Author's Note: Once again sorry for the long wait. Also if you are following my "The Hunted" story I shall be updating that sometime this week this well.

Warning: Chapter includes Scenes of torture and violence. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 35

"Okay so what do we have so far now?" President Grant asked Fare to give his report on Olivia's kidnapping case.

"So far we looked into the building that the bodies were found in," Fare started to go into details, "The building had been condemned and was not owned by anyone. All valuable evidence like fingerprints and foot prints were burned in the fire. So that was a dead end. We searched all accessible cameras in DC and it led us to Olivia's car as well as the place of her abduction."

"Were the cameras able to pick up anything?" Fitz asked him.

"No sir, the Sons were smart enough to fix the cameras."

"Fix the cameras?"

"The cameras were blacked out during that time frame she pulled up and when they came back on she was gone."

"Interesting," Fitz said, "What about the Mole?"

"We are checking out all members of the Swat team as we speak and the CIA. So far nobody is coming up as unclean."

"I see," Fitz thought about everything, "Please keep me informed of any updates and do be careful Agent."

"Yes sir," Fare nodded and left out to return to OPA. Cyrus greeted him as he left out the room.

"Any luck?" Cyrus asked Fitz.

"Not yet. They found Olivia's car but that's about it," Fitz told him going back to his desk.

"We'll find her Fitz," Cyrus assured him.

"Alive I hope," Fitz leaned back in his chair.

"You had an event to attend but I had them push it back since I know you don't want to be anywhere outside of DC until Olivia is found." Cyrus tried to get his mind off the abduction.

"Good call," Fitz told him, "I wasn't going to go."

"Trust me I learned my lesson. You're hardheaded when you want to be." Cyrus said making Fitz crack a chuckle.

"Dear God where is she," Fitz pondered. "What are they doing to her?"

"Try not to think about it too much."

"I can't help it," Fitz got up again and started pasting around, "All I do is think about her. Is she hurt? Is she scared? Is she even still alive? I just…I just hate not knowing." Fitz gave a deep sigh resisting going over to his scotch. His therapist told him to abstain from alcohol but goodness knows he could use a drink right now. Olivia had been missing for a few days now and for every passing one he didn't know of her whereabouts, the more anxious and worried he got.

"Miles asked me where she was the other day and I couldn't tell him. I didn't want him to be worried."

"It's probably best if we didn't," Cyrus agreed.

"Yeah…I haven't told Evelyn either. No need to get her worked up as well but…"

"But?"

"I feel I need to check on her and Nathan. I don't know what these guys might do." Fitz hoped the Sons didn't find out their location and go after them.

"You want to send some protection their way?"

"I would love to but considering our mole problem…"

"Understood," Cyrus told him he need not continue.

"Well here's some stuff about East Sudan and the Immigration Bill in congress," Cyrus handed some paperwork over to Fitz.

"Thank you," Fitz took it from him and got started immediately after being briefed on everything. It was really busy work that Cyrus would normally handle but it kept Fitz's mind off Olivia if not just temporarily. As Fitz worked, he was suddenly paged by his secretary.

"Yes?" Fitz answered.

"Sir your session with Dr. Brace is in 10 minutes."

"Oh right," Fitz forgot he had a therapy session today, "Thank you." He got up and went to meet Dr. Brace in the study.

"Hello President Grant," Dr. Brace greeted Fitz. She was a slender woman in her Mid Forties with black hair and blue eyes.

"Hello Dr. Brace," Fitz sat down in the chair across from her.

"How have things been going since our last session?"

"Not good," Fitz admitted.

"Is there anything in particular you would like to discuss?"

"Yeah…well," Fitz didn't know how to say this, "We've been dealing with an abduction case and the person involved is someone very close to me."

"Who might that be if you don't mind sharing?"

"It's Olivia," Fitz told her.

"This is the same Olivia we discussed before correct?" Dr. Brace asked.

"Yes…" Fitz stated, "I don't know…it's just I think about her all the time. I can't eat, I can't sleep. The fact I don't know what happening to her is driving me crazy. I'm praying I find her alive."

"Has this been making you want to drink again?" Fitz simply nodded.

"I'm just scared…what if I lose her forever this time? I'll never be able to be with her again."

"I can understand how that must feel. You don't know where she is and she's in the hands of what sounds like some very dangerous people. Everything horrible they could be doing to her comes up in your mind."

"It does," Fitz told her.

"President Grant, when you mentioned Olivia before you spoke very highly of her if I recall."

"Why wouldn't I," Fitz said, "she's been there for me more times than I can count. It's like…if something was wrong I could always depend on her."

"Are you afraid that if something happen to her you won't have that support anymore?"

