Disclosure - August 4
Twisted Shorts August Fic-a-Day Challenge - Day 4
Title: Disclosure
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/West Wing
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or West Wing people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: There is a unique briefing after you get elected president.
Notes: This is the prologue to a story idea that never fully developed - but I think it stands on its own.
Seasons: Post-Season 4/Before Season 1
Characters: President Jed Barlet, Admiral Fitzwallace,
Word Count: 1866
The White House Situation Room was a favorite of Hollywood, normally an overly large room with screens on every wall, troop movement maps marked by red and blue markers, and every man, except the President, dressed in uniform.
President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet was more than impressed by the small room he was shown into. There were only three other people in the Situation Room. They stood as he entered, one was a tall black man wearing glasses in an Admiral’s uniform and three uniformed men - one Army, one Air Force, and one Ranger.
There was a single half wall screen, on either side of it a global map and a map of the United States. The long table easily sat a dozen people. A set of double doors gave him entrance. His seat was indicated by the Presidential Seal on the wall behind one end of the table.
Jed smiled a little in amazement. This was only his second time in this room. Likely the rest of his visits would not be as innocuous as this briefing. This thought reminded him he had already had a briefing about the military affairs - it had lasted over twenty hours with the Joint Chiefs.
“Chairman Fitzwallace, gentlemen,” he smiled in greeting. “Did we forget something last week?”
“No, Mr. President,” Fitzwallace told him. “This briefing is on a different matter.”
“If you will allow a bit of leeway,” Bartlet said. “I’m sure my Chief of Staff will join us shortly.”
“No, sir,” the Ranger said.
“Hmm?”
“Your Chief of Staff is not cleared to know about this briefing,” Fitzwallace clarified.
“Leo McGarry has the highest clearance.”
“Not for this, sir,” the Air Force officer said.
The President slowly took his seat and waved the four men to do the same.
“What is this about?” he asked the four men.
The men each looked at the others, before Fitzwallace sighed. He leaned forward and braced himself. “There is a threat in the world that is not spoken of among the general populace. So protected is this…secret, that there is a completely different level of clearance required to know about it. Only six political leaders and fourteen military personnel are aware of the information I am about to tell you.”
Bartlet felt his stomach clench in anticipation. He’d been privy to some interesting information; most of it shared with the senior staff and things previous presidents had been privy to. But to hear this was something only twenty people were told… it was a unique experience.
“We will speak on this subject only once,” the Ranger said. “In two hours, as far as anyone is concerned, this briefing was simply to familiarize you with military tactics since you have never served in the armed forces.”
“Otherwise, this conversation and this meeting never happened,” the Army officer confirmed.
“Guys,” Bartlet interrupted, “you’ve amped me up, either explain or let’s go right now.”
Fitzwallace was an intimidatingly tall man in his black Navy uniform. He had a sixteen square inch area on his left breast of bars showing his accomplishments. The only thing that redeemed his severity was his glasses, and the fact that he was very personable. He looked the President in the eye.
It was several moments before the man started to speak; he did not look away but held Bartlet’s eye. “There are forces in the world that defy everything God-fearing men believe can exist. Things, Mr. President, that the world at large cannot handle even knowing is there. The office of the President of the United States found out about this over sixty years ago during World War Two.” He sighed and closed his eyes a moment. “Vampires and demons are real.”
Bartlet went completely still waiting for the next person to move, to end the joke. “Okay…”
“It’s true, sir,” the Ranger said. “Vampires have a long and sordid history around the world. They kill by drinking blood, it is their only way of sustaining themselves.”
“Other demons, some human looking, some not, have varied ways,” Fitzwallace explained, “others are so harmless we’d never think twice about them. And the ones that are dangerous are dealt with when they gain too much attention. We call it the Supernatural world, a law and body unto themselves. We try not to get involved and they tend to keeping themselves from getting noticed.”
“What are you guys playing at?” Bartlet asked, still waiting for the punch line.
“Show him the footage,” Fitwallace said to the Army officer.
The man stood and lifted his briefcase onto the table. He opened it with a flick of his wrist. From a zipper pocket he extracted a disc. He slid it into the DVD player and grabbed the remote from on top of the machine.
“What you are about to see is a compilation of the work done by a group known as the Initiative. They were a government approved attempt to study and control the Supernatural element,” the Army officer explained with such gravity Bartlet wondered if they believed what they were saying.
He pressed play, but none of the officer’s looked at the screen.
Bartlett looked past them all to the footage.
69696969
A general stood in front of the camera as the cameraman fiddled with the focus.
