Title: Robbed: 3/?
Author: McWillow22 (aka, little-starling)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The characters portrayed hereon in do not belong to me, nor
did they come from my imagination. They belong to a bunch of people who
have a lot more money than I do. So please don't sue.
Pairing: Jed/Leo friendship
Spoilers: None
Summary: A traumatic event has more of an impact on Leo than first
thought.
A/n: A small chapter, and I apologise. Chapter four is almost complete
though and it's considerably longer than this. This story has been a
little slow to start but I'm getting there. I promise.
Two days later.
Leo put his spoon down with an audible clang against the china; his face wrinkling as he tried to force the mouthful of what could charitably be called cereal down his throat. His eyes watered as he finally managed. The chuckle from across from him drew his attention, and he scowled with what he saw. Jed Bartlet trying unsuccessfully to hold a laugh in was not an attractive sight on any morning but on his first real morning here it was almost too much.
" What are you laughing at?"
Jed couldn't stop the laugh any longer and chuckled around his own mouthful of the specially prepared oatmeal that Abbey had insisted on.
" There's a certain poetic justice to it all don't you think? The many months of forced healthy eating you have had a hand in, the lectures and looks, the secret meetings with my chef that you think I know nothing about, well."
" Don't you have somewhere you need to be right now?"
" Would it help if the candles were here? I knew something was missing."
" This is a nightmare."
" I cleared my schedule for the morning"
Leo's face formed hard edges as he glowered across the table.
" You did what?"
" Leo, it's your first morning here."
" And my last if this is what it's going to result in.."
" Ah yes, the allure of white cardboard sheets and watery hospital gravy must be almost unbearable."
Leo's sigh was filled with both frustration and defeat, and for a few moments neither spoke. The silence wasn't strained. It never had been and it probably never would be between these two. They had known each other too long and were too old for uncomfortable silences, and so they simply sat across from each other, each lost in their own thoughts, each aware of the others presence but found it comfortable and relaxed rather than awkward.
Leo's eyes were drawn to the table and at first he wasn't sure why, there was certainly nothing appealing on it. But it wasn't long before his eyes settled on that, which had, drew his attention in the first place. It was the abandoned spoon. It lay at the side of the bowl and saucer, as it had been discarded in distaste, with the curved handle at a forty-five degree angle to him. Nothing particularly unusual in itself, but that wasn't what held Leo ruptured. It was the thin beam of bright light on the polished metal that held his full attention, cast from the wide windows in the room, and reflected on the expensive silver. As Leo stared he began to feel everything else begin to slip away, the bowl, the saucer, the table, even the spoon, until there was just the shaft of bright clinical whiteness, stark in the now black surroundings. Leo quickly realised he couldn't drag his eyes away from it even if he wanted too, and began to notice other elements too. Like the fact his heart was fluttering in his chest, and his breathing had gone a little shallow. Small flashes of metal and light began to flash in his minds eye, like bright shards of glass in the darkness, illuminating and reflecting the dark corners of his mind. Glimpses of smooth silver in darkness, of sparkling diamonds on a black surface, and the recollection of the feeling of trying to pull air into a set of lungs that seemed to have collapsed. Every flash made him physically jerk, and he could swear he tasted the metallic twang of fresh blood in his mouth. It wasn't long before he heard his name being called, faint as though from a distance. When a sudden pressure came down on his shoulder Leo ripped his eyes away from the hypnotic beam and the room rushed into focus. He stood quickly, causing the chair he had been sitting on to topple backwards, but a pain in his head and midsection stopped him from doing much else. Not to mention the three or four sets of hands he could feel gripping his arms and shoulders tightly.
" Leo sit down"
Leo blinked owlishly for a moment and soon the shadows and light around him took shape and he was rewarded with the grim and slightly pale face of Jed Bartlet. Looking to his right and left he recognised two secret service agents, both studying him intently, and he knew that a third was standing behind him, as he could hear the quite voice as it reported the all clear into a wrist mike.
