Chapter Text
Author's notes: Unbeta'd
PROLOGUE
"He's pretty shaken up," Chief Morgan explained as he and Officer Padalecki walked through the precinct. "He hasn't said anything, yet, but our specialists are with him now trying to get a statement." Before walking in, Morgan stopped, blocking the door. "Oh, and Jared, there's something you should know about him before you get started. He's deaf. Poor guy can't hear a single thing you say to him." Shaking his head in pity, Morgan opened the door, leading the way inside.
Jared was nervous. It wasn't unusual in his line of work; however, for this particular case, he was more nervous than he had ever been. How the hell was he supposed to protect someone if he couldn't communicate with them? After all, he had no clue how to use sign language, nor did he understand it. Yeah, this job was going to be a real challenge. But that was okay, because Jared loved a challenge.
As he walked in, Jared took in the appearance of the man he was supposed to be protecting. He looked so small; so fragile. Sitting with his knees tucked under his chin and his arms wrapped around his shins, fingers laced together to keep his hands in place. Watching his new 'project,' Jared thought that he was the most beautiful man he had ever seen. The freckles spattering over his cheeks and nose gave him a sort of boyish cuteness that made Jared smile.
Pale, jade green eyes scanned the room, flicking up towards Jared, clashing with champagne hazel before shooting back down to the table. Jared didn't think anything of it, except that the man must be kind of shy, which was understandable, seeing as how he probably didn't have many people he hung out with. Looking at the man, Jared thought that he was probably pretty solitary by the way he was acting.
Hearing his name being called, Jared quickly snapped his attention back to the Chief and everyone else around him in the room. "Yeah, I was listening," he lied. "Uh, what were you saying?"
Rolling his eyes, Chief Morgan repeated, "I was saying, this is Jensen Ackles. He's our primary witness to the murder of Tom Welling. The killers saw him, and if he hadn't run, he would have been killed, too. So, your job is to make sure he stays alive and well. Make sure he's safe." With a smile, Morgan clapped his hand over Jared's shoulder. "You think you can handle that?"
Jared smiled as he nodded, his gaze ticking back over to Jensen, blocking out everyone else in the room once more. He was still unsure of how he was going to make this work, but he was the best in the business, so he was sure he'd figure something out. A smile pulled to his lips once more when jade green met champagne hazel once again. The smile that was returned to him almost stole his breath away. God, this man was beautiful. Jared was sure he'd never seen anymore more perfect in his twenty seven years of living.
Again, Jared's attention was brought back to Chief Morgan as he felt his hand on his arm, pulling him out of the room. "Okay, Jay, here's the deal," Morgan started, "he's moving in with you."
"He's moving in with me?" Jared asked, shocked. "But...normally, I just go to their house. No one ever comes to my house."
"Well, these guys are good, and they can find Jensen's address. This isn't the first hit they've done, and if we don't catch them, it won't be their last. So, he goes to your house."
"But...I only have one room. And my apartment's small because I'm never home and don't need anything else. I spend most of my nights here."
Chief Morgan looked at Jared as if he was asking why that piece of information was of importance at a time like this, and Jared frowned. How the hell was he going to function while there was another man in his apartment that he needed to protect?
"And what are we going to do about me not being able to communicate with him?" Jared continued, shifting his weight to his other foot. "I mean, I don't know sign language and I can't learn it in the amount of time it's going to take him to move in."
Morgan looked at Jared, his brows knit in confusion. "What are you talking about time it's going to take him to move in? His stuff is being taken to your house right now by some of my associates. He's going home with you tonight." Seeing the look of shock on Jared's face, Morgan shook his head. "I told you, we can't risk it. These guys are good."
Smiling once more, Morgan once again clapped his hand over Jared's shoulder. "Don't worry, Officer, you'll do great." Chuckling softly, Morgan walked away, leaving Jared in the hallway alone.
Sighing, Jared walked back into the room with Jensen. Smiling, Jared waved at the man, who in turn smiled at him. "Okay, you can't hear me, can you?" Looking at him hopefully, Jared frowned when he got no reaction apart from the tilt of Jensen's head. "Right. How am I supposed to talk to you and let you know what's going on?" Looking around the room, a smile pulled to Jared's lips when he saw the notebook and pen sitting on the table. Quickly, he wrote: Hey, I'm Jared. You're going to be staying at my place for a while until we can get the bad guys behind bars where they belong. Is that okay with you?
Pushing it towards Jensen, Jared bit his lip, hoping Jensen wouldn't freak out. He sighed as Jensen looked up at him, another smile plastered to his face as he nodded. Mimicking Jensen's nod, Jared walked to the door, motioning to Jensen to follow, and he did. Leading the way, Jared went to his car, opening the door for Jensen so he could get into the passenger seat before Jared walked to the driver's side, climbing in. Gripping his seat belt, he looked at Jensen, letting Jensen know he was to put his seat belt on as well. He smiled when Jensen did as he 'told' to do. Well, maybe this wasn't going to be as hard as Jared thought.