Cheer for the Underdog

"Hey, man. What's going on?" Josh asked Sam casually as he poked his head into Sam's office. Sam was sitting at his desk, scribbling over and over on his yellow legal pad. He took off his glasses as he looked up at Josh.

"Not much. I've lost my touch. I think I need to retire and be a truck driver." Josh walked in, laughing lightly.

"You'd look good in one of those trucker hats. You should go for it."

"Yeah, that's the reason to change careers, for the accessories."

"Sam, take a break. Come to CJ's office and watch Capitol Beat with me."

"Why would I want to watch Capitol Beat?"

"They're debating the tax plan and the budget proposal." Josh tried to sound excited about the topics and hide the real source of his excitement. When Sam didn't respond, or even seem the slightest bit interested, Josh tried a new approach. "Plus, your sister is going to be on. We can watch her try to destroy the other guy."

Sam's eyebrows shot up. "Okay. Maybe I'll see a commercial for a truck driving school while we watch."

Sam and Josh walked through the bullpen and settled themselves in CJ's office. Josh stretched out on CJ's couch, while Sam dropped into CJ's chair behind her desk. Josh used one of the remote controls to turn on the TV and flip through the channels. The channel quickly came back from a commercial break, and the office was filled with the Capitol Beat theme music and a deep voice introducing the panelists. Josh couldn't take his eyes off the TV when Juliana was on camera. He thought she looked absolutely stunning. Instead of wearing the typical beltway garb – a dark suit and nondescript blouse, Juliana had on a deep red suit, with some type of pleated effect around the collar and it seemed like no blouse on underneath. Her hair was pulled back into some type of ponytail and there were large pearls on each of her ears. Juliana seemed the perfect combination of haute couture, youth and power.

About ten minutes into the show, it was obvious to both Josh and Sam, and probably to anyone else watching, that Juliana Wexler was a formidable foe and that all parties on the show knew what they were talking about. Every time Ken Barker, the panelist opposite Juliana, made a point, Juliana was ready to counter it and argue against it. Even Josh had to admit, that she was making sense and had some excellent points.

"I know I should be cheering for our guy, but it's hard to tell who to cheer for." Sam's voice was filled with actually confusion, but he wasn't dwelling on it for long.

"Think of it as a basketball game where you don't like or dislike either of the teams." Josh advised. "What would you do then?"

"Well, I'd cheer for the underdog, naturally."

"Okay, well, go with that."

"The problem is, man, that I can't figure out who the underdog is." Sam leaned back and propped his feet up on CJ's desk, folding his arms behind his head. "On one hand there's my sister. On the other hand there's our guy who we obviously sent there for a good reason. And then on the other hand, well more like foot really, because I only have two hands and to have three would be…"

"Sam!" Josh interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." Josh smiled in Sam's direction, making Sam feel a little less dejected. "Cheer for Jules."

"Why?" Sam said, raising his eyebrows and looking at Josh instead of the TV.

"She's your sister, man. Plus she's intelligent, brutal, funny, uncompromising, and, well, she's hot." Josh ran his hands through his hair and resumed staring at Juliana on the TV.

"Josh! Don't say that!"

"Sorry." Josh mumbled.

"Ugh. She's my sister. I don't need to hear that about her."

"Don't need to hear what?" CJ asked as she walked into her office and dropped a pad of paper onto her desk. It landed with a thud, which made both Josh and Sam jump slightly.

"I don't need to hear Josh call my sister hot." Sam visibly shuddered upon saying the word 'hot'. "That's just gross."

"Gross? What are you, like in 3rd grade? Josh is a guy. Your sister is an attractive girl. He's aloud make natural observations." Sam shuddered again and groaned out loud. CJ walked behind Sam and slapped him in the back of his head.

"Ow! What's that for? Josh is the one demeaning the sisterhood." Sam whined.

"Get your feet off my desk." CJ smiled. "Don't you two have your own offices?"

"Yours has a couch." Josh said happily from his stretched out position.

"Great. All the more reason to redecorate." CJ muttered.

"You love us and you know it Ceej." Josh sand out. Just as soon the show came back from the commercial break, Josh completely ignored CJ and Sam and went back to watching Jules obliterate the competition. He would have to remember to compliment Jules on her cunning disassembly of her opponent.

"All right, guys." CJ's voice broke through both men's obsession with the TV program. "Show's over. Get out."

Josh knew better than to argue. CJ seemed a little edgy and they had invaded her office. Both Josh and Sam left quietly. It wasn't until they were out in the bullpen that Sam turned to talk to Josh.

"I didn't see any commercials offering to make me a truck driver."

"Tough luck, man."

"Yeah. I'm going back to work." Sam turned to walk away from Josh, back towards his office. "Josh! My sister's not hot." Sam turned and yelled through the bullpen.

"Whatever you say, Sam." Josh tossed back at Sam. He said it with a noncommittal tone, one that wasn't too reassuring to Sam. But instead of dwelling on it, both parties went into their offices – one to work on a speech, the other to congratulate someone on a job well done.