***
C.J. could hardly make out any faces, the sea of hands and camera flashes
obliterating any chance of recognizing individual reporters. She pointed and
hoped that the person she was aiming at had actually been asking a question.
Mike's voice soared above the pandemonium. "Does the President have a comment on
the remarks made by Senator Booth?"
"I honestly haven't talked to the President today. I've been too busy updating
my resumé. Will you give me a good recommendation?"
Everyone laughed. Mike changed the question slightly. "To the best of your
knowledge, has the President heard the comments?"
"Again, I really don't know. I just heard bits and pieces about it myself." She
didn't mention that Josh had almost been dancing down the hall and that Toby had
cracked a smile that nearly broke his face. "Seriously, can someone in the room
tell me exactly what was said? I don't have a copy to refer to."
Now the remarks would be on the record forever, and not from her lips. C.J.
fought back a smirk as Chris rose and read from her note pad.
"The Senator said that he supported President-Elect Schiller's suggestion of
cracking down on crime using existing laws rather than enacting new ones. He
said, and I quote: 'We can start right here in the United States Congress.
There's no room in Congress for criminals, and I say we start with the sodomites
who are sullying the hallowed halls of the Legislature. I'm announcing that a
committee is forming to discuss a bill to force all homosexual members of
Congress to resign or face prosecution as criminals.'"
Like taking candy from a baby.
Chris continued: "When confronted with this statement, both President-Elect
Schiller and Republican National Committee Chairperson Julia Barnes declined to
comment."
C.J. knew Toby was watching in his office. She imagined the look on his face.
Oh, the sex was going to be good tonight.
To the assembled journalists, C.J. said that she'd check with President Bartlet
and get a reading on his thoughts in the morning.
Mike raised his hand and C.J. called on him. "What do you have for us about Josh
Lyman?"
"How much column space do you have?" C.J. quipped.
Over the laughter, Mike continued. "There's a buzz going around that Josh isn't
going to be the Minority Leader's Chief of Staff after all. What's that about?"
"It's about another offer. Not a 'better' one, necessarily, but one that you'll
understand in a moment. It's true that Josh initially took the job, but since
then he's been offered the same position by the soon-to-be-minted Senator
Seaborn. And since they've been friends for so long--"
"That'd make him Saint Senator Seaborn," muttered Katie under her breath, and
everyone in the room laughed.
"One more thing - and I hate to bring this up," said Arthur from his seat, "but
there's an unconfirmed report that Leo McGarry's personal physician sent medical
records to him this morning by courier. Can you elaborate on that?"
She wanted to say that the White House didn't disclose matters of the staffers'
health, but that would leave her to be ripped apart by wolves just as she had
after the MS disclosure. God, not today. C.J. took a deep breath, adjusted her
glasses, and said "If Mr. McGarry wishes to respond to this question about his
health, then I'm sure he'll give me information for the afternoon briefing.
Thanks."
C.J. handed her notebook to Carol, who was holding the door open for her. "I'll
get you the next ten minutes Leo's got," Carol offered.
"Screw that. I'm going in."
She stalked down the hall, almost colliding with Josh. "C.J., what the hell was
Arthur--"
"I'm on it."
"I'm coming with you." Josh picked up his pace, panic radiating from him like
fever heat. "You think he's fallen off the wagon?"
"Josh, it's probably nothing. A physical. You know how impatient Leo gets. He
probably had the results messengered over."
"Yeah." Unconvinced.
They breezed past Margaret, who was placing an order for moving boxes. "He's
got--"
"We didn't see you," C.J. called as she followed Josh into Leo's office. She
heard Josh's strangled gasp and followed his line of sight.
The President was standing with his back to the window of Leo's office. His jaw
was set firmly and his fists were clenched, and he stared up at the ceiling
without seeming to see it. What had made Josh gasp, and made C.J.'s heart nearly
stop beating, were the tears running down the President's face.
Leo, standing at Bartlet's side, waved Josh and C.J. further into the office. "I
guess I'd better talk to you, huh?"
Josh's face was ashen. C.J. stroked his upper arm and guided him over to the
window. "We shouldn't have barged in," she said. Her mouth was dry and her palms
were wet as she looked from Leo to the President and back again.
"We were all watching the briefing together when you got the question," Leo
said. "You were going to be my second call."
"Okay," C.J. said. It was automatic. She felt anything but okay, not okay,
because anything that reduced the President to tears had to be nothing short of
catastrophic.
