For notes and disclaimer, please see part one.
Previously, on the West Wing/Alias: Sam gets a cryptic e-mail from Crystal, which is a red flag for Jack. Vaughn, Sydney, and Conrad watch the first flight land and discover no one's on the plane. Sam makes a stump speech and gets Jack and Weiss to open up about as much as they're willing to share with him, including assuring him that the powdery substance Crystal was exposed to is nothing harmful. Sydney's friend and CIA analyst Will Tippin calls to discuss the absurdity of the operation and Sydney confesses she doesn't like being compared to Crystal, the legend. After the call, Crystal comes in to discuss a dangerous plan to end the situation. Josh and Toby are summoned to Leo's, where Toby gets brought into the inner circle and Josh learns from Conrad in the Oval Office that they have a deadly, dangerous plan.
Sydney sat at her desk, trying not to drum her fingers on the blotter. Crystal sat on the credenza along the far wall, her arms and legs crossed. Both were waiting to hear what Vaughn had to say, as he sat in one of the chairs across from Sydney's desk, reading over the plan they'd concocted.
"You did all this while I went to lunch?" he asked, still reading.
"Yeah," Sydney said.
"How did you do all this while I was at lunch?" He turned a page, his expression growing more perplexed. "You have eighteen thousand contingency plans here. This thing is..."
"Tolstoy long?" asked Sydney.
Vaughn looked up, and nodded. "How could you come up with all of this?"
"Pretty amazing what determination'll do," Crystal said.
"How could you discuss all of this in half an hour, though?" asked Vaughn, glancing at her. "There had to have been more than just the two of you in here working on this."
"Just us girls," Crystal confirmed. "My assistant checked in to see what all the smoke was in case we needed to evacuate again. Just the speed of our writing, nothing to be concerned about," she deadpanned.
"You've got all the contingency plans, the pros and cons for each... the main plan... the probability that it might not work... Half an hour?" he repeated, looking up at them in disbelief.
"There were times when I was a double in SD-6 where I'd give you the SD-6 operation and you would have a counter mission in less than half an hour. What makes this different?" asked Sydney.
"Well... we had more people working on it, people whose only job is planning operations... and our tech people could engineer the devices quickly," said Vaughn.
"So, you're confused over the fact that two field agents, in half an hour, put together a massive case file without so much as a 'what about this' from the Strategy Department?" asked Crystal.
"Yeah, that's... that's it," said Vaughn.
"How 'bout we explain it like this... The two of us have been around the block a couple times. I'm the expert on Red Crescent. It's my life; it's my family... Never underestimate the power of two women on a mission," said Crystal.
"I'm not, it's just..."
"Just what?" asked Sydney.
"Hard to believe any two people could put this together in half an hour."
"Beyond the how'd-the-do-it-factor," began Crystal. "Do you think it's plausible?"
"It's more than plausible. Incredibly dangerous, but..."
"What isn't in this job?" quipped Crystal.
He shrugged, seeing her point. "When do we put this into effect?" asked Vaughn.
"As soon as we hear back from the President," Crystal said, leaning her head against the wall. "Which, is proving to take quite a while."
~~~
"Who the hell came up with this scheme? It's a scheme! It's risky and it's implausible and... They're going to get him killed!" thundered Toby.
The huddle in the Oval Office had lost two and gained two. Conrad and Butterfield were shown to the Mural Room to wait while Toby, Josh, Leo, and the President duked it out over what would be done.
"Who came up with this plan?" asked Bartlet. "Sam's cousin Crystal and Sydney Bristow who was our key to taking down the Alliance."
Bartlet stole some of Toby's thunder but he started up again soon. "They have to know this is dangerous."
"I don't think you have to tell them what dangerous is, Toby," Josh said, shaking his head. "They could write the book on danger."
"They have, on page forty-seven, that if he sent the letter, if this guy knows it's not anthrax, that one of the retaliatory responses might be to kill Sam. Just flat out kill him. You can't approve this, Mr. President."
"That's one of several possibilities," said Leo. "Plus, Conrad says he's got some of the best with Sam right now and has upped it to round the clock assistance, both covert and not."
"What's Sam feel about all of this?" asked Toby.
"Sam doesn't know exactly everything yet," said Josh quietly.
"You don't think it'd be nice if the potential victim had a say in all of this?" roared Toby.
"And have him jumping at shadows while trying to give campaign speeches? Latest numbers came out this morning. He's going down. He took a ten point hit last night, which... has stumped the polling people and the DNC."
"It's because he's under attack!"
