Title: Concrete and Roses

Author: Suzy K.

Category: Drama/Angst with a splashes of Romance

Characters: General, Donna/Josh, Sam/Ainsley, and to a lesser degree CJ/Toby

Follows: "Constituency of One"

Rating:  PG/R/NC-17 (each Chapter is individually labeled)

Summary: CJ and Donna go to California for a wedding and a much needed
vacation but things don't go exactly as planned.

Disclaimers: The West Wing and its characters don't belong to me,
never will.  Aaron Sorkin, John Wells, Warner Bros, NBC and Co.
thought of them first. I just like to take out to play with them and
see what happens. I do this out of a love for the show and no
infringement is intended.

Spoilers: Everything up through "Constituency of One" (Season 5) where
it detours into AU land.

Author Notes:  Thanks, as always, to my wonder Beta, Shan.  She keeps
me on track and motivated and makes my fics sparkle (she also helps me
look like I know something about spelling, grammar and punctuation).
:o)    Oh, and just so you know this fic depicts Jed and Abbey without
the angst they had after Zoey's kidnapping (in other words, in this
fic they're getting along as usual - for them anyway).



Chapter 1 - PG

It was a fine October day in the nation's capitol.  Leaves, now
burnished to vibrant golds and rich browns, had begun to fall like
crunchy rain, making the trees seem half-dressed, or half-undressed as
the case may be, in the brisk, late afternoon sun.

In the White House, people were busy with the business of the nation
and they looked forward to Halloween, which was only a week away.

"Hey, you got a minute?" CJ asked, stopping by Donna's desk.

Donna glanced up from the mound of files Josh had her sorting through
and smiled.  Her eyes were about ready to implode from all the reading
she was doing. Josh was at a meeting on the Hill so he wouldn't be
grousing at her to get back to work. This was just the diversion she'd
been looking for. "Hi, CJ, sure.  What do you need?"

"What are you doing the weekend of December 6th?"

Donna scanned her Day Planner, "Looks like...nothing. Of course, you
know how that can change around here.  Why do you ask?"

CJ smiled and leaned in conspiratorially, "Well, I've been invited to
a wedding in L.A. on the 6th."

"Who's getting married?" Donna asked.

"One of my cousins, which normally wouldn't make me fly all the way
across the country but in this case I thought it might make a fun
outing for the Sisterhood," CJ grinned.  "We've been working really
hard the last few months and I figured by December, we'd be glad for
some time away from the cold and the snow."

"Would sun and shopping be involved?"  Donna, almost dancing in her
chair, looked like a kid begging for a trip to Disneyland.

CJ's grin got wider, "I can almost guarantee it. The sun I can't
promise because, after all, it does occasionally rain in Southern
California. But that wouldn't put the kibosh on shopping so we're good
to go either way."

"Now CJ, I'm a girl on a budget.  How much do you think this will cost?"

"If you can pay for your plane ticket, I'll take care of the hotel and
the car.  How does that sound?"

Donna grinned, "Perfect." Another idea struck Donna, now she looked
like a kid who was begging for a trip to Disneyland and Knott's Berry
Farm.  "Could we see Sam while we're there? Oh, could we see Ainsley?
If this is a sisterhood road trip Ainsley has to be there."

Sam was now living in Santa Monica and was, once again, running for
office, this time for the congressional seat in the California 30th, a
district more favorable to Democrats. Ainsley was, in what by all
accounts was a sheer coincidence, working in Los Angeles at a small
but prestigious law firm. And again, in what Ainsley swore was another
stunning coincidence, she also lived in Santa Monica, about five
minutes from Sam.

Sam and Ainsley had kept in touch with everyone else in the West Wing
through Donna.  She and Ainsley had become good friends before Ainsley
had left the White House, first for a position on the Hill and then to
move to California. Donna missed both of them enormously.

CJ's grin broke into a laugh, "Sure. You want to call them or should I?"

"I'll do it.  Oh, wait. Bill.  Could I go see Bill while we're there?"

"Your brother Bill? The Navy fighter pilot? I thought he was in the Gulf."

"He was.  Last month, his carrier group received their orders to
return to port for repairs, restocking and training. For the next 5
months, they'll be in their homeport at NAS North Island outside San
Diego. They then head out on their next Westpac and I won't see him
for another 6 months.  Oh, please, CJ. I never get to see him.  I'll
just run down for the day and see him you don't even have to go with
me."

CJ's grin was back.  She often thought of Donna not only as a member
of the Sisterhood but as the sister she never had.  It was hard to
resist Donna when she was in full begging mode.  "And miss a chance to
see this infamous, rumored gorgeous, brother of yours?"

What CJ didn't say was Donna's younger brother, Bill, was also the
only one in Donna's immediate family that was currently speaking to
her.  Donna's sister, Katherine, and her parents, all die-hard
Republicans, didn't approve of Donna being a Democrat, much less
working in a Democratic White House. They'd wanted her to marry Dr.
Freeride, or someone like him, and provide them with lots of
grandchildren.

Because he was in the military, Donna and Bill had kept up through
phone calls, letters and e-mails.  Her aunt and uncle's visit to the
White House a few months before had been the only other show of family
warmth that anyone in the Moss clan had shown Donna during her time in
Washington.  It made CJ want to grant Donna this last thing even more.

"Really.  We can do all those things?  At CJ's grin and nod, Donna
jumped out of her chair and hugged her.  "You sure you don't mind?"

"Nope.  Sounds great.  I figured we'd take the Red Eye and fly out
Thursday night on December 4th and then fly back on Wednesday night,
December 10th."

Donna sat down in her chair with a thud, the air going immediately out
of her sails. "That long?"

"What's the good of going all the way to California, if you don't stay
for a couple of days?"

"But...."  Donna began, then stopped.

"What?" CJ asked, when Donna only continued to frown.

She looked as if someone had just kicked her puppy. "CJ, Josh will
never let me be gone that long.  He barely lets me have Christmas Day
off, much less regular vacation time."

CJ looked up at Josh's empty office. Well, she'd just have to see
about that.  Donna had been his slave girl for long enough. "Don't you
worry.  I'll take care of Josh.  The Sisterhood will not be denied."

**********

"No."

"Josh."

"CJ," he whined.

"Josh," her voice took on a menacing tone.

"NO!"

"Give me one good reason," she demanded.

"Because I said," he replied, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"JOSH!" CJ yelled, her hands on her hips, "'Because I said' is not an
acceptable answer."

"Well, too bad because that's the only reason you're going to get," he replied.

"Josh..."

He banged his head against the desk a couple of times.  In the end, he
knew there was no way he was going to win this argument but he had to
make a good showing against the Sisterhood. "A whole week!  I can't
survive that long without her." Which was true.

"You can't survive a day without her, but that's beside the point.
She's been working like a dog and she needs a break."

"We all need a break, CJ. And we'll have time to take it once the
President's second term is up." There will be a lot of things to do
once the President's second term is up, he thought.  Including having
a long talk with Donna about a number of things.

CJ reigned in her temper long enough to try a different tactic.
"Josh," she said, her voice soft and sincere.  "She's going to get to
see her brother.  You know how important that is to her."

Josh leaned back in his chair.  "Have I ever told you that you don't
fight fair, CJ?" The break that Donna had with her family was a
constant source of concern for Josh.  Like so many things, he blamed
himself and wanted to make it right.  He just didn't know how.  Once
he'd even tried to call them and extend an olive branch.  They'd hung
up as soon as they'd found out who was calling.  He'd never told
Donna.

CJ smiled. "On occasion."

Since she was grinning he tried to pull a fast one.  "I know.  I could
go with you guys.  It would be great.  I could see Sam and then Donna
and I could make it a working vacation."

"No."

"But..." he sputtered.

"No."

"Why not?" he moaned.

Just to spite him, 'Because I said,' almost popped out of her mouth,
but she restrained herself.  She was close to getting him to agree and
didn't want to jinx it.  "It's a Sisterhood trip.  Last time I looked
you were in the Brotherhood," she looked at him for a moment.  "Unless
there's something you want to tell me," she already knew the answer
but couldn't resist teasing him.

"No, no, no.  I'm still in the Brotherhood," he affirmed.  "But,
but..."  He scrambled around for a response.  Then it hit him, like a
thunderclap. "Sam's going to be there.  How is it a Sisterhood trip if
Sam's there?  And then there's Donna's brother Bill? They're both in
the Brotherhood." He smirked at her and pulled out a snarky comment.
"I gotta tell you CJ, it's sound like it's gonna be a pretty
testosteroni trip for the Sisterhood."  HA!  Take that.

"Fulbright Scholar and 760 verbal and all you can come up with is
'testosteroni'?" She said with a smirk, then waved him off when he
started to object.  "First of all, while Sam may be in the
Brotherhood, he's had his man card temporarily revoked a time or two
for being girly so on the limited basis we're going to be seeing him,
the bylaws say it's acceptable."

"The bylaws! When did the Sisterhood get bylaws?" 'And can I read
them?' he thought.  Maybe they'd supply the answers to what made women
tick. 'Cause so far, between Mandy, Joey, Amy and at times, Donna,
he'd had little or no success figuring it out on his own.  God, if
that was true, he could market it and make a fortune.  His future
after the White House would be secured.

"Of course we do, Josh."  Okay, they didn't have bylaws but it was
working in her favor to say they did.  "We even have a national
convention that meets every year in Copenhagen.  You mean you didn't
know about that? And you call your self politically savvy."  He didn't
have a response for that so she pressed on.  "Now, in the second
place, Bill is Donna's brother and the only decent human being in her
family.  Plus he's hot and will provide a little Sisterhood eye candy.
 Therefore, the Sisterhood will grant him a one day pass into the
inner circle."

"The inner what?"  She had to be making this stuff up.  He'd call her
on it if he weren't starting to have a lot of fun with the
conversation.

"The inner circle, Josh.  Me, Donna and Ainsley.  For this trip, we're
the inner circle." She pressed on before he could mount another verbal
volley.  "And third, this is supposed to be a vacation for Donna and
me.  Not a working vacation, a vacation.  If you go along you won't
give her a moment's peace."

"If I don't go, how do you know I won't be e-mailing her and calling
her every 5 minutes for stuff anyway?"

"I know you won't be e-mailing her because she and I are not taking
our computers along so it won't do you any good. I'm also not telling
you where we're staying in L.A."

"Aw, come on, CJ!" he threw up his hands.

"And, I'll be keeping her cell phone with me and you'll only be
allowed to talk to her twice a day, once in the morning and once in
the evening."

"CJ!  What if something important comes up and I need to talk to her?"
You know something important like he missed hearing her voice when she
called to wake him up at the crack of dawn every morning.

"Ah, I have a mechanism for that.  Just go tell Toby why you need to
talk to her so urgently and if he agrees that it's that important,
then he'll call her cell phone.  I'll see his ID on her phone and let
her answer it," she finished with a smile.  "I will also be giving
Toby our hotel info, just in case, with strict orders not to give it
to you for anything less than a national emergency." She held up her
hand, "One that Toby thinks is an emergency, not because you want
cream cheese on your bagel."

"Toby? You've got Toby in on your sneaky plans?  When did he become so
trustworthy? He's in the Brotherhood too, you know."

"Ah, yes, but Tobias understands there will be consequences if he
crosses the Sisterhood, so he can be trusted," she said, pleased with
herself.

"But Leo..."

CJ held up her hand, she'd planned for this too.  "Before you play the
Leo card, I've already talked to him and he thinks Donna and I taking
a couple of days off is a great idea.  He even asked me to bring him a
souvenir."

Damn.  She'd neutralized his Leo card.  The situation had gotten
completely away from him. "But..."

CJ leaned in and smiled softly at him. "Just give in, Josh," she said,
her voice dropping softly. "I'm taking your assistant with me and
there's nothing you can do about it."

He ran his hand through his hair, "Okay, that just sounded like a line
from some really bad, pod people taking over the world, science
fiction movie."

CJ grinned now, smelling victory. "So she can go?"

"Do I get a souvenir too?" he asked quietly, knowing he was defeated
and accepting it.

"Donna already said she'd take care of it. Plus if it makes you feel
any better she said she was going to do a little Hanukkah and
Christmas shopping for you while we're there." She leaned in a little
closer, "Just don't tell her I told you.  According to the bylaws, I
could be brought up on charges for betraying one of the Sisterhood."

Well, that was something.  Donna gave great presents. "Okay."

Seeing he still looked like she was taking away his favorite toy, CJ
patted him on the arm, "Look Josh, we've got a month to get things
prepared.  Margaret already said she'd help you out while we're gone.
We've got it covered."

"I said okay," Josh replied, doing his best to suppress the small
smile that wanted to escape.

"Great. Thanks Josh.  I'll be sure she brings you back something
great," she finished, happily. Slipping out the door she softly closed
it behind her and walked casually over to Donna who was waiting, not
so patiently, at her desk.

"So?" she said, not wanting to get her hopes up.

A grin broke across CJ face. "So...my fellow member of the Sisterhood,
we do the dance of joy."

The two of them linked arms and did a dance around Donna's cubicle.
Neither of them noticed Josh open his door.  He leaned up again the
door jam and with a grin of his own, watched them.  Okay, so maybe
they needed a break and he was scoring points with the Sisterhood,
always a wise thing, by giving in.  He was going to miss Donna, on
many levels, for the 6 days she was gone, but she would be bringing
him tribute in the form of presents for his cooperation.  All in all
it was a win-win situation for him.  With a smirk, he silently went
back in his office and closed the door.

To be continued...


Chapter 2 - PG

It was a typical December night in L.A. when they landed on Thursday.
Clear and cool, about 60, without a snowflake in site.  That was a
blessed change from the snowy 23 degrees they'd left behind in DC.
Although it was 11 pm in California, their body clocks were still on
DC time which meant to them it was 2 am. Luckily, they were both too
excited and keyed up to care.

"So CJ are you finally going to tell me where we're staying?" Donna
asked as the two of them walked up the breezeway leading from the
plane to the terminal.

CJ just smiled.  "Nope.  It's a surprise. But I will tell you that I
know for a fact that 1 rising TV star and 2 rock stars have stayed in
the same place we are."

"Really? Oh, now you've really peaked my interest.  I figured you just
didn't want to tell me because I'd tell Josh," Donna replied with a
smirk.

"Well, that was part of it but I really did want it to be a surprise,"
CJ said as they crossed the terminal and followed the signs to baggage
claim.  LAX was one of the biggest airports in the nation and it had
numerous terminals.  Each one, including theirs, had its own baggage
claim area and yet it still seemed to be about 10 miles from where
they landed to where they had to go to get their luggage.

Every corner of the terminal was decorated for Christmas. Well,
Christmas California-style.  Lights and decorations spilled thickly
over the pine trees and palm trees that lined the walkways.  Donna
stopped, grinning at the sight of a fake Santa wearing board shorts
and holding up a surf board.

"Welcome to Christmas in Southern California, Donna," CJ said with a laugh.

"It's definitely different than Christmas back east," she replied as
they resumed their trek to baggage claim.

"That's the truth.  Oh getting back to what we were talking about, did
Josh try and get you to tell him where were we're staying?"

"Oh, only about 3 times a day for the last month," she replied.
"Actually I kind of enjoyed pretending I knew but just didn't want to
tell him. He hates it when I'm mysterious or know something he
doesn't," Donna said with a smile. It occurred to her that running an
airport this size must be a logistical nightmare.  Even with the late
hour and the fact that it was a weeknight, it didn't seem to make much
of a dent in the amount of people rushing around.

As for the two of them, they intended to enjoy every minute of their
vacation and didn't hurry.  Chatting as they walked, they were
oblivious to the number of heads that turned to watch them stride
through the terminal.  The two of them made quite the picture.  Tall,
confident, and graceful, an occasional laugh or smile passing between
them.  Since CJ had let hers grow and Donna had trimmed hers a bit,
their hair was now about the same length. One was a golden honeyed
blonde, the other a contrasting coppery brunette. Both were wearing
their hair loose and free over their shoulders.

Finally reaching their destination at baggage claim, Donna pointed to
a man holding a sign.  'CREGG/MOSS' it read. "CJ?  Is it safe to
assume that he's looking for us?"

"Yes, that must be our driver," CJ replied as if it was the most
natural thing in the world.

"Our driver?" Donna asked as they walked over to him.

"Yes, I decided to hire a car rather than rent one.  One thing I
definitely don't miss about L.A. is driving in traffic.  DC may have
bad traffic -- Lord knows I've gotten stuck on DuPont circle enough
times -- but it's got nothing on traffic in L.A.," she stopped in
front of the uniformed driver.  He was a fairly prime specimen of
about 30 years old.  Tall with jet black hair, he kind of reminded CJ
of John Cusack.  "I'm CJ Cregg and this is Donna Moss."

"Very good. Welcome to Los Angeles, ladies.  I'm Michael. Do you have
any checked luggage?"

"Yes, Michael, we each have a suitcase."  As if on cue the luggage
carousel began to signal incoming baggage.

"If you'll just point them out to me I'll collect them for you," he replied.

After collecting their luggage, Michael showed them to the car, which
was a very nice Lincoln Town Car outfitted with almost limousine level
amenities, and they were off.  Driving on through the dark, a
comfortable silence stretched between them for a few minutes. Donna
watched the various displays of Christmas lights they passed.  Her
mind, as it so often did, wandered to Josh and she wondered what he
was doing.  He had better be sleeping, she thought.  He'd driven her
and CJ to National (he continued to refuse to call it Reagan) the
night before.

Twice on the way to the airport, he'd tried to talk Donna into
changing her mind about going.  Both times she'd told him it wasn't
going to do any good.  She had the feeling he'd only been teasing her
anyway.  Actually he'd been really decent about letting her go on this
trip with CJ. He'd only complained a couple of times prior to the car
ride to the airport. REALLY complained that is, and even those had
only seemed like half-hearted attempts.  Well, all she had to say was
he'd better stay out of trouble while she was gone.

"Stop thinking about Josh," CJ said.  "He's a big boy, he can make it
through a couple of days without you. Might even be good for him.  It
will show him just how much he needs you and takes you for granted."

Donna smiled.  "Am I that obvious?"

"Only to someone who knows you both so well," CJ replied.

The car began to slow and Donna blinked at where they were stopping.
"CJ?  But I thought...."

Donna could just make out CJ's smile in the dim light inside the car.
"I just couldn't sell it. I've always loved this house," CJ replied,
indicating the bungalow they were now stopped in front of.  Michael
was already out of the car and had come around to help them out.

"But how can you afford this house, and your place in DC?" Donna
asked.  She knew CJ had purchased the stylish condo she currently
occupied in DC. "I mean this is the Hollywood Hills.  Movie and
recording stars live here.  Did you rob a bank and forget to tell me?"

CJ laughed as they walked up the steps with Michael and their luggage
in tow.  "No.  Actually I've been renting it out, or more accurately,
the Property Management Company I hired has been renting it out."

Donna had visited the house once, during the first campaign. CJ had
worked for, and been fired from, a high powered Beverly Hills PR firm
literally the day Toby had showed up on her doorstep to talk her into
coming to work for the "Bartlet for America" campaign.  Back then
she'd made enough to afford the cozy 2 bedroom bungalow.  Modest by
Hollywood standards, it had been built back in the 40's and was just
like Donna remembered it.

The Property Management Company had apparently been doing a good job
because everything looked well kept and maintained. Flowering bushes
and various plants lined the terra cotta walk running past the
swimming pool and up to the front door. It had even been tastefully
decorated with small white Christmas lights.

Pulling out her spare set of keys, CJ unlocked the door and they went
inside.  "Thank you, Michael.  We have a dinner engagement at 7:00
tomorrow night. There'll be four of us, but it's here in town so we'll
be ready by 6:30.  If we need your services before then, we'll call
you."

"Very good, Ms. Cregg," he replied politely, setting their luggage in
the small foyer.  "I am at your disposal for the next week. Just call
the number on this card and give the operator your requirements," he
handed each of them a business card with the contact information.
"I'll be immediately dispatched. Good evening."  Michael tipped his
cap to both of them and left.

Donna wasn't sure what she expected to find inside the house.  She
knew a lot of the things that were here during her last visit were now
in CJ's condo in DC. But oddly, the house seemed to be full of
furniture and was decorated quite well.  The overall effect was one of
inviting and welcoming elegance.  Much like CJ herself.  "CJ? Do you
rent this house furnished?"

"Yeah," CJ replied as Donna followed her into the kitchen. "Unless the
renters request otherwise.  In that case, the furnishings are moved
into storage."

"Aren't you worried about your things getting damaged?"

"Oh, these things aren't mine.  My things are all in storage or DC.
Everything you see here is rented.  I was going to rent the house
without furnishings but the agency said that about 80 percent of the
tenants want the house furnished. A lot of them are just in town for a
few months to make a movie or a deal or a record or whatever. Lucky
for us, the house is between tenants right now, which is kind of
unusual.  Rental property in Hollywood tends to be in short supply.
This house has been rented about 90% percent of the time I've been in
DC.  The next tenant is already lined up to move in after the first of
the year."

"Is that what you meant when you said that 1 rising TV star and 2 rock
stars have stayed in the same place we're staying?"

"You got it."  CJ opened the door to the large fridge and checked out
its contents.  "Ah, yes.  Just what I wanted," she said, pulling out a
bottle of white wine.  She set it on the counter and dove back inside.

Donna was surprised to see the fridge was well stocked. Not only with
wine but all manner of provisions, a sampling of which CJ was
selecting and setting out next to the wine.  "Who stocked the fridge?"
Donna asked.

CJ pulled a small plate of assorted cheeses out and closed the door.
"You forget, we're in L.A. now.  The land of excess.  I arranged for
everything from DC. The rental agent took care of it for me.  They
hired a company to come in stock up on provisions for us." She pulled
back from the fridge and looked at Donna.  "You're not disappointed
that we're not staying in some big fancy hotel, are you?" She paused.
"'Cause I could get us rooms at the Beverly Palms or something if...."

"No.  God no, CJ.  I love your house. It's so much better than a
hotel.  You even have your own pool. Oh, no.  It's perfect.  Our own
little slice of Southern California paradise," Donna replied,
honestly. "I'm glad you thought of it."

CJ smiled, glad she'd made the right choice. "Good.  That's what I
thought you'd say."  Opening one of the cabinets, which were full of
dishes and glassware, she pulled out a couple of plates and two wine
glasses. "Now let's have midnight snack before we turn in." Okay so it
wasn't midnight.  It was actually more like 1 am California time but
since that meant it was 4 am DC time, who was counting?  She poured
them each a glass of wine and held hers up for a toast.

"Here's to enjoying our vacation."  They clinked glasses and dug into
the feast. The Great Sisterhood Adventure had officially begun.

To be continued...



Chapter 3 - R

The phone rang, jarring Josh out of a sound sleep. He glanced at the
alarm clock. 5:30 am, it read.  Time to get up anyway. "Yeah."

"Now, Josh, is that anyway to greet someone who's calling you all the
way from California?"

Her voice was low and sexy as hell.  "Donna? What time is it there?"

"2:30," she replied simply, a smile in her voice.

"Why are you up?"

"Actually I haven't gone to bed yet."

"So, how did you manage to get the phone away from CJ? I don't think
this qualifies as an 'approved' phone call," Josh said, trying to rub
the sleep from his eyes.

"Well, I made her a deal."

"Which would be?" he replied.

"Oh, it's a Sisterhood thing.  I can't tell you." Actually she just
fished the phone out of her own purse and dialed. CJ was only kidding
about confiscating her cell phone. But he didn't need to know that.
Of course, that didn't mean CJ wouldn't change that if Donna took too
many of Josh's 'unapproved' calls. Donna yawned before she could stop
it.

The yawn was not missed by Josh.  Maybe he could use the fact that she
was probably tired to his advantage. "So where are you staying?  Is it
nice?"

Even though she'd helped CJ finish the entire bottle of wine, she
could recognize when Josh was fishing.  "Ahh, ahh, Josh.  I'm not
telling," she had a sudden and perverse desire to tease him.  "But I
can tell you that it's somewhere with a very large, very soft bed.  I
feel like I'm swimming in it all by myself," she said, running her
hand over the king-sized bed she was lying in.

Donna called him nearly every morning for a wake-up call. But usually
she was rushing around and getting ready herself.  Not in bed.  At her
words, images sprang to life in his head. Donna in a large bed, alone.
 The sheets crisp, white and folded back, waiting to be warmed by her
body heat and bathed in the scent of her perfume. Donna's alabaster
skin and golden hair spread across the pillows. His body tightened,
unexpectedly but not unpleasantly. He was suddenly very glad they
weren't having this conversation on the phone in his office. "Oh,
that's nice. Is it cold there?"

"Oh, no," she said, with a little sigh.  The wine and her vacation
haze was making her say things that she never would have otherwise.
"In fact, it's warm enough that I don't even need to wear pajamas.
Just my underwear is enough."  She smirked at that.  Actually she was
wearing sweats and a sweatshirt but he also didn't need to know that.
She loved being Mysterious Donna.

At the image of Donna's body covered in nothing but a scrap of silk
and lace, Josh's body went straight from pleasantly aroused to hard
and horny when she finished speaking.  He tried to sound unfazed but
was probably failing miserably.  A small moan escaped before he could
stop it.  He hoped she couldn't hear it in California.  "Oh, well be
sure you don't get cold."  Oh, that was a mistake.  The image Donna's
bare breasts, the tips hard in the cool air, did nothing to help calm
his raging hormones.

'Was that a moan I just heard?' Donna wondered.  No, it couldn't have
been.  Josh certainly didn't sound like he was taking the bait she was
dangling. Guess it was time to give up.  "Well, Josh I want to get
some sleep so I better go."

"What are you guys doing today?" he asked abruptly, not wanting her to
go and trying to give his body a chance to calm down.

"I think we're just going to hang around here most of the day and lay
by the pool."

Good one, Josh.  Another Donna image for your file.  This one of Donna
in a skimpy bikini.  Him pulling the strap down her shoulder
and......'stop,' he commanded himself.  "Oh, don't forget to wear
sunscreen."  Damn, he couldn't seem to stop.  Another image rose up in
his fertile imagination.  Damn, new image, him rubbing sunscreen on
her back, on.....okay, whoa boy.  You really have to stop this.

Little did he know, he'd inadvertently set Donna's equally fertile
imagination in motion.  The image of him putting sunscreen on her
appeared behind her half closed eyes.  Heat and wetness began to pool
between her legs.  His hands sliding over her shoulders, over
her.....'okay, okay,' knock it off.  "Then we're meeting Sam and
Ainsley for dinner." Yes, Sam and Ainsley, nice, safe, neutral
territory.  "I think we may go to a dance club afterward."

Josh breathed a sigh of relief. Sam and Ainsley were benign territory.
 Practically having phone sex with his assistant, and albeit, best
friend, was not high on his list of appropriate behavior.  Fun, maybe.
 Arousing, definitely.  But not appropriate.  Of course, as was usual
with Josh, he couldn't quit while he was ahead. Maybe it was a
perverse sense of payback for Donna getting him all steamed up.  "Say
Donna, is the underwear you're wearing like the other pair I've seen?"

She didn't need to ask what pair he was referring to. Without a doubt
he was making a snarky comment about the pair that Karen Cahill had
sent him.  The pair that Donna had accidentally and unknowingly
dropped at Karen's feet.  The mention of which always made Donna blush
and want to crawl under the nearest table in mortification. The pair
that Josh had twirled and all but fondled in front of her in the
bullpen outside his office.

"Um, yes.  Except they're blue not pink."  Later, she would chalk it
up to the wine or the fact that her body was admitting to the fact it
had gone too long without sleep, but this time she didn't blush from
embarrassment.  This time she blushed because she thought of Josh
touching her underwear while she was still wearing them. His hands
running over her, stroking her through the thin material and lace. A
little moan slid from her lips.  His fingers sliding under the edge to
brush her....'stop, stop, stop,' she commanded her brain. Of course
the rest of her body, especially the lower half of it was not so easy
to stop.  The aching arousal and wetness had a mind of its own.  She
tried to calm her breathing and waited to see where he was going with
the question.

'Was that a moan?' he wondered.  No, couldn't have been.  Must have
imagined it. Giving up his attempt at payback, he let her off the
hook, "Oh, blue huh?  Just wondered."

'That's it? He gets me all hot and bothered because he wants to take a
poll on the color of my underwear?' Donna thought.  Okay, this
conversation was over, "Well, I'm glad I could be of help," she said,
a little more snappily than she'd intended.  "Now get up.  You've got
senior staff in an hour and I need sleep."

He smiled.  Maybe he'd gotten to her a little after all.  "Good night,
Donnatella.  Sweet dreams."

"Do good today, Josh," she said softly, then paused. "I'll call you at
the 'approved' time - about 11 DC - time so I can help you find the
number of the florist."

"What florist?" He smiled.  Even long distance they could banter.

"The one you're going to need to use to send flowers to Margaret when
you make her mad by 10."

"Hey.  I'm not going to make Margaret mad." He'd promised Leo he would
behave and not piss off Margaret while Donna was gone. He was in the
dog house enough with Leo these days and wanted to avoid doing
anything to incur any more of his wrath. "You'll see.  You call me at
11, no, better yet, call Margaret at 11 and ask her." He paused, "Then
call me so I can gloat and tell you how wrong you were."

Donna yawned and snuggled down into the bed, "Okay Josh.  Whatever you say.

"Bye," he said softly, still not wanting to let her go but knowing he
had to.  She needed sleep and he had a date with a cold shower.

"Bye," she said, equally softly, with a smile tugging at her lips as
she hung up.  Well, she'd be willing to bet she was going to have
dreams but they weren't going to be sweet.  More than likely they'd be
filled with images of Josh and a bottle of double chocolate hot fudge
sauce.

**********

"So what happened when you called back at 11?" Sam asked as they
lingered over their after dinner drinks and coffee while they waited
for their dessert to arrive.  They were dining at The Four Oaks, a
very posh, upscale restaurant in Bel Air.  The Four Oaks exuded a
quiet, comfortable elegance and wonderful food. The low conversations
of the patrons around them were a soothing background to their meal.

Even though the restaurant wasn't very far from CJ's house, she
figured since she had a car service they would make use of it. So
she'd arranged for Michael pick the four of them up from her house and
drive them to the restaurant in a limousine.  Besides, they were going
to go out to a club after dinner and didn't want to have to worry
about driving if they decided to drink.

Donna smiled, "Well, seeing as how I have the utmost faith in Josh, I
called him first instead of Margaret," she smiled into her coffee.
"Then I helped him find the number for Capitol Florist."

They all enjoyed a laugh over that.  "What did he do to make Margaret
mad?" Ainsley asked.  "From what you've all told me, Margaret's so
used to Leo growling at her that looking after Josh should be a piece
of pie," she paused.  "Hmm, maybe I should have gotten the peach torte
for dessert instead of the chocolate mousse," she mumbled to herself.

Sam laid his hand over hers, patted it, and then removed his hand to
pick up his coffee, "You can have some of mine, Ains."

The gesture and "Ains" was not lost on CJ and Donna.  They planned to
grill Ainsley about it later that evening.  After dinner, the three of
them were going to take Michael and the limo and have a Sisterhood
outing to a dance club on Sunset.  Actually they'd originally planned
to take Sam with them but with the election so close he wanted to stay
out of any situations where he might get into trouble. And as they all
knew, trouble had a weird way of finding Sam at very inopportune
moments. Who else did they know that had "accidentally" slept with a
call girl?

Donna moved to answer Ainsley's question, "Neither of them wanted to
discuss it, but later I managed to get a little bit out of Margaret.
All she would say was that Josh kept bellowing for her and calling her
on the phone, only he seemed to have a problem remembering her name.
He kept calling her Donna." She laughed along with everyone else but a
tiny piece of her was annoyed by the fact that he apparently didn't
care enough to notice if she was actually there or not. That she was
interchangeable with whoever was convenient. "Margaret also mumbled
something about file folders and coffee."

Donna had only told them about the last part of her wake-up
conversation with Josh from earlier that morning.  The part about
work.  She was going to keep the rest of what they discussed to
herself; it had been the wine and her own tiredness talking anyway.
At least that what she'd decided to tell herself.

Just then, the waiter showed up with their desserts.  As Donna had
expected, Sam took one bite of his peach torte and slid the plate over
next to Ainsley's mousse. Donna couldn't wait for her and CJ to get
Ainsley alone.

"So Sam," CJ said.  "Now that it looks like you're going to be the
next congressman from California, are you looking forward to going
back to DC?" She said, sipping on her espresso.  She'd passed on
dessert, deciding to sample the superior coffee they had instead.

To be continued...



Chapter 4 - PG

A faint shadow of hesitation passed over Sam's face and CJ had the
feeling that he'd suppressed the urge to look over at Ainsley. "Well,
I'm very excited about going to Congress," he paused.  "Which isn't a
done deal until after the election, mind you, but I have to say that
I've enjoyed being back in California these last few months."  This
time he did glance over at Ainsley. In response, Ainsley looked back
at him over the top of her napkin as she delicately wiped her mouth.
If CJ hadn't been watching them she would have missed the slight smile
that drifted across Sam's eyes and Ainsley's now crumb-free mouth.

Donna had also noticed the interchange between them as she ate her
cr„me brulee.  Something was definitely going on between them.  Why
hadn't Ainsley mentioned it in her e-mails and phone calls? There
would be time to find out later.  "As for me, Sam, I'll be glad to
have you back in DC.  Most of all because I've missed your smiling
face around the White House and also because I'm hoping you can keep
Josh out of trouble."

CJ laughed at that.  "Keep Josh out of trouble?  Sam?  Do you not
remember the time they nearly set the White House on fire?  Do you not
remember all times that you put Josh in Sam's care and told him to not
let Josh drink too much?  Trusting Sam to keep Josh out of trouble is
like trusting Cookie Monster to guard the Nabisco factory."

"Good point, CJ. So Sam, maybe you should just stay here in
California.  Maybe you could video conference in your votes," Donna
said.

"Ha, ha.  You know I've really missed what you two laughingly call
humor."  His smile and teasing tone told them he was kidding. "First,
of all, it was Josh's idea to light a fire in the fireplace and
secondly, I am not Josh's mother.  When he gets it in his head to do
something, like drinking for example...."

"Or Amy Gardner," Donna suddenly blurted softly.  Unfortunately not
softly enough to keep the rest of them from hearing her.  All
conversation at their table came to a screeching halt.  It even
stopped Ainsley from chewing on the last bite of the peach torte, a
miraculous feat in itself. 'Oh, God.  Did I say that out loud?' Donna
wondered. The words had jumped out of her mouth before her brain had
even begun to process the thought. Complete and utter mortification
set in as three pairs of eyes zeroed in on her.

Ever the White Knight, Sam tried to salvage her pride.  "Right, Amy's
a good example too.  So you see when Josh makes up his mind, good or
bad, he's tough to stop."

CJ wasn't ready to let the issue go.  "You mean when he dated her last
year?" she asked, basically ignoring Sam's attempt to divert attention
from Donna's comment.

"It's not important, CJ.  I apologize for bringing her up," Donna replied.

"Donna." It was not a question.

"No," Donna said in a soft voice.  "I meant when he dated her a few months ago."

"What?!" CJ asked.

Donna nodded, "Over the summer. It started sometime around the 4th of
July I think.  Josh was stressed about the VP thing and the President
having to step down because of Zoey's kidnapping and I guess they just
picked up where they left off."

CJ was incredulous, while Sam and Ainsley watched the two of them
talking.  It was like watching a tennis match. "So is he still seeing
her?" CJ asked.

"No, they stopped when she resigned from the First Lady's staff, right
before his birthday." Donna couldn't believe she'd said anything.
She'd always made it a point to keep what Josh did, both personally
and professionally, to herself whenever possible.  It was the nature
of her job and the one of the few, small ways she could protect him.

Other than this slip, the only exception to that had been the
Christmas after Rosslyn when she'd gone to Leo about Josh's
increasingly erratic behavior.  But even then, she'd done it to
protect him. Of course, protecting him that way meant when he did
something that nearly broke her heart, she didn't tell anyone.

"Thank God," CJ said, apparently satisfied, for now, with Donna's
answer. However, the look in CJ's eyes told her that the discussion
was not over, only postponed until a better time.

"So CJ, tell me more about this wedding you and Sam are going to,"
Ainsley asked.

CJ took a sip of her espresso.  "Well, it's my cousin Brenda's
wedding. Brenda is my father's sister's middle daughter." What she
didn't say and what she didn't even want to think about, was that her
father was too ill with Alzheimer's to attend his niece's wedding.
"She's a bit younger than I am and this is her first marriage.  She
and the groom, I think his name is Larry something....or is it Harry
something? I can't remember, I've never met him," CJ said. "Anyway,
they've been dating for three years but he only got around to popping
the question about 6 months ago. Since they've been dating for so
long, they didn't feel the need to have a long engagement." She looked
at Sam.  "Thanks again for going with me tomorrow, Sam. I need all the
help I can get to keep the circling vultures away."

"Circling vultures?" Ainsley asked with a slightly confused frown.

Donna smiled, "That's what CJ calls her family because whenever they
get together they circle around and take turns asking her when she's
getting married."

Ainsley laughed softly at that, Sam tried to suppress a grin, and CJ
shot Donna a 'I'm going to remember you said that' look.

"Really CJ, it's no big deal.  What are friends for? I know from
personal experience that there's nothing worse than going stag to a
family wedding," he replied with a grin.

"Well, while you two are beating back the vultures, Ainsley and I are
going to go to Universal Studios," Donna said.

"Oh, I can't wait," Ainsley said, taking a bite of her mousse.  "I've
been wanting to go ever since I moved here."

Sam looked at her. "You didn't tell me that," he said, with a cute
little smirk.  "I would have taken you." Then he suddenly seemed to
realize they weren't alone.  "As a, you know, welcome to California
kind of thing," he said more for Donna and CJ's benefit, rather than
Ainsley's.

Ainsley smiled softly. "There are lots of things I've been wanting do,
Sam.  I'm sure there's one or two of them we can enjoy doing
together," she said innocently as she continued to eat her mousse.

CJ was surprised the heated look Sam gave Ainsley didn't melt the
remainder of the mousse into chocolate sauce. "Aw, you mean you and
Donna don't want to blow off Universal Studios and come to the wedding
with us?" CJ teased.

"No!" Ainsley and Donna said in unison.

CJ laughed, "You guys have no sense of adventure." She already knew
they had no plans to go to the wedding. And the truth was, she
couldn't blame them.  If she thought she could get out of it without
putting herself in the doghouse with her family for the next 60 years,
she would.  Universal Studios sounded a whole lot more interesting
than eating overcooked crab puffs with her family, most of whom she
hadn't seen for more years than she could remember. But she saw the
wedding as a tradeoff.  It had gotten her this short vacation in
California, away from the White House.  The wedding was just the
penance she had to do to deserve the vacation. Besides, at least Donna
and Ainsley were going to have fun tomorrow.

"Sam, do you still have your sailboat?" Donna asked.

Sam smiled. Sailing had always been very close to his heart, "Yeah, I
keep it berthed down in Marina Del Rey.  I don't get to use it as much
as I would like but every now and then I take it out for a spin." He
looked at Ainsley. "I've even taken Ainsley out a couple of times."
Sam's mouth quirked up at the corner as he looked at her.

Ainsley smiled in response, "You know, I didn't think I'd like
sailing, but Sam showed me that with the right person it can be a lot
of fun."

'They really are very cute,' CJ thought.  "So how are things at the
firm, Ainsley?" she said, sipping her espresso.

Ainsley was just finishing the next to last bite of her chocolate
mousse.  "Really great.  The firm was started by a friend of mine from
law school. She's a really a top-notch defense attorney." Leaving one
large bite of mousse in the dish, she slid it over to Sam. As if it
was the most natural thing in the world, Sam picked up his spoon and
finished the creamy dessert. "She wanted to expand her practice and so
she took me on as a partner to deal with corporate law cases."

At the small, intimate gesture with the dessert, Donna and CJ
exchanged a brief glance.  That sealed it for both of them.  It was
one thing for Sam to give up his dessert for Ainsley.  It was quite
another for Ainsley to give up, even a bite, of hers for him.  When
they tuned back into what Ainsley was saying, it only gave support to
their theory.

"And I have to say that California..." she glanced over at Sam, who
seemed to be taking an inordinate amount of pleasure in his bite of
chocolate mousse, "...has a lot going for it."

CJ watched the small lopsided smile Ainsley gave Sam.  Definitely
something going on there. Then she looked at Donna.  Why hadn't she
told her about Amy? It was easy for CJ to see that while Donna had
outwardly shrugged off Josh's latest thing with Amy, internally she
was struggling with it or the words she blurted out earlier would
never have been said.

It was probably a good idea that Sam wasn't going with them to the
club.  The three of them would talk more freely if it was just the
Sisterhood. And apparently, much talking was needed. Of course, that
would be hard over the music at the club, but Donna had asked to go
out one night while they were there and CJ didn't want to deny her the
opportunity to do something she'd been looking forward to.  However,
she did have an idea for something they could do after the club that
would give them plenty of time to talk.  She would need to give
Michael a list of things to get. "Does anyone want anything else?"
When everyone indicated no, CJ signaled to the waiter who appeared at
their table almost instantly. "Can we have our check please?"

**********

After letting Sam pay the dinner check, which he had insisted on
anyway, they'd dropped him off at CJ's house. Since the wedding was in
the morning, rather than drive back to Santa Monica, CJ told him he
could crash on her couch. He'd brought the suit he was going to wear
so all he had to do was shower and change.  Since they were getting an
early start for Universal studios, Donna and Ainsley were going to
double up in Donna's room.

"CJ? This isn't the way to your house.  Is it?" Donna asked.  Since
she didn't know the Los Angles street system very well, she wasn't
sure.

"Nope," CJ replied casually.  "We're going to make a stop before we go home."

"Where are we going?" This time it was Ainsley who asked.

"You'll see when we get there.  It's a surprise."

The three of them were comfortably settled into the back of the plush
limousine. Because there had been more passengers than just CJ and
Donna, Michael had arrived to pick them up for dinner in the limo
rather than the Lincoln Towne Car. After leaving Sam off at CJ's
house, they'd made quite a splash arriving at the club in a limo.  The
club, formerly a Hollywood landmark called 'The Palace', was now
called 'The Avalon'.  Sitting on Vine Street between Sunset and
Hollywood Boulevards, the art-deco style renovated club, as CJ had
expected, was a typical Hollywood hotspot on a Friday night.  Huge,
trendy, loud and very crowded.

Because of the noise and the crowd, there had been no chance to talk
but they'd had fun.  Well, for the most part anyway.  They'd danced
with each other, The Avalon and other clubs like it didn't usually
require a definite dancing partner, and they'd danced with everyone
who'd asked.

After two hours, the three of them agreed that in respect to dancing
partners, the pickings had been plentiful but pitiful.  CJ could see
it on Donna and Ainsley's faces and imagined it was on her own as
well. Something had been missing.  What exactly 'it' was had come to
her on a trip the three of them had made to the ladies room.  It had
been packed with nubile young female bodies all clamoring for the huge
mirror and yapping about which of the brainless idiots out on the
crowded dance floor they would be going home with at the end of the
evening.  Lord, CJ had felt old.

At that point, CJ had suddenly missed Toby and as they left the
bathroom she figured out what was really missing.  The guys. It was no
fun being in the Sisterhood if the Brotherhood wasn't there to tag
along and keep things interesting.

As they walked down the narrow hall from the bathroom to the main
dance floor, the noise dropped briefly. "Does anyone else feel old?"
Ainsley said over the reduced din.

CJ and Donna stopped and turned to her, "I'm glad I'm not the only
one," Donna said.

It felt good to hear the two women with her, both younger than she
was, voice what she'd been feeling. "You're definitely not the only
one." All three of them leaned against the wall and laughed. "You guys
want to get out of here?" The nods and the looks of relief on their
faces gave CJ her answer. CJ had pulled out her cell phone and called
Michael to bring the car around.  They'd been out of the club and in
the limo within five minutes.

And now Michael's skillful driving had them cruising along Mulholland
Drive to the after-club destination CJ had requested.

"You know it was no fun without the guys along," Donna said, drawing a
smile from CJ. "What good is it to go out if the guys aren't there to
make a fuss over who you're dancing with or get you drinks or help you
on with your coat?"

What Donna really meant was that for her it was no fun without Josh
there. A couple of times, she and CJ had gone out to clubs in DC or
Maryland, just to dance and have fun, nothing more. As soon as Josh
had found out, and somehow he'd always found out, he and Sam or he and
Toby or all three of them would show up like it was a complete
coincidence they were at the same place.  As if she and CJ couldn't
figure out that was a lie.

Then Josh would spend the evening shooting down every guy Donna looked
sideways at or danced with, while having this look in his eye that
made her feel a little like a tasty morsel of prey that he wanted to
eat. Since she knew he would never actually do anything but give her
that look, she'd tried to ignore it and him, but it had been difficult
and very disconcerting.

As much as she'd told herself it would be nice not to have him tagging
along to the club tonight, she hated to admit she'd missed him and
that look.  Her heart suddenly ached to hear his voice. Looking at her
watch, she checked the time.  1:30 am.  She'd be able to call him in
an hour to wake him up. God, she was pathetic.  She loved him, had
loved him for some time, realizing it that horrible summer night when
she thought he might be taken from her forever. Trying to hide it with
Cliff and deny it with Jack had done nothing to change that.

Trouble was, Josh would never see her as anything but an assistant and
a friend.  And yet...here she was, planning her vacation around the
few, brief minutes she'd be able to talk to him on the phone. She
mentally sighed.

With her mental alarm clock set at 1 hour, she took a breath and
watched as the limo pulled over and stopped. There were no buildings
around and they seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. "CJ?  What are
we doing out here?"

Michael got out of the limo and opened CJ's door. A cold draft of
evening air swept through the pleasantly warm interior.  Then Michael
went around to the back of the car.  Donna saw him open the trunk and
heard him rooting through it.  "Is this where we find out that you're
really a serial killer and you've enlisted the limo driver to help you
bury our bodies in the wilderness?" Donna asked with a grin.

To be continued...



Chapter 5 - PG

CJ grinned back and shrugged.  "I guess you'll just have to wait and
see."  Come on, let's get out." Without waiting for them to answer, CJ
climbed out.

Donna looked at Ainsley, who was grinning.  "Well, life's an
adventure. Right?" Donna said to her before climbing out.  Ainsley
followed along and pushed the limo door shut behind her.

"Over here," CJ called from the front of the car.  It was a clear,
cool and still night and they were all glad they'd worn coats to
dinner. The party dresses they'd worn for dinner and the club weren't
really made to keep them warm.

Donna and Ainsley walked around the car, toward the sound of her voice
and gasped.  They were standing on a high bluff, overlooking a vast
valley. The sparkling lights from the cities of Hollywood and Los
Angeles were spread out before them like jewels tossed on black
velvet.

"Oh, CJ.  It's beautiful," Ainsley said.

"It's amazing," Donna added. The three of them stood in silence,
drinking in the view.

A few moments later Michael cleared his throat behind them.  In
unison, they turned.  CJ smiled as she looked at Phase 2 of her plan.
Donna and Ainsley had another opportunity to gasp again.  The hood of
the limo was now covered with a large, thick blanket and covering the
front windshield were three big pillows.

"Ladies...." Michael said, holding out his hand.

To lead the way, CJ went first. "I'll need your shoes Ms. Cregg, they
might scratch the paint," Michael told her.  Standing on a towel he'd
laid out for that purpose, CJ slipped off her shoes and then stepped
onto a small stool sitting next to the towel.  Using it, she climbed
up onto the hood of the car and settled herself back against the
pillow in the middle.  Michael covered her stocking feet with one
blanket and then covered her entirely with another. CJ smiled back at
them, as if sitting on the hood of a limo was the most natural thing
in the world.

After setting her shoes on the roof of the car, Michael turned and
held out his hand. "Who's next?"

Donna laughed, "CJ, life with you is always a surprising adventure."
She stepped forward and Michael helped her repeat the same process,
settling her on CJ's left side. He then moved the operation around to
the other side of the car and helped Ainsley get into position on CJ's
right side.

They were surprisingly comfy. The blankets and the residual heat from
the car's engine kept them toasty warm, while the pillows behind them
and the blanket beneath them kept the car's hard surface from being
uncomfortable.

Next, Michael came forward with two thermos bottles and three mugs.
"Would you ladies like some cocoa or some Irish Coffee?"  They all
decided on Irish Coffee and he poured some into each mug.

"Michael?" CJ said as he handed her a mug.

"Yes, Ms. Cregg?"

"You've done very well.  This is perfect. Now please give me the
thermos and make yourself scarce.  The ladies and I have got a few
things to talk about.  And no eavesdropping."

He smiled ever so slightly and handed the thermos to CJ. "Of course,
Ms. Cregg.  I'll just wait in the car until you're ready to go. Just
rap in the roof or the window when you're ready."

"Fine," CJ said as he started to turn away.

"Oh, Michael, wait," Donna said.

"Yes, Ms. Moss?"

Since it looked like they might be there for a while, Donna wanted to
be ready to call Josh. "Could you give me my purse, please? I believe
I left it in the pocket of the door."

"Could I have mine too, please?" Ainsley said with a smile.

CJ sighed and smiled, "Make it three, Michael."

"Of course," he said with a smile, heading to the backseat for his
treasure hunt.  It only took him a moment to find them and come back.
He handed each one of the small clutch purses to their owners, doing
it without even having to ask which purse belonged to which person.

"How did you know whose was whose?" Ainsley asked.

He smiled, "In my profession, it often helps to be observant.  Clients
like the personal touch.  To know they're more than just another
client. Now," he said with another small bow. "I'll make myself
scarce," for the second time he turned to get in the car.

And for the second time, someone stopped him.  "Um Michael? Could you
do something for me?" Ainsley said.

Unphased, he turned back to them, "Yes, Ms. Hayes?"

"Could you take our picture?"

Michael frowned slightly, "I'm afraid I don't have a camera."

"Oh, I do.  It's part of my phone.  Come here and I'll show you how to
use it." Michael walked around to her side of the car. She gave him a
crash course in how to use the digital camera and small flash that
came in her cell phone.

"What are you going to do Ainsley, use the pictures as blackmail or
something?" CJ asked as they smiled for the pictures. Stepping back,
Michael took two pictures of them from Ainsley's side, two from the
front end of the car and two from Donna's side.

"No, I just wanted to remember this.  I'm having fun."

"Oh," CJ said.  What Ainsley had said was so simple but it mean a lot
to CJ.  Just like hoping Donna would like staying at her home instead
of a hotel, she was glad this idea had also worked out so well.

Michael handed the phone/camera back to her, "Thank you," Ainsley said.

He bowed again, "Will that be all ladies?"

"Yes," they said in unison.  Without another word, Michael turned and
climbed into the limo, leaving them alone.

The three of them laid back against the pillows and enjoyed the view
as they sipped their Irish coffee.  The lights of Los Angeles and
Hollywood in front of them and the lights from the star filled sky
above them fought for the prettiest view. A calm peace settled over
them and the night, even the animals that must have inhabited the
semi-wooded area, seemed quiet and content to enjoy the stillness of
the night.

CJ, ever direct, was the first to break the quiet. "So Ainsley, what's
up with you and Sam?" Donna snickered and Ainsley, not expecting the
question, nearly snorted coffee out her nose.

As Ainsley regained the ability to talk without coughing, CJ turned to
Donna, "Oh, don't worry Donna, we'll get to you next."  That stopped
Donna's snickering cold.

"I don't know what you mean, CJ," Ainsley finally managed.

Trying to divert attention from what she knew CJ was going to want to
talk to her about, Donna jumped in.  "What she means is, we want to
know how long you and Sam have been dating, or whatever it is you're
doing, and why you two are keeping it a secret."

"I...why do you think anything is going on between Sam and me?"

CJ supplied that one, "Because we're not blind.  There were little
clues all through dinner."

Like the good attorney she was, Ainsley wasn't going to confess until
she knew what proof they had.  "Such as?"

This time Donna responded, "The little smiles between you.  The fact
that he gave you his dessert without you asking and the fact that you
gave him some of your dessert."

"Yeah, Ainsley," CJ said, "We know nothing comes between you and food.
 Except, maybe love."

Even in the dark, Ainsley's blush was like a beacon.  Knowing they had
her dead to rights and wouldn't give up until she spilled, she
answered, "Okay, yes.  We're dating."

"I knew it!" Donna and CJ said to each other.

"How long have you been dating?" Donna asked.

"About 3 months."

"THREE MONTHS!" Donna cried.  "Why didn't you tell me? We talk on the
phone once a week."

Ainsley looked apologetic, "We're just trying to keep a low profile."

"Don't tell me that Sam is making you keep it a secret because it
might hurt his chances in the election?" CJ said, ready to add him to
her list of people to smack next time she saw them.  Josh was already
on that list for his second round with Amy.

Ainsley paused, "No.  Sam's not making me keep it a secret."

"Well, then why...." Donna trailed off, then realized. "You're making
him keep it a secret!" Donna and CJ looked at her for confirmation.
When she nodded they got it.

"But why?" CJ asked.

"Because it might hurt his chances in the election," she said, softly,
mimicking CJ's earlier words. "I am a Republican and he's a Democrat."
She looked at them, "It's really okay.  We still date, mostly at his
place or mine or some out of the way place outside his district." She
turned her full gaze on them.  "Look. Sam will make a remarkable
Congressman.  He was meant to do this.  Even though he and I don't see
eye to eye on a lot of things, he has a passion for what he believes
in and I know that he is destined for bigger things. With what
happened the last time he ran for Congress, I just don't want to be
the reason this chance is over before it starts.  Having a Republican
for a girlfriend could be a real liability for a Democrat."

They were quiet for a moment, CJ and Donna absorbing what Ainsley had
said.  "Ainsley, I'm going to say something to you now and I don't
want you to be offended.  Sam is like a brother to me and Donna.  We
care about him a great deal." CJ looked over at Donna, who nodded.
"Do you love him?"

To be continued...



Chapter 6 - PG

"Yes," Ainsley said, with simple, honest conviction.

CJ pressed on. "I mean really love him? And will you feel the same way
if he doesn't win the election?"

As much as she knew that CJ and Donna were looking out for Sam,
Ainsley couldn't help the steely tone that entered her voice.  "No
matter what happens with the election, we're going public after it's
over. But I want you to know that if Sam came to me tomorrow and said
he'd decided to drop out of the race and become a janitor, I'd still
feel the same way about him. I'm not with him to ride my way to fame
and fortune."

CJ reached out and took Ainsley's hand. "I'm sorry for asking.  While
I've been in DC I've seen good people caught up in marriages and
relationships, including Josh and Amy," she said with a pointed looked
at Donna, as if to remind her that she wasn't off the hook yet. "That
were more political alliance than love.  Sam deserves better than
that." She paused. "And sister girl, so do you," she said, squeezing
Ainsley's hand. "I'm glad you love him. Because I have to tell you
from the looks he was giving you tonight, he loves you too.

Donna reached across and put her hand over both of theirs, "Don't get
us wrong Ainsley, we care about you apart from Sam. You're already
part of our little family and if that became more permanent because of
your relationship with him, it's an added bonus."

Ainsley, her lashes a bit damp, was touched by the caring they'd shown
her.  "Thanks, guys." CJ and Donna eyes were also suspiciously bright
as they shared the moment with Ainsley.

"Out of curiosity, Ainsley.  Did you follow Sam out here to
California?" Donna asked.

Ainsley smiled, "Donna, I swear this is the God's truth.  I came out
here for the job," she paused and smiled.  "But I'm staying because of
Sam."

"What are you going to do after he wins the election and goes back to
DC?" CJ asked.

Ainsley smiled again, she seemed to be doing it a lot.  "He's already
asked me to go with him and I'm going to."

"That's great," Donna said.  "I'm so glad we'll get to see more of you and Sam."

"So are you doing the mattress mambo yet?" CJ asked, with a laugh.
"And please, no details. A simple 'yes' or 'no' will do.  Sam having
sex is not a visual I need in my head."

Ainsley laughed, "Yes, for about the last month."

"Okay," she took out her purse and pulled out her cell phone. Dialing
Sam cell number she waited for him to pick up.

He picked up on the third ring. "CJ?" he asked, sleepily, reading her
ID off the cell phone.  "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, Sam, Ainsley is fine," she said sarcastically. "She's sitting
here next to me.  If you want you can talk to your girlfriend in just
a minute.  I called to tell you that you can move your things into
Ainsley's room, so you can share with her tonight.  Donna and I can
bunk in my room. I only have one condition. If anything happens in
there I don't want to hear it or hear about it.  Got it?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. "So I guess
you've had an informative evening," he finally said, a smile in his
voice. CJ had the feeling he was glad to be able to finally talk to
someone about something he was so obviously happy about.

"Yes, we tortured her until she cracked. It was easy, we just withheld
food from her.  Now do we have a deal?"

He chuckled, "Yes.  But can I talk to Ains?"

"Sure," she said and laughing handed Ainsley the phone.

"Hi Sam." She listened as he said something to her.  "No actually they
figured it out," she paused while he spoke.  "Dessert," she replied.
"I tell you, food is my Achilles heel.  Speaking of food," she turned
to CJ. "...do you know if Michael has any food tucked away in the
limo?" She turned back to the phone, "stop laughing Sam.  You know my
metabolism."  She looked back at CJ for an answer.

"Sorry, Ainsley, I only had him bring the coffee and cocoa.  No food."

Ainsley gave a little frown.  "Oh well.  Sam, honey, I better go." She
paused, "What? I don't know, let me ask them," she turned back to CJ
and Donna.  "How much longer are we going to be?"

CJ looked at Donna.  "I don't know. It depends on how long our
discussion with Donna takes. Probably 45 minutes to an hour."

Ainsley relayed the message to Sam, "Okay, I'll tell them.  We'll see
you in a little while." She smiled, "I love you, too. Bye." She
pressed "END" on the phone and handed it back to CJ.  "He said not to
chew on Josh too hard since he's not here to defend himself."

"Oh, I imagine Donna will be able to defend Josh better than he could
defend himself," CJ replied.

Donna tried to disappear into the cushions.  When you needed a hole to
open and swallow you, there was never one around. "I have no idea what
you mean, CJ."

CJ grinned, the grin she usually saved for weasily reporters she
wanted to scare.  "Oh, no.  Don't even try and think you can bluff
your way out of this one. Now, what's all this about Josh and Amy?"

"I already told you."

"Tell me again," CJ replied.

Donna hesitated, not wanting to spill more than she already had.  "I
think you should ask Josh."

"I'm asking you."

She tried not to squirm, "Like I said earlier. They had a thing this
summer and now it's over. End of story."

"Tell me another one, Donna.  If it was really end of story, you
wouldn't have said anything, no matter how unintentional, during
dinner."

"Come on, Donna.  I spilled my guts," Ainsley said.  "The least you
can do is return the favor."

Drawing her knees up to her chin, Donna sighed softly.  "I was telling
you the truth when I said it was over," she started, her voice soft
and a little tired.  "He won't take her calls and when her name comes
up, he changes the subject.  I think he just wants to forget it
happened. With all the stress he's been under, he just needed someone
to help him take his mind off it. And...again, along came Amy," she
said, leaning back against the pillow. "I think in the end he realized
she only added to the stress instead of took it away."

"But what about you?"  CJ said.

"What about me what?" Donna replied.

"You know very well what I mean Donna.  Why Amy and not you?"

Donna leaned her head back and closed her eyes.  She'd never said
anything to CJ about her feelings for Josh, had never said anything to
anyone.  It never occurred to her that someone might figure it out all
on their own.  The joy and the pain and the hopelessness of it had
lived inside her for so long, she couldn't, in this place, at this
moment, pass up her chance to share some of the burden. Besides, it
was her story to tell and not Josh's, so she wouldn't be betraying any
of his secrets. "Well, that's the $64,000 question, isn't it?"

Now that she was going to give words to the feelings that she'd
carried around for so long, she didn't know where to begin.  CJ and
Ainsley seemed to understand and were quiet.

"You know, I never thought of myself as a hateful person. Then came
Amy. Oh, my God I hate Amy Gardner," she leaned forward slightly and
looked out over the lights of the valley.  "Mandy I disliked.  Joey I
was jealous of but liked all right.  But Amy I just plain hate. I hate
her for the way Josh is somehow drawn to her.  For the way that she
can abuse him and he seems to come back for more. For the way he
turned to her when he was stressed instead of me. For the way
everything she does with him is calculated for maximum political
effect.  But most of all, I hate her because this second time around
she knew and she did it anyway."

"Knew what, Donna," Ainsley asked, softly.

Donna looked at her, "That I'm in love with him."

CJ cocked her head, "What do you mean she knew?"

Donna looked at both of them.  Neither of them seemed shocked or
surprised at her declaration.

CJ answered her unspoken question. "You're feelings for Josh are not a
big secret," CJ said with a soft smile.

"Well, maybe not to anyone but Josh," Ainsley supplied.

"We could take care of it, you know.  It would be all right," CJ said,
softly when Donna didn't say anything.  "Leo, Toby and I have talked
about it.  It's second term and we've always survived what's been
thrown at us.  We could handle any fallout from you and Josh.
Especially if it was handled correctly from the start."

Donna wasn't sure how she felt about all of them talking about her
potential private life as if it were a campaign strategy.  "But how
did you know?  I've never said or done anything.  Neither has Josh."

Ainsley answered, "All anyone has to do is look at the two of you together."

"But we've never even kissed. There's never been anything
inappropriate between us, not even after the shooting when I
practically lived with him."

Ainsley shook her head, "It's not like that," she paused and thought
for a moment. "It's the way he puts his hand on your back or on your
arm. The way you won't bring him coffee unless you think he's going to
get fired or done something monumentally stupid."

CJ jumped in, "It's the way you banter, like they do in those old
Hepburn and Tracy movies. It's the way he does things like he did on
the night of the second inauguration.  Going after you when he knew
you needed him. It's the way you look after him, like after the thing
at Christmas or after the blow up with Carrick and everyone treated
him like the plague.  It's the way his eyes follow you when you walk
away or when he thinks you're not looking at him.  It's the way you
watch for him out his office window..." she trailed off, not sure how
to continue the description.

Ainsley finished, "It's the way that you finish each others sentences
and that fact that most of the time the two of you seem like the
halves of the same whole."

"There's a pool, you know," CJ told her.

"Excuse me," Donna said.  She must have heard CJ wrong.

"There's a pool going in the West Wing on when you guys will finally
get your acts together and figure out what the rest of us already
know."

Donna shook her head, "Well, then no one is going to win it, because
despite my feelings for him, Josh doesn't have feelings like that for
me."

"I'm invoking my emergency powers as a high ranking member of the
Sisterhood, which allows me to do this," CJ said, smacking Donna on
the back of the head as she routinely did to Josh and Sam.

"OW!  CJ!" Donna responded, rubbing the back of her head.  She had new
sympathy for the pained looked that the guys often had after being the
target of CJ's wrath.

"I know Josh can be blind, but I gave you more credit. Donna, in my
opinion Josh is so in love with you that I'm surprised little heart
shapes don't circle over his head when you're in the room."

To be continued...


Chapter 7 - PG

"I have to agree, Donna," Ainsley said.

"But then why doesn't he ever say anything?" Donna replied, just a
hint of a desperate whine creeping into her voice.

