EPISODE 23: A Little Clarity and Conversation

Olivia didn't allow herself so much as a single look back as she walked away. Her head knew that she could trust in Fitz's ability to handle whatever it was Sally and her current co-conspirators might try and throw at him - but what her heart felt and her mind knew were two entirely different things. She was his gladiator, so her heart struggled with her head, hating having left him alone, even if it had been at his request.

She went outside, thankfully finding a momentarily isolated spot where she could oversee all that was going on but not necessarily be noticed, where she could give herself a moment to get a grip on her emotions. It was foolish of her to feel so vulnerable and she silently scolded herself for it.

Her phone rang and she welcomed the distraction, even when she saw who the caller was.

"Hello, Peter."

"Happy Thanksgiving, Olivia." As usual there was that half-sarcastic, half-teasing undertone in his voice as he added. "And tell me, have we been naughty, or have we been nice?"

"Wrong holiday, Peter." In spite of her mood, he managed to get her to smile; he usually did.

"But in DC, it's an always appropriate question, Liv - remember, I have you on personal retainer, so the question is valid."

"No, you want me on personal retainer - and I've been wise enough to refuse." She reminded him. "And even if I were to take you on in a personal capacity, I know better than to answer that."

"You haven't agreed - yet." Her denial did nothing to deter him. "In the meanwhile, you wound me."

Peter's laugh was cynical but familiar and Olivia found herself taking a perverse comfort in that - especially since it took her mind off of her current concerns.

"That was me being nice - and I'm sure that you'll survive. " Olivia told him. "Now why don't you tell me the real reason why you called."

"I actually truly wish you and yours a happy holiday, Olivia, but I also bring pronouncements from the mountaintop."

"Oh, and what wisdom is Nathaniel choosing to share?"

"He's decided that the clan will not be making a DC appearance this weekend - in the name of not stealing any of the president's thunder. He heard about the upcoming interview with Kimberly Mitchell - smart move on the timing, by the way - and he approved." Peter said.

"I'll be sure to pass that on to the president." Olivia said.

"And you're welcome." He said, with a chuckle.

"So we should be thankful for small mercies?" Olivia answered his laugh with one of her own. She was only half-joking and they both knew it. Nathaniel could be complicated on a good day and she knew that they could all do without the added distraction at the moment.

"Something like that." Peter said. "This is just the beginning of the holiday season, so not to worry - the Caldwells will be making an appearance at a presidential function before the holly and mistletoe come down."

"I can hardly wait." Olivia said. Her tone let him know just how enthused she was at the idea.

"I'm sure the president will feel the same when you tell him." He let his tone match hers, but then he paused and his voice turned serious. "And speaking of the president - he's the other reason why I'm calling - and just so it's clear, this is from me direct to you, and not filtered through my father's plots, plans and ambitions…"

Was he saying that he had news that he was bringing to her that was outside of Nathaniel's influence? Olivia straightened up, her gut suddenly on alert. "I'm listening…"

"Good." Peter continued. "This is coming from a single source and I haven't been able to vet it from anywhere else, just yet…"

"That's not like you, Peter." Olivia pointed out. Normally he was very conservative in his actions and they both knew it.

"You know me so well, Liv." He said. "No it's not. But this particular source is so deep that I rarely access it - they come to me, not the other way around. At the same time, they are both so deep and so rarely wrong that I've learned to consider any word from them pretty much undeniable. We're talking ninety nine point nine accuracy."

"Okay, you trust this source implicitly." Olivia said. "I got it."

"I was told that there's been whispers concerning certain individuals about the formation of a new republican alliance - and their goal is to form a new power base as our president prepares for his re-election run. They think that they can bring enough pressure to bend his will in the areas where they deem he isn't quite..republican enough. If necessary."

"If necessary." Olivia echoed Peter's last words. She knew that they were both aware of some of the older Party members' distaste for some of Fitz's more progressive work.

"Just in case the president proves to be too recalcitrant to their goals - as you and I both know he tends to be."

That was an understatement. Olivia went silent as several thoughts cascaded through her mind. Certain individuals... Olivia guessed that whoever they were - and her first guess would have to be Sally, considering the events of the day - they had to be powerful enough that Peter either wasn't ready to name them, or else they were powerful enough that he actually didn't know at this time. That meant that even if Sally might be at the current top of the list, by no means was she the only suspect. Someone might even be pulling the other woman's strings - and in her tight-minded arrogance, Sally might not even know it. She wondered at who or what his source was - but knew better than to ask - for now.

Either way, Olivia believed him.

As brief as it was, her silence said more to Peter than she'd realized - at least that's what Olivia was led to believe from his next words.

"It's happened already, hasn't it?" He wasn't asking.

