A/N: This Huck is different than the season 3 Huck. I frankly can't stand Huck now that he has laid hands on Olivia and Quinn. I don't want to see him on my screen, much less write about him. So Spin is what I think we could pull from his character before 3a.

Chapter 7: Next Lifetime

I guess I'll see you next lifetime
No hard feelings
I guess I'll see you next lifetime
I'm gonna be there – Erykah Badu

Liv sat in stunned silence for a moment before addressing him again. "Why? Why does he want me?"

Fitz shook his head and looked down briefly at the ground. "I don't know, but he offered me a similar deal that he gave Harry. Find you and be free." The light of the dying fire cast shadows on his face, but his clear eyes locked with hers. "It seems like he's not one for keeping his deals. You should remember that Harry," Fitz called out, looking over her shoulder to address the man tied up just like him. Harry said nothing in response, but looked irritated and in pain.

"Harry said that you had some kind of post with him, what was it?"

"I'm a Captain in his militia." He shrugged and looked down at the ground again.

Liv lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "That's a pretty high up, why walk away?"

"Doesn't everyone want to be in charge of their own destiny, Livvie?" Again she felt that strange sensation she had when she first met him and put her life in his hands. She searched his eyes for answers to questions she couldn't quite form. In spite of everything, she wanted to trust him. Liv shook her head and her eyes hardened with resolution. She grabbed the knife from the trunk and Fitz felt a twinge of panic. She then proceeded to cut the ties that bound him.

"This is a bad idea," Spin declared. Fitz took a closer look at the man. He had short, curly brown hair and a dark beard to match. A scar ran down his forehead to his cheek. He was small of stature, but was stocky and appeared like he could hold his own. Spin had a wary expression on his face as he returned the assessment.

Liv turned to him after she had finished releasing Fitz. "What did you agreed to when we first partnered up?"

Fitz stood, rubbed his wrists and met the challenge in Spin's eyes. The gruff faced man broke eye contact and replied, "Follow Liv's lead."

She turned to Fitz and repeated, "Follow Liv's lead. Can you handle that?" Her wide brown eyes were focused and questioning. The passion dancing underneath the surface drew him in further. It called to something deep within him. He had to figure it out and couldn't leave her until he did. He glanced at her full lips and wondered what they would taste like.

"I'd love to follow your lead," he said with a straight face. Something in his voice made her do a double take. His blue eyes twinkled in the dim light. An image of him underneath her by a warm fire suddenly flashed in her mind. She blinked at him and then turned around.

"OK, then. Let's move it, people." She took the horse's reign from Twitchy and led it out of the camp. Daybreak was fast approaching which helped illuminate the way.

Fitz stopped in front of Harry, wondering of the fate of him and his companion. Their injuries would make it difficult for them to track them down, but it would also make it harder to survive. He wished no ill-will of them, understanding that everyone had to do what they needed to do to make it in this world. Maybe two good arms between them would be enough once they escaped their confines. "Good luck to you Harry," he said sincerely.

"See you next time, my friend," Harry gave the man he had served with for years said a pained smile. Fitz nodded his head and left the camp making his way back to the road to join the others.

The light of the new dawn played on the snowy mountain tops and a hawk disturbed the silence with her lone cry. Liv had pulled out an old topographical map from her partners' rover, spread it on the hood of the vehicle to study. He found his own rover in pretty bad shape. It's a lucky thing we survived, he thought, a knot forming in his stomach as once again his eyes searched for Liv. She held her gaze with his a beat before returning to the directions. Spin came up behind him, took a look at the vehicle and almost immediately started stripping his rover for parts.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," Fitz asked indignantly. "That rover's mine."

The man looked up and explained, "It's been too badly damaged. There's no time to fix it so might as well get what we need from it."

Fitz was about to argue but then saw Liv look up from her map, "Spin's right. We need to get a move on."

Follow Liv's lead, he remembered. Fitz shook his head, mourning the loss of his vehicle and started to sort through his things. The rover that Liv stood next to was brimming with items for trade. He doubt there was room for another person in there. Spin anticipated his question and said pointedly, "You can use your friend's rover."

Fitz ignored the dig and turned to Liviana who folded up the map and put it in her pocket, "If we leave them out here exposed to the elements without the possibility of transportation, they are going to die."

Liv assessed the situation as she secured the saddle of her horse and restocked some supplies. He was right, they would die out here. She shouldn't care. They almost killed her and Fitz by putting out that nail trap and they'd probably collect a reward on her if they could. But something in her gut told her to let them live. She felt almost like there was a wisp of a thread dangling in front of her that she wanted to grab and see where it lead. She had no time to indulge these thoughts. "We leave their rover." Who knows, maybe they'll return the favor some day? Spin looked like he wanted to object, but instead nodded his head in assent.

"So we heading back down the pass, right," Fitz asked.

"That way's gotta already be block by the new snow," Spin glanced back to the West where they had all traveled from.

Liv set her eyes to the road ahead. "We'll probably have to wait a bit for the eastern pass to free up too, but pushing forward to Denver is our best option."

