Disclaimer: Shondaland/ABC owns these characters. But I've taken the Gladiator oath as a writer: #OLITZ4LIFE #JAMMMmmmmm #100%
NO Mellie and NO-Joke: Public Service Announcement for any accidental non-Olitz readers
Before The Announcement…
Olivia smiled at Fitz, smoothing her fingers over his shaven jaw.
"Hi."
"Hi," he chuckled softly, lowering his head to brush a soft kiss across her lips. "You like?"
"Me like." She slid her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as he lifted her off her feet and carried her back to bed.
"I've been thinking…" she murmured as he lowered her gently onto the sheets.
"About the many ways you're going to have your way with me?" He shot her a teasing glance.
"About you leaving politics."
He paused, then sat down slowly on the edge of the bed. "What?"
She leaned into him, linking her hand through his arm. "You always wanted to, Fitz. You've been trying to leave the White House ever since…" She stopped.
"Ever since I realised you're the most important person in my life; when I wanted to escape from all this and run away with you." He reached out to smooth a thumb across her cheek. "Do you want to run away with me, Liv?"
"Yes." She leaned into his caress. "You've said it over and over again, but I wouldn't listen. But now I will listen; I am listening, Fitz. I want to run away with you. All of us, together, to be safe. "
He stared at her for a long moment, then he started to chuckle softly.
"What? What did I say that was funny?" she asked, as he eased her onto his lap.
"Livvie, you remember the time you told me about what our world would look like, if Sally ever became President? Well, now we both know the reality has exceeded anything we could have imagined."
"…So you want to stay in office?"
"Yes, Livvie, I want to stay and finish this term, and contest for another term." The humour fading somewhat, Fitz asked, "Can you live with that?"
Olivia cupped his face and kissed him fiercely, before shifting back to give a firm, "No."
"No?"
"No, I can't live with 'that' whatever that is, but I can live with you - aargh!" She shrieked as he toppled her onto her back, trying to tickle and kiss her at the same time. "Fitz! No! Stop!"
He stopped, looking down at her with a cheeky smile. "Tease."
"You love it." She grinned, sliding her arms and legs around him.
He lowered his head to begin feathering soft kisses all over her face. "I would leave if you really wanted me to."
"No," she whispered, matching him kiss for kiss. "I like having an idealist as President."
"An idealist who has a very pragmatic wife." He drew back. "So how would you feel if I went to the ballot as an Independent?"
"You're quitting the Republican Party? The GOP? The Grand Old Party that you, your father, and possibly your granddaddy belonged to? That party? To run as an Independent? Do you know how many Independents have won an election?" Cyrus glared at Fitz as they walked out of the Cabinet Room.
"One – George Washington."
"He doesn't count! He was a Founding Father. The guy had no teeth and he still got elected!"
"George Washington had teeth, he wore ivory dentures."
"Will you stop with the teeth! And think about what this move will do your career!" Cy snapped as they entered the Oval Office. "Have you given a thought to the Republican Convention? If you quit the party, we lose the 30-40 million audience who tune in to watch that circus!"
"Cy," Fitz said patiently, making himself comfortable on a couch. "I don't want to lead a party that's gone against me. Sally Langston is a better fit for the current Republican agenda. And the time is now to experiment with a non-partisan approach."
"Experiments like that could blow up in our face. I would strongly recommend that you replace Sally's henchmen in the Cabinet with a few more moderate Republicans and be done with it."
"Oh, I plan on bringing in moderates, along with Democrats and Independents to balance things out at the Executive level."
"And what about Sally? You're not going to keep her on, in some ridiculous gesture of goodwill?"
"No. She will be stepping down."
"Who's going to replace her on your ticket?'
"Senator Lucas Zeke."
"Man, did they give you a lobotomy back when you were detained?" Zeke stared at Fitz, as they meandered over the White House lawn. "I am black, I'm gay and I'm a Republican. That shit is going to make it fucking impossible for you to win with me on your ticket."
Fitz angled a glance at Zeke. "Are you turning down my offer?"
"Hell yes! Because you're too dumb to realise that 21 days of Sally Langston isn't going to make people quit their prejudices. Not when they've coddled those beliefs for a couple of hundred years."
"People change, Zeke. They see past the obvious when they realise what's good for them. And they know that Sally isn't good for them."
"Man, the weed down in New Mexico must have been fine as fuck. You're up there flying with the birds."
Fitz grinned. "Nothing beats the stuff we smoked down in Colombia."
Zeke chuckled. "Yeah, that stuff sure was good. So what I'm hearing is you're going to legalise marijuana as your first order of business on returning to office?"
"No. I'm not that high."
Zeke chuckled again. Then glancing over his shoulder, he muttered, "Look, the real deal is that other thing I've got going."
"Your secret operations in Georgia?"
"They aren't so secret now, thanks to Langston recording our movements in the Dent case."
"Sally's supporters can't use that, not when we've got Daniel's crimes hanging over their heads."
