Olivia POV

I sat as still as I possibly could at the red light, keeping my face hidden as though he were watching from the cameras posted up high. The street I was at had the longest red light, and the shortest green light in town so I know I would be sitting there a little longer. I knew that my time was limited and that if I wanted to get out of town without him, or any of them knowing I had vanished, that I would have to act fast and not hang around for another minute. They had men everywhere. Police, hospital, the courts. Well there used to be a connection in the courts but after Judge Henley was caught with his pants around his waist and a hooker bobbing up and down on his penis while in his chambers, he was removed from his authoritative position right away. I wasn't sure if they'd found a replacement mole or not.

Watching the light turn green, I pressed my foot against the gas wanting to get pass the county line as fast as I could without drawing any attention to myself. Everyone in town knew of me. My father's position was one that made sure everyone knew who he was and at some point or another, most of the men and some women in town worked for him. I wasn't sure if most of them worked for him because they wanted to or if they owed a debt they had to pay off. I believe most were the latter. My father was a man you didn't want to work for unless you had to. There were several people that supposedly worked alongside my father, but everyone knew they worked under him. No one was above him. He called the shots and made the rules. At least he did before he died four months ago.

I didn't cry when he died and while a couple of people in town found it strange- those were the people that didn't know my father for the man he really was- most people found it disrespectful that I hadn't shed a tear. "You should be torn apart that such a great man as your father is no longer with us." Someone had told me. I'd walked away from them immediately before I was reminded by my father's protégé that I would show my respects and be at his funeral, prepared to speak before all that were present. It took everything in my not to throw up in my mouth at the lies that I knew would be spewed that day. I wore all black as everyone would expect and when I'd gotten to the podium to start speaking, I noticed the nod from his protégé that would take over for him. There were really two people that would call the shots because one was such a pussy he couldn't do the job himself. As he nodded at me my mind went back to the day my father passed away as I watched from the other side of the room.

It had been cancer and I wasn't sure how he had held on for as long as he had but I remember kissing his head and telling him goodbye before Jacob Ballard replaced me on the chair next to the bed and my father uttered the words "see to it that my daughter is taken care of." Those words haunted me because Jacob Ballard owed my father everything and would see to it that I was taken care of. The thing was that those words had different meanings to my father and to Jacob Ballard.

I drove for hours that day. Nine to be exact. I filled up my gas tank as needed, paying with the cash I had and eating a piece of fruit at gas stations here and there. I had no appetite and hadn't eaten a real meal in nearly three weeks. Three weeks ago is when everything changed for me. Three weeks ago I had gone on my fifth ride along with Jacob Ballard and it hadn't gone as smooth as he had hoped.

I shook those thoughts from my head, trying to focus on the fact that I was driving although I felt extremely weak and had a pounding headache. Knowing that I needed to find a nearby store, I pulled off on the next exit and drove until I found a CVS and went inside to pick up a few things. I grabbed a few nutrigrain bars, some energy drinks, a couple of protein shakes, soup and crackers. I knew I had to buy food that I could open and eat without utensils that I didn't have to warm up and that didn't take up too much of my cash yet would last for days. It was also a smart idea to coat my stomach with something that might stick.

"That's a pretty color." The clerk looked at the box before sliding it across the scanner followed by the other items and looked up at me and read off the price. I didn't verbally respond, choosing to give a small smile and a brief nod before handing her a few bills and waiting for the change before making my way back into my car. I reversed from the parking lot before crossing the large intersection and driving towards the back of the gas station, and putting the car in park. I went to the cashier inside and asked for the key to the restroom. Although I knew the inside would be filthy, I knew no one would be banging down the door to have a turn anytime soon. I walked back to the car and emptied the food onto the front seat before leaving a few of the items inside and went to the bathroom. I made certain the door was locked before I began to work.

First I started with my nails. I took my time, dipping my fingers in the acetone nail polish remover before popping the artificial nails off one by one. They'd damaged my nails like they usually did but I couldn't stop myself from getting them. I knew this would be the last time I had them for a while. When they were all off, I opened the box I had sat on the counter and began to follow the instructions thoroughly until I was ready to take the last step.