CJ shook her head, "I didn't say he knew he was in love with you. He
may not realize it, he may be too scared to admit it out loud, or he
may just be in denial about it."

Donna sighed. "If that's true then nothing is going to change between
us any time soon. I need Josh to make the first move," she paused.
"He's my best friend, but while we're in the White House, he's also my
boss.  I can't jeopardize our working relationship, his job and
position because I threw myself at him only to find out that you're
both wrong about how he feels."

"We're not wrong," CJ and Ainsley said together.

Donna was quiet for a moment, "It doesn't matter anyway.  After Jack,
I decided I've chased after enough gomers.  Next time I want someone
to come after me. Call it pride, but that's how I feel."

They sat there for a moment.  Where Ainsley's confession had been
happy, Donna's had been decidedly melancholy and there were no easy
answers to the situation.

"Wait a minute," CJ said, her mind backing up to their conversation
from a few minutes earlier.  "You didn't answer my earlier question.
What do you mean Amy knew you were in love with Josh?"

Donna leaned back against the cushions and watched the sky.  "Just
what I said," she took a breath.  "The night that Zoey was abducted,
Amy and I were in the bullpen and she asked me if I was in love with
him."

"What did you say?" Ainsley asked.

"What could I say?  This was Amy, the woman I love to hate.  The one
most likely to use anything you say against you if it benefited her in
some way.  No matter who it hurt, including Josh.  Then there was the
fact we were standing in the White House, for God's sake, not the set
of 'Days of our Lives.'  Plus I wasn't about to say the words to her
when I hadn't even said them to Josh." She took another breath and let
it out slowly.  "In the end, I didn't need to.  She said them for me,
which is why I know that she knew how I felt."

"What did she say?" CJ urged.

"She said that my silence made it obvious I was in love with him and
how it made her understand why I didn't seem to like her coming by to
see 'J.'  I hate it when she calls him that.  Sounds like they're in
junior high or something."

"Did she say anything else?" Donna didn't say anything for a long
moment and Ainsley and CJ began to wonder if she would.

"She said that maybe it was better if I continued to not say anything
to him about it.  Since we're so close, Josh would probably say he
felt the same way, just to spare my feelings, which could make our
working relationship really awkward. Besides, he needs someone that
will help further his career and the scandal from dating his cute,
blonde assistant would only hurt his reputation, even more than his
run-in with the Senator had," Donna sighed sadly.  "Within a month,
she and Josh had started having the thing."

"You know CJ," Ainsley said, calmly.  "Where I come from, behavior
like that would call for a trip out to the woodshed."

"Ainsley, where I come from," CJ replied, equally as calm.  "That kind
of behavior calls for a good old fashioned ass kicking."

"But she's right," Donna said quietly.

"No, she's not right," CJ argued. "Like I said, if it was handled
right, you and Josh wouldn't be a bad thing.  In fact, if we got lucky
it could be a good thing. A great thing even. Everyone likes a good
romance."

"I think once Sam and I get back to DC the three of us should do all
we can to make Miss, oh I'm sorry, 'Ms.' Amy Gardner's life as
difficult as possible," Ainsley said, evilly.

"I like the way you think Miss Hayes," CJ said, with a grin.

"I don't want to make anyone's life difficult," Donna said, quietly.
"I just want Josh to figure out what he wants and that if what he
wants is me."

If Josh had been there, CJ would given him her hardest smack to date.
He kept turning to Amy, who was obviously so wrong for him, but Donna,
who was perfect for him and would do anything for him, walk across
fire for him, beat back 100 senators for him, take care of him when
most others ran screaming from the room, give him a kick in the pants
when he needed it and do it all while not bringing him coffee, he
couldn't see.  During the first term CJ could understand it, but now
that they were well into the second term, there was no reason for him
to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. For someone so
smart, the man was criminally stupid sometimes.  CJ took Donna's hand.
 Ainsley covered theirs with her own.  "We'll work on that too Donna,"
CJ said.  "With the three of us working together and Sam and Toby
there to give us some covert surveillance from the Brotherhood we'll
help Josh see the light.  You've just gotta hang in there until we
do."

Feeling at least slightly better for having shared some of her heart
with her friends and fellow members of the Sisterhood, Donna smiled.
"Okay, I can do that.  I've had a lot of practice.  Thanks guys."

"Now," CJ said, reaching back and rapping her knuckles on the roof of
the car to signal to Michael they were ready to go. "Let's get out of
here.  The Irish Coffee is gone and I'm sure Ainsley would rather be
snuggling with Sam than the two of us. Besides if we leave now, we'll
be home just in time for Donna to call Josh and give him his morning
wake up call."

Donna looked stunned. "How?"

"Because I'm Queen of the Sisterhood and I know all," CJ simply replied.

**********

"Sam said it looked like someone ate the White House rose garden and
then threw up all over your cousins wedding," Ainsley commented from
the driver's seat, "He was still pulling rose petals out of his suit
when we packed this morning."

While CJ and Sam had gotten back fairly early from the wedding on
Saturday, Donna and Ainsley had gotten home late from Universal
Studios. Since Donna, Ainsley and CJ were heading off to San Diego
pretty early Sunday morning anyway, Sam and Ainsley had stayed over
another night.

"Oh, is that what I smelled last night?" Donna commented from her
place in the passenger seat next to her. "I thought maybe someone
spilled a bottle of perfume on him or something. I guess they really
went wild with the rose theme."

"You can say that again," CJ said, from her place behind Donna in the
backseat. "They definitely overdid the rose theme. I'm not even going
to mention the actual flowers as Sam's vomited rose garden image is
pretty accurate. Everything moving or not was covered with rose
petals. As if that wasn't enough, they had rose shaped ice cubes, rose
scented table cloths, chairs covered in rose color chintz with roses
printed on it, bridesmaid dresses in rose with matching little hats
shaped like roses and for the grand finale, wait for it, "The Rose" by
Bette Midler as their wedding song. Give me a break. What a great way
to wreck a perfectly good song. It probably looked nice in the
"Brides" magazine layout she saw it in but in reality, not so much."

The three of them laughed as they drove down the 405-freeway toward
San Diego in Sam's white Toyota Sequoia SUV. It was Sunday and a
beautiful December morning in Southern California.  The sky was clear
and although the temperature was just chilly enough that they each
wore a jacket, it was supposed to warm up in the afternoon.

They'd discussed having Michael drive them to San Diego but as he
charged by the mile, decided it would be too expensive. Instead,
they'd decided to all pile into Sam's SUV and drive themselves.
Ainsley didn't mind driving and Donna had gotten directions from Bill.
Sam, in what was the surest sign of his love for Ainsley, hadn't
blinked at giving her the keys to his new SUV for them to use.

Since Sam had already used up most of his sisterhood passes for this
trip and he had some campaign-related work to do anyway, they'd
dropped him at home in Santa Monica. His campaign headquarters was
only a few miles from his home and he was going walk or make use of
Ainsley's BMW Z-4 Roadster while they used his large SUV. It would
only be for the day anyway.

This morning they were meeting Donna's brother Bill at Naval Air
Station, North Island on the island of Coronado, just off the coast of
San Diego. The carrier his squadron was attached to, the USS John C.
Stennis, was home ported there. Because Donna and CJ had White House
security clearance and Ainsley recently had similar clearance, he had
managed to get permission to give the three of them a tour of the
carrier and the base.  Then they were going to have lunch at a seaside
restaurant called the Sheerwater located near the base at the Hotel
Del Coronado. After lunch, the three of them were off to Horton Plaza
in downtown San Diego for some power shopping and dinner in San
Diego's historic Gaslamp district.  Later that evening, Ainsley would
drop Donna and CJ off at CJ's house and take the SUV back to Sam.

"So Ainsley, what's with Sam and this tank of a vehicle?" Donna asked
with a teasing smile, referring to the Sam's SUV.  It was huge, with
seating for 8, leather interior, and power everything.  "I mean I
always hear about guys that have to have a big or really cool car to
make up for...things they lack...in other areas, but Sam never struck
me as that kind of guy."

Ainsley grinned, "No, that's definitely not a problem for him. Samuel
is very well endowed," her grin got wider.  "Actually I picked it out.
 Sam needed a new car and he asked for my input.  Then he surprised
the hell out of me by talking about wanting something big and suitable
for a growing family. But definitely not a mini-van. He said he wanted
to get something that I would be comfortable in too. Which of course
led to a whole big discussion about marriage and kids, which then led
to a couple of practice sessions to make said kids..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" CJ said from the back seat. "Too much
information, Ainsley. Like I told you the other night, the image of
Sam having sex is not something I want in my head."

Donna laughed at CJ's discomfort. She didn't have any trouble putting
Sam and sex in the same image.  At least in an objective sense.  Of
course, any images of sex and her direct participation always included
Josh.  But Sam was movie star handsome enough to give Donna some
harmless, healthy, lustful images.

Ainsley just grinned, "Oops, sorry CJ."

"Don't let it happen again," CJ said, teasingly.

"Anyway, he wanted a black Suburban but I told him that any time he
was around the President the secret service was going to be confused
as hell," Ainsley said, keeping her eyes on the road, but gesturing
with one hand. "We did some shopping around and both liked this one. I
think I've driven it almost as much as he has.  Everything in it
adjusts so even my lack of height isn't a problem."

"Oh, hey," CJ said.  "You guys got back so late you didn't tell me how
you liked Universal Studios."

"It was so much fun," Donna rubbed gently at the back of her neck
where she'd gotten slightly sunburned the day before. "There were a
lot more rides than I expected. Ainsley and I got soaked when we went
on the Jurassic Park ride. Then of course, there was the whole reason
were late getting home," Donna said.

"What?" CJ asked.

Donna and Ainsley answered together, "THE SHOPPING!"

"See they have this thing there called 'Universal Citywalk'.  You have
to walk through it to get from the parking area to the park entrance.
There's shopping and food and a huge multiplex movie theater. So of
course, we had to stop and do some shopping on our way out of the
park," Donna said with a smile.

"So what'd you buy for Josh?" CJ asked.

"What makes you think I bought anything for Josh?" Donna tried, weakly.

"'Cause I didn't just fall off the turnip truck," CJ replied. Then she
paused and her face softened. "It's all right, Donna.  After our
discussion the other night, it's fine that you bought him stuff.  I

told him you were going to anyway."

"You did?" Donna said, just a little mortified. "CJ! Why did you tell him that?"

"Well, it kind of helped me talk him into letting you come on this
trip.  I told him we were bringing Leo a souvenir and he wanted to
know if he was going to get one too.  I told him you were going to
take care of it."

"Oh," was all Donna said.  That didn't sound too bad.

"So what did you get him?" CJ asked.

Donna waited for a moment before answering with a shy smile.  "The
Doobie Brothers Greatest Hits on CD, an autographed Mike Piazza
baseball card and a Looney Tunes Sweatshirt that reads 'Wile E.
Coyote, Super Genius'."  CJ snorted and started laughing.

Donna continued, "But only the sweatshirt is his souvenir.  The rest
is toward Hanukkah and Christmas." When CJ was still laughing, she
paused and frowned.  "What? You don't think he'll like the
sweatshirt?"

CJ curbed her laughing long enough to answer, "No, it's perfect. I
think he'll love it."

"Then why are you laughing?"

CJ just seemed to laugh harder, "I don't know.  It's just funny. He
even looks a little like Wile E. Coyote." She broke into a new round
of giggles. "Ainsley?  What'd you buy for Sam?" She managed to gasp
out between laughs.

For half a second, Ainsley considered denying she'd bought anything.
But, she knew that Donna knew exactly what she'd bought and since CJ
had made Donna spill her guts, Ainsley knew Donna would be sure to see
she did the same thing. "I got him a collection of classical music on
CD."

"That's it?" CJ said, her laughter fading. "I didn't even think Sam
particularly liked classical music."

"Yes, well there are certain pieces he's fond of," Ainsley replied innocently.

CJ sensed there was more here that Ainsley wasn't saying.  "And which
pieces would that be?"

Ainsley didn't answer right away.  "You might as well tell her, she's
going to bug you until you do," Donna said.

"Oh, all right. It's 'Air on a G String,'" she finally said. The blush
flooding her cheeks.

The next sound Donna and Ainsley heard was a new round of laughter
from the back seat.

To be continued...



Chapter 8 - PG

"Oh, Donna.  Tell her who we saw," Ainsley urged, valiantly trying to
change the subject.

"Who'd you see?" CJ asked, wiping the tears from her eyes as her
laughter subsided once again.

"Well, we went on the tour of the studio back lot.  You know, the one
where they take you through the lot in trams?"  CJ nodded and Donna
continued.  "We drove past the sound stage where they film that
political show, you know 'The Executive Branch'?"

"Right," CJ said. She tried to watch it whenever she could manage it.

"And who should come walking out of one of the side doors but two of
the stars, Stanley Wallford and Bob Stowe."

"You're kidding!" CJ said.  "Are they as cute in real life as they
look on the show?"

Donna grinned, "Cuter! They waved to our group and stopped long enough
for people to take pictures of them from the tram."

"And I don't care what you say, Donna, I still thinks Stanley Wallford
looks like Josh," Ainsley said.

"Not as much as Bob Stowe looks like Sam," Donna argued.

"They looked like the guys?" CJ put in.  "Huh.  I never thought that
when I watched the show."

"I know." Ainsley replied.  "I didn't think that either.  But there
was something about seeing them in person that reminded me of both Sam
and Josh."

**********

"So Ainsley, what's with the big plastic box on the floor of the back
seat," CJ asked as they drove over the Coronado Bridge, which
connected San Diego with the island of Coronado.

"Oh, that was Sam's idea.  It's an emergency box," Ainsley replied.

"An emergency box?" Donna asked as she pulled out the directions Bill
had given her.

"Yes. This is California after all. You know, land of wildfires,
flooding, and earthquakes." She paused, then grinned. "Plus he knows I
get hungry and he thought I could keep food in it."

CJ and Donna laughed at that.  "But it's so big, what all do you have
in it?  I mean has Sam become a closet survivalist or something?" CJ
asked.

"No," Ainsley said with a laugh.  "Sam just likes to be prepared.
Let's see, it's got bottled water, non-perishable snacks, a portable
AM/FM radio, flashlights, extra batteries, including extra cell phone
batteries for each of our phones, a blanket, walkie-talkies, first aid
kit, snake bite kit, a comfortable pair of walking shoes for each of
us, condoms..."

"Wait, condoms?" CJ interrupted. "What, when fire, famine, pestilence
and all around Armageddon happens it's okay because at least you won't
have to add a pesky pregnancy scare to your list of problems?" she
finished with a smirk.

Ainsley shrugged innocently as they drove into Coronado, "Well, we
have taken the car to the beach and for a long drive now and then. And
like I said, Sam likes to be prepared," she said with a smirk of her
own. Following Donna's directions she turned right and headed for the
base's main gate.

"Oh, crap.  Now that image of Sam having sex is back in my brain." CJ
said.  "You got any mind bleach in there, or at least some tequila?"

Donna laughed as Ainsley grinned, "Sorry, CJ. I guess you'll just have
to tough it out."

There was a short line of cars waiting at the gate as each one was
inspected and its occupants checked for ID.

Being familiar with checkpoints and the need for ID verification, each
of them was ready when it was their turn to speak to the soldiers on
duty at the gate.

As one soldier circled around and opened doors to take a look inside
the car, Donna leaned in close to Ainsley, so she could speak to the
young and cute, but serious and tough-looking soldier checking IDs.
"Hello, I'm Donnatella Moss," she said handing him her driver's
license and her White House ID.  "We have an appointment to see
Lieutenant William Moss."  Consulting his clipboard, he checked both
her ID's against the list of authorized, non-military personnel.

"Thank you, Ms. Moss," he said, handing Donna back her identification.
"Ladies, I will need to see your identification also."

Ainsley handed him her driver's license.  Again, he checked it against
his clipboard.  "Thank you, Ms. Hayes," he handed it back it her.  CJ
handed him her driver's license and her White House ID.  "Very good,
Ms. Cregg," he said, after confirming she too was on the list.  The
other soldier nodded to him, indicating that there was nothing
remarkable about the contents of the car. "Welcome to Naval Air
Station, North Island, ladies," he said, placing a parking placard on
the dashboard and handing them three visitor badges. "Please keep the
parking placard in place on the dashboard and wear these badges at all
times. You will be asked to return them when you leave the base."  He
pulled out a piece of paper, wrote something on it and handed it to
Ainsley.  "You are to meet Lieutenant Moss at the Officer's Club.
Please follow this map, I've indicated the location of the club for
you. Thank you ladies, you may proceed."

Ainsley handed Donna the map. "Thank you," Donna said to the soldier
as the car pulled forward.

"Boy, they're serious about security, aren't they?" Ainsley said as
they drove onto the base.

"Well, after 9/11 security on all bases, even domestic ones, was
tightened," CJ replied. "If Donna and I didn't have White House
security clearance, I don't think Bill would have been able to arrange
for the tour."

"Oh, I'm not complaining," Ainsley explained. "Actually, it makes me
feel pretty safe."

North Island was as lovely as it was huge.  Being right on the end of
Coronado Island, it was surrounded on three sides by water, with the
open ocean to the west and the San Diego skyline to the east.  Donna
had done her homework and as always was ready with some useful
information about the base.

"CJ I know you've been here before," she said, referring to the fact
that anytime the President visited anything near San Diego, Air Force
One landed at North Island. "But did you guys know that Naval Air
Station, North Island is part of a larger base called Naval Base
Coronado?  Naval Base Coronado covers 57,000 acres and is the largest
aerospace-industrial complex in the Navy. It also includes the Naval
Amphibious Base where the SEALs train.  The North Island portion of
the base hosts 23 fighter squadrons and is the largest aerospace
employer in San Diego.  North Island was commissioned in 1917 and was
then called Naval Air Station, San Diego.  The name was changed to
Naval Air Station, North Island in 1955."

She stopped to take a breath, since no one was groaning too loudly she
continued.  "During World War II, North Island was a the major
continental U.S. base supporting the operating forces in the Pacific,
including the Coast Guard, Army, Marines and Seabees.  The base has
it's own police and fire departments and has it's own parks, beaches
and housing and recreation areas.  It's the home port for 3 major
aircraft carriers, the "USS Constellation," the "USS Nimitz" and
Bill's carrier, the "USS John C. Stennis." Oh, and the "USS Ronald
Regan" is scheduled to be home ported here sometime in the summer of
2004."

Donna laughed, "Wouldn't Josh have a stroke if we were getting of tour
of the "USS Ronald Reagan?" He still refuses to call National Airport
in DC, 'Reagan International'." The three of them laughed at that.
"North Island is also home to the Navy's only Deep Submergence Rescue
Vehicles, named "Mystic" and "Avalon." When all the ships are in port,
the population of North Island soars to nearly 35,000 active duty,
selected reserve military and civilian personnel."

"Gee Donna, I'm guessing you spent a little time doing some research."
CJ said.  "What's going to be left for Bill to tell us on the tour?"

Donna looked a little sheepish, "You know me and research. I couldn't
resist." She looked down at her lap for a minute, "I guess I'm also
babbling a bit, which is, as you both know, what I always do when I'm
a little nervous."

"Why on earth are you nervous, Donna?" Ainsley asked, as she turned a corner.

Donna paused for a moment, "Well, I haven't seen Bill for a while and
he's like the only one in my family who is still talking to me.  I
just want things to go well.  I can't afford to alienate anyone else
in my family or I'm going to become a complete orphan."

CJ laid her hand on Donna's shoulder, "Donna.  Don't worry.  Just be
yourself.  You've been talking to Bill in e-mails and on the phone.
He knows who you are and where you work.  It's not like you're going
to spring something new on him. From what you've told me he loves you
just the way you are."

Donna smiled.  "You're right.  I know."

"Besides," CJ said, leaning back in her seat. "Ainsley's along and
since Bill's a Republican too, that will probably get you brownie
points all by itself."

"Oh, I see," Ainsley teased.  "So you only brought me along to drive
you around and be the token Republican?"

"Of course. What? Did you think we actually liked you or something?"
CJ replied with a grin.  "Just because you're dating the former most
eligible bachelor in DC, doesn't mean we forgive you for being a
Republican."

Ainsley sighed dramatically. "The things I sacrifice for my Republican
beliefs. Oh, well, you know what they say....'Tomorrow is another
day'." She said, giving her best Scarlett O'Hara impression.

"As God as my witness, if you say, 'I'll never be hungry again,' I'm
climbing out the window," CJ replied. The three of them broke into
laughter.

"I guess I'm also hoping that you guys will like each other," Donna said.

"Don't worry Donna, we'll charm his socks off," Ainsley said.  "We'll
be on our best behavior.  Right CJ?"

"I'm always on my best behavior, just ask Toby," CJ replied. "No,
wait, you better ask Josh.  No, that might not be such a good idea
either.  Ask Sam. Yes, ask Sam.  I'm always nice to Sam. Well, except
for the whole call girl thing." She paused.  "Well, in any case, yes,
I promise on the Sisterhood I will be on my best behavior."

Following Donna's directions from the map, they shortly arrived at the
Officer's Club. A young man, probably in his late 20's, stood out in
front.  Before Ainsley had a chance to turn off the engine, Donna was
out of the car and running toward him.

"I'm guessing that's Bill," Ainsley said, as she watched Donna pull
the man into a bear hug. "Wow, don't tell Sam I said this, but he's
cute."

CJ grinned, "I won't tell Sam you said that, if you don't tell Donna I
said this, but he's short."

"Deal," Ainsley said with a laugh.

CJ and Ainsley climbed out of the car and walked over to Donna and
Bill, who were still hugging. "Easy Don.  You're going to crack one of
my ribs," Bill was saying.

'He WAS cute,' CJ thought. But he looked completely different from
Donna.  CJ hadn't seen a picture of Bill but she'd expected some tall,
blond Nordic god.  The man Donna was hugging looked more like Tom
Cruise or John Cusack.  He was thin like Donna, but the top of his
head only came to about Donna's nose and his hair was cropped short
and midnight black. Apparently he'd gotten his looks from Donna's
mother's Italian side of the family.  Although as CJ looked at him,
she could see he had Donna's eyes, not the color but the shape, and
her smile.

"I know, I'm just so glad to finally get to see you," she said letting
go of him and wiping her eyes.  CJ and Ainsley walked up then, "CJ,
Ainsley, this my brother Bill Moss.  Bill, this is CJ Cregg, the White
House Press Secretary and our good friend Ainsley Hayes."

"Of course, Ms. Cregg it's good to meet you, I've seen a number of
your briefings on Armed Forces TV," he said keeping his arm loosely
around Donna's waist while he shook CJ's hand.  "And Donna's told me a
lot about you. Including something about a cat statue.  You know the
Curse of Bast is nothing to take lightly," he teased.  CJ could see
that Donna's teasing was a family trait.

She smiled at Bill, "Please call me CJ." Then she turned and gave
Donna the evil eye, "I can't believe you told him about that.  I am
never going to live that story down."

"And Ms. Hayes, also very good to meet you," he said warmly as they
shook hands. "Don's mentioned you as well. You're the Republican
lawyer that worked in the White House for a while, right?"

"That's me and please call me Ainsley," she replied with a polite
smile, not quite sure where she stood with the young pilot.

"The one that kicked the Deputy Communication Director's butt on
Capitol Beat?" he said with a charming, innocent wink.

Now she grinned, "Guilty."

"Well, then, good.  It will be nice to have another Republican in our
little group.  I figured Don and CJ would try to smother me with the
Democratic-ness. But having you here will even things out," he said.

'Okay,' CJ thought.  'He might be short but he's cute and charming.'
Cute and charming could make up for a lot of short. He was also
wearing his Navy dress whites which was hard to resist on any man. It
was the whole "Man in Uniform," last scene of "Officer and a
Gentleman" thing. Suddenly, a stray thought drifted across her brain.
Toby in Navy dress whites.  Hmmm. That was interesting, where had that
thought come from?

At the exact same moment, Ainsley was having a similar vision of Sam
and trying not to blush. "An Officer and a Gentleman" indeed, although
Sam was definitely cuter than Richard Gere.

Donna was so happy to see her brother she couldn't think of anything
else, but the idea of Josh in Navy dress whites had unconsciously
filed itself away in her brain to await a more opportune moment to
resurface.

Bill's words brought CJ and Ainsley back to reality. "Well, you guys
ready for the tour I promised?" he asked.

The three of them nodded, so he loaded them in his car and they were off.

To be continued...



Chapter 9 - PG

Ainsley took a drink of her iced tea.  "You know, Sam would never do
well on a carrier.  There are too many low hanging passageways.  He'd
never remember to duck enough. The poor thing would have a permanent
lump on his forehead."

The tour of the carrier and the base had taken the rest of the morning
and had been a great success. Bill was a very knowledgeable guide and,
as it turned out, when he got out of the Navy, he'd have a great
career as a bodyguard.  He had to run off more than one group of
sailors that were all but drooling on the three beautiful women he was
escorting. As for CJ, Ainsley and Donna, they had basked in the
innocent, flirtatious male attention.

After the tour, Bill had taken them back to the Officers Club and
Ainsley had driven the four of them to the Sheerwater Restaurant at
the Hotel Del Coronado for lunch. They were now seated at a table with
a wonderful view overlooking the ocean. The sound of the waves pounded
softly in the background and the ocean breeze drifted over them. It
still amazed Donna that it was December and yet they could sit outside
and not be freezing. It felt a little odd to have Christmas
decorations spread all over the hotel and a huge Christmas tree
dominating the hotel's lobby but no snow.

"Well, that is one good thing about not being the tallest guy around,"
Bill said.  "I rarely have to duck."

They laughed at that.  "Now for Josh," Donna began.  "It would be the
raised thresholds.  He'd be tripping over them all the time."

"How is your boss?" Bill said calmly, looking cool and just a little
dangerous in his dress whites and dark sunglasses.

'Oh, crap.' Donna thought. 'Now I've done it.' Talking about Josh,
even casually, just came so naturally to her, she couldn't help it.
Bill always used a description rather than a name when referring to
someone he didn't like or approve of. It was his way of insulting
someone without being obvious about it.  So when he asked how her
'boss' was, what he was really saying was 'how's the asshole?' "He's
fine," she said with a smile.

CJ recognized Donna's smile.  It was the same one Donna used when Amy
Gardner was anywhere in the vicinity. Funny thing was, CJ could
instantly see that Bill and Donna were definitely siblings because he
had the exact same smile on his face.  It was clear the two of them
had just crossed the boundary into some kind of family minefield.

"Oh, that's good," he replied.

To Donna's ears, his 'oh, good' sounded anything but. For some reason
she couldn't stop the words from tumbling quietly from her mouth.  "He
has a name, Bill," she said.

He fiddled with his fork for a moment, "I, know Don.  And I'll use it
when he decides to treat you better," he replied, equally quietly.

Well, she'd started it. Now she had to figure out a way to finish it.
Without alienating her brother. "He treats me fine," she said, still
keeping her voice soft and calm.

"He treats you so well that he never lets you go home at Christmas or
have a vacation?" he replied, his voice continuing to match hers.

"I always get to go home at Christmas," she replied.  "It's just that
my home is in DC now. Wisconsin's not my home anymore, Bill. And I
like what I'm doing in DC." She paused.  "But even if I wanted to go
visit Mom and Dad and I could manage to talk Josh into giving me some
time, you know what would happen.  I would have to spend the whole
time listening to what a stupid move it was to start working in a
Democratic White House and living in Washington, D.C. When what I
really should have done was marry Steven." She said, referring to 'Dr.
Freeride.' "And how I should have made it my life's work to be a good
wife and mother and give Mom and Dad as many grandchildren as quickly
as possible." In an unconscious move that mimicked his earlier one,
she fiddled with her spoon.

Bill didn't say anything to that for a moment. She had a point and he
knew it. He was Republican too but their parents carried it too far.
For them it was almost...Biblical. "So how did you manage to get him
to give you time off to come down here," he said, with just a hint of
a smile.

Donna knew that smile.  It was the peacemaker smile.  It was the
reason why he could straddle both sides of the fence when it came to
her difficulties with the rest of the family. She smiled back at him
and felt as if the storm had passed.  "CJ threatened him."

Bill turned and looked at CJ, giving her his best, most winning smile,
"You know CJ, for a Democrat, you're all right. I like you.  Lunch is
on me, ladies.  Have whatever you like," he said, sitting back in his
chair and folding his hands happily as the waiter came to take their
order.

After the waiter left, Bill leaned forward and took Donna's hand in
his.  "Don, they're wrong, you know. About the doctor guy.  He was
nothing but trouble for you. I tried to tell them that but you know
Mom, she hears 'eligible young doctor' and her eyes start to glaze
over."

"Josh calls him 'Dr. Freeride,'" Donna said, squeezing his hand to let
him know it was all right.

Bill grinned widely at that, "Well, who knows, maybe I've judged Lyman
too harshly after all."  He chuckled, "'Dr. Freeride,' huh? I'm going
to have to remember that."

'Well,' Donna thought. 'Lyman' wasn't perfect but at least he was
using part of Josh's name.' Donna decided the small victory was enough
for one visit. "So how is everyone?" Donna asked him.

Bill released her hand, sat back in his chair and took a sip of
coffee.  "Oh, fine.  Mom has her committee meetings and loves being a
grandmother. Dad still complains about his back. And our dear sister
Elizabeth keeps punching out kids like she and Craig are personally
responsible for repopulating the earth after the flood."

"Oh, good," Ainsley said.  "I thought I was the only one who had a
sibling like that, my brother Rick and his wife don't know the meaning
of 'population control.'  They have 7 children. How many does your
sister have?"

"Well, not as many as your brother," Bill replied, with a laugh.  "She
only has 5."

Ainsley laughed, "Well, she's young yet, right?"

Just then, the waiter appeared with their food and they ate in a
companionable silence. CJ had the crusted sea bass. Ainsley had the
deli-style baked mac and cheese, made from white cheddar. Bill had
roasted chicken noodle stew. And Donna had the ravioli.

"This place is beautiful, Donna.  How did you know about it?" Ainsley asked.

"Actually Bill recommended it," Donna replied.  The three of them looked at him.

"The guys bring dates here once in a while and said it was the perfect
place to bring three beautiful ladies for lunch," he grinned and
shrugged.  "I just thought you guys might like it. It's right by the
ocean and The Del, oh that's what the locals call the Hotel Del
Coronado, is such a beautiful setting anyway, I thought it would be a
good place."

"So how long have you been in the Navy, Bill?" CJ asked, finishing up
her sea bass.

"Well, I joined up right after high school. I went to the US Naval
Academy for college and officer's training and then I moved right onto
flight school. I've been flying jets for about the last 5 years."

"How do you like it?" she asked.

"Oh, I love to fly.  I plan to do it until they make me stop," he said
with enthusiasm.

"They make you stop?" Ainsley asked, confused.

"Well, it's different for each person but flying jets requires quick
reflexes.  As you age, those reflexes suffer. Plus it can be pretty
stressful.  Most fighter pilots move onto to something else by the
time they're in their mid-thirties to early forties. They might still
fly something like a transport or a cargo plane or helicopters or they
might go into flight instruction for new pilots or they retire from
the service all together. Military pilots often go into the private
sector and with a bit of additional training, become commercial
airline pilots."

"What do you want to do when you're not flying jets anymore?" CJ asked.

"Well, CJ.  Oddly enough, I've been thinking about eventually getting
on the Angel Flight Team."

"No kidding? I didn't know that Bill," Donna said, looking happy but a
little stunned.

"What?" Ainsley said.  "What's the Angel Flight Team?  Oh, you mean
like the Blue Angels?"

Donna only stared at her brother, "No.  The Angel Flight Team is the
one that flies Air Force One." She looked at Ainsley.  "Angel is the
code name for Air Force One."

"Oh, wow," Ainsley replied.  "I had no idea."

Donna smiled and laid her hand on his arm, "That's great, Bill."

"Well, don't get excited just yet.  That's a long ways down the road.
I plan on flying small jets for another 10 years. Plus there's a lot
of paperwork and applications to go through.  The process for getting
on the team is pretty intensive and the competition is fierce. In any
case, I see myself being in the Navy for quite a while.  It's been
good to me and I get a lot of satisfaction out of serving my country."

"Still, I'm very proud of you, Bill."  Donna looked at him, a mixture
of pride and love sweeping through her.  "Isn't he the greatest guys?"
She said.  He was so precious to her.  The only link to an otherwise
severed family.

He took her hand again, "Well, Don, you're not the only one who's
proud.  I know you don't hear this from anyone else in the family, but
I'm pretty proud of you too.  We all have to find our own way in the
world and you seem to have found yours. And you even get to serve your
country while you're doing it. A brother couldn't ask for a better
sister."  He leaned in and kissed her cheek.  They both looked at each
other for a moment, a little brother/sister bonding passing between
them.

"Thanks, Bill," she said, with a slightly watery smile.  "Oh, before I
forget. I have something for you." She reached down by her purse and
picked up the small box there. She handed it to him, "But you can't
open it until Christmas." It was very hard to buy presents for Bill.
Because he was so often deployed, he had to travel light. But he loved
to read and kept a small collection of books with him, even at sea.
Donna had been visiting the National Air and Space Museum and saw a
book she thought he might like. It was a history of Naval flight.

Bill smiled, "I ordered your present online and had it shipped to your
address in D.C.  It should get there a few days before Christmas. But
if I can't open mine until Christmas, you can't open yours till then
either," he said with a grin. He'd pre-ordered her the complete set of
Season One DVDs for the TV show "The Executive Branch" from Amazon.com
but they wouldn't be officially released until the week before
Christmas. He knew it was one of her favorite shows.

Donna smiled, touched that he'd remembered, "Thanks."

Bill smiled back, released her hand and took a glance at his watch,
"Well, ladies if you're all finished, I need to be getting back. As
much as I've enjoyed escorting you three beautiful, intelligent women
around Coronado, I've got a hop in an hour," he said as he signaled
the waiter.  The waiter came over and took Bill's credit card to pay
their lunch check.

"A 'hop'?" CJ asked.

"Oh, sorry. A 'hop' is a quick flight.  I'm scheduled for some flight
training maneuvers." He paused and took the last sip of his coffee.
"Where are you ladies off to this afternoon?"

"We thought we'd do some shopping at Horton Plaza and then have dinner
somewhere in the Gas Lamp District," Donna told him as the waiter
brought the charge slip back and Bill signed it.

"That should be fun.  Don't spend too much money, Don." He told her as
they all stood up.

"Yes, brother dear," she said with a smile as they walked out to the car.

**********

"So Donna, how has your brother managed to remain single?  He's
certainly charming enough women falling all over him," CJ said as they
drove back over the bridge into San Diego.  After lunch they dropped
Bill off at the front gate so they wouldn't have to go through
security again.

"Oh, Bill's never had a problem getting a date.  My guess is he just
hasn't met the right girl. Plus he's pretty dedicated to the Navy and
that's not really very conducive for long-term relationships.  I mean
people do it, but I don't think that Bill is quite in the place in his
life where he wants a wife and kids," Donna answered. "Oh, Ainsley
this is our exit."

"Okay," Ainsley said as she moved into the outside lane of the freeway
and took the exit into downtown San Diego.

"So what's this Horton Plaza place we're going to?" CJ asked.

"Well, it's a mall that was built in 1985 as part of an urban renewal
project for downtown San Diego. Named Horton Plaza for one of the
city's founding fathers "Alanzo Horton", it covers 6 1/2 city blocks
and has 7 levels containing 140 shops, restaurants, boutiques and
bistros."

"Sounds like my kind of shopping," Ainsley said as they neared the
next intersection.  The street they were on was one way but had three
lanes to it. Traffic was very light and, going well under the speed
limit, she began to slow in preparation to stop at the upcoming red
light. But the light turned green before she'd slowed very much, so
she pressed gently on the accelerator to pick up speed again.

Donna laughed and looked out her window, "Yeah, that's what I
thought......AINSLEY! WATCH OUT!" she screamed as a car, intent on
running the opposite red light, came barreling toward the intersection
and Donna and CJ's side of the car.

To be continued...



Chapter 10 - PG

For Ainsley, it seemed to be a huge blur of motion lasting only a
split second.  For Donna and CJ, time seemed to expand, every detail
horrifyingly sharp and agonizingly long.

Ainsley reacted almost instinctively by downshifting, jerking up hard
on the emergency brake and cranking the wheel completely to the left.
This locked up the back wheels, changed their momentum from forward to
sideways and sent the SUV fish-tailing into a sliding U-turn. If
they'd been going any faster they probably would have flipped over.
Luckily no one had been behind them, beside them, or parked along the
stretch of street there were on because the SUV ended up facing the
wrong way as it slid unceremoniously against the curb that used to be
on their left, but was now on their right.  Before the SUV had even
stopped moving completely, the car, a black Honda Civic, going well
over the speed limit, blew, unmolested, through the intersection, not
stopping at all.

The three of them sat in the car, each breathing hard with their
hearts in their throats and glad that they were wearing their
seatbelts.  They, along with the car, were apparently uninjured.

"How...?" Donna began, then she had to swallow and take a breath.
"How...how did you learn to drive like that?"

Ainsley, looking pale as a ghost, appeared to just trying to
concentrate on breathing. "My brother," she finally managed.  Opening
the driver's door, she unbuckled her seat belt, slid out of the car
and promptly sat down on the running board with her head between her
knees, trying to keep down the mac and cheese she'd had for lunch.

CJ and Donna, still recovering a bit themselves, got out and sat down
next to her.  "Ainsley?  Ainsley? You okay?" CJ asked. Ainsley,
careful to keep it between her knees, shook her head.  "What can I
do?" CJ said, rubbing her back gently. Ainsley mumbled something.
"What?  I couldn't quite hear you?" A small crowd of witnesses and the
curious had begun to gather around them on the sidewalk.

"Sam," Ainsley said again.  "I need to talk to Sam."

"I'll grab her cell phone," Donna said, managing to get her rubbery
legs to stay upright as she reached into the car for Ainsley's purse
and pulled out the cell phone.  Flipping it open she used the speed
dial list to call Sam.

Sam, sitting in is campaign office in Santa Monica, glanced at the
display and, with a smile, put down the new polling numbers he was
reading as he answered the phone on the third ring. "Hi, Ains."

"Sam?  This is Donna."

"Donna?  What are you doing on Ainsley's phone?" he asked, confused.

"Sam, I need you to promise me you'll be calm," Donna said, trying to
stay calm herself.

"Calm?  Why do I need to be calm?" he said, trying not to let his
blood pressure go through the roof with worry. "Donna?  What's wrong?
Where's Ainsley?"

"She's right here next to me Sam.  She's fine.  She's just a little
stressed right now and wants to talk to you."

"Why?  What happened?" he demanded.

"I'll put her on and let her explain," Donna said, thinking it might
be better if Ainsley had a chance to talk to someone about what had
happened. She took Ainsley's hand and put the phone in it.

Ainsley managed to raise the phone to her ear, which was no small
trick because she still wasn't ready to raise her head. "Sam?" she
said, her voice wobbling just a bit.

He recognized the tremor in her voice. "Yes, honey it's me.  Are you okay?"

"When we get back I think you're going to need a new emergency brake
and someone should look at the tires and the suspension," she said,
trying to be calm.  Tears began to gather in her eyes, "I've been sort
of hard on the car," she said.

"I don't care about the car, Ainsley.  I said are you okay?" Sam said.

"Not right at the moment, no," she said, trying not to break down completely.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" He paused and could hear the
shudder in her breathing.  "Just take some deep breaths.  Slow and
easy," he told her, part of him aching to hold her.  "Ainsley, keep
breathing but give the phone to Donna or CJ."

Automatically, Ainsley did as he said and handed the phone to Donna.
"He wants to talk to you."

Donna took the phone, "Yes, Sam?"

"Donna get in the emergency box and grab one of the small bags of
pretzels and a bottle of water.  Give them to her and make sure eats
all the pretzels and drinks all the water. Now give the phone back to
Ainsley," he said.

Donna put the phone back in Ainsley's hand and started to root around
in the box for the items Sam mentioned.  "Sam...there was a car.  It
almost hit us," Ainsley finally told him.

"Oh, my God. Was anyone hurt?"

"Here Ainsley, Sam said to eat these pretzels and drink this water,"
Donna said, opening both of them and setting them on the sidewalk in
front of Ainsley.

"No," Ainsley said putting a pretzel in her mouth.  "The other car
didn't even stop." Sam's voice and the water and pretzels had started
to calm her.  She even managed a smile.  Even though Sam wasn't there
he was still taking care of her with the water and the pretzels.

Recognizing the slightly stronger tone in her voice, Sam tried again.
"Can you tell me now what happened?" he said calmly.

Ainsley took a sip of water, "We'd just came back from lunch with
Donna's brother, who by the way, I think you'd like." She took a deep
breath and popped another pretzel in her mouth. "We were on our way to
do some shopping in downtown San Diego when out of nowhere this black
car ran a red light and almost hit us.  Thank God my brother taught me
out to do donuts when we were teenagers.  I just did a half of one,"
she finished.  Raising her head, she leaned it back against the car.
"It was the only way I kept us out of the intersection. Otherwise the
other car would have broadsided us."

"But you guys aren't hurt?" he held his breath.

Ainsley finished the last of the pretzels. "No, I think we're okay."
For the first time she looked at CJ and Donna.  They both nodded.
"Yeah, we're okay."

Sam relaxed and ran his hand through his hair.  "Thank God for that."
He paused.  "What are you going to do now?"

Ainsley took another drink of water.  "I think we'll just go over and
go shopping like we planned, then maybe have some dinner. It will feel
good to get outside and walk around before I have to ride in the car
for a while." She paused.  "But I think I'll have Donna or CJ drive us
over.  I'm not quite ready to get back behind the wheel." A police
cruiser drove up just then to see what had caused the small crowd and
to find out why the SUV was facing the wrong direction. "Sam I better
go, the police just got here.  I'm sure they're going to want a
statement."

"Okay, if you need anything call me back.  Take your time coming home.
Come back when you're ready. Don't worry about getting back too early
or, you know, too late, just give me a call when you leave San Diego
so I know when to expect you." He paused.  "And don't worry about the
car.  I'll get it checked out when you get back.  You guys being okay
is the most important thing."

Ainsley smiled, feeling almost back to normal.  "Okay, Sam.  Thanks.  Sam?"

"Yeah?" he answered.

"I love you, okay?" It wasn't the first time she'd told him that but
it was the most heartfelt.

Sam smiled into the phone, "It's very okay and I love you, too."

"Bye," she said.  Hearing his similar reply, she hung up and prepared
to tell the two police officers, who had just walked up to the SUV,
what happened.

**********

After giving their statement to the police, CJ had driven them the
rest of the way to Horton Plaza where they'd parked on the 5th level
of the expansive 8-level parking garage and spent the rest of the
afternoon shopping.

"Okay, guys, where do you want to eat? I'm starved," Ainsley said as
they walked across the nearly empty parking garage to where they'd
left the SUV. It was 7:00 pm and the mall had just closed. It had
gotten dark outside but the garage was well-lit. Each of them was
carrying no less than four bags. Power shopping was something the
Sisterhood apparently excelled at.

"Yes, but you're always hungry so what's new?" CJ replied, with a grin.

"What's new is that I'm going to start gnawing on the car's leather
interior if I don't get to eat soon," Ainsley replied.

They reached the car, which was still forlornly off by itself.  They'd
parked on the outer edge of garage with the front end of the car
facing a huge 5 story drop to a wide pedestrian alleyway below and the
five story building on the other side. Ainsley pressed the button on
the alarm fob that deactivated the alarm and unlocked the doors.  Then
she pulled open the rear door so they could set all their purchases in
the back.

"Well, we're right near the Gaslamp District and there's about every
kind of restaurant you could want there," Donna said as she set her
bags inside. Ainsley slammed the back door closed and they all moved
to get in the car.

"Are you going to be okay to drive now?" CJ asked.

Ainsley smiled as she opened the driver's door,  "Yes.  Sorry for
throwing the big hissy, as my Mama used to say."

"Perfectly okay," CJ replied, climbing over the emergency box into the
back seat. "I would have been worried if you hadn't had some kind of
reaction," she settled herself into the seat behind Donna.

"I still can't believe that thing you did with the car," Donna said,
getting into the front passenger seat.  "That was amazing."

Ainsley pulled her door closed and handed her purse to Donna, who put
set it down by her feet.  "I'm not sure why I did it," Ainsley told
them. "Like I said, my brother, the one with all the kids, liked to
drive like a lunatic when we were kids and he wasn't afraid to share
his knowledge with me. I guess my brain connected the two and took
action. I've got to tell you though, it was a lot easier in his
Superbee than in this tank. If I'd been in it or my BMW I probably
would have done a complete circle instead of a U-Turn. This thing
doesn't handle very responsively." She paused.  "So where are we at on
dinner?"

CJ laughed, "I swear Ainsley you have a one track mind."

"When it comes to food, yes....or sex with Sam," she added, knowing it
would get a response.

"Oh, darn, that's what I forgot," CJ said, with a snap of her fingers.
 "I meant to stop at the drug store and get some mind bleach. Thank
you Ainsley for once again putting that image of you and Sam in my
brain," she said.

"You're welcome, CJ," Ainsley replied with a smirk. "Always glad to be
of assistance."

Donna laughed. "Okay you two, knock it off.  Now even I'm getting
hungry," Donna said.  "Where ARE we going to eat?"

"I could just drive through the Gaslamp Quarter until we see someplace
that looks good," Ainsley suggested.

"Hey guys?" Donna said.  "Why don't we just eat at the Hard Rock Cafe?
 It's right across the street.  I saw it when we were pulling into the
parking garage.  I know it's a chain but the food's usually edible and
we won't have to waste time driving around.  We could just leave the
car here and walk over. I doubt there's much street parking right now
anyway."  Donna watched as, just down the pedestrian alley in front of
the car, a flock of birds resting in a tall tree suddenly rose and
scattered into the night. How odd, she thought.

"I could go for the Hard Rock," Ainsley said.

"Hard Rock's fine with me," CJ said.

Donna smiled, glad they'd made a decision, "Okay, well then let's...."
her words were cut off as a sudden jolt shook the car and what sounded
like an odd bang reverberated through the passenger cabin.  Thinking
for half a second that someone had rear ended them, the three of them
looked toward the back of the car.  No one and nothing was there.  The
whole car was rocking and shaking wildly at that point. They could see
the alarms in the few remaining cars in the garage start to go off.  A
low dull, rumble began to build in their ears. Sounding something like
a cross between an approaching locomotive and a faraway thunderstorm.
Ainsley watched as the limbs on the tree the birds had just vacated
began to rock violently.

"Oh, my God," CJ screamed, her voice barely audible over the rumbling.
 "It's an earthquake!"

Rather than passing in a moment as they expected, the shaking and the
rumbling seemed to get worse. The car rocked liked it was a tiny
rowboat on stormy high seas. Hanging onto whatever strap or protruding
handle they could, the three of them watched as windows in the
building across the alleyway began to explode as if they were being
riddled with invisible bullets.

In reality the initial quake only lasted about a minute. But
appreciating reality kind of flies out the window when you're in an
earthquake.  When the earth is doing something that the humans which
inhabit it don't expect it to do, and continues to do it, and you're
sitting in the middle of it while it's doing it, a minute can be an
eternity.

As if a symphony of sound had just begun to tune up, a new layer of
sound joined the low rumble. It was the sound of metal and concrete
and glass, as if some one had put them all in a jar and was shaking
them. As the three of them watched in horror, cracks began to appear
in the large pillar just off to their left and in the ceiling above.
Cracks became holes as pieces of the garage ceiling began to rain down
on them. The lights in the garage, flickered out into blackness as
deep, spidery cracks formed in the front window of the car as it was
assaulted with debris. Pieces became chunks and the tempered glass
window imploded toward Ainsley and Donna as it failed under the weight
of one particularly large piece.  Donna and Ainsley both screamed and
instinctively ducked, grabbing onto each other as they bent over the
center console.

The chunks became sections as the whole world seemed to fall in on
them. The sound was a cacophony now and the SUV took a horrible dip,
as if the back end were sinking in quicksand. CJ, who had also ducked
when things began falling and was now laying prone on the back seat,
flinched as the something sent the roof of the SUV crumpling inward
toward them.

Then, the shaking ebbed and halted altogether. The dust and debris
continued to trickle for a few moments longer then stopped falling.
Like an evil monster, a terrible silence moved in to replace the
deafening noise of a moment before.

Not a sound was heard from inside the SUV, which was now entombed in
darkness and debris.

To be continued...



Chapter 11 - PG

Sam took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.  It was 7:00 and he was
thinking about heading for home.  He looked through the glass walls of
his small office at the nearly empty campaign office. Somewhere, a
Sunday evening news program was spilling from a radio. Jerry, his
campaign manager and two staffers were the only other ones left in the
office. There really wasn't much more he could do tonight and he
wanted to home when Ainsley called. He always enjoyed talking to her
better without an audience, especially since no one on his campaign
knew he was dating her. He frowned. No matter what Ainsley said, that
was a situation he was planning to remedy in the very near future. But
he was too tired for a big confrontation with Jerry over it tonight.

"Have you taken a look at the polling data I left on your desk?" Jerry
asked, walking into Sam's office.

'Speak of the devil,' Sam thought. He looked at the other man for a
moment.  Jerry Carter was about 10 years older than Sam and was the
campaign manager the DNC had sent to run his campaign.  Tall and thin
with a receding hair line that bordered dark sandy brown hair, he was
a little smarmy and reminded Sam of a benevolent used car salesman,
but he had a track record that couldn't be beat and so far Sam felt
he'd done an adequate job. Sam wondered what he would say when he told
him he was dating a Republican. "Yeah, just finished it," Sam replied.

"Your numbers in West Hollywood, Brentwood, Woodland Hills, and here
in Santa Monica are strong but we really need to work on Malibu,
Calabasas, and Agoura Hills. I've already set up a couple of events
for you in those areas this week."

"Okay.  Sounds good. I...." his words trailed off as the trembling
began.  It wasn't strong but it was very noticeable. The water in the
bottle on his desk began to rock slightly but otherwise everything on
his desk was largely unmoved. David, who spent most of his time back
in DC, unless he was running a campaign, paled noticeably. Sam, who'd
grown up in California, didn't let something like a minor earthquake
phase him. It did last for a while, which did surprise him.  Usually
only the bad ones lasted a long time. "It's okay Jerry. Just a little
earthquake," Sam said when it finally stopped. "Here they're kind of
like bumper to bumper traffic.  Just a part of life in L.A."

Jerry didn't look reassured. Then something changed in his face. Since
he'd apparently figured out that a crack in the earth wasn't going to
open up and swallow him, his mind had apparently fell back on its true
calling.  Politics. "You know, Sam, you're right.  Earthquakes are a
big concern for people here in this district. In light of this
earthquake, maybe we should have Brian add some remarks about it in
your upcoming speeches. We could punch up the fact that if elected,
you'll work for improvements and increased funding for earthquake and
disaster preparedness and emergency services."

'This was where the used car salesman part of Jerry comes out,' Sam
thought.  "Jerry, I'm going to work for those things anyway and I
don't think we should, you know, exploit the very real fears and
concerns that people in Southern California have about earthquakes.
They're not stupid and they could turn it around and think they're
being played."

"No Sam, I think you're wrong.  It's time to seize this opportunity.
Look, it's late.  Why don't you go home and get some shut eye. I'll
have Brian write up some stuff, we'll keep it low key.  Just take a
look at it.  If you don't like it, we won't use it."

"Fine, Jerry.  I'll take a look but I'm not promising anything," he
said, gathering up his things and sliding them into his briefcase.

**********

Sliding into Ainsley's BMW, he started the engine. It purred to life.
He switched the radio on, looking for some information about the
earthquake and pulled into traffic.

It didn't take long to find something, "....Repeating our top story.
About a half hour ago, an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter
scale hit the city of San Diego." In stunned silence, Sam managed to
pull the car over as he listened to the rest of the broadcast. "The
quake was felt as far away as Phoenix and Santa Barbara. Details are
sketchy at this hour, but reports are that just north of the city, the
I-5 and I-15 freeways are heavily damaged and impassable, thereby all
but cutting off the northern access to the city and slowing the
arrival of outside aid from Los Angeles. The city's main airport,
Lindberg Field, is closed due to heavy damage on the runway and in the
terminal. Main access to the city is now limited to land routes coming
into the city from the east and from the south and water routes from
the ocean to the west.  The extent of damage and injuries inside the
city are still coming in but a fire is reported to be burning in the
Historic Gaslamp Quarter and there is major structural damage to
Qualcomm Stadium, the home of the San Diego Chargers football team.
Stay tuned to this station for more details." A commercial for a local
car dealer came on after the announcer signed off.

Sam sat there in stunned silence.  San Diego.  Ainsley.  Donna.  CJ.
Oh, God.  Maybe they'd left the city before it happened.  Maybe
Ainsley had just forgotten to call him.  Okay, so she never forgot
anything but it was the only hope he had.  Fumbling, he jerked his
cell phone out of his briefcase and dialed Ainsley's cell. The first
time he got a message saying all circuits were busy and to try again
later.  Hanging up, tried calling Donna and CJ's cell phones.  With
their phones there wasn't even a recording.  There wasn't even a ring.
 Just silence when the call went nowhere.  He hung up and redialed
Ainsley.  This time the phone rang once and went right into her
voicemail.  Hearing the recording of her voice on the voicemail box
was little comfort.

Just in case the phones were just screwed up and she, CJ and Donna
were fine, Sam left her a brief message. "Ainsley?  Ainsley, it's Sam.
 I don't know if you're still in San Diego but there was a huge
earthquake there tonight." He paused and took a breath.  "I need to
know if you're all right and where you are. Please call my cell as
soon as you get this, no matter what time it is.  I'm on my way to San
Diego to find you.  I love you.  Take care of yourself.  Bye." With
that, he hung up.

But how was he going to get to San Diego?  With the freeways a mess he
couldn't get there by driving the usual route and it was too far for
him to go around and come in from the east or the south.  That left
only one option.  From the water.  Gunning the engine, he turned the
car toward Marina Del Rey where his sailboat was berthed. In the
meantime, he needed information. Picking up the cell phone he dialed
the person he thought might have it.  Josh.

**********

Josh stretched and ran a hand over his face. It was 10:30 Sunday night
and he was about ready to pack it in.  Closing the report he was
reading he leaned back in his chair.  'Three more days,' he thought.
Three more days and Donna would be back. After a bit of fake
grumbling, he told Donna and CJ he would pick them up at National on
Wednesday night.  In his mind, Wednesday couldn't come fast enough.
Even with her twice daily phone calls, including the one they'd had
just a couple of hours ago, he'd missed Donna more than he cared to
admit and he couldn't wait to see her again.

Josh's phone started ringing.  'Well,' he thought.  'So much for going
home.' "Josh Lyman," he said into the receiver.

It was Leo, "Josh, I need to see you in my office."

"Okay, I'll be right there," Josh hung up the phone, his brain
frantically searching for anything he might have done that Leo was
about to hit him with.  He came up empty.  Except for pissing Margaret
off a couple days before, Josh couldn't think of anything. Well,
Carrick's defection was still a sore point, but Leo had already raked
him over the coals for that one. Climbing out of his chair he started
for Leo's office.  He met Toby on the way.

"You going to see Leo?" Toby asked him.

"Yeah he just called me. You?" Josh replied.

"Yep."

"Any idea why?" Josh asked him.

"Nope."

"Boy, Toby you're just a fountain of information tonight aren't you?"

"Yep," Toby replied with just the hint of a smirk.  Together they
walked into Leo's office. Leo was standing near the bank of TV
monitors.  Every TV was on but the sound was muted.

"Hey, Leo," Josh said.  "What's going on?"

"Hey guys. We've got a situation in California," Leo said.

With those simple words, Josh felt his heart tumble into his shoes. "A
situation?" he said, trying to remain calm. After all, a 'situation'
could mean anything.

"There was an earthquake there about a half hour ago. A bad one,
they're saying about 7.1 on the Richter. Which is bad, even for
California." Leo paused to let that sink in. "With Donna and CJ there,
I knew you'd both be worried.  The good news, if there is any, is that
it was in San Diego and not L.A. so I'm sure they're both fine.  There
haven't been any reports of damage or injuries in L.A. at all."

Toby looked at Josh, who'd gone a very pale shade of transparent, then
at Leo. "This morning, CJ, Donna and Ainsley all went to have lunch
with Donna's brother." Toby said with a heavy lidded  blink, "He's
stationed at NAS North Island." He paused, knowing that Leo had been
in the military and would already know the location, but he couldn't
keep the words from coming out of his mouth.  "Near San Diego."

Leo looked at Josh, who hadn't said a word and only stood staring at
the TV monitors.  Most of them were showing local coverage of a huge
fire burning in the Historic Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego.  A
few of the others were showing visions of collapsed and partially
collapsed buildings and structures, including the Horton Plaza parking
garage.

"Well," Leo said, trying not to feel his own level of dismay at this
information.  "If it was just lunch, they're probably already back in
L.A."  He tried to keep his tone level.  "Why don't you guys try
calling them?"

Toby and Josh pulled their cell phones out and dialed both women.
"All circuits are busy," Toby said, hanging up.

Josh held out his phone, "Cannot complete your call as dialed," he
said. He nearly dropped it when it started ringing a moment later.  He
looked at the display and felt hope reappear when he saw that it was
Sam.  "Hey Sam," he said answering it.

"Josh?  I need your help.  There's been an earthquake here," Sam voice
said over the cell phone, a note of mounting panic in his voice.

"I know.  Leo just told Toby and me. Are CJ and Donna with you?"
'Please say yes, please say yes,' his brain silently begged. The huge
pause on the other end dashed his hopes.

"No, Josh," he said quietly. "I'm pretty sure they were with Ainsley
in San Diego when it happened."

Josh sat down heavily in a chair.  His brain stalled for a moment.  He
couldn't quite grasp what Sam was saying.  Only one word kept playing
in his mind, over and over again. 'Donna.'

Leo pulled the cell phone out of Josh's limp hand. "Sam?  This is Leo."

"Leo?  Where's Josh?" Sam asked.

Leo took a breath, "Yeah, he's just taking a minute. Tell me what's
going on."  Sam filled him in on what he'd told Josh.

"Okay, " Leo said with a heavy sigh.  "Do you know where they were going?"

"All I know is that they were going to go shopping in downtown San
Diego and then have dinner.  They didn't say exactly where." He
paused.  "Leo, I've got to find them.  The I-5 and the I-15 are closed
so I'm heading for Marina Del Rey where I've got my sailboat berthed.
I'll get there from the water."

"No, Sam," Leo said.  "With the earthquake so near the ocean, tidal
waves and high seas will be a concern.  Not only could it be dangerous
for you, but the Coast Guard will most likely have Mission Bay in San
Diego closed to all sea traffic, including their own, for at least the
next 12 hours. No, you better head for LAX.  There's a small Coast
Guard Air Unit there."

"But Leo, the San Diego Airport is closed."

"Yes, Sam I know, but I'll have a Coast Guard helicopter waiting for
you at LAX and they can fly you to NAS North Island.  Their runway is
open. In fact, surprisingly, the base sustained very little damage.
All emergency air assistance into San Diego has been diverted from
Lindberg to North Island until further notice. Call me back when you
get to North Island and I'll let you know where FEMA is setting up
their command post. From what I remember of San Diego when I was
stationed at North Island, I'm guessing it will be Balboa Park as it's
central and has a lot of open space. We've got to go brief the
President so by the time you get there we should have things a little
better organized."

"Okay, Leo." He paused.  "Oh, wait.  Bill!"

"Bill? Who's Bill?" Leo asked confused.

"Donna's brother," Sam and Josh answered at the same time. Sam
continued.  "They had lunch with Bill today in Coronado.  Maybe he
knows where they went. He's stationed at North Island. Do you know how
I can get in touch with him?"

"I'll take care of it when I call the base commander.  You just get to
LAX and don't have an accident on the way.  You'll have to use the
Coast Guard's tarmac entrance on the south side of the airport.  I'll
leave your name at the gate so they'll know you're coming," Leo
replied.

"Okay, I'll talk to you when I get to North Island.  Thanks Leo."

To be continued...



Chapter 12 - PG

Leo broke the connection and handed the phone back to Josh,
"MARGARET!" He bellowed, then paused. "Oh, damn I sent her home."

"Yes, Leo?" she said, appearing in the door, wearing jeans and sweatshirt.

"I though you went home hours ago?" Leo said.

The red head nodded, "I did but I saw the news about the earthquake on
TV and figured you'd probably need some help so I came back." She
turned to Josh and Toby.  "I heard there was no damage in L.A., that's
good, right?" She paused, feeling uneasy when the two men continued to
look at the floor.  "I mean, you know, 'cause CJ and Donna are in
L.A."

"The two of them and Ainsley went to San Diego today to see Donna's
brother," Toby said quietly.

"Oh, my God," Margaret said, stunned. The fear for both the women was
clearly written on her face.  But as was so often the case with
Margaret, hidden under her quirky facade, was a will of iron. She'd
needed it to deal with Leo all the years they'd been working together.
 Her back straightened slightly and she was all business.  "What can I
do?"

Leo had to suppress a smile. 'Good girl,' he thought.  That was the
Margaret he knew and loved (but that's a story for another time).  "I
need you to make some calls. First, call the Coast Guard Air Unit at
LAX and let them know that Sam Seaborn is coming their way.  On my
personal authority, they're to put him in a helicopter and fly him
down to NAS North Island. If they give you any crap, let me know and
I'll chew on them.  Second, I need you to get me the base commander at
North Island.  While they're hunting him up, they can also hunt up
Donna's brother, Bill...." Leo looked at Josh, who was still looked
worried but seemed to be coming out of his dazed fog.

"Lieutenant William Moss.  He's a fighter pilot assigned to the, uh,
USS John C. Stennis," Josh answered.

Leo looked back at Margaret. "Get him too.  We need to ask him if he
knows where CJ, Donna and Ainsley might have gone. When that call
comes in, put it through to the President's study. Third, I want you
to call FEMA, the USGS and the governor of California. Get damage and
injury reports and any other information on earthquakes you can dig
up.  Call in the senior assistants, too.  We're going to need all the
help we can get."

"If you need her, Ginger's still at her desk," Toby told her.

Leo continued, "Oh, and see if Jim's in his office" he said referring
to CJ's Deputy Press Secretary who was filling in during her trip to
California. "If not, call him and tell him to get his ass in here.
He'll need to brief the press soon. Once they find out that CJ's
involved, it's going to hit the fan."  Margaret nodded and headed for
her desk.

Leo turned to the other two men in the room. Josh's fear for Donna was
clearly stamped on his face, while Toby's face was carefully neutral.
Too neutral.  Leo knew it was a mask for deeper things.  With Toby,
the old adage 'still waters run deep' definitely applied.

"Come on, guys.  Let 's go brief the President." Knowing they would
follow, he turned and walked out of the office.

