Toby was sitting in his office when Leo walked in and tentatively knocked on the doorframe. Toby looked up in surprise.
"Hey, come in."
"What are you working on?"
"Belarusian constitutional law. I was throwing around some ideas with Professor Lawrence Lessig, we're gonna be working with a delegation in the Roosevelt Room later." Toby continued jotting words down, referring back to the hefty book he'd been rifling through.
Leo sighed, not looking forward to notifying yet another person about the catastrophic events of the morning.
"I understand you briefed the press on the United Britannia flight."
"Yeah, it hit the wires this morning and it was pretty much all anyone wanted to talk about. I'm supposed to go into the Oval soon for updates from the President. Grady is having a seizure from her podium, the Ayatollah is out for blood…Has there ever been a finer day for foreign diplomacy?" Toby joked lightly as he scanned some files on his desk.
"Toby."
He stopped what he was doing to glance at Leo. Toby suddenly noticed how pale his friend was and grew worried that he was overdoing it.
" Leo, these things have a way of untangling themselves. You want a glass of water?"
"You're gonna get blindsided in your 11 o'clock briefing by a story about a kidnapping."
"What? Who?"
"CJ's been kidnapped for ransom. She's presumably on a plane somewhere to Europe or maybe the Middle East."
Toby looked like a fish out of water. He gaped in stunned silence.
"Why am I just finding out about this now?"
"Kate and I wanted to keep it on the down low, because this is gonna explode on all the major news networks once it gets out. I want you to be ready when the press asks you about it."
"When was she—how was she—"
"Early this morning just after Kate asked her to come in for the United Britannia thing. They caught her offguard in her house."
"What's being done?"
"Interpol and MI-5 in the UK, the CIA, DC police and the FBI are involved in the search here."
"Yeah, I'd like to see how long it will be before anyone picks up a scent of a kidnapping when all those guys are poking around this town!" Toby shouted, his voice ending at a considerably louder volume than when he started talking.
"The demand in return for her release is uranium. The very uranium from Georgia that you all worked to have extracted and secured."
"How is the President reacting?"
Leo shot Toby a meaningful glance.
"Not good. Not good at all," The understatement of the year, "I'm gonna see John Marbury in half an hour. Talk to Margaret and she'll get you all the appropriate papers."
Leo departed from the office at a pace probably considered too fast for a man who was recovering from a heart attack. Toby feared this new development would send his own heart into cardiac arrest.
It was midday before anyone realized it, and Leo had spent the latter part of the morning talking to Lord John Marbury. Leo was in no mood for the usual silliness and the Englishman could tell because for once in the time since he'd been appointed to the post of Ambassador to the US, he spoke sensibly and refrained from referring to Leo as 'Gerald.'
Leo asked Lord John if he could set up a phone call with the counterterrorism department of MI-5 since they seemed to be the people with the most experience with the Red Backs.
"I should warn you that Harry Pearce is…" Lord John gesticulated avidly and Leo prompted him with a look. "Well, he's a bit of a wet blanket is what he is. But you two should get along just fine. Both stony faced army chaps, you two are."
Leo resisted the strong temptation to roll his eyes and thanked the man anyway.
Margaret tried to bring him lunch like she used to when he was Chief but he waved her away, his stomach still unbearably upset since he witnessed what they were doing to CJ. He tried not to dwell on it or he'd lose all ability to think straight. Her screams echoed in his head as it was, and he was almost hopeless to block out the agony on her face as they beat her.
He, a seasoned war veteran, was having trouble with the fact that CJ Cregg was being used as a bargaining chip to obtain highly enriched uranium that she herself worked to extract from an unstable region. The irony was too bitter to withstand.
"Any news?"
Leo looked up and saw the President, who'd just emerged from the Oval. He sat at his old desk—CJ's desk—but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. He just nodded 'no' and steepled his fingers.
"I just talked to the Prime Minister. She's determined to condemn the Iranians, I couldn't talk her down."
"Well, who didn't see that coming sir?"
"Leo, all morning you've been twitchy. You know something I don't. I can tell when you're hiding something, what do you know that I don't?"
"All due respect sir, now is not the time. I would be undermining all those people who are trying to get her back and you need to concentrate."
"Leo, telling me the reasons why you can't really tell me anything only makes me want to know more."
Leo contemplated his friend carefully. He knew that Jed's insistence would win out but he wasn't sure he could allow the President of the United States to be walking around in despair only halfway through the work day.
"I can't, sir. Trust me, you can't afford to know what I do. Not yet."
