Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal
Chapter One: All the Right Moves
Do you think I'm special do you think I'm nice
Am I bright enough to shine in your spaces
Between the noise you hear and the sounds you like
Are we just sinking in the ocean of faces
It can't be possible the rain can fall only when it's over our heads
The sun is shining everyday but it's far away
Over the world that's dead
They've got, they've got all the right friends in all the right places
So yeah we're going down
They've got all the right moves in all the right places
So yeah we're going down
- "All the Right Moves" OneRepublic
"Hollis," Olivia Pope, a former District Attorney and current campaign fixer to the flailing Republican Grant Campaign, tipped back her chair in her office of the Grant Campaign DC headquarters, "what are we doing here this late? I could be at home. Asleep. In my bed. And happy about it too."
Hollis Doyle, an Texas born and bred oil man and donor for the campaign, chuckled and poured another glass of scotch, "Have you seen the latest poll numbers Ms. Pope?"
Olivia frowned as he spoke to her like a child. "No of course not, I'm only helping run this campaign." She crossed her arms petulantly and glanced down at her watch, "Did you really call us here to discuss the polling numbers we are all already aware of?" She asked incredulously.
"And if this is honestly why we're here," Mellie Grant, the hopeful First Lady, pulled a chair up, "couldn't we have done it during normal hours? Fitz will throw a fit if he wakes up and I'm not there." Olivia stiffened at her words and took another sip of the hot tea in her to go cup she'd made on her way out the door when she received the 1AM phone call from Hollis.
"You do know that old people need their sleep Hollis?" Judge Verna Thornton mumbled as she approached the growing circle in the only lit area of the office.
"And some of us were comfortably wrapped up in a younger man's arms." Cyrus Beene, the campaign manager, banged a chair in their circle, "What the hell is going on?" He asked.
Hollis tipped his chair back, "Everyone is so touchy at 1:45 in the morning."
"It's because normal people are asleep." Mellie muttered.
Hollis rolled his eyes and passed out a sheet of paper to each individual, "Hollis I gave you these polling numbers." Cyrus yelled as he glanced down at the sheet in front of him. "I gave them to you at 9AM yesterday morning when they came in."
Hollis grunted and sat back down, "We are the backbone of this campaign. Fitz doesn't have the heart to do the dirty underworld work of politics. He's our golden boy and we love him for it. We all want him to be President,"
"Which is why we work our asses off to keep him happy." Mellie glanced around the circle, her eyes landing on Olivia just slightly longer than everyone else, "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well sweetheart, I have a way to ensure he wins."
"Bringing in Big Jerry failed. Whatever you come up with next is a no-go." Cyrus responded, "Big Jerry wound up tanking our numbers more than anything."
"Until he died." Hollis pointed out.
"We would've had the sympathy vote whether he showed his face here or not." Verna spouted off, "Just get on with this idea." At Hollis's look she added an emphatic, "Please."
Hollis leaned forward, "Well I have a guy out in California, a real computer nerd, who can fix problems."
Olivia's face fell into a frown, "Explain what you mean by 'fix problems'."
"Elections Ms. Pope. He can fix the election."
"Absolutely not. That is not the answer to winning a campaign." Olivia stood, knocking her chair over in the process.
"What if the campaign is destined to lose?" Hollis asked.
"You three best not be considering this." Olivia's voice dropped an octave as she spoke.
Mellie shook her head, "This is nuts, how would it even work?"
"It doesn't matter how it would work, it's illegal." Verna responded, standing next to Olivia, "And I can't think clearly at 2AM anyhow, I'm going home."
Cyrus remained in his seat, quiet. Olivia glanced down at him, "He'd never forgive you if you chose this route. He'd never trust you. He'd never respect you. Hell, he may even fire you." She warned.
Cyrus glanced up at her, "Wasn't even considering it." He spared a brief look at Hollis. "See you in the morning." Looking at the clock on the wall he grimaced, "Or rather later this morning."
Olivia watched him go and realized in that moment Mellie, Verna and Cyrus were actually considering this. Turning to Hollis she mustered up her best glare and stated quietly, "Shut it down now."
SCANDAL
Governor Fitzgerald Thomas Grant, III watched from the back of the room as Olivia silently moved from group to group. She was typically a force to be reckoned with, someone with a consistent stream of energy. Today she was quiet, withdrawn, not offering her "opinion", which was typically just masked orders.
And she hadn't eaten a bite all day.
Pushing himself off of the chair he'd been occupying, Fitz moved to the center of the room, grabbed her arm and pulled her into the break room.
"Governor," She protested, "what?"
Boxing her in the corner of the room he leaned one arm against the wall over her head, letting his six foot two frame hover over her five foot four self, "What's going on?" He asked quietly.
Olivia squirmed in the corner. Her eyes closing as she once again regretted the affair she'd started with him three months into the campaign. An affair she needed to stop, but hadn't. An affair that seemed to be the only thing keeping them both going, "Nothing is going on."
