Washington D.C. 11:00 am

The second Megan was able to get the front door open, Tessa went bounding through the threshold of the house. Megan released her leash, knowing there was no slowing her down as she sprinted to her water bowl. "Okay," Megan breathed out while taking the headphones out of her ears and beginning to dab away the sweat that had collected on her forehead from her run. "Tessa may have to be my new workout partner. She, like, never gets tired."

Kicking off her shoes, she noticed Austin hadn't even acknowledged the dog who was impatiently wagging her tail while sitting at his feet. Megan took another step forward, her eyes still fixed on Austin. He was sitting at the edge of the couch, eyes slightly wide, not sure how to put words together for an extra second before finally muttering, "Honey, I think you need to watch this." His voice was distant and low which made her take another step into the room. The step that would now make the TV visible to her.

Behind the reporter were images of London, but thick, black smoke engulfed the skies. Megan gulped, remembering the attack on the White House three years ago. She remembered walking into work, thinking what a regular day it was going to be. Of course, what she remembered the most were the bodies that were constantly being wheeled in, half of them clinging to life, the other half already dead. The next thing that came into her mind when she thought about that day was the constant fear that her best friend was in the middle of a terror attack. "Five world leaders are confirmed dead along with hundreds of innocent civilians in an attack that has decimated most of the known landmarks in the British capital."

With her mouth hung open, she took a deep, shaky breath. This attack was a grander scale. Yes, Washington D.C. was attacked three years ago, but after a while, they centered in on one central location, The White House. This was twelve attacks on the White House and was going to continue to spread throughout the entire city of London. Monuments that had been standing for years were now in crumbles from the footage that kept flashing across the screen. Taking another step forward, she still couldn't find herself to look away from the television, and neither could Austin. "What happened?"

Austin finally pulled away to look at her, her eyes also meeting his. They shared a small look, Austin not wanting to voice what she already knew, but he knew that someone had to say it. He shook his head before looking back to the TV with a long breath. "A massive attack on the Prime Minister's funeral."

Collapsing to the couch, Megan almost wished she was there with them. At least then she would know what was going on, where they were, and if they were safe. Being here, she had no idea what to do. "And now, an announcement from Prime Minister Clarkson." Megan grabbed the remote, and frantically pounded the volume button, hoping he would say something about who survived. Maybe they were all on their way back home already and they just haven't gotten the chance to call yet. "Ladies and gentlemen, good evening, we are asking the residents of London to stay indoors for their own safekeeping while the situation remains fluid. Let there be no doubt that every relevant police authority and counter-terrorism unit is actively at work regaining control of the street. Within hours, we will secure this city, and whoever is responsible will be brought to justice."

"We have to call April," Austin said drastically as Megan pulled out her phone, already working on it. "Now."

When Megan tried, the line just blinked back at her over and over again. She felt her stomach sink to her feet as her shaking hands then tried to dial Mike's number. Again, the loud tone sounded, causing Megan to throw her phone down on the couch, not wanting to go through this again. "It's not connecting," Megan cried to Austin before meeting his eyes again. "What do we do?"

Austin sighed before rubbing his face with his hands and looking back to the TV, not sure there was anything they could do. Not until they knew more information.

London 4:00 pm

April and Lynne looked out the windows on the left as Mike and Ben took the windows on the right. London was destroyed. The middle of the Chelsey Bridge was in the water. Big Ben's remains were in the street, and black clouds of smoke took over the atmosphere. Lynne finally met April's eyes with a long sigh, deciding to speak mostly to her as she shook her head, not able to believe they found themselves at the base of a catastrophe again. "It was a trap."

April shook her head, not wanting to think about it anymore. She just wanted to think about the four of them getting out safely. She turned her head to Mike, never being more thrilled with his safety in her life. She had to tell him as soon as they got on Air Force One. Today showed her that she couldn't keep things like this from him given their job description.

"That's an understatement." Ben's voice was low, and his gaze was far off and contemplative, still staring out the window.

Mike's head fell back as he took a long breath. April placed her hand on his shoulder and let her fingers run down into his hand, Mike taking it in an instant and interlocking his fingers with hers. They locked eyes, and he brought her hand to his lips, placing a soft kiss on the back of her palm.

"Holy shit," Lynne began again, pulling all of their attention back to her as Mike began massaging April's hand, still holding it close to his face. "It's one thing to plan for this, it's another thing to live it."

"Yeah, tell me about it," April mumbled, finally taking her hand back to shed her overcoat and throw it down before letting out a stressed breath, finding herself getting too hot to be in this confined space. Mike's attention fell back to her. He gave her a hollow smile, Mike so relieved that they were done with this mess. It wasn't going to be like last time where they were pulled apart. They got through it together and now they were going home.

