Something in the smile that Fitz and Olivia shared gave both Harrison and Jocelyn reason to excuse themselves after giving the couple knowing smiles of their own.
Fitz and Olivia watched as Harrison and Jocelyn walked away, joining the growing number of people gathering in the back yard before they turned away from everyone and instead started on a slow walk around the veranda.
They made one full circuit in this intimate silence, coming back to almost the exact same spot where they had started before Fitz stopped, moving to lean against one of porch columns.
His eyes softened as Fitz watched Olivia taking her cue from him, moving to settle herself so that she was standing at the railing, almost within arms' reach.
Deliberately almost, her smile said.
Fitz noticed. "Really?" he said, his eyes acknowledging the measured space between them.
"Really." Olivia flashed him a grin. "Don't make me say it, Fitz…"
"Oh, I'm saying it."
"Fitzgerald…"
"You and your damned plan." Fitz said.
"Our plan." She corrected him.
"No, your plan. The one I'm not likely to forget it because you won't let me." He sent a mock growl and a quick grin her way, letting her know clearly what he thought of the idea in the moment. The look in his eyes his eyes only underscored a deeper meaning behind his words - speaking clearly without words how much he wanted her, needed her… loved her…
"Somebody has to keep things in perspective, Fitz." Olivia was trying to be stern, but the molten warmth and heat of his gaze weakened the mock seriousness in her words to little more than a whisper and she couldn't help the smile that played at the edges of her lips.
"Perspective? I've got plenty of perspective, trust me." Fitz said. His eyes dropped to her mouth, to the smile that lingered there and found himself unable and unwilling to tear his gaze away. "From where I'm standing, I see everything I need to see - and then some."
"Fitz…" When he looked at her with the smile that came to his face, there was something about the way he focused on her mouth that set something inside her swirling and dancing and in its wake made it nearly impossible to hold back all the love welling up inside her. Her expression was suddenly, softly, glowing with emotion.
Fitz felt himself react. "Livvie…"
"I see everything I need to - want to too." Her voice went low and husky and half seductive without her even realizing it. Olivia returned his smile. "Remind me to remind you about this conversation later."
"Not a problem - I'll be more than happy to do exactly that." Fitz grinned at her, feeling his own heart melt as usual at the sight of her happiness. "And speaking of conversations, are we ready to talk about what your Harrison had to say?"
"You did ask for his opinion." Olivia pointed out. Deliberately she fell silent.
"That I did." Fitz found himself smiling again, as he recognized her unspoken challenge.
Iron sharpening iron, the thought comes to him. It was one of the best things about them, when their thoughts were in sync like this, two halves of one whole, her mind pushing his to see matters from a viewpoint he needed to consider but might not have thought of otherwise - and his thoughts doing the same for her.
It was a unique experience - it had been from the very start of them and Fitz knew now that he wouldn't have had it any other way. "I heard him loud and clear - now tell me, are you ready to tell me what you think about it?"
"I think that he's not wrong." Olivia said; without skipping a beat, she tossed his question right back at him. "But more importantly, what does the president think about it and what does he want his administration to do?
Having had the chance to think while they'd walked, Fitz had his answer ready. "I think that what Harrison had to say has made me examine what it is that I'm trying to do through a different lens - which was exactly what his words were supposed to do, wasn't it?"
He'd been thinking about this ever since Harrison had offered up his opinion. Whatever good intentions he himself might have, Harrison's words had required him to re-examine his choices, to reassess the fact that what he'd felt was right, might be all wrong - or at the very least, perceived that way. It made him recognize that perspective was something that he needed to keep track of.
Fitz realized that this was something that he didn't think about it often - and that was a lesson in itself - but this is one of the times when the most basic difference between them - the color of his skin and the color of hers - and what choices each had played in their lives were unavoidably laid out between them.
As it had so many times in the past, the thought of the privilege afforded him by the simple accident of his birth infuriated Fitz. Not unexpectedly, it brings back more than a few especially acrimonious exchanges with many people over the years - some of them, most of them - including his father.
It was a bitter lesson to learn just how easily privilege had produced blindness. Unable to put words to it when he was younger, he'd hated how his father had wielded that privilege as he'd grown up inside it; had fought with him about it more times than he cared to remember.
Too many of those memories were suddenly threatening him now; but then he had the good sense to look to Olivia and the look of love and empathy ready and waiting for him was exactly what he needed to chase them all away.
That was one more reason why he cherished Olivia. As always, she gave him the power to put his mind where it belonged, back into the present. "Harrison was right. The last thing we either want or need is a charge of pursuing a policy of manifest dynasty to be made against us, whether it's by the opponents of my party or members of my own administration -"
"- which we both know is not only possible but probable - especially by anyone looking to take you down a notch or two." Olivia finished his thought. "It's equally possible that this same accusation could be used by any of the San Collondians' potential allies or foes as a pretext to go against them."
