My heart bleeded, girl

Title: I see great things in baseball
Rating: R
Word Count: 8300
Pairing(: Jensen/Jared
Warnings: None
Prompt Title & Summary: #14 In Bed with the Boss

For three years, Kalera has been a model secretary to Duncan Royal, with only one hiccup in their otherwise perfect relationship: a one-night stand that should never have happened, and which both have tried to forget. Or so Kalera thought.
But Duncan is haunted by their one night of unbelievable passion, and secretly longs for their relationship to develop after office hours. As a rule, he can have any woman he wants—so he's furious when Kalera announces her engagement to another man! Whatever it takes, Duncan intends to entice Kalera into his bed once more—and this time it will be forever.

Summary: For the five years that Jared Padalecki has owned the Albuquerque Isotopes, Jensen Ackles has been his perfect assistant. Two years ago, they had a one-night stand. It was awesome, but they decided business and pleasure really didn't mix and agreed to forget it ever happened. Jared has no clue that he harbors real feelings for Jensen. He merely thinks that he thinks Jensen is hot, but when Jensen announces his intention to marry another man, Jared realizes he's actually in love with Jensen. Now he has to figure out how to convince Jensen that he feels the same.

Author's notes:Okay, I took a real minor league baseball team, the Albuquerque Isotopes – how awesome is that name? – and made up a bunch of lies about it. Or at least about the people who own it, work for it, and play for it. Their mascot really is a 6'5" red alien named Orbit, though. Title from Walt Whitman, on Union soldiers playing baseball during the Civil War. Many thanks to topaz119, who helped me dream this up. Thanks to ebcdic for such a fun challenge.

Also at AO3




"Jensen? Yo, Jensen." Nothing. Jared tried again. "Hey, Ackles!" Jared tapped his fingers on a printout of the attendance figures from the previous night's game and waited for his assistant to appear in the office doorway.

The figures were good, although Jared always thought there was something he could do to make them better. But it was August in Albuquerque, and he really couldn't blame folks for wanting to stay inside with their air conditioners blasting instead of sitting in the hot sun watching a baseball game.

Even a baseball game played by the most awesome team in the minor leagues. Jared wasn't one for false modesty. The Albuquerque Isotopes were a great team, thanks to their equally great owner, and his front office did their damndest to make every game an experience people wouldn't forget.

It was in the interest of unforgettable experiences that Jared needed to consult with his second in command.

"Jensen!" he yelled one more time, and a dark blond head wearing a red Isotopes ball cap finally poked around the corner of Jared's office.

"You bellowed?" the head inquired mildly.

"Where the hell have you…" Jared trailed off, momentarily stunned to silence by Jensen's hotness. He was generally able to ignore it, but it wasn't always easy.

It was casual Friday here at the 'Topes' home office, something Jared had initiated mostly because he appreciated the sight of Jensen in the tight, worn, holey jeans he favored when he wasn't dressed more professionally. The white button-down shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to reveal tanned muscular forearms, didn't hurt, either.

There was one hole in particular, high near the top of Jensen's right thigh – Jared jerked his thoughts and his eyes back to Jensen's face. Raising an eyebrow, Jensen waited.

"Um, right." Jared shuffled through the papers on his desk until he found the one he wanted. "Why the hell is Aldis at the opening of a new exhibit at a museum?"

Aldis – or, rather, Orbit - was the 'Topes mascot. Public appearances were his forte, and when he wasn't dancing around the infield to loud obnoxious music during a pitching change, he spent a lot of time at supermarkets and car dealerships and malls, high-fiving the kids and giving away t-shirts with the Isotopes logo on them.

Aldis Hodge was the guy Jared paid to wear the costume and do the dancing. Jared was lucky to have found him, as he was not only tall enough to wear the fuzzy red alien costume, but he was actually willing to do it.

Jared had the feeling Orbit's handler Beth had something to do with that.

"What, you don't think people who go to museums like baseball, too?" Jensen sounded amused, and Jared narrowed his eyes.

"I – it's the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, Jensen," Jared said, exasperated.

"Sounds right up your alley, boss," Jensen grinned.

Actually, that was true. Jared just happened to have a degree in Nuclear Engineering, which was why, when he'd inherited several million dollars from his great Aunt Tillie, he'd been unable to resist buying a minor league baseball team called the Isotopes.

However, that didn't mean that the general public was full of geeks like himself. He couldn't imagine there would be a big enough crowd at the museum to justify sending Aldis there.

"Don't tell me, it was Chad's idea," Jared said, shaking his head.

"Pretty much, yeah," Jensen grinned. "They should be back soon, and I'm sure Aldis'll tell you all about it."

Right on cue, a six foot five fuzzy red alien stomped into the room, a determined looking girl hanging on his arm. The alien shook her off as if she were a mere fly, making her blonde ponytail whip around in the air.

She spit hair out of her mouth. "Ow!" she said, punching the big red guy in the shoulder.

Aldis tugged the head of his costume off and said, "Sorry, girl, sorry." He turned to look at Jared, glaring. "Do you know how hot it is out there?" Gesturing down at himself, he continued, "Do you know how hot it is in here?"

Harley raised his head from where he was sprawled next to Jared's desk and growled lazily at Aldis. He didn't like Orbit's costume, and Jared guessed his cognitive processes weren't quite up to figuring out the difference between Orbit and Aldis, although his objections seemed pretty perfunctory these days. Maybe he was finally figuring it out.

