The Luck of Job Part 3

[dime_liora]

I've a friend who lies and steals and cheats.
Always taking more than he can eat.
He says "To get what I want, I would probably kill.
If I don't take it, somebody else will."
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 lies comfortably on Jared’s bed, the dogs curled up at his feet and the apartment completely silent. Jared left for work hours ago, and that means Jensen is surrounded by his things and has no supervision.

Briefly he considers looking through them, but he doesn’t really need the additional insight.

Which is how Jensen, the devil, ends up sitting on the floor of Jared’s closet with a big box open in front of him. Sariel appears moments later and the dogs begin to bark. She vanishes them from the room with ease.

“Oh great and powerful dark lord. I have come to spy you reading diaries.”

“I am not reading a diary.”

Jensen closes the book and pushes the box so it’s accessible to both of them. He watches the fallen angel sit on the floor beside him and start to dig. The first thing she pulls out is a vacation bible school trophy for basketball. Her finger skims the metal plate before she puts it down on the floor.

“Why are you doing this?”

He reaches into the box and pulls out a stack of ribbons from other summers, all given to him by the same church.

“Because I am getting to know him better so that I can manipulate him better.”

Sariel reaches into the box and plucks out a dreamcatcher. Her lips pull into a tight line.

“Is that so?” Her voice is entirely disbelieving and Jensen doesn’t appreciate it.

“Yes. That is so. Are you here to help me or bother me?”

She plucks up a small box and opens it, scores of greeting cards falling out onto her lap and the floor.

“This is just gross. How does this help you? It’s all from his childhood. You’re the devil. You can tell what will make a man sin by looking at him.”

And that’s true. Jensen knows that Jared is big on sugar, so indulgence is an issue for him. But indulging in candy isn’t exactly the sort of thing that would lead someone away from God. He knows that Jared is very proud, but that pride is almost entirely based on his family and friends. Which makes it unusable.

Jared is a sinfully good kisser.

“That’s the problem. He’s too good. There isn’t anything that will lead him away from God. So what am I supposed to do?”

Sariel is opening cards, glancing inside of them before slamming them shut and dropping them back on the floor. She looks both wounded and offended, and Jensen has to read through them after to find out why. They’re all from Jared’s parents and friends, and each one is slightly happier and more loving than the last.

Jensen grew up in an orphanage, and he blew town as soon as he was old enough to try to make his fortune. He never stopped long enough to make friends and he certainly never experienced a family. This is all foreign to him, and he finds his fingers tracing letters in long and sweet sentences as if they’re unreadable hieroglyphics.

“He certainly inspires a lot of love and devotion.”  There’s a scowl when she says it.

“Not helpful. True, but not helpful.”

Jensen finds tags for a dog, and he brushes the cool metal with his thumb and wonders if there will be more in the box. If Jared has mourned every house pet like a member of his family.

Of course he has.

“Maybe mortality. I mean look at all of this. It’s a memory graveyard. I bet he’s lost pets and grandparents and stuff. Some of them had to go in an untimely manner. So you could go at it in a ‘God let your loved ones die and doesn’t care about you’ way?”

Where were you when God laid the foundations of the earth?

Jensen shudders at the memory and sees Sariel staring at him oddly. He clears his throat and looks back down at the collection in front of him.

“Maybe, but it doesn’t seem like enough. I feel like at his age he’s adjusted to the realities of life and death. I need more.”

She holds up a hand drawn picture of a long haired boy flying with angels, her mouth stretched into a line so thin her lips are almost gone and her eyes have turned a stormy grey.

“What is this shit and who is Megan?”

Jensen snatches the picture from her hands and smoothes it out. The colors are very bright, and it’s obviously Jared being lifted up in the middle.

“That’s his little sister. She’s got a really good understanding of lines.”

A snort pulls his eyes away from the picture.

“You’ve met angels Jensen, tell me how many of them smile and spend time with human boys?”

“You’re missing the point. The point is that she loves her brother and thinks that angels would be right at home hanging out with him. It’s a compliment from her, since they’re so pro-angel in his religion.”