"I think we should all sit down, Mr. President," Leo murmured.
"You go ahead," Bartlet replied, his voice tight and gravelly. "I'm just gonna
stay right here for a while."
C.J. propelled Josh to the sofa and sat down next to him. Leo took the chair
closest to C.J. and leaned forward with his hands clasped together. "Like a lot
of alcoholics, I've done some damage to my body. That, plus the Valium." He
licked his lips and C.J. could tell he had trouble looking her in the eye - and
that he could not look at Josh at all.
It took all her strength for C.J. to reach out and cover Leo's hand with hers.
"What is it, Leo?"
"I have liver cancer." He seemed relieved to have gotten the words out, but he
still did not look at either Josh or the President.
"Oh, Leo." It came out as a sob, and C.J.'s world blurred as the stinging tears
flooded her eyes.
"I'd suspected," Leo said. "It wasn't much of a surprise."
"What about treatment?" C.J. could hardly get the words out. She could hardly
hear his answer through the pounding of blood in her ears.
"Chemo's not effective at this stage - it'd just make the quality of my life
deteriorate with no payoff. My doctor's putting me on a list for a donation, but
someone of my age isn't a high priority."
C.J. lost her composure, hating herself for breaking down, hating the look in
Leo's eyes as he tried to smile at her. "Aw, c'mon, C.J., I've got a few good
years ahead of me. Please don't, don't do this..."
"I'm so sorry...I just...wasn't..." She moved toward him and engulfed him in a
hug, crying harder when his hands went to her back and patted softly. Comforting
her. Over his shoulder she could see the President looking at Josh with both
compassion and pain in his eyes.
Josh, who had been wordless since they came into the office, suddenly rose and
ran out the door. C.J. got up to follow him, but Leo held on to her wrist. "Let
him go. Let him sort through this himself."
She nodded, biting her lip as she stood up and straightened her jacket. "What
can I do, Leo?"
"Well, you'll need to tell the press, because whoever leaked that the courier
was here might have even more information to divulge. Can you give me a couple
of hours? I want to talk to Mallory myself. I'd meant to talk to her tonight,
but--"
"I'm sorry," C.J. said again. Useless. Her sympathy would do nothing to stop the
relentless advance of the disease. It wouldn't help Leo, or Josh, or for that
matter the President.
"Thanks," Leo said softly. He leaned back in the chair. "Hey, C.J. - could you
ask Margaret to step in, please?"
She nodded. It hurt to glance at the President, who gave her a weak smile and a
wave by way of dismissal, and it hurt worse to put her hand on Margaret's bony
shoulder and say, "Leo would like a minute of your time."
C.J. didn't stay to catch Margaret's expression, didn't try to figure out where
Josh had gone. She couldn't go to Toby, not yet, not until just before she'd go
into the press room and break the story. Instead she went to her office,
instructed Carol to hold all calls and cancel the rest of her day, and sat at
her desk with her hands over her eyes.
***
It was a quiet night.
Most of them ended up in someone's arms. Jed in Abbey's, not really hearing what
she murmured about the devastating prognosis. C.J. in Toby's, the two of them
uncharacteristically wordless in their musings. Josh in Amy's, after he had
turned up bedraggled and distraught at her office in the OEOB, unable to speak
or cry. Donna in Cliff's, touched that he was nearly as upset by the news as she
was.
Some of them spent the night alone. Leo called a cab so Mallory wouldn't get
into her own car in such a state. Margaret returned to the West Wing in the wee
hours of the morning and curled up on Leo's sofa.
The next morning he found here there with the tear-stained report clutched to
her chest.
And, somehow, they all went on from there.
***
Two weeks later
***
"Donna!"
"I'm right here, Josh, you don't have to bark." Donna walked into the office and
handed Josh a stack of phone messages. "Most of these are completely idiotic,
but you should take a look at them anyway."
He groaned at some of the names, the vultures hoping to get one last taste of
carrion before the new administration took office. "Thanks. Do you have time to
call Amy's office? She wants to come tomorrow with the President's group that's
going to tour the Navy destroyer. Get in touch with her assistant and...do
whatever it is you do when you coordinate stuff."
"Not a problem. Oh, Matt Skinner phoned and said he'd like the next few minutes
you've got."
