#walker spf
Summary:You travel to Santa Monica to get started on your new job, but your consciousness of the pandemic causes some unnecessary stress
Words:3.5k
Jared x Reader x Gen, Danneel, JJ, Neil Druckmann
Warnings:pregnancy, mild angst, pandemic related panic
Apparently you were still good to go with the game developers, so long as you were available to head to Santa Monica within the next week.
They wanted to get your body and movements tracked as much as possible before your bump got too prominent, which was understandable.
You talked everything through with Jared and Gen, even bringing the kids into the conversation so that they would understand why you were going to be away.
Although you didn’t like the idea of travelling during a pandemic, you’d agreed that flying would be more sensible than taking a lone road trip cross-country. It was just over three hours on a plane, your flight being paid for by the game developers, and you’d checked that business class wasn’t going to be too crowded before booking. You chose the least busy flight on the day, meaning you had to be at the airport for 7am.
It was definitely worth it for the quietness at the terminal.
You wore loose pants and a baggy sweater, trying to disguise your bump, and a plain black face mask stayed over your mouth and nose at all times.
Maybe you were being too paranoid, but you had hand sanitizer both in your pocket and in your purse, and disinfectant wipes ready for when you got on the plane. Your pocket sanitizer bottle had been personalised by Dallas and Shepherd before you left, MAMA written in glittery nail polish and cured under UV light, along with a neat heart in bright pink.
Looking at it as you cleaned your hands every time you so much as got too close to another person or surface made you smile behind your mask.
Once priority boarding was called, you made your way to your seat, apologising to the stewardess as she watched you wipe down the surfaces.
“I know it’s cleaned, I’m just-”
“It’s fine,” she promised. “It’s a pandemic, we’re all a little paranoid. It’s actually nice to see someone taking it so seriously.”
Business class was relatively empty, the few of you spaced out so nobody was unnecessarily close by.
The stewardess shyly asked for a picture at the end of the flight, and you agreed so long as you could keep your distance and keep your mask on.
She ended up taking a selfie with you in the background throwing a peace sign, thanking you afterwards.
You nodded, thanking her for asking rather than just trying to take a sneaky picture.
By the time you landed, it was about half nine local, and LAX was considerably busier than AUS had been.
You tried to remember Sarah’s advice when you felt yourself start to panic, breathing slowly and deeply as you avoided people on your way to the baggage reclaim.
You were, for the most part, successful, until someone bumped into you from behind, placing a large bare hand on your shoulder to apologise before continuing his journey.
You could feel panic start to rise, unwanted tears prickling at the back of your eyes, and you reached for your phone, fumbling and dropping it on the floor in your urgency.
You picked it up, grabbing a wipe and cleaning it as best as you could in your state, sanitising your hands again before instinctively calling your mom.
It took a while to answer, but when she did she sounded cheery.
“This is a nice surprise,” she greeted, and you let out a wet laugh. “Oh, baby. What’s up?”
You shook your head, your tears soaking into the top of your mask.
“Sorry,” you murmured. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“‘Course you are,” she agreed. “Wanna talk about it anyway?”
“I’m at LAX,” you explained. “For- for work. Someone just touched me.”
Instantly Danneel was in full defensive mom mode.
“Someone didwhat?”
“Not- not like that,” you placated. “It’s fucking stupid. He just, he bumped into me and touched my shoulder. It’s fine, I just-”
“You’re okay,” she promised. “You’re fine. Your shoulders are covered, right?”
“Yeah,” you sniffed. “Got a long sleeve tee and a sweater on. S’cold in Austin.”
“Okay, you’re okay,” she repeated. “Once you’ve got all your stuff, you get to your hotel. You take off the sweater, all your external stuff from the flight, get it laundered if you wanna wear it again, and you go have a shower.”
“You don’t think I’m being dramatic?” you asked, blinking back the last remaining tears.
