Brazen Qualities Ch 2

Warnings: Language, politics.
Taglist:@charabs@emilyprentisswife@natasha-danvers@stardust-fray@ineedafinghug@billiedeannovak @stardust-galaxies@vivis-ghost-wife@imlike-so-gaydude@wannabe-fic-reader@witchxaf@sarcasticmami@angelicdestieldemon@gaylorrds@smuttty@infiniteoddball@delphineecormierr

*

Over the next couple of days Heather began to put her team together, gaining support from congress members, and setting up various meetings. You reminded her you wanted as much as humanly possible in writing or recorded, even if it was off the record. You knew how politics got, how laws began to get played with in ways they normally might not bend. In the chance that someone was to turn, or try and raise alarm about something that happened, you would always have the proof that they were wrong. You also wanted to make sure that everything that was being said, done and agreed upon was actually legal. Not that Heather would miss something like that having just stepped away from the legal world herself, but you never really knew what someone would do when it came to winning the vote for the White House.

Underwood had called you to the Oval after Dunbar officially resigned (and gave him a major case of sass to boot) to try and convince you into the Solicitor General position once again. You wondered if he had someone working to keep an eye on Heather, if he already knew you’d signed on to work with and support her. You wouldn’t put it past him, that was for sure. You politely declined for the time being, claiming you had a few too many cases on your plate at the moment and weren’t about to abandon some of your most important clients quite yet. He reminded you the offer wasn’t open ended, you thanked him again and left before he properly dismissed you. You could hear him curse under his breath at your defiance.

You met Heather for a couple of meetings the following day, the more upscale members, or the ones that may have needed a little more encouragement to stay within the law. Since it was still early on, you both came and went separately, only conferring behind closed doors. Tonight she had a meeting with Senator Giallo, not only were you already trusting of them, but you had a little bit more on your plate as you were tracking down something else.

*

Heather and the two members of her team exited the meeting, rearranging the schedule over the next couple of days, the two moved towards the elevator as her phone buzzed, causing her to pause. The unknown number piquing her interest but also her concern, she nodded ahead for the others to go downstairs as she answered the phone. She was surprised to hear Doug Stamper on the other end of the line, he’d been Underwood’s Chief of Staff before an accident left him in the hospital and out of the game for nine months. Their conversation continued for a few moments as he made his way down the hallway towards her as they spoke.

“Howdid you know I was meeting with Giallo tonight?” She asked.

“You rub shoulders with the leadership, I rub shoulders with the people who work for them.” He barely glanced her way as he hung up the phone, passing her to head into the vestibule leading to the elevators. He froze suddenly as you stepped out in front of him, effectively blocking his path, he nearly jumped.

“Ms Vanderbilt.” He greeted.

“Jesus Y/N, what the fuck are you doing here?” Heather cut in, you’d said you had other things to look into tonight, yet here you were in the same dark hallway she was.  You addressed her first,

“You had a tail…I figured I’d keep an eye on it.” You turned your attention back to Doug, “you’re toeing the line on stalking Doug…you do remember I dallied with law enforcement to help pay for college, right?” He chuckled softly, glancing back at Heather.

“She doesn’t like me very much.” Referring to you.

“I don’t trust you…” you laughed, “you worked alongside Underwood for years, you’d do anything for him, why the fuck run over to the other side with your tail between your legs now?”

“You should work on your welcoming committee tactics.” He teased back and you rolled your eyes.

“You don’t get to make one lousy phone call and brag about your connections and walk…” you paused, your eyes dragging down to his cane, “…sorry…limp..your way into Ms Dunbar’s campaign team. You reek of blackmail…which I’m not in support of.” Doug stepped passed you with a curt nod, pressing the elevator button.

“Just think about it Ms Dunbar.” With a quick ping, he was into the elevator and gone, leaving the two of you in private.

“You think this is a bad idea?” She asked, turning her full attention to you.

“I think he needs to be properly vetted, researched, we leave a single stone unturned and it could come back to bite you in the ass when you least expect it and where it’ll hurt the most.”

“What do you need from me?”

“Everything you have on the Walker administration. First thing in the morning.”

“I’ll do you one better, it’s all at my home office. Come pick it up on your way home.”

“Perfect.”

“I’ll meet you at your office in the morning?” She asked as you moved toward the elevator.

“Mm..” you shook your head, “with the amount of digging I’ll need to do…meet me at my apartment.”

**

Heather was pleasantly surprised when she arrived at your apartment the next morning, though, she knew what someone on your salary could afford. Your place was neat, organized, an adequate amount of open space and lots of light. She was more surprised with how casual, yet still classy you were dressed, you certainly had been raised in enough of the spotlight so that even leggings and a tank top paired with a coloured cardigan made you look like you were ready to run the world. Though your face and hair were prepped and ready for a full day of work she could still see a slight redness in your eyes, a slight purpling under them, you’d clearly spent most of your beauty sleep digging into Stamper.

You slid a fresh cup of coffee across the kitchen island to her, letting her fix it how she wanted as you poured yourself a new one.

“You find anything interesting?” She asked, having already gone through the standard pleasantries.