"When did you put him in?" Josh was intrigued. The past few days had seen more
and more Republicans speaking in favor of banning gays from Congress on the
basis of their "lawbreaking" activities, and Josh knew that had to be a terrible
strain on Matt.
"I just told him to come on over. He sounded terrible. I figured you were the
only one he could talk to."
"Because I am the soul of compassion?"
Donna turned her gaze to the ceiling. "Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to
say."
"You're a real comedian, Donna," Josh said as he began wadding up various phone
messages and shooting them into the wastebasket across the room. As he made a
particularly impressive three-pointer, Matt Skinner walked into the office. "Did
you see that?" Josh crowed.
"Well, at least one of us has another career choice."
Josh froze in mid-throw. He swiveled around in his chair to get a better look at
his visitor. "You look like hammered hell," he said, scrambling to his feet and
heading for the door. "Donna, could you get Senator Skinner--"
Donna appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and handed him a cup of coffee. "And,
no, I won't make it two," she said with a defiant toss of her head.
"Thanks," Matt called from behind Josh as he grabbed the cup and took a sip with
a grateful sigh. "At least now I'll look like hammered hell with a good caffeine
fix."
"What's going on?" Josh asked. He waited until Matt was seated before taking his
own place behind the desk, leaning forward with his elbows on the unusually
clean surface. "What brings you to the White House today?"
Matt's empty gaze was somewhere past Josh's shoulder, in the direction of the
window, but Josh knew that Matt wasn't seeing anything. "I loved being in the
House. I love being in the Senate. You know what it's like, Josh, you've been
there - when it's good, it's amazing. You get to put your finger on the pulse of
the nation and do your damndest to make it healthy and whole."
"There's nothing like it," Josh agreed. "But something tells me that Booth and
his cronies are screwing things up for you."
Nodding, Matt turned his drawn, pale face to Josh. "It's gotten bad. They've
gathered support from all the usual suspects, mostly on the fringe end of the
Christian Right." He took a deep breath. "There's no place for me among these
people anymore. I can't do what I was sent to Washington to do. Josh, I want...I
want to convert."
Josh blinked slowly and shook his head. Coherent thought was beyond him. "You
want...I don't...maybe you should...talk to Toby...he's more religious than I
am..."
"Don't be an idiot, Josh," Matt groaned, running his hand through his hair. "I
don't want to become a Jew."
Josh realized that his mouth was open, shut it so violently that he bit his
tongue, and winced. "You can't possibly..."
A smile broke through the gloom on Matt's face. "Josh, you asked me once how I
could belong to this party and I said it was because I believed in most of what
it stood for. In some ways I still do. But you were right in more ways than I
realized."
"I was right," Josh said, not really sensing victory as the ramifications began
to filter through the cloud in his brain. "You can't represent them because they
can't represent you. They won't."
"Exactly." Matt relaxed into his chair. "So I figured, if I'm going to be a
Democrat, I'd better get some advice from the Master."
That made Josh beam. And smirk. "You have done well, Grasshopper."
"Can it, Josh, I didn't mean you. I want you to get me in to see the President."
"Oh." Josh's face fell and he looked down at the desk for a few seconds before
he realized how gullible he was today. "You're kidding."
"Yes, I'm kidding. But not about needing to get advice. Will you help me, Josh?"
"You're about to turn the Senate from 50-50 to 51-49 just as Schiller's getting
ready to take office - of course I'll help you!" Josh knew the ebullient smile
on Matt's face had to match his own. "When can C.J. leak it?"
"Tonight," Matt said, and Josh looked at him with alarm. "Seriously. I've given
this a lot of thought over the past few weeks - and even before that. I need
time to talk to my staff, and of course to the Majority Leader."
"He won't be Majority Leader for long," Josh declared. "Damn. I was gonna work
for the Minority Leader, but now he's the..." He shook his head. "Nah, I'd
rather work for Sam anyway. How about I give it to C.J. this afternoon, and
she'll arrange for a leak just in time for tonight's briefing?"
"That'll work." Matt's face finally took on some color. "You have no idea how
much I was dreading this conversation."
"You assumed there'd be some...ribbing on my part? A well-timed 'I told you so'
or something?"
"And that's if I was lucky." He paused, meeting Josh's gaze with frankness.
"Seriously, thank you in advance. I've done my homework on this - it's not a
cold call."
"I know. And I appreciate it." Josh rose and shook hands with Matt, then pulled
him into an embrace, patting him on the back. "Welcome to the Chosen People, my
friend."
