"I am done." "I am done defending you, Huck." "The best thing I could do for you is to shoot you." "Please, Quinn." "Do it." "Last season on "Scandal"..." "Your new junior senator!" "There was a donor to Mrs. Grant's campaign." "What did he ask her to do?" "I need you to get me a list." "Pack your bags and get out of my house!" "Cyrus, you arrested Olivia." "You worked with the man who killed my son." "You're fired." "I am in love with you." "But you..." "Are in love with him." "Hi." "Hi." "Lovers of Liberty, good evening." "Tonight, I come to you filled with the righteous indignation of a true American." "Tonight, my flag waves and my patriotic fires burn, because tonight, over in the White House, the man who calls himself our president is throwing a party." "He's making a mockery of what our fine nation stands for." "He has betrayed honor and virtue." "And tonight, he celebrates that betrayal." "Tonight, he bathes in his filthy glory." "Tonight, he has the audacity to ask us... patriots, Americans... to join him in his jubilation, to skip with him down the road to Sodom and Gomorrah." "And all the while, he holds our hands and tells us fairy tales... a young woman, a commoner, an all-American girl, who falls in love with the golden son who would be king?" "Really?" "It's a story." "And not a very original one, at that." "Hi." "Hi." "And even if it is true, even if it is the single greatest true love story of all time, are we supposed to care?" "Am I supposed to swoon?" "Do not hold your breath." "The amount of money spent on this party is atrocious." "Your hard-earned tax dollars needlessly and lavishly spent on a five-course meal with... what did I read?" "... two, no, three kinds of wine plus champagne." "Wow." "Thank you." "No." "Okay." "Be careful." "This dress is couture." "I need it to stay perfect." "Then take it off." "And what is it all for, Liberty lovers?" "Why, it is for our very own" "American Princess and her Prince Charming!" "Ha!" "That's what the White House would like you to think." "But isn't it more likely that the president is simply using our own Princess Emily, her humble Iowa roots, her sure-footed Midwestern values?" "Using her marriage to Prince Richard to justify throwing this overpriced White House state dinner for the nation of Caledonia?" "Isn't it possible that the goal is really to butter up Princess Emily's mother-in-law," "Her Majesty, Queen Isabel?" "Isn't it possible that the president and his band of west wing hippies are trying to convince the queen to allow the U.S. military to build an unnecessary and wasteful naval base on Caledonian soil?" "Okay." "See you on the flip side?" "We could just walk in together." "Yes, let's start an international incident." "Let's." "Goodbye, Mister." "Last chance." "Oh, Mr. President, I see you, sir, and I ask you this... what other tricks do you have up your sleeve?" "What other secrets are you hiding?" "To new beginnings!" "To new beginnings." "It seems poor Mellie Grant seems to have come down with... and I quote... "a terrible flu."" "Isn't that interesting?" "Vaccination-touting first lady didn't get her flu shot?" "She's due to be sworn in to the United States senate tomorrow." "Will be she be too sick to attend that, as well?" "I am not ill!" "The first lady is not ill." "The first lady is ill." "Do you know how I know?" "Because I stood at the podium in the Press Room 38 minutes ago." "And told the press that the first lady has the flu." "They can't have a state dinner without the first lady of the United States." "You can't have a state dinner without the first lady." "Apparently, we can." "Who will sit next to the president?" "Who will sit next to the president?" "Rachel, muzzle your beast." "We have a plan." "So..." "You've been queen a long time." "Oh, yes." "And we were very interested to hear about your rapid rise to the vice presidency." "Oh, it was fast, wasn't it?" "A nice charade, but I don't think anyone's buying it." " What?" " Mellie, the flu." "I could have done better if he gave me some notice." "I had no notice." "How long did it take for him to call you?" "Who?" "Oh." "He didn't call." "The president didn't call you the minute he kicked Mellie out?" "No." "I wanted to thank you, Your Majesty, for your continued participation in these naval-base discussions." "I know it's been a long road, but I'm looking forward to finally reaching an agreement." "Your support would mean the world to us." "And if you need anything from me to move this all along... anything at all..." "Time." "Excuse me, Your Majesty?" "Time would be what I require, Mr. President." "I know, of course, that my support would mean the world to you." "I need to decide what, if anything, your military base would mean to me." "Of course." "Absolutely, Your Majesty." "I do appreciate your patience." "He really didn't call you?" "He didn't call." " He didn't call?" " Abby, he didn't call, because we don't have anything to talk about." "Why would we?" "That's over." "I'm off my game." "Without Cyrus there, I'm telling you, everything is all weird now." "Before, I was in the middle of it." "And now it's all just... my game is gone." "Liz north is waiting