"Are you ready? You're sure you want to go?"

"Judge Sparks asked me to be there."

"He requested your presence. It's a formality, Liv. You don't have to go if you don't want to."

Sitting with Olivia in her office, Fitz prepared himself to see the man who murdered Olivia's fiancé for the first time. The two weeks since she received the notice for sentencing appeal had put her on edge. Even though Fitz was in bed with her, she still would not sleep; and the few hours she did sleep she would wake with screaming nightmares. Between Fitz, Jerry, and Huck, she knew she was safe, and the nightmares were only in her mind but that didn't make them any less real.

"I'm not going to void a notice like this, Fitz. I have to make sure that he is kept locked in a cell. The only way I can ensure that is to be at this hearing. Now, if you don't want to go that's fine. I get it. Jerry and Huck will be there as well. I'll be fine," Liv told him trying to think more positively than about who she would have to look at.

"I'm going with you. I'll be right beside you." Grabbing her coat off the hook, he helped her put it on and headed out the door.

Arriving just before 1:30 as the notice asked, Jerry waved Olivia and Fitz over to him with Verna and Huck. "Ready?"

"You all don't need to be here," Liv told them looking between the four people around her. "I appreciate you all being here but it's not necessary. I can handle this myself."

"Of course, you can, Liv," Verna hugged her. "But you don't need to. We're all here to support you in any way we can."

"Kim would be here too, but she didn't want to leave Javi with her parents. He said to give you a big hug too," Huck smiled and gave her a side hug, releasing her back to Fitz.

After checking in with the clerk, they all went to the courtroom assigned and took their seats. Leaning back to see who came in, the prosecuting attorney stood and joined Fitz and Olivia in the row behind her.

"Jessica, good to see you again," Olivia half smiled at her. "How long do you think this will take?"

"It shouldn't be too long. Judge Sparks doesn't want to make you sit here longer than needed," Jessica said sitting beside her, ignoring the defense attorney taking his seat

"Then he shouldn't have asked her to come," Fitz snarled.

"We both know that's not how this works, Mr. Grant. I know it's uncomfortable but it's only for an hour or two, Olivia. Just remember, you don't have to look at him. You can stay focused on me, or the judge, or your friends back here. I'll do my best to make this as quick as possible."

Nodding her acknowledgement, the court officer appeared in the room. Moving back to her seat, Jessica stood behind the table. "All rise, Judge Henry Sparks presiding."

"Thank you, everyone please take your seats," the judge told them as he sat down. "Ms. Hartford, Mr. Benson, what are we doing here today and why?"

Standing up, both attorneys looked at the judge. "My client is appealing his conviction of life without parole, your honor. We are asking that you overturn the sentence and reinstate to a lower punishment. One that would give him the chance of parole," Mr. Benson started.

"A lower punishment for a man who murdered an innocent man in cold blood in front of his fiancé? You want that type of person out on the streets, Mr. Benson?" Jessica questioned him.

"Whether I do or not, is not up to me, Ms. Hartford. The punishment is very severe."

"Did you want a slap on the wrist with a 'don't do it again'?"

"No but life without parole is a bit much."

"So is slitting a man's throat in his sleep."

Seeing Olivia's entire body shake, Fitz put his arm around her and pulled her to him.

"Ms. Pope," Judge Sparks cleared his throat and looked over at her, making the attorneys be quiet. "I do apologize for their outburst. Mr. Benson and Ms. Hartford will remain professional and keep their points." Watching her nod, he turned his attention back to them. "I have an affidavit from the warden that Mr. Davis has been an exemplary inmate until recently. Officer, would you please bring in the prisoner?"

Olivia sat still, looking straight ahead at the judge as Edison came in the room.

"Hello Olivia," Edison smiled seeing her. "We should catch up."

"Your honor," Jessica started.

"Mr. Davis, please direct anything you would like to say to me or your attorney," Judge Sparks ordered.

"Oh yes, of course, sir." Standing beside his attorney, Edison stood in his blue prison uniform with hands cuffed and laid flat on the table in front of him.

Leaning back in his chair, the judge stared over at him. "Mr. Davis, you were sentenced by me three and a half years ago to life without parole. Now, your attorney says that's a punishment too severe. Don't you believe you should receive punishment for your acts?"

"Yes, sir. I'm only asking that I have the possibility to be released. I wasn't in my right mind when I killed him. I thought he was hurting my girlfriend. I was protecting her," Edison told him.

"Are you trying to change your plea to guilty by mental illness?"

"Yes, yes, that's it! I'm mentally ill!"

"Your honor," Jessica rolled her eyes at the charade. "He's already pleaded guilty and been sentenced. We are over three years later."

