Chapter Text
This is a love song, real love
Dirty rip out the whole of your soul love
This is a dark song, real dark
Do anything to feel your breath on my neck dark
This is a sad song, so sad
Losing all that's making me human inside sad
Can I sing this for you?
Got a thing about you
And it won't go away
It won't go away
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She's mulling over various reports, some exciting, some terribly mundane, when she hears it.
It starts as muffled voices, far off in the distance, and gradually increases until the cacophony of panic and shouting is impossible to ignore.
Well that doesn't sound good.
Moments later a ranger bursts through the door to the Board Room.
"Dr. Pope! The Hiss are trying to breach the north barricade. Arish is ordering all personnel without combat training to get to the shelter."
Emily hesitates, weighing her options and their outcomes for a moment, before shaking her head.
"Thank you for notifying me." She's to her feet, ignoring the ice running down her spine, and moving towards the door without second thought.
"Dr. Pope?" Emily doesn't have to see beneath the face shield to know the ranger is perplexed by her reaction.
"I need you to make sure Dylan Faden's room is completely secured. Can you do that for me please? I don't want the Hiss anywhere near him."
The ranger pauses, shifting uncomfortably, seeming to consider her request for a moment, before straightening and saluting.
"Yes ma'am. I'll see to it personally."
Nodding her thanks and brushing past, she quickly makes her way down the stairs.
She hears Arish before she sees him, his voice distinct over the chatter and murmur of a gathered crowd. She finds him distributing ammunition to a circle of rangers and officers.
"Arish!"
He glances up at her, a brief, tight smile as a greeting and hands a frenzy of motion as he works. "Hey Pope. We're having everyone who isn't security or a ranger gather in the shelter, you should-"
She raises a hand to stop him, determined. "I'm staying out here, just tell me what I can do to help."
He stills, eyes wide as he gawks at her.
"Pope, I know what you're thinking, but that's not a good-"
"Arish, I'm the Head of Research. I'm not going to hide while people are dying . "
I have my mind made up.
I won't be like him.
I promised Jesse and myself that I'd be better.
There's muttering among the eavesdropping rangers and officers, some eyeing the researcher with a mixture of intrigue and incredulity, others with disinterest and disdain.
Arish's brow furrows, lips pulled into a taut frown. He seems to be contemplating, concerned eyes betraying his clear intent to argue the point, but shouts from the crowd snag both of their attention.
"Let her fight! If she thinks she's got the guts not to run and hide then let her stand with us!"
"We're dying out here, we need all the help we can get, and it's about time an exec around here pulled their own weight!"
"Yeah, Arish's just scared the Director will shoot him if she winds up hurt!"
A chuckle breaks out from the crowd.
Arish shakes his head, a somewhat forced grin on his face, attempting to hide his unease. "I mean, can you blame me?!"
Calls of "hell no!" cause another roar of laughter from the gathered men and women.
"I don't know about you guys but I'm not keen on a forklift to the face!"
"She.. She wouldn't do that." Emily shakes her head, cheeks coloring a bit. Her heart was racing at people thinking Jesse was that protective of her of all people.
She cares about Jesse, a lot, more than she was willing to admit, even to herself.
But she wasn't sure how Jesse felt.
The woman was focused, so hard to read at times, and Emily couldn't blame her for being so after everything.
In the end, Jesse had priorities and so did she. Right now wasn't the best time to be examining feelings and all the messy consequences that came with them.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Arish mutters barely audibly, but before she can ask him to elaborate, he sighs and turns to the remaining munitions, carefully surveying each piece before coming to a decision.
He motions for her to come close as he reveals a medium sized handgun.
"Alright, listen and watch closely. Wrap your hands around the grip like this, thumbs stacked." He demonstrates as he explains. "That will provide better support against the recoil. Line up the sights, keep both eyes open. The safety toggle is right here, make sure it's off when you're ready to shoot and don't shoot until you're absolutely sure that you're ready. Your magazine release is here, see how it slides out? I'll send you with a few, just try to make your shots count."
Emily swallows and nods, trying to burn the information into her memory as she takes the weight of the gun in her hands.
