Disclaimer: I don't own Scandal

AN: Sooooooooo...how's it been going? I know, cruel of me to leave a cliffhanger like that and the take a week to update, but in my defense, it was Thanksgiving and I was spending quality with the fam. Plus finals (ew) are coming up so you know how that goes. But with finals comes winter break and that means lots of time to write. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Happy reading ;)


Those two words caused Olivia's heart to literally stop beating in her chest. Fear seized her vocal chords and she was too shocked to even scream. They were caught. There was no way in hell that Big Gerry was going to believe any lie either of them could come up with. There was no point in even trying at this point for it was obvious what had just happened. There was no surprise on Gerry's face; he completely expected to find his son in this exact predicament. Fitz was doing his best to cover her from his father as she clutched the thin blanket closer to her chest, hiding her face in his bare shoulder. She was trembling behind him, completely afraid, knowing that there was no way she was going to survive this.

"I love you," she whispered so low so that only he could hear.

She wanted those to be her last words. These last few weeks-almost a month- with him were the best in her life and she wouldn't trade them for anything. If this was going to be how she met her maker, because she experienced unconditional love at the hands of someone that was so kind, so uncaring of their differences, then so be it. She was ready. She said a quick prayer, closing her eyes and mumbling the words into his skin as he spread his arms out in a protective manner, seemingly refusing to move and let Big Gerry get to her.

"Dad.." Fitz began, not knowing exactly to say at a time like this.

"Shut up you nigger loving disgrace. I always knew you were weak and worthless, but this…you disgust me," Big Gerry spat, the venom in his tone enough to kill someone if they got too close.

Going closer to them, Gerry bent and picked up Fitz's clothes and threw them out of the room. They waited with stilled breath for his next move but they didn't have to wait long. Big Gerry went to the cot and grabbed Fitz' s arm so hard that it tore out of the socket. The pop could be heard but Fitz didn't cry out in pain. He held firm, still trying to protect Olivia with his other arm even as Big Gerry proceeded to pull him from the bed. Fitz fought with everything in him, kicking and punching, even landing a few blows, but with his bad arm still in Big Gerry's grip and his father capturing the other limb, Fitz was ultimately subdued. Big Gerry pulled a naked Fitz from the cot, his body slamming hard onto the wood below.

Olivia searched frantically for the knife that she always kept nearby, looking for it but coming up empty. She had no idea where it went, not having any clue that it had slipped between the wall and the cot during her and Fitz's love making. She was unarmed and defenseless to do anything but watch was Big Gerry dragged his son as roughly as he could out of the room. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Big Gerry landed a hard kick to Fitz's ribs subsequently cracking three of them. Fitz coughed up blood but proceeded to try and get up on his hands knees, determined to get to Olivia even if he had to crawl. Big Gerry kicked him again, the tip of his boot digging into his side.

"When I'm done with her, I'll come back for you. And since you love niggers so much, I'll make sure that you hang like one," Big Gerry promised before kicking Fitz again, this time in the kidneys and almost knocking Fitz out cold from the sheer pain.

Turning to her, the look in his eyes was one of pure evil and Olivia knew that before she died tonight he was going to torture her. She scooted to the very corner of the wall, trying to put as much space between them as possible as he advanced into the room, coming to her with sure and determined steps. She knew that what was about to happen was going to be nowhere near as beautiful as what happened between her and Fitz just an hour earlier. Big Gerry didn't even close the door, intending for Fitz to watch helplessly as he raped her. Well she was going to go out fighting.

As soon as a knee was on the cot, she was on him. She punched, kicked, and bit. She didn't scream though, afraid that if she woke Mrs. Grant that she'd call the other overseers that were out patrolling the land. She did anything she possibly could, even tried to gauge out his eyes and claw at his face. She could tell that he wasn't expecting her fury because it took a few moments for him to start fighting back. But when he did, he went for her arms, trying to pin them down, but she kept kicking, kept fighting. She landed a good kick to his groin and he winced in pain, but didn't stop.

