SINS OF THE FATHER

RATED R

FIRST PART OF THE 'HISTORY REPEATS' SERIES

SAM/DONNA ROMANCE

SPOILERS FOR 'SOMEONE'S GOING TO EMERGENCY, SOMEONE'S GOING TO JAIL'

By the time Senior Staff rolled around the next morning Sam felt like he was going insane and Donna had managed to organize everything on ten colour-coded note cards. The senior level assistants sent their boss' off to Leo's office and went about doing the work that could only be done without having to worry about getting interrupted by a buzz on the intercom—or Josh bellowing Donna's name.

Halfway throughthe daily rush that the administrative staff laughingly called 'free time'—they worked just as hard in those forty minutes as they did the rest of the day only the tasks that they undertook were rarely if ever recognized—Cathy came over to Donna's desk. "Hey, Cathy," Donna said.

"Hey, Donna. You look tired. Josh keep you here 'til dawn again?"

"Actually, no. I got out of here at the almost respectable hour of eight o'clock last night. I was just up late working on something," Donna said. She had stayed awake until the early hours of the morning working on a plan of attack to help Sam get through his current battle. If there was one thing that she had learned since starting work at the White House it was how to formulate an effective plan.

"For Sam," Cathy stated. Donna nodded. "What's going on with him? I know you're closer to the Senior Staff than the rest of us. Something's up and I hate not knowing what it is. Yesterday he came in and told me to clear his schedule for the next few days. Today he came in muttering something about IKEA. CJ gave him a Raggedy Ann doll and Toby didn't explode when Ginger told him that Sam would be out of town for a few days even though they have four speeches to write by the end of the week. What the hell is going on?"

Donna took a deep breath. "His family was in an accident and he's got to go and deal with some things in California," she said. It was up to Sam to go into further detail.

"Are they okay?" Cathy asked.

"Yeah. Well, no, they're not, but everyone's alive. Sam just has some stuff he needs to take care of. You should talk to him about it. I don't know how much he wants to tell people," Donna said weakly.

Cathy nodded. She knew Donna wouldn't betray a confidence. "I'll do that. Now, do you have the thing for 820?"

In Senior Staff things were going well. It seemed it would be a slow day, if you were to go by the amount of actual work that concerned the running of the country that was being discussed. They went over Toby and Sam's speech on 820 which was further legislation for their fight for gun control, Josh's latest battle with Congress, and the fact that the delegation from Australia that was supposed to arrive later in the day had to cancel because of a death in the family of the Ambassador. Once those topics were out of the way Leo asked if there was anything else, his eyes fixed on Sam.

"I already told them, Leo," Sam said without emotion. "They were all over at my place trying to turn my office into a bedroom for Meredith. Our lack of success was astounding."

"It always is," Leo said. "Once you have a plan let us know and we'll accommodate you however we can."

"Thank you," Sam said softly. He'd already spoken to Leo and the President and they had both offered their support, but at the time he was still in shock and the words hadn't penetrated properly, so hearing them again was very comforting. "I'm probably going to need a lot of help," he admitted.

Josh scoffed. "I doubt it. Donna's taken over, Sam. And trust me when I tell you not to fight her. She'll trample all over you and then make you pay for the damage to her shoes." CJ smacked Josh with her thick briefing folder. Sam cringed in sympathy—he'd been the target of the anger of the Sisterhood more than once, though he never went out of his way to piss them off the way Josh seemed to. "Need a ride to the airport?" Josh asked Sam. "You can leave your car here. It'll be safer and cheaper than parking at the airport."

"Thanks," Sam said. He honestly hadn't thought about details like that. Actually, he hadn't thought about details, period. "Remind me to let Secret Service know before I leave."

They talked for a few more minutes about who would take over for some of Sam's responsibilities while he was away and then about how much work he would be able to do from home, and then the meeting broke up. CJ headed off for her morning briefing and Toby went to his office to go over the speech Sam had handed him the day before.

"What time's your flight?" Josh asked Sam as they wandered toward the Communications bullpen.