"Thanks." Matt headed for the door, then turned back to Josh. "Hey, I don't have
to get a bris or anything, right?"
"Depends on whether you're going to be a Conservative Democrat. For that, we ask
you to cut off--"
"I'll see you tomorrow, then. Same time?"
"Yeah. No, wait, later - I'm going out to a Navy destroyer with the President,
and with Amy if Donna's made contact with her staff."
"Which I've done," Donna said as she gave Matt his coat. "Am I supposed to
pretend I don't know what's going on, or may I congratulate you now?"
"How does she know?" Josh asked.
"Because I told her when I called," Matt answered, his voice mild and slightly
amused.
"You told her first?" Josh bellowed in outrage.
"Josh, eighty percent of what goes through your office gets run past Donna
first. I can't believe you haven't figured that out by now." Matt shook hands
with Donna and accepted her hug. "Pencil me in for tomorrow after Josh gets
back."
"Will do." Donna followed Josh back into the office, looking pleased. "We need
someone good. Now, more than ever, with that schmuck--"
"That's President-Elect Schmuck to you, Donnatella."
"You know what I mean." She gave him a quirky smile. "You're an interesting
choice for a mentor, I'll give him that."
Josh was silent, not knowing what to make of her remark.
"But you're the best choice, Josh. I'm very proud of you." With that, she
breezed out of his office and left him to make a call to C.J.
***
She didn't know how she was going to give this up.
C.J. stood behind the podium and removed her glasses, getting to speak from the
heart for a change. "How anyone is reacting to Senator Skinner's announcement
with surprise is, frankly, quite beyond me. If the Democratic Party suddenly
declared that it was illegal for women to own property, I sure wouldn't be
sticking around. Matthew Skinner has been a credit to both the House and Senate,
a man of principle and honor, a true representative. If the Republican Party
can't see its way past his bedroom, then it's their loss - and I'd rather it be
theirs than that of the people of the United States. That's a full lid, and good
night to you all."
She unbuttoned her suit jacket as she went through the door and down the hall to
her office. "Good job, chief," Carol greeted her.
"Thanks. Think I can go home now, or is there--"
"One more thing," the women said in unison. Carol handed C.J. a phone message.
"He said to call right after you were done."
"NBC wants to talk to me? Seriously? What did I do this time?" C.J. asked.
"That's rhetorical," she threw over her shoulder as she strode into her office.
She sat on the edge of her desk and dialed the number and extension.
She couldn't believe the voice on the other end. The new head of NBC News, Dean
Kantor. "This is a direct line?" she asked, hating the way she sounded.
"C.J.?"
She realized that she'd stood up, and sat back down again. "Dean. What can I do
for you?"
"Get to New York on January 16th," he said. "We're starting a political
newsmagazine, three evenings a week, and we want you to anchor."
"I don't do temp work," C.J. said, brushing a strand of hair away from her face
and wishing with all her might that Toby hadn't gone with the President to an
event in Alexandria.
"It's not temp. There's a market for this right now, with the Senate turned
Democratic just as Schiller takes office. We have a guarantee of 35 weeks from
the brass. Think of it as the world's longest audition."
"Dean. Seriously. My background's in P.R., not broadcasting. I have something
along the lines of zero experience..."
"What you have is credibility. You've been the face of the White House for eight
years. You're trusted, you're admired, you're quick on your feet."
"In other words, I appeal to your demographic."
There was a pause. "I won't lie to you. We know that your background is
different from that of any other candidate we could possibly approach. But we
also know that you'd be very good for us. And you know you'd be the first woman
to be the sole anchor of a program of this kind."
"That's crossing my mind." Along with a number of other things, like Toby moving
to New York as he'd been longing to do, like having an apartment she actually
saw once in a while, like keeping herself on a virtual podium for at least
another year. "I need to give it some thought," she said, hoping that her sudden
leap from the desk as she pumped her fist in the air wouldn't be audible in any
way. "I'd need some time to think about it."
"C.J. I'm a proud man. Don't make me beg."
"I've thought about it. Yes. I'll do it."
"You drive a hard bargain. How about I come out to DC over the weekend and we'll
talk about it in person?"
"That's wonderful. Thank you, Dean, thank you."
"Go home. We can't have our star getting bags under her eyes."
C.J. set the phone back in its cradle, then put her hands over her heart. "We're
going home, Toby," she whispered. "We're going home."
