Tom sits at his desk, everything around him is spinning, he wants to throw up at the moment but he tried to remind himself where he was. He looked at his schedule again and groaned, John Forstell was the last person he wanted to see, but he had blown him off at least ten times since December and her voice in his head is telling him that he can't be hiding indefinitely, at some point he'll have to face the man he'll even have to work with him too. Although he wasn't the only one avoiding any interactions, Forstell was skipping the scheduled meetings as well sending his deputy in most of them, just like he was sending Emily or Aaron in most of them.

"Good morning Mr. President." John says, there's something different in his appearance since he last saw him, probably in Alex's funeral. He is thinner, his coat hanging from his shoulders, his cheekbones sticking out, his hair whiter than before, not to mention the dark circles under his eyes making him look at least five years older than he is.

"Director." Forstell stands awkwardly in front of him on the other side of the resolute desk.

"I'd like to apologize for missing the previous briefings but there were some matters of the bureau that needed attending to." He says, there's a brief pause, Tom bits his cheek just to stop himself from speaking, he knew he was going to say something he would, under normal circumstances, hate, but in the end he couldn't stop himself.

"Yeah I heard. People attacking your agents right and left." He says sarcastically, he had barely seen the report from Aaron telling him that Hannah was attacked in her apartment last night, just another lose end he'll have to deal with later on. "Or is that you still can't seem to find who killed my wife?" Tom stands up and walks to the other side of the desk standing in front of the other man, he was a little taller than him but John found himself almost shrinking under the other man's stern look.

"Sir, I can assure you that the-"

"Cut the crap!" Tom's voice rose and made John flinch, it was visible but Tom was too blinded by rage to see or even care.

"Excuse me?" John takes a few steps back as he sees Tom Kirkman getting angrier by the minute. He realizes that maybe this meeting wasn't the best idea he had.

"CUT. THE. CRAP!" he explodes, the look on his face made him look away, there were so many raw emotions on it, rage, pure and unfiltered, but sorrow and pain as well, even if it was slightly clouded, John would guess from a breakfast whiskey.

"Sir I don't think-" he tries to reason with him, he knows that this isn't going anywhere after all, he just hopes to get enough time to sneak out of the room and go back to the FBI building and simply write his letter of resignation.

"I don't care what you think Forstell! It's been four months! Four! I need answers!"

"And we're working on them!"Forstell yells back, it surprises him at first, he thought he had better grip on his emotions but the sleepless nights, trying to operate on three hours of sleep maximum for over four months took its toll on him.

"Work harder!" Tom tells him slowly, his voice is threatening him and for a second too long John is just standing there looking at the man in shock. It's not long when he feels a strong shove as Kirkman almost tries to push him out of his office.

His hands work on their own as he pushes the man back, not registering that he is pushing the president of the United States and his boss after all. Tom's fist connects with his cheekbone, there's an incredible pain as his gold ring cuts open his skin and his knuckles bruise his already barely skin covered cheekbones.

Kendra looks around her, it's peaceful here, she's in the middle of a forest, the sound of a river is filling her ears, she can't actually see the river itself but the sound and smells of water nearby are overwhelming. She turns her back to the beautiful scenery and looks at the small cabin behind her. It's build right next to the gorge and has a small patio overlooking at the breathtaking view. She is tempted to go there, this all is too familiar and the devil in her pushes her to take just another step and walk forward.

She knows she will see the woman in front of her sitting on wooden swing, carved out of the trees around the house, so beautifully matching the rest of the scenery around her as if it was always there and always supposed to be there. She is covering her lap with a blanket, there's a crib next to her, and she's softly humming a lullaby.

Kendra gets startled when the door opens from few steps ahead of her. She sees him coming out of the cabin, his hands full with two steaming cups, the scent of coffee is too strong, it fills her nostrils making her dizzy. He walks to her he lets the mugs on the table and makes himself comfortable next to her, Kendra feels the tears in her eyes as she sees him wrapping his arm around the woman's shoulders, she leans her head on his shoulder, both of them looking at the sleeping baby on the crib.

Kendra get's tempted she wants to see the child, so she starts walking to them, she always wakes up when she gets to close but she is determined for once to see if there's anything in that crib. She barely get's a look of the baby inside, it's a girl with her mother's eyes and her father's face. She's beautiful as she sleeps, her hands are itching to hold the baby, maybe take it away from this fantasy land, back to the man that will cherish her day and night, the man that needs this happiness in his life.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" the voice behind her startles her; she turns and sees Alex standing there "How? You are there." She looks at the couple still in their own world not noticing them standing just feet away.

"I'm different. I know what you thought; what if I told you that this isn't just a dream but the future?" Kendra looks at Alex standing in front of her "How's that possible, you're dead!" she smiles cryptically, "You'll see Kendra. You will see." She turns around and walks back inside the cabin, stopping for a moment at the door.

