I own nothing except my active imagination. Scandal and all of its wonderful characters belong to the phenomenal Shonda Rhimes.

The thing is, I needed therapy after that season 2 finale so here it is. Not sure if I'll continue or not, but let me know what you think.

"Dad?"

Olivia sat opposite the man she had tried to distance herself from for most of her adult life. She knew he lived and worked around the D.C. metro area but tried very hard not to think about it. She hadn't seen nor heard from him in over seven years and had to wonder if the melee outside her apartment wasn't orchestrated by him. She would almost be disappointed if it wasn't him. That's what he did. He destroyed whatever he could in her life.

He studied her closely for several moments before he spoke. She looked so much like her mother. She acted just like her also, which is why he knew she'd jump into bed with Jake when he gave the younger man orders to bed her. He had worked hard for everything he had and to provide a roof over the heads of his young family. When he came home that day and found his wife in bed with the neighbor, he lost it. He never spoke of that day, and Olivia was the only witness to his meltdown, but when he noticed her in the hallway it was too late to do anything about what she'd seen and heard. That was the day he lost his wife and daughter, not to mention a neighbor. He'd decimated the poor man and came close to killing his wife, but he hadn't.

Olivia also took the time to examine her father. He was grayer around the edges but still a hard ass who cared for nothing and no one but himself. Growing up she'd had her suspicions about what he did for a living. The late night exits and clandestine phone calls always piqued her interest, but that day it was all made clear. She watched him kill their neighbor and then clean it up as if nothing had happened. When he made a move toward her mother, Olivia made her presence known, knowing, or at least hoping that it would spare her mother the same fate. He didn't kill her mother, not that day anyway. He did it slowly, with intimidation and long menacing stares. Her mother was afraid for the last two years of her life. Olivia was always sure she had died of a broken heart.

Oliva was the one to find her mother immobile with ashen skin after a rainy school day. Truth be told, she had expected to find her mother dead one day, but she was always sure it would be at the hand of her father. He never really spoke to them after the incident. He moved a housekeeper in to take care of Olivia for the next few years, but he'd pretty much checked out. Rosa was a dream, a national of Ecuador and all around good person. She was also a fantastic cook. That's where Olivia picked up much of her Spanish, but she kept her distance from Rowan after the incident. She adopted her mother's maiden name as her own as soon as she was legally able and decided to move on with her life. She kept in touch with Rosa until the woman passed away several years ago. She had been alone since then. After Rowan didn't bother showing up for her high school graduation, she essentially stopped all contact with him.

Olivia had earned a full ride scholarship to George Washington Univ. so she no longer needed him. That was the way she tried to live her life, not needing anyone. But the world is a big place and alone gets lonely sometimes. She'd been on her own until she met Huck. They sort of clung to each other as only two lonely souls could. She worked hard and pushed herself to get where she was. Sure she had help here and there, with Cyrus being one of the main ones she could turn to, especially when she was younger, but Liv was no fool. She knew how the world worked. Her father had taught her well. She sighed when she looked at the man who had changed the trajectory of her life. Whether he knew it or not, he made sure that Olivia would never let anyone get as close to her as her mother had let him get. She couldn't be bothered. That's why she'd sent the love of her life back to his conniving wife. She couldn't take the chance that Fitz would turn into her father.

A nagging little voice in the back of her mind kept trying to push down the wall she'd erected. It tried to tell her that Fitz and Rowan were light years apart but she wouldn't budge, especially after learning that Fitz had killed Verna. Olivia couldn't afford to let her guard down. She would not turn out like her mother. Men were good for pleasure. Everything else she could handle on her own.

She straightened herself up in the seat and looked the man up and down. "What is it that you wanted?"

A smirk spread across his face. She had adopted the great Olivia Pope attitude but he knew how to bring her down a peg or two.

He cleared his throat and adopted the same business like manner. "I want to know why you're whoring your way around the white house. There aren't enough available men in D.C. for you to spread your legs for?"

She could only shake her head. He was such a sad little man. She truly loved Fitz, but she doubted her father had ever really known that feeling. "There are enough men to go around, in fact, I'd like to thank you for the one you sent my way. I enjoyed him."

He snorted in disbelief. "You're just like your mother."

She shook her head again. "No. Growing up with you helped me get my priorities straight. I have no need to tie myself to a small minded, psychotic man who abandons me for the thrill of taking others lives and then blames me for his short comings."

"You watch your mouth."

"Or what? You're going to kill me like you did Mr. Spencer? Or did you prefer to slowly torture me over the course of time like you did to mom?"

"Your mother was a whore."

"My mother was a lonely woman who had really bad taste in men. She was beautiful and smart and she deserved better than you."

"She got what she deserved."

Olivia nodded in agreement. "She did. She finally found a man who knew how to love her, but then you took him away from her. She was only allowed to be miserable as long as you were alive, right? Did you know that Mr. Spencer was an excellent cook? He was such a great guy. He used to make us laugh all the time. It was completely different than when you were home."

Rowan leaned forward as the veins on the top of his head began to pulsate. "Shut. Your. Mouth."

She smiled slyly. "Again, you called this little meeting and I have yet to hear why."

"You know, your mother was a bitch too."

"Apparently not enough of one. What. Do. You. Want?"

He leaned back into the plush leather seat and smiled. He had one card left to play that he knew would get to her. "You really want to watch how you talk to me. Your little friend, what's he calling himself these days, Huck? He could disappear at any time."

She took a deep breath and leaned toward him to make sure he caught every word she was about to unload on him. "Touch him and your life will change for the worse. Besides Mr. Spencer, I've got plenty of names of people who've disappeared around D.C. over the last twenty or so years. People that you were the last to see. People who had no association to the government whatsoever. Did you really want the higher ups at the department of defense to know that the head of B613 is a psychopathic serial killer, who likes to murder people for the hell of it?"

When he didn't answer, she reached for her headphones.

When he spoke again, he almost sounded contrite. "I was just trying to look after my daughter."

"You don't have a daughter. And just so we're clear, if anything happens to Huck, me, or any member of my team, and there's any inkling that you were involved, I've already made plans for your murderous history to go public. And please don't worry about my love life any longer. You taught me that powerful men can't be trusted. I've ended it with the president and I'll likely end it with whoever the next guy is also."

Olivia unlocked her door when the limo came to a stop at a red light. "Have a good life Rowan." She hopped out and easily made her way to the safety of the nearest sidewalk before traffic started moving again. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Huck.

"Hi, I'm at Haynes Point and I need a ride back to the office."