"I honestly can't remember at the moment. I'll send everything over to Donna," Sam said. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. "This is insane. I've never even met my sister yet she's willing to entrust her daughter to me. I don't even trust myself with a houseplant!"

"Remind me of that the next time I have to go out of town," Josh teased. They had acted as house sitters for each other numerous times since they both relocated to DC. "I should go before Donna starts exercising her secret Wisconsin Ninja skills to track me down."

Sam smiled and waved his friend off as he headed to his own office. He wasn't sure if it was the idea of Donna dressed in black Ninja gear sneaking through the West Wing like an animal hunting it's prey or simply the though of Donna that made him smile, but he decided not to put too much thought into it. It was the thinking that got him into trouble.

"I talked to Donna," a voice from behind him announced. Sam turned and saw Cathy standing with a cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate cake balanced on top of a small stack of files. "She told me your family was in an accident. Is there anything I can do?" Sam hesitated for a moment before motioning for Cathy to follow him into his office. She was like a little sister to him, despite the fact that he was terrified of her, and he thought that maybe she would have some insight into his evolving family situation that Donna, CJ, Toby, Josh, Leo, and the President hadn't been able to convey.

Cathy set her precarious pile down on the edge of Sam's cluttered desk as Sam closed the door. He knew that it was only a matter of time before everyone found out but he wanted to delay the inevitable, preferably until he was on the other side of the continent.

"Donna, I need the file for the thing," Josh shouted from his office. He was running late for a meeting on the Hill that promised to take all day, something that Donna felt was very fortuitous since it gave her a lot of time to work on non-work things without leaving her desk. Or, more accurately, without leaving Josh's desk because she loved working in his office when he was on the Hill. It was quieter, had more privacy than her desk in the bullpen, and something about Josh's office made her feel a little more powerful than usual.

"It's in your bag," Donna called back, her hand firmly clamped over the mouthpiece on the phone. She mentally kicked herself for not waiting until Josh was safely on his way before beginning her confirmation calls, but she wanted to make sure that this call got through on time. "Sorry about that," she said to the woman on the other end of the line. "So everything's set for delivery tonight?" she asked. "Good. Yes, that's the correct address. Yes, there are stairs. Five, in total. No, there are no planters or anything on the stairs," Donna said, answering the same question—'are there any planters or statues or anything that my guys should worry about?'—for the fourth time. "Alright. I'll see your guys at seven," she said before hanging up.

"What's at seven?" Josh asked, frowning.

Donna jumped. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?"

"You never tell me not to do that. You always tell me not to shout. I didn't shout. Jeeze, you're tough to please," Josh groused. He held the grumpy pose for a moment before going back to his original question. "What's at seven?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. You're going to drive Sam to the airport, right?"

"Yes, and before you pull out that sheet, I know that his flight is at six thirty and that I have to be back from the Hill by four so that you have time to write down the names of all the people you have to send apologies to," Josh said mechanically. He'd heard her instructions five times since she received Sam's flight information an hour earlier.

Even though she wasn't entirely convinced that Josh would get back to the office by four Donna decided to let him leave anyway. She would call him at quarter to and if he wasn't on his way back she would make sure that he was able to convince whoever he was meeting with that there was something time sensitive that he needed to get done back at the office. "Do good," Donna said as Josh shouldered his backpack.

"I always do good," Josh replied.

"Do really good, then. This bill is really important. God knows why you're the one trying to get it pushed through, though. This is going to require some major finesse and you, my friend, are sorely lacking in that particular trait," Donna said, baiting Josh. The truth was that they needed him to be Bartlet's Bulldog at the meeting he was going to and she was under orders from Leo to make sure that Josh went in there with his ears already blowing steam.

Josh glared at Donna. "I have finesse coming out of every known orifice."

"As proved by that eloquent statement that everyone in the West Wing could hear," CJ commented on her way through Operations.

Cowed slightly, Josh softened his expression as he looked back to Donna. "You're sure that this seven o'clock thing isn't a thing?" Josh asked.

