She was ready to pull her hair out. All day she'd sat in meetings with leader who stood on their position like a podium and spouted the same phrases again and again, totally unmovable. It raked her back with tension and aggravation and she sat rubbing her forehead and going over tomorrow's schedule of events. Somedays she felt like a wheel, spinning and rolling along without stability or direction, she simply kept moving. There was a knock and she looked up to see him hesitating by the door frame as if unsure of his place, she perhaps felt some responsibility for that because they'd never truly clarified anything but that was always because they didn't need labels or titles, they had passions and feelings and that always seemed far more urgent. She waved him to sit down at the chair closet to her desk and he did so, clearing his throat and rubbing his hands together in his lap. She could almost glare at him but day she'd had, she didn't have time or patience for nerves or complications. She simply wanted him.

"Hi." she said finally, putting down the files and facing him square on to find him unsettled, his hair not it's usual styled perfection but instead a fluster of waves and grooves she so longed to smooth down and a tie she longed to fix. It struck her sometimes how strange it was that she felt these impulses, it had never been that way with any other man she'd known but with him she felt as if she wanted to rip his clothes from his body and then dress him perfectly again in the same instant.

"Hi." He leaned forward and smiled, it had been a few days since their last meeting where she'd inadvertently lost an earring during their entanglement and had almost been tempted to invite him to stay, but they both knew it wasn't possible, even with the way things were.

"How is everything?"

"Good, we're doing mass amounts of damage control and I've already drafted a statement for both you and him to address the nation publicly. He's talking about resigning but I didn't know if that's what you would want so-"

"It doesn't really matter, his political career is obliterated far beyond repair and there is no way he'll be on the ticket come my second term. Throw him out with the trash as far as I'm concerned."

Her words threw him and cut like glass under his foot, he recoiled quickly.

"You don't think that's a little cruel?"

"Fitz," She sighed and rolled her eyes, "The past few days all I've been trying to do is get some damn coverage over the current gun control bills approaching Congress and what is flooding BNC instead? Photos of Daniel Douglas getting to first base. I've never liked the man, you know that! You also know I could care little about what he does in his private life as long as he keeps his personal shit out of the way so I can run the damn country."

He stood up and began pacing, "So we can throw him to the wolves for all you care? Jesus Liv, what was even the point of me bringing me here?" He stopped to face her and she shrugged. If she was honest with herself she didn't have enough of the right reasons, but he was the best at his job and everyone knew it. He would fix it and they could continue with their principality intact, that had seemed logical enough to justify her emotions.

"I hired you to clear the airwaves so we can start some important conversations in this country-"

"Really? Because it seems to me like you hired your personal booty call to be within you grasp 24/7."

She sat back, stunned. He was breathing heavily, his nostrils flaring. She steeled herself and spoke, her tone dripping with warnings and the slight feeling that at any moment, he would see her not as the lover and friend he knew but as the political animal he'd helped build.

"I understand your tired, Fitzgerald. We will continue this conversation at another time. Goodnight."

He shook his head as he threw the report on her desk and fled, shaking slightly and a waves of fury kept just beneath the surface. When he got home he stood in the shower, praying that the pressure of the water would wash away the mess that seemed to swallow and cloud his life.

XxXxXx

The following morning he arrived later than he should have to find the war room buzzing. The word had gotten out and Daniel Douglas stood at the podium on the screens before them, about to address the country live. Fitz dashed to the press room and grabbed tugged at Cyrus's arm, he'd become close with the man after being under his authority during the campaign although now their paths rarely crossed as he'd been loaded up with his new job as Chief of Staff.

"What the hell is going on? I told him not to do anything rash."

"Clearly that one went straight over his head." He scoffed.

Fitz ran his hand through his hair and began swivelling his head, looking for some way to stop this.

"What does the think he's doing? He's being an idiot!"

He shrugged casually "We couldn't have this going on, it was getting too out of control."

Fitz stood and stared at him in shock, "What?"

Cyrus's face contorted to one of confusion, realising that perhaps Fitz wasn't as switched on as he was back in his days on the front line of politics where he could seemingly catch bullets with his bare fingers and fire them back as grenades. The man that stood next to him now seemed weathered and worn.

"Wake up and smell the coffee Fitz, you think this is a friendly team game where everyone supports and loves one another? Get your mind out of the preschool paradise you seem to be in and back to the political gutter, where one mistake gets you chewed up and spat out. And before you go being all moral and mighty with me, you remember, she worked her ass off to get here and she's put her whole life behind this job. This job is her now, she is the President and you and I helped mould that, or have you forgotten? We made her a God and sometimes a God has to flood the earth so the plants can grow. There has to be a sacrifice Fitz, and you're kidding yourself if you didn't see this coming."