"I really, really , should make you sit this out. But…" he sighs again deeply, clearly conflicted. "I guess after months of being picked off slowly, they're finally desperate enough to start organizing their attacks. It's hard to follow bureau policy when they are literally right on our doorstep, trying to kick it in. We really do need all the help we can get. We've already lost too many good people, and if we lose Central Executive… Well I don't even want to think about it. Just don't make me regret this, okay?"
Emily feels a bit guilty for putting him in this position, but she's determined to do better than those before her, for Jesse and Dylan's sake if nothing else.
That means she's going to help in any way she can.
Guess I'm just going to take a page out of Jesse's book.
Hopefully it works as well for me.
She takes a deep breath, willing her nerves away.
"Okay, what do I need to do."
Arish blows out a strained breath, nodding to himself as he speaks. "I'm gonna have you holding the line at the barricade with the unarmored officers. Anyone with actual combat equipment will be coming with me to advance on the Hiss that are currently swarming the cafeteria. If we can at least drive them back to Dead Letters, we'll have some wiggle room to actually have a fair chance. We've got people posted up by the other entrances to make sure they don't try to sneak in another way."
Emily frowns. "But... you're not wearing combat gear."
"I know." He gives a crooked grin as he nudges her. "You're not the only one trying to do better than the 'Old Boy's Club', you know. Salvador was a good man, a good mentor, and I'm going to do him proud, but I'm going to do better. But don't worry about me. I'll be careful."
Emily huffs a wary sigh, before nudging him back. "You better be, Arish. You're pretty important around here, we need you around."
He chuckles, shaking his head. "Speak for yourself. I'm not kidding about the 'forklift to the face' thing, don't go getting yourself hurt. I really don't want her coming after me." He glances over his shoulder as if Jesse was suddenly going to materialize behind him.
"I really don't…" Emily clears her throat and shakes her head, opting to change the subject. "Where is she anyway, has she been notified?"
"We sent out a bureau alert a bit ago. If she doesn't know now, she will soon. Last eye we had on her was down in the investigation sector. Seemed like she had her hands full."
"Hm." She hesitates, before nodding in resolve. "That's fine, we can handle this. She does more than enough as it is. Maybe when she gets back I can convince her to actually rest for a bit."
She's so insistent on doing everything on her own.
I'm going to at least do this.
One less thing for her to worry about.
"That's the spirit! I mean, good luck with getting Faden to hold still for more than a minute, but it's the thought that counts, right?" Arish beams, chuckling to himself as he shoulders a shotgun.
Turning, he raises his voice to address the crowd.
"Alright, everyone who's dressed to kill, on me. Everyone else covers the barricade. Nothing gets through . And whatever happens, do not let your HRA get damaged."
"Yes sir!"
The crowd begins to hustle towards the door, and Emily moves to follow when a hand on her shoulder pulls her back.
"Hang on." Arish nods to a ranger, who leisurely stalks over to meet them. "This is Torrez, she's gonna be with you."
"Arish, I don't need a-"
"You're gonna watch each other's backs." He takes a deep breath before continuing. "Listen Pope, I'm making you two our last line of defense. You guys have to hold the line. Central executive is our stronghold, if anything gets past you, it's all over."
Emily reluctantly nods. She suspects that he's really just trying to keep her out of the direct line of fire, but regardless, she understands the severity of their situation.
"Alright. I'm gonna head in and try to give some relief to the rangers that are already holding back the heat. You two post up just past the barricade opening. There should be a wall of officers between you guys and the Hiss but that doesn't mean you can let your guard down even for a second."
"Alright. Good luck Arish."
"Right back at you."
"Oh and Arish! If you see Jesse… " Emily hesitates, unsure of herself. "Just tell her to be careful okay?
He nods and winks, before turning and rushing towards the sounds of gunfire.
Sighing, she turns to regard the ranger in front of her, who is lazily bouncing her rifle off a bandaged leg.
"Torrez, right?"
"Yep." The woman pops her lips on the 'p', eyes calmly but obviously sizing Emily up. "You sure you want to be out here? You don't look the type to be getting your hands dirty."
