Strange Conversations

His bedroom was enveloped in darkness. Even the moon refused to give off any light tonight. Fitz was wide awake, lying flat on his back in the middle of his king-sized bed, willing sleep to come. He had fallen asleep in the living room earlier while watching the news but had been jarred awake not long afterwards by the sound of a band playing on a late night talk show. Groggily he had turned off the television, stripped off every stitch of clothing, and stumbled into his bedroom where he crawled under the covers and slipped off to sleep. He woke up less than two hours later.

Four in the morning rolled around in the same mind-numbing uneventful way that three a.m. had. And two a.m. before that. Fitz had greeted the top of each hour with an annoyed scowl at his bedside clock before turning his attention back towards the ceiling. Unfortunately, being awake at this hour wasn't a surprise. His thumb and index finger rubbed over his eyelids before coming together to pinch the bridge of his nose. He yawned loudly as a question floated through his brain from out of nowhere. Is Olivia asleep right now?

Before the thought could take root in his head, Fitz decided he didn't want to know. There wasn't any point in lying there for another hour. Five a.m. was when his alarm would alert him to get up anyway. He turned off the alarm and decided to get up and start his day now. With a frustrated groan he swung his bare feet off the side of the bed and set them on the cool floor. He leaned over, trying to give himself another moment, and rested his head in his large hands. He was beyond exhausted.

He yawned while raking his hands through his unruly curls, wishing once more that he could have gotten a few more hours of rest. Finally standing, he shuffled towards the kitchen like a naked post-apocalyptic zombie. If he was going to start his day at this hour, he needed caffeine as soon as humanly possible. He pressed the power button and shuffled towards the bathroom to relieve his bladder.

Once that was done, he turned the shower on a bone melting hot temperature and grabbed a towel from the closet. The steam rolled out from behind the shower door, greeting him as it rushed over his naked body. He stepped inside and under the shower head. The feel of the hot water pelting his still sleep deprived skin felt heavenly. He groaned again, but this time it was a satisfied sound. Tilting his face upward he let the water continue to wake him up.

Twenty minutes later Fitz felt a lot better. He stepped out of the shower and dried off with a towel before wrapping it snugly around his waist. Raising his left hand, he swiped his palm across the large fog covered mirror above the sink and squinted at his reflection.

He looked like shit.

Great.

He went back into his bedroom and pulled on a blue t-shirt and a pair of underwear followed by some sweats. He just needed a huge cup of coffee to complete the transformation to human. The second the hot black liquid touched his tongue Fitz let out a contented sigh. By the time he emptied his mug, most of the remnants of his insomnia had been cleared from his mind.

Sitting at his table, his thoughts veered back to Liv. Before he could shut them down Fitz was again wondering if she was awake yet? If she and Will had spoken about the uncomfortable meeting the three of them shared in the Oval Office the other night? Fitz was sure that Will had had plenty to say to his wife. Just like he was pretty sure Will knew they hadn't been there to discuss a garden.

He felt like a fool and regret filled his mind. He never should have gone to the White House that late. He should have told Olivia no when she text and asked him to come. He was going to have to be stronger when it came to her. All the same wouldda couldda shoulddas that he had been through a thousand times before when it came to Liv hit him like a ton of bricks.

She wasn't his and probably never would be. She was the president of the United States and she needed to be treated with respect, especially by Fitz. The last thing he wanted was for her name to be attached to a scandal like so many of the male presidents before her had been. He wanted her to do a great job and be remembered for it. The great job she promised she would do once elected. To represent the American people well as the first female leader of the free world. It was already difficult enough for her. He didn't need to make it any more difficult.

And then there was the matter of her marriage. Happy or not, it wasn't his to meddle in. While he could name a dozen reasons why Will and Olivia's relationship didn't stand a chance once she was out of office, Fitz had to make peace with the fact that she was in office right now. Olivia was newly elected and would be at Sixteen Hundred Pennsylvania Avenue for at least the next four years. Eight if he had anything to do with it.

Eight years of watching her and Will smile and make nice for the cameras. Of hearing them talk about trying to start a family, which is something he would recommend to any other president in her situation. Babies bring tons of approval numbers and political capital. And while Will and Olivia doted on their child, he would be an outsider looking in. Wishing it was his child with Olivia.

He needed to let her go.

That was easier said than done. The physical pain that cut like a knife at the thought of severing personal ties with Olivia was acute and real. The thought of not talking to her about personal matters, or touching her other than formal handshakes, or spending time with her as anything other than a fixer was too much to deal with at this early morning hour. He poured himself another cup of coffee instead.