“I am aware how their religion works I’m just trying to share some humor with you so you get that stupid, doofy look off your face and act like the devil you are.”

And that makes Jensen stop. His hands are still holding the angel picture, and he looks down at it for a long time, aware that he is crossing some line that cannot be uncrossed. And that Sariel cannot know that.

“I think I need to meet the sister.”

Sariel takes a deep breath before putting her hand over the picture and making sure she has Jensen’s gaze.

“Jensen, lord, is that a wise and necessary move?”

“If I’m going to get his family to disown him? Yes it certainly is.”

He watches the fallen angel’s mouth curl into a hideous smile.


----


“But Danni, I’m just asking why Gen was there? I don’t- you have to believe me. I don’t know what’s going on. They didn’t charge me with anything, they wouldn’t explain why I was there, and their questioning didn’t make any sense. IS it an assault charge? Can you at least tell me that?”

Jared got to work this afternoon to find out that Gen had taken the day off. That news was followed by him having to chase Danni around all day long only to finally corner her alone in a supply closet on the third floor.

“I can’t talk to you about this Jared. Ok? I just can’t. Can you please move?”

There’s something seriously wrong. Danni won’t even look at him fully, and she’s never done that before. Jared has known her since they were little kids. He can’t figure out why she would be acting this way.

“No. I’m not moving until you give me some kind of explanation. Something is going on and Gen is involved. Is she in trouble? She couldn’t be in trouble. She wasn’t involved in the fight at all.”

Danni frowns at that, and her hands nervously grip the tongue depressors she’s grabbed off the shelf.

“Jared, the police told us not to talk to you.”

“But why?”

Finally Danni cracks, eyes landing on his and her hands lifting up to punctuate her words.

“Because they’re looking into whether or not you did something. And whatever it is it’s not the goddamn fight Jared. I don’t know ok? Gen doesn’t know. They asked her all sorts of questions and none of them made any sense. When she asked why they just brushed her off. She was terrified and they kept her there for hours asking question after question. Now she’s at home, sick over whether or not she made things worse for you because she didn’t know how to defend you. Which makes me furious with them and you because Gen doesn’t need that sort of stress. So maybe you should try talking to the cops about this because Gen and I are in the dark and I don’t really feel like talking to you right now.”

Jared feels his stomach drop down to his knees, and all the assertiveness he donned stepping in here flees. His shoulders slump and he steps out of Danni’s path so she can leave.

“Sorry. Please tell Gen that too. I’ll try to get it cleared up so that they don’t bug you guys anymore.”

A hand lands on his shoulder and Jared looks up to see Danni staring at him with sympathy.

“I’ll tell her. She’s not mad at you. I shouldn’t be either Jared. I’m sure whatever is going on the cops are just confused. I just got so upset seeing her so stressed out.”

Jared pulls Danni into a tight hug, lifting her off the ground a little bit in the process.

“No. Don’t apologize. I made a mess somehow and I’ll fix it. Even if it’s confusion on their part she shouldn’t have gotten dragged into it.”

Danni makes a little noise, Jared is pretty sure it’s a sob, and she hugs him back tighter.

Somehow, someway, Jared has to get this fixed before it ruins his friendships and hurts his friends any deeper.

---

Jensen jumps when the cell phone rings and glares when Sariel laughs at him silently. It’s Jared.

“Hello?”

“I didn’t get the number for that lawyer. I need her. Do you think you can text it to me?”

Jensen looks over at Sariel.

“Sure. I can do that. Did something happen?”

“Danni says they questioned Gen last night but that Gen doesn’t know why. I don’t want them bothering my friends anymore. I need to get this cleared up.”

It is through extreme willpower that Jensen doesn’t curse.

“Yeah. I’ll send it right over. Do you want to do dinner together?”

“I really, really do. I’ll be home late though. Is that ok?”

“Yeah. It’ll give me time to finish up work stuff. See you then. I’ll cook.”

Jared makes a sound that makes Jensen hard before he hangs up.

Of course, seconds after he hangs up Jensen remembers that this call was terrible news.

“His friends haven’t abandoned him.”

Her head tilts in that way that is adorable on Jared, and horribly annoying on her.

