Title: Peripheral Vision

Author: Tinkerbell99

Rating: T

Disclaimer: The characters are not my creation, they belong to someone else.

Summary: And so it was that Donna joined the campaign, but what else happened that day? Told through the voices of those on the outside of the main event.

POV: Leo

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"-and furthermore, we apologize for any inconvenience the absence of your trash can may have caused. You can be assured that not only does the Bartlet for America campaign take-"

CJ stops writing and looks up. "Don't say "Bartlet for America."

"You want it to say Bartlet for trash cans?"

"We talked about this, Leo. We need to downplay the role of the campaign."

Fine. I can work with that. "Not only do we take full responsibility for the-"

"Don't take responsibility. It makes it look like we did something wrong."

"We stole trash cans. That isn't wrong?" This only earns me a glare.

Thirty minutes until the event, I can't find two key staff members let alone the actual speech, and I'm left dictating apology letters to the Jensens of 781 Spruce Street. I wonder if perhaps this is what Margaret means by overflow.

I start again. "You can be assured that not only do we regret the inconvenience caused to you and your family-"

"Don't bring up the family."

"CJ!"

"I'm just trying to keep us out of trouble here. We bring up family, and suddenly it's an attack on every American citizen."

"CJ, it was a missing trash can! Why are we-"

"Because! This is Nashua, New Hampshire and these people cared enough to call not only the police but also the press to begin with! You really don't think this letter will end up on the front page of the newspaper?"

Disturbingly enough, I'm almost certain she's right. I'm also finished with this conversation. "Fine. Write this: Dear residents of 781 Spruce Street, We're sorry we stole your dead tree branches. We're sorry you missed yard waste pickup day - whatever the hell that is. Ever think about raking leaves more than once a decade? Signed, Leo McGarry."

She looks at me in silence for a moment, eyebrows raised, before slowly responding. "So I take it I'll be writing the letter of apology."

That would be the gist of it. "Ya think? Anyway, he's on the stage in half an hour. We can deal with the other thing tomorrow. Where are we on the speech?"

Toby looks up from the paper on his lap and clears his throat. "It's on the way."

"On the way?"

"Yeah."

"So that wouldn't be the speech for this evening you're scribbling on that notepad."

He glances first at CJ, then at me. "It would be a backup, I suppose."

"A backup?"

"There was a problem with the…wiring. Sam's on his way. He'll have the speech."

"You're sure about that?"

"No."

"Oh, for God's sake, Toby! What the hell are you…Never mind. Somebody get a call in to Sam and Josh and find out where in the Northeast they happen to be. CJ, you got your cell?"

"Ahh, well, no. No, I don't." She eyes Toby and ducks her head.

"Fine. Whatever. Find a payphone. Find a carrier pigeon for all I care! Just get the damn-"

"Leo!" And here we have the Governor.

I turn to see Jed charging at me, and from the look on his face, he's not happy. With one final glare for Toby, I turn to Jed.

"Leo! Could someone here please tell me why there is a stepstool behind the podium?"

"There was a height…thing at the event last week."

"We couldn't have arranged for different camera angles? I need a booster seat?"

Good question. Turning to CJ, I find her just as surprised and possibly even more irate than the rest of us. "I did. I did arrange for the cameras to…No. Hold on. No. No. That little twerp didn't…Okay, you know what…I'm going to-"

"You want to maybe start speaking in complete sentences, there, CJ?" Twenty-five minutes until we're on air.

"I'll be right back." Dropping the trash can draft, she darts out of the room yelling for someone named Michael to fire his intern. Meanwhile, I'm left with one irate Governor on my hands.

"We just wanted to avoid the thing that happened with the Times." He continues looking at me, not amused. "You know, where they compared you to the Little Engine that-"

"I know what they compared me to. Something about a dwarf or a midget as well, I believe. What I don't understand is how my using a stepstool is going to dispel that image!"

Once again, he has a point there. "CJ's working on it, sir. In the mean time, I'd like you to relax for a few minutes before going out there, maybe go sit with Abbey for a while." Placing my hand on his shoulder, I attempt to steer him back to the green room.

"And will I be seeing a draft of the speech sometime in the next, I don't know, fifteen minutes? I realize we're keeping the crowd in suspense, but is it wise to do that to the candidate as well?"

"Sam's on his way with the speech and Toby's working on it as well. You'll have it as soon as it's ready." I hope.

