CHAPTER 3

After a little while, some FBI agents came back to the room and escorted Olivia back to the others. They all looked at her worryingly when they saw appear but before they could ask any questions, the doors were opened and the families were let in.

The first family to be reunited started the concert of crying and screaming and soon after, the hangar was filled with people thanking God for this miracle.

Harrison, Huck, Alexis and Olivia were waiting on one side for Abby or Quinn to show up as well as Alexis' parents. Some agents had rounded the hangar a few hours before, asking for the names of people they would like to contact and Harrison and Huck had no family to contact so they only gave Abby and Quinn's names. Not wanting to face Fitz right away, Olivia hadn't given his name, hoping it would allow her a few more hours to make a decision. Guess she didn't need that time anymore. The decision had been made.

Surprisingly, the first familiar face Olivia saw was Stephen's. He slid in between two families hugging and appeared in front of her. He looked so much older than the last time she'd seen him but still the same old charming Stephen. He looked at her for a few seconds, disbelief written all over his face, before sweeping her up in his arms.

"I've missed you, Olivia Pope," he whispered in her ear.

She smiled, face shoved in the crook of his neck and squeezed his middle. After a moment, he moved away and went for a hug with Harrison and Huck.

"God, I thought I'd never see any of you again," he said once he'd stepped back. "It's good to see you all."

"Stephen? What are you doing here?" Olivia asked.

He hadn't been working with them for over a year now. No matter how well they worked together and how much he loved his job at OPA, he had decided - at Olivia's encouragement - to leave them to find a job that would allow him to be with his new wife more often. She had called him a few times in the past months, missing him, missing the easiness that came with their friendship, but she hadn't seen him since he had left DC.

Stephen's answer was drowned in by the arrival of Alexis' parents who launched themselves at her, her mother sobbing and hugging her so tightly it looked painful, her father embracing both women in his arms, silent tears running down his face.

Just then, Quinn appeared and promptly started crying upon seeing them.

"I can't believe this is real!" she cried from behind her hands.

Her appearance was what shocked Olivia most. She'd seen her only days before and yet she looked like a totally different woman. Her hair was a lot shorter, only up to her shoulders now, and she seemed a little rounder, but what was most striking was her face. She looked so much older than she should have after only a couple of days.

Olivia stepped close to her and hugged her, shushing and telling her everything was alright, but over her shoulder, she looked at Harrison and Huck and saw the same incomprehension and fear on their faces. After what had happened upstairs, she was starting to think that just maybe the five years in the future thing might be true but seeing Quinn looking so different was a shock.

When Quinn had calmed down, Olivia stepped back and smiled at her. Quinn smiled back before going to the guys and hugging them too.

Olivia had so many questions but she started with something she deemed simple.

"Where's Abby, couldn't she come?"

Quinn and Stephen exchanged a look Olivia didn't quite understand. Quinn shifted her weight from one leg to the other a few times, avoiding to make eye contact with them. Stephen was more likely to give her a straight answer so Olivia turned to him. He sighed heavily before raising his eyes to meet hers.

"She..." he cleared his throat. "She got into a car accident. About two years ago. She didn't..." Olivia held her breath. "She didn't make it."

"What?" Olivia whispered. "No! It's not... It's not possible, we were with her a little over forty-eight hours ago, how can she be-?"

Stephen looked at her, compassion written all over his face, and took her in his arms. Only when she heard him shush as he started stroking her hair lightly did she realize her whole body was shaking. When Stephen whispered "It's okay, we're gonna figure this out," in her hair, she started crying.

Olivia wasn't the kind of person who cried in public or displayed their emotions that much, but in that moment, she felt lost and unable to understand - let alone control - the world around her and she broke down. Because in that moment, she truly believed that she had lost over five years of the world but couldn't start to comprehend how or why.

Once Olivia had stopped crying and Harrison and Huck were shaken out of their shock, they finally left the hangar. Right before they were let go, they were given clear instruction not to speak to any member of the press and to stay available for any callbacks from the NSA or FBI if need be, but other than that, they were free to resume life as usual.

