Title : The Lethal Combination
Fandom : The Losers
Characters : Jensen and Cougar
Rating : PG-13
Written for the prompt : Any, any, "Don't you die on me!"
Disclaimer : All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
The Lethal Combination
There was an almighty crash followed by a clatter and the sounds of things falling. Cougar was out of his room almost before the sounds had died down, racing for the stairs and dashing down them and through the lounge to the kitchen where Jensen was lying on the floor, face down not moving with a growing red stain below him.
Cougar looked round at the mess of ladder, broken wood that had once been a cupboard, food containers and broken glass all over the floor around Jensen. "Oh, no! No! No!" he cried, falling to his knees beside Jensen and trying to find a pulse. Carefully he rolled Jensen over, saying repeatedly, "Don't you die on me! Dammit, Jake, don't you die on me now!"
Finally there was a groan from the man on the floor and his eyes opened a crack, wincing at the kitchen light directly behind Cougar's head. "Cougs! You've got a halo . . . Are we in Heaven?"
"No, Jensen, hang on. It's gonna be alright. I'm gonna call an ambulance."
"Wha' for?" Jensen started to push himself up.
"Don't! Don't move! You have to stay still. It will be alright, they'll save you."
Jensen frowned, confusion clear, "Save me? Save me from what? Shit, my head hurts!" He batted Cougar's hands away and pushed himself up. "Ugh! Yuck! Shit! Nooooo, Jolene's gonna kill me now, isn't she?"
Cougar hovered uncertainly.
"That light blew," Jensen pointed at the light over the hob. "I figured I could make myself useful and change it for Jo. But then the ladder wobbled, I lost my balance. I grabbed the cupboard and it just came clean off the wall, so . . ." Jensen looked round. "I guess I made a bit of a mess . . . And Jolene is going to be really pissed about the tomato soup!"
"Soup? Soup! It's soup!"
"Er, yes, man. What did you think it was? Blood?"
Cougar flushed a startingly bright red before turning away.
"Shit, Cougs! You thought I'd really hurt myself. Aw, shit, come here." Jensen pulled him in for a hug, feeling as the other man gradually relaxed. "I am so sorry! But man, no way is my blood that color!"
"I know, I just panicked when you weren't moving and . . . and . . ." Cougar drew a deep breath and calmed down further. "I guess I wasn't thinking and we probably better start tidying up before Pooch brings Jolene back."
"Yeah, probably," Jensen agreed, accepting Cougar's help as he got to his feet. He picked up the ladder and set it to the side before starting on the rest of the debris. Cougar started on the tins and bottles that were still intact and cleaned each one in the sink before setting it to one side.
They had almost finished when Jensen said, "Er, Cougs . . . I'm sorry about your t-shirt too."
Cougar looked puzzled but glanced downwards as Jensen gestured to his front only to find that he was covered in the same soup as Jensen from when they had hugged. "Oops!" Jensen said with a cheeky grin that had Cougar laughing with him. "You know taken out by a saucepan of tomato soup would have been hard to explain and I dread to think what they'd have said at my funeral for that one – it's hardly line of duty stuff! Alas, poor Jensen, we knew him well till he was struck down in his prime by the joint efforts of a ladder and a cupboard combined with the highly volatile saucepan of tomato soup!"