Author's Note: Good evening, folks. Ask and ye shall receive! A follow up to D.D. #14 with FTGIV and Dexa is in the works, as well as the post Defiance AU I've been talking about. The love shown for the Draftbook Drabble Series as a whole has been amazing and I'll do my best to keep it going strong. Eventually, one or more of them will be condensed into a new SCANDAL WIP but for now, let's keep the party going as is. Have a good one!

(CMW2/Trumpetnista: Draftbook Drabble #15- (Follow up to D.D. #11- Fitz, Olivia, Eli/Rowan, Maya, Dominic, OOC but nothing too extreme, AU, law enforcement sting aftermath, mentioned established Olitz, Pope Parents in Name Only Battle Royale, Pope family dynamics)

Words from the Gladiator in a Hoodie: Not even the fact that The Admiral is directing the midseason finale can rid me of the sinking dreadful feeling that it's going to be some all around, blood soaked, one step forward and a million steps backward bullshit just like every other hiatus point that SCANDAL has done. Well, almost every hiatus point but still...doom is coming and all I really want is for Liv and Fitz survive intact, even if (when) they don't get back together yet (it better be fucking yet...). This damned show...it's like a bad habit that I can't be bothered to get rid of yet. Fortunately, where there's canon fuckery, there's inspiration and drive for fanfic creativity. One of the most popular D.D.s I've put out so far was #11 with Liv the stripper and Fitz the G-Man so here's a follow up for you guys to enjoy. Updates on the remaining WIPs are coming and thank you for all the support you guys have shown for my SCANDAL-ous scribbles! Mad Love, Jam, and Power Drills, ~*Trump*~

Disclaimer: "Honestly, it's not mine!"

Excerpt from Draftbook Drabble #11

"…you could've come to me for help. You should've come to me for help."

"If we had a typical father-daughter relationship, I would've but we don't. Taking money from you would've been like a yoke around my neck that you could tug and make me bend to your will. It would've put me back under your thumb and made me miserable until I found a way to pay you back. No, thank you."

"What kind of professional future do you expect to have for yourself in this city with that sort of filth attached to you? A simple background check will show everything, not like you care."

"I'm not trying to hide it and there's more than one city that I can make a good living in. And what I do is not filth. Eli, I'm not prostituting. I strip dance and I model lingerie. Both fields are legitimate and quite lucrative. I'm at the top of my classes. I don't have any student loans. I can cover my living expenses and I have savings that grow with interest every day. I'm not doing anything wrong so why should I feel ashamed of my choices just because you are?"

"I'm not ashamed of you. I'm worried about you."

"Liar. You don't give a shit about me unless it serves your purposes. It's one of the very few things left that you and Maya have in common: conditional and opportunistic love for your mediocre, wayward daughter…"

…His name tag read 'Patrick' but he had earned his nickname by his actions or rather, his lack of actions. He never copped a feel when he helped them on and off the stage. He never drank or smoked on the job. When he bounced someone, he did it promptly and he didn't do it with the expectation of sex nor had he taken up any of the offers from the girls. Olivia certainly couldn't blame them for trying. The Gentleman was tall, long, and made of pure muscle. His voice was a silken baritone and his eyes…his eyes were kind and summer sky blue. He kept things friendly but utterly professional, prompting the ongoing heated debate amongst the girls about his status: Married, Asexual, or Gay.

Olivia quietly went with a fourth option: Cop and/or Fed.

There was a sting going on and she would not blow his cover because something…something wasn't right…

"…Cyrus, I think I've been made by one of the performers."

"Which one?"

"Olivia."

"The naughty schoolgirl? It's possible…"

…as soon as their gazes met, Fitz knew that his instincts were spot on. She knew that he was in law enforcement and she knew that he was in the middle of an Op. As if she were responding to his thoughts, she nodded once before miming zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key. Gripping the pole behind her for support, she pulled herself up and walked towards the backstage curtain, a bit of an extra sway in her gait. Getting to it, she looked at him again lingeringly (longingly?) and then disappeared…

"…PC means Protective Custody, doesn't it?"

