TWENTY SEVEN MINUTES LATER

Stephen, Olivia, and Quinn walked into Abby's office in the White House. Huck and Marcus had stayed behind to meet with their real client.

"She's not here?" asked Stephen. Olivia walked over to Abby's desk and, knowing her passwords, logged into her computer and realized that Abby was in a meeting and that she was due to be finished one minute ago.

"She'll be here any minute," Liv said, sharing a look with Quinn. They both secretly wanted to see Abby's reaction to having Stephen back, and learning that he was going to be back for good.

Three minutes later the three of them were lounging in Abby's office catching up with Stephen when Olivia heard his voice, and felt her heart stir.

She stood up abruptly. "She's here."

The three stepped outside of Abby's office to see Cyrus, the President, and Abby in a conversation at the end of the hall walking their way.

Abandoning all morale, Stephen called out for everyone to hear, "Abs! We've been waiting for you. Where've you been?" The entire hallway fell silent, and the conversation that Abby, Cyrus, and Fitz were having quickly ended upon hearing Stephen's outburst.

Stephen opened his arms wide, a grin on his face.

Abby stared in shock, realizing immediately who was calling her.

Quinn waited next to Olivia, giddy, waiting for Abby's reaction.

Cyrus looked on, surprised to see Stephen.

Fitz stared at Olivia, not registering anyone else.

Olivia stared at Fitz, forgetting for a moment why she was at the White House, and also forgetting that there were other people besides her and him.

The two were drawn back to reality when Abby charged at Stephen, literally.

Abby ran down the long hallway, a smile starting to spread on her face, which turned into a bubbly laugh as she ran into Stephen's hug. He picked her up and spun her around.

Quinn and Olivia both laughed. She was deliberately not meeting Fitz's eye, as he and Cyrus progressed down the hall closer to Olivia's group. As Stephen spun Abby around, Olivia and Fitz were reminded of the night of the election when Fitz did the same to Olivia upon hearing about his election.

Olivia didn't want to meet his eyes, for thinking of the memory had already hurt her too much.

Fitz however continued to stare straight at her, which Quinn and Cyrus noted, though neither said anything.

After Stephen and Abby's long hug ended, Stephen set her down and they stared at each other.

"I'm back Abs. At OPA. For good," he said. Abby was taken aback, and then, regaining herself, she immediately started punching him in the gut.

"Ow—" Stephen doubled over. "Abby… Ouch, Jesus Christ, Abby!" he cried. Olivia and Quinn both started laughing again.

"You—COMPLETE—bastard… showing up here—thinking…. with—out—even—calling?!" she said between punches.

"I wanted to call, Abs, I did. But I figured getting on a plane would be a grander gesture," he said, smiling. She finally stopped hitting him.

"I'm here now," he said weakly.

"You're here now," she agreed. The two smiled at each other.

"All right, come on, I'm treating you three to lunch," Stephen said, grabbing onto Abby and Quinn's hands. He looked back at Olivia, who had finally met Fitz's eyes. They were having a conversation with their eyes, neither of them muttering a word. Quinn and Abby shared a look, while Stephen looked confused, unsure where their relationship was. He read the news, watched the interviews, heard the gossip, but was still unsure as he hadn't formally discussed it with Olivia.

Olivia seemed to have won her battle, for she said. "Great, Abby's coming too. Her schedule is actually free for the rest of the day," said Olivia, curtly, still glaring Fitz down.

"Okay, great," Abby said hurriedly, wanting to get out of the awkward situation. Quinn, on the other hand, was enjoying this immensely.

"Mr. President, it's super rude of Olivia, she didn't introduce you to our friend here," Quinn said, taking Stephen's hand. It was Quinn's turn for Olivia to glare at her. Quinn was more comfortable with the President because of current events, and he had started calling Quinn by her first name, though she still insisted on calling him 'Mr. President.'

"Mr. President, it's an honor," said Stephen, holding out his hand. Fitz shook it.

"It's a pleasure, Mr…"

"Finch, sir. Stephen Finch. I worked for Liv back in the day, and I took a little, ah, hiatus, but I'm back now," he said with a smile.

