A/N: Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. As always, thank you for the lovely reviews, I love reading them. Enjoy the latest chapter.
Chapter Nine.
Frank lays in bed with Claire until she falls back asleep. He is grateful the pain medication is coursing through her, giving her much-needed relief. Frank carefully extracts himself from his wife, not wanting to wake her. He shuts the door to Claire's room and spots Hannah sipping her coffee on a bench a few steps away.
"Sorry, your coffee got cold," Hannah says when her father sits down next to her. Frank accepts the beverage anyway. He is grateful to the teenager for not barging in earlier. It wasn't an easy conversation to have with his wife, and Hannah didn't need to be privy to that. "Is Mom asleep?"
"Yeah, I upped her Morphine when she wasn't looking," Frank halfheartedly jokes. Hannah manages a small smile and averts her eyes, choosing to look at her coffee cup instead of her father. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have guess?"
Hannah locks eyes with her father, her eyebrows raised. She opens her mouth to protest and then thinks better of it.
"You will think it's silly."
"Not if it's coming from you," Frank says sincerely. He wants to know what's on his daughter's mind because she doesn't express herself often; a trait she acquired from Claire.
"Is what happened to Mom my fault? You know, because of the accident?" Hannah asks, fully expecting the shocked look on her father's face.
"Han, listen to me. You and your mother and…" He can't bring himself to include the child they recently lost. "You guys are victims in this situation. There is nothing we could have done to prevent this. I don't want you thinking what happened is your fault. We will find out who did this, I promise."
"What's going to happen to them?" Hannah asks. She is aware of how ruthless her parents can be. They didn't get to where they are now because her parents are nice people. It wouldn't surprise the teenager if her father admits he will kill anyone responsible.
"Your mother and I will handle it." Hannah is smart enough to know "handle" is Underwood-speak for "murder."
Frank and Hannah are interrupted by his phone vibrating in his pocket. He glances at her apologetically and answers the phone.
"Mr. President, it's nice to hear from you," Frank says. Hannah snickers, knowing her father is lying. She isn't sure, but she thinks her parents are planning to oust Walker from office. Not that Hannah minds, she would love to see her father occupy the Oval Office. And her mother after him.
"Frank, I just wanted to personally call and check on your wife. How's Claire doing? It's awful what happened."
"She's recovering nicely. She already yelled at Hannah and I for worrying about her." Hannah laughs into her hand when her father rolls his eyes.
"I'm glad to hear it. Listen, Frank, I hate to do this to you, but when is the soonest you can be back in Washington?" Frank was expecting this phone call since he's due to be back in D.C. today.
"I understand, Mr. President. I can be on a plane tonight, I just have to talk to Claire first and make sure she is okay with me leaving."
"Of course. Well, tell Claire we are all praying for her and I will see you tomorrow in D.C."
"Thank you, Mr. President," Frank says and hangs up the phone. "Han, when you are president, don't ever be as pathetic as Garrett Walker." Hannah giggles at her father's statement. She finds it funny her parents expect her to be the next president of the United States.
"I promise. I'll have you and Mom to teach me."
The two falls into a comfortable silence while waiting for Claire to wake up again. Frank isn't crazy about leaving his wife behind when he goes back to Washington. He knows she will insist she can make it back by herself just fine, which he believes. He almost considers having Hannah stay with Claire, but his wife doesn't need to be worried about looking after her.
A little while after lunch, Frank receives a frantic call from Doug. He sent his chief of staff back to Washington last night to handle the day-to-day operations of the office of the vice president.
"What is it Doug?" Frank asks.
"Sir, I just received word of a story breaking about Claire. I thought you should know."
"What's it about?"
"A news outlet is claiming Claire's pregnant. There's a video of you two standing together at the rally moments before the shooting. You have your hand on her stomach briefly."
Frank loudly sighs into the phone. The last thing he wants Claire to do is tell the world she had a miscarriage. The news is too fresh for her still and the public doesn't need to be privy to this information.
"She was…but she's not anymore. Doug, we need to shut this story down. Claire shouldn't have to talk to anyone about this."
"I understand. And I know you hate apologies, Sir, but I am sorry this happened. I'll get to work on it." Doug hangs up the phone before Frank can accept his condolences.
"Damn it," Frank mumbles, which catches Hannah's attention.
"Dad? What's wrong?" Hannah hopes her dad isn't going to go nuclear without her mom present. Claire is way better at disarming Frank than Hannah is.
