Revelations and Reckonings

"What makes you so special?"

It was an intentionally blunt question. Sabrina was tired of talking in circles, never touching the topic they really wanted to discuss – Fitz.

Her sister's unfiltered speech, her lack of tact and manners, was beginning to grate her nerves and challenge her patience. She struggled not to take offense. "Excuse me?"

Sabrina had been eyeing her with something beyond mild curiosity. She was trying to read her; trying to figure her out.

"What is it about you? I've never seen him like this. He normally screws women over left and right, leave them panting after him like bitches in heat, chasing him all over the world, but you?...I don't get it. He's willing to break mission and kill someone for you. He could get sanctioned, sent to isolation, disavowed….all for you. Why? What is it about you?"

Olivia had no idea how to answer the litany of questions and she had the feeling that no matter what she said, it still wouldn't satisfy her sister's relentless inquiry. So she took the focus off of her by asking a question of her own. "Are you like him? Are you the same?"

Sabrina smiled. It was a complement and she was flattered. "No…he's a government approved criminal; I'm just a criminal period. He bargained for my freedom and lets me tag along as long as I obey orders and don't go rogue, do stupid shit, you know what I mean?"

"Mmm, yeah" Olivia stared. It was her turn to scrutinize – read body language, shifting of eyes and words unspoken yet implied. It didn't take long for her to accept her sister's credibility, largely because she had no reason to lie to Olivia anyway.

A feeling of pride welled within Sabrina. It was a good feeling to find her older sister fascinated by her life. It wasn't a very commendable life; she was liar, a thief, a forger and a murderer but the look her sister gave her seemed to communicate a non-judgmental acceptance that made her comfortable enough to talk. "What is it you want to know?"

Everything. "How did all this happen? Why are you with Fitz?"

Sabrina gave the answer to the question Olivia really wanted to ask. "You think we're sleeping together don't you?" Sabrina laughed. "Don't worry, with very few exceptions, I really don't like men. I'm not attracted to women either….I just don't like people in general. I prefer to be alone well, except for Fitz and Cyrus… occasionally."

"How did you two meet?"

"My mother…our mother assigned me to have sex with him and steal a valuable object," she sighed before continuing, "according to her, my beauty shouldn't be wasted and if it could be used to her, or our, advantage then we couldn't pass up the opportunity."

She noted Olivia's look of disgust that quickly transformed into profound pity. Instinctively, Olivia reached to touch her but Sabrina awkwardly shifted out of her reach. She was unused to human compassion and didn't know how to accept it.

She quickly covered over the silence. "It wasn't the first time," she said dismissively, with a shrug to emphasize her indifference. "Fitz was, at least, one of the more good looking and kinder marks."

She got a faraway look in her eyes; a look of regret, sadness and horror mixed into one. Olivia felt an overwhelming urge to comfort her. She could only imagine the type of treatment Sabrina may have received at the hands of men; degradation her mother solicited and sanctioned. It was sickening.

Eventually Sabrina blinked and shook off whatever memory it was that haunted her. That life bothered her a lot more than she would admit.

"You still think I got the better deal?...Be thankful you got some version of a normal childhood…Anyway, Fitz knew who I was before I even approached him. He knew who mom was, knew what she wanted. He had been watching her for years, always trying to gather enough evidence to bring her in. I have no idea why he wasn't ordered just to take her out; some higher up must have a soft spot for her or something.

"So he played along with me, let me believe that I had the upper hand, that he was responding to my advances. He even took me up to his suite. I really thought he fell for me but of course he didn't. I was knocked out cold and when I woke up, I was in handcuffs, arrested. He interrogated me for a week. They told him to give up on me, let me rot in prison but for some reason he kept trying. I kept silent, patiently waiting for mom to rescue me…She never did. So, long story short, I agreed to use my….skills and knowledge…to help Fitz and he takes care of me. I trust him. He's family….and I protect him."

"Your skills?...You forge paintings."

Sabrina beamed, "Among other things."

She didn't ask her to elaborate. She didn't need it, not right now. She hoped there would be time for her to get to know her sister. After a lifetime of separation, they at least deserved a few years together, didn't they?

"How long have they been trying to catch her?"

"This was 5 years ago. She went underground and hadn't been heard from for years. And now she has resurfaced. I assume because she found a way to use her other asset…her other daughter."

"She didn't set this up for me," Olivia immediately countered.

That mocking laugh returned.

"You can't possibly think that. Who do you think arranged for your firm to get this job? Why did the insurance company pick you out of everyone else? And the job you get just happens to involve your mother and your sister. Come on… don't be stupid. She got you this job. She sent you in to sleep with Fitz; distract him, make him vulnerable. She's been using you this whole time."

"Why does she hate him so much?"

"I think it's better he tells you that for himself although you might not like the answer. Some people cannot handle the true nature of the people they love."

"You have a misconception about me. You do not know me at all."

