Disclaimer: Scandal belongs to Shonda Rhimes

Author note: Thanks for reviewing – they are most welcome. I am a Grey's Anatomy fan and was surprised that I was hooked on Scandal right away, but I really like the love stories between Meredith and Derek and between Olivia and Fitz.

Take It Easy On Me

Chapter 6

The next morning she approached the White House's Entrance, her head was heavy from lack of sleep and spinning with thoughts. She had spent most of the night on her couch watching the News networks. The interest for the First Lady's need for a break was slowing down, and the focus was turning back to the G8 meeting and the fact that nothing had been decided on the meeting, which meant that no economic measures were taken to stable the world's unstable economic. The financial expects wondered if the early departure of the President had been a big factor in the failing of decisions being made in Tokyo.

Fits was already in the oval office sitting in one of the armchairs with a paper in his hand and a cup of coffee in front of him. He looked absorbed in his thoughts and didn't see her coming into the room.

"Mr. President." She plastered a smile to her face. His body tensed for a brief moment, before he guarded his facial expression.

"Olivia Pope, you're an early riser this morning. Help yourself." He pointed to the tray with coffee and breakfast. She poured a cup of coffee and seated in the chair opposite of him. "Thank you, just what I needed." The heaviness in her head disappeared fast, she could only wonder if it was due to the company or the coffee.

"Where do you want me to work from, we need to be in touch most of the day?"

His face tensed in something assembling a smile, "of course we do. I would like to offer you to share Cyrus's office but he is messy and there is no space, the Communication pool is out of the question so that leaves this office. We have more rooms than we can use in this house, but do not have a vacant one suitable for you at this moment. The small room is yours to freely use." The irony of the situation wasn't lost on Olivia, moving on usually meant staying apart.

"I'll also share my newspapers." He obviously tried to lighten the mood and in the spirit thereof, she accepted the offered newspaper.

Unable to focus on the newspaper she pretended to read, sipped the hot coffee and nibbled her cut fruit. The glances she stole of Fritz left her with the impression that he was lost in private thoughts rather than the newspaper too. His coffee and bread was untouched.

"Mr. President?" Olivia interrupted him, he looked up with guilt in his eyes. "Ms Pope?"

"You need to eat. Is there anything I can get you?" The guilt was replaced with heat and it burned into her eyes and spread to the lower part of her body, their breathing changed simultaneously and became faster. Clearing his throat, he said, "no, but thanks for the offer, Ms Pope"

"I'll get you a fresh cup of coffee!" She needed to focus on something else than Fitz. Getting up she went to the tray and poured a coffee into a new cup. "Here you go, Mr. President."

Fitz reached for the cup and his fingers softly touched her, they both froze and instantly their eyes locked. The heat between them was so sweet and so bitter, his eyes darkened and she saw the pupils dilating. Her face flustered and her hands became warm. Her mouth became dry and her tongue sneaked out to wet her lips. She saw his eyes become bigger and moving to her lips where they stayed, her own eyes moved to caress his lips in longing. Slowly they moved forward, coming closer and closer together the longing too strong to fight. When their lips were inches apart, Fitz redrew his head, "thanks for the coffee, Ms Pope." His voice was shaky. His hands were now in his lap.

Her eyes flew to his lap and she saw the effect she had on him, and she felt a mixture of desire, joy, sadness and shame. She had pushed him so hard to giving her up, she had hurt him in so many ugly ways that she had lost count, and Fitz still treated her with respect and care. Making sure she had the wine and fruits she liked. She was touched deeply by how big and good a heart this man had.

Placing the cup on the table, she went back to her own chair. She was shaken by the effect he had on her and her own thoughts, she had fooled herself into thinking she was doing the right thing and therefore her actions justified. The truth was that she had been on a personal vendetta since she fixed the Amanda Tanner situation and the pregnancy of the First Lady.

"I'll get to work, but we have to talk about the planning. We have to change the focus from the G8 meeting and to America's baby's need for rest. Leaving the G8 meeting make you appear weak because no decisions were made and that could be due to your early departure, or that you were unable to push anything through. I think we need to focus clearly on the baby's needs, after all, this is America's baby and no one likes a neglecting mother. Mellie's need for rest could be secondary for the people but the need of an unborn baby is another matter. Make sure you're always focused mostly on the baby and secondary on your wife. We'll avoid longer interviews on the subject as long as possible, just give a new press release and smaller comments. I'll make sure the networks start talking to pregnancy experts again. Do you agree?"

