Stepping into the Real
A Christmas Special
I don't own Supernatural, Sam, Dean or the Impala. I do not own Jared or Jensen either and for the purpose of this story their characters are as fictional as those of the Winchesters. No offence is ever meant and no actors were insulted during the writing of this story!
A week before Christmas
"What are you doing Dean?" Sam lay on the bed and looked across at his brother who seemed to be concentrating a little too hard on Sam's laptop "You've been on there for – like – two hours now. What's so fascinating?"
"I've got an e-mail" Dean sounded almost proud, like it was an achievement "From Jared"
"Yeah" Sam sat up and grinned, this usually meant something exciting was going to happen "What does he have to say?"
"He, well, he's asking us a favour" Dean frowned a little "Apparently him and Jensen are snowed in in Vancouver and wondered if we'd be prepared to – er – fill in for them on a job"
"Acting?" Sam was already beginning to shake his head "Cos Dean – it's not as easy as it looks – believe me"
"No – not acting" Dean was grinning now and Sam got up off the bed to read over his shoulder "Apparently they have a photo shoot booked in LA just before Christmas and they can't get – because of the snow. The shoot is fairly straight forward, just them dressed as Sam & Dean" Dean gestured to himself, just in case Sam didn't get the message "You know – mean and moody shots – me mean, you moody!" he yelped as Sam clipped his ear and continued "Anyhow – it means two nights in a five star hotel, as much food as we can eat and some quality Christmas time together" he looked at Sam, attempting 'puppy dog' eyes and succeeding in looking constipated "What do you think? Shouldn't be too hard"
"I thought we weren't going down that road again" Sam mused "You know pretending to be Jared & Jensen, whenever we do that, it always seems to end in disaster – remember Vancouver and that poltergeist?"
"No one ever got killed being photographed Sam" Dean said, firmly "Come on dude – it's Christmas and we're due another vacation – imagine it Sam, smart hotel, extra large beds, chicks at our beck and call and we'd be helping out friends – how bad can it be?"
"Ok" said Sam softly "But remember Dean – I did warn you"
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The hotel was as luxurious as Jared had promised and the manager couldn't do enough to welcome the two young 'actors' to, what was obviously, his pride and joy. They had a penthouse suite on the first floor and even Sam had to admit that it was the height of good taste. The beds were big enough for two Sam's, let alone one, and the bathroom had both a shower and a Jacuzzi. Dean flopped down on the first bed "Now this is what I call living"
Food was delivered to them by a blushing and almost incoherent maid who asked for autographs and photos. Sam watched as Dean signed Jensen's name with a flourish and felt a little guilty as he signed Jared's as they had obviously made the girls day. As he sank his teeth into the steak she had brought, his guilt soon dissipated, as he found himself eating the finest meal he'd ever had in his life. He watched as Dean wolfed down his food and gulped at the fancy champagne they had been bought and he couldn't help but smile at his brother's enthusiasm. They hadn't had a particularly easy life and, even though the demon was dead, they still hunted and still stayed mostly in scruffy motels or rented condos. He couldn't help but wonder what qualifications you needed to go into acting and made a mental note to ring up some colleges when he got a chance.
They picked up early the next morning and taken to the studio where they were immediately taken to make-up. Sam remembered his last experience at the studio where he and Jensen had been pampered and he watched his brother's joyful expression as several beautiful women took care of his face and hair. Sam leant back and allowed one of the women to comb his hair, whilst another applied a little make-up to his face. "Ooh you have such lovely skin" the girl mused, her nimble fingers skipping over his cheekbones "And such nice eyes" she leant back and whispered in his ear "You're my favourite – that Sam is so vulnerable – all he needs is a good woman" Sam shut his eyes and suppressed a smile, maybe she was right!
