This is Not Your Mother's Presidency: Part 3

[bekkis]

Jensen toys with the idea of doing a couple of shots before going over to Jared’s place. He is considerably calmer than he was earlier in the day. He’s spent the last six hours obsessing over this relationship and wondering if this is even worth it anymore.

When he gets to Jared’s place, Jared has already changed into jeans and he looks exhausted. His hair is a mess and he gives Jensen a tired smile when he opens the door.

“I’m glad you came by.”

Jensen shrugs and leans against the back of the couch. Jared stands in front of him, arms crossed awkwardly against his chest.

“We can’t keep doing this. We let something so fucking stupid get in the middle of us.”

“I know.” Jared swallows. “Jensen, I’m really…”

“Don’t. Just. If we’re gonna do this and stay together, something’s gotta change. Because I can’t do this. I can’t fight with you and do my job. And neither can you.”

Jared nods.

“I think…”

It’s supposed to be a knock down, drag out fight. They’re supposed to yell and scream at each other. It’s what they’ve always done. Sometimes he thinks all he knows how to do is fight with Jared. But now Jared’s quiet and sad, and Jensen knows in his gut that this is it. Some days it feels like all they ever do is fight and this, this thing between them that’s kept them going for the last eight months, isn’t enough. When it comes down to it, Jensen’s tired.

“Well this sucks,” Jared says, laughing a little. He sounds sad, like he’s given up already.

Jensen turns away and wipes his face, and he can feel tears building inside but he needs to finish this before he can do that. He faces Jared again and Jared…God, how is he supposed to give this up?

But Jared saves him from having to say anything. He reaches out and cups Jensen’s jaw, thumb stroking his face. “We really tried this time. I’m not mad.”

Jensen lets out a short laugh. “I am.”

Jared wraps his arms around Jensen’s shoulders and pulls him close. Jensen buries his face in Jared’s neck and takes a couple of deep breaths.

“I’m sick of fighting with you,” Jensen finally says.

“I hate fighting with you. I always did. I’m just…I can be a real dick sometimes.”

Jensen lets out a short laugh and wipes his face. He pulls away and crosses his arms against his chest. He looks around the room, avoiding looking at Jared because he really just might lose it. He fucked it up again. He should’ve tried harder or not fought as hard. Should’ve let shit go.

“Jensen, c’mon. I can tell just by lookin’ at you what you’re thinking.”

Jensen rubs his eyes again and avoids looking Jared in the eye. Jared reaches out and lifts Jensen’s chin up to meet his gaze.

“It couldn’t last. I think we both knew it. We’ve been fighting non stop for the last…”

Jensen nods and takes a step forward, resting his hand against Jared’s heart. “All that…the high from the campaign. Winning.”

“Like we could do anything?” Jared smiles softly. “Yeah. And sometimes you realize it’s just not gonna happen. We can’t help everyone.”

“Sometimes you lose,” Jensen says quietly.

Jared nods and takes a step back, running a hand through his hair. His eyes are shining and Jensen can’t take this much longer.

“I’m gonna…” Jensen grabs his coat and Jared steps further back, nodding. Jensen wipes his face again before taking a few steps forward. He grabs Jared’s chin and pulls his face down, pressing his mouth against Jared’s, soft and sweet.

A goodbye.

&&&

Danneel and Aldis are already at his place when he gets there. Danneel doesn’t say anything, just hugs him tight, and Aldis hands him a shot glass, filled to the brim.

“It was Danneel’s idea, I swear,” Aldis says.

Jensen shrugs and takes the shot, throwing it back before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and handing the glass back to Aldis. He replaces the shot glass with a beer and Danneel pulls Jensen down on the couch. Aldis disappears and he comes back with two more beers and Jensen’s bottle of good tequila.

“So you’re gonna get me drunk?”

“That’s the plan. Stupidly drunk. And we’re calling in sick tomorrow.” Danneel pops the top off her beer and takes a healthy gulp. “Cause I almost got fired today.”

“And I have a speech to write for Thursday and I write better when I’m drunk.”

Jensen laughs softly and sets his beer down on the table. He buries his face in his hands, feeling like a stupid teenager broken after their first heartbreak. He doesn’t have anything left in him to cry out because he had a good old crying session in the car before he drove home. And Danneel and Aldis having his back almost sets him off again.

