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Fandom: RPS/Justified
Title: stumbling through ashes (Part 3--Part One & Part Two)
Characters/Pairings: Jensen/Danneel, Jeffrey Dean Morgan/Raylan Givens, Riley Smith, Steve Carlson, Original Characters
Word Count: 3514
Rating: NC-17
Summary:In a post-apocalyptic world, Raylan Givens and a handful of other lawmen attempt to maintain order in what is left of the US. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and a handful of other refugees have set up in a small, abandoned town in Colorado. Spring brings Raylan back to town, and on the way he runs into a caravan of people looking for shelter. When one of those people is someone from Jeff's past, it could change everything.
A/Ns & Warnings: I blame
darling_lisa for everything.
Raylan pulled back on the reigns, slowing his horse as he approached the slow moving caravan of people and carts loaded down with supplies and baggage. They all look bedraggled, worn and tired. “Hello.”
The two men at the head of the short column nod in greeting, drawing the group to a halt. “Ain’t seen anybody in days. We were beginning to wonder if we would.”
Raylan dismounted. “This here territory is pretty sparse, still getting storms through here come winter. But there’s a few pockets of people.”
“Anything close? I got people that need medical attention, and a woman near to delivering the baby she’s carrying.”
“Depends on your definition of close.” Raylan offers. “There’s a small town up this road about two days, and there’s a fair number of folk in Boulder, but getting there is problematic since the roads washed out. What are your medical needs?”
“We picked up a few strays a ways back. They’d been jumped, left for dead. Patched them up, but could use better doctors than us.”
Raylan looked down the ragged caravan and nodded to himself. “Town up ahead don’t have any doctor to speak of anymore, but they’ve got a couple of medics and supplies. I know the folks there. I’ll ride ahead, get them ready.”
“Appreciate that.”
“Just keep on this road, it’ll lead you directly into town.” Raylan kicked his horse into moving, figuring getting to town fast he could get the medics to meet the caravan halfway. Of course, he had other reasons for wanting to get to the town. It had been months since he’d been able to get back this way and he wasn’t exactly sure how to define what he had going on there, but if nothing else, he could predict getting laid.
He knew if he didn’t stop for the night, he could reach the bridge by noon or so. His reward would be sleeping in an actual bed, rather than making camp on the ground…and the warm company of the town’s leader, which was a far cry from sleeping alone.
His last visit had been between winter storms, bringing what supplies he could, and promises of getting an engineer out to look at the bridge at first thaw. From what Raylan knew, they had been able to reinforce the bridge for the short term, and the engineer was designing a new one to take into account the various problems the new environment presented.
As the weather settled into something that resembled a stabilized pattern, the world slowly began to adjust and a new society was emerging, a strange combination of old and new, horses and carriages mixed with electric lights and computers, at least in the cities.
The smaller outposts didn’t have electricity restored yet, though there were teams crisscrossing the country to work on it. The regions were setting up nominal governments, attempting to bring some order back to the world.
It would never be the same though. Mother Nature had remade the world with upheaval and storms, with water and ice and wind, earthquakes and tornados and volcanos…and what remained was forever changed.
Best estimates were that less than thirty percent of the world’s population had survived, and most of that was spread out across what was left of America and Canada and in pockets in Europe, Russia and China. As communications were restored, they learned more.
California, Oregon and Washington were all but gone, though some of the mountain peaks were still there, islands in an ocean that rose up to reclaim the land. Alaska was an island and roughly half its original size. Enough land sank in the south that the Rio Grande was gone and the ocean now separated the United States from Mexico. Most of the northern states and Canada were covered in ice and snow. The eastern seaboard, from Maine to Florida was under water and what had been the Florida keys was now a landmass nearly the size of Alabama.
Raylan reached the bridge into town just before noon, raising a hand to the folks working the garden plot along the southwest side of town. The already seemed to have a good start on the year, the beginnings of the spring planting just starting to be seen. He pulled his horse to a stop, dismounting as Jeff and Jensen approached from the field, wiping at sweaty foreheads.
Jeff grinned as he held out a hand and Raylan shook it, grinning nearly as hard.
“Raylan Givens. Wasn’t expecting you for another few weeks.” Jeff’s eyes sparkled as Raylan shook Jensen’s hand.
“Well, there was trouble south of here needing a Marshall’s attention. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to swing by and check in.” He stuck a hand in his saddle bag and pulled out a stack of envelopes. “I think most of these are your people.” He handed the envelopes to Jeff. “I ran into a group of people headed this way. Got injured need tending. Figured you might could send your medics to help them out.”
