Chapter Eight

Redemption

"What in the hell is wrong with your friend?" Quinn said glaring at Olivia's friend Abby. They sat across from each other at a local coffee bar Abby had recommended when she had called Quinn out of the blue requesting to meet for coffee. Quinn had agreed, so she could ream out the woman in the hopes that she would relay the message to the viper who had broken her Fitz.

She was pissed. Her boss, her friend, her fucking family was hurting and it was all because of Olivia Pope. She wanted to tear her head off.

Five years ago, Quinn had been a strung-out junkie looking at doing time for whatever loser boyfriend she was dating then. She could never have afforded him to defend her, but she her mother worked for the cleaning company that cleaned his offices. She had begged Fitz to help her daughter and he had ridden into the county jail like a fucking knight and changed her life. She owed him everything. He had gotten her into rehab, helped her get rid of the loser, paid for her to go back to school and hired her on her graduation day to come work for him personally.

Quinn was pissed alright. Nobody got to fuck with Fitz and not feel her fucking wrath.

"Does that bitch just enjoy going around breaking people into a million pieces for kicks?"

"Hey, watch the language! That my best friend you're talking about.

"I don't give a fuck if she is the fucking queen of England, who the hell does she think she is destroying him like that"

"She's not doing much better…"

"Good. I hope she is fucking hell" Quinn said.

"Look I didn't invite you here to listen to you talk shit about my friend. I am here because I think you and I can help each other …to get them back together"

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Quinn yelled. The patrons at nearby tables turned to look at the irate woman, but she didn't care

"If you think I am letting that viper near him again, you have another thing coming" she hissed out angrily.

Abby sighed. This was turning out to be not such a good idea. She had thought Fitz's assistant Quinn could help her fix Liv, but she was obviously wrong. She had never seen her friend like this, not even after Edison.

"She'd kill me if she knew I was telling you this, but the last guy she was with…it was a bad scene. She got hurt…bad" Abby said. She felt like a traitor for breaking Olivia's confidence, but she needed help.

"So?! We've all had our hearts broken, it doesn't mean you get to go around shitting on people. Good decent salt of the earth people and that's what Fitz is " Quinn said passionately

"Quinn, I am not talking about a broken heart, I am talking about broken bones and a subdural hematoma that required her to be in the hospital for a fucking month. He proposed to her, she accepted and two days later he beat her so bad…I thought she was going to die" Abby chocked back emotion.

Quinn froze with the coffee cup halfway up to her mouth. Wow, she hadn't seen that coming.

"That kind of shit scars, it doesn't matter how strong or brave you are. You don't get to wash that off" Abby said. She remembered seeing Liv in a hospital bed …broken, with tubes running out of …everywhere.

"I didn't know that" Quinn said quietly.

"Nobody does, she won't talk about it, she's embarrassed" Abby sighed "She's the victim and she feels embarrassed. She's ashamed that she couldn't see the signs and that she was so fucking wrong about the person she chose to love. It makes her doubt herself about everything, especially when it comes to love"

"She's been punishing herself for four years for not seeing who he was" Abby made a swipe for the tears pouring off her face.

"Fitz…Fitz is the only one she's let crack that shell, so we can see some of the sun that used to be her. He was…." Abby paused trying to gather herself "…he was good for her. HE IS good for her. Help me. Help me fix my friend because …fixing my friend will fix your friend" Abby pleaded.

Quinn sat quietly, thinking. Fitz had been a miserable bastard since he stopped seeing her. He had been happy with her. Olivia hadn't seemed like Satan's mistress when Quinn had met her a while back.

Abby sat and watched Quinn seating stoic. I guess I am on my own here she thought and stood.

"Sit down, red… I'm in" Quinn took a sip of her coffe and sighed.

"Don't make me regret this red. If I live to regret this, you get on my shit list and trust me when I tell you, that you don't want to be on it" she threatened; and she meant it.

Abby plopped back down on the chair feeling hope for the first time in days. Hope for Liv.

Fitz sat in his office in the dark, staring out the window drinking bourbon. He had been doing that a lot lately. It was supposed to dull the pain. It didn't.

He sipped the amber liquid feeling its warmth spread across his body and tried not to think about…her. Maybe she had a point. If Edison leaving her had made her hurt this bad, he could see why she would avoid it like the fucking plague.

He had suffered a horrific compound fracture when he had been thirteen. He would break a bone every day for the rest of his life to not feel pain like this.

He was lost. He went over their conversation…no, their fight every day and wondered; Did I give up to fast, should I have worked harder to convince her? Maybe…

He could fight for her, he wanted to fight for her…she didn't even have to meet him halfway. He would have met her a quarter of the way and he would gladly carry her the rest of the way.

He heard the door of the office open and swiveled around on his chair. It was 10 pm and he had locked the door it could only be Quinn.

The door to the office opened and he narrowed his eyes frowning at her.

"Okay, so I was in no way going to recommend this, but you need to go talk to the viper" she said as she entered the room, she walked over to the bourbon and poured herself a glass before plopping down on the chair across his desk.