Danneel rubs his back and he can hear Aldis take the top off the tequila before he hands Jensen another shot. Jensen eyes it warily before taking it, throwing it back and swallowing quickly. It burns but it’s exactly what he needs. Jensen just broke up with Jared for good so fuck his job, fuck being responsible.

“Let’s get shitfaced.”

&&&

Danneel’s version of calling in sick means she stumbles out of Jensen’s apartment at 10AM and goes to work. Aldis is long gone too but Jensen has a feeling Aldis is really just sitting at his desk, laptop in front of him, passed out at in his chair. Jensen gets there not long after Danneel, his head still pounding and his stomach telling the cup of coffee in his hand to go fuck itself.

Just how he wants to feel today.

They’ve already missed the Senior Staff meeting but there’s a reason why Katie calls herself the best secretary in the District, because there’s notes ready for him that she hands over as soon as he gets to his office. Katie smiles softly at him and takes the coffee out of his hand and replaces it with a cup of soda.

“Go lay down for a little bit, it’s been a quiet morning.” Katie rubs his arm.

“No, I’ll take my missed calls.” Jensen rubs his eyes and takes the pile of notes from Katie.

She holds them back for a minute. “Jensen…”

He smiles at her. “Katie, the world’s still turning. I’m sure there’ll be another crisis in…” He looks at his watch. “Oh, twenty minutes? So until then, I’m going to catch up on calls and try to keep my head from exploding all over my office.”

Katie laughs and hands over his calls. “We wouldn’t want a mess in the White House.”

He smirks and pushes the door to his office open. He throws his stuff on his desk but he stops when he glances at the pictures on his wall.

There’s one of him and Jared at Inauguration, dressed to the nines and looking happy. Danneel had given them each a copy a week or so after it was taken and had made sure Jensen put his copy up in his office. She got him a cheap frame and everything.

It makes him want to throw up right now. He pulls it off the wall and hides it in his bottom desk drawer, under a pile of papers and policy notes. He shuts the drawer with his foot and sits down at his desk, his list of missed calls waiting for him. He rubs his eyes and goes to pick up the phone before he rests his head on the desk.

The calls can wait.

&&&

He was right when he told Katie that the world keeps going. The afternoon picks up and he deals with his hangover, getting enough soda into his stomach to swallow down some soup for lunch, before he goes to his first meeting of the day. Katie takes pity on him, directs the nasty calls to Jared’s office, and brings him snacks when his stomach starts to feel better. She keeps the bullshit off his desk and makes sure the only people in and out of his office are Danneel, the President or herself.

Jensen’s going to buy her that purse she’s been drooling over for months. He owes her big time.

All of Katie’s hard work keeps him from going crazy before his meeting. There’s a Senior Staff meeting, just him, Jared, Danneel and Misha. They need to smooth things over, move on and figure out what to do next. Jensen’s not sure getting them all in one room is the best idea but the President doesn’t give a damn. And he’s mostly right. Fixing it while they still have some control over the story is a good idea.

He’s just not ready to get in the same room as Jared just yet.

Danneel stops by his office early before the meeting and hands him a cup of coffee as she walks in. He gives her a grateful smile and sucks down half the cup before he even begins to feel like talking. She sits down on his couch, kicking her heels off. He sits down across from her.

“Tired?”

Jensen nods, leaning his head against the back of the couch. “Wasn’t the best idea to get trashed last night.”

Danneel shrugs and takes a long sip of coffee. She rests her cup on her knee and studies his face. “You doin’ okay, other than that?”

“Am I okay? Danni, your career almost imploded and you’re checking up on me?”

She picks at the lid of her coffee cup. “I can’t think about it.”

Fair enough. If Jensen thinks too much about what happened last night, he’s not sure he’ll be able to actually leave his office.

Katie knocks on his door and points at her wrist. “Sorry, guys…”

Jensen sighs and pulls himself off the couch. He holds a hand out for Danneel and helps her off the couch. She fixes her skirt and slides her feet into her shoes. Katie hugs him before he leaves the office and Jensen can’t imagine where they can go from here.

&&&

It is not the most awkward meeting of his life.