Jensen nodded and glanced back over his shoulder. “You know what kind of injuries?”
“Pregnant woman looking to birth any day, plus a couple folks they said got jumped and left for dead.”
“Okay, I’ve got it. Scott! Jenna!”
Raylan watched the two heads lift, then they headed toward Jensen. He suppressed a yawn as Jeff looked through the mail, but only partially succeeded. “Sorry. Rode all night so I could get help out to those folks. Guess I’m not built for all-nighters anymore.”
Jeff shook his head and gestured toward the hotel where he lived. “Come on. I’ll get someone to put your horse up. You want a bath?”
“Why, do I smell?” Raylan asked.
Jeff’s shoulder bumped his as they walked. “Like you’ve been riding for days.”
“Have been. Haven’t seen a shower or a proper bed since I left Denver.” Raylan tied his horse to the rail post of the hotel porch, pulling his bags down and following Jeff inside.
“Well, let’s get you settled in for a bath and a proper bed.” Jeff grinned, red coloring his cheeks like he was a kid with a crush and not a man Raylan had spent a good amount of time getting to know in the most intimate of ways. “Go ahead and take your gear up, I’ll start the water heating.”
Raylan bounded up the steps and to the room he’d grown accustomed to staying in while visiting here, dropping his bag on the chair and pulling at his clothes. He stripped down to just his pants and sat to pull his boots off before fishing in his bag for clean clothes. No need to repeat the show he’d given the house the time he’d come out of the bath with just the towel on.
He opened the door, stopping as the shaggy haired five year old Jared raced past him, yelling. Raylan looked up as Danneel followed, the baby cradled against her in a sling. She smiled. “I’m doing laundry today, so if you want any of your stuff cleaned, now’s the time.”
“Yeah? That would be great.” He retrieved his shirts from the floor before heading for the stairs behind Danneel. “How about I leave my jeans outside the bathroom door?”
“I’ll have Jeff bring them to me.” She took his shirts and headed for the kitchen.
Jeff was waiting by the bathroom door with a grin. “Water’s hot. Hungry? I think we got leftovers from last night’s dinner in the ice box.”
“I could eat.” Raylan agreed, happy for any meal that wasn’t stale protein bars or game he had to hunt and cook himself. He set his clean jeans inside the bathroom before popping the button on the ones he was wearing. “Danneel said you should bring these to her for washing.”
Jeff’s eyes scanned down Raylan’s body, and back up to his eyes. He glanced around them, then stepped in closer, his eyes narrowing to Raylan’s mouth. “You gonna keep staring or kiss me?” Raylan asked. Jeff breathed out, then took the distance away, his lips warm and dry as they closed over his.
“Jeff?”
“Just a minute Dani, just getting Raylan settled in.” Jeff took his jeans from him and kissed him light and quick. “And you, behave.”
“Me?” Raylan asked as Jeff walked away. “I always behave.”
Which wasn’t strictly true, but the implication here was that somehow Raylan was the instigator here. Which he wasn’t. At least, he didn’t think he was.
He pushed the thought away and lowered himself into the tub of heated water. It was something of a luxury. He washed the days of travel off his skin and savored the water just a little longer before he pulled the plug and got out.
A few minutes later he met Jeff in the kitchen, wearing only his clean jeans, his chest still a little damp. Jeff set a plate at the table and Raylan sank into the chair to eat, aware of Jeff’s eyes on him. “So…” Raylan said, looking up, “…how’s things since I was through here last?”
“Well, as you could see, Genny is growing. Danneel won’t be able to carry her in that sling much longer. Planting went well. Our hunters have gotten better.” Jeff sat beside him, folding his hands on the table. “And to hear the tale, we’ll have electricity before the winter.”
“All good things.” Raylan said after swallowing. “And this, was very good too.” He sat back, cradling the coffee mug Jeff had set beside his plate, smiling when the smell of whiskey came to him instead of coffee.
“Figured you could use it.” Jeff pushed his chair back and stood. “I should let you get some sleep.”
Raylan tossed back the whiskey and stood himself, taking his plate and mug to the sink. “I don’t recall saying anything about sleep.” Raylan said, turning and leaning against the counter, his eyes raking over Jeff’s body. “Just about the bed.” He shrugged as Jeff blushed. “But, if you need to get back out to the field…”
He pushed himself upright and headed out of the kitchen, not surprised when Jeff followed. “They can do without me for a little while.” Jeff said, grinning.
