It's been said that you don't immediately notice the exact moment your life changes forever until you take a step through a door that has no way back. Only then you do begin to comprehend exactly what that means, and you realise — Nothing will ever be the same again.

For Henry, that moment had come the first night he met Elizabeth. He hadn't seen it coming, he hadn't been looking for it — But as soon as his eyes met hers, his life changed and there was no going back.

There was the obvious physical attraction to begin with - Her breathtaking beauty. A body any Greek goddess would be proud of and those legs that went on for days. He had been entranced by her immediately and his heart rate had remained high ever since.

But for Henry — It was her intellectual and emotional presence that captured his heart and made him fall in love with her. Her strength and intelligence were immense and she could command a room with ease. Yet her compassion and empathy were unrivalled. She was the perfect combination of sassy and sweet. Hell, she was just perfect full stop.

He was already head over heels before getting to Baghdad, but watching her at work had only sealed the deal for him. She had an air of intrigue about her and it was so compelling. She was his achilles heel and he would do anything to have her in his life.

The problem was, as the days passed and one week turned into the next. Henry felt as if he was losing her, tiny bit by tiny bit. And what scared him the most, was that she appeared to be losing herself too.

It started a few days after the death of private Lawrence. Subtle things that maybe others wouldn't notice but Henry could see. Elizabeth's confidence was far from what it had been and when she spoke to those around her, it wasn't with as much conviction. Henry put it down to the shock of what had happened and figured she would soon be back to herself, but that was far from the case.

As time drew on, the more obvious things presented themselves. Elizabeth was barely eating, she hadn't been in the gym at all and her desk or the interrogation room were the only two places she ever seemed to be. She looked exhausted and Henry was pretty sure sleep wasn't coming all that easily for her.

As for them — Elizabeth just wasn't engaging with him at all. Henry had tried to get close to her, to support her but she had shut down completely.

The sparkle had disappeared from her eyes and left behind desolation in its wake. Her whole demeanour was different and she was like an empty vessel just trying to stay afloat. Elizabeth was going through the motions but the light had gone out and Henry didn't know how to help her.

The interrogation of Hassan Amari was flatlining and the harder Elizabeth pushed, the more he dug his heels in and refused to cooperate. They were going around in circles and frustration was getting the better of her.

Elizabeth pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead and leaned over her desk. "He just won't talk. We're running out of options here and I don't know what to do. What has all of this been for if we can't get him to talk?"

Henry had never seen her look so defeated. Everything she had been working so hard to implement was falling away and her resolve was slipping.

"Let me in there with him and I'll get the job done Ma'am." Rodriguez was itching to get some answers, by any means possible. "I'll make sure he cracks."

"I don't know if we're there yet — I don't want us to be there yet — Oh god I just don't know." Elizabeth felt as if the room was closing in on her and it was getting too much.

"Let me talk to him." Henry was reluctant to overstep but as she had just stated, they were running out of options.

Her eyes landed on him but it was like she was looking straight through him "You think you can do a better job than me?"

"I didn't say that Elizabeth. It was just a suggestion."

"I've been tracking this guy for well over a year. I have the training and the skills to get this information from him. But whatever, If you think you are better qualified than me go for it."

Henry was almost hoping that she would tear him to shreds and show that passion he knew she had. But it just wasn't there.

"I just have a different skill set. I can approach it from another angle, that's all. But if you don't think it's a good idea then….."

"Fine! Do whatever you like — I need some air."

Elizabeth threw her glasses onto her desk and walked out, leaving Henry more concerned than ever.

Henry looked everywhere for her. She was certainly adept at keeping herself hidden when she didn't wish to be found. But what she hadn't made allowance for was Henry being just as determined to seek her out.

At the very far end of the camp, sitting against a stack of wooden boxes — Henry found her. She had accumulated a small pile of rocks that she was intermittently tossing at a tin can.

Henry watched her for a while. Each time she threw one of the small rocks, it clattered against the can and dropped to the floor. It was quite a distance from her, yet she never missed. Why something as simple as that impressed him, he wasn't sure. But it did.

"Good aim." She stared blankly ahead, no acknowledgement that he was even there. And for the first time since the night they met, she looked tiny. She looked fragile and she looked lost.

