A|N: Buckle UP!
Stretching his limbs languidly underneath the warm covers, Fitz wasn't ready to face the day; despite his blaring alarm shouts otherwise. Reaching over to his nightstand, he presses the button to end the nonstop buzzing.
Yawning for what felt like the umpteenth time, he finally gets out of bed. First stop was to the toilet to relieve himself, then to the sink to wash his face and brush his teeth. When the simple tasks were completed, he made his way back into his room.
Grabbing his iPhone from the nightstand, he makes his way towards the kitchen.
A strong cup of coffee later, his senses were more alert and any trace of sleepiness dissolved. Now he was ready to face the day.
Fitz returned to his room and got ready for work, during the process he wondered if Olivia would need a lift. He couldn't help thinking about her and her wellbeing. His truck didn't have much space but it could definitely fit both her and Abby.
He wasn't sure if he should contact her or give her some space because of what had transpired between them last night. Even though, last night didn't go the way he wanted; he wasn't deterred in the slightest. He was proud of himself for putting it all out there – for her to know that he wanted more. When he'd held her hand in the back of the cab, he couldn't help but ache for more. He wanted more and he hoped that she felt the same way.
Fitz picks up his phone for the second time that morning, and for the first time he looked at the screen to check his notifications.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw a new text message from Olivia that came in at 3:00 AM. Curious as to why she'd sent the message so late and what it says, he taps the icon to open it. It read:
Olivia: YES.
Yes? He asks himself. The answer is yes? She's saying that I have a chance? That we have a chance? The answer is YES!
Fitz couldn't believe it, Olivia Pope is giving him a chance, giving them a chance. And just like that his day got a whole lot brighter in contrast to the bleakness today's weather forecast predict.
He felt like he could do some backflips in the middle of his bedroom. He was so excited that he called Bubba over.
"She said yes, buddy, she said yes." He beamed at his dog, running his hands up and down his shiny coat. Bubba simply growled in contentment of his soothing touch.
His mind immediately started thinking about first date ideas; because the first thing on his agenda, is to take her out on a date date.
Fitz didn't want to text her back as he'd much rather have this conversation in person. He wants to see her face when she says yes.
He left for work, walking on sunshine and no one could take that away from him.
His reign on cloud 9 was shattered as soon as he got to the firehouse when Chief Beene called him into his office.
"You want me to go to Florida, in the place of Lt. Mac?"
"That is correct, I received word this morning that he wasn't able to fulfill his obligations due to personal reasons. White Shirts, asked for a replacement and I recommend you. I need you to step up and be the fire lieutenant representative at this year's annual firefighters' convention. It'll be for four days in Orlando. Your flight will be leaving early afternoon, I suggest you head home and get ready. Make sure to pack something warm, heard the weather is good this time of year." Cyrus ended on a light note.
Shit! Fitz didn't expect to receive such news this morning. He came to work with the sole expectation to be working in Chicago but now he's being shipped to Florida.
"And, Lt. don't worry about your men. Your sub-lieutenant will lead the squad until you're back. Can I count on you?"
One thing when it comes to his job, Fitz can always be counted on.
"Yes, chief, you can count on me."
"Good. Show them what we're made of," Chief Beene's voice rung with pride.
Fitz smiled at his chief and gives an affirmative answer, "yes sir."
Cyrus softens and smiles at the much younger man.
"While you're down there, have a little fun will you."
Fitz laughs and realizes that this was definitely the time that he needs to exit the office.
"I will. Have a good chief," he bids him and walks out the door.
His first mission was to go look for Olivia.
First making his way into the communal area, where he found everyone lounging and waiting for the first call after preparing the trucks for the day. He saw Olivia in the corner talking to Harrison and Randy. He took a minute to take in her form, her hair was in its usual neat bun, her face fresh and free from any makeup. She looked incredibly beautiful, it wasn't that he'd expected less.
He quickly thought of a plan to get her in private, without bringing too much attention to them.
Clearing his throat, Fitz says, "Pope, can I see you in my office for a minute," his voice was even yet authoritative.
All the guys around was making 'ooo' sounds like if she was in trouble.
