Sweet Revenge
Chapter 17
Previously: Jed was bothered that Annie pulled away from him. Abbey convinced Jed to go back on his steroids to help with his MS symptoms. Jed told Abbey he wanted to hire CJ as WH Press Secretary.
Summary: Jed and CJ resolve their differences. CJ has more information regarding Emma. Abbey is bothered after a session with her attorney, then comforts Annie after she has a nightmare.
It was the day after Christmas and the initial shock had passed. Now the First Couple had to work through the aftermath of Emma's death. If it was any other family, there probably would have been an arrest made by now, but police were treading lightly, knowing the investigation was garnering international attention.
There would be more police questions and more press coverage, but before dealing with that, there was something else Jed had to do. There was someone else he needed to see.
"Another busy day in the East Wing?" Jed startled her.
"Mr. President," CJ called as she turned around, surprised to see him.
"Hi, CJ. Do you have a few minutes?"
"Of course, Sir. How are you?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Jed looked just as drained and stressed out as Abbey. It was obvious neither of them had been sleeping, or eating much for that matter. CJ's heart went out to him. She knew the look on his face wasn't just one of exhaustion. It was regret, guilt, a look of hopelessness. In that instant, all the anger she was still feeling towards him faded. He didn't need to say the words for CJ to know how remorseful he was.
"I'm hanging in there. Look, CJ, I have something I want to say..."
"First, I want to apologize to you," CJ interrupted.
Jed was shocked. "You're apologizing to me?"
"Yes, Sir. I had no right to talk to you the way I did in the Oval Office."
She was sincere. The day of their confrontation, CJ's resentment took over her emotions. Resentment at having to defend herself, at suspecting her deputy was the cause of her troubles and her boss was too blind to notice. But afterwards, she knew her outburst only made things worse. She wanted to take back her words, but her pride kept her from doing so. Instead, she handed in her resignation and tried to mask the hurt when she was quickly replaced.
"You women never fail to confuse me," he chuckled. CJ returned his grin. "I'm the one who's sorry, CJ. I should have believed you about the Social Secruity nonsense and I should have listened to both you and Abbey about Emma."
"You felt a deep fondness for her, didn't you?"
"Yeah. I guess you could say that."
"I understand."
"No, you don't because I don't understand it myself," Jed insisted. "I don't understand how I let her cloud my judgment."
"You weren't alone. We all trusted her at first, except for Mrs. Bartlet."
A warm smile came over Jed's face. "She can read people much better than I can. But now that we know the truth, there's just one more thing to do." He walked closer to her and looked deeply into her eyes so she could see his sincerity. "I want you back, CJ. I need you back in the West Wing."
"Sir, I'm working for the First Lady."
"I already cleared it with her." Jed turned his back to her, walking around her office and glancing at the papers on her desk. "It took me too long to realize that I'll never find anyone who can handle the press the way you can, especially now. I shouldn't have let you resign and now I want to rectify that. There's really no reason for you to give me another chance, but I'd really appreciate it if you would. " He turned back around, looking at her with his big blue eyes. "Please."
He wasn't just asking her. He was pleading with her. He needed CJ because having her back would alleviate some of the guilt he felt about defending Emma for so long.
She took his hand and smiled. "I would love to come back to work for you."
CJ extended her hand in an effort to shake his, but he moved closer and, instead, gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek and pulled her into a fatherly hug. She tried to hide it, but she was thrilled. She wanted her job back. She wanted to make amends with the President. For the past several years, he hadn't just been her boss. He had been her friend. Even though she tried to deny it, leaving his side had hurt her just as much as it had him.
Before he left, CJ said she had a confession to make. She wanted to talk to Jed and Abbey together because what she had to tell them would affect them both.
Once Abbey arrived, CJ began recalling that day. It was the afternoon of Christmas Eve and CJ had just returned home to find Emma waiting outside her apartment for her. She was furious and no matter what CJ said to try to calm her, Emma continued ranting and raving in a hysterical fit.
Flashback
"I know she took my journal! I want it back!" Emma was shouting.
"The First Lady doesn't give a damn about your journal!" CJ walked around her and began to climb the steps, before turning back around to face her. "But I do. What's the matter? Are you angry that we took it or that we know all about what you've been up to?"
"You don't know anything!"
