A/N: The last episode I saw was the in the beginning of season 5, so I know things aren't very accurate with how the election went down. That being said, this is just a fanfiction. I appreciate all of my readers and your reviews. Please let me know what you think!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from ABC's Scandal or anything/anyone else.

Jake, Valerie, Karen, and Teddy sat with Mellie at her campaign headquarters in D.C. on the second Tuesday in November, the day that either made the rest of her career or could bring it to standstill. It was now 6 p.m., and state voting totals were starting to come in more consistently. She was in the lead with twenty more electoral votes than her competitor, but she wasn't very hopeful. They were all sitting around a wall with four TVs on it, and extra Secret Service at every door and window in the room. She was accustomed to it, and was glad Will and Francis could just sit with her and not worry about working so much. She sat between Jake and Karen on a red leather couch, watching poll numbers pour in by the second. Her advisors and campaign managers kept giving her updates on the numbers, but she didn't even listen. She wasn't worried any more.

She was wearing a new signature red dress, black heels, and a freshly shined pearl necklace. Jake was in his best dark gray suit and red tie, wishing he could calm her nerves. Karen and Valerie were wearing dresses they had gotten a week before when they went shopping together, and Teddy was dressed in khakis, a blue dress shirt, and a navy-blue sweater vest.

Two more hours passed, and her and her opponent only had a difference of 10 electoral votes and a million popular votes between them. She was still in the lead for the time being, and for that Jake was grateful. He wanted to see her make it to the White House and be President, because he knew she would be great. He could tell she was just ready to get it over with at this point. He knew she didn't want to lose and see all her work have gone to waste, but also would be slightly relieved and disappointed if she did lose.

"Mrs. Richardson, here's the latest from Florida," one of her campaign workers said, handing her a sheet of paper, and Mellie didn't even take it.

"No more poll numbers! I do not want any more numbers shoved in my face, do you understand? I will watch it on TV with the rest of America," she growled, fists clenched and teeth gritted, and the terrified worker quickly went back to her station. Jake gave Will a look from across the room and they stepped into the hall to talk.

"Is this normal? I need to get her a drink. She needs to relax. I-"

"Jake. This is how Mellie deals with pressure. She bites peoples' heads off. And no, there is no alcohol up here in the event she wins the election. She cannot have any alcohol as not to impair her. She is fine," Will said. "Any more questions?"

"No," Jake said meekly, feeling dumb for worrying about Mellie so much. He went and sat back down beside her, quietly watching the rest of the results with her.

Around 10 pm, the race was still neck and neck, and Mellie couldn't take any more of it. She left the room she had been in for the past five hours and walked down the hall to a conference room, two Secret Service agents in tow, one of them being Will. Jake got up and followed, but waited in the hallway.

Mellie went and stood by the window that made up the entire fourth wall of the room, overlooking the city lights. She sighed quietly as she leaned against it, and could feel the agents in the room with her.

"Mrs. Richardson, you need to step away from the window, please," the younger agent said sternly, and she dropped her head in frustration.

"Can't I do anything?" She growled, quietly stomping her foot. "I will move away from this window when I want. The chances of a long-range shooter are slim, and so what if there is? It could happen to anybody. I'm tired of-"

She turned around and saw Will standing there with the now slightly shocked younger agent, Zach. Will's look of concern told her that she needed to calm down, and she quit talking and frowned.

"Mrs. Richardson, Agent Zachary here is new to the detail and was just following protocol. It would be advised that you step back from the window, however," Will explained calmly, and Mellie sighed softly, sitting down in a chair at the conference table.

"What if I lose, Will? This will have been a wasted effort," she explained, laying her hands on the table, admiring her diamond ring she now wore in place of her wedding ring and her silver diamond encrusted watch.

"I don't think it was a wasted effort, ma'am. There are plenty of people out there who agree with your stances on the issues and want to see your changes go into effect. If you get that chance, then that is wonderful. If you don't, you can support the other candidate and go back to being a senator again. We are all proud of you either way, and I know Falcon would be too," Will said softly. "I know Flame is incredibly proud of you. I think he would like to talk to you."