While just a half a day ago he had his mind set on Denver, now he wanted to get as far as he could from it. "The General is looking for both of us; it will be difficult to get through the Territories escaping notice."

"Difficult, but not impossible right? If we skirt the outside of Denver, the high plains should make fairly good traveling. We could even able to stick close to the old interstate."

It was risky, but it might work. Or they could all be within The General's clutches soon, either way; it was a direction to go. She mounted her horse in one smooth move, trying to hide the pain of her healing injury. "I guess you are riding with me." She kept her face blank, but the intimacy that came with double ridding left her feeling flustered. She scooted forward as far as she could to make room for him on the saddle.

Fitz hesitated for a moment, then grinned, "Guess so." He climbed on top of the horse, his chest pressed against her back. He wrapped his arm around her stomach to gain balance as the horse adjusted to the new weight. It seemed sturdy enough to hold them both. Liv clicked at the horse and urged her onward. Twitchy and Spin would catch up and probably surpass them in the rover but take regular stops to not get too far ahead.

Fitz could feel the entire length of her body against his, her thigh muscles contracting to guide the horse, the mass of her curly hair tickled his chin. Her firm bottom bounced against him and an image of the night he slept next to her to keep her warm burned in his brain. He felt a stirring in his groin and realized this would get awkward fast. He started to think of the least arousing things he could think of; kitchen duty, fixing a sewer line, his friend Tom's smelly feet. It worked for awhile, until her sweet scent began to replace the foul ones in his mind.

"So, how long have you done bounty work," he asked, trying to find a distraction.

"I started around seventeen, so about eight years," Liv responded, glad for something else to pre-occupy her mind. She became acutely aware of every move of his body and couldn't help notice a hardening pressure behind her. It had been awhile since she had sex and she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like with him. Don't go there, Liviana.

Fitz studied the side of her face. She had been out on her own for awhile and at a young age. "What made you get involved in bounty hunting?"

Liv shrugged, "I like to think I'm a little more than a bounty hunter. Anyone can waive a gun around and transport a person from one destination to another." Fitz didn't believe that, and he couldn't help but think this was a subtle insult directed at him. "But I have a knack for finding lost things or hidden people. It was just always something I was good at, so that's what I began to do."

"How'd you hook up with your friends," he inquired. They seemed like unlikely travel companions at first. Frankly, they seemed a little off balance to Fitz compared to Liv.

"We found Twitchy in a trade town out West. She was almost executed for stealing and we got her out of that situation. They were just going to kill her, all over a stupid pocket watch," He could hear the indignation in her voice. Don't forget about mercy, Fitz. Justice is important, but so is mercy. He could his mother's voice admonish him. "I've known Spin for longer. We reconnected on the road and worked together ever since." She didn't add anything more.

They once again fell into silence until Fitz prompted another question. If nothing else, he just wanted to hear her voice. "Did you get to see the ocean when you traveled out West?"

"No. It is a deadzone. Twitchy's town was the last bit of population before it and even there most people die young or had deformities."

"I've always wanted to see the ocean," Fitz admitted, wondering what it would be like to see a body of water so large you couldn't see the other side.

"I've seen it, in Galvaston. It's big." Liv had a flash of a memory running on the beach as fast as she could, the sand oozing between her toes and the only thing she could hear was her heart beat and the pounding waves.

"Isn't Galvaston in the Republic of Texas? I didn't think anyone made it in there these days." Fitz was surprised. The Republic had effectively closed trade and their borders, outsiders were usually shot if they ventured too far into the territories.

"I didn't make it in there, I made it out." She could sense his curiosity about this and tried to change the subject before he probed deeper. "So, tell me about this General. What's he like?"

Fitz took a moment to respond. "He's tough. He's old. He was born before the Collapse. He survived the upheaval and the die-offs by living in one of the old Government bunkers here in these mountains. He rose through the ranks of remnants of the old military and eventually founded the Denver Territories. He's a son-of-a-bitch, but he gets things done." Just thinking about him got Fitz agitated. He shouldn't have been too surprised the bastard betrayed him. The General probably just didn't think Fitz could pull it off.

Just then they could hear the rumblings of the Twitchy and Spin's rover as they overtook them. The group slowly progressed through the fresh snow but luckily the skies stayed clear. When the day started to fade, they made camp and settled down for the night. Fitz could sense Spin's distrustful eyes focused on him, particularly when he was in any close proximity with Liv. So much so, that Fitz began to wonder if they had some kind of relationship. The stab of jealousy did not abate until after dinner when Spin and Twitchy made their own bedding away from the main fire. They didn't bother to obscure their late night activity much; their loud moans made it abundantly clear what they were doing under the covers.

Fitz had to bite his lip from not laughing out loud when Twitchy started yelling, "My bear! My bear!" He looked over to Liv from across the fire. Her eyes were dancing with mirth, but she said nothing. She merely shrugged and turned around to settle down for the night.

She knew he'd find his way to the guest house at the ranch. She was glad he offered for her to stay there after his father's funeral instead of at the hotel with Cyrus and Verna. She began to hate the very sight of them, each conversation seemed to work its way back into the possibility of rigging the election.

