FIC: Know Your Damn Constituents, Part 2 of 4

[bekkis]

Part Two



Present Day

To: jackles@gmail.com
From: jpadalecki@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Iowa Caucus

Speaking at Energy Commission on Friday, speech is almost done. Focusing on first timers and getting them to the caucuses more important than swaying consistent voters.

To: jpadalecki@gmail.com
From: jackles@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Re: Iowa Caucus

Energy Commission speech is good, like the section on bipartisanship (getting GOP votes on his energy plan wouldn't be completely impossible you know). Still need to connect to loyal Dems and convince them he's their guy. Need to plan a couple of backyard events; maybe through local campaign offices?

To: jpadalecki@gmail.com, jackles@gmail.com
From: thechad@gmail.com
Subject: Fucking Lawn signs

If I get one more email about those fucking lawn signs, I'm gonna choke a bitch. SIGNS DON'T VOTE. Maybe dump some money into stickers? Cost less? Also, need to open one more office in NH to cover every county.

Cash in Hand: $12,532,200.00

Am I fucking awesome or what?

***

Jensen's worked on a Presidential campaign before, but he's never worked on one like this. Instead of spending a lot of money on a fancy office space, or decent food, they're spending money on running triple the normal campaign offices. It basically means that their campaign headquarters are less fancy and more functional, and more often than not, they're pooling their own money together every night to order pizza.

Chad's their money guy, and he's a fucking cheap bastard. He's constantly cutting corners, trying to keep the cost of running a national campaign as low as possible. He's also always got a phone attached to his ear, trying to get donations from big time Democratic donors. Jensen's heard the phrase, "You've gotta be fuckin kidding me" more than is probably normal. He doesn't want to think what the Governor would say if he ever overheard one of Chad's infamous fund raising phone calls.

It's the end of the summer now, and after two debates, Jensen's not sure if they're going to make it to Super Tuesday. Right now Jared is going on about the next few months leading up to the Iowa Caucus. "We're going to Iowa in two days, and we're off to New Hampshire after that. We have 15 events to get through in Iowa. I emailed you guys the latest numbers out of Iowa. Our GOTV looks really good; we're hitting our goals for doors knocked and phone calls."

Beside Jensen, Danneel is scribbling notes on the memos in front of her. They've formed a sort of friendship over the last few months; she forces him to go out with the rest of the staff to get him to socialize. She also sees right through Jensen's bullshit, and it reminds him of Joanna.

Danneel slides a piece of paper over to Jensen. He glances down and scribbles an answer before sliding it back over to her.

"Danneel? What did y'all come up with?"

Danneel works with Misha as Deputy Communications Director. She and Misha make the perfect team; they both look good in front of the camera. Danneel is perfect at shaping the look and feel of the campaign, and Misha knows exactly what works for voters in Iowa and what doesn't work in New Hampshire.

Danneel also has the hots for Misha. It makes for interesting lunch conversation.

Danneel pulls some fliers out of a box next to her and passes them around the room.

"This is the lit for New Hampshire." Jensen gives it the once over before passing it on. It's typical campaign literature: all the right phrases and nice photos the Governor and his family.

"When is the ad gonna be ready?" Jared glances up from the flyer.

"Later today."

***

Later on, Jensen is with Danneel getting coffee. Jensen's stirring his coffee as Danneel pours fake sugar and cream into her own.

"I think...should I ask Misha out?"

Jensen resists the urge to roll his eyes because if Danneel sees him, she’ll dump her coffee over his head and make him buy her a new one.

“Danny, how many times do I have to tell you? You’re hot, you have great tits, and Misha’s easy.”

She smacks the back of his head and Jensen stumbles. He wipes the coffee off the front of his jacket .

“You know people always ask me, ‘Why is Jensen so quiet, he seems so nice, why doesn’t he hang out with us more’, and I can’t bring myself to tell them you’re really just a snarky bastard and you don’t have any other friends.” She doesn't look up from her coffee. She stirs it a little before taking a sip, shrugging and sliding the lid back on the cup.

"I have friends!”

“Chad doesn’t count. And I’m pretty sure he hates you.”

Jensen pouts at Danneel and she rolls her eyes at him.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure I hate you, too," she says, glaring at him.

He raises an eyebrow at her as he blows across the top of his coffee before taking a sip. She sighs and pushes her hair out of her face.

"I mean, you could try to be a little friendlier,” she continues.

Jensen opens the door for her. "I'm trying!"

"You're not. You run out of meetings when they're over instead of trying to actually talk to people. You eat alone in your office. You barely talk to anyone when we go out. People are getting the wrong idea about you. That meeting last week didn't help any," she says, taking a sip of her coffee.

The meeting last week that ended with Jensen storming out of a conference room and Jared screaming at him. Jensen ended up having to apologize the next morning at their daily staff meeting in front of everyone. Jared had just blushed and apologized for throwing a fit. It smoothed things over with the staff, but Jensen can tell Jared's still pissed. He has no idea how to fix this.

"I'm just...I'm bad at this stuff."

"Seriously. You spent how long on the Hill with no social skills? How did you get anything done?"

"Mostly by acting like a dick," he replies. She, thankfully, doesn't touch the Jared problem. He has no idea how to explain that one without looking like a complete asshole. He knows Danneel is itching to ask him about it.

"Jensen..."

"Seriously, ask Jared," he says, and he winks at her. They're back at the campaign office by now, walking back to their respective offices.

"I'm just saying, you could try a little harder," Danneel says. They stop in front of his office, and Danneel takes another sip of coffee. “Sophia told me about what happened.”

Jensen freezes. “About..."

Danneel waves her hand. “The whole...you and Jared thing.”

“Oh.” And this is where Danneel kicks him in the balls and walks away and he gets fired.

