Chapter 11: History Repeats Itself

History repeats itself
I didn't learn, I wouldn't listen
I couldn't see the books were on the shelf
For my concern, I never missed 'em – A.O.S.

She couldn't sleep.

Liv had not spent the night indoors for awhile and now she found herself deep within a mountain. She thought of the layers of rocks on top of her and what it would take to smash her like a pancake. She studied the man next to her. Fitz slept on his stomach, his arm sprawled across her body. His fingers gripped the side of her chest just under her breast. He breathed steadily, but his troubled brow made her wonder what his dreams were made of. She didn't want to wake him up and resisted the urge to run her fingers across his forehead.

Instead, she carefully peeled his arm off of her, threw on some clothes and padded out to the main chamber. She found Spin hunched over a table filled with parts of some kind of machine. He was deftly attaching gears together. He had his handgun out on the table within easy reach.

"What are you fixing now?"

"An engine," Spin said not looking up.

"An engine to what?" He had worked on the patch for the rover earlier in the evening.

At that, Spin stopped and a puzzled expression settled on his face. "I don't know." He shrugged and went back to work on the machine. It didn't surprise her. He always had to do something with his hands, particularly if he was anxious. This location unsettled her too. A light flickered down the hallway near the sleeping quarters but beyond that there was only darkness. Lights illuminated the area immediately surrounding Liv and Spin, which made the bunker energy efficient, but also crypt like. She could almost hear the whispers of the people who used this place as refuge.

Liv picked up a random piece of metal and examined it while she talked. "So, I was thinking once we get through the Denver, we head for Albuquerque for the rest of the winter."

"That would be fine, if we aren't captured first." He glanced at her before getting back to work.

"Fitz has got some ideas on how to avoid Denver proper and I think they may work." Spin responded to her with an inarticulate grunt. "Well, he does know a thing or two about the area considering he was raised here." She didn't know why she felt so defensive.

"I'm sure the guy knows a lot about a lot of things."

"What's that supposed to mean," she asked a little sharper than intended.

Spin sighed and stopped what he was doing. "I mean what do we really know about this guy? We know that the General trusted him so much he was a Captain in his militia, right? And now all of a sudden he's the enemy or something to him? Why? What does the General want from you?"

She could feel a gnawing worry in the pit of her stomach. "Fitz has already said he doesn't know. And the reason the General is after him is because he thought Fitz abandoned his post. The General wants to hurt him, just like me."

"I guess," he said noncommittally. He continued to work in silence for a few minutes. He stopped and quietly addressed her. "I think this is about Texas, Liv. I think this is about who you really are."

"I've been out of there for eight years and made my own name. No one knows about Texas except you. Hell, we've even been to Denver before with no problem." She again thought back to that time a couple of years ago when she saw the General for the first time address a crowd about the bright future of the Territory. He told the audience that they were responsible for building the foundation of a better society and that with their support; they would spread the order and prosperity of the Territories to all of the land. She knew others might have a thing or two to say about that.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt." Spin's voice was gruff and he avoided looking at her directly.

She actually smiled at that. "Well, that's why we've got each other's back, right?" They had seen thick and thin with each other. She had saved his life and he had saved hers. But, she didn't want Spin sticking his nose where it didn't belong. She wasn't sure what she was doing with Fitz, but it felt good and she didn't want to think about it too much. "I'm not going to get hurt, Spin. I'm a big girl and besides, I know how to use a gun," she said lightly.

Spin stared at her for a moment, as if he was trying to discern the future in her eyes. "I'll follow your lead, I always do. But just remember how to use that gun if you have to when the time comes."

The warmth evaporated quickly and she responded, "I'll see you later, Spin. Goodnight." Liv walked out of the chamber towards the sleeping quarters with her back straight. She explored different rooms, which became monotonous after awhile. Liv finally headed back to the room where Fitz slept when she paused in front of the door to the General's room. She held her hand over the handle; something made her hesitate to open it.

"Livvie!" She heard him shout her name and she instinctively reached for a gun that wasn't there. She ran down the hallway to their room and slammed open the door. He scrambled, sitting up in the bed and yelled her name again like he didn't see her.

