Title: Marriage?
Author: Rose Williams.
Category: C.J/Toby
Spoilers: None.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The characters in this piece belong to Aaron Sorkin and others associated with The West Wing. No infringement of any rights is intended, and I am not profiting from this.
Feedback is always welcome: majethrim@hotmail.com
The West Wing was quiet. C.J and Toby were arguing. They were in her office so Josh, Donna and Carol had decamped to Toby's office until the storm blew over. Josh was reading, Sam was writing. Donna, Carol, Bonnie, Ginger, and Margaret too, were in the hallway keeping an eye on the door to C.J's office.
Carol, Ginger and Bonnie were keeping their distance. Donna and Margaret, against the others' advice, were slowly inching closer. The argument had been quiet for a few minutes now, and they were hoping a peaceful resolution had been reached.
"What do you think they talking about now?" Margaret asked, still hushed.
"Josh didn't say what the argument began with," Donna said. "I can't think what it could be. Do you think it's over, that they're over it?"
"Don't bet on it," Carol called to them. "C.J's unlikely to give into any concession. Sometimes, yes. But the way she was with Toby this morning, I think he'd done something bad."
"Toby doesn't apologise to anyone but C.J. And only then when whatever it was backfired." Ginger added.
"India and Pakistan, the first time," Bonnie said.
"And only then because he knew he would be forgiven," Ginger finished.
Donna was going to comment on the apparent quietness. Margaret was thinking that they may have finally got together. But C.J's loud shout broke through the arguments.
"No! You can't…"
The shout echoed down the corridor.
C.J checked her voice. But she stood taller and stepped closer to Toby.
"Toby, you can't do that. You have no right even to suggest such a thing."
"I can suggest whatever I want, C.J!" Toby growled at her. He was too angry to shout. "It is not an unreasonable question, you have blown it out of all proportion."
"I have not, Toby. You have never had any say in any of my relationships; you never took a part at all! Only a political concern could ever worry you, and now you have the nerve to suggest that you can use me in this way! You're disgusting."
She turned her back on him. Toby reached and caught her arm, gripping it hard.
"You dare suppose that I didn't care. C.J, I… I would have died with you that day! I thought you liked him. You do like him! My comment was not out of place, you've lectured all of us on the public face of this administration."
"Who I date is not an issue in itself, Toby!"
"I don't care who you date, C.J! Unless… unless…. It wasn't about that anyway. Who you go to Ball with is going to be noticed. It could be a big thing. We can make it a big thing. It can be made a big thing. Why shouldn't we use that?"
C.J pulled away from Toby angrily. She would have hit but he stepped back quickly. C.J didn't say anything, but Toby could feel her condemnation. He tried to back out quickly.
"I don't mean making anything up, C.J"
"You…were…talking…about…worse…Toby!"
"C.J!"
C.J advanced slowly and poked Toby in the chest.
"You were talking about suggesting, however tentatively, me marrying some guy, whoever, so that we could get time on our issues. I'm not some kind of doll you can hand out or use as a reward for good behaviour. God, Toby, were not as desperate as that!
"I'd as soon marry you," she laughed, "that would be a fitting punishment I think, it was your idea."
Toby was not surprised by C.J's change of mood. She had made the final argument and she knew that he knew it. But he was surprised by her last comment.
"You couldn't make my life any worse than you make it already C.J," Toby told her.
"I don't believe you," C.J said. She leant back and looked Toby up and down.
"I could make you life worse, I'm sure."
"Well, I don't think it could really change anything," Toby said slowly, "so if you really want to, let's do it."
"I want a proper proposal, Toby, and a ring," C.J said, in her most reasonable voice.
"Sure!" he said, rolling her eyes.
C.J nodded. Toby shrugged. They smiled slowly when they realised exactly what they'd done. Toby watched as C.J laughed heartily.
"I'm holding you to the agreement, Toby," she said. "If you really think I can't make your life worse."
"I do not think you can make my life worse. If the only way to prove it to you is to marry you, then I'm not scared."
"What do you think they're going to say?" C.J asked. She grinned in that way she has when she wants to make someone uncomfortable.
"Do we tell them the truth?" Toby asked her.
C.J considered it a moment then shook her head.
"They might be right," C.J said, "And it'll be worse if they knew we were wrong."
Toby smiled slowly at her admission. But he wisely said nothing.
"We do have to tell Leo, though," Toby said.
C.J nodded and they agreed to sneak out through Josh's office and walk to Leo's office avoiding the Communications Bullpen.
It was well they did. Donna, Carol, Bonnie, Ginger and Margaret were still stationed in the corridor. Josh and Sam had joined them now.
"Are we betting on the outcome or the subject of the argument?" Sam asked.
"The outcome," Donna explained.
"I think they've finally admitted their attraction to each other," Margaret said.
Josh and Sam both stared at her, completely shocked.
"That's disgusting!" Josh shouted.
Donna shrugged. "I really think that their arguments are too forceful for that," she said. "They were arguing pretty hard. I don't think they're going to get together from something like that. It'll be something sad or difficult for one of them, the other'll help them through it."
Margaret agreed in principle, "But if they were arguing over personal things, it's more likely that one of them will slip up. From C.J's yell, it was personal. I'm betting Toby'll slip."
"No way," Sam said, "He is always really careful. You can never really know what he's feeling."
"He's always less sure around C.J," Josh said, thinking. "I think it would be Toby. C.J's got all the press experience; she never forgets where she's at in an argument."
