Title: The Gathering Storm
Author: Willow
Synopsis: Tensiosn mount as the rift between Jed and Leo grows.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Anything up to season 5, Memorial Day, but set in an a/u.
Notes: Third in the Stone By Stone series. Starts 1 weeks after In Need Of Assistance .
Disclaimer: Not mine.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
By 3 o'clock, Josh had read a transport report and a report from a bipartisan committee on health screening in schools for sexually transmitted diseases, which he suspected was going cause a few problems. Now he was hungry. He'd seen Toby pacing the corridors earlier so he went in search of his friend and found him in the Roosevelt Room.
"Toby, you want to get some food?"
Toby looked up from the speech he wasn't writing to find Josh standing in front of him. "I didn't know you were here."
"Well I am. You hungry or not?"
"The mess isn't open."
"Then we'll raid it," Josh told him.
Toby was supposed to be writing a speech about alternate energy in the 21st century and it was going nowhere. This was partly because he didn't care about the subject, partly because he was tired, but mainly he just couldn't concentrate. So he stood up and followed Josh down to the mess.
"Speech going well?" Josh smiled.
"I don't care," Toby replied.
"You need a deputy," Josh told him.
"Don't start," Toby warned. "Will isn't coming back here."
"He hasn't said he wants to."
"You said he knew he made a mistake with Russell."
"Yes," Josh agreed as he opened the door to the kitchens. "I didn't say he wanted to come back to us. Apparently, someone told him to find a live candidate, someone who could challenge Russell. It was you I believe."
"I was locked in a room with him for 3 hours," Toby grumbled.
"He is still on our side."
"No he isn't," Toby replied. "Where do they keep the pie?"
"I have no idea," Josh told him and started to make a sandwich.
Jed walked into the living room of The Residence, where his wife was reading a magazine. "Are we out of peanut butter?" he asked.
"How would I know that?" Abbey replied. "You're the one who eats it. Have cheese instead."
"Cheese?" Jed asked.
"Yes."
"Really doesn't go well with jelly."
"I wouldn't think so, no," Abbey agreed.
"So we have no peanut butter?"
"Call a steward."
"I can't just call a steward and ask them to get me some peanut butter, it's petty."
"Yet you can bother me about it."
"You're my wife."
Abbey glared at Jed. "Your point being?"
"I'll just go down to the mess and get some," Jed quickly replied.
"You do that," Abbey smiled.
Five minutes later Toby was still hunting for pie while Josh stood and ate some chicken. "Have something else," Josh suggested.
"I need pie."
"To help you write?"
"Yes."
"Okay." Josh put the chicken back in the fridge, before helping Toby hunt for pie. "What kind do you want?"
"Pastry and meat," Toby grumbled.
"You know I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to be doing this."
"Was your idea."
"Yeah, to make a sandwich, not riffle through every fridge and cupboard." Josh opened another fridge drawer and took out some kind of pie. "Here."
"Thanks."
"Happy now?" Josh asked.
"Ecstatic," Toby replied. "We need fries."
"We're not cooking. You can make do with the pie."
"Who put you in charge?"
"We're not cooking," Josh repeated. "You know what'll happen. We'll set the smoke alarms off and then Leo'll yell at me, again." He watched Toby cut the pie. "It's not Will's fault you know," he said. "We've all had our Bingo Bob's."
"Maybe," Toby conceded.
"Have cheese, she suggested," Jed told Clive, one of his agents, as they walked through the West Wing on their way to the mess. "Does that sound like it goes with jelly?"
"No, Sir," Clive agreed.
"Are some of the staff in?" Jed asked when he noticed the open office doors.
Clive spoke into his wrist mic before replying, "My Ziegler and Mr Lyman are here, Sir."
"No Leo?" Jed asked.
"Not as far as I know, Sir," Clive confirmed.
Jed walked on in silence. It wasn't like Leo not to be in work if the staff were, even on a Sunday. Maybe he should call him and check everything was alright, but maybe not. He hadn't had a conversation with Leo that wasn't directly connected to work for weeks, so phoning him at home on a Sunday was probably a bad idea.
"So, do you know if I'm actually allowed to do this?" Jed asked.
"You are the president," Clive pointed out.
"Yeah, but the chef can be fierce," Jed replied. He entered the kitchens and stopped at the sound of voices.
"You done?" Josh asked.
"Almost," Toby reached into a fridge and took out a tub of coleslaw. "Is Leo alright?"
