agt_spooky | Supernatural RPS fic: Playing with Fire (Jensen/Jared) 3b/3

Title: Playing with Fire
Author:

agt_spooky
Pairing: Jensen/Jared
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 2,054 this part (30,156 total for three parts)
Genre: Firefighter AU, Angst, Established relationship
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: It’s RPS, people. It never happened, but I wish it would. :-)
Author’s Notes: Many thanks, as always, to my fabulous beta,

charityflint, who really whipped this puppy into shape, to

sn_24lover for her great input along the way and to

wilde_moon for surprising me with the awesome banner.

Summary: Fireman!Jensen and Paramedic!Jared are back in this sequel to Light My Fire.

It’s five months later and Jensen is nearly a full-fledged paramedic. But becoming a medic means no longer being able to work with Jared at Station 127 and giving up his chance at a promotion to Lieutenant. As graduation looms, will Jensen change his mind? Then add in a young man Jensen rescues from a fire that becomes an obsessed stalker, and Jared’s altercation with a victim’s husband that threatens his career, and things turn explosive at the FDNY.

(banner created by

wilde_moon and

agt_spooky)

Previous chapters: PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3a

Playing with Fire
by AgtSpooky

PART 3b

Once at Mercy, despite Jensen’s vehement protests, he was taken into one ER room while Jared was wheeled into another.

“Damn it, I’m fine!” Jensen tried to yell, pulling the oxygen mask off his face, but his voice came out as no more than a hoarse whisper. He attempted to get down off the exam table, but was wracked with more deep coughs.

Allison’s hand was on his chest, gently but insistently pushing him back down on the table. “Jensen, lay down!” she told him, slipping the oxygen mask back over his face. “Jared’s in good hands. And you’re not going to do him any good if you collapse.”

“I agree,” Dr. Chen said, entering the room. “Thanks, Alli, I’ve got it from here.”

“Sure thing, Doc,” Allison replied, squeezing Jensen’s arm. “Everything’s gonna be fine, Jensen.”

“Where is he? What’s going on?” Jensen demanded of Dr. Chen as Allison left the room.

“Dr. Shaw is with him,” she told Jensen, placing her stethoscope against his chest. “He’s being taken down to x-ray for a complete skull series.”

Jensen squeezed his eyes shut. “God…” he breathed.

Dr. Chen listened to Jensen’s chest for several moments before straightening up. “I don’t like the way your lungs sound. How long were you in there?” she asked.

“Too long,” Jensen muttered behind the oxygen mask, knowing that Jared had been in the burning building even longer.

“I’m ordering a set of chest x-rays and I’m going to have your blood drawn to check your gasses,” Dr. Chen told Jensen. “How do you feel?”

It was on the tip of Jensen’s tongue to say fine, but he relented under the doctor’s stern gaze. “Like an elephant’s sitting on my chest,” he admitted, his voice still wrecked.

“I want you to just lay still and take slow breaths. I’m going to send the nurse in for the blood draw, then get you to x-ray and into a room upstairs.”

“I’m not gonna lay still until someone tells me how Jared is,” Jensen told her, propping himself up on his elbows.

“I’ll find out, Jensen, I will. But in the meantime don’t fight me, okay?”