She wondered what excuse he made to Mellie. She wondered if he might have passed Karen or Jerry in the hallway and if they gave him a strange look as he told them he was taking a midnight walk.

As soon as he closed the door, he was all over her. He didn't say a word as he took her in his arms. His fingers fumbled with the buttons of her blouse. He kissed her ripe lips and his teeth and tongue traced a line to her chest. He gave up trying to unclasp the bra and instead just pushed it down, freeing her full breasts to his onslaught. He took a dark nipple and sucked deeply. She gasped as the sensation seemed to shoot down to the very center of her womanhood. Fitz lifted up her skirt and stuck his hand down her panties and felt a warm wave of wetness coat his fingers as he explored her crevasse.

She pushed him away to catch her breath. They stood silently for a moment; she could see that his eyes were swollen and glossy from unshed tears. She then gradually removed the rest of her clothes as he watched. When she was completely naked, she walked to the dining room table and hopped on it, her bottom hanging just off the edge. She leisurely lay back, propping herself up with her elbows and spreading her legs to give him a generous view.

He knelt in front of her like she was an altar and he had come to worship. He parted her folds and gave her a languid lick starting from her opening to her little nub of nerve endings. He sucked her skin into his mouth, swallowing her essence. He studied her face as each moment of pleasure passed over it. When she called out his name again and again, he finally stood up. He removed his clothes and then scooted her closer to the edge. He placed her legs on either side of his shoulders and held on to her calves as he entered her slowly. She fit him like a glove, tight and warm and unbelievably soft.

He could see every inch of her body, from her flat stomach to her ample breasts to her unguarded face. Occasionally she would throw her head back and arch her spine which would send him into frenzy. He would pull out and rub his shaft on her clitoris before thrusting into her again. He called out her name over and over. He never felt more of a lover, more of person, more of a man than within her presence. When he found his release in her, he could not hold back his emotions and once again wept in her arms.

She held him and kissed his tears.

She could feel herself standing on the edge of a chasm about to willingly jump into it.

The next morning Fitz and Liv awoke to fresh snow. They ate a few bites of jerky and dried apricots for breakfast, which wasn't enough to settle the growling in Fitz's stomach. Liv noticed that Spin and Twitchy still slept soundly as she prepared the horse for the day's journey. They had ridden for over an hour. The road hugged the mountain, surrounded by cliffs on either side. The movement of the horse kept bumping them together in interesting ways. She could feel a warm pressure building behind her again. She took in her surroundings, searching for some kind of diversion. Suddenly she spotted one. She could see a deer searching for a patch of grass to eat below an outcrop of the cliff on the road ahead.

Liv brought the horse to a halt. "Fitz," she whispered. "Do you see it?"

"Yeah, I see it." He immediately slipped off the horse and removed his shotgun from the saddle holster. They wouldn't be able to carry a dead deer with the horse, but the rover should be passing them up soon enough. Fitz slowly made his way towards the deer.

Liv looked around them, and didn't think there was a living soul around for miles. But she couldn't help shake the feeling that something was off. Fitz steadied his gun and was about to take the shot when Liv realized the precariousness of his position. "No, wait, Fitz don't!"

The shot rang out and with it she could hear the horrible quaver of an avalanche. She screamed out his name as she witnessed the snow collapse on top of him. She scrambled off her horse and ran towards where she last saw him. The terrible silence filled her with dread. She got on her knees and began to dig furiously, calling out his name. By the time she found the fabric of his jacket, she couldn't feel her fingers anymore. Please don't be dead. She cleared the snow from his head and chest, but he wasn't breathing. She started compressions on his chest and then touched her lips to his cold ones, filling his lungs with warm air. Don't leave me. She sent a prayer up to a God she didn't believe in, don't let him die.

She thought she never heard a lovelier sound than Fitz strangled gasp of air. She turned him over and slapped him on the back a couple of times as he coughed and found his breath. He lay on his back again and gave her a smile. "Hi," he said weakly.

A thousand emotions crossed her face, but the one that dominated was relief. Without a second thought, she took his head in her hands and kissed his lips. It started off gentle, her lips warming his frozen ones as her hands grasped his ice filled hair. Then it grew deeper as he plunged his tongue into the warm heat of her mouth. He rolled her over in his arms and tightened his embrace. He shivered, but it really wasn't from the cold. He felt like he stood on the precipice of something and he felt small and just a little bit frightened by its depth. He stopped and looked into her large brown eyes knowing he could get lost in them. He took the leap and reached for her sweet mouth again.

The sound of the rover broke their revere. Liv gave a disappointed groan and stood up and waved to them. She held out her hand to help pull him off the ground and gave him a radiant smile.

A/N: I thought I'd start giving a cheat sheet on which present character corresponds with their past life. There are a few that might remain a mystery until the right time.

Olivia Pope = Liviana Bishop
Fitzgerald Grant III = Fitz Grant
Quinn Perkins = Twitchy
Huck = Spin
Stephen Finch = Fincher (already left story)
Harrison Wright = Harry Walker
Abby Whelan = Amber