She hurried to the bed and reached out to him. "I'm here, Fitz." She touched his shoulder and he jerked back violently. She reached for him again and held the sides of his face and looked directly into his panicked eyes. "Fitz, look at me. I'm right here, ok?" She pushed the curl off his forehead and noticed he was sweating profusely.

She saw Spin arrive at the doorway to their room, holding his gun. Twitchy soon stood behind him, looking like she just woke up, with her knife in her hand. "It's ok, you two. Just go and close the door." Spin wavered for a moment, but the tone in her voice broke no argument, so he gave a nod of his head and they both left. "Fitz, what happened?"

"Where are we," he asked, looking around confused.

Liv's fingertips touched the side of his neck and felt the beat of his heart pounding in his veins. "We're in the bunker, remember? You took us down to the bunker."

Fitz almost felt like he hovered outside of his body, seeing himself there with Livvie by his side and slowly returned to earth. Returned to himself. It just felt so real. And yet he couldn't even really remember the dream, when his mind tried to grasp it, it dissipated like wisps of smoke.

Only one thing he knew, "I thought . . . I thought I lost you." He touched her face, not sure if he still dreamed. Flesh and blood. Not a dream. He wrapped her in his arms so tightly she almost lost her breath.

"I'm here. I'm here," she assured him, stroking his head. He closed his eyes to her gentle ministrations. Liv thought back to the avalanche and the agony she felt when she thought he died. "I'm not going anywhere."

She kissed him as a reassurance, but he responded almost desperately. He wanted to crawl into her skin and to hide there from the darkness that surrounded them. His tongue pushed into her mouth, tasting her. Sweet, not bitter ash. He pulled off her top and sought her breasts tasting her warm flesh. She held him to her chest and gasped when his teeth gently bit her nipple. Fitz then rolled her over, sticking his knee between her legs, forcing them apart. She helped him push down her pants just enough so he could burry himself in her. "Livvie," he called with every thrust.

She pulled his head down, kissing him all over his face and whispered in his ear, "I'm here." She kept on repeating that until her voice hitched and all she could do was pant and moan. She felt herself clench around his shaft, and with that he was gone, releasing himself in her and feeling the wave after wave of pleasure.

They didn't talk afterwards, only took comfort in the feel of their flesh pressed against each other. While sleep finally claimed Liv, Fitz could not find it. He sat in the dark, listening to the echoes of the past.

He lied to her. He stood there and lied right to her face. She had just left the White House and sat in her SUV, shaking. The girl said that he told her that he loved her. Was that his standard line? She thought of all the times he proclaimed his love. The night he declared that he was in love with her. That she was the love of his life. He said that they were in it together. All lies.

All lies? She thought of him taking her to see the Constitution. Of the way he looked at her from across a crowded room, like she was the only one there. Of when he held her hand at the back of the campaign bus and when he wept in her arms after his father died. He told her that he couldn't live without her. He begged her to stay. He told her that she was the only one he loved. She felt a pain so sharp in her heart that she thought she might actually die. She clutched her chest and gasped.

She told him she loved him and he betrayed her with some young girl. A small voice inside of her questioned whether it really counted as a betrayal. Can a person cheat on his mistress with some girl? She left. She told him it was over. And for several months it really was over. She hadn't even been back to the White House on business in quite some time.

Why would he ask her to help him deal with someone he slept with and then tell her he didn't? Was he so arrogant that he didn't think she'd find out the truth? Or did he count their time together so meaningless that it didn't matter if she knew? He never even told Cyrus. For some reason, she thought his closest confidant would know.

Mellie knew. Liv thought about the strange conversation they had the morning before she resigned. How she had tacitly given her approval about the affair. How many times did she do this? How many women did she take aside and let them know that they were a side piece and would be used accordingly?

She had bargained away parts of her soul for him. She thought of the young woman she just hired and how messed up her life became all in the name of Fitzgerald Grant III. Olivia had help steal an election for him. Because he wanted it and she loved him.

And he never loved her.

Again the voice inside her heart told her it wasn't true. That he wouldn't have given her that Providence Code if he didn't love her. He wanted to be with her at the end of the world.

She shook her head and let out a bitter laugh. The number probably wasn't any good. Maybe he gave it to all his women to make them feel special. It probably dialed some pizza delivery place.

