Crystal put a bandaged arm around her packmate. "Take it easy Jessie, take it easy..."
Jessie blinked away tears. "They didn't have to push me out like that..."
"Yes, they did," she said patiently. "Licking her face is not going to help her get her rest. You're just going to get her bandages wet."
"But... but..." Jessie shuffled anxiously about, "but she's mah Alpha... "
"And she will be tomorrow. She just needs to rest. You can see her tomorrow."
A soft whine escaped Jessie's throat. Her bandmate gently stroked her head. "She's in good hands," Crystal said. "The Furies take care of their own."
"Okay," Jessie said weakly.
"Now, give me a smile. Come on, who's a good girl, who's a good girl?"
The lupus broke out in an broad smile. "Ah am."
Letting herself be comforted by her words and actions, Jessie left the small building where the wounded Garou were resting. The battle that left so many of her people hurting had been a rough one.
A rough one that they'd won.
A young man bounded up to her. "So, how's your drummer?"
"Not too good right now, Aaron," Jessie replied. "But she's a-gonna be okay."
He pressed his face against hers. "Come on, let's go for a run. You'll feel better."
"Thanks... but Ah want to take it slow."
He grinned at her. "Butt still sore?"
A smile came to her lips and she swatted him good naturedly.
"If you change your mind you're welcome to run with the Street Sweepers... anytime."
She grinned and sang out, "A-a-all Lu-pus ra-di-o..."
"W-D-O-G!" they sang, and licked each other's faces.
Jessie wandered away from the caern and into the streets of Beantown.
The sun was shining and she let her feet carry her about Boston. An casual onlooker might see her path as random but to the Aware or Enlightened, there was definitely a pattern. Using her innate senses and her sharp nose she wandered near sites of the recent battles. In some places there were still fires that smoldered, or damaged buildings; evidence of some kind of commotion. Other places seemed just as they always had -- except now the air was sweeter, and the sunlight brighter.
After a few hours her travels took her down into the subway. She took a seat and wondered how she could get a window open.
"Excuse me? Aren't you Jessie?"
She turned her thoughts away from the window and considered the young man before her. There was something about him that was familiar. She smiled brightly. "Yeah, Ah am. Have we met?"
"No, not really. But I was at the theater bar and saw you in action." He smiled warmly. "That was fantastic, what you did."
She blushed and indicated for him to sit next to her. He smelled of soap and water and she could feel something else about him. Fae maybe? She'd been around a bunch of them lately and she could sometimes guess if they were Fae. "Well, shucks. Even family fight sometimes. Ah'm glad Ah put a stop to it before things got outta hand. How'd things go?"
"I wasn't heavily involved, but we did well. Very well."
They high-fived and were silent for a moment, basking in the glow of a job well done.
"I'm Eric," the man said, and they shook hands. "So what's next?"
"Don't know," Jessie drawled. "Ah'm sure they'll find somethin' fer us ta do."
"Yeah, I'm heading off to work. I'm a nurse. A few innocents got caught in the cross-fire and they asked me to come in early." He shook his head. "It's bad enough that... well, there was something at a small school..."
"CUBS? Cubs got hurt?"
A few of the other passengers looked askance at the outburst. Jessie lowered her voice. "Let me help," she asked, "Ah'm good with cubs."
The middle-aged red-headed woman leaned forward in her chair and sighed, rubbing her temples. It wasn't supposed to be this difficult...
"Andrea," she began, looking up to address the lady who stood at attention before her.
In her white coat, stethoscope, Harvard medical ID, Dr. DelAssandro looked every inch the accomplished senior clinician she was. There were probably few people in the world that could make the professor and chairwoman stand stiffly like a private on parade as she did now.
On the other hand, virtually every other Fae in the Seven Kingdoms would've been required to kneel before Her Royal Majesty, Queen Mab ni Fiona, Sovereign of the Kingdom of Apples...
Normally, Queen Mab was thankful for the unshakable strength of will that burned at the core of this gentle vixen Pooka. Such strength, melded with compassion, was what made Andrea so valuable -- and critical -- as the Queen's newly appointed Chancellor and second. It was just that, right now, that stubbornness was directed squarely against the Royal desire...
