"You threatened the Vice President?"

"Leo it was not a threat," Sam began his protest.

Leo held up a hand warning the Deputy Director of Communications to silence.

"Sam, are you a glutton for punishment today?" Leo quipped as he stared over at the younger man in disbelief. "I sent you there to be out of my way and away from trouble, how did you make things worse?" he queried woefully as he shook his head.

Leo turned his grey stare on Josh who stood behind Sam in a willing silence, hoping not to get noticed by his boss.

They were standing in Leo's office, responding to his immediate summons after their return to the White House. Apparently the moment they had left the Vice President's office he had phoned Leo's.

Josh smiled at his boss apologetically. "We were giving him the speech like you asked," he explained.

Leo pointed at Josh crossly. "Speech?" he repeated. "John said the word script was used and why weren't you doing the talking Josh?"

"Sam is in Communications," Josh reminded him. He winced seeing the anger that filled Leo's face and knew, not for the first time today, that he and Sam had gone too far.

"Sam is all over the press for giving a call girl presents, while he is meant to be dating my daughter," Leo added loudly as he let his anger fill his voice.

Sam raised a hand in protest. "You know technically it wasn't a date," he began.

"Sam no," Josh pleaded as he lowered his eyes to the ground and shook his head.

"I don't care!" Leo snapped as he dropped his own hand by his side in a swift, aggressive manner. "Gentlemen I should not need to tell you two, senior White House staff that you do not, I repeat, not go and tell the Vice President that either he follows our script or his meeting is cancelled. You made him feel like a puppet and you made him feel stupid," Leo added in annoyance, "he told me that!"

"But Leo wasn't the point that you wanted him following our script er speech," Josh corrected hastily.

"Yes Josh but you shouldn't have been so stupid as to say it so bluntly, you know the Vice President can be difficult when it comes to his authority and ours." Leo sighed. "I should have handled it personally, this meeting with him and Vice President Rojas is going to be broadcast on a number of important news stations, we don't know what the Vice President of Colombia will say but if the business of the cartels or drugs or our own CIA or DEA come up we need John to say what we want the White House to say. This is a delicate matter and we still don't know what's actually going on."

Sam looked at Leo defiantly. "Can't we just cancel this meeting?" he queried.

"No Sam," Leo snapped angrily as he regarded him like he was an idiot, "that would be an insult to Colombia and given that our own CIA might have given their cartel weapons we can't afford to be annoying them further. It was a bluff and John knew it and you didn't deliver it believably at all," he scolded him.

Josh sighed whilst Sam just looked confused.

"It was a bluff?" Sam queried in surprise. "So the Vice President is meeting with the Vice President of Colombia no matter what?"

Leo nodded at him. "Exactly Sam and now he's going to go in there in a rage at us and say whatever the hell he likes just to spite us, if it suits him," he grumbled.

"Leo he's not going to sink the whole country's reputation just because Sam upset him," Josh said calmly.

"Sam and you," Leo corrected.

Josh gestured to himself with both hands and a look of surprise. "Me? What did I do?"

"You're the one who talked about scripts and ultimatums Josh," Leo responded.

Josh glanced at Sam. "I thought we ran here, how did he manage to get all that into a phone call so quickly?"

"You're not that fit," Sam said, "we barely jogged here.

"Fellas, the Vice President will be here in twenty minutes," Leo addressed them, still stern faced, "then you've got a fifteen minute window before his meeting to fix this. He's already agreed to meet with you two again but Cal and Cadence will be there too."

"Why is Cadence coming?" Josh queried aloud with a frown. "She's just a PR deputy."

Leo narrowed his gaze at his subordinate. He remarked sarcastically, "and you don't think good PR would be involved in a meeting with a foreign leader's representative?"

"Yeah but it's more a Toby, Sam thing," Josh argued as he gestured to Sam with one hand, "or their VP equivalents. I mean he has Sandra for speeches and Jeremy for press."

