Hey guys! This is my first (but hopefully not my last) Madam Secretary story, so go easy on me.

This is a bit AU because it assumes that Matt stays overnight at Nadine's over the course of multiple episodes (S2, Eps 15 - 21).

For my own reference, I'm going to say the Nadine is 55 and Matt is 32. I kind of pulled those numbers out of thin air, so if anyone wants to disagree just leave a review or send a message.

"My rational mind knows that it's safe to go home. But I just can't. Not yet."

"Well, you can stay as long as you like. No need for rationality."

Matt awoke with a groan. He opened his eyes to unfamiliar surroundings and spent a few confused seconds trying to figure out which girl he must've followed home from the bar. Oh yeah, he realized. I'm on my boss's couch.

He looked around again, marveling at how sophisticatedly the apartment was decorated. Every single piece screamed Nadine, but in an unexpected way. He was ashamed to admit that he had thought she was a cat lady, despite his earlier protestations.

As he stood, he noticed a picture of Nadine, her arm around a young man close to his own age. He must be her nephew or family friend, he thought. She had never mentioned having any kids. Or any relationships for that matter. If he were being honest, the only relationship she had owned up to was her affair with Secretary Marsh and that was only after he had died. Matt had heard vague rumors about a few lunch dates with a guy from NASA, but judging by look of the guy, she was way out of his league.

He took a few more minutes wandering around the room, trying to convince himself that he wasn't snooping, even though that was exactly what he was doing. There were pictures of her with the secretary, a few world leaders, and he even found one of the team from the office, tucked away in a corner next to a decorative vase.

It was a strip of photos from one of those silly booths they had at a state dinner a few years ago. He remembered when they had taken them. The sound of her laughter popped into his memory and he suddenly realized how close they had all been as they tried to fit in the frame. He remembered catching a whiff of her perfume and startling at the sexiness of it. She had been sitting right in front of him and he found himself looking at the elegant lines of her neck and shoulders for a moment before the flash of the camera startled him out of his distraction. He smiled when he realized the camera had captured the dazed and distracted look in his eyes.

Matt shook his head as if to brush off the memory and headed into the kitchen. Everything in her apartment was so nice, he almost wished he could stay over every night.

Matt had stayed over at his fair share of women's apartments and considered it a tradition, or more accurately, a habit, to make breakfast in the mornings. Although this morning was a bit different than those others, he still wanted to show his appreciation.

Nadine's kitchen was somehow both minimalist and confusing. It took him a frustratingly long time just to find a frying pan.

He was standing in front of the stove when she walked into the kitchen. He turned around and was a bit disappointed to see that she was dressed and ready to face the day. For a split second, he wondered what she might look like in the early mornings, imaging her dark hair draped loosely around her shoulders.

"Good morning." She startled him out of his fantasy.

"Good morning," he replied. He nodded toward the frying pan.

"Eggs in the hole," he explained. "The one and only dish in my culinary repertoire."

"You shouldn't have," Nadine replied.

"It's a small token of my appreciation. I know it was an imposition."

"It really wasn't," she insisted. "I should be thanking you. It's hard to be alone in the wake of a tragedy. Honestly, I was happy for the company."

"Me too," he said with a smile. "So, how runny would you like your eggs?"

"It really doesn't matter. The pan's on fire," she deadpanned.

"What? Oh!" he exclaimed as he turned around and saw the flames jumping from the pan.

Their laughter filled the kitchen for a few minutes.

"I tried," he shrugged.

Nadine smiled. "We'll be fine. I have a lot of cereal stashed away somewhere."

"What makes you think I'm a cereal person?"

"The same reason you thought I was a cat person," she teased.

"Touché," he responded.

She pulled out a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. "Shall we?" she asked as she grabbed two bowls and some milk. Matt smiled and took a seat next to her at the kitchen counter.

They sat there for a while, quietly chatting about an assortment of subjects. Their conversation turned towards work and they both looked at the clock in surprise. They rushed to put things away and get out the door.

After nearly missing their train, they managed to get in the building with only a few minutes to spare. They crowded into the elevator, where they both finally got a chance to breathe.

Once again, Matt found himself close beside Nadine. He took a glance at her and admired her professional ensemble. He also realized that she was wearing a tastefully muted version of the scent she had worn to the gala.

Nadine looked up at him with a concerned smile. "You okay for tonight?"

"You know what? I think I am - that is, until the next national existential crisis," he joked.

Matt took a chance and walked into Nadine's office. She looked up in surprise. He spoke before she had a chance to react.

"I know I said I would be okay for tonight, but I've changed my mind. Is your couch still available?"

"Of course," Nadine smiled.