"Oh, I know more than you think. And so do the police." In actuality, CJ hadn't called the police, but by telling Emma that, she hoped it would get her off Abbey's back. Instead, it did exactly the opposite.
"She's going to pay for this too," Emma mumbled, drawing a confused response from CJ.
"Excuse me?"
"She's keeping my baby's father away from me," Emma said fanatically.
"What are you talking about?"
Emma looked at her with steel cold eyes. CJ was frightened by the hatred in her expression and without another word, the younger woman left in a frenzy. CJ went into her apartment and immediately opened the journal.
"At first, I thought she was trying to imply that she was pregnant with the President's child," CJ told Jed and Abbey.
"I never slept with her, I swear!" Jed insisted, rushing over to Abbey's side.
Abbey put an arm around Jed's waist and reassured him. "I know."
CJ knew too. "It wasn't until she left that I continued reading the journal and tracked down that friend of hers in Boston and I realized she was talking about Michael's baby, the one she miscarried. She was so unbalanced and deranged. I think she thought it was the year before, that she was reliving Michael's death that day."
Abbey tightened her grip around Jed's waist and he pulled her in closer. "Thank you for telling us, CJ," he said.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Abbey asked.
"I think I provoked her even more. I should have just ignored her. Telling her that I brought the police into it is what may have caused her to go to the farm that night."
"CJ, it's not your fault. It's no one's fault but Emma's," Jed told her.
"I know the police are going to ask me about it today and I wanted to tell you before I told them."
Abbey reached out her hand to grab CJ's. She was happy they knew a little more about Emma's state of mind when she arrived in New Hampshire, but what they found out petrified her. She had no doubt that Emma was on a mission that night. She went to the farm armed and ready to carry out her deadly plan.
That evening, Abbey entered her bedroom feeling emotionally crippled. It had been a long day of meetings with her attorney Tom. He wanted to be prepared in case the police ever arrested Abbey for Emma's murder.
"Did you hate Emma because of the hold she had on your husband?" Tom had asked her at one point.
"No, it had nothing to do with that. It was about her. It was about who she was," Abbey replied.
Tom saw through that. He wanted to get to the heart of what Abbey really hated about Emma. It took hours for Abbey to finally admit it, but eventually she broke down, confessing that part of her disliked Emma so intensely because of her uncanny ability to manipulate Jed's emotions. Her husband was a different man around Emma and that made her feel uncomfortable.
"Did you suspect the President was having an affair with her?"
Abbey tensed up at the mere suggestion Tom made. "No," she answered honestly. "One time, I accused him of having feelings for her, but I trust my husband. I know that any thought of a more than platonic relationship would have come from her, not him."
Perhaps the most difficult question to answer was one she didn't have an answer to. "Why did the President get rid of his agents?"
All she could come up with was the standby she and Jed had been using, "we wanted to be alone." It was lame and they both knew it, but there really was no reason that would satisfy everyone's curiosity. The reason Jed dismissed his agents was because he was angry and frustrated. He wanted to walk around his own property without being trailed by a dozen officers. Of course, that was easily twisted. To the police, it was just one more reason to suspect the President of murder.
Abbey hated answering those questions. She hated reliving the night of Emma's murder. The stress of it all was too much for her. She began a hot bath, hoping that would relieve some of her anxiety. But even the warm water couldn't help her unwind tonight. There was a snowstorm brewing outside, reminding her of Christmas Eve, and Jed was working late.
After her bath, she made her way to her dresser and as she pulled out her blue satin nightgown, she unconsciously took out something else -- her bottle of Valium. Abbey stared at it for several minutes, then placed it on top of the dresser. She took off her clothes and changed into her nightgown, still fixated on the little bottle. It would just be tonight, she told herself, just to help her sleep. Jed would understand, she kept repeating.
She picked up the bottle and began to open it when she heard Annie crying out from her bedroom down the hall. Abbey dropped the bottle, grabbed her blue satin robe and ran down the hall. By the time she got to Annie's room, Elizabeth was already there, comforting her daughter. Abbey looked in, still curious about what had happened.
"It's just a nightmare," Liz told her mother.
Abbey approached the bed and sat down on the edge, brushing Annie's hair off her forehead. "You know, your grandfather is working late tonight. You want to come sleep in my room?"