**********

Jed sat in a leather chair in his study, reading. He'd opted to leave
the wall of TVs off for a change and just read a book, rather than the
small stack of briefs on his desk. It was a rather illuminating volume
on macroeconomics in developing Asian nations, which, he was sure,
anyone else would find mind-numbingly boring but, given his Nobel
Prize in Economics, he found fascinating. At the knock on his door he
looked up from the book, "Come," he said.  He watched as the door
opened and Leo, Josh and Toby walked in.  "Uh, oh.  This can't be
good. Anytime the three of you show up together in my study it makes
me want to break out in hives," he joked over the top of his glasses.
Then he saw their expressions, especially Josh's, and knew that now
was not the time for levity. "What's going on?"

Leo took a breath, "There's been an earthquake in California."

Laying the book aside, he rose from the chair.  "How bad?"

"Early reports are about as bad as it gets. 7.1 on the Richter," Leo
answered. "Lindberg Field has massive damage to the runway and
terminal. The Gaslamp Quarter of downtown looks like a replay of the
Marina District during the 1989 San Francisco quake - there's a fire
burning out of control and with so many water main breaks they can't
begin to fight it.  A lot of the structures in the area were built
between 1873 and 1930 and so they've had a higher than average rate of
collapse from the quake. Plus the whole damn city's built on dredged
ocean silt and fill dirt.  Not the most stable stuff in a quake." Leo
walked over and flipped on a number of the TVs in Jed's study.  The
two of them watched the coverage of some of the devastation.  Toby and
Josh stayed where they were, on the opposite side of the room from the
TVs.

"I though San Diego didn't have earthquakes," Jed remarked.  "L.A.,
yes.  But not San Diego."

"Well, I guess they were due," Leo said.  "Margaret's working with
FEMA and the USGS on the info."

Jed looked at Josh and Toby, who were unnaturally subdued.  "What's
going on," Jed asked Leo quietly, cocking his head toward the two men.

Leo glanced at the two of them and then back at Jed, "CJ, Donna, and
Ainsley Hayes are among the missing." he replied softly.

A look of stunned surprise washed over Jed. "I thought CJ and Donna
were staying in L.A. this week."

"They went down with Ainsley to visit Donna's brother at North Island
and do some shopping in San Diego. Sam called and he's pretty sure
they were in downtown San Diego when the quake hit.

"Oh, my God," he pulled off his glasses.  "Do we know where?"

"No.  Sam's heading down from L.A. to try and find them," Leo told
him. "The two major freeways into San Diego from L.A. are heavily
damaged so I'm having the Coast Guard fly him from LAX to North
Island. Luckily the base seems to have come through largely unscathed.
 We're using their runway for all non-commercial air traffic. Sam
thought maybe Donna's brother would have an idea of where they are.
He's a pilot on the USS John C. Stennis, which is also home ported at
North Island. Margaret's getting him and the base commander on the
phone. She'll route the call here when it comes through."

Jed turned to Toby and Josh, "Guys, we'll do everything we can to find them."

"Thank you, Mr. President," Toby replied.  Josh, who was standing with
his back against the nearest wall, only managed to nod.  A knock at
the door interrupted the silence.

"Come," Jed said.

The door swung part way open and Charlie stepped into the room. "Good
evening, Mr. President."

"Charlie?  What are you doing here?  I thought I sent you home," Jed replied.

"I was, Sir.  But I heard about the quake and thought you might need
me here," Charlie commented matter-of-factly.

Jed smiled.  "Thanks, Charlie. Yes, we could definitely use your help.
 Coordinate with Margaret on getting all the information on the quake
you can from FEMA and the USGS."

"Yes, sir." Charlie glanced at Josh and Toby. "Have you heard from CJ
or Donna?  Are they okay?"

Toby cleared his throat and answered before Leo could, "No, Charlie,
they're missing."  He paused.  "We think they were in San Diego."

The full impact of what he was saying, settled on Charlie, "Oh. Well,
then." He paused. "I'll go see Margaret."  With that he quietly left
the room.

The ringing of the phone on the Jed's desk shattered the silence. Leo
walked over and picked up the receiver.  "Yes?"

It was Margaret. "Leo?  I have the base commander, Captain Tim Walton,
and Donna's brother, Bill, holding for you and the President. The
connection may not be very good though.  The phone lines weren't
working so we had to contact them by military satellite communications
and then hook it through a remote military land line in Yuma, AZ."

"Thank you, Margaret. Put them through," Leo replied, hitting the
speaker phone button. "Captain?"

"Yes, Sir." Captain Walton answered, a bit of static crackling in the
background.

"This is Leo McGarry, Captain Walton.  I'm here with the President and
his advisors.  Can you hear me all right?"

"Under the circumstances, yes, Sir," he answered.

"Are you able to give us an update on your status, Captain?" Jed asked him.

The connection sputtered a bit. "One or two of our storage buildings
was damaged and the orientation center at the Navy SEAL amphib base
collapsed but luckily no one was in those buildings and so far, sick
bay has only reported minor injuries.  Mostly knocks on the head from
people falling to the ground or being hit with falling debris.
Unfortunately, the city of Coronado was hit hard by the quake as, I'm
sure you already know, was the city of San Diego." The line wavered
for a moment.  "...runway has been inspected and deemed undamaged and
we have rerouted all air rescue and emergency service traffic here
since Lindbergh is closed." The line was ablaze with static.
"....bridge..." was all they heard .

"We didn't hear your last message, Captain.  Please say again," Jed said.

There was a pause, the line now clearer, "I said it looks like the
Coronado Bridge is intact which will help getting aid into the city.
We're on emergency generator power here as the main power is out.
Power in San Diego is also out. Across the bay, the only lights in San
Diego we can see from here on the base are moving cars and the fire
burning in the Gaslamp Quarter." There was pause. "I don't mind
telling you, Sir.  The area in and around San Diego is going to need
all the help you can send it."

"FEMA is mobilizing right now and we'll be working with the governor
of California and the National Guard to get troops and supplies down
there right away," Jed replied.

"Thank you, Sir," Captain Walton replied.

Jed glanced at Toby and Josh, who had now moved over to the bank of
TVs and were watching intently. "Captain, is there a Lieutenant
William Moss with you?" he asked.

Static distorted the line for a moment, "Yes, Sir, Mr. President.  I'm here."

"Lieutenant, I understand that you had lunch with your sister, CJ
Cregg and Ainsley Hayes today.  Is that correct?"

"Yes, Sir.  I gave them a tour of the carrier and the base and the we
had lunch at the Hotel Del Coronado."

"We've had some trouble locating them and wondered if you knew where
they were going today?" There was a huge, but silent pause on the
other end of the line and for a moment Jed wondered if the static had
finally cut them off.  "Lieutenant?  Are you still there?"

"Yes, Sir, I'm still here. And yes, they told me where they were
going." The catch of emotion in his voice was evident, even over the
terrible connection.  "They were going to Horton Plaza to do some
shopping and then to the Gaslamp Quarter for dinner."  There was
silence in the room. For a moment, the only movement was Toby taking
Josh by the arm and pushing him into a chair near the TVs.

"But you haven't spoken to them since lunch?" Jed asked.

"No, Sir," Bill answered. "Sir?"

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Jed answered.

There was another pause again, "If....if there's anything you can do
to try and find her...find them, I'd be...grateful."

"We're going to do all we can, son." He paused.  "Captain?"

"Yes, Mr. President?" Captain Walton responded.

"I'm sending someone down to you from L.A. tonight. If it's not
already in the air, a Coast Guard helicopter will be coming to you in
the next few hours with him on board.  His name is Sam Seaborn. I like
to ask that you grant him all the rights and privileges of one of my
personal advisors. He's coming to try and find these three women, whom
we believe are all together and whom are present or former members of
my staff and all personal friends of mine." He paused.  "Once he
arrives he'll need someone to take him to the sites that Lieutenant
Moss mentioned, since the Lieutenant knows the area, it might be a
good idea if you put them together."

"Understood, Sir.  I will keep an eye out for Mr. Seaborn and put
Lieutenant Moss on special assignment until further notice," Captain
Walton replied.

"Thank you, Captain." Jed said.  He considered something for a moment.
"My staff and I will arrive tomorrow to personally tour the damage."
He saw Leo stiffen next to him.

"Sir," the Captain began.  "It might be dangerous for you to come.
With aftershocks and the power being out it might not be advisable at
this time."

"I appreciate your concern, Captain but I think this is important and
we will be arriving sometime tomorrow morning.  It will just be for
the day. Will you be able to accommodate Air Force One under your
current conditions?"

There was a slight pause.  "Yes, sir. We will expect you tomorrow. Thank you."

The moment they broke the connection, Leo quietly voiced his objection
so only Jed would hear. "Sir, I'm not sure that going there is there
is the best idea.  The Captain was right. The conditions there and the
aftershocks could make it very dangerous."

Jed looked at him for a moment, "Leo, some people will lose everything
in this quake." He looked over at Toby and Josh who hadn't moved from
their spot near the TVs.  "Even we aren't immune to the devastation it
has caused." He paused.  "I know you don't want me running around
clogging up streets that may need to be open for emergency crews and I
agree.  That's not why I'm going. We're in our second term, this is
not a campaign stop for Godsakes. No one knows I'm going and we'll
keep it that way.  We can just neglect to inform the Press and that
way, I won't have my usual mammoth entourage following me around.  It
will just be for the day, I'll meet with the governor and the mayor,
then I'll get back on board Air Force One and come back."  He looked
again at the two men by the TV's.  "Besides, you really think the two
of them are going to be any use to you with Donna and CJ missing?
I'll toss them on Air Force One and take them where they need to be."

Jed 's argument was getting through.  "They're not going to want to
come back until they hear something about Donna and CJ," Leo
commented.

Jed looked at him, "I didn't say I was bringing them back with me.
They'll stay as long as they need to stay." A knock sounded at the
door and Abbey opened the door and stepped inside.

"Jed?  Did hear about the quake in California?" she asked, walking over to him.

"Yeah," he said, cocked his head toward the TV screens. "And it looks
like CJ and Donna are right in the middle of it."

"Oh, my God.  How's Josh handling it?" she asked quietly.

"Not very well, I'm afraid. As for Toby he's holding it together but I
think he's hanging on by his fingernails," Jed told her. "Sam's on his
way down to San Diego to see what he can find out. We're going to fly
out in the morning.  I was just telling Leo that I'm taking Josh and
Toby with me since they won't be any good to him anyway until they get
some news. Some good news."

"I'm going too," she said, firmly.

"Abbey...." Jed began.

"No, Jed.  I'm going. If you're going I'm going.  Those girls mean a
lot to me too."

Knowing his wife's stubborn streak, Jed decided not to fight with her.
 "We're only going for the day but I'm leaving the guys there to keep
a handle on things."

The three of them walked over to Josh and Toby.  Toby was really the
only one that seemed to acknowledge their presence.  Josh seemed lost
in the images on TV. "From what Donna's brother said, they're probably
in one of two places," Toby said, looking back toward the TV.
"They're either here," he said, pointing at the images of the
collapsed parking garage that used to be attached to Horton Plaza.
"Or they're here," he said, pointing toward another TV and the images
of the raging fire in the Gaslamp Quarter.

To be continued...



Chapter 13 -PG

The first thing Donna was aware of was the dark. The suffocating dark.
 It was the kind of dark where something could be 5 feet or 5
centimeters from you and you'd never know it. The kind of dark that
made you blink hard a couple of times to make sure your eyes were open
and not shut. She was still slumped in an unnatural position over the
center console. What she assumed was Ainsley's arm, was slung across
her shoulders and in turn, her arm was slung across the back of
Ainsley's neck.

For CJ it was the how much her accommodations had changed.  Lying
across the backseat, she felt around with her hands and realized that
rather than the comfortable, roomy backseat she'd previously found
herself in, she was now in a rather shallow, narrow box. Although she
couldn't see it, the roof felt like it was at a slant and it felt much
too close to her face. So close, even her own breath was being pushed
back at her.

Ainsley's first sensation was one of searing pain stabbing through her
arm. As if someone was sticking her with something hot and sharp in
the forearm. The back of her head was throbbing something fierce and
she was also having trouble moving from her place slumped across the
center console.  As if some invisible force was holding her in place.
Then she realized it was the roof of the car pressing down on her
back. She also felt the warmth of Donna's arm across her neck and
under her cheek.

Overlaying everything was dust and dirt.  Even though they couldn't
see it, they could feel it and smell it drifting through the air. It
made them want to cough and sneeze at the same time.

Being the spokesperson she was, CJ found her voice first. "Donna?
Ainsley?  Are you guys all right?"

"I'm okay," Donna replied, trying to move a bit.  She didn't get very
far.  Before she was able to even sit up halfway, her shoulder and her
head contacted with the crumpled roof.

"I think my arm's broken," Ainsley said.  "And for some reason I seem
to be stuck."

"How are you doing, CJ?" Donna asked into the dark.

"Feeling a little claustrophobic. But I'm okay otherwise." She paused.
"Ainsley, did you say there were flashlights in the emergency box? Oh,
by the way, I'll be giving Spanky a big wet one for thinking of the
whole emergency box thing in the first place."

"Me too, CJ," Donna said.

"Sorry guys," Ainsley said.  "You'll have to get in line, I've got
first dibs. Although I plan on doing a lot more than kissing him."
Thinking of Sam somehow made the panic she hadn't realized was
sneaking up on her, fade a bit.

There was a rather unladylike snort from the dark backseat, "You know,
I'll give you that one. I won't say anything about mind bleach or
anything. Sam deserves some nooky after this one." CJ felt around
until she found the box. "Now if I can just get it open." Unsnapping
the small latch that held the lid in place she pulled it open and slid
her hand inside.  "Do you remember what part of the box they're in?"
she asked Ainsley.

"I think they're in the bottom on the door side," Ainsley answered.

"Great," CJ muttered.  "The hardest place for me to reach." She
stretched.  "Oh, wait, I think I got one," she said as her hand
contacted with what felt like a cool metal cylinder.  Pulling it out
she felt around for a switch. She finally located it and flicked the
flashlight on. CJ aimed the light around the interior of what was left
of the SUV. "Oh, my God," was the only thing she could think to say.

The roof of the car was crumpled down on them so that it was at the
bottom of where the side and front windows used to be. As CJ had
suspected it was mere inches above her face.  It was caved in just a
little bit more than that on the driver side which was why Ainsley
didn't seem to be able to move. The back of the car, behind the back
of CJ's seat didn't exist. A layer of white concrete had apparently
bisected the car, which probably accounted for at least part of the
reason that the front of the car was sitting higher than the back.
Almost like it was driving up a steep hill. With the top part of the
car gone it was impossible to tell if the doors were blocked.  But
even if they weren't, the SUV had been bent and misshapen enough that
there was no way they going to get them open now.

CJ aimed the flashlight toward Donna and Ainsley.  They both blinked
back at her in the sudden bright light. Bits of tempered glass from
part of the windshield was sprinkled over both of them and the front
seats. Donna had a few scratches on her neck and her right cheek and
dust and dirt coated her face.  Except for the fact she was bent over
sideways to accommodate the low ceiling she seemed to be all right.
Ainsley, on the other hand, had quite a gash on her cheek and when
Ainsley turned away from the light, CJ could see she had a gash on the
back of her head too. CJ passed the beam over Ainsley's right arm and
she could see that while it wasn't at a funny angle or anything a
large piece of concrete that was now resting on it could very easily
have broken it. "Donna?  Can you move that piece of concrete off of
Ainsley's arm?"

Without a word, Donna nodded and moved her hands slowly over to the
concrete.  It was heavier than it looked and it took her a minute to
shift it out of the way.  She started to shove it into her foot well.
"No, Donna don't put it there," CJ said. "I think it might be a good
idea if we got into the foot wells.  That way we can stay as low as
possible in the car in case the roof collapses any more. We'll
probably be more comfortable too."

"I'm not sure I can," Ainsley said.  "Between being wedged in here and
the steering wheel, I'm not sure I can get into it."

"Well, we can give it a try anyway.  Donna, before we do that I'm
going to hand you some water and the first-aid kit.  Try and wash some
of the grit from Ainsley's cheek and the back of her head. Then see if
you can do anything to clean and bandage them. Oh, and you might use
some of that water to rinse off your own face and neck while you're at
it.  You've got some minor cuts of your own." Wedging the flashlight
between the drivers seat and the center console to give them some
general light, CJ reached into the box.  After feeling around for a
moment, she pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to Donna.
While Donna took care of the rinsing, CJ rooted around in the
emergency box for the first aid kit. CJ had to admit that having a
purpose was helping her feel better.  She hated feeling helpless.

"Ohhhh, that's cold," Ainsley said as Donna poured the water over the
cut on the back of her head.

"Sorry," Donna replied.

"It's okay, just surprised me," Ainsley said. "How does it look?"

Luckily, Donna wasn't squeamish about blood. She'd gotten over any
trace of that after Rosslyn and taking care of Josh. She angled the
flashlight so it was shining a bit more toward Ainsley.  "Not too bad
actually.  It's still bleeding a bit but the scalp is very
vascularized so that's okay.  It doesn't look too deep.  CJ, hand me
some gauze from the first aid kit." CJ handed her a couple of pieces.
"Ainsley, I'm going to put some pressure on this.  It might hurt a
little."

"Okay," Ainsley responded as Donna gently pressed the gauze into the
wound. It hurt a bit but she remained quiet.  After Donna got the
bleeding under control, she used some antibiotic ointment to dress
Ainsley's wounds. Taping it to the surrounding hair, Donna put a gauze
pad over the cut on the back of Ainsley's head and put a large
band-aid on the cut on her cheek.

"Okay," Donna pronounced.  "Done." She shoved the trash into the small
receptacle in the center console and handed the small first aid kit
back to CJ.

"Now Ainsley, let's try and get you down into the foot well.  Then we
can find something to use as a sling for your arm."

"Okay," Ainsley said.  "What do you want me to do?"

"Just a sec," CJ said, pulling the flashlight out of it's temporary
holder so she and Donna could get a good look at Ainsley's
predicament. It was quickly obvious that there were two problems. The
most obvious one was the fact that the roof of the car has caved in so
far on Ainsley's side that she literally only had about a 1/2 inch of
'wiggle room' between her and it.  The second problem was the drivers
seat. When the roof had collapsed it had crushed down the seat backs
for both front seats, leaving them resembling something not unlike a
crazy accordion. Since Donna had no steering wheel in front of her it
hadn't been such a problem.  But for Ainsley the crumpled seatback was
pressing her hip up against the lower edge of the steering wheel,
thereby also helping to pin her in place. "Any ideas, Donna?"

Donna was quiet for a moment, considering.  "CJ, shine the light on
the steering wheel for a minute."

CJ complied, "You see something, Donna?"

"Maybe.  Ainsley does this car have a tilt steering wheel?"

"Yes," Ainsley answered.

"Do you usually drive with the wheel all the way up or all the way
down or what?"

"Actually I keep it in the middle. Why?" Ainsley asked.

"Well, it looks like there's a little room between the steering wheel
and the roof. Maybe we could tilt it up a bit farther and give you
enough room to move."  Donna explained.

"Yeah," CJ said.  "Then I could maybe pull back on the seat back and
give just a little more room.  It might work."

"But from my position I can't reach the tilt lever.  It's on the
steering column about half way down on the door side," Ainsley said.

"Maybe I can reach it," Donna said. Slowly she slid her body toward
her.  "I'll try not to crush you, Ainsley."

"I'd appreciate that, Donna," she said, trying for a little levity.

Donna slid her head between Ainsley and the front dashboard. Reaching
her hand out she slid it along the steering column.  Finally her
fingers found what she guessed was the lever.  "Ainsley, I'm not going
to be able to pull the lever and push up on the wheel.  Can you get
your good arm around to do that?"

"I think so," Ainsley moved her uninjured arm between her and Donna
until it was resting on the wheel.  "Got it."

"Be sure you press yourself back against the seat when you try and
move the wheel. CJ," Donna began.  "She's pressed so close to the
wheel I think you better try pulling back on the seat when we try to
move the wheel too.  The wheel won't move if there's too much pressure
on it from her body."

"Just give me a minute to get moved around," CJ said. Pulling herself
along the back seat she wedged her head as far over to the driver side
back door as she could and grasped both sides of Ainsley's seat. Then
she braced her feet against the center console for some leverage.  "I
swear it's like earthquake twister in here," she said.  The three of
them laughed.

"Okay, everyone do their thing on three," Donna said.  "One....two...three."

Donna pulled and held the tilt lever, CJ pulled the seat back with all
her might and Ainsley pressed herself back and pulled up on the wheel.
It neatly slid up about two inches and stopped. The three of them
relaxed for a minute. Then Donna shimmied sideways back into her
original position.  "Okay Ainsley how about now?  Can you turn your
body a bit and slid between the steering wheel and the seat?"

"Wait," Ainsley said, grunting with a bit of effort. "I think so." CJ
pulled back on the seat again while she tried. Contorting her body in
ways she had never thought of and, frankly never wanted to do again,
at least when sex with Sam wasn't involved, Ainsley began to move very
slowly from her prison slumped over the center console to her prison
in the foot well under the steering wheel. She grimaced a bit as she
had to move her injured arm. Although her legs had to kind of be
tucked under her and slightly under the foot pedals, she now had
shoulder room and with her being so small, a bit of head room.  She
smiled up at Donna and CJ, "Just call me contortionist girl."  The
three of them laughed.

"Okay, in the words of our favorite President from New Hampshire.
What's next?" CJ said, as she returned to her original position on the
back seat.  "Oh, yes.  Here Donna," she said taking off her scarf and
holding it out to Donna.  "Make a sling out of this for Ainsley's
arm."

Taking the scarf out of CJ's hand, Donna slid over a bit closer to
Ainsley and gently tied a loop around the wrist on her injured arm,
then brought the scarf around her neck and tied the end to the loop.
"How's that?" Donna asked, sliding back.

Ainsley tested out the makeshift sling.  "Pretty good, I think.  It
will keep my arm out of the way in any case." She paused.  "Donna?
Can you reach my purse?"

'I think so," Donna said, reaching down by her feet to where she'd set
Ainsley's purse.  "Why?" she said pulling it out and passing it to
Ainsley.

"I thought it might be a good idea if I tried to call Sam.  No one
knows we're here. If they don't know we're here than they can't come
get us," Ainsley said logically.

"You make an excellent point my Republican friend," CJ told her.
"Donna, why don't you try your cell phone too and I'll try mine." All
of them pulled out their cell phones and tried them.

"Mine won't even get a signal," Donna said a moment later.

"Me either," CJ said.

"Well, I've got a signal but all I'm getting when I dial Sam is a
recording saying all circuits are busy," Ainsley said, closing the
phone and putting it back into her purse. "So much for my brilliant
idea.  Now how are we going to get out of here?" In an effort to try
and free them, she attempted to open her door, but had no luck. She
tried not to let the panic that was sneaking up on her take hold.
"I'm really not happy about being here.  Can't you guys get your doors
open or anything?"

CJ was about to make a remark but she caught just the edge of hysteria
in Ainsley's voice. "Donna and I can try," she said, gently. She and
Donna each grasped their respective door handles and pushed.  They
didn't even budge. "Sorry, Ainsley. We're just going to have to wait
until someone comes and gets us out."

"I mean, 'cause seriously.  I really need to get out of here.  I'm not
just going to wait for the roof to come down on us." The panic in her
was gaining ground. Their earlier experience with almost being creamed
in the intersection was keeping her tolerance for being in the car
very low. She missed the sound of Sam's voice. If Sam were here he'd
be able to calm her down. She pulled her phone out and tried to call
him again.  All she got was the same message about all circuits being
busy.  "Dammit, why doesn't this stupid thing work!"

"Ainsley?" CJ said, gently, trying calm her down. "Take a deep breath.
We can try again later.  The quake probably knocked out some of the
transmission towers.  The service should come back in time.  We can't
give up hope yet.  We're alive, we're relatively uninjured, we've got
each other, and we've got food and water. If this quake was as bad as
I think it was, I'd be willing to bet that's more than a lot of people
can say tonight."

"I know you're right, CJ," Ainsley said, taking a slow, deep breath.
The panic began to subside a little. Then she added softly, "I'm
sorry, guys. I guess...I'm just scared." It felt good to get that off
her chest.

Donna reached out and took Ainsley's uninjured hand in hers. "We all
are, Ainsley.  It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Ainsley smiled, "Thanks." She paused. "So now what do we do?"

To be continued...



Chapter 14 - R

"Well," CJ said. "We were heading off to dinner, so let's have dinner.
Donna if you you'll take a seat in your foot well, I'll search around
in Sam's box of fun and see what we've got on the menu." CJ said.
Taking the flashlight, she started rummaging through the emergency
box. "Any requests?"

"I would love a nice juicy burger.  With some crisp French fries,"
Donna said, sliding down onto the floor. It was cramped but at least
she could sit up straight again. "Oh, and a giant Diet Coke with lots
of ice."

"Now, see I was thinking more along the lines of some fried chicken,
garlic mashed potatoes, homemade sausage gravy and a tall, frosty
vanilla milkshake," Ainsley put in.

Donna just looked at her across the center console, "Ainsley?
Seriously, how do you eat like that and look like you do?"

Ainsley grinned.  "What can I say. I was blessed with good genes and a
high metabolism."

"Well, I'm sorry the kitchen is fresh out of everything you both
wanted and the Cobb salad, garlic cheese breadsticks, and iced tea
that I was going to order.  It looks like all they have to offer this
evening is water, boxed juice, trail mix, beef jerky, cheese and
crackers and a couple of different kinds of PowerBars," CJ told them.

"Okay.  I'll take water, trail mix and beef jerky," Ainsley said.
"Oh, and could you see if you can find me a couple of aspirin in the
first aid kit?  My head and my arm are having a contest to see which
one can throb the worst."

"You got it." CJ dug out the items and passed them up to Ainsley.
"Your turn, Donna.  What can I get for you?"

"Water, cheese and crackers and a PowerBar, I don't care what kind,"
she replied.

CJ passed her the items.  "Okay I guess I'll treat myself to water,
beef jerky and a mystery PowerBar."  Getting the items out for
herself, CJ noticed something tucked into the corner of the box.  "Hey
guys, there's a small battery powered radio in here.  Maybe we can get
some news about the quake," she said, pulling it out and setting it on
the center console.

"Hey, not to be an alarmist or anything, but does anyone else smell
something burning?" Donna asked as calmly as possible.  Ainsley and CJ
sniffed.  Sure enough, the air carried the slight scent of something
on fire.

"Yeah, I smell it," CJ said.

"But it doesn't smell like gasoline.  More like a wood fire," Ainsley
observed.  "The parking garage is concrete, it shouldn't burn."

"Maybe there'll be something about it on the radio." CJ took her
dinner and slid onto the floor of the backseat. Snapping the radio on
she fished around for a station.  It didn't take long to find one. CJ
turned up the sound.

"A state of martial law has been declared in the county of San Diego
and a 9 pm curfew has been ordered until further notice.  All
residents are ordered to remain off the roadways to allow emergency
personnel to travel more freely to damaged areas to assist the injured
and trapped," the announcer said. "The heaviest concentrations of
damage seem to be in Mission Valley, the City of Coronado, and the
downtown area of San Diego, including the Gaslamp Quarter, where a
fire continues to burn unabated at this hour. Numerous water main
breaks are making it difficult for the fire fighters to get any kind
of control over the fire, which has now spread to include 4 city
blocks of the historic area of downtown San Diego."

"That's not that far from here.  It must be the burning that we
smell," Ainsley commented.

The announcer continued. "According to early estimates, the death toll
from what is now being called the Rose Canyon Earthquake has risen to
45 and the injury count is quickly nearing the one hundred mark.
Officials fear that both figures could rise dramatically before this
crisis is over.  Lindberg field remains closed at this hour and all
commercial air traffic has been diverted to airports in Los Angles,
Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino counties. The runway at North
Island Naval Air Station remains open to receive emergency supplies
and personnel. FEMA is in the process of setting up emergency centers
in Balboa Park and at the Convention Center near Seaport Village.
Stayed tuned to this station for more updates." Easy listening music
began to play softly from the radio.

"If the runway at North Island is open that must mean that the base
wasn't too badly damaged," Donna said.  "I hope Bill is all right."

"I'm sure he's fine, Donna," CJ said, in what she hoped was a
reassuring voice. "Well, we should probably save the batteries in the
flashlight so I'm going to turn if off."  Hearing no objections, she
switched it off, plunging them into darkness.  "Is everyone finding
their dinner selections to their liking?"

"Yeah, in the dark I can almost imagine this cracker is a crispy
French fry," Donna said with a laugh.

"And I can almost imagine this beef jerky tastes like chicken," Ainsley added.

There was a paused from the back seat.  "Well, I'm sorry to say you
both have much better imaginations than me.  All I can taste is water,
jerky and a PowerBar," CJ said. "Good PowerBar though.  I think it's
peanut butter."

The three of them sat there in there pitch black darkness eating their
improvised dinner.  The only sound besides the soft rustling of
wrappers, muted chewing or gurgling of water as it sloshed in their
bottles when one of them took a drink was the radio playing softly.

Not being able to stand the musak coming out of the radio any longer,
CJ spoke.  "Well, this is typical. We miss getting creamed by a
lunatic driver only to be caught up in an earthquake. Just another
simple vacation for the Sisterhood.  I swear we should hire ourselves
out as poster girls for traveler's aid." They all laughed at that and
for just a second, the load lightened a little bit.  The darkness
wasn't quite so black and their predicament wasn't quite so serious.

"So what do you guys want to do now?" Donna said after they'd finished
eating.  The darkness was starting to get to her a little and she
needed a distraction. "Play twenty questions?"

"It's too early in this situation for us to start playing inane camp
games.  Let's just talk," CJ suggested. "I know.  Each of us has to
tell about the first time they had sex."

"Oh, so inane camp games are out but inane slumber party games are
okay?" Donna said.

"Yes.  Was that not clear?" CJ replied.  "I'll even go first.  My
first time was with Nathan Fisher.  I was 18, he was 19.  My family
was spending the summer in Martha's Vineyard. His family owned the
house just up from the one we were renting. We met while we were both
out fishing off the dock near our houses. Most of the summer we just
flirted and teased each other.  But the last week we were there,
something changed.  I guess it was because summer was coming to an
end. You know, the last days of glory or some crap like that. We'd
gone out for a ride on the lake in his father's speedboat and we were
in their boathouse putting everything away. I reached across him to
pick something up and he kissed me."

She paused, remembering.  "Wow, was he a good kisser. Anyway, the next
thing I know we're peeling each other's clothes off like they were on
fire. And we tumbled back into the boat and did the deed.  As I recall
he was even faster than the boat was.  He was a good kisser, but the
sex, not so much.  Oh, it was fine.  Not unpleasant and back then I
didn't know an orgasm from a hole in the ground so I didn't think I
was missing anything. I figured it was supposed to be fast."

"So who helped you find out what you were missing?" Ainsley asked.
There was a long pause from the back seat. "CJ?" Ainsley tried again.

"I think that's a story for another time," she said, avoiding the question.

"CJ?  Come on, you started this," Donna said. "We won't tell anyone.
We swear on the Sisterhood. Right, Ainsley?"

"I do so solemnly swear," Ainsley said.

"Now spill," Donna told her.

There was another, longer pause from the back seat. CJ was suddenly
sorry she'd started them down this road. "All I'm going to say is that
it's someone you both know."

Donna almost couldn't make the words leave her mouth, "CJ, please tell
me it wasn't Josh."

"OH GOD, DONNA!" CJ yelled.  "There's not enough mind bleach in the
known universe to wash away the image you just put in my head!  Josh
is like my annoying younger brother.  No, it was absolutely not Josh.
And Ainsley, before you utter the words that I know are hanging on the
tip of your tongue, no it was not Sam."

"Thank God," Ainsley said, releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding.

"It was Toby," Donna said, in a flash of insight, knowing it made
perfect sense. The silence from the back seat was her confirmation.

"It was Toby?" Ainsley said in disbelief.

"You know, for a press secretary I don't keep a secret very well, do
I?" CJ said.  "You can't tell anyone, not even Josh or Sam and
certainly not Toby, that I told you." She paused.  "It was a long time
ago, before he was married to Andi, when we were working together on a
Senate race in New York.  We lost the election.  We got drunk.  We had
sex.  Mind-blowing, mind-numbing, bring-the-house-down sex. I'd had
other orgasms but he really showed me how it was supposed to be done.
It was on an entirely new level. We didn't get drunk enough though.
We both remembered everything the next morning." She stopped.

"Well, what happened?" Donna asked.

"We were going in different directions.  He was staying in New York
and I had a job offer in California. As amazing as it was, I guess we
weren't ready to think of anything beyond that night. It was hard to
go, to leave that road untraveled but when you're young you think
there's always going to be time.  The next time I saw him he came to
my house in L.A. to ask me to work on the President's campaign. By
then he was already married to Andi."  She paused, then added softly.
"Andi was a fool to let him get away." A quiet silence descended for a
moment.  CJ finally cleared her throat.  "Okay, now that I've told you
my deepest darkest sexual secret, you guys better have some good
stories. Who's next?"

"Well, I'll go next but my story isn't all that exciting," Ainsley
said.  "First of all, at the risk of sounding like a lawyer, we are
defining sex as intercourse right?  I mean oral sex would be a whole
different matter, right?"

"Yes, Ainsley," CJ said, rolling her eyes in the dark. "Although I'm
sensing a story there that we might come back to, for purposes of this
discussion we're talking about intercourse."

"Okay, it was the summer between my junior and senior years in
college. I was 20, he was 22. His name was Matthew Aimes. Actually we
went to high school together. We'd been friends but nothing more.  But
that summer we saw each other again at a church social and it was.....
different. We dated for a couple weeks. Then one afternoon we went out
for a picnic and under a shady tree in a very secluded area, we had
lunch and then we had each other." There was a smile in her voice. "We
dated the rest of the summer and in the fall I went back to college
and he went to graduate school.  I never saw him again."

"How was it?" CJ asked.

"It was fine. I'm not sure you can hope for more than that for the
first time. He knew where everything went.  He was gentle and went
slow. Like you, at the time I wouldn't have known an orgasm if I'd,
well, had one. Which I didn't," Ainsley replied.

"And who showed you the error of your ways?" CJ persisted.  If they'd
pinned her she was going to pin them.

There was a slight pause.  "Well, there were others that took care of
business in the orgasm department, but I have to tell you that for
sheer toe curling sex, Sam's the man. He could write a book, although
I've found his live demonstrations much more....satisfying." Ainsley
waited for CJ's comments about mind bleach and putting images in her
head but nothing came.

"I guess I walked right into that one," CJ said with a slight snicker
in her voice.  "Okay Donna. You're up."

"Well, you're going to be disappointed.  There's not much to my story.
 We were both 16.  His name was Freddie Briggs.  He'd just gotten his
driver's license and he'd saved enough money to buy an old, broken
down Mustang that didn't run more than it did.  We'd been going out
for a couple of weeks and we went to the drive-in.  I think it ended
up being more about curiosity than actual desire.  So we climbed in
the back seat and had sex."

"How was it?" Ainsley asked.

"Disappointing, I guess.  For me anyway. It seemed to be over before
it started. I think Freddie had a good time," Donna answered.

"Guys always have a good time," CJ said.

"Yeah, don't you hate that?" Donna replied.

"So who showed you the right way it supposed to be done?" Ainsley asked.

The only reply they got was silence. "Donna?" CJ prompted.

"I'm not sure anyone ever has shown me," she said quietly.

"What do you mean?" CJ asked.  "What about Jack and Cliff and Dr.
What's-His-Name?"

Another long silence.  "It was kind of a repeat performance with each.
 They all seemed to have a good time.  I just seemed to be along for
the ride.  Of the three of them, I guess Jack was the best."

"Donna?" CJ asked gently, without a trace of teasing in her voice.
"Have you ever had an orgasm?"

Donna wished she'd just made up some story.  She could have lied.
Well, no she couldn't.  Not in this setting.  At this moment.  They
might not get out of this one.  While it was embarrassing it made her
feel oddly better to tell them the truth.  She knew they would never
betray what she told them.  Just as she would never betray their trust
by repeating what they'd told her. "Yes."

"But you said...."  CJ began.

"None of my sexual partners gave me one." She paused.  "I didn't say
I'd never had one. I am a modern woman.  When I have needs that are
not being met, I meet them." That hung in the air for a moment.  "I
can't believe I told you that," she added softly, a tear of
mortification falling down her cheek.  The darkness that had felt
suffocating only a moment earlier, now felt oddly comforting.  She
wiped the tear away.  What she hadn't told them and what she no
intention of telling them was the fact that the majority of orgasms
she'd had in the last five years were due to images of a certain curly
haired, dark eyed, dimple spouting, Democratic White House Deputy
Chief of Staff from Connecticut that danced through her brain late at
night.

"No, Donna. I appreciate your honesty," CJ said.

"Me too," Ainsley said.  "We've all had disappointing experiences when
it comes to sex, Donna.  Someday you'll find someone, like Sam or
Toby, who knows what they're doing.  Someone who'll show you how it's
supposed to be."

"I have a feeling Josh is someone like that," CJ said, quietly. "For
you, anyway. The way the two of you banter is tantamount to verbal
foreplay. Really good verbal foreplay."

Donna's face burned with an intense blush and she was once again
thankful for the dark.  If the reality of being with him was half as
good as her fantasies had been, CJ was right on the money. Of course
given their current predicament, it was looking less and less like she
was ever going to get to actually find out. But she appreciated the
fact that her two friends were trying to make her feel better.
"Thanks, guys."

"Okay, now," CJ said.  "How about everyone's worst sexual experience?
I say we go in reverse order this time. So Donna that means you. Is it
safe to say your worst was Freddie Briggs?"  A very long, very
noticeable silence echoed from the front seat.

An image, long forgotten, long buried, rose into her mind. Donna felt
cold all of a sudden and she pulled her coat a little tighter around
her. Now the darkness felt like being in a cage. The feeling of being
trapped was overwhelming. Her mouth had lost the ability to form words
and her breath seemed reluctant to leave her lungs. She couldn't tell
them the truth.  She'd never told anyone the truth. Not about that
night.  Not about what had happened.

To be continued...



Chapter 15 - R

"Donna?" Ainsley said, softly.  She could hear Donna's breath hitching
slightly.  "Donna, what is it?" Ainsley reached out with her uninjured
arm to touch Donna.  Her hand contacted gently with Donna's shoulder.
Donna jumped away as if Ainsley's touch had burned her.

"No," Donna said, quietly. Her voice breaking like a lost child's.

"God, Donna.  I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to startle you," Ainsley said,
pulling her hand back.  "I just wanted to make sure you were all
right."

CJ mentally cursed herself for opening this entire can of worms.
There was obviously some deep well of pain coming from somewhere in
Donna's past. Something that she apparently wasn't ready to talk
about.  "It's all right Donna.  You don't have to tell us if you don't
want to." She paused.  "Tell you what.  I'll go first again," she
said, hoping to take some of the pressure off of Donna.  "And if you
think the Toby story was juicy, this one makes the Toby episode look
like a page from Little House on the Prairie." She paused.  "And I
can't believe I'm going to tell you."

The story was painful to her but she lightened it, as much for herself
as to distract Donna from whatever secret pain she was trying to hide.
 "I was working for a PR firm in California, the one that I got fired
from the day Toby came to see me about the President's campaign.
Anyway, it was about two years before Toby showed up at my house. I
went to a big splashy Hollywood party at the Beverly Palms Hotel.
There were celebrities and politicians and a host of notable faces
there. I met someone.  He was a Senator.  He was handsome and
charming.  He was also married and I knew it."  She paused, waiting
for Ainsley or Donna to make a comment.

When none came, she continued, voice sounding distant and far away.
"I was lonely.  The kind of lonely where you'd just like to go and get
the nearest non-repulsive male you can find and barricade the two of
you in the nearest hotel room for two or three days. So lonely that
when he asked me to up to his room at the end of the evening I went.
It lasted about an hour and the sex was good.  We both...enjoyed
ourselves. We were lying there, just enjoying the moment and then his
phone rang. It was his wife."

CJ laughed to herself, trying to keep down the bile that kept trying
to rise into her throat.  "You should have heard him. He lay there in
bed with me and talked to his wife and kids. As if he'd thrown a
switch, he went from the smooth, charming, lover I just let screw my
brains out to a doting husband and father. He lay there as if the two
parts of him were completely separate, and in his mind, I'm sure they
were."

"Suddenly it hit me.  I was the other woman.  I'd always pitied women
who would waste their time on a man who would cheat on his wife.  I
always thought I was so superior to them.  I would never do that.  I
would never be that pathetic. I would never be THAT woman.  And yet
here I was, lying in bed with him, my body still marked from his
kisses, his hand trailing over my breast even as he talked on the
phone to his wife and I had become exactly THAT woman. It was all I
could do not to vomit right then and there. I quietly gathered my
things and left.  He was still talking to her when I closed the hotel
room door. I found out, years later that one night stands were a
pattern with him and I was not the first nor by any means was I the
last."  CJ was quiet then.

"Who was it, CJ?" Ainsley asked softly.

"It doesn't matter now," CJ said, sounding a little defeated. There
was no way she could tell them who he was.  If it ever got out it
could seriously ruin her life.

"It sounds like it matters to you," Ainsley said.

CJ sighed. "I guess it does but only because I was so stupid.  For me
it's the benchmark by which all personal stupidity is measured."

"CJ, it couldn't have been that bad," Ainsley replied. "I mean it
wasn't like you had a one night stand with the President or anything."

"You're not far off," CJ mumbled before she could stop herself.

"Excuse me?" Ainsley said.

CJ paused. "He was a Senator from Texas. Does that help spell it out?"

Ainsley thought a moment, then gasped. "You had a one night stand with
John Hoynes?"

CJ laughed sadly. "I guess I did.  Sometime I wish I could block it out."

Ainsley still couldn't quite believe it. "You had a one night stand
with the Vice President?"

she asked again, just to make sure she hadn't misunderstood. Donna was
still copiously silent.

"Well, he wasn't the Vice President then, but yeah," CJ answered. "And
I swear you guys cannot tell another living soul.  Not the
Brotherhood. Not your therapists.  Nobody."

"Of course, we wouldn't tell anyone, CJ.  I'm just a little stunned,"
Ainsley answered.

"If there was one thing I could take back, one moment I could erase
from my life, it would be that night. I've made some colossal mistakes
but that has to be one of the biggest."

"You know CJ, someday you ought to write a book," Ainsley said.

"I couldn't. It would be too mortifying for people to know all the
stupid things I've done," CJ replied.

"But you've definitely had an interesting life," Ainsley countered.
"Maybe you could have it printed posthumously."

CJ laughed in spite of herself.  "No, if everyone's going to read
about my exploits I'd like to be around to kick their asses when they
give me crap about it."

"Well, you've definitely trumped by story.  My worst was Mr. John
Lawrence, esquire.  We met in law school.  He thought he was God's
gift to women." Ainsley snorted softly. "More like a legend in his own
mind. Oh, he was cute enough and all but let's just say that the one
and only time we tried having sex, he finished before I even had my
underwear off. And of course by then, in his mind, my part in the
procedure was extraneous. I'm not even sure why I had to be there.
Blech," she said, a note of mild revulsion in her voice.  "I mean, I
know guys can sometimes get overly excited and be
prematurely...satisfied, but, well, it was just wrong."

CJ smiled a bit in the dark.  "I know that I am once again asking for
it, but have you ever have that problem with Samuel?"

Ainsley laughed happily and CJ could tell she was grinning. "Are you
kidding? When it comes to sex, Samuel Norman Seaborn has the control
of an gold-medal athlete and the finesse of Monet."  The two of them
laughed at that and tried not to worry that Donna had yet to make a
sound since Ainsley had brushed her shoulder.

CJ thought maybe it was time to move into safer territory.  "So
Ainsley?  How many little Seaborns are you going to have?"

"Well, we're not even engaged yet so this is terribly premature, but
Sam and I talked about having 2 or 3 kids.  I guess it all depends.
You never know where life's going to take you.  He'd like to be a
father someday.  I think he wants to make up for the mistakes his own
father made.  I don't think adultery or lying to his children will
ever be a problem for Sam, he's seen first hand the damage it can do."
Ainsley replied.

Donna sat in the dark, listening to her two friends and feeling
foolish but terrified.  She was overreacting. It wasn't such a bad
thing. Was it?  "Do you guys ever wonder why I left Steven?" she
blurted out suddenly but quietly.

"Steven?" Ainsley said.  "Who's that?"

"Oh, sorry.  You probably both know him better by the name Josh gave
him, 'Dr. Freeride.'"

"Oh, him," CJ said, wondering where this was going.  "Which time?"

"Sam said he dumped you," Ainsley put in gently.  "That night we were
working on the speech for the Correspondent's Dinner. He said he
dumped you before you joined the campaign and then after you'd gone
back to him the second time."

Donna sighed softly.  "Sam didn't quite have all the facts.  Both
times "I" left him. I told Josh about the second time. I never told
him about the first. I've never told anyone about the first." CJ and
Ainsley waited in silence for her to continue.  They sensed if they
pushed her she would withdraw.

"It's an old story really. Steven was charming and he said he loved
me. So I thought here's my chance to snag the cute young doctor, who I
was positive I was in love with of course, and we'd have 2.5 kids, a
dog and white picket fence. The American Dream, right?  My mother had
trained me well.  We'd be a team.  I'd help put him through medical
school and then he'd start a practice and he'd put me through school.
Well, as I'm sure you've already figured out, things didn't quite work
out that way." She paused to take a steadying breath.  Ainsley and CJ
didn't utter a sound.

"Sex with Steven was never anything special, for me anyway.  I suppose
the only thing I really got out of it was how to do the things a man
likes.  Steven liked me to do things to him and he had no problems
telling me or teaching me what he wanted. Of course, I was very eager
to please." She paused, the words building in her. Gaining strength
and power. Ready to break the silence they'd been consigned to for so
long. "But when it came to him doing things to me or me trying to tell
him what I wanted or what I liked, I apparently started speaking a
foreign language because he would all but ignore me.  I suppose after
a while it was just easier to go along with what he wanted.  I guess
part of me figured that was just the way it was going to be." She
laughed a bit mirthlessly.  "It wasn't like I knew any better." She
paused again.  Telling them that had been the easy part. Now came the
hard.

"One night he came home late.  He'd been out with his friends,
drinking. A lot. I always hated it when he drank.  He was not a nice
drunk. Oh, one or two beers and he'd be fine.  But anything past that
and he could be very...unpleasant. That night I pretended to be
asleep, hoping he would just fall into bed and let me really go to
sleep.  By then I was working two jobs and taking care of the
apartment and helping him study and I was getting over a cold. All in
all I was not in the mood for anything other than sleep." She paused,
shoving down the cold tendrils that threatened to engulf her from the
inside out.  "But he had different ideas." Her voice trailed off as
the tears began. Quiet sobs that made her chest hurt.  She'd only
cried about it once before and that had been in the shower afterward.

"I told him 'no' but he was a pretty big guy and it wasn't hard for
him to overcome any physical struggle I could put up.  He didn't need
to hit me, he just held me down and took what he wanted." Her voice
took on a detached air to it as she remembered. "I've never felt pain
like that before or since," she said, part of her wondering if she was
referring to the emotional or physical pain or both. "He just kept
pounding into me. Even when I begged him to stop. It was like I was
nothing.  It was like I wasn't even there. Then when he was done, he
rolled over and went to sleep." She stopped to take a breath.

Ainsley and CJ sat, silent, horrified tears running down both their faces.

"I crawled out of bed and took the longest shower of my life. I had
bruises all over my chest and arms and some on my thighs," she
swallowed.  "There was some...bleeding too, you know, down there." She
took another breath.  "So the next morning when he left to go to the
hospital for his rounds, I loaded up my car and left.  First, I went
to my parents.  I never told them what happened that night.  Since
there was nothing on my face it was easy to hide the bruises.  They
kept telling me to go back to him and apologize for whatever silly
fight we'd had. When that tactic didn't seem to be getting any
results, my mother started lecturing me on how I didn't know a good
thing when I had it."

"I remember lying there in bed in my old room and wondering how my
life had gotten so out of control. I couldn't sleep and so I flipped
on the TV.  The late news was on and they were profiling the
candidates for the upcoming Presidential election. They kept talking
about this guy, this underdog governor from New Hampshire and how,
even though they were sure that he'd never beat Senator Hoynes, they
were so impressed with the showing that he'd made. Then they showed a
clip of him giving a speech. His words about honor and duty and going
the extra mile, about it being a time for change, touched something
deep in me."

"It was like he was speaking directly to me and to my situation.  It
was time for a change and I was going to have to be the one to make
it.  So I threw together what I thought I might need and I drove to
Nashua. By the time I got there most of the bruises were gone and I
was determined to put what had happened with Steven behind me," she
said, wiping the last of her tears away. Except for some slight
sniffling, the car was silent as everyone absorbed what she'd said.

Lacking a tissue, Ainsley wiped her eyes on her shirt sleeve. "Donna,
after what he did, why on earth did you go back to him?" she asked.

Donna sighed, "It's really not such a mystery.  He called and
apologized.  Begged me to come back.  Begged my parents to talk me
into coming back.  I was stupid. I was weak. I thought he'd changed. I
thought it would be different. I thought I loved him."

"What made you leave him the second time?" CJ asked.

"The writing on the wall," Donna replied.  "After what happened the
first time, I'd told him that I would only come back if he promised
not to drink anymore.  He agreed. Then one night he called and told me
that his friends were going out for a beer and he wanted to meet them
after he got done at the hospital. I told him I didn't want him to go
and we had a fight on the phone.  He told me I was being too
controlling and that he needed to have some time with his friends. I
knew then that he hadn't changed and he wasn't going to. So once
again, I packed my things and headed out.  I didn't get very far
though.  The roads were icy and I was upset and my car went into a
ditch. They took me to the hospital, a different one than where he was
doing his residency.  I'd sprained my ankle slightly but was okay
otherwise. A nurse found Steven's name in my purse and called him to
come and pick me up. Without a car I really didn't have any choice but
to wait for him to show up.  And show up he did.  Two hours later. You
see, he still stopped off to see his friends at the bar. After all he
had been planning to see them anyway and he knew I wasn't hurt that
badly. So he figured, why rush?"  She paused.

"There was no way I was going with him, especially since I knew he'd
been drinking. So I told him I had to use the restroom and I used a
pay phone to call a cab.  Then I slipped out the back way and had the
cab driver take me to another pay phone so I could find out where
they'd taken my car. Luckily my car really wasn't damaged all that
badly and was still drivable. I paid the towing fees and got in my car
and left.  I haven't seen him since and if there's any kind of justice
in the world, that's the way it's going to stay." Feeling like some
kind of weight had been lifted off of her, she rested her head on the
seat.

She began speaking again, almost as if to herself, "In the whole time
I was with Steven, I never felt half of what I feel when Josh looks at
me.  Just looks. He looks at me and my heart does this little skip. He
doesn't even have to touch me, his eyes touch me."

"Donna?" CJ began, carefully.  "If we ever manage to get Josh to pull
his head of out his ass and things change between you two, you really
shouldn't wait too long to tell him about Steven and why you left him
the first time."

"Oh, CJ.  I couldn't.  He'd want me to press charges.  God, he'd
probably want to kill him," Donna answered. "At the very least he'd
probably sic the IRS or the FBI on him."

"Damn straight he would. Donna. The creep raped you.  He has to be
held accountable for that," CJ said.

"Raped might be a little strong.  He was rough, but I was his
girlfriend.  That gives him the right...."

"No, Donna," Ainsley said, firmly.  "That doesn't give him the right.
The fact that he was your boyfriend makes it worse.  Nothing gives
anyone, especially not the person who says he loves you, the right to
force you to do something you don't want to do."

Donna spoke, her voice sounding small and defeated.  "But don't you
see.  If I told Josh, he would see how pathetic I was. How even after
what happened the first time, I was stupid enough to go back for
more."

"No.  No, he wouldn't," CJ said firmly. "I'd bet you my house in L.A.,
the condo in D.C. and every cent I have in the bank that he wouldn't
see that. And do you know how I know that?  I know that because he
loves you. The two of you have been down too many roads together for
him to see anything like that. He would be angry with Steven for
hurting you and knowing Josh he would even somehow find a way to feel
guilty about what happened to you. Just like I'm sure when he finds
out about our current situation he'll blame himself for letting you go
on this vacation." She paused. "But in you he would see what Ainsley
and I see.  That you're someone with a big heart and a nearly
limitless capacity for forgiveness.  Which we all acknowledge is
something you need where Josh is concerned.  And he'd see someone who
wants to be loved. Someone who deserves to be loved. Someone who made
some bad choices but had enough strength to get out of a terrible
situation and make a new life for herself."  Donna didn't respond.
"Just think about it, Donna," CJ said.

"I will," she said quietly.

"Ainsley?" CJ said, suddenly feeling tired.  It had been a night of
revelations.  "Why don't you try calling Sam again.  Maybe the phones
are working now."

"Oh, good idea," Ainsley said, flipping open the phone.  The bright
blue display startled the three of them for a moment.  "I never
realized how bright the display on my phone is," Ainsley commented,
blinking against the harsh light.  She checked the reception, it
seemed okay.  Selecting Sam's number from her speed dial list she
tried to call him. Once again she got a recording.  "Nope," Ainsley
said dispiritedly, snapping the phone closed.  "All circuits are still
busy."

"Well, we can try again in the morning," CJ said, trying to get
comfortable in the utterly uncomfortable cubby hole she found herself
in. "Boy, it's getting chilly.  I'm glad we all have our coats.
Ainsley, since you're the one who's hurt the worst, why don't you take
the blanket. With your head injury I don't want to take any chances
that you'll go into shock," CJ said, pulling it out of the box. "Here,
I'm handing it forward to you."

"Are you sure?" Ainsley asked. Reaching out, she felt around until her
hand contacted with the soft fabric.  "We could take turns using it."

"No Ainsley, you take it," Donna reaffirmed.

"Okay, thanks," Ainsley said, a note of gratitude in her voice.  "If
you guys get cold, let me know."

The three of them were too tired to try and keep a conversation going.
 Silence fell between them as they listened but tried not to think
about the sounds they heard.  A creak here.  A groan there.  A trickle
of dirt or bits of pulverized concrete trailing and bouncing over
something metal. In the uncertainty of the night, each of them was
left to their own thoughts.

Ainsley, feeling a little better for having eaten something and having
taken some aspirin, thought of Sam and how much she missed him.  How
much she missed the way his eyes lit up when she walked in the room.
How much she missed his amazing words and his voice.  How much she
missed the way he touched her, the way he made love to her. Even now,
her face grew hot as she remembered how they had both woken up early
that morning, Lord it seemed to be a lifetime ago, and had made love
as the sun came up. For a moment she thought about the kids that she
and CJ had talked about. Before Sam, she'd never given any serious
thought to having children. But now they just seemed to be a natural
extension of what she felt for him. She took a moment to try and
picture them.  They would have his eyes, of course. His lopsided
smile. But her nose. His passionate sweetness. But her opinionated
feistiness. Their kids would be the best of both of them. As she
closed her eyes and tried to sleep, Ainsley thought, if nothing else,
she and Sam would definitely have fun practicing.

CJ pulled her coat around her a little tighter and tried not to let
the cold damp settle into her body.  Her mind turned to the regrets
she had.  The opportunities missed.  The foolish chances taken. The
paths not followed. The choices left unexplored. She thought of Hoynes
with self-loathing at what had been, Simon with great sadness at what
might have been, and Toby with curiosity at what could still be. She
remembered that night with him in Albany. The way his touch had heated
her skin.  The way his mouth had felt on hers. The way his beard had
tickled her breast. The way his chuckle had warmed her soul and
continued to do so even now every time she heard it. The thought of
him seemed to help keep the cold at bay and with the memory of him in
her mind, she drifted off to sleep.

Donna sat there in cold, cramped dark. Even under normal conditions
she wasn't overly fond of the dark. It felt like it was pressing in on
her.  Tiredly, she closed her eyes and tried to bring up a picture of
Josh in her mind.  He must have heard about the earthquake by now.  He
already knew they were in San Diego.  She'd told him so when she'd
spoken to him earlier in the evening while they were shopping.  Sam
probably would have called him too. He'd be worried and was probably
pacing now.  Driving everyone insane with his quick stride. Thinking
this was somehow his fault when it was no one's fault. It was
something that continually drove her crazy about him, while still
managing to make her crazy for him. He felt that guilt because he
cared. Because under that brash, swaggering, arrogant exterior was a
vulnerable and loving heart. One that she wished belonged to her. Her
last thought before finally drifting off was that he was going to be
mad when she missed calling him for his morning wake-up.

To be continued...



Chapter 16 - PG

"I swear, Josh, if you don't stop pacing I'm going to staple your ass
to the nearest seat," Toby told him as he watched him pace the length
of Air Force One for the 300th time since they'd taken off. Josh could
make pacing an Olympic sport and he'd win the gold, silver, AND bronze
medals.

They'd left DC just as the sun was coming up and were scheduled to
land at North Island in about two hours. Which would be just about 9
am local time. Toby hoped that, for Josh's sake, Sam had some good
news for them when they arrived. He didn't stop to acknowledge the
fact that he'd welcome some good news too.

Under Abbey's watchful eye, Josh and Toby had both been confined to
the Residence the night before. Besides the fact that they'd planned
to leave for California at the crack of dawn, Abbey was concerned that
both of them would spend the night brooding in their offices and not
get any sleep at all. She knew that they would need all their strength
for the coming days. Margaret and Ginger had been dispatched to their
respective apartments to pack a bag for each of them to take to
California. Even in the Residence, neither of them had slept well.

Rather than sitting down as Toby had hoped, Josh merely leaned back
against the nearest bulkhead.  "We should have heard something by now.
Did you try to call Sam again?"

"Yes, Josh. But the phones are a mess. We still couldn't get him on
his cell.  But that's not uncommon in cases like this.  Often people
can call out but people from outside can't call in. Like I told you
before, the President called North Island and the base commander told
him that Sam got in okay last night. As soon as he did, Donna's
brother took him into the city to see if what they could find out.
They were going to check the emergency centers in Balboa Park and the
Convention Center to see if the girls checked in. The base hasn't
heard from them since then.  Sam will call us if he hears something."

Josh leaned his head against the bulkhead and closed his eyes. His
heart ached for news of her.  She couldn't be dead.  Could she?  He
would know.  Wouldn't he?  He couldn't even begin to fathom what his
life would be like without her. "I never should have let her go," he
said quietly. "If I hadn't she'd be growling at me for working her too
hard but she'd be with me and she'd be fine."

Toby grinned and shook his head.  It was the grin he used when he was
ready to slug someone for being criminally stupid.  "Oh, so now it's
your fault she went on vacation?  It's your fault that she happened to
be in the wrong place at the wrong time?  You're not God, Josh," he
said, waving his hand around in frustration. "You didn't know this was
going to happen.  There was no way any of us could have known this was
going to happen," his voice had grown steadily in volume. Anger from
some hidden place inside him was bubbling furiously to the surface.
"What? You think it would have been better to handcuff her to your
side? Do you think that would have kept her safe?  'Cause if you'd
used that brilliant strategy at Rosslyn, I don't think it would have
worked out so well."  The minute the words were out of his mouth, Toby
knew he'd gone too far.

Josh could actually feel himself physically recoil at Toby's words.
Could feel the old scars in his soul reopening.  Move.  He had to
move. If he didn't he'd put his fist through the bulkhead or Toby's
jaw. Without a word he turned and walked away.

"Josh..." Toby said as he watched him walk away. Angrily he rubbed his
hand over the top of his bald head. Where had that come from? He was
the level-headed one.  The one who didn't get emotional. Josh hadn't
deserved those words.  Toby knew Josh was worried about Donna and he
knew it wasn't the way a boss worries about his assistant.  Picking up
a crystal glass from a tray and a bottle of Jack Daniels from the
counter, he poured himself a drink. He didn't care that it was still
early in the morning. Lifting it to his lips he took a swallow. The
alcohol burned its way down his throat. He wished it would burn away
the words he'd said to Josh. Before his brain could even process the
urge to do so, he hurled the glass against one of the interior
bulkheads.

Standing in the shadows just up the corridor, Abbey and Charlie had
heard every word said during the yelling and had watched Josh stalk
blindly toward the back end of the plane to what was now the deserted
press area.  She planned on checking on Josh next but right now, she
was going to deal with Toby. "Feel better?" she asked him calmly.

Toby turned around, "Ma'am." The mask he'd so carefully spent his life
cultivating slid smoothly into place.

"Charlie, would you go keep an eye on Josh? I'll be down to see him in
a minute," Abbey said, pleasantly.  Charlie nodded and went to find
him.

Wearing comfortable jeans and sweatshirt, Abbey sat down in one of the
padded oversized seats and tucked her legs casually under her. "Well,
this is a day I'm going to have to mark on my calendar.  Today I saw
someone act like a bigger jackass than my husband," she said with a
bit of a serene smile, as if she were telling him what kind of tea
they were having with brunch.  Only someone who knew her, and Toby was
one of the someones that did, could hear the subtlely dangerous tone
in her voice.

Toby shoved his hands in his pockets.  He really didn't want to deal
with the First Lady right now.  "Mrs.  Bartlet...."

"Sit down, Toby." Even though it was said with complete calm, it was
not a request.

For some reason, although Toby didn't want to, he complied. In his own
little show of passive aggressive behavior, he sat as far away from
her as possible. It didn't seem to bother her though as she sat in her
seat and stared at him placidly. He had to force himself not to
squirm. In other circumstances he would have admired how well she had
that stare perfected. As someone who had a perfected a piercing stare
of his own, he could recognize greatness in that area. It took every
ounce of bravado, careful control, and pure chutzpah for him to speak,
"Did you need something, Mrs. Bartlet?"

She smiled at him, a nice wide toothy smile.  If Jed had seen it he
would have turned and run in the other direction.  "Why yes, Toby.  I
need you to tell me what in the hell that little display I just
witnessed was about."

"Nothing. The glass slipped out of my hand and hit the bulk head," he replied.

"Now, Toby.  You and I both know I'm not talking about the glass."
When he didn't say anything, she continued.  "Did you think yelling at
Josh was going to make you feel better?  Did you think that making him
feel worse than he already does would make you worry about her any
less?"

"I think you're confusing me with Josh. I'm not worried about Donna.
I'm sure she's fine," he said, in a poor attempt at acting innocent.

"You're such a tight ass, Toby," she said with a little laugh, shaking
her head.  "You've got this whole, sad-sack, I don't-care-about-anyone
or let-anything-get-to-me persona down pat.  But you're speaking to
someone who's gotten pretty good at putting on faces and I'm here to
tell you that you don't fool me for one damn minute." She paused, "You
are worried about Donna. And you are worried about Ainsley. But I'm
not talking about them and you damn well know it.  You're most worried
about CJ.  You're scared spitless that something's happened to her and
it's pissing you off and your head is so far up your ass, the only way
you can deal with it is to take it out on Josh. And I know we can both
agree that while his shoulders are usually strong enough to take that
kind of weight, right now he's not up to it."

"I'll apologize."

"You bet your ass you'll apologize," she said. "But first you're going
to sit here and do some thinking while I go talk to him. Consider
yourself in a time out until I say you're not." She stood and huffed
out a breath.  "Lord, you guys make me glad I have all girls," she
said with a hint of a smirk.

Toby couldn't keep his eyebrow from quirking up slightly. It was the
only version of a smile he could muster.

