I was asked for the ages of both Elizabeth and Henry in this fic, as its set a few years earlier than the show, and if I'm honest. I really hadn't thought of that. So.. Whoops? But my guess is on the show they were 45, and 47? Her being said to be 44/45 in season 1 and him only a few years older? I don't know!:( But anyway for the sake of this fic, lets say... Elizabeth is 38 and Henry is 40 cos.. why have it make sense when you can have it not? make? sense?
Henry was sat at his desk at the DIA, looking through the files of information their asset had gathered while undercover in Russia, Dimitri Petrov, but he couldn't concentrate. His mind kept wondering back to the woman who seemed to have tugged on his heart slightly, Elizabeth Adams, The Secretary of State, his old college rival. He hadn't seen her since the last day of the missile op, and their last conversation ran through his mind again, and again, and again.
"I'd love to get to know you a little better." He said.
"Would you?" She challenged.
"I would." He smiled, and she began to walk out of the elevator.
"You know where to find me." She said, and walked off, a smile on her face, and Henry laughed.
Over the last few weeks, he's thought about calling, about visiting, about coming up with se plan that would just happen to have them being in the same room, but he'd always chickened out. Ever since the death of his wife he'd never really thought about dating, he'd had girlfriends since then, but none of the really stuck, he was never able to allow himself to fall her them, they just never felt right, so the fact that Elizabeth, after only working with her for five weeks, managed to erupt a feeling he'd blocked out for so long, scared him slightly. That and the fact that his daughter would most probably kill him for dating the mother of her longest, and dearest friend. Oh, and she was Secretary of State. But today, as he sat in his office, staring at the phone on his desk, he plugged up the courage and dialled the number of her office, and as it rang, he took a deep breath, and a smiled formed on his face. You never know unless you try. He thought to himself.
Elizabeth was sat in her office, reading through a proposal from the Russian Government, when Blake walked in.
"Agent McCord is on the line for you." Blake said, and Elizabeth looked up with confusion written all over her face.
"Why?" She asked, and Blake shrugged his shoulders, before walking out of her office as she picked up the phone.
"Agent McCord, to what do I owe the pleasure." Elizabeth joked, and she heard him chuckle and it made her heart tighten and her stomach to flutter, and she closed her eyes. This could not to be happening, she could not have feelings for this man. They'd only really gotten to know each other over a month ago. And she hadn't heard from him in weeks.
"Well, Madam Secretary, I was thinking our conversation the other week." Henry said, a teasing tone, and Elizabeth placed her pen down and leaned back on her chair with a slight chuckle.
"Really? What part would that be?" She flirted back.
"I recall saying something along the lines of, id love to get to know you a little better, and you telling me just where to find you." Henry told her, and she hummed in response.
"I remember." She said, trying her best to hide her smile.
"So, now that I've found you, does the offer to get to know you better still stand?" Henry asked, and she laughed to herself at the nervousness she heard in his voice.
"Well, that depends. Where do you plan on getting to know me?" Elizabeth asked.
"Hmm," He sighed, and she bit back a smile once again, "I was thinking maybe we could grab a coffee? Low-key, I doubt any reports would find us and spill any dirty secrets I may uncover while we're there." He joked, and Elizabeth laughed slightly.
"That would be nice." She said softly, and Henry felt his whole body relax.
"Tomorrow, around four pm?" Henry suggested.
"I'll see you there, Agent McCord." She teased.
"Good bye, Madam Secreaty." He teased back, and they both ended the call. Elizabeth smiled to herself, before composing as Blake walked back into the room.
"You're needed in the sit room, Ma'am." Blake said, and she nodded, standing up.
"So, you and Agent McCord..." Blake began as he walked with her to the elevator, and she looked at him.
"Boundaries, Blake." She joked, and he went silent, before catching her smirk.
"Yes, Ma'am." He replied, and smiled back at her as she pointed at him as the doors shut.
While on the way to the coffee house, Elizabeth found herself more nervous than she thought she would be, and very stressed over what her daughter had said. She knew she didn't have to tell her daughter anything about her life, but, she was going to coffee with her friends dad, and didn't her daughter deserve a heads up on that? How would she react? Elizabeth's mind went back to Stevie's empty threat, and how much she hated the idea of her mother dating her friends father, and that stressed her out even more.
As they arrived at the coffee shop, her detail remained outside, and she compromised that one would be indoors, and sat on the other side of the little diner, and Elizabeth smiled as she saw Henry sit down, a coffee mug in his hands. It seems as though are timing is very similar, she thought to herself, and walked in, her stomach flipping as she saw Henry smile in her direction as she walked over, and she sat on the seat opposite him, and smiled as a petite woman came over, and after she walked away to collect the secretary's order, Elizabeth looked back at Henry.