Raylan got the door to his room open and grabbed Jeff by the shirt collar, dragging him into the room and shoving the door closed. “Been thinking about fucking you for days.” He pulled Jeff in, relishing the way his mouth opened easily, the heat of his tongue on Raylan’s.
“Easy, cowboy, we’ve got all afternoon.” Jeff murmured, stepping back and drawing Raylan with him.
“Don’t want easy.” Raylan countered, his hands moving down Jeff’s shirt, unbuttoning it as he went, then sliding his hands up over hot skin. Jeff’s head fell back as Raylan’s mouth moved from his lips, over his chin and down his neck, offering up more skin, more room. Jeff’s hands fell to Raylan’s jeans, thumbing over the button, palming over his cock. Raylan’s cock hardened inside his jeans and Jeff’s hand tightened a little before moving back to the button, get his jeans open and zipper down.
Jeff’s hand circled his cock and Raylan groaned a little into Jeff’s neck. He pulled at the sleeves of Jeff’s shirt, trying to get it off of him while Jeff slowly pulled on his cock. He gave up on the shirt and unbuckled Jeff’s belt, determine to at least give back the same as he was getting.
Jeff let go of him and pushed his hands away, undoing his pants and jeans himself. “You were taking so long. Lube’s where you left it.”
He stepped away, dropping his jeans as Raylan went to the nightstand, pulling out a nearly empty bottle of lube. “Remind me to bring you more the next time I come this way.” He turned to find Jeff naked and laying on his back on the bed, knees bent, legs spread, his cock thick and hard in one hand. “Wow.”
Raylan pushed his own jeans to the floor and stepped clear. His hand smeared lube over his cock as he moved close enough to run the back of his other hand down the inside of Jeff’s thigh. Jeff took the lube from him and smeared his fingers with it, reaching between his legs and down, shoving two fingers into his ass, his eyes rolling closed as he worked himself open.
“Fuck, that’s hot.” Raylan murmured, kneeling between Jeff’s legs, one finger joining Jeff’s as he pushed in. Jeff’s hand abandoned the job to Raylan’s fingers, stroking Raylan’s cock instead until Raylan thought he might blow before getting inside him. He moved forward, letting Jeff guide him, until the tip of his cock was just inside the heat of Jeff’s body. He slid in slowly, exhaling in unison with Jeff as he sank inside, then held himself still there for a moment.
Jeff squeezed around him and Raylan pulled back just as slowly, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep the pace, he was already far too close to coming. He snapped his hips in sharply, earning a grunt from Jeff. Raylan put his hands on Jeff’s knees and pulled back again, snapping in hard at only half way. His pace quickened, until they were both grunting and sweat was beading along his forehead and he wasn’t going to be able to hold back the orgasm much longer.
He pulled out, his come spilling on Jeff’s balls as his hand circled Jeff’s cock, stroking him quickly until Jeff was thrusting up and coming in thick strings over Raylan’s hand. Raylan fell onto the bed, breathing a little hard. Jeff got up and padded across the room to the dresser, pulling out a handkerchief Raylan vaguely remembered from his last visit. Jeff wiped himself up, grinning at Raylan. “Feel better?”
Raylan yawned in response, earning a laugh from Jeff. “That’s what I thought.” He pulled his jeans on and crossed back to the bed, sitting beside Raylan and leaning in to brush a kiss over his lips. “Get some sleep. I’ll call you for dinner.”
Raylan wanted to protest, but honestly, the days in the saddle and the night without sleep was pulling him under, so he surrendered, knowing he had a few days he could spend with Jeff, getting all the sex he could stand.
Jeff woke a little disoriented, the smell of sex filling his nose. Raylan. He opened his eyes, blinking a little against the daylight fighting past the curtains. It was later than he normally let himself sleep. Of course, part of that was the decidedly not sleeping that had taken most of his night. He extricated himself from the bed, climbing over the still sleeping Marshall and started pulling on his clothes as quietly as he could.
There was work to be done, and it wasn’t happening if he spent his whole morning in bed, as inviting as that idea was.
He eased the door to Raylan’s room open and slipped across the hall to his own, changing his shirt and pulling on his work boots. He didn’t know how big a group they should be expecting, but he had promised to help get the doctor’s office set up to receive the injured, and Danneel would need help getting the spare hotel rooms ready.
He headed down the stairs and into the kitchen for coffee.
“You know, eventually, we’re going to run out of that.” Danneel said as he poured.