Sadie just yawned.

"Sorry, Aldis," Jared said. "The museum wasn't my idea." He paused. "But was it awesome?" he asked somewhat wistfully. He'd like to go there, but he couldn’t find anybody willing to go with him. For some reason, people thought it might be boring.

Jared looked at Jensen and wondered if he might like to go with him. That would be nice, to spend time with Jensen outside of work.

"Wasn't the museum air-conditioned?" Jensen was asking.

Aldis shot him a deadly glare.

"How would I know? They wouldn't let me in, man, they made me stay out in the parking lot." Aldis frowned at the blonde girl until she moved behind him and started working on his zipper, rolling her eyes.

"Come on, Aldis. It wasn't that bad." She turned to Jared as she tugged the heavy fake fur costume down, revealing muscular shoulders in a white tank top, which Jared enjoyed in a purely professional way. "There were a lot of people there. It was a good place to go. Everyone had fun."

"Thank you, Beth," said another voice, as a tall blond guy squinted at them from the doorway. "I told you it was a good idea, Aldis."

"I wouldn't come in here, Chad, if I were you," Beth said warningly. "In fact –"

"In fact, I'd get my skinny white ass out of my presence, unless you want this sweaty-ass costume stuffed up your nose," Aldis growled, flapping the sleeves threateningly at Chad. Since he'd only managed to extricate himself halfway out of them, and they were caught around his wrists, Chad seemed completely unperturbed at the threat.

"Right, dude," he said breezily. Chad was the team's PR guy, and thus in charge of setting up Orbit's public appearances. "So, tomorrow you're scheduled to be at an assembly at McKinley Middle school – and yes, it's air-conditioned – and then you have the afternoon off so you can rest up before the game." Both his tone and expression implied that anyone who had to rest up after a school assembly was a total wuss.

Aldis looked momentarily stunned. Then he groaned and covered his face with his hands. "A middle school? Oh, Jesus, help me."

Beth patted him on the shoulder, pried his hands away from his face, and helped him get his sleeves the rest of the way off. "Come on, it won't be so bad."

"Do you know anything about middle schoolers, woman?" Aldis asked indignantly? "Those poor sixth and seventh graders, they have no idea what they're doing. They can hardly figure out how to get dressed in the morning. But eighth graders – do not get me started on eighth graders. They're like Satan's minions."

Beth continued to pat Aldis comfortingly on the shoulder, trying to herd him out of Jared's office while murmuring soothing words at him.

"Dude," Chad observed, wrinkling his nose in distaste. "That costume is rank. You're stinking up the place. Get out of here."

But Beth's attempts to get Aldis out of Jared's office were thwarted by Danneel's sudden appearance. Her idea of causal Friday was a tiny denim skirt with a form-fitting red tank top that even someone as gay as Jared could appreciate. As it was, his eyes – and everyone else's in the room - zeroed in on Danneel's cleavage at the same time, and all conversation came to a complete halt.

Even Aldis stopped complaining about evil eighth graders for a minute.

Danneel pretended not to notice, like always. "Jared, I just got off the phone with LA." The Albuquerque Isotopes were the Triple A farm team for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Danneel was the liaison between the two teams' home offices. Jared tried to read her expression to figure out if she was bearing good news or bad news, but she'd had too much practice at keeping him guessing for him to be able to tell. "Where's Jim?" she asked.

Sadie barked at the mention of Jim's name – he was her third favorite human - and everybody started talking at once again like there hadn't ever been an interruption.

Jared sank down into his desk chair and started laughing helplessly. His office was full of people, including a sweating man in his underwear. Also, two large dogs, one of which slobbered at the least provocation. He caught Jensen's eye, and Jensen grinned at him.

"Okay, people," Jensen said, raising his voice over the cacophony of noise. "Time to get out of here. Aldis, go put some clothes on. Beth, take him away, see if you can sooth his ruffled sensibilities. Chad, go away. Go think of a promo less insane than free jars of salsa for everyone attending the game, because giving a stadium full of people glass containers filled with red sauce isn't going to end badly at all." He turned to Jared. "I'll go find Jim."

Chad looked indignant at the slur against his mad PR skills, Aldis looked huffy, and Beth looked amused, but they all turned to go at Jensen's words.

Danneel made herself comfortable in one of the two chairs facing Jared's desk, pulling out her phone and ignoring Jared while everyone else trailed out of his office.

Jared thought for about the millionth time how lucky he was to have Jensen. Jensen was the best assistant in the world, and Jared hoped he didn't ever lose him.

Two years ago…

"Oh my fucking god, I'm so fucking drunk!" Jared raised his glass in a toast. Or at least he tried to. By the time he got his arm up, the contents of the glass had sloshed over the rim and down his sleeve. He giggled happily while he tried to slurp tequila off his own wrist.

"Dude, you are so fucking drunk," Chad hollered. His face was an unattractive shade of red, and his eyes were so squinty they had completely disappeared.

"I know, it's fucking awesome!" Somehow, Jared managed to clamber up to stand on his chair. He wobbled a bit once he was up there and was vaguely aware of a pair of strong hands clasping his hips, holding him in place.

The bartender was eyeing him somewhat askance, so Jared thought he better make this quick before he got them all tossed out on their asses.

"To the motherfucking Albuquerque Isotopes, Triple A National motherfucking champions!" He raised his glass again, even though it was empty, and started singing what he knew, even in his drunken state, was a horrendously off-key rendition of "We Are the Champions."