"Oh I didn't mean to offend you. I'm very impressed by the life you've built; the team loyal to you….and maybe in another life it would have been…nice…to be sisters, normal sisters but we are who we are….I'm not gonna stand in your way with Fitz, he clearly loves you and if you love him, then I wish you both the best….But if you can't handle this life, let him know now. You and I don't know each other; there is no loyalty between us. But him, I would kill for. I meant it when I said I protect him….from anyone."

XXXXXX

She had never been so aroused in her life; almost painfully so. She sat at the bar, a cool drink in her hand; her third. The ice cubes began to chime in the glass; she would need another. And suddenly the bartender appeared and placed the fourth in her hand, without her even asking. He gave her a knowing, familiar look and it took all her will power not to jump over the bar and pin him to the floor. She shook her head. She didn't want that man. She only wanted one man and he was nowhere in sight.

Her senses were heightened; she was tuning into sounds and feelings as never before. Her heartbeat resonated in her ears; a steady drum beat matching the flow of blood channeling through her veins to her core.

Club Joy. It was an appropriate name. There was certainly enough joy to go around; she hoped condoms were just as free-flowing.

She scrupulously searched the monitors above the bar, straining for a glance of him amidst the darkness penetrating the blue-lit club. Couples gyrating against each other; grinding against the pulsating music; liberally, overtly sexual invitations impossible to resist and eventually accepted either on the dance floor, in a booth or in one of the voyeuristic rooms where anyone and everyone could witness the act.

She crossed her legs again and pressed her thighs tighter together; a feeble attempt to suppress the urge to moan at the visuals before her. Still she searched the club for him, a glimpse was all she needed and then she would know where her sister had disappeared to and where the 'business' meeting with Fitz was taking place.

She promised her sister she would remain at the bar, not fully realizing the precarious position of being an extremely attractive female, sitting alone in a sex club. The offers and innuendos were plenty and coupled with the liquor, the music, the fuck-show in front of her; it was all making her head spin. Where the hell was Fitz? She wondered in a sexual frustration that confounded her entirely.

Her body was flushed, overheated; her nipples hardening and she could almost hear the low pant escaping her. How long had she been sitting here? How long would she need to wait? She sighed and laid a couple of bills on the bar. She needed to look around; to move and expend the sexual energy; she needed to do something, anything.

She had been in clubs like this before; taken into the undercurrents of society by one assignment or another. But her presence was always brief; she got in, got what she needed and vacated. The feelings that arose from being present in this establishment for a lengthy period of time were inescapable, irresistible and uncontrollable.

"Olivia Pope…You are definitely more beautiful up close and in person."

She turned at the masculine voice and warm breath feathering her ear. Although she greeted him with a blank stare, clearly conveying a disappointment that he was not the person she was looking for, mild curiosity prevented her from rejecting him. The African-American man openly admired her and took a seat. She had seen his face before but she couldn't yet place where.

Frowning, she taxed her memory for a clue to his identity. "Thank you…And you are?"

"Graham. Nice to finally meet you," he extended his hand and Olivia took it. He was a very attractive man and he knew it. The caress of her hand was not accidental. He gestured for the bartender to bring him a drink. She noticed him watching the monitors showcasing a variety of sex acts with only mild interest; he had been here before, so many times that the gratuitous display barely affected him.

It suddenly clicked where she had seen him before – Costa Rica; he was one of the men Fitz met with.

"You've never been here before," he tried to form it as a question but his arrogant personality resonated. He liked that she was a virgin to this environment. He wanted to be the one to introduce her to the pleasures that waited; he hoped that his confidence and insinuated expertise would draw her in or at least pique her curiosity.

It did neither.

"Did you really come over here just to say that? Is that the best you've come up with after watching me for the past 30 minutes?"

He laughed. "You are more like your sister and your mother than I realized…Are you going to sit here all night waiting for him?"

"Where is he?"

"Lower level…restricted access. You could be waiting a long time. These things have a tendency to go all night."

She rolled her eyes at the double entendre. There was no other choice; she was going to have to play along. And when another security agent stole his attention for a brief update, she took advantage of the opportunity presented to her.

XXXXXX

"I assumed you were Fitz's girl."

"I'm nobody's girl."

"That's good to know."

His speech was slurring. She had to resist the impulse to gag when his hand snaked from the small of her back to firm grasp of her ass. She just had to remind herself that this would be over soon; she only had to endure a few more minutes of it.

She allowed him to guide her to the back of the club, to one of the performance rooms. She was halfway there. As disgusting as it sounded, she partially listened as he described his 'favorite room' in the club and his assurance that she would enjoy it as well. Olivia spent her time devising a plan to get past the guards in the hallway and locating the quickest route to the lower levels.

"I've wanted to fuck you from the first moment I saw you…I knew Fitz couldn't handle your pussy," he leered as he ushered her into the room and closed the door behind them. "How long have you been waiting for a real man to show you how it's done?"