She leaned back in the rolling chair, knowing Will was right. She and Fitz had their differences, but he supported this journey of hers and would've been proud of how far she had come. Her eyes met his and he nodded slightly, and she knew she'd better talk to Jake.

"Bring him in," she said softly, and Will stepped out of the room. He saw Jake leaning against the opposite wall, looking worried.

"She agreed to see you," Will said softly, and Jake stood up straight, buttoning his jacket and following Will back into the room. His eyes met Mellie's and Will saw him relax, and nudged Zach to follow him into the hall. They got into the hall and shut the door, and Zach realized Will knew something he didn't.

"Sir, shouldn't one of us stay with them since there is supposed to be heightened security tonight?" He asked quietly as they stood outside the glass door, able to see them both.

"No. They are fine," Will started walking down the hall, back towards the common area everyone was gathered in. Zach followed, quite confused.

"Sir, shouldn't we stay outside the-"

"Zach, listen," Will said, stopping and turning around to face him. "They are two consenting adults. He would never harm her. I have known them long enough to know she is safe with him. As for something catastrophic happening, we might not be able to protect her any more than he could, maybe not at all. But the chances of that happening are slim to none. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," he said, following Will back down the hall to watch the rest of the election results.

"How are you?" Jake asked, sitting in the chair to the left of Mellie. He gently held out his hand and she set hers in his, squeezing it tightly.

"Ready for this to be over," she said honestly. "I'm done. I don't know why I even bothered doing this now. Maybe I just did it to prove Fitz wrong. Maybe at first I really did want to change things. I don't know now."

"I think," Jake said, "you did it to make a difference. Deep down you care and want to deliver justice to all those who deserve it. You were in this for the right reasons," he assured her. "I know you, Mellie. I know you care about way more than this nasty, so-called media portrays you to. Just ride this out, and no matter what happens, tomorrow you will still be Mellie. You will still have two beautiful children to go home to and be their mother, and you will still be a smart, great woman who has done more than some could have ever dreamed of doing. So don't be so hard on yourself."

She sighed and nodded, knowing he was right. She would still wake up tomorrow, no matter the outcome, and put on her pants one leg at a time. She would still be the same, just possibly changing job titles.

"You want to go back out there yet?" He asked hesitantly, and she looked at her watch and saw it was almost 10:45 pm.

"Has anything changed?" She asked him, and pulled up the results on his phone.

"You picked up Ohio, but there's only four votes difference between you two in the electoral college. You're still winning, but more states are about to report, so we'll know how the lead is going then," he said, and she was surprised to hear they got Ohio.

"We'll just sit back and enjoy this ride then, won't we?" She said, standing up and taking his hand. He stood up and took off his red campaign cap of hers and set it on the table. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her beautiful pink lips, biting them softly. She held on tightly to his back, safe in his arms as he cherished her. She didn't care if Will and Zach saw them, she knew no one publicly would see. She refused to let herself have sex with him tonight, not here; she wanted it to mean something. His hand moved down her warm thigh, then back up her dress where he gripped her ass and pulled her closer to his body. His hardening crotch was pressed again hers, and she enjoyed it more than not. She kissed him harder, deeper, sadly knowing they needed to get back to the watch room. Will came back down the hall to check on them, and upon seeing them, and he quickly turned around.

"How is she, sir?" Zachary asked.

"She's fine," Will said sternly, taking his position slightly closer to the door. Zachary moved closer, trying to see, and Will scolded him.

"Foxtail is fine, Agent," Will said, almost angrily, and Zachary stood up and looked straight ahead.

"Jake," Mellie said softly between his kisses, "I need to go back."

"Are you sure?" He smiled, kissing her once more.

"Unfortunately," she said. "But either way...you and Val are more than welcome to spend the night with us tonight," she said encouragingly.

"I'll talk to her. I'm feeling pretty good today, we might just have to take you up on that offer," he said, giving her a hug, then following her out the door and back to the watch room.

