Falling Through Time: Basking in Firelight: Book 2

The Cost of Presidency

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Warnings: None

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Madison went every day to Jefferson's office where he made a report for the several cabinet members involved in the rebuilding of the infrastructure. It was easier just for Madison to give it to Jefferson all at once than have a bunch of people come flooding into the office with a bunch of fragments. Hamilton no doubt got the same from his own cabinet. As Madison went over the list of expenses and required steps, Jefferson rubbed his temples. "The cost, Madison, what's the overall cost?" Madison cleared his throat and told him. "Shit, we're in worse shape than I thought." Jefferson rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palms.

"Shall I call it off?" Madison asked, looking at the outrageously long number.

"No. I'll call Hamilton in here so we can discuss and send it over to Congress straight away. Thanks for the report, Madison." Madison handed Jefferson the file, said his farewells and left, walking briskly toward his next assignment. Jefferson flipped open the file and looked lazily over the charts and numbers, each neatly labeled. He had to go to Hamilton office but he wasn't entirely sure he had enough energy to stand. Maybe a quick nap, his papers looked like the perfect pillow. No. He had work to do. Maybe Hamilton had coffee brewed already. Jefferson walked down the hallway and pushed open Hamilton's door.

"-just tell Jefferson, Alex."

"Angelica you-"

"Tell me what?" Jefferson's voice interrupted Hamilton's and Angelica's conversation.

"Holy shit! Jefferson? What do you want?" Hamilton yelled, startled by his sudden appearance.

Jefferson held up the file, "Paperwork. What did you need to tell me?"

Hamilton glanced to Angelica who gave him a look that said just do it. He sighed. "It's the emergency departments. Police, fire, all of them. They're shutting down all over the country, one by one from lack of government funding. We don't have enough money."

Fuck. Without police departments, anarchy could easily take hold. That's not good. "No pennies we can stretch?" Jefferson asked.

"None," Hamilton replied grimly.

"How much to keep them running?" Hamilton handed him a piece of paper.

This was just getting worse and worse. Jefferson paged Burr, knowing Madison wouldn't be available. Jefferson handed Hamilton the file. "Here, sign off on this. It's the infrastructure plan."

Hamilton flipped it open, scanning over the words and charts, flipping pages until he found the total number. "Holy-" Burr walked into through the door.

"Burr," Jefferson greeted.

"Sir."

Jefferson stole paper from Hamilton's desk, wrote something down, and handed it to Burr. "Transfer this amount to the proper departments listed here." He handed the paper to Burr who took it and saw to it immediately.

"Jefferson, did you just-"

"Don't worry about it, Hamilton. Just sign those papers and send them to Congress pronto so we can get going again. Lovely seeing you, again Angelica," he said on his way out the door.

Angelica rushed over to Hamilton to look down at the file and swore. "How are we going to fund this infrastructure plan, Hamilton? We can't even fund the police."

"Don't worry about it, Ang. We've got it all figured out."

"I'll start some fundraisers," she said, picking up her own pile of documents and walking out the door.