Title: Leo's Dilemma part 7/9 Private Times 5 /?
Written By: chipmunk Daylight Series
Pairing: Leo/Margaret
Rating: R
Spoilers: None really
This is AU, doesn't matter the year or the situation.
Plot Development By: Lynn lhjessome@yahoo.com
Beta and Mentor By: Lee pigletnpooh@comcast.net
Disclaimer:
The characters are from the NBC, WB, Bravo, A John Wells Prod.,
TV show, 'The West Wing'.
They own them; therefore, they do not belong to me.
They are the creation and property of Aaron Sorkin. I only borrowed them.
No copyright infringement is intended.
No monetary benefit is received or anticipated.
A 'grateful' and 'enormous' thanks, to the actors and actresses,
who portray the characters 'brilliantly' and bring them to life in my head.
May I never embarrass them or me. This is a learning process for me.
Any mistakes found in this fic, are totally my own fault and ignorance.
Feedback: I'd love it hear your opinion! PLEASE! It helps to improve my writing!
Archived at:
Summary: Leo is attacked. Margaret is a target.
Note: CURSE WARNING: Leo's hurting and not too careful with his words.
It gets a little warm in some sections.
****
The next morning, Leo is again eating breakfast, a novelty for him on a workday. Abby insists that he needs to eat, to have the energy for his body to heal itself. She even forced one of Jed's multi-vitamins on him and Margaret was in total agreement. After breakfast Leo's ready to get to back to some semblance of 'business as usual'. They'll have the Secret Service meeting and the staff meeting here at the Residence. Leo feels better this morning, but he still can't get up and down by himself, that's going to be a while longer in happening. He can only walk short distances alone. Hanging onto the furniture with his fingertips helps. He'll just have to see, how he holds up during the day. "Come on, Margaret, let's go have some fun. I hope you've figured out how to get me in and out of the shower." He looks at her with a gleam in his eye, "Then you can have a turn."
Abby lays her napkin down and smiles. She can see the planning process going on in Margaret's head already. "Come on, Leo. Let me get you up and Margaret can walk you to your room." She looks at Margaret, who's moving over to pick up the garment bag, which Leo's suit is in. "Margaret, I'll bring you a wrap skirt and tunic shirt for you to wear. Leo doesn't want you going to the apartment alone." She can see the protest starting, by the look on Margaret's face. "We'll see what Ron has decided and make some decisions after that."
"OK, Thanks, Abby." Margaret gracefully accepts Abby's offer.
Before Abby can rise to move around the table to stand him up, Leo informs the women, "I expect you two ladies to be present at the meeting with Ron this morning. We're going to do that here, before the staff meeting." He looks between them seriously, "I know you both, want to be included in any decisions that are made about a new place for me to live."
"OK, Leo. I'll be here," Abby promises and stands. She turns to her husband, "Jed, go get your shower. Time to cover up those sexy legs of yours." She moves to Leo's side of the table.
"Abby, I think Margaret likes viewing my sexy legs and not those toothpicks that Leo uses to keep his ass off the ground," He wags his eyebrows at Margaret.
"That's it, Jed." Margaret verbally slams him down. She's blushing a bright red. "You can do your damnedest to make be blush, but you'll not insult 'my Leo', to get it." She immediately slaps her hand over her mouth in mortification. Her eyes are as big as dinner plates. She just looks at the President's shocked face and in a panic she runs into the spare room, that she shared with Leo. She slams the door in hiding.
Jed is stunned for a moment, while he realizes, that he's finally found Margaret's boiling point. He pushed her and he found it. He looks at Abby and Leo, they both just look at him, sadly disappointed. Abby has a hand on Leo's shoulder, to keep him sitting, as they for Jed's next move. Abby finally speaks, when Jed is still silent, "Jed, you've done it now. You not only kept prodding at her, till she broke and yelled, you probably have her terrified and feeling ashamed, like it was her fault." Abby lets that sink in for a moment, "You just don't get it, that your friends can be in awe of you and still be casual with you. She's not like me, yet. She doesn't know were all the lines are. She scared to push them. You 'just' got her to accept you as 'Jed' and then you blew it. Now, you go and fix it!" Abby pulls Jed back into line, with surgical precision.
