Third chapter everyone! Now it's going to get very West Wing, so you can read about the good stuff, and not deal with the angst that all my characters have. And, guess what would make me really happy…reviews! Yay!
Sorry it took so long, but I had midterms, and then there was Christmas, and then I was away for New Year's.
Also, some people might be confused- this takes place during the first campaign, and Bartlet isn't President yet. Just to clear that up.
Disclaimer: don't own them, except for Liz, who is completely mine.
"So, is it really hectic in there?"
Josh looked up, startled slightly by Liz's question, as it had seemed that they had now adopted a practice of dealing with as little conversation as possible in the car. "Well, it depends on what's going on. When I left, there weren't any scandals that needed to be dealt with and we weren't very ahead or behind in the polls, so I think we can count on today being pretty normal."
"What about when it's not normal?"
"Then we have to run around and fix whatever needs to be fixed."
"Is Bartlet going to win?"
Josh was even more startled by this question. "I don't know." He paused. "Do you think he should win?"
"Yeah, he's got…what's the word…charisma! Like John F. Kennedy."
Josh grinned. "I'm going to tell him you said that. Or better yet, you can tell him yourself."
Liz's eyes widened. "You mean I get to meet him?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much the only way you could tell him that yourself, right?" Josh grinned.
Liz silently sank down in her seat as Josh wondered if that was the right thing to say. Don't worry, Josh! he silently berated himself. She's just nervous, like any sane 10-year-old who's about to meet a presidential candidate.
They pulled up into Josh's parking space and got out of the car. Liz looked around at the small building. Josh watched her for a moment. "Looking at it isn't going to do any good. Come on!" He headed inside, and, after a moment, Liz followed him.
Inside, Donna rushed up to him. "Josh, Toby got a head's up that Senator Milford is against the Social Security Bill."
Josh immediately headed toward Leo's office, then turned back to Liz. "Liz, this is my assistant, Donna. Donna, this is Liz. I've got to go."
"What's going on?" asked Liz.
"Today stopped being normal," Josh replied as he left.
Liz turned toward Donna. "Hey, Liz," Donna said cheerfully. Liz nodded curtly. "Josh said you're going to do your homework?"
"Uh huh," Liz replied, looking around.
"Ok, well, go on into his office, he'll probably be at a lot of meetings for the rest of the day, so you'll be able to concentrate here."
Liz nodded again. She considered saying thanks, but decided against it. She wasn't sure she liked this incredibly cheerful person. Plopping down in a chair, she pulled out her science notebook.
---
Liz had finished her science and was moving on to her history homework, when the door opened and a young man rushed in. "Josh-" he began, the stopped when he realized he wasn't there. Then he noticed Liz, and if he saw the angry glare on her face, he ignored it. "Hi, you must be Elizabeth."
Liz didn't reply right away, and took a long moment analyzing him before she answered, "Call me Liz."
"Ok," replied the young man with a goofy grin. "I'm Sam Seaborn." He offered his hand to her, and she shook it. "So, do you know where Josh-" Josh came into the room. "Oh, hey Josh. I was looking for you."
Josh nodded at Sam. "Did you meet Liz?"
"Oh, yes, we've met," Sam replied, smiling at her. The look on Liz's face could have been a smile, but it disappeared quickly, as Liz reminded herself that she would soon be leaving.
Sam turned his attention back to Josh, "CJ's about to do her thing, you gonna watch it?"
Josh nodded, then he had an idea. "Hey Liz, you want to see a press briefing?"
"Sure," Liz replied, this time allowing a true smile.
By the time they got to the press room, the briefing had started. Liz gently tugged on Josh's sleeve. "Who's that?"
"That's CJ Cregg, the press secretary." Liz nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
Toward the end of the conference, a reporter began to ask CJ a question, and Liz noticed Josh and Sam begin to squirm. She focused on what the reporter was asking: "Governor Bartlet says he's in favor of the bill that's about to be voted on that will complicate social security, while Senator Milford says he's against it, and the Senator says he wants to make social security simple for the average person. Does Governor Bartlet have a comment?
