Jed stepped out of his office into the commotion in the hall to see Abbey trying to pull away from two Secret Service agents who didn't seem to know how to handle her. If she had been a man they would have just unceremoniously lifted her and hauled her ass down to the bunker. But, this was the very small and very feminine First Lady and she was spitting mad.

"I SAID let go of me," Abbey repeated angrily. "I want to see my HUSBAND."

"Abbey," Jed said simply and she stopped fighting long enough to see him standing in the doorway. Relief softened her features as she realized that Jed was indeed all right.

"Jed," she broke away to race into his arms, "what the hell is going on?"

"I don't have all the details but we appear to be under attack. Bombs have gone off in several airports around the country."

"Oh my God," she breathed.

"Abbey, look at me," he cupped her face to gaze deeply into her eyes. "We have information that there is a bomb here in D.C. loaded with radiation. All of our girls are being taken care of. Zoey is on her way here. I need you to go down into the bunker with the twins."

"OK, let's go."

"Abbey, I said I need YOU to go down to the bunker with the twins. I'm not going yet. I want to address the nation first and I'm going to do it from the Oval Office, not some damned cellar hole."

"Then I'll wait for you," she turned to Izzy and two agents who each held one of her babies. "Izzy, you take the babies into the bunker and we'll join you later."

"No, Abbey," Jed said gently. "You go now. The kids need you."

"I'm not going without you, Jed. Period. I am your wife and I will be standing right beside you through this."

"Abbey, stop. You're going into the bunker. I need to know that you are safe. You have two babies who are going to need you down there." His tone was firmer now.

"I said I'm not going without you, Jed. My place is beside you. I need to be with you if anything..." her voice began to quiver, but she stuck her chin out defiantly against the tears that threatened, "If anything more happens," she finished.

"You don't get a vote in this, Abbey," he ran his hand over her cheek, his blue eyes filled with a strange hunger and intensity that she realized was because he was memorizing her face in case he never saw her again. "I love you baby, but you need to go. I NEED to know that you are safe." He tried to step away from her but she refused to let go of his hand. So, instead of breaking free of his wife, Jed turned back to look into her tear filled gaze. With emotions overwhelming him, he stepped forward cupping her face again his palms and he kissed her with a hunger and intensity that was amazing in a kiss so brief.

"I love you," he whispered as he pressed another kiss just under her ear. He took a step back but their eyes remained locked for a brief moment before he turned to Abbey's agents, dreading what he was about to do to her. "Guys, take her." He pulled his arm back as the two agents began to gently pry her away. Abbey tried to break free, but realized her attempts were futile. Under her husband's orders, she was being taken away. She walked backwards, her gaze never leaving Jed, and he saw her big hazel eyes pool with tears.

"Don't do this, Jed," her voice was barely a whisper and choked with emotion.

"I need you safe with our kids," his explanation was a plea for understanding. "I'll be joining you shortly, I promise."

Abbey knew she had rights. She knew she had the right to banish her service detail. But something in the way Jed had said he NEEDED her to be safe had made it through the haze of fear she was feeling. She knew he would not be able to focus properly if he thought that she was in any danger. She also knew that if she refused the protection he would probably send for the Marines who had to follow the orders of their Commander-in-Chief. She continued to walk backwards down the hall with an agent on each arm. Her eyes, filled with desperation, fear, and love were locked with Jed's intensely apologetic ones and they could neither blink nor look away. It was as if some part of each of them knew that this could very well be the last time they saw each other and they wanted to burn this moment into their souls. Just as the agents were about to pull Abbey around the corner, CJ strode down the hall with a cameraman.

"We're all set, Mr. President," she said.

"Let's do it then." He turned and went back into the Oval Office, ready to take on the world now that he knew Abbey was safely in the bunker with their kids.

+++++

"God bless you all, and God bless America." Jed finished his statement to the American people and agents immediately swarmed him.

"We need to get you out of here NOW," Ron said. True to what Jed had heard about these situations, his feet barely touched the ground as he was surrounded by agents and whisked out of the Oval Office.

"Where are we going?" He asked with confusion as they went passed the turn for the bunker.