“You don’t say.”

“Shut up.”

“Why would they lord? You’re not finished yet.”

“Shut up.”

“Unless you didn’t think it would have to go any further.”

“I said shut up.”

“Or you just didn’t want it to.”

“Sariel. Shut. Up.”

She lifts one eyebrow and then stands.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have a client that’s very grateful for my help.”

“He’s not-“

But she’s gone, and Jensen is left alone with the realization that he has to pull the trigger on the next step. He texts Jared the phone number, and then makes the call.

---


Jared’s shift is over and he’s in the locker room changing clothes when he hears a throat clear behind him. Jared looks over his shoulder to see the Dean of Medicine, standing with two security guards Jared knows well. Tom looks ashamed and Mike seems uncomfortable. Jared immediately feels his pulse start to race.

“Dean Beaver?”

Usually Jared calls him Jim, or boss Jim, but this doesn’t feel like a moment to be familiar. Jim Beaver is a very stern boss, but he’s an excellent doctor and he’s always fair. Jared has never had issues with him before.

He’s never seen the man look at him this way.

“Jared. I need you to clean out your locker. I have a box if you need it.”

And sure enough he does. Jared missed it staring at his face. He takes a deep breath and settles his shaking hands on his thighs.

“What’s going on?”

Mike shifts and looks up at the ceiling. Tom looks down to the floor.

“I’ve been informed that you’re part of an ongoing investigation with the police. Due to the nature of their suspicions I have to suspend you pending judgment.”

Jared is afraid he’s not breathing.

“There aren’t any charges though. There’s nothing. They brought me in last night, but they wouldn’t even tell me what they thought I did. Ji-Dean Beaver. Please. Did they tell you? Because all I did was get into some stupid bar fight. I don’t see why this is happening.”

The Dean doesn’t look sympathetic. His lips thin and he shakes his head.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that. I just need you to pack your things and leave. Peacefully. You’re not out of a job Jared we just can’t have you here until you’re cleared.”

And at least there’s that. At least he’s talking like he expects Jared to be cleared of the charges. It’s a tiny ray of hope in a very dark spot.

Jared packs everything into the box and then is taken on the most humiliating march of his entire life. He spends the entire walk trying not to make eye contact and praying that God will sort this out soon, because he doesn’t know how many more hits he can take before he can’t stand upright.

The walk is long and horrible. Jared has never been so glad to step into the parking garage. Tom opens the door for him and Mike stands back and watches Jared get in and start up his car until he loses sight of them.

Jared makes it one block before he has to stop the car, lean his head against the steering wheel, and cry.

Why is this happening to him?


---

By the time he can wipe his face and sit upright it’s late, and Jared doubts that Jensen will still be waiting for him. He’s wrong.

His boyfriend is standing in the kitchen with a smile on his face that wavers when he sees Jared.

“What’s wrong Jay?”

And it pours out of Jared like poison, every last detail of it. By the time he’s done he’s on the verge of tears again, and Jensen steps forward and wraps two strong arms around him.

“I have to stop doing this. Breaking down on you. This is not romantic or sexy.”

Jensen laughs, hand rubbing up and down Jared’s back.

“You don’t have to be sexy or romantic to keep me around. Break down as much as you want.”

“What do I have to be?”

He sounds so lost. Even to himself he sounds lost.

“You.”

Jared feels a surge of want and affection so overwhelming he can’t stand it. He presses his face into Jensen’s neck and takes a deep breath of aftershave and what smells like the faintest trace of matches. It’s a strange scent, oddly comforting and familiar, and Jared clings to it. Clings to Jensen. He needs the solidity.

“I made food. Burgers and home fries. The home fries might reheat ok, but the burgers will be amazing. You want to grab a seat in front of the TV and I’ll load you up a plate and we’ll watch something good? Lots of explosions and mindlessness.”

He nods, and Jensen gently leads him over and sits him down before disappearing. The microwave runs and beeps, runs and beeps, and then Jensen is plopping a huge plate of food in front of him and running back for condiments and beer.

