Crevasse Rescue
By Simarillion

Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Universe: Alternative Universe
Rating: R
Beta: Asm Z
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki, others
Warnings: slash, M/M
Word Count: 3,014 (18,543 total)
Summary: Tell it like it is. (Of settling and living)
Disclaimer: None of the herein presented happenings and events are true. Everything is 100% fiction and that includes the sexuality of the characters. I don’t claim to be in the know about their relations and private affairs, and I don’t make any money with the creation of this story.

Author’s Note: I changed the age of Jensen and Jared, they are the same age now. The plot wouldn’t really work otherwise.

This is part 4 of the Glaciology! ‘verse. Jensen is a scientist in the field of glaciology and he spends most of his time surrounded by ice, whereas Jared is a Hollywood movie star. Prequel to this story are Invisible Glaciers, Iceberg Anatomy, and Avalanches Approaching.

[Masterpost]



Part Six

Next Thursday is Thanksgiving and since Jensen’s parents had promised to drive to San Francisco with Jensen’s truck, it had been decided that this year’s feast is going to take place at Jensen’s house. With the way from Dallas to San Francisco being so long, everyone has taken two weeks off, and they’ll arrive early and stay with Jensen after the holiday. Mackenzie, and Josh with Sara and Emily, are arriving by plane, and will be picked up by Jensen and Tom. His parents are supposed to arrive in the evening of the same day.

In the last three weeks, Jensen hasn’t seen Jared once, and even though Jared is back from Europe, his busy work schedule and the preparations for his stint at hosting an episode of SNL, is having him spend his time in studios.

They have talked no more than three times. Each time Jensen called and Jared actually had the time to pick up and talk, their conversation had been stilted, with Jared sounding stressed and not really into the things they were talking about. So Jensen has stopped bothering him, wondering what he’s supposed to do now.

He could ask Tom and Mike, or Chris. There’s also the possibility of calling Danneel, but actually talking with someone else about this, would make things much more real, and would have Jensen spend more time on thinking about and interpreting their situation. Right now he’s only upset and worrying, after some friendly advice he would be even more upset and tempted to act rashly.

It had been clear from the beginning that Jared’s work is demanding, and it had also been clear that there would be times when he would be gone for weeks and months at a time. What Jensen had not counted on, is the lack of any contact from and with Jared. But there are no e-mails and no calls.

This has Jensen a bit depressed, and he does his best to get rid of the funk he can feel sneaking upon him. Thanksgiving and his family’s visit is just the distraction he needs right now. Having so many people stay with him calls for preparations, and so he finds himself furniture shopping with his friends, and turning the two empty bedrooms into guest rooms, as well as getting a foldout couch for the office. Mike bothers Jensen so long, until he breaks, and sells most of his old furniture and puts down payments for new furniture in the rest of the house as well.

He keeps the old fashioned pantries in the kitchen, and the antique table and chairs in the living/dining room. The couch is swapped for a new leather one, and the shelves and dressers in the living room, the office, and the bedroom are replaced. With everything new and the old things polished the house starts to look really fancy.

On the day before everyone arrives, Jensen cleans the whole house, and buys enough food to feed an army. He makes up the beds and puts towels and slippers into each room. The couch on the office is pulled out, and Jensen prepares everything for Mackenzie’s visit.

Dean can feel the nervousness of the upcoming visit, but he doesn’t understand what has his owner in such uproar. The dog trails after Jensen from one room to the other, sniffing at the new furniture, and hiding out whenever Jensen starts the hover.

The morning of his family’s arrival, Jensen has to teach. He gets up extra early to make sure that he gets to finish all the administrative work on time, so that he can leave for the airport. The students are excited, many of them talking about going home to their families for the holiday. Jensen doesn’t reprimand them, he knows how they feel.

Once he’s finished work, Jensen calls Tom and tells him that he’s leaving university and heading back to San Francisco. His friend promises to be on time, and Jensen gets his things, and heads for the car. He turns on the radio and leaves for the airport to get Mackenzie and Josh.

The drive is short, there are for once no traffic jams or construction anywhere, and surprisingly he finds a spot to park after only one round through the parking lot. Having parked and locked the car, Jensen makes for the arrival hall, and moves with and through the crowd that bustles around the airport. People are laughing and smiling, picking up family and friends, or departing to meet them.

There are a lot of families and groups gathered in front of the gate to the baggage claim, and Jensen waits at the side. It’s still half an hour until Mac and the others arrive, and Tom won’t be here for another fifteen minutes either. Jensen watches the people around him and wonders what they’ll be doing during the holiday.

On his right, a small shop sells snacks and drinks, and he realizes that he hasn’t eaten since breakfast, which had consisted of a dry piece of toast and half a cup of coffee. His stomach growling, Jensen gets himself a cream cheese bagel with salmon and a bottle of water. Munching his food, he returns to his previous post and continues to wait.

He’s just finishing his drink, when a call to his left has him turn around.

