Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Hold on to spinning around
Year Two (January 2010)
"Well?" Fitz glanced over at his wife. "What did your attorney have to say?" Olivia Grant and Associates had barely opened its doors after the holidays only for Olivia to get a call from her attorney. His gut was positively flipping. Big Jerry's trial. He just knew it.
Swallowing hard, Olivia set her cellphone down. She felt the lunch she'd been halfway through when she received the call start to churn in her stomach. "Your father." She confirmed Fitz's suspicions. "His trial date has officially been set for two weeks from now." She wrung her hands nervously as she stared at her phone like it was a snake about to bit her.
"Livie," Slowly, so as not to startle her, Fitz crossed her office to stand in front of her. "We don't have to go. Not to this trial." When she opened her mouth to protest, Fitz held up a hand so he could continue without interruption. "He's your father-in-law and he had you kidnapped. Seeing him is not a requirement. And no one expects you to. Not your family. Not the public. Not anyone on the Hill. Please, Livie, just consider staying here and sitting this one out. You know he's going to drag this process out for as long as possible. Let's not give him the satisfaction of seeing us there. We should write him off as a footnote, not worthy of our time and energy."
Olivia nodded, "I know you're right." She murmured in agreement. "It's just. . ." she paused as she searched for her words. "I need to know why. I need to know why he did it. Why did he put us all through that? Why put Jerry through that? I know he hates us, but we're still family. And if that means nothing to him, then we're all human. I just don't get how you do this to someone you know. Someone you've looked in the eye and had a connection with." Her brown eyes caught his blue ones. "I just want to understand. And this may not give me any understanding, but it should give me closure. I need to put this to bed. I need to move past this. And I can't if I don't see him behind that table. If I don't hear the judge render a guilty verdict." She explained.
With a reluctant sigh, Fitz nodded. "Alright, we'll go. I still don't like it. I think we should keep our distance from him. He's been so quiet. I feel like he must be up to something. Should we look into it?"
Shaking her head, Olivia interrupted him. "Fitz, Big Jerry's in jail. What trouble could he possibly be getting into? Outside of his legal counsel he's not allowed visitors."
"Look, Jerry, I get it, okay? Your son and his wife screwed you over and then locked you up and walked straight into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue without you. This just seems a little on the extreme side, though."
Big Jerry stared across the scarred table at his "attorney". The man had come highly recommended from his actual counselor. "Extreme?" Jerry repeated slowly. "You're my attorney. I pay a lot of money to have you sit across from me and help me. I know this isn't your first rodeo. Now, use the contact information I gave you and set up a meeting. Once she confirms I'll go over all the details of the plan with you. My son and that half-breed trollop he married will make sure I stay locked up in here until the day I die. If they don't find a way to stick me with a needle first. This is my ticket out of here. So do what I fucking hired you to do. Either that or you're fired. And I'd hate not to have any further use for you. I like you, Mickey. Stay useful. Just because I'm in here doesn't mean I can't dispose of you." Jerry threatened.
Mickey kept a straight face at the inmate's words. It wasn't the first time he'd been threatened by a man on the verge of losing his freedom for good. "Of course, Jerry. I'll call you when it's done."
"She's dead set on going, Cyrus. I suggest you make it happen." Fitz muttered to his petulant Chief of Staff. "You know Livie. If she wants something, she gets it. She wants –"
"Want what, Fitz?" Cyrus questioned, his face turning red at Fitz' idiocy. "To get answers from Big Jerry? You know us being there will only add fuel to the fire and that's the last thing we want to do." Cyrus worried. "And this has nothing to do with your ratings and everything to do with Olivia and her well-being." He liked to pretend he was a cantankerous old man, but when it came to this family that had adopted him, well he was a big old softy when he could be and a bulldog that would tear into anyone who threatened them when he needed to be. Big Jerry brought out those protective instincts. Cyrus felt the urge to kill over what Jerry put his family through, and even though the was behind bars, Cyrus knew this war Big Jerry had started wouldn't be over until the former politician was six feet under and in Hell drinking scotch with the Devil himself. And Cyrus would see to it that until the day came when Jerry died, he'd never see the light of day again.
Rounding the corner in the East Wing of the White House, Cyrus went in search of Huck. If anyone could find out if Big Jerry was actually up to something it was the former spy. OGA was supposedly working from the White House, so they would either be up in the Residence or milling about near Olivia's East Wing office. He found Huck exiting the break room alone. "Huck," Cyrus stopped him. "I need a favor."
Shifting uncomfortably from foot-to-foot, Huck nodded, "Yeah, sure, what's up?" He agreed.
Glancing around, Cyrus tugged on Huck's elbow. "Not here." He led them around the corner and into an empty conference room. "I need you to look into someone for me. Discreetly." He requested. "And just you. Not all of the gladiators." Cyrus clarified.
Huck agreed readily. "Who am I going after?"
Taking a breath, Cyrus answered. "Big Jerry. My gut is just screaming that he's up to something and it's not going to be good for us and we have to protect them. They don't know how to do that themselves. It's our job." When Huck hesitated, Cyrus continued. "Let's not play innocent here, Huck. Fitz and Olivia are clean. They walk on water. They make the fishes and the loaves and people like us," when Huck rolled his eyes, Cyrus waved him off with a scoff. "Don't roll your eyes at me. You're one of us, Huck. We march behind them. We sing their happy tune. And then we pick up our hatchets and we chop the Judases into little bloody pieces and dance around the corpses because that's our job. That is what we do. We take care of Fitz and Olivia. And we don't do it because we are believers, which we are. We don't do it for the rush or the high or the power, which we are most certainly junkies for. We do it because when it comes to Big Jerry, in this situation, Fitz and Olivia, they can't do it. And we love them too much to allow something else to happen to them." Cyrus finally paused for a few beats. "So, will you help me?"
After a moment's contemplation, Huck nodded. "I'll pull the prison logs to start with."
One week later
"Don't you think it's time to tell Olivia and Fitz?" Huck questioned. "We've both come to the same conclusion and the trial is one week away. They need to be prepared."
Cyrus shifted through the materials on Big Jerry that Huck had given him two days before. It was all spelled out in black and white. "I guess you're right." He sighed. "Well, I knew Jerry was up to something. I guess now we know what."
Stepping forward, Huck murmured. "Because we listened to your gut we can stop him. He won't be able to hurt Fitz, Liv, or Jer ever again. Because of you." He paused. "So let's take this to the rest of the team."
It took nearly an hour to get everyone in the Residence and another few minutes for Cyrus and Huck to spread out their proof. "I had a bad feeling about Jerry's trial." Cyrus admitted. "So I asked Huck to quietly look into his time in prison."
"Big Jerry is planning something big." Huck interrupted.
Fitz snorted. "Isn't he always?"
Shaking his head, Cyrus held up his hands to silence the chuckles that followed Fitz' statement. "Liv, Fitz, we think Big Jerry has seen the writing on the wall. He's going away for the rest of his life. And he's not okay with that."
Harrison was the first one to catch on as the silence swirled around them. "Oh my god. You think he's going to use his trial as a chance to escape."
XOXO
MAF