But it’s up there.

Misha really runs the meeting, because Danni’s still pissed and Jared is way too quiet. Jensen just doesn’t know what to say and the President just wants to smooth things over and fix his administration. Jensen just nods in the right places and sits next to Danneel, the back of her hand resting against his. Misha’s on her other side, Jared sitting across from them with his hands clasped between his knees.

It’s them against Jared, and Jensen would feel bad for him, except Jared did this to himself.

“Jensen?”

He lifts his head and looks over at the President. “Yes, sir?”

“I want you on the morning shows this week.”

Jensen just nods and he’s mentally bashing his head against the coffee table in front of him, because fuck, the last thing he wants to do is do morning shows this weekend. He looks over at Jared, total habit after almost a year of silently communicating during senior staff meetings and Jared has a soft smile on his face. Jensen forces himself to look away, because goddamn Jared for trying to make everything seem alright.

The President dismisses them all and Danneel grabs his arm, pulling him out of the Oval and back towards her office.

“Guys! Danni! Wait a minute.” Jared comes jogging over to them, past the President’s secretary.

Danneel surprises the hell out of him by stepping between the two of them. “Jared, can you just give us some space? This whole thing went to shit yesterday and you’re already poking around? Just give it a break.”

Jared looks like he wants to say something else. Instead, Jared nods, meeting Jensen’s eyes before turning and heading down the hallway in the opposite direction.

&&&

It’s not the easiest month Jensen’s ever had.

There’s the awkwardness between him and Jared. They can still work together, and sometimes they both slip into that banter, the back and forth that makes them really great together. Jensen just really misses Jared sometimes. And then he remembers how much they fought, how much they still do and how even when it was supposed to be easy, being with Jared was hard.

They couldn’t figure out how to work it out, how to juggle this job and their relationship. Jensen knows, in the long run, that it’s the right decision.

It just sucks beyond the telling right now.

Jensen goes into work every day and it’s like fighting a losing battle. Things are better than they were a month ago. But it’s not what he wants.

At first, he thinks it’s just the stress of everything; trying to make a friendship with Jared, keep the White House running smoothly, fixing all the trust issues between a staff that used to be best friends. Now they’ve all separated into these little cliques, Jensen and Danneel and Misha and Aldis, Chad trying to make things up for Jared but still trying to be Jared’s best friend. Jared being awkward and quiet. It’s honestly the worst experience Jensen’s ever had with these people because they aren’t a team anymore.

Even when he and Jared were fighting on the campaign trail, they were still working for the same thing.

These days it’s like they’re working against each other. Danneel’s trying to prove everyone wrong and Chad’s trying to smooth things over, and Jensen…he just wants to focus on his damn job again.

Jensen’s just kind of miserable right now and everyone around him is just as bad. It’s not the best thing ever.

Jensen spends a lot of his free time thinking about Jared. He walks around the city, thinking about what he did wrong and what he wants. He spends a lot of time sitting in the cold at the Lincoln Memorial, looking out at the reflecting pool. Part of him never wants to leave the city and he thinks about what Jared always says about D.C., about who was there before them and what they did.
Jensen thinks about the last year, about everything he failed to do and how many times he fucked something up for the President. Thinks about the hurt on Danneel’s face when the President pulled her aside and told her they thought she was the leak. Thinks about Jared storming out of his office, hurt and angry. He sits and watches the tourists trying to get the last few weeks of decent weather out of the monuments and thinks about why he’s there in the first place.

He remembers when he first came to D.C. and what he wanted to do, the people he wanted to help. He thinks about that year in Dallas, how miserable he was working for that firm and how it wasn’t what he wanted.

But neither is this. It’s been an uphill battle for months. The last time he was happy, really happy, was working on the campaign trail. Being out there, working out strategy, that was what he loved. Being back in D.C. has too many bad memories and Jensen doesn’t want to stick around for much longer.

&&&

Jensen starts hiding out in Aldis’ office.

Partly because it’s tucked away in some shitty corner of the West Wing and no one ever ventures out there unless they need to. Which means he can avoid Jared.

“Dude, this has got to stop.”

Jensen turns his head to look at Aldis. “What has to stop?”

“You hiding in my office. Because, dude, your office is like way nicer than mine.”

