Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The lights of the grand ballroom glittered, reflecting off the sequined dresses and polished shoes of the attendees.

A vibrant tapestry of colors, laughter, and music encompassed every last inch of the gala as they celebrated another successful year of their administration’s dynamic support for any and all things involving supporting LGBTQ+ individuals and communities alike.

Ellen, well into her 6th consecutive year as president, had yet to arrive, apparently a UN meeting in Zurich had run long, but she was en route and even in her absence, Alex and June, on behalf of their mother, were right in the thick of it.

Alex, ever the charismatic politician-in-training, worked the room with practiced ease, a dazzling smile fixed on his face as he shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with Capitol Hill's best and brightest.

June, on the other hand, found herself a bit unenthused by the pomp and circumstance, although, as far as public political engagements were concerned, it certainly wasn’t the worst event she had been mildly coerced into attending.

In fact, she had to admit to herself it was becoming increasingly more difficult to ignore the infectious energy that enveloped her and before long, a genuine smile slowly overtook her lips as she found herself chatting with various organization leaders and other journalists.

Once there was an almost imperceptible lull in their popularity, both Claremont-Diaz siblings managed to slip away from their respective conversations and meet up both with one another and with the partners in a rather quiet corner of the enormous ball room.

"You know," June leaned in to whisper to Alex, turning her head with a flip of her long dark curls in a not very subtle attempt to ward off any interruptions by a particular political reporter who was frustratingly equal parts tenacious and salacious, "this is actually… kinda fun."

Alex nodded, lacing his fingers with Henry’s as he appeared with a silent smile of greeting before replying, "Told you. Mom knows how to throw a party, apparently even if she's not here to enjoy it herself."

"Yeah, but it's more than that," June considered, looking around at the diverse crowd. "It's just… nice. To see so much joy, so much community coming together for a cause like this. I think I sometimes forget that there is a lot of good in the world, you know? It’s just so easy to get caught in a constant loop of negativity… I don’t know…maybe it’s just me…”

Nora, having snuck up behind her while she was deep in thought, startled her slightly as she agreed, “No, I definitely agree. It’s hard to not get sucked into it all when it seems that the old adage, “if it bleeds, it leads” is all the media cares about anymore.”

“Right. Someone gets it…” June sighed with a touch of melancholy, only to perk back up pretty quickly when Nora adds, “I’ve always got you Junie B.”

Turning slightly to find Alex and Henry largely ignoring their meta-cognitive juggernaut of socio-political commentary, June gives her brother’s shoulder a playful whack to get his attention.

“Hey, loverboy.” She teases, her tone light and affectionate, “in case you have forgotten in the span of five minutes from nothing but the sheer magicalness of staring into Prince Perfect’s eyes, we have an address to give.”

“Fuck off, old lady.” Alex rolls his eyes and mock sneers under his breath, before continuing in a more audible but still fond tone, “We were just killing time while you and miss. "I've got the pessimistically accurate numbers’ over there were mope-flirting about what I assume is the probability of the eventual heat death of the galaxy.”

“I’ll never quite understand why you Americans insist on treating your blood-relations with such affectionate vitriol…” Henry supplied quietly as he pressed a gentle kiss to Alex’s cheek while the other three of the first-class quad squad simply shrugged their shoulders in indifferent uncertainty.

Despite wanting to stay and “shoot the shit” for the rest of evening, Alex knew June wasn’t rushing him when Amy and the rest of his security team, along with June's, began to close ranks on both of the First children and usher them towards the stage.

Henry and Nora followed them as they pushed their way through the dense crowd, each giving their respective partners’ a quick kiss before shooing them out of the stage’s hidden wings and up to the podium that was standing proudly, front and center.

Despite the sheer mass of the crowd, it took less than a minute for a profound silence to fall across the large, ornately rainbow-capitalism adorned ball room as a spotlight illuminated the stage with the first siblings poised to begin.

It took just shy of a single second before Alex adjusted the microphone, a confident glint shining in his coffee-colored eyes as he took in the nearly electric zeal of the room.

"Good evening, everyone!" his voice boomed, clear and strong. "It's an honor to be here tonight, representing our mother, President Ellen Claremont, and the entire administration, to celebrate the incredible growth we have made together, not just in this past year, but since beginning her first term all those years ago. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of you, from our family to yours..."

