Aftermath

Prologue

A/N: Hey friends! This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic for The Post! I first watched this movie a few months ago,  and it has quickly become  one of my favorite Meryl Streep films. After watching it, I wondered about something. Was there anything going on between Kay & Ben? Meryl Streep & Tom Hanks have great chemistry in this film, and that could be why I'm thinking this; but with the stress of making the decision to publish the Pentagon Papers and Kay being kind of lonely since her husband died years before, they were bound to be close in some sort of way. The question is how close? Well, my muse decided that they were very close and too afraid and stubborn to admit their feelings for each other. It just takes a mental breakdown to get them to confess their feelings.

Side Note: I am making a few changes to the characters. Their ages will be a bit younger and older: Kay is 41/42 & Ben is 47. This will be completely AU (obviously). Mostly Kay/Ben centric, but will include other family. In this story, Kay's daughter is 23, and her husband has been dead for several years. Ben has been divorced for 10 years and Marina is 12. His ex-wife isn't in this story. This is set right before they are told they're not going to get into trouble for publishing the papers. Written as if Kay was telling the story.

Without further rambles... ENJOY!

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The past several years have been difficult. My father had given the family's newspaper to my husband Phil, because it was generally frowned upon for a woman to be in such a position of power.  Even though I didn't really agree with that sentiment, I kept quiet. I had my daughter, Lally to raise and it was my father's company to do what he wished with. Phil ran and managed The Washington Post for a total of five years before the accident that took his life. We were out on our boat with friends when the boat was hit by another, more bigger boat. Phil was the one who got the most serious injuries. They were fatal. We only had fifteen years together, but they were good.

Since my husband's death several years ago, I have been at the helm of The Post. There wasn't another male to take over, so I took on the job. Just because I am a woman, doesn't mean I can't do a man's job. Hell, chances are I might even be able to do it better. It was that thought that made me work my ass off. The stressful part of that, was the people who didn't approve of me at the helm of The Post. The harassment, the disdainful looks, whispered insults and occasional threats, it got to me.

When my editor and I received a tip about a study of the Vietnam War, we knew we had to look into it. The study was titled, 'The Pentagon Papers'. The Papers were a study on a decades long cover-up of the war, enacted by our government. Specifically, the one man in charge of the nation. President  Richard Nixon. Thus, creating the Watergate scandal.

A few weeks after getting the tip, we had all of the necessary information to release the version  of The Papers, suitable for my newspaper. It was a shortened version, but it still held 100% of the content, it was truthful, and it was paired with an article written by my editor, Ben.

While spending every moment debating on whether or not I should publish them, I also spent the time wondering  what my father or husband would do if in my position. They would have, most likely, kept quiet on the subject. Which is rather stupid. The American people deserve to know what their government is doing behind their backs and what they are lying about. After all, you can't trust a government if they are both deceitful and secretive.

With that thought, I knew what I had to do. I had to publish the Papers, even though there was a chance that I could end up getting slapped with a lawsuit and sent to prison.

The New York Times had attempted to publish the Papers. However, as they did so, Nixon and his people caught wind of what they were going to do. With threats of lawsuits and imprisonment, they recanted the story. It was understandable that they didn't want to face either of those consequences. Yet, I could not fathom why they would recant the article if they wanted to be a trustworthy newspaper, who shared the truth and nothing but.

That made my decision all the more easy. I would not back down. Not even with the hate and severe backlash, I was sure to receive. I would publish the Pentagon Papers. I would dutifully accept any consequences and punishments thrown my way. It would cause me a great deal of stress, but I would take it with as much stride as I could. There wasn't really much of a choice. It was something I had to do.

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So.... how did y'all like the beginning of 'Aftermath?

This has been fun and interesting to write (and will probably continue to). It's a heavier type of story than I would normally write. By heavier, I mean that The Post is based on a significant point in American history. An important one.