spn-j2-bigbang: Compulsion Part 4

[candygramme]

Female Undergraduate's Hall of Residence, University of Maryland

Jared shouldn’t have been surprised when they were met with a snarky comment from the man they’d just saved, but as he surveyed Jensen’s shocked appearance, he decided that now was definitely not the time.

He could wait.

“We’d have been even longer if Jared didn’t have eagle eyes and really big feet.” Alona peered at the body that Jensen had determined was Juliet’s. “Hmmm, I’d say she’s been dead for at least two weeks, maybe longer. Difficult to tell in this dry atmosphere.”

Jared was prowling around the rest of the room, and soon found that there were gaps in the blockwork at one end of it that appeared to run back under the kitchen. “I guess that at one time this was storage for the kitchen. Looks like it’s storage for something else now.” He backed away, holding his shirt up over his nose. “Three of them in there. That’s all of them, isn’t it?”

“I guess we’re going to have to call it in, but first we need to dispose of Juliet here.” Jensen was standing on the stairs, ready to get as far away from the place he’d been held as possible.

“Dispose?” Jared was waiting for Alona to follow before moving up after them.

“We can’t leave her. She’ll only go after someone else with green eyes as soon as she finds one. We have to salt and burn her.”

Alona gasped. “That’s right. I guess we could drag her through to the furnace. It’s not far.”

“Too much trace evidence,” snapped Jensen. “Her blood’s all over the place. She’d still be able to manifest. We’re going to have to do it here.”

“You mean set fire to the building?” If Jared had thought that Ackles was off the wall before, he was convinced of it now. “You’re talking about burning a building down and the other girls with it.”

“Better that than they become vengeful spirits too,” said Jensen. “Did you bring accelerant with you like I asked?”

”Yeah. It’s in the car.”

“Gimme the keys.” It took a moment, but finally Jared nodded and tossed them to him, and Jensen took off. Meanwhile, Alona had taken out her phone and was now calmly photographing the remains of Juliet Rockingham from several different angles.

Jared had to admire her ability to remain unaffected by the stench of decay as she moved on to snap pictures of the three other girls in their shared tomb. “You know, I hate loose ends,” he said at length.

“What do you mean?” Getting to her feet once more, Alona slipped her phone into her pocket and moved back to the stairs.

“Well, I can accept that Juliet was the one to cause these three to die, but someone had to start the trend, and that wasn’t Juliet.” They were back in the kitchen again, and Alona was opening the cupboards, searching for something as he spoke. She didn’t answer at first, and just then Jensen came tearing back down the corridor and into the kitchen carrying the can of gasoline from the trunk of Jared’s Impala.

“You’ve gotta let me drive that thing,” he growled, tossing the keys back to Jared. “She’s a beauty. Okay, let’s go do the deed.”

Alona had left the room, but now came back carrying a sack half full with the rough salt that was intended for putting on the icy pathways in winter. “Looks like the janitor is well supplied.”

“Okay. Let’s do it.” Jensen led the way down the stairs and over to where Juliet was lying. Jared closed his laptop and picked it up, then followed Jensen, while Alona brought up the rear with her bag of salt. “Better be ready to run like hell once she catches light. The place is going to go up like the towering inferno.”

Salt was sprinkled onto the remains, and Jensen poured gasoline onto her, then they moved over to do the same to the three bodies that lay beneath the kitchen floor. Jared stood ready with the matches to toss one onto the trail of gas, when suddenly, Juliet was there once more with her knife. She made no sound but held the knife aloft as she reached for Jensen.

“Burn it,” shouted Alona, throwing the rest of the salt, sack included, at the ghost. She disappeared, only to pop back into existence a second later, and Jared quickly struck a match and threw it onto Juliet’s body. It caught instantly, and Jared wasted no time in making his getaway. He dashed up the stairs even faster than he’d descended them earlier, followed by Alona and then Jensen.

Scrambling out of that part of the building, Jared was already dialing the emergency services to report the blaze.

It didn’t take long to collect the items they’d brought with them, and as the fire alarms began to sound, the three of them climbed into the car, and Jared turned the car towards the admin building so they could return the plans.

“Jared had a point earlier.” It was Alona that spoke as the car drew away from the building, leaving behind a clanging mayhem that was already bringing a bunch of grumbling residents out onto the path outside. “Someone killed Juliet and left her there. They’re still at large and likely to do it again.”

“We’ve got a murder on our hands,” said Jared, wincing as a fire engine careened past them, siren wailing. “I guess we need to start by finding out who she associated with before she disappeared.”

“We need to get a list of the faculty she was studying under, too.” Jensen swallowed. “When she was going to cut my eyes out, she was talking to a professor, telling whoever the professor might be that they were perfect. That was all I actually got from her when I asked her who killed her.”

Drawing up outside the administration building, Jared reached for the roll of plans. “Gotta take these back in, because I had to sign them out, and they’ll charge me if we keep them.”

As he climbed out of the car, the other two exited with him. “Guess we can find out her teachers, and the classes she was taking at the same time,” said Jensen. “We need to get a list of her friends as well.”

Nodding, Jared turned to look back the way they had come, and shuddered as he watched a huge plume of thick, black smoke curl skyward, chased by flames that licked their way up as if reaching to pull it back to earth. “Dude, I think we really did a number on that place.”

