Hey all you Gladiators. First let me start off giving a shout out to all my brothers and sister that wore the uniform with honor. This is a day to reflect on all that we did and still do for this nation. Sorry for being off my game with this story, but I'm back and this is a longer chapter to try to make up for the lost time. I do not own Scandal or any of its characters.


Another outcome from Sam's illness was budding relationship between Dr. Rice and Blake. Dr. Rice was on call one night and she stopped by Sam's room. As she approached she saw that it was really dark, but she heard voices. She quietly moved into the room and gasped when she saw the universe projected on the ceiling. Sam, Lily, and Blake turned to see Dr. Rice smiling as she looked up at the stars.

Lily was the first to speak.

"Hi Dr. Rice! Do you like our stars? Uncle Blake brought us the universe."

Dr. Rice moved toward the bed where all three were lying and stroked Sam's head to say that they were the luckiest kids in the world to have an uncle to bring the universe to them. Blake blushed a bit, but in that moment he and Dr. Rice's eyes locked as he knew that her statement had a double meaning.

Blake had always been so quiet and introspective. He never was as raucous as his brothers. Blake had his Dad's temperament time ten. He had begun his Ph.d program at Stanford in physics, but since Sam had gotten sick he took a leave of absence. Blake always put his family above everything else in his life.

The spark was lit that night. The only problem was he was painfully shy. Caleb had to ask out a girl so he could attend prom. Blake was six two had the blondes of hair out of all the boys, and he had the bluest eyes, they looked like the Aegean sea. He looked like a Greek god, girls would away flirt with him, but he never picked up on it. He had finished his undergraduate degree at U of Washington in three years with honors. He won a Rhodes scholarship with the help of Liv and completed his masters in lest than two years. There was no doubt that Blake was smart, but when it came to women, he had been hopeless. That night in his nephew's bed changed all of that for him. He knew as soon as he saw her, she was it for him, and he thought he saw the same kind of recognition in Dr. Rice's eyes too. He wasn't sure so he was going to take his problem to a higher power, Liv.


Liv had taken on her roll as big sister with gusto. Her brother-in-laws held a special place in her heart. Although Michael had been so vocal and close to Liv, she sought to be close to Blake. He was kind of a bigger version of Fitzgerald. Very smart and quiet. She didn't want him to get lost in the shuffle of his brothers. Blake could tell her anything and she would help him with girls, but most of time he would ask for help, it would be too late. So she was really surprised and pleased that he had come to her right away about Dr. Rice, or Suzanne.

"Liv, I need your help and I...I really, really like Dr. Rice. I mean Suzanne."

Considering that Sam was still ill at the time, the welcomed distraction was great for Olivia. She could focus on something other than Sam being ill.

"Have you spoken to her? I mean, have you tried to start-up a conversation with her?"

"No, you know I don't know how to do that. She came by the room last night when I was showing Sam and Lily some stuff on the ceiling. It was the first time I saw her and something happened in my stomach when I looked at her, I think she's it for me Liv. I know I've never really dated anyone, but I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest when I saw her. Do you know much about her?"

"No not much, but Fitzgerald has had in-depth conversations with her. He told us she went to Berkley as an undergrad, then on to Yale school of Medicine, and then did her residency at John Hopkins in Pediatric Oncology. So, I would say that she if probably your intellectual equal, and from what I've seen with her interactions with the kids, she would really be good for you and any family you had. You will have super smart kids!" Olivia chuckled.

Blake got that silly grin on his face like Liv had seen on Fitz's when they felt warm and comforted inside.

"Listen, let form a plan of attack you can follow. How about you ask her to go get some coffee with you first. If you like I can come up with some topics of conversations for you to start with."

Blake smiled again and shook his head yes. Liv smiled to herself thinking that this was going to be like pulling teeth to get them together.


As promised Liv came up with a few topics to get a conversation going with Dr. Rice. She made Blake memorize them and role played with him to loosen him up. The next day Blake went into the hospital with Liv and waited for Dr. Rice to come in on her rounds. What they were not expecting that day was Dr. Rice had a bunch of interns with her. Blake nearly passed out when he saw them all standing in the room with her. Needless to say he didn't ask her out, so Olivia took the initiative and called Dr. Rice back in the room for a moment. She elbowed Blake in the side and then slipped back to Sam and Lily's bed as she crossed both fingers.

"Uhmm...Dr...Dr Rice would you like to get some coffee later after your rounds?" He blushed an incredible shade of red Olivia had never seen, but he kept eye contact with her the whole time as she coached him.

Dr. Rice smiled and gave a little smirk of finally said, "I'd love to get some coffee with you later Mr. Grant."