"I believe that's what I was told some five hours ago now."

Rounding the corner, we enter the green room where Abbey sits, perched on the edge of an ancient leather couch. Rising to greet us, she starts fussing with Jed's collar. "I see you've found my wayward husband. So good of you to bring him back." Turning to look Jed in the eye, she adds, "Stop moving."

"It's not like I'm a short man by any means." We're back on this again. He stops moving his head, but continues flailing his arms.

"Of course you're not. You're taller than Leo." I try not to be offended by that remark.

"I'm taller than a lot of people." He's moving his head again. "A lot of very successful people. Napoleon, for instance."

"Didn't I tell you to stop moving?"

"And they bring out a stepstool for me to stand on!" Now he's pacing. "I asked Leo how that was supposed to help and I swear he chuckled at me! Chuckled!"

"Yes, yes. That's all very important. Now, if you and your massive height don't stop moving, I'm going to strangle you with this tie."

Look's like Jed is handled for the moment. Now if I just knew where Josh and Sam were, I'd be in business. "Abbey." She smiles. "We've got a little time before he goes on camera. If you could just, maybe-"

"Keep him calm?"

"Something like that." With a nod, I attempt an exit as Jed rails against the use of a stepstool and his wife straightens his tie.

Leaving the Governor with Abbey in the waiting room, I sense rather than see sudden commotion at the far end of the hall. The next thing I notice is Sam running past, full speed ahead and carrying several sheets of paper. Behind him trails Josh, carrying a backpack and limping on his left. Bringing up the rear, but rapidly closing in, is the blonde I'm assuming is Josh's new assistant. Despite the heels she's in, she passes Josh and heads straight for Sam, waving around still more paper.

I take it the speech has arrived.

"Sam!" At the sound of her voice, he turns, still in a dead sprint, and narrowly avoids crashing into a cart of coffee and bagels. He does not, however, avoid crashing into Toby, who suddenly appears from around a corner. Somehow the two of them manage to stay on their feet and the blonde skids to a stop, holding out the papers to Sam. "Here. You might want pages three and four."

"Right." With a glare from Toby, he and Sam disappear to (hopefully) hand off the speech to Jed. Josh, meanwhile, limps up to me.

"What the hell happened to you?" Happy as I am to see him, this really was not the time for him to go AWOL.

"Well, Leo, see, Sam had a problem with his computer and we had to fix the thing before…" He trails off as the blonde woman strides up to us, a very pointed look on her face. "Donna had to fix it before we could leave the office. Then there was a problem with a car and we had…" She glares at him some more. "Donna was able to help us out by lending us her…Driving us to the site."

"Why are you limping?"

"I, uh, tripped. Getting out of the car."

"Getting out of the car when, Joshua?" The blonde speaks.

"I was anxious to get into the site! So was Sam and you didn't laugh at him!"

"He didn't try to jump out of the car while I was still driving! I told you not to try to get the-"

A somewhat red-faced Josh cuts her off. "Leo, have you met my assistant?"

"We haven't been introduced. I'm Leo McGarry."

"Donna Moss. Nice to meet you, sir."

"Call me Leo." Glancing at my watch, I continue. "I need to check in with the Governor. Excuse me, will you?" As I head after Sam and Toby, I hear Josh and Donna bickering in the background.

"Come on, let's find some ice."

"I don't need ice." He's whining.

"You're limping. You need ice." And she's not taking it.

"I wouldn't be limping if you didn't drive like a-"

"You wouldn't be limping if you didn't try to jump out of moving cars. Be quiet and let's go." I think I like her.

Less than ten minutes until one of the most important events of the campaign, and I've got a candidate who needs a high chair, an assistant who steals trash cans, a press secretary who can't speak in complete sentences, and Josh jumping out of moving vehicles. It's a wonder we've gotten this far.

And yet, you gotta wonder…

Maybe those are just the people and just the reasons we have.

"Leo? We're starting." CJ and I walk slowly to the edge of the stage as Jed prepares to speak. The crowd is a sea of red, white, and blue. The shouts are deafening, the momentum sweeping through the building. The cameras are on and lights are blazing. Stepstools are (thankfully) nowhere in sight. Dozens of "Bartlet for America" signs pepper the crowd and a hush falls as he begins to speak.

"My fellow Americans…"

Bartlet for America. It's more than one man. It's all of us.

And we can do this.