"It's time to wake up now."

Kendra opens her eyes slowly, it takes her sometime to get used to the darkness of the room, for a moment she get's scared, someone is pressing her chest, someone's arm is constricting her movement. It takes her sometime to realize who that person is. She remembers the last night, Seth holding her while she cried, finally getting out all she needed to say, reassuring her that she's not responsible for what happen, it didn't work, not completely but for a moment there it felt good. She asked him to sleep with her, he agreed, telling her that sleeping is all they'll do for now when she tried to unbutton his shirt. "You are too important for me to have you regret it in the morning Kendra." He told her and she felt the tears escaping again just by thinking about it.

His beard is tickling the exposed skin on her chest, as he buries his face to avoid the sun rising, he looks so young in the morning light, so innocent and she can't stop herself from running her hand through his hair. "It's morning "she tells him with a soft voice.

"Hm." He answers not really willing to wake up.

"I didn't regret anything." He refuses to open his eyes but the smile on his lips is the only answer she needs.

Hannah opens the door to her office and nearly drops all her files to the floor; she bites her lip, stopping the yelp from leaving her mouth.

"Agent Wells." The president stood up from the chair in Chuck's office, he stood there not coming any closer to her while she stood by the door frozen just looking at him.

"Sir." She finally walks to her desk and leaves the files on the top.

"I've noticed you've been avoiding me here and four months." She closes her eyes and turns to face him again. Of course he had noticed, she'd be surprised if anyone in the building hadn't noticed.

"It wasn't intentional sir." She tries to lie to him but the lie burns her tongue, it sounds fake to her ears, but to her surprise he seems to believe it, or at least ignore it.

"Who tried to kill you?" he asks, his hands are crossed in front of his chest, his whole body stiff. She doesn't remember when was the last he looked at her with such a cold look on his face, probably never. That was the main reason she was avoiding him, she wanted to maintain the image of the caring, smiling man she met, she knew, and not have him smeared by this angry and mean man that replaced him.

"I don't know sir."

"Crap! The medical report states that you were in a fight before the explosion." The tone of his voice takes her by surprise; this was so different than she's used to.

"I was attacked yes, I didn't saw his face, he was wearing a mask."

"Then how you know it was a he?"

"From the build, from the fact that he cried out when I kicked him in the groin, small things you learn to notice as an FBI agent." She bites her tongue, maybe she should tell him about Damian, it's been three weeks since she tried to kill her and she can't find him anywhere, maybe Aaron was right after all and she couldn't find him on her own.

"Hm." He pauses for a moment, taking a few steps to the door. "Very well what about Agent Russnik? Who tried to kill him?"

"We don't know sir, Chuck," she bites her lip, stopping herself from saying more. "Agent Russnik has been in a coma since then."

"That's almost three months." There's some fleeing sense of worry and pain in his eyes that make her feel hopeful that the man she sees is just a façade as well. But it disappears soon after.

"Yes sir."

"You care about him?" his voice shows his feelings this question is making her tear up, no matter how hard she tries can't stop the pain from pouring out of every pore in her body.

"He's my closest friend. Other than him and Aaron Shore, I don't have many others in this world." He nods, his voice shakes when he responds.

"That was Alex for me." She looks away the tears in her eyes are burning her and she wipes a few that escaped away "And you took her away."

"Excuse me?" His sudden change scared her, he was broken and in pain minutes ago but now he looks more dangerous than all the scum she faced in her life. And in a way he was.

"Your actions took her away from me!" he turns and faces her, his face is stone cold, "It was you who pulled the thread and led to her having to testify in front of the FBI! It was you who let Forstell know! It was you who brought Rennet in this white house and gave him access!" every accusation hit her harder than the last; he didn't tell her anything she didn't knew already. She had thought about all those things many times over "This is all on you!"

"I know sir." He walks to the door and stops, looking at the painted wood. She sees him taking a deep breath and he turns around slowly, there's something in his eyes that terrifies her.

"You're fired!"

"What?" he seems elated with her shock and sadness.

"You heard me, you're relieved of your duty effective immediately, you have three hours to pack your things before Secret Service throws you out of the building." He leaves closing the door behind him with a loud sound.

Hannah tries to draw in breath but can't it's like someone is suffocating her. This was her worse nightmare, she was afraid he would do it and to some extend she's happy he didn't get to it sooner. Looking around the room she realizes that this is the last time she'll see it and she doesn't know if she's happy or sad about that.

"Hey Wells." She gets startled when she heard the door opening, looking at her watch she sees that she has some time left.

"Ritter, Mike, hey." He is standing there, his face unchanging, "I'm leaving, don't worry, I'm just packing some things Chuck might want" she tells him, she knows why he's here, Kirkman was clear that he didn't want her in the building.