“You’re definitely being dramatic,” she said, making you laugh in shock. “But airports don’t have the best memories for you since… well, since that bitch gave me a black eye. Plus you’ve got twins in your belly during a pandemic, so I think a little bit of drama is allowed.”
You laughed again, letting out a small ‘yeah’.
“Okay baby, go get your stuff,” she told you. “You’ve got this.”
“Thanks, Mama,” you told her, wanting to wipe your eyes but not wanting to touch your face.
“Call me later, I’ll get JJ on FaceTime and you can tell us what the fuck you’re doing back in Cali,” she requested.
“Of course,” you laughed. “I love you.”
“Love you too, baby. You’ve got this.”
You hung up, pocketing your phone and sanitising your hands again before finally making it to the carousel.
You could do this.
*****
You did everything that Danneel told you to, spending probably a little longer than necessary in the shower, before making your way to your lunch meeting with the developers.
Your hotel was near the beach in Santa Monica, just a short walk from the headquarters, so you made your way over with a fresh mask and a pair of sunglasses concealing your face.
It was still strange to you, staying in a hotel that cost more every night than your rent did weekly when you lived in LA. But you weren’t paying, and during these crazy COVID times you were grateful for a clean suite to yourself.
Before long, you were entering the game company’s foyer, pushing your sunglasses up into your hair as you approached the receptionist.
“Good afternoon, how can I help you?” he asked, smiling from across the desk.
You smiled back before remembering that he’d never be able to tell through your mask.
“Hi, I’ve got a meeting with Druckmann?” you winced, hoping you’d said it right. “I’m Y/N Ackles, he should be expecting me. Hopefully.”
“Of course, I’ll call him down,” he smiled back, easing some of your anxiety. “You’re welcome to take a seat or look around while you wait.”
You chose to look around, taking in the posters of previous games on the walls, awards they’d won behind glass cases. You saw some with Druckmann’s name on specifically, noting that he’d won several for game scriptwriting and storyline.
“Y/N?”
You turned to see him watching you, a small smile on his face.
“Hi,” you laughed, feeling caught as he offered his elbow.
You bumped it with your own, grateful that he didn’t go in for a handshake.
“Sorry, Mr. Druckmann,” you told him, motioning to your face mask. “I’m happy to take it off when it’s just us.”
“It’s fine,” he assured you, leading you into the elevator. “And Neil, please. How was your flight?”
“Not bad,” you admitted, keeping your hands inside the sleeves of your sweatshirt. “It was actually my first flight without my daughter since she was born, so that was weird.”
“Quieter, though,” Neil joked, “I would assume.”
“Much,” you agreed, feeling yourself relax around him as the elevator doors opened. “I didn’t have to listen to Disney the whole way, so that was a bonus.”
Neil laughed, and you smiled along with him.
He led you into a meeting room, motioning you to sit in one of the chairs as he crossed the table to sit opposite you, and you grabbed a notepad and pen from your purse before taking off your mask and sanitising your hands.
You’d ordered lunch ahead, and there was a salad waiting for you with a wooden fork beside a bottle of Sprite.
“I feel like such a dork,” you admitted, placing your pocket sanitiser beside your notebook.
“For wanting to take notes?” he asked, grabbing one of his fries.
“For sanitising every time I touch anything,” you clarified, and he shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it,” he assured you. “We’re really happy you still wanted to be a part of this, given the circumstances.”
You nodded, a hand finding your small bump outside of your sweater.
“I’m grateful y’all still wanted me,” you admitted, and he smiled, realising you thought that he’d been talking about the twins.
“I meant the pandemic,” he clarified. “Your pregnancy really isn’t any of our concern. Most of what we want from you is your face, your voice. The people in digitisation and animation will get a feel for how you move this week, but past that… your body doesn’t matter, in that sense.”
He laughed, shaking his head at himself when you raised an eyebrow.
