He's and Idiot

Margaret knocked firmly on Leo's door, sticking her head inside without waiting for a response.

"Juliana Wexler is here to see you. Your 2:15."

"Thank you Margaret. Come in." Leo motioned to Juliana with his fingers, without really looking up from the notes he was reading. Once Juliana was seated across from Leo, he looked up at her. "Before we start, how is the majority leader doing?"

"I believe he's doing as well as can be expected. The funeral was this morning and he'll return to Washington in two days. I'll tell him that you were asking about him." Juliana replied cordially. The majority leader's sister had died in a car accident only a few days before the meeting. The president had sent his condolences, but the majority leader's absence had sent ripples through Capitol Hill. There were many pieces of legislation being pushed through this month and debate was heavy. Without the majority leader, many congressmen had been left wondering exactly who was in charge and taking the legislative helm.

"I have to say," Leo began again, this time his tone seeming more jovial. "I'm a little surprised to see you here. I understand that even with the death of his sister, the majority leader wants to keep his policies afloat, but I expected to be meeting with maybe his chief of staff, not the political strategist for the republican party."

"Mr. McGarry…"

"Leo." Leo corrected.

"Leo, the majority leader takes his policy advancement and his relationship with the white house seriously. And, well, his chief of staff is an idiot."

Before Juliana could say more, Leo interrupted. "I would have expected you, of all people, to have more respect for others working within your party."

"Leo, please, have you ever met the majority leader's chief of staff?"

With a smile, Leo chuckled and agreed, "You're right. He is an idiot. But a high ranking one with whom I had a meeting."

"Trust me, you'd much rather be meeting with me." Juliana said with a grin. "Plus, I'm much more captivating and possibly more good-looking."

"You have a point there, Ms. Wexler."

"Leo, please, if I have to call you Leo, you need to call me Juliana." Juliana paused only for a few seconds, watching Leo's recognition register across his face, and then got right down to business. "Leo, the Majority Leader and the party leadership are very concerned about the aggressive stance that the White House seems to be taking on what you call 'countries of concern'."

"Well, I didn't come up with that term. Juliana, if you're here to try and tell me that our action role in foreign affairs…"

"Leo, with all due respect, this administration acts as if they see the world in black and white, while the rest of the world views the United States as a source of worldwide instability. The legislation and reforms that this administration and the White House are proposing only serve as detriments in…"

"Juliana, tell the Majority Leader that it was nice of him to send you over to argue his points, but our legislation is our legislation and we will pursue whatever aggressive stances and actions as we see fit." Leo stared Juliana down. It wasn't his intention to challenge her or demean her. He was actually more intrigued by the spitfire politico sitting in front of him; someone who had strode confidently into the west wing without intimidation. And to think that she was Sam Seaborn's sister. He could see the resemblance. Leo found himself comparing Sam and Juliana and noticing that they shared equal passion, intensity, clarity, courage and idealism.

"Leo? Leo, the Majority Leader wants…"

"Juliana, please. If the Majority Leader wants something, tell him to get back to town and do it himself."

"Leo, we want to bring about bipartisan outcomes where aggressive foreign policy is concerned. You have to be willing to listen."

Leo looked up, surprised by the new aggression that Juliana was showing. Suddenly, the door swung open with only a brief knock as a warning. Leo shifted his gaze to look in annoyance to whoever was going to appear in the doorway. Juliana didn't bother to turn around; she kept her gaze focused on Leo.

"Excuse me Leo," Josh stated rather casually.

"Good lord, do people not knock anymore?"

"I did knock."

"Yeah, as an afterthought. Just before breezing into my office. Margaret!"

"She's not there." Josh illuminated.

"Can you not see that I'm in a meeting?" Leo turned his eyes away from Josh, but not to Juliana. Speaking to no one in particular, "Some days I feel like the ringmaster in Barnum and Bailey's."

"Hey!" Josh exclaimed. "This isn't Roy!"

"Thank you Joshua!" Juliana said through a smile, with just a bit of sarcasm as she glanced at Josh. "It was so good of you to notice that I am not a boy, and not Roy too! You are quite observant today."

