Realistic or Modern Holiday Love

[Lexus]

"You're worth it." Thumbing his thumbs across her cheeks Dawson kissed his wife's forehead. He hated seeing her in such a miserable state but he held relief in knowing it was only temporary. "Close your eyes and go to sleep. I'll be here." Dawson would do anything he could for Isabel as long as he knew it would ease her pain and keep her safe and that claim was about to be tested after their relaxing weekend came to an end

In the days following Dawson and his wife went back to work. Dawson leaving early in the morning to head out for a flight, he stood in his uniform in the kitchen, preparing his coffee for his long day. Kissing his wife in farewell, Dawson thought nothing of what the day was about to become.

 

[isax]

Isabel enjoyed their weekend in paradise and was rather sad to be back in the real world. She sighed softly as she woke up, going for her usual run and coming back home to get ready for the day. She took a shower and after got into the kitchen to make breakfast for her family. She smiled when she saw Miles walk over in his uniform and she kissed him lovingly. "As always, you look dashing in that uniform. I love you. Be safe, Captain Covington," she saidbwith a wink and watched him leave, treating the day as any normal day. She had no idea it would be far from normal. When Dawson left, she fed the kids and left them in the watch and care of their niece, Isabel. She left quickly and went to work, parked in the garage and got out of her car, walking to the building she adored. When she got to her office, she began working on assignments. She had meetings today and knew the day ahead would be long but nothing like what would actually happen.

 

[Lexus]

"We'll be safe as always," Dawson reassured his wife, giving her a side hug as he swiftly made his way for the door with his things in hand. As he arrived at the airport, he smiled to the two men who approached him as he handed off his luggage to the attendant. He watched in his peripheral as the men seemed to have an interest in him. "Can I help you?" Dawson asked curiously as both men grinned at his question. "Yes, Mr. Covington, we believe you can help us. But you'll have to come with us first."

"I'm sorry? I'm working I can't come with you right now. What is it you're looking for?" he asked hesitantly as the men's' voices turned to whispers, encroaching on his personal space. "You'll come with us if you don't want our friend to blow up your wife's office to pieces with her inside of it. It's your choice, Captain."

 

[isax]

Isabel was at the office peacefully, minding her own as she went to meetings but after the meeting for layout, she noticed something was off. She became a bit worried as she walked back to her office and noticed a single man who she never saw here before. She was cautious and kept an eye on him the best she could. Something just told her this wasn't good and when she went to her office, she texted Dawson.

"Have you boarded yet?" Was all she sent, hoping he would reply no.

The group of men looked at Dawson as they awaited him to oblige to what they wanted. "So, Captain, follow us and do as we ask if you don't want your wife to be blown to pieces," they said simply, leading him out of the airport and to their car. When they heard his phone, the main male held his hand out. "We can't have you texting your wife now, can we?"

 

[Lexus]

Given such a horrendous ultimatum Dawson decided for himself in less than a second he had no choice but to oblige to these mysterious men and their orders. Following them out peacefully he bit his lip when he heard his wife's text tone. "What do you want?" Dawson asked the male furiously as he held a grip on his phone. He had gone into survival mode for his wife, he couldn't stand the thought of these men going through with their threat. Softening his expression, Dawson looked to the men again. "Just tell me what you want and I'll help you as long as you don't touch my wife."

 

[isax]

The leader of the group looked to Dawson as he smiled and continued to hold out his hand for his phone. "What we want is very simple yet very difficult for you," he began and when he was given the phone, he grinned evilly. "The project Amelia worked on, the one on the education system, destroy it. Make sure she can never get the story out there. If you don't, Isabel pays the price and trust me when I say we have a man inside the building, waiting for my command," he finished with nothing but venom dripping out of his voice. Amelia was going to pay for what she did and they knew going this route would work well. By now, Dawson's phone was ringing and continued to ring aggressively. Bel was worried. She hadn't gotten the usual on board text and she wanted to make sure he was okay while keeping an eye on the male in her building. "She doesn't give up does she?" The male asked with a laugh as he looked at the phone, pondering if he should let Dawson answer it or not.

 

[Lexus]

"She's an investigative journalist, they don't know how to give up," Dawson replied firmly. "She's suspicious, you don't want that, she personally knows the Chief of Police and has contacts with the FBI. If you don't want to get caught, you'll want me to answer this. But you came to the wrong person, sir, if you would have went to Amelia herself she would give you what you want. My wife is just as much her weakness as she is mine. I'll do what I can to help you, but you came to the wrong person."

