Hi, so I have buckled down and got this done which is a huge sigh of relief for me so I am just going to post it in one swoop. Just a couple of things to consider-due to my wanting to end this story on a happy note I have decided that I am not going to kill Leo off. Just keep that in mind.

Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.

Please Read and Review.

Future Perfect

Chapter 20-The Day The Magic Died

Toby and Jake share a moment and then the former goes to find CJ to brutally inform her of what is happening with her son. Mentions of PTSD.

"I thought I was doing fine"

"Jake"

"I really…I didn't…she closed the door for God's sake"

His Dad said nothing for a second and then he eased down the wall next to him and gently tugged him into his arms the best Jake's broken body would allow him.

"I don't know what happened?"

"What happened" his Dad said slowly. "Was that you went through something terrible and traumatic and there is no shame in admitting that."

"That's what Josh says"

"Well Josh would know that wouldn't he?"

"Dad I don't—"

"Jake do you remember the shooting?"

Jake cracked open one eye to stare at him.

"Well…what happened afterwards…I wanted to start a fight with the world, I wanted to march down into Delaware and Idaho and everywhere that had a Nazi or a White Pride organization and I wanted to burn down the world. I wanted to arrest their members and shame them, shame their families so they were spat at on the streets, in truth I wanted to hurt them in ways that my grandparents had suffered under the rule of the Germans…but they had hurt my friends and nearly hurt you and hurt my President…and I wanted to make sure that the world knew that this was the consequences of what happened if you tried that again. And then when the President told me that he had MS I went off on him in the room, I screamed and I came very close to hitting Leo. But I got through it, trauma and grief is a part of the life that we live and the jobs that we do. And I can't understand what you saw and what you went through in Gaza but I do know that it's okay not to be okay. It's not a sign of weakness to struggle. What is a sign of weakness is that you don't ask for help."

Jake stared at his knees for a second and then.

"I can smell it"

"Smell what?"

"The dead bodies I can see Congressman DeSantos…or what was left of him. I can hear Andy screaming and I can see that damn photographer bashing away at his camera and I can see this kid…I think before the security teams got there that there were kids who were climbing in and out to take a look at us. I can feel the heat and I can sense…I don't know…it was the whole place that was triggering not just the bombing. I was the IDF when they searched our bags for recording equipment, when they read over the notes of the reporters and looked at the photographs…the despair of the men and woman over there who live on the rim of the worst oppression and poverty I have ever seen and on the other side there are people who live in fear every time they send their children to school that if they cross the street they might be blown up by the guy wearing the long overcoat. It's just…it never ends…it's endless and I don't know what the fuck the President thought he was doing other than attempting to kill his Chief of Staff! I don't know if he has any idea what it is like over there I don't know…I just…I can see it and I can't unsee it and I can feel the pain and taste the blood in the air and I don't get to feel bad about it Dad because my God, my God! I am so lucky because I am alive, and I have all my limbs and my sight and I can hear and walk and talk and I don't get to…I shouldn't get to feel this way. And then I wake up and there are Secret Service agents in my bedroom talking about what to do about nuclear war! And the very funny…or arguably very tragic thing is, is that both times I said I was okay. I pushed to go to Gaza, I wanted to even though both you and Mom knew better and then when the President asked me if I was okay with Mom taking this job I said yes and yet my home has been invaded and she doesn't seem to have the time to realise it!"

There was a lot there to unpack and Toby heaved a sigh trying to shift through it. There were bits that he had to come back to at some point, the President going to speak to his son about the new Chief of Staff was one of them. He knew the President…loved and respected him but he also knew that the President had gone in wanting what he wanted and had maybe not thought that the traumatised kid on the bed might not have grasped the full implications of what this change to his life meant. In hindsight he and CJ should have sat down to talk about it but she had come to him and told him the decision was made. And he didn't begrudge her for it, good God CJ was the first woman to hold this position, she was a trailblazer in American Politics already and she had made no bones about the fact that she was ambitious as hell. She wanted to work, she liked having a career and she took it seriously and Toby would never try to take that away from her. But neither one of them, tired to the bone on trying to get past the third day story, had stopped to consider more than a passing thought about Jake and how this would change his world.

This was not a campaign after all.

This was what putting him in the bunker when the bombs hit and praying he made it.

This was…this was scary.

He reached out and gently tugged his son to him.

"The fact that you are alive does not mean that you have to be okay with what happened" he said softly. "And I could tell you that until you are blue in the face but I don't think that you would believe me. So this is what we are going to do. Josh is gonna call Stanely Keyworth and you are gonna sit down with him for as long as you want tomorrow, you and I are going to go home and you are going to pack a bag and come live with me for a while until the noise in your head dies down."