At first Blake froze when she said yes, but them he replied, "my name is Blake."

"Suzanne. See you in about an hour. Would you like to meet downstairs in the Starbucks?"

"Yes Suzanne that would be fine."

As soon as she left the room Olivia, Sam and Lily gave their Uncle Blake high fives.

"For a minute I thought you were going to faint."

"I almost did, when she said yes it got all fuzzy for a minute. I thought she could hear my heart beating out of my chest."

"You did great Blake. Go on downstairs and see if you can score a nice secluded spot for you two to talk. Remember, always keep eye contact and listen and don't anticipate your next question. You'll miss what she has said if you do."

Blake gave the thumbs up and left like a man on a mission. One Dr. Rice mission.


Blake and Dr. Rice fell into a routine of having coffee in the morning and looking at the universe from Sam's bed at night. After a week Blake was ready to take her out on a special date. He needed another piece of advice from Liv and Fitz.

"Liv, I asked Suzanne out for dinner and a movie. Where should I take her to eat here in Houston and where is the closes movie theater? Should I let her pick or should I since I asked her out?

"Do you know what she likes to eat?"

"Yeah, she actually has adventures palate."

"Take her to the Hearsay Gastro Lounge. Great atmosphere and bar. You should wear at least some nice jeans and a button up shirt and a jacket and nice shoes. Did you bring any of that stuff?"

Blake blushed as he told Olivia he didn't have any stuff like that, he always wore regular jeans and t-shirts for the lab and school.

"Ok, so we need to go shopping for you. Also, let her pick the movie that way she might surprise you by her taste."

"She already has, we are going to Comic Con in San Diego this year. She is just as nerdy as I am. I really think I'm in love."

The both laughed out loud.

"Later that day Liv and Blake went out and bought him some dress clothes. Even though Blake had his own money. He had never spent any of his inheritance or any money he earned as a research assistant, Olivia bought everything. She loved shopping for Blake he had the perfect body for clothes. She said that Suzanne will love doing this in the future. Everything he tried on made him look like a model. She even took him to a barber to cut his hair and give him a shave. Thank God that Suzanne could look through the unabomber look to see who Blake truly was. When the barber took off the hot towel from the straight razor shave, Blake looked more like Zach Effron than the unabomber. He was hot! When he came back to stand in front of Liv she didn't even know who he was. Her jaw hit the floor. She could say without a doubt that Blake looked hotter than her husband and that was saying a lot.

"Suzanne is not going to know who you are."

Blake smiled and said, "she will, she already knows my heart."

Later as they got back to the house. Before Blake went to get ready for his date, he went into Fitz's office. He needed to have a man to man talk with Fitz.

"Hey Fitz. You got a minute?"

"Sure Dude, come on in shut the door."

Blake sat down on the edge of the winged backed chair that sat in the front of Fitz desk and blew out a breath he had held.

"I need some advice."

"Shoot."

Blake felt his throat get really dry, but he needed his big brothers help with this.

"I...I'm not sure you know this about me, but I've never been with a woman yet. Don't get me wrong, I've come close a few times, but I haven't closed the deal before, and I really want to close the deal with Suzanne. I know it won't be tonight, but I want to be prepared."

Fitz sat back with a look of amazement on his face. Never in his life did he think Blake was a virgin. His entire life everyone had commented how handsome Blake had always been. Hell, he thought he had lost his virginity when he was twelve by all the girl attention he got.

"Listen, don't take this the wrong way, but how in the hell have you not had sex? Girls, used to chase after you all the time."

"Well...for the longest time I really just wasn't interested until puberty hit, and I usually self medicated if you get my drift. Most girls who chased me were dumb and I couldn't hold a conversation with. Then as I went along, I let my work fill in for a social life. Hanging with nerdy dudes all the time doesn't get you laid often. And as your wife said before I got my beard shaved I looked like the unabomber. That pretty much steered a lot of girls away. Suzanne is different in so many ways. I want to clean up for her, I want to do things for her, I dream about her every night. I want to go to bed with her and wake up with her next to me, I've never felt this way about anyone. So, when the time comes I want to be ready."

Fitz smiled at the sight of his nerdy little brother in love. It warmed his heart that in this sad predicament they were in with Sam that something spectacular could come out of it.

"Listen, let her lead the way for you. You'll know what to do when the time is right. Always keep her needs foremost in your mind when you two become intimate. I'm glad you came to me. One last piece of advice. If you love her tell her no matter how too soon you think it might be. The one thing with all of this going on with Sam, is that we don't have the time we think we have. Be bold bro."