***
Part 3
C.J. could hardly make out any faces, the sea of hands and camera flashes
obliterating any chance of recognizing individual reporters. She pointed and
hoped that the person she was aiming at had actually been asking a question.
Mike's voice soared above the pandemonium. "Does the President have a comment on
the remarks made by Senator Booth?"
"I honestly haven't talked to the President today. I've been too busy updating
my resumé. Will you give me a good recommendation?"
Everyone laughed. Mike changed the question slightly. "To the best of your
knowledge, has the President heard the comments?"
"Again, I really don't know. I just heard bits and pieces about it myself." She
didn't mention that Josh had almost been dancing down the hall and that Toby had
cracked a smile that nearly broke his face. "Seriously, can someone in the room
tell me exactly what was said? I don't have a copy to refer to."
Now the remarks would be on the record forever, and not from her lips. C.J.
fought back a smirk as Chris rose and read from her note pad.
"The Senator said that he supported President-Elect Schiller's suggestion of
cracking down on crime using existing laws rather than enacting new ones. He
said, and I quote: 'We can start right here in the United States Congress.
There's no room in Congress for criminals, and I say we start with the sodomites
who are sullying the hallowed halls of the Legislature. I'm announcing that a
committee is forming to discuss a bill to force all homosexual members of
Congress to resign or face prosecution as criminals.'"
Like taking candy from a baby.
Chris continued: "When confronted with this statement, both President-Elect
Schiller and Republican National Committee Chairperson Julia Barnes declined to
comment."
C.J. knew Toby was watching in his office. She imagined the look on his face.
Oh, the sex was going to be good tonight.
To the assembled journalists, C.J. said that she'd check with President Bartlet
and get a reading on his thoughts in the morning.
Mike raised his hand and C.J. called on him. "What do you have for us about Josh
Lyman?"
"How much column space do you have?" C.J. quipped.
Over the laughter, Mike continued. "There's a buzz going around that Josh isn't
going to be the Minority Leader's Chief of Staff after all. What's that about?"
"It's about another offer. Not a 'better' one, necessarily, but one that you'll
understand in a moment. It's true that Josh initially took the job, but since
then he's been offered the same position by the soon-to-be-minted Senator
Seaborn. And since they've been friends for so long--"
"That'd make him Saint Senator Seaborn," muttered Katie under her breath, and
everyone in the room laughed.
"One more thing - and I hate to bring this up," said Arthur from his seat, "but
there's an unconfirmed report that Leo McGarry's personal physician sent medical
records to him this morning by courier. Can you elaborate on that?"
She wanted to say that the White House didn't disclose matters of the staffers'
health, but that would leave her to be ripped apart by wolves just as she had
after the MS disclosure. God, not today. C.J. took a deep breath, adjusted her
glasses, and said "If Mr. McGarry wishes to respond to this question about his
health, then I'm sure he'll give me information for the afternoon briefing.
Thanks."
C.J. handed her notebook to Carol, who was holding the door open for her. "I'll
get you the next ten minutes Leo's got," Carol offered.
"Screw that. I'm going in."
She stalked down the hall, almost colliding with Josh. "C.J., what the hell was
Arthur--"
"I'm on it."
"I'm coming with you." Josh picked up his pace, panic radiating from him like
fever heat. "You think he's fallen off the wagon?"
"Josh, it's probably nothing. A physical. You know how impatient Leo gets. He
probably had the results messengered over."
"Yeah." Unconvinced.
They breezed past Margaret, who was placing an order for moving boxes. "He's
got--"
"We didn't see you," C.J. called as she followed Josh into Leo's office. She
heard Josh's strangled gasp and followed his line of sight.
The President was standing with his back to the window of Leo's office. His jaw
was set firmly and his fists were clenched, and he stared up at the ceiling
without seeming to see it. What had made Josh gasp, and made C.J.'s heart nearly
stop beating, were the tears running down the President's face.
Leo, standing at Bartlet's side, waved Josh and C.J. further into the office. "I
guess I'd better talk to you, huh?"
Josh's face was ashen. C.J. stroked his upper arm and guided him over to the
window. "We shouldn't have barged in," she said. Her mouth was dry and her palms
were wet as she looked from Leo to the President and back again.
"We were all watching the briefing together when you got the question," Leo
said. "You were going to be my second call."
"Okay," C.J. said. It was automatic. She felt anything but okay, not okay,
because anything that reduced the President to tears had to be nothing short of
catastrophic.
