Work Text:
January 6, 2025
7:32 AM
“They found what?” Ellen exclaims back at Zahra.
“Two pipe bombs ma’am,” Zahra says without looking up from her phone, typing countless emails in quick succession. “Right outside the national committee headquarters for both parties.”
Ellen sighs deeply as she gazes out the Oval Office windows. “Well, it’s a good thing they were found before they exploded.”
“There’s still that big crowd of Bates’ supporters coming to the Washington Monument,” Zahra adds, still not looking up from her phone.
Ellen turns around in her chair, sighing again. She was just under two weeks from leaving office after her second term, and the 2024 election had been quite nasty. Matthew Bates, the Republican candidate from South Carolina had been particularly nasty in a way that Ellen hadn’t seen someone do publicly in a long time. Luckily, the Democratic candidate – Maria Lopez from Oregon – had won by millions of votes and over 45 electoral votes. But not long after election day, Bates and his campaign started claiming that the election had been stolen from them. Ellen had chosen to leave it alone – just a sore loser – they said.
Today, on the day members of Congress officially certified the election results, the Bates campaign decided to have a rally by the Washington Monument. He had been encouraging his supporters to join him for weeks now. Ellen had been briefed two days ago that almost all the hotels in the DC area were booked. Apparently, this rally was supposed to have a high attendance.
Ellen had woken up this morning in a cold sweat. Something just felt off.
“Do you want to put out a statement?” Zahra asked. “I can call Jackson in here—"
“No,” Ellen said quietly. “No need to incite panic over nothing.”
“Alright,” a few more taps on the screen. “The secretary of defense is waiting outside. Ready for him?”
Ellen turned around in her seat, shoving her weird feelings down. Time to work. “Send him in.”
***
12:28 PM
“Cheers to the Los Bastardos!” Oscar Diaz said as he raised his beer to meet the beers of the two men in the office with him – Rafael Luna and Alex Claremont-Diaz.
“The last time with a Claremont in office,” Rafael noted. “How does that make you feel Alex? No longer the first son of royal pain.” Rafael and Oscar exploded with laughter.
“Ha. So original,” Alex replied as he rolled his eyes. “Never heard that one.”
Rafael laughed. “I’m kidding. You’re off to bigger and better things. I hear…. wedding bells?”
Alex glares at his father. “You told him?”
Oscar shrugged. “He guessed it. You and Henry aren’t subtle.”
“That was the whole reason for me coming today! I was going to tell Rafael in person!” Alex lightly punched his father. “Asshole.”
Oscar and Rafael burst into laughter as Alex took another sip of beer. “You both are assholes,” Alex muttered under his breath.
“Alright, we’re done. Tell me all the details,” Rafael continued. “When’s the wedding?”
“Henry’s over there sorting out all the details now. That’s why it hasn’t been announced yet.”
“I would hope I would get a heads up before a public announcement.”
Alex threw his plastic fork at Rafael. “Of course you were going to know before everybody else. And get a personal invite.”
“Eh, I might be busy that day.” Rafael and Oscar burst out into laughter again. Alex took a bite of his burrito and rolled his eyes.
“You better be there,” Alex said with a mouth full of food. “I ain’t sticking it to the instituation of monarchy without my bastardos by my side.”
“First the White House, then Buckingham Palace,” Oscar said as he looked at his son with pride. “Those white bastards don’t know what’s coming.”
“Do you get a fancy title? Are you also going to be a prince?” Rafael asked.
“No,” Alex put down his burrito. “Henry said something about duke of some boring British place, but that’s another detail he’s hashing out with his grandmother. She probably doesn’t want me to have even the smallest title, but Henry’s fighting hard. I could care less. I just want to get married to Henry.”
“This is bigger than you two, you know.” Rafael set down his drink on his desk. “You two are the first gay couple to be married legally in the royal family. Sure, there have been gay kings in the past, but none of them ever got to marry. Doesn’t matter if Henry is ever king, you two are making history.”
“History, huh?” Oscar echoed. “Kind of your thing kid.”
Alex smiled at the two men. They were right, after all. Making history was kind of his and Henry’s thing.
