MORGUE
David is standing next to Amanda's body, when Mia walks into the room and goes to stand on the other side of her.
Mia: "You called me?"
David: "I need to know who killed her, Mia."
Mia: "I can't tell you."
David: "I am an assistant U.S. attorney, you have to tell me if you know something, or it's an obstruction of justice."
Mia: "That's the thing David, I don't know. I don't have all the puzzle pieces lying out in front of me. Now, I can guess what the picture may be, but it won't be accurate. So, I'm not going to give you a name because if I did, it would ruin a person's life. Even if they didn't do it. It will ruin them. It's like calling someone a rapist when they never touched the person accusing them. It ruins their life. This country has been built on innocent until proven guilty. But sometimes even when you're innocent, everyone around you views you as guilty. So, I'm sorry, David. I can't tell you. Because all I have is a guess. And like you said, I don't share what my guesses are until after the fact." then just before she leaves, she looks towards Amanda's, "I'm sorry."
David: "You already said that and it doesn't help me." he remarks, thinking she was apologizing to him.
Mia: "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to her." she says still looking at the deceased. "No one deserves this. She didn't deserve this. She wasn't a bad person. This should not have been your ending." she whispers before walking out of the room as her phone beeped, causing her to look at the device, while David looks between her fading image and Amanda's corpse.
~~~~~
OLIVIA'S APARTMENT
Fitz is standing in Olivia's living room with the tape in his hand.
Olivia: "Why are you here? You can't be here."
Fitz: "I didn't kill Amanda Tanner."
Olivia: "I know. Her baby, it wasn't yours. But it could have been."
Fitz: "Really? You really want me to detail for you how and where and in what positions Amanda Tanner and I had sex? Would that help make you feel better? Cause I'll do it."
Olivia: "No."
Fitz: "You left me. I was unhappy. She was there. One time. I made a mistake."
Olivia: "I don't want to talk about it. You cheated on your mistress with your girlfriend. Let's just leave it at that."
Fitz: "She wasn't my girlfriend. Don't you ever call yourself a mistress. We both know better."
Olivia: "Why are you here?"
Fitz: "Cyrus got this in the mail a week ago. It's a sex tape. I'm on it. I need you to hear it."
Olivia: "I definitely don't want to hear you and Amanda Tanner having sex."
Fitz: "Olivia. I need you to listen to this."
~~~~~
**TWO YEARS AGO - 2008**
**FB GRANT CAMPAIGN HQ**
Standing at the front of a room, with 'Grant: For the People' and 'Vote Grant For President' signs decorated along the wall, is Fitz as he talks to his campaign staff.
Fitz: "Well, there's no way to sugarcoat it. We got our ass handed to us by Sally Langston in Iowa last night. So, anyone have any great ideas? Anyone?"
Jeannine: "We have to swing farther right. We haven't said a thing about gay marriage, school prayer," a staffer says.
Fitz: "Oh, come on. It's not our stances on the issues. We are not getting our message out there. People don't know where I stand. The problem is—"
Mia/Olivia: "Your marriage." they interrupt, causing Cyrus to look up and smile at the two, while the rest of the room looked shocked that they're interrupting Fitz.
Olivia: "It looks like you don't screw your wife,"
Mia: "Which would be fine, except that statistics show that family values matter to Republicans. It's why they vote for who they vote for. And since Sally's got Jesus firmly on her side, that just leaves family,"
Olivia: "Marriage. And yours, whatever the truth may be from the outside, it looks cold, distant, dead. Where is your wife, by the way?"
Mia: "People want to like who they're voting for." she says as the two begin to walk towards the middle of the room.
Olivia: "Voters thought Al Gore was a big stiff until he stuck his tongue down Tipper's throat. They put George W. in office because he and Laura seemed like a fun couple to have a beer with."
Mia: "People have to want to invite you in for dinner."
Olivia: "And right now, you and your wife are standing in their doorway, three feet apart, not looking at each other, letting in the cold air. That's why you lost Iowa."
Mia: "It's why you'll lose New Hampshire." she states as her and Liv have the same straight, no emotion shown face.
Fitz: "You're like twelve, what would you know? Who even are you?" he questions Mia with a look of disbelief.
Mia: "Mia James. Dr. Mia James." she responds with a slight smirk.
