Futile Devices – Chapter III
"You're going to deny it?" Quinn's eyebrows shot up.
"Yes." Olivia replied assuredly.
Her four associates ignored the sudden ringing of the office telephones as they looked at Olivia in surprise.
"Liv, you can't just go out there right now and deny everything." Harrison started, stepping towards her. "This is a fresh leak. This is the start of a massive media stampede and we don't know where it's going to charge, let alone how it began in the first place. You can't face the bulls until we get a handle on this."
"If I wait too long before making a statement it will look suspicious." Olivia countered confidently. "Why would I hesitate in my denial if there is no truth in the accusation?"
Suddenly Harrison's cell phone went off. Everyone's eyes flicked to him as he slid out his phone from his jacket pocket and stared curiously at the screen.
Harrison looked up at Liv. "It's the White House." He said gravely, his voice low.
"Hang up." She ordered quickly, trying to ignore the flash of panic that gripped her heart.
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"He hung up!" Helen called out from the telephone as Cyrus bashed the keys on his blackberry then brought it up to his ear yet again, the familiar ring mixing with the pounding of his heart when the sound once again clicked to the prim pre-recorded voice of Olivia Pope.
"You know, what's the point of having a portable conversation device that allows you to contact someone at any time and any place – IF YOU DON'T FREAKING PICK UP!" Cyrus yelled into the phone then pulled it down and looked at his secretary. "Call them again!"
"I've called the office ten times already, sir." Helen sighed in exasperation as she held the receiver in the crook of her neck. "For some reason, they don't seem to be taking calls right now. I wonder why?"
Cyrus could feel his face flare up in anger as he stepped towards her. "This the White House. This is the executive branch of the United States Government. We have more military power then the rest of the world combined. We can get through to one little office in downtown DC!" He leaned in to her, staring her down.
"I'll try again, then." Helen forced a smile then went back to the dial.
Cyrus quickly turned and headed out into the hallway. He could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest, trying to keep up with his mind as he charged through the hall towards the oval office. Leave the President alone for one moment as he goes back to square one. Now he had to play the babysitter, once again, picking up the pieces as the child went on another tantrum. Only this time is was different. This time the child's favourite toy had refused to turn up. This time he was alone without a distraction.
He pulled up his phone again and started to punch in Olivia's number.
"Cyrus!" The communications director ran up to him in the hallway, causing him to stop in his tracks. "The press are waiting."
"Good." Cyrus replied sarcastically.
"I told them the President's going to give a statement, but they're baying for blood. We can't leave it off any longer."
"Let them wait!" Cyrus proclaimed scornfully. "Who knows! A few more minutes in a small confined space with each other they may start attacking themselves! Then at least we won't have to deal with MSNBC!"
"Sir?" The communications director looked at him seriously.
"Fine." He huffed. "I'll get the President." He moved past him. "But don't tell me it's not a bad idea!" He shouted back then brought his blackberry back to his ear.
The now all too familiar voice message played again as he approached the oval office, and Cyrus waited for the sharp tone before he took in a deep breath.
"I don't know where you are, I don't know what your issue is," He ranted into his cell as he charged down the hallway. "But what I do know is that the President is about to do something incredibly stupid. Something that will not help either of us. Something that will not help him, or the republic, or freedom or life or the universe or anything! So if you are still alive and you do still have access to your own cell phone I need you to get your ass to the White House! Right. Now!"
"Mr Beene?"
"WHAT?"
Cyrus glared at a young aid as he stopped him just at the door of the oval office.
"Sir, I need to talk to you." The aid tried, struggling under the fierce gaze of his boss.
"Go away." He grumbled, taking a step towards the door.
"I need to talk to you about Israel." He said a little louder, his voice still faltering.
"Go away faster." Cyrus turned his back to him and was about to touch the handle when the aid spoke out.
"A bomb went off in Jerusalem!"
Cyrus froze at the aid's words and slowly turned round to face the young staffer.
"What?"
"Two bombs, sir. Just then. Israel is under attack."
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Harrison slowly slid his cell phone back in his breast pocket, his eyes fixed on Olivia.
"So we're denying the White House too?" Abbey folded her arms and stared her down.
"Like I said." Olivia sharpened her gaze and spoke with a calm, clear voice. "I am done with the President. That means I am also done with the White House."
