"Where the hell have you been?" Cyrus yelled at her.

"Can we discuss this later please?" Olivia asked her.

"You bet your ass we will," he told her, "we have a meeting to get to, Sir."

Fitz told Tom to take Liv up to the Residence and not let her out of his sight. He followed Cyrus to the meeting with the joint chiefs and let Olivia go.

Tom followed Liv up to the Residence. "Are you hungry Ms. Pope? I can get the cook to prepare something if you like."

"That'd be great Tom," she replied. Liv looked around the Residence noting that there was no sign of anyone else. "Tom, where is Mellie and the kids?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, ma'am. The President wanted to talk to you about that himself."

"Oh; I need to make a call real quick then I'll eat something." Liv stepped into the hall calling Jason but got his voicemail. "We've landed and I'm in the White House. I'm getting something to eat so stop worrying. I'll call you when I can."

Olivia ate her fruit and sat in the living room with Tom reading the paper for several hours before Fitz and Cyrus came in.

"Thanks Tom, we need to speak to her alone," Fitz announced on arrival. He took the paper out of her hands and sat across from her staring at her intently.

Minutes passed before she opened her mouth, "are you going to say anything?"

Before Fitz could answer, Cyrus jumped in. "We thought the worst. For a week we didn't know where you were, if you were safe, if you were hurt. You should have told us you were going on vacation."

"Oh no, Cy, not a vacation. More like a trip to fuck a friend," Fitz commented.

Olivia sat quietly deciding if she should correct him. "I've told you, it wasn't like that. Jason is a friend. That's all he is." She wanted to say more, throw words in his face but knew she had no right to do that.

"A friend with lots of benefits the way it looks."

"Livie, just say it out loud, say it and I'll shut up. I'll hold you and tell you everything is going to be fine. I'll make everything fine," her hallucination said putting his arm behind her on the couch.

"But it won't be fine," she whispered. "You'll worry and then you'll leave."

Cyrus stared at her as she looked at air, speaking low. "We thought you were dead. How can you leave without a warning? Without a heads up that you were going out of the country? And you knew what he was going through. That's not fair Olivia. That's no being Olivia Pope. That's running."

"You weren't running, Livie. I know you weren't. I know you needed his help. Dr. Kessler has been great for you. He's your friend and your doctor. He's what you needed. Even though I needed you," her hallucination told her.

"It's what she's good at, Cy. Olivia likes to run when things get tough. When it's too much for her, she runs away like a coward," Fitz said while her hallucination spoke.

"Please just all of you shut up!" Liv yelled.

Fitz and Cyrus watched her closely as she leaned forward and put her head in her hands. What to do? She couldn't tell them she was sick, it wasn't the right time. She would tell them after she was healthy or after she died. But she could tell them, but it would get her sympathy. And if Olivia hated anything more than lying, it was sympathy. She stood up and started to head towards the door.

"I need to…"

"Go ahead," Fitz started. "Call your fuck buddy, I'm sure he misses you already."

Olivia whipped her head back to Fitz nearly losing her balance. She grabbed the back of the chair and gritted her teeth. "Do NOT EVER call Jason that AGAIN Fitzgerald. You can say all the shit you want about me, but don't you ever say another bad thing about him."

Both men were a bit shocked at her tone. Cyrus took a step back while Fitz moved in front of her. Neither of them had ever heard her speak like that.

"You are acting like a fucking whore. Sleeping around, kissing men and God knows what else while you are needed here. And not just for me, but for your team, for this city. This Olivia Pope, this isn't her. This is a slut. This is a whore who will give it up to anyone who looks at her."

Fitz turned his back to her heading towards his office. "Am I free to go now?" she called after him.

"NO."

Liv unsteadily went to one of the guest bedrooms with Cyrus a few steps behind her. When she went in and sat on the bed, he followed her and closed the door.

"You know he didn't mean that," Cyrus said. "He's just upset. He's been worried about you and then you look perfectly fine… it shook him."

"I know Cyrus. Do you hate me too? I wouldn't blame you."

"I don't hate you Liv. You just had us worried sick for a while. But now you're home safe and sound and ready to be Olivia Pope again."

"Sure, Cy. I'm going to lay down for a while. I'll see you later."

As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep. Cyrus grabbed a blanket and covered her with before leaving her alone and going to find Fitz.

He went to the Oval and caught Fitz out in the Rose Garden. When Fitz heard footsteps he turned to see who it was, wishing it was Olivia.

"I was too harsh wasn't I? With Olivia? I went a step to far," Fitz said putting his hands in his pockets.

"As your friend or your chief of staff?"

"Friend."

"You went way too far with her. You called her a slut and a whore. In a way, I'm surprised you didn't call her a mistress as well. Whatever the reason she left was, she definitely didn't deserve what you just said to her. We both know that Olivia doesn't take vacations. She worries about everyone else, especially you. She wouldn't just abandon you when you were grieving without just cause. So we need to cut her some slack, because whatever is happened, she's going through something right now."

"Aren't you pissed that she just left without saying goodbye?"

"Of course, but what would you have done if she did say goodbye? Beg her to stay? She knew that you needed her."

"But she left anyway. When I saw her with that guy, kissing him, at the café on that island, I nearly lost my mind. I'm here grieving for my son, trying to comfort my daughter, my wife, helping Mellie coup with everything while she has Andrew and the woman that I love is on some God forsaken island screwing people."

"How do you know that she'd been screwing him? How do you know they weren't just friends?"

"Please, Cyrus, you should have seen the way she kissed him. The way that she was able to talk to him. It was like she replaced me with someone her age. I could have lost her for good if I didn't bring her back here."

"What if you already lost her? Have you thought of the possibility that she may not love you anymore? Maybe she loves this guy?"

"If Olivia didn't love me, she would have put up a fight when I dragged her back here. She would have done everything she could to force me to let her go."

"Doesn't that answer your own question? Does Olivia love you?"

Fitz smirked at the idea. "Well played Cyrus, well played."