"Josh," Sam piped up.

Josh glanced at his companion in irritation. "What?"

Sam shook his head. "You're digging a hole," he said quickly, "stop doing it."

"John has never used Sandra's speeches, she's the third one in that job, he keeps her because the President told him to stop firing his speechwriters," Leo dismissed Josh's arguing.

"And because she's attractive," Sam murmured under his breath. He winced at Leo's glare and wished that he could stop voicing his thoughts aloud today.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that because it's sexist and offensive," Leo said icily, "and because if I focus on one more wrong doing of yours today Sam I'm going to either have an aneurysm or give you one."

Sam nodded hastily and took a step back. "Point taken," he said quietly.

"As for Jeremy, we gave him to John," Leo explained, "because he's nice and passive, he spins okay press for the Vice President, neutral, which is what we want. If he were as good as C.J then the Vice President might surpass the President in notice and we do not want that."

"Well Cadence got him up five percent!" Josh blurted out. "So you can't want her here then!"

Leo's white eyebrows rose slightly at this before he gave a smile of pride. "Good for her," he said quietly. His frown returned for Josh. "Josh don't be a telltale no one likes those," he scorned him.

"Paul Revere was liked," Josh muttered moodily.

"Both of you, out of my office, prepare to meet the Vice President and make this right," Leo ordered.

Josh and Sam nodded obediently before departing. The pair attempted to meet with Toby to repolish the script but he was busy in a meeting. Accepting that they were on their own, which perhaps only fitting given they had created the mess, they spent twenty minutes trying to come up with a solution that wouldn't offend Hoynes further.

Josh grumbled that Leo was at times schizophrenic when it came to the Vice President, he had once threatened to bounce him to celebrity golf showings as punishment for getting too cocky in his role and reminded him that he, the Chief of Staff was the second in command but then he had also sided with him when he hadn't want to break the tie over an ethanol matter despite the President insisting he should. Josh said he didn't get it but that was a lie, deep down he understood because he was the same way with the VP. John could be an asshole who stood in their way but he was good at his job, loyal to the people and plenty of times he did make sensible decisions. In Josh's eyes he didn't have what Bartlet had but he was a damn good choice for Vice President.

When their time was up, Sam and Josh marched like two men for the gallows to the Roosevelt Room where they found the Vice President and his small party waiting for them.

"Good afternoon Mr Vice President," Sam said politely as they entered the room.

John, who was seated at the head of the lengthy table, held up his hand and waved. "Let's not do this again, we only met about half an hour ago," he reminded them. His pale blue eyes were still cold with anger.

Cadence was standing staring round the room with intrigue whilst Cal, seated to John's right and opposite the door, looked haggard and couldn't even feign an expression of cordial indifference for Sam and Josh.

"Do you ever wonder what kind of fish President Roosevelt kept in here?" Cadence quipped as she surveyed the paintings. "I mean aquariums makes it sound exciting, Roosevelt Room is alright but the sharks in here just aren't as nice to look at," she mused as she flashed a smile over at Josh and Sam.

Josh gave a sarcastic smile in response. He hated that she was clearly loving every moment of this.

"Fish?" Sam queried in puzzlement.

Cadence looked at him in surprise before her smile widened. "Mal did say you didn't know anything about this place," she teased. "FDR had an aquarium here and fish mounted on the walls."

"We do not have time for this," Cal interrupted angrily. "We have much more important things to discuss than fish."

Cadence shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm just trying to put them at ease," she said, "and start things amicably."

Josh gave her a look of annoyance at this. He couldn't tell if she was patronising them or genuinely trying to do them a favour, either way he didn't like it.

"Yeah so, can we talk about this meeting with Vice President Rojas?" Josh queried as he approached the desk. He pulled out the seat to John's left.

John looked up at him with a frosty calm. "You can talk about it but don't think to give me any orders about it," he warned.

