{Big Bang - J2} Dreaming in Cordite - Cyberpunk AU - 6

[deannawol]

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

~#~#~

“Don't you guys ever just speak in plain English?” Jared barged through the thick oak doors of the CEO's office. “I mean, it's ROI this and RAG that. Do you get to charge by the acronym? Well, you don’t gotta worry any more. I finally understand all that business shit!”

Christian's eyes snapped to Jared as he gestured wildly at the phone in his hand. Jared held up his hands to assure the older man that he'd stay quiet before flopping down in one of the padded leather chairs. He looked around the office taking in the expanse of black marble and chrome. Christian hadn’t had time yet to get the room decorated to his standards, the perils of running a multi-billion dollar company.

"Of course, Mr. Takamura," Christian replied, no hint of his annoyance in his voice, "I'll be sure to convey your best wishes to the family."

He paused, listening to the phone. Jared opened his mouth to say something but Christian cut him off with a finger. Leaning forward, Jared picked up one of the desk ornaments, a complicated perpetual motion device made of steel and copper that Christian had brought with him
.
"Always an honour, sir, and don't worry, I'll have the paperwork to you by the end of the day."

With that, Christian exchanged goodbyes and hung up the phone.

"Damnation, Jay, you don't just walk into the office and start cursing. I could have been in the middle of a meeting," Christian pushed a lock of hair back from his face, "You're just lucky that I was able to cover the phone on time."

"So someone hears me cursing, not like I'm the only one in the world to do it," Jared shrugged, putting the office toy back on the desk.

Christian sighed, "It's unprofessional, Jared. I've been busting my hump for the last couple a' months to get this deal sorted out and you could have blown it."

"Chill, dude," Jared frowned, straightening himself up in the chair, "As you said, you handled it. It's not like I didn't ask your secretary about it. Not my fault if you didn't schedule the call."

"Marie is my PA not my secretary," Christian corrected. “Secretary makes it sound like I hired her for her ass not her abilities.”

Jared shrugged again, "Christ, it's just a word, Chris. Lighten up!"

Christian took a deep breath, "Maybe you're right, Jay." He pushed his chair back, settling into the padded leather chair, "What can I do for you?"

Jared said nothing for a moment, giving Christian a chance to look him over.

"I've been thinking. It's been months, Chris. Docs just signed me off. Everything's back where it should be and JD's hired me a tutor to teach me everything 'bout business," Jared held up his hands, "Not saying that I know everything about it, but I'm getting there."

Christian leaned forward, his elbows on the desk, "Jared, I don't know... We have a couple of big deals on the table, not sure that a change of players would be the best idea."

Damnit, he wasn’t going to lose the Takamura deal or the Edelman merger. And he wasn’t about to let a kid swoop in at the last minute and take all his credit either.

"No, no, I'm not thinking about taking over those deals." Jared shook his head. "I mean, I talked it over with my tutor and he says that ‘continuity of momentum is vital when brokering large deals’. I get that you've done all the groundwork and that all the players know you and they're pretty much eating outta your dog bowl and I'm not gonna do anything that would jeopardise that." He smirked, "I'm stupid, Chris, but not dumb."

"You're not stupid, Jay, just..." Christian paused, taking a moment to phrase it diplomatically, "... Not ready yet.”

Jared blew out a breath, "Look, Christian, that was then. I was blowing off steam, rebelling against Dad, but well, that's not exactly an option any more." He stopped, lacing his fingers together, "He really wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I can't apologise to him but I can do what he wanted. There's a lot to think about, Chris. I got a name to live up to and I gotta make sure that Megan is taken care of."

Christian listened to the obviously practiced speech, "She's already taken care of, Jay. You don't need to worry about that."

"It's not the same, Chris. It's not just money. She needs to know that she still has family," Jared said.

"You don't need to step back into the business for that. Not this soon, you've got time to think about it. You've got options and I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't give you a chance to consider them."

Jared nodded, "I know, Chris, but I think I need this." Another deep sigh, "Just think about it, please. I'm not trying to worm my way into this office, or even into one of those fancy corner offices, I just need to do something. I’ve been thinking this through. I’m not ready for something big yet. I don’t know the fine detail yet. Don’t know the ins and outs of the business. Look, you can start me off as a junior manager in Acquisitions and Mergers under McFarland. That’ll give me a good starting point to learn from. Then in six months we can re-evaluate, see what else I need to learn. I figure it’ll take me about two years, maybe a bit more, to get around all the major departments. HR’ll be covered by having a manager role but I’ve already started looking into staff resources and optimisation, but without something solid it’s all just theory,” Jared shrugged, “Just think about it, yeah?