They sit together in companionable silence, shoulders touching lightly and thighs rubbing as they eat Indian style on the floor. By the time the movie is over the day has taken its toll on Jared, and he finds himself nodding off on Jensen’s shoulder.

Jensen responds by pulling Jared up onto the couch, and he falls asleep with his head in Jensen’s lap and his feet covered in furry dog.

It’s comforting.


---


Jensen parts ways with Jared the next morning. Jared tells him he wants to meet Sariel alone, and that he’ll call Jensen when he has some answers. He’s too nervous to find out if she’s gone so far as to rent a cover office or how she’ll play off Jared’s nervousness. She is, after all, a fallen angel. There’s a possibility she’ll do the job that Jensen is too weak to do himself.

In the meantime he makes his way over to Asia to work on new souls. It’s a vibrant breeding ground for greed and pride, and Jensen gets his second best work done there. The sheer amounts of money pouring through some of the companies there is frightening and the people collecting it are Jensen’s type.

California and New York may be cultivating the highest percentages of super rich residents in the Western world, but China and Japan are no slouches when it comes to GDP. Except when Jensen steps out into Tokyo he’s met instantly by a tiny old fish monger with a pair of eyes he knows all too well.

“Fish? Fresh fish?”

Jensen feels his blood pressure rise, and his left hand clenches and unclenches.

“Go away. I have a job to do.”

“You certainly do. Would you like some fresh Bass?”

“Bass aren’t native here.”

Jensen starts walking, too tired and tense to play this game. He hopes that God will take the hint, but of course he doesn’t.

“No, but they’re found very heavily in Texas. Maybe you should go get some.”

“Maybe you should fuck off and let me do my job.”

God lifts one eyebrow, and his wrinkled old hand grabs Jensen’s wrist and pulls sharp and short so that Jensen is forced to spin around and look at him. The crowd ignores them, parting as it’s natural to avoid the two of them entirely, and Jensen wonders why God even bothered with the disguise.

“If you were doing your job I wouldn’t be here lecturing you. By now you should have won this bet Jensen, but you’re hesitating. Stringing it along and making it easier to digest. Why?”

“Because it doesn’t need to be a huge clobbering. Because I can do it slow and subtle and still get to the finish line. And because maybe, just maybe, I think this whole thing is really arbitrary and stupid and I’m not really seeing the point enough to push for it.”

“The point is your freedom. Do you not want that anymore? Changed your mind about the level of power that being Devil gives you?”

There’s something ominous in God’s tone, and it makes Jensen’s flesh crawl. He thinks of all the time he was told that God would strike someone down with lightning. He’s sure it can’t kill him, but it would hurt like a bitch.

“No. I just think the whole thing is juvenile. Can’t you pick a better bet? Something that doesn’t include arbitrarily squashing a man?”

God squeezes Jensen’s wrist before letting go.

“Do you want me to change the terms? I can finish your half of this if you’d like and you can just sit back and twist him when the time comes. Would that be less arbitrary to you?”

And that’s when Jensen sees how hideously fucked he is in this whole situation. When Sariel first told him about this whole thing the fact that he could just hold out until God would take all the blame for it seemed like a gift. How much easier could it get than having God do all the work?

But now Jensen knows Jared. Knows Jared very personally. And the idea of God smashing his way through Jared’s life like a tornado in a trailer park is frightening. At least Jensen’s approach is giving Jared time to control his pain.

“No. I can finish it. It’s already started heading towards the finish.”

God steps back from him, a smile spreading on the apple cheeked face he has taken on.

“Don’t forget Jensen, Job was left with nothing. See that it gets finished before I step in.”

And then God is gone, and Jensen is left with a serious question. One that he hasn’t really asked himself since this whole thing began. Or that he asked but didn’t bother trying to really answer.

Why is this so important to God that he would intervene not once but twice to make sure it finished? There are no more gospels being written. No more mass lessons. He had put a stop to that when he saw that the humans would just keep interpreting them however they wanted to make them fit their ideals.

The only person learning the lesson was Jared.

So why was God pushing so hard?


-----


Ms. Testament, which Jared felt was a pretty heavy name for a lawyer but kept to himself, rested her chin on top her fist and studied Jared for a little bit before she answered his question.

