Take my hand, we'll make it I swear (Vickson)

Subject: Take my hand, we'll make it I swear (Vickson) Sat Feb 01, 2020 1:53 pm

The last two months had gone in a haze for Senator Jackson Blake. Between getting HR420 ready for the senate floor, arranging meetings with his blue co sponsor for the bill and adapting to the new relationship, days went by without notice. In the blink of an eye, he was no longer living on protein shakes but returning to the little apartment every night for good food, in the blink of an eye again, the bill was ready and the senate willing to actually hear it, in the blink of an eye, it had been three days since he had hit the gym and he didn't even miss it.

Mostly because he was getting plenty of exercise regardless. Bouts exuberant enough to keep up even with Victoria's hearty cooking.

The fear that Fox would call any day, cancelling their funding had not faded, but it had been pushed back somewhat with no word from Tessa or the media giant from the last month. In fact, their biweekly payments had come in as usual as well as the money funded by the Greene/Gray family which meant Tessa hadn't approached Old Man Gray with what had happened. He doubted the staunch old conservative would take kindly to his daughter in law being left for someone else. He hadn't even forgiven his own son for that let alone Jackson, a virtual stranger.

Still, things were moving along as smoothly as they could and any moment Jackson and Victoria spent not on each other was spent with the bill in mind. In fact, the whole office had contributed many late nights, overtime hours (sometimes without pay) and significant stress levels into getting the piece of legislation ready to be heard by the Senate. Maggie had pulled a near miracle by securing Senator Andrew Yang's support in co sponsoring the bill, citing her husband Jim's contacts in the democratic party.

After a motion had been passed by the house such as HR420 had been, normally it was good practice to do the media rounds with an easy to swallow summary of the bill before introducing it to the greatest deliberative body in the world but there had simply been no time. While Sloan had assured him that the chances of doing the rounds would increase public support, they were still working under threat of budget cuts and the most important thing was to get the votes from Jackson's fellow senators. A republican minority meant that even if every single red senator voted his way, the wizard would still need more blues. Andrew had promised 14.

As part of the favor, the Asian senator had been doing media rounds with his son to promote awareness on compounding pharmacies but the man could only get so far with his looks and charm. A sturdy conservative like Jackson was better for the viewers but appearing on Fox right now was out fo the question. So the Blake team weathered the storm more quietly, pouring their efforts into the bill rather than the show and fanfare,

The date given by the senate to hear the bill fell on a Tuesday, meaning Jackson had his flight bonked to DC over the weekend. They would need the one day to get organised in DC before they approached the senate. Instead of a team of aides however, Jackson had opted to only bring along one person, the person he would need most no matter what he did in life.

As a result, Jackson and Victoria flew off from Milwaukee airport laden down with dozens of files and small overnight bags magically enhanced to hold more things. The duo landed in DC just as the sun was setting and arrived at Jackson's apartment close to nine at night, hungry and exhausted. Fortunately, their apartment boasted a discrete and immediately responsive front desk and within ten minutes, four burgers and fries had appeared at their front door, along with a large bottle of soda.

Halfway through undressing, Jackson had received the food with a tired thank you and placed it on the table, returning to the room to finish unbuttoning and removing his travel clothes to let his body breathe.

"Vic, food's here,' he called out stepped into a fresh pair of jogging tracks, pushing his hair back from his face. "C'mon, I'm starving," he added, leaving it at that and heading towards the bathroom where the Goblin had disappeared some minutes ago.

"Comeonecomeoncomecomeon!"

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Take my hand, we'll make it I swear (Vickson) Rsz_mi10

Take my hand, we'll make it I swear (Vickson) Rsz_ja12

Take my hand, we'll make it I swear (Vickson) Rsz_rs13

Where the time had gone to, Victoria simply couldn't have said. From the point Jackson had returned from LA, the witch hadn't known how many days had passed. The mad rush that life had become to ensure that they would be ready for the presentation of HR420 to the Senate -- which had miraculously fallen in to place -- how? The witch would never know, except that they had given everything they had to the cause.