Josh shrugged. "I guess."
"What does that mean?"
"How do you think he is?" Josh asked. "The president's virtually shut him out, he's bound to be a little pissed off."
"It'll get better."
"It's been weeks with no sign of a thaw," Josh replied.
"You and him sorted things," Toby pointed out.
"Me and the president?"
"You and Leo, after Carrick."
"That was different."
"How?" Toby asked as he put the coleslaw away. "He treated you the same as the president's treating him. He shut you out. So how was it different?"
"Leo hasn't done anything wrong. He didn't loose a senator."
Toby gave Josh a look that asked if he really thought last August was simply about Carrick. "The president hasn't brought anyone in to do Leo's job."
"He has me for that," Josh replied. "Why do you think I'm here on a Sunday."
"Yeah," Toby agreed. "How angry is Leo?"
"We haven't talked about it," Josh replied. "I would think he's a little hurt though. Him and the president have been friends a long time. It hurts when someone you thought of as a friend treats you like that."
"Yeah," Toby repeated. He remembered how Josh had looked last year when Leo completely shut him out. In a way, it amazed him that Josh was still so loyal to Leo and he suspected that there was more to their reconciliation than it simply blowing over, in fact he was sure something had happened, because one week they were virtually ignoring each other and the next everything was almost normal. "Why isn't he in today?"
"It's Sunday," Josh pointed out.
"Doesn't normally matter."
"He's gone with Mal to his nephew's 18th birthday. Can we get back now?"
"I'm coming."
"Didn't they have any?" Abbey asked Jed when he returned empty handed to The Residence.
"What?" Jed replied.
"Peanut butter?"
"I don't know."
"What's happened?"
"Nothing, I changed my mind, I'll have cheese." Jed went into the kitchen, poured himself a coffee and thought about the conversation he'd just overheard. So Josh and Toby thought he was being hard on Leo did they? What would they know about it? he wondered. What gave them the right to comment? And how dare Josh complain about having to work on a Sunday.
Abbey had followed Jed into the kitchen. "What's going on, Jed?" she asked
"Toby and Josh were in the mess discussing Leo. They think he's angry."
Abbey thought Leo was far beyond angry. Six weeks ago, at Camp David, he'd been angry, now he'd pulled away from them. "Maybe he is," she agreed.
"He's gone to a birthday party apparently."
Good, Abbey thought, at least he wasn't sat at home brooding. "You need to talk to him, Jed."
"We're fine."
"Oh for God's sake," Abbey snapped. "You hardly speak to each other. He hasn't been here for dinner in weeks. You can't let this go on. If you don't care about your friendship then at least think about work and the rest of the staff. How do you think they must feel, caught between you?"
"You were the one who refused to have anything to do with him for months after Zoey," Jed pointed out.
"That was different."
"Because it was you?"
"Because he isn't my best friend."
Ten minutes later, Toby and Josh were eating lunch in Josh's office. "We've all picked the wrong candidate at times," Josh argued.
"Not all of us."
"Really?" Josh asked doubtfully. "You've never started working for someone and then wondered what the hell you were doing?"
Toby sighed. "Yeah. So who was yours?"
"Hoynes, who else. When I think he could have become president," Josh shook his head.
"Makes you grateful for Leo."
"Yeah," Josh agreed. "So who was your Bingo Bob?"
"Paul Santos."
"Never heard of him."
"He was a mayoral candidate in New York about 20 years ago. He made Russell look competent."
"So why'd you work for him?"
"I was unemployed. Why'd you work for Hoynes?"
"Same. Earl Brennan had retired."
Jed watched them from the doorway, "I always thought he'd go for the nomination," he said.
"Mr President," Josh and Toby both stood up.
"Would you have stayed with him if he had?" Jed asked Josh.
"Probably," Josh replied.
"You'd have been his chief of staff," Jed said.
"Ironically though, one of the reasons he didn't run was because his wife thought the first black president would be shot," Josh replied.
"She has a point," Jed agreed. "Toby can you give us a minute."
Toby picked up his drink and the remains of his lunch and left Josh's office.
"You don't have a life away from here?" Jed asked.
"Not this weekend," Josh shrugged. "Thought I'd come in for a few hours and catch up."
Jed nodded. "How's Donna doing?"
"She's good. She's back at work tomorrow."
"You sure she's ready?" As he spoke, Jed suddenly thought how it didn't seem that long since he was asking Leo the same question about Josh.