“That sounded worse than I meant it,” he insisted. “I just mean that we’re honestly not fazed by your situation. If you’re happy to work, we’re happy to have you.”
“I really appreciate that,” you smiled, opening your notebook and looking across at him, “Especially now I’ve seen your fancy awards downstairs.”
He smiled bashfully, bringing out a notebook of his own.
“I heard you never even played Part Two,” he teased, and you let out a laugh.
“It’s next on my list,” you promised. “And I loved the first one.”
He laughed with you, opening up his book and drumming on the page with his fingers.
“Wanna know more about your character?”
“For sure,” you confirmed, uncapping your pen.
“Alright,” he cleared his throat. “Her name’s Noah.”
*****
“She’s freakin’ cool,” you told JJ and Danneel over FaceTime that evening once you were back at your hotel. “I’m so happy that they sought me out for this.”
“Will I be able to play?” JJ asked, and you grimaced a little.
“Not for a few years, sweetie,” you explained. “For one, it’s gonna take a couple years in production. But we’ve also gotta wait for you to be a bit older before you can play.”
“You’re staying there for a couple years?” JJ questioned, making you laugh.
“No, but they’ve gotta digitise me,” you told her, continuing when she looked confused. “Y’know when Dad and Uncle Jared were made into Scooby Doocharacters?”
She nodded.
“It’s a bit like that,” you explained. “So Noah is gonna look like me, but she’s kinda like a cartoon.”
“A bit more realistic than Scooby,” Danneel explained. “I’m so happy for you, Y/N. It’s good to see you so excited.”
She watched as your smile faltered momentarily, seeing you try to plaster it back on.
“JJ, baby, go find Daddy. I think it’s bedtime,” she told her daughter, and she left with a quick goodbye.
You saw Danneel wait for the door to close before looking back at you.
“Alright, what’s up with you?” she asked, and you frowned.
“I don’t know what you mean,” you lied.
“You were grinning until I mentioned that you looked happy,” she told you, not buying your bullshit for one second. “So what’s wrong?”
You swallowed, looking down at your lap.
“I’ve been more excited about this job than I have about my babies,” you whispered. “I’d not thought about it until you said that.”
Danneel sighed, and you looked up to see her frowning.
“That’s not what I meant,” she reminded you, but you shook your head.
“No, but it’s true,” you told her. “Jared told me off about it because I kept acting like it was bad news.”
She nodded, taking in what you were saying.
“Do you…” she began, trailing off when she couldn’t find the right words. “Do you actually feel like it was? Bad news, I mean.”
“No,” you replied, instantly. “No, fuck. It’s not bad news. I know it’s not.”
“You’re just scared,” she supplied, and you nodded. “Well, duh. It’s a big surprise. I was freaking out when we found out about Arrow and Zep. And yours are identical, which is arguably more cause for a little anxiety.”
You laughed, running a hand through your hair.
“I can’t stop thinking about stupid things,” you admitted.
“Like what?” she asked, and you shrugged.
“Stupid shit,” you emphasised. “Like… What if they have different birthdays? That’s been on my mind this whole time.”
Danneel laughed, the sound making you laugh at yourself.
“I told you it was dumb,” you insisted.
“You could always have a planned c-section,” she suggested, “Eliminate that risk entirely.”
“I don’t wanna plan being cut open,” you balked. “Fuck me, that’s terrifying.”
“That’s because you hate planning ahead,” she teased. “I love you, but you’re fully being an idiot right now.”
“Mama,” you sighed. “It’s not just that, it’s…”
You trailed off, not knowing what to say.
“Am I a bad mom?” you asked, your voice cracking slightly.
“Baby, why would you even think that?” Danneel questioned, her heart breaking for you as she watched you shrug.
“I’m working,” you murmured. “I’m over a thousand miles away from my daughter. I’m pregnant with twins during a pandemic and I’ve travelled for work.”
“Because you’re a boss ass bitch,” she reminded you. “You’re a working mom. No shame in that, none at all.”