“Yeah, oh. I’ve never heard of two intelligent people acting so fucking stupid in my life. I mean, besides you being a registered Republican.” She shakes her head. “People are really gonna start talking and you two need to fix this. It’s gonna hit the papers and then it’s my problem.” Danneel takes another sip of her coffee. She looks oddly calm, but it doesn’t make him feel better.

“I know. I’m...trying. I really am.”

She studies him for a minute and nods. “I know you are.”

"Can I get back to work now?" Jensen grins at her.

Danneel rolls her eyes and shoves him into his office. “I’ll see you later Jensen,” she yells and walks away.

Jensen barely has time to get settled again when he hears a knock on his door and sees Jared leaning against the doorframe.

"We're going over speeches. Can you come help?" Jensen nods and saves what he was working on, closing his laptop. He grabs his phone and follows Jared down the hall.

Their campaign speechwriter is a guy named Aldis Hodge. The guy is really young, not even 30 yet, but he's already worked for the DNC, helping out with speeches at the last convention when he was barely out of college. He hooked up with the Governor about six months earlier.

"Oh, thank god." Aldis is standing away from the table, his hands clasped behind his head. Chad's sitting across the table, arms crossed, looking pissed.

"What's up?" Jared turns a chair around, sitting down next to Chad.

"Well, Chad thinks he's a speechwriter. Only he's really bad at it." Aldis gives Chad a look.

"I just made a suggestion!"

"It was a bad one!" Aldis rolls his eyes and flops down into a chair. "Here, tell me what you think. I think the jokes are hilarious, but Chad thinks it needs to be funnier." He pushes a pad of paper towards Jared and Jensen.

"This is for..." Jensen starts.

"That fundraiser," Aldis says, and Jared nods, and leans back to start reading. Jensen leans closer to look at the pad, but Jared gives him an uneasy look, and Jensen backs away. Jared keeps reading, laughing every once in awhile, before pushing the notepad toward Jensen.

"This is fine." Chad scowls.

"Chad wanted to add a joke." Aldis smirks, and Chad flips him off.

"It was funny! It's not my fault you have a crappy sense of humor."

"Hey! No one's ever complained before. Besides, Jon Stewart totally mentioned my Howard Dean joke from the convention three years ago on his show. So there." Aldis sticks his tongue out at Chad.

"So there," Chad says back and sticks his tongue out at Aldis.

"Seriously, I need a drink if you're gonna do this for the whole meeting," Jared says. Chad and Aldis both hold their hands up, and Jensen grins.

"I have a problem," he says, and all three of them turn to look at Jensen. "Did you really need to make all these jokes about Republicans?"

All three of them reply at once. "Yes."

***




GChat 2:22 AM October 20
jpadalecki: srsly chad, don't get us kicked out of the bar this time.
thechad: way to ruin my fun, fun ruiner
danneel: let's not end up in the local paper, k chad?
jackles: why do i hang out with you people?
danneel: b/c republicans are boring
thechad: and smell funny
jpadalecki: also no one likes you

***

Jensen checks his watch and stretches his arms up above his head. It's late, and in about five minutes, Danneel's going to walk by with Misha and force him to go out with everyone. He's in a hotel room in New Hampshire and they're doing a swing through the state. His suitcase is open on the floor, clothes strewn everywhere. It looks like a hurricane came through, and he's pretty sure the one suit he brought with him needed to be dry cleaned two counties ago.

When he opens the door, it's not Danneel standing there, but Jared.

Things have been quiet between the two of them. Jensen has honestly tried to work things out with Jared, but Jared does nothing but argue with him, finding flaws in everything Jensen says. Jensen alternates between wanting to throttle him, and wanting to jump him. Chad is giving them pissy looks every time he sees them avoiding each other, and Jensen knows they're days away from being shut up in a room to work out their problems. The Governor hates infighting among his staff and he and Jared can only fake it for so much longer. The days are getting crazier and crazier, and Jensen's not sure how he and Jared can keep working together if they refuse to speak to each other.

Jensen wants things to go back to normal with Jared, except this is normal for them. Avoiding each other, awkward conversations when they're in the same room, Jared pretending he doesn't exist. Jensen can't blame him.

"What's up?"

Jared shifts uneasily, and pushes the hair out of his eyes. He's wearing a dark green sweater, sleeves rolled up, and a pair of jeans that drag on the floor.

"Did you...some of us are going to get a few drinks. Did you want to go?" Jared gives Jensen a nervous smile.

"Um, yeah, of course." Jensen runs and hand through his hair. "Just lemme..."

"We're meeting downstairs in twenty minutes." Jared raps his knuckles against the doorframe. "See you then?" Jensen nods and Jared turns and walks away, glancing behind him just once to meet Jensen's gaze.

That was unexpected.



Two Years Earlier

"No way, we're not giving in. There's no way the Senator will sign off on this." Jensen knows he looks ridiculous with his arms flailing around but he’s too pissed off to give a shit.

"C'mon, I need this! We'll get another ten votes outta this amendment,” Jared yells.

"Yeah, and I said no way."

Jared's standing way too close, his hands on his hips. Jensen stands his ground, arms crossed against his chest.

"Don't be an asshole about this,” Jared spits out and starts pacing.

"Excuse me?"

Jared huffs. "You heard me. You won't budge on anything. You wanted to work together on this..."

"Oh no, I did not want this. The last fucking thing I wanted was to have to work with you," Jensen interrupts.

"Well fine. But the least you could do is make this a little easier."

"Yeah, well, if you could stop asking me for ridiculous things, then maybe I wouldn't be making this so hard." Jensen rolls his eyes.

Jared glares and walks over to him.

"I know you can't stand me. For whatever reason, who knows. I thought you'd be over the whole gay thing by now."

