This is my second attempt at a story centered around an OC. PM or comment your thoughts! I enjoyed writing it A special thanks for bailey1ak for proofing and for the sounding board when I was stuck. And thank you, Hifield and LMXB, for the encouragement to publish again!
Two months earlier
Brendan Kennedy felt uncomfortable walking down the impressive hallways of The White House.
He'd just returned from a near impossible rescue mission in the deep mountains of Afghanistan. Three American soldiers had been held hostage, under heavy enemy guard. Reports from locals said the men suffered inhumane methods of extracting confidential military information.
All men had been effectively extracted. Brendan had seen to it himself.
No media reported on the successful trip. It didn't bother him a bit. He preferred it that way.
The U.S. Army often sent missions his way. Officially, he was an "advanced tactical supervisor and trainer." He spent most of his time in the Middle East, training seasoned soldiers to carry out missions that most deemed futile to attempt.
In his early thirties, Brendan had been given many assignments in the past 12 years. This one didn't seem any different than the others. The mission, the men, even the situation was fairly common in his line of work.
But this mission landed him a personal invitation to meet with the President.
And so here he was.
He didn't want or need the gratitude of the President, yet he was here.
Now escorted by a White House official, Brendan felt more anxiety of this summons by the President than he did during the actual mission. It turned out that two of the men had served with the President's son on the young man's first tour of duty. The President personally became involved in the meetings back in the States when the initial rescue mission was planned.
Brendan, however, was unaware of his involvement until late yesterday. A private plane had returned Brendan, the three young men, and a team of medical personnel home overnight. He spoke little to the small crowd in the plane. He'd always kept to himself, for the most part. He accepted the men's grateful words, then closed his eyes for most of the journey home.
As soon as the plane touched down, Brendan was more than surprised to see one of the greeters at the air strip was the President's son. His initial thoughts that it was an official welcome back home were quickly changed when he saw the young man greet the men with a huge grin and tight embraces.
After greeting his former Army buddies, the First Son turned to Brendan and clasped his hand warmly.
"Kennedy, it's an honor to meet you," the man said. "My father will be calling later."
It took several moments until Brendan realized the President of the United States would be calling later.
Two hours later, officially cleared from the military hospital, The President did call. Plans were made to transport him to the White House by private helicopter the next day.
Surviving on little sleep, which often happened to him the night after a mission, Brendan followed the man through the private wing of the White House. He was told he'd meet the first family there for lunch. When he was escorted into a room, he was surprised when the first family sat on various pieces of furniture, obviously awaiting his arrival.
"Major Kennedy," The President spoke from a corner of the room as he made his way to shake Brendan's hand. "I've been looking forward to meeting you. I can't tell you how highly recommended you came for this mission. Impressive, son. Very impressive."
Brendan nodded. "Yes, sir. Thank you."
"We should be thanking you," the First Son spoke, shaking his hand as well. "We met last night. I'm sure with the long journey home after that mission, you may not remember everything."
Raising his eyebrow, Brendan had to give a slight smile. "No, I distinctly remember meeting a member of the first family."
The First Lady laughed, then urged him to sit. "Sit and let us get a chance to know you. We can't thank you enough for rescuing those boys. After serving with our son, they've become close as family."
Within minutes, he found himself relaxing in the comfortable setting and genuinely enjoyed the conversation. The warm greeting and hospitality of the family allowed him a glimpse into the lives of this extraordinary public family. Brendan's mouth turned upward into a slight smile when the President's daughter soon began moaning about a history final she had later in the day. The President's son began talking about surprising his Army friends to a big football game at the end of the month, all while the First Lady lightly slapped the President's hand after he ate two many appetizers.
"Hey," The President said. "I've only had two."
Two secret service men raised a brow. "He had five, ma'am."
The President shook his head. "Isn't it bad enough I can't go anywhere without you guys? Now, you're tattling to my wife?"
The men shrugged. "We know who's the boss in this house, sir. With respect, of course."
Brendan was a little surprised to see the President roll his eyes and obey.
Moments like this didn't occur much in Brendan's life. He had no family to speak of. And those who'd meant something to him long ago had disappeared from his life, with lives of their own.
And so he sat there, enjoying being the observer of this dynamic family.
But like most moments he got like those, it soon came to an end.
The next few moments happened in a blur. He saw the one Secret Service man look to the other side of the room and narrow his eyes. Picking up on the man's tension, Brendan turned to see a group of waiters had brought lunch into the room.
One waiter looked odd. Sweat had formed on his brow and his breath appeared labored.
Something wasn't right.
A split second later, he began to raise his arm. He couldn't believe it when a gun came into view.
Not in his current setting. Not in this location.
Knowing the men who guarded the President would take care of both him and his son, who stood next to him, Brendan didn't hesitate. He'd never doubted his sense of survival and wouldn't start now. He knew the first family was in trouble.
Brendan leaped out of his chair, yelling a warning at the same time. He dove high to block the President's wife and daughter, who were closest to him and too far for the service men. Moments later, he felt two bullets rip into his back. Steeling himself from the pain, he continued to kneel and cover the shaking girl and stunned First Lady.
The last thing he remembered was a single shot from across the room above the screams.
Now slumped halfway onto the floor, Brendan struggled but was able to look behind him. He made sure the gunman was down before he passed out.
Brendan woke up, smelling the distinctive smell of a hospital. He'd been in far too many to forget the odor.
He groaned.
Opening his eyes, he almost dreaded coming all the way through and inviting the lingering pain into his consciousness.
"Good morning," a chirpy small voice said beside him. "It's about time you woke up."
