A/N: You guys are very determined for me to keep writing this. The story map is set, so hope you can work quickly to solve what's going on! Also, if you haven't figured out, each chapter name is based on a song with the same title. Happy music hunting!

Peering through the glass separating Elizabeth's room in the ICU from the nurse's station, FBI Director Fordham could see Henry McCord's form hunched over Elizabeth's bed. Henry had just been reunited with his wife after she had undergone surgery for her broken ribs, and the steady beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound that filled the sterile box of a room. Upon entering, he had immediately intertwined his fingers with Elizabeth's and sat on her right side. Knowing there wasn't any comfortable position he could simultaneously rest and keep hold of his wife, Henry accepted the unorthodox twisting of his spine so that his head rested next to her elbow.

After talking to Alison and Jason on the phone, he was reassured that they were safe in the White House Bunker and would not be touched while he was with Elizabeth. Part of him yearned to have his children at his side, but the FBI discouraged any unnecessary movement of the McCord family until they knew exactly what was going on. Thankfully, Will had driven up from Virginia to stay with Ali and Jason for the night. Henry was comforted knowing that they had a piece of Elizabeth with them at the moment.

Stevie, on the other hand, had received a few stitches on her knee at the hospital. Remarkably, she was relatively unharmed physically. It was the emotional and mental toll that was proving to be difficult for her.

"Dad, this is all my fault! If someone was going after Dimitri because he was an asset, like you said, then I put everyone in danger!" Stevie frantically attempted to explain her wrongdoing while Elizabeth was in surgery.

Henry sighed heavily and gently placed a hand on her arm while saying, "Honey, you did nothing wrong. This is on him, not you. He knew the risks and your mom and I would have stopped the relationship had we known."

Stevie felt the need to argue more but Henry stopped her before she could even start, "Stephanie McCord, all that matters is that you're ok, mom is going to be ok, and Alison and Jason are fine. No one is blaming you."

Henry's words finally struck a nerve as Stevie's emotions got the better of her. Tears bubbled over and her face contorted into anguish. She reached out for her dad, and Henry immediately drew her into a tight hug.

Rubbing his hand up and down her back reassuringly, he whispered, "Sweetheart, you were amazing under pressure. You helped me find your mom and kept it together. You were running on adrenaline. It's ok to let it go now."

Stevie clung on to him even more as the weight of the situation began processing in her mind.

"We're here for the night, so why don't we ask someone to get a cot ready for you in whatever room they're gonna put mom, yea?"

She pulled back and gave her dad a slight smile and nodded in agreement. Before she had a chance to ask though, Henry pulled her back to him and just held his daughter. Both closed their eyes and embraced the comfort the hug provided.

Eventually, Stevie had a random thought and deadpanned, "You know, it takes thirty seconds for hugs to kick in and release the oxytocin hormone in your body."

Henry tilted his head and wordlessly inquired where this had come from.

"Mom told me last week when she wouldn't let me go from a hug."

Henry's eyes welled with laughter as he thought back to all the times Elizabeth would pull his body back to hers for an extra few seconds while embracing.

He put an arm around Stevie's shoulder and lamented, "Yea, your mother tends to give affection in bouts of large quantity. Always has and I'm sure always will."

Henry winked at Stevie and the two made their way to the nurses' station to ask for a cot.

MSMSMSMSMS

With Stevie finally having fallen asleep on the other side of Elizabeth's bed, Henry let himself drift off into a restless sleep. It seemed like only seconds had passed when he felt a hand gently shaking his shoulder.

"Dr. McCord," Henry groggily peered over his shoulder to see Director Fordham speaking, "I have some information about the last few hours I wanted to share with you. Do you want to step outside the room so we don't disturb your family for a few?"

Henry glanced back to Elizabeth and Stevie, then nodded in agreement. As he stood, Henry bent over and readjusted Elizabeth's nasal cannula and softly kissed her forehead. He gently smiled when he noticed her face was no longer clammy like before. He pulled away and made his way through the door and around the corner so he could converse with the Director while still having Elizabeth in his sights through the glass window.

Once he turned to Director Fordham, the gruff man began to speak, "So we have provisional information at best, so I'm going to provide you with as much as I can."

"No disrespect Director, but just give me what you got," Henry pushed.