Before Alex could thank them both for all the support they’ve offered him over the years, Oscar’s chief of staff walked in.
“Senator,” she turned to Rafael and Alex. “Senator…and Mr. Claremont-Diaz.” She turned back to Oscar. “The electoral college certification is about to start. You’ve been asked to head towards the main chamber.”
“Ah, duty calls,” Oscar says sadly as he stands up. He winks at his son and thanks his chief of staff. “Rafael, it’s our time to shine.”
Rafael stood. “Nothing more exciting than an electoral college certification,” he stated sarcastically to Alex. Rafael heads out after Oscar’s chief of staff.
Oscar reaches down and pats his son on the shoulder. “See you in a bit mijo. This will only take an hour or so. I want to hear all the plans for the wedding.”
“Sounds good dad,” Alex calls out as Oscar leaves the room.
***
1:02 PM
Alex finishes his burrito as he scrolls through Twitter. He’s seen several tweets about the Bates rally at the Washington Monument, which he mostly ignores. He saw plenty of Bates supporters over the past year and they dumbfounded him. Bates was clearly just bullshitting his way through to the presidency, but some people just ate up every word he said. Some things Alex will never understand.
He’s about to close Twitter when a Facetime request comes in from Henry. He immediately accepts. In seconds, he sees Henry’s beautiful face looking back at his.
“Hey there sweet thang,” he says in greeting.
“Oh hello there my bloody menace,” Henry greets with a smile. “How are things over in the former colony?”
“Oh, you know, the usual, just trying to peacefully transfer the power away from my mom.”
“Ellen yielding power…I wasn’t aware that was something a person could do.”
“You cheeky bastard,” Alex laughed. “I knew you had seen Hamilton!”
“Of course I have,” Henry rolled his eyes. “I don’t live under a rock.”
“How did the meetings with your grandmother go?”
Henry turned to look at something off screen. Alex can see the background moving. Henry must be walking around the house. He recognizes a few paintings in the background – must be Kensington. Henry was still dressed up for dinner, but his tie was undone. Alex was three seconds away from asking for phone sex with how good Henry looked.
Henry looked back at the phone and sighed deeply. “It went a little better than expected, but the bar is so low I don’t think that’s a very good barometer of measure.”
“Do I get to be a princess? Or a duchess?” Alex winked at Henry.
“As of right now, still no title. But we got Westminster Abbey. That’s a step in the right direction.”
Alex cheered and threw his napkin up in the air as if it were confetti. “Hell yeah baby. We’re wearing her down! Before you know it, she’ll be wearing a rainbow dress to our wedding!”
Henry rolled her eyes. “In your dreams. Most of the details we discussed today were so nonimportant it was rather frustrating as to why I even needed to be there.”
“Well, it is our wedding. At least one of us should be there for the planning.”
Henry gave Alex a small, sad smile. “I wish you were here.”
“Me too, but you know I’ve got to be here for mom. It’s the end of her presidency.”
“I know, love. She’s lucky to have both you and June there.”
“As soon as she’s done, you’re coming to London, right?”
“’Course,” Alex said as he took another bite of burrito. “And then I can give your grandmother hell until she gives us everything she gave Philip and Martha.”
“Just don’t give her a heart attack,” Henry sighs. “We don’t need a funeral and a coronation in the same year as a royal wedding. That’s too much for all of us to handle.”
“Queen Catherine has a great ring to it though.” Alex says with his mouth full.
Henry shuts his eyes, as if shutting them will make him unhear what Alex said. “Alex, you know you can’t say those things. Gran will find out somehow.”
“I’m still an American citizen bitch. Freedom of speech – especially against former colonizers!”
Henry opens his eyes and glares at Alex. “You’re one to talk. America’s just as bad as the UK in terms of colonizing.”
“Eh, potato, potatoe.” He crumbles up the aluminum foil and throws it across the room to the trash can. He misses. Henry lets out a massive yawn.
“Baby, are you tired?” he asks Henry. “I can call you tomorrow if you want to go.”
Henry yawns again. “I might take you up on that, love. I have to get up early again tomorrow for an appearance with Bea at the hospital.”
