Author's Note: Sorry guys for not updating I was out of town with family and you all know how distracting family can be. This chapter is the introduction to the present lives of Olivia and Fitz. I want you guys to see where they are now before I dive deeper into the plot. plz enjoy.

Present, October 2015

The game was done but now his headache had just begun. Fitz and his teammates were all in their locker room getting undress from their hockey uniform when the coach made the most devastating announcement he could ever make; Jake Ballard had just been traded from the Arizona Coyotes to the Chicago Blackhawks. Fitz was outraged. After everything that had gone done between them Jake was still alive and kicking it. Fitz was utterly confused. For one, the last time he saw Jake, Jake was being hauled into the back of a police car. That means that Jake went to jail and Fitz didn't know how other professional sports worked but in the NHL if you were imprisoned you couldn't play hockey. Period. Fitz contemplated this more. So if you're imprisoned you can't play. Mmm. SO WHY THE FUCK WAS JAKE HERE!? Walking around his locker room, shaking the hands of his teammates. Soon to be wearing a Blackhawks jersey. Fitz was more the outraged.

Jake continued around the locker room and eventually came upon Fitz. They looked at each other with cold eyes and shook hands. O yea. It was going to be an interesting season.

Olivia Pope was more than successful. She was blowing up. After she graduated UM she went on to Law school with Abby. She excelled in law school and as soon as she graduated from law school, she was placed to work with Cyrus Beene at his law firm in Washington D.C. Cyrus was an old man with gray hair and a wrinkling face. However he moved and talked like a man in his early thirties. Cyrus loved Olivia because he saw that fire and passion in her that he once possessed in himself. Also he felt that his law firm was the best fit for Olivia.

Cyrus's law firm wasn't just any law firm. It was more of a consultant firm that consisted of four lawyers: Harrison Wright, Abby Whelan, Olivia Pope, and Cyrus Beene himself. They dealt with all types of cases and handle all types of crisis. Olivia had recommended Huck to Cyrus to help out with technological stuff and that's how they got the whole gang together.

It was now early Monday morning. Olivia was getting ready to go to work in her luxury one bedroom apartment. Olivia was a workaholic. She loved working mainly because it kept her busy and out of the house. Work also kept her too busy for her boyfriend Edison Davis. She had dated Edison in high school but their relationship was short lived. Many years later while Olivia was working on a crisis for a senator in D.C., she ran into Edison who had become a senator of Illinois. Edison was persistent in getting him and Olivia back together again and after two months; Olivia was once again Edison's girlfriend. This all happened last year and since then their relationship has been in a stalemate. Edison is one of those men who want a stay at home kind of woman which didn't match with Olivia's way of life. She didn't want to be stuck at home when she was so skilled at handling crisis and traveling all over the globe to do it. Olivia also didn't want to move in with Edison. Edison felt that since they had been in a relationship for nearly a year then they should consider moving in together. Olivia didn't want to give up her apartment nor did she feel up to sharing her apartment with anyone, especially not Edison. Edison was nosy and suffocating to Olivia. To Olivia her apartment was her sanctuary. She could eat whatever she wanted, drink as much wine as her body would allow, and just let her hair down without anyone else telling her what to do.

Her apartment was also the place where she could watch hockey on ESPN. Now Olivia wasn't one for the sports. The only sport she really cared about was swimming and she only swam in the mornings because it was a part of her morning work-out. But there was one reason why Olivia would watch hockey faithfully, or shall I say one person. Fitzgerald Grant. She never got over him. She was still crazy in love with him and watching him play grew her love for him every day. Now hockey wasn't on every night but when it was, Olivia would get into her PJ's, grab some popcorn and red wine and watch Fitz work. O he was good. He always moved smoothly across the ice. He was also much more sexier since college too. His hair was shorter but it still curled beautifully across his head, especially when he got sweaty. He was taller and more muscled and his voice; Olivia could listen to him all day. Olivia paid especially close attention to his interviews after the game. Of course the interviewers would ask about his performance in the game but they would also allude to his personal life. Olivia would squeal at his answer because it was always single, which meant that he never married and was still available for her to get. But then reality would set in and Olivia would remember why they couldn't be together.

