One. Two. Three
Nadine/Elizabeth
Rated T for violence
One gun. Two women. Three words.
Disclaimer: I do not own Madam Secretary or make any profit off this
The day had been going along in a perfectly normal fashion, that is up until 5:35pm. That's when she got an unplanned visit from someone who claimed to be the head of some charity group. He wanted to talk to her about helping the homeless, but as she listened she came to realize that not only did he have no idea what he was talking about, and there was no reason that he should be talking to her directly about this. Not to mention the way he walked, held himself, and spoke with an air of indifference in his tone tipped her off that he wasn't really a leader of any charity.
She watched him closely, trying to figure out what his actual intentions were. However, she must've been so caught up in thought that she missed his immediate demeanor change. It was only when she caught the name Blake did she snap back into reality with a jolt.
"It would be such a shame if anything were to happen to Blake, he's your assistant right? He has so much more of his life to live, wouldn't it be horrid if he disappeared? What ever would you do without him?" Her eyes widened as she stood from her desk.
"Who are you?" She hissed, walking backwards slowly.
"Someone sent to do a job, that I intend to finish." He stalked towards her.
"Who sent you?" She kept a look of indifference on her face, but her heart was thundering in her ears.
"Someone who has this country's best interest in mind."
"If they really had this country's best interests in mind they wouldn't have sent a spy in here to interrogate me."
"Not an interrogation, a negotiation." He countered.
"I don't have any interest in negotiations." She was reaching for the alarm, when he snatched her hand.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, I can see Nadine..." She went rigid.
"So?" She tried to remain uninterested but panic sprung up like flames in her eyes.
"She's coming back from lunch break, awe and look she's bringing you a coffee. My man has a perfect aim at her if I just said the word, you wouldn't be able to do anything. It would be a pity to see her just sprawled out on the sidewalk, pretty curls drenched in blood..."
"Stop." Elizabeth's voice stood strong but she was trembling.
"I thought so." He smiled.
"What do you want?" She demanded.
"It's not what I want that matters, it's what you want."
"Excuse me?"
"Haven't you ever thought about leading this country? No waiting on Dalton to give you the go ahead, no decisions that you thought unnecessary, everything would be under your control. Everything...and everyone." He smirked.
"What are you saying?"
"You're going to run against President Dalton this term."
"I am going to do no such thing!" Elizabeth exclaimed, trying to step backwards.
The man withdrew a gun from his back and pointed it at her chest, "Yes you are."
How had they not found a gun when he went through security?! "I don't care if you shoot me." She said indifferently.
"But you would care if I shot one of your staff."
"Don't you dare bring my staff into this you foul man."
"I won't, if you do what I say."
"What do you...or whoever you're working for even have to gain from this?" She inquired.
"Oh you will see in due time, but I think what you should be focusing on is what you have to gain."
"I will have you know that I am perfectly content with my job as Secretary of State."
"You know what I meant."
"Pardon me, but I don't."
"With all that power, you could have her any way you wanted."
Swallowing thickly, she shrugged, "I don't know what..."
"She could even be your Vice President if you so desired."
"I..." Get a hold on yourself, he's playing on your weaknesses and desires and you're falling for it!
"She could sit next to you and lean over your shoulder, she could be so close to you all the time. I bet she would just love to sit curled up next to you on the couch, when it's a late night." A flash of melancholy passed over Elizabeth's face, "Oh...but you've already done that here haven't you? Just think about what else you could do, you could be left undisturbed with her for hours."
"She would want to stay here." Elizabeth said, shaking her head, momentarily forgetting who she was speaking to.
"Oh no she wouldn't, she would go anywhere for you."
"She does a good job here, I would have no reason to move her."
"No reason except that you want to."
"I'm not..."
"Interested? Oh but I can tell that you are."
"I'm married." She tried, a lame excuse.
"But that doesn't stop your mind from thinking about all the scenarios does it?"
"No." She gasped out.
"She thinks about it too."
"How do know that?"
"Anyone with two eyes and a brain can see it. The way she touches your arm when she gets nervous, the way she always sits next to you, and not to mention the way she looks at you. She would do anything to protect you...she might even die for you." He teased the gun before her.
"Don't touch her." She growled.
"I won't. That is, if you agree to the terms. But you just might...touch her."
"Stop." She was out of breath, from both the dread building in her chest and the images flipping through her brain against her will.
"She loves you."
"No she doesn't."
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" He smiled wickedly, as the door to her office opened and Nadine walked in, closing the door behind her. Because she was looking down at her binder, she was completely unaware of what she'd just walked in on, "Ma'am, I..." Nadine looked up, only to find that she now had a gun pointed at her.
"Nadine no..." Elizabeth whispered, voice clogged in her throat. Nadine's eyes widened in panic and the binder dropped from her hands, landing with a soft thump on the carpet. She tried to step backwards but her back hit the closed door, and that's all the time it took for the assassin to make up his mind.
