{SPN J2 Big Bang} Gunmetal Dawn - Chapter 7
Fic Title: Gunmetal Dawn
Author name: deannawol
Artist name: grayscaled
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jensen/Jared
Rating: NC-17 / R
Word count: 66,666
Warnings: Slash (M/M) relationship, oral sex, violence, language, angst .
Summary: J2 Cyberpunk AU; Three years ago, Christian Kane betrayed Jared Padalecki and killed most of his family. Mercenary Jensen Ackles saved him and his younger sister Megan and brought them to live with them out in the wilds of Texas. Jared's been training and is finally ready to take Kane on to win back his family's corporate empire. However, the course of true love never runs smoothly and in regaining what he's lost, he's put everything he loves in jeopardy, including his partner and lover, Jensen. A J2 Romance in a Cyberpunk AU setting.
Link to Fic Masterpost: Link
Link to Art Masterpost: Link
Previous Chapter
Jensen watched Chad roll out of the room, his mind reeling from their conversation. Sure, he’d noticed Morgan’s attitude but he’d brushed it off. The guy had been on the ground ever since they’d snuck Jared out of the city. He’d been working away trying to get Jared back into power, slipping information into streams where it was guaranteed to get back to him. And yeah, he wasn’t happy with the fact that Morgan’s explanation of corporate politics kept him out of the meeting rooms but until now, he hadn’t thought that it was malicious. More fool him.
Everything had been wrapped up in economics, or procedure, or business speak and he hadn’t really thought twice about it. Well, he had, but everything had an explanation and it had all been so… logical. It was almost like the man had an answer for every word, every question out of his mouth, and with Jared backing Morgan up, he’d convinced himself that he’d been overreacting. Should have trusted himself more. Should have… he didn’t know what he should have done but damned if he wasn’t going to push harder now.
He stared off into middle distance, ignoring everyone and everything in the gym as his mind whirled. If this was on the streets, he’d know exactly what to do, what play to call but here… This was foreign territory. This was Corporate. And they played by so many obfuscated rules. And he had to admit that this out-of-his-depth feeling that he’d had didn’t exactly make him want to jump in with both feet but it was starting to look like that was the only way to do it. Fuck it, he was smart. Wasn’t anything that he wouldn’t be able to get his head around… Eventually.
Something hit the wall, right beside his ear. He ducked reflexively, diving for his gun in its holster and harness beside him. He looked up to see a knife embedded there, vibrating slightly. He snapped his focus to his laughing sister and grinning brother and cursed.
“The fuck?”
He pushed himself to his feet, leaving his gun in its holster.
“You owe me ten creds,” Mackenzie turned to Josh, holding out her hand.
“The fuck?” Jensen asked again.
“You weren’t answering,” Mackenzie shrugged.
“You threw a knife at me,” Jensen’s voice rose sharply. “You could have it me.”
“I didn’t hit you,” she brushed off his concerns. “Wasn’t aiming at you, either.”
“And if you hit me?”
She smirked, “Wouldn’t say much for my training.”
Jensen shrugged. He had to give her that. She’d been trained by the menfolk in most things but Momma had taught her knife throwing. And that meant that she hadn’t been given her own set until she could hit the centre of a target at fifty feet.
“What did Chad want?” Josh asked.
“Telling me some home truths,” he admitted, scrubbing a hand through his hair, “Looks like I gotta shark on my tail. Morgan’s looking for dirt. Asked Chad for a copy of the audio files. Wanted to figure out what we did with Kane by all reckoning.”
“Does he know? Does Morgan know?” Josh asked, worried now.
“No,” Jensen shook his head, “No, and Chad’s not gonna help him either.”
“You’re sure?” Mackenzie piped in.
“Sure as I can be,” he shrugged, “I think Morgan is underestimating Chad. He’s expecting a corporate runner, tame, toeing the company line, but what he got is an ex-merc with the morals of your average ganger,” he smiled, “He might have spent time on the street but Morgan is a corp through and through. He’s forgotten that there is one thing more powerful than money for some people.”
Jensen paced back and forth, not looking at his family but more working through the thoughts in his head, “He’s Jay’s friend, one of the guys he used to run with, but he stuck with him through all the shit that flew his way. Got him information, kept him in touch with this side of the city. I thought he was a damned good data runner soon as I saw the notebooks filled with times, dates, everything. Thought he was a good friend when I met him. But now? Now I’m starting to think that I painted him square into a box just like Morgan did. He’s smart, street smart, and seems to have eyes everywhere in this damned company.”
“Ya know, Mac, there are times when I think I have a brother who can look out for himself,” Josh broke in, “Then there’s the rest of the time when he opens his mouth and we find out he’s as dumb as the rest of us!”
Mackenzie elbowed him sharply, knocking the breath from him, “Dumb as you maybe. Everyone knows it’s the women in our family who have the brains.”
