The Luck of Job Part 2

[dime_liora]

There's a fork in the road in front of me,
At the crossroads of identity.
The Devil is standing to the left.
He says "Either way, they both lead to death."
And the high road's steady and steep,
And the low road's easy and deep.
Guess I'll follow, follow, follow my feet.

Jensen sits on his throne, brooding and thinking of his failed first attempt. Azazel is in the throne room with him, listing off complaints as Jensen remembers how Jared walked away from him.

“And then, Lord, the human spit on me and I-“

No one had ever walked away from Jensen. Not in life, and certainly not since he became the devil. What the hell had happened? It had been going so well. Jensen had sown all the seeds, but for this to work perfectly he needed Jared’s trust. He needed the man to believe in him, first as Jensen and then as the Devil. How else could he turn Jared from God?

Sure, he could wait for Jared to hold out and God to offer him the other option, but freedom is so close. Jensen has been locked down here for so long that the mere idea of being free of it is too much to wait for. He has certainly learned patience to an epic degree in his time here, but he can’t be patient about this. He can’t wait any longer to be free of this nightmare.

If Jensen had known what he was getting into when he signed the contract maybe he would have thought twice. It had seemed like a position of power. It had seemed like an honest escape.

It had been neither.

“Lord, are you listening?”

He looks up to see that Azazel is glaring at him, fists curled tightly, and Jensen can’t even make himself pretend to care today.

“How long have you been dealing with these souls? And you’re surprised that they don’t like you? They’re never going to like you. And if you’re hoping they’ll respect you then let me assure you that knowing that you come here to whine like a little girl won’t help them with that either. Nut up and deal with it.”

“Nu-nut up? What kind of devil are you?”

“A shitty one. Deal with that too.”

And maybe it’s childish, especially considering the lecture he just gave the fallen angel, but Jensen walks out on that. That being said Jensen feels a little vindicated by the surge of energy it gives him. He isn’t a shitty devil. That’s the problem. Jensen has turned out to be very good at this job.  He’s been able to talk anyone he’s come across into selling their soul for pittances, but he can’t even get Jared Padalecki to finish a date with him.

Jensen stops, feet skidding on the stone floor of the hallway, eyes going wide as his internal choice of words comes back to him.

He needs Sariel.


----


Jared is busily hosing down runs and not thinking about Jensen. It’s important that he stress that he’s not thinking about Jensen. He’s gotten over fifteen calls from the man that he hasn’t answered, and one very odd flower bouquet that would have been more fitting at a funeral. Gen laughed at it, but Danni shot him a look that he wasn’t sure he could read properly.

He’s not sure what happened that night, but it’s taken time for his friends to let the incident go and move on. There’s no more awkwardness between them, but Jared feels like he should still be apologizing.

Their entire lives are devoted to bettering the world and he acted like a barbarian. Jensen approving the action really only makes it worse. Is that the sort of man that Jared really wants? There was something about Jensen, still is a traitorous little voice inside Jared responds; that really sets him apart. That made him someone that Jared thought would stand out from the crowd that he was used to interacting with.

So what does that say about Jared? Did the part of him that sensed that in Jensen also sense Jensen’s complete opposition to Jared’s ideals?

“If you were any further away you’d be in Canada kid. What’s going on?”

Jared looks up to see that Jeff, the head of the shelter and their on-call vet, is standing in the walkway holding a puppy with a bandaged paw. Jeff has been very good about working with Jared’s schedule, and a lot of times Jared has worked into the late night with Jeff to finish the work they didn’t get done during normal business hours. As a result the two have become fairly good friends.

Maybe not good enough to discuss Jared’s love life though.

“Just life stuff. You know. What happened to that little guy?”

Jeff looks down at the wiggling puppy in his arms and his face goes sad.

“Assholes that owned him stomped on his paw. Just finished a little patching up.”

It’s hard, in moments like this, to maintain the positivity Jared has cultivated for most of his life.

“Do you need any help?”

Jeff laughs at that, pointing with his free hand at the hose Jared is holding.

“Nah kid, I’d rather you keep hosing down shit and I’ll go get him settled in an observation cage. When you’re done with that I need help unloading a truck of donations if you’ve still got time.”

He nods once and watches Jeff heading back down the hall with the puppy in his arms. When Jared was little he thought that life would be easier as an animal. His time in the shelter has proven that wrong. It’s never failed to amaze Jared the simplistic cruelty of human beings. He remembers talking to his pastor about it the first week at the shelter, asking how god could allow such a thing.

There had never been a satisfactory answer.

Jared shakes his head, trying to banish the melancholy and unpleasant thoughts and get back into the swing of cleaning out the runs for the animals under his care.

It does him no good to focus on this. He needs to move on. This one didn’t work. The next one will. He’d only met Jensen twice after all. It wasn’t like a long standing love affair.

That’s all there is to it.


----


She’s pissed off.

Jensen knows it the moment he sees her.

“I had four days left. Four. Do you know how much I can get done in four days?”

Sariel practically slams her bags down on the bed. There’s more than any one person should be able to hold on to. She starts to rifle through them, pulling out pieces of clothing that Jensen is not sure why she has procured or what she will do with.

“I need you.”

The fallen angel rolls her eyes, lining a filmy little dress up against her body in the reflection of a mirror that wasn’t there a moment ago. Her eyes study it closely before she drops it back onto the bed.

“Sariel. I need you.”

At that she looks up from the bags, lips pursed in displeasure.

“I know that you don’t like it down here Jensen. I am aware of that. I know that you would rather be anywhere else doing anything else. That being said, there are other fallen angels that you can work with. They may be annoying, and occasionally dumber than a box of rocks, but they are useful soldiers. They were created to be useful soldiers. All you need to do is tell them to keep people in line and make them suffer and you can go about your business without-“

“He hates me.”

The fallen angel stops entirely. All the fight seems to go out of her at that, and she sits down on the bed and raises both arms in a confused shrug.

“So?”

“So. I can’t convert him to my purpose if he hates me.”