"I like when they fight, it's no fun when you just lie there and take it," he sneered. "Your mama fought just like you are right now. It took a few times to break her, but I finally did," Big Gerry bragged.

At hearing him taunting her with her mother, a new wave of anger hit Olivia and she moved her body in whatever way she thought would physically hurt him. She reared up and bit him hard on the shoulder and while he stopped for a second, he seemed all the more determined to get to her. Even with all her fighting he got her pinned, his legs pressed against her knees so that she was spread for him. He had both of her hands pinned above her head, his grip way too tight to break. She tried not to cry, not to show weakness, but the tears started falling as she bucked against him, still trying to break free. He made grunting noises as he grasped both of her hands in one of his so that he could reach down to unbutton his pants. Not wanting to see, Olivia turned her head to the side facing the wall, knowing that if she saw Fitz, she would lose it. She could still hear him though, moaning in pain and she could hear the wood of the floor creak as he tried his hardest to get to her. With her head facing the wall, she saw a glint catching the glow of the lantern. The knife.

"I promise that this is going to hurt, but you'll like it," Big Gerry told her, preparing to enter.

Olivia looked at him and spit right in his face. Angry and disoriented, Big Gerry let go of her hands for a moment to wipe her spit from his face and with her hands free, Olivia reached for the knife. Without taking a moment to think, she reared her arm back and jabbed him, not even caring where it landed. She felt the flesh of his side give way and the blade sank in deep. With a bit of effort, she pulled it free and jabbed him again and again until he finally fell off and to the floor, clutching is bleeding side in pain. Immediately, Olivia got up, slammed her foot onto the side of Big Gerry's head knocking him out, and ran to Fitz who had managed to drag himself the threshold of the room.

"Fitz, it's going to be alright. You have to get up, okay? We have to go," Olivia told him, trying to nudge him up.

Gathering all the strength he possibly could, Fitz got up on his hands and knees and with assistance from Olivia, he slowly rose to his feet. His arm was useless and his ribs prevented him from breathing normally. His face was grimaced in pain, his lips mashed together to prevent a wail from bubbling loose. Olivia knew that in this state they wouldn't make it far.

"We have to pop your arm back into place," Olivia told Fitz as quietly as she could.

Fitz's eyes got wide with terror, but he just nodded his head and turned his arm towards her, his head facing the other way. Olivia had never done this before but had seen it done a few times with the other slaves that would get beat up by the hands of Cyrus of Big Gerry and would need this kind of thing done when they were finally finished getting punished. She knew that they had to do this quick because she didn't know how long Big Gerry would be down for and he was sure to cause a ruckus when he woke up.

She counted to three then popped his arm back into the socket and had Fitz's fist not been stuffed in his mouth, he would've screamed. He had tears in his eyes and for a second, she was afraid that he was going to pass out. But he remained on his feet and he flexed and rotated his arm just a little to confirm that he still had some range of motion. Grabbing his clothes, Olivia helped him put on his shirt and pants before going back to pull her dress over her head, hitting Big Gerry again to make sure he stayed out. She grabbed the knife, cutting two long strips from her blanket for Fitz and was just about to fashion him a sling and rib wrap when she heard the creak of the steps. Mrs. Grant was up.

"Fitz we have to go now," she told him quietly.

"There's no way we'll make it off the property alive with the overseers out there," Fitz responded even as his mind formulated a plan.

"We have to try because if we stay here, we'll die," Olivia said truthfully.

"Olivia, I need you to go to the quarters and hide and if I'm not there in fifteen minutes to go without me," he told her, peering around the corner and straining his ears to try and hear where his mother was.

"I'm not leaving you," Olivia said defiantly, tears forming in her eyes.

"Livi, I need you to go now. We don't have much time. I'll do my best to come to you, but don't wait for me past fifteen minutes. You and Greta run to freedom and take Harrison with you. He'll protect you," Fitz said solemnly, almost like a goodbye.