Fitz: "And you are?" he asks looking at Liv.
Olivia: "Olivia. Pope."
~~~~~
Fitz: "Fire them." he says coming into Cyrus's office.
Cyrus: "Ah, they're great, right? Pistols, those two. Olivia, lives for her work, a political nun.
Fitz: "And the twelve year old? Is she even old enough to vote?"
Cyrus: "Mia, yes, she's twenty, and the brightest mind of her generation. Those are two of the best students I've ever had."
Fitz: "Fire them."
Cyrus: "'Cause they said what every staffer on your campaign was afraid to say?"
Fitz: "Just get rid of them." he repeats before turning around and seeing Liv and Mia in the doorway.
Mia: "I'll go call a cab. It was good to see you, Cy." she says before walking away.
Olivia: "I'll charge our hotel rooms to the campaign. Don't worry. I haven't had a chance to raid the hotel minibar."
Cyrus: "Liv—"
Olivia: "Best of luck, Governor." she says before leaving.
Cyrus: "Let's be clear about something. I run a sausage factory."
Fitz: "Which makes me... sausage?"
Cyrus: "Handsome, highly qualified, smart, idealistic, and energetic sausage."
Fitz: "Cy—"
Cyrus: "The stump, the electrifying speeches, the baby kissing that's all you. The nitty-gritty, morally bankrupt, back-alley-brawling rest of the game, that's me. It's filthy and thankless, and it's my hallelujah, heroin, and reason to breathe. And you, you don't have half the stomach for it, so you go and you make nice with Olivia Pope and Mia James. Get them back, or you can find another sausage maker." he directs him as Fitz goes after the two.
~~~
Fitz is rushing down the hall to catch up with Liv, who was walking towards Mia, who is standing at the end of the hall facing the door trying to call for a cab.
Fitz: "Ms. Pope? Ms. Pope, wait. I, I apologize for firing you and Dr. James."
Olivia: "Why?"
Fitz: "Why do I apologize?"
Olivia: "Why did you fire us? I had a job, a paying job, from which I took a leave of absence to do a favor for my friend Cyrus. Mia was working towards her sixth doctorate. And yes, I said sixth. And she worked it out so that she could complete it online and work from the campaign. We did this because we are good. We are brilliant. We would eat, breathe, and live Fitzgerald Grant every minute of every day. You would be lucky to have either of us. Just because you don't like hearing the truth about yourself—"
Fitz: "I loved hearing what you had to say. I agree with every word both of you said. Very astute. And you're right. I would be lucky to have you." he says as he starts to look into her eyes and occasionally glancing at her lips, "Look..."
Olivia: "This is why you fired me."
Fitz: "Can we just—"
Olivia: "Go back there and work." she continues.
Fitz: "Okay."
Olivia: "Okay." she states before turning to Mia and yelling down the hall. "Mia! Come on, we have work to do." she tells her causing Mia to hang up the phone and walk over to the two.
Mia: "So we're not fired?" she asks once she reaches them.
Fitz: "Dr. James—"
Mia: "Do you like baseball, Governor?" she asks causing him to give her a confused look, "Because I love baseball. I grew up on the north side of Chicago, where baseball is this huge thing. And in baseball, you get three strikes. You Governor, have one. And I strongly suggest that you don't go for strike two and three." she tells him before walking back into the main room, and without turning back around she continues with, "And 'Mia' is fine."
Fitz: "She's intense, I see."
Olivia: "You should see her with a book in her hand."
Fitz: "That smart?" he asks her with a slight chuckle.
Olivia: "My advice for you, don't make the girl angry when she's holding a book." she advises him with a small laugh while walking into the room, leaving him really confused.
~~~~~
**FB PANCAKE BREAKFAST**
**NEW HAMPSHIRE**
Fitz is taking pictures with veterans, along side Sally, while Mia and Liv are on the phone with Abby, and watching him interact with the public.
Mia: "Put down the butter, Abby." she tells her over the phone.
Abby: "I don't know what you mean."
Mia: "She's not listening to me." she says to Olivia.
Olivia: "Put her on speaker." she instructs Mia, "Put down the butter."
Abby: "I don't know what you're talking about."
Olivia: "I can hear my mixer again, Abby. Butter won't fix it."
