"The whole day is blocked off; it would have to be actual nuclear war for either of us to miss it." Blake was talking to Alison as they readied for the day. "As soon as they say they're doing tickets, let me know, we'll find out who all wants to come and how many more seats we need."

"Other people? I thought it would just be you and Mom, and Jason and Stevie."

"Well, your Uncle Will asked already, so I think he wants to see you graduate. It's a big deal. And a few people at work asked too."

That seemed to surprise Alison. "Really?"

"Really. The senior staff want to be able to be there if we can get enough seats."

"I'm sure they'll have something out this week. Oh, the money for the cap and gown is due by the end of the week."

Blake set his coffee down. "Well, we're headed overseas, I think your Mom has an envelope on her desk with the money though." He watched her vanish to find it, returning a few minutes later. "Got it?"

"Yeah, found it. Think she'd not freak out much if I asked for more to get something that said 'senior' on it?" She gave him a hopeful look.

"How much more?"

"Thirty dollars. Everyone was talking about getting these shirts and then everyone else signing them."

"Tell you what." He pulled out his wallet. "Here you go."

"Really?" She bounced, giving him a hug. "Thanks Blake!" She crammed the bills into her bag. "So, the whole team is going to Singapore?"

"No." Elizabeth answered as she came down the stairs.

"Wow, Mom! That dress is… aren't you going to be cold today?"

"I'll have my coat this morning, but it's eighty-four in Singapore." She grinned. "And contrary to some people's opinions…" She shot a look at Blake. "Sometimes it's just easier to dress for where I'm headed instead of changing on the plane."

"It's an entire day of flying." He started to rehash the argument.

"I know. I hear you." She turned her attention back to her daughter. "Only Blake and I are going, which I'm starting to regret already." She grinned at him.

"But you'll get some down time?" Alison asked. "You can't just be going to sit in a stuffy government building the entire time."

"I'm going for work, Noodle. Now, Stevie will be here, try not to drive her too crazy, would you?"

"I promise." Ali agreed.

"I make no such promises!" Jason announced as he rushed through the kitchen. "Have a fun trip!"

The front door slammed, plunging the house into silence a beat. "Henry's the one who wanted three." She held a straight face for a moment before she smirked.

"Of course."

=MS=

Blake stretched his legs across the seats and settled in, paperwork on the table and his laptop on his lap. "Doesn't Alison have a spring formal coming up?" He asked.

Elizabeth was across the aisle working. "Next month, I think. Then her senior prom… I can't believe my baby girl is graduation high school. Henry would've been so proud of her."

"She's worked hard, especially this year. Is she going to need to go dress shopping for either dance?"

"Um, I think she's making one of them? I should probably ask her before it gets too close. I haven't heard her giggling about any boys lately so maybe she's going with friends."

"Okay."

Elizabeth paused and then shut the binder she'd been reading. "Explain that. That 'okay' wasn't a normal okay, it was an 'I'm missing something' okay."

"Elizabeth, it's nothing." He glanced up to see she wasn't buying it. "I think there's the possibility of a boy. She and Jason were having a bit of an argument, I guess Jason knows who the boy is and doesn't like him. I only know because I've spent years eavesdropping on you and have a lot of practice picking up on the little things."

She laughed. "She likes him?"

"Seems to. Do not pester her about it, it will only cause a fight."

"Fine." She huffed. "You already told me not to pester Stevie, I'm running out of people here."

"Oh, I talked to her last weekend. You were out with Jason and she stopped by. I think I've worked out the problem on the whole delayed engagement situation."

"And?"

"And I think she's having a hard time because Henry won't be there to walk her down the aisle. Especially since it hasn't even been a year yet. She thinks it's wrong to be happy and get married when she feels she should still be sad over losing him."

"There's no rule on how long that takes. She can be happy again and move on with life, he wouldn't want her to wallow in it forever."

He arched a brow. "So, it's okay to tell her that, but not you?"