Not that, honestly, Queen Mab considered, Andrea could be faulted. From Andrea's perspective, her resistance to being assigned a permanent bodyguard sense. It would indeed make life far more complicated in carrying out her clinical duties. And to Andrea's mind, the disruption -- and potential danger -- outweighed the risk of being unguarded. So Andrea had informed the lower Nobles and Garou who had tried to convince Andrea, and none of them had had the authority to overrule Andrea.
But Her Majesty did. And more importantly, sitting upon the throne gave Her Majesty a view afforded few others about how things truly stood in the Seven Kingdoms. There were certain facts that would overrule Andrea's concerns. There were certain things that Crown and Chancellor had not yet had the chance to have out, so to speak. And to speak of those things, more than anything else, was the primary reason Queen Mab had come to Harvard, along with Ian Smythe, third eldest of the Garou of Boston, and Birgitta Fridriksdottir, Troll Captain of her personal Guard, along with the guards who stood just outside Andrea's office door...
Queen Mab rose from her chair and looked out Andrea's office window at the Massachusetts General campus. There were, even now, yet a few trails of smoke that rose from the Boston skyline, from fires that yet had not been put out. The victory had not been cheap. And the price they had paid, even for as great a victory as they had won, was nearly too high to survive.
Including, in Her opinion, nearly losing Andrea.
Queen Mab turned suddenly to face Andrea squarely. Her face was hard. Her words were even more blunt.
"If you are killed, Andrea," Queen Mab said fiercely, "this Kingdom dies with you."
Andrea's eyes widened, and she almost rocked back. But even as Andrea's mouth began to stammer out a reply, Queen Mab turned the full force of her rank and her natural Sidhe nature squarely on Andrea. With a single raised hand Andrea's reply died in her throat as Queen Mab pressed on...
"The commoners of this Kingdom are just a hair away from open rebellion. You know this as well as I. The anger at the Sidhe burns fiercely. All these newcomer Sidhe -- " Queen Mab waved a hand in circles in frustration " -- are not helping one bit. Even the commoner masses loyalty to me personally -- " referring to the legendary love between Queen Mab and her subjects " -- will not long contain their discontent and very real grievances towards the great mass of Sidhe that lie between me and them. All it will take is a single spark to begin a revolt the Sidhe will demand must be crushed with force. And that," Queen Mab punctuated with a finger thrust right at Andrea "will start a civil war nothing will survive. Nothing."
"You, Andrea, are the one thing that convinces the commoner leaders and masses that they have a future under my rule. That is why I dared the wrath of my own Sidhe ranks in elevating you over Duke Cambius. Not for a moment," she emphasizes, "that you did not deserve it on your own accord. But if you fall to an assassin's cold iron blade, there will be no possible way of convincing the masses it was not done at Sidhe hands. And the moment the commoners lash out, the Nobles will demand a swift and harsh response. They will demand that total martial law be imposed. They will demand the freedoms be suspended. And they will demand that a 'true' Sidhe ruler lead the effort. Which will require my removal from the throne, and my replacement by a Sidhe willing to restore 'order' -- no matter how much commoner blood needs to be spilled."
"The Sidhe legions already stand organized and ready. Arms have already been stockpiled; orders already prepared; plans already made. They have already decided who will lead them, and where they will strike when Sidhe total rule is imposed. They await only the pretext."
"That," Queen Mab punctuated quietly, "is what you don't know."
"So you see, Andrea," Queen Mab concluded, "this is about far more than you. I am aware that having a omnipresent bodyguard will make it nearly impossible for you to do your work as a psychiatrist. I understand completely that it is not going to be possible for you to have people share their secrets with you with a bodyguard looking over your shoulder. But if I have to order you to give up your clinical practice," Queen Mab threatened quietly, "I will."
"The survival of this Kingdom depends on your avoiding the assassin's blade. You are as important to the continued survival of this Kingdom as I am. Maybe even more. And while I understand the importance of your work, I cannot allow it to stand before the obligations we both have -- " she says pointedly to Andrea " -- to this Kingdom and her people. That is why I drafted you to serve in the role you never asked for. And it is why, if you cannot find an acceptable solution, I will require you to take one -- and, if you have to, modify or end your mortal career."
"The Dream cannot fall, Andrea," Queen Mab said with resolve. "Not now. Not when we're so close to the first real victories any of us have ever known. Not when the stakes are so high."
