Disclaimer: Shondaland/ABC owns these characters. But I've taken the Gladiator oath as a writer: #OLITZ4LIFE #JAMMMmmmmm
No Mellie or Joke: Public Service Announcement for any accidental non-Olitz readers
"So what do we know about Patrick Dent?" Olivia asked the OPA, sitting in the Gulfstream that Fitz had organised to fly them to Georgia.
"He likes to hunt," said Quinn, turning her laptop around to show a series of photographs taken of a large man with sunburnt skin, grinning into the camera. "Ducks, geese, moose, deer, an elephant, a couple of lions—"
"Hey, is that even legal?" Harrison looked disgusted.
"Yeah, it is in some countries, like South Africa. They call it controlled hunting," Huck said grimly.
"Okay, enough with the dead animals... We know he's married with two kids, but he has a weakness," Abby said with a sly smirk. "David's source sang like a bird, and you'll never guess what this man is into."
"Wait, David Rosen? Are you back with him?" Harrison frowned.
Abby shrugged. "Yeah. We went on a date last night. It was okay. So you know…" She shrugged again.
"She went on a date just to get information from him," Quinn said with a grimace.
"No, I didn't, Lindsay. It's none of your beeswax why I see David," Abby glared at her.
"Getting back to Patrick Dent, what's his weakness – hookers?" Olivia asked. "Gambling? Drink? Drugs? What?"
"No, he likes cross-dressing, and getting spanked by men in tight leather pants," Quinn grinned, looking at Harrison and Huck.
"Wait? What? Why are you looking at the two of us?" Harrison scowled.
"Because it can't be us," Abby gestured at the three women. "He doesn't get turned on by women in tight pants. So it'll have to be you."
"We wore dresses. We can do leather pants," Huck said, solemnly.
Harrison shook his head. "Look, man, I don't do shit like this. It's not why I went to law school." He looked at Olivia. "We need to focus on the judge. Why aren't we focusing on the judge?"
Olivia leaned back in the soft leather seat. "Judge Claudette Liston was appointed by Fitz, and she's a relative of Antoinette Tuff the school clerk who prevented a mass shooting in a school near Atlanta, Georgia."
"Yeah, I heard about that, this was at.." Harrison snapped his fingers, trying to recall details.
"At the Ronald E McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Decatur, Georgia," Olivia supplied. "She talked the gunman into giving up his AK-47 assault rifle and other weapons."
"Yeah, she talked to the guy for an hour. Enough time for the school to evacuate 870 kids."
"Oh, I remember, it happened in August, right?" Quinn frowned. "But it didn't make the media rounds as much."
"As much as if the shooter, the potential shooter, had actually killed those kids," Abby shook her head in disgust.
"The shooter, Michael Hill, was off his meds," Olivia said, "Because his Medicaid had expired." Then she paused as Agent Tom walked up to their conference table.
"Ma'am, we'll be landing shortly. And the President wants to talk to you." He extended a mobile phone to Olivia.
"Thank you, Tom." Olivia took the phone, moving away from the OPA, past the retinue of Secret Service agents accompanying them on the trip, to get some privacy.
"Hi," she smiled. "You have to stop worrying about me."
"I always worry about you."
"I'll be safe with the army you've sent to protect me."
"Six agents don't make an army, Liv, but you're not to go anywhere without Tom. I've made that clear to him."
"Okay, tough guy, I won't get Tom in trouble," she chuckled. "What about Judge Liston?"
"I've contacted an ex-Navy buddy of mine, a state senator. He's sending people from his own security team to guard the Judge. The Sherriff's department is not involved." Fitz paused, making rustling noises in the background. "And the Executive Order is ready to go. I'll be signing it the instant you let us know of the court's decision."
"I'll let you know the second the Judge gives her ruling, if she decides in our favour. She may not, Fitz, and even if she did, the other side may have the appeal ready to be filed in the 11th Circuit Court."
"I'm ready for that too. So is the US Attorney General," Fitz paused, then added softly "…. I miss you."