Christian sat back, fingers steepling, "Sure, Jay, leave it with me. I'll talk to McFarland and see what I can arrange. Not promising anything glamorous, Jay, you understand that, right? I’ll be stepping on toes down there to do this, but we’ll get you in there somewhere. Got a couple of deals in the pipeline. Could use someone I can trust on them."

"No problem, Chris," Jared pushed himself to his feet, "Thanks for this."

"Gotta do what you can for your family, don't'cha?" Christian smiled widely.

Jared grinned widely, "Well, in that case, I gotta go get myself a suit that doesn't look like it's a reject from some body bank corpse."

Christian smirked, "That might be a good idea, Jay. You want me to send someone with ya? I’m in meetings for the rest of the day so Carlson could go with you."

Shaking his head, Jared declined the offer, "JD isn't letting me outta his sight. Still. Not until he gets a solid lead on whoever it was that targeted us."

Christian pursed his lips, "Still no leads?"

Jared shook his head. Silence filled the room for a long minute before Jared pushed himself up off the chair.

"Really, man, I appreciate this."

Christian pushed away the thanks, "Don't worry about it. We'll have you corporate ready in no time flat, you just wait and see."

Jared nodded and walked out. Christian pulled up the security feed on his computer and watched the younger man share handshakes and smiles with the staff before meeting up with his damned bodyguard. The kid was learning too fast. Christian had figured he’d have a year, maybe more before the Golden Boy would come knocking on his door. This was all JD’s fault. Christian had a plan for what he wanted to say to Jared, a million little whispers to undermine the boy’s confidence but that bastard wouldn’t let him near the boy alone while he was recouping. Now he had to put up with Jared trying to shoehorn himself into a world he had no business being in. The board were still dwelling on the tragic events. If word got back to them that the heir was taking an interest, they’d never confirm Christian as CEO. He couldn’t let that happen, wouldn’t.

Christian reached for his desk phone and pressed the intercom. Marie answered with a polite 'Yes, sir."

"Marie, I have to check some of these figures before I jump on the next call, can you ask them if they can push it back a couple of minutes make sure that I'm not disturbed?"

"Of course, Mister Kane," she answered sweetly.

Christian let the smile seep into his voice, "You're a star, sweetheart."

Clicking off the intercom, Christian pulled his 'discreet' pre-paid cell phone from the locked drawer and scrolled down until he found the number under "Recycling".

The phone rang once, twice and then a silken voice answered, "Inez Consultancy, how can I help you?"

Christian tried to curve the edges of his thick Texan drawl, "I'm looking for some help with a little problem, something ...permanent. What kinda options can you offer?"

The silkiness changed, tone hardening into the voice of a cold, hard businesswoman, "Kidnapping is six thou, storage is another six per forty-eight hours. Wetwork starts at twelve K with additional fees for bodyguards, security bypass and any other complications. You get a two grand discount if we get to sell the body to the nearest bank. Price doubles if the end-client is high profile. Usual turn around time is five days, but that is negotiable though extra fees apply. Additional fees apply for any exotic equipment or supplies the contracter will need. This number is of course not to be disclosed to any other party without the firm's consent. The final fee will be calculated based on the information dossier you supply and penalty clauses apply if that information proves to be false or out-of-date. Are these terms acceptable?"

Christian looked at the numbers he'd scribbled down on the jotter in front of him, "That should be fine, ma'am."

"When can you supply the specs?"

"I can have it to you by close of business today if that's okay?" Christian answered after a second's thought.

"Good. Leave it behind the desk at the Alexandria hotel and mark it for the attention of Inez Consultancy. Is there a time-scale on this?"

Christian leaned back, looking up at the portrait of Gerry Padalecki, "As soon as possible."

"Understood. Please remember to include your preferred contact number and any relevant information regarding the time-scale and anticipated security details with the dossier. You'll be contacted with a quote as soon as the dossier is processed. The quote is valid for twelve hours from that contact. If you choose not to proceed, the information is destroyed and the contract is considered terminated. Any later attempts to purchase a contract are treated as an entirely new proposition. That good for you?"

"Perfect."

The only answer was the dial tone. It was more abrupt than he was used to but he wasn't paying for manners. Freelancers like that were only really good for disposable jobs and that was all he wanted. He'd put up with a brusque phone manner for a speedy removal of the kid. Christian looked at his phone for a long minute before dropping it back in his desk drawer and pushing it closed. He'd dump it after the hit; no point in taking stupid chances. He added the Takamuma paperwork to the 'OUT' tray and reached for the intercom.

"Marie, honey, I'm ready for that call now."

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