Posted on March 19th, 2018

Author's Note:

Episode 7x14 is providing cautious optimism for the resurrection of Olitz. I say cautious optimism in that us Olitzshippers have been screwed over and over again and who knows what SR and Shondaland has planned in mind by the final episode.

While Scandal wouldn't be Scandal unless there was some crazy-ass political intrigue but I think there are enough us Olitzshippers who would prefer have the political intrigue be the backstory while watching Olivia and Fitz be a couple again or at least have a proper Olitz-centric episode among the remaining episodes of the show.

This short fanfic would be an Olitz-centric episode (think of 14B) that picks up from when Olivia leaves the Grant Institute after the press conference to when poor Charlie gets arrested and being hauled away by the FBI for being falsely accused of hacking Air Force Two (no thanks to Cyrus' devious machinations).

The usual disclaimer – Scandal characters are the IP of SR and Shondaland.

Olivia, wearing her favorite casual pullover top and comfy leggings, was sitting on her living room sofa enjoying a cup of her favorite tea while watching the morning news. The news cycle was still focused on the issue of sexual predatory behavior among members of Congress, with more names being disclosed. At the rate things were going, it was becoming a question as to whether or not Congress would be able to get any work done if members were resigning left and right because of the scandal and special elections were needed to be held to fill vacant seats.

Olivia being able to stay home to watch the morning news and not be rushed was that she now unemployed again. She finished her guest teaching stint at DeWitt University and was trying to figure out what to do next. The university offered her a visiting lecturer position but she declined. As part of the professional responsibilities with being a lecturer would be administrative duties for the school and as well as provide advisement to students. While she enjoyed teaching and interacting with students, she didn't have the inclination to sit on university committees or felt she had the patience to help students to pick out their courses for next term.

Olivia knew what she wanted to do was to help people, especially people who have been victims of injustice, and she needed to figure out way to do this while she still wrestled with her inner demons. Between helping Annelise Keating with her US Supreme Court class action lawsuit and helping to uncover the sexual harassment of Congressional interns, Olivia knew she was finding her way back. While what she did were "wins" as to use Mellie's term, they weren't simply wins but also her reclaiming her identity as Olivia Pope, gladiator. She had become a Ms. Hyde during the past couple of years and was slowly in the process of rediscovering her Dr. Jekyll. However, the tragic ending in the fictional story of Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde made Olivia wondered whether she could fully come back to the Olivia Pope she had been before.

In her case, the combination of nature and nurture worked against her. Her father was a spy who oversaw a covert operations unit for the CIA and where murder was part of its modus operandi and her mother had been an international assassin, both of whom raised in her an environment of lies and all the while dumping their own "baggage" on her. Indeed, the Hyde behavior she fell into was the worst of her parents combined. Yet, somehow, she found a crack and managed to crawl herself out and start on the journey of becoming her old self and sorting out her life.

In the process of sorting out her life, Olivia hoped to have find some kind of normality in a relationship with her parents. Her attempt with her mother Maya had been futile and in the end, she "freed" her mother of the responsibility of being her mother by letting her go off to the Paris with enough money to start a new life. Olivia received a card from Maya letting her know she safely arrived and gave her the address of her Paris home. She didn't know Maya gave her contact information so that Olivia could find her in an emergency or was hoping that Olivia would make a trip to Paris to see her. Olivia kept Maya's contact information on hand in case of the former rather than needing the information should she need a place to stay if she was traveling to Paris.

Her relationship with her father was on slightly better note. After her shooting, her father Rowan checked on her daily by phone to make sure she was ok and no signs of infection had set in. After she fully recovered from her bullet wound, her father maintained a respectful distance while letting her know she could to come him if she needed him. She had dinner with him at his home a few days before she seeing her mother for the last time during her mother's supposed birthday celebration.

Perhaps it was the positive experience she had with her father that made her unrealistically optimistic about her mother. Rowan prepared a delicious 4-course Italian dinner coupled with excellent wine. They enjoyed the food and wine while they talked about the US Supreme Court class action lawsuit that she worked on with Annelise. Olivia noticed that her father set forth a different demeanor during dinner. Instead of the bombastic arrogance he normally displayed, he seemed mellow and reflective while sharing his opinions and thoughts. Their time together made her hopeful that she could have some kind of a relationship with her father that wasn't toxic and didn't involve power struggles.

However, Olivia also knew her father well enough that the man always had an angle or an "agenda" of some kind, and discovered what her father's next possible agenda with her might be.

During dinner, she excused herself to use the bathroom and while she was upstairs, she saw that her old bedroom was open and when she looked inside, she saw the bedroom was filled with baby items along with her things. She asked her father about it…

"Dad, why are there baby clothes and a crib inside my old bedroom?"

"They were for Quinn's baby daughter when they stayed here with me," he replied.

