A/N – Thank you for all the really nice comments! LoreneMichelle41 – Thank you so much! * Fitzisgold-win – Thanks! You'll get your answers soon! * valkel00 – Her parents are definitely a problem! * jennkyle – lol sorry. Thanks for the encouragement! * Cleo – You'll get more insight on the Pope's this chapter. * ABCSOAPFAN1963 – I've been very wiped out and exhausted but finally starting to feel better. Thank you for asking.

Thank you all for taking time to leave me reviews! I really do appreciate it and it made my day!

Chapter 7 – Exposed

CNN was blowing up with the information that Abby had leaked to the press. In fact, every news outlet was running the story and it was spreading around the country and Olivia just prayed that people would be upset and take a stand.

She watched as Edison adeptly answered questions during several interviews. He was good; not too overbearing but very detailed and precise. And while the nation digested the information, Rowan was having a complete meltdown at the Pope residence.

"She is fucking ruining everything," he yelled as Maya looked on quietly. She knew her husband enough to not say anything. He was on a tangent and she would avoid that hornet's nest at all costs.

"It's like she's deliberately trying to piss me off."

Maya knew he was being ridiculous, but men like Rowan thought the world revolved around them. She was more than sure that Olivia's reasoning for the leak had nothing to do with her father.

"Are you just going to sit there?"

She sighed. "What would you have me do? Why hasn't someone taken her already?"

"Because she never leaves that damn White House."

His phone rang and he looked down at it and his shoulder's dropped. "What do you want Hollis?"

"What do I want? Are you watching the news? I feel like we're riding a gravy train with biscuit wheels. You need to do something, Rowan."

Rowan sighed and closed his eyes. "Do you think I'm blind Hollis?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued. "I'm quite aware of what I need to do. What you need to do is not call me and sit tight."

Hollis almost threw the phone. "Take care of your damn daughter or I will," he growled before hanging up the phone.

Maya watched several different emotions play out on Rowan's face before she decided to speak. "You need to draw her out of the White House."

Rowan started at her intently. "And how do you propose to do that?"

"You know what, let me handle it. Just have your men ready by tomorrow afternoon. I'll give you a time later."

Rowan nodded uneasily as she acted as if they were going to go shopping instead of kidnapping their own daughter. His wife was always cool under pressure. She was a hard read because she kept her emotions bottled up tightly. One could never underestimate her because under that blank expression was a cold and calculating woman.

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Fitz stretched. He was tired of this shit. They had been there way to long without any demands or threats. Something smelled. He wasn't sure what was going on, he just knew that something was amiss. Leaning against the bars he started replaying the abduction over and over in his mind and it didn't add up. At one point, it seemed like Hal had led them right into their captive's arms. He might as well havehad them wrapped up in a pretty bow. Frustrated, he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands trying to think of something else before his brain imploded.

FLASHBACK

"You really need to stop staring at me like that," she said under her breath as they walked down a hallway.

"Does it really bother you that much?"

"Do you want Mellie or someone else to catch us?"

"Maybe," he said which caused her to stop walking, cross her arms, and look up at him incredulously.

He smirked. "Olivia, I always make sure no one is paying attention to me."

"Fitzgerald you are the center of attention. Now stop undermining our progress and focus."

"I thought I was focused."

She rolled her eyes and they continued walking. "I think Sally is up to something?"

He frowned. "Like what? Is God going to smote me in the middle of the debate?"

"There are no guarantees," she quipped. "But, I don't think God has anything to do with this."

They made it to their destination, a busy room with at least twenty volunteers in it. "Then what?" he asked curiously.

He made a motion for them to go into his office. Walking inside, she shut the door behind her.

"She seemed really smug when I ran into her earlier."

"You sure that wasn't righteous indignation?"

Olivia fought a smile. "We need to find out what she has on you before tonight. I already have a few people on it."

"You're really sexy when you are on your game," Fitz said staring at her lips.

Olivia watched him peruse her and she felt a familiar stirring in her body. No one had ever looked at her like Fitz did. It was almost intoxicating. She needed to get out of the room.

END FLASHBACK

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Huck grinned at his monitor. "Gotcha," he said as he watched Becky exit the trailer. He had to admire her ingenuity. She had parked an RV on the same street her cottage had been on. They had been looking everywhere else when Huck decided to revisit the area. Picking up the phone, he called Charlie to make some plans.

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Maya waited for Olivia to pick up the phone.

"Mom?"

"Hello baby."

Olivia walked out of the war room. "What do you want?"

"Olivia, you might be mad at me, but I'm still your mother and you need to be mindful of that."

"We really don't have anything to talk about."

"We can't go on like this. Can't we meet somewhere and hash all of this out?"

