Bipartisanship
Author: ScarlettMithruiel
Rating: PG-13
Classification: R [Sam/Ainsley]
Disclaimer: Not mine. Belongs to Aaron Sorkin (the creator), Thomas Schlamme, and John Wells (who is currently causing the avalanche that is West Wing now, but we won't get into that).
Summary: Sam tries to decide whether or not he should go after Ainsley, the presidency, and a shot at happiness.
Author's Note: Again, I hope they're in canon. One thing, though, it wasn't a one shot. Sorry if I didn't specify that. So here's another installment. To all reviewers, thank you!
Scully… I don't think I'm a good writer. I just attempt to do things like Sam/Ainsley and Josh/Donna without butchering them too badly. You're a great writer. I'd read yours over mine any day. ;-)
He wanted to give her a gift. He didn't know why. He was hit with mysterious pangs of gift giving. He decided to visit Josh's office for another piece of fruit. "Sam, what are you doing here?" he asked. Sam didn't even take the time to notice what was going on in his office. He didn't want to get involved. "Don't tell me. You're here…"
"I'm here to get a piece of fruit. Yes. You have the best fruit selection," he said. Josh quickly got up and walked to the wall and stood there, his back straight and stiff against the wall. "What are you doing?" Donna quickly opened the door and it hit him.
"Ow! I'm going to stop this whole standing by the wall thing, seeing as how it's causing more stress for me than relieving it," he mumbled, covering a side of his face with his hand. Donna looked at Sam, who was busy foraging through the fruit basket. After stealing an apple and an orange, he reached for the sole peach. He thanked Josh, who playfully replied, "Thank you. Come again."
He nervously glanced down the hall from any sign of Toby and quickly headed down towards Ainsley's office. As he was rushing, he bumped into Toby. "Toby, ah…good morning." The bearded man was straightfaced, but his eyes showed his obvious amusement. It suddenly occurred to Sam that Toby could have been a Hollywood villain. He could do that stereotypical beard-stroking thing when he was hatching an evil plot to take over the world. "And eliminate all the Republicans from the land," he whispered to himself, accompanied with a little evil laugh. Toby looked at him, obviously having heard the comment.
"Sam, are you okay? You look pale and you just said something about eliminating all the Republicans from the land." Sam smiled, muttering something, before fleeing down the hall. Toby finally figured out the man's motives. He softly smiled, heading up to his office. Once he was safely situated, his laptop making little whirring noises to indicate it was booting up, he relaxed in his chair when he heard a knock from the door. It was CJ.
"What are you smiling about?"
"How great to be young and in love."
"I don't know who drugged your coffee, but I want some. Did you have coffee? Did you take someone else's prescription? I'm pretty sure I know a lot of people who would want to drug your coffee, though. Did you have any meetings with any Congresspeople today?"
"No, CJ. The evil Congresspeople did not drug my coffee, but I'm sure the assistants will barge in at any second in loincloths, holding harpoons, screaming some obscenities at me in their native language." Ginger, who had overheard the comment, from outside his office, smiled.
"You mean we don't do that every day?" Donna quipped. She smirked. "Maybe that's just me. You know, people from Wisconsin with their mysterious torture devices and techniques."
CJ then smirked, having realized a detail in Toby's statement. "Loincloths? Do you imagine the assistants in their loincloths often, Toby? I mean, I realize that some of the males would have to add on some accoutrements to deter people from looking at their…"
"Get out," he ordered. CJ stood adamant. "I'll fishnap Gail. I swear to God, CJ. I'll take her and I'll feed her to a cat."
"You have a cat?"
"Look at me, CJ. Do I look like I would need a furry, clawed companion?"
"Don't threaten the fish, Tobus." As he noticed the growing audience, his fuse grew shorter and he saw the amusement in CJ's eyes at his anger.
"If we gave tours that showed how we acted right about now, there would be no more questions on why we don't get bills passed and policy initiatives initiated. Don't you people have work to do?" He shut the door after they all fled.
Sam knocked tentatively on Ainsley's office door. She waved him in and he listened to familiar classical music in the background. "Hey," she greeted.
"Are you…working?"
"I'm on my lunch break."
"Ainsley, you have like an insatiable appetite." Realizing what he said, he blushed slightly. "You know what I mean. I brought you food." Her eyes lit up and her face brightened with an enigmatic glow. She looked stunning. "It's a peach. You know, because you're a Georgia Peach." She smirked as she took the peach from him.
"Sam, because you just gave me a peace offering, food, no less, I will not bring up the fact that I have told you, on countless occasions, that I am from North Carolina."
"You mean like you're doing now?" She bit into the peach. "So if you're not a Georgia Peach, you would be a North Carolina…what?"
"Catfish."
"Does that mean I have to go buy you a fish? A live one?"
"You could get me a Salmon Steak for lunch. Cooked, of course. Steamed sounds nice, doesn't it?"
"But you're on your lunch break now."
"I'll take another one and I'll be nice. I won't stipulate the differences between salmon and catfish, even though one is from…" He gestured for her to quiet. She continued to eat the peach.
"What did you have for lunch?"
"A Caesar salad, a Chicken sandwich, New England style Clam Chowder, and coffee, and of course, the peach. Since I am an honorary Georgia Peach."
"After all that food, you want me to go buy you a steamed Salmon Steak for lunch, even though you can stipulate differences between a salmon and a North Carolina catfish, because you're from North Carolina." She nodded. "I'm sure I have some work to do upstairs…with Toby." He quickly ran up to his office. Fifteen minutes in, he heard dull thudding from Toby's office. That stupid ball. He wanted to take it and fling it across town. Of course, the actual chances of that happening were slim. He walked over to the doorway. "What do you need, Toby?"
"Did you get working on the WPA speech?" He nodded. "Let me see it."
"It's on my laptop. Don't run away, I'm coming over." He stood and read the current draft of the speech. "Wow."
"Yeah."
"I mean, wow. Scrap the whole thing and start over." Sam nodded. He deleted the entire file and began again. As the figurative gears in his head began to turn, he typed. My fellow Americans, as I embrace the stunning horizon, I arrive at a shocking realization. Although stronger EPA laws have been passed and enforced, our environment is in danger. That not only endangers us, but our…
