This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction so go easy on me. This is just a little alternative to the scene in 5x20 and I hope you all like it. Please review and let me know what you all think.
Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal or any of the characters. they all belong to the amazing Shonda Rhimes.
"Come in." Abby responded to the light knock on her office door.
"Olivia Pope is here Ma'am."
"Send her in."
"She's in the Oval Ma'am."
"The Oval?" She sounded shocked.
"Yes Ma'am, along with everyone else."
"What? Ok, I'm coming." Abby quickly grabbed the folder from the draw in her desk and left her office to make her way over to the Oval.
On the her walk over she had a little bit of time to actually contemplate using what she had. If she used it, it'll most likely break Fitz and make him hate her but worst of all it'll more than likely hate Olivia and that'll break them both. If she did use it though, it was highly likely it would help Susan win the election by causing Olivia and Mellie to drop out.
Abby smiled at Lauren as she passed her desk and opened the door to the Oval. Inside Abby found Fitz and Olivia at opposite ends of the coffee table, Fitz sat in one of the chairs and Liv was pacing whilst reading through a file in her hands. Susan was on one couch sat between Elizabeth and David and finally Marcus and Mellie were on the opposite couch with their backs to her. She made her way over to where Liv was stood in front of the Resolute desk.
"Liv, this wasn't the plan." She whispered.
"This will only work if we get everyone on board." Olivia murmured along with a pointed look.
"Fine."
With a final nod Olivia spun to face everyone else who were, save for Fitz, wrapped up in their own conversations.
"Ok, everyone. Both campaigns have agreed to exchange opposition research, we show you the worst we have and in return you do the same, tonight, right now in front of everybody."
"And each side has a decision to make, stay in the race or get out." Abby addressed them.
"If you decide to stay in the race the dirt will be used against you publicly." Liv countered.
"And if you decide to get out the dirt gets buried and you leave the race ready to run another day." Abby stated and there were a couple of shocked faces from the others.
"So, this is how you Republicans do it…" David started speaking.
"…Any questions?" Olivia quickly interrupted him.
"Yes, one. Why on earth are we doing this?" Liz asked.
"Because they want one of you to drop out." Marcus said quickly
"I'm not dropping out." Olivia said as she turned slightly to look at Abby.
"Neither am I." Mellie countered.
"Well I'm double not dropping out." Susan said whilst straightening up a bit.
"Did you just call doubles on not dropping out?" Mellie asked
"Yes."
"You should drop out." Mellie said bluntly.
"No one wants anyone to drop out, but the fact is, if you deploy all your arsenals against each other you're both gonna get hurt, one of you mortally and the one that survives will end up losing to Vargas anyway. This is a way for us to pick the strongest candidate and protect the one that isn't and gives the party the best chance to win the election. It's smart." Fitz stated.
"How do we know that this is the worst you've got." Elizabeth asked
"Why would we hold anything back at this point?" Liv asked rhetorically and then turned rapidly to look at Abby. They nodded to one another then liv spun back to address everyone else.
"I'll go first. Susan…"
"Wait, hold on. I just wanna say that if this is about the thing with the thing with the koala…" Susan interrupted.
"It's, it's not. It's about David." Olivia quickly interrupted her before she could continue.
"David?..."
"...Liv?" Susan and David said in unison.
"Your boyfriend and advisor agreed to drop a long-standing investigation by the Department of Justice into Turmeric Sugar in order to secure your endorsement of Governor Baker in the Florida primary. It's all there." Olivia stated as she dropped the file onto the coffee table in front of them.
"Is that true?" she said softly then paused. "Is that true?!" Susan raised her voice.
"How could you do this…" David started speaking to Olivia.
"How could she do this? Are you freaking serious? You lied to me… again!" Susan screamed at David as she stood up. She started looking around the room for somewhere else to sit.
"Here, here." Mellie sad as she shuffled over to the centre of the couch so that Susan could sit on the end.
"Thank you."
"If this is true, Rosen, I'll be accepting our resignation as Attorney General of the United States in the morning." Fitz said sitting up slightly.
"Are you sure you want to do that Mr. President? Putting aside what it does your legacy but if David resigns because of this then Susan will have to step down as Vice President, she'll never become President. Do you want to ruin her career for something he did?" Liz said while leaning forward and uncrossing her legs whist pointing between Susan and David.
