Title: Band of Brothers… and a Sister
Rating: G
Originally published: June 18, 2006
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this show. Not even a little.
Notes: "Post-Ep" for The Undecideds. This is scene takes place in between Josh's two visits to Toby.
.
"Yeah."
"So you think you still want my job?"
"CJ, I have never wanted your job."
"You were always smarter than the rest of us."
"Sure, because here I am despite my better judgment."
"I wanted to call you sooner."
"It's ok. I understood."
"Still. I couldn't help you. You, at least, deserved to hear it from me."
". . . . . ."
"Josh?"
"Nothing."
"Josh..."
"CJ, I get this job. Sometimes, you have to do things or say things you don't want to. You call in favors. You put friends in awkward positions. But you do it to protect your guy."
"And, right now, you're doing it without the benefit of the nifty office. But you haven't experienced the worst part yet. The worse part about this job is that there are things that I can't tell you… especially now."
"South American delegation?"
"No."
"What can you tell me?"
"Well… never use Will Bailey as your wedding consultant."
"Heh. I can assure that will never happen. I highly doubt I will ever have the need."
"Sure… So, I caught Donna briefing the press last week. Impressive."
"Claudia Jean, I beg you to not make me have this conversation."
"But what else are we going to talk about?"
"I saw Toby."
"CJ?"
"How is he?"
"Living on rage."
"I suppose… it's only to be expected."
"It wasn't a very successful meeting."
"It couldn't be anything else. Toby's on the outside now. He's got his nose pressed to the glass and the only one that he can blame is himself. So, he going to try to make everyone as miserable and lonely as he is. Especially you, Josh."
"Why me?"
"Because you are the smartest and, for the first time, Toby has to admit it. Because you saw the real thing and were brave enough to go after it on your own. And he stood by and let you. Because you are his brother and he can direct all his rage at you and know that you will still forgive him. He just needs to work out his frustrations on something."
"Or someone."
"You willing to get kicked around for a couple hours?"
"And how is that different from the rest of my life?"
"Well, the kicking would be done by a guy who's going to try to prove he's smarter than you."
"Again, this is different how?"
"Josh…."
"Don't worry, CJ. Do you want me to call and give you the play by play?"
"Just the final score."
"Kay. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Take care, Josh."
"Bye."
"Hey! Josh?"
"Yeah."
"What do you know about Kazakhstan?"
"Absolutely nothing."
"You will."