"Something happened." Olivia wasn't surprised at his coming to the correct conclusion so quickly, but she was surprised at the tone of apology in Peter's voice and in the words that followed.

"Maybe I should have called you sooner." Peter said. "But - in the name of honesty - as shocking as that might be - I find myself walking a tightrope these days. I don't know if you've realized how much is going on under the surface where the Party is concerned lately."

"We have some idea, yes."

Peter continued. "New lines are being drawn both inside and outside the Party, Liv - and I'm not sure if I like the direction that some of them are taking. I don't need to tell you that there's always been a certain amount of transactional give and take between the big dollar donors and the Party's upper echelon, but I think there's a major shift coming, and as I said - it's left me walking a tightrope and it's becoming more and more uncomfortable up there."

"Yet, here you are." Olivia couldn't resist stating the obvious. As Olivia had made the transition from campaign worker to Fitz's inner circle of advisors, Peter had always made a point of claiming neutrality on the majority of current issues while quietly amassing what power and influence that he could on his own. But by sharing this information - like it or not - he'd just taken a side - and they both knew it.

"Yes, here I am." Once again, Peter read her mind. "And since I am here, let me add for the record that they are probably more the type that would have happily dealt with your president's father than him."

"But the president's father never made it this far - for reasons." Olivia said.

"Reasons we both know all too well." Peter reminded her - not that she needed it. Nathaniel and Fitz's father had been contemporaries and at one point had been more alike than not, sharing many of the same vices. But unlike Big Gerry, somewhere along the way, Nathaniel had changed.

There was a pause while they both let what he was saying sink in. They both knew the skeletons that had lived in Big Gerry's closet, along with the ugly exterior he'd presented to the world. Brash, greedy and small-minded to anyone outside of his own personal clique, all under the thinnest veneer of charm. Some people had admired that in the senior Grant. Olivia hadn't. And Fitz had hated it.

Peter continued. "Disclaimer - as I've said, I'm working off a single source and nothing more than my own hunches here..."

"Your hunches are others' informed guesses, Peter - we both know that."

"Who am I to argue with the formidable Olivia Pope?" Knowing that it was true, Peter let a bit of the humble-brag tone in his voice drop away and the last of his apology with it. "But the hunch part still stands true and it's the main reason that I didn't say anything sooner. I don't have anything concrete - not yet - and I want to make sure that I earn every iota of your trust for as long as I can, keeping my ledger in the black, you might say…"

It's the way the game was played in Washington, and they were both very aware that Peter Caldwell played it better than most.

The wheels in Olivia's head began to turn as Peter went on.

"That being said, do you want to hear another hunch?"

"Since you're in such a sharing mood, why not?"

"Blame it on the holiday and the spirit of giving." Peter said. "Yes, I know - wrong holiday. But indulge me."

Her silence invited him to continue, and it seemed that Peter took a moment to take a deep breath, make some kind of final choice, before he did.

"I think this election is going to be something different, on a lot of different levels."

A prickle of premonition trickled an uncomfortable path up her spine. "Different, how?"

"Call it another hunch, maybe. Or just a digest of a lot of what I've been seeing and hearing, bits and pieces starting to come together in a way I don't particularly like; I don't know - but I think that we as a Party - maybe even as a nation - are coming to a crossroads. Decisions are going to be made and some of them may not be very pretty."

She couldn't resist playing Devil's Advocate. "We're heading into an election season and nothing is ever very pretty - we both know that. And I can tell you right now, the President will not get into the usual political mud-slinging. It's not who he is."

"So you've said. So let me ask you this - if he won't go low, are you prepared to? I'm serious, Olivia. It's a question you may have to ask yourself sooner or later. I just want to make sure that you're prepared to answer if it becomes necessary."

She could tell that he was. "I serve at the pleasure of the president, and I'm not speaking out of turn when I tell you that he'll be deciding how we deal with those issues if and when we come to them." Olivia was more than capable of the kind of dirty work that Peter was referring to - and if she wasn't, Cyrus most definitely was if it came to that. With that being said, she also knew that it would not be what Fitz wanted. That knowledge - and the gladiator in her - made her voice come out a little sharper than she'd meant it to.

Olivia deliberately softened her next words. "But thanks for the heads-up; it is very much appreciated."

"Gratitude." Peter's own words held a note of relief, beneath his own sarcasm. "My favorite political currency - and a rare thing coming from you. Does that mean that I remain on your nice list?"

"I'll get back to you on that." She smiled as she served Peter some of his own mockery. "But who says that you were ever on my nice list to begin with? After all, Caldwells are going to Caldwell - first, last and always."

"Of course we are - it's what we do." Peter didn't deny her statement. "Besides, the naughty list is always more fun - or so I've been told."

