Chapter 3

Toby hung up after Donna disconnected and took off running down the hallway towards to oval office. He needed to stop the President from going on the air. The press would have a field day with this. He could already picture the press conference. 'Peace talks are going great folks. On a side note, the secret service just ripped the Vice-President out of a riot in Miami. Any questions.' This had nightmare written all over it.

He came to a stop in front of Debbie's desk. "Has he gone on yet?" he asked a little out of breath.

"He's on now."

"Tell me that's a joke, Debbie."

"It's not a joke. He knows how to address the nation. He doesn't need you babysitting him Toby."

"He doesn't… I'm the damn Communications Director," he shouted, throwing a pen against the wall. What the hell was going on in this place lately?

Debbie looked up at him with an evil eye and he took a deep calming breath. "Who's in there with him?"

"CJ and Annabeth."

"Call Leo and Cliff. I need them here the second he's off the air."

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She'd opened the door twice to leave, shutting it and locking it both times while screaming obsenities associated with his name. Damn him. Damn him for hanging up on her. She needed to get to him. Everything would be ok if she could just get to him. But now, if she left, he wouldn't know how to get to her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hug him or hit him.

But as she looked outside once again, she didn't know how she'd get to him even if she did try. The area between her and Josh was completely packed with people. From where she stood, she could see fist fights, people climbing over each other, men sitting on other men's shoulders waving signs and shouting. The entire thing was absolutely insane. She shuddered when she saw a man not thirty feet away from her fighting another man with a switchblade in his hand, and she quickly went back inside and locked the door again.

And there was no longer a question of whom she'd vote for. She didn't care that his wife was there. That he was probably so worried about her that they got in the car and left without a second thought as to who was still there. He left Josh. He got in a fucking car and left Josh, the man who'd left everything and risked it all to make him the President. He left Josh. Her Josh, and for that, there would be no voting for him.

Now he was stuck. Stuck in that pathetic excuse for a building while hundreds if not a few thousand people were rioting outside. Damn Russell. Damn him for being such a coward. For not speaking about the issue that so desperately needed addressed. He hadn't said a thing about it and when he'd left the stage, they'd gotten sick of waiting and had attacked. And now Josh was in danger and it was all Bingo Bob's fucking fault. No, he wouldn't be getting her vote either. She was back to Vinick.

And she might just kill Will. Just throttle him. He was the one. The brain behind Russell. 'Don't say anything about it. Pretend like you don't know anything about the address. Let Santos take the fall for it here. We'll talk about it in Tampa. Things will have calmed down by Tampa. You don't want to be part of it here. Not here. Anywhere but here.' That bastard was probably sitting safely on the bus right now surrounded by secret service. Had they even noticed she wasn't with them?

She pulled her cell from her pocket. She didn't even have her purse, damn it. It was in the fucking pavilion along with the love of her life who had just refused to let her help him. Suddenly, she knew. She wanted to hug him and then hit him. Several times.

"Donna?" Toby asked in a rushed voice.

"Toby, I need your help."

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, but…" tears stung her eyes as she tried to speak. Saying it out loud was making it far too real.

"What Donna?"

"It's Josh," she said, wiping angrily at her eyes.

"What about Josh? Is he ok?"

"No he's not ok!" she screamed. "He's stuck in that building behind the stage. That fucking congressman just left him. Just left him like…bait. Toby, the crowd…"

"Calm down Donna. You've got to calm down."

"No! Don't tell me to calm down. He's sitting in a decrepit building with a wooden door that has a gap at the bottom of it. They'll break through Toby. They'll get to him and…"

"I'm sure the police are on their way Donna."

"You've got to call someone! Tell them where he is! Tell them they have to get to him! They have to get to him first. They have to get him out of there!"

"Donna…"

"You have to Toby."

"Ok. Ok. I will. I'll call them right now. We're gonna get both of you out of this Donna, but you stay where you are. Do you understand me? Don't go into that crowd Donna."

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He looked around the pavilion. He needed to know how far she was from him. How far she was from the crowd. How far she was from danger. He was breathing heavily and his hands were shaking. Sweat continued trickling down from his forehead and he wiped his face with the back of his hand again then wiped his hand on his pants leg. Then he looked at his watch. It'd been about five minutes. It felt like this started an hour ago, but it had only been five minutes. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but for some reason he felt the need to keep track.

He noticed a small window very high up, near the ceiling that looked out the way he thought Donna was. Maybe if he could get up there… maybe he could get out. Maybe the crowd wasn't that far to the side of the building. Or maybe he could at least get a look at the building Donna was in. See if she was in danger. See how far he had to go to get to her.

He pulled a picnic table over to the wall and climbed up on it, but he still couldn't reach the window. Damn it, he thought. Why was it easier to get to her in Germany than it was to get to her across a park? He needed help.

"Josh?" The congressman yelled as he answered the phone.

"Congressman!" he screamed into the phone. The noise was getting worse and worse. He could hear people on the stage, shouting through the microphone. Always the same thing, 'free Cuba' over and over.

"Where are you Josh?"

"The pavilion. I can't get through the crowd."

"Shit. You should've come with us. The pavilion's completely surrounded. We just passed behind it."

"You did?" he asked with hope in his voice. "There's a building off to the side, the side opposite where we were parked. Did you happen to notice that building?"

"Yeah, we're passing it now."

"And what's the crowd like there?"

"There isn't one. The crowd starts about 20, 30 feet from there. There are some people fighting nearby, but not many."

"Oh thank God. Sir…"

"That's where your chicken fighter is?"

"Yes. She's locked in the women's restroom."

"We're pulling in there now."

"Thank you, Sir."

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She picked up the phone on the first ring. "Josh! Tell me you're ok!"

"I'm fine. I'm more worried about you!" he yelled.

"Me? I told you I'm fine." She could barely hear him over the noise, and it scared her because it was all coming from his end. That's how close he was to the crowd.

"Matt's pulling up there right now," he continued yelling.

"What?"

"The congressman. He's coming to get you."

"No!"

"What?"

"No. I'm not going anywhere with him. I'm coming after you!"

"I'm not going to fight with you about this again. He's pulling up to the building. Get in the van when he gets there, Donnatella."

"And then we'll come get you?"

"No. Then you'll get the hell away from this park!" he screamed. Why didn't she understand? He had to get her to safety. He had to.

"No."

"Donna."

"I'm not leaving you here."

"Don't be stubborn!" There was a knock at the door and she could hear someone shouting her name.

"Don't be an ass!"

"Damn it Donna. I didn't sit in that room and make a thousand promises to any god who would listen just to lose you like this. Get in the fucking van!"

And suddenly she stopped. She stopped yelling and talking and breathing… "What?" she asked quietly.

"Please go, Donna," he said, still loudly, but not quite as loud. She could hear the desperation in his voice, and she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. He was as desperate to keep her safe as she was to keep him safe. There'd be no talking him out of it. He wasn't going to do anything to get himself out of there until he knew she was ok.

She walked to the door slowly and unlocked it, keeping the phone pressed tightly to her ear. A man she'd never met but had seen with Josh was standing on the other side of it and he took her arm and pulled her the five feet or so to the opened side van door and then pushed her in. Once she was inside, he slid the door shut behind her and got into the passenger front passenger seat quickly. Without looking back at her or the pavilion, Matt Santos hit the gas and sped off down the small stone pathway.

"I'm in the van, Josh," she said, clutching the phone to her ear, tears falling down her face.

She could hear the sound of his breathing over the deafening noise in the background. "Thank You God," he sighed.