Abbey stood in the shower scrubbing at her delicate skin, trying desperately to wipe the last vestiges of Marcus Hughes from her body. She had been so busy caring for Jed and dealing with the whole press issue she hadn't had a chance to reflect on the nauseating and abhorrent things that had happened to her today. She had been sexually assaulted and very nearly raped again. She glanced down at the scratches on her breast and felt again the way that animal, fueled by his perverted sickening needs, had painfully and demandingly grabbed at her. She could still feel how his hand had moved between her legs to feel her up in front of her husband and Ron. Her eyes closed against that vivid memory and hot scalding tears of humiliation began to run down her cheeks. She began to scrub frantically between her legs trying to remove the dirtiness that his hand had tainted her with, as if she scrubbed hard enough she could rid herself of his touch.

"Abbey, you almost done, sweetheart?" Jed tried to keep the anguish he was feeling out of his tone. He knew exactly what his wife was doing in that shower. She'd been scrubbing away for well over a half-hour with a misguided need to cleanse herself. But, he knew that it would be just like it was before. No amount of soap and water would make her feel clean again. Only time and a lot of TLC could do that. He heard her shut off the water and opened a large fluffy towel to wrap her in.

She opened the door and Jed could see that her skin was pink from all the hot water and scrubbing and her eyes were a bit swollen from crying.

"Better?" He asked as he wrapped her small nude form in the towel. She gave him a wobbly smile and reached a hand up to gently stroke his worried brow.

"That's the last shower that I'm going to take to rid myself of Marcus Hughes' touch," she informed him. "It's done now. It's over, and I'm not going to let him turn me into an emotional cripple. He loses Jed."

"Yes he does, " Jed stroked her arm. "You're much stronger than he gave your credit for."

When Abbey stepped through the doorway to the bedroom and saw that Jed had set up the kid's playpen at the foot of their bed she turned to give him a smile.

"They can sleep in here in the playpen tonight, "he told her. "I thought that might make you feel a little better, especially with Izzy in the hospital for observation."

"It does make me feel better. Thank you." She held his hand for a long moment then moved to watch the babies sleep for few moments.

"OK Mrs. Bartlet," he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Time to get you in bed. You really should get some sleep." He handed her a pair of her silk pajamas. Abbey shook her head negatively and moved toward the pile of their discarded clothes from the night before that she had never gotten the chance to take care of. She picked up Jed's white button down dress shirt, slid it over her narrow shoulders, and began to button it. It still held the slight scent of his soap and his aftershave, along with the smell that was unmistakably Jed.

"Abbey, that shirt's dirty." He held the bed covers aloft for her.

"It makes me feel safe," she said as she slid under the covers. She knew that she would need all the armor she could get to combat the demons that would tear and claw at her in the night. Jed could see the apprehension in her eyes and knew that she feared sleep.

"Millie left this for you, " he handed her a pill.

"I don't want to take a sleeping pill. What if the kids wake up?"

"I'm not going anywhere, gorgeous. Besides, it's not a high dosage. It won't knock you out completely."

"What about you"?" She popped the pill into her mouth and took a swallow of water. "Do you need any painkillers for your arm."

"You can keep your Midol, Doc. My arm is just fine."

"Midol. "Abbey shook her head at her husband's humor. "Although that might not be a bad idea. It's a damn good pain reliever and I have some in the…"

"Abbey, " he hushed her by pressing his lips to her's. "Go to sleep, beautiful." He tucked her in as he would one of their children then climbed in behind her and pulled her back tightly against his chest. He tucked her head under his chin and soothingly stroked her hair until the sleeping pill entered her bloodstream and her breathing become slow and steady. Abbey felt safe and comforted in his strong presence and soon felt herself begin to nod off. Before she fell asleep completely there was something important she had to ask of her husband.

"Jed," she murmured more asleep than awake, "please don't leave me tonight."

"Sssh… I'm not going anywhere, angelpuss. I'm going to hold you in my arms all night."

"That sounds nice." Her head fell back against his chest as sleep finally overtook her.

Up on one elbow, Jed continued to watch her and stroke her hair while she slept. His fingers gently touched the bruise on her jaw and grazed over the cut on her lip. His eyes fell to where his shirt gaped at her chest. The scratch marks marring the creamy skin of her breast were now a brownish yellow from the antiseptic she had dabbed on them earlier. She certainly had given the son of a bitch a hell of a fight.

