05x02 - Yes

[bunniefuu]

Lovers of Liberty, are we to believe this man is capable of guiding our nation with prudence and common sense with that seductress Olivia Pope distracting him with a body made for...

Dennis, will you show us the photographs again?

We've been sold a bushel of lies, a barrel of snake oil.

[TV turns off, remote clatters]

Liv.

Liv, everything's gonna be okay.

I have to go downstairs now, before Abby and Liz get up here, but I'll be right back as soon as I can.

Everything's gonna be okay.

[Door opens]

[Door closes]

How the hell did this happen?

Head of the uniformed secret service confirms there were no external security breaches.

But that's really not the issue, sir.

So, you're telling me this leak was internal?

Sir, the leak is really not the issue.

I want the head of the uniformed secret service in here now.

Can't. I just fired him. I'm bringing my guy in from the NSA.

Not the issue.

No, get Rosen to investigate the leak.

Sir, this is a surveillance issue.

Rosen's loyal to Liv. He's on the inside.

He'll want to make this happen right.

Not the issue.

Sir, those photos are everywhere.

I've got a roomful of press getting rowdier by the minute.

There's blood in the water.

We're gonna need a game plan. We're gonna need a statement.

We're gonna need... A bigger boat.

She's right.

The press needs to hear from the White House... from you.

Sir?

I'm going back to the residence.

Because?

Because Olivia is there.

I can't make a statement without Olivia.

Mr. President, I don't think that's a good...

If a statement is being made, Olivia and I are making it together.

So, what... History's being made tonight?

For the first time ever, the president and his mistress address the nation.

Why are you so calm?

Do you really think she's gonna get in front of the camera and admit that they're having an affair?

It's Liv. She's the best in the business.

The president's about to get poped.

Liv?

[Cellphone rings]

What's going on?

I had to leave while I still could.

Liv...

Don't call me again.

Wait for me. I will call you.

Liv, where the hell are you?

Well, what a ludicrous question.

We know exactly where she is.

She may run from the watchful eyes of justice.

She may run from the good people of this nation.

But I can assure you, dear lovers of Liberty, she will not be able to hide.

[ Camera shutter clicking]

[ Camera shutter clicking]

Liv, oh, my God. Are you okay?

I'm fine.

Were you followed?

Quinn, close the door and put the g*n away.

They're reporters, not assassins.

Here, sit down. I'm sorry.

This place is a mess. What do you need?

Oh, can I get you something to drink?

I have water, I have tea, I have wine.

Liv, tell me how to help. What can I do?

What do we have?

What do we...

Cases, work... new cases.

What do we have?

What?

I need to work.

Calls to the first lady's office have not been returned, and still no statement from the White House.

There's been a great deal of speculation heading into this morning's White House press briefing, many wondering if press secretary Abigail Whelan will address the question on everyone's mind.

[Indistinct shouting]

Hey, people, hey!

I am not going to answer your questions if you're shouting all at once.

You're not gonna answer our questions either way.

When can we expect a statement from the president himself?

Whenever the president himself decides to make a statement.

See what I mean?

[Indistinct shouting]

Mellie.

Yes, Fitz?

Why are you here?

Well, for starters, I am here so that you can apologize to me.

What?

So you can apologize to me, which is very generous of me, I think... me coming to you.

But given the little problem you have going on, it seemed better for me to come here for the optics.

The optics, right.

What in the hell are you talking about?

Come on.

Do we really have to do it this way?

Do we have to pretend?

Can't you just...

All the pride and the ego and just admit it?

Admit what?

[Sighs, scoffs]

Okay, fine.

You want to play?

Let's play.

You placed Olivia in a dangerous position.

You outed her. [Scoffs]

You thought by throwing me out of the White House and moving her in, you'd be making this grand gesture.

Finally, she wouldn't be just a mistress anymore.

But the minute she stepped through these doors, the minute she moved in here, she became what we all become when we live here, and what is that?

Yes.

A statue, inhuman, viewed from every angle, discussed, exposed.

She's not just a mistress now.

She's America's mistress.

History will preserve her as such.

Oh, honey.