" I'm fine"
As soon as the words left his mouth he knew he most definitely wasn't fine. His voice was dry and shaky, and he couldn't seem to stop the slight tremble that had started in his hands and had slowly made it's way through his body. He shuffled slightly to the right and didn't protest when several pairs of hands helped him ease into the plush upholstered chair.
" Admiral Hackett is on his way up. I don't want to hear any arguments or objections Leo, I'm serious"
Leo recognised that tone of voice. The quiet but intense words of a man who meant business. He had heard the President be serious about enough things to recognise it.
As if on queue a solid knock resounded across the room making Leo jump slightly, before the tall and uniformed doctor entered and made a bee line for the small gathering of men.
" Mr President" he acknowledged first, before switching his attention to the man in the chair.
" Mr McGarry, can you tell me what just happened?"
Leo, recovered but still shaky, didn't complain when he felt the doctors fingers at his wrist, nor did he complain when a bolt of light was shot into each eye. In fact during the entire preliminary examination he didn't speak once.
" Mr McGarry?"
" It's Leo."
"Ok, can you try and tell me what happened Leo? How did it start?"
Leo noticed the President nod to the agents in the room and they quickly left, before he turned his attention back to him, his eyes focussed but the worry clearly shining through. How was he going to explain what he couldn't understand himself?
" Its hard to explain. I was just staring. At nothing in particular. And I guess I started feeling a little breathless. A little dizzy maybe. That's it."
Both the doctor and the President looked at him sceptically for a few beats, before a sigh from the doctor indicated the moment of doubt was over.
" Well, your blood pressure's a little higher than I'd like, but other than that there isn't anything new to the injuries you already have. This could have simply been a side effect of some of the drugs the hospital is prescribing. That's my diagnosis at the moment, but I would like to run some more tests tomorrow. You received a blow to the head Mr McGarry, and even the best medical professionals can't predict what can happen and when. There is no point taking any chances. In case it isn't and my original diagnosis is correct I'm going to change your prescription. Different drugs, same effect."
Leo nodded his head slowly. To the casual observer the scene would have looked liked three men talking business, to someone who knew at least two of the three, they would have recognised the tension and worry etched on the faces.
Leo watched as the Admiral lifted his bag and walked with the President over to the door, both talking quietly. Rubbing a shaky hand over his face, he leaned forward in his chair slightly and closed his eyes, trying to bring himself back under control. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn he had a bad hangover.
" Here, drink this."
Leo looked up with a little start. He smiled a little self-consciously at his friend and president, who was holding, steadily Leo noted happily, a glass of water out to him.
" Thanks"
Leo's hand wasn't as steady as his friends as he reached out to take the glass and he was thankful when Jed Bartlets bigger hands covered his own as he grasped the water. A silence not as comfortable as it had been earlier fell across the room, the only sound being the small gulps as Leo sipped from the glass held in both hands. He could feel the Presidents gaze.
" Eight years later and I still have a problem with drugs," Leo muttered, more to himself than to anyone. A small snicker from his right brought his attention, and when he thought back to what he had said he laughed too, breaking the silence. When the room fell quiet once more, it was comfortable.
" You feeling better?"
Although the question was casual sounding enough, Leo could hear the underlying concern.
" Yeah, I'm good. Little tired, but all right."
" Doc says you need to lie down and rest."
" Mind if I just lay on the couch? I don't think I could settle in a bed at this time in the day. I mean it's bad enough that I have to lie down at all instead of."
" Leo.."
The tone was meant to warn, but somehow it seemed to warm.
As soon as Leo shifted in his seat to stand the President was at his side, much to his protests, and kept a steadying hand on his back as he made his way a little stiffly to the long couch in front of the TV. He couldn't stop the groan from escaping when he eventually sat back down.
As Leo rearranged the throw cushions behind his back, the President briskly walked into an adjoining room and was back again before Leo even had a chance to realise he had left the room in the first place.