The group of people surrounding him raised their glasses and drank, whooping and hollering and joining in his singing. Jared looked at their faces, the faces of his friends, his employees, the ones who stood by him and his team through good times and bad.

He abruptly stopped singing and yelled, "I love you guys! I couldn't have done it without you!" He was getting a little hoarse, his voice shredded by all the singing and yelling and celebrating.

"Goddamn right you couldn't have, motherfucker!" Chad yelled. His face had become even redder, if that was possible.

Jared felt the room tip, and at first he thought he was passing out, which was totally weak. Jared Padalecki didn't pass out from just a few dozen tequila shots. Jared Padalecki could hold his liquor!

Then he realized the room wasn't tipping, he was. The hands that were still firmly planted around his waist were carefully easing him down off the chair.

"C'mon, Jay. I think it's time to put this party to bed," an amused voice said in his ear. Jensen chuckled. "Clif's over there trying to smooth talk the bartender out of calling the cops. He's about to kick our rowdy asses out of here. Time to call it a night."

Still talking, Jensen guided Jared to the relative safety of the sticky floor and held him upright while Jared swayed on his unsteady feet. "Dude," he whispered confidentially right in Jensen's face, "I'm so fucking drunk."

"I know you are, man. You deserve it. You won the league playoffs." Jensen patted Jared on the shoulder, herding him toward the door of the bar while at the same time wiping spit off his cheek.

"Sorry," Jared muttered, reaching out to touch Jensen's face and missing by about a mile. "Couldn't have done it without you, man," he said. "No, really, I mean it. You're my second in command. I love you, dude." He waved at Chad and Aldis and Beth as he and Jensen weaved their way out onto the sidewalk. Danneel smiled at him as they left. The fresh night air smacked him in the face, and he took a deep breath.

"I know you do," Jensen said, an odd note in his voice that penetrated the haze of alcohol currently doing its best to pickle Jared's brain. "Come on, I'll drive you home."

"Aren't you drunk?" Jared asked, peering drunkenly at Jensen. "Why aren't you drunk? You should be drunk," he pouted.

"Someone has to look out for your ass," Jensen said. "What kind of second in command would I be if I just left you to find your own way home?"

"You know that's what I pay Clif for, right?" Jared asked.

"No, you pay Clif to be head of security for the organization, not to be your personal babysitter and driver," Jensen said, soft laughter in his voice.

"Same difference," Jared said, waving his hands around.

"Not really, Jay," Jensen said, and then somehow they were at Jared's car. Jensen manhandled Jared into the passenger seat and then climbed into the driver's seat. He reached over and grabbed Jared's seatbelt, cursing under his breath as he struggled to slot it into place.

Jared was kind of getting off on all the touching.

He'd never thought that way about Jensen before. Jensen was his assistant; he made all the things happen that Jared wanted to happen when it came to running his baseball team, usually without having to bother Jared with the details.

Not that Jared didn't pay attention to details, to how the team was handled. It was his baby, after all. His momma would kill him if he squandered Aunt Tilly's money on something like a baseball team and then screwed around with it, or didn't do a good job running it, or whatever.

No, it was more that Jensen was organized and efficient and imaginative, and he just had a way of getting things done.

Jared didn't know what he'd do without him.

He was also under no illusions about Jensen's ridiculous hotness, but Jared was enough of a professional that he was able to ignore it completely.

Except apparently right now. Apparently tequila was the eye-opener he'd been missing with regards to Jensen being so hot.

But he could see it now.

When Jared's seatbelt finally clicked into place, and Jensen moved back over into the driver's side, Jared found himself following, tilting his head onto Jensen's shoulder and rubbing his cheek on the soft t-shirt he'd been wanting to touch all night.

Or at least since he'd downed his fifth shot.

"You're hot," Jared said.

Jensen gave a little shrug of his shoulder and dislodged Jared's head. "Gotta let me drive, Jay," was all he said.

Jared thought maybe Jensen had missed what he'd said. He wasn't sure how he could have, because Jared's mouth had been pretty close to Jensen's ear when he spoke, but he supposed it was possible. Jensen was good at concentrating fully on whatever the current task at hand was, and Jared's seatbelt had been particularly uncooperative.

So he thought he'd better say it again.

"You're hot, Jensen," Jared said, turning in his seat to face Jensen and enunciating carefully. He wanted to make sure Jensen understood him.

"Heard you the first time, Jared," Jensen said as he started the car.

"Oh," Jared said, surprised.

He lost track of time after that. The next thing he knew, Jensen was shaking his shoulder and saying, "Jared, hey, Jay, wake up. We're here."

It took a couple of attempts, but Jared managed to open his eyes. He had no idea where "here" was, or what day it was, or even what his name was, really.

"Wha?"

"Jared, come on, buddy, wake up." The car door opened and someone was tugging on his arm. Jared felt himself being hauled out of the car, and he managed to stay on his feet only because someone shoved him up against the side of the car and held him in place with a hand on his chest.

Someone. Right, Jensen. Jensen was there, which meant everything was fine.

"You're fine, you know that?" Jared said. "Reeeeally fine."

"Okay, dude, let's go," Jensen said, putting his arm around Jared's waist, holding him up and propelling him forward at the same time. Jared had the feeling Jensen was bothered by something, but he couldn't imagine what. They were champions, after all.