The other two gazed back, open mouthed, for a moment, before all three of them turned to head into the office building.



Jensen was uncharacteristically quiet on the way back into town. They’d gathered as much information as they could from administration and had even been back to the now smoldering building to see if they could interview any of Juliet’s neighbors. There really wasn’t much more they could do until the following day.

As they dropped Alona off at her home in Southbridge, she demanded to be kept in the loop about any further progress they might make on the case. Jensen promised that he would keep her informed, while she emailed copies of the photos she’d taken to Jared’s email account. Pulling away once more from Alona’s little house, Jared turned to Jensen, who was beginning to look very pale as the shocking events of the day took their toll.

“Dude, are you okay?” Jared slowed the car and pulled in to the curb. “You’re not looking too great right now.”

“Not feeling too great either.” Jensen rubbed his face, then raised his eyes to Jared’s. He was almost white in the washed out glimmer of the street lamps, and his complexion was tinged with green. His pupils were dilated, and the small cut on his cheek showed stark against the pallor of his skin. Jared bit his lip.

“Look, I know that today was a nightmare for you. I can’t imagine what it felt like, but you’re in no condition to just go home. I think you need to go get checked out at a hospital. What do you say?”

“Hospital?” Jensen looked horrified. “Absolutely not!” He gave a slight shudder. “I wouldn’t mind a couple of pints of something alcoholic, though. Something spiritual as you might say.” His face gave an approximation of his usual smirk, although it somehow seemed to lack any humor.

Jared thought for a minute and then nodded as he re-started the car. “All right, but you’re not going to be on your own tonight. Get as drunk as you like, but you’re still gonna come home with me.”

Wagging his finger at Jared, Jensen laughed. “You want me, don’t you? I knew it!”

“It’s not a question of whether I want you or not,” growled Jared. “I sure as hell wouldn’t let anyone go through a trauma like you just experienced without anyone to stand by them.” Jared ruffled Jensen’s hair, much to the other man’s annoyance. “So shut up and live with it.”

For a moment, he thought Jensen was going to punch him, but then he saw the man huddle into himself. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Not looking forward to trying to sleep tonight.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Jensen didn’t answer, and Jared turned his car to Silver Spring, and home.

Jared pulled into the parking lot of the bar that was right next door to his new apartment building. “I have only been in here once, but they serve booze,” he said with a grin. “So come on. The first one is on me, and if we need, I can fling you over my shoulder like Tarzan and carry you home.”

“Big of you,” said Jensen, flashing him the pale ghost of a smile in reply. “You’re all right, Padalecki. I thought you were going to be the typical army yahoo, but I’m happy to report that you‘re not what I expected.”

“Hey! Wait. How did you know I’m military?” Jared shook his head, and decided this was the perfect time to get at least one of his questions answered.

“I received a resume.” Jensen smiled. “A resume from someone I trust.”

“I guess it wasn’t Morgan then,” grinned Jared as he led the way into the bar. Inwardly he was frustrated. So Jensen had known who he was, and presumably why he was there, before Jared had ever actually met him. That was annoying and spoke to the existence of a plot Jared had really refused to consider until now, despite Morgan’s assertions. He’d need to think about this, but later. He added it to the hundred other things he needed to think about. Right now he had to concentrate on helping Jensen get through the night.

Drinks were purchased, and the color began to return to Jensen’s cheeks as the alcohol took hold. Jared kept a watchful eye on him, and when Jensen began to slur a little, he announced that it was time to get some sleep. “We’ve got some serious sleuthing to do tomorrow, and I wouldn’t want you to be less than 100% functional for it. That poor girl deserves it.”

Jensen nodded. “Okay. I’m a little bit under the influence already, you know. Not usually such a lightweight.”

“You were going into shock, man. I thought I was gonna have to drag you to seek medical help.” Jared put his arm around Jensen’s back and steadied him as he got to his feet. “And you know, you aren’t what I expected either. Thought you were gonna be a complete dick.”

“And I’m not?” Jensen smirked, looking up at Jared from under his lashes.

“Not a complete one,” replied Jared with a laugh as he led his new partner into his building and up to his apartment. “I guess there’s still time, but on the whole I’m wondering what the hell the fuss about you is all about.”

Smiling muzzily, Jensen placed a smacking kiss on Jared’s cheek. “You’re nice,” he said. “Hey, wait a minute! What fuss about me?”

For a moment, Jared froze, then he sighed. “From what I’ve gathered, you’re being watched very carefully, and there seem to be strategies in place to steer you away from certain cases. I don’t know why that might be, but perhaps you do?”

“I know that they all think that I’m a crackpot, but you’ve seen that first-hand.” Jensen sat down on Jared’s mattress with a groan. “It’s probably something budget related. They hate to spend money at the best of times.”

“I guess you’ve got a point,” nodded Jared. “But I was given quite the warning by Assistant Director Morgan when I reported for duty, and I got the impression that I was being detailed to spy on you and report back to him. Care to elaborate?”

“Are you gonna?” Jensen smirked again and shed his jacket, tossing it onto the floor since there didn’t appear to be any furniture at hand to drape it on. “Spy on me, I mean?”

