Hello, this is my first time writing in this area. This is a brief Snapshot into Henry and Elizabeth's young lives. I have done the math and for Elizabeth to join the CIA and be in it for 20 years then leave in 2008 when the show implied she left means she had to have been somehow involved in college. If the two married in 1990 Elizabeth was only 22 or 24. My thought is that they have a whirlwind romance when Elizabeth was 21 meaning the two likely married just weeks or months before he deployed. This will be snapshots into their lives at different points in their relationship in no particular order. This one is about their first interaction.

Let me know what you think and leave any ideas for snapshots in your reviews.

~~~ Snapshots ~~~

Elizabeth Adams loved school. Between college credit courses at boarding school and the summer courses, she had taken during undergraduate she had managed to graduate two years early. Last year she started graduate school on her way to a masters in political science and hopefully a Ph.D., this year she had added a Middle Eastern Politics concentration as tensions in the middle east had escalated. She pulled open the door to the lecture hall and slipped into a seat in the front row prepared for her first course on Middle Eastern Religious conflict.

Henry McCord was running late. He had just returned from Marine Training only hours prior. He had spent his entire summer running drills and constantly sweating in the California Sun. His flight back to Virginia was delayed twice leaving him only an hour to shower and get to campus. His car, having not been started all summer refused to start leaving him to catch the bus. He slipped in the door to class as the clock struck 11.

Elizabeth watched as students flooded in and sat down all around her. The rush had died down when a tall brunet rushed in behind the professor. The brunet looked flushed as he passed her and headed to an empty seat on the other side of the first row. She was captivated by his chiseled physic. Realizing she was staring at him, she averted her eyes to focus on the professor.

As the course droned on Elizabeth forgot about the man a few seats down, captivated by the information the professor was providing. As class ended her attention was brought back to the handsome man who like her had been taking notes feverishly.

The professor was wrapping up, assigning several hundred pages of reading and a paper, reminding his students they are not in undergrad anymore. "Class dismissed, Mr. McCord can I see you after class?" The religion professor requested.

Henry stood up and nodded, and Lizzie was thrilled to put a name with the face as she slipped out of class.

~~~ Snapshots ~~~

The library was quiet at UVA. The first week was always a cakewalk for undergraduates and Elizabeth was not surprised to see only a few people, likely graduate students present in the common room. She slipped down the stairs to the basement where she knew no one would be, she set her stuff down at a table in the corner and pulled out her books and a small personal pizza. Elizabeth was not often a rule breaker, but she found the no food rule in the library to be ridiculous. How was she expected to get anything done if she had to leave the building whenever she needed to eat?

Only 30 minutes had passed when a voice startled her out of her reading. "There's no food allowed in here."

Elizabeth jumped and looked up finding the handsome man, Henry McCord, from class standing before her. She paused noticing he was wearing a polo from the library and realized suddenly that she had been caught by a student librarian. "I do not have any food."

Henry's eyes sparkled as he pointed to the pizza box, "I see a pizza box right there!"

Elizabeth smiled and opened the box, "No you do not." She slid the box towards him.

Henry laughed momentarily. "Are you trying to bribe me?" He smiled as he looked at the captivating blond with blue eyes which nearly pierced his soul.

Elizabeth smiled, "Yes. Its sausage and pepperoni."

Henry smiled, "Well, in that case, I suppose we can overlook this." He pulled a piece out of the box and sat down. "I am Henry McCord."

Elizabeth smiled, "Lizzie Adams." She shook his hand surprised by the electric spark that seemed to hit the two of them when their hands touched.

"Is Lizzie your given name?" Henry asked.

Elizabeth paused, her parents had called her Elizabeth, and after their death and her move to boarding school she had reinvented herself. Lizzie Adams was fun, sarcastic, studious, and nothing at all like the broken, depressed Elizabeth her parents had left in the wake of their death. "No my full name is Elizabeth; I just prefer Lizzie."

Henry saw briefly a change in her as she said Elizabeth. He saw someone hurt, but also someone wonderful. "I really like the name Elizabeth, would you mind if I call you that? It's a beautiful name for a beautiful woman."

Elizabeth blushed, his charm throwing her off. She found herself nodding. "Sure." She smiled, "I saw you in my middle eastern religion class."

Henry looked surprised, "Are you a masters student?"

"Yes, I'm in my last year. I think I am going to go on and get my Ph.D. in political science."

"Wow, I am in my last year too. Religious studies." Henry looked at her; she looked so young.

Elizabeth smiled knowing his question. "I graduated two years early from undergrad, thanks to a combination of summer classes and transfer credit from boarding school."

Henry nodded, blown away by the grace, beauty, and brains of this woman before him. "Wow, that is impressive." Impressive. That was indeed what she was. She was everything he ever imagined her, the woman he would marry, to be.

Elizabeth looked at him, "Religious scholar, so what do you plan to do with that? You are not going to be a priest are you?"

"No. I might teach, but I will be in the middle east for the foreseeable future. I deploy after graduation this year. I have got four years in the Marines before I need to decide what to do with my life. What about you."

She grinned thankful that priesthood was not on the table and finding him somehow hotter imagining him in uniform. "Wow, impressive. I have been recruited as an analyst for the government. I've spent the last few years perfecting my language and political skills to better serve them. I start after graduation. I might commute back here and get my Ph.D. part-time or I might transfer someplace closer to DC."

Henry grinned, her eyes were so blue, "An analyst, like for the CIA?"

She nodded knowing she was not supposed to just tell anyone what she would be doing she knew it needed to be a vague answer. However, she also knew he was not just anyone. "It is a possibility." She winked.

Henry smiled. "So Elizabeth, can I take you out some time for non-rule breaking pizza?"

Elizabeth's heart skipped a beat. The way he said her name made her smile. No one called her Elizabeth, but she was thankful that he was. It sounded so different when he said it. "Yes. That would be wonderful. I love pizza."

Henry chuckled, "I can tell." He gestured to the pizza box on the table.

Elizabeth laughed and smiled at Henry. Their short interaction had made her feel more like herself, like Elizabeth, not Lizzie, than she had since before her parents died. Somehow she felt whole. Moreover, it was in that moment she knew she would marry Henry McCord.