Tropes: Secret Marriage, Protective/Competent Pack Matriarch, Hurt/Comfort (Physical Aftereffects of Poison), Competent Stark Family, Idiots-in-Law Getting Humiliated.
Warnings: Canonical Westerosi political schemes, mentions of past attempted child poisoning (Cersei vs. Johanna).
Soundtrack: Grit & Wildfire / The Wolf and the Stag
đ THE CHARACTER LOGS
Johanna Baratheon-Stark â The Stagâs Blood, The Lionâs Ring, The Wolfâs Fury. Born the eldest princess, she survived the Tears of Lys only to find her true pack in the frozen North.
Trident â The Ash-Grey Shadow. A massive mastiff who knows exactly which southern princes deserve to be put in the dirt.
The Inner Circle â Robb (The Protector), Rickon (The Sanctuary Boy), and Jaime (The Secret Guardian).
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CHAPTER INDEX
Prequel Novella: The Southern Cage
Chapter 1: The Pack Lines Are Drawn
The royal procession arrives expecting a fragile, exiled southern princess they can drag back to a golden cage. Instead, Cersei and Joffrey are met with a secret marriage, a massive hound with lethal intent, a well-thrown turnip, and the realization that the North does not wait for southern permission.
Chapter 2: The Morning After the Feast (Coming Soon)
Chapter 3: The Sentry on the Battlements (Coming Soon)
AESTHETICS & BONUS CONTENT
Official Moodboard: Johanna Baratheon-Stark â Crimson velvet trimmed in white fox fur, heavy gold-and-ruby signet rings, and frost-bitten fingers.
The Jewelry of Winter's Fury â A look at Uncle Gerion's stag-antler necklace and the matching gold bands of the Young Wolf and his Lady.
Incorrect Quotes / Text Posts â Featuring Joffrey getting nicknamed "Prince Puddles" by the entire North.
Coming soon: Winterâs Fury| Game of Thrones fix it fic
"Let them come. Let them see what the North does to southern gold."
The south remembers the eldest princess, Johanna Baratheon, as a fragile thingâa broken Lannister castoff who barely survived her own motherâs poison, leaving her with a permanent, phantom chill that seeps directly into her bones.
But Casterly Rock taught her how to survive, and the North gave her a pack.
When King Robertâs royal procession pours into the Winterfell courtyard expecting a weak, exiled girl they can drag back to a golden cage, they are met with the raw steel of the Young Wolf. Because the North doesn't wait for southern permission to seal its pactsâand Johanna is already legally, spiritually, and fiercely a Stark.
Featuring a very competent Stark family, a massive ash-grey mastiff named Trident who takes no royal nonsense, Joffrey getting thoroughly humiliated into the dirt, and a marriage built on mutual survival, warmth, and defiant equality.
đĄď¸ THE STATS
Face Claim: Adelaide Kane as Johanna Baratheon-Stark
Pairing: Robb Stark x Johanna Baratheon (F!OC)
Aesthetic: Grit over Gloss. Heavy northern wool slashed with Lannister crimson, matching gold wedding bands, frozen mud, and the fierce warmth of the Great Hall.
Welcome to the official masterlist for the Charlotte "Lottie" Shepard-Gibbs series. This project strips away the sleek TV procedural veneer to explore the raw, high-stakes textures of family, espionage, and institutional betrayal.
đ Character Dossiers & Logs
Charlotte "Lottie" Shepard-Gibbs
Face Claim: Bryce Dallas Howard
Tagline: The Paris Variable / The Bluebird. A high-risk, high-reward digital specialist raised in the shadows of the 16th Arrondissement. Armed with a sub-compact Sig, a St. Christopher medal, and an inheritance she never asked for.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Tagline: The Sentry / The Hammer. A man who thought his legacy was a graveyard, forced to rewrite his own rulebook when the past shows up in his lab.
Timothy McGee
Tagline: The Shield / The Tech-Support. Transitioning from a code technician to a protector, rewriting Rule 41 in the shared adrenaline of a solved problem.
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đ Main Story Arc: Volume I
đď¸ Prologue: The Marseille Legacy
The line between a lie and a life blurs in a rainy French safehouse, leaving a silver anchor behind.
Read on Archive of Our Own (AO3) | Read on FanFiction.net
Soundtrack: "Bohemian Rhapsody" â Queen
đť Chapter 1: The Glitch in the Matrix
Lottie steps onto the NCIS linoleum for the first time. The bullpen is a kingdom, Tony is suspicious, and Ziva sees a ghost.