"Sweet dreams, my fierce little tigress" he whispered softly into her ear. "I love you."

* * * *

While his wife had the benefit of the sleeping pill, Jed did not sleep all night. His mind was a turmoil of hideous images and seething outrage. He replayed Abbey's rape trial over and over in his mind knowing that she was going to have to go through a similar humiliation now because they had allowed Hughes to live to stand trial. This could even be quite possibly worse than the first trial. This time the whole world would be watching. It would be the lead in for every news program, the headline of every newspaper and the cover story of every magazine. He planned to ask Oliver if there was any way to protect his wife from that kind of degradation. If there was any way that Hughes could be convicted without Abbey's personal testimony. But, even though he was no lawyer, he knew that he was probably grasping at straws. When his anger and frustration threatened to take him over, Jed forced himself to relax. He laid back and listened to the comforting sounds of his wife and children breathing as they slept and thanked God for the hundredth time that day that they had all survived their ordeal.

Then, as dawn approached he found his promise to hold Abbey in his arms all night almost unbearable. The muscle relaxant had long since worn off and his arm now throbbed with pain. He gritted his teeth and tried to fight the white-hot pain that seemed to move from the base of his skull to his fingers but it was a losing battle. Finally, knowing that she was drugged to sleep, he disentangled himself from Abbey's body and made his way to the bathroom to dig through the medicine cabinet. He passed by the bottle of Midol with a soft chuckle and found the giant tub of Advil. He popped the recommended dosage with an extra pill for good measure and then made his way back to the bedroom.

He stood by the playpen staring down at the sleeping, vulnerable forms of his young children. He smiled as he heard the slurping noises of Nicholas sucking his thumb, and Aislinn's soft whimpers of frustration when she rolled to the wall of the playpen and couldn't go any further. They were so little, so innocent. How could they understand the evil that had touched their young lives today. How close they had come to being killed merely because they were his children. How could they know what their mother had gone through for them today? Hell, he didn't even know the whole story. He ran his finger lightly over the red bruise on his son's neck and swallowed convulsively.

Abbey awakened slightly disoriented. Her eyelids were heavy and she felt almost hung over. That was when she remembered that she had gone to sleep drugged. She panicked for a moment when she realized that Jed's arms were no longer around her and he wasn't in their bed. She sat up, her eyes squinting in the gray dawn light, and she saw him sitting silently at the foot of their bed hunched over the playpen in silent protection. She watched him reach out a finger to run over the bruise on Nicky's neck as she crawled over the bed on her knees and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"We almost lost them today, "she said softly against his neck. Jed gave a slight start, then turned his tormented blue eyes on her.

"I need to know what happened to you all" he stated painfully. "Can you tell me?"

Abbey's green gaze locked with his blue one and she reached a hand out to squeeze his. She knew it had to be now. They needed to get past this in order to move forward and only when he knew everything would they be able to do so.

"OK, let's talk."

* * * *

Telling Jed about her ordeal was going to be more difficult than Abbey thought. Every time she started to tell him what had happened she saw the pain and compassion in his eyes and it caused her to choke up. It wasn't any easier for Jed to watch her struggling to keep her composure while she talked to him.

"It's OK, babe. Take your time, " he touched her cheek.

"See, when you say things like that it just get my water works started up again. " She tried to smile but it was half hearted at best.

Finally she found a position where she could speak without seeing how what she was saying affected her husband, and yet, she could still be comforted. Jed was leaning back against the headboard of the bed and she lay horizontally across it with her head on his lap facing away from him. As she began to speak Jed started to smooth her hair back from her face offering a measure of contact and comfort.

"After you left I finished giving the kids breakfast and then Izzy and I bathed them and got them dressed. After they were all set I went to our bedroom and started to straighten up. I was changing the stained bedding from the night before when I heard his voice. He was standing in the doorway."

Abbey stopped for a moment as she re-lived the horror of that moment.

"It's OK Abs, "Jed gently soothed.

Abbey drew in a shuddering breath and continued on.

"He told me not to bother calling my agents because they were dead. That was when I knew I was in real trouble. The agents were dead, Max was outside and you were gone." Abbey felt his hand tighten reflexively in her hair then gently release. "I knew it would be up to me to get myself and the children away from him. His fury was so cold and so bitter. He tried telling me that I wanted it when he fucked me in Boston."

Jed winced at the term but forced himself to swallow his anger and continue to softly stroke her hair. He knew she had to get this all out and she couldn't do that if he reacted with rage to everything she said.

