Author's Note: Holy shit, that Promo! Find it, watch it, love it. Do it. And then Tweet/Facebook/Tumblr/smoke signal The Creator and her various enablers that they better deliver on every promise said and implied therein or they're gonna get them Hands or just cancelled. Seriously, though. The latest promo is made of 30 seconds of pure AWESOME. Holy shit…my feels! The Olitz and the 'At Last' and the clips used for flashbacks and the…the…gah! Is it September 24th, yet? September 24th really needs to bring its ass on…

We've got a little less than two months of Hiatus left and even with the new Promo, I'm more like 'aw, shit…', 'when is the other shoe gonna drop?', and 'we won't get fooled again *insert awesome The Who guitar and bass here*' than 'whoo'. There is some substantial 'whoo' because of how great the Promo and honestly, how good You Can't Take Command turned out to be. That episode became the new starting point. It's a prime chance for a respawn with full lives and ammo for our heroes and the whole SCANDAL-verse itself but as I have said in the past, any and everything can happen with a Shondaland show and by any and everything, I mean some brand new special patented cruel fuckery. Look what she did to MerDer. Enough said.

I still hope that Season 5 will be the Season of Healing for Liv and the Year of Olitz all the way through but who knows? We gotta see what's what. Anyway, the Hiatus marches on and the Muses are still willing to play with me so I'ma keep doing me and me always wants Olitz. More D.D.s and WIP work soon!

(CMW2/Trumpetnista: Draftbook Drabble #27-(Follow up to D.D. #22, POTUS/Secretary AU, Fitz, Olivia, Abby, Leo, Mellie, Cyrus, mentioned FTGIV and Karen, Olitz, ride or die, mentioned Mew in turmoil, past Edison/Olivia, and Mellitz Zombie, NSFW))

Words from the Gladiator in a Hoodie: I love all of my SCANDAL-ous scribbles but this particular AU has a special place in my heart. Maybe it's because it's the longest fic I've ever posted without it being a multichapter (13K words) or maybe it's the long standing love I have for the secretary/boss trope but…yes. Here is more in that area and more on the WIPs plus at least two more D.D.s will be up soon. Enjoy the latest. Mad Love, Jam, and Power Drills ~*Trump*~

Disclaimer: "Honestly, it's not mine!"

Excerpt from Draftbook Drabble #22…

"…No one has ever stood up for me like that before. Ever. I mean, you've had your dragon slaying moments, Cy but…I didn't even know that Olivia liked me as a President, much less that she thought so highly of me as a person."

Olivia was also known for her quiet, near meek at times nature, amongst the staff. She played her cards close to her trademark vests and while she was genuinely kind to everyone, including him, there were obvious walls surrounding her. Everyone wondered why. He wondered why. Who had hurt her? Had it been her parents? After all, if Cyrus was saying that someone was certifiable, then they had to be pretty far gone. Had they abused her? Had they neglected her? Had it been Edison Davis? Had it been another person in her past that hurt her, someone in her present? Had she even been hurt at all? Sometimes people just built up walls…

He also wondered who, if anyone could be deemed worthy enough to be let through her walls.

Would she be willing to let him in?

"It takes a whole lot of skills to impress a Pope. It means that you're doing something right."

"Could you tell that to the news outlets and the Senate, please? Preferably over a megaphone?"

"As long as you'll let me blast the siren right in that Don Lemon moron's ear, I'm game…"

"…Sir, are you having sex with Olivia Pope?"

"No, I am not having sex with Olivia Pope."

"Do you want to have sex with Olivia Pope?"

"I don't think that's any of your business, Cyrus."

"So, that's a hells yeah and knowing that you're the last great romantic, you want a full on relationship with her….you could do a lot worse. You have done a lot worse. We all had to endure a lot worse for 3 years."

"Try doing it for almost 20 years and then you can talk to me about endurance."