“And spikes for elbows. Jeez,” Josh wheezed, “Shit, girl, you been sharpening them?”
She smiled sweetly at him, “Someone’s gotta remind you not to be an idiot. And given that Inez isn’t here, guess that job falls to me, doesn’t it?”
“Mac, stop picking on Josh. Josh, what the hell are you talking about?” Jensen asked, frustrated.
“Duh, dingbat, he’s saying get Chad onside and get him to feed all those nice vid feeds he’s got your way. Keep you grounded about what’s happening around here,” Mackenzie rolled her eyes.
Jensen stared at her for a second and then shook his head, “No. No, that wouldn’t be…”
“Right?” she said, stepping closer until she was right in front of him, “You,” she poked him in the chest with a bony finger, “You are too nice for your own good.”
Jensen found himself backing up until his back hit the wall. He straightened a little and manoeuvred himself away from her.
“You want Jay safe, yeah?” she said, “He’s got resources you don’t. He doesn’t appear to be pissed at you, so go for it. Think of it as a merger. You and him working together to make sure that JD Morgan doesn’t cut away the support structure that Jay needs to keep him alive. It’s obvious that he’s got some doubts about Morgan and that he’s kinda trusting you right now. Otherwise he’d have locked himself in that geek office of his and just worked out a way to get both of you outta Jay’s life. But instead, he came to visit you. Had a chat about what a jerk Morgan is being and gave you an opportunity to find out some stuff you needed to hear. Now grow a pair and see if he can help you out!”
She stepped back, looking between her brothers, “I swear, sometimes you men! Gah! I’m going. All this testosterone… I’m gonna go find Meg before my IQ drops as low as yours.”
With that she turned on her heel and walked towards the door. Jensen could still hear her muttering curses under her breath. He flicked a glance at Josh who just shrugged. He made his way to the bag beside Jensen’s gun holster and pulled out a pair of martial arts training mitts and tossed them over to Jensen.
“Come on, it’ll help you work it out.”
Jensen sighed and pulled on first one and then the other mitt. They were heavy, thick across the back of his hands where the padding sat. His palms were covered in a Lycra polymer that let him clench and flex his hand normally. He steepled his uncovered fingers and used them to push the mitts down until they felt comfortable. Josh had retrieved his own set and was throwing some practice swings.
They didn’t talk until they reached the practice mats and even then, it was just a quick question to make sure that they were ready. Josh took the first punch and Jensen dodged it easily, skipping back out of the way. Another roundhouse and then an uppercut, but again Jensen dodged, eyes searching for an opening.
“Okay, so you trust him,” Josh said as he moved around the mat.
“I guess,” Jensen answered, sending a quick jab against Josh’s defences.
Josh blocked easily, “That wasn’t a question, Jen. You listened to him and the fact that you’re still thinking about it means that there’s some trust there. Not saying you’re about to dump Jay and hook up with him or anything but you’re willing to hear what he has to say. Says something.”
Jensen guarded his face with his hands as Josh swung, absorbing the blows on his arms and mitts. He slipped a hook under his brother’s defences.
“He’s Jay’s friend, not mine.”
Josh stepped back, stretching his neck and rubbing the pad of his mitt over his chin where Jensen had connected.
“’Cause a guy can only have one friend? Take him for a beer. Watch the game together,” Josh suggested. “Let him talk about processors or whatever it is that geeks talk about.”
Jensen stretched his left arm out, rotating the shoulder to loosen up a small muscle twinge, “I could do that. Bring Jared in too. Make it a relaxation evening. A night off. Just the six of us.”
Josh frowned, “Six?”
“Yeah,” Jensen nodded, “You, me, Jared, Chad, Meg and Mac.”
“Sounds good. Tonight?” Josh asked him.
Jensen considered it for a second as he moved a little closer to Josh, watching for an opportunity. He let loose a flurry of crosses and hooks, hardly giving Josh enough time to block, let alone counter and followed it up with a kick to the ribs. Josh bent forward to protect himself and bent right into Jensen’s waiting knee. Straight hit to the solar plexus and Josh was down, groaning loudly.
“Yeah, I think tonight would be good,” Jensen nodded, holding his hand out to help Josh back to his feet, “Jay’s been working hard for the past couple of weeks and Meg’s been putting in long hours trying to understand the rats nest that is this company. Definitely time to pick up a sixer and kick back.”
He was feeling… Not better but more settled.
“So, I’m thinking of going with Jason if it’s a boy,” Josh said changing the subject and poking his chest where Jensen had connected.
Jensen dropped his guard, inviting Josh to take a shot, “Jason?”
Josh nodded but made no move, “Or Jaime if it’s a girl.”
“There are other letters in the alphabet, you know?”
“Yeah, I know, but what can I say… I’m partial to J,” he smirked. “Inez wants a couple of names before I head out. Take some of the pressure off her.”
“You know whatever you pick, she isn’t gonna like it,” Jensen joked.