"Oh please, Padalecki. I couldn’t give a fuck who you stick your dick in," Jensen says, rolling his eyes.

"Wow, a first for the Republican Party! They're gonna kick you outta the party if they hear you say that."

"Fuck you! At least we're fucking honest about it. You all love to talk about being the party of 'inclusion' and all that other bullshit, but when it comes down to it, y'all are just as bad."

"Whatever. Look, there are about fifty other people I'd rather have to do this with. But I'm trying to make this work." Jared's voice is low and steady. Jensen rolls his eyes and tries to turn away, but Jared grabs his arms. "No, listen. I'm about thirty seconds from walking out that door, taking my votes with me. Then you can go back to your boss and tell him you were too busy being an asshole to get this done. It's your choice."

Jared's staring Jensen down. He's flushed and his hands are warm and a little sweaty on Jensen's arm. He looks more pissed off then Jensen can ever remember him being and if there's someone who's an expert on angry Jared, it's Jensen.

Jensen nods, and Jared takes a step back. Jared's still breathing a little hard, and his hair is flopped over his eyes.

"Okay." They just stand there for a minute staring at each other.

The door slams open and they both jump.

"What's up?" Chad dumps his stuff on the table, pulling off his jacket. Jared takes a few steps away from Jensen as Chad points to a tray of coffee on the table. "I brought you guys coffee." They both just nod and stand there. "Well, you're welcome, you ungrateful assholes." Chad pulls his coffee out of the tray and Jensen and Jared both reach over at the same time, their hand's bumping. They both glance up at each other, and Jared quickly grabs his coffee before sitting down in his chair, avoiding Jensen's eyes.

***

It's 2 A.M., and Jensen's sitting at his kitchen table. His laptop is on and there are a bunch of books surrounding him on the table. He's typing fast, taking a break every once in awhile to check something, before turning back to his laptop.

"Baby?" Joanna leans against the doorway, wearing one of his t-shirts and a pair of shorts. She rubs her eyes tiredly and yawns. Jensen pushes his glasses up on his nose.

"Shit, I didn't wake you up, did I?" Jensen glances at the clock on his laptop.

"No...it's late, why are you still up?" She pads over to the table, and runs her hand through his hair. He looks up at her, pulls his glasses off and rests his head on her stomach.

"Just working." She smiles at him and slides into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Come to bed." Joanna presses her mouth against his softly.

"In a bit." Jensen smiles at her.

"What are you working on?" she asks, pressing her forehead against his.

"The education bill. I'm just looking into some stuff."
She pulls back, eyes searching his face. Frowning, she stands up and mutters, "Don't stay up too late."

Jensen nods and puts his glasses back on. He doesn't look back at her as he pulls a book closer to him.

***

Jared's already sitting in the conference room when Jensen gets there. His laptop is open, and there’s a cardboard tray with a coffee in it. He's holding another cup, sipping as he reads something on the screen. He looks up as Jensen rushes into the room and gives him an awkward smile. Jensen nods at him and slides his own tray of coffee on the table.

"Uh...I got you a coffee." Jensen gives Jared an awkward grin. "Except I didn't know how you take it so..." Jensen dumps a pile of cream and sugar packets on the table and shrugs.

"Thanks." Jared pushes the cardboard tray in front of him across the table to Jensen. "I, uh, got you one, too."
Jensen laughs and pulls his jacket off and rolls his sleeves up.

"I'm sorry. About yesterday. And well. You know." Jensen rubs the back of his neck. “You were right."

Jared just shrugs.

"No, I shouldn't have..."

Jensen holds up his hand, and Jared stops talking.

"I looked into the energy efficiency thing, and you were right. It'll cost us upfront, but it'll save a lot in the long run. I'm not sure I agree with requirements for energy standards, but we should look into it anyway. I put together some numbers last night. I can forward them to you if you want?" Jared nods as Jensen pulls his laptop out.

"Look, Jensen."

"Let's just forget about the last few weeks and start fresh." Jared nods, and they get down to seriously working for the first time.

***

It gets easier after that, like almost coming to blows with each other somehow cleared the tension out of them. They still argue constantly, but they've managed to come to a mutual understanding. Jensen's backed off a little, and Jared becomes more laid back every day. It's almost fun working with Jared.

"We're not making any more progress tonight." Jared throws the whiteboard marker onto the table and flops down onto a chair next to Jensen's. They've been working on this for hours, back and forth between the two Senators’ staffs. They've finally started to come together, and Jensen actually feels good about this thing. It might not completely crash and burn.

"I need a drink." Chad rubs his eyes and leans back on his chair on two legs. "You guys up for it?" Chad looks at Jensen and Chris. It's about the last thing Jensen expected to hear out of Chad's mouth. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Jared frowning a little.

"Nah, man, I gotta get home," Chris says, packing his things as quickly as possible. Chad looks at Jensen expectantly.

"Um. Yeah, sure." Chris looks at him, eyes wide, and Jensen just shrugs. He's too wired to go home. Besides, he's getting used to Chad and Jared.

"Awesome, man"

An hour later, he's sitting across from Jared in a booth, picking at the label on his beer bottle. Jared's sitting across from him, doing the same. Chad's babbling on and on about God knows what, but Jensen's not paying attention to a word he's saying.

"And then Jared came out wearing a dress and that was the end of that." Jensen looks up from the table to find Chad grinning like an idiot. Jared punches him in the shoulder. "Well, neither one of you fuckers were listening to my very important rant about Ann Coulter." Jared rolls his eyes and drains his beer.

"Blah blah, she's evil, blah blah." Jensen laughs.

Chad looks at him, surprised.

"I thought all you guys worshiped at the alter of Ann Coulter. Or at least wanted to fuck her." Jensen rolls his eyes.

"Because every liberal Democrat loves Michael Moore?"