"Alright," Mike took April's hand again and gave it a tiny squeeze before looking to Lynne and Ben. "But we're good now."

Ben's eyes lifted, making eye contact with Mike before looking over to April. He didn't care about being the President right now, all he cared about was being a father and making sure his daughter felt safe. "Yeah, we'll be okay."

After letting go of April's hand, Mike leaned forward to look at Ben. "We'll be on secure ground in ten minutes."

April turned her body away from Mike and moved it towards the window, looking down at the war zone. "There was no chatter on this," Lynne began while turning to look at April, causing her gaze to fall back on the Secret Service Director. "None."

Shaking her head, she let out a deep, shaky sigh, deciding to finally contribute to the group conversation since the minute they took off. "Something of this magnitude took years to plan, and they gave us days."

"It's a fucking bloodbath," Ben whispered, still looking down at the city just like April was. "How did they do this, Mike?"

April let her head fall to the window again before shutting her eyes and letting the coolness against her temples give her some form of comfort. "They only have to get it right once." Ben looked to Mike again as Mike's eyes were trained on what was below them. "Today they got it right way more than that."

Taking another sigh, April's eyes fluttered open as her hand traveled down to her stomach. They were okay, that's all that mattered. A short moment of comforting bliss passed over her until she heard Mike scream out, "Fuck!" She picked her head up just in time to see the right flanking helicopter fall through the sky.

"Marine Three is down," the pilot reported as he turned back to the cabin.

Ben and Mike both got up and moved closer to the window, trying to find the shooters. April did the same from her side, her eyes catching them in almost an instant. "Rooftop, nine o'clock!"

April gripped onto her armrests as Mike moved to her side, seeing them almost as quick as she did. "You see them?"

"We're being pinged," one of the pilots announced.

Mike and April turned to each other with wide eyes, quickly coming to terms with the fact that this was not the end. "Stingers," Mike breathed out.

"Sit down," April commanded Mike, knowing there was nothing they could do in this situation other than ensure they were as safe as they could be.

He did as she said as the helicopters weaved and began firing flares to combat the missiles. "Stinger down," Mike reported.

Everyone began to hold onto the walls of the helicopter when the beeping came from the cockpit again. "Stinger at three o'clock."

The helicopter had to pull up, sending them all finding something to hold onto so they wouldn't fall out of their seats. Mike and April's hands clasped together while placing their opposite hands on the walls to keep them upright. They weaved through the city and destroyed what missiles they could, but they were running out of options. "Marine One out of flares."

April turned to look at Mike, not sure what to do, but Mike could only offer her the same hopeless face. There was nothing they could do. "Marine Two out of flares."

"Marine Two, prepare for sacrifice."

"No," April cried out in a low voice as Mike's look turned into an apologetic gaze.

The helicopter exploded behind them, and they were hoping that maybe that was the last of their missiles. "Missile lock on." Ben turned his head back to the cockpit while April and Lynne locked eyes. This was it. They were going down.

Mike turned to Ben, taking a deep breath before telling him, "Mr. President, we're going to take a hit. Brace for impact."

April looked around at everyone, finally ending her glance on Mike. She took a deep inhale, grabbing his attention, and when she breathed out, she whispered, "I love you."

Mike looked back to her, so hoping this wasn't the last time he saw her but bracing himself for that possibility. "I love you."

The front of the plane was taken off, and April was jolted into Mike as all of their screams blended together. He climbed out of his seat to pull out the inflatable raft as April fell into his seat. "April!" Ben called, reaching his hand out for her.

She grabbed his hand, but when she did, the helicopter crashed into the side of the building, taking the tail with it. She was thrown into her father, but as it spun, April fell back into the side of the helicopter and grabbed onto the one remaining seat for support as they spun, and crash-landed in the middle of a field.

There was an eerie silence that rang through the air. It was hard to believe that all of the sounds of metal crashing against metal and the wind zipping by had ended as soon as it started. The crash site was still for seconds until Mike pushed through the debris on top of him before hearing coughing and groaning. He hurried over to Ben on his left. "Sir," Mike began while climbing over all of the junk to get to him. "Sir, are you okay?" Ben looked around at the wreckage he was in, hardly able to believe he made it. "Sir?" Ben nodded before looking around for April, not seeing her anywhere.

Mike picked up on who he was looking for in an instant, and immediately joined the search. "April!"