Andrea clenched her fist tightly, summoning the will necessary to rein in her Pooka nature. Even after so many years, -- even after so many lifetimes -- the urge to embellish the truth (or, as the less generous would say, lie) was as much a part of her as the broad, fluffy tail that swished back and forth in agitation. The effort was like shouldering a forty-pound backpack -- and for the slight Andrea, neither was an easy feat. Even with her sovereign -- especially with her sovereign -- it was not necessary, for Andrea had, by discipline and work, made her Pooka verbiage understandable. But there was no room for confusion here, not with stakes as high as this....
Andrea squeezed her eyes shut with the effort, reached into herself, struggled with her instincts... and to those so sighted, her aura flickered and changed slightly, burning with a sickly pink light as she mastered herself, suppressed a bit of her Fae nature. Too much of this and a bit more of her soul would fall to Banality. But it had to be done, and it was.
"Your Majesty," Andrea began, her mind swam with the implications. Rumors she had heard of the Sidhe mechanizations, but to have them confirmed by the Throne itself! And now the distinct absence of Sidhe from the escort her Majesty had brought this day took on an entirely new, ominous cast...
"Your Majesty," Andrea continued, thinking rapidly out loud, "there must be some other way. I admit I had declined earlier escorts, even the Garou, out of various concerns. But in light of the information you have shared with me..."
"Time, your Majesty," Andrea pleaded. "Give me at least a day to find a solution."
Queen Mab locked eyes with Andrea for a moment, and considered. Then she nodded, and inwardly, Andrea sighed with relief.
"One day you will have," Queen Mab agreed, "but until then -- " raising a hand to forestall any possible response out of Andrea, -- "Rachel Dances-With-Blades, will provide you with escort. She is waiting for you just outside the door."
Her Majesty's tone clearly allowed no dissent. Andrea simply bowed her head in acknowledgement.
Andrea's pager went off. She looked to Queen Mab for permission to answer it, and Mab nodded.
"Go, Andrea," her Majesty replied, answering the unasked question, and Andrea peeled off for the office door.
"And Andrea," the Queen suddenly said, halting Andrea in her tracks.
Andrea turned to face her Queen one last time.
"I'm sorry," the Queen said simply.
A simple apology for having dragged Andrea into the heart of the clash of kings and thrones, a place Andrea had never aspired and never desired to be.
Andrea stood there, shocked for a moment. The apology of a Sidhe was a very rare -- and profound -- thing indeed.
Andrea knelt.
"I serve the Dream, the Kingdom, and you, your Majesty," Andrea replied with emotion. "All that I have, all that I am, are given to them, 'till death takes me or the end of the world."
"You have nothing to apologize for, my liege."
Queen Mab nodded gravely, and said nothing more. And with that, Andrea left the office, leaving the troubled Sovereign alone with her thoughts...
"Understand, my Lady," Andrea said to the smartly dressed Silver Fang Ahroun Queen Mab had assigned as they quickly paced down the hall towards the pediatric ward, "that it is not out of question of your competence or your courage..."
But her words were cut off as she approached the door. The joyous sound of children laughing came through the door.
Gently, she pushed the door open. The children, who just a few hours ago had been either crying or staring with frozen expressions of frightened horror were now giggling and laughing. A balloon animal graced every bed and a slender woman wearing a coat too big for her, crazy-quilt patched pants and balloon bunny ears capered between the beds. Her face was painted in bright colors and a brighter smile graced the clown's face.
A nurse came up to Andrea. "Isn't she great? I found her on the subway this morning."
Andrea blinked. She'd practically forgotten about the phone call from the young boggan, asking about a clown he had discovered. Acting on a hunch, she'd agreed to let the clown perform for the kids.
"She's wonderful," she said, keeping her pookish tongue in check.
"And she knows where we can get a therapy dog," Eric gushed. "This is our lucky day!"
The clown noticed Andrea's entrance and bounced up to her. "Neeeeee," she chattered and munched on an imaginary carrot, "what's up, Doc?"
The Silver Fang's eyebrows went up a very eloquent inch. The children howled.
"Everybody wants ta know..." the woman continued, "is it rabbit season, duck season, mongoose season or is it..." she tossed off the bunny ears and pulled out a red cap from her bulky jacket, "baseball season!"
