Hour Five

The following takes place between 11:00pm and 12:00am on January 6th, 2002, in Washington, DC unless otherwise noted.

Millie stood up with a certain urgency when Abbey appeared in the lobby. The doctor turned patient was clearly summoning all of her strength and apathy in order to maintain her cool, calm exterior. Her fear and uncertainty was not evident to innocent bystanders but, to her best friend, nothing could have been more obvious. Millie sped toward her and stopped when there was a foot between them.

"Awe. Did the mean doctor poke you with his big, sharp needle?"

In keeping with Millie's intentions, all traces of Abbey's fear and uncertainty vanished with the simple roll of her eyes.

"The Admiral said he's gonna have a talk with you about that," Abbey said.

"The Admiral works for me, sweetheart. I sign his checks."

"No, you don't."

"No, I don't," Millie conceded nonchalantly. "How'd it go?"

"Less painful than I imagined."

"Did he give you a My Little Pony sticker afterwards?"

"Several."

"Oh, good."

Millie smiled warmly and draped an arm around her best friend's shoulders.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," Abbey said, softly, smiling at Millie reassuringly.

"Good. Let's get out of here, shall we?"

"Excuse me, Mrs. Bartlet!"

Both Abbey and Millie turned around to look in the direction of the reception desk across the room where a nurse was addressing them.

"I have the President on the phone for you."

Millie kept her place while Abbey approached the desk. She smiled politely at the nurse and took the phone when it was offered to her.

"Jed?"

She heard from breathe a sigh of relief before responding and smiled to herself.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine," Abbey insisted.

"The tests went okay?"

"They went fine. How's everything there?"

"You didn't pass out when you saw the needle?" Jed asked.

"You and Millie should really take your act on the road. How is everything there?"

"About ten hours or so before the results are available?"

"Jed!" Abbey exclaimed suddenly. "For the last hour, I have been put through rigorous testing to find out if I do, in fact, have breast cancer. I am not in the mood to crack your evasive, cryptic codes. So, I'm gonna ask you again. How is everything there?"

She could hear him hesitate before answering her and instantly regretted being so impatient with him.

"It's all gone to hell, Abbey. I don't feel like I have any control over the situation anymore. Everything's out of my hands."

"No progress?"

"None to speak of."

"Well," She began softly. "You didn't really expect this to go away in five hours, did you?"

"I don't know what I expected."

"Brendan McGann is not a force to be reckoned with."

"We'll see about that," Jed replied. "Anyway, listen. The reason I'm calling."

"And here I was thinking this was just a courtesy call. Thought maybe you just called you say I love you, Stevie Wonder."

"I do, but unfortunately there's more to it. Abbey, I need you to stay where you are."

"What! What are you talking about?" Abbey questioned sharply.

"We just got word that the IRA has targeted at least one structure in Washington."

"Jesus," she whispered, more to herself than any other. "Ron's taking you up to Air Force One, right?"

"No," Jed replied. "He's not."

"Jed. Tell me you didn't…"

"I can't go up there, Abbey. It'll lead to mass panic and that will only make things worse."

"I don't care what it'll lead to, Jed, you get your ass up into that plane."

"Abbey, please."

"What does Ron have to say about this?"

"It's my call," Jed replied.

"That's not what I asked. Does he want you up in Air Force One?"

"He may have mentioned it."

"Uh-huh. So it's okay for you to order me to stay put, out of harm's way, but you can sit right in the eye of the storm and nobody can tell you otherwise?"

"I have a job to do, Abbey."

"You can't do that job on Air Force One?"

"Not the way it needs to be done, no."

"God, you are a stubborn son of a bitch," Abbey muttered. "What about Leo? The staff? Are you evacuating or what?"

"No, no. We're not evacuating. We're not there yet."

"If I'm not mistaken, the White House is number one on the list of likely targets in the city. How are you justifying this?"

"We don't have confirmation that the White House is the target yet."

"What are you waiting for? A thousand Irish mercenaries to jump the gates, take down all the agents, and swarm the building!"

"Hey, don't give them any ideas, this line may be tapped."

"Jed."

"What do you want me to say, Abbey? I've made my decision. It's the only decision I've been able to make all night. I am asking that you stay where you are for your own safety. I can't do the job if knowing that you're headed right into the storm."

"Okay," she whispered. "Okay."

"You'll stay?"

Abbey glanced back at Millie, who held her post about ten yards away.

"Yeah."

"Thank you," Jed said genuinely. "Listen, I've got to get back. I'll call you as soon as I can, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you too." She paused. "Jed."

"Hmm?"

"Take care of yourself."

11:11pm

"Drink this."

CJ handed her niece a bottle of Deer Park water, then sat down next to her on the couch in her office.

"Thanks," Hogan replied feebly.

CJ watched in awe as she devoured nearly half the bottle in under twenty seconds, then placed it on the table.

"I wish I had an extra pair of sweatpants or something that you could change into."

"It's okay."

"So…would you like to tell me what happened? If you're not comfortable…"

"I'm ready to talk," Hogan insisted.

"Okay," CJ said soothingly, placing her hand on top of hers.

