NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED & REMEMBER, IT DOESN'T BELONG TO ME!

Chapter 1

CLICK! Fitzgerald hangs up the phone & toss it across the beast seat hitting the doorjam with a SWACK. What the FUCK just happened?! Did she really have the man that had once been his subordinate, that had once been a person he looked to in times of war, that he had once forgiven her for having sex with (thought they were separated & it wasn't his forgiveness to give, but that made it no easier), & that he had bargained with the devil known as Rowan to get released IN HER APARTMENT?! A place they had made some of their most treasured memories reconnecting? A place where he had counted down the clock with her & EARNED her? He was stunned, his chest hurt, he couldn't breath, & worse yet, he wanted BLOOD.

(The beast door opens) "Sir?" He's suddenly snapped out of his angry fog. "Yes Tom." "We've arrived Mr. President." He steps out of his hellhole in walks into Wonderland. He has business there & then as soon as it's concluded, he has the most important phone call of of his life to make & many things to get in order. He will have his blood, heads will roll, bodies will burn, & perhaps most importantly, the love of his life who has betrayed him yet a 2nd time will never forget the coming days.

12 Days Later...

Lauryn walks into the oval with a manilla envelope marked highly classified & notices for a moment that the president is at his desk but nodded off. She smiles to herself quickly & reminds herself that even though he needs his rest because sleep hasn't come much these past 2 weeks that he would be angry with her if she didn't immediately hand deliver what she carried. So she calmly steps to the resolute desk & taps it with her pen & Fitz awakens immediately, removing his feet from his desk & sits upright in his new bronze coloured Herman Miller chair, a recent gift from Tom. "Mr. President", she says. "I'm sorry to wake you sir but I know you have been awaiting these documents & I knew better than to allow them to linger on your desk." His brows lift & he reads Lauryn's expression, one of unbridled happiness & enthusiasm, & he takes the envelope in hand & thanks Lauryn, casting a smile wider than any ocean. "Is there anything else you need sir?" Still smiling, he shakes his head & stands seeing Lauryn out with his eyes.

Quickly opening the envelope & scanning it's contents, joy overcomes in in a way it's only done a few times in recent memory. Times like the last beautiful memory he had with Liv, & the births of his two children. (yes that's right, TWO) This was a jubilation he didn't even feel when he won the presidency because the victory was bittersweet at best with the circumstances surrounding he & Olivia & the terrifying thought that that had to end, in order for his true legacy to begin.

HE. WAS. FREE. He had used every bit of dirt he could dig up on Mellie (oh & there was SO MUCH, some of it even surprising to him) to force her into granting his petition not only for divorce, but for full custody of his two children Gerry & Karen. Teddy, unfortunately, was not his Son & although he loved him as his own, the damage done by Mellie to what was left of their relationship, & the fact that Teddy's Father was a person who looked at him almost everyday & was assigned to protect him with his life, was not something he could just forgive & forget. So he had decided that he would NOT. He had had enough & there was no going back from this pointe.

The abortions mattered not (there were at least 2 that his newly hired Fixer Warren & his team had managed to uncover), the babies had not been his. The affairs including Paul Mosely, whom Mellie had looked him in his eyes & DENIED that she'd had an affair with when in fact there was a sex tape that proved without any doubt that she was lying, caused him NO pain in ANY way. Even uncovering Mellie's collaboration with Verna to attempt to KILL him, (intuition my arse) had barely ruffled any feathers in his cap. He had been done with Mellie long before all that & truthfully was more angry at himself for having endured her festering form of evil this long. And now that that sordid business was concluded, he set about on the one true reason for his blinding happiness. It was time for Olivia to pay for how she had treated him, how she had used him just like everyone else, & how she had put his heart on a stake for all to see & then proceeded to watch it burn.

