Despite leaving for Hyde Park several hours before the first band was supposed to play, Lena found herself stuck in traffic among thousands hoping to catch a glimpse of Queen perform tonight. It was not even a particularly long taxi ride, but now she was immensely regretting rejecting the limo that had been offered her. But she doubted that even a specially designated limo would be enough to get through the sheer hoards of fans crowding into the streets surrounding the park.

Eventually she was close enough that she could warrant walking. She checked her reflection in her compact mirror and pulled her hat down a little further on her face. Currently wearing the most boring and stereotypical outfit she could possibly concoct, the bell bottoms, Queen t-shirt and flat brimmed hat, which when angled correctly obscured her face, mostly hid her identity. The only thing that stood out in her appearance was the large bag at her side in which a whole new outfit was neatly folded and ready to be donned on arrival to the venue.

But for now she still had the problem of even getting there. At this point everyone was fairly calm, it was still early in the day and the energy of the band had not yet been imagined. However, if even a single person were to recognize her as Roger Taylor's girlfriend, chaos would ensue and she would be all but attacked by the fans.

Fortunately this did not happen as she picked her way through the masses of people crowding into the park. By the time she came to someone of the appropriate security level who could escort her backstage, a buzz had begun to roll through the crowd as it neared the time the opening band was to play.

"What took you such an eternity to get here darling? We'd begun to think you weren't coming," Freddie exclaimed upon first seeing her.

"I should have accepted your limo offer-"

"Of course you should have, why ever else would you need a limo other than to get places on time."

"Limos have never stopped you from being late before."

"Valid. But regardless. I hope you brought other clothes because that outfit is boring."

"Wow, thanks Fred," Lena said sarcastically holding up her overly stuffed bag, "I've got a whole outfit don't you worry. Where are the dressing rooms?"

Freddie waved vaughly to where the dressing rooms might be and something about the first door on the left. Or the right. He couldn't remember.

Lena wandered in that direction, wondering what disaster she was going to find in the dressing rooms tonight.

None of the dressing rooms were occupied to Lena's surprise, so she chose the least messy one and dumped her overstuffed bag onto the tables. Everything immediately exploded from its neatly folded position. Realistically, it was only the jean jacket had been her birthday present from the band that was taking up space, as both the colorfully striped bell bottoms and black top were made of a thin stretchy material that folded away easily.

Once changed into her 'concert outfit' and having had readjusted her hat, she cracked open the bottle of tequila that had been left on the table and took a swig. As she made a face in response, the door of the room opened to reveal a laughing Roger.

"I heard you'd finally arrived love, but I didn't know you were already breakin' into the alcohol."

"Yes well, I do hope you have some beverages that taste better than this, because straight tequila will not do."

Roger laughed and enveloped her in a hug. "Fred made sure to hide your favorite champagne from the rest of us." He rested his chin on top of Lena's head, saying, "I've missed touring with you."

"I've missed seeing you."

"I know! But you're still coming to the next couple shows right?" His eyebrows knitted with worry, "And back to help us touch up anything before we release the record?"

"Yes, but only until the end of the year."

"Three months is a long time."

"Hmm, but not long enough," Lena said now leaning in closer to him, just brushing her lips across his. She didn't know why she was encouraging this because these dressing room makeout sessions would more often than not turn into something far more than she intended.

Roger had just lifted Lena's hat off and his fingers were beginning to trail along her waistline when the door slammed open revealing an equally passionate John and Veronica.

"Dressing room already occupied," Roger said in a distinctly customer service voice.

Before anyone could answer and further add to the situation, somebody yelled down the hall for them to "get your asses up here. I swear if I have to come down there and ya'll are fucking in the dressing rooms again-"

"Coming Fred!" Lena yelled back and led the way past the rest of them and back up near the stage.

The rest of the night prior to their going on was a whirl of laughter and joking as the boys prepared and vaguely watched the other bands play. All dressed in white they stood out even against the dimly lit wings of the stage, just as they had hoped.

"Nice ballet slippers Fred," Lena said, gesturing at his shoes.

"Why thank you darling, aren't they just gorgeous?"

"From far away you won't even be able to tell that they aren't white," Roger said.

Freddie glared at him, "They are barely even tinted pink. And I like them. You don't have to."

"Fine then."

Lena laughed, "You two are ridiculous. You're all ridiculous."

"Yes we are darling, that's why you love us," Freddie said.

Brian came up just then, flapping his arms about, creating a very realistic impression of a great white bird, as the sleeves on his shirt billowed about.

"And then we have Mr. Birdman, with his large white wings."

Brian waved his arms again to further the effect, "Thank you, I always intend to look like I could just fly right off the stage."

"Nah, darling, that's my job. You just play that guitar and I'll be the one going to the heavens."

"Whatever you say Fred," Brian responded, rolling his eyes with humor.

Soon their entrance could not be prolonged any longer and the band took their places in preparation to go on stage.

"Do you want to go out and watch?" Freddie whispered as the others prepared to go on.

"I wouldn't be able to get out there."

"You could go into the press pit if you like. You've never watched one of our big shows from the audience and this is a big show. Over 150,000 people."

"Is it safe to do that?"

"Yeah, I'll just have somebody take you to the press pit and you can go wherever you like, love!"

Lena grinned, "Okay, if you say so."

"I'll prolong the show just a little longer to make sure you get out there in time."

