SINS OF THE FATHER
RATED R
FIRST PART OF THE 'HISTORY REPEATS' SERIES
SAM/DONNA ROMANCE
SPOILERS FOR 'SOMEONE'S GOING TO EMERGENCY, SOMEONE'S GOING TO JAIL'
After wrapping up his conversation with Donna, Josh went back to waiting for the President to either wrap up what he was doing or give him further directions. He had been standing there for so long that he had missed lunch—something his doctor had said in no uncertain terms was a 'no-no'—and, as much as he hated to admit it, he was feeling the lapse in his new routine. Skipping meals, living on coffee—which he didn't have—and not exercising were all things of the past for Josh Lyman. He went to the gym at least twice a week, ate three meals a day at times that were as regular as he could possibly make them, and, though he hated to do it, he had even cut down on his caffeine intake. His doctor, Donna, and Mrs. Bartlet—not to mention his mother—had been after him for years to do all these things, but he had blown them all off until his cousin, Timothy, who was two years younger than he was—with a much less stressful job—had suffered a massive heart attack that led back to too much stress, a crappy diet, no exercise, and too much caffeine. At first Josh had thought that he would be fine because, obviously he handled everything better than Tim did, but then he realized that Tim didn't have the pre-existing heart condition—he refused to call it what it was which was internal scarring of the heart muscle from a bullet—and combined with his high stress job and tendency to hold the important things in, Josh had finally caved to his doctor's orders.
His mind had begun to wander when the door to the Situation Room opened and the President, followed by Nancy and Fitzwallace, came out, faces grim.
"Mr. President?" Josh questioned. He hadn't seen Bartlet looking so grim since he talked to the crew of the small ship that was destroyed in Hurricane Sarah the year before.
"Get Toby, Sam, and CJ in my office," Bartlet said stonily.
Josh nodded. "Okay, but, uh, sir, Sam just got back from California and I don't know if he will be able to get anyone to watch… um… Meredith," he said, stumbling over his words. Seeing someone he idolized and had always thought of as so squared away acting the way Bartlet was had Josh feeling like Armageddon was upon them. Which, considering that Fitzwallace and Nancy had the same look on their faces, Josh thought that that might just be the case.
"He can bring her in. Get everyone back in. We're going to need a full staff tonight," Bartlet said.
"Yes, Mr. President," Josh said as he rushed toward his office to pull everyone back in.
Donna was passing Meredith's room when she noticed that the girl was awake and looking around the room with a curiosity that was definitely a Seaborn trait. "Hey," Dona smiled. "Do you like your room?"
"It's okay," Meredith shrugged. "Uncle Sam said he hadn't gotten it set up yet, though. He made it sound like I would be sleeping on the couch or something."
"He didn't know it was finished. Some of our friends at work did it for you," Donna said as she entered the room and moved to sit down on the edge of the twin-sized bed. "I, uh, wasn't sure what you liked, but I have a niece who is about your age, so I asked her for some advice on what girls your age like. If you don't like it we can change anything you want."
"No, it's great. I think it's bigger than my room at home," Meredith said with a small smile. Donna returned the smile but didn't say anything, knowing that she shouldn't push. "How long have your known my uncle?" Meredith asked, changing subjects as quickly as Donna did from time to time.
Thinking back, Donna calculated the time. She had met Sam half an hour after Josh handed her his pass. It had been exactly three years, four months, six days, twelve hours, five minutes earlier that Sam had walked into her area in front of Josh's office to get his opinion on a speech they were working on for the next rally. "For a little over three years. We met when he was trying to get the President elected. I joined the campaign about two months after he did," Donna said. Meredith didn't need to know that she knew the exact minute that they had met. She hadn't even confessed that little secret to her diary.
"Mommy and Grandpa said that he was an idiot when he left… um… when he left the law firm in New York," Meredith said, unable to remember 'Gage Whitney'.
Donna smiled. "President Bartlet wasn't supposed to win the election when your uncle joined the campaign. A lot of people left high paying jobs to work on the campaign."