"Touché…for what it's worth, I think she'd be good for you. She's sane where it counts, she's brilliant, she's gorgeous, she's got grace under pressure, and last night proved that even though she's a sweetheart, she's still got a zero tolerance policy for bullshit. And the staff already loves her. She'd make a good First Lady, not to mention the Optics of the first interracial American First Couple coming from the Republican Party…"

"There are two problems with that scenario, Cyrus. Actually, three. First, she's made it clear that she doesn't mix her personal life with her professional life after whatever happened with Edison Davis. Second, just because she thinks that I'm a quality human being doesn't mean she thinks that I'm a datable human being and third…well, we're friends but she doesn't even call me by my first name. She always uses one of my titles or 'sir'. It's been going on 4 years since we started working together and she doesn't use my first name."

"Have you ever asked her why that is?"

"…no. Actually, we've never really talked about it…"

"…He's asking about you. He's being subtle about it overall but when Leo suggested that you may have gone home, he looked like someone killed his puppy. Olivia, what are you doing out here? Why aren't you in there with him?"

"I don't know…he's my boss. He's the Leader of the Free World. He's a Grant. I'm just his secretary. He probably didn't even notice my existence as more than a walking e-planner until what happened with Mellie last month."

"You're not a just anything and he's always noticed you. I saw it from your first day on the job and that's another reason why I was so gung-ho against Leo and Cyrus when they wanted him to stay with Mellie in the name of Optics…"

"…she never did like me. Mellie, that is. Some of her worst venom was towards me."

"She was jealous. Not only because of Fitz but also because you've done way more with your life than she ever has and people really like you. Olivia, I don't know you that well. None of us do but I do know that you're a good person and that you deserve to be happy. And seriously, Fitz is so into you that he's got big pink hearts in his eyes every time you come around. Get out of your own way and see what's in front of you. Take a chance."

"I haven't been with a man in years, not even a one night stand. I don't even know where to begin with the President."

"Actually calling him by his first name would be a good starting point…"

"…she had no right to say what she said to you at the end. She implied that I was only keeping you around because you're beautiful and you certainly are but you're also one of the most intelligent and competent people I've worked with."

"You think I'm beautiful?"

"I know you're beautiful, Olivia…"

…A boyish and tender smile curved his now kiss bruised lips upwards and she looked down at her feet shyly, using one of her toes to trace the bundle of 13 arrows in the eagle's claw…

"Leo's gonna tell everyone he sees before he catches up with Abby. It'll be an office e-memo by the morning and probably an internet meme for good measure…"

"I know. I'm sorry. I know you don't like being the center of attention."

"I really don't but it's worth it. You're really worth it. I…um…I think it's time for me to go home, now. I don't want to but I'm more than a little tipsy and I'd like to sleep in my own bed tonight."

"Okay…Olivia?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you…um…did you like it? Did you like kissing me?"

She didn't like kissing him. She loved kissing him. She wanted to kiss him some more. She wanted to kiss him all over…

"…Are you coming in to work today?"

"Yes. I'll be in at around 10:30."

"Good. I want to see you. We had a good talk last night."

"We weren't just talking, Mr. President."

"No…no, we weren't and now that we're dating, you really should start using my first name, Olivia.You should've been using it for years by now."

"You're the President. I'm your secretary. It would be inappropriate." she pointed out, belatedly realizing that using that line of reasoning was completely stupid now because…

"It would be no less inappropriate than you holding my ex-wife at your razor's mercy and running your nails up and down my sides as we make out on the Great Seal…say my name, Olivia.Say it. Let me hear you say my name, Livvie…"

"…Fitz…"

"…Mmm…oh, fuck yes…Olivia…Olivia…Olivia...Olivia…"

"…close…I…I'm gonna…ohhh…"

"Say my name!"

"Fitz…"

"Again!"

"Fitz…"

"Louder! Who am I to you? Tell me!"

"Fitz!"

"..Good morning, Olivia."

"Good morning, Mr. President."

"Liv-vie…"

"I know you don't like it when I call you by your title but now, I'm not using it as a way to keep you out. It's…it makes me feel naughty to call you that when we're naked…"

"Hmm…well, I guess I can allow it, then. But only when we're naked in our bed."

"Or when we're eventually half naked in the Oval…and you have a birthday coming up soon, don't you?"

