She'd been asked to meet her boss Ron Butterfield in his office. Somehow, deep inside, Lori knew the gig was up. Instead of being afraid of what was going to happen, there was almost a sense of relief. She knew that she was going to pay a terrible price for her part in Marcus' diabolical little plan. But, truth be told, she was she was more terrified of him now than of going to prison. She had little doubt that as soon as her usefulness was over he was planning to kill her. She didn't have any illusions left about his feelings for her. Every ounce of his desperate desire was for Abigail Bartlet. How in the hell had she been so blind to that? The rough sex that she had attributed to passion she could now see was more of a punishment. She now knew the reason he always shut off the lights and refused to allow her speak the soft words of a lover. It was because he didn't want HER to be his lover. He didn't want HER to be the one beneath him. In his twisted mind she had never truly been the one beneath him. Every thrust and every moan had been meant for Abigail.

Her thoughts drifted to what might be going on at Harmony Point right now. She wondered bitterly if Marcus would be able to persuade the First Lady back into his bed. Still, even while she wondered, deep inside she had a niggling of doubt. She found it very hard to believe that Abigail Bartlet and Marcus Hughes had ever been lovers.

She began to get impatient as she waited for Ron and rose to her feet to look out his office window. As she passed his desk she noticed a file that stated Dr. Abigail Bartlet. She picked it up and opened it, realizing immediately that it was the police rape report from her encounter with Marcus. She read with growing horror of the damage that had been done to Abbey that night. Extreme vaginal bruising and tearing. Internal and external sutures required to stitch up the lacerations.

Lori's legs began to shake and the bile began to rise in her throat. But, the words weren't the worst of it. There were pictures. Pictures of purple and yellow bruises, bite marks, a split lip, and worse yet still, Abbey's eyes. Eyes that had the life extinguished out of them, as if what Marcus had done had killed a part of her and she could no longer feel. It was then that she knew what she should have suspected all along. Marcus Hughes had not been Abigail Bartlet's lover. He had been her rapist.

* * * *

"You do know that you're a hypocrite, don't you?" Dr.Millicent Griffith, his wife's best friend, stood before Jed with her arms crossed. She was in the Oval Office this sunny Saturday morning to advise him on his radio address urging all Americans to quit smoking.

Jed took a sip of his coffee and eyed her over the rim of his glasses. "And why would I be a hypocrite? I quit smoking years ago."

"ABBEY quit smoking years ago. YOU just pretend to have quit."

"I'm not a smoker Millie."

"Jed Bartlet I bet if I search those desk drawers I'll find cigarettes in there somewhere."

"A cigarette a day does not make me a smoker. You're a doctor Mills, you know one cigarette a day does not create a significant health risk." He sat down and dug into his paper sack for the jar he had tossed in earlier that morning.

"Yeah, if you kept it to one."

They both turned as the door opened and Leo entered.

"Hey Leo, is the President a smoker?" Millie asked with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah, but if Abbey sent you to find and destroy his stash you're out of luck. I could tell you where it is but then I'd have to kill you."

Jed shook his head and rolled his eyes at the two of them, then dug his spoon into the jar.

"Can I ask why on earth you are eating from a jar of baby food?" Leo asked "Abbey got you on some kind of weird diet or something?"

Jed licked his spoon with obvious relish and surveyed Leo. "No, Abbey does not have me on some kind of weird diet. It's tutti fruity. Want to try a bite?" He stuck his spoon back into the jar and held it out for Leo to sample.

"No thanks" Leo grimaced with disgust.

"You don't know what you're missing."

"I'll deal with the ignorance."

"Are you telling me that you have never tried baby food before?" Jed found that hard to believe. Abbey had always shoveled baby food down his throat to show the kids that it was so good even Daddy liked it.

"I can honestly say that I haven't. As an adult my taste leans toward French cuisine rather than Gerber."

"I believe Leo just called me an infant, Millicent. You're one of my Generals, can't you court-martial him or something?"

"Afraid not Mr. President, " Millie grinned.

The door opened and Charlie poked his head in. "Sir, Ron Butterfield?"

"Send him in."

Ron came walking in and paused with a funny look as he watched the President eat. "Sir, is that baby food?"

