AN: Sorry I took so long to update, I've been writing on the very scarce free time I have so it took me a while. Anyway, here it is I hope you guys enjoy :)
Two days after the incident, Fitz was allowed to travel back to DC, the wound was healing properly and there was no sign of infection. Cyrus had already arranged for a few modifications on Air Force one, on Fitz' room so they could place the iv drip and he also got a doctor and a nurse to go on the trip with them. Olivia had done everything she could to avoid Fitz even on the plane ride home, she kept telling herself it was for the best, she didn't want him to be upset or anything so she figured it was best to stay away. Fitz wanted to talk to her but he was so overwhelmed by the return of his son that he couldn't focus on anything else, as much as he loved Olivia he figured there was time and he just wanted to focus on his son.
After arriving in DC it was even easier for her, she was helping Cyrus and Abby with the press release and planning everything they had to do after everything came out. So far Cyrus had only said that the president had been shot, that he was fine and that he was going to address the nation himself to explain what had happened.
They news were all throwing theories around and calling him reckless for going on some weird unofficial task that got him shot. Originally they had planned to wait a few days after going back to DC for Fitz to go out in public, but things were getting heated with the press and the polls indicated that the people were not happy and they even wondered if he was actually ok or if he was in the verge of death like the previous time.
Finally Fitz decided to go out before they had planned, they were all worried, but he insisted it was for the best, he hadn't been in DC for 48 hours but he was adamant. He called Cyrus up to the residence that morning so they could have everything ready by noon.
"Morning Cyrus" Fitz greeted him from his spot on a very nice recliner he had on his living room.
"Sir, you know I'm always up for fixing problems as soon as possible but maybe you should wait, tomorrow would be fine it's monday, the beginning of the week and all" Cyrus tried to reason with Fitz, he was indeed a political animal, but he did care for Fitz.
"No, today is fine, the sooner we get this out its better, I'm fine, I'm way better the last time, when I had to go out of the hospital against doctors orders because Mellie screwed up" Fitz tried to make his point.
"Oh yeah, I remember, I wanted to kill her when I found out she had forged your signature when you weren't even awake yet, it was a miracle you woke up before Sally had a chance to do anything" Cyrus sat down close to Fitz and took a deep breath "So just like the last time, there is no changing your mind"
"Nope, I will go out today and start clearing things up" He stated
"Ok, I will talk to Olivia" Cyrus told him.
"You think maybe you can tell her to go see me at my office before, you know, for a little prep and I also might need help with my tie" Fitz thought maybe he could finally get some time with her.
"She still avoiding you?" Fitz nodded "I'll see what I can do" Cyrus left in a rush to get everything ready.
Fitz was so wrapped up in his mind, thinking about all the mess they were in that he didn't notice Jerry had been listening on their conversation. Yet again he heard something horrible his mother had done, he felt hurt and angry, he didn't want her to be his mother or be in his life in any way, but he knew he would have to see her at some point and put on a show once the truth came out, he just hoped it would be over soon.
It was 11 am and Fitz was already in the oval getting ready, he had picked a nice navy blue suit and a few ties to choose from. He was really excited to see Olivia, but a few minutes later Cyrus walked in alone.
"Where is Olivia?" Fitz asked
"She said she's busy, gave me instructions and to tell you to wear the red tie with the stripes"
"Seriously?" Fitz was getting exasperated
"Yeah, also your wife's detail just checked in, they will be here soon" Cyrus told him.
"Great" Fitz said with sarcasm. "What are my instructions?"
"Keep it short, just say you are fine, drop the bomb, and tell them you need to rest and that I will be the one making further announcements and explanations" Cyrus repeated Olivia's words.
"Ok then, lets get this show on the road" He got up and went to get the tie Olivia wanted his to wear.
At 12 sharp Fitz walked to the podium, with an agent on each side, it wasn't usual, but it was agreed for security reasons and also in case he felt weak, he still felt a lot of pain when moving so they just wanted to be sure he nothing went wrong. He stood there and everyone went silent, he cleared his throat before he began talking.