Jensen was silent for a moment before tersely nodding his head and laying back down, his thoughts fixed on Jared as he impatiently waited for the nurse.

~~~~~

An hour later Jensen was in his own room upstairs in the hospital, having gone through the blood draw and the chest x-rays, then used the bathroom to clean off as much of the soot and dirt off of himself that he could. Dr. Chen had still not returned with news about Jared, and Jensen had reached the limit of his patience. He’d find out about Jared himself. He was just reaching up to remove the oxygen cannula from his nose when the door to his room opened and in walked Mike Rosenbaum in uniform and another, taller man in a suit.

Jensen’s brow furrowed. “Mike?”

“Jensen, I’m so glad you’re okay,” the bald cop said, relief in his voice. “This is Detective Vaughn,” he explained. “He’s got some questions for you about the fire.”

The dark-haired detective nodded at Jensen. “Mr. Ackles, we recovered the body of Eric Donovan from the apartment fire. Officer Rosenbaum is the one that alerted me to your claim about Donovan’s possible involvement in the car fire last week, and that he had been stalking you.” He pulled out a notepad and pen from his pocket. “Can you tell me exactly what happened this morning?”

Jensen felt his anger rise, his words razor sharp. “I’ll tell you what happened – that psychopath set that fire to try and kill Jared because he was convinced that he and I belonged together and Jared was in the way. I found him coming down the stairs from the third floor. He tried to stop me from getting to Jared and we fought. I pushed him off of me and he fell down the stairs, breaking his neck.”

Jensen jabbed his finger at the cop. “If you people had been doing your job, you would’ve found this lunatic a week ago. Then none of this would’ve happened and I wouldn’t be sitting here wondering if Jared is ever going to wake up!”

Jensen was pulling in short, wheezing breaths, his abused lungs protesting his prolonged, angry speech as Detective Vaughn took a step closer to the bed. “Mr. Ackles – “ he began.

Jensen shook his head sharply as the door opened again and this time Dr. Chen walked in. “Save it. I’m done talking right now.”

Detective Vaughn closed his notepad. “I understand. We’ll need an official statement from you but that can wait. We did find a nearly empty bottle of accelerant in Mr. Donovan’s jacket pocket, supporting your claim that he did start the fire.” He glanced away for a moment. “I’m sorry that we weren’t able to find Donovan in time to prevent this, and I sincerely hope that Mr. Padalecki makes a full recovery.”

Jensen simply nodded, his jaw tight, and Detective Vaughn turned and walked toward the door.

“I’m sorry, Jen,” Mike said quietly. “You’re right, this never should’ve happened. Let me know how Jared is, okay?”

Jensen blew out a slow breath and nodded at the cop. “I will,” he answered, then snagged Mike’s arm. “Were any of the tenants killed in the fire?”

Mike shook his head. “No, everyone got out.”

“Thank God,” Jensen breathed as Mike turned and followed Vaughn out the door.

“You’d better be here to take me to see Jared, or I swear to God I’ll go find him myself,” Jensen warned Dr. Chen as she stepped forward.

“He’s in 228, right down the hall,” she told him. “You can go see him in a minute.”

“Is he awake?”

Dr. Chen shook her head and Jensen felt his stomach plummet. “He’s suffering from smoke inhalation, just like you. But he also has a hairline skull fracture and we’re monitoring his brain for swelling. He’s still unconscious. Do you know how he sustained that injury?”

“No…I found him on the floor, already unconscious.” Jensen ran a hand over his face. “Jesus…I need – I need to see him.”

Dr. Chen nodded. “Of course.”

A minute later she had Jensen hooked up to a portable oxygen tank and led him down the hall to room 228, where she opened the door for him.

“If you need anything, let me know,” she told him, then let the door close softly behind him as Jensen walked over to the bed.

The room was semi-dark, the blinds keeping out most of the late morning sun, the quiet broken only by the steady beeping of the heart monitor beside the bed. Jensen felt his throat close up at the sight of energetic, vibrant Jared lying so still, his skin pale against the light blue sheets. There was a large, white bandage on his forehead, and fresh ones around his abdomen. He also had an oxygen cannula in his nose, and Jensen could hear each wheezing, shallow breath Jared took.

“Hey,” Jensen whispered, brushing his fingers through Jared’s hair before bending forward and kissing him softly. “I’m here…”

Jensen lowered the railing on the bed and pulled the hard plastic chair over, perching on its edge. He took one of Jared’s large hands in his, lifting it up to rest the back of it against the side of his face, the fingers of his other hand brushing across Jared’s bare shoulder.

As Jensen watched the man he loved struggle for breath and consciousness, he was once again filled with all-consuming anger, and at that moment he would’ve broken Eric Donovan’s neck all over again for putting him through this hell.

He turned his head and kissed Jared’s hand. “You need to wake up, Jare. You said we were done scaring the hell out of each other, right?” Jensen’s voice broke on the last word and he choked back sudden tears. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…please…”

But Jared slept on, oblivious to Jensen’s pleas.

Long, silent minutes later, Jensen felt his eyelids start to close, the stress and trauma of the day finally catching up to his tired body. Refusing to leave Jared’s side and return to his own room for much needed rest, he simply pillowed his head on his arms on Jared’s mattress. Just before sleep claimed him, he sent up a silent prayer for Jared’s recovery. Jared had to wake up, he had to. He’d already lost Ryan. Losing Jared as well would be unbearable.