Annie smiled and nodded. No matter how old she got, she loved spending the night with her grandmother. Abbey had developed a special relationship with her when she was a child and to this day, that bond was as strong as ever. What Annie didn't know was that tonight, Abbey needed her as much as she needed Abbey.
When they were both safely tucked in bed, Abbey turned to her granddaughter and gently stroked her face. "You want to tell me what your dream was about?"
"It was her."
"Who?"
"Emma."
Abbey gasped at the mention of that name. "Where was she?"
"She was at the farm. In my dream, we're all still at the farm and she was there too. But it wasn't really her, you know? It was like a ghost. She was just walking around in that blue suede jacket." Annie began to get agitated and her eyes filled with tears. "She had blood on her."
She shivered with fear as she finished her statement. Abbey wrapped her fingers around strands of Annie's hair to calm her down. "You're safe now, Angel. Just close your eyes and go to sleep."
Annie reluctantly closed her eyes, knowing she was safe. But her nightmare caused Abbey even more anxiety.
By the time Jed got home, Abbey had fallen into a light sleep herself. Jed stepped on the pill bottle Abbey had dropped when she went to comfort Annie. He picked it up and placed it back on the dresser, then made his way over to the bed. Abbey began to stir just as he bent down to kiss her cheek.
"Jed."
"Shhhh, go back to sleep." He looked to her side and saw Annie under the covers. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, just a nightmare." She turned her gaze from Annie back to Jed. "We have to talk."
Jed put his finger over his lips and took her hand, helping her out of bed. He opened his drawer to take out an oversized sweathshirt to wear with his boxers, then led her into one of the other bedrooms so they wouldn't disturb their granddaughter.
"I already know. I found the bottle," he told her.
Abbey was confused momentarily, then it dawned on her what he was talking about. "No, no, I didn't. I wanted to, but then Annie screamed and..." She stopped for a second when she saw the smile on his face. "I'm sorry. I'm trying, I really am."
He put his arms around her waist and swayed her softly from side to side against his body, still keeping enough distance between their upper bodies to see her face. "What else is going on?"
"It's Annie. She knew that Emma had her blue suede jacket on the night she died."
"So?"
"So Annie's never seen that jacket...she shouldn't have known that. I think she was there, Jed. I think she saw something."
TBC
Chapter 17
Previously: Jed was bothered that Annie pulled away from him. Abbey convinced Jed to go back on his steroids to help with his MS symptoms. Jed told Abbey he wanted to hire CJ as WH Press Secretary.
Summary: Jed and CJ resolve their differences. CJ has more information regarding Emma. Abbey is bothered after a session with her attorney, then comforts Annie after she has a nightmare.
It was the day after Christmas and the initial shock had passed. Now the First Couple had to work through the aftermath of Emma's death. If it was any other family, there probably would have been an arrest made by now, but police were treading lightly, knowing the investigation was garnering international attention.
There would be more police questions and more press coverage, but before dealing with that, there was something else Jed had to do. There was someone else he needed to see.
"Another busy day in the East Wing?" Jed startled her.
"Mr. President," CJ called as she turned around, surprised to see him.
"Hi, CJ. Do you have a few minutes?"
"Of course, Sir. How are you?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Jed looked just as drained and stressed out as Abbey. It was obvious neither of them had been sleeping, or eating much for that matter. CJ's heart went out to him. She knew the look on his face wasn't just one of exhaustion. It was regret, guilt, a look of hopelessness. In that instant, all the anger she was still feeling towards him faded. He didn't need to say the words for CJ to know how remorseful he was.
"I'm hanging in there. Look, CJ, I have something I want to say..."
"First, I want to apologize to you," CJ interrupted.
Jed was shocked. "You're apologizing to me?"
"Yes, Sir. I had no right to talk to you the way I did in the Oval Office."
She was sincere. The day of their confrontation, CJ's resentment took over her emotions. Resentment at having to defend herself, at suspecting her deputy was the cause of her troubles and her boss was too blind to notice. But afterwards, she knew her outburst only made things worse. She wanted to take back her words, but her pride kept her from doing so. Instead, she handed in her resignation and tried to mask the hurt when she was quickly replaced.
"You women never fail to confuse me," he chuckled. CJ returned his grin. "I'm the one who's sorry, CJ. I should have believed you about the Social Secruity nonsense and I should have listened to both you and Abbey about Emma."
"You felt a deep fondness for her, didn't you?"
