Title: Campaign Snapshots: General Chaos Part 1/3

Author: Kansas J. Miller

Genre: Ensemble, multiple pairings

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: This is a pre-WH, campaign-fic, but there are spoilers through S5.

Summary: Follows the eight-part "Campaign Snapshots: Primary Colors" series, which can be found at my site.

This story takes place in the months following the primary elections, but is pre-convention. A convention story will eventually be a part of this series.

Thanks to Rhonda, as always.

~*~

It was late April and it was windy. CJ Cregg knew her curly hair would be a rat's nest by the time they finally got back to the hotel in Omaha – whenever that might be – and she'd have to spend the better part of her evening de-tangling the mess. But for all of her sacrifice, at least the Governor was doing well on today's campaign trail; his speech to the cattle farmers had gone over well, and now, as they traipsed through this field behind Bartlet and a hoard of enthusiastic ranchers, CJ could only hope that the mud now caked on her boots would wash off. If, indeed, it was actually mud. CJ shuddered at the thought.

"What the hell is he doing?" Toby Ziegler grumbled as the tall grass in front of them bent down with every footstep.

Josh Lyman raised his brow and adjusted his sunglasses. "Shmoozing the cattle farmers, Toby. We're shmoozing."

"This is stupid," CJ grumbled, randomly swatting her hands angrily, violently through the air as she detected the buzz of an insect.

At CJ's sudden flailing, Sam Seaborn tried his best to contain a chuckle. "Whoa, there, CJ. It's just a bee."

CJ spun spastically around, now face to face with the younger man. "Well, remind me again when it stings me and I end up at some hospital ER with a huge, infected, poisonous bee welt!"

Josh looked genuinely concerned. "Oh, wow, I didn't know you were allergic to bees."

Toby snorted, and CJ shot him a glance before turning back to Josh and Sam. "I'm not," she said sheepishly, purposefully crossing her arms over her chest. "But why take the chance?"

Before anyone could respond, Leo appeared outside of the huddle that the four had made. "Excuse me. Everyone's complete and total lack of willingness to join the Governor near the cows has not gone unnoticed. But he's letting you off the hook."

"Bus?" Josh asked with a grin, pointing in the distant direction of the road.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Bus."

CJ did her best not to bolt, while Toby tried to hide his relief. Sam shrugged, and Josh followed as the four began to walk from the field.

~*~

"Carol, did you say that Jillian Fox wanted a comment, or was it Steve Carver?" CJ called from the one of the double beds filling the tiny Omaha hotel room. With her back leaned up against the headboard, the campaign's press secretary was completely surrounded by computer printouts, newspapers, and two working laptops.

Carol emerged from the bathroom with a towel in her wet hands. "Jillian Fox filed already. Steve was the one asking for a clarification on the farmer's insurance."

CJ nodded and closed the notebook she'd been looking through before grabbing another stack of paper. Removing the pencil from her now-tied back hair, she scribbled on the sheet without glancing up at her assistant. "Can you get this to Sam? He's supposed to be talking to the press, but he shouldn't clarify anything on farmer's insurance until we get that straightened out with Leo."

Carol nodded and took the note that CJ had scrawled. "Yeah, I'll let him know. Did you want to do phone messages now or later? You have a ton from when you guys were at the cattle thing."

CJ looked up at her assistant as though the brunette had grown a second head. No words were necessary; Carol got the point and grinned. "I'll go find Sam."

~*~

Carol walked down the hallway in search of the elevator that would take her to the hotel lobby. She'd pieced together, after running into Josh, Toby, Margaret, and even the Governor himself, that Sam was in the lobby talking to reporters. As she hit the L button inside the elevator, Carol hoped that CJ's message would not reach Sam too late.

Down in the lobby, Sam was easy to spot. He was surrounded by a small gathering of reporters, all identifiable by the notebooks they held and the recorders they were holding up near Sam's face. Quickly approaching the group, Carol cleared her throat loudly enough to gain Sam's attention. He noticed her immediately, and smoothly took the note out of Carol's hand without missing a beat in his discussion.

"And as I was saying," Sam continued as he glanced down at Carol's note, "we will continue to extend the invitation to President Harden for monthly debates with Governor Bartlet. The primary season is over. Governor Bartlet is not the official Democratic nominee yet, but we have the delegates, and the President needs to defend and explain the past four years, instead of simply launching more attack ads."

