Author´s note: Quite a speedy update this time. I´m feeling in the mood to write. :)

Galen: Well, thanks for pointing that out. If we want to be that precise we might want to also add that JFK became president in 1961, since there is a technical difference between president and president – elect. ;) Also, since you seem to have read up to now and dropped no other review than this, I am wondering what you think about the rest of the story?

Noro: Thanks :)

Jennkyle: Thank and to you, too. No need to worry, I often drive, but never drink. ;)

Clio1792: A happy new year to you, too and thanks for the reviews. Yes, I know, I was feeling a bit sorry for him, too, even though I definitely don´t like Jack. The stakes are high by now, cornered beasts will do a lot to break free…

Chapter 25

Messages

In recent months and, if she wanted to be truly honest with herself, years, her gut, the once very reliable indicator for what was going on, for making tough calls, for reading people, had been off more often than Olivia Pope was willing to admit. But there were moments when, despite it all, despite the personal chaos she had never been able to fix the way she was able to fix the lives of pretty much everyone else, she had the strong feeling that something was wrong. Very wrong.

There wasn´t much traffic this time of the night in DC, naturally, nearing midnight by now, but she refused the urge to aggressively curse at a particularly slow driver right in front of Dupont Circle, ignoring her own fault in the near crash as she tossed her cell phone onto the driver´s seat. Huck was on the way. When something felt that wrong, it wasn´t a smart idea to go all on her own. It was better to bring a foot soldier.

David Rosen´s office was a mere 10 minutes away from the White House but it seemed like an eternity for her to arrive there. As much as David despised her late night calls, he would always answer his phone. The fact that he hadn´t done so, and refused to pick it up the other three, four times Olivia had tried to reach him on her way from the West Wing to her car, told her all she had to know. Rosen was in trouble and she hoped she would not be too late.

On that short drive, in those brief few minutes that were not occupied by her urgent call to Huck which was gratefully short and needed no more than a worried voice and a few words to set the man in action, she had far too much time on her hands it seems, to make her mind revolt around the same old carousel of worries and loops of thoughts that used to pull her down lately. She was the eye of the storm. And it was already beginning again. She had provoked her father who probably didn´t even know that she had recorded his confession but who no doubt had connected the dots, no doubt had already gotten wind of her arrival in the Oval and who just like that no doubt knew that she had teamed up with Fitz against him. That she had shoved whatever difficulties the two of them still had to work through aside and decided to go against her father. For Eli, this was the ultimate betrayal and Olivia knew it. She knew her father´s disgust at her own life choices, at the men she chose, the decisions she made… there was no doubt in her mind that Eli Pope would lash back, calmly and without scruples. That he would make the connection that B316 was his weakness. He would have understood that his daughter telling the president of the United States that he was the one who had his son murdered would lead to him telling her that he had reinstalled Command. And just like that, it was just like Eli Pope to make his power known by threatening her friends. Why David Rosen wasn´t quite clear to her yet. He had to know something. Either that, or her father was just having a particularly bad day. Either way, it was a reason to worry and risk a speeding fine.

She was more than glad to see the dark SUV on the corner of the street when she arrived, knowing that, when she didn´t see Huck, her friend had found it fit to be the advance guard and walk right ahead, checking out the place to not put Olivia in danger. She could feel a small pang of annoyance at that when she got out of her car and dialed his number, walking towards the door, her heels clicking along on the pavement.

"Huck?"

"There is nobody else here, Liv, you can come in. I made sure the house is empty. I made sure it is safe."

He had that same tone of voice she would usually notice about him when he was excited, when he was in the midst of trouble, trying to control his own emotions. It made her walk faster, almost run.

"Open the door, Huck."

It was open when she reached it.

The corridor was empty and she noticed that the electricity was not working, giving her a sharp tug at her guts, feeling her fears confirmed. This was no coincidence. Whoever had been here had made sure to increase the creep factor. Whoever had been here had been someone in the mood to play… Her heart was beating fast as she advanced towards the office. "Huck?"

"Right here." His voice came back, almost in a hush. "Be careful, don´t step in it."