“Jensen!” Tom is heading towards him, his hair ruffled and his face flushed.

“Hi! Thanks for helping with my family.” Jensen shoves the wrinkled paper napkin his bagel had come with into his pocket and screws the cap back onto the bottle.

“What kind of a friend would I be if I didn’t help with something like that.” Tom is smiling kindly at him. “I would have been here earlier, but I couldn’t find a parking spot. I’ve been driving round the lot for the last ten minutes.”

“Hey, don’t worry. They haven’t landed yet, and it takes them some time to get off the plane and claim their bags.” Jensen glances at the arrival board to check if there have been any changes in the time of arrival, but so far the flight from Dallas has no delay.

“So, did you go all crazy and clean the whole house, again?” There’s a teasing tone to Tom’s voice as he asks the question. Jensen’s worry about his house making a good impression on his parents has been the source of much amusement to Tom and Mike. True, Jensen might have been a bit obsessed and cleaned the whole house three times in the last ten seven days, but it’s not like there’s much else to do.

And it keeps him from thinking about the Jared situation too much.

“So what? I cleaned it yesterday.” Jensen tries to make light but somehow he feels strangely defensive. Like he’s being weird for worrying about his family’s visit.

“Hey, I just think it’s nice that you’re so happy about them coming.” Tom looks at Jensen like he’s expecting him to lose it any time. Maybe his friend isn’t too far off. Too few hours of sleep and too much stress are taking their toll on him.

“Sorry, it’s just that this is the first time that they are coming to where I live, and the visit to Edmonton during college doesn’t count, I was living in a dorm at that time.” Jensen sighs and rubs his neck. “I spent so much time and money into repairing the house and getting the garden done, I just want everything to be nice when they come.”

“They’ll love it, and Mac will want to stay. The house is great, Jensen.” His friend grabs his shoulder and squeezes it. “When thinking about what it looked like the first time I saw it, it’s amazing what you did with the house.”

Jensen just nods and looks back at the arrival board. The flight from Dallas is blinking and next to the time of arrival the word deboarding flashes. A rush of adrenalin has him make his way through the crowd and wait at the front for his siblings. Tom follows him and waits with Jensen for the younger Ackles generation to show up.

It takes almost fifteen minutes for Mackenzie, and Josh and his family to walk through the door. Mac pushes a cart with their luggage on it, and Josh is carrying a excited Emily, who’s whipping her head around, trying to take the hustle and bustle around them in. Sara is right behind her husband and daughter, carrying a shoulder bag in which she’s searching for something-

“Mac! Josh!” Jensen waves at them and his sister grins widely when she sees him. She navigates the trolley through the crowd, which only reluctantly parts for her, and once she’s next to him, she give him a hug.

“Jensen!” She lets go and theatrically checks out Tom, wolf whistling at her brother’s friend. “You brought me a boy toy.”

Jensen just rolls his eyes and the others laugh. “Like Mike would share Tom with you.”

Mac just shrugs and grins cheekily. “I never said I would ask.”

Tom gives Mackenzie a hug, grinning widely. “Good to see you, Mackenzie.”

Josh and Sara’s welcome is much less entertaining, but Emily insists on being let down from her dad and on Jensen picking her up. Her dark blond curls are soft against his cheeks, as Jensen holds her, and she curls close to him.

“So, how about we get moving?” His question has all of them nodding in agreement, and so they start to head for the parking lot and the cars.

There’s a short commotion when Emily has to leave Jensen for the duration of the drive. She refuses to drive in any other car than Jensen’s, and so Josh, Sara and Emily get into the rental while Mackenzie is going with Tom.

There’s a traffic jam on the on-ramp to the express way, but it doesn’t take them too long to get on the highway. During the drive to the house Jensen asks about their flight, and has Emily tell her about all the new and strange things she got to see that day.

The little girl’s enthusiastic recaptures of their journey have the grown-ups smile and laugh, and the talking keeps Emily entertained. Thus distracted, she doesn’t notice them time it takes to get from the airport to the house.

Sara is rather impressed with Jensen’s home when they pull up at the house. She points out many features that she finds particularly charming, and Josh just grins amusedly at Jensen, who sees his brother in the rear view mirror.

Once the car is parked, his brother’s wife is the first to get out. She walks closer to the house and squeals some more. Emily, who doesn’t understand her mum’s excitement, just toddles up to Jensen and tugs at his pant leg to have him pick her up. Now that Jensen isn’t driving anymore, she wants to be carried around again.

Tom pulls up shortly after Jensen has unlocked the trunk of the car, and Mackenzie gets out complimenting Jensen on his home. Josh and Tom carry the luggage inside while Mackenzie and Sara insist on getting a tour of the house. Their entering is enthusiastically greeted by Dean, who barks excitedly and twists around the legs of the people trying to get into the hallway.

When Emily sees the dog, she demands to be set down. She hugs the husky, who suddenly becomes still, aware of the little human that is clinging to him. Both, child and dog, being entertained and thoroughly distracted, the adults walk around, with Jensen pointing out everything, distributing the rooms, and giving the grand tour.