Going into his bedroom closet and opening the door, Fitz looked through his suits. He grabbed the hanger holding a black one and brought it into his bedroom along with his coffee. He turned on the early morning news as he continued to sip from his cup. Since it was going to be a long day Fitz decided he would make it a productive one.

It was barely six in the morning and freezing outside when he left his apartment. The February winds were blowing in full effect, making Fitz pull his coat higher up on his neck. By the time he arrived at the office, his cup was empty, and he started making more coffee in the pot there. The two hours of sleep he got last night would catch up to him quickly unless he stayed on top of it.

It wasn't just last night. Fitz hadn't been sleeping more than a few hours for the past several nights. He had too much on his mind and too much work to keep him idle for long. He found himself with a spare half hour before his schedule became busy with back to back meetings this morning. It turned out that the extra half hour wasn't doing him any favors.

Fitz was sitting in his office, trying to read a file sitting on top of his desk. He had a meeting to get to in an hour, but he had specifically put on his agenda to finish this file first. He wasn't doing so great at it. His mind kept going back to the other night in the Oval Office with Olivia and Will. It was the reason for his exhaustion and irritability. It was the reason he was driving himself so hard at work. It was the reason he was there from sun up to sun down. And it was also the reason for his lack of sleep. He wasn't going to last much longer under these conditions.

His thoughts ran the gamut from what in the hell was that, to Will knows Liv and I are having an affair. The more he thought about it the more they tended to linger on the latter. Maybe he felt that way because Fitz had been thinking along those lines before he had even arrived at the White House that night? Maybe it was the smug all knowing look Will had given both of them before he left the Oval Office? Maybe it was just his imagination working over time? Whatever the reason, it had to stop.

Shaking all of it off, Fitz's eyes went back to the file in front of him. He had no recollection of ever reading the first line before. Sighing heavily, he gave up. He got to his feet and slid the file sideways into a larger manila one inside his filing cabinet. After closing the square metal door, Fitz locked it and put the key into his pocket. He made his way towards the elevator but stopped at his co-worker's office first.

"Huck?"

"Yea?"

"I'm heading out to my meeting."

Huck glanced at his plain watch and scowled up at Fitz. "Already? Why are you leaving so soon? Your meeting isn't for another hour."

"What are you, my time keeper?" Fitz grumbled.

"You've gotta get more sleep or get laid, dude. Whatever it is that's making you bitchy needs to be dealt with. It's not healthy." Huck was no longer looking at Fitz but was concentrating on his computer. "And before you ask, no I'm not your therapist either. There's not enough money in the world for me to listen to your shit."

Fitz wanted to be mad. He really did. He just didn't have the energy for it. Instead, he started laughing. And then he couldn't stop.

That made Huck scowl even more. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You really wanna know?" Fitz asked.

Huck debated that. Truth be told he didn't want to know. But Fitz was a great guy and seemed to be going through some stuff. He probably needed a friend to talk to. Huck hated having to be that friend, but for Fitz he would do anything. "Tell me what's going on. Maybe I can help?"

Fitz grabbed a nearby chair, turned it around, and straddled it. He didn't really know where to begin and it showed. "We've never really discussed our personal lives..."

"And that's fine with me." Huck said quickly.

"Yup. Me too." Fitz agreed just as fast. "But since we work together, we notice when the other one has a bad day or whatever."

"Be hard not to." Huck agreed.

"Right. I've been having a hard time sleeping lately. That's part of the reason I'm so damn cranky. I can't focus on anything, yawning all the time, and it's starting to affect my work."

"It started lassssssssst Tuesday, right?" Huck asked. He had a real good idea of what had crawled up Fitz's ass. And it wasn't a lack of sleep. Well, it wasn't entirely that.

Fitz's eyes narrowed as he squinted at the man sitting across from him. Maybe talking to Huck wasn't a great idea. He seemed to know everything already. That was something that made Fitz feel very nervous. In spite of his fears, Fitz wanted answers. "How in the hell could you possibly know that?"

Huck shrugged carelessly. "I used to work for the CIA. I was paid to notice things. Big or little. I noticed a change on Tuesday morning when you got here late."

"What? No, you didn't." Fitz insisted. "That was the first morning after I started sleeping bad. How could you have possibly noticed anything then? I wasn't even irritated yet."

Huck chuckled. "I don't think you realize how irritated you get sometimes. Even over something simple, like a red light. You were kinda spaced out that day. You kept blinking your eyes or rubbing them. You yawned a lot too."

"Wow. You really are observant. And have a great memory too. I'll have to remember that."