"Toby, outside of the CIA, you, me, Josh, Leo, and the Secret Service know what's going on. That's it. I can guarantee you that the two agencies involved aren't the ones who leak information," said Bartlet. "Nobody knows about this."
"It's because Scott Holcomb is lining him up with business," said Josh.
"Who at DNC thought Holcomb would be a good idea?" asked Toby. "Honestly?"
"That's not the issue right now," Leo reminded them. "Right now, do we tell CIA to go ahead?"
"No!" Toby said quickly.
"Josh, what do you think?" asked Bartlet.
Josh was silent for a moment. "I think Agent Bristow is balancing out Crystal's emotional attachment to the case. I think they make a great argument. I think you should tell them to go."
Toby sighed heavily, but Bartlet turned to Leo, asking him with a look.
"It's risky. It's very risky. On the other hand... we authorize nothing and he could still die."
"I'm going to tell him to go," Bartlet said.
"Mr. President," began Toby.
"At some point we're going to have to bring in C.J. in case she gets questioned," said Josh.
"We'll bring her in closer to press conference time," said Leo.
"Sam should know..." Toby began.
"He will. After this is all over with. He knows his cousin is in danger. He knows he's got CIA protection... He'll be fine," said Leo.
"You hope," said Toby.
"This isn't easy, Toby," said Josh. "She doesn't even know about the audio we have from the hotel. She doesn't know that we thought they were landing in L.A. every hour today."
"I assume, when you say she, you're referring to Crystal Seaborn. So, we're going to follow a plan written by someone who doesn't know all the facts!" The Communications Director was livid. "How can you okay this plan, sir? We've had several conversations about this in the past," he said, looking towards Josh and Leo, "about the inadequacies of the Central Intelligence Agency. How good can a Seaborn be anyway? Sam trips over his own two feet, who's to say that his cousin is any different?"
"I do, because she is," Josh said, jumping into the conversation quickly.
"How do you know?" asked Toby.
"Because she's got Donna convinced we went to school together in Connecticut and is Jewish."
"Why would she do that?"
"Because she didn't want her to know she was related to Sam or what was going on. I started to introduce them and she starts in on this whole new character... She was so convincing, even I started to believe the story! She's... You haven't seen her, Toby. You haven't seen the pictures from Borneo where she was almost killed. She's not accident prone; she's good."
"And how long have you known her?"
"I met her yesterday..."
"Yeah, uh-huh. You don't know her, Josh. None of us do."
"Sam does," said Josh. "Sam trusts her."
"This is supposed to make me feel better somehow?" asked Toby. "Sam trusts anybody with a kind face."
"Where the hell do you get off, Toby?"
"Guys..." Leo said warningly.
"I'm ordering the operation. Thank you for your time," Bartlet said sternly.
Josh thanked the President first, followed begrudgingly by Toby before the two slipped off. Charlie appeared at the door they disappeared from. "Sir?"
"Give me a minute, then send Rob Conrad in, please," said Bartlet.
The young bodyman nodded. "Yes, sir."
"What the hell just went on here?" Bartlet asked once the door was closed.
"I'm not sure, sir."
"Make sure they've not continued the fight and are going to be 'gentlemen' and take it outside, would you?"
"Yes, sir," Leo said, slipping out through the door that connected his office to the President's.
Bartlet sat down behind his desk with a sigh. It was going to be risky... but they had to do something. He started looking over the proposed mission again when Conrad was led into the Oval.
"Mr. President?" asked the Director.
Bartlet looked up. "It's a go, Rob."
"Thank you, Mr. President."
"If there's anything we can do..."
Conrad nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Tell them... Godspeed."
"I will, Mr. President, thank you."
~~~
Melissa knocked frantically on the office door, where Vaughn, Sydney, and Crystal were waiting. Vaughn crossed the room to open it. "Yes?"
"Crys, line oh-two; it's Josh Lyman."
Crystal jumped off the credenza and crossed to the phone in front of Sydney, pressing the line button before picking up the handset. "Josh?"
"Crystal, hey... I just got out of a meeting with the President."
"Yeah?"
"He's going to say yes."
She smiled, flashing a thumb's up to Sydney. "That's great."
"Is this going to work...?"
"I'm going to make it work. I gotta go."
"I'll see you later?"
"Yeah. Bye."
"Bye," he said softly.
She hung up and was silent for a moment.
"Well?" asked Vaughn.
"We've got the go. We've got four days prep. Any later than that, he's not going to go to California if we're right. We gotta get moving, c'mon!"
~~~
Josh didn't see Crystal that night. When he called Langley to try and find out if she was coming to spend the night, he was told she was in meetings. All six times he tried. He'd run her clothes out to the Farm in the morning, he guessed.
