A/N: I do not own the dialogue featured in "Connection Lost."
"Did you get any sleep?"
"A little."
Elizabeth sank carefully down on her side of the bed. She'd always hated sleeping without Henry by her side, but with all the trips they'd taken since she'd been Secretary of State, she'd at least gotten used to it. She dropped off easily, her breathing slowly evening out.
The phone startled her awake. "Yes, I'm here! Are you okay?"
"Secretary McCord?"
"Yes."
"I'm so sorry..."
Elizabeth bolted upright, one hand going to her chest and the other trying to stifle the scream lodged in her throat.
Just a dream, Elizabeth. It was just a dream, she thought to calm her rising fear.
It wasn't helping. The panic that had been slowly building in her chest ballooned with sudden ferocity, her gasping breaths became totally ineffective and harsher. Her heart was beating too fast, and explosions started pulsing in her ears with every beat.
"Abdol, stay down!" echoed around the room, and all she could do was watch as Zahed was shot. Was it Zahed? He looked different. It was Henry. It couldn't be. He'd been safe.
Lost as she was in her own panic, she hadn't noticed that she'd scooted over to Henry's side of the bed. His scent, faint though it may have been, calmed her.
Forcing herself to remember that she'd said goodbye to her husband only a few hours ago, she took a few deep even measured breaths. Her panic started to dissipate slowly, her chest finally started to open, and her lungs started to work again.
She looked with dread at the clock. 2 hours? She groaned; maybe she should read another briefing book. She got up and left the bedroom. Tomorrow night, she'd wear one of his shirts.
"How about you?"
"Not much."
Henry squirmed in his seat. Jose and Jane had been asleep for hours, but he couldn't get his mind to relax. They needed this to work. He needed this to work.
Taking a few deep breaths, he urged himself to sleep. And he did.
He found himself staring at Dmitri's brown eyes the very moment on that street in Geneva which was ingrained in his mind. They were concerned, confused, and as ever the case with Dmitri, intelligent. They sensed the betrayal, and it gleamed form his brown irises. But the Russians didn't take just Dmitri. They were shoving Hijriyyah into the back of the van too, her hijab disappearing into the black maw. Now, Alison's dark hair and Stevie's bouncy curls and Jason's sarcastic laugh and Elizabeth's beautiful eyes. Everyone was shoved into the van, and Henry was left all alone. A failure to everyone he'd sworn to keep safe.
He sat up gasping. Just a dream. It was just a dream.
But that thought provided no comfort to his breaking, pounding heart.
Rubbing his hand over his face, he felt his wedding band on his cheek. That ring so intoxicatingly, unequivocally her, helped pull him from the dregs of his nightmare. Her bright blue eyes hadn't been full of tears when they'd said goodbye mere hours ago. She was safe, he reminded himself. They were all safe. Well, almost. He bit back a frustrated sigh at the thought of Dmitri and wished him the peace that Henry couldn't find.
Then he thought of Elizabeth. Her determination and foresight and her sincerity. She'd believed in him. That was why she hadn't been falling to pieces when he'd left. They were two halves of the whole, and they trusted each other. He made a vow in every language he knew: he'd come back to her. He'd hold her and love her, and he'd never let her go.
And he also thought it best to sleep while touching his ring, the reminder of her and her love until he got back.