"Except when she's arguing with Toby," Sam said.
"Let's have a pool," Donna said. She called Carol, Bonnie and Ginger closer. They inched their way up. Donna outlined the deal.
"Margaret says they're together because Toby slips up, Josh too. Sam's says the same, but that C.J slipped. I say that nothing happens. Maybe they're more understanding, maybe less. $20 pool, what do you say?"
Bonnie and Ginger shared a glance and looked questioningly at Carol. Carol nodded, Bonnie and Ginger looked back at Donna.
"How do you split 140 three ways?" Ginger asked.
"We think something much weirder is going to come of this argument. We'd like to put in $30, what you guys think."
"What could be weirder than C.J and Toby in the first place?" Josh demanded.
"We're not sure," Carol said, "But we know we're right."
"Are you up for thirty?" Bonnie asked.
The other's agreed reluctantly, and they all put in their money.
C.J and Toby walked straight into Leo's office via Margaret's empty desk. Toby led, holding C.J's hand.
Leo looked up. He noticed the hands and grinned for a second. He'd heard about the argument.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Toby and I getting married," C.J said, as simply as she could.
That was more than Leo could really cope with.
"Why?!"
"I don't think C.J could possibly make my life worse than she does already, but she would like to prove me wrong," Toby explained. But he couldn't look at Leo.
C.J was watching Leo carefully. He struggled to think, let alone say anything. Eventually he smiled again.
"You'll have to stay married for the rest of the term. You'll also have to talk to the President."
C.J bit her lip and nodded. Toby looked even more uncomfortable.
"You can go in there now," Leo said, waving to the third door in his office, "Just be sure to knock."
Toby would have dropped C.J hand before going into the Oval Office. But she hung on. They knocked and went in. The President was reading at his desk and stood up as the came in.
"You're coming in from that door?"
"Yes, sir," C.J said, "We've just been talking to Leo."
"I thought you were arguing," the President said.
"Sir, we were. But that's not why we're here."
Toby looked very uncomfortable. The President waved C.J to continue as quickly as possible.
"Toby and I are getting married, sir."
The President stopped a moment. He looked from C.J to Toby and back again.
"That's wonderful," he said. But he was careful not to be too enthusiastic, given their demeanours. "Congratulations."
"Thankyou, sir," C.J said. Toby mumbled something.
"Okay, you can go and spread the news now, or not, it's up to you."
"Thankyou, sir," they both murmured.
Toby almost pulled C.J out of the Oval Office. He shook her hand out of his before they got to the outer office.
"Toby, you needn't be so unenthusiastic," C.J scolded.
"I'm very enthusiastic, believe me, I just don't want people to know."
"Okay." C.J could easily believe that.
They left the outer office and were careful to come up to the Communications Bullpen from the other direction from C.J's office. They saw the others standing in a little huddle in the corridor, watching carefully in the other direction.
"They've been in there a while now," Sam said.
"Do we get to knock the door down?" Josh asked. He was enthusiastic enough for Donna to punch him.
"If they've killed each other, we win," Ginger announced.
"Okay, okay."
"We're not dead," Toby said.
The entire group jumped about a foot. They spun around, knocking into each other in the process. Carol was the most composed of the group, and she looked ready to run.
"And if you ever try to break my door, Joshua, I'll drive the splinters into you," C.J told him calmly. "Now please excuse me, I have work to do."
She pushed through the group back to her office. Josh and Donna followed back their respective desks. Margaret broke off back to Leo. Bonnie, Ginger and Sam had less chance to escape Toby. But he disappeared into his office quickly too; he needed to remember something.
They agreed to let the staff find out tomorrow when C.J finally had a ring. She bugged Toby about it most of the afternoon, and he took it well. He had know C.J for a very long time and come to the conclusion that it was best just to play along most of time. Eventually C.J gave up teasing and invited to her place for dinner.
The day finished early. 8pm. Leo sent them all home.
"C.J, Toby, I don't want to see you before 8 o'clock tomorrow," Leo called to their retreating backs.
"Leo!" C.J gave a strangled cry.
Leo was amused to see that Toby blushed, but C.J didn't.
"Have a good night," he said, trying hard not to grin.
Josh demanded to know why he didn't get a late morning too.
"Well, Josh," C.J said, in her most simpering tone, "You have a much more important job than me or Toby, and there's no way even you could get it done in two hours less than it already takes you."
Sam grinned outright at the look on Josh's face. The four parted in good spirits. C.J and Toby drove back to her apartment.
C.J opened the door and led the way into her lounge room. Toby followed, lost in thought.
"C.J," he said, slowly.
"Yeah, Toby."
"Remember what you said about being wrong?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I remembered something else you said once."
C.J looked at him, a smile curling her mouth slightly. "What was that, Toby?"
"You said that you would need a better excuse for getting married next time."
C.J sat down slowly on her sofa.
"Yeah, I did say that, didn't I?"
Toby sat down next to her and took both her hands in his. She turned to face him.
"I really would have died with you that day."
"I know," C.J smiled at him. It was a warm teasing smile, and it lifted Toby out of his pensive thoughts.
"So you were wrong," he said.
"So were you," C.J told him.
Toby didn't answer. He flashed a grin before he pulled C.J close and kissed her. She kissed him back harder and hugged him closer.
She pulled away after a long moment.
"Don't go this time," she whispered.
"I won't."
"And I will make your life worse."
"I don't doubt it," he said. And he kissed her again. It was a while before she thought to reply.