He stepped back, it seemed as if he'd just walked through glass and now he stood on the other side, batter, bruised and broken from the shattering of his fantasies. He knew Cyrus was right, his head wasn't in the game, it as with his heart and clouded with thoughts and feelings of her. It was only now he realised how foolish that was. To love a woman who wasn't wholly that. She was an idea, a collage, a dream, a machine and a politician. She would rip out the jugular if she had to because that's what she'd been trained to do. It's what she'd seen her husband do time after time and it's what he saw almost every day on the news. Behind her smiles and her girlish laugh, the way she looked when her eyes lit up at the sight of him ad her cheeks flushed, she was still cold. Because she had to be, she was a role. She had her head in the game, and he suddenly felt woefully distant as he realised this and his world began to some crashing down as the words came tumbling from Daniel Douglas's mouth.

XxXxXx

"I need to see her." The short woman who sat behind her desk shook her head again.

"I'm sorry , she gave explicit instructions not to be disturbed."

"By anyone or by me specifically?"

She blushed in embarrassment and he nodded and boiled in fury before turning towards the door and reaching for the doorknob. Once he'd opened it he saw Olivia sitting on the soft yellow couches talking to a man with dark brown hair, as soon as she saw him she stood. He was almost immediately grabbed by a man in a dark suit and restrained, being slowly dragged away but she held up her hand.

"Wait."

They released him and she continued, "If you gentlemen could please give a moment." She turned back to the man who now stood behind her looking gravely concerned. "I'm sorry Jake, this will only take a moment." He smiled politely and eyed Fitz as he left.

He straightened himself and narrowed his eyes, "So you're replacing me."

She folded her arms across her chest, "I don't see why you would care, you've made no attempt to listen to my opinions, you've made little progress with the situation and you clearly only think I brought you here to be my sex toy. I assumed your resignation would be on my desk by the end of the day."

"How dare you." He fumed, "You undermined me at every turn and made it very clear you didn't trust me to handle the situation. Whenever I've come to you with a report you've discarded it and had me up against the window within minutes. Is it really so unreasonable to think the only reason I'm here is because of our personal relationship?" He was asking because it honestly plagued him, in the looks people gave him and the rumours whispered. Nobody knew how deep they went but everyone suspected he wasn't there on merit alone and the thought hung over his head like a bad smell.

"Yes! Of course I love you but it's more than that, I know you've been off your game lately but you are the best Fitz and nobody denies that. I don't know what's wrong with you but I know now that I'm only making things worse. That's why I stepped in with Daniel Douglas, I thought it would be easier than-"

"YOU DON'T FIX ME LIV! I'm not some wounded dog you pick up and put back together on the side of the road! You went over my head, you didn't even give me a chance to.." He ran a hand through his hand as he trailed off. "I had a plan, I've been up all night figuring this out. I was going to fix it and then that man could walk away with at least a shred of his dignity in tact but now… Now I'm useless and you no longer need me." As he spoke the words he felt their finality and their truth. He would be out of her life now and they would go their separate ways.

"Fitz, I-"

"Thank you for your honesty Madam President, I'll have all traces of my existence out of here by the end of the day. Good luck with the rest of your term, although from what I've seen you won't need it." He smiled sadly and swallowed, "You've become the political animal we always knew you would be. You won't let anyone stand in your path now." He didn't say it as an accusation but as a reality they both would accept.

She extended her hand as she swallowed the dry lump forming in her throat. He took it and the brought her closer and before they knew it their lips connected in what they both knew was a lover's goodbye. She caressed his face as a tear fell down his cheek and they pulled away, adjusting themselves.

"Thank you for your service to your country."

"My pleasure as always, Madam President." He bowed his head slightly and left the office, hushed hanging low and his heart sinking somewhere unknowable.

XxXxXx

A/N: Oh my heart hurts after that. I'm sorry. I realised halfway through writing this that I've had this really sad expression on my face throughout my typing. Hope it wasn't too much on you guys and you're all still here? Please let me know if you're hurting and we can all support each other through the angst that is Olitz. I promise this wan't be an on again off again thing because I'm not cruel (well, I'm a little bit cruel but I'm not THAT cruel) but this will be a story about people finding their way back to each other now they've changed, just like Olitz had to do after Fitz became President. It's going to be tough at times but I promise Olitz is endgame. You've also probably recognised by now that these aren't your typical Olivia and Fitz traits, that's because they're in different situations and thus they behave in different ways. Olivia is under a huge amount of pressure and she's behaving how she thinks a politician should, typical (in Canon) Liv is leaving out her heart in this equation but sadly that also means her compassion is fading fast, thus her fixing skills step on everybody's toes. Fitz was and is a huge part of what makes her 'human' so without him she's wholly a politician. Fitz on the other hand is so mesmerised by his feelings that he has little idea how to function and do anything else (how Liv felt when she initially worked for Fitz in the White House) and it's hard for him to feel not at all himself and to have little to no power. Hopefully this helps you guys get a grip on where I'm going with these two. Please let me know your thoughts!? The support (being follows, favourites, reviews) I've received for this story (particularly over the last few days) has been super amazingly awesome and thank you all so much for your comments and opinions, they all matter heaps and are a huge help in my writing so if you want another chapter soon be to sure say hello as it gives me a very large push in the right direction :) Side note: HOW HOT IS THAT PROMO!? I've watched it like 50 times and I'm so certain I'll be watching it at least 50 more times before September 24th! Much love xx Sam