AN: Turkey which was in honor of Turkey Day

Turkey

"I was waiting to hear from you again." He was leaned over his desk, fingers pecking away at his keyboard. "Three calls in one day? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were worried about me."

The last time that they had talked (only about two hours ago) Nadine had practically admitted her guilt. She was the reason why he was running around, doing his best to help where he could, instead of merely playing the part of an assistant at home.

Civilian family members of their Istanbul consulate staff had been ordered to leave Turkey last Friday. A travel warning was issued Saturday morning, and by Tuesday afternoon the decision came to begin evacuating the embassy.

"Nadine?"

With one last click of a key, the files on his desktop vanished.

"Blake."

His eyes popped up and his back straightened.

"Liz?" He grabbed up his phone, taking the call off speaker. "We're not… we're not supposed to be speaking to one another."

"I know."

The last conversation they'd had happened over six months ago. Nadine kept close, refusing to leave them alone since she'd found them in bed together three days prior. Elizabeth had cried, clasping a hand over her mouth as he'd broken the news of his re-assignment.

It had been 9 am on a Wednesday and the seventh floor was busy as could be. They'd stood there, in her office, in silence, and if he listened hard enough, he could hear telephone lines buzzing, sharp pings that signaled a new email, and the footfalls of the senior staff gathering in the conference room just next door.

Nadine had watched, arms crossed, and lips pressed together, as he'd sat with her. He'd taken her hand, rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, and hugged her. Words were exchanged before he'd taken the last chance he'd have to kiss her.

He saw her in newspapers, sometimes caught one of her speeches on television, but he hadn't seen her since the day he'd cleaned out his desk.

And as far as he knew, Henry still didn't know.

"Did you steal Nadine's phone?"

"She willingly handed it over." He heard her let out a breath— the quiet on the other side of the line was a harsh contrast to the chaos happening on his end. "I've been a bit… distracted. She thought talking to you would help."

He didn't know what to say.

"I miss you so much."

His fingers tightened around the receiver. "Elizabeth…"

He and Nadine had made a habit of talking every three weeks, and she'd give him a rundown of everybody's lives (Daisy's pregnancy, Matt's new girlfriends, and Chloe's progress in preschool) but she never mentioned Elizabeth.

He imagined her happy, imagined that his absence allowed her relationship with Henry and the kids to flourish. He'd prayed she wasn't as lonely as he was here in Istanbul.

She cleared her throat. "Is everyone over there safe? I've been worried."

He turned, leaning against the edge of his desk, staring out at the floor as he held the phone to his ear.

"We're okay." His eyes followed Melanie as she scurried through the doorway and over to Kevin. Her face was solemn as she handed over a SAT phone. "We're working through the destruction protocols now."

Matches were taken to documents placed in the burn bins, while some files were put through the shredders. Electronics and medical waste were thrown into a disintegrator. Embassy personnel had even been ordered to destroy items that sported U.S. logos or the American flag.

"Listen, a Chinook will be there in a few hours. I want you on that first helicopter, Blake."

"I'm not Henry," he reminded. "And this isn't Islamabad."

"Do I need to list the names of the men and women blown to bits just outside the gates of the consulate?"

He squeezed his eyes closed.

The Ataturk Airport had been attacked in June, leaving nearly fifty people dead. A car bombing in September killed twenty. The group connected to the string of bombings was suspected of targeting Turkish police. The threat of ISIS to the U.S.'s posts in Turkey was what ultimately pushed the decision for the evacuations.

"Can I have a word with Nadine?"

He imagined she would be hovering somewhere close.

"She's held up at the moment."

The fingers of his free hand wrapped around the lip of his desk. "You stole her phone?" He'd suspected, but six months away and he'd grown unaccustomed to her tells of throwing out a lie.

"Yeah."

"I'm glad," he admitted. "I missed hearing your voice."

His lips twitched with a smile.

"Blake?" He looked up to see Melanie motioning him over. "I need your help lifting this. It needs to go down to the disintegrator."

He nodded as he stood.

"I need to go, Liz."

"Two hours until a helicopter arrives." He could hear the fear in her voice. "I need you safe, Blake. You come home to me."

And he wanted to tell her not to worry, tell her that he would be fine and that, unlike Henry, he would be on that first chopper out, but the line cut out.

"I love you," he whispered as he threw the phone down onto the desk.