This story is inspired by Season 1 Scandal, Vermont and the Olitz actors – Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn

NO-Mellie and NO-Joke: Public Service Announcement for any accidental non-Olitz readers

World News Update…

Just when you thought the fizz had gone from the US Presidential Election, potential voters say they want Fitz back in the White House. Days after America's first 'independent' quit the top job, we hear that Mr Fitzgerald Grant is still winning the hearts and minds of voters. A recent poll puts Mr Grant streets ahead as the preferred candidate with at least two-thirds of voters. That's bad news for the contenders in the traditional two-horse race….

Carlita arrived the next morning with her kids, just as Fitz received a call from Zeke.

"You take the call, and I'll take Bubby." Olivia reached for the baby in Fitz's arms.

Then as he disappeared with Tom, she went downstairs to greet the new arrivals.

When Carlita re-emerged from a melee of kids, dogs and various adults, she gave Olivia a second hug, smiling widely. "Vermont is good for you… you look so happy and relaxed."

"Don't tell Fitz that!"

Carlita laughed. "It's all right. My listeners feel the same way you and I do." She paused, looking around. "Where is Fitz?"

"Zeke called. Something important, but Fitz should be down soon."

"And the baby?"

"Bubby? I just gave her to Jerry but …. hmm… let's see," Olivia pulled out her phone. "It's okay she's still with Jerry. Guess he followed the scent of your banana bread into the kitchen."

Carlita laughed, until her eldest son, who'd been petting Daisy and Darth, went to stare at Olivia's phone. "You bugged the baby? Cool!"

Carlita's smile vanished. "You bugged the baby? Cara, isn't this NSA surveillance thing going a bit too far?"

Olivia chuckled. "I didn't like the idea either, but now I'm seeing the benefits."

Not the Onion News

"Democrat Presidential nominee Samuel Reston has taken another hit in the polls with a drop of 17% from the previous week, to leave him with a single-digit approval rating in the lead-up to the Presidential election. His nearest rival, Mrs Sally Langston, isn't doing much better with only a five-point lead.

"The man that 87% of voters want to see back in the White House is the man who just quit office – Mr Fitzgerald Thomas Grant. Pollsters said the former President's name could not be removed from the survey which has been running for close to a month, and the alert to say he resigned made no difference. Most people who took part in the survey – a total of 20,350 – want Mr Grant to be America's next President …"

Fitz picked up the phone in Tom's office in the loft.

"What's up?"

"You got a name for the little princess?"

Fitz chuckled. "Is that the big emergency? Yeah, we've got a name."

"Why do I get the feeling that Lucasette is off the table?"

Fitz smiled, taking out his cell phone. "I'm sending you pictures of her that I took this morning. That's our little Elizabeth Grace."

"She looks like a little Gracie."

"Yeah, she sure does." Fitz put his cell phone away, and gripped the secure line receiver. "So what's happened?"

There was a pause, then Zeke sighed, "I've got something on Sam Reston. Ex-sergeant Cornelius Reynolds – aka Mack to you and me – has been writing me. He says his buddy Hollis Doyle is going crazy in his SuperMax prison cell. Doyle ain't seen sunlight since he's been locked up. The prison administrators feel sensory deprivation is the best punishment for a guy who tried to take the United States to war."

"Does Mack want me to plead Doyle's case with the authorities? Get him onto that work programme we talked about?"

"Hell no, you can't be doing shit like that for the man who killed your career." Zeke paused again, then released an even heavier sigh. "Mack's made a statement to the Attorney General. He's alleged that Samuel Reston wanted to find a permanent solution to the Grant problem. That problem would be you and Olivia."

"A permanent solution?'

"Reston wanted you and Liv dead. Doyle talked him out of it. And Doyle got Langston involved because he knew she wouldn't want your blood on her hands."

Fitz sat down slowly.

"Hey, man, are you okay?"

"Can anyone else corroborate this? You know Langston won't talk."