Crawling into bed, he thought about the whirlwind that had spun through his life in the past two days. She was... something else. Maybe Donna had it right. Maybe he was interested in her. His type seemed to be strong women in the political arena. That explained Mandy, who he sparred with... and Joey, who he sparred with... and even Amy, who he sparred with. While he hadn't fought with Crystal, he'd fought Toby about Crystal.
He sighed, looking at the ceiling. It was just the weirdness of the whole situation. That was it. His best friend had asked him to look after a relative... who happened to be attractive and in a tight spot. It was just the fact that he wanted to be the guy who 'the guy' turned to. He wanted to be the loyal, dependable one who got things done. And he was realizing Clark Kent couldn't save Lois Lane, only Superman could. As good as he might be, he was no super hero. And Crystal wasn't exactly Lois Lane. He was willing to bet she was more of a Wonder Woman.
And he was destined to be a bachelor.
~~~
Life at the CIA headquarters was hectic and moving at a nonstop pace, both in D.C. and L.A. Crystal managed catnaps in her office and Sydney and Vaughn snagged a few hours away from the Farm at their hotel, but only long enough to pass out briefly before returning to work.
Weiss became Sam's roommate, but even then, while Sam slept, Weiss stayed awake and caught up on what was being tossed around and planned in Washington. Jack was in near constant contact with Sydney, helping foster the operation from the opposite coast, and doing the logistical research for where they would attempt to lead Jordan and his men to their elaborate trap.
When Thursday rolled around, Crystal, Vaughn, Sydney, and Conrad were in the Director's office, huddled around a closed circuit TV to watch the press briefing, being issued by the Agency's press secretary. Crystal vacantly chewed on her lower lip, her arms crossed over her chest as the briefing began.
"Good morning. I have some sad news to report. This morning, at six- fifteen, one of our agents died. She was exposed to an anthrax-coated letter this past Saturday. Part of our office was shut down after the letter was discovered and staff was evacuated. I cannot release the name of the agent, as her family has not yet been contacted. I can't answer any questions you have about the letter or the anthrax, as it's still being investigated, but if you have any other sorts of questions, I'll be happy to entertain them." He nodded to the first reporter.
"I'm assuming this was a field agent not, say, an assistant?"
"Yes," said the press secretary.
"What case was she working on?" asked another reporter.
"That information is classified."
Another "reporter" spoke up.
"Here goes," muttered Crystal, holding her breath.
"I have an inside source who said the letter was a piece of paper with a symbol on it, a crescent. Can you tell me anything about that? What it might mean?"
"I can't answer anything about the letter, no."
"Is it someone's signature?" queried the agent further.
"I can't answer that. One more question."
~~~
The White House's own press secretary, C.J. Cregg, found her way to Josh's office. "Carol said you wanted to see me about something before the noon briefing?"
Josh nodded. "Close the door, would you?"
She entered, pulling the door closed behind her. "What's going on?"
"You may get a question or two about a CIA agent dying."
"Why would I get a question about a CIA agent dying?"
"Because the CIA gave a press briefing that said they lost an agent."
"All right..."
"You're going to say you know nothing about what happened and you're going to defer to the CIA to bring the updates on what's going on."
"Well, that's not going to be hard since I don't know anything. Did an agent really die?"
Josh didn't answer.
"What's been going on? I've heard whispers about us not going to California this weekend."
"We're going to California this weekend."
"Why would we not go to California this weekend?"
"No reason, because we *are* going," repeated Josh.
"You and Toby have both been acting rather strained the past couple of days. You won't say two civil words to each other in staff meetings."
"So?"
"So, what's that all about?"
"Does it matter?"
"You've been running around trying to act all cool and you're failing miserably. Something's wrong."
"Just... I'm worried about Sam's numbers. Have you seen how far they've dropped?"
"Yeah... And that's not it."
He sighed.
"What's going on?"
"There have been some security issues brought up about the trip to California."
"Somebody's after Sam?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Sort of."
"How can somebody be sort of after Sam?"
"It's a long story that I don't have the time to explain it to you."
"Who do I talk to in order to get the rest of the story?"
"Paul Harvey?"
"Dammit, Josh!"
"Look, C.J., we're working on the security issue and today is the day that it might go over *badly*, so give me a break for not wanting to jinx what we've got in the works right now."
"If somebody asks and I can't tell them anything... They're still sore over the fact that a black Bell Jet landed on the South Lawn and it wasn't until the final briefing of the day that I told them it was the CIA Director. Now this thing with a dead agent who's not really dead?"
"Who said she's not dead?"