“Three felony controlled substance charges. And possibly a wrongful death suit if they can push it far enough.”

Jared wants to be shocked. He wants to stand up and shout that the whole thing is ridiculous. That he couldn’t possibly be charged with such a crime. A rant about his innocence worthy of a movie scene. That’s what Jared wants

Instead a hysterical laugh bubbles up from somewhere deep inside him and breaks out of his mouth, crashing over the room and not putting his lawyer off even a little bit.

Her smile remains controlled and polished.

When Jared can breathe again he realizes he’s crying. He can’t figure out why.

“That’s ridiculous. What does that even mean? I don’t understand.”

“You’re being charged with removing drugs from the pharmacy in your hospital and selling them on the street. They have security footage of you entering the pharmacy, they have logs of missing drugs, and they caught a street dealer today in the middle of a deal gone bad who just gave up your name about an hour ago. I imagine they’re getting a judge to sign an arrest warrant as we speak.”

“What street dealer? I don’t know any dealers. The closest I’ve come to a dealer is high school parties where they were smoking pot. I get drug tested regularly to work at the hospital. And I’ve never gone in the pharmacy. How could they have footage?”

Her hand leaves her chin, and she leans over the big wooden desk to really look at him. Jared is pinned by the grey gaze.

“Do you remember an incident at a bar a while back? A young man that you argued with?”

Jared does. Of course he does.

“Yeah. I remember.”

“That would be the dealer in question. One Daniel Alvarado. He was caught today taking shots at another player named Trejo. The cops had been watching him for a while and they were at the bar that night. Apparently the officer on scene heard him tell you he was owed a new shipment, and they started investigating you too.”

And suddenly Jared remembers that. Remembers it but also remembers not understanding it at the time.

“Ms. Testament you have to believe me. That’s crazy. I would never do that. I would never sell drugs to a street dealer. I don’t know what’s happening but you have to get my name cleared. I’m on suspension pending this investigation. If I get arrested they may just fire me outright.”

“Jared.” Her voice is sympathetic, comforting, but she doesn’t exactly look the way she sounds. “If you get arrested then your job is the least of your fears. Everything they’re talking about charging you with is a felony. You’ll be in prison forever. And, no offense kid, but you don’t look like the type that will handle prison well.”

And she’s right. He wouldn’t.

“What do we do?”

“First, we wait for them to officially charge you. Which they’ll be doing. Then we get you out on bail, and you stay a good citizen while I work on getting you cleared. Do you think you can do that? Be patient and have faith?”

There’s a weird extra up tilt to the last word that Jared doesn’t get, but he nods enthusiastically anyway.

“Good. Go home. Relax. Wait for them to show up and then cooperate as much as you can. Ok?”

“Ok.”


-----

Jensen waits for Jared to leave before he steps out of the shadows. Sariel doesn’t even look his way at first, pulling a cigar out of the desk and lighting up.

“This guy will be dead in a year if he keeps eating the way he does and smoking these. How can I help you dark lord?”

He sits on the desk in front of her and waits for her to look at him. To break. It comes slowly but surely.

“Jensen?” Nervous. Off balance. Good.

“I need you to clear something up for me.”

She flips her hair back over her shoulder, an empty sign of ease that Jensen sees right through.

“I thought you were in Japan going after that mogul? Why are you here?”

“Because God came after me and sent me back here. Offered to step in and everything. Which, again, leads me to needing you to clear something up. Why is this so important to him?”

She looks past him at the wall, puffing softly before tapping ash on the top of what is probably a very expensive desk.

“He wants to teach a lesson. Why is anything important to God?”

“Teach a lesson to who?”

“I think that’s whom lo-“

Jensen slams his hand down on the desk and Sariel jumps, eyes going wide and then narrow.

“Stop. Playing. With. Me.”

The fallen angel stands then, puts the cigar out on the desktop, and reaches out to straighten Jensen’s probably immaculate tie.

“To you. To Jared. I don’t know. He’s God. I don’t get to be privy to his every whim and fancy. I can learn from patterns and history. Every time he’s done this someone was learning a lesson, but it’s always changed. So if you’re asking me how and why the best I can give you is a simple I don’t know.”