“You think they’d believe me if I reported back what happened today? I know I wouldn’t if I hadn’t been there with you. I think I’ll avoid getting arrested for setting the whole building on fire and just report the mundane case, once we solve it.”

The smirk dissolved into a sweeter smile, and Jensen pulled him down to kiss his mouth. “I’m starting to really like you, Padalecki.”

“That’s a good thing, Agent Ackles,” murmured Jared. “Shall I tell you all about my fantasies in the car yesterday?”

“Nah! Show me,” said Jensen, reaching for Jared’s shirt buttons and starting to unfasten them with great care.

With a low laugh, Jared bent to reciprocate. Jensen’s look of concentration as he went about his task was giving Jared the urge to bite something, possibly something warm and juicy and currently encased in Armani.

Deftly unfastening Jensen’s silk pants, Jared’s first thought after he’d slid them off Jensen’s legs was to toss them over his shoulder, but his conscience won and he rose to fold them neatly and place them with his jacket. Sadly, when he turned back to complete the agent’s wardrobe removal, Jensen Ackles had passed out cold and lay snoring softly on the mattress.

“Lightweight,” muttered Jared, sighing. “Oh, well. I can wait.”

Stripping down to his underwear, he pulled off Jensen’s shoes and then wormed his way in behind Jensen. It wasn’t long before he was sleeping too.



There were no nightmares. Jared woke to the press of a warm body against his back and the shrill alarm from his phone that signified time to get up.

“Hate that noise,” slurred Jensen’s voice from somewhere behind his neck. “Kill it, for God’s sake.”

“Feeling murderous this morning, are we?” asked Jared, grinning as he stretched and then pushed to sitting. He reached to turn off the alarm.

“Feeling sleepy.” Jensen rolled over onto his stomach with a sigh. “Sleep good. Noise bad!”

“Oh! You’re one of those, are you?” Jared rose to his feet and headed toward the bathroom. “You won’t catch any worms with that attitude,” he said. “Up and at ‘em.”

“God! Shut up!” Ackles finally clambered up and shuffled towards the bathroom, elbowing Jared aside as he went. “Guests first,” he growled. “Coffee!”

Jared laughed out loud at that and went to do his visitor’s bidding, calling out, "You've got a lot to learn about working as a team, Ackles!”

“I can’t hear you over the sound of how awesome I am, Padalecki” called out Jensen as he began to brush his teeth, presumably using Jared’s toothbrush.

Coffee appeared to be the catalyst that turned Jensen Ackles back into a human being, and several cups later they were back on the road, heading back towards College Park and the university campus.



The building that had so lately housed Juliet and her fellow students stood stark against a leaden sky, faint curls of smoke still lazily rising from it. It would likely need to be razed and then rebuilt, and Jared was horrified at the thought of what they’d done.

Ackles smirked at him as they approached it. “Collateral damage is what they call it. Nobody was hurt, and Juliet is at rest. That’s what’s important.”

“That’s as may be,” grumbled Jared. “I’ll feel better when the bastard that did that to her is under lock and key. I think she will too.”

Nodding, Jensen flipped open his notebook. “Okay. Today we’re going to talk to her professors and see just what kind of tale they tell. Seems that she was a brain. She was doing physics, math and engineering.”

“Great,” murmured Jared, smoothly pulling into the visitor’s parking. “Let’s go see what’s cooking.”

The two of them seemed to have developed some synchrony in the last couple of days. They were perfectly in step when they marched into the science block and began looking for the teachers they wanted to interview.

They gleaned little from the Mathematics Department. The professor was a dour, elderly scot, who recalled Juliet as a student, but who confessed that he hadn’t had that much to do with her. According to him, his TAs had really been the ones who had contact with her, since she was in her first year. The professor promised to round up the TAs who had had contact with Juliet, and arrange for a meeting as soon as he’d gathered them together.

The Faculty of Engineering was their next port of call, and they swiftly ruled out the prof, who headed up the department. Once again, the TAs were summoned and this time they got to interview them without having to await the department head’s pleasure. The final young man to be interviewed made Jared sit up and take notice. He was wearing an eye patch, and as Ackles began to ask him questions, Jared felt more and more certain that he had something to do with Juliet’s murder.

The man was evidently uncomfortable. He seemed hesitant to make eye contact and shifted uneasily as Jensen asked questions about the projects Juliet had been working on. Jared, who had until now remained silent as he took notes, suddenly laid down his pen and leaned forward.

“Agent Ackles, if I may?” Jensen looked surprised, but gave him a nod, and Jared turned to the TA.

“What’s wrong with your eye?” he asked.

“It... I... There was an accident.” The TA appeared flustered. A flush rose to his cheeks. “We were conducting a routine overhaul of some equipment, and... I wasn’t wearing my safety glasses, and...”

“When did that happen?” Jensen had gathered where Jared was going with his questioning, and now moved in to pursue it.

“I don’t... I don’t know the exact date. I was a little... out of it.” The TA shrugged. “It was a bit of a shock.”

“I imagine it was.” Jared tried to look sympathetic. “I’d be pretty damned nuts if I suddenly lost an eye. You did lose it, didn’t you?”

“I... Yes.” The man rose to his feet, anger displayed for the first time as he seemed to realize he’d been discovered. “The stupid bitch was supposed to hold onto the chain. She couldn’t do anything right.”