"There's nothing stopping them from handing over the surveillance footage to the Democrats."
"I've got dirt on Reston too. He was a client of Liv's."
Zeke exaggerated a double take. "Man, the two of you are some team."
"Yeah," Fitz smiled.
Then Zeke eyed Fitz warily. "Do you ever stop to think, what kind of dirt they've got on you?"
"All the time, Zeke. All the time."
After the announcement
"… President Fitzgerald Grant III today announced key changes to his Cabinet after a spate of resignations from key supporters of former Vice President Sally Grant. With President Grant breaking away from partisan politics by becoming an Independent in the final months of his term, it is perhaps unsurprising that he has chosen to fill the vacancies with Democrats and Independents. The new appointees have strong ties to Congress and are popular in their electorates but It's anyone's guess how effective or productive this Cabinet will be in the final stages of the first and some believe final term of the Grant Administration…"
Olivia was heading towards the Oval Office, trying to wipe Teddy's nose, while trying not to trip over Daisy and Darth trailing after her, when she bumped into the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Edison Davis.
"Mrs Grant," Edison smirked as Daisy growled and Darth lay down at Olivia's feet and whined.
"Mr Davis," Olivia smiled, then gestured towards the dogs."Ignore these two. They're still in a bad mood because of all the travelling they've done in the past few weeks."
"I won't take it personally but you know I've never liked dogs."
"How are you settling in?" Olivia asked brightly as Daisy growled again, a bit louder this time.
"I like it just fine. I guess I should say thank you."
Olivia looked at him quizzically. "Why?"
"You must have put in a good word for me with Grant to get me into the White House. The man has been very strategic in his appointments."
"Dah!" Teddy chortled.
Olivia smiled, laying her cheek against Teddy's hair. "Well, I may have mentioned that your lobbying efforts in the Senate helped stall Sally's intentions to have Fitz declared insane. But there were others who said the same about you."
"Then I should thank you for leading the charge."
"And I should thank you for helping Fitz stay in office."
Edison smiled at her. "And how is that working for you – your painful, difficult, devastating, life changing extraordinary love?"
Olivia scrunched her nose. "It's extraordinary and life-changing. That much is true."
"Then I'm glad it worked out better than you expected, Olivia," Edison smiled.
"Thank you," Olivia smiled back, but watching his departing back, the smile faded into a frown.
At her feet, Daisy gave another growl as Darth got to his feet and yipped.
"What do you know that I don't," Olivia mused looking at the dogs. They both wagged their tails in response.
Fitz and Cyrus were chatting to the ex-Pentagon chief who was now Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State who'd kept his post, when Olivia walked into Lauren's office.
"Ah, the woman of the hour," The Secretary of State smiled. "They're still talking about you on Capitol Hill."
"All good things I hope," Olivia smiled.
"Very good things," he assured, shaking Teddy's hand before both men took their leave.
Daisy and Darth had already wandered into the Oval office and staked their claim to one of the couches when the others trooped in.
Fitz closed the door, giving Olivia a level glance. "You looked very cosy with Edison back there. What were you talking about?"
"His new appointment, he thought I'd put in a good word for him."
"You did. Several good words," Fitz muttered taking Teddy from Olivia's arms.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
Cyrus glanced from one to the other. "Um, about China…"
"What about China?" Olivia glanced from Fitz to Cyrus, when it became clear that Fitz wasn't going to respond.
"China is doing some diplomatic grumbling."
"Understandable after recent events," Olivia murmured, watching Fitz.
"Understandable or not, China along with Japan own nearly half our foreign-owned public debt. Now China is concerned about the safety of its assets, making the point that US debt is guaranteed by a government that is going through a period of uncertainty. Their words, not mine."
"But what can they do? China isn't going to dump their stockpile of US financial securities. It would be bad for Chinese exports as that would make the Yuan less attractive against the Dollar." Olivia glanced at Fitz, who was looking at her intently, accompanied by a reddening of his ears.
Hiding a smile, she bridged the space between them, leaning against him, as he nuzzled her temple while Teddy grabbed her jacket sleeve.
Cyrus cleared his throat and muttered, "Yeah, that's right. Their purpose in holding our dollar to ransom - so their currency remains low enough to make exports cheap and imports into China expensive - would be lost."
"Since it's not in their best interest to threaten us with our own debt. I don't see what the problem is," Olivia said, blushing as Fitz rumbled a soft groan in her ear.
Cyrus studied a point above Olivia's head. "The problem is that the Chinese have wanted to replace the US dollar with a new global currency controlled by the IMF for years. They believe the world's reliance on the greenback is the root of all evil."
"The reason for global financial and economic crises," Fitz whispered, kissing Olivia's ear. "The Wall Street meltdown domino effect. But if they succeed in their campaign for a global currency, that's going to impact our borrowing rates."
"Yes," Cyrus agreed gruffly, "So to appease the Chinese and stop them from pushing our recovering economy back over the edge, the Cabinet consensus, or I should say, the New Cabinet consensus is that we should play nice and send an official delegation to smooth any ruffled feathers."