"Yeah. I guess you could say that."
"I understand."
"No, you don't because I don't understand it myself," Jed insisted. "I don't understand how I let her cloud my judgment."
"You weren't alone. We all trusted her at first, except for Mrs. Bartlet."
A warm smile came over Jed's face. "She can read people much better than I can. But now that we know the truth, there's just one more thing to do." He walked closer to her and looked deeply into her eyes so she could see his sincerity. "I want you back, CJ. I need you back in the West Wing."
"Sir, I'm working for the First Lady."
"I already cleared it with her." Jed turned his back to her, walking around her office and glancing at the papers on her desk. "It took me too long to realize that I'll never find anyone who can handle the press the way you can, especially now. I shouldn't have let you resign and now I want to rectify that. There's really no reason for you to give me another chance, but I'd really appreciate it if you would. " He turned back around, looking at her with his big blue eyes. "Please."
He wasn't just asking her. He was pleading with her. He needed CJ because having her back would alleviate some of the guilt he felt about defending Emma for so long.
She took his hand and smiled. "I would love to come back to work for you."
CJ extended her hand in an effort to shake his, but he moved closer and, instead, gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek and pulled her into a fatherly hug. She tried to hide it, but she was thrilled. She wanted her job back. She wanted to make amends with the President. For the past several years, he hadn't just been her boss. He had been her friend. Even though she tried to deny it, leaving his side had hurt her just as much as it had him.
Before he left, CJ said she had a confession to make. She wanted to talk to Jed and Abbey together because what she had to tell them would affect them both.
Once Abbey arrived, CJ began recalling that day. It was the afternoon of Christmas Eve and CJ had just returned home to find Emma waiting outside her apartment for her. She was furious and no matter what CJ said to try to calm her, Emma continued ranting and raving in a hysterical fit.
Flashback
"I know she took my journal! I want it back!" Emma was shouting.
"The First Lady doesn't give a damn about your journal!" CJ walked around her and began to climb the steps, before turning back around to face her. "But I do. What's the matter? Are you angry that we took it or that we know all about what you've been up to?"
"You don't know anything!"
"Oh, I know more than you think. And so do the police." In actuality, CJ hadn't called the police, but by telling Emma that, she hoped it would get her off Abbey's back. Instead, it did exactly the opposite.
"She's going to pay for this too," Emma mumbled, drawing a confused response from CJ.
"Excuse me?"
"She's keeping my baby's father away from me," Emma said fanatically.
"What are you talking about?"
Emma looked at her with steel cold eyes. CJ was frightened by the hatred in her expression and without another word, the younger woman left in a frenzy. CJ went into her apartment and immediately opened the journal.
"At first, I thought she was trying to imply that she was pregnant with the President's child," CJ told Jed and Abbey.
"I never slept with her, I swear!" Jed insisted, rushing over to Abbey's side.
Abbey put an arm around Jed's waist and reassured him. "I know."
CJ knew too. "It wasn't until she left that I continued reading the journal and tracked down that friend of hers in Boston and I realized she was talking about Michael's baby, the one she miscarried. She was so unbalanced and deranged. I think she thought it was the year before, that she was reliving Michael's death that day."
Abbey tightened her grip around Jed's waist and he pulled her in closer. "Thank you for telling us, CJ," he said.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Abbey asked.
"I think I provoked her even more. I should have just ignored her. Telling her that I brought the police into it is what may have caused her to go to the farm that night."
"CJ, it's not your fault. It's no one's fault but Emma's," Jed told her.
"I know the police are going to ask me about it today and I wanted to tell you before I told them."
Abbey reached out her hand to grab CJ's. She was happy they knew a little more about Emma's state of mind when she arrived in New Hampshire, but what they found out petrified her. She had no doubt that Emma was on a mission that night. She went to the farm armed and ready to carry out her deadly plan.
That evening, Abbey entered her bedroom feeling emotionally crippled. It had been a long day of meetings with her attorney Tom. He wanted to be prepared in case the police ever arrested Abbey for Emma's murder.
"Did you hate Emma because of the hold she had on your husband?" Tom had asked her at one point.
"No, it had nothing to do with that. It was about her. It was about who she was," Abbey replied.