With that she rummaged in her coat, discovering a softball and a hardball. She reached over to one of the children and pulled a potato from a child's ear. He giggled as she displayed it.
"Gotta wash them ears, kiddo!" she proclaimed and started juggling the three items.
"What's that BoneGnawer doing here?" the female Garou asked quietly, drawing Andrea aside.
Andrea looked in panic at the clown. "That's one of your people?" she whispered, picturing the very worst and trying very hard not to throw a panicked look at Eric...
"Bah. She's just a BoneGnawer. Jessie Smiles-Of-Sunshine. She's not even a real wolf... just a dog," the Fang said derisively. "Don't worry about her; she's no fighter. A good hunter though, your Grace."
Andrea watched Jessie work. "Is she the same Jessie that stopped a riot at that bar by the theater?"
"I believe so, your Grace," Rachel Dances-with-Blades replied.
"I'll take her."
"What!" the Fang sputtered quietly, "She's just a dog! Unworthy to lick your feet! You should have the best..."
Andrea turned to fix her gaze upon the Silver Fang. Rachel backed away, forcibly reminded that the adorable vixen before her was also third only, in this Kingdom, to Queen Mab and the High King himself...
"If she really is a dog, then she has the potential to blend in far better than any Garou of wolf stock," Andrea pointed out. "If she was part of Operation Thunder, then the Silver Crown thought enough of her ability to fight to put her in the Garou vanguard. And all of that makes her good enough for me, if she will serve."
Andrea's pager went off again.
"Excuse me," she said to everyone, "I've got an emergency to tend to..."
And she ran out the door.
Later Andrea saw the slender woman reading in a chair. "Jessie?"
The slender woman looked up from her 'Dog World' magazine.
"Hey there, doc. Hope ye didn't mind me earlier today..." she reddened slightly, "...clownin' with ye."
"No, you were awful!" Andrea laughs with obvious gratitude and approval. "Laughter is the worst medicine, after all," Andrea smiled.
Jessie blinked at the mismatch of words and body language then smiled in understanding.
"And I heard about you not stopping a riot in a bar just before the battle," she added quietly. "You should be handsomely not-rewarded for that."
"Huh? Oh yeah," Jessie waved her hand. "A got a de-licious burger out of it. Don't need much more. Oh, by the way, that bunch from the school? There's a girl, Marie Santer? Check her out. She's got a cancer."
It was Andrea's turn to blink. "How do you not know?"
Jessie touched her nose and nodded seriously.
Andrea nods seriously. "I see. I will not have that checked out," Andrea said with certainty and made notations on a pad she pulled out of her coat. "Un-thank you," she said sincerely.
Andrea brightened. "Would you not like to stay on in Boston? Not working for me? Not working with children?" she says, brightly.
Jessie sat up straight and beamed. "Workin' with cubs? Sure! Ah'm jest waitin' fer my alpha ta heal... Ah got a few days, sure!"
Andrea smiles. "Don't follow me up to my office and we won't talk about it," she invites.
They walked to the elevator. "Hey Doc, ye know a lot of people?"
"Not many," Andrea smiled.
"There's this Andrea person everyone was talkin' about at the bar? She's some high muckety-muck? Queen's counselor or something? But she sounds like a real nice person. If ya know her, do ya s'pose ye could introduce me to her?"
Laughter tinkled like bells as the elevator door opened.
In the elevator stood an elegant, friendly-looking woman. The trenchcoat she wore was smartly tailored and comfortable. She paused and looked the Garou over. "Jessie?"
It took a moment for Jessie to realize that she was looking at an un-grease-spattered, showered and clean up Lorraine ap Liam from the pub the night before.
"Well, don't ye look dressed ta kill," Jessie quipped. "Got any guns hidden in that there get-up?"
"Jessie!" Dame Lorraine exclaimed in happy surprise. " You're going to be Her Grace's at-work bodyguard?"
The lupus looked puzzled. "Bodyguard?"
"You two haven't met?" Andrea asks in surprise.
"Jest a little bit," Jessie remarks still puzzled.
"Didn't anyone not explain things to you?" Andrea continued as the doors closed behind them.