for me to fail." "I need to get out before she fires me." "I need a new life." "You know whose life I need?" "Princess Emily's." "That woman?" "Nothing but game." "She was a human-rights lawyer." "And now she gets to wear diamonds on her head." "On her head, Liv." "I think I'll stick with being me." "I wonder what that life is like." "You know, one day, you're a regular person." "The next day, you're the most famous woman on the planet, and only because of who you're in love with." "Suddenly, that's all you are, is somebody's..." "I'm sorry." "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop." "It's just, people get weird when they see me, so I just..." "I was going to try and stay in there until you left, but then you started talking about me and I thought you'd want to know I-I was in..." "I am so sorry, Your Royal Highness." "Why don't we give you some privacy?" "Oh, wait a minute." "You're Olivia Pope." "You handled the press for my engagement." "I..." "I watched you on TV." "My friend didn't really mean anything by what she said." "Oh, oh, I've..." "I've gotten used to it." "For most of the world, I'm not a real person anymore." "I stopped being a real person for people the moment the world found out I was marrying Richard." "To them, I'm..." "I'm not human." "I'm just..." "A spectacle." "And I don't think they would say half the things they say if they knew they were hurting an actual person, do you?" "No, I don't think they would." "Well, you have a wonderful night." "Apparently, the Royal Family needs more time." "They've already had six months of time." "I don't know what else to do." "They're in a bubble, a fishbowl." "They can't afford to look like they're taking orders from us." "They need more time, you give them more time." "I'd give them another six months if I could spend it all in this bed." "Mmm." " Mnh-mnh." " Mm-hmm." " Mnh-mnh." " Yes." "Mnh-mnh." "Olivia Pope." "Of course I'll hold." "Your Majesty." "Good evening." "What can I do for you?" "Everybody back!" "That is not a suggestion, sir!" "Cover her body!" "Ma'am, I need you to step back!" "Ma'am!" "Have some respect!" "The Royal Family, along with millions of people around the world, are in shock tonight after Crown Princess Emily of Caledonia was killed..." "No official statement has come from the Royal Family, but sources say they are devastated by the princess's sudden and tragic death." "In the meantime, local and federal investigators are working together to determine the cause of the crash." "First of all, thank you for coming." "The police have the best of intentions, I'm sure, but I believe it's wise to have someone on the ground representing our interests." "You said there were photos taken." "Yes." "And I did my best to shield the princess from the cameras," " but..." " There are photos of her body?" "Your Royal Highness, allow me to express my deepest..." "Can we get them back?" " I'm sorry?" " The pictures." "Richard, dear, I thought I told you to rest." "I'm asking her a question, mother." "We can try to get the photos of your wife's body back, but it's going to be difficult." " But not impossible." " Richard." "She was my wife." "Mother, please." "I know you can't save her life, Olivia" "But perhaps you can save her dignity." "Google "fairy-tale wedding," this is what you'll get." "An American beauty swept off her feet by the most desirable bachelor on the planet, married Prince Charming three years ago." "In front of 4,000 of her closest family and friends." "Broadcast live in 38 countries." "What every little princess-to-be dreams about." "If you don't count the paparazzi." "No matter where they went, the cameras followed." "The public is obsessed, which is my point." "Liv, everybody is gonna want to see these photos." "Every gruesome detail of the princess's death." "Her dead body, in color, on film." "That's the holy grail." "And we need every photo, every pixel, every jpeg, gigabyte in our possession, and we need it by morning." "How the hell am I supposed to talk sleazy paparazzi into handing over their photos?" "Appeal to their nobility?" "We have options." "Listen, all I'm saying is, your paper is better than this." "I know you have a story to cover." "But you also have a choice." "You can choose to respect the dignity of an icon the world is mourning..." "How much?" "No, name your price, Gillian... any number." "I don't care how high!" "Gillian!" "Gill..." "She doesn't want money." "She's gonna run the photos... today." "Well, they'll be the only ones." "I was able to track down all of the paparazzi..." "Except for one... this guy." "But don't worry, I'll find him." "If Gillian publishes the pictures, then it won't matter if you find him or not." "We can't fight a blank front page." "Oh." "We don't fight it." "We help them fill it." "No!" "I won't do it!" "It's disgraceful!" "Yes, it is, but it is less disgraceful than the alternative." "And if there was another way..." "but we are out of time here." "No." "Enough." "Let them run those horrible pictures." "Thank you for your efforts." "I'll do it." "Richard." "I'll do it." "On behalf of the United States government and the American people," "I extend our