The photo shoot went better than expected. All they were asked to do was to pose around a mock-up of the Impala, looking suitably tough and Winchester like. There was almost a fight when Dean started to moan that the car was nothing like his baby, but Sam had managed to calm 'Jensen' down and made a quip about late nights, champagne and staying in character. Soon it was lunchtime and they were given more food and the chance to 'loosen up' in the studio's very own pool. Dean sighed as he slipped his body into the water "This is certainly the life Sam" he mused "I feel sorry for Jared and Jensen – snowed up and missing this – they must be really pissed"
"Yeah" Sam felt a stab of sympathy for his friends "Must be cold down there this time of year" he floated on his back and let the water take him "Here's to good friends" he said "Lets hope they get out of Canada soon"
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Jared stretched out his long body and sighed blissfully as the heat of the sun warmed his face. Beside him Jensen lay on his stomach, reading a magazine, his eyes occasionally darting up, watching the beautiful young girls as they dived elegantly into the pool.
It was wonderful to just relax and enjoy some leisure time without being bothered by the press and Florida was as good a place as any at this time of year. All Jared wanted to do was to take in a few rays, buy lots of Christmas presents for family and friends and head off to Texas full of Christmas cheer. "Jensen?" he turned to his friend who was in mid yawn "Don't ya feel just a little guilty? You know doing what we've done to Sam & Dean"
"What" Jensen pushed the sunglasses from his nose and sat up, his eyes glittering "They're having a good time – put up in that fantastic hotel – getting waited on hand and foot – why should I feel guilty?"
"The photo shoot" Jared prompted, watching with interest as a rather chubby, but fetching looking girl dive bombed into the pool "I mean when they find out..."
"Dean will be alright with it" Jensen yawned again "You know Dean"
"You said we shouldn't do this again" Jared said "You made us all promise"
"Yeah – but they're pretending to be us – we're not pretending to be them, that makes it different!"
"Maybe" Jared thought for a minute and then began to fidget, his long limbs twitching nervously "But Jen – I've got this feeling that they're just not going to be happy about this"
"Maybe – but what're they gonna do? They think we're in Canada – Kripe thinks we are in LA and we know we're hiding in Florida! Whose gonna find us Jare? Stop worrying" Jensen frowned as he watched his friend continue to fidget and twitch "What is it Jare?" he said finally "You look like you've got ants in your pants man"
"I was just thinking"
"Now that's not a good thing" Jensen sounds so like Dean it makes Jared smile for a moment "What are you thinking?"
"What a butt full of rock salt might feel like"
"Oh!"
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Sam sat in the dressing room and frowned. The runner had come to get them and they had returned to the studio to find that there was now an audience of over fifty women, all looking very flushed and excited. Dean didn't seem to mind and was out there now, no doubt flirting and taking numbers. Sam though was feeling a little suspicious, there was something a little off and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Oh I think you guys are so cool doing this" The make-up girl had entered without knocking and Sam turned in surprise "I know it's for charity but you wouldn't believe the amount of celebrities that turned this down"
"Really?" Sam cleared his throat, puzzled about what she might be actually going on about "Well you know me and Jensen – er up for anything"
"Oh that is soooo cool" she was clearly flustered "Anyway, they want me to get you ready now – so where do you want me to start?"
"I think I'm good" Sam gestured to his face "Still got a bit of stuff left from this morning"
"Oh no Mr Padalecki" she grinned now, blushing "I've not come to do your face"
"Come again?" Sam's voice sounded strained "Then what are you here for?"
"They want it all powdered" she was flushing bright red now "All of your skin"
"All of my skin" a growing suspicsion in Sam's gut was beginning to flourish "You want to powder all of my skin?"
"For the calendar "She smiled, sweetly "You and Jensen – for the calendar" Sam bit his lip and shot to his feet "Give me a minute – I've gotta go and speak to my bro…Jensen" he got up and shot out of the room, leaving a very puzzled girl behind him.
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"You're saying what?" Dean's face was the same colour as his tee-shirt
"That we are Mr March & Mr May in 'The Celebrities bare all for Charity Christmas Calendar" Sam stated, eyes narrowing "Don't forget Dean, it was me who warned you about this"
"When I get my hands on those two – I'm gonna rip them both new ones" Dean's teeth were clenched "So you're telling me that we're gonna have to get naked?"
"Not totally naked Dean" Sam's voice sounded reasonable, calm "Apparently your – well – you know is gonna be covered with a large gun and me, I'm gonna be walking out of the shower wearing a very, very small towel"
"How small?"
"Small enough" Sam slumped back against the wall, head in hands "Dean - what are we gonna do?"