"I guess you're not a total lost cause." Chad drains his beer and gets up from the table. "More beer?" Jensen and Jared both nod.

"He'll be your BFF now." Jared grins and Jensen laughs a little. It's quiet for a few minutes; Jared's looking around the bar people watching, and Jensen's stealing glances at Jared, pretending to look at someone over his shoulder.

"So do the Cowboys have a shot in hell of making it to the playoffs this year?" Jensen asks. Jared grins at him and gets into a long rant about the Cowboys and the Patriots.



Present Day (The Night of the Iowa Caucus)

Newsweek: The Contenders

This week officially starts the Presidential Primary Season. Voters in Iowa will flock to local schools and churches to caucus, many for the first time...

***




"Oh god, I can't watch." Chad's got his hands in his hair, and he turns away from the TV. Jensen snorts, but his hands are shaking. Depending on what happens tonight it's either the beginning, or the beginning of the end. Jared's standing next to him, resting his hands on the back of a chair.

"Why is this taking so long?" Jensen asks, glancing at Jared.

"Because we're Democrats, and we like to make things as difficult as possible." Jared grins easily, and Danneel pokes his back as she walks by, before flopping into the chair Jared's leaning against.

"I think Misha finally stopped throwing up." Danneel nods her head towards Misha. He's standing across the room, throwing mints in his mouth.

"I thought he was all, you know, zen like." Jensen looks at Danneel, and Jared snorts.

"Yeah, except he's the one getting the phone call. So not so much with the zen." Jared grins down at Jensen, and he smiles back nervously. Jared has calmed down the last few weeks, the insanity of the campaign trail beating out his issues with Jensen.

Jared breaks his gaze and looks back at the television. Jensen glances over at Misha again, and this time, he's actually on his phone. Misha meets his gaze and nods. Jensen lets out a long sigh, because Misha's back to his zen like state, and Jensen can't tell what's going on just by looking at his face.

"I think he's got something,” Jared says.

Jensen feels his stomach drop as he and Jared make their way across the room to where Misha's standing. Misha hangs up his phone, and the three of them walk into the hallway, where it's quiet and empty.

"Well?"

Misha glances down the hallway before grinning.

"We won."

***

Jensen barely remembers anything from that night. It's mostly just a blur of excitement, Jared tackling him with a hug before running off and telling everyone, leaving Jensen standing there confused with Misha fucking grinning at him. Jensen does honest to God interviews, on CNN and MSNBC and even Fox News, because they're finally paying attention to the campaign and the Third Place Candidate That Could. Jensen can't believe the GOTV strategy he argued with Jared almost a year ago actually worked and that the mix of their ideas came together and won the fucking Iowa Caucus.

They don't even really celebrate, just stay around long enough for the Governor to give his speech and shake hands before getting into the campaign plane to fly to New Hampshire. Jared passes around beers on the plane, but when they land in Nashua, everyone's quiet and nervous again. Suddenly, he feels like they've got no time at all, just a few days before people actually start voting, a chance to prove it's not just a fluke.

Jensen kind of wants to throw up, except he's watching the Governor give his third speech today in a crowded gymnasium, and he needs to look professional. Jared's at the campaign headquarters being important, and Jensen has to stay with the Governor. The crowds had been getting bigger as they got closer to the caucus, but now that they're closer to the primary, the crowds are kind of insane.

Jensen watches the Governor wrapping up his speech, and checks his Blackberry, thumbing through emails.

To: jackles@gmail.com, thechad@gmail.com
From: jpadalecki@gmail.com
Subject: Re: South Carolina, Nevada

Announcing new endorsements tomorrow, GOTV looks fine, need more lawn signs?

"Jensen?" He glances up from his Blackberry to see the Governor standing there with his security detail. Together they walk down the hallway towards the SUV they've been using to travel. "Do we have polling numbers yet?"

"Just AP. We're up three."

"We gained three points?"

"No sir. We're leading by three points." Jensen grins at him.

"Holy shit."

***

To: jackles@gmail.com
From: jpadalecki@gmail.com
Subject: Super Tuesday

Did good on Fox News this morning, Governor on TDS tonight (\0/), and Chad is ready to go crazy re: lawn signs.

***

Jensen's running on about four hours of sleep. He walks into his office holding a giant cup of coffee and a bunch of newspapers and flips the light on.

That's his excuse for screaming like a little girl when he sees someone laying on his couch. The figure rolls off the couch in surprise and Jensen breathes a little easier when he realizes who it is.

"What the fuck? Hodge, what are you doing in my office?" Jensen places his coffee on his desk and shrugs his jacket off, throwing it over the back of his chair.

Aldis groans and rolls over onto his back. He stretches out and blinks up at Jensen. "What time issit?" he mumbles as he pulls himself up to sit.

"6:30. What are you doing here?" Jensen rests his hands on his hips and stares down at Aldis.

"Long story. Fuck, it's already 6:30? Fuck fuck fuck." Aldis groans and rubs his eyes. He pulls himself off the floor and eyes Jensen's coffee.

"Get your own coffee." Jensen holds the cup close to his chest.

Aldis pouts and stretches his arms over his head. "Ugh, fine. What are you doing here?"

"Um, I have work to do and I'd like to get it done before the phones start ringing. Also, this is my office. Why were you sleeping on my couch?"

"It's a long story." He looks over at Jensen and sighs. "Okay, you have the best couch! And the...flow in your office is much more conducive to writing than anyone else’s."

Jensen frowns and takes a sip of coffee. It’s way too early. "What?"

Aldis flops back onto the couch and pouts. "Nothing. I'll be outta your hair in a minute."

Jensen watches him pout for a minute before he takes pity on Aldis. “Okay, what’s up?”

"I have a problem,” he says, studying the floor.

