62. Reagan vs Lincoln VII: Hasty Heart

“A fighter for the New Dealers…?” Reagan whispered back.

She scanned FDR’s body, then silently shook her head.

“I’m sorry, FDR. I appreciate you giving me the chance to prove my worth, but I don’t think I can face you given your…condition…”

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” FDR said with a wave of her hand, “my body’s not so weak that I can’t handle a little spar with a kid.”

Reagan gave FDR one last look before letting out a sigh.

“If you say so…”

Reagan took her battle stance, hesitating for just a second, then charged at FDR with a series of wide, sloppy punches.

“Come on!” FDR snided as she dodged the attacks, “Is that all you’ve got?”

Reagan gritted her teeth, then doubled the ferocity of each of her swings, but this only caused FDR to dodge her strikes by even greater margins. FDR shook her head as she stepped away from yet another haphazard swing.

“Well kid, I think I’ve seen eno—”

Reagan suddenly tightened her stance and punched her own overextended arm, slamming it into FDR’s face. FDR stepped back, blinking and wiping away a streak of blood from her nose.

“…you knew you couldn’t win if I took you seriously…” FDR spoke with astonishment, “so you purposefully acted like an amateur to lure me into dropping my guard.”

FDR stared at Reagan, then broke into a roaring laugh.

“Excellently done!” she said, giving Reagan a pat on the back.

“So,” Reagan asked with a meek smile, “does that mean you’re going to offer me a job?”

FDR gave Reagan another look over.

“You’ve got the job,” FDR remarked, lifting Reagan’s wide glasses off her face, “but only if you promise to never put these dorky glasses on again!”

From that day forth, Reagan would fight as a proud member of the New Dealers. She started with a series of small roles before being named the second in command of an elite international squadron. Reagan thought this assignment would be her big break; her rising action. But in reality, it would be her climax; her peak.

Indeed, from this point on, Reagan would only be assigned to the most mediocre of jobs. Nevertheless, Reagan continued holding on to her convictions, believing that she was just one job away from becoming the star she was destined to be…

“Morning boss!” Reagan exclaimed entering FDR’s study. “I hear you’ve got a new assignment for me?”

“That I do,” FDR said, “I want you to lead the Hasty Heart mission.”

“The…the Hasty Heart mission?” Reagan’s body slumped before tensing in anger. “That’s a lousy job and you know it!”

“Easy there,” FDR said, patting Reagan on the back. “I agree this is a very tough assignment. But that’s exactly why I need someone as capable as you to manage it.”

Reagan stayed still, her eyes fixed to the ground as FDR offered her a smile.

“You’d be doing me a favor here…a big one.”

Reagan clicked her tongue.

“I’ll do it,” she grumbled, “but on one condition.”

She gave FDR a stern look.

“I want to lead the Ghost Mountain mission when I’m done.”

“Well, sure,” FDR said, grabbing a pen and writing herself a note, “that’s a very reasonable request to make. I’ll go ahead and talk to Keighley about it right away.”

“Thanks FDR,” Reagan said, regaining her smile, “this means a lot to me.”

And so, Reagan headed to the UK for the Hasty Heart mission. The job was a disaster from beginning to end, but Reagan didn’t mind. After all, she had a far better job waiting for her when she returned.

Or at least, that was how the story was supposed to unfold…

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Reagan’s Flashback II. Ronald did a stellar job in his impromptu radio test, granting him his long-sought job as sports broadcaster. From there he would stumble into acting, losing his dorky glasses in the process after being asked to “promise you will never put those glasses on again” by the person who recruited him.

Several movies that Ronald Reagan acted in are mentioned in this flashback: he was one of the lead stars in International Squadron, and he reluctantly accepted to act in The Hasty Heart in exchange for being promised a role in Ghost Mountain (later retitled Rocky Mountain), however…