Emily doesn't flinch at the woman's brash assessment but she does frown. "If I can help here, I'm going to. Combat isn't my forte, but I don't want to sit and hide while everyone else faces the fallout."
The ranger huffs an almost sardonic laugh, continuing to eye her up.
Emily is fighting the urge to fidget anxiously under the scrutiny when Torrez steps into her personal space, a wry smile on her face as she speaks in a low tone, quiet but cutting.
"So tell me, I gotta know...you and the director?"
Emily tenses. The woman's tone puts her on edge, suddenly defensive and feeling cornered despite herself.
Her voice comes out icy, but even. "What about us?"
Torrez chuckles almost darkly, amusement flickering in dark brown eyes. "It's cool doc, I get it. I mean I'd hit that too-"
"I would strongly suggest shutting your mouth. Right now ." Emily growls, teeth grit in a snarl.
Torrez just laughs again, smug grin widening as she leans even closer. "Ooh, she's feisty! Hey, if Faden isn't interested, I certainly am-"
"You are out of line, ranger, not to mention lacking any sense of professionalism ." Emily steps back with another low, enraged growl, restraining herself from throwing a punch. Her blood feels like it's boiling, boarding ignition. "Are we fucking going or not?"
"Of course, sweetheart." Torrez purrs, unfazed, before turning and leisurely strolling towards the door. "Just getting you in the mood to kill something. You look like a little doe caught in the headlights. Time to become the Hunter, Bambi, otherwise you'll get eaten alive. Now, let's move."
Emily snarls once more, following behind the limping ranger as they make their way just beyond the barricade, sounds of shooting and shouting growing louder as they approach. "Are you even in good enough shape to be fighting?"
The dark haired woman throws a grin over her shoulder with a laugh. "Baby girl, I'm at the top of my game! This?" She motions vaguely down at her bandaged leg. "This is just a scratch."
Emily barely contains an agitated scoff, growling under her breath as they crouch down at the opening of either side of the doorway, readying for whatever awaits them just beyond.
Minutes seem to stretch on immeasurably as they tensely watch and listen, waiting for any signs of an approaching threat.
Flashes of red light and the smell of gunpowder permeate the room as the battle just beyond continues to rage. The sound and light are close enough to be sensed but still far enough that the hallway before them is vacant, save for broken desks, scattered paperwork, and smatterings of blood.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Torrez finally breaks the disquieted silence.
"So what's your deal, what's the real reason you aren't in the shelter with the other white collars? You're smart, you know the risk you're taking putting yourself on the line like this."
Emily scowls, tossing a glare as she double, possibly triple, checks the safety on her gun to make sure it really is switched off. "I already told you why. The rest is classified."
Really just none of her damn business.
"Hey, I was just kidding earlier, I just know it helps the nerves to be pissed off and you seem really close to the new-"
"Can we just focus? I'd really rather not get shot right now."
"Alright, alright, fine then." Torrez half-heartedly raises a hand in surrender, nonchalant as she rubs at her injured leg.
Emily frowns as she watches the woman grimace as she shifts.
Pursing her lips, she sighs, unable to suppress concern despite the other woman's abrasive nature. "What happened to your leg?"
"Oh, so you do care-"
"Torrez." She warns through grit teeth. "Five words or less."
"Blasted. By. Invisible. Mother. Fucker." The ranger has a small grin as she counts out the words on her fingers, obviously quite pleased with herself.
"Motherfucker is one word."
Torrez rolls her eyes. "Blasted. By. Invisible. Motherfucking. Asshole. Better, Ms. Doctor lady?"
Emily sighs, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. "So why are you out here? You can barely stand , let alone fight. You're as much at risk as I am."
Torrez's face falls for a split second, bravado faltering, before her expression suddenly darkens. The hollow in her eyes makes Emily tense.
Looking off towards the gunfire, Torrez wets her lips and speaks, the building anger and sorrow in her voice almost visceral. "I'm a ranger, I've trained for years for shit like this. But those things … They killed all my friends …" She takes a moment, gritting her teeth as she speaks slowly. "Torq, and Vaas, JR, and Kingston." Her expression blackens further. "I won't stop until every last one of them is put down. I'd claw my way back from hell to see to it personally."
