Chapter 25 - Fitz?

AN
Soo... I probably should have mentioned that we were going to be jumping back to the present. I'm sorry for the confusion. Also, I don't plan on abandoning the past story, there's just so much of it I wanted to tell I felt that in a way it deserved its own story.

A quick recap... Liv and Fitz are together and have a 4 year old called Oscar. Liv was attacked, knocking her out, and knocking us back to 12 years previous when she first met Fitz. Everything that has happened is related to the present, when we jump back Olivia has woken and that's where we are now...

P.S I'm going to be wrapping this story up soon. I'm thinking of carrying on with the 'past' storyline as a sequel/prequel, what do you think? Let me know... :)

P.S P.S, I hope you all have a super 2018.

"No. Dad..." Olivia moved her phone away from her ear, just enough so she could faintly still hear him, to check her watch. She only called as a quick check in but had now been on the phone for almost an hour.

She looked up and saw Fitz who was walking back towards her, using one of his hands to carry their drinks and the other to hold Oscars hand.

"No. It's fine... Dad. I don't need any agents." She quickly replied, aware that he was in fact still talking to her.

She half listened again whilst watching as Oscar was lifted into the seat next to her, unconsciously smiling at her son.

"I've got to go Dad. We'll be leaving soon." With that excuse, she quickly ended the much longer than anticipated call.

"Everything sorted?" Fitz asked casually from the other side of Oscar, passing her bottled water to her.

Olivia let out a sigh. Taking a moment to twist the cap off her bottle.

Fitz reached out and placed his hand behind her, slowly rubbing her back.

"What is it?" He asked looking over Oscar's head at her.

"He wants me to have agents with me again."

"Liv..."

"Before you say anything. I know he's trying to protect me, us. I really just don't feel like we need them."

After Eli's initial four years as President, he decided not to run for a second term. Instead he chose to repair the fractured relationship between him and Olivia. Although he wanted to run again, he delayed it until they were in a better place.

Fitz looked at her, not really knowing what to do. Was she expecting him to agree with her, or did she purely just need someone to vent to. He knew one thing though, he wasn't going to debate this with her now. Not with Oscar sat between them, and not before they were about to be trapped on a plane for a while.

"What did he say?"

"He said if anything happens, he'll have a team ready to go. So I won't have much choice really..."

"Livvie..."

"I know, I know but it's different, I'm an adult now. I'm not the same stupid, reckless kid anymore, Fitz. We both know all too well how that went for me. He still doesn't trust me."

"Hey, it's not that alright. Trust me."

Fitz quickly moved to the other side of Olivia and pulled her into him, letting her hold onto him.

"We'll get through it, together, we always do." Fitz murmured into her ear.

They'd had that conversation many times. Ever since they found out that Eli wanted to run for President again, they'd been having that conversation.

Olivia felt like she wouldn't need any protection. It wasn't like when she was at school though, she wasn't just being awkward and stubborn. Her and Fitz were living in England now, Oscar was at school there, their lives were in a separate country. Surely they would be safe.

Wouldn't they?

Perhaps not.

It seemed like trouble followed them, quite literally.

"Huggy!" Oscar said a little too loudly as he moved from his seat, to stand in front of his parents, arms in the air, wanting and waiting to be included in their moment.

Olivia offered her best smile to the young boy, trying to not concern him with their problems, as Fitz picked him up.

Within minutes they were boarding their plane, opting to travel on private plane. Olivia didn't know if she'd be able to deal with an overcrowded airport and the endless queuing, so they indulged. Just a little.

A little over eight hours later and they were landing in DC. Stepping off the plane and onto the stairs felt odd. It didn't feel like she was going home. Not really. There was a point in time when Olivia just about considered this home, but she hadn't felt like that in years.

"Everything okay?" Fitz asked from behind her, attempting to guide Oscar down the stairs, in front of him.

She didn't realise that she had stopped walking until she heard him.

"Yeah. It's just feels strange being back here. That's all."

Fitz just hummed in agreement before taking her hand, and helping them both down the remaining steps.

"Fitz..." Olivia spoke quietly as she held onto him as they walked across the tarmac. "How long is this going to last?"

"What's that?" Fitz asked briefly taking his eyes of Oscar to look at her. Not entirely sure what she meant by that.

"This..." She knew that didn't exactly clear things up. "Being here, pretending like nothing has happened."

Fitz could see that she was getting worked up. He stopped them at the car door, and wordlessly opened it.

"Jump in bud." Fitz said looking down at Oscar.

Oscar happily jumped into the backseat, oblivious to his Mother's mood, helping to shut the door behind himself.

"Fitz..." She still sounded on edge.

"No." He took hold of both her hands, looking into her eyes. "Take a moment, a breath, this... it's temporary. You've got nothing to be afraid of. We got him. Stevie is at home sorting everything out."

"Then why are we here? Why did we take off? Why have we just dropped everything to... to... to run?"

Although they kept their voices hushed, Fitz had a quick look round and noticed that people were beginning to watch them. They couldn't have heard anything, and they were probably harmless but they didn't need any extra attention on them right now.

"You're not. We're not running Liv." He replied quietly. Unsure what else he could say at the moment. Pulling Olivia into his body for a hug he whispered, "not here, okay? Later." He hoped she'd understand what he was getting at.

There were good reasons for not having that conversation just yet. For one, Oscar didn't need to know the entire truth behind what was happening. And although he was safely inside the car, Fitz could see his little nose pressed up against the glass window, and his wide eyes, staring at them both. Secondly, he just though that an airport, of all places, probably wasn't the best place to have the conversation that they needed to have.

