthesis. You're fit enough that there won't be any lasting effects, but I want you to know that it's a first stage and that it wears off relatively quickly. Will you permit it?"

Jensen nodded and the doctor swiftly prepared a syringe full of a colorless liquid, which he injected into Jensen's arm. As Jensen closed his eyes, the doctor turned to Jared. "This is a concoction called SP-117. It was developed by the Russians, and so far I have found it very effective indeed. However, it really needs utter silence and freedom from distractions, so I would count it as a favor if you could go fetch Jensen's ex-partner from Quantico in the meantime. Maybe fetch your techie friend too."

Jared was at first reluctant, but finally agreed. It did make sense that Alona would need similar treatment too. Chad, he thought, would probably be less under the influence, although of course Jared couldn't be sure. The one thing he did know was that Jensen was about to be deprogrammed, and there was nothing he could do.

Sighing, he nodded his head, acquiescing to his dismissal and made his way back out to where his car stood ready.



The 42 mile drive to Quantico was pleasant enough, if he'd cared enough to look. The winter had hung on long past its usual exit, and the leaves were only now beginning to unfold. The grass was newly green despite the still present chill in the air, and all around he could see signs that spring was slowly pulling itself out into the pale sunlight.

As I-95 unrolled towards his destination, he agonized about what Jensen was undergoing and prayed that the hospital had yet to be infiltrated by the sinister menace headed up by Director Richard Worthy.

There was woodland concealing the huge endeavor that was Quantico, and as Jared headed towards the lab building where he and Jensen had found Alona the last time, he reflected that anything could be going on there, concealed from the public gaze as it was.

Diving into the building and following his earlier path towards the lab where Alona had been the first time he’d met her. Alona wasn't actually elbow deep in entrails this time. He found her seated behind a large desk, and in direct contrast to the one that had been in Jensen's office, it was almost paper free. She was typing a report into her laptop, and looked up with a smile when Jared knocked on the door jamb.

"Jared?" She rose to her feet and came over to give him a hug. "How nice to see you."

"Hey, Alona." Jared patted her shoulder, took a deep breath and just blurted, “Jensen's in Walter Reed. He wants to see you."

She froze. "He's what? Oh, my God!" Her face fell. "Is he badly hurt?"

"I don't know anything much yet. When I last saw him, he was with the doctor."

She raised her eyes to his, golden brown and swimming with unshed tears. Walking back to her desk, she picked up the phone and dialed. "Good afternoon, Assistant Director. I'm sorry, but I won't be able to make our meeting this afternoon. I... I've just heard some terrible news." Gathering up her purse and jacket, she made for the door of her office. Squaring his shoulders, Jared turned to follow her. They were almost at the main door when a shout of "Agent Tal," made Alona turn around.

"Assistant Director Brown?"

"Agent Tal, I didn't give you permission to leave the facility." There was something sinister about the way the newcomer's voice sent shivers down Jared's spine. He had an uneasy feeling that was confirmed when Alona seemed to stiffen and her eyes glazed over.

The man Alona had greeted as AD Brown turned to look Jared up and down, and a broad grin lit up his face. "Well, well. CSO Padalecki, as I live and breathe."

"You know me?" Jared returned the smile, his hackles rising as the other man snickered. "Wish I could say the same for you, but I'm afraid I haven't been reading Who's Who lately."

"Assistant Director Sterling K. Brown." Brown moved to him and offered his hand, smile still firmly in place. At Jared's side, Alona remained motionless and silent. "The director told me you'd be along." His eyes began to glow and Jared wondered if he was beginning to go nuts or if the whole world had suddenly been overrun with vampires.

"You will forget you were here, return to your vehicle and go back to DC." The voice oozed over him, oily and menacing and Jared remained quiet, wondering why it just wasn't having the same effect on him that it had on Alona, Jensen, and the others. As Brown turned his attention to Alona, Jared turned and walked out of the door, and as soon as he was clear he ran to his car.