"I think we should all sit down, Mr. President," Leo murmured.
"You go ahead," Bartlet replied, his voice tight and gravelly. "I'm just gonna
stay right here for a while."
C.J. propelled Josh to the sofa and sat down next to him. Leo took the chair
closest to C.J. and leaned forward with his hands clasped together. "Like a lot
of alcoholics, I've done some damage to my body. That, plus the Valium." He
licked his lips and C.J. could tell he had trouble looking her in the eye - and
that he could not look at Josh at all.
It took all her strength for C.J. to reach out and cover Leo's hand with hers.
"What is it, Leo?"
"I have liver cancer." He seemed relieved to have gotten the words out, but he
still did not look at either Josh or the President.
"Oh, Leo." It came out as a sob, and C.J.'s world blurred as the stinging tears
flooded her eyes.
"I'd suspected," Leo said. "It wasn't much of a surprise."
"What about treatment?" C.J. could hardly get the words out. She could hardly
hear his answer through the pounding of blood in her ears.
"Chemo's not effective at this stage - it'd just make the quality of my life
deteriorate with no payoff. My doctor's putting me on a list for a donation, but
someone of my age isn't a high priority."
C.J. lost her composure, hating herself for breaking down, hating the look in
Leo's eyes as he tried to smile at her. "Aw, c'mon, C.J., I've got a few good
years ahead of me. Please don't, don't do this..."
"I'm so sorry...I just...wasn't..." She moved toward him and engulfed him in a
hug, crying harder when his hands went to her back and patted softly. Comforting
her. Over his shoulder she could see the President looking at Josh with both
compassion and pain in his eyes.
Josh, who had been wordless since they came into the office, suddenly rose and
ran out the door. C.J. got up to follow him, but Leo held on to her wrist. "Let
him go. Let him sort through this himself."
She nodded, biting her lip as she stood up and straightened her jacket. "What
can I do, Leo?"
"Well, you'll need to tell the press, because whoever leaked that the courier
was here might have even more information to divulge. Can you give me a couple
of hours? I want to talk to Mallory myself. I'd meant to talk to her tonight,
but--"
"I'm sorry," C.J. said again. Useless. Her sympathy would do nothing to stop the
relentless advance of the disease. It wouldn't help Leo, or Josh, or for that
matter the President.
"Thanks," Leo said softly. He leaned back in the chair. "Hey, C.J. - could you
ask Margaret to step in, please?"
She nodded. It hurt to glance at the President, who gave her a weak smile and a
wave by way of dismissal, and it hurt worse to put her hand on Margaret's bony
shoulder and say, "Leo would like a minute of your time."
C.J. didn't stay to catch Margaret's expression, didn't try to figure out where
Josh had gone. She couldn't go to Toby, not yet, not until just before she'd go
into the press room and break the story. Instead she went to her office,
instructed Carol to hold all calls and cancel the rest of her day, and sat at
her desk with her hands over her eyes.
***
It was a quiet night.
Most of them ended up in someone's arms. Jed in Abbey's, not really hearing what
she murmured about the devastating prognosis. C.J. in Toby's, the two of them
uncharacteristically wordless in their musings. Josh in Amy's, after he had
turned up bedraggled and distraught at her office in the OEOB, unable to speak
or cry. Donna in Cliff's, touched that he was nearly as upset by the news as she
was.
Some of them spent the night alone. Leo called a cab so Mallory wouldn't get
into her own car in such a state. Margaret returned to the West Wing in the wee
hours of the morning and curled up on Leo's sofa.
The next morning he found here there with the tear-stained report clutched to
her chest.
And, somehow, they all went on from there.
***
Two weeks later
***
"Donna!"
"I'm right here, Josh, you don't have to bark." Donna walked into the office and
handed Josh a stack of phone messages. "Most of these are completely idiotic,
but you should take a look at them anyway."
He groaned at some of the names, the vultures hoping to get one last taste of
carrion before the new administration took office. "Thanks. Do you have time to
call Amy's office? She wants to come tomorrow with the President's group that's
going to tour the Navy destroyer. Get in touch with her assistant and...do
whatever it is you do when you coordinate stuff."
"Not a problem. Oh, Matt Skinner phoned and said he'd like the next few minutes
you've got."
