"Livia should be here any minute. She typically runs a little further than normal on Mondays. I'm surprised you decided to join us today."

"Slow day at the office today, at least that's what Liv said."

Fitz sat with Jerry and Huck at the café a month after Javi's birthday party. Staring at his coffee, he kept trying to work up the nerve to ask two of the most important men in Olivia's life about what Javi told him. Going through her phone contact list one night while she was asleep, Fitz looked at the names of people but none of the stuck out as someone she didn't like. No one that could, or would, hurt her, at least that he could think of.

"I know there's nothing wrong with the coffee so what's your problem, Fitz?" Huck asked as he watched him for several minutes looking at the mug in front of him. "You look like someone kicked your puppy."

"Huh? Oh nope, no dog, Liv doesn't seem to like dogs really," Fitz told him trying to come back to the space around him in his mind.

"Maybe we should get her a snake then?" Jerry laughed before clapping Fitz's shoulder. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Looking at the two men across from him before looking at his watch, he gave it another thought. She'll be here soon. Either ask them now or I'm going to have to have a separate conversation again with these two. Just ask and they can tell you about him. Whoever this guy is. "You both know Liv better than anyone in the world, except maybe Cyrus. But Javi mentioned something on his birthday that I've been trying to figure out. He said you two protect her. Which, yeah, I know that. But you protect her from someone."

"Herself, mostly," Huck laughed. "Liv doesn't need protection. She's a gladiator."

"He's right, Livia's a force to be reckoned with. She's one I wouldn't want to cross ever," Jerry added. "Besides, you know Huck and I would both do anything for Livia."

Fitz nodded and looked from one to the other and moved his chair closer to the table. "So, who is this 'bad man' that Javi wants me to protect her from?"

Jerry and Huck looked at each other, silently cursing themselves for speaking around Javi about Liv.

"Bad man, um, that's Edison of course," Huck told him, waving it off like it wasn't anything new. "Javi heard us talking about Edison I'm sure and that's what we call him to my kid."

"Sure, except Javi said it wasn't Edison. Edison can't hurt her, and he knows that. So let's try again and make it the truth. Who is the 'bad man'?"

Looking around the room, Jerry pleaded with whoever was listening for Olivia to come through the front door of the café at that moment. The person who was the 'bad man' should be told to Fitz by Olivia, not by someone else. That was a conversation to be had between the two of them when the time was right.

"Fitz…son… you don't need to worry about him. Huck and I have it covered. We've got her," Jerry told him.

"That's not answering the question and it's really not making me feel any better, Dad. I get it, okay? I got it. You and Huck are closer to her than I probably ever will but if she's in some kind of danger and neither of you are around, what am I supposed to do? How do I protect her? Even from herself? You aren't always going to be around, Dad. And Huck, you're going to move on with your life with Kim and Javi and eventually you'll both forget about her. I'll still be here picking her up when she needs it," Fitz nearly shouted at them.

Huck was furious now, slamming his fist on the table, he pushed his finger into Fitz's chest. "You don't know a damn thing about my relationship with Olivia. I've been here much longer than you have, and I'll be here long after you're gone too. Olivia is like a sister to me, and she is the godmother to my son. She's never going to not be part of my family. You are new to this circle, and I'll remind you of that. You want to protect Olivia? Then don't question my or Jerry's loyalty to her." Pushing his chair back a bit, he looked up only to see Olivia a few feet in the front door looking at them. "Shit." Running a hand through his hair, he nodded in her direction making the other two turn to see her.

Unsure of what she just saw between them, Olivia walked over to the counter and ordered her drink and took it to the table with her. None of the three would look at her directly, each paying attention to the drinks in front of them.

"Are we pretending that whatever I saw didn't happen?" she asked looking at each one. "Huck?" Keeping his head down, he looked at the table. "Fitz?" He stared at the now empty mug. "Jerry?" Looking at some invisible lint on his pants, he picked at it. "Okay, well, I have nothing important for a few hours so we can sit here until then." Everyone stayed quiet for several minutes while she pulled out the stack of mail from her purse and read a few. "Seriously? What is going on with you three? What's this big secret I walked in on?"

Jerry was the first to look up and meet her glances. "It's not a secret really. We're just… trying to figure out your birthday," he smiled.

"My birthday that's three months away?"

"Hey, we need time to plan your surprise party and you totally just ruined it, Liv," Huck added in.

"Ugh huh. The same birthday that we don't celebrate. The one we haven't since I was 21?"

"We dropped the ball," Jerry told her taking another drink.