"Yeah, I did blow it." Jed admits humbly. "Sorry, Leo, I'll go fix this with her." Jed tries joking to ease the tension. "Leo, does she throw things when she angry. I'm trying to remember what loose objects are in that room, which she can heave at me. I think once she realizes that she doesn't need to be afraid of me. I may need the agents to save me."
Leo looks at him with a glare, "No. She doesn't throw things that I know of, but I've never been a big enough dumbass, to make her angry enough to find out." This is not easy for Leo, since he can't run after her and now he orders Jed, "Now, get in there and calm her down. It'll be better coming from you anyway and the sooner the better." Leo reveals his fear, "I'm sure she's in there thinking of the worst ramifications."
"Yeah," Jed hurries over to the door and taps, "Margaret, it's me, Jed. I want to come in." He tries the doorknob and cracks the door open, to see Margaret sitting on the side of the bed, with both hands over her face, sobbing. He quickly crosses the floor, to kneel down in front of her, face to face.
She hiccups and get out a broken speech that sounds something like, "I'm sorry and I'll resign and I shouldn't have and please don't have the agents throw me out." It all comes out in a jumble, among the sobs.
He reaches gently to lower her hands, so she can see how sincere he is, "Margaret, I'm 'so' sorry that I pushed you too far. I was wrong. You're not to blame for yelling at me. I caused you to do it. You're not in trouble, I am." She looks at her hands clenched in her lap. She's still trying to catch her breath and not knowing what to say. Jed continues, "I forgot that we're 'new' friends and that you didn't know that I was seeing how for I could push you. I do that with the people I'm close to. I do it with Abby and the girls. Leo and I have done it for so long, that it's as normal as breathing to us." He wipes away the tears on her cheek. "I'm so sorry, I made you cry. I never meant to."
Margaret looks up at him. "So……I don't have to leave?" She's almost afraid to ask it out loud.
"I hope you never leave us, Margaret. True friends are so hard to find, nowadays." He pulls her forward and into a hug. "Am I forgiven, or do you need to throw something at me first?" He's always teasing her, that she must have a temper hidden somewhere, to go along with her red hair.
She smiles a watery smile, "Yes and no."
"What do you mean, yes and no?" Jed has a mock panic in his voice now and places a hand on his chest in mock fear, "Leo said, he didn't think that you'd throw things at me." He tries to sound serious, "Are you trying to get me killed by Abby and Leo, by letting them think, that I messed up my apology? Did I mess it up," he asks anxiously, but a grin is braking through his act.
She hiccups again and giggles at his desperate look. She knows he's trying to cheer her up. She grabs some tissues from the nightstand to wipe the tears from her face.
"Yes, Jed. I forgive you and no, I won't throw anything at you," she explains quietly, but she has a gleam in her eye.
He kisses her forehead in happiness, that it's going to be fine, "Good. Then, are we friends again?"
"Yeah, we are." She leans in and kisses his cheek to prove it. "Just you remember, Jed. I'm making a list on you, for after the administration."
"Oh, Lord. Now, I have two of you to pummel my ass, the day after my successor is sworn in." Jed gives her, his own dire prediction.
"No, I get the second day after. Abby gets the same day and Leo gets the day after, so I have to wait, till the second day after," she gives it to him logically, about the hierarchy involved.
"And Leo gets off, free and clear," he questions in mock anger.
"No, I pummeling his ass the first day after. I'm more patient than Abby and we can trade you two, on the second day after. That's when she can pummel Leo, for the list she has on him. It's a nice plan." She smiles at him in happy anticipation. ~maybe he'll need to keep his security detail awhile longer.~
"Thanks, Margaret, that makes me feel safe. Better than all the bodyguards," he sarcastically retorts.
She just shakes her head in amazement. It really is like breathing to them, but it emphasizes how much she means to him.
"Let's go show Abby and Leo that you have forgiven me, and that I have no bleeding wounds for her to treat." Jed takes her by the hand and leads her back out to the others. They are both smiling.
Leo's delighted at the happy smiles on the faces of Jed and Margaret. He just can't resist jumping back into the comfortable teasing, "Hey, Jed. What were you doing, alone, in there with 'my Margaret', to put that kind of smile on both of your faces?"