Josh shrugged, “I have a plan for that. Wait for her to fall asleep after the birth, swoop in and name them before she wakes up.”
“That’s a stupid plan,” Jensen shook his head, smiling. “She’s gonna kill you.”
“Probably, but ya know… I’ll leave the middle names to her,” Josh pulled off the mitts and grabbed a towel, tossing it to Jensen before grabbing another for himself.
Jensen frowned a little, puzzled, as his eyes followed Josh. He’d socked him hard but not hard enough for him to need to call their training session just as it was getting started. He opened his mouth to ask if Josh was alright - last thing he wanted to do was to hurt his brother - but the look on his face stopped him.
“I gotta head back soon,” Josh said quietly, “It’s the last few weeks. I need to be there. You understand, right?”
Jensen sighed as he towelled off the nape of his neck, “You should. Inez will need you, and Momma will kill you if you’re not there for the big day.”
“Yeah,” Josh looked a little distant, “I just… I won’t be here for you.”
“No, ‘cause you’re about to be responsible for something a hell of a lot more important than your baby brother, Josh,” Jensen tapped him on the shoulder, “Don’t worry about it. I’m watching out for Mac. And I have the number for the family if I need it. Go home. Take care of Inez.”
“I’m going on Friday.”
Two days. Sooner than Jensen thought but damned if he’d stand in his brother's way. This was huge and if he was Josh, he would have been back at the camp soon as they’d taken the building back. Would have left a fairly big troop behind but he’d have his ass back there so fast the road would be burning.
But at the same time, if it was just Mac here, the hosts of Heaven and all the minions of Hell couldn’t have pulled him away. The duties of being a big brother, he guessed.
He was happy for Josh, really happy, and he was looking forward to being the cool uncle. But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to miss Josh. He was. Probably more than he’d ever admit to his brother or anyone else. Josh had a way of defusing him that no one else could even come close to matching. And he was fairly sure that he’d need that over the coming weeks, months, however long it was going to take Jared to fix this company up and wrap it in a shiny bow for Meg.
“Take one of the cars downstairs. I’ll make sure Jay signs off on it,” Jensen said, wrapping the towel around his neck, “Keep it until after she’s delivered… Just in case!”
It wasn’t likely that something would go wrong, and even if something did, there was enough midwifery experience in the camp to handle it but Jensen would rather Josh have a good car, a new car, with corporate plates and enough ties to the CEO to get it through every damned roadblock the city authorities could throw in their way. A Trauma Team card in the glove box and he’d have everything in place. Just in case.
Josh nodded, “Okay. You’ll get everything sorted?”
Jensen smiled, “You handle the invites for tonight, pick up takeaway and beer and I’ll sort out everything else.”
“I… I… Thank you.”
Jensen shook his head, “Dude, I got the easy part. All I gotta do is sign a couple of forms. You gotta shell out for enough beer to get us all hammered.”
“It’s a tough job,” he smirked.
“I’ll talk to Jay. Need to anyway, let him know what’s what with JD. See if I can get him to pull back from Morgan a little,” Jensen said.
“Okay,” Josh agreed, “I’ll grab everyone else, get them upstairs. ‘Bout nine?”
Jensen looked at his watch, “Sounds good.”
It was just gone eight. An hour sounded good. Enough time to meet up and maybe meet up. Jensen waved his brother out of the room and headed up to the penthouse apartment he shared with Jared. He knew there was nothing on the schedule that evening, so if luck was on his side, Jared would be upstairs and up for a little conversation.
He stepped out of the lift and swiped his security card on the lock. The light flashed green and he swung the door open.
“Honey, I’m home.”
“Oh God,” a muttered voice floated out from the sitting room. “Jensen’s back. Damn. They’re going do that smoochy, cuddly thing now. Avert your eyes.”
“Love you too, Mac,” Jensen gave her a one-finger salute, “Jay about?”
“Kitchen,” she answered from her place on the couch, “He’s making me a club sandwich, and so help me if you get in its way, I will make it my life’s work to make sure that you never get laid again. Ever! I’m starving.”
Jensen walked back to the small, underused kitchen attached to the apartment. Really, it was a glorified counter with a microwave, and a beer fridge stuck in the corner. Jensen leaned against the wall and watched Jared wrangle ingredients into one of the messiest sandwiches he had ever seen. White sleeveless t-shirt, low slung jeans that just hung off his hips and no shoes. Jensen whistled.
Jared smiled, blushing a little as he looked over his shoulder, “Hey you.”
Jensen stepped forward, his arms wrapping around Jared’s waist, his front pressing against Jared’s back. He nuzzled into Jared’s neck, enjoying the subtle scent of the cologne that Jared had splashed on that morning. It was mostly faded now but was mixed with Jared’s scent, it was enough to get Jensen planning ways to get his boyfriend to forget the sandwich, push the girls out and pull Jared into the bedroom for some long overdue together time. But first…
“Hey,” Jensen said, “So I was talking to Chad earlier.”