"And...you know...you deal with some high profile people. Actors, athletes, politicians..." Huck quietly let that hang for a minute before adding, "That would be enough to keep me awake at night. Knowing their secrets, the things they hide, or want hidden. We get paid to deal with their worst day. That's a lot of pressure. It's bound to rub off on you from time to time."

Fitz let his friend's words marinate in his brain for a few quiet minutes. He made a lot of sense, and if he listened to the words Fitz would think that Huck was simply giving him an explanation for his sleep deprivation. An answer for the whole thing.

But Fitz knew Huck better than that. Huck was a man of few words, so when he spoke there was meaning behind what he said. Fitz had a feeling his friend's knowledge concerning his lack of sleep and the reasons behind it ran a lot deeper than because he worked a hard job. Fitz just wasn't sure he wanted to know exactly how much Huck knew about his personal life. He had no intentions of asking either.

He decided to down play it. "Yea, maybe. Maybe I just need to find a girlfriend. Being single for so many years certainly doesn't help the situation."

"Women bring their own heavy issues to a relationship." Huck pointed out.

"That's the truth!" Fitz declared. But as his mind drifted to Olivia once again, he couldn't stop the smile that tugged at his lips. So, she had issues. Who didn't? He'd rather love her through them than not love her at all.

Huck watched his friend's face transform from weariness to contentment in seconds. He wondered if Fitz knew how much in love he was with Olivia? It was a doomed relationship that would probably never see the light of day. But Huck would bet on Fitz every time over anyone else. He was secretly rooting for Fitz and Liv to figure everything out so they could be together. It might not happen until her presidency was over, but he felt sure that it would happen. When Fitz continued staring into space with that weird smile on his face, Huck couldn't deal with it anymore. He turned back to his computer and got busy with work.

Fitz was brought back to reality at hearing Huck tapping on keyboard keys. He dropped the goofy smile, took the hint, and left the building.

The first appointment on his schedule was at the home of an old friend of his. It was a good way to start the day. At least Fitz hoped it would be. Obviously, there was a problem that needed his attention but instead of it being a complete stranger, it was someone he knew. He wondered if that should make him feel uncomfortable in any way? It didn't.

He arrived at the home of Robert and Claire Easterwood twenty five minutes later. Their huge four bedroom three and a half bathroom beautiful brick home always made Fitz want to ditch his apartment and buy a house. But then he would have to hire a maid or clean it himself and that made his apartment seem a lot more enticing.

The front door opened, and his friend Robert greeted him warmly and invited him inside. The two of them made small talk and headed towards the spacious living room. Claire stood up from her spot on the floral sofa and hugged Fitz. "It was good of you to come."

"The two of you are my oldest friends. Of course I would come." Fitz said, taking a seat without an invitation.

"Would you like any coffee?" Claire asked politely.

"No, thank you. I've already had more coffee than any human being should consume in a day. Why don't you tell me why you asked me to come over" he suggested?

Robert and Claire exchanged a look before turning their attention to Fitz. "It's Henry. He got expelled from prep school on Friday."

"Another expulsion? I'm sorry to hear that. I thought for sure after the last one two years ago that he learned his lesson and would straighten up?"

"When you have a sixteen year old who spends all of his free time in his bedroom on a computer, he's either playing video games or up to no good. I wish it was something as easily managed as video games."

"At this point, I would be thrilled if it had been video games."

"So, what exactly did he do?" Fitz asked.

"He hacked into the school's computer system and changed his grades to passing, while changing the grades of a few kids he doesn't like to failing. If he had been even slightly more creative with the data changes, he never would have gotten caught."

Claire let Fitz know in no uncertain terms how she felt about the whole thing. "Personally, I'm glad he got caught. If he hadn't, he would have gotten bolder and done something much worse. Or he would have attempted hacking into something much more difficult and gone to prison for it. Putting a stop to it now means his chances at trying to do it again are much less."

"What do you need from me? Whatever it is, I'll do it."

"We want you to scare the shit out of him." Robert replied.

Confusion bloomed across Fitz's face. "What exactly does that look like in your opinion?"

"We want you to make it seem that homeland security is somehow involved in this. We want Henry to associate bone deep fear if he ever thinks of doing something like this again. Do you know what we mean?" Robert asked.

"And this has your stamp of approval on it as well, Claire? I don't think I could do it if you weren't on board too." Fitz asked.

"I am very much on board. I don't want my son to end up being on America's Most Wanted for pirate crimes."

"That show isn't on anymore, dear." Robert chuckled.

"You know what I mean! This needs to be stopped now before things get worse. Do you think you can do something creative to scare him?" she asked.

Fitz thought about it for a minute. He gave them a mischievous grin as the wheels began to turn in his head. "A plan is beginning to form here. I'm going to look into the other boys who's grades got tampered with too."

