Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth made her way from the Residence to the East Wing of the White House directly after speaking with her father. She stopped in front of the door that belonged to the office of her mother's Chief of Staff. From outside, she could hear two women laughing and talking like teenagers and she smiled. It reminded her of the old days, when the three of them were carefree kids who turned into carefree college students. She missed those days desperately.
Liz knocked lightly on the door, then let herself into Amy Gardner's office. Mallory O'Brien was sitting on the couch, and Amy sat opposite her, on the edge of her desk.
"Liz!" Mallory exclaimed, cheerfully.
"Hey, Lizzers," Amy said, with a smirk.
"What are you two crazy kids doing in here?" Liz asked, dropping herself down on the couch beside Mallory.
"Talking about Mal's new boyfriend," Amy replied.
"Uh-uh," Liz said, shaking her head. "I refuse to picture you with anyone but Mr. Seaborn."
Mallory rolled her eyes.
"You've gotta over that, Liz. Nothing's going to happen with Sam and me. That was three years ago, almost four."
"I won't rest until I'm a bridesmaid at your wedding."
"I second that," Amy added.
"Oh, no you don't, Amelia. You're not one to talk, Mrs. Lyman."
Amy's jaw dropped in mock surprise. Mallory chuckled.
"I won't rest until I'm a bridesmaid at your wedding too," Liz said.
"Not gonna happen, sister."
"Yes, it will! You and Josh are going to have a double wedding with Mallory and Sam. I have it all planned out, down to the type of flowers and the color of the bridesmaid dresses."
"Oh, please," Mallory said. "Spare us, Liz!"
"Come on, it'll be great! Josh and Sam are best friends, and so are the three of us."
"Yeah, but you won't be the one getting married," Amy pointed out.
"Then we can have a triple wedding. Doug and I will join you and…renew our vows!"
"You've been married eleven years. You can't renew your vows yet," Mallory said.
"Who says? My parents did it every five years."
At that moment, the door swung open and Josh Lyman walked in, followed by his partner-in-crime, Sam Seaborn. Liz raised an eyebrow at the sight of them, highly amused by the serendipity.
"Speak of the devil…or, devils, if you will."
Josh and Sam were, at first, a bit caught off guard at finding not one, but both, of their ex-girlfriends in the same room, along with their boss' eldest daughter. They took a second to regain their composure.
"Sorry to interrupt," Sam said.
"Amy," Josh said, tilting his head to the side. "We need you."
Amy frowned, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"You need…me?"
"Yeah," he replied. "Come on. We've got a thing."
Sam shrugged, sheepishly.
"Sorry about this, Liz." He nodded in her direction, then to the woman sitting beside her. "Mallory."
Mallory nodded back cordially.
"Sam."
Liz looked back and forth, from Mallory to Sam, and smiled to herself. Seeing this, Mallory jabbed Liz in the ribs with her elbow.
"Ow! Mallory!"
Amy stopped in the doorway as Josh and Sam dragged her out of her own office.
"Liz, are you leaving?"
"I'll wait till you get back. No big deal."
"Okay. I don't know how long I'll be," Amy said.
"Don't worry about it, just go."
Amy nodded, then walked briskly down the hallways with Sam and Josh. After a moment, Amy broke the silence that had ensued.
"Either of you going to tell me what's going on?"
"We've got to talk to the President," Josh answered.
"About what? And why do you need me for this?" Amy questioned.
"It's about the First Lady," Sam explained.
"But…I spoke with her yesterday and everything was fine, what the hell could she have done in twenty-four hours?"
Okay, technically, a lot, Amy knew, but she was loyal to her boss to the death.
"Have you ever doubted Mrs. Bartlet's ability to wreak havoc?" Josh asked.
"I haven't," Sam said.
Amy glared at them both as they walked.
"You guys don't know what's going on either, do you? CJ just sent you to get me."
"Of course we know what's going on! We're very important, you know," Josh siad, offensively.
"People from all over the world come to us for advice. Everybody knows our names," Sam added.
"What are you, an episode of Cheers?"
Sam shrugged.
"They're always glad we came."
Amy rolled her eyes.
"You really have no idea what's going on, do you?" She repeated.
"Nope," Sam said.
"No idea," Josh agreed.
"Great."
London, England- the evening before
"Zoey!" Abbey shouted, pushing through crowds to find her daughter.
"Zoey!"
"Mom!" Zoey called out from behind her.
Abbey whipped around, then breathed a sigh of relief.
"We have to leave the party now."
Zoey approached her, with Oliver Prescott trailing behind her
"What? What's going on?"
"Mrs. Bartlet, is everything all right?" Oliver asked with concern.
Abbey shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
"Mom, why are you crying!" Zoey asked, her own eyes filling with tears just observing her mother.
"I'll tell you on the way home. Please…let's go," Abbey begged.
"Okay, sure, fine. Oliver…"
"I know. You have to go. It's okay," Oliver assured her, squeezing her hand gently.
Zoey took Abbey's arm and lead her away from the crowds and out the door. Oliver watched them leave, shocked and worried. Then, he began a search for his father.
"Abbey!" Tony called, coming in from the terrace.
"Dad!" Oliver jogged over to him.
"Where's Abbey?"
"She's gone. She just left with Zoey."
Tony groaned.
"Dear God."
"What the hell did you do you to her, Dad! She was crying!"
"There's paparazzi outside!" Tony shouted.
"What?"
"They were in the courtyard. I don't know how they got in or where they went, but they were here."
"How many?"
"We only saw two. We saw the flashing of the cameras."
"Jesus. Is that why she was crying?"
Tony looked away from his son, which only made Oliver more determined to get an answer out of him.
"Dad, what were you doing when the pictures were taken?" Oliver demanded.
"Who are you, Sherlock Holmes?"
"Dad."
"Nothing!" Tony insisted.
"Dad, what were you doing?"
"I…I was about to kiss her."
"You WHAT!" Oliver shouted.
"Don't look so surprised. You know exactly how I feel about Abbey. How was I to know there would be paparazzi lurking in the bushes?"
"Because they're always lurking in the bushes! In fact, that's the first place you should have looked!"
"Damnit," Tony muttered under his breath.
"Well," Oliver said, with a sigh. "Guess who's picture is going to be on the cover of every magazine and newspaper between here and the United States?"
Washington, D.C.
As Toby Zielger walked through the halls of the West Wing with CJ Cregg alongside him, he noticed that she was being much quieter than usual.
"CJ."
"Huh. What?"
"What is it?"
"What? Nothing," CJ replied, quickly.
"You made Sam and Josh go get Amy. Why?"
"So…she doesn't feel left out?"
"CJ, come on."
"Sometimes I wonder why I'm the only one who looks at the news stand on my way to work," CJ said.
"Meaning…?"
"I'm always the one who comes to you guys and says 'hey, look who's on the cover of so and so, and now we're screwed.'"
Toby shrugged.
"That's your job."
"Wouldn't kill you guys to look at a newspaper now and then, instead of relying on me."
"So who's on the cover of so and so?" Toby asked.
"The First Lady."
"What's the big deal? It's not the first time."
"Yeah, but…"
"But?"
"She's not alone. And I have to be the one to tell the President. Yet again."
"Are the walls of the Oval going to vibrate again?" Toby questioned.
"I think that would be a fair assumption, yes."
"Can I not go to this meeting then?"
"Oh, no. You're going. Sam and Josh are gonna run away like little girls when I show him this magazine, so you're gonna have to be there to save me."