Title: Still Just Like This

Author: breea1

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer: Utter fiction. Not mine, except for the kids and the sperm donor.

Pairing: Jared/Jensen, Chris/Steve

Synopsis: Timestamp for Just Like This. Closure and just rewards.

A/N: I wanted to write some kind of closure after so many of you expressed an interest in seeing Orin getting what was coming to him. I'm fairly sure that this isn't what most of you had in mind, but this seemed to fit best with the tone of the original story and I think this is how I would have chosen to end the fic if I'd have given it a little more thought. Basically this is written in thanks for all of your support and interest in a newbie.

~*~*~*~

Jared was already having a bitch of a day, so he pretty much thought that he'd somehow managed miss actually fucking dying and getting sent to hell when he looked up from wrangling demonic spawn out of his car - otherwise known as his beloved children - and saw a man standing in a business suit on his front porch and then, holy fucking hell, realised it was fucking Orin.

Danny was engaged in beating the living daylights out of a screaming Kate with a foam baseball bat that Jared couldn't quite remember buying - he hoped to God that he actually paid for it and that Danny hadn't taken advantage of his broken spirit and just lifted it from the store - and Scott was plugged firmly into his ipod and ignoring Jared with dogged sulkiness since getting told that, no, he wasn't allowed to get his ear pierced, no matter how cool he thought he would look with a gold stud and how much it would help his coolness factor at school as his dads were great, big, boring jerks that were way too strict and, like, really lame.

Jared was planning a phone call to his parents that evening to apologise for everything he had done or said since birth ever, because, seriously, how they had resisted the urge to strangle him and his siblings as they were growing up if they were half this bad Jared would never know.

His first instinct - to his eternal shame – was to grab the kids and run. He'd never met Orin, hadn't even set eyes on the smug, smirking son of a bitch after his photo mysteriously disappeared three months after he and Jensen got together, but the face of the man who biologically fathered the kids that Jared had taken for his own is ingrained enough in his memory to have his automatic reaction to seeing it for the first time in person was to run and run now.

The second one - much more appealing - was to shove the kids back in the car, hand a no doubt delighted Scott the keys with instructions to take off and then storm the front steps to kick the crap out of Orin because, seriously, their home? The kids' safe place? The bastard is at their home.

The thing that stopped him was Scott's face. He'd seen many expressions on it over the course of the last three and a half years - a ridiculously high proportion of them either angry, sulky or belligerent - but he'd never seen outright terror on his son's face, even if the emotion is suppressed almost before it registers and Scott's typically 'I am gonna kick your ass (TM)' mask was firmly back in place, and that alone was enough to make Jared stop and think.

He stood frozen for a moment staring back down his path at Orin before he called to the kids in what he liked to think of as his 'obey me, obey me now' voice. "Danny. Kate. Get over here." The screaming and battering ceased instantly, the kids turned to stare at him with wide eyes and open mouths, before both little faces crumpled in an attempt at tears to forestall Jared's anger and what they think is an epic scolding coming their way. Jared, after an intensive parenting learning curve these past two years, is not swayed and held out his hands to his younger children, just anxious to get them within grabbing distance and safe against him. "Now."

Swapping identical looks of accusation and resignation Kate and Danny - the latter trying to drop his weapon with studied nonchalance behind him - ceased and desisted all hostilities and trooped over to fetch up in front of Jared looking like they were on their way to the gallows. On any other day Jared would have been fighting back the urge to laugh and sweep them up into his arms for some patented Padalecki forgiveness snuggles, but now he can't afford for them to think they can get away with doing anything less than exactly as they're told so he just grabbed a kid in each hand and reeled them in. He threw a glance over to Scott still standing rooted to the spot and jerked his head. "You too."

Scott, not so easily cowed, threw him a mutinous, fearful look and hesitated for a moment before moving over to join them. He didn't, however, move to Jared's side but planted himself in front of his younger siblings and stared straight ahead at the house, shoulders tense and angry under the cloth of his Linkin Park hoodie and when Jared looked down he sees two small fists curled tightly at Scott's side, knuckles white with strain and battle ready. Jared thought for a second and then quickly released Danny's hand to fumble his cell out of his pocket and slap it round onto Scott's chest. "Take it." Scott started with surprise and looked down and then hurriedly fumbled for the phone. The minute he took it, Jared reached back down and snatched Danny's hand up again. "You're going inside and you're going to call your dad."