"Sam"
"Yes Dean"
"Let's hope it's a very large gun!"
In the end it hadn't been too bad. The photographer had cleared the set of screaming, flushed and somewhat disappointed girls and there had only been them and him. Sam had the feeling that Dean had actually enjoyed it, standing butt naked in front of his baby (even if it wasn't his real baby) and strutting his stuff, however he had felt more than a little self-conscious, wondering if he could actually manage to hide most of his 'bits' behind the smallest towel in the world. The photographer seemed pleased though and promised them copies for their nearest and dearest. Sam thought briefly of Bobby and Missouri and decided that semi-naked photographs of the Winchesters probably wouldn't be top of their Christmas lists.
When they got back to the hotel, the main thrust was to hunt down and, very possibly, kill Jared and Jensen. Sam was a mean geek boy when it came to research and Dean could hold a very long grudge. They spent the night deciding on suitable punishment and, finally, when they had tracked their prey, they hired a very old muscle car (not the Impala – but close enough) and headed to Florida.
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Jared was in the bar, ordering a beer, when he saw the red car pull up and he frowned, mmm, he thought to himself, those two look familiar. For a moment he froze and his heart went to his mouth, god, it was Dean and Sam and shit, did they look pissed.
Jensen was hiding in the booth when Jared found him and it was obvious by his expression that he had seen the Winchesters and that he was doing his level best to avoid them. "This is your fault dude" Jared was saying "I told you they were hunters, I told you they'd be pissed, I told you they'd find us!"
"Look" Jensen tried his 'very sensible' expression "It's not as if we did anything awful to them"
"We didn't tell them the truth" Jared hissed "We lied to them"
"Yeah – you sure did" Dean's voice, cold and clipped, came from behind them and Jared tried to make himself smaller "Well boys – don't look much like Canada to me"
"I can explain" Jensen began
"Can you?" Sam appeared at Dean's shoulder "Want to come outside then? Explain it to a gun full of rock salt?"
"Or maybe to my hunting knife" Dean continued "Or that little dagger thing that you guys seem to like posing with – the real thing is awesome guys and very, very sharp"
"Particularly" hissed Sam "When it's stabbed right in you're …."
"OK!" Jared bounced from one foot to the other, nerves shredding "We can't really explain – guys – I'm sorry – it was meant to be a bit of joke dudes – I mean – you know?"
"Real funny" Dean gripped Jared's wrist and pulled him towards the door "Let's laugh outside actor-boy"
"Come on" Sam put his hand over Jensen's and got him to his feet "Out!"
The car park was cold and Jared was sure that he was shivering with more than just fear. He hated seeing Dean Look so angry and he wished that they hadn't cooked up yet another wild scheme, shit, they never seemed to work out. He could see Sam bent over the hood of the rental car and he was glad that at least it wasn't the Impala with its arsenal of weapons; maybe they would get lucky and suffer only a little pain. He glanced at Jensen, nervously, and the older man caught his eye, swallowing fearfully.
Sam stood up and held out his hands; instead of a gun or knife, he was holding two flat parcels and he began to grin, dimples deepening, as he handed them over to Jared and Jensen "Did you get a photo of their faces Dean?"
"Sure dude – full on fear – look good on your resumes boys" Dean was gloating now, laughter in his eyes
"Open your gifts" Sam was laughing "And then the least you can do is buy us several beers, a good meal and take us to Disneyland – I wanna see the winter parade and Dean here has been busting to lay some rock salt into Winnie the Pooh for god knows how long"
"Guys" Jared collapsed against the car in relief "Guys you really had me going there for a moment" he shook the parcel and frowned "Hey – you didn't have to get us gifts"
"Oh we did" Dean smiled "And I'm sure your gonna like them"
Jensen ripped into the paper eagerly, relaxing now he didn't think his head was going to be on a spike anytime soon. He paused for a moment and stared at the Calendar, his eyes wide "Is this?" he began
"Oh yeah" Sam put his arm around his friend and started to walk back towards the bar "I think you'll find May is a very good month!"
End
Hope you liked this piece of gratuitous Christmas fluff – hope you and yours have a good one!! LCFC