FOUR HOURS LATER
"Have you seen this?" yelled Abby, slamming two magazines and a newspaper down on Olivia's desk.
"Don't you have a job?" sighed Olivia. "You know, at the White House? What are you doing here?"
"I don't mind that you're here," said Stephen, grinning.
"I do, we have a case," said Quinn.
"Yeah, one that concerns your boss's daughter," added Marcus.
"You really shouldn't be—" started Huck.
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Abby screamed, causing there to be an abrupt silence in Olivia's office.
"Liv, you are not allowed to screw him again! Not right now, at least," she said through gritted teeth.
"Abby!" Olivia said in a scolding tone.
"It's the truth," she said.
"Fitz and I are not together. Why are we talking about this?"
"Because," she said pointing at the magazines, which showed the two sitting on the bench together that morning. "New boy, turn on the TV," she called. Marcus grudgingly turned it on, where the woman anchor was talking about Olivia and Fitz, and the pictures taken that morning of them on the bench in the park.
"So? Isn't this what you guys want? Just because we're sitting on a bench together does not mean we're sharing a bed," said Liv. The rest of OPA cast their eyes downward and exited the room, but Abby just rolled hers and stood tall.
"Well you could of mentioned it! Because you two? Sleeping together is not something that you need to be doing right now. He's finally getting back to normal after that fiasco that you two pulled at Christmas so I don't need you two messing each other up again. I just got worried… I didn't need that happening again. You two mess each other up. Or make each other better... What were you doing, anyways?" she said without taking a breath.
"His daughter is missing," Liv said nonchalantly.
Abby raised her eyebrows.
"We're friends, Abby. Is it that bad?"
"Yes! You can't be friends with him! He doesn't have friends! He has Cyrus, who is his work wife, and he has me to be his work wife when Cyrus is being his shady self, and he had you. Here that? Had. Past tense, Liv! You're done with him! You guys? Finished. Don't go opening up doors again!"
"I'm not opening up doors! I'm just… getting over him," she mumbled.
"Oh my—Olivia! You are either with him or not. There is no in between! You won't be able to keep this up much longer, and you and I both know it. You are going to have to choose."
"What if I don't want to choose! What if I just want to be friends?"
"You have to choose! You have to, Liv. I'm sorry."
"Abby, I don't want to talk about this. I have a case. Go back to work," Olivia sighed.
"Olivia—"
"I'll call you tonight, okay."
Abby left with a worried look.
AFTER ABBY LEAVES
"Do we have anything?" called Olivia from her office.
"Well, when Quinn and I went to check the hotel we figured out that Kayla had booked a room, and that a girl that matched Karen's description was staying with her. The guy working there said that Karen came in alone with nothing on her super early in the morning, and that she stayed with Kayla for two nights. But Kayla checked out very early this morning, and nobody actually saw Karen leave, just that they assumed that she left with Kayla because neither of them are still at the hotel. So she must have gone around the back while Kayla checked out, or something like that. Huck and I should be receiving the security footage…" Quinn checked her watch. "Actually any minute now… any updates?" she questioned, turning to Huck.
"I'm getting it right now, hold on, its loading… got it," he said, as Olivia, Quinn, Marcus, and Stephen crowed around Hucks laptop.
The first set of footage was of the front lobby, a couple of days ago showing Kayla checking in at 9:30 in the morning. Huck skipped through until 4:30 in the morning the next day when Karen walked in.
"What the hell?" muttered Marcus.
"Huck, zoom in. Can we get audio?" asked Olivia.
Huck pressed some buttons and soon they could hear the conversation Karen was having with the desk manager at that hour.
"… Kayla Polson? No, see, she called me, I'm a friend."
"I'm sorry, ma'm, but I can't just let you in—"
"Please, just call her room. She needs to see me," Karen said urgently. The man sighed, and dialed some numbers, and spoke in a muffled tone.
After a moment he turned around and faced Karen. "She said you can go on up." Karen ran to the elevator.
Huck cut the clip forward to early that morning at 6:00 when Kayla was seen checking out.
"And that's the last that they saw of her outside of the room," said Quinn. "I asked around, and Kayla got the hotel room because it was in her mother's name and on the Congresswoman's card. They said that Kayla was constantly charging room service, and that she even got outside deliveries to the room. But I also heard that it was Karen opening the door. They never saw Kayla, not until she checked out."
"So Karen's there on her own will," said Stephen.
"Not necessarily. She just might not be tied and gagged to a chair," said Liv, with a furrowed brow. "Huck, any idea what these packages could contain?"
"Yeah, actually. I check Kayla's room back home, and she's been taking a ton of different types of pills for months."
"She's getting high?" asked Marcus.
"No, they are medically prescribed. I figured out where her doctor was, and I talked to the hospital," he explained.
"What did you figure out?"
"I think… Kayla is transgender," he said.
"What?" Olivia, Stephen, and Marcus said in synch
"That's what all the pills were for. And she's been going to the doctor for months where they have been talking surgeries," explained Quinn.
"How could her mother of not known about this? Kayla is fourteen years old!" exclaimed Liv.
"It's actually quite common. Kayla has just been faking her mom's signature on all of the documents, and because these procedures are so personal she has been using the excuse of her mom not accepting who she is, and thus explaining why her mom has not been coming to the appointments. The doctors still technically can go through with it, and from what I understand the entire hospital is buying it. Her mom has so much money, and because this has only been happening for the past two months there hasn't been so much money taken out of her account that has caused her mom to notice. So the packages being delivered to Kayla's hotel room were her treatments. I was able to then track the packages, and they just checked into a new hotel just outside the city, and a package was just delivered. What do you want to do?"