“You've been talking to Chad?” Jared frowned, “Didn't think you liked him that much.”
“Nah, he’s good. Had a long talk with him. Well, not long but we got some stuff said,” Jensen hooked his chin over Jared’s shoulder, “He says that JD’s trying to kick me out.”
Jared turned around and hooked his thumbs into Jensen’s belt loops, “It won't always be like this, Jen. It’s just rough right now. Lot of things to change. And JD is just making sure everything is running smoothly. He’s not pushing you out. He’s just… No, he’s not pushing you out. He wouldn’t. He’s just not the most tactful guy in the universe sometimes. Doesn’t always think ‘bout what he says. He knows what you mean to me. He wouldn’t do something like that.”
“No? Well, any time I even get close to you while you’re doing your CEO thing, JD's there kicking me out. It’s starting to look pretty damned deliberate, Jay. I mean, if other people are picking up on it, it’s not just my imagination.”
He stepped back. Jared’s fingers stayed in the belt loops, trying to keep him close but Jensen needed a little more space.
“It's not like that,” Jared protested, shaking his head.
Jensen was trying to stay calm but he could feel the anger rising. Looked like this was more of a hot button issue for him than he’d thought it was. “Then what is it like? Anything could happen in there, Jay. Anything. Anyone in that room could be just waiting for a chance to get you out of the picture,” Jensen rubbed a hand over his face, “Just one golden shot, Jay, that's all it would take. And there would be nothing I could do about it.”
“JD's not gonna let that happen,” Jared protested.
Every damned sentence out of Jared’s mouth was singing the praises of JD fucking Morgan and Jensen didn’t want to hear that right now. He needed to get through to Jared. Needed Jared to see what the problem was. “Fuck JD and what he's gonna let happen. I can't protect you Jay cause I won't be in the room.”
Jared turned back to the sandwich and slapped more filling on the already overloaded bread, “You don't need to protect me, Jen, I can handle myself.”
“Then why the fuck is it Morgan in there instead of me if it's not to watch your back? Tell me.”
Jared had both hands on the counter now, his head bowed, “It's business, Jen, just business. He knows it better, knows who people are.”
Jensen sighed heavily, “It’s just business?” His eyes searched Jared’s face as he trotted out the standard street line. He didn’t even seem to realise what he was saying. Jensen pushed it aside. For now. There were bigger things to deal with. “Alright, so teach me how to help you do this. I was there the first night, reading files same as you. You're teaching Meg, teach me as well.”
“Jen...” Jared turned, reaching out to touch Jensen’s arm, “It's only a couple of months, then we're out of here. Sipping cheap beer in some rat bag apartment, curled up on the couch like we used to be. Just the two of us.”
Jensen closed his eyes. He really wished that they were there already. Sad to think that here he was, living the dream in a corporate penthouse apartment, and he’d give it up to squat in some cruddy apartment, dressed in battered sweats, just them, with the rest of the world locked outside. But the minutes were ticking by like hours and there didn’t seem to be an end in sight. So now he was just trying to make the best of it. But at every turn there seemed to be roadblocks. Roadblocks on top of roadblocks. He tried a different tack.
“This is part of your life, Jay, and I wanna be there for you, and not just as your shadow.”
Jared smiled, pulling him into a hug, “And I want you there...”
His phone cut him off, chirping from his pocket. Jensen watched him dive for it, flipping it open and reading the message. Jensen gave him space.
“Shit, it's JD,” Jared looked up, almost tentative, “I gotta take this. The China deal is about to go south. I gotta... I should…” he trailed off.
Jensen sighed as he watched Jared try to justify running out on him, “Yeah, fine. Go.”
Jared reached out towards him but Jensen pulled back.
“We'll talk about this later, yeah?” he asked.
Jensen couldn’t keep the hurt out of his voice, “I'll pencil it into your calendar.”
“Jen...” Jared tried again to reach out but when Jensen didn’t step into the touch, he let his hand drop. “Don't be like this.”
Jensen didn’t want to but it was hurting. Deep down. He was standing here, telling Jared how Morgan was trying to show him the door, keep him away from every important decision that Jared was making, and all he was hearing about was how he was overreacting. And all the while, Jared was running out the door and straight back to Morgan. He couldn’t do this right now. He just couldn’t.
“You'd better go. You don't wanna keep Morgan waiting.”
Jared hugged him awkwardly, and kissed him, “I'll be back, later. Just the two of us. Couple of beers, the game, yeah? And we'll talk. I promise.”
“Okay, Jay. Later,” Jensen forced a smile, “I'll be here.”
Jared let his hands linger as he stepped away, backing towards the door, “Love you.”
And then he was gone. Off to another meeting, with Jensen just standing there behind him, getting further away with each step.