"I do. Are you gonna channel your inner Marilyn for me?"

"That can certainly be arranged…Mr. President."

7 Weeks Later…

"No."

"No? What do you mean 'no'?"

"No- adverb: a negative used to express dissent, denial, or refusal, as in response to a question or request. No- verb used with object: to reject, refuse approval, or express disapproval of. No- verb used without object: to express disapproval. Synonyms include negative, nix, never, not at all, veto, defiance, and not by any means. No. The answer is no, Cyrus."

"Liv, don't pretend like you don't know how the Game works. You may apolitical and politics adjacent but you're not stupid. You and Fitz are…"

"Our relationship is a relationship, not an elaborate publicity stunt for votes. We are not a product. We are not a brand. We are not things. I understand that it's re-election season and we can't live in a bubble but you will not turn us into more of a media spectacle than we already are. Fitz and I are two grown adults who deserve to be with each other as we please without obsessing about Optics and poll numbers. You will not interfere between us. You interfered all of the time with his relationship with Mellie on The '07 Trail and look how well that turned out and by well, I mean disastrous."

"He was elected!"

"He was barely elected. He utterly lost Florida and Iowa before winning Ohio by the skin of his teeth. If it wasn't for the last minute voter rush out West and the NAACP endorsement the day before, he would've lost and that would've been on you. You were his main campaign manager and the time and energy you wasted making his long dead marriage look alive should've been focused on more important matters like a divorce. You then helped Mellie keep him miserable and trapped so you could gain personal and political power by proximity. You got what you wanted and you completely screwed him over in the process. A lot of people have screwed him over with impunity for years, decades even, but that's all done now. It's a brand new era in the Grant Administration and with Fitzgerald Grant III himself. Anyone trying to leech off of him has to go through me and just like I'm not afraid to cut someone to shreds, I'm not afraid to burn them to a crisp, either. He is currently the POTUS and I'll have to share him with you until his Time ends but in the long run? He's all mine. I always protect who and what is mine. Am I going to have to protect him from you now and in the future, Cyrus?"

"…I liked you better when you were quiet."

"You share that opinion with many other people who have dealt with me. You haven't answered my question. Am I going to have to protect him from you now or in the future, Cyrus?"

"We're on the same side here, Liv. We both care about Fitz."

"Then, you need to fucking act like it, especially when it doesn't benefit you or your various machinations. Am I going to have to protect him from you now or in the future, Cyrus? If you don't answer my question soon, then I will have to assume that the answer is yes and trust me, you really do not want the answer to be yes. I may be a mild mannered, soon to be former highly overqualified Presidential secretary but I haven't always been. I have skills. I have strength. I have lots of contacts who freely offer me loyalty and other frenemies who owe me big favors. Actually, I'd be able to keep those big favors if the answer is yes. There are lots of people around the world would not only relish seeing you go down in flames, they'd dance on your figurative or literal grave afterwards. The only things I enjoy more than dancing are passionate sex, gourmet popcorn, swimming, fine wine, and adding to my vinyl collection."

"Are you threatening me, Olivia?"

"I don't make threats. Threats are for unruly children and cowards. Threats are fluid and subject to change for the right price. Threats have the potential for collateral damage. I make and keep promises. A promise is a promise and much more civilized and controllable than a threat. I'm not doing anything but reminding you of your place and of truths that you've already known for decades. How you interpret things is up to you. This is my final time asking: am I going to have to protect Fitzgerald Grant III from you now or in the future, Cyrus?"

"…no, you won't. I'm on his side and yours, too."

"I'd be an idiot if I fully trusted you but I can give you a fraction of the benefit of the doubt. Now, onto lighter things: vacation, yay!"

"Not yay."

"Not yay? Cyrus, we're going to be in Hawaii for 10 days. Your husband is going to be with you in Hawaii, in one of the most gorgeous and historic places in the world for 10 days. There's sun, surf, and it's a culinary hub. How can you not find some 'yay' there?"

"It's a god given gift."

