Executive Orders

CH 53 | A Quick Debriefing

"The President would like to meet with you before he exits his vehicle, Ma'am."

Olivia had been standing on the front veranda of Will Caldwell's North Carolina estate when she'd noticed the burst of activity on the grounds that she knew had to signify Fitz's eminent arrival.

Just before then, her mind had been on the brief but cryptic conversation she'd had with Nathaniel As soon as she'd arrived, both Peter and Will had escorted her directly into their father's presence.

Then she'd watched as a fresh wave of agents permeated the grounds, and one - locking eyes onto her - headed in her direction.

She met the female agent at the base of the stairs; Olivia recognized her as one of the new assignees reporting directly to Tom, Fitz's chief agent. "Is the President requesting a quick debriefing?"

"I believe so, Ma'am."

She followed her back to the second car in the grouping of three, just pausing long enough for the agent to open the door for her. Olivia smiled her thanks at the courtesy, then stepped down into the backwards-facing back seat.

The door closed behind her and Olivia allowed herself to relax. Knowing his preferences, Fitz was sitting on both the far and opposite side from where she'd seated herself, his concentration still on the papers in the folder he held in one hand, with that little lock of hair that sometimes loosed itself falling forward. Her heart fluttered unexpectedly in her chest as he looked up and caught her gaze.

"Good morning, Ms. Pope."

Remind him to wear blue more often. Olivia's mind cataloged the information for future use. Fitz was dressed in casual slacks and a cable-knit sweater, both of them a deep dark cobalt blue that definitely emphasized his own blue eyes.

"Good morning, Mr. President." Olivia replied, the warmth in her voice echoing his. "Was there something you needed?"

"Yes." Fitz closed and tossed the folder in his hands aside, then reached out for Olivia's hand, and pulled her into his lap. "You." He said, just before he brought his mouth down upon hers in a series of bone-melting kisses.

"I've... missed... you... too... damned... much." Fitz breathed the words against her lips.

Olivia feels a little bit light-headed but in a good way, in the very best way. "Me too..." she manages to say before he's kissing her again, his lips on hers reminding Olivia that no matter how short the time has been since she saw Fitz, it was too long. Too long since she's inhaled his scent, his touch and most of all, his taste and then - as his tongue slides between her lips and tangles with hers in the sweetest way - there was no more room for thought, only feeling and the feel of his mouth on hers was everything.

Their kiss ended as softly as it had begun; Olivia opened her eyes to find Fitz gazing at her, his adoration clear on his face.

"Hi." She said

"Hi." Fitz replied. Somewhere, some how, some-when, this had become their thing, he thinks and for a moment, Fitz is thinking of all the things there are to look forward to, all the things waiting to be added to that list. She should have been there when he'd finally fallen asleep, she should have been there when he'd woken up this morning. She should have been sitting across from him as he drank his coffee and nibbled at toast and hammered out the agenda for the day.

And one day, she would be.

"So about that briefing..." Olivia couldn't help the teasing laughter in her voice as she settled herself next to him.

That had been his intent, but that was before Olivia had climbed into his car and all rational thought left his mind.

"I really did want to touch base with you before I walked into the lion's den." This was true, but in spite of that, Fitz felt his ears burning and wondered if they were red. Around Olivia his emotions were quick to override his common good sense and this time was proving to be no different.

"I didn't plan this -" he stumbled over his words a little as he tried to explain. " Just couldn't help myself..."

Olivia laughed softly as she slipped her hand into his. "It's okay."

"I mean it, Olivia - it's just that - I couldn't help myself - and I'm not sorry..."

Fitz looks so much like a little boy caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar and he's so incredibly handsome and adorable all at the same time. Not for the first time, she gets a glimpse of what Fitz must have been like as a little boy and her heart simply melts at the thought.

Resisting the urge to tease him further, Olivia changed the subject, bringing Fitz up to speed with what she's said and done since her own arrival. "There's an odd dynamic happening among the Caldwell men in real time."

"Odd how?"

"Like me, I suspect that you've been asked to meet with Nathaniel first thing?"

When Fitz nodded his agreement, Olivia went on to explain that when she and Harrison had arrived, she'd been invited to do the same. What she'd noted was that after a few minutes of conversation it had been clear that Will had been expected to withdraw with Peter's wife and his fiancé while Peter - the Crown Prince - escorted Olivia into their father's presence. Only Will had made it very clear that he had no intention of going away.

"Also, I didn't inform them which airport I was flying into, but when we landed, there was a Caldwell car and driver. They'd dismissed the rental car I'd arranged."

"Interesting." Fitz said. "Brings a new meaning to curb-side service."

"Authoritarian." Olivia corrected him with a smile. "I'm thinking less courtesy and more see-how-very-much-I'm-in-control of them."

"I pity them - they obviously have no idea of who they're dealing with." Fitz grinned at her.

"Oh, they do - but it's very much the Caldwell way to try me every now and then - it keeps things interesting for the both of us."

"I think I saw some of that at the fund-raiser with Peter, didn't I?"

"You did."

"Not that I can claim knowing him well, but now that I think about it, I never got that impression from Will." Fitz said.

"Neither have I - which is why I was surprised when he decided to stay with Peter and when it was equally clear that his brother expected him not to. There's something going on there, I just don't know what it is - yet."

And Olivia knew she wouldn't rest until she found out precisely what that something was.

Before she could say anymore, her cell chimed softly with an incoming text message from Harrison. "Incoming Caldwells at twelve o'clock, heading your way." She read aloud

"Well, time to get to work." Olivia said after she replied to the text. "While you're receiving the Caldwell experience, I'll be checking with Harrison to see if he's been able to glean any information from the ladies."

Fitz lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Besides his brilliant legal mind, Harrison has a special skill-set - all of my people do."

"And just how familiar are you with this special skill-set?"

It was Olivia's turn to lift an eyebrow at him and the smile she gave him then was full of mischief. "I'm sufficiently familiar enough so that I have the greatest confidence in it. It's among the many reasons why he's here instead of Abby."

Seeing the hint of playful jealousy behind his eyes tempts her to tease him even further - joke all he wants to, joke all he might - Olivia knows there's a sliver of realness in his reaction. And even though she knows that there's no reason for it - her feelings towards Harrison are more familial than anything else and she's never really thought about it before, at least not enough to put it into words - but her mind shifts from that thought back into the present and Fitz's reaction has sent a sense of wicked pleasure through her and her smile shifts to reflect that too.

"Olivia..." his voice held a hint of a growl and a warning. When she smiled at him like that... "We'll finish this discussion later."

"I look forward to it, Mr. President."

So did he.