Most nights, Victoria had returned home feeling exhausted. The long hours were putting the whole office through a tonne of stress to get the bill ready, she secretly worried about what would happen if they weren't worried whilst outwardly portraying the complete show of confidence in their team throughout it all. And, of course, Tessa's email was always there, in the back of her mind, whenever her eyes came to Jackson, or whenever Sloan bemoaned her system and suggested she get a new one with the next funding round. Or when Maggie spoke of her future plans with Jim. Or... anyone in the office.

It would have been easy to curl up on the sofa upon her return home and fall asleep, but the witch hadn't. Each evening the witch had made Jackson and herself dinner, sat through the meal just long enough for Jackson to finish before he pulled her towards him. Careful, always careful, before their lips would meet, and the notion of being tired would be pressed back to the farthest corner of her brain as she succumbed to the insatiable need of not only her body, but Jackson's anew. It would be in the afterglow of those moments that the exhaustion would come, leaving the witch in a stupor of both mind and body, and sleep would come without the worry of anything else in the world.

The trip to DC had come around much too quickly, though, and with it the fresh anxiety that she might have missed something. Victoria had been thoroughly engrossed in the paperwork the whole flight, checking details with Jackson who kept telling her to relax and that everything was in order. The witch had merely given him a look that said she would not relax -- and he should know that by now -- until they were out of the water. From there, he'd (mostly) left her to her own devices. The witch continuing to agonise over the paperwork almost religiously as she waited for the plane to land.

And finding nothing more.

Upon arrival, Jackson had ordered food for them both before they'd headed up to their room. Victoria had denoted she would freshen up quickly before disappearing to the bathroom with her bag, whilst Jackson... the witch had had to detangle herself from the man's clutches with a soft 'later' before shutting the door behind her. A very quick shower later, and the helpful use of her wand to dry herself off, Victoria had just been pulling on one of Jackson's t-shirts and a pair of pyjama shorts when the knock at the door came, Jackson's voice following afterwards.

Smiling to herself as she pulled her long hair up in to a scruffy bun to keep it out of her face whilst they ate, Victoria moved to the bathroom door, opening just in time.

"Comeonecomeoncomecomeon!"

"You didn't have to wait for me," the witch pointed out to him -- not unkindly -- as she reached up to press a light kiss upon his lips to show she'd appreciated it nonetheless. Taking the man's hand, Victoria moved back to the table where the food sat. Taking one of the burgers for herself, the witch tucked in without any more preamble, much too hungry to wait a moment more.

"Thank Merlin," the witch said, after swallowing her first small mouthful. "You know better than to get anything other than unhealthy food in these moments." She finalised, before taking another bite and savouring it. Yes, when stressed, the witch much preferred gorging herself on the take outs, or unhealthiest of foods, it made you feel like you'd deserved the treat, and Jackson just knew how to make her feel much more comfortable.

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Truth be told, it didn't take the tiny witch too long, but to a starving Jackson it could have been eons. His hunger was temporarily swept aside however when she existed the bathroom, wearing one of his many T shirts she had now laid claim to. The kiss only further distracted his mind before he remembered he was hungry.

Whether the burgers were really good or because he was famished, Jackson bit into his own with much more gusto, nodding along to the Goblin's approval of junk food in times of stress. His outside food intake had gotten seriously less due to the Princess's culinary skills but he could make up for it now. All real Americans needed cheeseburgers in their lives. Cheeseburgers and fries, he corrected himself as he piled all four helpings of the crinkle cut potatoes on a plate.

If this was it, him eating fast food with Victoria, there was no way life could get better.

But this was not just it. They had something important to accomplish tomorrow.

Over the past week, Jackson had taken to muttering numbers at odd times, counting votes. And when Victoria had nosed, she had only started helping inside of telling him not to think about it. Just as there was nothing he could say to stop her worrying over the paperwork, there was nothing the layer could do to persuade him not to think over the votes. "Thirty-two republicans," he murmured, working the number around a mouthful of burger.