Guns were useless against vampires. He'd read Dracula, and he knew. Opening the trunk of his car, he studied the contents. He didn't have any stakes to drive through the vampire's heart, so he selected a shiny, sharp katana from the weapons he had there and turned to run back to the building again.

As he burst through the doors, he saw Brown and Alona walking further down the corridor. He was heard as soon as he threw the doors open, and Brown turned to face him. There was no smile on his face this time. His eyes glowed and his second set of teeth descended.

"STOP right there."

Jared didn't even slow down. He reached the two of them and slashed at Brown, even as the creature he now knew to be a vampire seemed to grow in size. His desperate katana strike seemed to Jared to last forever. It sliced off the hand that Brown raised to protect himself and continued to move, severing his head from his body. As Brown fell to the polished floor, Alona crumpled and fell too as if her strings had been cut. Wiping the katana on Brown's shirt, Jared picked Alona up and slung her over his shoulder before turning to exit the building as fast as he could.



Alona was still out for the count when Jared settled her in the back of the Impala and burned rubber back out onto the highway. Once he'd put a few miles behind them he picked up his phone and called Chad Lindberg.

"Yo, Paddywhack. What's happening?" Chad's voice was just as jaunty as ever. Jared greeted him with a certain amount of relief.

"Where are you, man?"

Just on my way back from Quantico," was the reply. "Dude, I just scored some of the sweetest..."

"Sorry to interrupt, but this is important. Can I get you to come out to Walter Reed?" He thought quickly. He needed a ruse to get Chad to Dr. Collins. “Bring a… ummm … damper with you?" He had no idea what a damper was, but if it was big enough, maybe he could hit a vampire with it or something."

"A field suppressor? Like that?"

"Yeah, that." Jared heaved a sigh of relief. Apparently, Chad knew what a damper was; it was something he could supply. "Bring that weed with you if you like."

"Now you're talking, Jay-man! Will do." Jared quickly explained where to bring it and said his goodbyes, then, relieved; he hit the end call button and concentrated on getting back to the hospital as fast as traffic would let him.

Alona seemed out of it still when they pulled up back at the hospital. She wouldn't meet Jared's eyes and whimpered when he pulled her out of the car but seemed to go willingly as he began to lead her to Misha's office. Neither he nor Jensen were anywhere to be seen as they arrived, so Jared pressed her into a chair and went to find a bottle of water for her.

He returned to find her chatting with Lindberg, who had a leather case with him containing whatever it was Jared had ordered. Alona greeted him as if she hadn't seen him for days, and Jared blinked in surprise, but allowed that to stand. Nothing about this whole thing made sense.

The three of them gossiped about inconsequential things for a brief while, and it wasn't long before Dr. Collins came out of his examination room to join them. At Jared's unspoken inquiry, he gave a grin. "He's in recovery, sleeping it off. He'll be fine very shortly. Who's my next lucky contestant?"

That was Jared's cue. "Alona, may I introduce you to Lt. Col. Collins. He's a fantastic doctor, and he asked me to introduce you to him. It's necessary to help Jensen, so I'd be really grateful if you could go with him and answer his questio..."

Chad Lindberg had leapt to his feet. I know what you're doing," he yelled. "You know this isn't what was required of you! The Alpha told you..." His teeth descended and his eyes began to glow red. Misha gaped, and Alona spaced out once again.

"Oh, no, Chad. Not you." Jared felt as if the earth had dropped away from under his feet. "Can you think for a minute, man? You don't want to hurt your old mate, do you?"

Chad's response was to snarl and leap at him, and Jared narrowly sidestepped him, pivoting to club him at the base of his skull as he went flying past. Chad bit the dust, and lay prone, unconscious at least for the moment. Collins crossed to the door of his office and returned with a handful of zip ties. Between the two of them they immobilized Chad at wrists, knees and ankles, and then turned back to Alona, who was sitting, frozen all over again, staring into space.

