A/N - Thank you for the reviews! This chapter will also borrow some dialogue from the episode Tamerlane.

This is the final chapter so I hope you've enjoyed this story. Thanks for reading.

Chapter Four

Endgame

The world was ending, or so she thought. The room around her blurred into slow motion - her sense of hearing temporarily muted by the sheer volume of the blast which had thrown her forward face first onto the floor, a sharp pain ripped across her lower back as one of her security details threw his body across hers to shield her from the incoming gunfire. She was pinned to the floor, terrified and overwhelmed as she watched Javani attempt to crawl over to his son who was hiding behind one of the large armchairs, his hands over his ears, mouth wide open. If she had been able to hear properly she knew that he was probably screaming.

She watched as Javani took a bullet to the back and collapsed like a rag doll to the ground, instantly dying. She struggled to get up from the floor but Fred was pinning her so effectively that she was unable to move. Her heart broke for Abdol as she watched him cry and reach out to try and touch his father, unable to accept what had happened to him.

"Abdol, stay down!" She shouted over to him, hoping that his hearing wasn't as compromised as hers and that he was able to hear her. She struggled yet again beneath Fred's body weight and shifted her head to look at him. She struggled to keep a lid on her emotions when she realised he too, was dead. She brushed the side of his head with her right hand and focused on her breathing, immense guilt washed over her as she realised that his final act had been to sacrifice his own life to save hers.

She looked down at the ground as she choked back a sob, wondering what the fate of her other security detail, John Kendall had been. Was he caught up in the attack? Had he also died to save her? He had been stationed outside of Javani's house so he had been in a more open position, more vulnerable to attack and the fact that he hadn't come running in as soon as he heard the blast was not a good sign. Elizabeth turned her head as a flash of bright light illuminated the far side of the room which was now engulfed in flames - somebody had thrown a molotov. The house was going to burn down and she was trapped beneath Fred, unable to escape.

Oh God, I'm going to die, she thought. Abdol is going to die.

She couldn't stop the tears from falling as black smoke began to fill the room, the heat was unbearable as she watched Abdol still crouched behind the armchair, screaming and crying for his father. She wanted nothing more than to run over to him and comfort him, to take him to safety but she couldn't move. Resigned to her fate, she closed her eyes and once again tried to focus on her breathing, which had become much more difficult now that she was inhaling endless amounts of smoke.

Henry, I'm sorry. I love you, was the last thought in her mind as she fell unconscious.

Henry marched into the kitchen, his mind on fire with worry as he walked past Stevie and Alison washing the dishes in the sink. He'd just gotten home from the White House after unsuccessfully grilling Russell and Conrad for information which they didn't have. He knew he'd come across as being aggressive but in all honesty, he was past caring about that. The idea of putting Elizabeth in harm's way even for the greater good to him had always seemed like a terrible idea and the fact that she was now missing and possibly dead just proved his point even further.

"Hi." He muttered solemnly as he threw his keys down on the kitchen counter. Alison put down the dish she was drying and turned to face her father, the look of worry on his face must have been hard to miss.

"You heard something about mom, didn't you?" Alison asked, laying one hand down on the counter.

Stevie turned off the faucet and turned to face Henry now too, laying both hands back on the counter and staring at her younger sister.

"She's sixteen now dad, you should tell her that mom is in Iran where the coup is happening" Stevie said.

Henry stared at Stevie and then at Alison and sighed.

"How did you know?" He asked.

"I'm not stupid, neither is Ali." Stevie said, glancing over at her sister.

"But she couldn't have known there'd be a coup.." Alison said. It was a statement but Henry knew that really, it was a question.

"She was hoping to prevent it." Henry whispered - looking once again from Stevie and then to Ali.

"Is she okay?" Alison asked.

"I don't know." Henry said plainly, shaking his head - he knew it was selfish of him but he was genuinely glad that he had people at home that he could finally talk to about it.

"Oh, my God." Alison exclaimed, eyes wide with horror.

"Wow." Steve whispered.

At that very moment Jason wandered in from the den to catch the three of them mid revelation and all looking seriously concerned.

"You guys look serious." He noted.

Henry turned around to face his son unsure of just what to say to him until Alison abruptly grabbed one of the cans of Laffy String off of the kitchen counter and ripped the cap off of the top and started spraying her little brother with string.