"I know there has been a lot speculation about what happened in the last few days and I'm here to start clearing things up" He made a brief pause "I was shot a few days ago, but as you can all see, I am recovering just fine, as for the reason I got shot…" He paused again. "A few days before the election, one of my agents detected a threat for my family and to make sure we were all safe, he acted behind my back and sought the help of someone very trusted in this administration, they managed to fake my sons death, seeing it was the best way to make sure the rest of my family was safe and provide the time I needed to catch the man behind it."
The press went crazy with the news, everyone was talking at once, trying to get their questions answered. People on television were going crazy with the news. Fitz raised his had to get them to shut up but it barely did anything. He cleared his throat and started talking again over the noise.
"As you can all imagine, this a very complicated situation for my family, we need time to process and heal, and also to bask in the return of our beloved Jerry… I can't … I can't begin to explain the joy I feel for having my boy back, I…" Fitz began to choke up, he still wasn't able to talk about Jerry without being overcome with emotion. "I will be taking some time off to recover from my injury and to be with my children, I hope you all understand, and my chief of staff will be addressing you soon to provide a more detailed explanation. Thank you for your time" He stepped off the podium and walked away while the angry journalists screamed for answers.
Fitz got to the residence and found Jerry slumped on the couch listening to music.
"Hey bud, you ok?" he asked concerned
"Mom is here" Jerry told him
"Don't sound so happy" Fitz replied, he knew Mellie wasn't the kids' favorite person, but he didn't expect him to be so upset by her presence.
"Like I know she cares I'm alive, who wouldn't? but we both know she's not the type of mom that likes to be there, she not caring or nurturing or anything and I don't want to put up a show" Jerry explained. Fitz heart broke seeing his child feel so unloved by his mother.
"I know, but she has changed a little, I mean she did agreed to divorce me and leave your siblings with me, she just wants to make things right with you I guess" Fitz tried to console him.
"And yet, I don't see her trying to talk to me or anything, I actually have no idea where she is, she just saw me and told me how thrilled she was for me being ok gave me a hug and left" Jerry was in no mood to hang out with her anyway, but he was mad that because of Mellie, Olivia told him she wouldn't be able to visit him like she had been doing.
"How about I go change, you find Karen, and we watch a movie" Fitz suggested. Jerry agreed and they went to complete their respective tasks.
After the press conference, Sunday was uneventful, Fitz spent time with his kids and let Cyrus and the gladiators deal with the mess.
They decided to have another press conference right away so they scheduled it for Monday morning, Cyrus had been briefed on the specific things he was able to say; Olivia and her gladiators had been working on a different version of the story to make it the official one, leaving out the real reason of her involvement, but the whole story would be delivered by Fitz himself, Cyrus would just be releasing some details to keep the people at bay, under the excuse of the investigation still being active. He showed up at 8am sharp and much like the previous day, the room went silent expecting some answers.
"Good morning" he started "I know you are expecting some answers after the shocking announcement the president made yesterday, and I am here to start explaining, however, there is still an ongoing investigation on the man responsible for the assassination attempt on the president and everyone that collaborated with him, so for security reason there are many things that we still can't make public" right after he said that the journalists started yelling again, they didn't even wait for the things he was allowed to say. Cyrus was getting concerned, since he knew they wouldn't be happy with the information he would provide. He started talking again.