deepest condolences to Prince Richard and the Royal Family, and to all those who knew and loved her." "They say that princesses only exist in fairy tales, but princess Emily was real." "She was beautiful and vibrant and compassionate..." "But even more than that, she was one of us." "She was, and always will be, America's princess." "In sharing the joys of her life, she captured our imaginations and our hearts." "And while we are grateful for the precious time we had with her, the truth is, it was nowhere near enough." "You were here all night?" "Had to be." "I'm a one-man band." "I could bring Huck in." " Did he tell you what he did?" " No." "Then he's too much of a coward to come back to work, to own what he did, who he is." "What happened between you two?" "Look, I've got this, Liv." "I am good." "18 photographers, 1,300 images," "$2.4 million, and I did it all by myself." "Did you find the guy from the picture?" "I ran the photo by a few of the other stalkerazzi." "No luck." "I wouldn't worry about it." "If he had photos, they'd be out there on the cover of something by now." "Get some sleep." "I'm an idiot." "Of course none of the other photogs could identify this guy, because this guy isn't a photographer." "I need your help with the investigation into princess Emily's death." "See this photographer?" "Yes." "He's not a photographer." "This confuses me." "He has a camera." "That's not a camera." "And that's a short-wave R.F. signal booster." "Don't make me ask, Quinn." "They're used to increase the power and range of a Bluetooth connection." "This man is a hacker." "We think he was posing as a photographer in order to hack into the princess's car and cause the crash." ""Cause the crash" assassination "cause the crash"?" "It was a murder." "Somebody wanted the princess dead." "What's left of the car is with Interpol, computer included." "I don't have access to it." "Princess Emily died on American soil." "You are the Attorney General of the United States." "There are limits to my power." "I've seen what you can do with your power, David." "I'll see what I can do." "Thank you." "Mrs. Grant?" "I'm going to assume that last night was a mistake." " Today, there will be no mistakes." " Excuse me?" "You will assure me now that he will be at the Capitol, by my side, this afternoon when I take the oath to become a United States senator." "That's why I'm here." "You will guarantee that the president shows up for his wife, because that is what is best." "I don't appreciate being summoned..." "You don't appreciate?" "You don't appreciate being..." "You ungrateful, little... okay, this meeting is over." "Why?" "Why did you betray me?" "After everything I did for you." "I saved your life." "I saved you and your child from Olivia Pope's butcher." "I took you in." "I brought your bones back from the political graveyard and performed voodoo to make you somebody again." "And as payment, you stab me in the back." "I want to know why." "First, let's be clear." "You did not do anything for me." "You did that for you." "You only ever do anything for your own benefit." "Second, you didn't take me in." "I was your prisoner." "I was your puppet." "I was your bitch." "Third, your payment..." "Was that I got you elected." "You are sitting in that chair, in this office, a United States senator, because of me." "That is how I repaid you." "Fourth, one can only be betrayed if there's loyalty first." "I was never loyal to you, and you were never loyal to me." "I don't think you've ever been loyal to anyone." "So, when I made my move up the ladder of political success all on my own, I wasn't even thinking about you, because you don't matter to me." "And now you also don't matter to the most powerful man on the face of the earth." "But guess who does... me." "I'm his chief of staff." "And so believe me when I say... hmm... the president regrets to inform you that he is unable to attend your little swearing-in today, senator." "He had better things to do." "But best of luck in future endeavors." "Some people are saying that the timing of the Royal Family's tragic loss is certainly a convenient distraction from what's really going on in that White House." "And I just wanted to give you an opportunity to comment." "Some people, Sally, or just you?" "Cyrus Beene quits to "spend more time with his family,"" "and Mellie skips the state dinner." "Are you honestly suggesting that we committed regicide to distract America from a flu and a life choice?" "I'm wondering whether the president will be attending his wife senator Grant's swearing-in ceremony today." "I'm wondering if the wool is being pulled over America's eyes." "Sally, there is no wool." "There is just the truth." "Try running with that, for once." "Charlotte?" "It's Abby." "Please tell me the president is confirmed to attend the first lady's swearing-in ceremony." "Go away." "He's not going to the swearing-in." "I tried." "He refuses to attend." "I've got Sally Langston all over me." "She's looking, and looking hard." " He has to attend." " He won't." "He needs to attend." "He's not going." "Deal with it, and don't mess it up." "I shouldn't be here." "I thought we could have lunch