“But not today.” Jeff countered with a grin. “Where’s Jared?”
She sighed and looked up from feeding Genny. “He is with Steve. I think they went looking for mushrooms.”
“Good. You could use the break.”
She laughed as he sat at the table. “Right, because making up twenty hotel rooms is a break.” She shook her head. “Jensen got back at dawn. The group should be here in a few hours. I’m going to get her down for a nap and get started.”
“He say how many we’re expecting?” Jeff asked.
“Twenty or so. He didn’t see the wounded, but Scott said at least one of them is going to need some work once they get here.”
Jeff nodded. “One cup of coffee, then I’ll head over to Doc’s and see what needs to be done.”
They didn’t have much, including an actual doctor any more…but the old country doctor had left them his house, which was half medical practice. They’d only bothered to clean and stock one of the exam rooms up until now, and Jeff hadn’t been over there in a while to see how it was stocked.
He finished his coffee and headed over, eyeing the skies that seemed grey and foreboding. They couldn’t afford a storm now, not while the crops were all so tender. He put the thought out of his mind and focused on the task at hand, on dragging up supplies of gauze and bandaging tape out of storage, refilling the stocks in the first exam room before opening the second.
It wasn’t in bad shape, but he cleaned all of the surfaces and replaced everything that wasn’t sealed with new and opened the window to let the place air out.
Jeff was just stepping out the front door when he could hear voices. Squinting against the glare, he could see Scott, leading a horse drawn cart that was covered. He was heading straight for Jeff, trailing a line of men, some from their own village, others that were unfamiliar.
“Okay, remember what I said boys, easy. Jeff get the doors.”
Two men pulled the tarp covering the cart and two others moved in, carefully lifting a large man between them. His face was covered in bandages, as was his left hand and arm and his chest was wrapped. Jeff held the door as they moved past him, following Scott into the first exam room. Another man was helped up out of the cart, and half carried inside. Jeff pointed them to the second exam room.
“What do you need?” Jeff asked as he joined Scott.
“I need to see the damage to his face. I didn’t want to risk opening the bandages on the road. If you can get the bandages off of him, I’ll work on the ankle.”
Jeff took the scissors Scott handed him.
“Scott, where do you want the pregnant lady?” Riley’s voice came from the doorway, but Jeff didn’t look up as he focused on carefully cutting away the bandages from the unconscious man’s face. He peeled them back carefully, wincing as they stuck a little in places, then gasping as they came loose. He stepped back, dropping the scissors.
“Jeff?” Riley asked, suddenly beside him, but Jeff couldn’t breathe.
He closed his eyes and swallowed, shook his head. He was seeing things. It couldn’t be real. Jared was dead. Jeff had watched him die.
“Oh my god!” Riley said beside him. “Is that…I thought…”
“Jared.” Jeff managed finally. “It’s Jared.”
“Okay, I need both of you out of here.” Scott demanded. Let me work.”
Riley pulled on Jeff’s hand, got him as far as the doctor’s living room which had doubled as a waiting room back in the day. Jeff sat numbly on the couch, the sight of Jared’s face as he was washed away filling his head.
“Just sit tight. I’m going to get Jensen.”
Jeff blinked, but nothing came into focus beyond the sinking, twisting of his gut when Jared was gone. There was no way he survived. Everyone said so. And yet…
“Jeff?” Jensen’s voice was breathless, but it pulled Jeff up a little. “Is it true?”
Jeff shrugged. “I…I saw him….he…we saw him, Jensen. How?”
The door to the exam room opened and Jeff stood, letting Jensen take his hand. “Okay, here’s what I know. He’s unconscious, I’m worried about a broken rib that might have caused some internal damage. Aside from that, he broke his left arm and hand, but they splinted that pretty well. I’m going to get a more sturdy splint on it. His face is beat up. It looks like they…stomped on him maybe?”
“Is he going to be okay?” Jensen asked.
Scott shrugged. “Honestly? I don’t know. He took some nasty blows to the head. I’m not even sure he’ll wake up, or that he’ll be…normal if he does. We can just make him comfortable and hope for the best, really.”
“May we see him?” Jensen asked.
Scott nodded. “Yeah, go ahead. Keep an eye on him and let me know if anything changes. Jenna’s with the guy they found him with. I’ll get a bed made up for him down the hall. Something more comfortable than an exam table.”
Jensen held his hand as they moved into the room.
Jared. Both eyes were black and his nose looked like it had been broken along the way, and there were other bruises and cuts on his face, but there was no denying that was Jared lying there. Alive.
