The Vice President was tired and irritable. After his less than successful meeting with his Colombian counterpart he had been unable to sleep. He had tossed and turned until Suzanne's complaints about it had sent him from the bedroom of the Number One Observatory Circle to the spare room. Now he was back in his office, being avoided by the bulk of his staff who knew his mood was unpleasant.

It wasn't until just after ten in the morning that John was interrupted from his moody solitude by two of his staff.

John glanced up from his desk wearily as Gavin Drake entered accompanied by Jeremy Rolston, John's press secretary. Jeremy was young, a dark haired, pleasant people pleaser, he lacked the ruthlessness of his co-workers but John figured or at least hoped it would come in time. Jeremy had been pressed upon him by Leo and, indirectly, Jed, and for that John would never completely warm to the press secretary. It was unfair but that was politics.

"Morning sir," Gavin greeted politely. His tone was serious and John knew from the lack of the clichéd 'good' that he wasn't bringing him anything enjoyable.

John gave the pair a warning stare.

Gavin was long used to the Vice President's use of his arctic eyes to portray his emotions. It was usually a muted protest when John's counterpart was shouting louder than he could or was willing to. Gavin wasn't quite immune to it but nor was he feeling the freeze from it that Jeremy was.

"Morning Mr Vice President," Jeremy greeted politely.

Jeremy was standing in an awkward pose, shuffling uneasily on his feet whilst struggling to decide what way to hold his hands. He cleared his throat awkwardly before continuing on.

"The news about the CIA and the DEA in Colombia has just broken," Jeremy explained. "The President is going to make a statement. Cadence phoned me last night discussing what we should do if it did break. She said your interview yesterday would look more positive if the news did break, that is your stance that they wouldn't have American friendship."

"They won't want it now," John grumbled.

John wondered when exactly Cadence had contacted Jeremy, before her dinner, after, before John's phone call to her? He had been wondering about her throughout the night as well, he had rang her to take his anger out on her and he knew it had been petty and cruel.

Jeremy nodded agreeably even as he fidgeted with the ends of his grey jacket.

"Cadence suggested this morning we state your stance was to show that only the minority of the American CIA and DEA were in on this, that we really did know nothing and that you were reminding Colombia of the strength of the majority of the American forces, cautioning them not to act hastily over rumours surrounding a few bad eggs as it were."

"A few bad eggs," John mocked with a bitter smile and a shake of his head. "What news has broke this morning? I haven't been informed," he added coldly with a disapproving glance at Gavin.

Gavin didn't flinch, he crossed his hands behind his back as he faced John down. "I'm informing you now sir," he explained, "it only happened a few minutes ago, I don't think C.J even got a courtesy warning, the story is too good. The press are stating it's been confirmed, the CIA at the DEA's behest were giving weapons to Colombian cartels, something about using the lesser evil to get rid of the greater evil. Only," Gavin added with a slight frown, "there is a suggestion that civilians were killed, intentionally Mr Vice President," he added in a more serious tone, "necessary collateral."

John looked at Gavin in disbelief. "What in the hell happened down there?" he demanded. "Does anyone know anything about it?"

Jeremy glanced to Gavin desperately, unsure how to respond.

"Not that we know of," Gavin admitted, "but presumably the head of the CIA should know something. Sir, do you want to follow Cadence's suggestion now that the news has come out?"

John's eyes widened slightly at the reminder of the younger woman. He thought of his phone call to her again and felt a prickle of guilt. He had heard something off in her voice, sure she had been upset about that damn raccoon but there was more to it, some deep, unsettled grief John couldn't quite figure out. He shouldn't have hung up. Hell he should have sent someone to her then. No, he should have gone himself.

John sighed. He wasn't going to be invited to play in the park today, Jed, Leo and their prize team would be all over Colombia, he'd get the invite after when damage control had been done.

"Where is Cadence?" John queried.

Gavin and Jeremy exchanged a glance.

"Gentlemen don't pussy foot," John commanded, "where is she?"