For half a second Jensen thinks he’s made sense to her, but then she stands up and puts her hands on his shoulders. When she speaks it’s slow and purposeful, as if to a particularly dim child.

“Everyone hates you. You’re the devil. That’s your job.”

“But this isn’t like everyone Sariel. This isn’t me asking him to give in to what he wants anyway. It’s me selling him me.”

Her mouth purses again, and then she steps back.

“Tell me exactly what happened.”

And he does. In all the detail he can manage despite his confusion about the exact chain of events.

When he’s done she cuffs him on the back of the head and Jensen thinks not for the first time that maybe he needs a new second in command because this sort of disrespect should not be so easy for her.

“Did you spend your entire time being human living in the mountains alone? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What do you mean what’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with him? Who doesn’t like being comforted and told they made the right choice? Why does that get me dumped and hit?”

Sariel gives him that look again, but there’s an underlying pity in it that doesn’t seem sarcastic or demeaning. And that makes Jensen uneasy.

“Jensen, do you remember when you first came here, and everything was fresh and new?”

He does. He remembers seeing the torture and feeling like his brain would split in half. He remembers thinking that getting his hair cut was the biggest mistake he ever made in his life. He remembers how he used to sit in the throne room with his head in his hands as the demons and the fallen angels bickered back and forth.

And he remembers how Sariel stepped forward and told all of them that they were done talking for the week, and that there was going to be a no contact period for breaking the new lord in or she was going to go on a rampage.

“Yes. Why?”

“We had that long talk about what was and wasn’t acceptable to say in front of the troops. Remember?”

“Yes.”

“And in that list were things like compassion, empathy, and understanding. Anything to do with those topics. We weeded those out didn’t we? Agreed that to do this job you had to show them a good strong front.”

“Yes.” Jensen is getting suspicious.

“I would suggest, when speaking to anyone like myself, or especially to God, that you don’t use the word dumped when it comes to the human.”

Jensen thinks of his aha moment in the hallway, and feels something cold trickle down his spine.

“It’s not like that. It was a poor choice of words. He’s a job just like the others even if it’s a different goal. I don’t think of him like that.”

Sariel tilts her head, and Jensen hates it and her.

“I don’t. Stop that. I just said it wrong.”

Tilts a little more.

“I can ban you from the surface for the rest of time.”

“Only if you’re still stuck here for the rest of time. Do you plan on being stuck here that long?”

“No.”

“Then you better stop posturing and listen to me, my sweet little lord, because I know what makes you tick better than you do. I have seen the insides of more humans than you can imagine and while you might lie to yourself successfully you won’t lie to me with the same efficiency. Now. Your problem is that you approached this like a job. You tried to appeal to his bad side. He’s the target of this little bet because he doesn’t have a bad side. Not like that. If you want to get to him you need to appeal to his heart. Make him love you, Jensen, the idiot from Texas and then he’ll rely on you. Finish the rest of it behind the scenes and when his whole tower comes falling down on his head he’ll drag himself out bleeding and wrecked and drink poison from your hands. Happily.”

Jensen listens.

-----

After what Jared would argue is the longest shift in the history of the universe he calls his mom to keep him awake on the ride home. She answers on the second ring, and Jared can hear that she’s baking from the low grunts of concentration she lets out mid sentence.

His mother has always been a passionate baker, even if she’s never been a very good one.

“How’s work honey?”

Jared thinks of the fourth surgery in a row and tries to hold back his groan. His mother worries.

“Good. You know. Busy sometimes. Today was kinda long.”

She grunts again, and then Jared hears what he thinks may have been a curse word under her breath.

“Oh yeah? I’m sorry. How are Gen and Danni?”

“Insane, tyrannical, out of control, mad with-“

“So normal. That’s good. And on the dating front? Any closer to making me a mother-in-law?”

“Mom you know I can’t get married.” Jared turns, slowing down on the curve to make sure that he’s taking it the way the cops want him too.

“You can have a ceremony. Or we can go out of state. There’s all sorts of things we can do. I’m not asking for much. You know your brother settled down for me.”

“He also finished med school and became a doctor.”

His mother breathes deep, and then Jared hears his father’s laughter and knows that something has gone terribly wrong on her end with the baked goods.

“I don’t care about that as long as you’re happy. And not sleeping alone in some crummy little apartment wasting your youth on work. On top of that I think-“

It’s a desperation move. Jared can’t help it. He just needs her to stop because he’s too tired.

“There is someone.”

There’s a long silence, and then Jared hears an echo that suggests he’s been put on speakerphone.

“Tell us everything sugarbear.”

Jared winces at the nickname and pulls into his parking lot. He’s too tired to climb the stairs and go in at the moment, so he puts his head on the steering wheel.

“I don’t know momma. It’s a bit early for that.”

“The hell it is.” His father, voice eager and excited.

Jared knows he’s lucky that his parents are so understanding and loving, but some days...

“He’s…really handsome. Funny. But a little bit different.”

“Different how?” His mother, mouth close to the phone.

“It was so weird momma. I got into a fight at the bar-“

“You what?” Both parents together.

“I must have drank too much. Nobody got hurt but there was some shoving. I’m not proud of it.”

His father sounds a little sad. “We all make mistakes kiddo. Tell us the rest.”

Jared foresees a call from Pastor Bob tomorrow. His parents will give him a day. He has a local church, but Pastor Bob helped raise him and Jared is still a member of his flock.

“He told me I did the right thing pushing the guy. He was really…it was weird. Happy? He was happy about it.”

There’s quiet muttering, his parents sharing a conversation that isn’t really his to hear, and then his mother takes the phone over and the speakerphone sound is gone.

“Sugarbear, listen, not everybody was raised the way you were, or instilled with the ideas you were. You remember all those mission trips we never sent you on? And you asked us why?”

Jared does. He remembers being jealous of all his friends in church who got to go to exotic places and spread the Word, how proud he was of all their reports and presentations about the missions themselves.

“Yeah.”

