XXI
"It's on the teleprompter?"
"Yes, Toby, it's on."
"And it's definitely the right draft?"
"Yes."
"You're sure?"
"I checked, Toby!"
"Check again."
Sam narrowed his eyes. "Toby. I checked. I double checked. I deleted it and reloaded it, just to make sure. You checked. Three interns and two assistants checked. Unless we're suffering from group hallucinations-"
Toby appeared to assess this as a genuine possibility. He turned to snag the first available assistant. "Bonnie! Get on the internet, and find out the sugar content of the average blueberry pie, and how much it takes to induce visual hallucinations."
"Yeah," she said dryly, and continued on her way.
"I don't think she's gone to do that," Sam noted.
"No."
There was a brief silence.
"It's definitely done?" Toby said.
"Yes."
"The president didn't trip over anything?"
"He read it through twice."
"And we're happy that this final draft is State of the Union quality."
"Yes. No. I think we should read it again." Sam wheeled around to run back to the office, and Toby held him back.
"It's done."
"Yes. Of course it is." Sam straightened his tux. There was another pause. "But still, maybe we should-"
"Samuel! Mr. Seaborn!"
"Steve!" Sam turned around to greet his other half with a grateful smile. He immediately walked up and started adjusting Sam's bowtie. "I just did that," he noted, leaning his head back.
"See, this is why we don't let you dress yourself on big speech nights." He gave Sam a quick kiss on the cheek. "How are things in the Thunderdome?"
"I think I'm going to be sick," he admitted honestly.
"Well, fine, but you can do the laundry yourself this week." He stepped back and admired his handiwork. "There you go. You're a work of art."
"And adjusting the tie made all the difference," he said sardonically.
"It is the detail that makes the difference between 'good' and genius, my padawan."
Toby made an indecipherable noise. Fortunately, he was quickly distracted by the arrival of Congresswoman Wyatt. "Hey, Andy," Sam called cheerfully.
"Hi, Sam. Hi, Steve. Hey, grumpy." Andy gave her ex-husband a kiss. "How goes the rewrite?"
"It's done," said Sam. "Maybe. Possibly. Oh, God, we're all going to die."
"I think we should get going," Steve said wryly.
"I think so too," Andy agreed with a nod. They steered their respective other halves in the right direction.
They passed Mallory and Brandon Foxton in the hallway, heading for her father's office. "Don't look at us, we're not even here!" Mallory told them, rolling her eyes melodramatically.
"I'll introduce you to Toby later," Sam called after Brandon. Somehow, he had a feeling they'd hit it off.
"Should I ask what that was about?" Andy wondered.
"Probably not."
"Sam's giving people invitations to the State of the Union for attacking administration policy," Toby explained.
"Hey, if you ply them with enough food and cheap liquor, it just might work," Steve opined.
"You never know," Sam shrugged. The energy of writing had transferred to walking now, and he and Toby both set a pace that the others could barely keep up with. The drafts were in, the speech was on the teleprompter, and it was too late for second guessing; nothing left now but to get out there and do this.
He'd almost succeeded in convincing himself he wasn't missing the cigarette he'd usually be smoking about now.
"Filthy habit," Abbey said, reading his mind as she took his arm.
"Yeah, but you'd have kissed me anyway." He smirked at her. "I'm irresistible that way."
"Smug, is what you are," she chided teasingly.
He raised his chin, but spoiled the pose by sneaking a little grin at her. "Tonight, I get to be smug."
"Yes, you do." She stood up on tiptoe to press the promised kiss on him.
They both turned as CJ came out to join them. "Sorry, sir."
"That's okay," Jed forgave her, just this once. "Is it time?"
"Not quite." She held up a slip of paper. "We got news through from Lubbock County. David Calgary's out of the woods."
News that, despite his best intentions, engendered mixed emotions, but relief that at least one consequence of this terrible tragedy had been lessened won out. "Good. That's good."
"Yeah." CJ gave him a sad, quietly understanding smile. "It's hard to feel sorry for him," she admitted.
He gave a slow nod. "It is. But we're in the business of doing what's hard."
You had to keep your faith in people, even when the news kept rolling in of all the terrible things human beings did to each other. The price of leadership was heavy enough without losing that underlying belief that you could change things for the better. If you didn't have that anymore, you didn't have anything.
Abbey gave his arm a gentle squeeze, stirring him out of his maudlin reflections. He smiled at her in thanks.
CJ cleared her throat apologetically, conscious of interrupting again. "Leo said to remind you that you must not, under any circumstances, talk to Mallory's boyfriend at the party after the thing."
Jed smirked. "See, when I try to have my daughters' boyfriends locked away you tell me I'm deranged, but-" Abbey gave him a gentle nudge. "Okay. I'll avoid the boyfriend," he promised, hands held up.
CJ smiled. "I'll leave you two alone, sir." She slipped back inside.
They stood in silence for a while, enjoying the night air. It was funny how, on this most important of nights, he had the chance to snatch a moment of peace and reflection that was almost unheard of in the day-to-day chaos of the White House. In the brief sliver of time before something big, there was a chance to stop and catch his breath that no one bothered to give him for all the little things.
The next year was going to be hard - just like all the years that had gone before it. It would be hard, but they'd get through it.
They always did.
The door opened, and Ashley Bowers emerged. His face was pink with nerves, but he stood up straight, and spoke levelly. "Mr. President? It's time."
Jed gave him a nod of acknowledgement, satisfied. Yes; that was another thing that he was pretty sure was going to work out. "Thank you, Ashley."
And now, it was time to do his job. He linked hands with his wife, and followed the young man back inside.
"Hey." Josh settled into place beside Leo, Toby, Sam and CJ. They acknowledged him without speaking; all eyes were focused straight ahead, waiting for the president to emerge.
The president walked in, and the texture of the air changed. You couldn't bottle it, couldn't define it - but there was a crackle in the air, a magic of confidence and mastery that made the room his before he even opened his mouth. All the signs of age and ill-health had melted away, and he was leaner, taller, younger, stronger... in control.
Beside him, Leo shifted in position. Josh didn't have to look at him to know how he was smiling. He could feel it on his own face.
The president took up his position, and smiled. "Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President. Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans." The words rolled out like thunder, without a flicker of hesitation over passages he'd learned only hours ago. "This past year has been a long, hard struggle, and it's a long way from over yet. America stands on the borderlands, between the chaos of indecision, and the dawning of a new age of equality and democracy."
A ripple of tension passed through the room. This wasn't the speech they'd been primed to expect; a self-congratulatory parade of tested lines and carefully spun accomplishments. This was something different, bold and passionate, and who knew where it was going?
The president's imposing presence suffused every word with the ring of power. "If we are to move forward from this perilous juncture, we must move together. In this dark age of underground warfare and terror tactics, the greatest dangers come not from international threats, but from every compromise we make in the name of fear and hesitancy. We will not let outside forces divide us. We will not give ourselves away to try and buy an easy solution. America is not for sale. It's not an ideal to be set aside when times are bad and picked up again when it's more convenient. To protect this nation we must be this nation, and in our darkest hours we all must stand together. And so I come before you today... to deliver the State of the Union."
For a moment, just a moment, the pause was filled with perfect silence, and the reception of Sam and Toby's new, fired and impassioned speech hung in the balance.
And then the applause spread out across the room like the breaking of a summer storm.
THE END