Chapter Link | Moodboard
Key Concept: The Neuilly-sur-Seine Incident (1999)
𧪠Chapter 2: The Mossad Memory
Forensic science meets gothic tech. Abby conducts a high-sugar 'Vibe Check' with Caf-Pow, while Lottie and Tim execute a flawless 'Shadow Script' on French bank codes.
Chapter Link | Technical Deep-Dive Extra
𩸠Chapter 3: The Bloodline Breach
The powder keg explodes. Gibbs demands the truth from Jenny, a silver St. Christopher medal changes everything, and the Core Four forms a phalanx against a CIA Burn Notice.
Chapter Link | Duckyâs Monologue Snippet
đ˛ Chapter 4: The Sentry Tower Escape
The team goes dark. A high-speed pursuit through rainy D.C. leads to an off-book Cold War fortress in the Virginia woods, where a new rule is written.
Chapter Link | The Chase Scene Breakdown
đľ Official Soundtracks & Aesthetic Boards
đ Project Progress & Tags
Current Status: Volume I (Chapters 1â6 Completed / Currently drafting Chapter 7: The Stillwater Siege)
Main Tracking Tag: â #the Autumn Fire
Character Ask Tag: â #ask lottieâ / â #ask mcgeeâ
Author's Note: This series prioritizes realism, technical precision, and deep emotional autopsies over standard episodic structures. Updates post every Thursday. Ask box is always open for tech talk or character inquiries!
On the Outside: đ đŽđđšđśđ đđ đđđđđžđ âđđđśđđ¸đ
Pairing: Sodapop Curtis x Mathews!OC (Mattison "Matti" Mathews)
Tropes: Brother's Best Friend, Hurt/Comfort, Protectiveness, Slow Burn to Established, Coming of Age, Canon-Compliant Divergence.
Face Claim: Lana Wood (Dark, midnight hair, expressive eyes, a classic 1960s "tuff" beauty).
Summary: Mattison Mathews is Two-Bitâs kid sister, the girl who flips a switchblade as good as the guys and breaks the tension with a laugh. She's been in love with Sodapop Curtis since she was six years old, but she's always just been "the constant" tag-along. When a shortcut through a vacant lot brings her face-to-face with a blue Corvair and a group of ruthless Socs, the "little sister" wall is shattered forever. As the Tulsa night turns violent, the gang rallies to protect her, and Soda is forced to face the truth: he can't breathe right when she isn't around.
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⌠đđąđŞđšđ˝đŽđť đđ¸đ° âŚ
Chapter One: The Price of a Shortcut
Summary: Walking alone past sunset after the movies, Matti takes a shortcut through a vacant lot to get to the Curtis house. She is cornered by Bob Sheldon and his crew. After the brutal attack, she stumbles through the screen door of the fortress, collapsing into the arms of the one boy she's always wanted to see.
Read Chapter One
Chapter Two: The Softness of a Promise
Summary: The immediate aftermath inside the Curtis kitchen. While Two-Bit paces with blinding, silent fury, Soda steps in to tend to Matti's wounds. The sibling labels vanish in the quiet intensity of the room, sealed by a shared stick of peppermint gum and a fierce, gravelly vow that changes everything. Ponyboy returns to a scene he didn't expect, bearing the weight of his own silent guilt.
Read Chapter Two
Chapter Three: The Cold Blue Rage
Summary: Word travels fast on the North Side. Dallas Winston arrives in a murderous fury, and Johnny Cade crumples under the terrifying realization that nobody is safe from the blue Corvair. While Tim Shepard steps in to lead a calculating war council, the "Strike Force" hunts down Bob's car in the park, leaving Matti behind to face the quiet trauma with Johnny and Angela Shepard.
Read Chapter Three
Chapter Four: The Nightly Double
Summary: Matti tries to reclaim her normalcy by heading to the drive-in with Dally, Johnny, and Ponyboy. Sitting directly behind Cherry Valance, the worlds of "Gloss" and "Grit" collide. Dally pushes boundaries, but Matti finds herself staring into the eyes of the girl who belongs to the boy who broke her world.
Read Chapter Four
Chapter Five: The Edge of the Blade
Summary: The walk home turns deadly when the blue Mustang crawls down the dark street. Two-Bit turns from jester to sentry, snapping his blade in the face of Bob and Randy. Cherry steps in to prevent a murder, but the air is thick with an escalation that can't be stopped. Back home, a terrified Matti confesses the encounter to a hyper-protective Soda.
