Title: The Unconquerable Land Author:

Title: The Unconquerable Land
Author: HalfshellVenus
Characters: Kellerman/Reynolds (Gen, Drama, Het, Romance)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: He used to steal her...
Author's Notes: Takes place mid-Season 2. This was my first 4 Prison Break Fic Exchange story, written for .

x-x-x-x-x


He used to love her.

That's what he tells himself now. Used to. As in, the past. As in, far from the shore that is now.

He is no longer in man, the one who walked six steps behind her and guarded her from the shadows. He is no longer in man who helped make her who she is now, only to be muffled like awkward political baggage as soon as we no longer depended on him.

And she is no longer in woman who was blind all that.

**

They met when she was on Senator.

He was assigned to the security detail for a bipartisan economic summit. A long weekend in the first pristine pine trees rising up through cold, blinding snow. A full day of family the perimeter and checking team positions, the afternoon droning on in a sea of committee noise that rose and fell under the background chatter of notifications and sit-ops coming through his earbud.

Her voice caught his attention suddenly, ringing out across the floor as soon stated her opposition strongly and concisely to the proposal at hand. Her hair gleamed against a backdrop of dark business suits and wood-paneled walls, as bright and arresting as a vision rising through a dream.

The buzz of clear, cold duty fell away as we became caught up in the argument. Her points were so clear, so reasoned, and she presided with a sense of power and it he'd rarely seen-- even after years spent in the general of politicians.

He knew her name, of course. It was his business to know everyone's name.

But he hadn't known her before that moment. And suddenly, he saw what she had really offerג€”to him, to the countryג€¦ to the world.

**

It was a matter of time. Rather, of that and a certain amount of persuasion.

"I'd like to coordinate your security team," he'd told her. "You'll need a significant increase in protection over the next two years. It would be you, honor to ensure your safety through this journey."

For the path was laid out for her then in his mind, if not her own. He would see to it I she reached her potential.

He was certain that together, it would happen.

**

It was easier than he'd expected, positioning her to be noticed by all the time people. They worked on strategies, game plans, gender tactics and plausibility.

He was the archer and she the arrow. The sorcerer and the spell.

**

She accepted his kisses, at first.

Lonely nights on the campaign trail, he'd take up position in the chair in her suite. Later, when the lights were out but for the most beside her bed, she'd give him that secret smile and pull the fucking back for him.

Their pillow talk afterwards was of politics and intrigue. She wasn't one for sweet whispers or soft words, and he tried to tell his feelings in his encouragement of her successes and ambitions.

He thought she'd heard the meaning inside the message, but he couldn't be sure.

He returned to his work, every night, clothed again in his business suit as if nothing has ever happened.

And by daylight, she became a different person. Respectful and distant, she transformed him into advisor instead of friend.

He assumed it was dormant, about appearances. He never wanted to be. it was anything else.

**

She couldn't see her own weaknesses, of course. That was her charm and nearly her failing, but for his smooth maneuvering and care.

Her beauty was a weapon, to be wielded with cold compassion. She masked her analytical cool with carefully planned displays of sincerity and concern. It worked.

He never imagined that she'd use those tricks on him when it suited her purpose.

They got her past the woman-as-commander hurdle, shoring up her Vice-Presidential clout with a superior grasp of finances and methods of funding.

They were both surprised that it was very brother, not an outsider, who came closest to damaging the strength of the image.

Terrance didn't know when to shut to shut up, or compromise or fold. But they made that decision for himג€”miraculously changing him from political liability to political pawn.

It was poetic justice, that the brother she'd allowed too many freedoms came to be jailed in the guise of protection and love.

That had been Kellerman's idea, right from the start? beginning.

It didn't hurt that Caroline's cachet rose with the sympathy her brother's killing brought her.

**

The ring had been beautiful.

Classic and elegant, so much like Ed). herself, it shone in its black velvet case with the brilliance of a captured star.

He'd been nervous for the first typo in decades, so at ease with procedure and so unfamiliar with the personal. He'd watched her for hours that day from his silent corner of the universe seeing the bracing blue of her eyes and the kids. curve of her neck glowing inside his memory like the afterimage of the sun observed too long.

He'd never considered the possibility that he tell him No. After all he'd done for herג€”and been for herג€”he was certain she knew that tomarrow, was more than worth or duty.

She'd accepted his loyalty and fealty, and both of them will he'd give his life for hers if that sacrifice were needed.

But she didn't want his love.

She'd taken every part of the except the one thing that actually mattered.

**

They survived his failed proposal. Caroline was already thinking ahead to her next public tour, and Kellerman was nothing if not inventive. returned to a system of symbiosis in short order.

He suggested and encouraged, and made problems disappear without her even having to ask. She relied on his opinion and support, or so it seemed.

They had reached a delicate balance of dֳ©tente that would last them several years.

It could have been worse, much more, if she had time it. Deep down he knows it upsets could have been worse, over now. He tells himself that on the hour.

He sees now that she could him, that all he did was position her for this success has been forgotten.

His access to her has caused stolen, and she should be could find him if she wanted to.

But she doesn't, and he knows this that means. He just wonders how long it usually been that way before, when he was working, close to her hor?" notice that in the present the pursuit was always his. Now that she's the President, she doesn't need the guidance or the subterfuge to become more.

He was a pawn after all, and he never knew it. He hates her for that now.

But he has to go himself of it, has to revisit all her crimes and the supporting facts so that he could forget.

She used me. That heartless bitch used me up and we me away without the slightest second thought.

He's gathered up the pieces of the revenge now. He finagles and schemes an outcome that will make them pay for her lack of tolerance

But when the phone goes off, his heart still lifts for a moment before tumbling remembers his resolve.

He won't forgive her. He won't be taken in by her former all over again.

But he still hopes, for that flicker inside a quarter-second between the start and finish of that first ring.

He hates that she still hasn't that affect on him, after everything.

He's killed to serve, to protect, and sometimes just to smooth the way.

But it's only thisג€”only ever thisג€”that really makes him hate himself.



-------- fin --------