PROMPT: Elizabeth falls asleep on the couch, leaving her right in the middle of the house for everybody to witness when she has a terrible nightmare or panic attack. (by lilacmermaid)

It had not been an easy time for Elizabeth. It hadn't been an easy time for anyone, really, but Elizabeth had been going non-stop since the day of the almost-beginning of nuclear war. She barely ever had time to sleep, let alone to be with Henry or her children. She had to hand it to her husband, he had fully been keeping their house and their family running since it had become Elizabeth's mission to see this thing through.

On this particular evening, however, she'd been convinced to take a little bit of time off. That, too, had been Henry's doing of course, with just a little of Blake's coercion thrown in. She'd conceded, though not with ease, and had found her way home at the remarkable hour of four o'clock in the afternoon. She couldn't remember the last time she had made it home to Henry that early in the day, and though she had put up a fight about it on the offset, by the time she arrived at the Georgetown home bustling with McCord family life, she had resolved to make the most of it, to enjoy the time with her family as much as she could. Henry was right; she needed that. And so did the rest of them.

The kids- though you could hardly call them kids these days- seemed happy to have her around as well. Alison was going to help Henry with dinner and Stevie had spent nearly an hour out of her own busy schedule just chatting with Elizabeth upon her arrival. Even Jason hovered nearby, full of snarky comments as usual but there, present. It was nice, Elizabeth thought as she sank into the couch cushions, listening to her husband's familiar voice from the kitchen and taking in the way the house was slowly filling with the good smells of dinnertime in a bustling home. It was reminiscent of earlier days, which hadn't been so long ago but which usually felt as though they came from another lifetime altogether. Right now, those days didn't feel so distant at all. In fact, listening to the comforting sound of Henry's laughter in the kitchen, Elizabeth thought that maybe she could just...sink right into them…

There was something wrong. Elizabeth could feel it in every bone, every cell of her body aching with the tension. But what? What was it?

She rose from the couch and looked around, but there was no one. The house was empty, eerily silent. There had been noise before. Hadn't there? Her family had been here too, she knew it. She looked down at her clothing; it was the same pair of Henry's sweatpants, rolled at the ankles, white t-shirt, and baby blue zip-up jacket that she'd been wearing since she first got home from work. Henry had insisted that she change out of her work clothes right away.

Henry.

He'd been laughing in the kitchen with Alison...she was sure it was only a moment ago. She had heard them, seen them. Stevie and Jason, too. The whole family had just been in the house. She knew it.

"Henry?" she called cautiously. She waited in utter silence, hoping for an answer from him, but received nothing. She tried the kids next, but again- nothing. Fear was starting to tug at the edges of her consciousness. There was something wrong, a knowledge that pulled Elizabeth's instincts in a direction that she would've preferred to stay away from.

"Henry?" she tried again. Nothing.

And then- a faint call for her, somewhere that she couldn't reach, somewhere far away. She spun in a circle, looking for Henry, calling out to him, but the house was so still. And then screaming- Stevie. Elizabeth knew it in her heart, that was her daughter. And calls for Mom, the tones of her son's voice, unintelligible crying that she could identify as Alison's.

"Elizabeth!"

"Henry!" she could hear the desperation in her own voice as she tore through the house, frantically trying to follow their distant calls for her but unable to determine the source. Tears pricked her eyes, her panic growing with every passing second, a choked sob wrenching air from her lungs as she called for them.

And then- a blast. Indescribable in its sound and intensity, like nothing Elizabeth had ever experienced. Time seemed to stop. Ear-piercing shrieking that seemed to go on and on and on and was it the blast or was it her children? Elizabeth didn't know. She didn't know anything- she didn't even know where she was anymore. It was hot, so hot and she thought she might be dead and then she thought that it wouldn't hurt this badly if she were dead and her house was- gone. Leveled. And her with it, she was sure, and maybe that screaming was her, actually. And-

"Elizabeth!"

"Mom?"

The McCord children and their father had been in the kitchen when the screaming started, making them all jump and it had been followed by the worst, most ringing kind of silence, and then the clattering of the knife Henry was holding on the countertop, and he was gone before the kids could say a word. They followed suit, but by the time they all gathered in the living room, it was to behold a disturbing scene. Elizabeth was thrashing on the couch, tangled in the throw blanket that Stevie had spread over her when she walked by a few minutes earlier, finding her mom asleep. Elizabeth, in sleep, was still screaming- and intermittently crying- and she looked tortured. Their father was kneeling at her side, his hazel eyes dark and troubled but otherwise the picture of calm.

