AIRPORT TERMINAL
Mia is standing in line, about to board a plane, while holding her phone up to her ear.
Mia: "Liv, maybe I should come back. I mean they haven't even called me up to board yet. Maybe I should just—" she tries to say before a voice over the speaker in the airport starts to make an announcement.
Airport Worker: "Flight 684 to California is now boarding, please make your way up to the doors."
Olivia: "No, you're getting on that plane. You already bought the plane ticket and told Spencer that you're going out there." she instructs her over the phone as Mia is grabbing her carryon and walking to stand in line.
Mia: "Yes, but I did that before we decided to go to war. And before Amanda went missing."
Olivia: "Mia, go to California, give your lecture on behaviors, then you can come back and help." she pauses as there is a knock on her apartment door, "Okay they're here. I'm gonna let you go. Get on the plane, Mi." she states before hanging up and leaving Mia to stand in line, a little lost at what to do. Then a worker standing by the door checking tickets looks up at the brunette.
Airport Worker: "Miss, your ticket?" she asks her, as Mia is standing there unsure if she should get on the plane or head back, "Miss, are you getting on the plane?"
~~~~~
OLIVIA'S APARTMENT
Olivia, Abby, Huck and Quinn are walking around Liv's apartment looking for clues on what may have happened to Amanda.
Olivia: "Answers, people. We need answers, and time is of the essence."
Quinn: "Her phone's gone and her purse. She ran away. You told her she was gonna have to go on TV, she freaked out, and she ran away."
Abby: "I gotta say, as crime scenes go, it's pretty clean. No broken locks, no signs of struggle, and I'm not finding any prints aside from your's, Mia's and Amanda's."
Quinn: "Because it's not a crime scene. Because she ran away."
Huck: "There's someone watching you." he tells them, after spotting a car outside and causing the three to all go and look out the window.
Olivia: "What?"
Huck: "Your trash is gone, and it's not trash day, and there's a sedan parked across the street. U.S. government plates, tinted windows."
Olivia: "What about Amanda, Huck?"
Huck: "Whoever it was, came up through the service elevator, picked the lock on the back door, sedated her, taped her up, got her in a duffel bag. In and out, probably seven minutes, six if they were quick."
Olivia: "How do you know?"
Huck: "That's how I would do it." he informs them, leaving the three women all at a lost for words.
~~~~~
DAVID'S OFFICE
David is sitting at his desk when Olivia comes rushing in.
David: "My secretary has a standing order to stop you from walking in here. Alissa, you're fired."
Olivia: "One of my clients is missing."
David: "Have you looked in jail? You often seem to find them there."
Olivia: "Her name is Amanda Tanner. She's 27 and she was staying in my apartment."
David: "How long has she been gone?"
Olivia: "Five, six hours."
David: "You consider that missing? That's barely enough time to rack up a good bar tab."
Olivia: "I know I ask a lot of you, but this Amanda thing is big. She's a good kid and she was under my protection. Can you help me find her?"
David: "I'll see what I can do."
Olivia: "Thank you, David. Don't fire Alissa. I snuck in while she was in the bathroom." she says, as she goes to leave and as her phone beeps, "Oh, God."
David: "What's wrong?"
Olivia: "I have to go." she tells him as she goes to make a call. "Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up."
Mia: "Hi, you've reached Mia James. I either can't come to the phone right now or have decided to ghost your call. Well... either way leave a message and maybe I'll get back to you. Bye." Liv hears causing a worrisome look to appear on the fixer's face.
~~~~~
CRASH SITE
Harrison is waiting at the scene, as Quinn walks down to him.
Harrison: "You're late."
Quinn: "I keep trying Amanda's phone, but it goes straight to voicemail."
Harrison: "When I say 'all hands on deck',—"
Quinn: "Harrison, she's our client. She's missing."
Harrison: "I mean all hands on deck."
Quinn: "We should be doing things. Things should be happening. Shouldn't we at least file a missing persons report?"
Harrison: "Just 'cause you don't see things happening, doesn't mean things aren't happening. With OPA, things are always happening."
Quinn: "I just don't... what could possibly be more important than Amanda right now?"
Harrison: "That." he tells her pointing to the destroyed plane, leaving her shocked before she looks back to him.
Quinn: "Harrison, what flight was it?"
Harrison: "That was flight 684."
Quinn: "Wasn't that the flight that Mia—"
Harrison: "Yes. Yes it was."