"I'm…doing better… I'm dealing with it." She drew a breath. "Aren't I?"

"You're getting there."

"That's something, right? Do you think it would help…Maybe I should try and move on with my personal life?"

"Is that what you want?"

"I don't know."

"It's not the same… Losing your dad versus your spouse." He pointed out gently. "You had to go through not having yours there when you got married, maybe you should remind her that you know how it feels walking down the aisle anyway."

"I didn't. Walk down the aisle, we went to the Justice of the Peace. I had no family really except Will, Henry was about to deploy. But you're right, I did struggle with not having my parents around for that stage in my life." She sighed. "I wasn't sure I was ready years after they died… I was Jason's age then. Now my kids have to do all that growing up without their father."

"But they have you, and they're strong because you and Henry showed them how to be strong. They'll be okay."

"Yeah, you're right." After a few minutes, she turned her attention back to the binder.

Blake let his mind wander for a bit, thinking about if Henry hadn't died, how would they all be doing, what would they be doing. How many little things might have been different if that one outcome had changed?

=MS=

"This palace is…wow." Blake spoke under his breath as he tried to take it all in.

When they got to a door, the assistant put her hand up. "Only the Secretary, please. The President has asked that this be a private negotiation."

"That's fine." Elizabeth turned to him. "You can wait with security."

"Ma'am. I don't think-"

"It's what he's asked, it's fine. You stay with them." She caught his frown. "Yes, it's…unusual, but it's not unheard of."

"Ma'am." He tried again. He agreed with the kids' assessments about how crazy President Andrada appeared to be.

"It's a direct order, Blake."

"I understand." He backed up a step, watching her vanish into the next room and the door closing. Alone, he turned back to the agents. "We're on a schedule, no matter what, we have to make Singapore on time." Pulling out his phone, he walked further down the hall, exchanging messages with Nadine and Jay on a variety of things they had going on. He was caught up in reading about Jay's lunch encounter with someone on the second floor when Matt shouting his name drew his attention. "What?" He turned, watching as Matt and the other agent were rushing toward him, Elizabeth between them. "What's going on?"

"We have to go." Was Matt's only answer. He rushed forward to lead the way out, letting Blake take his place next to her. Nothing more was said until they were inside the SUV and Blake realized that the agents were standing outside their doors as if they were waiting.

"What happened?" He turned to her, confused. It was then that he caught sight of her hand. "You're bleeding." He moved it from her lap. "You'll get it on your dress."

"It's not all mine." Her voice waivered as she spoke. "Some of it is Andrada's." Her eyes met his for a second. "I punched him."

He still was confused, he wondered if the agents could tell him more, but they still hadn't come in yet.

"I think they're giving me a second… To tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"He… he groped me. He…" Her voice caught on whatever she was going to say next.

"Okay." Blake steadied himself, focusing on the first thing. "Do we have everything?"

"Yes. Security picked up all my stuff."

"Then let's get out of here." He knocked on the window, spurring them into climbing in and driving away from that place. "How is your hand? Do you need x-rays?"

"It's not broken, I'm fine." She brushed off. "As soon as we get to the hotel, I need a SVTC with POTUS. They need to hear what happ… What happened, from me."

"I might agree with that, but I think you need to wrap your head around what happened to you first. It's only like ten minutes till we're there, but you aren't going to want to fall apart on a call with him."

"I know, Blake, but ten minutes isn't going to do it either." She snapped. "He played grab-ass, it's not like he did anything worse, we have to save this Interchange deal, my little issues can't get in the way of that."

He gaped, she'd never used a tone so heated at him before and that, mixed with her words, had him backing off the topic. He didn't try to address it again until they were in the air and headed back to DC, the Singapore trip postposed indefinitely. Assembling a small semblance of a meal, Blake nervously sat at the table across from her and studied her. Her coat was draped over her and she was looking out the window. "I'm sorry." He started. "I'm sorry you had to experience that, I'm sorry I was insensitive and I'm…sorry everything has fallen apart."

