Toby unlocked his door just before seven on Friday morning, dropping his briefcase and newspapers on the corner of his desk. He hung up his coat and grabbed his coffee mug. He had already drunk a pot at home but this late in the week, he needed another jolt to feel halfway human. It was Ginger's day to open the office so the coffee would be at near lethal strength, exactly what he needed.

Mug in hand, he returned to his desk and dropped into the chair. Without thinking, he grabbed the remote and turned on the television. He had watched CNN since getting out of bed, but had not spotted anything requiring immediate attention. That, however, could change in an instant. With an eye on the screen, he took a sip of coffee, eyeing the pile of folders in the middle of his desk. Picking up the envelope lying on top, he slid a finger under the flap as he leaned back in the chair.

He glanced at the signature and frowned before reading the letter itself. It took a second reading before the words actually sank in. …Necessary...circumstances dictate...effective immediately...appreciate your guidance and candor... Sam was resigning — had already resigned according to this.

"Ginger!"

She appeared in his doorway, alerted by the tone and warned by the volume.

"Get Sam on the phone!"

"He should be here in —"

"Get him on the phone now!"

She crossed the bullpen at a run, ignoring Cathy and Bonnie's questions and nearly knocking down the intern who delivered the mail. Toby watched her pick up the receiver and start dialing before reading the letter for the third time. Sam, if this is some sort of joke, I'm going to kill you slowly and painfully.

"He's not answering," she called from her desk. "I'm just getting his voice mail."

"Beep him," Toby ordered.

"I'll do it," Cathy volunteered. She dialed quickly, then hung up and stared at the phone.

Toby paced across the floor and looked into Sam's office. Everything was exactly as it usually was — the flag on the wall, the collection of bottles on the desk, but there was the laptop that was seldom out of Sam's reach and...

"Damn it!" He grabbed the key ring from his desk. "Ginger, try him at home," he yelled as he unlocked Sam's door. Beside the laptop lay Sam's cell phone and beeper.

"What is it?" Bonnie asked. "What's going on?"

Toby shook his head. "Call Margaret and see if Leo's available."

"Senior Staff is in half an hour," she reminded him.

"If it could wait half an hour, would I be telling you to call Margaret?"

She hurried to her desk and dialed. Turning her back on Toby, she spoke so quietly he could not hear what she was saying but could guess the gist of it.

She hung up and turned to face him. "She was about to call. The President and Leo are looking for you."

And I bet I know why, Toby thought as he retrieved the letter from his desk. "Ginger, keep trying to get him," he called back over his shoulder as he hurried to Leo's office, oblivious to staffers flattening themselves against walls as he stormed past.

Margaret was waiting for him. "Leo said you should go right in."

Toby took a deep breath and walked into Leo's office, Margaret pulling the door closed quietly behind him. Leo stood behind his desk, watching the President pace.

"What the hell is going on, Toby?" the President demanded, waving a sheet of paper. "I was handed this when I walked through the door."

"I don't know, sir. I found the letter from Sam on my desk when I came in."

"And you have no idea what brought this on?" Leo asked.

"No more than what he wrote."

The President held out his hand. "May I read it? Anybody else would write one letter of resignation, but not our Sam. He had to write one for each of us."

Leo leaned forward, bracing his fists on his desk. "Has anyone tried calling him?"

"I had Ginger call his cell."

"And?"

"He left it on his desk, along with his beeper. She's trying him at home."

"He won't answer," the President predicted, "even if he's there." He handed the letter back to Toby. "That's quite a piece of writing."

Toby nodded, folding it and slipping it into the inside pocket of his jacket. "Yes, sir."

"We're not going to lose that voice," Bartlet declared. "We're not going to lose him."

Leo frowned. "Sir, unless you're planning to repeal the Thirteenth Amendment, we may have to."

"I'm not letting him go without a damn good fight, Leo."

"It's not unusual to have staffers leave. We've been extremely lucky until now, but things change. The private sector —"

"Not Sam, not like this. Leaving I can understand, but to have him disappear without a word to anyone?" The President turned to Leo. "What about Josh? What does he know?"

"Since he hasn't come storming in, I'm guessing he doesn't know yet. I'll have Margaret get him in here, CJ, too." As he picked up the phone, there was a light tap on the door. "Yeah?"

Margaret poked her head in. "Josh is here; CJ's on her way."

"Send him in," Leo instructed her.

"Good morning, sir," Josh said to the President. His eyes darted to Toby and Leo, clearly wondering why he had been summoned.

The President nodded. "Josh."

CJ appeared behind him. Looking at their faces, she mumbled, "Oh, God," before closing the door and leaning against it.

"Is something wrong?" Josh asked. "'Cause I was planning on having a good day, and I have a feeling that's not going to happen now."

"Not so much, no," Toby muttered.

Leo looked at the President. "There's your answer. He doesn't know."

"I don't know what?" Josh turned to CJ. "Do you know?"

"Yeah, I think I do." Her eyes met Toby's across the room. "It's Sam, isn't it?"

Toby nodded and gripped the back of a chair. The surprise and shock were fading, replaced by slowly rising anger: anger at Sam certainly for taking this drastic step without talking to him, but anger at himself for not seeing the need for that conversation long before this.

Josh turned to Leo. "Sam? What about him?"

Leo held out the letter he had received. Josh took it and read it, and then looked up in confusion. "This isn't what it sounds like," he announced, his voice unsteady. "It can't be."

"How can it not be?" Toby shouted.

Josh put the letter on Leo's desk and backed away with his hands raised. "Because Sam doesn't quit. I know that; we all know that." He laughed, a tight choking sound that made Toby cringe. "You have to hit him with a baseball bat to make him stop, and even then it's not always possible. I don't know what that is," he said, pointing at the letter, "but Sam doesn't quit."

"Well, that's a little odd," Toby snapped, "because he wrote three letters, and all of them said the same thing! If there's some meaning to 'resign effective immediately' that I've missed, I wish you'd tell me what it is!"

CJ moved to Leo's desk. "May I?" she asked, pointing at the letter Josh had left on the edge. When Leo nodded, she picked it up and scanned the lines.

Josh ran both hands through his hair. "What the hell is he thinking?" Realizing the President was still in the room, he added a belated, "Sir."

Leo frowned. "We were hoping you'd be able to tell us."

"Me? No. It wasn't my week to watch him!" Josh registered the unsympathetic faces around him. "What?"

CJ glared at him. "It wasn't your week to watch him? Good lord, Josh, do you ever listen to yourself?"

"Hey, I've been busy!"

"We're all busy!" CJ fired back. "And that's no excuse for any of us!"

Charlie appeared in the doorway that connected with the Oval Office. "Excuse me, Mr. President. Admiral Fitzwallace is waiting, and Mrs. Landingham says you're already twenty-one minutes behind schedule."

"Thank you, tell Fitz I'll be with him directly." The President waited until the door closed, and then looked steadily at each member of his senior staff in turn. "I want this fixed, and I won't accept any excuses. Am I understood?"

Leo answered for all of them. "Yes, Mr. President."