A/N: This story was actually planned as part of the ending to my other story - The Champions of Losing. This story does not include any of the characters I created for that story so it's not necessary to read it first! This starts around season four but does extend past the end of the series.
Finite. Something Elizabeth McCord wouldn't have described her marriage as this time last year. There were other six letter words that would fit more appropriately in her eyes, other words that start with F or end in E that she would have popped in her mind before finite did.
A lot of things about her marriage had changed over the last year. Things that didn't seem appropriate for it. The nights alone in bed, the terrible lies to cover the truth, even the silent dinners which wouldn't spell disaster before - rang out like tornado sirens.
She constantly wondered how she could have changed things. If there was one moment when it really happened and it hit that it was over. Was it the constant long distance that she thought they had come to know and to some degree, love? Was it the lack of time for each other when they were both in the same town? Was it the stress of being parents? What was it and why didn't she see it coming?
He had told her a million times over and over again that it was nothing she did. It wasn't being parents - he loved being a parent with her. It wasn't even something he saw coming… but it was a complete change in his heart. He began to fail to see her as a wife and only began seeing her as a friend, eventually he began seeing her as more of a co-parent than even a friend.
Now they were opposing parties, not in a political sense, but in a courtroom sense. Opposing didn't necessarily mean fighting though and they were both thankful for that. They each bent where they needed to and kept things as civil as possible for their children.
He was caught up in his thoughts when his lawyer interrupted "alright, that's it! We're done." He hadn't realized the gavel had let out a bang when hit against the sound block, marking the end of their time legally together. He watched for half a second as his lawyer began packing up his items and shoving them into his briefcase.
She noticed he wasn't fully present in that moment. He was still processing what had really just happened and the fact that it was the direct result of his actions. She passed behind his lawyer on her way out of the courtroom, her movement caught his attention and they made eye contact with each other out of the corner of their eyes.
He could feel her hurt, he could see her pain. He knew her like no one else and he had hurt her in a way that could ever be repaired.
There were a lot of strained relationships as a result of his actions. He felt like those he loved the most now had the worst feeling towards him, indifference. Stevie could understand how her father felt, she herself had been in relationships with people she had simply fallen out of love with… but those relationships only lasted a few months, not thirty years. Aly couldn't believe he had given up, she couldn't believe he had hurt their family in the ways he had… but maybe all that anger meant that there was still a little bit of love for him in her heart. Jason couldn't care less, he saw two christmases and figured he could turn his parents against each other for his own personal game. He kept up a tough exterior but the truth was that he was tired of the fighting and the lonely tears constantly shed in their home.
"Let's go." His lawyer nudged him back into realty as both parties had finished packing up and his lawyer was heading out of the courtroom.
Outside was a frenzy. When this process started, they thought they could keep it quiet but things don't stay quiet in their circles of Washington for too long.
Her black trench coat was hanging off her shoulders and her sunglasses were resting on the bridge of her nose as a police officer opened the doors to the court house, releasing her to the wolves.
She looked over at the officer and offered a quick nod of thanks. Two of her own security detail walked in front of her with two behind. There were reporters, all asking for her attention. They had agreed when the media found out that they would not talk to the media. This was a private matter for all involved.
"Ma'am, how does it feel to be a single woman?" One young reporter spoke loud enough to get her attention. The question stopped her dead in tracks, her jaw dropped slightly as she slow turned her head to look at the smiling reporter from the celebrity gossip magazine who had the nerve to ask such a question.
Before she could speak, a familiar hand wrapped itself around her shoulder and guided her the final few steps to the waiting SUV. She quickly climbed into the waiting seat and the door was shut behind her as soon as the member of her detail could possibly shut it.
"Ma'am, I need you to look at me." This was unchartered territory for everyone involved. Daisy was doing her best to handle what she could but she wouldn't be able to do that if Elizabeth wasn't as committed to handling it as she was.
As Elizabeth turned to face Daisy, Henry turned to face a reporter who had asked him a similar question to the one that had caught Elizabeth so off guard. The difference was and would always be that Elizabeth had the support that Henry didn't.
It was that way in their marriage, Elizabeth always had support from him but it wasn't always given back to the same degree it was given. Elizabeth had support from her coworkers to get through a very tough and stressful job, Henry didn't have the same resources.
He looked at the same reporter and simply said "We'll see how it goes." It was expressionless. It wasn't meant as a remark about completely letting go as a single man, it was more a reflection of if he thought he could even survive the next few months.
As he got within a step of his own waiting SUV, he tripped. He looked down as his new dress shoes, which now had a giant scuff right on the tip of the toe, and laughed. He hurt the cameras flickering even faster and with more intensity as he laughed. He quickly got into the car to avoid any more mishaps, with his shoes and with the press, but he knew much like his marriage, he had messed up and this wouldn't end well.