"Then how can you know whether or not they're just going to turn around and stab you in the back?" Quinn jutted in. "You need to make sure you coordinate statements, or just have some sort of dialogue with them. It's the White House. They're not the kind of enemies you want to have."
"They're not our enemies." Liv reassured confidently. "And they're not going to attack us. Not if I get out there first and deny it. I do that now, and they will have no choice but to follow."
Harrison furrowed his brow in thought. "But we still don't know who the leak is. We don't even know what they want. For all we know they're waiting to release a goldmine of proof the moment you open your mouth."
"They're not" Olivia replied quickly.
"How would you know?" Abbey shot back.
"Because I know." She answered defiantly.
Abbey studied Liv carefully when suddenly her eyebrows shot up in realisation. "You know who the leak is!"
Olivia remained silent as Abbey sharpened her eyes in victory. "You do. I know you do. Who is it?"
Liv looked at Abbey as her chest tightened in guilt. She couldn't keep hiding things from her team, but it was the only way they would get through. It was the only was she could keep them safe.
"I can't tell you." She said simply, a bitterness rising to the back of her throat.
"Can't tell us." Abbey repeated in disbelief. "I thought you said you were done with secrets, Olivia. Thought you said you were done with hiding. Now you can't trust us with this?"
"I do trust you."
"Do you?"
"She does." Huck's voice suddenly broke through before Liv could speak. Everyone turned to face the still figure as he lowered his brow sternly and held his hands tight behind his back.
"She trusts you with her life. And we trust her." Huck continued, voice strong, but staggered. "But this is big. Bigger, and deeper, than you can even imagine. So we trust Olivia on this. And we help her, with whatever she needs to do."
The room fell silent as Huck's words reverberated through them, when Abbey slowly turned to Olivia.
"Ok then." She started, her voice low. "Let's get you out there."
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Cyrus glared at the row of televisions, all playing the same regurgitated footage of the world's now most famous fixer. Olivia Pope counselling the President. Olivia Pope playing with the President's daughter. Olivia Pope being pushed away by two men in suits as she became swarmed in press. Every single image reiterated the problem, but right now he needed to find the image that could help fix it.
"For god's sake – some one put on Al Jazeera!" He shouted out in impatience to the staffers milling around the pit, when one assistant quickly grabbed the remote and scrolled through the channels until he finally landed on the correct one.
Chaos. Ambulances. Civilians in shock. A Rabbi praying over bodies.
This was the image he needed.
There was a sudden movement behind Cyrus as the President strode down the hallway with his entourage of staffers, heading towards the pressroom. Without a second thought, Cyrus turned away from the flickering screens and ran after him.
"Mr President!" He called out as he chased the pack of staffers. "We need to talk!"
"I am giving my statement Cy." Fitz replied in a loud, clear voice, his gaze remaining fixed in front of him. "And there is nothing you can do about it."
"I know that, sir." Cyrus finally caught up to him, feet scuttling fast beside the President's long strides. "But this is something else. Two bombs just exploded in Jerusalem."
Fitz stopped in his tracks, eyes snapping down to Cyrus, filled with a sudden sadness. "How many casualties?"
"We don't know yet, could be one hundred." He replied sombrely.
"One hundred?" Fitz echoed in shock as Cyrus studied his face carefully, looking for the right way to approach it, hoping he wouldn't let the opportunity slip from his fingers.
"Sir… I know you need to give your statement." Fitz's eyes flicked up to his, causing Cyrus to tread softer. "…but state of Israel has just been attacked. The whole of the Middle East is now switching onto red alert. We need to deal with this."
Fitz's brow furrowed in thought, his face torn in conflict as the rest of the staffers remained standing back, leaving them alone in the small corner of the hallway.
"Cyrus," He said with a low voice. "The press is in there waiting. I need to… every time I try to take that step, someone else pulls me back. Every single time. And I can't do that anymore, Cy. I can't be that person. I need to do this."
"So you do it." Cyrus said calmly, seeing his chance to go in for the kill. "You do it, and you prove the personal life of a President is more important than the mortal lives of civilians."
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"You're sure about this?" Harrison looked down into Olivia's eyes as they stood at the door of the office.