Read Chapter Five
Chapter Six: The Midnight Page
Summary: Matti falls into a deep, exhausted sleep, only to be awakened at three in the morning by blood, wet clothes, and a trembling Ponyboy. Johnny has killed Bob Sheldon. As Dally arrives to rush the boys into hiding, the reality of the war sets in. The next morning, Matti must use her own injuries as "Gloss" to mislead the police and protect the gang.
Mattison "Matti" Mathews Aesthetics & Inspiration â A deep dive into her 1960s style, Lana Wood face claim boards, and the contrast between her Mathews wit and her internal "Standard Collapse."
The "Grit Guard" & The "Social Sentry" Analysis â A character study on the shifting dynamic between Soda's protective instincts and Matti's role as the emotional anchor of the gang.
The Story Soundtrack â Playlist featuring 1960s classic rock, gritty blues, and soulful melodies that match the tension of the Tulsa tracks.
A TURN: Washingtonâs Spies Alternate Universe (AU)
Pairing: Major Benjamin Tallmadge x Emma Brewster (OC)
Themes: Grit over Gloss ⢠Family Secrets ⢠Spycraft & Ciphers ⢠Slow Burn Romance
Visual Aesthetic: Dark indigo wool, ink-stained fingers, salt-crusted docks, silver wax seals, and severe jawlines.
đşď¸ THE ARCHIVE DIRECTORY
â [ About the AU ]â ¡ â [ Ask Box / Submissions ]â ¡ â [ Official Spotify Playlist ]â ¡ â [ Pinterest Moodboard ]â
đď¸ THE LORE & PRELUDES
"The price of the perimeter is rarely paid by the men who sign the books."
The Twelve Days of Setucket (December 1775) â The pre-war holiday prelude. The last time the parish had its pristine gloss before the world caught fire. Ben wraps his dragoon coat around Emma on a freezing porch.
The Whitehall Sanctuary (Season 1, Chapter 6) â Major Hewlett offers Emma a seat at his table to protect her. Mary Woodhull finds a sanctuary in the parlor, while John Simcoe watches from the shadows with voyeuristic rage.
𪜠VOLUME 1: THE WHITEHALL PERIMETER
Status: Completed | â [ Read Full Volume on AO3 ]â
Summary: Trapped inside the enemyâs mouth, Emma uses her drawing-room wit as a shield for Mary and little Thomas, while systematically dismantling Hewlett's garrison from the inside out for Ben Tallmadgeâs Ring.
Chapter 1: The Parsonage Stones â The initial breach. Uncle Nathanielâs warning and the arrival of the Queen's Rangers.
Chapter 2: The Logic of the Lye â Emma establishes her perimeter on the Setucket green.
Chapter 3: The Mid-Channel Shift â Calebâs whaleboat runs and Ben's growing territorial panic in the Stamford camp.
Chapter 6: The Drawing Room Offer â Emma crosses the Whitehall gates to become Hewlett's archivist. Ben loses his mind in the muck.
Chapter 7: The Parlor Shield â Mary Woodhull finds relief as Emma turns Whitehall into a domestic sanctuary for little Thomas.
â VOLUME 2: THE PHANTOM ARCHITECTURE
Status: Work In Progress (WIP) | â [ Follow the Chapter Tag ]â
Summary: The move to the Fairfield headquarters uncovers a radioactive, nuclear secret about Emma's bloodline. Locked in a two-person alliance with Ben, Emma must face the hyper-vigilant suspicion of Alexander Hamilton and the historic gravity of the Commander-in-Chief.
Chapter 1: The Fairfield Alignment â Arrival at the regular-army headquarters. The confrontation with the regular-army gloss.
Chapter 4: The Captive Ledger â Hamilton begins tracking the margins of Emma's ciphers.
Chapter 7: The Fracture in the Iron â Emma breaks down in her new quarters and tells Ben the truth: She is George Washington's biological daughter.
Chapter 8: The Echo on the Shingle â Emma drafts a brilliant false geography. Caleb launches into a nor'easter, and Anna Strong sees Simcoe march his Rangers into a trap.
Chapter 9: The Unsigned Inheritance â Ben silences Hamilton in the corridor. Washington recognizes his own iron face across the mapping table and sends Emma his private silver seal and compass.
