Author's Note: One thing I love most about the SCANDAL fandom is that inspiration can come at any time from any way. A gif set on Tumblr, an insight filled commentary thread, video clips from YouTube, an ovary melting awesome update on a fanfic (GladiatorRED, FTW!)… anywhere. I had a welcome day off, my parents finally went grocery shopping, and my siblings are going back to school. And it's getting ever closer to Wednesday where I will have more than 5 bucks in my bank account again. I'm happy.

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

6 Weeks Before Election Night: Connecting the Dots pt. 4

3 Days Later…

The longer she stayed in this Game, the more expendable and vulnerable she felt. Amanda Tanner was all too familiar with those feelings but this time, it was different. There were times when Billy made her feel like she was in danger. Not just the danger associated with a bad relationship but the danger that her Aunt Laura, the one person who had truly given a damn about her warned her about…

"You keep on running around with that crowd…if you don't toughen up…Mandi, you won't see 30…or you'll see it just long enough to get used to it before it gets taken away from you…"

It had taken a while but she had gotten out of that damned town with all those damned people. She had managed to get herself a few jobs and a Pell grant to get into a local college. She wanted to go into Telecommunications. She wanted to be one of those anchors on ABC or CNN. She wanted to cover the serious subjects in the world and use whatever influence she gained to change it, even in just a small way. Or if that didn't work out, then she'd head for DC and become an aide or a lobbyist. She had spent much of her life in the System, seeing its flaws and strengths…

Unfortunately, her financial aid had gone awry so she had to stop her education for the time being. Instead of diving back into old bad habits, Amanda had decided to use the time to get into the National Politics arena, signing onto the Langston campaign in its infancy and staying steadfast when the times got rough. She had become friends with Billy Chambers before the Merge and the both of them had engaged in some bitch and bull sessions. Don't get her wrong, the Grant campaign and family dynamics were wonderful and innovative but the country needed a time of stability and tradition before it got shaken up.

Sally could re-establish core values in America and get things back on track. 2016 would be a better time for Fitz Grant III to take the Oval. She would even vote for him, then but the cards hadn't fallen that way. She had been disappointed but willing to make the best of things. After all, First Female Vice President was nothing to scoff at...

Billy was not. He saw the Merge as a betrayal to the Conservatives, a huge setback for them. He saw Grant as 'weak and impetuous' and his wife as 'gorgeous but much too willful, unfit to be the First Lady'. Vice President wasn't good enough nor was waiting for 2016. In his eyes, it was a God given mission for Georgia Senator Sally Langston to be in the Oval Office come 2008 and he would achieve that aim by any means necessary.

Even if it meant that his girlfriend had to be Bait. Honestly, Amanda felt that her role in the Plan was doomed from the start. Fitz Grant III was obsessively devoted to his wife and vice versa. While it was a bipartisan tradition for Presidents to engage in 'extracurricular activities', she just couldn't see it happening, especially since she was blatantly, hilariously not his Type. And everyone knew that Olivia Pope-Grant had him by the balls…literally…very literally at least twice a day.

At least the man was a hedonist and lust glutton with his wife. If he was all over the damned place with it…

Her watch alarm beeped and she listened, relieved to still hear Billy's snores. She had already torn apart the box and the instructions into tiny pieces, dumping them in a plastic bag. Amanda had been feeling off for a few weeks and her Cycle hadn't started. She used to joke that only 3 things were regular in her life: bad men, minimum wage, and her period. Billy didn't like using condoms and she was on the Pill but…

Looking in the window of the stick, she paled and sank to her knees on the bathroom floor.

Oh.

Oh, no…

The feelings intensified tenfold and became blended with a near claustrophobic panic.

What was she going to do now?

/

"…Anyone that tries to destroy that…"

"Are you threatening me, Ms. Pope?"

"It's Mrs. Pope-Grant and I am promising you that if you plot anything else against us, I will not only destroy your reputation and career, I will gleefully destroy you. My family's livelihood directly involves death and has for over 40 years on both sides. Do not test me on this…Daddy."

"Sit down and join me. The tea and pastries here are divine."

"Where's Tripp?"

"Ger's school is having an after school Art Fair and they needed parents to help out. I'll be joining them later. Sit down."

Big Jerry slowly slid into the small booth and looked at her with wary evaluation. Olivia Pope…Olivia Pope-Grant would never cease to unsettle him. The sheer amount of contradictions and facets that made up her personality gave him a headache. One moment, she could be turning cartwheels and giggling with schoolgirls and the next…he had seen Ballard's injuries. Even though it was approaching the decade mark for her marriage to his son, she was still as obsessively in love and loyal to him as day 1 and vice versa. If anything, now that they had a child, it was worse…

"Olivia…"

"You've been using Jake Ballard as a minion for nearly a decade. You had him collect audio and video recordings of myself, Fitz, and more importantly, my son. Why shouldn't I stab you through the eye with this spoon?"

The aforementioned spoon was set down carefully and she brought her wide jade snake scale patterned cup of tea to her crimson red lips. The weather outside was transitioning to winter and her attire reflected that. She had on a deep gray waistcoat, black corduroy trousers, and a pair of thickly heeled boots, black with silver buckles. Her eyes were lined thickly with black eyeliner and shone with both anger and unshed tears. Now, it was more important than ever to fall back on his upbringing, his training because he was all too aware that rescue would not come from his son or Cyrus if she decided to follow through with her question.

For their own reasons, both men would gladly see him burned to a crisp.

"I was concerned about my son."

"As a pawn. He's always been a pawn to you, an extension of your will to do as you see fit with. That's all fine and good…actually, no. It's horseshit but…why did you involve Ger? What the hell could you possibly want with a 5 year old?"

"He's my grandson! I have the right to know him!"

"It's called sobering up for 5 minutes and picking up a damned phone! Or typing a damned email!"

"Oh, like you two would actually let me…"

"If you had asked, then yes. Ger deserves to know all of his family. He deserves to have a chance to choose for himself who he wants in his life. If you had contacted us like a sane human being, I guarantee that he would've wanted to see you and Fitz and I would've made it happen. Not now, though."

Tears started to flow down her cheeks and Big Jerry actually felt a twinge at the raw hurt and disappointment in her gaze.

"You know, I was going to try and see if Fitz would meet you halfway somehow. Maybe after the Election. I mean, regardless of all the shit, he still loves you. You're his father and he loves you. He just…the reason he cut you off was because he didn't want to get hurt anymore. You…even years later, what you did or didn't do to him and your family still haunts him, still hurts him. He won't even tell me a little unless he's drunk...no. No, I called you here to tell you that it's over. Truly over. The second you encouraged that…thing…to monitor our son like a fucking criminal, you crossed a Line. You're going to go back to California and forget all about us because if you don't, I'll see to it that you spend the rest of your life behind bars. I already paid for the tab."

"Olivia...", he started weakly.

"Good-bye, Jerry. Try and have a good life."

And out the door, she went.