As he finished his response, Sam turned to Carol and nodded with a murmur. "Tell CJ that I already talked to Leo and took care of the clarification."

Carol nodded and hung back, waiting for Sam's press gaggle to end. On her travels through the hotel looking for him, the brunette assistant had been given a number of messages to pass on to the speechwriter. Carol didn't mind waiting. Sam was almost through, anyway.

As Sam continued to answer questions, Carol's eyes and mind began to wander. She really liked the members of the Press Corps that had been traveling with the Bartlet campaign since the past fall; they had spent endless hours together on the press bus, at campaign events and in hotel lobby briefings just like the one Sam was conducting. There were even more informal moments spent at meals, in hallways, or in bars at the end of long days. The reporters were nice people, even though the campaign was sometimes forced to treat the journalists as the enemy.

As her eyes fell onto the red-headed Danny Concannon, Carol furrowed her brow and again tried to decipher *that* mystery. He and CJ had had something going on, that much was for sure. No one else knew, Carol was fairly certain, but spending almost every waking moment with CJ leant itself to a heightened sense about these things. Danny's crush on CJ was not exactly classified information, but Carol was almost positive that during the primaries, CJ had reciprocated. Both the Press Secretary's mood and her private, discreet nature had been heightened for a few weeks, until everything suddenly came crashing down after the Ohio primary. Now Danny never swung by the room in the morning to say hello; the two weren't chatting easily during press stops, and CJ was no longer going out at night without a word as to where. She seemed quieter, somehow, sad even. Carol knew she couldn't mention it, and no one else seemed to notice the change, but something was definitely up.

As Danny met Carol's eyes, Carol blushed and looked away, guilty that she had been thinking about this at all. CJ's private life was not up for speculation, no matter that it was only going on in Carol's head. Maybe, the brunette mused, she had even imagined the entire thing in her thirst for a little drama on the campaign trail.

As Sam finished up his briefing and the reporters began to disperse, Carol vowed to stop thinking about the love lives of the campaign staff. It was none of her business, anyway.

~*~

Danny Concannon checked over his notes one last time before heading up to his hotel room. He didn't want to leave anything un-clarified while Sam Seaborn was still approachably in the lobby. But everything looked good, and as Danny entered the elevator, he mentally began to prepare the story that he would type once he reached his room.

The Bartlet campaign, while not making a full, clean sweep of the primary elections, had already amassed enough convention delegates; his nomination was a lock. And as late April prepared to float into May, there were only a few months to go until the "official" campaigns began. However, as Danny was prepared to write, in his quest to unseat the conservative President Harden, the Bartlet campaign had managed to make the campaign battleground feel more like October than spring. It was as if the general election were only weeks away – attack ads from both sides were airing in over twenty states, hardball strategies and tactics were being used by both campaigns, and the media heat had been turned way up. Danny hadn't been this energized by a campaign in years.

As he stepped off of the elevator and onto his floor, Danny's thoughts turned to CJ. Catching sight of Carol in the lobby had only served to once again remind the reporter of his phenomenal failure in the department of his love life. He'd done the right thing, he knew, by letting CJ let him go – she'd wanted to end things and he hadn't. It hadn't been easy to give in and give up, but after the angry tangle they'd had over the source of some sticky quotations he'd used in a story – Danny knew it would be easier for CJ and the campaign if they just ended their blooming relationship. And in Ohio, he had tried explained that to her with logic and a calm head. Still, it was obvious to them both that their feelings weren't simply going to disappear.

As a result, CJ was avoiding all contact with him, and he, with her. It was confusing and it hurt; Danny had bared his everything to CJ – he'd told her that he loved her. And even though she had feelings of similar depth, CJ was adamant that she could not have both her career and a relationship with him at the same time. Danny hated the situation; he cursed whatever higher power had put him in this quandary. Seeing CJ and not being able to have her – it was pure torture.

With a sigh, Danny unlocked his hotel room, threw his suit-coat on the bed, and powered up the laptop he'd left out on the desk. It was time to get his mind off of everything – it was time for him to write.

~*~

Donna Moss could tell that her boss was growing frustrated. Barely noticeable beads of sweat were beginning to spring out at Josh's temples, and the increasingly violent way that he was chewing the stick of gum she'd given him was another dead giveaway. As she stood dutifully off to the side with Josh's notebook, Donna listened to him argue with Toby and Leo. As their voices rose, Donna found herself hoping that no one would burst a blood vessel before the meeting could end.