The cool night air filled Jared's lungs, and by the time Jensen got him to his front door, his head had started to clear just a little.

And then Jensen reached into Jared's pants pocket, and his head got all fuzzy again.

"Jensen? Are you feeling me up?" It was perfectly fine with Jared if that's what Jensen was trying to do, but he thought he'd better ask.

"What? No, you idiot, I'm trying to reach your keys." Jensen appeared to be having some difficulty getting his hand in very far. Jared's jeans were pretty tight.

"Oh." Jared felt strangely disappointed. He wiggled his hips to give Jensen more room to work.

When the keys were successfully extracted, Jensen patted Jared's hip and said somewhat breathlessly, "Let's go, cowboy, in the house."

Jared lived in a very nice house on the outskirts of Albuquerque, not too far from the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. As soon as Jensen got the front door closed behind them, the dogs were there, doing their best to make sure that if Jared and Jensen were burglars, they'd feel more than welcome.

"Harley, back off," Jensen said, as Sadie tried to take Jared out at the knees with her head.

Jensen pushed and shoved until Jared was sprawled on his living room couch, and the dogs were outside in the backyard.

"Harley, stay out of the pool," he called after them, making Jared grin with delight. Harley loved to swim.

Jensen turned to smile at him. He was framed against the French doors, the moonlit desert behind him, and Jared thought he'd never seen anything so beautiful.

"Jesus, Jen," he breathed, suddenly feeling a lot more sober.

Jensen looked at him quizzically, soft smile still playing around his mouth.

"Come here," Jared said. "Please," he added when Jensen hesitated.

Slowly, Jensen moved over to the couch. "You sure about this, Jay?"

Jared nodded.

By the time Jensen reached the couch, Jared had his shoes, socks and shirt off. He was way more coordinated than he had any right to be.

Jensen grinned down at him. "Eager much?"

"You bet your ass I am," Jared said, snagging Jensen's waistband and pulling him closer.

"Me, too," Jensen said, losing the smile, looking at Jared with lust-darkened eyes.

Jared gave one more tug and Jensen tumbled down on top of him. Jared let out an "ooph" and Jensen laughed.

Jared didn't think he'd ever laughed so much having sex in his life, and he couldn't even attribute it all to alcohol.

Jensen's lips were warm and soft and Jared couldn't seem to get enough of them. He moaned into Jensen's mouth, pulling away long enough to say, "Get this off," as he tugged on Jensen's jeans.

In the end, neither one of them managed to get their pants off. They did manage to get them unzipped, which was good enough for Jared.

Jensen got his hand between them, taking both their cocks in his hand and squeezing and rubbing them until Jared thought he would die.

He managed not to let go of Jensen's mouth when he came, but it was a near thing. He closed his eyes and shuddered, covering Jensen's hand with his own, while Jensen sighed softly into his mouth and came over their entwined fingers.

By the time Jared recovered, Jensen had wiped them off with Jared's discarded shirt.

"Hey," Jared said. "That's my shirt."

"Hey, yourself," Jensen said, smiling and kissing Jared.

"Let's go to bed," Jared said, struggling to sit up. "I’m not spending the night on the couch."

Jensen looked unsure for a minute, and then nodded. "Okay, if you don't mind if I stay?"

"Don't be a moron," Jared said.

Jared woke up slowly, wondering why someone had hit him over the head with a baseball bat. He was the team owner, not a player. There should be no bats around his head. He lay motionless, hoping that if he didn't move, the pain would somehow go away.

By the time he was able to pry his eyes open, the events of the night before were making their way to his conscious mind.

His beloved Isotopes were the Triple A champions.

He had consumed a lot of tequila.

Jensen had driven him home.

Harley had gone swimming in the pool.

He and Jensen had had fucking amazing sex.

Oh, God. That probably wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done in his life.

Jared was alone in bed, and he wondered if Jensen had left. He was almost afraid to find out, but he managed, with a great deal of moaning and groaning, to at least get himself to his feet.

It took a bit of additional head-clutching to stumble to the bathroom, piss, and brush his teeth.

As he wandered down the hall, approaching the kitchen, Jared heard someone moving around, and he smelled the heavenly aroma of coffee brewing.

"Thank god," he said, as he staggered in and collapsed at his kitchen table. Then he looked around.

Jensen was at the stove, scrambling eggs. As he turned away from the stove and toward the counter, two pieces of toast popped up, and with perfect timing, Jensen had the food on a plate in front of Jared. In another instant, coffee and orange juice appeared.

Jared glanced around and saw that Harley and Sadie were eating breakfast in a calm and orderly fashion.

"You really are the perfect assistant," he said, shaking his head in wonder. "Practically perfect in every way."

"Here's your spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down," Jensen said with an uncertain smile, as he handed over both the sugar bowl and a bottle of Tylenol. He cleared his throat and slid into the chair opposite Jared, putting a second plate of food on the table for himself.

He looked awkward and uncomfortable in spite of his smile, and even though Jared was in no shape for this kind of conversation, he said, "What are you thinking about, Jen?" He dumped three spoonfuls of sugar in his coffee and waited for Jensen to speak.

The smile slid off Jensen's face, and he hid behind his coffee mug. He shrugged. "I like my job, Jared."

Jared liked Jensen's job, too. Or, well, he liked the way Jensen did his job. He nodded slowly, chewing his eggs.