"Return it. The vacation itself is coming from personal funds so people can't complain about wasted tax money. Fitz is already booked to visit the tourist hot spots and Hickam Base. Karen and Gerry are meeting us there and Fitz and I are still hot news. There's plenty of natural political and optical gold to be mined here and your husband is coming with you so there's quite a lot of 'yay' in this situation, whether you like it or not. Look, I know that your default setting is cantankerous but could you please tone it down? All that rage and venom can't be good for your heart."

"What's left of it, anyway…okay, you win. I'll leave you and Fitz to your own coupley devices and I'll be a most cheerful ray of sunshine during this tropical adventure. Pinky swear."

"If a person breaks a pinky promise, the pinky should be removed and fed to the liar."

"…you really are Maya's girl, aren't you? I mean, you definitely have Eli's spine and sharp tongue but the Tarantino violence is all her."

"Don't forget about Dominic. He may be an affable love slave now but he doesn't have a box of medals and a limp for nothing. I'll see you at the tarmac. Let's try it again: vacation, yay!"

"…yay…"

"We'll work on it. Bye, Grumpy Gay Dragon."

/

As soon as she stepped out of the town car, all of his awareness focused on her.

Fitz Grant III still marveled at the fact that Olivia Pope had chosen to be with him. Olivia was a phenomenal woman. She was brilliant, fiery, and an absolute knockout. Also, she was authentic. Due to her shy nature, she lacked the arrogant airs and faux facades that Fitz had grown accustomed to dealing with both professionally and personally. She was a breath of much needed fresh air and a source of deep joy, not just to him but to those around her on the staff.

Her rolling gray suitcase was taken by agents, along with two large duffel bags, one cherry red and the other zebra striped. The sight of the zebra striped bag sent a fissure of heated anticipation through his body. That was her overnight bag and it also housed what she jokingly called her ' gettin' it kit'. The bag meant that not only would she staying with him for more than a couple of days, they would both be very satisfied by the end of her visit. The growing heat in his groin was a natural and Pavlovian response that he was completely unashamed of.

He couldn't wait to get her behind closed doors again.

Each skipping step towards him made his heart pound harder and he accepted her usual greeting hug with a gratified sigh. His Livvie was in his arms again and everything was right with the world. The hem of her lilac with white polka dots sundress blew in the cool breeze and he let his hands span her waist underneath her knee length white cardigan, his fingers interlocking. She removed his black aviators and brushed the errant 'Superman' curl away from his brow before bringing him into a slow kiss hello. Instead of mile high heels, she was in a pair of plum purple high top Converse so she had to get on her tiptoes to achieve the depth he wanted, the firmness, the sweetness…

"All right, you two crazy kids! Break it up! You've got plenty of time for that, later!" Leo Bergen hollered from the doorway of Air Force One.

"Shouldn't you be annoying Abby instead of us right now?" Fitz asked his Director of Communications pointedly, peering up at him from the bottom of the staircase.

"Nah. Red's napping and even I know not to fuck around with her when she's sleeping. It's like summoning the Kraken and Smaug at the same time. Vamoose, you two. We'll be in the air for 10 hours and y'all can do whatever nastiness you want to each other in privacy."

Not for the first time, Fitz was torn between laughing and throwing something very heavy at the brash man but…

"He's right, you know. We should get inside. You look hot, by the way."

Pink tinted his cheeks at her blunt praise and she smirked in response to it. Since he was on vacation, he had substituted his usual suit for a pair of dark wash Levis, black running shoes, and a pale gray polo shirt that Karen had given him a couple of father's days ago. His daughter mentioned that it would bring out his eyes and Olivia made no secret of appreciating them (along with the rest of him) so he put the shirt on, along with his black zip up fleece.

"Aren't I a little old to be described as hot?"

"Hotness has no age limit, not with you. Oh, and Fitz?"

"Livvie?"

"I'm not wearing any panties."

And then, as if she just mentioned how nice the weather was, she walked up the stairs with her head held high and a taunting sway in her hips.

Against his will, a feral growl rumbled in his chest and he ascended the stairs two at a time, challenge thoroughly accepted.

