AN: Thanks again for all the rules, just a friendly reminder that I know this is AU and if you do not feel H&E would react like this then it's ok, just stop reading.

Also thanks for the love/response to my new fic Avalanche. I cannot wait to share that story with you all. Enjoy and as always, please review.

Chapter Thirty Three - Where the dust settles

'Henry' She froze at the sight of him, how could five long days apart cause such complexities with emotions she wondered. She glanced at his hand clutching some documents, she knew what they were, a moment she had feared was finally here.

'How… How was Pittsburgh?' She cleared her throat, neither of them moving, both just stood rooted to the space between them unsure of how to even be around one another.

'Confusing, I went to clear my head but that didn't happen. I urm, I should have messaged you back-'

'Yes, you should have' she cut across him and he took it on the chin, knowing the conversation was only going to get more difficult from here on in. 'I had no idea If you were ok, when you were coming home, I had no answers for the kids, hell I didn't even have any answers for the president' she shrieked

'But you didn't have to stay here…'

'Sorry?' She questioned him and folded her arms in front of her.

'Conrad told me he was going to suggest you take some time off, but I am guessing you haven't taken it, you know a part of me thought you'd accept and come to Pittsburgh and make this right, but you didn't he shrugged, completely detached from the situation.

'Oh that unfair Henry, you cannot judge me based on that. Yes, Conrad did offer me time away from here but I didn't take it, I didn't feel it would be worth it. What was the point in me travelling down to Pittsburgh really? I would have added fuel to the fire Henry and you know it. You said it yourself we needed space, do not request space from me and then moan that I didn't come running' She shouted at him, her arms flew from across her body and waved around as she spoke, the adrenaline kicking in as she geared up for a battle.

'Can we not shout please' he attempted to hush her

'Oh now you're concerned about attracting an audience when we're in the secure place of my office, but when we are attending someone's wedding you don't give a crap' she mocked, infuriated with him and his actions.

'You know what, you deserve these' he snapped and threw the documents on her desk. Elizabeth marched over to the desk and ran her fingers along the edging. She felt like she had been hit by a bulldozer, she didn't have the strength inside her to even attempt to hide her emotions. She looked up at him, his stoic stance still in place as he glared down at her, fire behind his eyes.

'Henry' she cried but he shook his head

'I can't do this anymore Elizabeth' he tried to reason with her but she fell into her chair, the weight of their failed marriage causing her legs to buckle. 'We cannot communicate anymore, I don't know what else to do' he attempted to reason with her

'So you felt a divorce was the only option?' She confirmed as the documents before her continued to torture her eyes.

'Yes, no… I don't know' He became flustered and struggled to think straight

'Well, which is it Henry? You cannot just give these to me and then retract them, this is serious Henry. So before you answer my next question just think for a second' she paused and wiped away her tears and dropped her head down to the forms before her. 'Do you want me to sign these?' She tried to ask with as much confidence as she could muster.

Henry listened and took a moment to think. He walked over towards the couch and took a seat. His elbows rested upon his knees and he buried his head in his hands. 'I don't want to destroy us anymore than I already have' he admitted, his own emotions peaking. Elizabeth buried her head within her fingers and rubbed her eyes as his words ripped through her.

'I am not entirely sure you're the only one to blame here Henry, I'd say it's pretty much 50/50, but these documents are finally Henry, I… I can't even believe you've gone and got them' she spoke baffled by his behaviour recently. 'I told you so many times that we were heading for divorce and you constantly reassured me that we weren't Henry, I told you time and time again but you continued to ignore my concerns and lie to me, why? If this is the end result, what did all those months worth of lying achieve?' She cried as she poured her heart out to him.

'You hurt me Elizabeth, you also don't listen, look at you now still here at the state department late into the night' he resorted back like a child.

'I was on my way home to find you actually Henry' she clarified and he dismissed her, no longer believing a word that came out of her mouth.

'When I was away all I kept asking myself was What do we have left? And I couldn't come up with an answer, yes I still love you but love is not enough on its own our foundation is ruined, I feel like I don't even know you anymore and I just kept driving around, before I knew it I had the papers in my hand. I went home and I just got so angry that you were not home I came straight here… I don't know how to get rid of all this anger Elizabeth, and that's not fair on you. It's not even late and I am attacking you for not being home, it shouldn't be like this. What do we have left?' He poured his heart out to her and recalled the events which led him to this moment. 'It feels like the right thing to do, we've got the kids to think about as well'

Elizabeth fought the urge within her to snap at him for only now caring about the kids considering he walked out on the five days ago, but she managed to refrain from commenting, knowing it wasn't going to help the situation, then again she wasn't sure much else was.

