Chapter 1

He paced back and forth in front of his desk. That was his usual routine before giving speeches. He hated giving speeches. He hated stepping in front of about four hundred and fifty people and either confirming or denying a side's wishes for him to either support or veto whatever bill that was on the table at the time. This time, a bill that was up for gun control was up for support and it was up to him to say the words everyone wanted to hear, "I support the NRA." After all, they were one of the leading financial contributors for his campaign run and, as a staunch Republican; they do support most of the things he has brought to congress for approval. So what was the problem now? Fitzgerald Grant, III, Fitz as he loved to be called by his closest people, did not have a problem getting his vote to go through. Cyrus came in earlier to confirm that they did have the majority vote on this bill and had even chuckled when he said, "even the democrats wanted to get in on this bill. They knew it would be stupid if they did not. Democrats: gotta love 'em." So why did he feel the need to pace? Olivia. Fitz let out a small chuckle. Olivia Carolyn Pope. That one woman could turn the fate of a nation upside down with a smile and she did not even know it. One glance his way and any major decision could be made, whether it would be right or wrong. He wouldn't care about the consequence, just as long as she was at least half as happy as she made him.

Fitz found himself in front of his favorite window, looking out at the press, praying to whatever god would listen to his broken heart at the moment to hear his one plea. With his hand on the curtain, Fitz closed his eyes and whispered, "If you're still listening and you still believe in our love, please let me see her, or hear her, or touch her. I need her. You know I need her. Please?" He reluctantly opened his eyes and wiped away the single tear that managed to escape the duct right before he heard a knock at the door. "Come in" ordered Fitz, hoping that any signs of his emotions was gone. After all, he is the leader of the free world and any signs of emotions were not to be seen no matter the circumstance. "Ha, leader of the free world and I'm not even free to love you." Fitz mumbled under his breath while shifting his memories of Olivia to focus as Cyrus entered the Oval office.

"Sir, it is time." Cyrus informed as he made his way to Fitz. "Do you have all that you need?"

Ha. All that I need Fitz thought as he began to tune out Cyrus' line of questioning. How do I answer that question? Can I even answer that question without revealing more of what's on my mind? Would he even have a clue where I could find her? It is been three weeks and not even a mention of her name or a "how is she" has passed between them. Is she really gone? Has Mellie finally made good on her promise?

"Sir, the senate is waiting. Are you ready?" Cyrus finally broke through his thoughts.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Fitz said as the two men left the office.

Half a world away, Olivia sat in a one-piece bathing suit and sheer wrap on the coast of the Mediterranean taking in the sun's rays and trying to avoid going back to her hotel room to catch Fitz on the computer as he was giving his first speech of the year. It was usually her favorite time of the year as it was the time he felt most confident. They'd spend countless evenings working on his speeches and each other and it was her custom to give him a pep talk and a kiss before he walked to the Senate floor and before she left to take her seat in the balcony of the senate. When he first asked her to sit in on the speech the first year of his presidency, she declined. She did not want the odd questions from her ex, Edison, to dampen the beauty of the moment. However, one beg from Fitz and she found herself sitting in the darkest corner of the balcony where Edison couldn't see but where Fitz could find her if he needed her. This is the first year that she hasn't taken her special seat and the first year he'd be completely alone. Alone. The very thing they had promised each other would never happen, ever. "We're in this together" they said as they took the first step to try to put into words exactly what it was they were in. Now, he was alone and she…she was a half a world away feeling worse than alone. She felt isolated. But if she did not leave, she knew Mellie would have made good on her promise and since Fitz thought she had betrayed him once, she knew he'd never forgive her if Mellie delivered on her promise to tell Fitz her findings. He's been so wonderful to her. He'd forgiven her for Defiance – they had long since cleared up her reasoning for her choice in that matter and she'd forgiven him for Verna's death and his role in why the cameras were in her apartment. They promised each other no more secrets. No more lies. They renewed their vow of being in this together and have so far kept it. However, she had slipped up once again. She did not mean for it to happen but it just did.

Olivia rolled her eyes and groaned, "is this what people mean by vacation? This is so boring!" She decided that she would go swimming to try to shed the thoughts of Fitz from her mind. As she took off her wrap and put on her swim cap, she allowed herself one more thought. As much as I love Fitz, I'd rather not have Mellie mess things up for him on account of me. So I bow out Mellie. He's all yours…for good. With that final thought, she took her first step into the Mediterranean for her swim.

Ninety minutes later, Olivia emerged from the sea to see a man standing by her things. She wasn't alarmed, after all it was Italy and Europeans are often close to one another as it is their custom. However, the closer she got, she noticed he wasn't moving away or the least bit frightened of her. It actually seemed as if he was waiting on her return.

"Signora, perdonatemi but you have a phone call in your room," the gentlemen said.

"Ah, gratzie signor. I'll get it at once," Olivia said as she quickly threw on her wrap and packed up her gear while preparing to get into her fixer mode.

In some small way, through her swim, she began to get peace with her decision to leave Fitz alone. She did not know if it would work but she was determined to give it her best shot. Olivia finally unlocked her room with her card key, dropped her gear at the door and bolted towards the phone.

"Olivia Pope."

"There you are! We've been searching everywhere for you! When are you coming back? You've got to get back here now!"

"Abby, can you tell me why you need me? What is so important that I've got to return right now?" Olivia questioned.

"Have you not been watching the news? Do they even have news where you are? Whatever, there's no time to chat. Get on the first plane back here now. They need you." Abby barked out, knowing she'll hear it later. However, she did not care because the situation was that crucial and it was just something one does not tell Olivia Pope over the phone.

"Abby, can you give me anything? Any word whatsoever of what's going on? I'm going to need some information so I can begin to work up a strategy. Tell me something, please?" Olivia barked back and it was at that moment Abby realized that it sounded much better coming from her and decided that any further answers or begging would have to be of a different approach.

Sensing that she was starting to panic, Harrison decided to take over the phone call.

"Olivia, you gotta come back now. NO time to waste. Things are going down here and people need you. He needs you."

Olivia held her breath on that last sentence. He needs me.

"Harrison, I'm on my way as soon as I find the earliest plane back I'll…" Harrison cut her off.

"No time for that Liv. He sent a plane to you. Meet the plane at Fontanarossa in thirty minutes. It is there already but it is refueling. And Liv, it is bad. It is really, really bad. Be prepared for the worst when you get here."

The next sound she heard was a click and it was the noise she needed to jump into fixer mode and begin to focus on more than saving Fitz. As she took the ride to the plane, she took out her wi-fi card and computer and took a look online for any developments that had gone down in the past three hours. She hit CNN and found…nothing. She shrugged it off and headed to FOXNews and again, nothing was found. She was dumbfounded as to why she was needed. She almost asked the driver to turn the car around when she decided to check her email. There it was. The information she needed. As soon as she saw it, she felt sick to her stomach. She could not believe her eyes and more importantly, she couldn't comprehend the reason why it happened. What made him do this? Why there? She slammed her laptop shut, turned off her wi-fi key, shoved them both in her computer case and prepared to get out of the taxi that has been escorted to the private area where the plane was awaiting her arrival. Noticing they had about five minutes left until she actually reached the plane, she shut her eyes closed trying to erase the words from her mind but there they were, etched on the black space behind her eyelids, written in all caps : "I KNOW AND THERE IS NOTHING ELSE LEFT FOR ME TO DO."