Olivia took a deep breath. "I'm really busy right now. Our non-relationship can wait."

"Don't hang up on me Olivia. I know you're mad at me, but I need to see you. You can even pick the place."

She knew that her mom wouldn't stop until they met. "Fine, meet me at the park tomorrow at 2:00. I'll take a break."

Maya smiled. "Thank you. I'll see you then."

She ended the call and placed another one. "Charlie, I have something I need you to do."

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Huck walked into the bookstore and went to the science fiction section. Charlie was sitting in a corner reading a book and didn't even bother to look up. "Hello Huck."

"What do you want?"

Charlie put the book down and finally met his gaze. "Maya Pope called me and asked me to kidnap Olivia tomorrow."

Huck plopped down in the chair next to him. "Unbelievable."

"She instructed me that she was not to be hurt. How do you want to play it?"

"Where is this supposed to take place?"

"In the park. She wanted me to plant a small explosive to divert the attention of the secret service and then grab Olivia and shove her into a car."

"This just keeps getting better."

"We'll have to let Olivia know to play along."

Huck nodded. "She's going to be pissed."

"Where should I take her?"

"The same building you took her to the last time."

He nodded.

"Be careful Charlie, I don't want her hurt."

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Olivia sat in the Rose Garden. She had needed some air. Part of her just didn't want to have to deal with her mother right now. There were too many things she needed to do. They had some momentum where the bill was concerned and they needed to keep that up.

Tom sat down next to her. "You need to talk?"

"Everything is just such a mess right now. I think I have information overload."

Tom nodded. "Incoming."

Her head jerked up and she saw Huck who took a seat across from them.

"What's wrong?" Olivia asked.

"We have a problem."

Olivia sighed. "Now what?"

"Your mother."

"I'm meeting her tomorrow in the park."

"She's planning on having you abducted."

Tom frowned. "What?"

"There will be a small explosive that goes off in a trashcan. There will be lots of smoke. Olivia will be taken and shoved into a van."

"Let me guess, Charlie will be driving?"

Huck nodded.

"So, you want me to play along?"

Tom let out a sigh. "I don't know if my superiors will go along with this."

"Don't tell them then," Huck said. "Do you have agents you can trust?"

Tom nodded.

"Then make sure they are the ones on guard duty."

"Okay."

Huck left, leaving them to process everything.

"I know you don't like this, but we need for my parents to think they've won. It will buy us some time. You can smuggle me back into the White House later."

"I don't like it, but I agree."

Olivia was done. It was time to start thinking about how to take down her parents.

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Cyrus sat at his desk wondering what the hell he was going to do about the picture. He took it out of the envelope and studied it again. "Fucking Mellie," he muttered as he stared at a picture of her and Rowan.

He didn't understand what she would be doing with him. Maybe she was trying to get out of their deal, but this changed everything. He had been trying to protect everyone involved so that it didn't blow up in all of their faces. If Rowan and Mellie were plotting something, then he knew it would be big and bloody. It was with that revelation that he picked up the phone and asked Olivia to come to his office.

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Olivia walked into Cyrus's office. She could tell by the look on his face and the almost empty bottle of Tums that it was something big. "You ready to talk?"

Cyrus nodded and handed her the picture.

"Holy Shit," she said mumbled. "Where did you get this?"

"Does it matter?"

She didn't say anything because it really didn't, but clearly her father was going to be a huge problem.

"Olivia, the reason that Fitz and Mellie were getting a divorce was because she had cheated on him with someone she shouldn't have."

Olivia sucked in a deep breath, "Go on."

"Sally walked in on Mellie screwing her husband."

Olivia's eyes widened. "Really?"

Cyrus nodded. "They had been having an affair for months. It was ugly and Sally even slapped her."

Olivia tried not to smile.

"Sally immediately called Fitz and he came over there. She wouldn't even let them get dressed. To say the least, Fitz was really upset."

"Then what happened?"

She wasn't surprised that Mellie cheated, but sleeping with Sally's husband was just stupid.

"Sally started to freak out because this was going to ruin her career which was based on God, family, and the American dream."

"I was called over and we tried to come to a resolution."

"And Fitz divorcing Mellie was the solution?"

"We were too close to the re-election to have something this huge blow up in our faces. So, Sally said that she would continue on like nothing happened if Mellie agreed to leave the White House so that Fitz could divorce her. And, Fitz couldn't replace her during the re-election campaign."

"So, she let her husband off the hook?"

Cyrus sighed. "She puts that man through hell every day. I don't even think he has any balls left."

Olivia smirked. "And Mellie agreed to it?"

"She did because I pulled her aside and told her that I had pictures of her with other men. If she didn't take the deal, and agree that if questioned she'd take the blame and say she cheated, I'd release them to the press. She would never ever be able to be in politics again. And you and I both know that was always her intention. She could always find Jesus and repent and somewhere people would be stupid enough to vote her in as mayor or something."

