Olivia provided Fitz with as much information as he needed ready for his discussion with Mellie to ensure that there were no loopholes that she could use against him. For the days that followed after letting Fitz know Olivia went back to OPA to strategize a counter plan should Mellie decide to go nuclear to expose Fitz on his his transgression, one of which was of course her. It was Harrison and Abby who insisted they come up with a plan, that she had a reputation and her own legacy to think of.

"Hey Liv," he answered his private line without hesitation making her roll her eyes. Any other day she would lecture him about how risky that was and he would just tell her that she was the only one that had the number to that line.

"Hey you. Are you ready?" She asked. Fitz was going to have his talk with Mellie in less than an hour. They had all agreed that it would be best that she was no where near the White House to avoid antagonizing Mellie should she sniff that Olivia was on White House grounds. She agreed to meet Cyrus at their spot in the park near by so that they would be close enough to run back should they need to.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"You'll be fine. Stick to the facts. As hard as it is. She knows that you would rather protect Karen than expose her. That if you had to make a choice, you'd choose Karen any day.

"That makes me sick to the stomach."

"I know but unfortunately that is a possibility,"

"You know with Mellie it's not a possibility Liv, it's fact. You've heard her. She had kids for me. To help with my presidency. To her this presidency is just as much hers as it is mine."

"That may be the case but you're the one sitting in that chair day in and day out. Don't let her diminish that. Yes she helped you get there but she didn't do anything she didn't want to do. She did what she did for her own gain, for her own political ambition somewhere down the line." They both knew that Fitz was merely a ways to a mean for her to reach her political aspirations.

"Fitz, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"I want to Liv. If I'm going to a second term I'm going to do it right."

"We'll get you there. I'll let you get on with psyching yourself up. Just be you. You have all the information you need. Don't meet her head to head. If you feel like you're losing control, take a breath. The calmer you are the faster you'll finish. She's going to push and push you. She'll count on you losing it and forgetting the whole point of your conversation."

"Thanks Liv,"

"Of course. Talk to you later. Let us know when it's over. Cy and I will be at the park having a coffee or at bar having cocktails, whichever is closer." Fitz laughed.

"Be sure to have a cocktail waiting for me.

"Tall and Black," Olivia said giving Cyrus his coffee.

"Banana nut muffin," he replied handing her a small paper bag.

"Thank you. How was he when you left him?" She inquired breaking the muffin in half to give to Cyrus.

"Much better after you spoke to him,"

"Good. Do you think he's ready?"

"That man was ready to divorce his wife the moment he met you." Cyrus answered without blinking an eye.

"He's not divorcing her for me Cy," Olivia protested. Cyrus gave a look of disbelief and shrugged letting it go for the time being.

"Once upon a time maybe," she said adamantly.

"How are you holding up?" He asked changing the subject, knowing that the possible fallout would affect her the most.

"It is what it is Cy. We were foolish to think the day that we had to pay for our sins would never come. Should that come to the light of day, I owe it to him to stand by him till its all over."

"Before you flee," he said knowingly

"We both know there would be no career for me here after that. There'd be no reason to stay."

"You summoned?" Mellie said walking into the oval where Fitz was sitting on the couch reading through the notes that Olivia had prepared for him in points so that he would have something to refer to when he felt he was losing control. He loved her handwriting, he always had. He had kept every note she hade ever given to him, her letters during those months they were together were one of his priced possessions. Where she was reserved in person she was polar opposite in her letters. It was a place where she didn't feel inhibited and poured out her heart and soul. Fitz ran his hand over her writing trying to gather as much strength as he he could so that he could engage in verbal sparring with Millicent Grant.

"Well," she said impatiently. She had gotten a lot more intolerant since Liv had come back into the picture.

"I want a divorce Mellie," Mellie rolled her eyes,

"Are we back to this? I told you my darling husband, I will not be giving you a divorce, now or ever. I've worked far too hard and sacrificed far too much to be discarded so you can run off into the sunset with your mistress." There it was her first blow,

"Firstly, we both know that Olivia has never been and will never be my mistress. She has and will always be the love of my life. That being said, we are not together and far too much has happened to even think down that direction. She is my friend and she is my closest counsel. I trust her with my life." As he said the words he realised that it was true, despite everything he trusted her with his life. That the last months had not only rebuilt their friendship but their trust.

"I'm not asking you for a divorce so I can be with her. I am asking you for a divorce because I'm done with the lies, the pretending that you and I actually have some semblance of love for the other, which we both know we don't."

"You will never win a second term without me."

"Probably not, but I'd rather risk that than run again plagued with lies and pretending. I've led this country for over a year haunted by the fact that I didn't deserve to be standing on that podium, to be sitting in this office. If I'm going to win a second term, it's with all my cards on the table."

"Does that include Amanda Tanner and Olivia Pope?" She challenged with a somewhat evil laugh,

"If need be yes. Olivia knows that it is something that could come out and as much as I would like to protect her from it, we've talked and we're both prepared to stand side by side by our decisions. Let me be clear Mellie, you may paint Olivia as my biggest downfall and mistake, but she was never my mistake. Chances are I was hers, but she has never been mine."