“Are you talking about Juliet Rockingham?” Jensen’s voice was harsh. “Is that why you killed her?”

“Yes!” The TA had retreated behind his chair and picked it up, brandishing it as a weapon. “An eye for an eye. Isn’t that what the bible says?”

Jared got to his feet and stalked towards the apparently demented young man. “The bible,” he growled, “says turn the other cheek.” He grabbed hold of the chair with one hand and tore it from the other man’s grasp, then fended off the knife he’d drawn, turning the young man’s wrist until the knife clattered to the ground. “Better treat that as evidence. I’m sure there will be traces of blood on it.”

“Got it all on record,” said Jensen, “But a little more evidence won’t hurt.”



The police had arrived in short order to charge the hapless TA, whose name turned out to be Tyler Johnson. He was taken into custody, along with a copy of the recording of his confession, and the two agents finally made their escape as the sun was setting.

They called into a greasy spoon a few miles out to eat, and Jared watched, increasingly grumpy as Jensen did pornographic things to his French fries.

Jared narrowed his eyes as he continued eating his own fries, resentful of his body's reaction to Jensen’s apparent come-ons. At least he thought they were come-ons. He frowned, chewing thoughtfully. Had it been so long since someone had flirted with him that he didn't recognize it when he saw it?

“Okay, okay. You don’t have to sell it. I already drank the Kool-Aid.” Jared chuckled. “I know you’re hot. You know you want me. We should go make out or something.”

With a slight shrug, Jensen wiped his mouth. "Wouldn't it be more productive to go for the full-fledged fuck?"

Jared, who was drinking his coffee when Jensen's voice cut into his concentration, coughed and sprayed the brown, viscous liquid onto the table. "Uh... Jensen?" Jared could see that Jensen’s self-possession had returned, and he could feel Jensen's eyes on him as he visibly patted his own back into place. "Which do you prefer? Be honest! Slow or fast?"

Jensen snickered and signaled for the check. The smug expression indicated to Jared that Jensen believed he'd regained at least a little ground. He was grinning as he helped Jared clean up the mess. "You'd love to know, wouldn't you?"

"Me? Not especially." Jared was suddenly very busy flicking an imagined smut off his pristine, white shirt. "Frankly, I like a blow job far better. Your partner can't talk and ruin the mood. He eyed his partner speculatively. "I have you pegged as an all-out 'love me, fuck me, out the door' type, but I've given up special relationships since Afghanistan, so that's fine."

“Oh, child, you have no idea what you’d be getting into with me.” Jensen’s demeanor suddenly went from flirtatious to serious. “They don’t care, back at the office, but if you decided to join me, we’d be hunting things, saving people. We’ll get no thanks except for knowing that sometimes we save the victim and stop the public from finding out just how many evil things inhabit the night.”

“Sounds like a challenge,” agreed Jared. “I know what I saw, and I think we can work together.”

“Really?” asked Jensen, tossing his company credit card down on the table for the waiter. “You weren’t bad. You certainly saved me from needing glasses.” He gave Jared the kind of look that, under other circumstances, would have made Jared drag him into a corner and rip off his clothes. “I think we can give it a try.”

As the two of them left the diner, they were walking close enough together that their hands and shoulders were rubbing with each step.



The trip back - to Jensen’s place this time - was conducted at high speed, and in total silence other than the muttered directions as Jared sped through the streets. Jared could feel the tension from Jensen in the seat beside him and was experiencing a similar, scarcely controlled desperation himself.

At Jensen’s bidding, Jared pulled his car into the empty spot Jensen indicated and jumped out without caring that he was parked at a sloppy angle. Jensen was already out and heading to the door of the apartment block as Jared locked up and scooted after him.

This apartment complex was in a much higher league than his own was. There was an elevator, and Jensen thumbed the button to summon it, then growled in frustration when the car didn’t immediately appear and grabbed Jared’s arm as he headed for the stairs.

Two flights later, and Jared had Jensen pressed face first against his front door as he nipped and kissed along the firm jaw. “God damn it, Jared, let me get the door open.”

“Just hurry up, Ackles.” Jared ground his dick against Jensen’s ass, but then let him go, stepping back so Jensen could get his key into the lock. The door finally gave way, and flew open as the pair of them fell into the apartment, completely off-balance. This time Jensen recovered faster and had the upper hand, slamming the door and surging up against Jared to knock him back against the panels, lick under his jaw, and then savage his mouth.

Jared took it in stride. He reached down to cup Jensen’s buttocks, yanking him up and off his feet as their tongues slid against each other. Chuckling, Jensen raised his knees and wrapped his legs around Jared’s hips, clinging like a limpet as he sank his teeth into Jared’s lower lip. Jared suddenly realized that he was definitely not in Kansas anymore.

"Fuck," Jared breathed and shifted a little. He could feel the press of Jensen's dick against his belly. and he squeezed Jensen’s ass to pull him closer. His hands slipped on Jensen's jeans, making him grunt and scrabble for hold, but it turned out to be enough to rock him forward a little, and just... Jesus! White light and sparks.

Once he was able to process thoughts again, Jared mumbled around Jensen’s talented mouth, and while as speech it wasn’t very effective, Jensen seemed to understand anyway and adjusted his position so that he could take hold of Jared’s ears, steering him somewhat painfully in the direction he wanted to go.

