Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, there's still so much to come :)

Washington D.C.

Sam Seaborn's Apartment

2:03 am

He had gotten home about five minutes ago and instantly stripped off his jacket, tie and dress shoes. He grabbed a glass of water, ran his hands through his hair and walked into his bedroom, quickly collapsing onto his bed. It had been yet another long day. Though this was usual, getting home in between midnight and the early hours of the morning. Glancing at the clock, he sighed and covered his face with a pillow. He had to be up in five hours. No point in changing if he was just going to shower in the morning.

His cellphone rang, interrupting his chance to fall asleep. He groaned and looked at the caller ID. 'White House' it displayed. Fuck. He flipped open the phone and answered it.

"Sam Seaborn," he said groggily.

"Sam, it's Ainsley." He recognized her voice, the sweet southern sound of her coming over the phone and penetrating his tired ears. At least it wasn't Toby. Or Josh.

"You're about to tell me that I need to come back to the office, aren't you?" he asked already knowing the answer.

"You know me so well." He sensed the sarcasm in her tone. He liked her dry sense of humor, maybe that's what had attracted him to her in the first place.

"This better be good Ainsley, I had a wonderful date with a pillow and a bedsheet that I was really looking forward too."

"Well now you have a date with me," she said and he must have made an audible gasp because of her next couple of words. "Relax, Sam. I'm joking, but Leo isn't, and you need to get back here ASAP."

He stood up off his bed and looked around for where he had left his shoes and car keys as he kept her on the phone. "What's going on?"

"H.R. 376 is what's going on, and we're just getting word from the American embassy in Kenya that local rebels have taken the U.N. support team that was escorting the aid package hostage."

Yay. God bless the underfunded military branch of the United Nations. "So why am I coming in?"

"Congressmen Dale and Truscott along with a few members of the Democratic leadership are coming in to meet with us on how we can reframe the language on the bill, without breaking international law. Leo wants you to lead the meeting on our side," she answered.

"And the Kenyan rebels?" Sam asked after slipping on his shoes, now searching for his car keys. He knew he could take a cab, but at this rate it would take him nearly half an hour to get to work, and he didn't need a half-blind old man driving ten miles under the speed limit.

"What do you think they've taken the hostages for?" She said sounding as chipper as ever.

"So Kenyan rebels are interested in American politics?" Sam asked again, searching in between his couch cushions.

"Everyone is interested in American politics Sam; you should be happy we at least have a dialogue with these people now."

Yeah, happy. At 2 am, Sam Seaborn was anything but happy. In fact, he was emotionless, completely void of all feelings, which was good. He would be able to focus on keeping the Kenyans happy, instead of keeping her happy.

"Yeah sure," he said quickly, "all they had to do was kidnap and hold an international group of peacekeeping, democracy-loving soldiers' hostage as they tried to transport clean water and solid food to dying refugees hiding from one of the bloodiest civil wars in the history of the continent."

"Sounds like the perfect way to try and negotiate with them," Ainsley answered.

"It's not negotiating Ainsley," he said initiating the argument. "We're appeasing them by even holding this meeting, it only shows every AK-47 toting terrorist across the globe that the most powerful nation on Earth can in fact be bullied towards compromise."

"Or maybe," Ainsley said very 'matter-of-factly', "it shows the rest of the Western world and our allies around the globe that bombing the hell out of these groups isn't always the correct response."

"Oh that's rich coming from the Republican."

"You know Sam, we aren't all war-hawks," she replied firmly. "I am actually against armed foreign interventions, especially when we begin to fight wars that don't directly affect us."

"All wars affect us in one way or another," he answered philosophically as he took one look at his apartment, wondering where the hell his keys could be.

"Sam, why haven't you left yet?" Ainsley asked suddenly.

"I must have misplaced my keys…," he said moving on from the argument, he had won, though he knew she didn't see it that way, or care.

"Do you need me to come pick you up?" she asked surprising him. The thought of her coming to his apartment sent an interesting thought through his head, one that he immediately shook from his brain and tried to move on from.

"No, no, I'll take a cab," he deflected quickly, knowing she may well do it. "When is the leadership going to be there?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. After a moment she spoke. "Half an hour."

"Ainsley," he said as he collected his remaining things and opened the door to his apartment.

"Yes Samuel?" she asked teasingly.

"Don't call me Samuel."

"Don't call me Ainsley."

His face contorted into a confused frown as he locked his apartment door and headed down hallway to the elevator. "That's your name."

"I know. But I think I need a nickname."

"You don't need a nickname." The elevator doors opened and he stepped inside, hit the 'L' for lobby and waited for her next words.

"I like 'Ains'," she answered sweetly.

"I'm not going to start calling you Ains," he said into the phone.

"What about babe?"

He froze in the elevator as every bone in his body seized up. Here she was again, coming onto him. He remembered what Josh had told him, but that advice wouldn't do him any good now, nor was it the place to discuss it. The elevator doors dinged open and he was thrust back into reality as he took a confident step into the lobby.

"Ainsley," he said cautiously, half trying to warn her to not say anything more.

"Yes Samuel?" Well, he never said she was a great listener.

"Go into my office, there's an extra shirt in the bottom drawer, get it and meet me outside the lobby restrooms in fifteen minutes," he ordered.

"Okay, see you soon…babe." Before he could retort to her borderline sensual comment, the line clicked off. He sighed and put the cellphone in his coat pocket before steeping out into the cold night and scanning the street for a cab. Hopefully she wouldn't do anything else that would make this night any harder than it already was, for the sake of his own mental health. One could only take so much Ainsley Hayes.