Time seemed to slow to a trickle as Elizabeth watched his finger pull the trigger. It took three heartbeats to reach Nadine. Thump. Elizabeth was running towards Nadine. Thump. She was screaming for help, still running. Thump. A cry of agony left her lips, she was too late. The bullet hit Nadine in the chest, knocking her into the door behind her, the force of the blow taking her breath and leaving her knees weak. She reached a hand out behind her, trying to steady herself as she slid down the wall, leaving a ghastly trail of burgundy in her wake. "Nadine..." Tears seared a path down Elizabeth's face as she went to her knees beside the fallen woman.
There was still a look of complete shock on the Chief of Staff's face, but it was gradually fading into muted pain. Elizabeth's hands ripped the scarf from her neck and pressed it to the spot of burgundy on Nadine's white blouse that was growing like a wildfire. A grunt of discomfort left Nadine at the pressure, but she didn't protest.
However, as Elizabeth's eyes searched Nadine's face and body, never leaving her for a moment, Nadine seemed to be looking right past Elizabeth. And that's because she was. She was looking over her shoulder, at the man who still had a gun pointed at Elizabeth's head and a wicked grin on his face. Even through Nadine's pain muddled brain she realized that she had to get Elizabeth out of the way. "Elizabeth..." She gasped out, "Move!"
"What? No I'm not..." But before she could finish her sentence two more gunshots echoed through the office. Nadine pushed her as quickly and forcefully as she possibly could...and thanks only to that was Elizabeth not hit in the back of the head. But she felt the steel bullet find entrance in her the back of her shoulder. A gasp of both pain and surprise left Elizabeth's lips before her whole arm went numb and gave out.
"Elizabeth..." Nadine watched the shock register on her friend's face before she slumped to the floor in the manner Nadine had moments before. "Elizabeth..." She choked out, louder this time, "Don't close your eyes." A pool of blood was seeping out from beneath her, staining the beige carpet an awful red, copper color.
"Nadine...you're bleeding." Elizabeth muttered, stating what was obvious.
"So are you." Nadine replied, looking away from the growing stain of blood.
"Yeah..."
"Elizabeth, you need to stay awake. Help is coming." Nadine insisted, worry for Elizabeth overpowering any type of agony she was feeling.
"There were two." Elizabeth commented lazily, as if she was making casual conversation about the weather and not bleeding out of the floor.
"Two what?" She asked urgently, hand gradually going limp on Elizabeth's blood soaked scarf that she'd been pressing to her own wound.
"Gunshots. Two gunshots." She replied more quietly this time, quickly loosing energy.
Nadine's eyes dragged themselves away from the blonde-haired woman and up to the assassin. Why he hadn't finished them off yet was beyond her, but when they leveled on him she found her answer. There was a hole in his chest, he had shot himself, "He's dead." She whispered.
"Okay." Elizabeth responded, eyes still staring at Nadine. Nadine's brain was fogging and all she wanted in that moment was to grab Elizabeth's hand, hoping to anchor them in some way...so she did. She stretched her hand towards Elizabeth's, and the Secretary responded in kind, grasping Nadine's fingers in her own. In the moment before a security measure burst in, Nadine remembered thinking that Elizabeth's eyes looked like the ocean in December. Then everything went dark.
Elizabeth was swimming, it was dark outside and the water was black, no moon in sight. Glancing behind her she couldn't see a shoreline either...that was weird. Still swimming, she felt her limbs becoming tired and beginning to feel like rocks, weighing her down. Her head sunk beneath the water but she scrambled up and gasped for air, only to sink under once more. The water was freezing she realized, stinging in her lungs as she struggled to reach the surface. But just like the coastline, the surface was no longer in sight, so she sank.
A number of hours later she swam back into consciousness, fighting the icy blackness that was trying to hold her under. But something kept trying to drag her down, holding her captive under the darkness and she kicked and screamed. She had to reach the surface, she had to find someone...she couldn't remember who but they were in danger. Focusing on the steady beep of a monitor, she fought her way back into the light. Eyes blinking furiously as she tried to find something...anything to hold onto. She found someone's voice, Nadine's voice. Just a murmur of, "Ma'am...everything is okay." Nadine...oh my god, Nadine. Everything came back to her in a flash. The assassin, Nadine walking in, the bullet, the blood, the way Nadine saved her life...twice. Eyes flying open she found the world to be spinning around her, a mix of blinking lights and that constant beeping.
Finally, she was able to steady her vision and she looked around to see a hospital room...not a body of water. Her heart was thundering inside her chest, threatening to burst from the intense fear she felt. The room was dark, indicating that it was sometime in the night. Next to her was a screen, tracking her vitals and measuring the amount of fluids she was receiving. That must be why her shoulder didn't hurt, she was on some kind of painkiller. Looking over at said shoulder, she found it wrapped in gauze beneath her hospital gown and in a sling. It could have been worse, if not for Nadine she would have a bullet in her head instead of her shoulder.
Nadine! How did she forget about her again?! Probably the drugs. Heh, drugs. She snorted at the thought. Focus! Turning her head to look down at her hand, she realized that a dainty thumb was stroking her fingers gently. Looking across into the darkness, she spotted yet another monitor, again beeping steadily in time with her own. 'Nadine Tolliver', the screen read.
"Nadine..." She whispered, voice raspy.