"Yeah, Abbey's got me on some weird diet. What's up?"

Millie and Leo grinned at each other.

"I think we may have found out who is helping Marcus Hughes to get at your wife."

Any and all humor left Jed's face as he digested what Ron had said.

"Who?" His tone had gone deadly, as had his eyes.

"I think we have found a link between…"

At that moment a VERY distraught secret service woman barreled into the room.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, sir." She cried all out of breath.

"What is going on here?" Jed asked puzzled.

"I didn't know. I really didn't know. Marcus…he said your wife was his lover…He wasn't her lover, he RAPED her."

"We all know that "Jed said icily. "What's that got to do…"

"I let him in" she sobbed. "I'm the one who's been helping him and I let him in."

"What are you talking about?" Jed grabbed the woman by the forearms squeezing harshly. "Where did you let him in?"

"This morning. I let him on to the property at Harmony Point." The room went silent and Jed's eyes went wild with horror.

"You STUPID BITCH!" He shook her. "How could you DO that? Do you have any idea what you've DONE!"

Despite the fact that he wanted to wring her neck himself, Leo pulled Jed away before he did any bodily harm to the woman.

Ron was frantically trying to communicate with his agents at Harmony Point. Fear speared his heart at the complete radio silence.

"What's going on there Ron?" Jed asked frantically.

"I don't know, sir. I'm not getting any response."

"Oh Christ," he moaned, "Oh God, I left she and the kids there all alone."

Ron wasn't paying much attention to the President at the moment. Instead he was busy calling agents together to head out to Harmony Point and rescue the First Lady.

"What are we waiting for? LET'S GO!" Jed exploded.

"Mr.President, you're not going anywhere," Ron said.

"Like HELL I'm not. That SON OF BITCH is after MY wife and MY children."

"Sir, I can't allow you into a situation where there may be danger…"

"I don't give a FUCK what you are allowed to do. My FAMILY is in danger and I'm GOING!"

"There is no argument about this Mr.President." Ron said sternly. Jed could see Ron was not going to budge and some of his anger dissipated into desperation.

"Ron. If he's… If he's done something to her," he couldn't bring himself to say the word. "I need to be there for her. Please…I'm begging you as a husband. Let me be there for my wife. "

What outrage hadn't done, pleading eyes did do. Ron paused taking a deep breath. He remembered the President comforting his wife in the gym after she broke down. There was truth to what he said. The First Lady would need him if, God forbid, anything had happened. He knew it was against everything he had been trained to do, but he was responding as a man now, not as an agent.

"OK, let's go."

As they left the office and began down the hall Josh appeared. He was totally unaware of the drama that was unfolding.

"Sir? I need-"

"Leave me the HELL alone" Jed cursed. Josh and Sam's eyes widened as they watched the President striding off down the hall with his agents like a man possessed. There had been a determined, fear driven desperation in his eyes that they had never seen before.

Oh God, Jed thought as he belted himself into his seat on Marine One. Please don't let anything happen to her. Please God, don't let him hurt her.

* * * *

He stood in the doorway surveying the mess in the room. Clothes and underwear lay scattered all over, an empty bottle of champagne lay sideways on the bedside table with two empty crystal flutes beside it. The bedcovers lay half on the floor, half on the bed. The room fairly REEKED of sex. And, there she was. The object of his desire was bending over to strip the bed of the soiled sheets. The woman he loved, the woman who BELONGED to him had quite obviously spent the previous night FUCKING another man. The blood raced through his veins to pound at his temples and he could feel his limbs shaking.

"Hello Abigail"

The voice was cold, emotionless. The voice that made her cry in her nightmares. She froze for a moment then turned slowly around. The blood drained from her face and a wave of nausea nearly brought her to her knees. Her fantasy of safety and security was over and had been replaced by reality. Reality was that, in all probability, her real nightmare was just beginning.

"You don't look happy to see me, my love."

"What are you doing here?" Abbey's breathless voice held a quivering edge of panic that made Marcus smile.

"Didn't you read my notes?" He took a menacing step closer. "I told you I was coming for you."

