A/N: Just my take on what would have happened if Fitz and Olivia gave the interview to Noah Baker in 5.03 instead of Fitz and Mellie. It didn't really come out the way I wanted it to, but I'm getting sick of rewriting it.

Also disclaimer, that I don't own any of this and I use some of the show's dialogue.

Olivia spins around to follow Fitz as he storms into the Oval with Liz following behind him. "Mellie's out. It doesn't matter what we give her, that woman's never going to be happy. But it's fine. Nothing's changed, we go ahead as planned."

Abby rushes into the room, a little breathless. "She's gone. Mellie, Cyrus. The motorcade just left the gate."

"I'll just give the interview myself." Fitz storms towards the door because this can't all be for nothing. He didn't just agree to sign his soul away to Mellie in order for this to all go to shit anyway. This has to work out. If not for him, then for Liv. "I'll go tell Noah Baker right now."

Liz is the first voice of reason to break through. "Mr. President, there is no interview without the First Lady."

"Of course there is."

Fitz it indigent and Olivia wishes that he would just take a deep breath and take a moment. He knows he can't do it alone, but he's flustered and upset, so he won't accept it even though he knows they're right. "No, there isn't."

"Sir, if going in there alone would have worked, we would have done that an hour ago."

"She's right."

Fitz stares at Olivia, lost. "So what's next? What do we do?"

Abby starts talking, but Fitz and Olivia maintain eye contact. "The only thing left to do is for you to let me do my job-"

"What if Liv does the interview? With me. We do it together."

"Sir, you can't give an interview with Olivia." Abby turns towards Olivia with her mouth open.

"If I don't give the interview, you're going to go into the press room and throw Liv under the bus! This has to be better than that!"

Liz shakes her head slightly before standing up straight and turning to the President. "The President of the United States cannot go on national television with his mistress and gossip about how he cheated on his wife and mother of his children with a former employee."

"Yes, he can." Olivia keeps her eyes locked with Fitz. She gets what he's doing. giving her another chance to come out of this with her reputation in tact. With her business, her brand, repairable. He's trying to limit what she has to give up for him, for them. Even though this interview is bad for him. Even though the optics will never be quite right for a stunt like this.

Liz and Abby whip their heads around so fast they'll both be sore tomorrow. "Liv…"

"It's not a live interview. We can screen the questions, make everyone sign contracts preventing them from speaking about anything that doesn't air. We could do this."

"It's not good optics. Not for him."

Olivia pauses. She knows that. She's Olivia freaking Pope. If Fitz were her client, she would be threatening to handcuff him to a chair to stop this. It's not just not good for him, it's bad. Awful. He'll look unfaithful and flippant and unremorseful if they do this interview. But if they sell it just right. If he can sell a love-struck, remorseful man who just wants to redeem himself with his children and the American people, it wouldn't destroy him. And it would help her. She's not going to come out of this interview as America's sweetheart, but she might come out of it a human being instead of a home-wrecking whore.

"I can take the hit."

"Mr. President-"

"I've already accomplished my goals. I'm a two-term President, I've made real change. I can take the hit. I'm not up for reelection, it doesn't matter what my poll numbers look like." Fitz breaks eye contact with Liv to glance at Abby. "Liv, she's got a business to run, people to take care of. Her poll numbers matter." Abby deflates just a bit as she listens to the President. But at the end of the day, she's a gladiator and apparently her boss is as well because they're all about to go over a cliff for Olivia. "We're doing the interview."

Liz brings a hand to her forehead and sinks into the couch, speechless. Abby turns from the President to Olivia. "What's our narrative?"

"The truth. We're still telling the truth," Fitz protests. He just wants everything to be out there.

Abby turns back around, all business. "The truth where you started sleeping with Olivia more than 6 years ago? The truth where you let an innocent campaign staffer be blamed as your mistress? The truth where it's Olivia on the sex tape? The truth where you went to war over your mistress? Is that the truth we're going with? Because I don't think we can sell that to the American people." Fitz's mouth is hanging open.

"She's right. We need a story we can tell. One that wins sympathy and makes people believe in true love. We can't just tell the truth."

"Fine. So what's the story?"

Fitz glances around. Everything's in motion around them. They're standing outside the interview room with Secret Service surrounding them while producers and lawyers and White House staff rush around trying to finalize everything before they go in. Fitz turns his attention to Olivia. She's tense. He can see that she wants to pace. That if she had even two feet of space to herself, she would start pacing. As much as it pains him, he thinks circles. She'd be pacing circles.