When Jared didn't say anything, Jensen continued. "I'd like to keep it."

Jared raised his head and stared at Jensen, hurt. "Jensen, I'd never –"

"No, I know," Jensen hastened to reassure him. "I know you wouldn't take advantage, or pressure me, or, you know, fire me," he laughed nervously at the last one.

Jared's hangover was forgotten, swept away in the tide of indignation that coursed through him. He was on his feet before he knew it, waving his toast at Jensen.

"Is that what you think of me?" Jared's voice rose with the question.

"No, Jared, I just said I didn't think you'd do anything like that," Jensen explained calmly. It was his turn to shrug. "I just don't think we should mix business with pleasure."

"So," Jared said slowly, looking down at Jensen's adorably mussed up hair. "Let me get this straight. Your job is more important to you than having sex with me?" He thought maybe his feelings should be hurt by that, but they didn't seem to be.

"Would you rather I suck your dick or arrange your schedule? Do you want me to jerk you off or deal with Aldis? Which would you prefer, that I fuck you or that I keep Danneel from killing Chad? Is it better if I –"

"Okay, okay, I get your point," Jared said, laughing in spite of himself. That last one was a tough choice, actually.

"You could always promote Chad –"

"Jensen!" Jared threw his piece of toast at Jensen's head and sat back down. "I get it. This was a one-time thing."

"A one night stand," Jensen said, nodding seriously. "We forget it ever happened."

Jared really didn't think he could manage to do that, but he agreed. "I promise I won't sexually harass you in the workplace," he said solemnly.

"Good. I'm glad that's settled." Jensen stood up and cleared the plates off the table. He topped off Jared's coffee, but not his own. "I, um, I'd better get out of here. Things to do, and all."

There really weren't things to do, not today. The season was over and they'd won the championship and they deserved at least one day off, but Jared didn't say anything. Things felt weird now, and they'd probably need time to get over it.

Also, it was possible Jensen had a life outside of the Isotopes and he had personal things to do.

So Jared didn't argue with him, just let him find his shoes and his keys and his cell phone and shove his red 'Topes hat down over his hair, then followed him to the door, Sadie and Harley at his side.

"Jensen." Jared put his hand on Jensen's arm and Jensen went still. "It was – I had – oh, fuck it." He leaned forward and kissed Jensen softly on the lips.

Jensen kissed him back for a moment, and then pulled away. "I know, Jay. Me, too."

Back to the present day…

By the time Jensen came back with Jim Beaver, the Isotopes' General Manager, Danneel had sent about twenty texts and emails from her phone. Jared couldn't imagine who they were all to and suspected she was actually playing Words With Friends.

Jim came in, nodded to Jared, looked at Danneel and said, "Now what do they want?"

They being the Dodger's front office, Jared supposed. He looked at Danneel, just as curious as Jim.

"They're sending Collins down so he can rehab his shoulder," she said brightly. "He'll be here tomorrow."

"Well, don't sugarcoat it none," Jim growled. He sank down into the other chair in front of Jared's desk. He shook his head. "Guy's a regular head case. Likes to meditate." Collins might as well have liked to kill kittens, if Jim's tone was anything to go by. "Jeff's gonna shit a brick."

Danneel smirked. "The doctors are saying he'll need at least four weeks, maybe more, down here. He's already done a month of rehab, but he hasn't thrown yet."

"God dammit." Jim started to get up. "I need to go find Jeff. Might as well not suffer alone."

"Don't bother, I'm right here," came a deep voice from the doorway. Jared watched appreciatively as Jeff Morgan, the team's manager, came in. They didn't have a game tonight, so Jeff was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt instead of his uniform. It suited him. Jeff was tall and lean and had the warmest eyes of anyone Jared knew.

Jared turned to find Jensen looking at him with a slight frown on his face. When Jared raised his eyebrows inquiringly, Jensen shook his head and settled himself on Jared's couch, giving his iPad his full attention.

Jeff raised his eyebrows at Jim, and Jim shook his head at Jeff. "Collins," he said.

That one word was enough to bring a frown to Jeff's face. "Shit." Jeff headed over to the small couch and sank down on the leather seat next to Jensen like he was suddenly exhausted. "How long?"

"Four weeks," Jim and Danneel said in unison. Jeff groaned.

"Misha's not a bad guy," Jeff said, looking at Jared. "He's just – weird."

"I hear he meditates," Jared said innocently. He couldn't help it. No one in baseball was normal, they were all weird, himself included. He couldn't imagine how Misha Collins could be any weirder than the rest of them.

Jim shot Jared a sharp glance and Jeff laughed, although he didn’t sound very amused. He sighed and said to Jim, "Kane?"

Jim thought a minute, and then nodded. "Might as well. He's crazy as a bedbug himself, but then, he's a catcher, he's gotta be. He won't take any shit from weirdo pitchers."

Jeff stood up. "I'll leave you to the paperwork, then." He turned to Jared. "Anything else?"

Jared shook his head. "I'm good."

"So I've heard," Danneel said, ostensibly under her breath, but it was loud enough to carry.

Jared looked at Jensen, whose ears were pink at the tips. Jared ducked his head to hide a small smile. Jared may be a serial dater, and he may have been out with dozens of guys in the two years since he and Jensen hooked up, but he had fond memories of that night, and he was happy to see that Jensen did, too.

"Hey, listen," Jensen said as he handed Jared the latest attendance figures a couple of weeks later. "I'm gonna need a week off in October."

