Author's Note:

This fanfic is trying to make lemonade out of the Season 5 lemon we got as Olitz shippers.

I broke my cardinal rule about not starting a new story when I haven't finished (or almost finished) one I have started unless the new story is a one-shot. However, I felt the muses crying out and had to heed to the call.

My fanfic writing is my therapy for Olitz breakup unless there is a 12-step program for Olitz addicts somewhere out there.

This story isn't a rewrite of Olitz canon or an attempt to course correct for Season 6 but rather creating a story would allow Olitz to live on after Season 5 and what the world of SR and SP has in mind for Season 6 is anyone's guess.

Fitz was settled in his private office/study room on Air Force One sipping Scotch while watching the latest TV news report on Olivia. Olivia was recovering from emergency brain surgery to remove a blood clot that she sustained after she fainted, tumbled down a flight of stairs and hit her head when her body made contact with the landing. Fortunately, Olivia was surrounded by people when the accident happened. She was with Mellie on a campaign trip in Boulder, Colorado and the Secret Service agents who were assigned to protect Mellie as the Republican presidential candidate called for help immediately.

According the news report, the surgery went well and Olivia should be fine. However, commentators and analysts were focused on the impact of Olivia's medical situation on Mellie's campaign. Olivia would be out of action for a few weeks as she was recovered from the accident and surgery. While the brain injury was the most critical, Olivia also suffered a broken arm which was now in a cast. Fortunately, the broken arm was a simple break and not a compound fracture which would have required surgery to set it with pins and plates.

Fitz was in Germany when he heard the news about the accident. He was attending an economic summit with his Treasury Secretary Jason Lau on monetary valuation, with a particular focus on the future of the euro and how the underlying problems that lead to the devaluation of the euro remain persistent. As the soon-to-be exiting POTUS, he put in his two cents at the summit but his fellow summit attendees probed him to get a sense as to what his future successor's thoughts on the matter. He politely told them they should ask the presidential candidates themselves. Just because one of them was his ex-wife, it didn't mean he knew what Mellie's thoughts were on the future of the euro.

He used Abby as his intermediary to get information on Olivia's condition when he heard about the accident. As much as he wanted to talk to Olivia, he thought it would be best he didn't. While there was the practical matter of Olivia being incapacitated from the accident and not being unable to speak, he was also trying to maintain his distance with her after their talk about her "choices". He was still hurting it from it.

Despite telling Jake he was happy he was free, Fitz knew it was a lie. He was wrestling the conflicting emotions of loving Olivia entirely with his heart and the need to cast her out of it. Olivia couldn't see or didn't want their dream of jam, Vermont, and kids anymore. He couldn't want the dream anymore if he just him wanting it. He needed to move on, or at least to stop loving Olivia long enough for him to love someone else and build a different set of dreams and hopes. Even though he was in his mid-50s, Fitz still hoped for the possibility of a second marriage and having a second family. Granted, it wouldn't be the same with someone else but he would have the chance to be happy.

This was something he would work on after he left office. As a sitting "bachelor" President, trying to have a dating and love life was extremely difficult. Not only were there privacy issues but also he was an easy target for flattery and charm as he quickly learned from his experience with Lillian Forrester and his parade of one-night stands. Lillian was someone who he had been attracted to and thought as possible dating and may be girlfriend material but she had used him for her professional gains. The parade of one-night stands was his way of self-medicating to deal with the pain of losing Olivia.

The use of Abby as his intermediary was also the best alternative he had since he didn't want to call Mellie to ask about Olivia. After Mellie's "lovely" speech to him at the Republican Party convention, he thought it would best for him to stay away from Mellie for his emotional and psychological preservation. Mellie and Olivia hadn't asked him to campaign for Mellie and this suited him just fine. He didn't need to get into an emotional maelstrom with his former wife and former girlfriend at the same time.

Abby called on her former OPA colleagues, Quinn and Huck to ask about Olivia. Fortunately, the hostility between the White House camp and the OPA camp over the Republican party nomination race abated enough that Quinn shared information with Abby on Olivia's condition during those initial hours after the accident. Abby gave him an update as needed while he was in Germany.

After Fitz and Jason Lau boarded Air Force One for their return trip back to the US, they had dinner in his private office/study as they recapped points from the summit. As they were having dinner, Ethan, who accompanied them on the trip as the Acting Press Secretary since Abby's promotion to Chief of Staff, debriefed the press corps who traveled with them to the summit. Members of the press corps did ask questions about Olivia's accident. Ethan, the ever consummate professional just answered that the President hoped Olivia to get well and be back on her feet soon.

When he and Jason finished their dinner, Jason expressed his thanks to him for his hospitality and left the room. After Jason left, Fitz turned on the TV that was in the room to watch the latest news highlights of the day as he decompressed from the exhausting summit with his favorite Scotch. As soon the latest report of Olivia's finished airing, a report about this year's presidential race would be one of firsts, the first female and the first Hispanic nominees for president, and an openly gay man as the vice-presidential nominee, followed it. Fitz stay tuned to watch the report to see there would be any mention of Mellie's and Cyrus's past relationship to each other.

While Fitz was watching the news program, there was a knock on the door. He instructed the person to come in. A flight steward entered the room and said, "Mr. President, there is a phone call from your daughter. We are patching her through to you."

Fitz said "Thank you" before the steward left the room.

Karen was with Mellie in Colorado for the campaign trip even though Karen had been desperate to get out of it. She told him that she wanted to go to Europe with him instead being on the trail with Mellie. However, Mellie and Olivia put their foot down and insisted she go with them to Colorado. As it was, he wasn't seeing much of Teddy because he was also on the trail with Mellie. Mellie and Olivia thought the presence of Karen and Teddy would help Mellie with the mommy vote.

Mommy, as the word echoed in Fitz's head. The one word he hoped that he would get to hear Olivia to be referred to as. However, Olivia didn't want to hear it, and perhaps she didn't want it at all. Or perhaps, Olivia didn't want it to be their children to call her that and was reserving the right to children she wanted to have with someone else. Like Jake. Even though Jake was now married to Vanessa, it didn't mean he couldn't get a divorce. He could get a divorce when he became Vice President, with Olivia figuring out a way to make it happen while managing the optics.

Fitz had been pre-occupied with the thought of his broken dream when the phone rang in the room. He picked up the handset and answered, "Hi, sweetheart, what's up?"

"Dad, you need to come to Boulder. It's an emergency. It's Olivia," said Karen in an alarmed voice.

"What's wrong with Olivia? I just saw a news report that said she was fine," responded Fitz while trying to maintain a calm voice.

"I can't talk to you about it over the phone but you need to come," insisted Karen.

Before Fitz could respond back, he could hear some background noise before another voice came on the phone.

"Fitz…"

Fitz immediately recognized the voice. "Mellie, what's going on? What's happened to Olivia?"

"Fitz, you need to come to Boulder. Now." There was a pause before Mellie said in a pleading tone, "Please."