You made a horrible miscalculation, an error in judgment.

You didn't realize, which is why I am here...

So that you can apologize, I can accept, and then I'll take care of everything.

It's gonna be okay. Don't worry.

Wait.

What?

I will deny Sally's story, say you and Olivia were nothing more than a trashy rumor, remind everyone what close friends we are.

"Of course she was here late at night.

So was her boyfriend."

We'll pick someone, one of your friends, someone of similar height and build.

As for you and me... We're fine.

We couldn't be better.

And the apology?

[Sighs]

You said I need to apologize.

For those divorce papers.

That was mean.

That hurt my feelings.

[Clears throat]

You can admit that was mean, right?

[Smacks lips]

I am not going to bring our children to visit you in jail.

Excuse me?

When you gave those photos to Sally Langston, you didn't just leak this Olivia business.

You also broke the law.

Wait a minute, you think I did this?

It was smart... Risky, but smart.

[Exhales sharply]

You don't want a divorce.

You need some way to worm your way back in here, so you leak a few pictures, humiliate her, play on my sense of guilt, then ride back in here on your white broomstick to...

Fitzgerald, think about it.

Those pictures made people feel sorry for First Lady Grant, but they make Senator Grant look weak and frigid and sexless and like she can't keep a man.

And we both know America will never elect a woman who can't get laid.

Everything is always about your presidential run.

[Sighs]

That's why you want to move back in and forget the divorce.

We are a team.

I need you.

You need me.

[Sighs]

And I am on board.

I am ready, willing, and able to put this whole thing to bed.

All you have to do...

[Sighs]

Is just say the magic words.

Get... out.

[Scoffs]

[Breathes deeply]

[Door opens, slams]

We wait for Olivia.

I'd just like to be able to have a strategy, sir.

If we could... You could consider making a statement without Olivia...

You keep repeating yourself, like you think I don't hear or I don't understand or maybe you think I'm gonna change my mind.

Let's clear it up.

I hear. I understand.

My mind will not change.

Next subject.

Next subject. Well, Abby?

Sir, I noticed that the first lady paid a visit to the oval earlier today.

Is she perhaps willing to...

[Knock on door]

David's here!

Hi.

Mr. President, I've opened the investigation into the security breach, and your office sent this list over.

I... the people on this list... Well, the name at the top...

Do you want to investigate her, sir?

This whole situation is a load of malarkey and Doo-Doo!

As if you would ever have an affair with Olivia.

My Casey could make fake photos like that in 15 minutes.

I mean, obviously she wouldn't, but she could.

She's very good with computers.

I know Mellie leaked the photos.

You just need to get proof.

Yes, sir.

Wait, so, the photos are...

Oh.

Oh, I see. Well...

Oh.

[Abby clears throat]

Could I at least push the press briefing?

Since we're not saying anything and you're not changing your mind, it would help...

Pushing the briefing makes it look like I'm ashamed or hiding.

I'm not ashamed. I'm not hiding.

I'm waiting for Olivia.

Efforts to contact the woman at the center of this controversy... D.C. fixer Olivia Pope...

Have so far been fruitless.

You look like an idiot out there.

He needs to say something.

You need to make him say something.

I can't make the president speak to the press.

He is not a puppet.

He does not have strings. He does.

He does have strings, but that... that Olivia is in the wind, and she took the strings with her.

You didn't want him telling the world about their affair.

I told you she would handle it.

She handled it wrong. I want the puppet to dance.

Dan: Dan danzig coming to you live in front of the building where Ms. Pope runs her very own crisis-management firm.

Still no sighting of Pope herself, but new details coming to light this hour.

The alleged presidential mistress, sources tell us, is a former swimming champion.

Jake: It's insane out there.

The press has got this building surrounded.

[Sighs] Jake, hey.

What are you doing here?

Lay off, Perkins. He's here to help.

Help?

Well, if I need someone to helpfully m*rder busloads of innocent Americans and chop their heads off for fun, I'll give Huck a call.

Otherwise, no, thanks. I'm good.

I'm fixed. Jake fixed me.

I'm okay now. Yeah, fixed?