Jensen isn’t sure he believes her, but his phone is ringing and it’s Jared.

“We’ll talk about this later.”

She rolls her eyes before disappearing.


----

Jared answers the phone on his way home. It’s his mom.

”Hey sugarbear. How are you?”

Jared wants to tell her everything, but he can’t. He can’t even begin to comprehend it let alone explain it to his mom.

“It’s ok momma. How are you?”

She bursts into a long conversation about what’s going on back home. There are a fair amount of updates for Jared to listen to. On top of the pastor he’s known all of his life joining the city chili competition her gardening club has gotten into a big argument about dogwoods and his mom has fifteen minutes of opinion on that.

Jared listens dutifully, and when she finally takes a breath he blurts out what’s on his mind.

“Hey momma? Do you think I can bring Jensen to the next dinner? That guy I met?”

There’s a squeal that makes him drop his phone. When he picks it back up his dad is talking.

“-it if you brought your friend. This Friday sound good?”

That’s three nights away. Jared isn’t sure when they’ll officially arrest him. When he’ll be getting out. He doesn’t really know how long it takes to post bail and be released. The movies aren’t to be trusted on that.

“Yeah. It sounds great. I’ll talk to him about it, but I’m sure he’ll say yes.”

Jared wraps up the conversation, and when she’s able to make whole sentences again he tells his mother he loves her and hangs up.

The police are waiting outside his front door. Jared calls Jensen.

----

There’s an old drunk in the bunk above Jared, and he mutters and farts in his sleep. Jared can’t believe this is happening.

The bars are heavy, and they lock automatically. He doesn’t know why he thought there would be keys.

When it goes kind of quiet, minus the drunk and people in further cells making sounds Jared would rather not focus on, he looks down to see the ink that is still staining his fingers. He’s been printed, pictured, and locked up.

He is a criminal.

Jared gets down on his knees. There’s nowhere else to go.

“God, if you’re listening, I know I’m just a small part of a big universe. I know that there are a lot of things you need to do. But please. Please. I didn’t do anything. Please don’t let me be punished.”

“I don’t think he hears you.”

Jared looks up to see the drunk peering over the edge of the bunk. He reeks of alcohol.

“He hears me.”

“Then maybe he just doesn’t care?” The drunk rolls away from the edge of the bunk again and farts loudly releasing a little laugh with it. Jared tries to contain his disgust.

“God cares.”

“Then why are you here?” The man sounds dismissive, and Jared wonders why he’s bothering him at all. “If he cares so much why are you here when bad people are out there? Doesn’t seem very fair to me.”

And it’s not. It’s not fair. But life isn’t necessarily fair.

“It’s not over yet. God has time to fix it. Make it right.”

The drunk laughs, thick and low in the back of his throat before he falls into a coughing fit.

“Don’t hold your breath kid. I think it’ll get a lot worse before it gets better.”


---


Jensen watches Jared coming out of the security gate. The bail was set relatively low, and Jensen could more than pay for it. Jared, on the other hand, is looking run down and destroyed.

He takes Jared’s elbow when he clears the gate and Jared leans fully against him as they walk. He’s a big man, and heavy, but Jensen can easily hold him up. They walk in step to Jensen’s car and Jared collapses into the passenger seat before rubbing his face and dropping his head against the headrest.

“Home?”

Jared shakes his head.

“Do you know where the First Assembly Church is?”

Jensen controls his immediate reaction. Keeps his face schooled and calm.

“Yes. Why?”

“I need to go there. Can you take me there?”

And yes, Jensen can, but does he want to? This isn’t a good sign.

Then again. It could work.

He drives there silently, one hand resting aimlessly on the gear shift until Jared links fingers with him and claims the hand as his own. It’s an automatic. Jensen can afford the sign of affection.

When they reach the church Jared jumps out with energy Jensen didn’t think he had and heads inside with long strides. Jensen isn’t sure if he’s expected to follow, but he needs to. If this goes the wrong way he could lose a lot of ground.