Thanks to a few words from Fitz, a bug in someone's ear here, a namedrop there, a non-chalant suggestion or 2, & a few carefully worded recommendations, OPA's caseload had significantly increased in the past 2 weeks, surprising even Olivia. She was on her way to her 2nd client meeting on the day & it was just now 1245. "10 minutes Ms. Pope", her driver mouthed announcing their arrival time. She'd spend the last 12 days trying to get in touch with Fitz, but he wouldn't return her calls, & worse when she reached out to Cyrus he informed her that Fitz was extremely busy these days, so much so, that he barely got a word in with him himself. Olivia wasn't even certain what that meant at this pointe. After their last phone call, she'd promptly made Jake leave her apartment & told him that if he darkened her door again, what he found on the other side would NOT be what he expected. He'd rung her phone many times since then & even attempted visits to her office but she'd refused to see him & Huck & the rest of OPA ensured that her wishes were respected.

She had a constant uneasy feeling, so much so that she'd barely eaten these last 2 weeks & had gotten so little sleep, afraid of the nightmares when she closed her eyes, that her eyes burned with a sun-like heat. She's so out of her that her driver has opened her door & literally has to snap her out of the state of frozen wake she is in. "I'm sorry Ms. Pope but we have arrived at Senator Cryson's home" "It's fine Radin", she says clearly NOT fine but pressing on as usual.

Senator Cryson, a moderate junior, much like Fitz ironically enough, awaited her, his door open, his handshake firm as always. This case didn't really need her attention (he's Gay but not openly & has decided to BE open & wanted guidance on how best to proceed with nominal damage), she thought quickly, but he has insisted that it be her that come to talk to him about how they would handle the announcement & the coming days. Quickly & assuredly Olivia advised him on what their usual procedures were, how they would counter any negative press or feedback, & how the would instill their own version of his story & spin it in such a manner that anyone who questioned his integrity because of his sexuality would immediately be a marked individual. She asked him whom might initially have a negative response that people would pay attention to & he rattled off a few names. Then she asked him the question that they ALWAYS lie about.

"Is there ANYTHING that we need to know that could jeopardise our plans Senator Cryson & DO NOT LIE." Deep breaths escape from his chest as he is hesitant to answer. He's deep in thought for another moment or 2 & then a strong & stern NO escapes his lips. "NO Ms. Pope, there truly isn't anything that I believe could do such a thing. I am no saint, but I truly believe I have lived my life in the best manner possible & have earned my position here & have always had the best of intentions. So NO, there won't be any sudden issues that arise." Just off to his right his blackberry rings & he looks at the caller ID & while casting his hand in Olivia's direction says "I'm sorry Ms. Pope but I need to take this in my private study upstairs. I won't be a few moments but I do have a few more questions for you so please stay a moment." Promptly he disappears up the stairs & she hears his study door close ever so lightly with a *click*.

"Ms. Pope," his housekeeper peers from out of the kitchen in such a swift manner that she startles Olivia. "Is there anything I can get you while you're waiting? Coffee, Tea, a glass of bourdeaux perhaps?" "No thank you", Olivia responds at 1st & then quickly utters, "actually a glass of bordeaux would be nice thank you." Seconds later, glass in hand, Olivia is touring the downstairs level of Senator Cryson's home. He has gorgeous artwork & there are many photographs of family, including several of he & his husband Bryant. She smiles as she views the photos casually sauntering from space to space & display to display. Just when the display starts to get a little redundant & routine, a photo captures her attention in such a way a few others could ever do. It's Senator Cryson & Fitz, seemingly at a fundraiser function shaking hands, all political smiles. Nothing strange about the photo in anyway except, she swears she hears Fitz's deep baritone voice speaking to her from it. It's the wine, she tells herself. I'm just exhausted & haven't eaten much so it's going to my head a little quicker than normal...She snorts silently to herself & suddenly the floor gives way & she feels herself falling but she never hits the ground.

"Hello Olivia" she hears a voice she's longed to her for days except there's a hint of venom attached to it that she's only felt 3 other times. She closes her eyes trying to block out those memories & the daggers that accompanied them & tunes out all around her. She doesn't realise she's being carried elsewhere, she doesn't hear the shuffling, the tapping of feet on the floor, the opening & subsequent closing of a heavy door, & the calculated breaths of the one whose arms she currently lay in. Then...THE DARKNESS is not implied, it is PURE & no longer something she can control...