Jensen rubbed his eyes, uncaring that he was smearing the makeup willy-nilly across his face.
It had been a long, long day, and all he wanted to do was clean up, have a hot steamy shower and sleep for twelve hours.
As he made his way back to his trailer, he grunted at how lucky Jared was. The young actor hadn't been on-set and was surely enjoying his day off to the full. Not that Jared hadn't been filming this week, but the little bitch had run through his own scenes yesterday getting all the takes right first time.
The image of his madcap colleague grinning goofily at him as he'd strutted off the set at the end of the day, gleeful in the knowledge that he'd been perfect and was going to reap his reward of extra free time, caused Jensen to smile.
:
Jared had made Jensen's years on Supernatural a marvelous place to work. After their initial bitch-fight while filming the first two or three eps of season one, they'd made a pact to have each other's back and that pact had evolved into a sincere friendship that had only become stronger as time went on.
Apart from that, Jensen appreciated how lucky he was as regards his job, he couldn't have desired anything better than to portray his on-screen character.
Dean Winchester was who he'd loved to have been, courageous, badass, driving around in a classic muscle car, getting to shoot guns and chop off monster heads! Saving people, the family business. Yeah. That suited Jensen Ackles just fine.
However, there was a downside to his job too, a complication that had occurred to throw a spanner in the works. Jensen had fallen for his co-star, fallen hard but as Jared didn't seem to have sensed that kind of input, Jensen had never said anything, afraid that if he did and Jared wasn't interested in going down that path, then he might put their friendship in danger and it was the last thing Jensen wanted to do.
Just being near to Jared would have to be enough.
So immersed his thoughts was he that he didn't notice one of the doors to the soundstage slam open. The metal edge caught him on the side of the head and by the time he fell like a rag doll to the floor, his mind had been enveloped by darkness.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The first thing that hit Dean Winchester as he returned to consciousness was the throbbing in his left temple. It sounded like drums beating in the background but it wasn't acute, and as full awareness returned, he understood that he must have some kind of drugs in his system that were dampening down the pain.
His eyes fluttered slowly open to reveal the white sterile surroundings of an hospital room. But even as his brow furrowed with the effort of trying to recall the reason why, he had no idea how he'd ended up here.
Fuck, he hated hospitals. They were dangerous places, to be avoided at all costs.
Dean's hearing, attuned now to the beeps and purrs of the machinery around him indicated that something pretty serious must have happened for Sam to have checked him into the ER.
Just as he began performing a body check, flexing and relaxing his muscles from the neck down to suss out any injuries, he heard a familiar voice coming from outside the door.
"How is he, Doctor?"
"He's much better. The blow to the head appeared far worse than it actually was. Your friend's got a hard skull, it would seem."
"Yeah, he sure has," the familiar voice chuckled, clearly relieved that the news was good. "When will he be able to leave?"
"We'll probably want to keep him under observation for a few more days but the swelling and bruising to his head was mostly superficial. The medication should be wearing off soon if you want to sit with him."
"I'll do that, thanks."
The door to the room opened and Sam came through a huge grin on his face. Dean couldn't keep an answering one from mirroring it, the throbbing in his head pushed to the side at the relief in seeing the person he loved most safe and unharmed.
"How're feeling, Jensen? The Doc says you're gonna be fine. You had us all worried for a while. Everyone sends their best wishes and can't wait for you to get back to the set."
"Jensen?" Dean frowned. The name sounded familiar. Yeah, now he remembered. Once, he and Sam had been thrown into an alternate reality where their lookalikes were two actors called Jared and Jensen.
Sam must be pranking him or something.
Dean gave a shrug. Sometimes Sam's quaint humor flew over his head. "It's great to see you're okay, Sammy. I'm glad what ganked me didn't get their hands on you too."
A puzzled expression appeared on Jared's face. "I gotta say, it's good that you're feeling well enough to joke around, Jen."
" You're the comedy relief in the family! I'm the serious one, Sam. Now give me a hand and we'll blow this joint. You know how much I hate hospitals. And what's with the ' Jensen'! A girlie-ass name if ever I've heard one. A guy who plays me on-screen should have a badass moniker like Clint Eastwood or John Fucking Wayne."
:
Dean pushed away the covers and made to sit up, his feet searching out the floor but to his dismay, a wave of nausea overcame him and he almost slipped off the bed.