"That is 'cause we're seriously planning a Laffy String attack on you, dummy!" She shouted as she began to chase Jason around the kitchen. Stevie and Henry followed suit, grabbing their own cans to join the fight. All three kids were screaming and laughing, at some points Henry couldn't help but to smile and laugh too, which made him feel a little conflicted. It was like he was betraying Elizabeth by having a good time with the kids, it made him feel uncomfortable. He ducked as a load of Laffy String headed his way and he attempted to push the thoughts out of his head. No, she would want him to protect the kids, make sure they weren't worrying and that they were having a good time, Elizabeth would want this.

Alison and Steve sat side by side on their parents' bed watching the news coverage on the Iran coup when Henry walked into the bedroom and planted himself down beside them. He pulled his girls into a hug, wrapping an arm around the both of them in an attempt to comfort.

"Well, at least Jason is sleeping peacefully." He said, turning to face the TV to watch the news coverage. Stevie smiled and looked at Alison and then her father.

"Kid's the poster child for blissfully unaware." She joked.

"Yeah." Henry said. "You're good sisters protecting him like that." Alison looked up at Henry.

"I don't remember if I told Mom I love her, when she called this morning." She admitted, then looked down at her hands.

"She knows you love her, Noodle. She knows we all do." Henry told her, she laid her head down to rest on his shoulder and all three of them returned to watching the coup news coverage, it was going to be a long night.

By now it was three in the morning and Henry, Alison and Stevie were still wide awake watching the coverage of the coup from bed. Alison was snuggled up to Henry beneath the covers and Stevie was lying on her front near the foot of the bed. Alison shivered and pulled the covers up even further, inhaling deeply as she did so.

"It smells like her." She said, explaining when Henry looked at her, a little confused. "The covers, it smells like her perfume."

"I hate how these news channels just play the same 5 minutes of footage over and over again." Stevie complained. "There's got to be more information by now." She scowled as the footage rolled across the TV of the same shots of gunfire that had been playing on a loop for the past six hours.

"Nobody knew she was there, Stevie." Henry commented. "They aren't going to report about her on the news."

"That is so incredibly reckless." Stevie said, sitting up on the bed.

"I know." Henry said. "I think she even knew it too, but you know your mother, once her mind is made up that's it - this is what she signed up for, to make the world a better place."

Suddenly Henry's cell phone rang loud and clear and vibrated on the bedside table, all three of them looked at it instantly and Henry simply couldn't have moved any faster to answer it. Alison and Stevie moved across the bed to sit either side of him, attempting to hear what was being said on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, okay. Thank you." Henry said and hung up the phone. "Mom's okay, she's coming home." he told them.

Alison and Stevie both let out a sigh of relief as they hugged Henry tightly, their emotions beginning to spill out. Stevie let go of Henry and moved towards Alison, pulling her sister into the biggest hug they had ever shared. Henry sat on the edge of the bed and smiled to himself. She was okay, she was coming home. Relief tore through him so fiercely that he thought he would explode. He had been working so hard to contain his emotions, to stay strong for the kids that it felt like a barrier had been lifted and he couldn't stop the tears that were now rolling down his face.

Alison and Stevie hugged their father again more tightly when they noticed he was crying, Alison leaned forward, kissing her father on the cheek and he reached up to hold both of their hands with his.

She's okay, She's coming home.

She felt almost weightless as she sat in the backseat of the motorcade on her way back home from the airport, she kept having to remind herself to blink. She wasn't even sure how she was feeling, there was just a gaping hole of numbness at her core. After what had seemed like years, the motorcade had pulled up outside of the family home and she'd never been more relieved to see it. Just two days ago she believed she was never going to see her family ever again and the fact that she knew they were all there, living and breathing in that house ignited some sort of feeling within her, piercing the numbness that was threatening to consume her.

She walked slowly on her approach to the house, nodding to her security detail who were standing outside the front door in acknowledgment and pushed open the door and walked inside. It was instantaneous, the moment she had walked into the foyer, he was there. They walked to each other in tandem and enveloped each other in the tightest most loving hug. Finally Elizabeth could breathe again. She had made it home, she had survived, it wasn't a dream, it was real. Her sacrifice had paid off, and now she was home.

Stevie and Alison ran towards their mother and threw their arms around her, relief visible on their faces. Jason, who had been trailing behind got to Elizabeth last, he approached her from the right and she turned to face him as he pulled her into a hug, her baby boy.

She couldn't help but feel a wave of sorrow and guilt as she hugged him, knowing that Abdol would never be able to hug his father ever again. This only made her hug him tighter, she never wanted to let go, and the truth was that right now, in this very moment she didn't have to.