"She's a long way further under than Agent Ackles," said the doctor after shining a light into her pupils. "That'll make things a lot easier. She seems to have been much more susceptible to his hypnosis than Ackles. Would you mind giving me a hand to get her into my treatment room, please?"

Wordlessly, Jared bent and picked Alona up and then followed Collins into the same room where he'd last seen Jensen. He lay Alona down on the examination table and turned to Dr. Collins.

"Did it work with Jensen? Is he going to be over whatever conditioning he had going on?"

There was a brief pause as Dr. Collins prepared a hypodermic and moved over to remove Alona's jacket so he could administer the shot. Then, finally he met Jared's eyes. "CSO Padalecki, let me assure you that the kind of work I had to do to clean out Jensen's psyche is the reason he's been sleeping these past hours. He's actually very resistant to suggestion, and equally resistant to de-programming. Alona here is going to take far less time to set straight." He grinned. "You might like to go check on him. He's just across the hallway, and if my calculations are correct he should be coming to around about now."

"Is he going to have a headache or anything?" Jared was still a little uneasy about the state Jensen might be in when he woke up.

"Unless I've missed my guess, he should be feeling like he just had the best sleep of his life." Collins snickered. "So go check on him and let me get on with this poor woman before she ends up with PTSD for life."

It was with great trepidation that Jared pushed open the door to the room where Jensen had been taken to recover from his ordeal. He wasn't sure what he would find there, despite Dr. Collins's reassurances, but it wasn't Jensen jumping on him as he went through the door.

He startled as 185 pounds of Special Agent Jensen Ackles carried him backwards against the wall and proceeded to kiss him senseless. It didn't take him long to get into the spirit of the thing, and pretty soon he was giving as good as he was getting, body taut against Jensen's as they made out.

They were both breathless when they finally pulled apart, the pair of them grinning as they looked at each other.

"I was going to ask you how you were feeling, but I guess that answered my question right there." Jared couldn't stop the smile from blooming on his face. He was hard, and he could see that Jensen was in a similar state. "How about your memory? Do you remember what's been affecting you now?"

The smile disappeared from Jensen's face. "Yeah. I remember." He cleared his throat. "Jay, I don't know how we can beat this. I've been reviewing things over and over in my head, and I think it might be too late. I think they might have won."

"Don't say that." Jared was still smiling softly. “You're not on your own any more. You've got me, and Alona's going to be back to normal pretty soon. Then there's the doc. I told him about everything as far as I knew it. He's got contacts, just because of who he is. Not only that, but he was able to break through your programming in just a couple of hours." He put his arm around Jensen and moved them both to where there were a couple of plastic chairs, pressing Jensen down into one of them and dropping down to crouch beside him, gazing up at him with hope in his eyes.

"Don't you see, it's no use? Your pal, Lindberg was going to take an amp — a thought enhancer — over to Quantico to the BAU, and then Sterling Brown will be able to turn them. It might have been easier if I'd been there, but he'll have no problem. He's one of the strongest. Once they're all suborned, they'll pick out the people who are most likely to help get the others under control, because that's what the BAU does. The rest they'll keep for food." Jensen shrugged. "That's why I left the BAU. I did my best to keep them safe."

"If it's Brown you're worried about," said Jared. "You don't have to fret about him anymore. He's dead."

"Huh? When? How do you know?"

"I know, because I killed him." Jared's voice was matter of fact, and Jensen raised his eyebrows in shock.

"I suppose you had a wooden stake handy in that big bus of yours?"

"Nope." Jared chuckled. "But I did have a katana."

"Huh?" said Jensen again. He seemed to be thinking of what to say, but at that moment, the door opened and the doctor came in, followed by a smiling Alona.

"She followed me home. Can I keep her?" The doctor was apparently in high good humor, and Alona had evidently responded to his treatment very swiftly. Once the greetings and hugs had been exchanged and both Alona and Jensen had expressed their heartfelt thanks to Dr. 'call me Misha' Collins, they sat down to discuss how to start resolving the problems they faced.

