I myself believe in free will and fate
It works like this
Imagine a road map,
You want to get to a particular destination, so you locate it on the map, you mark it 'Z'
You note your starting position as 'A'
Stretching before you in-between points A and Z are numerous roads, some long, some short, some you will encounter bumps, bridges, rivers etc. Some roads will have a crossroads.
'B' represents fate
This is where you are destined to finish up, but free will is your choice of which road to take. There will be clues as to which may be the shortest more comfortable route, but you may be carefree and not plan your journey so carefully. You may in fact hitch a ride and let someone else take you to 'B' and let them decide the route you take.
The choices are limited but numerous, and for each choice a different set of encounters, but regardless of the differences between these encounters, they are ALL marked on the map. The map already exists, how you navigate it though is up to you.
As to the question of who in charge, well we have the creator of the map and then we have 'you' the one who uses it to navigate through life.
Why do I believe as I do? I believe I have been 'influenced' at certain times to take a particular course and neglecting those 'influences' cost me dearly. Now I try to listen more carefully to what ' lady intuition' has to say, and then she and lady logic then have a chat about it.