Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews. More are always appreciated:)

Toby sat in his study behind his desk only vaguely aware of the din that television in the background. It would be weeks before the press stopped talking about the election and how it would go down in history. Toby sat at his desk typing. He never thought he'd write his memoirs at such an early age, but in the wake of the leak and the election he wanted to capture every feeling accurately and there was no better than time than the present. It's not as if he had much to do at the moment anyway, just sit and wait for his day of judgment, figuratively, as well as legally. In a few weeks he figured his name would be a footnote in Bartlet's administration and although Santos lost the election, the close race was fortuitous for Toby.

He sat typing and became vaguely aware of a knock on his door. No one had bothered Toby for weeks. It was as if he was quarantined with some form of plague and no one wanted to be associated with him. He sighed as he pushed his chair back and walked toward the door.

"Hey Toby," Leo said when he opened the door.

"Leo?" Toby said incredulous.

"I'm back in town and I thought I'd stop by," Leo said.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

After a moment Toby clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth and opened the door wider. "Come in."

"Thanks," Leo replied breaching the doorway. He walked into the foyer and looked around. Nothing had much changed since the last time Leo visited Toby at home, which must have been years ago.

"I'm sorry about the election," Toby said as he shut the door behind him.

"I don't know that you really are, but thanks," Leo replied.

Leo and Toby had always understood each other, but they also had a contentious relationship, much like Toby and the president. Josh, Sam and CJ were always somewhat afraid of Leo. They were afraid of letting him down or pissing him off, but not Toby.

"It was a tough loss," Toby said leading Leo into the living room.

"You win some, you lose some," Leo shrugged.

"How's Josh?" Toby asked inquiring about his old friend.

"Taking it hard," Leo admitted. "He disappeared a few nights after the election for a while. I don't know where he went, but he seemed a little better when he came back to wrap things up."

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Toby asked. "I think I've got some coffee."

"No, I'm okay," Leo said.

The two men stood in silence for a moment. Toby's mind whirled trying to come up with a reason for Leo's visit. It wasn't as if the two were ever that close personally, especially as of late. Toby had burned almost all the bridges he had with the leak and he didn't think that Leo came by to see how he was doing.

"So you're probably wondering why I'm here," Leo said as he sat down.

"Kind of," Toby admitted sitting across from Leo.

"I honestly don't know," Leo admitted.

"You don't know?" Toby asked.

"Not really," Leo said. "I was in town again and Mallory's out of town, the president is busy wrapping up his last days in office. I have thing in a little while and I had some time to kill."

"So you came to see me?"

"Yeah."

"I know you were busy running for office, but in case you forgot, I'm pretty much a pariah in this town. Can you afford to spend time with me? It could be damaging to your reputation."

"Drop the self-pity Toby," Leo admonished him. "Who the hell am I? I had a pretty nice career in politics once and now I've probably been reduced to a question on Jeopardy. I think I can be seen with you."

Toby was silent for a moment before he responded. "I wouldn't say I'm indulging in self pity."

"No, you've just been holed up here for weeks not returning phone calls and feeling sorry for yourself."

"How would you know about unreturned phone calls," Toby replied angrily. "No one was here when I needed them Leo. I was banished from the White House. I couldn't even talk to CJ about why I did what I did without getting her subpoenaed."

"Not talking to anyone before you left was just about the only smart thing you did Toby," Leo snapped back at him.

"Remind me why you're here again?" Toby asked angrily.

Leo took a breath and looked at him for a moment. "I missed this," he said simply.

"This? Are you kidding?"

"No," Leo shook his head. "These last few years have been a blur. I was sitting in my hotel room after we lost and I tried to think about the last time I was happy."

"Happy is an illusion," Toby groused.

"It might be," Leo said. "You remember when we got Mendoza confirmed?"

"Yeah," Toby replied.

"I haven't felt like that in a long time," Leo said.

"Well it was a long time ago," Toby said still fuming, but allowing himself to calm down a bit.

"Yeah, it was," Leo said. "I guess I was just trying to reconnect with that feeling."

"And you thought about me?" Toby asked surprised.

"I was thinking about that day. It was your day of jubilee. You and Sam deserved that victory."

"Well we worked for it even though Mendoza never gave us much to work with."

"You ever talk to Sam?"

"No," Toby said.

"Never?"

"He's in California governing Leo," Toby said. "Josh has probably heard from him."

"Yeah probably," Leo agreed.

"How are things with you and Josh?" Toby treaded lightly.

"It's fine," Leo said.

"Fine?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"You don't believe me?"

"I believe you."

"You should."

"I said okay," Toby whined.

"Have you given any thought to what you're going to do now?" Leo asked.

"Columbia offered me a job," Toby said.

"Are you going to take it?"

"I told them I'd be there next month," Toby said. "Contingent upon not going to jail of course, but that's a matter for another day."

"Wow," Leo said surprised. "I guess I just assumed you'd be in politics for life."

"When you leak government secrets the list of people offering jobs diminishes," Toby pointed out.

"Columbia, huh?"

"Yeah, what about you? What are your big plans?" Toby asked.

"I honestly haven't a clue," Leo replied.

"You'll figure it out," Toby said.

"Yeah," Leo said shifting in his seat. He suddenly stood up and smoothed out his coat. "I should go."

"You're going?"

"Yeah," Leo nodded. "I've got a thing."

"Okay," Toby said standing up and following Leo to the door.

"It was good to see you," Leo said extending his hand.

"You too," Toby replied shaking his hand. It was odd. There was once a level of familiarity there and now it seemed formal and cold.

"If I don't see you good luck at Columbia," Leo said.

"Thanks."

The men walked to the door and Leo opened it to leave.

"Hey Leo," Toby said.

"Yeah?"

"I really am sorry about the election," Toby said sincerely.

"Thanks," Leo said. "It was probably for the best anyway. One massive heart attack is enough for a lifetime."

"Yeah," Toby sighed. "I let him down you know."

Leo knew that in typical Toby fashion the topic had changed from the election to the leak. He further knew that to make a big deal out of it would only cause Toby to retreat.

"I know," Leo replied simply.

"I just couldn't do it anymore," Toby said.

"Do what?"

"Turn a blind eye," Toby said. "We never had to sacrifice our beliefs so much when we started. I was losing pieces of myself."

"No one ever said it was going to be easy," Leo nodded.

"No one ever said it would be so hard," Toby countered.

"No, they sure didn't," Leo agreed.

"I don't know how CJ does it," Toby said. "She's been there for eight years being forced to make one difficult decision after another."

"Yeah but the victories sure felt good," Leo said.

"That they did," Toby agreed.

"Look, I gotta go," Leo said. "It was good to see you Toby. You should call CJ sometime after she's free of the White House. I bet she'd like to hear from you."

"Have you and CJ met?" Toby asked in his old wry tone.

"Yeah as a matter of fact I have," Leo said through a smirk. "Call her."

"Maybe," Toby said. "I'll see you around Leo."

"Yeah," Leo replied as he exited the house and walked down the steps.

Toby watched him walk away and he felt a sense of calm and exhilaration that he hadn't felt in years. It was hard to pinpoint the feeling. On one hand Leo had a way of pushing his buttons and making him crazy. But, on the other hand, Leo had a way of making him feel better about everything. It was an odd combination of fury and Zen, which is what Toby thrived on. He closed the door and walked back into the study determined to finish a chapter entitled Leo McGarry.

TBC