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As they came off the stage after finishing the Gold Panel, Jared and Jensen shared a fist bump and a quick peck before separating.
Jared was headed to his meet and greet in the next hallway over with Clif, and Jensen had his solo photo ops.
Ryan barely waited for the two men to part before he strode up to Jensen and started talking.
“Your photo ops start in ten minutes, so we need to head that way,” he told Jensen, not bothering to look up from the tablet he held.
The actor arched his brow. Ryan was a new volunteer this year, and Jensen wasn't a fan. He'd already informed Stephanie that he didn't want the kid around him at future conventions.
His attitude was too abrupt for the Jensen’s liking. Ryan wouldn’t even spare a few minutes to introduce himself this morning. Plus, he stood way too close for comfort and he failed to have Jensen’s coffee at the ready.
Jensen needed his caffeine before interacting with the fans- this was a well-known fact among the convention workers. Yet this punk-ass kid had refused because fetching coffee wasn't in his official job description.
Jared had had to talk him down from strangling the kid.
After attending cons for the better part of ten years; the actors’ handlers were mostly for legal reasons at this point.
All of the attendees knew the weekend’s schedule and each actor made an effort to memorize their appearances and events.
“After ops,” Ryan continued, dismissing Jensen’s annoyed look, “you have the meet and greet in Conference Room I, then a duo op with Jared, VIP time, and a break for lunch.”
Jensen crossed his arms over his chest and clenched his jaw. If Ryan continued to be an ass, he was gonna end up getting popped in the face.
“Let Schmelke know I’m running a few minutes behind,” the actor gritted out, “I need to make a stop on the way.”
Ryan’s dark head lifted to give him a tight smile that was a hair away from turning into a grimace. “Unfortunately, the timetable this morning is too tight to allow for any unplanned stops.”
He suppressed a smirk. Timetable or not, he had to go, and if the kid tried to stop him, he was gonna end up with a hell of a mess.
“Yeah, well, you're going to have to figure somethin’ out, ‘cause this ain't negotiable.”
Jensen turned to head in the direction of the nearest bathrooms, but he froze when a hand wrapped around his upper arm.
He slowly turned to face Ryan and narrowed his eyes in warning. “I suggest you let go. Now.”
Ryan glared right back at him. “The schedule doesn’t-”
“I don’t give a
shit
about the schedule right now,” the actor growled, his green eyes glittering with anger, “Get your
fucking
hand
off
of me.”
But Ryan was a nineteen-year-old cocky bastard with no sense of self-preservation. So, instead of releasing the actor’s bicep, he tightened his hold and sneered at Jensen.
“Sure. I'll let you go- as soon as you agree to adhere to the schedule.”
Jensen had had enough. He stalked toward the kid, gaze cold and hard. Ryan wilted, but he maintained his hold.
Jensen lowered his voice into a lethal whisper. “You have five seconds to remove your hand from my arm or I will break your fucking hand.”
Ryan took a step back and held up his hands.
But Jensen wasn’t satisfied. He advanced until the kid could smell the mint gum he’d tucked into his cheek.
“You
ever
put your hands on me again, I will walk out that fucking door; understood?” Ryan had the gall to roll his eyes. Jensen continued, fury simmering just beneath the surface.
“It is in every single actor’s contract that
all
employees and volunteers
will not
lay a hand on them unless required during emergency evacuations or given
explicit
permission by the actor to do so.”
Unfortunately, Ryan had never seen the show, so he didn’t realize how close Jensen was to snapping.
All he knew was that it was up to the handlers to ensure the actors ran on schedule so the rest of the convention could operate smoothly.
He was reminded several times prior to the lead actors’ arrival that Jensen and Jared were the worst when it came to sticking to the predetermined schedule of events.
While Jensen continued to stare him down, Ryan calculated in his head how long it would take them to get to the photo ops room. He cursed when he realized the actor was already running behind.
“Alright,” he huffed, pissed off that the six-two actor had caused an unnecessary delay. “Whatever. I apologize.” He glanced at his watch. “But, now, we really need to get going because you're going to be late for ops.”
Jensen’s brows rose, and he shook his head in disbelief. “What part of ‘I need to make a stop’ don't you understand?” he asked slowly.
Ryan crossed his arms over his lap and tapped his foot impatiently.
“I told you- We don't have
time
for a stop.” The tablet pinged, and he looked down to type something. “We're already going to be late as it is,” he argued, “-and
my job
is to keep
you
on track.”
The actor’s insides were begging for release, his stomach cramping dangerously.
“I already told you-” he started.