As soon as the passengers and their families got out of the gates, the dozens of reporters waiting there started screaming all kinds of questions - some about the plane but most of them were directed at Olivia.

"Ms Pope, will you be contacting a divorce lawyer?"

"Ms Pope, are you planning on suing the President?"

"Ms Pope, where have you been during the past five years?"

Before any of them could react, soldiers came out of the hangar and formed a huddle around them, helping them making it through the hoard of photographers and into the parking lot.

Once they had made it through, they hurried to the car. Alexis left with her parents who had given their cell numbers to Olivia in the hangar in case she needed to contact them.

Olivia, Harrison and Huck got into a car with Quinn and Stephen who drove them as quickly as possible out of there. No one talked for a while - they were all stunned by everything that was going on and didn't know where to start. Eventually, when they got close to the city, Quinn asked where they wanted to go.

"Home," Olivia answered, Huck and Harrison nodding along.

Quinn and Stephen exchanged another wary look and Olivia realized she probably didn't have an apartment anymore and she certainly couldn't go back to the house now that Fitz was...

"Hum..." Quinn started.

"That's okay," Olivia said. "What about the office? Do you still have it?"

Quinn nodded and directed the car towards the office while Olivia looked out the window. The city looked the same, everything looked the same and yet, everything seemed different.

"We didn't have a choice about your apartments but we couldn't bring ourselves to get rid of the office." Quinn told them as they were getting out of the car.

Once they got up to their floor, Olivia realized that even though they had indeed kept the office, they had changed it so much, it was barely recognizable. The walls were a different color, the doors separating the conference room and one of the offices had been removed and most of the furniture had been replaced. At least there still was the long table in the conference room. However, it was now covered with computers and cables going everywhere, half a dozen screens forming a half circle.

"You know," Harrison said, turning towards Quinn and Stephen. "If this is an elaborate prank or joke you're playing on us, you have to know this is not funny. Not one bit funny."

Quinn looked confused.

"What do you mean a prank?"

"I mean the whole five years in the future crap and you changing your hair, and your face, and the office looking so different, and basically everything!"

"Well, it has been five years, what did you expect? That you'd come back and everything would be the same?"

"But it hasn't been five years! That's what we've been telling everyone at the hangar!" Harrison exploded. "We've seen each other three days ago, Quinn! You were there! How can you not remember?"

"How can I not remember?!" Quinn's face went red as she took a step towards Harrison. "I don't know what you're playing at Harrison but you're right, it is not one bit funny. For five years, I've been praying for a miracle, hoping that one day you'd come back. We've looked for you everywhere, we've spent years looking for you! Hell, I have a constant alert set on my computer searching for your names and photos to come up on any hospital or police database and still this very morning I checked it, hoping that something had come up and I'd missed it. So you don't get to come back after five years, looking all fresh and healthy and accuse us of lying. Where the fuck were you? Where have you been hiding all this time?"

"On the plane," Huck answered her softly. "We didn't go anywhere. We left Atlanta a little over two days ago and we landed an hour and a half later, Quinn. We didn't go anywhere, that's what Harrison's telling you."

"How can this be possible? Do you realize how crazy you sound?!"

"We're sounding crazy? Quinn, if someone's sounding crazy here, it is not us! How can we take a one hour and thirty minutes Atlanta - Washington flight and land five years in the future?"

Stephen stepped in just as Quinn was about to answer angrily and raised his hands to tell them to settle down.

"Okay, time out everyone, you need to breathe." They all took a moment to clear their minds before Stephen turned to Olivia. "Olivia? What's your version?"