“Well we didn’t send you because while the work they did was good, the purpose of it wasn’t what we wanted you to do. We love the church, we love our Lord, but that doesn’t mean everybody else does too. Help should be offered without strings honey. You have to see the differences between yourself and others and embrace them. If they look at you and want to change to emulate your behavior that’s fine. If they don’t as long as you stay yourself it’s all ok.”

Jared manages to open his car door and drag himself up the stairs, his eyes focused downward on the keys in his hands as he sorts them to find the right one.

“So what you’re saying is give it another chance and see if I can’t accept him for who he is?”

“I’m saying bring him for dinner in the next month or two, because he’s the first boy you’ve ever brought up on your own.”

“Ok momma, I’ll bring him over in the next couple of weeks. I promise.”

“That’s good sugarbear. I love you. Dad does too.”

“Love you too.”

Jared hangs up, and then looks up with the key in his hand. Jensen is standing there, an awkward smile on his face.

“I don’t suppose I’m lucky enough to be going to dinner?”

And Jared doesn’t know what to say.


----


Jensen is seated across from Jared, staring at the other man over his small dining table. Jensen looks around the apartment and thinks that it doesn’t quite match the description of Job’s wealth in the original book.

It’s small, homey, but mostly bare. There’s a gaming system that’s one generation behind, a big couch that looks comfortable but secondhand, and the walls are practically papered in pictures. Two big dogs mill around, moving back and forth between sniffing Jensen and begging Jared for attention.

Jensen has never seen someone seem so happy with so little.

“How did you know where I lived?”

One of the big dogs licks Jensen’s hand and he jumps a little. It always shocks him when animals like him. He thought he would be hated.

“I looked you up. I’m sorry. That might be creepy.”

“It’s very creepy. You know where I worked why didn’t you just come there?”

Sariel told him to be honest, not totally honest, but mostly honest. Enough that he could relate to Jared. Seem likable.

“Your friend Danni doesn’t like me and I thought I would have a better chance here where she isn’t.”

Jared starts to protest, thinks better of it, and reaches down to pet one big canine head.

“Look, Jensen, it’s come to my attention that-“

He has to stop him. If Jared gets too much time to argue himself out of this little ambush Jensen will have taken another step back.

“I’ve never dated anybody.”

Jared’s disbelief is written in his eyebrows.

“I mean dated dated. I’ve been with people. A fair amount of people. But I’ve never dated someone. Dinner and a movie. Honest conversation. A picnic or a meet the parents. I’ve never done that. I don’t know how to do that. I might not be exactly the kind of man that fits your…charitable lifestyle, but I think I could be a good man for you. I might be a little violent, I might be a little rough, but I’m funny and I’m smart. I’m loyal. Those are pretty worthwhile traits right?”

Jared’s mouth twitches, something that might be a smile trying to break through or Jared trying not to say something hideous, and then the other man reaches out and takes his hands. Jared’s hands are rough, big, and warm. Jensen kind of likes them.

“Very worthwhile. I’m sorry. I judged you pretty harshly and that’s not what I was raised to do.”

And that…that was not what Jensen was expecting. Even in his wildest imagination, his best case scenario; that is not what Jensen thought would happen.

“You don’t have to apologize.”

“I do. I was out of it that night. Crazy drunk and flying off the handle. I shouldn’t have pushed that guy, but I shouldn’t have walked off on you like that because you agreed with my behavior. You don’t have to think like me to date me. That would be pretty boring.”

And Jensen? Little bit overwhelmed.

“Well. I’m glad you agree. Um. You want to go on a date? No booze involved at all, and no bar fights. I’ll even skip the usual first date bank heist.”

Jared’s laugh is precious, done with his whole body, and the hands holding Jensen’s tighten briefly and then release. It gives Jensen a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

“What kind of date do you want? I’ll even watch shitty movies to get the general idea of how to do it.”

The head tilts, big puppy dog eyes sparkling with mirth, and Jensen thinks in all his years he’s never seen someone so perfectly open and genuine.

It’s a little frightening.

“I think a picnic sounds best.”


----


Jared answers his door on Saturday, and Jensen is standing outside of it with a giant basket. He tries, very hard, to not be giddy.

The sun is out, the weather is beautiful and mild, and Zeus and Ulysses have picked up on the fact that they are going out. They’re bouncing around, happy and loud, and Jared has to firm his stance to make sure that they don’t sneak past him.

“That. Is a very pink shirt.”

Nothing will dim his good mood, even Jensen not recognizing how awesome he looks in pink.

“It is the manliest of shirts. It is a shirt among shirts. Kings wear this color.”

Jensen’s mouth quirks up, eyes bright and mischievous.

“I think you mean Queens.”

Jared very good-heartedly slaps Jensen on the back of the head, and the other man laughs his way through leashing Jared’s giant beasts and taking them out to the car.

The ride is long, and Jared switches his focus back and forth between the scenery outside the window and the view in the driver’s seat. Jensen’s car is ultra modern, sleek and tricked out, and yet Jared is infinitely more interested in the driver than he is all the bells and whistles that sit on the console.

Jensen picks up on this as they are leaving city limits.

“What?”

“What what?”

Jensen quirks an eyebrow without taking his eyes off the road.

“You’re staring.”

Jared isn’t sure how he wants to respond. There’s no way to play off the fact that he was staring, and to be honest he doesn’t care to. He does on the other hand want to avoid coming off clingy or weird on their first real date. Their first good real date.

“I just. Tell me something.”

“Something.”

Jared barely resists the urge to dig his fingers into Jensen’s armpit and see if the asshole is ticklish.

“Tell me something important about you. Something I need to know to get along with you.”

“I like dogs.”

Zeus barks from the backseat as if he knows that this statement is good for him. It makes Jared laugh, but it also makes him wonder.

“All I really know about you is that you’re tight-lipped, grumpy, and a little dark. All of which I could have guessed from knowing you work in sales. Tell me something new. Something I didn’t know before.”

Jensen hits the turn signal and they head out onto what looks like a road that was paved when Texas was founded. He slows the car down a little to make his way over the deep potholes, babying the luxury sedan along the path.

“I’m an only child.”