“Yes, and I'm
telling you
, that it isn't going to happen,” Ryan snapped. “So, you can just wait until after your photo ops session to make your phone call or whatever. ‘Kay?”
Jensen's fist clenched at his side and he took a step forward, ready to knock some damn manners into the kid, but before he could, a familiar hand settled on his shoulder.
Jensen looked over to see Richard. His normally goofy demeanor was serious, his gaze focused solely on Ryan.
“Chris is already are that Jensen’s going to be a few minutes late,” Richard told the kid firmly, “So, I suggest you quit wasting time and let him use the damn bathroom.”
Jensen nodded to his friend. “Thanks, man.”
“Anytime,” Richard replied, his eyes still on Ryan.
Taking advantage of his shocked silence, Jensen strode from the green room and headed to the nearest bathroom to empty his demanding bowels.
Ryan slunk after him a moment later mumbling under his breath about entitled assholes.
While Jensen had been hoping a bathroom break would help settle his stomach, it didn’t. As he entered the photo ops room, it still sloshed sickly under his shirt.
“Hey, man,” Jensen waved at their veteran photographer as he walked over to the backdrop, “Sorry about the delay.” Rubbing his stomach, he gave Chris a wry grin. “Too much coffee, you know?”
Chris chuckled. “Don't worry about it, dude. We've all been there.”
They shared a quick hug, and then the event coordinator standing in the corner opened the doors to let the first fans in.
The photo session wasn't strenuous in the least, but Jensen felt knackered by the end. He’d put on a smile for each fan and given an adequate performance, but he didn't feel well, and it had probably shown.
Ryan, who had been sending increasingly irritated frowns in Jensen’s direction, barely waited for the last pair of giggling fans to exit the room before he started in about tight schedules and sternly reminded Jensen that they could not afford any more unscheduled breaks.
The actor ignored him and took a seat on one of the fold-out chairs lining the wall. He already knew this weekend’s line-up forward and back.
“...So, that leaves us about six minutes to make it to the conference room,” Ryan finished. He glanced up and glared when he found Jensen sitting with his head hung, not paying a lick of attention.
“We have to go, Mr. Ackles. You can sit when you get to your meet-and-greet.”
But the actor continued to ignore him.
Jensen’s stomach had tipped from unsettled to actively nauseated in the last few minutes, and he was taking a moment to assess whether he could push through it or if he needed to make a run for the restroom.
Ryan stormed over, brandishing his tablet in a too-firm grip. “Look,” he addressed Jensen in a tight voice, “I'm not sure what you're used to, but we were instructed this morning that there was no wiggle room for your usual antics this weekend. It's my job to make sure you get to where you're supposed to be, and I don't intend to fail.”
Jensen squinted at him. “What?” he asked tiredly.
Chris took a few steps away from the camera stand he’d been fiddling with. “Give it a rest, kid. He obviously needs a minute.”
“Oh, come on!” Ryan tossed his hands in defeat. “How am I supposed to do my job if he won't even listen to me!” He turned to the other volunteers in the room, but no one spoke up on Ryan’s behalf.
Jensen suddenly pushed up from the chair and tried to step around the young handler’s flailing arms.
He really didn't feel well, and he’d decided he needed to get to the bathroom ASAP.
But Ryan was so far up on his soapbox that he didn't notice the way the actor was now swallowing convulsively or how his face suddenly went from flushed to ashen.
Chris and the ops coordinator Evette both did, though.
“Ackles? You alright, man?” Chris called out while Evette quickly unclipped the walkie from her belt.
Jensen tried one more time to step around the kid, but Ryan grabbed his arm to forcefully hold him in place. “Oh, no! You're not about to make us even more late!”
Celebrating his supposed victory, Ryan jerked the actor forward.
Everyone else could see it was about to happen, but there wasn't anything they could do.
With a guttural retch, Jensen projectile vomited all over the kid’s pants and shoes.
“What the fuck?!” Ryan screeched, disgusted. He belatedly jumped back. “He puked on me!”
Jensen was too busy being sick to respond, so Chris did it in his place.
Fixing the rude young man with a stern look, he shrugged. “He tried to warn you, dude.”
One of the other volunteers helped the sick actor back to his previous seat and brought him the trash can.
Another held out a tissue box to Jensen and waited while he blew his nose.
Jensen spat into the trash bin, then leaned back with his arm over his face. That wasn't much more comfortable, though, so he nudged the soiled trash can away with his foot and rested his elbows on his knees.
A large burly figure slipped into the room. He stared at the young red-faced man complaining loudly about needing a change of clothes, then shook his head and continued on his way over to the downed actor.