Finally pulling away from the kiss, Jared managed to get the word, ‘Bedroom?” out before succumbing once more to the bruising kisses.

When he reached the bedroom, hoping that his ears would heal eventually, Jared stumbled over to his goal and tossed Jensen down onto it, laughing a little at the litany of curse words Jensen flung at him, even as he rubbed at his poor, abused ears.

At that moment, Jared’s phone rang. Pulling it out of his pocket, Jared looked at the caller ID, turned it off and then put it back into his pocket. “Now why would Morgan call me right now? Do you suppose my phone is bugged?”

“What makes you ask me that?” Jensen had quickly made himself comfortable and lay watching Jared, and looking like at least three of the seven deadly sins.

“Dunno. You’re either the mastermind or the victim in this weird game of ‘I Spy’ I seem to have become involved with. Just trying to find out which it is.” Jared grinned. “It seemed for a moment that the FBI was trying to save you from me.”

That provoked a laugh from Jensen. “Dude, the FBI thinks I’m a soulless machine, and insane to boot. They think I’m a good profiler, so they keep me around in my little dungeon, but only so they can yank me out whenever they have some UnSub whose skin they want me to get into for them.”

“Yeah. That’s pretty much what Morgan told me...” Jared’s words were suddenly curtailed, and his eyes widened when Jensen suddenly tugged him down again. Jensen’s lips were soft and firm against his, and Jared growled, getting with the program. He’d craved this, fantasized about it since that first morning in the car with Agent Ackles, and yet it seemed that he was having trouble concentrating. He slipped an arm around Jensen’s waist, while the other hand went to unfasten Jensen’s belt and toy with the button of his silk suit pants.

The kiss didn’t end, just spun out into something seamless — Jensen licking Jared’s lips apart, Jared’s tongue finding Jensen’s teeth. He could feel Jensen’s fingers tangling in his hair, directing him, and he liked it, loved that Jensen was consuming him with little sucks and nibbles.

Jared’s nimble fingers were working on Jensen's fly as they kissed. Finally, he got Jensen's cock in his hand, skin like silk over iron, and watched Jensen's head roll back, eyes closing. His own cock pulsed, because, Christ, yes, just the sight of Jensen like that, had him leaking.

Jensen was nipping at his throat, scraping teeth down his skin as Jared rubbed the head of his cock, thumb sliding down along the length, then back to spread precome across the crown again. Jared could feel how Jensen’s dick was pulsing, spurting liquid with every twitch, and it didn't take more than Jared pressing down hard before he was coming, hips bucking into Jared's grip.

Jared kicked off his pants quickly, pushing them down impatiently before he lost it too and creamed his underwear. Grinning, he surveyed the wreckage he’d made of his new partner. Jensen looked debauched, mouth kiss-plumped and red, eyes lazily hooded as he lay recovering. Jared took a deep breath, fumbled in his pocket for the supplies he would need and shucked the rest of his own clothes as fast as he could; given the way he was trembling. “I want,” he said.

“Take,” husked Jensen, cock trying valiantly to rise again, filling sluggishly as if it hadn’t noticed he’d already come. “Been hanging around waiting for you to master me with your glorious physique for the last half an hour at least, and only now do I find out that you’re one of the polite ones.”

“Mouthy bottom!” Jared growled again. He seemed to be doing a lot of growling around Jensen. Reaching to gather Jensen’s legs at the knee, Jared rolled him up so that he had access for whatever he might choose to do.

“Gonna teach you, Mr. Special Agent. Gonna make you pray.” He bent and licked a swath up from Jensen’s taint to the tip of his now sticky cock, then back down once more to pay special attention to the man’s waiting pucker.

As his tongue and lube coated fingers worked Jensen open, Jared mouthed Jensen’s balls, watching them with approval as they crinkled and drew up. Stretching Jensen out was a pleasure. Jensen rolled his head from side to side and made the most delightful little moans and sobs as Jared really got into it. By the time Jared was satisfied that Jensen would be able to take him, Jensen was uttering guttural curses.

"Come on, Jared; I'm not a fucking virgin, godfuckingdammit! We've been tip-toeing around this since we met, and now I have you in my clutches, hell if I'm letting you leave this room without fucking me blind. I want you."

“Aww, fuck! Say no more.”

In truth, Jared was so worked up himself now that he was afraid he might come before he even managed to get inside of Jensen. He took a couple of deep breaths and began reciting prime numbers as he got himself in position. He knew he was a big boy and began to tentatively butt his dick up against Jensen’s shiny, stretched entrance. Jensen, however, was having none of that, and he pulled Jared down and in, lifting and wriggling his hips to get him there faster.

“Oh, praise the lord; there is a heaven after all!”

Jared bit his lip, wondered if slapping Jensen right then would be misconstrued as foreplay and gasped as he tried valiantly to hold himself still. He really didn’t want to come right away, although it was 50/50 as to whether he could hold on. Jensen seemed to get a clue, because he was still, gazing up at Jared with wide blown eyes as if waiting for his signal.

