Disclaimer: I own nothing belonging to The West Wing; it all belongs to NBC, Aaron Sorkin, et al. I write these stories purely for enjoyment; no copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: Once again, my grateful thanks to lcf328 – and a huge thank you and welcome also to my second beta, thebreakfastgenie. They have been tremendously helpful and encouraging, particularly because I was so worried about picking up this story again. There is, for the first time, some interaction between Josh and Noah in this chapter, and some further conversation and friendship development between Sam and Donna. I have looked up South Carolina's primary sources of income as a state, but beyond that I am simply using trends that have been occurring nationwide in the farming industry; I do not know to what extent agribusiness has made its way into S. C.

This chapter has been a long, long time in coming, and I can only plead several excuses: new job, major move, family emergencies, brutal schedule (70-90-hour work weeks), and lack of inspiration. It has been almost four years, all. I can't believe that. I have been seeing a lot of WW material on Tumblr, though, and have been thinking about Sorkin again thanks to The Newsroom and all of the associated chatter. I also got some lovely comments from Zayrastriel that inspired me, and a wonderful review and nudge from coupdepam to continue this story. I am hoping that the next few chapters will be up relatively quickly. (And oh, the next chapter is the Illinois Primary, which I have about two-thirds written. I am so nervous! These few new chapters involve a lot of setup for things that happen later, and I am so desperate to get them right.)


Chapter Ten: Bartlet for America – The South Carolina Primary

Toby: So, Hoynes will be in a fight with Wiley for a strong second place finish in New Hampshire; meantime we're going to be in South Carolina, and we're going to be the only ones there.

Bartlet: We're not going to beat Hoynes in South Carolina.

Toby: We don't have to beat Hoynes in South Carolina.

C. J.: We just have to beat Wiley.

Bartlet: Wiley's going to drop out after South Carolina?

Leo: If he doesn't finish higher than third.

Bartlet: Are we going to get his endorsement?

Leo: We're going to get his money, that's for sure.

~ Episode 2.2, "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Pt. II"


Charleston, SC. April.

" . . . We are now prepared to project that Senator John Hoynes has won the South Carolina primary, with Governor Jed Bartlet finishing a surprising second and coming in ahead of Senator Thomas Wiley . . ."

The room erupted in cheers, and Josh clenched his fist in victory, relief washing over him like a wave. They had done it; they had beat Wiley. He would drop out of the race, and his money would come to their campaign. For the first time, they had a legitimate shot at winning.

Sam came over to him, grinning widely, and the pair of them exchanged a hug. "Way to go," Sam said warmly, and Josh shook his head a little, glancing around the room before focusing on Sam.

"It wasn't just me," he said. "We've all worked hard for this – you, Mandy, Toby, C. J. We've all worked hard for this."

"Yes, but I'm here because you asked me to be, and this campaign exists because of you and Leo," Sam said quietly. "I'll never forget that, Josh."

Josh nodded seriously for only a moment, acknowledging Sam's gratitude, and then his smile erupted again and he playfully shoved Sam's shoulder. "Go find us some beer, would you?" he said, waving Sam toward the fridge in the back of the office. "We should be celebrating!"

Sam grinned. "On my way."

Josh's cell phone rang as Sam was walking away, and he flipped it open instinctively. "Josh Lyman."

"Josh!" his father's voice exclaimed, and Josh grinned again, euphoria filling him like electricity. "Congratulations! I knew you could do it!"

"You and Sam," Josh laughed. "You both act as if this is all my doing. Leo and the Governor play some part in it too, you know."

"Leo has no idea what he's doing," Noah Lyman said dismissively, teasing. "He needs you around to keep him in line."

"Of course he does," Josh said, still amused. "His decades in politics don't really amount to anything."

"Nah," Noah said, and Josh could hear the ribbing through the phone, could picture his father's face as he talked about his old friend.

"Have you talked to Leo yet, Dad? Do you want me to get him?" Josh asked.

"I will talk to him, but I wanted to talk to you first. I am so proud of you, Josh," Noah said. "I know Leo had to convince you to come onto this campaign, but once you did you were in it with everything you had, and look where you are. You all just came in second in South Carolina! Given where you started, that's as good as winning the state."

"I wasn't sure we could do it," Josh confessed, his relief coming to the fore. His father was one of the only people who heard Josh's doubts on a regular basis, and Noah had known how worried he was about this particular primary. "If we hadn't beat Wiley here, I don't know if we would have been able to keep going, and he was making a pretty solid run of it up until the last couple of days."