He fixed a tired smile on his face, "sounds as a good plan, you're a brilliant fixer, Ms Pope. I've a small interview for CNN scheduled at eleven."

"On what subject, Mr. President?"

"The education program."

Olivia gave him a long look, "fine. You need to change to a blue tie and remember to look focused but tired, as in worrying for your baby and wife. Do you need me to be there?"

"Here, the interview is here and yes, please." This time a ghost of a smile reached his eyes.

"Fine. I'll be in my office." She stated and walked away.

In her office, her new temporary office, she corrected in her thoughts, Olivia started the line of planned phone calls. Her contacts to the networks were solid ones; when she called, the information offered was always valid, and that made people listen to her. Her reputation was stainless. Endless times, she explained she only temporally worked for the White House and endless times, she was welcomed back, she had been missed dearly.

Her phone vibrated and she answered without looking at the display, "Senator." She greeted, it was Edison and suddenly aware of the open door between the offices, her heart skipped a beat. She could hear the distant sound of Fitz when he talked to someone, the words were not clear but she could often tell how the conversation was going, and this made her wonder how much he could hear. The open door had made her feel cozy and comfortable until now.

She listened to Edison invitation to dinner and declaring how fantastic it was to talk to her again with only one ear, sighing she interrupted; "I'm very busy today and dinner is out of the question." He accepted and hung up. Her life was complicated, but for a brief, brief moment, Edison had seemed to be an option to think about.

Half an hour later she walked into the oval office, waving a paper in the air," do you've time?"

He looked up, "always."

She stepped closer and he pushed the papers he had been looking at in under another set of papers, all she had time to see was that it was legal documents from a well respected law firm. "Your press release, please read and review, Mr. President."

"Take a seat and I'll read it now."

"Sure." She moved to the part of the room where the flat screen was and switched it on, finding one of the news channels she started to smile.

"in the third semester of a pregnancy, the baby is mostly developed but damage can still be done if the mother doesn't take good care of her unborn child. Stress can compromise the nutrition level and amount. It can compromise the baby's absorption of oxygen and cause pregnancy poisoning and premature birth."

"Will a premature birth be severe at this time in the First Lady's pregnancy?"

"A premature birth is always serious and compromises the baby."

Olivia switched to another channel:

"Have you noticed signs of The First Lady being stressed or worn out lately, sir?"

"Yes, I must say I've. One of the times the First Lady showed abnormal behavior was when a young child, diagnosed with cancer, vomited on her. Her reaction was very strong, she couldn't hide her disgust and anger with the boy, and she rushed out of the room and to her husband. Another time was when she refused to shake hands with the homeless woman. Both examples show us an unstable First Lady, in my opinion."

"You did a good job, Olivia." Fitz stood beside her chair, his attention on the screen.

"Thank you, Mr. President." She switched of the television. At the same time Cyrus came through the door.

"You are worth every dime, Olivia." He was excited. "The focus is on the American Baby again and what it needs. The White House is lucky to have you."

Those were big words coming from Cyrus, who rarely praised anyone. "Thank you but the White House doesn't have me. The press release is ready if the President clears it."

"He does," Fitz said and handed the paper to Cyrus who read it closely, "brilliant. I wonder when Mellie will contact the press."

"Let's hope she waits a little longer, time is working for us." Olivia replied. "Don't you speak to your wife, Mr. President? She asked in an afterthought.

Fitz looked uncomfortable, "no."

Olivia shook her head in disbelief, "we don't need a story of an uncaring, expecting father right now, call her for Pete's sake!" She gave him one of her stern glares, "and go change to another tie, CNN will be here soon." He didn't looked pleased, but did as she ordered.

"What are you working on, Cyrus?" she asked, he had been suspiciously absent all morning.

"I'm painting a picture of a emotional and weak First Lady, one the American people won't trust with matter of the State. Thankfully she has cried a lot on screen." He smiled satisfied.

