David Jacobs was going insane, and it started the minute he walked into The World that morning. He should have known it was coming; after all, he'd glanced over Katherine's column when she'd given to him and saw something about a suicide. But he'd never expected this much madness.

People were rushing around the office in a frenzy. Even the people who weren't affected by the article were scattered around, gossiping about it and trying to think of something that would calm the storm. Clearly, it was useless - Davey was pretty sure he heard someone mutter something about getting more ink as they passed. Katherine Pulitzer's column had the entire city in a frenzy, and there was no use in trying to stop it now.

He stood in the doorway for a moment, watching the insanity, before his gaze landed on Mr. Connell's door, and he cursed silently. The editor was probably livid, and Davey wasn't helping anything by being an onlooker. Technically, according to his job description he was Mr. Connell's secretary, but really he was a secretary and an assistant rolled into one, and currently his boss was without either of those things.

He hurried into the editor's office and, unsurprisingly, the man was on the phone getting an earful from someone, and a different phone on a side table was ringing. Relief flooded his face when he saw Davey, but it didn't stay there.

"Jacobs!" Mr. Connell momentarily lowered the phone, holding it to his chest. "I'm dealing with Mr. Norton, and the mayor keeps calling. Deal with him, will you?"

Davey took a deep breath, steeled himself, and went to pick up the phone. He answered it cordially, only to be screamed at by the mayor, who was clearly just looking for someone to yell at. Davey closed his eyes, and prayed that they would figure out who this John Doe was before every powerful man in the city became completely outraged.

oOo

By early afternoon, The World had called Katherine's apartment at least ten times (not including one call to her incredibly frustrated landlord) trying to find her. That seemed somewhat ironic to her, considering she had just been fired the day prior, but she had expected it. People wanted to know about John Doe.

After she was lectured by her landlord, she decided that she'd made Mr. Connell suffer long enough, and made her way to The World. When she got there, she was met with madness.

She felt proud of herself as she watched it. People were frantic, and phones were ringing off the hook. She heard the subject of herself and her article being talked about from all over - whether positively or negatively, it was still happening. All of this was happening because of her.

After a moment, though, she set her sights on where the action really was. The editor's office. She turned and strode in without so much as a knock, and both Mr. Connell and David Jacobs froze when they saw her. They stared for a second, and Davey sighed before firmly putting down the phone he was holding.

"Thank God."

Katherine grinned. "Good afternoon, gentleman."

"Pulitzer." Her former editor addressed her in less of a speaking voice and more of an aggravated growl. "Where the hell have you been?"

"You fired me." She pointed out.

"You expect me to believe that you didn't know what publishing this letter was going to start?"

"I'm no longer an employee here, Mr. Connell, I wasn't obligated to come here at all."

The man glared at her. "Forget that, I just need you to tell me everything you know about this... this John Doe person."

"Please." Davey agreed, and he looked so overwhelmed that she felt a little bad. They had him running around doing so many things, she sometimes forgot that he was also the editor's makeshift personal assistant.

"There isn't that much to know about him." Katherine replied, sending an apologetic glance in Davey's direction. "Not yet, at least."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mr. Connell looked ready to explode.

She took a deep breath. "He doesn't exist."

"He - ?"

"I made him up. I wrote the article, but I did it for a reason. You can't deny that this country needs a change!"

"You wrote it?"

"It's a letter for the people. For the everyday working man. They needed a voice, and I gave it to them."

"In the form of a man who doesn't exist!" Mr. Connell shot up out of his seat.

Davey watched her carefully. "You have a plan." This was a statement, not a question. He knew her well.

She grinned. "I do."

"Pulitzer, if you can fix this mess, I'll hire you back right now."

"I don't know if you'd call it a fix... it would be more like building upon it."

Both men had their eyes trained on her, and she knew that they were willing to take whatever she had to offer. And, knowing exactly what she was about to say, they were going to like it.

She was going to start a revolution.