"Hi." Her head snaps towards him.

"Hi." He wants to reach out and take her hand or hug her or kiss her. But he can't. PDA is restricted despite the contracts everyone who dared to walk into the White House today was required to sign. He just wants to help her relax.

"One minute?" Olivia breaks eye contact to anxiously look at everyone rushing around them. This is not the ideal place. This is not an abandoned hallway in campaign headquarters. This is not her living room in her private apartment. This is not the few feet by the windows in the Oval where the cameras don't reach. This is very, very public.

"Fitz…"

"I know, I know. But just…" He takes a step closer to her. He's too close for them to defend. "I can't take your hand. I can't hold you. I can't kiss you. I can't do anything except this. And we're about to go into that room and put on a show and all I want is for us to be…us, for one minute. So let me do this."

Olivia glances around them one more time, before meeting his stare. "Okay. Just…right there."

A smirk plays on his lips at her words. She's nervous he'll drift closer. It's not an unreasonable concern. He probably will, even despite her words of warning. He's drawn to her. He can't help that.

Before their minute is up Abby coughs from beside them. "It's time."

Noah Baker is sitting across from the couch they're situated on. Fitz notes that when he was in here earlier with Mellie that there was no couch. The seating has been changed to force them to choose their own proximity. Fitz has his arm thrown over the back of Olivia's seat. He's turned towards her, but not one part of him is touching her, nor is he close enough to be at risk of touching her accidentally. Olivia is sitting straight with her legs crossed. Her back's at least 6 inches from the back of the couch, allowing her to deftly avoid Fitz's arm. He's not quite sure if Olivia or Abby had told him they're weren't allowed to touch or if he's just accustomed to hiding.

"I want to thank you both before we start for doing this interview."

"Of course. We understand that this is a confusing time for people and we just want to be open and honest."

Noah quirks an eyebrow, but doesn't say anything about Olivia's comment. "Let's get right to the questions, shall we?" Both Fitz and Olivia nod.

"Are you two having an affair?'

Fitz almost feels his face go blank. He thought that perhaps they would start off with an easy question, work their way up. But he's a politician and so the warm expression never leaves his face as he answers, "I'm in love with Olivia."

"And Olivia? Are you in love with President Grant?"

Olivia glances towards Fitz. What was she thinking? She doesn't want to be doing this interview. What is she supposed to say? "Yes."

"Olivia, you joined President Grant's first election campaign. Some would argue that you almost singlehandedly got him the Presidency."

"We had a lot of help." Fitz chuckles lightly.

"Mr. President? Do you disagree?"

"No, no. We had a great staff and a lot of help that was invaluable."

"But?" Noah prods.

"But Olivia's being modest. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."

"And is that first time you two met or had you met before she started working for you?"

"Cyrus Beene was a former professor of mine and he asked if I would join the team. I had never met President Grant before." Fitz tries to prevent a slight frown from inching onto his face at the use of his formal title. It's been so long since she refused to call him Fitz.

"That was about 7 years ago now. Is that when the affair started?"

Fitz is nervous about this question. There's never a good time to start cheating on your wife. He glances towards Olivia as he answers, "No. I was impressed by Olivia when I first met her. She's amazing at what she does and I was in awe, but we stayed professional." She nods to show her support of his answer.

"So when would you say that you crossed the line from professional to personal? Was it before or after the election?"

Fitz is still staring at Olivia. He knows he's supposed to look away. In fact, he's only to look at her when she's talking or Noah is speaking to her, but he can see the panic in her eyes. Knows that she wants to run. That she doesn't know how to answer these questions without allowing the shame she carries around with her to come spilling out. So he answers for her, "We've never discussed this, but I think I knew before she did. I mean we had become such close friends, but I think I knew I was in love before she did."

"Would you agree Olivia?"

Olivia takes a deep breathe and meets Fitz's eyes. She knows what he's referring to. He wanted to fire her, that's when he knew. Maybe he wasn't in love yet, but he knew then that he could be. "Yeah, he was first."

Olivia can see Noah debating whether to ask another timeline question. He wants to nail down when they started their affair. Wants to be able to nail down a specific time, so that the entire world can go back and rewatch every lie and carefully crafted defense of his marriage. But Noah knows that she and Fitz will avoid that at all costs. They don't need the whole world to know when they first kissed or slept together. It will only hurt the narrative they've crafted.

"Olivia, you left the White House after only a year of working as Communications Director. Why is that?"