“Alright baby. I’ll call you tomorrow. Tell everyone I said hey and give David a big hug for me.”
Henry smiles. “Can do. Goodnight love.”
“Goodnight.” Alex disconnects and starts cleaning up lunch.
***
2:04 PM
Alex had been scrolling through his for you page on TikTok when he heard the sound of running. He heard shouting too, but couldn’t make out any of the words. He glanced up at Cash – who was stationed outside of the door, but still in the office of Senator Oscar Diaz. Cash motioned for him to stay put as he went to the office door to see what was going on.
When Cash opened the door, Alex heard him talking to someone. Alex wasn’t close enough to make out the words, but the tone of this unknown person was very panicked.
Cash shut the door and hurried back to Alex. “We’ve got to go.”
“What’s going on?”
“That Bates rally went crazy and now they’re all here trying to break into the capital.”
“WHAT?”
“I need to get you to the safe room. Then we can all figure out what the hell is going on.” Cash motioned for him to stand. Alex did without question. He knew Cash wouldn’t make up anything. Alex could see the fear in Cash’s eyes. This was something he rarely ever saw, showing the severity of the situation.
Alex nods and Cash starts heading out the door, Alex right behind him. As they exit the office and head into the hallway, Alex can hear the noise.
He’s been to the capital building more times than he can count. More than any American who doesn’t actually work in the building, he’s sure of it. It’s always been a quiet place. The large hallways lead to footsteps echoing. Even on days where all members of Congress are here, like today, the hallways are quiet.
The moment he stepped outside of his father’s senatorial office, he heard echoes of shouts and screams. He heard thuds of what sounded like something hitting the windows. He had never heard such a sound in his life. It was disorienting to say the least. From where his father’s office was on the second floor, it was muffled. But if it was this loud on the second floor, there was no telling what it sounded like on the first.
Cash grabbed his arm and pulled him to the left, towards a staircase. Cash was in full security mode, ushering Alex along fast – his grip on Alex’s arm tightening with each step. If Alex wasn’t afraid, he would be complaining about an upcoming bruise.
As they went down the staircase, Alex heard Cash talk in his earpiece to the other Secret Service agents in the building. Alex followed in silence.
“Where…where’s the safe room?” Alex managed to ask as they landed on the first floor. He knew the layout of the White House like the back of his hand. He knew most of the Capital by memory as well. But the location of safe room had ever been disclosed to him.
“Down,” Cash blurted. “We’ve got to find the other staircase that goes down.” At the bottom of the staircase Cash stops and looks directly at Alex. “Where is it? I know you know this place.”
“The staircase to the basement is to the left there,” Alex uses his free arm to point down the hallway to their right. Cash looks up and back at Alex. “That’s towards where the rioters are. Is there another one?”
Alex struggles to think. Rioters at the capital. He could barely process this. “Uh… I think so. The buildings two wings mirror each other. So there should be one—”
Alex and Cash turn at the sound of glass breaking. Far down the hallway, they see window glass shattering on the ground. And people climbing through the window.
Cash shoves Alex in the opposite direction with one simple demand. “Run!”
Alex and Cash take off down the hallway. Alex had never run faster in his life.
As they reached the first floor offices, many staff members of various senators started scrambling. Some ran into offices and shut the doors. Some took off behind Alex and Cash. No one stuck around.
Alex barely hears Cash say several cusswords as the sounds of the mob get louder.
Just before they reach a turn in the hallway, Cash grabs Alex and shoves him into a random senatorial office. He follows him and slams the door.
“Help me move this desk,” Cash orders Alex.
Alex and Cash pick up the closest desk to barricade the door. A staff member that Alex doesn’t recognize runs over to help.
Once the desk is secure, Cash shoves Alex further into the office. “Everyone find a place to hide. This is going to get worse before it gets better.”
The three staff members stuck in there with Alex and Cash do just that. Cash scans the room before pointing to the staff bathroom. Without a word, Alex moves into it and crouches down against the wall.
Cash goes about continuing to barricade the office as Alex searches his pocket for his phone.
Front pockets – empty.
Back pockets – empty.
