{Big Bang - J2} Dreaming in Cordite - Cyberpunk AU - 8
Title: Dreaming in Cordite
Author Name: deannawol
Artist Name: sandrainthesun
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Characters: Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Sam Ferris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christian Kane, Various Others.
Rating: 18 Overall - Sexual situations, graphic violence in places and adult language
Warnings: Slash (M/M) relationship, oral sex, violence, off-screen death of a non J2 character.
Word Count: ~51,000
~#~#~
The phone call arrived three days later and was shunted straight to voicemail as Jensen finished out his latest contract with a quick double-tap. It seemed that Josh had spent the last couple of days assembling the information that they'd need, floor plans, blue prints and specs on the most comprehensive security system known to man. But luck was on their side when it came to the last item on their list, access codes. Turned out that Inez had rolled the Padalecki Corporation's head of security. He had been very interested in the little titbits of information that she had at her fingertips and fallen over himself to fund the counter contract.
Personally, Jensen didn't care who put up the money or what the reasons were as long as there was enough in there to put behind the bar in Jimmy's and give the girls a good send-off after it was all done. He could take care of the kids himself, find them a nice little hotel to hole up in and a couple of bucks to start a new life. That was coming from Josh's fifty grand payoff. Course, that was all assuming that they'd get the job done in the first place.
Jensen jogged back through the deserted building, zigging-zagging as all hell broke loose behind him. Looked like the gangers had found their leader. Tonight they'd have their final planning meeting and decide when the whole caper was to go down. Well, if he managed to keep outta the ganger’s hands, which shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.
Jensen had to admit that he was looking forward to this particular mission. He hadn't worked with his brother in quite a while but he'd been following his exploits on the late news. Josh had taken to the mercenary lifestyle late by comparison, taking the opportunity presented by Jensen's enlistment, to slip free of their mother's apron strings. If baby brother could run off to fight a war, surely he could settle in a nice city and do a little freelancing.
He'd been a good defender of their camp but most of that had been at their father's direction. As the main man of the camp, Ackles Senior ruled absolutely with no room for doing things in anything but the old ways. But he’d worked around that, making himself a good name in the family. Out here on the streets, it was a different story. Ya started at the bottom and worked your way up, inch by bloody inch. There was no one to shout at you when someone was sneaking up behind you or to give you orders when you hadn't a clue how to get around problems. It was all down to keeping your head and not getting your ass shot. He'd done well, they both had. And now they'd get a chance to work together. Sorta, anyway.
Jensen opened the trunk of his jeep and replaced the gun he'd just used. It would have to be cleaned before he trusted it again. Wetwork down back alleys was murder on the equipment, especially when the bastards didn't know that they were better off staying down. He'd had to use the butt of his gun as a blackjack to put this particular bonehead down. His drill sergeant would have had his ass for shooting after that but needs must and all that. Now, it was retired until he could check it in detail which wouldn't be for a while. Didn't really matter much, given that he carried a working armoury in the back of his jeep, but it was one of his favourites. Gun stowed, Jensen stripped off his splattered shirt and tossed it along with enough ammonia to make sure that it could never be traced back even if they found it. He wiped off his chest and hands with a few wipes, tossing the stained wipes into the dumpster before grabbing a fresh shirt. The material was worn soft through repeated cycles of wearing and washing. One of his old army t-shirts, still emblazoned with his rank and serial number, khaki coloured with a couple of holes around the neck band. It wasn't one that he'd want to be photographed in, but it would do until he got back to Josh's place and changed.
Finished, he pulled a tarp over the weapon's hoard and slammed the back door of the jeep and jumped into the driver's seat. He pulled up the back of the t-shirt and moved slightly until he heard the thunk of the vehicle link clicking in. There was a moment of disorientation as the heads up display overlaid his vision. Given that the jeep was almost as old as he was, he was lucky that it even had the connectors, so the simple, neon green interface could be excused. Maybe if he swung by his family after the job, he could see if they had an upgrade going spare. He'd definitely need to get out of the city once they were done and home was a better place than most. Besides if he left it much longer his momma was going to forget what her baby boy looked like, and he couldn’t have that.