Emily's frown deepens, nodding somberly as she takes in the ranger's words.
So many had been lost to the Hiss, either corrupted or killed.
As much as she tries to separate herself, remain unsentimental, so that they can persevere and eliminate the Hiss before more are claimed, she's lying when she says she's unaffected.
So much senseless death and pain.
Thank the stars or whatever being might be listening that Jesse arrived when she did or all hope really would have been lost.
She really is our guiding star.
My guiding star...
"You're thinking about her aren't you."
Emily is jolted from her musings by Torrez's voice.
Shaking her head, she clears her throat before responding, turning back to the flashing in the distance. "Thinking of who?"
"Faden. Madam Director."
Emily opens her mouth to deny, but the ranger just raises a hand, not interested in half-hearted lies.
"Listen, I may just be another jarhead, but I've seen you two together. You two are good for each other, make a good team. She needs someone to ground her, she's hasty, never thinks before she leaps. And you need someone to get you off the ground, get you out of your head, stop you from overanalyzing every damn thing." She huffs a laugh at the stunned look on Emily's face before continuing. "I know you're out here for her sake. One less thing for her to throw herself at until either the fucking Hiss break or she does. Whichever comes first, right?"
Emily winces, ignoring the heat that rises to her cheeks, both somewhat surprised and unhappy at being read so easily. "Why did you ask if you already know?"
"Relax Pope, your secret is safe with me. I'm not that big of an ass." She salutes with two fingers, before cocking her head to the side with a teasing expression. "You two are getting a little ridiculous to watch though, circling around each other like mutts in heat."
The scowl and violent magenta on her face causes Torrez to collapse in peels of laughter.
"What— god, your face— I'm just saying-!"
"U-use a different simile or, maybe, just don't at all next time! And Jesse doesn't-!… She doesn't-!…"
"Oh please ." Torrez is still snickering, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes as she recovers from her fit of laughter. "That girl looks at you like you hung the moon."
Emily lets out a shaky breath, shaking her head with a disbelieving frown.
No way. No possible way.
She wouldn't want someone like me.
"Hey...you don't have to believe me, that's fine. You're not gonna hurt my feelings any." Torrez starts, surprisingly genuine and soft, noticing the conflicted and disheartened look in Emily's eyes. "But… Don't wait until it's too late. Don't make my mistake."
There's something broken in brown eyes and it makes Emily's heart ache for the woman.
But then a loud explosion and glass shattering jolts them back to the current situation.
Red lights begin to flicker and flash, revealing armed and seething Hiss in their wake.
"Shit! Here they come!" Torrez is back on her feet, leveling her rifle with the closest corrupted agent, Emily quickly following suit with the handgun.
Chaos and havoc erupt violently.
They both pick at the oncoming wave, taking them down one by one as they approach attempting to breach the last defenses.
"There's no end to them!" Emily yells over the gunshots, ears ringing as she reloads. She knows her shots maybe aren't the cleanest, but they're at least striking true and it's slowing them down long enough for Torrez to finish them off.
"Where the hell is that 'wall of officers' Arish was talking about? This is fucking insanity!" Torrez shakes her head through gritted teeth, the pain in her leg weighing on her heavily as she fights.
A flare of red catches Emily's eye and she barely has time to think and react as a chunk of concrete and rebar come hurtling towards Torrez's head.
"Move!"
She dives on top of the ranger, rolling to the side as the concrete explodes into the wall behind them.
Emily quickly rights herself, crouched over the prone woman as she returns fire, bullets striking their target once in the chest and once in the head.
The slide of the gun locks open as the last corrupted agent falls to the ground and disappears in a mist of color.
"Damn!" Torrez pants, eyes wide as she gawks at the gouge the wall is now sporting. "Thanks for the assist! I think it was aiming for my head."
"Well it's certainly a large target."
"Hey now!"
Emily grins down at her, cheeky response on the tip of her tongue, when another blinding flash, different from the others, causes them both to tense and look up, squinting against the intense brightness.
