Sorry, I was actually, like, busy this week. I'm still busy, but I managed to write this thing. It isn't long, it's ineloquent (much like the last chapter), but I'm moving the story along – sort of. Don't hate me for any of the strange things I've thrown in here, please. :)

Sam hadn't felt so tired since his days back in the White House. Sure, he ended up being very busy as a district attorney, but the hours just weren't as crazy as working in Washington. He had crashed into his bed at four and planned to sleep all day. Then, at 7:00, his phone rang.

Sam glanced over at his alarm clock. Honest to God, he thought to himself, If this is Anne, I'm going to kill her. He reached down trying to pick up the cordless phone from its base on the floor, hurrying as he assumed it must be close to the fifth ring, and subsequently smacked his knuckles against the leg of his nightstand. Finally, success.

"Hello?" he sighed into the phone.

"Sam?"

"—Donna?"

"Yeah."

"Hey!" Sam exclaimed. "How are you?"

"I'm doing okay," she replied, trying to remain calm about telling Sam the news. "I'm sorry to call you so early, but – something's happened."

Oh, God, Sam thought before he answered with, "What is it?"

"The Secret Service car that Leo was riding in got into an accident—"

"Oh, God," Sam mumbled, this time actually saying the words aloud.

"And Josh and I got here as fast as we could, but it took a lot of time before we could get any news. We talked to the doctor and he said – he said that Leo had suffered extensive head trauma, and when they got him into surgery – they couldn't save him, Sam. The injuries were too extensive and his body just couldn't handle it. He's gone. I'm so sorry to have to tell you."

Sam felt numb. Was he dreaming? He had to have been. He hadn't actually spoken with Donna on the phone in months, with the campaign for her and the important cases he had been working on. There was no way that he was awake. There was no way Leo could be dead.

"Sam?" Donna's voice snapped him out of his daze. He got up out of bed and walked over to the TV in his room, turning it on and sitting down on the end of his bed. The image of a crushed SUV and the caption "Secret Service Car Crashes in D.C." on CNN brought him back. No, he wasn't dreaming. This was real.

"Sam?" Donna asked again. He was inarticulate. What could he possibly say?

"Was there – was there anyone else in the car?" he stuttered out.

"Two agents. One of them, the guy who was driving the car, is in critical condition, and the other one should be able to talk soon, so we can find out exactly what happened."

"What do people think did happen?"

"The belief is that the agent driving the car had a seizure."

"God," Sam sighed. "Are you holding up okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"And Josh?"

"He's – excellent."

Sam was shocked. "Really?"

"Yeah. He's handling it brilliantly. I'm actually kind of scared."

"Expecting a meltdown of horrific proportions later?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna have to be careful."

They paused, with Sam breaking the silence saying, "Donna, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say."

"It's okay. You really don't need to say anything. I know how you feel."

"It's probably too soon for this, but – there'll be a funeral service pretty soon, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'm coming out there."

"You're coming to Washington?"

"Soonest flight. It feels wrong to be here right now."

Donna couldn't help but smile. Having Sam back here was going to make things much better. "Thank you, Sam."

"Don't thank me, it's the only thing I can do. I want to be there to help with anything and everything."

"Great," she replied, still smiling. Then, she thought of something, her face falling. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you been talking to Toby?"

"Yeah, actually. Not a lot, because he doesn't really want to talk to anyone, but once we got over the initial phone call of Toby yelling for 99 percent of it, we've spoken several other times with less yelling."

"Then I need you to do your first thing to help us out."

Sam didn't need explaining. "I'll do it."

"Right now?"

"Yeah, he deserves to know at the exact same time I do, regardless of whether or not he leaked state secrets."

"Thank you, Sam."

"You're welcome. Hang in there Donna, and tell Josh I say the same," he replied, hitting the off button.

His day of sleep had turned into a busy one. Things to do: call Toby, call Anne and let her know he'd be leaving town for a few days, and call the airline. If only he were going back to see his friends under different circumstances.