"Leo, I 'just' got her to be friends again and you're going to undo all my hard work of pleading and begging. She may kill me, still." He explains how serious it is, "She has a list on me and plans to get in line, after the two of you, to pummel my ass when my administration is over. That's no joking matter." He tries to sound seriously, but the laughter, in his voice, gives him away.
Margaret just grins at the two of them and exchanges a smile with Abby. Abby is standing Leo up and Margaret takes him by his right arm and escorts him to the spare room and to another adventure in bathing Leo.
****
Leo firmly announces after she shuts the bedroom door, "Margaret, I've 'got' to try using the shower. The getting up and down in the tub is killing my ribs."
"OK," Margaret agrees especially since she can't help him up out of the tub. "I have it worked out how I can watch you step in and out." She reveals some of the groundwork she has done. "I made sure we had a stool in this bathroom. It's a smaller bathroom than Jed's so it's going to be cozy, to say the least."
"Sounds nice to me." He starts his slow walk in and sits on the stool to catch his breath before they attempt to get him into the shower. He tries to holds his bent arms up to shoulder height, but the left arm is not able to rise more than half that.
"I guess that means you want unwrapped." He grins at her in agreement. She teases him, to help distract her mind from the coming shower, "Here, I was thinking you missed holding me and wanted a hug."
"I've wanted to hug you all morning." He tells her softly, "I really wanted to hug you after you left the room, but I couldn't go to you. I couldn't get up fast enough." She steps into his arms for the hug, now. He sadly continues, "Margaret, it was like the dream. I couldn't move. I wasn't able to get to you!"
"It's OK, Leo." She reassures him, that she didn't expect him to run after her, "I'm the one that panicked. I'm sorry that I left the room and put you in the position, of not being able to get to me., She quietly confesses as she wraps her arms around him and holds the side of his head against her and drops a kiss to the top of his head. "I never thought of that. I shouldn't have said anything."
"No," Leo makes a very soft chuckle, "Jed asked for it and you gave it to him. I loved that part." He pauses and seriously adds, "I just wanted to hold you. I just hate it when you're upset. It's not your fault that I'm hurt and I'll be better soon." He tries to sound cheery, "A week to ten days, I'll be good as new." He smiles suggestively and kisses her breast that's closest to his lips, through her tight tank top.
She smiles at his antics to cheer her up, "Still being hopeful, aren't you, Flyboy."
"Want to see my tattoo," he eagerly offers.
"That sounds like a bad pick up line, Leo." She rolls her eyes at his corny question.
He nods his head to the side, "I might get lucky!"
"Just keep trying, Flyboy. Maybe someday you will." She kisses him to appease his wishful thinking. She steps away to catch her breath and turns on the shower to warm it up and returns to remove his wrapping and hand bandages.
"Oh, that feels wonderful." He rubs his ribs, like he's trying to return the circulation to the skin. He hesitantly tries to breathe deeper, but doesn't really want Margaret to see him try. Good thing, he still can't do more than shallow breathing. He next tries to pick at the tape holding the bandage on his hand, using just the tips of his thumb and index finger, like a claw. He's not doing very well as the fingers just will not cooperate for him. "Here, Margaret, I tried." He holds out his hands to her.
"You are stubborn and you will try to do, what you can't do yet." She shakes her head in despair of ever getting him to change. "Sometimes, Leo, you're, your own worst enemy."
"I know and I have you there to either help me or tell me I'm an idiot." He states as fact, with a happy smile.
"Happy to be of service, Leo." Margaret can't resist, "It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it."
"Yeah, it is, Margaret, but that's a bad line too," he teases her with her same retort.
"Leo, we're down to the pants again, lets get you up and I'll wrap the towel around you, as you drop em." She tries to sound casual about it.
"There you go again, with the 'drop em.'" Leo teases while she helps him to stand.
She can tell that he's really enjoys this part of his day, "Leo, focus here. You can wear the towel in and you can throw the towel back out, after you get in. I'll give it back, when you want out." She really hopes that plan will work, but has her doubts.
"Margaret!" He's really shocked, as he looks between the clear shower door and her serious face. He strongly complains "You wouldn't let me in here yesterday, for you to keep an eye on me. But when it's my turn in the shower, it's OK for you to stay. That's some convenient change in the rules, you got there, Margaret." He grins as wide as his damaged face will allow, "Now, who's going to enjoy the peep show?"
