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 Ten
Lieutenant Mulan perused the new agenda, her face gave away nothing about her thoughts or feelings. Great a hard-ass. I pinched the bridge of my nose and waited. Ms. "Oh it slipped my mind" Mills sat with no readable expression on her face. Her eyes were narrowed as she watched the Lieutenant, but I couldn't tell what she was thinking. I shifted in my narrow plastic chair and wished I had a bottle of water to drink.
Without commenting on the agenda, Mulan addressed my team. "Have any of you ever served on a Protect and Escort detail before?"
Staff Sergeant Nolan gave a half-wave and nodded. "Yes ma'am, I had P&E two years ago for Colonel John Midas."
The Lieutenant gave a quick nod.. "Let me give you the run-down of how P&E works; this is different than your regular tour here in Freylache. While you are here at Camp Azor, you will each be on-duty twelve hours a day and on-call for six. You have six hours off-duty, in which I recommend you sleep, communicate with your families back home or get some recreational activity." She drew a diagram as she spoke. "Staff Sergeant, set up a schedule where your team will rotate on being the primary guard for Ms. Mills." She addressed my whole team. "When you are the primary guard you are personally responsible for her safety and protection. You will be relieved of your guard duty by another member of your team, at which point, depending on your duty status, you will continue your day."
She looked to make sure we were all following along before continuing. "On-duty means you are secondary for guard duty. If a second guard is not required for Ms. Mill's security, you may spend this time cleaning or training with your weapon, engaging in combat training, eating, patrolling the base for security, working on paperwork related to your team's responsibilities here in Freylache, or other duties as assigned by me or Master Sergeant Swan." She tilted her head in my direction.
"If you are on-call, then you use that time to complete any unfinished work. If a third guard is required for Ms. Mill's safety, then you will serve in that capacity. If you are off-duty, then that time is yours unless there is a base-wide call for all soldiers to report to their duty stations. That would only happen if the base was put on security level Defcon Charlie or Delta. Any questions?"
Works for me. I thought as I looked at my paperwork. I started sketching out a schedule for my team.
"Sergeant Swan and Ms. Mills, I need you to stay to hash out some details; the rest of you are dismissed. We will meet again tomorrow at 0900" My team stood but Regina remained seated.
I made a quick decision. "Staff Sergeant Nolan, you will have primary guard duty until..." I glanced at the clock. "2200 hours, wait by the door for Ms. Mills. Sergeant Blanchard, Sergeant Graham, you are both on-call and are dismissed to continue to get settled. I will brief you when my meeting is over." Blanchard and Graham looked relieved; Nolan...not so much.
Mulan waited for my team to depart before focusing on Regina.
"Ms. Mills, this team is here for your safety and protection. It is not an if, but rather a when you will depend on this team to save your life. It is critical that you never find yourself in a situation without a guard. Don't try to give them the slip or otherwise inhibit their ability to do their job. You are here at the pleasure of the Army, keep that in mind before making any decisions that would cause us to retract our offer of hospitality. Do you understand." She made a point to look directly at Regina, and maintained eye contact with her the entire time.
"Of course I understand." Regina huffed as she raised her chin. "I am not a child."
The expression on Mulan's face changed ever so slightly, but her voice remained the same firm tone and cadence. "This team is not here as your underlings or assistants. General George King has requested, and General Marco has agreed that you may have two soldiers assigned to assist you in your business related needs here on base. They both have a background in administration and will be available to you as needed during your stay here at Camp Azor. You can meet them tomorrow at 0800 hours here in this building."
"Lieutenant, I specifically requested to meet with General Marco about my housing assignment. If you even call that a house." Regina scoffed.
"Ms. Mills, you are scheduled to meet with the General at 0900 tomorrow morning. You may take it up with him at that time. Sergeant Nolan, please escort Ms. Mills outside and give her a tour of the base." David nodded and then gestured that Regina should follow him. Praise God, she did.
"Wow." Was all that Lieutenant Mulan uttered when the door finally closed behind Nolan.
