Title: Hell Is Other People
Word Count: 3450
Summary: Jared is a hunter, but he is about to find out that evil isn’t just the preserve of demons.
Pairing: J2 eventually
Warnings: Excessive abuse of Jensen, sometimes the law really is an ass.
Disclaimer: As far as I know Jared isn’t engaged in hunting monsters and last time I checked Jensen wasn’t chained up naked in the basement of a church and wasn’t in a relationship with Jared, so please don’t sue.
Notes: Here I offer thanks and unending praise togarvaldmains, who has helped, improved and encouraged me with endless patience when I gibbered at her, and she also provided the awesome banner! *Big, Big Hugs* 
Beta: by  the awesomebigj52.

As the Sherriff finished speaking, Jared felt Jensen’s legs buckle.  Jared moved Jensen back towards his bed. Sitting him down, Jared moved to stand in front of him.

“Would you care to explain what you are talking about?”  Jared glared at the men in front of him. 

 “Like I said, I’m arresting Ackles for murdering our Preacher.”  The sheriff rested his hand on his gun, daring Jared to make a move towards him.

Out of the corner of his eye Jared saw Jim rest his hand on Chris’s arm as the fiery, long- haired hunter got ready to challenge the three officers of the law.

“On what evidence are you arresting Mr Ackles? “  Jared drew himself to his full height. He was trying to ignore Jensen’s harsh, panting breaths from behind him, and he needed to keep his wits about him.  Jared knew this was a trumped-up charge, and he was shocked that the sheriff had even attempted it.  Now he had to try and defend ‘suicide by curse’ especially if the Sherriff refused to be forthcoming with information.

Jared’s attitude caused the sheriff to pause a little; he licked nervously at his lips, and asked in a truculent voice “What are you, his lawyer? I thought you worked for God?  ” the man sneered at Jared.

“Sheriff, before I served the Lord, I served the Law. Please, if you will just give me a moment to confer with Mr Ackles.” Jared responded to the sheriff.

Then he turned round and crouched down in front of Jensen; he was shocked at the change in the other man.  Jensen was broken; there was no other word for it.  Jared was enraged after everything Morgan had done to Jensen, and how Jensen had fought to stay strong. Now the sheriff had managed to shatter his spirit with those few words.   Jensen’s hands shook; his eyes were haunted and filled with pain. To Jared’s eyes he seemed smaller, defeated.

 Jared gently took Jensen’s hand and waited for him to look at him. Once he did, Jared spoke softly so only Jensen heard him.  “Jensen, I can help you. I’m a lawyer, let me represent you. I will protect you.  Just promise me you won’t give up fighting, Jensen. Don’t let Morgan beat you now, please.”

 “I can’t, Jared. I’m so fucking tired of fighting and now this!  What am I supposed to do? “A single tear spilled down his face and Jared gripped his hand tighter.

 “You let me fight for you now, Jensen. I promise I’ll take care of you. Just hang on for me.”  Jensen nodded. Jared squeezed his hand and stood up, taking a calming breath. He turned back to the sheriff.

“As of now I’m Mr Ackles’ attorney. Shall we get on with it?”  Jared relaxed. This was a role he was comfortable with; it was as natural as breathing to him. He watched as the sheriff adjusted his stance, the hand moving away from the gun, his expression turning cautious.

 “Like I said, Ackles killed the preacher, so I’d just like to take him down to the station to question him.”

 “No problem, sheriff. Where’s your arrest warrant and search warrant.”  Jared smiled sweetly, his voice even and unemotional.

“Huh, I don’t need one. I’m just going to question Ackles.”  The sheriff was a little agitated at this development.

 “By your attitude, I’d say you have already made up your mind.  Now, I have no objection to you leaving a deputy here while you obtain warrants but Mr Ackles will remain here whilst you do so.”  The emphasis on ‘Mister’ was plain for all to hear.

 Chris leaned over to Jim and whispered “What the fuck’s he doin’? If they search our stuff they’ll find the guns and necklace.”  Jim smiled at the panic in the voice.

“Kane, you thought Jared the hunter was impressive. The lawyer really is ruthless.  I researched the kid, he’s good. Just relax.”  Jim seemed to be enjoying the show so Chris tried to follow suit.

“Who discovered the body? And how did poor Preacher Morgan meet his fate?  Mr Ackles is entitled to hear the details of the case against him.”

The sheriff was clearly taken aback. He’d just expected to walk in and drag Jensen off to God-knows-where. He wasn’t prepared for a fancy lawyer who stood in his way of getting revenge for a good man.