together." "Fitz, you can't summon me here for lunch... not now, now when Abby and a roomful of press is right down the hall." "I shouldn't be here." "So, that's a no?" "Where you been?" "Working." "For the queen?" "How's she doing?" "Mm." "Are you asking as a concerned citizen or as a president worried about his naval base?" "As if I could be so cold." "Don't you have a swearing-in ceremony to get to?" " What?" " Mellie." "Liz North and I decided I'm not going." "What do you mean, you're not going?" "Liv... don't "Liv" me." "It's a hugely public event." "If you don't attend, all it will do is raise questions." " And you owe her this." " I owe her?" "She's the junior senator from Virginia, and she's a woman that everybody thinks of as nothing more than your wife." "And she's looking for respect." "How many times do you think she's done this for you, whether she wanted to or not?" "In the wake of princess Emily's tragic passing last night, president Grant regrets that his duties will prevent him from attending senator Grant's swearing-in today." "Do you solemnly swear to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic..." "So, you're saying the president is definitely not going to the first lady's swearing-in?" "Asked and answered, Carol." "That you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion..." "I want to be sure that's your official statement." "If you didn't catch it, you can always borrow someone else's notes after class." "And that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter," " so help you God?" " I do." "I'm giving you a chance to amend it, Abby." "And why would I want to do that?" "Because 20 reporters are live-tweeting at the Capitol building, where he is, in fact, attending his wife's swearing-in." "Congratulations, Senator Grant." "We did it." "Oh." "I just wanted to thank you for coming today." " Mellie." " And I wanted to apologize." "I would have done it sooner, but I wanted to do it in person." "I thought I'd have a chance before the state dinner, especially with the queen visiting and the optics of that whole..." "But I understand that you needed some space, some time." "But I'm glad you came around." "I think about what I did every day." "Those jurors..." "What I did, uh, those jurors..." "I..." "I will never forgive myself." "And maybe you won't either." "I guess we add it to the list of awful things we've done... things we spend our future together trying to repent for." "But I can face it..." "Because we'll be together." "I know, without a doubt, that you and I together, a team, is what's best... for us, for the country, for our beautiful children..." "And I'm so glad to see you too." "I'm divorcing you." " I'll never sign." " You will." "You have so many qualities I despise, but I do admire your brilliance." "So do the math, Mel." "Fighting this, fighting me, will mean both of us deploy every weapon in our arsenals, every lie, every secret, every juror on that bus." "Mutually assured destruction." "We'll be ruined." "Now, me, hey, I'm a war hero, governor, a two-term president." "My bucket list is done." "You?" "Your biggest accomplishment so far is waving and smiling." "It's your first day pitching in the major leagues." "You'll sign." "Why didn't I get a heads-up?" "I just got destroyed out there." "Look, I get it." "I'm Cyrus' guy." "You want my head on a stick." "But until you actually fire me," "I'd like to be able to do my job." "And in order to do that, I have to know things!" "I don't play politics with my employees, Abby." "I have no idea what you're talking about." "Oh, so, the president's chief of staff had no idea... none at all... that the president did a complete 180 and decided to attend Mellie's swearing-in?" "You really didn't know." "Oh." "Divorce papers?" "I thought you'd be happy." "You don't look happy." "No, I..." "I'm..." "I'm just surprised." "I..." "I didn't know that you were even..." "Divorce?" "I have dragged you into my marriage enough." "You shouldn't have to deal with this." "But we had a plan." "Optics, your approval ratings, and I..." "Life is short." "You saw what happened to the princess." "One minute, she's living a charmed life." "The next, it's over." "No warning." "I don't want to wait." "Okay?" "Okay." "This is good." "This is good." "David." "The car's internal computer shows it was traveling at 55 miles per hour at the time of the crash." "Speeding, but nothing a passenger in the back seat wouldn't survive." "But if you measure the distance between the surveillance cameras as the car approached the tunnel, it was going more like 120." "So..." "So we are definitely talking about a "caused the crash" assassination "caused the crash."" "I can't believe someone would want to murder this girl." "She looks happy and perfect." "They are just a bunch of photos, I guess." "Where was the prince when Emily was opening this hospital in Hibernia?" "He was on a Navy carrier in the black sea." "And when he was vacationing in the French riviera?" "Um, she was touring a school for girls in Shanghai." "They weren't spending much time together." "Doesn't look like it." "I mean, it seems like the only person she spent any real time with was