"What kind of problem?" Jensen raises an eyebrow.

"A writing problem."

"Okay. It's still early.” Aldis glares at him and Jensen holds his hand up. "Okay, okay, so you have a writing problem. What's the problem?"

"The writing is..." Aldis rubs his eyes. "It sucks."

"Did you finish the..."

Aldis nods.

"What's the problem, then?"

"The other one. The writing is bad." Aldis picks at one of the buttons on his cardigan.

Jensen frowns.

"You have another week."

"Yes, but the Governor is gonna want to see a draft like, you know, tomorrow. And there is no draft. There's just...very bad writing." Aldis lets out a groan. "I'm fucked."

Jensen laughs. "Seriously, it can't be that bad."

"Oh, it's that bad. Like, the Governor fires me and gets Chad to write all his speeches bad.”

Jensen grimaces. Chad’s not allowed anywhere near speechwriting. He’s allowed to read them after and give his input but when it comes to the actual craft…well, Chad sucks at speechwriting. He’s not even allowed to write press releases. He’s supposed to give them to Danneel and she makes them fit for public consumption.

“Maybe you should go back to your place and get some sleep.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll go home and update my resume for when I get fired for being sucky at my job.”

Jensen’s pretty sure he’s going to regret this, but the longer Aldis sits around his office and pouts the less work he’s going to get done. It’s better to deal with this shit now so the kid will go home and sleep and be able to do his job tomorrow.

“Okay, I have actual work to do. So we’re going to go back to your office and you’re going to show me what you have and we’ll figure something out. And then you’re going to go home and sleep for a few hours before you go crazy.”

Aldis studies him for a minute and blinks before saying, “Okay.”

They walk to Aldis’ office, stopping only long enough for Aldis to grab a cup of coffee brewed the day before (and Jensen winces and holds his own coffee cup close to his chest).

Jensen stops short before walking inside. "Something's different..."

Aldis flops behind his desk and flips through a pad of paper. “Yeah, the whole..." He waves his hands over his head. “Whatever. I got distracted looking for education stats and ended up reading this article about the best way to arrange your office to create the perfect working atmosphere.”

“So you rearranged your whole office?” Jensen looks around the room with his hands on his hips.

“Mmmhm.” Aldis rubs his eyes sleepily and takes a long drink of coffee.

“You really need to go to bed.”

“No kidding.” Aldis yawns and pushes his laptop across his desk.

Jensen sits down in an empty chair and pulls the laptop towards him.

Aldis lets him read for a second before grabbing the laptop back. "Okay, you can't read this. It's very bad writing."

"Thank you for voting for me? I guess you were right."

Aldis puts his head down on the desk. "What am I gonna do? He wants to see a draft tomorrow!"

"So you have writer’s..."

"Shh! Don't say it," Aldis interrupts. He walks over to the door and glances down the hallway before closing the door. "You can't take it back once you say it! It'll just be out there, floating around."

"So you have...issues?" Aldis nods and Jensen laughs."Well, that much is obvious."

Aldis throws his pen at Jensen.

"Don’t be a dick. This is very serious.”

Jensen rolls his eyes and grabs a nearby pad of paper and a pencil Aldis is quiet for a few minutes while Jensen writes. A few minutes later, he pushes the pad back towards Aldis and sits back in his seat.

"This is a good start. I can work with this."

Jensen nods and throws the pencil on the desk.

"So, can I ask you something? And I totally blame the fact that I’ve gotten like, two hours of sleep in the last two days for asking you this but..."

“Spit it out already. You need to go home and sleep before you end up in the hospital from exhaustion. Then we really will have to get Chad to write speeches.”

“Why does Jared hate you?"

“Oh, for fucks sake...” Jensen tries not to roll his eyes.

“It just seems kinda ridiculous that two guys who seem pretty cool can’t be in the same room without starting a fight.”

“This from the guy who spent half the night rearranging his office furniture.”

“Okay, forget I asked! I was just curious and sleep deprived and now I know never to ask you again.”

Jensen sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “He has a pretty good reason. I'd probably hate me too." Aldis just looks at him and Jensen finally says, "It's...personal."

"Is it the gay thing? Cause it's gonna be a long ass campaign if that's the problem."

Jensen shakes his head.

"No, I don't have a problem with that. We just...we have some history. It didn't end well."

Aldis nods. "That's all you’re giving me? It didn't end well?"

Jensen shrugs and moves to get up. He points at Aldis and says, “Go to bed.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aldis says and Jensen slams the door behind him.

***

"Did you see Poblano's new numbers?"

Jensen looks up from the memo he’s writing.

"What? New pollster?"

Chad shakes his head and pushes his laptop towards Jensen.

"Nah man, just some blogger. But he has crazy numbers, and he was the only one who called New Hampshire right."

"You’re looking at numbers that a blogger put together? Seriously? What kind of cracker jack campaign are we running here?"

Chad laughs and flips him off. "Seriously, this guy is good. He's got his own site now."

Jensen looks at the site Chad's brought up and scrolls down.

"Oh god, not you guys too." Jared leans against the door to Chad's office arms crossed against his chest. "Seriously, did you not just hear me give my whole, 'polls don't vote, make more phone calls, knock on more doors' speech?" He just looks at Chad and Jensen.

"Oh! He updated! New numbers!" Chad says, practically bouncing in his seat. He points at his laptop.

Jared glances out into the hallway before running over to the desk to look over Jensen's shoulder. Chad gives him a look.

"Fine, you caught me!" Jensen laughs.

Chad scrolls down the page and says, "There's no way that's right. Indiana?"

A knock on the door shocks the hell out of all three of them. Misha is standing in the doorway, one eyebrow raised.

"Interrupting something?" All three of them back away from the computer.