Clif stood beside Jensen and gently knocked Jensen’s shoulder with his knee.
“You want me to get rid of him?”
Jensen groaned instead of answering. “Christ, my head’s killin’ me.”
“Think you can make it to the green room?” Clif inquired after getting a good glance at Jensen’s pained grimace, “Or are you wanting a ride back to the hotel?”
The actor released a shaky breath before once again pushing himself to his feet.
The room swam around him, but Clif immediately shot out a hand to steady him.
With his bodyguard’s assistance, Jensen exited the room with another volunteer following behind with the trash can.
Ryan gaped at the trio. They hadn’t even spared him a backward glance.
“Wha- They-” He spluttered, furious. “Where the hell do they think they are going?!”
Chris grabbed his bag from the side of the room and started walking toward the door. There was no need for him to be in the room while the crew cleaned up Jensen’s mess, and he could use the break after dealing with this asshole.
He rolled his eyes before replying to Ryan.
“Green room or hotel. My money’s on the green room.” He smirked. “Jared’ll probably want to mother hen him to death.”
He stepped aside for the man rolling a mop bucket. “If you run, you can probably catch ‘em,” he told Ryan.
The photographer threw his head back and laughed when the kid actually took off running.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When Clif and Jensen finally entered the green room, it was buzzing with tension.
All of the actors had congregated around one of the tables, and everyone was speaking in hushed tones.
Jensen sighed. As the leads of the show, he and Jared took on the responsibility of acting as the go-between for the actors and the convention staff.
So, even though he felt like shit, he forced himself to walk over to see what was up.
Ruth was sitting in one of the chairs at the table, and Alaina crouched on the floor in front of her.
Rob who was sitting beside Ruth with a protective arm around her, gave Jensen a tight smile. “Justin shoved her,” he gritted out through clenched teeth.
Jensen’s hackles went up and his posture stiffened. “Come again?”
“
Apparently
,” Rob snarled, “she was taking too long speaking to a pair of girls who stayed behind to ask her about ballet, and when she told him no, he resorted to pushing her toward the door.”
It angered Jensen to no end to see his usually mild-mannered friend spitting mad. And Ruthie… She may very well be the sweetest of them all, and some asshole had…
Rob’s hand was trembling on Ruth’s shoulder, and Ruth was visibly shaken.
Jensen growled. Enough was enough.
“Family meeting,” he told Clif in a clipped voice. “
Now
.”
Clif nodded once and left to retrieve Jared from his meet and greet. Then, once he had filled Jared in, the two men interrupted Misha and Alex’s panel to bring them back to the green room as well.
Jared’s concern sky-rocketed when he saw Jensen panting over a trash bin. His eyes then spotted a distraught Ruth and furious Rob. The rest of the cast members were all speaking over one another.
Joining Jensen, Jared placed a comforting hand on his friend’s back as Jensen retched. “What the hell’s going on?” he asked, wondering how everything could have gone so far south in such a short amount of time.
Jensen wiped the napkin in his hand across his mouth. Instead of answering Jared’s question, Jensen stated, “We need to have a family meeting.” He nodded his thanks when DJ unscrewed a bottle of water and passed it to him.
Jared’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline, but he didn't question Jensen’s directive. If Jensen thought they needed a family meeting, then that’s what they would do. He trusted Jensen’s judgment more than anyone else in the room.
He checked how many volunteers and handlers were in the room with them and motioned to Clif.
Jared kept his voice lowered so no one else would overhear when he asked Clif, “Any chance you can clear the room for us?” His eyes flicked to the nearest volunteer, so Clif would know what he meant.
Clif nodded. He reached for his phone.
In under a minute, several of Clif’s guys had ushered all of the non-cast personnel outside of the green room and locked the doors.
Once their bodyguard gave Jared the go-ahead, he assisted Jensen so he could stand, and Jensen addressed the room.
“Alright, y’all, here's what's going on-” He gripped the top of one of the chairs and leaned forward, feeling dizzy. “I don't know if there's something in the water,” he continued after shaking his head, “-or if they just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but mine and Ruthie’s handlers have both crossed some serious lines this mornin’.”
He waited for the murmuring to cease.
“Justin and Ryan both laid hands on us, which we all know is a huge no-no in our contracts.”
Richard piped up from his spot between Matt and Rob. “Also tried to deny you a bathroom break.”
Jared snarled. “What the fuck?”
Jensen spared him a brief glance. “Yeah, well, the asshole ended up with puke on his shoes, so…” He shrugged.
