Disclaimer: I do not own Madam Secretary and portions of the dialogue were taken from the show directly and, so, are not mine.
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"Saint Francis said, "All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle." Father Dinardo stirred the crowd. "That's right! If it took a visit from the Secretary of State to shine a light on the darkness inside this building, then praise the Lord for sending her. And God bless and protect those children, our little brothers and sisters in the Lord's kingdom!"
One of the reporter's lunged forward. "Why did you come to Arizona, Madam Secretary? What did you see in there? Are the children being mistreated?"
Another reporter shoved the other to get his bit in. "What kind of care do they have in there?"
Someone shouted from within the throng. "What do you hope to prove?"
Elizabeth could feel the moist spot on her shoulder from Daniel's tears.
"I came here to see for myself what's going on behind these walls. And what I saw is an affront to decency and an assault on our country's core values… Children separated from their parents, in cages, crying, terrified, lacking basic care.
She huffed. "And the governor believes it's a deterrent... This is not the time for silence or well meaning speeches! This is a time for action! We are not this! We have fought against what we used to be, and the atrocities that we have committed! We are still fighting against our pasts! This- this abuse of power! This hatefulness is no longer us. And we must destroy it before it takes root again. We must condemn it and cut it away with everything we have!"
The governor stepped forward, leaning into her slightly from behind. "You may want to stop there, Madam Secretary. The state of Arizona does not take kindly to instigators of violence and criminal behavior."
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed, and she turned to face him, her back to the crowd. "I WILL NOT BACK DOWN!"
The governor stumbled backward, ears tender at the proximity of her announcement. Once he was steady, he gestured to the sheriff. "I warned you, lady."
"It's Secretary McCord to you, buddy." Elizabeth snipped back.
"You can either come quietly, or your chance at the presidency," he motioned to the press cameras and phones out and recording, "will be shot to hell."
Elizabeth smirked. "Oh, I'm not worried about that. I'm currently tackling human rights violations- a genuine international issue. I doubt the voters would mind."
The governor glowered at her and then turned, grabbing the sheriff by the arm, and whispered aggressively in his ear. The sheriff looked alarmed, but upon a steady glare from the governor, snapped his fingers at two of the nearby deputies.
"Bailey. Shamos. Restrain Mrs. McCord. Use all necessary precautions."
Bailey- a wiry and permanently scowled man in his late 20s- stepped forward. Shamos though- a brown haired boy that resembled Shaggy from little Alison's Scooby Doo cartoons- looked nervously at the crowd.
"Sir?" Shamos looked pleadingly at his supervisor.
The sheriff scowled at him, instead gesturing to a middle aged, healthy looking man with Hiley written on his tag. "Officer Hiley, please restrain Mrs. McCord for promoting illegal and unregistered protesting against the state."
Officer Hiley looked pleased with the assignment.
As he stepped towards Elizabeth, she instinctively stepped back.
"Do not resist!" The words immediately shot out of Bailey's mouth. He grabbed her arm roughly.
Elizabeth yanked it back.
Hiley pulled out his handcuffs.
Bailey grabbed both her arms, twisting her to hold them behind her back, forcing her to face the crowd, and leave her back vulnerable to the deputies. Elizabeth tried to turn, but let out a surprised cry of pain when she felt Bailey forcibly twist her wrist until she was forced to lean backwards to try and alleviate the pain.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." Hiley was directly behind Elizabeth, clicking the handcuffs around her wrists as Bailey held her there, twisted backward.
Elizabeth made her decision: it was time for action.
"You have-"
Elizabeth swung her right leg forward, owning the surprise momentum, and slamming it backward into Hiley. Her heel landed just off to the side of his groin and as he reached instinctively- face automatically contorting itself in surprised pain- for the space between his legs, he let go of the cuffs, letting them swing from one wrist. Bailey too, surprised at the sudden movement, loosened his grip, allowing Elizabeth to retch forward and throw her hands in the air victory style.
Knowing she had only moments before the sheriff would order them back on her, Elizabeth shouted quickly. "WHEN EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE LACKING IN INTEGRITY, YOU FIND IT-" the heavy hand of a pissed off Hiley slammed into her and grabbed hold of her upper arm. Elizabeth tried to keep her feet steady on the ground, turning to the crowd once more. "YOU FIND IT IN YOURSELF!"
In that moment, from miles away in Washington DC, Henry felt his heart stop for a good couple of seconds. Eyes glued to the screen, he watched the second deputy- Bailey- run from where he had stood frozen and tackle Elizabeth to the ground, a nearby cameraman allowing him to hear the thunk her head made as it hit the concrete.
From behind a line of officers, Kat cried out. "Secretary!"
Elizabeth did not lift her head to respond.
Bailey and Hiley finished clicking and tightening the cuffs and then on 1 2 3, hoisted her up for the world to see. Behind them, the governor winced; so much for not making a martyr of the woman.
A small edge of rock had connected with the edge of Elizabeth's hairline, breaking skin and bathing her face with blood. She looked deceptively close to death.
"Elizabeth!" Henry cried out, oblivious to the emptiness of their house.
Hiley huffed as he pushed her towards the ramp leading to the squad car.
Elizabeth stared straight ahead, lips sealed. The governor was going to have to work for it. The deputies scrambled to hold her upright as she jelly legged on them.
"Ma'am!" Bailey grit out. "We will drag you if we must, but I suggest you try and keep some dignity."
The image of the guard's rough hands on the baby's legs flashed through her mind.
"No, thank you."
Bailey and Hiley grunted as Elizabeth limped her entire body, forcing them to drag her to the police vehicle. It took them two whole minutes to drag her there, with the crowd chanting and crying the entire time.
The car door finally slammed inches from her face. That should get people up and going, Elizabeth thought. She leaned back in her seat. Even if she got fired today, she was not going to let this go on for a minute more than she could stop it. Dignity be damned; humanity is more important than ego.
A small smile inched itself across her face; Will would be so proud. Maybe even Jason.
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