"Langston doesn't have to. We contacted that ex-staffer of Reston's who got a job with Olivia's lawyer friend. We asked her what she knew, and she sent us back a USB stick full of audio recordings. They're all Reston's conversations with the Coshes. Reston taped the conversations as insurance – my guess is life insurance – but he needed this chick to transfer the recordings from his phone to an encrypted file on his computer. And she made copies for herself without telling him."

Fitz gave a wry smile. "So you're going to throw the book at Reston?"

"Yeah, it's a question of timing. Should we wait until before or after the election? The end result is going to be the same."

"Sally's going to be President."

"Yeah."

Panel Discussion

"Eighty-five per cent of voters want Grant back in the White House."

"The man quit the White House."

"People don't care that he quit, they want him back."

"Leave aside the fact, they want him back, let's take a look at the remainder of the vote for our Presidential candidates – Langston got ten per cent and Reston is left with five. Either way, America is on its way to elect its most unpopular President in history…"

Carlita smiled at the baby in her arms. "I feel like I know her so well. Maybe because we all watched her come into this world."

"We?" Olivia frowned.

"One point five billion, Mom, and counting. That's what Jerry said," Karen murmured softly, as she picked up one of Poppy's puppies and gave it to Carlita's youngest daughter to hold. Jerry and Carlita's sons were racing Teddy on his bicycle on the patio.

"Oh, no, no," Carlita shook her head. "I did not mean half of India and China; I was talking about everyone at the radio station. We watch Olivia give birth on the giant screen in the staff room. It was better than a telenovela."

Olivia wrinkled her nose. "Should I wear a mask before going out in public?"

"No, querida. From the camera angle, it was very tasteful; all we saw was the baby when Fitz held her up and she was put in your arms."

"Speaking of Fitz…" Olivia glanced at her watch, then got to her feet. "He's gone AWOL."

Edison had just come home after spending the night and most of the morning with Natasha Gains, when he received the call.

"They're going after Reston."

"Before the election?"

"Yes."

Olivia was about to head for the stairs, when Fitz came into the living room.

"I was just about to send a search party," Olivia smiled, then stared when he gave a hard kiss before taking her hand on his way to greet Carlita. After the hugs and kisses, Fitz smiled at Carlita holding the baby in her arms, while he had his arm firmly around Olivia.

"I see you've fallen under Gracie's spell," he smiled.

Carlita beamed. "Gracie is adorable, and very hard to get hold of, which is why I'm glad to have her all to myself for a while."

"Yeah, that's how I feel." Fitz murmured glancing towards Olivia.

"Gracie?" Olivia nudged him.

"She's Grace personified. Just like her mother."

Olivia gave him a half wry, half amused smile as he dropped a kiss on her lips. When she surfaced, she saw Carlita looking at them with a question in her eyes. A question Olivia needed to find the answer herself.

"Will you be okay with Gracie, while I speak to Fitz for a few minutes?" Olivia asked.

"Of course, cara, but be warned that you may have to fight me to get Gracie back."

"What did Zeke say?" Olivia asked as soon as Fitz shut the door to the master bedroom. Instead of responding he kissed her. When she opened her mouth to speak a second time, he kissed her again.

"Fitz!" Olivia laughed breaking away. "What did Zeke say?"

"He's going to announce a Federal Investigation in Sam Reston's conduct during my impeachment trail."

Olivia stared at him, her hands on his chest. "But we always knew he was going to do that? Why did he want to speak to you this morning?"

"He missed me."

Olivia gurgled a laugh, as he drew her close and kissed her cheek, then her ear, whispering "I think we should plan a second honeymoon."

"We didn't have a first."

"Okay, we'll plan for that one."

"Fitz! Tell me what your meeting with Zeke was about."

Fitz sighed, his breath feathering her cheek. "Livvie, you really don't want to know."