“Nope. Could’ve guessed that too. Look how spoiled you are about automobiles. And your clothes kind of-“

“Nothing about my clothes Mr. Pink.” Jensen smiles to ease the harshness of the words, but there’s a strain in the corner of his eyes that Jared can’t miss.

“Jensen. Is it that hard to tell me anything? I know you said you haven’t done this before but you must have realized it would include some emotional sharing right?”

For a moment Jared thinks that this will be the world’s lamest deal-breaker, and then Jensen nods firmly and grips the wheel like he’s about to drive the car over a literal cliff.

“I’ve only ever made one friend. In my whole life.”

“Now that one I find hard to believe. You? You’re so…charismatic.”

“Sure, I’m charismatic, but I’m not really a great friend. I never have been. Too wrapped up in what’s going on in my own life to properly pay attention to anyone else’s, too orderly to be fun, and too blunt to be lovable. I’ve just got all the wrong qualities to make friends.”

Jared feels his head tilting, and he sees Jensen side-eye him with something that looks a lot like fear.

“But you said you did make one. What do they seem to like about you?”

Jensen purses his lips, a noise emitting from the back of his throat like a click and a swallow mixed, and then he shrugs.

“Well, to be fair, she’s not really my friend she’s just my subordinate. But we’re together so much I guess that’s the closest I’ve ever come.”

“What does a second in command for a unique luxury items salesman do?”

Jensen’s eyes go a little dark, hands shifting on the wheel, and Jared feels a chill travel down his spine.

“Collections.”

He almost doesn’t want to ask the next question. Jared is afraid the answer will be even more unsettling than the previous one.

“Do you like your job?”

Without thinking, pausing, or even breathing Jensen answers.

“No.”

“Why do you do it then?”

Jensen shrugs, eyes still on the road.

“I sort of fell in to it. I figure that everybody hates their job, or almost everybody, and that I’m not too special about that. It was available when I needed something, and now I just can’t seem to get out of it.”

“But you would if you could.”

“Oh yeah, in a second. I would just drop my keys and walk away if it was an option.”

Jared reaches back to give Ulysses and Zeus a few rubs.

“Why do you hate it so much?”

“My coworkers are useless assholes, my customers are selfish and terrible people, and I do nothing all day but contribute to the waste and nonsense cluttering up the planet. The higher ups tell me that I’m important, that I serve a purpose, but in reality all I do is make things worse every single day.”

By the end of the little rant Jared knows for a fact that Jensen didn’t mean to say even a quarter of those things.

“Why don’t you quit?”

“I signed a contract that I can’t break. I’m working on loopholes now, but until I have it cemented down I just have to live with it.”

“But you get a fair amount of free time right? I mean how long have you been hanging around here?”

Jensen turned the wheel again and then pulled off the beaten down little road and into a wide clearing. He pointed through the windshield towards a giant old oak, limbs hanging low and casting heavy shade over the grass.

“Not long enough.”


----


Jensen loves the smell of the earth. It wasn’t a thing he respected or appreciated when he was human, but now that his nostrils always seem to be clogged with blood and seared flesh and sulfur there is nothing quite like the smell of turned dirt and soaked earth.

The rain was this morning, and all that is left of it is the scent and grey clouds rolling gently through the sky and breaking the light into sheets along the fields. There isn’t even that steamy awfulness that sometimes happens when the heat index is too high and the water boils off of the ground.

Instead there is just beauty everywhere around him. Jensen takes it all in, and then looks to his left where Jared is throwing stick after stick and watching his dogs chase after them and then get too lazy to retrieve them. Jensen is fairly certain that at this point Jared has thrown every branch that the tree has ever shed.

Jared catches sunlight, traps it in his skin somehow, and it moves with him as he pulls his arm back and lets another stick fly far off into the distance. Zeus gives a half-hearted bark, but doesn’t even bother to move towards the projectile. Instead he flops onto his back and starts rubbing his face into the grass violently.

Peaceful. It’s peaceful. It’s also false, but Jensen needs Jared to like him and needs him out of town for a few hours. Things are starting to move, and Jensen can’t have Jared there dispelling the distrust and suspicion he is sowing.

When Jared flops down beside him on the blanket Jensen offers him another beer from the cooler, but Jared waves it away before pushing his hair back.

“How’d you get hired there anyway?”

Jared has really latched onto this topic, and Jensen wishes that he would let it go.

“It was very sudden. I got a haircut.”

Jared’s hand moves up and then stops, an aborted and self-conscious acknowledgment of his own messy mop. Jensen likes Jared’s hair.

“A haircut?”

“A haircut. It was overly long. Messy. So I stopped into a barber’s shop I didn’t know and asked for a haircut. I got into a debate there about religion, and the next thing I knew I had a job.”

It’s a wild oversimplification, but it’s as close as Jensen can get without explaining that the religious argument ended up being with God himself, and that Jensen talked his own stupid ass into becoming the devil. He didn’t even need to be sold on it.

“How does a religious debate get you a job?”

Jensen sighs, rubs his face to buy himself a moment to think, and then phrases it carefully. Sariel’s advice is ringing in his ears.

“There was a man in the barber shop who asked me what I thought about God. I told him that if God existed than his only purpose was to make us feel small and useless. He asked me if that wasn’t my own fault, if I wasn’t wasting my potential and blaming it on God. I told him, very plainly, that if I were given the chance to have power I would certainly use it, and that God would have nothing to do with my success. And then he offered me a job that would make me powerful.”

He can still remember the smile. Fatherly, gentle, slightly mocking. How it pushed a lonely and beaten down young man to simply take what was offered. To grab on with both hands to the possibility of finally being something more.

Jensen should have known something was wrong. He was a salesman himself. He should have seen the pitch.

“Do you really believe that? That God has nothing to do with your success?”

And Jensen’s answer, honest though it is, is not exactly the thing he’s trying to get Jared to buy into.

“I believe now that God had everything to do with my rise to power. And I hate him for it.”

Jared lifts an eyebrow, eyes going wide and surprised, and Jensen wonders if Jared has ever heard a real human being say such a thing before. If it ever really occurred to him that people could hate God that way.

