Madam President

Chapter Twenty

Freen frowned as she stood in front of Rebecca where she sat on the examination table. They hadn't even been back from the mountains for a week, and Rebecca had woken up with a terrible fever.

No doubt due at least in part to how hard she'd been working herself since her vacation.

"I still think this is entirely unnecessary, Freen," Rebecca complained in a raspy voice that clearly spoke to the necessity of this visit.

"It's not." Freen countered firmly as she lifted her hand to stroke some of Rebecca's hair away from her face.

She'd been too sick this morning to even mess with it, and that was the first unusual occurrence that had raised Freen's hackles.

"You're still burning up." She continued in a much softer tone, honing in on both Rebecca's breathing and her heartbeat when Rebecca groaned and let her head fall forward against her chest.

"I'll just take the day off and be fine tomorrow," Rebecca mumbled against the silk of Freen's tie.

"No." Freen breathed, wrapping her arms around Rebecca's shoulders and sighing before she pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head.

"Now please let my sister do her job. It's my job to worry her half to death, not yours."

"Fine," Rebecca grumbled as she pulled away, almost in time for Mind to open the door and walk in without seeing them.

Yet something about the way Mind glanced between them made Rebecca's eyes narrow. She was still perceptive, even as sick as she was, and that look hadn't seemed at all normal to her.

A quick examination determined that Rebecca had the full-blown flu and, much to her dismay, would be out of commission for at least the next four days.

"Mind?"

Mind looked up from where she was writing out a prescription on the pad she was holding and her eyes focused on her sister who was standing on the opposite side of the room as Rebecca, as per usual.

"Would you mind informing the President about how lack of sleep and too much strain greatly weaken the immune system?"

Mind stared at her for a while longer before looking back in Rebecca's direction as she handed Freen the prescription as though she were nothing more than an errand boy. It amused Freen more than anything else.

"I hate to admit this on the rare occasion that it happens, Rebecca, but Freen is right. You need to be a little kinder to yourself or this job is going to wind up putting you in the ground."

Rebecca stared past Mind, clearly unamused but too weak to feel like arguing. Besides, she knew Mind was right even if she wouldn't admit it.

"Right. Well, anyway, I saw Nam waiting for you in the hall. I'm pretty sure she thinks you're dying, so I'll let her get you back to bed."

Mind turned back to Rebecca's chart and flipped nonchalantly through it as Rebecca slowly got up from the table she'd been sitting on and made her way towards the door.

"Not you," Mind said as Freen moved to follow her.

Freen stopped and focused all her attention on Mind the moment Rebecca slipped away and left them alone together, and Mind sighed heavily as she turned to look at her.

"You have lipstick on your shirt next to your tie," Mind said simply, and Freen's jaw clenched as she looked down.

"I, uh..."

"Don't bother, Freen." Mind cut her off as she produced a bottle of alcohol and some cotton balls from a nearby cabinet to begin working the stain off her sister's shirt.

Freen looked utterly stricken. They'd always been so careful. But Rebecca was sick, and it had Freen distracted.

Clearly a little too distracted.

She was still standing there silently when Mind tossed the stained cotton into a nearby bin and stashed the alcohol back where it had been.

"How long?" Mind asked quietly as she pulled herself up to sit on the table Rebecca had been perched on not long ago.

She patted it for Freen to sit next to her, and Freen obliged her, albeit reluctantly. She didn't feel she had much choice in the matter.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mind," Freen responded quietly as she folded her hands in her own lap and looked down at them.

"Okay, but you do, so let's move past that. How much does she know?" Mind glanced over at Freen knowing it was useless to try and read her facial expressions.

They were too schooled when Freen wanted them to be, even for Mind.

"Nothing," Freen said quickly, a furrow forming between her brows. "I'm not risking everything just because...fuck."

Freen sighed heavily, and Mind reached out to rest a hand against her shoulder. "I hate that I have to ask you this, but do you think you're compromised? In regards to your job, I mean?"

"No," Freen responded simply.

"No, I'd have given my life for hers when I was assigned, and I'd give it a million times over, now. What kind of question is that?" Freen's thoughts flashed, then, to what had happened at the cabin.

To when she'd let Richard go simply because Rebecca had asked her to.

"Please don't get so defensive," Mind said quietly, "I have two people to worry about and one of them is the President the other one is my sister. That's a lot to worry about."

"Sorry," Freen breathed. "Listen, don't stress about it, okay? I've got it under control."

"Can I ask you something?" Mind had paused for a moment before she spoke again, and her voice was low and coaxing in a way that Freen found...concerning.

"What?"

"Would any of that change if whatever is going on between the two of you were to come to an end?"

Freen slid down from the table and fixed her jacket with a sudden snap before she turned to face Mind.

"Are you asking me if I would allow something to happen to her, Mind?" Her tone was sharp in a way Mind wasn't used to hearing it.

She sighed and shook her head, feeling more than a little guilty for having asked that question. She knew her sister better than that.

"I'm sorry. Look, just go down the hall and pick up her meds. Someone needs to stay with her while her fever is this high, and clearly that 'someone' is you."

Freen didn't know if she was happier about being back by Rebecca's side or being done with the conversation. But just before she turned the handle on the door, Mind spoke up again from behind her.

"Don't walk away mad."

The tension in Freen's shoulders relaxed and she hung her head a little bit.

That was their thing. Ever since Freen had started taking on more and more high-risk assignments. She and Mind both knew that, yes, it was nearly impossible to kill her, but...only 'nearly'.

"I'm not mad," Freen said as she turned sideways to look back at her sister. 

"Promise."

-

Disclaimer: Story is not mine, I only adapted it to FreenBecky Fanfic because I love this piece and I love FB. I want to see them portray the characters in this story.