" Lie down"
" You know your impression of my mother is getting scarily accurate"
Jed ignored the comment, as he happily watched his friend comply with his wishes anyway. Once horizontal, Jed arranged the blanket over his friend and stepped back, eventually sitting gingerly on the edge of the coffee table.
" Tomorrow morning you're going over to Bethesda for a few tests. A few agents are going to accompany you in a black SUV, the whole thing should take about two hours, three max, then you'll come straight back here. I'm gonna call Mal and arrange for her to meet you there, so you'll have some company. I would go myself but I've got the economic advisors in the morning, followed by a security briefing, and Abbey left this morning for New York, she wont be back till tomorrow afternoon.."
" Mr President."
" Leo, it's been arranged. There's not a chance I'm going to change my plans so any argument you've got is going to be a waste of breath."
The statement was harsh but the Presidents voice was soft as he said it.
Leo's face faltered for only a moment between defiance and resignation, but eventually settled for the latter. In all honesty he was far too worn out to argue with anyone, never mind Jed Bartlet.
"Yes sir", it was no more than a whisper, but the meaning was there, and heard.
Silence fell across the room then, and with the heat of the blanket and the softness of the cushions supporting his head, it wasn't long before Leo felt his eyes begging to get heavy. He was about to give himself a mental shake when a cool hand patted the back of his own.
" Close your eyes Leo"
Jed Bartlet smiled in genuine affection and a little humour as Leo just did that, his head falling slightly to the side a few moments later as sleep eventually took it's hold. And all without an argument.
He sat for a few moments longer, simply watching his friend, before he shifted from his own place, his face pulling slightly as his back protested from being in the same awkward position for too long. After stretching the kinks out of his back, he bend to rearrange the blanket to better cover his sleeping chief of staff, before walking towards the door. As he closed it softly behind him, he motioned for a familiar agent to come over, which he did promptly, and spoke to him for a few beats before patting the mans arm and walking towards the stairs. The agent settled himself outside the door the President had just come from.
Out on the wide stairs, Jed Bartlet walked slowly down, one step at a time, his hands driven deep into his pockets. His expression had shifted from what it had been moments before, the warm smile replaced with a thin line, face drawn as he considered his friend. Perhaps he was worrying over nothing, perhaps it was simply the drugs the hospital had prescribed, but..
Jed sighed as he reached the bottom. He would just have to wait and see.
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Two days later.
Leo put his spoon down with an audible clang against the china; his face wrinkling as he tried to force the mouthful of what could charitably be called cereal down his throat. His eyes watered as he finally managed. The chuckle from across from him drew his attention, and he scowled with what he saw. Jed Bartlet trying unsuccessfully to hold a laugh in was not an attractive sight on any morning but on his first real morning here it was almost too much.
" What are you laughing at?"
Jed couldn't stop the laugh any longer and chuckled around his own mouthful of the specially prepared oatmeal that Abbey had insisted on.
" There's a certain poetic justice to it all don't you think? The many months of forced healthy eating you have had a hand in, the lectures and looks, the secret meetings with my chef that you think I know nothing about, well."
" Don't you have somewhere you need to be right now?"
" Would it help if the candles were here? I knew something was missing."
" This is a nightmare."
" I cleared my schedule for the morning"
Leo's face formed hard edges as he glowered across the table.
" You did what?"
" Leo, it's your first morning here."
" And my last if this is what it's going to result in.."
" Ah yes, the allure of white cardboard sheets and watery hospital gravy must be almost unbearable."
Leo's sigh was filled with both frustration and defeat, and for a few moments neither spoke. The silence wasn't strained. It never had been and it probably never would be between these two. They had known each other too long and were too old for uncomfortable silences, and so they simply sat across from each other, each lost in their own thoughts, each aware of the others presence but found it comfortable and relaxed rather than awkward.