"Leo! I'm not kidding around on this. We have to get a meaner ad, or this bullshit from Harden is going to start making a dent!" Josh cried, his eyes widening.

Toby cocked his head and jumped in. "Our ad is already pretty *mean*, Josh. We're accusing the guy of having no record to run on!"

"And he's saying we're weak on defense because we have no experience! That's what people are going to remember!" Josh shot back. "We have to come up with something to top that ad, or we're going to be *eating* this until November!"

Leo held up a hand. "Gentlemen, please. The Governor's been pretty clear about not wanting to go any more negative – at least until the fall. Right now, and Sam and CJ will also back me up on this, I think that turning up the heat anymore would be a bad idea. It's already early for this kind of campaigning, and we have to bide our time. We'll come up with something to top their ad, just not yet. Right now, we're busy actually running for office. And that's the party line."

Josh sighed heavily and shook his head, muttering. "Weak on defense. He's weak on defense."

Toby threw his hands up. "Harden has NO RECORD!" He bellowed loudly, angrily. "He's done nothing! We're losing jobs, the economy is in a hole! And we're going to make *damn* sure that *that's* what people remember!"

Donna jumped at the volume and intensity of Toby's voice. Leo and Josh were silent; the tension couldn't have been cut with a meat cleaver. Finally, Leo shook his head and chuckled. "I like it when you guys get all riled up."

Toby grinned ever-so-slightly as he began to collect his notes. "I'm going to debate prep now."

Leo slipped on his glasses and flipped through his own notebook. "Good. Josh, did Sam get any word back from the Harden campaign about actually *scheduling* a debate?"

Josh felt like he had whiplash, the topic in the room had changed so quickly. Glancing with surprise at the door as Toby slipped out, Josh distractedly turned back to Leo. "Wait, so we're not resolving this ad war thing?"

Leo raised his brow, his expression barely containing his amusement. "I thought we just did. Now I'll repeat, did Sam hear—"

Josh snorted and cocked his head at his assistant. "Donna, will you please find Sam? I'm not going to be done here for a while."

Donna nodded, forcing herself to suppress a smile as she moved out of the room. Josh was always the last person to give up on anything; his attitude was what daily made her believe that this time next year, they'd all be setting up shop in the West Wing of the White House.

~*~

Donna was told she would find Sam in CJ's hotel room. The door was ajar, but the blonde hung back and knocked shyly on the doorframe. With the exception of Josh, almost all of the senior campaign aides intimidated Donna. The Governor and Leo were on another level completely, and Sam was like the popular guy in high school who could make Donna weak in the knees. Toby was just plain scary, and CJ was the cool, older, very-unapproachable big sister. Even though everyone was slowly getting closer as they spent long days together, there were times when Donna felt totally and completely out of her league.

"Donna is that you? You can come in here," CJ called, the pencil between her teeth slurring her words.

Donna slowly entered the room. CJ was sitting Indian-style on one of the beds, while paper, briefing memos, and a laptop covered the rest of the comforter. Sam was perched on the other bed, and he looked up at Donna through his glasses to offer her a friendly smile.

"Hey. Was Josh meeting with Toby and Leo over the ads?"

Before Donna could answer, CJ distractedly waved at one of the easy chairs. "Sit down, Donna," she mumbled, typing away on one of the laptops as her eyes perused a document.

Donna smiled shyly and sat on the edge of a blue easy chair. She looked over at Sam. "Yeah, they were yelling. Then he sent me out to find you – Leo wanted to know if you'd heard anything from Harden's people about scheduling a debate."

Sam pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. "No, and I almost don't want them to respond."

Donna cocked her head curiously. "Why?"

CJ snorted, most of her attention still wrapped up in the press release she was writing. She glanced briefly over at the young blonde. "Because."

Sam chuckled. "Because. The longer he waits to answer our request for debates, the more we can publicize that Harden's a chicken-shit."

Donna nodded, understanding. "We can make it look like Governor Bartlet's got the President running scared?"

Sam nodded, his expression warm as he studied Donna. "You've got it."

Donna shook her head in amazement. "I never thought that this is how a campaign would be run. I'm not sure what I expected, but this sure hasn't been it. It's amazing, but unbelievably different from anything I had imagined."

CJ looked up briefly to chuckle as Sam grinned widely. "I don't think any of us had any idea what we were signing up for. Nothing's ever done by the book anymore, it seems. Did you get your degree in political science?"