She drew back to look at him, the teasing laughter leaving her face. "You mean you don't want me to know. There is a difference."

When he didn't respond, she pushed out of his arms and headed for the door. Before she could open it, his arm shot over her shoulder to keep it shut. Then he twirled her around to face him.

"Sam Reston wanted us dead, both of us. That was his first option before Doyle talked him into an impeachment."

"Dead?" Olivia stared at him. "You mean, while I was pregnant?"

His eyes widened as if the thought had never crossed his mind, then he slowly drew her close and wrapped her in his arms tightly.

Tom & Huck

"This is something you should hear," Tom handed over the ear phones to Huck who was coding some bugs out of 'Jerry's Game' in the Vermont 'Situation Room'. "I diverted the baby monitor in the Master Bedroom to our monitoring system, so the whole house wouldn't hear their private conversations. But this is serious."

Huck took the earphones. After long tense minutes, he gave them back without a word. Then he stood abruptly and walked out of the room.

Huck, Quinn & Abby

"He wanted to take Olivia out?" Quinn's eyes bulged.

"Who wanted Olivia out?" Abby frowned, arriving a few minutes late, after checking on a chicken roasting in the oven.

"The wanna-be President."

"Which wanna-be: the murderer or the lunatic?"

"The murderer. He's got a taste for murdering." Huck said. "And he needs to be stopped."

"If Huck fixes my gun, I could shoot him."

Quinn turned to Huck. "I think she means we could stop him from being President."

"No, Lindsay, I mean I could should him."

Karen and Jerry

"Do you think it's true?" Karen asked Jerry.

For once he didn't have a witty comeback. Instead he grabbed Karen's hand. "Come on, this needs an adult."

Karen, Jerry and Rowan

"Repeat what you heard, Karen. Word for word." Rowan said sharply closing the door to the Man Den.

Karen repeated what she heard. "Carlita wanted to speak to Huck about the tracker around Bubby's ankle, and I saw him heading towards the kitchen and I, uh, followed him."

"Where were you standing?"

"Just outside the door. By the wall."

"So you couldn't have misunderstood the conversation?"

Karen shook her head.

"Did they say anything else?"

Karen shook her head.

Jerry looked at Rowan, "What are we going to do? We can't let some asshole who wanted Mom and Dad dead, become President of the United States."

Rowan looked at him, then sighed. "The alternative is the woman who locked your father up for mental treatment because he wanted a divorce."

Olivia came straight for Gracie, the moment she and Fitz came downstairs. Only after kissing the baby's face several times, did she look around and ask, "Where is everyone?"

Carlita's look of concern disappeared behind a confused frown as she glanced down at Daisy snoozing on the couch, and then around the room. "They were here. I don't know where they've all gone." Her gaze returned to Olivia, then Fitz "Is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine," Olivia smiled down at Gracie. "I just needed to hold her for a moment. Has she been good?"

"The little angel listened to my baby talk like she understood every word. My kids have not given me that kind of attention for years."

Laughing Olivia turned to glance over her shoulder at Fitz. The lines on his face smoothed away at the sight of Olivia's smile and he gathered her into the protective circle of his arms as they both sank onto the couch. "So I understand you're going to help me remember what it's like to be an average Joe, Carlita."

"You could never be an average anything, Fitz," Carlita smiled. "And my listeners would be angry with me if I told you to stay away from politics."

"Tell him, Carlita," Olivia encouraged. "Tell him what they've been saying to you on the radio."

"They are not happy you left the White House. They want you to return."

"No can do. I quit that life, and I much prefer what we've got in Vermont" Fitz kissed Olivia's temple, then paused when Gracie made a little pfft noise, which made them all laugh.

Olivia gave Gracie another kiss. "Look at her all proud of her little baby fart. I think it's time for a nappy change."

"Let me do it." Fitz reached for Gracie but Olivia shook her head, getting to her feet.

"I've got this."