"Hey." She said, a smirk on her face.
"Hey," He said, his face mirroring hers, "I see we have a few other joining us." He joked, looking at the detail outside, and the one placed discreetly at the counter, on the ball for any sudden dangers, and he laughed as she sighed.
"I know, I tried my best to make them stay in the car." She joked, and the conversation was set from there, they laughed, they joked, they asked questions, and then they got onto the topic of families.
"My daughter warned me." Elizabeth said with a laugh, and he raised an eyebrow, "She doesn't want me dating her best friends dad-" Elizabeth started, and quickly tried to backtrack, which led to rambling. "Not that this is a date, I was just saying that she didn't want to be do anything with any of her friends dads, not that I would just do anything with anyone.. I was just saying that Stevie would hate that..." Elizabeth found herself unable to stop talking, and took a breath when Henry placed his hand on hers to quiet her.
"Hey. Its fine. I know what you meant, Brooke was the same. She told me that if it goes sour and awkward and she and Stevie start to drift that she was moving to Idaho." Henry laughed, and Elizabeth laughed along.
"Idaho?" She asked, and Henry nodded, his smile fading, but still present.
"Her moms home town. Her grandparents live there." Henry told her, and Elizabeth felt her heartbreak for both him and his daughter at their loss.
"I'm sorry. Again." Elizabeth said, "I keep messing up around that topic." She said, and Henry shook his head
"Don't worry about it, it was a simple question with a simple answer." He smiled, and she nodded, and they spoke about his late wife for awhile.
"How did Brooke cope with her mothers death?" Elizabeth asked, hoping it wasn't too inappropriate, but Henry didn't mind.
"She was only three when Sarah died, so, she was confused for awhile, but she never really felt her loss, if you know what I mean. I know she definitely misses her, and wishes she had a mother to go to for certain
things, but I like to think I'm there for her when she needs it." Henry said, and Elizabeth smiled.
"I'm sure you are." She told him.
"Have you met Brooke?" He asked, "I've met Stevie a few times, such as when their, studying..." He air quoted, causing her to laugh, "They've been friends for a long time, I'm surprised we didn't bump into each other sooner." Henry said, and Elizabeth drank the last of her coffee, before looking at him.
"I avoided you." She said, and he laughed
"I did the same." He told her, and she laughed along with him, and then her phone rang.
"I have to get back, but this has been lovely." She said to him, and he nodded.
"We should do this again sometime." Henry suggested.
"We should." Elizabeth agreed.
"How's Thursday night? we could go for dinner? Again, somewhere low-key." He told her, and she nodded.
"I'd love to." She said.
"I'll call you." Henry said, and she stood up, grabbing her coat.
"I'll see you on Thursday." She smiled, and he nodded, and watched her leave, laughing as she looked at her detail with shock as they said something to her, in which she laughed at.
Henry stuck to his word and called her later the next day.
"Thursday, nine pm?" He asked.
"I look forward to it, Agent McCord." She joked once again.
"Me too, Madam Secretary." Henry said, and they placed the phone down.
And then all of a sudden in was Thursday at half eight and Elizabeth was nervous, stressed, yet quite excited. Elizabeth looked at herself in the mirror and ran her hands over her clothes. She was wearing something low-key, just as Henry had suggested, Black jeans, a loose white top, and some simple black heels she would normally wear to work. Her hair was down, coming just of her shoulders, and she kept the loose curls in from her day and grabbed her black coat from the bed and turned to find Stevie appearing in her door way.
"You look way too hot for this to be a, work thing." Stevie told her mother, and sat on the bed, "If you're going on a date you can tell me." Stevie said, and her mother looked at her. Was she even going on a date? Elizabeth didn't know.
"Its just something low-key with someone I've known for awhile. That's all." Elizabeth said to her eighteen year old. "No biggie." Elizabeth said.
"Okay. No biggie." Her daughter nodded, and then Elizabeth's phone pinged.
"Okay, I have to go. Make sure Jace is fast asleep before you go to bed and if he has another night terror ring me. Okay?" Elizabeth said, feeling bad about leaving her six year old as he struggled with the new routine of not having a father.
"We'll be fine. I got this. Go. Have fun." Stevie said, and Elizabeth nodded, before heading down the stairs and quickly out of the door and into her motorcade, and looked at the man she was sat next to.
"Once again, I apologise for the strangeness of this. They wouldn't let me go alone." Elizabeth joked to her detail, Matt.
"Its for security reasons, Ma'am." Matt said once again.
"It's fine. I guess going on a date with the Secretary of State has its hurdles." Henry joked, and Elizabeth laughed, smiling to herself. It is a date, Elizabeth thought to herself. and for some reason, that thought made her happier than she'd been in years.