"Someone knows that your mom was pregnant. I told Doug to take care of it." Hannah bites her lip, she feels awful for her parents. She appreciates how private they are, never wanting to seek the spotlight. However, the teenager realizes attention comes with her parents' occupations. Her father will do whatever he can to protect her mother so she doesn't have to answer a single question, Hannah is sure of it.
"Excuse me, Mr. Vice President? I'm sorry to interrupt, your wife is awake and is asking for you," a nurse tells Frank.
"Okay, thank you," Frank politely says back. "I have to talk to your mom really quick about this and then you can come in." Hannah nods and returns to finishing her homework.
Frank goes into Claire's room. He grins slightly when he sees her struggling to feed herself with one arm.
"Do you need help?" Frank asks teasingly. Claire glares at him and defiantly shoves a spoon full of pudding in her mouth.
"No. I hate hospitals. When are they going to release me?" Frank sits down in the chair he previously occupied and snatches the pudding from her.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Walker called, and he wants me back in D.C. as soon as possible. Now, I know they aren't going to let you go for a couple of days, but I can have arrangements made to have you transferred to a hospital at home."
Frank avoids telling Claire about the potential leak for as long as possible. He will, after they sort out where she is going to be staying first.
"I could use a couple days to myself. I don't think you should worry about transferring me up to D.C."
"And Hannah?"
"Take her with you. She needs to go back to school."
Claire believes her husband and daughter should return to their normal routine. There is nothing they can do for her here in South Carolina. Plus, the teenager is probably bored sitting around the hospital, waiting for her mother to be released.
"Meechum is going to stay with you." Frank tells her and takes a bite of the pudding.
"Fine. And what's the other thing you want to tell me?" He shakes his head, they know each other too well.
"Doug called. He said someone figured out that you were…pregnant and wants to go on-air with it. I told him to shut it down."
A melancholy expression washes over Claire's face. For as much as she wants to put this whole situation past her, she can't. She's hoping a few days alone will give her the time to work through everything by herself before coming home to her family.
"I will release a statement if necessary." Frank is sure it won't come to that, but he is proud of her for willing to be candid with the public about her miscarriage.
"Okay, I'll go get Hannah so we can say goodbye before we leave." Frank sets down the pudding and leaves the room, returning moments later with their daughter.
Hannah is apprehensive about leaving Claire behind. She hates being at the hospital constantly, but the last time she was separated from her mother, she got shot.
"Hannah, I'll be fine," Claire assures her and tucks her daughter's hair behind her ear with her good hand.
"I know. I'll see you when you get back," Hannah carefully hugs her mom and leaves the room to give her parents some time alone.
"Francis, I'll be fine, honestly." Claire says. She can tell he is reluctant about leaving her behind. He sighs, his wife is too stubborn for her own good. It would make him feel a lot better if she were transferred to D.C., but he respects her need for time to herself.
"Okay," He stamps a kiss to her lips and pinches her cheek before leaving with Hannah.
Not more than three hours after Frank and Hannah left and Claire is bored out of her mind. There is nothing for her to do except lie in bed and recover. She carefully leans over to scoop up her iPhone charging on the nightstand. Her finger hovers over Frank's contact information, but she shakes her head. They spoke to each other a few hours ago, she can manage without talking to him until tomorrow. Instead, Claire sets her phone back on the table and grabs the remote. It's rare for her to watch TV, but she doesn't see any other option. She flicks through the channels, finding nothing that is grabbing her attention. Claire almost turns off the TV, when she catches a glimpse of her face on CNN.
"We are happy to report that Mrs. Underwood is recovering from her wounds at a local hospital in South Carolina. She was shot in the shoulder yesterday while attending a rally with her husband, Vice President Frank Underwood," the anchorwoman reports.
Claire is astonished by how quickly the media was able to obtain information about her shooting. It's not like Frank or Hannah talked to the press afterwards. There has to be a leak in the administration.
"CNN has exclusively obtained a video shot at the rally moments before Mrs. Underwood went on stage. You can see here the second couple sharing an intimate moment together prior to the shooting. There are rumors swirling that Mrs. Underwood might have been pregnant at the time she was shot. Take a look."
"What video?" Claire asks herself. Someone at the rally captured her and Frank talking to each other before she went on stage. In the video, she can only see the back of Frank's head. He was presumably standing in front of her. Claire's eyebrows shoot together as she watches the clip. She doesn't remember any of this. Frank moves so a sliver of Claire is visible. He wraps an arm around her waist, his other hand is resting on her stomach, rubbing it.