Jensen shrugs and takes a bite out of his sandwich. “I’m eating my lunch. It’s quieter here.”

“Okay, you’re totally hiding in my office. And I get it, massive awkward working with your ex, but c’mon! This can’t be worse than it was during the campaign!”

“You know, you’re supposed to be my friend and not annoy the living crap out of me. This means letting me eat my sandwich in peace.”

Aldis gives him the finger. “Man, what if Danneel finds you? That’s just gonna be worse than me.”

“Danneel’s got her own shit to deal with.” Jensen takes the last bite of his sandwich. He swallows it down before talking again. “I’m thinking about…”

“Do not even talk about quitting. Because I might have to hurt you. That is not the answer here.”

Jensen shrugs. “It’s not the Jared shit. It’s this fucking job.”

“You can’t base this off of a bad first year. I mean, c’mon! It’ll get better from here. Half that shit was all from the leaks anyway.”

“And what happens when it doesn’t get any better? I’m not doing such a great job here. The Wisdom thing almost got totally blown. I had to hand my ass to him.”

“Yeah, but that was Wisdom. That guy is hardcore. And besides, you didn’t lose that, you got the guy to back us up. You can’t base your entire career off of that.”

“Maybe I’m just not happy here. Did you think of that?”

Aldis closes his laptop. He stares at Jensen for a minute before opening and closing his mouth a few times.

“I just think maybe this job isn’t right for me. I think maybe…”

“Maybe what? What’s better for you?”

“It’s not what I expected it to be, okay? It’s hard. And no, I’m not, like, opposed to hard work. I just don’t think this should be this hard to do.”

Aldis stares at him for a full minute without saying anything. “Dude, if you honestly don’t think this is for you anymore, that’s fine. But don’t be weak and walk away just because things are awkward as fuck right now.”

“I’m not walking away because of him. I’m doing it because of me.”

Aldis nods. “What are you gonna do?”

He has some idea of what he wants to do. He’s just too chickenshit to say it out loud yet. “Haven’t decided. Maybe go back into the private sector?”

Aldis laughs and shakes his head. “Man, whatever you do, don’t waste away there again.”

&&&

He tells Danneel before he does it.

“It’s not because of Jared?” She looks worried.

“No, it’s not because of Jared. Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

“Because the last time it was about Jared and you ran out of town with your tail between your legs and didn’t resurface for years.” Danneel smirks. “Seriously, things will cool down.”

“I’ve been kinda thinking about doing this for awhile.” Jensen swallows.

Danneel rubs his back and hugs him close. “Whatever you do, remember that I am always here to be a major pain in your ass.”

Jensen laughs and hugs her back. “I could never leave you for good.”

No one seems surprised when Jensen quietly steps down. When surprises Jensen more than anything is that Jared doesn’t say a word to him.

Jensen leaves D.C. again, not as dramatic as the last time but it hurts just as much.

&&&

Two Years Later

Jensen paces his office, bare save for a card table and his laptop and a sturdy but uncomfortable office chair. He glances at his watch again and lets out a low sigh.

He really hopes this doesn’t blow up in his face.

There’s a knock on his door before it pushes open. Danneel pops her head in and grins widely at him.

“Very impressive, I like it,” she says and walks into the office. She glances around the room. “You have one chair.” She cocks her hip.

“I stole it from my apartment. I don’t think I used it once,” he says with a shrug.

Danneel leans against the wall, tapping her fingers. Jensen hasn’t seen her in jeans in ages, not since the campaign trail. She looks more relaxed than she has in awhile.

“You look good, Danni.”

She grins and pushes away from the wall. “So, I kinda have news.”

“Me too. Sorta.” Jensen grabs a folder off his desk. “But, uh, you better go first.”

Danneel smirks. “Is this going to fuck up your news?”

Jensen shakes his head. “Not unless…oh, just tell me already, would you?”

Danneel bites at her bottom lip. “Okay, so. I asked Misha to marry me.”

Jensen drops his folder on the ground. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.” Danneel taps her foot nervously.

“When’s the big day?” Jensen grins and reaches out to pull her into a hug.

“What makes you think he said yes?” she asks.

Jensen smirks as Danneel leans back. “You honestly think he’d say no? I’m surprised you asked him first.”