"Sure, man," Jared said, eyes scanning the numbers. He groped for the glass of sweet tea that was always within arm's reach. "Season's over by then, I can spare you for a few days. What's up?"

"I'm getting married."

Jared only avoided doing a spit-take because he'd already swallowed his tea. He carefully put his glass down on his desk and cleared his throat.

"What?" He couldn’t figure out why his ears were ringing.

Jensen looked at him, his eyebrows raised. "I'm getting married. In October," he repeated.

"Who to?" Jared was completely dumbfounded. As far as he knew, Jensen hadn't been seeing anyone. Where did he come up with a bride? And why would he be marrying a woman, anyway?

"Steve." Jared heard an unspoken but unmistakable duh.

"Steve Carlson?" Granted, Jensen had been spending a lot of time with Steve, but Jared thought that was just about music. Guitar lessons, or something.

"No, Steve McQueen." Jensen tilted his head at Jared, looking puzzled. "Yes, Steve Carlson. What did you think?"

Jared didn't answer that. He mostly thought Jensen was hot, and it had never occurred to him that – what? That no one else would find Jensen hot? That was pretty shortsighted on his part. But –

"Married?" Jared asked. "Really?"

"Why not?" Now Jensen sounded defensive, but Jared couldn’t seem to make himself shut up, to stop asking questions.

"No reason. But - where? I mean, is it even going to be legal?"

Now Jensen was starting to look annoyed. "It's legal in Iowa, yes."

"You're going to Iowa? To get married?" Jared's voice had risen, so by the end it was both loud and almost high enough to call it a squeak.

"Yes, Jared, we are. I thought about sending you an invitation, but you obviously have some sort of problem with it, so don't worry about it." Jensen's face had a tight, pinched look.

"No, no," Jared rushed to reassure him. "I don't have a problem with it, I was just surprised, that's all." Liar, a little voice in the back of his head said. You have a big problem with it. He ignored the voice. "Do your parents know?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your parents." Jared waved his hands around in a gesture meant to convey – he had no idea what. "I mean, we've never talked about stuff like that, but - are they okay with you being –" He waved his hands around again.

"Gay? Is that what you're asking?" Jensen laughed, looking less closed off now, probably because Jared was being so spastic. ""Jay, I had a crush on Michael Jackson way before I figured out Janet was hot, too," Jensen said, looking at him pityingly. "My parents have known I was bi since I was twelve."

"Wait, you're bi?" How much had Jared not been paying attention?

Jensen just shook his head, although his smile never faded. He patted Jared on the shoulder. "So, third week in October?"

Jared nodded. "Sure, no problem," he said, as he thought to himself, Iowa?

"So," Jared said with determination. "I have three months to stop it."

"Stop what? Drinking? Biting your nails? The apocalypse?" Chad smirked, and Danneel laughed. They were terrible friends, Jared thought, not for the first time. But they were good employees, so he let it go.

Also, Danneel was Jensen's friend, too, so Jared felt like maybe he had an inside track.

"Jensen's wedding," he said, loftily ignoring Chad's snort and Danneel's knowing grin.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Chad said.

"And you're going to help me," Jared said. "Both of you."

Chad and Danneel just gaped at him, not an attractive look on either one of them, although Jared took the moral high ground and didn't point out how much they both looked like goldfish right that minute.

Plus, antagonizing his partners in crime wasn't the smartest strategy, and he was going to need all the help he could get to put his plan into action.

Okay, so he didn't actually have a plan per se, but that's why they were here, in his house, being plied with expensive liquor, after an awesome dinner.

To brainstorm.

Jared took advantage of the silence to refill both their glasses and raise his own in a toast.

"To Jensen and I, and our future together." He swallowed a mouthful of smoky Scotch, rolling it around on his tongue appreciatively. He saw Danneel do the same, a smile playing around her lips like the proverbial cat who ate the canary, but Chad gulped his drink down, just threw it back like it was a shot of cheap tequila, and Jared squawked in protest.

"Jesus, Chad, do you know how expensive that shit is?"

"I don’t give a fuck, you asshole," Chad snarled. "You're certifiable if you think – "

"Chad." Jared glared at his friend. "You're helping me. Now, think of something. You're supposed to have an imagination."

"When it comes to our mascot, yeah," Chad protested. "You want me to have Orbit crash the wedding and kidnap Jensen? I'm sure Aldis would be delighted."

"No, you ass. Unless we have no other choice." Jared sighed. "I just – there has to be something I can do."

Danneel patted his knee sympathetically. "You could hook up with someone else. You know, make him jealous."

Chad laughed. "Maybe it's escaped your attention, but for the past two years, my boy here has been Mr. Serial Dater. He's hooked up with more hot guys than the entire cast of Gossip Girls. If Jensen was going to get jealous, he'd have done it a long time ago."

"You make a good point," Danneel said. She looked at Jared thoughtfully. "Maybe if you hooked up with someone Jensen knows? That might bother him enough."

"Guys, I don't want to hook up with anyone other than Jensen. You're kind of missing the point, here." Jared reached for the bottle. They weren't helping, they were just making him want to drink.

"He only has to think you're hooking up, moron," Chad said. He held out his glass, scowling when Jared hesitated before he poured.

Jared sighed. He had a bad feeling about this idea, but it was apparently the only one his so-called friends were going to come up with. "Okay," he agreed. "I guess it couldn't hurt to try."

