Results of the Aftermath
Ingrid Hunnigan,
In the wake of the Tall Oaks Incident, the death of the President and the city, the Department of Security Operations was being liquidated. The agents had not been able to protect the President, their main objective and the Department of Defense had held an Ethic Committee meeting for months. It was decided that while the D.S.O had acted appropriately, it was not timely enough to stop the tragedy that occurred. The nations weeps for to titanic losses, and civilians need to see that action is being taken.
Kevin Bauer, the active director of the D.O.D has decided to work closely alongside the Vice-President in deciding the fate of the D.S.O. Through careful consideration, it has been decided that the D.S.O will be disbanded and the agents absorbed into the D.O.D to continue their valiant work.
As with the Federal Bio-terrorism Commission was absorbed into the Bio-terrorism Security Assessment Alliance, the D.S.O will find new strength and be given access to larger resources in their new positions in the D.O.D.
It is by his own choice that Director Bauer will retiring publicly in 30 days, while officially he will be still working as acting director for 6 more months, wherein the current Deputy Director Edward Fox Jr. will take over the position.
Ingrid, your record is impeccable. You have shown great control over your charges, making difficult decisions much beyond the control a normal agent in your position of the Field Operation Support. The late President Benford praised you or multiple occasions, noting that you were his first choice as Director of F.O.S and that you had turned down the position so that you would be able to work with your charges directly. You've shown great courage and loyalty to field agents, acting as a voice of sanity and safety for them even in the most inhospitable conditions. It is because of this, that you are being offered the position of Deputy Director of the Department of Defense.
Please take time to consider taking the position until the current Director makes his announcement and direct any question you have directly to me.
Signed,
Alexander Walker
Executive Director of the Department of Defense
Hunnigan held the paper between her fingertips, the weight and high quality roughness of its surface had faded away as the feeling in her hands had washed away. Her mind had a strange buzzing that grew exponentially as she continued to read and re-read the last few sentences. She had been part of the committee, acting as a sponsor for both Leon and Helena, standing up for their actions during the outbreak on the campus, as well as her own actions in reporting their deaths to cover their actions in tracking down Simmons.
She had been sure that it would cost her not only her own job, but would cost Leon and Helena their jobs. The last thing she had been expecting was to be offered the position of Deputy Director. It was no arbitrary position. The position would great for her career, a jump up to the position was almost unheard of. The D.O.D was looking bad after Simmons exploits had leaked to the public. They needed new faces, new people in power to assure the public that people like Simmons would not be tolerated.
It was a dream of hers, she had planned to reach the position around her fortieth Birthday. She was only thirty-three and had no idea if she would be able to command the type of responsibility and power that such a position would entail. Beside unsure of herself, she needed to know what her charges would think. Being in that executive position, she would no longer be handling missions directly. It was her greatest pride to be able to help her charges out.
Picking up her phone, she dialed Leon. She knew he was visiting his family, extended members that had lived outside Raccoon. It was a tradition around this time of her for him that few people knew of. The phone rang a few times before he picked up.
"Sorry Hunnigan, had it on silent."
"It's ok. The call is personal anyway."
"Personal? Finally gonna take me up on that offer for a drink?" He donned his velvety voice, the voice she knew he used when trying to flirt.
"Not exactly." She reconsidered. "Actually yes, you know what, I will."
"What?" She could hear the panic in his voice.
"When do you get back from vacation?"
"My plane out of here is tomorrow at five. I should be back there around ten o'clock."
"I'll take you out to lunch then."
"If you are buying I want to go to that place that had the lobster the size of small dogs."
"You got it. Call me when you touch down."
"Gotchya."
She hung up and set the letter down, trying to concentrate on the days work. When Leon called her the next day, she picked him up from the airport and drove them to the bistro they had visited a couple times before. They took a small table in the back and got through appetizers and their first course of salad and breadsticks before he began to prod her.
"I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth-especially when that horse is buying me lunch but what's going on, Hunnigan?"
She sipped her mineral water before dabbing at her lips with her napkin and clearing her throat. "I was offered a job."
"So this is a celebratory lunch and you are still buying?" His eyebrow raised a bit as he tore a bit of bread from the stick and stuffed it into his mouth.
"The D.S.O is being liquidated and absorbed into the D.O.D."