He threw the car into drive with a thought and punched the accelerator. The narrow streets and alleyways posed no problems for him, even at the breakneck speeds that he preferred driving at, and in this neighbourhood, there wasn't even the threat of cops to worry about. They never bothered with the lower levels of the city, the slums, the combat zones, gangland central. Too much chance that someone would take a random pot-shot at them. Jensen grinned to himself and checked the sawn-off on the passenger seat. He'd like to see the ganger dumb enough to shoot at him.
Didn't take long before Jensen was pulling into the parking garage under Josh's building. He picked a parking space in one of the darker corners of the garage and pulled in, careful to reverse so that he was between the lines. Wouldn’t do to draw the attentions of an overzealous parking attendant. Using the heads up interface, he set the security mode on the jeep and unhooked himself. He slammed the door behind him and backed away from the car until he heard the familiar clunk-click as the anti-theft systems went active. They'd stay that way until he came back within range. A higher-tech system than the Jeep looked capable of supporting and a guaranteed nasty shock for any aspiring thieves. Jensen hadn't mentioned that little detail to Josh.
It wasn't just the car that his biometrics were keyed to, the elevator door, the corridor sensors and finally, the door to Josh's apartment. It still freaked Jensen out. He could deal with the car. Last thing that you need when you're running from a fire fight is to suddenly remember that your keys were in the bag that you had to drop because it was slowing you down. Biometrics made sense in situations like that but they weren't foolproof, not by a long shot. And you trust your house to them, everything you own in the world? Not likely. Not when there were hackers out there just looking for a challenge. Most of the survivors of his unit felt the same. There was something fundamentally unsecure about the whole thing. Most mercs preferred to trust old fashioned armoured doors and bolts. But if Josh wanted it ...well, Wasn't his place to comment.
The door slid open with a soft snict and Jensen walked in. Bypassing everything, he headed straight for the shower, stripping as he went. The warm water washed him clean, taking the speckles of dried blood with it as it fled down the drain. He stretched out, letting the heat seep into his muscles. After using up pretty much all the hot water, he snagged a towel and made his way back to the guest room he was using. He heard the apartment door open and close and the voices of Josh and Inez, arguing good naturedly over the new scrape that Josh had put down the side of his brand new WestWind - Inez' present to him for his birthday last week. Jensen waited until he heard the fridge door open and the snap of the cap off a beer bottle before he came out of the safety of his room.
Josh sat sprawled on the couch, remote in hand and flicking through news stations. He was a mess, head to toe, mud-splattered combats leaving stains on the beige couch. Hair uncombed and sticking up at odd angles where the muck had caught him. Jensen winced.
"Ya wanna clean up a bit?" Jensen asked, eyes flicking to where Inez leaned against the breakfast bar sipping from the beer bottle. His Momma would have made damn sure Josh wouldn't have been able to sit for a week if he pulled that crap with her.
Josh shrugged, "Does it matter? She's looking for a fight anyway, may as well give her a reason. Least then, we can get over it and jump to the make-up sex."
Jensen glanced back at Inez who had an eyebrow raised and backed off, hands up, "I'mma gonna chalk that up to you straight people being batshit crazy. This is waaay out my comfort zone."
Josh rolled his eyes. "Ya wanna get planning or you gonna run your mouth the whole damn night?"
Jensen flipped him off and turned his attention to the mountain of papers covering the coffee table. Buried in the middle of the documents were two key cards. Jensen picked up the cards and turned them over in his hand. They were blank apart from the company logo on the back.
"Courtesy of our mysterious benefactor," Josh threw in, "Master keys that should open every door in the building."
"Nice!" Jensen nodded.
"Wish I could take credit," Josh grumbled, "Inez asked him for it so that we can stay undercover as long as possible. No point alerting the guards before we have to."
“We got ourselves a backup just in case he’s playing us?” Jensen asked.
“Got the standard e-lock sets and managed to snag a couple of blank cards that’ll work on pretty much anything.”
"Good," Jensen shuffled the papers on the table, "Floor plans, schedules, everything looks good. Do we know where the targets will be?"
"Yeah, my guy gave us that info," Josh pushed a couple of papers aside as he looked for a specific page hidden in the middle of the mound of diagrams.
"The kids are going to be in the penthouse. There's one elevator up and a set of stairs. All code operated, including the stairwell doors. Head of security is a little anal on this one. And since the recent tragedy, he's stepped up his game," Josh pointed out the various sensors and points of interest on the blueprints. "There are cameras everywhere, so we have to decide whether we need to spoof them or go with something subtler."
