1 week later.
Fitz woke up to Tom standing above him. He sat up quickly, he knew that they only woke him from his sleep in dire circumstances.
"What's going on Tom?"
"Sir, the FBI director has requested a late meeting with you, he said it was urgent."
Fitz turned and looked at Olivia who was sleeping peacefully.
"I'll be right out," he said quickly to Tom.
Fitz was completely naked and so was Olivia, luckily when Tom came in the room they were covered by the sheets. He quickly got up and checked the time on the nightstand and then he threw on his boxers and went to the closet to find pants and a t shirt. He worried about what exactly it was the FBI director found out that was so drastically urgent that he called a meeting at almost 1am in the morning. It was extremely unusual and there could really only be one reason for it: he found the tapes.
Once he was dressed, he quickly rushed out to the hallway to meet Tom and then they headed to the situation room to meet the FBI director.
When Fitz walked in the room, he was surprised to see the director with several other career intelligence personal, Cyrus, NSA advisor and CIA director.
They all stood when he walked into the room and he gestured quickly for them to sit down.
"What's going on?" Fitz asked.
"Fitz you need to hear this," Cyrus was the first to say.
His FBI director stood.
"Sir, we've discovered some new highly disturbing intelligence having to do with our counterintelligence investigation into the events that to took place at the facility in Yazd."
Fitz cleared his throat.
"What did you find?"
"Well sir, firstly, it wasn't just Olivia Pope that was kidnapped and held captive at the facility in Yazd."
"It wasn't?"
"No, the perpetrators took a total of 21 chemical and nuclear scientist from different countries all around the globe and held them at the facility, ms. Pope was the 22nd and last captive."
"Why would they need that many scientist?"
"After we placed economic sanctions on Iran in order to stop their nuclear capabilities, supreme leader Sassani began searching for new ways to develop the same weapons or new weapons completely but he wanted to avoid detection. He learned about a very powerful chemical bomb that was created by an American scientist, it was untraceable and undetectable and he thought he could use such a bomb to attack New York in retaliation for the sanctions. That was when he started kidnapping scientist from Germany, Norway, India, Japan in an attempt to find someone who could make such a bomb. They didn't take American scientist at the time because they thought it was too risky and they also didn't know the scientist that created the bomb. He contracted Farookh to help, Farookh found the scientists, kidnapped them and kept them at his facility where he had his men torture them into building weapons but they didn't know how to build the specific weapon they wanted so he eventually killed them one by one and started searching for new scientists, that was when Eli Pope offered them his daughter who he claims was the original creator of the bomb they sought. He heard about the plan through backchannels he had maintained with several known terrorists and mobsters and reached out to Farookh to make a deal. The Iranian government paid Eli Pope the total sum of a 1% stake in the multibillion dollar Iranian oil company AEI oil, equivalent to £140 million and in exchange he promised that he would deliver Ms. Pope to them and she would build them the bomb they sought."
"What is the confidence level on your conclusion?"
"We are very confident sir."
"It's been almost a year, why did it take so long for you to conclude this?"
"Sir, it was conspiratorial, every source offered something different but it took time to make sure the intelligence was accurate and to put the story together, we wanted to be sure considering the severity of the situation. They managed to avoid being picked up on our intercepts so we relied on assets in the region."
Fitz could tell that wasn't all they had to report by the worried look on John's face.
"That isn't all, is it?"
"No sir, there is something else but given the sensitive nature, I'd prefer to brief you alone."
Fitz cleared his throat.
"Can we have the room please, Cyrus stay."
"Robert and Tim, they worked to acquire the intelligence from the Iranians and reviewed it to determine the content and it's authenticity and Wren served as translator. I would request that they stay as well."
Fitz nodded.
Once everyone left the room he began.
"What do you have?"
"Video sir, of one victim being tortured and interrogated."
"And that one victim is?"
Fitz was asking questions he already knew the answers to.
"Olivia Pope."
"Why is it just her that's on tape?"
"They didn't deem the other victims important enough to tape. Sassini asked for regular updates on her status, we believe the videos were recorded to show him."
"How did you find it?"
"We managed to acquire a copy from the Iranian revolutionary guard digital cloud the only problem is that when we broke into the system and took the copy, we tried to erase all the copies they had and in doing so we were detected, they know we have it."
"Have you seen it?"
"I have sir," John replied.
"Okay."
"Sir, I'd just like to warn you that what you are about to see is extremely graphic."
Fitz took a deep breath and nodded.
John turned to Robert, who took that as a silent cue to play the video.
/
The screen in the situation room flashed white and then there Olivia was, laying on the floor in a white room, in white clothes. She was soaking wet and shivering, under her eyes her dark purple in what seemed to be cause from a mixtures of malnutrition, stress and lack of sleep. She had a dark purple bruise on her lower right jawbone.