"You are going to have to use someone scary for this particular job." Robert informed him.

"I got a guy." Fitz said nodding. "He can be super scary when he wants to be, and he's a computer genius to boot. Henry won't know what hit him. If he even looks at a computer once my guy is done with him, I'll be shocked."

"Good. Whatever you need for this job you'll have it. Money is no object either."

"I'll keep that in mind." Fitz said. "Let me talk to him and see how soon he can put something together. I'm sure that within the next week he will have a plan for poor unsuspecting Henry."

"Perfect." The three of them rose from their seats feeling a lot better about the situation. Fitz hugged Claire and shook Robert's hand. "You don't have to tell us anything other than when you are going to move forward with the plan. We don't need to know specifics."

"Really?" Fitz asked doubtfully. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"If we don't know what the plan is, then we won't be lying to him when he asks us about our involvement in it."

"Ahhh, plausible deniability." And just like that Olivia was back on his mind. It had been such a peaceful hour without any thought of her plaguing his head. Fitz sighed heavily. Oh well.

"Exactly." Robert agreed, breaking Fitz from his thoughts. "Thank you for being so flexible and understanding. We appreciate this more than you know."

"I'll be in touch soon. Try to keep him out of trouble until then." Fitz warned them.

He walked out of the house and rode a cab back to his next appointment. As he sat in the backseat and watched the winter scenery fly by Fitz checked his schedule to see what he would be dealing with next. Work kept him from thinking about things he shouldn't be thinking about. People he shouldn't be thinking about.

Glancing at his watch he saw that he had a solid forty minutes before his next meeting. Unfortunately, his next meeting had everything to do with the White House even if Liv wouldn't be attending it. She was hosting a dinner in her new home on Pennsylvania Avenue and Fitz had gotten an invitation. His appointment was with his tailor to make sure his tuxedo still fit. At least this meeting had no stress attached to it.

Less than an hour later, Fitz had a tape measure stretched around various parts of his body and the measurements written down. Meanwhile, he answered work related emails from his phone and spoke whenever a question was asked. In thirty minutes, he was done and in yet another cab heading back to the office.

Something was different. He sensed it as he got off the elevator and walked through the door of his office. Glancing to the left and then the right, Fitz didn't see anything out of the ordinary but the feeling stuck with him. He kept his guard up as he slowly made his way to Huck's door.

Nothing was out of the ordinary in Huck's office either. He was in the same spot where Fitz had left him earlier, still furiously tapping away on his keyboard. He wished he was more inclined to find out what his co-worker was up to, but Fitz trusted Huck implicitly. Also, Huck would use technical terms, just to piss him off, and his lack of understanding would ruin it for both of them.

Leaning on Huck's door Fitz asked, "you got a minute?"

Huck never looked up, never missed a beat in his typing, and said, "I do. But you don't."

"I don't?" Fitz asked. When Huck shook his head back and forth, he squinted and said, "why not?"

"You've got a visitor in your office."

Fitz whipped his head towards his office. He knew something was up. "Who is it?"

"Go find out for yourself. You're probably not gonna like it though." Huck warned as he looked up at Fitz.

"Damn it." Fitz whispered. "Who is it, Huck?"

Huck went back to his computer and simply said, "beat it. I'm busy."

Mentally shooting the finger at Huck, Fitz rolled his eyes and headed towards his office. He could see the back of a familiar head sitting in one of the visitor chairs. All of a sudden, the exhaustion felt like a heavy wet blanket smothering him. He closed his bleary eyes and took a deep breath. Releasing it, and grasping for the doorknob, Fitz hoped this meeting would be a quick one. "Cyrus!" he boomed. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Cyrus regarded the man coming around the desk in front of his chair. He got to his feet and shook hands with the tired looking fixer. He briefly wondered why Fitz seemed as exhausted as the president had been lately? He'd have to do some checking into it on his own. Instead of voicing his concerns, Cyrus smiled and said, "would you believe I was in the neighborhood?"

"No." Fitz replied. He picked up his mail and sat on the edge of his desk. Cyrus was never just in the neighborhood. He wanted something. "What can I do for you, Cy?"

"You never were one for small talk. Let me get right to the point then. William Swann sent me here to discuss with you a delicate but urgent matter. He's demanding your full cooperation with it and so am I."

You all have blown me away with support for this story! Thank you so much for being interested to see how things would possibly have been if the roles were reversed. Several of you have asked for flashbacks to see how Fitz & Liv met & hooked up, and it is coming! But I had the first several chapters already written for this story before I even posted chapter one, so please be patient. I am working on it. Until next time...