Enemy of My Enemy (Executive Office #2)

by Tal Bauer

Some stated that God hated both Jack and Ethan. Several called for God to kill them, and others cried out that this was God’s punishment on America. More proclaimed Jack the antichrist.

fucking hell

And this was what he loved about Jack. Strength wrapped in an effusive optimism, a soul that promised the world would be a better place if you only just held on and never let go. A solid core of unflappability, the center of him rooted in gentle happiness. Jack radiated joy to Ethan’s soul, and he basked in Jack’s grins, his playful personality, like a tree turning its leaves to the sun.

“Boyfriend of the United States. We thought about FGOTUS, but Director Triplett nixed it. Too much room for abuse.” Daniels tipped his beer bottle toward Ethan, an almost salute. “I’m just waiting to change it to HOTUS.” Scott chuckled. “Husband of the United States.” Winking, Daniels managed to grin and drain his beer in the same move, despite Ethan glaring.

“Jack—” Ethan’s voice broke off. His other hand rose, fingers sliding through Jack’s hair. “I love you so fucking much. It gets hard to breathe sometimes when I think about you.”

Finally, Daniels spoke. His voice was choked, but he looked Ethan dead in the eyes. “I’ve never met a better man than you, Ethan. Swear to fucking God.”

As they led their camels out of the market and up the main road of Kharga to the edge of town, one of them spat again, landing a glob on the top of Adam’s keffiyeh-covered head. “I fucking hate camels.”

What could he do in the face of so much pain? He felt so small, so inadequate, confronted with Sasha’s anguish. Jack’s face, his voice, floated through Sergey’s mind. Had his friend ever felt this way? Had Jack ever hated himself? Had he ever struggled with who he was and his own worth? What would Jack do if he were here?

besties

Jack’s smile grew slowly as he gazed into Ethan’s eyes. All the calamity in the world, all the dark and shadowy parts of governing, and all the moments when he felt like he was never enough, could be smoothed over by Ethan’s unwavering confidence in him. Who was this man Ethan knew, this rock star, this good man? He seemed like someone Jack would want to know.

His lust for Ethan had grown exponentially in conjunction with his love, and now, it seemed like making love to Ethan was another way he could say the words, could tell Ethan he loved him. That he loved him so much he would gladly unmake his whole world, his entire career, for the two of them to have a future together.

“He has been turned. He must have been. He has been turned by the Americans, by their CIA. He has been planted inside Russia, to tear us apart from within. This project of his. His love of homosexuals.” Moroshkin sneered.

aight.

Scott had had a mild heart attack when Jack told him his intentions to have Sergey stay with them in the Residence. He’d turned to Ethan, slack-jawed, as if Ethan could talk sense into his lover. Ethan had shrugged and grinned.

Jack took Ethan’s hand and laced their fingers together, squeezing once before he looped his arm through Ethan’s. They both heard Sergey’s deep “Aww” as his phone snapped a picture behind them.

The receiving line, as always, took forever, and Scott, Daniels, and their details were like cats on steroids, obsessively watching and checking everyone who approached Jack, Ethan, and Sergey.

Every guest got a photo with the trio, and at the end, Sergey stepped between Jack and Ethan and wrapped his arms around their shoulders and beamed into the camera. Jack laughed, Ethan’s jaw dropped, and the photographer instantly said he had the front-page picture for the morning news.

He and Jack led the first dance, swaying together and laughing as the cameras flashed.

He spun Jack again, pulling him close for a kiss after. Surrounding them, the guests were smiling, clapping, and radiant joy hung in the air. For the first time, being out and public with Jack felt good. Really good. Like he wasn’t screwing everything up for Jack, and the world really was on their side.

As Jack and Sergey wandered into discussing the business lease and investment deal again, soft snores floated up from Ethan. His head rolled until his cheek was resting on Jack’s shoulder, eyes closed, sound asleep. Sergey grinned, halfway through comparing the Russian and American auto industries. “Like a little baby.” “Yours is out, too.” Jack nodded to Sasha, asleep and slumped against the end of the couch, still buttoned up in his dark suit.

🥹

Wordlessly, Sergey held his glass out again, a final toast. “I told you to watch the newspapers, did I not?” He grinned and knocked back the last of his vodka. “Jack, you have my support, and you have my friendship. Always.”

An hour later, they were parked outside one of DC’s older jewelry shops, a family-owned store that had been in business for generations.

GASP

A few quick measurements and the jeweler said the rings would be ready in two weeks. Ethan left the shop with a terrified smile, Scott’s arm around his shoulders, and Daniels whistling away.

okay but now somethings gonna happen (probably a certain someone) and tHE RINGS ARENT GONNA BE HAPPENING FOR A WHILE HUH!!!

President Spiers’s poll numbers have jumped ten points since the announcement.

He was always meant to love Ethan, in this and every way.

