"Harry, why are we involved? It's America; this should be 6's job."

"Yes, I'm aware of that Tom, but as it is, I have to go."

"Why you?"

"Do you want to go?"

"No."

"The deal requires absolute discretion, as in total deniability. That's why 6 are sending me. I'm going to Mrs Bartlet's birthday party as a guest of Lord John Malbury."

"Urgh, I don't envy you."

"Yes, I won't hold that against you. John went to the same collage as I did several years after me. Apparently I was the stuff of legends, so the invitation won't be too much of a stretch."

"Hm... What's the deal? It's about McCann isn't it?"

"You don't want to know."

"Ok. When do you go? Do you have to fly with Malbury?"

"Tomorrow; and no thank goodness. He's already there. They made him the English Ambassador to the U.S. The President apparently likes him."

"Is the President a sane man?"

"By all accounts, yes."

"Margaret!"

"Yes Leo"

"Get CJ for me please."

"Yes sir."

"Margaret, is he in there?"

"Yeah, you can go in now."

"You wanted to see me Leo?"

"Yeah, take a seat. John Malbury is bringing a guest to Abbey's birthday party. I'd like you to spend some time with him. He won't know anybody at the party."

"A guest, Leo?"

"Not that kind of guest. His name is Harry Pearce and he'd like a word with the President at some point during the evening."

"Okay... What do I talk to him about?"

"I don't know, idle chit-chat, like everyone else does! You don't need to research this guy."

"Is there something I should know?"

"No, just, keep him company."

Jed and Abbey had just entered the party. Lord John Malbury and Harry Pearce approached them.

"Abigail!"

"Now it's a party", the President said quietly to Abbey.

"Oh. Yes, your lordship."

"Your breasts are magnificent!"

"Oh. Um... thank you, John."

"May I inquire, Mr. President - the first thing that attracted you to Abigail - was it her magnificent breasts?"

"It was" Abbey replied.

"You know John there are places in the world where it might be considered rude to talk about the physical attributes of another man's wife."

"My god. Really?"

"Yeah", the President replied.

"I am here on behalf of Her Majesty's government, and I must inform you that Brendan McCann cannot come to the White House."

"Look, obviously we knew that this was going to be a thing, but it doesn't have to be tonight, right?"

"No, absolutely not. I shall take it up with Gerald."

"Who's Gerald?" Abby asked.

"I'm pretty sure he means Leo."

"Hmm. Oh, do you have a new Chief of Staff?" John asked.

"No."

"Well, then Gerald it is!" John Malbury promptly left on a search for Leo. Harry smiled at Abbey and the President and introduced himself.

"Harry Pearce. May I have a word with you Mr. President, this evening, at a convenient time?"

"Sure, I'll send CJ when I have some time. Enjoy yourself."

"Thank you Mr. President. Happy Birthday Dr. Bartlett"

"Thank you Mr Pearce."

"Good evening Mr Pearce, I don't believe we've met. I'm CJ Cregg, the White House Press Secretary."

"Good evening. Please, call me Harry."

"Would you like a tour of the White House?"

"Yes, thank you." CJ leads them through one of the side doors towards the West Wing.

"What kind of business are you in Harry?"

"Security... I've seen a few of your briefings on television; you have a good relationship with the press."

"Thank you". CJ started telling Harry all about the West Wing, eventually leading them towards Leo's office.

"Charlie, we're going to go work on the toast now."

"Yes Mr President." Charlie followed his boss outside and around towards the Oval office.

"Leo, this is Harry Pearce." Leo shook Harry's hand.

"Thanks CJ. Charlie and the President are working on his toast out on the portico. Could you please tell him we're ready?"

"Sure. It was nice to meet you Harry". CJ left the room at the same time as Fitz entered.

"Harry, this is Admiral Fitzwallace. He assists the President with all security and international diplomacy".

"Pleasure to meet you General"

CJ opened the door from Charlie's office out to the portico. Charlie and the President both turned.

"Mr President, sorry to interrupt, but Leo says they're ready for you."

"Thank you CJ. You can return to the party now. Charlie, can you please wait here?"

"Yes Mr President".

President Bartlet walked through the Oval office into Leo's office. As he entered the room all three stood.

"As you were", the President said. Everyone seated themselves once again on the lounges in Leo's office.

"Now, what's this all about, Leo?"