"On July, 12th, 2014, we solved the Anderson case and went to the airport with Alexis to go back to DC. Once there, there was a call from the company asking for volunteers to take a later flight in exchange for $400. Harrison, Huck, Alexis and I took the offer and got tickets for flight 828 while Quinn and Abby decided to go back earlier. They boarded their plane and left and a few hours later, at 10:14 pm, we boarded out plane and left. Apart from the turbulence about twenty minutes in, it was a normal flight, then we were asked to land at another airport than planned. After that we were asked to deplane on the tarmac where lots of federal agents came. Then, we were kept in the hangar, under military surveillance, while the feds were interrogating everyone. About forty hours after we landed, you got there and we left."

Stephen and Quinn looked at her with stunned expressions on their faces.

"What about you? What's your version?" Olivia asked.

"Abby and I got on our plane, the flight was normal, we arrived on time in DC. We landed and each took a taxi to get back home, get a couple hours of sleep and take a shower. Since I had a car, I told Abby I would come and pick you up from the airport so you didn't have to face the press. When I got there, there was no available information about your flight on the screens and the airport staff refused to tell us anything. A few hours later, it was leaked to the press that DAL 828 went missing from the radars halfway through the flight during a storm. After that, there was of course an investigation and search parties and everything but no one ever found anything - it was like the plane had vanished in the air. So, after a little while, everyone gave up and no one even talked about it anymore, much less searched for anything. Abby, Stephen and I wouldn't give up of course, so we kept looking for anything, any sign of any of you or the other passengers, we looked into the airline company, the pilot, the co-pilot... We thought about insurance fraud, murder, terrorism, everything really, but nothing ever lead anywhere because there was no proof anywhere.

"At some point we had to give up your apartments and you and everyone on that plane was declared dead in absentia. We tried to keep OPA running, but without the O and two missing As, we didn't have as much success and eventually we had to look for other jobs. Abby started working as a campaign manager, Stephen got into the Baxter&Richmond law firm, and I started my own PI business. Five years later and here we are..."

Upon seeing Harrison, Huck and Olivia's disbelieving and stunned faces, Stephen added his own version of events.

"I was working when I got a call from Abby telling me that you three went missing with the daughter of a client in a plane. I packed up everything and came back here. Quinn's telling you the truth, we looked for everything but never found a single trace of you anywhere. We went back to Atlanta we interrogated everyone who was in that airport that day, we talked to the Delta Air Lines guys, we explored every lead but there was nothing to be found until a few hours ago when Quinn called me and told me that you were back and that I had to turn on the TV. A family of one of the passengers must have talked because at about the same time as when she received a call to come and get you, it was all over the news that DAL 828 was back. You seem to have trouble believing us but it has been five years. I don't know how that's possible and it doesn't make any sense but since you're saying that you never got out of the plane, then you spent five years on that plane because there were five years between the moment your flight departed and the moment it landed."

Olivia sighed and sat heavily on the chair nearest to her. Nothing about any of it made sense.

"I don't have the energy to face any of this right now," she said, head in her hands. "I'm exhausted and I honestly just want to sleep right now, I can't start trying to make sense of all of this. Can one of you take us to a hotel or something?" she asked Stephen and Quinn.

"No need," Stephen answered. "I have a spare bedroom and a comfortable couch, so if Quinn has room for one, we can fit you all in for a few days before we find other arrangements."

"Works for me," Quinn said. "I also have a spare bedroom."

Olivia looked up at Harrison and Huck who both nodded, so she got up and they all moved towards the exit. Once in the underground parking, it was decided that Huck would go with Quinn while Harrison and Olivia went with Stephen.

The car ride was once again a silent affair and they reached Stephen's apartment quickly. Once there, he gave them a quick tour and told them to make themselves comfortable.

In the corridor, Harrison gestured for Olivia to take the bedroom and she smiled at him gratefully before going in. She took off her coat and sat on the bed.

Stephen showed up after a few moments, smiled at her, handed her a towel and a small pile of clothes and got out without saying a word, closing the door behind him. She went into the en-suite bathroom and peeled off her clothes before stepping in the stall. She stood beneath the hot water for a while, grateful to finally be able to get rid of the filth of the past couple of days. She allowed herself to shed a few tears for Abby, for Fitz, and for the shitty situation they were in before pulling herself together and getting out.