 

[isax]

The man looked between the others in the group and realized they messed up. They hadn't looked into Isabel credentials other than the fact that she was a photographer. They never realized she was an investigator and the man quickly handed Dawson his phone to answer the impatient and suspicious journalist.

This was the fifth call from Isabel and when Dawson didn't answer, she began to pace the room. This wasn't like Dawson and on the sixth call, she let out a sigh of relief when she heard him answer. "What are you doing that you didn't answer sooner? I was worried. I never got the usual on board text from you and not answering my phone calls isn't like you," she began to rant as she calmed herself before she sighed again. "Are you alright?" She said simply.

 

[Lexus]

Dawson listened to his anxious wife as he looked onto the men that blackmailed him with the only person everyone knew mattered to him. "I'm sorry love, I was just getting ready to text you, I left my phone at the attendant desk but one of the flight attendants found it for me. I'm okay." Dawson replied, being sure not to hint to the nervousness in his voice. "I should be back tomorrow afternoon if there are no delays, but I have to go, we're prepping for takeoff. Stay out of trouble." When the men looked to Dawson with approving grins he smiled anxiously. He had no idea what these men were going to do next but he knew what they were capable of at this point and that was enough to leave the pilot on his edge.

 

[isax]

Isabel bit her lip as she listened to her husband and sighed softly before she calmed her nerves, relaxing slightly. "Okay. I love you, Captain. Stay safe," she said gently, hanging up here phone but knew better than to think everything was alright. It wasn't like Dawson to leave his phone anywhere and she stayed suspicious for the remainder of the day. She didn't like anything about the conversation with her husband but she let it go. She texted Amelia to see how she was doing and bit her lip.

 

[Lexus]

"Where is Amelia?" The man asked looking to Dawson with an arched brow.

"I'm not sur--"

"Covington, if you want your wife to believe you are about to make a flight and not be blown to pieces you'll tell me where Amelia is! So, where is Amelia? Where is the woman who is liable for your wife's mortality?"

"I don't know where she is but I can find out."

"Good, because there will not be a second escape for her."

Dawson looked up to the men in horror at their reference. "Who are you and what do you want with the two most powerful journalists in the country?"

The man laughed at Dawson in pure amusement encroaching on his space once again. "Use your brain Dawson, you yourself just said they are the two most powerful journalists, one of them came to my country and tried to exploit it because you Americans think that everyone should be as entitled as you are and those who don't agree with you, well, we are just scum. You think Amelia Acciolli's kidnapping was an accident? You think that I didn't enjoy watching one of your most powerful and dignified women be completely destroyed by the way I treated her? You don't think I didn't enjoy watching her become completely defaced by my own two hands? Do you think after everything I did to her, that I am going to let her release some footage that will make my country look lesser than yours because you Americans are so entitled and you let your women rule the country? I will finish the job I started. I will destroy Amelia Accioll for everything she is worth and you have been so kind in conveying to me that your wife is her weakness. You see, at first, I only wanted the video to be destroyed and to for Amelia to disappear again, but you see, now I can't decide if killing her would be my best option to watch her suffer after all the damage she has caused to my reputation. Should I kill her, Dawson or should I let her suffer by destroying everything she ever worked for, including her closest friend with one phone call? It's your call. Don't tell me where she is, I'll make the command, tell me where she is and I won't lay a hand on your precious wife, either way, Amelia is going to pay for crossing lines with me. So what'll it be Covington? Are you going to save your wife and all the men and women who have committed themselves to her cause and live with the guilt of killing her best friend and never telling her about it, because if you did, and trust me, I wouldn't suggest it, you would give me no other choice than to come back here and do to your whole family what I did to Amelia while I tie you to a chair and force you to watch. Or are you going to save Amelia and her work for the "greater good" but lose your wife because of it? Which would Isabel want you to chose? Her best friend or her family?"

Dawson looked onto the man in horror. This was the man who traumatized Amelia and held her captive like a caged animal for two weeks. This was the man who wanted to kill Amelia and would stop at nothing until he believed he had. "Amelia is in New York, her husband sent her there so he could keep her safe while the investigation to find, her cap-, you continues. I don't know how you'll get to her, her husband used to be in the CIA, but that's where she is."