The room was as unappealing as its occupant; it looked like a 70's pimp palace, complete with plush walls, gaudy carpet and disco lights. She prayed for the patience to deal with one of the most revolting men she ever encountered. And suddenly he was in her face, kissing her, sticking his tongue down her throat. She wanted to push him away but she had to wait.

"You want people to watch?" he asked giving her the choice of whether to turn the cameras on or not. She could tell by the ridiculously conceited look on his face that he liked an audience; he actually thought he was that good. She wanted to laugh, knowing that with what she slipped him, getting it up would be virtually impossible.

"Whatever you like baby?" she responded in the most seductive voice she could manage considering her inner repulsion.

"I want them to see how it's done…" were his last words before he passed out cold on the floor.

XXXXXX

"There's a man!….There's a man upstairs and he tried to attack me! OH GOD..OH GOD…He knocked Graham out and I ran as fast as I could. YOU NEED TO HELP HIM, HURRY PLEASE. I think he's really hurt. I was so afraid…I'm so afraid," she cried hysterically, imploring the last two guards blocking her way to the lower level. Tears were streaming down her face and she cried louder and louder as she helplessly slumped on the floor in a heap of perceived terror.

After Graham passed out, she took the pass key she saw him place in his pocket at the bar. His telling sign of patting that same pocket when he said "restricted access" told her that it was the way inside.

She tore her clothes, messed up her hair; ready to play the part of a distraught, frightened female. She could pretend to be the damsel in distress, waiting for a knight to rescue her – men loved the ego boost that came from being a woman's Savior. It didn't take long for the men to accept her story and take off, abandoning their post for the sake of a fallen comrade.

As soon as she entered the secure area, she could hear the sound of Fitz's booming angry voice barreling through the walls. She put her ear to the door in an attempt to make out what was being said and to who but the words were muddled. 'Marie…guns' were among the few words she could discern. She could hear him demanding to know where the other shipment was and apparently he didn't get the response he wanted because he demanded it one final time before two shots rang out.

She heard footsteps approaching but the shock of the situation grounded her and she neglected to conceal herself before the door flung open, revealing her appearance to all parties in the room. Her eyes flew to the dead man on the floor, two shots to the head and Fitz was holding the gun over him. Her sister was there with three other men, she assumed were part of his team.

When one of his men attempted to lay hands on her she snatched away. "Leave her!" Fitz demanded furiously. The anger was radiating in high voltage from his reddening skin. "Get rid of him," he nodded to the dead body.

They filed out of the room with the body and Sabrina attempted to follow, "Where the hell do you think you're going?!"

She sighed in irritation before turning around to face him again, "Listen Fitz…"

"No you listen!...Why can't you ever just do what I tell you to do! WHAT THE FUCK IS THE MATTER WITH YOU SABRINA, ARE YOU STUPID?!… I told you to watch her. I didn't need you here tonight."

Her anger rose with his. "THE NEXT TIME YOU CALL ME STUPID, I'LL BREAK YOUR FUCKING NOSE!... I DON'T TAKE BULLSHIT ASSIGNMENTS; I'M NOT YOUR GOTDAMNED BABYSITTER!"

"YOU ARE WHATEVER THE HELL I SAY YOU ARE!...If you don't like it, YOU CAN GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY SIGHT! See how long you last without my protection."

Over the years perilous circumstances and genuine character admiration had developed into a mutual respect and love between Sabrina and Fitz that ran deep enough to bulwark against any threats to their bond. And yet the relationship could become instantaneously volatile. Flaring tempers would cause them to spew unintentional words, with neither willing to back down or compromise. It was expected and after a brief respite to allow for cooler heads, no injury was inflicted that caused a mortal wound fatal enough to sever their relationship.

"You are being a real BITCH, you know that!...FINE, you want me gone, IM OUT!"

Olivia was in a daze. She had no idea how the situation escalated so quickly, going from 0 to 100 in seconds. They were fighting over her and she couldn't let them walk away in this state.

"Wait!" Olivia called out, blocking the pathway to prevent her sister from leaving. She tried to reason with him, "Fitz, it's not her fault…."

He cut her off. "Olivia now is NOT the time for you to speak."

His voice was low, yet strained. He was attempting to control his temper but failing. His jaw was clenched, hardened and chiseled. His face was flushed red. He could barely look at her; much less hold a civil conversation.

"Mike!" he called out and instantly, one of his men re-appeared. "Take her upstairs to my apartments."

His apartments? Why would he have apartments in a sex club? Olivia suppressed the questions for the moment. They were both treating her like a child; giving her commands and talking about her as if she was not in the room; as if she wasn't on their level and therefore not worthy enough to voice an opinion.

He barely acknowledged her presence and now he was dismissing her. Olivia dug her heels in and spoke up defiantly; the calm, reasonable conversation she sought, now completely forgotten. "I am not leaving from this spot until I find out what is going on!"

