I don't own them - Aaron Benjamin Sorkin does. However, the saga that is "When Push Comes To Shove" is all mine... So far, we've had "You've Got To Want It", "Inadequacy and the Single Woman", and "Defining Parameters".
Thanks to everyone who likes this and is sticking around with it, despite the fact that it's leaping from place to place like an insane lemur.
When Push Comes To Shove:
At Least I'm Not the Dead Guy in the Senate
by Rebecca A. Anderson
sniggles@claudia-jean.net
May 2001
"Who's gonna tell her?" Josh asked the group at large. They were all sitting around the coffee table in Abbey's living room with huge mugs of coffee, trying to decide how to give CJ the outcome of the election. She had been back in the hospital for her final chemo treatment, and they were pretty sure she wouldn't have much felt like tracking her public campaign over the last few days.
"I vote Leo," Abbey said, nudging Leo in the ribs with her elbow. "He'll know how to handle it."
"Are you saying I can't handle a simple task like telling Claudia Cregg she's New Hampshire's new Senator?" Josh said indignantly.
"Yes, she is, Joshua," Toby replied, fighting to keep a straight face. Caroline came back downstairs and joined them. "Is Allie sleeping?" he asked.
"Finally, yes, no thanks to you guys," Caroline teased. "Where's my coffee?" she whined, then smiled sweetly as Toby obediently pushed his mug her way. "Thanks, Tobes."
"Yeah - I didn't need it anyway," he grumped. "So, Leo, you want to tell her?"
"Okay, fine," Leo agreed. "When does that shop open, Abbey?"
"Which shop?"
"That one we were going to go to yesterday."
"Ohh... *that* shop. I can call Kellie and have it open any time you want it, Leo."
Leo stood up and smiled. "Make the call, Abbey."
And hour later, he was standing outside CJ's hospital room, holding a bouquet of flowers he'd taken from Abbey's garden, and carrying a box. He went inside and stared down at her for a long time. She had fought her cancer with everything she had, and was now just utterly exhausted. Running a campaign at the same time couldn't have been easy, but she had done it.
"Who's staring at me now?" she mumbled, rolling over to face him and opening her eyes with a lot of effort. "What do you want, Leo?"
"Just wanted to bring you a couple of things, Ceej."
"It couldn't have waited until I went home tomorrow?" she asked, yawning and reaching for the controls to the bed so she could sit up.
"Nope... the press wanted to storm your room, shouting obscene questions at you, but we managed to keep them at bay..."
CJ groaned. "Now why on earth would anyone want to pursue me with questions?" She flipped on the light and chuckled wryly. "Unless I had all the answers, that is."
"Very funny. Have some flowers."
"Abbey's gonna kick your ass for picking her begonias."
"They're flowers - they'll grow back."
"Yeah, like my hair," CJ said with a forlorn sigh. "That's probably what the press is so eager to hear about -- what I do to keep the skin on top of my head so well-conditioned."
Leo smiled. "Open the box."
She opened it and found a wig that was exactly the way her hair had been before she had begun to lose it from the effects of the chemotherapy. "Leo..."
"Read the card."
She sighed and pried open the card. "For Senator Claudia J. Cregg of New Hampshire," she read, her voice rising to an excited shriek as she rushed the rest, "from the Team. God bless you on your journey." She dropped the card and threw her arms around Leo. "We did it!"
"Yeah, we did," he agreed.
"And the only casualty was my hair!"
"Hair grows back."
"Yeah, well, at least I'm not that dead guy Missouri elected to the Senate a few years ago... I can still vote," she quipped with a goofy grin. "Oh my God, this is... so incredible!" There was a long pause, and she said, "Oh shit, I've got to pack."
At the end of January, all of the freshmen Senators were called to the Capitol to take a tour with the other Senator from their respective state. CJ found herself faced with a tall, baby-faced Republican weenie named Brett Hansen.
She sucked it up and smiled sweetly as she shook his hand. "Senator Hansen, it's a pleasure to meet you," she greeted warmly.
"Likewise, Senator Cregg." His greeting wasn't quite so nice in the warmth category. "How much do you know about the Senate?"
She raised an eyebrow. Uh, like... d'uh... she did work in the White House, had a Batchelors and Masters degree in political science, not to mention a doctorate in the same. "Well, that depends," she said. "Where's my office?"
"Down the hall, to the right, room 124."
"Okay. Where's the floor in relation to my office?"
"Directly upstairs."
She nodded. "Where do I send my staff to do my research?"
"We can do it in conjunction with the OEOB and the Library of Congress..."
"Okay, that's all I needed to know - thanks. See you around, Senator!" She turned on her heel and headed off to check out her office space and make sure there was enough room for her staff.
And she left Brett Hansen in her dust, wondering just what the hell had just happened.