Claire shuts the TV off and throws the remote away from her. What she just watched was the last few moments of her pregnancy. Her eyes sting with tears. Her good arm cards through her hair, tugging on it slightly. Audible sobs echo through the empty room. She forces herself to stop crying, in case someone unexpected enters her room.
A loud sniff is emitted, and Claire wipes her eyes. Her face is completely void of any emotion. Her baby is gone, there is nothing she can do to bring it back. Now, Claire Underwood is on a warpath, determined to make the people that did this to her and her family suffer.
"Goodnight Daddy," Hannah tells her father almost immediately after they enter the townhouse. It's late, and the teenager has to be up early for school the next morning. Despite what Claire thinks, Frank believes his daughter doesn't have to go back right away if she doesn't want to. Hannah endured her mother being shot, somehow missing a chemistry lecture doesn't seem all that important. However, Hannah insists she will be fine and doesn't want to spend all day at the townhouse with nothing constructive to do.
"Goodnight. I'll be right across the hall if you need anything." Even if the teenager did, he doubts she would come to him. His daughter is tough and stubborn, like Claire. Whatever is troubling her, he would never know unless she wanted him to. Hannah nods and heads up to her room, quietly shutting the door behind her. She sends a text to her mom, telling her goodnight. Only when Claire responds, does Hannah relax enough to go to sleep.
Frank smokes a cigarette before entering his room. His bed is made, everything is like they left it before leaving for South Carolina. So much has changed since then. If it hadn't, his wife would be sleeping beside him instead of a hospital bed in Gaffney. She wouldn't be recovering from a gunshot wound and she would still be pregnant.
He can't remember the last time he slept through the night without her. The routine they developed over years of being married to each other is ingrained in him. Tomorrow, his nose won't be pressed into her shoulder, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. He can manage until she returns to Washington, he just doesn't want to.
The next day, Frank is patiently waiting outside the Oval Office for an audience with the president. Walker has insisted on a meeting between him, Frank and Raymond Tusk to be fully briefed on the evolving situation in China. The president asked to see Frank privately first to discuss Claire.
Frank is shown in by one of Walker's many assistants. The president is waiting with a malleable smile and a weak handshake.
"Mr. President," Frank says politely as they shake hands.
"Frank, I am so terribly sorry to hear about Claire. How is she doing since we last spoke?" Walker asks. Frank is surprised the president seems sincere in his inquiry. He isn't sure he would be if the roles were reversed.
"Claire is tough. She is irritated that she has to actually relax for once, but she will be okay."
"That's good to hear. Trisha and I were so worried when we heard. Have there been any leads?"
"None so far."
"Well if there's anything I can do to help you and Claire catch the person that did this, you just let me know."
"I will. Thank you, Mr. President."
Walker switches topics quickly, wanting to catch Frank up on what he has missed since leaving for South Carolina. Frank advises as best as he can, but his suggestions are biased because of his hatred for Tusk. Truthfully, Frank doesn't really care what course of action Walker takes as long as he can distance himself enough if there's fallout.
As Frank and Walker are wrapping up their meeting, Tusk barges in. Frank stifles an eye roll; the man has no respect for the president or the office he holds. He would never let someone walk all over him like Walker does.
"Frank, I'm sorry to hear about your wife," Tusk says as if Claire's dead. That's what you were hoping for, weren't you? Frank thinks to himself, but accepts Tusk's apology nonetheless.
"Thank you, Raymond, she is recovering nicely."
"That's good to hear. I'll have my wife send Claire a fruit basket."
"Oh, that's not necessary, but I do appreciate the offer." Frank doesn't want Tusk to know where Claire is just in case he is behind everything that has happened. If he thought for a moment that Tusk was being sincere, he'd actually consider accepting the gift.
"Well, Garrett and I have a lot to discuss," Tusk begins, hoping Frank will get the hint.
"Of course, I'll leave you to it," Frank says and shuts the door behind him. He goes back to his office and grabs Doug.
"What did he say?" Doug asks Frank. A saturated silence falls over the room while Frank closes the door to his office.
"He acted like Claire's already dead. And then he offered to have his wife send a fruit basket." Frank practically spits out the end of his sentence.
"I'll keep an eye on him for the rest of the day, see what he does, where he goes, things like that."
"Thanks Doug."
Frank watches Doug go and places a call to Claire, wanting to keep her apprised of everything happening in Washington. In South Carolina, Claire glances down at her phone resting on her leg. She is discussing her release from the hospital with the doctor who operated on her. Her husband is just going to have to wait.