"Bartlet had him after the debate, really," Noah said reflectively. "I didn't think Wiley could win it after that."

"Really?" Josh said in surprise. "He was pretty steady in the polls . . ."

"Yes, but he didn't win the debate, not by a long shot," Noah insisted. "The Governor took him apart when it came to agribusiness; Wiley underestimated the importance of farming crops in South Carolina. Tourism is the state's primary source of income, but farming is a close second. Small farmers are suffering, and they don't like the fact that agribusiness is taking over their cotton, tobacco, and soybean production. They can't afford to compete with the big firms, and those same big firms are environmentally unsound."

"Yeah, but those same small farmers want to make as much money as they can," Josh said dubiously. "I wasn't sure how they would take to the environmental argument; they aren't organic farmers from New York or Massachusetts."

His father chuckled. "No, but Bartlet won them over all the same. You could hear it in the way they applauded; he was talking to them in their own economic terms, and they liked it."

"Well, I knew the fact that he was an economist was going to come in handy at some point," Josh said facetiously.

"You've got a winner there, Josh," Noah said firmly. "I know he's not the easiest person to warm up to – Leo's told me that much; even though they're so close, he's more than willing to acknowledge the Governor's faults – but he's clearly intelligent and determined and charismatic. Just keep doing your job, and tell Sam he should do the same."

"I will," Josh promised. "How are you feeling, Dad?"

Noah hesitated, but then, "Tired," he acknowledged with a sigh. "Chemo takes it out of you. My CBCs are holding steady, though, so that's a good thing. And your mother fusses over me to an almost irritating extent after every treatment," he added wryly, but Josh heard the undercurrent of fondness and love in his tone.

"I should call her," Josh murmured guiltily, his conscience prickling as he thought of the burden his mother was having to carry, taking care of his father almost entirely singlehanded. His parents had many friends, but Josh knew his mother would refuse to let anyone else help most of the time.

His father heard the guilt, though Josh had done his best to suppress it. "Josh," he said firmly, "I'm fine. Your mother works too hard, but she's doing all right, and I keep pushing her to get out of the house and take care of herself. We both know that you are where you need to be – don't feel guilty when you're doing something that is so tremendously important."

Josh swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "I'll try," he said, a little hoarsely. "I love you, Dad. Give Mom my love, too."

"We love you, too, Joshua," Noah said warmly. "Go out there and take Illinois by storm."

"Okay," Josh said, his heart just a little lighter. "Thanks, Dad. I'll call soon."

"I'll look forward to it," Noah said, and the line clicked as his father hung up.

Josh exhaled slowly as he put his phone back in his pocket, trying to get a grip on the fear that reared its head every time he spoke to Noah. His mother and father had repeatedly insisted that they didn't want Josh to put his life on hold for Noah's illness, but there were still moments when he wondered if he had made the right choice. Life in Washington tended to exclude everyone and everything else, but worry was ingrained into Josh. No matter how strong his father was, how strong his parents were, it hurt Josh that his work kept him away, and he wasn't able to be there for them.

He hoped that what they had accomplished tonight gave his father one more thing to live for.


Sam made his way over to one of the small refrigerators at the side of the room, his skin buzzing from the happiness and excitement in the room. God, it felt good to be here – a few months ago, no one would ever have predicted that Bartlet would reach second place in South Carolina, and now everyone was talking about their "insurgent" campaign.

From Sam's perspective, of course, it was anything but insurgent. Everyone, from the Governor and Leo on down to the interns, had worked incredibly hard to get the campaign to this point. Winning the voters over was partially a game of chance, but it was also partly because they had an intellectual and compelling candidate with a dedicated staff – and it didn't hurt that the Governor was willing to tell the truth and call out his opponents on their lies and their hypocritical positions. Governor Bartlet could be an incredibly frustrating man to work with – and his tendency to extemporize in speeches had given Sam and Toby some headaches – but he was also inspirational.

Josh made the right choice, Sam thought as he looked over at his friend. Josh was on the phone with someone, probably his father from his expression, and looked happier than Sam had seen him since Sam had shown up in Nashua. Josh had followed his heart, and once again his unerring political instincts were paying off. They were Leo's political instincts, too, and Sam had an incredible amount of respect for the former Labor Secretary – but he wouldn't have come running if it had been Leo who showed up at Gage Whitney.