"In her office," Gavin retorted calmly.

John stared across at the man trying to figure out what he wasn't saying. "Why didn't she come in here with you?" he demanded.

"She's...under the weather," Jeremy answered. He was attempting tact and failing miserably.

"Under the weather?" John repeated with an impatient glare.

"Sir she's been sneezing and sniffling all morning," Gavin explained, "whatever in the hell she's brought in you're best not getting too close to it, her," he corrected hastily. Gavin exhaled softly as he lost some of his composure.

John shook his head.

"Jeremy," John ordered as he fixed a stern gaze back on the press secretary, "we'll take our direction from the President's press secretary. Nothing until then."

Jeremy nodded.

"You can both go now," John dismissed them.

Jeremy openly looked relieved and was quick to turn and hurry from the room.

Gavin gave his boss a concerned stare but said nothing. He headed after Jeremy at a slower pace.

John cursed as he stared at the now closed door. He knew where he had to go, the same place he shouldn't go. He should be engaging with Cal, trying to get on top of this Colombia mess, hell he should've told Jeremy to get his nose up C.J's ass and get as much intel on what the press knew and didn't know and tell him. They should be working an advantage and getting to work in the background to create some positive spin on John's mess.

John pushed a hand through his dark hair and stepped round his desk. There had been something in Cadence's voice on the phone last night. She had been standing in the rain on the phone sounding lost. How long had she been in the rain for?

John exited his office and nodded to the Secret Service agent standing there. The agent was Tom Sedgewick, head of the Vice President's security detail, he took his orders directly from Ron Butterfield, who was head of the Presidential Detail for the Secret Service.

John started walking towards the offices and Tom followed gamely. He was an almost silent shadow, soft on his steps as he gave the Vice President his space and yet kept him firmly within sight. Tom knew the perfect balance between crowding and protecting and he knew discretion, his goal was to keep the Vice President safe, anything else didn't seem to concern him.

It didn't take long for John to reach the quarters his main staff called their home from home. The problem wasn't distance it was subtlety. Too many of them were here to witness his visit. Now he realised he had been in a selfish sulk when he had assumed they were avoiding him when in fact they were as always at work, busy and still serving him to the best of their abilities.

John greeted individuals quickly as he passed them in the corridor, a nod and and a polite mentioning of their name. He prided himself on getting names right.

John heard the sneezes first. He frowned, they weren't the cute little allergy snorts, they were haggard, phlegm filled exhales of disease. He continued up the corridor, following the sniffs and splutters of someone trying and failing to inhale back snot.

John quickly found himself outside Cadence's office.

The door was closed but apparently it was not thick enough to keep in the sounds of sickness.

John knocked it once, a pointless show of politeness, it was glass and she'd already turned a bleary, red hued gaze up to him.

Cadence stood up hastily and John moved just as quick as he saw the uneasy sway she gave with the movement. Her hands were out and upon her desk to steady herself as John opened the door and hurried into the office.

Tom looked in curiously, satisfied that nothing was amiss he stepped back beside the doorway to grant the pair some privacy.

"I'm okay," Cadence said as she waved the Vice President back with one hand.

John stared at her with disapproval as he eyeballed the crumpled tissues on her desk pointedly before turning his vibrant blue stare back up to her.

Cadence's cheeks were ruddy, her eyes were shaded with fatigue and slick with sickness, her nose glowed red as it leaked and her stance was weak, her body still doubled over as she gripped her desk with one hand for support.

"Cadence what in the hell are you doing here?" John demanded.

"I work here," she retorted sardonically.

John couldn't get mad at the sarcasm, it was impossible given the hoarseness of her voice. He wondered if it came from coughing or crying. Her pale grey shirt was untucked and hanging untidily over a black pencil skirt. John wondered at her choice of attire or if there had even been any choice, she needed layers and he couldn't even see a coat hanging up anywhere.

"Cady," he adopted a kinder tone for her as he closed the door behind him at last, "you're not well."

"It's a cold that's all," she murmured, "it'll pass."