Leo's eyes were drawn to the table and at first he wasn't sure why, there was certainly nothing appealing on it. But it wasn't long before his eyes settled on that, which had, drew his attention in the first place. It was the abandoned spoon. It lay at the side of the bowl and saucer, as it had been discarded in distaste, with the curved handle at a forty-five degree angle to him. Nothing particularly unusual in itself, but that wasn't what held Leo ruptured. It was the thin beam of bright light on the polished metal that held his full attention, cast from the wide windows in the room, and reflected on the expensive silver. As Leo stared he began to feel everything else begin to slip away, the bowl, the saucer, the table, even the spoon, until there was just the shaft of bright clinical whiteness, stark in the now black surroundings. Leo quickly realised he couldn't drag his eyes away from it even if he wanted too, and began to notice other elements too. Like the fact his heart was fluttering in his chest, and his breathing had gone a little shallow. Small flashes of metal and light began to flash in his minds eye, like bright shards of glass in the darkness, illuminating and reflecting the dark corners of his mind. Glimpses of smooth silver in darkness, of sparkling diamonds on a black surface, and the recollection of the feeling of trying to pull air into a set of lungs that seemed to have collapsed. Every flash made him physically jerk, and he could swear he tasted the metallic twang of fresh blood in his mouth. It wasn't long before he heard his name being called, faint as though from a distance. When a sudden pressure came down on his shoulder Leo ripped his eyes away from the hypnotic beam and the room rushed into focus. He stood quickly, causing the chair he had been sitting on to topple backwards, but a pain in his head and midsection stopped him from doing much else. Not to mention the three or four sets of hands he could feel gripping his arms and shoulders tightly.
" Leo sit down"
Leo blinked owlishly for a moment and soon the shadows and light around him took shape and he was rewarded with the grim and slightly pale face of Jed Bartlet. Looking to his right and left he recognised two secret service agents, both studying him intently, and he knew that a third was standing behind him, as he could hear the quite voice as it reported the all clear into a wrist mike.
" I'm fine"
As soon as the words left his mouth he knew he most definitely wasn't fine. His voice was dry and shaky, and he couldn't seem to stop the slight tremble that had started in his hands and had slowly made it's way through his body. He shuffled slightly to the right and didn't protest when several pairs of hands helped him ease into the plush upholstered chair.
" Admiral Hackett is on his way up. I don't want to hear any arguments or objections Leo, I'm serious"
Leo recognised that tone of voice. The quiet but intense words of a man who meant business. He had heard the President be serious about enough things to recognise it.
As if on queue a solid knock resounded across the room making Leo jump slightly, before the tall and uniformed doctor entered and made a bee line for the small gathering of men.
" Mr President" he acknowledged first, before switching his attention to the man in the chair.
" Mr McGarry, can you tell me what just happened?"
Leo, recovered but still shaky, didn't complain when he felt the doctors fingers at his wrist, nor did he complain when a bolt of light was shot into each eye. In fact during the entire preliminary examination he didn't speak once.
" Mr McGarry?"
" It's Leo."
"Ok, can you try and tell me what happened Leo? How did it start?"
Leo noticed the President nod to the agents in the room and they quickly left, before he turned his attention back to him, his eyes focussed but the worry clearly shining through. How was he going to explain what he couldn't understand himself?
" Its hard to explain. I was just staring. At nothing in particular. And I guess I started feeling a little breathless. A little dizzy maybe. That's it."
Both the doctor and the President looked at him sceptically for a few beats, before a sigh from the doctor indicated the moment of doubt was over.
" Well, your blood pressure's a little higher than I'd like, but other than that there isn't anything new to the injuries you already have. This could have simply been a side effect of some of the drugs the hospital is prescribing. That's my diagnosis at the moment, but I would like to run some more tests tomorrow. You received a blow to the head Mr McGarry, and even the best medical professionals can't predict what can happen and when. There is no point taking any chances. In case it isn't and my original diagnosis is correct I'm going to change your prescription. Different drugs, same effect."
Leo nodded his head slowly. To the casual observer the scene would have looked liked three men talking business, to someone who knew at least two of the three, they would have recognised the tension and worry etched on the faces.