Somehow alive.
Title: stumbling through ashes (Part 3--Part One & Part Two)
Characters/Pairings: Jensen/Danneel, Jeffrey Dean Morgan/Raylan Givens, Riley Smith, Steve Carlson, Original Characters
Word Count: 3514
Rating: NC-17
Summary:In a post-apocalyptic world, Raylan Givens and a handful of other lawmen attempt to maintain order in what is left of the US. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and a handful of other refugees have set up in a small, abandoned town in Colorado. Spring brings Raylan back to town, and on the way he runs into a caravan of people looking for shelter. When one of those people is someone from Jeff's past, it could change everything.
A/Ns & Warnings: I blame
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Raylan pulled back on the reigns, slowing his horse as he approached the slow moving caravan of people and carts loaded down with supplies and baggage. They all look bedraggled, worn and tired. “Hello.”
The two men at the head of the short column nod in greeting, drawing the group to a halt. “Ain’t seen anybody in days. We were beginning to wonder if we would.”
Raylan dismounted. “This here territory is pretty sparse, still getting storms through here come winter. But there’s a few pockets of people.”
“Anything close? I got people that need medical attention, and a woman near to delivering the baby she’s carrying.”
“Depends on your definition of close.” Raylan offers. “There’s a small town up this road about two days, and there’s a fair number of folk in Boulder, but getting there is problematic since the roads washed out. What are your medical needs?”
“We picked up a few strays a ways back. They’d been jumped, left for dead. Patched them up, but could use better doctors than us.”
Raylan looked down the ragged caravan and nodded to himself. “Town up ahead don’t have any doctor to speak of anymore, but they’ve got a couple of medics and supplies. I know the folks there. I’ll ride ahead, get them ready.”
“Appreciate that.”
“Just keep on this road, it’ll lead you directly into town.” Raylan kicked his horse into moving, figuring getting to town fast he could get the medics to meet the caravan halfway. Of course, he had other reasons for wanting to get to the town. It had been months since he’d been able to get back this way and he wasn’t exactly sure how to define what he had going on there, but if nothing else, he could predict getting laid.
He knew if he didn’t stop for the night, he could reach the bridge by noon or so. His reward would be sleeping in an actual bed, rather than making camp on the ground…and the warm company of the town’s leader, which was a far cry from sleeping alone.
His last visit had been between winter storms, bringing what supplies he could, and promises of getting an engineer out to look at the bridge at first thaw. From what Raylan knew, they had been able to reinforce the bridge for the short term, and the engineer was designing a new one to take into account the various problems the new environment presented.
As the weather settled into something that resembled a stabilized pattern, the world slowly began to adjust and a new society was emerging, a strange combination of old and new, horses and carriages mixed with electric lights and computers, at least in the cities.
The smaller outposts didn’t have electricity restored yet, though there were teams crisscrossing the country to work on it. The regions were setting up nominal governments, attempting to bring some order back to the world.
It would never be the same though. Mother Nature had remade the world with upheaval and storms, with water and ice and wind, earthquakes and tornados and volcanos…and what remained was forever changed.
Best estimates were that less than thirty percent of the world’s population had survived, and most of that was spread out across what was left of America and Canada and in pockets in Europe, Russia and China. As communications were restored, they learned more.
California, Oregon and Washington were all but gone, though some of the mountain peaks were still there, islands in an ocean that rose up to reclaim the land. Alaska was an island and roughly half its original size. Enough land sank in the south that the Rio Grande was gone and the ocean now separated the United States from Mexico. Most of the northern states and Canada were covered in ice and snow. The eastern seaboard, from Maine to Florida was under water and what had been the Florida keys was now a landmass nearly the size of Alabama.
Raylan reached the bridge into town just before noon, raising a hand to the folks working the garden plot along the southwest side of town. The already seemed to have a good start on the year, the beginnings of the spring planting just starting to be seen. He pulled his horse to a stop, dismounting as Jeff and Jensen approached from the field, wiping at sweaty foreheads.
Jeff grinned as he held out a hand and Raylan shook it, grinning nearly as hard.
“Raylan Givens. Wasn’t expecting you for another few weeks.” Jeff’s eyes sparkled as Raylan shook Jensen’s hand.
“Well, there was trouble south of here needing a Marshall’s attention. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to swing by and check in.” He stuck a hand in his saddle bag and pulled out a stack of envelopes. “I think most of these are your people.” He handed the envelopes to Jeff. “I ran into a group of people headed this way. Got injured need tending. Figured you might could send your medics to help them out.”