His eyes went wide as he realized he left his phone in his father’s office. Now, more than ever, he wanted to text the people he cared about. Assure them he was okay. Check the news to see what the hell was going on. But he couldn’t. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, trying not to panic.
Cash showed up and kneeled beside him. “I think we’re okay in here as long as nobody breaks through the door. I can’t get a hold of anyone on the outside. So we’re stuck until it’s safe to move, okay?”
Alex nods. This whole day is unreal.
***
2:12 PM
Oscar’s brain was moving at a hundred miles an hour. He couldn’t stop pacing.
The door to the safe room opened again and a few more of his colleagues were rushed in. One of them was Rafael Luna. Rafael made eye contact with him, immediately heading in his direction.
The two men embraced.
“Glad to see you’re okay Raf,” Oscar said as he let go of Rafael.
“You too, Oscar,” Rafael replied. “This is insane. I…I don’t know what to say.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Oscar shoved his hands into his pockets. He leaned forward and lowered the volume of his voice. “Have you seen Alex?”
Rafael’s eyes went wide. “No. Oh fuck no.”
Oscar took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He was not going to panic. “Any chance he left before…before all this?”
Rafael’s look said everything Oscar didn’t want to believe to be true.
“There are two other safe rooms,” Rafael finally said. “Surely he’s in one of those.”
Oscar nodded, holding back tears. “Surely.”
***
2:39 PM
“Mom!”
Ellen turned around as June ran towards her. Ellen had been moved to the residence not long after the storming of the capitol begun. June had been out for a run when it happened and her Secret Service agent had rushed her back to the White House.
June wrapped her arms around her mother. Despite all the arguments she and her mother had, June knew that her mother’s hug was always calming.
“How are you, sugar?” Ellen pushed her back at arms’ length. “Did anyone hurt you? It took so long for you to get here! I was so worried.” Ellen pulled her back into a hug.
“I was out for a run when the news broke. I was pretty far out when it happened. I’m sorry.”
Ellen finally relented and let go of June. “Have you heard from your father? He was there for the certification.”
June shook her head. She glanced around the room and saw Leo pacing in the corner. June had never seen Leo so stressed. In fact, now that she thought about it, June had never seen Leo stressed. If that didn’t indicate the severity of the situation, June wasn’t sure what would. She saw Zahra moving back and forth between furiously typing onto her phone and glaring at the television screen. There were various staff members in various states of panic and shock.
The one person she thought she would see was Alex. And he was nowhere to be found.
“Mom,” June started slowly. “Where’s Alex?”
Ellen’s gaze snapped to hers. “Alex wasn’t with you?”
June’s eyes went wide. “No. I thought he was here!”
“Zahra!” Ellen yelled. Zahra’s eyes snapped to Ellen. “What was Alex’s schedule today? Anything at the…the—”
Zahra looks down at her phone and taps a few times. “He didn’t have anything,” she says while scrolling. “Except a lunch with Senators Luna and Diaz…in Senator Diaz’s office.”
June gasped. Ellen sat down and looked as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment. June turned to look at her mom and was trying not to panic. Surely Alex wasn’t there anymore. Lunch was so long ago.
“Zahra,” Ellen started slowly. “Please tell me someone has located Alex.”
Zahra froze. This was the first time June had seen her not immediately follow a request from her mother. With shaking hands, Zahra slowly returned to tapping on her phone. She froze again before slowly looking back up at Ellen and shaking her head.
Ellen took a few deep breaths. June could see a single tear slowly make its way down her cheek. June wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold with fear.
Without warning, Ellen stood up. “Somebody find my son!” A pause. “Now!”
Two staffers took off in a state of panic. It wasn’t often that Ellen yelled, but when she did, people listened.
Before anyone else could say anything, June’s phone rang. She immediately grabbed it and saw her dad’s name. She answered it quickly.
“Dad?” Ellen’s head snapped to her direction.
“Hey there June bug. I just wanted to let you know that I’m safe.”
“Oh thank God dad,” June took a deep breath of relief. “I’m so glad. Are you unharmed?”
“Yes, thank goodness we got out of the Senate Chamber before anyone got hurt. I think.”
“Dad that is great news.” June took a few more breaths, psyching herself up for asking the question she dreaded. “Dad…is Alex with you?”