"One of the agents closest to the president, Tom Larsen, received an anonymous message inviting him to join an organization, using his training and vast experience he realized it was probably a threat, since he found no way to trace the sender he took the bait and pretended to be interested. Being aware of his loyalty to the republic, this people barely gave away anything, but he managed to use all his resources to get more information and soon realized it was likely the same organization the president had been working on bringing down. To prove himself to them he was instructed with the task of killing Jerry Grant, if he did it, he was in, if he didn't they would kill him and find a way of hurting the president and the rest of his family. He opted against telling anything to the president, knowing it would blow his cover and put everyone in danger, and he looked for someone he could trust. He decided to ask for the help of our good friend and campaign manager Olivia Pope"
The insane wave of questions started again, and Cyrus was getting close to the end of the intel he would be providing. "He was with her the whole time, she broke contact with everyone and did everything in her power to ensure the safety of the president's oldest son" They were barely allowing him to talk with all the yelling and asking at the same time, Jerry had been watching and he decided to take some action, he figured his presence would be enough to shut everyone up and he had realized over the past few days that no one could get mad at the resurrected son of the President. He got dressed quickly and ran to the press room with his agents close behind him, they also had orders to stay at his side at all times when he left the residence. When he got there Abby was waiting right outside but by the time she realized what he was doing it was too late, he was already walking to the podium.
"Morning uncle Cy" Cyrus jumped when he heard Jerry next to him. "Mind if I take over?" The crowd actually went quiet
Cyrus almost had a stroke, but he knew he couldn't make a scene right there.
"What re you doing" he asked as calmly as he could muster.
"Just giving you a hand, trust me" he whispered to the old man. Cyrus reluctantly stepped off and allowed Jerry to take his place, but he stayed right there along with the agents.
"Hi… so as you can all see, I'm alive" there were a few chuckles around "I know this is really weird and you all have many questions, but this is a very delicate situation and also you are barking at the wrong tree" he paused to gather his thoughts. "Cyrus was not there and he is only working on the information he was given, as much as you yell at him he can't talk about something he doesn't know, and that's why I decided to come here, even though I know I'll get in trouble" people laughed again and they seemed much calmer.
"I will tell you as much as I can without compromising national security. After Tom began to take action to protect my family against the imminent threat he and Olivia approached me to tell me about their plan, I know I'm just a kid, but considering it involved me directly they asked me if I was willing to be on board with such a crazy plan, they wanted to have my consent, they told me that if was too uncomfortable with it they would try to figure out something else to do, but I love my family and I realized it was the best way to make sure they were safe, even with the pain they would endure thinking me dead" He let that part sink in, the press was going nuts writing stuff down and people were stuck to their televisions watching.
"My dad has always been there for me, he is my hero and he always does everything to make sure those he loves are safe, he is always protecting us and fighting for us and I just felt like I wanted to do the same for him this time" He put a lot of emotion in his voice, he knew his audience would love it, he knew he had them wrapped around his pinky.
"It was really hard for me so I can't even imagine how hard it was for them, but what matters now is that I am here and we are all safe. Ms Pope was great through all this, she was there for me when things got hard, we were living in hiding, we couldn't really go anywhere, but she always did her best to make feel at home or to cheer me up when I was down." Olivia was already there next to Abby, at first she nearly panicked thinking of the possible consequences, but then she realized he knew what he was doing and wouldn't screw up.
"Unfortunately, her cover was blown a few hours before the order to go after this guy was executed and we were found, Tom barely managed get here alive to alert my dad and he rushed to my aid like he always does, this man and his goons were after us, with his sick grudge against my dad's administration he wanted to finish what he had attempted before even though he knew it was over for him, Olivia never stopped protecting me, he told her he had nothing against her, but would kill her if she stood in his way, but she didn't budge, I tried to tell her she didn't have to but she said she had made a promise to protect me and would keep it as long as she could." His voice breaking, what he was saying was all true but he was putting up a show and people were buying it.
"Luckily for both of us my dad got there on time with his agents and a special forces team, but when he saw me outran them, and that's why he was shot" He was quiet after that, actually the whole room was quiet, he had managed to shut them up.
"Now you know what happened, my father will inform you of more official things when the time is right, thank you for listening, have a good day" He stepped of the podium and walked out, Cyrus dismissed everyone and walked out behind him. He stood in front of Abby and Olivia waiting for their reaction, but Cyrus beat them to it.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he said exasperated
"No Cyrus, this works, he nailed it" Olivia said with pride.
