Disclaimer: I don't own Designated Survivor.

1. When he saves your ass

His presence always gave her a sense of steadying encouragement. She wouldn't exactly call it comfort, but seeing his stoic, determined demeanor offered her a sense of security. Perhaps it was because he was always so level-headed and straightforward, unlikely to pull any fast surprises or dirty tricks. There was always a thrill coursing through her as she headed to the White House for a meeting with him, with the promise of a good challenge and a good probability of a satisfying outcome. That's what gave her the reassurance she needed as their SUV sped down the streets of Washington towards the Capitol site. Aaron knew what he was doing, and Kirkman had all the right intentions about the visit, so nothing would go wrong with the first appearance out of the White House, right?

But their conversation in the car only put her more on edge as they neared the bombing site. Emily had to take a moment to gather herself before she stepped out of the car, taking Aaron's hand to help her out of the vehicle. As she gazed out at the pile of rubble that used to be the Capitol, her heel caught on a crack in the ground and she stumbled against the hood of the car, the Secret Service agent's hand closing around her arm to steady her.

"It's fine, I'm fine." Emily said quietly, surreptitiously wiping away the tears before they could spill over her cheeks. She looked out at what used to be the Capitol, the reality of last night's bombing finally hitting her like a sharp blow to her chest. She hadn't cried yet. Even before, while she had watched the news coverage, or pondered at the nonexistence of the Hill, it had all been about work. There had been no time to be afraid, to grieve, or to cry.

She waited outside with Aaron and Seth as the President went in for his briefing with Deputy Director Atwood. The first responders continued working, calling out once as they poured over the ruins. She watched the blank mask fall over Aaron's face as he regarded the scene in front of him while Seth's face showed unhindered horror.

"My God," She whispered, feeling her throat begin to close up again, but then the President emerged again and she straightened up, her eyes staying on Kirkman as he began speaking into the megaphone, letting his words comfort her, nearly missing the look Aaron threw her over his shoulder as he pulled his phone out of his jacket. Emily moved closer to Seth to peer over his shoulder to see what the commotion was about. Cold dread washed over her as she watched the boy in Michigan be brutally assaulted and she jammed her hand into her pocket to dig out her own phone, her mind spinning with ways to do damage control.

But Aaron beat her to it, as he leapt into action the second the reporters began diverting their questions to Michigan, "The President is not taking any questions right now, thank you." He yelled, moving towards Kirkman, but Kirkman moved closer to the clamor of reporters as he strained to hear their questions.

Emily looked up from the news article as the gaggle of reporters increased in volume, pushing forward against the barricade to get their inquiries answered. There was a sudden crash as the barricade broke and screams erupted into the air, an agent's voice yelling the one word that no one ever wanted to hear so soon after a bombing.

"Gun!"

Beside her, Hookstraten was instantly pulled back to the vehicles by her Secret Service detail and Kirkman was swallowed up by a sea of agents. Seth was calling her name over the chaos as she stood, frozen to the spot. Was that a gunshot she heard?

All around her bodies were moving; men in black suits were swarming around to tighten the perimeter and get all personnel inside their respective vehicles. Her eyes fixed on Aaron, pushing the First Lady towards her Secret Service agents as guns were drawn on the crowd, causing them to recoil in panic and surge backwards onto each other.

"Emily!" Aaron's eyes focused on hers and suddenly he was pushing agents out of his way to get to her, grabbing her by her shoulders as he ran them to their car, his arm wrapped protectively around her, more or less throwing her into the SUV before getting in himself, pulling the door shut quickly, glancing back to make sure Seth was in his seat behind them.

"Go, go!" He told the agents and they sped off. Aaron turned o Emily, his eyes hard, concerned, and she half expected him to yell at her for not moving but his voice was surprisingly gentle as he asked, "Are you okay?" His eyes scanned her for any signs of injury as she nodded, willing her hands not to shake as she tried to buckle herself in. His eyes lingered on her for one more second before throwing another look in Seth's direction and pulling out his Blackberry.

"Get me Michigan. Now!"

My unnecessary editorial: Here we go, Season 3 is finally out! I *will* finish this fic before I write anything new involving S3 so bear with me while I revel in the first couple seasons before I finish watching S3 –no spoilers please- except that wow, Kal Penn was not kidding when he said to put the kids to bed first… I think they dropped more f-bombs in the first 5 minutes of ep1 than Kirkman said "Son of a bitch" in all of S1-2…