Scott's head whipped around and he stared at Jared, face white and eyes wide with trepidation. "Jared...."

"Scott, not the time, dude." Impatient and not sounding as reassuring as he wished he could, Jared interrupted aware the two younger kids were beginning to stir uneasily when they began to realise that something was going on and he had only moments until Kate recognised Orin. "You go inside and call your dad and let him know what's going on. He's only an hour out, so he'll get here soon." He flicked his eyes up to where Orin was still waiting patiently on the porch and then looked down at his son again. "Then you get the three of you and the dogs in my bedroom, lock the door and you call your Uncle Chris. Him and Steve will come straight over. This is going to be okay. We're going to make it okay, but you just really need to do what I'm asking you now, alright?" His eyes softened when Scott stared helplessly up at him, still clutching the phone and he said gently, "I promise, Scotty, I don't let them come back, okay? Not ever. This is over, I swear."

Scott opened his mouth to automatically protest, but then his attention was diverted by the small sound of alarm from Kate when she finally saw Orin. He was reaching for his sister before the thought even registered in his mind and habits ingrained over short lifetime took over. "S'okay, Kate, dad's coming." He sent Jared a hard look even as he wrapped an arm around his sister's rigid shoulders. "Make him go away. You make him go away and tell him he can't come back."

"Jared." The small voice of Kate drifted up and he looked down to see the young girl beginning to shake next to him, the hand that Jared wasn't clutching reaching up to twist in her brother's sweatshirt and ripping his forgotten earbuds of his ipod out of his ears. "Jared, that's...."

Completely baffled as to what was going on, but seeing that his sister and brother looked frightened out of their wits, Danny's shoulders began to hitch and tears welled up in his eyes again. Jared groaned, released Danny's hand and bent to scoop him up against his chest. "Chill out, little man, we're all good." Squaring his shoulders he nodded down to Scott, trying to smile. "Let's do this." He tugged gently on Kate's hand when she shook her head and made a small, broken sound low in her throat. "Nothing's going to happen, sweetie, you're just going to go on inside with Scott and Danny. Nothing's going to happen. You're okay." He sent Scott an approving look when the boy helped move his sister forward, muttering reassurances and encouragement in equal measure under his breath and then they were suddenly at the foot of the porch and he was looking up at Orin's handsome face. "The kids are going inside."

The older man's eyes flickered for a moment with what looked like protest and then he nodded, stepping aside and leaving a clear path to the front door.

Jared kept his eyes on Orin when he moved forward, choking in alarm when Scott suddenly let go of Kate and dodged him front of him to place himself between Orin and his siblings and then turning as he backed up to keep his hate filled eyes on the man that had fathered him. "Scott!" Jared turned his head and looked down on the blond, bristling one at his hip. "Scott. Come get the door." He thought for a moment that the little boy was going to ignore him, but then Scott turned and fumbled in Jared's back pocket for the keys and yanking them out. Jared kept his eyes on Orin while Scott unlocked the door and threw it open and then pressed a quick kiss to a still grizzling Danny and stooped to place him on his feet and push him gently towards Scott. "Go with your brother." He crouched while Scott yanked Danny less than gently into the house and behind him and placed his hands on Kate's shoulders, the little girl staring past him with fixed horror up at Orin's face. "Kate. Kate!" He felt his heart give a hard thump at the expression of unbridled fear in his daughter's pretty blue eyes and it took everything he had not to stand and plant a meaty fist right in the middle of Orin's face for putting that look there. "You go with Scott and you do what he tells you. He's in charge till me and your dad come get you, okay? Scott's in charge."

Shakily Kate nodded, whispering, "Okay." Her eyes darted fearfully past Jared again and she mouthed almost silently, "I want daddy."

Jared pressed his lips to her forehead thinking so did he, but managed to murmur soothingly, "He's coming, baby, he's going to be here real soon. Go on now." He stood and moved her into Scott's waiting arms, his heart turning over again but this time in overwhelming love when Scott wrapped his sister up in his embrace without a second thought and held her fiercely to him. He reached out to touch the top of Scott's head lightly. "Do what I said, okay?"

One arm staying firmly round Kate and one wrapping around Danny as he tried to wriggle past to get back to Jared, Scott nodded. "Yeah." He made to pull his siblings out of the way when Jared tried to shut the door and then stopped. "Dad? You'll be okay?" His eyes flickered to Orin and then back to Jared. "Right?"