He took a sip of his drink and turned his chair back to stare out the window, giving his back to her. He didn't want to talk to anyone.

"I'm serious, I know you're in licking your wounds mode, but the viper, might actually be worth more of your time" It killed her to say it, she wanted the woman gone. She wasn't finding it easy to forgive someone who would do this to her friend. To her family.

"Go home Quinn" he said quietly.

"Fitz, turn around and look at me" he ignored her

"Please"

The entreaty made him turn. Quinn never said please…or thank you…or I'm sorry; it wasn't her style.

"What?" he asked flatly. Emotionless.

She sighed. She had told red, that she wouldn't tell him, but she had no loyalty to her. The only person she cared about was Fitz and he needed to know…at least she thought he did.

"I had coffee with the red head today, Olivia's friend…"

"Abby, her name is Abby. Why are you having coffee with Liv's friends, Quinn? " He didn't know why he asked; he really didn't care.

"She may or may not have told me something that I think you should know"

"Get to the point Quinn" he was irritated now.

"So, this guy the viper used to date, may or may not have been a heinous piece of shit"

Fitz sighed, he already knew the story of Edison.

"I know that he fucked her up Quinn… I don't need…"

Quinn interrupted him "Fitz, he beat the shit out of her. Broken ribs, brain bleed, the works."

Fitz froze. He felt his blood heat and it wasn't from the bourbon.

"What the fuck did you just say?" he asked gruffly, sitting up

"Say it again!" Fitz barked, making Quinn jump at the force of his voice.

"He beat her. Apparently, he proposed to her and then thought she was cheating on him so he came home two days after putting a ring on it and beat her…bad"

Quinn watched the intense emotions play on his face and worried. Maybe she shouldn't have told him. It probably wasn't a good idea to tell someone who was unhinged that the love of their life had gotten beaten by some asshole.

"I'll kill him" the threat was delivered silently. Quinn panicked. She knew Fitz. He meant it…shit!

Fitz stood up grabbed his phone off his desk and walked to the front door stopping to grab his coat. He was dialing as he pulled on the coat.

"Brass, I need you to find me the address for an Edison..." he turned to Quinn "Do you know the fuckers last name?" he asked Quinn

"Davis" Quinn responded and instantly regretted it. The man had murder in his eyes and here she was giving him information on what was sure to be the intended victim! She opened her mouth to speak, but Fitz was already out the door and heading for the elevators.

"Edison Davis. I'm leaving the office, I want the address on my phone by the time I get to my car or your fucking fired" he told the firms private investigator and hung up the phone.

Yup, telling him maybe not such a good idea.

"Fitz, stop..."

"Don't try and stop me Quinn, I am fucking ending him" He looked up at the indicator light on the elevator to see what was taking the thing so fucking long. Quinn looked up with him; it was on the sixth floor. They were on the twenty-fifth. Deciding it was taking too long he headed towards the stairwell.

Shit, I need to stop this now, I am not walking down twenty-five flights of stairs in these shoes.

"Fitz, stop! He's not in DC…he's in jail. They put him away. HE'S IN JAIL!"

Quinn stood panting, panicked. Fitz had murder in his eyes. He looked fucking feral.

Fitz stood by the stairwell doors his fists clenched. She could feel the rage encircling him, it was almost tangible.

"Fitz…" he shook his head and with a quick look at her pushed open the stairwell doors and headed out. To where she didn't know.

Liv sat on her couch watching amateur chefs competing for a one hundred-thousand-dollar prize on the Food Network. The delicious looking plates should have aroused her appetite, but she felt nothing.

She sat thinking about how she had been running from Fitz since she met him. Running because she knew how he could hurt her; but it wasn't him that had done this to her. She had done this to herself. Her worst enemy was herself. Who ever heard of someone breaking their own heart.

Thank god it was Friday and she didn't have to feel bad about calling into work again tomorrow. She couldn't leave the house. Abby was the only soul she had any contact with. The only reason she got in was because she had a key. Abby was her rock; just like she had been after Edison had attacked her. One of these this days she was going to need to have Abby have a breakdown so she could return the favor.

She had cried so much she had nothing left. She was numb. The only thing she could do was sit and watch TV. It helped to distract her…sometimes.

The doorbell rang. Why the fuck is Abby ringing the bell, she has a fucking key. The doorbell went again and she ignored it. Well maybe it wasn't Abby; whoever it was shit out of luck because she wasn't opening the door.

The ringing continued so she turned up the TV volume. After about what felt like ten minutes the ringing stopped. Thank god! She was halfway through another episode when she heard a key turn in her lock.

She thought it was Abby until she heard two male voices enter her apartment and sat up startled. What was happening?

"If you just want to check on her Mr. Fitz that is okay, but I cannot leave you here alone, Ms. Pope would not like this" Olivia stood transfixed as Fitz and her buildings super walked into her den and stared at her.

Oh my God he was here! He looked beautiful…broken…

"Ms. Pope, thank God" Alvarez said. We were worried. Mr. Fitz said you had not been to work and I noticed you don't get your mail no more, so we decided to check on you, are you okay?"