With that Alex took a small step to the side of the podium as the crowd roared their approval, and gestured to June, who stepped forward, her public appearance smile radiant and impressively convincing to all but those who knew her best.

Her voice was confident and sincere as she addressed the crowd, "The impact of all of your outreach efforts, the time, money and dedication of so many of you, believe me, it does not go unnoticed. I hope each and every one of you knows the tremendous impact you’ve had on the lives you've touched, the communities you've strengthened… It's truly inspiring. And on behalf of our mother, and all of us, we offer our sincerest congratulations and our unwavering endorsement for your continued success."

Once again, a wave of applause surged through the ballroom and just as June was about to step back to let her brother speak again, the world shattered.

Chapter Text

A sharp, deafening crack tore through the air, followed by another, and another as the celebratory cheers turned to screams of terror.

June felt a searing heat near her ear, a sudden sting that made her flinch back. Before she could process it, Alex was there, a blur of motion, shoving her violently to the side.

"June, get down!" he roared, his voice raw with panic.

Another bullet whizzed past where her head had been milliseconds before, but before she could hope to process what was happening, another metallic shrieking sound whizzed past her, faster than she could even comprehend, but so close she could feel the heat coming off it.

Less than a second had passed before she was snapped out of her seemingly frozen state when she heard Alex gasp, a choked sound rippling from his throat as he stumbled, a crimson stain blossoming rapidly across the crisp white expanse of his shirt.

Before he or June could do anything to prevent it, his knees buckled, and he collapsed on the hard and forgiving stage with a sharp grunt of pain, the rest of the world drowned out by the sound of his own racing heartbeat roaring in his ears.

Simultaneously unprecedented levels of chaos erupted all around them as an army of seemingly innumerable Secret Service agents broke from their stealthy presence where they had been strategically placed all throughout the area, to prevent something just like this from occurring, and became a nearly impenetrable forcefield around the first children as the entire venue erupted into a terrified whirlwind of motion.

Amy, her face a mask of grim determination and crushing guilt, was already at Alex's side, pressing down with immense force on the gushing bullet wound as Alex thrashed and cried, instinctively trying to escape the agony.
June’s heart ached as she could just make out the unmistakable sounds brother's screams through the cacophony of voices that all seemed to be speaking to her simultaneously, as several agents were already securing the route and beginning to pull her to the relative safety of the back of the stage, where at the very least she would be clear from the direct line of fire.

"I'm fine! Let me go! I need to get to Alex!" June demanded in an unrepentant screech, but it seemed no one was listening to her, they were far too preoccupied with finding the source of the thin trail of blood that was trickling down her neck before matting into her dark hair and flowing lazily onto her dress.

“Alex! Alex!” June shrieked at the top of her voice, hoping he would somehow be able to respond to her, but to her evermounting dread she heard nothing.

She wasn’t sure exactly where they were, the secret service marching her ever-forward despite her pleas to the contrary, but less than a minute later she could hear the familiar voices of Henry and Nora, their voices laced with unrestrained terror as they wailed their partner’s names.

"Alex?! Alex?! Alex!" She heard Henry’s shouts, his voice watery and traumatized, but unrelenting all the same from what she suddenly remembered was their place on the wings of the stage.

She recalled that when she and Alex had parted from their significant others’ they were a little disheartened that they couldn’t see the podium, but the secret service had reassured them it would be safer this way, to not have the entire White House trio and and a British heir to the crown all within five feet of each other, when there were easily a million people at the venue, any of whom could pose a grave threat.

June had rolled her eyes and shrugged it off then, but her naivety of all of twenty minutes ago made her feel incredibly stupid now.

June knew that despite now being able to see center stage, Henry and Nora had certainly heard the gunfire, and most likely Alex’s distress as well.

It was when she heard Nora's frantic and tear-filled voice calling out for her, that she knew they had to get free of the secret service, no matter what the cost.

“Nora! I’m here!” She hollered, hoping to be heard over the overwhelming volume of other voices and heavy boots echoing in the relatively small space.

But once again, she didn’t hear anything back, just the gruff voice of more agents as they argued with Nora and Henry and decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Sir, you need to stay back!" one of them commanded, his eyes scanning the crowd for any further threats.

"Let me go! He's hurt!" Henry struggled, desperation clawing at his throat. Nora, equally distressed, also tried to push past, demanding, “We have to be with them!” but the agents were unmoving.