"You haven't bossed anyone around all day."
"I don't boss people around." Olivia objected quietly.
"Yes you do, it's why I love,"
She covered his mouth with her hand, "We are at campaign headquarters. Your wife is in the other room. You can't say things like that to me. Please Fitz, this is all hard enough as it is."
"Can I please have my mouth back now." He murmured against her hand. Reluctantly she dropped her arm back to her side, "Is that what has you so quiet?"
She looked away from him and slipped past him, "I have to get back to work."
SCANDAL
Two Weeks Later
"I think it's time to revisit my little suggestion." Hollis murmured as he shut the conference room door.
"No." Olivia didn't even spare him a glance as she replied. "It's against the law Hollis."
"A lot of things are against the law Olivia."
"It's against the highest law in all the land. It's not happening. I told you to shut it down." She flipped the page she'd been reading over and continued to twirl the highlighter between her figures. "Shut it down now."
Hollis slid the chair next to her out, "I think we should take it to a vote."
"I think not. And if anyone gets a vote shouldn't it be the Governor?" Olivia continued to stare at the pages in front of her.
"Oh hell Olivia, we both know Fitz ain't got the guts to follow through on it. This is the underbelly of politics. This is our jurisdiction. Now Mellie, Cyrus and Verna are in. Cyrus, however, made me promise it's an all or nothing thing. So you have to be in. Think about it."
"I have thought about it as much as I'd like to and I say no. If Fitz wouldn't do it, then we shouldn't. This is his campaign. Not yours, not mine, not Mellie's, not Verna's and not Cyrus's." She reminded him.
"Now listen here sweetie, we've all sunk a hell of a lot of time and money into this campaign. And if I understand correctly, you've sunk more than just that into it. Or should I say he's sunk a little bit into you." Olivia's face immediately scrunched up at the sexual innuendo before smoothing back out, "You need to reconsider my offer. And you need to do it now. There's a clock here honey, if this chip is going to be installed in the voting machine in Defiance, Ohio, where no one would ever even know it happened, it's got to happen soon."
Olivia stood up and back her chair to the wall, collecting her pens, highlighter and papers she stared at Hollis dead in the eye, "It's not happening." She pushed past him and slammed the door with a bang.
SCANDAL
Olivia watched silently as Fitz stood behind one podium and Governor Reston of Maryland, the Democratic candidate, stood behind the other one. Reston was moping the floor with Fitz. There was no way for Fitz to win this election after the debate. He was still too new to politics. He lacked the age and experience and money Reston had. He was playing on Fitz's relative youth, on his temper, on his father's death.
Spinning around, Olivia quietly opened the door and moved out of the lecture hall and into the hallway. She heard someone follow her as she slid to the floor and she wasn't surprised to find Cyrus standing over her a moment later.
"Liv?" The look in Cyrus's eyes said it all, he wanted her to reconsider Defiance. He was going to play on the tragic debate going on in the hall. The debate Fitz was losing.
"Don't say it Cy, it's the people's decision who wins the election. It's not ours. It's never been ours. The most we can do is put our best foot forward, to help Fitz put his best foot forward. We've done the best we could with Fitz and Mellie. The people know their marriage is dead. The people know they're not in love. It's enough to cost them. It's a wonder we managed to beat Sally at all."
"The way this world works, the people is you and me. And Hollis and Mellie and Verna." Cyrus slid down next to her.
"And what about the voters? And the campaign workers? They get just as much of a say as we do. They get a vote. I believe in this system Cyrus. If I didn't I'd move to another country. Fitz believes in this system. We can't commit treason for him. He'd hate it." She whispered the last part, afraid of someone overhearing their conversation.
"Let's not play innocent here. Fitz is clean. Fitz walks on water. Fitz makes the fishes and the loaves and people like Hollis, me and you," Olivia rolled her eyes as he spoke, "don't roll your eyes at me. You are one of us Olivia. We March behind him. We sign his happy tune. And then we pick up our hatchets and we chop the Judases into little bloody pieces and dance around the corpses because that's our job. That is what we do. We take care of Fitz. And we don't do it because we are believers, which we are. We don't do it for the rush or the high or the power, which we are most certainly junkies for. We do it because Fitz can't. He can't do it. If he could do it, we wouldn't worship at his altar. People like Fitz, they go down in history. People like us, we create history. We run this world so he can lead it." Cyrus looked over at her and stood up, "It's all or nothing here Liv. We win or we lose based on your vote." He paused, "I just have one question for you. Do you think he can win? Can you honestly tell me he can win this election? If he can, if you can tell me that confidently and without hesitation then I'll tell them I say no too and this won't happen."
Olivia looked at him and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Cyrus sighed and pointed to her phone, indicating she should call Hollis and give her answer. A positive answer. As she watched him walk away she wondered briefly if Cyrus was right, if perhaps this was the only way. Because win honestly or win through treason, Fitz would make one hell of a president.
SCANDAL
XOXO
MAS