He had framed the request as casually as he could, but he certainly wasn't feeling casual. In fact, he felt nervous. He had accepted last night's offer as the friendly invitation it was. But whatever expectations he had for the evening were cast aside the moment she offered him a drink. And when she answered the call and started speaking French, well, let's just say he was more than surprised. In fact, he marveled at the fluency and beauty of her voice. He had never really taken much notice of her voice before that moment. Of course, she had sung that ridiculous parody of "For The Longest Time" he cobbled together for the gala last year, but he barely remembered that.

He had spent most of this morning and afternoon listening to her voice without actually understanding what she was asking. She caught him staring a few times and startled him when she directly addressed him.

"Thanks so much. Today has been busy, but I still feel uncertain about going home."

"I understand. It'll be nice to have company two nights in a row."

"Ok good. I guess I'll see you tonight then."

Matt paused in the doorway, reluctant to leave, but not sure what else to say. Nadine's focus returned to her computer, but Matt's focus stayed on Nadine. He tried to think of something clever, but he was at an uncharacteristic loss for words.

He headed back to his own office, relieved that she had agreed and confused as to why that made him excited. He'd never tell anyone, especially not Nadine, but he really wasn't at all uncomfortable with going home tonight.

Daisy poked her head into their office.

"Hey, it's time for the meeting."

Matt glanced at the clock in surprise. Had he really just spent a half hour staring at nothing, thinking borderline unprofessional thoughts about his boss? I guess I have, he admitted.

"On my way," he replied.

"You seem out of it today," Daisy observed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not today," he refused gently.

"Ok," she said, looking a bit concerned.

"Relax, Daisy. It's no big deal. I've just been a little thrown off by the whole radioactive explosion in my neighborhood."

"Understandable," she replied. "Wait, where did you say that you stayed last night?"

"Don't we have a meeting to go to?" Matt asked, avoiding the question and changing the subject.

"Hmmm, it seems like there's something you're not telling me."

"Maybe, but we still have to go," he smirked.

They arrived in the conference room together. Matt thought he saw a reaction in Nadine's face when she saw Daisy next to him, but he shook away such an absurd idea.

Daisy, however, did notice a look - not from Nadine, but from Matt. He was oddly quiet for a few minutes and she got a funny feeling it had something to do with Nadine. That's ridiculous, she thought. I've never even seen them have a private conversation. She pushed the thought away to focus on the meeting, but she still had a sneaking suspicion in the back of her mind.

In an unexpected moment of risk, Matt took the seat next to Nadine. She smiled at him as he sat down.

"You're lucky this isn't a state dinner, or the host would've kicked you out," she teased.

Matt realized with amusement that Nadine was being cheerful and teasing in front of the whole staff.

The meeting continued as all State Department meetings do, ending with the Secretary abruptly leaving, inspired by a solution to save the world. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it seemed to Matt like it happened a lot.

Secretary McCord was always on the ball and Nadine was right there behind her. Matt watched her leave the room, noticing her incredibly confident and assured stride.

That's what thirty years of experience of public service keeping up with cabinet members and diplomats gives you, he thought.

Matt spent the next few hours in his office, drafting the Secretary's speech for the next day's press conference about the bombing. He found his thoughts straying and his words following as lingered too long on words of reassurance that the city and specifically his own neighborhood was safe. He didn't notice until he took the draft to Nadine. Her face changed when she got to the end.

"What?" he asked.

"You're a little too insistent here at the end. I don't think the press needs reassurance that your street in particular is safe."

"Oh," he realized. "I forgot to remove that from the draft. Sometimes when things look pretty bleak, I slip a few personal words of support in there. It calms me down to imagine the Secretary saying those things to me."

"I never thought of it that way," Nadine mused. "Regardless, those paragraphs don't belong in the speech."

"Of course."

Matt turned to walk out of her office.

"Matt," she called after him. "I'll meet you at the elevator whenever you're done. I wouldn't want you getting lost on the way to my place."

He smiled at her. "I'll be there with bells on."

"Her place?"

Matt nearly crashed into Daisy in the hall. She looked at him with raised eyebrows and a suspicious twinkle in her eye.

"You stayed with the boss last night, didn't you?" she said, less of a question than an observation.

"I did," Matt answered tersely.

"Well, that explains all those looks during the meeting."

"What looks?"

"C'mon, Matt. You were sitting right next to her and didn't take her eyes off her for a solid hour. I'm surprised she didn't call you out on it."

Matt just stood there, once again at a loss for words. "I wasn't staring," he insisted. I was definitely staring, he admitted to himself.

"You were."

Daisy just isn't going to let this go, is she?

"What's it like sleeping with the boss?" she smirked.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh you thought I meant... Get your mind out of the gutter, Matt. I was just wondering what her place is like."