her bodyguard." "Who died in the car with her." "What if there wasn't any "happily ever after"?" "What if it was all a lie?" "The princess was having an affair with her bodyguard." "I don't think the prince was happy about that." "That doesn't mean the prince hired someone to murder his wife." "Even if he did, it's not like we can prosecute him." "Prince Richard is protected by diplomatic immunity, so, no, technically, we wouldn't be able to press charges." "That said, there have been instances where we have convinced a suspect's native country to waive immunity." " So it's possible?" " Yes, but in this case, that would mean convincing the queen to waive immunity, and with her being the prince's mother and all... it's possible, Mr. President." "Possible to hold accountable the person responsible for killing an American on American soil, before they leave the country, while we still have a chance." "No." "Liz is right." "The rules of diplomatic immunity are..." "I could have..." "I should have gone to my clients with this information first." "I'm only here out of courtesy and out of a terribly misguided belief that someone in this office might be interested in doing the right thing." "It's the naval base, isn't it?" "You want your naval base." "That's more important than the murder of innocent people." "I can't accuse the Crown Prince of Caledonia of murder." "You can." "You just don't want to." " Those naval bases are strategically..." " Don't talk to me about naval bases!" "They are strategically valuable, and I can't just ignore that!" "I'm running a country here!" "Sometimes you and I are gonna have different priorities." "Clearly." "The good news is I don't work for you." "If you go to the queen with your speculation, with your gut, you will be gravely endangering the national security of this country, and you will be prosecuted!" "Are you back?" "Huck?" "Are you sleeping here?" "Are you back?" "I live here." "Did something happen..." "With him?" "I'm just tired." "I want to sleep in my own bed." "Is he hurting you..." "On the inside?" "I'm fine." "You don't worry about me, okay?" "Huck..." "Did Quinn hurt you..." "On the inside?" "Yes." " Huck..." " But I hurt her, too." "We hurt each other." "But I didn't try to kill her." "You should talk to her." "I..." "Opened a window today." "Fresh air..." "Vitamin "D."" "I'll be fine." "Is this your plan?" "To stay on this sofa and maybe open a window?" " Because..." " You're home now." "Me?" "Have you been waiting for me to come home?" "I'm your plan?" "You always fix me." "I don't know what happened or how it happened or when or..." "But you need to do what you do..." "Because I want to see Kim and Javi, and I can't." "I can't go home... not like this." "Not while I want to..." "My guy is out, Liv." "My guy is out." "He's running around, and I can't go home until you fix me." "What do you mean, your guy?" "Please." "Huck..." "I want to help you." "I do." "But..." "I can't fix you." "I don't fix people." "Not like that, not on the inside." "If I could fix people on the inside," "I'd be running a bake sale in Ohio right now." "I wouldn't be..." "I don't know how to fix you." "I wish I did." "I wish I had some..." "I-I don't know anything." "I'm sorry." "But you... you need a new plan, a better plan, a much better plan than me." "Well, she didn't waste any time, did she?" " I'm sorry?" " Olivia Pope is in the White House, which means she's in the president's bed, which means she's up in our business." "Go ahead, play dumb." "Protect your friend." "I just witnessed a lovers' quarrel in the oval office." "And keeping a secret like that is not gonna work for me." "Honestly, I had no idea." "Well, now you do." "And if you want to know who's been undermining you out there at that podium," "I think we've just figured that out, as well." "You need to go straight to the White House and do whatever it is that you have to do to get your job back and talk some sense into him, because if he goes through with this, if he divorces me, then we are all finished... you, me, and him." "And it doesn't have to be that way." "We could have eight more years together." "If Fitz and I stay married, and with you running my campaign..." "No." "No?" "No." "I'm not helping you anymore." "Why?" "Because if he asks you to come back, you don't want to be associated with me?" "You think he's gonna ask you to come back, Cy?" "He doesn't want you, Cy." "He doesn't..." "Want you..." "Any more than he wants me." "He hates us." "I'm not here." "You're not?" "I'm a figment of your imagination." "So is this autopsy report." "They're burying this, Liv." "Putting her body on a plane tonight." "And tomorrow morning, I tell the world the accident was entirely due to driver error." "I don't know if this had anything to do with why she died, but I do know those royal goons don't want it coming out." "If it's dangerous for you to leak this to me..." "Come on, you know me." "Truth, justice, the American way." "Also, I put you in CIA jail." "The princess was pregnant?" "I know you adore Prince Richard, but I believe that he had his wife killed." "That's why he asked me to recover those photos." "Not to protect the