"What" Cyrus said confused
"She's right" Abby was checking social media on her phone "This is already trending, people loved it, before you went out they were al doubting Fitz, making up crazy theories, calling him a liar, and now he's a hero, best dad ever, and Jerry is also a hero, a brave soldier, spitting image of his father, and you are a saint" he said talking to Olivia.
"Jerry you didn't have to talk like that about me, it was enough you focused on your dad and yourself" Olivia told Jerry.
"But I had to, all I said it's true, own it Liv" He said with confidence.
"We should move this to our usual place so we can check all we need to" Abby suggested.
They started moving when a rather out of breath Fitz got to them, he looked confused.
"What was that" He said to Jerry
"It's ok dad, Liv said I nailed it and Abby is already analyzing stuff and she says it was a success" Jerry reassured Fitz.
"Abby we should get to work, so we can plan the next move" Olivia said to Abby and started walking away from them, Fitz saw her leave and almost went after her, but Cyrus stopped him.
"Sir you should be resting, you can't be running around if you want to heal properly" Cyrus told him sternly. Fitz turned to look at him beginning to get angry, he hated being treated like a child
"Dad he's right, and also I wanted to talk to you, let's go back upstairs, I'm hungry" He tugged at Fitz arm until they started moving. After they left Cyrus went to find Olivia and her team to work with them.
Fitz and Jerry found a very confused Karen when they went upstairs, she had turned on the tv to see the news anchors gushing over his brother and talking about how there couldn't be a dry eye among the viewers at home. Jerry explained in detail everything he did, then Fitz went to get Teddy and the four of them ate breakfast. Despite Mellie's alleged intentions to be there she was nowhere to be found. Fitz figured she was with Andrew, and thanked god his kids were not asking anything.
Karen left to Skype with a friend when she was finished and Teddy went with his nanny to take a nap. Fitz went to take his spot at the living room and Jerry followed him
"You said you wanted to talk to me?" Fitz told him
"Yeah, I just…" Jerry was unsure on how to broach the subject of Liv, Fitz looked at him expectantly.
"You can talk to me about anything you know that" Fitz told him
"I just wanted to ask you to not be mad at Liv ok, I know you suffered a lot, but she was just trying to protect us all and she took care of me and nursed me back to health and did everything for me. So just please be nice and focus on the fact that it's all over now and we are all fine" Jerry explained, he knew Liv was avoiding his dad because she didn't feel ready for what might happen. Fitz thought for a minute about his next words, he was shocked to see what his son thought of him.
"Why would you say that, I'm to mad at her, I am deeply thankful and I love her, more than ever… What she did for you, for us, I have no words" Fitz tried to clear things up with his son.
"Really, then why haven't you told her that? and you know dad , you don't have the best track record with your reactions to… stuff" Jerry told him.
"Well I haven't told her because she keep running from me" Fitz said exasperated.
"Yeah because she's scared it might be kaput between you two, I told her to now worry so much but she won't listen and really dad you are not trying hard enough" Jerry answered equally exasperated.
"How much do you talk to her?" Fitz wondered out loud considering all the things Jerry knew.
"A lot dad, and I lived with her remember? I know stuff" he replied "You gotta step up your game"
"I guess I do" Fitz thought about what to do, since he was still in no shape to go chasing her around the white house or anywhere for that matter and she just ran whenever he was around; and he had been so focused on his kids that he put Liv on the back burner and now he felt really bad.
The rest of Monday and Tuesday went by in a blur, Olivia had left Abby in charge of things a the White House while she went with Huck to check on her office. Since Jerry's statement the phone had been ringing non-stop for both greedy reporters and knew clients. Most were simple cases but her popularity had gone through the roof. Fitz was still housebound, he was eagerly waiting for his doctors appointment on wednesday, the one week mark of the incident.