“Because you hate your job? You hate God too?”

He nods, keeps it simple, and stretches his fingers out to rub the coarse hair of Ulysses’ face when the dog shoves it into his palm.

“Jensen, what about everything you love? If you believe God gave you this job how can you not believe that he gave you all the things you like too?”

“That’s a very short list Jared. I don’t disbelieve in God. I just see him for what he is. A cruel little boy burning ants with a magnifying glass.”

Jared licks his lips, and Jensen can see a thousand arguments crowding in his brain and fighting to get out all at once. Instead Jared nods once, takes a deep breath, and then nods again.

“I’m hungry for another sandwich.”



----

Jared lets Jensen walk him to his door, and then says goodbye a little less firmly than he wants. Jensen looks like he wants to say more, to stay, but Jared needs to send him away and think.

A month ago if someone had said half the things Jensen said Jared would have scoffed and argued. He would have had an argument. There’s something about Jensen that takes that argument away. Something that makes it so that it’s too hard for Jared to raise his voice and his flag.

Because, in a way, Jensen is only saying something that Jared has thought before. It’s always been a fault of his. Questioning without purpose or answers. It makes Jared want to call up his pastor and start a conversation. Just to have the right answers give to him so he can ease the turmoil in his head for a little bit.

Instead Jared plops down onto his couch and is immediately blanketed in warm, fuzzy dog. He stays there until he falls asleep.

When Jared wakes up it’s to the phone ringing not far from his head. The dogs have gone somewhere else during his sleep, and Jared fumbles in the dim light for the phone before picking it up and answering blindly.

“Jared? Hey Jared?”

He blinks, pulse racing at the tone.

“Yeah? What?”

“Your shift started thirty minutes ago. Where the hell are you?”

Jared looks at his watch and then starts to curse. He is miserably late.

“I fell asleep. Sorry. I’m headed there now.”

He hasn’t been late in years. Not since he was just finishing school and working so many shifts to cover loans that it felt like he was in a permanent state of hospital daze. Jared hangs up on Gen and pulls on scrubs, making it into the car and over to the hospital in record time.

The shift starts off on a bad note because Jared runs into the Dean of Medicine Jim Beaver yelling at the pharmacist. Jim, already pissed about whatever it is that the pharmacist did, turns on Jared and he gets reamed for being late.

Danni and Gen aren’t happy either, stuck with Tom Welling in the operating theater since Jared wasn’t there and schedules had to be kept. Tom is a fine worker, but he has the sense of humor of a sack of bricks, and the two of them always leave surgeries with Tom dour and stressed out.

Jared tries to explain at first, and then gives up and simply tries to make it through his shift without pissing anyone else off. It’s a long and thankless endeavor. By the end of the work day Jared is pretty sure that he’s become the whipping boy for the whole department and several others. Samantha, the head nurse, hasn’t smiled at him a single time all day. Which is unusual for her.

The only bright spot is that when Jared goes out into the parking lot Jensen is leaning on his car with a bouquet of sour straws and a lopsided smile.

Their third date is better than the first and second.


----


“Lord, we must talk.”

Jensen doesn’t want to deal with this right now. He has a date in fifteen minutes, and he needs to get topside and to Jared’s apartment before he’s late.

He is pretty sure he’s going to get a kiss tonight.

“Make it fast Azazel.”

The fallen angel squares up his shoulders and clears his throat.

“Lord, while I respect your position and your efficiency there have been some complaints recently, and I am not alone in thinking that you are leaving your duties unfinished in the interest of going up to the surface. “

Jensen turns on the ball of his foot, eyes going narrow. The fallen angel cowers just a little bit.

“Excuse you?”

“It’s just. Lord the numbers are down. The numbers have been steadily declining since you began this bet with God. If you don’t set the standard and act as a role model how can we be expected to continue bringing in souls to stock Hell?”

“My trips to the surface are a part of my job, as bringing in souls is yours. This was a task handed to me by God himself. You and the others shouldn’t need me to ‘set an example’ because you’ve been doing this longer than I can imagine. Just get your asses in gear and do your jobs.”

Azazel swallows and then stands up a little straighter.

“While I admire your lordship’s cruelty, the Job wager doesn’t negate your-“

“My cruelty? I’m not being cruel I’m being blunt. You have a job to do and you shouldn’t need me holding your hand to do it.”

The fallen angel lifts an eyebrow, seemingly confused, and Jensen watches him replay the conversation until he remembers the point that he’s become lost at.

“Oh no, no Lord I meant your cruelty to the Job.”

Jensen blinks, blinks again, and then steps forward.

“It’s not- that’s not- it’s temporary. It’s only temporary. As soon as we’re done God will give everything back to him and it’ll be even better than before.”

Azazel’s eyes are very wide, and Jensen watches the comically confused look on his face intensify.

“Give it back? Why would God give it back?”

Now it is Jensen’s turn to be confused. This is the second time a fallen angel hasn’t understood what he was talking about when he references a situation they were all alive and present for.

“He gives it back. After the bet is over and Jo-Jared shows that he’s still faithful God returns everything and betters his life.”

“Lord, the Job doesn’t get anything back.”

“One, that’s not right. I read the passage myself. He gets everything back. Two, he’s not the Job it’s just Job. It’s his name.”

Azazel brightens at that, a dumb student excited to finally have the right answer.

“Oh no! You see Lord that-“

And then Azazel is flying to the right and Sariel is standing in the place he once held with her chest heaving and her knuckles white and tight around the hilt of a knife.

“Jensen. Get the hell over to the adulterer section. There’s a goddamn revolt.”

Every thought flies out of Jensen’s head as he speeds across Hell to deal with what will no doubt be hours of diplomacy followed by directing new torture plans to quell future uprisings.


---


Jensen is an hour late.

Jared sits in the restaurant ignoring the pitying looks from the waitress as he drinks his fourth glass of wine and munches on free bread. At this point he’s pretty sure that they’re only refilling the basket out of a reasonable fear regarding how drunk he would be without something to soak up the alcohol.