An uncomfortable pause.
“No. He was upstairs waiting for us to finish when everything went down. Have you not heard from him?”
“No, I just learned he was even at the capitol.” June’s breathing started getting ragged and panicky.
“June, take a deep breath.” Her dad truly knew her. “I’m sure he’s in one of the other safe rooms.” June heard some other voices get louder behind Oscar. “Mija, I’ve got to go. They’re asking everyone to get off their phones. I’ll talk to you soon, okay? I love you!”
“I love you too dad. Stay safe.” Oscar hung up.
The silence in the room told June that everyone was starting to realize that Alex was unaccounted for.
The uncomfortable silence hung amongst the people in the room for a few more moments before Zahra broke it with a phone call.
“Shaan, I apologize in advance that I’m calling you on your personal phone for a work matter, but I need you to ask Henry if he’s talked to Alex today. Particularly in the last hour or so.” A moment while she listened to the other end. “Turn on the news, Shaan. There’s a fucking apocalypse scenario happening in DC right now.” Another pause. “Now. We need to know where the fuck Alex is and if anyone knows it’s Henry.”
Zahra lowered her phone and looked at Ellen and June. “Shaan’s going to find Henry.”
While Zahra waited, June pulled up her phone and tried to call Alex. No answer. She texted him. All the texts were delivered but not read. She opened up Snapchat and looked at his little bitmoji standing in the capitol. Last seen 4 hours ago.
The silence in the room was again interrupted by Zahra. “Henry you goddamn prince. I need you to fucking tell me if you’ve talked to Alex ASAP. If you lie to me I will fly over there and beat your ass. Ask me if I’m afraid of the queen.”
Ellen’s face went from despair to shock as she watched Zahra listen to the prince. Eventually Zahra lowered her voice. “Thank you, Your Highness. I’m sorry I cussed at you.” She hung up, returning her phone to her pocket. Zahra looked up at Ellen and June. “Henry last talked to Alex before lunch. He hasn’t heard from his since.”
“Oh my baby,” Ellen muttered as she fell back down onto the couch.
***
4:15 PM
Alex watched as Cash slowly opened the office door. With his gun out in front of him, Cash took a step into the hallway. They hadn’t heard anyone outside for the past thirty minutes so Cash wanted to try and get everyone to the safe room.
Alex watched as Cash fully disappeared into the hallway. He was gone for five seconds before reappearing. “We’re moving, everyone file in line behind Alex and for fuck’s sake, stay quiet.”
Alex followed slowly. As he emerged from the office, he saw the signs of the terrorist act that was still in progress. Glass from the windows was scattered all over the floor. There were random Bates campaign paraphernalia scattered amongst the glass, left behind by the rioters. He noticed a few doors smashed in, as well as one wall that definitely had blood splatter on it.
Cash turned down another hallway, his gun out in front of him. There was nobody in the hallway that they could see, but the evidence of what had happened was still here too. This particular part of the hallway had various congressional artifacts in glass cases along the walls – all of them broken into.
By the time they got to the next turn, Alex realized that the fact that their office was not broken into was a major fluke. It was clear the rioters were hell bent on destruction.
One more turn, and Cash froze. At the end of the hallway was a door that led to the safe room on this side of the building. But near the door were two rioters. One was wearing a camo hunting outfit with a massive hunting rifle strapped to his back. The other was wearing a red Bates 2024 shirt with a matching red hat. They were trying to carry a large podium down the hallway.
Before either of them noticed Cash, he noticed them. “Put your hands up!” Cash yelled. Both guys looked up and laughed. Cash aimed his gun at their feet and let two shots go. Both men yelled in pain as they fell to the ground.
“Go to the door!” Cash yelled to Alex and the staffers. He turned back to glare at them when no one moved. “Now! I’ve got them covered!”
Alex pushed the staffers in front of them and followed as they all slowly made their way down the hallway, around the two men and to the stairs. Alex opened the door for the rest of the staffers as Cash made his way around the rioters on the ground.
