Author's Note: We're coming down to the wire with the Hiatus and this fic. It's going to last until SCANDAL Eve and I'll be sure to have a sensible Olitz endgame because y'all know that we won't getting any substantial, sensible Olitz until at minimum the winter or she'll pull a MerDer in Grey's Season 4 and put them back together at the last possible minute of the season. Que sera, sera. The Rhimesian fuckery is imminent and I'm stocking up on Boone's Farm, now. On a brighter note, the new time slot means that we can get pissed off at a decent hour, now!

Disclaimer: "Honestly, it's not mine!"

2 Hours Later…

"You should take his offer. I'm the one he's really interested in. I'm the one he wants…"

"I'm not leaving you alone with him, Livvie. We both walk out or neither of us does."

"Fitzgerald, please…"

"No. I'm not leaving you."

"But, your head…"

"I have a minor concussion and the bleeding looks worse than it is. I'll be fine."

"I'm sorry that this happened. I'm sorry that he put his hands on you and that we're here…"

"Honey, not every bad thing that happens is your fault and you didn't tell him to do this. Even with the blood money from our sperm donors in play, he could've decided not to do this but he didn't. Whatever happens to him, whatever happens to us is in no way your fault."

"…I want to go home…I don't wanna be here, anymore…"

Fitz drew her into a hug and she buried her face in his neck, tears dampening his shirt collar. Uncaring about Ballard's lingering gaze, he pressed a tender kiss to his Livvie's temple and ran his fingers through her hair in an effort to soothe.

"You love her but this is what you're doing? Look at her. She's terrified…"

"Shut the fuck up."

"Fuck you. You don't love her. If you did, you wouldn't have done this. What do you really think is going to happen here, Jake? The building is surrounded by law enforcement and as soon as you raise those blinds, you're going to be covered in sniper dots. If you don't give yourself up, you're a dead man walking."

"You don't understand…no one understands…"

"Enlighten me, then."

"…do you know what it's like to be unwanted? Do you know what it's like to be seen as nothing but scum? Do you know what it's like to be the punch line of every joke? Of course you don't. You're the Golden Grant, the Bug Man, the Top Dog…just for once, I wanted to know what it was like to be wanted, to be chosen but she…she deserved everything I gave her. She just wouldn't shut the fuck up…she never shut the fuck up, even in her sleep…just like your lousy sperm donor, Jacob…ruined my life…should've given you away as soon as you came out but, no…no, I had be a good Christian girl, like it still mattered after that damned night in that damned rust bucket…"

"Your mother?"

"If that bitch could even be called one…she rejected me outright. She didn't even give me a chance, give herself the chance to love me…"

"So, you were looking for that chance with Olivia?"

"…as soon as I saw her, as soon as I heard her voice, I knew that she was the one for me…"

As much as it turned his stomach to agree with the son of a bitch on something, Fitz had to say the same thing. Olivia Pope was one of a kind. Brilliant, beautiful, compassionate, tough as nails…as soon as they met, Fitz felt drawn to her, fascinated by her. And unlike with Ballard, the feeling was completely mutual. For some reason, Olivia had deemed him worthy of her attention, worthy of her friendship, worthy of her love and that was the greatest gift that he had ever received…

"…tried to get her to like me, tried to be her friend but she just kept shooting me down. I figured that it was a point of professional pride for her or something. No fishing off of the company piers and no time for such trivial matters such as love and romance but then…you came along…"

Olivia stiffened as the safety for the gun clicked off again and Fitz quickly put her back behind him as Ballard slowly advanced forward.

"I noticed it during the Tyler case. Your little connection…the way she would look at you and play with her hair…then, I heard you ask her to dinner in the lobby after the verdict…I saw how excited she looked after you walked out the door, like she was the computer lab geek and you were the star quarterback…stop clinging to him, you bitch!"

Olivia's nails dug deeper into the material of his black pullover in response and even with tears still sliding from her eyes, she shot Ballard a defiant glare.

"You think that he'll be able to protect you if I blow his fucking head off, right now?!"

She rested her head on his shoulder and replied, "You'll have to kill us both, Ballard. If you shoot him, you'll have to shoot me too because I won't want to live without him. You'd be able to touch me but you wouldn't have what you really want, now would you? You wouldn't have me wanting you or choosing you or loving you. You'd just have my body. It would be a hollow victory."

"What the hell do you even see in him?!"

"Everything that you're not and you'll never be able to be!"