"That's incredibly heartfelt Fitzgerald but fact remains if you insist on this divorce I will use everything I have to take you down and if that means taking Olivia down with you, well that's just an added bonus."

"You're willing to drag our children into a messy divorce just to remain in the White House? What makes you think that I wouldn't just resign."

"You wouldn't,"

"You underestimate how much I love my children and I find that a little insulting"

"You loved them so much you had an illicit affair with with your campaign manager." She threw in his face viciously. Fitz took his first deep breath and counted to five,

"I know that it was wrong for me to pursue a relationship with Olivia when we were married. It wasn't planned and I certainly did not sought out to hurt you regardless what you think. Bottoms line is I met Olivia and my world as I knew it changed. We had a connection that parallels to no one else. She challenged me to want to be a better man. She believed me in me despite my shortcomings and instead of throwing it in my face, she loved me in spite of it. I fell in love with her and nothing else mattered. That was wrong, but she wasn't an affair that suggest that nothing beyond the physical was shared. I will forever regret hurting the children as a result of my relationship with Liv, but I am nothing but grateful for having her in my life. Mellie, I've sat down with the kids and I've told them that I was filing for divorce and the saddest part is that they weren't surprised and apparently wondering why I didn't file sooner."

"That's because you've poisoned them against me." She accused,

"Mellie, you have had the same access to those kids as I did if not more. The difference is, in the time I had with them I made sure I got to know them, that they knew I loved them and that they were the most important to me. I've never had to poison them against you, you did that on your own pretty well. The kids know about Olivia, about Amanda Tanner, and Defiance." Mellie gasped.

"I owed them the whole truth. They're willing to stand by me and Liv when you throw Liv under a bus. Actually we said no and they insisted. You have amazing kids Mel, it's a pity your political ambition has kept you from finding that out."

"Olivia will never work in the same capacity ever again once I'm done with her."

"She knows that better than anyone Mel. She knows that her legacy will be forever tainted with a so called affair. But you know what? She's still willing to stand beside me. We both acknowledge that despite our love for each other, we acted in the wrong time. If I were a better man I wouldn't have gone after her till I divorced you. We're willing to take responsibility for our actions once and for all and if that means it costs me a second term, so be it. Being able to live with myself is more important than a second term. At the end of the day, if all I end up with is our kids and my friendship with Liv that'll be enough because I know it's what's true in my life." Mellie knew he was serious, one of the many things that frustrated her about him was his idealism.

"I am not signing divorce papers," she said adamantly,

"Fight me on this Mellie and regardless your smear campaign against Liv and I, I will make sure that you will be stripped of any political capital. Don't underestimate what I would do for those I care about. I will not let you hurt our children anymore than they already are because you think that stopping this divorce will get you what you want. You may have been good at keeping your secrets Mellie, but I know what they are." Fitz stared her down and in that moment she knew what he knew and the colour drained immediately from her face.

"I always knew that it wasn't me that you loved but the power you thought that came with the name. It makes perfect sense that you would have an affair with Gerry Senior. The sad part part is you probably loved him and thought he loved you in return. That he would leave his wife and children, but Fitzgerald Grant II loved no one but himself. He would never give up the status of an upstanding married family man for a mistress. And really, even if he married you your position would never elevate to more than once a mistress of a four times senator, two times governor. It made more sense to pursue his son, get him the presidency so you can be the upstanding First Lady so when my term was over you can work your own political career. You could have stopped there but I know you loved him because you hung on for years, and even after we got married, you went back to him." Mellie was speechless. She prided herself on the fact that she was good at covering her tracks, but she should have known. She wondered how much he knew, if he knew about Karen. His face gave nothing away, not even the triumph that he had pegged her into a corner. For Fitz it wasn't about that. He just wanted a peaceful existence. A truthful existence. He pulled out the papers he had drawn and handed them to her,

"You will see that I have been more than generous with our assets. I want full custody of the kids because let's face it, it's not like you want them and I do. You'll find there is also a non disclosure in there about Karen. She is never to know her who her biological father is. I will not let you crush my child. She may technically not biologically mine, but I raised her and I will protect her."

"Go after me if you want, throw Liv under a bus and I will make sure this information is leaked minus Karen. I have made sure that there is no way anyone would ever lead to the conclusion that she's anything less than my daughter. I told you over a year ago Mellie, don't push me. I have had the best people come up with strategies for whatever you may come up with. At the end of the day you made a big mistake in underestimating what I'm willing to do to protect those I love. I think you've also underestimated what I've shared with Liv. What you don't understand is that Liv and I may not be together and may never be together but we're friends first and regardless of what's happened between us we care about each other and are willing to stand by each other. The best case scenario for you is you sign the papers and I promise to endorse you for whatever you choose to run for. Fight me and I will make sure you never run for anything."