At two thirty, Frank exits his office. He wants to be home when Hannah gets home from school, even if it's only for a few minutes. It's going to be just the two of them for a few days. It wouldn't be fair to Hannah to leave her at home by herself until Claire gets back.
The second Frank hears the front door slam, he cringes. He has never heard his daughter come home like that before. She comes bounding into the kitchen, either not registering his presence or is ignoring him. Frank's eyes flip over to Meechum, who is trying not to interfere. He drops the mail he was opening and folds his arms over his chest.
"Hi," Frank begins. Hannah still hasn't turned around to face him. She digs through the fridge, pretending to intently look for something. "Hannah, look at me." His tone is stricter than he would have liked, but the teenager does what she is told.
Her eyes are red-rimmed and puffy. She recently cried. Frank's guess would be on the way home from school.
"What are you even doing here?" Hannah asks. The one day Hannah doesn't want to see her father and he is waiting for her when she gets home from school.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay, which clearly, you aren't. So, what's going on?" Hannah's cerulean eyes fill with rage. Frank has seen that expression in Claire's eyes many times. It's the kind of anger that makes you feel powerless and fearless simultaneously.
"I hope what you and Mom are doing is worth it. I really do," Hannah snaps and starts to head out of the kitchen.
Frank is utterly taken aback by Hannah's statement. She isn't behaving like herself. His daughter is not the bratty teenager she is portraying right now. Hannah knows better than to act this way. Something must have happened at school for her to lash out at him like this.
"Hannah Claire, come back here. Let's talk." He is desperately trying not to get angry. Frank wants to understand what is going on in his daughter's head.
Hannah freezes at the sound of her first and middle name being used by her father. She only hears her middle name in conjunction with her first when she royally screws up. Usually her father is already yelling by this point, but he is calm, which scares her even more.
Reluctantly, Hannah retreats back into the kitchen, standing on the opposite side of Frank. She bites into an apple and waits in silence for her father to start shouting at her for acting like the petulant child he knows she isn't.
"What do you mean by 'I hope what you and Mom are doing is worth it?'" Frank asks, making sure he keeps the volume of his voice in check.
"Is this all worth it to you and Mom? It's a simple question."
"Is what all worth it?"
"This, Dad! Me getting into an accident, Mom getting shot, your child dying! For what? Tell me! Is a fucking desk in the Oval Office worth our lives to you?" By the end of her rant, Hannah is shouting at Frank. Like her mother, the teenager never yells unless she is deeply upset and on the verge of tears.
"Your mother and I are doing everything we can to secure your future! Don't you dare question what we are doing for you ever again!" Frank yells back and slams his fist down on the counter.
Hannah stares at him, unwilling to waver on her position. She can't sit by and watch her parents destroy their lives anymore. There is no point in occupying the Oval Office if her family isn't together. She doesn't see why her parents don't understand that.
Frank has to try a new approach otherwise he is going to lose his daughter all together. This fight they are having isn't the main cause of why Hannah's so upset. Sure, it's part of it, but something had to have happened for it to brim to the surface. Yelling at her isn't going to be effective, not if he wants her to admit what's truly wrong.
"I'm sorry, Hannah. I'm under a lot of pressure right now…"
"You don't have to explain. I shouldn't be acting ungrateful. You and Mom have sacrificed a lot to get us here. I know that."
"What happened at school today, sweetheart?"
Hannah takes in a shuddering breath before speaking. Frank rounds the counter so he is standing next to his daughter.
"A lot of kids, people who I thought were my friends, told me they wished Mom died at that rally on Wednesday. A teacher…Daddy, a teacher said in front of my class that she was hoping the bullet would've hit you too." Hannah wipes her eyes and sniffs.
Frank brings his daughter in for a hug. He can see why she was so upset when she came home. No teenager should have to hear that from their peers, especially one of their teachers. Watching your mother get shot on national television is more than enough.
"I will handle your teacher, but Hannah, you can't care about what people think." He is trying his best to channel his wife in this situation. Claire would know what to say to Hannah if she was here. She always does.
"I know, Daddy. It's just hard to sit there and listen to your classmates wish your parents were dead."
"If your mother and I let what people said about us get under our skin, we wouldn't leave the house. Instead, we channel that anger into doing what we do best."
"Plotting and manipulating?" Hannah asks with her eyes twinkling. Frank chuckles,
"Yes. I have to go back to the White House. Do you want to come with?"
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing our future home."
A/N 2: Next chapter, Hannah sets a trap while Frank works to keep a lid on Claire's miscarriage. Reviews would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!