It took about twenty-five minutes for me to scrape the bottom of the makeshift bowl making sure all of its contents were gone. Gathering my things, I walked out of the bathroom and said a silent apology to the clerk as I left the key hanging on the bathroom door instead of returning it to him like I had promised. It wasn't tremendously cold outside, so I hadn't turned the heat on in the car, but knowing that it was the best thing to do now, I turned it on and didn't turn it off until I stopped at another gas station just under an hour later. When I was given the key to the stall, I brought in a gallon of water as well as the plastic bag from CVS that I needed.

Twenty minutes later, my lungs were burning as I lifted my head and looked at my reflection in the mirror. My orange-ish red highlights that I had spent hundreds of dollars on were no longer present throughout my head full of hair. Instead the dark brown hair dye had done its job and changed my mixed colored hair to one uniformed shade. I didn't hate it, but I also didn't like it either. It was more of my natural shade of dark brown but I had been molded into someone else in the past few months and even if that person wasn't really me, it was who I was known as.

Grabbing a few of the thick brown paper towels, I sat them on the floor beneath the hair dryer and sat beneath it while it dried my hair for nearly an hour. There were moments I thought the old machine would give out, but every few seconds- twenty-seven seconds to be exact; I had counted them- I would slap my hand against the button and it would start up again. My hair wasn't completely dry, but it was dry enough to where I wouldn't develop a dark spot on the back of my shirt from it being wet by my hair. This time I brought the key back to the clerk. I felt guilty about the way I hadn't kept my promise before and figured this would make up for it. If there were such a thing as karma, I needed as much as I could get; and I needed that good kind.

I drove for nearly three more hours. The sun had already set and the moon was high in the sky making me think of two choices I had. I could try to find a place to sleep for the night or I could keep driving until I could drive no further. That was the ultimate goal. Drive until I couldn't drive anymore and refused to sit behind the wheel of the car. I made up my mind and decided to keep driving.

That was until my eyes closed for a split second and everything went black.


Fitz POV

I sat up in bed and hit my alarm before yawning, throwing my feet over the side of the bed and stretching. I walked into the bathroom to relieve myself before going downstairs and starting on breakfast. I made pancakes while my coffee brewed and cut up a banana before grabbing a cup of milk and setting it out. I took one deep breath and took a large gulp of the hot brown liquid before walking up the steps and into the second door on the right.

She was sprawled out on top of the covers with one hand behind her head and then other spread out next to her. She was lightly snoring but I could hear the sounds of the ocean coming from her sound machine next to her bed. She'd listened to the machine since she was a newborn and I was unsure of when she would outgrow the melodious sounds.

"CJ, it's time to wake up for school hunny."

She ignored him and he tried again.

"Daddy doesn't have time this morning, I need you to wake up."

"I don't want to, daddy"

She was just as stubborn as her mother had been when it came to waking up in the morning. Millicent Elaine had been a great friend in elementary, a non-existent friend in middle school, an okay girlfriend in high school and a horrible girlfriend through college. We were on again and off again throughout college and neither of us thought our long distance relationship would work, but we tried it anyway. After she finished her four years, I continued on to Law School and she moved back home to be with me. Her parents had long since retired to Florida when she went to school but she said that North Carolina would always be home to her.

"Bug, I know you want to sleep longer but maybe tomorrow you won't fight me on going to bed."

I heard her grumble in response before sitting up and looking at me with dagger eyes. Her eyes were the same color as mine and it was extra hard disciplining her most days. It wasn't just her eye color, but her lashes seemed to curl for days, her cheekbones were high, making her have the best smile in my opinion and her nose was constantly scrunched when she smiled showing those tiny teeth. Her hair was the same color brown as mine but with lighter streaks of blonde, and it made me feel proud that she looked so much like me instead of her mother.

Millicent wasn't a great girlfriend. She wanted to get married but I knew it was something I could never go through with. She called me stingy when I continued on with my law degree, but stayed with me nonetheless. It was during the birth of our daughter that she died. I could remember the doctors explaining to me what went wrong but all I could focus on was the knowledge that my daughter had been born at only thirty-three weeks. She was okay but required four weeks in the NICU. She was mostly there because she couldn't regulate her body temperature and she wasn't gaining weight the way they wanted. She was on formula and didn't take well to a bottle during the first week. At least that's what my mother told me. She lived an hour away but had come up and spent time with my baby because it was something I couldn't do. Instead, I spent my time getting drunk and feeling sorry for myself because I was left alone to raise a newborn. It was my mother and another NICU nurse that made me see the error of my ways and I was grateful for them. Knowing that Millicent liked the name Cassandra, I honored her wishes and named my little girl that, and her middle name came from the nurse that made me see the light and importance of my little girl. Cassandra Jane Grant, lovingly called CJ, was my little fighter and I couldn't be more proud of her for all she's overcome in her short life.

