Falling Skies Invasion Alone

President and Pope

I tapped my pen on the countertop I was leaning against. It was a habit that had driven Anne insane, to the point she used to take my pens from me.

But Anne was still gone. Along with all the Masons. I didn't go with them.

And... I was doing surprisingly okay without Ben.

"Cass, can you check on the President?" Lourdes called at me from across the room. I glanced over to see her with her stethoscope pressed to the back of one of the kids. They were constantly coming down with coughs and colds.

"Yeah." I cleared my throat and headed off to the end of the corridor.

Cochise had arrived, stumbling with an injured President Hathaway in his arms. Their plane had gone down just like Tom and Pope's had but Cochise had carried the President hundreds of miles back to us. They were both pretty much uninjured- Hathaway had superficial injuries but the main thing was the dehydration.

When I knocked on the door, Hathaway called for me to come in. Weaver and Peralta stood at the foot of the bed, with Cochise keeping a safe distance by the side of the bed. The President smiled when he saw me. He was sitting up and talking which was a good sign.

"Just checking in. Got a spare IV bag for you." I slipped in and closed the door behind me. Peralta wasn't my biggest fan, I think she was a, distrustful of my connection to the Volm and b, wary that I was so close to the Masons.

She gave the Colonel a look as I chucked the IV back on the bottom of the bed and took the President's temperature. "Maybe we should continue this-"

"Don't worry about Cassidy. We can trust her." Weaver interrupted her.

I smiled as the President glanced up at me. "I should hope so. She's got my life in her hands."

"Not quite, Mr President." I told him. "That's Lourdes." I continued with what I was doing, half listening to what they were talking about.

"Miracle's standing right next to me." Hathaway said. I made a face in confusion before I realised he wasn't talking about me, but Cochise.

"I simply shielded your President when we hit the ground." Cochise spoke as formally as ever.

"How is that possible?" Peralta regarded Cochise suspiciously.

"Volm bodies are adapted genetically for combat, consequently, we can withstand much greater levels of stress." He explained. That was a briefer explanation than the one he gave me when we spoke about how I was suddenly un-killable. "Hence Miss Cassidy's abilities."

"Thanks for that, Cochise." I cleared my throat, feeling the President's eyes on me.

Peralta moved the conversation onto the Volm weapon, but I was more concerned about the state of the cannula in the President's arm. It looked damaged so without saying anything, I decided to switch it out for a new one. When Hathaway asked if something was wrong, I just shook my head and said I was doing it for cleanliness.

I listened as I worked on a new IV line. Peralta was more than a little suspicious about the Volm device and she wasn't hiding it anymore. Cochise probably didn't help the situation when he went with the good old 'I am not at liberty to discuss' line. Then the security leak came up. I could see the slight flinch in Weaver when Hal's name was mentioned as being the mole in our ranks.

The kept up their diplomatic arguments about the weapon. But Hathaway was the President. What he said went.

"Cochise, can I have a word?" I smiled up at the alien once they finished making digs at one another.