He was like a dragon, breathing ferocious fire, ready to disintegrate her on the spot. "If you do not walk out of here, right now, he will throw you over his shoulder and carry you out."

XXXXXX

"What!"

"It's about time. I've been calling you for the past twenty minutes. Why didn't you pick up? Where are you? Are you still at the club? Come up here, we need to talk."

Olivia fired off the questions through the phone as she paced back and forth; she was beyond pissed. His treatment of her was unacceptable.

She refused to allow herself to admire her surroundings. The apartment was huge and immaculately decorated in a classic Grecian style; his trademark floor to ceiling clear panel, uncovered windows spanned an entire wall. She would have complemented him on it had she not wanted to kick his ass.

The faint sound of the music several floors below reminded her of where she was. He had a lot of explaining to do. And he would need to beg her forgiveness for his insensitivity; that was mandatory.

Sabrina remained quiet on the other end and Olivia could hear the purr of the car engine in the background.

She paused in her path and sighed in frustration. "So you ran."

"I did not run. I was done with him and the conversation."

"Where is he?"

"No fucking clue."

"What happened here tonight, Sabrina?"

"You need to ask him that."

"Listen, I know you're mad at him but don't take it out on me. I didn't do anything…."

"You did…we both did. We both fucked up, Olivia."

"What?!" Olivia screamed through the phone. She could hear the tires screeching and assumed her sister pulled over out of traffic.

"WE FUCKED UP OLIVIA!...You thought it was fun, getting past his security, fooling his guards but you shitted on everything! Do you know what happened that last time his security was compromised like this? Everything stopped; everything got shut down, the case was ruined, people got fired, people got re-assigned. He won't tolerate screw ups like this Olivia. He can't. His life is in these people's hands, in my hands, and he has to trust us to do what he asks. He has to know his orders will be followed. And if we can't be trusted…then what's the use of us, any of us."

Olivia paused, momentarily speechless at the weight of everything her sister was unloading on her.

"This is not a game Olivia….You can't play with him like this…You need to start with an apology…"

"I'm not…"

Sabrina groaned loudly. "GAWD!...You are just as stubborn as the rest of us…You should have stayed where I told you and I should have never brought you there. You saw the man he killed, you saw the guns. You're smart enough to know what went down tonight. That man wasn't alone Olivia and if anyone found out you were with Fitz, alone, unprotected at the bar, anything could have happen to you. I wasn't there to protect you and the man I asked to fill in for me, you seduced and drugged."

"Did you apologize?"

"Hell NO!...I don't do apologies. He knows that. If I apologize, he knows I don't mean it."

"Then why…"

"Because I'm not the woman he's in love with."

Olivia resumed pacing. As she had been all night, she continued compiling details, assessing their significance; putting pieces together, fitting details and connecting dots.

"This is all about her. He used me to draw her out didn't he? This has nothing to do with the stolen painting, does it?"

Sabrina remained quiet, only the sound of a low, steady breath in her ear.

"I just….I just want to know the truth."

"He tells you the truth in his own time. You need to learn to accept what he can give. That's all I can tell you."

XXXXXX

She was exhausted; tired of pacing, tired of thinking, a range of emotions draining her entirely. Her attempts to leave the apartment failed, twice. The men he had watching the door were not susceptible to her charms or machinations. She wondered what Fitz told them about her.

She thought to call her team, have them break her out of the confinement but she didn't know entirely what she was dealing with and hesitated to put them in harm's way. She had no idea how Fitz's men would react to the presence of her people and the unpredictable confrontation could yield deadly results.

All she could do was wait until he decided to grace her with his presence. The longer he waited, the angrier she became because she knew the delay was intentional; meant to teach her a lesson and she hated the power he had to control her like this, mentally and physically.

An hour had passed. Where was he?

She took a long, hot shower and as she had no other clothing with her, she wrapped up in his long bathrobe; her fingers lightly gazed over his initials above the breast: FTGIII.

An uncontrollable shiver snaked through her body as she recalled the evening's events. To witness him murdering an unarmed man should have alarmed her greatly; she should have been appalled at his actions. But she was not. He exuded such strength and power that she could only smile in memory of his bold, fearless and undeniable sexy persona. Secretly, she was awed by who he was and what he represented, her attraction to him intensifying exponentially.

It was not the singular idea of being in a sex club that aroused her greatly; it was him, only him. She was still angry at his reaction to her presence and stubbornly fought to hold on to that feeling to quell the thirst, which would likely result in the adverse position of being at his mercy.

As she exited the bathroom, she heard the door opening and froze; a defensive posture instinctively shielding her.

"Bring them in here," he directly curtly as he opened the door and stepped aside to allow a waiter with a serving tray to enter followed by several men carrying suitcases. They were her suitcases, filled with her possessions.