If she wanted to play with fire, then she would be deliciously burned.

The look on his face made her gulp nervously and with an audible 'eep', she bolted towards the Presidential Suite with him hot on her heels, much to the grinning, sniggering amusement of the other occupants sans Cyrus.

He wouldn't need breakfast from the galley or any other meal during their early morning flight, for that matter.

He'd have his favorite treat.

Her.

/

Olivia was no stranger to sex.

Nor was she a stranger to good sex but Fitz…Fitz was someone and something that she had never experienced before.

Tender yet wild, dominant yet pliant, and he was just so enthusiastic about it all, from foreplay to afterglow. At first, she thought it was just the novelty of having a woman actually want him for him but as time passed, Olivia realized that Fitz was the real deal about it. He loved to kiss. He loved to lick. He loved to bite. He loved to suck. He loved to hold. He loved to nuzzle. He loved to cuddle. He loved to play. Sex, fucking, and lovemaking had an element of playfulness and joy with him and she drank of it greedily, giving as good as she got. She could be bold with him. She could be brazen and she could be "freaky" with him because she trusted him.

Olivia was still surprised at how quickly she had grown to trust Fitz.

Working with him for years, slowly becoming friends with him had allowed her the type of trust she had never had with her previous companions, especially Edison Davis. With Edison, it had been a superficial sort of connection made out to be deeper than it was by inexperience on her part and sheer arrogance on his. She never really let him in and their final showdown on the Hudson proved that Edison had never let her in, either. He let her see what he wanted her to see and vice versa.

No wonder they didn't work out.

With Fitz, what you saw was what you got. She had told him on the night of their first kiss that he was a bad liar for a politician. He wasn't your typical politician. Sure, he was versed in the rules of the Game and all of the rhetoric but there was an authenticity to him that made him stand out. His supporters said that it made him relatable. His detractors said that it made him weak, little more than a figurehead.

To her, his authenticity and the organic goodness of his overall spirit made him irresistible.

She had been one of the many dozens of women harboring a crush on him by the end of his first 100 days but by the end of his first year in office, she was falling for him hard. That was part of why she clung so tightly to propriety between them, insisting on using his titles. She couldn't have him.

He was a married man, unhappily married to a bitter and opportunistic woman, but still married.

He was the Leader of the Free World, the President of the United States.

She was his secretary.

She was a brilliant woman with an impressive resume but still, she was his secretary.

She was important because without an e-planner, he'd be out and about all willy-nilly with every Tom, Dick, and Harry feeling like they could monopolize his time but still, she was his secretary.

She was his young, black, female secretary.

Even if by some miracle he was liberated from his wife in name only, he'd never see her as more than a subordinate, more than a schedule coordinator, more than someone in the background…he'd never even consider wanting her.

She had fallen for someone that she couldn't have in this lifetime and maybe the next one.

It had been a sad revelation but like always, Olivia pulled up her big girl panties and carried on.

There was no use dwelling on him because she couldn't have him and that was that.

She was woman enough to admit that she had been wrong.

Thoroughly wrong.

Mercifully wrong.

Not only could she have him, she did have him and it turns out that he had been longing for her desperately since the moment she came into the Oval for the first time. All right, it had been since lunchtime on her first day but…

"Stop it.", his sleep husked baritone demanded, his face tucked into her neck.

"Stop what?"

"Your mind's racing so fast that it's keeping me awake."

"That makes no sense."

"No, it doesn't but I don't care…what're thinking about?"

"Us."

"Oh, shit."

Olivia giggled and pressed a reassuring kiss to his cheek as he propped himself up on his elbows above her.

"Don't worry, I'm thinking good things about us. I…I'm just happy that there is an us, you know? I didn't think that we'd ever happen."

"How come?"

"How about the simple facts that I'm your secretary and you were trapped in a dead marriage with a woman who would rather see you dead than happy and politically viable without her being able to benefit from it? How come, indeed…"

"Point. Well, we happened and you won't be my secretary for much longer. Cyrus has narrowed the field down to three candidates and I'll be doing the one on one interviews when we get back home. I'll need you to sit in with them and show them the ropes."

