The West Wing Fanfiction
"From Both Sides Now"
Author's Note: Just wanted to say a quick hello and tell you a little about this story. It's a post-series that will eventually feature much of the principal cast from the show. These first 2 chapters will be about CJ and Danny, the next two about another pairing, etc. until a final chapter that brings them all together for Christmas in Manchester with the Bartlets. This is my own version of what happens to all of them and I truly hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I promise I don't own this show or these characters. I'm pretty sure that owning other people is illegal anyways and that I could be thrown in jail for it. ;) But seriously- no copyright infringement nonsense is intended.
Ch. 1 CJ and Danny 2000 & 2007
"I've looked at life from both sides now- from win and lose and still somehow it's life's illusions I recall- I really don't know life at all."
May 2000
She knew that liking him was wildly inappropriate- even she couldn't think of way to "spin" their relationship so that they could both keep the jobs for which they cared so much.
The White House Press Secretary and a White House Reporter. She couldn't help but think it could be turned into yet another bad remake of "Romeo and Juliet."
But every time she looked at that damn goldfish she couldn't help but think of him, smile, sigh, and wonder "what if?" Because, really, only the perfect man would fly right back the cheddar snack crackers and go straight to the live animal based on a conversation with Josh Lyman. CJ was probably lucky she wasn't the owner of bear because she also liked Teddy Grahams.
At night she'd allow herself to think about that "maybe someday" but for now she'd keep treating him with as much indifference and possible and project a practiced air of annoyance towards him. She could only hope that no one would notice that her eyes would light up just a little when he was around and or when someone said his name.
May 2007
Danny really was waiting for her at the arrivals gate of LAX- sporting a huge grin and holding an even bigger bottle of SPF 50 sunscreen along with a package of actual Goldfish crackers.
He took her back to the temporary apartment he had found for them and cooked dinner. CJ had mentioned to him on the phone the previous week that she thought she could probably go the rest of her life without eating anymore take-out. She washed the dishes while he dried and when they were done he put a CD into the old stereo he had brought with him. They slow danced around and around the hardwood floor of their relatively furntitureless living room. They reveled the feel of being in each other's arms again and talked quietly with each other. The inauguration had to be discussed, of course, and CJ's last day in the West Wing but mostly they talked about the house that they were going to buy and her new job and his new writing project. They talked of all the wonderful things they would have together now that it was, for once, the right time.
CJ started her new job at the beginning of March. She couldn't wait for the saving the world to start but first she had to begin organizing and hiring her new team. She needed staff for all aspects of the corporation from research to finances to media.
Her first call was to her longtime assistant and friend Carol to run the media team. She admired the woman's skill in dealing with the press and knew that she had a strong background in advertising. A sociology professor from UCLA left his job to run the research department and lab. Dr. Wilson was slightly eccentric but brilliant and passionate about CJ's infrastructure cause. She took a chance and hired a 25 years old and just finished his MBA kid from Wyoming named Scott to be in charge of finances and accounting. He was level-headed and quite serious for being so young. That is- until he started talking about how he and math were going to actually help save the world. CJ couldn't quite put her finger on just what it was but something about him reminded her strongly of young Josh Lyman with much better hair.
Perhaps her most surprising hire though came from a phone call from Liz Bartlet. She had finally decided to leave Doug and start over with the kids somewhere new. Liz's political savvy made her a huge asset to the team and she was invaluable when working with Washington for the needed legislation.
By the end of the month CJ had assembled her team of superheroes and she and Danny had moved into their new home in Santa Monica. And as happy as CJ was with her new job it didn't take her long to realize that Danny was the reason her eyes constantly shined with happiness instead of unshed tears. He was the proverbial cherry on top of the ice cream sundae. It was the best feeling in the world to have someone to come home to every night and wake up next to in the morning.
They got married that May- just the two of them at the courthouse in front of a justice of the peace. They had both been up close and personal witnesses to some of the biggest spectacles of the last decade so they wanted their day to just be about them and their love for each other.
It was Carol who noticed CJ's new ring at work the next week. Her squealing made CJ go temporarily deaf in her left ear. She didn't have the heart to say "no" when Carol begged her to let her be the one to draft the press release and announce the news to the world. But CJ did make a phone call to a farm in New Hampshire just before the story broke. And she laughed for over an hour when the following week a crystal glass goldfish arrived at her front stoop from the office of the new White House Chief of Staff. It was accompanied but a note that he just thought they ought to know that he would be taking full credit for all their present and future happiness.
Toby brought Molly and Huck to visit in July to take them on their first trip to Disneyland. Danny couldn't decide if it was Molly or CJ who was more excited to get to meet Cinderella. And on the way home it was she who was in the backseat of the car between the twins- dead asleep with a little person curled up asleep on both sides of her. Danny looked in the rearview mirror and couldn't help but wonder if there was possibly even more joy waiting for them in the future.
They decided to spend their first Christmas together by themselves in California- making many promises to be in Manchester the next year. Danny got to learn about CJ's massive collection of Christmas ornaments. Some were relics from her childhood and some she had purchased or made at parties over the years. But most were the representation of six years of Christmas gifts from the White House Press Corps to their beloved secretary.
CJ got to learn Danny's Grandma Betty's secret recipe for Christmas cookies. This experience ended in them burning half of them and engaging in a flour fight that covered surfaces in the kitchen for weeks despite vigorous clean-up attempts.
They exchanged gifts that morning and by the evening they were cuddled together on the sofa to watch CJ's favorite Christmas special- "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." And it was there that they both fell asleep thinking of the best year of their lives so far and all that coming in the New Year and the many to follow.
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading! I have the second CJ and Danny chapter already written so it's just a matter of typing. In the mean time- review and tell me what you think? Pretty please?
-Emily