Chapter 10: Coming Soon â The aftermath of the ghost army and Simcoe's furious return to the Setucket green.
đˇď¸ EXTRAS & BEHIND-THE-SCENES
Emma Brewster: The Character Profile & Faceclaim â The geometric data and visual anchors for the Bluebird.
The Brewster Brothers: Lore & Stable Alliance â Caleb and Ben's shared vow in the muck to protect Emma's bloodline.
The Master Soundtrack: 16-Song Playlist & Taglines â The classic rock and atmospheric heartbeat behind the grit.
The Curtis kitchen usually smelled like grease and burnt toast, but tonight, it smelled like copper and the medicinal sting of the iodine Darry was pressing into my cheek.
"Hold still, Mattie," Darry murmured. His hands, usually so steady when he was working on a car or a blueprint, were shaking just a fraction.
I winced as the antiseptic bit into the cut under my eye. I was sitting on the kitchen counter, my legs dangling, feeling small and fragile in a way a Mathews girl isn't supposed to feel. Two-Bit was pacing the linoleum like a caged animal, his knuckles white as he gripped the back of a kitchen chair. He hadn't made a single joke since I fell through the door. That was the scariest part.
"I'm gonna kill 'em," Two-Bit rasped, his voice a flat, dangerous monotone. "I don't care if theyâre Socs. I don't care if theyâre the King of England. Iâm gonna find that blue Corvair and Iâm gonna"
"Shut up, Two-Bit," Soda snapped.
The room went dead quiet. Soda didn't snap. He was the "happy-go-lucky" one, the one who kept the peace. But he was standing by the sink, his back to us, scrubbing the milk and glass off the floor with a ferocity that turned his skin raw.
He turned around, and the look in his eyes made my breath hitch. It wasn't just anger; it was a deep, jagged grief. He walked over to the counter and shoved Darryâs hand awayânot roughly, but with a firm finality.
"Iâll do it," Soda said. "Go get her some clean clothes, Darry. Some of mine. Theyâre softer."
Darry looked like he wanted to argue, but he saw something in Sodaâs face that I didn't recognize. He nodded once and headed toward the bedrooms. Two-Bit hovered for a second, looking at me with a pained, helpless expression, before following Darry.
It was just us.
Soda took a fresh cotton ball. He didn't say a word. He just stepped between my knees, his chest inches from mine. He started cleaning the gravel out of the scrapes on my chin with a touch so light I could barely feel it.
"I'm sorry, Soda," I whispered. "I should have used my head. I should haveâ"
"Don't," he choked out. He stopped cleaning and just rested his forehead against mine. I could feel the heat radiating off him. "Don't you dare blame yourself, Mattie. You hear me? Those cowards. Four of 'em on one girl."
He pulled back just enough to look me in the eye. The movie-star spark was gone, replaced by a fierce, burning intensity. "I almost lost you tonight. I saw you on that floor and I thought..."
He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't have to. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a fresh stick of peppermint gum, the same kind heâd shared with me when we were six. He unwrapped it with trembling fingers and held it out to me.
"I'm not leaving you alone again," Soda said, his voice dropping to a low, gravelly vow. "Not at the movies. Not on the walk home. Not ever."
"Soda, you have to work. You have a life."
"You are my life, Mattie," he said, and the air in the kitchen suddenly felt very thin. "I think I've known that since we were kids. I was just too much of a fool to say it until I saw you bleeding."
He leaned in, his lips brushing against my forehead, right above the swelling bruise. It wasn't a brotherly kiss. It was a claim.
"From now on," he whispered against my skin, "youâre with me. Always."
I didnât hear him come in. Ponyboy had a way of moving like a shadow, especially when the house was loud with grown-up anger. He was standing in the doorframe, his schoolbooks still clutched to his chest like a shield, his gray-green eyes wide and dark.
He looked at the blood on the floor. He looked at the iodine on the counter. Then he looked at me.
"Mattie?" he whispered. It was the same way heâd said Johnnyâs name back in the lot. Small. Scared. Like he was watching a sunset turn gray before it was supposed to.
Soda didn't move his forehead from mine, but I felt him stiffen. I reached out a hand, beckoning Pony closer. He stumbled over, dropping his books on the kitchen chair with a heavy thud.
"I'm okay, Pony," I said, though my voice cracked. "I just. I didn't use my head. Darry was right."
