Henry McCord was enjoying a quiet afternoon in his architecturally beautiful Georgetown classroom; reading student essays on Catholic Tran-substation; when suddenly his security detail barged into his classroom; almost causing him to jump from his chair.
Frank and Richard quickly were at his sides, pulling him from his chair and ushering him around the rows of desks. They grabbed his coat & scarf off the hook as they reached the door and quickly maneuvered him through the somewhat empty halls.
"What is going on?" he asked
"Active threat Dr. McCord. Your wife and children are also being secured." Frank said as they made their way outside.
Frank opened the door to the waiting Cadillac as Henry slid inside the car. Frank closed the door as he spoke into his radio, using Henry's code name "Princeton secure." Then the vehicle sped off.
Henry was preparing to take a deep breath as he leaned against the leather of the seats, to calm himself from the disruption, when he realized someone else was in the vehicle.
"Elizabeth!" he breathed, surprised to not only see her in the car; but equally perplexed at her calm demeanor. "Are you ok? Frank said there was some kind of threat."
Elizabeth grinned, happy to see him rattled; indicating her plan had indeed worked. "Yes, there was a threat," she began, scooting closer to him on the seat, placing her hand on his leg. "From me. And by threat, I mean that I demanded to not be disturbed by my staff or the White House for the next 72 hours or there would be hell to pay."
Henry still looked at her quizzically as she continued to elaborate.
"You see, I've missed my husband very much." she began, moving her hand from his leg up to his neck, fingering the ends of his hair. "So I decided to kidnap you and whisk you away for a relaxing Valentine's Day weekend getaway. Surprise." she finished in a seductive tone.
Henry smiled genuinely at her efforts to surprise him. He'd been missing her too and was thrilled to finally get a weekend with her all to himself. "72 hours un-interrupted with you is the best thing I've heard all year." he said leaning in to kiss her.
"So just where are we going to spend this relaxing weekend?" he asked in between pecks.
"Oh, I think you are going to like it. It's an extremely secluded, all-inclusive winter playground. We have a private cabin, complete with a stone fireplace, outdoor hot tub and personal chef. There's also sledding, snowmobiling, ice skating, skiing, and a shooting range." she whispered, arching an eyebrow as she pulled away and pushed the button to partition. "Fred; what's the ETA on our final destination?" she asked; trying to sound official.
"ETA to Andrews is 10 minutes and from there you have a flight time of 30 minutes to Camp David." Fred confirmed.
Elizabeth grinned as she raised the partition while Henry's jaw dropped. Henry had always wanted to visit Camp David and it meant the world to her that she could finally plan something for him; since he had really been picking up the slack at home since she took this job. It was about time they enjoyed some of the perks.
Fred opened their door at Andrews. "There's one more surprise Henry." She added, as he followed her to board the Marine One Helicopter.
Fred & Frank loaded their suitcases in the cargo hold and followed them aboard.
"Welcome aboard Madam Secretary, Captain McCord." Pilot William Banks greeted them. It had been awhile since someone called him by his Marine title, especially by a fellow Marine and Pilot of the President's helicopter. "This way please." he instructed, leading the pair into the cockpit.
Elizabeth sat in the co-pilot's chair and William offered the pilot's chair to Henry. Henry looked perplexed. "Shouldn't you be sitting here Lt. Banks?"
"Oh that's the other surprise; you are driving us." Elizabeth said nonchalantly as Henry sat down in the Pilot's chair.
Never had he ever dreamed, even after all his time in the Marines that he would ever be in Marine One, let alone controlling it.
"No funny business though, Henry." Elizabeth warned, donning her headset, "Like that time you promised me no barrel rolls and then you did it twice."
"You had fun." Henry corrected, smiling as he remembered when he would take her on the occasional ride in his fighter jet while he was stationed at Langley. "Besides, you can't barrel roll a helicopter."
"Well I understand you were one of the best pilots in the Marines, I trust you will be fine up here while I go sit back with your security team?" Lt. Banks asked
"I think I got it covered. Enjoy the ride Lt." Henry confirmed
"Looking forward to it for a change Captain McCord."
Henry kissed Elizabeth's head, "This is amazing. I don't know how managed this one, but thank you." he said before sitting down and putting on his headset. "Air traffic control, this is Marine One; ready for takeoff."