"Or so you've been told?" Olivia had to admit - at least to herself - that it was probably true, that most of the drama from the Caldwells were from the other members of his family - not from Peter himself. But there was always a need to keep Peter on his toes and on his best manners, so she wasn't about to admit that she believed him.

"We both know that you know the answer to that - probably better than I do - and the reason why. I'd guess that it's just as true for me as it is for you - so as one gate-keeper and control freak to another, let me just say that I see your game, Olivia Pope." He laughed. "It's all about keeping everyone guessing - am I right?"

Peter wasn't wrong and he was so on the money that Olivia found herself laughing along with him. He was an odd sort of friend to have - as long as you took care to always remember where his political fault lines lay. As long as you did that, you were usually safe - but in his own way, he was a friend. Of sorts. And he knew it. They both did.

"I'm glad I could make you laugh; we both know that you're on the clock, even if it's a holiday."

"Just like you?" Olivia couldn't resist.

"I plead the fifth - keep everyone guessing, remember? And on that happy note, allow me to do exactly that." His laughter was the last thing Olivia heard as Peter ended the call.

Gate-keeper? Control freak? Pot meet kettle, Peter… Olivia felt her own smile lingering even as she shook her head. As it usually did, talking with Peter provided clarity and put her in the right frame of mind to move forward. Now all she had to do was wait until she could share what she'd just learned with Fitz.

As Olivia finished her phone call and rejoined the others, Fitz was leaving Sally's office with his emotions a jumble of anger and satisfaction - and in the moment, not sure which one was winning. As much as they had annoyed him, at least he'd managed to not lose his temper and bottle his anger, changing tactics on them when he'd decided not to throw their thinly shadowed prejudices back in their faces. That might have meant declaring outright war on certain factions within the Party - Fitz was no fool as to what this little gathering represented - and he wasn't sure if he was ready for that - or if the country was ready for it either - at least not without consulting with his inner circle.

He smiled inside; Sally had her little cabal - but he had his too - and he'd bet on his own people over hers any day. Their very diversity - the thing that Sally seemed to dislike so much - was what would give them the edge if it came down to a head to head conflict.

And if they were going to go to war, well - it would be on his terms, not theirs.

So instead, he'd taken a different approach, nailing Sally and her current crew on their lack of respect for his position of leadership, letting them think that his ego was leading the way, even as he made it clear that he would not be bullied nor cajoled into going against his own decisions - and they were going to have to just deal with that. It was a brief exchange, and in the process, Fitz had even managed to make Sally look a little bit foolish and over-reaching her position as his vice-president. That had actually appeared as though he'd managed to rattle some of them and in hindsight, had been the most satisfying part.

His first impulse after leaving them was to go and find Olivia, but he stopped himself before he could act on it. He knew that she'd be worrying about him, and that was the last thing he wanted her to deal with - especially today of all days - but at the same time, he knew that with the way he was feeling, one look at his face and no matter how good of a mask that he might manage to put on, Olivia would see right through it - and his fiercely loyal Fixer would go after them without a second thought.

It would be better for them both that he get his feelings under control before that happened. With that in mind, he purposefully retreated to the tunnels beneath the White House where the solitude and silence there would allow him to replay the last parts of their conversations in his mind and regroup…

Fitz had meant it when he'd told Sally and the rest of them that he intended to have a life and their input was not welcome. "You all seem to be under the mistaken impression that you have any say over my private life."

"A president doesn't have a private life." Sally had been stubborn to the end. "Nor should he expect one."

"This president does." Fitz had enjoyed correcting her. "And I intend to have one going forward throughout my re-election campaign and as I conduct my second term. I almost lost my life once - I don't intend on wasting any of the rest of it now."

And that meant starting here and starting now. He'd meant it, more than any of the people in that room could have possibly known or understood. There had been too many outside influences that had shaped his life for as long as he could remember up until just a short time ago. Starting with his father and ending with… Defiance.

His guts churned with the sudden onslaught of memories that threatened to surge up inside of him, but Fitz found the strength in him to batter them down before they could get the best of him. He's learned to use them, to remind himself of how far he's come since those sad and empty days. He was glad that he'd chosen to come down here, to walk it all off until he was fit company for anybody.

Fitz's White House detail knew to stay far back enough so that he at least had the illusion of privacy as he prowled through the vast oversized dull gray and echoing corridors. He needed…time. Time to look deep inside himself, time to remind himself of the promise he'd made to himself once he'd managed to put Defiance and all of its pain behind him - Fitz had sworn that he would never let either his memories or his darkest emotions drag him back to even the shadow of the man that he used to be.

Instead he let his mind read over the thoughts and conversations and when he was done, Fitz turned back to the White House with more than a few decisions made. And there was one thing that he's certain of - that a little chat with Mellie was called for - and now would be the perfect time.