"You didn't say she was, whoever *she* is, if *she* even exists!"
"C.J.--"
"I thought we were past this Boys' Club, keeping C.J. out of the loop *crap*."
"We're in the middle of a crisis right now, C.J.--"
"So let me spin it!"
He sighed heavily. "Let's... Let's talk to Leo."
"So you can get permission to talk to me about this?"
"There are members involved in this who don't know everything. It's not just you."
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You better push Leo to tell me what's going on."
He sighed again. "C'mon."
~~~
"How does it feel to be dead?" Sydney asked.
"Kinda like how it feels to be alive." She smiled thinly. She and Sydney were sitting in Crystal's office, channel surfing on her television set, trying to find a news channel that had picked up the story yet.
"That good?"
Crystal smiled. "That bad." She stopped on C-Span, as it covered the White House press briefing. "They said C.J. Cregg might get some questions."
They listened as C.J. spoke about the latest education initiative and the status of a bill in Congress before she finally opened the floor to questions. "Danny?"
"The CIA director makes an emergency landing on the South Lawn because he can't get to BWI... and yet the CIA had a dinner for Senate and House Intelligence and the President that night. And then today the CIA says that one of their agents died because of a letter she received the next day. What's goin' on over at Langley?"
C.J. pushed her glasses further up her nose. "As far as I know, they're our intelligence-gathering hub. The DCI's itinerary is not usually funneled through my office nor can I speak about the investigation into the agent's death."
"So, as far as you know... nothing's odd at CIA?"
"I can tell there's something odd here." C.J. smiled, and several of the other reporters chuckled. "If you want to know about the CIA, you're going to have to ask the CIA."
"They think you're odd, Crystal," Sydney commented.
"They don't know me very well. Otherwise, they'd know I was even." Crystal smiled.
"What about the red crescent someone mentioned?" asked another reporter from the TV set.
"Is that some sort of pastry?" C.J. asked, effectively deflecting the question and prompting another laugh from the reporters. "No? Then, I don't know. It's an internal CIA matter; you're going to have to take it up with them."
"And we're not gonna give you jack, so you should get used to being in the dark. We've leaked our information, that's as far as we're going," said Crystal.
"How are we flying back to California?" Sydney asked, glancing at Crystal as the reporters moved onto other subjects.
"The three of us are going, you, me, and Agent Vaughn, so Robby's trying to get us free passes on Air Force One."
"Air Force One?"
"The President's plane," Crystal said with a nod, which prompted Sydney to shoot her a quick look. She smiled a little, in apology. "They're going where we need to be. Why shouldn't we take advantage of it?"
"Yeah..."
"They'll be arriving about the right time, too. Plus... we'll be able to pack heat, which we can't unless we charter a private plane and, since the President's plane is headed there anyway... and the 'Service takes weapons on board... why can't we."
"When is Conrad having that discussion?"
Crystal looked at her watch. "He's having another powwow with Butterfield and the President right about now."
"Any desire to be a fly on that wall?"
"Oh, hell no." Crystal smiled. "Robby's a good guy, but man... he's on his own there."
~~~
Sam was out on the campaign trail, with Jack and Weiss on the lookout wherever they went. For the moment, they were at another community center, and there was a television on in the background as he worked the crowd. He felt his heart hit his knees when he heard what C.J. was talking about.
A dead agent?
Jack had told him Crystal was fine, but... he hadn't talked to her on the phone or even gotten an e-mail back from her. He'd called and talked to Josh every night but Josh said even he was in the dark on her whereabouts.
"Jack..." Sam began.
"Sam?"
"I think I need to talk to you."
"All right..."
"Excuse me, just a minute folks," Sam said with a smile before leading Jack out of the room and into an empty corridor.
"Yes?"
"C.J. Cregg just said an agent died from anthrax..."
"Yes."
"You said she was fine!"
"She is."
"Then..."
"We're trying to pull Jordan out into the open."
"I don't understand."
"I can't get into all the details here, Sam, but I can tell you that you should be reunited with your cousin this weekend."
"She's coming here?"
Jack nodded.
"All right..."
"You should get back to your crowd before they think something's wrong."
"I want to talk to her. Can you get her on the phone for me when we're en route back to the headquarters?"
"I'll do my best."
Stay tuned...
Lines from the next installment:
"Why'd you join? Why'd you say yes? It was because you finally ran away somewhere where you couldn't get back out."
"You know nothing about the Company, Sam. Nothing."
"Because you won't tell me. It's like a cult! They have you sever all family ties. Anytime anybody tries to tell you something bad about the Company, it's wrong, because the Company's always right. The Company isn't always right, Crys!"