Danneel smacks his arm again. “I know what I want. And I got sick of waiting.”

“Well, it’s about time. Why didn’t you tell me you were gonna…”

“It was kinda spur of the moment,” Danneel interrupts.

“Well, I’m happy for you guys,” Jensen says honestly. He hugs her again and this time Danneel leans into the hug.

“Thanks. Now what was your big news?” Danneel pulls away and sits down on the floor.

Jensen smirks to himself and sits down across from her, crossing his legs. It’s probably the most unusual meeting he’s had since the campaign, but he can’t imagine doing this any other way.

“I found my first client,” he says, fiddling with the folder in his hands. “But I’m not sure if they’re in.”

Danneel tilts her head. “What do his polling numbers look like?”

“Not too bad. The primary run’ll be easy but they’ll be down eight points for the General. I’ve worked with worse odds.”

Danneel nods and taps her knee. “Fundraising?”

“Good donor base from the last campaign. The guy who had the seat before is moving up to the Senate so the DNC wants to keep the seat.”

Danneel smirks. “A Democrat? Damn, Ackles, I’m impressed.”

Jensen shrugs and turns the folder over in his hands. “The thing is… the DNC isn’t gonna just roll over and let me run this thing, you know? I had to get someone they’d trust me with but still be able to win the seat.”

“Okay, you need my help or something?”

Jensen hands over the folder. “Yeah, I need your help,” he says. “I want you to run for the seat.”

Danneel opens the folder and looks it over once before glancing up at him when he finishes talking. “What?”

“I think you should run for Congress.”

“You think I should…what?”

“Run for Congress. Specifically the Second District in Louisiana. You grew up right…” Jensen leans over and shifts a few pages around to a blown up map of the district, already separated out in blues and reds. “Right here. Which works out pretty well, since I want to set up our headquarters here.” Jensen points again.

“I’m confused.” Danneel closes the folder and drops it on the floor. “You want me to run for a seat in Congress. In the House of Representatives. Is this a joke?”

Jensen frowns. “No, it’s not a joke.” He opens the folder again and hands over a few pieces of paper. “You’ve got a really great shot at making up those points. You can win this.”

“Okay, let’s start with me not wanting to do this.” Danneel pushes the papers away from her. “I just left a high profile job in Washington and you want me to go back there?” She shakes her head.

“Don’t make a decision yet. No, trust me, Danni. Just take this stuff home, talk about it with Misha, and call me. If you decide you don’t want to do it, I get it. I totally do. But just think about it, okay?”

Danneel eyes him warily but takes the folder. “I’ll think about it.” She stands up and offers her hand to Jensen to help him off the floor. She dusts her clothes off before taking a deep breath. “I’m not putting off my wedding for this,” she says, poking Jensen in the chest.

He grins and grabs her hand. “I don’t expect you to.”

Danneel gives him a small smile and reaches up to pull him into a hug. “Eight points, huh?” She looks at the front of the folder.

Jensen nods knowingly. She sighs and pushes away from him, walking towards the door. She pauses and looks back at him, shaking her head before she leaves.

&&&

It should surprise him more than it does when Jared shows up in his office a few days later.

Danneel always had a big mouth.

Jensen leans against the door and watches Jared look around the office, hands buried in his pockets.

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” Jared cracks.

“There’s not exactly a lot of cash for office decoration.” Jensen leans against the door. “What are you doing here?”

Jared glances around the room again. “I heard you were gettin’ back in the business.”

Jensen shrugs. “Anything’s possible.”

Jared lets out a short laugh before shaking his head. “I never thought…” Jared runs his hands through his hair. “You hiring?”

Jensen’s shoulder slips off the doorframe. “Excuse me?”

Jared flushes. “I always thought we were a pretty good team. You know, when we weren’t trying to kill each other.”

“Or fuck each other.” Jensen immediately regrets saying anything at all, because Jared flushes again and looks away. “Shit, sorry. Sometimes I forget to think before I say stupid shit.”

Jared laughs a little. “Yeah, you always did that.” He looks at Jensen through his bangs. “You won that election, you know. We never would’ve gotten past the primaries without you.”