Wishing she could help them both, but ultimately knowing that she needed to be at her brother’s side at this moment more than anything, she gave into her survival instincts and bit down hard on the forearms of both agents who were forcing her forward.

Not her proudest moment to be sure, but successful nonetheless, since when they reared back in a mix of utter bewilderment and pain, she was able to slip their hold and escape by darting between other agents.

It wasn’t the most graceful exit, and it resulted in her getting knocked sideways and unintentionally elbowed several times, but it would all be well worth it once she got to Alex’s side.

Once she was free of the flood of stonefaced agents in their identical blacked out uniforms, June found she could breathe again. She wasn’t sure if Alex would have been moved as well, but she knew the most logical thing would be to check center stage again since it was the last place she had seen him in the seconds immediately following the shooting.

June sprinted back to the front of the stage, and then just off to the far side, she caught sight of him. Her legs felt like un-refrigerated jello as she stumbled and then immediately threw herself down less than an inch away from where Alex lay.

She felt sick as she took in the scene, two agents, plus Amy, were still applying incredible pressure to his wound, which looked to be located pretty evenly between his sternum and left shoulder.

His breathing was shallow, as ragged gasps escaped his lips in between screams, that seemed to be growing gradually weaker even as his body refused to slow his writhing from the unbearable pain.

Amy and the other two agents barely glanced up at her as she emerged at their side, no doubt knowing that she would always find her way back to her brother’s side, even if it had irreparable social and potentially legal ramifications.

"Alex! Hey, look at me." June managed to swallow her tears around the painful lump in her throat as she cupped his face in her trembling hands.

"It's okay, everything’s okay. You're going to be okay." She repeated the words like a mantra, willing them to be true, even as her voice caught and nearly broke as she narrowly avoided letting out a sob.
She had never seen Alex like this, he was usually so energetic, larger than life, nothing ever really got him down, and it was killing her to see him like this.

She blinked rapidly, but it was no use, the tears were flooding down her cheeks now, why had he taken that bullet for her?

Right, because he loved her, and he couldn’t live with himself if something happened to her. But what he failed to realize when he made the split-second decision, was that she couldn’t bear to live without him either.

So, June told herself, because really, what other choice did she have? He had to be okay. There was no other option, he just had to be.

As if telepathically sensing her aggressively optimistic demand, “J-June…” his hoarse voice choked out in what was barely a whisper as his eyes, glazed with pain and confusion, flickered open, locking onto her own in a brief second of awareness.

"Shhh," she soothed, gently stroking his cheek. "Don't try to talk, okay? Save your energy. Please, Alex, you’ve got to stay awake. I’m right here. You’re okay…”

Alex made a soft humming sound that June decided would have to pass for passive agreement, as his eyes, flooded with exhaustion, slipped closed once again.

There was a relatively quiet few minutes before June realized that Alex wasn’t screaming any longer, though firm pressure was still very much being held on his wound, he no longer had the energy to do more than whimper rather pitifully as the wailing of sirens and the beating of blackhawk wings drew increasingly closer.

“Less than 2 minutes out.” She overheard a gruff, staticky voice bark over one of the agent’s walkie talkies, no doubt whoever executed this attack had fried all their earpieces with an EMP, no wonder they were so unorganized June realized in a sudden epiphany.

Before she could breath a sigh of relief at the imminent arrival of the helicopter that would more than likely be what saved her baby brother’s life, Henry and Nora appeared out of nowhere at a harsh sprint,their faces pale and strained.

“They…They got the shooter.” Amy informed them all, her voice devoid of all emotion as she once again checked Alex’s vitals. “Which is why they finally let you two go… It’s good that you all… I mean,... you should all be here, in case…”

“Don’t!” June and Nora chorused, their eyes wide with both terror and tears, but Henry who had already dropped to his knees, was effectively tuning them all out, as his hands immediately went to Alex's face, leaning down to press feather light kisses against the concerningly light skin, even as his eyes were alight with an unsettled mixture of undeniable terror and fierce love.
"Alex, love, can you hear me?" Henry's voice was a desperate plea as he stroked Alex's mangled curls off his forehead, his thumb gingerly tracing the faint line of a graze from a second bullet on Alex's neck as he whispered, "stay with me, darling. Please, keep fighting. You're so strong, angel."

Alex's eyes fluttered open behind his gorgeous eyelashes as he tried to focus but everything was so blurry, just a mix of shades and faintly defined shapes as he fought through every breath, the effort of simply sucking in oxygen making his entire body tremble.

