Dreaming

Spoilers: Up through Benign Prerogative

~~~~~

He likes to watch her sleep.

He's caught her many a morning, lying in their bed, with her head propped up, watching him in the pale pre-dawn light that filters through the window. Sometimes he'll lie there and let her watch him in quiet contemplation. Other times, he'll turn to her, cup her face in his hand and pull her to him in a soft and loving kiss.

But as often as he wakes to find her watching him, he has lain awake late at night, watching her drift to sleep, her head pillowed against his chest. Tonight, as she lies there in quiet repose, he thinks of their conversations from earlier.

"I don't see a list anymore. These are people."

"I need to learn how to not be so � how to keep things at arms' length."

"I hope not."

He hopes she never does stop feeling, stop empathizing, stop reminding him � and all of them � that there are real people beyond the hallowed halls of the White House. Too often they forget that the things they're fighting for effect real people, with families and friends and people that love them. She is a constant and steady reminder of the that. And he's not sure what he would do without her.