Finally, Jared nodded, moved just a little, and they began their dance. It seemed that Jensen would come for a second time. His breath was strident as he reached to pull on himself, and he was swearing again, dirty words and phrases that became less and less coherent. Jared merely bit his lip and hung on. His body had taken over and was doing what it needed, while he hung on for the ride.

It was good. It was better than good. It was every fucking superlative Jared could think of, and some that he couldn’t quite remember, but which he’d be careful to look up in the morning, if he survived. Jensen was hot, clamped around him, his insides sucking on him as if trying to devour him whole, and Jared drove home deeper and deeper, feeling it all build, lava flow just barely held back by will power he didn’t even know he possessed.

Jensen came. Jared could feel it, couldn’t stop it, and then it was happening to him as well, every cliché ever written about sex, only this was real, and here and now. His body seized, face frozen in a rictus of pleasure as he shuddered through the orgasm he’d been trying to hold back.

It seemed to go on for an impossibly long time, and at the end he collapsed, limp as a noodle, onto Jensen’s chest.

Remembering how to breathe took him a few minutes, until it finally occurred to him that he should do the gentlemanly thing and roll off to let Jensen find some oxygen too. Jensen merely grunted, closed his eyes and began snoring quietly, sticky and sweaty as he was.

Sighing, Jared disengaged himself and went to look for washcloths and towels.

Returning after washing himself down, he began to clean his partner up, and Jensen scowled, opened one eye and said in a voice that was deep and shredded, “Sleep now. Tomorrow we’re gonna talk.”

“Yeah.” Jared threw cloth and towel without bothering to aim for anything. “We’ll talk.” He climbed into the bed beside Jensen and groaned as the blood flow to his muscles seemed to start up again.

“And plan,” said Jensen, softly. “Wanna know what those bastards are doing.”

“Tomorrow,” murmured Jared, wondering which particular set of bastards Jensen was referring to.

“Yeah. Tomorrow.”



Jared woke a few minutes before his alarm went off and hopped out of bed leaving Jensen sprawled out on his stomach, dead to the word. He stood by the bed, gazing down at his new lover, admiring the curl of his lashes, the beautifully molded lips and firm chin, then, remembering the morning before, he went off to find the kitchen and put the coffee on.

Returning to the bed bearing a couple of mugs of Ackles-reviver, Jared placed them carefully on the nightstand and slipped back under the covers. Jensen grumbled in his sleep and rolled over to turn his back to Jared, and that made Jared grin, then put his icy feet on Jensen’s thigh.

“Godfuckindammit!” Jensen came awake in an instant, and sat bolt upright as Jared fell back against the pillows, laughing. Swiftly reaching for the coffee he’d brought in for Jensen, he held it out.

“Sorry, man.” Jared’s face belied his apology, and as Jensen’s expression began to darken, he raised his hands in a placatory manner. “Whoa, truce! I call truce?”

“Asshole,” growled Jensen, but there was the glimmer of a smile if Jared looked closely, and Jensen accepted his mug of corpse reviver with a grateful sigh, taking a sip straight away with a satisfied sigh.

“How the hell do you drink that when it’s still boiling hot?” Jared reached for his own mug as he spoke, contenting himself with blowing on it to cool it down.

”Mind over matter!” Jensen took another sip and smirked. ”I guess we`re going to have to get to the paperwork today,” he said. ”Can't wait to see old man Morgan's face when he reads the report. Good thing I have you to corroborate. He's gonna have an apoplexy.”

Jared shot him an amused look, but it vanished very swiftly as he remembered seeing the ghost hovering over Jensen, brandishing her wicked looking knife. ”Wouldn`t Alona corroborate?" he asked, frowning.

"I..." Jensen looked as if he was about to say something, but he suddenly choked, then closed his lips and returned to working on his coffee. Jared frowned and was about to ask about it again, when his phone rang. Checking to see who was calling, he sighed heavily.

"Morgan again. Guess I have to let him grill me," he said and accepted the call.

"Padalecki," he said as he raised the phone to his mouth.

"Report!" The gravelly voice of the Assistant Director was loud enough to make Jensen set his mug down and turn his head, a quizzical eyebrow raised.

"Okay." Jared grinned. "We were just talking about the report from yesterday..."

"We? What do you mean, 'we'?" Morgan sounded a little rattled, the normally confident delivery hesitant for a moment.

"Well, my instructions were to get to know Special Agent Ackles, and I always do what I'm told!" Jared's dimple popped for a moment, and Jensen took advantage of the moment to roll him over onto his back and poke his tongue into the ear closest to him. Grabbing the phone from Jared, he put it to his own ear.

"Good morning, Assistant Director. We'll be submitting our report later this morning," he murmured, and snickered as the phone went dead.



They took their time getting themselves ready for the office. Much to Jared's surprise, Jensen seemed content to go with the flow rather than hurrying to get to the office. He didn’t rush as he dressed himself, and then went with Jared to get him a change of clothing too, before the pair of them headed to the office.

They were on their way down the stairs to the small space where Jensen kept his paperwork, when the fire alarm went off.

"It'll be a drill. They do it from time to time," murmured Jensen, continuing down the concrete steps.

"No." Jared sniffed the air. "There's smoke somewhere. I can smell it." He tugged on Jensen's arm. "Come on. We need to get out of the building."