Once she was dry and had put on Stephen's clothes - sweatpants, a large tee, and a sweatshirt - she got out of the bedroom. She found Stephen in the kitchen, pouring red wine into a large glass that he handed her when he noticed her standing in the doorway. She gave him a small smile and sat on a high stool at the counter, sipping her wine while observing the rest of the apartment. It was very much Stephen - spacious, luminous, charming and clearly expensive. The kitchen was magnificent but she knew he probably used it as much as she used hers - when she used to have one at least.

"So," she said. "I guess Baxter&Richmond pays well."

"Yeah," Stephen smiled. "But God am I bored."

"Really?"

"Yeah, so much paperwork and not a lot of excitement. I miss the good old days when we'd walk into a hangar three millions short and still get out with the package." Olivia smiled at the mention of that particular memory. "Now, it's a lot more sweet-talking a few billionaires into signing this or this contract and if I'm lucky, I'll get to deal with a few spicy NDA."

Olivia didn't know what to answer so she remained silent.

"Harrison is in the shower and judging by the look he had before going in, he's gonna stay there a while." Stephen said after a moment. "You may not want to hear this right now but I'm still gonna give it to you, better have it all out right off the bat."

Olivia remained silent, knowing what was coming.

"You disappearing on the plane did not calm the press down, quite the contrary. They were very much excited about "The Missing Wife" as they called you. I think the Post came up with the name and it stuck after that. They dug everything they could about you and laid it out in the news - past lovers, potential current affairs, former clients, everything... Grant hadn't made any comment before but when the plane went missing, they had to address it so Cyrus made a public statement. Grant was even considered as a suspect in the disappearance of the plane - the press went crazy over that, saying that it was all a set up to make him look sad and heartbroken and that it would appeal to the empathy of Americans who would vote for him but it died down when he got out of the race."

Olivia gulped down the rest of her wine and picked up the bottle to pour herself another glass - she needed it if she were to listen to Stephen tell the rest of the story.

"After that, he disappeared from the public sphere for a while until it was announced he was marrying Melody Williams. There was a lot of talk about the legality of him re-marrying but since you were declared dead, your marriage was null. Soon after, they started his new campaign for the Primaries together. They spun it well - a broken-hearted man who found love and passion again and who was finally ready to lead this country into a better time. His polls numbers were through the roof until an article was published about Mellie being unfaithful to him and after that his campaign went downhill. But any time there was something wrong, you would pop up again in the news, an old picture of the two of you suddenly found, him grieving by your grave - there's an empty grave with your name on it by the way - and of course they would always end with a photo of him and his new wife who saved him from his sorrow. You weren't managing his campaign and yet, you're still the reason he managed to win the election. Though he did not win with the kind of numbers he was thought to be able to achieve when he started. He's currently in his first year and his approval ratings are starting to go up but I guess that now that you're back, the press court and his lawyers must be in a frenzy."

Stephen paused for a while, letting the silence stretch and allowing Olivia to compose herself. After that, he went onto less personal or sensitive subjects and by the time Harrison had gotten out of the shower and joined them, he was updating her on the current senators. She only half-listened, her mind drifting back to Fitz.

Her second glass empty, she bid goodnight to the two men and went to bed. She tried to sleep but couldn't help but think about how the news of her return had been received at the White House - Cyrus was probably furious to have such a huge scandal falling on them - especially now that they were finally in the White House. Did Mellie know that Fitz had come to see Olivia? If so, how did she react?

Eventually, she went to sleep, thinking about their first few months together - those were happier and easier days. They had met through Cyrus who had been commissioned by Fitz's father to groom him for President and Cyrus had brought Olivia in to help him out. It had been lust at first sight and very soon after that - despite Big Jerry's strong disapproval - they were in love and engaged. They were happy.

Hope you enjoyed, sorry for the delay :)

I know the dates don't match the real presidential elections but that's the best I could do to make it all still coherent. Don't hesitate to review ;)