"Yang says he has fourteen, we still need five more..." The man paused to swallow, his eyes taking on the usual look of worry when it came to the numbers. "Unless any of our red ones flip, then we need more." They had done this dozens of times, calculating who would and would not vote for them. Orcazio-Cortez was on the fence, Mike had promised full support, Jameson was out of the picture still so there was a dropped vote there....

"If you were opposing council, what holes would you poke in the bill?" he asked, dipping his fries in ketchup and promptly inserting three at cone in his mouth. "Other than the cost of overhauling the whole CP system, and the jobs people would lose when found to be not qualified."

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It never ceased to amaze the witch how for brief moments, when the witch would press a kiss to Jackson's lips, or she would come from the bathroom changed, that Jackson's face seemed to... well, suggest he'd stopped thinking about what he'd been doing. It was fleeting, easy to miss, but Victoria knew the man more than she knew herself, and it took almost all her energy not to smile as she caught him once more as she led him to the food.

Neither one of them waited long to tuck in, with Jackson helping himself to all the fries. "Hey!" The witch admonished with a small chuckle, leaning over to steal a couple of the chips her herself. Not that the witch minded, if Jackson was that hungry, he could devour all of the food, the burger would do enough to fill her up until the morning.

"Thirty-two republicans,"

As the mumbling started, Victoria looked away from her cheeseburger and back to Jackson, contemplating him as she waited for his query. It had been happening quite frequently of late. First came the number of republicans they had, assuming they would all vote in Jackson's favour, and then the number Andrew Yang had told them that they would get from him. Fourteen. It would give them forty six votes, but they needed fifty one to get the bill passed. They were five short, unless they could turn anyone with what they said.

And there were already people on the fence.

Having made friends with Alexandria a couple of years ago, and keeping in regular contact had been fruitful enough, Victoria would wager, to give them the upper hand with the woman, and hopefully sway her. But that was all it was, hopefulness.

"No one is likely to flip on us," Victoria tried, though she knew it was not going to help. How many times had she already told the worrying man before her that they had the thirty two sealed? But it took more than her blind faith to convince Jackson, it would take the final result to do that, but until then, she would keep telling him that they were going to be okay. She believed it, and that had been enough for them up until now.

"If you were opposing council, what holes would you poke in the bill?"

Victoria paused, putting down her burger and grabbing a napkin to tidy her hands up. Of course, she'd thought from the other side whilst writing the bill. She'd done her best to defend against loopholes, and try to ensure counter arguments would be kept to a minimum. But you could never create a flawless piece of legislation, no matter how good you were at your job. Which meant there would always be something that could be nitpicked.

"Well," Victoria started, trying not to look like she'd memorised a list already because Jackson needed reassurance in that moment. "They might argue that there are already laws about who you hire to work at the CPs. If the law already exists, why would we need another one when we could just tighten up on laws?" The witch offered, knowing Jackson was already aware of that point from their months of work on this bill.

"You'll remember from our meeting with Purdue Pharma that many of the compounding pharmacies are attached to these businesses. Many people will argue that fighting them would not be a good idea for national interest because we'll be upsetting them, and perhaps -- in the short term -- the economy surrounding them..."

The witch paused, before she continued on to the final point.

"And, perhaps, they would suggest that we've maliciously filed the bill to make compounding pharmacies look to be terrible. That we're ignoring all the good they do, and we're suggesting the problem to be much worse than it truly is. Which we are not, obviously, all of our figures have been checked half a hundred times by Sloan now, and they're still showing the same results." The witch finished her points.

"But, I think a lot of people will see reason in what we're saying, and so long as we can answer their concerns confidently, and with good information, I don't think that they'll have a true line of fire to come at us with. We're here from a public safety perspective, and I think that should work in our favour. Your favour." Victoria rallied, giving the man a confident smile to show she believed that much. "We're going to have a good fight, though, there's no denying that."