"I figure we may get further with uniforms. If he's stepped up security then it shouldn't be a problem posing as the new guys," Jensen spoke softly, considering their options, "I mean, it's not as if either of us haven't pulled security jobs before. We can talk a good game and I know at least I can back it up."
Josh thumped his brother on the arm. "Y'all won't be so cocky once I'm through kicking your ass, little brother."
The boys, and later Inez, poured over the various prints, committing them to memory. If everything went to plan, Jensen would get there first. That was assuming that everything went to plan. But both of them could think on their feet and for everything else there was sub-voc mikes.
It was almost dawn when they finally retired for the night. Jensen to his room, Inez to hers and Josh to the couch thanks to a couple of additional catty comments that he threw out. Tossing out a couple of spare sheets and a pillow that he wasn't using, Jensen rolled his eyes.
"Hate to say it but I warned you, man." Jensen smirked at his brother, "I'm starting to think your reputation is all bullshit. How's it feel to know your gay brother knows woman better than you? "
"Dick!" Josh replied as he shook out the sheets over the muddied couch.
"Three words, Josh," Jensen advised, "Breakfast. In. Bed. Works wonder. Of course, so does not fucking up in the first place. I'd make Momma's pancakes and some damn good coffee. Throw in an apology and you might just have a place to curl up after the run."
Josh waved him off, "Yeah, yeah. Smartass. Not that I'm not saying y'all might be right."
"Might be?" Jensen teased, "Up to you, but you'd be a damn fool not to. Never, ever cross the girl who knows where you keep your weaponry, dude. That's like Dad's Golden Rule on relationships. How the fuck did you manage to miss it? He only told us that like every day of our lives?"
Leaving Josh to stew on the sofa, Jensen said goodnight to Inez and flopped into his bed. The clock clicked over to six am and Jensen yawned. His run hadn't exactly been taxing but he was sleepy. Nothing left to plan and he needed sleep if he was going to be any use on the run. Least five or six hours if he wanted to keep himself alive, let alone anyone else.
Master Fic Post | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Epilogue | Master Art Post | Soundtrack
Author Name: deannawol
Artist Name: sandrainthesun
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Characters: Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Sam Ferris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christian Kane, Various Others.
Rating: 18 Overall - Sexual situations, graphic violence in places and adult language
Warnings: Slash (M/M) relationship, oral sex, violence, off-screen death of a non J2 character.
Word Count: ~51,000
~#~#~
The phone call arrived three days later and was shunted straight to voicemail as Jensen finished out his latest contract with a quick double-tap. It seemed that Josh had spent the last couple of days assembling the information that they'd need, floor plans, blue prints and specs on the most comprehensive security system known to man. But luck was on their side when it came to the last item on their list, access codes. Turned out that Inez had rolled the Padalecki Corporation's head of security. He had been very interested in the little titbits of information that she had at her fingertips and fallen over himself to fund the counter contract.
Personally, Jensen didn't care who put up the money or what the reasons were as long as there was enough in there to put behind the bar in Jimmy's and give the girls a good send-off after it was all done. He could take care of the kids himself, find them a nice little hotel to hole up in and a couple of bucks to start a new life. That was coming from Josh's fifty grand payoff. Course, that was all assuming that they'd get the job done in the first place.
Jensen jogged back through the deserted building, zigging-zagging as all hell broke loose behind him. Looked like the gangers had found their leader. Tonight they'd have their final planning meeting and decide when the whole caper was to go down. Well, if he managed to keep outta the ganger’s hands, which shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.
Jensen had to admit that he was looking forward to this particular mission. He hadn't worked with his brother in quite a while but he'd been following his exploits on the late news. Josh had taken to the mercenary lifestyle late by comparison, taking the opportunity presented by Jensen's enlistment, to slip free of their mother's apron strings. If baby brother could run off to fight a war, surely he could settle in a nice city and do a little freelancing.
