A/N: AU as heck, circa early-2000's. This is an obliteration of all canonical timelines.
/
"Ms. Tolliver, there's someone on the phone for you."
"I'm a little busy at the moment."
"I told her that but she's insistent. She said she'll wait all day if she has to."
Nadine turns her full attention to the intern in her doorway. "Who is it?"
"Agent Elizabeth McCord. She's calling from Langley."
Nadine frowns. "I don't know an Agent McCord."
Her intern shrugs. "She says it's important."
"Can't you just take a—"
"She refuses to speak with anyone else."
Nadine sighs. "Fine, put her through."
Her intern nods and disappears back to her desk; a moment later, the call flashes on Nadine's desk phone. She picks up the receiver. "Senator Marsh's office. This is Nadine Tolliver."
"Ms. Tolliver, I'm glad I could get a hold of you. My name is Elizabeth McCord. I'm calling from the Central Intelligence Agency."
Nadine runs through her mental Rolodex, but she recognizes neither the name nor the voice. "I'm sorry, have we met before?"
There's a low chuckle on the other end of the line. "No ma'am. You don't know me, but I'd like to buy you a cup of coffee. There's something I need to discuss with you, and I'd rather not do it over the phone."
"My assistant can set up an appointment—"
"I'm driving up to DC right now. There's a coffee shop around the corner from your building — do you know it?"
Nadine sets her jaw in a hard line. "Agent McCord, I do not have the luxury of—"
"I just need five minutes of your time for an urgent matter. Can you meet me at the coffee shop in half an hour?"
Nadine is silent for a moment. "Five minutes," she says firmly.
"See you then." Click.
Nadine can't even begin to think what this meeting could possibly concern, so she just doesn't think about it. She answers some emails and puts out a few fires, and then at the top of the hour she slips out of her office. She tells her intern that she's taking her lunch break early, and takes the elevator down to the lobby. She walks over to the coffee shop. It isn't too busy; they're past the morning crowd but haven't yet pulled in the afternoon rush.
She doesn't know who she's looking for. But Nadine is only standing there for a few seconds before she sees a tall, slim woman, younger than her, walking toward her from a tucked away corner of the store.
Her face, while reasonably friendly, gives nothing away. "Nadine Tolliver?" she asks.
"That's me."
She holds out her hand, which Nadine shakes firmly. "Elizabeth McCord. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."
You didn't give me much of a choice, Nadine thinks irritably. She doesn't say it out loud.
McCord leads her back to the seat she'd been occupying. Nadine sees a grey duster draped over the chair and two steaming cups of coffee already sitting on the table, untouched. McCord gestures toward them. "I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I just ordered us both lattes. I hope that's okay."
"That's fine. Thank you." Stiffly, Nadine lowers herself into the seat across from McCord. She turns slightly to throw a cursory glance around the cafe. From the entryway this table was hardly visible; sitting here, Nadine can see that they have a clear view of the entire shop. McCord has chosen to sit with her back to the wall, which perhaps was strategic.
"Look, I know you're a very busy woman, so I'll cut to the chase." Elizabeth leans forward. "Are you sleeping with Senator Marsh?"
Nadine gapes. "Is that what you drove all the way up here to ask me?"
"No, but it's important—"
"I don't even know you."
"—and related. Are you sleeping—"
"No," Nadine spits, already incensed and offended. Vincent is married and her boss, and either of those things would be enough of a deterrent on their own. "Do you think," she starts icily, "that simply by the virtue of my position, I am expected to... that I ought to be—"
Elizabeth waves away the suggestion. "Of course not. Okay, so now let me walk this back a little."
Nadine leans back in her chair and crosses her arms.
"I'm a CIA analyst on the Middle East desk," Elizabeth explains. "We've been keeping tabs on this Iranian nationalist who we believe has the potential to become a dangerous leader."
"You mean overthrowing the ayatollahs."
Elizabeth nods. "Yes, perhaps. And obviously the last thing we need right now is more instability in that region, what with the war… Here's the thing. I recently came across some intel regarding communications between this man and an American public servant. Senator Vincent Marsh."
Nadine studies her uncertainly. "I don't understand."
"To be honest, I don't understand much either. I don't know what's going on between your boss and that man, but it doesn't look clean."
"I can assure you I don't know anything about this."
"I figured as much. Either way, I'm under orders to monitor this situation, you understand."
Tersely, Nadine points out, "It's illegal to spy on your fellow citizens."
"Not if they're committing treason."
"You have no proof," Nadine begins, but Elizabeth drops a flash drive in the middle of the table.
"I have enough proof to know I need access."
Nadine doesn't like where this is going. She wants no part in McCord's agenda, whatever that may be. "And you think that I will serve your point of access?"
"You are indispensable to Marsh professionally. From there you could easily cultivate something... personal." A self-deprecating half smile ghosts across Elizabeth's face. "So you can see why I asked. It's not that I assumed you were sleeping with him. It's just that this would've been easier if you already were."
Nadine feels almost nauseated. "I don't do that," she mutters.
Elizabeth shrugs. "No one does, until they do."
She shakes her head. "No." Nadine refuses to complicate her work life with tawdry office politics. That being said… she'd be lying if she said she hasn't thought about it before. She's seen the way Vincent looks at her — she doesn't think he'd require much convincing. But still, she couldn't. "I don't know what made you think I'd ever agree to this."
"You're a patriot, are you not?"
"Of course, but—"
Elizabeth shrugs, as if there's nothing more to it. "So, then."
"That doesn't mean—"
Elizabeth cuts her off impatiently, exposing the first and only crack in her facade that Nadine has yet seen. "Ms. Tolliver, we are at war. I am asking for your help. Either you provide it or you don't, it's as simple as that."
Nadine is silent.
"Look," Elizabeth says, relenting. "Did you lose friends that day, in the tower?"
She gives Elizabeth a long, searching look. Finally, she says, "Yes."
"I did, too. And now I go to work every day to fight a war for them that I have no business fighting, but we all have to serve our country as best we can. And if it helps bring an end to this that much sooner..." Elizabeth trails off. "I'll be damned if I let someone like Vincent Marsh mess that up."
Nadine is unmoved. "I've known the Senator for years. I trust him. I've known you for five minutes and don't even know if you're telling me the truth. My loyalties do not belong to you, Agent McCord."
"Your loyalties should belong to your country, not your office." Elizabeth pushes the flash drive toward her. "See for yourself and you'll understand that I'm not lying about any of this." Nadine makes no move to take it. Elizabeth checks her watch. "Well, my five minutes are up. Thank you for your time." She stands up, and pauses to look down at Nadine again. "You may not be sleeping with Vincent Marsh now, but it might be a good idea to start." There's a glint in her eyes, and it's not altogether kind. "For your country."
"I don't even know how to respond to that."
"You need time to process everything," Elizabeth agrees. "I get it. And I don't need an answer right away, but I will need one soon." She reaches for her jacket and drapes it over her arm.
"I don't think you'll like what I decide," Nadine warns.
"Just think about it," Elizabeth insists. She presses a business card into Nadine's hand. "Call me when you've decided."