~~~~~

It was several hours later when Jensen woke to the soft sensation of fingers brushing over his short hair. Momentarily disorientated, he leaned into the touch with a soft sigh, before abruptly remembering where he was. He sat up with a jerk, his neck and back protesting the sudden movement, his eyes flying to Jared’s face.

And what he saw brought a lump to his throat – Jared smiling tiredly up at him.

Jensen swallowed hard and swiped a hand across his eyes, at the moisture there. He gripped Jared’s hand and smiled back.

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” he said, voice wavering just a bit. “’Bout time you woke up.”

Jared gave Jensen’s hand a small squeeze, his eyes slipping closed for a moment before giving a barely audible, hoarse whisper. “Hey…”

Jensen turned toward the bedside table where a cup with a straw and pitcher of water sat. He quickly poured a bit into the cup, then raised Jared’s bed up slightly before offering the water to him.

“Just a couple sips,” Jensen told Jared, holding the cup as Jared drank.

The younger man sat back with a grateful sigh a few moments later. “Thanks,” he said, voice still rough, but sounding better than it did a minute ago.

Jensen set the cup back down. “How’re you feeling?” he asked.

“Like I got hit by a truck,” Jared answered, reaching a hand up and gingerly touching the bandage on his forehead. “What happened?”

“What do you remember?”

“I…” Jared’s forehead creased, then his eyes went wide. “Eric…he…I – I was in the bathroom, at the sink. I opened the door and he was right there. With the water running I never heard him break into the apartment. Before I could even say anything he hit me in the head with something. And that’s it…til now.” Jared finally took in Jensen’s appearance – hospital gown and robe, oxygen – and looked at him quizzically. “God…what the hell happened, Jen?”

Jensen rested a hand on Jared’s arm, voice low. “Eric tried to kill you. After he hit you…he set your apartment on fire.”

Jared’s mouth dropped open. “Jesus Christ…” he breathed. “You found me?”

Jensen nodded. “Yeah,” he answered gruffly, remembering the terror of trying to get to Jared through the flames.

Jared grinned, knocked his hand against Jensen. “My hero.”

Jensen chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

“And Eric?” Jared asked. “Tell me the police finally got that son-of-a-bitch.”

Jensen set his jaw. “He’s dead. He tried to stop me from getting to you and we fought in the stairway. I pushed him off me and he fell and broke his neck.”

Jared was silent for a moment, letting what Jensen just told him sink in. “If I said I was glad, what kind of person does that make me?” he finally said.

Jensen shook his head, voice brittle and rough. “What kind of a person does it make me that I couldn’t protect you from him? That I couldn’t stop him?”

Jared reached over, took Jensen’s hand. “Jen, don’t – “

“No, this is my fault,” Jensen ground out. “I provoked him into doing this!”

“Jensen, stop,” Jared demanded. “He was unstable and he was determined to do this. There was nothing you could’ve done. He would’ve found a way.” Jared’s voice gentled. “It’s over now. Please…stop beating yourself up.”

But all Jensen could see was Jared’s apartment burning. Everything he had was gone. Jensen swallowed hard against the emotion threatening to close up his throat, pushing out the anguished words.

“But you lost everything…”

Jared’s smile was wide and filled with love as he tugged Jensen closer, looking him directly in the eyes. “No…not everything,” he whispered, right before he kissed him.

THE END

Whew! And there you have it, folks! This was the longest fic I've ever written and I hope it was worth the read. :-) Oh, and bonus points to anyone who knew that Station 127 was the real station out in Los Angeles that Emergency! was filmed at. :-)