Author's Note: Takes place during season four's Life on Mars. When the gang went to confront Hoynes he mentioned that he knew why they were there because CJ had talked to him. That tidbit is the inspiration for this chapter.

"The Downfall of John Hoynes"

It probably won't be a surprise for you to hear me say this, but sometimes things happened in CJ's office and I wasn't really sure what was going on. There were times when conversations seemed to be packed with subtext that I couldn't quite understand. The day before Vice President John Hoynes resigned was one of those conversations.

I think I mentioned, a while back, a time when Hoynes showed up in CJ's office. They had a weird vibe going on back then and his visit to her office the day before the big resignation was no different. CJ had been in her office talking to a new guy, Joe Quincy, who everyone was calling the new Ainsley.

Anyway, CJ and Joe had this big conversation where CJ called up this reporter and got him to confirm something. It must have been pretty important because the next thing I knew CJ told Carol that Joe needed to see Vice President Hoynes and that CJ needed Josh and Toby.

CJ disappeared a little while later and I assumed she was holed up somewhere with the guys. I thought I noticed Josh's door shut for a while that afternoon. I wished she would have called them to her office, but then I guess I probably would have missed out on the juicy conversation between CJ and Hoynes.

CJ returned to her office later and she busy reading when I heard his voice in the hall talking to Carol. I recognized it immediately even though I hadn't heard it very often. There was something about John Hoynes I couldn't quite put my finger on. He seemed okay enough, aside from his massive ego, which I could practically see it was so large, but his interactions with CJ's always left me puzzled.

"CJ," he said as he entered her office.

CJ looked up and I could tell by the look in her face that she was startled to see him. "Mr. Vice President," she said standing. I had learned that there were people you stood up for when they entered a room. John Hoynes was one of them.

Hoynes waved his hands down in an effort to tell her not to stand for him. It didn't really matter though. She was already out of her chair. I noticed that he shut the door behind him. CJ didn't seem to think that was odd.

"Can I help you sir?" CJ asked.

"My staff tells me that someone from the Counsel's office needs to see me," he said.

"That's true, sir," CJ verified. She walked over to the window and shut the blinds that allowed people in the hallway to see into her office. I thought that was extremely odd, but it didn't seem to bother Hoynes.

"Why was Carol making the appointment for him?" he asked. He took a seat in the guest chair across from CJ's desk.

"You're concerned that Carol was making the appointment?" CJ asked. I could tell that she was puzzled by that.

"What do you know that I should know CJ?" he asked.

"Sir?"

"If Carol is making the appointment for the new associate counsel then you know what he needs to see me about," Hoynes clarified. I supposed that made a certain amount of sense.

"I do, sir."

"And?"

"And I think Joe Quincy is the person you should be talking to about this," CJ said.

"CJ, we've known each other a while," Hoynes said. He was trying to be charming, but there was something about the way he said it that made it sound a little smarmy. I knew he had been on his best behavior lately and everyone was generally happy with him, but there was something about the way he looked at CJ that made me uncomfortable. Maybe it was because CJ always seemed a little nervous around him. It was like he knew something about her that other people didn't and she lived in fear that he'd spill the beans.

"Sir, I'm not sure I'm the right person to discuss this with," CJ said again. She took a seat behind her desk. "There are legal implications to what Joe needs to discuss with you."

"I'm a lawyer CJ," he said. "Let me worry about the law. What is he going to spring on me? I'd rather hear it from someone I know. This guy--Joe--it's his first day from what I hear. I don't know him."

"Sir," CJ said talking a deep breath, stealing herself with the confidence to say what she needed to say to him. "Helen Baldwin just signed a seven-figure book deal."

"And?" he asked. If the name Helen Baldwin was supposed to mean something to him he sure didn't flinch.

"I believe you know Helen Baldwin," CJ replied.

"I know her," he admitted.

"Do you know what she might be writing a book about?" CJ asked. I had the fleeting thought that CJ might be hanging out with too many lawyers based on how well she was able to question the Vice President. She was asking questions that she already knew the answers to. Very lawyerly.

"I don't know," he evaded. "She runs in the socialite circles."

"Sir."

"Yes?"

"Did you know that we have a report that says there's life on Mars? Or, at least, the report might say there's life on Mars? It's classified."

The color drained from Hoynes face. It became clear to him what CJ was getting at. It became clear to me that what CJ knew shocked him.

He swallowed hard. "That's what Helen's book is about?" he asked.

"Not entirely," CJ replied. "There's also some information about 100,000 computers in classrooms."

The silence in the room was deafening. I felt uncomfortable even swimming. I was still in the water and tried not to make any movements. It seemed like the thing to do based on the feeling that hung in the air in CJ's office.

"I see," Hoynes finally said. He stood up suddenly and paced a little. I thought it looked like he was looking for an escape hatch. "Joe Quincy knows about this?"

"Yes."

"Does anyone else?" he asked. Then an odd thing happened. He smiled. It was the smile of resignation and he added, "Of course other people know. Josh? Toby? Leo?"

"Yes sir," CJ replied.

"What did Josh say when you told him?"

I thought that was an odd question. I knew that Josh had once worked for Hoynes. I always thought there was a little animosity there, but I supposed when someone you worked for and looked up to fails, you're more apt to feel sympathetic for him, even if he let you down a long time ago.

"He didn't have a lot to say," CJ said.

"Nothing?" Hoynes asked, surprised.

"He was surprised that you'd leak the information," CJ replied.