Sam pulled two beers from the fridge and opened them, and when he turned around he found Donna coming up behind him.

"Hey," he said, shooting her an easy grin. "What would you like?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine, Sam," Donna demurred, giving him a shy smile, and Sam frowned.

"You should be celebrating, Donna! We just eliminated a candidate that no one thought we would be able to beat; there is no better reason on earth to get a little tipsy," he teased.

Donna's smile was a little easier this time, but she still tucked a piece of hair behind her ear nervously. "I'm happy we won, Sam, but really – just a Diet Coke, please," she said, and Sam studied her.

"Okay," he said, his voice suddenly determined. He reached back into the fridge, pulled out a twenty ounce Diet Coke and handed it to Donna, then gently took her elbow and steered her into the furthest corner of the hotel suite, away from the television and most of the campaign staff. He spotted C. J. and hailed her, pushing Josh's beer into her hands.

"C. J., can you give that to Josh and tell him I'll be there in a few minutes?" he asked, and C. J. gave him a quizzical look but nodded, her gaze flickering from Sam to Donna in speculation before she headed toward their deputy campaign director. Sam turned back to Donna and smiled, reminding himself that Donna was his friend and she needed to feel safe, not threatened, no matter how much he wanted to give a piece of his mind to whomever had hurt her.

"Look," he said earnestly, "you and I are friends, right?"

Startled, Donna knit her brows but nodded. "I'd like to think we are, yes," she answered. "We haven't known each other very long, but I like you."

"I like you, too, and I never betray my friends' confidences, Donna," Sam said, feeling gratified as Donna's real smile started to appear on her face. "You can tell me."

Donna cringed, the half-smile vanishing and her shoulders hunching inward even as she tried to hide it. "Tell you what?"

"Who it was that hurt you before you started working for the campaign," Sam stated seriously. "Why you left a month ago, and why you came back."

Donna opened her mouth and then closed it again, seemingly at a loss over whether to tell the truth or evade his questions, and Sam decided to press his point.

"I know someone hurt you, Donna, but only because I know what it looks like," Sam said, trying to reassure her. "It was someone you were with in Wisconsin?"

Donna nodded slowly. "His name was Mike. We were together for three years."

Sam reached forward and carefully, so carefully, laid a hand on Donna's forearm. "Did he abuse you?"

Donna's lips trembled, and she tried to turn the grimace into a smile but couldn't manage it. "Not physically, but in just about every other way."

She paused, opening her soda and taking a swallow before looking back at Sam. "He, um – he was a medical resident, and I left college to support him, with the understanding that he would help pay for the remainder of my degree when his residency was over. We both worked a lot of hours, and I should have seen how things were deteriorating, but – I didn't," Donna said haltingly. "He didn't take me on dates anymore; he said I didn't do enough to look pretty for him, but he never noticed when I tried; he said I didn't really want to go back to school or I would have done it on my own."

"I'm so sorry," Sam said sympathetically, his voice low.

"Just before I came to the Manchester office, I found out he had been having an affair with a cardio surgeon for three months," Donna said tersely, her words clipped as if she was trying to keep back the emotion behind them. "He left me, so I left Wisconsin. But then – when I left again, when I went back to him a month ago – he had broken up with the surgeon, and he promised things would be better, and I missed him, so –"

"You went back," Sam filled in. "And it wasn't better."

"It wasn't," Donna said miserably. "It seemed to be, at first – we went out on dates again, and I started looking into going back to school – but I realized that he was really treating me the same as before. He still didn't think I would succeed at school; he didn't care about all the work I had done on the campaign. He didn't see it as valuable. He still thought I was just there to do whatever he wanted."

"What made you come back?" Sam questioned.

"I was in a car accident and ended up in the emergency room," Donna explained, her voice brittle. "When he came to pick me up, he stopped to have a beer with his friends. One beer apparently turned into three or four, because he was half drunk when he finally got to the hospital. Hence the Diet Coke," she added, indicating her can with a little grimace. "Beer isn't really my thing right now. So I broke up with him, for good this time, and came back," she finished, lifting her chin defiantly, as if daring Sam to judge her. "Even I have some self-respect, little though it may be."

"You know that none of what he said is true, and none of what he did is your fault," Sam told her gently, wishing he could hug her. He wasn't sure if she would accept it, though, and he didn't want her to regret opening up to him.