There aren't enough meds in the world to fix...

I'm here with him. He's fine.

Oh, you're like his slaughter sponsor?

Yeah, that's totally fine. My bad.

Can we put aside the name-calling and the blood-feuding and just get to work?

Fine.

Okay, now, where is Olivia?

She's not here. We took a case.

Quinn, you what?

We took a case.

Walter was older than me, and I know most people think, "wealthy older man, younger woman."

But, honestly, I would have been happy if he'd been a bus driver.

I still can't... that a son could k*ll his own father.

Gavin price, 35, better known by his UVA frat brothers as "G-Preezy."

Mr. Preezy was indicted on m*rder charges a few weeks ago.

m*rder of who? Mega-developer and real-estate tycoon Walter Price, Gavin's dad.

You got an alibi, Huck?

[Stephanie sighs]

I'm sure Gavin thought it would look like an accident.

I found them both at the bottom of the stairs, Gavin covered in Walter's blood.

Blunt-force trauma to the head... nasty fall.

What about motive? Doesn't every kid want to k*ll their dad when he trades in their biological mother for a younger, more goal-oriented model?

When the police arrested Gavin, I did what Walter would have wanted.

I hired him a lawyer and paid his bail.

I never thought he'd run.

He took Walter's watch, a necklace from the safe, and one of the cars from the garage.

How does a guy facing a m*rder charge even get bail?

By being rich and white.

And no one knows Gavin's missing?

They check in every 48 hours.

He knew that.

He took off right away.

Which means...

Liv has about 28 hours to find him.

And you just let her do this...

Go off to find a m*rder*r by herself.

You don't say no to Liv.

And besides, she took my car keys.

Olivia, are... are you sure you're up to this?

I've seen the news.

The news is just a lot of rumor and gossip designed to get ratings.

So, you can do this?

You're sure?

I will personally find your stepson and make sure he returns before anyone knows he's missing.

[ Camera shutter clicking]

[Door opens]

[Clears throat] Senator Grant.

Hello.

What can I do for you, David?

We are looking at how that footage got leaked to Sally, and as part of that investigation, I need to examine your computers.

So, that's his move...

Send some sort of SWAT team over here to embarrass me.

No, it's just me and a couple people from tech.

We'll do a quick scan, nothing public.

No one will know.

[Scoffs]

Fine.

But just so you know, you're not here as the Attorney General.

He may have told you to come here in some sort of official capacity, but right now, you are no better than some two-bit bus-stop divorce attorney.

Do whatever you want with the computers.

I have nothing to hide.

[ Camera shutter clicking]

Olivia: Where now?

Huck: We lost the trail. Gavin's cell signal dropped.

Either it's dead...

Or he ditched it.

Gavin's broke.

His accounts are frozen.

He needs gas, food, a place to lay his head.

He needs money.

Uh, Brock Brothers, a Pawn Shop about 30 miles outside of Fayetteville.

A Pic Du Midi 1591 watch just went up on their site.

That's Walter's watch. Text me the address.

I informed him how there ain't much of a market around here for Sissy euro watches.

[Chuckles]

He took $500 and let me put the rest on consignment.

Amazing what folks will do when their backs are against the wall.

Do I know you?

No, I don't think so.

If he comes back...

"Ruth."

You got it, Ruthie.

[Chuckles]

He sold the watch, but not for much.

He needs money. The car's probably next.

Quinn: Well, there are more used-car lots in North Carolina than people.

We're running out of time.

Yeah, no kidding.

Hey, Huck's compiling a list of dealerships in the area.

We'll e-mail them.

Hold on.

What?

I don't think he's at a car lot.

[Coins clinking, slot machines humming]

Table's ice-cold.

Hopefully I can warm it up.

[ Camera shutter clicking]

Thank you. I needed that.

[Chuckles] [Sighs]

I don't really have any interest in paying for sex.

No offense, just...

Let's just take it slow and see if your luck keeps up.

Oh.

[Chuckles] Damn.

[ Camera shutter clicking]

Make a scene, and the feds will be here in minutes.

There's a lot of other ways for a gal to make some money, Gavin.