"No goodness," Fitz scoffed, "It's nothing like that! It's just that I…"

"You what?"

"It's just that I feel like I'll never be able to repay her for everything she's done. Like look at right now. I practically begged her to count on me and now she's been abducted. It's like I can never come through when she needs me…like…why does she keep giving me all these chances and I just screw up?!" Fitz tried to get his mind together.

"President Grant, you can't blame yourself for her abduction. No one foresaw this coming."

"I know but…" Fitz was having a hard time right now.

"I love her Dr. Brace. I do, I love her so much and if anything happened to her I just don't know what I would do. I just…for once wish we could be just a normal couple without all the excess baggage hanging over our heads. I don't want to mess things up again and I sure as hell don't want to lose her to some terrorists."

"Has she ever said she's forgiven you for your past transgressions?"

"Yes she has but…" Fitz began.

"You haven't forgiven yourself yet?" Dr. Brace finished for him.

"Yeah…" Fitz admitted, "I doubt I'll ever will."

"President Grant, the key to a healthy relationship especially an old one that is starting up again is to give each other a clean slate. To let go of any mistakes on either side and head forward with the lessons you learned from them. You know what didn't work for you two in the past so you have a slight advantage on what not to do this time around."

"I guess you're right," Fitz told her.

"It's just like we discussed about the morning of the plane crash. You didn't foresee it was going crash so you wouldn't have known to stop your family from going on it. That is something you could not control. It's the same thing with Olivia's abduction; you cannot blame yourself for not being able to tell the future and stop it."

"You're right," Fitz thought about everything. He had been putting a lot on himself these days and it was making him miserable by the day. He couldn't be a living train wreck especially if he wanted Olivia home safely.

"I just hope…that I will find her alive."

"You will President, have faith," Dr. Brace assured him, "Of course, when she has been secured, she will need a lot of help emotionally."

"Oh believe, I'll be there for her no matter what." Fitz told her.

Olivia sat down in her small cell looking up. They had since released her from off the pillar to her relief and locked her down in this little crypt with nothing to protect her from the elements. The only relief she had was a small vent high above that seemed to be mocking her with it's presence and the small breeze it gave off. She had tried to calculate how long she had been there by how warm and how cold it got in here so she knew it had a been a few days.

Olivia tensed hearing the cell door unlock. She knew it was him again. What tortures did they have planned for her today? The Guardian had kept his promise of putting her through hell these past few days trying out different tools the government had used during the interrogations. Olivia did her best not to show pain as he enjoyed himself violating her but in the end she broke down and every time she was disgusted with herself for cracking under the pressure.

"Well hello there," The Guardian walked inside her cell.

"What the hell do you want?" Olivia glared at him.

"Still pretending not to be afraid of me," He chuckled. "You're making me start to wonder if my men were weak or you're just that strong. I'd love to have you as a part of my ranks."

"I'm not terrorist material." Olivia said looking away.

"Still haven't lost your sense of humor I see," He walked over and placed some food in front of her.

"Eat up, I know you're hungry." Olivia looked up at him wondering what trick he had up his sleeve. Granted she hadn't really eaten since she been here and she was starving but….

"Don't worry. It's not poisoned or anything," He pulled his chair near her.

"You first," Olivia looked up at him.

"It's not really my thing to eat over others," The Guardian pulled out a cantina and handed it to her.

"You might as well, I mean if you starve to death it wouldn't make much difference if it was poison or not. Besides, if I wanted you dead I have more entertaining methods than poisoning."

Olivia hesitated but grabbed the cantina from his hand and drunk it down. The water wasn't all that cold but it was much relief to her dry mouth and throat.

"Thank you," Olivia handed it back to him now empty.

"Of course," he watched her as she ate. It was just bread but it was better than nothing.

"How long do you plan on keeping me down here?" Olivia asked.

"You know, my men asked me that as well. They are kind of surprised I haven't killed you yet."

"Why haven't you?"

"What can I say you entertain me," The Guardian shrugged, "Besides…it's only good manners for a brother to take care of his late brother's family."

"Brother…" Olivia's eyes grew wide looking back at the Guardian from her food, "No…" She shook her head in disbelief scooting away from him.

"Yes," He smiled at her, "I'm your late husband's half brother."

"That's a lie." Olivia told him in disbelief, "Edgar didn't have any siblings."

"By his mother," The Guardian told her. "On his father side however he did indeed have a sibling."

"How?" Olivia asked.

"My Father rather, OUR father had a relationship with my mother before he married Edgar's. I didn't even know about my great legacy until I was a man myself. That was of course, after my mother was on her death bed. To think, I grew up all those years not knowing him to find out my father was some rich powerful senator and my grandfather had been the President.