He stepped back to open the door for her. Before she moved out of his grasp he placed a chaste kiss on her lips, not lingering for too long, to allow her to get into the car.

"Oscar James Grant!" Olivia said sternly.

His head whipped round faster than he would normally move, he knew he'd been caught.

She watched as he timidly turned to face her.

"What did we talk about?" She said less harshly.

"Daddy..." Oscar tried to plead his case, whacking out the 'Liv' special doe eyed plea. He was definitely his Mothers son.

Fitz knew better than to try to make an excuse for his son. He'd tried that once and only once, but before he had a chance to say anything he was cut off.

"Oscar. Daddy isn't going to help you." Olivia jumped in, not even giving Fitz a chance to cave.

Oscar dropped his head, looking down at his feet. His trick didn't work on Mummy. Probably because it was her that mastered that look.

"No wunning in the big house." He mumbled sadly, not looking up from the floor.

"And..."

"Stwanger danger."

"That's right bud, it's easy to get muddled in here. We'll have time to play later okay?" Olivia said bending down and lifting Oscars chin, to look into his little blue eyes.

Just as Olivia was about to stand upright, she saw Fitz move from the corner of her eye.

"Come on O." Fitz said picking him up. He knew Olivia was worried about him getting too far from them, and she couldn't carry Oscar, so he would. It would keep her mind at ease and him out of trouble.

After settling Oscar on his hip, Fitz reached for Olivia's hand, lacing their fingers together. It had been a while since she'd seen her Father, and even longer since she'd been back at the White House.

There was a strange sense of déjà vu, walking to his office having been summoned. Well perhaps not summoned.

They quickly made their way through the remainder of the White House. Her Father had asked them to stop by his office once they were settled, so that's what they were doing.

Although Olivia was born, and had spent the majority of her life in America, still felt like an outsider. If the circumstances of her family had been different, maybe she would feel differently but, it wasn't and she didn't and she didn't know how she really felt about that.

Ignoring the subtle glances and the not so subtle stares, the three of them continued to make their way through the corridors towards her Fathers office, stopping briefly at the door before entering.

"What do you know about him?" Stephen asked from behind the window.

He hadn't traveled with Fitz and Olivia, instead he was following up with Olivia's attacker. He had promised Fitz, that this would all be sorted out by the time they were due back.

He was now looking on at the young man who was handcuffed to the seat he was sat on.

"Not much. His name is Luke Ballard. Younger brother of Jake Ballard, who I believe you, knew. He's got no priors. He's currently studying at university, from what we can tell he's a hardworking student, good grades. Seemingly a good kid. This is quite out of the blue to be honest."

Stephen took in what the detective was saying, whilst still staring through the glass. He was still trying to wrap his head around what had happened.

"What's he doing here? He's American right?"

Surely it wasn't just coincidence, that after the whole Jake business, his brother would happen to be in the same city as they were. It seemed off. Too much of coincidence.

"Yes, he is. As I said he's studying at university. He's just started his first year."

"He started this year?"

Stephen said more to himself than the detective, he was mentally figuring out how old Luke was, and how old he would have been when Jake died.

"Have you contacted his parents yet?"

"We've been trying, from what he's told us they still live in the States. So there may be some problems on that end."

"Really?"

This was starting to seem like less of a coincidence and more like, a well planned and executed attack.

"He technically is an adult so we won't need his parents present to question him. We are just letting him sweat for a little before we go in." The detective said turning to face Stephen.

"I'd like to stay, if that's okay?" Stephen asked, turning to face the detective.

"Be my guest." He said as he walked through the door to the interrogation room.

"7... 8... 10... Weady or not, here I come." Oscar bellowed as he turned away from the corner he was stood in.

To pass some time, Fitz had suggested that they all play a game. Hide and seek. Oscar's choice. As they couldn't leave the residence the confined space they were in was ideal. They had already been playing for over half an hour, and although both he and Olivia were tired Oscar wasn't, so they forced themselves to stay awake, just for a little bit longer, or so they thought.

"Found you Daddy!" Oscar shrieked with excitement as he barrelled towards Fitz, running straight into his Father's legs.

"Oh! Not aga..."

He was cut off by his phone ringing.

Seeing that his Father was going to be busy Oscar took off down the hallway. He still had to find Olivia.

"What's up Stevie?" Fitz watched Oscar giggling at something, as he answered his phone.

"What? You have got to be kidding?" Fitz says in response to Stephen.

The next thing Fitz heard was something he was not expecting.

He dropped his hand from his ear and took off running in the same direction Oscar left in.

Everything was running through Fitz' mind at once.

That type of scream was not normal. It wasn't the joyous type. No, that scream was a frightened, fear filled scream and it was coming from his son.

"Mummy!" Oscar screamed out again before Fitz had found him. "Mummy!"

Fitz followed the terrifying sounds to his son. He found him beside Olivia, who looked to be asleep on the bed.

"Hey bud... Hey, O. It's ok, it's ok..."

"Mummy..." He cried, struggling against Fitz as he tried to lift him up and away from the bed. "No! No! Mummy!"

Fitz didn't know what had happened, in an attempt to soothe Oscar, he grasped onto him, pulling his small body into his chest.

"Hey... What's going on?" Olivia asked reaching out to Oscar.

In all the commotion neither of them had realised that she had woken up. Olivia looked towards Fitz who looked as puzzled as she did. What was happening?

"Mummy..." Oscar cried as he reached out for her, wanting to go to her.

She saw the tears running down his face and her heart broke. Just as she went to take him Fitz turned slightly. He moved to sit on the bed and waited for Olivia to also sit before he let Oscar go to her.

"Fitz?" Olivia questioned as Oscar crawled further into her lap, snuggling into her as much as he could.