 “I don’t have to tell you who found him, and the Preacher was shot.”  The sheriff was grim.

 “Actually, you do have to tell me as you well know, and where was he shot then?”

 “In the head.” One of the deputies spoke, the sheriff winced at that.

 “Why, thank you for that. I meant, where was he discovered? Was he at home? Or was he elsewhere when the heinous crime was committed.”

The sheriff took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair; he really didn’t need this shit this morning.  He looked at Jared and realized he would have to deal with him before he could get to his target.

“My wife was the poor unfortunate who discovered the body...and he was in his errmm basement.”

“I hope you don’t mind but what time was the body discovered and why was your wife there, sheriff?”

“Just what are you implying about my wife?”  The sheriff’s eyes flashed with anger.

“Forgive me, sheriff; it’s that it is just after nine o’clock in the morning. I wondered why the Preacher would be receiving visitors so early.”  Jared’s sincere smile relaxed the sheriff somewhat.

“Oh, right.  Some of the town ladies take it in turns helping to clean the church and they look after the Preacher, what with him living on his own.  My wife arrived before eight o’clock. She knocked on the door. When she didn’t get an answer she tried the door.  It was unlocked and she went in.”

“Excuse me, sheriff? Was Preacher Morgan in the habit of leaving his door unlocked?”

“He was a man of God! He believed in people and look what it got him.  Gunned down like an animal by....”  The sheriff had gotten increasingly angry during this; his eyes kept darting towards Jensen, shooting the man on the bed a look of loathing.

“Sheriff...to continue.  Your wife walks into the house and how did she find the Preacher?  Why did she go down into the basement? Was it a room she had been to before?”  Jared knew by the look on the Sheriff’s face none of the town’s good ladies had ever seen that room.  Somehow he wasn’t surprised, none of them were ‘companion’ standard.

The sheriff stood, clenching his fists, but he continued through gritted teeth.  “She called out to him and when she didn’t receive an answer she went into his office.  That’s when she saw the door to the basement was open.  She went downstairs to find him and she found...well, she found his body.”

Jared nodded sympathetically “I can understand the trauma that must have caused. I appreciate that it’s too early for Crime Scene Photos, but is there any way to see the scene in question?  Have you recovered the murder weapon?   When will the C.S.I. department arrive to examine the scene?”  Jared rapidly fired the questions at the sheriff.

Chris winced a little in sympathy. He shot Jim a look as if to say ‘shit you were right’ when Jim patted his arm and whispered “Oh he’s just gittin’ started.”

“There ain’t gonna be no pictures or damn C.S.I. down there.”  The sheriff was red in the face as he spoke.

Jared allowed a smile to appear. It wasn’t the usual sunny dimpled-filled expression of joy. This was a predator’s smile - that of a shark scenting blood in the water and Jared was ready to attack.

“Why not, Sheriff? You storm in here without warrants, accuse my client of cold-blooded murder, and yet you offer no evidence to back up your claims. I think you should leave.”  Jared’s voice was cold, calm and collected.

 The sheriff’s hand strayed back to his gun and he stepped forward but Jared wasn’t finished “Also you have to take into account Mr Ackles’ alibi, the three of us never left this room last night.   I can assure you that neither did Mr Ackles.  Are you suggesting he somehow snuck past us, drove over the preacher’s house where he found a gun, then forced the Preacher into the basement and shot him?”

The sheriff looked like he was trying to speak, but Jared cut him short, “Of course, that is even before you take into account Mr Ackles physical state, of which I’m sure you’re well aware after witnessing the exorcism last night.  So I have to ask, what is so special about this crime scene that you are prepared to break the law you swore to uphold to arrest my client?”

Jared’s face was impassive as he spoke, his voice quietly measured; the only indication to the rage that was building was the anger that burnt in his eyes.  The sheriff   responded shakily, “I meant it will take some time for the crime scene to be investigated. I’m afraid there will be no way to let you see it.”

 “I took some pictures on my phone.”  The deputy who had spoken before said this, watching Jared with an air of a man trying to creep through a pack of sleeping wolves without waking them. 

The sheriff swung round to face the deputy, “Now why in the name of all that’s holy did you do that for, Andy?”  The sheriff sounded pained as he spoke. 

 Jared held out his hand, “Deputy, if would hand over your phone please. I want to see those pictures now.”  Andy looked from the sheriff to Jared, trying to decide what to do, then he noticed the way Kane was glaring at him.  He quickly produced the phone and passed it straight to Jared.