"Anyway, after my mother's death I seek out and confronted my father. I had some vision he probably gave my mother some hush money to get rid of me and I be rejected on site but turns out he didn't even know I existed.

"To my surprise, he turned out to be a very kind man. He tried to make up for lost time by using his money of course. I was fresh out the military so he gave me money to get on my feet and things of that nature but…I couldn't help but think how my brother had lived in the lap of luxury all his life while I was raised poor. Then when our father died I was ignored. I wasn't even allowed to say goodbye to him. My brother was considered his greatest legacy….and only child. Probably for the best though, I mean a Successful Senator and businessman? I couldn't compete with that."

"Did Edgar know about you?" Olivia asked.

"No he didn't. My father was going to have us introduced to each other but he fell ill so that never occurred."

"So you two never met?"

"Oh we met. He just didn't know me as his blood," The Guardian said.

"I don't understand," Olivia said confused.

"My dear…you have to understand…I was told to stay away from my brother because I was bad news."

"By who?"

"Your precious mother in law," His face turned a bit dark when he mentioned Evelyn," She wouldn't even let me go say goodbye to my own father at his funeral. She didn't want her husband's bastard walking around destroying his wholesome image. She through some money my way and told me to never mention I was his son to anyone nor come near my brother or anyone else in the Braxton family."

"I still don't get how did you two meet?"

"I went to his campaign event when he was running for the Senate. I was expecting him to be a little spoiled Ivy League brat considering his mother but…he wasn't. He gave me a warm greeting and asked me a lot of questions on what he could do to help."

"He was very good at listening to and helping people." Olivia said.

"I was shocked. I, of course, had been in the military and was a mechanical engineer by trade. Ran my own little business with money my father helped with of course. He was asking me what he could do as a congressman to help people like me. After that I followed his career, watching him go through life doing great things. I also remembered his face when he was in every picture."

"How was that?" She asked.

"It was like…he was faking it. For me and the others it was genuine but when he was talking to the President and his fellow congressmen he had such a fake smile on a face. That changed with you though." He looked over at Olivia.

"I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the two of you in passing. You were pregnant then."

"You saw Edgar and I together?" Olivia asked trying to go back in her mind where she possibly ran across the guardian before.

"Yes, of course I kept my distance from you all. Anyways, I remember my brother looked so happy. Happiest I'd ever seen him. I could tell he loved you strong."

"I loved him." Olivia said.

"I was so proud. My brother had a family of his own. Then…I found out what happen…and I couldn't believe it. My own brother…allowed such horrible things to happen."

"It had to have been more," Olivia insisted. This was her chance to get inside the Guardian's head. She had to find out as much information as possible if she ever got out of here alive.

"Yes it was more," The Guardian started, "one of the dead…was my son." Olivia's eyes rose when she thought back in her head on which one of the now deceased Sons of Liberation members could have been the Guardian's son.

"No…" Olivia was in utter disbelief.

"Yes…my brother is the reason my son is gone. I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. He was my only child. His mother died when he was little so it had just been us for the longest. I didn't even know what happen to him till about last year. All this time wondering what happened to him, not a word from anyone. I wasn't even allowed to bury him. For all I knew, they put my son in some abandon field or cremated him.

"I remember," The Guardian thought back, "Going to my brother's office, the same office that once belonged to our father, asking him if he could locate my son. I knew what my son had done was wrong but he was my still my son. The look on Edgar's face was like nothing I had ever seen before. He looked like he was ridden with guilt. He told me there was nothing he could do and apologized greatly. I thought at first it was because he was sorry he couldn't help but now I know…he was apologizing for sending my son to the gallows."

"So he was the original Guardian?" Olivia asked.

"Yes and I took on his mantle for him."

Olivia couldn't believe this. Edgar without knowing it set the wheels in motion to have his nephew executed. That explained even more why the Guardian had such a vengeance….also why he didn't hesitate hurting the others' children. His own child had been taken from him and he wanted them all to know what that pain felt like.

"I have to ask though," Olivia began, "How did you find all of this out?"

"We got the information from a source. Even after my talk with Edgar I never let up on it. I was determined to find out what happen to my son. Then it was revealed to us what happen."

"Why not expose them?"

"It's the Government my dear. They would have silenced us all before word got out. So we had to take other measures. Besides…nothing would have been done to them after all…everything was legal thanks to the Patriot Act even if they brought on human rights violation charges. Sure some bad Press here and there but the media would have gone on to other things after a while." He said.

"I see…" Olivia said. " I have ask though, why are you telling me all of this?"

"Just felt like making conversation while you ate your meal," He shrugged getting up. "Also I know you'll never tell anyone." That last part worried Olivia a bit.