Abby: "So, are you two rabid Republicans yet?" she ask the two at the pancake breakfast, "Hello? Mia? Liv?"
Mia/Olivia: "He's got... something we can work with." they say at the same time.
Abby: "You know, the more I hear you two do that, it doesn't make it any less creepy. But go to it then. You don't have to check on me every day. I'm not deranged. I'm just divorced."
Mia: "So stop feeling sorry for yourself then."
Olivia: "And get out of my kitchen. Call our friend Stephen. He's fun."
Abby: "Stop trying to get laid... maybe I'll buy a gun." she tells them before the two look at each other a little worried, but still slightly laugh at their friend's antics.
Olivia: "Ohh-kay,"
Mia/Olivia: "Bye." they say to her before Mia hangs up the phone and Cyrus walks over to the two.
Cyrus: "Ooh, he's good, our boy. You'd never know he's dying to rip Langston's throat out."
Olivia: "If only he were that good at faking it with his wife,"
Mia: "We wouldn't be losing."
Amanda: "Schedule of events?" she asks coming up to the three handing them papers.
Mia/Olivia: "Thanks."
Cyrus: "Thanks, what's your name?" he asks her as Mia and Liv begin looking at the paper.
Amanda: "Amanda."
Cyrus: "Thanks, Amanda. I don't care which campaign you're volunteering for, I want to thank you for coming out today."
~~~~~
MORGUE
David: "Alissa, cancel your plans. We're working late tonight." he says into his phone while looking down at Amanda's corpse.
~~~~~
GIDEON'S APARTMENT
Quinn is lying naked next to Gideon while the two eat the grilled cheese he made.
Quinn: "Mm. This is really good."
Gideon: "I know."
Quinn: "No, I mean like award-winning good, like you should quit your job. 'Cause let's face it, you're kind of a crap reporter."
Gideon: "Mm-hmm."
Quinn: "Go out on the road in your car and sell this grilled cheese. Wait. You have a car, right? 'Cause I can't date you if you don't have a car."
Gideon: "I have a car. I also... I have... a deadline tomorrow."
Quinn: "Oh. Yeah, I sh- I'm sorry. I should go."
Gideon: "No. No. I didn't mean that. You shouldn't go. You should stay. I just have to work for a couple of hours, but you should stay here, naked. And beautiful. And here, in my bed. Stay here. Please." he tells her as he goes to get up and work in his living room reviewing his materials of Amanda Tanner.
~~~~~
CYRUS'S HOUSE
Mia walks into the room where Cyrus is lying on a couch in his office thinking about the blackmail video.
Mia: "Hey. You texted. What's up?"
Cyrus: "I can't get Nixon's speech out of my head." he tells her as he moves over so she can sit next to him.
Mia: "I know, me neither. But compared to what else could be running through my mind right now. Nixon's speech isn't half bad."
Cyrus: "How are you doing?"
Mia: "I've been better, but I think I'll get over this survivor's guilt. It's not going to be easy, but I'll get there. How about you? I mean no wonder you wanted to go to war. You thought we sent you a sex tape? How long have you been sitting on that information?"
Cyrus: "You remember that package that got dropped off while we were meeting about the FBI."
Mia: "Cy, that was two weeks ago."
Cyrus: "Yep." he sighs out, while leaning his head against the back of the couch.
~~~~~
DAVID'S OFFICE
David is sitting at his desk, when Alissa walks in with a bag of takeout and drops it on the desk.
David: "Ah, did you get moo shu chicken? No wonder it took you so long. How do you even walk in those?" he asks questioning the woman's choice in shoes.
Alissa: "I got whatever you ordered. And these shoes aren't made for walking. They are made for getting me laid, specifically, they are for the very hot bartender at the Black Cat, where I would be having a drink right now if I didn't happen to work for an obsessive-compulsive slave driver who makes me fetch him dinner at 10:30 on a Thursday night."
David: "You know, if you spent less time at the Black Cat and more time studying for the bar exam, you wouldn't be fetching your boss anything because at law firms, they have assistants for that."
Alissa: "Lots of lawyers fail the bar."
David: "All lawyers pass the bar. That's what makes them lawyers. Alissa, eat something. We have a murder to solve."
Alissa: "No, we don't. Coroner says it's a suicide, and the police agree with her, which is why I went home two hours ago, because work was over."
