Author: Jenn AKA Mab8Merlin
Rating: G
Series: Continued from 'Cat in a Box'
Spoilers: Mix and match from all five seasons; plus you should read 'Cat in a Box' before reading this, though you don't have too.
Disclaimer: As much as I wish, they aren't mind and never will be. Well, except for the Cat and the Panda. C.J., Danny and Josh all belong to Warner Brothers, Sorkin, NBC and a host of other people. I just take them out of the toy box to play with them every now and then.
Author's Note: People asked real nicely for a continuation of 'Cat in a Box' so here is part two. I've only been to Washington D.C. once for two days and it poured both days, so I'm using and other Internet sites for my information. Just so people understand, I'm pulling stuff from all over the place in the series but I'm setting it season twoish.
Also, if anyone is interested in the inspiration behind Mia, you can find
pictures here.
The kitten is Rusty. *grins* He's about four months old.
Half days were always something C.J. enjoyed, especially when it was mid-spring and the days were warm. There hadn't been much news to report for the day and no new problems had arisen that the Senior Staff would have to deal with.
The day had ended at one in the afternoon; something that hadn't happened in the longest time. Toby and Andi were taking the twins to her parents for the day and Sam had mumbled something about Mallory and sailing before escaping from the walls of the White House.
C.J. had mentioned something to Donna about roller blading around The Mall and the monuments by the Potomac for the afternoon and somehow, both Donna and Josh were joining her. They were meeting at C.J.'s apartment since it was the closest to The Mall, though C.J. still had some time before they got there.
Mia was running around the living room playing with a little ball of blue fake fur. It had been one of many toys Danny had bought for the kitten in the two months since he had given Mia to her. Lying on her stomach surrounded by little scratching posts and cat toys of numerous sizes, C.J. tossed the little scrap of fur across the room and watched at the kitten pounded on it before bring it back. It was almost as if the kitten was part cat and part dog the way it loved to play fetch.
Reaching out, C.J. grabbed the little orange kitten and pulled her up under her chin. Stroking under the kitten's chin, she smiled as Mia laid down on the floor and started purring.
"You are a cute little thing, aren't you?"
The kitten responded by purring harder and closing its eyes.
C.J. smiled to herself as she let her own eyes drift shut.
"It's open Josh." C.J. called out as she heard the knock on her apartment door. She was to content at the moment to open her eyes let alone move from her spot on the floor.
"Mon Ami what happened to your apartment? It looks like something trashed it."
"Shut up Joshua."
"Hey C.J., where's our kitten?" Danny asked, sitting down on the floor next to her.
Opening her eyes, C.J. looked up at the voice that wasn't suppose to be in her apartment.
Spotting the kitten currently sleeping under C.J.'s chin, Danny laughed and reached out to pet the kitten's head, gently stroking the underside of C.J.'s throat in the process.
Josh grinned as he sat down next to the other man, reaching out and picking up a fake mouse on a rope. Sliding his finger into the little loop on the end, he started batting it into the air.
C.J. momentarily forgot to be mad at the fact that Danny was sitting on her living room floor uninvited and enjoyed the feeling of his finger on her skin.
"Where's Donna?"
"She said something about getting changed and finding her roller blades." Josh answered, hitting himself in the head with the cat toy.
"What's Danny doing here?"
"Josh said you were going roller blading."
"Hmmm. Yes; Josh, Donna and I were going roller blading; I don't remember inviting you along. Besides, I didn't think you were that wild about roller blading"
"Ice skating; I said I wasn't wild about Ice Skating but I'd do it. And Josh invited me."
C.J. looked at Josh, an eye brow raised as she watched him batting at the cat's toy.
"Don't look at me like that Claudia Jean. Did you really think I was going to go roller blading with you and Donna alone? I'd be outnumbered 2 to 1 and knowing you two, I'd find myself swimming with the fishes."
Smiling, C.J. pushed herself up off her stomach and turned around so she could sit Indian style. Picking up a small plastic ball with a bell in the middle, she rolled it across the floor and watched as the kitten chased it.
"Aww, now come on Josh, you don't really think you'd end up in the Potomac do you?"
"Water and you don't mix C.J. Before the end of the day, someone is going to wind up in the river."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sun was setting on the horizon as C.J. and Donna skated along the Potomac. Laughing, they weaved along, stopping by the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
"I can not believe that Josh took out that hot dog vendor and the guy selling those balloons." Donna said, sliding the backpack off her back and reaching into it for a bottle of water.
C.J. nodded, drinking from her own water bottle. "Who knew that he couldn't roller blade?"
"Danny's doing pretty good."
"Once he got up on them. I'm going to have bruises on my back from when he fell and pinned me to the ground."