Abbey walked over to him. Her expression was softer now, like a sky
clearing after a storm. "Does she know you care so much Toby?"

Toby was quiet.  He had no intention of answering. So no one was more
surprised than him when he actually did, "No."

"I see.  Well, maybe you should take advantage of this time to think
about what you'd like to do about that."  She paused. "In any case,
Toby, if something has happened to the girls, Josh is going to need
you." She looked over her shoulder toward the back of the plane where
Josh had gone.  "I'm scared for him, Toby," she said, softening her
voice.  "I'm scared that if Donna doesn't make it through this, we'll
lose him too."

"I know," he replied.

"And the girls are going to need both of you. And whether or not you
want to admit it, you're going to need them. So before we get to that
point, I suggest you do whatever you need to do to get your head on
straight." She turned and started to walk in the direction that Josh
and Charlie had gone.  Just before she turned the corner she stopped
and turned back around, "Oh, and Toby?  No more Jack Daniels before
lunch or I'll make Leo start taking you to his AA meetings," she said
with another little smirk. But this time Toby knew she wasn't joking.

With a muttered, "jackass," Abbey disappeared down the corridor.

**********

"Charlie, really.  I don't need a baby sitter.  Don't you have
something you could be helping the President with?" Josh asked him. He
just wanted to be alone.  Well, scratch that.  He just wanted to be
with Donna.  But since that wasn't possible, alone was the next best
thing.

Charlie flipped slowly through the copy of "Scientific American" he'd
found in a rack of reading materials in the press area.  "Probably,"
he replied, without looking up.  "But I'm fine here for now."

After leaving the First Lady and Toby, Charlie had found Josh slumped
in the last window seat in the back of the press area staring blankly
outside. Knowing that Josh probably wouldn't want to talk anyway,
Charlie had casually picked up the magazine and sat down beside him.

Josh went back to looking out the window.  The sky outside was so blue
it stung his eyes but he refused to put sunglasses on. The blue
reminded him of Donna's eyes and in some twisted way he felt closer to
her when he looked into it. "Charlie?"

"Hmm?" he said, appearing to read the magazine. When in all honesty,
if asked, he couldn't have recited one thing he'd glanced at. The
thing he'd learned about Josh over the years was that sometimes you
got more out of him if you were just quiet and let him say what he had
to say in his own time.  He didn't take well to being pushed. Charlie
himself was often that way. Donna and, maybe sometimes, Leo, were
about the only two people Josh let press him for things he wasn't
ready to say.

"Do you ever regret your time with Zoey?" Josh asked him.

Well, Charlie definitely hadn't been expecting that.  He looked over
at Josh. "No.  Why do ask?"

Josh wondered that himself.  "I guess I just wanted to know if it was
worth it. Especially since things didn't work out the way you'd
hoped."

Charlie looked at him for a moment.  The subject of Zoey was something
that he tried to avoid thinking about as much as possible.  It was
almost like a missing page in his life.  A chapter left unfinished.
He loved her, would always love her, and they'd remained what he
considered good friends.  But so much had happened to them.  First to
him from Rosslyn and then to her from the kidnapping. Something,
somewhere along the way had been lost to them.  Something he didn't
think they would ever get back.  But despite all that, he didn't
regret anything. "Yeah," he said.  "It was worth it.  I don't regret
anything. Not for a minute."

"Oh," Josh said, turning back toward the window.  Would he feel the
same way if he gambled on a relationship with Donna and lost? If she
was all right, and at this point he wasn't willing to entertain any
other ideas, would he, could he, find the courage to tell her how he
felt?  For that matter, how did he feel? 'Lost,' he thought.  He felt
lost without her. He felt lost because he loved her. HAD loved her for
a long time. That had come to him in a bolt of clarity at about 3 am
that morning. He didn't just like her.  He didn't just lust after her.
 He didn't just see her as a friend.  He loved her.  Loved her in a
way that he'd never loved anyone. But if he told her that and she
didn't feel the same way, could he handle that? Could their friendship
survive that? Would the chance that he could have Donna in his life
forever, outweigh the potential risk of losing her? At this point, he
just prayed that got the chance to find out. He was so engrossed in
that idea, he didn't hear Abbey walk up and replace Charlie in the
chair next to him.

To be continued...



Chapter 17 - PG

"Josh," she said, softly. Getting no response she reached out to touch
him. He started when her fingers brushed his arm, "I'm sorry, Josh. I
didn't mean to startle you."

Josh tried to give her a smile but it didn't reach his eyes, "You
really are very stealthy, ma'am. I didn't even hear you sit down."

"Why, thank you Josh. I'll take that as compliment," she replied with
a genuine smile.

"Where'd Charlie go?" he asked.

"Oh, the President had something for him to do I so said I'd keep his
chair warm," she lied, picking up Charlie's discarded magazine.  She
began to flip through it with about as much interest as Charlie'd had.
She didn't have her glasses and wouldn't have been able to read the
fine print in it without them anyway.

"Was there something you wanted, Mrs. B?" he asked.

"No," she said, not looking up from her magazine.  "I just hate
sitting alone on long plane flights.  You don't mind if I sit with
you, do you?"

Josh looked at her a moment and sighed.  "Mrs. B, like I told Charlie,
it's not that I don't appreciate the thought, but I don't need a baby
sitter."

Now she did look at him. "Josh?  Do I look like your nanny?" Abbey
said, hoping a little of her usual biting humor would help pull him
out of whatever mental and emotional pit he'd tossed himself into.

"No, ma'am," he said. Realizing she wasn't going to go away and that
he wouldn't be able to get away from her unless he was rude or he
tried getting up himself, which he wasn't sure was a plan his unsteady
legs would support right now, he mentally blocked her out and went
back to looking out the window.

Abbey felt the wall go up between them as tangibly as if one had
dropped from the ceiling of the plane. She glanced at him as he looked
out the window. It felt so odd to see him like this.  She was so used
to seeing him in 'smirky political operative' mode that seeing him in
'despondent wannabe boyfriend' mode was a little unnerving. She didn't
think that her usual method of manhandling the men in her life was
going to work this time. While Abbey had made it her mission to
manhandle Josh in politics, no one manhandled him when it came to
personal matters.  No one but Donna. Abbey knew that Amy had tried, in
fact she knew Amy had enjoyed trying. But Abbey could see now why it
hadn't worked. Josh hadn't loved Amy.  It was as simple as that.

However, Josh did love Donna.  It was all but tattooed on his forehead
in neon green letters. And she'd meant what she said when she'd told
Toby she was worried for him.  When you loved someone as much as she
was beginning to see Josh loved Donna and they were ripped away from
you, the enormous chasm left in your heart could very well be fatal.
It was something she'd lived with herself every day since she'd met
Jed. You could fight and slam doors and sleep in different rooms but
at the end of line, you knew living without them would be like living
without oxygen.

They sat quietly for a moment, the only sounds in the cabin were the
low vibration of the plane beneath their feet and the slight rustling
of the magazine Abbey was pretending to read.

"She didn't call me this morning," Josh said, quietly.  His stare
never wavered from the window.

"I'm sorry, Josh.  What did you say?" she asked, even though she'd
heard it.  She thought maybe this would be the opening that would
crack the wall he'd erected between them.

He still didn't turn away from the window, "Every day since we got to
the White House Donna's called me at 5:30 in the morning. She says
it's because I can't manage to get my ass of bed without her kicking
it," he laughed softly.

Abbey had the feeling it was a laugh covering the urge the cry.

"Even after Rosslyn.  Once I was well enough to answer the phone she
started calling me," he told her, continuing to look out the window.
"That is if she wasn't already there to harass me in person," he added
as an afterthought. "Wouldn't let me talk about work though.  I'd
grill her for information about what was going on at the White House
and she'd just read me my horoscope or the comics or the sports page."

He ran his hands over his face, she suspected, to keep the tears at
bay, then went back to looking out the window.  She wondered, idly,
what he saw there.

"She called me everyday she's been in California. But this morning
there was nothing. I mean I've taught her better than that.  Doesn't
she know I'm going to be worried?  Doesn't she know she needs to call
me and check-in?" The volume of his voice had risen slightly but he'd
yet to look back at Abbey.  It was easier if he didn't look at her.
If he didn't look at her then maybe he wasn't making a fool out of
himself by spilling his guts to the First Lady. The words, very soft
and tasting bitter in his mouth, escaped before he could stop them.
"Something really bad must had happened or she would have called me."

"Josh.  We don't know that.  There could a whole host of reasons why
she hasn't called.  We haven't heard from Sam either but that doesn't
mean anything's happened to him.  I know I can't guarantee that
nothing's happened to her but don't you think it's a little early to
be giving up?" she said gently.

"You don't know my track record very well, do you? People close to me
have a habit of ending up dead," he replied quietly.

"Oh, I see," Abbey said.  "My, my, my, my," she said softly, almost to herself.

Josh had expected her to try and refute what he'd said or at the very
least ask him what he was talking about. He waited for a moment to see
if she would continue.  When she didn't, he finally looked at her.
She'd gone back to reading her magazine and wasn't even looking at
him. But she was shaking her head slightly. Although he didn't
recognize it, Donna used a similar tactic on him when he was being
obstinate. "Did you have something else you wanted to say, Mrs. B?"

"What?" she said, looking up from the magazine. "Oh.  No, you just
surprised me that's all."

"Surprised you, ma'am?" he asked, his curiosity momentarily overcoming
the fear he felt for Donna and the self-recrimination he felt for
himself.

She had to suppress a smile.  That was almost too easy.  Abbey would
be willing to bet that Donna already had that trick down pat to deal
with 'Obstinate Josh.'  Sometimes you couldn't just come right out and
say to someone, 'Hey, you're being a jackass.'  Sometimes you had to
get them to realize it for themselves. She looked over at him, "Yes,
Josh.  Surprised me."

"How is that exactly?" Josh asked.

If nothing else, she hoped what she was going to say would piss him
off enough to snap him out of the downward spiral he seemed locked
into. "Well, here I was thinking that the arrogant, self-important act
you put on in your office everyday was just that, an act.  I know
politics requires a healthy dose of acting but you've really lost
yourself in the part. Lord, Josh, you really do have an ego the size
of Montana." She paused but continued before he could say anything or
turn away.  "Do you honestly think that you have the power of life and
death in your control? That the world and who lives and who dies,
revolves solely around you?" When he didn't say anything she decided
to press him.  "Well? DO YOU?"

He rubbed his hand over his face.  It wasn't that easy.  "Mrs.
B....." he pleaded.

"Answer me, Josh," she demanded in a voice soft in volume but hard in tone.

"No.  Of course not.  But...." he started.

"Well, good, because if Donna were here and she heard you talking like
you have been, I guarantee you she'd give one of those hard hits to
the back of the head I've heard she and CJ are so fond of." Her tone
softened. "Josh. People don't die because they know you.  People die
because they die. It's not your fault and it's usually not their
fault. And just because you lost more people before you were 40,
including almost dying yourself, than most people do in their
lifetimes, don't let that stop you from reaching out to those you love
because you're scared they'll be next."  She paused, wondering if she
should go farther.  "Don't let it stop you from telling Donna how you
feel."

Josh frowned, "How?"

"What?  How do I know you're in love with her?" she shrugged.  "We all
do.  Well, I think Leo's in denial about it because he's worried it
might cause some scandal or something. Which is about the dumbest
thing I've ever heard.  I mean, please, we've survived him with booze
and pills, Sam and the Call Girl, Rosslyn, Jed and MS, me and Beta
Seron, Shariff's assassination, Hoynes' resignation, and Jed stepping
down after Zoey's kidnapping and he thinks his Deputy being in love
with his assistant is going to topple us?  Give me the proverbial
break." She smiled at him.  "Josh, to those who know you both, the
only way you could be more obvious about being in love with one
Donnatella Moss is if you took out ad space on the Goodyear Blimp
during the Super Bowl."

"But I never..." he began.  How did they start down this road? When
had he lost control of the conversation? Talking to Mrs. Bartlet
suddenly reminded him of talking to Donna. Something that both
bewildered and comforted him at the same time.

"You didn't need to.  In fact, part of the reason it's so obvious is
that you haven't said or done anything," she said as if it made all
the sense in the world.

"Okay, I'm going to need you to explain that one to me."

"It means a lot to you, Josh.  SHE means a lot to you.  You're scared.
 If it wasn't important then you wouldn't be scared." She answered his
next question before he asked it.  "You're scared that it will cause a
problem for Leo and Jed. Which as I pointed out before is kind of
ludicrous at this point.  You're scared that the two of you couldn't
work together anymore. Maybe that it would even cost one or both of
your jobs." She paused.

"Well, if you were upfront about it, I seriously doubt that it would
cost either of you your jobs.  And it could even be a good thing for
Donna. Maybe she could get a promotion that she so richly deserves. I
know I've got room on my staff for someone as smart and intelligent as
she is.  Or you could always sic her on Toby.  She has an interesting
view of things. Maybe she could help him with some of Sam and Will's
old duties." She grinned.  "Can you just picture her and Toby?  Lord
knows she'd keep him on his toes." Her heart warmed to see him
genuinely smile at the thought.

"And so you have to break in a new assistant?  So what? It will just
be someone new to torment. I know you'll enjoy that. Besides, it would
only be another 3 years.  And in the mean time, you'd get to have
Donna and a personal life. You do remember what a personal life is?
Right?" He sat there silently for a long moment and she knew she was
beginning to get through that titanium skull of his.

"But what if I tell her and she doesn't feel the same way?" He said,
quietly.  "I could lose her."

'Could he really not see how Donna felt?' Abbey wondered.  She smiled
softly at him. "Josh, I'm going to tell you a story." She caught him
rolling his eyes.  "Don't roll your eyes at me Joshua Lyman," she said
sternly. Then she smiled,  "Besides, I think you'll like this one. And
if you don't I don't care because you're going to hear it anyway."

She took a breath. "I once sat with a woman, someone I think of almost
like one of my own daughters. She had a friend, someone she was very
close to and this friend had been badly injured.  The doctors weren't
at all sure he was going to make it. He was in surgery for a very long
time, almost 14 hours." She paused, knowing from the look on his face
that he knew she was talking about his surgery after Rosslyn.

"During that time, this woman sat in the surgical waiting room.  Even
though she and this man had many friends in the room, she hardly spoke
to anyone.  She didn't cry or get hysterical. Although the surgery had
started in the middle of the night, she didn't sleep.  She didn't
drink or eat.  I don't even recall her getting up to use the bathroom.
The only time she got up and left the waiting room was when I got
permission for her to watch him through an observation window in the
surgery suite."

Josh's face registered surprise.  Apparently he hadn't known Donna had
watched over him.  "When I came back an hour later, she was still
there watching him." She paused, staring out the window over his
shoulder, remembering, "You know, I never saw someone 'will' someone
else to live before," she said softly. Then she refocused on him. "And
since I'm a doctor that's saying something."

She paused.  "After his surgery was over, the doctor came to see this
woman and her friends. He said that although the man's condition
remained very serious and he could still die, they thought he was
going to pull through. This woman smiled along with everyone else,
relieved he was going to make it. I turned away for a moment to speak
to someone and when I turned back, she was gone."

"I went out into the hall to see where she'd gone and I saw her go
into what I knew was an empty treatment room.  Well, I couldn't
imagine why she'd be going in there so I followed her. The room was
dark so I couldn't see where she was but it wasn't hard to find her.
I just followed the sound of her sobbing."  Josh frowned heavily as
she continued, "She was in the back corner of the room on the floor,
curled tightly into a ball.  She was crying so hard I thought she'd
hurt herself. All I could do was gather her in my arms and rock her,
just as I would have done with one of my girls when they were small.
She tried to tell me, tried to explain why she was crying so hard. It
was difficult to understand her but I did manage to pick up a couple
of words. They were 'love him' and 'won't let him die'."  She stopped
speaking to let her words sink in. "Josh, if you want to be worried
for Donna, then be worried for Donna.  But don't muddy it by throwing
in your unwarranted guilt. She deserves no less than she gave you."

Josh's heart clenched.  He didn't know any of what she'd just told
him.  Donna had never talked about what she'd gone through while he'd
been in surgery. "But so much has happened since then," he said, his
voice unsteady. He thought of Calley and the diary and Commander
Wonderful and the quote and Amy and, well, everything with Amy. "How
do I know she still feels that way?"

"Well, Josh, she's stayed with you for 6 years. Has any other
assistant done that?  For that matter has any other woman, except your
mother, done that?  'Cause I hate to be the one to tell you this, but
you're no picnic.  Either she's in love with you or she's the best
friend you're ever going to have. We already know she's a saint. I
guess at this point you're just going to have to get over yourself, be
honest with her, and let the chips fall where they're going to fall."

"Now," she said, feeling like her work was done. "I'm going to go find
my husband and bother him for a while.  Toby will most likely be along
shortly to apologize for his little outburst earlier." She stood up
and tossed the magazine down in the seat. "Just do me a favor, will
you?"

"What's that, Mrs. B?"

It occurred to her then that Josh was the only one that ever called
her 'Mrs. B' and she liked it. Made her feel a little like the mom on
'Happy Days' when Fonzi called her 'Mrs. C'. 'Better not let him know
that,' she thought. "Take it easy on him.  He's pretty worried about
CJ. He likes to make everyone think he's impervious but underneath
that beard beats a soft heart."

Even though he knew she was right, Josh looked at her dubiously, "We
are talking about Toby 'Ziegler,' right?"

"Oh, and I was just about to thank you for not being a jackass during
our conversation," she said with a smirk. Turning, she started across
the cabin. "Well, so much for that idea," she called, just before she
disappeared around the corner.

To be continued...



Chapter 18 - PG

Jed looked up from the briefing memo as Charlie walked in.  "How are
things going out there?  It's been pretty quiet. It's kind of
unnerving," Jed told him. He was dressed casually in jeans, sturdy
boots, a Notre Dame sweatshirt. His navy jacket with the Presidential
Seal on the pocket hung on the back of his chair.

"The First Lady's taking care of it," the young man said in his usual
enigmatic way.

"Uh, oh.  It's never a good sign when my wife gets involved." He
looked at Charlie over the top of his glasses.  "Anything I need to
take care of?"

"No, sir.  I believe the First Lady has things well in hand."

"I don't know if that makes me feel better or not.  Okay.  I guess
I'll have to take your word for it."  He waved the briefing memo at
Charlie.  "You know this is amazing.  I asked Leo about the fact that
L.A. has earthquakes and not San Diego.  His reply was that he guessed
they were due.  Well, from what I've been reading here, he didn't know
the half of it."

He scanned through the memo until he came to spot he was looking for.
"According to the USGS there are no less than four onshore and three
offshore active faults at work in San Diego and that's just the east
to west faults.  Like all of Southern California, San Diego is also
crossed by any number of northwest-southeast faults created by the
crustal stresses caused by the movement of the major Pacific and North
American lithospheric plates. I swear California's got so many
earthquake faults it should be renamed Crackpot Junction."

"Is that because of the earthquake faults or the crazy people who want
to live there?" Charlie asked, breaking into the President's rant.

Jed looked at him, "I haven't decided yet." He went back to scanning
the memo.  He was slowly pacing now as he read.  "Since 1984,
earthquake activity in San Diego County has doubled over that of the
preceding 50 years.  Their strongest recorded quake was an offshore
quake in 1986 that measured 5.3 on the Richter scale. But what is
believed to be an even stronger quake hit the area in 1862 and using
today's standards was estimated to have been about a 6.0. They did a
study that estimated some of the faults in the area are capable of
earthquakes measuring at magnitudes upwards of 7.7. Yesterday's
contestant, the Rose Canyon fault, lived up to its billing.  The study
said it could go as high as 7.1 and low and behold we have a winner.
Yesterday's quake, was, yes, you guess it, 7.1." He shook his head,
"Well, at least someone did the math right."

Charlie let him rant.  He knew that when the President got like this
it was only because he really did care and it was his way of coping
with a situation that made him feel helpless.  It was hard being the
leader of the free world and feeling helpless.

"In 1996, California upgraded San Diego County from a seismic Zone 3
to Zone 4, the highest level of earthquake threat.  So I guess a
better question than, 'Why did San Diego have an earthquake?' Would
be, 'Why hadn't they had one before now?' And don't even get me
started on the material the geniuses who built the city used in the
first place.  It was all swamp land and silt and sediment dredged from
the bays or just stuff that wasn't compacted very well when it was
graded.  Of course this leaves the city open to a little thing called
"liquefaction".  Charlie, do you know what 'liquefaction' is?"  He
looked Charlie over his glasses.

Charlie almost said, 'yes' but knew the President was in a mood to
vent so instead he replied, "No, sir."

"Liquefaction is a process that often occurs in earthquakes over 6.0
in magnitude. The amount of energy released in a quake that size
literally causes earth, especially those areas composed of silt,
sediment, swampy land or any other kind of loose, non-bedrock type to
literally 'liquefy'.  Becomes like quicksand.  Oh, and San Diego
doesn't have the corner on the market.  The Mexico City Quake in 1985
killed more than 4,500 people partially because the ground literally
swallowed parts of buildings.  It's hard for buildings to keep
standing when the ground they're sitting on suddenly turns to
quicksand. In the San Francisco Quake in 1989 whole sections of the
Marina District were badly damaged because of liquefaction. Officials
are saying the same thing happened in San Diego in this quake.
Mission Valley was hit the hardest because it was all built on soft
river sand and sediment.  That's also why the City of Coronado near
North Island had so much damage too.  It was built on silt and
sediment dredged from San Diego Bay."

He shook his head and sighed, "Well, at least it happened on Sunday
night.  We did catch a break on that.  Most people were at home.  If
this had been during the workday while people were out and about or on
a Saturday during the day, we'd be screwed."

Having come to the end of the memo and the head of steam he'd worked
up, he stopped his ranting and sat down in his chair.  "Oh, Charlie,"
he said, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"We've survived scandal and God knows what else.  But if anything
happens to CJ and Donna I don't know if we'll make it this time." He
looked up at his young aide and sighed.  "What's next?"

**********

Feeling tired and raw, Donna awoke with a silent start. She wasn't
sure if it was from a nightmare or another of the many small
aftershocks they'd felt on and off throughout the night. But at least
it was morning. The night had seemed endless.  Wait.  It was morning.
How did she know that?  There was the faintest smear of light coming
from somewhere over Ainsley's head. Then Donna saw it. It was only a
shadow of a pinprick really. It was like being in a cave and looking
at a bend in the path and seeing what looked to be light. You couldn't
see where it was coming from but you knew that somewhere out there was
the exit.

The light wasn't enough to provide any sort of illumination inside
their new prison but it was there nonetheless. Providing hope that
somewhere out there the world still existed and maybe, just maybe,
their prison wouldn't become their tomb.

"Hey, guys," Donna said quietly, not wanting to wake them if they were
still asleep.

"Yeah.  I'm here," Ainsley said, with a yawn.

"Me too," CJ said stretching.  "Although all things considered I'd
rather be lying by the pool." She paused. "So how's everyone today?"

"Just peachy," Ainsley replied. Her head only throbbed a little now
and her arm only hurt when she tried to move it.

"Footloose and fancy free," Donna added. The speck of light had helped
ease some of the fear the darkness as inspired.

"Okay, blonde women wake up way too perky," CJ grumbled.  "God, I
would will kill for a cup of Starbucks coffee right now.  Hell, I'd
kill for a cup of INSTANT coffee right now."

"What?  You mean we don't have any?" Ainsley teased.  "I think we
should change hotels.  This is outrageous.  I demand to see the
concierge."

"Yeah, well you get me," CJ replied. "All complaints need to be
submitted in triplicate. So how about I just get us some breakfast
instead," she answered.

"Works for me," Donna said.

"I'm always up for eating," Ainsley put in.

"How did I know you were going to say that?" CJ answered, as she
started to climb up onto the back seat to get into the emergency box.
"Well, that's not good." she said suddenly.

"What?" Donna said, instantly concerned.

There was a slight pause as CJ tried to decide how to say what she
needed to say.  "Um, guys.  Either the car is shrinking or I'm
growing."

"What do you mean, CJ?" Ainsley asked.

"You know that space on the back seat?  The one where I was laying yesterday?"

"Yes.  What about it?" Donna said.

"It's pretty much not there any more." She paused a second to let that
sink in. "I think the roof is slowly coming down on us.  Yesterday I
could get my whole body up on the seat.  Today I can only get my arm
up there. Which means," she said, stretching her hands over her head
to reach the box.  She tugged on the lid but now it was hopelessly
wedged down on top of the box.  "I can't get the box open."

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, trying to figure out
what to do next.   "CJ?  The plastic is pretty thin on the box. I mean
I even told Sam we should get something sturdier. Do you think we
could we cut through it?" Ainsley asked.

"Yeah, I'll just get out the hacksaw I keep in my purse and get right
on that," CJ said, trying to keep down her own sense of panic.  They
needed the contents of the box if they were going to survive.

"Wait!  I've got my pocket knife.  The blade on it is pretty sharp,"
Donna said.  Feeling around she picked up her purse and ran her hands
inside it, over the contents.  "Here it is," she said, pulling out the
Swiss Army pocket knife Josh had given her for her birthday last year.
 At the time she'd thought it an odd gift but right now she could have
kissed him for giving it to her.  'As if I need an excuse to want to
kiss him,' she thought.  "Do you want to try it, CJ?"

"Well, I guess it's worth a try. Let me turn on the flashlight so I
can see," she said, pulling the flashlight out of the seat back pocket
she'd stashed it in.  Flicking it on she wedged it back between the
seats where she had the night before.  She didn't comment on the fact
that the roof above her was not the only part of the roof that had
caved-in farther.  The area over Ainsley and Donna had shrunk
significantly as well.  If they hadn't gotten Ainsley out of her seat,
she would have already been crushed. Since it did no good to dwell on
such a morbid thought CJ concentrated on reaching out to get the
pocket knife from Donna's outstretched hand.  It took some stretching
and squeezing as CJ could no long sit up very far to reach over the
center console.  But finally she felt her fingers brush the outside of
the knife. "Got it," she said, taking it from Donna.

Figuring that trying to cut through the box by raising her arms over
her head wasn't going to give her much leverage, CJ squirmed around a
bit and managed to turn on her side. Unfolding the knife blade CJ
grasped the handle and plunged into the side of the box.  Must to CJs
immense surprise, it actually slid in pretty easily. Of course, she
wasn't quite that lucky when she tried to start sawing a hole in the
plastic.  The blade was sharp but the angle she had to use was awkward
and soon her arms were burning with the strain. She was also panting
like she'd just run 10 miles.

"How's it coming CJ?" Donna asked.

"Slowly," she panted.  "But it's coming," she said, renewing her
efforts. A few minutes later she still hadn't gotten very far and she
got an idea.  Since plunging the knife into the box had gone much
easier, she decided to keep on doing that. Starting just below where
she'd left off with her sawing, she began to plunge the knife into the
box in what turned out to be a fairly neat 6 inch by 6 inch square. It
looked a lot like perforations on a paper but she thought it might
work.  Once the perimeter was done she set about connecting the slash
marks together.  She quickly made progress and was shortly able to
remove the square cutout in the side of the box. "Success!" she
shouted.  Donna clapped enthusiastically, while Ainsley, given her
broken arm, cheered.

"Breakfast is served," CJ said, slipping the pocket knife into the
seat pocket in case they needed it later and reaching into the box for
food.

Since their choices were limited, they all had pretty much what they'd
had for dinner, except they all had boxed juice to drink instead of
water. CJ had turned off the flashlight again and they ate in relative
silence, just happy they'd come through this latest little hurdle.

"So, Ainsley?  Will you promise me something," CJ said, as she chewed
on the last of her PowerBar.

"CJ, for the woman who got me food, anything," Ainsley replied as she
finished the last of her juice.

"Could you promise me that if we do run out of food you won't try and,
you know, eat us or anything," CJ said with a smirk.  A little levity
never hurt and she figured they could use some right about now.

There was a brief pause.  "You know, CJ, we're not the Donner Party,"
Ainsley replied.  "Of course, I'm not going to eat you guys or
anything. I can control myself." She paused again. "Besides, I
couldn't build a fire and who wants raw human flesh?  I mean eww.  I
always take my human flesh well done." There was a flat pause and then
they all started giggling. The giggling turned into laughter. It took
them a few minutes to calm down again.

"Okay," Ainsley said, wiping her eyes as her laughter faded.  "While
we're all in such a good mood, I have something of a personal nature
to say and I'd just like to apologize in advance for bringing it up."

CJ frowned, "What is it?"

"I have to pee," Ainsley said.

A long silence followed Ainsley's announcement. It occurred to CJ that
the three of them had been stuck in their prison for about 12 hours
now and it must be some kind of record that three grown women had been
able to hold it for that long. Must have been the trauma of the quake
and their current situation. "Well, then." CJ said. "If you gotta go,
you gotta go."

"But where?  How?" Ainsley began.  Horribly mortified that she'd even
brought it up but it was becoming quite an immediate problem.

"I guess we'll have to go where we have to go," CJ said.  It's not
like we have a lot of choice."

"That's going to get a little...odoriferous after a while," Ainsley replied.

"Well, I've to go too so at least we're going to stink together,"
Donna replied, trying to show a little support for Ainsley and their
impossible situation.

"Ainsley?" CJ began.  "As soon as you're finished with....that, why
don't you try and call Sam again."

To be continued...



Chapter 19 - PG

Because the city was under martial law and to help them get through
checkpoints and over any rough roads or terrain, the base commander
had given Bill and Sam a military Hum-V to drive. It wasn't the most
comfortable thing to ride in but it was sturdy and pretty roomy
inside.  However, right now, the amenities of the vehicle he was
riding in were the last thing on Sam's mind.  He had the window down
and was staring out of it as he and Bill drove back over the Coronado
Bridge toward North Island. The view of the San Diego skyline from the
top of the bridge was actually quite lovely.  From there you were back
far enough that you couldn't see the devastation the quake had wreaked
on the city.  Well, except for the large plume of smoke that continued
to billow over the Gaslamp Quarter fire. In any case, Sam didn't see
any of it.  'Where are you, Ains?' he wondered.

To say he was tired and dejected was putting it mildly.  He and Bill
both were. They'd spent all night trying to find some sign of the
girls and the SUV.  They'd checked the FEMA emergency evacuation
centers at Balboa Park and the Convention Center.  They'd checked
hospitals and morgues. They'd driven through the burned-out ruins of
what used to be the Gaslamp District, where part of the fire was still
burning but the Fire Department just about had under control. They'd
driven past the remains of the Horton Plaza parking garage and saw the
carnage of the levels of concrete collapsed in on itself. A command
post had been set up in each of those two locations, but no one had
heard anything about the girls. After a night of searching, they'd
found nothing. Not a trace.  Not a clue. It was as if the three of
them had simply vanished.

And now they were headed back for the base.  Air Force One was due to
land in about 20 minutes and he wished he had better news.  Hell, he
wished he had ANY news. He was sure that Josh was probably a basket
case waiting for news of Donna and Toby would surely be worried about
CJ.  He hadn't even been able to get a call out yet to tell them he
didn't know anything.  The phones were still a mess.

When Sam had first gotten there, he and Bill had become fast friends.
Ainsley was right, even for a Republican, Sam saw right away that
Donna's brother was a good guy.  Starting out, they had been united in
their mission, giving each other ideas about where to look and who to
ask for information.  But as time had gone on and they'd hit dead end
after dead end and saw the carnage and destruction that the quake had
visited on the city, they'd talked less and less.  Each man
withdrawing into his own thoughts. They hadn't spoken since they'd
gotten back in the Hum-V to return to the base.

Stopping at the main gate, the on-duty soldier recognized them and
waved them through.  Bill was taking Sam to the guest quarters so he
could change into some pilot cover alls that Bill had scrounged up for
him.  Sam hadn't stopped on his way to the airport to even pack and
the clothes he had on were filthy from sweat and the dirt and soot
they'd picked up while searching and driving through the city.  Bill
parked the Hum-V and Sam started to get out.  The ringing of his cell
phone stopped him.  He pulled it out of his pocket and collapsed back
into his seat when he saw the ID for Ainsley's cell phone on the
display.

His fingers apparently had stopped working because he seemed to have
great difficulty in getting them to press the 'talk' button.  "Ains!"

"Sam?!" her voice came back to him. "Oh, Sam I can't believe I got
through." The connection wavered a bit.  "....all night." Was all he
got.

"Ainsley, you're breaking up.  What did you say?" he pleaded.  Begging
the cellular gods to let him finish this call without getting
disconnected.

"I said, I've been trying to get a hold of you all night," she
repeated, the connection now stronger.

Relief brought tears to his eyes. She sounded okay.  "Ainsley?  Where
are you, honey? I'm here in San Diego and I've been looking for you
all night." Bill looked at him expectantly.

There was a pause on the line and he wondered for a moment if they'd
been disconnected.  "You're here, Sam?" she asked and he could hear
the tears in her voice.  "How did you get down here so soon? We heard
on the radio that the roads were out."

"That's not important right now, Ains. As soon as I found out about
the earthquake I knew this is where I needed to be."

"I love you, Sam," she said.

"I love you, Ains."  He took a breath. "Now where are you?  Are you all right?"

"We're in the parking garage."

His stomach dropped.  "The Horton Plaza parking garage?" 'Please say
you're in a different parking garage,' he begged.  One that's not a
pile of rubble.

"Yes.  The one at Horton Plaza. We're trapped in the car." She paused.
 "Sam?  About the car. Well, I'm really sorry about the car this time.
 Really, really sorry.  I think you're going to need to get a new one.
 I, well, this one is just not going to work anymore."

"Ainsley, I told you yesterday I don't care about the car.  I care
about you.  Don't worry about the car. We can get a new car.  You're
the one who's irreplaceable," he said with a smile. He hoped she knew
he meant it.

"Oh, Sam," she said.

He wanted nothing more than to continue to tell her how much she meant
to him but he knew that time might be running out so he had to cut to
the chase. "Ainsley are you all right?  What about CJ and Donna?  Are
they with you?"

"Yes, they're with me.  They're both fine.  I think my arm's broken
and I got hit on the head with some concrete but otherwise I'm okay
too.  We're just stuck in the car and can't get out.  The roof of the
car is caving in on us."

His heart ached to think of her arm broken, her in pain and the car
slowly crushing them.  "I'm sorry about your arm Ainsley.  Can you
tell me where you are in the parking garage?" He heard her speak to
Donna and CJ.

"Sam, we're on the fifth floor on the fruit side.  Donna said it was
the Strawberry level."

Sam resisted the urge to scratch his head.  "The Strawberry Level?" he
said, wondering if she'd been hit harder on the head than she'd let
on.  "I'm sorry, Ainsley.  I don't understand."

Ainsley tried to explain.  "The parking garage has two sides.  A fruit
side and a vegetable side.  We're on the fruit side.  Each floor is
designated by a different fruit or vegetable.  We're on the strawberry
level.  We were parked on the outer row and the front of the car was
facing five or six story building with a pedestrian walkway rather
than a street on the ground level below us. It's kind of hard now to
tell where we are.  We're covered in what I think is concrete."

'Yeah, that you are,' Sam thought but didn't say out loud. He
indicated to Bill he needed a pen.  Bill snatched one out of the glove
box and gave it to him.  Using it he scribbled the information on his
hand so he could tell the people at the emergency command post where
they could locate the car.

"Look Ains.  Josh, Toby, the First Lady and the President are all on
their way here.  They should be landing in about 15 minutes.  Once I
meet with them I'll head over to your location and we'll see about
what we can do to get you guys out of there.  Okay?"

"Okay," Ainsley said, relief clearly in her voice. He could hear her
telling CJ and Donna what he'd said. "Oh, Donna has a message she
wants to give you," she told Sam.

"What is it?" he asked.

"She said to tell Josh to stop freaking out. Get him some hard candy
and shove him against a wall if he's getting too stressed."

Sam had to smile at that.  That was Donna.  Always looking out for
Josh, even if she was the one in trouble. "Okay, will do." He paused,
an idea forming in his mind.  "Hey, Ains?"

"Yes?"

"Since the phones are kind of dicey right now why don't we use the
walkie-talkies in the emergency box? Just set them to channel 18 and
when I get down there we can communicate directly and......."

"OH, NO!" Ainsley cried, interrupting him.

"What!?  Ainsley?  What's wrong?" he demanded. But the line had
already gone dead.

Just then, Sam felt it. The low rumble that built on itself until he
knew it was another quake, presumably an aftershock. They'd been
happening on and off since the quake the night before.  In fact, he
and Bill had hardly taken notice of them after a while. Of course it
had helped that they'd all been pretty small.  Just nuisances really.
But this one was different.  This one was pretty strong.  He looked at
Bill and the two of them waited a moment until it stopped.

Sam tried dialing the number again, praying she'd pick up.  This time
he only got 'an all circuits are busy' recording. It took every ounce
of self control for him to not hurl the phone against the Hum-V's
dash.

"What did she say?" Bill demanded, looking concerned for his sister
and her two friends.  "Are they all right?"

"Yeah, I think so. Ainsley said she thought she'd broken her arm but
Donna and CJ were okay." He didn't tell him about Ainsley's cry that
had been full of utter terror, right as the earthquake started. "She
was also able to tell me where they are." He looked at Bill. "They're
trapped on the fifth floor of the Horton Plaza parking garage."

The significance of what Sam said was not lost on Bill. He been with
Sam and had seen the devastation at the garage first hand.  He ran his
hand over his face, "Oh, God."

"Yeah, pretty much what I was thinking.  Well, anyway, I wrote down
the information," He said, holding up his hand to show Bill his
scribbles. His phone rang again and he snatched it back out of his
pocket.  Without bothering to look at the caller ID he pressed 'talk'.
"Ains?"

"Ains?  Who's Ains, Sam? This is Jerry."

Sam's heart sank.  He really wasn't up to dealing with his campaign
manager right now. "She's a friend, Jerry. What do you need?" There
was a slight pause on the phone and Sam could all but picture the
irritated look on Jerry's face.

"I need to know when you're going to grace us with your presence.  We
had a meeting scheduled for a half hour ago. Or did you forget?" he
said, speaking to Sam as if he was a teenager that was late for
curfew.

"I've been a little busy Jerry.  I'm in San Diego," Sam replied, too
tired to muster much anger.

"What the hell are you doing in San Diego?  Sam, you've got
responsibilities here.  You can't win this election if you don't show
up."

"I've got friends down here that are missing.  I think they were
caught in the quake," Sam explained.

Jerry paused.  "I'm sorry to hear that, Sam.  But there are trained
people who do this kind of thing all the time. I'm sure they'll track
them down and they'll be fine.  I don't think it's such a great idea
for you to be there right now.  Beside the fact that you've got a shit
load of things going on here, what if you get hurt in an aftershock or
something?  Then where would we be?"

Sam's anger finally started to make an appearance.  "I'd be where my
friends need me, Jerry. That's where.  Look, I'm not going to argue
with you about this.  I'm here and I'm staying here."

"But.."

"But nothing, Jerry.  One of the people missing is my girlfriend.  My
die hard REPUBLICAN girlfriend. The one that at some point I fully
intend to ask to marry me. The other two women that are missing work
at the White House for the leader of our party.  Maybe you've heard of
him. Some people refer to him as the President of the United States,
he's also the one on the way here in his personal 747 to, among other
things, check on these three women."

"I'm sorry Sam.  I didn't know," Jerry said.

Sam wished he could be sure whether Jerry was really sorry or just
saying that to placate him. In either case Sam really didn't care at
this point. "Well, now you do.  I've got to go, Jerry.  The President
will be here in about 15 minutes and I have to be ready to brief him."

"Oh, that's great.  I'll get some press and..." Jerry said, the
political wheels already turning in his head.

"No press.  We want this kept quiet.  It will only make things harder
if the President's visit turns into a three ring circus." Sam took a
breath.. "Now, I will probably be here a couple of days so you'll have
to rearrange my schedule accordingly."

"I'll take care of it," Jerry replied.

'Well, that wasn't so hard,' Sam thought. 'Maybe I need to stand up to
him more often.'  "Okay, Jerry, I'll call you when I can."  With that
he hung up.  He was thankful that Bill didn't question him on the
discussion he'd had with Jerry. He was too tired to explain. Right now
all he wanted was a quick shower and to change into something clean so
he could meet the others when they landed.  Without a word he climbed
out of the car and went inside the guest quarters.

To be continued...



Chapter 20 - PG

The elegant 747 did a slow turn over the city as it prepared to touch
down at NAS North Island. The President, First Lady, Charlie, Toby and
Josh each sat by a window to get their first view of the traumatized
city.

Often, the coast was covered in a thick, foggy, marine layer at 9 a.m.
in the morning. It was just part of what made San Diego, San Diego.
But for some reason, Mother Nature was cooperating that morning and it
was sunny.  It still wasn't clear, though.  The thick plume of smoke
from the fire had created a heavy blanket that was drifting over the
city and out to sea.

They all stared quietly out their respective windows, not quite
finding the appropriate words to say.

They touched down at North Island without incident, right on time.
One of the stewards unlocked and opened the plane's main door and they
watched two men in pilot cover-alls walk across the tarmac toward the
plane.

"Where's Sam?" Josh said a little impatiently as he watched the two
men stop and speak to the Secret Service agent at the bottom of the
stairs. "You would think he would be here to meet us.  I mean, after
all....Oh, my God.  That IS Sam," he said to Toby.  They both looked
and sure enough, it was Sam under one set of those cover alls.

After getting a nod from the agent, Sam and Bill started up the
stairs. Sam embraced Josh and Toby warmly.  "Hi guys.  This is Donna's
brother, Lieutenant William Moss.  Bill, this is Toby Ziegler and Josh
Lyman."  The three men shook hands, although Josh and Bill had taken a
small moment to size each other up.  Two men, concerned for the same
woman for different reasons.

"Did you find out anything?" Josh asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I've got some news," Sam said, knowing he was procrastinating
but not finding the courage to stop.  He'd have to tell them truth
soon enough.  "Why don't I tell everyone at once?"

"Come on, the President's in his office," Toby said, leading everyone
down the hall to the office were everyone was waiting.  He'd always
thought that he'd been able to read Sam pretty well. But his former
Deputy's face was giving nothing away.  He wasn't smiling as if he had
good news but he also didn't have the whipped puppy look he often had
when he had bad news.

"So what's with the GI Joe outfit, Sam? I hardly recognized you," Josh
said trying to crack a smile and using his usual banter to cover his
apprehension at what Sam was going to tell him.  "Did you join the
military and forget to tell me?"

Usually Sam would have laughed off Josh's comment or made some joke
back at him, but he was too tired and too weary to do it. "Bill
scrounged this up for me.  I didn't have a chance to pack before I
left L.A. and the clothes I was wearing last night are covered in soot
from the fire, dirt from climbing over piles of rubble and sweat from
running around checking every place we could think of to look for
Ainsley, Donna and CJ."  He said it without animosity or anger.  Only
a flat, dead calm matter-of-factness.  As if he was saying to Josh,
'Welcome to my world' or in this case, 'my nightmare.'  Josh's look of
embarrassed shame made him stop in the hallway, causing everyone else
in the party to stop too.  "I'm sorry, Josh.  I didn't mean it to come
out that way. It's been a long night and I'm tired."

Josh blinked. "Yeah," he said.  "I know." He laid his hand on Sam's
shoulder as a sign of support and understanding.  "Thanks for getting
down here so fast.  I felt better knowing you were here."

It was Sam's turn to blink. Now he remembered why the man standing
next to him was like a brother.  "Thanks, Josh."  Toby started walking
again and they headed for the President's on board office.

Jed rose from his desk as they walked in.  "Sam, it's so good to see
you," he said, embracing the younger man.  "I just wish it were under
better circumstances."

"Me too, Mr. President," Sam said.

"Well, Sam Seaborn, as I live and breathe," Abbey said, rising from
her chair to embrace him as well. "Don't you look handsome!  Even Tom
Cruise couldn't fill out an outfit like that better than you."

"You're looking good as always, Mrs. Bartlet," Sam replied with a
smile. "Mr. President, Mrs. Bartlet, I'd like you to meet Donna's
brother, Lieutenant William Moss.  Bill, I believe you recognize the
President and the First Lady."

"It's good to finally meet you in person, Bill," Jed said, shaking his
hand.  Abbey shook it next.

"Oh, no, Sir, ma'am.  The honor is mine.  Donna has spoken very highly
of  both of you in her letters and e-mails to me," Bill replied.

Jed and Abbey glanced at each other. "Well, we think very highly of
her," Jed replied.  "And I want you to know that we're going to do all
we can to see that she comes out of this."

"Thank you, Sir," Bill replied.

"Now, Sam.  You have any news for us?" Jed asked him.

Sam shifted from one foot to the other.  "Yeah.  Ainsley called me
about 20 minutes ago."

"She called you?" Josh said, a look of surprised relief flashing onto
his face. "What'd she say?  Are Donna and CJ with her? Are they okay?"

Sam didn't quite know how to begin.

"Sam?" The President prompted.

"Well, I have good news and I have bad news," Sam tried.

Abbey looked at Josh and Toby, "I think we could use some good news
right about now."

Sam nodded.  "When I spoke to Ainsley she said she thought she'd
broken her arm and she had a bump on her head.  She also told me that
Donna and CJ were with her and they weren't hurt."

"Oh, thank God for that," Jed said, his words reflecting the relief
that was showing on everyone else's faces.

However, Toby did not fail to notice that Sam didn't look all that
overjoyed at the 'good news'. "Sam?  What's the bad news?"

If took Sam a minute to force the words from his mouth.  The bad news
is..." he let out a breath.  "She also told me that they were trapped
in their car in the Horton Plaza parking garage and the roof was
slowly caving in on them," he paused, trying to breathe again now that
the words were out of his mouth. A terrible hushed silence fell over
the group.  The  moment had gone from being a high point to a low
point in the blink of an eye.

Toby could tell from the look on Sam's face there was more. He was
pretty sure he didn't want to know was it was, but he asked anyway.
"Sam? Did she say something else?"

Sam looked at Toby.  "No.  No, she didn't have a chance.  Another
aftershock, a pretty hard one hit when we were on the phone together
and the line went dead. I haven't had any luck in calling her back."
He paused.  "So I don't know if they're still okay or if anything's
changed."

"Nothing has changed. She's okay," Josh said. Everyone knew he was
talking about Donna. "All three of them are okay.  They have to be all
right. There's no other choice." Josh's voice had risen slightly in
volume as he'd been speaking and obviously the good news, bad news
thing hadn't been such a big hit with him.

Without thinking, Sam walked over to Josh and pressed him, gently but
firmly against the nearest bulkhead.  "Donna had a message for you,
Josh."

"Really?  What was it?"  Josh asked him.

Sam smiled a bit, trying to reassure his friend. "She said, 'tell Josh
to stop freaking out.'  Then if you get too stressed, I'm supposed to
lean you against the nearest wall." He pressed on Josh's shoulder a
bit to emphasize the fact that he already had that covered.  "Oh, and
she said to get you a bag of these."  He reached into his flight suit
for the item that Bill had helped him get over at the base PX on the
away over from the guest quarters to meet the plane.

Josh looked down at the small bag of hard candy.  He remained calm and
looked up at Sam.  The significance of the hard candy was not lost on
Josh.  "I'm just worried about her. You don't know." He said, trailing
off.  "You don't know what she means to me." He didn't say it
accusingly but in such a way that let them know that even he himself
was only beginning to figure out just how he felt about Donna. It was
kind of like a man learning the secret to the universe and only now
getting the chance to tell anyone about it.

"Yes, I do Josh," Sam said, gripping Josh's shoulder. "Aside from the
fact that I've watched you and Donna for 6 years and I'm not, you
know, blind, I know how much she means to you because I feel the same
way...about Ainsley," Sam said.

"Okay, everyone who already knows about me being in love with Donna
please raise your hand." Josh demanded.  He looked to each one
assembled in the room.  Sam's hand went up first, followed by
Charlie's, then Abby's, then Toby's and finally the President's. The
only one without his hand up was Bill.

Instead, Bill was staring at him very carefully.  The way you look at
someone when you're trying to decide if they're an enemy or an ally.
Bill thought back for a moment to the letters and e-mails that Don had
sent him since she'd known Lyman. He'd figured out early on that Don
was in love with her boss.  But until this moment he hadn't really
thought enough about Lyman to see that he was probably, in his own
weird way, in love with Don too. "Dr. Freeride?" was all he said.

Josh didn't hesitate.  "Yeah, I swear if I ever find out he's within
10 miles of her I'll sic the FBI AND the IRS on him. I'm sure he's got
more than a few slimy skeletons in his doctor's bag. That is if I
don't beat the crap out of him first."

Bill rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe he was doing this.  He
raised his hand with the others. "But if you hurt her, I'll be the
first one in line to beat the crap out of YOU."

Josh grinned slightly. "That's fair, I won't...hey, wait a minute," he
said turning to Sam. Realization came quickly into Josh's eyes.  "What
did you say?" Sam smiled at him with a sheepish grin.  "Did you just
say you felt the same way about Ainsley?" His grin became a full
smile. "YOU and the blonde Republican sex kitten?!"

"Hey now, don't go knocking Republicans.  Especially the blonde sexy
ones," Bill said.

"HEY!  No one gets to notice she's sexy but me," Sam said, playfully.
"She's off the market so don't get any ideas, Bill."

"Just making an observation, Sam," Bill said, with an innocent smile.

"What I really want to know is why didn't anyone tell me I was in love
with Donna," Josh demanded.

"Okay, okay.  There's enough testosterone flying around this room we
could use it as jet fuel to get us all the way back to D.C.," Abbey
said, turning to Sam. "Sam, I'm very happy for you and Ainsley.  As
much as I like Mallory, she was never quite right for you.  I'll
always remember the first time you met Ainsley and she kicked your ass
on 'Capital Beat.' I snickered all day over that one.  You make a
great couple.  I doubt things will ever get boring for you." She
turned to Josh, "We didn't tell you, Josh, because we kept waiting for
you to figure it out on your own. If you weren't such a thickheaded
jackass you would have figured it out after Rosslyn.  And now that you
know, don't screw it up." She went to stand by Jed.  "Now would all of
you stop being jackasses and let's figure out what we're going to do
next."

There was a dead silence in there room.  Then Jed grinned, "Isn't she
something else?"

"Oh, shut up, Jethro," Abbey told him with a smirk.

To be continued...



Chapter 21 - PG

"Are you guys all right?" Donna said, coughing.  Dust was thick in the
air again as everything settled after the last aftershock. Everything
around the car had shifted and now not even the speck of light near
Ainsley could be seen. It was pitch black again and Donna had to make
a concerted effort not to let her fear get the better of her.

"I'm okay," Ainsley said, coughing a bit herself.  "Wow, that was some
aftershock."

"CJ?!" Donna called.

"Yeah, I'm still here," CJ replied, but she sounded odd, like she was
far away and talking to them through a long tube.

It was then Donna realized it.  Realized why CJ sounded so strange.
The roof of the car had come down even further. Sliding her hand over
the seat she felt around. The roof had come down so far it was now
almost touching the bottom seat cushion.  There was probably only
about a 2-inch gap between the cushion and the roof.  She would have
realized it sooner if she didn't still have her headed ducked down.
Because when she tried to sit up her head hit the roof.

"Uh, guys," CJ said from the back.  "This is not good."

Ainsley who was short enough that she hadn't figured out what was
going on, "Why?  What's going on?"

"The roof is lower," Donna explained.

"Oh," Ainsley replied reaching over her head she confirmed what Donna
said. "Yeah, you're right. That's not good."

"Just in case the roof comes down any more, I better pass you guys
some food and water," CJ said propping the flashlight up on her
stomach to give them as much light as possible.  It was much harder to
reach into the box now. The ceiling in the space she was in had gotten
so low she couldn't even turn over on her side. So to get into the box
she had to reach over her head and there was hardly enough room to
even do that. Plus it had shortened her reach so she wasn't able to
reach as far into the box as she could when she was laying on her
side.

She was silently thankful they'd managed to get a hole cut in the box
earlier.  The lid was hopelessly crushed down on the box and now there
was no way she would have been able to maneuver around enough to cut a
hole. She started by passing snacks and juice to Ainsley and Donna
across the seat cushions. With her limited mobility she couldn't reach
them very far so she'd lay them on the seat and Ainsley and Donna had
to reach across to get them.  She also put some things down next to
her on the floor in case the roof got far enough down she couldn't
even get her arms up over her head.  Next she started pulling the
water bottles out of the box and realized they had a problem.

"Guys? The water bottles won't fit.  I'm pretty sure they're too big
to go through that space on the seats."  Sure enough, she tried to
slide one toward Donna and it wouldn't fit.

The three of them were silent for a moment, pondering the problem.
Ainsley finally spoke.  "CJ? I think there might be enough room if you
shove it down beside the seat and the center console.  It will be a
little tight but I think the seat cushion will give just enough.  If I
can get my hand through...." she trailed off and slid her uninjured
arm between the seat and the console toward CJ.  "Try to shove a
bottle of water toward my hand.  It's about halfway to you."

CJ did as she suggested and with a little bit of struggling and
pushing, she managed to connect the bottle with Ainsley's hand.

"Got it," Ainsley said, pulling the water back.  "Here, Donna," she
said passing the water to Donna through a small gap that existed where
the center console took a dip at the cup holders.

"Thanks," Donna said, her face smiling back through the gap as she
took the water.  They formed a chain this way and set about passing
around a number of water bottles.

"So Ainsley, what did Sam say?" CJ asked as she passed another bottle forward.

"He said he's been here since last night looking for us and that he
didn't care about the car. Oh, he also told me the President, First
Lady, Josh and Toby were on their way here.  In fact, I'm guessing
they've probably landed by now."

"Wow, they're all coming?" Donna asked.

"Even Toby?" CJ asked.  That was very interesting. 'Why would the
President need his speech writer on a trip to tour a disaster area?'
she wondered to herself.

"That's what Sam said," Ainsley replied.

Ainsley's words cut off CJ's thoughts. "Hey, I just remembered
something. Right before the aftershock, Sam was telling me about the
walkie-talkies.  Now what did he say?" She thought for a moment.
"Let's see.  He said that since the phones haven't been working all
that well that maybe the radio, walkie-talkie things in the emergency
box would be better. He said to tune them to channel 18 and when he
got here we could use them to talk with instead of the cell phones. Do
you think you can find them, CJ? I don't know where in the box they
are."

She handed the last bottle of water to Ainsley. "Let me feel around
and see." CJ said putting her hands back in the box.  The position she
was in had her shoulders burning and her biceps feeling rubbery but
she had to keep trying.  "Are they in a package or are they just loose
in here?" she asked.

"I think they're just loose.  There's two of them and they're just a
little bigger than my cell phone," Ainsley replied.

Without being able to see what her hands were touching was quite the
experiment in how sensitive her fingers were.  It was kind of like
doing it blind folded. "Wait, I think...yeah, I found one." Pinching
the antenna between her thumb and index finger, she pulled it out.
"Yep.  Here Ainsley I'll pass you guys this one to share." The radio
was thin enough that CJ was able to slide it across the seat to
Ainsley. "I'll feel around for the other one, it should be nearby."

"Okay," Ainsley said.  "I'll try and see if I can get Sam or anyone
else on this one."  Switching on the radio, Ainsley reset it to
channel 18. First she only listened to see if anyone was talking on
that channel, but it was quiet.  So she tried calling.  Pressing the
send button the way Sam had showed her, she spoke.  "Hello?  Hello?
Is anyone out there? We're trapped.  Can anyone hear me?"  All that
came back to her was static.  She sighed.  "I guess they're not here
or not close enough," she told Donna and CJ. "I'll leave it on so we
can hear if someone is trying to call us." She paused, setting the
radio in the cup holder on the center console.  "CJ?  Did you manage
to find the other radio?"

"Yeah," she said, pulling it from the box.  "I just did.  I'll use
this one and you guys can share the other one." She flicked off the
flashlight and once again they were in the dark.  Time for some kind
of distraction.  "So Ainsley.  Tell us about your first date with
Spanky."

There was a pause, "Well," she began.  "Like I said, I came out here
for the job and not for Sam.  Actually I didn't even know Sam was
living in Santa Monica until Donna told me in one of her e-mails. She
even gave me his phone number and told me to call him.  Isn't that
right, Donna?"

"Yes.  I thought it would be nice to have a friend in the big new
city," Donna explained.

"Oh, it was." Ainsley began.  "Really nice.  Anyway, I was pretty busy
getting moved in my apartment and started in the new law office, so I
kind of forgot to call him." She paused.  "But then one day, about two
weeks after Donna had originally e-mailed me, he called me.  Right out
of the blue.  I was so surprised to hear from him.  I knew he was
getting ready to start his campaign and I knew he was really busy. I
was kind of curious to know how he got my number. He never would tell
me." She grinned slightly, already knowing the answer.

"I gave it to him and told him to call you," Donna said in a 'well-duh' tone.

Ainsley's grin got wider.  "I suspected as much.  I'll have to start
calling you Ms. Matchmaker." She chuckled.  "Well, anyway, the first
couple of times we just went to lunch, you know, whenever our
schedules would let us.  It was nothing special, just lunch, now I'd
like to think of them as 'pre-dates'.  They were purely platonic. Any
yet..." she trailed off, her mind looking back on those early
encounters with those blue eyes, so like the sea he loved, that she
wanted to lose herself in.

"Well, don't stop now," CJ demanded.  "You're just getting to the good part."

"What? Oh, sorry," Ainsley said, shaking herself. "I don't know what
Sam would say if you asked him about those lunches, but I think for
me, I had already started to fall for him."

"Because you hadn't already started to fall for him when you worked in
the White House?" CJ teased.

"Okay, I started to remember why I'd started falling for him when we
worked in the White House." Ainsley smiled into the dark.  "Sam can be
so sweet and yet under that sweetness is a passion and a heat that
I've never found in someone before.  The combination is kind of
like.....like......

"Milk chocolate warmed over a slow flame until it's just right and
then drizzled over ripe strawberries," Donna said out loud, her mouth
watering at the thought and the image of Josh and the double chocolate
sauce that rose once again in her brain. Temporarily, for a moment,
the darkness that surrounded her and the fear that filled her heart
seemed to retreat.

"God, Donna," Ainsley gasped, a little stunned that she'd put it into
words so perfectly. "That's exactly it. How did you know?"

There was a pause.  "Because that's similar to how I see Josh," Donna
said, simply. "See, where Sam is like melted milk chocolate, obviously
sweet and subtly, deeply passionate, Josh is like melted dark
chocolate, obviously passionate and subtly, deeply sweet. They both
have heat, just each in their own way."

"Wow, Donna.  It sounds like you've given that a lot of thought," CJ
said, quietly.

"Yes.  Yes, I have," Donna replied, smiling to herself.  "Well, about
Sam, not so much, but about Josh, yes."

"You're right though," CJ said, thoughtfully.  "Underneath that
swaggering, arrogant exterior is someone who can be very sweet."  CJ
remembered the time she sat in Josh's office and he was agonizing over
the card the NSA tried to give him. "And you're are right about Sam
too. His passion lies deep but comes through in his words."

"Well, he has other ways that it comes through," Ainsley paused with a
smile.  "But in consideration of CJ and the overload of Sam sex images
I've already dumped into her brain, I won't say anymore."

"I appreciate that," CJ said.  "Okay, so we got way off track.  You
were telling us about your first date."

"Oh, right," Ainsley replied. "So anyway we'd been having lunch pretty
regularly and one day he looked across the table at me and smiled.
The smile that makes me want to jump him."  She realized what she'd
just said.  "Oh, sorry CJ.  Well, as I was saying, he smiled at me and
he reached out and took my hand. He asked me if I would like to have
dinner with him and I told him I'd love to."  She sighed and
remembered.  "He showed up at my apartment with 2 dozen long stemmed
peach roses," she grinned in the dark.  "And a six pack of Fresca.
Right then and there he permanently stole my heart. Any man who would
bring me beautiful flowers and care enough to know what kind of soda I
liked the best was the one for me."

She continued. "We had a wonderful dinner at a little restaurant in
Santa Monica and then he took me dancing. And it wasn't at some noisy
crowded club like the three of us went to. It was a little out of the
way place with a tiny dance floor and a trio that played soft jazz."
She smiled.  "Even though Sam is a wonderful dancer, we weren't going
to win any prizes for our dancing. But it didn't matter.  Sam just
held me in his arms and it was like no one else was there. We closed
the place down and didn't get back to my apartment until 1 in the
morning."

"Oh, please tell me we haven't come to the part of the story where you
and Sam have more red-hot sex," CJ teased.

Even though CJ couldn't see it, Ainsley rolled her eyes. "No.  Sam is
a gentleman and although the thought did cross my mind, we weren't
quite ready for that yet.  But that night he kissed me for the first
time.  He walked me to my door and waited until I unlocked it. Then he
told me he'd had a wonderful time and wanted us to do it again.  Soon.
 I told him I'd had a great time too. He smiled and touched my cheek
with his fingers, just a light touch and then he leaned in and kissed
me." She touched her fingers to her mouth, remembering.  "It was the
most amazing kiss. No tongue.  Nothing demanding.  Just his lips firm,
yet soft on mine. Sam is the best kisser," she said, savoring the
memory.  Letting it flow over her and warm her against the cold
darkness.

"Wow, Ainsley.  That's about the best first date story I've ever
heard," Donna said.

"Yeah, I have to agree with her there, Ainsley," CJ agreed.  "Now
let's just hope he's as good in the rescuing department as he is in
the romancing department," she said as they sat and waited for the
cavalry to show up.

To be continued...



Chapter 22 - PG

At that moment, the subdued cavalry, which consisted of Josh, Toby,
Sam, and Abbey and one of her Secret Service detail, was riding in a
Hum-V across the Coronado Bridge into San Diego. Another Hum-V
carrying two more of Abbey's detail followed along behind them. The
President, his detail and Charlie had already been whisked away on a
helicopter to view the more heavily damaged areas from the air. Then
it would take them to the Emergency Services command post in Balboa
Park so Jed could meet with the governor and the mayor of San Diego.
Knowing Sam knew the way to the parking garage and that he was leaving
Donna in the best possible hands, Bill had stayed behind at the base
help with things there.

No one spoke during the trip, each of the them too absorbed in their
own thoughts to try and make small talk. Josh stared out the open
window at the skyline of the city. He didn't feel the wind as it
ruffled through his hair, making it wilder than the night of not
sleeping had.  Normally, this view of San Diego was pretty, he
imagined.  Now it was hard to tell with the pall of smoke lying over
it like a winter blanket. At least the fire in the Gaslamp was finally
out.  Just before they'd left the base, the fire department had
announced they'd finally gotten it under control. The skyscrapers that
dominated the skyline looked as normal as they ever did.  Apparently
whomever had designed the modern California skyscraper knew what they
were doing. He stared hard at the city and tried to find where he
thought Donna might be.  He didn't have any luck. 'Hang on, Donna,' he
thought to himself. 'Just hang on, I'm coming.'

As they crossed the bridge into the city they could now see stronger
indications of damage. There didn't seem to be any kind of rhyme or
reason to it, though.  Two buildings that looked to be about the same
basic age and construction stood side by side, and yet one was
crumbling and the other was fine. The roads were clear. In fact,
except for the occasional emergency vehicle, they were all but
deserted. Rationally he knew that was because people had been told to
stay off the streets to let emergency vehicles move around more
freely. But given that it was Monday and, if not for the quake, a
regular work day, the lack of cars and people was disconcerting to say
the least.