At the end of the hallway sits a perfect reflective sphere, partially obscured by the overturned desks, but radiating blazing red light that fills the entire hallway.
"Holy shit , what the hell is that?" Torrez whispers harshly as she scrambles back, pulling Emily with her behind the shelter of the wall. Their eyes remain locked on the orb as they peek around the corner.
It takes Emily a moment to find her voice, words lodged in her throat as she stares in wonder and apprehension. "It's- it's a Hiss cluster. I've never seen one before in person, but Jesse's described them for me and that…That definitely checks all the boxes."
The light it's emitting causes an unsettling feeling in her head, like a painful noise far off in the distance, growing louder and sharper the longer it remains in sight.
"Great! What does it do? 'Cause it's just sitting there and we're sitting ducks!"
"It-" Emily gasps, realization dawning on her. " Shit , it's resonance causes spontaneous rejuvenation-"
"What?!"
"It heals the Hiss! Uh, so to speak. We have to destroy it!"
"With what?!" Torrez gestures around frantically. "I've got maybe ten rounds left and you're completely out! And if ten isn't enough to kill that thing then we're screwed and shit out of luck if more of its buddies show up!"
Emily growls, running a frustrated hand through her hair as she looks around for something, anything, that they could use to destroy the cluster.
Her eyes land on a chunk of rebar protruding from the wall where the concrete had struck.
Torrez follows her gaze. "Oh, hell no, Pope, that's fucking suicide! You can't get close to that thing! Who knows what it'll do to you, not to mention you'll be completely exposed trying to get over there!"
"This won't stop if we don't do something, Torrez! They'll just keep getting back up, more people will die!" She takes a shaky breath trying to steady herself as she begins to stand. A hand on the strap of her HRA tugs her back down.
"Then I should be the one, not you. I'm the ranger-" Torrez is shaking her head, attempting to haul herself up when Emily puts a hand on her shoulder to push her back down.
"You'll never make it over there with your leg like that." Torrez is about to argue again when Emily cuts her off once more. " Listen , we don't have time to fight about this. My HRA should protect me from the resonance it's emitting, I just have to be fast enough to hit it. Can you cover me?"
Torrez stares at her a moment, indecision and disbelief plain in her features, before letting out a frustrated growl and nodding her head. "Fine. Go, I've got you. Just... Just don't fucking die. "
Emily nods, rising to her feet.
It takes all her strength to pull the rebar out of the wall, and before she can reconsider, she finds herself ducking and creeping along the broken and overturned desks, making her way carefully to the glowing sphere at the end of the hallway.
She pushes herself to move as quickly as possible while still remaining hidden, knowing the cluster could shift positions at any second. Emily didn't doubt Jesse when she said the Hiss Clusters were fast and evasive, and she couldn't risk it slipping away when so much was at stake.
After what feels like an eternity, she finally finds herself in front of it.
Her head is spinning and aching as she shields herself the best she can against the blinding light. The red-eyed, piercing gaze of the woman in her reflection seems cruel and unfeeling, and she shivers involuntarily, forcing herself to maintain eye contact.
She takes another shaking deep breath.
And lunges.
With a growling shout, she uses the entirety of her body weight to bring the bar down, impaling the cluster as she does.
The metal strikes true, and she has to shield her face once more from the flurry of sparks it emits, stumbling back and away in time for the cluster to erupt in a bright flash of red luminescence.
Emily can hear Torrez shouting triumphantly behind her as she lets out a stunned laugh of her own.
I did it. I actually did it.
She turns to haul ass back to safety but stops when a sudden flickering of prismatic blue catches her eye.
Furrowing her brow, she follows the faint swirling prisms to look out over the balcony of the cafeteria.
Her breath catches in her throat.
There, levitating in the eye of a storm of bullets and debris, is Jesse, having undoubtedly valiantly arrived to assist in the war currently raging. The Hiss around were quickly dwindling as she, seemingly effortlessly, turned the tide, a hurricane of unbridled power.