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As always, the witch did not cast his worries aside, instead answering his questions seriously as she pushed more french fires into his mouth. They had a solid defense to most of the points Victoria had anticipated being raised on the senate floor. And to be fair, the point of favoring big cooperation had been a republican agenda back in the good old days where Jackson's party held the majority. It was however resounding to know that no matter who was in power, it was the large corporations who were considered first and foremost.

"We can counter argue the first point," Jackson offered, swallowing his bite of burger. "If laws are not being enforced than they are not laws. And the fact that people sue the loophole to get around employing unqualified people so often means the penalty for doing so is either too lenient or unenforceable in certain states." Yes, that felt good. Jackson took the final bit of burger in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully as she send a second argument his way.

"Standard, companies cannot be given precedence over people's lives, the Dems wrote the book on that once upon a time." the statement was accompanied by a scoff as Jackson reached to unwrap his second cheeseburger.

"And, perhaps, they would suggest that we've maliciously filed the bill to make compounding pharmacies look to be terrible."

Allegations of such a nature were not uncommon. Senators knew all to well how quickly a discussion on legislative policy could evolve into a character cross examination of the people proposing the bill.

"You're right though, our numbers are rock solid. And there's no way they can claim over a hundred deaths of constituents are a malicious agenda based suit." Well, they could but it wouldn't stand. bu then again, this was the same senate that had refused to hear from witnesses, send subpoenas or hear evidence during President Trump's impeachment trial. Now that the asses had the House and Senate back, they would be chomping at the bit to exercise all their powers to kill republican bills.

"Regardless of the argument though," he spoke, contemplating his burger. "It will always comes down to the numbers. That's the fallacy of the whole institution right? If I were to go and argue tomorrow that we should blow up New Jersey, no one is allowed to not consider the idea. It would still be voted on... And if we had fifty one votes, bye bye Jersey."

The politician bit into his burger again, lost in thought. Thirty two, plus fourteen, plus five. they only needed that many. "Bet any moderates will side with us? Tulsi? Gillibrand? Chelsea Clinton?" How moderate Clinton was would always be up to debate but she was very hung up on good publicity. The woman had attached her name to several causes she didn't necessarily believe in but would look good for the media supporting.

"You know the real problem," he added, a little frustration evident in his tone. "All these fuckers come from big political backgrounds. the Clintons have been around since the beginning of time, Yang's been in the game for two decades, Gillibrand even longer. They've got their own little club and socials and whatnot., And I'm just from Green Lake. If I could crack that inner circle, we'd have a sound majority."

Idly, the thought came that Tessa could have easily been the key to him entering the circle of elites. but it vanished almost as quickly as it had manifested. No, he had taken enough advantage of the heiress for one lifetime.

And nothing in the circle of elites would come close to resuming up to what he had now, eating cheeseburgers with a tiny lawyer indulging his anxiety ridden whims when she was just as exhausted from a flight as he was.

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Each counter made Victoria feel more proud of the man sat opposite her, the way he worked through each of the ideas she posed and methodically threw them back at her as if it had been nothing showed just how well prepared he was for taking their bill to the Senate. Not that Victoria had believed otherwise, of course, she knew Jackson had been working hard on the bill, knew he'd take the time to question each member of the team on their ideas, listened to their arguments, and put forth his own opinions when they'd been needed. To say he'd been in the thick of the production of the bill would have been an understatement.

"Our numbers are solid." Victoria confirmed once more, because there was nothing else she could add to what Jackson had already said on the matter. They would have to fight tooth and nail to get the bill passed through the Senate, but Jackson knew it inside out and backwards by now, so there wasn't anything more she could add.

Only give him the moral support he needed.

The numbers would always be where they came back to, though. Jackson was like a man possessed when it came to the numbers, and the witch had come to realise early on that there was nothing she could say to Jackson to make him worry over them less. It was just one of those things that... would have to wait until the day. Victoria could not work her magic on the numbers anymore than she could change the sky pink at this stage.