John stepped up to her desk. It was the only barrier between them. He glanced down at it again and saw the picture frame placed firmly down on it.

"Cady what happened with the raccoon?" John was straight to the point.

His electric blue eyes were on her again, prying at the hurt she bore on her face as she struggled with an answer.

She fumbled on the desk for a tissue that hadn't been used as much and inadvertently grasped at one she had attempted to turn into a swan. "Someone ran him down," she retorted quietly.

Him. John resisted the urge to keep his scorn from his face as she realised she had probably named the thing. John couldn't understand it, how could she get attached to animals that were pests, vermin really?

"He was all alone and in so much pain, he crawled to the sidewalk," she explained as tears pooled in her eyes, "and he died alone."

John studied her face, reading the woe on it as he wondered yet again what this was really about.

"Who was he?" John queried quietly. If she gave him the raccoon's name fine but he was hopeful that in her feverish state her guard was down and she would give him the real answer.

"Robbie," she murmured sorrowfully. The tears finally slipped out to add shimmering streaks to her rosy cheeks.

"Robbie raccoon," John murmured bitterly with a shake of his head before he could help it.

"Not always," she protested. Her face screwed up in angry confusion but her eyes were blurred with water and she couldn't focus on him properly. "Robbie Donovan," she explained.

Cadence's grip on the desk slipped as she suddenly staggered again.

The movement jolted John's thoughts over who Robbie Donovan might be.

Cadence managed to manoeuvre herself down into her chair, tiredly waving off John's advances as he moved round the desk, a fraction too late to offer assistance.

"I'm fine," she insisted.

"You might not need me to catch you," John mused, "but you are not fine."

He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead and his eyes widened at the blazing heat it met with.

"Cady when I called you last night you were standing in the rain, how long were you out in it?" John demanded.

"I don't know," she mumbled sullenly. She leaned back in her chair with a grimace of pain and sniffed hard to try and keep in an unpleasant trickle of snot.

"He was getting wet," she murmured, "he was cold and alone in a place he didn't know, I couldn't leave him like that but I didn't know what to do."

"You're burning up," John muttered. "I'm going to..." He trailed off.

John glanced about her desk for the phone. He had meant to say he was getting her sent home but he couldn't dismiss her like that, he was too worried. "We're going to take you home," he decided, "and I'll have a doctor make a house call."

Cadence grasped his right arm suddenly with one hand. "No John," she protested with a pleading look, "please. Mr Vice President," she corrected herself, "I don't...I don't want the attention. I'm sorry about Colombia."

"Colombia?" John stared down at her in bewilderment. "Cady you'd nothing to do with that, shit, I'm sorry I yelled at you about that, I shouldn't have. You really aren't making much sense, you need a doctor."

John turned away from her and lifted the receiver from the phone.

"He was so alone and I didn't know, he died alone and it was all my fault," she lamented.

John winced as several coughs escaped her. He didn't even consider that he might catch it, all he could think about was how he had known she was in the rain and had done nothing about it.

Tom Sedgewick, after giving up verbally protesting the Vice President running a staff member home to a dodgy area, continued to express his displeasure with a sullen stare. He stood outside the door to Cadence McGarry's apartment glancing at his watch as he wondered how long this was going to take.

They had arrived in an unmarked black Chevy Impala, which was one of only two Secret Service cars nearby. There was one SUV across the road and further back was an unmarked police car, which had done a check of the area before they had arrived. The Chevy Impala was directly outside the apartment block. There were also unmarked agents in the area who had spent an hour casing it before Tom had even permitted John to make the trip here. Tom didn't think it was enough and the Vice President thought it was too much.

The Vice President wanted discretion and sure Tom could understand not wanting to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to Cadence's home like a procession of black SUVs with sirens and lights but hell this was the Vice President, a highly recognisable, powerful figure despite what he seemed to be thinking of himself today.