"I miss you too."
"But you're enjoying this."
"Yes…" She rested her head against the cabin panelling. "Thank you for letting me do this."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Ex-Navy Seal commander and Senator Lucas Zeke sat across from Olivia and Tom in one of the armoured vehicles that had arrived to collect them from the airport. He was smiling - his white teeth brilliant against his ebony skin, his eye patch rakishly attractive - as he spoke to Olivia about Fitz.
"Yeah, Fitz and I used to shoot hoops back in the day. He beat my ass once or twice. Not bad for a white flyboy - you can tell him I said that. And that I've been waiting a helluva long time for that invite to play b-ball game at the White House. And you can tell him I ain't about to go easy on him, just because he's Commander-in-Chief!"
Olivia chuckled. "I'll tell him."
"Oh, I see why Fitzgerald Grant wants to keep you on a short leash, Ms Pope. Even with my one good eye, I can see you're a fine-looking woman." Hearing Tom clear his throat, the Senator gave a hearty chuckle. "No, need to get all worked up about that, son. I'm just stating facts. Though I gotta say I would never have imagined Fitz with a sister."
'Why?" Olivia asked, her curiosity overcoming her caution.
"His old man wrote the rulebook on how Fitz had to live his life; laid down the law right down to the woman Fitz had to marry - she had to be 'presentable' if you get what I'm saying. And Fitz got tired of fighting back." The Senator was quiet for a moment, then he turned with his grin firmly in place. "But it sure is good to see my man step out of the shadows and be his own boss. That's the guy I knew on active duty; the guy who did the right thing, even if it wasn't the exactly lawful at the time."
"Sounds like there's a story there."
"There sure is but if I tell you, I'd have to marry you – you know because a wife can't testify against her husband. I don't have a problem with that, I kind of like the idea of waking up to your gorgeousness every morning but," And he grinned as Tom glared at him, "Yeah, I'm thinking if this agent here doesn't shoot me, Fitz surely will. You still wanna hear the story?"
Olivia shook her head, warming to the Senator, unfazed by his flirting, but they needed to talk business. "Senator Zeke, about Judge Liston—"
"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head about Judge Liston. I've got my best men guarding her like she's been dipped in gold and rolled in diamonds. Ain't nobody going to get past my men. Now I heard your crew talking about a plan to take down that bastard Dent."
"We hear he has very kinky habits after hours."
The Senator chuckled. "That's one way of putting it. He's one sick, c*cksucker, and that's telling it straight if you get my meaning. You want to take him down, I'll be glad to help – he's a mean son of b*tch!"
"We don't have a lot of time, Senator. The hearing is tomorrow morning"
"Oh we'll be fine. I hear the party starts at his place around seven most nights, after his missus takes their two girls to dance or singing or whatever hell class these folk inflict on them kids," The Senator shook his head, then looked at Olivia with an incisive gaze. "Was I right in thinking I heard your people mention the word 'surveillance'?"
"Yes. We want to get him on tape."
"Well if you've got the equipment, I can help get you inside his house. We'll just cut the lights and send your team in to fix up the place."
"I gotta say, I liked wearing the Georgia Power uniform to dancing around in tight leather pants," Harrison muttered as they sat waiting in the Senator's study, facing a big screen TV to which Huck's laptop was connected.
"Yes, the fake power company badge and fake utility truck were a nice touch," Huck grinned.
"Hey, those were the real deal," the Senator said, "'Coz, I know people who know people. But hold on, let's get back to the tight leather pants," Senator Zeke looked Harrison up and down. "I didn't know that was Plan A. Sure sounds more entertaining than Plan B."
"I know, right?" Quinn said.
"There's the wife and kids leaving," Abby said, looking at the multi-view boxes on the screen. "I can't believe the man just let you walk into his house and fit these cameras everywhere."
"We told him we were checking for dim or flickering lights after the power outage," Huck said.