"The Vice-President has already been moved into the bunker," Ron informed him, "we can't have you both in the same location so we're going to take you up into Air Force One." The doors were opened to the White House lawn and Jed could see the service and military were in full siege mentality. The path to Marine One was lined by armed snipers, the roof of the White House covered by them.

"Is Leo back from the Hill yet?" He asked while instinctively ducking from the helicopter blades.

"Not yet," Nancy informed him. "He'll be taken down into the bunker with Fitz and the Vice-President when he is brought back here." Jed entered Marine One with his national security advisors and only part of his staff. Because this was not an all out nuclear attack Josh, Toby, CJ, and Sam were all allowed to accompany him. Before Jed was even buckled into his seat, the pilot had Marine One in the air and on it's way to Andrews Air Force Base. Jed stared out his window as the White House got smaller and smaller. He prayed that Abbey would be able to get over the fact that he had yet again broken a promise to her. He wanted desperately to be able to be there to comfort his family the way he had just tried to do with the country. And he prayed with all his being that all would be safe down in that bunker and in the homes of every one of his countrymen. He knew telling the citizens of D.C. that there was a radioactive bomb in their midst would only have served to cause a mass panic and hysteria, making it more difficult for the officials to do their jobs. But it had not set well with him being unable to warn his people. He had been able to protect his family but not every American father had been given the information and opportunity to do so and that really ripped at his heart. He knew that if that bomb went off decimating entire families, he would spend the rest of his life second guessing himself and asking for forgiveness that he knew he would never give himself.

++++

Abbey had never been in the White House bunker before and was surprised at how primitive it really was. It consisted of one large room with thick concrete walls. One corner held a communications system where Fitz and other members of the joint staff were huddled going over information and data. Abbey sat in an out of the way corner with Izzy, Zoey, and the babies.

The White House bunker was stockpiled with food and supplies for the adult members who were being hidden there. It was not, however, prepared for two seven-month-old babies. So, Abbey began to take stock of what Izzy had been able to throw together in the limited time she had been allowed to pack a diaper bag for the twins. She had been able to grab a couple boxes of baby cereal and some jars of fruits and vegetables. Food would not be that much of an issue because she was still nursing so if they ran out of the jars of solid baby food and cereal, the babies could survive on breast milk alone. What concerned her was the diaper situation. If they had to stay for an extended period of time, they would run out of diapers fairly quickly. Oh well, she thought, if worse comes to worse they could always use the cloth diapers she used as burping rags and just continually wash them out. It wasn't an ideal situation, as they didn't have that many of them, but under these conditions and circumstances, that would have to do.

Satisfied that they had enough supplies for the near future, Abbey leaned back against the wall wondering just what was going on upstairs and when Jed would be joining them all. While she had been busy making sure her children had what they needed she had been able to hold the worry and the tremors at bay, but now it all came flooding back to her. Come on Jed, she thought to herself, now is not the time for a long-winded speech.

"I can't believe they are letting your father speak this long," she said impatiently to Zoey just as the doors to the bunker were re-opened. Abbey eagerly turned to see her husband but was instead confronted with John and Connie Hoynes. She knew in that moment that her husband would not be joining her. There was no way they would allow the President and Vice-President to be in the same location.

"John, where is Jed?" She asked as she anxiously grabbed his arm.

"I honestly don't know, Abbey," he said sincerely. "Connie and I just got dragged out of a lunch engagement and brought down here. Fitz," he called over to the communications area, "where is the President?"

"In Marine One on his way to Andrews and Air Force One." Both John and Connie Hoynes watched the light fade from Abbey's eyes.

"He'll be all right," Connie rubbed her arm. While John had certainly had his differences with Jed Bartlet, he had always liked Jed's wife. And, other than hating the way the press compared her to the beautiful First Lady, Connie had always gotten along well with Abbey.

"Where are they going?" Abbey demanded.

"We don't know, ma'am. They will be taking evasive action in the air, probably changing course several times. "

John turned to approach the joint chiefs at the communications table while Connie began to walk over to the corner with Abbey. Commotion at the bunker door drew all their attention as Leo entered the room. For a brief moment Abbey had a flash of hope. Where Jed went, Leo followed. But, this time it was just Leo.

"You didn't go on Air Force One, Leo?" Abbey asked with surprise.