Her eyes are shining and filled with fiery determination, gracefully dodging and twirling while the world around her is in utter chaos.
She's so beautiful.
Emily is transfixed, rooted in place, utterly frozen.
The soft blue fractals shining in her vision are mixing with the sharp red flares, casting the director in hues of lavender and violet as she dances through the furious battle around her.
Emily can't help but think that it's the most magnificent thing she's ever seen.
But then Jesse is falling.
She's falling, blindsided by concrete and shards of shrapnel.
And Emily is gasping for air, feeling like she's falling right along with her.
Bolting to the banister, she reaches the ledge as Jesse hits the ground, her body making a sickening thump as it collides with the concrete.
"Jesse! "
Emily screams her name, frozen once more on the balcony, heart lodged in her throat, begging and praying to whatever force that will listen to let Jesse be okay, please let her be okay, please, please, she has to be okay...
A few agonizing moments pass and Emily is certain her heart is going to give out.
And then Jesse begins to shift, body obviously protesting any movement as she attempts to pull herself upright.
Emily is nearly crying in relief, tears burning at her eyes.
Another movement catches her eye, red light and swirling debris, heading straight towards the director, still shakily pushing herself to her feet, more than a little dazed.
No!
A shimmer of prismatic blue draws Emily's gaze once more, this time to a sniper rifle across the balcony abandoned by the stairs.
Her body moves on instinct, no overanalysis, no hesitation.
Just pure resolve.
Sprinting into the warzone, Emily vaguely registers unknown voices calling out her name, trying to call her back to safety.
She pushes on, ignoring them, as she ducks and slides her way to the firearm, bullets whistling past as she does. She reaches the last few meters and dives, rolling and scooping up the firearm as she does.
She's never fired anything this big but she mimics the stance she observed from Torrez and the other rangers, leveling the weapon at the possessed being stalking towards Jesse.
And pulls the trigger.
There's a resounding crack that echoes through the room and the recoil nearly knocks her off her feet, but by some kindness of the universe, the bullet strikes true.
The shot stuns the large Hiss soldier long enough for Jesse to rise and launch several large chunks of uprooted concrete into its face, knocking it to the ground where it remains until fading into multicolored mist.
Emily gasps in relief, nearly in tears again, as she watches Jesse stumble away to steady herself.
She can tell Jesse is searching, searching for the guardian force, bright eyes scanning the mangled mess of the cafeteria.
Finally bright eyes lock on her.
She can see a series of emotions flashing through those shining blue eyes, and oh , it makes her heart thunder in her chest.
Then Jesse's eyes widen in a look of pure panic.
Emily cocks her head to the side, furrowing her brow and taking a step forward as concern overwhelms her.
"Emily! "
There's a glint of metal out of the corner of her eye as sharp steel swipes at her side.
A boot collides roughly with her hip sending her crashing to the ground, rifle clattering away and out of reach. Chunks of debris bite into her skin as she skids across the floor, breath knocked clean out of her.
Fighting the instinct to curl into herself, she tries to right herself, scrambling away from her attacker the best she can.
The effort is wasted however.
It doesn't take long before the Hiss Sniper is looming over her, bloodstained bayonet poised to strike down on her.
Time seems to slow for a moment as she looks up at the cold, lifeless eyes of the former agent.
She wonders who he was before the Hiss corrupted him.
She wonders if he is in pain. If he's sad or frightened by what he's become.
She wonders if he cares that he's going to kill her.
She should probably be scared or upset or something , but all she can think is…
Jesse is safe .
She's going to be okay.
And that's all that matters.
Time resumes normal speed and the bayonet begins it's downward path. Emily flinches, turning away from the inevitable—
But it never comes.
There's a sharp whistling noise and then the Sniper suddenly disappears.
In his place is a chunk of concrete roughly the size of a truck, embedded so deeply in the wall that not even the slightest trace of the corrupted ranger remains.
Emily blinks a few times, overloaded mind attempting to process whatever had just occurred.
Vaguely, as if far, far away, she can hear screaming, becoming louder and more frantic. It takes a moment for her to realize someone is actually screaming her name.
"Emily!! Emily, answer me!!"