Olivia shook her head. "Wow, that's a lot to digest."

"If she made some kind of deal with Rowan, then you can guarantee that it was big."

"What are you thinking?"

"That maybe your father and Mellie had something to do with the kidnapping."

Olivia sat in her chair stunned. "We need to find a way to prove that."

"I'm working on it."

"You'll keep me in the loop from now on?"

"Yes."

Standing up, the wheels were already turning in her head. They really needed a break if they were going to unravel everything fast enough.

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Rowan left town. He wanted to make sure that he was not around for whatever Maya had planned. Olivia was already wary of him and he didn't want to add to her suspicion. If anyone asked, they would be told he was in New York, but the truth was that he was going to Tennessee for a meeting with all the key players. With the current media storm, they needed to tighten their game plan. The vote was in a few days and they were running out of time.

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Fitz paced back and forth after reading the newspaper. He noticed in the pictures of the press conference that Abby was in attendance. That meant Olivia was back. His sweet baby was back in town. Cyrus must have found a way to get her to help. No matter how it had come about, she came back for him and it gave him hope.

"Why do you look so happy all of a sudden?" Mellie asked curiously.

"Edison is backing my stance. He's creating waves."

Mellie tried to look impartial. "Really?"

"The public is mad about the fine print of the bill. He exposed them," Fitz said smiling. "He has two more days to sway the vote."

Mellie smiled. "You always seem to get your way, don't you?"

Fitz didn't answer her. She was the last person that would understand anything about integrity. He sat on the edge of the bed. Olivia was back and he didn't care if he had to dig his way of the cell, he was going to get back to her.

FLASHBACK

"I got it."

Fitz looked up as he watched Olivia stride towards him. "Sally is going to bring up the two bills you had vetoed. One was regarding drug-testing welfare participants, and the other was regarding immigration."

Fitz groaned. "If we institute the drug testing than the kids are the ones who will suffer. It didn't do enough to protect the children and I am completely against limiting surveillance drones. It's already difficult enough to keep up with drug trafficking. Their three-mile radius limitation was ridiculous and bordering on being completely irresponsible and irrational."

"I know Fitz, but she will try to use it to her advantage. You need to present your argument in a way that will shut the liberal blowhards up and show that you have the people's best interest at heart. I have some ideas. I think you'll like them."

Fitz sat back in his chair. "You always come through for me Olivia. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Olivia smiled. "That's what you pay me for."

He stood, thankful that his blinds were closed, and locked the door.

"What are you doing? We have three hours until show time."

"I'm trying to clear my mind so that I can focus on what we need to do."

Olivia tried not to smile. "And how is your hand up my shirt accomplishing that?"

Fitz grinned. "Because right not, all I can think about is you," he said before kissing her soft lips.

Olivia gasped as his hand teased her nipple through the fabric. His tongue was sliding against hers in the most erotic way and she couldn't even think anymore. She needed him inside of her, Sally be damned. And she was going to have him.

END FLASHBACK

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Huck and Charlie sat in a car looking up at President Lincoln.

"After Olivia's secured tomorrow night, we'll take Becky. She still hasn't come back to the RV."

"I've been sharpening my knives in anticipation. I even brought a new drill."

Huck smirked.

"Rowan is going to know that it was probably one of us who took her down."

"I know."

"And you know if push comes to shove, I'll throw you under the bus," Charlie said matter of factly."

"I know," Huck said quietly. Rowan had a way of breaking you down and Charlie would not want to be subjected to that first hand. Huck had already been there and he knew what to expect. The only thing he had going for him was that Olivia was in his corner.

"I'll make Becky disappear. It will take a while before he realizes what we did and he'll never be able to prove it."

"We'll deal with the consequences when we have to. I'm just hoping that we take down Rowan before it gets to that point."

"There will always be a command Huck. You do realize that right?"

Huck nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

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Rowan walked into conference room and looked around commanding everyone's attention. Rowan Pope was not someone you wanted to cross. When he called, you came running. They knew how high the stakes were and that if the tide didn't change in the next day, they would lose everything. The lobbyists were getting nervous and senators were starting to defect under the microscope they had been put under.

"We have a lot to discuss tonight," Rowan said firmly. "There are decisions to be made and blood to be drawn. I will not allow everything that we've worked so hard for to crumble when we are so close to the finish line. If this bill passes, you all will be financially set for life. You need to keep that in mind and fight. I have never failed. I will never fail. Failure would be unacceptable, so stop feeling sorry for yourselves and start making some suggestions." Sitting back his gaze swept the room and he waited to see who would speak next.