Sam's POV:
I groan in pain, shifting so my body is more slumped against Josh. Josh tucks an arm over me, sighing at my sharp wince of pain as his hand hits a particularly tender spot. Josh is watching out the window, studying the crowd. "Sam, can you walk on your own for twenty feet?" I groan at the idea, but give half a nod. "As long as you two help me like, as soon as we are inside." Bartlett nods, seeing where this is going. "Toby and CJ and Leo, and you and Josh, Sam, you all need to move around Danny, because the last thing we need is a media story about how he got fired or comments about the rest of us and him." We all nod and Josh pulls out his phone, having a quick conversation with Leo. A moment later, the three of them are here. We all stand around Danny, with Bartlett just ahead of us. I'm shaking on my feet, my long legs trembling violently as I struggle to look like I'm not dying. My body is on fire as we cross the twenty or so feet between the car and the building, entering. The moment we are inside and the cameras can't see, Danny and Josh are on either side helping me along. I lean into them gratefully, letting them take enough of my weight that I can get over to a table and sit down. We all sit around one table, and Bartlett immediately gets us all in a trivia game. I tune out, focusing on finding a comfortable way to sit that won't put pressure on my chest and back. Josh is watching me, I can feel his eyes, but there's no point in me commenting, so I shift to lean against him. Danny is talking about something having to do with the history of news in the country but I honestly couldn't be any less interested as I get as close to Josh as I can, feeling content.
CJ's POV:
I'm sitting next to Leo, listening to Danny's nervous rambling. It's pretty adorable. Leo seems to be pretty tuned out, so I slip my phone out of my pocket and text him, "Hey, Leo. What would you say if I told you that we should hire Danny to work in speechwriting with the guys?" Leo reads his phone, glancing over at me looking fairly incredulous. Inwardly, I sigh. This doesn't look good. My phone vibrates softly, causing me to glance at it. "Doesn't he already have a job? As a reporter? A job he loves?" I mouthe across the table "he got fired for supporting you all." Leo groans, leaning back against the chair and shooting me a look that clearly says this is not the place for this discussion. I nod, turning my attention to the menu. Danny peers over my shoulder so that he can see it, and I laugh, shoving him playfully away so that I can focus on the menu. After we have all ordered, I scan the people around me. Toby looks ok but I have known him long enough to see the pain from his ribs in his eyes when he moves too fast. Sam isn't even trying to look ok, slumped against Josh with his head resting on Josh's shoulder. Josh has one arm around him. Danny is trying not to look absolutely miserable, but I know he is. He loved that job, it was all he had ever done and now he knew that getting another spot as a reported assigned to The White House was going to be nearly impossible. Our food gets there, and I realize for the first time that Danny hasn't ordered anything. I glance at him, seeing the absolutely longing in his eyes as he looks at the food, and grabs two of my tacos, shoving the plate with the other two in front of him. He tenses up immediately, and I feel his eyes on me. I ignore it, happily eating my tacos but not relaxing till I hear him digging into his, too.
Josh's POV:
Getting Sam back out to the car proves to be nearly impossible. He's exhausted and can barely move, somehow making it the dozen steps to get into the car. His face is gritted with pain and he's asleep within two minutes, but I have a feeling the other people in the car don't really mind. Danny is with us, and so is the President. Danny is staring at his hands with the lost puppy dog look that he gets sometimes, which has me worriedly watching him. I had gotten a bit of CJ and Leo's conversation and I hoped that they would hire him. He was a good writer and I felt kinda bad for effectively putting one of my best friends out of a job. When we finally get back to the White House both him and I wake Sam up long enough to help him up the stairs to Toby's office, getting him on the couch with a blanket. CJ Pokes her head in, and Danny scampers out after her. I just sit down next to Sam's head, content to keep an eye on him.
Danny's POV:
I don't want to go with CJ I so do not I just plain don't. My body has been trembling from left-over adrenaline from the last day and a half, and the panic coursing through me wasn't helping make me look less like a drug addict withdrawing from something. CJ halts just inside her office, taking one look at how much I am trembling before closing the door and all but shoving me, gently, onto her couch. I hunch against the end of it trying to quiet the fear rising up in my chest but when CJ sits down across from me and just quietly asks, "What's wrong, Danny." I can't stop my mouth from talking before I have time to realize what I am saying. "I don't have a job and I'm already behind on rent well now I'm not but only because I wasn't really eating so I could pay it and this is all I have done for years nobody is going to want to hire me without me having a recommendation from them damn it CJ I don't…I can't… I have nothing, CJ I can't even afford to pay my rent anymore and I'm watching Josh blame himself and I can't even say anything to help him and it just...I don't…" I shake my head several times, trying to hide the tears silently running down my cheeks even though I know I can't.
CJ's POV:
For once, I'm glad that I am tall when I can get my arms around Danny and pull him close with ease. His fingers dig deep into the fabric of my jacket and I let them, not having the heart to tell him not to as his too-thin body trembles in pain as he sobs. "Shh, Danny, shh. It's going to be ok. I've got you." I murmur quietly, rubbing my left hand, my right is kind of pinned between him and I, up and down Danny's back. He doesn't speak, doesn't make a sound except the soft noises of him sobbing. I don't know how long we sit there till he falls asleep from pure exhaustion but I'm glad when he does, unsure on how much longer I could sit and listen to him break over and over. His head ends up in my lap, my fingers running gently through his hair. I decide that I could get used to this.
Toby's POV:
Leo and I are roaming the halls. He had snapped at me about a dozen times for roaming with my battered ribs but I didn't care, tired of being cooped up in one place, even though I really hadn't been at all. We end up sitting on the front steps, which isn't at all allowed but for some reason the secret service wasn't stopping us. Either the president had ordered them to let us sit here, or they just wouldn't mind seeing us get shot. I was choosing to believe that it was the second of these options, because I would really not want to not have the secret service to rely on in a bad situation. We're in silence for the first fifteen minutes, before Leo finally relaxes slightly, shifting so he can be leaning against me. I wrap one arm around him and pull my coat closer around myself with my other, trying to stop the wind from biting into my bones quite so badly. It's bitterly cold, and I silently wonder if there is any chance of a staff field trip to, I don't know, Hawaii some time soon. I might have grown up in New York but I would never get used to the cold weather that we got in this area of the world. Leo finally speaks up, seeming to realize that I won't. "It's been a long week, aye, Toby." I mutter my agreement, almost wishing that I could go back in time but knowing that I never would because as hard as the last few days had been, I liked being able to sit on the steps of the White House with my partner in my arms. I liked it. Alright so maybe I'm secretly a romantic. But who wouldn't enjoy it? Sitting under a star filled sky knowing that my family was safe in the building behind me. Nothing could feel better.