"I'm sure." She replied resolutely, but Quinn could have sworn she saw a faint twinge on sadness in Olivia's eyes. All those things she did for the President, she must have really loved him, in a way. But now she was about to give it all up.
Quinn looked away from her boss as the thoughts of lost love stung her with the ghost of her past. It was not Olivia's fault she fell in love with Fitzgerald Grant, nor was it her fault for Cytron. Quinn had to let it go and move on, just like Liv was.
Harrison opened the door and walked out with Liv, while Huck followed protectively behind her. Abbey remained standing in the doorway, silently watching them leave, the air tense with anticipation.
Quinn turned and picked up the remote to the TV, took in an apprehensive breath, then turned on the screen and awaited the storm they were about to create.
"…as the President has just called a press conference, we can assume…" The voice of the news presenter stopped Quinn in her thoughts. Grant was about to release a statement. Olivia had just left.
Quickly, Quinn darted away from the television and ran past Abbey and through the door of the office, just in time to see the elevator slowly close at the end of the hallway.
"Stop!" She shouted out as the iron frame locked shut. "Stop!" She sprinted to the elevator and punched the small button as Olivia, Harrison and Huck stared at her curiously through the heavy glass door.
"What is it?" Olivia wrenched open the iron frame, eyes serious.
"The President just called a press conference." Quinn rushed. "He's giving a statement. He's giving a statement right now."
Olivia's eyes widened in surprise for a second, but then she quickly moved past her and straight back into the office, without a word. Quinn watched as Harrison and Huck joined her, then swiftly followed after them.
Abbey had turned up the television, filling the office with the sounds of the pressroom, cameras clicking, murmured voices, rustling papers, when from the edge of the screen, the famous figure of President Fitzgerald Grant III appeared.
Quinn could sense Olivia tense up beside her as the man she had loved stepped behind the podium and looked out to the swarm of journalists, the lights flashing over his drawn face.
"Good morning." The President's deep voice cut through the room. "I have called this conference today to announce…"
Quinn heard Olivia's breath catch in her throat.
"…to announce that today, at 2:48 pm, Israeli time, two bombs exploded in the centre of Jerusalem, killing many civilians."
Liv let out a silent breath beside her as Quinn continued to watch the screen in disbelief.
"I have also called this conference to announce that I will be working hard with both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority to make sure that the culprits are found, that they are brought to justice, and that the whole region remains stable and committed to peace."
"He didn't out you." Abbey's spoke up in surprise.
"No." Olivia said quietly, voice tinged with something almost like sadness.
"I thought he was going to out you." Abbey continued, but Liv just ignored her, brow furrowed in thought as she turned away from the TV and headed towards her office when suddenly Huck yelled out from his office.
"We've got incoming!"
Olivia quickly turned around as everyone headed to the small room to see Huck sitting at his computer, staring at the security feed. There, in the secure underground car park, was a single man, breaking into the fire escape.
"Who is he?" Olivia asked seriously, standing by Huck's shoulder.
"I don't know." Huck replied. "But it looks like we'll know soon."
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NB:
WHY HELLO THERE!
Woa. Sorry about the capslock but it is late at night and I wasn't even expecting to write anything tonight when suddenly BAM! A whole chapter in one writing session! Which is not the way I usually work, to be honest… so let's just rejoice in that fact for a moment, shall we? …..yes…. that's some good rejoicing….ok enough.
Back to the story! Yes, I know, I saw you roll your eyes when it suddenly went all "Middle East International Relations" up there, but trust me when I say this is not a deus ex machine. There is a purpose with this, and I hope you stick with it – but I just want you to know the purpose, the centre, the entire backbone and spine and fulcrum and meaning of this fic is OLITZ! So please don't freak out at a little bombing. Even though freaking out is the correct emotional response to a bombing. But now I'm rambling. So now I will shut up.
So now to the real important thing – that is you guys! Honestly, I am just completely dumbfounded by your response and I love every last one of you! To all those who leave reviews as 'guests' so I can't respond to you – please accept this massive bear hug of love and appreciation! But yeah, you've been amazing, and I felt really bad not updating soon enough, so this chapter is literally a direct response to one of you telling me to hurry the fuck up. So reviews do work! So please keep reading! And please keep dropping a line to tell me what you think! And please just keep being the wonderful people you are!
KRONOS AWAY!