Chapter 19: Breakin' Dishes

Langley, Virginia: CIA Headquarters

It was a little after 10 a.m. when Cameron Reynolds' secure line rang. His secretary picked it up and then buzzed him.

"Sir, Alistair Middleton is on the line," she said.

Cam raised an eyebrow and quickly picked up the phone. Alistair was the head of MI-6, the British counterpart to America's Central Intelligence Agency.

Although Great Britain was one of America's most trusted allies, recently there had been some tension between the two countries due to the U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan. The British had advised the Americans not to go that route because they were afraid that the drone strikes would inflame tribal tensions in the region and give Islamic extremists new propaganda to use against the West. The British believed that the war on terror would be won on the ground by using spies to infiltrate terrorist cells, not through a series of drone strikes by air.

"Alistair, what a surprise! To what do I owe this pleasure," said Cam enthusiastically.

"Hello Cameron, I think we have one of your agents. Well, actually, one of your former agents," said the British spy chief.

"Oh really?" said Cam, puzzled. "Which one?"

"Diego de la Garza," came the reply.

"Doesn't ring a bell. Are you sure he's one of mine?"

"He left the Agency five years ago before you became Director. He says you may know him by his alias, Huck."

Cam sat upright in his seat. "Huck? You have him? Where is he?"

"Karachi. Turns out he's old friends with Toby Marwick, our station chief in Pakistan. Toby won't give me any details only to say that this character Huck needs to speak to the President of the United States. Do you know what this is about? You yanks aren't planning an invasion and planning to cut us out of the loop?

Cam replied: "No, nothing like that. I can't divulge any details either but suffice it to say that this is a personal matter. Get a message to Huck to go to the U.S. Embassy in Karachi and we'll handle it from there."

"He's refusing to go there. Says he wants to deal directly with the President of the United States," came the reply.

Cam sighed. "OK, can you get Huck out of Pakistan without attracting the notice of the ISI?" Cam said, referring to the notorious Pakistani intelligence agency which many Western governments considered extremely dangerous and untrustworthy.

"We can get him to London. You will have to take it from there," Alistair said.

48 hours later

It was a Wednesday and Fitz had a public appearance at a church in Arlington, VA. The pastor of the church had developed a community outreach program for undocumented immigrants and Fitz was going there as part of a basic meet and greet, photo op related to some new legislation he was trying to get passed related to illegal immigration.

Outside the church, Fitz shook a few hands, said a few words, answered a few questions, and then posed for a few pictures. The whole event took less than 30 minutes. Fitz was expecting to jump back into his motorcade and head back to the White House when Cyrus whispered something in his ear and steered him into the church. The two men, plus two Secret Service agents, headed to the church office where the pastor normally met and counseled his church members.

Fitz and Cyrus entered the office while the two agents stationed themselves right outside the door. Inside the pastor's office there were two men already waiting for the POTUS and Chief of Staff. One was Cam, the other, who was seated, had his back to the door. When Fitz and Cyrus entered, Cam stepped forward and said, "Mr. President, sorry for the unconventional meeting place, but we have someone here to see you."

Huck stood up, turned around and a look of relief washed over Fitz's face. "Oh my God, Huck, I am so happy to see you!" Fitz said warmly, giving Huck a strong handshake. "Welcome home."

"Thank you, Mr. President," said Huck abruptly. "I know that you know the reason why I'm here."

The features of Fitz's face darkened. "Yes, Huck. I'm personally devastated. Please, please, sit down and tell us everything you know about Olivia's kidnapping."

Huck proceeded to tell the President everything that had happened from the mysterious client who offered Olivia a ton of cash to take on a new client in Pakistan to the well-orchestrated ambush along the highway to Huck's connecting with his MI-6 contact.

"But why are we meeting here, in this church?" Fitz asked, looking at Cam and Cyrus.

"Mr. President, we believe we have a leak in the White House. If we had brought Huck to the White House, there would be a record of his visit in the visitor logs. Also there are potentially way too many people who would've seen him either enter or exit the building. By meeting here in this church, we're able to have an off-the-record discussion that only you, Cyrus and the two Secret Service agents outside know about," Cam explained.

"Huck, do you have any idea where they may be holding Olivia?" Fitz asked.

"No sir, but if it was a faction of the Taliban, it's a good bet that she's being held hostage somewhere in the tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan. That's the most likely area but it's an area of several hundred square miles, so she could be anywhere," Huck explained.

"Huck, there's something we need to tell you," Cyrus said quietly.

A knot immediately formed in Huck's stomach. "What happened? Have you heard from Olivia's kidnappers?"

"Yes," Cyrus replied. "They sent us a video."

Huck's stomach lurched. He knew what was coming next. "Please, don't tell me that…"

"No, not Olivia. It was Stephen," came the simple reply.