"Oh, just, you know, reading some clips." Chad closes his laptop, and Misha just looks at them. "Okay, fine! We were looking at the polls. Shut up."

Misha laughs.

"Can we get back to running a national campaign for President and stop reading things on the internet?"



Two Years Earlier

Jensen's not sure how it happens. One week, he and Jared can't stand the sight of each other, and the next, he's standing next to Jared in a crowded bar, throwing back shots and making fun of Chad. He spends a couple nights a week in Jared's apartment, cooking for Jared and Chad, cracking jokes about Chad's mother and arguing about whether or not Jensen has a convoluted view of the Constitution. Jared’s not afraid to get into an argument on gay rights or gun control and Jensen’s actually kind of having fun.

It's kind of fucking with Jensen's mind. When they aren't working together or cooking dinner together or going out drinking, Jensen's trying to work against everything Jared works and stands for. Jared always tries to get Jensen to change his mind, and it doesn't always work. Jensen finds himself sometimes sitting in meetings with the Senator, almost ready to tell him to vote the other way. Jared's always challenged everything Jensen stands for, but it's different now.

It doesn't help that Jensen's starting to notice the wrong things about Jared. It's stupid. The first time, Jared was sitting on the counter in the shit hole apartment he shares with Chad, drinking a beer and laughing while Jensen fought with his stove. He looked young and happy, his hair falling over his face as he laughed. Jensen felt a pull in the pit of his stomach and had looked away quickly. Since then, Jensen can't stop just looking at Jared. His giant fucking hands, how his shoulders fill out his suits, watching him in bars chatting with guys, his eyes flickering to Jensen every so often.

He can't figure out what the hell is wrong with him. He gets laid often enough, and he's straight. He loves Joanna, but Jared gets to him, gets under his skin like Joanna never has. With Joanna, it's simple and easy. It's never simple and easy with Jared, and Jensen just assumes this is just another way to complicate things.

Jensen’s too old to be having a gay crisis. He's supposed to marry Joanna, move back to Texas, run for State Senate and have lots of little adorable blonde babies. There's no room for shit like this.

***

After weeks of working, they've finally managed to put together a bill that the Senator will put his name on, and Jared thought it would pass through a Democratic Congress. Jensen really thought he could get enough Republicans to sign on that the President won't veto it.

But right now, they're both freaking out, because they're short votes.

They're so close. The vote is scheduled for a floor vote in another two days, and neither one of them has really slept in the last week. They've pushed to get this thing through committee as fast as possible, and now they're short on votes. It's close, and they both need the win.

Jared makes a frustrated noise, throws his address book across the table and runs his hands through his hair. Jensen jumps in his chair.

"We're fucked. Fucking fuck," Jared says, starting to pacing. "Three votes. Three damn votes. The President won't veto, and we need three fucking votes. God dammit."

"Maybe...has Chad called..."

"Yes, and he's not budging," Jared interrupts.

"Joanna's still working a few angles..."

Jared sighs and flops down in his chair, head in his hands. He looks exhausted.

"I hate this job sometimes. We worked how long on this thing, and we can't get the votes? I can't...it's getting too hard. I don't know..." Jared runs his hands through his hair.

He looks exhausted and stressed, and Jensen can't explain why he gets out of his chair and walks over to Jared. He glances down the hallway, but he knows no one will wander by. He places a hand tentatively on Jared's back. Jared just sighs a little, and relaxes as Jensen rubs his back a little with his hands.

"Just calm down a minute." Jared leans back in his chair, and looks up at Jensen. "We worked too hard to let this thing die. Let Joanna do her thing, and we'll get our votes." Jensen grins down at Jared, who laughs a little, and closes his eyes.

"I just...I get tired of it. Some days." He rests his head against Jensen's stomach, and Jensen rubs his thumbs against Jared's skin.

"It's late. We can't do much at 2 A.M. Let's just go home and try again in the morning." Jared nods, and opens his eyes to meet Jensen's gaze. Jensen sucks in a breath, before letting go of Jared and walking back over to his side of the table. His heart is beating fast, and he gives himself a minute to get his breathing under control when Jared speaks up.

"Do you...Chad's at Sophia's tonight. Did you maybe want to watch a movie or something?" Jared looks hopeful, and Jensen fumbles with his papers and laptop.

"Uh, you know, I should just go home and crash," Jensen says, not quite meeting Jared's gaze. It feels awkward and weird, a tension in the room that Jensen doesn't want to put a name to.



Present Day

To: jackles@gmail.com
From: jpadalecki@gmail.com
Subject: Faux News

Glad we have you around to throw to the Faux News wolves. Did you see Papa Bear while you were there?

To: jpadalecki@gmail.com
From: jackles@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Re: Faux News

Well you can talk to Olbermann then. No Papa Bear sightings. I'm crying inside.

***

"I think we've severely underestimated this campaign. Their GOTV is unmatched, and it's like nothing we've seen before."
Beside him, Chad lets out a dreamy sigh.

They're all sitting around the TV, drinking beers and celebrating their Super Tuesday victories. In the morning, most of them will head back to Denver to start planning for the convention and the general election.

They're watching election coverage, and Rachel Maddow is talking about the state of the race with Keith Olbermann, Pat Buchanan and Chuck Todd. They don't put much weight in pundits. They really don't. But Chuck Todd's stupid electoral map cracks Jensen up and listening to Buchanan blow smoke out of his ass is always hilarious.

"I'd marry that woman," Chad says, with a dreamy look on his face.

"Get in line," Jared and Danneel say in unison.

Jensen laughs. "Who, Rachel Maddow?"

"Duh," Danneel says, giving him an annoyed look.

"Well, she's a lesbian, isn't she? So that works for you, Danny." He turns to Jared. "And you're gay. You don't even like women."

