A/N: Perhaps it is strange that the children still haven't made an appearance. I'll be honest, I don't particularly enjoy writing them. If I find an enjoyable way to incorporate them I certainly will. Until then we shall stay inside the Empire of Two…

Elizabeth awoke hours later still awash with exhaustion and anxiety. Her entire body felt weighted, yet against her better judgement, she tried her hardest to move her legs across the bed and onto the floor. Just as she visualized her feet touching the carpet, she felt a gentle hand run across her hip, and land on her stomach.

"I have to call Blake!" She insisted harshly, still confident she was going to move. The previous hours had hacked at her energy, but she was determined strength permeate her voice. "I told him I was going to be back after lunch!" Henry ran a soft hand through her hair, coaxing her back into the calmness of their connection.

"Already done."

"But today was my first day back!" Her voice raised an octave, her heart beginning to flutter once again.

"You need to stay calm, babe."

"Henry, don't patronize me!" She felt a fresh wave of tension wash over her body. She wanted to roll out of his embrace. She wanted to shove his arm away from her hip. She tried her damndest to move, but only found herself staring at the wall through the hazy curtain of unshed tears of anger and frustration

"Babe, you had another panic attack." He intertwined their fingers, running a free hand over the fabric of her t-shirt. "The past months have finally caught up with you, and you need to take it easy." He could feel her muscles tightening beneath his fingers as he brushed them across her limbs. Against his better judgement, though, he remained by her side, hoping he could be the one to ease the strain away.

Though she hadn't relaxed, she had given up on the idea that she was going to move from the comfort of the bed. Reluctantly, she reflected upon the morning, trying desperately to remember what exactly it was that had sent her into a downward spiral of panic in the first place.

Juliet.

She twisted in Henry's arms, turning to face him. For a long moment she only stared into his eyes, searching for the comfort she so desperately needed. When she finally spoke, her voice was timid, softer than a whisper. "How could she do this?"

He pondered her question thoughtfully before locking his eyes with hers. "I suppose she was focused on the greater good."

"I'm more expendable than an overturned Iranian regime." Henry felt is heart ache for her. He had never heard her so uncertain, so confused as to the true landing of one of her closest friend's priorities and loyalties.

"She, too, had a sense of duty in being a public servant. It seems you two were on opposite sides, though."

She closed her eyes and buried her face into the soft fabric of Henry's shirt. "That doesn't make it any easier to accept." He felt the heat of both her ragged breath and her glistening tears pooling at his sleeve, and swiftly moved to ease her pain.

"I didn't sign up for this." She curled herself even tighter into Henry, an overwhelming need for her body to disappear flooding her senses. "I didn't sign up for any of this."

Her body hadn't lost an ounce of rigidity as her knees crunched to her chest and her nose buried in his side. He felt the tears begin to pool in his own eyes. There were few times he had witnessed such intense vulnerability, such pain that permeated every corner of her soul.

There were few things that affected Elizabeth so deeply, yet friends and family were two of those things. It was only after a 20-year-old, bright-eyed, college sweetheart had revealed the heartbreaking story of her parents' passing that he had witnessed such a fragility. It was in moments such as these that he wanted so desperately to bear her pain, to ease her of all the suffering she was feeling.

He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly found his mouth too dry to form words. He swallowed the lump in his throat and tried again, only to find that his mind had no coherent comfort to grant her. He, the one who lived by the quotes of Thomas Aquinas and Saint Augustine, suddenly had nothing to ease her mind.

"I'm so sorry, baby." He choked as she turned her back and allowed his arms to envelope her.

"Me too." She whispered, allowing the heaviness in her heart to overtake her.

Xxx

Blake nervously approached the door of his boss' Georgetown home, feeling a knot tighten in his stomach. He wasn't surprised when the door opened, and he was greeted by Henry rather than Elizabeth. From the information that had been relayed to him, her "quick trip" home had been necessary as the turmoil of the past months had culminated in the return of the panic attacks.

Henry smiled weakly. Though he was glad to see Blake, he hoped this visit would be brief. He wanted to spend the evening assuring Elizabeth's stability. "What's up, Blake?"

He stepped inside the foyer, pulling out a manila folder and handing it over. "A continuation of the briefings of today's meeting." He clarified what lie inside the file. "More intel specifying the intentions of the attack and consequences for those involved."

Henry said very little, absorbing the information Blake had been sent to convey. After receiving his well wishes and prayers for Elizabeth, he saw him out the door and quickly retreated back into the house. He stared at the closed folder for a long while before finally resting it near the edge of his desk and deciding to leave the intel unopened for the time being.

He made his way back up the stairs to their bedroom, feeling his heart break when he laid eyes upon Elizabeth tightly wound in the same knot she had laid in for hours. He quickly slid under the duvet, wrapping his body around hers.

He closed his eyes, reflecting on a conversation they had months ago. They didn't reveal their investigation into Secretary Marsh's plane crash in fears she would be next. After her travels to Iran, and the uncovering of the detailed heist, though, it seemed the worst was over.

But was it? Were she and the family still in danger?

He felt his heart begin to race against Elizabeth's bony back. He had flown planes in war zones, he had consulted for the NSA, yet this was the thought that terrified him more than anything he had experienced.

His hand and heart twitched in anticipation as he felt Elizabeth take hold of his arm. "I can't sleep either." She stated simply without turning to affirm his open, bloodshot eyes.

"Babe, you really need to sleep." He tried gently. "Today took a lot out of you."

She let out a deep breath, knowing he was right, but also knowing sleep wouldn't come easily. Instead she intertwined her fingers in his, and stared out the window at the early darkness brought by winter. After a long silence, he was convinced she had finally fallen asleep, but she betrayed his thought by filling the silence with a shaky voice.

"I can't do this anymore."

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