"I wanted you to win..." David started speaking and he sound slightly broken over what had just transpired.
"Shut up! Abby, what do you have?" Susan said then quickly turned to Mellie to say "Sorry."
This was it, the moment Abby had been dreading. She looked down at Olivia with a pained expression. Abby then looked around the room at the expectant faces, her eyes landing on Fitz. She felt sick.
Fitz could see the pained and sad expression on Abby's face. Someone was going to get hurt and badly.
"Abs?" Liv said turning to face her fully.
"Uhh… Liv… I think that…. I think that you should read it first before I share it with the others." Abby said in a slightly hushed voice and sad eyes.
"Uh… Ok." Olivia said and took the file from her hands.
Fitz watched as Olivia read through the file Abby had given her. He watched and read each expression that crossed her face. He was always able to read her so well, better than anyone. He noticed the shock, the pain, the confusion and finally the sadness that was evident on her face.
"How did… How did you… get this?" While closing the file, she took a glance at Fitz then looked back at Abby.
"I… Uhh … Your father." Abby whispered so that no one else could hear. Olivia took a visibly deep breath. They were too wrapped up in moment to notice that Fitz was now stood next to Olivia, facing her as she faced Abby.
"Liv, what's in the file?" he asked softly, placing a gentle hand on her elbow.
She looked up at him with sad eyes and then looked down at the file in her hands, contemplating letting him read it.
She hesitated but slowly handed him the file without looking him in the eye and instead opting to look at her feet. He read through the file, trying to school his features.
He walked over to his desk and placed the file down. He leant on the desk with his hands gripping the edge.
"Olivia and I need the room." He said and at first no one made a move to leave, they all looked between each other confused. "Now!" He said louder this time, and everyone made a dash to the door.
Once the door was shut he sighed and turned to face Liv.
"Is this why you left?" He asked softly.
"Fitz…"
"… No, Livvie just answer the question?" He said more firmly in his baritone voice.
"Yes. It's why I left." Olivia said whilst looking down at her heel clad feet and trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.
Sighing he made his way over to sit in the spot that David was previously sitting in.
"I think about the decision that I made to abort our child every day and it breaks me a little more each time. I'm sorry that I took that away from you. What I did was unfair to you and for that I am truly sorry, but I wasn't ready and I'm still not." Olivia started out confidently but towards the end she just sounded broken.
"Liv, I'm not angry, I'm upset but mostly I feel betrayed. I thought we were a team, I thought that were partners. You could have told me, and I would've supported you and your decision. You now that. Why didn't you just come to me?" Fitz said in a low sad tone.
"I don't really know why I didn't come to you before I did it, but I didn't come to you afterwards because I thought you'd be disappointed in me. I thought you'd never speak to me again. I ruined our chance of putting our plan, our dream, into motion." Silent tears falling down her face.
Standing up, Fitz crossed the room to her and gently brought his hands up to wipe her tear stained cheeks and to cup her face.
"I would never be disappointed in you Livvie. Not matter what you choose to do. Yes, I am upset that you never told me but it's your body and ultimately your choice to make and I support that, I'll always support your choices. If you aren't ready, that's okay, I'll wait for you, take as long as you need. You let me know when you are ready to start our dream because I am ready when you are." He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.
They shared a moment of silence as he held her, and she rested her head against his hard chest as she let her tears fall silently. At that moment he realised how truly broken she was and he wanted to do whatever he could to help piece her back together again.
It felt good to have her in his arms again, so he relished in the feeling not knowing how long it would last, not knowing how long she would stay.
She took a deep breath then slowly lifted her head off of his chest but kept their bodies pressed firmly together. She slid her arms under his to wrap them around his middle whilst looking up at him.
Fitz brought his right hand up to gently rest below her chin and he lowered his head to ghost his lips over hers. Olivia lifted her right hand to tangle through the curls at the nape of his neck as she deepened the kiss. They only pulled away when the need for oxygen became too much.
They stood there in silence on the Presidential Seal, with their foreheads rested against each other, holding one another tightly.
"I still love you. No matter what, I'll always love you, Fitz." Looking up at him Olivia whispered with a soft nod and a smile.
"I love you too, sweet baby." Fitz murmured and smiled softly at her and pulled her into a tighter embrace.