"Why?"
"Because Jed Bartlet is the real thing," Sam said from the doorway, startling Donna and Meredith. "Sorry. I heard voices."
Meredith crawled up onto the bed and hugged the pillow to her chest. "What do you mean 'the real thing'?" she asked.
"It's kinda hard to explain," Sam said. "He's… a good man. He's honest and brilliant and he knows how to make the decisions that no one else can. It's… I don't know how to explain it."
"It's just something you know," Donna agreed. "I saw him on TV one day and everything he said just… seemed right," she said with a shrug. "I left Wisconsin the next day and joined everyone in New Hampshire."
"And never looked back," Meredith said, smiling like she had just heard the 'happily ever after' part of her favourite fairy tale.
Sam smirked and Donna shot him a glare. "She looked back once. She left the campaign and went back to Wisconsin for a few weeks, but she came back to us, which we were all incredibly thankful for because Josh was going insane without her," Sam said.
"Josh… the guy you said I should call 'Uncle Josh'?" Meredith frowned.
"Yeah," Sam smiled.
"Uncle Josh?" Donna asked, amused. Josh would get a kick out of that. He didn't particularly want kids of his own but he had said he would love to have nieces and nephews or godchildren to spoil and send home to their parents.
Meredith nodded emphatically. "There's Uncle Sam, of course, and then there's Uncle Josh, Aunt CJ, and Unkie T," she said, happy that she remembered all the names Sam had told her on the flight from LA. At the term 'Unkie T' Donna looked over at Sam who just smiled and shrugged. "Then there's Cathy who scares Uncle Sam even though he loves her like a sister, and Carol, Bonnie, Ginger, Margaret, Charlie, and Mrs. Landingham," Meredith continued, listing off the other people that Sam had told her about during the long flight. "And the President who I call 'Mr. President' and the First Lady who I call 'Dr. Bartlet'," she said before her face scrunched up as she tried to remember who else she was supposed to know. "Oh, and Mr. McGarry," she said, finally remembering the last name on the list she had repeated over and over to herself so she didn't make any mistakes. "That's it, right? I didn't forget anyone?" she asked Sam.
"You got all the Senior Staff and their assistants," Sam nodded. "And do you remember what to say when you see the blonde Republican lawyer with the Southern accent?"
"That everything you say is right and everything she says is wrong," Meredith dutifully repeated.
"Exactly," Sam grinned. Donna rolled her eyes but managed to refrain from comment. "So, I was promised there would be food when I woke up, but I'm not smelling anything food-like," Sam said, looking at Donna.
"Pizza's on its way. There was nothing at the store that looked appetizing and I'm too tired to cook," Donna said. "You need to go to the store more often, Sam."
Meredith giggled, though it wasn't clear at what. "Yeah, 'cause I cook at home all the time," Sam said, rolling his eyes. "You like pizza, right?" he asked Meredith.
"As long as it doesn't have those little icky fish things that grandpa likes," Meredith said, screwing up her nose.
"Anchovies," Sam explained to Donna. Donna scrunched up her nose in agreement. "Don't worry about the icky fish, Meredith," Sam said, "Donna has pretty basic tastes in pizza. Cheese or veggie. What did you get tonight?"
"One large cheese and one large meat lovers in deference to your tastes in pizza," Donna said.
"Again I thank you," Sam said.
He started looking around the room, taking in all the changes. Instead of basic white mini blinds covering the windows there were now bright sunshine yellow curtains blocking out the last rays of sunlight. The hardwood floor was partially covered by a soft-looking rug shaped like a giant sunflower. There was a twin bed against the wall where his filing cabinets had been, a thick comforter that looked like someone had been splatter-painting on it covering the cotton sheets. There was a comfortable looking chair with a few stuffed animals and the Raggedy Anne doll CJ had given to him sitting it in and a bookcase was sitting in a corner with a few books and DVDs already in place. The dresser matched the bed and the bookcase, and was, he suspected, empty. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a large wooden chest that sat next to the door. The chest reminded him of his grandmother's hope chest.