“Jared, we just spent the last…”

“I know, we haven’t spoken in two years,” Jared interrupts. “But we always…you need someone. You need a partner. Someone who isn’t gonna be afraid to tell you if you’re doing something wrong. You don’t have enough clout with the GOP anymore and you don’t have enough friends in the DNC. And if you want to run someone like Danneel on your own, you need someone with pull at the DNC.”

“So, you want in?” Jensen crosses his arms against his chest. “What, no perfect candidate just sitting around waiting for you to discover him?”

“Pretty sure you got to her first.” Jared taps Jensen’s desk. “C’mon, you can take on more clients this way. Make more money.”

“I’m pretty sure if I wanted to make more money, I’d get out of politics all together. I am a lawyer, you know.”

Jared laughs. “You mean you went to law school.”

“Yeah, whatever. Everyone’s a critic.” Jensen rolls his eyes, but he can’t help but smile.

“C’mon. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Jensen snorts. “Uh, we kill each other.” He shakes his head, but it doesn’t sound as crazy as it should. It would expand his client base. They could take on more together than he could alone. He can always push off the shit he always hated that came with campaigns and focus on what he wanted.

“I know that look. That’s your ‘Jared isn’t totally nuts look’.” Jared grins.

Jensen throws his hands up. “Alright, alright. This is on a trial basis only. And my name goes first.”

“What? Jared totally comes before Jensen in the alphabet!”

“Yeah, and Ackles comes before Padalecki. My name goes first.”

Jared laughs but holds his hand out for Jensen to shake.

“I’m going to totally regret this, aren’t I?”

&&&

Two days later, Jensen’s sitting in the backyard with Jared drinking a cold beer when Danneel stops by, Misha in tow. Jared and Misha disappear into Jared’s house to get them drinks and Danneel sits down on Jensen’s lawnchair, squishing in next to him.

“Okay Jensen, you convinced me. Where do I sign?”

Jensen grins at her and points to the folder in her hands. “Filing deadline is Tuesday morning. Can you get to the airport for eight on Monday?”

Danneel nods. “My momma’s already planning dinner,” she says, and pulls out the paperwork from her notes. It’s all ready to go, just awaiting her signature. She signs with a little bit of flourish, her teeth biting into her bottom lip as she signs her name.

Jared and Misha come back with fresh drinks just as Danneel finishes signing. Jared grins at her and taps his beer against the beer Danneel accepts.

“You know, I’m very proud of you two. Never thought I’d see you two working together again,” Danneel comments.

Jensen glances over at Jared. Jared smiles softly at him, hair falling over his eyes. Jensen would’ve never believed it either. Never would’ve believed that they could deal with all that crap between them, all that hurt and anger, that they could work together again.

Truth is, he needs Jared to do this and Jared needs him. Maybe they just aren’t meant to be anything more than friends.

“It’s because I’m so handsome. People can’t help but be nice to me,” Jared says with a grin.

“Actually, it’s because I’m so handsome,” Jensen interjects.

“We know it’s not your sparkling personality,” Jared cracks.

Jensen gives him the finger as Danneel laughs at both of them, spilling her drink all over herself. “Good one, Harris.”

“Oh god, why did I agree to this again?”

“Didn’t we already go over this? It’s this handsome face,” Jared says, waving his hand in front of his face. “God, you’re slow. It’s a good thing you’re running for Congress since they don’t require that much intelligence.”

“You two are spending way too much time together,” Misha says, looking between the Jensen and Jared. “His bitchiness is rubbing off on you.”

“It’s totally true.” Danneel finishes her drink.

“Actually, he was always like this,” Jensen says, taking her empty glass.

“Secretly bitchy?”

“I believe Jared prefers calling it ‘snarky’, but yeah.” Jensen grins as he knocks Jared’s leg with his foot.

Jared pouts. “I hate you all.”

“Good thing we don’t have to spend that much time together over the next couple of months or anything,” Misha cracks.

&&&

Eight Years Later

Jensen watches as Jared works the crowd, shaking hands and hugging kids as he works the rope line. Jensen shakes his head as Jared holds a baby up and kisses her cheeks before handing it over to his mother, hugging her close to him.

“Such a charmer,” Aldis says, laughing. “He totally has baby fever.”