After Olivia left with Gracie, Carlita turned to Fitz. "Olivia is very protective of little Gracie. And you are very protective of Olivia. Have they been threatened?"

Fitz gave Carlita a considering look, then murmured, "In a way. Olivia's just learnt that Gracie would have been collateral damage had I remained in office." Seeing Carlita frown at the cryptic explanation, he hastened to add, "It's okay, she's safe now. We're all safe."

"But for how long?" Carlita sat forward. "When Lucas Zeke leaves office, the choice we have is between the Langston woman who wants to be Mrs Dictator just like my ex-husband, and the other man, who killed his wife's lover and then got her to serve time for his crime."

"Reston will not be President."

"You cannot know this. The polls aren't always correct."

"No, but there's more to it than that."

Breaking News

In a shock announcement, Democrat front-runner Samuel Reston has announced his departure from the Presidential race citing personal reasons…

Breaking News

US Attorney General dropped a bombshell this morning, saying he'd opened a federal investigation into Mr Samuel Reston. The Democrat, who quit the race to be America's next President, is understood to have threatened the life of a government official. We have no word about the alleged victim of his threat…

Breaking News

What lengths would a Presidential candidate go to win a US election? It seems some will go as far as murder. Rumours have surfaced that Mr Reston planned to kill a President in order to win the executive seat at the White House. Sources at the Justice Department say Mr Reston's Plan A was to murder former President Mr Fitzgerald Grant and his wife, Mrs Olivia Pope-Grant before he opted for Plan B, rigging Mr Grant's impeachment trial. Mrs Grant was pregnant at the time threats were made against her life. The Democratic caucus was quick to call the rumours a lie but stated that if Mr Reston had not quit the race, he would be disqualified to be the Democratic candidate for the Presidency. Mr Reston was not available for comment…

Edison Davis parked his car out front and rang the doorbell. No one answered. Taking out his cell phone, he glanced at the SMS, confirming that he wasn't late. He didn't want to leave until he found out just how many necks Reston planned to put in a noose to save his own ass. With that in mind,

Edison walked round back and tried the backdoor. It opened. He entered the kitchen to find it empty but there was a light shining further down the corridor from the room that Edison knew to be Reston's study.

Edison hurried towards the light. "Sam, what the hell's going on—!" He stopped in the doorway at the sight of Reston lying face down on the desk, blood pooling on the surface, a gun beside his hand. His voice was playing over the speakers of his desktop computer.

Edison backed up, crashing against the opposite wall, before he turned to hurry out. He was halfway down the corridor before the thought struck that Reston was dead, and he, Edison, was in his house. Edison stopped walking and looked back towards Reston's study, then towards the back door. Unsure which way to turn, he took out his cell phone and dialled a number.

"Olivia?"

There was complete silence at the other end.

"Olivia, this is Edison. I-I've walked into a dead man's house."

Having answered the phone on the first ring, to avoid disturbing Gracie asleep in her cot, Olivia wanted to hang up when she realised the speaker's identity. But after a swift mental debate, she put on her Olivia Pope hat as she slipped out of bed, and out onto the balcony.

"What are you talking about? Where are you?"

"At Reston's house. He's dead."

"Dead?!"

"It looks like he's shot himself."

Olivia frowned. "Is there a suicide note."

"I don't know. I'm standing in the corridor. Reston's in his study."

"Go back. See if there's a note."

After a long pause, Edison said, "There's paper and stuff on the carpet, but no note. Just a lot of blood and the man's brains."

"Did you touch the gun?"

"Hell no."

"Good."

"I just touched the door. You want me to wipe it down?"

"No. Where did you park the car?"

"Out front. I was told to park down the street, but even in this neighbourhood, I don't feel safe walking on the street this late at night, by myself."

"You were told? Who told you and when?"

"I got a text from Reston's cell phone."

"Edison, you need to call the police."

"What?"