Olivia rolled her eyes at them and stood to her feet. "Sure, Lt. Grant," she tosses back as she makes her way through the ooo-ing.
Liv made sure not to make eye contact with a brewing Abby who was sitting sulking on a barstool by the kitchen island. It hadn't even been 24 hours in her presence and Olivia was already over her attitude.
Wordlessly, she followed Lt. Grant to his diminutive office. She took great delight in eye ogling his form. He was wearing a black trouser with his navy blue firehouse 51 shirt that only aided in emphasizing his muscular structure. She wondered how often he worked out. His body was by far the most fitted among the men at the firehouse.
"Ladies first," his face wearing a ridiculously bright smile that almost stole her breath away.
She walks through the open door that he held, giving him a smile in return for his kind gesture.
Olivia stood in front of his desk awaiting his next move.
Fitz closes the door and instead of walking behind his desk, he walks towards her.
Boldly grabbing one of her hands in his, he gets her attention. He stood close to her but not too much in her personal space.
"Fitz… I mean Lt. Grant, we're at work," Olivia protests even though the simple touch of his hand was sending electrical currents to her core.
"There's a chance?" He asks not paying attention to her complaints.
They stood still for a few seconds, hands still together, Fitz rubbing his thumb soothingly across the back of hers; he waited for her answer.
After what felt like a lifetime, she says, "Yes. There's a chance…"
Elated by her answer, he watches as she looks up at him and sees her face transforming into a huge smile, probably in reciprocation of the ridiculous beam he was wearing.
"But, we'll take it slow. I don't want to jeopardize our friendship."
"Neither me, Livvie," Fitz counters.
"Livvie?" She arches a questioning eyebrow at him.
"What? You don't like it? The name suits you." Truth of the matter, he'd almost called her that many times before. It was soft and strong like her.
She ponders it for a moment, no one had ever called her Livvie before, just Olivia or Liv. She didn't mind it but it would take some time for her to get used to.
"I do like it along with Fire Clause 2.0," she laughs.
Fitz joins in with her laughter for a few seconds before asking, "So we're really going to do this? I mean…see where all of this goes?"
Olivia simply smiles at him and nods her head yes.
Both startled by the turning of the doorknob, simultaneously released each other's hands and stepped away to gain appropriate distance.
Cyrus' familiar figure fills the doorway.
"Lt. What are you still -? Oh, Pope," he says her name in surprise.
Olivia looks up at him and greets, "Chief Beene."
"What's going on?" Cyrus asks, watching from one face to the next.
Olivia opens her mouth and immediately fired off an excuse before Fitz could've thought of one. "We're making the final arrangements for this year's toy drive. So far we've exceeded last year's" she threw in the last part as an extra touch.
Fitz smirked at her for her quick thinking.
"Grant, you've held that information from me?" Cyrus jests.
"Wanted to tell you afterwards, sir, but now the cat is out of the bag," he tells Cyrus, while squinting his eyes at Liv.
"That's great news. Good thing you'll be back in time for it. Alright Grant, I'll see you when you get back. Pope," he gives her a nod of acknowledgement before retreating out the door.
Hearing the exchange, Olivia's ears were peak at the mention of "see you when you get back." She smiles at Chief Beene in return.
When the door was closed, Fitz says, "I'm going to Florida today and I'll be back in four days."
"Oh, for the conference?" She asked, since everyone knew about it.
"Yes. Filling in for, Mac."
"Well, have fun," she gives him a sweet smile before starting to walk towards the door. "I should get going."
"Wait," Fitz stops her by grabbing her arm.
Olivia turns around and was surprised that he was so close in her personal space.
"I'll call you when I can. Ok?" his blue eyes bore seriously into hers.
Olivia nods, too caught up in his dreamy stare to answer, "Ok," she finally croaked.
Fitz leans down slowly giving her enough time to react and stop him but she didn't. Instead, she stood still and waited to see what he was doing. In great surprise, she felt his lips in a feather light kiss touching her right cheek.
"Be safe, until I see you again, Livvie." He pulls away, out of her personal zone.