"Oh don't worry about how I'll get to her because you won't be tipping off anyone that we're on her trail or we'll be back for your wife."

 

[isax]

Isabel was becoming anxious, investigating when she was like this was in her blood. Dawson seemed fine on their conversation but she knew how to pick up even the slightest amount of anxiousness. She knew something was wrong and when Amelia answered her phone call, she watched the chaos of the building through her glass windows, locking her door and watching as the same man made his way through. Something was off and Isabel needed to figure out what.

"Amelia, something's wrong. I'm not sure what it is but this man is here. I haven't thrown him out of the office because I know better. He looks as though he means business but there's obviously someone commanding him what to do and not do," she explained rapidly. "Dawson seemed on edge earlier when I called too. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with this but this isn't normal. I think I'm going to call Mia, see what the FBI can do to help," she explained, biting her lip when the man walked to her office and knocked. This day wasn't what Isabel expected it to be and when one of her glass windows was shattered and the male made way through, she knew they were out to get her. Isabel felt blood rush down her face since the glass cut her and she cried out for help when she was in his arms. She couldn't end the call to Amelia and flinched when Gun shots were heard and the entire office began to pan out.

"It's a shame you can never learn to mind your own. A woman's curiosity will always lead to her own death," the man hissed as he made a phone call, informing the male with Dawson Isabel couldn't mind her own. Bel had no idea what was going on or who this group was but as everything turned black, she feared for those in her office and her own family.

 

[Lexus]

Amelia answered the call calmly but soon turned anxious when she was greeted with Bel's frightened tone. She didn't have time to process what her best friend was suggesting before everything took a turn for the worst. Hearing the shattering of the glass and the gunshots Amelia gasped out of terror. "Bel? What happened?!" Isabel?!" Amelia cried when she didn't hear Isabel respond promptly and then at all. Who she heard next haunted her however, she recognized that man's voice, it just took her a minute to place him in her memory. When she figured it out, she dropped the glass she was holding onto the hardwood floor, letting it shatter into a hundred pieces beneath her feet as her breathing became erratic. The man on the other end of the call she was still in was the translator who watched her captor beat her in Darfur. They were here. They were in America and they were after her for revenge. She let this happen. The guilt overwhelmed her as the air escaped her lungs in one rapid scorching breath. She was paralyzed from her own fear as all the flashbacks of her fight to live poisoned her ability to react. By the time she had the other line went dead and she was left with nothing but the sound of her own desperate cries that plagued her, the sound that managed to escape her lungs was a sound no one had ever heard before and it would have frightened anyone who was in the room had she not been alone when her reality once again became a living nightmare. She was going to pick up the phone and call her husband eventually, he was her safe haven, he would take care of this, but before she could compose herself to bring attention to the situation her husband was already calling her. Her fear left her unable to answer the first three times but something inside her pulled her out of the dark place in her mind and let her answer for the sake of Jayden's own sanity if he had any left at this point. The office was under attack and the people inside were all in the line of lethal danger now, and Isabel was just one of the many casualties Jayden had been alerted to. When Amelia finally answered, she heard Jayden on the other end but she wasn't listening to whatever he was frantically spewing to her in the time of his own fear and distress. She was too busy comprehending the gravity of the situation and how she was to blame for all the chaos and lives lost today. "I did this," she whispered through her husband's frantic pleas to her and her own tears as she was beginning to understand what was actually happening.

 

[isax]

Jayden was alerted quickly of the news and he didn't know how to handle it. He fell silent as he listened to what he was told and felt his heart shatter upon being told the number of casualties. He called the CIA and the FBI after he was able to regain his thought process. This was considered an act of terrorism on American soil and he was greatful the Secretary of Defense was working on helping out those in the building Amelia and Isabel worked so hard on. He called Amelia, desperate to hear her voice and know she was okay. When she hadn't answered his breath was becoming shallow and when she did, he let everything he knew spew out before hearing her whisper three faint words. "No, Amelia. Don't go blaming yourself for this. This isn't your fault! You're doing what you can to help another country. Those women and children, along with their families adored you and they still do. This is an act of terror to ruin America's greatest duo in the journalistic world. The one's who have spent their lives helping others be heard. This is happening because men from Africa cannot come to terms that women deserve equal rights. They are doing this because their reputation is hurt and that is something no man ever wants. This is no ones fault but theirs. I have CIA agents making their way to you. No one will hurt you and I'm going in to get Bel now. I don't know where Dawson is but Mia is heading to Isabel's house with a group of men to ensure our children's safety. They won't get away with this, Amelia. I love you." He said before he hung up, rushing to the scene as quickly as possible along with SWAT to help retrieve Isabel and the other victims being held hostage.