"You've been set up. Someone will have pictures of you going in and out of that house. You can give yourself nightmares trying to figure out when and how they'll use it against you, but your best bet is to call the cops. And then call your lawyer. Don't answer any questions from the cops until your lawyer is present."

Edison released a deep sigh. "I get it. Okay. I'll make that call."

"Use your phone. Don't touch anything else in that house."

"Okay… and Liv..?"

"Yes."

"I owe you."

Olivia rang off without a response.

She was staring into the distance, her hands on the balcony railing when she felt his arms slip around her waist from behind.

"Enjoying the night air by yourself?" Fitz kissed her cheek.

"Sam Reston is dead."

"What?" Fitz turned her round to face him.

"Sam Reston is dead. Edison found him."

"Whoa, wait. Back up. Start at the beginning."

Olivia gave him a summary of the night's events. After a long silence, his first response was, "Edison has your private number?"

"Fitz, I gave it to him when he was trying to prevent you from getting impeached. That first time when you were locked up in Roswell, New Mexico."

"How do you know that Edison didn't kill Reston?"

"Edison's the type to take a hit on someone, he wouldn't do the job himself. That's why he needed Hollis Doyle and his friend to destroy you. He doesn't like being the bad guy." She stood on tiptoe, leaning against Fitz to kiss his face. "Fitz, stop looking at me like that. I help people, it's my job."

"Olivia, technically you don't have a job. You're on maternity leave."

"Technically, we don't have maternity leave in this country."

Gentlemen's Club

Two men sat in two antique armchairs, smoking Cuban cigars while sharing a bottle of Russian Stolichnaya vodka.

"Well, that was unexpected."

"I didn't think the damn fool to cash in his chips this quickly. But it's mighty convenient timing, spared us a lot of embarrassment."

The other man coughed. "So when do we announce Reston's replacement?"

"We have to go through the motions of getting a consensus from the DNC."

"You don't feel the guy's tainted by his association with Reston."

"By the time, the public get wind of it, our man will be in the White House."

"You can't be sure of that."

"Edison is black; he'll win the minority vote by default."

"Langston's a woman, but she's not popular with her own gender."

"Thank heavens for small mercies." The men drained their glasses, waited until their glasses were refilled before resuming the conversation. "But we want Langston to win."

"That's the agreement, after Grant went rogue on the Republicans. We need the scourge of independence wiped from people's memory. We don't want radical ideas invigorating our lame duck politics."

"And if Langston wins, she gets to be the 'bad guy', and we get to ride the next election looking like the progressive saviours of this country."

"It took her 21 days to get the country to the brink of martial law. I'm hoping she can top that this time around."

"Maybe she has learnt her lesson."

"The Republicans are a bunch of red-neck loons who never learn. Which is why they're a convenient scapegoat for all that's wrong with this country. With Langston running the country, I'm hoping for a Democratic run that will last into the next century."

Breaking News

The chief of police in the District of Columbia has announced that Samuel Reston's body was found in his home office. There is no evidence of foul play but the matter is under investigation…

Breaking News

The Democratic National Committee has officially announced ex-Senator Edison Davis as their replacement candidate for the Presidential race after Mr Reston's death. Mr Davis, a close friend of Reston's, has been campaigning for the Democrats since leaving the White House cabinet earlier this year..

Breaking News

The Chief of Police confirmed reports that Mr Davis is assisting police with their investigations. Mr Davis was first on the scene following Mr Reston's death. The police chief said the death has been confirmed a suicide by the Medical Examiner…

Edison Davis stood at the podium, facing the bright glare of a thousand cameras flashing. His skin had a slight sheen, but he was responding to the rapid-fire questions in a cool, calm manner.

"I'm not a personal friend of Samuel Reston but we did work closely on his campaign. I believed he was a man of principle who had a lot of progressive ideas for this country."

"We hadn't spoken since his involvement in Fitzgerald Grant's impeachment trial was revealed."