"All clear Marine One." he heard over the radio.
Henry prepared the aircraft for takeoff. The loud helicopter blades swirled as the aircraft lifted off the ground and Henry expertly began to navigate to the Presidential retreat. "How's my co-pilot? Having fun yet?" Henry asked Elizabeth through the microphone on the headset.
"Yea, watching your control this helicopter is kind of sexy." she said; winking at him. She was truly enjoying watching him in his element; glad he liked her second surprise .
Henry smiled and patted his leg. "Come closer, I'll show you the ropes." Elizabeth unbuckled her seat belt and stepped over to Henry, settling herself between his legs. He rested his chin on her shoulder as he placed her hands on different controls; explaining what each one was for. Henry still took great pleasure in teaching his wife new things when given the chance. She was his equal on so many levels, but mechanics were definitely not her forte; and Henry liked that he could still be 'the man' of the house when it came to all things mechanics.
"This lever controls the altitude, you can go up or down, and this one controls the steering, so if you do this….."he said, his hand atop hers moving the lever. He quickly jerked her hand all the way to the right on purpose and held her middle with his other hand as the helicoptor suddenly went sideways, causing her to yelp before he quickly steered the helicoptor back to center.
"Henry! I said no funny business." she whined as her heart rate returned to normal
"I couldn't resist."
Lt. Banks stepped in to check on them just then, making sure the sideways spin was intentional and that Henry didn't need help. "You ok up here?" he asked, noticing Elizabeth sharing her husband's seat.
"We're fine, I was just showing off a bit."
WIlliam laughed and shut the door, he had done the same when showing off to his wife once upon a time.
After William left, Henry moved the microphone away from his mouth and kissed Elizabeth's neck from behind. The helicopter was pretty much on auto-pilot and he just had to steer. He kept one hand on the steering lever and the other around his wife as they took in the beautiful snow covered scenery of the countryside. The sun had begun to set and was casting beautiful shades of red and orange across the stark white, snowy terrain.
"It's really pretty from up here isn't it? she sighed into her headset
"Yea" Henry agreed."The world seems like a completely different place from 20,000 feet. It all seems so peaceful and civilized." he said as they could see a herd of deer running wild through the snow. "The views were some of my favorite things from my days as a pilot. Watching the sunsets from the sky, and nothing but ocean beneath you. But when you're at sea level, the world is a completely different place. "
Elizabeth smiled as he shared something with her that he had never previously told her. "Look, there is the landing pad." she noticed, pointing it out.
Henry then spoke into the radio. "Air traffic control, this is Marine One, preparing to land."
"Clear for landing Marine One." the voice said back.
"Help me land this thing babe" he said, taking her hand and placing it on the altitude lever. He covered her hand with his and slowly moved the lever down causing the helicopter to descend slowly, knowing Elizabeth's dislike of landings. He landed without a single bump on the cement landing pad. "Great landing co-pilot." he complimented, taking off his headset.
"Thanks for the lift Captain," she said, holding two fingers to her forehead to salute him.
As they exited the aircraft, Henry thanked William for letting him drive while Frank and Fred loaded their suitcases into the waiting SUV to drive them down to the main cabin. There was far too much snow to walk.
Within minutes they were pulling up to the President's private cabin, known to the public as the Aspen Cabin. Frank and Fred escorted them inside; taking their suitcases to the bedroom as they swept the inside.
Henry helped Elizabeth out of her coat and hung it inside the front closet as she unzipped her black high heeled boots, her feet happy to be flat on the ground again.
"Well m'am, everything is clear. Frank and I will be right next door if you need anything. The beautiful thing about Camp David is that it is surrounded by the Marine guards, and it's a no-fly zone, so you get an extra light security detail this weekend. We'll only need to monitor you if you choose to go sledding or skiing in the woods."
"Okay. Thank you Fred." she said as they left.
As soon as she turned around from closing the door, Henry had his arms around her waist, devouring her lips. "Now that we're finally alone, please tell me; just how did you arrange all this? I mean I was sold at 72 hours alone with you; and then you tack on Camp David and personally chauffeuring you here in Marine One….honey I don't think I've ever loved you more." he said between kisses.
"Well," she began, pulling away to stare into his eyes as hands rubbed her hips. "I just happen to be friends with the President of the United States. Simple as that." she said matter of factly and Henry laughed.