"You're not going to get away with this." Abbey took a step back as he got closer. "My agents---"

"I wouldn't bother wasting your time screaming for them. You see Abigail. They're dead."

Terror lanced through Abbey like a sword and her heart began to race erratically. This was bad. This was so bad. He'd killed her agents. KILLED. What about her babies? Had he hurt her babies? Adrenaline surged through her body along with the overwhelming urge to flee.

Marcus loved the sheer terror in her eyes along with that attractive sheen of tears. He squeezed her jaw cruelly in one hand to gaze down into her face. Abbey tried to flinch from his touch, tried to move her face from his grasp but he only tightened his hold.

"You won't get away with this Marcus. You can't win." She was defiant through her tears.

He laughed derisively, his face close to hers. "I already did win Miss. High and Mighty. I won when I fucked the hell out of you and gave you just what you wanted."

"I didn't want it." While her voice trembled, her disgust was evident. "You KNOW that I didn't want it"

"I made you mine that night Abigail. You're still mine. ALL MINE."

"No. No…I'll never be yours. No matter what you do, I will NEVER be yours," her voice dripped with disdain."

"Oh yes you will, you little whore" Marcus fumed. He pulled her full up against him and squeezed her breast hard with one hand. "You'll never be HIS again."

"Jed is my HUSBAND." She tried to twist away from the pain his hand was causing.

"You're mine Abigail, or you're nobody's." The malicious glitter in his eyes was pure evil.

"You need help Marcus. You need a doctor. I was never yours, we weren't even friends”

"SHUT UP!" He slapped her hard across the face. Abbey stumbled back from him; tears of pain blinding her. She tried to keep her alarm at bay. She had to remain calm. Ron's words from their self-defense lessons came back to her "Whatever you do Abbey, don't panic." Her agents were dead, Max was outside, and Jed was at the White House. She was the only one who could save herself and her children. Your brain will be your most important weapon, Ron had told her. She had to use that brain to outsmart Marcus.

She kept her head down, her shoulders slightly shaking as if she were crying.

"Why do you make me hurt you?" Marcus asked. When he placed his hand on her shoulder Abbey took the element of surprise and stood abruptly giving him a vicious knee to the groin that caused him to bellow and double over in agony. Startled by what she had done, Abbey paused for a moment too long and as she turned to run he was able to reach out and grab at her thigh to stop her. Adrenaline surged though her veins and she went for the second most vulnerable area on a man, after his balls. She went for his eyes. Her fingernails raked from the corner of his eye down his cheek. Marcus shrieked and let go of her leg. Abbey took the window of opportunity she'd created and raced from the room at full speed. She came to a crashing halt just outside the nursery when she nearly tripped over the fallen body of one of her agents.

She sucked in air trying to breathe as the panic began to overwhelm and tear through her again. She knelt beside the man placing a competent, if shaking hand to his throat to check for a pulse. There wasn't any. When she realized the man was dead Abbey wanted to curl up and cry. This was worse than any nightmare her own mind had conjured up. But, before she could give in to her fear and despair she heard the twins crying inside the nursery and felt the strength of resolve fill her. She had to get her kids out of this mess. She knew what Marcus wanted to do with her but there was no telling what he would do with her children. She shoved open the door to the nursery and gave a watery smile at seeing the two of them standing in their cribs crying.

"Oh God…Oh my babies…you're all right" she moved quickly to the first crib grabbing Aislinn. When she turned to go for Nicholas she gave a sharp cry of distress at seeing Izzy lying unconscious, and probably dead, on the floor. She swallowed convulsively and began to shake so hard she could barely walk. She wanted to help the woman but right now all thoughts were on her children. Any second she expected Marcus to slam the door open and stop her. Tears blinded her eyes as she grabbed for Nicholas. Then with a child on each hip she ran toward to the door. She had no coherent thought as to where she was going, just that had to get her kids away from that psychopath.

She pulled the door open and as she hurried forward her progress was halted as her body collided with another. Abbey screamed with terror but her fright turned quickly to horror as she realized she had just run smack into Marcus Hughes. He was standing in the doorway before her, an immovable force. There was a look of fury on his face, hatred blazing in his eyes, blood dripping down his cheek, and a gleaming knife in his hand.

TBC...