princess's dignity, but to hide the fact that she was riding in that car with her lover, which would give the police motive and implicate the prince in her murder." "I'm sorry to have to burden you with this..." " No, no." " After everything you've been through." "I'm grateful you did." "Have you spoken with the prince about this?" "Not yet." "Good." "You mustn't." "Not a word." "And I trust I may continue to rely on your discretion." "Of course." "But, your majesty, if there is an investigation..." "There will be no investigation." "My son is innocent, Olivia." "He loved that girl." "Worshipped her..." "Blindly." "She could do no wrong where he was concerned." "And I certainly couldn't tell him what she really was." "You knew she was pregnant." "She could have given birth to a child who looked exactly like that bodyguard of hers, and my son still wouldn't have seen it." "She had one job... to give us an heir and a spare." "And at that single job, she failed." "You had her killed because it wasn't your grandchild?" "A tragic loss of life..." "But far less tragic than handing the crown to one who is not its rightful heir." "That is where we disagree." "I haven't dismissed you." "Where are you going?" "To get justice." "I am justice." "This is a private matter, Olivia, protected by diplomatic immunity and by the nondisclosure agreement you signed when you entered my employ, guaranteeing that the monarchy of Caledonia will continue as it has" "For millennia to come as it must." "Oh, not all fairy tales have happy endings, my dear." "Now you may go." "Huck?" "What is she doing here?" "You hired her." "The same way you hired the man who murdered my wife." "Olivia's nondisclosure agreement didn't apply to me." "So when we get home, you're going to abdicate because of health reasons, because of age, cause you are no longer fit to rule." "You will allow your son to accede to the throne and live out the rest of your days at the winter palace..." "Alone..." "Because the next time I see you, the next time I will be able to even tolerate the sight of you," " will be at your funeral." " Richard..." "If you oppose me, if you speak out in any way..." "Olivia Pope may not be able to tell the world what you've done, but I won't hesitate." "You were right." "Not all fairy tales have happy endings." "But evil queens?" "They tend to go down." "I need you to help me." "Come in." "I just got off the phone with half the Navy." "Turns out, Prince Richard is succeeding the queen, effective immediately." "And since he's even more impenetrable than his mother, our naval base is dead in the water." "I'm sorry you had a bad day at work." "I had a good one." "Why are you working so hard to pick a fight with me?" "I'm not." "I'm just making clear my boundaries." "Work is a boundary." "If you have a problem with that, then I can't help you." "That's reality." "What?" "You want to talk about reality?" "The reality is, I handed Mellie divorce papers." "This has nothing to do with..." "You and I are now free to go out there, in front of the world, arm in arm." "I put our plan in motion, and now you seem to have changed your mind." " I haven't changed my mind!" " Then what is this?" "!" "You aren't thinking." "Do you honestly believe this is the answer?" "Divorce papers, going public?" "!" "Yes, I do!" "We put this out into the light!" "We make this real!" "How can we possibly do that?" "The minute the world finds out about us, we stop being you and me and we become a spectacle." "All that scrutiny, a billion eyes on us... we wouldn't have a chance." "How can we make it work in public when we can barely make it work in private?" "It's not a solution, Fitz!" "It's just another complication." "So, tell me how we do this." "I want you." "I want us." "But I want to slow down." "I want our business handled." "I want our problems fixed." "I want to be ready..." "Before the world is watching, because once it is, once we're in that spotlight, being picked at and scrubbed and stretched in every direction," "We will never get the chance to make things right." "If we are broken going in, we're not getting out, not together." "They will destroy us." "That's reality, Fitz." "Okay." "We wait." "Until we're ready." "Sir..." "There's something you need to see." "Lovers of Liberty, the end of a fairy tale." "Something is rotten within the walls of our White House." "Sources tell me that any marriage with the first lady of the United States, newly minted senator Mellie Grant, is a charade." "I'm told she was not, in fact, too ill to attend the state dinner as we, the good, taxpaying citizens of this nation, had been told." "I have it on good authority that trusted adviser" "Olivia Pope has found her way into the president's bed." "Before the high-minded liberal, feminist elite media begins howling charges of slander, these are not merely rumors... these are facts." "Photos of Ms. Pope lurking in the residence of the White House after hours." "Lovers of Liberty, the time has come for this godless, immoral administration to answer its crimes." "Yes, America's truth-seeking freedom missiles are squarely locked on the target... you, Mr. President." "I see you, sir."