"I probably mentioned this to you, but last night, we had our Winter Ball at school. It's like a…themed formal dance. This year, it was an evening in New York, our theme. I went with Alex Cirrone, this

kid in my grade. We've kind of been dating on and off since September. Anyway, he had to leave early because of a family emergency, one of his grandparents in the hospital or something. At the end of the night, I didn't have anyone to drive me home, because Dad and Nicole were out. So Mr. Grant, my Calc teacher, offered to bring me home. On the way, he took this…back road I had never been on, said it was faster. The road was completely dead, like one passing car every five minutes. Then we saw a car parked on the side of the road. We figured it had broken down, so Mr. Grant pulled over. When we got close enough, we could hear this…muffled screaming from inside the car. Mr. Grant told me to stay where I was, got out, and…Alex was in the car. He was with Amanda Sobel, she's in my Calc class too. He was…he was…"

Hogan's tears were falling freely at this point, and CJ wasn't fairing much better. She held her nieces hand tighter as she continued.

"He was raping her. Her screams got louder as Mr. Grant got closer to the car and she noticed him. Finally Alex noticed him too, right when Mr. Grant opened the door and dragged him out of the backseat. They started to…fight, and Amanda ran out of Alex's car and jumped in with me. We just sat there…watching them. I mean, we didn't know what the hell to do…it was like we were an audience or something. Next thing we knew, Alex had knocked Mr. Grant unconscious and he…"

"It's okay," CJ whispered, wiping the tears from her face. "It's okay."

"He came for us. First he…he raped Amanda and he made me…watch. Made me watch him do it. Said if I closed my eyes even for a second, I would be next. But I knew it didn't matter. I knew I was next no matter what I did. And when he…finished with Amanda, I was next."

"Oh, Hogan."

"Amanda was just…screaming, screaming for help while he was…you know. I just closed my eyes and tried not to make a sound. I thought it would go by quicker that way if I just…did what he said. When he was done, he dragged Amanda back into his car and just drove off without a word."

"My God."

"I drove Mr. Grant to the hospital, more like dropped him off. I didn't tell them what happened. I couldn't. And after that, I just couldn't go home. I couldn't face my father."

"So you came here."

"Yeah," Hogan whispered. "I came here."

CJ wrapped her arms around the teenager and pulled her close, rubbing her back in continuous circular motion.

"It's gonna be okay," CJ said. "I promise you, it is going to be okay."

"I can stay here with you for a little while?"

CJ hesitated, then nodded.

"Of course you can."

11:19pm

Josh halted in front of Leo McGarry's closed office door. Will, who had to think fast in order not to slam into his back, stopped and glanced at him curiously.

"It's really pretty easy you know," Will said. "You just reach out, grab the doorknob, twist it to the left and…"

Josh snapped out of his days and glared at his colleague.

"Could you not? Just, you know."

Will held his hands up in a gesture of surrendar.

"Okay."

Josh reached out, grabbed the doorknob, twisted it to the left and…

Leo McGarry flung open the door and lurched back at the sight of his two anxious employees.

"What the hell…"

"Hey, Leo," Will said, casually, smirking at a dumbfounded Josh.

"How you doin'?"

"Josh here has something he would like to tell you."

"Josh doesn't look like he has anything to tell anyone," Leo said, backing away from the door to allow them to enter. "I only have a minute or two, then I have a thing with Walt Kaufman."

"Josh?"

Will jabbed him in the ribs, forcing him to allocate ninety percent of his attention span for that particular moment.

"Uh, yeah. Leo, Stanley Keyworth was murdered tonight," Josh blurted out suddenly.

Leo furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What!"

"Stanley Keyworth was…"

"Yeah, I heard you."

Leo collapsed down onto his couch and wrung his hands together distraughtly.

"Do they know who did it?" He asked.

"No. No leads as of an hour ago."

"We have to tell the President."

"Now?" Will asked. "Are you sure it's the right time?"

"No, I'm not," Leo admitted. "But he's gonna find out sooner or later and I'd prefer he hear it from one of us. I have to go to this meeting with Kaufman, but when I come back, Josh, I want you to be ready to talk to the President."

11:26 pm

Toby Ziegler powerwalked through the Communications Bullpen, shouting about something or other to Bonnie and Ginger who didn't dare argue with him. Not tonight. He entered his office and slammed the door behind him, quickly sitting down in the chair behind his desk. He picked up the phone and begandialing frantically. He waited for three rings before the desired party finally answered the phone.

"Andy, it's me. I'm sorry about that. Yeah. Listen, I need you to get out of the city. I'm not kidding, Andy. I want you to go stay with your parents in Maryland. I swear to God, Andy, if you listen to me just once in your lifetime, let it be now. Yes. I can't tell you that. I can't tell you that either. You're just gonna have to trust me. No, now. You have to leave now. I'll call you when I can. Thank you. Yeah. Bye."

Toby replaced the phone onto the receiver, then leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily, rubbing his forehand in exhasperation.

11:37 pm

Abbey bolted out of the plastic chair in the lobby of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda and began pacing the immediate area. Millie, still seated, dipped her head back and groaned.

"I can't do this," Abbey said.