"When did you put him in?" Josh was intrigued. The past few days had seen more
and more Republicans speaking in favor of banning gays from Congress on the
basis of their "lawbreaking" activities, and Josh knew that had to be a terrible
strain on Matt.
"I just told him to come on over. He sounded terrible. I figured you were the
only one he could talk to."
"Because I am the soul of compassion?"
Donna turned her gaze to the ceiling. "Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to
say."
"You're a real comedian, Donna," Josh said as he began wadding up various phone
messages and shooting them into the wastebasket across the room. As he made a
particularly impressive three-pointer, Matt Skinner walked into the office. "Did
you see that?" Josh crowed.
"Well, at least one of us has another career choice."
Josh froze in mid-throw. He swiveled around in his chair to get a better look at
his visitor. "You look like hammered hell," he said, scrambling to his feet and
heading for the door. "Donna, could you get Senator Skinner--"
Donna appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and handed him a cup of coffee. "And,
no, I won't make it two," she said with a defiant toss of her head.
"Thanks," Matt called from behind Josh as he grabbed the cup and took a sip with
a grateful sigh. "At least now I'll look like hammered hell with a good caffeine
fix."
"What's going on?" Josh asked. He waited until Matt was seated before taking his
own place behind the desk, leaning forward with his elbows on the unusually
clean surface. "What brings you to the White House today?"
Matt's empty gaze was somewhere past Josh's shoulder, in the direction of the
window, but Josh knew that Matt wasn't seeing anything. "I loved being in the
House. I love being in the Senate. You know what it's like, Josh, you've been
there - when it's good, it's amazing. You get to put your finger on the pulse of
the nation and do your damndest to make it healthy and whole."
"There's nothing like it," Josh agreed. "But something tells me that Booth and
his cronies are screwing things up for you."
Nodding, Matt turned his drawn, pale face to Josh. "It's gotten bad. They've
gathered support from all the usual suspects, mostly on the fringe end of the
Christian Right." He took a deep breath. "There's no place for me among these
people anymore. I can't do what I was sent to Washington to do. Josh, I want...I
want to convert."
Josh blinked slowly and shook his head. Coherent thought was beyond him. "You
want...I don't...maybe you should...talk to Toby...he's more religious than I
am..."
"Don't be an idiot, Josh," Matt groaned, running his hand through his hair. "I
don't want to become a Jew."
Josh realized that his mouth was open, shut it so violently that he bit his
tongue, and winced. "You can't possibly..."
A smile broke through the gloom on Matt's face. "Josh, you asked me once how I
could belong to this party and I said it was because I believed in most of what
it stood for. In some ways I still do. But you were right in more ways than I
realized."
"I was right," Josh said, not really sensing victory as the ramifications began
to filter through the cloud in his brain. "You can't represent them because they
can't represent you. They won't."
"Exactly." Matt relaxed into his chair. "So I figured, if I'm going to be a
Democrat, I'd better get some advice from the Master."
That made Josh beam. And smirk. "You have done well, Grasshopper."
"Can it, Josh, I didn't mean you. I want you to get me in to see the President."
"Oh." Josh's face fell and he looked down at the desk for a few seconds before
he realized how gullible he was today. "You're kidding."
"Yes, I'm kidding. But not about needing to get advice. Will you help me, Josh?"
"You're about to turn the Senate from 50-50 to 51-49 just as Schiller's getting
ready to take office - of course I'll help you!" Josh knew the ebullient smile
on Matt's face had to match his own. "When can C.J. leak it?"
"Tonight," Matt said, and Josh looked at him with alarm. "Seriously. I've given
this a lot of thought over the past few weeks - and even before that. I need
time to talk to my staff, and of course to the Majority Leader."
"He won't be Majority Leader for long," Josh declared. "Damn. I was gonna work
for the Minority Leader, but now he's the..." He shook his head. "Nah, I'd
rather work for Sam anyway. How about I give it to C.J. this afternoon, and
she'll arrange for a leak just in time for tonight's briefing?"
"That'll work." Matt's face finally took on some color. "You have no idea how
much I was dreading this conversation."
"You assumed there'd be some...ribbing on my part? A well-timed 'I told you so'
or something?"
"And that's if I was lucky." He paused, meeting Josh's gaze with frankness.
"Seriously, thank you in advance. I've done my homework on this - it's not a
cold call."
"I know. And I appreciate it." Josh rose and shook hands with Matt, then pulled
him into an embrace, patting him on the back. "Welcome to the Chosen People, my
friend."