Previously, on the West Wing/Alias: Sam gets a cryptic e-mail from Crystal, which is a red flag for Jack. Vaughn, Sydney, and Conrad watch the first flight land and discover no one's on the plane. Sam makes a stump speech and gets Jack and Weiss to open up about as much as they're willing to share with him, including assuring him that the powdery substance Crystal was exposed to is nothing harmful. Sydney's friend and CIA analyst Will Tippin calls to discuss the absurdity of the operation and Sydney confesses she doesn't like being compared to Crystal, the legend. After the call, Crystal comes in to discuss a dangerous plan to end the situation. Josh and Toby are summoned to Leo's, where Toby gets brought into the inner circle and Josh learns from Conrad in the Oval Office that they have a deadly, dangerous plan.
Sydney sat at her desk, trying not to drum her fingers on the blotter. Crystal sat on the credenza along the far wall, her arms and legs crossed. Both were waiting to hear what Vaughn had to say, as he sat in one of the chairs across from Sydney's desk, reading over the plan they'd concocted.
"You did all this while I went to lunch?" he asked, still reading.
"Yeah," Sydney said.
"How did you do all this while I was at lunch?" He turned a page, his expression growing more perplexed. "You have eighteen thousand contingency plans here. This thing is..."
"Tolstoy long?" asked Sydney.
Vaughn looked up, and nodded. "How could you come up with all of this?"
"Pretty amazing what determination'll do," Crystal said.
"How could you discuss all of this in half an hour, though?" asked Vaughn, glancing at her. "There had to have been more than just the two of you in here working on this."
"Just us girls," Crystal confirmed. "My assistant checked in to see what all the smoke was in case we needed to evacuate again. Just the speed of our writing, nothing to be concerned about," she deadpanned.
"You've got all the contingency plans, the pros and cons for each... the main plan... the probability that it might not work... Half an hour?" he repeated, looking up at them in disbelief.
"There were times when I was a double in SD-6 where I'd give you the SD-6 operation and you would have a counter mission in less than half an hour. What makes this different?" asked Sydney.
"Well... we had more people working on it, people whose only job is planning operations... and our tech people could engineer the devices quickly," said Vaughn.
"So, you're confused over the fact that two field agents, in half an hour, put together a massive case file without so much as a 'what about this' from the Strategy Department?" asked Crystal.
"Yeah, that's... that's it," said Vaughn.
"How 'bout we explain it like this... The two of us have been around the block a couple times. I'm the expert on Red Crescent. It's my life; it's my family... Never underestimate the power of two women on a mission," said Crystal.
"I'm not, it's just..."
"Just what?" asked Sydney.
"Hard to believe any two people could put this together in half an hour."
"Beyond the how'd-the-do-it-factor," began Crystal. "Do you think it's plausible?"
"It's more than plausible. Incredibly dangerous, but..."
"What isn't in this job?" quipped Crystal.
He shrugged, seeing her point. "When do we put this into effect?" asked Vaughn.
"As soon as we hear back from the President," Crystal said, leaning her head against the wall. "Which, is proving to take quite a while."
~~~
"Who the hell came up with this scheme? It's a scheme! It's risky and it's implausible and... They're going to get him killed!" thundered Toby.
The huddle in the Oval Office had lost two and gained two. Conrad and Butterfield were shown to the Mural Room to wait while Toby, Josh, Leo, and the President duked it out over what would be done.
"Who came up with this plan?" asked Bartlet. "Sam's cousin Crystal and Sydney Bristow who was our key to taking down the Alliance."
Bartlet stole some of Toby's thunder but he started up again soon. "They have to know this is dangerous."
"I don't think you have to tell them what dangerous is, Toby," Josh said, shaking his head. "They could write the book on danger."
"They have, on page forty-seven, that if he sent the letter, if this guy knows it's not anthrax, that one of the retaliatory responses might be to kill Sam. Just flat out kill him. You can't approve this, Mr. President."
"That's one of several possibilities," said Leo. "Plus, Conrad says he's got some of the best with Sam right now and has upped it to round the clock assistance, both covert and not."
"What's Sam feel about all of this?" asked Toby.
"Sam doesn't know exactly everything yet," said Josh quietly.
"You don't think it'd be nice if the potential victim had a say in all of this?" roared Toby.
"And have him jumping at shadows while trying to give campaign speeches? Latest numbers came out this morning. He's going down. He took a ten point hit last night, which... has stumped the polling people and the DNC."
"It's because he's under attack!"
