Moving On
Chapter 4 -- Communications Office
While operations is now staffed, there are definite gaps in the communications office
Josh, Lou, Annabeth, Sam
Spoilers through season 7
Thursday 17th November
Josh hesitated outside Annabeth's office door, unsure what he was going to say to her. He hadn't really spoken to her since the hospital on election night. Then she'd been standing, surrounded by agents, and Josh had known as soon as he'd seen her that Leo had gone. She didn't have to say the words, in fact he'd have given anything to not have her say them. When she had told him, he'd simply shaken his head and walked away from her. Every time he'd seen her since, he'd been pulled reluctantly back to that hospital corridor.
He took a deep breath and knocked gently on the open door. "Hey, you busy?"
Annabeth looked up. "Josh, hi. I was going through this, I've been putting it off."
"What is it?"
"Stuff of Leo's from the campaign. Actually you might want to look ... "
"No," Josh interrupted her. For now, the only way he could deal with Leo's death was to think about him as little as possible. "I've got everything I need. Listen, I wanted to ask, do you have plans now, work wise I mean?"
"Find another campaign I guess," Annabeth half heartedly replied. In truth she didn't really have the heart to find another candidate, didn't want to make anyone else popular. She'd become very fond of Leo in the months they'd worked together.
"How about working for us, with us, in The White House?"
"On the president's staff?"
"Yeah, unless you'd rather work for Nancy in OEOB?"
"No," Annabeth replied a little too quickly. "Sorry, it's not that I don't like Nancy, I do, I just ... I'd planned to do that with Leo and ... you know."
Josh nodded. "It hurts," he said.
"It does. I only knew him a few months but I liked him a lot. And, you know how you envisage how something will be? Sorry, of course you do."
Josh nodded again. "So what about working in the west wing as deputy communications director?"
"Really? I'm not sure I have the experience for that sort of job. I mean all I've done is PR."
"It's basically the biggest PR job in the country," Josh told her. "Besides, Sam and Toby had no experience, but they muddled through. Look, the president wants you and I want you. We're going to need someone who's good with spin."
"Isn't the deputy communications director supposed to be able to write speeches, because I'm telling you that really isn't my thing."
"There's a speech writing staff, don't worry." Josh smiled, "You want me to grovel, 'cause I'm going to been doing a lot of that over the next few days?"
Annabeth laughed, "No, please, no groveling. Wow, deputy communications director. That's pretty amazing. You don't even know if I'm a democrat."
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Friday Evening
Josh was sitting in his office with Lou and Annabeth, eating pizza and going through lists of vacancies and potential candidates. It was late on Friday evening and most people had already gone home for the weekend.
"No plans with Donna?" Lou asked.
"She's going to work for Helen," Josh replied.
"I think she meant tonight. You and her, nice meal or something," Annabeth suggested.
Josh frowned, "Is there anyone who doesn't know?"
"No," Lou said. "I'm fairly sure it's been clear to everyone here for weeks."
"Great, so much for a private life," Josh complained.
"Oh stop whining, everyone thinks it's great," Lou told him.
"What about Bram?" Annabeth asked.
"Bram doesn't think it's great?" Lou asked.
"For press secretary," Annabeth clarified. "And he does think it's great," she added with a smile.
"I'm so pleased," Josh sighed. "I hadn't thought of Bram. He doesn't have a media or PR background."
"That's why you've got me," Annabeth told him brightly. "Bram's personable, inelegant, he can think on his feet, he'd be good."
"Well you're the one who has to train him, so if you're sure," Josh said.
"Okay," Lou agreed. "So we've got you as chief of staff, you as deputy communications director. Bram as press secretary, Rhona as Josh's deputy, Joey Lucas as media director, if Josh ever gets around to asking her. What about communications director, and don't look at me."
"Sam Seaborn," Josh said.
"Really?" Annabeth smiled. "He'd be great."
"Yeah he would," Lou agree. "How come you haven't mentioned him before?"