A more mature voice admonished the young girl.
"Major Kennedy," the warm voice called to him. "I can only keep these Secret Service men patient for so long. We're late leaving and I'd like a chance to see you awake.
Blinking, he cleared his vision. Memories began to fill the initial void in his brain.
"Ma'am," Brendan greeted her. Seeing her alive and well, including her daughter, gave him a sense of relief. "You're both okay? Who was he?"
The woman shook her head. "Of course, you'd be fully alert and demanding answers. We're fine. Just a couple of bruises on both of us. You, however, were shot. Twice."
Remembering and feeling the physical pain, he nodded. "I've been shot before."
She shook her head in amazement. "Well, my daughter and I have been waiting for hours to see you awake. We wanted to thank you. I don't want to imagine what would've happen if you hadn't been next to us. Not to mention your quick thinking."
Brendan accepted her words. "I'm glad neither one of you were hurt."
"No, just you," she winced, then glanced toward the doorway as the men began insisting it was time to depart.
"Ma'am, you should go," Brendan urged. "If there was an assassination attempt, you're in danger by just being here."
The Service Men, both different from those at the White House, shook their heads.
One spoke up. "Major Kennedy, it's nice to see you awake. We owe you one. Someone will brief you shortly. But be assured, it was an isolated attempt. The shooter had a recent mental condition that made him go after the first family. He faked an illness, knocked out a Secret Service man, and obtained his weapon."
The First Lady reluctantly began to leave, followed by her daughter.
"My husband wants to invite you back to the White House," she called over to him.
Humor radiated from Brendan's eyes. "Ma'am, I think I better pass on that one."
Laughing for the first time, the First Lady left the room with her daughter's hand tightly tucked into her own.
A nurse came in after they left, checking the reading and adjusting his head on the pillow. Doctors came and left, but the nurse stayed in the room.
"Well, young man, you've certainly gained fame overnight," she said. "It took me an extra hour just to get in this place today. The media is salivating for more information on you. You did a good thing, son, but you're in for a mess of trouble with those folks."
He closed his eyes, realizing the scope of what had happened. He took two bullets for the First family. Of course, he was probably the number one story in every news outlet across the globe.
Even though he'd never regret his actions, he dreaded the aftermath.
Present day
"You ready?" Colonel John Sheppard asked from the doorway of Jennifer Keller's office.
The young Chief Medical Officer was muttering something at her computer.
"Hey, Keller," John repeated louder. "We're set to leave in five."
Startled, Jennifer glanced down at her watch and glared at John.
"These random IOA meeting are killing me, Sheppard," Jennifer complained, shutting down her computer. "Just when I start having a break through on something, we get called to Earth."
John wholeheartedly agreed. "Yeah. I'm not too thrilled myself. But it's not my call. Woolsey threatened to send me on a one way trip home if I complained one more time about the IOA."
Snorting, Jennifer picked up her bag from a corner of her mostly organized office. "Yeah right. He's one to talk. Not only has he loosened up a bit in the last year and developed his own poor opinion of the IOA, but he'd be lost without you. We'd be lost without you."
They made their way down the corridors of Atlantis, each listing off items they'd rather be doing. When the door opened to the gate room, John eyed Woolsey and ceased the topic of conversation.
"We're off, sir. Both Keller and I here are excited for the opportunity to represent Atlantis in this all important meeting," John said, with a slight smirk on his face. "Anything last minute messages for the esteemed group of officials we'll be meeting later today?"
Woolsey, obviously used to Sheppard's antics, cracked a small smile. "As a matter of fact, Colonel, I do." He handed John a sealed document.
John peered down at the light envelope and back at Woolsey, this time, without a smile.
"Sir?" He asked.
"No worries, Sheppard," Woolsey said, arms behind his back. "I took your last complaint session seriously and have come to an agreement. These meetings are becoming more frequent and are a hindrance to this expedition. Please present this request, on my behalf, at the meeting. It's a formal request to eliminate the number of requests from us, or at least move toward a 'data inquiry' approach. Our physical presence every time they need us to report on an issue is costing us time, and ultimately money from the Stargate program. We can just as easily answer questions through a data transcription from here."
John felt a surge of pride toward the commander of the base. "Woolsey, I'm just about speechless here."
"I'm not," Jennifer laughed, patting the base commander on the shoulder out of gratitude. "Nice work, Richard. I knew you would come around."
Woolsey flushed a bit, muttering about getting back to his office.
As he retreated, John turned to Jennifer with a grin.
"Richard? You get first name privileges?"
"Heck, yes," Jennifer said. "I'm his doctor. I know more about his physical medical history than he does. Not only that, but he just made my day. Maybe my month. These trips are a time waste."
They turned as the gate dialed up.
"Who knows?" John said, suddenly feeling optimistic. "Maybe this trip will result in something life changing."
Jennifer rolled her eyes. "It's a 24 hour Earth stay, centered around an IOA inquiry of a medical and military issue from six months ago. I highly doubt we'll be praised for our efforts of getting everyone back alive... more like criticism for that nasty viral bug we brought back to Atlantis that knocked everyone on their butts for weeks."
"I don't know, Keller," John said as they walked forward. He turned at the last minute and gave a quick salute to Evan Lorne, who was standing by in the control room. Rodney, munching on a power bar, was fixated at a screen before him and didn't take the time to wave them off. Ronon, by his guess, was probably prowling the hallways, looking for someone to spar with.
"I have a good feeling about this trip," Sheppard murmured as they walked through.
Chapters will be published daily- 16 chapters are all complete!