CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

"Hello, Olivia." Peter said before taking a step back to take a long look at her. "You're looking as lovely as usual, but is it me, or you do look a little tired?"

"Hello, Peter." Olivia said. "Charming as ever, I see - but thanks for asking. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He surprised Fitz by turning his way and looking directly into his eyes as he continued to question Olivia. "Are you sure somebody isn't overworking you?"

"I'm sure." Olivia laid one hand on his arm to draw his attention back to her. "If anyone is overworking me, it's me."

Caldwell's words were a challenge that Fitz had to force himself from taking too personally. It was bad enough that his concern was genuine; but Fitz - even though his head might accept it, his heart was reacting differently -and he couldn't help his body from tensing up in response, even to the point that he felt his eyes narrowing slightly, unable to stop the jealous suspicion in him rising as he studied the other man.

He forced his eyes away from Caldwell and to Olivia, the protective side of him looking for any sign that Olivia was having any issues with Caldwell's antics. The senator didn't know how close he was to trouble; if it looked like for a single second that he was disturbing Olivia in any way, shape or form, Fitz would make sure that the other man would regret it.

Both his heart and head found themselves relieved to see that this didn't appear to be the case. If anything, Olivia was regarding Caldwell with a mix of familiar exasperation and affection, as if she'd dealt with this side of him before.

Considering how helpful Caldwell had been to him earlier, Fitz decided to let his behavior slide for the moment. He'd been drinking then and Fitz wondered how much how more he'd had since then. It was the only reason why Fitz hadn't have him removed. Any other man being so familiar with Olivia might not have gotten the same mercy. He did allow himself the brief fantasy of yanking the man away from Olivia and Fitz knew that he'd be lying if he didn't admit that the thought did manage to make him feel a little better.

"Is anyone going to tell me?" Caldwell asked again. "Or am I going to have to guess?"

Colleen was the one who answered him. "Hello, Peter. You just missed the announcement that that Ms. Pope has just received a promotion from the president."

Peter's grin grew bigger. He lifted his glass to Olivia in a toast before he took a deep swallow. "I can't say that I'm surprised. What's the new gig?"

"It hasn't been announced officially yet." Knowing Peter's penchant towards coloring outside the lines, Olivia thought it was best to warn him that his silence was required.

"Then my lips are sealed until you tell me otherwise. But am I allowed to say that I'm not surprised at all?" Caldwell lifted his glass and toasted her again. "Not one bit."

"Is that right?" Fitz continued to study Caldwell a little closer; he might appear as though he'd had one drink too many, but Fitz suddenly sensed that this might not be the case - that was a thought made him suspicious all over again as Fitz wondered why Caldwell would pretend to be something that he wasn't.

"Absolutely." Peter nodded. "Olivia has worked on so many legal matters - campaigns included - for the Caldwell clan, she's almost like family. And she's brilliant - but no doubt you already know that."

"I do." Fitz said.

"Of course you do." Peter shook his head. "You don't know how many times we tried to hire her on exclusive retainer - that was before she went to work at the White House full time, of course."

"But during my campaign…?"

"As far as I was concerned, you were just another campaign, which meant that she was still fair game - no offense."

"None taken - especially since luckily for me, I won." There was a quiet confidence in Fitz's voice. And it was the best thing that ever happened to me in my life.

"Unluckily for me, I never got a chance to get a bid in." Colleen surprised everybody with her remark. She grinned at everyone's surprised expression before going on to explain that the few times that she did try to reach out, OPA had been regretfully otherwise occupied.

"I apologize." Olivia was gracious in her response.

"I don't." Fitz said. "Your loss -" and he nodded first to Colleen - "and yours -" and then to Caldwell. " - was definitely my gain."

Nobody could argue with that. Peter looked like he might have liked to for a split second before subsiding.

Fitz felt a warm wave of possessiveness wash over him. So many people wanted Olivia - but he was the one who had her. In every sense of the word.

Peter shrugged. "If you should ever tire of breathing that rarefied government air, Olivia…"

"Your family is a political dynasty, Peter - I doubt if the atmosphere would be all that different." Olivia reminded him as she politely shifted herself, forcing him to remove his arm from her waist. "Besides, I like it just where I am - plus you and I have had this conversation enough times that you should know the answer by now. My current position, along with OPA - gives me every challenge I need. And since it seems that my position was just expanded - I think it's safe to say that won't be changing any time soon."

"Don't expect me to stop trying." Peter said. "I'm a creature of habit and it's hard for me to change my ways."

"You're stubborn and somewhat spoiled to getting your own way -"

"And accustomed to only the best - which is why I'll probably never stop trying to lure you onto my team." Peter's grin was unrepentant.