Josh looked a little awkward. "I haven't actually got him to agree yet, but I'm working on him."
"Well you'd better step up a pace because we're almost at Thanksgiving and we need a staff in place and ready to go by the Holidays," Lou told Josh.
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Saturday
"You dread my phone calls don't you?" Josh asked.
"Yes," Sam agreed. "So how's the weather?"
"If I said it was hot and sunny would you get on a plane?"
"No. I don't need to fly 3000 miles to find pleasant weather. You'll need to do better than that."
"I hired Joey as media director."
"Yeah?" Sam smiled. "She'll be good. What about press secretary?"
"Bram."
It was Sam who'd introduced Josh to Bram in California. "Strange choice."
Josh shrugged. "Annabeth thinks he'll be good and she's usually right about these things. Plus, I remember the fun Donna and Toby had trying to find someone to fill CJ's place. Bram excited about it, he's starting on Monday."
"What about the electoral college and Nancy?"
"We'll get the votes, don't worry about that. You know for someone with no interest in joining us, you're showing a lot of interest."
"I like to know who's going to be running the country and spending my taxes," Sam smiled.
"You know I won't give up unless you tell me I have no hope at all of persuading you?"
"I do. So how are you?"
"Fine."
"Josh, this is me you're talking to. How are you?"
Josh sighed and sat down behind the desk. With most people he could fool them he was fine, that he was moving on, but not with Donna and not with Sam. "I'm better than last week."
"Day to day is all you can do I guess," Sam said.
"That's what President Bartlet said, that all we can hope is that each day is better than the last."
"And is it?"
"For the most part."
"You know you can talk to me don't you?"
"I do, and if I need to I will."
Sam knew that was the best he could hope for for now. "Have you seen Mal?"
"Yesterday. She's been better, but all things considered she seems okay."
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Sunday
Sam picked up his ringing cell phone and grinned to himself when he saw the name on the caller ID. "You're like a dog with a bone," he smiled.
"I have no idea how to take that," Josh replied. "But I told you I wouldn't give up."
Sam carried the phone into the kitchen as he listened to Josh. While he liked the idea of them working together again, something inside him wasn't sure about returning to the White House.
"You know I have good life here," Sam said. "A good job, nice apartment."
Josh nodded. "I do."
"And you want me to give it all up for at least four years."
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Why?"
Josh's impulse was to say, 'because I need you', but he knew it wouldn't fair to play on Sam's loyalty and friendship. "Because Santos is a good man, he's going to be a great president. We get to continue Jed Bartlet's legacy and build on it with our own. We get another four, hopefully eight, years to make a difference, to make things better in education and health care. But to do that we need good staff and even better advisors. We're going to be an unbelievably young and inexperienced administration." Josh sighed and said it anyway. "We need you, I need you."
Sam already knew all that. He'd spoken to Donna, as well as to CJ and Toby. But they hadn't had to tell him that Josh was going to need all the help he could get, especially in the first year. "You really believe in him, not just because you got him there, I mean you really believe in him?"
"I do, I always did."
"So I guess if you believe in him and Leo believed in him, he must be the real thing?" Sam asked with a small smile.
"I never thought I'd find another, but yes he is."
"I did mention my good job out here didn't I?"
"You did."
"And that I like local politics."
"That as well," Josh agreed.
"Can I come out and meet him?"
"Just name the time."
"Okay. But I won't take the job if I don't see it," Sam said.
"It?"
"The thing that Jed Bartlet has, I can't explain it."
"You'll just know it when you see it?"
"Yes. My flight gets in a 7.50 tonight."
Josh raised a eyebrow at that. "Tonight? You've already booked a flight."
Sam smiled at Josh's indignant tone. "I miss you. I'll see you tonight."
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Dules Airport
Josh took one of Sam's bags off him. "Three bags? How long are you planning on staying?"