"Hey, Hey! Don't try to be a hero, Jen, " Jared warned, catching hold of his co-star's arm. " You took a terrible knock to head. The doctor said that you might feel dizzy for a while… but I doubt he was counting on you hallucinating too..."
Why the hell was Sam continuing with this Jensen business?
As if in answer, Dean's brain began functioning more clearly and he glanced up at Sam, studying him.
A cold chill gripped his gut. This guy looked exactly like his baby brother…except that he wasn't.
Sam had a burn scar on the side of his neck, a souvenir from all the times something had tried to choke him, but this lookalike's neck was piss perfect.
If Dean hadn't been feeling less than stellar, he'd have rolled his eyes at the idea of having probably been tossed back into an alternate universe. The plot was getting old.
He wondered if Sam had been sent here too. Maybe not, since the last time they'd 'visited', neither of the two actors had been around. Dean surmised that he was likely on his own this time, and so his one pressing aim was to get the fuck out of this world and back to Sam.
To do that, however, he'd need the collaboration of the man looking down at him with such sincere concern in his hazel eyes.
:
"Uh. I was just pranking you, Dude," Dean declared with a winsome smile, his quick wit scanning his options for the best way of dealing with this new load of crap. It suggested he play along with the 'I am Jensen' cover story for now. "I'm feeling awesome."
He put a hand to the side of his head where some dark bruising could be seen. "It doesn't even hurt anymore. "
Jared gave a sigh of relief. " I was worried for a moment that you might be having some kind of character bleed because of your head injury. "
"Nah! I'm one hundred percent Jensen...uh… Arckles."
"Ackles, you mean! Fuck, Jen! Are you sure you're okay? Getting your own name wrong isn't exactly tranquilizing."
"Hey, dude! I couldn't resist. Just joking. You were staring at me as if I was about to kick the bucket!" Dean replied with a grin, quickly covering his error. "Now, let's get the hell out of here. I hate hospitals."
"Are you sure about this, Jen?" Jared replied, his voice filled with doubt. "The doctor advises you stay another day or two."
"One hundred percent, doufus!"
:::::::::::::::
Before long, the two men were making their way to Jared's car, parked nearby in the hospital lot.
"I think you should have stayed another day under observation in hospital," Jared insisted. hovering at Dean's shoulder like a mother hen. " I was gonna call your family but I didn't want to scare them before knowing how bad it was."
But Dean was barely paying attention to Jared's chatter. He wasn't interested in the actor nor in the matters of this world. All he wanted to do was get back to Sam but he had to admit that the kid projected the same worry vibes as his own brother.
"I'm fine. I can't wait to get home, " Dean replied, though he wasn't referring to wherever Jensen hung out, but to where Sam would be worrying about him.
:
Jared got into the driving seat while Dean slipped into the passenger one. It wasn't his baby, but he had to admit the interior was absolutely luxurious. This is just a tarted-up bitch, baby, he mused silently. It doesn't hold a candle to you!
As the actor drove through the streets of the city which Dean later learned was Vancouver, the older Winchester was furiously trying to unearth the reason for having been thrown into this alternate reality.
The throbbing in his head served to remind him of the obvious. The injury must be related to his interdimensional journey. This world's Jensen was surely scaring the ass off Sam back home, having probably taken Dean's place there.
All he had to do now was reverse whatever this was, a spell, a curse, a temporal flux? "You're making it sound easy, Dean when it fucking isn't," he muttered to himself.
Padalecki must have heard him mumbling as he turned his head to glance at Dean who rewarded him with an artful smile.
Once they got to the house, sweet little Jared would get the shock of his life.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jared Padalecki considered himself a man of the world. He'd been in the acting business since he was seventeen years old and he was familiar with both the light and dark aspects of an actor's career, but never in his short life had he woken up to find himself tied to a chair, unable to move.
All he remembered was opening the door to Jensen's apartment and now this.
"You got any guns, dude?"
Jared turned his head towards the center of the room where Jensen was sitting at the table, an array of kitchen knives set out on top.
"Sorry about the punch to the jaw, kid, but I didn't want you complicating things."
"What's going on, Jensen? " Jared hissed while yanking at his bonds. "Have you completely lost your mind? If this is some kind of prank, it's gone far enough. Untie me. "
:
Heaving a sigh, Dean abandoned the table and came to stand in front of the struggling man.
"I'm only going to say this once 'cos I can't be assed to keep repeating myself. I'm not your precious Jensen. My name's Dean Winchester."
As Jared made to speak, Dean held up a hand.