"It's the way of the world, though. Agreements fall apart… feelings get hurt… People take what they want from whoever they wish to take it from."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he simply pushed the food across the table. "Please have something to eat? You've barely eaten anything since we left, and I know you're going to jump right back in once we get home." He thought she'd argue, but after a moment, she straightened up.

"You have to eat too, Blake."

"I will."

After a few bites, she began pushing the food around. "It's been a long time since someone's put their hands on me without my permission. You know, except for when it was for my safety. One advantage, I suppose, of my security is there's been a lot less of those 'accidental' brushes so they can touch my ass or my breast or something." She glanced up and caught the look of horror on Blake's face. "Those guys exist, Blake. Not everyone is good like you."

"I- I know that, but you used the word 'less' which implies that it…."

"Still happens? Yeah. Mostly if they catch me on my own somewhere, but some are bolder than others. It's… a fact of the world. Some are lucky enough to only suffer the small stuff, which is plenty scary and a major violation anyway, but…" She sighed, working on her food some more. "Some go through so much worse than a guy getting handsy." Pushing the food away, she pulled her coat back up. "Some guys don't take well to a girl who stands up to them."

"Sounds like you speak from experience." It slipped out before he could stop it. "I'm- I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay." She whispered and then sighed. "It wasn't something I really kept a secret; Henry knew. Years went by and I moved on, but I guess today just isn't one of those days where I can speak frankly about it without falling apart."

"Then don't. You don't owe me anything, least of all an explanation."

She thought about that. He was right, she didn't owe him an explanation about anything, not even what happened in that room, but who else was she going to talk to? He wouldn't push, but maybe she needed to push herself a bit, so this didn't drag her down. "He wanted to call be Elizabeth but then denied me permission to call him by his first name. A classic tactic to create a power imbalance in the situation. Then he asked me to sit but stood over me, behind me… unsettling me. There were little things, the way he moved or sat, the way he stepped into my personal space." She took a breath. "The way he said I was sexy." His voice played over in his mind. "I was uncomfortable, and I fled the situation. I moved away to put some distance between us, and he came up behind me." She looked at Blake. "I suspected what he was doing."

"You shouldn't have had to worry about a world leader assaulting you." He reached across the table and took her hand. "You shouldn't have to worry about anyone assaulting you. We have a long flight back, why don't you rest and then, if you, want, later you can talk to me about anything that might cross your mind."

=MS=

Blake headed straight for the conference room when he got back to the seventh floor, the rest of the senior staff was already in there. "Any news on Andrada?"

All four of them turned to him. "Is she okay?" Nadine asked in return.

"She will be. She talked off and on during the flight back. She's gone home to clean up and change, but she'll be in soon. We can discuss anything else later."

"Of course."

"Well, Andrada's already put out pictures of himself in a nose splint, two black eyes, the works. He hasn't held back. His cover story is that he broke his nose at the gym by a sparring partner named Cobra." Daisy started.

"If Russell calls her Cobra, I'll be the one throwing the next punch." Blake grumbled, raising everyone's brows. "Sorry, he already took some shots with 'Sugar Ray McCord'."

"He even trotted out some guy to pretend to be his sparring partner, complete with fake black eye as well." Daisy carried on, passing him her laptop.

"Unless he actually let Andrada kick him in the face."

"When are we going to make a statement about what really happened?" Matt interrupted their back and forth.

"If by we, you mean the Secretary, why don't you ask her?" Nadine spoke as she looked out into the outer office at their boss walking in.

"Ma'am." Blake cut Matt off, shutting the laptop so she couldn't see the screen. "We were just getting up to speed."

"We need to figure out how to get the Singapore talks back on track. And we aren't going to make any of this about me, it's his word against mine, we know how that ends. Lives are at stake here and my momentary discomfort can't jeopardize that." She took her coffee and vanished into her office.

"I just thought…" Daisy started.