She certainly wasn't the dead guy in the Senate, nor ever would she be.
Finis
Thanks to everyone who likes this and is sticking around with it, despite the fact that it's leaping from place to place like an insane lemur.
When Push Comes To Shove:
At Least I'm Not the Dead Guy in the Senate
by Rebecca A. Anderson
sniggles@claudia-jean.net
May 2001
"Who's gonna tell her?" Josh asked the group at large. They were all sitting around the coffee table in Abbey's living room with huge mugs of coffee, trying to decide how to give CJ the outcome of the election. She had been back in the hospital for her final chemo treatment, and they were pretty sure she wouldn't have much felt like tracking her public campaign over the last few days.
"I vote Leo," Abbey said, nudging Leo in the ribs with her elbow. "He'll know how to handle it."
"Are you saying I can't handle a simple task like telling Claudia Cregg she's New Hampshire's new Senator?" Josh said indignantly.
"Yes, she is, Joshua," Toby replied, fighting to keep a straight face. Caroline came back downstairs and joined them. "Is Allie sleeping?" he asked.
"Finally, yes, no thanks to you guys," Caroline teased. "Where's my coffee?" she whined, then smiled sweetly as Toby obediently pushed his mug her way. "Thanks, Tobes."
"Yeah - I didn't need it anyway," he grumped. "So, Leo, you want to tell her?"
"Okay, fine," Leo agreed. "When does that shop open, Abbey?"
"Which shop?"
"That one we were going to go to yesterday."
"Ohh... *that* shop. I can call Kellie and have it open any time you want it, Leo."
Leo stood up and smiled. "Make the call, Abbey."
And hour later, he was standing outside CJ's hospital room, holding a bouquet of flowers he'd taken from Abbey's garden, and carrying a box. He went inside and stared down at her for a long time. She had fought her cancer with everything she had, and was now just utterly exhausted. Running a campaign at the same time couldn't have been easy, but she had done it.
"Who's staring at me now?" she mumbled, rolling over to face him and opening her eyes with a lot of effort. "What do you want, Leo?"
"Just wanted to bring you a couple of things, Ceej."
"It couldn't have waited until I went home tomorrow?" she asked, yawning and reaching for the controls to the bed so she could sit up.
"Nope... the press wanted to storm your room, shouting obscene questions at you, but we managed to keep them at bay..."
CJ groaned. "Now why on earth would anyone want to pursue me with questions?" She flipped on the light and chuckled wryly. "Unless I had all the answers, that is."
"Very funny. Have some flowers."
"Abbey's gonna kick your ass for picking her begonias."
"They're flowers - they'll grow back."
"Yeah, like my hair," CJ said with a forlorn sigh. "That's probably what the press is so eager to hear about -- what I do to keep the skin on top of my head so well-conditioned."
Leo smiled. "Open the box."
She opened it and found a wig that was exactly the way her hair had been before she had begun to lose it from the effects of the chemotherapy. "Leo..."
"Read the card."
She sighed and pried open the card. "For Senator Claudia J. Cregg of New Hampshire," she read, her voice rising to an excited shriek as she rushed the rest, "from the Team. God bless you on your journey." She dropped the card and threw her arms around Leo. "We did it!"
"Yeah, we did," he agreed.
"And the only casualty was my hair!"
"Hair grows back."
"Yeah, well, at least I'm not that dead guy Missouri elected to the Senate a few years ago... I can still vote," she quipped with a goofy grin. "Oh my God, this is... so incredible!" There was a long pause, and she said, "Oh shit, I've got to pack."
At the end of January, all of the freshmen Senators were called to the Capitol to take a tour with the other Senator from their respective state. CJ found herself faced with a tall, baby-faced Republican weenie named Brett Hansen.
She sucked it up and smiled sweetly as she shook his hand. "Senator Hansen, it's a pleasure to meet you," she greeted warmly.
"Likewise, Senator Cregg." His greeting wasn't quite so nice in the warmth category. "How much do you know about the Senate?"
She raised an eyebrow. Uh, like... d'uh... she did work in the White House, had a Batchelors and Masters degree in political science, not to mention a doctorate in the same. "Well, that depends," she said. "Where's my office?"
"Down the hall, to the right, room 124."
"Okay. Where's the floor in relation to my office?"
"Directly upstairs."
She nodded. "Where do I send my staff to do my research?"
"We can do it in conjunction with the OEOB and the Library of Congress..."
"Okay, that's all I needed to know - thanks. See you around, Senator!" She turned on her heel and headed off to check out her office space and make sure there was enough room for her staff.
And she left Brett Hansen in her dust, wondering just what the hell had just happened.
She certainly wasn't the dead guy in the Senate, nor ever would she be.
Finis