Jensen had put in a call to the man who was currently heading up the BAU, and as they sat discussing their way forward. It wasn't long before Steven Williams, clinical psychologist and profiler, arrived at Misha's department.

Their first order of business was to find out what Chad knew, and Misha swiftly volunteered to de-program the poor, hapless vampire.

It wasn't pretty. Jared chose to stay with his friend to give him whatever comfort he could during the process. The others elected to remain outside in the waiting room



After a while, it seemed as if the screams became too much for Alona. She looked more and more distressed. She finally announced her intention of going to find a fast food place so everyone could have a bite to eat. As she left, Steven, the newcomer, raised his eyebrows. "Is she really okay again? Can we trust her not to go and bring a horde of vamps back to take us out?"

Jensen shrugged. "To be honest, I don't think that there are hordes of them yet. I think they've been biding their time until Worthy was situated in the prime position. It's not been that long since he was appointed Director. He's been working from the top down, I suspect."

Frowning, he continued, "I think Chad was only turned because he followed us into the building when Benson had us lined up to receive our instructions. He can't have been turned for very long. He was way too impulsive just now when he showed his fangs." Jensen had only met the technician for the first time the day Jared had to go collect his laptop, but he'd already pegged the guy as a quirky, easy-going guy who'd rather kick back with a joint than get embroiled in a plan for world domination.

"I feel bad for the man." Steven winced as another scream filled the air. "He's been dealt a worse hand than any of us."

"Yeah, and he's Jared's friend. Jared was so happy when he found out Lindberg was also at the Bureau. Not only that, but without his help I'd have been toast a couple of weeks ago. He and Jared between them made sure I actually lived to tell the tale."

Steven frowned. "You're kidding. I thought you were made of Teflon. What the hell happened?"

Jensen was about to start relating what had happened to him, when Alona reappeared bearing a bag full of burgers, fries and burgers and a cardboard tray with sodas and coffee. As if summoned by magic, Jared emerged from the treatment room, followed by the doctor, and before long, the food was a memory.

"How's Chad?" Jensen eyed Jared, who had been really quiet throughout the impromptu meal, and who still looked a little distressed. Jared turned his gaze onto Collins, who nodded.

"That's a good question. I've never de-programmed a newly turned vampire before, and I feel as though I'm walking in the dark with blinders on. He's devastated. I gave him something to help him relax, and he's sleeping at the moment. He's going to wake up hungry though, and…” Misha looked back at Jared. "Did you know he was a vegetarian?"

It took a moment or two for that to sink in for Jared, and then he gasped. "Oh, God! Does he have to drink blood? That's going to kill him."

"He does right now, but I've already got a colleague working on a dietary supplement that will contain the correct ingredients to provide him with the nutrition required for his new state." Misha spread his hands as if to say what can you do? “He just had a pint of O negative, and that should last him for a short while — at least until we can get him set up with some kind of blood substitute. I do think he's willing to help us, as much out of vengeance as anything. He wants to take down the folk he believes have ruined his life."

"So what have we got?" Williams looked angry, and the others all sat forward in agreement that they needed to plan. "Did this guy give you anything useful?"

"Oh, yeah," said Jared. "I've been thinking about that, and this is what I've come up with."



The spring afternoon was beginning to turn to dusk when the small group piled into Jared's car and headed out onto the freeway and back towards Quantico. Chad was with them, carrying a device in a backpack on his back that had wires running from it to his temples, where they were taped.

They needed to find a sizable number of weapons to add to Jared's swords, and Chad, who without the thought damper he was currently wearing, would find himself in telepathic contact with the other vampires (not to mention under their control, should they find out that he'd been broken free of their programming) was telling them just what would kill vampires.

"Guns won't do it," he mumbled. "Jayman here hit on the right way to put them down. You have to take their head off. That's the best way."

"You mean there are other ways to kill them?" Steven peered at him as if he was attempting to drill into his skull to pull out whatever info might be buried in there.

"Oh, well, there's always fire." Chad shuddered a little, but his expression was feral. "They'll burn pretty well, so I guess there's always napalm."