 Jared took a deep breath, he knew what he was about to see.  Now he had to make it appear as if this was the first time he was seeing that room.  Jared went through the pictures; Andy had gone mad taking shot after shot of Morgan’s little recreation room.  Jared could understand that, it wasn’t the kind of place you saw every day.

  Then the pictures Jared really wanted to see, the shots of Morgan’s body.  Straight away it was obvious to even an untrained eye Morgan had committed suicide, the position of the wound under his chin, blowing out the back of his head, and another shot clearly revealing that Morgan still held the gun the in his hand.

 Jared looked up his face grave but sympathetic.  “I can understand why you would want this to remain private; sheriff, but you should have informed me that the gun was not only at the scene but in the Preacher’s hand.  You understand how it appears.”

 “Look Mr...” the sheriff stuttered

 “Padalecki, sheriff.”

“Mr Padalecki, Preacher Morgan was a man of God. He would never have taken his own life; somebody had to have killed him and the only suspect is Mr Ackles.”  The sheriff’s face was etched with grief and anger.

 It was in that moment that Jared understood that the people of the town would never accept what Morgan was capable of. They would look for a scapegoat, and Jared was going to make sure that it wasn’t going to be Jensen. There was something about the sheriff’s attitude that made Jared uneasy; the sheriff must know it was impossible for Jensen to have committed ‘the crime’. So why the relentless pursuit of an innocent man?   An unpleasant suspicion began to form in Jared’s mind as he prepared to press on with his defence of Jensen.

 “The room he was discovered in... could it have belonged to the previous occupant?”  Jared saw a light of hope dawning in the other man’s eyes. Jared relaxed as the sheriff grabbed onto that suggestion like a starving man with a steak.

“Nope, can’t be. The farm was empty for years and that stuff looks new.”  Andy said thoughtfully, Jared wanted to strangle the man.  Once again the sheriff’s eyes hardened.

 “Sheriff, why don’t we put this to bed once and for all? It appears that at some point last night Preacher Morgan committed suicide. As for that room, I’m sure that as far as myself, my colleagues and my client goes, its’ contents will never leave this room.  We can prove that Mr Ackles didn’t kill the Preacher...”

 “An’ how ya goin do that then? Once more the contempt was clear in the sheriff’s tone.

 Jared gritted his teeth, avoiding all eye contact with Chris, because he knew it would only take the slightest encouragement from him and Jared would happily resort to violence.  “First of all, even here, I’m sure you have the equipment to perform a GSR test.  Secondly, fetch your police doctor to come and examine Mr Ackles, and that will prove beyond doubt that he couldn’t have physically forced the Preacher down to the basement to shoot him.  Besides, I doubt very much Mr Ackles even knew that room existed, considering he was incarcerated in the church the whole time”  Jared could see that the sheriff’s frustration increase with every word he spoke.

 Jared’s was becoming increasingly concerned, by now the sheriff should have accepted defeat, and dropped the whole ridiculous charge.  But he seemed determined to go through it; there was more behind the sheriff’s motives than simple revenge for his Preacher.

“Fine. Well, you just hand him over and we’ll get it done.”

“No, sheriff. I think for Mr Ackles’ protection he should remain here under the care of his family. After all, the loss of the man who was trying to save him from the demon that tormented him will be weighing heavily upon him. See for yourself, sheriff.”

 Jared stepped aside, allowing the sheriff and his deputies a clear view of Jensen as he sat on the bed, he watched the other men to gauge their reactions.  The sheriff’s eyes swept over Jensen, he took in the bandaged feet and wrists, the bruising round his neck and the pale downcast face.  As far as Jared could tell there was still no compassion in any of the men looking at Jensen.

“He could be faking it for all I know. Demons are tricky bastards, the Preacher said so.”

“Sheriff, as I said you were at the exorcism last night, I assure you the demon is gone.  Demons have scant regard for their hosts and they leave them in poor physical condition.  Please fetch a doctor and they will confirm what I have said.  Or is this town in the habit of delivering its’ justice in the form of lynching’s.”  Jared had grown even quieter, his patience at an end.

 The sheriff started on hearing this “I assure you we do not, sir.”

“Then fetch the doctor and perform the GSR. test!” Jared’s words were final.  Jim tightened his grip on Chris’ arm in a warning for him to be ready if the sheriff held his line.

For a moment the sheriff’s hand tightened on his gun, then it relaxed and he reached for his phone instead.