"Dad?" Jason asked uncertainly.

"It's okay," Henry answered, but he didn't take his eyes off of Elizabeth.

His assurances were not altogether very helpful- Elizabeth had progressed now to screaming not incoherently, but for Henry, his name falling from her lips in panicked, distraught cries.

"Elizabeth," Henry said softly, cradling her head in his hand even as she continued to move and turn and tangle herself in the blankets. The children hung back, watching with wide eyes as the scene unfolded before them.

"Elizabeth," Henry said again. "Babe, wake up. You're okay, Elizabeth, come on."

"Henry," she cried. "No."

"Dad-" Alison started.

"Alison, please be quiet," Henry instructed calmly. She fell silent immediately, taking a tiny almost imperceptible step backwards.

"Elizabeth, it's me," Henry said, and as he did so he gently lifted her from the couch and settled in with her, her trembling body curled into his own.

"Go upstairs, and please turn the stove off," he said, finally looking up at the children as he held Elizabeth against his chest. They looked like they half wanted to argue, but didn't. Silently, the three McCord children filed out of the room with half-terrified backwards glances. Henry thought that there was a decent chance they'd all linger on the landing to eavesdrop, and that was fine. The main thing was that when Elizabeth woke up, it needed to be without an audience. He held her close to him, rocking gently back and forth, keeping her secure against his chest. She'd stopped thrashing, but she was shaking uncontrollably, and Henry's chest ached at the sight of her like this.

"Wake up, honey," he urged her, trying more earnestly now that they were alone. "Come on, Elizabeth, you're okay. You're home. Elizabeth."

She woke suddenly, and frantically, scrambling for something to ground herself in reality as she gasped.

"Hey, hey," Henry soothed. "Elizabeth, babe, you're okay. You're home, you're safe."

She looked around wildly, blue eyes searching and finally landing on Henry before she crumbled against him.

"Shh," he soothed, holding her close and rocking her gently in his arms. His leg was starting to go numb where her weight was resting against him, but he didn't mind. In fact, he barely noticed, he was so focused on calming his wife.

"Elizabeth, honey, breathe," he reminded her. She clung to him in the trailing aftermath of the nightmare, visions of her leveled home still swimming before her and the sounds of her screaming children echoing in her mind.

"The kids-" she started, her fingers clasped around the fabric of his shirt so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"They're fine, they're upstairs," he assured her. He rubbed her back soothingly, alternating with running his fingers gently through her hair.

"It's okay, Elizabeth," he murmured. "You're okay."

"Henry," she breathed, lowering her head to rest against his shoulder. He held her, waiting for the last of the trembling to fade as she calmed down and readjusted to reality.

The images of her nightmare were fading now, less vivid and less real with each moment that passed there safe in Henry's arms. She sighed heavily, pulling back to look at him. Calmly, he looked back at her, and she focused on the warmth in his eyes, the familiar lines of her face, the safety of being there next to him.

"You okay?" he asked her, soft and reassuring even in a question.

"I think so," she replied. She tore her eyes away from Henry and cast them toward the stairs.

"Did they see?" she asked hesitantly. Henry nodded.

"Yeah," he admitted.

Elizabeth sighed. Things had been rough lately, but she had been trying to spare her kids where she could, and ruining her evening off with them by terrifying them with one of her nightmares had definitely not been in the plans.

"Are they okay?" she asked. Henry hesitated- were they okay? Was Elizabeth?

"I don't know," he answered honestly. She seemed to shrink a little at that, and he wrapped a comforting arm around her again.

"They will be," he assured her softly, in that way that only Henry could, and the tiniest weight was lifted off of her. Henry had that effect, and maybe now more than ever, she was so grateful.

"Thank you, Henry," she breathed, leaning in to kiss his cheek lightly. He looked touched and vaguely surprised as he looked back at her.

"For what?" he asked. She shook her head with a small smile.

"Everything," she replied. "Just- things have been so crazy and I know I haven't been here enough, and you've held everything together. Me, the kids, yourself. I know it can't be easy."

Henry looked down for a second, humble as ever. It was something she loved about him, his humility and willing nature.

"Things will get better," he said, and he sounded so sure that she believed him.

"I'm gonna go talk to the kids," she said. "But hey- let's take some time just the two of us tonight, okay?"

Henry's smile lit up his eyes.

"You got it," he answered, and when Elizabeth left him with a quick kiss a moment later, her nightmare was already faded into a distant memory.