"No, Danny, he doesn't. You know why? 'Cause we really aren't going to comment on the Senator's campaign strategy. You want to know about that, ask Senator Milford." She finished the briefing and left the room, while Josh and Sam quickly followed her, and Liz tagged along.
Josh waited until they were a good distance from the room before speaking. "You walked right into it."
"There was no other direction to walk, it was Danny."
"We're going to have to come up with a comment, some reason that complex social security is good," Sam said.
The three of them began talking/arguing right in the middle of the hall. Watching them, Liz got the idea that they did this often. Suddenly an idea struck her, and before her saner self could get her other half under control she piped up, "Couldn't…"
Josh, Sam and CJ turned at the sound of her squeaking a word out. Seeing that she had their attention, and knowing that there was no going back, she continued, "Couldn't you say that complicated is better, that way you close the loopholes, and no one gets ripped off?" No one said anything. "Or maybe not," she muttered softly. Great, she thought. Me and my big mouth. Now they're going to think I'm so stupid. I should just get back and start packing-
"I think that's a great idea," Sam said abruptly.
Liz blinked, thinking she hadn't heard him right, and figured she ought to gracefully clarify it: "What?"
"That's a perfect response. Complicated better, closing the loopholes, that makes absolute sense. It's great."
CJ noticed that Liz seemed very surprised by this response. She looked over at Josh. "Well, Josh, it looks like you've got a budding political genius on your hands." She reached over and squeezed Liz's shoulder but kept talking to Josh: "Why don't you go tell Mr. Bartlet about his comment on Senator Milford's statement." Josh left.
Liz blushed, feeling incredibly pleased. Then she quickly shook her head to clear it. This had to be a mistake. These people work for a man who is running for President. How come they didn't think about it themselves? her reasonable, street-smart self demanded her other half that was enjoying this praise. Her other half didn't have an answer.
CJ gently shook Liz's shoulder to get her attention. Liz found herself bending her neck to look at the incredibly tall woman. "Hi, Elizabeth, I don't believe we've actually met. I'm CJ Cregg."
Liz gave CJ the same response she had given when she met Sam: "Call me Liz." Thinking she ought to say something else she added, "You look very tall from down here."
CJ chuckled. "Thank you, I think."
Josh appeared again. "The Governor is incredibly excited about his statement, and Toby's working on the language right now." CJ nodded her approval, and Josh turned his attention back to Liz. "And he's also anxious to meet the little mastermind behind the whole thing."
Liz gulped. "Really, that's ok. I mean, I'm sure he's really busy and I haven't finished my homework…" Stop babbling! she ordered herself sternly. That doesn't do any good! She had begun backing away from Josh and CJ while talking. "I'm just going to go finished my homework," she added, and fled.
---
About five minutes later, Liz realized she was hopelessly lost. This place really doesn't look that big from the outside, she mused. She hadn't seen one person she knew. A stuffy-looking bald man with a beard passed by, and, when Liz looked where he was headed, she saw Josh coming in the other direction. Screw that thought, she thought desperately as she looked for somewhere to hide.
"Toby." Josh stopped the bald man. "Have you seen a ten-year-old girl walking around here?" Liz spotted a door nearby and carefully snuck towards it.
"No, I haven't. I really don't spend my time looking for ten-year-old girls in the Bartlet campaign headquarters."
Liz yanked open the door, hurried inside and shut it, silently thanking the bald man for not paying attention. Taking a deep breath, she looked around the room. It was dimly lit, and reminded her of the study her father had once had. Books lined the shelves around and behind an enormous wooden desk. The desk itself was covered with papers and a few framed pictures. One comfy-looking leather chair was behind the desk, while two had been placed in front of the desk, facing it. Off to the side of the room was a small table, with a chessboard set up on it. Slowly, she walked over to it and picked up one of the pieces, carefully examining it.
"Who's there?" a voice demanded, entering a room from another door Liz had overlooked.