Jared stared down at Scott, thrown off balance by the word dad and also by the intense deja vu he was experiencing at the look on Scott's face, taken back almost four years to the first day he had seen his family and the looks of fear and mistrust and worry on their faces when he had bounded over to introduce himself. He sucked in a deep breath and almost laughed; Jesus, irony was a bitch.

He nodded with a reassuring smile and waited until the door was closed and the sounds of the kids retreating had faded before turning around and staring at Orin. "What do you want?"

Looking unsurprised by the barely masked hostility, Orin none the less held out a hand. "Orin Brown."

Jared glanced down at the outstretched hand and then back up at Orin's face, again trying to shake off the deja vu of his own first meeting with Jensen. Although he was fairly sure - at least he hoped - that Jensen hadn't been fighting back the red tide of murderous rage that was currently swamping his own vision now that the children were safely out of the way. "I know." He turned so his back was firmly against the door and he stood immovable between Orin and his children, repeating, "What do you want?"

Orin dropped his hand, looking disconcerted for a moment, before an expression of calm politeness settled on his face and he nodded at the house, presumably to indicate the children within. "They've grown."

"Yeah. They do that." Jared folded his arms over his chest, aware of just how much that particular pose accentuated his muscled arms and concentrated on looking as unwelcoming as he possibly could. "Jensen has a restraining order against you."

A flicker of irritation showed in Orin's eyes before he caught himself and his wide mouth twisted in an acknowledging smile. "It expired. Seven months ago."

Jared's breath caught in his throat for a moment before he forced himself to get a grip. It didn't matter, he told himself, it didn't matter. Jensen had sole custody of the kids, Orin had no visitation rights and they could get another order. He wasn't losing his babies, he wasn't. Never more thankful for his profession than at that moment, Jared forced his face not to reveal his anxiety and raised an eyebrow. "We didn't know." He kept his eyes level with Orin and shrugged. "Guess we forgot about it, got more important things to think about."

Slowly Orin's hand dropped and he appeared to fold in on himself for a moment before straightening his shoulders under the material of his well cut suit and shaking his blond head. "Look, I didn't come here for a fight." He eyed Jared's impressive body with pale blue eyes, noting with bitter humour, "I'm guessing luckily for me."

Jared couldn't help himself and sneered, "I prefer not to let my fists do the talkin' for me." He curled his lip contemptuously. "Just not classy, y'know?"

This time there was no mistaking the frigid anger in the smaller man's expression. "I can understand you don't want me here, but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't make references to situations you know nothing about."

Letting some of his own anger show, Jared snapped back, "Oh I know plenty, believe me." He took a deep breath, wrestling his temper back under his control and hissed impatiently, "Look, what the hell do you want, man? Why are you here?"

"I'd like to see Jensen." Visibly battling back his own irritation and impatience, Orin questioned quietly, "I take it he isn't at home?"

Jared shook his head. "He's on his way back from a job outside of town. His flight just got in half an hour ago." He gave Orin a tight mocking smile. "I'll be sure to tell him you stopped by."

Orin's mouth twitched and he let out an explosive sigh, face turning away from Jared for a moment before looking back at him with something almost relief. "I see." He studied Jared for a few moments and then sighed again, moving to the lounger they kept on the porch for watching the kids when they played in the front yard or for when Chris came over and wanted to sneak a crafty cigar away from Kate's newly tobacco-is-bad eyes. "Can I sit down for a moment? I won't keep you long, I have to catch a flight myself in a couple of hours and I may not have time to wait for Jensen. There's a few things that I'd like him to know in case I miss him."

Eyeing Orin with distaste Jared thought it over and then said, "I think you might be better going through our lawyer. Keep this all above board."

"Its nothing like that." Orin looked at Jared for a moment and then turned and stooped to a case on the floor that Jared had failed to notice in all the drama. He opened the front pocket and pulled out a large brown envelope and held it out to Jared slowly. "Would this help convince you that I'm not here to cause trouble? I just want to...." Frustrated, Orin sighed when Jared continued to eye the envelope like a snake and snapped, "Will you just look inside?"

Jared snatched the envelope away and ripped it open carelessly, snarling, "Fine, although what the hell you think is....so....damn....impor....." He stared down at the papers he yanked from the envelope and blinked in confusion before looking up at Orin with bewilderment colouring every line on his face. "I don't understand. What is this?"