Tom saw through that. He wanted to get to the heart of what Abbey really hated about Emma. It took hours for Abbey to finally admit it, but eventually she broke down, confessing that part of her disliked Emma so intensely because of her uncanny ability to manipulate Jed's emotions. Her husband was a different man around Emma and that made her feel uncomfortable.
"Did you suspect the President was having an affair with her?"
Abbey tensed up at the mere suggestion Tom made. "No," she answered honestly. "One time, I accused him of having feelings for her, but I trust my husband. I know that any thought of a more than platonic relationship would have come from her, not him."
Perhaps the most difficult question to answer was one she didn't have an answer to. "Why did the President get rid of his agents?"
All she could come up with was the standby she and Jed had been using, "we wanted to be alone." It was lame and they both knew it, but there really was no reason that would satisfy everyone's curiosity. The reason Jed dismissed his agents was because he was angry and frustrated. He wanted to walk around his own property without being trailed by a dozen officers. Of course, that was easily twisted. To the police, it was just one more reason to suspect the President of murder.
Abbey hated answering those questions. She hated reliving the night of Emma's murder. The stress of it all was too much for her. She began a hot bath, hoping that would relieve some of her anxiety. But even the warm water couldn't help her unwind tonight. There was a snowstorm brewing outside, reminding her of Christmas Eve, and Jed was working late.
After her bath, she made her way to her dresser and as she pulled out her blue satin nightgown, she unconsciously took out something else -- her bottle of Valium. Abbey stared at it for several minutes, then placed it on top of the dresser. She took off her clothes and changed into her nightgown, still fixated on the little bottle. It would just be tonight, she told herself, just to help her sleep. Jed would understand, she kept repeating.
She picked up the bottle and began to open it when she heard Annie crying out from her bedroom down the hall. Abbey dropped the bottle, grabbed her blue satin robe and ran down the hall. By the time she got to Annie's room, Elizabeth was already there, comforting her daughter. Abbey looked in, still curious about what had happened.
"It's just a nightmare," Liz told her mother.
Abbey approached the bed and sat down on the edge, brushing Annie's hair off her forehead. "You know, your grandfather is working late tonight. You want to come sleep in my room?"
Annie smiled and nodded. No matter how old she got, she loved spending the night with her grandmother. Abbey had developed a special relationship with her when she was a child and to this day, that bond was as strong as ever. What Annie didn't know was that tonight, Abbey needed her as much as she needed Abbey.
When they were both safely tucked in bed, Abbey turned to her granddaughter and gently stroked her face. "You want to tell me what your dream was about?"
"It was her."
"Who?"
"Emma."
Abbey gasped at the mention of that name. "Where was she?"
"She was at the farm. In my dream, we're all still at the farm and she was there too. But it wasn't really her, you know? It was like a ghost. She was just walking around in that blue suede jacket." Annie began to get agitated and her eyes filled with tears. "She had blood on her."
She shivered with fear as she finished her statement. Abbey wrapped her fingers around strands of Annie's hair to calm her down. "You're safe now, Angel. Just close your eyes and go to sleep."
Annie reluctantly closed her eyes, knowing she was safe. But her nightmare caused Abbey even more anxiety.
By the time Jed got home, Abbey had fallen into a light sleep herself. Jed stepped on the pill bottle Abbey had dropped when she went to comfort Annie. He picked it up and placed it back on the dresser, then made his way over to the bed. Abbey began to stir just as he bent down to kiss her cheek.
"Jed."
"Shhhh, go back to sleep." He looked to her side and saw Annie under the covers. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, just a nightmare." She turned her gaze from Annie back to Jed. "We have to talk."
Jed put his finger over his lips and took her hand, helping her out of bed. He opened his drawer to take out an oversized sweathshirt to wear with his boxers, then led her into one of the other bedrooms so they wouldn't disturb their granddaughter.
"I already know. I found the bottle," he told her.
Abbey was confused momentarily, then it dawned on her what he was talking about. "No, no, I didn't. I wanted to, but then Annie screamed and..." She stopped for a second when she saw the smile on his face. "I'm sorry. I'm trying, I really am."
He put his arms around her waist and swayed her softly from side to side against his body, still keeping enough distance between their upper bodies to see her face. "What else is going on?"
"It's Annie. She knew that Emma had her blue suede jacket on the night she died."
"So?"
"So Annie's never seen that jacket...she shouldn't have known that. I think she was there, Jed. I think she saw something."
TBC