Revoked

She's quiet as the car turns down their street. She can't help but wonder if the DS agents in the front seat are aware of the conversation, though it's arguable it was more of an ambush, that she'd just had with the Director of the FBI.

The car slows to a stop, and she gathers her things, throwing the door open before Ted has the chance to open it for her.

She wished she could delay this. For a moment in the Hoover Building, she'd considered flying halfway across the country instead of returning home… Instead of facing him. But, proven by her conversation with Keith, there was nowhere left to run. This was running towards her now.

"Ma'am." She's halfway to the door when she turns back.

Matt is holding out her travel mug.

She sighs as he hands it over. "Thank you," she mumbles, repositioning her purse, as she steps up onto the porch.

Frank gets the door, and she can't help but flash him a sad smile. He was previously with the Bureau. He of all the agents on her detail would have inside knowledge of what was going on. Or maybe they'd all been made aware.

She prays he's out for a run as she ditches her heels in the entryway, though, she'd be slipping them back on when they had company in say seven… She shrugs her lips… eight minutes, maybe?

"Hey Babe."

Her heart clenches.

He's in the office then.

She sets her mug onto the table in the hall before she throws her purse into the chair in the corner. She turns on her heel, carrying her briefcase to her desk.

"I wasn't expecting you until dinner." His nose is buried in a paper. He'd mentioned last week that he'd be giving exams on Monday. By the red pen clutched between his fingers she'd guess he was just beginning the grading process. "What are you doing home so early?" He asked as his head lifted.

She doesn't meet his eyes. She refuses to, thinking it will make this easier. "Um." She looks to the floor as she drops her bag near the front leg of her desk. "I was escorted out." The thud echoes through the room.

"What?" He's shocked. "Why?" He's concerned.

She swallows as she steps behind her desk. He deserves the truth he does; she just wishes she had more than five minutes to give it.

"My security clearance was pulled." She starts sorting through files, stacking them on the corner of her desk. Agents would be here for them soon.

She hears him stand, hears the legs of his chair scrape against the hardwood.

"How can they do that? Top secret clearances only get revoked if there was a criminal offense."

Her eyes fall closed as she sinks down into her chair. She was slipping, she could feel it. The carpet against her bare feet grounded her. "Or because of sexual behavior," she whispered.

The room falls silent. She takes the moment to massage the tips of her fingers into her temples.

"Elizabeth?" There's a question in that one word.

"There'll be a press conference tomorrow afternoon where I either announce my resignation, my divorce, or admit that I—"

"What are you talking about?"

There are footsteps across the wood, and she knows he's standing, hands on his hips, in front of her desk, but she can't bring herself to look up.

She wonders how she could do this to him. To their family? She sacrificed her duty to her country for a few minutes of feeling good at the end of the day, sometimes at lunch… Sometimes in between meetings.

She willed herself to lift her head, to meet his eyes, and she wishes she hadn't. She sees the hurt there. She wonders if he ever suspected.

"I'm having an affair, Henry."

In the distance she could hear sirens, agents dispatched to collect files she no longer had access to, to wipe hard drives that stored information she could no longer view, to erase the State Department emails from her computer.

She watched his eyes, the emotions she saw there. It was a multitude… All caused by her.

He stared off into the space above her head. She wouldn't blame him if he was never able to meet her eye again.

He nodded, almost as if he was processing, thinking through past encounters, nights where she didn't come home. When he half turns towards the door, she almost expects him to grab his keys and never return, but he stops. "Was he worth it?" He asks as heavy car doorsclose with a thunk.

It's the last thing she expects.