I had to force myself to shake those thoughts from my mind and focus on the present and not the past. And in this present, my daughter stared at me with angry blue eyes.

"Come on Bug"

I scooped her up in my arms and cradled her in my arms down the hallway and steps before depositing her in her booster seat. I always expected for her to inherit my height but being premature gave her a disadvantage of being the smallest one in her class. Her doctor constantly annoyed me with sharing her low percentages in weight and height. I looked closely and watched her face light up at the food in front of her before she dug in. If it was breakfast food, I couldn't get her to stop eating, but come dinnertime, I knew there would be a battle. That's something I wouldn't have to worry about tonight and I was looking forward to having a drink the second I got home. I never drank when she was home. Never.

I finished drinking my coffee and dropped the dish into the dishwasher after rinsing it off then moved to make her lunch. She usually ate the majority of her lunch and never gave her teachers a hard time. It was only me that she gave a hard time. She was spoiled and I couldn't lie about it.

She munched on her food happily, only leaving just a little bit of pancakes on her plate before devouring her banana followed by her milk.

"Morning daddy"

She walked toward me lifting her arms up for a good morning hug. I lifted her under her arms before snuggling her little body into mine. She could be the sweetest girl when she wanted to be.

"Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yes, I was too tired to come to your bed though"

"It's okay, Bug. It got really warm in my room last night because I forgot to turn the fan on. Your room was probably better."

She didn't go more than two nights without climbing into my bed in the middle of the night and I was always none the wiser. I never heard her come in and most mornings I was too disoriented to notice her next to me. I'd go into her room to wake her up only to have a semi panic attack before running back to my own room and seeing her tiny body curled up on the bed.

"Go use the potty and brush your teeth. I'll be up in a minute okay?"

I kissed her forehead and put her down before turning back to finish putting her lunch together. By the time I made it upstairs after packing her backpack, she had her school uniform laid out on her bed and she was lying on her stomach with an iPad in front of her.

"Give it up Bug." I said referring to the iPad. It wasn't that she didn't know the rules, she just liked to push her limits on a daily basis, purposely keeping me on my toes.

"Sorry Daddy"

There was a smile on her face as she said this and abandoned the iPad, letting me know that she really didn't mean it. She stood on the bed and I helped her get dressed in the striped blue, red, and white uniform, tucking her shirt into her skirt before getting a few hair ties to give her the low pigtails she preferred to wear.

When she had put on her own shoes and secured the velcro straps, she turned her attention back to her iPad while I went to get dressed for the day. Once I was dressed and ready for the day, I called for CJ to come down and we loaded up the car and set off to her school. This was her first year at the school and so far she really seemed to enjoy herself. I knew it would be a struggle because last year I allowed her to experience Kindergarten with a group of homeschooled children thinking it would be the best and she had loved it. She thrived and I felt a lot better about her being with a few of the parents and students I had known from her preschool the year before. I knew I didn't want her to be homeschooled completely and when the main mother who ran the class moved away this past summer, I knew it was time to make the move to Bridge Point Academy for her first grade year.

"Alright, any complaints?" I started our morning car ride routine.

"My pancakes needed more syrup next time daddy."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Anything else?"

"Hmmmm maybe orange juice next time?"

She was a sly one but I would never fall for that. My daughter would live off orange juice if allowed. She usually only got one cup at dinner time and I never complained about it.

"Nice try Bug, you can have OJ at dinner."

When we pulled up to her school, I was the second car in line as usual and I put the car in park before reaching back to help her unbuckle herself. When she removed the straps from her shoulders, she grabbed a hold of my shoulder before hoisting herself onto the middle console and sitting there criss-cross. I always arrived early enough to beat the rush of parents and make it to work on time, so while we waited the usual ten minutes before carpool began, she'd sit up front with me.

"Scoot the chair back, daddy."

I obeyed and pushed the button as I waited for my seat to move further away from the steering wheel and once it was back far enough, she made herself comfortable in my lap, her hands immediately going to the buttons in front of her.

"Alright Bug, grandma is going to pick you up from school today and you're going to go to her house okay?"

"Will I spend the night?"

"Yes, you are going to go to her house and then she's going to bring you back tomorrow night."