'I think we still have a lot left, I want us to get past this Henry. You know joining me with Dr Sherman might help, or even going on your own If you want' she attempted to find solutions but she shook his head 'I can quit, with immediate effect, right now lefts go, I'll happily go and tell Conrad that and we can move back to the farm and try to rectify this' she continued to throw suggestions out there

'Don't be silly' he muttered

'I am many things Henry McCord, but I am not silly. I want you more than I want this job. If that's what it takes then I'll do it right now' The grit within her voice spoke volumes, Henry could tell instantly that she was being truthful with him and that it was the first time in a long time he really thought she would do that.

'It won't solve my issues, you've said that yourself. All of this is a mess' he groaned in frustration and balled his hands into fists. Elizabeth watched him torment himself in front of her, the first time In months she had seen just how unhappy he was. How could she have missed it?

'I still love you too' she started to speak, picking up on his earlier sentiments 'When I look at you, I can feel it. I look at you and I am home, please' she paused as her tears fell and her voice cracked once again 'I don't want that to go away' her words so fragile like their love.

They were interrupted with a knock at the office door. Elizabeth sighed and looked over to Henry who had stood up and turned away from the door, not wanting to show whoever it was his tear stained face. Elizabeth wiped her eyes and stood walking towards Henry. She slipped her hand over his shoulders and gently rubbed them.

'I have to get that, but I am coming back to this, to us' she spoke softly watching him close his eyes as her words fell upon his ears.

'Duty Calls' He shrugged her off and She slowly stepped back behind her desk, once again feeling defeated and hurt by Henry's actions. She commanded for the person at the door to enter her office. Blake walked in and glanced between Elizabeth and Henry, the cold and bitterness within the room stopped him in his tracks.

'Yes Blake?' She asked, trying not to take her annoyance out on him as her husband stood over by the sofa's aimless gazing at the wall, his back to them. Blakes eyes walked over to Henry's posture and then towards Elizabeths, her arms folded across her chest as she stood behind her desk. 'Blake' she promoted, aware that he was taking in the situation. He shook his head and nodded

'Russell Jackson called Ma'am, you're needed urgently in the situation room. Russia has breached our sovereignty, they're taking it as an act of war' He explained. Elizabeth sighed heavily and looked down at the documents on her desk. She contemplated refusing to go for a moment but as she looked over at Henry she knew she was fighting a losing battle, the papers were on her desk, his mind was clearly made up. She reached for her belongings and shoved the documents into her bag walking towards the door, ahead of Blake.

'I guess we will speak later then?' Henry snapped, an underlying aggression and annoyance to his tone. Blake was a little taken back and silently cursed himself for being stood between the two, his boss stood by the door leaving him nowhere to exit, so he stepped to the side, giving Henry and Elizabeth direct line of sight with one another. He dipped his head and shuffled his feet as he waited for the moment to pass over him.

Elizabeth glared at Henry, she couldn't work out if she was more angry at what had happened between them before Blake walked in or because he'd created yet another issue in front of Blake. She just looked at Henry, a cold harsh state burning into him as silence filled the room.

'I have to go and put a fire out before it turns into a war' she gritted through her teeth eventually. Blake looked up as she spoke assuming she would be swiftly exiting the room, but his eyes quickly averted away as she remained rooted to the spot looking at Henry.

'And what about this fire?' His words are full of desperation.

'Henry this isn't a fire, this is already a war.' Her arms guested towards the mess between them both. Blake stood witnessing everything from the corner of his eyes, his mind racing trying to understand what was going on between them. 'The difference is Henry-' Elizabeth continued…' I believe the one with Russia can be resolved.' And with that she turned and left the room, aware that she was walking out on her marriage but she couldn't shake the feeling that something drove Henry to this decision, he had constantly told her she was not giving him what he wanted so she decided this was the least she could do. When you love someone you're supposed to let them go.

Henry couldn't stay in the room any longer so he grabbed his car keys from his jacket pocket and fled to his car. As he got to the bottom of the state department he watched her motorcade drive off in the distance towards the white house, he knew he had to be kind and let her go. He jumped in his car and set off heading to his destination, a place that was not the family home.

Elizabeth always yearned for a 'fairytale' romance, she grew up endlessly hoping for that happy ever after love and now it had been ripped from her. She knew that you could read their love story backwards or forwards but it wouldn't matter, either way they would both end up being strangers. For Elizabeth that was the hardest pill to swallow, falling in love wasn't anything at all like those romance films made it out to be, where you can look at both sides of the story and determine who was right and who was wrong. There was no clear bad guy, just two people who got hurt. In a way that makes it harder because at least if it was a bad romance you could pin everything on the other and move on with your life, but when there is no villain, who do you blame at the end of the day? It's the right call, but you still end up feeling a little hazy, kind of like waking up from a dream that you can't remember, you know that something happened but the finer details just are not there.

That just doesn't seem fair when you know that the other person mattered so much.