As Cash slowly made it to the door, one of the rioters shifted, causing Cash to shoot one more time. As the man’s leg burst open at the impact of the bullet, the second rioter brought his gun up and shot in Cash’s direction. Alex felt like he had been shoved – hard. Cash let out a second shot, knocking the man down as his shoulder got hit.
Cash shoved Alex back into the stairway and shut the door behind him.
Before doing anything else, Cash glared at Alex in a way that Alex had seen too many times today. “Are you hurt?”
“Uh…I…uh…” Alex was still too shocked for the whole situation to say anything. He glanced down and noticed red on his right shoulder. “Uh…yes?”
Cash grabbed his shoulder and looked at it before sighing deeply. “You’ll be okay. Anywhere else?”
Alex shook his head. The shock of actually getting shot slowly fading. Reality was starting to set in as Cash looked at him, always level headed.
“We’re going to go downstairs to the safe room and that’s where we’ll find you a doctor. Okay? You’re going to be fine Alex.” Cash put his hand on the other – non-bloody – shoulder. “The worst is over.”
Alex nodded. “Thank you Cash. You literally just saved me. And all of those staff members.”
Cash gave him a small smile. “All in a day’s work, kid. Now let’s get you to that safe room.”
***
7:27 PM
“Mom if you don’t stop pacing I’m going to strangle you,” June muttered from the couch. She was watching her mother and President-Elect Lopez prepare for the nightly address to the people of the United States. Still no word about Alex. The storming of the capitol had officially stopped. As of twenty minutes ago, the unharmed members of the Capitol Police and the National Guard begun sweeping through the safe rooms and the rest of the building looking for members of Congress and their staff members. Ellen had ordered that the moment someone spots her son, she was to know immediately.
June couldn’t tell who was more nervous, her, her mom, Leo, or Henry. Henry had called her every fifteen minutes for the past five hours. She had a running text thread with Bea, Pez, Nora and Henry on updates. From what Bea had told her, Henry was an emotional wreck. She was too.
“Ma’am, we’re on in one minute,” a staff member said to Ellen. Ellen nodded before making her way to the chair behind the resolute desk. June had helped put together a speech for tonight. It had been a great distraction.
June watched as her mother got ready for television. Her facial expression said I’m pissed off as well as Everything’s going to be okay. June had overheard that there had been thousands of arrests. Bates himself had been at least detained. Ellen was about to say all of those things before handing the speech over to President-Elect Lopez.
Her phone buzzed. She glanced down. Another message from Henry. Any updates? Watching the speech.
Not yet, she texted back. Mom’s supposed to know the second they find him.
June put her phone back in her pocket and leaned back to watch her mom give the speech. Halfway through the speech, her father started to call her again. June slowly and quietly made her way out of the Oval Office to answer.
“Dad, how are you? Everything okay?”
“They’re getting us out of the safe room. We’re all going back to our offices to make sure our staffers are okay, and then we’re going to finish the certification. I’m going to try and come and see you as soon as that’s over, okay?”
“Yes! Yes! That would be very okay. It’s so good to hear your voice, dad.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “Any word on Alex?”
“Not yet Bug. But he was last in my office, so I’m hoping he’ll be there when they empty all the safe rooms. If I hear from him, I’ll text you, okay?”
“Okay. Be safe dad. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Oscar hangs up and June sneaks back into the Oval Office. She watches as the speech ends with Leo.
An hour later, Ellen, Leo and June are sitting in the Oval Office with a bottle of Shiner. Ellen holding her phone in her hand. The speech had been over for exactly twenty-eight minutes. Ellen had asked the room be cleared immediately.
No one had said anything in exactly sixteen minutes.
Suddenly, Ellen’s phone rang. She stared at it for two moments before answering it.
June and Leo watched anxiously as Ellen nodded. Finally she hung up and looked at both of them.
“So?” June asked.
Ellen let out the biggest sigh of relief anyone had ever seen. “He was in a safe room. He was injured so he’s going to see a doctor now.” She started sobbing. “He’s alive.”
***
10:45 PM
Alex knew he looked like shit. But everyone he had seen in the past few hours looked like shit.
As he walked through the halls, he saw all the damage of the day. He still couldn’t believe what had happened today. He knew Bates had been bad, but he had assumed that it was over after the election.