"I'll be happy to. Is it small and petty of me to hope that you end up picking someone really old, really unattractive, or really married? Or a man?"

"A little bit but you've got nothing to worry about, Livvie. I'm not going anywhere. I'm never going to find a better woman than you plus if I even think of fucking around on you, you'd make me into hibachi ingredients."

"Damned right. Mine!" she declared with a firm slap to his ass.

He hissed at the impact and she made to do it again but his hands went to her wrists, putting them firmly onto the pillow on either side of her head. In response, she hooked a leg over his hip and she ended up pressed against him on top. She licked a slow trail over one of the defined veins on his shoulder and nipped harshly at his clavicle, making his fingertips dig into her lush flesh of her behind. Fitz sat up and Olivia hissed as he used her mussed hair as a lever, tilting her head back as he lined up to enter her again.

"You want to play rough, Sweet Baby?"

"May-be…"

"I think you do."

"And if you're right, what exactly are you going to do with me…Mr. President?"

He returned to her with enough force to take the wind out of her and she cried out as he pulled her hair, sparks of pained pleasure going up and down her spine…

"Who am I?"

She whimpered and panted.

"Who am I to you, Olivia? Tell me…"

His hips rolled and snapped upwards, hitting all of the spots that made her swoon.

"Who am I, Olivia? Don't tell me that you've forgotten already…"

"Fitz…oh, god, you're Fitz…Fitz,please…ah!"

"…so good…you feel so fucking good, Livvie…you feel like hot silk around me…so tight and sweet…angel…my Sweet Baby…mmm…"

"Harder…faster…deeper…oh! Oh, my…yes, fuck yes!"

His thumb went to her pulsing clit and his mouth captured one of her nipples suckling urgently.

Olivia shuddered and bit down on her lower lip, trying to muffle her cries.

"Let them hear…let everyone hear you, Livvie…come for me…"

"Fitz-ger-ald!"

/

3 Days Later…

"You think you've won, huh? You'll see…he'll get sick of you just like he got sick of me!"

"He didn't get sick of you, Mellie. He caught you cheating on him and using him. Why are you even still here? Shouldn't you be back in Napa with Lt. Governor Nichols by now?"

"My flight's been rescheduled for tomorrow, much to the disgust of everyone. Fitz, Gerry, Karen… they're my children, too and it's a free country! I can be wherever I want to be! Just because he has full custody doesn't mean that I can't be near them!"

"I never said that you couldn't. He never said that you couldn't. I was just wondering why you're insisting on staying here in an openly hostile environment when you've got a man who loves you at home in California missing you. You can stay in another resort or get another flight home easily."

"Oh, puh-lease…that bastard's probably balls deep in the cleaning ladies right now or in a private meeting with Lizzie North on his damned desk! Missing me? Loving me? Yeah, right. He only said he loved me so he could get me to spread my knees for him and like an idiot, I did! I got on my knees for him and those other bastards, gave up everything I worked for…"

"Everything you leeched for. You didn't work for anything. Fitz did the work while you benefited. You leeched off of him and don't pretend otherwise. Not with me and more importantly, not with yourself."

"Oh, like you're not doing the same damned thing! You were nothing but his secretary and now, you're on the fast track to being First Lady! You're riding his coat tails!"

"I think you've gotten me confused with yourself. Unlike you, I actually got off of my ass after college and made my own name, made my own money, made my own capital. If I wanted to, I could be in the Oval myself in 2020 on my own merits. I could be representing on the Hill or translating at an embassy or on the Floor supporting a filibuster right now, if I wanted to. I became his secretary as a personal favor to Louise and to be able to put down real roots in DC as an adult. I wanted to be close to my mother and stepfather and to a point, my biological father. The fact that my adult roots happen to anchored to Fitz now is a happy side effect."

"You have no right to judge me! My life is ruined, thanks to you and you don't even care!"