"Sure you did," Matt answered skeptically. "Well, her place is really nice and her couch is a million times better than my bed. I'm just grateful she let me stay over. The whole bomb thing had me pretty on edge."

"And tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"Yeah, the 'bomb thing' is pretty much taken care of."

"And her couch is still a million times better than my bed, so I'm just taking advantage of that opportunity."

"Are you sure that's the only thing you're taking advantage of?"

Matt rolled his eyes. "Careful, Daisy. You're treading dangerously close to conspiracy theory levels here."

Daisy smiled. "Okay, but don't think I won't follow up on this conversation later."

"Goodbye, Daisy," Matt said, walking away.

"Have fun!" She said teasingly.

Matt made his way to the elevator where Nadine was waiting.

"I didn't notice you leave, sorry."

"It's ok. You looked to be having quite an animated conversation with Daisy, so I figured I'd just sneak away," Nadine laughed.

"It was animated alright," Matt sighed. "Too much so." He yawned.

"Perfect timing."

"Huh?"

"The elevator. It's here."

"Oh, right."

Matt was still distracted by what Daisy had insinuated. As he and Nadine rode down the seven floors together, he wondered how much truth there was to Daisy's comments. He'd been preoccupied by thoughts of Nadine all day and, even now, found himself listening to the sound of her voice without hearing her actual words.

The weather was warm, and because neither of them was in a rush, they decided to take the 15 minute walk back to Nadine's apartment. They traveled through a part of the city Matt had never explored before, the epitome of "above his pay grade."

"How about this weather, am I right?"

Nadine just stared at him in confusion.

Matt looked away, feeling awkward as hell.

"Sorry, I just couldn't think of anything else to say."

"You don't have to say anything, you know?"

Point taken, he thought as they settled back into silence.

They walked side by side through the quiet streets. Even with her diminutive frame, Nadine matched his pace easily.

"I like walking home on nights like these. There's so much hustle and bustle in the office that it's nice to just step out into the evening and calm down a little bit."

"I've never been able to walk home after work. It's nice. My apartment isn't exactly prime real estate."

"So I've heard," she laughed.

"Especially after yesterday. God, that was so weird. I'm sorry if - "

"Matt, there's no need to apologize. I understand, really. It can be disconcerting to be thrown into a situation like that. I know how you feel."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

They reached her building a few blocks later.

"Let's take the stairs," he suggested.

"Ok." She only lived three flights up.

Matt instantly regretted that choice. The stairs were too small for them to climb side by side, so he ended up walking behind her. For the millionth time that day, he found himself staring at her back, admiring her graceful figure.

They walked into her apartment. Matt looked around and noticed that the blankets and pillows he had used last night were still on the couch, practically begging him to sleep there again.

"Do you like old movies?" Nadine asked.

"I've seen a few. I'm more of a retro television kind of guy," he replied.

"I have a feeling 'retro television' for you is just 'television' for me," she laughed. "What's your favorite? Maybe we can find a few episodes to watch. I've got every kind of streaming service you could ask for."

"Really? You seem more like a book person than a TV person."

"There you go again, assuming what kind of person I am," she teased.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have. If there's anything I'm learning tonight, it's to expect the unexpected."

"So...what have you got?"

"How about M*A*S*H? I basically grew up on those reruns."

"And I basically grew up on those first-runs," she admitted. "M*A*S*H it is, then."

She turned on the TV and found it in an instant. "Should we start at the beginning or just close our eyes and pick a random episode?"

"I vote random," Matt replied.

They stopped on a fifth season episode and spent the next hour and half binging through a few more.

At one point, Nadine got up and made popcorn. Matt noticed she took a seat much closer to him when she came back. He gave her a small smile.

"What?" she asked. "We can share the popcorn easier this way."

"Whatever you say. I'm not allowed to assume anything anymore, remember?" he smirked.

Nadine turned her focus back to the television. "Oh, this is a sad one," she said, recognizing the episode.

"I like the sad ones. There's something so impressive about the way the show blends the comedy and drama together so subtly, at least in the early seasons."

"Definitely," she agreed.

The popcorn was gone by the middle of the episode and the bowl set on the table in front of them. Nadine was practically on Matt's side of the couch by that point. He looked down at her when he heard her yawn quietly. He took a chance and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her even closer.

"Is this ok?" he asked softly.

"Why wouldn't it be?" she replied.

"I don't know."

Nadine stayed there by his side a few more minutes until the episode ended. She yawned again and sat up. She started to grab the bowl off the table, but Matt took it from her hands.

"I'll take care of it," he said. "You look exhausted."

"Thanks." She smiled and headed into her bedroom.

Matt walked into the kitchen, his mind wandering as he thought about the last few hours. He had never enjoyed M*A*S*H so much, not even when he used to skip his homework and watch it late at night.