Tom wondered how he had been talked into this and realised grimly that he hadn't really. John Hoynes had done his usual asshole move, smile and charm whilst ordering not asking but because he did it so nicely and quietly it was hard to detect that John wasn't giving a choice in the matter.

Tom had argued back but the Vice President didn't warrant the security detail of the President, he didn't have twelve agents on him at all times, the Vice wasn't so fortunate or unfortunate depending on how one looked at it. The President got lifetime protection, the Vice only had a six months severance after their time in office was done.

Tom had had the apartment block checked over too and radioed to one of the undercover agents in the apartment block for confirmation of security before permitting the VP entry. Tom had been a little dismayed to get the all clear. It had meant he had to let the Vice President into a building he considered unsecure in an area best classified as 'dodgy' and he knew the VP wasn't going to leave in a hurry.

Tom had entered Cadence's apartment first and checked it over thoroughly before allowing the VP to enter. He wasn't happy about having to stay outside it but he had to give privacy if security permitted it, the compromise was that the front door into the apartment remained unlocked.

Cadence avoided eye contact with the Vice President as she moved through her apartment awkwardly, veering towards the kitchenette.

"Should I make you coffee?" she quipped.

John, taking in that the apartment was like an ice block, and moving to a radiator with a critical eye, halted and glanced over at the young woman scornfully.

"No," he said firmly, "you should sit down because you're sick. Actually layers, put on some layers. Damn Cady, the pipes are stone cold," he complained as he crouched down and pressed his palm against the radiator pipes, "is your heating not working?"

"No," she admitted with a careless shrug, "but I...I...ah.." She stuttered as she tried to resist a sneeze and it came exploding out.

Cadence let out a groan of self disgust as she fumbled in her satchel for a fresh tissue to dab at her ruddy nose with.

"I've hot water," she concluded with a sniff. "Must be a different supply, I don't know."

John stood upright and raised his eyebrows at this. "Right, so you'll go without central heating but not a hot bath."

John shook his head even as the smile came, he wanted to be mad with her careless attitude but she had always adored her baths and he was amused that trait hadn't changed.

"Alright," he said as he waved his palms out at her, "you need to sit." He looked to the sofa and his blue gaze filled with approval at the swan patterned blanket crumpled up on it. "Get that blanket round you, I'm going to run you a bath."

"You." Cadence stared back at him dumbfounded and shook her head. "No, I'm home Mr Vice President, you need to go do Vice Presidential things, please, don't-" A series of coughs interrupted her.

Cadence doubled over as fresh pangs tore up her ribcage with each cough.

"Cadence I can be John as well," he snapped with a look of annoyance. "Let me be John Hoynes today, no one wants the Vice President today anyway. Sit down and get that blanket around you."

John headed through the apartment in search of the bathroom. As it was a small apartment and the bathroom door was ajar it was an easy find.

John stepped in and smiled at the modest rubber duck collection. There was the large yellow one he had sent as a house warming gift, the one with the top hat from her suite at the Driskill Hotel and the one with the sash that he had taken from his own suite and given to her. It was yellow with a sash bearing the stars of stripes of the American flag. John adored that Cadence still collected rubber ducks though he wondered what had happened to the rest of her collection. He had noted that the apartment was sparse of personal belongings and decorations, the furnishings were new and had to be from Leo's pocket.

John shrugged off his coal grey jacket though he was reluctant to expose himself to the cold. He folded it neatly over his arm and glanced about the small bathroom again before settling for depositing it on top of the closed toilet seat. He unbuttoned his shirt sleeves, pushed them up to his elbows and set to work running the bath.

Cadence remained in the living room, bleary eyed as she slumped in the couch half under a blanket that still had a faint scent of her family home to it. She was miserable, her head was stuffed up, she ached from head to toe, she was at the point of being past exhaustion and she couldn't think straight. Hell she was starting to wonder if the Vice President running a bath for her was just some delirium induced illusion.

John appeared in her vision after a few minutes. His hair was tousled from the steam of the bath, and his shirt was wrinkled, the sleeves sloppy and uneven at his elbows.