“You don’t think I should take a break?” you asked, keen for another opinion.
“I think you should do what you want,” she answered, honestly and easily. “You had a break from Supernatural for a few months and you wouldn’t stop talking about how much you wanted to be back at work.”
“But you and Gen-”
“You are not me and Gen,” she reminded you, firmly. “You’re your own person, and that person is amazing.”
“But I’m leaving my kids,” you insisted, causing her to roll her eyes.
“You’re not exactly leaving them unattended,” she explained. “You’re leaving them with their other parents, and occasionally a babysitter who they all adore. For like a week.”
You sighed, rubbing your forehead.
“You love your job,” she told you. “And you’re allowed to be excited about Noah, because she really does sound awesome.”
“Yeah?” you asked, and she nodded.
“I went back to work on Supernatural when my twins were young,” she emphasised. “Gen’s gone back on Walker now. You’re fine.”
You nodded, allowing yourself to smile again.
“I’m… I’m excited to be Noah,” you admitted. “And I am excited about the twins, too.”
“I know you are, baby,” she smiled back. “Whenever you’ve got twin concerns, you know you can come to me. Try not to stress so much.”
“I’ll do my best,” you promised, breaking off into a yawn. “Sorry, busy day.”
“Have you eaten today?” Danneel asked, and you nodded.
“Had a salad at my meeting,” you told her, and her picture left your screen almost instantly.
“Tell me your hotel details,” she demanded. “I’m DoorDash-ing you some tacos.”
“Mama,” you complained, but she cut you off.
“You’ve gotta feed my grandbabies,” she reminded you. “Eat, then sleep.”
You laughed, your stomach growling now that you were talking about food.
“Okay, you’ve got a point,” you allowed.
“I know I do,” she replied. “Now gimme your hotel details.”
*****
The rest of your week in Santa Monica passed in a blur.
The vast majority of your time was spent working, an intense schedule to allow your time away from home to be as limited as possible.
Danneel kept texting you, reminding you to eat, and you spent your downtime FaceTiming with the kids or Jared and Gen.
At the end of your last day with Naughty Dog, Neil came and found you before you left.
“I hope they’ve treated you well,” he teased as you zipped up your sweater.
“It’s been hard work, but a lot of fun,” you assured him, and he smiled.
“Glad to hear it,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets. “So, I wanted to talk to you before you go back.”
You nodded, putting your sunglasses on top of your head and taking a drink from your water bottle.
“We’ve got a bunch more audio we’re gonna need from you, I’m sure you know that,” he continued. “But I don’t want you to keep coming all the way out here, given the coronavirus situation, and having to be back home for your scans.”
You bit your lip, trying to figure out what he was getting at.
“I… Obviously it’s not ideal,” you allowed, “But I’ll do whatever you need me to.”
He smiled warmly.
“I know, you’re a real dream to work with,” he admitted. “We just thought, to make it easier on you, there might be a better way around it.”
“Like what?” you questioned, shouldering your purse.
“Like, if there’s a studio you could have access to closer to home, you could record the rest of the audio there,” he suggested, and you thought for a moment.
“My, uh, my dad,” you began, fumbling your words before starting again. “There’s a recording studio in Austin that my dad’s band uses for their albums. He could probably hook me up, there.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” he smiled. “Send me the studio details when you get home and I’ll try to sort something out.”
“Will do,” you smiled, hanging your mask from your ear. “And thank you again. For this opportunity.”
“Don’t mention it,” he smiled, walking with you to the elevator. “I meant it when I said you’ve been a dream.”
*****
The whole week away, you’d only had your work phone on you.
You figured you were there to work, to get things started on the game, and your work phone had no social media at all downloaded onto it.
It was refreshing, really, to be able to switch off from the world but still be able to stay in contact with your family. It helped you focus on the job at hand with very little external distraction.
When you got home, however, you found that your socials were absolutely blowing up.