It vaguely reminded him of a movie he'd seen once as a teenager.  In
it, a comet had come close to the earth and the strange radiation from
it had either killed nearly everyone outright or turned them into some
kind of zombie killing machines bent on murdering all the remaining
survivors. The deserted streets in the movie had looked suspiciously
like the ones in San Diego did right now. He half expected to see some
zombies jump out from behind one of the crumbling buildings.

It only took about 15 minutes for them to get to the parking garage.
Part of Josh had hoped that the TV coverage had made things seem worse
than they were.  His heart sank as his hopes were dashed when he saw
that it was actually worse than it had looked on TV. Originally the
parking garage had been 8 levels.  Although there were one or two
parts that were apparently still 8, most of it had disintegrated into
3 or 4 levels.  Parts of it had completely pancaked and crumbled into
1 level consisting of piles but nothing but cement and steel rebar
rubble.

Sam parked the car on the street in front of the command post that had
been hastily set-up in the Hard Rock Cafe across the street from the
parking garage.  Although the garage had been almost empty at the time
of the quake, Ainsley, CJ and Donna had not been the only ones that
were thought to be trapped inside the ruins. As soon as the powers
that be had figured that out, they'd commandeered the restaurant to
use as a command center for coordinating the search and rescue teams
that would be needed to properly search what was left of the garage.

For Sam, being here now that he knew for sure Ainsley was trapped
inside, was a slightly different experience than when he and Bill had
been looking last night.  And not in a good way. Of course the fact
that it was now daylight and it was much easier to see the wide scope
of the damage didn't help either.

The four of them and the Secret Service detail got out of the vehicles
and went inside. All things considered, the restaurant itself was in
pretty good shape.  The front window was missing, having been smashed
in the original quake, but otherwise it looked almost like they could
open for business. Tables had been shoved together in the middle of
the room and a group of three men were arguing over the blueprints
spread across them. Something about gas lines.

"Excuse me," Sam said.  The three, whom he'd already dubbed 'Manny,
Moe and Jack' looked up at him. "We have some information about some
people trapped in the garage."

"What floor are they on?" 'Manny' asked.

"The fifth," Sam replied. "Oh, I'm supposed to tell you it's the
Strawberry level."

Manny, Moe and Jack looked at each other, their expressions serious,
then they turned back to look at Sam. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell
you this,"  Jack began. "But that level has been all but destroyed,"
he said in a voice you use when you have to tell someone that the
person they're looking for is dead.

Sam didn't miss a beat.  "Well, they were alive when I talked to them
20 minutes ago."

The three looked at each other again, this time their faces showing
surprise. "You're sure that's where they are?" Moe asked.  "So far we
haven't seen any signs of life from anyone on the fruit side, much
less the fifth level, which is all but in pieces.  Most of the
survivors seem to be coming from the vegetable side of the garage.
Are you sure she couldn't have said the 'tomato' level.  That's the
fifth floor on the vegetable side."

"Yeah, because I regularly mix up the word 'Strawberry' and 'Tomato'
and not to be picky or anything but technically, a tomato is a fruit
and not a vegetable. But, yes, I'm sure she said 'Strawberry' and not
'Tomato.'  She also said they were on the outer edge, facing a 4 or 5
story building and there was pedestrian walkway instead of an actual
road in front of them down on the street level." Sam could feel his
patience for the three men slipping.

"Hey," Manny, who seemed to be also be the one in charge, said to Moe
and Jack.  "I think I know where that might be. Go over to the garage
side where it runs along 5th Street," he instructed Jack.  "What does
the car look like?"

"It's a white Toyota Sequoia, but you don't need know that cause I'm
going with him," Sam told him.

"No, sir.  I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous and I can't guarantee
your safety," Manny said.

Sam's patience evaporated, "Look, either you let me go with him or I
can get on the phone and have the mayor of San Diego, the governor of
California and the President of the United States to order you to let
me go with him," he said, all but shaking with rage.

"Sir, I don't know who you think you are..." Manny started.

Before Sam could snap out a reply, Toby's quiet but steely voice spoke
from beside him.  "His name is Sam Seaborn and he's the former White
House Deputy Communications Director. I was his boss. My name is Toby
Ziegler, I'm the current White House Communications Director. When he
goes, I'll be going as well."

Josh's voice joined in. "And my name is Joshua Lyman.  I'm the White
House Deputy Chief of Staff. I'll be joining Mr. Seaborn and Mr.
Ziegler."

Abbey jumped in next. "And in case you hadn't realized it, I'm Abigail
Bartlet.  I happen to be married to the President of the United
States," she paused to let that sink in. "So as you can see, Sam was
not making an idle threat. The three women that are missing, one of
whom is the White House Press Secretary CJ Cregg, mean a great deal to
all of us, including my husband. I would suggest you allow these three
men to go along unless you'd like my husband to get involved. Trust me
when I say he's not a happy man when his staff is denied access to
something."

Manny seemed to notice for the first time that the four of them were
flanked by 3 dark suited men, who simply screamed 'Secret Service,'
and blinked.  "I'm sorry.  I did not realize who you were or who you
were looking for."  He turned to Jack.  "Find the three of them hard
hats and take them with you."  Jack turned and started rummaging
through a large crate on the floor. Manny turned back to them.  "But I
meant what I said.  It is dangerous. If anything happens to any of you
don't say I didn't warn you."

"Fair enough," Sam answered.  Jack came up with three hard hats and
handed them out. "One more thing," Sam said to Manny.  "Do you have
any walkie-talkies that pick up channel 18?" Without a word, Moe
turned and pulled out three radios and handed one to each of them.

Jack, wearing a hard hat of his own, picked up a set of blueprints.
"Let's go," he told them.

"I'll wait here. You guys be careful. The President will kill me if
anything happens to you," Abbey said. She never referred to her
husband as 'Jed' when they were in mixed company.

Three of them nodded to her and followed Jack out the door. "Guys,
tune your radios to channel 18," he told them as they walked down the
sidewalk behind Jack. "Let's see if we can get them on the radio." He
fiddled with the knobs on his radio.  "Ainsley?  Ainsley, are you
there?"  'Please be there,' his soul begged.  'Please be okay.'

There was a long pause, then status crackled back.  "Sam?  Sam, is
that you?" Ainsley's voice answered back.

"Yes, it's me Ains.  I'm so happy to hear your voice," he said, relief
flooding through him. "Are you guys all right?  I was worried about
you after the last aftershock." Sam said, as they followed Jack around
a corner. He hoped Jack knew where they were going because to Sam they
seemed to be walking in circles.

"Yes.  Sam.  We're all right.  The roof caved in a bit more but we're
still here," she replied with a smile in her voice.

"Ainsley?  Is CJ there?" Toby asked.

"Yeah, I'm here, Toby," CJ said.  "And I swear if you make one sardine
joke I'm going to make your life miserable."

Toby smiled in spite of himself. "I can't make any promises."

"CJ, Ainsley?  Can I talk to Donna?" Josh asked, his heart was beating
fast at the thought of getting to talk to Donna for the first time
since this nightmare had begun.

"Just a second, Josh, I have to pass her the radio," Ainsley said.

A moment later the radio crackled. "Hi, Josh," Donna said.

Josh grinned.  "Hey."

"Did Sam get you some hard candy like I told him to?" she said.

Josh grinned wider.  "Yeah, he did." He paused.  "But I'd appreciate
it if you could stop, you know, worrying about me and let me worry
about you for a change. Now how are you doing?"

"Well, except for Ainsley's arm, the fact that it's pitch black in
here and the roof is caving in like we're caught in the car crushing
machine at the junkyard, we're okay," she replied.

"Donna, I know how Ainsley and CJ are.  How are YOU doing?" he said.

There was a long pause.  "I'm having a little trouble being in the
dark. I never liked the dark very much," she said quietly.

To be continued...



Chapter 23 - PG



Josh frowned a bit as he heard the note of fear and what he suspected
was a touch of panic in her voice. "Donna? Donna, listen to me. We're
here, in fact we're walking toward where we think you guys are.
Hopefully you won't have to be in there much longer. We're doing
everything thing we can to get you out of there."

"Well, I think I speak for CJ and Ainsley when I say....hurry up," Donna said.

Jack stopped and looked up, "We're here."

"Hold on a minute, you guys," Josh said into the radio.

They all looked up. This section of the garage was semi collapsed into
about 4 levels. The upper two levels and the bottom two had been
completely reduced to rubble. The middle ones really weren't much
better and although they were at least recognizable as levels, hung
mostly in broken pieces.

"Oh, my God," Sam said in horror.

"What? What is it?" Toby asked.

"I see them," Sam said, simply.

"Where? Where do you see them?" Josh demanded.

He pointed, his heart in his throat. "About halfway up on the right.
See the silver front grill and the license plate?"

"Yeah," Josh said. "What about it?"

Sam sighed.  "That's the front end of my car."

Josh now realized his mistake.  He'd been looking for a whole
recognizable car. But what he was looking at now was the severed piece
of a car. The front end of the car had been all but severed by a wall
of collapsed concrete. The wall also kept them from seeing the rest of
the car, which presumably sat behind it.

"Okay, let's go," Jack said, turning to leave.

"What?  You're just going to leave them? I'm telling you they're
alive.  Didn't you hear us?  We were just talking to them on the
radio," Sam demanded.

Jack stopped and turned back.  "I was only supposed to locate them.
I'm not search and rescue. We just coordinate the teams and tell them
where to search," he explained. "They'll need special equipment to get
them out of there."

Sam wanted to argue with him.  Wanted him to be wrong. But he couldn't
do either.  It was just that the thought of being so close to them and
then having to leave was tearing him in two. He knew it was going to
be even harder for Josh. "Yeah, okay."

"Sam!  What are you saying? We can't just leave them there," Josh
said, not believing what he was hearing.

"Josh," Sam said, quietly.  "He's right.  We can't do anything for
them here but look up at the car.  We can at least talk to them on the
radio now. Let's go," he said, taking Josh gently but firmly by the
arm.

Josh started to pull his arm from Sam's grasp.  But the look of
knowing compassion on Sam's face made him stop struggling. Sam was
right.  Of course, that didn't make it any easier. "I can't leave her,
Sam."

"We're not leaving her.  We're not leaving any of them," he said
simply.  "We'll go back and report in and then we can bring the cars
back here to wait if you want."

Josh nodded. "Okay."

"Guys?" CJ's voice came over the radio.  "What's going on?"

"You want me to answer her?" Sam asked Toby and Josh.  They both
nodded.  "We see the front end of the car, CJ, so we know where you
are.  Now we're going to go get some help to get you guys out of
there."

"Well, make it snappy, Spanky," CJ said.

Sam smiled as the three of them turned to follow Jack.  "Yes, ma'am."

**********

CJ released the button on the radio.  "Well, that ought to get their
asses in gear," she said.

"I feel better knowing that they know where we are," Ainsley said.

"Donna?" CJ said.  "You're kind of quiet. You doing all right?"

"Yeah," she said, unable to stop a sniffle.  She swiped a hand across
her cheek to wipe at a tear there.

"Then why are you crying?" Ainsley said softly.

"I'm not really crying.  I'm just really happy to hear Josh's voice,"
she said. Happy didn't begin to describe how she'd felt hearing his
voice.  To know he was so close by made the darkness seem a little
less suffocating.

"I know what you mean.  I felt the same way when I heard Sam's voice
on the cell phone the first time," Ainsley said.

Their radios crackled to life. "Ainsley?  Ainsley, it's Abbey. Are you there?"

Donna passed the radio back to Ainsley.  "Yes, Mrs. Bartlet.  I'm here."

"Ainsley, call me Abbey."

"I don't know if that would be proper," Ainsley began.

"Ainsley, don't make me come in there and slap you around.  Call me
Abbey," she said.

Ainsley smiled, "Sorry, Abbey."

"That's better," Abbey said.  "Now, tell me about your arm.  How is it?"

Ainsley was touched by her concern. "It's all right, Mrs....Abbey.
Donna and CJ helped me put together a sling for it.  I don't think
it's a bad break or anything."

"Where's it hurting you?"

"In the middle of my forearm," Ainsley replied. "A piece of concrete
fell on it. It doesn't hurt too bad though.  I've been taking some
Advil for it.  I only really hurts if I try and move it very much or
use my hand," Ainsley told her.

"Sounds like a hairline fracture.  Has there been any swelling?" Abbey
asked her.

"A little but it's not bad and hasn't gotten any worse since I hurt it."

"Good," Abbey replied. "Be sure to let me know if it starts bothering you."

"I will. I appreciate you checking on me, Abbey."

"Think nothing of it.  So Donna and CJ, the guys tell me you're
feeling all right.  Is that true? You're not injured?"

"No, we're fine, Abbey.  Ainsley seems to have taken the brunt of it,"
CJ replied.  "Although I have the feeling that all of us are going to
develop healthy cases of claustrophobia before this is over.  It's
getting pretty close in here."

"Well, I want you to know the guys just got back here and they're
working on getting a team together to get you out of there.  So just
hang in there," Abbey replied.

"We're trying our best." CJ told her. "At this point we don't have
much choice, do we?"

"No, Claudia Jean, I don't suppose you do," Abbey replied
sympathetically. "Oh, the President sends his regards," Abbey said.
"He and Charlie will be along after he meets with the governor and the
mayor."

"Well, it's nice to know we rank right up there with the other big
shots on the President's schedule," CJ said with a smile.

There was a slight pause, "CJ, I think that the three of you know by
now that you rank higher on that list than anyone else. He's very
concerned about all of you."

"Thanks, Abbey," CJ replied.

"Anytime, Claudia Jean.  Say I know, how about when this is all over,
I get the three of you drunk? Tell Donna I'll even promise to be Abbey
and not First Lady the whole time."

"I don't know, Mrs. Bartlet," Donna began. "The last time we tried
that I ended up embarrassing myself."

"Now we already went through this with Ainsley, Donna.  Don't make me
come in there.  Call me Abbey and, for the record, you did not
embarrass yourself.  You were only being honest.  I respect honesty.
And if you don't come to our little party, I promise I'll sic the
Secret Service on you and make you come.  It just wouldn't be a party
without you there."

Donna knew she was blushing.  "Thank you, Abbey."

"No thanks needed.  I have a soft spot for Canadians," Abbey replied
with a grin in her voice.

"Well, then I guess I'm definitely the right one to invite to the
party." Donna paused.  "Abbey?"

"Yes, honey?" she said, slipping into concerned mother hen mode.

"Is Josh there?" Donna asked quietly.

"No, he went in the other room with Sam," Abbey replied. "Do you want
me to get him for you?"

"No, no.  I actually just wanted to ask you something when he wasn't
in the room," Donna said. "Does he have his radio with him?"

"No, the battery was getting low so he left it in here to charge." She
paused, wondering where Donna was going with this.  "You're safe.  So
ask away," Abbey replied.

"It's kind of a favor. I was wondering...."

"Donna, just spit it out," Abbey said.

"Well, when we have this little drinking party, I mean I don't presume
to tell you who you can and cannot invite and I know you like her and
all, but..." Donna stopped.  Suddenly afraid this wasn't such a good
idea.

"Donna," Abbey said gently, still a little baffled at the direction
this conversation was taking. "It's okay.  You can say whatever's on
your mind."

It all came out of Donna's mouth in a rush. "In case you were thinking
of recreating the last time we all got drunk together, please don't
invite Amy Gardner."


To be continued... 


Chapter 24 - PG

Now, while it was true that Josh was not in the room with Abbey and it
was also true that Josh had left his radio sitting in the charger,
Abbey and Donna had not stopped to realize that Sam and Toby still had
both of their radios and they were both very much turned on.  So,
consequently, Josh, and for that matter, Toby and Sam, were hearing
everything that was being said.

"Well, I hadn't planned to invite her Donna," the three men heard
Abbey say. "But can I ask you why?" Abbey knew why but she wanted to
see if Donna realized why or would say. There was a long silence.
"Donna?  Why didn't you want me to invite Amy?"

Josh was very curious to know that himself. Sam and Toby only stood
quietly next to him.

"Because...." Donna began. "Because...Oh, Abbey," Donna said, with a
trace of sudden tears in her voice.  "Please don't hold it against
me....but I hate her."

Donna hated Amy?  'When did that happen?' Josh wondered.  Up until the
very minute Amy had resigned and left the White House, Donna had
encouraged him work things out with her.  If she hated Amy so much why
would she....Oh, God.  Joey Lucas' words surfaced in his brain, 'If
you asked 100 Donna's if we should go out, you'd get a high positive
response.  But what the numbers wouldn't tell you is that it's because
she likes you and she knows it's beginning to show and she has to
cover herself with misdirection.'

Unaware of the revelations flashing through Josh's head in the next
room, Abbey smiled, pleased that Donna had been able to get the fact
that she hated Amy off her chest.  "Donna, I would never hold that
against you.  I may have known Amy for a long time but it's not like
you just insulted one of my daughters or something." Abbey paused.
"Donna, tell me something though.  Why do you hate her?"

There was a long pause and then radio snapped on. Abbey heard Donna
sigh heavily.  "Because she hurt Josh and she hurt me," she said,
simply.

Abbey frowned and wondered what Donna was talking about. She couldn't
see anyone, including Amy, having enough power to hurt Josh. And yet
the last two days had shown her that idea was completely off base.
Abbey saw now that someone did wield that much power over him.  Donna.
 Only she used that power in the most honorable of ways.  But how had
Amy hurt Donna? Abbey raised her radio to ask when Josh beat her to
it.

"How did Amy hurt you, Donna?" Josh said into the radio Sam had handed
him, as he walked outside. Even though he didn't know the details and
she wasn't here to tell her side of things, his anger toward Amy had
blossomed at the thought of her doing anything to cause Donna one
moment of grief. It never occurred to him to take Amy's side. There
was dead silence on the other end of the radio. "Donna?" he said,
trying again. Needing to feel closer to her, he started walking back
toward the part of the garage they were trapped in. He didn't notice
that Sam and Toby had fallen in behind him or that Abbey and the
Secret Service had climbed into the two Hum-Vs and were following
along as well.

**********

Donna sat stock still, her face practically burning with
embarrassment. 'Oh, God.  What had she done?' "I thought....I mean,
Abbey said...."

"She was telling the truth. I'm wasn't in the room with her and I
didn't have my radio.  But I was standing with Sam and Toby and they
both have radios," he said.  "Now, Donna.  Please tell me how Amy hurt
you," he said it in a calm and slightly pleading voice. Donna laid the
radio on the center console and tried her best not to dissolve into
tears.

"Well, answer him," CJ said.  "Now's your chance.  Tell him how you feel."

"Donna?" Josh's voice came over the radio. The three of them ignored it.

Donna sat there.  "How?  How can I tell him now? Is it really fair to
go down that road while we're trapped in here?"

"Fair?  Who's talking about fair?" CJ demanded. "Did Amy play fair
when she shanghaied him out from under you a few months ago? Listen
Donna, this is the perfect time to tell him. If you can't tell him
now, then you're never going to be able to tell him."

"Donna?" Josh's voice now held just the hint of panicked concern.
"Anyone?  Hey, you guys in there?

Ainsley felt around and picked up the radio from where Donna had laid
it. "Just a second, Josh. We're having a little Sisterhood discussion
in here."

Donna fell back on the standard cop-out, "It will cause problems for
the President."

"No, it won't. But if it does, I'll fix them. We'll fix them. It's
what we do," CJ said, wishing she could reach over and smack Donna.

"But what if we don't make it out of here?" Donna said softly, finally
speaking the words that had been hanging heavy on her heart.

"Oh, so now you've just given up?" CJ said.

Ainsley knew it was time to jump into the fray.  "No, CJ.  Donna has a
valid concern.  Donna?" she said quietly. "Let's say we don't get out
of here.  Do you want to die, never having told him how you feel?
After waiting for 6 years do you want to cheat him out of knowing how
much he means to you?"

"I'm scared," Donna finally admitted. "Scared of what he'll say. Of
how he'll react. Of how it will affect us."

"Of course, you're scared. If you didn't love him you wouldn't be
scared," Ainsley replied.

"Donna?  Donna, please talk to me," Josh's voice begged.

Ainsley held the radio out to her.  "Take the radio back and tell him."

Donna fumbled a bit for Ainsley's hand. Then she took the radio and
held it delicately in her hand as if it were made of the finest, most
delicate crystal.  "What do I say?"

"Just tell him the truth," CJ said. "Tell him what you told me and Ainsley."

"Donna..."

"I'm here, Josh," she finally replied.

"You had me worried there for a minute. I had no idea Sisterhood chats
could be so long." He was trying to be cheerful but she could hear the
uncertainty in his voice.

"Well, CJ and Ainsley were just giving me a pep talk," she replied.

"Why do you need a pep talk?" he asked.

"Josh."

"How did she hurt you, Donna?" he repeated softly.

Donna swallowed.  "Because, this summer she knew how I felt about you,
told me it was better that I didn't say anything, and then she went
after you herself."  There.  She'd said it. She felt a little
lightheaded but she'd said it.

"And how do you feel about me?" Josh asked her gently, his voice
without a trace of teasing.

Donna's heart began hammering in her chest. "I....I...."

Josh's voice came back over the radio before she could say anything
else. "I'm only asking because I'm in love with you and I was just
wondering if I should tell you."

Donna blinked and shook her head as if to clear it.  "What?" she
whispered, sure she'd heard him wrong.  Maybe her claustrophobia and
the fear of the dark were making her hallucinate.

His voice came over the radio again as strong as before. "I said I'm
in love with you and wanted to know if I should tell you."

The tears started then.  She pressed the button on the radio to speak
but the attempt came out as a gentle sob.

"Please don't cry, Donna," he paused.  "I won't tell you if you don't
want to know."

She knew that must have been hard for him to say.  He was putting
himself out there but he was letting her decide where they went next.
Taking a breath to push down the tears she tried speaking again,
"Please tell me, Joshua," she managed.

There was a slight pause then his voice came back over the radio.
"Donnatella Moss, I love you.  I have loved you for a long time.  It
just took me even longer to realize it."

Donna sniffed and she thought she heard mysterious sniffling also
coming from the drivers side and the back seat. "Joshua Lyman, I love
you too. I've loved you ever since Rosslyn when I thought I might lose
you." She wished she could see his face.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked with a smile in his voice.

"Because I didn't know how you felt. And because you were my boss,"
she replied softly.

"I think now that the cat's out of the bag, we're going to have to
change the boss part." He paused then spoke with a chuckle in his
voice, "I hear Toby still needs a deputy."

Donna smiled at that, she could just see Toby rolling his eyes.
"Somehow I doubt Toby would be very keen on that idea."

The radio crackled to life again, but this time it wasn't Josh.
"You're wrong there, Donna," Toby said. "Actually I find the
idea...intriguing. Just promise me that while we're in the White House
you won't run for public office or, you know, defect to someone else
and I think we can work something out."

"Really, Toby?  You're not just saying that?" Donna asked.

"Donna, when have you known me to say something I don't mean?" Toby
said. "If we're going to work together you have to realize that if I
started doing things just to be nice it would ruin my whole image." He
paused.  "Oh, let me state, just for the record, that I'm Batman and
you're Batgirl. Sometimes we'll just use our secret identities.  I'm
Bruce Wayne and you're Barbara something."

Donna thought she heard Sam laughing in the background. "Um, okay,"
she said, with a little baffled smile on her face. "I'll remember
that."

"Well, if you two are done making career plans, I'd like to get back
to what Donna and I were talking about," Josh put in.

"Now Josh, you started it," Donna said.

"I know, I know and now I'm finishing it." He paused.  "So Donna, you
do realize that everyone knew how we felt about each other but you and
me," he replied with a half chuckle.

"What do you mean everyone knew? I didn't tell anyone.  Well, not
until I told Ainsley and CJ a couple days ago," she said.

"I was told we didn't have to say anything.  We've both got bad poker
faces. Except to each other, of course.  Apparently neither of us is
very observant," he told her.

"I think we're just good at hiding our feelings," Donna replied.
"Sometimes, even from ourselves."

"Yeah, let's not do that anymore." He paused.  "I'm serious Donna.
I'm done fooling around."

"Oh, darn. And here I was looking forward to the fooling around
getting seriously started," Donna said with a smirk.  That ought to
get Josh's attention.  Would probably start putting a whole host of
ideas in his head too. And it wasn't doing hers any bad, either.

To be continued...



Chapter 25 - R

"Good one, Donna," Ainsley giggled.

CJ snorted.  "That's my girl. The Sisterhood strikes again."

"Hey CJ, could you shut up about the Sisterhood already?" Toby groused
teasingly into the radio.

Maybe it was the fact that they could easily die.  Or maybe CJ was
just feeling a little evil. In any case she was ready to have some
fun. "Hey Toby, how about you shut up period?  If you do and we get
out of here sometime in the next century, I'll let you buy me dinner
and we can pick up where we left off after that night in Albany." She
wished she could see the look on his face.  He was probably stroking
his beard and doing that blinking thing.

Not wanting to be left out, Ainsley jumped in too.  "Oh, and Sam?
Three of us want to show our appreciation for you planning ahead
enough to put this emergency box in the car.  CJ and Donna plan on
planting a big wet one on you but I don't think that's going to do for
me.  Since I don't think we're going to be able to salvage the box of
condoms in here, you're going need to....lay....in a new supply for me
to properly show my appreciation. A big, big supply." Ainsley couldn't
stifle a giggle as she pictured Sam's face.  It was probably red with
embarrassment but there would be a gleam in his eyes that would make
her weak in the knees.

The Sisterhood had landed a death blow to the Brotherhood.  The
Brotherhood was utterly silent.

"Okay, are you guys drinking tequila shooters in there?" Abbey said.
"And if so could you pass some out here because your male counterparts
all look like they could use some.  You've managed to stun the three
of them into varying degrees of near unconsciousness. I wish I had a
camera so you could see their expressions."

"Why don't you just describe them to us, Abbey," CJ suggested with an evil grin.

"Well, Josh is smirking like a teenage boy whose curfew has been
lifted and he knows he's getting lucky after the prom. Toby's just
rubbing his beard and looking at his shoes.  And Sam, well Sam is
about the reddest shade of pink I've ever seen on a man that didn't
have second degree sunburn but he has this look in his eye that
reminds me of something from 'Wild Kingdom.'"

CJ pressed the button on her radio to reply but she couldn't speak.
The three women, for a moment, forgot they were trapped in a slowly
shrinking prison and they laughed. Not just a giggle or a twitter but
a hearty, boisterous laugh. CJ hadn't released the button on her radio
so everyone else heard them.  Before long everyone but the Secret
Service agents were laughing along with them.  It was a light moment
in a dark hour.

**********

"Donna?" Josh said, a few moments later after things had calmed down a
bit. Josh and his entourage were standing near the part of the garage
where the girls were trapped. Josh leaned up against a wall across
from it and looked up to where he could still see the license plate.
"Donna?  There are some things I think we should talk about," he
began. Part of him supposed that he should care that a number of other
people were going to hear what should be a private conversation but he
didn't care. Now that the door had been opened, he'd be damned if he'd
close it again.

"Well, Josh.  It just so happens I'm not going anywhere," Donna replied.

"You know when you said Amy hurt you this summer, you were wrong. Amy
didn't hurt you, I did," he paused. "I'm sorry for that."

"I know," she said.

"This time with Amy was all wrong." For some reason he needed to
explain it to her.

"I know," she repeated.

He stopped, realizing that she wasn't just saying that.  She really
did know.  "How....?"

"Josh, I'm not blind.  You turned to her because you were frustrated
and stressed and you needed someone," she paused.  Then she softly
added.  "I just wish you'd turned to me." It was said without
animosity, bitterness or anger.  Only with a hint of sadness.

Josh closed his eyes, leaned his head against the wall and took a
breath.  How did he explain this to her when he could hardly explain
it to himself. "I couldn't turn to you Donna, it would have meant
something with you.  I didn't want to think about it, didn't want it
to mean anything and I got that with Amy.  She was...convenient.  It
would never be that way with you." This time he was the one who
paused, then softly added, "Just saying hello to you in the morning
means more to me than anything I ever had with Amy."

"Oh, Josh," Donna said. "I think that's the nicest thing anyone has
ever said to me."

"I meant it," he replied.

It started then. A low menacing rumble as the earth once again began
to shift with another aftershock. Since it was the first time Josh had
been in a earthquake it took him a second to figure out what it was.
By that time, Sam had grabbed him and Toby and had dragged them away
from the building and into the open parking lot across from the
garage.  They stood next to the Hum-V which the secret service had
shoved Abbey into a few seconds before as the aftershock continued. A
big danger in an earthquake was having pieces of a building fall on
you.

This aftershock was strong. If Sam was any judge, this was the
strongest aftershock they'd had yet.  A wrenching sound came from the
garage and the three of them looked up.  What was left of the floor
right above and to the side SUV had begun to shake and flex, almost as
if it were made of super flexible cardboard or paper and not concrete
and steel. The exposed, ragged ends of re-enforcing bars once buried
in the concrete, or re-bar as it was more normally called, waved like
demented snakes as the concrete moved. As the aftershock began to
abate, the wrenching and crashing sound coming from the garage didn't.
 Suddenly, a huge section to the left of the SUV began to pancake
together, intent on reducing the remaining 4 levels into one mangled
pile.  As it fell, a large ragged chunk of it slid sideways and
disappeared behind the concrete wall that had severed the front of the
SUV, presumably headed right for the area where they suspected the car
was resting. A thunderous metallic crash could be heard as the chunk
came to a stop. Then, silence.

"Donna!?" Josh yelled into his radio, his heart in his throat.

"CJ?!" Toby bellowed in his.

"Ainsley!?" Sam screamed into his. "Are you guys all right? Please,"
he begged.  "Someone needs to answer us. We need to know if you're
okay." Still no answer. He looked at Toby and Josh.  "We've got to get
them out of there.  I'm going to go find out where the rescue teams
are."  Toby nodded while Josh only continued to look up at the garage.
He didn't want to leave, but he had to find out what was going on.  It
was obvious the situation was deteriorating and something had to be
done to free the girls.

Now that the aftershock was over, the secret service let Abbey get out
of the car.  She seemed to read Sam's mind.  "Go on, I'll look after
Heckle and Jekyll," she said, smiling reassuringly.  "If they get out
of hand I'll just make my detail hogtie them."

Sam nodded and smiled at her gratefully, then took off for the command
center at a fast jog. It only took him a few minutes to get to the
Hard Rock Cafe. Slowing his steps, he went inside and found Manny, Moe
and Jack arguing about something.

"I'm telling you, the load bearing stresses in the area are too
great," Moe was saying.

"No, I have to disagree," Jack said.

"Guys?" Sam interrupted. "What's taking so long?  Why haven't we seen
anyone trying to rescue our friends?"

The three of them looked up at him. "Mr. Seaborn, you'll have to be
patient," Manny said.

Sam was beyond playing around with these guys and their platitudes.
"No, I need you guys to get us some help.  That last aftershock
brought down more of the garage.  Time is running out for them. We
need help and we need it now."

Manny looked at him, a look of real understanding on his face, "I know
you're concerned for your friends, but the area they're trapped in is
very precarious and unstable. There's no way we can go from the inside
of the structure out to where they are. The only way we can get to
them is by using a cherry picker or a lift basket and get to them from
the outside.  All the fire department lift baskets are tied up right
now so we're waiting on a cherry picker from the city's department of
public works.  I just talked to them and it should be here in about 20
minutes, along with the fire department. They'll go in and assess the
situation and proceed accordingly to free your friends."

"Oh," Sam said, a little guilty that he'd snapped so hard.  "Sorry.
We're just worried about them. They're very important to us."

Manny smiled sympathetically.  "I kind of gathered that when you
threatened to bring the full force of the U.S. government down on my
head if I didn't let you go on the scouting trip earlier." He paused.
"Since we know where your friends are and we know they're alive,
they're next on our list," he said.  "I promise that as soon as the
cherry picker gets here we'll get someone to them."

"Thanks for all your help," Sam replied. He didn't even allow his
brain to process the fact that the last aftershock could have possibly
changed the "we know they're alive" part. He turned and headed back
where he'd left Josh, Toby and Abbey.

"Sam?" Ainsley's disembodied voice came softly over his radio. "Sam?
Are you there?"

Sam stopped and jerked the radio out of his pocket. 'There is
something wrong with her voice,' he thought.  It was so soft he had to
turn the volume up on the radio and she sounded as if it was taking
all her concentration just to speak. "Ainsley?  Thank God.  What
happened?  Are you guys okay?" There was a huge pause and he wondered
for a moment if he'd only imagined hearing her voice.

"No.  I...don't think so," she said, haltingly but didn't elaborate.
In the background he though he heard what sounded like CJ swearing and
cursing loudly.

"Ainsley?" he said, trying not to let his panic overwhelm him. There
was no answer this time. "Ainsley, what's wrong?" Sam demanded as he
started to run.  "Ains, talk to me."

"Yeah," she finally said.  "My head."

"CJ!?" Sam heard Toby yell over the radio, presumably in response to
hearing CJ's cursing.

"For the love of God, Toby," CJ answered. Her voice was more lucid
than Ainsley's but it was laced with what sounded a like tears. "You
don't have to yell.  I'm right...oh God...here. I just...oh, shit,
shit, shit," her voice trailed off into a hiss of what sounded like
pain. The radio snapped off.

"I'll stop yelling when one of you tells us what the hell's going on
in there," Toby threw back, although he kept his tone a little quieter
and calmer this time.

There was a silence for a moment on the radio and then it crackled to
life. "Nothing good, Toby.  Nothing good," was CJ's strained reply.

Sam rounded the corner to find a few more people gathered in the
parking lot than when he'd left.  The President, his Secret Service
detail and Charlie had arrived while he'd been away talking to Manny,
Moe, and Jack. Now, Toby, Josh, Abbey and the President were looking
up at the garage.  He jogged up and stopped next to them.

"Hi, Sam," Jed said, gravely.

"Hi, Mr. President.  Guys, the rescue team is waiting on a cherry
picker so they can go in from this side.  It should be here in about
15 minutes."

"Sam," Toby said, looking at him.  "I'm not sure if they have 15 minutes."

To be continued...



Chapter 26 - R

"CJ?" Abbey said, over the radio. "Could you possibly elaborate a bit
on how you're doing?"

CJ sniffed from the tears trailing down her cheeks. "Not right at the
moment, no.  I'm working on it. Give me a minute and I'll get back to
you."

She released the button on the radio and coughed.  The motion set off
a new round of pain in her foot and she tried to breathe through it.
Her foot hurt like...she couldn't even verbalize what it hurt like.
All she knew was that it hurt and it hurt like nothing had ever hurt
before.  "Ainsley?  Donna?" she said as she reached up and pulled out
the flashlight. Flicking it on she pointed it toward her foot. And saw
something that she could have easily live 4 or 5 hundred lifetimes
without seeing.  A metal piece of rebar had penetrated the door and
was currently sticking up through her shoe...and, given the amount of
pain she was in, presumably the foot that was inside her shoe. She
felt the meager contents of her stomach begin to revolt, so she
quickly thumbed the flashlight off and leaned back.  Closing her eyes,
she took a couple of deep breaths to gain some control. Throwing up in
a confined space did not strike her as a particularly good idea. 'Oh,
shit,' she thought. 'Now we're really in it.'

Once it appeared that her stomach was not going to betray her she
tried again to find out what had happened to her 'cell' mates.
"Ainsley?  Donna? You guys okay?"

It took a minute but finally she heard Ainsley respond.  "Yeah.
Something. Hit my head.  Really hurts. Not bleeding though."

CJ frowned. Ainsley's voice sounded odd, like she was having trouble
thinking of the words.  CJ wished she wasn't so helpless.  Not only
was she wedged into this little space where she couldn't even raise
her head more than an inch or two, and therefore couldn't see over the
center console to what had happened to her friends, but now because of
her foot she was literally pinned in place like some bug in a
collection. "Donna?  Donna, answer me! Are you okay?" There was no
response.  "Ainsley? If I shine the flashlight up your way can you see
what's going on with Donna?"

There was another pause.  "Yeah. I think so."

CJ flicked the flashlight on and pointed it between the seat in
Donna's direction.  "What do you see, Ainsley?"

"Um.  She's not moving.  I can't see her face," Ainsley answered
slowly, as if she was half asleep. "The door behind her seems bent in.
I don't think it was like that before."

CJ went cold for a minute.  No, it wasn't like that before.  When
she'd looked at her foot, she vaguely remembered seeing that her door
was also bent in.  Could that have happened when the rebar came
through the door?  Did that mean that rebar came through Donna's door
too? If so, that was bad.  Very, very bad.  CJ had only had her foot
by the door.  Donna's whole body had been next to the door. "Can you
reach over far enough to see if she has a pulse and she's breathing?"

"I don't know.  I'll try," came Ainsley's weak reply.

CJ could hear Ainsley moving around a bit and heard her moan a bit as
if in pain. "Ainsley, you okay?"

"Yeah, just bumped my arm." There was a pause then Ainsley voice
floated back to her, still sounding slow and like it was taking all of
her concentration to speak.  "She's definitely... breathing.  I can
feel it...on my hand." Then there was another pause as CJ assumed she
was checking for a pulse. "Yeah, she's got a pulse."

CJ breathed a little sigh of relief.  At least Donna was alive.  She
didn't relish the idea of telling Josh that Donna was dead. Actually
she relished the idea of Donna actually 'being' dead even less. She
picked up the radio.  "Okay, guys we need to get out of here and we
need to get out of here NOW."

"We're working on it," Sam said to her.  "They're waiting on some
equipment to get here so they can get up to you.  It should be here in
a few minutes. How are you guys doing?"

"Well, Sam we're just about ready to start the limbo contest up on the
Acapulco Deck. Then we were planning on playing bingo in the Seafarer
Lounge." Something seemed to come loose in CJ, "How do you think we
are?!  We've been stuck in this vehicle for like, 20 hours now. We're
cold, we're tired, we're dirty, we're injured, without the flashlight
on it's dark as pitch in here and we really, really want out.  NOW!"
CJ hadn't even realized she was nearly sobbing by the end of her
tirade. She dropped the radio in her lap, covered her face, and wept.
All her pain, helplessness, frustration, worry and grief pouring out
in a rush.

"CJ?" Abbey's voice came gently over the radio a moment later. "CJ? I
know it must be hard and you guys have really put up with a lot.  But
I need you to be strong just a little while longer.  Because if we're
going to help you we need you to talk to us." She paused, giving CJ a
moment. "CJ? Can you tell me what's going on?  You said you were
injured.  Did something happen in that last aftershock?"

CJ took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together.  Abbey was
right, she had to get some control.  It was obvious that Donna and
Ainsley needed some help and she was it. Wiping her face on her
sleeve, she picked up the radio, "Um, yeah," she sniffed.  "Something,
um, hit the car on Donna's and my side." Her voice sounded watery even
to her own ears.  "There's um..." her voice trailed off, a fresh round
of tears threaten to start. She didn't even want to say the words.

"You're doing great, CJ," Abbey said.  "Now finish what you were
saying.  'There's' what...?"

CJ swallowed, forcing the words to the surface, "Pieces of rebar came
through the side of the car.  It...it came through, um, the door and
there's a piece of it going through my foot."

"Ouch. That must really hurt. Is it bleeding much?"  Abbey asked calmly.

"Well, it made me nauseous so I didn't look at it too closely, but I
don't think it was bleeding a lot."

"Yeah, I can see how having something like happen to your foot
wouldn't exactly make you hungry," Abbey tried to joke.  "What part of
your foot is it in?"

"I still have my shoe on so I'm not sure but I think it's going
through the middle of my left foot from the bottom to the top.  Just
below the ball of my foot," CJ replied with another sniff.

"Okay, CJ keep your foot as still as possible and whatever you do,
don't try and remove the bar. You could do a lot more damage," Abbey
replied.

"Yeah and it would hurt like a son of a bitch," CJ shot back with a
little laugh.

"Well, yeah there is that," Abbey said.  CJ could all but hear the
smile in her voice. "Okay, CJ now how's Ainsley?"

"She said something hit her head again and that it hurts.  She's been
talking a little slow, like she's drugged or sleepy.  She told me her
head wasn't bleeding though."

"Does she have a lump where she was hit?" Abbey asked.

CJ was going to answer but didn't get the chance. "I'm right here, you
know," Ainsley responded, still a bit slowly.  "You don't have to talk
about me like I'm, well, not."

"Good to have you with us, Ainsley," Abbey replied.  "Sam was getting
pretty worried. You'd said something about condoms and showing your
appreciation and he didn't want to miss out on that."

Ainsley snorted and had the vague impression that had been said more
for Sam's benefit than hers.  "Well, tell him...tell him," her
sluggish brain groped around for an answer. "Tell him..to get the
green ones."

"The green ones?" Abbey said, a smirk in her voice.

"You know the green, glowing, whatever kind," Ainsley replied, shaking
her head to try and get it restarted.

"You mean glow-in-the-dark condoms?" Abbey clarified.

"Yes!  Exactly.  Tell him to get lots of those 'cause we haven't tried
them yet."

In spite of everything, CJ snickered.  If the press were could only
see them now.  The former Deputy White House Counsel was asking the
First Lady to tell her boyfriend, the former Deputy White House
Communications Director and current Congressional candidate for the
California 30th to stock up on a supply of glow-in-the-dark condoms.
Even she wouldn't be able to spin a story like that if the press ever
got a hold of it.

"Okay, Ainsley I'll tell him.  Now do you have a lump on your head
where you were hit?" Abbey asked her.

There was a pause.  "Yeah, there's a lump.  It's about the size of
a...golf ball."

"Okay.  Ainsley?  Ainsley, I need you to do something for me.
Whatever you do, I need you to stay awake.  All right?"

"Um, all right," Ainsley answered. "Why?"

"I think you have a concussion.  But until we can get you checked out
you need to stay awake. CJ?  You need to make sure she doesn't fall
asleep," Abbey said.

"Okay, I'll see to it," she said into the radio.  If Ainsley decided
to fall asleep, CJ didn't know quite how she would stop her but she'd
just have to cross that bridge when they came to it.

"Now before Josh bursts a blood vessel, tell me about Donna," Abbey said.

CJ paused, wondering if she should tell the truth, knowing that Josh
would hear every word and it would probably only make his fear and
panic worse. But Abbey needed to know the truth if she was going to
help them.  "Sam?"

"Yeah, CJ?" Sam's voice came back over the radio.

"I need you to hang onto Josh.  I think now would probably be a good
time for him to lean up against a wall or something."

"Okay, CJ. I'll take care of him," Sam replied.

"Donna's unconscious," CJ said.  "But Ainsley said she's still
breathing and has a pulse.  I think that when whatever it was, hit us,
it shoved rebar into the entire length of the car." She swallowed
trying not to let the image form in her head. "I think Donna might be
impaled on some of it."

"Is she bleeding?" Abbey asked.

"Just a second, Abbey.  Ainsley, did you see any blood on Donna
before?" CJ asked.

"No," Ainsley replied. "But I wasn't looking either."

"Could you check again?"

"Sure," Ainsley said, moving to look more closely at Donna. "It's hard
to tell. Even with the flashlight on....there's too many shadows." She
was still speaking slowly but at least she felt more lucid. "Let me
try putting my hand over there and see if I can feel anything."  She
stretched and slid her hand as far over Donna's back as she could.  At
first she didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. Then her fingers
brushed something wet.  "Oh, wait," she said, pulling her hand back.
She held it up to the flashlight.  Sure enough, it was smeared with
Donna's blood.  "Yeah, it's blood."

"Abbey," CJ said into the radio.  "We found blood on her back,
actually running along her left side but we can't see where it's
coming from.  What should....."

At that moment, Donna began to wake up. As she became more awake she
moaned. Then as she emerged completely from unconsciousness into the
full force of the pain, she cried out in agony. As CJ had been talking
to Abbey at the time, Donna's cry had carried clearly over the radio.

To be continued...



Chapter 27 - R

Splintering, primal, bewildering pain was the focus of Donna's world
when she woke. It was like dropping into a nightmare, only the
nightmare was real and she was very much awake.  She couldn't pinch
herself to wake up to escape it and she couldn't click her heels and
say 'there's no place like home.' It was so enormous, so engulfing
that at first she couldn't even comprehend where the pain was coming
from. Every breath, every move, seemingly even every thought was
agony. A roaring filled her ears, but slowly, she managed to hear CJ
calling to her.

"DONNA!  Donna, listen to me! Abbey said you have to try and stay
calm. Try and take deep breaths. You have to tell us what's wrong."

"Hurts," she managed with a cough, which only managed to set off a new
round of pain.

"What hurts?" CJ asked her.

"Everything." That was an understatement. She could hear CJ talking
and she could tell that some was answering on the radio but she
couldn't hear their response over the roaring in her ears.

"Abbey wants you to be more specific."

Donna's mouth seemed to start acting on its own.  "Tell Abbey to go to
hell. It just fucking hurts." The tears started then. It hurt to cry
and that in turn made her cry harder which made it hurt more.  Talk
about a vicious cycle.

CJ sat there a little dumbfounded.  She was going to let Donna tell
Abbey where it hurt and so she'd had her finger on the radio button
and everyone had just heard what Donna had said. CJ didn't think she'd
ever heard Donna curse that badly before and she knew that even if she
had, Donna would never do it to the First Lady, even if she was being
'Abbey' and not the First Lady. "Abbey...I," CJ began.

Abbey's voice, calm and steady, came back over the radio before CJ
could finish.  "It's all right, CJ.  People in pain say things they
don't mean.  When I had Liz I cursed like a sailor and called Jed
every horrible thing I could think of.  Now, you have to get her to
calm...."

"Donna?" Josh's voice interrupted Abbey from his own radio.  "Donna,
listen to me. Listen to the sound of my voice."

CJ had to give him credit. His voice was more steady and solid than
she would have expected, while still being tender in it's tone.

"Josh...?" Donna said with a sob. She didn't have a radio and in her
distress she didn't realize that Josh couldn't hear her.

"Ainsley, give Donna the radio," CJ told her, hoping it would help
calm Donna. "Donna, take the radio from Ainsley and talk to Josh."

The flashlight was still on and Donna was able to easily locate the
radio Ainsley was handing her.  Blindly, she pressed the talk button,
"Josh....?" she repeated with a lingering sob, the roaring in hear
ears subsiding enough to hear him.

"Hey, there you are. I was getting worried," he said.

His voice had helped her sobs come under control but the pain was
still enormous. "It hurts," she told him.

"I know, Donna.  I know it hurts," his voice said, comfortingly. "I
know it hurts like nothing you've ever felt.  You think that no one
knows what you're feeling but you're wrong. I know.  The pain washes
over you in wave after wave until you feel like you can't fight it
anymore. But you have to fight it.  You have to keep fighting it.  For
me. We're working on getting you out of there just as soon as
possible.  I know you think you're alone but you're not.  We're all
right there with you.  You've just got to hang on for a little while
longer."

There was a long pause and Donna ground her teeth together and took a
breath to try and get some control of the pain. "I'll try."

"Good, now take some slow, deep breaths," he told her.

"Hurts to breath."

"I'm sorry.  I know it does.  But please, just try to slow your
breathing down," he said. CJ suspected that Abbey was feeding him what
to say now. "Is that helping at all?" he asked.

"A little," Donna replied, trying to focus on the sound of his voice.

"Good.  Now can you tell me where it hurts?" Josh asked. "Take your
time and think about it."

Donna sat there and tried to concentrate on taking a mental inventory.
 Head?  Didn't hurt.  Arms?  Didn't hurt directly but hurt other parts
of her body when she moved them.  Chest? Not exactly, but hurt when
she breathed.  Back?  Yes, oh God.  That was it.  Her back on the left
side. Searing, raging pain. That was it, that's where the pain was
coming from. Wait.  No, that wasn't all of it.  Her inventory
continued.  Abdomen?  No, not really.  Not the front anyway, just in
the back on the left as an extension of the other pain.  Legs?  No.
Wait.  Yes!  That was it, her left leg.  Shit, her left leg, near her
knee. It felt like a thousand needles had been punched through it.

She blinked and took a breath as another wave of pain slid greasily
over her. "Okay," she said into the radio.  "I think it's my back on
the left side and my left knee," she ground out.

"Good, you're doing really well, Donna," he paused a minute then came
back over the radio. "I need you to do one more thing for me. It's
going to be tough.  Probably the toughest thing I've ever asked you to
do."

"Even tougher than the time you asked me to help you decorate your
apartment for Amy and the 101 Tahitian nights?" she said, trying to
tease him.

He paused, regret evident in his answer. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that.
But this will be even tougher."

"I'd do anything you asked me to, Josh," she replied.

There was another pause and CJ could picture Josh trying to hold it together.

"Thanks, Donna.  I appreciate that," he said, with just the hint of
tears in his voice. "Now here's what I want you to do.  I need you to
slowly and carefully feel around the areas where it hurts and tell me
if you can feel anything like swelling or broken bones."

She didn't really understand why he wanted her to do that but she
would do it anyway. "Okay.  I'm going to set the radio down for a
minute."

"Fine," Josh said.  "Take your time, don't rush and remember, you have
to stay calm or you could hurt yourself more. Call me when you're
done."

She put the radio on the seat and took a breath. It had gotten so
cramped in her little hole she couldn't move her head enough to try
and look at her injuries and had to settle for feeling them with her
hand. Because it was the easiest to reach she slid her hand down to
her knee first. It was suddenly apparent why Josh was having her do
this.  Something, some kind of metal rod was...going into, no, through
her knee.  Oh, God. Her stomach threatened to revolt and she had to
take some long slow breaths to calm it. Part of her suspected what was
coming when she moved her hand around to her back but she still wasn't
quite ready for it. Two pieces of the same thing that was going into
her knee was going into her back.  And her back was wet.  How could it
be wet? She wondered.  Pulling her hand back she saw it glistened with
blood.

It was all too much and this time her stomach did revolt and she
nabbed her purse just in time to throw up in it.  Vomiting made her
whole body jerk and sent fresh waves of pain rolling through her. When
she was finished, she took a couple of steadying, cleansing breaths.
Looking up she saw Ainsley holding out a bottle of water to her.
Smiling, she took it and managed a few small drinks to rinse her
mouth. Then not being able to stand it, she rinsed the blood off of
her hand. 'So much for not being squeamish about blood,' she thought.
Wiping her wet hand on her right pant leg she picked up the radio.

"Um, I did what you told me," she said hoarsely, with a watery sniff.

"Did you find anything?" Josh asked her.

She sniffed and again tried for some humor. "Yeah, that feeling pieces
of metal embedded in my body makes me nauseous."

"I can imagine," Josh replied.  "Me too. Where is the metal embedded?"

"You sure you want the gory details?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he said but not very convincingly.

"One through my left knee that hurts like a son of a bitch but isn't
bleeding much and two into my back on the left side which hurt like I
can't even describe and are apparently bleeding pretty well," she
finished, trying not remember what her own blood had looked like on
her hands.

"Okay," Josh over the radio.  "Abbey wants to know if you've got any
gauze or bandages?"

CJ answered for her.  "We've got some in the first aid kit."

"CJ, Abbey wants you to pack the wound on Donna's back with gauze to
help stop the bleeding," Josh said.

"And I'd love to do that but you guys don't seem to understand what's
going on in here. From where I am, I can barely see that there even is
still a front passenger compartment, much less be able to get to it."
She paused and took a breath to try and calm down.  "All I can do is
pass stuff to Ainsley , who can then pass stuff on to Donna." She
released the button on the radio and turned in Ainsley's general
direction, "Hey, Ainsley can you still use your phone?"

"Yeah, I guess so.  Why?"  Ainsley asked.

"I want you to try and take some pictures of the inside of the car and
then send them to Sam so they can see what I'm talking about," CJ
replied.

"Okay," Ainsley said, pulling out her phone. She was getting a signal.
 The battery was low but there was enough life left to take 2 or 3
shots and then send them off. She took the first one and the flash was
obscenely bright in contrast to the low light from the flashlight.

"Sam? Ainsley's going to be sending you some pictures in a minute so
you can see what's going on in here," CJ told him.

"Okay, I'll be waiting," Sam replied.

"Donna?" Josh asked.

"Yes, Joshua?"

"If we have CJ and Ainsley pass you some gauze do you think you could
try and pack some around the wounds on your back?" Josh asked.

"It's really hard to reach but I'll try," she replied.

"That's all I ask, Donnatella." He paused.  "Abbey said to be careful
you don't move the metal around. It could make you bleed more and
don't worry about your knee for now.  Just concentrate on your back."
CJ pulled out the first aid kit, started pulling out the gauze and
handing it to Ainsley who passed it to Donna. "So Donna? Where do you
want to go on our first date?" he asked after a moment.

As Donna's hands were a bit occupied, Ainsley held up the radio and
pressed the talk button so Donna could answer, "We actually get to
date?" she said, her voice coming out in a bit of a hiss as she once
again had to touch the wounds on her back and it had stolen her
breath.  "I just thought we'd get right to the fooling around part,"
she finished through gritted teeth.

"Why can't we do both?" Josh replied, a smile in his voice. "I can woo
you and then we can fool around."

Donna knew he was trying to keep her mind off what she was doing and
it was working.  Her stomach, empty as it was now, had decided to stay
put, and it didn't seem quite so weird to be touching stuff that was
protruding from her body. "Woo, Joshua?  I thought you were born
without the wooing gene," she said with a hissed again as she pressed
the gauze in around wound between the metal and her jacket so it would
stay in place. It didn't take long for her to use up all the gauze
they had. Donna rinsed the blood off her hands again and Ainsley gave
her back the radio.

"For you, Donnatella, I would get one," he said.

She smiled tearily. "Okay, that was about the sweetest thing I've ever
heard. Now who are you and what have done with Josh?" Donna asked him.

"I'm right here. I've always been right here," Josh replied softly.
"Donna...I know this is probably the worst possible time to tell you
this, but I'm sorry...really sorry...for everything. For every word,
for every 'thing' I ever did that hurt you.  Every gomer comment.
Every time I sabotaged your dates.  Every time I made you work late
just so I could be around you. Every time I noticed what you were
wearing but didn't have the courage to tell you looked beautiful.
Every time I didn't thank you for taking care of me after Rosslyn.
Every time I didn't thank you for every single thing you've done for
me and for every single day you stayed with me when you could have
moved to greener pastures. Every time I didn't thank you for being my
best friend. For every time I didn't say 'I love you.'"

Tears were running down Donna's face when he finished. "I stayed
because I love you," she drew another painful breath. "Oh, Josh. I'm
sorry too. I'm sorry for Cliff and the diary and Jack and the quote.
I'm sorry for leaving you for Dr. Freeride and for every other time I
let you down.  Every time I didn't tell you that you look amazing in
your blue suit or your tux. Every time I tied your tie and didn't have
the nerve to lean in and kiss you like I wanted to.  Every time I
threw you at someone like Amy Gardner or Joey Lucas when all I wanted
you to do was throw myself at you.  Every missed opportunity to tell
you how I felt about you, about us. Every time I didn't thank you for
hiring me and giving me the greatest opportunity I've ever had. Every
time I didn't thank you for being my best friend. For every time I
didn't say 'I love you.'"

"You've never let me down, Donnatella. Not once," he said.

To be continued...



Chapter 28 -R

Josh smiled. "Well, now that we've got that out of the way, where DO
you want to go on our first date?" he said, with a laugh as he
continued to try and keep her mind of the pain she was in.  The radio
was silent a moment and he wasn't sure she was going to answer.

"I want to go to Luigi's," she replied, her voice still sounding strained.

He frowned, "Just Luigi's?"

"We both like Luigi's," she said.

"We both love Luigi's," he said, referring to the little Italian place
near his apartment. Whenever they ordered pizza or Italian take-out it
was always from Luigi's.  They'd even stopped in there a few times
when they'd been working at his apartment and just needed a break. It
was a little place, owned by Luigi Scarpelli and his wife Angelina,
whose great-grandparents had immigrated to America three generations
before. The bulk of their business was pizza and take-out so they
hadn't spent a lot of space or time on the seating in the restaurant.
Mainly it consisted of a few booths and a couple of tables, covered
with red checked table clothes and drippy candles stuck in old Chianti
bottles. The food was delicious, well-priced and plentiful. The
atmosphere warm, friendly and intimate. More like sitting in someone's
kitchen than in a restaurant.

The Scarpellis were kind people, always quick with a joke and smile
for the two of them when he and Donna came in either for take-out or
to dine in. Luigi always called Donna by her full name and Angelina
would simply call her 'Bella'.  "I guess I thought you'd want to go
somewhere more...public," he finished.  Luigi's wasn't exactly a high
traffic spot. He figured she'd want to go somewhere where everyone
would see them together. Now that they were going to jump into the
deep end of the pool together, he knew he wanted everyone to know it.
Luigi's was strictly a local's hidden treasure.

"You didn't let me finish," she coughed tiredly, making Josh frown
again.  She didn't sound like she was getting any better. "That's
really a very annoying habit you have," she teased. "I want you to
take me to Luigi's for dinner.  I want to sit in the booth by the big
front window. You know the one I mean?"

"Yeah, I know which one you mean," he said with a smile. When they'd
eaten there before they'd avoided that booth, instead choosing a small
table in the back. Sitting in that booth you were all but on display
for anyone walking or driving by the front window.

"I want you to hold my hand through dinner and after dessert I want
you to kiss me right there in that booth for all the world to see."
She paused.  "Then I want you take me home and make love to me. I make
it a rule to never put out on the first date, but for you, Joshua,
I'll make an exception."

His whole body began to hum at the thought of doing everything she'd
just described.  "I think that can be arranged," he said softly.
"After all it does fall under the wooing and fooling around plan."

"Yes, it does," she replied softly.  Her voice was soft and breathy,
but Josh suspected it was more from her injuries than any attempt at
seduction.

He heard her draw another slow breath and even over the radio she
sounded exhausted. As if talking to him had taken everything she had.
He turned to Abbey, who was standing next to him. "Mrs. B, she doesn't
sound very good."

Abbey took a breath, "I know Josh." She had to force herself to not
snap at him in frustration. The only thing worse than being President
and feeling helpless was being a doctor and feeling helpless. But just
as she told Toby earlier, taking it out on Josh was not going to make
her feel any feel better. Especially now that he'd managed to extract
his head from his ass and tell Donna how he felt. And he'd done it
beautifully. "We can't do anything more for her until we get her out
of there. What you're doing right now is the best thing.  Just talk to
her. Even if she's too tired to talk back, just let her hear your
voice."

Just then, a large utility truck with the promised cherry picker,
followed by a fire truck and a rescue squad/ambulance, pulled up to
where they were standing.

"Good news, guys," he said as he moved away a bit so he wouldn't be
drowned out by the noise from the large, heavy vehicles. "The rescue
equipment we've been waiting for just got here. We should have you
guys out of there really soon."

"It's about damn time," CJ said. "Sam?  Ainsley wants to know if you
got the pictures yet?"

Sam pulled out his radio. "They're coming through right....." his
voice trailed off as he saw the first one.  "Oh, my God."

Fortunately, he hadn't said it over the radio so the girls didn't hear
him. But everyone on the ground had heard him.  They gathered around
him and the phone, which was identical to Ainsley's, to see what he
was seeing.  There really wasn't much need for them to add anything to
Sam's original exclamation.  Sam tried not to grip the phone so hard
he broke it. Toby hid the fists he was making by shoving them into his
pants pockets.  Abbey's hand covered her mouth in mute horror.
Charlie frowned. Jed ran his hand helplessly through his hair.  Josh
pressed his lips together, closed his eyes, and slumped up against the
Hum-V.

The first picture was one Ainsley had taken pointed toward CJ.  They
could see CJ fingers poking out of a gap between the two front seats
that was no higher than an inch.

The second one was one Ainsley had taken of Donna.  Because of the low
ceiling, Donna could only raise her head up halfway so the picture was
mostly of the top of her bowed, dirt and cement dusted, blonde head
and one equally dirty shoulder. Her hand was just crossing in front of
her to reach for a square of gauze laying on the seat.  The picture
had obviously been taken while Donna had been trying to pack her wound
with gauze. Her hand was more bloody than not bloody. It stood out in
sharp contrast to the pale pink material of the sweater she was
wearing and the tan coat she had on over it.

The last picture was one of Ainsley herself that she'd apparently
taken by holding the phone over by Donna. Although she wasn't quite as
tall as Donna and could just about straighten her head all the way up,
the steering wheel was bent low and toward the center console so she
had to look through the bottom part of it.  It looked oddly like she
was staring at them through some kind of rounded jail cell door. The
effect was only intensified by the shadow of the steering wheel that
the flash had also cast over her face. It was the only picture where
they could actually see a face.  A face that was smiling bravely but
was dirty and tired, except for the dual tracks down her face where
the tears had washed away the dirt and the clear blue eyes that stared
out of the picture.  Sam thought he had never see anything more
beautiful than the amazing blue of Ainsley's eyes.

"I see what CJ means," Abbey said now. "I had no idea there was so
little room for them."

"Hello," a deep voice said to them.  They turned to see the men from
the various trucks and vehicles gathered anxiously behind them waiting
to get started. "I'm Captain Elkins with the San Diego Fire
Department. We were told there were some people trapped.  Is there a
Mr. Seaborn here?  We were told he could show us where we needed to
start looking."

"I'm Sam Seaborn, Captain," Sam said, stepping forward.  "We've been
talking to them on the radio and we believe they're right up there,"
he said, pointing up to where the license plate was still desperately
hanging on. "Right behind where you see the front end of the white
SUV."

The Captain looked up and made a quick assessment of the situation.
"Okay.  Lopez and Bellingham, I want you to take your equipment head
up there.  Take the helmet cams so we can monitor you."  The two
firemen simply nodded and moved with a purpose to the truck to collect
their gear.

As Lopez slid on his turnout coat, Sam noticed the word "PARAMEDIC"
stamped on the back of his uniform shirt. It was also stamped on the
side of the fire truck.  Sam remembered reading somewhere in the
mounds of material he'd reviewed during the campaign, that since many
fire stations didn't have room for a rescue squad and many others had
privatized their paramedics by combining them with ambulance services,
they now carried one paramedic and basic medical equipment in the
regular fire engine. The first priority of the paramedic on the fire
truck was on scene assessment and triage and basic treatment of any
victims until a dispatched rescue squad could get there. Or he could
cancel the squad if the injuries were minor. If the squad was needed,
he was an extra set of hands for the paramedic team. If they didn't
need any help or if there were no injured victims, he would then help
the regular fire crew with fighting a fire or whatever the Captain
deemed appropriate. From what Sam remembered reading, the idea had
worked well.  It had shortened response times, since the fire trucks
were often the first on scene and had saved money, because it cut down
on the number of squads that were required.

It made Sam relax fractionally because he realized when they found the
girls someone with medical training would be close by. "Helmet cams?"
Sam asked.

The Captain nodded, "Yes, they're specially designed helmets we use.
Small cameras are wired into the brims of their helmets.  It's helps
us to see what they see."

"Can we watch too?" Sam asked.

The Captain seemed to hesitate just a bit, "Seeing it might
be...difficult.  We don't know what we're going to find when we get up
there."

