"Hello?"

A pause.

"H—Hi." She said it an almost a whisper.

"Liv? Did you get a new number?"

"Yeah, it's a long story, but we—I mean OPA—had to get new phones. Somebody was trying to hack our system…"

"That's not why you called," Fitz said, hearing the pain in her voice.

"I just. I'm in a bad place, and I just wanted to hear your voice. That's all. Okay I'll hang up now." It took everything for Olivia to hold it in.

"Liv, wait. Are you going to be okay?"

"No. But I'm done putting my problems on you. It's what made us… Look I just…" She laughed. "You're normally the one that calls first."

"You can always call me, Livvie. No matter where we are, you can always call. I'll always pick up for you."

"I know." He could hear the smile in her voice. They were silent for a while.

"I'm sorry, I… I'm going to hang up now," she whispered.

"Liv, I don't want to hang up with you in a bad place. I don't… I don't know whats going on in your life any more. Are you in danger?"

"I've done a lot of bad things, Fitz."

"Liv…"

"But it all means nothing as long as I keep those bad things from impacting you. So I'm not going to tell you. Now go… Go be president. And maybe when you finish in 10 months, maybe then we'll talk."

Fitz sighed. "Bye Liv. Be safe. I'll see you tomorrow." And he hung up.

"Bye, Fitz," she whispered into her dark apartment.

The Next Evening

Olivia sat in her chair in hair and makeup. Even after living in the White House for a couple of months it was still weird, having someone straighten her hair and do her makeup for her, something she'd done by herself all those years. Abby came in, and waited until Olivia's aid had left the room.

"Thanks for doing this. I know its awkward, but well, you kinda put yourself in this position with him, so, suck it up."

"Abby," Olivia warned. "We had a fight. I moved out. This isn't awkward. This is keeping Fitz on track for these last painful 10 months of his term. I don't need to suck it up. This is just how it is."

Abby looked at Olivia. She shook her head.

"What?" Olivia asked defensively.

"Look, you're my best friend. And I used to work for you."

"And now you work for him," she reminded Abby.

"Oh, Liv. What happened? You were… you still are in love with him. I see it in your eyes. I know you too well." Olivia looked away.

"It's not something I discuss."

"Don't give me that Liv! You had him. You had it. And you just.. what? Put it down, cause you couldn't deal with work that you don't want to do. Well guess what, Liv. You gotta give some to get some!" Tears started to form in Abby's eyes.

"Abby… I tried. I really did."

"No you didn't."

"Don't tell me what I did and didn't do! I wanted him and me to be together. But—"

"See, there it is! There's always a "but" with you. You didn't try. You call that trying, Liv? That's you and him forcing each other into boxes because you finally get to be together, but wait, something bad is bound to happen because something bad is happening with us, so let's release my father that killed the man that I love's son to fix all my problems and lets move Olivia into the White House against her will so that she doesn't do anything wrong again. Lets lie, let's keep secrets, and, oh! here's another good idea. I'm going to get—" Abby lowered her voice for the sake of the content. "an abortion and kill another one of Fitz's kids without him being able to stop it." Olivia gasped. She was speechless for a second.

"Abigale Wheland, don't you dare, ever, speak of that again. I don't know how you know, but you have no right to use that against me.That is something I don't discuss."

"I covered it up."

"What?"

"I know because I checked in with your secret service detail and they told me everything I needed them to know. But they won't talk. It was just two guys anyways. And the doctor that did the procedure, that flipped the switch, she's not about to talk either. She signed a contract. You have an alibi, Huck, Quinn and that new guy will obviously cover for you, say you were working on a case or something instead of being at that dinner. The hospital has no record of you being there."

"Abby, you didn't have to do that. That wasn't needed."

"He's never going to find out now."

"He doesn't need to. It wasn't… We're not talking about this." Olivia got up and left.

Two Hours Later

"Are they back together?" Cyrus asked Abby, as the two of them watched from the sidelines. The state dinner was going as smoothly as ever, and although there were many couples around them, the attention was all on POTUS and his First Girlfriend.

Abby stared at Olivia, furious with the way their previous conversation had gone. She at first didn't hear his question. "What? No. Why would you say something like that? They're fighting, Cy. It's bad."

