Please see Chapter 1 for general info and disclaimers.

*~*

Jenn sat in the empty basement conference room and drummed the fingers of her right hand along the top of the conference table. According to her watch, it was a quarter after nine, which meant that not one, but six people were late. She added the accompaniment of the tapping of her right foot on the floor to the noise she was already making with her fingers and glanced at the two Secret Service agents who were standing in front of the door. She knew they were there to protect her, but she also couldn't help feeling like they were there to prevent her from escaping. She wondered if she could get one of them to crack a smile if she started rattling off some 'naughty' limericks. A juvenile thought on her part? Definitely. But she was bored.

As she took another peek at her watch, she heard the door open and looked up to see Leo and Jed coming towards her.

"Sorry we're late," Jed apologized sincerely. "I couldn't seem to get my meeting to end. It's one of the disadvantages to being President; people never want to stop talking once they've got your ear."

"Hmm," Jenn murmured, trying to sound interested.

"How did you sleep last night? Was the room okay?" Jed's voice dripped of a desperate desire to please.

"Yeah, the room's fine. I slept fine, too," she assured him as she gave him a small smile.

Relieved, he pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. "Good. I'm glad. But we're going to move you to the room next door to Zoey's. It just makes more sense that way."

"Oh. Huh," Jenn muttered in a small voice. She attempted to refrain from visibly cringing as she thought to herself, That's great 'cause there's nothing I like more than re-packing and unpacking my things yet again.

Leo could tell that Jed's news had been unenthusiastically received, so he cleared his throat, thereby drawing their attention to him. "Morning, Jenn. You ready to get this meeting started?"

"We're not going to wait for the others?"

"No, they're not going to be joining us for this one."

"Oh." Jenn pondered this new development before looking up with concern and asking, "That isn't because of what happened at the end of yesterday's—"

"No," Leo quickly interjected, shooting a glance at Jed. "It has nothing to do with that."

"Did something happen last night that I don't know about?" Jed asked suspiciously.

"No," Jenn replied with an uneasy laugh. "Everything went great. I love your staff. They're a hoot and a half."

Unconvinced, Jed gazed at both Jenn and Leo before deciding not to push the issue. "Jenn, we've put together a plan on how we think we should proceed with your…unveiling of sorts, and we're ready to carry it out as long as you're okay with it."

"A plan, huh?" she asked tentatively. "That sounds very… I don't know, serious."

"It'll be okay," Leo assured her, locking his brown eyes on hers.

Jenn sighed and unconsciously started biting one of her fingernails. "So, what kind of plan are we talking about?"

"There are three parts to it," Jed began explaining as he turned his chair so that he could sit facing her. "Tomorrow night, I'm going to appear on Dateline for a live 30-minute interview. I'm sure you already know this, Jenn, but the interview's going to center mainly around you. After the show, there's going to be press conference. I'll go into a room packed to the gills with press from all over the world and they'll bombard me with questions. Hopefully I'll be able to b. s. my way through them with a minimal amount of damage," Jed joked. But his smile faded when he saw her eyes glazing over from fear and shock. "The next day, we'd like to have you go on one of those weekend talk shows that cover the past week's events."

"Me?"

"I know it sounds scary, Jenn, but we're sure you can handle it." Leo, who'd been standing, sat down in the chair across from her and reached across the table for her hand. "We wouldn't have suggested it if we didn't think you could."

"But, I- I don't know anything about public speaking."

"Don't think about it in those terms. Think of it more like having a friendly chat," Jed suggested.

"Yeah," Jenn scoffed. "A friendly chat with a complete stranger in front of rolling cameras. That puts me more at ease." She stared up at the ceiling in silence for a moment before asking, "Do you think it'd help? Putting me on TV?"

"Yeah, we do. It'd give the public a chance to put a face to your name. It'd humanize you a little in their eyes. Think you're up for it?" Leo queried, still holding on to her left hand.

"If you'd think it'd help, then yeah, definitely." She bit her lower lip as she tried to slow the pounding of her heart. "Do you have an idea what kind of questions they're going to ask me?"

"Actually, we know exactly what kind of questions they're going to ask because we're going to write them for them. We're going to hand them a list of the only questions they'll be allowed to ask you. This way, you'll know what questions to expect and you'll already have prepared answers for them. No chance of any curveballs."

"Why would anyone agree to that?"

"Because they know that if they don't, there'll definitely be someone down the street who will. Trust me, whichever show we end up choosing for you to go on will agree to this term."

"Okay."

"Jenn," Jed reached out and placed a comforting hand on her right forearm, every muscle in her body immediately tightening in response to his touch, "I know this is all pretty overwhelming and that a lot has happened to you recently, but I really want you to know that I—"

The door creaked opened at that point and Charlie stepped past the Secret Service agents into the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but the Russian President is waiting for you on the phone. You told me that you wanted me to come get you when he called."

Jenn studied the young man who stood near the door. He wore a crisply ironed white shirt, and his maroon-colored tie with the small white flowers was a nice complement to the shirt and his black slacks. His eyes, which were large and warm and completely lacking in deceit, almost immediately caught her attention. They were bright against his dark skin and sparkled with intelligence. She was also struck by his presence. She could tell he was younger than she was, but from his proper posture to the way he held his head up high, she knew he was someone who could hold his own against any President, King, Chairman, or Prime Minister in the world. She wished she was that fortunate.

