Abby came face to face with her abusive ex-husband and Liv manipulated Tom into telling the truth about who ordered the murder of the President’s son on Scandal’s “Baby Made A Mess.”

Abby Pulls A Gun On Her Ex

A Senator is forced to resign after a sex tape is leaked to the press, prompting a last minute race. Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) is quick to endorse Charles Putney (Michael Trucco), a man groomed for politics with millions of dollars in his back pocket and a shoe in to win the election. Abby (Darby Stanchfield) is completely caught off guard when she walks into the Oval Office and sees the President shaking hands with Putney, her ex-husband. Abby manages to keep it together, but later panics in her office and gets sick, ruining her dress and forcing her to call Liv (Kerry Washington) for help. Liv comes running, two clean dresses over her shoulder and a pep talk ready. Liv suggests that she tell Fitz the truth about Putney or expose him as an abuser from her podium as White House Press Secretary, but Abby refuses. Sure, it could help people, but then she’d always be the woman who had an abusive husband. With Abby determined to keep Putney’s violent nature to herself, Liv tries a different tactic: make sure Putney loses the race. She goes straight to his opponent, a widowed, single mother whose campaign consists of an empty room and homemade signs, and offers to run her campaign free of charge.

While Liv is busy remolding the widow’s campaign, Abby has a run in with her ex in the parking lot. He corners her and suggests that the past is the past, insisting that their relationship was “passionate” and even suggests they could have sex, even though he’s married now. Afraid and threatened, Abby reached into her car and pulled out a gun. She wants to shoot him, but she lets him walk away. Still, it’s clear she might not be able to handle him being elected to the Senate.

At work, Leo Bergen (Paul Adelstein), Putney’s campaign manager, pays Abby a visit to gloat about Putney’s assumed win, and she quickly informs him that Putney beat her so badly that she still has a screw in her jaw from when he broke it. Leo is stunned, and later visits her to deliver the news that Putney’s campaign was finished when the press found out that it was Putney who leaked the former Senator’s sex tape in the first place. And, it turns out Leo was the one who leaked it. Abby “lets” him kiss her.

Cyrus Sets A Trap For Michael

Cyrus (Jeff Perry), meanwhile, has been thinking about his new boy toy, Michael (Matthew Del Negro), and the possibility of him being a spy for Liz (Portia de Rossi). He lets slip that the President is sending in a warship to interfere in a conflict overseas and then has his assistant monitor any of Liz’s public statements to see if she mentions it. She doesn’t, but it isn’t because Michael isn’t a spy. Liz is exploiting Mellie’s (Bellamy Young) sudden desire to be a more powerful First Lady, and specifically goes to speak to her about foreign policy, prompting Mellie to go on air and declare her great support for the President’s decision to step in overseas. When Cyrus sees the interview, he knows Michael must be working for Liz. Grant is pissed, but she tells him this is exactly what he asked for: Mellie is back – he just forgot how much he hated his wife.

Liv Gets Tom To Come Clean About Rowan

Fitz’s obsession with Olivia Pope certainly isn’t helping the Grant’s marriage. Ever since Liv told Fitz that there was hope for them, he’s been calling her every night, and even gives her specific updates on Jake’s (Scott Foley) condition in super max. Little does he know, Liv is going behind his back to visit Tom (Brian Letscher) in super max. She hopes Tom will tell her the truth about how her father ordered him to kill the President’s son, not Jake. But, Tom sticks to his story, instead giving her a long speech about how she’s Helen of Troy – a woman that can bring down countries and spark wars. Liv warns him that he’s a loose end, and it’s only a matter of time before her father has him killed.

Rowan (Joe Morton) is absolutely furious when he finds out about Liv’s little visit with Tom. He goes straight to her apartment and starts raging that everything he has ever done was to ensure her path and the safety of the Republic. He warns her that she does not want to be against him – she’ll lose. (Never mind the fact that she has already succeeded in destroying Command and B613 once before.)

Rowan’s threats don’t work, however, as Liv has something up her sleeve. She gets Quinn (Katie Lowes) to pay a man beat Tom in prison, saying it’s “a message from Command.” Now that Tom believes that Rowan really is trying to kill him, he asks to meet with Olivia once again and admits that it was Rowan who had him kill the President’s son, and adds that Rowan told Harrison he did it because Grant had taken away his child – an eye for an eye. Liv records Tom’s confession and plays it for Fitz, and the two arrange a secret meeting with Jake.

Huck Reunites With His Son

Finally, Huck (Guillermo Díaz) continues his online gaming relationship with his son, Javi (Jaden Betts), and even makes plans to meet him at an arcade after school. Huck ends up watching Javi play by himself, but Javi is smarter than he gives him credit for. Javi traces Huck’s IP address and confronts him at Pole & Associates. He knows Huck is his father, and he wants to know why he left. Meanwhile, Huck and Quinn finally tell Liv that those teenage girls were murdered because of something having to do with Olivia Pope.

Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.