"Let me finish. I don't know how I ended up here. All I do know is that I need to get back to my own world. Now you can help me with that or not, though it's in both in our interest if you collaborate. I want my brother and I'm sure you want your Jensen back too. Win, win for us both."
Dean watched with curiosity as Jared's eyes misted over like he was about to cry. "Oh, god, Jen. That hit to the head must have been far more serious than even the doctors surmised. Please let me help you. You're my best friend. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. This is serious. You've somehow taken on your character's persona. You need to go back to the hospital right now."
Jared realized he was practically babbling but his worry for his friend had ousted any fear he had about being tied to the chair.
Dean sighed. "That's a no to helping me, I guess."
"Fuck, Jensen. Of course, I want to help you but you need to realize that the blow to the head messed up your thinking. I'm sure the doctors will be able to fix things if we go back."
:
Though Dean didn't have time for these theatrics, he couldn't help but be moved by the obvious preoccupation on the kid's face, a face which was eerily similar to Sam's. A face that Dean had caressed and kissed so many times. Only this was a softer, more innocent version.
Jared Padalecki would be how Sam would look if he hadn't had to live the brutal life he'd been caught up in.
Jared had never been infected with demon blood, never been initiated into hunting, never suffered in the Cage, never had to kill anyone, and have to live with the consequences.
There was something arousing in the wide hazel eyes which stared up at him anxiously and Dean understood that the kid was really worried for this Jensen guy, much the same as Sam would've been worried about him.
:
Dean exhaled a deep breath before speaking. " Listen, Dude. I get that it's difficult for you to believe what I'm saying but this has happened to me once before, so I know how it works. I just need to recreate the situation and hope it fixes things. So, tell me exactly to the last detail what went down. How did I… I mean 'Jensen' end up in the hospital?"
However, Jared was still freaked out by what was going on.
He wondered if he was hallucinating too, for this couldn't be real. Dean Winchester was an imaginary character in a tv series. There was no way this was truly that person.
Jared's logical mind kept insisting that this was his friend Jensen who was having some kind of psychic breakdown.
Used as he was at interrogating witnesses, Dean could see that it was going to be near impossible to convince Jared that he really was Dean and not his co-star, but it was urgent that he try.
"Is there anything I can tell you that would get you to believe me? " Dean sighed. But then an idea hit him.
"Are you and this Jensen a thing?" Dean asked." As in a relationship, I mean."
A flush appeared on Jared's face. " No. Why would you say that, Jen? You know we're not."
:
Dean rolled his eyes. Of course, douche Jensen wouldn't have the balls to take what was there ready and waiting. But Dean could use that fact to his advantage.
He gripped Jared's chin and turned his face up before depositing a kiss on the soft lips so similar to Sam's.
Dean didn't mean for the kiss to be any more than it was, a demonstration of something that Jensen had never done, just to try and get Jared to start believing him, but the taste was so similar to that of Sam that Dean instead of drawing back, deepened the kiss, drawing a heady pleasure from the pliant mouth.
Jared had been taken completely by surprise by Dean's action, so much so that he didn't offer any resistance. And by the time the surprise was over, Jared wasn't all that concerned with resisting.
"So, has Jensen ever done that?" Dean asked, releasing Jared's chin and taking a step back.
Jared shook his head, though he was only half-listening, his body still processing the pleasure Jensen's lips had kindled in his body.
Dean couldn't help smirking. Jared had been begging for this kiss from his co-star, he just hadn't realized it.
:
However, it was a moot point, Dean sighed as he understood that Jared would never believe anything other than he was Jensen with jumbled-up brain cells!
Morosely, Dean began to pace, planning his next move.
He could only hope that Sam was working on something from his end. His brother had the advantage of magic, whereas in this reality Dean had next to nothing. If he recalled correctly, magic didn't even exist here.
Come on, Sam, he mouthed silently. I'm guessing it's up to you to get me out of this mess.
"Jen. "
Jared's voice interrupted Dean's musing. " Listen, If I go along with what you're claiming, that you're not Jensen but some other world Dean Winchester, and I help you work through this. Take you to where you got hit on the head and go along with whatever you need to get back 'home', in return, you have to promise me that if none of it works, you'll go back to the hospital and consult a doctor."
Grabbing a knife from the table Dean slashed the ropes that bound Jared to the chair.
"It's a deal, " Dean declared. "You help me to get back home and if I don't, then I'll let the shrinks have a poke through my head."