David: "Amanda Tanner. 27. Single. 13 weeks pregnant. Worked as an aide at the Grant White House till just a couple weeks ago when she abruptly resigned and botched a suicide attempt. Then she becomes a client of Olivia Pope's, and we pull her dead body out of the river. Don't you find that interesting? Well, pretend you do, for me. Now if you did happen to find any of this remotely fascinating, incongruous, intriguing, worthy of our time, what's the first question you might ask about Amanda Tanner?"
Alissa: "Well, um, who in the White House would want her dead?" she asks finally getting behind David's potentially crazy theory.
~~~~~
**FB GRANT HOTEL SUITE**
**NEW HAMPSHIRE**
Mellie: "You canceled all our events for the next two days?" she questions Liv and Mia, as the two, along with Cyrus, stand across from her and Fitz.
Mia/Olivia: "Yes."
Fitz: "The primary's in less than a week. We can't miss two days of campaigning."
Cyrus: "New Hampshire's a small state."
Mellie: "I have a literacy fund-raiser in Nashua tomorrow. I can't possibly cancel that."
Mia/Olivia: "That's why we canceled it for you." they inform the two at the same time, causing the married couple to look at Mia and Liv strangely, "You get used to us speaking at the same time."
Cyrus: "No you don't. Still creepy." he mutters under his breath, but still loud enough for Mia and Liv to hear and glare at the man.
Mellie: "Maybe I'm dense, but I have to confess, I don't really know what you two want from us."
Olivia: "First off, we'd like you to actually talk to each other."
Mellie: "Ms. Pope, Dr. James, we talk all the time."
Mia: "Not to each other, you don't."
Olivia: "House parties, town hall meetings, baseball games you barely look at each other."
Mellie: "Fine. We will add a couple of events to the schedule where we are together."
Olivia: "That won't do it. You two need to be a couple. A believable, loving, dedicated couple."
Mia: "Or you might as well throw it in right now." she adds in before sharing a look with Olivia, the two then turn towards Fitz and Mellie.
Mia/Olivia: "Why don't we give you two a moment?" they say before the three walk out and leave the couple alone.
Fitz: "Why are you fighting this? It's what you wanted. It's what you've always wanted."
Mellie: "What I wanted? You are the one running for President."
Fitz: "Oh, please, like you're not running for First Lady? You're dying to get into that White House. You're practically redecorating already."
Mellie: "Okay, there it is. I am the ambitious monster. I'm the Iron Lady. I have done everything for you! I have sacrificed my career for you. I have had kids for you. There is not a single thing in my life I have not given up so that you could be President!"
Fitz: "I never asked you for any of that."
Mellie: "And all I get in turn is this perpetual resentment!"
Fitz: "So what would you prefer? That I ignore you? That we don't talk at all? 'Cause that's pretty much how it's been the past few years, and that's worked okay."
Mellie: "Now you're just being juvenile."
Fitz: "Look, we both know..."
~~~
As they fight, Cyrus and Olivia are, sitting outside the room, listening to the the couple argue, as Mia paces back and forth while reading her textbook on behaviors.
Cyrus: "This is why they don't talk to each other." he remarks as two staffers try and walk in.
Olivia/Cyrus: "No, get out." they whisper yell at them, as Mia launches the book in her hand, and hits one of the staffers in the head, causing the two staffers to look at her frightened.
Mia: "Get out." she demands before the staffers book it, and as Mia goes to pick up her book, Cyrus and Liv give her a weird look, "What?"
Cyrus: "You've got anger issues."
Mia: "Like you don't." she chuckles.
~~~
Meanwhile, inside the hotel suite bedroom, Fitz and Mellie are still arguing about their marriage.
Fitz: "'Cause you're afraid it would get out and kill us politically."
Mellie: "If they found out, we'd be dead in the water!"
Fitz: "Fine! Then if living on Pennsylvania Avenue is that important to you, we better suck it up and start acting like this isn't a dead marriage!"
~~~~~
**FB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL**
**SANTA BARBARA, CA**
James: "Governor, you're 5 points down in New Hampshire. Taking time out from the primary, for a parent-teacher conference, isn't that a little risky?" he asks as the parents exit their children's school.
Fitz: "If it's a choice between losing touch with your family and losing a primary. That's not really a choice, is it?"