Ponyboy shook his head, his long, light-brown hair falling into his eyes. He reached out a trembling finger and touched the hem of the oversized shirt Soda had put on me. "It wasn't your head, Mattie. It was them. Itâs always them."
He looked at Soda, and for a second, the two brothers shared a look that went deeper than words. Ponyboy saw the way Soda was holding me, not like a sister, but like something precious heâd almost let slip through his fingers.
"I saw the car," Pony said, his voice dropping. "A blue Corvair. It passed me near the park. I thought, I thought maybe it was just cruising. I didn't know they had you."
The guilt in his voice was thick, and it broke my heart. "Pony, stop. You couldn't have known."
"I should've," he insisted. He sat on the stool next to the counter, looking smaller than fourteen. "I was thinking about Great Expectations. I was thinking about Pip and how he wanted to be a gentleman, and the whole time you were in the lot."
Soda finally pulled back, his hands resting firmly on my waist. He looked at his younger brother with a sad, weary kind of understanding. "Weâre all gonna stop thinking for a while, Pony. Weâre just gonna start watching, you, me, Darry, Two-Bit. Nobody walks alone. Not even to the mailbox."
Ponyboy nodded solemnly. He picked up one of my hands, looking at the scraped knuckles. "I'll help you with your English themes. Since you can't see out of that eye to read."
It was such a Pony thing to say, a peace offering of books and ink. I felt a stray tear finally escape my good eye, trailing through the iodine on my cheek.
"I'd like that, Pony," I whispered.
Behind us, the screen door slammed again. Two-Bit was back, his face a mask of cold, sharp stone. He didn't have his switchblade out, but the way his hand stayed deep in his pocket told me all I needed to know. The infamous Mathews laughter was gone, buried under the weight of the Tulsa night.
"They're at the Nightly Double," Two-Bit said, his voice like grinding gravel. "I'm going. Soda, are you staying here?"
Soda looked at me, then at Ponyboy. He reached out and squeezed my hand one last time, a silent promise.
"I'm staying," Soda said, his voice steady. "I've got everything I need right here."
Chapter 1 The Historical Precedent of Self-Immolation
The bullpen of the West Wing was humming with its usual post-disaster vibration. The air tasted like cheap coffee, adrenaline, and the distinct, burning scent of Joshua Lymanâs pride turning to ash. A familiar comforting smell.Â
The man himself was slumped at his desk, staring blankly at a legal pad, when the door to his office didn't just open; it clicked with the precise, rhythmic efficiency of a Secret Service escort trailing exactly three paces behind someone who refused to slow down for them.
"You know, Joshua," a crisp, melodic voice rang out from the doorway, "when Thomas Jefferson argued that the letters of the law should be subject to the progress of the human mind, Iâm fairly certain he didn't mean you should go on national television and tell a major constituency that their God is currently being fingerprinted in a federal building."
Josh blinked, his head snapping up. Standing in his doorway, wearing a slightly oversized Notre Dame sweatshirt, dark jeans, and an expression of pure, unadulterated academic glee, was Dolley Madison Bartlet. Her auburn hair was pulled back, there were dark circles rimming her eyes, her eyes were sharp enough to cut glass.
"Maddie," Josh groaned, burying his face in his hands. "Please. I am already being executed by a thousand paper cuts from the senior staff. Don't do this to me."
"Oh, Iâm not here to cut you, Josh. Iâm here to document the historical precedent of political self-immolation," Maddie said, breezing into the room and dropping a heavy, leather-bound volume on the history of the Continental Congress right onto his desk. She leaned against the edge of his table, folding her arms. "South Bend has televisions, you know. I was in the middle of translating an 18th-century land deed when my screen exploded with the news that the Deputy Chief of Staff had lost his mind. 'Indicted for tax fraud'? Truly. Alexander Hamilton wrote eighty-five essays defending the Constitution, and you dismantled the administrationâs entire legislative agenda in a forty-five-second soundbite."
"It was a hostile panel!" Josh defended, throwing his hands up. "And Toby is already drafting my apology, which involves me publicly eating dirt on the White House lawn."
"Good. You should wear a hair shirt. Itâs historically accurate for public penance," she shot back, a brilliant, teasing smirk breaking across her face, âMy roommate Shelby thought I was having an episode with how much I was laughing.Â
Before Josh could retort, a shadow fell over the glass partition. Leo McGarry stood there, a folder tucked under his arm. His stern expression didn't soften, but the lines around his eyes crinkled the moment he looked at Maddie.