"Yeah, we didn't want him to get electrocuted," Harrison grinned, as they watched the federal prosecutor go around the house drawing closed all the curtains.
"A bowl of popcorn would be good right about now," Olivia sighed.
"You want popcorn? We got popcorn," The Senator's assistant, Oscar, spoke up from the back. "Yeah, what kind of toppings you want? Caramel? Cheese and chilli? Cinnamon spice? Kettle? Wasabi?"
"I'll take Kettle," said Tom.
"Wasabi," said another agent.
Twenty minutes later they were all seated with bowls of popcorn coated with their toppings of choice, waiting for the fun to begin.
"He's going to the bedroom," Quinn sat forward. "Quick, zoom in."
Huck clicked on the bedroom view, enlarging it on the screen.
"Ok, showtime…" Harrison grinned taking in a mouthful of popcorn, then nearly spat them all out as the man on screen stripped naked.
"That's disgusting," Quinn said, munching quickly, staring with her eyes wide open.
"Is that…is he putting on a thong?" Abby asked looked from the corner of her eye with a thoroughly disgusted expression.
"You have a problem with the thong, but not the French maid's uniform?" Harrison frowned.
Just then, Olivia's phone pinged and she looked at the text message, smiling when she saw the sender's ID. "Uh, excuse me, I need to take this."
She existed amid a flurry of vague and distracted 'okay', 'uh-huh', 'sure', 'yep' by people whose eyes were glued to the screen. All except for Tom, who followed her out.
"Oh, you can stay and watch, Tom."
"I'd rather not, ma'am."
Olivia raced up the curving wooden staircase to the second floor guest bedroom that she had to herself. The others, including Tom and the agents had been forced to share.
As she quickly grasped the door handle, Tom stopped her. He went in to inspect the room once again, before letting her enter; then told her he'd be waiting outside as he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
Feeling a sudden rush of deep longing, Olivia kicked off her shoes and curled up on the bed, as she speed-dialled.
"Are you naked?" she asked when Fitz answered the phone.
He laughed, then lowered his voice to a sexy rumble. "No, are you?"
"Nope," she sighed, closing her eyes, dragging a pillow towards her. "I miss you so much."
"I miss you too. More than you can imagine," he said in a low sexy voice that send shivers over her skin, making her melt and hug the pillow tighter. They were quiet for a long, long moment, then he asked softly, "What were you doing when I sent you the text?"
"We were watching the Patrick Dent peep-show. I think I need to get Senator Zeke on my team, he is a very resourceful guy."
"Yep. He's the guy you want to have around when you're life is on the line."
"So what's the story with the two of you? He wouldn't tell me. Said he'd have to marry me if he did - spousal privilege."
"Zeke said he'd have to marry you?" Fitz chuckled.
"See, I knew it!"
"What?"
"He's gay."
"Wow," Fitz sounded surprised. "How do you know?"
"Oscar knows where the popcorn is."
Fitz laughed. "That's it? Oscar is his assistant, probably has personal shopper duties on the side."
"Am I wrong?"
Fitz didn't respond immediately, when he did it was after a long sigh. "No, you're not, but this has to be our secret."
"So did you and he ever…?"
"What? No! Oscar and Zeke have been together for nearly thirty years. Zeke was Oscar's commanding officer." Then Fitz asked with a smile in his voice, "Liv, you have doubts about my sexuality?"
"I'm just wondering if you… experimented?"
"No, I'm not Zeke's type. And my type, my one and only type, is a very beautiful, brilliant, sassy woman who's having some really kinky thoughts right now."
"I'm horny," she admitted, prompting a husky laugh from him.
"Have you unpacked?"
"Not yet. Why?"
"Check your bag. I put something in there for you."
Olivia scrambled off the bed and quickly knelt on the floor to open her suitcase. She dug through her clothes until she touched a large gift-wrapped box at the bottom of the case.
"Wow, it's a big box."
"Open it."
