"Josh!"

As soon as I can see her, I can breathe again. I know it's irrational. I know it was just a vague threat. I know I'm over-reacting. But that doesn't mean I can stop the worry from circulating in my brain.

I've learned to manage it better, but making it stop? I don't think that will ever happen.

When she's close enough, I carefully look her over from head to toe. Just to be sure. Then I look deep into her eyes. There I find understanding and a bit of indulgence. She knows this is hard for me. I just worry.

She's looking right back into my eyes. "Joshua. I'm fine." Her eyes flick over to Olive and mine follow.

The calmness that I had just started to feel vanishes as I see her face. There is a bruise on her cheekbone and a scab on her lip. She looks so small. She's only a couple years older than Anna for God's sake.

"What the hell happened?" I try to keep the vitriol out of my tone. Of course, I'm furious, but I don't want to scare Olive.

"We'd like to take her statement first, Mr. Lyman." Jackie inserts, opening the door and steering Olive through it.

"Of course." I mutter following the ladies into the office.

"Right in here." Jackie opens a door to a small room, shaking her head at us to indicate that we shouldn't follow. Olive looks back at Donna uncertainly.

"It's okay." Donna offers soothingly. "I'll be right out here. Just tell Jackie what happened. Answer all her questions. You didn't do anything wrong. We just need some more information to help you."

I think Donna's being a little unrealistic about Jackie's motives, but I'm not going to mention it now. Jackie might feel sorry for Olive, but her job is to protect Donna. Jackie's only concern at this moment is getting all the relevant information so she can do a threat assessment. Helping Olive is probably the last thing on her mind.

But I know Donna. I have no doubt that Donna is more concerned about Olive than she is herself. I'm concerned with Olive's safety for two reasons. First, Olive is a person and no one should be abused. And second, I need to keep Olive safe because Donna's not going to walk away from this situation. Therefore the two are intertwined.

As the door closes, I steer Donna over to some chairs on the far side of the room.

"Tell me what you know."

"I noticed bruises on her wrists a few weeks ago. Damn it, I should have done more to get her out of the situation then. But she claimed he'd never hit her so I let it go."

"Hey, it's not your fault. She made a choice to stay with him then. We'll do everything we can now that she's ready."

"It is my fault! He wanted her to move to Michigan with him. When she told me she was considering it, I told her about Dr. Freeride. Then when Olive told him no, that's when he smacked her around."

"Still not your fault. What would it be better if you hadn't told her your story and she moved with him?"

"No. Of course not."

"Who is he?"

"Yeah, about that. You're really not going to like this. . . . "He's Senator Malken's youngest."

"Nick?"

"Yeah."

"Crap."

"Yeah."

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. I need to think about this. If Olive is to be believed, and I do believe her, it's pretty obviously assault and battery. The problem is there is no guarantee that she'll be believed. Victims, especially women, face this dilemma all the time. It's he said/she said. He could claim that it wasn't him. Or he could claim self-defense. And he comes from a powerful family. He'll have a pile of lawyers ready to intimidate her and try to keep her from talking. If we take them on it's going to be a monumental task. But if she wants to, I'll join the fight.

"Josh," Donna places her hand on my arm, "we have to stand by her. We can't just think about what's best politically in a case like this."

"Donna- it's not going to be easy."

"I know. But do you remember what you told me when Donovan Morrisey died? I said I needed to get tougher. To learn how to not let things get to me."

My mouth quirks up a bit. Of course I remember. I remember wanting to comfort her, to hold her, to love her.

"I said, 'I hope not.' I didn't want you to lose your humanity to the job. And you haven't. You've become an incredible political operative, but you haven't lost your humanity."

Donna beams at me like I've just paid her the highest compliment in the world. And when she looks at me like that, I'll take on any quest. I'll slay any dragon. But I still have to point something out.

"The thing is . . . . she might not want this fight. As much as I thirst for justice in a situation like this, it's just as important to consider Olive's feelings. What would she view as a win? We can't make her a poster child for AVAWA. For her, it's personal. I know you know that."