"Maddie," Leo said, stepping into the room. "What are you doing away from your dissertation? Does your father know youâre in Washington?"
"Uncle Leo," Maddie said, her tone instantly softening into something fiercely affectionate. She stood up to give her godfather a quick, tight hug. "The Department of History granted me a three-day reprieve from the archives. And no, Dad thinks Iâm still in the library. I came straight from Dulles because I heard Josh needed medical attention after his encounter with C-SPAN."
Leo let out a dry, low chuckle, clapping a hand on her shoulder. He looked at her closelyâa second too long, his eyes tracking the slight shadow of fatigue beneath her eyes, a faint tremor of protectiveness passing through his frame. "He does. He needs to be locked in a room until he forgets how to speak. Come by my office before you go up to the residence. I want to hear about the Revolution paper."
"Itâs a chapter on the logistical failures of the Culper Spy Ring," she promised, a spark of genuine obsession lighting up her face. Much like how her father got when he talked about the National Parks, "Fascinating stuff."
"I'm sure," Leo smiled, though his eyes remained grounded, anchoring her with that steady, parental weight. "Don't tease him too hard. Heâs fragile."
As Leo walked out, another figure appeared in the hallway, nearly colliding with a junior staffer carrying a stack of briefings. Sam Seaborn was tracking a piece of paper with his eyes, muttering to himself, before he caught sight of the auburn hair inside Josh's office. He stopped dead in his tracks.
"Maddie?" Sam asked, his voice dropping an octave, losing its frantic political cadence. He stepped inside, his entire demeanor shifting. The Laurie situation had been eating him alive all morning, but looking at Maddie, his shoulders visibly dropped. "You're here. Why didn't you call?"
"Because then Josh would have hired a town crier to warn the building," Maddie said, her voice turning quiet, a sudden, entirely different kind of warmth flooding her expression. She stepped away from Josh's desk, moving into Sam's space with an easy, practiced familiarity. "Hi, Sam."
"Hi," Sam breathed, a soft, helpless smile pulling at his lips. He looked at her, really looked at her, his hand instinctively reaching out to brush against her arm, just a lingering, grounding touch. "You look, you look great. Are you staying for the weekend?"
"Just a few days. I had some research to follow up on at Georgetown," Maddie lied smoothly, her eyes darting away for a microsecond, a shift so subtle only someone paying absolute attention would catch it. "And I wanted to see if the rumors were true. Is the speechwriter's office still completely buried in drafts of an apology?"
"Worse," Sam chuckled, his eyes locked on hers, completely oblivious to the world around them. "We're trying to find a way to make 'tax fraud' sound like a metaphor for spiritual deficit. It's not working."
"It wouldn't," Maddie said softly, her thumb brushing the cuff of her sweatshirt. "The founders had a lot to say about taxes, Sam. None of it involves metaphor."
Behind them, Josh cleared his throat loudly. "I am still in the room. The target of your intellectual superiority is still sitting right here."
Maddie didn't look back at Josh, her eyes remaining on Sam for one more lingering, quiet beat before she turned, her mask of effortless, academic brilliance sliding back into place perfectly.
"Get back to work, Lyman," Maddie tossed over her shoulder, her voice light, hiding the sudden, heavy ache in her chest as she prepared for the real reason she had traveled to Washington. "Some of us actually have history to protect."
**
The air in the Roosevelt Room was thick with hostility. Mary Marsh sat rigidly, flanked by Reverend Al Caldwell and John Van Dyke. Across the table, Josh looked like he was waiting for the trapdoor to open beneath his chair, while Toby chewed on the inside of his cheek, radiating pure, volcanic annoyance. CJ Gregg settled on Joshâs other side, her eyes darting to the girl who sat next to Toby.Â
Maddie had traded her Notre Dame sweatshirt for a tailored charcoal blazer, her hair pinned up neatly, looking every bit the Bartlet legacy. She didn't have a notepad. She didn't need one. She sat with her hands clasped loosely on the dark wood table, her expression entirely unreadable.
"Our concern, Toby," Mary Marsh was saying, her voice dripping with condescending pity, "is that this administration seems to view the moral fabric of this country as a negotiable asset. When Josh goes on television and speaks with such flippant disregard, it sends a clear message to millions of Christians that their values are not welcome in the Bartlet White House."
"It was a debate about a Lamb of God cartoon, Mary," Josh muttered, his eyes cast down.