"Come on. They are completely natural around each other. It isn't tense at all."

"That's because you're used to Fitz and Mellie. This is different. They don't have to act in love. They just have to pretend that they are getting along."

Three Days Later

Abby reached for her phone at the bottom of her bag just as it stopped ringing. "Crap," she muttered, seeing who's call she had just missed. She tried calling back, but they didn't pick up. Her mind was preocupied the entire day, wanting to talk to the person. Instead of going to Leo's like she normally did, she drove down the once familiar streets to where she knew Olivia would be. She pulled out her spare key and took the elevator up.

"What are you doing here?" Quinn said, the second she stepped off the elevator.

"Let her in," Huck called from the couch.

"What? Why?" Huck gave Quinn a significant look as Abby passed bye, giving him a smile.

"We can deal with Liv. She doesn't need to come in here, acting like she still runs the place… Liv is our problem!" Quinn protested.

Abby threw open the door to Olivia's office, not caring that Marcus was in there talking to her.

"Get out," Abby said addressing him.

"Abby!" Olivia said.

"Sorry. Could you please leave? I have to talk to your boss," Abby restated.

"Um, we're kinda busy," Marcus protested.

"Not as busy as I am. Now can you leave?" Marcus turned to Olivia in protest.

"Give us a minute, please." Marcus threw up his hands, but left.

"Why did you call?"

"You came all the way down here to ask me that? Look, it's nothing."

"Then why didn't you pick up when I called you back?"

"Because I shouldn't of called. I… there wasn't a reason."

"There's always a reason with you." Abby sat down on the couch next to her friend, taking her coat off and setting her bag down. "What is it?" she asked in a softer tone.

"I just… I thought you should know. Why I…"

"Why you got an abortion?" Abby looked Olivia straight in the eyes when she said it. Olivia looked back at her, almost daring Abby to judge her choice.

"Yeah, that. I was eight weeks pregnant. I couldn't even… It wasn't a thing yet. So… so I didn't kill anything at all. And it was my choice. Mine. You're not allowed to judge me, or even think about judging me for my choice because that's exactly what it was. My own choice. And if I had to do it again, I'd—" Olivia's voice cracked. She paused for a long time. "I don't know what I would do." There was a pause.

"But, but that's not why you got rid of your ba— I mean, it... right?" Abby said. Olivia shook her head, her eyes getting watery.

Olivia took a deep breath before answering. "I went to the doctor when… when the stick had a plus sign on it. And they ran some tests and I have some… some gene. And it will get passed down to any child that I'm ever going to have. So, so you're right, I guess. Any child of Fitz's I will kill, but not because I want to, but because I'm it's mother." Olivia let out a sob.

"Liv… Olivia, what's the gene?" Abby said, worry crossing her face.

"My mother had it, I mean, she had told me once when I was like 10 that she had cancer when she was a baby, but I never thought twice about it because it never came back for her and, well, I never thought that I would get it, and I can't, because you either get it at birth or you never get it, so I'm safe, but…" It took everything she had not break down.

"Are you saying… Liv? You have a cancerous gene, and any child of yours will have cancer?"

"It's every other generation!" Liv cried. "My mom had it, and it skipped a generation, so… So my first born is bound to have it, along with any other child I have. It's not a guarantee that they will have cancer... but the chances are high," she whispered. "Just me, being me, will kill another one of his children. I can't do that to him. I can't… I can't see that look on his face again. He… When Gerry died, well you saw him."

"Liv, that's because he didn't have you to get through it. You, I'm sorry, but you left him right after his son died, right when he needed you most. And, besides, you don't know for sure that your kid would have cancer—" Olivia started shaking her head, making Abby stop mid-sentence.

"It all leads back to me. I always blamed it on other people… My father, my mother, Mellie, you guys—my gladiators—, the Presidency, but it was always me getting in the way of our relationship. I'm the one killing our dream." And Olivia finally lost it. She buried her face in Abby's chest. Abby's eyes started watering at the sight of her friend—she had never seen Olivia in such a state. Abby gave her a minute before she spoke again.

"You may pass down a crappy cancerous gene, but you know what else you'd pass down?" Olivia looked up.