Huck exhaled sharply and put his head down. He knew it wasn't right nor was it fair and he immediately felt guilty, but he was relieved that it wasn't Olivia.

"Mr. President, you know that I left the CIA under less than ideal circumstances, but you need to reinstate my security clearance and give me access to COMINT," Huck said, referring to the top secret government technology that intercepts and tracks all voice communications overseas.

"Wait a minute, just stop right there," interrupted Cam Reynolds, the CIA Director. "Mr. President, there's a reason why this man is no longer working for the CIA. We cut him loose five years ago and he's been off doing God knows what in God knows where for God knows who. We can't let him just waltz in off the street and have that sort of access to that kind of info. It would be unprecedented!"

"Cam, this situation we're currently facing is unprecedented., so we have to take extraordinary measures and do whatever it takes to fix it," Fitz said.

"But, Mr. President..."

"This isn't up for debate, Cam. Olivia Pope trusts this man, so I trust him too," Fitz said firmly, shutting down the CIA Director. "If Huck says he needs access, you better damn well give it to him!"

Cam looked stunned and embarrassed. It was the first time the POTUS had ever snapped at him and Fitz's remarks hit him like a slap in the face. He was the director of the CIA not some low-level government flunky. His job was to identify foreign threats to the U.S. and protect the interests of the country. Why was the President so quick to throw protocol aside? Something wasn't sitting right with Cam Reynolds about the President's attitude, but there wasn't much he could do if he wanted to keep his job.

"OK, Mr. President, as you wish. But I must insist that Huck take a polygraph test before we hand him the keys to the digital kingdom."

"Not a problem," Huck replied. "I have nothing to hide."

Later that day, Huck went to the office of Pope & Associates and did a sweep for electronic bugs. Finding nothing he then turned on his computer, logged in and accessed the National Security Administration's system using the temporary password that one of Cam Reynold's people had provided.

Huck also sent a text message to the rest of the crew, Harrison, Abby and Quinn, asking them to come by the office right away. Huck's heart grew heavy as he realized it would be up to him to break the news to them.

Harrison and Quinn arrived together and started asking questions but Huck told them that they needed to wait for Abby.

The elevator chimed and out popped Abby, her straight red hair casually pulled back in a messy ponytail and she was dressed down wearing a Polartec fleece, skinny jeans and sneakers.

"Huck, I just want you to know that I was in the middle of baking an incredible crème brulée when your little text summoned me over here. I guess play time is over, huh?" Abby said, smiling brightly as she strolled into the office. "Where are Stephen and Liv? Did they go home to shower and change?"

Huck didn't answer. Harrison and Quinn exchanged worried glances. Abby raised an eyebrow. Her spidey sense was telling her something was wrong.

"Huck? I asked you a question. Where are Stephen and Olivia? Did they come back on a different flight?"

Huck looked at Abby. "He's dead. Stephen is dead. And…"

Abby walked right up to Huck and slapped him in the face. "You're lying. I don't believe you."

"Stephen is dead," Huck repeated. Abby slapped him again, this time much harder.

"Stop lying, you lying piece of shit!" Abby exclaimed.

"STEPHEN IS DEAD!" Huck yelled in reply.

Abby went to slap Huck again but Harrison intervened and grabbed her forearm before her hand could make contact. Quinn began to cry.

Harrison was the first to speak. "What the fuck happened? Where's Olivia? Is she…?"

"I don't know. Something went wrong in Pakistan and…"

"SOMETHING WENT WRONG? Are you fucking kidding me? You've been gone two weeks. You come back and tell us that Stephen is dead, Olivia is missing, and all you can tell us is that SOMETHING WENT WRONG?" Abby was screaming. "How did you make it back here, ALIVE? Where were YOU? Why didn't you save your FRIENDS?"

Abby tried to get in Huck's face again but Harrison held her back. Her face was filled with rage. "Abby, Abby, look at me, " Harrison said in a soft voice trying to get her to calm down. "Let Huck tell us what happened. Olivia is out there, somewhere. Huck was the last person with her. We're not going to find her if we're at each other's throats."

But Abby was pissed. She stormed off to the office break room and threw a glass against the wall. Then a dish. Then another glass. Harrison came rushing in and grabbed her arm before she could throw another.

It took a while, but eventually Abby calmed down and Huck was able to tell the associates of Pope & Associates everything he knew. By the time he finished the entire story, Quinn was bawling her eyes out, Harrison was mute and Abby was almost catatonic, just sitting there staring blankly out in space. Huck decided to leave them alone to process their grief in their own way.

A/N: Poor Abby. She never got a chance to tell Stephen she had a crush on him. What did you think of her slapping Huck? Kind of an unexpected way of showing grief.

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- Neo