"I have every right to judge you. You gave me and everyone else the right to judge you when you showed up out here raising hell and spoiling for fights like an unruly toddler. What's the matter, Mellie? You can't handle the truth? You can't handle the fact that you had one of the best men you could ever have fall into your lap and you treated him like he was nothing more than a faulty springboard and the chewed gum under your Louboutins? You can't handle the fact that he's better off without you? That's your fault, not mine or his. You're the one who threw him away. You're the one who took advantage of him. You're the one who ran around behind his back with other men and spent every waking moment as First Lady out of your lane and obnoxious. You're the one who made your children look at you with anger mixed with indifference. You're the one who had it all and lost it all. All you had to do to keep it all was to stop being such a self absorbed hateful creature long enough to realize who and what you were blessed with but you couldn't even manage to fake it. You threw it all away. You wasted and ruined your own life and no amount of temper tantrums and cattiness towards the, and I quote, 'uppity urban whore Fitzgerald is cavorting around with' will ever undo that. You are right about one thing, though. I really don't care about you or your feelings. I don't give a fraction of a fuck about you or your precious feelings and I never will. You are beneath me. You are a cautionary tale of Icarus proportions. You are who and what I never want to be. You are a sad, pathetic excuse for a woman and human being in general and not only will you end up all alone in your endgame of deluded dreams and wasted potential, you will deserve to be alone. I hope you're ready for it. It's going to be one hell of a show."

Olivia knew that once again a confrontation between her and the woman she was calmly walking away from would be a viral sensation within the hour. Mellie had been waiting in the lobby for her to finish her swim, jonesing for a big ugly scene so she could get all the attention she wanted.

The scene had happened and rightfully, Mellie now had egg on her face.

Good.

Maybe she'd finally leave them alone and go away for good.

She shouldn't have shown up to begin with.

Nobody wanted her in Hawaii, especially the 3 Grants.

Karen and Gerry had arrived via a private plane 2 days prior and Mellie had decided to join them as a "pleasant surprise". After all, just because she and Fitz were divorced didn't mean that they weren't still a family, at the end of the day. It was a perfect opportunity for them to spend time together. 16 year old Gerry had given his mother a look that could've reduced her to dust and 14 year old Karen bluntly said that she was only in Hawaii for the surfing and to see her dad. She had no interest in "family time" with her and then she sweetly asked how Hollis Doyle was…er, she meant former Uncle Andrew. She was still confused as to who her mother's boyfriend was nowadays since they barely talked.

It had been sharply downhill for Mellie and the kids from there.

Fitz had been polite but there was a very frosty edge to it.

On the other hand, Karen and Gerry had been very glad to see her again and Olivia had joined the pair of teens with their father for a day at the beach, playing volleyball with Gerry and joining Karen in the water. After a quick lunch, all 3 Grants had shanghaied her into building a massive sandcastle and there was a picture of the 4 of them laughing together circulating in the local news media. The second day consisted of a movie marathon and they had gone on a helicopter ride after lunch earlier, taking in the active volcanoes and the ocean. The kids were currently asleep upstairs and Fitz had been enjoying a drink of Glenlivet in the lounge as he waited for her to finish her swim…

In contrast, Mellie had spent the first morning in the hotel spa and then had remained mainly in her suite for next two days, stewing and sullen at her failed maneuvers.

She had wanted to get a piece of the positive media exposure the Presidential Holiday was getting. After all, she still had her own political ambitions and any good Optics could help, especially since Hollis and Andrew were being uncooperative at the moment.

She had wanted to use Karen and Gerry as pawns to get an in with Fitz or at least rattle his cage. He was just too calm and happy. They had been married for over a decade with two kids but their divorce had barely stumbled him. In fact, he seemed to be happier and that just wouldn't do!

She had wanted to rub Olivia's face in the fact that she was still the mother of Fitz's children despite the divorce and to make her feel insecure about her position in Fitz's life. She may be the President's girlfriend now but that didn't mean that she was the Queen Bee. Someone needed to bring her down a few pegs and fast.

None of that had happened so Mellie being Mellie had gone for the direct approach, the brazen approach, the Mean Girls approach and it had blown up completely in her face.