Below, they heard the fire door open, then slam, and seconds later Chad Lindberg came pounding up to collide with them, shedding small items of electronica as he ran.

"Ackles, your office is on fire. What the hell have you got in there? Cans of gasoline? Your door's pretty much melted!" Lindberg looked very pale. "The corridor's a no-go area. The sprinklers are playing merry hell with my lab, and I bet there won't be anything to salvage once the fire's been put out."

As one, the three of them ran back up the stairs, following the emergency exit signs and out into the parking lot.

Outside, there was chaos. Fire trucks and emergency services were arriving and people were milling around, looking for places to muster. Finally, a woman with a whistle appeared to take charge, and shortly after that she was joined by Assistant Director Morgan, who was wearing the kind of facial expression that promised trouble for somebody.

People began to form lines, and the roll call of all those that had signed in was begun. Most people drifted away once their names had been verified, but Chad stayed with the two of them, apparently happy to hang around without anywhere particular to be.

The woman finally called out their names, and as she did so, Morgan descended on them with a face that boded ill for the pair of them. "Don't you dare go anywhere, either of you," he growled. For a moment, Jared wasn't sure that he wouldn't grab their collars like naughty children.

The roll call was done. Everyone appeared to be accounted for, and Assistant Director Morgan beckoned for the woman to join them. "Gentlemen," he said. "This is Assistant Director Amber Benson, and she has questions to ask you, as have I."

"As has the Director himself." Benson regarded the two of them with apparent distaste. "He doesn't particularly appreciate being kept waiting, so seeing as you've decided on second careers as fire starters, we're going to have to go over to the Annex for now. Follow me."

She was turning to go, when Lindberg suddenly called out, "Wait."

Her expression was icy as she turned back to look at him. "And you are...?" she asked.

"Chief Technical Officer Lindberg at your service," responded Chad. "But I want to assure you that Ackles and Padalecki didn't set the building on fire. They weren't even there when the fire started."

For a moment AD Benson looked as if she'd swallowed something extremely nasty, but as she stared at Chad, she appeared to make a decision. "You'd better come too," she said. "I think Director Worthy will have a use for you." With that, she turned back to lead them across the street to the old building.

The Annex was mainly used for storage, and on a weekend was generally deserted. AD Benson led them to a room that had been fitted out as a meeting room and held the door open for the four of them to troop through. As they entered the somewhat dimly lit space, Morgan turned to Benson. "Surely I'm no longer needed for this."

"On the contrary, Jeff. I really I don't think we can manage without you." She smiled, and there was something in that smile that made Jared, who was watching closely, feel a sense of creeping unease.

He bent closer to Jensen, so he could whisper, "I have a bad feeling about this. I really think we should leave, right now." Even as he was speaking, a door at the far end of the room opened, and a tall, immaculately dressed black man entered. There was a moment of confusion amongst the four of them. He heard Morgan draw in his breath sharply and whisper, "Worthy!" and then the newcomer's eyes began to glow. Jared saw Jensen suddenly stiffen and he appeared to go into what to all intents and purposes looked like a trance.

A furtive look around him showed that Benson had left the room and that his companions, Jensen, Chad and even Assistant Director Morgan were in the same trance-like state. Thinking quickly, Jared drew himself up and attempted to present a similar face to this unknown newcomer that Benson had called the Director. He remained stationary as the Director slowly approached him.

"Excellent. It seems that General Olsson has already brought you into the fold." Slowly moving away, he peered at the line-up, inspecting them carefully, his melodious voice dropping as he spoke to each of the others in turn. Jared listened, trying to make sense of what was happening, not quite sure if he was hallucinating.

"Morgan, it's time to start spreading our wings a little. I think our next step will be to share with government. I believe you're going to be meeting with Ferris next week? You and Amber will turn her for me, won't you?" The silky voice was eerily compelling, and Jared felt somehow lost that it wasn't addressing him, almost as if it were being withheld from him as a punishment.

"Lindberg, you will go with Ackles and Padalecki out to Quantico. Special Agent Ackles has so far refused to bring the BAU under our control, but that must come to an end now. Amber will give you the wave intensifier when you leave here today. You just have to install it and all will be as we need it." Jared could see Chad nod out of the corner of his eye. "I will be very pleased with you, very pleased indeed."

"And you, Ackles, my reluctant assistant. You will return to Quantico, to the BAU. Your little rat hole is gone and you can no longer avoid your task. Go and deliver the BAU to me." Jensen swayed a little, and Jared could feel minute tremors running through his arm where they were pressed together, but finally Jensen nodded. Then it was Jared’s turn.

"Padalecki, I wonder if I should taste you now, or wait. General Olsson deserves you, of course, but your blood would be very sweet..." The man paused, and Jared saw a second row of teeth descend from behind his upper lip. "No. I will follow the plan, but once it's complete, and he’s had his fill of you, I will ask for you. You will be a prize worth the taking." The teeth receded, and Jared felt light headed, wondering what he'd just seen. "You will go with Ackles and when the time comes you will bring the whole of Quantico to me. We will have the country under our control before anyone is the wiser."

The director stepped away and walked back towards the door through which he had first arrived. "In ten minutes you will come to, believing that you have been reprimanded. You will all proceed as I have instructed, and go about your assigned tasks."

With that, he was gone.



