Chapter Thirteen

'Negotiations Are Closed'

Well, I'm getting there! Thanks for all the reviews- Caia, ladypigather, The Weather Gal, lisa, mjdtwain, Lynnie, juventus, Lee, joshfan, Serensez, Simanisand miss jasadin!

Couple of points- Serensez- first, thanks very much! I'm glad you like it:) Yeah, I agree about Josh- I don't think he's just some whiny annoying guy either! Don't think it's gonna be J/D although I'm still not certain. Currently I've got another pairing planned with a view to a possible sequel. But it's all waaay up in the air atm. Just concentrating on getting the poor guy home for the mo!

miss jasadin- thanks to you also- it's great that people aree still reading this fic as I haven't updated in a while! Pretty much the same as to Serensez- sorry don't think it's gonna be a J/D but you never know. The plot bunny might stomp on me and demand it yet!

In the West Wing there were no normal weekends- the country didn't stop on a Saturday. But even so most people usually got out. Not this time. They were in negotiations with the UN and the current Qumaran Government. The UN meets were as much to keep them in the know as anything- a courtesy as the UN were involved by the demands. They both knew that there was nothing that could be done.

"I'm sorry, Leo." said the UN ambassador, whom Leo knew personally from a good few years ago. He was genuinely sorry- he'd only met the younger deputy once, but had seen the tape and could see how much this hurt his friends. Especially Leo, who seemed to be feeling guilty- as if this were his fault. Leo nodded once. John Evans didn't need to explain further- they both knew why they couldn't do it. "The UN hopes for the safe release of both the hostages." he added almost formally from across the table. He dropped his official face for a minute and it was the friend that leaned across the table and touched his shoulder sympathetically. "So do I, Leo. I hope…" He shook his head. There was very little he could say.

The President himself was talking to the Qumaran representative in Washington. The poor man was entirely out of his depth. The Qumaran rep usually kept well out of the limelight. Things were so shaky at home that a person favoured by the current government kept their head down for fear of losing it. This was a youngish man who went in minutes from being safe with a relatively easy job to being the only go-between between two nations. If he got it wrong there could be anything, up to and including war. A short war, that Qumar would lose resoundingly. So he sat, whitefaced and cursed into every hell that he could think of the bloody People's Code, Mbala, and everyone who'd ever met either.

He stood when the President entered the room and started off by apologising and assuring him that the Government had had nothing to do with it. The President assured him in return that he knew this and that he hoped there would be no need for trouble between the two great nations, mentioning former-President Nmala as a great man of his country (knowing that the young ambassador been a supporter of the dead man.) And so they did the usual careful political manoeuvring, with the ambassador trying to convince the President that there would not be need for war between them (with an undercurrent of pleasepleaseplease). The President was trying to find out just what the hell they would do to retrieve the prisoners or even get America into contact with the terrorist faction so they could talk directly. In the end, with the man far too rattled to cope with undercurrents, he finally had to ask it straight out. The ambassador stuttered that he was in contact with the Government, but there was so much of the country still unsettled and pockets of insurgents causing trouble that this bunch really could be anywhere. The President accepted the point but was growing more and more frustrated. He shouldn't really be even here- Leo had been against it. It wasn't what the President should be doing but these were exceptional circumstances. Anyway, he wasn't entirely positive Leo mightn't attack the poor man if he was as persistently unhelpful with him as he was being now. Leo was not taking this well. He released the ambassador who promised that his government were doing everything within their power to find the People's Code compound. The President didn't doubt this for a minute- Qumar didn't want a war which they would have less then no hope of winning. And that was obviously what the ambassador was terrified about. He sat back and wondered what the possibilities of getting into a war were. Leo came in. looking older and tired.

"The Qumaran ambassador knows nothing and is well out of his depth here." Jed Bartlet spoke first as Leo sat down. He nodded.

"The government is so messed up over there that there are few competent people where they should be." Suddenly there was a sound outside the door- high-pitched excited speaking and the unmistakable sounds of immovable Secret Service.

"What on earth now?" Leo went out of the other door through his own office, which meant he could loop around and come up behind the trouble.

The ambassador, who looked highly excited or agitated- it was hard to know which, was speaking to two unimpressed Secret Service and waving his arms around, trying to say that he needed to speak with the President. The two men, who were certainly not going to send in a representative from a possibly hostile nation without the Presidents consent were not budging. Leo took over and took the man into his office.

"Mr…?" the excited man started.

"Leo McGarry- Chief of Staff." he said brusquely. It was hard not to take out his anger on this man but he stayed silent.

"Mr. McGarry- I am Okawa Enorywa- the Qumaran ambassador. I have received word that my people have discovered the location of the compound in which your people are being held. They are going to rescue your friends but they have no choice but to do it now- your two people are to be executed in less then an hour."

"Is there anything our people can do?"

"No Mr. McGarry- your people would not get there in time. It is a small compound and foreign soldiers would be a distraction to our men- we may be used to fighting foreign soldiers but not with them." he added in a rare moment of clear speaking. He shut his mouth and blushed as he thought over that last sentence. Leo took pity on him and decided not to notice.