"Captain?" A voice said from behind Sam.  Everyone parted to let Jed
through.  "Believe me when I tell you that these gentlemen will be
more quiet and cooperative if you let them at least watch what you're
doing."

The Captain looked at him and took a double take.  "Mr. President?" He
glanced up and noticed the assembled men in dark suits and the First
Lady. "Ma'am."

"No," Jed answered.  "Today we're just a friends, hoping that you'll
make every effort humanly possible to quickly rescue three women we
care deeply about."

The Captain, now recovered from his earlier surprise, nodded. "That's
why we're here.  Now if anyone wants to watch, we're going to be
following their progress from two monitors over on the truck. But
you'll need to stay back out of our way," he said, indicating the fire
truck behind him. He turned to the two paramedics who'd come out of
the rescue ambulance.  "Brice. Gage. I'm sending Lopez up to lead the
search. He can coordinate with you once he locates the victims." The
two of them nodded and moved to the ambulance to get things set up.

Lopez and Bellingham were now moving, each with a large pack of tools
and equipment, over to the cherry picker. They spoke to the driver and
indicated where he should park to give them the best access to the
site.  He nodded and started to move the truck into position.

"Donna?  Donna, you still with me," Josh asked her while still leaning
up against the Hum-V.

"Yeah," she said.

"Why don't you rest for a while and let me talk to you?" Josh told
her. "You can just listen. You're always telling me I like to explain
things and you let me."

"'Kay," she replied.

"I'll talk about anything you want me to."

"Tell me what's...." she trailed off.  "...what's happened in DC since..."

He wanted to save her from talking as much as possible, "Since you've
been gone?" he supplied.

"Yes."

"Okay. Let me see.  Where to start?" he said.  He told her about the
snow they'd had. About his meeting with Matt Skinner. About his
meetings on the Hill. About him trying to think of new ways to kill
Ryan. About how he couldn't find anything in her unique filing system.

He watched the cherry picker lift the two firemen slowly up to the
SUV. "Oh, yeah and I pissed Margaret off again yesterday. I called her
Donna for like the 300th time since you've been gone. She really
doesn't seem to appreciate that."

"Me either."

That brought him up a bit short and he wondered why it would aggravate
her that he'd called Margaret, Donna. "Why don't you appreciate that?"

"You've already replaced me," she said, quietly.

Oh, now he got it. Boy, he was really a prize jerk sometimes. It never
occurred to him that she'd take it like that. "No, Donna. You don't
understand. I didn't call her that because you were easily replaced or
were interchangeable with other assistants. I called her that because
I missed you so much and wanted to be able to call you and you'd be
there with me. I called her that because I wanted her to be you."

"Oh," Donna replied and he could hear the smile in her voice.  "Then I
guess I do appreciate that after all." She paused. "Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't hate me if I die."

Josh suddenly felt like his chest would cave-in and he couldn't
breathe. He had to bend over for a moment until his lightheadness
stopped overwhelming him. "I could never hate you, Donna." He
straightened up and leaned back against the Hum-V. "But you're not
going to die."

"Josh?" Jed said, appearing beside him.

Josh pushed away from the Hum-V and stood. "Yes, sir?"

Jed waved his hand at him. "Oh, relax and resume your leaning.
Actually I was going to ask if I could pull up some space next to you
and use your radio?  I'd like to talk to the ladies for a minute if I
could," he said.

"Oh, of course sir," he said.  "Donna, the President's here and he
wants to talk to you guys.  I'm going to give him the radio."

"Okay," Donna said.

"All yours, sir," Josh said, handing it to him. He considered walking
over to look at the monitor but knew it would only get him more wound
up.  The idea of standing next to the President, hearing him talk to
the girls was much more appealing so he popped a piece of candy in his
mouth and leaned up against the Hum-V to listen.

To be continued...



Chapter 29 - PG

"Hi, girls. I heard you guys went to a pretty wild party last night,"
Jed teased them over the radio.

There was a pause before CJ answered, "Yes, sir. But we're paying for
it now and I've got to tell you, we've all got one hell of a
hangover."

"I'll just bet. Oh, by the way CJ, you're deputy's done all right
while you've been gone.  If you weren't so damn good at what you do
and I didn't like you so much I might consider giving him your job.
He works cheaper and doesn't give me any lip."

"I thought you liked it when I gave you lip, sir," she teased him
back. She was a little too tired to worry about standing on formality
or protocol.

"Now CJ, I thought that was supposed to be our little secret," he
grinned.  "You'll ruin my reputation."

"Well, then I guess you'll have to keep me around so I can fix that,"
she tossed back.

"Yeah, I guess I'm stuck with you." He paused and silently wished for
a cigarette. Now was not the time, though. Lord only knew what fumes
were hanging around after the fire and the earthquake. And of course
there was also the fact of the demolished parking garage that was laid
out before him.  There was probably more than one crushed gas tank in
there. Lighters, cigarettes and leaking gasoline were never a smart
move. "So Ainsley?  How have you been?" he asked.

"Fine, Mr. President," she answered, sounding fairly lucid.

"How do you like California?"

"Well, I liked it better yesterday morning," she replied.

He grinned and shook his head, "I can understand that.  Hey, what's
this I hear about you and the soon-to-be-elected Congressman from the
California 30th?  Has he been harassing you? 'Cause if he is, I have
some guys in black suits that can kick his ass for you."

"Actually, sir, I'd appreciate it if you left his ass the way it is.
I've kind of become attached to it."

He grinned again, "Okay, but don't say I never offered.  If you change
your mind, just say the word."

"Thank you, sir," she replied, with just a hint of a smile in her voice.

"Ainsley?" Jed said.

"Yes, sir?"

He looked up toward the car, "I just wanted to tell you that we miss
you in the White House.  You know I go through White House Counsels
like Kleenex and Deputy White House Counsels even faster.  You and
Oliver Babbish were about the only ones I actually liked.  And anyone
that can kick Sam's ass like you did on 'Capitol Beat' has my never
ending admiration." He paused, "If you'd like a job while Sam's doing
his thing in Congress, come see me or Leo and we'll take care of it.
Oh, and I promise not to put your office in the Steam Pipe Trunk
Distribution Venue this time."

There was a pause. "Thank you, Mr. President," Ainsley replied with
tears in her voice.

"And dear Donnatella.  How are you holding up in there?" he asked.

"Still here, Mr. President," Donna said, her voice fading with fatigue.

"So I understand you and my Deputy Chief of Staff are going to give
dating a try.  Oh, wait, I meant to say you're going to give wooing
and fooling around a try, right?" He smirked at Josh.

"Yes, sir," she said softly.  "If we ever get out of here."

"Oh, you will Donna," he replied. "You will.  You've just gotta have
faith.  I'm sure you know a lot about faith. You've been waiting for
Josh for the last 6 years.  That's gotta take a lot of faith." He
paused. "Just promise me something."

"What is it, sir?"

"Just be happy, all right?  Don't let the small stuff get in the way.
Not the press and not politics. Not even Leo. Just be happy. After
everything you two have been through in the last six years I think you
two deserve some happiness. Don't you?"

"Yes, sir.  Josh and I will both do our best to keep that promise," she said.

"Good.  Besides, I think the White House Rose Garden is just begging
for a wedding. I'd kind of like to see one there before the end of the
term," he replied, with a grin.

"I'd like that, Mr. President," Donna told him.

"You're going to actually let me ask her before you set that up,
right?" Josh said to him with a smirk.

"Not if you wait too long, I'm not." Jed told him, with a glint in his
eye that told Josh he wasn't kidding.

"CJ, Ainsley, Donna," he began, then sighed.  "This whole thing has
reminded me that I don't ever seem to get a chance to tell the three
of you just how special you are and how important you are to Abbey and
me.  When I told Abbey that Josh, Toby and I were flying out here, the
first thing she said was she was coming too because you all meant a
lot to her. You mean a lot to both us. When CJ was having trouble with
that stalker I told her she was part of my family and I meant it.  I
mean it about all three of you.  Never forget that you've become like
adopted daughters to Abbey and me. We're doing everything we can to
get you guys out of there and if you ever need anything, anything at
all, including having Josh, Sam or Toby stuffed and mounted on your
wall for being idiots, just let us know."

**********

Meanwhile, everyone else was gathered around the monitors to watch the
men as they searched for the SUV. With all the cement and debris and
carrying their packs of tools and equipment, it was slow going. It
wasn't just a matter of being lifted up to the car.  They had to find
a stable place to step onto and then they had to crawl over and under
concrete and cars and metal and variety of things that were
unrecognizable. Lopez turned a corner into what was best described as
a darkened cavern. Only the smallest rays of light penetrated into its
depths.  Both the firemen switched on the large flashlights they
carried. Where Sam expected to see the SUV, he only saw two huge
ragged slabs of concrete. "Where's the car?" he asked out loud.  "It
should be right there."

Sam had his answer when a moment later when one the firemen walked
around to the far side of the one of the slabs and leaned over to see
shine the flashlight under it. It was the SUV. Or more accurately,
what was left of the SUV. It was like someone had removed the top half
of it and had then laid a slab of cement on what remained. The back
end, having settled into an ugly deep, crack in the floor, was sitting
lower than the front. As with the front end they could see from down
on the street, the back end had also been all but severed by a cement
cross beam.

The reason they hadn't been able to see the SUV when the men first
entered the area was that the huge chunk of concrete that had broken
loose and slid into the car during the last aftershock was blocking
the view of the entire passenger side of the car. As the men continued
assessing the site and shining their flashlights over it, Sam turned
cold as he saw just how close they'd come to losing Ainsley, Donna and
CJ forever.

In the end, their lives had been saved by 2 pillars. Not the well-made
structure of the large SUV, because, after all, what SUV could stand
up against the onslaught of a couple of tons of concrete? But 2
pillars had saved the day. That was all. Apparently, during the
initial quake, two rectangular pillars, one on each side of the SUV
and both measuring about 3 feet in diameter, had fallen inward toward
the car but had stopped within a few feet of it. Then a lot of debris
and the upper floor, which now resembled nothing more than a huge slab
of random concrete, had fallen in on top of them. As time and each
aftershock had passed, the debris between the pillar and the fallen
upper floor had slowly eroded, gradually lowering the cement slab and
slowly crushing the SUV. Now the 2 pillars were all that was left to
keep the cement slab from completely obliterating them.

One of the firemen, Sam thought it was Lopez, pulled out his radio. "Hey, Cap?"

"Yeah, Lopez.  What do you need?" Captain Elkins answered.

"We're going to need the jaws up here," he said, referring to a
hydraulic hinged tool that could either be used to spread or cut
through things.  "There's no way a pry bar is going to get these doors
open, they're just too badly damaged. And I don't think the K-12 saw
is going to work either.  I'm concerned about gas fumes in here. We'll
also need two more men, three back boards, and the trauma box." He
paused.  "Oh, Cap.  One other thing, are Seaborn and his group still
able to talk to the people that are trapped?"

Captain Elkins looked at Sam, who just nodded. "Yeah, Lopez.  Why?"

"Because I thought it might be a good idea if we just make extra sure
this is the right vehicle before we start tearing into it.  I figured
I could bang on the door and they can tell us if the women inside
could hear it."

"Good idea.  I'll send Stoker and DeSoto up with the equipment you
need." The Captain let up on the radio button.  "Stoker! DeSoto!" he
said to two of his men. "Take the jaws, three back boards and the
trauma box up to Bellingham and Lopez and see what you can do to help
them."

"Right, Cap."  they said, moving off to start on their tasks.

The Captain looked at Sam, "You better call and let them know they're
about to receive a knock on their door."

Sam nodded and raised his radio.  He heard the President talking to
Donna. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. President."

"Go ahead, Sam." Jed told him over the radio.

"Guys, the firemen are outside of what we think is your car door but
they want to make sure they've got the right one.  So they're going to
bang on your door. Don't be afraid, just call me back and let me know
when you hear them."

"Okay," CJ answered.

The Captain who'd been standing close enough to Sam that he'd heard
the exchange, held up his own radio. "Okay, Lopez.  They're ready.
Give the door a whack."

"We hear them.  They just hit Ainsley's door," CJ told Sam.  The
Captain relayed that to his men as Stoker and DeSoto loaded the new
equipment into the cherry picker. Everyone but Josh and Jed went back
to watching the monitors.

Jed thought maybe it was time for a little distraction from the dire
situation the girls had found themselves in. "So ladies, since we've
got some time to kill, how about if I tell you a story?" Jed asked
them over the radio. When Josh groaned softly from beside him, he shot
him a dirty look.

"It's not going to be about National Parks, is it?" CJ asked, in what
Jed supposed was an attempt at teasing him.

"Well, it wasn't going to be, CJ, but if you'd like me to talk about
National Parks I can do that instead," he said, teasing them.  He was
well aware of their aversion to his lectures on the wonders of the
U.S. Parks Service.

"NO!" CJ and Josh cried at the same time.

Jed shot Josh another dirty look. "Well, okay then.  If you don't want
to hear about Glacier National Park in Montana or the Great Smokey
Mountains in Ainsley's home state I suggest you be quiet." Hearing no
further comments he went on. "Now, what I had planned on telling you
was a story I used to tell Zoey when she was young. It was always one
of her favorites. I don't know what made me think of it.  I guess it
kind of reminds me of this situation. It's an ancient, ah, French folk
tale I first read when I was in college. In English it's called 'The
Three Roses'. Anybody interested in hearing it?"

"I'd like to hear it," Donna said, softly.

"Thank you, Donnatella," he said, a soft fatherly tone in his voice.
He really was quite fond of Donna. In many ways, she was like Zoey.
Bubbly, but often quiet and introspective. He also suspected that many
people underestimated her. Again, something she had in common with
Zoey. No one who really knew either of them made that mistake.

"Okay," CJ replied. "I'd like to hear it too and Ainsley said to count her in."

Jed smiled. CJ was like Liz. Tough and grown-up and ready to take on
the world. Ainsley was so like Ellie. Quiet and often appearing almost
painfully shy and yet, get her riled up or threaten someone or
something she cared about and she'd take your head off.

"Okay, now bear with me, it's been a while since I told this story to
Zoey.  But as I recall, the story went something like this...."

To be continued...



Chapter 30 - PG

Jed took a breath. "Once there was a king who had three daughters.
They were named, Love, Grace and Beauty. But the king simply called
them his 'Three Roses.' He called them that because they were the
image of their mother, who was named Rose and who had died when they
were very young.

Now it was said that the 'Three Roses' were the loveliest, kindest,
most intelligent women in the kingdom and their father loved them very
much. When the time came for the Three Roses to marry and start
families of their own, the king sent out a decree that a tournament
would be held to find proper mates for his cherished Roses."

Josh smiled as he listened to Jed speak. He'd always loved hearing
him. Even back in Nashua in that little VFW hall. His voice had such a
wonderful timbre to it. It made you believe in him and anything he
said.

Jed continued, "This tournament wasn't merely to measure physical
strength or fighting prowess, but would also include games of skill
and mental dexterity, like chess." He grinned. Everyone knew how much
he liked chess.

"As a final test for the top 9 suitors remaining at the end of the
tournament, each of the Three Roses would pose a different question to
each of them. The topic of these questions and the answers would only
be known to the Roses themselves. The suitors would give their answers
and the Roses would each pick their champion.

Well, the time for the tournament arrived and men poured into the
kingdom, all looking to win a chance to gain the favor of such
exceptional women. The games proceeded and many dropped out, unable to
finish such a variety of tasks.  Some were good fighters but couldn't
think their way out of a potato sack.  Some were so brilliant that
they easily won the games of mental dexterity but they ran away in
terror when faced with a physical opponent."

Despite his efforts to the contrary, Josh found himself getting
interested in the story. And he wasn't alone. Besides Donna, Ainsley
and CJ, who'd been hooked from the beginning, Sam, Toby, Charlie and
Abbey were intently listening to the story on their radios as they
stayed near the monitors.

Jed's voice was clear and strong as he spoke. "Now, see this King was
a pretty smart guy.  He wanted men that were strong and could protect
his beautiful Roses from physical harm. But since the Roses were
intelligent as well, he wanted men that could and would challenge
their minds. He had immense wealth, more than enough to provide for
the Roses and believed that a pure blood line was a dead blood line.
So the three things he did not require were that the suitors be royal,
of noble blood or rich.

The tournament proceeded and, finally, the field was narrowed to 9.
The final group of 9 consisted of a Tinker, a Physician, a Warrior, a
Musician, a Knight, a Jester, a Farmer, a Magician, and a Poet. The
Roses had watched the tournament proceedings with great interest and
each of them already had their favorite champions. The Rose named
"Love" favored the kind and thoughtful Poet because he spoke and
fought from his heart. The Rose named "Grace" favored the handsome
Warrior because although his strength and courage set him apart, his
gentle sweetness made her feel cherished. And finally the Rose named
"Beauty" favored the brash and powerful, yet oddly vulnerable,
magician because he made her heart laugh and her soul fly like the
doves he drew from thin air. In turn, all three suitors secretly
favored the Rose that favored them."

Jed slid his hand in his pocked and shifted position a bit to try and
get comfortable.  "Now, the king had been very crafty when he added
the final test to the tournament. See, he trusted his daughters to
know their minds and follow their hearts.  Which is also why he
allowed them to compose the questions they would ask the final group
of suitors. With only the king and one palace guard in attendance,
each of the Roses met with each of the 9 suitors individually and
asked their questions.

But, what none of the suitors knew was that each of the Roses only had
1 question that they asked each of the suitors. The questions were not
complicated nor where they scholarly. Instead they were designed by
the Roses to see if the suitors saw them as women or as prizes. The
Roses knew only the champions that were their true match would be able
to give the correct answer to their questions.

Everybody still with me?" Jed asked.  It had been so quiet he hoped he
hadn't put everyone to sleep. He could see that, Josh at least, seemed
to be listening.

"Yes, Mr. President. We'll all here.  Please go on," CJ answered.

Jed grinned, enjoying everyone's apparent rapt attention.  "Okay, so
where was I?  Oh, yes 'Love' and her question.  Well, Love's question
was 'What is my name?' Now at first glance, this would seem to be a
childish, even addle-minded question.  But, you see, during the
tournament the king only referred to his daughters as 'The Three
Roses.' He never used their names and no one outside of the royal
house had ever heard their names spoken out loud.  But Love knew that
anyone who truly cared for her would want take great pains to learn
her real name. One by one, each of the suitors came to hear her
question.  And one by one they failed to have the answer. There were
many guesses, "Yvette? Gertrude? Athena? Salome? Hannah?" But all were
wrong.  Until the only suitor left to ask was the Poet.  'What is my
name?' she asked him. He smiled and said, 'Your name is 'Love' because
that is what fills my heart when I think of you.' Love, of course, was
delighted by this and declared him her champion.

But before the king would agree, he asked the Poet how he truly knew
his daughter's name and demanded to know if his daughter had given him
the question or the answer before the test.  The Poet bowed before the
King and replied, "Your daughter is more honorable than that, Your
Majesty.  I did not speak to her before the test and she in no way
told me what her question would be. In truth, Your Majesty, I am sorry
if it offends, but I bribed your daughter's nurse from when she was
just a babe.  I had to know what her name was so that even if I lost
the tournament I could still keep her name in my heart." The King only
smiled and said, "Dear Poet, you are as my daughter has said, her true
champion and her true match.

For 'Grace' the question was 'What color are my eyes?'  Now, as with
the question her sister had posed, Grace's question might seem to be
the ultimate in simplicity. One only had to look at her and see the
answer.  But Grace was looking for a very specific answer and before
she asked each of the suitors the question, she would close her eyes.
Also, before the final test and for most of the tournament, The Three
Roses had been kept some distance apart from the suitors so there had
only been brief chances where the suitors had been close enough to
even see Grace's eye color, much less make note of it.  Grace reasoned
that only someone who truly loved her would care enough to notice such
a small detail.

Minus the Poet who had already been claimed by Love, one by one the
remaining 8 suitors came in. Grace closed her eyes so they could not
see them and asked her question. Most of the suitors guessed.  Most
got it wrong.  Only three got it right.  Her eyes were blue.  But of
the three only the Warrior gave her the specific answer she was
looking for.  You see, it wasn't enough to say they were blue.  The
suitors could have guessed they were blue. But her eyes were an odd
blue.  A blue that changed with her mood.  So when she asked 'What
color are my eyes?' the Warrior didn't say 'They are blue.'  His own
eyes of perfect blue caressed her closed eyelids and he said, 'When
you are happy they sparkle like fine sapphires, when you are perplexed
they are soft blue like the morning sky before dawn, when you are
angry they snap like lightening in a storm and when you look at me
with love, they are deep and mysterious like the night sky.' Grace, of
course, knew immediately that he was the one and declared him her
Champion. This time it didn't even occur to the King to question the
Warrior's answer.  He merely smiled and said, "Brave Warrior, you are
as my daughter has said, her true champion and her true match."

Jed took a breath. "And then only 7 suitors and one Rose remained. But
unlike her sisters, 'Beauty' was worried. Her question was slightly
different than her sisters. She'd barely spoken to the remaining
suitors, including her favored Magician. And while her question, 'What
is my heart's desire?' had a simple answer, she didn't know how
anyone, even her Magician, could possibly know it. What if all the
suitors failed to answer her question? What if someone did manage to
answer it and it was other than her Magician? What then?  She wanted
no other Champion but him. However, the terms of the tournament were
clear. Like any good father, the King had taught her that all things
must be allowed to work themselves out in their own time and in their
way, so she swallowed her fears and readied herself for the suitors.

One at a time they filed in and she asked her question. Some said
children. Some said wealth. Some said prosperity for her father's
kingdom. Each was wrong. Then came her Magician's turn. Her heart was
beating heavily in her chest as she asked him her question, 'What is
my heart's desire?' The brash Magician stood quietly for a moment and
looked at her.  'You only wish to be happy,' he said. Kneeling before
her, he took her hand in his, 'And if you'll permit me, I'll spend the
rest of my life doing everything in my power to see that you are never
anything else.' He was startled when he saw tears begin to course down
Beauty's face.

The Magician lowered his head before her, terribly ashamed that he had
lost the challenge that had meant more to him than his own life. For
he truly loved her with a depth and devotion he'd never known before.
'I am sorry, Beauty' he said, calling her by name, for he too had
bribed the Rose's nurse to find out her name. He felt Beauty's gentle
hand on his cheek and he raised his face to her. 'No, my wonderful
Magician.  Do not be sorry,' she said.  'But your tears,' he replied.
'I must have answered your question incorrectly.'  She smiled at him
tenderly, 'But for my tears, do you think you answered incorrectly?'

'No,' he said firmly, some of his brashness returning. 'For I have
seen it in your smile and heard it your laughter. You only wish to be
happy.' Beauty's smile widened and the tears glistened like jewels on
her damp face, 'Yes, my Champion. My heart's desire is simply to be
happy.  What you failed to take into account was my tears are not from
sadness but from joy.  From the moment I saw you enter the castle
gates I've been under your spell.'  Beauty looked at her father, 'This
is my Champion.' The King did not question her decision for it was
clear she had found her heart.  He merely smiled and said, 'Powerful
Magician, you are as my daughter has said, her true champion and her
true match.'

And so it was. The tournament was declared finished and the Three
Champions were to wed the Three Roses.  Now, as often occurs when
beautiful women and scorned men are concerned, darkness began to stir
in the hearts of the rejected suitors.  Some had seen marriage to the
Roses as a way to gain control over their father's kingdom. Some
simply lusted after the beautiful sisters. Some merely were not
accustomed to losing. Whatever their reasons, they conspired to steal
away the Three Roses and use them to take the Kingdom away from their
father.

On the eve of his Daughters' weddings the king received word of this
plot and quickly gathered together the Three Roses and their Three
Champions. Hearing of the plot, the Champions vowed to protect the
Roses with their last breaths.  Knowing it would be dangerous to allow
the Roses to remain in the castle, the King and the Champions agreed
that the Roses must be smuggled to a safer place. However, even
traveling with an entire army would be dangerous for the Roses, as
there were conspirators behind every bush and in every tree and
hamlet.

Together, the Champions, who had become the best of friends, came up
with a plan to get the Roses to safety. After getting the Roses to
agree, the Magician used his powers to turn the sisters into three
tiny jeweled roses.  Then he conjured a small but magnificent stone
box. It was lined with the finest silks and the roses were placed
inside.  To close it with a lock that could not be broken by human
hands, the Magician cast a spell to seal the box that only a line of
the Poet's prose could open. The box was then entrusted to the Warrior
who would hide it on his person and take it to a safe place where it
would be hidden until it was safe for the Roses to return and marry
their Champions."

Jed looked up and smiled at the look of rapt attention Josh was giving
him.  It was a look Josh usually reserved for when someone was talking
about sticking it to the Republicans. Jed continued.

"As the Warrior was nearing his destination, a distant desert cave
where the Roses stone box would be safe, he was caught in a terrible
storm and almost drowned in the torrent of a swollen river.  He and
his horse were badly injured.  When next the Warrior awoke he was in a
small hut and he and his horse were being tended to by an old woman.
The Roses' box sat undamaged and undisturbed on a high shelf. She told
him she had found the box at the edge of the river near his horse and
had picked it up, fearing it would be swept away by the current.  When
the Warrior and his horse regained their strength they rode to the
cave, he hid the Roses' box and returned to the King.

The Warrior discovered that during his absence, the conspirators had
learned the Roses were no longer within their grasp and had gathered a
full-fledged army to take the kingdom by force and punish the King and
the Three Champions for helping the Roses escape.

Now see, there were many, many people who were loyal to the King, the
Three Roses and their Three Champions and they formed an army to repel
the invaders. Many battles were fought and many men were killed as the
conflict raged for a whole year.  In the end, the King and the Three
Champions survived and they and their army were victorious.  Peace
once again reigned throughout the land.

The Three Champions rode out to claim their Roses. They arrived at the
desert cave and the Warrior retrieved the box from its hiding place.
Setting it on a the wide stone floor, the Poet spoke his words to
unseal the box.  'Protected by the Strength of the Warrior, the Words
of the Poet, and the Spell of the Magician, I command this stone box
containing the treasures of our hearts, to open.' Instantly the lid on
the stone box opened, revealing the jeweled roses still as beautiful
as the day they'd been originally laid inside. Each Champion picked up
his rose and placed her gently on the ground next to him.  The
Magician spoke his incantation and the roses once again became Love,
Grace and Beauty. The Roses rejoiced that their Champions had made it
through the conflict and returned to them safely.  They were also
joyful to learn their father was safe as well.

As they rode back to the castle, the Warrior asked if they could stop
by and thank the old woman who had tended him and his horse.  He told
them how if it were not for her, he might have perished and the Three
Roses would have been lost forever.  The Roses were anxious to thank
someone who had so unselfishly taken care of the Warrior and protected
them when they were defenseless.

As they neared the small clearing where the Warrior had last seen the
old woman, the Roses grew more and more solemn. Shortly tears began to
trail down their cheeks, alarming the Champions that something was
wrong.  'Why have you brought us here?' Grace asked her Warrior.
'Because this is where I was tended to by the old woman,' he answered
truthfully. As they entered the clearing where the Warrior remembered
the old woman's hut had stood, he could see there was no sign of a
hut.  The only thing there was a beautiful white marble monument. The
Roses dismounted and ran to the monument, kneeling at its base. The
Champions were baffled.

'What is it, Love?' the Poet asked his Rose.

'Please don't cry, Beauty.  Tell me what I can do,' the Magician said
to his Rose.

'I did not bring you here to make you sad, Grace.  This is where I was
tended by the old kind woman,' the Warrior told his Rose.

The Three Roses turned to their Champions, 'This is where our mother,
Rose, is buried.' The three of them laid their hands on the monument
together.  'This is her tomb. We don't understand.'

The Poet and the Warrior were equally at a loss to explain what had
happened.  The Warrior was sure he had seen no stone monument there
before.

The Magician smiled and took Beauty into his arms.  'I think I do,
sweet,' he said, holding her close. 'Your mother was doing what any
mother would do.  Protecting her children and their Warrior.  Just
because she's dead doesn't mean she stopped loving you.'

'This thought made the Roses smile for the first time since they'd
entered the clearing.  Together the Three Roses surrounded the
monument and drew their arms around it and each other, silently
thanking the woman who had loved them, even from the next life. Then
they went to their Champions and rode back to the castle where they
did what all smart fairy tale characters do... they married and lived
happily ever after.'

Jed sighed, "The End." He paused.  "So what did you think, ladies?
Was it everything you'd hoped or did it work like it always did on
Zoey and put you all to sleep?"

"It was beautiful, sir," Donna said.

To be continued...



Chapter 31 - PG

After speaking to the Captain, Sam pulled out his radio again. He
hated to interrupt the President, but it couldn't be helped.  "Mr.
President? They have the equipment ready and are about to start.  It's
going to get pretty noisy up there for a while."

"Okay, Sam," Jed replied.  "Ladies, I'm going to sign off for now.
Things are about to get noisy in your neck of the woods so don't be
scared.  We're all right here and we're not going anywhere."

"Promise?" Donna asked softly, managing to retain the smile in her
voice. She sounded even more tired and sleepy.

Jed smiled softly, "Yes, Donnatella.  I promise." He turned to Josh
and laid his hand on his shoulder, "Come on, son."

Josh, who now felt much calmer after spending a bit of time talking to
Donna and listening to the President, nodded and walked with Jed over
to the monitors to watch the firemen's progress.

They could see Lopez setting up the jaws to pry open the front
driver's door. "Captain?  Why can't they just use a saw to cut through
the doors?" Sam asked, out of curiosity rather than complaint.
"Wouldn't it be quicker?"

"Yes, but with the potential gas fumes, any sparks given off by the
saw could cause an explosion.  Plus, we're not sure how close your
friends are to the inside of the door and so we couldn't be sure how
deep we could cut," he explained.

"Oh," Sam said, as he went back to watching the monitors. Lopez
slipped the point of what looked like an elongated metal wedge into
the small space between the front and back doors. With the flip of a
switch the tips of it began to open and spread the gap. He pressed it
deeper into the gap. Given the limited amount of headroom they had,
about 3 feet, it was awkward and difficult work. The group on the
ground watched as he literally peeled the doors apart. Then two of
them grabbed the ragged end of the driver's door and pulled. When they
had it peeled back the third one pointed his light into the exposed
depths.

Sam's eyes were glued to the monitor as he held his breath and
watched. Like a ghost, Ainsley's pale, dirty, and Sam thought
beautiful, face appeared out of the darkness of the monitor. She
blinked heavily in the bright light and instinctively held her
uninjured arm up to shield her eyes. Ainsley was fairly petite, but
the space she was in was still unbelievably small. He couldn't imagine
how compacted Donna and CJ were.

"Hi, guys," she said with a small tremulous smile.  "Boy, are we glad
to see you."

**********

Relief was a palpable thing inside Ainsley as her eyes adjusted and
she could focus on the firemen gathered near the new opening they'd
created. Due to the low concrete slab that was laying on top of the
SUV, there was so little space that they were either kneeling or bent
over at the waist looking at her expectantly. The only thing that
would have made her happier would have been if Sam had been there with
him.

"Hi, ma'am.  My name is Lopez. I'm a firemen paramedic. Can you tell
me your name?" he asked her.

It took Ainsley just a moment to process what he'd said. "My name is Ainsley."

"Hi, Ainsley. Can you move?" he asked her.

"Yes, but I think my arm's broken," she said indicating her arm, still
in its improvised sling.

"Your right arm?" he said, feeling along it gently until he hit the
spot where she hissed.  "Sorry," he apologized.  "How do you feel
otherwise?" he asked her.

"Ready to get out of this car," she replied.

Lopez smiled at her, "Yeah, I bet. How do you feel physically?" he persisted.

"My head hurts.  Something hit it," she tried to explain.

"Your head? He repeated.  "Where?"

She moved her hand gingerly over her head, "The top and the back."

"It hurts in two places?" he asked as he ran his hand over her head.

"Well, yeah, 'cause it was hit twice," she replied simply.

"Ouch," he said, moving his hand slowly and gently over her head,
feeling for lumps and any blood. "You must have a hard head, Ainsley."

"Sam said the same thing," she said with a smile. Speaking of Sam, she
needed to go and find him. Without waiting for Lopez to tell her to,
she swung her feet out and tried to stand, or at least stand as much
as she could under the low ceiling.  Between the fact that she hadn't
stood for nearly 20 hours and her head injury, she promptly collapsed.
 The firemen must have expected it because they grabbed her before she
could fall on her face. She hissed as one of the took hold of her
injured arm.

"Easy, Ainsley," Lopez told her as they tried to settle her back on
the edge of the driver's foot well so he could check her out.

"NO!" she said, more sharply than she'd intended as she struggled in
their grasp. The panic she'd swallowed had apparently decided it was
time to return. "Please, can you just get me out of here?" she asked,
trying to soften her tone.  Part of her didn't want to leave Donna and
CJ but there was no way she was getting anywhere near that SUV now
that she was out of it.  She wanted to be outside again.  To feel the
sun on her face and fresh air in her lungs.

"Okay, Ainsley but I need you to calm down for me," Lopez replied as
he continued to help hold her up.  "Guys, let's take her out from
under here. Bellingham, get one of the back boards. Bellingham nodded
and brought one over and laid it down on a fairly flat spot just
outside the cement overhang. Lopez and DeSoto who'd been holding up
Ainsley, laid her out on the backboard. Lopez pulled out his radio, as
DeSoto began strapping her to the board. "Ainsley, can you tell me
where your friends are in the car?"

She looked up at him from the backboard she was now secured to.
"Donna's in the foot well of the front passenger seat and CJ's in the
back seat foot well, mostly on the passenger's side."

"Okay, thanks." He held up his radio, "Cap?"

"Yeah, Lopez?"

"Cap, send the paramedics up.  Bellingham and DeSoto are bringing out
the first victim."

"I have a name.  Remember?" she reminded him, not wanting to ever be
labeled a 'victim'.

Lopez smiled, "Sorry." He turned back and held up the radio, "Cap, let
me correct that.  Bellingham and DeSoto are bringing out 'Ainsley.'"

"10-4," Captain Elkins replied.

"Guys, take her out to Brice and Gage and then come back here.  We'll
need your help with the other two."  The two men nodded and picked up
the backboard and started to make their way back out to the where the
cherry picker would be waiting.

"Stoker, help me with this other door," Lopez said.  Together the two
of them pulled hard on the back door and it were finally able to pull
it back and out of the way. They were greeted by a large plastic box.
Sliding a pry bar between the lid and the box, they were able to pull
out the lip of the box. Then together they jerked the box out of the
back seat.

Shining the flashlight into the depths of the backseat, they saw the
top of CJ's head.  CJ craned her head around as best she could given
her cramped circumstances.  "Well, it's about damn time," she said.

**********

Toby watched the monitor.  "It really is like a CJ sardine," he said,
thrilled to hear her grumbling at the firemen.

Abbey smirked.  "You better be glad she can't hear you Toby."

He looked at her, "Why do you think I said it now? I'm grumpy and
sarcastic, not stupid."

"Hi. Are you CJ?" Toby heard Lopez ask her. Because of her position
and the lack of light, Toby really couldn't see her but her voice was
music to his ears and he strained to hear it. As long as he could hear
her then he had a link to her. As long as he could hear her she was
okay.

"That's me.  Are you Lopez?"

"That's me," he repeated back to her. "You must have heard me talking
to Ainsley."

CJ snorted.  "Well, my foot is hurt, not my hearing."

"Right.  How are you feeling?"  he asked her.

"My foot has a piece of metal going through it but other than that I'm
just terrific."

"Okay, CJ.  Let's see what we can do about getting you out of here," Lopez said.

"No.  Take care of Donna first, she's hurt worse than I am."

"Don't worry, we'll take care of her too. But we'll need to get you
out of here before we can get to her," he told her simply.

There was a slight pause. "Okay," CJ said, finally. Toby knew that CJ
did best when arguments were put to her logically.

Toby watched as Lopez and Stoker prepared to work on removing both the
back seat and the driver's seat. Because of the lack of space and the
fact that the other side of the car was buried at the end of a slab of
concrete, the only way they could get to CJ's foot or to where Donna
waited, was to remove the seats to give them room. Out of the corner
of his eye, he saw Sam straighten and looked over at him.  Sam was
looking up, squinting against the afternoon sun. A look of complete
concentration on his face. Toby followed his line of vision.

The cherry picker had lifted the two paramedics up and the two firemen
carrying Ainsley's back board had just emerged from the rubble to meet
them. DeSoto and Bellingham transferred the back board to the waiting
paramedics and then disappeared back into the carnage. The paramedics
secured the back board between them and signaled for the basket to be
lowered. They were so high the only detail of Ainsley they could make
out was her long blonde spilling over the edge of the board.

Sam's heart was nearly beating out of his chest as he watched the
basket descend. She was close. He would be able to touch in her in a
few minutes. Without conscious thought and without taking his eyes off
of her, his feet slowly moved him out from behind the fire truck and
toward the descending cherry picker.  He got halfway there before a
hand landed gently on his arm.

"Mr. Seaborn?" It was Captain Elkins. Sam looked at him almost like
he'd never seen him before and blinked in vague confusion.  "I need
you to stay here, Mr. Seaborn.  They'll be bringing her by here on the
way to the ambulance, you can see her then," his voice was
sympathetic, but firm.

Sam looked at him for a moment, then nodded.  Captain Elkins stood
next to him as they waited. The basket reached the ground and both
paramedics climbed out.  Picking up the back board they laid Ainsley
on a rolling gurney they'd left there before they'd gone up to get
her.  He could see her slim form, dirty and dusty from being trapped
but her face was hidden by the body of one of the paramedics as they
pushed the gurney toward him.

And then she was there. Right within his grasp. Luckily, he was on the
side of her uninjured arm. He stepped up and walked beside the gurney
as the paramedics moved her to the ambulance. Her eyes were closed and
he couldn't help but think she looked like a slightly battered and
dusty Sleeping Beauty. "Ains?"

Being strapped to the backboard, Ainsley couldn't move very much but
she didn't care because she was out of the parking garage and in the
open.  She closed her eyes and relaxed. After being in the dark or the
near dark for so long the sun hurt her eyes anyway. There was also the
fact that she was enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face.  It
didn't take much to imagine that she was lying on float in the middle
of large swimming pool and working on her tan. Then she heard it.  She
heard 'him.' He said her name.  For the first time in about 36 hours
she heard him say her name and it wasn't over a radio or a cell phone.
Her eyes snapped open and she saw his face.  That angelic, beautiful
face with the eyes of blue.  Those eyes were bright with unshed tears
and they were staring at her with so much love it stole her heart.

"Sam?" she said, tears gathering in her own eyes. "Oh, Sam."
Automatically she tried to sit up but the straps that held her to the
back board wouldn't let her. She couldn't even hold her hand out to
him as her injured one was strapped to her chest and her other one was
strapped at her side.  Sam smiled and silently slid his hand into her
uninjured one as he continued to walk next to the gurney.

"Ainsley, I know I told you not to worry about what time you got home
but this is a little ridiculous, don't you think?" He smiled down at
her, a tear trailing over his cheek.

She smiled back at him, her own tears spilling out of the sides of her
eyes and running into her hair. "Well, you know how things are when
the Sisterhood gets together, Sam. We lose all track of time."

Sam smiled again and looked at her for a moment. So much had happened.
He'd been vividly reminded that life was short. It had been his plan
to do it anyway and he didn't see any reason to wait any longer.
"Well, we can't have that." He paused. "So what do you think about us
getting married? It'll give me an excuse to get you a new watch for a
wedding present."

The stunned surprise stopped her tears cold. Ainsley blinked as her
heart started beating furiously. "Sam, I hit my head a couple of times
so I might be hallucinating, but did you just ask me to marry you?"

He grinned at her, "Yes, I believe that was exactly what I did."

"Sam?" she asked carefully. "You didn't hit 'your' head or anything did you?"

He grinned wider, "No, I didn't. So what do you say? Will you marry me?"

Ainsley was literally speechless. The gurney stopped as they reached
the ambulance and the paramedics loaded her inside before she could
reply. Sam had just asked her to marry him.  Her brain was still
slightly sluggish and she was trying to process it all.  Married to
Sam.  Part of her had already given this some thought.  The
conversation they'd had about hypothetical children had assumed that
those children would be hypothetically born to parents who were
hypothetically married.

The paramedics began checking her out.  Taking her vital signs,
checking her pupils, asking her questions about her arm and how she
felt.  She didn't answer them. In fact she really didn't even hear
them. Her brain was spinning with Sam's question.  Then, as if a
switch had been flipped her brain shot out the answer. Of course, she
would marry him. Since that day he'd shown up at her apartment with
roses and Fresca, she knew he was it for her. Smiling she glanced up
to give him her answer.  And looked into the unfamiliar face of one of
the paramedics. Part of her panicked that she'd dreamed or
hallucinated all of it.  "SAM!" she yelled. "SAM!"

The paramedics saw that she was panicking and motioned for Sam, who'd
been standing patiently by the open ambulance doors while they checked
her out, to climb inside. One of the paramedics slid out of the way so
Sam could sit next to her. "It's okay, Ains," he said, taking her hand
again and running his free hand over her cheek as he leaned in so she
could see him. "I'm right here.  What's wrong?"

Seeing him, Ainsley instantly calmed.  "I didn't know...I mean I was
thinking....you....You did ask me to marry you, right?" It didn't
occur to her that she was repeating herself.

He smiled at her softly, hiding the frown that threatened to break out
because she still seemed so dazed and so...'un-Ainsley.' "Yes, Ainsley
Millicent Hayes.  I, Samuel Norman Seaborn, asked you to marry me."
His worry began to ease as she grinned at him.

"Yes, Samuel Norman Seaborn, I'll marry you." She paused, "But only on
one condition."

"What's that?"

"That you lean down here and kiss me."

"Oh, I think that can be arranged," he said, with a lopsided smile.
Bending down, his lips met hers in a tender but thorough kiss that
sealed their engagement and their hearts.

To be continued...



Chapter 32 - R

Back in the garage, the four firemen were earning their pay.  Where
getting Ainsley out had been fairly simple, getting CJ out was going
to be difficult and getting Donna out was going to require a supreme
effort.

While the other three men worked on removing the back seat, Lopez, as
the only paramedic had taken off his helmet and crawled or tried to
crawl into the space that Ainsley had just vacated to check on Donna.
She had been silent ever since they'd peeled open Ainsley's door.

Unfortunately, even though he was fairly trim, he was much bigger than
Ainsley had been and he just didn't fit as well as she had. He crawled
back out and checked to see how much progress the other guys had made
on the back seat.

They'd removed the decorative cover that hid the base of the back
seat.  There were three bases to the back seat.  They had looped a
length of chain around the base of back seat nearest to them and
another length to the undercarriage of the car. Then, hooking the ends
of both chains to the jaws, they reversed it so instead of spreading,
it contracted. Slowly, the slight slack in the chains disappeared and
the tension grew.  Because the undercarriage was stronger than the
base the chain began to pull the base away from the floor. Then, the
chain pulled all the way through it, completely separating it from the
floor. Handing Lopez the chain to use on the front seat, they used a
three pronged claw tool and metal clippers to tear into the upholstery
and the underlying structure until they had the first third of the
back seat removed.

While they were busy with the upholstery, Lopez hooked the chain
around the base of the driver's seat and used the jaws to pull it free
from the floor. Then he hooked it around the steering wheel and pulled
it back out of the way.

CJ came into view as he pulled the driver's seat out.  "Hi," he said
with a smile.

"Hi," CJ said.  "So let me guess.  You're Lopez," she said, now that
she could actually see him.

He grinned. "Yeah, how'd you know?" he teased, passing the chain back
to the others so they could move onto the middle base of the back
seat.

She was so thrilled to see that they were actually going to get out of
this nightmare, she couldn't help but tease him back. "What? They
didn't tell you I'm psychic?"

Taking off his jacket to reduce his bulk as much as possible, he
crawled back into driver's foot well. "Nope, sorry, they left that
out," he told CJ as he tried to maneuver in to check on Donna. Even
though there was a lot more room than there had been before, it was
still going to be a challenge to check on her. Shining his flashlight
into the area where she was, he was concerned by what she saw.  She
was unconscious and slumped against the seat.  The side of her body
facing the door was out of his reach and out of his line of sight.
What really concerned him was the small, but substantial pool of blood
he saw gathered around her on the floor. Pulling on a pair of gloves,
Lopez slid his hand across her back toward the door.

Using the information her friends had given him, it didn't take him
long to find where the two pieces had pierced her side.  The first one
was apparently lodged between the bottom two ribs on her left side and
still seemed to be bleeding slowly but steadily. The second one was
lodged about three inches below that but didn't appear to be bleeding
too badly.  The gauze covering the lower one was stiff with dried
blood. He couldn't tell how deep the rebar had penetrated. Since she
was unconscious and wouldn't feel it, he pressed on both areas gently.
 It felt as if at least one of the ribs was broken, which then led him
to worry about her potentially having a punctured lung. The two often
went hand in hand. At that point, with the position she was in, there
was just no way he could check on her knee, so he didn't even try.

"How's she doing?" CJ asked anxiously after the others had ripped
through the middle base of the back seat and were getting ready to
pull apart the upholstery.

"She's hanging in there," he replied, trying to reassure her. He took
Donna's blood pressure, it was a bit on the low side, possibly
indicating excessive blood loss.  Then he took her pulse.  It was weak
but fairly steady, as was her breathing.  If they could get her out of
here soon, she might have a chance. Yanking off his gloves, he pulled
on a fresh pair and turned to CJ.  "How are you doing?"

She looked up at him. "Well, I've been stuck in here for about 20
hours and I have a piece of metal going through my foot. But to tell
you the truth, now that you guys are here, I'm doing okay," she
finished honestly.

Lopez rested his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it supportively.
Then he quickly took her vital signs.  They were all fairly stable.
Pulling out his radio he called the paramedics and relayed all the
information he'd gathered on Donna and CJ. By the time he was done,
they'd just finished pulling out the last part of the back seat. To
cover the ragged stumps of each of the bases left over from the back
seat, they laid a couple of their turnout coats out across the area.
Shoving a small piece of equipment in front of him, Lopez slowly
wriggled head first into the spot where the back seat had been until
he was down by CJ's feet.

Six pieces of rebar, each measuring about a 1/2 inch in diameter had
punched through the door in area by her feet.  Silently, he thought
for a moment that she was actually kind of lucky that only one piece
had found it's way into some part of her anatomy. Gripping a small
flashlight in his teeth he studied her left foot for a moment. There
was about two inches of space between the bottom of her foot and door.

"Okay, CJ," he said, loudly.  "This is where things get unpleasant. I
have the feeling you're the kind of person that likes to hear the
truth and nothing but the truth."

"You got that right," CJ replied.

"Well, then the truth is this is going to hurt.  No two ways about it.
 Are you ready?" he asked.

"Just do it already."

Lopez pulled out the smaller version of the jaws.  While it looked was
about a quarter of the size of it's big brother and was also
hydraulic, this one was used exclusively for cutting through things.
Usually thick metallic things. To stabilize it, he gripped the 2
inches of the rebar that was poking out of the top of her foot. Then
he slid the open 'V' of the mini jaws over the rebar between the door
and her foot and flipped a switch. The two sides came slowly together
and slid easily through the rebar, severing it.

Even though Lopez had managed to keep the rebar fairly stable, CJ had
nearly bitten through her lip to keep from screaming in pain.  The
vibration alone created by the small tool had been enough to step up
the agony.

Lopez flipped the switch to turn off the tool, laid it down for them
to use for Donna, and then he slid out of the car. "Stoker, set up a
back board. DeSoto, Bellingham, you guys help me pull her out.  But do
it slowly and watch her foot," Lopez told them. The two firemen each
took one of her arms and eased her out. When her knees appeared and
with Lopez on her injured side, he and Stoker each took one of her
legs and together they carried her over to the waiting back board.

Laying her out, they strapped her to the back board but kept her left
leg loose.  Lopez gently set her ankle on a small, square piece of
scrap concrete to elevate her foot. Since her foot didn't seem to be
bleeding to badly, he left her shoe on and didn't disturb the rebar.
Then he had the three other firemen lift the board so he could secure
her left leg and the concrete to the back board with a long elastic
bandage.  He patted her on the shoulder, "Okay CJ, you're good to go."
He turned back to the men.  "DeSoto and Bellingham, take her out and
then come back. Stoker and I will get started on the next one."

Looking sadly toward the SUV that was now nearly gutted, CJ felt a
little like a Captain leaving a sinking ship before everyone had been
rescued.  She didn't want to leave without the last member of the
Sisterhood but she knew it was what had to be done. "Her name is
Donna."

Lopez sighed.  He hadn't meant to be indifferent. He did care about
these women, just as he cared about all the people he tried to help.
But when you saw so many people injured or killed on a regular basis
you had to develop at least a thin shield of professional distance.
Often he didn't know the names of the people he tried to help and
simply out of habit he, and many others in his profession, referred to
them as 'victim' or something else equally generic.  He looked at her.
"Sorry, CJ," he said honestly. He read the worry on her face, "We'll
take care of Donna.  I promise."

CJ stared at him for a moment, convincing herself she was leaving
Donna in good hands. Then she nodded. "See that you do."

Lopez pulled out his radio.  "Cap?"

"Yeah, Lopez?"

"Have the paramedics standing by.  We're bringing out CJ," he said,
smiling at CJ.

"10-4."

"Thanks," CJ said softly.

Lopez signaled for them to take her out. Then he and Stoker got to
work on removing Donna from the car.

**********

Since they'd lost any useful picture when the firemen had taken off
their helmets to start climbing around in the car, everyone had
abandoned the monitors and were standing by the ambulance. The
paramedics had finished checking out Ainsley and had placed a
temporary splint on her arm. Abbey had given her a once over as well.
Although they were still going to be taking her to the hospital, they
had removed her from the back board and had her laid out on one of the
padded bench seats in the back of the ambulance. Because it kept her
calm, they'd allowed Sam to stay with her.  Currently he was sitting
near the open doors with Ainsley's head in his lap. His hand was lying
gently on the side of her face, his thumb brushing rhythmically over
her cheek. He and Ainsley were quiet.  Words at that point seemed kind
of pointless.  Just being able to touch each other again meant more to
them than any words.

Jed stood between Toby and Josh as they leaned against the side of the
ambulance and waited.

"So Toby," Jed began, trying to make some conversation and still
wishing he could have a cigarette. Maybe it really was time for him to
finally quit smoking.  "Abbey tells me that something's going on with
you and CJ.  Or maybe more accurately something 'was' going on with
you.  She mentioned Albany. Care to elaborate?"

Toby had his hands in his pockets as he waited. "No, sir.  I don't
believe I do." He was still processing CJ's comment about picking up
where they'd left off in Albany. Since they'd parted that day, so long
ago, they'd never spoken of it again. Toby had tried to forget the
stolen moments they had shared that night. But there had been times,
especially since they'd been working together, first during the
campaign and then after they'd made it to the White House, it had been
very difficult.  There would be moments when, for whatever reason, his
guard was down and CJ had been nearby and he'd caught sight of her or
had just the barest hint of the scent of her that it flashed back to
him.

As if it had only happened yesterday, he could still vividly remember
that night. Her long, lean form stretched out before him. Her skin,
smooth and translucent against the rumpled white sheets. The taste of
her. The feel of her body under his hands. The small whimpering sighs
she made. The way she moved. The way they moved together. He never
expected that there would be even the remotest possibility they could
revisit what had happened on that memorable night.

"You're no fun," Jed said, teasingly.

"Thank you, sir. I'll take that as a compliment," Toby replied.

Jed shot him a dirty look, "Okay," he said, feeling like tormenting
Toby a little. "So tell me this instead. I suspected something was
brewing between Josh and Donna for a while now, but when did the West
Wing turn into 'As the White House Turns?'"

"Believe me when I tell you, and I think I speak for everyone, Mr.
President, that was never anyone's intention," Toby said.

"I mean, who's next? Leo and Margaret?" he joked, glad his Chief of
Staff wasn't here to hear it.  Then again, it would have been kind of
interesting to see just what Leo would have said to something like
that. "Charlie and Debbie?  Will and Carol? Where's it all going to
end?" Jed shrugged innocently.

"Thank you for putting those images in my head, sir," Toby replied as
Josh just snorted.

"Um, excuse me." Captain Elkins said as he walked up to the ambulance.
 The three men pushed off and walked over to him. "I just wanted to
give you all an update and let you know that they've freed Ms. Cregg
and they'll be bringing her down in just a minute."

"Did they say anything about Donna?" Josh asked him.

"They had to remove Ms. Cregg to get to her. They're working on
getting Ms. Moss out right now. Lopez did radio her vital signs to the
paramedics and she's unconscious but she seems to be stable for now."

"Thank you," Josh told him. The Captain nodded and moved back to the
fire truck to give the group some privacy.

Just then they heard the sound they'd all come to cherish. They turned
toward it. It was the sound of the basket on the cherry picker being
raised. Knowing that it meant CJ would be on board when it came back
down and needing to move a bit, Toby walked forward with Jed and Josh
in tow and stopped where Sam had earlier. He remembered the Captain
asking Sam to stop there so he'd be out of the way.

As he watched, the basket carrying the two paramedics reached the top
and waited.  A moment later the now familiar forms of the two firemen,
carrying a backboard between them, emerged from the rubble. Just as
they had before, like some kind of new assembly line process, they
transferred the back board to the paramedics and disappeared back
inside. The basket began to lower again.

Toby felt like he couldn't quite catch his breath. It seemed like he'd
been waiting forever. He'd waited so long and the moment was almost
here. He could see CJ's foot was propped up on something then bound to
back board with what appeared to be a thick bandage. The basket
reached the ground and the paramedics transferred her to the gurney
they'd liberated Ainsley from a short time ago and pushed her towards
the ambulance.

It felt a little surreal to CJ.  The sun was bright on her face and
the air smelled....sweet, was the only way she could think to describe
it. She'd managed to survive the nightmare she and the Sisterhood had
found themselves in. Even though the light hurt her eyes, she refused
to look away from the blue sky overhead. It had to be one of the most
beautiful things she'd ever seen. Other than the stunning pain in her
foot, the only thing that dampened her enthusiasm for being finally
free, was knowing that, so far, Donna hadn't been so lucky. Not yet
anyway. She wondered for a moment where Toby and everyone else were.
His presence had always inspired a certain feeling of calm stability
in her and that was something she was sadly lacking right at that
moment.

As if he'd heard her thoughts, he appeared beside her, falling into
step beside them as they rolled along.  "Hi," she said, trying to tamp
down the tears that were trying to gather.

"Hi," he replied with a small smile.  The kind that made his eyes
crinkle up at the corners.

She loved that smile. "You look like crap," she said, not quite sure
why those specific words had come out of her mouth. Except for the
fact that they were true.

His smile and the crinkles got bigger. Even skewered, battered and
bruised, she was still the same old CJ.  "Well, it was a long night
for some of us. I heard you, on the other, had a wild night with the
Sisterhood."

In spite of everything that had happened in the last 20 hours, she
grinned. "Well, the reports of our wild night have been greatly
exaggerated." She paused.

He smiled and was quiet for a moment, his expression becoming a bit
more serious but still, soft.  At least soft for Toby.  "Did you mean
what you said about picking up where we left off after Albany?" he
asked quietly.

She looked at him for a minute, watching to see if was asking because
it was a good thing or a bad thing.  His expression was too neutral
for her to be sure. But being almost crushed in an earthquake had done
a lot to make her not want to bite her tongue.  Not about this. "Yeah,
I meant it. Why?"

His eyes watched her, "Well, I was thinking about it and the idea does
have a certain amount of merit. I think it deserves more exploration."

She smiled at him, a little surprised, but happy he was so open to
what she'd suggested, "Really?"

The crinkles were back. "Yeah."

Before they could say anything else, the paramedics loaded her into
the ambulance so they could check her out. Sam had slid out of the
ambulance to make room for them but Ainsley was still resting on the
padded bench. They couldn't do much about CJ's foot on scene so they
took her vital signs and relayed them to the hospital. Because of her
penetrating foot injury, the hospital told them to start an I.V. on
CJ.

The first paramedic, named Gage, hung up the radio to the hospital.
"Okay, we're ready to transport, Brice," he said after starting CJ's
I.V.  "Let's get them out of here." The second paramedic, the one he'd
called Brice, moved to the back of the ambulance to close the doors.

"We're not going," CJ said, stopping both of them.

To be continued...



Chapter 33 -PG

"Excuse me?" Gage said.

"We're not going without Donna," CJ said.

"We've dispatched another ambulance.  It will be here in just a
minute. They'll transport her in that one," he said calmly, a little
baffled by her protest.

Anger, born of the fear and frustration CJ had battled, bubbled to the
surface. Her voice took on the tone she used when reporters got too
pushy. "I don't care if you dispatch a fleet of ambulances.  We're not
going without Donna. Are you with me, Ainsley?"

Ainsley's headache kept her from raising her head but her voice was
clear and her answer unmistakable. "You better believe it."

CJ looked back at the baffled paramedics. "We'll wait until they get
Donna out," she told them firmly.

"But...." Gage began.

"Look, you didn't just spend 20 hours trapped inside a space the size
of a file cabinet drawer. But each of us did and we did it together.
That means we don't leave until we leave together."

"But...." Brice tried this time.

"Okay, I'm going to make this really easy for you guys. I work for the
President of the United States, I watch TV, and I know my rights.
We're both conscious and lucid and you can't make us go anywhere. If
necessary, we'll sign release papers, but we're not leaving without
Donna."

Both paramedics looked helplessly at Sam, Toby, Josh, Jed, Abbey and
Charlie, who were standing at the open doors of the ambulance, all
with bemused expressions on their faces.

Toby shrugged, "Don't look at me.  When she gets like this there's no
changing her mind."

Sam looked at Toby and smirked slightly as he turned back to the
paramedics, "Ainsley's from the South, and you know how stubborn
Southern women can be."

Josh, pleased to hear CJ and Ainsley standing up for Donna, took his
turn. "Believe me guys, you'll save yourself a lot of time and energy
if you don't argue with the Sisterhood."

"Why, Josh, there may be hope for you yet," Abbey said with a smirk.

Brice and Gage looked at each other. "Okay," Gage finally said.  "I'll
call the hospital and let them know." He picked up the radio and
called the hospital to apprise them of the change in plans.

"Well, since we've got a few minutes to wait, I'll just I come up
there and check CJ out for myself," Abbey said, climbing up into the
ambulance.

**********

Meanwhile, Lopez and Stoker were working on freeing Donna from the
car. Each phase of the rescue had its own dynamic and Donna's was the
most complicated.  It broke down to timing and planning. They couldn't
just pull the front passenger seat because Donna was leaning against
it and she would slump forward, possibly dislodging the rebar and
doing more damage. The only way it would work was if they could keep
Donna in place without the seat for support. So, to start with, they
removed the cowling from the center console. Because it contained
pieces of the SUV's actual mechanical components, they couldn't
actually remove the entire console but the little bit of extra room
they gained from removing the cowling would help them maneuver.

Stoker climbed into the driver's foot well.  The missing cowling gave
him enough room to reach all the way across Donna to the passenger
door. Sliding an arm in front of Donna's shoulders he grabbed the
door's arm rest.  Now Donna was resting against his arm and they could
remove the seat.  Lopez wriggled headfirst back into the back seat
space where CJ had been and chained up the front seat. After the jaws
had ripped it from the floor, he, with the help of DeSoto and
Bellingham, pulled the front passenger seat into the back seat and
then out the open door. Knowing that Stoker's arm would be getting
tired, Lopez quickly squirmed into the back seat. Then he picked up
the cutting tool and, after covering the stumps of the front passenger
seat with a plastic emergency blanket, curved himself into the space
it had previously occupied.

Shining a flashlight in her direction, he examined Donna's situation.
One thought kept coming to mind.  He was thankful she was unconscious.
 He could now see her knee and it made him grimace just to look at it.
The rebar had gone completely through it in a direction parallel to
her shoulders. The material of her jeans around her knee was fairly
well soaked with blood but it was caked and dried and didn't seem to
be bleeding at the moment. There was about 2 inches between her knee
and the door. That was the good news.

Her upper body was the bad news. Unfortunately, there was only about
an inch between it and the door.  The cutting tool was nearly an inch
wide so it would leave him with no room to hold onto and stabilize the
rebar when he was cutting. This would give him no room for error. He
could also see more fresh blood had seeped into the left front of her
sweater. This told him that one of her back wounds, presumably the top
one since it had still been bleeding when he checked her last, was
still bleeding steadily.

Well, he didn't have all day to think about it. The time had come to
act. "Okay, Stoker, I'm cutting now." Wearing gloves to protect his
hands, he took hold of the rebar by her knee and moved in with the
tool.  Quickly, he cut through it, freeing her knee.  Then he moved
up. As he placed the tool around the rebar, he had an idea.  Pulling a
long thin pair of surgical scissors from the small pack at his waist,
he was able to get them on the backside of the rebar to help stabilize
it. Pulling slightly on the scissors he cut through the top piece of
rebar and then did the same with the bottom piece.

And then she was free.

But they weren't out of the woods yet.  They still had to get her out
of the car and do it while disturbing the rebar as little as possible.
Sliding his hands under Stoker's arm and under Donna's armpits, Lopez
slid back into the back seat as much as he could.  "Okay Stoker, I've
got her.  Let's ease her down on the blanket." Together they laid her
on the emergency blanket on her stomach. "Stoker, I'm going to start
pulling her out of here.  As I do, watch her leg.  Watch to make sure
the rebar in her knee doesn't get hung up on anything. Don't worry
about trying to straightening her leg. Let it unfold on its own."

"Okay," Stoker answered.

Lopez slid deeper into the back seat, then he grasped the corners of
the blanket and pulled Donna straight forward.  He continued this
until everything but her legs was in the back seat.  Then he began to
slowly shift her body the 90 degrees it needed to move to be pointed
toward the open door.  "Guys!  Slide that back board in here," he
called.

With Donna laying where CJ had been and Lopez where the back seat had
been, the other firemen slid a back board in. He gently picked up her
head and held it as they slowly pushed the back board under her and
the blanket. Then, being careful of the two pieces of rebar in her
back, he strapped her upper body to the board.  "Okay, pull her
halfway out," he told them. When they stopped again he carefully
straightened her legs out on the board and strapped them in place.
"Okay, take her out," he said. He watched as she slid free of the SUV.

Lopez wriggled out of the back seat and went over to there they'd set
down the back board. In response to being moved around, her knee had
begun to bleed slightly again and he wrapped it in some gauze. Since
the wound around the lower piece of rebar had stopped bleeding, he
left it alone. But as he suspected, the upper wound was bleeding quite
freely. Not wanting to disturb the wound any more than he had to, he
didn't remove any of the gauze already there, but packed more into it.
After quickly taking her vital signs, which were weaker than they had
been when he'd checked her right before rescuing CJ, he pulled out his
radio, "Cap?"

"Yeah, Lopez?"

"We've got Ms. Moss out of the car and we're bringing her out."

"10-4.  We'll be ready," Captain Elkins responded.