~~~~~
MIA'S APARTMENT
Stephen is banging on Mia's door in hopes that she didn't get on the plane, after he had been knocking on it for a good couple of minutes and was getting ready to give up the door opened.
Mia: "Sorry about that, I was—" she tries to explain but gets cut off when he brings her into a huge hug.
Stephen: "Where the hell have you been?! Why haven't you answered your phone? We've all been worrying about you." he states after he lets her go.
Mia: "I dropped my phone in a puddle when I left the airport. Also, why have you've been worrying? What's wrong?" she asks him confused.
Stephen: "You haven't turned on the news have you?"
Mia: "No. Why, what happened?" she questions leaving him to give her a wary look, "Stephen, what the hell happened?"
~~~~~
INFORMATION CENTER
Harrison and Quinn are waiting as Liv walks up to them after getting off the phone.
Olivia: "Stephen found Mia, she's at her apartment. She dropped her phone in water, so they're going out to get her a new one before heading over."
Quinn: "How is she? Is she okay?" she asks Liv as her and Harrison let out a sigh of relief.
Olivia: "I don't know, I haven't seen her yet." she tells them as they begin walking over to a representative from the pilots' union.
Nelson: "Ms. Pope, Nelson O'Shea, pilots' union. Nice to finally meet you."
Olivia: "Yes. I wish it were under better circumstances."
Nelson: "Yes. Very sad. So it's a standard crash investigation. We'll need you to make a statement on belief of the pilots' union to the press as soon as possible. The airline P.R. is up there right now, so—"
Olivia: "You let them go first?"
Nelson: "I didn't think it was a problem." he says as Liv, Harrison and Quinn head into the room where the airline rep is talking to the press.
Airline Rep: "Sky National has immediately activated our emergency response protocol and is in direct contact with the F.A.A. and N.T.S.B. Although our primary concern at this time is for the passengers on board the aircraft and their families, we're able to assure you, this particular plane has a perfect safety record."
Olivia: "And there it is."
Harrison: "They're saying it's the pilot's fault."
Quinn: "No, he didn't. He just said—"
Harrison: "They're not saying it, but they're saying it, and this crowd's eating it up with a spoon."
~~~~~
A little while later, Liv, Abby, and Harrison are sitting on a couch while waiting for Mia and Stephen. When Olivia spots the two, she immediately goes over to Mia and brings her in for a hug.
Olivia: "Thank you for not listening to me. Thank you." she whispers to her. "How are you?"
Mia: "I don't know." she shrugs before walking to the couch and sitting down while Liv turns to Stephen.
Olivia: "How is she?"
Stephen: "After I told her, she got quiet and has barely spoken since. It's mainly one or two word responses if anything. She barely talked to the sales person when we got her a new phone. I've never seen her like this before."
Olivia: "I have." she whispers.
Stephen: "Was it after—"
Olivia: "Yes."
Stephen: "What helped?"
Olivia: "Not much. It took her months before reverting to her old self, which was completely understandable. It wasn't until she decided to start earning another PhD, that we even started to see glimpses of the Mia we once knew. It's like earning another degree distracted her, so her brain didn't think back to it." she told him before a worker walked over to the group.
Worker: "Hi, I'm going to be running the C.V.R. meeting, the list of people you wrote down that will be attending the meeting, included the name Mia James. Is she here?" she asks Liv.
Mia: "That's me." she states from the couch, as she stands up and walks over to the three.
Worker: "Well, Miss James—"
Olivia/Stephen: "Doctor."
Worker: "Yes, sorry, Dr. James. Your name was also included in the list of tickets bought. So therefore, it would be a conflict of interest to let you into the meeting. Actually, it's a conflict of interest to let any one you in, but seeing as you represent the pilots' union that's the only reason the rest of you are able to be there." Liv opens her mouth to fight this when Mia beats her there.
Mia: "Okay, that's fine." she says as she goes back to sit on the couch and the worker walks away from them.
Stephen: "See, she's not herself. She would have fought to be in that meeting."
Olivia: "She needs a distraction." she says before the group heads into the meeting, and leaves Mia, as she just stares in front of her.
~~~
Olivia, Stephen, Abby and Harrison are sitting around a table about to listen to the black box recording with a few other individuals who are working with the airline reps.
Worker: "Welcome, everyone. This is the preliminary C.V.R. meeting of all interested parties to Sky National Flight 684. This morning, I'll play the black box recording in its entirety without stopping. You'll hear it once and once only. The national transportation safety board prohibits you from recording what you're about to hear. You are allowed to take notes, but you are prohibited from taking those notes from this room. Any questions?" she asks before she presses play.