"Now then…"He pulled Olivia by the hair and dragged her out the cell.

"Time we went over today's lesson."

"LET ME GO!" Olivia tried to fight back but it was no use. One of the Guardians men came in and helped drag her out to another room. Olivia looked ahead seeing a rack.

"NO!" Olivia struggled as she was placed on it and strapped down. Her head was upside down so she was starting to get dizzy.

"Now then today's toy," The Guardian began, "Is a Rack and it works like this…." He pulled the lever.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Olivia screamed feeling it lift up her back.

"Yeah I see you get the picture," The Guardian told her.

"Why are you doing this?!" Olivia yelled out.

"I want some information from you now. The more you give me the less pain you'll go through. The less you give me well…" He pulled the lever again pulling Olivia's limbs.

"AHHHH!"

"Anyway, this is probably the most painful and most deadliest of all the tools they used. The reason being is if too much of the wrong pressure is put on it could easily disable your spine either paralyzing you or kill you."

"Oh God…" Olivia was horrified at the prospects.

"Alright then let us begin," The Guardian held her head in his hands so she was looking up at him.

"Let see what you knew about me first."

"I just know you guys tried to blow up Congress a few years back."

"Anything else?"

"Please I…"

"Pull it," The guardian told one his men who pulled down the lever.

"AHHHH!" Olivia tried to struggle.

"We know that you guys stole your blueprints from Kardon and ran a company called the Shonen group!"

"What else?"

"That's all we know." Olivia told them. She was disgusted with herself that she talked so easily.

"So you didn't really even find out that much on us huh?" The Guardian said nodding to ease up the pain.

"No we didn't," Olivia told him thankful for the relief.

"Okay then, what are the addresses to all of the remaining Senators' houses?"

"I don't know…" Olivia told him the Guardian nodded over and the minion pulled it.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Olivia screamed out.

"You sure?" The Guardian had them squeeze the leaver more.

"YES!" Olivia screamed out.

"Now then, don't go around protecting your little high class friends."

"I'm not," Olivia was trying to keep from crying at the pain. She felt her back would break any moment.

"You know I don't really hate you Olivia, I can call you Olivia can't I?"

"Yes…" Olivia said not wanting to argue with him right now.

"Anyway Olivia, I think you know it's no use trying to protect them. I mean…I doubt they care unless they need you to fix something for them."

"I'm not protecting people, I honestly don't know," Olivia told him.

"I can see that part. However, I haven't even begun to ask you my real questions." He looked back at her in the face.

"Now…are you the President's Lover?" Olivia looked at him not knowing how to respond. Would he know if she lied? IF he found out what would he do to her?

"What does it matter?" Olivia tried to play along.

"Well the way he acted I figured you were and by the way you are avoiding the question that's a yes." The Guardian told her.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Olivia asked.

"Well as his lover you might know certain things. Like…what is the President schedule?"

"It changes I don't know." Olivia was trying to figure out what he was doing when it dawned on her. He was going to plan something to target Fitz. She couldn't let that happen. If something happened to him because of her…

"My dear, you don't have to protect him. You should be more worried about yourself…and you child."

"Don't touch my son!" Olivia jerked on him then screamed remembering her current state.

"Again Olivia, I don't care about all of that. Now tell me the President's schedule."

"I don't know…" Olivia couldn't let him hurt Fitz.

"Pull it," The Guardian ordered.

"AHHHHHH!" Olivia screamed as the tears streamed down her face. Was this it? Was she going to die right here in this room?

"STOP THIS!" Olivia hollered as the crane suddenly stopped.

"We only stopped it because a few more inches your back would break." The Guardian took a napkin and wiped away some of her tears.

"Now then, you have to make a choice. Who do you love more? The President or your son?"

"Why are you talking about?" Olivia was confused by his question.

"I know where he is Olivia," The Guardian spoke as her eyes lit up with utter terror.

"NO PLEASE!" Olivia yelled out as he hushed her.

"There, there now dear. He's not in harm's way…yet. You see I'm giving you a choice. You either choose your son or the President. Whose life do you cherish more? You give me that answer it will be smooth sailing from here. One life remains untouched and the other well you know." Olivia shook her head in disbelief. How did he find Nathan? She had been so careful when she sent him away.

"How did you find him?"

"I have my ways," The Guardians shrugged. "It took us a while but we figured it out."

"Please don't hurt my son," Olivia begged. The thought of Nathan going through a fraction of what the Sons of liberation had done to her, made Olivia want to take her own life right then and there.

"So you will give us the President for your son?"

"Yes…" Olivia cried. I'm sorry Fitz. I'm so sorry.

"Well then," The Guardian had them release the binder to a more relaxed position. "Start talking. From the top."