Cadence gave him a faint smile. "You look like John Hoynes," she informed him cheerfully in a voice weak from coughing.

John wasn't sure what to make of the remark. He nodded, pushed a hand through his hair in an attempt to even it and strode up to her. He saw the sorrow in her reddened eyes and it prompted him to take a seat beside her. She smelled of cold sweat, her hair was matted and her skin an ugly pallor of greyish-white. She was possibly the most unattractive John had seen her and yet he was drawn to her anyway.

Cadence tensed when the Vice President wrapped an arm about her lightly, pressing her blanket against her before he drew her close against him. He was warm and feeling the chill of the apartment had her snuggling into him instinctively.

John didn't say anything, the bath would get cold waiting for a conversation and he didn't know that she would be willing to talk about Robbie Donovan whoever he was or wasn't. He kissed her upon her head and stood up, drawing her up with him.

Cadence accepted it and stood clumsily, trying to bring the blanket up with her.

"You get a bath," John ordered her, "and hopefully the doc will be here when you're done."

John released her, allowing her to go on her way.

The doctor came as Cadence was in the midst of drying her hair. She was delayed at the door by a suspicious Tom and then again by her own surprise at seeing the Vice President of all people standing in the apartment. A doctor Jenna Zebrowski, she had flushed slightly at the Vice President's small, welcoming smile and nodded agreeably to his polite request for discretion.

Cadence had been a reluctant patient, grumbling about a fuss over nothing as she sat in the living room and allowed Dr Zebrowski to examine her.

John headed back to the bathroom during this time to give them some privacy and to make a call with his cellular phone. There was an answer after the fourth ring.

"Hello," Leo's gruff voice called. There was a shuffling of footsteps and the hurried closing of a door with it.

John gave a biting smile at the tone. "Leo it's John," he murmured quietly.

"I know John, this is a personal number," Leo grumbled back, "why are you calling? You've seen the news surely you know I'm busy."

"Cadence is sick," John got straight to the point since Leo obviously didn't want pleasantries. "She came to work with a fever, I think it's a bad cold, maybe the flu. Anyway Leo, she was burning up so I had her taken home and I've got a doctor making a house call."

John knew what he was risking with his call and his timing. He had to make sure he was gone before Leo or anyone else had a chance to call round and he had to hope the doctor did practice discretion. He could claim he just wanted to see his employee safe but it was bullshit, he wouldn't have taken Gavin or Jeremy home, he'd have let an aide do it but with Cadence he had to see it done personally.

"Sick," Leo repeated numbly. "Right, I'll get in touch with Mal, one of us will get round to her. Thanks John."

"Sure Leo. Leo one more thing."

"Yes?"

"She was upset about a raccoon near her place getting run over," John heard the curse Leo muttered but he continued on, "and she mentioned a name, I thought it was the raccoon's name to be honest but then she said a surname too. Who's Robbie Donovan Leo?"

John heard the sharp intake of breath before there was a sudden silence.

Leo sighed. "John was she upset? Not just sick?" he pried.

"Yeah Leo," John admitted. John rubbed at his hair awkwardly. Much as he sympathised he wasn't going to admit that he knew Cadence had been standing in the rain probably for half the night upset over this raccoon or Robbie or both. "Leo, what's going on? Is this a person or a raccoon? What am I missing?"

"John that's very personal," Leo retorted sharply.

"Yeah well she's my employee Leo and you know I care about her welfare, when it affects her like this I should know."

John thought to himself that he should know what to say to her, how to comfort her but he didn't.

"He was her boyfriend John, back in high school. He was from New Hampshire, they met through the President's daughter Ellie but he had an uncle in Chicago so he was able to visit her there sometimes. He's the one who started this raccoon thing, he liked them, had a family of them at his home. He..." Leo faltered over the confession. "He died or rather he was stabbed. It happened in Chicago, he was going to surprise Cady for prom, she had no idea, hell I didn't either, he arranged it with Mal. Anyway, he was at an ATM and then as he was leaving it he got attacked by someone who stabbed him and robbed him. It was in the early evening but it was raining heavy so there weren't a lot of people about so it was a few hours before anyone even seemed to notice him but by then he'd bled out and then of course the police couldn't ID him without a wallet."