The Director seemed taken aback by Henry's bluntness, but quickly recovered and continued, "Right, of course. Well, we know that Dimitri Petrov has been kil—"

"Already aware. What else," Henry could feel his frustration bubbling rapidly.

"Russian operatives wanted him dead for treason—"

Henry rolled his eyes as if to say "duh."

"—and Agent Derrick Marks was working an inside job. The two agents on driving duty tonight were Agent Marks and Agent Matt—"

"Yes, yes I know," Henry exasperated, "Derrick had one car and Matt and Amelia were in the other. What I want to know is why neither of them were there when the shots were fired?"

"I was getting to that, Dr. McCord," Director Fordham sternly replied, "Derrick had the one car, and immediately drove off as soon as he heard the original shots fired at Mr. Petrov."

"You think the shots were a sort of signal then?" Henry questioned.

"Yes, that is what we believe. We also believe there were two other men present during the actual operation to kill Mr. Petrov, and one of these men fired the shot. Derrick only took a van and attempted to follow the other two so that they could be picked up after the murder."

Henry felt a shiver course through his veins as the image of Elizabeth and Stevie being confronted by two, physically imposing men ran through his mind.

"Wait, hang on," Henry was confused now, "Why did Elizabeth become involved in this? If they were going after Dimitri, what prompted them to also attack her?"

"Ah yes, well that's where it gets a bit murky and we'll have to speak with the Secretary to understand her side of the story. However, from what Stephanie said, they heard the original gunshots and all three took off running. It looks as if both your wife and daughter were attempting to protect Mr. Petrov from the attack."

With this revelation, Henry ran his hand over his face and through his hair, resting it on the back of his head.

"Of course she tried to save him," Henry muttered under his breath.

"What was that Dr. McCord?"

"N-nothing, just thinking things through," Henry replied, "Is there any other information you have? An agent mentioned someone who may have caused Matt and Amelia to crash?"

"Marissa Shingles," Director Fordham continued, "We believe she's behind the tampering of their car. It is likely this was done to prevent any interference with the attack on Mr. Petrov. We have no reason to believe it was a deliberate attempt to harm either of them, just a way to get them out of the picture for an amount of time. My agent did mention that you and your daughter seemed to come to a similar revelation about the crash? Is there something that you could tell us that you think may be pertinent to the investigation?"

Henry took a moment to recall what was said in the ambulance when it hit him.

"Yes! We, I mean Elizabeth and I, have seen a similar sort of tampering done on a vehicle that would cause a one-car collision."

The Director's brows raised and he quickly clicked his pen in preparation of scribbling notes on his pad.

"When our friend from the CIA, George, died just a few weeks after Elizabeth was sworn in as Secretary of State, it was in the exact same fashion that tonight's crash occurred. I have no idea if that is a coincidence or if some sort of connection could be made, but there's a certain skill that is required to successfully do this."

"Right, understood. We will look into this right away. In the meantime," Director Fordham glanced in the direction of Elizabeth, "I hope that Secretary McCord recovers quickly. She is arguably the brightest piece of America's future."

Taken aback by his words, Henry smiled and offered his hand to the Director in thanks. They shook hands and Director Fordham strode determinedly down the hall.

Meanwhile, Henry quickly returned to his wife's side and began mulling over all of the information that had just been provided. After a few minutes, his mind began mixing details and he took this as a sign to take a break for a while. Holding Elizabeth's right hand in both of his, he brought it up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. He continued holding her hand while resting his cheek against it, finding any way to bring her comforting touch to him. Henry felt a tear making its way down his cheek as he surveyed his wife's predicament. The bruising around her eye was painful to look at, and he prayed it wouldn't hurt her too much to open her eyes. All he wanted was to see her, not just her body. He wanted to be able to convey his love for Elizabeth through connected gazes and reassuring touches. He yearned for her to simply be there with him. Her presence and smiles brought so much comfort, and he needed her right now. He needed her to tell him that everything would be alright.

As more tears began to build in his eyes, he felt a soft stroke on his thumb. Looking down, he saw Elizabeth's fingers soothingly running over his. He smiled through the tears.

"Henry," his head snapped up and he saw Elizabeth's non-bruised eye open slightly to observe him.

He broke into a wide grin as Elizabeth hoarsely whispered, "I've got you."

Henry squeezed her hand and scooted the chair as close to the bed as he could.

"We've got each other."