"The shoes were a dead give away, Jules. Or it could have been that strong sense of backhanded scheming that I was getting, too."

"All right, children. That's enough!" Leo intervened. "Josh, get out. Juliana, tell the Majority Leader that we'll talk, but we will not cave on the key points. It was refreshing to talk to you, Juliana, instead of Roy…"

"Roy's an idiot!" Josh cut Leo off, but quickly stopped as Leo turned his eyes and disapproving look on him.

"Didn't I tell you to leave? Thank you, Juliana. I'm sure I'll be talking to you again soon."

Leo had effectively dismissed both Josh and Juliana, and as Juliana exited the Chief of Staff's office and back into the corridors of the West Wing, she found herself face to face with Josh and a mischievous grin. Juliana walked past Josh with a smile, deciding that ignoring him would exasperate him even more. Josh looked from Leo to Juliana, and seeing that Leo had become disinterested in him, decided to chase after Juliana.

"Hey! Wait up!" Josh called as he jogged down the hall after Juliana.

"Does it bother you at all, that you're usually running after me and calling my name? It makes you look awfully desperate."

"I wasn't yelling your name."

"Same difference." Juliana said, elbowing him in the side and smiling.

"Where are you going?" Josh asked.

"Well, I was toying with the idea of going back to my office. I have this silly idea that people might actually pay me to work there during the day."

"You're right, that is a silly idea." Josh said, his dimples growing deeper as his grin grew wider. "Can we get together and talk later?" Josh said, his voice approaching a whisper.

"Why are we whispering?" Juliana whispered back, over exaggerating her motions. It seemed silly to whisper when other people were talking freely and noisily in the halls. Josh simply shrugged and looked for an answer. "Can't we talk now?"

Josh didn't respond. He looked around quickly, scanning the crowd in the hallways. He looked back at Juliana and bit his lower lip. Juliana looked at Josh skeptically.

"Follow me." Josh said, turning on his heel and walking quickly away. Josh found a secluded corner in a remote stairway and ushered Juliana into it, putting his hand on her back.

"Now, we can talk." Josh said, his voice still hovering just above a whisper.

Juliana shook her head and laughed in amazement. "Is there really a need for stealth? I feel like I'm being recruited for the NSA. What did you want to…"

"Why the NSA?" Josh asked puzzled.

"Because they're a stealthy, intelligence agency." Juliana answered as if it was common knowledge. Juliana was still trying to figure out why Josh had pulled her off into a corner to talk.

"Why not the CIA?" Josh asked defensively.

"Because the NSA is more covert and, well, stealth-like."

"They are not."

"They are so."

"Are not."

"Josh…"

"Jules, they aren't!" Josh's voice, now rising above a whisper, was ready for the argument. Juliana was humored by the juvenile tone their conversation had adopted.

"Josh, would you agree that the NSA is an important intelligence agency which continually coordinates and directs highly specialized activities that protect our country?" Juliana's words came out quickly and professionally. Josh was beginning to think that she had the NSA's mission statement memorized.

"Well, yeah."

"Would you agree that the CIA takes actions to ensure national intelligence and preserve American life as we know it?"

"Yeah, but in not so many words."

"Name a few recent CIA projects that you know of." Juliana challenged with a smile on her face. Josh counted each one on his fingers as he talked.

"Well, there was the thing with the guy at the lake. Then there was Bolivia. Oh, and the thing with the prime minister."

"My, aren't you up on current events?" Juliana said patronizingly. "Now, do the same for the NSA." Josh stopped and thought for a moment. A few second went by and he was still thinking. "See. I don't think it's that the NSA has been sitting around watching sports all day. They're just more covert."

"Whatever." Josh said dismissively.

"You just don't like admitting that I've won." Juliana smiled and playfully hit Josh on his shoulder. "Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

"And you wonder why I wanted to talk about this somewhere else, over dinner or something." Josh mussed, mostly to himself.

"What, like dinner in Maryland? If I demand that we talk now, I have a better chance of not crossing state lines." Juliana raised her eyebrows and looked at Josh expectantly. "Well? What is it?"