He had showered and changed. His delicious scent wafted from across the room, filling her nostrils. She would love to have melted against him, allow his scent to brand every inch of her body but his demeanor remained hostile. He barely spared her a glance; his body tense and solid, unforgiving.

Still, despite his ire, he had sought to take care of her. He arranged to have her personal belongings delivered. Why all her suitcases were brought in was still a matter up for discussion, among other things.

When he was alone with Olivia, Fitz began removing his gun and holster. He then removed the lid from the serving tray allowing the aromatic smell of the gourmet meal to entice her. "You should eat," he directed in a clipped, strained tone.

He had hoped the rush of adrenaline that fueled his anger would be suppressed by now but it had reignited at the sight of her. She had been reckless and irresponsible in her actions and it could have cost them both greatly, in the most devastating way. He kept his back to her, searching for a way to cool his temper.

"I'm not hungry," she said defiantly. She knew he sought to chastise her; once again dismissing her without a courtesy glance. Never in her life had she tolerated such treatment from a man and she wasn't going to give him license to do so. He could take his food and shove it up his ass. Unfortunately, the loud growls from her stomach betrayed her.

He raised an eyebrow at the reveal and she rolled her eyes at him. "Fine," she reluctantly acquiesced. When he didn't join her, she asked, "You're not eating?" She meant the question to appear casual and nonchalant but the note of concern in her voice was evident.

"No" was all he said. And he moved in the opposite direction, away from her to work on his laptop. "It's good you took a shower. I wouldn't touch you with Graham's scent and imprint on you."

Olivia nearly gasped at the insult. Thankfully, he couldn't see her embarrassment. She blushed at the knowledge that he no doubt saw everything that transpired this evening. He said it with such disgust that Olivia wondered if he had resorted to punishing Graham for her actions.

"Is he…is Graham ok? How is he?"

His body stilled at her question, displeased with her obvious concern for Graham's well-being. The inquiry was not welcome. She figured it was jealousy, although why a man like Fitz would ever feel jealous over someone as inconsequential as Graham was beyond her comprehension.

"Graham has been taken care of."

She couldn't taste the food. She ate out of necessity, just to satisfy the craving. She waited for him to say more but he offered nothing else. Typical. "It wasn't his fault Fitz…I"

"You've been saying that a lot this evening," he interrupted.

"What?"

He finally stood and walked over to her. He kept his hands tightly pressed inside his pockets. The urge to touch her was strong and compelling. She was beautiful, at home, barefoot and swallowed up in his large bathrobe. She looked like she belonged here, anywhere, with him.

But if he touched her, he was afraid he would never want to stop; he would never let go. No matter how angry she made him or how far she pushed him, he wanted her. He would rather have her fight and challenge him every day than be without her. It was that same fire; that same relentlessness that first intrigued him. Despite her petite frame, her stature was larger than life and she would never back down or cower from him. Her fierce independence captivated him constantly, leaving him mesmerized and easily susceptible to her will. For his own protection, he remained a safe distance, far from arms reach.

She stood to face him and their eyes locked. A frigid silence stagnated between them for several minutes, until he broke it. "Well…" he demanded expectantly. She continued to stare at him, now frowning in confusion. "I'm waiting."

"Waiting?...For what!?"

He couldn't believe she could be so obtuse, no, it was her stubbornness and pride that prevented her from acknowledging and expressing remorse over what she had done. "For you to explain, to say something, an apology…something even close to an apology."

"An apology?" And because he demanded it and didn't allow her to offer it of her own volition, everything that Sabrina told her vanished from her mind. His tyrannical attitude was not appreciated and she would not reward him for his horrible behavior.

He clenched his jaw in irritation. He started to advance upon her and immediately paused, frozen in his spot. "YES! A damn apology Olivia! Do you even for one minute understand what happened here tonight? What you have done?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know that when no one tells me anything?!"

"Are you going to stand there, look me in the eye and pretend that you did nothing wrong!"

She scoffed at him. "This is your fault. If you had been honest with me, instead of running out and leaving me with my sister, none of this would've happened. All I have asked is for you to be honest. But you can't even give me that!"

"I tell you what I need to tell you and what I feel you need to know!"

"I am not one of your hired men! You don't pay my salary and give me orders. That's not how this works!"

"Of course not, because if you were you would trust that I know what is best for you!...You would finally believe that I'm trying to protect you, to take care of you. Fuck!...Why can't you trust me for once, just once!?"

"TRUST YOU!? Why would I be stupid enough to trust YOU! You've given me no reason to, you've given me nothing. And after what I've seen here tonight, what I've seen you do; the kind of man you are, why the FUCK would I ever trust someone like YOU!"

He blinked. Someone like him?

It felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. His chest tightened, a constriction making it hard to breathe. He stared down at her and for the first time in a very long time, no words would come; literally he could find nothing to say.

