Author's Note: The Premiere blew me away. It really did. I didn't expect it to. I mean, honestly, I've been trying to keep my expectations for Season 3 lower than low so I won't get all sad and mad but… yes. It was definitely worth getting hyped for and I'm looking forward to the next episode.

What made me happy (other than the Olitz bunker scene of AWESOME): The utter lack of Captain Creeper's presense (see, Ms. Rhimes? The show is oh so much better without him), the OPA Gladiators getting the swagger they lost in the latter part of season 2 back (definitely not bitches, anymore…especially Quinn…), Liv's Lady Pair making a triumphant return even in the face of semi realistic fallout and adversity(the scene with the Clients jumping ship was pure gold), the introduction of a new love to hate character in the form of Rowan Pope ("I am the hell and the high water!") , finally getting some actual background on young pre-Fixer Liv (the Muses are awake and popping like firecrackers!), and most importantly, the regrowth and fortifying of Fitz's balls. Fuck Balls of Steel, Homeboy's got a titanium-diamond alloy of Sack now and I hope it stays that way. And I hope his gamble pays off because it's a doozy to end all doozies…

Disclaimer: "Honestly, it's not mine!"

"Why the hell didn't you come to me with this earlier, Olivia?!"

"Do not yell at her, Cyrus!"

"I'll yell at you both if I want to, goddamn it! I am your Chief of Staff! I am supposed to be your first line of defense against PR disasters and dangers to this administration, especially internal ones! This isn't one of your little lover's secrets that you can just keep to yourselves or give anyone with working ears a soundtrack! The fact that Billy fucking Chambers knocked up Amanda fucking Tanner and is very actively trying to destroy the administration we built is something that you tell me!"

"Until very recently, what we had was little more than a conspiracy theory on steroids! Fitz and I did not want to bring it outside of our family until we had something solid!", Olivia objected.

"So, I'm not family?!", he demanded sharply, a jolt of deep hurt hitting him in the Gut.

"…that is not what I meant and you know it! Cyrus Rutherford Beene... if your special little black heart finally gives out in my office, I swear to God that I'll never forgive you for it so it is in your best interest to sit down, calm down, and breathe. It's being Handled."

Looking around Olivia's OPGA domain incredulously, Cyrus huffed and leaned against the nearest wall heavily. Fitz's face was carefully blank and his ring finger kept going over the speaker of the landline wistfully. Through it, they could hear Olivia breathing and the sounds of a pedal to the medal interstate road trip. Resting a palm over his eyes, he straightened up and pulled himself together. Now was not the time to lose it.

"What do you mean by Handled and what do you have that's enough to finally read me in?", he sighed.

"We have Amanda herself, along with written and taped confessions of her role in the Plan. Abby and Harrison are in NYC now to get their copies and bring them down for safekeeping. Huck, Quinn, and I are moving her further underground so she'll be safe."

"So, she's a Client?"

"Yes."

"You're taking the idiot girl who purposely got herself knocked up to try and Lewinsky your husband out of the Oval so a serpent handling psychotic Bible Thumper could get into the Oval on as a Client?"

"Yes."

"…why?!"

"Fitz, do you remember what I told you about Punk Ass Minions?"

"They're dangerous. They have backing from someone substantial. They'll burn any and everyone down to the ground if means that they stay intact, even if it hurts their Cause. Chambers is a prime example of a Punk Ass Minion.", he recited from memory, still tracing the speaker and his eyes taking a distinctly forlorn dullness.

The sight made him shake his head in a blend of pity, amusement, and exasperation. He knew that Olivia and Fitz (or Olitz, as they had been dubbed via the internet) were a symbiotic entity but the man had gone decades without her being right in arm's reach. Couldn't he buck up long enough for her to preserve his legacy? And it wasn't like she wasn't going to come back, not if she had something to say about it.

Anyone or thing trying to take and keep Olivia Pope-Grant away from her husband was in for a herculean, losing battle.

"…Cyrus, what she got herself involved in is terrible and stupid and don't think for a second I'm not angry at her but…at the end of the day, she's just a pawn and the only thing that she really wants is to stay alive for her baby. If Billy or someone he controls gets his hands on her, she's doomed. They're doomed and you know it better than all of us. I'm not having her blood or a dead baby's blood on my conscience if I can help it."

Resting his elbows on her desk, Cyrus dug the heels of his hands against his eyes and let his mind go into overdrive. The best and worst thing about working with the Grant/Pope-Grant union was their capacity to Care. They were warm and empathetic and approachable, which was excellent for a productive work environment, not to mention the PR possibilities. Yet on the other hand, their warmth, empathy, and approachability had the potential to be an Achilles heel. They wanted to change the World and help the Poor, to prop up the Underdog and to take in strays to nurture back to health.

They made his job wonderfully challenging on a good day and near impossible on a bad.

Billy Chambers had to go. Yesterday. But, who was he working with? Who else was involved? Was Langston herself involved? It wouldn't surprise him if she was. Even the Pope had a thirst for power between dips in the Holy Water and shows of theatrical piety. If she was involved, she had to go, too but how? How would they explain that the staff, the press, America? And if she wasn't involved, how the hell would they keep her quiet and placated enough to not give a weeping, press conference show of betrayal and resolve to be "the Lord's witness doing the Lord's work in the name of the Lord" in front of the masses. There was a narrative to be made, a narrative to control and…

"What's the plan, Liv?"

"After we get Amanda safe, I'll come back and we'll read Sally in and see what role she's played in all of this. I personally don't think she's involved at all and Amanda didn't say anything to implicate her but like I said, she's a pawn. Pawns don't get details, they get marching orders…"

"True. What about Chambers and the information you have on him?"

"We'll turn the information over the Press and throw him out on his ass."

"Livvie, the Hydra heads...", Fitz protested.

"I know and it sucks but Billy's got to get the hell out now. He's scrambling to tie up the loose ends of his original plan so he can come up with a new one. He may even have a new one already but if he's cut out of the White House and its bubble, it'll slow him down enough so we can figure it out and take him out permanently with his masters."

"We can't just go to the Press with both barrels. We need someone to break this story that we can trust and that we can use to control the narrative…Cyrus, can Liv and I borrow your boyfriend? We'll give him back."

"He's not my…", he started.

"Cy-rus.", they deadpanned in 'you're kidding, right' stereo.

"Well, he's not! It's…complicated."

"I wonder why…", Olivia drawled sarcastically, making Fitz snicker like a schoolboy.

"Shut up…and yes, you two can borrow him. He'll be over the moon. He's panting after a Pulitzer and an exclusive with you two taking the corn fed trash out at 1600 Penn will be an instant smash."

"Keep my name out of it at all costs, Cyrus."

"Olivia, everyone will know that you've got your fingers in the pot, anyway."

" Truebut still, it's about the Optics, Cy. You want an image of a strong and decisive President in the headlines, not a First Lady. Don't get me wrong. America's acceptance of me and us has been great so far but it's a situation like this that can have us going from the Eccentric yet Adorable Groundbreakers to a caricature cartoon of Fitz naked with ball gag in his mouth and chained to a bed while I sit on him in a latex catsuit writing speeches and leading troops into battle."

"…please tell me that she didn't just give me beyond TMI about you two in the bedroom.", he rasped desperately.

"No. Livvie doesn't have a catsuit and we use scarves, not chains. And with the way she usually sits on me… well, let's just say that a ball gag wouldn't taste nearly as good and leave it at that.", Fitz replied cheerfully, Olivia succumbing to sultry laughter on her end of the line.

"Mother of God!"