“Are you ready with that thing?” the general growled.
“General,” a sharp female voice came from off camera. “We are ready to proceed with the examination.”
“We’re good, sir,” the young voice behind the camera said.
“Doctor Walsh,” the General waved to her, “is leading this expedition.”
The camera swung around to show a severe woman in her mid-forties. She has short dirty blonde hair and stood straight as a pin.
“I am Doctor Maggie Walsh. This,” she gestured to the door behind her, “is what we are here for.” She turned and let them into a sterile white room. On the center table was a man strapped to the table wearing only a pair of boxers
Except as the camera zoomed in it became clear the man had a horribly disfigured face. His eyes yellow, more like a cats than that of jaundice. His brow ridge was jutted out, harsher. It was his mouth, however, that got the attention. His canines were elongated over an inch. He tried to bite a nurse who was at his side, but she stood far enough away that it was a weak gesture at most.
“This is a vampire,” Dr. Walsh said. She snapped a pair of gloves on. The camera focused on her as she lifted the disfigured man’s foot. “As you can see this once homo-sapien maintains its basic physical structure. There is no blood flow, but there is a notable increase in muscle mass. The most significant changes are in the face and digestive system. We have not been able to fully record this change, but from dissection we are able to determine that the esophagus becomes an absorption organ. We have seen that there is weakness if subjects are not fed.
“The face is the most easily recognizable change. The subject uses fangs,” she pulled back the upper lip to display the teeth, “to impale and drain its victims. This is highly painful, but given the location most vampires strike, their victims are unable to scream…”
And on the doctor went; a combination of examinations and experiments. Then, unfeelingly, she had a soldier put a piece of wood through the creature’s heart and it disintegrated to dust.
69696969
President Bartlet stared at the screen in disbelief.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Dr. Walsh and her scientists went off the reservation,” Admiral Fitzwallace replied. “Beyond the scope of anything we ever expected.”
“It ended, sir,” the Ranger said, “because of a group of young demon fighters.”
“Demon fighters?”
“Civilians, sir,” he replied. “Ones who knew more and didn’t believe in the Initiative, they destroyed Dr. Walsh’s monster, saved the remaining base personnel, and ended the Initiative.”
“Just like that,” Bartlet asked. “A few hundred civilians ended a government sanctioned military operation to look into the… Supernatural element.”
“Four civilians, Mr. President,” the Admiral replied.
“Four civilians?”
The Army officer pressed a button on the remote. It showed a grainy black and white video of a group of officers being directed by a young woman who couldn’t have been any older than Ellie - his 22 year old daughter. The woman was accompanied by several uniformed men who she ordered around. There were three others with her who kept order without being told, pulling in and defending those they came across.
“This is not something that we ever wanted to happen,” the Air Force officer said with a sigh. “This was an experiment gone wrong.”
“And those… civilians?”
“They are of no consequence,” the Admiral said. “They take care of something that we, even as the military and the United States Government are unequipped to handle. We - and they - prefer it that way.”
“Then why reveal all this to anyone?” Bartlet asked.
“Because there will come a time when you must look the other way on a matter,” the man stood and removed the disc from the device, handing it back to the Army officer for safe keeping. “There are times we cannot interfere in what is going on within our own borders and we must be prepared to do so, to let this group - and others like them - protect this country… the world, from the Supernatural element.”
“So this is something we don’t need to know until the rest of the country notices it? And then we what?” Bartlet asked, “We sweep it under the rug for them?”
“Actually,” the Ranger said, “that’s not necessary, the Supernatural world seems to keep itself hidden. In instances where the world at large may notice… they seem to be overcome with some type of collective…forgetfulness.”
The President stood abruptly, and the three men followed suit.
“Well, let me be the first to say, thank goodness for that,” he gestured to the screen, “why haven’t we seen this more widespread? Why haven’t other agencies and governments seen fit to do anything about this?”
“Their attempts didn’t end any better than ours,” the Air Force officer informed him gravely, “some of them ended even worse. Like we said, we leave this to the experts…they keep the lid on this for the most part.”
“And what happens when these young people cannot?” he gestured to the blank screen.
“As we stated, there are a few other groups who handle this,” the Admiral stated. “Ones that reside mostly overseas, most of them are part of the Supernatural element.” He walked around the room, approaching the President. “Sir, this is something you need to put far from your mind. It is obligation alone that we tell you about these things.”
President Bartlet nodded in understanding and walked out the closest door. Part of him was still waiting for this to be an elaborate prank. But he pushed it all aside, he had bigger things to worry about than something someone else was already handling. He just prayed they handled it and he never heard another word about it.