"Thanks." Matt headed for the door, then turned back to Josh. "Hey, I don't have
to get a bris or anything, right?"
"Depends on whether you're going to be a Conservative Democrat. For that, we ask
you to cut off--"
"I'll see you tomorrow, then. Same time?"
"Yeah. No, wait, later - I'm going out to a Navy destroyer with the President,
and with Amy if Donna's made contact with her staff."
"Which I've done," Donna said as she gave Matt his coat. "Am I supposed to
pretend I don't know what's going on, or may I congratulate you now?"
"How does she know?" Josh asked.
"Because I told her when I called," Matt answered, his voice mild and slightly
amused.
"You told her first?" Josh bellowed in outrage.
"Josh, eighty percent of what goes through your office gets run past Donna
first. I can't believe you haven't figured that out by now." Matt shook hands
with Donna and accepted her hug. "Pencil me in for tomorrow after Josh gets
back."
"Will do." Donna followed Josh back into the office, looking pleased. "We need
someone good. Now, more than ever, with that schmuck--"
"That's President-Elect Schmuck to you, Donnatella."
"You know what I mean." She gave him a quirky smile. "You're an interesting
choice for a mentor, I'll give him that."
Josh was silent, not knowing what to make of her remark.
"But you're the best choice, Josh. I'm very proud of you." With that, she
breezed out of his office and left him to make a call to C.J.
***
She didn't know how she was going to give this up.
C.J. stood behind the podium and removed her glasses, getting to speak from the
heart for a change. "How anyone is reacting to Senator Skinner's announcement
with surprise is, frankly, quite beyond me. If the Democratic Party suddenly
declared that it was illegal for women to own property, I sure wouldn't be
sticking around. Matthew Skinner has been a credit to both the House and Senate,
a man of principle and honor, a true representative. If the Republican Party
can't see its way past his bedroom, then it's their loss - and I'd rather it be
theirs than that of the people of the United States. That's a full lid, and good
night to you all."
She unbuttoned her suit jacket as she went through the door and down the hall to
her office. "Good job, chief," Carol greeted her.
"Thanks. Think I can go home now, or is there--"
"One more thing," the women said in unison. Carol handed C.J. a phone message.
"He said to call right after you were done."
"NBC wants to talk to me? Seriously? What did I do this time?" C.J. asked.
"That's rhetorical," she threw over her shoulder as she strode into her office.
She sat on the edge of her desk and dialed the number and extension.
She couldn't believe the voice on the other end. The new head of NBC News, Dean
Kantor. "This is a direct line?" she asked, hating the way she sounded.
"C.J.?"
She realized that she'd stood up, and sat back down again. "Dean. What can I do
for you?"
"Get to New York on January 16th," he said. "We're starting a political
newsmagazine, three evenings a week, and we want you to anchor."
"I don't do temp work," C.J. said, brushing a strand of hair away from her face
and wishing with all her might that Toby hadn't gone with the President to an
event in Alexandria.
"It's not temp. There's a market for this right now, with the Senate turned
Democratic just as Schiller takes office. We have a guarantee of 35 weeks from
the brass. Think of it as the world's longest audition."
"Dean. Seriously. My background's in P.R., not broadcasting. I have something
along the lines of zero experience..."
"What you have is credibility. You've been the face of the White House for eight
years. You're trusted, you're admired, you're quick on your feet."
"In other words, I appeal to your demographic."
There was a pause. "I won't lie to you. We know that your background is
different from that of any other candidate we could possibly approach. But we
also know that you'd be very good for us. And you know you'd be the first woman
to be the sole anchor of a program of this kind."
"That's crossing my mind." Along with a number of other things, like Toby moving
to New York as he'd been longing to do, like having an apartment she actually
saw once in a while, like keeping herself on a virtual podium for at least
another year. "I need to give it some thought," she said, hoping that her sudden
leap from the desk as she pumped her fist in the air wouldn't be audible in any
way. "I'd need some time to think about it."
"C.J. I'm a proud man. Don't make me beg."
"I've thought about it. Yes. I'll do it."
"You drive a hard bargain. How about I come out to DC over the weekend and we'll
talk about it in person?"
"That's wonderful. Thank you, Dean, thank you."
"Go home. We can't have our star getting bags under her eyes."
C.J. set the phone back in its cradle, then put her hands over her heart. "We're
going home, Toby," she whispered. "We're going home."
***
Part 3