"Okay, guys.  Let's move like we've got a purpose," he told them.
"Everyone take a corner and keep her as stable as possible.  We don't
want to jostle her. On three."  He counted to three and they all
lifted together. The four men climbed slowly over the debris, always
careful to keep their precious cargo from being bounced around.
Emerging from the rubble they found the paramedics waiting with the
basket.  "She's lost a lot of blood," Lopez told them as they
transferred the back board to them. "There are three pieces of rebar
imbedded in her left side.  One in her left knee, one on the left side
her back, just below her rib cage and one in between her bottom two
ribs.  That's the one that is bleeding the worst.  I think her bottom
rib is broken but her lung sounds clear so I don't think it's
collapsed." Then he quickly gave them a rundown of her vital signs.
The paramedics nodded and signaled for the basket to be lowered.

**********

Unlike Sam and Toby, Josh, being Josh, had to be held back so that he
didn't rush forward to where the basket was being lowered. Currently,
Charlie, Toby and Sam were huddled around him, holding onto him and
making sure he stayed put. He was all but jumping up and down with
excitement as he waited for them to bring her all the way down.

"Josh, you've got to calm down," Sam told him.  "You're going to, you
know, have a stroke or something if you keep this up.  If she sees you
all wound up she'll only worry."

Josh looked at him for a minute than nodded. "I know.  I just...you know."

Sam smiled back at him. "Yeah. I know."

"Would you guys please stop speaking in code," Toby groused.

Josh watched as the basket seemed to take an eternity to reach the
ground. Relief that she was finally free and apprehension at how badly
she was hurt warred inside him to see which emotion would dominate his
mood.

Then she was down and they transferred her to the gurney.  Even from
where he was standing, he could tell she was lying on her stomach
which didn't quite make sense to him.  Then he saw the blood that
stained her clothes.  His heart plummeted and his stomach threatened
to revolt. He couldn't lose her now.  Not now that he'd told her.  Not
now that she'd told him.  'No. She's going to make it,' he told
himself. There was simply no other choice.

Sam and Toby let go of him as the gurney reached them and he fell into
step beside it. "Donna?"

he said, bending a bit to make seeing her face a bit easier. There was
no response. She was still and silent, her skin having gone past pale
into transparent. Careful not to bump anything he took her limp hand
in his and held onto it, hoping that somehow his touch and the small
physical connection would let her know he was there with her and would
keep her from leaving him.

They arrived at the ambulance and Josh, feeling hollow and empty, had
to relinquish her hand as the paramedics loaded her inside. To make
room in the ambulance, they'd released CJ from the back board and she
was sitting at the front end of the padded bench with Ainsley and her
foot was propped up on some equipment.  Ainsley was still lying on the
bench with her feet in CJ's lap. That opened up the space in the
middle for Donna's gurney and the other bench for the paramedics to
sit on.

Working quickly they took a new set of Donna's vital signs and called
the hospital.  As with CJ, the hospital told them to start an I.V. on
Donna and transport immediately. Gage started the I.V., which was no
easy task, given that Donna was on her stomach.  Brice jumped out and
Abbey climbed in.  While Donna was being rescued, Abbey had informed
the paramedics that she'd be riding with them to the hospital so
there'd be a doctor on board if something went wrong on the way. One
of her Secret Service detail had already climbed into the front
passenger seat of the ambulance. Brice closed the doors behind her and
moved to get into the driver's seat.  Gage looked at CJ, who was
leaning her head tiredly back against the wall and had her eyes
closed. "So the hospital said we should transport you guys.  You have
any objections?" he said with a little smile. Abbey sat quietly beside
him, interested to see what CJ would say.

CJ opened her eyes and looked at him to see if he was angry or joking.
 It was clear he was just teasing her.  Her eyes flicked down to
Donna, then over to Ainsley, then across to Abbey, and then finally
back to him for a moment before she leaned back and closed her eyes.
"Nope.  We're all here, we can go now."

Gage just glanced at the First Lady, grinned, and shook his head.

**********

Josh watched the paramedic closing the ambulance doors and had to
fight down a wave of pure panic.  They were taking her away. She
couldn't go without him. He didn't want her to go anywhere without him
ever again.  He took a step forward but felt a hand on his arm.  "Let
go," he said. Assuming it was Sam or Toby, he turned, prepared to tell
them he was fine and to leave him alone. But he came face to face with
Jed. Josh just looked at him.

"Josh," he said, softly. He'd read the panic clearly written on Josh's
face.  "It's going to be all right. Abbey will look after her."

He blinked at Jed. "I...she."

"I know, Josh." He paused. "Come on, son.  Get in," he said,
indicating the black Suburban he'd arrived in.  "You ride with me,
I'll take you to her."

Like a dazed child, Josh nodded and let Jed lead him over to the car.
While Jed, Josh and Charlie got in, everyone else piled into the
Hum-Vs and, with the Suburban in the lead, they followed the ambulance
as it raced to the hospital.

To be continued...



Chapter 34 - PG

Flying there at top speed, it took about 20 minutes for the caravan to
get to the hospital.  Sharp Memorial Hospital was the only hospital
with an Emergency Room that wasn't closed because of damage or
overwhelmed by a staggering number of patients.  It's ER was also one
of the best in San Diego County.

The ambulance pulled up to the ER entrance and the three vehicles
pulled into the parking lot closest to it. Josh moved to open the door
but Jed's hand on his arm stopped him. "I need you to wait just a
minute, Josh." He turned to one of his agents. "Could you have Toby
and Sam come over here please." The agent nodded and spoke into his
sleeve to one of the other agents that had ridden over in the same car
with Toby and Sam. Since the two vehicles were parked next to each
other, it only took them a moment to appear at Josh's door.  Jed
nodded for Josh to open the door.

Unsure of what the President wanted but willing to give him the
benefit of the doubt, he pushed open the door but restrained his
overwhelming urge to jump out and run into the hospital.  Toby and Sam
stood there, looking almost as unsure as he did and nearly as anxious
to get inside.

Jed looked at them for a moment. There were things he wanted to say
but it was harder with them than it had been with the girls. If not
impossible. But, he realized there were other ways of showing how much
he cared and it wouldn't have Josh, Sam, and especially Toby, looking
at him like he'd completely lost his mind. "Guys, I just need a minute
and then I'll let you go. I already talked to the agents and they
don't want me going inside. It's not secured and I didn't like the
idea of disrupting the place when so many, including CJ, Ainsley and
Donna, need help so desperately. Plus, Leo's about ready to have
kittens because I'm not already on my way back to D.C.  He threatened
to have me chained to my desk if I didn't get my ass back there
tonight." He paused.  "Abbey's going to stay and look after the girls
and you three lunatics," he said with a slight grin. "Her agents
didn't want her to stay either but she insisted and they've been
around her long enough to know it would be useless to argue with her."

He looked at Josh and Toby, "I may be going back to D.C., but I want
you both to stay here and take care of the girls. That's your job
right now and I expect regular updates.  Stay as long as you need to.
I'll see to it that Leo leaves you alone." Josh and Toby looked like
they were going to say something, then they simply nodded mutely.

"Sam," he said. "When you win the election and get to the House, and I
know you will, don't be a stranger.  I miss seeing you in the White
House.  Things haven't been quite the same since you've been gone.
Well, except maybe no one has tried to help Josh set the building on
fire." Sam smiled at that.  "I don't know if you heard me earlier, but
I offered your fianc€e a job, so if nothing else you can say you're
coming to see her."

Sam swallowed, touched by his words.  "Thank you, sir.  And I just
want to say that I've missed seeing all of you every day.  I wanted to
come back after Orange County, but when I lost the election it left me
feeling like I had unfinished business to take care of. Like I had
left a goal unrealized. Even though it's been hard, staying in
California was the right decision for me. And even if I don't win the
upcoming election and if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't
change a thing because in the end it all led me to back to Ainsley."

Jed smiled.  "Good, answer, Congressman." He reached out and shook Sam's hand.

"Josh," he began.  "Now that you and Donna have decided to do
something about whatever it is you call what's happened between you,
remember how you feel at this moment.  Remember how precious she is to
you and how quickly she could be taken away."

"Toby, since you won't tell me about Albany, I don't know if I should
thank you, slug you or have you drawn and quartered.  But I'm guessing
that since CJ wants to start, whatever it is, up again, it's probably
a thank you occasion. Don't screw it up."

Jed sighed, "Now get your asses inside and try not to torment the
doctors and nurses too much. And do not, under any circumstances, piss
off my wife."

Josh slid out of the car and as he started to close the door, he heard
a brief interchange between Jed and Charlie, who was sitting in the
front seat, that made him smile.

"Charlie, get Leo on the phone and tell him keep his pantyhose on,
we're coming home," Jed told him.

"No, sir. I don't think I will tell him that, but I will tell him
we're on our way," Charlie replied.

Josh just shook his head and grinned as he closed the door. As he, Sam
and Toby turned to go inside the ER, the black Suburban pulled out of
the parking lot and drove off into the late afternoon sunshine.

**********

Just like in a supermarket, the doors to the ER waiting room slid open
as they approached. The waiting room was much quieter than they'd
expected.  About half of the seats were filled but, except for a small
bandage here and there, no one looked terribly injured. There was no
sign of Abbey or the girls.

While Toby loitered and Josh paced, Sam, being the unofficial
spokesman of the group, went up to the large window to speak to the
nurse. The pretty, young brunette looked incredibly tired as she typed
something into the computer in front of her, but smiled pleasantly
enough as Sam approached.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

She wasn't wearing a name tag, unless it was on the scrubs he assumed
she was wearing under the oversized SDSU sweatshirt she had on.
"Three of our friends were just brought in..."

"Oh, are you in the Bartlet group?" she asked.

Sam was a little taken aback that she knew who they were. "Um, yes."

"Wait, just a moment please," she told him as she slid off her stool
and disappeared.  For such a large window, you really couldn't see
much of the ER that he assumed lay beyond the desk she'd been sitting
at.  He supposed that was by design, to help guard the privacy of the
patients.

In the midst of that thought, the large heavy-looking metal door next
to the window clicked and was pulled open. Out stepped one of Abbey's
agents. The door clanged shut behind him, sounding something not
unlike a prison cell door sliding shut.

"Mr. Seaborn, Mr. Ziegler, Mr. Lyman, would you come with me, please?"
Without waiting for a response he turned and lead them to another door
at the opposite side of the waiting room and ushered them through it.

"Where are we going?" Sam asked.

"I'll explain when we get there," the agent replied non-committally.

Josh leaned over to Toby, "What? Do they give these guys classes in
being evasive?" he said, quietly.

Their next stop was a large elevator, obviously big enough for a
gurney or a hospital bed and a couple of staff to fit inside. The four
of them stepped inside and the agent pressed the button for one of the
upper floors.

They rode in silence for a few seconds until Sam spoke, "You know I
suppose I should call Ainsley's dad. He probably heard about the quake
on TV. I don't know if she told them she was going to San Diego, but
I'm sure she'd want me to call him, anyway."

Josh smiled slightly, "So are you going to tell him that you're
marrying his daughter?"

Sam swallowed, "Well...that is...um. No, I'm sure Ainsley would like
to tell him."

Now Toby smirked ever so slightly, "Sam, does her father know that
you're even, you know, dating?"

"Oh, I'm sure she mentioned it to him," he said, then frowned.  "At
least I think she mentioned it to him."  His frown got deeper.  "Okay,
so there's a definitely possibility she hasn't mentioned it to him at
all."

Toby and Josh were enjoying this now.  "So, basically, you're going to
tell her Republican father that you, a Democratic congressional
candidate, one he doesn't know is even dating his daughter, is going
to marry her?" Josh said.

Sam felt queasy and a little short of breath.  Her father was going to
hate him. "Yeah. I guess. I mean when you put it that way...okay I
think I need to sit down." Sam said, slumping against the wall of the
elevator. Josh and Toby both snickered.

"What are you going to do about Donna's parents?" Toby asked Josh as
they waited for the elevator to get where it was going. He was well
aware of the Donna strained relationship with her family.

Josh leaned his head back against the wall.  "I don't know. I guess I
should call them. The problem is they're not usually very receptive to
calls from Donna, much less me. I think the best thing to do would be
to just call Bill and let him know how she's doing. He can tell them.
They like him."

"Are you going to tell him about the wooing and fooling around plan?"
Toby asked with a smirk. He was immensely enjoying the fact that he
could not only torment Sam about Ainsley but now, because of Josh's
new thing with Donna, he all kinds of new material to torment Josh
with as well.

"Yeah, because I have a death wish," Josh replied.

The elevator dinged and came to a stop on their floor.  As the doors
slid open, the agent, Josh vaguely remembered his last name was
"Abbott," once again silently took up the lead. They started down the
wide hallway of what looked to be a floor of standard patient rooms.
About halfway down, the agent turned to his left and pushed through a
set of heavy wooden doors, marked "Authorized Personnel Only" and led
them into another wide but relatively short hallway. Things were much
quieter here and there were very few rooms, maybe four or five. Except
for a small station staffed with two nurses, it was all but deserted.
Then Josh noticed the cameras.  They were mounted at both ends of the
abbreviated hallway and at the nurses station.

"Where the hell are we?" Josh mumbled to Sam.

"Heck if I know," Sam answered.

The agent led them past the nurses station where the nurses nodded to
the agent and went back to what they were doing. Up ahead another
Secret Service agent come out of a door on the left side of the
hallway. "Robertson?  Anything to report?" their Secret Service agent
asked the new one.

"No, sir. The area is clear and secure," the young, burly agent reported.

"Good.  Surgeon asked that Princeton, Harvard and Grumpy remain up
here until she returns."

Sam and Josh grinned at each other. While the two of them had never
had any problem with their Secret Service code names, the only one who
hated their code name more than CJ hated 'Flamingo,' was Toby and his
hatred of 'Grumpy.'  During their first year in the White House, Sam
and Josh had taken every opportunity to annoy him with it and at every
chance, they would try and get whatever Secret Service agent was handy
to say it. Ron had caught onto this very early on and had instructed
the agents not to cooperate. That was the problem with the Secret
Service, they weren't big on pranks or jokes. Then Rosslyn had
happened and many of the silly things Sam and Josh had done during
that first year had gone by the wayside, including trying to torment
Toby with the moniker the Secret Service had given him. But for right
now, it was something that lifted their spirits, even as Toby rolled
his eyes.

Abbott put his hand up to his ear, listening to something coming
through on his ear piece.  "Surgeon is on her way up," he said,
referring to Abbey's Secret Service code name.

"What are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Josh asked Abbott as he
was leaving.

"The First Lady said I should have you wait in the room," he replied
pointing to the door that Robertson had exited when they'd come down
the hall.  "There are chairs and a TV in there so I suggest you wait
in there for her. She'll be here in few minutes."

"But..." Josh tried again.

Abbott put his hand up, "The First Lady will answer all your questions
when she arrives." With that he turned and he and Robertson took up
their posts next to each of the large wooden entrance doors. Josh
mused for a moment they did perfect imitations of two statues wearing
black suits.

Not quite knowing what to do next , Josh, Sam and Toby looked at each
other.  Sam finally shrugged and headed for the door that Abbott had
pointed to, followed closely by Josh and Toby. Pushing it open, Sam
was almost run over by the two of them as he stopped dead in his
tracks at the site that greeted him. "Oh, my God."

To be continued...



Chapter 35 - PG

The room was huge, probably about the size of the Roosevelt Room in
the White House, and decorated like no hospital room any of them had
ever seen. A rich, burgundy, short pile carpet covered the floor. A
pale, coordinating shade of mauve covered the walls. Two comfortable
recliners sat in opposite corners of the room.  Currently it only
contained one empty hospital bed but it could have easily held 4 or 5
and would still have had plenty of room for people to move around.
There was even a full bathroom with a roomy handicapped stall shower.
The windows that ran the length of the room faced west and the
afternoon sun slid in through the half-closed blinds that covered
them. Except for the small center of machinery and plugs and an
overhead light mounted into the wall behind the bed, anything remotely
medical was hidden or carefully camouflaged.

"This place is nicer than my apartment," Sam said.

"This place is nicer than my townhouse," Josh put in.

"This place is nicer than some rooms in the White House, " Toby said.

"Well, I see the three of you have managed to stay out of trouble for
five minutes," Abbey said with a tired grin. At the sound of her
voice, they turned, looked at her expectantly and all started speaking
at once.  She held up her hand, "One at a time." Then of course, they
were all silent as they didn't want to talk over each other. Abbey
shook her head and sighed.  "You guys are three knuckleheads, you know
that?"  As she often did, Abbey took the bull, or in this case, bulls,
by the horns.

"I've only got a few minutes.  All three of the girls are being
x-rayed right now, which is why they kicked me out. But they're going
to page me as soon as the films come back," she said, pointing to a
small pager on her belt. "Here's what I know so far."

She looked at Sam. "It looks like Ainsley's going to be fine, unless
something shows up in her head CT or the x-ray of her arm. Dr. Evans,
he's the one that's treating her, feels that she's got a fairly severe
concussion and a hairline fracture of the ulna in her forearm. If
that's the case they'll send her to orthopedics and to have her arm
casted and then she'll be brought up here. Because of her earlier
confusion and lethargy, they're going to want to keep her here for a
couple of days just to make sure she doesn't have any lingering
problems from her concussion. Oh, they're also going to have to put a
couple of stitches in her cheek.  The laceration she had there was
pretty deep.  Dr. Evans is calling in a plastic surgeon to do it. The
stitches will be so fine, when it heals in a few weeks, she won't even
have a scar."

"Thank you, ma'am," Sam said, relieved beyond words that Ainsley was
going to be okay.

Now she turned to Toby. "CJ's going to be fine too."  She paused.
"But she's going to have a long road ahead of her before she can walk
normally again. Once Dr. Serdar, he's the doctor treating her, got her
shoe off it was clear that the rebar did major damage to her foot.
There are quite a few bones in the foot and the rebar seemed to go out
of it's way to damage as many of them as possible. Through a visual
inspection we could see that a number of metatarsal and phalanx bones
are dislocated and we won't be sure until we see the films but we're
guessing that a couple of them are broken as well. As soon as the
films come back and they've mapped out what has to be done, they'll be
taking her to surgery to remove the rebar, clean the site and re-set
all the bones, which, depending on how badly they're broken, may or
may not include inserting small pins to stabilize them. They're
bringing in their top ortho guy to do the surgery.  I've heard of him
and he's good."  She paused, getting ready to tell them the rest.

"After the surgery and once she's out of recovery, they'll bring her
up here. There will be a substantial amount of swelling after the
surgery so they won't cast her foot right away.  They'll give her a
range of anti-inflammatory drugs to make the swelling go down that
much faster.  She'll also be on antibiotics to help prevent infection
from the rebar and the surgery. And of course she gets some really,
really good pain meds, probably a self-administering morphine drip to
start, because she's going to be in a lot of pain, especially for the
next few days, and then it should start to taper off as the
inflammation goes down. They'll also probably give her medication to
thin her blood so she doesn't develop blood clots in her legs, which
are very common when a patient has lower extremity wounds and is
immobile for an extended period of time as CJ will be. When everything
is healed and she gets her final cast off she'll have to have some
physical therapy to regain full use and range of motion in her foot."

Toby was still trying to absorb everything she'd just told him. He had
a hard time reconciling the fact he was thrilled that CJ was going to
be okay in the long term but horrified that she would be laid up and
largely miserable and in considerable pain for the short term.  He
nodded mutely to tell Abbey he understood.

Abbey sighed. Now the hard part.  She walked over to Josh, who was
leaning against one of the nearby walls. He'd wandered over there
while she'd been telling Toby about CJ. "Josh?" she began. He looked
up at her and she almost lost the nerve to tell him.  The only thing
that gave her the strength to do it was her training in telling
patients and their families difficult truths. The problem was that she
herself was a member of this family, which made it that much harder.

"Josh?  Donna's....her condition is very serious. She may not be there
when I get back because they were prepping her for surgery when I left
and were just waiting for the films. Once they have them I don't think
they'll wait for me to get there and, in all honesty, I wouldn't want
them to. She's lost so much blood they had to give her a couple of
units of whole blood there in the ER to keep her stable." She saw the
blood drain out of Josh's face and reconsidered telling him.  "Josh,
are you sure you want to hear this?"

Josh took a breath to try and ease the nausea that was threatening to
get the better of him.  Of course he had nothing in his stomach.  He
hadn't eaten since...he couldn't remember when. As hard as it was, he
needed to know about Donna.  "Yes, Mrs. B.  Tell me."

Abbey looked at him for a moment trying to decide if he could take it.
She wasn't sure he could, but he had a right to know. "There are two
pieces of rebar in the left side of her back.  The lower one doesn't
appear to have done much damage. They'll just remove it, clean the
site and stitch it up. However, the news is not so good for the upper
one.  The upper wound has been the cause of the majority of her blood
loss. That piece of rebar went in between her bottom two ribs.  We
think it cracked the one above and completely broke the one below.
They'll have to fix the broken one in surgery. Luckily it doesn't seem
to have punctured or collapsed her lung." She paused for a moment and
took a breath.

"After the rebar went between her ribs, it appears it entered her
kidney on that side.  That's why it's been continuing to bleed.  The
kidneys are very vascularized. It's possible the rebar is pinching off
the majority of the damage it caused and when they get her into
surgery and remove it she could start to hemorrhage. The surgery will
be very delicate. If the damage is too great, they may have to remove
the kidney to save her life."

Part of Josh had simply shut down to keep from processing what Abbey
was telling him. The rest of him had gone into autopilot crisis mode.
He felt oddly, eerily calm.  "But she can live with only one kidney,
right?" He heard the question come out of his mouth but it felt like
someone else was asking it.

Abbey was a little surprised he was taking this so well.  "Yes,
absolutely.  She'd have to be monitored a bit more closely for the
rest of her life to make sure that her remaining kidney continues to
function normally but she can absolutely live with only one kidney."

"What about her leg?" he heard himself ask.

Abbey looked at him a moment. She knew that glazed look. He wasn't
handling what she was telling him nearly as well as he was letting on.
But she wanted to prepare him for what was to come.  "They won't be
able to save her knee, Josh. There's just too much damage.  She'll
have to have a total knee replacement. They won't do it yet, they'll
just go in and remove the rebar, clean it out, repair any damage to
the muscles and tendons and get the site ready for the replacement
surgery.  Like CJ, she'll have a lot of swelling and they'll put her
on anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics and some amazing pain meds.
 In a few days, when the swelling has gone down, they'll do the
replacement. The same ortho guy doing CJ's surgery is going to do
Donna's knee replacement. The good thing about the knee replacement is
that they'll want her up on her feet a couple days after the surgery.
That's standard to keep the muscles, ligaments and tendons from
tightening up around the prosthetic joint. Getting her up and moving
will be better for her anyway since they won't be able to give her any
blood thinning medication because of her kidney surgery.  So although
her condition is much more serious right now, she should be up and
around sooner than CJ."

Josh didn't seem to find comfort in that. "When will I be able to see
her?" If he could just see her, touch her, let her know he was there
with her, she'd pull through, he just knew it.

"The surgery should take 6 or 7 hours. Then, because of her blood loss
and the seriousness of the injury to her kidney I assume they'll want
to keep her in the ICU for the first 24 hours or so. As soon as they
getting her settled in ICU I'll see that you get in to see her."

"Is she...is she...." The words didn't want to leave his mouth. He
swallowed and tried again.  "Is she in pain?" He couldn't bear the
thought of her suffering.

Abbey laid her hand on his arm, "No, Josh.  She's still unconscious.
She's not feeling a thing and by now I'm sure they've given her
additional anesthesia to keep her down for the surgery."

Josh stared at the floor, not knowing what else to say. Then the
kernel of an idea came to him, "Mrs. B?  Can I...you know...see her
during the operation?"

Abbey knew immediately what he was asking.  He wanted to watch over
Donna the same way she'd watched over him during his surgery. "I'll
find out Josh, I don't know if they have observation windows in their
operating rooms but if they do I'll see you get in to see her." Abbey
paused, took a deep breath and looked slowly at each of them.  "In the
meantime, I suggest you make some calls to the girls' family members.
I'm sure they're anxious to hear how they're doing. And then there's
not much to do but wait. Josh, Toby, The President was going to have
our things unloaded at the base.  I imagine Bill will bring them over
so he can check on Donna, so at least you'll have some toiletries and
some clean clothes.  Sam, I'm afraid you're going to be wearing scrubs
and shopping at the gift shop for toiletries until you can get to the
store."

Sam smiled a bit but his heart wasn't in it.  As happy as he was about
Ainsley, he was still concerned for CJ and Donna and for that matter,
Josh. "I'll get by, ma'am. Thank you." He did a bit of a double take,
"Oh, ma'am, there's something I was going to ask you."

"What is it, Sam?"

"You said the girls will be brought here.  What did you mean?"

"I mean they'll be brought here. Once the three of them have been
treated they'll be brought up here.  This is going to be their room
while they're here."

"How did you manage that?" Josh said. "And what's more, who's going to
pay for it?  I can't imagine their health insurance will cover a room
like this." Josh remembered all the trouble he had with his health
insurance when he'd been shot and didn't want Donna, CJ or Ainsley to
go through the same nightmare.

"Josh, you worry too much.  It's been taken care of. While we were
waiting for the girls to be rescued, I asked one of the paramedics
where they'd be bringing them and then I called my office and they saw
to the arrangements. Their insurance will pay for their treatment and
the fee for a standard hospital room. This is the VIP room. The girls
will be staying in here and the four of us will be staying in the
other three rooms in this wing. The other rooms are smaller, more like
regular rooms.  The President and I thought the girls deserved that
after all they've been through so we're picking up the tab for what
the insurance doesn't pay. Plus the Secret Service liked it because
this wing is separate and has cameras and it's easier for them to
secure. It will also help keep us away from the press, which I'm sure
is even now, sniffing out the story of why The President took Air
Force One on an unscheduled joyride without informing them and why,
with the exception of Leo, the entire White House senior staff and the
First Lady are missing from D.C."

Just then the pager at her waist began to beep. Abbey pulled it out
and looked at the message. "The films are in. I've got to go.  You
guys behave.  If you promise to stay out of trouble, I'll tell the
agents you can come and go as you please."  The three of them nodded
at her.  "Josh, I'll find out if I can get you into see her. I'll be
back up as soon as I know something." She turned and looked at Toby
and Sam, "I expect you two to keep an eye on him until I get back."
With that she turned and swept out of the room.

Always the practical one, Toby pulled out his cell phone.  He flipped
it open and was surprised to find he was getting a signal.  He dialed
Margaret.  "Hi, Margaret. It's Toby."

"Oh, Toby.  How are they doing? Leo just told me they got them out of
the garage."

"Yeah. Well, we're still waiting to hear for sure but we think they're
going to be okay." He didn't give her a chance to ask anymore
questions. She would talk his ear off if he gave her the chance.
"Margaret, I need you to get some phone numbers for me. I need the
numbers for CJ's brother, Thomas Cregg; he lives in Baltimore. And
Ainsley Hayes' father," Toby looked at Sam, "What's his name?"

"Daniel Hayes," Sam supplied.  "He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina."

Toby relayed the information to Margaret. "Do you want to wait while I
pull them or do you want me to call you back?" she asked him.

"I'll wait.  I'm not sure how reliable the cell service is going to
be, so if I hang up I might not be able to get through to you again."

"Okay, hold on.  I'll be right back with the numbers," she clicked off
and put him on hold.  Toby looked over at Josh. "I figured we could at
least make good use of our time while we wait. But I didn't ask for
the number for Donna's family 'cause I figured it was going to be bad
enough that you had to, you know, face Bill in person."

"Thanks Toby, you're all heart." Josh said as he leaned his head back
against the wall and tried to think of how he was going to tell Bill
about Donna's condition, when he didn't even want to think about it
himself.

To be continued...



Chapter 36 - PG

Flopping down into an empty chair, a part of Josh dimly realized how
tired he was.  Even too tired to pace.  He wasn't sleepy tired, in
fact he didn't think he could have slept even with a handful of
sleeping pills in him.  But he was weary tired. It was the kind of
tired that basically sapped all his energy and robbed him of the
ability to think and feel. Which he supposed was probably a good thing
for the moment.  If he thought too much his mind started to dredge up
all the possible things that could go wrong with Donna's surgery.

He managed to gather enough energy to glance around the deserted
surgical waiting room. Abbey had brought him there a short time ago.
She'd found out that the surgery suite where they'd taken Donna almost
two hours ago did indeed have an observation window and she'd gotten
permission for him to watch the operation. Abbey had told him to wait
there for a moment while she went to check and see that they were
ready for him to come back to the observation area. So, there he sat,
waiting.

The door to the waiting room opened and, expecting Abbey, Josh's head
snapped up. Dread on the heels of his disappointment made an
appearance when Josh saw it was Bill. He wondered if anyone had told
him about Donna or if it was really was going to be his job to do it.
Josh knew Bill was already kind of leery about him being in love with
Donna, and being the bearer of bad news was never a good way to
strengthen an already shaky relationship.

"Hey," Bill said cautiously.  "I called Sam and he and Toby met me
downstairs.  I gave them all the things the President had unloaded
from Air Force One and the stuff Sam left at the base. He said that I
could find you up here." He paused for a second, "Oh, by the way the
President got off all right.  He should be halfway to D.C. by now."

'Thanks a bunch, Sam,' Josh thought. But he couldn't really blame Sam.
 If he was going to be mature enough to have a relationship with
Donna, he was going to have to be mature enough to do the hard things
that sometimes came with loving someone. Telling Bill the truth about
her was one of those hard things.

"Thanks, Bill," Josh said.  "Um, did Sam tell you anything about Donna?"

Bill looked at him for a minute, the concern for his sister written
clearly on his face.  "No, he told me I should ask you."

Josh managed to take a deep breath but it did nothing to help his
courage. Before he even processed what he was going to say, his mouth
began working. "I...she's in surgery right now." Again it felt like
someone else was saying the words. So much so that he had to suppress
the urge to look around to see who was speaking.  "During one of the
aftershocks some concrete debris shifted and hit the car.  Some rebar
in the concrete punched through the side of the car and hit her. It
damaged her knee, broke a rib and they think it might have damaged one
of her kidneys." He could see Bill trying to process the news.

Bill swallowed, "Is she going to be okay?"

"Um, yeah. They think so." Part of him thought if he said it enough
times it would make it true. "They'll know better after the surgery.
She'll have to have her knee replaced and they may have to remove her
kidney if it's too badly damaged."

"Oh," was all Bill said.

Josh had expected Bill to be angry.  Either for being the one to tell
him the news or because Josh had let her come out to California or
because Josh was a convenient target or for no reason at all. But Bill
didn't seem angry.  Only concerned. And he was still trying to take in
the fact that his sister was, even now, being operated on by surgeons
who were attempting to save her life. Bill got up and paced a bit.
Josh remained silent.

"Were you able to talk to her?" Bill asked.

"Yeah.  When we first got there she was fine and we talked.  She was a
little scared of the dark," his voice caught on the last word as the
image of her scared and in the dark rose back into his mind.

Bill looked at Josh and saw how much this man, a virtual stranger to
him, was concerned for his sister's welfare.  He looked at him a bit
closer and saw it went beyond concern. He was truly traumatized by the
fact that she was injured.  "Did you tell her?" Bill asked softly.

Josh looked up at him blankly, "What?"

"Did you tell her how you feel about her?" Bill clarified.

Josh almost smiled at that. "Yeah. Yeah I did." Thank God he'd at
least managed to do that.

Bill was pleased by the spark of life that seemed to come into Josh's
eyes. "What did she say?" he already knew what Donna would have said,
but it looked like Josh needed something to pick up his spirits.

This time Josh did smile. The thought of her words warmed a spot in
him that had grown cold in the last few hours. "That she felt the same
way."

"Good," Bill said.  "I'm glad you could be there for her when she needed you."

Josh just looked at him. He definitely hadn't expected that. "Why do
your parents dislike her working in the White House so much? Is it
just me? Do they hate me that much? Or is it just the President they
dislike?" The questions had tumbled out in a rush.

Bill looked at him for a minute, "You have to understand my parents.
They have very definite ideas about things.  They're
very....stubborn."

"So that's where Donna gets it?" How Josh managed to joke he didn't know.

Bill smiled, "Yeah.  She is stubborn, isn't she? Anyway, they get
ideas in their heads and it's hard to get them to change their minds.
I don't think it's any one thing that's caused the strain between them
and Donna. It's a collection of things. They're Republicans so her
being a Democrat and working for a Democratic administration is one
reason.  The President also didn't endear himself to them when he
revealed that he'd concealed his MS. Then there's the fact that my
mother thought Donna made a huge mistake by leaving Dr. Freeride."

"But he was an ass.  He used her," Josh objected.

"I know and I agree that leaving him was one of the best things she
ever did, but my mother just hears 'young eligible doctor' and after
that she doesn't hear anything else.  They also think her working as a
secretary, even in the White House, is beneath her." When Josh started
to object, he raised his hand.  "Their words, not mine.  She's told me
all the things she does and how much she loves it and I've tried to
tell them that but they don't want to hear it. They think what they
think and that's it." He paused.  "As for hating you, I think they
hate the idea of you.  They see you as the reason she doesn't come
home for the holidays or to visit. When what they don't realize is
that Donna doesn't want to come home because she already IS home. In
DC." He paused.  "So if you're waiting for them to accept you with
open arms, I think you're going to be waiting for a very long time."

"It's just such a hard thing for Donna to not have their support."

"I know," Bill replied.

"Bill, I have to tell you that at some point, when the time is right
and we're both ready, I have every intention of asking her to marry
me. And I know that it would mean the world to her if they were
there." Josh told him, even surprising himself with the admission.  He
hadn't given any conscious thought to marrying her.

Before Bill could answer, the door to the waiting room opened and
Abbey walked in.  "Josh...Oh, Bill. I didn't know you were here."

"Hello, ma'am. I just came by to check on Donna and bring your things
over.  I gave everything to Sam and Toby and Josh was just filling me
in on what's been going on with Donna."

"Yes," Abbey smiled gently.  "She'll be in surgery for the next 4 or 5
hours but the doctors are very hopeful that she'll make a full
recovery." She turned to Josh.  "If you still want to go, Josh, now's
the time."

"Where are you guys off to?" he said with genuinely innocent curiosity.

Josh looked at Abbey for help. He wasn't quite sure how to explain to
Bill that he wanted to watch Donna's operation.

"Oh, you know Josh.  He has to be involved in everything.  I'm just
going to take him down so he can see that the doctors are doing right
by Donna." Abbey said.

Bill looked between Abbey and Josh, finally stopping on Josh. "You're
going to watch her surgery?" he asked softly. It should have sounded
morbid but Bill thought it was about the sweetest thing he'd ever
heard.

"She did it for me when I was shot," Josh replied, just as softly.

Bill sensed they didn't want to leave him there alone, so he made it
easy for them. "Well, I have to be getting back to the base. I'll call
tomorrow and see how Don's doing. As soon as she's up for visitors,
I'll come by and see her. I'll also take care of telling my parents
about what's happened to her." He walked over and held out his hand.
"Thanks for taking care of her, Josh."

Josh took his hand and shook it. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"If it makes any difference, you both have my support. And when the
two of you get around to doing that thing that we talked about, I plan
to be sitting in the front row."

Abbey had no idea what they were talking about but she sensed that the
two men had come to some sort of understanding about Donna.

"Thanks, Bill.  That means a lot to me and I know it will mean a lot
to her," Josh said, releasing his hand.

Bill turned to leave, "Thank you, ma'am. I know you're a doctor
yourself and I appreciate you looking after Donna and her friends."

Abbey smiled softly. Donna's brother was a very charming young man.
"They're part of my family, Bill.  I couldn't not be here."

He looked back at Josh and then returned his gaze to Abbey, "I'm glad
that Donna has so many people who care about her."

"She's very special to us," Abbey said.

"Well, I have to get going.  Thank you both," he said as he opened he
door and walked out.

Abbey turned back to Josh.  "You ready?"

Josh took a very deep breath and let it out slowly.  "Yeah.  Let's go."

***********

Abbey, with one of her agents in tow, led him out of the waiting room
and down a long hallway.  As they continued to walk, the hallways got
more and more sparse.  Carpeted floors led to tile floors.  Colored
walls led to stark white walls.

Josh felt his feet get heavier and heavier. It took more and more of
his concentration to keep moving forward.  He knew that he needed to
be where he was going but it didn't mean that getting there wasn't
hard.

Then they passed through three sets of doors that all read 'Do Not
Enter/Authorized Personnel Only'. Abbey nodded to a nurse on duty at a
wide desk and led Josh to a door at the end of a long hallway.  The
door was simply marked 'Observation'. She turned the knob and stepped
inside.  Josh swallowed and followed her in.

The room was small and plain and contained no furniture.  It was
painted a soothing pale blue color and a set of curtains that looked
suspiciously like they were made from the same material that were used
for hospital gowns were mounted on a rod over the large window that
looked into the operating room. The curtains were currently pulled
back so Josh had a full view of the operating room and the group of
doctors standing around the operating table.

Then he saw her and the world shifted. Oddly, although he wouldn't
have expected it, some of the weight on his heart eased. Some of the
doubts in his mind began to disappear. She was there and she was alive
and that was all that mattered. Most of her was blocked by the doctors
and nurses working around her. But he could still see her head. She
was still on her stomach with her face turned toward the observation
window.  Her beautiful blonde hair was covered by one of those cloth
shower-cap looking things, but the alabaster features of her face were
in full view. His eyes locked on that face and refused to waiver.

Abbey stood next to him but she realized that he no longer knew she
was there.  Now he only had eyes for one woman and she was laying on
the table in the next room fighting for her life. Abbey watched as his
hand rose to the window and his fingers began tracing a pattern on the
glass.  Slowly, gently, over and over again. She moved behind him to
see if she could figure out what the pattern was.  Tears sprang to her
eyes as she realized he was tracing the contour of Donna's cheek
through the glass.

To be continued...



Chapter 37 - PG

"Could you wait here please?" Abbey told the Secret Service agent that
was following her.  He nodded and stood against the wall. She ran her
hand tiredly through her hair and reached for the doorknob. She'd left
Josh in the observation room a few hours before to go and check on
Ainsley and CJ. The nurse told her that Josh hadn't left the room the
entire time she was gone.

CJ's surgery had just ended and she was in recovery. Once she woke up
and they were sure she would have no lingering problems from the
anesthesia, they would take her upstairs to the room.  Abbey had
spoken to the orthopedic surgeon after the surgery and he felt that
he'd been able to repair all the damage to her foot.  Because two of
the bones in her foot had been broken he'd had to put a couple of
small pins in to stabilize everything.  The rebar had also done some
minor tendon damage and he'd fixed that as well. The good news was
that the blood flow to her toes had not been compromised by the injury
and he felt that everything would heal properly in the long run. Abbey
had already updated Toby on CJ's condition.  He'd been very relieved
and when she left, he'd been watching CNN on the TV in the upstairs
room he'd staked out for his own.

As for Ainsley, she was sleeping quietly up in the room, her arm in a
cast, a small bandage on her cheek, and Sam by her side. Because
they'd determined she had a concussion and not a skull fracture nor
any bleeding in her brain they'd told her she could sleep if she
wanted.  However, every 2 or 3 hours one of the nurses came in to wake
her if she was asleep for a neurological check. This consisted of
checking her alertness level and asking her basic questions like her
name or what day it was. They would continue to do this for the first
24 hours just to be sure she wasn't having any lingering or delayed
problems from her concussion. Abbey had also spoken to the plastic
surgeon that had stitched up Ainsley cheek and he confirmed that she
wouldn't have a scar once the tissue was completely healed, which he
thought would be in about 4 weeks.

Turning the knob, Abbey slowly opened the door. "Josh?" she said
quietly. He didn't answer or even acknowledge her presence, which was
not necessarily unexpected. However, she was a little surprised to see
him standing in exactly the same spot she'd left him in hours before.
The only thing that was different was his hand was no longer moving
over the window.  Now, it merely rested on it with his palm flat
against the glass, as if trying to maintain some kind of tenuous
connection with Donna.

Abbey stood beside him for a moment and watched him as he continued to
stare into the operating room. What she saw on his face made her heart
clench.  His look was a mirror image of the one Donna had on her face
when Josh had been in surgery.  Abbey told him on Air Force One that
she'd never seen anyone will someone to live before she saw Donna do
it in the observation room at GW.  But here she stood, seeing it
again. Seeing it in Josh's face, in his eyes. She felt both privileged
to see it and like she was intruding on an intensely private moment
between them.

Abbey looked into the operating room. She could tell from what the
doctors and nurses were doing that things were wrapping up.  Sponges
were being counted. Instruments were being accounted for. All to make
sure that nothing was left inside Donna that wasn't supposed to be
there when they closed her up. As much as it pained Abbey to do
anything to interrupt this moment between them, it was time that she
and Josh left.

Josh hadn't heard Abbey come in. Hadn't heard her softly say his name.
Didn't know that even now she was standing within a foot of him. He
also didn't feel the way his back and neck ached or the way his tired
legs and feet hurt from standing in one place for the last four hours.
 There would be time for that later. For now, his entire focus and
concentration was centered on Donna.

"Josh?" Abbey tried.  She laid her hand on his shoulder and shook it
gently.  "Josh." When he still didn't answer she shook him harder.
Startled, his head snapped toward her.

"Oh, Mrs. B.  I didn't hear you come in," he said. "How long have you
been here?"

"Just a minute.  I spoke to you but I guess you didn't hear me."

"Yeah," Josh had glanced back at Donna, his attention already straying
from Abbey.

"Josh!" she said firmly.

Her tone caused his attention to snap back to her. "Ma'am?"

He looked so innocent, she couldn't be mad at him. "We need to go,"
she said gently shifting her position so he had to stand with his back
to the window.

"But..." he began, not willing to leave Donna yet.

"Josh," she said, her voice soft with understanding.  "They're just
finishing up with her now. They'll be bringing her into recovery
shortly and then into ICU. You have just enough time to go upstairs
and get cleaned up.  If she sees you looking rumpled and tired, she's
only going to worry about you and not about getting better."

Josh wanted to protest, but he knew Donna and her penchant for
worrying about him so he just nodded. Abbey opened the door and two of
them walked out into the hall, Josh stumbled a bit as his limbs
remembered how to move after being still for so long and Abbey put her
arm out to steady him.  When she was sure he wasn't going to fall on
his face, and with the her agent in step behind them, they walked down
the corridor to the surgical nurses station where Abbey stopped.

"Hi, Shelley," Abbey said to the duty nurse, whom she'd spoken to a
number of times in the last few hours.  "I see they're finishing up.
Do you have an update on how things are going?"

The young blonde smiled, "Let me call in and get one for you, Dr.
Bartlet." Picking up the receiver from a phone on the desk, she dialed
an extension. She asked whomever answered for an update and then
nodded as they gave her the information.

Hanging up the phone, she turned back to Abbey and Josh. "You're
right, Dr. Bartlet, they are just finishing up. They were able to
remove all of the metal and they fixed the broken rib and cleaned out
the knee. Unfortunately, the metal did significant damage to the renal
artery and the internal structure of the kidney.  They weren't able to
save it and it had to be removed. But Dr. Shaw believes she will make
a full recovery."

"Thank you, Shelley.  Come on, Josh. Let's go," she said. Pulling Josh
by the arm. "So you see, Josh? She's going to be okay." she told him
as they walked back up to the room. Josh only nodded silently and
followed behind her. He wanted to be happy, knew he should be happy.
But the ability to feel anything seemed to be beyond him right then.

Things were quiet when they got up to the room.  Ainsley was talking
to her father on the phone, apparently explaining how she was engaged
to a man she'd neglected to tell him about, while Sam sat next to her
and Toby was taking a nap in one of the other rooms.

Abbey pointed Josh to the room across from the one Toby was sleeping
in. "You and Sam area going to share that room.  He's already put all
your things in there.  The only shower in this wing is the one in the
girls' room so you'll have to use it. I'm going to go back downstairs
and look in on CJ.  She should be awake by now. When they've moved
Donna into the ICU I'll come back and get you." Without waiting for a
response she turned and left.

Josh shuffled into the room and picked up his bag. Now that he was
alone, every part of his body seemed to hurt but his mind was a blank
as he walked into the girls' room. Ainsley had finished her call and
she and Sam greeted him as he came in.

"How's Donna?" Sam asked.

"Okay," was all he could manage.  "I'll tell you about it...I just
need to, you know," he said, jerking a thumb toward the bathroom.

"Sure," Sam said.

Josh shuffled stiffly into the bathroom then stopped and turned back
around, "Ainsley?"

"Yes, Josh," she said, a bit surprised he'd spoken specifically to her
and not Sam.

"I'm glad that you're okay and I wanted to say that I'm happy you and
Sam are together." He meant it but he wasn't quite sure why it seemed
so important for him to say.

Ainsley smiled, touched by his thoughtful words, "Thanks, Josh.  That
means a lot."

Josh nodded and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
His body was set on autopilot and since Abbey's words were the last
instructions he'd been given, his body carried them out.  He stripped
down and stepped under the hot spray of the shower. His sore, tired
muscles began to ease a bit under the heat of the pounding water.

It began almost as a whisper.  Something that could be written off as
the sound of the shower. But slowly, as if someone were turning up
some internal volume knob, Abbey's words began playing over and over
in his mind. "She's going to be okay."

'She's going to be okay,' his brain said, joining in the chorus. Josh
sagged against the cool tile wall of the shower.  She's going to be
okay. As the truth of that simple statement began to finally sink in,
it was like sunshine breaking through the clouds. Putting his head in
this hands, the tears began. Not sobs, just silent cleansing tears
mixing with the hot water of the shower. Tears of fear, tears of
frustration, tears of relief, tears of joy. They all came pouring out
in a rush. Like a wave, they crested and then ebbed. Leaning, his head
back against the wall, he took breath and realized he felt lighter and
more alert than he had since they'd gotten to the hospital.

Shutting off the shower, he climbed out and dried off.  Quickly he
shaved and got dressed.  Abbey would be coming back at some point and
he wanted to be ready.

**********

"I got permission for you to stay with her.  But when she wakes up,
she'll be groggy from the anesthesia and the pain medication they're
giving her." Abbey told him as they stood near the ICU nurses desk.
"And before you go in, I want you to be ready." She paused. "Her leg
is going to be elevated and heavily wrapped in bandages. They have her
on some oxygen but she's not on a ventilator and she is hooked up to
any number of I.V.s and machines. Okay?"

Josh nodded and was nearly bouncing with anticipation.

"Come on," she said, leading him through the ICU.  It was laid out
simply.  The nurses station ran down the center of the large room and
large patient bays, packed with machinery, ran along each side. Abbey
led him to the second to the last bay on the left.  The curtain was
pulled halfway closed so they had to step around it to see inside.
Abbey moved aside so Josh could step around her.

Josh's heart was beating wildly as he stepped around the curtain and
into the bay. Donna was lying in a wide hospital bed, her hair
spilling around her. Bathed in a soft twilight, she looked just about
like Abbey had described.  Josh also thought that she was just about
the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Just like when he'd seen her
in the operating room, the world seemed to fade away as he looked at
her face. This time he didn't need to try and touch her through the
glass.  This time he could touch her for real. His hand trembled
slightly as he reached out to her. He ran his thumb slowly over her
cheek. It was pale but warm under his hand. Brushing a strand of hair
out of her face and being careful of the various I.V. lines and the
machines she was hooked up to, he leaned in and kissed her gently on
the forehead.

He turned to say 'thank you' to Abbey but she was gone. Pulling up a
chair he settled into it, took Donna's hand in his and waited for her
to wake up.

**********

Donna was somewhere, floating, drifting. Not knowing, not caring where
it was. Her brain had given up any and all efforts to try and figure
it out. The only thing that managed to surface was the fact that she
wasn't alone. She didn't know how she knew that but she did. Slowly
she began to be aware of sounds. A beep. A soft hum. A rustle. The
scrape of something against linoleum. Then there were the sensations.
Something was tickling her nostrils. Her knee and her back hurt but
they seemed fuzzy and disconnected. She had an itch behind her right
ear. Then there was her hand. It was warm and tingly and she could
have sworn that it was being gently held by something or someone.
Trying to figure out who or what it was she squeezed it gently.

"Donna?" someone said. "Donna, can you hear me?  Open your eyes."

Wait, she knew that voice. Who was that? It was there in her brain but
she couldn't quite pull it up.  She KNEW who it was. So why couldn't
she remember? She had to open her eyes, she had to see. Forcing her
eyelids open seemed to take a Herculean effort. But when she did, she
immediately knew who it had been.  Josh. It was Josh. Of course it
was, how could she have thought it was anyone else? "Josh," she
whispered, her throat feeling dry and raw.

Josh's face came closer and he smiled, his dimples making an
appearance, "I was wondering how long you were going to keep me
waiting," he said. "I was starting to get a little worried you were
going to leave me."

"Why would I leave you?" she said, as if that was the most ridiculous
thing she'd ever heard.  Why would she leave Josh? She loved him. It
would be easier to stop breathing oxygen than to  leave him. "I had
the strangest dream," she said softly. A slight frown creased her
forehead.

"A dream? What was it about?" he asked her. What she said brought
tears to his eyes.

"It was dark and I was scared," she sighed softly. "But then you were
there and then I wasn't scared anymore."

To be continued...



Chapter 38 - PG

"I'm glad," he said, brushing his thumb over her cheek. "I don't ever
want you to be scared."

Donna watched him for a moment, her blue eyes open but heavy, as if
they would close again at any moment. "Have to tell you something,"
she said tiredly.

"Don't worry. Whatever it is, it can wait. You can tell me later."

"No," she insisted softly. "I have to tell you now.  I've waited 6
years to tell you."

"Ahkay, tell me," he said, watching her fight to stay awake so she
could tell him.

"I love you," she said.

The simple words went straight to his heart. He smiled, well aware
that, because of the anesthesia, medication, and everything her body
had been through, her memory, especially her short term memory,
wouldn't be firing on all cylinders quite yet.  "I know."

Her brain took a minute to ponder that. "You do?" she asked. "How?

"You told me."

"I did?" she said like a sleepy child.

"Yeah."

"When did I do that?"

Josh considered trying to explain about the quake and the SUV but he
decided to keep it simple.  "Before. And do you know what I said when
you told me?" She looked like she was just about ready to fade out
again.

"Tell me," she said, her eyes slipping closed.

He leaned in close so that his lips grazed her ear as he spoke softly
to her, "I love you, too."

Eyes closed, a soft smile lit up her face. "Really?" she said, with a
sigh. "I'm glad. I've waited forever to hear you say that."

"Well, Donnatella, you'd better get used to it because I plan on
telling you that every day for the rest of your life."

Her smiled remained even as she drifted off, "Okay. I'd like that."

Josh smiled back at her. Then, just to reassure himself that she
wasn't a ghost and wasn't going to disappear, he once again brushed
his fingers gently over her face.

"Josh?" Abbey said quietly from behind him.

Still holding Donna's hand, he turned around. "Hi, Mrs. B," he said
with a grin.  Now that he'd talked to Donna and she was apparently
going to be okay, he was so happy he could hardly contain himself.

Abbey frowned a bit.  She had something to talk to him about but to
look at him now, with the spark of life back in his eyes, she
hesitated.  The last thing she wanted to do was ruin the happy mood he
seemed to be in. "Josh can I....?" she stopped. "You know what?  Never
mind." She smiled and stepped up to the bed. "How's our patient
doing?" she asked, changing the subject.

Josh, even in his Donna euphoria, could see the First Lady had
something on her mind.  He looked at Donna and then back to Abbey.
"She woke up for a few minutes.  Told me she loved me." He grinned
like an idiot.

Abbey grinned back, happy to see that the Josh she knew was coming
back to life. "That's great, Josh. See, I told you she'd be okay."

"Yeah, you did," he agreed, still sensing there was something on her
mind. "Mrs. B?  Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

Abbey looked at him for a moment, "I had no idea I was so transparent."

"You're not," he said.  "It was just a feeling I had."

"Well," she said, deciding to plunge in. "Now that you mention it,
there is something on my mind." She wasn't quite certain where to
begin.  "About Donna....."

A flash of instant panic flickered across his face and he tightened
the grip on Donna's hand and took an unconscious step toward the bed
as if to stand between her and whatever specter Abbey was reluctantly
trying to reveal. "Is something wrong?" he said quickly.

Abbey cursed herself for botching this before she's even started. "No,
Josh." She laid her hand on his arm reassuringly. "No. I'm sorry, I
didn't mean to worry you." She paused, "Come on let's talk over there
so we don't disturb her." She said, indicating the area at the foot of
the bed next to the ICU nurses station. Josh looked from Abbey to
Donna to Abbey again. She knew he didn't want to leave her.  "I'll
open the curtain the rest of the way so you can still see her," she
said moving to the end of the bed and pulling the curtain back.

Josh nodded after a moment and carefully laid Donna's hand back down
on the bed.  Walking over to where Abbey was standing, he positioned
himself so he could see Donna over Abbey's shoulder. "What's on your
mind, Mrs. B?"

Abbey leaned in and spoke softly so on one else would hear them, "When
I went upstairs just now I had my office get the phone number for
Donna's parents so I could call them and...." she stopped speaking
when she saw Josh grimace. "Josh? What the hell's going on with
Donna's parents?"

"You mean other than the fact they're insane and, you know,
Republicans?" he replied.

"Oh, good, so it's not just me who thinks that?"

Josh shook his head.  "No. I take it the call didn't go well?"

"What call?  I dialed the number to give them an update on Donna's
condition. A woman, I assume was Donna's mother, answered the phone, I
got as far as giving her my name and she hung up on me.  I called back
and a man answered and said if I didn't stop calling he would contact
the police." She paused.  "Josh, I know not everyone likes me but it's
not every day that someone threatens to have me arrested."

Josh rubbed a hand over his face. "Yeah.  They're not big fans of the
administration."

"So I gathered."

"Actually it goes beyond that.  They have issues with Donna working as
my 'quote, unquote, secretary,' and not getting married to the med
student she met in college. And a host of other things.  In fact they
and Donna are not speaking and haven't for some time," he told her.

"I had no idea." She paused. "But Bill seemed so nice."

"Yeah, it seems he and Donna got the majority of the genes in their
family that make you act like a human being," Josh commented.

"So they don't like Bill either?"

"Oh, they love Bill. Which works out great because he ends up as a go
between for Donna and her parents. That's why I was filling him in on
her condition in the surgical waiting room earlier.  He's going to
tell them about what happened. They'd just hang up on me."

Abbey nodded, "So insanity skips a generation in their family, huh?
That doesn't bode well for your kids," she said, unable to hide a
smirk.

He smirked back, "Oh, no, their sister Elizabeth is insane and
Republican too. Bill tells me it's just an excess of stubbornness.
Either way it doesn't bode well for our kids," he said looking over
Abbey's shoulder at Donna. "But if anyone could raise good kids,
stubborn or not, it would be Donna." He frowned slightly. Where had
that come from? Kids with Donna. Wow, now there was a thought. Except
for his mother's constant hints about wanting grandchildren, he hadn't
really given much thought to having kids. He never thought that he'd
have time for a marriage much less kids.

Abbey turned to look at Donna with him.  "I believe you're right.  She
handled you all right, didn't she?" Abbey said with a smile.

"Yeah, she sure did," he answered back.

A moment passed as they watched Donna sleep. Abbey turned back to him.
"Well then, I guess it's up to us to look after her, isn't it?"

Josh looked at her. "Yeah. And that's what I intend to do."

**********

And so began their first days in the hospital.  Or, as CJ liked to
call it, "The Days of Sisterhood Oppression."  She was, after all on a
lot of morphine when she started calling it that. And so the
Sisterhood began to heal. Many things happened to the 7 of them during
those first days. Some were good, some were bad, and some were just
plain humorous.

Ainsley, who didn't have the benefit of anything stronger than extra
strength Tylenol for her gradually fading headache and was soon bored
silly with watching TV, asked Sam to scrounge her up something to
write on. She was still having a little bit of trouble remembering
things. Little things like the certain correct word for something and
many of the details of the their time trapped in the car were fuzzy.
She thought writing things down might help her memory. One thing she
hadn't forgotten was that Sam had asked her to marry him and she'd
said yes. The fact they were now engaged never failed to bring a smile
to her face.

Sam, recognizing that having her write things down might also be good
therapy for what she'd been through, was a man on a mission.  Down in
the hospital gift shop, he found her a small journal to write in.
Handing it to her he asked her how she was going to write with her
right arm, her writing hand, in a cast.  She smiled at him and,
picking up the pen he'd also handed her, she began writing with her
left hand.  He'd learned something new about her that day.  When she
was going to law school she'd taught herself to be ambidextrous, so
she could write with her left hand as well as her right. When Sam
asked her 'why' she'd felt it necessary to teach herself to write with
both hands, she merely shrugged and said originally it was because her
roommate had told Ainsley she didn't think she could do it. Ainsley
couldn't resist a challenge. Then she'd found that being able to write
with both hands made taking notes a lot easier so she'd kept on doing
it. The scrawl she produced with her left hand wasn't quite as
delicate or precise as with her right but it was legible.

Now Sam, being Sam and someone who liked to write a great deal
himself, asked her for permission to add his own entries to her
journal. She said yes and so began the entries that Sam titled,
"Postcards from the Hood." The Sister and Brother "Hood" that is.

Tuesday, December 9th, 2:00 pm

Postcards from the Hood:  The Booby Hatch

Toby has a unique way of starting things that he pretends not to
enjoy.  But you have to ask yourself, if he doesn't enjoy them so much
then why is he the one that always, you know, starts them?

Case in point: Josh, having just brought Donna up from ICU, and I were
having a perfectly logical, and in my opinion, intriguing, discussion
about the Lakers and the Mets and how they would fare if they played
each other in, say, a football game. Now, since the Lakers are a
basketball team and the Mets play baseball, I figured it would level
the playing field to have them play a game to which they were both
unaccustomed. Josh said it didn't matter because there was no way the
Lakers could ever beat the Mets in football.  His rationale for that
statement was that baseball was played on a field and football was
played on a field so at least the Mets would know what it was like to
try and keep your footing on grass, where, my 'pansy-ass' Lakers
(those were his words, for which I will be extracting retribution
later) would be sliding all over the place in their sneakers. As I
started to point out the fact that most of the Lakers, like Kobe and
Shaq, were, you know, much bigger than, say, Mike Piazza, and the rest
of the Mets, Toby chose that moment to throw up his hands and start
berating us for having such a ludicrous argument.

Let me see if I can remember his exact words. "Have we been reduced to
this?!  To staying in the Booby Hatch and having discussions that
shouldn't have made it out of a 4th grade cub scout meeting, much less
being debated by current and former White House staffers?!"

While Josh and I tried to work on a suitable comeback, CJ snorted and
started laughing. Did I mention that morphine gives CJ the giggles?
Anyway, we looked at her and she was staring at Toby, in that
indefinable way CJ has, especially, apparently, when she's drugged up
on morphine, and she said, "You said 'booby.'" Josh and I nearly fell
out of our chairs we were laughing so hard and Toby just looked, well,
stunned and annoyed at the same time. God, I love CJ.

So of course, ever since then, when Toby gets a little too Toby-like,
Josh or I will say 'booby hatch,' and like a good parrot, CJ will
start laughing and say, "You said, 'booby.'" It's even better than
when Josh and I used to tease him about "Grumpy." I repeat, God, I
love CJ. I wonder if we can get Donna to do the same thing?  After
all, she's on morphine too.

Oh, and Ains, if you're reading this, I mean that I love CJ in a
purely sisterly way.



Wednesday, December 10th, 1:00 am

Postcards from the Hood: The Night That The Lights When Out In Wisconsin

I wonder if there comes a time in everyone's life when something
happens to make them look at an old friend in a new light. I had that
moment with Josh tonight. I've long thought of him as a brother. We've
been through a lot together, he and I, and I assumed that I knew
everything there was to know about him. I always knew he was a
world-class political mind. I learned after he and Toby got stuck in
Indiana and I had to staff the President in his place that he was
smarter than me. Which, all things considered, makes me never want to
visit Indiana because if it took him 20 hours to escape, I'm sure I'd
never find my way out, especially without Donna to blaze a trail. He
loves to argue. Has a warped sense of humor. He loves to flirt and to
banter. But until tonight, I'd never seen him fall-on-his-face in love
with someone. And again I come back to Donna. Looking back, I guess I
saw glimpses of the love he has for her in the moments he'd let his
guard down long enough to let it show. But now that guard is gone and
it's an amazing sight to see him with her.

The moment came, as many do, at a moment of crisis.  It was Donna's
first night in the room with CJ and Ainsley.  Still pretty groggy from
medication and surgery, she'd slept away most of the afternoon,
although I did have to laugh when she and Ainsley started echoing
CJ's, "You said booby" line about 9:30 tonight. Hearing them say it in
3-part stereo is just about the funniest thing I've ever heard.  The
only problem is Donna's broken rib keeps her from laughing when she
says it.  Instead she just gets this huge and slightly goofy grin on
her face.

But I digress. About 10:00 we all settled in for the night. Mrs.
Bartlet and Donna had even managed to talk Josh into sleeping in the
extra bed in my room instead of in the chair next to her bed. But his
rest was short-lived when about midnight, we were all woken out of our
first full night's sleep by Donna's screams. Josh was out of our room
before I'd even sat up. When I got to the room, Ainsley, Mrs. Bartlet,
Josh and one of the nurses were huddled around her bed. Donna had
stopped screaming and was sobbing quietly against Josh, who was
hugging her as best he could without hurting her various injuries.
Apparently when Donna had gone to sleep, the lamp by her bed had been
on. But sometime after that the nurse had come in to check on everyone
and had switched it off. It was as simple as Donna having a nightmare
compounded by waking up in the dark. We discovered, after everything
she'd been through, Donna is now terrified of the dark, and even a
broken rib couldn't keep the screams at bay.

Josh carefully released Donna and turned on the nurse, ready to chew
her a new one for turning off the light.  He had that look in his eye.
It's the same one he has when he gets to tell off Republican members
of Congress. I call it his "take no prisoners" look. I saw Mrs.
Bartlet start to say something to him, when one word stopped him.
"Josh" was all Donna said. She didn't yell, she didn't scream, she
didn't even sound like she was crying at that point.  Her voice was
soft, loving and more intimate that I can describe in these pages.
Instantly, his whole body changed and he turned back to her. His need
to be angry and make a point to the nurse, valid as it was, had been
outweighed, outclassed and outgunned by Donna's need for him. Gently,
he bent low over her, his hand stroking her head, while his mouth
brushed her cheek as he spoke softly to her with words meant only for
her ears. And she smiled. A smile I won't even try to put into words
except to say it was simply...beautiful. Quietly, he wiped away her
tears and pulling one of the recliners up next to her bed, he took her
hand in his and sat down. This time, no one tried to talk him into
being anywhere but by her side. I can see now, really see, that for
the rest of his life, for Josh there will be only one soul mate. And
her name is Donnatella Moss.

To be continued...



Chapter 39 - PG

Wednesday, December 10th, 10:00 am

Postcards from the Hood: Night Life

Who would have thought I could take wooing lessons from Josh?

This morning, while Donna was being checked over by her regular doctor
and Mrs. Bartlet, Josh briefly disappeared. When he came back a half
hour later, he was carrying a small box which he presented to Donna.
She smiled curiously at him and opened it. It contained a nightlight
in the shape of a beach chair sitting under a striped umbrella. I saw
one just like it in the gift shop downstairs, so that must have been
where he'd gone to get it while she was being examined.