Title: Disclosure
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/West Wing
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or West Wing people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: There is a unique briefing after you get elected president.
Notes: This is the prologue to a story idea that never fully developed - but I think it stands on its own.
Seasons: Post-Season 4/Before Season 1
Characters: President Jed Barlet, Admiral Fitzwallace,
Word Count: 1866
The White House Situation Room was a favorite of Hollywood, normally an overly large room with screens on every wall, troop movement maps marked by red and blue markers, and every man, except the President, dressed in uniform.
President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet was more than impressed by the small room he was shown into. There were only three other people in the Situation Room. They stood as he entered, one was a tall black man wearing glasses in an Admiral’s uniform and three uniformed men - one Army, one Air Force, and one Ranger.
There was a single half wall screen, on either side of it a global map and a map of the United States. The long table easily sat a dozen people. A set of double doors gave him entrance. His seat was indicated by the Presidential Seal on the wall behind one end of the table.
Jed smiled a little in amazement. This was only his second time in this room. Likely the rest of his visits would not be as innocuous as this briefing. This thought reminded him he had already had a briefing about the military affairs - it had lasted over twenty hours with the Joint Chiefs.
“Chairman Fitzwallace, gentlemen,” he smiled in greeting. “Did we forget something last week?”
“No, Mr. President,” Fitzwallace told him. “This briefing is on a different matter.”
“If you will allow a bit of leeway,” Bartlet said. “I’m sure my Chief of Staff will join us shortly.”
“No, sir,” the Ranger said.
“Hmm?”
“Your Chief of Staff is not cleared to know about this briefing,” Fitzwallace clarified.
“Leo McGarry has the highest clearance.”
“Not for this, sir,” the Air Force officer said.
The President slowly took his seat and waved the four men to do the same.
“What is this about?” he asked the four men.
The men each looked at the others, before Fitzwallace sighed. He leaned forward and braced himself. “There is a threat in the world that is not spoken of among the general populace. So protected is this…secret, that there is a completely different level of clearance required to know about it. Only six political leaders and fourteen military personnel are aware of the information I am about to tell you.”
Bartlet felt his stomach clench in anticipation. He’d been privy to some interesting information; most of it shared with the senior staff and things previous presidents had been privy to. But to hear this was something only twenty people were told… it was a unique experience.
“We will speak on this subject only once,” the Ranger said. “In two hours, as far as anyone is concerned, this briefing was simply to familiarize you with military tactics since you have never served in the armed forces.”
“Otherwise, this conversation and this meeting never happened,” the Army officer confirmed.
“Guys,” Bartlet interrupted, “you’ve amped me up, either explain or let’s go right now.”
Fitzwallace was an intimidatingly tall man in his black Navy uniform. He had a sixteen square inch area on his left breast of bars showing his accomplishments. The only thing that redeemed his severity was his glasses, and the fact that he was very personable. He looked the President in the eye.
It was several moments before the man started to speak; he did not look away but held Bartlet’s eye. “There are forces in the world that defy everything God-fearing men believe can exist. Things, Mr. President, that the world at large cannot handle even knowing is there. The office of the President of the United States found out about this over sixty years ago during World War Two.” He sighed and closed his eyes a moment. “Vampires and demons are real.”
Bartlet went completely still waiting for the next person to move, to end the joke. “Okay…”
“It’s true, sir,” the Ranger said. “Vampires have a long and sordid history around the world. They kill by drinking blood, it is their only way of sustaining themselves.”
“Other demons, some human looking, some not, have varied ways,” Fitzwallace explained, “others are so harmless we’d never think twice about them. And the ones that are dangerous are dealt with when they gain too much attention. We call it the Supernatural world, a law and body unto themselves. We try not to get involved and they tend to keeping themselves from getting noticed.”
“What are you guys playing at?” Bartlet asked, still waiting for the punch line.
“Show him the footage,” Fitwallace said to the Army officer.
The man stood and lifted his briefcase onto the table. He opened it with a flick of his wrist. From a zipper pocket he extracted a disc. He slid it into the DVD player and grabbed the remote from on top of the machine.
“What you are about to see is a compilation of the work done by a group known as the Initiative. They were a government approved attempt to study and control the Supernatural element,” the Army officer explained with such gravity Bartlet wondered if they believed what they were saying.
He pressed play, but none of the officer’s looked at the screen.
Bartlett looked past them all to the footage.
69696969
A general stood in front of the camera as the cameraman fiddled with the focus.
“Are you ready with that thing?” the general growled.
