Chapter 37:

Walking down the White House basement corridor with Tom by his side, he clenched and unclenched his fists as he neared the door. Having summoned Governor Ridge to the White House given his connection to the security issue that had Olivia at its center, he ensured that extra security measures were taken so that no one outside of himself, Ms. Handley and Tom knew of his impending arrival.

With this whole debacle having inanely been started, presumably because of Fitz's lack of endorsement for the corrupt governor, he'd be damned if he gave Ridge the opportunity to flip this around and get some free press from this impromptu visit to the White House. Having arranged for a private, unmarked SUV to pick him up at the private runway where his flight had landed and having given explicit instructions to have him taken directly to the room in the White House basement where he was now awaiting the President's arrival, Fitz braced himself for this confrontation. Though things between he and Olivia were far from resolved and were more accurately shaky at best, that still didn't minimize the fact that her security had been put at risk and he would stop at nothing to ensure that the threat to her safety was handled – permanently.

Looking at Tom out of the corner of his eye he knew that his Secret Service agent was concerned about the current state of their professional working relationship. Though he realized that Tom was probably more than a little perplexed as to why he had been asked to come to this particular meeting, the one thing Fitz could not deny was all of the times that Tom had been there and stood in to protect him and his family, although he was still far from getting over his anger and resentment at his actions. If nothing else, at the root of Fitz's anger and resentment towards Tom's actions was the fact that this latest mishap was highlighting for him – once more – a deep seeded issue in his marriage with Olivia. Although they had known and been in love with each other for what felt like an eternity at this point, they still, somehow, could not get past their trust and honesty issues. Closing his eyes for a brief moment as his hand wrapped around the door knob, he cleared his thoughts of his current marital dilemma and focused on the task at hand.

"Mr. President" came the boisterous drawl from the governor as he laid eyes on him, "have to say I was pleasantly surprised when I was summoned to the White House by –"

"Shut. Up." came the steely reply from the Commander in Chief as he walked around the table to face the governor directly. Signaling for Tom to check the hallway and then close the door, he looked back at the individual sitting before him. "Don't you dare sit there like you think this is a casual visit. I always knew you were a piss poor excuse for a politician, let alone a governor but you made a grave miscalculation in judgment when you decided to come after me by going after my family."

"Fitz-" he started brazenly before he was promptly cut off.

"I am the Commander in Chief and your president so you will address me as such" came the thunderous roar as Fitz shot daggers at him and willed himself to remain calm.

Looking down for a beat as he was effectively cut off at the knees by his very pissed off president, he knew better than to keep pushing. "Sir, my apologies, what I was –"

"Shove your apologies and listen to me very carefully because I'm only going to say this once." Pulling out the chair that sat across from the Governor, he took a seat in front of him and leveled his gaze. "You can be pissed off at me for whatever petty, small-minded reasons you want to construct in your mind but when those delusions start affecting my family and go so far as to threaten their security" he stopped as he lowered his tone, "that is when you have taken things too far and crossed a line that will never be crossed again."

Narrowing his eyes at him as he registered the not so veiled threat, he leaned forward in his chair as he spoke, "Mr. President, is that a threat?"

Letting out a crude smirk as he glanced over at Tom who instinctively placed his hand over his gun holster, he simply looked at Ridge, "I wasn't threatening you" he finished as he stood up and began pacing. "You, Governor Ridge, have more skeletons in your closet than the Grim Reaper and it would be an unfortunate turn of events if those secrets, which you've worked so diligently to make disappear, suddenly came to the light of day."

"Mr. President, what are you –" he started stammering as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.

Giving Tom a slight head nod as he handed him the manila envelope that was tucked under his arm, he pulled out the contents and threw them on the table in front of him. Sprawled out in plain sight were photographs of the governor engaged in illicit activities with who appeared to be underage women, copies of court issued restraining orders and signed testimonies from various former Ridge associates who were now imprisoned for various felonies.