"Stop pacing," Millie replied, lifting her head up. "Come back and sit down."

Abbey shook her hand and continued her anxious laps around the room.

"It's been over half an hour, Millie. He hasn't called."

"He's busy! He's trying to prevent this country from being attacked by Irish terroists, Abbey. He's got a lot on his mind."

"I'm calling him."

"Sit down," Millie ordered her.

Abbey sighed and reluctantly returned to her seat beside the Surgeon General.

"I'm not a sit back and watch kind of gal, Millie."

"I know you're not."

"You're not either."

"I know I'm not."

Abbey glared at her.

"Millie."

"What the hell do you want me to say, Abbey? I have no jurisdiction over this situation," Millie said.

"I'll ask Grace."

Millie grabbed her by the arm and forced her into her seat before she could get away.

"Sit down, Abbey. Your agents don't know anymore than you do."

"How do you know?"

"I know. And if they did, I bet they can't tell you anyway."

Abbey nodded pensively.

"You know…at my birthday party last year, in between making inappropriate comments and getting drunk with Toby, Lord John Marbury would not shut up about Brendan McGann."

"What about him?" Millie questioned.

"He kept saying that he couldn't come to the White House. The Queen was adament about it, as was he, and now…"

"Go figure."

"Yeah," Abbey whispered. "Go figure."

11:46pm

Josh and Leo stood motionless in the Oval Office, watching as the President reacted to the news of Stanley Keyworth's murder. Jed pulled off his glasses and slowly moved toward the couch. When he had lowered himself onto the cushions, he leaned back and rubbed his temples.

"When?" He asked quietly.

"About three hours ago, sir," Josh replied.

"And you spoke with the police?"

"Yeah. They don't know anything yet. I've been checking in with Lieutenant Hopkins down at the precinct fairly regularly."

"Is anybody looking into whether or not this is connected to the IRA threat?" Jed questioned.

"Well, we haven't ruled it out, sir," Leo answered. "It could be completely unrelated, but of course, being that Stanley was a counselor to both the President and his deputy Chief of Staff and who knows how many other government officials…it's not an unfair assumption."

"Stanley Keyworth," Jed said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Who the hell would want to murder Stanley?"

"I don't know, sir," Josh said. "But we're gonna find out."

11:51pm

Ellie Bartlet emerged from the kitchen of her apartment carrying a tray which held four steaming hot cups of tea. When she walked in the living room, she placed the tray down onto the coffee table and invited her guests to each take one. She curled up on the loveseat with her older sister and held her mug against her chest, tracing her fingers along the rim contemplatively. Jean-Paul, who had been persuaded hours ago against speaking unless absolutely neccesary, glanced warily at his girlfriend, who would not meet his gaze.

"Did you call Doug?" Ellie asked.

Liz nodded.

"While you were in the kitchen."

"The kids are fine?"

"Yeah, they're fine," Liz answered.

"Ellie, put on the news," Zoey suggested.

"It's not gonna be on the news," Liz said.

"How do you know?"

"Dad probably told CJ to keep it under wraps to avoid widespread panic. A mass exodus out of D.C. would be a sight, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Zoey replied quietly. "I hate this."

"Has anyone tried calling Mom?" Ellie asked abruptly.

"You think we should?" Zoey responded.

Ellie stood up and walked over to the phone.

"I'm calling her cell."

"She's probably just in the Residence."

"Cell is faster."

Ellie picked up the cordless phone and began dialing the numbers quickly. She pressed the phone against her ear and waited. After six rings, she hung up.

"No answer?"

"No, I just hung up on her as soon as she picked up," Ellie replied sarcastically.

Liz and Zoey exchanged bewildered glances.

"I'm sorry," Ellie said.

Liz reached her arm out and pulled her back down onto the couch.

"Sit down."

"I'm sure she's fine," Zoey assumed. "She probably just doesn't have her cell with her. Don't worry about it."

"I hope you're right."

11:56pm

The President, still relatively preoccupied by the news of Stanley Keyworth's death, sat in the Roosevelt Room with Walt Kaufman and Rick Kayser, debating strategies relating to the impending detainment of Colleen McGann. That is, if McGann was ever actually found, a possibility that was becoming less and less likely as the hours passed. In the middle of their discussion on methods of interrogation, Ryan Chappelle burst into the room suddenly, causing each of them to jump out of their seats, rife with anticipation.

"Mr. President, I just got off the phone with one of my agents in charge of debriefing and interrogating Paul Crawford down at CTU Headquarters. Although he would not divulge the IRA's actual intentions, Crawford has finally admitted that the White House is absolutely not the target."

Jed refrained from his instincts to rejoice and his expression remained solemn and concerned.

"How do we know he's not trying to throw us off?"

"We gave him a polygraph. My agents would not have come to me if they weren't one hundred percent certain of their information," Ryan explained.

"Okay." Jed nodded. "If the White House isn't the target…"

Anticipating the rest of hisstatement, both Kayser and Kaufman nodded in assent.

"We need to evacuate the Capitol Building."

"Yes, sir. We're on it."

11:59:57 11:59:58 11:59:59 12:00:00

TBC.