Boy had he been wrong.
For the past few hours, Alex had been in the pop up medical area that had been established in the back of the Capitol Building. There had been countless injuries on both sides, causing the area to look like the medical tent during war. Alex had seen enough war movies to make the connection in his head. The only difference was there was a clear divide in the patients. One side was for the staffers and congress members who had been injured. The other side was for the rioters that had been injured. The outfits were a distinguishing factor for sure, but the presence of National Guard members guarding the rioters on the other side made it clear.
Alex, thankfully, was put on the side of the staffers. Due to the large amount of injuries, he had to wait for a long time. Cash, thankfully, had been by his side the entire time. Alex could tell Cash felt guilty for Alex’s shoulder injury, but Alex had forgiven him the second it happened. He knew Cash did a lot for him and Alex also knew that his injuries would have been a lot worse without Cash there.
The bullet was extracted from his shoulder and he had been given a sling to keep it in place while it healed. Alex had to promise to see the White House doctor when he got back. Cash ensured that would be his first stop after arriving back home.
As they stepped off the staircase to the second floor, Alex and Cash both stopped, taking in the sight. Staffers and senators were walking around, talking with one another. If the past few hours hadn’t happened, Alex would have assumed a session of voting had just ended. It was the smashed glass and the bruised and bloodied faces that told him the past few hours had happened.
And the pain in his shoulder. But that was something Alex wasn’t ready to address yet.
Cash put a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Your dad’s office? Or Rafael’s?”
Alex took a deep breath. “Dad.”
Cash helped keep the various staff and congress members away from Alex as they worked their way down the hallway. Alex waved to a few, offering a smile to those he didn’t know, and before he knew it they were at the door of his father’s office.
Alex took a deep breath before pushing the door open with his free hand. Inside all the staff members were talking with one another or on the phone talking with presumably loved ones. Nobody noticed him at first. He was okay with that.
He slowly made his way to the back of the office, where his dad’s desk was. Thankfully, his dad’s office didn’t look as destroyed as the offices on the first floor. Alex didn’t want to know anymore information at this time. He just wanted to see a familiar face.
“Mijo!” Oscar yelled, snapping Alex out of his thoughts. Oscar rushed forward and grabbed Alex in one of the tightest hugs he had ever experienced.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that mijo,” Oscar muttered. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
“Wasn’t exactly keen on it either dad,” Alex muttered back sarcastically. He held onto his dad a little bit tighter.
Oscar eventually moved back far enough to look Alex in the eyes. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“Me too dad,” Alex said as he fought back tears. Oscar hugged him one more time before leading him back to his desk. Alex sat down in the chair he had been sitting in before all the chaos began.
Oscar sat down and gestured for Cash to sit in the third chair. Cash hesitated before doing so.
“Cash,” Oscar began. “I can’t begin to explain how much it means to me that you kept my boy safe today. I…I…”
“It’s all in a day’s work, sir,” Cash said modestly, throwing a smirk at Alex.
“No,” Oscar insisted. “Today there was a domestic terrorist act on the Capitol. You kept my son safe during all of this. And for that, I will be forever thankful.”
Cash nodded solemnly. No further words were needed.
“Dad?” Alex broke the silence. “Have you talked to mom? Or June? Oh God, or Henry?”
“I have talked to your sister. She’s at the White House with your mom. I’m sure she’s been keeping Henry and the rest of your group informed. But,” Oscar opened a desk drawer to reveal Alex’s phone and tossed it to Alex. “You need to talk to Henry yourself. We both know he’s been going crazy without hearing from you.”
Alex caught his phone and looked at the notifications. 215 missed calls. 821 text messages from everyone in his contact list it seemed. He took a deep breath and knew that all of those would have to wait. He dialed Henry’s number and put the phone up to his ear.
It rang several times. And then the voicemail message started. Before Alex could leave a message, he stopped the call and called June instead.
She answered before the first ring had finished.
“ALEX! You son of a bitch! Where are you? What are you doing? We heard you were hurt? What did you DO?”
“Geez June, great to hear from you too,” Alex muttered.
“Don’t you sass me! You gave all of us massive panic attacks!”