April blinked slowly as she woke up. The ringing was the only sound that resonated in her ears. Everything was fuzzy, but as the ringing subsided, she could hear the pumping of blood in her head accompanied by the pressure pounding against her skull. She looked around, not totally sure what section of the helicopter she had ended up in. She tried to get up, but she was pinned down by debris she couldn't quite make out. She barely had any room and was resigned to limited movement. April began to panic, not sure where she was or how to get out. "April!"

"Mike!" She hit whatever was just over her, hoping that would alert him. "I'm over here!" She heard movement, so she just kept hitting, what she could only assume was part of a seat. "Help! I can't get out!"

She heard grunting before the seat lifted up and she was able to slip out before Mike and Ben dropped it. Mike turned to her as she tried to sit up. He got on his knees to inspect her, grabbing her shoulders as his eyes traveled across her body. "Are you okay?" April stared at him for a moment before continuing to look around the aircraft, not sure how to answer his question. She was sure she had a concussion. The baby should be all right. She didn't feel any different. "Hey," Mike grabbed her face in his hands, making her look right at him. "Baby, are you all right?"

She blinked a couple of times before nodding. "I have a concussion, I think, but I'm fine."

He placed his forehead against hers, shutting his eyes before pulling up to place a frantic kiss to her forehead. When he pulled away, his eyes filled with softness as he brushed some strands of hair that escaped her bun out of her face and stared into her eyes as his thumb brushed her cheekbone in comforting circles. He didn't know what he would do if he lost her. Seeing her breathing and being was the only thing he could have asked for at this moment.

"Lynne!"

They both turned to see Ben hurrying to Lynne who had been impaled by a piece of debris. April's mouth dropped as Mike began climbing over everything to get to her. April also tried to climb, but she felt herself falling back into the debris. Mike and Ben were already next to her as April tried her ascent again. Ben was taking off his overcoat, eyes locked on Lynne as her eyes frantically went back and forth to each of them. "Mike, help me stop the bleeding."

"Ben," Mike spoke in a warning tone as April had finally made it to the three. Mike's eyes also landed on her, giving her a sympathetic stare as April was taking Ben's coat and beginning to press down on the wound. Lynne just looked up at April, knowing her efforts would do nothing at this point. "April, Ben, get out of the chopper."

April shook her head as her hands got stained as more blood pumped out of Lynne's wound, knowing she couldn't leave. This was her job. This is what she was here for. If she couldn't control anything as Secret Service, she could control the medical attention. "No, I need to patch her wound."

She was looking around frantically for the first aid kit, but it was going to be nearly impossible to find in the wreckage. "April," Mike tried again, not sure how to tell her that patching her wound would be useless. "You and your father need to get out of the chopper right now." April's hands were wet and she was losing her footing. She finally slipped on some of the debris, and when she tried to get back up, Mike put his arm out in front of her, stopping her from trying again "Get out of the chopper." She tried to fight him and push past him, but his arm firmly stayed there. He wasn't going to be able to convince April this way, he had to try a different tactic. "You need to get your father out of here right now. It could blow at any second!" She sat there for a couple of seconds; eyes still locked on Lynne, who gave her a small smile. With tears streaming down her face, April turned back to Mike pleading with him silently to let her help despite the waste of effort it would be. "Baby," Mike whispered, staring into her eyes the same way she was. "I need you to take your dad out of the chopper." April took a deep breath before finally nodding and pulling Ben up by the arm to get them both out.

Outside, April looked at her blood-soaked hands as her chest rose and fell over and over again. Her breaths were shaky and she rubbed her bloody hands along her tight black dress, but when she looked at them, they were stained a bright crimson. April then collapsed to the dirt before vomiting. She wasn't sure if it was the concussion or the panic attack or even morning sickness. All she knew was she could not be here again. Her luck could not be this bad. Another terror attack, but this was worse. This attack was spread around the entire city. She had only been to London once before when she was in high school. She didn't know her way around this city like she knew her way around the White House. They were doomed. They were going to die here just when her life was really taking off. She vomited again, feeling this was all too much for her to take on.

Ben hurried to her as he helped her stand again, but April's gasps continued. She couldn't calm herself down. She needed Mike, but he was in plane wreckage with their dying friend which lead to her tearful gasps again. "Are you okay?" Ben turned her towards him and she nodded, but then shook her head. How could she be okay? "Is the baby okay?"