"Ridge, here's how this goes" he started as he picked up a photograph and held it up in front of the governor's face, "thanks to your misguided attempt at getting back at me by coming after my wife, your career in professional politics is over." Taking a seat once more he leveled his gaze with his as he gave him a cryptic half-smile. "When you get back home to Florida you will effectively resign from your position as governor and cite personal family reasons for the sudden decision. If you do not, believe me, I have more than enough ammunition in my arsenal to completely eviscerate you. Now, unlike you I don't get back at my political opponents, no matter how corrupt and beneath me they might be, by going after their families so it would behoove you to take the high road for once in your sorry ass life and do as you're told. I would hate for your wife and son to learn, in a very public and humiliating way, what a spineless coward you truly are. And just to be clear" he started once more as he noticed the color drain from Ridge's face, "that was me threatening you."

Deciding that he wasn't going to give the president the satisfaction of watching him squirm, he decided to approach the situation with a sudden case of bravado. "It must be nice" Governor Ridge started as he stood up, adjusted his suit jacket and gave Fitz a crude smirk in return, "to sit atop your lofty perch in the Oval office and have everyone bow to your every whim. 'Grant for the People,' isn't that what you ran on? And yet, here you stand being anything but."

Narrowing his yes at him, he could hardly believe his gall, "where the hell do you get off -"

"You, Mr. President" he emphasized the words as sarcasm dripped from each one, "have never worked for anything in your life and yet you stand here, threatening me like you think I'm so beneath you and you'll get away with it"

With a raised eyebrow he looked over at Tom who simply shook his head, "here's the thing that everyone, including you Ridge, seems to get wrong about me each and every time" he told him as he stood toe-to-toe with him, "Do not ever underestimate me or what I'm capable of because you'll be sorry."

Shrugging his shoulders Ridge tried to call his bluff, "who cares, so you have a few pictures and some old restraining orders, so what? You think that's going to do anything? I have more people in my back pocket than you can even imagine so whatever it is that you think you'll do to me, I have plenty of people that can get me out of it."

Looking at the smug look on his face, it took everything in him to restrain himself and not smack it right off of him. Knowing that he was currently toeing a very thin line between potentially overstepping his bounds as to what was legal for him to do as president and becoming increasingly more protective of his wife as he watched Ridge and realized, how much more serious the entire situation could have become were it not for Huck and Tom thwarting his plans, he knew better than to get sucked into his ploy. Rather than playing his cards close to his chest like he would have normally done with any other adversary, he instead decided to lay it all on the line for Ridge so he finally understood, once and for all, how far his presidential reach and influence went.

"If you're talking about your boy Sergei Panakov, I don't think you'll want to call him anytime soon. You see, he was recently arrested for some less than legal activities and boy did he sing like a canary when he was asked about you."

Narrowing his eyes at him as he took in his words, he didn't quite believe what he was hearing, "you're bluffing. Sergei would never-"

"What? Turn on you?" Letting out a contemptuous scoff he simply looked at him, "here's the thing about 'friends' Ridge, you shouldn't ever get too comfortable because if the price is right?" he paused for a moment, "they'll roll over on you in a heartbeat."

Shaking his head as he looked over towards an unimpressed Tom, he finally had to concede that the president was not bluffing.

"Fine" he told him turning to look directly at him, "will that be all Mr. President?"

"No actually, there's one other thing" Fitz started as he stared daggers into his eyes. For this particular moment Fitz was glad to have a slight height advantage over Ridge so he could seemingly tower over him. "If you ever come after my wife or kids again or send someone else to do your dirty work, I promise you" he paused as he took hold of the lapels of Ridge's suit jacket and straightened them out in a condescending manner, "it will be the last thing you ever do."

Stepping back from Ridge, he walked towards the door, took hold of the doorknob and turned back towards him as Tom stood protectively by his side, "no one fucks with me or my family. Now get the hell out of my house."

Opening the door as he strode down the hallway and back towards the Oval office, the last sound Governor Ridge heard was that of the safety clip being put back on Tom's gun.

TBD

Up Next: Olivia and Fitz get some much needed help...

A/N: thank you ALL so much for the incredible reviews to the last couple of chapters. The insight, analysis and humor in your replies is truly appreciated and is what keeps me writing and being so fully invested in these characters. Initially, this conversation was going to be revisited via flashbacks in upcoming chapters but after reading your insights and reactions, I decided to make this one a stand alone. Hopefully it did not disappoint.

Thank you for sticking with this story and until next time...