Olivia sat upright immediately and pushed fallen curls away from her face. She started to shake her head disbelievingly.

"No, I took care of that. We are taking care of that."

"Secret Service, in looking at suspects and motives for the shooting came up with a lot of stuff, Olivia. After your friend was cleared, they looked at a whole host of people. And then they came across…across some uh, website." Cyrus reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, "Some blog thing named Capitol Jill. Mellie, Hollis, Verna, and everyone – we got wind of it, and they've written stuff we don't like. Not one bit Liv."

Olivia grabbed the paper and her eyes skimmed it frantically. Words like "rig" and "voting count" jumped out at her. Instinctively, her mind ran through ways to shut this down before it got any bigger than it was. But then she remembered, and looked up at Cyrus who was waiting expectantly for her quick Olivia Pope solution; waiting for her to put on her white Armani jacket and announce that she was coming back to The White House with a Plan A and a Plan B already in order.

"I can't come back there Cy," she said in almost a whisper.

Cyrus rolled his eyes impatiently, "Come on Liv, you're not going let Mellie sit and bark orders at you and tell you that you can't do this and you can't do that are you? No. You know she can't tell you to come and go. Fitz is still around right? So I'm still Chief of Staff here; I hire you."

"Cyrus, she knows. She's not some figurehead First Lady, and we both know that. She knows how to play this game and has power I don't."

"Olivia, you're smarter than that. She knows what's at stake here. You think Mellie's going to let a little ego and jealousy stand in the way of keeping her in The White House? You've been spending too much time at Pope & Associates. You need to come back and help us, she knows it, I know it, we all know it Liv!" Cyrus threw his hands up in the air dramatically.

"Cyrus. I don't have to come back. I can help from here. When I'm not working at Pope and – "

"No." Cyrus stood up suddenly and walked towards the door as quickly as he had entered. He opened the door to step out before turning to look at Olivia, "You're not going to sit by and work on this 'from home' Liv, as though you don't really care. I don't buy that load of horseshit, and I know you're not trying to sell it. This is President Fitzgerald Grant III's presidency. I'm sending Tom and Hal to pick you up tomorrow at 9am sharp, so be ready to start acting like Olivia Pope."

Cyrus turned back and left, slamming the door shut behind him.

x X x

Olivia awoke the next morning at 6am. She double-checked the day's weather on her phone and noticed two missed calls from Edison – "9:07pm", and "10:20pm". I'll call him later, she thought to herself. She could hardly sleep after Cyrus's surprise visit the night before; and as she showered and dressed, her insides were rolling with excitement and anticipation, but also dread and worry. Her heart was beating fast and heavy against her chest, causing her to feel hot and then cold. She didn't know where this sudden fear came from, but it was there and it was getting stronger and stronger with every passing minute. Was she afraid of seeing Fitz for the first time in three months? What would he think of her when he saw her? Was he still upset about their last conversation two weeks ago? Did he not feel the same way anymore? Or was she afraid of Mellie? Was Mellie still holding their relationship over her head? Ha! Olivia almost laughed in spite of herself as she poured a cup of coffee. Mellie was nothing to be afraid of. She was undoubtedly smart, and she knew the tricks of the trade like the magician himself, but Olivia had practically written the magician's handbook of scandals and solutions. As she sipped her coffee and picked at a piece of toast she was too nervous to eat, Olivia recalled the last conversation she had had with the president, and felt sick to her stomach…

x X x

"Hello?" Olivia answered her house phone and muted her television.

"Liv."

She knew the voice, she knew who was calling minutes, maybe even hours before the phone rang, and yet, it still caught her slightly off guard. She looked at her nightstand alarm clock – 11:39pm.

Olivia took a deep breath, "Mr. President," she replied in a serious tone. She had to set the precedent, now or never.

Fitz laughed a laugh that made her want to reach through the phone and hug him. "Am I in trouble?" He asked, still laughing.

"No, should you be?"

"You tell me."

"Mr. President, it's twenty to midnight…."

"What? Why are you so serious? Is it the phone call from two nights ago? I'm sorry I hung up, but Mellie was coming in the room. But now as of yesterday afternoon, I'm here back in the Oval, with a secure line all to myself. We should celebrate. I should come over."