"But, Dad that was months ago. You don't need to keep the clothes and crib around. Perhaps you should donate them to Goodwill so that they will get used by a family who needs them…"

"No, no. I'm going to keep them. I know I can't force you to have children Olivia, but at some point, it might be something you may want to consider, and it would be good to have some things on hand. No need to spend more money when the time comes…"

Olivia wondered if her father might have been bitten with the "grandfather bug" after spending time taking care of baby Robin. The thought of her father being a doting grandfather who would be spoiling grandchildren was something she had trouble wrapping her head around. Was her father in his deluded thinking hoping that grandchildren would be dropped off at his place for visits when she and Fitz …

Olivia immediately checked herself when her train of thought went down that track. Her and Fitz having children together had been this long-ago dream. The ironic part to the dream was that Fitz still wanted to marry her and to have children with her even after her father murdered Jerry, Fitz's son. The man was so in love with her that he was willing to accept his son's murderer as his father-in-law, even though it might have been in name only.

After the failed intervention in Vermont, Olivia thought she burned all her bridges, especially with Fitz. However, what she was sensing that there was slow process of healing and working towards forgiveness, at least with Abby and Fitz, even though the explicit words hadn't been asked or said out loud. Don't be a stranger, Olivia Pope, said Fitz before she left the Grant Institute yesterday. When she heard those words, it provided her comfort in that it was Fitz's way of letting her know he wasn't angry with her anymore and he was there for her. More importantly, he was waiting for her when she was ready to come back to him. She had a feeling that Fitz knew she was working through "stuff" and needed time to do it. He was giving her time and space for her sort out her life and to come to terms the direction that she had taken her life during the past couple of years.

She still had work to do with "fixing" herself, and she also knew at some point she would need to have a discussion, a real discussion with Fitz about her decision to have the abortion without telling him about the pregnancy. Perhaps enough time had passed where the discussion wouldn't be painful or hurtful but it would be the needed explanation that would provide closure to the matter.

Fitz was sitting at his desk in his office at the Grant Institute and re-watching a YouTube video clip of Olivia's and Annelise's interview with Francesca Hunter. He was grinning as he watched the video. Since Fitz's attention was focused on the video, he hadn't realized that Marcus was about to head into his office.

Marcus stopped short of walking into the Fitz's office when he saw Fitz watching his computer screen. He recognized the grin and knew that Fitz was watching Olivia's and Annelise's interview with Francesca Hunter on YouTube. He wasn't sure how many time Fitz watched and re-watched the video but had Fitz been watching the interview over and over again on VHS, he probably would have worn out the video tape by now.

When Marcus stepped into Fitz's office, Fitz quickly paused the YouTube video and asked, "What's up, Marcus?"

"I just wanted to follow-up with some things with you," replied Marcus. However, rather than discussing work, he said, "You know, it might be good if you asked her out to dinner…"

"Ask who out to dinner?" asked Fitz in a rather vague "I don't know what you are talking about" voice.

"You know who, Fitz," replied Marcus with a slight shaking of his head.

"She might be busy," responded Fitz. "Anyway, I don't want to crowd her in…"

"I can assure you she is not busy. It's just dinner. It's not like you are asking her to move in with you at your hotel room or to permanently set up home in Vermont. Anyway, it is about time the two of you had a normal courtship…

"Normal courtship? What is that supposed to mean?" asked Fitz with a raised eyebrow.

"There was nothing normal about your relationship with Olivia. It started out as a clandestine love affair between the two of you and ended up with the two of you being a couple under the glaring public eye. Either circumstances would have spelled doom for a couple but the two of you got hit from one extreme to the other. Now, the two of you are living life under different circumstances – you are no longer POTUS and Olivia is outside of the crucible of the White House. The two of you are living a normal life, or as normal as can be for you as the former POTUS and Olivia after having been the second most powerful woman in Washington DC."

"There is nothing normal about being former POTUS, other than driving on the open road and cooking for myself and that only happens while I'm in Vermont…"

"You could cook for yourself if you choose to get your own place rather than stay at the hotel or chose a hotel that has kitchen facilities inside the room."

"There are reasons why I haven't gotten a place in DC…" retorted Fitz.

"There are two reasons that I can think of. One is that you have the house in Vermont and don't want to invest in another home here in DC, and this would make sense for someone who would have to worry about the cost factor with maintaining two homes. No offense, Fitz, while you may not be Warren Buffet or Bill Gates rich, you do have money and having two homes wouldn't be a tremendous burden, especially since the Vermont house has already been paid for. The other reason I can think of is that you don't want to buy a home here in DC unless Olivia was part of the decision. That is, it would be the home that the two would be living together. Hence, all of the more the reason why you should ask her out on a date and start the process of having a normal courtship. You setting up home with Olivia either here in DC or Vermont isn't going to happen unless you meet with her some way. The truth is that she is scared to make the first move after all that has happened."

Marcus took a breath and then continued on, "I get your reason for giving her space to figure things out for herself but I don't think it would hurt to let her know that you are willing to hold her hand while she is working through things."

"I'll take it under advisement," said Fitz in a somewhat presidential tone of voice.

"Good."

Marcus then began their work-related discussion and when he done and left Fitz's office, Fitz finished watching the YouTube video. Afterwards, Fitz got up from his chair and closed his office door. He went to back to his desk, picked up his cell and made a call. He waited anxiously for his call to be answered and felt a sigh of relief when he heard the familiar voice say, "Hi, Fitz."

"Hi, Livie. I was wondering if you were free to have dinner with me tonight?"