His voice wasn’t much over a whisper when he finally answered, “Love you too, Jay.”
Next Chapter
Author name: deannawol
Artist name: grayscaled
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jensen/Jared
Rating: NC-17 / R
Word count: 66,666
Warnings: Slash (M/M) relationship, oral sex, violence, language, angst .
Summary: J2 Cyberpunk AU; Three years ago, Christian Kane betrayed Jared Padalecki and killed most of his family. Mercenary Jensen Ackles saved him and his younger sister Megan and brought them to live with them out in the wilds of Texas. Jared's been training and is finally ready to take Kane on to win back his family's corporate empire. However, the course of true love never runs smoothly and in regaining what he's lost, he's put everything he loves in jeopardy, including his partner and lover, Jensen. A J2 Romance in a Cyberpunk AU setting.
Link to Fic Masterpost: Link
Link to Art Masterpost: Link
Previous Chapter
Jensen watched Chad roll out of the room, his mind reeling from their conversation. Sure, he’d noticed Morgan’s attitude but he’d brushed it off. The guy had been on the ground ever since they’d snuck Jared out of the city. He’d been working away trying to get Jared back into power, slipping information into streams where it was guaranteed to get back to him. And yeah, he wasn’t happy with the fact that Morgan’s explanation of corporate politics kept him out of the meeting rooms but until now, he hadn’t thought that it was malicious. More fool him.
Everything had been wrapped up in economics, or procedure, or business speak and he hadn’t really thought twice about it. Well, he had, but everything had an explanation and it had all been so… logical. It was almost like the man had an answer for every word, every question out of his mouth, and with Jared backing Morgan up, he’d convinced himself that he’d been overreacting. Should have trusted himself more. Should have… he didn’t know what he should have done but damned if he wasn’t going to push harder now.
He stared off into middle distance, ignoring everyone and everything in the gym as his mind whirled. If this was on the streets, he’d know exactly what to do, what play to call but here… This was foreign territory. This was Corporate. And they played by so many obfuscated rules. And he had to admit that this out-of-his-depth feeling that he’d had didn’t exactly make him want to jump in with both feet but it was starting to look like that was the only way to do it. Fuck it, he was smart. Wasn’t anything that he wouldn’t be able to get his head around… Eventually.
Something hit the wall, right beside his ear. He ducked reflexively, diving for his gun in its holster and harness beside him. He looked up to see a knife embedded there, vibrating slightly. He snapped his focus to his laughing sister and grinning brother and cursed.
“The fuck?”
He pushed himself to his feet, leaving his gun in its holster.
“You owe me ten creds,” Mackenzie turned to Josh, holding out her hand.
“The fuck?” Jensen asked again.
“You weren’t answering,” Mackenzie shrugged.
“You threw a knife at me,” Jensen’s voice rose sharply. “You could have it me.”
“I didn’t hit you,” she brushed off his concerns. “Wasn’t aiming at you, either.”
“And if you hit me?”
She smirked, “Wouldn’t say much for my training.”
Jensen shrugged. He had to give her that. She’d been trained by the menfolk in most things but Momma had taught her knife throwing. And that meant that she hadn’t been given her own set until she could hit the centre of a target at fifty feet.
“What did Chad want?” Josh asked.
“Telling me some home truths,” he admitted, scrubbing a hand through his hair, “Looks like I gotta shark on my tail. Morgan’s looking for dirt. Asked Chad for a copy of the audio files. Wanted to figure out what we did with Kane by all reckoning.”
“Does he know? Does Morgan know?” Josh asked, worried now.
“No,” Jensen shook his head, “No, and Chad’s not gonna help him either.”
“You’re sure?” Mackenzie piped in.
“Sure as I can be,” he shrugged, “I think Morgan is underestimating Chad. He’s expecting a corporate runner, tame, toeing the company line, but what he got is an ex-merc with the morals of your average ganger,” he smiled, “He might have spent time on the street but Morgan is a corp through and through. He’s forgotten that there is one thing more powerful than money for some people.”
Jensen paced back and forth, not looking at his family but more working through the thoughts in his head, “He’s Jay’s friend, one of the guys he used to run with, but he stuck with him through all the shit that flew his way. Got him information, kept him in touch with this side of the city. I thought he was a damned good data runner soon as I saw the notebooks filled with times, dates, everything. Thought he was a good friend when I met him. But now? Now I’m starting to think that I painted him square into a box just like Morgan did. He’s smart, street smart, and seems to have eyes everywhere in this damned company.”
“Ya know, Mac, there are times when I think I have a brother who can look out for himself,” Josh broke in, “Then there’s the rest of the time when he opens his mouth and we find out he’s as dumb as the rest of us!”
Mackenzie elbowed him sharply, knocking the breath from him, “Dumb as you maybe. Everyone knows it’s the women in our family who have the brains.”
“And spikes for elbows. Jeez,” Josh wheezed, “Shit, girl, you been sharpening them?”