"You're a hard woman to find! Especially when there aren't all that many places to hide." Henry looked down on her and his heart sank.

Elizabeth picked up another rock and with the swift flick of her wrist, launched it and knocked the can clean off its perch. "Please leave me alone." Her voice was quiet yet pleading.

Henry sat himself down next to her and sighed "I lost my mother a little over two years ago now — Pancreatic Cancer. You'd think the anger would lessen as time draws on and yet I still have so much of it." He looked over at Elizabeth "I've just learned to control it rather than let it control me."

"I don't want to talk." Elizabeth turned her body away from him.

"You're not talking — I am." He pushed himself back up and walked over to place the tin can back where it had been. He collected the rocks and sat himself back down. He threw the first one and it sailed past, nowhere even close to the can.

"I felt lost without her — I still do if I'm honest. She was the only one who ever really understood me, you see." The next rock bounced off a nearby crate.

Elizabeth pulled her knees up towards her chest, shielding herself "I know you want to help me but I don't need it. I just need to be left alone."

Henry shook his head "I don't think that's what you need at all Elizabeth." And then continued talking "I don't get on with my father — We're very different people and without my mom there, I have no real reason to go back home to Pittsburgh. So it feels like I lost my whole family the day she died."

Elizabeth turned her head to face him "Why can't you just give me some space? You think you need to save me but newsflash Henry — I don't need saving!" Henry looked into her eyes and for a split second he saw that deep sapphire staring back, but she averted her gaze quickly.

"I'm not trying to save you Elizabeth, I just want to love you. You can tell me a million times over not to do that but it won't make a difference."

"Why not?"

"Because I can't stop loving you." She looked at him again and opened her mouth ready to protest but he carried on "I can see so clearly that you don't love yourself right now so I'll just do it for the both of us until you can."

She rested her head on her knees and they sat there in silence for a while. Eventually, she looked up at him "I'm sorry about your mom Henry."

"Thank you! Are you close to your parents?" There was so much Henry didn't know about Elizabeth and he figured if he could get her to start talking to him, it could only help. God knows she needed to talk to someone.

"Not anymore."

"How come?" Henry was intrigued, but as usual Elizabeth was giving nothing away. "Do they not approve of your choices either? Parents can be so judgemental."

"They never got to see any of my choices — They both died in a car accident when I was 15 so it's a little hard to ask them if they approve."

Henry's mouth dropped open as he stared at her. He attempted to speak but nothing was very forthcoming. "I — Elizabeth I — I don't know what to say. I'm such an idiot."

She shrugged her shoulders and looked at the ground "You're not an idiot, you didn't know. And there's not really much you can say. It is what it is and it's never going to change. But you're right, the anger never really goes away."

Henry got to his feet and took hold of her hand "Come on — Throwing rocks at a can just isn't going to cut it." Pulling her up he smiled at her "I have a better idea."

There were a few things Elizabeth thought Henry may have had in mind when he said he had a better idea, and not all of them would have been unwelcome. But standing in a dark, empty gym certainly wasn't one of them. She knew that she'd purposely pushed him away but where he was going with this — She had no clue.

"Henry — Why are we in here? I'm really not in the mood for games right now."

Henry waved a pair of boxing gloves in front of her and smiled "We're here because you're going to allow yourself to get angry — And you're going to channel it all into that —" He nodded towards the punchbag.

The sceptical look she flashed at him was followed by a curt shake of her head "I don't want to do this. I need to get back in that room and get that bastard to talk. I don't have time for this shit."

As she walked towards the exit, Henry caught her around the waist "Just humour me — Please?"

The feeling of his arms around her, however briefly, made Elizabeth pause and stare at him. Henry had that look that she'd seen a few times back in Virginia. The look that made her cave in because it was so damn endearing.

"I don't need a saviour Henry —"

"No! What you need is an outlet for everything going on inside your head. I haven't been through half of what you have and I know I feel angry a lot of the time." He pushed the gloves onto each of her hands and secured them "The difference is, I acknowledge it — You don't."

"I'm not angry Henry. I'm tired and frustrated and extremely pissed off at you right now — But not angry."

"I know it's building up inside you Elizabeth — I can see it. So just let it out and then you can go." His smile was starting to annoy her deeply.