Josh nodded briskly even as his expression suggested he figured all was lost. He sat down on the seat and glanced at John awkwardly. His position wasn't lost on him.

"We shouldn't have said script," Josh admitted. "Look, Mr Vice President," he leaned back in his seat, "we just need to know what you're going to say if the cartel, drugs, CIA or DEA do come up."

"I'm going to say that's for the CIA and DEA to discuss," John retorted frostily.

Josh pressed his hand up into his brow before dropping it to the table. "Okay, humour me for a second please, what if Rojas calls that a copout or asks why the White House don't have anything to say about it or don't know about it? What if he calls you evasive?"

John leaned forward in his seat and fixed his blue stare on Josh, steely and resolute. "Josh this isn't my first show at the rodeo," he retorted in a quiet, stern voice.

Josh nodded along again. "That's not an answer, sir," he tacked on the title politely. He could feel Sam standing nearby, itching to blurt out something and he willed the man to stay quiet and let him handle it first.

"Josh this news hasn't even broken officially yet," Cal reminded him, "we don't know much why do we assume this Vice President knows anything? Maybe the Colombian government are in the dark, or at least in the dark about what we know."

"And maybe not," Sam countered sharply, "maybe we should assume they know everything because it's better to be prepared than not."

Sam was standing just like Cadence. They were on opposing sides of the table maintaining a calm as they watched the tensions build before them.

John flashed an angry stare up at him as Josh pursed his lips into a thin line and clenched his left fist slightly.

"Are you saying I'm unprepared?" John snapped.

Sam realised he had messed up again as he stared down at the Vice President blankly, unsure what to say now.

"Gentlemen the Vice President of Colombia is coming to discuss trade," Cadence reminded them. "If he tries to exploit this to discuss recent, unconfirmed news then he's simply gossiping and no politician wants to publicly be seen to be doing that. He will just need reminded that we have no news on these matters yet and that it's uncivilised to converse about rumours. Of course the Vice President will say it all a lot more politely than that," she added with a smile.

Cal and Josh both gave Cadence a look of displeasure but she seemed immune to it as she maintained her smile.

"Even discussing trade is risky," Sam pointed out, "we don't know how well we will be trading once all this business with cartels and weapons comes out."

Josh gave a small, triumphant smile at this, appreciating Sam for finding the flaw in Cadence's plan. "Exactly sir," he said as he nodded at John. "We can't make trade promises we might not keep."

The Vice President gave him a steely look in response. "Surely the shoe is on the other foot Josh," he said in a heated tone as his rage began to simmer to the surface. "If our CIA gave their cartel weapons they wouldn't want to trade with us not the other way round."

John stood up from the table in an angry haste. "In fact we should be making an effort to offer something appealing early so when the shit hits the fan they're going to still want business with us if only from a practical standing point."

John scowled down the table at them. "This conversation is over people, time's up."

John headed for the door before any of them could argue with him further.

Sam gave an awkward, anxious smile as he watched him go. "Well that could've gone better," he said quickly after the Vice President had departed.

Cal, on his feet and hastening after his boss, paused to glance back at them all with a frown. He fixed his glower on Sam. "Some strategy, wind the Vice President up before his meeting," he scorned them.

Cal followed in the same manner as his boss, abrupt without giving anyone the chance to answer him.

C.J raised her palm to her brow for the third time. "It's like watching a car crash," she groaned to her hand.

"One with no survivors," Toby remarked grimly from her right.

C.J lowered her hand and glanced over at Toby with a worried curiosity. "Has the President seen it yet?" she queried.

Toby shook his head. "You and I are the first to watch it, he'll be watching it soon then speaking with Hoynes. This segment is due to broadcast on the five o'clock news." Toby glanced at his watch and swallowed a curse. "They will be here to collect it soon."

C.J glanced up at the screen again.