"Jensen? Jensen!" Jared was moving immediately, shaking his partner in an attempt to break him free from whatever compulsion he was under. Ten minutes, the vampire had said. That wasn't good. They needed to get going immediately and not hang around doing this creature's bidding. "Come on, Jensen. You know time is tight."

Jensen shuddered and then staggered to lean against the wall behind him. "Jared, what?"

"You've got to come out of this, Jensen. You've been brainwashed, hypnotized. I don't know what else." Jensen gazed at him in confusion, and Jared sighed. "Fuck it! Come on. There's no time." He grabbed the still staggering Jensen and threw him over one brawny shoulder, then headed out towards the front of the building.



Jensen still seemed to be in some kind of trance as Jared reached his car, so he tossed the confused agent into the back seat and pulled the car away, trying his best to look as though he was sedately going about his business rather than escaping in a panic. Several miles over the border into Maryland, he stopped the car to sweep it for bugs, finding another two besides the one he'd put there himself. Then he pointed the Impala to Bethesda and the Walter Reed Military Army Medical Center. Once they reached Bethesda, he checked them into the Travelodge. He led Jensen, who by now was coming out of his fugue state, into the room and picked up the phone, then thought better of it and took his own phone and Jensen's with him outside to lock them in his car.

Returning to the room, where Jensen was apparently back to his normal self, he swept the room for bugs before calling a person he hadn't spoken to for well over a year.

"US Army Intelligence and Security. How may I direct your call?"

"Let me speak to Lt. Col. Collins, please." Jared frowned. The last time he'd spoken to Collins he'd been in a debriefing session and totally incapable of speaking anything but the truth. Collins was the only person he could think of that would be able to help with the current situation.

There was a long pause, so long that Jared wondered if he should hang up and try to go see the man in person. When the phone finally crackled, and the voice announced that he'd reached Collins, it made him jump.

"Uh, hello," he said. "You may not remember me, but my name is Jared Padalecki, and I have information about national security that you need to hear."

"Of course I remember you." There was a smile in the voice that made Jared hope that he'd be able to enlist the man's help. If even the Lieutenant Colonel was already compromised they were in for a world of hurt.

"Can we meet?" Jared asked. "I promise you that there are good reasons why I'm not going through normal channels." Jared wasn't expecting the man at the other end of the line to hang up, and when exactly that happened, he let out a very inventive curse and slammed the phone back into its cradle.

"You do know that all the calls into government facilities are recorded, I hope." Jensen's voice floated up to him from the direction of the couch, where the agent had flung himself, and where he now reclined in an elegant sprawl, idly flicking through the saved searches on Jared's laptop. "Hey, thought your tame geek told you to quit downloading porn!"

"Hey..." Jared was about to blast him, when the phone shrilled. Picking it up with a frown, he heard the reception clerk, who announced that they had a visitor awaiting them in the office. He beckoned for Jensen to get up. "There's someone that wants to see us at the reception."

Jumping to his feet, Jensen headed for the door, and Jared followed. "Are you armed?" Jensen flashed his shoulder holster and raised one eyebrow in inquiry. Jared flashed a grin and reached to the back of his pants, briefly displaying a very capable looking Glock before replacing it behind him once again.

The two of them made their way back to the office and came face to face with a man dressed in camouflage, who rose to his feet to greet them. "Padalecki?" he asked, looking a little uncertain as he faced Jared.

"Yeah, I grew my hair a little since I last saw you." Jared grinned as he extended his hand to the newcomer. "Thank you for coming by. Can we go somewhere a little more private, please? There's a lot to tell you." The newcomer simply gestured for him to take the lead and then fell into step alongside Jensen as they returned to their room.

Back inside the room, Jared began to relate what he'd witnessed with Director Worthy. Collins frowned as he listened, saying nothing, merely nodding occasionally. "Doc, it's well known that Jensen was working on some top secret project for the feds, and that he and his partner suddenly left that program at the end of 2016, and now neither of them can even talk about it. From what I saw back in DC, he's been seriously brainwashed, and he's not the only one. The vamp had an associate, I think her name is Benson, and he spoke about General Olsson too, as if he's one of them. It seems like they got AD Morgan too. I don't pretend to know what's going on here, but I'm pretty sure that it ain't good, and that it's possible that Jensen here is the key to fixing it. Can you un-brainwash him? I read your paper on hypnosis and deconditioning. That's why I brought him here."

Dr. Collins was still frowning. After what seemed like forever, he sat forward, eyes assessing Jensen, whose eyes had glazed over, and who had taken no part in the conversation. "It does seem as if we need to give it a try, doesn't it? You said he had a partner. Where is the partner now?"

"She's at Quantico. She's one of the pathologists there now." Jared nodded. "Oh, and there's Chad. He's a buddy of mine. He runs the tech lab at the Bureau. He was under the influence too. He's supposed to take some gadget to Quantico that will enhance whatever Jensen's supposed to do."

Collins rose to his feet and rubbed his hands together. "Well, it sounds as if we don't have a lot of time to lose. Let's go unscramble your partner's brains and raise him from perdition, shall we?"


~~o(0)o~~

Master Post | The Beginning | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 5 | The End | Artwork | PDF | AO3 | Author's Notes and Acknowledgements