The chatter in the room ceased and "Patrick" that she now knew was Special Agent Fitzgerald Grant III (The Gentleman was the son of one of the most notorious pigs in American politics…the irony was biting!) came to the corner she had quietly claimed. Carefully, he knelt down to the floor and she curled tighter within herself as he brushed some hair out of her tear stained face. She was shaking from cold and from nerves, her voice husky and soft from lack of use and from weeping. She hadn't stopped crying since they got to the Hoover Building.

"It does. It's only until Brown and Chambers are off of the street."

"D-Do I have to go away by myself? I don't want to be alone right now…"

"No, I'll be going with you…"

"…FBI, Billy. Drop the weapon."

"Big bad Fed thinks he can tell me what to do, huh?"

"Big bad Fed knows that he can tell you what to do. Drop the weapon or I'll drop you. It's over."

"Is that chocolate bitch still with you? I knew you had a hard on for her. 'The Gentleman', Mandi and the other whores called you. You weren't very gentleman like when you'd watch her performances. A few times Chuck and I thought you would get up on that stage and fuck her for everyone to see but you didn't…until tonight. Seems like little Liv-Liv likes to bite…"

Chambers was so focused on him, he neglected to notice her until it was too late.

"Where did you get a taser from?"

"I bought it with my first modeling check. Are you okay?"

"Never better."

Both of them watched as SUVs pulled in with lights and sirens on and Olivia looked up at him impishly as an unconscious Chambers was hauled downstairs, their mutual state of undress pointedly ignored by the responding agents.

"Hell of a couple of days, huh?"

"You could say that. Go back to bed. I'll be with you in a few minutes."

"Be quick about it. Saving the day actually makes me quite horny…and hungry. Is that weird?"

"No. It's a response to adrenaline rush and come down."

"Good. Go and talk to your boss. I want a PB&J sandwich and then I want your cock."

Taken aback (and more than a little turned on) by her bluntness, Fitz watched as she went back into their room and sighed fondly in her wake, heading down to an impatient looking Cyrus.

His assignment was over but his life with Olivia Pope was just getting started.

He was looking forward to it…

2 Days Later…

"…you dragged me through hell and high water for 6 years to get full time custody of her and then, you didn't bother to look after her properly after you got it! What kind of father are you?! Look at the danger she ended up in! Look at her lifestyle! Look at her livelihood! For Christ's sake, Eli, our baby had to murder one drug dealer and tazer gun another just to make it to sundown! She could've died or been raped or god knows what else! Where the hell were you?!"

"I know what danger and lifestyle she's gotten into, Maya! I did the best I could in raising her and if you had actually taken the Vows we took seriously, then I wouldn't have…"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me! I never cheated on you! You cheated on me with your damned almighty job and had the nerve to be shocked when I got sick of coming in second! I wanted to take Livvie with me but, no…no, the Great Eli Pope had to soothe his precious ego at the expense of the daughter he claims to adore!"

"The Mother of the Century is standing here lecturing me when she hasn't even been in the country for more than 5 minutes to see her in the last 4 years! That's rich!"

"You live in the same city and there haven't been any daddy-daughter lunches, have they? She barely talks to you! She's probably just as sick of your mouth and ways as I ended up being, you smug sanctimonious piece of…"

The intercom was cut off but even through the thick two way glass, the arguing was audible and the rookie agent in the room looked sorely tempted to discharge his weapon. Whether a bullet would go into the combatants or his own head to escape the tempest remained to be seen. With an incredulous shake of his head, 32 year old Special Agent Fitzgerald "Fitz" Grant III looked down at the dispassionately watching woman next to him.

"Do they argue like this often?"

With an exasperated huff, 23 year old Olivia Pope took her sour apple blow pop out of her scarlet painted mouth and met his concerned gaze head on.

"Only all of the time…don't worry. Dominic will come back from the loo and he'll distract Maya with his crumpet fuelled animal magnetism and Eli will sit down at the head of the table to pout. Well, he'll drink from his cup of black coffee and pretend to be unaffected by the lusty loving interracial couple that sickens him with impotent jealousy but he'll be pouting. You can always tell by his eyes…"

"I thought you said that they didn't care about you."