~~~~~
**FB MORNING TALK SHOW**
**NEW HAMPSHIRE**
Olivia: "You can't wear this tie on morning TV." she tells Fitz, after her and Mia see the tie he's wearing.
Fitz: "What?"
Mia: "She's right. It's too distracting. I'll go find one." she says before heading off to find a tie.
Fitz: "You decide who you're voting for?" he asks Olivia, as she helps untie the current tie he has on, while Mia is bringing over a stranger.
Mia: "Liv, what do you think?" she asks, as Liv considers it for a second before nodding.
Mia/Olivia: "Take it off. Give us your tie, please. Give us your tie. Take it off. Off, off, off, off. Thank you. Okay." they say to the stranger, before Olivia helps Fitz put on the newly obtained tie.
Fitz: "You don't sleep, you rip ties off innocent bystanders for me, you're killing yourself 24/7 to get me elected, and I don't even know if I have your vote."
Olivia: "I'm apolitical."
Fitz: "And what about you, Doc? First election." he questions Mia after smiling at Liv.
Mia: "Oh, I already voted."
Fitz: "What?" he asks confused.
Mia: "Primaries in Illinois, were a few weeks ago. I already sent my ballot in." she informs him, before looking at the tie once more in approval and walking away.
Fitz: "She already voted? You think I got her vote? I mean, she's part of the younger voting pool, if I got her's, maybe I have a good chance for some of the others."
Olivia: "Mia's not like everyone else her age. Almost everyone is her contact list is at least five to ten years older than her, if not more. So I wouldn't try to base if you got her vote, on what the rest of 20 year olds are going to vote. Also I wouldn't have a clue if she voted for you or not. She doesn't share that. But based on how she talks. She hates both democratic candidates. She despises Langston. And she can't stand people voting independently because she feels that statistically they stand no chance. I have a gut feeling that with that 20 year old, you got her vote."
Fitz: "Really?"
Olivia: "With her, she votes for the person not the politician. She wants to know that the person being put into office is just that. A person. Not a robot."
Fitz: "And you? Will I have your vote?"
Olivia: "Well, you're gonna need to earn it, like any other candidate."
~~~
Reporter: "If my research is right, you were first in your class at Harvard Law." she says during the morning interview with Fitz and Mellie, while Mia, Olivia and Cyrus watch from the back corner.
Mellie: "That's right. Oh, and uh, Fitz did fine, too." she jokingly tells the interviewer.
Cyrus: "Not bad." he whispers.
Mia/Olivia: "They're still not touching."
~~~~~
**FB ICE CREAM SOCIAL**
**NEW HAMPSHIRE**
Mia/Olivia: "That's great." they mutter to each other and Cyrus, as the three watch Fitz and Mellie handing over ice cream cones to some children.
Mellie: "It's your turn. It's your turn, Fitz." she states while bringing a cone to him.
Fitz: "Okay, it's my turn. Mm-hmm. Delicious!" he takes a bite of the ice cream and gets some on his chin.
Mia/Olivia: "Oh, wipe it off... wipe it off." they whisper.
Cyrus: "Wipe it off."
Mia/Olivia: "Wipe it. Wipe it off. Wipe it off, Mellie. Come on."
Cyrus: "Come on."
Fitz: "Oh. Thank you." he tells her after she wipes it off, and then kisses her.
Olivia: "Perfect."
Mia: "Brillant."
Mellie: "Ice cream, anyone?" she offers to everyone around them, while her and Fitz are laughing.
~~~~~
**FB LANGSTON CAMPAIGN HQ**
Sally: "Ugh! Who in the holy hell is running that campaign?" she questions Billy after watching the news coverage from the Grant campaign event.
Billy: "As far as I know, they haven't made any official changes."
Sally: "Oh, yeah? That is a big, old pile of dung, Billy Chambers, and you know it. That is not the Fitzgerald Grant I ran against in Iowa. That is a candidate, Billy. A down-home, charming, red-blooded candidate who's stealing my votes. Hell, I'm halfway to voting for him. Now I want to find out who's responsible so we can see what we're dealing with here."
Billy: "I'm on it."
Sally: "Billy, it is not in God's plan that I lose New Hampshire."
Billy: "Senator, I promise you, we will not lose New Hampshire."