"Will you call me before bedtime?"

I gripped her under her arms and turned her around to face me.

"Anytime you go over grandma's house, don't I call you every night and every morning?"

She nodded shyly and I wondered if she would put up a fight today when my mom came to get her. She loved going over there but it was no secret that she was a daddy's girl and was completely used to only being at home. She didn't do sleepovers with friends, nor did we have family close by that she could visit overnight. The only person that had ever kept her overnight, and only for one night, was my mother. She had been there since the beginning and was the only person that I would trust with my little girl except for my friend Abby.

Abby and I went to school together and I hadn't known it at the time but she worked as a nurse in the NICU during CJ's stay and had let me know if I ever needed any help with CJ to give her a call. I was unsure at first because I didn't want some college acquaintance turned nurse to flirt with me while passing herself off as someone that actually cared for my daughter's well-being. Abby was different. I refused to call her, opting to leave the strip of paper she'd written her number on stuck to my fridge, until one evening I couldn't seem to get anything right with CJ. She had only been home for three days and I had felt defeated as my daughter refused to take a bottle the entire day and cried half the day. I was furious because I had made a promise to her that I would stop going down the dark path I had found myself on and would be the father she deserved. I felt like she was betraying me and testing me to see if I would crack and give up, but I wouldn't. That night I swallowed my pride and called Abby and although it was after eleven that night, she answered and came right over to help out with CJ. Having slept on and off between hysterically crying throughout the day, she had been wide awake for hours and Abby took it upon herself to demonstrate everything to me while she was awake.

That night I relearned it all. She taught me to properly bathe her, burp her good enough so there weren't any gas bubbles left in her stomach, swaddle her the proper way, and ways of keeping her calm when she did get frantic. She never made me do it but she reminded me of kangaroo care and how that would be something to always try and as it turned out the first time I tried it alone, it worked. For the first three months of her life, CJ slept on my chest, skin to skin. The transition from getting her to sleep in her crib instead of my chest was a challenge but once I learned to settle my little girl, everything else seemed to fall into place. So as much as Abby was still a huge help on the occasion that I would ask for it, she never kept my daughter overnight.

I was her father, and I would take care of her.

"I will call you tonight before you go to bed and I will talk to you in the morning and I will see you when you get home tomorrow night. Kapish?"

"Kapish."

Seeing the teachers start to walk outside and towards the cars, I grabbed her backpack from the floor behind me and sat it in the passenger's seat.

"Alright Bug, you have a great day at school and I'll give you a call once you're with grandma, okay? I love you so much, you be good."

"I love you too daddy"

She leaned forward and gave one of my cheeks an affectionate kiss before I did the same to her before lastly kissing her lips. Unlocking the doors I smiled at the teacher who'd opened the door before helping CJ climb out of my lap, across the seat and finally out of the car door. She received help putting her backpack on and before she stepped onto the curb, she turned and gave me one more wave before blowing a kiss and skipped off to her classroom.

If I was being honest, that one last kiss she blew me every single morning that I dropped her off meant the world to me. She had recently turned six years old, but to me she'd always be my little baby girl that refused to sleep anywhere but on my chest. She was my everything and I liked it that way.

I drove into the parking lot of my office and after killing the engine and gathering my briefcase, I made my way inside, greeting the few people that were already at their desks. I sat my things down on my desk before going down the hall to grab a cup of coffee. It would be my second one for the day but I knew I'd need it if I wanted to get through the meetings I had in store for me. Three weeks from now would make it a full two years that I've been working as an Estate Law Attorney. The job wasn't exciting, fun, draining or promising. Instead it was annoying, boring, repetitive, and time consuming.

When I finished law school I was more than proud to be accepted right away as a junior partner at Kirkland and Fields Law Firm. They were one of the most prestigious law firms in the state and I wanted a piece of the pie and a seat at the table. I was good and I knew it. My professors had told me throughout my undergrad and when I started law school, I was taken along with four other students to work alongside the senior professor at the university. I worked on cases that I shouldn't have been allowed to be near, but them needing and wanting fresh eyes, gave me an advantage especially with my professor practically pimping me out to them.