"You did a good job in here, Donna," Sam commented.
"Thank you. I wanted to paint the walls, but I figured that you might want your office back one day…" Donna trailed off. "Anyway, I didn't do all that much. I just made some phone calls and got the guys at work to pitch in."
Donna's pager began buzzing on her hip and she looked at the screen and cringed. "It's Josh. All hands on deck," Donna said. Sam nodded and turned quickly, heading to his room to change. "Okay, Meredith, how would you like to see the White House?"
CJ tugged her dangling chandelier earrings out of their holes as she headed for her office. "First date I've had in three months and I get called back in," she muttered before tucking the earrings away in her pocket. "What's going on?" she asked, changing courses when she spotted Josh who was yelling at someone over the phone.
Josh held up his hand for CJ to wait as he continued his conversation. "I don't care what it takes. Get a message to him. I don't care if you have to train a pigeon to bring him a note, I need him in my office within the hour!" he shouted before hanging up. "I hate being this guy," he said to CJ.
"No you don't."
"You're right, I don't," Josh smiled.
"What's going on?" CJ asked, completely focused on the job once again. Or, as focused as she could be with four Grasshoppers under her belt.
"I wish I knew. The President came out of the Situation Room with Fitz and Nancy and told me to pull everyone in. Whatever it is, though, has them all scared."
CJ sighed heavily. "Is Leo coming in?"
"The President wants a full staff tonight," Josh said. "I've gotta… make some more people angry."
"Have fun," CJ called lamely before turning around and heading for her office once again.
"Okay, job one: pizza," Sam declared after they cleared security.
"Shouldn't job one be finding out why you were called in?" Meredith asked.
"Okay, yeah, you're right, that should be job one. But job two should most definitely be pizza," Sam amended. "Can you take care of that?" he asked Donna who nodded and smiled at the fact that one of the President's most trusted advisors was getting his priorities set straight by an eight year old. "Good. Now, Meredith, I'm gonna be busy for, well, probably most of the night. And, frankly, I don't really know what you're going to do."
Donna started taking off her coat. "I called Zoey while you were changing. She'll hang out with Meredith. If this goes as late as I think it will she can stay in the Residence. It's not like she won't be safe," Donna said with a smirk.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," Sam said. "Can you take her over? I should probably go find Toby, see if he has any idea what's going on."
"Go," Donna said, giving Sam a little push toward Communications. "Tell Josh I'll be at my desk in fifteen minutes!" she called as Sam rounded a corner. She turned back to Meredith who was looking more than a little on edge. "You a little freaked?" she asked. Meredith nodded. "That's okay. Just remember that everyone here knows what they're doing and that you are in what is probably the safest building in the world. Okay?"
"Okay," Meredith said.
Nodding, Donna took the little girl's hand. "Okay, let's go meet Zoey," she said.
"Who's Zoey?" Meredith asked.
"Zoey is the President's youngest daughter," Donna said as they made their way toward the Residence.
Meredith frowned. "She's the one with the pretty smile, right?" she asked.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Donna smiled.
"Grandpa likes watching the TV when the President's on. He has this diary thing in his office at the house and he counts the number of times he sees Uncle Sam a week. He filled a whole page last May… but Uncle Sam wasn't happy and they wouldn't let me watch most of the time," Meredith said. Donna felt a twinge in her heart as she thought about the little girl hearing that her uncle, who she had never even met, had been with the President when shots were fired in Roslyn. Thankfully Meredith didn't seem to know what had happened; just that Sam had been on TV a lot. "Grandpa tried to tell me who everybody was and what they did but I didn't really get it. Uncle Sam made it a lot more clear on the plane."
"It's hard to explain the job if you don't actually see everything as it happens," Donna said. "Okay, make sure the Secret Service agents can see your pass," she said once they reached the doors that separated the Residence from the rest of the White House.