When Isabel was able to regain her consciousness, she was greeted by bare white walls. She had no clue what the hell was happening but when she saw Jayden, she took a deep breath and sat up quickly, sucking in a deep breath of pain as she felt it shoot down her entire body. She was shot and cut and weak. She needed to know her workers were alright and Amelia. "What happened? Where is Amelia?" She asked quickly, biting her lip to distract herself from the immense amount of pain she was in. She hadn't received any word from Dawson and the men from Africa were still out in the open, looking for Amelia. The translator was arrested and in a federal prison, guarded by a squad of SEALS as the secretary of defense worked out an interrogation. What was happening only seemed to happen in books or movies, but it was real life and Isabel needed to be informed of what the hell was going on. She saw Jayden was hesitant in telling her. "Jayden, so help me God, you better tell me what the hell is happening right now. I knew something was wrong and I should've called you sooner. I'm sure my workers would've been spared had I done so," she said, beating herself up mentally. This was her fault. Her workers were injured and some even dead because she didn't get the male escorted out.

 

[Lexus]

"No Isabel, there was no sparing anyone," Jayden replied realistically to the woman he would forever be indebted to and considered to be a part of his family. "What happened to you, is not a random act of violence. The man who attacked you, he is one of the men who helped kidnap Amelia, they came here looking for her and her work you have yet to release to the public. This is Darfur committing an act of terrorism because my wife intimidated some African men who despise the idea of a woman becoming anything other than his slave. The man who attacked you has been detained is being interrogated by the federal government, an investigation has been launched and the SWAT team is doing everything they can to help your employees who were also in the building when the attack occurred. You want me to be real with you? This is me being real with you, our children are under the protection of FBI agents and we're still looking for Dawson. A flight attendant said she saw him leave the airport willingly with a group of suspicious men, we aren't sure who they could be yet but we know they are working with the man who attacked you. Amelia is under the protection of CIA agents until this calms down and so are you, there are two stationed outside your door in case anyone tries to come in here. You and Amelia were targeted for a terrorist attack Isabel, that's what happened."

Amelia hung up the phone with her husband and clasped into a ball, the glass that once lay beneath her, now pierced into the skin on her arms but she didn't bother to remove it. It didn't compare to the suffering she just put 120 people through, including Isabel. She couldn't fathom the thought, she just let herself feel the physical and mental agony that was relentlessly brought upon her. When she heard the door to the apartment get knocked down, followed by a pattern of heavy footsteps she recognized, she failed to move, just curled herself deeper into her ball, the glass crunching and stabbing her all over while the situation became a daze. She heard the voices of men and recognized their CIA branded jackets but she didn't move, her cries only becoming louder. She did this. She deserved this.

When she heard a man call commands to his men she sucked in a breath, closing her eyes as she prepared for the worst even though she knew these men were here to keep her out of harm's way of whoever was coming after her. The next thing she remembered was the faint calling of her name and a man wrapping his arm gently around her back to pick her up off the ground where she fell. "Amelia, you're okay, I got you. You're safe," Jason whispered gently, jolting Amelia out of her daze only to be overcome with a whole new level of shock. She had to be seeing things. This was impossible. "Melia, it's me, kiddo, I promise you're safe now," Jason reassured her while he and his men rushed her out of the apartment before they were seen.

 

[isax]

Isabel was at a loss for words when she was told what exactly happened and the injuries and casualties at the office were confirmed. This shouldn't have happened but it was and Isabel felt the warm tears stream down her face in agony. Tears of hurt and sadness, tears for those lost all because of her. This wasn't fair. Terrorism was never fair, she knew that, but this time the terrorism hit close to home. So close it left Isabel broken inside even though she acted as if she wasn't. "Jayden, please find Dawson. This explains why he was so on edge. I can't lose him, Jay," she said as the tears continued to follow. This was real. Isabel and Amelia were brought down once more and this time, Isabel was ready to let her story end. She was ready to let this chapter close because this wasn't fair. Life was never fair.