"Toby, outside of the CIA, you, me, Josh, Leo, and the Secret Service know what's going on. That's it. I can guarantee you that the two agencies involved aren't the ones who leak information," said Bartlet. "Nobody knows about this."
"It's because Scott Holcomb is lining him up with business," said Josh.
"Who at DNC thought Holcomb would be a good idea?" asked Toby. "Honestly?"
"That's not the issue right now," Leo reminded them. "Right now, do we tell CIA to go ahead?"
"No!" Toby said quickly.
"Josh, what do you think?" asked Bartlet.
Josh was silent for a moment. "I think Agent Bristow is balancing out Crystal's emotional attachment to the case. I think they make a great argument. I think you should tell them to go."
Toby sighed heavily, but Bartlet turned to Leo, asking him with a look.
"It's risky. It's very risky. On the other hand... we authorize nothing and he could still die."
"I'm going to tell him to go," Bartlet said.
"Mr. President," began Toby.
"At some point we're going to have to bring in C.J. in case she gets questioned," said Josh.
"We'll bring her in closer to press conference time," said Leo.
"Sam should know..." Toby began.
"He will. After this is all over with. He knows his cousin is in danger. He knows he's got CIA protection... He'll be fine," said Leo.
"You hope," said Toby.
"This isn't easy, Toby," said Josh. "She doesn't even know about the audio we have from the hotel. She doesn't know that we thought they were landing in L.A. every hour today."
"I assume, when you say she, you're referring to Crystal Seaborn. So, we're going to follow a plan written by someone who doesn't know all the facts!" The Communications Director was livid. "How can you okay this plan, sir? We've had several conversations about this in the past," he said, looking towards Josh and Leo, "about the inadequacies of the Central Intelligence Agency. How good can a Seaborn be anyway? Sam trips over his own two feet, who's to say that his cousin is any different?"
"I do, because she is," Josh said, jumping into the conversation quickly.
"How do you know?" asked Toby.
"Because she's got Donna convinced we went to school together in Connecticut and is Jewish."
"Why would she do that?"
"Because she didn't want her to know she was related to Sam or what was going on. I started to introduce them and she starts in on this whole new character... She was so convincing, even I started to believe the story! She's... You haven't seen her, Toby. You haven't seen the pictures from Borneo where she was almost killed. She's not accident prone; she's good."
"And how long have you known her?"
"I met her yesterday..."
"Yeah, uh-huh. You don't know her, Josh. None of us do."
"Sam does," said Josh. "Sam trusts her."
"This is supposed to make me feel better somehow?" asked Toby. "Sam trusts anybody with a kind face."
"Where the hell do you get off, Toby?"
"Guys..." Leo said warningly.
"I'm ordering the operation. Thank you for your time," Bartlet said sternly.
Josh thanked the President first, followed begrudgingly by Toby before the two slipped off. Charlie appeared at the door they disappeared from. "Sir?"
"Give me a minute, then send Rob Conrad in, please," said Bartlet.
The young bodyman nodded. "Yes, sir."
"What the hell just went on here?" Bartlet asked once the door was closed.
"I'm not sure, sir."
"Make sure they've not continued the fight and are going to be 'gentlemen' and take it outside, would you?"
"Yes, sir," Leo said, slipping out through the door that connected his office to the President's.
Bartlet sat down behind his desk with a sigh. It was going to be risky... but they had to do something. He started looking over the proposed mission again when Conrad was led into the Oval.
"Mr. President?" asked the Director.
Bartlet looked up. "It's a go, Rob."
"Thank you, Mr. President."
"If there's anything we can do..."
Conrad nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Tell them... Godspeed."
"I will, Mr. President, thank you."
~~~
Melissa knocked frantically on the office door, where Vaughn, Sydney, and Crystal were waiting. Vaughn crossed the room to open it. "Yes?"
"Crys, line oh-two; it's Josh Lyman."
Crystal jumped off the credenza and crossed to the phone in front of Sydney, pressing the line button before picking up the handset. "Josh?"
"Crystal, hey... I just got out of a meeting with the President."
"Yeah?"
"He's going to say yes."
She smiled, flashing a thumb's up to Sydney. "That's great."
"Is this going to work...?"
"I'm going to make it work. I gotta go."
"I'll see you later?"
"Yeah. Bye."
"Bye," he said softly.
She hung up and was silent for a moment.
"Well?" asked Vaughn.
"We've got the go. We've got four days prep. Any later than that, he's not going to go to California if we're right. We gotta get moving, c'mon!"
~~~
Josh didn't see Crystal that night. When he called Langley to try and find out if she was coming to spend the night, he was told she was in meetings. All six times he tried. He'd run her clothes out to the Farm in the morning, he guessed.