Jared shrugs. "I love her brain. Besides dude, it's Rachel Maddow,” Jared says.

"I could watch her all day," Chad says.

"Seriously?"

"Dude, she has a PHD. And she totally kicks Pat Buchanan's ass. She's awesome. Now shut the fuck up so we can hear her." Chad glares at him before looking back at the TV. Jared shrugs, but smiles and looks back at the television.

***

They get back to Denver early the next morning, and Jensen dumps his luggage on his hotel room floor before flopping down on the bed and sleeping for almost an entire day. When he wakes up, his head is fuzzy, and his legs are stiff from sleeping in jeans. He stretches and rolls over onto his back to stare at the ceiling.

He rolls out of bed a few minutes later and checks his Blackberry. Ten missed messages; most of them are boring campaign stuff, people looking for quotes or trying to book the Governor on shows. There’s one from Danneel and one from Jared.

"Hey Jensen, it's Jared. Uh, it's Thursday morning. I guess you're still asleep? Anyway, we're meeting up at the place to get some drinks tonight. Just thought you might wanna go. I'll, uh, I'll see you later.

Jensen stares down at his phone. He listens to Danneel's message (saying pretty much the same as Jared's message, except demanding that he hurry up and get his lazy ass out of bed), before glancing at the clock and padding over to the bathroom to take a shower to get ready to go out.

When he gets to the bar, Jensen ends up sitting next to Danneel, sipping his beer and watching Jared and Misha talking across the room. Jensen doesn’t even know what Danneel's ranting about anymore. He stopped listening about the same time that Misha's hand landed on Jared's arm, while Jared laughed at whatever apparently hilarious comment Misha made. Jensen crunches the napkin on the bar, and Danneel snaps her fingers in front of his face.

"Hello? Are you even listening to me?" Danneel asks, looking annoyed.

"Sorry, what?" Jensen blinks and focuses on her face.

"Nevermind." She pushes her hair out of her face and takes a long sip of her beer before slamming the glass on the bar. Chad stumbles over, his arm around his latest hookup. Jensen really hopes there isn't a reporter around.

"Ackles!" Jensen grimaces as Chad leans against the bar. "You look pouty." He kind of has been pouting all night, watching Jared work his way around the bar, talking to nearly everyone else but Jensen.

Danneel frowns. "He's been like this all night."

"I have not!" Jensen says, hands waving. He accidentally hits his beer, spilling what's left it on the bar. "Fuck."

"Way to go, Ackles," Jared says, coming up behind him. Jensen blushes as he mops up the beer. The bartender smirks and slides another beer towards him, and Jared grabs it before Jensen can. "I think we need to cut you off. We don't want you to pull a Chad and start dancing on tables." Jared winks at him and takes a long sip of beer.

"Oh, fuck you, it was one time!"

"Ooh, table open!" Danneel points to a recently vacated table across the room, and Jensen finds himself sitting next to Jared, his arm flush against Jensen's. Jared smiles at him shyly and pushes the beer bottle across the table.

"Sorry, I was just kidding." Jensen smiles, and takes a long drink, before settling the bottle down on the table. Jensen can feel Jared's leg pressed up against his own, and Jensen takes another long drink of beer. Two days ago, Jared almost stormed out of the middle of their meeting, and now he's sitting next to Jensen, sitting close and acting like before. Before everything went to shit.

Misha pulls up a chair at the end of the table and drops another beer in front of Jared, interrupting Jensen's tiny freak out session.

"So, Chad enjoys dancing on tables?" Misha asks.

"I hate all of you so fucking much."



Two Years Earlier

Jensen grins across the room at Jared. He can't believe they actually did it. They got this bill passed without killing each other. Jared lifts his glass of champagne at Jensen, and Jensen nods back, before Jared turns his attention back to Chad. Jared's got his suit jacket and tie off, wearing just a blue dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up and the top two buttons open. Jensen wants...he really wants to go over and press his mouth against Jared's neck.

If he’s allowing himself to have these kinds of thoughts, Jensen knows he’s kind of drunk.

Jared glances over at Jensen again, smiling shyly, and Jensen looks away quickly. He flushes, and Chris knocks his arm.

"Are you even listening to me?"

He nods, forcing a smile and sipping his champagne. He glances at his watch, half listening to Chris.

"Man, I'm fucking exhausted. I think I'm gonna call it a night." Jensen says, faking a yawn. He risks a glance across the room at Jared, who's watching him.

"You're fuckin' lame, dude,” Chris says, rolling his eyes. "Just get outta here." Chris pushes him towards the door, and Jensen flips him off.

Jared's still watching him.

Jensen walks back to the office, the halls bright but empty. Everyone's either celebrating or has already left for the night. Jensen's shoes squeak against the floor, echoing through the hallway. He flicks the light on when he gets back to the office. He's throwing things into his bag when he hears a knock on the door. He turns around and sees Jared standing in the doorway.

"Hey,” Jensen says, grinning widely.

"Can you believe we actually survived this thing?" Jared grins back, leaning against the door frame.

Jensen scratches the back of his neck, laughing softly.

"Not really." He looks up at Jared, feels his heart beat a little faster, a nervous flutter in his stomach. "I couldn't have done it without you."

Jared just shrugs and pushes the hair out of his eyes.

"You too." They stand there awkwardly, just staring at each other. "So uh, where's Joanna?"

Jensen looks down and crosses his arms across his chest. "Uh, she left a little while ago,” he says.

Jared grins and pushes away from the door frame.

"Chad's staying at Sophia's tonight. Come over. We'll watch bad movies and get drunk." Jensen smiles and nods.

"Yeah, sure. Sounds awesome." Jensen doesn't care that he has a pile of work waiting for him at home or that Joanna is asleep in bed. Jensen grabs his coat and turns the light off, following Jared down the hallway.