Liz quickly put the piece back and her eyes widened when she saw who it was. "I…I…"
Governor Bartlet grinned. "You must be Liz." Wordlessly, Liz nodded. He casually walked over to his desk and began to straighten some papers. "CJ said you had freaked out and weren't coming to meet me."
"I got lost," Liz offered by a way of explanation. She surprised herself at her ability to form coherent sentences.
He nodded. "Do you play?" he asked, gesturing to the chessboard. Liz shook her head. "Ah, it's a great game. It was invented in India, did you know that?" Liz shook her head again.
"I wouldn't tell him that if I were you," said another man who had just entered the room. "You need to tell him you know everything about chess, otherwise he'll give you the whole history of chess and whatnot." Liz nodded.
"This is Liz," called Jed from the desk. "She's the kid who came up with the great response to Milford."
"Yes, I knew that," replied the other man. "I'm Leo McGarry. I'm the campaign manager." He held out his hand to her, and Liz, finally finding her voice again, shook it.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. McGarry."
"Please, call me Leo." Seeing the look of hesitation on her face, he added, "And if you don't, I'll call you Elizabeth."
Slowly, Liz nodded to show she understood. Stop just moving your head and say something! she ordered herself. Unfortunately, the next thing out of her mouth was not particularly what she had in mind: "This is a very strange place."
"How so?" asked Jed, trying to suppress a grin.
"Big political strategists being impressed with a ten-year-old's idea, governors who don't get mad when they find random people in their office, campaign managers who tell you to call them by their first name…"
Jed walked over to where Liz was still standing by the chessboard. "If you like, I can teach you to play sometime."
Liz's weird, spur-of-the-moment self was overjoyed at the prospect, yet her sane, street-smart self was telling her that it wouldn't matter, he'd probably forget her by tomorrow, and she'd be leaving soon anyway. But she still found herself saying, "Are you serious? That'd be so cool."
Jed chuckled. "Ok, do you want to start now?"
Liz was about to say yes, then she remembered something. "I still have some homework to do."
Jed nodded. "Ok, well, if you want any help with that, I can help you."
"And I really wouldn't do that if I were you," Leo called from the other side of the room. "What?" he demanded when Jed glared at him. "I distinctly remember Zoey once coming to you for help on her math homework, when she was in fourth grade, and you ended up talking about the trigonometric ratios."
Jed scowled at him. "Remind me again why you're my campaign manager."
Leo grinned. "Cause I'm the one who convince you to run."
"Right." Liz was amused at how easily they bantered with each other, and tried to stifle a grin. Silently, she wished she had a friend like that. Most of the girls at St. Anne's ignored her, and her friends at school promptly ignored her as well when they noticed how much she had changed. What and I saying? she asked herself. I got on just fine up 'til now. I don't need friends to banter with; I have adults at the shelter to argue with.
The door opened and CJ walked in. "Governor, we're going to add a day on to the trip to-" she stopped short when she saw Liz standing in the room.
"Hey CJ, look who Leo and I met," Jed indicated Liz, who grinned sheepishly.
CJ nodded in understanding. "Well, Josh has been looking for you for about ten minutes. Something about homework?"
"Right!" Liz jumped up, remembering. "I almost forgot. I gotta go. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Bartlet, Mr. McGarry," she added, hurrying toward the door. She left the room so quickly that she didn't hear Jed remind her to stop by again.
In the hallway, she managed to find her way back to Josh's office. Donna looked up as she approached. "Hey Liz, how you doing?"
"Ok," Liz replied. As she went back into Josh's office, she muttered, "I've been having a slightly weird day." Looking back toward the hustle out in the hall, she added, "But I'm sure I'll get used to it."
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
DC Darling- don't worry, KJ, I'm gonna put you in it, but not until later. Like in the sequel or something. MWAHAHAH!
Jenny- this is probably going to be more from Liz's point of view, so not much of Josh during the campaign. There'll probably be more of Josh's POV once Liz gets to trusting him.
Indus- I'm definitely going to continue it, don't worry!