Jensen nodded and glanced back over his shoulder. “You know what kind of injuries?”
“Pregnant woman looking to birth any day, plus a couple folks they said got jumped and left for dead.”
“Okay, I’ve got it. Scott! Jenna!”
Raylan watched the two heads lift, then they headed toward Jensen. He suppressed a yawn as Jeff looked through the mail, but only partially succeeded. “Sorry. Rode all night so I could get help out to those folks. Guess I’m not built for all-nighters anymore.”
Jeff shook his head and gestured toward the hotel where he lived. “Come on. I’ll get someone to put your horse up. You want a bath?”
“Why, do I smell?” Raylan asked.
Jeff’s shoulder bumped his as they walked. “Like you’ve been riding for days.”
“Have been. Haven’t seen a shower or a proper bed since I left Denver.” Raylan tied his horse to the rail post of the hotel porch, pulling his bags down and following Jeff inside.
“Well, let’s get you settled in for a bath and a proper bed.” Jeff grinned, red coloring his cheeks like he was a kid with a crush and not a man Raylan had spent a good amount of time getting to know in the most intimate of ways. “Go ahead and take your gear up, I’ll start the water heating.”
Raylan bounded up the steps and to the room he’d grown accustomed to staying in while visiting here, dropping his bag on the chair and pulling at his clothes. He stripped down to just his pants and sat to pull his boots off before fishing in his bag for clean clothes. No need to repeat the show he’d given the house the time he’d come out of the bath with just the towel on.
He opened the door, stopping as the shaggy haired five year old Jared raced past him, yelling. Raylan looked up as Danneel followed, the baby cradled against her in a sling. She smiled. “I’m doing laundry today, so if you want any of your stuff cleaned, now’s the time.”
“Yeah? That would be great.” He retrieved his shirts from the floor before heading for the stairs behind Danneel. “How about I leave my jeans outside the bathroom door?”
“I’ll have Jeff bring them to me.” She took his shirts and headed for the kitchen.
Jeff was waiting by the bathroom door with a grin. “Water’s hot. Hungry? I think we got leftovers from last night’s dinner in the ice box.”
“I could eat.” Raylan agreed, happy for any meal that wasn’t stale protein bars or game he had to hunt and cook himself. He set his clean jeans inside the bathroom before popping the button on the ones he was wearing. “Danneel said you should bring these to her for washing.”
Jeff’s eyes scanned down Raylan’s body, and back up to his eyes. He glanced around them, then stepped in closer, his eyes narrowing to Raylan’s mouth. “You gonna keep staring or kiss me?” Raylan asked. Jeff breathed out, then took the distance away, his lips warm and dry as they closed over his.
“Jeff?”
“Just a minute Dani, just getting Raylan settled in.” Jeff took his jeans from him and kissed him light and quick. “And you, behave.”
“Me?” Raylan asked as Jeff walked away. “I always behave.”
Which wasn’t strictly true, but the implication here was that somehow Raylan was the instigator here. Which he wasn’t. At least, he didn’t think he was.
He pushed the thought away and lowered himself into the tub of heated water. It was something of a luxury. He washed the days of travel off his skin and savored the water just a little longer before he pulled the plug and got out.
A few minutes later he met Jeff in the kitchen, wearing only his clean jeans, his chest still a little damp. Jeff set a plate at the table and Raylan sank into the chair to eat, aware of Jeff’s eyes on him. “So…” Raylan said, looking up, “…how’s things since I was through here last?”
“Well, as you could see, Genny is growing. Danneel won’t be able to carry her in that sling much longer. Planting went well. Our hunters have gotten better.” Jeff sat beside him, folding his hands on the table. “And to hear the tale, we’ll have electricity before the winter.”
“All good things.” Raylan said after swallowing. “And this, was very good too.” He sat back, cradling the coffee mug Jeff had set beside his plate, smiling when the smell of whiskey came to him instead of coffee.
“Figured you could use it.” Jeff pushed his chair back and stood. “I should let you get some sleep.”
Raylan tossed back the whiskey and stood himself, taking his plate and mug to the sink. “I don’t recall saying anything about sleep.” Raylan said, turning and leaning against the counter, his eyes raking over Jeff’s body. “Just about the bed.” He shrugged as Jeff blushed. “But, if you need to get back out to the field…”
He pushed himself upright and headed out of the kitchen, not surprised when Jeff followed. “They can do without me for a little while.” Jeff said, grinning.