The doctor got there at 10am and checked on him. He told Fitz everything looked good and gave him the green light on going out of the house. He also told him that he would take off the stitches the next week and placed a new dressing on the wound.
Fitz felt real good, Jerry had told him that if he needed to find Olivia he would just ask her where she was and then let him know. When the doctor left he went to his office to check on things and start getting back to his normal life. He thought his day would be flawless, he worked until 5pm and then he called his son to come to the office so they would plan his visit to Olivia, but then the wicked witch of the west made an appearance. The moment she walked in the office his mood was ruined.
"Mellie, I had almost forgotten you were here" He said with disdain
"Well I'm not I was just taking care of some things" she said in a fake sweet tone.
"Is that how you call it now?" Fitz was in no mood for games.
"Fitz… I" She took a deep breath to avoid getting angry, she was up to something and knew she was on thin ice with him. "I have just been thinking, with Jerry's return, the possibilities, the opportunity we have to build something here" She said with cheer.
"What on earth are you talking about?" Fitz asked getting mad.
"You know, our family this is the moment to try again, people are expecting it, just imagine, this administration would become like a legend" Mellie was trying to sell her idea to Fitz, but her words and tone were angering Fitz like she had no idea. He was quiet trying to pick the right words and to control his temper he didn't want his blood pressure to go up and start bleeding.
"Are you out your fucking mind" He said failing to keep his cool "What fucking nonsense are you saying, have you forgot all that has happened, we are not a family, you have no interest in a family, you have made that pretty clear, and you come to tell me this after you have gone to your lover and ignored your children since you got here" He was almost screaming at her.
"I just needed time to think things through" She tried to explain
"No you are not, you just realized you could get more out of us, after what we went through you went back to your old ways but I'm not falling for it" Fitz said with determination.
"You have no idea what it was for me to give this up and now you are becoming this nation's hero and I have to sit back and watch, after all I did for you" Mellie lost her cool to, the nice person façade fell off.
"Fuck off Mellie, you deserve nothing, look I don't want to fight, just go back to whatever you were doing and leave whenever you think it's been long enough for the public to think you are a decent human being" He was already texting Jerry to meet him at the residence instead, what he didn't know was that Jerry had listened to the whole thing. Jerry saw the text and ran back to the residence to wait for him, he was deeply hurt, but he decided to put it aside for the moment.
"I have somewhere else to be please go" he told her as he walked past her to hold the door open.
"Are you going to see her?" Mellie said with hatred. Fitz was seeing red and was trying really hard to calm down, his side was hurting.
"Ok, I thought I would never get to say this, but you are not my wife, I'm free to do as I please and see whoever I want and It's none of your damn business, now leave before I have my agents escort you out of the property" He waited until she finally decided to move and left, he took a few deep breaths and went to find his son.
When Fitz arrived at the residence Jerry was there and he seemed to be deep in thought so Fitz approached him quietly and sat next to him.
"Everything ok?" Jerry was startled to see Fitz there
"Yeah, just thinking" he smiled at Fitz to avoid the questioning "Ready to get your girl?"
"More than anything" Fitz answered excited
"Well I texted her a few minutes ago and she told me she was on her way to do a little swimming" Jerry informed Fitz.
"Ok, yeah I know where she goes"
"Well then what are you waiting for? Go, and text me how things go, and you should bring her to the Blair house cause you can't be out too long, and that way you can be here, but not here" Jerry was thinking maybe he could order some dinner for them so it was ready when they came back.
"That is a good idea, thanks bud" he gave his son a one arm hug.
"Yeah, I know I'm brilliant, now go" he started pushing Fitz off the couch.
"Ok, ok I'm going, wish me luck" Fitz got up and left in a rush, he told his agents where he wanted to go and they prepared everything.