"Good work, I guess that's why the examples of a stressed First Lady were mention on the news channels?"

"It's fair to assume."

"Does he know?"

"He does!" He looked at her, "can you handle this, or do I still hear a tick tick?"

"I'm fine, Cyrus." She answered coldly.

Fitz came back with two blue ties in his hand, "which one?"

Olivia eyed the two ties in his hand and the outfit he wore, "that one," she pointed to the dark blue tie, "that will do."

Seeing him fidgeting with the tie she stepped closer to him and reached for his shirt, her hands made small contact with his skin and the contact made them both shiver. Their eyes locked and Olivia's breath got caught in her throat, when she saw the power of his longing in his eyes. She almost forgot all about Cyrus until he used his voice.

"Tick tick, tick tick, tick tick."

Stepping away Olivia composed herself, but the President wasn't that kind, "drop it Cyrus, I've chosen my way." His voice was loud and angry.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that, Mr. President!" Cyrus wasn't intimidated

Noise from the hall announced the crew from CNN and further discussion between Fitz and Cyrus ended. Cyrus directed the crew to the part of the room where they could arrange the two cameras and microphones.

Olivia stepped closer to Fitz, "remember to stay on the subject and don't let her manipulate you to talk about the First Lady. It will be good to make a small statement like the situation is the same and you're very concern for the little boy. Use the fact that everyone knows you're expecting a son, it will help people to bond with you and the baby. Use the fact that this is America's baby'"

He gave her a hard look, "I will use your advice except the silliness about America's baby, I never signed up to that terminology."

Feeling guilty, she said softly, "I know you didn't." His eyes became soft and he opened his mouth to speak, but the moment was broken when Diane Sweeper rushed into the oval room.

"Thank you for seeing me, Mr. President." She smiled broadly at Fitz and her smile became huger when she noticed Olivia.

"Ms Pope, I had heard rumors telling you were back at the White House, now I understand the quality of the press materials the last two days. Welcome back."

Olivia lacked the energy to protest and uttered a thank you instead.

The interview went smoothly until Diane Sweeper asked about the First Lady, so far Fitz had controlled the interview perfectly, holding her breath Olivia caught his eyes and grounded him.

"My youngest son is still showing signs of distress and the First Lady and I have agreed that it will be best for him, if she stays in Santa Barbara for now. I am, of course, very concern for his wellbeing, like all expecting fathers would be. Children are most precious and I will not jeopardize the health of any child of mine."

Letting go of her breath Olivia relaxed, it was perfect. The interview was wrapped and the CNN people left.

"Perfect, Mr. President." Olivia praised Fitz.

"You've taught me well." He replied.

Verna Thornton was patiently achieving her second round of chemotherapy; she looked up when Olivia quietly entered the room. "Are you now wasting your time on an old lady?" Verna complained.

"I'm not wasting my time, I'm with you." Olivia smiled.

"That's not what I heard. Rumor has it that you're busy at the White House?"

"Who told you that?" Olivia asked not surprised at all, rumors travelled fast in the political circles.

"Kimberly Mitchell, and I've seen the touch of your hand on the news channels all day."

"I'm only temporally back, Verna. This is a hard time for the President." Olivia assured her.

"I think it will do you both good. He is at his full potential with you, and you've to stop running at one point." Verna stared at Olivia.

"How long have you known?"

"I knew before you admitted and gave in to your feelings, Olivia. I saw the struggling in you both and how the love changed you both, for the better."

The water rose in Olivia's eyes, "how can you be so accepting? He is married," She whispered.

Verna reached for Olivia's hand and patted it gently, "To stay in a loveless marriage is not always the best or the right thing for two people. I see the love between you and Fitz and how it makes you better persons. That can't be wrong, not even in the eyes of God, Olivia. Fitz is better for America with you."

Olivia looked into the gentle eyes of the elderly woman, and only found understanding and acceptance. Drying her eyes she whispered, "thank you."

"Stop being so hard on yourself, Olivia. Mellie and Fitz were never right for each other, marriage was just convenient for them. Love was never the issue."

"Do you know anything about the Republican Lobby, Verna?"

Verna gave Olivia a long glare, "rumor is that we have an ambitious First Lady."