She raises her gaze and is greeted with panicked bright blue eyes filling her vision.
Jesse is crouched over her, practically in her lap and straddling her, breaths coming out in choppy distraught whimpers that tear at Emily's heart.
"Jesse! Jesse, are you okay?"
Jesse lets out a choked growl of disbelief, voice high-pitched and strained as she frantically shakes her head. "Am I okay, are you fucking kidding me, Emily, you nearly- "
She cuts off so abruptly, Emily wonders if she had hit her head when she fell and had lost consciousness for a moment.
Her vision is still intact however and Jesse is stock still, eyes fixated down, face turning increasingly pale.
"Jesse?"
Gingerly, and maybe not entirely in control of herself, she reaches out a hand to cup Jesse's face, trying to bring blue eyes back to hers.
The bright red on her fingertips catches her eye and makes her freeze.
Following Jesse's eyes down, she's hit with a violent wave of nausea, realization causing pain to hit full force.
Oh shit.
Her once crisp white shirt is actively turning deep crimson beneath her HRA.
Oh shit, that's a lot of blood.
A strap is sliced clean through, causing the device to hang crookedly on her chest, and beneath it her shirt is already almost completely soaked through.
Her sharp gasp shocks Jesse out of her frozen state.
"Oh fuck. Oh fuck , okay, it's okay, I can fix this, oh fuck ."
Emily lets out a yelp of surprise as she's suddenly being lifted, arms instinctively winding around the other woman's neck. The sound only fuels Jesse's panic as she begins to scramble and breaks out in a full sprint.
"Jesse, I'm fine, it's okay!" Each step sends a jolt of pain down her side, causing her to grit her teeth and clench her fingers in Jesse's jacket.
"No! No, I'm going to fix this, just stay with me. Please, please just stay with me ." Her voice is so strained and frantic, mind caught in panic and desperation, and Emily feels so helpless as she tries to break through to her.
"Jesse-"
"Holy shit, Pope! We need a medic!" Emily can hear Torrez's voice among the murmurs of other rangers and officers stirring as they approach. It appears they grouped up at the entrance of Central Executive, undoubtedly to take a head count after the last of the attacking Hiss finally fell.
Jesse doesn't take time to explain. "Where's Wells?! I need Wells!"
An unknown ranger steps forward. "We can take her ma'am, we have a medical station--"
"No!" She clutches Emily tighter, stepping away from the crowd. The added pressure makes her bite down on a cry, knowing any pained sounds would cause Jesse to spiral further. " Just Wells , where is he?!"
She'd seen something like this look on Jesse's face before, back in the Foundation right after the Nail was repaired, but this was different, more intense. Jesse's eyes are wild with fear and desperation, body language reminiscent of a caged, cornered animal as she eyes the crowd of bureau agents in front of them. Emily can feel her trembling, shoulders heaving with hyperventilation.
It hurts her heart to see her this way, but she doesn't know how to break through to her. She had tried before, down in the Foundation, but this situation was different, worse somehow.
"Faden!"
Wells pushes his way through the crowd, taking a quick glance at the wounded pair and beckoning them back towards Central Executive. "This way!"
They burst through the doors and make their way up to the Board Room. Upon entering, Jesse uses launch to carelessly clear an area on the table— files, folders, and other miscellaneous objects flying across the room— before carefully, so carefully, setting her down.
"You're okay, you're gonna be okay. Shit, shit, Emily, your HRA, is it-"
"Jesse, look at me. It's fine, listen to me , I'm fine , really-"
A sharp growl cuts Emily off, causing her to startle and jerk back.
" What the hell were you thinking?!"
"I-? Excuse me?" Emily gawks, completely blindsided by the sudden outburst.
"You could've been killed , you were-! What were you doing out there, you should have been here , where it's-! You almost-!! " Jesse's voice is so raw and sharp, still hyperventilating as she starts and stumbles over her words.
"I was trying to help! The Hiss were attacking, trying to push their way in, and I couldn't just stand by, Jesse, and then I watched you go down! I watched you and I thought you-!"