Blinking, the psychologist turned away with a shiver to ask where they were heading.

"We're going over to Fort Belvoir for suitable weaponry." Misha was squished into the back seat with Alona sitting on his lap. "And hopefully for clothing a little more suitable for the ones of us that need it."

Alona chuckled. "I've put my name down for a tin helmet with leaves in it."

"I was thinking more of Kevlar and boots, but if that's what turns you on, I'm sure we can find something." Misha shifted a little under her weight. "Woman, for someone so small, you weigh a ton," he grumbled.

It was full dark by the time they had been passed into the base and kitted out with the necessary camo and Kevlar. Misha had called in a couple of favors, and when that had not proven enough, Jared called Colonel Beaver, who had stumbled out of bed in a foul mood. Upon being told that his protégé was pursuing the resolution to his assignment and would deliver a full report the following morning, he had given orders that they be given assistance, and they were now riding in an army vehicle that actually allowed all of them space to sit.

Worthy and his cohorts had established their nest at the Marine Barracks, in the Commandant's house, and Jared was horrified at that. He wondered if the Commandant himself had been turned, and assumed that it would be good strategy on the part of the vampires to make him one of them.

"We can't burn the house down," he hissed as Chad pulled a flamethrower out of his trunk. "It's a national monument."

"People depend too much on material things to feel important," said Chad, loftily, but he took a machete as well as his flame thrower. "The main thing is to take the bastards down."

Their plan of attack had been hastily thrown together by Ackles and Williams, who were to take point, while the others covered the exits. Jensen bent to pick the lock on the main entrance, and Chad busied himself making sure that the alarm was turned off.

Once the door was open, the two of them stalked inside and over to the grand staircase. "I'm guessing that they'll be sleeping," murmured Jensen, turning back to where Williams was standing.

"You bet they are." Steven's eyes suddenly glowed, and Jensen froze. "And in a minute, you won't give a damn where they are."

"Oh, Hell, no, Steven. They got you too?" Jensen opened his mouth to yell, but at that moment, he found himself seized in a grip of steel, his mouth was clamped shut, and his head was forced to the side to bare his neck.

Williams's teeth dug into his neck, and Jensen could feel blood welling to trickle down his neck and into the dark fabric of the jacket he was wearing. The vampire laughed softly. "I knew they should have turned you right at the start. I said you were way too dang—"

He was suddenly released, and Jensen turned to find Chad Lindberg a few feet away, wiping his machete with the sleeve of Williams's jacket. The psychologist lay on the parquet, his head completely separated from his body. Jensen stood looking at the body in horror, then turned to look at Chad, seeing him in a whole new light.

"Let's get it done, dude. Show me what you're made of." Lindberg stalked past him and up the stair. After a minute, Jensen phoned Jared and called for the rest of them to come in, then, biting his lip, Jensen followed Chad up, feeling somewhat sheepish.

Morgan was the first. Jensen took off his head without regret as he slept, then moved to the next bedroom and did the same thing to AD Amber Benson. The group convened on the landing once they'd been along the entire corridor, and Jared was the first of them to speak. "Any of you take out Worthy?"

One by one they shook their heads, and it seemed that none of them had found what Jensen thought of as the Alpha vampire.

"I'm pretty sure that there's another bedroom." Misha seemed deep in thought. "I was here once before, and there was a separate set of rooms down that way." He was turning to go in the direction he believed held another set of rooms, when there was a muffled scream from behind. Jensen whirled around, his machete raised, to see Alona sagging in Worthy's arms, her throat bloody and her eyes blank.

"Alona! No!" Jensen had been following Collins, but he turned to see his erstwhile partner being held as a human shield. "Let her go!" He ran towards them, swinging his machete, but came to a halt when he couldn't see how to reach Worthy without going through Alona.