She smiled sweetly at him, “Someone’s gotta remind you not to be an idiot. And given that Inez isn’t here, guess that job falls to me, doesn’t it?”
“Mac, stop picking on Josh. Josh, what the hell are you talking about?” Jensen asked, frustrated.
“Duh, dingbat, he’s saying get Chad onside and get him to feed all those nice vid feeds he’s got your way. Keep you grounded about what’s happening around here,” Mackenzie rolled her eyes.
Jensen stared at her for a second and then shook his head, “No. No, that wouldn’t be…”
“Right?” she said, stepping closer until she was right in front of him, “You,” she poked him in the chest with a bony finger, “You are too nice for your own good.”
Jensen found himself backing up until his back hit the wall. He straightened a little and manoeuvred himself away from her.
“You want Jay safe, yeah?” she said, “He’s got resources you don’t. He doesn’t appear to be pissed at you, so go for it. Think of it as a merger. You and him working together to make sure that JD Morgan doesn’t cut away the support structure that Jay needs to keep him alive. It’s obvious that he’s got some doubts about Morgan and that he’s kinda trusting you right now. Otherwise he’d have locked himself in that geek office of his and just worked out a way to get both of you outta Jay’s life. But instead, he came to visit you. Had a chat about what a jerk Morgan is being and gave you an opportunity to find out some stuff you needed to hear. Now grow a pair and see if he can help you out!”
She stepped back, looking between her brothers, “I swear, sometimes you men! Gah! I’m going. All this testosterone… I’m gonna go find Meg before my IQ drops as low as yours.”
With that she turned on her heel and walked towards the door. Jensen could still hear her muttering curses under her breath. He flicked a glance at Josh who just shrugged. He made his way to the bag beside Jensen’s gun holster and pulled out a pair of martial arts training mitts and tossed them over to Jensen.
“Come on, it’ll help you work it out.”
Jensen sighed and pulled on first one and then the other mitt. They were heavy, thick across the back of his hands where the padding sat. His palms were covered in a Lycra polymer that let him clench and flex his hand normally. He steepled his uncovered fingers and used them to push the mitts down until they felt comfortable. Josh had retrieved his own set and was throwing some practice swings.
They didn’t talk until they reached the practice mats and even then, it was just a quick question to make sure that they were ready. Josh took the first punch and Jensen dodged it easily, skipping back out of the way. Another roundhouse and then an uppercut, but again Jensen dodged, eyes searching for an opening.
“Okay, so you trust him,” Josh said as he moved around the mat.
“I guess,” Jensen answered, sending a quick jab against Josh’s defences.
Josh blocked easily, “That wasn’t a question, Jen. You listened to him and the fact that you’re still thinking about it means that there’s some trust there. Not saying you’re about to dump Jay and hook up with him or anything but you’re willing to hear what he has to say. Says something.”
Jensen guarded his face with his hands as Josh swung, absorbing the blows on his arms and mitts. He slipped a hook under his brother’s defences.
“He’s Jay’s friend, not mine.”
Josh stepped back, stretching his neck and rubbing the pad of his mitt over his chin where Jensen had connected.
“’Cause a guy can only have one friend? Take him for a beer. Watch the game together,” Josh suggested. “Let him talk about processors or whatever it is that geeks talk about.”
Jensen stretched his left arm out, rotating the shoulder to loosen up a small muscle twinge, “I could do that. Bring Jared in too. Make it a relaxation evening. A night off. Just the six of us.”
Josh frowned, “Six?”
“Yeah,” Jensen nodded, “You, me, Jared, Chad, Meg and Mac.”
“Sounds good. Tonight?” Josh asked him.
Jensen considered it for a second as he moved a little closer to Josh, watching for an opportunity. He let loose a flurry of crosses and hooks, hardly giving Josh enough time to block, let alone counter and followed it up with a kick to the ribs. Josh bent forward to protect himself and bent right into Jensen’s waiting knee. Straight hit to the solar plexus and Josh was down, groaning loudly.
“Yeah, I think tonight would be good,” Jensen nodded, holding his hand out to help Josh back to his feet, “Jay’s been working hard for the past couple of weeks and Meg’s been putting in long hours trying to understand the rats nest that is this company. Definitely time to pick up a sixer and kick back.”
He was feeling… Not better but more settled.
“So, I’m thinking of going with Jason if it’s a boy,” Josh said changing the subject and poking his chest where Jensen had connected.
Jensen dropped his guard, inviting Josh to take a shot, “Jason?”
Josh nodded but made no move, “Or Jaime if it’s a girl.”
“There are other letters in the alphabet, you know?”
“Yeah, I know, but what can I say… I’m partial to J,” he smirked. “Inez wants a couple of names before I head out. Take some of the pressure off her.”
“You know whatever you pick, she isn’t gonna like it,” Jensen joked.
