Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal

Chapter Seven: I Knew You Were Trouble

Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago

I was in your sights, you got me alone

You found me, you found me, you found me

I guess you didn't care, and I guess I liked that

And when I fell hard, you took a step back

Without me, without me, without me

And he's long gone when he's next to me

And I realize the blame is on me

Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in

"I Knew You Were Trouble" Taylor Swift

Olivia fumbled with her keys as she tried to wrench them free from her bag and juggle Karen in her arms. They were late. Jer would be stuck at school because she got distracted. This Amanda business just didn't make any sense to her and it was frustrating as hell. "There we go." She murmured when the keys were finally free of her bag, "Now, Kare Bear, we can go get Jer. Maybe we should treat him to ice cream since Mommy is running late." She cooed to her daughter. "Or maybe Mommy just wants ice cream and is using Jer as an excuse. That's really it. Mommy wants some really unhealthy ice cream, not any of that frozen yogurt business." She opened the back seat and began to strap Karen in. "One day, you'll love ice cream, too. Just wait until you can eat all the big people food in the world." She paused, "Oh, heavens no, I think I'm going to freeze you like this. You're too cute this way." Karen let out a squeal and reached her hand out. Catching it, Olivia playfully nibbled on her fingers, "You really are Mommy's little girl." She murmured, pressing a kiss to her daughter's hand before shutting the door and climbing in the front seat. "Now, off to get Jer."

"Don't be afraid." A voice sounded behind her.

Olivia jumped a foot in the air, letting out a little screech. The one time she convinced the SSAs to let her drive to school while they followed in a dark sedan that was parked two spots over someone would break into her car and be waiting for her. Fitz was going to kill them all. Taking a deep breath, she eyed Karen in the rearview mirror. "I suggest you get out of my car. There are Secret Service Agents in the car next to us."

"They're sleeping." The man answered nervously, "I just, I couldn't chance it that they wouldn't let me talk to you."

Olivia's eyes widened. She was officially never going anywhere without Hal again. Swallowing back the lump, she threatened. "You need to get out of my car. I have a gun, and daughter present or not, I will use it on you."

The man held up his hands, "Okay, okay, I'll get out, but first you need to know that this is about Thorngate. My name is Archie Hornbacher and I work for the NSA and Thorngate is a program the government uses to spy on its citizens." He opened the trunk of her SUV and stepped out.

Leaving her car door open, Olivia slid her small revolver out of her purse and stepped out. Keeping it trained on the man, she asked, "What is Thorngate?"

He held his hands up. "It's a program that's used to tap into satellites. We can listen in on conversations and see people and it's everywhere. And the government isn't using it against terrorists. Big Brother is watching us."

Olivia swallowed and looked around, "What do you want from me?"

"Protection." He begged. "I stole Thorngate and my boss knows."

Olivia thought for a full minute. Making up her mind, she gave him instructions. "Run." She stated flatly, "There are cameras in this garage. Run. Go to 116 Hypolita Street. There will be a man waiting for you there." Archie didn't move. "Now." She ordered.

When he took off, Olivia slumped against her car digging for her phone. First she shot off a text with instructions to Huck, then she dashed over to the SSAs car, looking inside, they all looked dead. She dialed Fitz.

SCANDAL

Fitz threw his phone across the living room, "No one can find him." He paced, "And he didn't give a name?"

"Fitz, just calm down." Olivia was wrapped up on the sofa in the living room of the Residence. "I'm okay, Karen's okay, Jer's okay, the agents are okay. We're all okay."

Sighing and tugging his hand through his curls, Fitz sat next to her, pulling her into his chest, "If he'd hurt you or Karen"

"He wasn't a threat, Fitz, he just wanted my help. He was more scared than I was. Promise. And like you saw on the video, he took off. I talked him down. We're fine. We're all fine." Olivia assured him.

"If he shows up again," Fitz murmured.

"I'll tell you, but if he is in trouble and needs my help," she sighed, "I help people, Fitz."

He let out a grunt, "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

She let out a small laugh, "I love you, just trust me on this, you know I would never put myself or our kids in immediate danger."

"I know, I just worry. I hate the thought that it could be me putting you all in danger." Fitz murmured.

"Hey, look at me," she tipped his chin up, "no one's in danger. Alright? You just keep doing your job and you keep doing it well. We can make it through anything, right?"

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her temple, drawing her even closer to him, "Through anything." He agreed.

SCANDAL

"I just can't believe Fitz is okay with this." Abby admitted as they settled behind the computer to start the video chat. Huck and Harrison were with Archie in a safe house. Abby, Stephen, Quinn and Olivia were at the office, securely guarded by lots of SSAs.

"He doesn't know." Olivia turned on the monitor.

Quinn's brows drew together, "What do you mean 'he doesn't know?'"

"I mean, that there's a 90% chance that this guy is full of hot air and we'll never see him again after today. No harm, no foul. But if he happens to fall in that 10%, I'll tell Fitz what we're working on."

"And how will you explain it, exactly?" Abby asked archly.

"I'll just say that Archie got in touch with me again. Not a lie." Olivia held up her hand, "So I stashed him at a safe house." Before Abby could protest, she cut in, "Also not a lie."