“He tried to steal his nephew the last time his sister was here. The guy’s running for Senate and all he can talk about is babies.” Jensen shakes his head. “I’m trying to prep him for interviews on the economy and he’s asking me about genetic disorders to look out for. Like how am I supposed to know?”

“Well, your brother is a doctor.” Aldis shakes his head. “Man, we’re never gonna get out of here,” he says, watching Jared still shaking hands. The guy would stay there all afternoon if they let him.

Jensen checks his watch. “Yeah, my brother is the doctor. What does that have to do with me?”

Aldis is quiet for a minute. “Wait a minute. You’re in politics. And a lawyer. You know, sometimes.”

Jensen shoves his shoulder. “Yeah, and?”

“And your brother is a doctor. So what, is your sister like, Ari Gold but like, a girl?”

Jensen gives him the finger. “Don’t even go there.”

“You’re like the Republican version of the Emanuel family!” Aldis claps his hands. “Oh, man, that is awesome.”

“I hate you.”

“Are you gonna let him stay out there all night?” Katie steps up next to Jensen, scrolling through emails on her phone. “We have important things to do. People to see.”

“Did you get the polling numbers yet?” Jensen nudges her arm.

“Hmm, I’m not sure.” Katie looks up, wicked grin on her face. “You mean the polling numbers I have right here in this folder?” She holds a folder up in front of Jensen. “These polling numbers?”

Jensen grabs them out of her hand. “It’s about damn time.”

“Hey!” Katie punches his arm. “Ask nicely next time.”

Jensen rolls his eyes but he’s too busy reading the numbers to get too worked up over it. “Alright, get him out of there.”

Aldis and Katie exchange a look before Jensen turns and walks back towards the cars, sliding into the backseat and putting the folder on the seat. He turns his phone on silent and rests his head back, waiting for Jared to get into the car.

It’s a few minutes before Jared climbs into the car, rambling away on his cell before sliding into the seat next to Jensen. He says goodbye and turns the phone off, dropping it onto the seat.

“So, how did I do?” Jared turns to face Jensen. “Did I totally bomb?”

Jensen shrugs and picks at his fingernails, avoiding Jared’s eyes.

“Jensen, what’s up?”

Jensen pushes the folder towards Jared, who picks it up and opens it warily. He watches as Jared’s jaw drops, turning to face Jensen again.

“Holy shit.”

Jensen grins and grabs the folder away and he can hear Katie and Aldis walking up to the car, arguing loudly before getting in.

“Guess we’re gonna be employed for a few more months?” Katie asks, turning around to look at both of them.

“You did say you wanted to move back to D.C.,” Jared says. “I guess you got your wish.”

Katie and Aldis are busy celebrating in the front seat, and Aldis tells the driver to turn up the radio as Jensen turns to look at Jared again.

“This might put a kink in your big plans with your husband. Is he gonna be bummed when you tell him?”

Jared shrugs, rubbing the back of his cell phone with his thumb. “He’ll understand. Hell, he was the one that told me to run in the first place. It’s not like we can’t still go through with it.”

“It’ll be hard.”

Jared grins at Jensen. “Yeah, but we’ll have Uncle Jensen to help us.” He knocks Jensen’s shoulder with his own. “After all, you did make a promise. You said you’d babysit for me and in turn, I’d run for the seat.”

“I was hoping you’d forget about that.”

Jensen smirks and settles back in his seat, watching Katie and Aldis dance in the seat in front of them. They’ve got another three weeks to go, but Jared’s going to win and Jensen will be back in D.C. with his best friend and a new agency. It’s not what he thought he wanted but looking back, it’s everything.

“You always did keep your promises.”

Acknowledgments

Thank you, thank you, thank you to audaciously. I'm not even kidding when I say I cannot thank her enough. She betaed this at the last minute, fixed all my crappy grammar, and listened to me bitch and whine about this verse for months. I really couldn't have finished this without her. Danielle, I owe you big time<3

Thank you also to bflyw, who was so understanding about my last-minuteness. I really love the finished product. Thank you so, so much for all your hard work!

And thank you to everyone who enjoyed the first fic! I had such a great experience with Big Bang last year that I had to do it again this year!

Part One | Part Two| Part Three | Art | Masterpost