Jed groaned at the message but earnestly replied, "Thanks, Charlie." Turning his attention to Leo, he said, almost apologetically, "I have to take this call."

"It's all right, Mr. President," Leo reassured him. "I'll answer any other questions Jenn may have, and then we'll touch base with you again later on today."

"Okay." Jed nodded and began to rise when he suddenly stooped back down and placed a hand on Jenn's shoulder. "Are you okay?" he whispered. For some reason, he just couldn't seem to stop asking her that question.

"Yes, I'm fine." Over Jed's shoulder, she saw Charlie sneaking a peek at her. She wasn't sure what to make of the gesture. Was he looking at her because he knew who she was, or was it because he had no clue who she was?

A relieved smile crept across Jed's face as he awkwardly patted her a couple times on the back and then beat a hasty retreat out of the room.

After his departure, Jenn and Leo found themselves staring at each other. Leo pushed his chair backwards and extended a hand out to Jenn as he stood. "What do you say to getting out of here and finishing this up in my office? It's less…sterile up there."

Jenn's eyes grew large with astonishment. "We're allowed to leave this room?"

"Yeah. What did you think? We were trying to keep you hidden down here?"

"Well…" Jenn cocked her head to a side and recalled the numerous times she had thought just that.

"You didn't."

She shrugged and left her response at that as she followed Leo out of the room and up the stairs to the main floor of the West Wing. They walked in silence down a variety of hallways and Jenn made note of the curious glances that came her way from several staffers.

Once in the safety of his office, Leo instinctually made a beeline for his desk and asked, "Do you have any more questions?"

"Uh, no, I don't think so." Jenn wearily rubbed her eyes as she felt the onset of a migraine coming on. "Everything's moving so quickly. I…I think I'm still adjusting. Are you sure we should move this fast? I mean, I hate to keep sounding like a broken record, but I'm still not absolutely I made the right decision by coming here. What if I decide in a few days that I'd rather go back to California or I'd rather just start over somewhere else, somewhere completely separate from the President? If that happens, then won't it seem like all the stress and machinations were all for not?"

"Jenn, regardless of whether you're here six days from now, six weeks from now, or even six months from now, the President wants the world to know you're his daughter. He's proud of you and everything you've accomplished. You're not some dirty, little secret he's been trying to keep hidden all these years and is now being forced to reveal. You do know that, don't you?"

Jenn sighed and looked out one of his windows. Her words were pregnant with sadness and doubt when she finally said, "I'm trying, Uncle Leo. I really am. But you have to understand, there's been a lot of years of second guessing on my part, and I'm just…I'm trying to reach that place where I believe he loves me. I'm just not sure how long it'll take me to get there."

Leo studied her and realized that she was right. Both he and Jed could repeatedly tell her that she was loved and wanted by the Bartlets, but they would just remain words to her until she believed in them.

Wanting to lighten the somber mood that had descended upon them, Jenn clapped her hands and asked, "So, if this is all going down in the next couple of days, is there anything I can do to help? Maybe I could start drafting some questions for that talk show host to ask me. I mean, who knows better than me, right, what I want to be asked?"

"That's okay. Sam's already working on them."

"Oh. Well, how about some help filing then? Every office has piles of stuff that needs to be filed. I could help with that."

"We have people whose job it is to file things in a timely manner."

"Then what do you expect me to do?" Jenn muttered in annoyance. "Sit here twiddling my thumbs until you shove me in front of some camera and tell me to talk? I'm not a puppet, you know."

Leo couldn't help but smile at her biting words for that was the Jenn he'd come to know and love. "Actually, I do have something you could do for me." He picked up his phone and dialed Ainsley's extension. Once he heard her Southern drawl on the line, he said, "Hi, Ainsley. This is Leo McGarry….What does your schedule look like today?…Well, if I clear it with McMichaels, would you be willing to take today off to do a favor for me?…Great. Come on up to my office and I'll fill you in on the details. Thanks. See you soon." He hung up and saw Jenn glowering at him.

"You want me to be baby-sat by a lawyer?" she demanded coldly.

"No, I want you to go shopping with a lawyer. Here." He reached into his inside jacket pocket for his wallet and plucked out a sparkly silver card, which he then handed to her.

"What's that?"

"It's called a credit card. This one happens to be what they've dubbed 'platinum.'"

"I know what it is," Jenn shot back in disgust. "But you want…you want me to go shopping?"

"Yes. I want you and Ainsley – and those two agents waiting for you outside – to go shopping. You're going to need something nice to wear when you appear on that talk show, so go buy a nice suit or something. And you couldn't have been able to squeeze a lot of clothes in that duffel bag of yours, so pick up a few more items for you to wear around here as well. Hit a few stores, see some sights, have a good lunch. You'll have fun."

Jenn stared at him dubiously. "You're being serious, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Are you trying to get me out of your hair?"

"Oh, yeah."

Jenn narrowed her eyes menacingly before realizing that Leo was only kidding around with her. "Okay, fine, I'll go shopping," she finally relented as she rolled her eyes at the last word she'd uttered. "But for the record, I'd just like to say that this is turning out to be the strangest trip I've ever taken in my life."

"I have no doubt about that," Leo commented, drawing her into a stiff hug. "You'll have fun, I promise," he assured her as he stroked her hair.

"You're making a lot of promises, Uncle Leo. You sure you can make good on all of them?"

"Oh, God, I hope so," he muttered, which led Jenn to start giggling as she hugged him back.