She nodded her head despite being in a daze; a simple kiss on the cheek had completely worked her up.
"Safe trip, Fitz," she tells him before leaving his office.
As Olivia was walking down the corridor to head back to the communal area, she heard an emergency call coming in for Ambulance 51.
Ambulance 51 needed at 750 Main St, caller complains that they're feeling lightheaded. They confirmed that they're a diabetic.
Olivia increases her pace and ran straight out to the garage where she know that Abby already was. She made it a little after Abby who was mounting the driver seat. Olivia runs around the ambulance and sits in the passenger side.
Sirens flicked on and they were off to their first call.
As the ambulance drives between the parted vehicles, Abby started to bitch about Stephen.
"Can you believe he asked me when I'm coming home?"
Olivia was so not in the mood for this, she kept her eyes on the road and listen to any new updates the operator left over their radio.
"He simply dismissed my feelings like it didn't happen. Like he didn't betray me."
"But he didn't," Olivia muttered underneath her breath.
"Excuse me?" Abby asked as she made a wide turn on Main Street.
"There!" Olivia points to the house that says, Lot# 750 on the mailbox. She was glad that she didn't have to tell Abby how crazy she's behaving right now.
As soon as the Ambulance was parked, they grabbed their emergency kit and began to glove up as they make their way to the house.
"George?" Olivia calls as they open the front door. They'd learned on the way over that George is a 55 year old man that lived by himself.
"This is the paramedics," they spoke aloud as they walked towards the kitchen, where the victim was last thought to be.
"George, are you in here?" Abby asked this time as they looked around the empty kitchen. He was nowhere to be seen. The kitchen was cleaned and untouched, everything was in its perfect place.
"Abby watch out!" Olivia screamed in enough time for Abby to move, when a big burly man came out swinging a baseball bat.
Olivia and Abby was confined to the opposite side of the kitchen island while the man held his own on the opposite side.
"Are you trying to steal from me? Get out of my house! Who sent you here?" The man screamed at them while swinging the bat in the air like a maniac.
To say that they were scared was a huge understatement.
"We're the paramedics," Abby explained in a shaky tone.
"Are you feeling lightheaded?" Olivia asked to back up her partner.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO," he bellowed. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!" the man started banging the bat on the island top. The beautiful tile work was breaking off with his incessant knocking.
Olivia looked to Abby and then around the room to see if there was any way that they can safely exit without bringing harm to themselves.
"Ok… Sir… We're leaving. We'll go through the front door," Olivia speaks calmly even though she felt the opposite.
"No. Go through the window," he tells them and their eyes grew wide. They were on the fourth floor and it would be suicide if they attempted to get out that way.
Abby visibly shakes at the now pulsing vein protruding from the man's forehead.
"Sir, we want no trouble. We'll just leave through the front, no big deal," Abby reasoned with her palms in the air for emphasis.
Meanwhile Abby was trying to appeal to the crazy man senses, Olivia was searching blindly in her emergency kit for the emergency tranquilizer shot that they kept on hand.
The man didn't listen to Abby but continued to bang on the kitchen island.
A slight movement ahead caught Olivia's attention, she looked forward but she saw nothing. She refocused her attention on crazy George and when she did, she felt someone looking at her again. This time when she looked, she notice a young girl peeking at her from the steps. From what she could see, the little girl looked dirty and very scared.
Turning her attention back to the crazy man, she saw him turning his back towards them to bang on the fridge.
Olivia stealthily started moving towards him and Abby tried to hold her back. She silently showed her the shot that she'd found syringe ready in her hands. Abby gives her a quick head nod in encouragement.
As soon as Olivia reaches behind the big guy, he turns around and screams, "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
Olivia ducks and misses the swing of his bat, she lands on her knees and in one smooth movement she rams the needle through the fabric of his sweatpants and into his thigh.
He screams and immediately falls over, taking Olivia down in the process.
Abby immediately rushes over to help her friend get out from underneath him.
"Are you, ok?" Abby asked Olivia who breathing wildly.
"I'm good," she pants. "There's a little girl inside this house."
"Are you sure?"