He turned and walked away. He suddenly needed to be free of her presence; no longer able to breathe her air.

XXXXXX

He could feel her; just standing there at the threshold, watching him; questions floating on the tip of her tongue, desperate to be asked.

"Do you own this place?" she asked calmly as she took a seat beside him on the balcony. The skyline of city lights was translucent, twinkling both near and far. It was a comforting sight; a soothing focal point.

"What?" It wasn't the question he was expecting.

Her tone was teasingly light, "I'm sitting in an expensive apartment above a sex club, which is above a restricted floor where you engage in criminal activities…So, I'm just wondering, is this your place?"

"Would it matter to you if it was?"

"Not in the least. I've actually picked up a few things, some new techniques while being here," she joked. Taking his hand in hers she continued, in genuine regret, "I'm sorry Fitz. I'm sorry for saying I don't trust you. I do, trust you. And I'm sorry for jeopardizing the situation. It was never my intention to put anyone at risk."

"I'm sorry too…I should have told you everything. I let you believe it was just about the painting when I knew it was much more, so much more. I shouldn't have left you in the dark."

"I just…I need to know. What do you want? After tomorrow, when the painting is 'recovered', what do you want to do about…us? Do you want me to go home, let you do your job? Because I can't live a life with you being kept in the dark or half-knowing what's going on. I can handle a lot of things but this well of secrets between us, I can't. So…do you want me to walk away? Do you…"

He cut her off with a desperate kiss. Her face engulfed by his large hands, her mouth pillaged by his fierce attention; their tongues in a lovers dance against each other as the kiss deepened in answer to her resurfacing doubts. When he finally released her, their foreheads rested against each other as he panted, "I want what I don't have the right to ask for. I need what I'm not entitled to…what I don't deserve."

"All you have to do is ask."

Olivia suddenly felt herself being lifted and straddled onto his lap; the robe she wore unbelted and removed away from her. "Stay with me Livvy; stay with me," he implored.

The kiss was so consuming, Olivia barely noticed him picking her up and bringing her to the bedroom. He pressed her closer, an imprisoning embrace that nearly bruised her skin. And in return, she continued to cling to him; her hands encased in the curls at the back of his head; her legs scissored around his waist.

By the time he laid her on the bed, her body was on fire, screaming for him; a release to an arousal that began hours earlier. An unabashed, echoing moan escaped as she felt the two pronged assault of his mouth on her breast while his fingers plunged inside her. "Take off your clothes, I want you inside me," she begged.

"Not yet…not yet."

Feeling his tongue glide down her body blinded her intentions. She almost gave over; let him take her under, sink into the depths of his manipulations but she lost the patience for it. She had been waiting for him for too long. With all her strength, she flipped over until he was beneath her. His eyes widened in surprise at her aggressiveness.

"I need you...now."

It was clumsy, frantic, yet determined work removing all his clothing but when it was all done and she rose up to take him inside, they both closed their eyes at the pleasurable connection. "FUCK!" they moaned in unison.

Olivia reveled in her position and smiled down at him. She moved slowly at first, he was fully embedded inside her and going deeper; her body needed time to get used to the length of him. He gripped her hips, determined to take control and guide her movements but Olivia had other ideas.

She bent down and kissed him. Removing his hands from her body she pinned them down; their fingers intertwined in a tight grip. "I've wanted this all night, so you're gonna have to be still and let me have you," she whispered against his lips. His chuckle was mixed with a groan; an approval of her plan.

She rode him hard and watching her over him was one of the sexiest, most erotic visions he had ever seen. She took mercy on him, releasing his hands, and bent slightly, allowing him the vantage of taking her breast into his mouth. He sucked hard, painfully so, but the pain fed the pleasure and she invited more of it.

It was like their first night together; when the craving for each other had reached a heightened peak that, left unsatisfied, would surely drive them insane.

Her rhythm was making him crazy and he could barely control himself. He lifted his hips and it was her undoing. The scream of her orgasm was a captivating melody and he released inside her with a long satisfying stroke.

XXXXXX

"Sometimes I think: If I could find a way to explain what it is I feel with you or how it happened, the questions and fears I have about us would disappear."

"Does love have to make sense?" he asked.

"No, I guess not but this between us…it's not normal. It never happens this way."

"You don't want normal Olivia, neither of us do. We've become acclimated to a life filled with challenges and risks and now we crave it like a drug. We're addicted to it. It's who we are and it's pointless trying to pretend we could be anyone else. There is no normal for us…but in all the madness we're here, together and that's enough."

He would probably never describe himself as such but he was a romantic. Underneath all the jaded, cynicism about the world and all its darkness, he was an idealist, at least when it came to her. She appreciated his confidence; it kept her believing and held her fears at bay.