"You're back!" CJ said happily.
"Apparently," Sam said. He'd been to his office, which was a mess, then he'd gone to Toby's office to find it dark and empty, and he'd been on his way to Josh's office when he saw CJ running toward him.
CJ hugged him tightly. Sam could smell the scent of her beloved Grasshoppers on her breath and he made a mental note to talk to her about that before she briefed the press. "You're not going to be allowed to leave again, you know that, right?"
"Donna intimated as much," Sam nodded. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"
CJ shrugged. "Josh doesn't know what's going on and he's the one calling everyone in," she said. "How's your dad?"
"Hobbling along nicely. How did things go here?"
"We got by without you, Spanky," CJ teased.
"I would never imply that you couldn't," Sam said. That was Josh's ego, not Sam's. "Seriously, though. The education bill, the speech for the dinner, the gun control proposal? Is there anything I need to know?"
"If there is anything—and keep in mind that I'm not saying that there is anything—you don't need to worry about it tonight. C'mon. The President wants us in the Oval Office for a briefing," CJ said, looping her arm through Sam's and giving a none-too-gentle tug to get him moving. "Tell me about the happenings back home. I haven't been back to California since that fundraiser thing and that doesn't even count 'cause all I saw was the hotel and the house. Is the ocean still there? Was the sun still shining?"
"Yes, the ocean was still there and the sun was still shining," Sam said with a frown. "CJ, when Josh called you, what were you doing?"
"I, my dear Samson, was on a date. A good date," CJ said emphatically.
"Okay, one, that's not my name. And, two, how much did you have to drink on this good date?"
CJ chuckled. "I'm fine, Sammy my boy. You worry too much."
"CJ, you're drunk," Sam said.
"Maybe just a little," CJ said, holding her fingers a centimetre apart.
Sam shook his head. "Go home. Sleep it off. Toby and I will handle the press tonight," he said. Technically CJ didn't report to him, she reported to Toby, but Sam was hoping that she wouldn't remember that fact in her current state of inebriation.
"No Josh," CJ said sternly. "Tie him to a chair if he tries to get in my Press Room."
"Deal," Sam said. He didn't care what conditions CJ had. He was just glad that she wasn't going to fight him. Fighting with someone who is drunk is difficult enough, but fighting with a drunk CJ usually sent Sam to the ER. Besides, the last time Josh got behind the podium he started going on about his Secret Plan to Fight Inflation. And, while they all laughed about it now, back then it had been a huge thing that CJ had had to deal with. "Take a cab!" he called as CJ began dancing her way toward the exit. The last thing he needed was more people in his life getting in car accidents.
Once CJ was out of sight Sam headed for the Oval Office, hoping he wouldn't find any other drunken coworkers along the way.
Donna knocked on the door to one of the rooms she had only visited once before. The door opened a moment later and Donna smiled at Zoey who was looking every bit the college student in well-worn jeans and a Georgetown tee shirt. "I figured that it would be easier to entertain here in Annie's room," Zoey said as she ushered Donna and Meredith in.
"Good plan," Donna said. "Zoey, this is Meredith Kassin. Meredith, this is Zoey Bartlet."
"It's nice to meet you," Meredith said shyly.
"Don't be shy," Zoey said.
"She's a little nervous. Her grandfather watches political shows religiously so she's grown up on the story of your family," Donna explained.
"Why don't you go pick out a game for us to play? There are some of my niece's games over there in the closet," Zoey said to Meredith. Meredith looked up at Donna, asking for permission, and the blonde nodded and released the girl's hand. Once Meredith was out of earshot Zoey's expression grew grave. "What's going on tonight? Charlie said my dad was in the Situation Room all day and now he's called the staff back to work. What are we looking at?"
Donna sighed heavily. "I wish to god I knew, Zoey. Josh paged me and Sam and I came in. I haven't seen anyone yet and Josh didn't say why we were being pulled in. I don't want Meredith to worry, though. She's got enough going on right now."