Leo let out another angry sigh. "I remember Cady standing in her prom dress, confused and annoyed because she had no date and Mal wouldn't tell her what was going on then it got later and later. I'll never forget it John," he murmured in a voice thick with emotion, "thinking how beautiful my little girl looked but also thinking to myself all the time that something was wrong. I had a drink to steady my nerves, told myself I was just suffering the angst of a parent seeing their daughter looking all grown up and then I had another drink.

Mal knew something was up, she told me, so I rang some cop friends I had. By then Mal had to tell Cady. I remember her reaction, she was so afraid of what was going on, what might have happened. She didn't go to prom, she stayed up waiting for the call. It was around one in the morning when I got it, a call about the homicide, they asked me to describe Robbie and then I knew."

John didn't know what to say. He thought of when he had met Cadence, young, plucky but that darkness about her that sometimes overcame the happiness. She had never mentioned Robbie and he wondered again about her scars and if that was the past that was too painful and raw for her to share, the reason for her self harm.

"She told you about those reporters trying to get this story about her self-harming and her suicide attempt," Leo lamented, "well that's it John, that's why. She blamed herself, he was in the city to surprise her for prom so she felt it was all her fault and no one could convince her otherwise. I didn't see it, I should have but I didn't. She slashed her wrists up, she wanted to bleed out like he did, share his pain and join him wherever he was but thankfully Mal found her, she stopped the bleeding and got the paramedics."

John was numb at Leo's words. Cadence had never mentioned a suicide attempt either. He glanced at the bathroom door. She was so near to him but he felt a million miles away. He wondered why he'd never pressed her for details and realised grimly it was because he had other things to deal with and she wasn't his wife, she was his intern fuck, a twenty-something woman to bolster his ego. He felt anger for himself for not prying harder into her past and for letting her run off after another disaster to inflict fresh harms on herself.

"John she's my little girl and I can't have the press dragging this up again."

"No Leo I understand," John came back to reality at Leo's words. "Look she's alright, there was none of that, just sniffles and coughs and she seemed a little sad but not to that extreme."

"But she mentioned his name to you."

"She's got a fever Leo, she didn't really know what she was saying. I told you, I got a doctor to make a house call, she'll be alright."

"Yeah, thanks again John. I'll speak with Mal. Look," he added quietly, "I'll speak with the President as well about you and him showing a united front with this Colombia business, a public one."

John cracked another bitter smile. He knew it was wrong to feel pleased at this, that it was unintentionally exploiting Cadence, earning a reward from her father for helping her and hell it certainly wasn't why he'd done it but John knew he needed the good press. A public appearance with the President would make his meeting with the Colombian VP look a little less embarrassing.

"Sure Leo, I'll let you go now."

"Bye John, Mr Vice President," Leo opted for formality at last.

"Bye Leo."

John hung the phone and prepared to go back to Cadence and the doctor. He knew he couldn't mention Robbie Donovan to her, he didn't have time for it and he didn't want her to know he'd talked with her father about it. He'd have to just let her know quickly that he had told Leo she was sick and then he'd have to go before Leo or Mallory pounced upon him here.

John wondered himself as he stepped out of the bathroom how he, the Vice President of one of the strongest nations in the world, was in a position where he had found the time to take a sick employee home and run a bath for her. He shook his head with wonderment at the bizarre situation. It felt inappropriate and he hated that, mainly because he hadn't even gotten inappropriate, there had been no sexual encounter with Cadence this time and so long as she was a sniffling, quivering mess of disease there wasn't going to be. He knew how suspicious it would be if he suddenly started sneezing and spluttering around the place.

John smiled at that thought. A Vice President undone by an affair exposed by a case of the sniffles. Well it would certainly trump the embarrassment of his botched meeting with the VP of Colombia.