Crawling into bed, he thought about the whirlwind that had spun through his life in the past two days. She was... something else. Maybe Donna had it right. Maybe he was interested in her. His type seemed to be strong women in the political arena. That explained Mandy, who he sparred with... and Joey, who he sparred with... and even Amy, who he sparred with. While he hadn't fought with Crystal, he'd fought Toby about Crystal.
He sighed, looking at the ceiling. It was just the weirdness of the whole situation. That was it. His best friend had asked him to look after a relative... who happened to be attractive and in a tight spot. It was just the fact that he wanted to be the guy who 'the guy' turned to. He wanted to be the loyal, dependable one who got things done. And he was realizing Clark Kent couldn't save Lois Lane, only Superman could. As good as he might be, he was no super hero. And Crystal wasn't exactly Lois Lane. He was willing to bet she was more of a Wonder Woman.
And he was destined to be a bachelor.
~~~
Life at the CIA headquarters was hectic and moving at a nonstop pace, both in D.C. and L.A. Crystal managed catnaps in her office and Sydney and Vaughn snagged a few hours away from the Farm at their hotel, but only long enough to pass out briefly before returning to work.
Weiss became Sam's roommate, but even then, while Sam slept, Weiss stayed awake and caught up on what was being tossed around and planned in Washington. Jack was in near constant contact with Sydney, helping foster the operation from the opposite coast, and doing the logistical research for where they would attempt to lead Jordan and his men to their elaborate trap.
When Thursday rolled around, Crystal, Vaughn, Sydney, and Conrad were in the Director's office, huddled around a closed circuit TV to watch the press briefing, being issued by the Agency's press secretary. Crystal vacantly chewed on her lower lip, her arms crossed over her chest as the briefing began.
"Good morning. I have some sad news to report. This morning, at six- fifteen, one of our agents died. She was exposed to an anthrax-coated letter this past Saturday. Part of our office was shut down after the letter was discovered and staff was evacuated. I cannot release the name of the agent, as her family has not yet been contacted. I can't answer any questions you have about the letter or the anthrax, as it's still being investigated, but if you have any other sorts of questions, I'll be happy to entertain them." He nodded to the first reporter.
"I'm assuming this was a field agent not, say, an assistant?"
"Yes," said the press secretary.
"What case was she working on?" asked another reporter.
"That information is classified."
Another "reporter" spoke up.
"Here goes," muttered Crystal, holding her breath.
"I have an inside source who said the letter was a piece of paper with a symbol on it, a crescent. Can you tell me anything about that? What it might mean?"
"I can't answer anything about the letter, no."
"Is it someone's signature?" queried the agent further.
"I can't answer that. One more question."
~~~
The White House's own press secretary, C.J. Cregg, found her way to Josh's office. "Carol said you wanted to see me about something before the noon briefing?"
Josh nodded. "Close the door, would you?"
She entered, pulling the door closed behind her. "What's going on?"
"You may get a question or two about a CIA agent dying."
"Why would I get a question about a CIA agent dying?"
"Because the CIA gave a press briefing that said they lost an agent."
"All right..."
"You're going to say you know nothing about what happened and you're going to defer to the CIA to bring the updates on what's going on."
"Well, that's not going to be hard since I don't know anything. Did an agent really die?"
Josh didn't answer.
"What's been going on? I've heard whispers about us not going to California this weekend."
"We're going to California this weekend."
"Why would we not go to California this weekend?"
"No reason, because we *are* going," repeated Josh.
"You and Toby have both been acting rather strained the past couple of days. You won't say two civil words to each other in staff meetings."
"So?"
"So, what's that all about?"
"Does it matter?"
"You've been running around trying to act all cool and you're failing miserably. Something's wrong."
"Just... I'm worried about Sam's numbers. Have you seen how far they've dropped?"
"Yeah... And that's not it."
He sighed.
"What's going on?"
"There have been some security issues brought up about the trip to California."
"Somebody's after Sam?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Sort of."
"How can somebody be sort of after Sam?"
"It's a long story that I don't have the time to explain it to you."
"Who do I talk to in order to get the rest of the story?"
"Paul Harvey?"
"Dammit, Josh!"
"Look, C.J., we're working on the security issue and today is the day that it might go over *badly*, so give me a break for not wanting to jinx what we've got in the works right now."
"If somebody asks and I can't tell them anything... They're still sore over the fact that a black Bell Jet landed on the South Lawn and it wasn't until the final briefing of the day that I told them it was the CIA Director. Now this thing with a dead agent who's not really dead?"
"Who said she's not dead?"