The baby. April's hand fell to her stomach, feeling herself beginning to regain some calmness and control over the situation. She felt around, knowing that wouldn't make a difference if something was wrong, but it comforted her somehow. She knew what a miscarriage felt like, and now, healthwise, she felt normal despite how insane that was. Her breath had finally reached a steady level as she looked up to her father, the medical knowledge finally kicking in. "It's still protected by the pelvic bone," she breathed out while trying to straighten out her sore, aching muscles. She had to focus on getting her family out of here. And if she was going to do that, she had to protect herself. When she looked back at her father's matching eyes, she just thought about everything they had already lost. "Dad," April suddenly cried out, feeling overwhelmed by their entire day. He pulled her into a tight hug as she buried her head in his shoulder. "She's dead. Lynne's dead." He smoothed her hair as gasps racked her body again. The worry and pressure were not swelling over in the excess it did before, she had more of a control, but she could allow herself to break in front of her father. "And they're going to come for us. Why else would they have shot us down?"

Ben pulled her out of the hug to look her in the eye. "Hey, deep breath, okay?" They took their breaths together, staring into the other's eyes, trying to calm themselves down because Ben was a fraction of a second into going into a breakdown like April was. "We're getting out of here. You and Mike always figure something out." She nodded, knowing he was right. "I'm not happy to crash land, but I am sure as hell pleased I'm with the two of you. No one else would be able to get us out of here." April chuckled a little bit as Ben wiped some tears from her cheeks.

"Thank you," April whispered while wiping the rest of the tears off of her face.

They heard Mike get out of the helicopter and ran to his side. When April and Mike locked eyes, his were dark and cold. He did not want to break their gaze. His eyes were bearing into her soul, and not in a loving way. His eyes were hopeless and firey as he pulled out the walkie talkie from his suit jacket. He didn't break their stare until he looked to Ben, giving him a nod before turning back to the walkie talkie. April watched him, not sure what was going on, but something about his talk with Lynne changed him, and they just didn't have the time to talk about it. "Fox Command, this is Golf One, do you copy?" There was static on the other end, making April shut her eyes before letting out a stressed breath. "Fox Command, this is Golf One, do you copy?" Mike let out an angry grunt before ripping the system from his jacket and throwing it to the ground. Mike then pulled out his phone, but after a few clicks, he realized there was no service. "Fuck," he muttered before pocketing the phone and surveying the area, "looks like we're walking."

The revving of motorcycles ripped through the air, grabbing April's attention, and then slowly everyone else's. April just wanted one god damn second between the blows. "Mr. President, April, I hope those are comfortable shoes." He pushed them both forward and the three began running through the park and out into civilization to figure out their next move.

Washington D.C. 11:36 am

Megan hurried into the living room with her phone as Tessa sat up from her dog bed as if she was also desperately waiting on the news. "I called the phone company and April and Mike's phones are out of service."

Austin had been flipping through every news channel he could, trying to see who had the newest information. When he turned to her, he shook his head, knowing his report wasn't going to be any more positive than hers. "They're saying they might have shot out communications in all of London."

"So, what do we do?" Megan pouted as she sat down on the couch next to him.

The TV then cut abruptly to a man in a dark room, staring into the camera confidently. "To our friends in the West whose idea of war is a remote, dusty location thousands of miles from the comfort zone of your shopping malls. You send your bombs to be blown to bits in our land, or better yet, murder our families remotely from the sky. Your time is over." Megan and Austin turned to each other, their eyes wide, only now realizing this attack on London was just the start of a larger plan. "We're bringing the war to you. And make no mistake, this is the day when your world changes forever."

"Why?" Megan nearly yelled out at the return to the regular broadcast. "Why is it always April and Mike in the middle of things like this? Why my best friends?"

Austin wasn't sure what to tell her. He hadn't been through this with her before, but he knew April and Mike. He placed his hand on her back and began to rub slow, comforting circles around her spine. "If anyone can handle this," he began, trying to remain calm for her, "it's April and Mike."

Biting her lip, she looked up at Austin, knowing there was no way they could even be certain they were alive. Megan fell onto his shoulder with a loud, worried breath. She didn't realize that she was going to have to go through this kind of situation more than once when she signed on to being friends with April and Mike.

London 4:44 pm

They had found themselves in an alleyway, now slowing to a walk, sure they had put enough distance between them and the motorcyclists. Mike slowed his pace, giving him the perfect chance for April to meet his pace. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as they walked, thinking back on what Lynne told him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

April turned to look at him while letting out a flustered breath before throwing her hands in the air. "Yes," she growled out, "how many times are you going to ask me the exact same question?"

"It's just a lot happened all at once." April turned to look at him, not understanding his overbearing attitude. He was always naturally protective of her, but this was all just too much. "I want to make sure – "

"Stop talking." Mike looked down at his chest, noticing her small hand was blocking his path. He turned to her just as she pointed to her ear and then to the end of the alleyway.