He'd been a good defender of their camp but most of that had been at their father's direction. As the main man of the camp, Ackles Senior ruled absolutely with no room for doing things in anything but the old ways. But he’d worked around that, making himself a good name in the family. Out here on the streets, it was a different story. Ya started at the bottom and worked your way up, inch by bloody inch. There was no one to shout at you when someone was sneaking up behind you or to give you orders when you hadn't a clue how to get around problems. It was all down to keeping your head and not getting your ass shot. He'd done well, they both had. And now they'd get a chance to work together. Sorta, anyway.
Jensen opened the trunk of his jeep and replaced the gun he'd just used. It would have to be cleaned before he trusted it again. Wetwork down back alleys was murder on the equipment, especially when the bastards didn't know that they were better off staying down. He'd had to use the butt of his gun as a blackjack to put this particular bonehead down. His drill sergeant would have had his ass for shooting after that but needs must and all that. Now, it was retired until he could check it in detail which wouldn't be for a while. Didn't really matter much, given that he carried a working armoury in the back of his jeep, but it was one of his favourites. Gun stowed, Jensen stripped off his splattered shirt and tossed it along with enough ammonia to make sure that it could never be traced back even if they found it. He wiped off his chest and hands with a few wipes, tossing the stained wipes into the dumpster before grabbing a fresh shirt. The material was worn soft through repeated cycles of wearing and washing. One of his old army t-shirts, still emblazoned with his rank and serial number, khaki coloured with a couple of holes around the neck band. It wasn't one that he'd want to be photographed in, but it would do until he got back to Josh's place and changed.
Finished, he pulled a tarp over the weapon's hoard and slammed the back door of the jeep and jumped into the driver's seat. He pulled up the back of the t-shirt and moved slightly until he heard the thunk of the vehicle link clicking in. There was a moment of disorientation as the heads up display overlaid his vision. Given that the jeep was almost as old as he was, he was lucky that it even had the connectors, so the simple, neon green interface could be excused. Maybe if he swung by his family after the job, he could see if they had an upgrade going spare. He'd definitely need to get out of the city once they were done and home was a better place than most. Besides if he left it much longer his momma was going to forget what her baby boy looked like, and he couldn’t have that.
He threw the car into drive with a thought and punched the accelerator. The narrow streets and alleyways posed no problems for him, even at the breakneck speeds that he preferred driving at, and in this neighbourhood, there wasn't even the threat of cops to worry about. They never bothered with the lower levels of the city, the slums, the combat zones, gangland central. Too much chance that someone would take a random pot-shot at them. Jensen grinned to himself and checked the sawn-off on the passenger seat. He'd like to see the ganger dumb enough to shoot at him.
Didn't take long before Jensen was pulling into the parking garage under Josh's building. He picked a parking space in one of the darker corners of the garage and pulled in, careful to reverse so that he was between the lines. Wouldn’t do to draw the attentions of an overzealous parking attendant. Using the heads up interface, he set the security mode on the jeep and unhooked himself. He slammed the door behind him and backed away from the car until he heard the familiar clunk-click as the anti-theft systems went active. They'd stay that way until he came back within range. A higher-tech system than the Jeep looked capable of supporting and a guaranteed nasty shock for any aspiring thieves. Jensen hadn't mentioned that little detail to Josh.
It wasn't just the car that his biometrics were keyed to, the elevator door, the corridor sensors and finally, the door to Josh's apartment. It still freaked Jensen out. He could deal with the car. Last thing that you need when you're running from a fire fight is to suddenly remember that your keys were in the bag that you had to drop because it was slowing you down. Biometrics made sense in situations like that but they weren't foolproof, not by a long shot. And you trust your house to them, everything you own in the world? Not likely. Not when there were hackers out there just looking for a challenge. Most of the survivors of his unit felt the same. There was something fundamentally unsecure about the whole thing. Most mercs preferred to trust old fashioned armoured doors and bolts. But if Josh wanted it ...well, Wasn't his place to comment.
The door slid open with a soft snict and Jensen walked in. Bypassing everything, he headed straight for the shower, stripping as he went. The warm water washed him clean, taking the speckles of dried blood with it as it fled down the drain. He stretched out, letting the heat seep into his muscles. After using up pretty much all the hot water, he snagged a towel and made his way back to the guest room he was using. He heard the apartment door open and close and the voices of Josh and Inez, arguing good naturedly over the new scrape that Josh had put down the side of his brand new WestWind - Inez' present to him for his birthday last week. Jensen waited until he heard the fridge door open and the snap of the cap off a beer bottle before he came out of the safety of his room.