Zoey nodded. "How's her mother?"
"When Sam left she was still drifting in and out of consciousness. More out than in. The doctors are waiting for her to level out before they start sedating her. She has to stay immobile and they're worried that she'll come to and set back what little healing has already happened," Donna said. She looked over at Meredith who was looking at the stack of board games with a critical eye. "I don't know how much Meredith knows."
"Okay. Light topics only," Zoey nodded. "Has she had dinner? I was going to get the chef to whip something up ahead of time but I didn't know what she liked or if she'd had dinner yet or anything so I held off."
"My next job is ordering pizza for the entire staff. I'll send one up here, too," Donna said.
"No anchovies," Zoey said.
Donna smiled. "Meredith calls them the 'little icky fish things'."
"We're gonna get along just fine," Zoey decided with a smile. "I should let you get out of here. Josh is probably about to blow a gasket."
"Probably," Donna agreed. "You've got my numbers if you need anything. Sam's probably going take his phone off the hook in about an hour so call me if you need anything."
Zoey grinned. "You're acting like Lizzie did whenever she left Annie with a new babysitter. Go to work. I'm an expert at babysitting, and if I need any help I've got a full compliment of Secret Service agents at my disposal. You need to keep your head in whatever is going on right now."
"Yeah, you're right. I should go," Donna nodded. "Bye, Meredith!" she called.
"Bye!" Meredith called back without looking away from the smaller stack of games she had pared her choices down to.
"Mrs Landingham, you're here late," Sam commented as he entered the anti-room to the Oval Office.
"And you're here about four days early," Mrs Landingham replied.
"Not by choice. Who else is here?" Sam asked.
"Leo and the President are in there with Chairman Fitzwallace and Dr McNally," she said. "Josh just ran out in a frenzy. I don't know where CJ and Toby are."
"CJ went home. Too many Grasshoppers," Sam said. "Should I go in?" Mrs Landingham nodded and Sam rapped his knuckles on the door before slipping inside. "Good evening, Mr President," Sam said before nodding his greetings to the other people in the room.
"How is your family, Sam?" Bartlet asked.
"They've been better but everything is going to be fine. Theresa wants me to thank you for the flowers you sent," Sam said, "and for sending Dr Karr. Shayla's condition has improved much faster since he took over her treatment." He had expected flowers but he had been in no way prepared for one of the world's foremost experts in neurology to show up and take over his sister's case. It meant a lot to Sam, and to his father.
"I'm sorry your visit was so brief," Bartlet said. "That being said, it's a damned good thing you're back because we're about to be hit with the worst."
Sam took a slow breath. "What do you need me to do?"
Josh felt like he was losing his mind. Half of the staff was unreachable—which was a major protocol violation—and the half he had managed to reach was taking their time getting back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The only thing that was showing the least bit of sunshine on his day was that the Secret Service had confirmed that Donna and Sam had signed in and were somewhere in the West Wing, though he had no idea where.
"Wha'cha looking for?"
Josh jumped, caught completely off-guard by his assistant. "Seriously, bells, all around your neck," Josh announced.
"Do I look like a tiny reindeer?" Donna asked. Frowning at the look that crossed Josh's face, Donna continued. "Don't answer that. What's going on and how can I help?"
"Get these people in," Josh said, thrusting a few pages into her hand. "Also make sure Carol is ready to page the press. We won't have time to leak this. It's going to be dirty and fast and I can't even begin to tell you how many kinds of bad this whole situation is."
Donna nodded. "Phone calls and Carol. Anything else?"
"Food. Pizza or Chinese," Josh said as he searched for a briefing booklet he had lost in the piles of papers on his desk.
"Already done. Next?"
"Uh, yeah. Try to track down Margaret. Leo needs some file and he says that she hid it for or from him, he'd not sure which but whichever it is he needs it, like, four hours ago," Josh said, wondering, not for the first time, if the assistants at the White House were all as diabolically evil as Donna was when it came to their filing systems. Josh knew for a fact that Margaret had a system of her own, and even Ginger and Bonnie had different systems from each other and they were both Toby's assistants. It was a plot, he was sure of it. But, all evidence to the contrary, Josh Lyman was not a stupid man, so he had never voiced such thoughts around any of the co-conspirators.