The three of them clinked their glasses in a toast, and Jared pretended he didn't notice the looks of amused pity on their faces.

"You want me do what?" Jeff said, looking at Jared like he had three heads.

"Um, just, you know, act like we went out. On a date."

"Why in the hell would I do that?"

"Well –" Jared broke off as Jensen came into his office, a sheaf of papers in one hand and Jared's sweet tea in the other. Jared smiled at Jeff with what he hoped was a happy grin, but what he thought probably came across as more of a demented leer. "I had a really good time last night, Jeff," he said.

Jeff just glowered at him. Jared flapped his hand frantically at him behind Jensen's back, and then practically sat on his hands when Jensen turned to him with a smile.

"Here're the new design ideas for the programs that you wanted to see." He looked from Jeff to Jared and back again, probably sensing the incredibly awkward atmosphere he'd walked in on. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all," Jeff growled.

"I was just thanking Jeff for showing me such a good time last night," Jared almost simpered. He only managed not to flutter his eyelashes at Jeff because Jeff's glower scared him.

"Okay," Jensen said, slowly backing towards the door. "I'll just see you later then." Jared was surprised he didn't sprint out the door.

"What the hell was that?" Jeff said. "Are you Scarlett O'Hara? I'm surprised you didn't say fiddle dee dee and toss your hair!"

"Oh, shut up," Jared grumbled. "Nevermind. Just – forget it."

Jeff's face softened. "Is this about Jensen getting married?"

"No, it's fine, don't worry about it." Jared waved at Jeff airily, encouraging him to forget the whole thing. "So, how's Misha doing?"

After Jeff left his office, Jared slowly banged his head on his desk several times. "Chad's right, I am a moron."

Jared threw caution to the wind and decided to give Collins a try next. Surely Misha was hot enough to make Jensen jealous, if he thought Jared was dating him.

"Tantric yoga," Misha said. He moved smoothly from Downward Facing Dog to Pigeon pose and smiled serenely at Jared.

"Excuse me?" Jared was beginning to rethink coming into the clubhouse. Misha was on a mat in front of his locker, looking extremely flexible.

"I meditate while I jerk off," Misha said simply.

"And that helps your shoulder?" Jared was confused.

"Depends on which hand I use. The literature is divided on using your pitching arm to masturbate." Misha slithered around until his left foot was behind his right hip and his right elbow was tucked on the outside of his left knee. Jared hurt just looking at him.

"Okay," he said, holding his hands up and backing away from Misha. "Good talk. I'm glad you're settling in here okay. We're happy to have you." He pointed at Misha's shoulder. "You take care of that, you hear?"

He turned tail and was not ashamed to admit he practically ran from the locker room, the sound of Misha's rhythmic breathing echoing in his ears.

He bumped into Jensen right outside the door.

"Hey, Jared, what's up? What's your hurry, man? Danneel said you wanted to talk to me and to meet you down here."

"Right, uh, never mind, it's nothing, don't worry about it," Jared babbled. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder at the door to the locker room. "Did you know about Misha's…meditation techniques?

Jared had known Christian Kane for several years. Chris had been playing for the Isotopes since Jared bought the team. Dozens of pitchers had come and gone in that time, some of them up to the big team. They were all usually better at their game because of Kane when they left.

He was like the 'Topes very own Crash Davis, only with longer hair.

Jared was a big fan of baseball movies.

Chris wasn't much of a talker, but he was a nice enough guy, if you liked the strong, silent type. He was built kind of like a fire hydrant and was a magician with temperamental pitchers.

It was going to take every bit of that magic to deal with Misha Collins, Jared thought, but that was what the big club expected from him.

Jared emerged from the cool interior of the stadium, out into the glare of the afternoon sun. He loved being out on the diamond, loved to hang around and watch batting practice. Baseball had gotten under his skin, and he couldn't imagine his life without it. He liked to think his Aunt Tilly would have enjoyed it, too.

Moving down the stands, Jared headed towards the bullpen. He sat in the third row and watched as Misha threw to Chris. Misha had a 90 mph fastball, even with his injured shoulder, but Chris handled each pitch without a flinch.

Another fifteen minutes and they were done. Misha waved at Jared and Jared waved back, no hard feelings there. Out of the corner of his eye, Jared saw Jensen emerge from the clubhouse, slipping his sunglasses down over his eyes and heading in Jared's direction.

"Hey, Chris," Jared called. Kane looked up and Jared waved him over.

Chris shoved his catcher's mask onto the top of his head and sauntered over to the stands.

Now, Jared was a champion flirt. His momma always said he could flirt with a dead body and it would flirt back. He thought that was kind of sick, but that was the sort of sense of humor Jared's mother had.

Jared thought it explained a lot about how he'd turned out.

Flirting with Chris Kane, however, was like flirting with a Rottweiler. Dangerous, yet irresistible.

"Misha's looking good," Jared said, smiling his most winning smile. "Doing a good job there." He worked to make sure his smile was the one that showed his dimples.

"Uh huh," Chris said. He peered up at Jared, his eyes narrowed in the bright afternoon sun.

"So, I was wondering, you wouldn't want to pretend that you and I went on a hot date this past weekend, would you?" Jared said quickly in a low voice. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder to check Jensen's progress. He was about twenty feet away. Jared turned back to Chris. "How about it?"