They specialized in Criminal Law and I got to defend some of the worst criminals and get them off on crimes. It's not that I wanted to defend these criminals, but I had no choice in the matter and was like an unleashed pit bull that had anger problems. My conscious ate at me daily when I knew that a criminal was being let out on the street even though it was usually for crimes of drugs, embezzlement or fraud. They were crimes that hurt people and were supposed to have consequences but I usually worked my magic and got them cleared of most charges. The week after my daughter was brought home from the hospital and I sat in her nursery rocking her to sleep on my chest, I realized that I had to stop. There was no way that I could sit and look at my innocent baby girl one day and the next go into court and stand next to a man smuggling drugs through baby formula with a clean conscious. It was as if she was judging me as she breathed in and out, whispering for her daddy to tell the truth and help people that deserved help.

The following week I quit. The reason I gave them might have been cowardly but these were men that would defend the worst of criminals to make a buck. They knew of Millicent passing away and the second I told them that I needed to focus on taking care of my daughter, they made sure I would finish out the case I had been working on and released me from my contract. It has been two years since I took the job here and I felt blessed to have had a full year at home taking care of my daughter without having to worry about a work schedule and who would be there for her. That first year held so many precious moments that I knew I had to witness. She had no mother and even if she did, the moment I held her in my arms, I fell in love with all four pounds of her and I needed to be there witnessing those moments.

Nowadays, my job was simple and mostly boring. I was still practicing law, but estate law mostly dealt with family's trust funds and wills left to loved ones. The most drama or danger I encountered were family members threatening to kill one another after feeling cheated out of family heirlooms. Some of it was funny, but usually I got my laughs from watching my little girl act silly and the occasional episode of Impractical Jokers. Most people would and did call my life boring but I looked at it as simple. I just love living each day with my daughter. My mother constantly tried to convince me to go out and date but I didn't feel that it was right to do and I didn't want to search around for someone that I knew would love my daughter unconditionally and treat them as their own. If I met anyone and started dating them it would be because I felt as though they were someone I could build a future with. I didn't need any one night stands, I needed commitment and someone that was worth it.

By the time I was ready to leave for the day, I had a major headache after dealing with the McManus twins that were fighting over their parent's estate. Their dad had passed away the week before and they were fighting over their parent estate after their will wasn't specific to each daughter. They had argued for over an hour and I could still hear the ringing in my ears. It was on the way to my car when my phone rang and I realized my mother was calling. She told me how pick up went and how CJ had been more excited than usual to see her and was ready to go to her house for a sleepover. I spoke to CJ next asking how her day was and if she'd ate her lunch. I always packed a PediaSure in her lunch and she knew more than anything to drink that. She talked for a few minutes before I could tell she was getting bored and wanted to hang up the phone.

"Okay Bug, you be good for grandma and I'll talk to you before bedtime. Is that okay?"

"Uh huh. I'll talk to you later daddy."

"I love you baby girl."

"Love you too daddy"

"Bye, bye, butterfly" I whispered into the phone.

"Take care, polar bear" she whispered back and I smiled before hanging up the phone.

It was hours later that I felt completely refreshed as I stepped out of the shower and put on a pair of clean boxers and pants before I threw a t-shirt on and left my bedroom. I admittedly loved soaking in the tub after a long four mile run around my neighborhood and today had been the first one I had taken in weeks. Usually I could only run alone if Abby had come over to play with CJ for a few hours, I had gotten done with work early and still had time before school let out, or my mom had picked her up from school. CJ usually was the only one that took baths in my extra large tub and one could tell just by the amount of toys present that the little girl used it most.

I ran my hands through my damp curls and pulled at the front one that never seemed to cooperate and made a mental reminder to call for an appointment the next morning once I had awakened. I moved down the stairs and went into the kitchen to find something to eat and drink that would satisfy the hunger I had. Running always left me famished and tonight I planned to indulge in something bad for me. Seeing the Stouffers Macaroni and Cheese dinner, I felt my stomach grumble and was about to move to preheat the oven when I heard the sound of something breaking coming from the backyard. I moved to turn on the lights outside and after unlocking the door I walked outside to look around. It was more than likely the neighbor's cat and if that was the case, I would have to take the sneaky animal back to their home and convince them that their animal breaking yet another flower pot that my daughter had planted was no big deal. Walking to where I knew the side gate was open and would've allowed the cat entrance, I froze in place at the sight of a woman lying on the ground. I took a step back out of instinct and looked around for any sign of danger and when I found none I moved closer, speaking to her.

"Ma'am are you okay?"

Her head barely moved and I noticed her eyes open and focus on mine before she spoke in a strangled whisper.

"Help me."