Lori: "Here it is, my special fruit drink. That's good." the recording starts out as the people in the room, minus Harrison, begin taking notes.
Woman: "What's in it?"
Lori: "Cranberry, grapefruit."
Man: "It'd be perfect with some vodka."
Air Traffic: "Sky National 684, you're cleared to descend to and maintain 5,000." they hear a little bit later into the recording.
Woman: "Roger National 684. We'll be out of 15 for 5."
Air Traffic: "National 4 miles away at 2:00. Possible wake turbulence. You may feel a bump or two." the group hears nearing the end of the recording.
Man: "684. Got the aerostream."
Lori: "And I feel the bump or two. Hang on. I'm pitching down. We're nosedown."
Air Traffic: "Sky National 684, I show descending. What's your status?"
Man: "Kick rudder. Lori, left rudder. Left rudder."
Air Traffic: "Sky National 684, what's your status?"
Man: "684. Emergency. Left rudder. Left rudder! What the hell are you aah! Oh, here we go." he says before there's a loud crash causing many of the people surrounding the table to look up.
~~~~~
OPA
Olivia, Stephen, Abby and Harrison are sitting at one side of the conference table discussing the recording, while Mia is sitting at the head of the table on the other side staring at the wall and not really listening to what's going on.
Stephen: "No, there was a loud bang and the captain was saying 'hang on.'"
Abby: "No, that was the first officer."
Stephen: "Fine. But I can't remember if he said it before or after the two thumps."
Abby: "Before, I think. Maybe after. I don't know. I-I should've written the whole thing on my arm."
Harrison: "Before the two thumps. It was loud thump, loud thump, long clicking sound, short clicking sound, then three faint thumps. The first officer saying, 'Left rudder. Left rudder. What the hell are you-aah! Here we go.'" he says as the three, minus the twenty-two year old, look up at him astounded, "What? I may not have Mia's memory, but I do have a good ear. But, I'll tell you what I didn't hear in the last ten seconds. The pilot."
Abby: "As soon as they hit the wake from the aerostream, I think she panicked, maybe overcorrected."
Stephen: "It was like she didn't hear, she—she froze."
Olivia: "Which is exactly what the airline will say. If Sky National can prove pilot error, they save millions of dollars. They don't have to ground their fleet, do extra maintenance. They have every reason to want to trash Lori Mackelson in the press, cast her as a panicking, P.M.S.ing woman who can't handle a little turbulence." she says to them before a man comes walking into the room.
Andrew: "Lori had 16,000 flight hours under her belt. She didn't panic. She was a great pilot, under any conditions. She did not freeze."
Olivia: "Can I help you, sir?"
Andrew: "Not unless you can bring my wife back."
Olivia: "Why don't you sit down?" he tells him as she directs him to one of the chairs surrounding the table. Stephen and Harrison then head out of the room to go look into more things while Abby begins to hang pictures from the case onto the wall.
Andrew: "All I want them to do, is to get out there and say she didn't do this."
Olivia: "Believe me, Andrew. We're gonna do everything we can to clear your wife's name."
Andrew: "Why haven't you said anything? The news has already said the plane was perfect. Can't you just call a-a press conference?"
Olivia: "If I get up there and play defense, hold my gloves in front of my face, it confirms their narrative. We need to change their narrative. We need to anticipate what they're going to say about Lori before they say it and then hit back with evidence. So lay it on me. What is the worst thing they can say?"
Andrew: "She's been sober for over 20 years. She still goes to A.A. meetings from time to time."
Abby: "So she's an alcoholic."
Andrew: "That's not how I would phrase it."
Olivia: "Which is why they will."
~~~~~
Standing in Olivia's office, her and Harrison are watching the latest reports on the crash.
TV: "Early indications from the black box recording indicate that the airport tower tried to communicate with the pilot."
Olivia: "Damn it. They already leaked what was on the black box? Somewhere in that recording is the truth. We need our own copy."
Harrison: "I'll get Huck on it." he says as he goes to leave, but not without hearing Liv's next comment.
Olivia: "Good, and keep it away from Mia. She doesn't need to hear that right now." she tells him as she glances at Mia, who hasn't moved from her spot at the conference table and is staring at the wall of pictures.
TV: "Pleas from the first officer also appear to have been ignored."
~~~~~
Stephen walks into the conference room where, Liv, Abby, and Harrison are standing around the table and Mia is still sitting in the same spot.