"I'm aware, Ms. Hartford," he told her. "Mr. Benson, did you not inform your client that we do not change our pleas after sentencing? You will serve the life sentence without parole." Putting his reading glasses on, he looked directly at Edison. "The prison warden wrote a statement when you originally asked for this appeal, sir. He states you have been a well-mannered, rule following, exemplary inmate. I applaud you on your behavior, sir." Edison smiled at him giving his thanks. "However, that letter was dated in the middle of January. I received this one only a week ago. I would like you to explain how you managed to send Ms. Pope a text message stating 'four years since that bastard died. You'll be mine soon babe. When I'm out of here we're taking a long vacation, just us. Hope you had a wonderful birthday' when you are not permitted to have electronic devices. Could you explain that?"

Hearing the text read by the judge, Olivia cringed at the thought but didn't recognize it. I didn't get a text from him. I would know if I did. Unless… Fitz… of course. Squeezing his hand, Liv held it between them.

"I asked a friend to send it to her. Olivia's my girlfriend and we need to take a vacation. She needs one," Edison smirked.

"Whether she does or not, you were warned to have no contact with Ms. Pope. Your phone calls are monitored as well as your mail and we took away your access to computers. Mr. Davis, since you seem to still pose a threat to Ms. Pope and the public in general, you leave me no choice. The rest of your sentence will be served in maximum security at Wallens Ridge State Prison. Officer, please take him back to holding for transfer."

"Your honor!" Mr. Benson shouted.

"Dismissed," he said, banging the gavel down.

Gathering his files, Mr. Benson followed after Edison down the hall. Olivia let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding in for the past half hour. Letting go of Fitz's hand, she felt two hands on her shoulders and sighed.

"Which one of you hid the text from me?" she asked watching Judge Sparks walk out of the room.

"Actually, we all did," Verna told her. "None of us wanted to see you upset. Jerry took care of it."

"Thank you. All of you," Liv smiled turning to see them. "You too, Jessica. Thank you for keeping him locked up." Shaking her hand, Jessica smiled and headed out of the building. "Can he appeal his sentence again? He can't, right?"

"He could, he's allowed to three times. However, I don't see him getting far with Sparks," Jerry told her. "Sparks has your best interest at heart. I'm glad he's the one who got the case."

Fitz laughed. "Yeah, imagine if Richards got it." Jerry glared at him shaking his head. "Ok, I'm not trying to be funny about it."

"Do you want to go celebrate?" Huck asked her. "We could go have dinner. Javi would love to see you."

"Absolutely, we should do that. But Fitz and I need to head back to work for a bit, you have that conference call at 3, remember?"

Agreeing to it, Jerry, Verna, and Huck all left to their cars while Fitz and Olivia strayed behind them.

"You were pretty calm in there," Fitz hugged her side as they walked out. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm glad I didn't have to talk at all. I'm not sure I would have been able to talk and not break down crying like usual. Or throwing something at him. Thank you for coming with me too." Liv leaned up to kiss him lightly as they opened the door to the courtroom.

Gently kissing her back, Fitz held her hand. "I was never going to let you come do this alone. Even though my dad and Huck were here, it's not the same. You have my full support at any time. Especially when it comes to this guy."

"When did he text me? I had my phone all day on my birthday."

"On the anniversary of his death. When you were catatonic. I sat on the bedroom floor reading you your text messages from work and your parents when I saw his text. I showed it to my dad, and he sent it to the prison warden. Dad said Edison was put in solitary confinement after that."

"I wasn't catatonic. I was there."

"I know, you were brain spotting. Verna explained all of that to us. It was really hard to see you like that. Knowing I couldn't do anything to bring you out of it was painful. Honestly, you kind of scared me"

"I didn't mean to scare you," Liv told him, hugging him in the hallway. I will try not to have it happen again, but I don't make promises about it. Thank you for taking care of me that day. And every other day."

Smiling down at her, Fitz bent lower to kiss her lips. "The least I could do after all you do for me, baby. Ready to head back to the office?"

"For sure." Holding her purse on her shoulder, she looked back at the floor. "I think I left my coat in the courtroom. I'll go get it. Why don't you go pick up your mail from the clerk while we're here? Meet you out front in five minutes?"

"Five minutes got it. Meet you there." Letting go of her hand, he walked off to the elevator to the clerk's office.

Heading back to the courtroom, Liv opened the door to the empty room and went for her coat that laid in the front row. Putting on her coat, she heard her phone vibrate in her purse and pulled it to see a text pop up with five others. Answering the text quickly, the side door opened behind her. Olivia saw the officer come in out of the corner of her eye. "I was just leaving, I forgot my coat, officer," she said putting her phone in her pocket to walk out.

Before she could take another step, something hit her on the back of the head, making her fall to the floor losing consciousness.

"Don't worry, Olivia. I've got you."