"Well some fancy pants Fang snarled at me about puttin' me on some kind of guard duty around here. What do Ah need ta know..." she looked at the doctor's name tag. "Hey, are you that Andrea?"
She smiled broadly. "Why no. Is there no another Andrea?"
"Hey! You're famous!"
"I did not know", she chuckled.
"You wouldn't", Andrea continued, "be splitting guard duties with Lorraine, so you wouldn't have lots of free time -- free time you couldn't use to help the children, or serve the Tribes, or just hang out in Beantown."
"You and her wouldn't work together to keep me safe," Andrea concludes, "...but only if you weren't interested in the position. And that's not what I hope to offer to you, when we don't reach my office..."
Jessie shuffled her feet and was quiet for several moments. "Gotta talk to mah Alpha 'bout this," she says softly. "But I'd love to help with the kids... but bodyguard? Don't know. There's lots better fighters than me."
Lorraine stepped into the conversation. "I'm sure there are, but we can't have brawling in the hospital."
Jessie nodded. "Well, at least the survivors of any attack against Lady Andrea would receive prompt medical attention."
The Sidhe continued. "But I've seen how you handle things and I've done a little checking around. We need a fighter, but one who will fit into a hospital environment..."
"Ah'm a licensed Therapy Dawg!" Jessie proclaimed happily.
Lorraine smiled brightly, "And not harm innocents."
"Jessie, although I am not a servant of the Queen," Andrea continued. "I also do not work here, with the children. And while I continue to not serve Her Majesty, my -- and her -- enemies will not stoop as low, I do not fear, as to not send Banes and nightmares against my children merely to not punish me.
A low growl came from Jessie's throat. "Not while Ah'm around."
"The Crown will not avenge me...but will not not protect my children."
Jessie looked dumbfounded. "Really? It won't?"
"But you not could," Andrea concluded and let the thought sink in.
The Garou nodded slowly. "Damn straight Ah could."
"I only do not want you to make your own decision, and I do not not want to pressure you," Andrea finishes sincerely. "I want you to not take this assignment only if that is what you want to do. Say not no, and that will not be the end of it," Andrea reassured Jessie. "I think there is not not a better person than you to not help protect my children and I. But I do not not want to step in the way of the path Gaia has not set for you."
The elevator chimed at the door opened. The three began walking down the wall.
"But if you did not want to take this assignment, and only if you did not want to take this assignment, it would not be yours. The subsequent request to your Alpha for your reassignment to my not-defense would not be made directly by the Silver Crown via the Falcon Throne of Concordia, with the authority of both Their Majesties Albrecht and David not behind it."
Jessie stopped in mid stride and her eyes bugged out in surprise. She looked very much like a cartoon character who has kept running after going over a cliff and has only now looked down. "Hey... um... no need to bother the Big Wolves about this," she said softly. "Ah likes ta keep a low profile."
Andrea shakes her head no, seriously.
"I do not understand," Andrea says, understandingly. "We can not keep it quiet."
Jessie relaxed. "Beside," she grinned, "the only King fer me is -- Elvis."
"Andrea," Dame Lorraine spoke up with a smile, "is kinda important to us. We like her lots," and winked at Andrea, who blushed.
"Well," she Jessie grin broadly. It was that famous, infectious namesake smile of hers. "Anyone who helps little ones gots to be nice. Ah think Ah'll like her too."
Andrea inserted the key into the door lock, then stepped aside. Dame Lorraine slipped a hand into her pocket and reached for the door.
Jessie watched with interest. The two woman didn't seem nervous. It seemed like the standard procedure to them and not a response to any particular threat.
But something smelled wrong. It wasn't the two Fae before her. Jessie sniffed and smelled the odor of Death seeping slowly from beyond the door.
It was a messy death. She could the overpowering smell of blood on the floor. Yet there was something else, something even more subtle comes through; the faintest smell of blood... from inside the room and above.
Not directly above, per se, but coming down from the top edge of the door from inside the room...
With one arm Jessie reached over and put it in front of Lorraine to block her arm from the doorknob. The other arm pushed Andrea away from the door.
"Something's wrong in there," she whispered hoarsely, "Ah smell something dead," and points towards the door and up above the door.