“You got papped,” Jared told you almost as soon as you got back, handing you your cell as you flopped down on the bed.
You arrived back late at night, all of the kids were in bed already, and you could feel that you were not far from sleep yourself.
“Fucking hell, I leave the house one time,” you grumbled, easily finding what he was talking about almost instantly.
Y/N Ackles, 24, was spotted without her family in LAX on Monday morning. The Supernatural actress looked to be in a state of distress shortly upon arrival, a source claiming that she was on the phone to her adoptive mother, Danneel Ackles, before collecting her luggage and entering the city.
You scrolled to the comments, finding speculation about the wellbeing of your relationship, as well as the obligatory mentions of what a terrible mom you were to not have Dallas with you.
“Fun,” you sighed, and Jared laughed softly, pulling you up into a hug as Gen entered from the bathroom.
“You’ve had worse,” he teased, causing you to huff a laugh. “Were you actually in a state of distress, though?”
You shrugged, your arms still wrapped around him as you pulled back enough to look up at him.
“Kinda?” you allowed. “I mean, I freaked out a bit but I called Dan and she talked me down. Told me I was being dumb.”
“That sounds like her,” Jared agreed, kissing you chastely before letting you go to the bathroom yourself.
Gen was biting her lip as he looked back at her, and Jared raised his eyebrows to try and get her to talk.
She didn’t take the hint, instead getting into bed.
“What’s up?” he asked her, earning a soft sigh.
“Why didn’t she call us?” she questioned, quietly. “If she was freaking out. Why did she call Danneel, and not us?”
Jared frowned, not knowing what to say as he got in beside her.
“Maybe she needed her mom,” he suggested.
“Yeah, but when I feel like shit, I call you guys, not my mom,” she explained, and he sighed.
“Yeah, but when you were twenty-four you probably did,” he reminded her. “Imagine yourself in her situation, exactly as she is now, when the world is in the state it is right now, and tell me honestly that you wouldn’t call your mom.”
Gen watched as his eyes flitted between hers, imploring her to understand.
“You’re right,” she allowed, laying back into her pillow. “You’re right, I definitely would.”
“She loves us,” Jared promised, stroking her hair.
You re-entered the room, switching off the light on your way to the bed.
“Gen’s feeling unwanted,” Jared told you, earning a protest from Gen as you got in beside her.
“We can’t have that,” you murmured, wrapping your arms around her and placing a kiss to the back of her neck. “I missed you loads.”
You felt her laugh more than you heard it as she placed her hands over yours at her waist.
“We missed you, too,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” Jared agreed, switching off the bedside lamp. “All three of you.”
*****
HI it’s me, Jamie! Please leave questions for Ditto in the comments/IMs for a little Q&A in a later part! Thanks bbs
@monkeyluver4546, @pottergirlpotterworld, @youaremyfiveever, @capnbuck-tiltheend-oftheline, @xoxabs88xox,@mottergirl99,@sandlee44,@i-love-superhero,@i-just-wanna-run-hell, @trashforwinchesters, @mostly-shawn, @theashofwkm,@blacktithe7,@plaidstiel-wormstache,@emoryhemsworth,@onethirstyunicorn,@taylorlaurenthomas,@thatotherloser,@mskitty416,@sun-flower-bouquet,@holyfuckloueh,@fabinaforever11,@deansgirl215,@firefly124-writing,@a-queen-and-her-throne,@thoughtsoftheantagonist,@hillface89,@hetsgrinch,@bookofdisorders,@books-nothingbutbooks,@iamthatonechick,@ellen-reincarnated1967,@spnwoman,@american-duchess,@blancastans,@shikshinkwon,@clueless-gold,@meganwinchester1999,@samsexualdeancurious,@mija-novella,@typicalweirdbookworm, @im-super-potter-locked, @deans-baby-momma,@itsmycorneroftheinternet,@sea040561