For one they lived in two separate parts of the country. Fitz stayed in Chicago to play hockey and Olivia was mostly in D.C. The closest they would ever be to each other would be when Fitz's team played the Washington Capitals which was the hockey team based in D.C. Even then Olivia couldn't see him because he would be there briefly for the game and then leave. Another reason why they couldn't be together is because of all the Jake drama. Olivia feared that Fitz was still upset at her for what had occurred and she didn't want to feel his wrath after all this time. The final reason why they couldn't be together, at least in Olivia's mind, is because she was afraid. Olivia didn't usually take the initiative in romantic things. She was always afraid that if she truly gave herself to someone then they would end up just like her mom and dad, gone.

So she watched Fitz from the sidelines, considering herself his number one fan; even if he would never know it. She even bought his jersey and would sleep in it occasionally. But that was something she did privately when she was in that type of mood. For now on this young Monday morning she watched her boo speaking with some sports commentators about his game last night. Olivia gazed at the TV for another moment before she turned it off and headed off to work.

Olivia strutted her way into the office. She loved the ambient atmosphere of her job. Every time she got there it was bustling with excitement. Olivia went into her office right off the main area where there was a large table for team meetings and crisis briefings. Olivia sat her purse down on her desk and placed her jacket in her office closet. Cyrus was away on vacation for two weeks with his husband James and left Olivia in charge. Before Olivia could get settled, Ethan, the office secretary, came rushing in.

"Good morning Ethan what's up?"

"Did you see the news?"

"What news?"

"A hockey player was just arrested for sexual assault."

"I need more details then that Ethan. What's his name? What team does he play for?"

"His name is Patrick Kane and he plays for the Chicago Blackhawks."

Olivia gulped heavily. The Blackhawks! If this player wanted Olivia's help then that would mean that Olivia would have to go to Chicago and help out with the situation. Sexual assault cases are tedious and long which means that Olivia would have to talk to everyone who knows the player, including one particular team.

"Ok. Olivia says cautiously. "Does he want are help or are you just stating what's on the news?"

"Yes"

"Yes what Ethan!?"

"Yes he wants our help. He believes that the woman who is saying that he raped her is lying and only trying to get his money." Ethan says quickly.

Olivia sighs heavily. "Ok get the rest of the team to get as much information on the player and the alleged victim. Then have them all meet in the meeting room."

Ethan rushes out of her office to do his task. Olivia could not believe this. Out of all the professional athletes a hockey player had to be the one caught doing something dirty and not just any hockey player but a Blackhawks player.

After an hour or so everyone meets up in the meeting room. Immediately everyone starts spitting out all the information and papers they have on Patrick Kane and the alleged victim. From the gathered info, Patrick and a few other players from the Blackhawks had gone out to celebrate their victory at a club in the suburb of Chicago. Kane had gotten really drunk and had taken the alleged victim to his hotel room where he allegedly raped her.

"I think he did it."- Abby says confidently.

"What makes you think that?" Harrison argues back. "She could have easily gotten him drunk, led him to his room, had consensual sex with him and then called it rape."

"It doesn't matter what we think. It's about what we know. How did you all get this information?"-Olivia asks.

"The bartender vouched for the amount of drinks Kane had and the alleged victim claims she remembered bits and pieces of what happened to her." Huck says matter of factly.

Olivia sighs. Her gut usually tells her whether or not to believe her clients but in this case she is unsure. Rapes cases are always uncertain. Forensics could do a rape kit on the victim and Kane's DNA could be found in the woman but that could mean that they had consensual sex and the woman could have forgotten that she gave consent. Or it could be rape but because of the uncertainties of the witnesses and legalities, it would never be sure.