Present Day

Democrats Ready to Party in New Orleans

Democrats will flock to New Orleans for the Democratic Convention to officially nominate Governor Kyle Chandler from Colorado as their candidate for the Presidency. Chandler surprised many by winning the Iowa Caucus back in January and then went on to win the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. He sewed up his nomination on Super Tuesday.

There is still no official word from the campaign on who will be named as the nominee for Vice President, but rumors about...

Click here to continue reading this article.

***

Jensen stands on the convention floor, turning to look at the entire hall. He never thought he'd be here two years ago, but here he is, standing in the calm before the storm. The city's already buzzing with excitement and Jensen just wants to stand and let it all soak in.

Aldis walks up to him, bumping his arm.

"Pretty crazy, huh?" Aldis says before biting down on a Snickers bar.

"Really fucking crazy." Jensen grins, shoving his hands in his pockets. "How's the speech?"

"Man, you don't talk about the masterpiece before it's finished, okay?" Aldis says through a mouthful of chocolate bar.

"Alright. Do you need help?"

"No, I don't need help. It's in a very delicate state right now, alright?" Aldis finishes his candy, throwing the wrapper in a nearby trashcan. Jensen can hear the door to the convention hall open and a few minutes later Jared comes around the corner. He's wearing grungy jeans and a plain white t-shirt, his flip flops slapping against the ground as he walks over.

"You're not trying to sabotage the place, are you, Ackles?" Jared stands in front of them, hands in his pockets.

"You got me. I just spent a year and a half trying to get this guy elected to sabotage him at the last minute," Jensen says, grinning.

"Hey, you never know." Jared smiles and nudges Jensen's arm. "You ready for this?" Jensen looks around the convention hall one last time before turning to look at Jared again.

"Hell yeah."

***

Jensen glances up from his laptop and meets Jared’s eyes for the third time in an hour. The two of them are reading the last draft of the Governor’s speech. The Governor has his own copy of the speech spread out over a cheap fold out table and he’s steadily draining cup after cup of coffee.

The words are starting to swim in front of Jensen’s face. It’s the first night of the convention and they’re supposed to be out having fun. But tomorrow, Jensen has to lead a meeting with Conservative Democrats about their place in the party and how they can influence the Governor. He’s not too excited about it.

Jensen reads another sentence and writes a quick comment before glancing up from his laptop again, meeting Jared’s gaze. Jared licks his lips and Jensen averts his eyes again.

Jensen fumbles for his cup of coffee, draining the mug and placing it back on the floor next to him. The tiny room they were given in the convention center is a mess right now, filled with campaign posters and newspapers. There are the remnants of donated baked goods and food brought by supporters for the campaign staff that ended up being lunch for interns and senior staff the day before.

Jensen pulls his glasses off and throws them into his lap. He can’t remember the last time he was this exhausted. They still have weeks to go.

“I have problems with the energy section.” The Governor breaks the silence, looking up from his pile of papers. “It’s not...”

Jared nods and runs his hands through his hair. “I’ll talk to Aldis.” He glances at his watch. “Sir, you should get going. You’ve got that security briefing in the morning.”

The Governor nods, gathering up his papers before handing them over to Jared. He waves and leaves the room with his security detail, the door closing quietly behind him. Jensen glances over at Jared.

“God, I thought he was gonna spend all night on this thing,” Jared groans, tipping his head back.

Jensen snickers and pulls himself out of his chair. He flops down on the floor next to the couch and tilts his head back, hitting Jared’s arm.

“Ready for your meeting tomorrow?” Jared asks, resting his hand in Jensen’s hair.

Jensen tilts his head back. “Mmm, kinda. Think they don’t really want to be lectured by the ‘Enemy’, you know?” He closes his eyes.

“Yeah...don’t wanna admit someone who associates with a bunch of crazy people might actually come up with a good idea.”

Jensen reaches up and smacks Jared on the stomach. “Are you ever gonna stop making fun of me for that?”

“Mmm, doubt it. Comic gold,” Jared mutters sleepily.

Jensen’s still resting his hand on Jared’s stomach, and he feels Jared’s breathing settle down to a slow rhythm. Jensen matches it and feels Jared’s hand sliding down to his shoulder, thumb resting on his collarbone.

“Your mom is comic gold,” Jensen mumbles and he can feel Jared laughing.

They fall asleep together and Danneel wakes them up early the next morning, the door slamming against the wall.

“Morning boys,” she says with a smirk.

***

"This is the time for American dreams, for a new generation to stand up...

Jensen lets out a low breath, watching the Governor as he hits all the right marks on his speech, the convention hall going fucking nuts. Jared's standing next to him, his hands buried in his hair as he watches the stage intently. Aldis is pacing the floor, and Chad's standing with his hands on his hips, looking smug.

"The Republicans would like you to believe we're not ready for the changes I know need to be made. This is the time to invest in new energy, the time to make our schools the best in the world, the time to go to those far reaches of the world that have been ignored for far too long."

Jared looks over at him, grinning widely and looking so fucking happy and proud. Jensen grins back before knocking his shoulder against Jared's and focusing back on the Governor.

"It's time to bring Americans back into politics. It's time for each and every citizen to take a stand and get involved. For far too long, the lobbyists, Wall Street, and the millionaires have had too much involvement in our government, and it's time for a change. Tell Washington who's in charge; not the lobbyist bribing Congress with sunny vacations, but you, ordinary Americans with extraordinary dreams.

The hall goes crazy, and Aldis looks up and grins at Jared and Jensen. By the time the Governor wraps up his speech, Chad's already on his phone. Jared gives Jensen a soft smile and then everything goes crazy. Jensen finds himself running around giving interviews left and right, getting ready for a whirlwind of two months of campaigning.

***


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Part Three