One: Disaster Averted

The engineer finally placed the final bit of plating on the wall of the situation room, his beady eyes closing in relief. The other two people in the room looked just as relieved. Finally, they'd gotten rid of the last vestige of their biggest problem. The engineer stood up, black hair falling into his face, before nodding to the two government agents in front of him.

One of them was well-known throughout America: General W.R. Monger, the prickly but kind-hearted Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He watched the engineer intently, waiting for him to speak. The other was a woman with shoulder-length red hair, blue eyes, and a gangly body. She, the engineer realized with a jolt, was Monger's replacement as Commander of the US Army – Commander Emmeline McCleur, known for her decidedly harsh way of speaking and her warped logic. She was looking at her stubby fingernails, not paying much attention to the engineer.

"…Chairman?" the engineer murmured tentatively.

"Yes, Jimmy?" Monger immediately responded. Commander McCleur glanced up, vaguely interested, before her gaze returned to her nails.

"It's fixed. The coffee machine, I mean," Jimmy stammered, his green eyes darting all over the place. He hated being in the situation room. All of the engineers did. President Hathaway had really effed up everything in the place, from the electrical wiring to the big issue of the day, the two-button system that had almost sent the entire world plunging into nuclear holocaust. Why Jimmy had to be the one to dismantle the whole system and make a new coffee machine, he wasn't sure.

All he knew was that if this thing didn't work right, he was not only out of a job, but he'd be responsible for the second world-ending-disaster in a week.

Monger wandered over to the wall, where there were once two gigantic red buttons. Instead, there was now a small blue button and a recess into the wall, with a spout sticking out of the top. He smiled at the engineer, who clutched his chest in worry.

"Looks great, Jimbo!" Monger offered, noticing that Jimmy was on the verge of a mental collapse. Emmeline's eyes flickered up to Jimmy, and she let out a brief laugh, rough and loud.

"Gonna crap your pants, nerd?" Emmeline inquired viciously. Her voice was icy and smooth; in films, Jimmy recalled, an actress with that kind of voice would be considered sultry. Not that Jimmy found her sultry. He didn't. He, like everyone else, found her cynical and dangerously prepared.

Monger glanced over at Emmeline, who rolled her eyes in response. Picking up a coffee cup from the large table in the center of the room, Monger wandered over to the coffee dispenser and pressed the blue button. Jimmy winced.

It took a few seconds, but dark coffee soon squirted into Monger's mug. The aroma filled the air, and Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief. He'd done it. He'd fixed the problem. No more nuke-shooting button. No more near-disasters. No more need to overload the newly formed Monster Task Force division of Homeland Security. Jimmy couldn't help but smile.

Monger took a sip of his coffee as Emmeline raised an eyebrow, staring at Jimmy. "But how are we gonna launch nukes now?"

"We're not," Monger informed her.

"What if we need them?" Emmeline questioned, looking to the ground. She didn't seem pleased with this new, peaceful development in the US's weapons policy.

"We have the monsters," Monger responded.

Emmeline turned her glare to Jimmy, who jumped up. She waved her hand in his direction. "You're free to go."

Jimmy just stared blankly at her. She grit her teeth.

"Get out, nerd!" Emmeline shouted. Jimmy, tripping over the laces of his high-top sneakers, immediately bolted out of the war room, leaving his bag of tools behind him. Emmeline didn't notice until he'd left.

"Wait! …Crap." Emmeline shook her head. Monger took another sip of coffee, staring at the blue button.

"…You don't like this whole 'monster' thing, do you, Ms. McCleur?"

Emmeline crossed her arms, fatigues rustling with the movement. "…That obvious, huh."

"They stopped the –"

"I know they stopped the nukes," Emmeline interrupted irritably. Her eyes widened, though, and she frowned. "It's just… they're not indestructible."

"…I hear you, Ms. McCleur."

"They won't be able to solve all our problems."

"For now, they're doing a damn fine job of fixing things."

Emmeline's frown grew more pronounced. "Yeah, a better job than Hathaway would do."

Monger snorted into his coffee. "He's not as incompetent as you make him out to be."

"He's a good man, but a terrible president," Emmeline snapped back. "…General, just… tell me the monsters'll have a break for a while."

Monger took another sip.

"Yes."

Emmeline relaxed a bit before grabbing another coffee mug off of the table, going to ready herself a cup of coffee.

A/N: So. This is the first chapter of my first MvA fic! This first chapter isn't very substantial – basically, it just introduces the OC and creates the time-frame of the story – but hopefully you all enjoy it. Reviews are appreciated 3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Monsters vs Aliens!