The recording of the meeting between Vice President Hoynes and Vice President Rojas was playing out before them in C.J's office. Toby was beginning to regret not having a snack whilst he watched the show. It was meant to be a simple meeting about trade, recorded for the news as a means of broadcasting the good relations between the U.S and Colombia and because two Vice Presidents conversing privately instead of publicly would only draw ill rumours. The irony was that the ugly murmurings of CIA and DEA business in Colombia had already drawn the rumours.

The Colombian V.P had been angry from the get go. He had made it clear to Hoynes that the Colombian government not only knew about the rumours of the CIA gifting some of their cartels with weapons to combat other cartels, pitting them against each other in the hopes of causing self-destruction amongst them but they did not consider them rumours.

C.J had considered quietly that John had done an admirable job in the beginning of the meeting, he had been calm and attempted to turn the conversation back to trade. It was an admiration she would never voice aloud and it didn't matter much as it had faded fast.

"I don't know if things turned bad when Vice President Rojas suggested Hoynes was keeping secrets or if it was when he changed his mind and decided Hoynes wasn't important enough to know what his country was up to," C.J remarked calmly.

The way the press secretary figured it, it was just another daily disaster and she was starting to become accustomed to them. At least with this one she was getting to see the tape first and prepare for the press briefing that would follow.

"Definitely the latter," Toby grumbled.

The White House Communications Director watched in a weary despair as John started to really lose his temper and unleashed his thick Texan twang.

"We can't release this but we can't keep it," Toby murmured.

"Well thank God it wasn't live," C.J commented sardonically. She continued to stand stoically watching the meeting continue to flail and burn. "It would have been fine if he'd stuck to the line that shouldn't discuss rumours and insisted that as far as we are concerned that's all it is at the moment," she added. "It's that ego of his," she added as she glanced at Toby, "Vice President Rojas dealt it a blow implying Hoynes lacked the same importance as him and he took the bait."

"I always said a televised meeting was a bad idea," Toby grumbled. "It's just giving into the press, saying here you go we fear your rumours and we want to counter them." He gestured with his hands as if handing someone an invisible bundle. "It's not a done thing, it wasn't an interview with either of them but we had to televise it anyway."

"Toby," C.J interrupted him.

"Yeah?"

"You're rambling and no one but me can hear," she informed him sweetly.

"Right."

C.J gave him a gentle smile. "Let's just be grateful it's not our screw up. It's going to get worse anyway once the story about the CIA and the Colombian cartel comes out."

Toby frowned and headed for the door. "I'm going to speak to Sam and Josh about this, at least we'll be able to edit some of it for time consumption reasons."

"Don't tamper with it too much or the press will sense we're hiding something," C.J cautioned him.

If ever John needed a drink it was now. The day had been a clean sweep disaster. First the nonsense with Cal, then Sam and Josh, then Sam and Josh on repeat, then that damnable meeting which both he and his Colombian counterpart had started with tempers flared and then the telling off from the President like he was a school boy.

John scowled at his desk, seething as he recalled his superior's sarcasm. The sardonic wave to the television, the quip of 'now John this is the bit I really don't understand, did you really have to threaten him with the loss of American friendship? Don't you think they're going to toss that anyway when they find out American citizens are friends with their criminals?'

Five o'clock had came and went and with it fresh humiliation as the segment aired on the news.

John had stayed public for it, refusing to be seen as a coward although he had been ordered by the President not to have any further contact with the press today until the President's team got a handle on things. John's scowl deepened at the reminder, the implication had been clear- the Vice President and his party had made a mess and now the superior West Wing staff would be cleaning it up, like teachers tidying up after kindergartens. John hated the feeling of inferiority more than he hated the public taunting he had endured.

He knew the public opinion of his meeting would fade, right now the American people didn't give much of a shit for the Vice President of Colombia, in a few weeks or maybe even just days time that would change but right now they would find the meeting awkward and embarrassing but they would forget it. John wouldn't of course but the people would and he would lose the five percent Cadence had helped him earn and people would nod and say it was as well he was the Vice and not the actual President and he would grit his teeth and smile, holding up sports t-shirts and talking up local teams all while thinking that President Bartlet surely would have botched it too.

