III

TUESDAY:

Leo looked around at the gathered senior staff. They all looked tired and rumpled, Sam in particular. Rumour had filtered down through the assistant chain that Sam had stormed off in a huff the previous night. Leo couldn't exactly blame him; Toby had a real bug up his ass about the upcoming after-dinner speech, for reasons past understanding. Probably it was just the same frustration all of them were feeling right now. By the dishevelled look of him, Sam had spent the previous evening trying to bury his at the bottom of a pint glass.

That option, alas, was no longer available to him, no matter how seductive it sometimes seemed.

Leo rubbed his face, and sighed. "Yesterday's nosecount on Healthcare says we're still eleven down. Eleven votes, three days? It's not happening."

"I can make it happen," Josh insisted quickly. Toby shook his head.

"You can't buy this one, Josh. Don't throw away the last of our leverage going after a bill that's not gonna happen."

Josh met his boss's eyes. "I can get this one, Leo," he said earnestly. Asking to be heard. Pleading for a chance to try.

Leo didn't believe it would work - but it was more than he could stomach to quash that light of determination in these days when it was so hard to come by. "Okay, Josh. Do a number on this one. But if it's not happening, ease off the gas, okay?"

"Okay," Josh nodded, though Leo knew the warning was in vain. You'd have better luck dragging a bone from a rabid Alsatian than getting Josh to let go of a political fight once he'd latched onto it. Still, who knew? Maybe he really could pull it out of the fire. Leo himself had won his influence the hard way; willing party members into line with effort, experience, and sometimes sheer force of personality. Secretly, he was almost slightly in awe of his deputy's instinctual grasp of how to push political buttons. Joshua Lyman, when let off the leash, was a political force of nature; a whirlwind cutting through anyone and everyone in his path.

The real trick lay in making sure that whirlwind was pointed in the right direction.

"What do I tell the press?" asked CJ. Ah, yes, the perpetual question. As if running the country wasn't difficult enough without having to get audience approval while they did it.

"We're confident it'll go through," shrugged Josh easily. Sam snorted harshly, but said nothing.

"Not confident," said Toby.

"Hopeful?" supplied CJ.

"It'll still be a hell of a bump if we fall on our faces with this," Leo warned.

"We've gotta say something," CJ pointed out.

"Okay," Leo nodded. "We're hopeful that Congress can..." He gestured vaguely with a hand. "...See past..."

"Partisan lines and vote on the issues at hand," completed Toby.

CJ made a note on her piece of paper. "So we're pre-emptively blaming the Republicans?"

"Always a good plan," smirked Josh.

"Okay." Leo gave a dismissive wave. "Get out there, get me those votes."

CJ stepped up to the podium, and frowned as she noticed a number of the reporters turning around to hold a muttered conversation amongst themselves. "Okay, you're all talking and none of you are looking at me. What's going on?"

After a moment, Katie offered "Rick Maskey."

"He's not here?" CJ glanced across at the empty seat and frowned. Rick was a rising young star who prided himself on knowing the ins and outs of bills other reporters found too boring to mention, and he always had a couple of informed questions up his sleeve. It wasn't like him to miss a briefing, and it seemed doubly strange that no one had shown up to cover for him. "Anybody know what's happened to Rick?"

There was a flurry of shrugs and blank looks, some of them fairly concerned. Although the public envisioned political reporting as a cutthroat business and weren't far wrong, there was a still a certain spirit of comradeship between the competing reporters and even with CJ and her staff. They might be on different sides, but they were all in the same business, and it was hard to spend all your days seeing the same faces without getting to know them a little.

But the show must go on. CJ gave a theatrical shrug, and pulled out her usual weapon; humour. "Well, okay then, one of you is gonna have to let him copy your notes after class."

A short round of giggles, and then the real briefing began.

"CJ, is it true that the administration isn't expecting the Healthcare Bill to pass?"

"Well, Chris, I wouldn't say that. Obviously this is a hotly contested issue, and it's going to be a close call. However, we remain hopeful that Congress will be able to look beyond narrow partisan lines, and see this bill in the context of all the good it can bring about and the lives that will be saved."

"So you still believe the bill can pass?"

CJ rolled her eyes. "Yes, Chris, otherwise we'd give the Congressmen the morning off to go play racquetball. Now, on to Thursday's dinner party..."