"I'm right here." Nadine murmured, clearly drugged as well.
"Are you okay?"
"A bit lightheaded and my chest hurts...but otherwise I'm okay, you?"
"Not dead. Thanks to you." Elizabeth murmured, squeezing Nadine's hand. She might even die for you.
"I'm glad you're not dead."
"Yeah, me too." Elizabeth laughed a little.
There was a shift of the bed beside her and she felt Nadine's head lean towards her own. She could feel her breath tickling her cheek, "What happened?" She whispered.
"I...I have no idea. It's all a blur. The assassin walked in, pretending to be a charity leader, he wanted me to run for president! He threatened Blake and then put a gun to me. Then he said..." She would go anywhere for you, "Doesn't matter, it's over now."
"No...it does matter, what did he say?" Nadine's voice wasn't nagging, bur rather gentle.
"He just knew things...things that nobody else knew."
"Like what?"
"Like..." She swallowed a lump in her throat, "Things that I think."
"Maybe he just struck a goldmine without meaning to and took advantage?"
Thinking back she realized that her whole body had gone rigid at the mention of Nadine in harms way and he'd probably picked the way she'd started gasping for air at the suggestion of Nadine being all hers. "Maybe."
"Did he threaten your children?" She asked.
"No." Elizabeth's head turned sideways to look fully at Nadine, "He threatened you."
"Me?! But..."
"He knew you were coming, he played on my weaknesses." And my desires, she added mentally.
"I'm your weakness?" She murmured.
"Oh god...you have no idea, I need you and the thought of loosing you was...too much to bear." Tears were stinging in the corners of her eyes and she felt Nadine's fingers intertwine with her own, anchoring her to reality.
"I'm okay." She whispered.
"But you almost weren't..." Elizabeth's voice was choked, "To see you slumped against the door like that...bleeding out and knowing it was because of me." Just lying there, pretty curls drenched in blood. She forced a sob back down her throat.
"There was no way you could've known I was going to walk in."
"Yes. I did. I..." A tear rolled down her cheek, unseen by Nadine in the darkened room. "He told me you were coming back from lunch break, threatened to shoot you then and there if I called for help. But after I knew you were safely inside the State Department I should've screamed for help, set off the alarm, I should have done something.
"Then he would've shot you."
"He shot me anyways."
"But he didn't kill you."
"Don't you see? That doesn't matter, he almost killed you. One inch up and he would've hit your heart, a few more moments and you would have lost too much blood, if he hadn't been on a suicide mission he could have finished you off." Elizabeth's mind was going into overload and Nadine tightened her grip on her hand.
"Elizabeth..." Her name murmured in a soft breath was her breaking point. She thinks about it too.
Tears gushed down Elizabeth's face and she turned her face into the hospital pillow, "Then you'd be gone." She sobbed, "Because of me."
"But I'm not gone...I'm right here." Nadine reassured her, still unable to fathom why the woman cared so deeply for her in the first place. However, even if she didn't understand the reason for her distress she swore she was going to do anything she could to comfort her. So, despite the pain it caused her, she turned slightly to half embrace Elizabeth's weeping figure. "Shhh, it's okay. We're both okay."
"Please don't ever leave me." Elizabeth sobbed.
"I won't." She promised, and the moment she spoke it she knew it to be true. Because as she'd laid awake beside a still asleep Elizabeth, she hadn't been able to shake the image of her best friend...more then best friend really, lying in a growing pool of her own blood. The way she had watched those gorgeous eyes glaze over as she lost consciousness. The intense fear she'd felt as she watched the man point his gun at the back of her head. Nadine didn't realize she was crying until she felt the tears tickling their way down her chin. "That is a two way street you know," She sniffled, "You can't leave me either." She loves you.
"I wouldn't ever." She replied, nudging herself closer to Nadine, careful not to hurt either of them. Only then did she notice the tears cascading down Nadine's face, glinting in the dim light of the devices in the room. She watched as a teardrop rolled down her nose and before she knew what she was doing, she was placing a soft kiss on Nadine's nose. The other woman let out the tiniest of gasps at the unexpected move, but made no indication that she disapproved of the gesture. In fact, she responded by leaning forward and placing her head on Elizabeth's uninjured shoulder.
Elizabeth's tears were slowing to a stop and she could sense that Nadine's were as well, because her chest was no longer heaving unevenly and the sniffles had lessoned. Elizabeth pressed her cheek into Nadine's soft curls and closed her eyes, her fingers still tightly twined with Nadine's...a firm reminder that she was really here. Soon after, she fell into a heavy sleep, Nadine following soon after.
You have to appreciate the people you love, because they could disappear with a blink of the eye. Elizabeth realized that. And so when Nadine asked her if she wanted coffee while she was on lunch break, Elizabeth decided to join her for lunch. And when Elizabeth got frustrated with her computer because she wasn't able to type with one arm, Nadine sat beside her and typed it up for her. There were still unsaid things hanging in the air between them, but one thing was for certain...neither of them was going anywhere, anytime soon.
A/N Happy 2018!! Hah, New Year same me, yeet. Anyway, please let me know what you thought!