"I've terminated my parental rights." Orin nodded at the papers creasing in Jared's hand when he clenched it convulsively. "I don't have any legal, moral or familial claim to them any longer." He raised a wry eyebrow when the paper crackled sharply in protest as Jared hand tightened even further. "I'll have some more copies sent over. Possibly laminated."

Abruptly furious and feeling like the world was spinning wildly off kilter, Jared moved threateningly forward before he could catch himself and had the guilty satisfaction of seeing Orin pale and back up two steps before he got a hold of himself. "Do not joke about this. This is not something to laugh about, you hear me?" He held up his fist, folded tight around the sheaf of papers and thrust it forward under Orin's nose, hissing, "This is....this is....." He broke off staring at his fist and the paper and then slowly lowered his arm, muttering, "I don't even know what this is." He looked hard at Orin. "Is it even real or just another one of your mind games?"

"Yes, it's real." Orin studied Jared's face for a moment and then without waiting for further permission sank down onto the lounger with a long breath. "And I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I was taking this lightly, that isn't the case at all. Believe me, I'm all too aware of how serious this is." He linked his hands together, bent his head and blindly stared at them, murmuring almost to himself, "If nothing else the looks on the childrens' faces when they saw me would have told me just how serious this is and how much this will mean to them and you and Jensen." He looked up at Jared with a mild expression. "I imagine you must hate me."

Incredulous, Jared stared. "Well, duh."

Orin's face flushed with light colour and he looked away before asking, "Will you listen to what I have to say now?" His jaw clenched and, after a moment, he gritted out, "Please?"

Looking once more at the papers in his hand, Jared nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Thank you." Gravely Orin nodded and continued, "I was in an accident almost a year back, I nearly died." He caught the startled and then guiltily wistful look on Jared's face and his lips quirked. "Sorry to disappoint you."

Jared scowled. "You look okay now."

"Yes. Now." Orin frowned, looking out to the street for a moment and then took a deep breath. "I was drunk behind the wheel. Went off the road, into a copse of trees and then woke up five days later in hospital. Needless to say my company weren't overly impressed and....steps were taken." At Jared's unwillingly interested look, Orin shrugged, "The incident itself was....dealt with....discreetly, but I was told in no uncertain terms that unless I was prepared to toe the party line then I would find myself out on my ear with all benefits and my healthy income nothing but a distant memory." He shrugged. "I left hospital six weeks later and went straight into rehab."

Jared, blinked, startled. "So, you're sober now?"

"As the proverbial judge." Orin agreed without any sense of achievement or satisfaction. "Nine months and counting."

"Oh." Nonplussed, Jared stared, not sure what to say. "Congratulations?"

"Thanks." Orin's lips twitched again. "I think you're the first person outside of the programme to say that to me. Actually, it's possible you may be the first person to say it period. I don't think I was very popular."

"Yeah?" Jared snorted. "I'm stunned."

Orin flushed. "Look, this isn't easy for me. This past year has been possibly the worst time of my life and...." He bit off whatever he was about to say with an annoyed grunt. "Anyway, part of the 'process'," He made rapid air quotes with his fingers, "Is that the recovering addict apologises to the people he's hurt and tries to address his wrongs before moving forward." He looked up at Jared. "I leave for England in a few hours. A permanent relocation. I've been putting this off as long as I can, but....." He shrugged. "I'm out of time. I want to lay things to rest here before I leave."

Jared reeled once more, stunned relief washing through him. "You're leaving the country? For good?"

"Yes." Orin rolled his shoulders under his suit jacket, clearly uncomfortable. "I won't be back. There's nothing here for me anymore and a clean start is very....appealing."

“No argument here.” Jared murmured the words absently, eyeing Orin with a calmness he didn't feel inside and opened his mouth again, only to turn his head sharply when the squeal of tires cut through the early evening air and a stretch limo screeched to a stop out side his house. Blinking, he watched when the rear passenger door was flung open and a tuxedo clad Chad tumbled out of the door and sprinted up his path towards him. “Chad?”

“This won't take a minute, Georgia!” Chad pounded up the path, yelling over his shoulder to an irritated looking blonde girl who was leaning out of the limo door glaring after him poisonously. “Just a second, I swear!”

The girl's expression darkened further. “My name is Virginia!”

“Dammit, knew it was one of the states.” Chad slid to a halt in his shiny, shiny dress shoes and lifted his shoulders ruefully at Jared. “I took a shot.” He focused on Orin's startled face and narrowed his eyes. “Dude, I am going to kick your ass. Jared, hold this.” He stripped off his tux jacket and tossed it carelessly behind him, smacking it into Jared's spluttering, bewildered face. He advanced on Orin, yanking back his shirt sleeves. “Man, when I finish with you, you're gonna wish.....”

