csi_sanders1129 | Fic: Worth The Wait + [Fanmix] (Reply)

Title: Worth The Wait
Chapters: Epilogue
Author:

csi_sanders1129
Genre: AU. Drama. Romance.
Ratings: T
Word Count: ~1,100
Pairings/Characters: Jason/Spinelli.
Synopsis: Spinelli’s parents show up in the middle of the night and some of Damian’s secrets are inadvertently exposed, leaving Jason in a difficult situation.
Comments: AU in that I entirely distort the timeline of events as it is known to have occurred. Not so much actual events, but moreso the details of people involved in them. Which reminds me. I suppose I have to warn for mentions of underage involvement. Nothing graphic or messy, I promise. Partially co written with

cynical_sweater and with lots and lots of aid courtesy of

The penthouse is eerily dark and silent when Spinelli arrives. Which is not exactly unexpected. As far as Jason knows, he's not supposed to be in Port Charles until close to noon. But there had been an eleven o'clock flight that would land him in New York at roughly one in the morning. And the sooner he could get back home, back to Jason, the better.

"Stone Cold?" He calls out into the darkness.

He was officially eighteen now. Officially a legal adult allowed to do all of the things he'd already done. Only now he wasn't putting Jason at risk with secrets hidden in the shadows. His parents could no longer threaten his relationship with Jason even if they were still inclined to do so.

"Jason?" He tries again, having received no reply to his first attempt. He climbs the stairs and heads down the hallway. He stalls at the door to the pink room, contemplates revisiting what was once his sanctuary, but he holds off for now. Instead, he heads toward Jason's room at the end of the hall.

"Happy Birthday." Comes a voice from behind him.

Spinelli grins and turns around fully prepared to tackle Jason with what will quite possibly be the biggest and longest hug in the history of ever, but he halts abruptly when he sights the birthday cake held in Jason's hand. "You knew I was coming?"

"Your parents called, gave me the heads up." He sets the cake down on the hall table and then pulls Spinelli into his arms. "For the record, your surprise arrival seriously spoiled most of my plans for you." He jokes.

Spinelli's arms wind around his neck. "I can return to Oakfield and come back later, if that would help?"

Jason shakes his head and ducks to kiss Spinelli like he's been waiting to do for sixteen months. "Nope. Not happening. You're here and now and you're not going anywhere."

"The Jackal is entirely amenable to that."

"I imagined you would be." Jason retorts, dragging a hand through Spinelli's shaggy hair. "Oh, right." He says. "We… need to talk."

Spinelli kind of freezes at that, as nothing good typically comes from those words. "…What about?" He inquires, even as he follows Jason back downstairs and to the kitchen, where he returns the cake to its container for now.

"Some things have changed since you left, that's all." Jason assures him, noting how tense Spinelli's suddenly become. "Relax, this is part of your surprise."

And, at that, Spinelli does relax.

"I'm out of the Organization. It's all Sonny's now." He easily summarizes one of the major changes that have occurred since Spinelli's rescue. "The word's been out and there haven't been any attacks against me since then."

Spinelli silently takes in this information, obviously surprised. "But, you've worked with Sonny for years. You just… why?"

"For you. I promised – myself and your parents – that I would do everything I could to keep you safe. And being in the mob wasn't doing that. I never want anyone with Weston's motives coming after you again."

"You don't have to give up everything you've…"

Jason cuts the protest off by moving to kiss Spinelli again and God, has he missed that. "I'm not giving up anything I'm not willing to, alright?"

Spinelli leans into Jason's touch, arms curled around him once more. "What're you going to do instead?"

"If you wanted to, I thought we could do the P.I. thing. Together." Jason says, and he really hopes the answer is 'yes'.

Spinelli's face lights up at the mere prospect of the idea. "Most assuredly, Stone Cold. 'Morgan & Jackal, P.I.' it shall be."

Jason grins back at him. "In that case, I have something I need to show you, too." His fingers entwine with Spinelli's and he gives a light squeeze when he feels the press of the gold band on Spinelli's finger's press into his. "Come on."

Spinelli isn't sure where he expected Jason was leading him, but to the pink room had been a surprise. "What's…"

"Hold on." Jason says, standing behind him and covering his eyes with one hand. Spinelli hears the sound of the door clicking open and after a few steps forward, Jason's hand falls away. "Again, happy birthday."

The regrettably pink room is still regrettably pink, but it is no longer a bedroom. Instead, it is an office. With two desks and a decent computer set-up (thanks to Sonny's less-talky, less-efficient computer guy) and plenty of space for hard copies of files. Posters for old film-noir style detective movies are framed on the walls and on the wall directly opposite the door is a plaque proclaiming it 'The Offices of Jackal & Stone Cold'.

Spinelli is staring at the change his room has taken on, unable to look away. "You… did all of this?"

"I had help." He says. "There's another office for client meetings and other things a few blocks from the hospital. Maxie was in charge of decorating that. This would be the home offices. The computers here and there are synched together, or something, or so said the guy who installed them."

He honestly doesn't know what to say to this awesome display of a birthday/homecoming present. "This is amazing." He finally settles on, tearing his eyes away from the pink room to turn back to Jason. Which is when it hits him that he no longer has a room of his own. "This means I'm sharing a room with you, then?"

Jason grins. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd caught on to that." He says. "As long as you're okay with that, of course."

Spinelli backs him out of the pink room and into the hallway, arms once again wrapped around him. "Nope, not okay with that at all." He quips, laughing at the ridiculousness that is the idea that he wouldn't be amenable to such circumstances. "But I think I could rather easily be convinced."

"Yeah?" Jason inquires, not unaware that they are rather quickly heading toward his, or rather, their room. "Guess I'll have to get on that, then."

They have a rather large and extravagant Welcome Home/Birthday party to get to in the not too distant future, but for now, Jason thinks, they can celebrate in private.

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Collection of songs that inspired/kept me writing through the fic. Click on the album artwork to download.