Madam President

Chapter Twenty-Two

Freen almost always felt relieved after a successful detail. Almost always.

She wasn't sure why this time felt different as she adjusted the lapels of her suit and followed Rebecca through the heavy maroon curtains towards the back exit of the venue.

Rebecca's words still rang in her mind. Fierce, stalwart words regarding the protection of Alien privacy and rights in the workplace.

The bill she'd proposed months ago was a big deal. It had echoed throughout the country and throughout the world. It was groundbreaking.

It was dangerous.

Maybe that's why Freen was listening even harder than she usually did.

Maybe that's why the hairs on her arms were lifting and catching against her stiff dress shirt beneath her jacket as she moved closer to Rebecca when they finally hit the back door that led to the blocked-off street and to safety from the throng of people who had, effectively, made this side of town more of a celebration than a functioning city.

The shouting and commotion had Freen struggling to focus on any one sound. On any one possible threat. That, combined with the rest of her detail in the comm in one of her ears had her opening herself up so much that she feared she might lose her hearing, entirely.

"All clear for Halcyon. Transport ready."

Freen let out a little sigh of relief as she rested a hand against Rebecca's back and guided her out from under the awning they'd been waiting in and towards the convoy of blacked-out cars that were waiting.

One to carry Rebecca, three to distract.

Freen knew just which one they were headed for. "Let's go, Rebecca," She urged near Rebecca's ear.

They'd made it halfway to the car when a sudden commotion near the guard rails drew Freen's attention away.

Her brow furrowed when she saw one of her agents struggling with someone who had broken through and only made it a few feet into their perimeter before being stopped.

She gave Rebecca a gentle push to keep her heading for the car as she stood between the would be approacher and the car Rebecca was headed for just in case.

Another agent took her place at Rebecca's side in an easy, practiced move, escorting Rebecca the rest of the way while Freen continued assuring the situation was being handled.

That's when it hit her.

A strange, quiet sound.

Something soft and indiscernible beneath the raucous atmosphere that had followed the briefing.

Continuous.

Rhythmic.

Freen held her breath and lowered her eyes to the ground as she honed in on the noise coming from somewhere very nearby. Very nearby.

A timer. 

"Rebecca!"

In her sudden flood of fear, Freen had forgotten any and all code words. Any and all protocol regarding Rebecca's name.

She turned just as the timer ticked one last time, and everything around her seemed to slow to a stop as Rebecca turned her head sharply in Freen's direction, her eyes wide and full of fear.

"Down! Get her--" The other agent didn't even have time to respond to Freen's order, and Freen knew it.

So, when the blast hit, Rebecca found herself suddenly and inexplicably covered by the weight of Freen's body pressing her own down into the pavement. Freen, who had been so far away just a moment ago.

Freen, whose body jerked hard down into her own when the first shockwave washed over them.

She made the most terrible noise against Rebecca's still-ringing ears.

A strangled scream mixed with a grunt of pain as the air around them filled quickly and utterly with thick, green, acrid smoke.

Freen was dazed at first.

She wasn't used to feeling pain. Oh, she'd trained for it, sure. She'd even been injured a time or two by some clever foes.

But this.

Breathing in thick gulps of the only thing that could really hurt her. Feeling it burn into her flesh through the shrapnel that had torn through her suit jacket.

Anti-Alien matter.

What else? Freen didn't know. She only knew that she had to move.

So, she did.

She dragged Rebecca forward underneath herself and used her vision to look through the smoke no one else could see through to find the body of the agent who'd been nearest to Rebecca.

She didn't have time to consider him. She only had time to reach into his jacket pocket with a violently trembling hand to pull out a collapsible mask most agents kept inside their jacket. A mask that Freen didn't need.

Usually.

She pressed it over Rebecca's face. "Hold this tight."

Rebecca did exactly as she was told, and with every ounce of strength she still had in her, Freen lifted her from the ground and rushed for the waiting, open door of the car.

Rebecca suffered quite a few more bruises when Freen loaded her into the car and landed on top of her with much less purpose than she had before, and as soon as she'd shut the door, she managed to groan into the comm in her ear.

"Halcyon secure. Move."

It had all happened so fast.

Yet it seemed to Rebecca like it had taken an eternity for the car to start moving. For the filtration systems to kick in and the tears in her irritated eyes to begin to clear.

She was still a little out of it when she finally turned her head towards Freen to find her...utterly still.

"Freen?"

Rebecca's voice was trembling. The fear that had already gripped her compounded tenfold, then.

She slid her arms around Freen's back in an attempt to lift them and gasped sharply when she felt the warm, wet heat of blood seeping through the tattered back of Freen's jacket.

"Freen!"

Rebecca rolled her off of herself and Freen let out a shuddering groan when her back met the floor of the car.

"I'm sorry. Oh God, I'm sorry, Freen. Fuck. Fuck." Rebecca was almost sobbing as she looked down at her hands to find them covered in angry, bright crimson.

"What do I do?" Rebecca asked in an urgent whisper as she touched everywhere she could reach on Freen.

"What they tell you to do," Freen managed to whisper, managing to open her eyes just enough to see Rebecca's face. Her scuffed cheek. The tears streaking through the dust on her skin.

"I'm so sorry."

"Freen, don't say that," Rebecca gasped as she reached for Freen's face and cradled it in her hands. Perhaps for the first time, she noticed faint green, sickly lines where the capillaries ran beneath her skin.

"Freen, please."

Freen's eyes slipped shut then and Rebecca looked around frantically as she pulled Freen's head into her lap.

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Disclaimer: Story is not mine, I only adapted it to FreenBecky Fanfic because I love this piece and I love FB. I want to see them portray the characters in this story.