Before Donna can respond, the door opens and Olive comes out, followed by Jackie and Ron.

Olive walks over and gives us a tentative smile.

"Josh, Donna," Ron calls out, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Have a seat, Olive. We'll be as quick as we can." Donna informs her. "You're safe here. Jackie will be out here too."

Olive nods and sits to wait, while Donna and I head in to discuss this with Ron.

"So," Ron begins as soon as we've all taken our seats. "From what Olive's said, it sounds like Nick Malken is a real jerk, but I don't see him as a serious threat."

"Ron. You saw her face." Donna protests. I'm not happy either. This guy beat up a woman, and he made a threat against my wife. I take that pretty damn seriously.

"Well, yes," Ron agrees, "Olive needs to leave him. But from what she's told me, I don't think he's the type to actually stop her from going. And the threat he made against you was very vague."

"What exactly did he say?" I bite out, glaring at Ron, so that he's fully aware that I'm not pleased with his assessment so far.

"He told Olive to stay away from Donna or he'd take care of her. It's just too vague for any real action."

"So you can't do anything? Come on, Ron." Donna's becoming a bit irritated as well.

"Well, I don't see any need to increase your protection. We will put him on a watch list. Your detail will know what he looks like and certainly won't let him get near you. If he makes any further comments or threats then we can open a case against him."

"I don't know." I protest some more. . . . "what about graduation? Donna's giving a speech during Tropaia on Friday night. And with Commencement on Saturday- they'll be so many people there."

"Security is going to be tight already. Since he's on the watch list, he won't be allowed to attend the Commencement exercises."

"Could you haul him in for questioning or something?" I make one last attempt to get something more from Ron. If he says no, I'm going to seriously consider taking matters into my own hands.

Ron gets a slight smirk. "Yes. I suppose we can pay him a visit. Ask him a few questions and impress upon him the need to stay away from Donna."

"And Olive!" Donna pipes up.

"And suggest he stay away from Olive." Ron agrees. "But Olive is outside of my jurisdiction. She's going to have to go to court for a restraining order and she's pretty reluctant to press charges."

"I'll talk to her." Donna insists.

I'm going to have Donna's back on this. Olive should press charges. The little scum shouldn't get off scot free just because of who his father is.

"Do you need anything else from us, Ron?" I ask a little tight lipped. I'm sure he's just following protocol but I don't have to be happy about. I'd like this guy to spend some time locked in a small room or something.

"No, that's it." He looks between the two of us. "I shouldn't have to say this, but, don't take matters into your own hands Josh. Trust your detail. They will keep Donna safe. Let the process work."

"Alright."

"If he makes any other threats, let me know."

"I will." Donna assures him as she stands up to leave. I join her, putting my hand on her back as I guide her out the door.

Olive stands up as soon as we enter the lobby. Seeing her face reignites my anger.

"Alright, let's go, my detail will drive us to the police station." As I gesture towards the door, I pull out my phone. I'll have to call Margaret and have her cancel or shift my afternoon meetings.

But Olive is just standing there, shaking her head.

"Let's go up to my office and talk about it." Donna suggests softly.

Part of me really wants to push Olive, but I know I have to trust Donna. Unfortunately, she knows exactly what Olive is going through. And I know that pushing Olive to press charges if she's not ready for the legal battle could just end up backfiring. If the charges get dropped, Nick could feel even more powerful. It might be better to use the leverage we have. Let the Secret Service instill a bit a fear in him. Hopefully that'll be enough to convince him to leave well enough alone.

Olive responds affirmatively and the two of them head for the door. I don't think I should go with them. Donna may have more luck with Olive if it's one on one.

"Hey." I call out to Donna. "I'm going to get back to work. Please don't leave here without talking to me. I'll remind Margaret to put you through no matter what."

"Okay." Donna agrees. I give her a quick kiss and let her go.

