Disclaimer: I do not own the West Wing, I only own my twisted imagination!

AU : Sam has his say as things come to a head in the Alternate Spin universe. Post Drop in - Pre Manchester

Hunting season is over

CJ was furious with herself; the mistake she made was a rookie error and all she could say was that she was tired. It was not a real excuse but it was the only she could give. The last thing she needed or wanted was to have the full wrath of Tobias Ziegler and Leo McGarry levelled at her.

She saw Sam slip into the room and give her a look of support. She let them shout at her for a while because truthfully she had screwed up but something inside of her snapped when they questioned her commitment. In that moment, she did not care about grace or protocol she left, needing to clear her head.

Sam had been listening to the briefing in his office and winced upon hearing the slip up. He slipped into the staff meeting, wanting to be silent back up for his wife. In recent weeks, the senior staff seemed to enjoy snapping and blaming Sam and CJ for all the supposed problems of the administration. Well he was personally tired of it; as far as he was concerned; hunting season on him and CJ was over. Sam was determined to speak up and like CJ, something snapped inside him the minute his commitment was questioned.

Sam broke the tense silence, "Don't ever question my commitment or CJ's ever again."

Josh was surprised by the icy tone but was not thinking when he spoke, "Really because we need everyone on board a 100%. It just doesn't feel like we have you or CJ."

Josh was reminded of a conversation he had once had with Toby. Toby once said that he liked Sam because while he gave off the appearance of being nice and cultured; he would never want Sam as a blood enemy.

Leo not realising how far things had gone added, "It's not good enough."

Sam's retort was eloquent as well as perfectly aimed, "No its time I make something clear. I serve at the pleasure of the President and as far as I am aware, he is displeased with me. On top of that you are making my job nigh on impossible each time you cut me out of the loop."

Josh rubbed his neck in frustration, he loved Sam like a brother but he needed to see the bigger picture, "Sam you can't take the MS thing personally."

Sam's gaze landed on Josh and Josh had not fully comprehended how mad his friend was until he saw the ice in his best friends eyes and despite himself, took an involuntary step back. Sam laughed bitterly, "I wasn't talking about the MS."

That threw both of them; Leo was unsure about what Sam meant until the young man spoke again, "I'm talking about the drop-in and being cut out of loop on several policy issues. Another thing, for you to ponder, given the sudden increase in job offers I'm receiving I'm not the only one who thinks I'm being pushed out."

Leo looked at him sharply, not liking where this discussion was going, "What do you mean?"

Sam was not backing down, "I mean that my private sector offers are becoming increasingly lucrative and more frequent."

Sam ignored Josh for the moment and focussed on Leo, "Am I angry about the MS? Yes but not for the reasons you think. I serve because he is the real thing and I still believe that but you forget that while we stay in our comfortable back seat offices CJ is on that podium everyday and it is killing her. So back off and let us do our jobs or you can ask us for our resignations."

Josh had not realised how fractured the senior staff was until that moment and was now desperately trying to back peddle, "I'm sorry Sam. I didn't mean it like that and you know it. I'm concerned about CJ."

Sam sighed, "You think our anger is about the President lying," he saw them both protest but cut them off, "Josh it was never about that, you forget I know all about MS."

Josh paled realising what Sam was implying. He knew that Sam looked on the President as a surrogate father and Sam's favourite Uncle had suffered from the same disease. It was one of the rare times that he wished he was born with the ability to think before he spoke, "Shit, Sam I'm sorry."

Sam stood shaking it of for now, "Forget it. I'd be more worried about CJ, she's tired and I'm not sure how much longer she is willing to deal with all of this crap."

Leo watched Sam stride out, the protocol was a little lacking but he would let is slide this once. Sam had levelled several difficult home truths, Leo looked to his deputy to see of he had any ideas, "Well?"

"I forgot why he was such a good lawyer."

Leo snorted, enjoying the mental picture of Sam unleashing his wraith on Congress, "I can't wait till his congressional hearing. What did he mean?"

Josh collapsed down on the couch, "Once I heard Bartlet speak, I knew I had to go and get Sam, he was the only one who could write his words. I went and dragged him out of New-York via LA."

Leo realised he had never asked, "What did he mean you dragged him out of New-York?"

Josh rubbed his face tiredly, "Jesus I've been an ass. You know he walked out on a seven figure partnership offer because Bartlet was the real thing."

Leo never knew that and even as a master politician, he could not fully hide his shock, "Gage-Whitney was offering seven figures for a junior partnership?"

Josh smiled, "You gotta understand Leo he was their fair-eyed boy, the oil companies would vie for his council. Christ, he went after Claypool because they came after you."

The men had forgotten that the adjunct door was not closed and jumped upon hearing the President, "The boy is loyal to the people he loves. I think we all remembered that tonight, I am selfish I need Sam's words. I want this fixed."

Josh sighed, "Sir if we lose CJ I can see Sam following her back to LA."

The President stared at his oldest friend, "Somewhere along the line we stopped listening because we knew Sam was right. We need to start doing what is right and not what is easy."

Josh smiled a little, "I haven't run into a wall in awhile."

The President gave him a weary smile, "It's about time we start. I haven't ever lost an election, I need you all because I don't intend to start now."

It was a solemn vow and a promise all rolled into one. Josiah Bartlet just hoped that he could pull his adopted family back together, he was not sure how but it needed to be done. Josh had given him one idea; he wanted to bring in someone from outside the administration to help the campaign. After all, he needed his staff to run the country more than he needed them to campaign on his behalf. He knew that his staff always banded together against outside interference and no one was more interfering. Maybe it was time for a trip to Manchester and time to bring in Bruno Gianelli. At the very least it would certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons.

A/N As always please read and review.