“That wasn’t my plan—”
“Please tell me you’re coming home soon. I want to hug you and strangle you and then hug you again.”
“Uh…I don’t know when I’m coming home. I’m with dad and Cash right now.”
“Well ask them silly.”
“I will, but have you talked to Henry? I called him but it went to voicemail.”
“Oh, that’s probably because he’s on his way to DC right now.”
“What?”
“At like 6 o’clock, Bea and Pez told me they were heading to DC on the private plane. Henry was inconsolable and they knew getting him to DC would be the best thing. We didn’t even know you were alive at that point but Henry wanted to be here when we found out. They’re not supposed to land for another hour or so.”
“Oh…”
“So are you coming home?”
“Uh…” Alex lowered his phone to talk to his dad and Cash. “Do you think I can go home now?”
“Not yet,” Cash said sadly. “Place is on lockdown until the certification vote is finished.” He looked down at his watch. “They’re set to start in an hour.”
“But we’re meeting in about thirty minutes to make a few public statements before the vote starts,” Oscar added. “The certification normally takes two hours. Then we can go.”
Alex nods and puts the phone back to his ear. “Not yet June. I have to wait until the certification is over.”
June loudly sighed. “Okay, I’ll keep Bea, Pez and Henry busy until you come home. Do you want to talk to mom?”
Before Alex could say yes, his mother’s voice comes over the line.
“Sugar, are you safe? Are you hurt? Are you with your father? He said he’d call me when you got there but I haven’t heard anything. Is Cash okay? Is—”
“Mom! I’m okay. I got shot—” A loud gasp on the other end led Alex to raising the volume of his voice. “—in the shoulder, but it’s been treated and we’re all okay. I’m with dad and Cash now. I’ll be home as soon as the vote’s over.”
“You better be or I swear to all the gods and goddesses out there that I will come and drag you out of that building myself!”
“You’re starting to sound like Zahra, mom.”
“Zahra has some good tactics,” his mom replied before taking a deep breath. “I’m glad you’re okay sugar. But don’t think for a second you’re going to leave my sight for the next week.”
Alex laughed. “Sure mom. Wouldn’t dream of it.”
***
January 7, 2025
4:02 AM
Alex thought he knew what sleep deprivation felt like. This was a whole new level.
Alex, Oscar and Cash were sitting in the back of a black sedan heading towards the White House. The vote had ended thirty minutes ago and they were finally moments away from home.
Alex felt his foot tapping rapidly as they approached the White House. There was a moment hours ago that he thought he might never see his family again. Seeing the White House was a dream come true.
The sedan pulled up to the side entrance of the White House, where Alex saw his mom, Leo, June, Pez, Bea, and Henry. As soon as he locked eyes on Henry, his vision tunneled to where he just saw Henry. That golden hair, disheveled with anxiety. Blue, gorgeous eyes filled with sadness and joy. The Oxford sweatshirt that was old and stained with bleach from the first time Henry attempted laundry at the brownstone. God he loved that man.
The second the door was open, he stumbled over to Henry and grabbed onto him like he was the only life vest in the rough seas.
“Baby,” he muttered into Henry’s neck.
“Love don’t you ever do that to me again,” Henry responded. “I’ve never felt more scared in my life.”
Alex chuckled as he held Henry closer. “God I love you.”
Still grasping Henry, he looked up and made eye contact with his mom. Without saying anything, she wrapped her arms around Alex and Henry. That led to the dam opening and everyone gathering in a big group hug, with Alex at the center. Alex had never felt this at ease in his life.
And he knew he would never be alone ever again because after the group hug every single person threatened to kill him if he ever got himself in a situation like that ever again. Alex smiled. He loved these people.
Ellen gasped out of seemingly nowhere, drawing all eyes to her. “You got engaged and didn’t tell me!”
A chorus of shocked exclamations from the group – except Oscar.
Alex’s eyes went wide and sheepishly looked at Henry whose eyes were wide also. “Uh, I may have told dad about the engagement.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone else?” June asked with an angry voice.
“We were on an eight hour flight together and you didn’t mention it once!” Pez shouted.
Henry rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Surprise?”