Bartlet was no perfectionist, he had lost his temper with the religious radio host after all, sure hearing how he had schooled her over Bible references had been entertaining but it showed that like any human Bartlet was opinionated and capable of letting his temper show in public scoldings. Hell, he'd scorned John in front of many people more than once, which was why they had had to endure Texas together because people were beginning to doubt that Jed had any faith in his Vice.

John glanced up at the clock on the wall. It sat above the door opposite his desk, silent but steady with its ticks. It was bronze framed, some antiquated gift from some dignitary of some country, engraved and probably a token gift for the then token Vice President. Mostly John considered it practical but tonight he considered it another reminder of his useless, there for appearance's sake post. It read ten thirty. John had spent the better part of the evening lingering here after berating his staff for their shared shambles.

John pushed a hand through his dark hair as he thought of how he had sneered at Cadence. Criticised her PR skills after the live news feed since she hadn't offered him any decent PR advice after the meeting. He knew he hadn't been fair to her. He hadn't been fair to any of them, the screw up had been his after all. He figured he was just pissed because by that stage she had made dinner plans with her sister Mallory and Sam and he was annoyed that anyone would be doing something jovial tonight after the disaster.

John looked to the crystal decanter on the wooden cabinet that contained only water at his request. It wouldn't cut it, it never did. He felt too near to the edge this evening and he didn't know what alternate fix he needed. He thought of Suzanne and a sneer came to his lips, all she would do was berate him. He thought of Cadence again and frowned as his hand dropped back down to the desk, he couldn't use her so cheaply and hadn't she been putting in a lot of effort to resist him anyway?

John stood up from his desk knowing he had to leave his office before he went mad.

He paced round to the front of his desk and paused, suddenly mad that he was still here whilst his team were gone for the night, disappeared to give him a wide berth. Part of him appreciated the space they offered him and part of him hated them for it, they were there for the good parts but not the bad. He knew he wasn't being fair again, if they thought he wanted them for solace or a confidence boost then they would be there. Yet John couldn't shake the thought.

John rubbed at his temples and grabbed the phone on his desk. He dialled a number and waited impatiently as it rang.

There was a crackling, the sound of distortion and then a confused hello.

John thought he could hear rain and he was puzzled for a moment. He glanced to the right to the window but the curtains were drawn as they had been since he had entered the room.

"Cadence I need you to come back," he addressed her sternly, ill-pleased with the manner in which she had answered the phone. "You're my deputy of Public Relations but when I need Public Relations you leave for dinner, wasn't it made clear to you this isn't a nine to five job? You work for the office of the Vice President," he reminded her, "and you represent it."

John paused, he knew he sounded like an asshole, it was the thin line he always seemed to tread between confidence and cockiness, charm and smugness, pride and vanity. He knew he was just hunting for someone to take his annoyance out on because he was tense, tired and truly fed up and he couldn't have a drink and no one liked him enough to stay in the building patiently waiting out his solitude so they could ask when he finally emerged if he was alright, if he needed anything. Hell he was hurt Cadence hadn't waited on him, that she wasn't concerned enough to ignore his chiding and stay anyway, that she had pissed off to dinner with Sam Seaborn. And there it was, the realisation as to why John had picked Cadence for his angry venting because she was out with the enemy, that smug asshole who had tried to lecture and script him before the disaster and was probably laughing about it with her.

John realised there had only been silence as he mulled over his heated thoughts, well static and rain but no talking. "Cadence?"

"My...my raccoon is dead," she mumbled back numbly.

John didn't know what the hell to make of that. He wondered where exactly she was. Standing on her street? She'd mentioned some vermin in the alleyway, she'd even shown him a picture of the thing. He glanced at the clock again and listened to the rain on the phone.

"Cadence it's a fucking pest," he snapped before he hung up the phone.