"Your kid would be a gladiator. Mini Olivia Pope would fight that bitch that cancer is, and she or he would win," Abby said with a chuckle. "You're gonna be okay, Liv. And so is Fitz, and so is your relationship with him, and so are the tons of strong kids that you and him are going to have together. So don't give up just because some doctor with numbers and facts about genes is telling you to."

Quinn and Marcus were sitting at the conference table, trying to read Olivia and Abby's lips. Huck was standing in the corner, he knew Liv so well he could tell what the problem was, but he wasn't about to share it with his colleges. He kept track of her what she did, and he knew about a certain trip to the doctor. Quinn smashed her takeout box on the table, making Marcus loose his focus and Huck his train of thought.

"What the hell?"

"Damnit, damnit, damnit!" Quinn cried.

"What?" said Marcus, shocked by her outburst.

"She can't just come back here! She's not a gladiator anymore. Liv's problems? They're on us. Not the White House. Not Abby!"

"Liv's problems are always on the White House. Be realistic. But just for the record, this one? This one's on Liv," said Huck, quietly, from the corner of the room.

"What do you mean—you know?! You know what's been going on with Liv, and you're doing nothing?"

"Quinn…" Huck warned.

"No! The least you could of done was told us! Liv's been a reck for weeks, and we all thought it was because of the breakup, but she's never been this bad for this long before. It's something else, but you obviously don't care enough to try and help."

"This is different."

"What do you mean it's different? It's always the same! My new identity, election rigging, Gerry's death, Harrison's death, the kidnapping, it all leads back to the affair! To him. Don't tell me this is different, because it never is," Quinn said, standing up.

"This one… This one is Liv. We can't help her. This is sent in stone. And it's not her making a mistake, it's her having something that she doesn't want. And she made a decision based on that. A decision that's not mine to tell. So if you want to know Liv's dirty little secrets, which you always do, be my guest. Because trust me, in this situation, I don't want to have to be the one Liv goes to. You're lucky this one fell on Abby," Huck said, causing Quinn to back down. "You and all your questions, Quinn. One day, they're gonna bite you in the ass."

"What's gonna bite her in the ass? Are you two screwing again?" asked Abby, coming out of the office with Olivia like nothing happened.

"Shut up!" said Quinn, fed up with everyone.

"Wait… what?" asked Marcus.

"Yep, Harrison and I walked in on them doing it, and to this day the image is burned in my mind. By the way, I never got a straight answer… was it the blood that turned you on?" Abby asked with a grin.

"I swear to God—" Quinn started.

"Wait, blood?"

"Aw, newbie, the story is a bit too long to tell. And I have to go, you know, to my high paying job at the White House. Don't mind me," Abby said, picking her bag up off the conference table, and walking out. "Usual time tomorrow?" asked Abby over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm buying coffee this time," Liv responded. Abby smiled, and walked out of OPA.

Marcus shook his head, looking between Huck and Quinn. He then got back to his research of their newest client, Senator Randolph. Huck was doing some hacking, and Olivia was scrolling through her phone. She noticed that Quinn was standing in front of her, waiting for something.

"Do you need something Quinn?" Liv asked, absentmindedly.

"So, we're not going to talk about what just happened?"

"What just happened?" asked Olivia, unfazed.

"You can't keep shutting us out Liv. You have to talk to us. Me. Someone at OPA. The White House shouldn't be your go-to."

"My best friend and my boyfriend both have somewhat high profile jobs at the White House. The White House isn't my 'go-to.' They are."

"You and the President broke up. He's not your boyfriend anymore," said Quinn, noticing Liv's eyes getting sad again. But she continued on. "And up until 20 minutes ago when Abby strutted through these doors like she owned the place, you two weren't speaking. One of these days, they're not going to drop everything for you, Liv. But we will. I will. I'm your gladiator. Over a cliff," Quinn challenged Olivia. Olivia stared at Quinn for a while, both of them well knowing that at the end of the day, Fitz and Abby would go over that cliff as well.

"We have a client. Go dig up as much dirt as you can on Senator Randolph's son," said Olivia as she went back to scrolling through her phone. Quinn rolled her eyes and rather aggressively slammed the door to her office.