"Looks like we're going to Chicago." Olivia says and everyone groans because who knows how long they'll be fighting this case.

It was now Tuesday the following day. Everyone had gotten settled into a hotel in downtown Chicago and was now headed to United Center where they would meet with the client and speak to the other Blackhawk players who went with him to the bar. On the whole ride there Olivia was praying that Fitz didn't go to the bar. She was hoping she could avoid him while investigating this case and hoped that he wasn't one of the witnesses.

But fate has a sure way of kicking Olivia in the ass. When Olivia and her team arrived at the United Center which is the stadium where the Blackhawks play, they were met with the team's owner, coach, and the team's legal staff.

"We want to thank you Olivia for taking on this case. I really hope that my players aren't responsible for heinous acts but I also don't want my team's reputation tarnished either." The team owner says as he leads Olivia and her team into a conference room.

In the conference room sits the legal team and the client himself Patrick Kane. From what Olivia knows, this is Patrick's first year playing professional hockey. He is a short white kid of 22 years with blonde curly hair. On his profile picture he looks confident and kind of cocky but sitting in front of Olivia and her team he looked scared.

"Good morning everyone. This is Olivia Pope and she and her team will be assisting us in this investigation." –The owner says.

Everyone greets Olivia and her team and they all sit down at the conference table.

"Rapes cases are always difficult but from what my team and I have gathered so far, its look you did rape that woman" Olivia says.

"But I didn't I swear."-Kane says panicking.

"That's just from the information we gather Mr. Kane. I'm going to need you to be completely honest with us and tell us what you remember from the night."-Olivia continues.

So Kane recollects everything he remembered about that night but the information is lacking and insufficient. All Kane remembered was going to the club and who all was with him. Everything else is shady.

"Ok Mr. Kane if you can't remember then maybe your friends do. I'm going to need you to list everyone who went with you." Olivia request.

"Well it was five other players from the team. David Rosen, Peter Malek, Chris James, Darren Mitchell, and Fitzgerald Grant."-Kane says.

"I would like to speak to all of them. Let's start with David."

A little while later David Rosen was sitting in the conference room with Olivia and her team. They asked him about the situation and fortunately David was sober throughout the entire incident. However, David didn't stick around the whole night. He only stayed at the club for an hour or two but what he did see was the alleged victim hanging all over Kane. He also noticed that Kane was drinking a lot of alcohol. That was all David knew before he left the club and went home. The next person they interviewed was Peter but Peter didn't remember anything because he drank all the way to the club and was completely drunk the whole night. He barely even remembers going to the club. Chris was no better with information because once he made it to the club he had found a woman and left with her. He didn't even pay attention to Kane.

After three stressful interviews the team took a lunch break.

"This case is becoming more tedious then I thought it would." Quinn says rubbing her temples.

"Yea. I think that David guy was even trying to hit on you Abby." Harrison jokes and Abby gives him a cold glare.

"Well we only have two more people to interview. Hopefully we can get a lot of information from them." -Olivia suggest.

But the next guy they interview, Darren was a complete waste of time. He was also drunk the whole way to the club and at the club. He knew nothing and barely even remembers he did that night. Now it was time to interview Fitz.

Fitz didn't even know that Olivia was a part of the investigation as matter of fact, he hardly thought of Olivia. Thoughts of her would come to his mind every now and then but Fitz just shook them off. Ever since he became a professional player, Fitz has been a loner. He mainly focuses on his career and when he's not doing that he's helping charities to fund things for sick and low-income kids. He doesn't date nor does he go out. The only reason he went with Kane to the club that night was because his teammates dragged him along. Now he wishes he would have went with his first mind and just stayed home.

Fitz walks slowly into the conference room and sits down. When he looks up he is met with the most beautiful brown-doe eyes he had ever seen and immediately knew who they belonged too. Olivia Pope.

"Hi"

"Hi"