"A trade delegation? That makes sense," Olivia nodded.
"No, a delegation more closely connected with the Presidency."
"But Fitz can't go, he's too busy sorting Sally's mess."
"Yes, that's why the Cabinet feels you should go. They were impressed with the way you handled the United Nations General Assembly."
"I don't want you to go," Fitz said firmly, as Olivia's startled gaze met his.
"But she has to, if you can't go."
"Why me?" Olivia frowned.
"It's less threatening. We don't want one of the guys going over there to tell the Chinese their business. I hear they don't like that sort of thing. We need someone who'll put them at ease."
"Zeke can go," Fitz muttered.
"Zeke hasn't been officially sworn in as Vice President yet."
Olivia exchanged a wry glance with Fitz over Teddy's head, then turned to Cyrus. "Do I get a say in all this?"
"Of course, you can tell me tomorrow when you'd like to go."
"I don't want you to go," Fitz repeated when they were alone.
Smiling, she tugged him down by his tie for a kiss, then they both laughed when Teddy smushed his face between them.
"I missed this," Fitz said as they settled down on the carpet with Teddy . "I missed us. I don't want you traipsing half a world away in a few days, and having to miss you all over again."
Olivia leaned in to kiss him again, snuffling a laugh when his hand sneaked under her jacket. But she quickly shifted away, when his head lowered in the direction of his hand.
"Come back here," Fitz growled.
Olivia shook her head, laughing.
"It's okay. Now that Tom's in charge of Secret Service Operations here, we don't have to worry about who's watching."
"Yes, we do. Teddy doesn't have a rewind and delete button."
"Livvie..."
"No." Then in an attempt to distract him, she asked, "Who suggested it? When the idea of a delegation was brought up, who put my name in the ring?"
"Cyrus."
"I see."
Fitz gave her a rueful smile. "Should I be flattered that the two of you are playing tug of war with me?"
"Only if you want to get used to the idea of having the West Wing run our lives."
"So you're going to tell them where to shove it?" Fitz said cheerfully.
"Not unless you have a better suggestion?"
"No," he muttered, lying down on the carpet. "I don't want to talk about this right now."
"Okay," she smiled at him, walking her fingers up his chest. "Can we talk about you being jealous about Edison?"
"I wasn't jealous." He captured her hand.
"Lies."
"Okay, fine. I was jealous." He looked at her solemnly. "You were engaged to him twice."
"I broke it off with him twice. And I married you."
He tugged her down into the enclosure of his arms. "Yeah, you did marry me," He kissed the tip of her nose. "But I don't want you smiling at him."
"Fitz!"
"What?"
"Okay," Olivia said walking into Cyrus' office the next morning.
"And the Jeopardy question is?" Cyrus beamed at her.
"Will that smile get any wider when I tell you I'll be going to China? With Jerry and Karen. During Spring break. Bonus round question: Can that be arranged?"
"Spring Break? With the kids? I think that's do-able. And I suppose that Chinese kid, Jerry's friend, will want to go too?"
"Peter's Malaysian."
"Yeah, whatever. Maybe he can save us the cost of an interpreter."
"I'm sure Peter would love to go, he can see his parents, if they can make it to China. It would help reassure them that he's fine after the faux coup we had."
"Yeah, they do coups much better in that part of the world. Or is it crackdowns. I always get that part mixed-up."
Olivia chuckled as she headed for the door. "Gotta go. Fitz is having a meeting with the Attorney General and he wants me there."
Cyrus expelled a loud gust of air, halting Olivia in her tracks.
"What's wrong?" she asked, turning to face him.
"Olivia, going to China is one thing, but getting mixed up in matters of state… I don't think that's wise."
"Why not?"
"Liv, I'm telling you this as a friend. You know who's most worried about Fitz as an Independent President? Not the Republicans; not the Democrats; it's the people here at the White House. They see Fitz as a loose cannon, and they believe you're the one lighting the fuse. You need to tread lightly around here, or there could be more trips to China on your horizon."
"I see... then better start taking Mandarin lessons from Peter ASAP."
She smiled closing the door on Cyrus' exasperated expletive.
A/N: Hello, thank you all so much for reading and leaving your lovely, inspiring comments ;)))
I also have to thank a couple of people for the evolution of this chapter - Clio1792 for reminding me that stability is more achievable with Fitz remaining a Republican but because that ship had sailed in a different direction, I changed my mind about making Zeke an Independent as well! And Kikinickmc for suggesting an overseas trip – I'd been grappling with the idea of how to bring the Cyrus vs Olivia competitive edge back and her trip suggestion gave me all the help I needed!
Of course to get to China, I made Chop Suey of the information gathered from the following articles all in the name of dramatic licence (i.e. lying for effect!) Apologies to real economists and accountants out there!
wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States#cite_note-8
news/2014-01-29/nothing-lasts-forever-world-bank-chief-economist-calls-end-dollar-reserve-currency