"I'll inform the President. When are your army moving?"

"They should be there within a quarter of an hour."

Things moved fast for the next while. The ambassador left again, Leo went in to inform the President. The President had to talk to quite a lot of people, including most of the foreign ministry and Joint Chiefs. Leo had to talk to the UN ambassador as well. Just before the fifteen minutes were up most of the Staff were huddled into an office- Toby's for some strange reason. It hadn't been planned, but news spread like wildfire and always had around here. CNN was on and the six people sat in and stared at it without speaking. No-one had been entirely sure how these guys had managed to hijack CNN's airwaves to do their broadcasting but they must have some kind of technical genius amongst them. After the first time, they'd not had any choice about broadcasting it. They could be speaking about anything and these bastards would suddenly take over from several thousand miles away.

It was CJ, Toby, Sam- who was sitting slightly separate with his arms tightly folded around himself in a corner. He hadn't spoken more then two voluntary words to anyone since this whole thing began. They were worried about him- and Donna too for that matter, but didn't know what could be done. The only thing that would help now was the release of their friend. Charlie and Zoey, who was on temporary leave from collage and had rushed back as soon as she knew what was happening, were there too, sitting together. Her father hadn't been too happy but knew that she would be likely to see what would happen from anywhere in the country. And Donna, of course, who looked miserable. Hadn't she been the one to convince Leo that this was what Josh needed- to be out of the country for a few days? It would be another forty-five minutes until…what was scheduled to happen, happened on live TV.

"How…how can they do this?" asked Donna shakily. "How can they….?"

Nobody answered, each wondering the same thing. CJ shrugged and shook her head.

"I don't know…"

"Do…do you think they know what's going to happen to them?" asked someone. Zoey.

"Yeah. It was in that message that they tried to make Josh read. They said that if we didn't do what they said they'd shoot both of them in twenty four hours. They knew since yesterday." Charlie finished talking as he glared furiously at a chair, trying to cover just how much hate he felt for these people.

"…You have failed your part of the bargain." spoke a voice from the television. It certainly wasn't the broadcaster. "We told you that if you informed the Qumaran Government we would kill the hostages. Negotiations are closed." A grainy shot of two people, lying still on the floor was shown. They were definitely dead although not entirely identifiable. Whoever had shot them had made sure of that.

"Oh God…" said someone faintly. That was it? The picture flicked off and went back the broadcaster who sat there in shock for a second. Sam didn't say anything, just slowly leaned forward and put his head in his hand, staring at the floor. That was it. His best friend of twenty-five years was dead. Donna stood up reflexively but was so pale that Charlie, noticing jumped over and got her to sit down again before she fell over.

"No…No!" she shouted. "How can this happen again! Didn't… didn't we already…mourn him once? Why? Why again…?" The last few words were hard to hear as the tears finally came. Zoey, who hadn't moved since her 'elder brother' had… no, she wasn't going to think it…suddenly gave a surprised mewl and rushed out of the room to be noisily sick in the small toilets down the corridor.

"Someone… needs to tell Ruth and Miriam…" said CJ.

"They'll have seen it!" snapped Sam. "Ruth's ill already. I don't know if she can take this again."

Several thousand miles away and three hours later, morale was high. No one was tracking them yet (though they weren't to know it their potential trackers were a bit busy fighting- and losing to their countrymen) They'd finally reached the Jameson Pass and as they approached, something gave a 'bip' noise.

"That was me, I think." said Kitty, surprised.

"Yeah- you've got my phone!" cried Lisa who, surprisingly for someone with as many clothes on, had no pockets.

"We're in range!" shouted someone.

"Perfect signal." said Kitty, looking up at the others with shining eyes.

"There's not much credit- we have maybe one call."

"Enough for an international?" asked Josh.

"One- if it's short. Who are we going to call?" she asked, glancing around at everybody. Everybody wanted to make the call but wondered who should do it. Slowly, one by one, people turned to look at Josh. Claire smiled slightly- Josh finally noticed what was happening and looked surprised.

"If I can call- I can get the White House. They can help us and get the word out on who's alive." Kitty handed him the phone. He took it gingerly. This small precious bit of technology held their best hope of survival. He clicked it open and started typing in the international code. It was a long number and he double- checked it to make sure it was right. He pressed the 'call' button.

In the White House, Sam's phone rang but the Staff who had reconvened in Tobys office ignored it. Someone would get it. It rang insistently and Sam got up.

"Leave it Sam. Get one of the staff to take it." Toby got up and collared someone walking past, turning them around towards the phone. Next door, Leanne, one of the staff that had been there for three years and knew everyone involved, picked it up.

"Hello, Sam Seabornes office." The line wasn't good. It crackled and an unrecognisable voice came over it.

"Hello? Hello! Get Sam please! It's Josh Lyman." The woman glared disgustedly at the far wall. Some people could be so damn cruel.