Even so, he tried to speak, even as his eyes slipped closed from the effort, he needed Henry to know he was still here, still fighting for him, and he told himself that even if all he could manage was a barely audible whisper of "Hen…ry…", it was infinitely better than nothing.

“Yes, It’s me, sweetheart.” Henry sniffled, pressing a tear-stained kiss against every surface of Alex’s clammy skin that he could reach before clasping one of his hands in both of his own and pressing a kiss into his palm and lacing their fingers gently.

“I love you so much, Alex.” Henry rested their foreheads together for a brief moment, before laying down beside him and placing their still clasped, hands directly over his heart. “Feel that baby? It only beats for you…” Henry whispered before closing his own eyes and focusing on Alex’s weak, but relatively steady breathing as the beating of the Blackhawk’s massive wings began to bear down on them.

Meanwhile, wanting to give Henry as much time as they could bear to, knowing this could possibly be the last time he got to…well they all got to…

June tried to shut down that line of thinking as quickly as it had come about and was incredibly grateful when Nora distracted her for a moment or two, even if it was to fuss over her.

Only after a shrill, but loving barrage of "Are you really okay?!” and “You’re bleeding, June!" followed by at least a dozen reassurances from her fiance that she was indeed fine, did Nora calm down slightly, settling for wrapping her arm around June's trembling shoulders as they turned back to Alex and Henry, watching Henry fight to keep himself together, when he too knew the odds that this would end well, were not exactly tipping in their favor.

Alex, despite his profound effort, found himself struggling to remain on the right side of consciousness. He opened his mouth to say so, or at least he thought he did, but nothing came out. Either that or he couldn’t hear it, which was also decidedly not ideal.

It was almost surreal as he could feel his head growing increasingly fuzzy as the world blurred at the edges, as the dizzying cocktail of pain and blood loss pulled him under, but was seemingly powerless to fight it any longer.

June, one of her hands finding its way back to cup Alex's face, seemed to somehow sense this and fumbled for her phone and upon finding it, her fingers, stained with Alex's blood, pressed down roughly to speed-dial for their mother.

As the line connected and then rang she wondered whether Ellen was just now being notified, since news doesn’t travel to 60,000 feet as quickly as one would hope, even when you are the POTUS.

Or if it was even worse and she had been watching them both give their speeches at the event, only to see a glimpse of the horrific events unfold on live TV just before the cameras cut off.

No matter which scenario was actually true, or even if neither were, she needed to hear her mother’s voice, now more than ever. And after only two shrill rings, she got her wish.

"Mom? It's June," she managed, her voice cracking before she could stop it.

Ellen's voice, usually so composed, was raw with distress. "June?! I just heard what happened! Are you hurt, Kit-Cat?" The old nickname, a beacon from a simpler time, brought a fresh wave of tears to June's eyes.

"I'm f-fine, Mom. But… A-Alex…" June couldn't finish the sentence, as ragged sobs finally overtook her, causing her throat to close as Nora drew her in close, offering all her love and comfort even if she knew it couldn’t come anywhere even remotely close to the intensity of guilt and grief June was trying to endure.

"I-I know, baby, I'm on my way, going as fast as I can. I'm almost there." Ellen said, her voice shaking as she fought to remain strong. "Can you put him on, Kit-Cat? Let me talk to him? Please?"

June couldn’t do more than gasp and let out a pitiful and soggy, “mhm” as she held the phone close to Alex’s ear, before rasping out, “It’s mom, Alex. She needs to talk to you."

"Alex? Sweetie, can you hear me?" Ellen's voice, clear even through the phone, was filled with a level of fierce love and anguish only a mother could envelop. "You're so strong, my beautiful boy. You have to fight, do you hear me? You can’t give up now, because I can't…I can't lose either of my babies."

And with that it was clear that even Ellen “everyday is uncharted territory.” Claremont was crying openly now, and somehow even more shocking, she didn’t even try to conceal it, letting the sounds of her immense distress sound across the line.

She had just quieted from another long and painfilled sniffle when to all of their astonishment, Alex, with a supreme effort, managed a soft, pained, "Ma…" and gave Henry’s hand one last weak squeeze, before his grip went completely slack.

“No! Alex!” Henry wailed, his voice absolutely shattering as he saw Alex’s eyes roll back in the same second his heart-rate plummeted, before sputtering out under Henry’s outstretched palm.