His boyfriend comes in after he finishes off the second basket, hair disheveled and jacket buttoned incorrectly, and takes the seat across from him.

“I’m sorry. Jared I’m really sorry about being so late, but there was an emergency at work and it took way longer to fix than I thought it would.”

Jared doesn’t ask Jensen what about luxury item purchasing could be an emergency. Instead he drains his glass and then points to the menu.

“Lobster and filet. On you Mr. Moneybags. That will only be the start of your penance.”

Jensen’s face cycles through confusion to joy, and he nods eagerly like an over excited child.

“Yes. Lobster and steak. And the biggest most expensive dessert they can come up with. Two of them if your stomach can handle it.”

And Jared lets it go at that. What’s the point of making it worse? His day has been long and shitty enough. This morning he was called into the Dean’s office, where Jim proceeded to grill him for about two hours on his interactions with the pharmacist that Jared has learned is on suspension without pay. Pending an investigation.

Jared didn’t even get a chance to ask Danni and Gen how their turns with Jim went because the two of them took off directly after talking to Jim. So Jared has spent the day in a hospital with angry patients and an oddly tight-lipped and paranoid staff.

He had a headache when he arrived at the restaurant, and waiting for Jensen while drinking didn’t make it any better. But now that Jensen’s here Jared feels a huge weight fall off his shoulders. Jensen, despite whatever went wrong at his work, is all smiles and comfort. He pushes Jared to forget the day, to relax, and to indulge in as much dinner as he needs to cheer up.

At the conclusion of dinner they end up going back to Jared’s place to watch TV. Except two seconds after they sit down Jared turns, cups Jensen’s face, and pulls him into a kiss.

Jensen’s mouth is warm, very warm, with dry lips that are gentle and soft. There’s no hint of chap, which makes Jared feel bad because he knows he chews his own enough to have dry skin, and Jensen is all softness and sweetness in response to Jared’s aggression.

They end up horizontal on the couch, Jensen’s back pressed against the cushions and Jared leaning in, holding himself up on either side as he kisses Jensen slow and deep. As he works his tongue in between those perfect pink lips he tastes Jensen’s mouth properly. Sweet and bitter, the coffee and chocolate dessert they had at the restaurant that had fit them both so well.

Their legs are tangled down at the ankles, and when Jared shifts just slightly to tilt his face and kiss a little deeper Jensen’s calves go taut and iron hard against Jared’s. It makes Jared have to lower himself a bit, blanketing Jensen more firmly so that he can feel how toned the man’s thighs are. This ends up pressing Jared’s aching, denim-clad erection against Jensen’s.

Jared is having trouble remembering anything else, anything he wanted to do or say before this happened, because Jensen is so there and real. Heat comes off of him in waves and Jared loves it. Can only imagine how hot Jensen is under his clothes, how much Jared will sweat and pant at the furnace-like heat of Jensen’s-

It finally occurs to Jared that the knocking he’s hearing is his entry door and not his heart. He lifts his head and Jensen chases his mouth and ends up brushing his kiss swollen lips against Jared’s chin.

“Hold on. Wait.”

Jared gets up, crosses the room, and thinks to readjust himself at the last second before opening the door. A good choice, it turns out, because his visitor is a police officer. Jared clears his throat and tries to fix his hair.

“Evening officer. How can I help you tonight?”

The cop’s eyes skim past Jared to what must be Jensen sitting up on the couch, and then they move back to settle on Jared with something that isn’t quite disgust but is fairly close.

“Are you Jared Padalecki?”

A cold chill goes down Jared’s spine. Something is wrong. Someone was hurt and the police have come to tell Jared. Who could it be? If it was one of his siblings his parents would have called him, and if it was his parents one of his siblings would have called him.

“Yes sir. What’s going on?”

“If you’ll come with me Mr. Padalecki? We have some questions we want to ask you down at the station.”

Jared can’t understand what language the man is speaking in.

“No. What? Wait, who’s hurt?”

The cop looks past him again, and Jared feels Jensen’s presence nearby.

“Mr. Padalecki. You can come with me of your own volition, or I can arrest you and bring you in for questioning. Either way I need you to collect your things and join me in my car.”

Jared can see now that there’s another officer in the hall, just a few steps behind the one talking to him. He can see that they don’t look pitying or sympathetic, but guarded and disgusted.

“Jared.” Jensen’s hand lands on his shoulder. “Go ahead. I’ll call around and get a lawyer for you. Ok?”

“I don’t need a lawyer. I didn’t do anything.”

He gets his shoes on, and then follows the cop out to the cruiser.

They make him ride in the back, the cage between the two seats looking thicker than it has any right to be.


-----


“You want me to what?”

Jensen realizes too late that he is chewing on a hangnail. He stops and lowers his hand. That’s not devil behavior.

“Play lawyer. Get him out.”

Sariel looks at him in that disrespectful and condescending way, and Jensen wants to start destroying things. He is tired of being questioned by his inferiors.

“But the point is-“

“The point is to take things from him. This will work. He doesn’t have to be in prison for it to work. This will work.”

“Aye aye captain.”

Jensen tries to keep his face smooth and impassive. Crediting her with upsetting him will only spur her on to do more.

While Sariel heads topside to go to Jared’s defense Jensen travels to a seedier part of town.

The dealer is asleep, and Jensen nudges him once and waits for the man to wake up and look at him.

Nothing here is new. Jensen has dealt with scum like this for a long time now, and he knows exactly which buttons to push.

“What the-who the fuck are you?”

Jensen sits next to the mattress the dealer is sleeping on, trying not to think of what could be caked on the floor and transferring into his slacks.

“I don’t understand why you’re still in this flophouse when that punkass bitch on Third Street owes you so much money. Think of what you could do with that sort of cash. You could take Trejo up on his offer to buy all the blow, and then cut it and sell it back at fucking double man. But instead you’re sleeping in some John’s come with a rag for a blanket and an empty stomach.”

The dealer is staring at him, head nodding unconsciously and pupils dilating.

“So get up.” Jensen puts the gun down on the mattress with distaste, keeping his fingers clear of the surface. “Be the king. Take what’s yours.”