"I was on the Hill in a meeting. I didn't make it back in time," he scowled. It was obvious that he was less than thrilled about not being part of the main action on Air Force One and was instead stuck hiding in the basement with the Vice-President and a bunch of women and children.

+++++++++

Thousands of feet in the air, with two fighter planes on each wing, Air Force One made it's way across the country, weaving and turning so as to avoid detection. The people on board were trying desperately to get what information they could and to try to base a plan of action.

"Sir, we have word from the ground that the damage done in the airport explosions was not as severe as expected. Some planes have been destroyed and there have been a few casualties, mainly crew members, but nothing like the devastation that could have been caused if they had gotten the bomb into the terminal," Nancy said, having finally gotten the information they had been waiting for.

"Well, that's better news than expected," Josh noted.

"What about the bomb in DC?" Jed asked, "Any word?"

"None yet."

"Damn," he shook his head grimly. Time was ticking away and still no luck. Just as Nancy started to head back to the command center that they had set up, two members of the national security team approached her with ashen faces.

"We just received word from the CIA that they have intercepted messages saying that we may have a missile attack against Air Force One."

++++++++++

Abbey was used to being in control of emergency situations. As a doctor, she had been the one giving out the rushed orders and making the decisions, but today she was sitting in the corner of the room with the other women watching as the Joint Chiefs and Secret Service huddled with John and Leo. She knew they had been in contact with Air Force One and it had been all she could do not to rip the receiver out of Admiral Fitzwallace's hand and demand to talk to Jed. She hated that they were separated. If something horrific was to happen, she wanted to be with her husband, not hiding out with the Joint Chiefs. Her attention was brought back to her children as Nicky began to fuss in her arms.

"Oh, baby don't," she sighed, lifting him to her shoulder. She knew exactly what his crying was going to do to her body, and sure enough, within minutes she felt her breasts tighten as her milk let down. She knew that she had pushed the twins about as long as she could. They hadn't been able to nap properly and now they were hungry and overtired. Her gaze began to scan the room.

"What are you looking for, Abbey?" Connie asked.

"Do you know if there is another room where I could nurse the twins?" She asked, her discomfort very evident on her face.

"I don't know, I've never been down here. Leo would know, he's been down here before."

Abbey handed Nicholas to Zoey and moved to approach the group of men.

"Leo," she said softly.

"What is it, Abbey? Are the kids all right?" He gazed at the twins who were both crying harder by now as their needs were not being met. Their increased volume only caused Abbey more pain.

"I need to feed them, Leo."

"That's OK, go ahead, we'll be here for awhile."

"No, Leo, I need to FEED them," she emphasized, thinking he might get the point, but Leo was being obtuse. "Nurse them, Leo, nurse them."

"Oh, didn't you bring any food?"

"Yes, but I HAVE to nurse them soon before I burst," she blurted out, a statement that caused Leo's eyes to move to her chest and stare at her breasts for a long moment. "They aren't literally going to burst, Leo," Abbey smiled for the first time in hours, "but sometime today would be nice."

"Oh...oh yes, of course," he stammered and Abbey could have sworn she saw a blush rise in his cheeks. "But there aren't any other rooms here, Abbey, this is it."

"I'm not going to nurse them in front of the Joint Chiefs and everyone else. There must be somewhere I can get some privacy."

"The bathroom?"

So, that is how it was that the First Lady of the United States found herself sitting on the tiled floor of the bathroom leaning up against the wall with her son at her breast. She stroked his silky hair while he pulled at her nipple all the while giving silent prayers for her husband, her other daughters, and her country, praying that the bombing was over and that the radioactive bomb would be found.

++++

With Nicholas and Aislinn's bellies finally filled and feeling decidedly more comfortable, Abbey buttoned up her blouse and opened the bathroom door.

"What the fuck do you mean we don't have any contact with Air Force One?" Leo was bellowing.

"We've lost all communication," Fitz's voice held a tone of pained gravity. "We can't pick it up on radar. We have to go by the assumption that Air Force One has been shot down."

"Oh my God," Abbey's voice was filled with a pain so deep it made Leo bleed inside, and he turned just in time to catch her and the babies as her knees began to buckle.

TBC...