Anthony DeCosmo - Schism

"I'm coming to Washington," Jon said. "Out here I'm no good. There's no one left except me and my wife and a couple of paper-pushers."

Paper weights.

"I'll talk to E-" Dante caught himself. "Okay, look, we'll set something up. If you come bursting in here out of the blue that could send the wrong signal. Let me set something up and I'll get back to you in a few days. Just sit tight, Jon. It hasn't been that long. Things have to, you know, settle down."

"Yeah, right," Jon's tone suggested he knew no such thing.

"Look, I'll talk to you in a day or two. Might be a good idea for the President to meet with all of us again, especially you and some of the other commanders. You know, to show we're all on the same team."

"Are we, Dante? I'm starting to wonder if I did the right thing."

"Yeah, man, you did the right thing," the Secretary of Defense said. "Just relax."

Click.

Jon stared at the dead receiver for a moment before hanging up. He then kicked a small garbage can, sending it tumbling across the room. The metallic clang echoed through the empty halls of the mansion.

– Dante stormed into the West Wing arriving at the Oval Office at the same time the door to that office opened. The President stood there, ushering out two gentlemen, one portly the other tall and thin.

"I don't understand how you can do this," the portly man complained. "I was the legally appointed Governor."

"Appointed by Trevor Stone," the President clarified while maintaining a smile. "He is gone, and all of his edicts are null and void. On behalf of our new nation and on behalf of the people I can rescind any unilateral decisions he made."

"But you have no right!"

"I have every right. We are in a transitional period. You will find that my decision on this will be enforced by both Internal Security and the military. It would be best if you accept this change quietly, for the good of the nation. Now I expect you to vacate the Governor's residence by tomorrow afternoon or you will be arrested for trespassing."

The tall, thin and newly-appointed Governor tried to suppress his emotions but a cocky grin tugged at the sides of his mouth. Conversely, the portly man grew a darker shade of red.

"You can't do this. You have no legal grounds!"

Evan's smile turned to a scowl. "I have the authority and power to enforce this decision. It would be best for you and your family not to make this into an incident."

The dismissed politician huffed and barged away.

President Godfrey turned to the tall, thin man and said, "If he gives you any problems, call Director Roos at I.S. In the meantime, congratulations. I know I can count on you."

The new appointee grinned and walked off with a bounce in his step.

Evan noticed Dante and frowned, but in the span of a half-second caught himself and turned that frown into a welcoming smile.

"Mister Secretary, what can I do for you?"

"We need to talk."

"Yes, we always seem to need to talk. Well, come in, Dante. I have a few minutes."

Evan led them into the Oval Office. As soon as the door shut behind them, Dante jumped on Evan in a panicked voice, "Things are coming apart!"

"What? Wait a second, Dante. Relax. Take a deep breath."

"I can't relax! I just got off the phone with Jon Brewer. He knows something is up. He's starting to think he shouldn't have handed it all over to you. I'm starting to wonder that myself."

"Easy, easy. Things are not coming apart. Things are under control."

"How can you say that? You sit here in the White House like it's some kind of bunker or something. When is the last time you went out there to see what's going on? Do you know there are Senators who are talking about impeachment because you haven't put together that Constitutional committee yet?"

"There are always malcontents. But listen, Dante, it hasn't even been a month since I took power. People have to be patient."

Jones pleaded, "But you haven't done anything! No movement on elections. You haven't appointed anyone to work on a new constitution. And now you’re appointing Governors; the same type of thing Trevor was doing that we were against!"

Evan did not appear to hear. He took Dante by surprise as he redirected: "I know why you're so worried. It's because Knox and Forest are out there running around still. I admit Roos has not done nearly as good a job as I had hoped. He's a bit of a disappointment. Still, I think I can solve this. We need to bring this to an end. Captain Forest has a daughter, does she not?"

"W-what? Huh?"

"She has a daughter, right?"

Dante blinked as he absorbed the change in direction. "Um, yeah I think so."

"And she's very close to General Shepherd. And those commandos we arrested in Wilkes-Barre were under his command, just like she is, right? Well, I've told Ray to arrest Shepherd and bring him in for questioning. He may be behind this whole conspiracy."

"Wait a sec…"

"There's nothing we can do about Knox except put him down like a sick dog when we get him. But Forest…I'm going to have Roos pick up her daughter. Maybe that will pull her to us."

"You want to kidnap her daughter?"

"It makes sense," Godfrey coolly calculated. "She's been on the run but that will bring her out of hiding. If we get her, Knox, and Shep we've got a real front-page story about a conspiracy. Of course, they won't give up without a fight I expect. All the better."

"You're crazy," Dante's mouth gaped. "I can't believe this. How didn't I see this before?"

"Now Dante, we've had this discussion. It's about sacrifices. It's about the greater good."

"No it's not. I believed in you. I listened to you. You talked about doing things right this time. But something changed in you."

Godfrey tried to assure, "Dante, that's what this is about. It's about doing what's right for the people. I know what is right. That's why you trusted me."

Dante placed a hand on his forehead as if staving off a headache and shut his eyes.

"You changed. Somewhere along the line you changed. Oh man, and I didn't see it. I've been such an idiot. It's not about ideas any more, is it, Evan? You talked a great game but all along it was about beating Trevor; about winning, wasn't it? And now that you beat him…now that you're the President like you always wanted…now you're just the same dictator he was."

"Enough, Dante. I won't tolerate disobedience."

"And I helped you get here! I listened to you! You're a phony, Evan!"

"Oh spare me! Just spare me the lecture, Dante," the President abandoned kindly persuasion. "Why did you do it, Jones? Why? Because you wanted to live in the perfect democracy? Because you desired a new Constitution?"

Jones tried, "Too much power for one man. He was too powerful. We saw that when he disappeared three years ago. Even if he meant well, it was too dangerous for just one man to-"

"Yes, yes, tell yourself that, Dante. Maybe you actually can sleep through the night believing that lie. Do you know why you did it, Dante? Do you want to know why you helped kill your friend? I'll tell you. You didn't do it for freedom. You didn't do it because you thought him a despot. You did it for something far more personal."

Jones raised a hand as if to ward off the assault.

"No. No, Trevor was my friend. It was hard to do. I did it because one man can’t be that powerful, no matter how much he tried. So I believed in you; that you were different."

"You would have believed anything I told you as long as you could justify betraying your friend. And you know why, Dante?"

Evan stalked toward Jones who, in turn, retreated one step then another.

"In the old world you and Trevor were friends, yes. But you were the leader, weren't you? You had all the answers. He was your lackey. You told him the way of the world because Dante Jones knew it all. And Trevor listened. And he did what you said because you were the one in charge. You were the Alpha male and he followed your lead."