"Thought I may as well bring enough stuff for a few weeks, just in case I decide to take the job."
"What about your current job?" Josh asked as they left the terminal building.
"I've taken a leave of absence. Where you parked?"
"Here," Josh said as he led Sam to a waiting SUV.
"Secret Service. You're going to save a fortune on car running costs."
"It's the reason I took the job," Josh agreed as he climbed into the vehicle. "Where'd you want to go?"
"I need a shower, I smell of plane," Sam smiled. "Then it's up to you."
"You want to meet your potential staff, or would that be too soon?"
"Are they waiting for me?"
"Yeah," Josh replied sarcastically. "They're all lined up waiting to meet you. Don't be an idiot. They're going to The Hawk, we could meet them if you want. If not, we'll go someplace else, stay in, whatever. "
"Hawk sounds good. I talked to Toby yesterday. He sounds resigned. You think President Bartlet'll pardon him?" Sam asked.
"I dunno, from what CJ and Toby say, he was pretty pissed with him."
"Well if he doesn't, your guy can."
"I really hope I'm not put in that position," Josh admitted.
"You don't want to?"
"Of course I want to, but think how it'll look if one of his first acts in office is to pardon his chief of staff's friend."
"It would look a little suspect. So we just have to hope Jed Bartlet does it. Have you seen him?"
"Toby? No. We talk on the phone but he isn't too inclined to see people."
Sam nodded, he could understand that. "And you really want me to come back into that world."
"I don't imagine you giving away state secrets," Josh said. "Although I would never have imagined Toby doing it either."
"I still don't think it was him," Sam said.
"Then who was it?"
"No idea. It just seems so out of character for Toby. But the only people I can imagine he'd cover up for are CJ, you, Leo and me. We know it can't possibly have been me, you or Leo and CJ would never let him take the fall for her, so ..." Sam shrugged.
"Unless it was David," Josh said.
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "He'll get a pardon," he said after a few seconds silence.
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Monday Afternoon - Santos Headquarters
"How long have they been in there?" Donna asked.
Josh looked at his watch again. "Almost three hours."
"What the hell are they doing?"
"I don't know. If it was President Bartlet, I'd say they were playing chess, but I don't know. I guess it has to be a good sign. I mean if the hated each other it'd have been over in 10 minutes."
"They'll get on just fine," Donna assured him.
Twenty minutes later, Sam popped his head round the doorway to Josh's office. "Hey, you want to get some lunch?"
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you over lunch. I'm famished."
"You're killing me," Josh complained. "Just tell me, do I need to place an ad in the position vacant column or not?"
Sam smiled. "Not."
Josh grinned. "Really? Thank God for that."
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"I don't want to spend my whole time writing speeches," Sam said, "that was the thing that was putting me off, well the main thing anyway. I did that for five years, I didn't want to go back to it. But it seems he writes his own speeches, which is impressive 'cause, and don't tell anyone I said this, but he's better than Toby, well as good anyway." Sam paused for breath and a bite of his sandwich.
Josh watched him and smiled to himself. This was something he'd missed over the last four years, animated, excited Sam.
"Anyway," Sam continued, "he wants to carry on doing that. I did point out that he won't have time to write everything, especially the big ones, but I'll help on those and the speech writing staff will just have to work harder than they use to."
"I already know all this. What I thought ..." Josh tried to interrupt, but Sam was on a roll.
"I want to get involved in policy," Sam said.
"Sam. Stop," Josh said. "This administration was always going to be run differently from the last one. You would be more involved with policy than Toby was, shaping the policy rather than the message, that part'll be down to Annabeth and maybe Joey, we'll see how that goes."
"See if you'd told me all this when you started badgering me to take the job ... "
"We were still working it out. Basically, we'll be playing it by ear for a while. But we do have one advantage over last time."
"We've been there before," Sam said.
"Yeah. Which means this time at least we should be able to find our offices."
End Of Part 4
Part 5, New Year, New Beginnings ...