She could feel her insides do a summersault, just in time managing to heed his warning because when she stepped into the room, she just about avoided stepping into a a few drops of blood.

The room was not the chaos she had expected it to be in. Everything was neat and tidy, no book ripped from the shelves, not a single piece of paper or office supply pushed from the desk by the look of it, the chairs neatly placed in front of the desk and in front of the shelf at the side opposing the window. It looked as if nothing had happened, which was the first thing she noticed, right after she picked up on the thing that was truly disturbing: the blood she had almost stepped into. Following the small trail of crimson drops, her gaze found Huck, kneeling beside a body…

She hurried over, panic rising.

"David!"

"He´s just unconscious, I gave him something, he was panicking…" It sounded as if Huck was almost panicking himself. The way a predator will become uneasy at the sight and smell of blood. She placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling it shake the same subtle way as her own fingers. "What happened?"

"There was an intruder, obviously, a professional, no fingerprints, no shoe prints, nothing." Huck was talking in a hurried way, but she could tell, her touch was focusing him. "I just arrived three minutes ago, found Rosen on the ground. He has a stab wound between his third and fourth right rib but it´s not bleeding too badly. Also his ankle is left ankle is broken, probably with some dull bludger like item which disabled him to run. He pulled a few books to the ground, I set them back and gave him a sedative."

"Did he say who did this?"

Huck shook his head. "He wouldn´t say."

Olivia felt her mind spinning, knelt down, careful not to get any blood spill on her clothes. There wasn´t a lot of blood. The wound could not be too deep. But while she felt like a heavy weight was dropping off her heart when she felt a rather steady pulse and breathing, she instantly wondered… Why such a half hearted job? Why the broken ankle and a shallow stab wound? The answer came immediately. A warning.

"I am sure it was somebody my father sent…" she said. "This is a warning Huck." She was greatful that Huck didn´t ask questions but just accepted it that way. "He won´t need a hospital." he stated. "If we disinfect and properly see to the wound, it won´t be necessary."

"He has a broken ankle, Huck." Her voice sounded sharper than she had intended and it had an instant effect.

"A burglary then." he said. "we look for valuables,…"

"…start a bit of believable looking chaos, but not before he wakes up. He needs to sell our story. How long will he be out?"

"Twenty minutes, tops. He was panicking."

In her mind she was already constructing a story for the police and ambulance. David wouldn´t like it, but she was sure that he was scared enough to get on board with them.

Then something struck her as odd.

"How did he manage to make it through the room with a broken ankle?"

"I found him here, collapsed like this." Huck replied.

Something here was strange. "Did you check the rest of the building.?"

"Briefly. To make sure there was nobody else."

Olivia got up, her senses alert the way when pieces were starting to connect. Something about this room was strange. Something about this room, the way it had not even be touched, was intended to... send a message. Because there was only one thing standing out as different about this room and the intruder had left the rest of the office intact so whoever found David Rosen would notice. It was the thin trail of blood. Not even a lot, she noticed. If David had really dragged himself to the shelf, there might have been more. No, it was just drops.

A trail of blood drops.

A trail of bread crumbs.

She started to follow them, finding her guess confirmed. When she left the room, she saw that the drops led on, down the corridor and then to the left, stopping in front of a closed door.

"Liv." Huck was close behind her, no doubt he had his gun at the ready. She opened the door.

The blood drops led on, one drop per step, meticulously laid out for her to follow. Leading all the way to the middle of the room. She reached for the light switch. This one worked and she could see the trail stopping right before a stack of boxes, labeled "Top secret"

With her heart beating wildly, she stepped closer. This room, too, was empty, apart from herself and Huck, she could feel it, but there had been someone inside this room recently. Someone arranging the boxes for her to find. Someone leaving a note on the top of them, in clean handwriting. A note addressed to her.

Dear Olivia

So you know what happened then and what your father did. Surprise, surprise, I´m not dead, but I don´t like being blamed for murders, at least not the ones I didn´t commit, that much fairness shouldbe maintained. I know your father is looking for these boxes and I know they might be helpful to you in your little quest for justice. So here you are, put them to good use. And don´t try to find me.

Mother.