The Phoenix

Found

Aaron wasn't sure how he'd expected to spend his evening, but it wasn't sitting on the couch in his office, holding his sobbing girlfriend in his arms. He never thought he'd say this, but Emily Rhodes had fallen apart.

She'd never been a weak person. You couldn't be with a job in politics. Hell, the only time he'd ever seen her cry was after Beth MacLeish's assassination, even then, it wasn't like this.

The worst part about it, he couldn't do anything. There was no way for him to ease her pain. All he could do was hold her as tight as possible.

It wasn't until she'd gone missing that he'd realized how Lucy had been the glue that held Emily together. She always had been. Emily had done everything in life for her.

She'd raised her, she'd gone to college to get a job and help support her, she'd come to DC to make her proud, and now that she was gone, so was her entire world.

Aaron was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. Emily's blotchy, tear-stained face turned towards the sound.

"Come in," Aaron called out.

The door opened and half of Seth's body poked through.

"Got a minute?" he asked, sympathetically looking at the broken mess of a girl clinging to him.

"Yeah. Just a second,"

Seth nodded, closing the door.

"I'll be right back, okay?" he said softly, taking her face in one hand.

Emily sniffled and nodded, her teary gaze not meeting his.

"I love you," he muttered, pressing a kiss to her forehead before stepping outside, where Seth was waiting for him.

"How is she?" he asked as the door shut.

"How does she look?"

"That bad, huh?"

Aaron ran a hand over his face and sighed.

"God, I've never seen her like this before. It's awful. Knowing that she's in so much pain, but there's nothing I can do to stop it. Do you know how Leo's handling it?"

"Not much better. According to the First Lady, he hasn't come out of his room, won't talk to anyone, I don't even think he's eaten since he saw the video."

"What about you? How are you handling the press? I didn't watch the conference."

Seth sighed and gave him a serious look.

"They want Emily to give a statement."

Aaron immediately shook his head.

"No," he stated. "No, like hell she's giving a statement. Have you seen her? She's in absolutely no con-"

"Look, I know that, you know that, but the press doesn't, and it would be best for everyone if they got their answers from her. If they don't get any, they'll start speculating, and that's the last thing any of us wants, believe me,"

Aaron opened his mouth to respond.

"Please, just ask her to consider."

"I'll see what I can do," Aaron relented, walking back into the room.

He sat down on the couch and collected Emily in his arms again.

Her tears had nearly ceased by now, and he pressed kisses to her forehead, hair, and hairline.

"What did he want?" she sniffled.

"He was just wondering how you're doing," Aaron told her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.