Chapter 16

"Mr. Garner?" Olivia was only slightly surprised by his re-appearance. There was little doubt in her mind that he'd been lurking, no doubt waiting for her She could guess why as well; she could read him easily enough. Garner was more than a little concerned about not only the conversation she'd had with Edison, but the fact that he'd been seen in Edison's company to begin with. A Republican visiting a Democrat might be interesting to certain parties.

She could read his uneasiness; Olivia knew that she really shouldn't take so much comfort from his discomfort. But after the way he'd looked at her in the Oval, a part of her did. "Can I help you?"

He wasted no time and went straight to the point. "I was thinking that just maybe everything might be the other way around - my helping you, I mean."

If Garner thought that he was taking control of the conversation by appealing to her curiosity, he thought wrong. Instead, Olivia said nothing, refusing to play his game and by her silence, forcing him to play hers. It took less than a minute before the silence was broken by him clearing his throat. Garner sounded decidedly uncomfortable as if he weren't quite sure of what he should say.

Olivia started towards the elevators, leaving him to scramble to keep up.

His next words rushed out of him, like a confession. "Of course you were surprised to see me coming out of a meeting with Senator Davis -"

"Not especially. Politicians sometimes end up partnering on the oddest things and I'm usually content to stay out of such matters. " Olivia said. "Unless the matter affects the White House and the policies the president backs - then I become very much interested."

Only because as a matter of strategy for she and Fitz it might matter to them later on, Olivia decided to press the point. "Should I be interested?"

"That's something I'd like to discuss with you." Garner said.

"But do you have the time?" They reached the elevators and Olivia glanced at her watch. "I believe that it's almost time for a House Committee meeting, or am I mistaken?"

"No, you're not. There is a preliminary meeting about the response to General Ramos and the San Collondias Summit scheduled, but I'm sure you know that as well." He gave her a reluctant smile. "May I compliment you on being so well informed?"

"It's a part of my job to be so." Olivia shrugged off his compliment. She leaned forward to punch the button, then turned to face him. "It's also a part of my job to figure out just what it is you really want. Did you want me to ask you what business you had with the senator, or did you want to know if Senator Davis had discussed the meeting you two had with me?"

He gave her what Olivia assumed was meant to be a knowing smile, a smile that spoke of many things beneath his words.

"Considering how close you and the Senator were once upon a time, you can forgive me for wondering just how much of the closeness still lingered between you."

"I don't talk about my personal life, neither past or present." Here she was, just thinking a few minutes ago about how much in the past Edison was and now someone was standing right in front of her, trying to use that former relationship in the present. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about it, after all, she and Edison hadn't been a secret, but still - Olivia found herself feeling more than a little annoyed. "Representative Garner, if there's something you wanted to me know or not know - why not just come out and say it."

Her straightforwardness threw him off a little, his smile faltered a little. "Are you always this direct, Ms. Pope?"

"Yes - yes I am. Again, it's a part of my job and being direct usually gets me what I want."

"I'm sure it does." Using the excuse of hitting the elevator button again, he took a step closer, taking the moment to brush his hand up against hers as she did the same.

"Don't you believe in partisanship?" There was a suggestiveness in the way he lowered his voice that took Olivia past annoyance.

"You've already heard me state that I'm apolitical, and that means it doesn't matter what I believe in, just that the president's wants and needs are being met. So, I'll ask you again - what do you want?"

"The same thing you do." Garner was quick to say. "We both work for the president, after all, and -"

"No, we don't." Olivia shut him down; she might not be fully sure of his goals in the moment, but it was time she let him know a thing or two. "I work for the president - you're supposed to work for the people who voted you into office. And at the very least, your loyalties are divided - seeing how you're the unofficial eyes and ears in the House for Speaker Tillman."

Her words dimmed the smile on his face. "I don't like what you're implying, Ms. Pope."

"You took that as an implication?" Olivia told him. "I thought I stated myself very clearly."

He studied her quietly for a moment before he spoke. "You don't like me very much, do you?"

Before she could answer, the elevator finally arrived. Olivia stepped in and turned so she was centered in the doorway, her position making it clear that she was not interested in him joining her.