Raylan got the door to his room open and grabbed Jeff by the shirt collar, dragging him into the room and shoving the door closed. “Been thinking about fucking you for days.” He pulled Jeff in, relishing the way his mouth opened easily, the heat of his tongue on Raylan’s.
“Easy, cowboy, we’ve got all afternoon.” Jeff murmured, stepping back and drawing Raylan with him.
“Don’t want easy.” Raylan countered, his hands moving down Jeff’s shirt, unbuttoning it as he went, then sliding his hands up over hot skin. Jeff’s head fell back as Raylan’s mouth moved from his lips, over his chin and down his neck, offering up more skin, more room. Jeff’s hands fell to Raylan’s jeans, thumbing over the button, palming over his cock. Raylan’s cock hardened inside his jeans and Jeff’s hand tightened a little before moving back to the button, get his jeans open and zipper down.
Jeff’s hand circled his cock and Raylan groaned a little into Jeff’s neck. He pulled at the sleeves of Jeff’s shirt, trying to get it off of him while Jeff slowly pulled on his cock. He gave up on the shirt and unbuckled Jeff’s belt, determine to at least give back the same as he was getting.
Jeff let go of him and pushed his hands away, undoing his pants and jeans himself. “You were taking so long. Lube’s where you left it.”
He stepped away, dropping his jeans as Raylan went to the nightstand, pulling out a nearly empty bottle of lube. “Remind me to bring you more the next time I come this way.” He turned to find Jeff naked and laying on his back on the bed, knees bent, legs spread, his cock thick and hard in one hand. “Wow.”
Raylan pushed his own jeans to the floor and stepped clear. His hand smeared lube over his cock as he moved close enough to run the back of his other hand down the inside of Jeff’s thigh. Jeff took the lube from him and smeared his fingers with it, reaching between his legs and down, shoving two fingers into his ass, his eyes rolling closed as he worked himself open.
“Fuck, that’s hot.” Raylan murmured, kneeling between Jeff’s legs, one finger joining Jeff’s as he pushed in. Jeff’s hand abandoned the job to Raylan’s fingers, stroking Raylan’s cock instead until Raylan thought he might blow before getting inside him. He moved forward, letting Jeff guide him, until the tip of his cock was just inside the heat of Jeff’s body. He slid in slowly, exhaling in unison with Jeff as he sank inside, then held himself still there for a moment.
Jeff squeezed around him and Raylan pulled back just as slowly, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep the pace, he was already far too close to coming. He snapped his hips in sharply, earning a grunt from Jeff. Raylan put his hands on Jeff’s knees and pulled back again, snapping in hard at only half way. His pace quickened, until they were both grunting and sweat was beading along his forehead and he wasn’t going to be able to hold back the orgasm much longer.
He pulled out, his come spilling on Jeff’s balls as his hand circled Jeff’s cock, stroking him quickly until Jeff was thrusting up and coming in thick strings over Raylan’s hand. Raylan fell onto the bed, breathing a little hard. Jeff got up and padded across the room to the dresser, pulling out a handkerchief Raylan vaguely remembered from his last visit. Jeff wiped himself up, grinning at Raylan. “Feel better?”
Raylan yawned in response, earning a laugh from Jeff. “That’s what I thought.” He pulled his jeans on and crossed back to the bed, sitting beside Raylan and leaning in to brush a kiss over his lips. “Get some sleep. I’ll call you for dinner.”
Raylan wanted to protest, but honestly, the days in the saddle and the night without sleep was pulling him under, so he surrendered, knowing he had a few days he could spend with Jeff, getting all the sex he could stand.
Jeff woke a little disoriented, the smell of sex filling his nose. Raylan. He opened his eyes, blinking a little against the daylight fighting past the curtains. It was later than he normally let himself sleep. Of course, part of that was the decidedly not sleeping that had taken most of his night. He extricated himself from the bed, climbing over the still sleeping Marshall and started pulling on his clothes as quietly as he could.
There was work to be done, and it wasn’t happening if he spent his whole morning in bed, as inviting as that idea was.
He eased the door to Raylan’s room open and slipped across the hall to his own, changing his shirt and pulling on his work boots. He didn’t know how big a group they should be expecting, but he had promised to help get the doctor’s office set up to receive the injured, and Danneel would need help getting the spare hotel rooms ready.
He headed down the stairs and into the kitchen for coffee.
“You know, eventually, we’re going to run out of that.” Danneel said as he poured.
“But not today.” Jeff countered with a grin. “Where’s Jared?”