"Get away from me, Padalecki." Chris really did sound like a Rottweiler when he growled. "Or I'll sue your ass for sexual harassment."

Jared paled. "Oh, god, I'm sorry. Don't sue. I promise, no more sexual harassment in the workplace."

"See to it." Chris poked Jared hard in the chest with his forefinger, then turned and walked away. Jared swore he saw a twinkle in Chris's eye in spite of his scowl as he headed into the dugout.

Jensen, on the other hand, stood five feet away and stared at Jared, looking completely appalled.

"Stay away from me, man. I don't want any part of your kinky games."

"Aldis –"

"No. If you want Ackles, just tell him."

"What's up?" Jim asked as he poked his head into Jared's office. "You're not gonna ask me to pretend we went out on a date and then had hot monkey sex, are you? 'Cause I gotta tell you, you're not really my type."

Jared rubbed his temples, his fingertips digging in a vain attempt to chase away his headache. "No," he answered sadly.

"Good." Jim sat down in one of the chairs in front of Jared's desk. "It was a stupid idea. Jensen'd never buy the two of us as star-crossed lovers."

"Gee, why didn't someone tell me that before?" Jared asked bitterly. Before Jensen could start to think that Jared was a total asshole.

"Did someone really have to?" Jim asked incredulously.

Jared sighed. "He thinks I'm an asshole. A promiscuous asshole who sexually harasses his employees," he added. "He won't even talk to me or answer my calls."

"Not exactly what you were going for, huh?" Jim looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

"No, not exactly," Jared said sadly.

"Well, cheer up, kid. You've still got a whole baseball team full of candidates, if you're looking for more guys to try and make him jealous with."

"Haha, very funny," Jared said. For some reason, Jim giving him a hard time was making him feel better. Although it was true that Jensen wasn't answering his calls. Well, his one call – Jared had only tried once and then stopped, because he felt like such a jerk.

He definitely wasn't talking to him, though. Jared didn't exactly know where Jensen was at the moment, but he missed him. He was sure it was time for Jensen to bring him some tea, or some paperwork to look over, Aldis's schedule, maybe, or Chad's latest blog on the 'Topes Tattler. Surely there was some reason for Jensen to be in Jared's office, but he wasn't.

There was a knock on the door and when Jared looked over, Jensen was standing in the doorway, arms folded over his chest, a forbidding expression on his face.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Um, sure," Jared said. He swallowed with both relief and fear and gestured for Jensen to come in.

"What in the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean?" Jared said, trying to stall for time so he could think of an explanation other than that he didn't want Jensen to get married in Iowa.

Or anyplace else.

"Well, I'll just get out of your hair," Jim said hastily, and he was out of his chair and out of Jared's office quicker than Jared even knew he could move. He almost mowed Jensen down trying to get through the door, and Jared felt a tiny seed of hope take root in his heart when he saw Jensen's lips quirk up on one side.

They stood there staring at each other for a minute, and then Jensen said, "Well?"

"There's nothing wrong with me," Jared said testily. That was obviously a lie, but he was at a total loss as to how to explain himself to Jensen. He finally settled on, "It's Chad's fault."

"That's what you're going with? Chad?" Jensen's eyebrows rose inquiringly, and he took a step toward Jared. Jared didn't know whether to back up or wait for Jensen to reach him.

"It usually works," Jared said. He tried a tentative smile. "Covers a multitude of sins."

Again Jared could see Jensen fighting a smile. "I want to hear you say it, Padalecki."

Jared took a deep breath. Here goes nothing, he thought. This could go wrong in so many ways. "I don't want you to get married in Iowa." Jensen's face was unreadable, but Jared had no choice but to keep going. "Or, well, I do, but not to Steve."

"To who, then?"

"Me?"

"Is that a question?"

"No?" Jared reconsidered. "Yes?"

"Yes?"

"Marry me instead?"

"Are you sure you don't want to marry Misha? Or maybe Jim?"

"Hey, leave me out of this," came a voice from right outside the office.

Jared flushed. His entire staff was probably listening to him make a total fool of himself.

"You're a moron." Jensen took another step closer. Jared stood his ground.

"It's been said before." Jared licked his lower lip nervously. Jensen followed the movement of Jared's tongue with his eyes.

"And it'll probably be said again." Jensen seemed to be having trouble focusing, so Jared licked his lips again. Jensen smiled, just a little.

Jared nodded. "No probably about it."

"Okay. I should make you work harder for it, but it's not as amusing to watch you throw yourself at every guy around here as you might think." Jensen tilted his head consideringly. "Okay, that's not true, it was very amusing, but I’m done."

"Ready to put me out of my misery?" Jared asked. He felt a momentary pang for Steve. He was stealing his boyfriend away, after all.

Jensen's eyes darkened "You bet your ass I am." He reached up and got a hand behind Jared's neck, pulling him down into a kiss that felt unexpectedly possessive. Through the sound of his heart beating so fast Jared thought it might explode, he heard cheers from the corridor, and then every single person on his staff was in his office, offering congratulations.

Jared heard at least four different people say, "It's about time," and he was sure it was Jim who said, "Thank God. Now the rest of us are safe."

"So," Jared said, pulling reluctantly back from the kiss and smiling at Jensen. "Iowa?"

"I'm ready when you are," Jensen said with an answering smile. He pulled Jared down again and whispered in his ear, "It took you long enough. Steve was afraid he might really have to marry me."