Falling in the Frey

Summary: (AU) Master Sergeant Emma Swan and her team are commissioned to escort and protect Ms. Regina Mills, a feisty civilian, in the warzone of Freylache.

Pairings:Emma/Regina (eventually)

Disclaimers:I do not own OUaT or any of it's characters. I do, however, like to take them out of their boxes and play with them.

A/N: This story is not meant to reflect any real life countries, wars or militaries. I have never served in the military, so I hope my research and personal life experiences are sufficient to create a realistic story.

Any and all feedback is welcome. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Chapter Four

I pushed the speed limit a bit, hoping that I wouldn't run into the Military Police, who were infamous for giving out speeding tickets to soldiers who were running late in the morning. Luck was on my side and I managed to report for duty with one minute to spare. The rest of my team, as well as Sidney, were already in the room when I walked in; Ms. Mills and Captain Forrest were having a discussion at the front of the room, so I slid into a chair next to Sgt. Graham. "What's going on?" I whispered to him, trying to avoid attention from my Captain or the Ice Princess.

He shrugged his shoulders and whispered back. "Dunno."

Well, that was a lot of help. I had planned to spend time with my team this morning. We needed to go over the details of the mission, the timeline and to double-check that we each had the proper equipment set and packed for the trip. Apparently I was no longer in charge of the operation, which frustrated the hell out of me. My Captain came and sat next to me, writing one word on a notepad: He angled the pad so that I could read his message. Behave.

I felt my eyes narrow and the mouth tighten as I watched Regina at the front of the room. She took a slow, deep breath and began. The deep timbre of her voice softly echoed in the small room. "I want to thank Captain Forrest for allowing me time this morning to share with you a bit more about our company, Mills Combat Vestments." She was dressed in a deep gray suit with a midnight blue colored silk blouse beneath her fitted wool blazer. A simple, white gold chain adorned her neck; and what I was sure was a very expensive watch clasped her delicate wrist.

"At Mills Vestments, we are very proud of our fine line of combat protective wear that provides life-saving body armor for soldier of the Republic." She was in Public Relations mode today, and I had to hand it to her, she was damned good. She was smooth; making eye contact with each one of us and smiling. if I hadn't read the indifference in her eyes I could have believed that our little group in the room were the most important people in her life at the moment. With the remote control, she dimmed the lights and turned on the power point presentation. The Mills company logo was displayed along with their trademark ACR logo for the 'At Close Range' line of body armor.

The tagline of "The only gear for white knights in camo armor" was written in small script at the bottom of the screen. Reading it only served to remind me that General King had quoted their company line just the night before.

"As one of only two providers of combat protective wear, we take seriously the responsibility of researching and developing the best armor to protect you in the field. Our soldiers are an important part of the peacekeeping effort throughout the Freylache Regions. Mills Vestments appreciates the outstanding job you do, putting your lives on the line in order to protect the innocent citizens of their lands." The screen displayed a group of soldiers smiling at a line of ragtag children entering a modern school the Republic had built in the capital city of Rimle.

Okay, I honestly don't know where she got her information, but if she really believed that we were just over there to keep the peace among the locals, she was totally naive. Regina Mills may be many things, but naive was not an adjective I would have used to describe her.

The Republic and other allied countries have risked the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers over the past seventeen years, not for the good of the tribal clan leaders that ruled their domains with iron fists, nor for the people who lived in thatched huts without electricity or running water because their leaders refused to allow them to modernize their region. No, the only reason we wasted tens of thousands of lives, as well as billions of dollars was for one simple fact; their lands are rich with Lantth, a resource we depend on for all manners of technology in the Republic. Our computers, our phones, our refrigerators, hell most everything we use to maintain our quality of life relies on a supply of Lantth. Any technological advancement we have made in the last fifty years was because of Lantth; and bottom line is we don't have any of it to mine in our own region.

I split my attention between Regina's presentation and the woman herself as her sales pitch got to the heart of the matter. "Mills Vestments is pleased to announce that we are offering an improved version of our most popular body armor. Our At Close Range line has long been the gold standard of military grade protective, offering superior protection from a variety of assault weapons. But as the enemy's weapons continue to improve and pose a greater threat to our soldiers, it is necessary for us to be able to keep you safe against these emerging threats. We are pleased to announce our new line of ACR Elite Body Armor. It comes in a variety of options to provide the optimum protection for every situation.".

Slide after slide showed different levels of protection; from their Enhanced Small Arms Protective gear, dubbed ESAPI, which would give full body protection to everything, including body piercing armor, the price of being immobilized and trapped in a hard-shelled cocoon; to the basic Outer Tactical Vest , or OTV, that was lightweight and flexible but not quite as protective as the other options. It would stop 9 mm bullets and shrapnel, but everything else could get past in and into your torso. There were different configurations so that every soldier could theoretically pick and choose their own gear. All of this sounded all good and well, but I realized that in offering the soldiers the choice of protection levels, it took the liability off of Mill Vestments if the soldier was injured. It seemed that Regina Mills wasn't just gorgeous, she was smart too, at least when it came to having business savvy.

