Executive Orders

CH 71: Guessing Games

"I am the bringer of Chaos, look upon me and despair."

Fitz looked up from his desk and the folders spread across it at Cyrus who was seated opposite him. "I thought the plan was dinner and a little brainstorming session in the residence with our people, but that will do instead."

Cyrus grinned wolfishly. "I prefer to think of it as an appetizer."

Fitz didn't know whose idea it had been to gather the members of their current cabal under his roof, but once it was done, he'd approved. It could have been Olivia, Cyrus or Jocelyn - any one of them could have decided that he'd been running on full throttle since before the trip to the Caldwells and that had been long enough without a break to relax and rejuvenate.

Not that he hadn't had time for one. The memory of the night that he and Olivia had manged to find for themselves sent a sudden warmth coursing through his entire body and a smile crossed his face.

But even with the roller-coaster the trip to the Caldwells had turned out to be, it also had turned out to serve as rocket fuel to his brain. Fitz had come back to DC feeling renewed and energized. Peter had no idea what kind of effect that his words had - but he would.

Cyrus stood up. "I love the scent of chaos and confusion on the Hill - gives me a good appetite."

Fitz lifted an inquiring eyebrow at him. "Meaning?"

Cyrus's voice and expression was one of satisfaction that he was happy to share. "I paid a visit to the Hill earlier and however calm and quiet it might seem - what with the upcoming holiday season and everyone making plans to get out of town after the obligatory celebrations - that beneath the surface, it's like an ant hill that's been hit with a big stick up there."

"Republicans or Democrats?"

"Is it wrong of me to be pleased that it's both?" Cyrus spread his hands in a gesture of pretend contrition. "Susan's hearings are really paying off, just as we hoped they would. She's every bit of a treasure and secret weapon that Olivia promised she would be."

"Olivia's good at deploying secret weapons." And that, Fitz thought to himself, was a very good thing. Putting Susan in place as Chairwoman had produced the results they had all hoped for, with the bonus of advancing her own popularity - which of course had uplifted his own. If not for the concern over Gerry's and Karen's reactions, he could almost forgive the fresh wave speculation over his personal life that had come with it. The last time he'd talked to Mellie, she'd appeared to be halfway amenable to his having them for Thanksgiving weekend and he had promised himself that if they had any questions about anything concerning his life, he would explain.

What was most pleasing was that the whole thing was producing a true trickle-down effect, but not one that the Party had planned. Instead what they were getting was one that hopefully was starting as a trickle but had every appearance of turning into a flood, one that would sweep the majority of the opposition to his education plans before it. All it was waiting for was for Fitz to decide when to pull the trigger.

Domestically it supported increases in teachers' pay, including subsidies for infrastructure and extended after-school care, while on the international front, it lent itself to a strong voice of support for the educational coalition that he wanted to put in place across the Americas not just the US but the entire continent - including San Collondias.

He wondered how long it would take before the Democrats realized what a gift he'd handed them - or the Republicans to figure out the tests that he'd laid before them.

Choose, he'd thought. Country over party - or party interests over country - and whichever choice the politicians made, it wouldn't be in some smoky back room but in the light of day and media scrutiny - with all of America watching.