"I left to start Olivia Pope and Associates, Noah."

"So it had nothing to do with the affair?"

"Running President Grant's winning campaign gave me the experience and name recognition that I needed to start my own firm. I would have eventually left the White House in order to take advantage of that, no matter my personal relationship with the President."

"Mr. President? Your thoughts?"

"Olivia was never meant to stand in anyone's shadow, let alone my own."

"When President Grant was shot, that must have been difficult for you." Olivia draws a sharp breath and then she feels Fitz's hand rest on her upper back. She just knows that there's a camera capturing his hand, but she leaves it be. "The White House decided to hand over control of the Press Room to you up until President Grant was well enough to take control of the country."

"The Press Secretary, as you know, had also been shot. As the former communication director, it just made sense for me to step up. I knew everyone who worked there, I understood how to speak to the press from the podium."

"At the time of the shooting, you were seeing Edison Davis, were you not?"

"I was."

"Was that relationship just for show?"

"Of course not. I knew Edison long before I met President Grant. We were engaged at one point and we were trying to see if we could work things out."

"Mr. President, you don't look surprised."

Fitz glances at Olivia and then turns his attention back to Noah. "I'm not. Olivia never hid her past relationships from me."

"A number of years ago, Mr. President, an audio tape was released to the public. At the time, Mrs. Grant stepped forward and said that it was a recording of the two of you. Is that true?"

"Not an approved question!" Abby's voice rings clearly over the hum of equipment, but Noah doesn't ask another question.

Fitz can feel Olivia tense next to him. If only Noah knew the jackpot he was sniffing at. "Olivia is the love of my life, but that doesn't mean that we spent the last several years engaging in an ongoing affair."

"And the pictures of Olivia in the private residence of the White House?"

"My circumstances changed a number of months ago and Olivia and I reconnected."

"Are you saying that you and Mrs. Grant have been separated for months?"

"Not an approved question, move on!" Abby's voice comes through from behind Noah.

"Did Mrs. Grant know about the affair?"

"Not an approved question!"

"It's fine." Olivia takes a deep breath, but Fitz interrupts her.

His wife, his responsibility. Liv wasn't a fixer today. "Any comments made about Mellie's knowledge or lack thereof will come from Mellie herself."

"Do you regret the affair?" Noah's question is meant for the both of them, but he's staring at Olivia.

Olivia looks down at her hands. On her left pointer finger is the ring Fitz gave her. Her promise to him. She wants to fidget with it, but the last thing they need is the media to find out that he gave her a diamond ring. "I wish I had never met him. I wish we had never fallen in love. There might be two more lonely people in the world, but there would be a lot less pain."

"Do you share that sentiment, Mr. President?"

Fitz swallows and tries to clear the ache her words have left in him. He doesn't wish they'd never met. He can't. "What kind of a coward was I to marry her and not wait for you to show up?" He's mumbling his words because they're not meant for anyone but Olivia.

"Mr. President?"

Fitz turns his attention back to Noah. "I wish I had met her sooner. Before I was running for President, before I got married. I wish I had met her sooner."

"Cut!"

Noah leans forward in his seat and stick out his hand. "Thank you both for doing this."

Fitz wants to scoff because Noah forced their hand and he knows that, but instead he smiles and shakes hands, waits while Noah and Olivia shake hands and exchange pleasantries.

And then suddenly everything around them is in motion again. People breaking down the set and White House staffers directing them. Fitz can see Abby and Liz lining the room watching them, waiting. He can feel the Secret Service staring. Olivia doesn't move though. He turns towards her, but he doesn't speak. As a fixer, Olivia would be giving commands and taking charge. As the scandal, he imagines she would want to get out of here as soon as possible. But she's not moving, so he just stays put even though he can see Abby and Liz getting antsy.

"You okay?" He mutters. She just nods. The room is almost empty now. Only a few camera crew. Abby and Liz have dispersed in order to wrangle the production safely out of the White House. Olivia lays a gentle hand on his chest, but then she's applying pressure, so he leans back into the couch and then she's closing the few inches between them. He wraps his arm around her shoulders as she tucks her head into his neck. Then she throws a leg over his in an attempt to cross her own.

He kisses her head quickly, hoping no one's paying close enough attention besides the Secret Service. He knows they should wait to do this. They should go back to the Oval or the residence. He knows that Olivia knows this, would even insist on it most days. But he's also more than happy to indulge with her today. To just this once, in an almost empty room with everyone contract bound, not hide how in love with Olivia Pope he is.