Josh shrugged, “I have a plan for that. Wait for her to fall asleep after the birth, swoop in and name them before she wakes up.”
“That’s a stupid plan,” Jensen shook his head, smiling. “She’s gonna kill you.”
“Probably, but ya know… I’ll leave the middle names to her,” Josh pulled off the mitts and grabbed a towel, tossing it to Jensen before grabbing another for himself.
Jensen frowned a little, puzzled, as his eyes followed Josh. He’d socked him hard but not hard enough for him to need to call their training session just as it was getting started. He opened his mouth to ask if Josh was alright - last thing he wanted to do was to hurt his brother - but the look on his face stopped him.
“I gotta head back soon,” Josh said quietly, “It’s the last few weeks. I need to be there. You understand, right?”
Jensen sighed as he towelled off the nape of his neck, “You should. Inez will need you, and Momma will kill you if you’re not there for the big day.”
“Yeah,” Josh looked a little distant, “I just… I won’t be here for you.”
“No, ‘cause you’re about to be responsible for something a hell of a lot more important than your baby brother, Josh,” Jensen tapped him on the shoulder, “Don’t worry about it. I’m watching out for Mac. And I have the number for the family if I need it. Go home. Take care of Inez.”
“I’m going on Friday.”
Two days. Sooner than Jensen thought but damned if he’d stand in his brother's way. This was huge and if he was Josh, he would have been back at the camp soon as they’d taken the building back. Would have left a fairly big troop behind but he’d have his ass back there so fast the road would be burning.
But at the same time, if it was just Mac here, the hosts of Heaven and all the minions of Hell couldn’t have pulled him away. The duties of being a big brother, he guessed.
He was happy for Josh, really happy, and he was looking forward to being the cool uncle. But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to miss Josh. He was. Probably more than he’d ever admit to his brother or anyone else. Josh had a way of defusing him that no one else could even come close to matching. And he was fairly sure that he’d need that over the coming weeks, months, however long it was going to take Jared to fix this company up and wrap it in a shiny bow for Meg.
“Take one of the cars downstairs. I’ll make sure Jay signs off on it,” Jensen said, wrapping the towel around his neck, “Keep it until after she’s delivered… Just in case!”
It wasn’t likely that something would go wrong, and even if something did, there was enough midwifery experience in the camp to handle it but Jensen would rather Josh have a good car, a new car, with corporate plates and enough ties to the CEO to get it through every damned roadblock the city authorities could throw in their way. A Trauma Team card in the glove box and he’d have everything in place. Just in case.
Josh nodded, “Okay. You’ll get everything sorted?”
Jensen smiled, “You handle the invites for tonight, pick up takeaway and beer and I’ll sort out everything else.”
“I… I… Thank you.”
Jensen shook his head, “Dude, I got the easy part. All I gotta do is sign a couple of forms. You gotta shell out for enough beer to get us all hammered.”
“It’s a tough job,” he smirked.
“I’ll talk to Jay. Need to anyway, let him know what’s what with JD. See if I can get him to pull back from Morgan a little,” Jensen said.
“Okay,” Josh agreed, “I’ll grab everyone else, get them upstairs. ‘Bout nine?”
Jensen looked at his watch, “Sounds good.”
It was just gone eight. An hour sounded good. Enough time to meet up and maybe meet up. Jensen waved his brother out of the room and headed up to the penthouse apartment he shared with Jared. He knew there was nothing on the schedule that evening, so if luck was on his side, Jared would be upstairs and up for a little conversation.
He stepped out of the lift and swiped his security card on the lock. The light flashed green and he swung the door open.
“Honey, I’m home.”
“Oh God,” a muttered voice floated out from the sitting room. “Jensen’s back. Damn. They’re going do that smoochy, cuddly thing now. Avert your eyes.”
“Love you too, Mac,” Jensen gave her a one-finger salute, “Jay about?”
“Kitchen,” she answered from her place on the couch, “He’s making me a club sandwich, and so help me if you get in its way, I will make it my life’s work to make sure that you never get laid again. Ever! I’m starving.”
Jensen walked back to the small, underused kitchen attached to the apartment. Really, it was a glorified counter with a microwave, and a beer fridge stuck in the corner. Jensen leaned against the wall and watched Jared wrangle ingredients into one of the messiest sandwiches he had ever seen. White sleeveless t-shirt, low slung jeans that just hung off his hips and no shoes. Jensen whistled.
Jared smiled, blushing a little as he looked over his shoulder, “Hey you.”
Jensen stepped forward, his arms wrapping around Jared’s waist, his front pressing against Jared’s back. He nuzzled into Jared’s neck, enjoying the subtle scent of the cologne that Jared had splashed on that morning. It was mostly faded now but was mixed with Jared’s scent, it was enough to get Jensen planning ways to get his boyfriend to forget the sandwich, push the girls out and pull Jared into the bedroom for some long overdue together time. But first…
“Hey,” Jensen said, “So I was talking to Chad earlier.”