 “Excuse me, gentlemen while I phone Dr Shephard.”

 As the sheriff exited the room the tense atmosphere lifted slightly, allowing Jared to look over to Jim and Chris, they seemed to be relaxed but Jared could sense their unease at the situation.  When the sheriff returned Jared raised an eyebrow in askance, the sheriff just scowled at him “The doctor will be here in ten minutes.”

 “Then I’m sure you and the deputies won’t mind waiting downstairs for him. Mr Ackles will be here and I will remain with him and during his examination.”

 The sheriff’s face darkened at this news, “What! Don’t you trust us?”

 “No, sheriff, merely protecting my client’s best interests. I’m sure the doctor will give you his full report when he’s finished.”  Jared remained impeccably calm, it was obvious he had finished with the sheriff and he stood waiting for the men to leave.

Chris was really impressed with the display of authority and power, especially after a staring match when the sheriff had been the one to look away.  He stalked out of the bedroom, and was followed quickly and by the looks of it, very happily by the deputies.

 “Damn Sasquatch, if ever I’m in trouble with the law again you’ll have to tell me how much you charge by the hour.”  Chris grinned at the taller man.

 “You couldn’t afford me, even with friend’s rates.”  Jared flashed a weary smile as he turned from Chris to check on Jensen.  He hadn’t moved from where Jared had put him. Jared shot a worried glance at the other two men.

Jim took charge “Ok, we got problems. Chris, you go and check out the town. I want to know just what kind of vibe we got.  Judging by the sheriff and pals it ain’t gonna be pretty. It may be we have to get Jensen out of here pretty damn quick.  I’ll go and apprise the Ackles of what’s happening....on the legal front, that is.”  Jim took a step towards Jared and spoke softly to him.

 “Kid, you got the hardest job. I need you to take care of Jensen; don’t let him drift too far into himself.  You gotta get him to fight, Jared. Keep him with us. Let him cry, scream, yell, anything, but for God’s sake keep him with us.” Jim squeezed his arm and he and Chris left the room.

As the door closed Jared slowly approached the bed, he didn’t know how to do this.  Most of the time he was barely holding on himself, he couldn’t even begin to fathom how to help the broken man in front of him.

 Jared moved over to the bed and sat beside Jensen.  He took his hand and was shocked at how icy it felt, “Jensen? Can you hear me? Please look at me?”  Jared begged.

The soft plea worked and Jensen lifted his head and turned to face Jared.  Jared felt his chest tighten; that wonderfully expressive face which could convey every emotion with ease was a blank, emotionless mask, so pale and perfect but without that spark that made it Jensen.  Jared searched Jensen’s green eyes and found them flat, devoid of life, light or hope.

 Jared couldn’t help himself. He reached over and gently touched Jensen’s cheek, the coldness put Jared in mind of a porcelain doll, beautiful but unreachable, and he sat there gently caressing Jensen’s face. Willing him to respond to the gentle touch Jensen finally blinked, his eyes watery, “Come on, Jensen. Please talk to me, let me help you.”

“You can’t help me, Jared, no one can.  I’ll never be free of him...why me? What did I do to deserve this? Even in death Morgan won’t let me go.  Now they’re saying I killed him!  I can’t go to prison, Jared... What am I going to do?” 

 Jensen’s broken pleas both relieved and horrified Jared. At least Jensen had spoken.  But the despair in his voice.....Jensen had given up; all the fight had deserted him.  Then Jensen’s shoulders started to shake as he gave in, and cried, the tears streaming down his face.

Jared moved himself and Jensen further onto the bed and he pulled Jensen tight against his chest.  Jensen curled up in his arms, clinging to Jared as if he was the only thing anchoring him in place.  Sobs were racking his body, and Jared wrapped his arms round Jensen, riding out the storm of grief,  and anger.  He felt his shirt start to dampen from the tears Jensen’s was shedding and he listened helplessly to the desperate pained cries from the other man.  All Jared could do was hold on and offer him comfort the only way he could. He rested his head on top of Jensen’s and kept up a litany of soothing words, “It’s ok, I’m here. I swear no one will take you away from me.”  As he spoke Jared was astonished to realize he meant every word he uttered.

 Finally, the sobbing ceased and Jared sat, gently rocking Jensen in his arms. He knew the doctor would be there soon and he had to try and get Jensen ready for the next part of his ordeal.  An examination by a doctor who was likely to be as hostile as the sheriff.

 Chapter 9.