Gavin: You're not exactly what I picture when I picture Bounty Hunters.

I'm not a Bounty Hunter.

Your stepmother is worried about you.

[Sighs] Steph's not worried. She's tying up loose ends.

She's been waiting a long time for my dad to kick off, and now that he has, I'm in her way.

Look, no offense [Sniffs]

But I could probably take you out.

There's not too many people I can say that about, but you?

I think I'd have a good sh*t.

[Laughs] So, what's your plan here?

Keep me cuffed to this stool and play Blackjack until I pass out?

My plan just arrived.

Nice to see you.

Figured you might need some help.

[Chuckles]

[ Camera shutter clicking]

Old people slip and fall every day.

Not right after fighting with their sons.

It wasn't right after.

But you did have a fight.

[Sighs] There was this house I was building in the Shenandoah Valley, and he wouldn't give me the money to finish it 'cause he's lame.

But the yelling... That wasn't fighting.

That's just how he talked to me.

I kind of get why.

No need to be rude.

Anyway, later on, I heard a noise, and there he was at the bottom of the stairs.

Hell, she could have pushed him.

The whole thing is just so crazy.

How could anyone think I k*lled my father?

What possible motive could I have?

What possible motive could your stepmother have?

She's got a great one... Been seeing some guy on the side for the past five years.

And she signed this intense prenup when she and my dad got hitched.

We did the background check on her.

Walter was very clear... if she cheated, she'd get nothing.

And now, she gets a billion dollars.

Makes spending 20 years with a guy who's old enough to be your dad look like easy work.

I'm not lying. Look into it if you want.

Pulled Stephanie price's text logs, and nothing so far.

[Sighs] Walter's e-mail...

An easy hack, but nothing there, either.

I also ran the qr14 face rec on every visitor in and out of the house for the past five years, and apart from the fact that Michael Bolton performed at Walter's birthday last year, nothing odd.

Danny Mendoza, Capital Spill.

Any comment on your boss's extracurricular activities?

How'd you get in here?

Just a few questions.

When did you all learn of the affair?

Give me the camera.

It's private property.

Give me the camera.

Really? No comment?

Did your boss ever say what the president was like in bed?

[Both grunting]

You can't take that.

You are trespassing.

There is not a scratch on you.

There is no video to prove I took your video.

If you don't get out of here, I will kick your ass, and you can tell everyone a girl b*at you up.

Or I can give you to him, and you won't be able to tell anyone anything ever again.

Your choice.

[Groans]

[Breathing heavily]

[Footsteps departing]

[Breathing heavily]

[Door closes]

"Fixed," huh?

[Door closes]

[ Camera shutter clicking]

[Indistinct shouting]

If there were something to say, I'd be saying it, but there isn't, so I'm not.

Are the photos real?

I have nothing to say at this time.

Is the president having an affair with Olivia Pope?

Are there any other topics you'd like to cover?

[Indistinct shouting]

Ashley?

Are you not answering these questions because you're afraid to be caught in a lie?

Tricky, tricky. I'm not answering these questions because there is nothing to say at this time.

That's all for now. Thank you, everyone.

[Indistinct shouting]

[Chuckles] They ain't buyin' what you're sellin', girlfriend.

[Door closes]

[Exhaling sharply]

[Cellphone ringing]

I know I'm supposed to be sensitive to your plight or whatever, but if you're calling to gloat.

Cyrus: [Laughing] Funny. Funny stuff, Red.

You practically wrote Kimmel's monologue for him.

Joke, joke, joke.

Goodbye, Cyrus.

You want some advice?

What? No.

Yes.

Be the adult.

Be the adult?

Bring Mellie back to the White House.

She came back.

He threw her out. He wants nothing to do with her.

Listen to me say it again...

Be the adult.

Be the adult and... ?

Be the adult.

Damn it, are you drunk? Are you day-drinking?

Because I need some serious help here.

Red...

How does leadership come? Is it given to you? No.

You want to lead, be the leader.

Everyone else will automatically become the follower.

You want POTUS to fall in line, to behave.