 

[Lexus]

Once Amelia was successfully apprehended Jason made the call to Jayden to let him know it was done. Amelia was safe. However, he left out how he found her. That was the last thing Jayden needed to hear right now when his whole city was being turned upside down, becoming a spectacle for the American people to watch in terror on their tv screens in the safety and warmth of their homes. Rushing Amelia to the private care of an intelligence agency physician, Jason overlooked the care of his daughter, their silence still lingering for now. He knew this had to be a lot for Amelia to understand in one day. Once the doctor left the room, Jason made his way over to Amelia and kissed her forehead as he always had. "Everything is being handled, this isn't your fault."

Amelia just looked to the man who she once let her whole world revolve around. She didn't know how to handle this, a man she spent nearly a year grieving over, that almost cost her her marriage was standing in front of her, breathing and healthy. She was anger, relieved, and most of all felt betrayed. "So you're just going to 'handle it' when 120 people become victims of a terrorist attack because of an assignment I chose to take and not tell me why the hell you're alive?! You're not going to tell me why you, out of all people, lied to me? Or what you used to bribe my husband not to tell me you were alive? I know he knows, I heard you call him and he sounded unphased my your resurrection, which means he has known and he's known for awhile." When Jason sighed and tried to reach for Amelia again she pushed him away. "Don't touch me! You made me think you were dead! Who else knew? Does Aria know?" Amelia demanded and by his expression, she felt all the air leave her lungs again. Aria and Jayden knew all this time Jason was alive and well and neither one of them bothered to hint a word to her. "I guess the better question was who in the hell didn't know?"

"Amelia, I know you're upset. You have every reason to be, this wasn't easy for me at first either."

"Don't you dare pull the sympathy card with me! I had to help put your coffin into the ground. I had to hold your children while they cried for their father. For the last seven years, I have been you, for all of them, Ellla, Erica, even Aria. Come to find out, you picked up everything and started a new life without telling me. You let me believe you were dead because you thought that would be better for me to cope with than this? That's disgusting! How could you!?"

"I didn't have a choice, Amelia! You think it was easy for me to watch you suffer? You honestly think it was easy for me to watch you throw your life away for a year, pushing everyone away, pushing your husband away and threaten to leave him because you couldn't make yourself live in a world without me in it. Do you think it was easy for me to listen to Jayden spew every insult in my direction because he thought he was going to lose you because of me? The house in the mountains, I bought it. The renovated office after the fire? I bought that too. It was my way of making sure you were taken care of. I didn;t have a choice, Amelia. The president appointed the new head of the CIA and I knew if I took the position under the Carson name, the family you try with your every fiber to avoid, the ones who tried to take everything from you, if I took this position as Jason Carson, they would have stopped at nothing to get to you to get to me, to set my brother free from his prison cell. If I took the position as Jason Carson they would have killed you to get back at me. So I had to make them think I was dead to keep you safe, I knew if you knew my plans you would try to stop it. Jayden knew because I wanted him to keep you safe, and Aria, she's my wife, Amelia. Those trips to Florida you think she takes every three months are to come spend the week with me, and my girls can't know because like you, they will be collateral damage as long as my brother is alive. Jayden and Aria are the only ones, though, Bel doesn't. I couldn't tell her because you two can't keep anything from each other. It spills out eventually. I did this for you, Amelia and it wasn;t easy for me either, but you can't blame Jayden or Aria. We all wanted to keep you safe. Jayden wanted to tell you, he pleaded, it's not his fault. He'll be here soon, he's on a military jet right now because air traffic has been shut down as part of the investigation."