She looked down at her hand. She could still feel the sting from slapping Fitz's face. She hit Fitz. My God, she struck the President of the United States in the Oval Office. She started laughing, almost uncontrollably.

The knock at the window startled her. A military officer shined his flashlight into her car. She rolled down her window and gave a smile to reassure him she wasn't crazy. "Ma'am, you are going to have to drive away or get out of the car. We can't allow people to remain in their cars for security purposes."

"That's fine, Officer. I was just leaving." She looked in the mirror, brushed a tear from her eye and felt a steel resolve overtake her.

One rule she always told her clients, that if they lied to her, all bets were off.

She checked on the horse by the early morning light, that's when she first spied the corpse of a plane on a relatively flat field. Before the Collapse people flew in them all across the world. One time she saw someone make an attempt to fly one. He had patched it together from old parts. It wobbled on a driveway and actually took off into the air for several minutes before it crashed and burned, killing the would-be engineer.

"That's what took the government leaders and other survivors here after the missiles struck," She turned around to see Fitz approaching. He had circles under his eyes from the restless night. She could almost understand why the General hated that bunker so much now. She reached up and caressed his cheek before giving him a gentle kiss. "Come, let's eat. Twitchy made some kind of concoction with evaporated eggs, beans and deer meat. You can't pass up that opportunity, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Liv wryly proclaimed.

They returned to the bunker to eat and gather the rest of their belongings. They all started to head to the elevator when Fitz stopped. "Wait, I want to get a book." He turned and hurried back to the General's study. Spin rolled his eyes and told Liv that they would see them later down the road.

Liv followed Fitz back to the study. He scanned the shelves looking for a book. She went to the desk and picked up the ship again. The label read USS San Jacinto. "Found it," Fitz declared with a smile as he waved a book in the air.

"What's the book," she asked curiously.

"It's called East of Eden. It's about generations of two families that seem to keep repeating the same mistakes, good and evil, free will, you know all the dramatic elements. I like it mainly because of the descriptions of a coastal farming town. It's nice sometimes to just get lost in a book describing how things used to be. Maybe I could read it to you sometime." His enthusiasm about the prospect of sharing this story with her was contagious.

"I'd like that. They had a book exchange program in Houston. I read a lot of books growing up, but I never read that one." She thought about some of her favorites, thinking of which ones she'd like to share with him. She found the idea of holing up someplace for the winter reading books with Fitz very appealing.

He walked over to her and lightly brushed his lips with hers before taking her hand. "Let's go."

As soon as they stepped out into the sunlight above, they heard a gunshot and Twitchy scream. Liv pulled out her gun and took off running towards where the rover was parked. "Wait, Liv, wait!" Fitz ran after her. A tree branch near her face shattered apart under a bullet's spray. She turned in the direction of where the shots were fired and aimed her gun. Suddenly, Fitz stepped in her direct line and faced their hidden attacker. He held up both of his hands and shouted, "This is Captain Grant! I'm ordering you to cease fire!"

She stared at him, confused. In that moment, he quickly disarmed her. She didn't understand what happened. Just as she was about to turn and run, he grabbed her about the waist and arms. "What the hell are you doing, Fitz? Let me go!" She struggled against him, but he held her firmly in his grasp.

The man who had shot at her, along with several other armed people, emerged from the trees. He was tall and about the same age as Fitz. He had green eyes and fleshy pink lips that seemed to twist in a permanent smirk. "You're ordering, huh? I'm not sure how much your orders mean these days." He lifted his gun up and aimed it towards Fitz's head.

"No, wait, don't hurt him, please," Liv broke free of Fitz's embrace and held out her hands.

With that, the man laughed and lifted his shotgun up away from them. "There isn't anyone here that would hurt the General's son on purpose. Not unless he ordered it. I think he might have been playing you, lady."

"Jack, you son of a . . ."

Liv interrupted Fitz before he could finish his sentence. The look of betrayal in her eyes cut him to the core. "You bastard," she yelled before she slapped him across the face.

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
Edison Davis = Lewis (died in Tombstone)
Jake Ballard = Jack
Fitzgerald "Big Jerry" Grant II = The General