A/N: Sorry that this is so late! I've having major writer's block on both stories. I haven't had any time to work, anyway.

To recap what has happened, Ainsley and Sam are dating and CJ is leaking it to the press. Sam and Ainsley now have to tell everyone in one day- all in a day's work in the West Wing. So far they've told Donna. It's Toby's turn, now.

The salmon colored ball hits the glass window and then bounces back into Toby's outstretched hand. Again and again he throws the ball until Sam, finally gathering himself, heads over.

"Yeah. What do you need?" Sam asks.

"Can we go over the piece on Haiti?" Toby holds out his hand, waiting for Sam to put the aforementioned paper within his grasp.

"The press is going to have a field day over this," Sam sighs and rolls his eyes. "President Bartlet is certainly not conventional."

Toby ignores the last remark, "Speaking of press, CJ told me to find out something from you. She seemed a bit… excited." Toby regards Sam with suspicion. "What's going on?"

Sam shakes his head quickly, "CJ? No, I can't think of anything that she'd want me to tell you. Sorry. I'll let you know if I remember. So back to Haiti, do you think this is ready to give to CJ?"

Toby reads over it quickly and makes a few marks, "Try to use more punctuation. And make sure when you give this to CJ to tell her not to get cute with the reporters. This is a big deal. We can't have her mess this up, especially now. Got it?"

Sam nods, "I'll finish this up quickly and then have Ginger send it over. I have to head downstairs to talk to Ainsley about, well, Sagittarius."

"Everyone knows now, Sam. You don't have to call it that. What do you need to talk to Ainsley about, anyway?

"Just some… legal issues. I want to get them figured out before the hearings," Sam stands up and heads for the door when Toby hits him in the bag with the ball.

"Sit down. Leo's making me ask you. How are you doing with all of this? I remember when President Bartlet told me, I was pissed. I started yelling at him," Toby tells Sam.

"I'm fine," Sam shrugs. "I'm still a little mad, but I get why he did it, at least more than when I first found out. I'm not sure what was the right thing to do, but I get it. Plus, I've got Ainsley-," he cuts off, realizing his mistake. Quickly, he tries to fix it, "I've got Ainsley to help with the legal issues and Josh or Donna if I need to talk."

"Just know you can…" Toby trails off, looking extremely uncomfortable. "If you want, you can talk to me."

"I've got to go," Sam points to the door. "I'll finish this up and then head downstairs."

Toby suddenly jerks forward, "It was something about Ainsley."

"What?" Sam asks.

"She told me to ask you about Ainsley. You're not turning Republican, are you?"

"No, definitely not," Sam turns red, remembering his comment about her getting Republican juice on him. "I'm still a Democrat, through and through. Really, I don't know what CJ was talking about. Ask her."

"CJ!"

"Tobus! How are you, my dear friend?" CJ looks up from her papers and smiles. "What can I do for you?"

"Have you gotten the piece on Haiti?"

"Yeah, Ginger dropped it by a few minutes ago."

"Did it have any punctuation?" Toby asks.

"Yes, it did. But I doubt you came here to ask if it had punctuation."

Toby growls slightly, "Tell me what's going on with Sam and Ainsley. Whatever it is is starting to interfere with his work. He's acting funny."

"Ask him."

"I did. All he said was that he needed her legal help with something for the hearings."

"Well," CJ chuckles. "I doubt he's lying. Spanky sucks at it."

Toby rolls his eyes with impatience, "Tell me."

CJ shakes her head and scrawls something on a piece of paper, "Don't read it. Give it to Sam. And Toby, don't be too hard on him."

Toby smirks, "Am I ever?"

Toby heads all the way downstairs and enters the Steampipe Trunk Distribution Venue. The heat and noise hits him all of a sudden.

"Sam!" Toby barks.

Sam jumps and Ainsley looks up from where the two of them are crouched over books and papers.

"Hey Toby," Sam says.

"CJ told me to give this to you." Toby hands a piece of paper to Sam.

Ainsley smiles, "Hi Toby."

"Ainsley."

Sam opens the note cautiously and reads it,

Spanky, if you don't tell Toby, I'll tell him what you were really doing last night. And he would not be very happy.

Sam gulps slowly and hands the paper to Ainsley. She raises her eyebrows and gives a small nod.

"Well, Toby," Ainsley begins, "we have something to tell you and we'd appreciate it if before you made any comments, you let us finish. Now I understand if you want to interrupt but please try and refrain from doing so because we'd really like a chance to explain so that there's no miscommunication."

"Ainse," Sam whispers. "Take a deep breath."

She nods and smiles nervously.

Sam clears his throat as Toby watches with obvious exasperation, "Spit it out."

"After the State of the Union address, Ainsley slept at my house – no, nothing happened, I slept on the couch – and then the next morning we decided to give dating a try. We've been going out ever since. CJ found out last night and she's telling Katie today. There might be something small in the papers tomorrow, so we decided to tell you now," Sam explains quickly.

Toby takes a deep breath, "Sam, can I talk to you outside please?"

Sam nods and they walk into the hallway.

"You're dating the Associate White House Council." It came out as a statement rather than a question.

All of a sudden, Sam feels a sharp stinging sensation on the back of his head.

"What the hell, Toby?!"

"I could say the same thing! She's a Republican!"

"So? I love her, Toby," Sam sighs.

"She's still a Republican! Do you understand the repercussions of this? This could influence both of your political careers forever. If either of you are ever running for office, this will hurt you. People on both sides will accuse you of sleeping with the enemy just to try to seem bipartisan and to further yourself. You will be accused of using each other. I like her, but is she worth it?"

"Yes," Sam replies, without hesitating.

"But is it enough that you can accept her politics? It won't work if you can't leave politics at the office," Toby stares at Sam, probing him for an answer. "You have to be able to love her even when you disagree."

"I think we can. We're trying."

"You can't just try. You have to make sure that it happens. Don't mess it up, because it can get ugly. Believe me."

"You and Andy?" Sam asks, and then takes it back when Toby doesn't answer. "Sorry, never mind. But why does everyone think I'm going to mess this up? Donna already yelled at me."

"Because it's you. But congratulations, she's a good girl."

"Thanks, Toby. I gotta- I gotta get back in there," Sam points behind him.

"Yeah. I need to see a draft of the bit about informing people about MS in no more than two hours."

"You'll have it."

"Oh, and do you mind if I tell Andy? She'd kill me I know and she has to learn it from the papers."

"You're not even married and she still has you controlled!" Sam laughs. "You better run and tell her, baby."

"Didn't I tell you that you might not want to call me baby?"

Sam nods, "Got it. I'll bring the draft in soon."

A/N: I hope that you liked this! I can't really update regularly at the moment, but I'll try to as soon as possible. Let me know if you have suggestions. Next up is Josh.