And the dealer nods, eyes huge, and does.


-----


“Tell it to me again.”

Detective Kane leans back in his chair, arm slung over the back of it and legs spread. He looks casual, comfortable, but Jared has sweat through his shirt and still doesn’t understand what’s going on.

When he asked what he was being charged with he was told nothing, that he was simply there to be questioned. When he asked if he could leave he was told that he was being held for questioning, and that they were allowed to keep him there for a set amount of time unless he decided to obstruct justice at which point they would hold him for even longer.

His conviction that he doesn’t need a lawyer has died. Instead Jared jiggles his leg and wonders how long it’ll take for Jensen’s lawyer to get here.

“I don’t understand what you want to know here. You’re asking me about the guy I got into a fight with right? I don’t know him. He was just some jerk who got aggressive. I never met him before.”

“But he said your name.” Detective Kane isn’t accusatory. That’s the worst part. He sounds friendly, factual, and it makes Jared confused as to how he should respond.

“Yeah. He said my name, and that’s why I followed him.”

“Well had you never met before, or did he know your name?”

“Both.”

Detective Kane smiles, teeth bright white in the tan of his face.

“That don’t make much sense Jared. You see that right?”

Jared shrugs. Still not sure what he’s done wrong but certain that it’s related to that night. Maybe the guy pressed charges? That would make sense. If so Jared wonders if he can press them right back. Pressure the guy into dropping them. A criminal record wouldn’t look good for the hospital even if it was just assault.

“I said it was weird. But I was drunk and I just sort of waved it off.”

“Alright. What made you push him?”

Jared stops to think about that. The guy said something. But Jared can’t remember what it was.

“I don’t- he grabbed me first.”

“But he must have said something. He called you over to talk to you and then just grabbed you? Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know man. I told you that I don’t know. It’s not a thing that makes sense it’s just…what it is.”

Kane tilts his head, his smile turning a little predatory, and then the door bursts open and a tiny woman in a sharp suit comes in.

“That’ll be enough of that. Detective Kane, I need a few minutes with my client.”

Jared doesn’t miss the way the detective looks at him, as if this is proof of everything he believed, but he doesn’t argue with the lawyer. He gets up and leaves, nodding his head at Jared before closing the door behind him.

The lawyer sits beside him and crosses her legs, letting the pencil skirt ride up higher than Jared would think a lawyer would want. There’s something about her that makes Jared both insanely nervous and perfectly at ease.

He blames the setting.

“You’re not going to say anything else. I’m going to get you released and Jensen is going to take you home. Do you understand?”

Jared really wants to say yes.

“No. I don’t understand anything. I don’t understand why I’m here, or what they want, or how you can explain to them I didn’t do anything better than I can.”

“I say it in Latin. Look kiddo, all you need to know is that I’m getting you out of here. I’ll work on the charges later. In the meantime you’ll keep your nose clean and your head up. Don’t talk about it with anyone, because you never know who could get subpoenaed. Just refuse to comment and move onward.”

“Don’t they have to tell me what they’re charging me with?”

“Not if they’re just holding you for questioning. That means they have to let you go after twenty-four hours unless they’re looking at you for a serious crime like murder. Now, to be fair, you’ve only been here seven hours, but we’re gonna make it the end of this nonsense. They don’t have anything and if they did they would have charged you by now.”

“They keep asking about that guy. Is it an assault charge? Did he charge me with assault? Because he got handsy too so I don’t think-“

She holds a hand up and the door opens. Detective Kane eyes them both before settling his gaze on Jared.

“You’re free to go. If we have more questions we’ll bring you back in.”

Jared gets up slowly, not sure if this is a trap. If they’re allowed to do that. When no one tries to stop him and the lawyer simply gets up to follow Jared he feels a weight lift off of his shoulders.

Except when he steps out of the holding room he sees Gen walking his way with another officer behind her. Jared is pretty sure that his blood pressure skyrockets out of the stratosphere.

“Gen? Gen? Did they bring you in for questioning too?”

His friend looks surprised, and then guilty. A hand lands on Jared’s elbow and he turns to see the lawyer looking at him with pity.

“Let’s go Jared.”

But he can’t go. He can’t go if Gen is here paying for his dumbass mistake.

“No. It’s not her fault I got into a fight. I shouldn’t leave if she’s still here. Gen? Did they tell you-“

“That’s enough Mr. Padalecki.” Detective Kane smiles at Jared, friendly and easy again, before he steps over to Gen and takes her arm gently. “If you’ll come with me Ms. Cortese we have the stenographer in the third room.”

Gen looks guiltier, and her eyes never meet Jared’s as she slinks past him in the hallway and enters the room beyond the one he was in.

“But. Gen?”

She’s gone, door closed, but Jared still thinks that maybe, just maybe, if he asks the right question he’ll understand what’s happening.

The lawyer pulls him gently, one hand on his elbow and the other moving through the air to punctuate what she’s saying.

“Like I told you Jared. Don’t talk to anyone about it. You don’t know who’s talking to the cops. Until we know what is going on and why there’s no way to know what you’re defending yourself against. Assume it’s everything.”

“What about Jensen?”

The lawyer looks up at that, her face tilting and her hair falling into her eyes. She pushes it back and then smiles.

“Jensen is probably a safe bet.”

“I’ve known Gen my entire life. How could Jensen be a safer bet than her?”

They’re almost to the big doors that lead out into the maze of desks that Jared was led through in the beginning. That means a long walk past suspicious looking officers before he can collect the things they took from him at the security desk and run for home.

“Because your friend Gen is an upstanding citizen. Jensen wouldn’t help a cop if they paid him. And knowing what they make they couldn’t even try. So put your mind at ease.”

Jared processes that as the doors swing open and the sound of the busy desk area washes over them.

“You’re telling me I can trust Jensen because he’s shady?”

The lawyer smiles, something small and secret that makes Jared a little jealous.

“That is exactly what I’m telling you.”


----


Jared hasn’t spoken for the entire ride home. Jensen walks him to the door and expects that Jared will say goodnight to him like always and he will be sent home unsatisfied and distracted.