"I'm not sure on the moderates," Victoria replied honestly -- she couldn't be sure, so there was no point suggesting otherwise. "I think Chelsea Clinton might be a good bet to come to our side, though. It goes well with her previous voting, helping the little people to look good would suit her current strategies. But, honestly, I don't know. Tulsi and Gillibrand will depend on the mood they wake up in in the morning. Hopefully they wake up in the better mood on Tuesday and we'll be able to snag their votes..." She was starting to sound too hopeful, Victoria realised as she trailed off. The moderates were moderates for a reason, they simply didn't know how they were going to vote, not until the day.

The frustration that oozed from Jackson though as he finished off his second burger and played unhappily with the fries before him made up Victoria's mind. Putting down her own burger that was three quarters done by now, the witch cleaned up her hands before moving from her seat to Jackson. The man moved back in his chair almost as if he knew what was coming in that moment, even as he kept talking with frustration about the bigger political families.

"We can crack the inner circles," Victoria told him, taking his hands in hers. The small witch brought them up to her lips to press soft kisses in the back of his palms. "In time, we can do that." She promised, pressing kisses on the back of Jackson's other hand. When she was sure that was helping, the small witch carefully situated herself upon the man's lap, straddling with ease as the man helped her move as if she weighed absolutely nothing in the world. Her small hands -- now free from Jackson's that were supporting her and holding her close -- moved to draw light marks against the exposed skin of his torso.

"You being from Green Lake is one of the best things you have. I know you can't see it now, but you'll understand eventually how much of a better politician that makes you than any of them... The Clintons, Gillibrand... Yang..." The witch shook her head lightly and placed a kiss upon Jackson's lips to show him that she meant the words she was saying. The man before her was going to be great, she would ensure that was the case, and his small town upbringing was not going to stop them from succeeding in anything.

"You don't need them to be great..." The witch whispered, her lips moving to nuzzle the man's neck gently, until she could feel the tension leaving his body...

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Even through the cloud of frustration, he felt her move. More importantly, he felt her intentions, moving back to let her slide into place as her lips came to rest on his not quite clean hands. Victoria may have made the effort to clean herself off before moving his way but streaks of ketchup were still very prominent on the politician's fingers as they moved hrr over on his lap, leaving faint red traces on the T shirt she wore.

"We can crack the inner circles,"

The words, confirmed with soft kisses, made it sound inevitable. But then again, anyone would flee like the most powerful man in the world with a princess in his lap, working to reassure him of such.

Settling her on top of him, the man simply hummed, his own fingers once freed drawn to her waist and the hem of the T shirt that really needed to be gone by now. But patience, Jackson had learned, was the key with Victoria. The witch was always slow to start but more than made up for it as things progressed. The man had continued going to meeting and taking advice, and this seem to follow along those lines.

"You don't need them to be great..."

By this point, Jackson had completely forgotten what he was supposed to be worried about. All he knew was that Victoria was nuzzling him in a way that made patience seem like the toughest virtue of all. Of completely their own volition, his hands had crept under her shirt, leaving sticky traces all over her waist and stomach as they inched upwards, headed straight for the prize.

"Ugh Vic," he grunted softly as she worked her dark magic. Situated as she was on his lap, the young lawyer would no doubt feel his excitement rising, always ready to go at the drop of a hat with her around. The witch seemed more than willing through, raising herself slowly in his lap to rub her front softly against him.

Under her shirt, his hands reached for the soft flesh...

Just as the doorbell buzzed.

A primal growl escaped the man as his hold on Victoria tightened. "We're not getting that," he murmured reaching up to confirm the notion by placing his lips firmly on hers. Whoever it was could fuck off until the morning.

Whether Victoria protested or not, he couldn't remember after. Only that her hair smelled delicious and her lips tasted better than any burger and that motherfucking bell had buzzed again.