Leo watched as the Admiral lifted his bag and walked with the President over to the door, both talking quietly. Rubbing a shaky hand over his face, he leaned forward in his chair slightly and closed his eyes, trying to bring himself back under control. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn he had a bad hangover.
" Here, drink this."
Leo looked up with a little start. He smiled a little self-consciously at his friend and president, who was holding, steadily Leo noted happily, a glass of water out to him.
" Thanks"
Leo's hand wasn't as steady as his friends as he reached out to take the glass and he was thankful when Jed Bartlets bigger hands covered his own as he grasped the water. A silence not as comfortable as it had been earlier fell across the room, the only sound being the small gulps as Leo sipped from the glass held in both hands. He could feel the Presidents gaze.
" Eight years later and I still have a problem with drugs," Leo muttered, more to himself than to anyone. A small snicker from his right brought his attention, and when he thought back to what he had said he laughed too, breaking the silence. When the room fell quiet once more, it was comfortable.
" You feeling better?"
Although the question was casual sounding enough, Leo could hear the underlying concern.
" Yeah, I'm good. Little tired, but all right."
" Doc says you need to lie down and rest."
" Mind if I just lay on the couch? I don't think I could settle in a bed at this time in the day. I mean it's bad enough that I have to lie down at all instead of."
" Leo.."
The tone was meant to warn, but somehow it seemed to warm.
As soon as Leo shifted in his seat to stand the President was at his side, much to his protests, and kept a steadying hand on his back as he made his way a little stiffly to the long couch in front of the TV. He couldn't stop the groan from escaping when he eventually sat back down.
As Leo rearranged the throw cushions behind his back, the President briskly walked into an adjoining room and was back again before Leo even had a chance to realise he had left the room in the first place.
" Lie down"
" You know your impression of my mother is getting scarily accurate"
Jed ignored the comment, as he happily watched his friend comply with his wishes anyway. Once horizontal, Jed arranged the blanket over his friend and stepped back, eventually sitting gingerly on the edge of the coffee table.
" Tomorrow morning you're going over to Bethesda for a few tests. A few agents are going to accompany you in a black SUV, the whole thing should take about two hours, three max, then you'll come straight back here. I'm gonna call Mal and arrange for her to meet you there, so you'll have some company. I would go myself but I've got the economic advisors in the morning, followed by a security briefing, and Abbey left this morning for New York, she wont be back till tomorrow afternoon.."
" Mr President."
" Leo, it's been arranged. There's not a chance I'm going to change my plans so any argument you've got is going to be a waste of breath."
The statement was harsh but the Presidents voice was soft as he said it.
Leo's face faltered for only a moment between defiance and resignation, but eventually settled for the latter. In all honesty he was far too worn out to argue with anyone, never mind Jed Bartlet.
"Yes sir", it was no more than a whisper, but the meaning was there, and heard.
Silence fell across the room then, and with the heat of the blanket and the softness of the cushions supporting his head, it wasn't long before Leo felt his eyes begging to get heavy. He was about to give himself a mental shake when a cool hand patted the back of his own.
" Close your eyes Leo"
Jed Bartlet smiled in genuine affection and a little humour as Leo just did that, his head falling slightly to the side a few moments later as sleep eventually took it's hold. And all without an argument.
He sat for a few moments longer, simply watching his friend, before he shifted from his own place, his face pulling slightly as his back protested from being in the same awkward position for too long. After stretching the kinks out of his back, he bend to rearrange the blanket to better cover his sleeping chief of staff, before walking towards the door. As he closed it softly behind him, he motioned for a familiar agent to come over, which he did promptly, and spoke to him for a few beats before patting the mans arm and walking towards the stairs. The agent settled himself outside the door the President had just come from.
Out on the wide stairs, Jed Bartlet walked slowly down, one step at a time, his hands driven deep into his pockets. His expression had shifted from what it had been moments before, the warm smile replaced with a thin line, face drawn as he considered his friend. Perhaps he was worrying over nothing, perhaps it was simply the drugs the hospital had prescribed, but..
Jed sighed as he reached the bottom. He would just have to wait and see.
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