Instead when Jensen goes to step away Jared clings to his hand and tugs on it. Jensen allows himself to be pulled, led into the living area of Jared’s apartment and down the hall. Jared brings him into his bedroom and settles Jensen down on the bed before stepping back and looking around the room like he’s never seen it before.

Or maybe just never pictured Jensen in it.

Jensen clears his throat, ready to say something comforting, but Jared holds up a hand.

“Can I ask you something? Personal?”

Oh shit.

“Yes, of course. Whatever you want. I’m an open book.”

Oh shit oh shit oh shit.

“How did you meet that lawyer?”

Jensen bursts into laughter, crumpling in the middle with his forehead close to brushing his knees as he literally guffaws.

Jared is jealous.

“I got into a lot of trouble when I started my new job. She dug me out of it. Why?”

“She’s…odd.”

Jared doesn’t know the half of it. Sariel isn’t anything like the other fallen angels. She’s way more human, more useful, and Jensen sometimes wonders if there’s a possibility that she’s the greatest trick in Hell. Although he’s willing to use her until it blows up in his face.

“Yeah, but she’s useful. And very efficient. Don’t worry about it Jared. She’ll make sure that everything comes out alright for you.”

And Jensen believes that. He honestly knows that if there’s any red tape in making sure that Jared gets everything back after the bet is over than Sariel will do Jensen one last favor as he’s skipping his way through the gates for the last time and handle the bureaucracy of the whole thing.

Probably more to piss God off than to help Jensen, but he’s willing to take what he can get. Intention matters way less than action Jensen has found.

“She seems fond of you.”

“Jared. She’s my lawyer. And now your lawyer. She’s nothing else to me. Certainly not a…prospective love interest. Or a date. Or whatever. So please, just let her help you.”

He watches those pink lips move, face flitting through bare emotions that Jensen can follow swiftly and easily, before Jared accepts Jensen’s comments and moves forward. He takes a seat next to Jensen on the big bed and rubs his face.

“What am I going to do? If this whole thing is serious what am I going to do? A charge could be the end of my career. The end of a lot of things. My momma is gonna cry her eyes out.”

Jensen doesn’t know what it’s like to have a “momma” that would care one way or another if her son was in trouble like that. He doesn’t understand it first person, but he can sympathize that it upsets Jared pretty heavily.

He lays a hand on Jared’s shoulder and rubs gently.

“It’ll be ok Jared. Even if it’s hard in the middle the end is happy for you. I can tell.”

Jared lifts an eyebrow, tilts his head, and Jensen thinks that maybe God isn’t watching right at this moment. And even if he is it’s not like he made any rules about this at all.

“How? How can you tell?”

“Because you’re made for happy endings.” He rubs his thumb over the soft lower lip, staring at the way the peach of his skin blends with the soft pink of Jared’s lips. Jensen realizes he is not lying in that moment. Jared is a good guy. Jared deserves a happy ending.

Jensen kinda wishes he could give it to him.

And then, with no warning, Jared’s long fingers are tangled in Jensen’s hair and Jared is eating at his mouth like a man starving. Lips moving firm and desperate against Jensen’s, and head tilted just right so that the tip of Jared’s nose brushes against Jensen’s cheek. It’s sweet, it’s sad, and it’s just what Jensen thought he wanted.

Jared pushes and Jensen goes, falling back onto the bed, blanketed by the larger man as Jared’s lips keep constant contact. Jared is all long and lean muscle, legs tightly corded against Jensen’s slack ones, and biceps taut on either side of Jensen, pinning him into the kiss.

He lets it happen, lets Jared keep control of the situation and the pace, because that’s what Jared wants. And Jensen wants to give him that. He’s going to take so much away from this man, why not let this be a gift? A freebie on the house.

Which, Jensen knows as the prince of the subject, is a hideous lie.

He wants it too.

Jared makes a sound in the back of his throat, something like a growl, and Jensen feels his cock surge upward against the constricting material of his pants. He thrusts upwards, bringing their hips together, and surges for the friction of Jared’s hard cock against his.

But doesn’t find it.

Jared isn’t hard.

Jensen breaks the kiss, sucking in air greedily as he studies Jared’s face.

Tears. Jared is crying.

Jensen then pushes himself, flipping Jared off of him and onto the mattress, and before Jared can take it as a sign of rejection Jensen rolls onto his side and pulls Jared in. The movements are foreign to him. Even before he became the devil Jensen never did this.

But he does now. He holds Jared close, one hand rubbing that broad and muscular back and the other petting Jared’s soft hair.

“It’s ok. It’s ok Jay. I’m sorry.”

And in that moment? He really is.


----


Jared wakes up several hours later and expects to be alone, but Jensen is still there. Jared’s face feels swollen and hot, and his head hurts from all the crying. He hasn’t fallen asleep crying since he was a little boy and he lost his first pet. Now he’s repeated the experience the first time he took his boyfriend to bed.

It’s shameful, but Jensen didn’t seem to mind much. Instead of running for the hills, which is what Jared expected, Jensen had stayed right by his side comforting him and talking him down until Jared could finally breathe normally and fall asleep. And now Jensen is right there beside him, fully dressed and looking for all the world like he’s just stepped off a runway despite what he’s been doing.

His cheekbones should be illegal.

Jared swallows down the urge to do something creepy like stroke them, and gets up carefully to slip into the bathroom and wash his face. When the swelling has gone down a bit and he feels more human he rejoins Jensen in the bed.

And sure enough, like a moment in a romance novel, Jensen reaches for him in his sleep and pulls Jared close. The guy is deceptively strong, and Jared lets him. Lets himself be enveloped and held, and enjoys the closeness.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow Jared will figure out why his best friend in the whole world looked at him like a stranger. Tomorrow Jared will plan out a strategy for dealing with the police. He’ll call the weird lady lawyer and find out what the charges are and how he goes about getting them dismissed.

Tomorrow.

Today he will lay here and be held. He’ll pretend that this is all the world has to offer him, because in this moment it’s all that he wants.

Part One
Part Three