The sound of shattering glass from the hallway. Leo runs into the hall. Annabeth is standing there, hands gripping a side table, a vase of flowers lying, smashed, at her feet.

Leo: (rushes over to her) "Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

Annabeth is trying to take deep breaths. She whirls around, and hits him. She flings her bag and coat onto the ground.

Annabeth: "How am I supposed to…what the hell am I going to do with what you just told me?"

Leo: "That's why I did not tell you. Knowing the truth makes your job impossible. Knowing the truth weighs you down, forever, with information you wish you did not have."

Annabeth: (yells) "FUUUUCK! (she stares at the ceiling) "This is. This cannot be happening. Together with the former President and the current President of the United States, you conspired to win an election, knowing full well that you would not honor the results of that election."

Leo: "The American people voted for a vision of America, Annabeth, not for Leo McGarry. They are going to get what they voted for."

Annabeth: "That's a lovely justification for election fraud."

Leo: "Annabeth. I did not. We did not commit election fraud!"

Annabeth: "No? What the hell would you call it?"

Leo: "We ran a campaign. We outlined a vision for America that only Matt Santos could deliver. And Matt is going to deliver."

Annabeth: "But you knew. You knew you would not be there to do it with him."

Leo: "Yes. I knew. And so did he. But, Annabeth, how is that different from…what if I had had a heart attack? On Election Night? And Matt had gone into office without me. How is that different from what is happening now? The American people would have elected a ticket, and they would have gotten what they voted for, even if I was not there to take the victory lap."

Annabeth: "The difference, Leo, is that you would not have CONSPIRED to have a heart attack!"

Leo: "So don't know that, Annabeth."

Annabeth: "What?"

Leo: "Don't know that. Operate with the information that every other person on the planet besides me, Matt and Jed knows. I am resigning the Vice Presidency effective tomorrow. The outcome is the same whether I decided before or I decided this week. Just don't know how the outcome was arrived at."

Annabeth: "That's kind of impossible now, don't you think?"

Leo: "And so we return to why I did not tell you the truth."

Annabeth: "You want me to thank you? For lying to me?"

Leo: "No."

Annabeth: "Okay. Jesus. Okay."

She covers her face with her hands and starts to pace.

"I am in possession of information that would destroy an American presidency."

She looks at Leo.

"Actually, two American presidencies since Jed Bartlet was still President when the three of you…"

Leo: "Yes."

Annabeth: "And I am supposed to show up for work tomorrow, at the goddamn White House, knowing none of this, and parrot talking points that announce and explain your resignation.

And, simultaneously, I am being asked to process the fact that the man I thought I was in…that the man I was in a relationship with abandoned me for a month, had me kidnapped by armed guards and brought to his compound, only to lie to me and manipulate…make me feel sorry for him because he experienced a crisis of conscience brought on by his ex-wife's untimely demise…"

Leo: "Annabeth. I lied to you about the reasons for my resignation. I had reasons for that. Reasons that I think you are experiencing right now. But I did not lie about my reaction to Jenny's death. It threw me. It did shove me into a dark, dark place, and it did make me question whether I should even talk to you, much less touch you, because I might very well drag you into the darkness with me. I think you are seeing exactly why I do not trust myself to be in a relationship. I hurt the people who get close to me."

Annabeth: "Why did you? Why did you get involved with me and let me think that I meant something to you?

No, you know what. Forget those questions. I can't trust the answers, anyway."

Leo: "Stop."

Annabeth: "What?"

Leo: "Stop performing that role."

Annabeth: "What the hell does that mean?"

Leo: "You aren't some wide-eyed ingenue, Annabeth. You might fool other people. The pink, the hair. But not me.

Don't ask those questions like you don't know the answer. You don't look to other people to help you see, or to explain the world.

You don't need me to tell you the truth about us. Or about anything else. You know the truth. You have the gift of instinct. Of seeing the world more clearly and faster than other people. So, you tell me. Is what we are together – the way we feel about each other – is it the truth or a lie?"

Annabeth: (angrily) "It's the truth."

Leo: "Yes."