Goddess
This is basically just an indulgence on my part, but you can have it too. Loosely based on Xana’s “Goddess” (which you should definitely listen to, on repeat, like I have recently)
You’re fuckin’ with a Goddess And the bitch bites back
Jay and Kat are too far away to do anything when it plays out, they can only watch. The Secret Service detail Elizabeth only recently acquired is even farther away, this was supposed to be a simple garden party fundraiser after all, every guest vetted, there shouldn’t have been any danger. The California sun is beating down and it’s uncharacteristically humid, but everyone is in good spirits, they’re up five points in the polls and are looking to beat all expectations for fundraising this quarter. This event has also turned into a chance to catch up with old friends.
Nadine is talking to a man Jay is pretty sure is the head of a major defense contractor. Elizabeth is near her chatting up the wife of a big donor, she’s starting to look twitchy though and Jay is pondering whether he needs to go intervene when a rapid series of events occur. Elizabeth is suddenly between Nadine and the defense contractor, so fast Jay doesn’t see her move, then Elizabeth absorbs a punch from him, taking it mostly on the shoulder. She barely sways, even wearing three inch heels, and as the man goes to hit again, Elizabeth uses the momentum from his swing to spin him around and send him to his knees, still holding onto his wrist. He starts to struggle and she pushes him further down, until he falls face first into the concrete of the walkway.
Everything around them has frozen and the man is still fighting Elizabeth’s hold. She holds his wrist to his back as she kneels down, one knee digging into his lower spine. “Hey Gary,” she calls out to the closest agent, “Can I get some help over here?”
Movement around them reasserts itself in a cacophony of sound and chaos. Jay hears the distinctive click of a camera and sees phones come out. He is worried less about managing the public image and more about getting to Elizabeth and Nadine, he starts to sprint over, but Kat stops him with a tug on his arm. “Don’t, I think they have it handled.”
Sure enough Secret Service is handcuffing the man as he sputters and protests, his face dripping blood, from some injury. Elizabeth is watching calmly when he spits a mouthful of blood her way “Dumb fucking bitch,” he cries. She doesn’t break eye contact as she reaches up and swipes the blood off her cheek with her thumb.
“Put your hands on anybody near me again and you’ll get worse.” Elizabeth’s voice is deadly and it rings with truth. She dismisses the attacker with a hand wave and turns to Nadine who is still standing motionless, Elizabeth wraps an arm around Nadine’s shoulders and leads her away, speaking quietly.
“Holy fuck,” Kat says at his side, then, quieter, “that was hot as hell.” Jay rolls his eyes.
“Come on, we need to find Mike and figure out how we’re spinning this.”
“I don’t think this needs much spinning,” Kat replies but follows behind him.
Later, with quotes from Conrad about how Elizabeth received basic combat training at the CIA and how she’s never tolerated bullies, combined with the attacker’s long history of assaulting women being revealed, they are in the middle of a surprisingly positive news cycle.
Jay is still trying to figure out how Elizabeth moved that fast and why half of the interns are walking around with even more stars in their eyes, but he leaves those mysteries for another day, deciding he needs to be satisfied that everyone is safe and that America is pleased that their future Commander-in-Chief can defend herself.
