And after 21 days of not updating...

I bring you this. Which isn't too good. But, I'm thinking of writing something actually, you know, worthwhile in the next chapter. Oh well. :)

"Did you hear about Sam?" C.J. asked as she sat down on the sofa in Toby's office.

Without looking up from what he was staring at, Toby grumbled out,

"Did I hear what about Sam?"

"He went running."

Toby wasn't impressed.

"Wow, running," he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Sam. Running."

"Yes, I heard you."

"But you don't know where he was running."

"Well, he does belong to a gym, so I'm going to put my money on that."

How was C.J. missing the classic I Don't Care At All Signs?

"Nope. He ran outside."

"Imagine that."

"At night."

"Great."

"In the middle of the night, Toby!"

How was she not catching the signals!

"C.J., I really don't care."

"But he went running around in the middle of the night!"

"And therefore it's a big gossip story because he was stupid and probably could have gotten mugged? Because, that is what it seems like it is, and, in that case, I'd tell Margaret, not me."

"No, that's not the point."

"We don't care about Sam being potentially mugged?"

"No."

"Okay."

C.J. shifted on Toby's couch. The mission of telling Toby about Sam and Ainsley was getting far too difficult.

"Don't you want to know why Sam was running in the middle of the night?"

"Not really."

"Toby!"

"What?"

"Can't you at least feign interest?"

"You asked me if I cared and I answered you honestly. I have wor---"

"HE went running because," C.J. interrupted, "he went out on a date with Ainsley last night and, was so --- enraptured, and --- excited, and --- lots of other things like that, that he went running at two o'clock in the morning." She had no choice but to interrupt him and get all the basic facts out. Toby could go five thousand rounds before he'd pretend to care to get her out of the room.

Suddenly, the papers Toby had been shuffling stopped moving. His hands stopped. Slowly, he lifted his head.

"Sam went out on a date with Ainsley?"

Score: C.J., one, Toby, zero.

"Yes!"

He scratched his head. "That's interesting."

"I know, isn't it great?" C.J.'s face lit up with a 100-watt smile.

"I didn't say it was great, I said it was interesting."

"Oh, Toby."

"What?"

"It is great. You know how much both of them liked each other."

"Reluctantly. I could have survived without the knowledge."

"Oh, come on."

"Yeah, I know about their mutual, hidden affection," Toby started, "but, it's just that I just ---" He looked puzzled. "Sam didn't screw up?"

"No! They were both thrilled!"

"Really, he didn't, you know, trip over something or anything like that?"

"No."

"Did you talk to Ainsley?"

"No, but Donna did."

"And she said that Ainsley was happy?"

"Yes. Donna got a call from her at two."

"In the morning?"

"Yes, Toby."

"Wow."

"I know, isn't it just such a wow situation?"

"Yeah, Josh and Donna never get to sleep anymore."

C.J.'s face dropped. Men. They can never understand the beauty of romance.

"Toby, I feel as though you're not fully understanding the importance of the situation," she said delicately.

"No, I'm really not."

"But why? You seemed like you were getting into it a little bit all of thirty seconds ago. Now what?"

"Well, right now there's nothing I can use to make fun of Sam."

A-ha. His motives exposed.

"Hmm. There has to be a nickname in there somewhere. Or at least a small something."

"No," Toby said, "so far I'm getting the vibe that it was a win for Sam."

"Running. Running, running, running. Hm. Uh, we could call him Gail."

"Gail?"

"Gail Deavers? The Olympian with the really long fingernails?"

"Your fish is named Gail."

"Damn," C.J. said, snapping her fingers, "and I thought we were getting somewhere."

"Yeah."

They paused for a minute as Toby started scribbling notes on to his big yellow pad.

"Hey, what about Flo-Jo?"

"No. I'm vetoing any other names of Olympians you could have for Sam, C.J."

"But why? It could work. You know, we go early to senior staff this morning, Sam walks in, we say 'Hey Flo-Jo', Sam gets all confused or embarrassed, Leo asks why we're calling Sam Flo-Jo, and then we can ridicule Sam for his late night running habits."

"Yeah, but then he explains how he went out on a date with Ainsley and then Leo's either happy and proud --- happy that Sam's finally getting together with her, and happy that Mallory is no longer in danger --- or irate that we have to deal with more staff dating one another."

"Well, all the worries about it getting out to the press should be my biggest concern. It's my job, and I say what the hell, it's great."

"You're missing the point though, C.J., it's not funny. It's cute. All the assistants will be doting on Sam, not teasing him."

"And your goal in life is to have Sam harassed by junior staffers?"

"For a bit of office entertainment, yes."

"But isn't it distracting for him?"

"Never when he has something major to write."

"And right now?"

"We're not writing anything big."

C.J. sighed. "Well, Toby, I love a good embarrassing Sam story as much as the next guy, but I don't think we're going to find any out of this thing."

"Yeah."

She looked at her watch and said,

"'Kay, well, want to go down to the mess and get something before senior staff?"

"Alright."

The two walked out of Toby's office and stopped as they saw Sam talking to Ainsley on the other side of the bullpen. As the first sighting of the two together as a couple, both Toby and C.J. paid close attention to the way they behaved with one another. Ainsley seemed to be smiling and laughing at something Sam said, reached out to touch his hand, and then walked off. Sam stood there, watching her go, and then started to walk backwards. After his third step, not realizing where he was walking, the back of his foot hit the file cabinet nearby. C.J. gasped and Ginger squealed as Sam Seaborn went tumbling into Ginger and papers flew into the sky.

Silence engulfed the area, with everyone in the bullpen turning to look at the disaster.

"Uh, will that work for your teasing material?" C.J. asked.

"Yeah. That'll do," Toby said, walking off to the mess with C.J. standing with her jaw hanging down before a very embarrassed Sam jumped up and everyone erupted in laughter.