Hey guys. I'm back, yet again, procrastinating by writing fanfiction.

Swyholdt is a made up country, and so are the officials.

November 21, 7:03 a.m.

The speech was Dalton's idea.

It had started with a memo from Jay that there had been a particularly deadly attack in Osburg, one of the Swynholdt's more populous cities. The United Forces of Engas, a violent separatist group, had been declared an official terrorist organization earlier that year. As America's most powerful ally in South America, it was vital that Swynholdt was on the same page about terrorism and terrorist groups. Russell made the slightly opportunistic yet valid point that Swynholdt would be most susceptible to persuasion after an attack, so President Dalton had deployed Elizabeth to give a speech and convince the various government officials that UFOE was a true threat to Swynholdt's security.

Conrad had made it seem like it was the most important thing that she would do in South America, and Elizabeth was running late. It was mostly Henry's fault. He seemed intent on stalling her departure, whether it be by engaging in flirty exchanges or surprising her with kisses. On almost any other day, she would have loved to soak in his affection, but today it simply felt clingy.

"I'm gonna miss you," Henry said as reached out to embrace her for the seventh time that morning.

"I'll be back before you know it," she said and tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

"Stay safe, babe. I love you," he told her and pulled her close.

"Love you too." Elizabeth couldn't tell what, but something felt different. He didn't want to let her go, as if she would fade away as soon as she left. "It's just for a few days, don't worry. I'll be home by Friday night, and we can have no-rules Saturday." Elizabeth tried to assuage his fears with a bit of seduction. She gave him a saucy wink. "You know, grown-up no rules Saturday." When he didn't laugh, she pressed kisses along his collarbone and squeezed his shoulders. She tipped her head up to look into his eyes and said seriously, "Babe, I promise. Nothing is going to happen to me."

"Come back to me," he whispered, and kissed her forehead protectively. She smiled in reassurance, basking in his love for a few more moments, and then rushed out the door. She had a terrorist group to condemn.

November 21, 9:14 p.m.

The speech appeared to be a success. When Elizabeth concluded her remarks, she received a hearty round of applause. Within seconds, there was a line of Swynholdt dignitaries and spouses who wanted to shake her hand. Elizabeth had come to learn that mingling with foreign officials was just a part of the job, and it was a part of the job that she hated. Part of it was the mundane small talk that was essentially the same conversation no matter what country or which official; part of it was the hundreds of titles, ranks, and faces that were nearly impossible to keep straight. Thank God for Blake, she thought. He stood by her side every night and never failed to supply her with names, conversation topics, and an alcoholic beverage.

"The president of Swynholdt, ma'am," Blake announced quietly as the first

"How do you do, sir?" Elizabeth said with a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Excellent speech, Madam Secretary," he said and shook her hand enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Mr. President. Do you think that we can begin discussing strategies to confront UFOE?"

He began to answer, but he was cut off by the sound of an explosion.

It took exactly two seconds for hysteria to set it. Officials began to scurry around the crowded room, desperately searching for an exit, while security agents seemed to be torn between evacuating the building and going into a full lockdown. Elizabeth grabbed Blake's hand.

"We need to get out of here," she said. He stared back at her blearily, too stunned to answer. "Now!"

The urgency in her voice must have cause something to click, and they started towards the side exit. When Elizabeth's mind was running through various scenarios to find an explanation for the chaos, the lights went off. Blake's fingers tightened almost painfully around hers.

Three more explosions shook the room, immediately followed by shrill shrieks. Those sounds, no matter how awful, were ones that Elizabeth could deal with. The sound that really got to her was the sound the windows made as they shattered. Iran. All she could feel was overwhelming panic. Her chest hurt as she struggled for breath, her heart pounding against her ribs. No, no, no. Not again. Please.

"Help!" Blake's cry momentarily distracted her from the choking fear in her throat. She could make out the silhouette of someone pinning him on the floor. Elizabeth stumbled forward with all intentions of helping him, but her progress was stopped by a pinch in her shoulder. She was hit with a wave of dizziness. Her vision blurred, the room appearing to spin. Her legs buckled as the lost consciousness.

November 21, 9:51 p.m.

"Start again from the beginning. Please," Russell Jackson demanded. He stood to the right of the bed-headed president whose face was completely unreadable.

Matt took a deep breath to recount his story. "Secretary McCord finished her speech condemning the United Forces of Engas. She exited the stage, and an explosion went off. Panic took over the crowd, and people began evacuating the building. The lights went out and three more explosions went off, shattering all of the windows. A group of maybe 13-16 people entered, and they opened fire. At that point, I felt that it was unsafe to remain inside any longer, so I sought out the nearest exit. I eventually met up with the rest of the detail and the secretary's staff. We think that the attack was planned and executed by UFOE. It was probably in retaliation to the speech."

The president sighed and ran a hand over his tired face. "How many dead?"

"Two confirmed so far, and at least seven are missing. I know that sounds bad, but it could have been a lot worse. One was trampled to death as people stormed the exits, and the other was killed by a falling chandelier. We believe that the attack was meant to demonstrate power more than anything. We're not sure what their end goal is, but I don't believe that mass murder was one of them. They had machine guns. If they had wanted people dead, they wouldn't have held back like that."

Russell shook his head. "Strange. Swynholdt has a pretty strict gun control policy."

"From what I saw, these were military grade weapons."

"Were they left over from the war?" Dalton asked.

"No. They looked new. There's probably a black market with military connections."

"Well that's… incredibly disturbing," Russell concluded.

Matt nodded in agreement. "I think we should alert the CIA and Interpol. Several other government buildings were attacked, and some groups used decidedly less mercy. Judging by the carnage, Osburg will have too many bodies to bury in the coming days. At the very least, we can hunt down the leader of the group." The three men sat in silence for a moment, trying to wrap their minds around the rapidly-unfolding catastrophe. None wanted to consider the possibility that the secretary was dead, and by unspoken agreement they focused on the international implications of the massive terrorist attack.

"Mr. President?" Matt said timidly.

"Yes?" The President and his Chief of Staff looked at him expectantly.

"I shouldn't have let her that far out of our protection. I… I failed at my job. If she doesn't make it… I'm so sorry."

"Me too, Matt. Me too."

Well folks, here it is. I've been working on this for a while, and I was running out of motivation. I figured that posting the first chapter might motivate me to work on it more. I can't promise a steady update schedule, but I will do the best that I can.

Please review! It helps me get motivated to keep writing.