A flicker of movement in a doorway just behind the pair caught Jensen's eye, and he did his best to ignore it as Chad Lindberg was revealed, edging towards the vampire and his hostage. He'd raised his machete, waiting to get a good strike in, but Worthy had either heard something or seen Jensen's eyes slide past him to focus on his would-be assailant. Worthy's eyes glowed, and he lapped at the blood on Alona's neck, and then threw her into Jensen, knocking him over to land on his ass.



Chad Lindberg was frail looking, but Jared had been with him on many a mission, and knew his wiry strength. As Worthy stalked towards him, Jared watched Lindberg toss his machete to one side and raise his flamethrower.

"You're done," he said, "and good riddance." The flamethrower spat fire, and Worthy shrieked as he burned. He was still shrieking as Jared stepped forward, swinging his katana to put him out of his misery. The sprinkler system kicked in at that point, and the group, all of them covered in blood from head to toe, turned as one to head down the stairs, and leave before the fire department turned up to discover the horrors that lay within the burning house. As they piled into the Humvee, Jared thanked any deity that might be listening for the fact that it wasn't his beloved car that was going to be soaked in blood.

The mood as they made their way back to Fort Belvoir was introspective. There was no rejoicing. Each of them felt themselves changed by their experiences over the last few days, and there was silence until finally Alona broke it by saying, "I really hope they'll let me get a shower before they throw us out."

"Seconded," murmured Lindberg. "Also, somewhere to sleep."

"I think you need to come back to the hospital with me, man," said Misha. "Let's not forget your...ah... dietary requirements."

"I just want to sleep," said Jensen. "Shower would be good, but I think I'm done with the whole world domination plot for now, and much as I love you all, I'll be happy to wait for another day to meet you all again. If there's no bed for me, just lick my lips and stick me to the window somewhere. I'm done."

Colonel Beaver was waiting for them as they pulled up at the barracks. They were shown to rooms and allowed to shower, then, dressed in sweats, the five survivors were interviewed about their excursion and each dismissed to spend the night, with the promise of further debriefing in the morning.

Jensen, clean but exhausted, fell into bed and closed his eyes, only to be disturbed as a 200 pound commando fell onto him with a battle cry of "Gotcha!" There was little enough room in the small bed, but somehow they made it work. Jared prodded Jensen until he rose to his feet and they both hauled the mattress on the floor.

As Jared was falling asleep, he whispered, "They told me you were a flake, but for me, you're my ideal man. Gonna keep me?"

"I am a flake. Better get used to it, soldier boy, and just try to get away from me. It won’t be pretty!"

There were kisses exchanged, but the pair of them were both at the end of their energy, and before too long, snores echoed through the room. Comfortable at last in each other’s arms, they left thoughts of tomorrow behind as they dreamed of the future together.



The morning came far too early for Jared’s liking. One minute he was lying cocooned in Jensen’s arms, and the next, some idiot with a bugle was standing right outside the door, blowing Reveille. He could have sworn that, at the conclusion of the dreadful noise there were giggles as the perpetrator high-tailed it out of there.

Way back when they had first met, Jared had thought that Jensen was an early riser. How wrong he had been! Following the bugle solo, Jensen, much to Jared’s amusement, merely opened one eye and then turned to burrow down into the covers again. Sighing, Jared hauled himself off the mattress, pulled on the sweats he’d been issued, and padded off to find sustenance.

It has been said that an army marches on its stomach, but if that were actually so, the cooks at Fort Belvoir hadn’t read the memo. Jared, who really loved his food, and especially breakfast, found the catering sadly lacking. At least there was bacon, so there was that, but Jared would have liked a more substantial meal.

Folding a few slices of the bacon between two slices of toast, he left the mess hall and went to find the gym, empty save for a single guy pedaling away on one of the ellipticals. Setting his makeshift sandwich to one side, he sorted out a couple of wooden poles from the stock of assorted training materials and moved smoothly into one of his katas, twirling and bending, leaping and stretching as he lost himself in the ancient ritual.

When he finally paused and went to replace his props, he was startled to hear applause coming from the door of the gym. Looking up, he caught sight of Colonel Beaver, who beckoned him over.