"Fitz…"

He kissed her quickly, pouring all of his emotions into it then released her. "Go."

He could tell that she didn't want to, but she did anyways, slipping out of the backdoor and running as fast as she could to the quarters. Fitz watched her for a moment, praying that she made it safely as she disappeared into the night. He moved swiftly to Big Gerry's motionless body, he took the pistol off his hip, thankful that he hadn't thought to use it in his attack on them. Fitz opened the chamber and saw that it was fully loaded. Good.

As he turned, he saw that his mother was standing in the doorway watching him. Fitz nearly dropped the gun in surprise but held fast to it, knowing that it was his life line. They stared at each other for tense seconds but Fitz moved first, covering her mouth with his good arm and going behind her so that with his grip on her, he could drag her to the next room. She fought a little, but stilled when raised the pistol to her head. This action caused him great pain but he did his best not to show any weakness that she might be able to exploit. He dragged her to the kitchen and threw her into the pantry, shutting and locking it from the outside. For good measure, he took a chair and propped it against the knob so that she couldn't get out. She banged and yelled but it was all in vain. Fitz quickly left the house, but didn't head towards the quarters to get Olivia. No, he had to take out the overseers first.


Olivia ran as fast as she could, pausing occasionally to hid behind a bush or a tree to make sure that she was safe before heading on. She did her best not to step on branches or rustle leaves, hoping that she made as little noise as humanly possible. Her senses were hyperactive and any little sound scared her whether it be from the wind or a squirrel. Finally the cabins were in sight and she sprinted to them, thankful that no one saw her. She went straight to her mother's, her chest heaving as she tried to pull oxygen into her lungs and slow her fast beating heart. Her foot hurt and she looked down to see that she had stepped on a thorn, the adrenaline pumping through her system preventing her from feeling the sting of it until now. She pulled it out and then went up and down the rows of sleeping slaves until she reached her mother.

Shaking her awake, Greta startled a bit until her eyes adjusted to the dark and she realized that it was her daughter. "Olivia, what in the world is you doing in here?" Greta asked, concern lacing her words as she sat up.

"Mama we have to go tonight," Olivia rushed out, still trying to catch her breath, the two strips of cloth still clutched in her fist.

"Olivia, what are you talking about? I thought I told you that to get those thoughts out of your head," Greta whispered fiercely, the others starting to stir.

"Big Gerry caught us," was all Olivia managed to get out, still traumatized from what happened.

"Big Gerry caught…?" Greta paused in confusion. Then recognition dawned on her face. "Where is he now?"

"Passed out in my room," Olivia answered.

Greta looked to be torn between two options. Stay or run. But she could see the terror in her daughter's eyes and her decision was made for her. It was time to run. By now, some of the other slaves were awake and had heard what Olivia said. They were looking at the mother and daughter pair like they were crazy. They knew that Big Gerry's men were out patrolling and knew that there was no way anyone was going to make it out alive.

"Let's go then," Greta finally said, rising to her feet.

"We have to wait for Fitz," Olivia informed her, peeking out of the door hoping to see his figure coming towards them.

"Are you crazy girl? We have to go now. That boy ain't coming for you," Greta scolded her daughter.

"I promised that I would wait fifteen minutes for him and that's what I'm going to do." Doing a quick estimate in her head, she decided that it had already been about seven minutes.

"It's his fault we're in this mess now," Greta hissed. "He should've just left you be and you should've never have gave into him."

"I love him, Mama," Olivia defended, hoping that he would be there soon.

"Foolish is what you are. If we's gonna run, we gotta do it now and leave that boy to fend for hisself. There ain't no way two slaves and a white boy are going to make it to freedom." She was going to drag Olivia out of here herself if she had to.

"Ten more minutes, Mama, then we'll go," Olivia pleaded.

"Olivia…"but Greta couldn't get the rest of her sentence out as a shot rang through the air.