He let out a sigh. "I know. I was there for the committee, remember. The whole incident of me getting kicked out of the hearing and you having to finish off the day alone."
"It was unfair of them to accuse you of jumping the gun when Adam was infected." Hunnigan reached across the table and pat the back of his hand.
"The D.S.O was my attempt at protecting the President long after my own time is up." He looked down at her hand. "And I failed, new the moment Adam turned around that the D.S.O was finished."
"You helped found the D.S.O and it was an amazing organization. The process is going to be as smooth as possible. The agent loss rate has been kept as low as I can manage it."
"People are still going to lose their jobs, good agents because I couldn't do my job." He chuckled a bit, reaching for his glass of scotch and polishing it off.
"I was offered the position as the Deputy Director of the Department of Defense." Her words spilled out of her mouth. She cringed and looked to him.
"That is amazing! You deserve it." He raised his empty glass to her in a cheers before flagging down a waiter for a refill.
"You think I should accept?"
"You haven't already?"
Hunnigan adjusted her glasses a moment, quieting as the next course was served. A full-loaded baked potato for Leon and a pile of steamed broccoli and rice for herself. She forked a floret and ate it quietly until the waiter moved on to the next table.
"I don't know if I should take the job."
"Why not?"
"You are losing your position at the D.S.O and I am being placed so high in the D.O.D. I should not be that high within the organization. Protocol would dictate that I should start as a-" He cut her off.
"Protocol? Since when have you followed Protocol? Hunnigan, if they offered you the job, it is because you are qualified. Take it. Don't pass up on it liked you did with the Director position of the D.S.O." He pulled a piece of bacon off the top of his potato and devoured it.
She steepled her fingers under her chin, letting her eyes roll over the ceiling as if the answer was written upon it somewhere.
"I wouldn't be able to work as an F.O.S agent anymore." She said finally.
"You mean you would be a little voice in my head all the time? Hallelujah." He shot her a devious grin. She glared at him for a moment before shaking her head. "Once you retire from F.O.S, another agent will take over your spot, someone you probably trained so I know they will be more than competent."
"I like working with my charges."
"You mean you like working with me." His grin grew wider. She let out a sigh.
"Yes Leon, I like working with you." She punctuated her words with sharp nods of her head, like a teacher explaining something to a student for the uncountable time.
"Then I'll just demand that you be my own support. F.O.S will probably get annoyed with me and toss me over to you."
"I will have other things on my plate, I don't think I can juggle mission support and everything that being Deputy Director entails."
"If anyone could, it would be you. Besides, I kind of like the idea of knowing the Deputy Director of the Department of Defense." He raised his glass to her once more, this time the dark liquid inside it sloshed around a bit. He held his arm up waiting for her to mimic his movements. "Also, I like knowing that someone in such a high place of power is working for the people, and not just for themselves."
She gave in to temptation, lifting her own glass and touching the rim to his glass, a sharp clink of contact then they both drank.
"Congratulations, Deputy Director of the Department of Defense, Ingrid Hunnigan." She cracked a smile, laughing quietly and eyeing the massive plate of lobster headed their way.
"I am going to watch you eat a lobster the size of a Pekinese." She pointed her glass towards the waiter as he stopped beside their table and set the plate down in front of Leon. "Enjoy."
Several days after her lunch with Leon, she had been called into a meeting with the Executive Director. She'd sent him several emails about the possibility of holding on to a few of her F.O.S cases and he had granted her to clearance to do so as long as her new duties were not neglected. She had then met with the current Director of the D.O.D as well as several other high ranking officials. They congratulated her as well as piled paperwork upon her. Her official ceremony was moderately big. Reporters from various newspapers and stations around the world interviewed her. She was sworn into office on August 2nd of 2013 and the next day was photographed in her new office for several official and non-official outlets. Ingrid Hunnigan was the youngest Deputy Director in history as well as the first women to fill the role.
She also attended the public retiring ceremony for Director Bauer, where Leon acted as her date. He cleaned up more than well enough and surprised her by how well he behaved throughout the entire ordeal, even after some people took cheap shots at him and his role in the Tall Oaks Incident. They danced together and as they did so, she promised him that she would continue to be an annoying voice in his head for the rest of his life, whether he liked it or not.