Olivia shut her eyes tight, hating the way this was. The truth was that the president couldn't come over; he couldn't just come over and spend the night. And they were kidding themselves thinking it could go on this way. With every phone call that made Olivia grin for days, she knew that they were just one day closer to the moment when all of this eventually had to stop.

"If I didn't know you were kidding, I might question your sanity," she said, trying to buy time before she broke this amazing man's heart.

"Who says I was kidding? I'm the most powerful man on the planet, Livvy. Didn't you know that? Tom and Hal can only oblige if I request to visit you."

"Fitz," Olivia said sternly, sitting up in bed.

"Sweet baby?"

Tears fell down Olivia's cheeks, and muddled her voice before she could even collect herself.

"Fitz," she gurgled, gripping her pillow tight for reassurance, strength, something, anything.

"Livvy?" Fitz asked, his voice no longer playful and relaxed but concerned and panicked. "What's happened? What's wrong?"

Olivia said nothing for a moment. She couldn't speak, and she could hardly see through the heavy tears that were rolling down her face, onto her lips and onto her pillow.

"Liv? Olivia?" Fitz said, louder this time.

Olivia quickly brushed her tears from her face and drew in a breath, "This can't happen Fitz, it can't happen. You are back in the Oval Office; you are back as the leader of the free world. You have a country to run, you have kids and a baby soon to be born. You have a wife. You have a duty to people who are not me and I can't stand by and do this anymore."

"Liv, what are you saying? You know this, we know this already. What's different now?"

"Nothing is different. It has always been this way, but it can't continue. This isn't the right thing to do."

"Olivia," Fitz's voice was low now, with an anger Olivia knew would come. "What you're saying isn't making any sense. I love you. I am in love with you. You are the most important person to me and you know that. I was in a Level I coma on the Rancho Scale for three weeks Olivia, and when I wake to learn that I've been shot, the one person standing there isn't you. Did you know what that was like? Do you remember me telling you what that was like?"

"Fitz…", Olivia tried to interject but she could hardly speak and Fitz was now too loud to hear her.

"Every day I spent in that hospital waiting to see your face, waiting to see you show up and sit by me and then every day passed and still, I couldn't so much as talk to ask why my the amazing and the beautiful love of my life hasn't shown up to see me. And when Tom spoke to me and told me what Mellie had done, I was too crushed to be mad. And now, three months later, phone call after phone call you're telling me you can't do this anymore? No. I spent every day in that hospital, knowing that I could get better for you! That I could get better enough to see you, to hold you, to be with you! I would drop everything for you. I would leave everything in this crap white building for you. You are the most remarkable, most intelligent, most beautiful and breathtaking woman on this planet, and I hope you didn't forget that. I hope you didn't forget how in love with you I am, Olivia Pope. And even if you did, you know I would leave in seconds to come there and remind you."

Bizarrely, Olivia wanted to laugh at the image of Fitz striding across the South Lawn in pajamas, but the reality of the conversation hit her once more. This was it. It wasn't the fake "it" this time. It was real, and it was up to her to make it happen.

"Fitz, Fitz. Listen to me."

"Sweet baby, don't."

"Listen to me!" Olivia shouted, grabbing at the neck of her nightgown in sheer frustration and sadness. "This is over. It is done, it is over. Don't think I forgot anything Mr. President, don't ever think that. But you and I know that this is the right decision. You survived, you made it. I can't let you risk this second chance for me. And I won't let you risk it. I –,"

"Is there someone else?" Fitz interrupted, no longer shouting. He was quiet and his breathing was slow and patient.

Fresh tears sprang to Olivia's eyes but she blinked them back.

"I love you too," she continued.

"Olivia…"

"Goodbye Mr. President."

Olivia placed the phone down on its receiver as slowly as she could, half-wishing she would hear Fitz call out her name. Then she turned off the lights and pressed her face into her pillow, now cold and damp, soon to dry up by morning.

x X x

For the second time in less than 24 hours, a knock at Olivia's door brought her back to the present. And in the doorway this time, at exactly 8:55am, stood Tom and Hal. She smiled at them, genuinely pleased to see these two men.

"Tom, Hal."

"Ms. Pope."

"Well, let's go then."