"What's the problem now?" Abby huffed out in annoyance. All of OPA—minus Olivia—gathered at one of their safe houses. Upon arrival, Huck took everyone's phones and put them into a nearby microwave.
"Is it really super spy like to put phones in a microwave?" Quinn tried to joke.
Huck started to pace. "I need to make sure that no one can listen in on our conversation. I found Charlie."
"How?" Quinn asked.
"Where? Abby followed up.
"When?" Harrison asked.
Huck answered. "I did what I was trained to. The specifics aren't important. What is important is that Charlie's original mission was disrupted."
"By who? What does that even mean?" Abby asked.
"It means that the job he was hired for was overrode by Command."
"What even is that?" Harrison asked.
Huck stared at the three of them, "Command is the man the runs B613. Command is Liv's dad. Command stopped the kill order that Edison Davis set in motion."
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"I don't want to talk to you dad," Olivia said through gritted teeth. She was beyond pissed off that her father materialized outside of her Pilates studio.
"Get into the car Olivia. I am not asking." Olivia begrudgingly got into the town car as he said, "You look well sweetheart."
"Please stop. What do you want to talk about?"
Eli leaned back in his seat, "You, my darling daughter, cannot fathom the fiery pit you just waltzed into. I am aware of you and Nyla putting on your investigative hats. The problem is that you don't understand the magnitude of what you've done."
"What I've done? You killed my mother and aunt. You killed your own wife!"
Eli looked at her sternly, "Calm yourself my dear Olivia. I did not kill my wife. I was not the one flying the plane."
"You ordered someone else to do it."
"Olivia, you still don't understand how the world works do you?"
Olivia folded her arms, "Why don't you explain it to me then? Explain everything…including B613."
Eli raised his eyebrows, "I will do no such thing. You don't have the emotional intellect to understand why B613 exists. Your aunt—just as you are—was dabbling into dangerous waters with no paddle. Your aunt wanted to spout all the information she thought she knew. She didn't know anything of substance."
"So your solution was to kill her? To kill them?"
Eli leaned forward, "I love you Olivia. I truly do. You are not going to like what I say next. I am not sorry about your mother and aunt. Their actions would expose the Republic to unimaginable danger and—"
"The Republic?" Olivia interrupted. "What about me? What about what was left of our family?"
Eli shook his head, "Your mother was planning to leave me. She'd been having an affair with someone else and was pregnant. Her plan was to take that flight to finalize the buying of her new house before coming to get you. There was no way that I would let her take my seed. If she wanted to have the child of another man, then that's her business. Over my dead body would she have taken you from me. Your aunt's misdealing was the catalyst. It was the reason I needed to protect you from her reality."
Olivia was floored, "Her reality? Do you actually think that you can justify shooting down a plane of people just because mom was pregnant by someone else?"
Eli raised his voice, "I was protecting your memory of her. Haven't you been better off thinking she was innocent and died in a tragic plane crash?"
Olivia pursed her lips. "You ordered Fitz to kill an entire plane load of people."
Eli chuckled, "Ah yes. Fitzgerald Grant III. I chose him for an important reason."
"Which was what?"
"I was owed. In fact, he still owes me."
"What are you talking about?"
"His father was not the reason that he won Governor, I was. As for the plane incident—let's just chalk it up to sins of the father."
"You punish him for something Big Gerry did?"
"As I've said, you don't have the emotional intelligence to understand what I've done to protect the Republic." Olivia hastily reached for the door. "Aren't you going to thank me?"
Olivia gritted her teeth, "For what?"
Eli stared at her for a moment, "For canceling the hit on my granddaughter." He stared at her surprised face, "Don't look so surprised. I know that you know that I stopped it. The person who accepted the assignment has gone missing, which leads me to believe that you are well aware that I stopped it from happening."
Olivia got right in Eli's face, "Don't even think about touching a hair on my daughter's head."
Eli pushed some of her bangs back, "Have I ever touched a hair on your head?"
Olivia countered, "It took Edison putting a hit out on my kid for you to finally disagree with him?" She scoffed, "Did he even tell you what he did to me? Maybe you already know and don't give a damn. I never thought I'd see the day that you work hand-in-hand with Cyrus and Edison." Olivia got out the car before he could respond. Olivia willed the tears away—fighting to make sure that she shed no more tears over her dad.
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"Mellie and I are getting divorced." Fitz said with finality.
Rip and JoJo pretended to be surprised by this information. JoJo asked, "What does this have to do with us?"
Mellie interjected. "We wanted you to hear it from us first. We also wanted to ensure that we're following all your stipulations."
Rip leaned back in his chair, "I'm going to be honest with you. Cyrus not being here is interesting."
"Cyrus doesn't make decisions for us." Mellie stated.
"Doesn't he?" JoJo challenged. "I mean after all, he was the reason why you sought us out to fund the campaign wasn't he?"
Fitz sat up straighter, "Cyrus does not control me. Do we still have your support with the campaign?"
Rip shrugged, "That depends on if and only if you can keep this hush hush. Remember—I don't want my name attached to any marital drama between the two of you."
Fitz extended his hand, "I can agree to that."
While Rip and Fitz were shaking hands, JoJo was studying Mellie. She leaned in and softly said "There have been whispers that you were the one to go on the quest for Olivia's child. Let's not pretend for a second that you don't know what I'm talking about."
Mellie quickly looked over at Fitz, happy that he and Rip were having their own conversation. She responded to JoJo, "I did no such thing. Where are you hearing these whispers?"
"From your trusty friend Cyrus. Imagine how Fitz would respond after believing that you were willing to put a child in mortal danger. How would Rip respond if he knew? You seem to believe that Olivia wields astronomical power over them."
Mellie hissed through her teeth, "I didn't do that."
"That doesn't matter. All that matters is the optics."
Mellie begged, "You can't them. I'll tell them when I get the proof that Cyrus was the one who set everything in motion. This wasn't me. Just give me a little time to prove it."
Rip cleared his throat loudly, "This was a somewhat productive meeting. I've got some stuff to do so JoJo and I need to clear out." Once the pair was out of sight Rip asked, "Did you plant the seed?"
JoJo smiled, "Yep. She bought every word of it."