Donna nodded, hoping she wasn't headed for another lecture about her taste in men because, as vague as she was being, Donna was sure that Josh would assume that she was going on a date. Which couldn't be further from the truth. "I'm absolutely positive. The seven o'clock thing is a me thing. Go kick some ass and remember that I mean that purely figuratively."

"One time, Donnatella! It only happened one time!" Josh protested.

"You threw a file at Congressman Miller and he ended up with a black eye and a split lip. You're lucky he didn't charge you with assault," Donna shot back.

She didn't add that ever since the 'incident' Congressman Miller had acquiesced to any and all of the White House's requests, formal or informal, simply because he was terrified of being forced to meet with Josh Lyman who had gotten so angry at being informed that his pet project was being killed by Miller's vote that he had thrown a three-inch thick file at the Freshman that had resulted in him looking like he had gone a couple of rounds with a prize fighter. Once Donna had realized the patter emerging she had gone to Leo and they had agreed that telling Josh wouldn't be wise because he would probably get it in his head to attack everyone in Congress when he couldn't get his way.

"You're going to be late," Donna said after consulting her watch, which was set to the world clocks in the Communications Bullpen, which were set by the Navy. She'd set Josh's watch from the clocks as well, but somehow he always ended up losing fifteen minutes.

"I'm going," Josh said as he started walking off.

"Back by four!" Donna called out, half because she knew he needed reminding and half because it was fun seeing how far she could go before his head exploded.

A violent and pained growl was the only response Donna received.

CJ stopped at Toby's door after noticing that Sam's was shut, which usually meant that he was in deep concentration mode. "He's going to have to make a statement," the Press Secretary said without preamble.

"Agreed," Toby replied. He had his pink juggling ball in his hand and his computer had long since gone to screensaver. CJ knew that he was about an hour away from pulling out the bottle of scotch he kept in his desk. If she didn't think he'd try to kill her she probably would have pointed out that the scotch-drinking writer was quite the cliché, something that Toby was ardently against. "I'll scratch something out tonight. Leo can look it over before Sam gets back. We say anything before he gets the kid there's going to be nothing but reporters on both sides of the country."

"Okay, so we wait," CJ nodded. She had wanted to wait anyway, but she knew it would be received better if it came from Toby. "Do you want to take this to Leo or should I?"

Toby nodded his head toward her. "You take it to him. You've got my full support, though I doubt you'll need it," he said. "Now go away," he added gruffly. CJ smiled and left the office to get her briefing over with.

"Good afternoon," CJ said as she took her place behind the podium.

Immediately reporters started calling out for her attention. Since she didn't have any statements to read that were any different from her earlier briefing she didn't bother trying to talk over them.

"Katie, then Ian, then Danny."

The other reporters stopped calling out for her as Katie posed her question. "I'm hearing things about 820 and how the ball is being passed to Josh Lyman when it's been Sam Seaborn's pet project from its inception. Why the shift?"

CJ fought hard to roll her eyes. "The ball has not been passed, nor has there been a shift of any kind. Josh Lyman and Sam Seaborn are two of the many people who are working around the clock to get 820 pushed through. Ian?"

"Congressman Winters has been incredibly vocal on the subject of hiring non-Democrats," Ian said. CJ bit her tongue. Congressman Winters had been a pain in the ass of the Administration on every imaginable topic since he won his seat. Very few people believed he was actually a Democrat, and Josh was positive he was an evil Republican plant in the DNP but had yet to find a shred of evidence other than the man's behaviour. "Does the White House have a comment on the Congressman's opinion?"

"Congressman Winters was referring to the President's decision to hire Republican Ainsley Hayes as Associate White House Council, and, yes, I have a comment on the subject, direct from President Bartlet," CJ said. She had found a moment to talk to the President after Senior Staff and she had gotten the language okayed by Toby shortly after. "Ainsley Hayes impressed the President with how she handled herself on Capitol Beat against Deputy Communications Director, Sam Seaborn. She is a capable and dedicated attorney, who, yes, is a conservative Republican, but she serves at the pleasure of the President and she does it well. This Administration has no regrets regarding the decision to hire Miss Hayes, nor can anyone find a reason that the Congressman dislikes her so vehemently." She paused. "Danny?"