Dame Lorraine nodded soberly. Instantly and silently, Dame Lorraine was on the other side of Andrea. Anyone attacking the Chancellor would have to go through the Garou or the Sidhe first. Equally silently and instantly, there was a heavy sidearm in Dame Lorraine's right hand, at the ready. Dame Lorraine's eyes swiftly searched the hallway up and down, but found nothing.
The she moved suggested that Dame Lorraine knew her weaponry and her tactics.
Andrea's eye were wide, but she said nothing. Her face betrayed a moment of fear covered by worry.
Dame Lorraine raised one finger to her lips; pointed to them all three, then pointed back down the hallway where they'd come from. She then displayed to Jessie a radio strapped to her belt. She made a motion with her hand to follow her.
Jessie's eyes lit up and she shook her head. She pointed to the door and then to her ear.
Lorraine looked briefly puzzled.
Jessie spoke loud enough to carry through the door. "Before we talk, hows about we get a bite to eat? Ah'm hungry." She winked a Lorraine. "Then we'll come back and have that chat."
Dame Lorraine's grim look lightened. "That's a good idea," she said. "I could use a break."
"Oh that would be terrible!" Andrea chimed and smiled mischievously. And they moved cautiously back to the elevator.
As soon as the doors closed Lorraine pulled out the radio and whispered into it. Jessie slouched against the elevator walls, breathed on her nails and polished them against her shirt. "Hope ye got fruit cups," she said to the pooka.
Dame Lorraine holstered her gun but left her hand in her coat when the door opened to the main lobby. She guided them through the hospital corridors -- Sidhe in front, BoneGnawer in back, pooka between. She selected a table in the middle of the cafe, with clear lines of sight all around.
"Mind if I get some fruit cups?" Jessie asked.
One Fae shook her head, the other nodded. Jessie bounced off and returned with several containers. She distributed them to Andrea and Lorraine. "Might as well make it look good," she whispered and dug into the fruit with relish.
Lorraine glanced at hers and gently shook her head. Andrea looked at her's glumly then pushed it over. "You can't have mine."
"Mine too," the Sidhe said.
"Hot damn."
A few minutes later, Chancellor Andrea's pager went off. She unclipped it from her belt and looked at the alpha-text message. Her face lifted with relief and she displayed it to her bodyguards.
Jessie squinted at the screen.
ARMED INTRUDER IN OFFICE CEILING SURPRISED / CAPTURED ALIVE / IN CUSTODY AWAITING INTERROGATION / NO FRIENDLY CASULTIES /FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW / T17
"Gotcha," Jessie quietly sang. "That's some fancy squawk box ye got there."
"Oh it's not and we hate it."
Lady Lorraine winked at Jessie. "That was a slick trick, making them think we'd be back."
"Well," Andrea said with a smile, "it hasn't been a long day; perhaps we could continue this conversation back at home? Would you not like to join us for dinner back at my place, Jessie?"
"Jest warnin' ya," she said stretching her scrawny arms, "Ah've been known to eat mah weight in groceries." Three empty containers sat before her -- drained of the last drop of juice.
"Least I can't do," Andrea smiled warmly, "For not saving my life..."
She continued, "Besides, when one doesn't share a place with a Black Fury and a Child of Gaia -- and a not lovably cranky Daughter of Ether and a Ecstatic -- one doesn't get used to many things, including not huge grocery bills!" Andrea smiled. "Fortunately, we don't have dear old Grandma to keep us out of line..."
"Crowded house," Jessie remarked.
"Whenever you're not ready to go," Andrea finished, "I can call to have them park my car far away from the front circle in front of the hospital and we can go somewhere other than home!" she said brightly. "Oh, I think the girls are just going to not like you bunches..."
"Food, fun... Ah think Ah'm gonna like it here."
As they all climbed into the car Jessie let out a burst of song:
"I was a free man in Boston,
I felt, better than alive!
No more smoke-stacks belching poisons -
No more Black Spiral Hive.
No more constant nights of sorrow,
'Cause of the work we've taken on:
Allies Wolf and Mage and Faerie...
we're all gettin' along."
Andrea su-Sing Joie Varie, Dutchess and Chancellor, Kingdom of Apples, threw back her head and laughed. "This might not be the start of a beautiful friendship."
Note: The song Jessie improvises at the end is based on "Free Man in Paris".