"No, I wasn't avoiding Sam. He was avoiding a lot of people, and I felt I was one of them, which is why I was surprised to receive a text from his cell phone asking me to see him that night."

"I'd like to see a Democrat in the White House, but I don't believe we should win at any cost."

Olivia 'pffftd' and switched off the television in the family room where she tidying up; only seeing Fitz leaning against the doorjamb, staring at her.

"Edison could be President… do you wish now that you'd stayed with him."

Olivia stared at him, her hands on hips. Then she shook her head at him and brushed past him on her way out.

"Olivia." He caught her arm, but she shook him off.

"We're not having this conversation right now."

Natasha Gains popped the cork and laughing with delight at the gush of champagne from the bottle which Edison hastily tipped into two glasses.

"Next stop White House, baby," Natasha grinned, toasting him before taking a huge gulp. "We should go out celebrate." She put her glass down on the bench top and wound her arms around Edison's neck.

Edison looked at her with faint smile. "Not yet. Your divorce hasn't been finalised."

"That's just a formality."

"In the eyes of the voting public that's a big formality."

Natasha stepped back. "The voting public? You mean the Bible Belt with their communes and incest? They vote Republican."

Edison took her in his arms. "You think the Democrats in the South are any different? The KKK has always had a lot of support from Democrats in the South; they don't need an excuse to lynch a black man, either by rope or by vote."

"We've come a long way since the 19th century, Edison."

"Do you really want me to lose an election to prove a point?"

It took Fitz awhile to find Olivia in Teddy's playroom, tidying up.

He watched her ignoring him for a few minutes, then broke the silence with, "I was jealous."

He waited in silence for a response, as Olivia tossed a stuffed penguin into the toy box.

He tried again. "We haven't had sex."

She picked up a slinky toy caterpillar and turned to glare at him. "Don't blame this on your hormones."

Fitz issued a gusty sigh. "Okay my bad."

"Is that an apology?"

"Yep."

She stared at him unimpressed. "I want a real apology."

He walked up to her, taking the caterpillar from her hands and tossing it on the bed where it promptly fell to the floor. "Olivia, I'm sorry." He tugged her into his arms, "I get a bit paranoid sometimes that's he's going to steal my girl back."

"I'm not a prize. I chose you, Fitz. I chose you. No one is going to steal me."

"Unless you let him."

"Yes."

"Will you let him?"

"No."

"Maybe if you didn't look so ferocious when you say that, I'd believe you."

She tilted her head back and gave him the eye.

"You're still mad?"

"What do you think?"

"Can I get a kiss?"

"No."

"Yep, still mad. Want me to apologise again?"

"Okay."

"Olivia, I'm—!" She put her fingers over his mouth. "Not with words. With actions. You can volunteer to clean the toilets."

Fitz nuzzled her palm. "But I've hired someone to do all that. They'll be here tomorrow."

Olivia dropped her hand, frowning. "I'm not letting the cleaning crew see the house the way it looks right now."

"Livvie, they're cleaners. It's their job to clean."

"I'm not having cleaners in here, judging me on my house-keeping skills."

Fitz stared at her, then bent to kiss her nose. "You're not making any sense, but I still love you."

"So you'll do it?"

"Do I need a hazmat suit?"

On a Campaign Bus

"Why Edison Davis?"

Sally Langston carefully put aside the speech they'd just finalised, and gave her attention to the campaign manager.

"The Democrats need the minority vote to win. Not that they want to win this one. Fitzgerald Grant proved himself to be more progressive than the progressives. They want the voting public to forget all that. They are expecting me to wipe the slate clean of leftist ideals and swing straight back where we're all comfortable on the right."

"You know this?"

"Oh, I know that the men who run this country, think I'm a little joke and they are waiting to laugh at my expense. But I've learned a thing or two since my last brief taste of running the country for 21 days."

Fitz had just finished his tour of duty on Mission Gross when Tom appeared to tell him that Zeke wanted to speak to him on the secure line.