"I guess, it's just, you and Fitz don't usually go behind each other's backs." Abby pointed out.

"I know, but we also stay out of each other's work unless directly asked. Consider this me taking on a job and just not mentioning it until we're underway." She glanced up, "Now, where is Stephen?"

"I'm right here." He came in cradling four mugs. "I brought tea." He started handing them out before pulling up a chair himself.

SCANDAL

Olivia paced outside the Oval Office for a good ten minutes, steadfastly ignoring Lauren, Hal and Tom. She was trying to work up the nerve to tell him about Archie. She needed to help him. His friend had already been killed. She needed to protect him, but Abby was right. She kept this from Fitz. She'd lied to Fitz. And they just didn't do that. Then again, Thorngate was real and he kept that from her. Was that the same thing, though? They didn't share work. It was better to keep their spheres separate. They learned that early on when she would tromp over his cases when he was with the DA. She chewed on her lip and stood directly in front of the doors. Summoning all her courage, she knocked.

Once she was inside, Lauren looked over at Tom and Hal, "That's not good." She murmured.

Both men moved to lean against her desk. "I think it has something to do with the guy who drugged us." Hal admitted.

"The President won't like that." Tom crossed his arms, "She's working on whatever his case is, isn't she?"

Hal shrugged, "She forced us to stay in the lobby and kitchen areas today." Hal explained. "She said her work was high priority and confidential. She didn't want it leaked anywhere. She even had Huck run another bug sweep this morning when they got in."

"Who is the guy?" Tom asked.

"Never got an ID. He kept away from the cameras enough that we couldn't get a solid picture of him." Hal sighed.

Lauren glanced at the door. "I think we're about to hear our first fight out of those two and it makes me really nervous."

Inside the Oval, Olivia kept ten feet between her and Fitz, "Livie, you're scaring me." Fitz admitted.

She bit her bottom lip nervously before finally asking, "Do you remember when we were first dating, how work got between us a time or two?"

Fitz nodded slowly, "Yes, is work about to get between us again?"

She turned her head and closed her eyes, "What's 'Thorngate?'" She asked.

"Where did you hear that word?" He snapped.

"I asked you a question, Fitz." She kept her voice steady.

He crossed his arms, "That's confidential. You don't have the clearance to know about it."

She nodded her head, "The guy who was in the garage is named Archie Hornbacher. He's in trouble."

"Trouble how?" Fitz asked slowly.

She blinked. She'd expected him to just yell. He wasn't yelling. This was good. "Someone is out to get him. I've taken on his case." She held up her hand before he could protest, "I'm not seeing him. He's at a safe house. Everything I'm doing is via a secure line through video chat. Huck is on him. I'm safe." She promised.

Fitz scrubbed his hand over his face. "You need to stay away from Thorngate, Olivia. As long as you do that, you can help get him to a safe place." He agreed.

"What is Thorngate, Fitz?" She asked, "Why is the government spying on citizens?"

"Olivia," his voice dropped to that low level, "drop it."

SCANDAL

"It's unconstitutional." Olivia surmised. "It has to be or Fitz would've told me about it." She paced her office, while Abby and Quinn watched her. "God, this is such a mess. Is Huck almost done decoding the program? Maybe he's just crazy. Maybe I should just let him go. God, but if I do that, he could destroy Fitz's administration. If he leaks this" she shook her head, "but we can't bury this either." She tugged on her hair, "There is no right answer, is there?"

Abby shook her head, "Liv, I don't think there is." She admitted.

SCANDAL

"Huck, it's almost midnight." Quinn murmured, "It's time to go home."

He shook his head and took another sip of his soda, "I'm almost done." He murmured. "I'm almost there and once I get there then I can" he stopped. "What?"

Quinn pulled up a chair, "What are we looking at?" She asked.

He pointed, "This didn't come from a NSA computer." He muttered. "This came from somewhere else."

Quinn picked up her laptop, "Give me the IP address." She typed as he rattled off the number. Her fingers flew over the keys with a practiced ease. Two minutes later, she turned the computer to face him.

Billy Chambers.

SCANDAL

"Billy Chambers?" Fitz asked. "Are you serious?"

There were no cameras in the Residence, so they were spread out on their bedroom floor. "Yeah, and that's not all. Huck was able to trace a connection between Chambers and Amanda Tanner. Fitz, he sent her in there to seduce you." Olivia shook her head. "This is so bad. And what is their endgame anyhow?"

Fitz stared at a picture of Amanda and a picture of Chambers, "To get Sally into the Oval." He murmured, "He's trying to tank my administration and breaking us up has to happen. If we don't separate, he doesn't stand a chance. You'll do anything and everything to fix whatever needs to be fixed and"

"And if I'm gone and you screw up, then Sally may be able to walk straight into the Oval." She shook her head, "It's genius. Fucked up, but genius." She moved herself into his lap, "At least we caught it before we walked all over each other." She admitted. "Now we can show this to Sally and"

"Or we can use this opportunity." Fitz interrupted. At her quirked brow, he continued, "Let's let him think he won. Let's give him a show down. Let's trap the bastard." He motioned to the papers, "All of this could potentially get thrown out. A lot of it is circumstantial. Let's get a confession out of him."

Olivia sent him a feral grin, "Let's do it."

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS