Leo’s gaze became clear.

"But I refuse to be the sacrifice."

He understood Sanders’s position, but he couldn’t accept this outcome.

He hadn’t taken this office just to become a sacrificial lamb.

He had three hundred thousand Pittsburgh citizens behind him—workers waiting for paychecks, seniors waiting to repair their homes.

Their survival was more important than Sanders’s principles.

Leo took a deep breath and spoke into the phone, his voice perfectly calm.

"Senator, I understand your concerns."

"But I have to go."

"If I can’t even save my own city, if I let my citizens face ruin in the bitter cold, then I have no right to speak of principles, nor any right to be the standard-bearer for the Progressives."

"I can’t stand by and watch Pittsburgh die because of my purity."

"I must go."

A dead silence fell on the other end of the line.

Sanders said nothing.

He heard the unshakeable resolve in Leo’s voice.

That resolve reminded him of himself decades ago—a young mayor, crisscrossing the frozen landscapes of Vermont, fighting to secure subsidies for the poor.

He, too, had faced the same kind of choice back then.

He knew he couldn’t stop this young man.

Just as no one had been able to stop him back then.

"Ah..."

A long, weary sigh traveled through the receiver.

It held disappointment, resignation, and a hint of compromise.

"I know I can’t stop you," Sanders said, his voice lowering. "You’re already on your way to the airport, aren’t you?"

"Fine. If you insist on coming, then come."

"But let me be clear about one thing—"

Sanders’s tone became stern again.

"I won’t take you to any private fundraising dinners, and I won’t introduce you to any K Street lobbyists. If you want to walk that path, you walk it alone. Leave my name out of it."

"I understand," Leo replied.

"I’ll draw up a list for you," Sanders said. "I’ll have Marcus send it to your encrypted email later." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"It’s a list of a few second-in-commands in the federal executive departments—people at the deputy or assistant secretary level. For instance, the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transportation, and the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Energy."

"They’re technocrats, people who haven’t been completely swallowed by the Washington swamp yet. Some of them used to be my policy advisors, and others are sympathetic to our cause."

"Go meet with them."

"Talk to them about your city’s jobs, its industrial safety, its green infrastructure. Convince them through legitimate means. Win them over with sound policy."

"See if you can find some kind of administrative exemption at the federal level, or a direct funding channel that bypasses the State Government."

"This is the most I can do to help you."

Leo gripped his phone tighter. "Thank you, Senator."

"Don’t thank me yet."

Sanders cut him off.

"Remember, Leo, this is the final red line."

"You can try. You can lobby. You can look for a way out."

"But if you sign a contract that sells out your city’s future, if you accept secret bridge financing from some conglomerate, if you become one of them..."

Sanders’s voice turned ice-cold.

"Don’t expect me to defend you."

"From that moment on, we will no longer be allies."

"I will personally give a speech condemning your betrayal, and I will call on all Progressive voters to abandon you."

"You’re on your own."

"BEEP—"