"It's really nice to meet you. I hope Liv isn't too hard on you," he said with a playful smile. Stephen immediately loosened up, starting to like Fitz. He could see why a man like him could capture the heart of Olivia Pope. This softer side of him was something he hadn't seen much. He also saw the way that the two looked at each other, too.

"Well, we have to go," said Olivia, turning to Stephen and throwing him her car keys. "Go grab my car from the garage, I'll be right behind you, I just have to grab my bag from Abby's office."

Stephen, Quinn, and Abby went down to the garage, as the rest of the staffers including Cyrus went back into their own offices. Only Fitz and Olivia were out. Olivia gave Fitz a stern look before walking into Abby's office. He came in behind her, shutting the door.

"I'm glad you have him back," he said softly.

"So am I. I've missed him. The last time I saw Stephen…" she froze, remembering.

"Was when he rescued you. I remember."

Olivia looked down, and then turned around to face him.

"Fitz…" she started. He waited. "Somebody is trying to kill Rowan, and I know that he will do everything in his large amount of power to stop that from happening. He will take any measure, cross any line…" she paused. "He'd kill me if that meant saving his own skin."

"Liv, you're not dying," said Fitz.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying he's after me, but he'll do anything to protect his own skin. He knows that the only reason I let him out was for you and me, so he can twist anything in his mind, tell himself that it is payback… I'm fine. I was just telling you. And I shouldn't of. But my people and I, we're on him. I'll tell Abby about any cause for concern. I just wanted to let you know.

"I wasn't saying it as a fact," he said.

"What?"

"I'm not saying that you are most definitely not going to die, I'm telling you, that I can't have you die. I'm asking you, please don't get your self killed."

Olivia looked down. He crossed the room and stood right in front of her. They hadn't been this close in ages. She could smell his sent, and was trying very hard not to think of inappropriate thoughts, of kissing him, of running her hands through his hair…

She let out the smallest gasp when she felt his hand connect with her chin, the electricity shooting through the two of them at the touch. He brought her face up, their eyes meeting.

Fitz stared into her doe-like brown eyes, never ceasing to be amazed at her beauty. Watching her laugh at the sight of Stephen surprising Abby, hearing that sound brought him back to life. He loved her so much, he loved her hair, her eyes, her smile, her laugh, her legs, her neck, her nose, her everything.

Olivia stared into his gorgeous, icy-blue eyes, trying not to get lost in them.

"Livvie," he said softly. "Livvie, I'v already lost you. But having a wold that exists without you? I can't… You cannot die. This world will fall into chaos without Olivia Pope. I'm not the only one that needs you," he said.

But you're the only one that I need, she wanted to say, but she kept her mouth shut.

"I'm not going to die. I would never give my father that satisfaction," she said, breaking their connection. She felt her body slowly shut down without his touch, but she picked up her bag and continued out the door. She stopped at the doorframe, and turned around to say, "And you haven't lost me. Stop being so dramatic. I'll never be lost to you, and I'll never loose you," and she left quickly, refusing to let him see the tears in her eyes.

Hey cutie pies! I haven't formally introduced myself, I though now would be a good time! I'm shootingstarzblr, and this is my first fic. I love love love writing it, and I love even more your reviews, it means so much to hear your opinions! You guys are the best :)

I just wanted to let you know that I plan on this having an Olitz endgame, so stick with it. I promise in the next chapters we will get more of our faves interacting with each other.

I know that most of you hate Mellie and Joke, and I most certainly agree on the Joke part (he is literal trash) although I don't totally despise Mellie, which is why I'm not going to put her in the worst light in this story. She still is a mother underneath it all, and I'm really going to explore that aspect of her. I will literally rip Joke to pieces in this story though, I hate him so much omg.

But I will mostly focus on OPA (Stephen returning, yay!), Abby and Olivia's relationship, and of course Olitz!

I love all of you and will try to update as soon as I can!

Thanks for everything, keep posting reviews.

Till next time,

xoxo