Jared, though, appeared to have an additional agenda as he gripped Dean by the upper arms and delivered a rough kiss to the older man's mouth.
"Dude, " Dean grunted as he drew back. "I know I'm an awesome kisser but I didn't think you'd have been so affected by it."
A veil of annoyance appeared on Jared's face. "I've been mooning over you for months, Jen, no, years, and it takes a hit to the head to make you finally notice."
"Hey " Dean bitched. "What happened to the ''I'll treat you as Dean' mantra? Anyhow, I draw the line at having sex with you, Dude. Sammy wouldn't like it. He's kinda jealous though he wouldn't admit it even under torture."
:
Jared was beginning to feel ever more confused.
The situation couldn't have been weirder if Kripke had written it himself. "Are you telling me that Dean would fuck his brother? Gross!"
Dean rolled his eyes. "Dude. You interpret Sam Winchester in the frigging show. If it's a realistic copy of our lives, then you know that the brothers love each other unconditionally, would do anything for each other. Having sex is just a minor step further in their relationship."
"Humor me, " Jared said, his mind reliving the sensations Dean's kiss had aroused in him. "I wanna kiss you again. Just to be sure of what I was feeling."
Dean snorted. "You gonna be kissing Dean Winchester or Jensen Ackles."
A smile curved Jared's lips. "At this point does it matter?"
Dean shrugged. "I'm at your mercy, dude. Bring it on. No one can say I stand in the way of scientific experiments! "
:
Almost reverently, Jared pulled the shorter man into his arms, seeking out his lips. They were so sweet, like veritable honey, Jared reflected as the warmth of arousal spread through his loins.
Why had he never made the first move? Why had he always waited for Jensen to demonstrate his interest? This bliss could have been his years ago. He'd wasted so much time, afraid Jensen wouldn't feel the same about him. Afraid to lose his co-star's friendship and respect.
Reluctantly, Jared drew away. There was nothing he wanted more than to throw Jensen onto the bed, strip him naked and cover his skin in kisses and caresses. The idea of Jensen being at his mercy was an arousing image. He gave himself a mental shake. There was no way he'd take advantage of Jensen in this vulnerable state he found himself in.
"Fine, 'Dean', " Jared, exclaimed. "Let's get back to the studios and I'll show you where your accident happened."
Somehow, kissing Jensen had given him a sense of resoluteness and faith in himself. He'd help Jensen get through this then he'd tell his co-star exactly how he felt about him.
"Wow. my kisses are more magical than I believed, " Dean grinned. "They can be used as powerful instruments of persuasion and self-determination!"
Jared gave him an eye roll identical to Sam's.
"You know dude," Dean continued. "I think I could come to like you even if you're an inferior clone of my baby brother."
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Dean studied the metal door which separated the rest of the studio from the sound stages and sighed. It was perfectly ordinary with no apparent reason to assume that such a door could send a person to a different dimension.
"See, Jen...I mean...uh... Dean, " Jared pointed out, "there's nothing special about this door other than for the fact that it hit your head."
A cold chill was creeping into Dean's brain. What if Jared was right. Maybe he really was Jensen living out an hallucination after all.
Just then, it was to Dean's great relief that a whooshing sound reverberated around him and the last thing he saw before he was pulled away was the astounded expression on Jared's face.
A moment later, Dean was confronted with his brother who instantly grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.
"Dean, what the fuck! Thank God I managed to find a way to get you back. I still haven't worked out why you disappeared in the first place, just to be replaced by a wussie clone."
"I'm glad to see you too, Sammy. So fucking glad, " Dean chuckled. And he proceeded to show his little brother just how much!
:::::::::::::::::::::
As Jared appeared in the studio, Jared's mouth hung open in surprise.
It hadn't been a lie. That had really been Dean Winchester. But Jared had learned a useful lesson from his experience.
As he went to help Jensen, he pulled his co-star into his arms and kissed him passionately on the lips.
"It's good to have you back, dude, " Jared huffed. "We've got a lot to talk about."
"Yeah," Jensen replied, his eyes wide with surprise. " And if that kiss is anything to go by, a lot to catch up on, preferably in a soft comfortable bed."
Jensen looked so delectable that Jared wondered how he was going to keep his hands off him now that he'd tasted his new drug,
But then, there was going to be no problem with an ongoing supply.
Just before the two men made their way forward, Jared sent a silent thanks to Dean Winchester for opening his eyes, and for the kiss!
The end