Author: Sirius
Email: wildwolf514@yahoo.com
Rating and Disclaimer: See part I
Author's Note: This bit is shorter than normal, but it felt like the right spot to end this section.
From Part IV: The door had barely closed behind the two when Will's eyes met Willow's and they said, in unison, "He's not normal."
Part V:
Charlie's voice was the first to break the silence. "And when you say 'not normal' we're talking… what… exactly? He can't be a vampire because sunlight doesn't make him burst into flame… unfortunately. So what is he and is he a threat to Zoey?"
Willow's eyes got a little wider when she realized that everyone was looking at her. "What?" she said.
"You're a witch."
"Yes, and you're Irish, Will. If I knew exactly what he was just by looking at him, I'd be more willing to believe that the Irish as a whole really do have a direct line to God – not that they don't, necessarily, but… you know… research is a good. I have a few ideas, but it's not like I can identify him by smell or anything."
Bartlet, though worried about his daughter, watched the conversation with silent amusement. "Ms. Rosenberg," he said, speaking to the entire group, though his comments were directed to Willow, "you mentioned taking Charlie elsewhere and getting him to ingest something of the food variety. Presuming that Will doesn't need to talk to me about anything in particular right now, take him with you. Charlie will update me on the situation in the morning. Just get that person away from my daughter. Will?"
"Huh? Uh, yes, sir."
"Is that folder for me… the one you seemed to have forgotten holding, possibly due to your focus on our lovely young witch, here?"
"Oh… no, sir. This is just something I was going to work on at home." Bartlet noticed that he never denied his preoccupation with Willow, but avoided saying anything more.
"Go home… or to Charlie's… or something. I expect the three of you to figure out what he is and if he's dangerous."
Even if the three had been able to think past the momentary shock, there was no acceptable response other than, "Yes, sir" and "Thank you, Mr. President," and they all knew it. So saying, they left the Oval Office, and prepared to leave the building.
She watched from an upstairs window as the three of them left, her expression completely at odds with her thoughts. Charlie, help me. This had all started so innocently… her disagreement with Charlie before going to France. She thought he worked too much and she wanted to get away from everything related to politics… just for a little while. Politics had almost gotten Charlie shot. Politics had gotten her father shot and had almost killed Josh. No, not politics… that was the fault of ignorance. God, Charlie, I wanted to say no when he asked me to dance. I wanted to say no. He was the opposite of everything here, but he was wrong. I wanted to say no, but what came out was 'yes.'
Even now, she couldn't remember exactly how it had started, only knowing that there had been a look in his eyes that had made it impossible for her to turn away from him. She heard him enter the room, and against her will, she turned to look. Even though she hated him, Zoey could not stop the smile that spread across her face. Charlie… help me.
TBC…