"They're…they're hurting her, aren't they?"
Leo said nothing.
"Earlier, Kate knew something. They all knew, didn't they? Nancy, Rollie? I didn't question why they were all so certain of who had CJ, but good God it makes sense now!"
He was getting worked up. Leo knew there would be no graceful exit at this point so he took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly.
"There…There was an email. Footage of her…and they made a demand for uranium."
"Uranium? They want uranium? And no one thought it necessary to inform the President of their demands?"
"Whoever hired them wants the Georgian uranium we apparently acquired in the recent past. I don't know the details of the extraction since CJ handled it, but I know damn well that we are not, under any circumstances, supposed to negotiate with hostage takers. And you can't possibly understand how that makes me feel when the hostage is a woman who'd willingly sacrifice her life for either of us."
"Leo, I want to see the email."
This time, Leo's face betrayed his alarm.
"No. I've told you all that I know as of now but I cannot let you see the video."
"What are they doing to her?"
Gone was the leader of the free world. In his place was simply a man who'd lost someone important to him. Leo knew that look, he knew beyond all doubt then what he'd suspected for years.
"Sir, I cannot let you see that video." He said once more.
Their attention immediately turned to the news on Leo's TV, where Prime Minister Maureen Grady's face was depicted on camera.
"…This is a barbaric, monstrous crime committed against Great Britain, against Europe, against the United States, against humanity. There can be absolutely no justification for the willful slaughter of one hundred innocent men, women and children…"
Jed glared at Leo and was about to go back into the Oval when Leo abruptly leaned forward from his seat.
"In other breaking news, we've just received confirmation that White House Chief of Staff Claudia Jean Cregg has been taken hostage by a terrorist organization. She was taken from her home by three masked men in the time between 3 and 4 am this morning. Interpol has declared that since it was confirmed she has been flown out of the country, an international search for her has commenced. The conditions for her release have not been made public for security purposes. The FBI and Interpol are working together to locate and bring her home…"
Jed shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers.
"Who the HELL leaked it? There were, I don't know, twelve, thirteen people in that room including the both of us!"
"Oh my god."
"The following footage was sent to the CIA early this morning, evidence that Cregg is still alive but severely injured. Viewer discretion is advised as the following footage may be deemed too disturbing for younger viewers at home."
Onscreen, CJ was shown being held up by two goons. They were in a room devoid of any furniture with only one hanging lamp, giving the place a dinghy atmosphere along with the less than stellar quality of the camera.
Jed spotted the cut on her cheek, her swollen eye, the nasty bruises covering her long neck. Her blouse was bloody and torn, her legs looked boneless as she seemed to be incapable of standing on her own. She was incoherent, her head bobbing irregularly but her eyes were open.
"Is this the same footage that you're trying to keep me from watching? Don't tell me it is, because now that it's on national news, I'd like to see you try to keep me from watching the damn thing myself—"
The president exited the office and headed to the Situation Room. Leo remained in the chair, eyes glued to the TV. Normally he would chase down the leak but there simply wasn't time to spare.
"Harry Pearce, Section D of MI-5 on line one for you, Leo." Margaret called out.
Leo nodded and picked up the handset.
"Mr. Pearce. This is Leo McGarry from the White House. I'm President Bartlet's former Chief of Staff."
"Hello Mr. McGarry. I'd ask you how you are but judging from your news I thought it wise not to." Came the smooth English accent from the other end of the line. It was such a contrast to Lord John's sing song inflections, although Leo supposed he shouldn't assume that Lord John's trademark eccentricity represented the rest of his country.
"I suppose I could say the same for you too, sir. I wanted to ask about this group, the Red Backs. We haven't received complete reports from your office as of yet but I'm sure I don't need to tell you how time is of the essence in this particular situation."
"Our chief analyst is compiling what we have as we speak. We'll send all the files electronically to a secure address of your choice," Harry Pearce cleared his throat softly in what had to be the most polite manner Leo ever heard.
"Mr. McGarry, I do realize that this is a trying time for the President. You have my organization's full and unconditional support."
"Thank you."
"I'll ring your office the moment considerable progress has been made."
Leo hung up the phone and stood to stretch his legs. They were a bit sore today, the effects still lingered from the bypass surgery.
"Margaret!"
The redhead came bustling in, attentive as always.
"Get me the number of both of CJ's brothers. They deserve to know what's happening to her. We'll fly them out here if they want."
Teaser: There could be no repeat of the enactment of the 25th amendment this time…