"Secret Service won't let me"

"Your mother and I have joint custody and the last thing Ron Butterfield wants is a court battle. We can take your guys and they can kip on the couch if they want but you are coming home with me"

Jake looked at him all big eyes in his face and Toby smoothed down the hair of one of the three most precious things in his life and then held him close.

Someone had once said it was one step at a time and he knew that was right…

It just didn't make it easy.

He did not go to CJ's office and have it out with her there and then. Cautiously he turned his phone off and waited. He knew Josh and he knew Sam and he knew how they worked and he knew that soon she would know, the question was weather or not she would come sooner or later.

He didn't have to wait long, Jake was asleep and Zane was reading in the corner.

"You know he's not the first" Zane said not looking up from his book. "He's textbook for PTSD"

"I know"

"Textbook is good, he's had the textbook responses so it's easier to diagnose. Better than what I did"

Toby paused shooting him a look. Zane flipped a page and then looked at him.

"I was Navy, pilot, my wingman and I were in a training accident, it…got me…really got me that he died and I didn't…and then I knew that I had get help, I hid it really well for a very long time but I woke up one morning and found that I was at his grave drunk and had no idea how I had gotten there with a bottle of scotch in one hand a gun in the other and my car bent around a tree. And then I knew that I needed help"

"You went through the VA"

"If I'd have gone through the VA I'd still be waiting for my appointment" Zane said in a tone that Toby thought was catty. "No I went private but I got help. I managed to get myself good. Now I wont say that I am perfect because I'm not but I do know that I am better."

"Does Ron know—"

"Course he does I'm not stupid"

Toby looked at him and then.

"You were at Top Gun?"

"Yeah"

"Back end of 86?"

"Yes"

"Did you know—"

But then there was a knock at the door and he knew who it was. Zane looked up and folded down the page in his book.

"I'll go wait in the kitchen. Good luck"

Toby sighed and went to open the door.

CJ was there with a face like thunder. He watched as Secret Service checked his place which was a new thing and more than a little annoying.

"Where Is he?"

"Asleep"

"You can't just take him out of the West Wing and then turn your phone off"

"Why?"

"Because—"

"Because it would mean that you would actually have to see him and see that he is not alright rather than assume that he is? I would have come to get you but you and I both know I wouldn't have been able to get past Margaret. He's not okay CJ he's not…he's going to see Stanley Keyworth tomorrow and hopefully that will be start of something positive"

CJ gaped at him for a second and then.

"I'm his Mom"

"And your also the Presidents Chief of Staff and that creates a new problem for him—"

"He said he was okay—"

"He said that because the President of the United States asked him too!"

There was a pause as CJ took that in and then.

"What?"

"He asked if Jake was alright with it and Jake said yes, now I know that if these were different circumstances then more than likely Jake would be fine with it but these are not the same circumstances CJ. This is a kid who has been traumatised who said yes and you and I both know the President probably didn't explain everything and then the next day he wakes up to find two strange men in his bedroom and you don't stop and talk to him about anything! And I get it, I do CJ I get why and I love that you want a career but right now that boy is more important than mine and so he—"

"You think I love him less because of that?"

"Oh for God—NO CJ I just think he needs to be away from the crazy for a while and your house is crazy right now and that's a fact. You've got three different types of security and a son who flinches at loud noises and was told to see you he'd have to book an appointment"

CJ stopped her pacing and then .

"So what do you want?"

"CJ don't mess around here, we've always been two independent people and we've always co-parented as a team despite that, we've shared joint custody and essentially allowed Jake to choose most of his life. But now I am putting my foot down, until he is better he stays with me. When things are better and he can close a door without flinching or can smell barbeque without thinking it's searing flesh then we can re-evaluate his living priorities but right now he is staying with me.

For one endless second he was sure that she was going to argue. So did half the Secret Service listening in even when they pretended not too. Jake slept on dead to the world but Toby knew that a lot of it was sheer exhaustion and the fact that he was safe…he didn't know…he just…he really didn't know.

Her phone rang.

For a second she stared at it and then she disconnected the call.

"You can't do that" Toby said quietly.

"The hell I can"

"You're the most powerful woman in the world right now" he said "Second only to maybe the Queen of England. You have to take the phone calls…especially considering we've got China coming up. Take the call, do the job, I'll take Jake and then we can chat later on. I can't…I can't do it tonight"

She looked at him for a second and then there was another phone call. She didn't answer that one but they both knew that phone would keep ringing.

"Okay" she said quietly. "You…I want to speak to him when he wakes up. I don't care if we've invaded Canada you put him on that phone"

He nodded and then she left and Toby sat down on the couch and groaned feeling utterly exhausted.

He knew there and then that this would be his last campaign. He didn't have it in him for another one.

He was done.

Just one more year left.

And then he was done.

And there you go,

Next Chapter-As his parents go to China, Zane is left to look after Jake which is fine except he knows that boyfriend…or to put it simply…he knows the boyfriends father.