The Blessings of Liberty, Part 2
by heyjupiter/Renata of Doom (renata@frowl.org) 1/5/04
Summary: The second part of a West Wing/X-Men movieverse crossover. Senior staff talks strategy following a mutant attack on the President. President's POV.
PG
TWW Season 3 & X2 spoilers
Notes: I've had this idea bouncing around forever, so I'm finally giving it a try. Much more of a TWW story than an X-Men story, so if you're a TWW fan with no X-Men knowledge, you should be fine. Please review if you read this... I'd love to know what people think!
You waved Abbey away. "I'm fine, really," you said. "And the Army doctor agrees."
She still looked tense. "I know. I just worry."
"I know," you said. There was a pause.
"I'm still pissed at you."
"Yeah, I know." You hugged her anyway, saying, "I've got a security meeting... I'll be back tonight. You sticking around?"
"Maybe," she said, with a look that meant yes. You just nodded, and left the room without another word.
Charlie was waiting outside the door; concern was written on his face like graffiti. His shoulders were too young for this kind of a burden, you thought to yourself. When he saw you, he stood up. "Sir, are you alright? I didn't get to see you after the... incident, there was so much going on..."
"I'm fine, Charlie. The Secret Service men did their jobs, everyone is fine. Although I might need a new desk."
A ghost of a smile graced Charlie's lips. "I just hope finding a desk won't be as hard as finding a carving knife."
You kept a straight face. "Much harder, I'm afraid. You'll need a protractor when you start looking."
"You're joking."
"You wish."
Mrs. Landingham stuck her head out of her office, and, seeing you and Charlie standing in the hall, frowned. "Mr. President! Ron has been waiting for a good five minutes."
"Ah, I'm the President! He can wait a few more minutes!" You were faking it, going out of your way to pretend like thigs were normal. Just keep bantering, Jed, keep a smile on your face. The truth was, you were a little shaken up. This was different from Rosslyn-- at least those gunmen had obeyed the laws of gravity, if not the laws of the United States. But you were the President, after all, and you needed to keep up appearances. Blinking, you walked into your office. "Hi, Ron."
"Mr. President." You waved at him to sit back down.
"What's up, Ron?"
"We're increasing your security detail. We've got all the agencies searching for your assailant, obviously. But... this is tricky, because we don't know what we're up against. I think it can be agreed that he-- or she-- was a mutant. However, we're still not clear what their powers are-- we have a lot of conflicting stories. Smoke, the ability to be in two or more places at once, walking through walls-- what exactly did he do?" He ran a hand across his forehead and sighed. "So you can understand the challenges we're facing here."
You did understand, and you also knew that whatever Ron was telling you, he was hiding twice as much. "Have you spoken with any of the experts on mutants? Like.. oh, the woman who spoke to Congress?" You frowned and wracked your memory. "Dr. Jean Grey. Or I was just reading an article by a Dr. Henry McCoy... perhaps they could help?"
"The Bureau has its own specialists," he said.
You nodded. "I'd still like them contacted, however. Maybe not for this, though, maybe... I'm sorry, I'm thinking out loud. Go on." Ron nodded, and continued your security briefing. In your head, however, you were thinking about putting together a commission to study mutants, to get some answers to the questions everyone is asking and to find the questions people should be asking. You were thinking about ways to do this without frightening mutants, without making them think of the hated registration act. Truth be told, you were fascinated by mutants. The whole thing almost made you wish you had gone into genetics rather than economics. You were still thinking about this as Ron showed himself the door and Mrs. Landingham let Senator Kelly and Col. Stryker in. Senator Kelly has intrigued you-- how does someone go from being an outspoken anti-mutant activist to one of their strongest Congressional allies? You admired his courage, if nothing else. Stryker, on the other hand... you'd met with him once before. He was a high-ranking member of a NSA commission on mutants, if you remembered right. You hadn't agreed with his position. But now you smiled and offered them both drinks. You hated to be on the defensive.
Stryker and Kelly were fighting now, about a school. Stryker brought out pictures, showed you the jet coming out of the basketball court. Military talk-- you were on the defensive, again. "What kind of a jet?" you asked. Stryker didn't know, but wanted permission to search the school. You frowned. You didn't really know why these two were here, where were Fitz and Nancy? Dammit.
"Do you have a warrant?"
Stryker paused. "A warrant? We don't need a warrant!"
"This is a school, on private property, in the United States of America. You have no evidence of any crime being committed. You do need a warrant."
"Sir, due respect, these are photos of a military jet leaving the school!"
"Maybe they got it legally. Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe it's someone else's and they were just making a quick layover at the school. But right now I see no reason to take military action against this... school." This was clearly not the answer Stryker was hoping to receive.
"Sir, you were just attacked by a mutant, isn't that reason enough to..."
"To investigate a school with a plane? I want more evidence of... anything, before I can order any such thing. Why doesn't the Bureau do some investigation, and then I'll talk it over with the Joint Chiefs."
"But sir--"
"Thank you, Col. Stryker, that will be all. Pleasure to see you again, Senator Kelly."
You heard them talking about Magneto as they exited your office. He was another fascinating man, from what you knew of him. The mutant situation, these human beings with superhuman powers... you knew, then, what kind of a situation this could be. You knew you were looking at 1963 all over again. The Mutant Registration Act, you didn't see how people could look at that any differently than they did Jim Crow laws or Japanese internment or... and yet, you could. Because while racist fears were one thing, fear of a guy who could crush you with a car using no more than his mind... that was something you could be afraid of. Which, you knew, made your battle here all the more uphill. Still, when you swore your Presidential oath to uphold the laws of this land, you meant it. You would fight to secure the blessings of liberty for all of your country's citizens, even the ones with super powers. Especially the ones with super powers. And if that cost you re-election, you knew it would be worth it.
by heyjupiter/Renata of Doom (renata@frowl.org) 1/5/04
Summary: The second part of a West Wing/X-Men movieverse crossover. Senior staff talks strategy following a mutant attack on the President. President's POV.
