Never Mess with a States Own
Gov looked up from his laptop at the sound of his door opening and smiled.
"Aaron." Gov greeted with a smile at the figure approaching his desk. "How was-"
"NEVER AGAIN." Aaron yelled glaring at the government. "I will never babysit for those states AGAIN!"
"W-What happened?" Gov asked horrified.
"They are the most uncivilized, useless, defiant group of people I've ever seen!" Aaron screamed. He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out an envelope, throwing it on the desk. "GOD I need a drink!" And with that, Aaron stormed off, slamming the door behind him.
"I told you." IDC muttered in the chair next to Gov's desk, not looking up from her phone. Gov picked up the envelope, and then at his younger sister horrified.
"What the hell happened?" Gov whispered.
Mass removed the theromete from DC's mouth, studying the small screen in the lamplight.
"Well." Mass announced looking at the fed laying on the bed. "You've got a wicked bad fever." DC groaned and flopped his head against the pillow.
"It's alright darling." Georgia soothed, smoothing back DC's wet hair. "All you gotta do is rest."
"But the meeting." DC whispered while sitting up. "I need to run the meeting!"
"Hush now." Georgia ordered forcing DC to lay back down. "You need rest more than running any meeting."
"Yeah Dee!" Florida added also at DC's side. "You need lots of rest and relaxation."
"But work!" DC argued sitting up. Georgia pushed him gently down.
"Hush. No work." Georgia said firmly. DC groans and shuts his eyes in frustration.
"Rest is the best thing for ya DC, you don't want to collapse on the hill do you?" Mass asked, wiping the thermometer's tip with a cloth.
"Dad. Can you call Adam and ask him to run the meeting today?" DC mutters. Georgia smiled and kissed DC's forehead.
"Course Georgie, I'll call him right away." Georgia said softly.
"And I'll cook you up some alligator soup to make you feel better!" Florida announced dashing out of his boyfriend's room. Almost instantly, like Utah sensed it, Utah followed behind to prevent a mess in the kitchen.
"Hey dad." Gov greeted later over the phone in his office. He frowned a little. "Georgie's sick? Oh man. Yeah course I can cover..." He snapped his fingers at IDC and pointed to his planner sitting beside her. IDC took the planner and dramatically threw it in front of Gov, both sharing a glare. Gov opened the planner to the current month and studied his schedule for the day.
"Yeah it's looking....oh no." Gov moaned. He rubbed his forehead. "I have a meeting at three at the Pentagon I can't." He covered the receiver of the phone. "Can you cover Georgie?"
"I have to meet with Polish ministers, I can't!" IDC hissed. Gov silently cursed and went back to the phone. "I'll call you back." He hung up and opened his laptop, scrolling through the schedules of several feds in the office that day.
"Are you sure that's smart?" IDC asked. "They're not going to accept any other fed than Georgie."
"Oh it's for one day." Gov muttered before stopping. "Aaron. Aaron's free today, I'll send him down." He picked up the receiver for his phone.
"This is a bad idea." IDC muttered going back to her work.
"Quiet Jenny." Gov ordered dialing Aaron's office number. "What's the worst that could happen?"
Aaron's arrival at the Statehouse was met with very little fanfare. It didn't help that the man showed up in a typical fed black suit, black tie, and black sunglasses (Florida ,who was still cooking up his alligator soup with Utah, started yelling about the men in black again). He didn't respond to Minnesota's pleasant 'hello', just breezed right by him, and into the meeting room to set up.
"God that guy?" Washington muttered watching Aaron walk by with Oregon, both sharing some coffee in the hall. "He's such an ass, he barely treats me with respect cuss I'm a state."
"Why do you think Gov sent him?" Oregon whispered.
"Probably cuss he was the only one available." Washington shrugged taking a sip of coffee. "But knowing him, the states aren't going to like him."
"Everyone come in silently and in a single file." Aaron ordered sitting at the head of the table waiting for the states to file in. The states eyed the fed as they shuffled in; usually DC didn't care how the states came in, most often just idle chatting or already in a fight. This guy was already off to a rough start if he was going to treat them like grade schoolers. Aaron eyed each state as they sat around the table, making sure everyone was in a place, before noticing
"Why are you at the other end of the table?" Aaron asked Florida.
"Oh. This is where I usually sit." Florida says cheerfully.
"Why?"
"Because I'm Dee's-"
"Mr. DC." Aaron interrupted.
"Wha?" Florida tilted his head.
"His proper name is Mr. DC and he will be referred to as such during this meeting." Aaron announced. A few states fidgeted in their seats, uncomfortable with this whole interaction.
"Right well, Dee" Florida punctuated the name with a glint in his eye. "Considers me his right hand man."
"You cannot be his right hand man as you are just a state and he is the federal government. I will ask you to please move your seat." Aaron ordered.
"Florida just move, it's one meeting." Cali whispered to his boyfriend. Florida glared at Aaron and without breaking eye contact moved next to Loui who patted his knee.
"Now." Aaron announced. "I have called this meeting to go over any recent-"
Ding!
"Sorry I'm late y'all." Kentucky said with a smile popping into his seat next to Georgia. The southern states shirt was covered in oil and his hands were filthy with grease. "I was workin' on a car build and I got really into it-"
"Kentucky what time do these meetings start?" Aaron asked, interrupting Kentucky's story.
"Uh bout three o'clock? I do apologize, although I was only five minutes late-"
"Meetings are to start directly at three o'clock and everyone who is required to attend should be in their seats ready to go. Lateness will not be tolerated." Aaron ordered. Silence filled the meeting room with more uncomfortable shifting.