"I think I'll let Harry explain it to you".

"Mr President, contrary to what the Ambassador is telling you, we'd like you to permit Brendan McCann to enter the US to attend your event at the White House."

"Okay... What do you want?"

"We'd like you to assist in his unfortunate demise whilst in the US."

"You want us to take him out?" Leo clarified.

"In a manner of speaking, yes".

"Why are you talking to me directly? Surely this is something you'd negotiate with the CIA?"

"Do you understand the principle of total deniability, Mr President?"

"Yes, but I can't deny this meeting took place."

"No, however you can say we strongly urged you not to invite McCann but his invitation was already sent. 6 wants to play nice with the CIA; hence my visit to you."

"Politics in never far away, even in security, hey?"

"Unfortunately not, Mr President".

"Alright, Fitz, what do you think about this deal?"

"It can be done, black ops can make it look like an accident and no-one's the wiser. You are sanctioning a kill order on another country's citizen though."

"Yeah, that's the bit I don't like. Tell me about this McCann guy."

"McCann is the leader of a faction of the Irish Republican Army. He's responsible for many civilian and military deaths. Even though Britain is no longer at war with Ireland, the IRA is still a strong militant group intent on seeking revenge in the UK for the war.
Last month Brendan McCann's brother, Patrick walked into one of our safe houses holding a grenade offering information about a terrorist strike operating out of Sudan. Despite my expressed wishes, my section chief went above my head and made a deal with Patrick McCann, offering him a 32hour window free from prying eyes in exchange for information about the Sudanese strike. Patrick came through on his information, providing us with all the details we needed. He gave it to my section chief on a laptop. By the time Tom returned to London the Sudanese had been stopped and he decided to return to his home instead of the office. Unbeknownst to him, the laptop had been wired with C4."

"Oh god... Did he survive?"

"Yes, luckily the bomb failed. It was a diversion. We received a bomb threat at Thames House. As we were leaving the office following the bomb threat, we were notified that the Sectary of State for Northern Ireland was murdered at his home. A bomb took out his entire house and half of the surrounding terraces. His children were with him."

Leo and the President sighed and took a moment's silence before Leo took up the conversation.

"What happened to Patrick McCann?"

"Brendan wasn't pleased about Patrick helping MI5 and ordered his death. We found him 15 minutes after a phone call from Patrick asking to defect; a bullet to the head and a tag saying property of MI5."

"God... What do you want us to do?"

"Brendan McCann is diabetic."

"Fitz?" asked the President.

"I'll explain it to you later. We can easily make his death look like an accident."

"Well, I can understand why you want to take him out. But I can't authorise the murder of a foreign citizen, without going to war."

"I thought that might be the case. We can do it, you can deny all knowledge, but we get the result we're after."

"If you could do all this without my knowledge why did you come to me in the first place?"

"As you may be aware, MI6 consults with the CIA when in America. They have a joint operation in progress and MI6 asked me to make this trip so it wouldn't cause problems for themselves with the CIA. We've also had a little run in with the CIA based in London and would really rather speak directly to you than give them any advantage in diplomacy."

"Right..."

At that moment there was a knock on the door adjoining the Oval office.

"Come in; called President Bartlet."

"Excuse me Mr. President,"

"Yes Charlie?"

"Your presence in the other room has become conspicuous and Mrs. Bartlett has been looking for you."

"Thank you Charlie; could you let her know I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Yes Sir."

As Charlie closed his door, Harry spoke again

"So, Mr. President, as you can see, Brendan McCann cannot come to the White House, which I'm sure our Ambassador is telling your aide at this moment."

"Yes, I understand. I can assure you he will not be coming to the White House and the British have nothing to worry about."

"Thank you for your time tonight, Mr. President."

Harry held out his hand and shook the President's hand, then Leo's and Admiral Fitzwallace's.

"I appreciate you coming to Abbey's birthday, Harry. Let's get back to the party."

"Sir, I think it would be best if you entered the same way you left."

"Ah...Okay."

Leo and Harry left to walk through the west wing, Fitz returned to the Situation Room and President Bartlet walked through the Oval office out onto the Portico. Strolling along the Portico he thought about the interesting conversation he'd just had. Abbey would want to know why he'd been gone so long, but that thought was rapidly pushed from his mind when he heard the national anthem of Canada start in the direction he was heading.