"This actually ties back to Katie's question about 820," Danny said, his eyes gleaming the way they did when he knew something that CJ didn't want him to know. "I have it on good authority that the ball has, in fact, been passed from Seaborn to Lyman and that this was done because Sam Seaborn is preparing to fly out to California to launch his bid for a seat in Congress from his home state."

"There is absolutely no truth to that rumour, Danny, and I would think that you of all people would check your facts before coming in here with a question like that," CJ said. "That's all for this afternoon. See you all for your evening briefing where I'm hoping there will be more than water-cooler chatter to deal with."

Sam left his office and dropped his paper on Public Education Reform on Ginger's desk so she could get it to Toby. "He's yelling at her now. You're next," Ginger warned.

"Thanks for the heads up," Sam said before hurrying out of Communications. Josh was on the Hill and he was pretty sure that Donna would let him hide out in Josh's office until Toby had gotten some of his anger out.

"Hey, congratulations, Congressman Seaborn," Donna teased as he met up with her by the photo copier.

"You saw it, huh?" Sam asked.

"Well, there haven't been many rumours about you flying around the Capitol for a while so I guess your time has come. And it's not like it's a totally off the wall suggestion. You've always planned on running after we're out of here, haven't you?" Donna said.

Shrugging, Sam closed the door to Josh's office and pulled the blinds shut. "It's not something I've ruled out," he admitted before sliding down the wall until he hit the floor. "Actually, I might have mentioned it… that I was planning on doing it for sure… last week when we all went out for drinks. Danny was there…"

"And he found out about your flight to LA…" Donna said, making the connections. She sat down on the floor beside him, her back holding the door shut as she reached up and spun the lock into place. If anyone came around they were just assume that Josh had locked his office while he was on the Hill and that she was off on one of the million tasks Josh delegated down to her every day. "Is this going to be a thing?"

"Probably not. But I'm going to have to make a statement before I leave. I wanted to hold off on that until after I got back, but…" Sam trailed off, knowing Donna could gather the rest. "Can I hide from Toby for a little while? I know he doesn't blame the situation on me but he's been in a shitty mood for a few weeks and I would really like to avoid being in his line of fire for as long as possible. I don't know that I could take it right now," he admitted.

Realizing that her friend was going through hell and had yet to give in to what she was sure was probably an overpowering urge to break down and cry, Donna moved a little closer and draped her arm around Sam's shoulders, pulling his head to rest on hers. "This is going to be tough for you, politically, but I don't know if anyone's thought about how all this is going to be for you, emotionally. Let me be that person, Sam. I'm here for you, no matter what. Okay?" Sam nodded slightly. "This has got to be so hard for you, and you've been so strong so far, but you don't have to be strong around me. Just let it go. You're safe here. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," Donna said soothingly.

He turned so he was facing her and he buried his face in her chest, finally allowing his emotions the release they so desperately needed.

After several minutes Sam managed to pull himself together. "Sorry," he said as he swiped at the tears that stained his cheeks.

"Don't apologize. I'm here for you, remember? Let everyone else worry about the politics of this. You and me? We can deal with the emotional fallout," Donna said as she tenderly dried his tears and smoothed his hair down. "Okay?"

"Okay," Sam conceded. He had never really had anyone who went out of their way to make him feel as safe as he did with Donna and he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do. "I… I don't know why this is hurting so much," he admitted.

Donna, ever the perceptive one, had an answer ready for him. "You mentioned that you and your dad were trying to mend fences after you found out about his mistress… about Theresa," she said calmly. "How good are things between the two of you?"

Sam hung his head. "Not good. Better than they could be, but still pretty bad," he confessed. "I… he could have died… he was coming home with his… with his family… his other family… and he could have died." He could feel the tears pushing their way forth once again but this time he fought against them. "I've never even met my sister… she might not wake up, and I've never even met her, and she's left her daughter in my care."