“The usuals include; born in Illinois, grew up in Ohio, abandoned the family life to move to Washington. He’s Underwood’s fucking lap dog, and Underwood trusts him far too much for me to feel comfortable.”

“So why wouldn’t he bring Doug back onto his team now?”

“Well, Stamper’s got a hefty dosage of prescriptions for Zoloft and Xanax to start, not to mention he was a raging alcoholic before he started going to AA. But how much can you trust an addict to not start using again, especially if they’re on heavy meds while working a stressful career? He’s got connections to the Feng case you worked which I don’t like the look of.”

“Anything else that could come back to hurt us if it’s found out he’s working with us?”

“I scoured all of my resources…do you have any idea how he got into whatever accident it was that fucked him up so badly?” Heather paused, sure, she had heard a few rumours floating around but none of them ever seemed noteworthy, or anything that would deem informative if she was to hire him.

“No…why?”

“I managed to track down every single hospital bill, every rehab treatment appointment, where each one was paid through, I double checked bank accounts and credit cards, down to every single pair of gloves that was used in surgery.”

“Where’s the problem?”

“There isn’t a single incident report, police report or EMT report documenting a single thing.” Heather sighed as you took a sip of coffee, “whatever the fuck happened to him, someone did a very good job of covering up and destroying the evidence.”

“You think it was Underwood?”

“I don’t think it was Underwood, I think Underwood had Doug cover up something, try to…take care of something and was unsuccessful. Hence the beating, and hence why Underwood doesn’t want him back. He didn’t live up to expectations and thus was left crippled and unusable.”

“So you would invite him in?”

“I would keep him on a damn fucking short leash. And I would run everything past both me and Cynthia, even if it’s a private meeting that you promised will be kept secret. Make it seem like he can trust you, like you trust him fully. This guy..he knows how to work both sides, he’s done it before and he’ll do it again, guys like these already have agendas planned before they make their first move. He already knows I don’t like or trust him. Use Cynthia as the middle ground and vet him yourself, you play good cop, play dumb if you need to…but not past the point that would make him suspicious, he knows you, and knows you’re not an idiot. Have a meeting with him, see what his expectations are for his role and salary for a start.”

“But you still don’t trust him?”

“Heather I’ll never trust him…but that doesn’t mean he won’t be useful to your campaign. No matter what his agenda is, he’s got ten years of working with Underwood under his belt, he’s going to know a lot of shit that could help you out.”

“I thought you said you were against blackmail.” She smirked.

“I said I was against blackmail, not leverage. Legally….they’re two very different things. You can have leverage over someone without having anything against them, they just have to believe it…you know that.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with politicians y/n.”

“Well..I believe I have you to thank for that.” You smirked back, your phone ringing interrupting your banter, “Vanderbilt?” You answered without checking the ID, “Jackie, hey…what?!”

In a near frantic motion your hand encircled Heather’s wrist, dragging her back to the living room while Jackie yapped in your ear, your hand dropping to turn on the T.V. The breaking news…Frank Underwood…announcing his running for the democratic nomination for the upcoming election. The thing he previously had said he was not running for, the thing he claimed he did not want for another four years. The thing that could only be prompted by distaste for those who were running, by lying and deceiving the country into thinking they really wanted another term under an Underwood presidency.

“Can I call you back? Thanks.” Your voice broke through the news broadcast, cancelling the call as your phone dropped to the coffee table and your head turned to Heather.  “Well…this changes everything…”

“I’ll set up a private meeting with Doug for later today.” She replied, “do what you can do dig into Underwood’s current campaign.” She sighed lightly, “and I know you’re friends with Sharp, but if she has anything useable…”

“Oh she’s sleeping with Remy…but they’re not careful, it’d leak before it got out from me.” Heather laughed lightly as you brushed your hand through your hair, not realizing a chunk of it got stuck on your earring, “but I will be in court for the rest of the day. I can meet you tonight if you need me?”

Your gaze softly met hers, noticing the warmth in her eyes, the small smile on her face as her fingers delicately swooped the stuck hair back behind your ear, the curl falling over your shoulder where it belonged. You nearly felt your breath hitch in your throat, reminding yourself that she was technically now your boss…not to mention married…with kids.

“I knew there was a reason I wanted you on my team.” She grinned, “I’ll keep you posted. Call me when you’re done in court and I’ll update you, otherwise just dig through Underwood and we can talk arrangements for Iowa.”

“Okay.” You ducked your head, your confidence suddenly vanished at the brief forwardness she’d suddenly shown, “Have a good day Ms Dunbar.” Heather nearly laughed at your sudden professionalism as the door opened in front of her, turning back to you briefly,

“Do..I want to know how you’re getting all this information?”

“It’s technically legal,” you laughed, “you’d be surprised how much a detective will do for a guaranteed warrant.”

“You’re not abusing Justice Jacobs Alzheimer’s to get any of these are you?”

“Oh…come on…I’m still a respected lawyer..I’m not going to smear my name for your campaign Ms Dunbar.” as if years of working together and being friends, where you were more than ready to sass her back, call her on her bullshit and use her first name would suddenly change into you submitting to calling her Ms Dunbar…then again…maybe there was another reason you weren’t ready to admit to just quite yet.