Stephen: "I was this close to getting the mechanic's report."
Olivia: "What happened?"
Stephen: "I lost my superpowers. I'm engaged. I can't use every tool in the box anymore."
Abby: "And by tool, you would mean your..."
Olivia: "Okay. Just find another tack, Stephen. We need those reports. Abby."
Abby: "The bartender confirms that both pilots and all six flight attendants were drinking."
Olivia: "Six? Manifest listed five."
Harrison: "You think one of 'em didn't make the flight?"
Huck: "Black box recording." he says as he walks into the room and hands it to Harrison.
Harrison: "How'd you get it?"
Huck: "N.T.S.B. server. Kid's play. Olivia, Mia, may I talk to you?" he says causing Mia to glance up at him, while the rest of the room starts talking over him.
Olivia: "Check the airline schedule. See what attendants were supposed to fly 684."
Abby: "Got it.
Huck: "In one of your offices?" he tries to get the groups attention but only has Mia, who still hasn't spoken up yet.
Olivia: "See what other flight crews were passing through that night."
Stephen: "Got it."
Olivia: "Where's Quinn? Has anybody seen Quinn?"
Abby: "I think she went out. Where's the manifest?"
Olivia: "On my desk."
Huck: "She's dead." he says, as the rest of the room still hasn't picked up that he had something to say except Mia, who now has a confused yet shocked look on her face.
Mia: "Huck, who's dead?" she asks very quietly. "Huck?"
Olivia: "If there is a missing flight attendant who is alive right now, we need to find her before the airline does." she continues on, not hearing anything that Huck or Mia has said.
Huck: "Amanda Tanner is dead!" he yells out causing the rest of the group to turn towards him, with shocked expressions.
Olivia: "Are you sure?" she questions him before he responds with a nod. She then rushes out of the room and to the elevators which grabs Mia's attention, who finally gets up and follows after her.
Mia: "Liv... LIV!" she tries to call after her but being a few beats behind causing the elevator to close before she can get on with Olivia.
~~~
Olivia is coming out of the office and walking over to the car that has been following her and slams on the front of it.
Olivia: "Pull down your window. You tell your boy, you talk into that little radio in your sleeve and you tell the President, I know. I know what he did to her. I know!" she yells at the men in the car as Mia is rushing out of the building.
Mia: "Liv? Are you okay?" she asks as Liv walks over to her and the two head into the building.
Olivia: "Not really. Are you?"
Mia: "Not really."
Olivia: "You should go home, Mimi. You shouldn't be around with all this talk about the crash."
Mia: "I can't go home. If I go home, all I'll want to do is drink and dig myself into a black hole and honestly, I don't want that right now." she tells her before the two walk onto the elevator.
~~~~~
Olivia: "Quinn. Who is this?" she asks after coming into her office a little later and seeing a man sitting on her couch besides Quinn.
Hank: "Hank Tanner. I'm Amanda's father. Uh, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Quinn: "I stopped by Amanda's place and found Mr. Tanner outside."
Hank: "Amanda said that she came to work for you and Dr. James after she left the White House."
Olivia: "Yes, that's right." she tells him as she goes to sit down with the two.
Hank: "I don't mean to be a bother here, but, uh, I've—I've been talking to Mandy every day since she was in the hospital, and then I haven't heard anything from her, so I decided to come up here and make sure that everything was all right. Her mother is really worried about her."
Quinn: "It's okay, Mr. Tanner. Everything's going to be fine. I promise."
Olivia: "Mr. Tanner, you look like you could use a cup of tea. Quinn, would you help me get some tea for Mr. Tanner?" she says before leaving her office with Quinn to head to the kitchen.
Hank: "Thank you."
Olivia: "What you did back there? You made a promise. We don't make promises." she informs Quinn.
Quinn: "But—"
Olivia: "Amanda Tanner is dead."
Quinn: "Wh—"
Olivia: "She's dead."
Quinn: "How do you know?"
Olivia: "We know. But we can't tell him we know because we're not supposed to know, and there is no body. So right now, we're gonna go back in there and give that nice man a cup of tea and tell him we are doing everything in our power to find his daughter. And don't ever promise an outcome we can't deliver." she tells her before her phone rings, "I have to take this."
~~~
Olivia: "Are we on a secure line?" she asks over the phone after entering Huck's empty office.
Fitz: "Why the hell are you threatening my agents?"
Olivia: "You mean the men you sent to follow and scare me?"