She looked and sounded like a crazed ex that wouldn't let it go and a spoiled brat. In contrast, Olivia had kept her voice down and even as she brutally ripped into the woman, there had been a genuine crack of sadness in her voice. It wasn't for Mellie. She truly did not care about the woman. The sadness was for Fitz and the kids. There had been a time when the 3 of them had wanted Mellie's unconditional love and care but had been denied it time and time again. Before the anger, indifference, and resignation set in, there had to have been deep hurt.

The very idea of Fitz, Gerry, and Karen in that deep pain made her want to weep and make sure that all 3 of them would never, ever hurt that way again…

"Go home, Mellie. Tonight, not tomorrow, tonight. Get out. You're done here."

"Fitz, she…"

"…is once again completely right. You made your choices. You made your bed and now, you need to go and lie in it far away from me and my children. Go back to California. Go back to Virginia. I don't care. Just leave. Karen and Gerry are old enough to decide for themselves if they want to see you and…Olivia's not going anywhere anytime soon. Even if she was, you and I are very much done. We can co-parent but any other sort relationship is off of the table, including friendship at this point. The only good things to come from us being together are the kids and that good is mainly despite us."

"You mean despite me, don't you?!You're always the good guy and I'm the Iron Maiden!"

"I do not have the strength or the inclination to deal with you any further. Find Cyrus and he'll help you with your travel arrangements. Get out. Go home. I want you in the air before dawn. Daniel, Matthew, see to it that Ms. Vaughn departs safely."

Fitz's gait was steady and he headed straight for her, catching her by the sleeve of the forest green pullover sweatshirt she had put on after her shower. Her white flip flops slapped a rhythmic cadence as she kept up with him and he pushed the call button for the elevator. The doors opened promptly and as soon as they slid shut behind them, his lips were on hers tenderly.

"…thank you…"

"I didn't overstep?"

"You didn't overstep, Livvie. She did. I'm sorry for…"

"Like I said to her, you're not to blame. It's all on her and until she accepts that, she's going to stay stagnant and miserable. Fortunately, you're no longer legally and morally obligated to be stagnant and miserable with her…so I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, huh? Don't I get a say in that?"

"Nope."

"How come?"

"Because I already know that you want to stay."

"…if you were any other man, I'd punch you in the face for being so arrogant and right."

Chuckling, Fitz pressed the button to take them back to their floor and tucked her into his side.

/

The Next Morning…

"Is she gone?"

"She's gone and the Agents need hazard pay. She was fine until they got to the hangar and then…"

"Right. Send me the bill and the names. I'll make sure it's taken care of before we leave."

"How's Liv doing?"

"She's all right. She's still sleeping."

"No, I'm not…don't look so disturbed, Cyrus. It's not like I'm naked."

Fitz smiled as she stepped up next to him in the doorway. Olivia coaxed him into a quick kiss good morning and Fitz tasted Scope and the honey mint Italian toothpaste she liked.

No, she wasn't naked but the ankle length white shift she had pulled on didn't leave much to the imagination, especially with all of the sunshine coming through the open French doors. Not to mention the passion mark that was on her clavicle and the utter disarray of her hair.

"Small blessing there. I better get going. James claims that a walk on the beach will be good for my health but I don't think so. It's best to keep him happy, though. He pouts."

"Bye, Cyrus. Try not to burst into flames."

Fitz shut the suite's door and watched as she settled back into bed on her stomach, patting the mattress next to her significantly. After removing his pajama pants, he joined her, resting his head between her shoulder blades. The bedding was pulled back over them and he felt soothed to the bone at that moment.

"What do you want to do today?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all?"

"Mm-hm…well, maybe I could do you on the balcony for lunch but other than that, I am perfectly content to stay here and catch up on my sleep debt."

"Sounds like a plan…hey, Liv?"

"Mm-hm?"

"I love you."

"…I love you, too. I'm in love with you, too."

"You are?"

"I am. I don't say it unless I mean it. I love you."

Fitz smiled and squeezed her, listening as her breathing slowed, evened out, and eventually became punctuated with soft snuffling snores.

Hopefully, he'd be able to hear her snores and keep her love for the rest of his life.