They'd already begun their lists of possible troublemakers but now Fitz made a mental note to have Cyrus double check the statistics on both possibilities when they returned to DC.
"In light of the many possibilities that this line of thought opens up, where do you think the Caldwells stand?"
"Are their motives questionable? It's possible of course, but is it probable?" Olivia wondered aloud.
"What does your gut tell you?" Fitz asked her.
"My gut tells me that it doesn't make sense for them to bring us in on this and then play themselves as turning into playing for profits self-serving opportunists -" Olivia paused, trying to find answers in her gut, but she was finding it hard to make a decision. It might not be probable, but it didn't mean that it was outside the realms of possibilities…
Maybe, she thought, maybe she was too close for once. She knew Peter well enough to have come to appreciate his brilliant if somewhat sarcastic political mind. But she also knew that when it came to political games, what was on the surface often didn't have to make sense - she and Fitz both knew that. They also both knew that Peter was not the only one calling the shots in this arena, that when father and son dynamics were involved, anything was possible.
"But…" she let the word speak for itself.
"But…" Fitz said, reading her thoughts in her face and agreeing with her unspoken words.
It was Fitz's turn to finish Olivia's thoughts. "We both know that stranger things have happened. Lust for power, along with personal agendas takes some people down some pretty strange paths."
Olivia sighed. "Fitz, you know that I've worked with Caldwell family several times in the past. I don't want to think that there's some dirty little secret at play that we don't know about…"
"Neither do I." Fitz said. "But you know that we need to know one way or another going in - at the very least, we need to be prepared to counter it."
They stood in silence for a moment until he spoke again. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking -"
"- that we should have one more chat with our host? One that they're not necessarily expecting?" Olivia nodded slowly. It was a tactic that she's used more than once; an unexpected confrontation was one way to read an opponent. Or even a would-be ally.
"We need to be able to count on your gut, now and going forward more than ever - and I can't think of better way than to have you face to face with the Caldwells and us asking questions when they least expect it."
Olivia shot him a loving glance, once again, they were on the same wavelength. "Then we need to do it now - who knows when the next chance to be face to face will come along."
"That's my girl."
"You better believe it." Olivia paused to let Fitz's smile wash over her for a long, sweet moment before she spoke again. "Fitz, you're preparing to announce the start of your re-election campaign, which means things are only going to get even more complicated than they already are. You know that I'm not about to let anything or anyone get in the way of that."
Her words kindled a fierceness in her gaze that brought the adoration in his back in full force and for a few minutes Fitz didn't give a damn who might be watching. The smile he gave her was just as fierce and bright as the look in her eyes - and for a moment, no one and nothing - existed outside of this. Outside of them.
Taking the lessons that she's learned in the last few days, Olivia pauses - deliberately letting some of her inner walls fall - silently grateful that for once she was able to overcome the struggle to keep her secrets safely buried and knowing that in spite of that that she was fighting something inside herself to share some of her long buried truths with him. "We both know that I owe it to you to make sure that your campaign runs the way you've always wanted to run it from the very beginning. I know what you're going to say- that I don't need to do this - but I do."
"You owe me nothing." The words tumbled from his lips before he'd even had a chance to think about them, his heart speaking before his mind could react, but it didn't matter, he didn't care - because Fitz knew that he was speaking nothing but the truth.
At the same time, Fitz realized what an emotional step forward this was for Olivia, but rather than call attention to it, he still shook his head at her.
"Nothing, Olivia." He repeated. "That ledger is closed and marked as paid-in-full."
She shook her head back at him, still being adorably stubborn. "We're not going to argue about this now - we don't have the time for it."
"We're not going to argue about this, period." He grinned at her, because he knew - and she knew -and he knew that she knew - that no matter what either of them said right now, Fitz had no doubt that this was a debate that they'd be having again somewhere down the road. He'd disagree with her as many times as he would need to - but he wouldn't be angry. How could he ever be angry over this when her fierceness was all for him?
The smile on his face spread even wider. "I suggest that we shelve that particular talk for another time and place - there's another conversation that's calling our name."
Our. The smile that answered him told Fitz that he'd said exactly the right thing.
a/n: hi everybody, I know it's been more than a minute since I last updated but here we are, finally back. Speaking of updates, my son is still recovering, but he's home now and working with physical therapy towards recovery. As slow as it may be, they say that he's making amazing progress and I'm grateful for it all. Thank you all for the kind thoughts & prayers sent me & my family's way