"She says she is, and so does her doctor. Janet's going to stay on for a few weeks though, I don't want her doing too much."
Jed smiled at that. "I'd like to see how you're going to stop her."
"She knows who the boss is," Josh smiled.
"That's my point," Jed replied. "And Leo's gone to his nephew's birthday?"
"Yeah, in Boston," Josh replied and wondered what exactly the president wanted from him. "It's his 18th so there's a big party apparently."
"So while Leo's off partying, you're here doing his work?"
"I'm doing my work, Sir. I don't do Leo's."
Jed studied Josh. "You're very loyal to Leo."
"Sir?"
"It wasn't a criticism, Josh." Jed thought about what Abbey had said. If the staff really did feel caught between him and Leo, it must be even worse for Josh.
"Is everything alright, Sir?" Josh asked.
Jed ignored the question. "Is Leo alright?"
Josh was tempted to tell Jed to ask Leo himself, instead he said. "As far as I know."
"He isn't coming on the trip next week because someone has to stay here," Jed wondered briefly why he was justifying himself to Josh.
"I know," Josh nodded.
Jed sighed and sat down. "What happened with you and Leo last year?" he asked. "After Carrick."
"You know what happened, Sir. Leo needed to pacify the leadership so he brought in Angela."
"But you worked it out?"
"Angela went back to her old job once her contract was up."
"Yes. I meant you and Leo personally, he was very hard on you."
"He was angry, it got out of hand maybe. But it sorted itself," Josh said.
Jed nodded. "Don't stay too late or you'll be in trouble with Donna."
Abbey found Jed sat back in the kitchen smoking a cigarette. "You're not suppose to smoke in here," she told him.
"No," he agreed.
"Jed?"
"I need to talk to Leo," he decided.
"He's in Boston," Abbey said.
"How'd you know that?"
"He told me he was thinking of going with Mal. I told him to go. He needs a life away from here."
"Away from the White House or away from me?"
"Is there a difference?" Abbey asked.
Jed shrugged. "I was angry," he admitted. "I didn't intend to push him away. I was just so angry."
"About Fitz?"
"Why does violence always have to beget violence?" Jed asked. "Fitz was the one who talked me round after the plane was shot down in our first year in office. They were the ones who warned me about over-reacting, Fitz and Leo," he added. "I should have included him, but I'd made my decision and I didn't want him talking me out of it."
"Then you need to talk to him."
"You'll be okay if you go without me," Toby said when he couldn't stand Josh's silent pacing any longer.
"I'll wait."
"Well at least sit down."
Josh sat on Toby's couch. "Haven't you finished yet?"
"You asked me that ten minutes ago."
"Yeah. What you writing?"
"With you hovering, nothing. I'm supposed to writing an energy speech for the trip next week."
Josh nodded. "The president was strange," he commented.
"Why?" Toby asked.
"I don't know what he wanted. He asked about Donna and Leo."
"Okay."
"He asked how Leo and I sorted things out last year."
Toby put his pen in his pocket and closed the pad he was using, there was no way he was going to finish anything today. "What did you tell him?"
"It sorted itself out."
"What really happened?"
"We talked, and shouted. Mainly shouted," Josh smiled. "But it cleared the air and we sorted it."
"Maybe that's what they need to do."
"Not so easy when one of them is the president."
"No," Toby agreed. "Let's go to CJ's."
Once dinner was finished Josh, Toby, CJ and Donna sat around drinking and watching a movie on the television. They had thought about going out, but none of them had the motivation to move.
"So what are we all doing next Sunday?" Donna asked.
Josh shook his head. "What's next Sunday?"
"4th Of July," Donna told him.
"That came round quick," CJ commented.
"It's CJ's turn to hold a party," Josh said.
"Why?" CJ asked.
"Because it is," Josh replied. "Toby?" he asked.
"Yes," Toby agreed.
"Excellent," Donna smiled.
"Hey!" CJ protested. "You're ganging up on me." She turned to Donna, "And you should be on my side."
"I know," Donna agreed, "but you have a garden area, whereas Josh only has a stoop and Toby and I have nothing." She smiled and shrugged apologetically.
"So it's a barbecue at my place then?" CJ asked.
"Yes."
CJ knew when she was beat. "We should invite Leo," she said.
Josh nodded, "And Will."
"No," Toby replied.
"Yes," Donna and CJ agreed with Josh.