The Windswept Heights

Some people believe that the legacy of President Bartlet is slowly but surely being consigned to the history books, perhaps where it belongs. According to these people, he will soon be just be another president in the long list that children memorize in school. His legacy perhaps is dying out. But his Legacy is still going strong.

Those who had first-hand connections with him are aging, growing older with every year, as people naturally tend to do. His best friend died after a bout of cancer not quite two years after him. His wife passed away in her sleep only last year. The others are still alive but the majority are nearing the age where most people begin considering retirement.

That doesn't, however, mean that we have seen the last of them. After all, CJ Cregg surrendered her position as editor of Inside Politics two years ago and she still remains one of the most knowledgeable and influential political media analysts in the United States, if not the world.

"I can't believe it, Jack, but somehow you've managed to botch this even worse than Josh did," Donna said kindly.

"Worse than Josh?" CJ's voice questioned over the speakerphone. "I've got to say that I think this is even worse than Toby!"

"Thanks for the support, girls," Jack groaned, his head sinking back down into his arms. "Next time I've ruined my life, I'll make sure that you two are my first calls."

"You mean you're anticipating a next time?" Donna joked, perching herself on the edge of Jack's desk.

"I wasn't anticipating this time," he answered, lifting his head.

"You know what we're going to do?" CJ asked firmly. Even if all she had to go by was the tone of Jack's voice, she could tell that he was upset. "We're going to figure out what went wrong, and then you're going to fix it," she said, answering her own question.

"I'm going to fix it?" Jack repeated, a cautious note of hope starting to creep back into his voice. Donna, however, could see the sceptical expression on his face.

"You're going to fix it," Donna affirmed, backing CJ completely.

"Well," CJ started, "I think that the first of the many things that you did wrong was that you mentioned Bruno. Actually no, the first thing that you did wrong was the make the assumption that she'd say yes without you even trying to woo her. The second thing you did wrong was to mention Bruno."

"Woo her?" Jack repeated incredulously.

"What does Bruno have to do with any of this?" Donna questioned. "And we're not talking about Bruno Gianelli, are we?" Apparently Josh hadn't mentioned that little wrinkle to his wife.

"Unfortunately," CJ told her when Jack didn't appear overly anxious to talk about it. "He sought Alex out about six months ago and told her two things. The first one was that she was crazy to think that the American public was ready to elect a woman to the White House, never mind a Catholic one."

"I don't like the sounds of this if that was just the first thing," Donna commented.

"And the second thing was that if she wanted a hope of even getting through to Super Tuesday, she'd better find someone to marry. His suggestion was someone pretty enough that she wouldn't have trouble with his image and stupid enough that no one would question who was really in charge."

"And you mentioned that?" Donna wondered in disbelief. "No wonder she said no."

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"She didn't exactly say no. She just didn't say yes."

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"And the difference between those is what exactly?" Toby asked pointedly, crossing his arms firmly in front of his chest and attempting to stare Josh down.

"Well, it's like she didn't slam the door in his face; she just closed it softly," Sam offered, wishing that he could be in Washington to either comfort Alex or slap some much needed sense into Jack. Where had the strategy they had come up with in the bar that night gone?

"That analogy makes no sense whatsoever," Toby declared. "What exactly did you say?" he asked Alex, motioning for Josh to hand her another Kleenex.

"You mean before or after he apologized for not being pretty enough or stupid enough to count as a trophy husband?" she sniffed.

Josh groaned as he passed the box of tissues from his desk over to her. "He didn't." He and Toby exchanged glances over the top of Alex's head.

"He did," they chorused together with Sam. It was actually quite a feat considering Sam was in California, carrying on the conversation over the phone.

"How on earth do the three of you know about that?" she inquired sharply, her face turning red again, this time in anger.

Josh at least had the grace to blush. Toby just stared. "Bruno isn't known for being tactful," he stated.

"Or quiet," Sam offered hesitantly.

"Let's go with what you said before he said that," Toby suggested firmly, anxious to move past who knew what and how and get to what had actually happened.

"Why don't we start at the beginning," Sam suggested.

"I don't know if you've got time for that," Alex said miserably.

"You were late coming back from your meeting with Chris," Josh prompted.

"And Jack was waiting in my office," she continued with a sigh. "I thought that he wanted to try and sway my vote on 467 again."

"But instead he proposed?" Toby guessed. Alex tapped her nose.

"He got down on one knee and proposed, right there?" Sam asked, unable to see Alex's gesture.

"Not so much. He skipped the down on one knee thing and sort of skipped the proposed thing too. He started spouting off statistics, told me he had given up trying to get a 'yes' on the bill, and asked me to set a date for the wedding," she clarified, her voice catching on the last words as she lowered her face into her hands.

With her head lowered, they couldn't tell whether she was laughing, or, as was more likely, crying. Toby was the closest and he awkwardly reached out a hand to pat her shoulder, simultaneously looking over at Josh with a 'Why me?' look on his face.

"And I know the rest," Josh answered. "I was waiting for Jack outside and your voices carried through the door. It wasn't good," he explained for the benefit of the others. "Toby did a better job when he proposed to CJ."

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"I have a hard time believing that."

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"Believe it," Jack groaned. "I'll never be able to face her again. She was yelling loud enough that I'm sure everyone in the building could hear her."

"That much I'd believe."

"Josh was outside in the hall and he heard," Donna explained to CJ. "He knew I was in my office eating lunch and called me over right away."

"We can still fix this," CJ maintained. "It'll be more difficult that I had originally anticipated, but we can still fix this."

"You mean like you fixed that statue of Brast or Breast or whatever that Egyptian cat-thing was?" Jack asked harshly.

"Bast," CJ corrected. "And although I'm not quite sure how you heard that story, the glue actually held quite nicely. But I was thinking of something maybe a little more upbeat than an ancient Egyptian cat curse."

Donna chanced a hesitant smile at Jack. After a second, Jack returned it. "We've got a smile here," Donna reported to CJ. "And I've got a spare key to her apartment and the name of the florist that Josh uses when he makes his interns cry."

"Jack," CJ said seriously, "you realize we're taking your word that this isn't a political match because if it is, so help me…"

"I tendered my resignation this morning," he declared quietly.

"I couldn't quite catch that," CJ answered, wishing that she wasn't having this conversation over the phone.

"I gave my notice to Clift this morning before I met with Alex. It's a conflict of interest for me to keep my job if I'm going to be with her, and it'll hurt her in the elections when the story gets out if I hadn't already resigned," he said strongly so that CJ could hear every word. "I took a position with Senator Martin."

"Martin as in the junior senator from North Dakota Herb Martin?" Donna asked.

"He'd be the one. His deputy chief quit last month and he's been looking for a replacement," Jack explained.

"You're giving up…"

Jack cut CJ off. "She can't really make the switch herself and I wouldn't ask her to. Rhode Island's got two Democratic senators, both incumbents who don't show any signs of retiring in the foreseeable future, regardless of the fact she doesn't meet the age limit," he explained. "The way I figure it, she's got to stay in office pretty much continuously if she wants to have any chance at a run for the top."

"You're giving up the one of the most powerful positions you can get in the House without running for election…"

This time it was Donna that Jack cut off. He sighed, "Plus this way there's experience in both Senate and House proceedings. That is, if you're looking at the political side of things. If you're not looking at that, then you're down to the simple facts that she's my best friend and I do love her."

"A couple words of advice," Donna said, reaching out to pat Jack's shoulder reassuringly, "next time start where you just finished."

"And maybe say it from one knee, instead of from her chair," CJ added.

"Oh, and actually asking her might help."