"Fitz…"


Fitz crept up on Cyrus as silently as possible, limiting his breathing to one shallow breath every thirty seconds knowing that his injury was causing him to wheeze. The older man was facing the other direction on his horse, completely unaware that he was being watched. No one would ever make the mistake of calling Fitz a good shot. His father had tried to teach him a number of times to no avail. But his life and Olivia's life counted on him hitting Cyrus with deadly aim and so that was what he was going to do. He got as close as he could without being detected, standing about ten feet away before Cyrus finally turned towards him. Before he could even draw his weapon, Fitz shot his. For a second he thought that he missed, but then a red stain appeared on Cyrus white shirt and he fell backwards off his horse, his body landing with a hard thud to the ground. Knowing that the other overseers, two in total, would hear the shot and come rushing to see what happened, Fitz hid behind a tree and waited.

He heard the clop clop clop of a horse's hooves and readied himself for what was about to happen next. One of the overseers appeared on his horse, looking around in confusion until he spotted Cyrus's lifeless body on the ground. He dismounted from his animal and went over to Cyrus, crouching down to examine what happened to him. Fitz took that as his opportunity and ran up and shot the man point blank in the head, his victim not even seeing him coming. Two down, one more to go. He just prayed that Olivia was still waiting for him.


As the second shot rang out, Olivia was a little more confident that Fitz was still alive. The others had heard too and by this point, everyone was awake, waiting and listening for the next move. Harrison had made his way over to them, not saying a word but keeping close, prepared to run when they gave the word. Olivia really did not want him coming with them, knowing that too many people would only hinder their chances of getting out alive, but at this point, there was nothing she could do.

"It's been fifteen minutes, we have to go now," Greta told Olivia.

"Do you really want to leave when there's gunfire," Olivia hissed, getting upset with her mother.

"Yes, it means they're distracted," Greta reasoned.

"I'm not leaving Fitz. Just as I wouldn't leave you, I'm not leaving him," Olivia said firmly.

Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, terrified that one of the shots she heard had hit him, had hit the man she loved. But she kept faith, begging God to keep him alive and to bring him to the quarters soon so that they could go. She got to her knees, laying down the strips of her blanket that she had cut for Fitz beside her, kneeling and clasping her hands, praying harder than she ever had before. She could feel her mother next to her doing the same thing and when she looked up, she could see that all of the slaves were kneeling and praying to God that they all made it through the night.


Finally the other overseer came and just as the other had, when he saw the dead bodies he dismounted his horse and walked towards them. But instead of stopping to inspect them closer, he raised his head and looked for the assailant that had gunned down his friends. From his position behind the tree, Fitz fired a shot, hoping that he hit him. Peeking his head out, he saw that he didn't and instead had given away his location. The overseer stalked towards Fitz, his gun drawn. He pulled the trigger and luckily the bullet missed, sailing past the tree and into the grass. But he didn't stop coming and didn't stop shooting. Fitz hid behind the tree, feeling the trunk shake from a bullet lodging into it. The shots didn't stop coming and the other man was getting closer and closer. Fitz stuck his arm out and shot again before retreating, trying to save his ammo. He could hear the click of an empty chamber and took his opportunity to ambush the other man. But he was closer than Fitz expected and as soon as Fitz emerged from behind the tree, the butt of the gun was jammed into the side of his head.

Fitz fell to the ground and the other man got on top of him, punching him in the face and trying to disarm him. Fitz held strong to the gun though, struggling to regain the upper hand. The overseer grabbed Fitz's arm, the one that was holding the gun, and forced it inward so that he opening of the weapon was facing Fitz. They continued the struggle, the gun changing positions several times before the trigger was accidentally pulled sealing both of their fates.


The loud bangs from the shots kept going and the idea that Fitz was alive was getting slimmer and slimmer. She was waiting for him to come through the door when she looked over at her mother. Greta nodded her head to Harrison and the next thing that Olivia knew she was lifted up and slung over his shoulder. She squirmed and squealed trying to get down as he carried her to the door with Greta on their heels.

