AN: Here's a little one shot prompted by my recent ocean visit.
The call of the gulls and the waves crashing into the beach stirred Elizabeth from her sleep. Draped across Henry's chest, the steady thump-thump of his heart beating against her cheek, drew her to a more wakeful state.
She slowly opened her eyes and watched the curtain that covered the sliding doors flutter in the breeze. She pushed up off of Henry and slipped out of bed, careful not to wake him. He was so handsome laying there totally relaxed, deep in sleep
Elizabeth smiled. She was extremely proud of him for overcoming his fear and going scuba diving with her. Thankfully he wasn't bitten by an eel and he even admitted thinking it was beautiful. Elizabeth grinned down at him. She thought he'd been rewarded nicely last night, not that she didn't reap the benefits as well.
Elizabeth moved away from the bed and used the bathroom before putting her bikini on and slipping out the sliding door. She'd meant to only stand on the patio and watch the ocean, but the rhythmic crash of the waves against the beach drew her in. Making her way down the wood planked walkway, she stepped out into the white sand and walked toward the water.
Standing on the wet sand, the water rushed up over her feet and when it receded, she watched as the sand flowed away, her feet sinking just a little. Over and over again. It was almost hypnotic, watching the tiny grains float away into the abyss.
Wading further out into the water, Elizabeth thought about the last several years. Becoming Secretary of State was never a job she aspired to. It seemed like she spent most of that first year waiting for Conrad to tell her that he had made a huge mistake. But, once she got her bearings, and understood better how the game was played, she was successful, and now-now she was planning to run for President.
The wave splashed up, startling her from her reflections. She waded out further, where the water was calmer and reverted back to her thoughts. President? Could she really do that? She let the wave pick her up off her feet and set her back down. Conrad told her that her fight was tomorrow's. Could she really do that? Did she want to do that? These last few years had taken a toll on her family. Her marriage. She sighed and let the wave take her again.
Henry was on board. He was always her biggest champion. Except the one time he wasn't. Elizabeth did her best not to dwell on that period in their marriage, but it was there. The time she wanted too much. The time Henry said no.
Being lifted off her feet and set back down again, she shook her head. That wasn't right. He never told her no. He told her he didn't know what it would look like when she returned, and the veiled threat was enough. Her fear put her in her place. Her fear of losing him, of losing her family, made her say no, made her upend her life, made her walk away from her career.
She had to jump with the waves now as she continued to wade farther out. The water was at her chest. She could no longer hear the gulls, only the rushing around her. It was relaxing. It started to put order to the jumbled thoughts in her mind.
In hindsight, she had needed that break from the CIA. Henry was right. Going to Baghdad would have changed her. Conrad had said no, but she still wondered if she would have ended up like Juliet if she'd gone. Her heart ached for Juliet and George and even Andrew. They had been her friends and somewhere along the line things went askew. George dead, murdered by Juliet. Andrew dead by his own hand, and Juliet locked up for the rest of her life.
Elizabeth had made a name for herself in academia. She enjoyed teaching and it gave her a creative outlet that she didn't know she'd needed. With less stress in her life, she and Henry had grown closer. She'd been present as the kids grew up. It was Elizabeth the soccer coach, Elizabeth the carnival chair, Elizabeth the field trip chaperone. She smiled. She would not have had the opportunity if she'd been at the CIA. Those days were the ones she wouldn't trade.
Since becoming Secretary of State, their family life was far from normal and would become less so if she actually did announce her candidacy for President, worse if she actually won. Everyone, even Jason, was for it, and she had been too, but now, in the face of Owen Callister and Russian collusion, the Climate Change Treaty signed but precariously held together, it just seemed out of reach.
A large wave lifted her unexpectedly and sent her backwards. She was about to lose her footing and go under when Henry pulled her into his arms.
"I got you," he whispered against her ear, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "What are you doing out here?" he asked.
"Thinking," she said. "Do I really want to do this? I thought I did, but now that it's looming, I'm not sure. Is it worth it?"
"Short answer? Yes, you want it and yes, it's worth it." He turned her in his arms jumping them both over the wave.
Elizabeth held him tighter, clinging to the stability he provided, both physically and figuratively. "Are you sure? I can't do this without you." Elizabeth's eyes held a vulnerability that he rarely saw.
He held her close as they were buoyed by the salt water. "I am the man beside the woman. I will always be there for you." Henry rested his forehead against Elizabeth's. She shifted and brought her lips against his, tasting the salt water on them. Driven by an unknown force, her tongue pushed into his mouth tangling with his. Elizabeth's hand gripped the back of his neck as the other meandered down his torso into his swim trunks. Henry moaned into Elizabeth's mouth as her hand wrapped around his penis and stroked him, pressing her throbbing core into him.
"You want to do this here?" he mumbled as she shifted her focus to his balls. She stilled and then removed her hand.
"Actually no. Let's go back. We still have four days of vacation left. The last thing I need is seaweed or sand places that it doesn't need to be and it ruin the rest of our trip."
Henry placed a sloppy kiss on her neck as they turned to walk back to shore. Elizabeth stopped and let the wave hit her back and lift her up, moving her a few feet. She grinned at Henry. "Don't let me forget how this feels." Henry looked at her curiously. "How it feels to give in and not fight every little thing. To see the big picture.' Elizabeth reached out taking Henry's hand again. "I'm going to get wrapped up in this campaign, and I don't want to lose sight of the things that really matter. I'm doing this for the good of our country, but it's meaningless if it costs me my family. There was a time when I didn't know that, but I know it now."
Henry stepped in close. "That won't happen. You won't let it." Elizabeth still looked apprehensive. "And I won't let it. I know what's on the line." Henry laced his fingers through hers and walked with her the rest of the way to shore.
They leaned into each other and walked quietly hand in hand up the beach. Elizabeth reached up and touched Henry's cheek, tugging him down toward her mouth. Capturing his mouth in a bruising kiss she murmured, "As much as I love Matt and Frank, I don't miss being watched all of the time."
Henry chuckled, "Not like you ever let them stop you." Elizabeth playfully smacked his chest.
"I'm sure that I wouldn't let anyone see what we're about to do," she murmured. Henry grinned.
"We've got to go on vacation more often." He said, pushing her through the door as he pulled the curtain closed behind them.