"It is a debate about the first commandment!" Mary snapped, turning her gaze like a spotlight. Then, her eyes slid past Josh and landed directly on Maddie. A thin, patronizing smile touched her lips. "And frankly, we find it tragic. Dolley, your father is a man of deep faith. We know he raised his daughters to respect the traditional foundation of this great nation. It must be difficult for you, as a student of our countryâs heritage, to watch this staff dismantle it."
The room went dead silent. Josh looked up sharply, a warning flashing in his eyes. Tobyâs hand paused over his glasses.
Maddie didn't flinch. She leaned forward just an inch, her gaze locking onto Mary Marsh with the cool, terrifying precision of a tenured professor preparing to fail a student.
"First of all, Mrs. Marsh, itâs Maddie," she said, her voice remarkably calm, flat, and lethal. Only Leo and his daughter Mallory called her Dolley. "And second, I find it incredibly generous of you to lecture me on the foundations of this country while you are currently sitting under a portrait of Teddy Roosevelt, a man who explicitly stated that the state should have absolutely nothing to do with the church."
Mary Marsh blinked, her smile tightening. "Maddie, the scriptures,"
"The scriptures are beautiful, but they aren't the law of the land," Maddie interrupted, her tone dropping into a steady, academic rhythm. "You like to invoke the Founders, so let's talk about them. In 1797, the Treaty of Tripoli was signed by John Adams and ratified unanimously by the Senate. Article 11 states, explicitly and without caveat, that the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."
She paused, letting the words hang in the heavy air.
"My great-great-grandfather seven times removed was Josiah Bartlet," Maddie continued, her voice quiet but carrying the immense weight of the building they were sitting in. "He signed the document that gave you the right to sit in this room and air your grievances. He was a devout man. But he, along with Jefferson, Franklin, and Madison, understood that a government tied to a single religious doctrine is a government primed for tyranny. So when Josh defends a citizen's right to satirize or criticize religious symbols, he isn't dismantling American values. He is actively upholding the exact framework my family bled to establish."
Reverend Caldwell raised a hand, looking genuinely impressed, if slightly uncomfortable. "Maddie, we aren't looking for a history lesson. We are looking for respect."
"You'll get respect when you stop weaponizing the Constitution you haven't read, Reverend," Maddie said smoothly.
Mary Marshâs eyes narrowed into slits. She leaned over the table, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "You have a lot of your father's arrogance, young lady. But public pride comes before a fall. I suggest you remember that before you find yourself on the wrong side of a public conversation. Your father's numbers are dropping, and a daughter with a loud mouth isn't going to help Mandy Hampton spin this."
Maddie felt a sudden, sharp wave of fatigue hit her, the familiar, heavy ache in her bones that had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with the cells betraying her from the inside out. Her hand beneath the table tightened into a fist to keep from trembling, but her face remained entirely made of stone.
"Mandy Hampton doesn't speak for me," Maddie said softly, her eyes holding Mary's without an ounce of fear. "And neither do you."
Before Mary could respond, the heavy wooden doors swung open.
"Mr Glassman," the Presidentâs voice boomed through the room, his presence instantly vacuuming all the oxygen out of the air as he walked in, leaning on his cane. "The text of the first commandment says 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' It doesn't say anything about a cartoon."
As the President took over the room, Josh glanced sideways at Maddie. He noticed the slight paleness in her cheeks, the way she subtly leaned her weight back into her chair as if holding herself up took a monumental amount of effort. He reached under the table, his fingers briefly catching her wristâfeeling her pulse, fast and thready.
He didn't know why she looked like she was running on empty yet, but looking at her fiercely protective posture next to Toby, Josh knew one thing for certain: Maddie Bartlet was going to be the toughest fight the West Wing had ever seen.
Here is a beautifully organized, Tumblr-ready Masterlist Post for your fic. This is designed to act as the pinned post or main directory on your blog so readers can easily find every chapter, character log, and snippet as you post them.
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đ MASTERLIST: LIVIN' ON A PRAYER (A WEST WING AU)
âAlexander Hamilton wrote eighty-five essays defending the Constitution, and you dismantled the administrationâs entire legislative agenda in a forty-five-second soundbite.â
Pairing: Sam Seaborn x Original Female Character (Dolley Madison "Maddie" Bartlet)
Face Claim: Kate Mara
Aesthetic/Tropes: 90s Political Drama ⢠Academic Grit ⢠Secret Illness ⢠Slow Burn ⢠Hurt/Comfort ⢠Found Family
Status: In Progress / Season 1 Ongoing
đ THE DOSSIER & ASSETS
đ [Character Profile: Dolley Madison Bartlet] â Get to know the second Bartlet daughter: Notre Dame PhD candidate, Revolutionary War obsessive, and Leo McGarry's goddaughter.