"There's something I didn't tell you before; it's about Uncle Tom."

Fitz paused glancing over at Tom, who stared back impassively. Then Fitz turned away with a faint smile when Zeke added, "I'm talking about Edison Davis. I know the guy drives you crazy worse than Cyrus, so I didn't say anything. But now that he's a step away from being Commander-in-Chief, you need to know this: the guy is a bad seed, he was in on Reston's Master Plan."

"You mean…?"

"Yeah. He agreed with the permanent solution."

"Even Olivia?"

"Yeah."

Fitz sat down heavily. "Olivia helped him last night. She went into Fixer mode when he called her from Reston's home. I bet he killed the guy."

"He didn't. Oscar's crew has been following Reston since Hollis Doyle surfaced. And we've been following Edison since he left the White House. Reston wasn't murdered. He shot himself after writing his last confession. The guys watching him said Reston wrote the letter, tossed a few things around the room, then sent that text to Edison before he sat down at his desk and shot himself."

"He was setting Edison up."

"Sure was. And we were going to help. We had pictures of Edison going in and out of the house, and his fingerprints were all over that damned house. But then he called Olivia."

"Where's the letter."

"I have it here. I told the guys to take the letter because I didn't want Edison destroying it. Reston sure was mad at Uncle Tom for keeping his distance after we went public with the investigation. He suspected that Edison was next in line to fill his shoes and he wanted to make sure that didn't happen. I got to hand it to Reston. He tried, but Olivia was too good for him..."

Tom & Huck

Huck put down the earphones and looked at Tom.

"You got a plan?" Tom asked.

"Not yet." Huck got to his feet and exited the room.

Huck, Quinn & Abby

"The snake!" Quinn hissed. "I should have punched him in the face that day he went at Liv at OPA."

"I should have shot him. My gun was working then." Abby muttered.

"We can't shoot Edison. Olivia doesn't like it when we kill people," Huck said.

"If we can't shoot Edison how are we going to stop him being our next President?" Abby threw up her hands.

"We need a plan." Quinn said firmly.

Karen, Jerry and Rowan

Karen was chasing Darth who had sneaked off with a sock from the laundry basket when she saw Huck, Quinn and Abby go into the Man Den.

"What are you doing?" Jerry hissed when he found Karen listening at the door.

"Sssh! Listen!"

Jerry pressed his ear to the door.

Seeing Karen and Jerry crouched at the door of the den, Rowan paused, then strode over and tapped their shoulders.

Karen bit back a little scream, while Jerry yelped, then glared at Rowan, who waved them to follow him.

"Are you mad at us for listening at doors?" Karen said the moment he'd taken them up to Gracie's nursery, the only room that was empty in the whole house, and closed the door.

"Why would I do that when surveillance is a national past-time," Rowan gave his Grinch smile. Then added, "What did you hear?"

Karen, Jerry, Rowan and Olivia

"So the guy who wanted Mom and Dad dead, is dead."

"But the guy who has taken his place, also wanted them dead."

Rowan rocked back on his heels.

"What are we going to do?"

"We need to tell Mom."

"We can't tell Olivia. This would devastate her. They were engaged."

"Did she love this Edison dude?"

"No, she didn't or Mom wouldn't have married Dad."

"Then we'll have to tell Dad."

"Fitzgerald hates Edison's guts."

"Okay, we don't want Dad going to prison."

"So we tell Mom."

"Tell me what?" They shot round to see Olivia standing in the doorway. "I heard voices," she added, as they all stared at her wide-eyed, then exchanged a look between them.

"What's going on?" She closed the door, and waited for them to speak.

Olivia and Fitz

Olivia crashed into Fitz on her way out of the nursery.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" Fitz caught her in his arms.

"Why didn't you tell me, Edison wanted us dead?"

A/N: Thank you to MarylinJ for this chapter idea … ;)