Jared is already up by the altar, and there’s an older man with a round and pleasant face setting things up on the holy space. Jensen glances around at the stained glass and the statuary with disgust. It’s such a waste of talent and money.

He’s not worried. He knows the posture the pastor has. Jared is getting the exact reaction Jensen hoped he would. There’s a good chance that the pastor here owes Jensen’s side a favor or two.

“-sorry Jared, but that sort of behavior isn’t something that the other parishioners would be comfortable with. I think it’s time you split ways with the church.”

“Pastor Ron. Please. I didn’t do anything. I’m just looking to- I’m just trying to make a connection with God. How can you kick me out? What about judge not?”

The pastor’s lips thin in displeasure.

“Don’t preach to me boy. If you were innocent they wouldn’t have arrested you last night. It’s in every paper. You have nowhere to hide your dirty secrets anymore. And to have your actions end in the death of a fifteen year old girl. You have no place here with good people.”

Jared’s mouth is hanging open, jaw working like he can’t figure out how to make sounds, and Jensen steps forward and takes his elbow.

“Jared. Come on. Let’s go.”

And he expects Jared to come with him, which he does, and he expects to see wetness in Jared’s eyes, which he also does.

What he doesn’t expect is how awful it makes him feel. It’s with great joy that Jensen makes a note of Pastor Ron’s predilection for girls not his wife and very close to eighteen. Sometimes on the wrong side of it.

Jensen will take care of that later too.

In the meantime he makes sure that Jared is comfortable in the passenger seat before driving the man home. Jared walks like a zombie, eyes blank and hands trembling. When he checks his phone’s voicemail there are fifteen messages. They run the gamut from people Jared knows telling him they can’t believe he would do something so awful, to regretful requests for him to keep his distance. Danneel is one of the latter.

The next to last message is someone named Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who politely asks Jared to not come into the shelter until the court case is cleared up, because it could put off a fair number of donors. He tells Jared how sorry he is, but that it’s the decision of the board of directors.

Jared cries for that one, face pressed into Jensen’s side from his seated position and fingers tangled in Jensen’s shirt. He cries like a little boy who has lost everything important to him. And Jensen pets his hair gently and doesn’t mind at all how wet and gross his shirt is getting.

And doesn’t think that Jared’s loss has only just begun if he does his job to the end.

The final message surprises Jensen. It surprises him a lot.

“Jared? Sugarbear? I got a call from your lawyer not to come down. That your new boyfriend was going to pay your bail. Please come see us. As soon as you get out. Bring your boyfriend honey. We need to see you and tell you how much we love you, and that we know you didn’t do any of the things they said.”

Jensen can’t believe it. This was supposed to work. This was supposed to cut Jared off completely. How can they not condemn him? The cops have Jared dead to rights. He knows that they were supposed to call Jared’s parents and ask them questions. Give them evidence. Why the hell are they calling to offer him support?

And more importantly, because there is no explanation for this, why did Sariel call Jared’s parents?

Jared has hope on his face. A smile blooming that is utterly beautiful and terrifying all at once. Jensen has lost his grip. Something has gone wrong.

“Jared. You can’t go there. Remember? I just bailed you out. You’re not supposed to travel anywhere.”

The hope falls. Fades. And then Jared looks up with wet lashes and puffy eyes, beautiful and soggy and ridiculous, and Jensen thinks he’s going to go mad.

“They could come here?”

And Jensen has no good response. He’ll use the time that they’re taking to travel to Jared’s to find out why Sariel did this.

“Yeah. Ok. That sounds good. I’ll just leave so-“

“Jensen? Please don’t. Don’t leave. They wanted to meet you remember? And I…I need you here.”

Again. He has nothing good. No argument.

“Of course. Call your parents. I’ll just go get cleaned up ok?”

Jared nods eagerly and then starts to dial his phone, and Jensen slips down the hall into the shared bathroom and closes the door firmly before summoning his second in command. She arrives in the bathtub, her feet slipping on the porcelain surface upon landing. Her hands slam into the wall and she glares at Jensen.