"Fuck it!" he cursed, not letting the brunette go. Jackson merely adjusted her in his lap, now carrying her to the door with him. Hopefully whoever it was would get the hint and piss off.

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The triumphant smile touched Victoria's lips as her name came from Jackson's lips, proving her capabilities of distracting the man had not lost their touch yet again. A feat that still awed the witch with how frequently they had been together, and how ready Jackson could be so soon after. The marvelling could wait, though, as the witch's lips moved to Jackson's collarbone, sucking lightly on the skin as his hands moved under the oversized shirt she was wearing, seeking out her breasts.

The witch pressed herself closer to the man, feeling the excitement of the situation against her as she moved her lips away from his skin and back up-

The doorbell sounded and the witch looked towards the door with curiosity.

"We're not getting that,"

"Jac-" The witch started, amusement touching her features in the same moment his lips claimed hers and the witch forgot what she had been trying to argue against in that moment, instead settling in to the kiss with a contented sigh as the man's fingers sent shivers down her spine. They could have gotten lost, quite easily...

But the bell sounded against, and Jackson's reply, so frustrated with the person at the door brought forth a soft giggle from the witch. "I'll ge-" But the witch was lifted with the tall frame of Jackson's in that moment, his hands holding her close even as her legs settled around his waist to try to help. "You can't open the door like this, Jackson!" The witch pointed out, though much too amused and definitely not in the mood to fight him on the matter.

"Jackson, seriou-"

The door opened and Victoria's cheeks flushed deeply in that moment at the sight of the delivery man on the otherside. The younger male looked between the couple with a look of embarrassment, before remembering why he was here. "Delivery for you!" He explained, pushing forward the large bouquet of flowers to them. With Jackson's hold upon her not showing any signs of changing, Victoria reached out to take the flowers with a soft thank you to the delivery boy.

Just in time for Jackson to slam the door in the delivery boy's face.

"That was unfair," Victoria told the man as they navigated back to the table, Jackson giving her a moment to put the flowers down, before his lips were nuzzling at her skin again. "Waiiiiiit, just a minute," Victoria pleaded, drawing herself away just enough to be able to grab the card from the flowers before she moved back just enough for Jackson to be able to continue his ministrations.

The card was simple enough, Victoria only needing two seconds to read the number inside.

"Nineteen..." The witch breathed, before her eyes focused back on Jackson and not the card. "Yang's got nineteen."

To prove the point, Victoria brought the card between herself and Jackson, turning it so he could see for himself.

See that they might just have this one in the bag before they even got started...

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"You can't open the door like this, Jackson!"

"Watch me," he challenged, dark eyes hazy with need and irritation all at once as he snuggled the princess close to him and reached to open the door. Victoria had clearly not expected him to go through with the plan as evidenced by how red she went. Regardless she took the preferred flowers from the person a the door before Jackson neatly slammed it into his or her face.

The question of who the arrangement was from was answered a minute later as the witch set it down on the table and reached for the card. Against the wish of every cell in his entire being, Jackson removed his lips from her skin, trying to focus on the card that had come with the bouquet.

The number "19" was printed in neat, narrow handwriting Jackson had long since come to associate with Yang's preferred style. Nineteen what though?

"Yang's got nineteen."

The realization dawned at Victoria's words. the vote! They had nineteen. A whoop of joy escaped the political as he lifted Victoria up high above his head and then spun her around once before bringing her down to kiss her deeply.

They had the votes, they had this in the bag!

They were going to get HR420 passed.

And most importantly, he had Victoria here with him to celebrate. Because this was now a proper celebration.

And that shirt had far outstayed it's welcome.

They didn't even manage to make it to the bedroom, the card falling down somewhere in all the flurry on the floor where Jackson and Victoria joined it soon after.

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Come Plot With Me <3

» I could make you happy, Make your dreams come true (One Shot)
» Make your jaw drop, make you say "Oh My God" (Jazalea)
» A Helping Hand (Wesley)
» Now let me hold your hand (Victoria)
» Isn't she lovely (Vickson)