"You don't have to worry about the files; I'll get them to you. Security wouldn't let you out of here with them anyway." She looks at him puzzled, still not willing to leave the files down. She takes a second, better look at him, he looks tired.

"So now you're on my side?"

"Yeah, I still think that your witch hunt started all that, but Mrs. Kirkman's death isn't on you, it's on me, it's on the secret service." He tries to discreetly wipe away a couple tears that escaped his eyes and looks away. His eyes stop and focus on the picture of Tom Kirkman on the wall, she moved it so it faces away from her desk, even looking at his picture made her guilty those days.

"It's on Damian, I'm sure he was behind it." She bites her lip, scolding herself for talking about him; she swore to never use his name again.

"Then good thing he's dead right?" he chuckles but it sounded empty, sounded as hollow as she felt right now.

"Yeah."

"So, pack your personal belongings and I'll get you the files tomorrow." He extends his hand and she gives him the files, she doesn't feel so uncertain anymore and maybe she just made a very useful allay.

"Um, I might not be here tomorrow, I'll be visiting a friend in Alaska, can you tonight?" he looks puzzled but doesn't comment on it which she is thankful for. She's getting tired of her lies and is afraid that she will spill everything one morning that probably is one of the reasons she isn't that sad about losing this job.

"Tonight. Where are you staying?" she takes a post it note that was thrown on top of her cardboard box and writes down Chuck's address, giving it to Mike with a half smile on her face.

"That's my address, it's Chuck's condo." He folds the little yellow paper in half and puts it in the inside of his jacket.

"I'll see you tonight, let me help you." He reaches for the box and helps her to her car, her hands were shaking a bit when she gave her id to the gate for the last time but she handled it.

She unlocks the car and opens the back door for Mike to leave the box. They both stand there for a moment, they don't really know what else there is to say, she breaks the silence first.

"Thanks for everything Mike." She says and extends her hand in his, his handshake was firm, his hand warm and comforting.

"See you soon Hannah."

Hannah for a few minutes and found herself driving in circles in the end. She parks the car at the nearest spot and takes out her phone. She wants to call her, she wants to call Alex and tell her that she's going there, but she isn't sure she can. After all why go there if she won't have the answers to the questions she has. A sad chuckle leaves her lips when she realizes that she might never have the answers Alex Kirkman wants, she might never get to Damian now.

She dials the number mindlessly, she still needs to meet her and tell her of the new development, that's what she says to herself, even if in reality she just wants someone to talk to.

"Hey Mrs. K."

"Hannah, I didn't expect to hear from you again so soon!" there was a shocked happiness in her voice that made Hannah smile a little.

"Yeah, I'll be coming to visit, I'll be there tomorrow." She bites her tongue a bit, hoping that she'll find a seat in any flight.

"Is everything alright? Is," there's a hint of panic in her voice as she starts her question.

"He's fine. Everything is fine; I'll just come over for a few weeks." She responds fast, something in her panicked voice made her feel so much guilt.

"Another mandatory time off?" this time her voice is cheerful, light, there's even a chuckle at the end.

"Yeah, something like that."

"I'll be waiting for you then."

"Good, just keep your phone on you at all times, I have a bad feeling." She whispers the last part, looking around, her eyes catch a glimpse of the white house still in sight and she can't help but wonder what the man in the second floor is doing right now.

"Will do. Fly safe Hannah."

"Bye Mrs. K."

Tom walks in the bedroom the whole floor, hell the whole building, felt empty, he chuckles, what a great metaphor for his life after all. He lost everything, his wife was dead, his kids were away and barely wanted to talk to him let alone see him, his mother couldn't look him in the eye, his mother in law looked at him like he was the filth on her shoe, and his staff, his once beloved staff avoided him like the plague. It's nights like this that he wonders what's the reason to keep fighting, why does he need to stay here in this house, in this country, in this world and keep fighting, fighting for who after all?

Nobody needed him, nobody cared, he had nothing left to live for, but he did have someone to die for. He takes the bottle of whiskey from the cabinet and opens it, not bothering with glasses this time. He wonders what would be the best way to end the pain, these days alcohol was just a temporary fix, a band aid. He realizes that he needs a permanent fix. He wonders what he can use to finish it faster, and he kinda finds himself wishing he owned a gun; he could just shoot his brains out that way. He takes the bottle in his hands and looks at the liquid inside, it's too tempting at the moment and he just takes another sip.

He can always figure it out tomorrow…

A/N: This is it for chapter 7! I hope you guys liked it, please let me know what you think!

Sneak Peek:

Hannah walked in the familiar room, he was still laying there, motionless, like every time she'd seen him since February. She bites her lip harder trying to stop the tears she feels welling up in her eyes but she can't, a couple escape rolling down her face, burning their path on her skin…