Whoever was recording stepped back and he could see that there were a bunch of other men in the room dressed in white hazmat suits. One man stepped forward, he was the only one without a hazmat suit, he was dressed in a white turban and white robes. He leaned over Olivia and uttered something in Arabic.
"What did he say?" Fitz asked.
"He asked when was the last time she slept sir," Wren answered.
Another man spoke in Arabic.
"He said he's kept her awake for two days."
The man stepped closer to Olivia and Fitz could see that it was Farookh. He stooped beside her and started speaking english.
"Hello Olivia, you don't look so good. You've been here a month, my patience and the patience of my men is growing thin. You don't have to put up with this much longer, just give us what we want and we'll treat you a lot better, I will make sure there is no more waterboarding and beatings, we'll feed you, maybe turn the heat up a little bit so it can be nice and comfortable in here, so what do you say, give us what we want and we can talk about all the ways we can make you more comfortable, if you don't give us what we want, I'm afraid things will only get worse for you, it's all up to you Olivia. Are you going to help us?"
Olivia didn't move or speak, she just laid still in the floor. Farookh grabbed her by the neck and she whimpered and held unto his wrists.
Fitz quickly turned his head away but then he turned back.
Farookh sat her up and she grabbed her rib in pain, she was barely holding herself up.
"What is it going to be Olivia?" Farookh asked in his thick middle eastern accent.
She didn't answer, her head bobbed back and forth as she struggle to sit up because she was so exhausted from sleep deprivation.
"Answer me!" Farookh screamed as he shook her back and forth.
She closed her eyes, struggling to stay up and Farookh let go of her throat, stepped back and then slapped her across the face with all his might. She fell to the floor and blood ran for corners of her mouth. Farookh drew his leg back and kicked her in the rib, over and over again until she started crying and then he grabbed her by the hair and held her up.
"I need that bomb Olivia and you're the only one that can build it. Give me the formula, the ingredients, give me something," he screamed.
"I-I can't, I'm sorry. I don't know how-"
"You're lying, I know you know how to do it because you father told me you did."
"I can't help you kill all those people," she barely managed to say.
Farookh huffed and used his fist to press into her broken rib cage. She coughed and blood came up but she still stayed silent.
Farookh sighed and let her go. She fell to the floor once again. He turned around and faced his men.
"Again," he commanded.
She laid still as five of the men gathered around her, each of them held a limb and one placed a piece of thin cloth over her face and held her face. Another man walked up with a jug of water and slowly poured it over her face.
Fitz watched as Olivia struggled for air while two of the men were practically kneeling on her chest in order to hold her down as they drowned her with water.
When they finally got off of her, after using about 3 jugs of water, Olivia coughed up water and blood heaved for air. Farookh walked over to her and leaned over towards her.
"Rethink your decision."
He stood up and as he was walking out the video cut off and a new one began.
The screen cut to Olivia, she was on the same spot on the floor, drowsy but awake.
The camera panned up to Eli and Farookh who were standing in front of her. Eli stooped beside her but Farookh kept standing.
The minute Eli stopped beside her, she began crying hysterically.
"Dad, please help me, please," she begged.
"The last time I saw you, you told me you never wanted to see me again and now you're begging me to help you. Why don't you help yourself, you could've avoided all of this if you'd have just given them what they want," Eli replied.
She sniffled and wiped her eyes.
"I won't help them to kill, when I became a doctor, I swore an oath that I would do no harm-" she said shakily.
"Break it!" he screamed, "Olivia you wouldn't have to suffer like this if you just did what they asked of you, if you can't do that then I'm afraid things won't get much better, I won't be able to help you."
Olivia stayed quiet, silently crying.
Eli got frustrated and grabbed her by the shirt collar and shook her.
"Olivia!" he screamed.
She still wouldn't respond so he let her go.
"Olivia please, as your father, I'm asking you to do what they ask, help yourself, get yourself out of this situation."
They waited for a response but she said nothing.
"You see, she won't speak, all you have given us is a statue that bleeds and screams and cries. You better pray that she's give us the formula because if she doesn't Sassini is coming after you next because we made a deal," Farookh said angrily.
"Do not threaten me, I recall our deal, I delivered you a scientist who could build your bomb, it's your job to get her to actually do it and I also remember that apart of our deal required her not being dead when this is over," Eli replied.
"Do you think you have any say in what we do to her or whether we keep her alive. Sassini made it clear that if she doesn't help she dies. He doesn't want a trail."
Eli stood up and walked over to his guards.
"You heard them Olivia, if you don't help you die so the fate of your life is in your hands, not mine."
Upon realizing that he was going to leave, Olivia started to panic.
"Please don't leave me here, dad, please."
"I can't help you."
"Then kill me, please, I can't take this anymore..."