Donna laughed, setting her backpack on the wall of the reflecting pool. "Are you sure he didn't have alterative motives in doing that?"
Straightening from tightening her roller blades, C.J. starred at Donna. "I'm going to kill the nimrod."
"You don't mean that C.J. Look at all the fun you've had this afternoon. I mean, how many men have been willing to humiliate themselves roller blading for the woman they love?"
"Besides Josh?" C.J. asked, her eyes twinkling.
Donna blushed but didn't say anything.
As the sky changed from the orangey blaze of dusk to the denim blue of twilight, the two women stared out over the reflecting pool towards the Washington Monument.
"Its amazing isn't it?"
"I know. Do you remember ever seeing anything as beautiful?"
Shaking her head no, the two continued to stare out over the pool in silence.
C.J. smiled as she thought about what Donna had said earlier. No one else had done as much for her as Danny had in the past three years. Sure some of what he'd done had been for the administration; but he'd also given her Gail and Mia; plus all the times he'd been there when everyone else had turned their back.
C.J. was jerked out of her memories by Donna's startled shriek as she was tackled into the reflecting pool. Looking down at the water, C.J. watched as Donna sat up, brushing her wet blond hair from her face. Next to her, Josh pushed himself up on his elbows, spitting water out of his mouth as he stared up at Donna.
"JOSHUA!" Donna screamed at him, splashing water into his face.
Sputtering, Josh sat up, splashing a handful of water at Donna. "What?"
"We're…I'm…we're in the reflecting pool!"
"Good observation. I did say someone would wind up in the river by the end of the day. This is better, less polluted."
"Oh! I'm going to drowned you."
Grabbing the back of his head, she pushed his face back down in the water.
Choking, Josh reached out and tickled Donna's side; he spit out a mouthful of water as he sat up.
Laughing, C.J. put a hand over her mouth as she watched the two fighting in the water.
Danny quietly skated up to the scene before him. Shaking his head, Danny could only imagine what Josh had done. It had taken over twenty minutes to straighten things out with the hot dog vendor and the balloon man that Josh had plowed down. After that, it had taken almost an hour to figure out which way the two woman had skated off to and another ten minutes to find them.
As silently as he could, Danny skated up behind C.J. Sliding his left arm around her waist, he pulled her back against his chest. Letting his chin rest on her shoulder, he smiled as she jumped slightly.
"How'd you avoid falling in?"
"Josh tackled Donna." C.J. answered, smiling as she let her left hand fall over the one he had around her waist.
"Where have you two been?"
"It took awhile to settle down that hot dog vendor and by the time we did, the two of you were long gone."
Closing her eyes, C.J. enjoyed the peacefulness of the evening and the feeling of being in Danny's arms.
Pressing his lips against the side of her hair, Danny smiled as he realized she was completely relaxed. Sliding his backpack off his right shoulder, Danny carefully maneuvered the small package out of it. Dropping the bag on the wall in front of them, he held the bundle in front of her face with his right hand and nudged the side of her head with his cheek.
"Open your eyes C.J."
Sighing, she did as he asked. Sucking in a breath, C.J. lifted her right hand and covered his hand holding the black and white stuffed panda bear. Lowering their hands, she smiled at the furry animal before turning her head sideways to smile at him.
"You got me a stuffed panda bear."
Nodding, he smiled at her smile. "I seem to remember you telling me you wanted a panda bear, among other things, on the night I gave you Mia."
"Yes, I remember. But I also remember telling you that you couldn't buy me all the animals I wanted."
Tucking the stuffed animal against their hands that were at her waist, Danny smiled.
"You said I couldn't give you a real panda bear and wolf unless I also got you a farm. This is just a stuffed bear."
Shaking her head, C.J. leaned forward and pressed her lips against his lightly. Kissing him, C.J. sighed at the feeling it that moved through her body. Pulling back, she smiled at him before leaning back against him.
Letting his head rest on her shoulder, Danny smiled.
"Thank you for the bear." She said softly.
"I'm glad you like it. You can expect to receive the rest of your presents sometime in the future."
"Danny, you know you can't give me everything that I asked for. It's just not possible."
"Shhhh. Stop worrying. You know I won't do anything to cause you any kind of trouble. That includes getting you in trouble with Leo and Toby. When the time is right, you'll have everything you want."
"Thank you."
"You already said that, but you're welcome."
"No, thank you for being so…you."
Danny laughed, holding her tighter. "What do you say we fish the two guppies out of the pool and go back to your place to order something for dinner?"
Rubbing her left thumb over the top of his hand, she smiled at him one last time before looking at the two still fighting in the water.
"Come on you two. Time to get out of the pool, otherwise I'm
going to let the park rangers deal with you."