"Mr. Garner, to be honest I don't know you well enough to care about you either way." She said as she punched the down button.

As the doors began to close, he put out a hand to stop them. "Things change, Ms. Pope. I won't always be a junior member here - and it's always good to have friends in high places."

He leaned forward. "Are you sure you don't want to know about my meeting with Senator Davis?"

"If you'd care to make a report about your bi-partisan efforts to either President Grant or his Chief of Staff, I'm sure either one or the both of them would be interested in reading it. Shall I ask them to be on the look out for it?" In other words, my friends in high places beats *your* friends in high places.

It took a moment before her words - and their meaning - registered with Garner. His eyes went dark for a moment and a small tic twitched one corner of his mouth.

Olivia returned his gaze with a carefully neutral expression.

"Interesting." He said; Garner didn't elaborate on his comment but instead just smiled at her again. "I think I'll hold off for a little while for that. After all, it's nothing high on the list of national security. Perhaps you and I can have a conversation of our own about that sometime soon - maybe toss a few ideas back and forth - after all at the end of the day, it's in both of our interests to serve the president - he just might like what you and I can come up with."

"That's not a part of my duties." Olivia said.

For whatever reason, Garner stayed persistent. "But this is about communications for the president, isn't it? I'd think that would interest you."

He didn't give her a chance to refuse again. "Just take your time and think it over and we can discuss this at a later date. You do have to eat sometime, or drink…"

He let a glimmer of personal interest show. She didn't care ;Olivia let her indifference show.

He pretended not to notice. She didn't care about that either. But at least he took the hint and released the doors.

By the time she reached the garage, Olivia's mind was in full gladiator mode, reviewing and cataloging in her mind the conversations she'd had today, already mentally prepping the reports she'd write up later on. She was mostly thinking about everything she'd learned today and whether she liked it or not, her mind kept going back to Garner, whether she like it or not.

Why hadn't Edison wanted to discuss their conversation? It could have been just a minor matter of spite - but it could have been something more. But what? She couldn't think of what the two of them had in common.

This admission meant admitting to herself that she didn't know Edison any more - either personally or politically - and obviously she didn't know Garner well enough at all - except what OPA's preliminary reports had told her. Experience had told her that paper reports could never tell you everything you needed to know about an individual. For example, the way Garner had looked at her during that very strange conversation - it had raised the hairs on the back of her neck and she had to ask herself was it just a matter of a simple case of distaste the man from their encounter in the Oval, or was her gut trying to tell her something?

She thought it might be her gut; there was something about the way he'd looked at her just now… what should she do something about that? Have Huck handle it? Tell Fitz about the conversation along with her reactions?

Her first response was automatic and her mind started to shut that last thought down - she didn't need saving…

…and then it hit Olivia as she realized what she was doing - she was shutting Fitz out - and how many times she'd done it again and again and again?

The question hit her like a sledgehammer. The answer hurt even worse; guilt rising up in her like a raging flood. Old habits died hard. Olivia knew that she was used to handling matters on her own, but hadn't it been far too long? Wasn't it past time for her to at least try and let that go?

That was new.

That was hard.

It was - she realized - also very, very necessary.

Her thoughts - old and new - jumbled and clashed as she processed this new revelation, but before this self examination went any further, they were interrupted by - what was that? - a flash of movement that caught her attention from the corner of her eye? Was it just a shadow - or something else?

Olivia suddenly realized that this area of the garage was deserted and the guards hadn't been at their usual post when she'd returned as well. The silence suddenly rushed in to fill the space; in response a flood of adrenalin washed through her, setting her nerves on edge.

Olivia gritted her teeth and refused to let fear take over her common sense, but that same common sense pressed her to walk a little bit faster towards her car. Her heart began to speed up even as her eyes darted back and forth, checking out her surroundings with a little extra care. The clicking of her heels in that suddenly ominously empty space only emphasized just how alone she really was.

a/n: everybody's got game-playing on the mind right now; Olivia's are both external and internal, I was happy to find a way to make her become a little bit self-aware of the tricks her mind play on her. in the immortal words of lauryn hill: "how you g'on win when you ain't right within?"

So how did I do? Let me know!
until next time...