There’s not a lot of space in the tiny bathroom. Jensen uses every inch of it to slam her against the wall. His hand on her throat and his ire rising with every breath.

“What. The. Fuck.”

She blinks, big grey eyes guileless and hands hanging loosely at her sides. She’s not even trying to get him off.

“What specifically are we upset about lord?”

“You called his parents. Now they’re going to come here to support him. Why would you do that? I had this in the bag. They were going to abandon him. They knew everything. Then you call them and give them hope?”

Sariel’s mouth quirks a little, and her hands raise in something a bit like pacification.

“Jensen. Lord. I know that you are trying your very best, but some things just won’t make sense to you. These are not his friends. These are not people that can break ties with him and keep on going. These are his parents. His blood and name. They don’t give up that easily. I can see with your orphan background that-“

“Shut the fuck up. Explain yourself.”

His second loses the false amusement.

“They weren’t going to drop him over charges. They weren’t going to buy them no matter how much evidence you had. That wasn’t a good plan. So I altered it. They’re going to all pile up into a car and get out on the highway to come see their poor baby and support him. Jared is going to expect that. And then, as they’re traveling, one well placed exhausted truck driver and it’s bye bye Padaleckis.”

Her smile is hideous and picture perfect.

Jensen stops breathing.

It’s exactly what he needs to finish the bet. It’s the perfect plan. It will be the last of everything taken from Jared.

“And then. And then they’re.” He can’t finish the thought. Something is wrong with his overactive brain.

“Dead. Kaput. Six feet under. And Jared is alone with you.”

She looks so pleased with herself. And she should be. The sheer agony of it, the blame Jared will place on himself. It’s too much to even consider. It’s the most incredibly perfect and evil thing they could possibly do.

He has to do it.

“No. I don’t like that plan. It’s too easy.”

Sariel squints at him like he’s grown a second head that’s begun spouting Enochian. And she has every right to. What Jensen’s saying makes no sense. His brain is screaming at his mouth to stop.

“Too easy, lord?”

“Too easy. I don’t like it. I think it’s a better plan to just have them turn on him like everyone else. Make sure they get here safely and then once they’re here I’ll work on them. Get it all to go the way I originally planned. I know familial ties are strong, but I’m stronger.”

Sariel licks her lips, and then she pushes Jensen’s hand away easily. She doesn’t look very pleased, but Jensen can’t worry about that right now as long as she obeys him.

“You’re telling me to let the perfect plan go to waste on the off chance that you can turn his family from him? Are you out of your mind? You could end this tonight. You could be free tonight. FREE Jensen. That’s all you’ve ever wanted since the day you walked through the gates. Why would you risk that? Prolong your sentence?”

And he can’t answer that.

“Do what I said. I’m still in charge, and you’re still my servant. Go.”

And she does, but Jensen senses that he is losing an ally quite rapidly.

More importantly, Jensen is fairly certain he is losing his only shot at getting out of the throne.


----

Jared hangs up with his mom. She, his dad, his little sister, and his brother are all coming out tonight. His sister in law is fairly pregnant and not up for the car ride, and Jared honestly believes that is the reason. This is his family. They would never turn their backs on him.

When everything is fixed then he knows that it will be hard to get over this moment with some of his friends. It’ll be hard to go back to his life. But he will. He can. He’s got a strong support system. A good foundation that won’t crumble or break under pressure.

He looks up to see Jensen walking out of the bathroom. His boyfriend looks a little pale. A little dazed.

“Jensen?”

For half a second Jared is sure that Jensen won’t respond, but he looks up and his face clicks back into life and movement after only a beat.

“Yeah?”

“You ok?”

Jensen licks his lips, smiles, and Jared is infinitely glad that he gave Jensen another chance. Because he doesn’t know how he could do this without Jensen here too.

“I’m alright. I’m fine. Do you want some dinner? You’ve gotta be hungry.”

And Jared is hungry. He didn’t think he would be riding home from the jail. Listening to everyone abandon him.

But he is. He’s got hope again. And that’s a powerful thing.

Jared thanks God for these wonderful loving people.

Across the room Jensen shudders as he starts to make mac and cheese.

Part Two
Part Four