Be the adult. He'll become the child.

That's the secret of the Oval Office, Red.

You want the power? You want to be the kingmaker?

You want to be the hand that rules?

You are the adult.

He is the child, and you don't ask children when bedtime is, and you don't listen to children when they say they don't want their vegetables.

You thr*aten them and you make them eat those vegetables.

You're a terrible father.

Whatever.

You stand at that podium in front of the White House press corps and be the adult.

You bring Mellie back to the White House.

Be the adult.

You're trying to get me fired.

He'll fire you maybe, but only for a few hours.

All children eventually do as they're told.

Be the adult.

Thanks, Quinn.

His story checks out.

Stephanie is sleeping with a restaurant owner named Romeo Sarconi... Has been for years.

[Toilet flushing]

And you may be right that your father found out about the affair.

He made an appointment with his lawyer to change his will the day before he d*ed.

I told you.

Now, I am starving.

Can we get some food? What did I say?

Stop whining?

Stop whining.

Fine, I'm grateful to be trapped in a cheap motel room that smells like urine and insecticide with you two, while I starve, headed back to face a m*rder charge for a crime I did not commit.

I am blessed.

What now?

We investigate further.

We look into Stephanie, dig into her Romeo, see if we can find any evidence that Gavin is innocent.

I'm asking about you. I could care less about Gavin.

Gavin heard that.

Look, at some point, you're gonna have to leave this place, face the music.

You wanted to be with him.

You wanted to be with him so much that I...

What's changed?

What's changed?

Um, wait a minute.

Hold on, you're on TV.

Ms. Pope hasn't been seen since this news broke, leading to rampant speculation as to her whereabouts. Her involvement with the president still yet to be confirmed...

Wait, you're the...

I'm not the only one on the run, huh?

[ Camera shutter clicking]

What is taking so long?

It's a private law firm, not the Pentagon.

I've already bypassed the main grid of their security program, and I'm accessing all files linked to Walter Price.

Five seconds to go.

There. What do you got?

Purchase agreements, uh, retail leases, ground leases, industrial leases.

This guy owned property all over the globe.

His will, Huck!

That's what we're interested in, not his real estate.

[Scoffs]

[Sighs]

[Breathes slowly]

Oh, is that some kind of coping mechanism Jake taught you?

You feel yourself getting angry, so you take a deep breath and swallow your rage and everything's fine 'cause you're fixed?

Is that it?

I mean, what does that even mean, Huck...

"Fixed"?

Did Jake fill you with beta blockers?

Did he pry your eyes open and force you to watch all kinds of crap?

Did he go all "clockwork orange" on you?

How the hell did Jake supposedly fix you.

I want to know.

Fine.

You want me gone?

[Thud]

I'm gone.

[ Camera shutter clicking]

[Indistinct shouting] Was Olivia Pope involved with the president at the same time she was on the government's payroll?

I will not be answering any questions about Olivia Pope.

What is the current status of the president's marriage?

Again, I would like to ask if there are any questions that do not pertain to the president's marriage.

Can you comment on Senator Grant's marriage?

That do not pertain to the institution of marriage.

Can you at least confirm sightings of Senator Grant at the White House today?

Is it true the senator has been living at Blair House for the past several days?

[Indistinct shouting]

[Shouting fades, distorts]

The first lady lives in the White House, like every first lady since Abigail Adams.

What the hell is she doing? Tell us when we can expect a statement from the president and Senator Grant.

The president and his wife are handling this as they should... Privately, as a team.

Therefore, there is no statement to be made.

She's making a statement.

Fix it.

The statement that the nation's first lady, Senator Mellie Grant, is indeed still living at the White House came from press secretary Abigail Whelan just moments ago.

The press has received a statement that both the president and his wife are still...

And I quote... "A team."

How you can possibly not understand this as a direct statement from the White House to the American public on the strength of the first couple's marriage is beyond my ability to comprehend.

Elizabeth: You don't set strategy.

I set strategy.

The president sets strategy.

You are a mouthpiece for the administration, nothing more.

I was only trying to right the ship.

I don't care what you were trying.