"Yeah." I agreed.
"Let me get copies of this new itinerary for you and your team; I'll be right back." She took her stack of papers and walked out.
I took the break to get my bearings; I knew I was tired, hungry and pretty irritated, but I needed to get through this meeting, brief my team and catch some shut-eye before I took guard duty. It was going to be a long night.
The Lieutenant returned with paperwork and two bottles of water. "I figured you haven't had a chance to visit the Canteen or Mess Hall yet." She offered me the cold beverage and sat down across from me.
"Here is the new itinerary for your team; make an on-base schedule by tomorrow at 0800 hours and start working on the details for your trips to the other bases."
I looked at the changes in the schedule. "We're going to Volpure and Zubai? Any idea why?"
"None, but I'll inform Intelligence so they can look into it." She promised. "Ms. Mills has a meet and greet with her administrative staff tomorrow at 0800 and then a meeting with General Marco at 0900. While she's in with him I will meet with your team. You also have a meeting with Major Meacham tomorrow at 1000, so make sure you fit that into your schedule." She stood and looked at me. "Get some rest Master Sergeant, you look like you need it."
I walked out of the building and was surprised to find that it was already dark. The compound was fairly quiet, except for the sounds of distant gunfire and the buzz from the generators. Food first, then brief the team. I decided my priorities and headed towards the Mess Hall. Inside it was fairly empty; a few soldiers sat together eating and relaxing. I didn't recognize any of them, but I didn't expect to; twice a week new brigades of soldiers came and left Camp Azor, most combat units would stay for either four or six months. I figured that there wouldn't be any familiar faces from five months ago.
"Emma? Is that really you?" I turned around to see the one person I hoped was still here.
"Ruby?" My grin was so big that it made my face hurt, but damn it was great to see Corporal Hood.
"I can't believe you're back!" She squealed as she ran over and gave me a long hug. I gladly returned the embrace, suddenly feeling a whole lot better about being back in the Frey. She let me go, but held onto my hand. "Come sit down, I'll bring you something to eat." She lead me to a table in the corner and disappeared into the kitchen. Moments later she reappeared and brought me a plate of spaghetti and garlic bread.
"Ruby, you're the best." My compliment made her smile until a voice from the kitchen summoned her.
"Corporal Hood, get back here and finish these dishes."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head, laughing. "Captain Lucas calls."
"She's still here, too?" That made two familiar faces.
"Yup, and I'd better run. You here for six months?" Ruby sounded hopeful.
"No, just two months this round." I looked up to see Captain Lucas standing with her hands on her hips, waiting for Ruby. "Go, before you get in trouble. I'm bunking in Barrack R7, come see me tomorrow. Blanchard's here, too."
"Awesome!" She yelled as she headed back to the kitchen. "See you tomorrow."
I finished up my supper and headed towards my barrack to find Sergeant Blanchard. I rounded her and Graham up before walking to Ms. Mills tent where Nolan would be outside on guard duty. The dim street lights were sufficient enough that we could walk around without flashlights or headlamps.
"How's it going?" I asked as the four of us gathered around. He just shrugged. "Ms. Mills, can you come join us?" I called to her.
"If I must." She stepped out of her tent and begrudgingly joined the group. I turned on my headlamp so we could all see each other better.
"It won't take long." I promised as I passed out the new itineraries to everyone. "Here's the new plan; our first trip will be in three days, so we need to start planning the security detail for the trip to Fort Keegan. Tomorrow we will meet at 0800 at HQ; While Ms. Mills is meeting with General Marco at 0900, we will meet with Lieutenant Mulan." I turned my attention to Regina. "Anything you need from my team tonight, Ms. Mills?"
The sound of mortar fire broke the silence. "Not that I'm aware of; just do your jobs and keep me safe." I couldn't help but notice the slight tremor in her voice.
"Yes, ma'am." I gave her a reassuring nod. "You'll always have at least one of us standing guard over you. If there's nothing else, then I'll just finish up my meeting with the Sergeants. Good night ma'am"
She turned and went back in her tent without saying anything.