“Chad!” Jared fumbled the jacket away from his face and leapt after his friend, yanking him back just as he pulled back his arm to take the first swing. “Stop it.” He grunted when Chad actually snarled – and, seriously, Chad snarling – jerking back his punching arm to elbow him in the ribs. “What are you doing?”

Straining furiously against Jared's hold, Chad took a swipe with his other hand at Orin's alarmed and baffled face. “Saving you from jail time, man! You and Jensen can't leave the kids, but I'm allowed to put the smack down on this guy and....” Grunting, Chad tried to surge forwards again. “And this has been a long time coming!”

Finally managing to get a good grip on his insane, loyal and totally incredible best friend, Jared swung them away from Orin and to the other end of the porch. “I meant what are you doing here?”

Quivering with aggression, Chad screwed his head round to awkwardly squint at Jared. “Scott called me.”

Blinking Jared looked towards the limo and increasingly angry blonde within and then back down at his friend. “But....” He blinked again. “Tonight's your big awards party.”

Staring at Jared like he'd lost his mind, Chad repeated slowly and clearly, “Scott. Called. Me.” Darting a fulminating look at Orin, Chad clenched his fists. “So let me go, go sit with the kids and I'll get on with kicking his ass.”

Feeling torn between hysteria and nearly overwhelming love for the man he held imprisoned in his arms, Jared grinned helplessly at Orin's horrified expression. “This is Chad. My best friend.”

Faintly Orin nodded. “Yes. I know who he is.”

“Yeah, well I know who you are too, fucker!” Chad tried to jerk free again. “Jared, get the fuck off me.”

Jared frowned, a feeling of disquiet uncoiling in his belly. “Wait, what?” He looked between Orin and Chad and then released his friend, but keeping an iron grip on one wrist in case he decided to go after Orin again. “How do you know who he is? Why are you so mad? We've never talked about him with you.”

Flushing, Chad looked away for a moment and then tilted his chin defiantly and met his best friend's eyes. “Scott. We talk sometimes. He tells me stuff.” He grimaced apologetically. “Don't be mad, okay? I know I should have told you and Jensen, but if I do that then he'll stop and, well,” Chad shrugged self-consciously. “Better out than in, right?”

Overwhelmed for a moment, Jared shook his head finally, saying with a shaky smile, “Only you can compare Scott finally opening up to someone with having gas, man.”

Grinning back, Chad still looked unsure. “Its a talent.” He cocked an eyebrow. “We cool?”

Swallowing heavily, Jared nodded. “Yeah.” He slowly released his grip on Chad's arm. “Let me tell Jensen though, okay? He'll be cool too, but he's going to need a little time to get used to the idea of you knowing some of that stuff.”

Nodding easily, Chad said agreeably, “Sure, buddy.”

An uneasy cough had both their heads turning, almost startled to see Orin still standing there. Jared laid a hand on Chad's shoulder. “If you're sticking around could you go in and sit with the kids? I got a few more things to sort out here before I can go in and I don't want them on their own.”

Looking like he was going to protest at leaving his friend alone with Orin, Chad subsided with a disgruntled hiss at the pleading look Jared gave him. “Fine. It's not like I wanted to get laid tonight anyway.” He yanked a cellphone out of his pocket, thumbing a number on speed dial even as he turned face the street and yelled, “Hey, Alabama, take off! Family emergency.”

Jared winced. “Virginia, Chad. Virginia.”

Chad looked blank for a moment before closing his eyes despairingly, “Fucking Carlson.” He watched mournfully as the forgettably named girl screeched in outrage, flipped him the bird and peeled off in the limo even as he spoke into his cell. “Hey, little dude, come let me in. I'm right outside.” He flipped the phone shut and glanced at Jared. “You sure you got this? Because kicking his ass would be a privilege and a pleasure.”

Grinning once more, Jared nodded. “Yeah.” He watched as the door was slowly opened and just managed to catch a glimpse of all three of his kids in various states of emotional distress before Chad bent at the knees, opened his arms wide and moved forward to scoop all of them up in his embrace.

“Spawn!” Chad nodded once at Jared and hooked the door with his foot, yelling jovially as he slammed it shut. “Who wants ice cream?”