Carter's Duty - Prologue. Prologue

2025

As with all things, mistakes happen.

Somethings start out small, and they balloon into an impossible mess of complicated reasoning, excuses, and lies.

As Will sat behind his desk trying to finish some notes on a new piece of legislation trying to work its way through the Canadian Senate, he sighed. Rubbing his eyes and removing the reading glasses. When the hell did he get so old, tired, and achy.

Forty-seven, going on a hundred.

He glanced at the rows of photos arranged behind his desk. Of his family, of the man he married and loved with every fibre of his being. Hands proudly on their son's shoulders at his Graduation. Jake was off now, studying abroad confident in his life and ready to make his own mistakes. His two dad's proud of everything he had become.

Andrew was probably off somewhere, doing work for CSIS that no one was supposed to know about. But Will smiled, Andrew Carter, even twenty something years after they finally sorted their mess of a life out, the wonder at Andrew choosing his name, and saying the all important words still surprised Will. Marriage, there had been a time when it had been impossible for them. Years of uncertainty, fights, the whole country had been dragged into the future despite itself.

Prime Minister William Carter tapped his pen on the edge of his desk. The Chaos of Trump's America threatening the sovereignty of Canada with annexation... the Fifty-first State, not if he could help it. He'd fought too long, and too hard to make his country a leader in civil rights, in equality, in fairness and compassion to allow it all to be pulled down by the utter insanity south of the border.

The bill he was reading had to do with mental health protections. Safe guarding vulnerable worker rights in the face of rising adversity. Which was somewhat apt, he thought, given the times. And he reflected on his own mental health, remembering when he had been one of those vulnerable people.

Years of child abuse leaving anxiety, demons, and catastrophic emotional damage in its wake. He had been a little older than Jacob was. Again his eyes drifted to a picture of his son, sharing a fishing trip with Will's other boy, Peter. Both of them looking out of their element on a boat with Peter's husband West grinning at their displeasure. Family was complicated, and Will needed reminding of that from time to time.

He'd fallen down, back then, crushed under his own stupid decisions, bad choices, and failure to recognize that he had people who were there for him. It was a wonder that Andrew had ever forgiven him, it had taken a long time for that to happen. For Will to find himself and fight his way out of where he had put himself.

A nervous breakdown that had turned his world upside down.