Olivia nods her head yes and get s up from off of the floor. "I'm going to go search for her, in the meantime call the cops to see how far they are. I pressed the distressed button I think five minutes ago."
Abby nod and turned away to do as she was told. The cops were a few minutes away. Abby looked down at the man who was trying to attack them, he wasn't looking so scary now on the floor.
Olivia carefully searched through the living room for the little girl. Her heart in hand as she wasn't sure what may greet her. It could be another crazy person trying to harm her but she doubted it. The little looked to be no more than six, Olivia saw the scared looked on her face and she needed to make sure she was fine before they leave.
From the living room, Olivia walked down the hall to a door she presumes to be the bathroom.
The door was slightly ajar and a strong stench was coming out of it. The odor was so bad that she had to cover her mouth and nose with one of her hands.
Slowly she eased open the door and the sight of what she'd seen almost ripped her heart out.
OH God!
On the floor was the little girl that she'd seen hugging the body of a gray skin looking woman on the floor. The woman was dead and apparently so for a few days.
Survival instincts took over and Olivia began to call the frightened child over to her and away from the decaying body.
"I'm not going to hurt you. You can come with me," she pushed through the bad stench as she begged the girl to come with her. The little girl looked like she hadn't seen the shower for days.
She watched as she simply shook her head no before hugging what she presumes to be her mother's corpse.
Tears filled her eyes at the scene; she remembered seeing her mother's burned corpse and wanting to hold on to her as it was being led out of the house but was restrained by an emergency personnel. She could relate to the young girl and it broke heart that no amount of holding on, will bring back her mother.
"My name is Olivia and I understand how scared you're feeling right now. But you can trust me, I won't do anything to hurt you and the man…George can't either. He's in a deep, deep sleep."
She watches from the door as the little girl's eyes brighten at George's unconscious state.
In the distance, Olivia hears the police entering the house, the raucous noise only served to make the little girl more frightened.
"What's your name?" she asked her to get her to stay calm.
The little girl looked down at her mother and twirls her blonde hair in her hand. In a low voice, she says, "Sarah."
"That's a pretty name. Can you come to me, Sarah?"
Sarah looks down at the corpse and starts crying. Olivia got up in defeat from being crouched down; she wasn't able to get Sarah to move. She went in search for the police officers that came on the call.
"We meet again," one of the officers gives her a wide smile once he'd seen her.
Olivia was surprised that it was Michael from the bar.
"Too bad it's not under better circumstances," he says.
Olivia looks at his nametag before addressing him in a professional way, "Officer Daniels, I'm afraid that there's been a homicide."
Olivia recounts to him what she'd seen when she was in the bathroom. There was blood splattered across the tiles and around the body.
Immediately, Officer Daniels calls for backup before leaving the room to survey the crime scene.
Two hours later, they were finally finishing up with the emergency call, Olivia was asked to come down to the station at a later time to give an official statement.
Sarah was transported to the hospital by them; and a social worker was already assigned to her. Sarah held onto Olivia's hands the entire time they were in transit there.
It broke her heart when the doctor's took her away in order to give her proper care. She was severely dehydrated along with other mild complications. Olivia promised her that she'd visit her and that was a promise she intended to keep.
Back at the firehouse, the others all give her and Abby sympathetic looks. Having a day like this literally shakes you to the core, the toughest of men feels it, especially if it's something that you can relate to.
They still had over 12 hours of shift to go. She excused herself to the locker room to strip down and shower off the past four hours.
Fifteen minutes later, she returned to the communal area just in time to hear the newest announcement
All units needed for a mass fire at the Riverview Apartment complex off of John and Lennon Road.
And off they go.
The next day, Fitz was shocked to hear about what had happened since he left Chicago, he'd found out the happenings from Cyrus when he'd called to check in on the conference. When he'd first arrived at the location, he was surprised that he was scheduled to do a live demonstration on how to properly out a small fire. No one told him that he had to be demonstrating anything in front of thousands of people but he digress.
Now he was thousands of miles away and had to hear about Olivia and Abby almost getting hurt by a maniac. Last night he didn't text her because she was still on shift, and he didn't want to interrupt in case they were on a call.