The only reason you're not out on your ass, trolling K Street, knocking on the doors of every third-rate P.R. firm desperate enough to hire you right now is that f*ring you would only add fuel to this scandal.

Consider yourself lucky.

[Gavin sniffs]

I appreciate you bringing me here. I really was starving.

Parenting 101... Reward complaining.

[Clears throat]

Ahh.

Where you going?

Relax.

Going to the bathroom.

I should go make sure he doesn't get b*at up.

[Sighs]

[Indistinct conversations]

[Cellphone ringing]

Yeah?

We were wrong.

What?

Walter was going to change his will, but it was Gavin he was cutting out of it, not his stepmother.

Are you sure?

Yeah, the law firm they were using...

We hacked their in-house network.

I saw the will, and there's more.

Turns out Gavin was forging checks in his dad's name for some house he was building.

And his father found out about it?

Yup.

In fact, he was about to go to the police, but then he d*ed.

Are you Olivia Pope?

Um...

Oh, my God, the little guy was right.

It is her. Here, take a picture. Um...

Okay, no, I...

Just a quick one. Really.

No. Thank you.

Okay.

Okay, thank... thank you.

Thank you so much.

It's Olivia Pope.

It's Olivia Pope.

It's Olivia...

Can I have my picture taken...

No, ma'am.

You slept with the president!

[Laughs]

Okay, excuse me.

[Indistinct shouting]

Oh, my God, I want a picture.

All right, move. Move. Move. Liv? Out of the way.

Out of the way. Come on. Come on.

[Indistinct conversations]

Liv, come on.

Woman: Excuse me.

Excuse me. Come on.

Put your head down. Everybody, move. People.

He's furious.

He's not furious.

Oh, he's furious with me.

He's not furious with you. He's frustrated with himself.

Remember... he's a baby.

What do babies do when they get frustrated?

Do I have a baby, Cyrus?

Has anyone come out of me?

Usually they scream, scream their little heads off... "Wah, wah."

Shut up and speak.

You're playing this perfectly, Red.

That briefing today was magic.

He doesn't know it. He can't appreciate it.

But you may have single-handedly saved his presidency.

He doesn't care about his presidency, Cyrus.

He only cares about Liv.

What does Liv want him to say?

What does Liv want him to do?

Yeah, what does Liv want him to do?

I don't know. She's gone. She ran away.

Then you do know.

I don't!

Stop telling me the opposite of what I am telling you.

I am too tired for this! I don't!

You do... nobody knows Olivia Pope better than you do.

The president of the United States needs you to tell him what she wants him to do, and you know.

So, be the adult here and tell him.

Why are you doing this?

You're gone. Why do you care?

Red.

Who do I hate more than Elizabeth North?

No one?

And who does Elizabeth North hate even more than she hates me?

Mellie.

Right.

[Knock on door]

You wanted to see me, Mr. President?

Susan, I need you to fill in for me at this business roundtable in the morning.

Oh, sir, I'm talking to 1,200 high-school students tomorrow morning.

We're talking college access.

You'll have to reschedule.

But I have it all set up.

Everyone's filling out financial-aid forms together...

I don't have time to argue with you.

We done?

Yes, sir.

No, sir.

I'm wondering...

Do you think about us?

What?

Do you think about us...

The people who voted for you, America?

Do you think about us when you're having an affair in the White House...

In our house?

Do you think about why we voted for you?

I fell in love.

Susan, I'm a flawed person, just like anyone else.

Mr. President, you don't get to be just like anyone else.

That's not the job you signed up for.

[Door opens and closes]

[Sighs]

Fitz: You can't fix the fact that I love you.

Sit with me and watch me choose you.

Rowan: First lady!

Do you have to be so mediocre?

Jake: I am I love with you, but you...

Are in love with him.

Fitz: I don't want to wait.

We put this out into the light.

[Door opens]

Jake: Hey.

Hey.

They did not have wine.

Not what your upbringing would ever call wine, anyway.

Where I'm from, stuff costs five bucks.

[Keys clatter]

That's really fancy wine.

Anyway, I compromised... beer.