"Well ain't you just a ray of sunshine this afternoon." Kentucky muttered before yelping at Georgia's whack of his shoulder. "Wha I'm just sayin'!"
"Behave." Georgia hissed, taking a sip of coffee.
"Before we were rudely interrupted." Aaron began again. He ignored the flip off from Kentucky. "I have called this meeting to go over any recent news from your states. I will gather this info and take it back to Washington." He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "Who would like to go first?"
"I got something." Texas announced. A few midwest, west, and NE states rolled their eyes. Aaron nodded and clicked his pen.
"Go ahead and start."
"We're planning on pass a fourteen week abortion ban." Texas announced. A few groans around the table. Aaron nodded and scribbled the news onto his paper.
"That's it?" Texas asked.
"What's it?"
"Well usually we fight about stuff like this." Texas pointed out.
"This is hardly the place for an argument of that size." Aaron announced. "We will discuss them in the proper manners, back in Washington."
"Well I'm ready to fight." Cali announced, slapping his hands on the table. "Texas, this is an awful law! You're trying to control women's bodies! Usually women don't even know they're pregnant by that-"
"CALIFORNIA." Aaron yelled, stopping California in his tracks. "That was hardly appropriate for you to interrupt our conversation like that, and as I've told Texas, this is not the appropriate spot for this argument! You will sit down and remain quiet until it is your turn, understood?" Cali slumped back down his chair, crossing his arms and pouting. Texas clutched his Buc Ee's coffee cup tighter and mumbled a curse under his breath, which Aaron ignored.
"Now who's next?" Aaron asked.
"Ooh I got one!" Ohio announced.
"Go ahead."
"We won big time against Voldemort this weekend." Ohio announced proudly. Michigan huffed.
"The ref was bought!" Michigan argued.
"Doesn't matter. Still won." Ohio grinned.
"WHY YOU-"
"OHIO, MICHIGAN." Aaron yelled, stopping the fight before it could escalate. "This is not the place for a discussion about your leisurely interests! This is where you report to me your news and I take it back to Washington, if you want to fight about sports, then do it on your own time. This is hardly appropriate."
"But DC...." Indiana began.
"Mr. DC. Again you will all address him correctly." Aaron ordered. Ohio slumped back in his chair mumbling murderous insults at the fed, while Michigan rolled his eyes sitting back down. Indiana pouted. From under the table, Alabama was clutching his knees so tight his knuckles were turning white. Aaron took a deep breath and settled down looking out at the states who were becoming more and more pissed off.
"Now." Aaron sighed. "Anymore?"
"I got one." West Virginia announced raising his hand.
"Yes of course, go on West Virginia."
"What's got your underwear in a twist?" Wes asked.
"WES!" Virginia hissed, although he made no move to stop his brother.
"I'm serious! You're coming in here like ya own the place, insult my brother, insult one of my nephews boyfriends, stop the fights, this is just a meetin'. This is how DC...."
"Mr. DC." Aaron hissed with a warning tone to his voice.
"I'm the boy's uncle, sir, I think I can call him whatever I want." Wes glared before continuing. "This is how DC runs his meetings! Yeah it ain't perfect but it's how we do things!"
"If this is how Mr. DC runs his meetings; this is most unorthodox." Aaron gasped horrified. "Everyone in Washington knows the states need to be controlled and kept in line and we feds should be in charge of them. If you do not show Mr. DC respect, you must show me respect. Remember I am from Washington, you're just states. That is the role we have been dealt." The states looked back at Aaron, some in horror, and some in rage. Without looking away, Mass spoke softly but with intent.
"Florida." Mass hissed, breaking Florida's attention away. "Defcon 4." Florida's angry expression changed into a pure chaos smile as he slowly turned back towards Aaron.
Utah gently spooned some soup in DC's mouth, the fed actually sitting up in bed. "How is it?" He asked softly.
"It's really good." DC said with a smile. "Flo can really cook when he puts his mind into it."
"Yes. And when he's supervised." Utah joked, making both state and fed giggle. Suddenly without warning the meeting room door slammed open and cheering and shouting was heard from the hallway. A fed whose pristine black suit was all messed up, stormed off screaming obscenities and cursing the states. Utah and DC looked at one another in shock.
"What ha-" DC started before Mass came into the room with Loui and Texas in tow.
"Afternoon DC, come to take your temperature." Mass announced holding out the thermometer.
"Mass. What happened at the meeting?" DC asked, wincing as the front door opened and slammed shut. Texas sat on the side of his bed and took his hand, gently squeezing it.
"Nothin' you got to worry your pretty little head about darlin'." Loui said with a smile.
"But they were all screaming in there....maybe I should mmph!" DC jumped as Mass shoved the thermometer in his mouth.
"Like we said, nothing to be worried about." Mass said, checking his watch. "Shut up and take your temperature."
"I told you, I told you this was a bad idea." IDC muttered as Gov opened up the envelope Aaron dumped on his desk.
"Oh shut up, I had no other option!" Gov hissed. He pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope and opened it in the light. In scrawling pencil, possibly written by Florida but translated by another state, were the words:
We won't accept any other fed sent to us but DC.
-The States
IDC whistled lowly as Gov re-read the letter again. "I think they mean business." She whispered.
"I'm....I'm not going to sleep well tonight." Gov muttered dropping the letter and slumping back in his chair.
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