"But not that I'd had an affair," Hoynes finished the thought.

"That's not for me to say. Didn't you sense that Helen Baldwin was the type of woman to do something like this?"

"No. I didn't think about it. It started out a lot like…" he let his statement trail off for a moment and I got the feeling that he was looking for the right words, or that he had just changed his mind on what he wanted to verbalize. "At the time it started I didn't think it was going to be a sustained relationship and then things changed."

CJ was silent.

"I love my wife CJ," he said. "I know that's probably hard to believe, especially for you to believe, but I do."

I wondered why Hoynes felt that it would be especially hard to CJ to believe that he loved his wife. That comment struck me as especially strange.

"That's between you and your wife, sir," CJ said uncomfortably.

"She was there, in the beginning, before all this," he said. "Before I was known. But somewhere along the way it wasn't enough anymore. I love her, but she doesn't look at me like other women look at me."

"That's my problem you know," he said with a half-hearted chuckle. "I've always had a weakness for beautiful women, but you already know that. Some men would mind, that women were only in it for what you represent, but I find it flattering."

"Sir," CJ tried to interject.

"It's true. You know it. I know it. Why do I feel like I need to show off? I'm the vice president. I was a state senator. Shouldn't that be enough?"

"Sir," CJ tried to interrupt him again.

"I've always thought that women like power. Is it even the intoxicating quality I think it is?" he asked. He seemed to be in his own tangent.

"John," CJ said a little loudly. If my head could have spun a 180 it would have. I couldn't believe she just called him John! "I don't think this is something we should discuss."

Hearing her use his first name instead of sir or Mr. Vice President seemed to snap him out of his train of thought. "Yes," he replied. He took a moment before adding, "Of course. So, let me ask you this instead; what are you going to tell him?"

"Tell who?"

"The president," Hoynes said.

"The president makes his own decisions," CJ replied.

"CJ you're the press secretary, a senior adviser to the president," Hoynes said. "You know he's going to ask you what you think. I want to know what you're going to tell him."

"Well sir," CJ said once again adopting formality. "President Bartlet believes the best in people. He's an idealist who always hopes things are going to work out."

"And in this case?"

CJ sighed. "If it was just an affair we could help you," she said. "But you leaked classified government information to your mistress and I don't know how we can get the public past that."

"I did," he admitted. "I was stupid. I broke the law. Does Josh agree with you?"

CJ looked uncomfortable. "Yes," she replied.

I wasn't sure, but it seemed like Hoynes was putting a lot of stock in Josh's opinion, and for that matter, CJ's as well. This was new to me. Did he actually care about their opinions or was he more concerned about how they could help him? For some reason I almost felt he was actually remorseful.

"You both think I should resign," he said.

"I didn't say that."

"Did Josh?"

"No," CJ said. I could tell she was being honest. I didn't know what they had discussed for what solution they could come to since CJ didn't seem to think they could get him through it, but I could tell she wasn't lying to him.

Hoynes took a moment. "So what was discussed?" he asked.

"How quickly the pieces are going to be put together by people outside the White House," CJ replied.

"And then?"

"And then it's up to the president."

"You just said you didn't think he'd want me to resign," Hoynes pointed out.

"Personally, I don't think he will. There will be others who will, not counting the Republican half of Congress."

"And internally? Who do you think is on the side of getting me out of here?"

"Mr. Vice President," CJ tried to say.

"Maybe Toby?" he asked. When CJ said nothing in response he replied, "Toby's a smart man."

CJ looked like she was at a loss for what to say next so instead she said nothing. I couldn't decipher the look on her face. It was part sad, part defiant and part defeated. I didn't know what to make of that. She never seemed to be a big John Hoynes supporter, but now it looked like she almost felt sorry for him. I had to admit that I kind of did to.

"Well," he said standing. "I appreciate you being honest with me."

CJ stood up as well. "We're going to do everything we can to get you through this," she said.

"I think we both know it isn't going to be that easy."

"You'll take the meeting with Joe Quincy now?" CJ asked.

"Yes," he replied.

He turned to leave the room and CJ said, "Sir? For what it's worth, I'm sorry this happened."

"But you're not surprised," he commented.

"Yes sir, actually I am," CJ said.

"Well," he said. "Thank you, CJ."

He left the office and CJ and I were left to digest what had just been said. Like I said, I felt like there was something else going on within the conversation that I just wasn't smart enough to pick up on, but even without that knowledge the conversation was telling. John Hoynes was more than a little flawed, but somehow I felt like he truly was sorry for what was about to happen.

I watched CJ as she tried to concentrate on what she had been working on before the visit, but I could tell she wasn't able to. She picked up the phone and punched in an extension.

"Hey," she said. "Are you in your office for a while?"

I heard a muffled response that kind of sounded like Josh. "I need to talk to you," she said before hanging up the phone.

After that she left. I heard her tell Carol that she was, indeed, going to Josh's office. I figured she wanted to tell him about the conversation that she'd just had with Hoynes. I wondered if he'd be surprised or upset. From the sound of things, it seemed like he didn't have much to say. I wondered if he would now.

I wasn't too surprised the next morning when I heard that Hoynes had resigned. He probably saw no other way out. CJ certainly didn't and even though I could tell she was sincere when she said she didn't want him to resign, we all knew that the situation could only end one way. I hadn't seen him very much, but his resignation struck me as something pretty important. I reminded me of something Toby had said once about a horse. It was like watching a derby winner put down because of a broken leg; sad, but necessary.

TBC