"Oh, they do but not in any normal parenting context. They care about me because I am a pox upon their reputations. I'm a top student. I'm sitting on a 4.0 GPA and have been since I was 12. I'm kicking poli-sci and law ass at Georgetown but instead of doing something respectable like file filing at ACME Paper or slinging Ol' Bess burgers at Gettysburger like a normal college student in crippling debt, I work the pole like a champ and put on silky little naughty things for glossy catalogues to cover my various expenses. I don't hide what I do and people side eye them for my professional choices all the time, especially since I'm one of the top 5 strippers in the area. Why aren't they taking care of me? They're both healthy. Both of them come from money and made quite a bit of it in their heydays. Why isn't their only daughter comfortable enough to take money from them and why are they so distant with me publicly? Don't they love me? Don't they care about me and my safety? The answer is a very firm 'no' to both questions but god forbid that anyone with power and influence knows that awful truth…the boarding school counselors that I was required to go during their various custody melees said that I did rebellious shit in order to get their attention and I guess there's still a ring of truth to it today. If I have a choice, I'd rather have them pissed off at me than for them to look right through me, y'know?"

The door opened and Dominic Bell was escorted into the observation area, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but in the J. Edgar Hoover building but to his credit, there was genuine concern in the blonde man's blue eyes, genuine warmth.

"Hey, Dominic. They're still fighting."

"I know. You can hear their yelling all the way at the elevator. Er, I…if you need to come with your Mum and I back to London for a bit, you can. The door's always open and you've been through hell, Olivia. If you need a break…"

"Thanks for the offer but I'll be okay. I still need to find a permanent place to live and I start my new job on Friday night."

"Are you going to continue with your strip dancing? I mean, if you are, it's okay. There's nothing wrong with it…"

"There's a gym near the Hill that offers aerobic dance classes of all sorts. As many bored housewives and politicians' side chicks roaming around this glorious nation's capital, I'm sure that Pole Dancing for Fun and Health will be a smash hit. You better get in there and calm Maya down. She looks about two seconds away from plunging a stirrer through Eli's eyeball and that would be one hell of a carpet cleaning bill, don't you think? Matter of fact, let's just get this over with. I don't know why you guys let them in, anyways…"

/

Olivia could feel Maya and Eli evaluating her appearance as she came into the interrogation turned waiting room. She had put on a snow white mid sleeved top, dark wash skinny jeans, and a pair of high heeled Timberland lace up boots that went to just below her knees. Her hair was in its trademark Orchid the Schoolgirl style of two messy ponytails, secured by American flag bows and she had gone heavy with her smoky eyes. Her lips were a defiant shade of scarlet red and her lollypop was still in her mouth being gently suckled.

One of her most popular pin-up Tiger Lilly pictures involved her in a white lingerie set covered in multicolored lollypops, surrounded by pink cotton candy clouds.

Maya made the first move and Olivia gamely accepted her hug. Her mother looked good. Her hair was softly waved and was graying gracefully, the streaks in her hair catching the light nicely. She had on a color block gray and sky blue wrap dress, along with a pair of black pumps. A snow white trench coat that had been draped over her chair was now folded over Dominic's forearm and the white diamond jewelry she had on sparkled in the fluorescents.

"My poor baby…I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, Livvie…"

"I'm all right. Fitz made sure that I was well taken care of and there's going to be justice served."

"Still…you killed someone…"

"I didn't want Tom Stanton to kill my friend or myself. It had to be done."

"I guess you're right…are you just going to sit there or are you going to hug our daughter, Eli?"

Her father looked tired. He usually looked tired and there was a lot more than streaks of gray in his short hair. He was in a tailored three piece black suit, a crisp white shirt, and she could see herself in the black leather of his shoes. The only jewelry he had on was a Rolex and his cufflinks. Instead of hugging her, Eli rested a tender hand on her cheek and she looked at him head on, showing no fear as he had drilled into her head over and over again…

"Are you all right?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Good."