"At least he stopped referring to it as making love" her tone dripped with bitterness. "He said I was going to be all his and that I would NEVER be yours again. That was when he grabbed my breast and did this." She traced her fingers lightly over the scratch marks. "He told me that I would be his, or I would be nobody's. I tried to reason with him but he was beyond reasoning with. He slapped me hard across the face and I fell to the floor.

"Oh Christ, " Jed swore. His fingers moved from her hair to caress her bruised jaw.

"Actually that ended up being a good thing. " She reached her hand up to touch his. "When he came toward me I was able to take him by surprise and I kneed him in the balls as hard as I could. I got away from him and ran to the nursery. I saw the dead agent outside the room and I knew for sure that I was the only one who could protect the babies. All I wanted was to get them out of there but when I opened the door to leave Hughes was standing there with a knife.

She took a deep shaky breath and rubbed her cheek against Jed's stomach. He was silent, waiting patiently for her to go on.

"He hated our kids Jed. He hated that I was trying to protect YOUR babies. He ripped Nicholas right out of my arms. God, I can still see him crying and reaching out to me and there was NOTHING I could do to protect him. In Hughes warped mind I belonged to him and by creating Nicholas and Aislinn with you he had proof that I had cheated on him. God did he hate you. He smashed his fist into the picture of you and Nicky that hung on the wall behind the changing table. The kids were so scared. Both of them were screaming in terror. I begged Hughes not to hurt Nicky. I BEGGED him."

Jed's calming fingers felt the wet tears on Abbey's cheek and began to smooth them away.

"He LOVED that I was begging him. It turned him on. He put his hands around Nicky's throat and threatened to snap his neck."

Abbey choked back a sob and Jed's eyes closed against the tears of impotent fury that flooded him at the image his wife had presented him with. The thought of his small fragile baby son's neck in that monster's hand caused the bile to rise in his throat.

"I was so terrified Jed. You can't know how afraid I was that he was going to kill Nicholas right in front of me. I begged him again. I told him I would do whatever he wanted if he would just leave Nicky alone. I was prepared to do it Jed…”

She turned her head to look back at her husband. She had to see if there was disgust or betrayal flashing in his eyes. She was startled to see that his jaw was clenched tightly and tears were streaming slowly from the corners of his closed eyes.

"Jed…It's OK Jed." She slowly crawled up his body and he unconsciously wrapped her in his arms pulling her head under his chin.

"I'm so sorry Abbey, " he groaned against the top of her head. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

"My promise to do anything he wanted if he would leave Nicholas alone seemed to turn him on even more. He pulled me to him and he was…hard." She swallowed and her voice got shakier. "I think he would have taken me right there on the nursery floor in front of the kids if Max hadn't come in. I've never seen Max vicious the way he was. He was not going to let Hughes hurt the kids or me. He scared Hughes so much he practically threw Nicky at me and told me to call Max off. I tried to call him off so he wouldn't get hurt but he wouldn't listen to me. It was like he knew Hughes meant to harm us. He lunged forward going for Hughes throat and the son of a bitch shot him. He fell whimpering and bleeding at my feet. If it hadn't been for the kids I think I might have given up right then. When Hughes shot Max so cold blooded I knew that the only way that I was going to survive and have a chance to protect the kids was by doing exactly what he wanted."

"Why…why didn't he," Jed struggled to get the words out, "…try anything right there. Why did he take you back to the bedroom?"

"Because he could tell from the state of the room and the sheets that we had made love the night before. That infuriated him. He decided that he wanted to take me exactly where you had taken me the night before so he could cover your scent with his."

"Christ, that's SICK. He's like some kind of fucking animal."

"He IS an animal, Jed. I didn't know how the hell I was going stand what he was going to do to me but I couldn't let him kill our child."

She looked up at her husband with eyes pleading for understanding.

"It's OK, baby…It's OK," he murmured into her hair.

"Is it? Is it really OK? I kept wondering about how you were going to react. If there was any way that you could understand."

"Of course I understand. Jesus Abbey, you were put in an impossible situation and you dealt with it bravely and courageously. You didn't fall apart. You did what had to be done. You saved our children. Understand? My God babe, I am so damn PROUD of you. The way you broke that bastard's nose…"

Abbey turned her face, burying it into his neck as if she were trying to crawl into him and he felt her begin to shake as she finally released the tears that she had been holding in.