Amelia just looked up to Jason with tears welling her eyes at the reminder that all this was happening because of her. She struggled to catch her breath as she laughed to cope with her devastation. "Great. Not only did America suffer a terrorist attack because I decided to be a world warrior and try to change little girls lives, but I discover my family has been lying to me to protect me from being killed. even though, I run into the line of fire for complete strangers but to you, it's not worth it if I risk my life for family, only strangers. That's ironic. I wanted to bring change, Jason, I-I wanted to change the world, but not like this. I wanted peace and equality and the greater good. Instead, I got devastation, terror and one of the greatest evils that walks our planet. Funny how that works out huh? Funny how I wanted to bring people together and instead I tore them apart. I am no different than the rest of our family. It was arrogant and ignorant of me to believe I was better than any of them, and now, for the rest of my life, there will be blood on my hands because of it. Because I let other people believe we were the better cause and they lost their lives today, because of me. There are a lot of things I can get over, there are a lot of things I have surpassed but this won't be one of them. I don't want to do this anymore," she whispered in a heavy breathe, the tears burning her eyes. "I did this and no one can convince me different, so I don't want to do it anymore. You should have left me for them to find, one life isn't worth all the ones we lost today. I wish you and Jayden would learn that. That if you would have not been so hellbent on protecting me from our family, none of this would have happenened!"

 

[isax]

Jayden knew that Amelia wouldn't talk to him for quite awhile when she found out the truth about Jason. It was a secret Jayden hated to keep from his wife. It killed him every single day making her think her father was dead when in reality he wasn't. He knew going to New York right now in this military jet would lead to an argument, or even worse, Amelia saying nothing at all. He knew all of that yet he was still going to see his wife. He had to, even though he was terrified of the reaction he would get from her. This day would go in history books and not for a good reason. An act of terrorism brought down the greatest country once more and it brought two respected people down with it.

The sun set and the group of men had yet to be found and Dawson was still missing. Jayden sighed as he arrived at the big Apple and got out of the jet, walking to the black SUV and getting in to go and be with his wife. He wished this day had never occurred but it did and he knew what Amelia was thinking. She was thinking this was her fault. She blamed herself for the casualties and now knowing about Jason, she was going to blame him and Jayden as well. Jayden sighed softly and stood outside the door of where Jason and Amelia were. His hands were sweating and he couldn't stop shaking. This could be the day Amelia decides to end it all. End her career and end their marriage. If that were the case, Jayden would respect her wish even though it would crush him. He put on a brace face and walked into the room, walking over to Amelia's side and kissed her gently. "I'm here," he whispered weakly, terrified for the reaction he would get before he looked at Jason and looked at him with a knowing expression. By the way Jason stood, Jayden knew Amelia was pissed and there was no convincing her this act of terror was not her fault. She was set in her own thoughts and that bother Jayden drastically. "I came as soon as I could," he said softly and carefully, looking at Amelia and held her hand in his own.

 

[Lexus]

"Of course you came, you always come, because you love me and my life will always be of more valuable to you then all ones you have to lose to keep me from being one of them."

"Amelia! That's enough! Of course your life is more valuable to him then anyone else's he loves you. He honest to God loves you. I know you don't think you know what that's like, because all you were raised on was love at a price, this man, he has no price. Don't you dare make him feel less human because of it. Your life matters to him, to all of us, but especially him so stop treating it like it's meaningless and can be overlooked. He can't live without you and I would appreciate it if you treated that seriously."

Amelia just looked to Jayden and sighed. She didn't want to face this. She just wanted to hide from it all, like their children did when they were scared and hid in his arms. "Is Bel okay?" She asked, the fright in her tone. She was afraid of his answer. She didn't want to think about the possibility of Isabel losing her life at Amelia's expense. "She told me n-not t-to g-go I should h-have l-l-listened."

 

[isax]

Those words stung. It was like someone too a knife to Jayden's heart and pierced it, twisting the knife at every word she said. He was defeated in a sense, but he kept that same mask he always did. He just let her say what she needed to and looked over at Jason with a sigh when he got after her. Amelia was Jayden's world. Jayden loved her endlessly and he never wanted to lose her. He should've stayed back in his city, he needed to go back, but he had to check on his wife first. He looked at her when she asked about Isabel and smiled weakly. "She'll be fine. She suffered a bullet wound but it wasn't a vital hit. She's also cut up from the glass but she'll be alright," he said simply, not mentioning that Dawson had yet to be found and Amelia's best friend was rather distraught over that. He couldn't tell her about that and after a couple of hours passed with nothing but complete silence, Jayden stood up and sighed deeply. "I need to go back to the city. I have to be there to keep it all in check," he explained simply, smiling at Amelia weakly before he turned to leave and went back to the airport, boarding the military jet to get back to the city he was supposed to protect. To get back to the chaos and sort it all out.