"Did you hurt him Fitz?" she blurted out suddenly. He stilled at the question and the inappropriate timing; a sure mood-killer. Groaning, he attempted to turn away from her but she wouldn't let him. Throwing one leg possessively over his body, she caged him closer to her. "Don't do that…don't turn away from me. I need to know that someone was not hurt because of me; because I acted without thinking."

Fitz stared at the ceiling, praying for patience, reminding himself that she didn't fully understand his world. He would excuse her mentioning another man in their bed, this one and only time. His tone was not angry but deliberate and firm, "What do you imagine should be done to someone who was given an assignment and failed because he wanted to get laid? How do I trust a man like that again? Should I put my life in his hands? Your life? Sabrina's life?"

She knew he was right. Graham was a trained, skilled professional and yet had proven himself to be a liability. There would be consequences to his mistakes.

He was still angry at the risk she took but he could appreciate that it showed him the type of man Graham was and the necessity of removing him before his errors proved fatal.

"I have no further use for him…I didn't kill him. He's being re-assigned."

He felt her nod against his shoulder and figured his answer satisfied her.

"You were jealous." She was teasing him; he could hear the smile in her voice.

"Olivia…."he warned.

"You can admit it Fitz…How much did you see?" Olivia sought to lighten the mood but soon realized she was playing with fire.

He suddenly moved over her, trapping both her wrists above her head. He was not in a joking mood. His stare was unrelenting, a menacing frown marring his beautiful features. "Trust me Olivia; you don't want to start this conversation."

She should have backed off, switched topics to appease him but his anger, his dominating position, left her inexplicably aroused. "Tell me," she whispered, already breathless from the weight of him pressed against her.

When there is a trust that someone will care for you, love you implicitly, the freeness with which you relinquish your body to their control can become its own aphrodisiac. A boldness of submission erupts, where boundaries are removed and licentious restraints no longer exist; sensuality rises to a new, unexplored level.

"I saw everything…I wanted to kill him for touching you and punish you for encouraging it."

"Punish me…how?" She had no idea what he would do in the next moment but she knew, she was absolutely certain; the pleasure of it would blow her mind.

And he didn't disappoint. Without a word, he forced her legs apart and entered her roughly. Olivia gasped at the fullness of him and attempted to free her wrists from his grasp but he wouldn't let her go. He went deeper and she closed her eyes, wincing in pain. "Please," she begged. Her mind and body in contradiction, she was hoping for a measureable reprieve while pleading for more.

He didn't let up. One by one, he put her legs on his shoulders and he plunged with such force that it lifted her hips clear off the bed. Olivia knew this pounding would leave her body sore; an imprint of his strength that she would never regret.

Again, she struggled against his grip. She wanted to touch him, feel his power beneath her hands. Depriving her of it was punishment, indeed. It was like literal bondage; an imprisonment of her exterior limbs intensified by an impalement of her interior.

Fitz remained conscious of how far to go; how deep to penetrate her. Subtle body movements gifted him the permissible use he needed, she allowed for and welcomed the pain. Yet he remained intentionally uncompromised and unapologetic for the tight hold on her wrists. He would not reward her with the gift of touch. He could see the beads of sweat forming as she concentrated her mind to accept the limiting of her senses.

Twice before she tried to kiss him, lifting her head as an invitation, but he retreated. Her disappointment communicated through whimpers and frustrated sighs. But there was a point when mercy was required for both of them. Her satisfaction beckoned his own and he found he craved her unique sounds of ecstasy above all else.

He finally consummated the kiss, while his free hand traveled down her body to her center, stroking her desire, eliciting that final emotion. Until that moment when the pressure percolated explosively and she had to pull away from his lips; her climax resounded in screams of passion ignited, flamed and expended.

A zenith for both of them. Pieces of their soul exchanged in the beautiful act of domination and submission, freedom and bondage.

XXXXXX

Olivia had barely fallen asleep when she rolled over, expecting to feel his warmth but encountering a cold empty space instead.

Alarmed, she sat up in bed and listened for sounds of him. She heard nothing.

Getting out of bed, she winced as her feet touched the floor, her legs were like jelly and she had to pause to get them working again. Approaching the other room that served as an office for him, she could hear his low voice on the phone. She stood in the doorway watching the muscles on his back tighten. "No, that is not what happened!" "No Sir!" "Yes…Yes Sir, I can finish it…I will finish it."

He ended the call and turned to find her watching him. He was not surprised by her appearance; he felt it, it was expected.

"Are you okay? What's going on?" Olivia asked.

"Come look," he invited and watched in open admiration as her perfectly shaped naked form walked across the room. When she was in arms-length, he reached for her and pulled her into his lap. His arm snaked around her waist and held her closer to him. He enjoyed the full access he had and as he began kissing her neck and back, he momentarily forgot himself.

Olivia laughed in the deep throaty way of hers that he seriously thought would bring him joy forever. His hands were like an octopus, traveling in all directions over her body and she couldn't restrain him. She was entirely too sore for this foreplay and besides there was something more serious they needed to focus on. "Do you think you can concentrate for one minute to tell me what I should be looking at?"