Olivia ran her hands through her hair, shocked with the new information. "Let's go," she said finally. "The next time we speak to the parents I want to have both of the daughters safe at home, okay? Let's go people!"
FOURTY-SEVEN MINUTES LATER
"I wouldn't really call this a hotel, more like a…"
"Shack," finished Stephen for Marcus. The five stood in front of a motel in the middle of nowhere, with a flickering sign advertising free bait on Tuesdays.
"Yeah," Quinn said in agreement. "Good thing I brought my gun," she said.
"I brought mine too, and we all know that Huck has one on him," commented Stephen.
"You guys have guns? I want a gun!" said Marcus.
"No, no! Everybody stop. We're not using our guns. Marcus, never get a gun. God, you all sound like Abby. Let's go," hissed Olivia. The five walked up to the door number four, and Quinn knocked. There was a scuffling, and then no response.
"Karen? Are you in there?" called out Stephen.
Silence.
Olivia sighed. "Karen, it's Olivia. You can hide out in there as long as you want, but… oh, there. I just called you, and…" A distinct ringing was heard from inside the room. "See now I am either going to break down this door or you can open it because I know that you are in there."
The locked clicked, and a nervous Karen opened the door. "Liv?" she whispered, taking in the sight of the five of them.
"Karen, it's okay, we're not here to arrest you, it's just that—" but Olivia stopped short when Karen ran into her arms. She was taken aback as this seventeen year old girl crushed her, but let her guard down for the first time in months and wrapped her arms around her.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm here. Everything is going to be okay."
"I missed you," Karen whispered.
Quinn and Huck shared a look, completely taken aback by Olivia's actions.
Olivia finally pulled away. "Karen, is Kayla here too?"
"She's in the bathroom. But, Olivia, don't go in there… she's…"
"It's okay, we know whats been going on with her. I'm going to walk you to the car, and then we'll go get Kayla," Olivia said, guiding Karen to the backseat of her SUV. But when Olivia tried to go away, Karen grabbed her hand.
"Just stay with me, please," she said. Olivia nodded, and wrapped an arm around the teenage girl who laid her head gently on Olivia's chest.
"Thank you for coming to get me," she said.
"Well, if I hadn't your dad would of hired the FBI and your mom would of busted down that door yourself. You're lucky I intervened," Olivia said, smiling.
"Liv, I'm serious. I know you pick and choose your cases. And I also know that you know that my dad could of hired somebody, and you wouldn't of had to get involved. But you did, and it means a lot. So, thanks," she said.
"Anytime, Karen. Will you tell my why you ran away with Kayla? What's going on with you two? I know that she is going through some really tough stuff, but Karen… everybody was so worried."
"It was so stupid, I know. I was sleeping over at my friends house, and she called. I already knew that she was… well, a he. But Kayla called me, and was freaking out. I don't know, her—his—treatments were finally kicking in, Kayla was on a high, the drugs were making him act insane… I don't know. Kayla kind of latched on to me. I felt like I needed to be there. I'm sorry, I should of called, but she, I mean he, didn't want her mom to know. I guess everybody will now, though," Karen said.
"Karen, just because you are dating her older brother doesn't mean you have to rush to her, I mean his, beckon call. I get it. You have a friend who is going through this huge gigantic thing and you want to take some of the load off. But sometimes you have to carry the burden alone. Kayla is becoming who he really is. Let him do that alone, find himself by himself. That's the best that you could do," Olivia said.
Karen sighed. "I'm so tired. I heaven't slept in days. That—what you just said makes since. I should take to you more often, you know," Karen said.
"Yeah, next time call me before you decide to run away with your next transgender friend," Olivia said, laughing.
Olivia's four associates returned with a disheveled looking person, who was clearly in-between the stages. She silently sat in the back next to Karen, who gave her a smile but stayed in Olivia's embrace. Quinn knowingly took the wheel, Stephen claimed shotgun, and Huck and Marcus spoke in subdued tones in the middle row. They drove to the White House silently, a calmness in the air. The stars were out, as it was ten at night, and Karen fell asleep in Olivia's arms.
THIRTY NINE MINUTES LATER
Abby yawned and stretched, and sighed, realizing that it was already 10:41 at night. She needed to go home. Just as she was about to start packing up, her phone rang.
"Quinn?" she asked.
"Yeah, hi, it's me," Quinn said in a whisper.
"Are you okay? Why are you whispering? Is Olivia okay?"
"Yeah, we're all good. We are outside of the White House, Karen and Olivia are sleeping so—"
"You found Karen?"
"Yeah, and her friend too. I'll explain everything later. Just notify the President that we are coming up."
"Okay," Abby said, hanging up and rushing out of the room.
Fitz ran down the halls and nearly crashed into Quinn, calling a 'sorry' and kept going until he reached Karen's room where he stopped short.
Karen was fast asleep in Olivia's arms, who was also deep in a slumber. Karen was wrapped in Olivia's embrace, who had her chin on top of Karen's. The two looked peaceful in their sleep.
After recovering from his initial shock, Fitz grinned, knowing that he would always remember this moment. He pulled the cover over the two of them, and gently eased Olivia's heals off, although she was so asleep that she didn't stir.
He sat down in the big chair in Karen's room and fell sleep as well.