She couldn't move, her eyes remained on Fitz her eyes drinking him in like she had been walking in the desert parched.

He returned her gaze. They couldn't look away from each other.

"We're fine Mr. Alvarez, could you please excuse us?" his gaze never left hers

"Ms. Pope do you want me to leave?" the older gentleman asked. He wasn't sure he should.

"Answer him Olivia" Fitz said softly. She broke eye contact with Fitz for a second to nod at the super and then she turned right back to look at him. She couldn't stop looking at him.

"Its fine Jose, thank you"

"Okay, but if you need me you call okay?" he said as he walked out leaving them alone. Staring at each other.

"Hi"

"…Hi"

He walked up to her and grabbed her into his arms folding her into him so there was no space between their bodies. A crowbar couldn't have pulled them apart. He held her and she put her arms around his midriff and inhaled. She had missed the way he smelled so much. He pulled back and bent down to look her in the eyes. She raised her gaze.

"I know Liv…I…know"

She instantly knew what he was talking about and started to pull back, but he wouldn't let her. "Liv please…don't. Tell me…trust me. You have to tell me everything…please"

She looked up at him through watery eyes and saw that he was holding back his own tears.

"I don't like to talk about it" she said sobbing quietly

"I know baby, but I need you to trust me and tell…me, please" he was struggling to speak through his emotion.

He picked her up and cradled her. He walked into her den and sat on the couch with her in his arms; pulling her into him.

"Tell me" he said.

So, she did.

"He used to be good…he was good. I didn't know but he was on cocaine. I noticed a change in him, but he had just gotten a new high stress job and I thought that was the cause of the erratic behavior. He started by belittling me and then being verbally abusive. I was done then. I'm not stupid…at least I didn't think I was. I told him to get out and not come back" If only she had kept him out.

"But then three months later he came back and said he had changed and that he had seen the error of his ways…so I let him back in. He looked…sounded like he had changed but he hadn't; the only thing that had changed was that he was better at hiding himself from me. So, a year later he asked me to marry him and I said yes. I was happy. The next day I went to lunch with a friend of mine from work, his name is Colin. He is gay with three kids but it didn't matter. Edison saw us having lunch and laughing and lost it. I came home and he wasn't there so I went to bed. I woke up the next day and he was sitting at the edge of the bed just…staring at me. I'll never forget what he looked like. He was…it's like he wasn't even human"

She remembered how terrified she had felt when she saw him; she shivered and Fitz pulled her in closer still.

"You're doing fine" he muttered

"He asked me who Colin was…I got out of the bed and started to move towards the door as I answered him. It's like I knew, I needed to get away from him. My instincts were screaming at me to run. So, I did. I got as far as the den, before he caught me" she took a deep breath.

"…I don't remember much after that. I remember coming to in the hospital a couple of times. I could hear my mother and Abby crying. I knew Edison had hurt me but I didn't know much else for a while…I don't know, how I could have been that fucking clueless about someone. I was going to marry him Fitz, I was going to let that monster be the father of my children!"

Fitz finally spoke up, he had been quiet while she shared her story. He controlled the rage against the coward Edison, controlled the heartbreak at imagining her in a hospital. Broken; but he couldn't stand to hear her blame herself.

"You didn't Liv, you didn't marry Edison and you didn't have children with Edison. You can't keep beating yourself for almost dodging a bullet. You should be celebrating that you dodged a bullet! Your punishing yourself for being human. We've all had moments that we trusted people we shouldn't have and we got hurt…If you keep beating yourself like this, Edison is winning. He wins!"

He cleared his throat "Baby, you're letting Edison continue to keep you trapped. Closing yourself off from people to stop being hurt might work at keeping bad things away, but it also keeps the good things away"

Liv was quiet, crying as he held her. She listened as he spoke.

"Livvie, it's not fair to me, but you know who its most unfair to…you. You deserve love, happiness, joy, …all the things you want Livvie you deserve. Just like most other people walking on this earth. You deserve it"

Fitz reached down and pulled her face up to look at him

"I want to be the man who helps give you everything you want. Let me in Liv…I love you. I love you so much. I can't breathe without you. I am nothing without you"

He leaned in and kissed her tenderly and she returned his kiss. Hesitant at first, but she quickly brought her hand to the back of his head running her fingers through his curls brining him closer. He spoke against her mouth not wanting to break the connection "Give us a shot Liv, please…for me, for us and most importantly for you Livvie"

She wrapped herself around him and pulled her face into his neck breathing him in. She had never missed anyone as much as she had him the last week. She would be a fool to not try. She needed to grab a hold of this. She loved him, there was no point denying it anymore.

She pulled back and looked at him and he saw it. He finally saw it in her eyes. She wasn't hiding from him anymore.

"Livvie, do you love me?" He felt like he had about ten thousand tons of emotion pressing down on his chest as he waited for her answer.

"Forever. I have loved you forever"

Liv sat in Fitz's arms and found what she had been seeking….for four years, a second chance.

Absolution…. Redemption.