"You didn't." Blake cut her off this time. "It was a really long flight. If she wants to let it go, then let it go." He exchanged a look with Nadine and knew she'd be hunting him down later for more details.

=MS=

"Long flight?" Nadine asked when Blake finally found himself in her office later, door closed so they could talk freely. "Something tells me there's more going on in all this than whatever happened in that room."

"Yes and no." He huffed, debating. "Can I tell you something, totally in confidence? I… just need to, I don't know, say it out loud before I say it in the wrong place."

"You can tell me anything, Blake." She rounded her desk to sit directly across from him. "What's up?"

"I understand what it feels like to get assaulted, harassed. As conceited as it sounds, I know people sometimes think I'm a good-looking guy, I pride myself in my appearance, but some of that attention isn't always positive or…wanted. Welcome. And it's nothing new, really. Being brushed against in a crowd but then I realize it was intentional so they could touch my ass or my…" He felt a blush start on his neck. "Other touching that looks harmless but is uncomfortable. Standing too close, then the more obvious things like making a pass at me or trying to come on to me. Sometimes they don't always take no for an answer right away." He trailed off, risking a look up at Nadine after a moment. "The conversation on the plane was one sided and private, but I wanted so bad to say I understood, maybe a little, but I didn't want to make it about me or diminish the current issue with my past problems and I know it's different for a guy."

"How?" Her question made his head shoot up. "How is a guy getting felt up any different than a woman experiencing it? It's still an invasion of your person and it's still dehumanizing." She shook her head. "Blake. I'm so sorry that you experience these things and feel like you have to suck it up because… you're a guy? Because that makes you not have feelings?" She pursed her lips together and studied him. "Have you ever talked to someone and dealt with things that happen?"

"No."

"I really think you should. No one should have to deal with that. You're one of the good ones, I hate the idea of you suffering in silence because of some archaic idea that men can't be assaulted or feel violated. And, maybe, you should tell the Secretary. It's very isolating sometimes. It's one thing to know you're not the only person who's been violated, but it's another to feel isolated because no one talks about it." She saw a hint of comprehension creep into his eyes. "A story for another day and another place, perhaps." She waved off whatever comment he was about to make. "Washington has always been a man's game, but times are changing. We do all have to lean on one another and stick together to make that change though."

=MS=

It was late by the time Blake heard the front door open and close. He'd come home while Elizabeth had been in meetings at the White House. Moving to the top of the front stairs, he watched and waited as she dumped her things and headed toward the kitchen. "Elizabeth." He made himself known.

He could see how exhausted she was when she looked up at him. "Hey. Long day."

Following her to the kitchen, he stopped her. "I know it's been a long day. A long few days. And I'm sorry for how much this hurts you. I'm sorry if anything I said hurt you, it wasn't my intention."

"I know." She leaned into him, ready for a hug. When his arms wrapped around her, she stayed there. "I'm sorry too, for being short with you. It wasn't fair. I could stay like this all night."

"Don't fall asleep standing up." He laughed, putting her back upright. "Did you eat any dinner?"

"No. How about cereal?"

"Okay." He started the process. "So, how were the meetings?"

"We're getting a new defense deal; Andrada will be in DC tomorrow. And Singapore is back on next month." She saw him freeze at the statement. "Relax, he isn't getting any alone time with me this time. We'll be at the White House and he'll be on camera much of the time. I'm not sure he'd be stupid enough to try for a second hit to his nose so soon anyway."

"The man is a menace."

"Well, we know I'm part of a long line of women he assaulted, I'm not anyone special in that regard."

"Do you think… Maybe we could talk sometime when there's no work looming over us? Maybe we could have a weekend at the farm?" He tried to keep the anxiety over asking off his face but had a feeling he failed.

"Sure, Blake. If you can fit it in, it probably wouldn't hurt to have a weekend away. Is there anything you want to talk about that can't wait?"

"Uh, no." He shook his head. He didn't want to get into it tonight.