I felt a headache starting at the back of my neck and knew that I needed to get some sleep. "Okay, here's the schedule for the next three days." I passed out the papers and gave them a moment to look them over.
"Master Sergeant." Sergeant Blanchard protested. "You don't always have to be the one on night duty."
"Thank you Sergeant, but I prefer to be, at least these first few days. It may change once we get back." I lied; I knew the only way to stave off my bad dreams was to make sure I was awake during the dark hours of night. During the day, surrounded by other soldiers who were on or off-duty, I could relax and sleep. "Plus..." I added. "This lets the three of you all sleep at night since only one guard is required. Staff Sergeant Nolan, I'm going to catch some shut eye until I relieve you at 2300. I'll stay with Ms. Mills and escort her to the meeting at 0800. Anything else?" I asked my team.
None of them needed anything, so we dispersed and I went back to my bunk to sleep. The bunk was well worn and tended to roll me to the left, but it was familiar to me, so I slept just fine. It seemed I had only been sleeping five minutes when I felt a gentle shake and a whispered "Master Sergeant, time to wake up."
I rubbed my eyes and willed them to cooperate; finally they opened and I saw Sergeant Blanchard and a cup of hot coffee. I was grateful to her, but honestly I was more focused on the steaming java. "What time is it?" I heard my voice crack.
"2230. You have 30 minutes till it's time for your guard shift." She gave me a sympathetic look.
My sleep addled brain was finally waking up. "Right." I whispered, realizing that there were soldiers asleep across from us. "Okay, thanks." I took the cup of coffee and sipped on the brew, relishing the burn that slid down my throat and warmed my belly.
I turned on my flashlight and quietly dressed, putting the body armor over my camo BDUs. I put the M-9 in the holster on my leg strap and armed myself with my M-16 and extra ammunition. Before I left the tent, I remembered my picture of Henry that he and Kelly took on his tenth birthday; I slid the photo into the pocket of my vest and, grabbing my helmet, knife and radio, I headed out the barrack door and into the darkness. I could make out the sounds of distant mortar and cannon fire and wondered if they planned to keep it up all night.
The chill of night had started to permeate the ground and a light frost could be seen on the grass. During the daytime, it was comfortable, but once the sun set, the Frey became downright cold. I put my gloves and helmet on, hoping that they would help keep me warm during my shift.
"Master Sergeant Swan reporting for duty." I quietly announced myself to Staff Sergeant Nolan as he stood in the small gap in the barriers around her tent. "Anything to report?"
"Good evening, Master Sergeant. She's finally asleep." He stepped out of the space and I took his place. "Nothing unusual to report."
"Then I have the watch. Good night Nolan. See you at 0800"
"You have the watch. Good night." He whispered before he walked away and disappeared in the night.
I turned off my flashlight and took a moment to get my bearings; as my eyes adjusted to the low light from the street lamps, I could finally make out the shadows of buildings that surrounded my location. I listened and heard Ms. Mills steady, rhythmic breathing as she slept. I checked my watch. 2330, it's gonna be a long night.
I mostly stood guard in the entrance area, but I checked the front and side perimeters every half an hour; as I walked, I made sure to never leave the lone entrance out of my sight. I realized we were on base and nobody was around at 0200, but I felt the need to stay focused. A larger explosion boomed in the distance and I heard a sharp gasp from inside the tent.
"Who's there?" Regina's voice demanded.
"Master Sergeant Swan on guard, ma'am." I tried to reassure her.
"What was that noise?" I could hear a tinge of fear in her voice.
"Distant mortar fire; no need to be concerned." I called out over my shoulder.
"So we're safe?
"For tonight, yes we are ma'am."
There was nothing but silence from the tent until finally she answered. "Thank you."
"Good night, ma'am." I was relieved that she was willing to believe me.
"Good night Master Sergeant."
I could hear her toss and turn for a few minutes before she finally settled and went back to sleep. I continued my rounds and wondered once again why she really chose to come to the Frey.