Donna blushed as her eyes quickly ran from Sam's. "Well, I, uh, never actually graduated. I kept changing my major, which put me behind, credit- wise. And then I took a year off to help my ex-boyfriend pay for—" Donna stopped, realizing that she was rambling too far. "Hey, who knows? Maybe I'll go back to school someday. But hopefully after this is over I'll be able to find a decent job in Washington."

CJ glanced up over the laptop screen. "Well, no matter what happens, you'll have a pretty nice line on your resume."

Donna shrugged, shaking her head quickly. "This is more than just a line on a resume to me. I've believed in the Governor ever since I first learned about him. He's always been so vibrant, so charismatic, and so believable to me."

Sam stood up, a thoughtful expression on his face. "We should be talking to you, Donna. You're not a professional in the field – you're learning a lot here, but essentially you're an average voter. Sometimes I feel like we are very out of touch with what regular Americans want to see in a Presidential candidate."

CJ was still typing, her ear only half-way in the conversation. "Well, we should probably find out. The five of us – I think we're jaded by the never ending news-cycles and the polling data and the—oh, shit! What the *hell* is this? Mandy just sent out a new e-mail memo! After I *just* got done typing up a release based on the draft from two hours ago! Fucking great!"

Sam jumped and then grinned at CJ's sudden biting tone. He glanced at Donna with some amusement and cocked his head towards the door. CJ was still cursing under her breath as the two stood. "I think that was our cue to leave."

CJ looked up and rolled her eyes. "If anyone needs me, I'll be here. Trapped in press release hell."

Sam took Donna's arm as they headed into the hallway. "Come on over to my room, Donna. I want to ask you some questions about your impression of the Governor. This could be really helpful, especially since you know him, now. Toby's been talking about getting some real feedback, not just polling data."

Donna took a deep breath, surprised and flattered that Sam was interested in her opinions. She knew that she was just an assistant – and though it seemed that Josh heavily relied upon her skills and secretarial talents, Donna never had any illusions about her part in the Bartlet for America campaign. Maybe one day, after many years and time spent climbing ladders – and not without that elusive college degree – Donna figured that she might build a career. And maybe this – giving Sam some serious input – might be her first, baby step in the right direction.

~*~

It was nearly one o'clock in the morning by the time her work was finally complete. CJ was tired, bordering on exhausted, and at seven o'clock the next day, their flight was leaving for Kansas City. As CJ tried to make some semblance of a pile out of the mess on her bed, her mind went through the time calculations. A flight leaving at seven meant they had to check out of the hotel at the latest, six. That meant waking up at five o'clock in the morning. Earlier, CJ realized with a sigh, if she wanted a shower. It almost defeated the purpose of going to bed.

Yawning, CJ stuffed the papers into her backpack, and as her laptop shut down, CJ realized that she was thirsty. She knew she had a warm can of Sprite somewhere, so with a resigned sigh, she grabbed the ice bucket and her key from the dresser and headed out into the hall.

With a little ice she could have a cold soda, maybe get into bed, watch some TV, wind down a bit, and hope for some sleep before the long day that she knew lay ahead. CJ approached the ice machine and quickly began scooping ice into her bucket, yawning all the while.

Danny was headed back to his room after a late-night conference with his boss, via phone. His cell had absolutely horrible reception in his room, and though the lobby had provided a clearer phone call, Danny resented having to traipse down there in the middle of the night. As he passed by the vending area, a loud and frustrated cry preceded the clang and clatter of a bucket and ice hitting the tile floor.

CJ came into view and immediately caught Danny's attention as she crawled over the floor. She was wearing a pair of fitted track pants a tank top without a bra; hating to be a typical, leering, lusting man, Danny nonetheless gave in and enjoyed the eyeful of backside that CJ was unknowingly giving him. She was gorgeous, in fabulous shape, and Danny again cursed the situation they found themselves in.

"Need some help?" he finally asked with a chuckle.

CJ twisted her neck around, ice in hand. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," Danny grinned, hoping this would lead to a substantive conversation between the two. Too much time had passed since they'd shared even a moment.

CJ scowled. "Well, if you're going to stare, at least help me pick this up. I'll feel bad leaving this mess for housekeeping."

Danny knelt down and began scooping ice up. "What are you doing out here at one in the morning?"

