Title. The Idle Job
Author. kelleigh
Artist. amindaya
Rating. NC17
Pairing. Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Genre. RPS AU.
Warnings. Bad guys. Big guns. Explicit sex. Minor character death. Alternate U.S. History.
Words. 50,300

Summary. Texas Ranger Jensen Ackles always walks into a new town the same way – with two eyes open and one hand on his gun. He’s worked dozens of these jobs across the Union of Seceded States, in small towns and big cities, scrubbing the streets clean of the bad elements before moving on to the next job with his ornery pup, Mo, riding shotgun. Jensen’s personally assigned to Idle, Colorado by his captain to protect the interests of a rising star in the world of Union politics, and he quickly finds that Idle’s not as quaint as it seems on paper. Idle is rotting from the inside-out and Jensen’s got to make sense of the situation before the bodies start turning up. Throw in a missing Sheriff, two deputies Jensen isn’t sure he can trust, and Jared, the local doctor who keeps getting involved in Jensen’s business, and this job’s bound to be a wild ride.

Written for the 2011 spn_j2_bigbang.

You must check out amindaya’s ART MASTER POST for this story. It’s all absolutely wonderful!


( Put yourself between a bullet and a target… )

My BFF Amber and I walked into work this morning and we both immediately said, "I didn't sleep last night!"

Cue the yawning.

One Red Bull each later (she got the big one, but I think she needed it a little more!), and I'm ready to get back to writing my Big Bang. I'm already over 14,000 words, so the word count's definitely not going to be a problem, but I have a huge mental block when it comes to writing first drafts. I'm compulsive, I need to write my stories in order with full scenes! No bare outlines or short scenes for fillers... I think that's going to be my problem. Considering this upcoming weekend might be a wash because of Amber's three-day birthday celebration, I might not get a heck of a lot done.

But I am enjoying my Big Bang so far -- it's got some fun banter, some UST, and an actual PLOT. You can think of it as a story similar to my CSI verse, if Jared was a Doctor and Jensen cared way less about forensics, and if CSI was set in an entirely new country created when Texas, and several other states, seceded from the US. FUN, RIGHT?!

In fact, have a snippet!

Cassidy pauses as a long shadow darkens their table. Jensen’s eyes travel up and up to see the Doc grinning down at them.

“Hey, Cass.”

She smiles, more personality in it than she’s given Jensen this morning. “Is Bill in the office this morning?”

“It’s his last day in before he heads down to Houston for a month.” Jared acknowledges Jensen with the barest of nods, turning around to find an open table.

The Doc’s hair is damp at the ends from a recent shower, his t-shirt crisp and loose around his waist. The v-neck cut dips low enough for Jensen to see a dusting of hair darkening Jared’s skin.

“Why don’t you join us?” Cassidy asks. Jensen cocks his head, stares her down, but she challenges with a simple shrug. “I’m sure the Ranger here doesn’t mind, I’ve already crashed his lonely breakfast.”

The Doc grabs a chair, elbows spreading the width of the tabletop. Stabbing at a biscuit, Jensen doesn’t contribute to the conversation between the deputy and the doctor, eating becomes his singular focus.

Jared clears his throat a few minutes later, twirling the glass of cranberry juice set in front of him. The waitress had been kind enough to serve him something besides charred coffee, but she continued to ignore Jensen’s glare.

“Can I ask if there’s been any progress on finding the Sheriff?”

Cassidy shoots Jensen a look. “We don’t exactly have the resources for a manhunt, Jared.” Her voice is stretched, careful. “I’m looking into some things, but it’s been four days.”

“Meaning, you don’t think he’s coming back.”

“Meaning,” Jensen cuts in with a snarl, “I don’t think your Sheriff wants to be found.”

It's funny, as well, that I'm calling this "inspired by" Justified, but the more I watch the show, the more I realize that it parallels pretty nicely. My Big Bang coach dugindeep and I have been marathoning the show, and every time a plot point comes up that I've used without knowing it's in the show, we laugh :)

How are y'all doing this Tuesday afternoon?