"Mmm…oh, yeah, sorry," he began sheepishly. He moved the mouse on the computer and photos appeared. Photos of armed men in her apartment and in her now vacated OPA make-shift offices.

It was sobering to both of them. "Is this why my clothes are here?"

"Yes," he explained, watching over her shoulder as she scrolled through picture after picture.

"Those were my mother's men, aren't they?"

It was a rhetorical question, so he didn't answer it. "You trust me to take care of you, don't you?"

She turned her head and looked him in the eye, "Absolutely…although I can take care of myself. I've never needed a savior Fitz."

"I know but can you trust that I know more about your mother than you do and at the end of the day, she is still your mother. It's an attachment not easily severed."

He was right and she knew everything would come down to a choice between her mother and him. A choice she had already made in her mind but thus far, required little action on her part to prove it. She felt the dread of knowing that soon she, like Sabrina had already done, would have to make the unalterable decision that would cut her mother out of her life forever.

She continued to stare at the pictures and he knew her mind had become engulfed in the maze of trying to figure out her mother's next move.

He closed the laptop. She moved off his lap to the other side of the room.

He immediately felt the loss of contact and wanted nothing more than for her to come back to him but she had questions that would no longer keep. The warmth of their connection would temporarily subside into a succinct, cold and factual conversation.

"You set this all up. Let her steal the painting so you could take it from her," Olivia concluded.

"Your mother thinks I'm a consulting criminal, out for hire, willing to do anything for the right price…just like her. As a matter of fact, we are often in competition for the same jobs; but she hides behind many layers of men in her organization and it has become harder and harder to get to her, even with Sabrina's help.

"So yes, we did. We had someone hire her to have it stolen and pay a large sum of money for it. Then we took it from her before she could deliver. We knew what she would do. She wouldn't steal it back herself, she would get the right people to handle that for her. It keeps her clean, too many degrees of separation."

"You knew I was coming. You knew who I was before I got here," Olivia concluded.

Her face remained expressionless yet he could read the battle of conflicting emotions surging inside. "I knew someone was coming but we had very little intel on you. You've done well separating your life from hers. There was almost nothing connecting the two of you. And Sabrina had no knowledge of who you were."

"You were using me to get to her…almost from the beginning."

"I told you the truth, initially, I had no idea you were her daughter. I didn't know you were that closely connected. I thought…I thought you were just another person in her organization; that your business was a front. We knew she had certain cops working for her but we didn't know who it was exactly and when you gave up Jake, I knew for certain that you had no idea who your mother really was."

In the silence, she processed the information. Was it acceptance or resentment on her face now? He could not tell. He continued explaining.

"Tonight, what you said to me…that after witnessing what you saw, how could you trust a man like me….."

"I didn't mean…." she quickly explained.

"I know, but it's the exact reason why I never, ever let a woman get close to me. The places I need to go for my job, the things I have to do, the risks I take, it's not fair to bring someone into this life, knowing I could never tell her everything. Your mother was facilitating a shipment of guns and I intercepted it; there was a second shipment happening tonight and when her men wouldn't tell me where it was going…I killed them. Your mother is a high-profile terrorist and I have impunity to kill whomever I need to, if it brings me closer to her…There are very few people I can trust Livvy. I cannot afford to let attachments to people weaken me. The moment I hesitate for any reason, I'm done, it's over. The people I truly care about can easily become a liability for me."

He waited, hoping it was enough to induce her to come back into his arms. But it wasn't, not yet.

"It went against everything within me to fall in love with you. It was never supposed to happen. And I'm afraid…I'm afraid that I've endangered you even more by bringing you so close to me."

She knew he told her too much; more than he was allowed. It warmed her to know she had gained his trust to that extent but it did not lessen the uncertainty of the days to come.

"Do you really think you'll catch her?" Olivia finally asked.

"I have to. As long as she's alive, you'll never be safe. Your mother doesn't appreciate it when people turn against her."

"Sabrina did and she survived."

"Sabrina has paid for it in ways you can't imagine. And she has learned how to protect herself."

"Why the pretense of making sure I knew you were personally going to put the painting back tomorrow? There has to be another way to…"

"Well for one, I need your mother to believe that I'm doing it just for you because you have me under your spell and appealed to my good nature. It's what she wanted all along," he laughed at the irony of the idea because on the whole the conclusion was truth.

He almost left it at that; surely that was a sufficient explanation. But he had given her honesty thus far and he wasn't going to stop now. Besides he owed it to her to prepare her for the possible eventuality of the evening.

"But most importantly, your mother is going to be there. She put the order out to have me killed and she's going to personally witness the finished job…So I need to make it as easy as possible for her to kill me."

(A/N: Apologies for the long delay in updating but I hope you enjoyed. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions for clarity.)