"I know," Donna acknowledged, the anger draining out of her. Sam could empathize with both the anger and the fatigue; he had been in that mental space himself a few months ago. "Well, in my head, I know. But it's really hard to let go of someone you built your entire life around for three years. I can't reconcile the Mike I thought I loved with the one who did those horrible things."

Sam took a drink of his beer, rolling it between his palms for a minute before responding. "I was with Lisa for six years," he said finally. "Neither of us intentionally hurt each other, there were no affairs, but - there were things we each needed that we couldn't give each other, and that hurt us both."

Donna studied him, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "You haven't talked about this. I've heard C. J. and Toby wondering. We all knew you broke up with your fiancée, but you don't talk about why. Why are you telling me?"

"Because sometimes, even when you love the person you're with, there are things that are fundamentally incompatible," Sam answered, his own smile rueful. "Even if Mike hadn't had the affair, do you think you would have stayed with him, if things had continued as they were?"

"No," Donna said quietly. "I wasn't happy, not anymore."

"You need to learn to be happy again," Sam said, giving her a nudge with his shoulder. "Not everyone is going to pick your confidence to pieces or make you feel bad about yourself the way he did. Friends don't do that. Colleagues who respect you don't do that. They don't take advantage of your generosity, either. And you don't have to feel ashamed of being happy over something you helped to accomplish."

Donna started to smile again. "I've helped?"

Sam stared at her. "Are you kidding? I thought Josh was going to start playing the 'Hallelujah Chorus' when you came back. He's incapable of running his own office. For one, he has no aptitude for that kind of organization. For another, he has too many other things to run. He drove the interns crazy while you were gone – and he wouldn't say it, but it was partly because none of them were you. You do a very good job here, Donna."

Donna really smiled then, and Sam cheered mentally. "Thank you," she said, and Sam smiled back.

"Don't forget it," he teased her.

"I'll try not to," Dona promised.

"Good," Sam said emphatically. "Now go find Toby or C. J. or Mandy and have some fun! I have to find Josh – a celebratory beer after a win or a big milestone is kind of a tradition of ours."

Donna took about three steps and then turned back. "Sam," she asked cautiously, "how did you know . . . what it looks like?"

Sam's expression became solemn again. "It's a long story. Ask me again another time," he answered, and Donna nodded in understanding.

"Would you please not tell Josh?" she requested, almost in a whisper. "He knows about the money and that Mike broke up with me the first time, but I didn't tell him the rest. He just assumed Mike dumped me again when I came back, and I didn't correct him. Please? I really want to prove myself in this job, Sam, and I don't want him to pity me any more than he already does."

"I don't betray my friends' confidences, Donna," Sam repeated firmly. "Not even to Josh. You don't have to worry about that."

Donna gave him another little smile before heading over to where Mandy and C. J. were chatting on the other side of the room, and Sam sat for a few minutes in silence, drinking his beer and mulling over what he had just learned.

Then, however, Josh appeared at his elbow, still holding the beer that C. J. had passed on to him and bringing Sam back from his musings.

"Hey," Josh said brightly, holding out his bottle for a toast.

"Hey," Sam said back, clinking his beer against Josh's. "Congratulations!"

"We did it," Josh said with a satisfied smile. "Somehow, we actually came in second in South Carolina."

"It's a pretty amazing feeling," Sam agreed. "You were on the phone with your dad?"

"Yeah, he was really excited," Josh admitted with a grin. "He told me to tell you to keep doing your job, no matter how irritating the Governor becomes."

Sam laughed. "That sounds like him. It's good advice, too. I plan on doing exactly that."

"What were you and Donna talking about?" Josh asked curiously. "You both looked pretty serious."

"She's just trying to get her feet under her again, Josh," Sam said casually. "I think she wants to make sure she's doing a good job, and she's not going to come right out and ask you when you're her boss."

"She's doing fine," Josh acknowledged breezily. "I would have been doing better if she had never left," he said pointedly, "but she's doing fine."

"Hey," Sam chastised him, digging an elbow into Josh's side. "She's back now; don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"I'm not, I'm not," Josh said, holding up his hands in surrender. "Although I'd like to get my hands on Dr. Freeride and strangle him."

"Here's to that," Sam said, holding up his bottle again, and they toasted again in salute.


"I told him Hoynes was going to try and kill us on national defense," Mandy said crossly. "I was right. We got trounced."

