A/N: A brief character study on Richard Woolsey inspired by 7x20, Inauguration. Thanks for reading!
Richard Woolsey has never been a man of ambition. Technically speaking.
Oh, he has the tailored suit, the top-secret government job, all the résumé boosters you could ask for. He's practically in the Vice President's pocket, after all. He has the power to relocate, fire, and even kill at the drop of a hat.
Richard Woolsey could be a millionaire, he could be a world leader, he could be a tyrant.
But that power has never been used. It's been kept safely hidden away in the pocket of his crisply starched button-down shirt, never to be used. He doesn't need that kind of power. He's just along for the ride.
Until today.
Richard Woolsey likes to think he is a man of honor. The fights he picks are chosen carefully. He never steps over the line, though on occasion edging closer than would be considered prudent.
Sometimes he sympathizes with those he is working against. But he has never felt so wrong as he does today.
He stares out the window through gauzy white curtains. The stiff, meticulously neat apartment seems stifling and awkward on this cool spring morning. For the first time, feeling out of place in his own home, he wishes things were different.
The events of the day before spiral in his mind. They mingle in and out between the rest of his thoughts, never surfacing for long, but always present.
Richard Woolsey allows himself a quiet sigh. He has no right to go marching back into General Hammond's office and ask for forgiveness. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if he was booted out of Stargate Command before he even reached the general's door. But he has to do something.
He stands, pushes his chair carefully under his desk, and straightens his tie. As he leaves his apartment, he pulls out that power he's been saving up all these years.
He thinks that this may be the last battle he fights, but he is confident. Today, at least, he has made the right decision.