"This is for your own good, Olivia," Harrison spoke, trudging forward despite the numerous blows to his back.

"Put her down," a voice with a deadly tone cut through the air.

"Fitz," Olivia rejoiced, so happy that he was okay.

Immediately she was on her feet and in his arms. She hugged him tight, not caring what the others thought about the display, just happy that he was alright. He held her as best as he could, his arm and ribs aching from the fights. She could hear him groan as she clutched him tighter then remembered that he was injured. Releasing him, she went over and got the strips of fabric that she had cut and brought them over to him. She had him take off his shirt, cringing at the bruises that were just starting to surface, tied up his torso as tight as she could without causing him extra pain then fashioned a sling for his arm.

"We have to go now before my dad wakes up," Fitz said through gritted teeth.

"What about the overseers?" Olivia asked, already having an idea as to what happened.

"They're dead," he said simply.

Upon hearing that, the other slaves started to chatter amongst themselves, trying to decide if they were going to run or stay. Almost all of them decided to stay, too afraid –too programmed for fear- of the repercussions if they were to get caught. Only one stepped forward, Elisha, giving Fitz an appreciative nod before going out into the night. They knew that he was going to and try his family and silently wished him luck on his journey.

Looking to her mother, Olivia nodded her head, signaling that now they could go. Before they left the safety of their quarters, she hugged her mother, then went and gingerly hugged Fitz. He leaned down and captured her lips with hers. She knew what this meant. It was an in-case-we-don't-make-it kiss. He wanted her to know just how much he loved her, that he would give his life before he ever let anything happen to her. When he pulled away, they locked eyes, saying everything they needed to say with just one look.

"Should we go back to the house to get supplies?" Olivia asked, looking towards the big house.

"Yeah, but let me and Harrison go in while you and Greta keep watch," he told her.

She nodded her head, signaling that she agreed. She looked around at the people she considered her family and friends. Even though she lived in the house, she remembered what it was like to be in the quarters and how they had a sort of camaraderie between them. As her eyes passed over everyone, she hoped that her actions wouldn't cause them much trouble. She knew that she would never see them again and wished that one day they would make it to freedom too.

"Ready?" Fitz asked her, taking her hand.

"Ready."

Each taking a deep breath, they ran out into the night and towards the house. Once they reached it, Olivia and Greta stayed outside as instructed while the men went inside. Fitz quietly told Harrison where Big Gerry was and to go and make sure that he was still knocked out. While he did that, he went up to his room to grab two knapsacks then went back down to Big Gerry's office to grab the guns that he kept there. Going to the gun cabinet, he took out two and a box of bullets. Stuffing those into the knapsack, he went to the kitchen, where upon hearing noise, his mother started banging and demanding to be let out of the pantry. He ignored her and went to the cabinets, shoving whatever food that he could find into the bag. He took the two pitchers of water that were sitting on counter and filled jars, spilling some because his hands were shaking. Finally he had the lids screwed on and he was ready to go, knowing that they needed to go into the woods and find somewhere to hid before the sun came up.

He went to go find Harrison who was standing over Big Gerry. Harrison's fists were bloody and Big Gerry was in a condition that he wasn't in when he and Olivia had left him. It looked like his arm was broken, the same arm that he used to whip slaves, and his nose was crushed in while each of his fingers were bent in an abnormal way. Knowing that he deserved it, Fitz couldn't bring himself to feel anything but hatred for the man that was supposed to love and protect him.

"Let's go. The women are waiting," Fitz told Harrison, handing the other man the knapsack that contained only the food. Fitz didn't trust him with the one that had food and guns.

When they went out the back door, Greta and Olivia were waiting for them, leaning against with house with two dead chickens and a handful of eggs. Olivia gave Fitz a sheepish grin and a shoulder shrug when he looked at her kill. "Good thinking," he praised then took it from her and put it in the bag, but leaving the eggs because he knew they would break.