After the interior has been seen, Jensen presents his precious garden, and Sara and Mackenzie once more compliment Jensen on his home.

About an hour later, Tom has to leave, and after saying his thanks, Jensen wishes his friend happy holidays and promises to call after his family’s visit. When Jensen returns to the garden he finds Mackenzie crouching near the bushes and cooing to the cat.

His approach causes her to turn to him. “Whose cat is that?”

“Well, it’s sort of my cat. One of them.” He crouches down beside his sister and holds out his hand to the cat, signaling that he wants to touch her.

The feline eyes Mackenzie suspiciously and stays her distance. There’s a rustling noise behind her and then the kittens, which have grown immensely the last couple of weeks, are appearing one after the other. They are far less suspicious than their mother, and they curiously come over to Jensen.

He stays still and lets them sniff and then they walk over to Mackenzie to scent the strange human as well. Mac smiles happily at that, and slowly and carefully pets the little heads.

“I didn’t know you had cats.” There’s the sound of four little engines, as the kittens start purring.

“Well, it kind of happened, and they aren’t really mine. The mother used to live in the old shed that was here, and when I had it torn down, we discovered her babies. I’ve been feeding them ever since, and they have accepted me, mostly.” Jensen sees the older cat coming over as well.

“Do they have names?” Mackenzie tries to pick one of the kittens up, but it doesn’t want to stay.

The question has Jensen snort with amusement. “Mike insisted on calling the kittens Kitty, Kathy, Courtney and Kim, but both Tom and I vetoed that decision. When I pointed out that some of them could be male, and that having a girl name could cause some kind of an identity crisis, he just said that the name would be great for a drag career.”

Mackenzie chuckles amused. “Why doesn’t this surprise me?”

“So far, none of them have a name. And I don’t think that they would answer to it.” There’s barking from the house and Jensen turns around, seeing the front door open and his truck parked at the curb. With a smile at his sister, he gets up and makes for the front yard and his parents.

His mum is laughing at Dean’s antics, and his dad is unloading the car together with Josh. When they see Jensen approaching them, her mum grins widely.

“Jensen, the house is so beautiful.” Her proud comment has him blush, and his brother and his dad grin at his embarrassment. “The flowers and the windows and everything are so nice.”

“Thanks.” He hugs her and feels himself calm down for the first time in a long time. All the worries and stress about teaching, preparing everything for his family’s visit, and the situation with Jared is just melting away, leaving only peace and tranquility behind.

“It looks great.” His dad claps him on the shoulders and Jensen grins at him. All three of the Ackles men are not that open about their emotions, so gushing and squealing about something they like is never going to happen. They wouldn’t even know how to do that. But his dad’s words and the clap are enough to show that his dad approves of Jensen’s home.

“Let’s get you inside.” Jensen picks up two bags, and leads the way into the house.

Dean runs ahead, barking happily at Sara who’s waiting at the door. Jensen shows his parents their guest room, and once more he gives a tour of the house. Even though the others have already been shown around, all of the grown ups troop after him as Jensen explains the rooms and how they had been repaired.

After everything has been explained and presented, the women insist on cooking dinner. Jensen tries to protest, claiming that he’s the host, but a look from his mum, and he willingly joins his dad and his brother on the porch.

Emily is sitting in the garden, petting Dean who’s lying next to her. The dog is happy about the willing human slave who so generously strokes him. The cats have disappeared again, the excitement of so many strangers too much for them.

In the hour it takes for dinner to be prepared, Jensen tells his dad and Josh about teaching at Stanford, explains to his dad some more in detail about the work that had been done on the house, and points out interesting spots in San Francisco to Josh.

They are well into a discussion about visiting the campus of Stanford, when Mackenzie comes outside and tells them that dinner is almost ready. Josh gets Emily from the garden, making her protest loudly about wanting to stay with Dean, and Jensen heads inside to help with setting the table.

As it turns out, when Mackenzie says dinner is almost ready, she means that it’s almost ready. Everything’s set, and the only thing missing at the table is Jensen’s mum, who’s carrying the last plate to the table.

With everyone sitting, and Emily having her hands washed, they start eating, complementing the cooks, and enjoying each other’s company. Even though Mackenzie is still staying with their parents and Josh lives in Dallas, it’s rare that everyone comes together to eat.

Jensen pours himself a glass of apple juice, and takes a sip. Looking around the table he sees the people that mean the most to him, and if there’s a short tug at his heart at the absence of a person he would have liked to be present as well, he ignores it and laughs about a joke Josh makes.

Any thoughts about how and why Jensen came to be here are chased away, and he reminds himself that he’s enjoying his family’s presence and that in the past there have been many times when he didn’t get to have Thanksgiving with them.

He’s been living a great life long before he got to know one Jared Padalecki. This, right here, is enough. It has been in the past and it will be in the future as well.



continue: Part Seven