That is not a compromise. [Chuckles]

I was hoping you wouldn't notice.

How bad is it?

Well, the photos of you from the diner are pretty much everywhere.

The press is swarming.

I passed five, six news vans driving in circles out there.

They're on the hunt.

But there is good news.

World peace?

The end of poverty?

Women and girls the world over get to go to school?

A car was reported stolen from the diner's parking lot...

Red, two-door, South Carolina plates.

Quinn's tracking it now.

She'll call when she gets a hit.

All we have to do is wait.

We'll be out of here soon.

Great.

[Breathes deeply]

[Sighs]

[Groans]

[Sighs]

I keep asking myself, "well, when did it happen?

When did I turn right instead of left?

What choice was it that decided?

When exactly did I do the thing, the... the one step?

What flap of the butterfly's wings brought me to this moment?

How did I get here?"

Because I can't seem to retrace my steps.

Liv...

I'm scared.

I know.

That's a good thing.

I'm scared, and I don't know what to do.

I don't have any answers.

How is that a good thing?

[Sighs]

Well, we're at our best when we're scared.

Your instincts are heightened.

Your adrenaline's right beneath the surface.

Everything's crystal clear and your focus becomes like a laser and you just know what comes next.

You know what to do.

You know the answers.

And you just act.

Did my father teach you that?

You really want to know?

Can we...

Would you mind if...

No.

No, come on.

Come on.

[Exhales sharply]

[Sighs]

I've spent so much time... Years...

Ashamed, with the shame pressing on me, suffocating me.

And for just a little bit, I let myself breathe, and... then those photos come out.

And...

That's what I'm running from...

That feeling...

The shame.

[Sighs]

Liv, loving the president isn't a crime.

[Chuckles, sniffles]

And yet here I am being hunted and chased like a thief in the night.

[Chuckles]

Let's face it... I'm basically Gavin.

[Footsteps approaching]

Mr. President?

Speak.

I assume you heard what happened with Olivia in that diner and that you saw those photos?

The world saw those photos.

So then you know who she's with.

What's your point?

My point is that Olivia's doing what Olivia always does, sir.

She's trying to stay out of the storm.

It hasn't even really begun yet.

The category 5 that's been building, picking up strength ever since Sally released those photos...

Right now, it's still somewhere out in the middle of the ocean.

But the moment Liv stops running, the moment she stops hiding and steps back in that spotlight... That cyclone makes landfall.

And everything in her world gets violently swept away.

That kind of pressure, that kind of scrutiny...

It would be unbearable.

Who would want to live through that?

What kind of woman would choose to live through that?

Olivia Pope is never gonna tell you she's okay with that kind of life, Mr. President, no matter how many times you ask.

[Exhales sharply]

David: Mr. President, I have the results of our inquiry.

Our FBI cyber-security team was able to confirm that the leak did originate from a computer connected to the first lady's private, interoffice network.

We've combed through her digital files...

It doesn't matter. Thank you, David.

[Telephone ringing]

What?

I apologize.

Come home.

[Sighs]

[Cellphone ringing]

Mm.

[Groans]

[Exhales sharply]

Quinn, did you find the car?

Yeah, Gavin abandoned it a couple miles from some lake in the middle of nowhere.

Look, I'm sorry, Liv.

The cops say there's no sign of him.

You know where that lake is?

Looks like outside linville, Virginia.

That's the Shenandoah Valley.

We know where he is.

Gavin?

Still cold.

Come on, Gavin.

We know you're in here. Get out of my house!

Jake: A nail g*n? Really?

Put that thing down.

Make me.

Fine, if you really want to play that way.

[Nail g*n fires]

Aah!

Sorry.

Are you kidding me?

Sorry.

I'm busy, David.

David: I'm sure you are.

So, was I, reading through all the first lady's e-mail correspondence like some bizarrely overpaid first-year associate.

This is the report from the Justice Department's investigation.

The president says he doesn't want it, so, I'm giving it to you.

What's it say?

What I wrote is that, while Mellie's key code was used to take the security footage from the server, there's no evidence of a download on her computer.

So, officially, the investigation's inconclusive.