"Do you really think that's funny!" she snapped. "The man's been dead- what, three hours and you! You… vulture!"

Josh, on the other end, looked puzzled.

"Okay… look, it is me. I'm not dead. Just find Sam- please. There's not much time." Leanne frowned. But the man sounded so strange. Could he be serious? No- they'd seen the bodies. How could it be…?

"Tell him….tell him about the time his sister got her hand stick in the hose pipe when he told her that fairies lived in it. Hurry!" Leanne looked at the partitioning wall. Oh, she was so going to get fired. But…she ran inside.

"Sam- someone saying they're Josh Lyman is on the phone."

"God- that didn't take long! Tell whoever it is to…."

"He said to… remind you about the time your sister got her hand stuck in the hosepipe 'cos you told her that fairies lived in it." Sam looked up.

"He was the only one that knew how that happened!" He dived at the phone.

"Hello!"

"Sam? Sam- it's me. Not much time- get some paper. We're at the Jameson Pass in Qumar. There's seventeen of us." He reeled off the seventeen names and Sam scribbled them down. "We escaped from the People Code compound but they're going to come after us. We need help…'

"Patrol! Move! came over the phone in the distance. Josh's voice came on again, sounding harried. "Hurry- we need h…!" A buzzing sound filled the earpiece and Sam dropped it with a groan at the timing. But… he was alive? Josh was alive! He turned around to find the others behind him and behind them most of the speechwriting staff.

"It was him! He's alive! There's seventeen survivors!" he shouted, waving the piece of paper like a flag. There was a cheer that people down the corridor could hear, making others turn around in surprise. Cheering had not been a frequently heard sound over the past few days.

"There's survivors! Josh survived!" shouted someone out into the corridor and another cheer echoed back when they understood what was going on.

"Go tell Leo and the President, Sam!" urged CJ as he stood there with the piece of paper, grinning like an idiot. She was too. They all were.

"CJ- there was a patrol after them." remembered Sam, and the smile faded a bit.

"Bloody drama-queen." muttered Toby to a few scandalised looks. "He can't do anything normally- something like this always happens." he explained.

"Oh come on, Toby- he didn't exactly ask to be in a plane crash in Qumar, did he!" asked CJ. Toby's habitually dour expression lightened and he was suddenly grinning as much as anyone there.

Sam sat down limply, still clutching the paper as people hugged each other, clapped each other on the back and celebrated. On of their own had come back from the dead.

CJ stood over him but didn't say anything, letting him recover for a second before taking the precious piece of paper from him and copying the names.

"Sam, it's okay. Go to the President and Leo with this." As he sat for another second, she smiled kindly at him.

"Come on Sam- we're gonna get them home, but you need to get this to the President. Go on." Sam got up and pushed his way through the celebrating crowd which was growing by the minute as the news flew. He'd just cleared the main crowds when something hit him with a force that nearly knocked him over.

"Ugh…" he clenched the paper, suddenly terrified he'd lose his only proof. Donna was hugging him, tears shining down her cheeks. He wondered for a second how the hell she'd heard already- Josh's office was right over on the other side of the building.

He nearly broke his nose on the door, skidding on the floor as he tried to stop a bit too late. Even this didn't distract him as he knocked on the door with one hand and used the other to stem the bloodflow. Leo opened the door to a grinning maniac with blood dripping off his chin and a piece of (now bloodstained) paper clutched in one hand and wondered briefly had the stress of the last few days caused a screw to come loose. Sam just saw the look of bewilderment on Leo's face and nearly started laughing. A closer look at the face behind the expression sobered him up somewhat- Leo looked older then his fifty- something years and there were faint traces of… tears? just discernible on his face.

"Leo- …just got… call. It was Josh! He's alive, Leo! And he gave me the names of other survivors- seventeen of them!" He waved the piece of paper at him. "Leo- they're at the Jameson Pass and when the phone went there was a patrol coming. They need help, Leo- we need to get them out of there as soon as possible." Leo stared at the younger man, now certain there were at least a few marbles loose in there. Then it filtered through.

"He's alive? Are you…? Sam- you saw the tape. It was…"

"It was a fake, Leo- those…bodies weren't identifiable. That voice was. And he knew something that nobody else did. It was Josh, Leo. And he and the others need our help."

"Come on." Leo was Leo again. Sam was marched into the Presidents office where he repeated the story again.

"Leave the list, Sam. Leo- I need to talk to Fitzwallace now."

"Yes sir. Sam- thank you- you can go back. Keep this q- there's no point telling you to keep this quiet is there."

"Um… most of the speechwriting staff were there when I took the call. And someone shouted it down the corridor…" he trailed off, wincing. Leo shook his head. He couldn't blame them really. Sam left, not noticeably subdued.

The end of the tunnel was in sight!

'Hey people. Sorry for the long wait! In the middle of Chapter 14- Homecoming. There'll be that and an epilogue, I'd say. Thanks for bearing with me through Long Walk Home!

Love to all reviewers! You guys rock! (And please keep reviewing:)

Aries :)