Olivia got to her swimming place and it was mostly empty, it was one of the reasons she went there, there was barely anyone from the staff and the pool was all to herself almost all the time. There had been a guy when she arrived but he left a few minutes later. She loved swimming and the water was quite calming, just what she needed. During one of her laps she got the strange feeling someone was watching her, and when she got to the edge of the pool she almost stopped breathing.
"Fitz what are you doing here? How did you know I was here?" She said anxiously
"Well I needed to talk to you and Jerry told me where to find you" He answered
"Couldn't it wait, I'm kind of in the middle of something right now" Olivia was getting nervous
"No, because you keep avoiding me so now that the doctor gave me the clear I came to you" Fitz had squatted so he could be closer to her.
"I am not going to stop what I'm doing, you will have to wait until I'm available" She put her googles back on and she started swimming again.
"She will try to get away from me guys" He told his agents and he started taking his coat off, then his shoes, socks and belt and sat on the edge to get his feet in, then he slowly got in the water and started walking towards her, when she turned he would be right in her way.
His agents looked at each other wondering if they should go in, Fitz had given Hal a few days of vacation to thank him for his hard work, so before he left he left Lucas on charge and told him to not be more than five feet away from him if they were outside his office or the residence.
"Should we go in" one of them asked Lucas
"I don't know, we are surrounding the pool and we cleared the place, it's unlikely someone could rush in and hurt him" Lucas told the guy "But we do have orders and he is too far away from us in case of an emergency, also there's only been a week since he got shot, what if he gets a cramp or something" The agents had ben on edge since the incident, they felt guilty about letting him get hurt and were set on not making any mistakes.
"Mark, Brian, George, get in there and stand around him" The three agents nodded reluctantly and proceeded to also take off their Jackets, belts and shoes. When they were getting in Olivia was already getting to Fitz.
She was a bit upset about Fitz showing up there so she was making a huge effort to focus on her swimming, when she got to Fitz she almost crashed into him.
"What did you do? are you insane? you have an open wound it can't get pool water" She screamed at him.
"It's fine, the doctor put a waterproof dressing on it, and I really wasn't willing to wait and give you the chance to get away" he was really amused by her reaction. "Can we talk now please" he pleaded.
He reached for her face and gently pulled off the googles, then her swimming cap,a after he tossed them away he caressed her face and looked right in her eyes. He had planned on saying many things, a speech to let her know he wasn't mad, to thank her for what she did for his family and to say he loved her, but at that moment having her right in front of him, so close with her in his hands his mind had gone to mush. Fitz couldn't manage to form coherent thought, it had been so long since she was that close to him, and he was finally getting his precious Livvy back. He just stayed there looking at her for what seemed like an eternity, her mind was pretty much in the same state as his.
All he wanted to do was kiss her, he got his face real close to hers, she could feel his breath on her face.
"Kiss me Olivia" He whispered, their noses where touching, she looked at him hesitantly
"Kiss me, you know you want to" He said, their lips almost touching
"Kiss me" He repeated, his voice barely audible.
Her breath hitched and next thing he knew, her lips where crashing against his, they kissed like their lives depended on it.
Her body pressed tight against his, he removed his hands from her face and wrapped them around her back, her hands around his neck, she started running her hand through his hair.
Their tongues were dueling for control, both of them trying to communicate the love the felt for each other through that kiss, and craving the contact after they time they spent apart. He never wanted to let her go.
When they finally separated, they were both gasping for air, he rested his forehead against hers just basking in the moment.
"I Love you" he whispered "I love you so much"
"I love you too" she collapsed into his chest and hugged him, he held her tight.
At that moment, without speaking another word, they knew everything would be fine eventually because they loved each other and that was all that mattered.
AN2: Finally! they saw each other and they kissed and he is not mad. They still need to talk and figure out how they will proceed, but at least they know wha they want. Mellie got the same version of the story as the press, she doesn't need to know about Rowan, but I'm not a big fan of writing her so I'm just telling you guys here. I will try to update soon. Please let me know what you think :)