"You didn't say she was, whoever *she* is, if *she* even exists!"
"C.J.--"
"I thought we were past this Boys' Club, keeping C.J. out of the loop *crap*."
"We're in the middle of a crisis right now, C.J.--"
"So let me spin it!"
He sighed heavily. "Let's... Let's talk to Leo."
"So you can get permission to talk to me about this?"
"There are members involved in this who don't know everything. It's not just you."
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You better push Leo to tell me what's going on."
He sighed again. "C'mon."
~~~
"How does it feel to be dead?" Sydney asked.
"Kinda like how it feels to be alive." She smiled thinly. She and Sydney were sitting in Crystal's office, channel surfing on her television set, trying to find a news channel that had picked up the story yet.
"That good?"
Crystal smiled. "That bad." She stopped on C-Span, as it covered the White House press briefing. "They said C.J. Cregg might get some questions."
They listened as C.J. spoke about the latest education initiative and the status of a bill in Congress before she finally opened the floor to questions. "Danny?"
"The CIA director makes an emergency landing on the South Lawn because he can't get to BWI... and yet the CIA had a dinner for Senate and House Intelligence and the President that night. And then today the CIA says that one of their agents died because of a letter she received the next day. What's goin' on over at Langley?"
C.J. pushed her glasses further up her nose. "As far as I know, they're our intelligence-gathering hub. The DCI's itinerary is not usually funneled through my office nor can I speak about the investigation into the agent's death."
"So, as far as you know... nothing's odd at CIA?"
"I can tell there's something odd here." C.J. smiled, and several of the other reporters chuckled. "If you want to know about the CIA, you're going to have to ask the CIA."
"They think you're odd, Crystal," Sydney commented.
"They don't know me very well. Otherwise, they'd know I was even." Crystal smiled.
"What about the red crescent someone mentioned?" asked another reporter from the TV set.
"Is that some sort of pastry?" C.J. asked, effectively deflecting the question and prompting another laugh from the reporters. "No? Then, I don't know. It's an internal CIA matter; you're going to have to take it up with them."
"And we're not gonna give you jack, so you should get used to being in the dark. We've leaked our information, that's as far as we're going," said Crystal.
"How are we flying back to California?" Sydney asked, glancing at Crystal as the reporters moved onto other subjects.
"The three of us are going, you, me, and Agent Vaughn, so Robby's trying to get us free passes on Air Force One."
"Air Force One?"
"The President's plane," Crystal said with a nod, which prompted Sydney to shoot her a quick look. She smiled a little, in apology. "They're going where we need to be. Why shouldn't we take advantage of it?"
"Yeah..."
"They'll be arriving about the right time, too. Plus... we'll be able to pack heat, which we can't unless we charter a private plane and, since the President's plane is headed there anyway... and the 'Service takes weapons on board... why can't we."
"When is Conrad having that discussion?"
Crystal looked at her watch. "He's having another powwow with Butterfield and the President right about now."
"Any desire to be a fly on that wall?"
"Oh, hell no." Crystal smiled. "Robby's a good guy, but man... he's on his own there."
~~~
Sam was out on the campaign trail, with Jack and Weiss on the lookout wherever they went. For the moment, they were at another community center, and there was a television on in the background as he worked the crowd. He felt his heart hit his knees when he heard what C.J. was talking about.
A dead agent?
Jack had told him Crystal was fine, but... he hadn't talked to her on the phone or even gotten an e-mail back from her. He'd called and talked to Josh every night but Josh said even he was in the dark on her whereabouts.
"Jack..." Sam began.
"Sam?"
"I think I need to talk to you."
"All right..."
"Excuse me, just a minute folks," Sam said with a smile before leading Jack out of the room and into an empty corridor.
"Yes?"
"C.J. Cregg just said an agent died from anthrax..."
"Yes."
"You said she was fine!"
"She is."
"Then..."
"We're trying to pull Jordan out into the open."
"I don't understand."
"I can't get into all the details here, Sam, but I can tell you that you should be reunited with your cousin this weekend."
"She's coming here?"
Jack nodded.
"All right..."
"You should get back to your crowd before they think something's wrong."
"I want to talk to her. Can you get her on the phone for me when we're en route back to the headquarters?"
"I'll do my best."
Stay tuned...
Lines from the next installment:
"Why'd you join? Why'd you say yes? It was because you finally ran away somewhere where you couldn't get back out."
"You know nothing about the Company, Sam. Nothing."
"Because you won't tell me. It's like a cult! They have you sever all family ties. Anytime anybody tries to tell you something bad about the Company, it's wrong, because the Company's always right. The Company isn't always right, Crys!"