I was going to make this the final chapter in "Time Won't Tell/Love Allows for Forgiveness", but decided it worked better as a standalone story. It is an extended version of the scene in 601 when Fitz says he doesn't want to fix another election and Olivia encourages him to stand behind Cyrus (before discovering the Jennifer Fields phone call). I had most of this in mind before I saw 609, but I think it could help explain what Fitz meant when he said "you got out" of the power trap of the Oval when he encouraged Liv to forgive Abby.
This is dedicated to everyone else who spent days or weeks after the 2016 election refreshing vote totals hoping that the final vote counts would show that the media projections on election night had been a mistake.
Reviews are highly appreciated, including constructive criticism.
NOVEMBER 9, 2016 (AKA the worst day of my life IRL)
"I don't want to fix another election," Fitz admits.
Olivia takes a deep breath and says reluctantly "then you know what you have to do."
"I'm sorry, Liv," Fitz says sympathetically, sitting down next to her on the couch. "I wanted this for you...for both of you. But I can't..."
"I know," Olivia says softly, blinking back tears as the reality of losing the election starts to sink in for the first time. She starts to get up but Fitz gently presses her shoulder, encouraging her to stay seated for a minute.
"Look at me," he says gently. She reluctantly complies. "When you started out, I didn't think Mellie had a chance," he admits. "I thought she needed to wait four or eight years, get some experience in the Senate, put some distance between her career and mine. Not to mention the fact that Republicans have held the White House for 16 years and Democrats were a lot hungrier for it this time around. And honestly, sometimes I wondered if she was too damaged to ever have a shot. The fact that you made it as close as it was...you almost flipped California from blue to red. You should be proud," he says gently.
"No, I shouldn't be proud. I should have convinced her not to run this year for all the reasons you said about why it wasn't her time. I should have convinced her that the optics of having me run her campaign were toxic and reinforced every negative suspicion about her."
"I'm sure you told her all of that," Fitz says.
"I told her, but I didn't push hard enough. I was selfish...I wanted to run her campaign because I believe in her, I really do, but also because..."
"Because your reputation suffered so much after our relationship was exposed and if Mellie Grant was still willing to hire you it sent a message that it was okay for everyone else in Washington to do so, right?"
"Something like that, yeah," Olivia admits.
"Trust me, Mellie's not some unsuspecting victim who couldn't understand all of that. She made the calculation that having you involved was worth whatever downsides there were. She has no right to blame you for the election not going her way."
"She didn't," Olivia says to Fitz's surprise.
"Good. Then don't blame yourself," he encourages. "Look, I know you well enough to know that nothing I say is going to stop you from pouring through the data, checking that Wasserberg twitter feed incessantly, and obsessing about whether you spent the right amount of money and had the right message in every precinct, whether you ran the right ads, whether you should have focused more on Ohio and Florida and less on California, whether you should have given up in Ohio and gone all in on California, whether she wore the right color to the debates, and g-d knows what else you obsess about. But know that at the end of the day you did the best you could and be proud of the campaign you ran."
Olivia nods. "It's Wasserman. The twitter feed - his name is Dave Wasserman, from the Cook Political Report. He updates official vote counts as they come in in all 50 states."
"Yes, I know. I remember you checking that feed every 30 seconds when I finally had you alone during the transition for the first time since the election and was trying to celebrate with you."
Olivia smiles sadly. "I was holding out hope that you would end up winning Ohio by enough votes that Defiance wouldn't matter," she admits.
"I figured."
"You don't get to complain, though. We celebrated plenty that night," she says pointedly. Fitz grins as he remembers her sitting up naked in his hotel bed, trying to balance her tablet and a glass of the expensive champagne he'd brought for them while he tickled her and trailed kisses down her back, trying to tempt her away from that stupid twitter feed.
"Touche," he admits.
"There's no point in refreshing it constantly now, though," she says dejectedly. "That's what I would do if my candidate were a Democrat. But the outstanding votes are mostly provisionals and votes from large precincts in urban counties. It's over," she says dejectedly.
Fitz gently place his hand on the small of her back as she fights back tears. "I've spent 8 years feeling guilty about Defiance...I never realized how lousy it would feel making the opposite decision," she says glumly.
"You mean how it would have felt if you hadn't gone along with Defiance and I had lost?" Fitz asks.
"Yeah," that's what I meant," she says in a tone that is not fully convincing.
"Liv?" he prompts gently.
She hesitates for a moment, then decides to tell him at least part of the truth, the part she can tell him without exposing her father or burdening Fitz with her nagging suspicions. "I had an opportunity...Huck discovered a loophole in the voting machine software used in San Bernadino. Mellie...Mellie doesn't know," she says softly.
"Hey. Listen to me," Fitz says gently, lifting her chin so she is forced to look at him. "You did the right thing. I know it may not feel like it right now, I know you feel like you let her down and you feel like you'd do anything to change the outcome, but I promise you, you did the right thing. For Mellie, for yourself, and for this country."
"I know. It's just...harder than I thought it would be," she admits, pulling herself together. The truth is, she doesn't even know if she did the right thing, because she can't shake her nagging fear that her decision to have Huck close the loophole may have gotten Vargas killed.
"How...how are you holding up?" she asks. "This can't be easy for you, especially because...the shooting..."
"Brings up painful memories?" he finishes.
"Yeah."
"To be perfectly honest, I haven't even had time to process it all yet. I have a job to do...this country needs me. I can't afford to let anything get to me right now. What about you? It can't be easy for you either."
"No. But I haven't really processed it either. I was so focused on trying to find evidence that Cyrus was behind it...I'm just...I'm sad, and horrified but...I'm really glad it's not you this time," she admits.
Fitz smiles. "I guess I should get to work on anointing 'President Cyrus Beane'. G-d, I hate the sound of that."
"Me too," Olivia agrees.
This is probably it for now, but if something happens on the show that inspires me to add to this I might do so. Reviews are very much appreciated.