“What we need to know is this,” Jensen said, returning his focus to the crowd of their friends, “Has anyone else experienced inappropriate behavior from their handler or any of the other volunteers today?”
Jensen and Jared cursed synchronously when several more hands went up.
“Jesus,” Jared whispered under his breath. He was shocked and disheartened to hear that not only had Jensen been mistreated today, but several of their friends as well.
Jensen’s jaw ticked angrily. “Somebody get Stephanie on the damn phone.”
Clif made the call, and Stephanie had assured him she would be right over. She’d already been searching for the missing actors and was relieved to hear they were all accounted for.
After being allowed in the room by Clif’s men, chaos erupted.
Rob got right up in her face, yelling about how disrespectful Justin had been to Ruth. Jared glared at her while holding onto Jensen while the other man vomited into a trash can.
Stephanie’s eyes flew from one irate actor to another. She stuttered out a rehearsed apology and started backing up, but her way was blocked by several of the other cast members and a stone-faced Clif.
When Jensen was done being sick, Jared squeezed his shoulder comfortingly and cleared his throat.
“We’ve been good to you,” he started, eyes focused on the event coordinator. “We’ve done everything you’ve asked us without complaint, moving things around to make the schedule work, staying late when things run long, and never calling you out when inappropriate questions make it through the screening. We’ve done conventions instead of attending birthdays and weddings. We’ve worked ourselves to the bone, showing up in between shooting schedules and family events.”
He looked at Jensen, his gaze softening. Reaching out a hand, he ran his fingers through Jensen’s hair.
“When we’re sick, we push through. When we’re sad or hurting…”
“All we’ve ever asked for,” Jensen spoke up, “is for your respect and a little compassion. We chose to do this. We chose to see our families less and work longer, more draining hours to satisfy the fans and show them our appreciation. But what happened today…” He shook his head. “It’s not okay, Steph. It’s not respectful. It’s not kind, and-”
“And it sure as hell isn’t permitted in our contracts,” Jared finished. “Your employees had no legal right to place their hands on anyone. There was no emergency, and I can
guarantee
you that permission was
not
given.”
“Ryan denied me a bathroom break, Steph,” Jensen told the coordinator. “A fucking bathroom break that would’ve taken five minutes, but he had to waste time arguing.” He gave her a hard look. “That nineteen-year-old jackass tried to
tell
me that I wasn’t
allowed
to go to the bathroom.” He stood, face red with anger. “I’m forty-two fucking years old! I am well aware of whether or not I can hold it, and that snot-nosed punk tried to tell me that he knew
better
than me! I don’t need some
kid
trying to tell me when I can take a dump!”
Stephanie looked at Jared, but he was just as upset as Jensen.
“The only reason Jensen is here right now is because of the contract he signed. He’s sick and he doesn’t feel well, and Ryan only made it worse. Instead of showing a little kindness and realizing that Jensen would only say something if he
needed
to, he berated Jensen and told him he was being obstinate.”
“Ruth stayed a few fucking minutes after her panel to speak to a couple of
fans
,” Jensen added, jaw clenched against renewed nausea. “Fans- yet,
Justin
decided there wasn’t time for that. I’m sorry, what?” He threw up his hands and shouted at her, “The whole reason we’re here is for the fucking fans!”
“You’re here for the money,” Stephanie countered. She turned to each of the actors. “Every one of you is here for the paycheck.”
“If that’s what you think,” Rob spat at her, “then we may need to revisit having the band on retainer.”
“And also look at future attendance,” Matt said.
Jensen glanced at Jared, and everything froze around them. He’d seen that look in Jared’s eyes before, and he remembered the resulting Hell his best friend had had to slog through to feel okay again.
The anger fled and was replaced by the all-consuming love he had for the man who stood beside him.
“I quit.”
Everyone fell silent at Jensen’s quiet declaration.
Stephanie gaped at him. “You- You can’t
quit
!” She grew flustered. “What about the panel? Your meet-and-greet? They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to see you!”
“Refund them.”
“You
can’t
be serious…!”
Jensen looked directly at her and said evenly, “Look in my eyes, and tell me I’m not serious.” He settled his hand on the back of Jared’s neck and squeezed lightly to remind him he wasn’t alone.
“Your employees crossed a line, Stephanie. We came to you, so you could intervene, and instead, you accused us of being money-hungry egotistical pricks. So, yeah, I quit. We’re done. You can take your contract and shove it up your ass.”
With that, Jensen held his head high and led Jared out of the room. Rob and Ruth followed them along with Rich, Matt, Alaina, and the rest of the cast.
Stephanie stared after their retreating backs in shock.
“What the fuck am I supposed to do now?”