"Leo!" She's now shocked and her face shows it. ~Damn his suggestions, I'll save that mental visual till later.~
"Well, I guess I'll just stick around for payback, during your shower." He makes the threat with bravado and waits for her to shot him down. He knows she'd kick his ass out, before that happens.
"Forget it, Leo," She explains how it's 'not' going to be a peep show, so no payback is due. "I'm hanging a towel over the handrail on the outside and I won't be able to see the bottom half of you." She adds just in case there's a flaw in this plan, "You can turn your back, when I hand you the dry towel."
Leo goes for the blush, big time and he loves it, "Never miss an opportunity to view the tattoo, do you!" He really teases her suggestively, "If I'd known, you would like it so well. I'd have found a reason to drop my pants, before now."
"Leo, somehow that just doesn't sound right," she hisses at him.
Leo tries to chuckle, but the wrap is off and he has to hold his side.
"That's it Leo, your meds should be working by now. You're going to get too tired, to stand long enough, for a quick shower." She give him some last minute unneeded instructions, "I want you to just wash off, best as you can and get out. Just run water through your hair. We'll get it shampooed again tomorrow."
"I agree. Help me up and I'll drop my pants," he says the last part in a deep rumbling tone. He knows that just gets to her.
"Leo, you said that, in your sexy voice on purpose." She reveals that she has him figured out, "Not too shy are you, Leo?"
"Margaret, I'm yours body and soul." He honestly agrees. "Both are yours for the asking, whenever you're ready."
"Leo," she warns him. "Don't get frisky now, your hands don't work well, yet."
She's waiting with a towel draped over her arm.
"Well, you better practice standing first. Up, Leo. No cute remarks either," she warns Leo as she helps him to rise to his feet.
"Just keeping in practice, Margaret." He holds a curled left hand against his ribs as he balances himself with the right forearm against her shoulder.
She orders, to keep them moving right along, "Turn your back to me, Leo." He complies, feet firmly planted to balance him self. He goes to slide his satin pants down, with his thumbs at the sides. She catches herself hesitating, to hold the towel up, till the jet tattoo appears and she immediately snaps the towel open to cover the appearing pink skin below it.
"A little slow there with the towel, weren't you, Margaret?" He so loves the fact that she was tempted to see his tattoo. If he's lucky she'll drop a kiss on it when she dries him off. It's a good reason to get in and out of the shower quickly.
"Leo, get into the shower," she orders and hopes he doesn't notice her nice blush at getting caught staring at his backside. From what she can tell it's a nice backside. "Let me balance you as you step in." The shower is on and the towel around his waist is getting wet.
"I'm in, Margaret, maybe I just better drop my towel to the back of the tub. It's getting soaked." His voice rumbles a low suggestive warning, "This wet towel is getting heavier and will drop any second. You better shut the door or the peep show 'will' become a reality."
"Oh, Leo." She has a cry in her voice. She doesn't want to be accused of peeping, but he sounds like he's having trouble, " Don't you fall or hurt your self. Just hurry and we'll get you out. "She slides the door shut. Worry and temptation are warring inside her head. She sits on the stool to wait and can only see the top half of him. Imagination is a wonderful thing, if she wasn't so afraid for him.
"I'm fine, Margaret," he reassures her from inside the shower and she hears a wet plop as he drops the wet towel behind him. He quickly soaps, with a bar of soap in his cupped hand, what he can easily reach and he figures, what he can't wash, will just have to make do with the water and the suds rinsing down his body. He smirks to him self and decides to point out to Margaret "Too bad that you're too shy to wash my back."
"Leo," she growls from outside. He's teasing and she's worrying. "Hurry up!" She pauses momentarily and asks, "Are you ready yet? I have a dry towel."
"Yeah, that's about all I can do with my hands hurt and I can't bend over to do my legs. All of me got rinsed though. Give me the dry towel, please." He holds clumsily onto the door handle inside the shower.
She hops up and looks at his face through the glass. Looking, to judge his state of tiredness, "I'm holding the towel open against the door, Leo. You just open the door and step into it. I'll wrap it around you, backwards."
"You gonna close your eyes just in case," he asks like he really might care.
"No, but I'm gonna look you in the eye," Margaret promises. "You go to fall. I'll want to know it. Bare body or no bare body," she states firmly.