"Thanks Fred."

He walked away and whispered to some crew members who came to escort her to the pit. She looked over her shoulder and saw the rest of them grinning at her, Deaky even giving a thumbs up, mouthing "See you out there."

After being significantly jostled around and earning some glares from photographers until they caught sight of her face, she found herself pressed up against the barricade separating the press from the fans..

The light had faded, nearing darkness, just as the band had hoped. The sky was now a fading purple that barely illuminated the crowd behind her. The stage itself was silent and dark for the time being but the anticipation in the audience was anything but quiet.

No sooner had Lena imagined the stage to be soundless, the first half minute of Tie Your Mother Down played through the speakers in what would become the riff to bookend the Day at the Races album, earning a deafening cheer from the audience. The intro built and then the stage faded into silence again for a short moment before falling into the famous piano chords of Bohemian Rhapsody. The overdub of the song played until a spotlight dropped center stage to reveal the white clad Freddie, glowing etherally, when the band came in just as just before Freddie sang;

"So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?

So you think you can love me and leave me to die?

Ohh, baby, can't do this to me baby.

Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here."

And Queen had arrived. The stage was filled with smoke and light, just how they'd intended it to look in the falling darkness, the shards of light bouncing through their hair, giving them heavenly halos. The rock section of Bohemian Rhapsody flowed right into Ogre Battle and the concert was on its way.

Magic flowed over Lena. They became someone else on stage. Suddenly the people playing before her were strangers, and yet she knew them all better than she ever had before. She was in love with a completely new person that she barely knew, yet somehow more themselves. This was who they really were, up on stage. There was something about their energy, the power in Freddie's voice and the electricity in Brian's guitar. They were legends themselves just as they were inspired by the legends that preceded them. It was loud, even the first few moments of the sound of Brian's rich, sweet sounding guitar left her ears ringing.

Her back was up against the last row of the press pit as it seemed like the best place to be as close to feeling the energy of the crowd without actually being in it. Halfway through their second song Lena felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Are you Lena?" the girl behind her yelled over the sound of the music.

"Yeah I am."

"Nice to meet you! Enjoy the show!"

Lena blinked at her in somewhat astonishment. But then she realized that right now and forever it was about the music; it was about nothing else but guitar riffs and heavy drums and bass lines and Freddie's voice. It was about them and their ability to have that energy on stage, how they could make the music feel fresh every night, how it could make you feel; it was about the music. It was about creating something in the audience that made them feel alive, and as if they were experiencing something on some celestial plane of existence. Live their music is a little more dirty, not so fresh cut as on studio versions. They knew how to work the crowd, to show them it was their music just as much as the band's.

She felt very alive in the moment. She knew that many of the songs being played were being played to fresh ears and the audience didn't know them, but the energy in the music was raw and powerful. The space where the crowd was left to sing back were moments of togetherness with people she didn't know, didn't want to know, friends she could have had, or hated, but for a few moments she was just one of them, someone in the crowd.

Riding high on adrenaline and screaming the lyrics louder than she ever had before, it was not long before the stage crashed into darkness as Brian brought out his acoustic and introduced '39. Roger had brought forward the kick drum and a tambourine as was custom, and the four white birds stood together to perform Lena's favorite song.

Perhaps it was because Roger really was looking for her in the pit, but every moment that she locked eyes with one of them, not just Roger, electricity would flow through her body. The band let their eyes roam the crowd, careful not to linger too long on one person, even her. Light shown through Brian's hair and Freddie's eyes glittered with excitement. It felt like it was just her and the band, experiencing their music as she never had before, as it was intended to be played, live and to the masses.

In recordings of the performance that Lena would look back on in years to come, not much can be heard but Freddie's voice, a deep bassline and the audience screaming, folding into clips of what rock music should really be; alive. Everything was blurred and louder in the recordings, but it still held remnants of what it was like to be there, reminding her of the energy she felt, the electricity that caused people to clap to the beat, to scream the words to songs they'd only just heard, and fall in love with people they barely knew.

In moments where there was less movement and the lights were drawn down to fall only on the piano she found herself floating out in space. Just Freddie's voice and the piano with the audience coming in even when they had yet to hear a studio version. They sang back at him and he kept playing for them, their voices bringing the song alive, the audience taking the music as their own. It meant something different to everyone, down to the kid who had never heard a rock band before in their life, to the girl who has followed the band from their early days, it belonged to them.

Lena had been told to leave after Keep Yourself Alive in order to safely get backstage before the show ended, but seeing as she did not want to ever leave this moment, she saw no real reason to leave, other than the fact that she would now have to fight a large collection of impatient photographers.

The last song caused the venue to ripple with fresh energy as the crowd knew it would end soon.

"Thank you and goodnight my darlings!" Freddie shouted as he belted out the last haunting notes of Lap of the Gods before the lights flared once more and the stage descended into darkness. The sound of the gong being dramatically hit rang through the dark and then only the sound of the crowd remained, hoping for an encore. Lena, knowing there was not going to be one, maneuvered through the photographers and backstage where she met the band, sweating and grinning wildly.

----

a/n: so this was originally going to be an angsty chapter, but then I had the absolute PLEASURE of seeing 'The Struts' live from the third row in a little tiny theatre in my city and I just wanted to write about the . So that changed this chapter, but because of that, get ready, and strap yourselves in because its about to get heavy.

Let me know what you think!

xx