Chapter one.
It was a shame Cliff couldn't be there. He would have loved the french toast at Miller's on the bay, but Aldo was a good stand in and he enjoyed the breakfast for him. He was always the backup for Jensen and Jared when Cliff wanted time off, so Aldo and the boys headed to Australia for an additional convention. The fans won their hearts and the weather was perfect and all three of them felt overly pampered by the time they made their way back to Sydney Airport two nights later.
At the moment Jared was wrapped around a phone with Genevieve on the other end while Jensen read his ticket, a thick baseball cap hiding his eyes. Aldo kept close behind with them until they got to the ticket line, and right before passing through the gate Jared waved knowingly at two young girls with grinning parents in toe.
"Yeah, right? All over before the storms hit. Love you...I will. Bye babe." His phone was off and stuffed into the back of his jeans before they got to their seats in front. Jensen got the window, Jared had the isle, and Aldo set behind them with an older quiet woman.
Jensen wasn't going to wait for drinks or inflight rules, he knew those better than the back of his hand. He had a large first class chair, his hat, and Jared's thick voice going in and out next to him. As far as 14 hour flights went, this was perfect. He snuggled into the chair and tore through the plastic for his personal blanket. "Wake me up for breakfast?"
"It's 8:30, you sure?"
His eyes were already closed and he wasn't planning on opening them again for a while. The crying baby in the back couldn't bother him now, not with the 'sleep training' he'd been going through with Justice. "Positive." He grinned blindly and settled in when Jared called him an old man.
Jared pocketed Jensen's share of their pre meal snacks an hour later, before everything went to hell.
He was in a deep sleep when a violent drop sent him up against his window, hitting himself pretty bad on the cheek. Jared's hands were around his head seconds later and Jensen joined everyone else in looking around the plane for direction. Another drop and a deafening roar cracked over the aircraft. Aldo was calling the stewards but they were all running to the pilots room.
He'd been on so many planes, none of them hit turbulence like this. None of them made these sounds. The co pilot was on the intercom, mashing his words, mumbling, and Jared's hands were still acting as a buffer between his head and the wall. He had one hand on the seat in front of him and he put his other hand over Jared's, and that's when the plane broke apart.
It was so cold when the roof went. It was loud. Aldo put a hand on Jared's shoulder, he was yelling, and then Jared was directing Jensen's hold on the seat. The engines peeled, drowning out most of the sound.
After tonight, Jensen wouldn't recall the free fall or how everything looked suspended in air at that moment.
Everything came back to him as soon as he hit the water. It took seconds to realize that's where he was, shooting straight down into the icy dark, and he and Jared were both out of their seat belts at the same time, swimming up even while flashes of fire and light and color hit the water and sunk around them.
They hit the surface and could only think about breathing. Coughing and breathing. It was Jensen that saw the dark slab in the water a few yards away. He grabbed at Jared's shoulders in the turmoil and pulled at him. It was pouring rain, with waves just as loud and harsh as the crash, the same color as the sky, but he swore he heard people yelling. Jared caught on through the disorientation and focused on swimming for the chunk of wreckage, which seemed to be moving farther and farther away. For a moment he stopped to call out for Aldo, but Jensen pulled him forward again. "We need to go!" He shouted, though he could barely hear his own voice over the crashing waves.
Jared climbed it first, reaching back to help Jensen on. The surface was slick and cold, barely able to hold both of them, but through that Jared was able to stay on his knees, looking madly around for others, screaming while Jensen slumped next to him.
From his spot next to Jared he thought he could make out shapes in the water, maybe people, but they were so far away and it was so dark. Adrenalin bled from his limbs and he wanted to collapse, but everything in him was holding onto a bar on the far end of their craft. One wave threw them both sideways and Jared toppled over him and fell over the edge. After he pulled him back on Jared wrapped himself around the bar too. He was docile, and Jensen couldn't be sure if it was from fatigue or if he'd just given up. They didn't see anyone else. They didn't see Aldo, who'd been right behind them before they hit water. He couldn't think after that. He just rode the waves, hearing nothing but the swell and rain and Jared's terrible breathing. Actually, that was the only source of comfort.
When the rain slowed, Jensen dared to close his eyes, but his body's eagerness to fall into sleep scared him. He told himself he had the rest of his life to sleep, and he squeezed the bar in reassurance. The quieter the rain became, the more he was aware of the temperature. July was a winter month in this part of the world. Although their previous nights had stayed in the 50°s, tonight was the first in a series of storms. Jared sat up, shivering and wringing stiff arms and fingers, almost sliding off the structure again. Jensen grabbed for him just to be safe. The two of them starred at each other in the darkness, wondering if there was anything to say, but nothing came out. What could they say now?
Red lights blinked in the sky miles away. Rescue helicopters. It seemed like they were on the other side of the ocean, the farthest they could be. Jared croaked out Jensen's name, just once, like it was a begging didn't talk after that. Soon after the lights went out, and that's when the temperature really started to set in for them. Every so often a wave would hit and their arms or feet would be splashed with icy water. It did nothing to help the hypothermia they knew they were developing. Jared was clammy pale and Jensen couldn't stop shivering. His body was jerking more violently by the minute and as the rain and wind died down, the more the freezing cold was the only thing they could focus on.
Jensen's numb hold on the bar faltered and he bumped into Jared, who immediately dug an arm under him, turning Jensen around to face the sky and pulling him down underneath him. Hypothermia slows the mind, numbs coordination, makes you sleepy. Jensen felt all those things while looking up at Jared from his spot on the wreckage, clinging to his soaked but warmer clothes beneath him.
"We'll take turns." Jared said, louder than he needed to. They were face to face. Jensen nodded and kept his eyes on him, at first, then they wandered to the stars. The clouds that remained were far from them, little black lumps traveling under the night sky. It took everything for Jensen to focus on that instead of the cold.
"Are you warmer?"
"Yeah." Jensen refocused his attention on the titan above him.
"Is there anything else we can do?"
Jensen shook his head. Every movement made for unnecessary cold. "I don't think so. We'll survive."
Jared huffed out. "Close your eyes, rest a little, okay?"
Jensen accepted the offer and buried his hands more into Jared's clothes, pulling the front of him down closer for warmth. Jared was strong for him while he drifted and shook. They had both sounded so hollow and desperate when they spoke. It scared Jensen that he didn't recognize his own voice, but hearing Jared's lifeless tone made it worse.
Shallow breathing in his ear brought Jensen out of his sleep and his adrenalin shot up again, his heart pounding uncomfortably, having no idea how long he'd been out. "Alright, alright, my turn okay-" He pushed against Jared who had weakened considerably. "Jesus, Jared, come on..." He helped him take his hands off the bar and fear rose within him as he watched Jared's eyes go everywhere while they turned in their place. He tried not to let on how panicked he was, climbing over Jared and blanketing himself over him as well as he could. One hand went to Jared's hair and face, rubbing the skin roughly to make sure Jared wasn't really losing it. "The sun'll be up in no time, right Jared?"
He tucked his legs tighter around Jared's while the younger man nodded back. If they got out of this, their muscles would be messed up for weeks from the cold. God only knew if that would be the worst of the damage. But those thoughts were wiped away as soon as they came. Jensen was here now, the only thing that mattered was holding onto Jared and staying alive.
Jared stayed burrowed under Jensen until the sky turned dark blue, then cerulean, then the sun crested; a weak yellow, then burnt gold. Jensen couldn't tear his eyes off it.
End of Chapter one.