" No, I don't need help! You're supposed to be here , away from the Hiss, out of-!"
"What, 'out of the way'?!" Emily hisses, standing abruptly and growling as her torn side protests the movement. She can feel blood dripping down her stomach and it's making her nauseous again, but she pushes the sensation down angrily. "While you run yourself ragged, throw yourself into danger, all because you have to do it all yourself?! Because you know exactly how to handle every situation, just dive head first into everything without even thinking !"
Jesse's aggression turns defensive, and she takes a step back, clearly startled by Emily's anger but stubbornly persisting. "I have to! It's all on me, Emily, I am the Director , I'm supposed to-!"
" Don't give me that bullshit again, Jesse! " Emily is practically yelling, and she feels guilty because Jesse flinches at her raised voice, but she's hurt and has got to get it out or her chest might physically collapse from the weight of it. "Why did you promote me?!"
"I… What?!"
"I thought you promoted me so I could help you! I thought you trusted me to help you! But you won't even listen to me , you just blow me off, push me away! Even down in the Foundation, you wouldn't even- You're doing the same damn thing everybody else does! "
"That's not-! You don't understand-!"
"Whatever Director. I'll stay out of the fucking way. I'm not going to watch you kill yourself to prove some sort of fucking point. Find someone else to take my place if you must. You're never going to listen to me anyway."
"That's-! Emily, wait! "
But Emily is already out the door.
She can hear startled gasps and baffled whispers from the curious crowd of people gathered at the base of the staircase— returning rangers and officers as well as others emerging from the shelter— as she emerges like a furious storm from the Board Room.
It vaguely occurs to her that she must look quite horrifying, bloodied and torn, eyes flashing like lightning with anger. She can't find it in herself to care though as she growls and turns, making her way up the stairs and as far away as she safely can.
She makes it to the far corner, upstairs and opposite the Board Room, when her vision begins to blacken— she assumes from blood loss, possibly shock— and her legs nearly give out from beneath her.
A hand catches her and she whips around with a snarl, taking no comfort in the way the figure startles and steps back, hands raised defensively.
Just because I prefer not to be doesn't mean I don't know how to be cruel.
I've been taught by masters.
It takes a second, blurred vision not doing her any favors, but she identifies Torrez standing before her.
"Easy, Pope, it's me, it's just me." The ranger speaks softly, attempting to soothe her, hands still raised defensively.
"What do you want, Torrez, I'm really not in the mood…" She trails off as the world begins to sway around her, steadying herself on the wall.
Torrez wets her lips, eyes flicking to Emily's side. "You're hurt. Bad. Let me help. I said I had your back back there and I-"
"Stop Torrez. I made my own choices, and now I'm dealing with the consequences." Emily shakes her head, voice hoarse as she grits her teeth.
She would not have Torrez beating herself up over her own brash and reckless actions.
Funny. Brash and reckless are what I just accused Jesse of.
Torrez swallows, looking like she didn't quite accept that answer. Instead of arguing however, she steps forward and pulls Emily's free arm around her shoulder, carefully pulling her weight off the wall and onto her good leg as she turns them, moving towards the abandoned office just down the hall. "Fine. But right now you need help. We need to get you patched up. You're in bad shape."
Emily merely grunts in agreement, each step getting harder as her vision darkens further.
They manage to make it to a desk, Torrez quickly swiping it clear as she helps set Emily up on it.
The door swings open behind them.
Both women turn with a glare, ready to tell the newcomer to get the hell out, but quickly relax some upon recognition.
Wells shuts the door behind him, quickly making his way over and setting a large first aid bag down beside her.
"Easy, I'm just here to help."
Emily lets out a weary and broken sigh as Wells begins taking tools from the bag, too tired and hurt to fight the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. A gentle hand on her shoulder makes her glance up out of the corner of her eye as Torrez crouches close to meet her gaze.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay, we've got you."
Emily shakes her head, still gritting her teeth, tears beginning to fall freely as she lets her head fall to her hands.
"I… Fuck. "
Torrez leans her head against hers, gently squeezing her shoulder, as Emily quietly sobs.
" We've got you ."