On "Coming Out":

Blake sat at his kitchen table late that evening, nursing a glass of red wine. He hadn't meant to tell her like that, all fumbly and awkward. No, he had meant to tell her one day in her office, after the end of a long day. Somehow though, it was like his voice had willed him to tell her right then, as if he couldn't possibly hold it in a minute longer.

While originally, it hadn't been eating at him, his ex's voice remained in his head. Had he been hiding a part of himself unintentionally? The idea gnawed at his stomach uncomfortably.

And so, he had told her. Stammering, and rambling, but as the words spilled out of his mouth, he felt a sense of relief. Elizabeth's kind eyes and soft smile helped him to finish.

And then.. it was done. And Elizabeth had given him a warm hug, and had given a smile that meant she truly cared for him. He had melted a bit in her arms, relieved. Not that he thought she was homophobic, or bi-phobic, but really, you never know how someone would react in a way you didn't expect, even being surprised or what have you.

He didn't know how happy he was to finally share it with her, his boss…his friend. He knew her better than he knew some of his closest friends, and that funny, always crazy family of hers.

Blake smiled, and headed to bed. Allies were an important thing, and he knew Madam Secretary would always be there.

On "The Philippines Incident":

It had been a long night. Madam Secretary had closed her eyes on and off, and Blake was inconspicuously trying not to glance at her too much. While everyone knew what an idiot the president of the Philippines was, nobody could imagine this would happen. Not that Blake knew what had happened, all that he was aware of was that there had been an "incident" and they had to leave right away.

So, to say it had been a long night had been an understatement. Elizabeth had woken up from her restless sleep, startled as the plane dipped a bit. Blake caught her eye and smiled gently. Elizabeth patted the empty seat next to her.

"Keep a girl company?"

"Of course, ma'am."

He studied her face gently. "Ma'am? Do you need to want to talk about it?"

She hesitated. Froze. But then-

"I suppose you should know, Blake. Things were getting weird in there and he..," she swallowed. "He groped me. Grabbed my bottom. I turned around and broke his nose, though I didn't know it at the time."

Blake's face was shocked. "How dare he?" he demanded. "I guess he learned his lesson, ma'am."

Elizabeth's face was tired, drawn. "I'm not sure if those kind of men ever can learn lessons." She stared out the window.

"Madam Secretary? I'm sorry for what happened. That sounded like it would have been terrifying. I'll stand up for you one hundred percent."

She reached over to Blake's hand and gave it an uncharacteristic squeeze. "Thank you. You don't need to explain though, I know you're my right hand man."

"Always," Blake promised as the plane descended onto home soil. "You never need to worry about that."