 

[Lexus]

When Jayden returned to Isabel he returned arm to arm with her husband. Once Dawson was able to get Amelia's kidnapper on a plane back to Darfur, they rendered him useless and spared him his life so he could run back to his wife. They didn't feel as though he was a threat after the lengths they went to to intimidate him. He was found in the airport he was taken from by a colleague. After the day Jay endured he was relieved to know his friend was alive, though if he knew Dawson turned an Amelia the second he got the chance Jayden would have handled Dawson himself. His wife was broken and he knew this time, she wasn't going to come back from it. He wasn't going to try and be optimistic about it. Amelia took the blame for the causialities that continued to grow in numbers. With every life lost, his heart pinched in agony because his wife took it personally.

When Dawson walked into the room he took his wife into a hug and cried on her shoulder from his own distraught. He was grateful she was in a better state than he expected her to be in. "I love you," he whispered through his tears, kissing her, not wanting to let go of her. He didn't want to believe any of this was real. It was too heartbreaking to think any of it was reality.

 

[isax]

When Isabel saw Dawson walk into her room, she smiled a bright smile, one she hadn't given since the event that took place. She hugged him as tight as possible since she was still weak from the wounds. She pushed the pain she felt aside and shut her eyes tightly as she shared the kiss with her husband, pulling away softly after and rested her forehead against his. She took a deep breath before she released it and held Dawson's hands in her own. "I love you too. I'm sorry you went through what you did," she whispered softly, biting her lip before she found the words she was looking for. "The office, our workers, so many casualties because of me. I should've called Jayden when I felt the uneasiness after you wouldn't answer my calls," she said simply, crying into her husband as he did the same. "An act of terror to ruin the two best journalist this country has seen. An act that won. Dawson, I'm resigning. My time in that office is over."

 

[Lexus]

"Isabel, this indent your fault," Dawson pleased. "You had no way of knowin this was going to happen and if you did, you would have done everything humanely possible to stop it. This isn't your fault. Stop saying it is. You were a victim in this just as much as the others. You aren't the one who went to Darfur and crossed the line of the men who are responsible for this. They weren't looking for you, they were looking for Amelia, that's the only reason this happened to you," Dawson replied honestly. "I was face-to-face with the man who kidnapped Amelia. The only one he wanted was her and whatever she produced. He didn't know anything about you. That's why he made me answer the call because I told them about your contacts and they didn't want to get caught. This isn't your fault."

 

[isax]

It would be a lie if Isabel said she wasn't upset by Dawson's remark regarding Amelia. Her best friend crossed that line to help better the education system and help the children and woman who asked her to. Amelia took the risk because she wanted to help those girls. "It isn't Amelia's fault either but she'll still get the blame. That's how this world works," she said with a weak smile before she cupped his face and sighed. "And it hurts you think of her the same way everyone else does right now, even herself. I know Amelia and I know she is taking all the blame for those lives lost. I know she's blaming herself for all of this happening in the first place," she ranted, biting her lip and trying to relax after growing so tense so quickly. Amelia didn't deserve this but Isabel still felt it was her time to close this chapter. "I still think it's my time to resign. Pass on my legacy to someone else, someone who won't cause others harm." She said simply, shrugging her shoulders before she shut her eyes. She missed the better days. The days where Isabel felt like she and Amelia were making a difference in this world, not ruining it. They wanted to change the world for the better, not the worst. Nothing went in their favor now and Isabel accepted that her reign as top investigative journalist was over. The torch would be passed to another person who fit the job better. "I can go teach at the university. I wouldn't mind doing that," she thought out loud, biting her lip and crying once more. Teaching was her last resort. She wasn't fully ready to let go of what she worked so hard for but it was coming to an end. "Have you heard from Amelia? Is she okay? They didn't find her I'm assuming."

 

[Lexus]

Jayden was standing in the corner this entire time, listening to Dawson place blame on his wife. Rationally, he reminded himself this was a horrible day for everyone involved so he wouldn't lose his self control. "Physically, Amelia is fine. She's under the watch of the head of the CIA. She's safe. She's devastated, but she's safe." When Bel complained about Jayden not leaving the city to be with his wife, Jayden took a deep breathe. "She's safe, Isabel," Jayden repeated before she tried to argue. "The head of the CIA is Jason, Isabel. She's safe, not scared, broken, but not scared. Jason stationed himself to her security."