"Okay," Donna said. "Josh, what's going on?"
Josh sighed heavily. He hated being the one to tell Donna things like this, mostly because he hated to see her face do the thing it did when she looked like he had just killed her hamster, but she would be able to be ten times more effective if she was in the loop and he needed Donna to be at her usual effectiveness level. "There are an unknown number of terrorists who have taken over our embassy in Tel Aviv. They've got over a hundred hostages, including—"
"The Vice President," Donna finished for him. Josh nodded. "Do you know if the networks have this? I mean, it's been going on all day but I haven't heard anything and I was watching the news for most of the day."
"No. Thankfully. There's been a total media blackout in the region for the past two days. I honestly couldn't tell you why, nor do I care because right now I have to figure out a way to convince the President that he's going to have to start thinking about people to replace the Vice President without sounding like I think Hoynes and the other hundred hostages aren't coming out of that building alive," Josh said. He gathered up some files and turned to leave. "Sam's here?"
"Yeah."
"And the kid?"
"Meredith is with Zoey in the Residence," Donna said.
Nodding, Josh reached out and took Donna's hand. "Thanks for being so great with Sam on all this."
"He's my friend, too," Donna said. "Besides, supportive as the rest of the Senior Staff may be, Leo and the President are the only ones with children and they're also the only people who aren't referring to Meredith as 'the kid' constantly. Sam has been freaking out, Josh. Last week he was Sam Seaborn, single guy, and suddenly he's got an eight year old girl living with him—something that is no doubt going to make his life, both personal and political, a complete and utter living hell, not that he'd ever do anything different because it's Sam and this is who he is and we love him for this way—and the only thing he cares about is Meredith who has essentially lost her mother and been shipped across the country to live with a man she knows from the TV and her grandfather's stories. And you and CJ and Toby will do your best, but the bachelor brigade around here isn't going to be able to be there for Sam because none of you have kids or want kids whereas I still hold out hope for the cliché white picket fence thing."
"I want kids," Josh protested.
"No, Josh, you don't want kids. You just don't want to actually come out and say that you don't want kids because, one, it's bad politics and one day you want to run for office somewhere, and two, it would quite literally kill your mother," Donna countered.
"Okay, first of all, I want kids, I just don't want kids right now because I've seen what politics does to families and there's no way I'm going to be a part time dad. Second, this is hardly the time or the place to discuss this. Third, call those people, talk to Carol, find Margaret, and make sure that whatever you ordered gets to the Oval while it's still hot."
"When was the last time your food was cold for any reason other than you forgot to eat it?"
"Fine. I'll see you later."
"Seriously, Josh, when have I given you cold food and how could you think that I would give cold pizza to the President of the United States unless that's what he asked for specifically?"
Chastened, Josh took a deep breath and prayed he didn't screw things up even more than he already had. "Okay, look. You're indignation is completely warranted, but, seriously, it could not come at a worse time. I'm sorry, Donna. You're an amazing assistant and I don't tell you that enough," Josh said honestly. "I'm just… under a lot of pressure at the moment… and you're going to be the most visible target for my anger and frustration until this is resolved."
"As opposed to all the other times when I'm the target of your anger and frustration because I deserve it?" Donna asked, arms crossed across her chest.
Josh hit his head against the doorframe. "Can we have this fight another time, please?" he begged.
"Fine. Tell Sam that Meredith got settled with Zoey just fine," Donna said before pushing past Josh to get to her desk.
A moment later Josh hurried down the hall to the Oval Office. Fighting with Donna always bothered him, but he had bigger things to deal with and not much time to do it in, so he forced himself to forget about Donna until he had the time to devote his attention to her completely.
He just didn't know when that would be.