Tearing the wrapping, she chuckled seeing an enlarged publicity shot of Fitz. Underneath the photograph was a sex toy kit, which made her howl with laughter, instantly getting a reaction. From Tom.
"Ma'am, are you okay?" he said, bursting into the room.
"Yes!" Olivia gasped, thrusting the box behind her back.
Tom narrowed his gaze, flicking it from her face to the package barely concealed behind her, before saying blandly, "I'll be outside."
"Thank you, Tom."
After the door had closed behind him, Olivia hissed in a delighted whisper, "You got me a vibrator?"
"Not 'a' vibrator," Fitz hissed back. "That's a deluxe multi-pack, top of the range."
Olivia doubled up laughing, all the while trying to do it quietly.
"Hey, quit laughing. Do you know how impossible it is for the President of the United States to get a vibrator on same day delivery? I had to pretend to be Morris. Had it delivered to his house, then he had to smuggle it in his pitbull's doggy basket so the Secret Service wouldn't check it out."
"Oh gawd, Morris knows!" Olivia gasped between giggles.
"Hey, I'm the one he winked at when he handed over the package."
Olivia stuffed a sweater into her mouth to stop herself from screaming with laughter, but couldn't stop the tears running down her face.
"Livvie… Liv… Olivia… Hey…!"
Olivia sat up, pushing the sweater away and wiping the tears from her face. "I love you, Fitzgerald Grant the Third. I love you so much, I'm going to kiss your Mona Lisa smile face." She smacked a loud kiss on the photograph.
"I love you too, baby." He made a kissy noise over the phone, adding cheekily, "You want to try them out? I put battery packs in there too."
"You want me to try them out, with you on the phone?"
He gave a soft grunt that sent her off on another round of giggles.
"I'll join you," he whispered, "With my deluxe hand-job."
She snuffled a laugh, feeling aroused, cherished, happy and sad all at once, staring at his photograph as he rumbled a sigh in her ear.
"Let's do it," she whispered, then gasped, shoving the box quickly back into her suitcase, when Tom knocked on the door, calling out, "Ma'am. You're needed downstairs. There's an emergency."
"Fitz..." she groaned.
"I heard, baby. Call me when you know what's going on."
As Olivia hurried downstairs with Tom following at her heels, they were met on the landing by a worried-looking Senator Zeke.
"Ms Pope, I just got word from my men that Judge Liston's 11-year-old grand-daughter is missing. And from what we heard on the surveillance audio, it looks like Patrick Dent is involved."
A/N:So I thought I'd introduce a Navy buddy as different as I could make him from Joke with no possibility of a ridiculous triangular (non) relationship. Hence, Zeke. And I'm being fast and loose with convention (as in ignoring it entirely) by deciding that a state Senator in Georgia could keep his sexual orientation a secret, without the cover of a wife.
Other liberties! So I made up a Federal Judge relative for real-life heroine Antoinette Tuff because I really wanted to mention this brave woman's incredible actions in this story.
Other than what she actually did talking to that gunman after he took her hostage, everything else is not true. There is no Claudette Liston in real life (at least I hope not)! You can read about Ms Tuff on: Antoinette Tuff: Meet the Woman Who Prevented a Mass School Shooting Yesterday by Rachel George published in PolicyMic on Aug 21, 2013 and The heroism of Antoinette Tuff reveals what's missing from politics by Gary Younge in The Guardian on Aug 26, 2013
Also I'm using Scandal Pace for events happening at the speed of light, instead of the speed of reality, and I got the idea of a power masquerade after reading this story : Brookhaven authorities warn of fake Georgia Power worker - By Doug Evans, FOX 5 reporter, on Foxatlanta on Jan 18, 2014
Also in the telling of this story I may put Fitz and Co. through a zillion ethics violations through sheer ignorance, rather than intent! And I don't think that executive orders are signed with such stealth or drama...?!
BTW, I'm really touched that some of these social issue plot-lines resonate with you. Thank you for letting me know. And thank you to DayDreamLover for the shoutout in her story: Up Close and Personal. :))))))