Farookh walked up and stood directly in front of her and struck her across the face, a hard blow that sent a rush a blood down her nostrils. She looked up at Eli to see if he would do anything about it but he didn't, he turned his back and walked out and she broke into sobs.
The video end and another to begin.
Olivia was being held down by the same group of men. She didn't resist or fight, she laid still, she didn't have the energy to fight anymore. One of the men held her arm out and then Farookh opened a small case and took a syringe out.
"I got this specially for you Olivia."
He pulled the cap off and jammed the syringe containing a silvery substance into Olivia's arm. The serum had an immediate response, Olivia drew in a deep, hoarse breath and then screamed in unmitigated agony.
"What did they do to her?" Fitz asked terrified as he jumped up.
She dug into her inner elbow where they injected the substance.
"Sir, it's a man made chemical agent created a few years ago called Vxb or 'burning man', once injected into the vein it's creates a burning sensation all throughout the body, it simulates the feeling of being on fire but from within."
Olivia stopped screaming and started seizing. Her mouth frothed and her eyes rolled back as her body convulsed.
"She's having a seizure let her go, let her go," Farookh screamed, "where's the antidote?"
One of the men ran over and with another syringe and they held her down and jammed it into her arm and within a minute, her seizing stopped and she laid unconscious on the floor.
"Is she breathing?" Farookh asked.
One man checked her pulse and nodded.
The video ended and another one was about to begin.
"Turn it off," Fitz said softly.
Wren quickly cut off this video.
"My god," Cyrus said in horror, "how many more videos are there?"
"Sir, there are a total of 4 videos," John replied.
Fitz sat staring in space, even though the video had ended he could still hear Olivia screaming, it's echoed through his ear like a bell that wouldn't stop ringing.
"Sir, we'll give you a minute," John said as he took the other FBI agents and escorted them out of the room.
Cyrus walked over to Fitz and took a seat beside him.
Fitz sat and just shook his head in disbelief.
"I -I didn't know it was that bad, she didn't tell me."
Fitz was at a loss for words, he just sat in stunned silence.
"Take a second to calm down, she's survived it and she's alright so don't be retroactive about this. We have most of your national security team here, I summoned them all for this reason so we can figure out how to handle this."
Fitz took a deep breath and tried to calm down for Olivia's sake but he couldn't help but panic at the possibility of the video becoming public. Just the thought of how it would hurt her and how far it would set her back after all the progress they made was agonizing.
"I'm gonna call the team back in so we can figure out how to handle this,"
Cyrus said as he went to call all the men and woman back into the room so they could strategize and figure out how to go forward with the situation.
When Olivia woke up a little after 6 in the morning, she reached over and felt Fitz's side empty. She stretched and sat up and headed to the bathroom but he wasn't there either so she figured he had an early day. She went back to the room to get her phone and texted him asking him where he was, when she didn't get an immediate response, she showered and brushed her teeth and went to get dressed for her meeting in New York with the president of Clay Mathematics Institute. She wore white Theory skinny ankle pants and matching blazer and Chanel pussy tie button down top and suede nude Jimmy Choo pumps. She did her makeup and straightened her hair then grabbed her Hermes bag and went to the kitchen to get a bagel and cup of coffee before she went to find Fitz. He still hadn't texted her back so she figure he was busy but all the same she still wanted to see him before she left for New York.
As she walked down the hall of the west wing she noticed that there were a lot more people than usual roaming the halls. When she neared Fitz's office, she saw Cyrus exiting and heading her way.
"Liv?"
"Hi Cyrus, what's up?"
He stopped and stared at her then gave her a tight hug.
"Woah, what was that for," she said with a smile.
"I can't give you a hug without you asking me a hundred questions."
Olivia chuckled.
"Oops, my bad, it's just that your not mushy but I'm not complaining," Olivia paused, "is Fitz in a meeting or something, he didn't answer my text and he was already gone when I woke up."
"Yeah, he's in a really important meeting."
"Aww man, okay, well when you see him tell him to call me, I gotta go, I have a flight to catch."
"I will."
Olivia waved Cyrus goodbye and then headed to the car.
As soon as Olivia was out of view, Cyrus turned around and headed back to the oval.
"She's gone."
Fitz nodded but didn't turn around, he was standing by the window.
"You can't hide from her forever, eventually you will have to tell her, preferably soon because if our plan doesn't work and this comes out, she'll be completely blindsided and somehow I feel like that would be worse than telling her right now so she's prepared if it comes out."
"I'll tell her."
"When?"
"I don't know."
"Fitz-"
"I said I'll tell her," he yelled.
Cyrus sighed.
"I'm just trying to help."
"I know, I'm sorry, I just need a minute to myself to think."
Cyrus shrugged.
"Alright fine, I'll give you a few minutes, I'll be back."
Fitz nodded and with that Cyrus left Fitz to himself./