“General,” a sharp female voice came from off camera. “We are ready to proceed with the examination.”
“We’re good, sir,” the young voice behind the camera said.
“Doctor Walsh,” the General waved to her, “is leading this expedition.”
The camera swung around to show a severe woman in her mid-forties. She has short dirty blonde hair and stood straight as a pin.
“I am Doctor Maggie Walsh. This,” she gestured to the door behind her, “is what we are here for.” She turned and let them into a sterile white room. On the center table was a man strapped to the table wearing only a pair of boxers
Except as the camera zoomed in it became clear the man had a horribly disfigured face. His eyes yellow, more like a cats than that of jaundice. His brow ridge was jutted out, harsher. It was his mouth, however, that got the attention. His canines were elongated over an inch. He tried to bite a nurse who was at his side, but she stood far enough away that it was a weak gesture at most.
“This is a vampire,” Dr. Walsh said. She snapped a pair of gloves on. The camera focused on her as she lifted the disfigured man’s foot. “As you can see this once homo-sapien maintains its basic physical structure. There is no blood flow, but there is a notable increase in muscle mass. The most significant changes are in the face and digestive system. We have not been able to fully record this change, but from dissection we are able to determine that the esophagus becomes an absorption organ. We have seen that there is weakness if subjects are not fed.
“The face is the most easily recognizable change. The subject uses fangs,” she pulled back the upper lip to display the teeth, “to impale and drain its victims. This is highly painful, but given the location most vampires strike, their victims are unable to scream…”
And on the doctor went; a combination of examinations and experiments. Then, unfeelingly, she had a soldier put a piece of wood through the creature’s heart and it disintegrated to dust.
69696969
President Bartlet stared at the screen in disbelief.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Dr. Walsh and her scientists went off the reservation,” Admiral Fitzwallace replied. “Beyond the scope of anything we ever expected.”
“It ended, sir,” the Ranger said, “because of a group of young demon fighters.”
“Demon fighters?”
“Civilians, sir,” he replied. “Ones who knew more and didn’t believe in the Initiative, they destroyed Dr. Walsh’s monster, saved the remaining base personnel, and ended the Initiative.”
“Just like that,” Bartlet asked. “A few hundred civilians ended a government sanctioned military operation to look into the… Supernatural element.”
“Four civilians, Mr. President,” the Admiral replied.
“Four civilians?”
The Army officer pressed a button on the remote. It showed a grainy black and white video of a group of officers being directed by a young woman who couldn’t have been any older than Ellie - his 22 year old daughter. The woman was accompanied by several uniformed men who she ordered around. There were three others with her who kept order without being told, pulling in and defending those they came across.
“This is not something that we ever wanted to happen,” the Air Force officer said with a sigh. “This was an experiment gone wrong.”
“And those… civilians?”
“They are of no consequence,” the Admiral said. “They take care of something that we, even as the military and the United States Government are unequipped to handle. We - and they - prefer it that way.”
“Then why reveal all this to anyone?” Bartlet asked.
“Because there will come a time when you must look the other way on a matter,” the man stood and removed the disc from the device, handing it back to the Army officer for safe keeping. “There are times we cannot interfere in what is going on within our own borders and we must be prepared to do so, to let this group - and others like them - protect this country… the world, from the Supernatural element.”
“So this is something we don’t need to know until the rest of the country notices it? And then we what?” Bartlet asked, “We sweep it under the rug for them?”
“Actually,” the Ranger said, “that’s not necessary, the Supernatural world seems to keep itself hidden. In instances where the world at large may notice… they seem to be overcome with some type of collective…forgetfulness.”
The President stood abruptly, and the three men followed suit.
“Well, let me be the first to say, thank goodness for that,” he gestured to the screen, “why haven’t we seen this more widespread? Why haven’t other agencies and governments seen fit to do anything about this?”
“Their attempts didn’t end any better than ours,” the Air Force officer informed him gravely, “some of them ended even worse. Like we said, we leave this to the experts…they keep the lid on this for the most part.”
“And what happens when these young people cannot?” he gestured to the blank screen.
“As we stated, there are a few other groups who handle this,” the Admiral stated. “Ones that reside mostly overseas, most of them are part of the Supernatural element.” He walked around the room, approaching the President. “Sir, this is something you need to put far from your mind. It is obligation alone that we tell you about these things.”
President Bartlet nodded in understanding and walked out the closest door. Part of him was still waiting for this to be an elaborate prank. But he pushed it all aside, he had bigger things to worry about than something someone else was already handling. He just prayed they handled it and he never heard another word about it.