“Impressive display, Padalecki.” The Colonel said as Jared headed towards him. "Sorry to stop you, but General Olsson himself has arrived, and he's anxious to debrief you himself. Agent Ackles is with him now, so if I could..." He stopped speaking and gaped as Jared felt himself turn pale.

"Did you say Olsson?” Jared's voice sounded harsh, even to himself. He closed his eyes for a moment while he dredged up the memory that was nagging at the back of his mind.

Amber eyes caught and held his own as he stood in line, and the deep, silky voice purred, "Excellent. It seems that General Olsson has already brought you into the fold."

"No! God, no!" Jared took off running, barreling past the Colonel as he raced, for the car where he had left his weapons the night before, and leaving Colonel Beaver gaping.

The vehicle was still in the place where it had been left, and now was encircled by yellow tape, courtesy of the military police. His hands shook as he pulled the door open, and he breathed a short sigh of relief as he fumbled under the seat for his precious weapons. Pulling out the cloth-wrapped bundle, he clutched it to him as he turned to race back to where Olsson was at that very moment confronting Jensen, alone. He hoped to God that he’d be in time.

Beaver had made it to the door, and Jared almost barreled into him as he flung himself back into the building. “Where are they?” he panted.

“In the de-briefing room,” responded the Colonel. “I’ve put in a call to get Collins and Lindberg back here, but they are around 20 minutes out right now.” Jared didn’t stay to hear anymore but took off like a bat out of hell for the room they had all been taken to the previous night.

Bursting into the room, Jared was horrified to see the General holding Jensen tightly to his chest. His fangs were buried in Jensen’s neck, and there was blood – so much blood!

The blood covered Jensen’s white t-shirt, dripped from him in amounts that made Jared feel faint at the sight, and when Olsson looked up, he could see more of it smeared on his cheeks and chin and trickling from the corner of his mouth. Jensen looked paper white.

Olsson hissed at Jared and tossed Jensen aside to lie crumpled on the floor. He laughed and reached a finger to capture a trickle of blood and lick delicately, pink tongue lapping at the red that was Jensen’s life blood. He laughed.

“Think he’s still your Jensen, do you, boy?”

”You filthy, fucking monster!” Jared still stood, aghast, unable to quite comprehend what had happened, and Olsson seemed to assume that he’d won at last, because he stalked towards Jared, hypnotic eyes glowing.

“You think you won, but this was merely a setback. You and that piece of shit on the floor will become my new children and between us we will take the government, then the country, and then the world.” He grinned, teeth red in his blood smeared face. “Now stay still for me, boy. You are going to be my second in this new age.”

A rage as red as the blood adorning Olsson’s face suffused Jared. He could feel the pull from the vampire to do as he was bidden, but underlying that was grief for his lover, and anger at the sheer temerity of this creature to think that he had any right to dictate his life -— or his death.

He fumbled surreptitiously inside the cloth that cocooned his swords, and as Olsson reached to grip his chin and push his head back, Jared struck.

The blood that erupted from Olsson’s neck spattered him, spattered Beaver, who was standing in the doorway, and pooled on the floor to mingle with Jensen’s.

“J-Jim…” Jared swayed. “C… cuff Jensen. Make sure he c… can’t…” with that, the shock took over, and he passed out.



Jared came to, lying on a bed, and Dr. Collins was leaning over him, taking his vital signs. He sat up with a jerk. “Jensen,” he cried, and Collins pushed him back to lie back down again.

“Don’t worry,” murmured the doc. “Chad and I did some research and found a cure, so long as the victim hadn’t yet fed on human blood.” He grinned. “Jensen’s had that administered already, and we’ll find out if it worked pretty damned soon.”

The sudden sensation of relief caused Jared to feel lightheaded. “He isn’t dead?”

“When I left him, he was throwing up everything he’s ever eaten in his life. I suspect that makes him as alive as he can possibly be.” Misha chuckled. “Get yourself together, and you can hold the basin for him.”

~~o(0)o~~

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