"Alright let's go."

They went into the woods, each looking around for the slave catchers that were rumored to always be lurking. Fitz stuck by Olivia and Harrison stayed near Greta, both men poised and ready a fight in case a threat were to arise. They walked and they walked and they walked, not exactly sure where they were going, only knowing that they needed to get to the river. Fitz's previous plan of escaping with Olivia and possibly Greta in the open under the pretense of being a slaver was blown out of the water. He knew that as soon as someone discovered Ginny and Big Gerry, likely one of the Dutchmores, that wanted ads would be drawn up and every slave catcher within the tri state area would be looking for them.

The sun was starting to make an appearance, turning the once pitch black sky into a dusky gray. They decided to keep going until the sun was fully up, trying to get as far from the plantation as possible until they found somewhere to lay low for the day. With the sun nearly all the way up, they started keeping their eyes peeled for caves, niches, dugouts or fallen logs, anything that would provide some sort of discretion. It was when the sun finally came up that they realized they would have to take to the trees. Greta climbed into one tree, Harrison climbed into one, and Fitz and Olivia took another refusing to be separated even though they knew the chances of them getting caught was higher because they were together. Because of the risk, they went as high as they could, hoping that the leaves would camouflage them from anyone that happened to look up.

"Here, drink some water," Fitz said, handing her a jar and leaning against the trunk of the tree so that she could lean against him.

She took it from him gratefully, taking long sips before realizing that they had to conserve it. She brought the jar to his lips, having to hold it for him because one of his arms wrapped around her so that she didn't fall and the other was in the sling. He drank then pulled away. She placed the jar back into the knapsack then took out an apple that he had packed. She would take a bite, then place it to his mouth for him to take a bite and so on until it was done. Too afraid to drop the core to the ground, she placed it back into the sack that was slung across her body and carefully leaned back against him. She knew that because of his ribs that the positions should be reversed, but with Fitz being Fitz, she knew that he would feel like he wasn't protecting her if he were leaning against her and not the other way around. She distributed her weight evenly and besides a slight wince, he didn't indicate that he was in pain.

"Do you think we'll make it?" Olivia whispered so low she could barely hear herself.

"I will do everything in my power to make sure that you do," he responded.

"To make sure that we do," Olivia corrected, not knowing what she would do if something happened to him.

"Olivia, if it comes down to me losing my life to make sure that you get to freedom, then that's what I'm going to do," Fitz informed her.

"Don't talk like that. We're both going to get to Canada and we're going to be okay," she said, finding it hard to even believe her own words.

"I'll try my best to make sure that happens," Fitz promised.

"I love you. I just need you to know that. Just in case…" Olivia said, getting choked up.

"I love you, too. Now go to sleep. You need to get your rest for when we start again," he said, placing a kiss to her temple and rubbing light circles on her stomach to try and soothe her.

She fought it for as long as she could, but soon her eyes were too heavy to keep open and she fell asleep leaning against Fitz. From the evenness of his breathing, she could tell that he had fallen asleep too, albeit so light that a moth would probably wake him. This was just the first step in a long journey they were just now embarking on. She knew it was going to be hard, but in the end, if he was by her side, if her mother was safe and even if Harrison got to where he needed to be, she knew that it would all be worth it.


AN: So whatcha think? Some predicted that Big Gerry was going to rape Olivia then sell her while others just hoped that he would die. Nope. They ran instead. This is just the beginning of their journey. Idk how long this story is going to be, I guess I'll know when I'm done, but expect a lot more twists, turns, and heartache from here until the end.

Fun fact: Domestic refrigerators were invented by Fred W. Wolf in 1913, until then iceboxes rained supreme. I had a hell of time trying to figure out how to describe Fitz gathering food for the journey that wasn't frozen until I said eff it and just had him rummage through cabinets.

P.S- if you've noticed, I've decided to change the titles of the chapters to Swahili words, something I wanted to do from the beginning to carry on the theme from the title, but am just now getting to.