CJ sighed. "Just trying to get a little ice in an uncivilized world."

When last of the ice was scooped back into the bucket, CJ immediately dumped it into the receptacle next to the ice machine and sighed. "So much for that."

Danny stood up, too and nodded down the hall with some humor in his eyes. "I have some ice in my room. I even have a little scotch stowed away that I would be willing to share."

CJ grinned, her tone mocking. It was like they were in a college dorm again. "Ooh, you're a bad boy."

Danny puffed his chest out and played along. "Hey, I'm 21."

CJ laughed lightly and sighed, studying Danny's sweet smile and irresistible eyes. "Eh, I probably shouldn't drink tonight. We have to be up in like, five hours anyway."

"Come on, have one with me," Danny insisted. His entire body warmed at the sound of her easy laughter, and Danny knew he couldn't let CJ walk away from him tonight without a chance to really talk to her. He took her arm in a moment of confidence.

CJ looked down at Danny's hand, the soft and gentle fingertips on her skin somehow reminding her of his kisses. She took a deep breath and looked up at him. "Danny," she said softly. "This is always going to be a bad idea."

Danny shook his head slowly as he studied CJ's expression. "I know, I know. I'm a reporter and you're the Press Secretary. But right now, I'm just Danny, you're just CJ. And I have ice, you don't. Let's go."

CJ couldn't fight her smile as she allowed Danny to guide her down the hallway towards his hotel room. She was thirsty, that was all. She was thirsty.

~*~

It was nearly one in the morning. Sam and Donna had long since stopped talking about her impression of Governor Bartlet. Her input has been truly helpful, and no matter how many times Donna tried to deflect Sam's compliments, he wouldn't stop giving them to her.

"Seriously, Donna, promise me you'll go back to school one day and get your degree. You've got too much potential not to. If everyone saw how bright you were, you'd be taking over all of our jobs."

"I promise I'll go back, I promise! Stop it!" Donna laughed, blushing for the hundredth time.

"Okay, I'll stop," Sam smiled, glancing over at the blonde. They were stretched out, side by side on the bed, stomach-down and propped up on their forearms facing the TV. Late night television had gotten a whole lot more interesting now that the Governor and the President were nightly subjects of the jokes. The two watched in silence for a moment before Sam chuckled wryly.

"I used to really enjoy Conan O'Brien," he snorted.

Donna shook her head, humored. "And I never used to be awake for it!"

Sam nodded. "Campaigns have a knack for screwing with your sleep cycle. And every other part of your life."

Donna sat up, pulling her legs Indian-style under her body. She'd noticed the way Sam's face had suddenly fallen. "Are you ok?"

Sam sighed and got up as well, sitting so that he was knee-to-knee with the blonde. "I don't know if Josh has ever mentioned it. I was supposed to get married in September."

Donna's eyes widened. "No! He never told me that. What do you mean, 'supposed' to? It's not going to happen?"

Sam shook his head and let his eyes wander. "I don't know. Things got thrown for a loop when I decided to up and join the campaign."

Donna furrowed her brow. "She realizes you're coming back, though, right?"

Sam met Donna's eyes. "Thing is, I don't know if I can go back, Donna. It was crazy. I was at work one day, my life – right on track. Engaged to a beautiful woman, plans were being made – our future was set in stone. Then Josh showed up. I didn't even have to think twice about leaving that life and joining this one. That says a lot. Maybe, underneath it all, I just wasn't ready to get married."

Donna smiled softly. "Or maybe Josh is just really good at convincing people to do things."

Sam chuckled and looked down at his knees touching Donna's. He met her eyes and smiled. "Did you know he has a horrible poker face?"

Donna grinned and suddenly took Sam's hands in hers. "Who knows, Sam! Maybe your fiancée – what's her name?"

"Lisa," Sam said softly, watching Donna's pale hands within his.

"Maybe Lisa will see what great work you're doing here and realize why you had to leave. I don't see how anyone could not be proud of you," Donna said quietly, watching Sam's blue eyes.

Touched by her words, and all-too-aware of her warm hands in his, Sam answered Donna with a kiss. Leaning slightly forward to capture her lips in his, they melted easily together as the clock ticked towards one. Donna deepened the kiss, knowing it was probably wrong to be doing this with Sam; it was even more wrong to want it so much, but as she felt Sam gently pushing her back onto the bed, Donna just didn't care. Tonight, for once, she was going to let herself feel beautiful. *