“You've been talking to Chad?” Jared frowned, “Didn't think you liked him that much.”
“Nah, he’s good. Had a long talk with him. Well, not long but we got some stuff said,” Jensen hooked his chin over Jared’s shoulder, “He says that JD’s trying to kick me out.”
Jared turned around and hooked his thumbs into Jensen’s belt loops, “It won't always be like this, Jen. It’s just rough right now. Lot of things to change. And JD is just making sure everything is running smoothly. He’s not pushing you out. He’s just… No, he’s not pushing you out. He wouldn’t. He’s just not the most tactful guy in the universe sometimes. Doesn’t always think ‘bout what he says. He knows what you mean to me. He wouldn’t do something like that.”
“No? Well, any time I even get close to you while you’re doing your CEO thing, JD's there kicking me out. It’s starting to look pretty damned deliberate, Jay. I mean, if other people are picking up on it, it’s not just my imagination.”
He stepped back. Jared’s fingers stayed in the belt loops, trying to keep him close but Jensen needed a little more space.
“It's not like that,” Jared protested, shaking his head.
Jensen was trying to stay calm but he could feel the anger rising. Looked like this was more of a hot button issue for him than he’d thought it was. “Then what is it like? Anything could happen in there, Jay. Anything. Anyone in that room could be just waiting for a chance to get you out of the picture,” Jensen rubbed a hand over his face, “Just one golden shot, Jay, that's all it would take. And there would be nothing I could do about it.”
“JD's not gonna let that happen,” Jared protested.
Every damned sentence out of Jared’s mouth was singing the praises of JD fucking Morgan and Jensen didn’t want to hear that right now. He needed to get through to Jared. Needed Jared to see what the problem was. “Fuck JD and what he's gonna let happen. I can't protect you Jay cause I won't be in the room.”
Jared turned back to the sandwich and slapped more filling on the already overloaded bread, “You don't need to protect me, Jen, I can handle myself.”
“Then why the fuck is it Morgan in there instead of me if it's not to watch your back? Tell me.”
Jared had both hands on the counter now, his head bowed, “It's business, Jen, just business. He knows it better, knows who people are.”
Jensen sighed heavily, “It’s just business?” His eyes searched Jared’s face as he trotted out the standard street line. He didn’t even seem to realise what he was saying. Jensen pushed it aside. For now. There were bigger things to deal with. “Alright, so teach me how to help you do this. I was there the first night, reading files same as you. You're teaching Meg, teach me as well.”
“Jen...” Jared turned, reaching out to touch Jensen’s arm, “It's only a couple of months, then we're out of here. Sipping cheap beer in some rat bag apartment, curled up on the couch like we used to be. Just the two of us.”
Jensen closed his eyes. He really wished that they were there already. Sad to think that here he was, living the dream in a corporate penthouse apartment, and he’d give it up to squat in some cruddy apartment, dressed in battered sweats, just them, with the rest of the world locked outside. But the minutes were ticking by like hours and there didn’t seem to be an end in sight. So now he was just trying to make the best of it. But at every turn there seemed to be roadblocks. Roadblocks on top of roadblocks. He tried a different tack.
“This is part of your life, Jay, and I wanna be there for you, and not just as your shadow.”
Jared smiled, pulling him into a hug, “And I want you there...”
His phone cut him off, chirping from his pocket. Jensen watched him dive for it, flipping it open and reading the message. Jensen gave him space.
“Shit, it's JD,” Jared looked up, almost tentative, “I gotta take this. The China deal is about to go south. I gotta... I should…” he trailed off.
Jensen sighed as he watched Jared try to justify running out on him, “Yeah, fine. Go.”
Jared reached out towards him but Jensen pulled back.
“We'll talk about this later, yeah?” he asked.
Jensen couldn’t keep the hurt out of his voice, “I'll pencil it into your calendar.”
“Jen...” Jared tried again to reach out but when Jensen didn’t step into the touch, he let his hand drop. “Don't be like this.”
Jensen didn’t want to but it was hurting. Deep down. He was standing here, telling Jared how Morgan was trying to show him the door, keep him away from every important decision that Jared was making, and all he was hearing about was how he was overreacting. And all the while, Jared was running out the door and straight back to Morgan. He couldn’t do this right now. He just couldn’t.
“You'd better go. You don't wanna keep Morgan waiting.”
Jared hugged him awkwardly, and kissed him, “I'll be back, later. Just the two of us. Couple of beers, the game, yeah? And we'll talk. I promise.”
“Okay, Jay. Later,” Jensen forced a smile, “I'll be here.”
Jared let his hands linger as he stepped away, backing towards the door, “Love you.”
And then he was gone. Off to another meeting, with Jensen just standing there behind him, getting further away with each step.
His voice wasn’t much over a whisper when he finally answered, “Love you too, Jay.”
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