Chapter 21: An Ounce of Truth for Every Treason, Part 2
After Cam stormed out of the Situation Room, Fitz remained behind. He felt bad about the way the situation had gone down with Cam, but he had already suffered the judgmental, disapproving lecture from Cyrus, he didn't want to get one from Cam as well. But Fitz knew that if he was ever going to bring Olivia home safe and sound, he was going to need Cam's help.
Fitz let out a deep sigh. He needed a stiff drink. This situation with Olivia's kidnapping had left him feeling powerless and he was tired of that. He was tired of reacting, tired of waiting. He needed to act, not react.
He picked up the remote, pointed it at the large flat screen and started to watch the video of Olivia again. He was not sure why, he just felt compelled to do so. He put the sound on mute. He got up and walked up to the screen. Even though there were bags under her eyes and she was noticeably gaunt, Olivia's natural beauty still came through. He put his hand up to the screen to touch her face.
Fitz watched the video with the sound off. Something slowly began to dawn on him. There was a ferocity in her eyes as she was speaking. It was clear that whoever had taken her had not broken her spirit. Yes, she looked exhausted, but she also looked defiant.
Fitz turned up the volume as Olivia was in mid-sentence "…and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong…."
Fitz hit the pause button and stood there deep in thought looking at the screen. He repeated the phrase in his mind (…stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong). The quote was familiar to him. And then it dawned on him. Those weren't Olivia's words. She was quoting Abraham Lincoln!
Excited, Fitz went back to the beginning of the video, this time with sound. If his hunch was correct, Olivia was trying to send them a message by using the words of famous Americans. He listened to the video three times, each time jotting down a few key phrases. He then did a Google search on his iPad. And indeed he was correct. Fitz discovered two other famous quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. woven inside of Olivia's "treason."
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" and "I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."
"Livvie, you are brilliant!" Fitz exclaimed. He immediately picked up the phone to call Cyrus and Cam back to the Situation Room. Olivia hadn't actually renounced the United States. In fact she had affirmed her love for her country by choosing quotes from Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King. They were quotes that spoke to the best qualities of America – a willingness to fight for what is right and to stamp out injustice.