Josh sat sprawled on the couch, remote in hand and flicking through news stations. He was a mess, head to toe, mud-splattered combats leaving stains on the beige couch. Hair uncombed and sticking up at odd angles where the muck had caught him. Jensen winced.
"Ya wanna clean up a bit?" Jensen asked, eyes flicking to where Inez leaned against the breakfast bar sipping from the beer bottle. His Momma would have made damn sure Josh wouldn't have been able to sit for a week if he pulled that crap with her.
Josh shrugged, "Does it matter? She's looking for a fight anyway, may as well give her a reason. Least then, we can get over it and jump to the make-up sex."
Jensen glanced back at Inez who had an eyebrow raised and backed off, hands up, "I'mma gonna chalk that up to you straight people being batshit crazy. This is waaay out my comfort zone."
Josh rolled his eyes. "Ya wanna get planning or you gonna run your mouth the whole damn night?"
Jensen flipped him off and turned his attention to the mountain of papers covering the coffee table. Buried in the middle of the documents were two key cards. Jensen picked up the cards and turned them over in his hand. They were blank apart from the company logo on the back.
"Courtesy of our mysterious benefactor," Josh threw in, "Master keys that should open every door in the building."
"Nice!" Jensen nodded.
"Wish I could take credit," Josh grumbled, "Inez asked him for it so that we can stay undercover as long as possible. No point alerting the guards before we have to."
“We got ourselves a backup just in case he’s playing us?” Jensen asked.
“Got the standard e-lock sets and managed to snag a couple of blank cards that’ll work on pretty much anything.”
"Good," Jensen shuffled the papers on the table, "Floor plans, schedules, everything looks good. Do we know where the targets will be?"
"Yeah, my guy gave us that info," Josh pushed a couple of papers aside as he looked for a specific page hidden in the middle of the mound of diagrams.
"The kids are going to be in the penthouse. There's one elevator up and a set of stairs. All code operated, including the stairwell doors. Head of security is a little anal on this one. And since the recent tragedy, he's stepped up his game," Josh pointed out the various sensors and points of interest on the blueprints. "There are cameras everywhere, so we have to decide whether we need to spoof them or go with something subtler."
"I figure we may get further with uniforms. If he's stepped up security then it shouldn't be a problem posing as the new guys," Jensen spoke softly, considering their options, "I mean, it's not as if either of us haven't pulled security jobs before. We can talk a good game and I know at least I can back it up."
Josh thumped his brother on the arm. "Y'all won't be so cocky once I'm through kicking your ass, little brother."
The boys, and later Inez, poured over the various prints, committing them to memory. If everything went to plan, Jensen would get there first. That was assuming that everything went to plan. But both of them could think on their feet and for everything else there was sub-voc mikes.
It was almost dawn when they finally retired for the night. Jensen to his room, Inez to hers and Josh to the couch thanks to a couple of additional catty comments that he threw out. Tossing out a couple of spare sheets and a pillow that he wasn't using, Jensen rolled his eyes.
"Hate to say it but I warned you, man." Jensen smirked at his brother, "I'm starting to think your reputation is all bullshit. How's it feel to know your gay brother knows woman better than you? "
"Dick!" Josh replied as he shook out the sheets over the muddied couch.
"Three words, Josh," Jensen advised, "Breakfast. In. Bed. Works wonder. Of course, so does not fucking up in the first place. I'd make Momma's pancakes and some damn good coffee. Throw in an apology and you might just have a place to curl up after the run."
Josh waved him off, "Yeah, yeah. Smartass. Not that I'm not saying y'all might be right."
"Might be?" Jensen teased, "Up to you, but you'd be a damn fool not to. Never, ever cross the girl who knows where you keep your weaponry, dude. That's like Dad's Golden Rule on relationships. How the fuck did you manage to miss it? He only told us that like every day of our lives?"
Leaving Josh to stew on the sofa, Jensen said goodnight to Inez and flopped into his bed. The clock clicked over to six am and Jensen yawned. His run hadn't exactly been taxing but he was sleepy. Nothing left to plan and he needed sleep if he was going to be any use on the run. Least five or six hours if he wanted to keep himself alive, let alone anyone else.
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14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Epilogue | Master Art Post | Soundtrack