On my way back to the office, I start switching back into work mode. I've got a million little-big things to do, and I'd still like to pick up my Mom from the airport tomorrow. Plus if I can, I'd like to clear a half day on Thursday too. I know Donna's parents want to take Lulu to the zoo. And there's no way in hell that I'm letting them go anywhere without me now.

. . . . . . .

The afternoon goes by in a blur. Thank god for Margaret to keep me on track and moving in the right direction.

When I finally look up, it's almost 7:30. I'm kind of shocked. I don't normally stay in the office this late working on mundane stuff. Typically Donna stops me around 6. Damn it. I expected to hear from her at some point today.

I get up and stride over to the door and throw it open. Margaret blinks at me owlishly.

"What the hell, Margaret?" I growl at her.

"Don't take that tone with me." She snips back. "I talked to Donna. She said she and Olive are fine. They are in her office. She told me to let you work as long as you were being productive and to give you this message when you came up for air."

She pulls out an envelope and hands it to me with a raised eyebrow and a pointed look.

"Sorry, Margaret." I mumble sheepishly. "You can go now."

"I leave when you leave."

"Get your things ready." I tell her as I turn and walk back into my office. I sit down and open Donna's note. I still get a little thrill when I see her name and title embossed on the top of the crisp card.

And I still grin at her chicken scratch.

Josh,

I know you want to be able to take some extra time off this week so I told Margaret to let you work as long as possible. Lulu, Olive and I are hanging out in my office. Give me a call when you get this. I want to talk to you privately. If you don't call before 6:30 I'll send an intern out for food.

Love,

Donna

I grab my cell phone and hit 1 on my contacts list. Donna answers before the second ring.

"Hi."

"Hey. I'm sorry it's so late. I was focused and lost track of the time."

"It's okay, I was going to check in with you in another half hour. Did you get lots done?"

"Yeah, unless there is an emergency, I should be fine to pick Mom up tomorrow."

I hear a door close as Donna drops her voice. "Hey, I want to talk to you about Olive. I couldn't convince her to press charges. She doesn't want the attention it will bring. She's pretty convinced that he'd get off anyway."

I can't help the deep sigh that escapes. Unfortunately, she's probably right.

"So here's the thing, I already contacted Nick, and made arrangements for tomorrow. But Olive needs a place to sleep tonight. Can we keep her?"

"YOU WHAT?!" I feel like my head is about to explode. Donna contacted him? What the hell?

"Calm down, Josh." Donna instructs me in her "I'm not putting up with shit from you" tone of voice. "I had a conversation with Ron first. He said it was fine. His office had already called and make an appointment to speak with Nick tomorrow. Ron said he was very cooperative, so we made a plan. Olive and I called him from Ron's office. When Nick answered I informed him that he was on speaker and the call was being recorded. He was as sweet as pie after that. So, while he's being interviewed by the secret service, my detail will take Olive and I to his apartment to gather her things. I told him as long as this goes smoothly and he leaves her alone, Olive won't be pressing charges. He politely agreed with our plan."

"Of course he was polite! He knew he was being recorded."

"I know, but she needs to get her stuff and this is a good way to do it. So, can we keep her tonight?"

"She's not a stray puppy, you know."

"I know. But I want to help her out."

"We could pay for a hotel for her."

"Josh. You don't know what it's like. Too feel all alone. Scared. Not sure who to trust. Not sure how people will react. I just want her to see that people care. For her to be around people who care. Plus, at our house she's under guard. Please."

When she puts it like that, how can I possibly resist? Good grief, at this point if she asked to adopt Olive, I wouldn't be able to say no.

"Okay. For tonight. I'm on my way up to your office now, and we'll figure out what to do next together, alright?"

"Okay." She responds happily. Seriously, if Donna or Lulu ever want a puppy, I'm toast.

I grab my backpack and head out. I don't even bother adding any briefing memos. I'm sure Margaret's already put something in there for my evening reading pleasure. As I breeze past her desk, I give her a little wave. I'm glad to see she's got her purse out.

"Bye, Margaret, go home."

She gives me a sassy little salute. "'Night, boss."