Two Men Back

This is a cute chapter more than anything else, and it is where the JD is hinted at...more JD is on its way in the next few chapters...this is just the beginning :-) laughs evilly


It was a fateful morning. That day, the attendance sheets showed a different picture than ever before. Two men were back. That morning, the front doors of the White House permitted two faces entry. Two faces that had not been seen in the West Wing for ages.

Toby threw the front doors open and marched into the lobby of the White House. he stamped the floor loudly, letting the rainwater from his shoes splatter all over the marble floor. He continued marching, feeling a sense of absolute patriotism as he walked down the symmetrical lobby. Suddenly he crashed into a passerby.

"What the hell are you dominating the hallway for?" Toby yelled, throwing his arms into the air and displacing all his papers all over the room.

The man he had crashed into slouched his posture and scurried away from the cranky Toby. He hadn't had to get up this early in days and it wasn't improving his mood. As he began to gather his folders, the front doors burst open again.

Josh hopped into the lobby and shook of his raincoat. He closed his purple White House umbrella smartly, and began to walk down the hallway. Suddenly, he felt himself trodding on something other than carpet: paper.

"Get the hell off my stuff, you hallway hog, you—Josh?"

"Toby?"

"I thought you were injured!"

"I thought you were manically depressed and refusing to come to work!"

No more words were necessary. Against Toby's better judgment, he allowed Josh to embrace him publicly. After a few seconds though, it was too much.

"Okay, buddy…don't you have work to do?"

And they both did.

"Well, are they coming or not?" posed the President.

"Yes, Mr. President, security cameras just recorded a…touching segment of friendship as they met in the lobby." Donna smirked.

"Tell security to get a copy of the tapes down here right away," the President grinned at Charlie.

"Yes, sir," the black aide respectfully replied, and went off.

Suddenly, a small black box Donna was holding started beeping red.

"Positions everyone!"

Everyone amongst the crowd in the banquet hall hid in their assigned place. Donna ducked under a table, the President behind a curtain, Leo amongst a thorny plant, Margaret the only one small enough to fit inside a tall vase.

"A meeting in the banquet hall?" Toby snapped doubtfully.

"Why in the banquet hall?" asked Josh suspiciously.

"Don't question it—it's important. President's orders that you two both attend," replied Sam. The plot was working fairly enough; while Josh and Toby weren't buying the "meeting" story, at least they were headed for the banquet hall. Sam pressed the button on his black console that would warn Donna to get everyone in their hiding places.

"Here we are," Sam said, his voice brimming with satisfaction. And he threw the doors open, pushed the two men inside, and shut the door behind them all.

Josh and Toby stood in a dark banquet hall.

"Hmm. Maybe the meeting's been cancelled," Sam said nervously.

There was an awkward silence.

"What a pity," Sam spoke loudly. He cleared his throat even more loudly. Then, seeming to remember something important, he gasped, "Well it's certainly dark in here!"

At these words, people burst out from their hiding places, and a huge banner was hoisted up to the ceiling by Donna with a pulley. She held the ropes in one hand and a clipboard in the other. She pointed at someone across the room, and a fanfare came through the speakers in the room.

Josh and Toby stood there open mouthed and surveyed the hectic scene in front of them. Everyone from the whole West Wing was here today. Toby nudged Josh.

"Look at that!" He was pointing to a vase that was shaking to and fro. Suddenly, it toppled over, smashed, and out crawled Margaret.

"Welcome back!" everyone shouted in unison.

Donna then seemed to forget herself, dropped everything she was holding, and ran to hug Josh and Toby. Unfortunately one of the things she held was the pulley rope. Seeing Donna rushing forward, everyone else in the room did the same and ran towards Josh and Toby to give their regards. And just as the last person had gotten into the huddle, the banner reached the ground.

Soon everyone was trapped under the large cloth banner that read "Welcome Back", and Donna realized her folly in letting go of the rope. It took some time for everyone to get free and sit down to enjoy refreshments Donna had ordered.

"To Josh and Toby!" called Leo, raising a glass of wine in the air.

"And to Donna, without whom this party would be nonexistent."

After they had all drunk and eaten their fill, they milled about and chatted. Josh went over to greet the President. Looking around him, though, he noticed that Abbey was nowhere in sight.

"Mr. President, where is the First Lady today?"

"She's sick I'm afraid, Josh. Hopefully she'll be back soon."

Hopefully not, Jed thought. He almost laughed aloud when he thought about how he had drugged Abbey to keep her ill for a few days--out of harms way and hopefully not getting herself kidnapped.

After a while some slower music was put on and everyone resorted to dancing. Josh met Donna in the middle of the floor and pulled her into a dance.

"Donna…this party was amazing."

"You're an amazing person, Josh. You deserved it."

Josh only smiled at her, and neither said anything else for the rest of the dance. In his head, Josh said much more to her. He told her everything, the truth. After the dance, though, Donna caught the eye of another man in the room and started to dance with him.

"Who's that guy dancing with Donna?" Josh inquired to Leo.

"He's a speech-writer. I don't know his name off hand…maybe Sam or Toby will. Why? Got a little competition?" Leo tried to nudge Josh with his elbow, but found himself nudging air, as Josh was gone.

"What's that guy's name?" Josh pointed at the man dancing with Donna.

"Hmm," started Sam. "James…James Ledger. He works with me on editing speeches. Why?"

But Josh was gone.