The meeting had concluded. The White House senior staff began to slowly file out of their clandestine basement meeting that felt like something out of a 1940s gangster movie. Joey collected the papers that contained the damning numbers she had brought to the President, and she and Kenny followed the others up the stairs and out into the dimly lit hallway.
"I'd…like to speak to Kenny a moment." The President's voice rang out from behind them.
Kenny stopped, half turning as he touched Joey's arm to get her attention. He signed the President's comment, and Joey raised her eyebrows and exchanged a curious look with her interpreter.
Kenny appeared unconcerned by the request, so Joey gave a little shrug. "I'll wait for you upstairs," she signed. Kenny nodded, and Joey continued on down the hall with the others, leaving him alone in the hallway with the President.
Kenny clasped his hands in front of him in a gesture of deference. "Sir?"
President Bartlet seemed to consider how he wanted to begin the conversation. From somewhere down the corridor came the echoing sound of dripping water. A fluorescent light buzzed and flickered above their heads.
"Josh tells me you weren't there when he met with Joey at the airport."
"No sir, I was on vacation at the time." Kenny told him.
"Hm." The President made a noncommittal noise, and Kenny waited for him to go on. "Hell of a thing to come home to." Bartlet said at last. "You walk into the office and Joey springs this on you out of nowhere? 'By the way, you're part of a conspiracy now'?"
"Not exactly, sir." Kenny said.
The President raised his eyebrows. "No?"
It was Kenny's turn now to figure out how to phrase his response. "Without giving me…specific details," he explained, "Joey told me that something big was about to happen at the White House. She said if I wanted to stay out of it, she would find a way to do it alone."
"And yet, here you are."
Kenny gave a slight nod.
"You're here by choice." The President continued.
"Yes sir."
Bartlet shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, nodding over his shoulder to the room from which they had just emerged. "I think you might be the only person in this little cabal for whom that's true."
"I…yes sir."
Bartlet fixed the interpreter with a curious expression. "She offered you deniability, why didn't you take it?"
Kenny straightened. "I work for Joey, sir. Wherever that may lead."
"Even if 'where that leads' is in front of a grand jury?" Bartlet prodded.
"Yes sir."
Bartlet gave a fractional tilt of his head and regarded him silently for another long moment, and Kenny stood unwavering under the intensity of the President's gaze.
"Well, you're in it now." Bartlet said finally. He reached out and clapped a hand on Kenny's arm. "And I'm glad to have you here."