~~~~~
**FB GRANT CAMPAIGN HQ**
Fitz is talking to his campaign staff, as the group is celebrating a possible win in New Hampshire, while Mia is sitting in the back corner with a text book and a bottle of water while typing away on her laptop.
Fitz: "I'm a little superstitious, so we're not gonna have any victory speeches until tomorrow night, after everyone's voted. But for now, I just really want to say thank you. Okay, thanks. It's all you guys." he tells them before they all go off for their own conversations and he turns to Liv, "Olivia Pope, I don't know how you and Mia do it."
Olivia: "Oh, if we're passing out credit, Governor, you and Mellie deserve most of it. You two seem to be doing much better, and I think Mia would agree."
Fitz: "I think you underestimate how good a politician I am. Anyways, where is the Doc?"
Olivia: "Oh Miss Genius? She's over there." she says while pointing to Mia, who hasn't looked up from the laptop.
Fitz: "What? She didn't want to listen to my speech?" he sarcastically remarks before whispering, "And why is she drinking water? I know I'm superstitious, but we're celebrating."
Olivia: "First of all, she's twenty. She can't drink, especially on a campaign trail. She doesn't want the possibility of the news outlets trying to run a story like, 'Grant Lets His Twenty Year Old Campaign Fixer Drink During Celebration'."
Fitz: "Makes sense."
Olivia: "And two, she's working on her thesis. But, I can pretty much guarantee if you call her out right now, she'll cheer like she was listening the entire time."
Fitz: "No, really?"
Olivia: "Yep. Try it." she tells him, but he just hesitantly looks towards the genius before looking back at Liv, "Fine, if you won't, I will... Mia!"
Mia: "Whoo! Grant Administration!! We're taking New Hampshire!! Whoo!" she yells back and raising her bottle of water up cheersing, all while never looking up from the computer.
Olivia: "Told you." she tells him, before the two laugh from her antics and Cyrus goes over to Mia.
Cyrus: "Hey. Put your report away. We got a problem." he says, as Mia shuts her laptop and follows Cyrus over to Fitz and Liv, "We're not gonna win New Hampshire."
Fitz: "What are you talking about? The polls have us up by—"
Cyrus: "Story's coming out in the morning paper, 6:00 A.M. They'll be reading about it over their damn coffee, right before they vote."
Mia: "What story?
Olivia: "What's coming out?"
Cyrus: "Mellie's having an affair." he says shocking the three.
~~~~~
**FB HOTEL BAR**
TV: "Senator Sally Langston won the New Hampshire Republican primary Tuesday, with 98% of the precincts reporting. Most attribute the voters' change of heart to new allegations that Governor Grant's wife is involved in an extramarital affair." Olivia hears from the hotel bar's television, as she nurses the drink, she just ordered along with Mia's to go coffee. And not long after Billy comes up and takes the seat beside her.
Billy: "Now you can't blame this one on me. You did a hell of a job with those two. The thing is, this isn't a story that goes away. You know, you can't spin a dead marriage. Sally and Doug, on the other hand, they're like a couple of teenagers who can't keep their hands off each other. It's kinda gross, actually."
Olivia: "Billy Chambers."
Billy: "Thanks for meeting me, Olivia. Also don't you work with a doctor? Where is he?"
Olivia: "Restroom. Now, what do you want?"
Billy: "Concede before South Carolina, and we'll give you the V.P. slot."
Olivia: "I'll take my check." she says to the bartender.
Billy: "Come on. You and I on the same team? We'd be unstoppable. We could play the spin machine, wrangle reporters, have nice meals on the trail. Do you like barbecue?"
Mia: "Are you asking her to concede or out on a date?" she questions him, once walking towards the two.
Billy: "Maybe a little bit of both, and kid, beat it, the adults are talking."
Mia: "She hates barbecue." she informs him, after letting out a scoff, and then turning towards Liv, "Is that my coffee?"
Olivia: "Yes it is. And the kid, like usual, is right. I do hate barbecue."
Billy: "She's the doctor, isn't she?" he asks the two with them nodding 'yes' in response, "You're both awfully confident for two people who don't have anymore cards left to play."
Mia/Olivia: "Oh, we always have cards left to play." they say, as Mia grabs her coffee and the two walk away leaving Billy speechless.
~~~~~