What I read, on the other hand...

In Mellie's e-mail?

Tell me.

Wait, no. You probably shouldn't.

You know, I never really figured the concept of plausible deniability would feature quite so prominently in my adult life.

[Chuckles] Me neither.

I really do feel like a divorce lawyer.

Anyway, I guess it's nothing a little Bourbon won't fix.

See you.

See you.

[Cheryl Lynn's "Got to be Real" plays]

Sir, Charlotte just told me the map room is being set up for a sit-down with Noah Baker.

What's going on?

Hello, Elizabeth.

Fitz: Mellie and I are doing an interview with Noah.

Someone should have told you.

Yes, they should have.

Sorry about that, Liz.

♪ To be real ♪

[Indistinct conversations]

Well, I see you got what you wanted.

The first lady is back in the White House.

She is?

Don't play dumb.

They're doing an interview with Noah Baker.

This is the final nail in your coffin.

Pack your things and then get the hell out of here.

I don't think so.

Excuse me?

You leaked those photos of Olivia and the president.

Don't be ridiculous.

Why'd you do it?

You wanted to get rid of Olivia Pope?

I have no idea what you're...

You used to work for Mellie.

You knew her key code. You had access.

You leaked those photos to Sally Langston.

♪ Our love is here to stay ♪
♪ what you think ♪

[Sighs]

Who have you told? The president?

I haven't told anyone... Yet.

What do you want? What's your move?

Am I your bitch now? You want my job? What?

What I want is to no longer work for you.

What?

I don't want to work for you. I want to work with you.

I want us to be a team. From now on, we're equals.

Equals?

Yes.

That's it?

That's...

That's all you want... equality?

Equality.

I thought we could both be the adults around here, but if you have a problem with that, I can certainly try making you my bitch.

No, no. Equals.

Equals is... yes.

Good. So, Noah Baker's interview questions...

You want to go over those together?

I'd like that.

He called me a weak little weasel my whole life.

Can you believe that... My own father?

Anytime I asked for something, anytime I tried to have something of my own...

"You little weasel."

And it wasn't just to my face.

He'd tell his friends I was a weasel, too, and then he'd laugh at me.

Who's laughing now, dad?

Not you.

You k*lled him.

I pushed him.

He d*ed because he was weak.

[Sirens wailing]

What the hell is that?

What's it sound like?

You called the cops?

No more running, Gavin.

[Wailing continues]

[ Camera shutter clicking]

I have been mad at you for, like, ever.

Go away.

But then I started thinking...

Go away.

"What's so sane about me?"

Quinn.

I dispose of bodies, and I get turned on by crime scenes.

Hacking is hot.

I am not your all-American girl, and I don't want to be.

[Breathing heavily]

You're not wrong... About me.

Something's wrong with me.

That's my point.

Something's wrong with me, too.

I missed you.

I missed you a lot.

[Aretha Franklin's "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" plays]

♪ Take me to heart ♪
♪ and I'll always love you ♪

Fitz: It's me.

I know you said not to call, but I just wanted you to know... I get it.

All this time, I've been waiting to hear from you so you could tell me what you wanted, but it's what you don't want, isn't it?

♪ Take me for granted, leaving love unsure ♪

You don't want this.

I'm going to deny Sally's story and bring Mellie back to the White House because I don't want you to throw away your whole life just for me.

♪ And temptation strong ♪

I love you too much for that.

♪ A woman's only human ♪
♪ you should understand ♪
♪ she's not just a plaything ♪
♪ she's flesh and blood just like her man ♪
♪ if you want a do-right-all-day woman ♪
♪ woman ♪
♪ you've got to be a do-right-all-night man ♪
♪ man ♪

You good?

♪ Yeah, yeah, they say that it's a man's world ♪

I'm good.

♪ But you can't prove that by me ♪
♪ and as long as we're together, baby ♪
♪ show some respect for me ♪

[Indistinct shouting]

♪ If you want a do-right-all-day woman ♪

Olivia Pope, are you the president's mistress?

♪ Woman ♪

[Shouting fades, distorts]

Yes.

[Shouting resumes]