PG
TWW Season 3 & X2 spoilers
Notes: I've had this idea bouncing around forever, so I'm finally giving it a try. Much more of a TWW story than an X-Men story, so if you're a TWW fan with no X-Men knowledge, you should be fine. Please review if you read this... I'd love to know what people think!
You waved Abbey away. "I'm fine, really," you said. "And the Army doctor agrees."
She still looked tense. "I know. I just worry."
"I know," you said. There was a pause.
"I'm still pissed at you."
"Yeah, I know." You hugged her anyway, saying, "I've got a security meeting... I'll be back tonight. You sticking around?"
"Maybe," she said, with a look that meant yes. You just nodded, and left the room without another word.
Charlie was waiting outside the door; concern was written on his face like graffiti. His shoulders were too young for this kind of a burden, you thought to yourself. When he saw you, he stood up. "Sir, are you alright? I didn't get to see you after the... incident, there was so much going on..."
"I'm fine, Charlie. The Secret Service men did their jobs, everyone is fine. Although I might need a new desk."
A ghost of a smile graced Charlie's lips. "I just hope finding a desk won't be as hard as finding a carving knife."
You kept a straight face. "Much harder, I'm afraid. You'll need a protractor when you start looking."
"You're joking."
"You wish."
Mrs. Landingham stuck her head out of her office, and, seeing you and Charlie standing in the hall, frowned. "Mr. President! Ron has been waiting for a good five minutes."
"Ah, I'm the President! He can wait a few more minutes!" You were faking it, going out of your way to pretend like thigs were normal. Just keep bantering, Jed, keep a smile on your face. The truth was, you were a little shaken up. This was different from Rosslyn-- at least those gunmen had obeyed the laws of gravity, if not the laws of the United States. But you were the President, after all, and you needed to keep up appearances. Blinking, you walked into your office. "Hi, Ron."
"Mr. President." You waved at him to sit back down.
"What's up, Ron?"
"We're increasing your security detail. We've got all the agencies searching for your assailant, obviously. But... this is tricky, because we don't know what we're up against. I think it can be agreed that he-- or she-- was a mutant. However, we're still not clear what their powers are-- we have a lot of conflicting stories. Smoke, the ability to be in two or more places at once, walking through walls-- what exactly did he do?" He ran a hand across his forehead and sighed. "So you can understand the challenges we're facing here."
You did understand, and you also knew that whatever Ron was telling you, he was hiding twice as much. "Have you spoken with any of the experts on mutants? Like.. oh, the woman who spoke to Congress?" You frowned and wracked your memory. "Dr. Jean Grey. Or I was just reading an article by a Dr. Henry McCoy... perhaps they could help?"
"The Bureau has its own specialists," he said.
You nodded. "I'd still like them contacted, however. Maybe not for this, though, maybe... I'm sorry, I'm thinking out loud. Go on." Ron nodded, and continued your security briefing. In your head, however, you were thinking about putting together a commission to study mutants, to get some answers to the questions everyone is asking and to find the questions people should be asking. You were thinking about ways to do this without frightening mutants, without making them think of the hated registration act. Truth be told, you were fascinated by mutants. The whole thing almost made you wish you had gone into genetics rather than economics. You were still thinking about this as Ron showed himself the door and Mrs. Landingham let Senator Kelly and Col. Stryker in. Senator Kelly has intrigued you-- how does someone go from being an outspoken anti-mutant activist to one of their strongest Congressional allies? You admired his courage, if nothing else. Stryker, on the other hand... you'd met with him once before. He was a high-ranking member of a NSA commission on mutants, if you remembered right. You hadn't agreed with his position. But now you smiled and offered them both drinks. You hated to be on the defensive.
Stryker and Kelly were fighting now, about a school. Stryker brought out pictures, showed you the jet coming out of the basketball court. Military talk-- you were on the defensive, again. "What kind of a jet?" you asked. Stryker didn't know, but wanted permission to search the school. You frowned. You didn't really know why these two were here, where were Fitz and Nancy? Dammit.
"Do you have a warrant?"
Stryker paused. "A warrant? We don't need a warrant!"
"This is a school, on private property, in the United States of America. You have no evidence of any crime being committed. You do need a warrant."
"Sir, due respect, these are photos of a military jet leaving the school!"
"Maybe they got it legally. Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe it's someone else's and they were just making a quick layover at the school. But right now I see no reason to take military action against this... school." This was clearly not the answer Stryker was hoping to receive.
"Sir, you were just attacked by a mutant, isn't that reason enough to..."
"To investigate a school with a plane? I want more evidence of... anything, before I can order any such thing. Why doesn't the Bureau do some investigation, and then I'll talk it over with the Joint Chiefs."
"But sir--"
"Thank you, Col. Stryker, that will be all. Pleasure to see you again, Senator Kelly."
You heard them talking about Magneto as they exited your office. He was another fascinating man, from what you knew of him. The mutant situation, these human beings with superhuman powers... you knew, then, what kind of a situation this could be. You knew you were looking at 1963 all over again. The Mutant Registration Act, you didn't see how people could look at that any differently than they did Jim Crow laws or Japanese internment or... and yet, you could. Because while racist fears were one thing, fear of a guy who could crush you with a car using no more than his mind... that was something you could be afraid of. Which, you knew, made your battle here all the more uphill. Still, when you swore your Presidential oath to uphold the laws of this land, you meant it. You would fight to secure the blessings of liberty for all of your country's citizens, even the ones with super powers. Especially the ones with super powers. And if that cost you re-election, you knew it would be worth it.