Fitz: "You told them that you know what I did to her. To who? Amanda Tanner?"
Olivia: "Playing dumb doesn't suit you, and I really don't have time for this. I have my best friend sitting in my conference room staring at a wall in silence, I've have to take care of this terrible tragedy, one that she could've have been on and—"
Fitz: "Mia was supposed to be on the plane?"
Olivia: "Yes, she should have been, but she didn't because of what of you did. So weirdly enough, I guess, thank you, but also screw you."
Fitz: "Olivia, either say what you mean or stop."
Olivia: "War is war? Fine. But murder is murder."
Fitz: "Amanda's dead?"
Olivia: "She has a dad. A really nice man who's looking for his daughter. How do you think he's gonna feel when he finds out that the man he voted for had his daughter killed?"
Fitz: "I didn't do this. You know me. You know I didn't do this."
Olivia: "I don't know anything."
Fitz: "Trust your gut. Your gut's never wrong."
Olivia: "I don't have a gut anymore."
Fitz: "Livvie. Come to the White House and look me in the eye. We need to talk about this face-to-face."
Olivia: "Face-to-face is over. That girl is dead."
Fitz: "This wasn't me. You know me. And the thought that I would ever, that I could ever. You know me."
Olivia: "If you didn't kill her, we both know who did. Tell me I'm wrong... you let a pitbull off his leash, he mauls a baby. No one blames the dog. You let Cyrus off his leash. That's on you..." she goes to hang up after a long pause, but stops when he says something.
Fitz: "Send her over here."
Olivia: "What?"
Fitz: "Mia. Send her to the White House."
Olivia: "Why the hell would I do that? We're at war."
Fitz: "You want help with Mia for now, send her here. We're trying to pass the D.R.E.A.M. Act. She loves the D.R.E.A.M. Act, she helped with most of it. Send her here."
Olivia: "Fine." she says after a long pause before hanging up.
~~~~~
Mia is sitting at the head of the conference table and looking at the crash photos, when Liv walks in and sits next to her.
Olivia: "Mia, I know you're not okay and I know you don't want to go home. So I'm sending you to the White House." she informs the twenty-two year old causing Mia to instantly turn to her.
Mia: "What?"
Olivia: "I'm sending you to the—"
Mia: "No no no, I heard you... but I... why? Why the hell would I go there right now?"
Olivia: "You need a distraction, Mimi. You need to get away from this office, and you can't be here with all these pictures and documents about the crash, okay. So go to the White House. They're working on getting the D.R.E.A.M. Act passed. You loved the D.R.E.A.M. Act. So go help it get passed."
Mia: "Go and help the same administration that we just went to war against?"
Olivia: "Please,"
Mia: "How do you even know that they're working on the D.R.E.A.M. Act right now?" she asks as Liv just looks at her, "Oh... Fitz, that's how... Liv, this is insane."
Olivia: "Mia, I don't like to beg, you know that. But right now I'm begging you to go because you staring at this wall may as well be you at home drinking. Either way you're digging yourself a hole. Now, I'm offering you a distraction. Go. Please go help them pass this Act." she tells her, Mia then takes a long look at her before speaking.
Mia: "Fine, I'll go." she reluctantly agrees.
~~~~~
Mia and Liv are walking out of their offices, about to head out of the building, when David comes in following them out.
David: "You didn't tell me Amanda Tanner used to work in the White House. You didn't tell me she had a previous suicide attempt. You pretty much didn't tell me a single thing about the girl whom you tasked me with finding. So if I'm about to step into political quicksand here, I'd like to know it before I sink."
Olivia: "I can't tell you any more than I've told you." she tells him while pressing the button for the elevators, and as soon as the doors open her and Mia step on.
David: "But you know more. If you can't tell me more, then you're actually obstructing justice."
Olivia: "I'm sorry, David." she tells him before the door shuts and Mia turns to her.
Mia: "You told him that she was missing?"
Olivia: "Yes, I thought it could help having the assistant U.S. attorney look into it. But now with her—"
Mia: "Dead?"
Olivia: "Yes, I don't know, what to do."
Mia: "This may not be the best suggestion, but... maybe, Huck?"
Olivia: "I thought about asking him too, but—"
Mia: "Aren't a hundred percent sure that's the right move."
Olivia: "Yeah... it's been a long day." she says with a sigh.
Mia: "No. It's been a long few weeks." she says as Liv nods her head in agreement. The elevator doors then open and the two go their separate ways.
~~~~~