Later, on the way out of the press room, Toby intercepted her. "We shouldn't have come down so strongly behind the Healthcare Bill," he warned her.

"What was I supposed to say?" CJ demanded, exasperated. "Well, Chris, we've been pimping this bill for the whole of the time it's been in development, but now that it looks like it's in trouble, we're gonna pretend we don't care?"

"The 'pimping' was a particularly nice touch," Toby observed, navigating around a random aide in the corridor.

"Josh said the bill's gonna pass, Toby," she reminded him.

"Josh has been wrong before," Toby said glumly. "Often loudly."

"If he said he can pass it, he can pass it," CJ insisted. Yes, Josh had his share of screw-ups - and a healthy slice of everyone else's share of screw-ups on top of that - but this kind of political strategy was his game. And besides, they were due a victory after all the body-blows they'd taken lately.

Weren't they?

"If this doesn't pass..."

"I know what it means if this doesn't pass, Toby," she said irritably.

He spelt it out anyway. "If this doesn't pass, the president's gonna be embarrassed. He's gonna lose face. And we can probably kiss goodbye any chance we have of making the next three years count for anything."

Josh headed towards his office, and paused as he registered Donna, looking unusually flustered, arguing into the phone.

"Mom- Mom, I don't- Mom..." She looked up, and met Josh's eyes. "Okay, I'm hanging up now, mom," she informed the phone. "Goodbye."

Josh approached, grinning. "My powers of deduction inform me that you were talking to your mother."

"You amaze me," she said dryly.

"It's all part of my magic. What was all that about?"

Donna looked pained. "She wants me to come home for my birthday."

"Well, you can't."

She glared at him. "Yeah, and until four seconds ago, I didn't want to. Now, though, I'm beginning to see the delights of a four day weekend spent listening to all the reasons I should be married to Mike and Derek."

"Your mother wants you to be married to two guys?" Josh asked.

"They're my brothers-in-law," Donna clarified.

"Won't your sisters object?"

"Josh."

"I'm just sayin', I realise you're from backwater Wisconsin, but in civilised parts of the world-"

"My mother thinks I should marry a guy just like the ones my sisters married."

Josh smirked knowingly. "Wisconsin gomers?"

"Republican Wisconsin gomers," Donna nodded heavily.

"Ouch," he sympathised.

"Republican Wisconsin gomers who have nice steady jobs so their wives can stay at home and look after the kids. And cook." Donna curled her lip disgustedly.

"And bring people coffee?" he added.

"Exactly."

Josh frowned. "Are you sure you're not adopted?"

"I've given it some thought," Donna said wryly.

"Members of your family have married Republicans?" he queried worriedly.

"Members of my family are Republicans. In fact, they all are. They're very disappointed in me."

"Well, this is sobering news. You know, you never mentioned this when I hired you."

"Josh, it's not contagious."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. It has to spread somehow. There can't be that many crazy people in the world."

"Josh."

"What?" He shrugged innocently. "Donna, are your family Republicans?"

"Yes."

"And would you categorise them as crazy?"

"Well, yes," she admitted. "But it has nothing to do with their political affiliation."

"Okay, the theory has some gaps," Josh admitted. "After all, you're a Democrat. Maybe insanity is just hereditary in your family."

"It's good to know you're going to be your usual sweet and charming self for this upcoming birthday," she observed.

He grinned widely at her. "It's who I am."

"You can say that again." She rolled her eyes, then brightened. "Would you like to see my new, revised birthday list?"

"No, I'd like to see a new, revised list of all the Congressmen who owe me favours."

"Oh, that's easy," Donna shrugged. "Would you like them on individual index cards, or both on the same card?"

"Very funny."

"And accurate with it - the mark of a true stand-up comic."

"Well, it's good to know you'll have a second career lined up for when I fire you." Josh glared at her.

"Is that gonna be my birthday present? 'Cuz what with the being away from you and everything, I could definitely see how it's a good thing-"

"Donna. Congressmen."

"Okay." She headed out, and Josh's smile faded as he contemplated the huge pile of file folders set before him.

Donna stuck her head back in. "By the way, if my mother calls, I've moved to Zihuatanejo."

Josh blinked at her. "Isn't it your job to answer the phones?"

"Technically, yes," she allowed. "But today I will be hiding under the desk and whimpering quietly."

"Okay."

"Okay." She nodded and left.