Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal
Chapter Four: Figured You Out
And now I know who you are
It wasn't that hard just to figure you out
Now I did you wonder why
And now I know who you are
It wasn't that hard just to figure you out
Now I did you wonder why
Why not before you never tried
Gone for good and this is it
- "Figured You Out" Nickelback
"I'm sorry, but you're what?" Olivia held the phone away from her ear as Fitz's voice echoed rather loudly through the speaker.
"Fitzgerald, breathe for me, okay?" She paused and waited to hear his breathing regulate on his end of the line before continuing, "Look, you know I haven't seen Edison in years. There's nothing there. I have you and Jer and little Grant on the way. We're fine. This is about an eighteen year old child who's been kidnapped." Olivia emphasized the victim in the case that was inevitably going to force her to spend a considerable amount of time with Edison.
"I'm not trying to down play what you do or how important this is, Livie, it's just, damn it, he's you're ex-fiancee. Not just your ex-boyfriend. And you said so yourself, you would've married him in a heartbeat, you actually got excited about the idea of spending your life with him and then your father basically blew him up." Fitz ranted.
"And that was like nearly ten years ago Fitz." She paused, "You need to calm down. Anything that was there won't be there anymore. And what I have with you is way better than anything I ever had with Edison. I just need you to trust me, okay?" She paused again, but he didn't respond. Sighing she continued, "The jealousy thing is hot and all, but it's kind of exhausting sometimes. Can we cool the green dragon down for a little bit, for me?" Olivia could feel tears brimming from the pregnancy hormones as she pleaded with Fitz to trust her.
"If he makes a move on you I'll shoot him. And if I'm too far away I'll authorize Huck, Quinn or Abby to do it for me."
"Understood. Look, Fitz, he's going to be back here with the Nystroms soon and Stephen is taking point on this case, so I have to go get my marching orders."
Fitz chuckled from the other end of the phone, "Tell Stephen I said good luck trying to be Olivia Grant, she's one in a million."
Olivia rolled her eyes, "I don't want to shake his confidence. I love you sweet baby."
"Love you too."
When Olivia hung up the phone she breathed a sigh of relief. That was way worse than she'd imagined it would be. Sometimes she forgot just how jealous and possessive Fitz could be. Not that she minded. It was usually such a turn on, but it kind of sucked when it involved her work. Letting the phone drop to her desk she placed her hands on her temples and applied pressure.
"If this is too hard, being involved with your ex, you can sit this one out, Liv." Stephen was leaning in her doorway. "The conflict of interest may be too big for you and Fitz. You two are what's important. And we don't want to put any stress on the baby."
Olivia rolled her eyes, "Don't you worry about me and the baby. Little Grant and I are just fine. It's the Big Grant we have to worry about." She shook his head, "Sometimes I forget just how possessive he gets."
Stephen shrugged, "I understand. You'd be a lot to lose. Especially to a prick like Davis."
Olivia rolled her eyes, "He's not a bad man, Stephen."
"Yeah well anyone your husband doesn't like,"
"Should be regarded carefully, but that does not mean he's the one with the best judgment." Olivia interrupted. "This discussion is over, Stephen. We're taking the case. If you feel that you can't be objective please let me know and I will hand the lead over to Harrison or Abby." She stalked out of her office without another word.
SCANDAL
"Man, you've got to let it go. You're not going to lose her to some senator she broke up with a decade ago." David tossed the football back to Fitz, "You know for someone as good looking as you apparently are, you're really insecure."
Fitz frowned and put all his strength behind the football as he threw it at David, who caught it with an 'oompf', "You deserve that and way more for that comment." He muttered, "Liv loved him, it was complicated why she left."
"But it was easy for her to stay with you. She loves you. You two are solid. Don't worry about some jackass senator who didn't make it easy enough to stay with her." David pointed out.
"Grant, Rosen, stop goofing off," the two stilled the football and glanced at their boss who was standing in the doorway to David's office, "you've got a case." He waved a stack of files in the air, "Conference room briefing now."
When David and Fitz left the conference room thirty minutes later they were silent until they were seated in Fitz's office, "The Nystroms are associated with Davis." Fitz pointed out, "What do you want to bet OGA is on this?"
"My last dime." David tossed his glasses on the coffee table, "They probably have the police records to. Why did we get this case before we know there's even a murder?"