"You all really suck at lying. Fitz? Tell me what's going on."

Not wanting to push his luck, Fitz played the game with Huck and Jerry. "I asked them if we should throw you a surprise birthday party," he smiled and looked up at her. "Huck said you wouldn't like the idea, but I pushed it. You seemed to have fun at Javi's."

"He's four. You want to throw me a soccer party too?" she laughed. Opening more of the mail she had, adding the bills to one pile and trash to the other, she stopped at a post card and immediately stopped laughing.

Greetings from the fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada! Flipping the bright card over to the back, no return address on it, she looked it over and read the note. 38.9072 N, 77.0369 W. 9-17-22. Quickly pulling out her phone, Liv looked up the coordinates. Washington D.C. Wait, that's this weekend! Shit. Shit. Shit. Sticking the postcard in the pile or trash, Liv looked up as all three looked at her.

"Who wants to go away for the weekend? I'll book a flight; we can go visit Cyrus and Michael. We could go see your mom, Fitz. Let's take Javi to Disney. Come on, fun weekend, my treat." She blurted out faster than her mind could process.

"Olivia Pope is willingly getting on an airplane. Did the world just burn to the ground?" Fitz laughed looking at Jerry, who was not amused with either of them.

"Hand it over," Jerry held out his hand for the postcard she hid. Reluctant to do so, Huck grabbed it first and handed it to him. "This weekend? As in a few days from now. Sugar, you are shit out of luck. Fitz, my boy, wish you the best." Jerry told him holding up his cup and handing Huck the postcard.

"I'm guessing these are the coordinates to here?" Huck asked and watched her nod. "Yup, been nice knowing you, man."

Fitz looked at the two of them and then to Liv, trying to understand the possible joke. "I feel like I just signed my own death certificate. What's that mean? Coordinates to where? This weekend for what?"

Liv continued on the mail and took a drink of her coffee. Jerry shook his head and looked at Fitz.

"Eli Pope is coming to town."

"Your dad? Livie, that's great, you'll get to see your dad. Didn't you tell me you haven't seen his since the funeral?" When Liv turned her head to look at him, he didn't see the happy face he thought he'd see. "Okay, maybe this isn't a good thing?"

"But it looks like it's for one day, Livia. Come on, one day can't be that bad. Maybe he's just catching a flight and has a lay over here so it's only a few hours."

"Or maybe it's to come ask for more money to pay off his gambling debts again. It's been four years since I've seen him. He can rack up a pretty big bill in that time. Especially in Vegas," Liv told them.

Huck excused himself to go help the counter as more people filed in for their morning breakfast and coffee. Jerry nodded his agreement and looked through his phone. "I should go, Verna's got some appointments she needs a ride to."

Sitting alone with Fitz at the table, Olivia looked at the time and gathered her things. "We should head to the office. You need to prep for court later today anyway."

Following her out, Fitz held onto her hand as they walked to the car, pausing before he opened the door for her. "What are you afraid of with your dad coming here? Is it just his gambling or something else? Is he a bad man?" Fitz asked trying to see if she'd give up who this mysterious man was.

"Eli's not a bad man," she told him with a raised brow. "He's just an absent father. His gambling has gotten him into trouble before and he's been beaten to hell a couple times for not paying. I've tried to help him and put him into a rehab type of place, but it's never stuck. I've paid the debts too. He just keeps going. And every time he's come back to see me, he turns my world upside down. I like my world the way it is right now. I'm happy and I don't want it ruined. So, when he gets here for no matter how long he stays, can you do you a favor and not let it go upside down? I don't want him to scare you off."

Leaning down to kiss her, Fitz left his lips to hers for several moments while he had her against the car door. "Of everything you've ever told me, you really think an absent father is the one that's going to scare me off? I have one myself. Sure, they probably aren't the same type of absent fathers, but they still weren't there, Livie. I got this far with you, and I'm determined to get further. Meeting your father was going to happen eventually. And I'll meet your mother too, you'll meet mine as well. I'm positive that they aren't going to like me for one reason or another but that's not going to scare me away. I love you, Livie. Nothing is going to change that. You could…" Fitz stopped himself before saying something stupid that would upset her and let out a sigh. "One of these days, I'm going to make you understand that I love you more than anything. And whatever drama or event happens, I'm still going to be here for it. I'll love you even when you hate me."

Olivia smiled and kissed his lips, pulling his shirt closer to her. "I don't think I could hate you. I love you too much to hate you. Even a little bit. We've got a little time before we really need to get to work. Want to take me home and let me show you how much I love you?"