"I was thinking that we, or really I, need to give Leo a heads up. You know, about us." Josh said it all quickly and then looked around, looking anywhere other than at Juliana.

"Oh, how sweet, Josh!" From Juliana's sweet tone, Josh could tell that she was mocking him. "We're an us? Do I get your class ring or letter jacket now too? This could be big news….you should write a memo, or have a press conference even!"

"Come on! Be serious for a minute." Josh said. He was getting a little aggravated with Juliana. "I just think I owe it to Leo to let him know what is going on."

"Okay. If that's what you think you need to do." Juliana affirmed, playfulness gone from her voice. "I understand that you want to cover your bases and not expose yourself to scandal. Because you know, being seen out in public with someone who works for the other side could be very scandalous."

"Whatever. I wanted to give you a heads up." Josh said, dismissing Juliana's last comment. "You can go now. I'm done being covert."

"That's good. I think this little display of clandestine stealth bumps you off of any agency's recruiting list." Juliana said with a smile.

"You think?"

"Definitely. I've got to go." Juliana started walking out of the stair well, striding off to work.

"You want to get together Saturday?" Josh called after her in more of a hushed tone.

"Sure, as long as we can get muffins from Wang. Call me." Juliana's reply came without her turning around to look back at Josh.

Josh took a deep breath, and walked towards Leo's office. Initiating a conversation with Leo in the middle of the work day about something non-work related meant taking your life into your hands. And that's if Margaret even let you past her desk. On his way to Leo's office, he rehearsed in his head what he was going to say. Josh strode purposefully up to Margaret's desk, hoping that if he looked poised and confident she'd let him in to talk to Leo.

"Hey, Margaret." Margaret's hair bounced as she turned to look at Josh.

"Hey, Josh. Do you need Leo?"

"Yeah, does he have a minute? It won't take long."

"Sure." Margaret walked into Leo's office, knocking softly as she paused in the doorway. "Leo, Josh wants to know if you have a minute."

"Josh!" Leo hollered from his desk. "Come on in." Josh walked in quietly, closing the door behind him.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked.

"What makes you think something is wrong?" Josh questioned.

"You come in here in the middle of the day wanting to talk. You're quiet. You closed the door behind you and you look like a teenager who is trying to explain a dent in the family car."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I've had some experience with that one. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything, really."

"Yeah?" It was Leo's turn to ask simply questions and listen, hoping for simple answers.

"I wanted to give you a heads up on something. Something personal."

"Sam can date Ainsley if he wants. He knows I don't have a problem with it."

"Well, that's great. But it's not about Sam. It's got to do with me."

"This is gonna be interesting." Leo mumbled to himself.

"I wanted to give you a heads up."

"Uh huh," was all Josh got from Leo.

"For the last few weeks, well, maybe more, I've been dating, well, really more like seeing, Juliana Wexler. We've gone out to dinner a few times, seen some of the sights around town, because she's new in the area you know, and spent some of our free time together, which really isn't all that much because you know how little free time I have and you can imagine how little free time she has." Josh paused, taking a breath and gauging Leo's response. Leo was sitting, motionless, waiting for Josh to go on. "Well, I, uh, just wanted to give you a heads up. If this is a problem I can take care of it."

"I thought you loathed her." A smile spread across Leo's face. He continued before Josh could respond. "Are you going to leak information to her while you're out seeing the sights, or whatever it is you two do?"

"No. Wait! You concerned about me? What about her?"

"I should think we'd benefit in some way if she disclosed important Republican information. I don't have a problem with it. Just don't make a mess of it. Sam's okay with this?"

There was the question that Josh had been dreading. He knew that Sam would be less than okay with it. For someone who had never really been around while his sister was growing up, Sam was turning into a bear of an older brother. Rumor had it that a Republican senator yelled at Juliana and Toby had to talk Sam out of going over and pummeling the senator.

"Uh. I haven't told him yet."

"Tell him, Josh. He isn't an idiot. He'll figure it out eventually. He has the right to know. Now, get out. I have actual work to do." Leo looked up and flashed a smile at Josh, letting him know that it was okay. Josh exited Leo's office and faded into the hustle and bustle of the west wing.

8