"Davis pulled strings I'll bet." Fitz flipped through one of the files, "He wants everyone on this he can get. Liv's his best option though."
"She's not taking point." David reminded him, "Stephen is."
Fitz let out a laugh, "That should be a good show."
"I guess we'll have to warn them that we're involved. Hey at least when you become President you two won't consistently have a conflict of interest." David slapped his back and stood up, "Let's go over these files at lunch. I could use a burger." He picked up the stack and waited for Fitz to follow."
SCANDAL
Stephen and Olivia sat across from Peter and Janet Nystrom, "She's a good girl." Janet cried, "She always called on Sundays. Why haven't we heard from her in two weeks? Why is this happening?"
"Mrs. Nystrom," Olivia paused and looked at Stephen before continuing, "is there anyone else helping in your search for your daughter?"
"Edison got the DA's office involved." Peter answered, "Later today we have an interview with a Fitzgerald Grant and David Rosen. Isn't he running for President?" Peter mused.
Olivia cleared her throat, "Yes he is, but his full attention will be on this case."
"You can't possibly know that." Janet snapped.
"Actually she can." Stephen replied.
At their confused look Olivia elaborated, "Fitzgerald Grant is my husband and David Rosen is Abby's husband." She pointed to the redhead who just walked in waving files around.
"Edison assures us that you're the best. Is your husband the best too?" Janet asked.
"I promise," Olivia reached forward and clasped her hand, "We will do everything we can to bring your daughter home to you."
When they'd left the Nystroms in Stephen's office, Stephen asked, "Can you promise that?"
"Bringing her home doesn't mean she's alive. It could mean her body." Olivia murmured before pushing through to the conference room.
Stephen followed quietly. He realized he was waiting for Olivia to ask for an update on everyone, but she wasn't going to. Clearing his throat he asked, "Where are we?"
"I've got their financials." Huck placed a stack of papers in the middle of the table, "They're solid. They can afford whatever ransom is set."
"And it doesn't look like there is anyone in their lives who may want to hurt their daughter." Quinn spoke up.
"I have what the cops have done. It's not much. They've been working hard on all of this, but they just haven't gotten anywhere." She slid the files into the middle of the table.
"I'm getting ready to go out to talk to some of her friends." Harrison was just shrugging into his coat.
"Good, we'll meet back here for lunch. Also, Quinn, Huck, put out a search for all missing persons who match her description in the area. She may be at a hospital with no ID or in someone's morgue unfortunately."
"Olivia?" The room turned at Edison's voice, "Can I have a word quickly?"
Olivia nodded and motioned for Stephen to proceed. When she was in the hallway she asked, "What?"
"This is your practice, why is he running the show?" Edison pointed to Stephen.
"I'm going on maternity leave and I want to make sure my team can handle themselves."
"Can't you do that after this case. This is important."
"All of my cases are important." Olivia snapped, "I don't tell you how to do your job, you don't tell me how to run my company."
"I'm not telling you, wait, did you say maternity leave?" Edison held up his hands as he spoke.
"That's right, Fitz and I are expecting our second child and this time I'm stepping away from OGA to spend it with my family." She took a breath, "And I am here to guide Stephen. The Nystroms are getting our best work. I promise." She turned and entered the conference room one more time. In the back of her mind, though, she was aware that she may have to do a little searching on her own for the Nystrom girl, just to help rush this particular case though."
SCANDAL
Four hours later they'd turned up nothing new. Fitz and David had swung by with lunch and interviewed the Nystroms. Harrison found nothing interesting through her friends at the campus. And everyone he spoke to passed Quinn's thorough background check. Defeated, they each retreated to their offices to quietly recap what they knew and go through the files once again.
Harrison glared at the information he'd memorized from the files and threw it onto the floor with a small thud. Turning to his computer he clicked on a bookmarked tab and began scrolling. He frowned. The Beltway Unbuckled blog, a site dedicated to one woman's quest to do all the major players in DC, hadn't been updated in days.
He flipped through the page and glanced at the date of the last conquest the woman had made. She never identified her victims, but if researched properly each of them could be discovered through photos of various body parts she posted online.
The last one was from a Saturday night. The last day anyone remembered seeing Jenny Nystrom.
Throwing open his office door he yelled, "I've got something."
SCANDAL
XOXO
MAS