Title: Spin and All
Author: DianeB
Rating: PG
Summary: CJ watches a tape she's seen a few times already. This is future-fic (and here you thought The West Wing was not sci-fi).
Spoilers: The b-plot in "The Supremes," all of "Access," and nothing further.
Disclaimer: I claim no right to anything affiliated with The West Wing television show. I'm just having some fun.
The television was on, but the volume, for once, was not blaring.
"Director Arnold continues to elicit controversy as head of the FBI. And CJ Cregg, who allowed us to share a day with her in the West Wing, remains the only woman to have served two terms as the White House Press Secretary."
CJ, sitting forward on the couch opposite the TV, hit the rewind button and watched as the tape whizzed back to one of the first times she appeared in the mauve suit. She paused the tape and raised a critical eyebrow, her reaction always the same: What the ef had she been thinking when she picked that outfit? She had never liked the way she looked in that color, never mind the cut of the jacket and the length of the skirt made her look like the jolly mauve giant, especially when stomping up to the podium in the press room, which was the point at which she had paused the tape. She pressed play and a while later, there it was, that coffee mug. God, could the color clash any worse with the already-awful outfit? What the ef had Carol been thinking? Well, at least Gail continued to look good on her desk. That was something. She cast a look at the bookshelf, where Gail VI swam lazy eights in her bowl.
Turning back to the television, she hit fast forward and stopped at Greg Brock's little "interview." What a load of crap. If only Danny had been there. It would have been much better with Danny, who would have been professional and clever, whereas Greg just sounded like a smart-ass. But it wasn't like Danny hadn't wanted to be there; he was just a victim of rotten timing. That was nothing new in his profession, or hers. But she had missed him those two days and was never surprised when her throat ached in memory of the way she felt when she'd heard he'd be out of town during filming. He'd started to tease her when he'd gotten back about the president not liking dogs, but shut up when he saw the wounded look she had been unable to keep from her face. See? Clever.
She hit rewind and went back again to listen for something. There. Her laughter, that deep, throaty stuff. Pretty much the only thing she liked about this ridiculous "documentary." She hit fast forward this time and stopped at the point where the narrator (some famous guy, whose name she couldn't remember) stated dramatically that he and his precious program were witness to a "harrowing and historic day." Yeah, right. Okay, maybe it had been a harrowing and historic day, but it had certainly not been the most harrowing or historic, as "Access" would have its viewers believe by the spin.
Funny, that. Spin and all. She could not for the life of her figure out what might have qualified as the most H & H day. Let's see. The shooting at Rosslyn? Josh's PTSD? Leo's disclosure? The MS disclosure? Mrs. Landingham's funeral? Hoynes' affair? Zoey's kidnapping? George Arnold's dismissal? The attack at the Mall of America? The fires in California? Hell, the First Lady's broken ankle, for that matter. Talk about your harrowing. FLOTUS in a damn off-the-shoulder ball gown couldn't hold a candle to FLOTUS in a wheelchair.
And certainly there had been other days, days she would rather never recall, but for the most part, "Access" made it sound like the second day of filming, a year into President Josiah Bartlet's second term in office had been the Number One Historical Day of Harrow (say that three times fast - oh, har har), when in reality it had not been. Then again, this could easily be said in retrospect, all these years after the facts of that day had been pretty much forgotten by the American public.
But not by her. Because some of the facts of that day had not been shared with the American public.
CJ sat back and closed her eyes, allowing the tape to continue running, recalling the unexpected and remarkable encounter in a secluded corner of the Rose Garden (where she had gone to escape the cameras for two seconds) that had led her to the life she now lived.
Just at that moment, a key turned in the lock and a pair of nearly identical four-and-a-half-year-olds rushed through the opened door, past the person still holding the key, and into her lap, squealing what was obviously a well-used rhyme.
"Hey, hey, CJ, whaddaya say?" CJ opened her eyes and laughed (her favorite laugh) and enveloped them in a twin bear hug.
"C'mon, CJ," Andi said from the doorway. "Turn that damned thing off and let's take the kids out onto the Mall. It's a gorgeous day in DC."
End.
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Author's Afternote: Though I definitely wanted to fill in some holes in "Access," the Toby/Andi sub-plot in "The Supremes" got me to thinking of things that could happen with regard to the rearing of the twins. It was clear in that episode that Our Boy Tobus was not involving himself with his offspring - which would at least explain why we hadn't heard much about them since Season 5 opened - but I took it a few steps "out there" and decided to pair Andi with CJ to raise the twins. It is unlikely this would happen, but the idea intrigued me. Well, that and the fact that if CJ and Andi were together, Toby would have double the trouble in his life, if not quadruple (counting Huck and Molly), and wouldn't that be fun to watch? Hee! Hooray for fanfiction. Written April, 2004.