"Stop psychoanalysing me. You have no idea what's going on inside my head right now and it's insulting that you think you do." Her annoyance was growing by the second. "I have asked you again and again to leave me alone but you always think you know best - It's arrogant."

Henry just carried on smiling at her "You seem a little agitated to me — Just saying."

"Why are you smiling at me? I swear I'll punch you in a minute."

Henry took her by the shoulders and turned her towards the leather bag "Start with that and we'll see how you go."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes "You're an asshole Henry McCord."

"Apparently so — Now hit."

Elizabeth connected with the leather a few times and it actually felt pretty good. Her mind had been elsewhere and she hadn't realised just how much she'd missed it. As she got more into it, her feelings started to pour out through the gloves.

"Come on Elizabeth, you've got more than that! Don't hold back." Henry could tell he was about to get a glove in the head — But it would be worth it if Elizabeth regained some of her power.

She closed her eyes and visions of her parents filled her head. Thoughts of all the things they would never get to see. Never get to experience with her and the hurt turned to rage. Elizabeth let herself feel for the first time since their death. She set it all free from the darkest vaults of her mind and confronted it head on.

Henry was right — She was angry. She was angry that she'd had to grow up so soon. That she'd had to live her life without her parents. That she had felt so alone for so long and she was angry that because she'd lost them, she'd lost Will too.

Her shoulders were burning from the effort and as her anger over her parents started to wane a little, her grief over Sprout forced its way through. From the moment he had taken those bullets instead of her, Elizabeth's guilt had pressed down on her like a colossus. It was her fault. She had caused it to happen and now his parents had lost their son. His girlfriend would never get to wear that ring he'd saved for and his niece or nephew would never know what an amazing person their uncle was.

She could feel the tears burning in her eyes but she had no right to cry. She had no right to feel anything but ashamed and guilty. She was responsible for a man's death and the more Henry had tried to comfort her, the more undeserving she felt and the more she had pushed him away.

The jabs were hitting the punchbag thick and fast and Henry could see the pain etched across her face, yet she wouldn't slow down. She wouldn't relinquish the guilt. The more her arms hurt, the more she felt she deserved it.

"Elizabeth — Take it easy. Don't hurt yourself." Henry tried to move her away but she shrugged him off.

"Fuuuucccckkkkkk —" Her anger found its voice and echoed around the room, reverberating off of every surface "Arrgghhhhhhhh." The tears had found their way onto her cheeks and her shoulders were trembling from the adrenalin.

With one final punch, Elizabeth crumpled to the ground as a sob ripped through her chest. Henry wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"That's it — I've got you." Henry removed the gloves and she buried her face in his neck, drenching his shirt with tears that should have been shed a long time ago.

Her body shook as she let her heart break and Henry just held her.

"It should have been me — It's not fair." Her muffled words struck a chord with Henry and he squeezed her just that bit tighter.

"Nothing that's happened is fair, but don't ever think that it should have been you."

"I should have been in that car with my family — I should have taken those bullets instead of Noah — Why do I get to live when everyone around me dies? I shouldn't be here."

"You are here because you're meant to be here Elizabeth. Don't ever doubt your place in the world — Not when you're loved so much."

Elizabeth looked up at him with a mix of confusion and sorrow "By who? I don't deserve love of any kind."

Henry moved the wet strands of hair from her cheek "By Will, by your friends and by me. And you deserve all of it."

"How can you still love me after everything I've done? I lied to you, I left you behind and I can't give you what you want."

Henry smiled "I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment."

"You're a crazy fool."

"That too."

Elizabeth looked up at Henry and smiled for the first time in what seemed like forever "Thank you for caring when you really shouldn't."

"Thank you for letting me." Henry moved to kiss her forehead but Elizabeth tilted her head just in time to catch his lips. It was short and gentle yet conveyed a million emotions.

"Promise me you'll remember — You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think." Henry stroked her cheek and finally saw a tiny sparkle in her eyes.

"Which great philosopher penned that little gem?"

Henry grinned "Winnie - The - Pooh."

Elizabeth's snigger was like music to Henry's ears. She wasn't back to the Elizabeth he knew she could be and it would take a long time before she was. But — it was certainly a step in the right direction.