đ§ [Official Soundtrack / Mood Board] â The sights and sounds of 1999 Washington D.C. through Maddie's eyes.
đ CHAPTER DIRECTORY
Chapter 1: The Historical Precedent of Self-Immolation Maddie arrives fresh from South Bend to relentlessly mock Josh Lyman for his disastrous C-SPAN appearance, reunites with a lingering Sam Seaborn, and sits in on a tense Roosevelt Room meeting to deliver a Sorkin-style intellectual takedown to the Christian Right. đ [Read on AO3] | [Chapter One]
Chapter 2: Foundations in the SwampMandy Hampton tries to corner Maddie for a shallow Vanity Fair spread, prompting Maddie to drop a devastating boundary stone using her final, personal feature for George Magazine with JFK Jr. Later, Sam is caught reading the interview, and Josh secretly drives Maddie to Georgetown University Hospital for her first hidden oncology infusion. đ [Read on AO3] | [Tumblr Snippet]
Chapter 3: Logistics of Survival (Coming Soon)The devastating news of Morris Tolliver's plane crash reaches the White House. While the President prepares a volatile response, Josh has to keep a physically collapsing Maddie anchored in the dark. đ [Read on AO3] | [Tumblr Snippet]
đ SCENE SNIPPETS & MEMORIES
𩹠[The Godfatherâs Vow] â Leo McGarry discovers the copy of the medical transport log and confronts his goddaughter about her cancer recurrence.
â [1:14 AM in Speechwriters] â Sam notices Maddieâs extreme physical exhaustion under the green-shaded desk lamp, but she uses the classic Bartlet armor to hide the truth.
đŠď¸ [The Last Rotation] â Maddie runs into Commander Morris Tolliver outside the Situation Room just hours before his flight to Jordan.
Wanna stay updated on Maddie, Sam, and the rest of the West Wing senior staff? Ask to be added to the taglist below!
đ NEW FIC OUT NOW: Livin' On A Prayer (A West Wing AU)
"We treat the Constitution like a finished building, but the men who built it knew they were just laying a foundation in a swamp. They expected us to get our boots dirty."
Meet Dolley Madison "Matti" Bartlet (Face claim: Kate Mara), the second Bartlet daughter, a Notre Dame history PhD candidate obsessed with the Revolution, and Leo McGarry's fiercely independent goddaughter.
When she flies into Washington to mock Josh Lyman for his latest C-SPAN disaster, sheâs immediately pulled into the West Wing's high-stakes political machine. Mandy Hampton wants her for focus groups, Sam Seaborn wants to write speeches inspired by her academic grit, and the Christian Right wants to lecture her on the Foundersâa massive mistake, considering her ancestor literally signed the Declaration.
But behind the brilliant, untouchable Bartlet exterior, Maddie is fighting a secret war against a cancer recurrence. With only Leo and a covertly deployed Josh Lyman knowing the truth, she has to navigate chemo at Georgetown while hiding her diagnosis from her parents and the speechwriter sheâs terrifyingly close to falling for.
⧠âYou think too much.â    âAnd you don't think enough.â    âSee? That's why we work. You think, I act. Between the two of us we might pass for one well-adjusted human.â
⧠âYou can't fix everything with a smile and some charm, you know?â    âBut it works on you.â   â⌠Well, I didn't say it never works.â
⧠âYou don't need to walk me home, you know?â    âYeah, I know, but people are unpredictable and you⌠have a tendency to get lost in your head.â    âThat's a sweet way of calling me oblivious.â    âIf the shoe fits.â
⧠âHold up. Where are you going?â âThis guy said he knew a spot and Iââ âYou decided to follow a complete stranger to an unknown location, without telling anyone, and⌠what, get kidnapped?â âItâs not like that, I know him from class.â âOh, so an obnoxious stranger. Great.â
⧠âStop acting like Iâm some bumbling idiot!â âWe both know youâre no idiot, but youâre out of your depth here. If I needed help with an english assignment, Iâd ask you. When you need help with someone giving you trouble, you come to me. Got it?â