As if the three of them had coordinated it, they broke off and went to their claimed places. Maya was next to Dominic (as usual), Eli was sitting at the head of the table, and Olivia was standing in the corner nearest to the two way window. She bit down on the last bit of her sucker and blew a bright pink bubble, letting it pop with a snap.

"Why are you two here?"

"Livvie, you were on the news. Your job was on the news and neither of us had heard from you. Your father and I were worried about you so we came here to get answers from you personally."

"Okay. Well, in short: my boss was part of an Ecstasy manufacturing and distribution point. The FBI put the club under surveillance. I met Fitz who I didn't know for sure was a Fed until a few days ago…"

"Did he tell you?"

"No, but it made the most sense. There was a parade of vans going in and out of the Alley and he wasn't like the other bouncers. He remembered our names. He didn't cop a feel. He stayed sober. He didn't sleep with anyone or even try to…it was Married, Gay, Asexual, or Fed. He didn't have a ring on nor did I ever see him hide one and trust me, the way I caught him looking at me as I did my thing assured me that not only was his libido at full throttle, he's as straight as parallel lines. Anyway, Fitz got made somehow and Tom Stanton was going to shoot him. I had come down to the basement to say goodbye to him at the end of my shift like I usually did. I saw Tom raise the gun and I put my knife through his forehead. Afterwards, Fitz and I went out of town to get away from the heat and when Billy-Boy Chambers found us, we took him down together. He's awaiting trial with Upchuck and Mandi and will likely be locked up for at minimum 10 years. And we all lived happily ever after. The end. Anymore questions?"

"Did you have sex with Special Agent Grant?"

"I did, Eli. I had fully consensual, slightly kinky, wonderful sex with him that I intend to keep having with him as long as he's willing to indulge me."

"Will his superiors have a problem with it?"

"I didn't initiate the sex until we were on the run. He didn't sleep with me to get Intel on the operation. He didn't sleep with anyone in The Coliseum, not for lack of trying on some of the girls' parts. I'm well above the age of consent and he's a grown ass man who's obviously good at his job. As long as I stay on the right side of the law, they shouldn't have a problem with me being around him in his bedroom and out of it…but you do, Eli. Why?"

"He's a Grant man. Their reputations are less than stellar when it comes to their relationships and romps with women. I don't want to see you hurt."

"I see…Maya, do you share his opinion?"

"Well, honestly, yes but…at the end of the day, it's your life, baby. I definitely wish you would consider getting into another line of work but as long as you're safe and happy and you graduate on time, you can do whatever and whoever you want to do. And he seems to be a nice boy…"

"Maya!"

"Eli, she's going to do whatever she damned well pleases anyway! It's the stupid pride she got from you and the goddamned stubbornness she got from me! There's no use in trying to control her because all that's going to do is shut her ears and she'll cut us out completely! Is that what you want? It's bad enough having to constantly explain that our daughter has so little faith in us that she willingly gets on a pole and half naked in front of a camera to pay her bills! Do you really want to explain to your minions and comrades why we're not at her wedding or why we only see our grandchildren through photographs? I don't! For once in your life, just let things be what they'll be! You can't control everything! You can't fix everything!"

"I'm not trying to…"

"Yes, you are! You always are and what good does it do?! One would think that…"

As the second round of arguing began between her parents, Olivia gave Dominic a polite nod before making her retreat. Fitz was waiting in the corridor and the door closed behind her with a soft click.

"Now, do you understand why I'm not exactly sane?"

"I'm beginning to. Your mother seems like she's had an epiphany about her relationship with you."

"She did just turn 50 last September. Looking back and seeing a half century gone can cause anyone to become introspective and self aware. Maybe she's wanted to reconnect with me for a while and what happened at the Club was her opening. If she's still feeling like that after the dust settles completely, then I'll meet her halfway. Life's too short and fragile to hold on to resentment and really, if I'm going to have a viable relationship with a parent, it's likely going to be with Maya. The only thing that's going to pry Eli's head out of his ass is a stick of TNT…or a back alley lobotomy."