The next day Olivia strutted into the conference room, where the rest of the gladiators were eating lunch.

"The Josie Marcus team is having a party to celebrate winning Iowa. She expects us to be there... all of us." She nodded to Quinn, who had skipped out on work the past few days. Abby smirked and assured Liv they'ed be there.

That night at the party, Congresswoman Marcus gave a speech, thanking Olivia Pope and Associates for all they had done the past few weeks. Olivia beamed at her team, proud. She noticed Huck was missing, but had to play it off until the speech was over and the attention wasn't on her. After the speech came to an end, Olivia made her way through the sea of political figures. She finally reached an empty corridor, and made her way down the hallway. She frantically searched for Huck, peeking around every corner and trying every door. She neared the end of the hallway when something caught her eye. Around the corner to the left, was Huck. Isolated from the craze of the party, he leaned up against the wall, fidgeting with his hands. She felt a lump form in her throat as she walked cautiously over to him.

"Huck?" she said softly. "Huck, what are you- what's wrong?"

Huck couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze. He shifted his weight and simply replied, "I'm fine."

Olivia looked down at his hands. They were shaking. She placed her right hand in his left and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"Huck look at me." She said quietly but firmly. "Look at me."

He looked up at her. He had on his usual stoic expression, but his eyes were brimmed with tears that threatened to spill over. His eyes did the talking, and they screamed pain, anger, confusion, sadness, hurt. Liv studied his face, it was tired. Exhausted even.

"Tell me what's wrong."

His expression changed. His eyebrows relaxed and he let out a short breath. A tear escaped from his eyes.

"I can't. Not now, not here. I just... I can't. Not yet." Huck stammered.

"Okay." Liv nodded. "When you're ready to talk, or if you need... someone, the keys are still under the mat. Swing by whenever.

Huck closed his eyes and squeezed her hand. She wriggled free and wrapped both arms around his broad shoulders. He placed his arms awkwardly around her tiny waist, not knowing where was too high or too low.

"Thank you, Liv" he whispered.

She didn't reply. She didn't need to. They just stayed there, safe in each other's arms. Olivia said what she needed to say, what Huck needed to hear. Nothing more, nothing less.

Later that night, after the party had died down quite a bit, Olivia made her way to the bar and ordered a glass of red wine. Her phone buzzed; it was a text message from Huck. He had left the party after talking with Liv.

"Hope Chinese is okay for dinner."

She smiled and typed back: "Sounds so good right now. Be home in 30."

Just as she hit send, Abby tapped her on the back. "You should get home, Liv. You looked drained."

Olivia smiled and held up her glass. "That's what this is for."

Abby took the glass and drank a bit. Her face scrunched up like a baby eating a lemon for the first time. "Ugh. I hate wine. Tastes like sour grape juice. Anyway, you need to get home. Go, Harrison, Quinn and I can take this."

Olivia got up and draped her coat over her arm. "Don't get to wasted." She called as she started towards the door.

"Who me? Never." Abby teased back. Olivia smiled, but didn't break stride until she was at her car.

Olivia jiggled her key in the lock a but before finally being able to swing the door open. Huck was standing near the window, watching the rain fall on D.C. He jumped a bit when the door shut behind Liv.

"Hey." She said as she kicked off her heels and shrugged off her grey trench coat.

"Hey." Huck repeated back to her as he sunk into her couch and flipped on the news. Olivia noticed a glass of wine on the coffee table, a glass he had presumably poured for her.

"Thanks for the food." She said as she plopped down beside him. Huck just nodded, not saying a word. "Huck, is everything alright?" No response. "Huck..." She grabbed his hand, and he flinched but didn't pull away. Instead, he slowly wrapped his fingers around her tiny palm. He turned and said softly,

"I'm okay. I'll be okay. I'm taking care of it, I promise."

"Huck if I opened a door that you can't close-"

"Doors are closed. I'm okay. Really." Huck gave her a reassuring nod. He released her hand and began eating his Chinese take out. She did the same. They sat in silence, not needing to fill it in with noise that wasn't worthy of conversation. After awhile, Olivia noticed that Huck's breathing had become louder and steadier. She glanced over to find that he had fallen asleep, take out in hand. His head was tilted back, his mouth slightly open. She sighed, he needed this. She was right, he was exhausted. She got up to clear dinner, grabbing some pillows and a blanket from the closet and placed them next to Huck. He didn't seem to notice.

Olivia shifted in her bed, tossing and turning unable to sleep. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. 12:51am. Then she felt it. She felt him, standing in the doorway.

"Huck." It was more of a statement than a question. She heard his heavy footsteps and then felt the mattress dip as he laid down beside her. He put his hands behind his head, eyes staring straight up at the white ceiling. She could only imagine his expression as she studied the outline of his face with her eyes.

"Uh, I couldn't sleep so I did a sweep of the place. It was bugged. At least 10, 12 maybe."

Olivia sat up and looked at him, shocked. He went on.

"I got them." He said. "All of them. I checked the bathroom. I checked and rechecked. I promise. You're good now.

"Huck-" Olivia started, but he continued.

"I have 3 computers trying to pinpoint the location of where the feeds were going. Should have it by morning." Olivia laid back down and exhaled. She turned to face him.

"Thank you Huck." She whispered. He turned his head to look at her, his brown eyes tired. Her hand found his and she began tracing the creases and scars on his palm. She drew imaginary circles, letters, numbers. Her finger ran over every crack in his rough hand. It was crazy to her, that these were the hands that took the lives of so many. She just couldn't wrap her head around the thought. "Huck, what does 752 mean?" She heard his breath hitch as he took in a shaky breath, and then he began.

"Uh, that day, do you remember? The day we met?"

Olivia nodded and whispered, "Of course." He continued.

"That day, after you got on your train I sat and watched the people on their way to work. The 7:50 was 2 minutes late. When it came, I sat up and watched. A woman and a little boy got off, and the boy ran over to give me a dollar. I think... I think that boy was my son. It was the first time I'd seen him in almost 6 years. I never saw either of them again." Huck didn't realize he was crying until a tear landed on the corner of his mouth. Olivia moved closer to him, resting her head on his chest just below his neck. She placed her hand on the side of his face and wiped away his tears with her thumb. He reached up and placed his hand over hers, interlocking their fingers. He exhaled a sigh of relief.

"You can stay here. You can stay with me for as long as you need to. I'll take care of you Huck. Please, stay here. Can you do that?" Olivia asked gently.

"I can do that." Huck whispered as his heavy eyes finally won him over, and he drifted off to sleep.