"I'm just so sorry this happened. I promised you I wouldn't let him hurt you and I let you down. I'm so sorry I let you down."

"Let me down?" she asked with astonishment and tilted her tear streaked face to look up at him. "You kept him from raping me Jed. You SAVED my LIFE. When I think of where that knife could have stabbed you…He could have KILLED you Jed…Oh God what were you thinking?" The tears continued unabated.

"It was pure instinct Abbey. I saw the knife and I just knew that I would die if anything happened to my gal." He smiled and ran his thumbs under her eyes letting the tears spill over them.

"Your gal?" she smirked. "There you go again. How can you always make me smile when it hurts so bad?"

"It's a gift, " he grinned.

"God, I wish I could just stay here forever, "she nuzzled into him wrapping her knee up over his thighs.

"In Maryland?" he teased.

"Don't be obtuse. In your arms. I want to feel safe like this forever. Sometimes it feels like we live in this magical cocoon and as long as we're together nothing bad can happen to us. You're my safe harbor Jed, you always have been."

"And you are mine Abbey. I never feel quite as safe and content as I do when I'm moored safely inside you.

Abbey smiled up at him. Jed was making sexy jokes again. All was well.

* * * *

Abbey awoke a few hours later to a bright sun filled room. She squinted at the clock and gave a start when she saw that it was after nine. She NEVER slept until after nine, at least she hadn't since the twins were born. She glanced quickly down to see that the playpen was empty. She would have been nervous if it hadn't been for the scent of coffee and bacon wafting in the air. She belted her silk robe and headed down to the kitchen where, sure enough, she found Jed much as she had yesterday morning, in jeans and a sweatshirt cooking breakfast. The frilly apron he wore around his waist was at odds with his very masculine appearance. He hadn't shaved yet, his hair wasn't combed into place, and his sleeves were rolled up to reveal forearms sprinkled with bronze hair. He was humming along to an oldies station on the radio while he cooked. She was surprised and pleased to see that Nicholas and Aislinn were both clean and dressed and seated in their high chairs drinking contentedly from the bottles their father had made them. Abbey smiled wistfully when she saw that Jed had made it a point to dress their son in a turtleneck so his bruised neck would be hidden and she wouldn't have any morning reminders. There was a sweetness and thoughtfulness in her husband that she saw very rarely in people.

"Ma…ma" Nicky smiled and threw his bottle down as he saw his mother enter the room.

"Hello little puddin'pie" she kissed his chubby little cheek praising God yet again that she was able to do so. She picked his bottle up and placed it back on the tray.

"Ma.." Aislinn slammed her bottle down on her tray wanting her share of their mother's attention.

"I didn't forget you sugar n'spice" she leaned down to kiss her daughters silky curls.

"Good morning Mama." Jed grinned at her and handed her a steaming mug of coffee.

"Thank you." She cupped the mug with both hands and inhaled deeply. " The elixir of the God's."

"I believe that was ambrosia."

"The books have it all wrong, " she lifted her lips to accept his good morning kiss and rubbed her cheek lightly against the rough stubble of his jaw. "It had to be coffee." She sipped the hot coffee and smiled. Just the way she liked it cream, no sugar.

"Did you get any sleep at all last night?" she asked with a yawn.

"Not really, " he admitted. "I just couldn't. Between you and the kids and my own wandering mind…"

"And the pain in your arm."

"I took some Advil a little while ago and it isn't so bad."

"Well, I want to check it after breakfast."

"Like I'm surprised about that," he said sarcastically.

"Do you always have be such a horrible patient?"

"You wouldn't know what to do with me if I wasn't." He placed a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of her.

"You're right. I wouldn't. Abbey broke one piece of toast into smaller pieces and gave one to each of the kids to gnaw on. "I'd like to go see Max at the veterinary clinic today. Can you clear it with the agents?"

"You bet." He had just taken a mouthful of eggs when there was a knock on the door and Ron poked his head in.

"Sorry to bother you Mr. President… ma'am."

"What's up Ron?" Jed asked.

"I thought you would want to know. I just got a report that Marcus Hughes killed himself in his prison cell. He sliced his wrists with a shank"

Abbey's first emotion was one of relief. He was dead this time. He would NEVER be able to come back to haunt her again. She wouldn't have to bear witness at his trial…" At that thought a shiver of alarm moved up her spine and she turned to look at her husband. The man that she thought she knew better than he knew himself. Could he…Did he….

"My God Jed," she breathed. "Did you have him killed?"

TBC...