Footsteps. Mike placed his hand on her back and motioned for Ben to hide behind the dumpster before he guided April there. His eyes surveyed the trash at the base of the dumpster before picking up a stray plank of wood. April raised her eyebrows at him, but he just shrugged back at her before peeking out to see who was coming for them. The man was wearing a police jacket, but he was also carrying a machine gun. Mike got the plank of wood ready, and as the man walked by, Mike swung at his neck, knocking him down as he gasped for air.

Mike pulled him over to them, so he was shielded by the dumpster in case someone else was with him. He started to search him for weapons, and April got closer to him to be extra hands, but Ben just looked back and forth at the three. "Mike, he's a policeman," Ben complained.

April turned to look at him like he was crazy when Mike pulled out the machine gun and waved it at Ben. "Yeah? Not exactly standard police issue." He then pulled out a couple of grenades, showing them to Ben, "Really?"

Ben rolled his eyes at him. He was such a smart ass. April took a step forward with her hand outstretched. Mike just stared at her hand before looking up at her. "What am I supposed to be doing here?"

She looked around, wondering if it was maybe him who had a concussion and not her. "Giving me a grenade," she told him obviously.

Mike turned back to the man, trying to get all of the equipment he could out of him as April's head tilted to the side. Was he really ignoring her? "You're President's Daughter on this trip, remember?"

April could feel her blood pressure spike as if it wasn't already high enough. The only thing that was coming across her face though was a tight, irritated grin. "Are you fucking serious? After everything, I'm back to being President's Daughter?"

"Yes, April," Mike sighed out while pocketing every single weapon he found. "I'm here to make sure you're safe – "

"Oh?" April's arms were crossed, and she was nodding along as if she agreed with everything he said when he knew better than anyone what her sarcastic smile looked like. "You've done a great job so far."

"And," Mike said louder, not appreciating being cut off by her sassy remarks. "From this point on, you're not going to be participating in any Secret Service activities."

April opened her mouth, about to lay it all on him when Ben whispered, "Oh my god," before obstructing his view of the entire situation. "I've never seen a man suffocate before."

Turning to the President with an apologetic look, Mike offered him a shrug. "I didn't have a knife." April turned back to him with her hands on her hips as Mike looked back to her, shaking his head. "We've been fighting over a suffocating person, does that make you feel good about yourself?"

"I'd feel a lot better about myself if I punched you in the face," she growled out, her eyes fixated and fiery.

Mike decided to ignore that comment because it did kind of hurt, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He thought everything would go a lot smoother if he got everyone back on topic. "He's got more ammunition than the entire US Army."

Ben shook his head, still not understanding how or why this entire attack happened in the first place. "How can they pull something like this off?"

April threw her hand up in thought, knowing there was no other possibility. "There's gotta be somebody on the inside."

Speculating was kind of Secret Service work, but Mike was going to let that slide especially because he had already pissed her off enough. "Yeah, looks like it. These ain't your typical hill-trained hillbillies. These guys are pros."

While looking around, Ben took a step forward, trying to figure out where they were and what direction they needed to go. "We should go for the embassy."

"No, they'll be expecting that," Mike muttered while standing up and looking to the Asher's. "There's an MI6 safe house around here. I have a contact there. We go there, we wait it out, and we get an extraction."

"Do you trust them?" April asked the question with her arms crossed, knowing they had to be very careful about any people they were going to bring into their circle right now.

"Yeah, but the fact is," Mike looked down at the man he had just killed, shaking his head, "every single one of these guys is a terrorist asshole until proven otherwise." He then looked back to both of them but took a moment to stare deep into April's eyes. "The only people we trust right now is each other." He left the sentence hanging in the air, directed right at her. She didn't understand what came over him, but she was getting tired of it. He was mad at her. She knew that, but she couldn't figure out what it was she did. He then looked off before nodding for them to start following him. "Come on, let's go."

As they ran, they heard the motorcyclists again which just made them all move faster. "We gotta get underground," Mike told them as they approached a subway station, Mike shooting off the lock before they all ducked inside.

Guest 1: That's one of my biggest complaints about the movie! It would have been so cool if it was a buddy movie, and that's kind of why I wanted to make this story lol. Thank you for the kind words!

Guest 2: Thank you so much for your comments. I always struggle with self-confidence in my writing, so thank you so much!

NGArmyWife: Thank you so much! I always feel like my action writing sucks, but I've been working on it, and I'm glad it's paying off. As always thank you so much for your review!

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