Elizabeth didn't know how much more of this Olivia Pope love-fest she could take. Did the woman walk around with a personal fan-club? Even worse, Elizabeth knew she hadn't scored any points with the president tonight, and no matter how much she tried to hide it, even Susan was still looking at her with a look that said clearly that she was sorry for her. Susan Ross - what could be any more sadder than that?

She dismissed Caldwell, he'd always been one of the more irreverent member of Congress, and no real ally of hers. As for Cassidy - well, that was someone who might need a closer looking into…

But in the meanwhile, she was done. Elizabeth carefully fixed her expression into a smiling mask, determined not to go down without at least a little fight.

"This is all very lovely, but I have to get back to my hosting duties." She took the opportunity to lean towards Fitz, putting one hand on his arm as she looked up at him. "Mr. President, thank you for co-hosting with me earlier - it was a distinct pleasure."

Thinking quickly, a part of her plan shifted and she decided to leave without pressuring him for a reply. It was the best way to salvage what she could of the evening. After all, there was the re-election campaign to look forward to and who knew what opportunities might present themselves in the next few months ahead of them?

Elizabeth put a little more steel in her spine and sent a final smile around the group as she excused herself very prettily. She did well, she thought to herself. And none of them saw the smile drop from her face as she walked away.

A little silence fell over the group. Colleen was the first to break it. "Well, that was - interesting."

Fitz nodded, agreeing with her, but was hesitant to say anything in front of Caldwell; he wasn't quite sure what game the congressman was playing - or whose team he was on.

"Interesting is one word for it." Susan tried to smile but it was a bit nervous around the edges; she was clearly more than a little agitated. It was very clear that even if she didn't know exactly what was going on - Susan knew something had happened.

"Elizabeth is a very - complex - personality." Olivia said.

"Complex or not - I don't like her." Susan's voice was quiet as she looked from Olivia to Fitz.

Fitz looked at Peter, who said nothing, but his eyes held a multitude of secrets. Colleen was quiet, watchful. His eyes shifted from her to Olivia.

Olivia returned his gaze and then turned her eyes to Susan. "Not to worry, Susan - you wouldn't be the first."

"And you won't be the last." Peter reassured her.

"I know that that's supposed to make me feel better, but it doesn't." Susan seemed to realize all over again who she was talking to; her eyes jumped from face to face skittishly. "I- I - excuse me, I have to -" Her nerves got the best of up and instead of finishing her sentence, she ended up rushing off towards the ladies' room.

Colleen shook her head and laughed a little. She admired the other woman and enjoyed spending time with her, she explained, but Susan did tend to land on the overly cautious side. "She's much better in private."

"I've been keeping an eye on her and Susan is doing all right." Peter's words were unexpected. "And she's right to be cautious around this crowd. They're like Gremlins - no telling what they turn into if you feed them after midnight."

In spite of his reservations, Fitz couldn't help but laugh along with the others at the comparison - Caldwell wasn't that far off the mark.

As the laughter died down, Colleen checked the time. "And on that happy note, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to call it a night."

"Are you sure we can't persuade you to stay? One more drink? I'm buying." Peter said. "- and the bar is still open."

"It's an open bar, Peter - so you aren't buying anything." Colleen reminded him. "You're shameless."

"Never said I wasn't." Peter replied with another grin.

Fitz noticed that Colleen any more annoyed with Caldwell than Olivia had been.

"If I could, I would." She was telling him. "But I've been out of the country for awhile, and I need to stop by and check on my old man before I get to my own bed."

"Daddy's little girl?" Peter's words held no sting, despite the negative spin Elizabeth had tried to attach to it earlier.

"Always." Colleen said without missing a beat. She turned to Fitz. "My apologies, sir."

"No apologies needed, Colleen.' Fitz said. "Family is everything."

"Thank you for your understanding." Colleen said.

Everyone took the clue and began exchanging good-nights, but not before Peter offered to look into the possibility of forming a committee about facilitating Colleen's work with her STEM initiatives.

Olivia gave Fitz a look and it was as though they were reading each others mind. There was no doubt in Fitz's mind that they were on the same wavelength - it hadn't been the first time... he nodded, then watched as Olivia read the silent approval in his eyes and turned to Peter, offering to help with his plans through direct access through her office.

Fitz nodded, in agreement, once again feeling pride in her shrewdness, loving how once again they were on the same wavelength without a word having been discussed between them. He allowed himself a brief smile before offering to walk Colleen out.

As Fitz and his guest walked away, Olivia turned to look at Peter.

He returned her look, his eyes innocent. Or at least as innocent as he could manage in the moment.

"Peter…"

"What?"

"Don't what me." Olivia said. "What are you up to?"