She sighed and looked up from feeding Genny. “He is with Steve. I think they went looking for mushrooms.”
“Good. You could use the break.”
She laughed as he sat at the table. “Right, because making up twenty hotel rooms is a break.” She shook her head. “Jensen got back at dawn. The group should be here in a few hours. I’m going to get her down for a nap and get started.”
“He say how many we’re expecting?” Jeff asked.
“Twenty or so. He didn’t see the wounded, but Scott said at least one of them is going to need some work once they get here.”
Jeff nodded. “One cup of coffee, then I’ll head over to Doc’s and see what needs to be done.”
They didn’t have much, including an actual doctor any more…but the old country doctor had left them his house, which was half medical practice. They’d only bothered to clean and stock one of the exam rooms up until now, and Jeff hadn’t been over there in a while to see how it was stocked.
He finished his coffee and headed over, eyeing the skies that seemed grey and foreboding. They couldn’t afford a storm now, not while the crops were all so tender. He put the thought out of his mind and focused on the task at hand, on dragging up supplies of gauze and bandaging tape out of storage, refilling the stocks in the first exam room before opening the second.
It wasn’t in bad shape, but he cleaned all of the surfaces and replaced everything that wasn’t sealed with new and opened the window to let the place air out.
Jeff was just stepping out the front door when he could hear voices. Squinting against the glare, he could see Scott, leading a horse drawn cart that was covered. He was heading straight for Jeff, trailing a line of men, some from their own village, others that were unfamiliar.
“Okay, remember what I said boys, easy. Jeff get the doors.”
Two men pulled the tarp covering the cart and two others moved in, carefully lifting a large man between them. His face was covered in bandages, as was his left hand and arm and his chest was wrapped. Jeff held the door as they moved past him, following Scott into the first exam room. Another man was helped up out of the cart, and half carried inside. Jeff pointed them to the second exam room.
“What do you need?” Jeff asked as he joined Scott.
“I need to see the damage to his face. I didn’t want to risk opening the bandages on the road. If you can get the bandages off of him, I’ll work on the ankle.”
Jeff took the scissors Scott handed him.
“Scott, where do you want the pregnant lady?” Riley’s voice came from the doorway, but Jeff didn’t look up as he focused on carefully cutting away the bandages from the unconscious man’s face. He peeled them back carefully, wincing as they stuck a little in places, then gasping as they came loose. He stepped back, dropping the scissors.
“Jeff?” Riley asked, suddenly beside him, but Jeff couldn’t breathe.
He closed his eyes and swallowed, shook his head. He was seeing things. It couldn’t be real. Jared was dead. Jeff had watched him die.
“Oh my god!” Riley said beside him. “Is that…I thought…”
“Jared.” Jeff managed finally. “It’s Jared.”
“Okay, I need both of you out of here.” Scott demanded. Let me work.”
Riley pulled on Jeff’s hand, got him as far as the doctor’s living room which had doubled as a waiting room back in the day. Jeff sat numbly on the couch, the sight of Jared’s face as he was washed away filling his head.
“Just sit tight. I’m going to get Jensen.”
Jeff blinked, but nothing came into focus beyond the sinking, twisting of his gut when Jared was gone. There was no way he survived. Everyone said so. And yet…
“Jeff?” Jensen’s voice was breathless, but it pulled Jeff up a little. “Is it true?”
Jeff shrugged. “I…I saw him….he…we saw him, Jensen. How?”
The door to the exam room opened and Jeff stood, letting Jensen take his hand. “Okay, here’s what I know. He’s unconscious, I’m worried about a broken rib that might have caused some internal damage. Aside from that, he broke his left arm and hand, but they splinted that pretty well. I’m going to get a more sturdy splint on it. His face is beat up. It looks like they…stomped on him maybe?”
“Is he going to be okay?” Jensen asked.
Scott shrugged. “Honestly? I don’t know. He took some nasty blows to the head. I’m not even sure he’ll wake up, or that he’ll be…normal if he does. We can just make him comfortable and hope for the best, really.”
“May we see him?” Jensen asked.
Scott nodded. “Yeah, go ahead. Keep an eye on him and let me know if anything changes. Jenna’s with the guy they found him with. I’ll get a bed made up for him down the hall. Something more comfortable than an exam table.”
Jensen held his hand as they moved into the room.
Jared. Both eyes were black and his nose looked like it had been broken along the way, and there were other bruises and cuts on his face, but there was no denying that was Jared lying there. Alive.
Somehow alive.