"But your dad is going to be okay, and I'm sure that if your sister is anywhere near as stubborn as you she'll be up and about in no time, so stop torturing yourself with the 'what if' scenarios because they didn't happen," Donna said. She let her words hang in the air for a minute before changing topics. "Why exactly are you hiding from Toby? And don't deny that you are. Your poker face is almost as bad as Josh's."

"He's going to want me to make a statement and I don't think I can do it right now," Sam divulged.

The problem with hiding out in Josh's office was that Josh came back. And, naturally, he hadn't planned on needing the keys to the office that he hadn't locked once since moving in, so when he tried to open the door he couldn't.

Which led to him bellowing for Donna.

Sam had started getting more comfortable confiding in Donna about the plethora of emotional that were overpowering him, and Donna was sure that he felt a lot better having confronted his fears by speaking them aloud. Unfortunately the tumult of emotions had taken their toll on Sam and he had fallen asleep, curled up against Donna's body. Donna was content just to hold Sam, running her fingers through his hair and marvelling at how deep the feelings she felt for the man in her arms truly ran within her.

Josh's cry for his wayward assistant woke Sam from his slumber.

"Did I fall asleep?" Sam asked, embarrassed.

"Just for a little while," Donna admitted as they got to their feet. She reached out and smoothed down his 'bed head' before unlocking the door and opening it for Josh.

"Oh, good, the Deputy Communications Director and the leggy blonde assistant locked in my office with the blinds drawn. This won't create too many rumours," Josh muttered as he headed for his desk. "Toby's looking for you," he said to Sam.

"Yeah, apparently he's running for Congress," Donna said as she smoothed her skirt self-consciously.

"Toby's running for Congress?" Josh frowned.

"No, Sam is," Donna corrected.

Sam shook his head. "Except I'm not."

"Then why did she say you are?" Josh questioned.

"Danny thinks I am. Or he wants people to think I am. It's complicated. Basically I'm trying to stay out of Toby's line of sight until I leave town," Sam said. He refused to say that he was hiding, even though that was what he was doing.

Josh smirked. "That doesn't explain why you have button marks on your forehead." Donna blushed and Sam avoided looking Josh in the eye. "Okay, what was really going on in here while I was gone? 'Cause I was joking before, but, seriously, there's enough going on around here without you two doing dirty things in the White House."

Donna crossed her arms across her chest. "So, hypothetically speaking, it would be okay if we were doing 'dirty things' outside the White House?" she asked. Josh paled and Sam blushed as red as Donna had ever seen him. "Never mind. Josh, I'm gonna need that list of people you pissed off in the next half hour. Also, Sam, you should probably talk to Toby before you leave because he'll only get angrier if this thing festers for two days." And with that she left the office.

Sam sighed heavily. "I should go find Toby," he said reluctantly.

"What the hell were you two doing in here?" Josh called as Sam headed down the corridor to the Communications bullpen.

Almost as if he had some creepy kind of sixth sense, Toby was on Sam the moment he came within ten feet of his office.

"You're going to have to make a statement. We were hoping to hold off until you got back but CJ got the question—"

"A variation on the question," Sam cut in.

"—and she denied everything so the moment you step on a plane to LA it'll be the only thing she hears about, and, in turn, the only thing everyone else hears about," Toby said, talking over his deputy.

Sam shook his head. "I'm not making a statement. At least not until I get back. I say anything now and I've got to deal with reporters on two sides of the continent trying to get their story. I don't even know if my mother knows any of this yet—I don't want her finding out all the details of my father's affair from the LA Times or whatever paper her latest maid picks up from the Bodega. Let CJ leak the fact that my family was in a car accident and I'm going to take care of some legal work in LA. I'll make a statement when I get back if I have to, but nothing until then."

Toby knew how Sam got about family, so he didn't push the issue. Instead he tried to figure out who would be the best reporter for CJ to leak to this time.