This takes place a few days after 707. It's an Olitz story and a story of Olivia's redemption, because I'm holding out hope that 707 was her darkest hour and the woman we all love is still there somewhere, even if Quinn had to die to bring her back. I am 50/50 on whether Quinn is actually dead, but she is in this story.

This fic is going to jump around a lot in time, so I use time markers to explain. What you are seeing here is the beginning of several conversations that will be expanded in subsequent chapters.

Reviews are really appreciated!

ONE WEEK AFTER 707 - QUINN'S FUNERAL

The gladiators are gathered for Quinn's funeral. Liv stands just a little bit apart from everyone else, symbolic of how she is no longer one of them. At one point, she notices Marcus hand Abby an envelope.

After the service, Abby comes over and gives her a hug, whispering in her ear. "I know the truth. I know everything," Abby whispers in a manner reminiscent of what Liv did to Cyrus in 602 at Frankie's funeral. Liv looks horrified, which fortunately Abby cannot see but may have felt.

In the background, we see Huck eyeing the conversation curiously without being conspicuous.

Abby shocks Liv, and the audience, even more with what she says next. "I know the truth and I'm going to get you through this."

FOUR DAYS EARLIER (THREE DAYS AFTER 707)

Fitz is struggling to hang a "Black Lives Matter" poster in his new office, but stops when he sees Abby standing in the doorway, looking distraught.

"Abby, what are you...I heard about Quinn Perkins. I'm so sorry," he says softly.

Abby blinks back tears. "You should have told me the truth," Abby says angrily. "Quinn might still be alive if you had told me the truth!"

"The truth about what?" Fitz asks, confused. "Marcus told me Quinn went missing on her wedding day, and that she turned up yesterday at a morgue in Silver Spring. That's all I know."

Abby shakes her head. "That's not what I meant and you know it! When you got back from La La Land you came to our office and asked for our help with all those case files of missing black girls. But the truth is, you didn't come back to DC to save boxes full of missing black girls. You came back to save one."

ONE WEEK AFTER 707 - QUINN'S FUNERAL (cont'd)

Olivia looks shaken and confused by Abby's words.

"Abby, I don't know what you think you..." she starts, recovering a little. Abby puts her hand up to silence her.

"Stop. This isn't a setup. Here," she says, handing Liv a small envelope.

"What is this?"

"It's the recording your father made of your conversation right before he shot Quinn." Olivia recoils.

"Don't ask how I got it," Abby urges. "What matters is, I'm giving it to you so nobody else can get their hands on it. I'm not out to get you. I promise."

"Why?" Olivia asks shakily.

"Why am I not out to get you?"

Olivia nods.

"Because I've stood where you're standing," Abby says softly. "Because I've been to the dark side of the moon and I'm living proof that you can come out on the other side. And because Fitz isn't the only one who refuses to accept that the real Olivia Pope is gone for good."

At Abby's last words, Liv is even more shaken.

12 HOURS LATER

Liv is back in Rowan's living room, startled as she hears a gun shot, followed by Quinn crying out 'no, please!'.

The scene flashes to a few minutes later, when she stoicly follows Rowan to the basement and desperately tries to show no emotion as she sees Quinn's dead body.

Then Liv gasps when she hears Quinn speak in the background, despite laying lifeless right in front of her.

"I told you, you were never about justice," Quinn says angrily."You never wore the white hat. You were never the person you pretended to be."

Liv wakes up shaking.

A little while later, she finds herself knocking on the door to Fitz's hotel room at 2 am.

"Liv. What are you...come on in," Fitz says gently. He hesitantly puts his hand on her back and guides her inside. She lets him for just a moment, then pulls away as she starts to say what she came here to say.

"She doesn't exist anymore," Liv says firmly.

"What?"

"The Olivia Pope you came back here to find. The Olivia Pope that you manipulated Abby into thinking she could save. The Olivia Pope you think you love - she doesn't exist anymore. And to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure she ever did."

I hope you enjoyed this and that it was not too confusing. Later chapters will flesh out Fitz and Abby's conversation three days after 707, and then the Olitz conversation that begins at the end of this chapter.

Reviews are really appreciated! Feel free to be honest if you think it could be improved.