"I trust you, Margaret." He states as he opens the door with a grin on his face.
"Hi, Margaret, nice seeing you here." He flippantly remarks to her.
"Leo, quit joking and hold still." She wraps her arms around him to secure the towel.
Leo is standing with water dripping off his wet body, since he can't use his hands to even wipe his face. Margaret straightens and just stares, for a pause in time. He looks so sexy standing there all wet and with a two day growth stubble on his face. He looks into her eyes and then wraps his wet arms around her and presses his wet lips to hers. He pulls slightly away from her lips and with his breath, warm on her moist face, he reveals to her. "God, I've wanted us wet together, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind," he remarks in disappointment. ~I guess I'll just add that to my growing wish list. I'll now have another lover's moment stuck in my head.~ "You're doing crazy things to me, Margaret." He indulges in another kiss. They separate slightly and he looks down at her wet, transparent tank top. The peaks of her breasts are showing her desire. She looks down at his line of sight and looks up to meet his eyes, with a bright blush on most of her. He can't resist, he lowers his face to gently nibble a taunt nipple and she softly moans. The sound washes over him, to soothe his soul. Their emotions are so raw and fragile at this time. He feels the stirrings of his desire, starting under the towel and he knows that he has to cool both of them back down. He raises his eyes to hers and with a grin he points out, "I like this new inventive way you have, of drying me off, but if you don't get me dry soon. I'm going to need to get back in for a 'cold' shower," his breathing is not only shallow, but it's shaky at the moment with desire.
"Leo, sit down, before you fall." She tries to distance her mind from what just happened and what he just implied. If he 'was' healthy, they'd both be needing dry towels right now.
He complies and his ribs 'are' hurting, from the stress of the ragged breathing he's experiencing right now.
She dries him from the top down. She tries to be impersonal and not let her mind wander to things that she best leave alone for today. There's no way she's going to take her time now, they almost stepped over the line this time.
"Leo, here's your boxers, let's get them on as usual." She slides them onto his legs and stands him up. Margaret steps behind him and slides them as high as possible, under the towel and onto his hips. As he removes the towel and the jet winks at her, she gives into temptation and drops a quick kiss on it. Margaret knows that Leo's holding his breath to see if she'll kiss it. She doesn't disappoint him, but she quickly flips the band of his boxers over it and steps back to keep from responding to the vibes between them.
"Leo, lets move you to the bedroom to finish getting you dressed." She figures this is a smart move, to get them away from the area of temptation and memories.
"Sure, Margaret. I need to get done, so you can shower." He knows that the day and the world are now waiting to intrude on their time together.
They dress him in his suit pants and suspenders, which he can hook up with his thumbs. They just have him in a dress shirt, over his elastic band wrapping. She doesn't get it as tight as Abby, but if needed, Abby will rewrap him later. If he has too much trouble later today, she'll call her. She uses his small electric razor on him and he's not pleased that he can't hold onto the shaver, well enough, to do it himself. She combs his hair, noticing the graying that's starting at his sideburns. She thinks it looks distinguished. They decide that his suit coat is just too much pain and struggling to be worth it. It's summer and he'll be in his office, all the time.
"Leo, let me go get one of the others, to take you into the sitting area, while I shower. Josh will be here early for staff and you can catch up on what he's has been covering for you." Margaret needs to get herself ready for the day. The two meetings will start soon. She plans to go to the office after Ron's meeting and get the messages organized for Leo, while his doing the morning staff meeting.
"OK, party-pooper." Leo smiles at her from the side of the bed, "I was going to hold the towel for you, to return the favor."
"Not today, Leo." Margaret is already in White House mode.
"OK, I'll take a rain check." He grins and steals kiss as a deposit on the rain check, as she walks past on her way to the door.
Margaret backs away after the kiss and opens the bedroom door. He keeps distracting her. She looks out and Abby is by the phone stand, setting the handset back into the cradle. "Abby, can you walk Leo to a couch?"
"Sure, Margaret, here are the clothes I mentioned loaning you." Abby's happy to help, since she's dressed and knows that Margaret will worry, till she ready for the day as well. Abby retrieves the clothes, from the back of the couch, where she'd laid them and enters the spare room. Abby can see that the two of them look a bit strained at the moment and she guesses that more than the mirror got steamed up in the bathroom. Poor Leo.