My mind began to wander, questions and theories weaving their way through my gray matter. I let the thoughts run their course until a few began to repeat themselves over and over. The key question I kept asking myself was Why. Why would the Chief Operating Officer of a War Pirate business need to go firsthand to the Frey? And what could possibly take two months to accomplish her plans?

I began writing the questions down on a pad of paper while I halfway listened to her presentation. I doodled a bit too; little scribblings of cats as well as stick figures wearing various tactical gear. I had to quickly close my eyes when the lights in the room suddenly brightened. The presentation was over and Ms. Mills was still up front, leaning against the solid wooden desk; her arms were behind her, supporting her body as she stood with one leg crossed in front of the other. Her stance made her blouse pucker slightly at the buttons and I could have sworn she subtly arched her back, as her breast seemed to press tighter against her blouse. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part.

Once again, her lips curved into a smile; but once again, it didn't reach her eyes. "Captain and Sergeants, thank you again for giving me the time to share with you the exciting new products that we will be offering to soldiers in Freylache and elsewhere." She uncrossed her legs and stood, turning to the lectern beside her, she took a small stack of papers. She passed them to the Captain and asked him to pass them around.

"Since you are going to be my first line of defense in Freylache, it's only fair that you get the first sets of our Elite Body Armor. All you need to do is fill out the requisition form and return it to me by four pm tonight; I'll make sure you have the armor you requested by tomorrow morning at eight o'clock tomorrow. Okay, any questions?" She moved behind the lectern and waited.

I was the first to raise my hand. She gave a small smirk. "Of course, Miss Swan."

"Master Sergeant Swan." I corrected. "And my question is, why are you going to Camp Azor and to the Freylache region at all?"

"Excellent question, Master Sergeant." She emphasized my title as she answered. "Our company is so excited to roll out this new line of protection that I am personally overseeing the disbursement of the Elite Body Armor. Mills Vestments has decided to donate ten thousand body armor suits to soldiers of the Republic, and what better place to start than with those literally in the line of fire?" She took a sip of water from the glass atop the lectern. "As you can imagine, that is a sizable amount of money and it would be disastrous if it ended up in the wrong hands."

Okay, she had a point there; if my calculations were right, then at three thousand bucks a pop for each armor suits, times ten thousand, meant a donation worth over thirty million dollars. The contract with the military is worth fifty million a year, so why donate over half of a year's finances? I appreciate generosity and altruism as much as the next person, but it was bad for a business' bottom line to give away the profits. My head started to hurt as each thought led to yet another question. And every question that popped into my mind started with Why?

The rest of my team asked a variety of questions about the armor itself, and Ms. Mills was adept at answering each question intelligently and thoroughly. I looked at the requisition form, surprised at the variety of options that we had been given; if we had wanted ten of every piece of gear, I got the feeling that she would have gladly provided it. I tucked the sheet into my notepad, deciding to go over it that night at home.

Captain Forrest stood and thanked her for the presentation before he stepped behind the lectern to address us. "You have a ten minute break before we reconvene; we'll be going over the gear list, your paperwork requirements and timeline of the mission." He turned his attention to Regina. "Ma'am you can choose to be here with us this morning, but it isn't necessary. I'm sure you have business to tend to before we meet this afternoon."

"She gave a sharp nod, and though her response was polite, I couldn't tell what she was thinking. "Yes, thank you Captain, I do have important matters to address at the office. Contact Sidney if you need to reach me before this afternoon." She gathered her black leather coat and gloves and walked out, her heels clicking on the concrete floor. Sidney followed her like a puppy and I had to laugh as I imagined her patting him on the head for being a good boy.

"The rest of you are dismissed for ten minutes; Report back here."

I took advantage of the few minutes to use the restroom and to exit the building. With cell phones reception blocked inside the structure, it would have been impossible for me see if I had any missed calls or text messages. I didn't expect Rum Paul to get back to me yet, but I was anxious to see if he had. I wasn't disappointed; as soon as the lines on my cell phone appeared, so did the words 1 new message.

I flipped the phone open and retrieved the text ; Rum's message was short, and to anybody else it would seem an innocuous choice of words. Emma. Test results are back. I have an MD appt tomorrow am, let's meet for lunch afterwards? I've been craving fish. RP

I felt roaring in my ears as I reread the words. Shit, shit, shit. I flipped the phone closed and struggled not to panic. "Are you alright, Miss Swan?" Regina suddenly appeared beside me, her tone more curious than worried.

I forced myself to stand up straight and respond. "Yes, thank you, ma'am." I waved her off. As she walked away I had to add... "And it's Master Sergeant Swan." She simply kept walking, but raised her hand in the air to show she'd heard me.

I watched her go before I turned back and entered the building; Rum's message was a dire warning. To most people MD would mean medical doctor, but he was speaking in code and MD meant mortal danger; his craving for fish told me where to meet him for lunch. Whatever he had found out was important enough to meet with me in person.

I've faced death before; I have looked it in the eye and it blinked first. But, I knew the rules of the game of war. I knew that in the Frey it could come down to kill or be killed. I'm still alive, but others are not; I've killed enemies, I've lost friends and comrades. I thought that I was beyond fear when it came to my mortality, but Rum's message proved that I was just as human as the next person. I still had a soul, but I wondered if the same could be said about Regina Mills.