Now that he was fully dressed in his work uniform, he took in the warm weather of central Florida. Standing outside, he couldn't believe how warm it is that time of year, he'd literally left 20 degrees weather and was now in 70 degrees. It was perfect.
Thoughts of Olivia consumed his mind even as he stood there. Needing to talk to her, he sent a text message, Are you awake? It was 10 AM in Florida and 9 AM in Chicago and if his calculation was right, she'd just gotten home from her shift.
A minute later, his phone chimed and he looks down to see her message: Just got in. About to take a shower. TTYL.
He simply replied to her: Ok, I'll call you.
Immediately his phone chimed with a response: Great.
At least she doesn't sound too despondent, he thought to himself. He knows for sure what a day like yesterday could do to a firefighter. Instead of running away from the chaos, they had to run to it.
Half an hour later, Fitz had wolfed down some pancakes and bacon from the complimentary hotel breakfast spread, before calling Olivia.
"How are you feeling?" His deep baritone asked worriedly, after she'd briefly recounted what happened.
Olivia lets out a long sigh from her end as she snuggles up underneath her comforter.
"Sad," she admits honestly.
It was Fitz' turn to sigh, "I'm sorry but I'm glad you're ok. Both of you."
Olivia smiled at his concern for her and Abby, who was currently sleeping on her airbed like the past 24 hours didn't happen.
"Me too," she yawned.
Fitz taking that as his cue to leave, says, "We'll talk later. Go get some rest, Livvie."
She smiled at her nickname, "I will, go have some fun…" she mumbled.
Fitz smiled at her sleepy voice and could only imagine how angelic her face looked right now. He listened to her even breathing for a few more seconds. "See you soon, Livvie," he says, not expecting her to reply.
The next 3 days flew by and before he knew it, Fitz was landing in Chicago. He couldn't wait to go see Olivia. They hadn't had a proper conversation as she was called into work the next day to pick up a 24 hours shift for another paramedic who was sick.
They had sporadic text messaging between each other about their daily activities. When he'd expressed his demonstration dilemma and his mild stage fright, Olivia first laughed at him before sending him a quote by Rosa Park which helped him some. 'I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.'
She'd expressed to him that she'd visited Sarah at the hospital yesterday and she was faring much better.
They were not even a couple and he couldn't bear being away from her for so long. Four days was a long time without his Pope medicine.
From the airport, Fitz picked up Betsy, who had been in the airport parking lot ever since he'd left days earlier. His first stop was home to get freshen up, and then he was going to surprise visit Olivia. He didn't have anything definitive planned for the evening and was open to whatever she wants; whether to eat out and catch a movie or stay in. This was technically not their first date, in his mind. Their first date had to be way more special.
An hour after arriving home, Fitz was pulling out of his driveway. Clean shaven and dressed in comfortable clothes. He was so excited to see Olivia after so many days. He didn't even stop to think if Abby would be there when he got there and what his presence at her friend's place meant. He had a one track mind and that was to spend time with the woman who was slowly taking his heart.
Fitz parallel parked his truck in a vacant spot in front of her apartment building before hopping out. He was solely on mission that he didn't notice the police patrol car parked behind him.
Not having the patience to wait on the elevator, he took the stairs all the way up to the fifth floor.
Arriving in front of her apartment door, Fitz took a minute to collect himself and calm his breathing before knocking on the door twice.
Stepping back from the door, he was surprised to see a man answering it.
To be continued…
A/N: Sorry to leave you here but I will try and update soon, like tomorrow. Lol. I just wanted to give you something because I'm heading out right now and I didn't have time to fully finish it or edit it. You'll get part 2 soon.
Many things happened in this chapter and the most important one was Liv saying yes. Many of you and I mean MANY of you thought that she would've ran. Lol. She may have emotional baggage but she's taking a chance with him.
Then we had Liv and Abby in that precarious situation with crazy George. Being a paramedic isn't a walk in the park at all.
Finally, who's at the door? (I promise not too much drama.) Lol. That's what you get when you show up unannounced Fitz.
Don't hate me. I'll update soon!