Around 1:30 am, Mellie knew it was almost all over. Her career in politics was probably finished after the rest of her term as senator. She was ready to face whatever was to come tomorrow. She was at 267 electoral votes, and her opponent was at 265. The next state or two to come in with results would decide it all. All the swing states had already reported, and she hated waiting on the smaller states.

Jake held on to her hand tightly and she kept her free arm around Karen. The newest polls came in every thirty seconds, and she thought the misery would never end. At this point, she still didn't know what she wanted the outcome to be. She was concerned about her future and the future of this country, but also equally concerned about Karen, Teddy, Jake, and Valerie's futures. She needed to be able to take care of them properly. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the crowded couch, taking a deep breath. Over a minute later, she felt Jake squeeze her hand and the room fell dead silent. She didn't sit up and look at the results. She knew she had lost, and accepted it.

"Mels," Jake whispered softly.

"I know," she whispered back. "I'm ok."

She sat up and stared at the TV screen in front of her; her opponent won 273 to 267 and was ahead in the popular vote. She decided to wait on one more state before conceding and addressing her supporters outside.

"It's over," she whispered, feeling relief throughout her entire body. Her campaign team began thanking her for the opportunity and telling her she had run a great race. She thanked them all once more and said goodbye to those that didn't have to stick around to shut down. She had her makeup touched up as she prepared to go onstage and confront the crowds in ten minutes. She planned to call her opponent and concede before then. Two more states came in and went to her opponent, and she called him, telling him he worked hard to get there, she wished nothing but the best for him, and if he needed something to call her. She could finally breathe once that was over, and now all she had to do was address her supporters. She wasn't nervous, but she had forgotten everything she was supposed to say. Her speechwriter handed her a copy to review and Mellie skimmed it nervously.

"I can't do this, I can't remember this," she said, about to panic. She was so relaxed, so calm, but her brain was freaking out.

"Mellie, you will be fine. Remember the introduction and after that you can start reading if necessary. Just look up every few sentences, ok? The speech is already out there at the podium. If you panic, just improvise and do the best you can," Natalie, her speechwriter assured her.

"Ok," Mellie said, almost short of breath as she read over her speech and watched the clock as time slipped away. Teddy ran over to her and she picked him up, glad to have him in her arms.

"We going back to Daddy's house, Mama?" He asked happily, and within earshot of Karen, Valerie, and Jake. Valerie squeezed his hand and he rested his other hand on Karen's shoulder in confirmation.

"Not right now, baby. We'll go visit soon, ok?" She told him, kissing his forehead, trying not to cry. She continued to hold him as she looked over her speech, and she realized how relaxed she was around him. She came up with her plan right then and Karen came over to hug her.

"I'm proud of you, Mom. You're still way cooler than that other guy," she smiled, and Mellie grinned. "You nervous?"

"A little," she said shakily.

"Don't be. We'll go home after this and have a good time," Karen said, hugging her once more. "Good luck."

"Thanks," she said, looking at her watch again. She had five more minutes left, and called out for Natalie. She came over within seconds and Mellie started telling her the new plan.

"Look, two sentences in, at the end of the intro, send Teddy out. Have him run across the stage and I'll hold him for the rest of the speech. It'll look good for us and keep me calm," she laughed softly. "We still need the family image. We will always have him beat on that."

"Yes ma'am," Natalie said, making notes on her clipboard and talking into her earpiece.

"Ted, you wanna help Mama out during her speech?" Mellie asked him, and he just smiled and nodded.

"As soon as Ms. Natalie tells you to run out on stage, run out on stage and over to me, ok? Just me and you talking to these people. They love you too, Ted. You got that?" She explained, and he nodded, giving her a tiny kiss on the cheek. She kissed his forehead and set him down, watching him run over to Jake and hold his hand as they went to wait in the stage wings.

She took a deep breath as she prepared to face the consequences of running clean. Of running as a junior senator. Of running for president at all. Her heart hurt, but her conscience was clean, and that was what mattered to her.