"We did," C. J. acknowledged. "At least on that issue. But we're also in the South, with a capital S – we knew that was going to happen."

"I knew it was going to happen, and I tried to warn Josh, Leo, and the governor, and I was ignored," Mandy retorted. "We can't keep letting this happen; the governor is a good man, but he has to find some way to talk about national defense without sounding like he's afraid of it."

C. J. frowned. "I don't think he is afraid of it," she said slowly. "Wanting to exhaust other solutions isn't being afraid; it's being a diplomat. It's being a leader who looks to keep peace with other countries and within our borders."

Mandy shook her head. "It makes him look weak to voters who want to see a more aggressive foreign policy stance from the U. S."

C. J. smiled a little. "Mandy, we'll have a chance to revisit this," she said placatingly. "We just won South Carolina! We should be celebrating."

"You'd better hope we do," Mandy shot back before taking a sip of her beer.

"The governor did really well on veteran's issues," C. J. pointed out. "Better than Hoynes. Bartlet may not win over people when it comes to how and when we go to war, but he knows how to win them over when it comes to taking care of our armed forces and their families. That has to count for something."

Donna came over to the pair of them at that moment, and C. J. shot her a winning smile, along with a pleading look. Please help me, she implored silently. Donna acknowledged the look with a smile of her own.

"So I have a question," she began promptly. "Is it possible Sam is flirting with me?"

Mandy almost choked on her beer. "It's, um, it's possible," she said, coughing a little bit. "But you tend to know if Sam is flirting with you; he's pretty obvious about it and not terribly good at it."

Donna chuckled. "Well, the thing is," she said shyly, "he's been really nice to me since we both started working the campaign, and he seems to be reaching out and trying to be my friend, but – I don't know if that's just how he is? Or if he's looking for more than friendship? My – my last relationship didn't end very well, and I'm out of practice."

C. J. looked at her sympathetically, but then grinned. "Well, I haven't known Sam as long as Mandy," she began, "but he's kind of a naturally charming guy, and part of his problem seems to be that he doesn't know he's being charming or flirty when he often is. He just kind of exudes it; it's a little ridiculous that someone can be so attractive without trying."

Mandy laughed, nodding. "It's true. When Sam tries to flirt he's terrible at it; he tries too hard and ends up being incredibly awkward. He doesn't seem to get the fact that people find him attractive whether or not he tries!"

"Do you find him attractive?" C. J. asked keenly.

Donna blushed. "Well, yes, I mean – who wouldn't? But no. He seems like a wonderful person, and I'm very glad to have him as a friend, but I'm really not looking to get into anything right now. Based on what you've both said, I think he is just being friendly, and I'm relieved, honestly."

Mandy's face softened. "That bad, huh?"

"It was pretty bad," Donna acknowledged quietly.

Mandy nodded. "Well, for what it's worth, I don't think Sam is trying to get into anything," she said decisively. "He was with his fiancée for six years, and he's the type of person who gets really quiet when he gets hurt. He's said almost nothing about breaking up with Lisa, so if I know Sam at all, he's not looking to replace her any time soon. And he's not at all the type to indulge in flings."

Donna breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. That makes me feel so much better. I like him very much as a person, but I didn't want to give him the wrong idea, either."

"I think you're safe," C. J. reassured her with a smile.

"His best friend, on the other hand, is in for a slow and painful death," Mandy said determinedly, taking another swig of her beer.

Donna frowned, looking between the two other women. "What's Josh done?"

C. J. rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't get her started again," she said in exasperation. "Mandy thinks the governor is soft on national defense, and so she's going to take it out on Josh because she can't take it out on Bartlet."

"He is soft on national defense!" Mandy retorted. "And we don't need another reason for voters to dislike a liberal, New England intellectual!"

"But he's . . . such a man of faith," Donna said hesitantly. "Won't that go quite a ways with Southern voters and more conservative Democrats?"

C. J. beamed at her. "It should."

"You hope," Mandy said seriously. "We all hope that it's enough. But we need to get him out of churches and VFW halls, C. J. We need to get him into more universities and town halls and museums, places where voters would expect to see a Democrat speak. We need to get him with the UAW and the AFSE. The Left isn't going to vote for him if they think he's too conservative!"

"And all of the centrists aren't going to vote for him if they think he's too liberal," C. J. rejoined. "We have to create a balance, Mandy."

"Balance," Mandy grumbled. "Where's the fun in that?"