Given the circumstances that brought on their divorce, many would have figured that Henry would have leased a bachelor pad close to the bars he was frequently photographed at before their divorce became public knowledge. That it would quickly be shared with the capitol hill staffer with whom he made the worst mistake of his life and fell in lust with while married. That wasn't who Henry was.
He purchased a modest condo not far from their family home. While Jason was still in school, it was important to both Henry and Elizabeth that things were kept as "normal" as possible. The girls were easier, for once. Considering they were both adults, there was no need for a custody agreement for them. They could come and go with each parent as they pleased. Jason's would be in place until he was 18, just a month before he would likely go off to college. Their agreement was simple and easily agreed upon. Like the girls, Jason could come and go with each parent but would spend every other Wednesday and every Thursday and Friday with his dad and the rest of the time with his mom. If one parent had to travel, he would spend that time with the other parent unless one of his sisters were home.
Having something set in place motivated Henry and Elizabeth to make sure they had time to spend with their children. Henry wouldn't be teaching night classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays and Elizabeth blocked off her Sunday afternoons and evenings and they had family dinner at Elizabeth's on Tuesdays.
As their cars initially headed in the same direction but eventually made turns in different directions, the weight of what had just happened hit each one of them differently. Elizabeth's staff knew this would be hard on them… not because they were personally affected, but because the boss who they cherished was absolutely crushed and had been for a while.
Blake had gotten very good at filtering things for her. Messages from Russell Jackson rarely made it to her desk because he had become so skilled at tending to Russell's needs that whatever the task was likely didn't need the secretary.
Daisy had taken a bit of a mentoring position towards the secretary. She would suggest things she could do with the kids, things to pass her time, and become a champion at tipping off the press to what other people besides the secretary would be doing to take some of the attention off of her.
Matt had often suggested a dog. It wasn't very helpful. He wasn't able to help her personally but he became very tactful with his writing as to avoid anything that may even slightly remind her of Henry while she was delivering it.
Kat continued to do what she did best - work, advise. Kat and Elizabeth hadn't built much of a relationship yet and Kat felt it was best to stand down on any personal matters, no matter how big and serious they were.
Then there was Mike. He was the only one on her staff who had ever been caught up in a messy, public divorce… but Mike was on the opposite side of that divorce. It was a fact that his was messier as well. He gave Elizabeth guidance but only as the circumstances were similar enough to his own that he knew what the proper reaction should be. He gave her a lot of tough love, but she recognized that she needed it.
Jay was the only other one in the office who had gone through a divorce. It was similar in many aspects but still incredibly different. He understood how the circumstances around their jobs could lead a partner to not be able to be happy in the relationship, sometimes that was all she needed was someone else who understood why she would be blaming herself. He provided great support in the most crucial times, but he was never one to dry her tears.
Henry's support was different. His family, like Elizabeth's, wasn't very available to support him. Many of his friends were her friends and many were upset with him and his actions. Henry turned to other women for that support, as he had done before. The same action that led him here seemed to be the only action he could continue to do without spiraling down into the reality that was his life.
It had become public knowledge in DC just after news of their divorce broke that Henry had cheated on Elizabeth with a capitol hill staffer. He had been spotted out with the young woman, at a bar near capitol hill just after congress had prevented another shut down, and that's what got the rumors swirling.
She wasn't the only one, and she wouldn't be the last. At the height of his addictions, Henry was in a bar five nights a week and each time inviting a different young woman back to wherever they could get 20 minutes of privacy, whether that was a hotel, a friends place, or his own home. While his wife was off saving the world, he was pretending to save some damsel in distress and act like he was there to sweep her off her feet just before deleting her number and any evidence of their communication and never calling her again.
When Ali caught him sneaking a woman who looked barely older than Stevie out of the house, she told Elizabeth… but not before confronting Henry. He gave her some excuse that they were working on a project together for work and their interactions were as innocent as possible. She didn't believe him.
At first Ali blamed herself for their divorce. What if she hadn't said anything? Maybe her dad wasn't lying, maybe this is how her parents made their relationship work. Elizabeth reassured it that it was never and would never be her fault. The actions of her father were the only thing that was at fault in this situation.
During the divorce when Henry finally admitted how many women he had cheated on Elizabeth with over the last few months… there was no more fighting. Elizabeth was done. She was crushed and their relationship would never be repaired.
As he pulled up to his building, he got a look at himself in the window. He couldn't believe who he had become… but he had made his bed and he was the one who had to live in it.