“Everyone all right?” Scott hollered. “Mr. President?” Two shouts of “fine” rose from both ends of the boat, Jack and Sergey speaking together. “Two fucking presidents. My fucking luck.” Scott’s voice shook.

“Jack? Are you okay?” Ethan leaned low over his lover, running his hands over Jack’s sides and back, checking for hidden wounds. “Talk to me.” Jack opened one eye, staring up at Ethan. “You getting frisky with me?” He winked.

His world had just upended and his soul felt like it was peeling away and all he wanted was to disappear. Fade away into nothing, silence the screaming in his mind. If he let go of Scott, maybe he would. Maybe he’d collapse into pieces, shatter apart, like his life had just collapsed. Scott held on to him for the entire flight.

jesus christ fucking fuck

Two smiles, two lives. One heart, ripped in two. One soul, broken.

“Grow up! Who you choose to fuck does matter. You made a big Goddamn deal out of being bisexual, Mr. President. Time to prove it. Stick with your wife. Dump this gay thing. End it. Now!”

oh my god please punch him

“I’m bi,” he said, turning to her. He shuffled closer, but not too close. “I didn’t know, though, until—”

doesn’t sit right with me but okay i liked the greysexual(?) comment someone else made

He was worthless as a man. Utterly, absolutely, worthless.

:(((

“So, he recites poetry to you by candlelight and you fuck up his jet and bring him dead bodies?”

love doc

Adam, Faisal, and Doc all looked at each other. “He’s here,” Doc finally said. “He’s chilling.”

“If you love Faisal. Really love him. Don’t let anything stop you two. Don’t let anything get in the way. You never know how much time you have together.”

There were some things he couldn’t do. His body felt alien to him, like Ethan had the keys and had taken them with him. He was a stranger in his own skin, a puzzle with pieces out of place. A house of cards about to collapse.

“I’m sorry. I tried, Leslie. I did. But…” It was easier to speak to the darkness of his hands. “When I think of the future, I imagine it with him. I think of growing old with him. And I miss him so damn much.”

“You can’t just use him like that, call him whenever you feel like you need him—” “Damn it, Scott!” Jack shouted, his hands fisted in his hair. He spun, gasping, and glared. “Damn it, I’m not trying to use him! I’m trying to bring him home! I just told Leslie that I couldn’t be with her because I’m in love with Ethan! And, because he’s it! He’s the one for me! I want to grow old with him. Spend forever with him. I want everything with Ethan!”

HECK YEAH HE DOE

“I’m one hundred percent certain. It’s him. Forever.” “When he gets back,” Scott growled. “Don’t fuck this up, Mr. President.”

lmao i just imagine scott being like. “damnit. i still have to be respectful.”

The doctor’s cheeks ballooned, and he stared down at Noah’s corpse with wide eyes. Across the island, Doc snapped on a pair of latex gloves. “I’m ready to assist.” Adam and Faisal rolled their eyes.

Doc whistled Disney songs softly and washed each organ in the kitchen sink.

A perfect, genetic duplicate of Leslie Spiers, aged forty-five, lay in the gel.

oh. oh wow.

But he couldn’t just stop loving Ethan, and he’d chosen Ethan and their love over what he’d thought was his wife.

Deep within him, something shifted, some kind of sea change moving parts of his soul across a line in the sand he’d naïvely drawn so many, many years ago. A conviction to play by the rules, to be an upright man in a sea of shady politics. To commit to good deeds and good actions, and believing that the world was made of fundamentally good people doing decent things. Oh, how his lines had been blurred. And now, evaporated. Gone.

“If you live through this…” Elizabeth frowned, and Scott and Daniels were at his side, instantly. “Jack, what are you planning?”

“You’re not fucking going alone,” he snapped. “If you are actually going through with this batshit insane idea, then you’re not going alone. Ethan would fucking kill me.” He scowled at Elizabeth. “Madam President. Permission to accompany this Goddamn idiot?”

PFFFTTTTT

“Forget trying to be a hero. Trying to change the world. You just lose everything, and it’s not worth it. It’s not fucking worth it to be in the world without them.”

Flowers, Flags, and Candles Blanket the White House Fence, Honoring and Remembering Jack Spiers

jesus. welp this is happening huh.

“What did he say?” Ethan braced himself, staring at the ground as he picked dirt from beneath his nails. “He said he had told her he loved you and only you and that you were the one for him. Forever. Told her he couldn’t be with her because he was in love with you. He said he wanted to grow old with you. Not her.”

Jack was here at his side, holding his hand and telling Ethan he loved him. That was what he wanted, what he would have given anything for. He would have lassoed the sun and pulled down the moon to prove his love to Jack, and now Jack was here, doing the same thing.

Cook’s voice answered on the second ring. “Is everyone there?” “We are. The entire team is in the prince’s villa.” “Excellent. Exactly where we want you.” “What are my orders?”