What he said next, made even me a little misty. He quietly told her
that he wanted to be sure she never woke up in the dark again and that
he picked out the beach one because he knew that she and CJ had never
made it to Venice Beach liked they planned. Wow.  Good one, Josh.  The
look on Donna's face clearly told me that Josh had just scored a
bucket of brownie points. The tears on her face told me that Josh
isn't the only one with a soul mate. Donna's is named Joshua Lyman.

Not that Ainsley's complaining or anything, but, like I said, who
would have thought I could take wooing lessons from Josh?

Wednesday, December 10th, 4:30 pm

Postcards from the Hood: The Great Wal-Mart Caper

It all started innocently enough. We'd all just finished lunch, well,
except for CJ and Donna, who are still being fed intravenously, which,
as it turns out is a good thing because although morphine is great for
pain, it's not so great for the digestive system and even just the
mention of food  tended to turn them both green.

So all I did was simply comment that I needed to get a new pair of
scrubs because the pair I was wearing was getting just this side of
ripe.  From there things seemed to get quickly away from me.  Ainsley
said that now that everything had calmed down  a bit, I should go out
and get some clothes and since I was going to be out I could get her
something sweet to snack on. I pointed out that she'd just eaten
lunch. Without a word, she raised an eyebrow and smiled at me.  She
knows I can't resist her when she smiles like that.

Then CJ said there was no way I could go out on my own. I was always a
train wreck waiting to derail and she told Toby he had to go with me.
Not to be outdone, Donna told Josh that he had to go along and keep me
and Toby from killing each other, or, you know, getting arrested for
fighting in public.

So the three of us set out to find a store. The nurse in our wing said
the nearest one was the Wal-Mart a few miles away. But we had a
problem before we'd even left the hospital.  The press.  Just as Abbey
had predicted, the press had quickly figured out where Air Force One
had gone and where the rest of us were hiding. So we dug up some
baseball caps and some lab coats and slipped out a side entrance and
into one of the Hum-V's. We even managed to follow the nurse's
directions and find the Wal-Mart. Getting there wasn't a problem.
Getting back out was.

Josh and Toby didn't want to hang around with me while I looked at
clothes, go figure. So we split up and agreed to meet in an hour at
the check-outs.  I felt like I was 12 and shopping with the two
annoying brothers I never had. I now officially thank my parents for
making me an only child.

When I got done picking out clothes I had a half-hour to kill so I
also picked up some toiletries and after picking up a cart, I swung
through food section for some sweet stuff for Ainsley. Since I figured
it was never a bad idea to take an offering to the Sisterhood, I also
swung through the store and picked up something for each of the girls
and Mrs. Bartlet.

I got to the check-out about 5 minutes late but it was okay because
Toby and Josh were nowhere to be seen.  So I picked up a the nearest
magazine and did my best to stay out of trouble. Josh and Toby showed
up about 10 minutes later, each carrying an armload of things which
they unceremoniously dumped into my cart. Then the oddest silence fell
between us and after a moment we realized we had another problem.
None of us had brought a wallet or any other way to pay for the
impressive amount of stuff we had collected.

So we did what we always do when the Brotherhood is in trouble.  We
called the Sisterhood.  Or more accurately, we called Mrs. Bartlet.
Since she and Josh had somehow bonded over Donna, we let him do the
talking.  When she stopped laughing, she said she'd send one of her
agents over with our wallets. True to her word, the agent showed up in
the other Hum-V about 15 minutes later. We paid for our stuff and then
headed back to get the teasing we were sure the Sisterhood had waiting
for us.

But the Brotherhood had a trump card up it's sleeve. See, I wasn't the
only one who brought offerings to the Sisterhood. So after we'd dodged
the press on the way back in and arrived back into the  "Den of the
Sisterhood," as we'd taken to calling the girls room, we found them
all waiting for us.  Even Mrs. Bartlet was there, sitting in one of
the recliners reading the paper. When they saw us they all started
laughing, well, except for Donna who, because of her rib, was biting
her lip to stop herself.

Because I have a flair for the dramatic and because I, you know,
thought of it first, I walked to the center of the room, knelt down on
one knee, and asked if I could approach the Sisterhood so I could
present my offering.  That made them all stop laughing. CJ, in one of
her more lucid moments, said I could approach.  Starting with Mrs.
Bartlet I gave them my gifts. To her, I presented a trashy romance
novel because she'd said she had nothing to read. To Donna, I
presented emergency fluorescent glow sticks. To CJ, I presented a bag
of Goldfish crackers for her to save for when she was able to eat
again. And to Ainsley I presented a new, bigger journal because
between her and I we've just about filled up this small one and of
course a box of Twinkies and a jumbo bag of M&Ms. Ainsley cried.

Josh stepped forward next, bowed and humbly asked if he could
approach.  CJ said he could.  First he gave Mrs. Bartlet a pair of
sunglasses because she said she hadn't brought any with her to
California. To CJ he presented a huge pair of hot pink pajamas that
looked not unlike the huge blue ones she given him after Rosslyn. To
Ainsley, he presented a box of Ding Dongs. To Donna, he presented a
warm, incredibly soft, fleece blanket with pictures of snowmen on it
because she's been getting cold at night. Donna cried..

Toby stepped to the center of the room and stood, bouncing the keys in
his pocket. Being Toby, he said, "Well, I'm not going to bow or get
down on one knee but I, you know, have stuff." CJ said he should get
his ass over there.  To Mrs. Bartlet he gave slippers, again because
she hadn't brought a pair with her to California. To Donna, he gave a
keychain that had it's own mini flashlight attached. To Ainsley, he
gave a new pen for people to use to sign her cast and then he
proceeded to be the first to sign it. And to CJ he gave a t-shirt with
a goldfish on the front of it. CJ laughed and smacked him on the
behind. .Morphine seems to have the strangest effect on CJ.



Wednesday, December 10th, 6:00 pm

Postcards from the Hood: Remembrance

A few minutes ago, CJ pointed out that she and Donna were originally
scheduled to fly back to D.C. today and they had just missed their
flight.  Josh said it was all right because he wasn't there to pick
them up at National like he'd promised anyway.

After a pause, CJ quietly told Donna she was sorry things hadn't
turned out quite as they'd planned. Donna looked at Josh, who was
sitting next to her in the recliner reading the paper and then back at
CJ.  "It's okay," she said. "Sometimes life doesn't go the way you
planned." Then she looked back at Josh. "Sometimes life knows what
it's doing." Josh simply looked at her and grinned. Wow, morphine
makes Donna really philosophical.



Thursday, December 11th, 2:00 pm

Postcards from the Hood: You Can Check Out, But You Can Never Leave

We had two big things happen today.

First, they took CJ off the morphine this morning. And it became
apparent very quickly that she wasn't nearly as entertaining when she
wasn't, you know, 'chemically enhanced.' Not that I'm complaining,
mind you.  She's back to the old CJ, well, almost.  She's still in a
fair amount of pain and  she's bored now, so overall she's grumpy. CJ
does not do grumpy well. Hey, she's 'Grumpy,' that's kind of funny,
just like Toby's Secret Service code name. Ha!

But on the upside, it's actually much easier to hold a conversation
with her now that she's lucid. It's also been great to watch her and
Toby fighting over the sections of the newspaper and discussing policy
and spin just like they always have.  Funny thing though, they'll be
arguing and all of a sudden they'll just stop and stare at each other
with a look I can only describe as "cryptic" and something passes
between them. Then, of course, they go back to arguing. Whatever ends
up developing between them in the future, I have a feeling this will
be a long standing pattern with them.

Second, Ainsley was officially discharged today.  Her memory is still
a little fuzzy from the quake but overall she's back to her old self.
We've both decided to stay and help everyone for the next few days.
Just like when CJ wouldn't let the ambulance go without everyone,
Ainsley and I feel like we  got to this hospital together and we can't
leave until we all do it together. So for the time being, Ainsley is
staying in the Den and to the naked eye not much has changed. But I
have to say for me, personally, having the doctor give Ainsley a clean
bill of health is one of the best early Christmas gifts I could have
been given.



Friday, December 12th, 7:00 pm

Postcards from the Hood: Letters from Home

Did I mention that the President has called every day to check on all
of us?  Okay, so he really only calls to check on Mrs. Bartlet and the
Sisterhood, but at least he acknowledges the presence of the
Brotherhood.  By 'acknowledging' I mean he asks CJ and Mrs. Bartlet if
we're behaving ourselves.

True to his word, the President has managed to keep Leo off Josh and
Toby's backs. For that we are all eternally grateful. Josh and Toby
are where they need to be right now. But I have to say I'd sure like
to know how he's managed to get Leo to back off.  If I asked him I
wonder if he'd tell me.  Maybe then I could use the same technique to
get Jerry to leave me alone.  He called here about three times today
and he's pushing me hard to come back to Santa Monica and pick up the
campaign.  How do I tell him, that while the campaign is #7 on my list
of most important things to take care of, numbers 2-6 are sharing this
wing with me, and #1 is sitting beside me snacking on a Twinkie I
bought her at Wal-Mart?



Saturday, December 13th, 11:30 am

Postcards from the Hood: Pace Yourself

They just wheeled Donna back in from her knee surgery. She's still
pretty groggy from the anesthesia, but Josh is in his usual place,
right by her side. He was glad that the swelling in her knee had gone
down enough for her to have the surgery. The only problem was, Donna
and Mrs. Bartlet talked him into staying up here this time instead of
down in the surgical waiting room.  He nearly drove Toby mad with his
pacing and he was a wreck the entire time she was gone.  But now that
she's back, he's calmed down considerably. Mrs. Bartlet told us that
the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Sampath, said the replacement went well
and he expects to try and get Donna up and into a chair in the next
couple of days.



Sunday, December 14th, 9:00 am

Postcards from the Hood: Scarlett O'Hara Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Has anyone noticed that women have the weirdest arguments? Wait, that
question is largely rhetorical and, well, stupid. If Ainsley or CJ
were to read this (Donna was pretty much unconscious at the time and
Mrs. Bartlet was in her room resting), I'm sure they would be quick to
point out that the whole Laker's vs. Met's football discussion wasn't
anything that could even remotely be considered a "normal argument".
Although I still maintain it was a logical and intriguing discussion.

Okay, as is so often the case, I've gotten off track before I've even
begun. So here's what I'm getting at. Ainsley and Mrs. Bartlet had the
oddest argument today about whether or not modern Southern women
should use Scarlett O'Hara as a role model.  Ainsley's position was
no.  Mrs. Bartlet's position was, "Hell, yes."  They'd both agreed on
two points. One, they would only base their discussion on the Scarlett
depicted in the book version of "Gone with the Wind," not the movie.
The movie version left too many things out. And two, they threw out
the part of Scarlett's character and personality that allowed her to
own other human beings as slaves. Even though it was part of the
culture for the time period of the story, they agreed there was
nothing of redeeming value in a character trait like that.  But
everything else was fair game.

Now let me say right off the bat that the Brotherhood knew that under
no circumstances, should we get involved in this discussion.  After
all, we might be men, but we don't have a collective death wish. So
Josh played cards, as I recall it was gin, with Donna. And can I just
pause here to say, watching them play cards, especially with her still
on morphine was quite entertaining. Donna cheated shamelessly and Josh
let her, in fact he seemed to enjoy letting her. Toby and CJ played
Scrabble and while I would have put $50 on Toby to come out the
winner, I would have been $50 poorer because CJ ended up kicking his
ass.

Okay, okay, I know, not so much with me and the whole staying on track
thing. Where was I with Ainsley and Mrs. Bartlet?  Oh, yes. Well, Mrs.
Bartlet maintained that Scarlett had the drive and determination to do
anything and everything to survive and even get ahead as a woman in a
man's world when the men weren't exactly cooperative about such
things. She flew in the face of convention and societal stereotypes in
place at the time. "How can any woman today, Southern or otherwise,
think that's not something we should all strive to do?" she asked
Ainsley.

I had to suppress a smile when I saw the look on Ainsley's face. It
was the same placid, innocent "I'm interested in what you have to say
and I'm a genteel Southern woman who wouldn't hurt a fly or do
anything to disagree with you" look she'd had on her face right before
she ripped my throat out on 'Capitol Beat' the first time we met.  I
have to tell you that I like that look much better when it's aimed at
someone else. In fact, it's actually makes her look kind of...hot.
Hotter than she always looks, I mean. If there was a contest for Miss
Hotness USA, Ainsley would win it every time. Of course, she would
never enter such a contest and I'm sure the entire Sisterhood would
stone me for even thinking such a sexist thing. But what can I say,
I'm a man and she's hot and I'm going to marry her and  I don't care.
She's also smarter than me, funny as hell, a Republican, opinionated
as Rush Limbaugh, and I love her more than life. Ainsley and I may
have drastically different views on things, and that's putting it
mildly, but we always seem to agree on one thing.  Each other.

Sorry, once I get started on an Ainsley soliloquy, it's tough to stop.
Anyway, Ainsley calmly stated that while it was true, Scarlett did all
the things that Mrs. Bartlet had pointed out and she was smart enough
to use her second amendment right to bear arms guaranteed to her by
the U.S. Constitution when she shot the intruder threatening her at
Tara, she'd done it by being otherwise manipulative, selfish, and
deceitful. She habitually tried to steal her best friend's husband,
did steal her sister's boyfriend, routinely married for every reason
but love, chased after Ashley more out of principle than out of love,
rejected the love of a man she disagreed with but who was her soul
mate and would have given her the world, and had a habit of giving
birth to children and then  neglecting them because she was off doing
the afore-mentioned items.

"What Southern women, all women, need today," Ainsley insisted, "are
role models who are smart and capable. Who are true to their
convictions, their families, and their own unique abilities. Women
that forge new paths of opportunity and achieve higher and higher
levels of excellence for themselves and all women. And do it while
managing to not step on or screw over everybody else in the process."

God, I wanted to jump Ainsley right then and there. It occurred to me
then that I could have been Ainsley's Rhett if she and I had  been
stupid enough to let our politics come between us.

As for Mrs. Bartlet, she looked a little stunned. Stunned is not a
state of mind I usually associate with Mrs. Bartlet.  Then, and this
made me see why the President is so crazy about her, she got a little
smile on her face.  Just a little, lopsided smirk. "Ainsley," she
said.  "I can see why you make a excellent attorney. You present a
very persuasive argument." Then it was Ainsley's turn to look a little
stunned.  I don't think she expected such a high compliment from Mrs.
Bartlet after tearing into her argument. "You should think about going
into politics. You'd make a great Senator or even an interesting First
Lady." Mrs. Bartlet glanced at me and smirked again.  "Don't you think
so, Sam?"

I'd swallowed hard, terrified of the prospect of getting pulled into
this discussion and most likely saying the wrong thing and getting
myself into trouble. Glancing up, I realized that every eye in the
room was on me. Of course, that was a crippling blow to the cool
composure I was trying to project. But then I looked at Ainsley. In
her eyes I saw that whatever I said would be okay with her. Right or
wrong, dumb or stupid, she would still love me. And so I just said
what I truly felt, "I think Ainsley will be tremendously successful at
whatever she sets out to do." Ainsley smiled at me in that amazing way
she has and I realized that Josh isn't the only one who has a soul
mate.  I've found mine and her name is Ainsley Millicent Hayes.



Monday, December 15th, 10:00 am

Postcards from the Hood: For Everything There Is a First Time

It's been two days since her knee surgery and today Donna stood, or at
least tried to, for the first time since the quake.

It all happened rather suddenly.  Mrs. Bartlet, Dr. Sampath,  and one
of the nurses showed up in the Den of the Sisterhood about an hour ago
and told Donna today was the day she was going to stand.

To me, this seemed like a logistical nightmare given that she's hooked
up to a number of things, including an I.V. and a catheter and her
knee, in addition to be heavily swathed in bandages is still pretty
swollen. I could tell she was excited but a little scared. Because
she'd been on the morphine for longer than 5 days, yesterday they
started to slowly reduce her dosage to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Since they began weaning her off of it, the pain in her knee has
increased to the point where she's been having trouble sleeping.
They're changing the pain medication she's getting to supplement the
diminishing morphine to help address that. Josh, of course, has taken
to sitting up with her when she can't sleep. In any case, I'm sure she
didn't relish the idea of trying to stand.  I know it helped that Josh
was there with her.

The goal they gave her was to get out of bed, stand and take one step
on each foot, sit in a chair for at least 30 minutes, and then return
to the bed. We all watched expectantly, which in hindsight probably
only served to make her even more nervous, as she prepared to get out
of bed.  She had the added complication of the incision on her back
and her broken rib to be careful of so it took her a few moments to
maneuver herself around to the edge of the bed. Josh stood next to her
to cheer her on and be close by if she needed a steadying hand. I
think he was more scared than Donna but was trying to hide it.

Taking a breath, she swung her legs over the side and slowly bent her
knee slightly. It caused her to grimace a little but she kept going.
Carefully she slid to the floor, putting most of her weight on her
good leg.  Even though it was a bit weak from not being used for
almost a week, but she managed to stay upright on her own. We all
clapped and she grinned at the small victory.

Taking hold of Josh's arm she slid her injured leg forward and
methodically put her foot down. Leaning heavily against Josh she tried
to take a step.  He had to practically hold her up but she did take a
step without her leg buckling out from under her. Then she carefully
pivoted on her good leg and Josh and Mrs. Bartlet helped her settle
into a chair. We all clapped again and Donna smiled triumphantly.

Dr. Sampath said she could walk on crutches if she felt strong enough
but she had to walk at least a few steps without them every day for
the next couple of days. I had no idea they would try to have her up
and around so soon after the surgery.  Mrs. Bartlet told me that this
means Donna can start on solid foods, or more accurately clear liquids
until her system readjusts, and her catheter can be removed because
she can get to the bathroom on her own with crutches. The doctor left
then, saying Donna could call the nurse when she was ready for the
repeat performance to get back into bed.

An interesting thing happened during that repeat performance.  I would
even go so far as to say it was a 'Kodak Moment" in  her relationship
with Josh.  With the nurse in attendance and favoring her uninjured
leg, Josh helped Donna rise from the chair. This time she told him to
stand by the bed because she wanted to walk to him. Even if it only
was one step. He grinned and did as she asked.

Taking a steadying breath she carefully stepped forward with her
injured leg and planted it down.  With a kind of a mini hop she
managed to take the next step all by herself. As we watched her grin,
her body began to fall forward. It looked to me that it wasn't so much
a case of her injured leg failing her as it was a loss of balance.
Like maybe she was still getting used to her new found mobility and
the way it slightly affected her center of gravity.

Josh was right there and she fell no farther than into his open arms.
Her arms went around him, pressing their bodies tightly together,
making her grimace slightly as her rib protested but otherwise she
made no move to pull away.  Her face was about even with his neck and
she looked up at him. Even from my place on the foot of Ainsley's bed,
the depth of what they felt for each other was written clearly on
their faces. Slowly, Donna stood on her good leg, her face moving up
closer to Josh's. At the same time, his  head dipped down to hers and
their lips met.  Tenderly at first and then deeper. Let me tell you,
the room definitely became a few degrees hotter.  We were all silent
as we watched them. None of us dared to ruin the moment for them.

Finally they realized we were all there in the room and parted. It was
then that Josh pointed out that was the first time they'd kissed each
other since they'd told each other how they really felt. There had
been kisses on the forehead and on the cheek but this was the first
real "kiss" kiss.  I'm glad to see them finally both so happy.



Tuesday, December 16th, 11:30 am

Postcards from the Hood: Casting Couch

CJ finally had her foot casted today. She's still supposed keep it
elevated and so she can't walk on it but at least it's casted which is
a step in the right direction. To say she was thrilled is a gross
understatement. Dr. Sampath, (who, by the way, looks oddly like a
cross between Oliver Babbish and Ghandi - wow, now there's an image)
warned her that because her foot was still healing she might need to
have it re-casted if the cast becomes too loose or too tight.

Rather than the standard plaster cast, they gave her a the stronger
fiberglass cast, which comes in a variety of colors and they even let
her pick the color.  She picked hot pink, which she said was a less
glaring color than her second choice, lime green.

It's clear that the cast has done wonders for CJ's morale. When they
wheeled her back into the Den of the Sisterhood, an orderly was
remaking her bed with fresh linens. Toby helped her put her foot up on
the armrest of a small couch we had brought in a couple of days ago
for the Brotherhood to sit on.  While she waited for the nurses to
finish with the bed, she announced to us that the cast would be her
new weapon in dealing with the press.  If any of the reporters got out
of line and didn't do what she wanted, she said she'd just kick them
around with her "big old foot" or hit them with her crutches (her
words) until they do. I think what's even better is that she
threatened to do the same thing to Toby if he doesn't behave.  But she
did it in such a way that I don't think he really knows if she's
kidding or not. I know "I" still don't know. So I'm going to behave
and go out of my way not to piss her off.  Her "big old foot" is,
well, really big and I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of it.

The classic one-liner for the day came when CJ was getting ready to
remove her foot from the couch and put it back on the footrest of the
wheelchair. All at once she started laughing.  We stared at her
questioningly.  "Casting couch," she said, pointing at her foot. "Get
it? My 'cast' is on the 'couch.' So it's a 'casting couch.'" She
didn't seem to appreciate the fact that we weren't all rolling on the
floor with laughter. I mean it was kind of funny, but well, not that
much. Personally I liked the "you said booby" line better. But I'm a
guy so that's probably to be expected.



Wednesday, December 17th, 10:00 am

Postcards from the Hood: Goodnight Sweet Jackasses, Parting is Such Sweet Relief

Well, today marked a milestone in the history of our little group.
Mrs. Bartlet went back to D.C. today. Everyone is doing well and, as
she pointed out, there really wasn't a need for her to stay any
longer. Plus I'm sure she has her own duties and family to get back
to.

Ainsley is hungry, as usual, but fine.  For last two days, Donna has
been eating at least a little solid food. Her knee, continues to
improve, and although her rib and the incision from the kidney surgery
slow her up a bit, she's been getting around surprisingly well on
crutches. CJ, even though she's still laid up, is now allowed to get
out of bed long enough to hobble on crutches to the bathroom, so she
too has started eating solid food. And, in what I can only say is the
surest sign of her recovery, she has been on the phone with Jim, her
deputy, at least three times a day for the last two days, making sure
he hasn't completely destroyed her Press Room.

So, everyone's fine and we don't need Mrs. Bartlet anymore. The only
problem is, and I think I speak for everyone when I say this, no one
wanted her to leave.  Maybe we don't "need" her anymore, but we sure
liked having her around. She'd become kind of a den mother for the
Sister- and Brotherhoods and the mood in both has taken a definite
downturn ever since she left. The plane the President sent for her
arrived at North Island late last night so it would be ready for her
early departure this morning.

Before she left, Mrs. Bartlet, like any good den mother, gathered us
all in the Den - hey, I just got that.  When I called her a 'den
mother' I wasn't trying to make a pun.  It just seemed to be the most
apt description of what she's become to us. Anyway, she gathered us
together to say her goodbye's. She made the girls promise they would
have the drinking party she told them about once they were all healthy
and back in D.C. She endeared herself to me even more when she made a
special point to reiterate that Ainsley was to be there, too.

Donna thanked Mrs. Bartlet for taking care of the Sisterhood and most
of all, for looking after Josh. Then, with tears in Donna's eyes, she
apologized for the terrible things she's said to her while she was in
pain and trapped in the car. Mrs. Bartlet just smiled, the kind of
loving smile a mother reserves for her children, and told her it was
forgotten and how happy she was for Josh and Donna now that they'd
worked everything out. She also told them to never take each other for
granted and to not let anyone or anything, including the President,
stand in the way of their happiness.

Ainsley was next. She thanked Mrs. Bartlet for all that she'd done and
promised that as soon as I got elected she would be showing up at the
White House for the drinking party. The First Lady smiled that special
mother's smile at Ainsley, and told her that she thought she and I
were a good match. Then, with a slight catch in her voice, she told
Ainsley the most incredible thing.  Mrs. Bartlet said she predicted
that Ainsley would one day be First Lady and she knew that Ainsley
would not only excel at it but she would become the role model she had
so passionately described a few days earlier. The tears in Ainsley's
eyes were the only response she could manage.

Mrs. Bartlet moved to CJ last. Unlike the Donna and Ainsley, she and
CJ didn't say much.  Everything seemed to be said in the long silence
that stretched between them. As they gathered each other in a fierce
hug. CJ merely said, "Thank you, Abbey.  We wouldn't have made it
without you." Mrs. Bartlet patted her gently on the back and replied,
"Nah, you had each other. You would have been just fine."

Then she turned to the Brotherhood.  None of us knew quite what to
say. Mrs. Bartlet looked at the three of us, standing together,
looking unsure.  "Relax guys," she told us. "No mushy stuff for you.
I just wanted to say thank you all for supporting the girls and for
not being total jackasses while I was here.  And remember, if you hurt
any of them I'll kill you myself."

"Thank you for everything, Mrs. Bartlet," we told her. Well, except
for Josh, who's taken to calling her "Mrs. B." She smiled at us and
turned to leave the room.  I'm sure she thought that none of us saw
her wipe away the single tear falling down her cheek as she did.

We all stood there a moment, then Josh turned and followed her out
into the hall. She was almost to the double wooden doors when he
stopped her.  "Hey, Mrs. B?"  She turned back to him, her eyes were
dry now, and raised an eyebrow in question.

And then Josh did probably the single craziest thing I've ever seen
him do in my life. Which, given the fact that it's Josh, is really
saying something. As I stepped out into the hall next to him , he
started singing.

"Here's the story of a lovely lady...

Who was bringing up 3 very lovely girls..."

Unable to stop myself, I joined in with him.  We were both horribly
off key but what we lacked in talent, we made up for in enthusiasm.

"All of them had hair of gold like their mother....

The youngest one on crutches...."

Josh threw in the crutches.

"It's the story of a man named Bartlet...

Who was busy with three boys of his own....

They were four men, living all together...

Yet they were all alone...."

And just when I had thought Josh singing was going to be one of those
"now I've seen everything" moments, I heard Toby's voice slowly join
us. I didn't even know Toby could sing. But there we were, the entire
Brotherhood, singing our heart out to this stupid, demented, ludicrous
 song.

"Til the one day when this lady met this fellow....

And they knew that it was much more than a hunch....

That this group must somehow form a family...

That's the way we all became the Bartlet Bunch."

Of course at that point, Mrs. Bartlet was nearly doubled over with laughter.

"The Bartlet Bunch...

The Bartlet Bunch....

That's the way we became the Bartlet Bunch."

"From the Brotherhood to you, Mrs. B." Josh said with a wave.

I'll never forget it. She just grinned and said, "Goodnight sweet
jackasses, parting is such sweet relief. Now, go take care of the
Sisterhood." And with that she was gone. Maybe from the hospital, but
never from our hearts.



Thursday, December 19th, 10:00 am

Postcards from the Hood: Last Train to Clarksville

I don't suppose that this postcard will have much in common with the
song title I named it for. I just love "The Monkees" I guess and that
song especially.  I mean, there are no trains involved in what I
wanted to say and half of us aren't going off to war.  Except maybe we
are. Going off to war, I mean.  You see, today, we all left the
hospital. Left our cocoon.  Our place of shelter that's been our home
for the last 12 days.

This morning, Donna and CJ were pronounced fit to travel, on a limited
basis, and were officially discharged. So we packed up all our things
and braved the press to crowd into a large van that Bill had procured
for us from the base. Since the van is checked out in his name, he's
also acting as our chauffeur. CJ, because her foot has to stay
elevated, and Donna, because the incision from her kidney surgery, her
broken rib and her knee make it difficult to sit in one position for
very long, especially with her knee bent, cannot fly for probably
another two weeks. So the two of them, along with Toby and Josh, are
heading back to stay at CJ's house in LA.  A nurse will come in once a
day to check and change Donna's dressings and check CJ's toes to make
sure the circulation in her foot is good.

So you see, with us going back to the "real world" it could be said
we're all going off to war. I'm going back to the campaign. Ainsley is
going to take a few more days off and then go back to her firm. Josh
and Donna will be fighting a battle to get her well and to further
explore what's going on between them. Toby and CJ, well, they'll just
be Toby and CJ. But I suspect there are wars to be fought between them
as well.  And I'm sure one of the most prominent will be called the
Battle of Albany.

Even getting Ainsley in the car was a bit of a war.  She wasn't crazy
about the idea of getting in a vehicle again.  In the end, she asked
us to sedate her so we asked the doctor for something. It must be good
stuff because she's sound asleep with her head in my lap right at this
moment. Donna, who's snuggled up against Josh in the back seat, is
still afraid of the dark so I'm sure that will be a battle on a
different front for them to fight.  CJ, whose seated comfortably next
to Toby in the seat behind me, doesn't seem to have any lasting
emotional or psychological effects from being trapped during the
quake.  But things like that seem to have a habit of popping up when
we least expect them.  Just ask Josh about the Christmas after
Rosslyn.

As I'm sure everyone else is too, I'm still processing a lot of what
has happened and been said since the quake so violently entered our
lives. But I've come away from this experience with a fianc€e and one
undeniable conclusion.

God, I've missed these people.

To be continued...



Chapter 40 - PG

It was late in the afternoon on the third day after they'd arrived at
CJ's house when Josh wandered into the living room looking for Donna.
He found her sitting on the big sofa watching TV, her leg propped up
on the coffee table, an ice bag resting on her knee to help with the
swelling.  "What are you watching?" Josh asked, as he carefully sat
down next to her on the couch. He knew it still took some effort on
Donna's part to find a comfortable position and he didn't want to
jostle her. The lights on the large Christmas tree over in the corner
were on and they flickered beautifully over her face. Although Josh
didn't really celebrate Christmas, he did like a lot of things about
the holiday.  And one of them was Donna's face lit by Christmas
lights.  In the past, when the bullpen in the White House was
decorated, he would try and catch glimpses of her face lit by the glow
of the lights.

"An Affair to Remember," she said a little wistfully. It was one of
her favorite movies.

"Is this one of those chick flick movies?" he asked, teasing her a bit.

Donna nodded, "But I'm a chick, so it's okay," she replied with a
smile, trying to hide the thoughts that her mind was chewing on.  "So
did you get done with the call?" she asked, trying to change the
subject.

"Yes.  Leo sends his best," Josh replied.

To keep CJ from driving him crazy, Toby had Carol send his and CJ's
laptops out to California. Getting out of the hospital had also
apparently been the signal to Leo that he could now harass them as
much as he wanted. So, consequently, they'd spent the last few days on
and off the phone with him. Since Donna was now, as Toby's deputy,
going to be part of senior staff, she'd been involved in many of the
calls as well. Today, though, she'd been especially tired and so
they'd told her to take a break.

"Did you get everything straightened out on 435?" she said, referring
to the transportation bill they were working on.

"Yeah, it looks like it's going to pass when Congress meets again
after the first of the year. And you'll be happy to know that, unless
something comes up, Leo's given us the next couple of days off for a
combination Hanukkah/Christmas present.

"So what that really means is that you have about two hours before he
calls you again?" she said.

Josh smiled, "Pretty much, yeah."

"So where's CJ and Toby?"

"He took her outside.  CJ wanted some fresh air," he told her with a
slight frown.

"Oh," Donna said. Apparently she and Ainsley had not been the only
ones to receive a delightful parting gift from their time trapped in
the car. It appeared that CJ was developing her very own dysfunction.
A case of claustrophobia. But she wasn't ready to admit it. That
thought reminded Donna that CJ wasn't the only one who wasn't ready to
admit things.  She herself was guilty of that today.

Josh looked at her for a moment. For some reason he couldn't name, he
had the feeling something was going on in that beautiful head of hers
and it had something to do with this movie.  "So what's this movie
about?"

Donna swallowed.  When she'd been flipping the channel and searching
for something to watch while they finished their conference call, she
had come across this movie. It really was one of her favorites and
she'd settled in to watch it. It hadn't occurred to her that it would
stir up all the troubling thoughts that were now going through her
mind. "Gary Grant and Deborah Kerr are in it," she said, giving him a
brief rundown of the plot.  "....So she doesn't let anyone tell him
she's paralyzed.  She doesn't want him to be with her out of
obligation or pity. They just saw each other at the ballet but he
still doesn't know she's paralyzed. This scene is the day after the
ballet, when he shows up at her apartment on Christmas Day." She said,
going back to watching the TV as the scene played out.

Still feeling like there was something going on that he's missing,
Josh looked at her for a moment. When an answer was not suddenly
apparent, he watched the movie and hoped it might provide some clue.
He heard her sniffle when Cary Grant gave Deborah Kerr the lace shawl.
Sliding his arm around her shoulders he said, "What's the story with
the shawl?"

"It was a shawl that belonged to his grandmother whom they visited
when they were in Europe. She'd admired it and the grandmother
promised to send it to her someday.  She died and left it to her. It
also kind of reminds Deborah Kerr of a special time with him."

Josh nodded and continued to watch as Cary Grant begins to figure out
that Deborah Kerr is the one who has his painting and therefore was
the woman who was poor and paralyzed who'd asked to have it. Then
everything comes out in the open and he heard Donna sniff some more.
Josh's personal opinion was that the movie was pretty high on the
sappy meter but he could see why Donna, or women in general, would
like it.

Donna looked over at the beautiful Christmas tree that Josh and Toby
had surprised her and CJ with the day before. It had been so much fun
watching the two of them trying to haul the fairly large tree past the
swimming pool without it or them falling in, and then getting it into
the house and getting it decorated.  CJ and Donna had tried to help
with the decorating but as neither of them could stand unaided very
long, they mostly "supervised" from the couch.  Josh had also gotten
Donna another, smaller tree to set up in their room. Now, as she
stared hard at the big tree, the fresh tears in her eyes caused the
lights to blur and run together.

"What if that's me, Josh?" she asked quietly as the movie's credits came up.

The renewed tears in her voice got his attention, "What do you mean?"

"What if I'm never able to get around very well." She looked at him,
tears swimming in her eyes.  "Somehow I don't think that I'm going to
be able to chase you through the White House like I used to."

He smiled, "Well, you won't have to.  You're not going to be my
assistant anymore, remember? And Toby doesn't walk nearly as fast as I
do." He paused, seeing that his attempt at levity was not helping her
worries.  He pulled her into a gentle hug. "Donna.  You're going to be
fine.  Every doctor we've seen has said so."

"Yes, and every doctor we've seen has said that my new knee is not
going be as good as my old one was," she said, the words beginning to
tumble out. "It's unlikely that I will ever have complete range of
motion back.  I'm supposed to stay away from high impact or strenuous
activities or sports. That leaves out running, jogging, aerobics,
hiking, tennis and even skiing. I even have to be careful about going
to the dentist because I'm more susceptible to infection in my knee
from any kind of bacteria that can get into system from even a small
abrasion in my mouth. I can't drive for another month. It's very
possible that I'm going to start setting off metal detectors. I'm
never supposed to lift anything over 40 pounds. I'm going to have so
many scars on my knee, people are going to mistake it for a road map.
And then, to top it all off, in 15 or 20 years I'll have to have it
replaced all over again."

What she didn't say, what she couldn't say, was that being pregnant
would also be hard on her knee. It had only been a little over a week
since they'd even revealed their feelings for each other.  Discussions
of marriage and children hadn't even been remotely considered. Of
course, she'd had time, about 6 years, to think about both.  If they
were to have such a talk, and he didn't completely freak out on her,
knowing Josh he'd say they didn't have to have kids. But she wanted
them and she wanted to have his.

Josh hadn't realized this had been weighing on her mind so much.
"Donna," he said softly. When she didn't look at him he slid his
fingers under her chin and pulled her face toward at him. Her eyes met
his and he could see her uncertainty and her fear.  It was familiar to
him because he'd seen the same thing in his own eyes after Rosslyn.
"Yes, all those things are true, I won't deny that because I won't lie
to you. Things are tougher for you now and will continue to be tougher
for you than they were a month ago."

He paused, "But I have two things to say.  The first is you are the
strongest, bravest, most amazing woman I've ever met. If anyone can
rise above a challenge, it's you." What he said next was something he
hadn't really voiced to anyone. "And second, I know that you think no
one understands how you feel.  But you're wrong. I know. Almost every
day since Rosslyn I've had some kind of pain on the right side of my
body and I probably always will, in fact it will most likely only get
worse the older I get. As for scars, if we compare them by length and
not by number, I've got you beaten hands down." He said with a smile.
It faded as he grew a bit more serious. "The doctors also tell me that
the damage the bullet did will likely take years off my life. They
can't tell me how many." He ran his hand over her cheek. "Do you know
how much it hurts me to know those are years I won't have with you?"
He paused to let that sink in for a moment. "But don't you see? We
have something going for us that nobody else has. We have each other.
You're not alone. For how ever long we have, we have each other."

"Oh, Josh," she said tearfully, putting her arms around him and
pressing her face into his neck. She knew about the scars of course,
and she knew he often had pain in his right side but she didn't know
about the shortened life span. Pulling back, she looked at him.
Needing a connection, she placed her hand on his chest. Through the
light sweater he was wearing, she could feel his heart beating, slow
and steady, under her hand. "Every day we have is one I'll treasure."
She paused. "I guess I'm just scared and feeling a little
overwhelmed."

"Of course you are. I'd be worried if you weren't," he said, brushing
at her tears with his thumb. Just remember, I'm right here with you."
Leaning in, he captured her lips with his. Getting to kiss Donna
whenever the mood struck him was a wonderful thing.  Especially when
kissing her was such a heady experience. Her kisses had quickly become
like an addictive drug to him and he had to have his 'fix' as often as
humanly possible. Running a little short on air, they parted.

Donna's lips were slightly swollen and she was a little out of breath.
"I can't remember anything when you kiss me like that." Part of her
wished they could go farther than just kissing but her body just
wasn't up for it yet.

Josh smiled at her. God, she was beautiful. "All part of the Master
Wooing and Fooling Around Plan."

"Did I ever get a copy of that particular plan?" she said with a smile.

"Nope.  It's available on a strictly 'need to know' basis."

"But as I myself play a direct part in said plan don't you think I
need to know?"

He grinned. "Again I say, 'nope.' See you can't know because then you
wouldn't be surprised at what I have written into the plan." He
paused. Oh boy, did he have plans.   "And as I recall Donnatella, you
like surprises. Am I right?"

"Well, yes, but Jooooosh," she whined.  "I want to know.  I really
want to know."

"I know you want to know.  And you will know.  When I want you to
know," he was enjoying himself immensely at that point. "Just think of
it as my own brand of 'The Rules.'"

Donna leaned back into the cushions, "Oh, God.  You're going to use my
own 'Rules' against me."

"Yep. And I plan to see that you enjoy every minute of it," he leaned
in a kissed her quickly. "What time are Sam and Ainsley getting here?"

She looked at her watch, "In about an hour I guess. Why?"

"Oh, they're bringing dinner and I'm getting hungry," he said.

"What are they bringing?"

"Italian.  They have a place they like, their own version of Luigi's
and so they're bringing a little bit of everything.  Lasagna, pizza,
ravioli, and chicken parmesan, the works. They're even bringing some
spumoni ice cream and cannoli for dessert." The Brotherhood was also
going to use the evening to finalize the details for their surprise
Christmas plans for the members of the Sisterhood.

"Gee, that sounds good but it's an awful lot of food. I don't know if
I'm that hungry."

Josh had to suppress a frown.  It had been difficult to get CJ or
Donna to eat much since their rescue.  First, it was the morphine that
had made them nauseous. Then, when it continued after they'd started
eating solid food, he and Toby had just chalked it up to bad hospital
food. But it had been like pulling teeth to get them to each much
since they'd been at CJ's. Josh and Toby had even made an effort to
keep the house stocked with their favorite food and snacks, and still
it had been an uphill battle. Each of them had said they weren't
nauseous, but they just weren't hungry.  Both of them had lost weight.
Which given the fact that both of them were already so slim, was not a
good thing. The doctor said a diminished appetite was usual after
trauma but he also told Josh and Toby that the girls needed to eat to
help keep up their strength and aide their recovery. Of course,
Ainsley's appetite had not been affected one bit.  Josh was convinced
that nothing short of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse would ever
affect Ainsley's appetite. "Well, just try and eat something. For me.
Please? I worry about you."

Donna sighed softly then smiled.  "Okay, I promise to eat something,
okay, a number of somethings, but only if you promise to stop worrying
about me."

"Well, then I guess you're going to go hungry tonight because I'm
never going to stop worrying about you.  It's my job now. Hi," he said
holding out his hand. "I'm Josh and I'll be your worrier for this
lifetime."

"You're a nut, you know that?" She said, pushing his hand away
playfully.  "Okay, okay.  I'll promise to clean my plate as long as
you don't fill it up like an All-You-Can-Eat buffet. Oh, and only if
you promise to see to it that I get a cannoli for dessert.  I haven't
had a good cannoli since I don't know when."

"Deal," he said with a grin, happy now that she'd promised to eat
something and that she was in a playful mood. "Okay. Now, first things
first."  He switched off the TV and stood up.  "Come on," he said,
holding out his hand to help her up.

"Where are we going?" she asked, setting aside the ice bag and taking
his hand, so he could help her up off the couch.

"You'll see," he said as he helped her get to her feet.

"But...," was as far as she got before he swung her into his arms. He
was careful to pick her up so her broken rib was out and not up
against him. "Josh, you don't have to carry me. I can use my
crutches."

"Now, no complaining or Santa might fill your stocking with coal." He
smiled, "Besides, I like carrying you."

She just blushed at that.  Truth was, she liked being carried.  No one
had carried her since she was a small child. She loved feeling his
strong arms holding her close and protected, as if she were the most
important and cherished thing in the world.  Being with Josh since the
accident had been so wonderful.  Things between them had been so good,
she just hoped it lasted when they got back to D.C. Of course, things
would be a little different. After all, the last two weeks had been a
very unique and isolated situation.  But she hoped that they retained
enough of what was at the core between them to help them adjust to
life together in the fish bowl and pressure cooker of D.C.

He carried her into the bedroom and she knew what was coming next.
Setting her down on the end of the bed, he switched on the colored
lights of the 4-foot Christmas tree in the corner of the bedroom and
then he moved to the menorah they had set up in the window. The sun
had just set, casting the room in light shadows that were chased away
by the lights from the tree. Placing a new candle in the spot for the
fifth night of Hanukkah, Josh lit it and sat down beside her so he
could hold her hand as they softly said the traditional Blessing of
the Candles together. While Donna had no plans to convert to Judaism,
she wanted to honor Josh's heritage and its traditions, so she had
Toby teach her the blessing one day while Josh had been out running
errands.

They sat there for a moment, enjoying the quiet and the candlelight
from the menorah and the Christmas lights from the tree.  Donna had a
feeling it would be a metaphor for their life.  Not the quiet so much,
she had a feeling any life they had together would be anything but
quiet, but the blending of faiths, ideas and lives.

Then he grinned at her, "Now....presents."

Donna smiled.  Laughing was still a bit of a challenge for her.  He
was just like a little boy when it came to presents.  In holidays
past, gift giving had been a trade off for them.  Donna had gotten him
Hanukkah gifts and he'd gotten her a Christmas gift.  But after
everything that had happened they'd decided to give each other both
sets of gifts.  Any extra bit of Hanukkah and Christmas cheer was
welcome. They'd also gotten Hanukkah presents for Toby, but Christmas
presents for CJ, Sam and Ainsley.  All Donna could think was, "Thank
God for the internet and overnight shipping," because if she'd had to
rely on Josh going Christmas shopping for them no one would be getting
anything.

Their Hanukkah presents were still on a small table next to the tree.
Each present was numbered and had either Josh's initials or hers on
it. Josh picked up the "number fives" and carried them over to the
bed. "Open yours first," he told her as he handed her the small gift
bag.

"Okay," she said, pulling the tissue paper out of the top of the bag

Josh had been really generous with his gifts so far.  Since they'd
actually gotten a late start on Hanukkah as none of them had
remembered that it had started the day before they were released from
the hospital, the first day they'd celebrated it had actually been the
third day.  But, as it turned out, it was even more fun because they
each got three presents that first night to make up for the two missed
days.  That first night he'd given her a very generous Bed, Bath and
Beyond Gift Card, the entire first season of "Friends" on DVD and
three silver picture frames. The gift card was so she do some
decorating in his townhouse, which she planned to move into when they
got back to D.C. The first thing she planned to do was get rid of the
god-awful comforter he had on his bed. The DVDs were just because she
loved "Friends".  And the frames were for her new desk in her new
office when she started working for Toby.

She didn't know how he would top last night's gift. It had been a
briefcase. A beautiful, burgundy leather briefcase with brass fittings
and her initials engraved on a small brass plate. He'd told her it was
for her to use in her new job.  It had taken her about 10 minutes to
stop crying.

Looking in the bottom of the gift bag at tonight's gift, her heart
stopped.  It was a small blue box, tied with a simple white ribbon.
The kind of box that only comes from one store. Tiffany's.  Her hand
shook slightly as she reached in and pulled it out. It was too flat
and a little too big for a ring box.  "Josh? What did you do?"

Josh just grinned, "Open it and see."

She pulled the ribbon open and lifted the lid.  Inside was a necklace.
It was a silver chain holding a pendant about as big as her thumb from
the knuckle to the end of the nail.  It was in the shape of an anchor
and was covered in small diamonds. "Oh, Josh," she said pressing her
hand over her mouth to stop the sob that wanted to escape. "It's
beautiful. I don't know what to say."

He reached over and pulled it out of the box. Knowing her love of
details, he gave them to her as he put it around her neck.  "The chain
and the pendant are platinum and the pendant is covered in what are
called round brilliant diamonds." She held her hair out of the way as
he fastened the clasp. When he was done he laid his hands on her
shoulders and put his lips next to her ear. "I picked an anchor
because that's what you are to me. My anchor.  You keep me centered
and where I need to be." Then he nuzzled his lips against the long
column of her neck, making her shiver. "I love you," he whispered.

"Oh, Josh," she said tearfully, turning carefully so she didn't hurt
herself. Wrapping her arms around him she whispered to him. "I love
you too. And this gift is amazing.  You are so da man." This time it
took her 15 minutes to stop crying.  "Okay, now open your present,"
she told him when she finally ran out of tears. Donna was glad she'd
already gotten him a number of things before they'd gone to San Diego.

He grinned and shook the small box.  It made only a slight thumping
noise as whatever was in it, bumped against the inside of the box.  He
wondered what she could have gotten him.  The first three presents
she'd given him had been very imaginative and showed how much Donna
knew him. A Mets T-shirt. A Doobie Brothers Greatest Hits CD. And a 5
pound bag of Starbucks French Roast Coffee and a gift card. Donna had
explained that the reason for the first two were pretty self-evident.
His favorite baseball team and one of his favorite music groups.  The
coffee was kind of obvious, too, but she told him the bag of coffee
was for home and the gift card was for when he was running late and
had to pick something up in the way to work.

Last nights gift had been the Indiana Jones trilogy on DVD.  They were
three of his favorite movies and he'd loved it.  He was dying to see
what she'd come up with for tonight.

Pulling the small ribbon, he saw that the box was printed with the
logo for what seemed to be some kind of sports memorabilia store.  He
hadn't expected her to get him anything expensive.  He knew she just
didn't have the money.  "Donna?  What did you do?" he said, echoing
her earlier question to him.

She grinned. "Open it and see," she said throwing his earlier words
right back at him.

He lifted the lid and peeled back the paper.  It was a Mike Piazza
baseball card.  This time it was his turn to have his heart stopped.
It was a SIGNED Mike Piazza baseball card. The card from his rookie
year. "Oh, Donna. It's...it's....amazing. Thank you."

She smiled, "You're welcome. I know you never got to have him call you
'dude' and I considered trying to get him to sign one that way for
you, but it didn't quite work out that way so I just got you this
one." She watched him for a moment, her fingers lightly tracing the
pendant.

Just then they heard voices coming into the house. More than just Toby
and CJ's, so Sam and Ainsley must have arrived with dinner. But for
the moment, Josh and Donna only had eyes for each other.

"Happy Hanukkah, Joshua."

"Happy Hanukkah, Donnatella."

To be continued...



Chapter 41 - PG

Christmas Eve - 4:00 pm

Toby snapped the phone shut. "They're on their way," he said, softly.

"Great.  What time will they be getting in?" Josh asked him, bouncing
up and down with excitement.

"About 10 tonight," Toby told him.  "Which means we have to get them
out of the house soon so Sam has time to do his thing." He paused and
looked at Josh. "Would you please stop bouncing around like Tigger on
acid?"

"Toby, even you aren't going to kill my mood tonight.  Tonight I win
the all-time title of "Wooing King", Josh smirked.

"No, what you're going to do is make them suspicious," Toby told him.
"When you start jumping around like that and grinning so hard your
dimples are ready to come out the back of your head, they tend to
think you're up to something.  The Sisterhood's funny that way."

His bounce calmed a bit. "Don't worry, I'm cool.  I won't blow it
now." The last thing he wanted to do was spoil the surprise he and
Toby had been working on for a week. It had been some trick to keep CJ
from watching the TV news, seeing as how she was, you know, the Press
Secretary and all. Luckily there hadn't been any tidbits about the
item in the newspaper.  If there was one thing CJ needed like air, it
was the newspaper. Well, and apparently Toby.

Everyone from the President and Leo down to the night janitor in the
White House had been sworn to secrecy so she wouldn't find out from
that source. Donna had been sleeping a lot so she'd been a little
easier to distract and misdirect. Toby and Josh were almost positive
that neither of them suspected a thing. "Where's CJ?"

"She's catching up on her e-mail," Toby told him. "Where's Donna?"

"Taking a nap."

"She's been doing that a lot lately.  Everything okay?" Toby asked.

"Yeah. Doctor says it normal for her to be tired," he said, trying to
sound as if he was convinced. "Plus I think she's a little depressed
about not being home on Christmas."

Toby nodded and smirked ever so slightly, "Well, then I guess we'll
have to see what we can do about that, won't we?"

**********

"Donna?" he said, softly.  "Donna, honey, wake up."

She began to stir and rise up through the layers of sleep, "Josh?"

"Yeah, it's time to wake up, sleepy head." Even though he was making
light of her sleeping, it actually concerned him a great deal.  All
she seemed to want to do was sleep.  Just as he'd told Toby, he had
spoken to the doctor about it and he'd said that while her injuries
would make her tire easily, there was no medical reason why she was
sleeping quite as much as she was. During Josh's convalescence, he'd
become restless with energy to spare, but Donna had become more quiet
and thoughtful.  Josh knew that part of her lethargy came from the
fact that she was at least mildly depressed about Christmas.  While
things between the two of them seemed to still be strong and secure,
the strain with her family, being away from her adopted home in DC, no
snow, and her concerns about her injuries in general had all conspired
to sap her of strength. Josh hoped tonight's activities were going to
help to change at least some of that.

"What time is it?" she asked, sleepily.

"About 5:00.  The sun's gone down, I thought we could exchange today's
gifts." Donna smiled.  It was a Josh smile, meant only for him and it
warmed his heart. The lights from the Christmas tree he'd switched on
earlier danced over her.  Even sleepy she was beautiful and his heart
swelled with the love he had for her.  He also sent up a silent "thank
you" that she was alive and, for the most part, well, and they could
have this time together.

She watched him for a moment, the same smile lingering on her face.
He was so adorable, she thought.  Josh could be such a little boy when
it came to presents.  An impatient little boy. "I can tell our kids
are going to be the ones that wake us up before dawn on Christmas or
watch out the window for the exact moment the sun sets for each day of
Hanukkah so they can open presents." The words were out before she
realized the implication of what she'd said.

In the back of her mind, her worries about her injuries had continued
to intrude into her thoughts of their future. No matter what the
doctor said, she wasn't sure if she'd ever walk without a limp again,
or at least walk unaided. Having children was another issue
altogether. This time instead of having a positive prognosis as he did
with her leg, the doctor had told her once, when Josh had been out of
the room, that because she now only had one kidney, if she should ever
get pregnant she'd have to be watched very carefully.  The strain of a
pregnancy could potentially be too much for her remaining kidney.
"Oh, Josh.  I'm sorry. I......I know we haven't talked about things
like that." 'Please don't freak out on me,' she silently pleaded.

But Donna hadn't been the only one thinking about the future. Josh had
plenty of time in the hospital do some thinking of his own. He'd show
her just how much, later tonight, but for the moment he wanted to
soothe the frown and look of mild fear that had replaced the smile
she'd had only a moment before.  Gently, he tucked a strand of wayward
hair behind her ear, "I think our children are going to be just like
their mother. Brave, beautiful, and funny, with the ability to have me
wrapped around their little finger." He grinned, dimples blooming on
his face.  "But you're right, I'm sure they will definitely take after
me when it comes to presents."

Donna felt tears begin to gather in her eyes.  Sometimes Josh knew
just the right thing to say.  Ignoring the twinge in her back it
caused, she managed to sit up and capture Josh in a tight embrace.  "I
love you, Joshua," she said, her voice thick with tears.

Being careful of her injuries, he hugged her back, "I love you too,
Donnatella." He stroked her hair for a moment then when he felt her
arms begin to release him, he grabbed two pillows and put them behind
her.  "How's that?" he asked, easing her back against them.

Taking a moment to find a comfortable position, she settled into them. "Good."

"Now," Josh said, rubbing his hands together.  "Present time."

"No, Josh.  First candle time," she said, pointing to the menorah on
the windowsill.

"Oh, right.  Sorry, almost forgot," he said, getting up and walking
over to the window.

"I know.  That's what you keep me around for."

He pulled out a small box of candles and a book of matches from the
top drawer.  "One of the 3 million reasons," he said, softly, his eyes
caressing her face.  Placing a new candle in the spot for the seventh
night of Hanukkah, he lit it and he held her hand as they softly said
the blessing together.

"Okay, now present time."

Donna rolled her eyes and laughed. "Okay, okay.  Now present time."
She watched him as he went to the table to get the last remaining
Hanukkah gifts. Thinking about gifts from last night, she smiled.  The
sixth night of Hanukkah had been a night of gift cards.  For him,
Donna had gotten a Barnes & Noble gift card because she knew how much
he loved the books, DVDs and CDs he could get at any of their stores
or online at their website.  For her, Josh had gotten a Victoria's
Secret gift card. She'd told him that one of the bags that had been
lost in the car was full of lingerie she'd bought at Horton Plaza.
The gift card was to help her replace what she'd lost.

"What are you smiling about?" he said with a smile of his own as he
came back to the bed.

"Oh, just thinking about what I want to buy at Victoria's Secret with
the gift card you got me."

He grinned, "Will you be modeling said items for me?"

"Maybe.  If you're very, very nice to me," she said with a smile. "Now
open your present."

"Okay, twist my arm." He shook the box he had in his hands. It was
quiet and failed to yield any clues. Pulling off the ribbon he broke
off the two pieces of tape that were holding it closed and pulled off
the lid.  Peeling the tissue paper back, he saw it was a gray
sweatshirt.  He pulled it out of the box and held it up to see what it
said.  'Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius.' With a raised eyebrow and
smirk, he looked at her.  "I don't know if I should be complimented or
insulted."

She grinned, "Well, you're wily and you're a super genius so I guess
you should see it as a compliment.  BUT, if you let it go to your
head, I'll have to turn it around and start teasing you about falling
anvils and rockets with 'ACME,' or you know "Joshua Lyman's Secret
Plan to Fight Inflation,' painted on them."

Josh grinned.  "Fair enough." He pulled it on.  "Thank you." Leaning
forward he kissed her softly.

"Happy Hanukkah, Joshua."

"Now...." he said.  "Open yours." Staying on top of the covers and
careful not to jostle her too much, he slid onto bed next to her and
set the robe-sized box down on her lap.

"Okay," she said with a smile, slowly sitting up a little straighter.
Pulling the bow off, she lifted the lid and peeled back the paper.
Her heart tilted at the contents of the box and her eyes filled with
tears.  Josh's ability to be sentimental often took her by surprise.

Josh watched her but grew alarmed when he saw the tears start to
gather in her eyes. "You don't like it," he said disappointedly.

"Oh, Josh, how could you think that.  I love it," she said through her
tears as she lifted the gift out of the box.  It was a large,
beautiful lace shawl, just like in the last scene of 'An Affair to
Remember,' the movie they'd watched a few days before. "I just can't
believe you remembered."

"Hey," he said, taking it from her hands and wrapping it around her
shoulders. "I can be thoughtful when it's important." He hugged her,
resting his cheek on the top of her head. "We had a talk about the
future that day and I wanted to get you something to remember that.
Don't cry, Donna, I want you to be happy."

Slowly she turned and put her arms around him, holding him tightly.
"I am.  I am so happy.  But I didn't need any presents for that. I
already got what I wanted the most."

He pulled back and framing her face in his hands, wiped her tears away
with his thumbs.  "What's that?"

"You," she replied simply.

"Happy Hanukkah, Donnatella," he said softly.

"Right back at you," she said with a smile.

They sat there for a moment, again reveling in the quiet and their
love for each other.  Only stirring when Josh realized how late was
getting. Almost 6:00. He hadn't realized it was getting so late.  They
were going to have to get a move on if the Brotherhood plans were
going to work out. Time to get things started.

"Donna?"

"Hmm?" she answered.

"Since it's Christmas Eve and all, Toby and I want to take you and CJ
out to dinner and a movie."

"Oh, Josh, I don't look very good," she said. "Besides, I don't know
if I'll make it through both. I may nod off in the middle of dessert
and right after the opening previews at the movies. Couldn't we just
stay in tonight?"

As much as he'd like to honor her request, he needed to have her out
of the house to give Sam and his crew time to do their thing. Besides,
he thought it would be good for her to get out and see something other
than the doctor's office and the inside of CJ's house.  "Donna, we'd
really like to take you both out.  All you guys have to do is sit,
we'll do everything else.  As for how you look, you always look
wonderful, we just need to get you into something besides your pajamas
if you're going out in public," he smiled.

"What about Sam and Ainsley?  Can we invite them too?" she asked.

He silently apologized for the tiny, but necessary white lie, "We did
invite them but Sam has a campaign thing tonight so they can't come."

"Oh, that's too bad." Josh was impossible to resist when he was like
this and Donna had to admit, it would be good to get out. "Okay. Help
me pick out something to wear."

He grinned.  "Ahh, I've already made a choice for you.  All you have
to do is give your approval."  Moving to the closet he pulled out his
selection.  A comfortable black pair of loose fitting wide legged
pants to help camouflage her knee and a soft red turtleneck sweater.
"And for our footwear selection we have the following." With a
flourish, he held up a pair of black flats. High heels, even on just
her uninjured leg, were just too much for her to maneuver with her
crutches.

Donna laughed, "So I'm guessing you and Toby had been plotting.  Tell
me the truth. You've been planning this all day, haven't you?"

"Can't hide anything from you," he said. Actually, it had been in the
works for the last couple of days. "So does that mean you approve?"

She grinned and nodded.  "I guess it's a good thing the nurse helped
me take a shower this morning."

To be continued...



Chapter 42 - PG

"All I'm saying is that it was a stupid movie," CJ said from the front
seat, next to Toby, who was driving. "I mean, who pays these people to
write these screenplays?  There was no plot and what was with that one
actress, the one that talked without moving her mouth?  She sounded
like Amy Gardner."

In the backseat, Josh rolled his eyes at CJ's comment and looked down
at Donna, whose head was resting on his shoulder. "Hey, you still with
us?" They'd had a nice, quiet dinner at which CJ and Donna had both
managed to eat at least half of their respective meals and then they
went to a movie.  It had been a romantic comedy that had turned out to
be neither romantic nor comical. Donna had dropped off halfway
through.  Josh had been happy to see that the seats had armrests that
folded out of the way so he'd been able to snuggle up against Donna
while she slept and the three of them had suffered through the rest of
the movie. And, although CJ and Donna didn't know it, they were now on
their way to the big surprise and main event for the evening.

She looked up at him, "Yeah, I'm still here.  Just listening to CJ rip
apart the movie you paid 9 bucks for each of us to see and I slept
through."

"Well, you didn't miss much. In fact, you didn't miss anything.  If I
had to do it over again I think I'd have taken a snooze along with
you," he smiled down at her.

"Thanks for tonight, Josh.  I really enjoyed it. When I wasn't
sleeping, of course."

'It isn't over yet,' he thought, trying not to grin in excitement.
"I'm glad.  Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Josh. You know, all things considered.  I think this
is on of the most memorable Christmases I've ever had."

He ran his hand over her jaw, "I think it's definitely one of my
personal favorites." He leaned in to kiss her.

"Toby?  Where the hell are you going?  This is the way to the airport.
Why are we going to the airport?" CJ demanded suddenly from the front
seat.

Josh's head snapped up at her question.  They'd wondered how long it
would take for her to figure out where they were going. She was, after
all, fairly familiar with the streets in LA.

Donna watched Josh for a moment. He looked down at her and shrugged.
The expression on his face, one of complete and utter innocence, clued
her into the fact that he, and presumably Toby, were up to something.

"It's a shortcut," Toby said.

"Toby, I hurt my foot, not my sense of direction.  There is no way we
go from the movie theater to my house via LAX.  Where are we going?"
When he only remained his usually, impassive self, she tried again.
"Toby it's late, almost 10:30.  Donna and I are tired.  Are you going
to take us home or what?"

He glanced over at her and then went back to the road.  "Or what."

CJ looked at him for a minute, trying to figure out what was going
through that head of his, "Or what, what?"

"Or what, what, what? God, CJ, you've got me sounding like an Abbott
and Costello sketch. Just once, would you please sit quietly in your
seat and not argue with everything I say?"

That pulled CJ up short.  Wow, he was really hot when told her off.
"But you like it when I argue with you," she said, her voice dropping
to a slightly softer tone.

He liked that tone.  That was the tone he always associated with
Albany. He couldn't help the very small smile that peeked out from his
beard. "Yeah.  As a rule I like it, but right now I would like to
drive the car and, you know, get where we're going with you asking a
minimum of questions." He glanced at her again, "I know you're the
White House Press Secretary but you don't have to know everything all
the time. Life's a mystery.  Trying letting it unfold at it's own pace
for once."

"Um, okay." Then she burst out laughing. "Toby, that whole 'unfolding
life's mystery' thing was funnier than the entire movie we just saw."

"Well, I had to improvise."

"Yeah, you and the improvising, not so much."

"So where are we at with the whole you sitting quietly in your seat?" he said.

"The same place we are with you telling me where we're going," she
said with a grin. "What? I didn't ask a question," she said in
response to the dirty look he shot her.

Josh and Donna sat in the back seat watching the two of them in the
front seat.  I was kind of like watching verbal racquetball. Things
moved so fast you never quite knew who was winning.

"Josh, you know where we're going, don't you." She said it as a
statement rather than a question, as she knew he did.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because while you are a handsome and powerful man, you are the worst
liar ever.  Even Sam says so. The only people you can lie to
convincingly are Republicans," Donna said.

"I think I'm with Toby on the whole, let's sit quietly in our seats
until we get where we're going," Josh replied, sitting back with a
little smirk.

Donna considered that for a moment. "I have a counterproposal."

'This could be interesting,' he thought. "And that would be?"

"You could distract me."

"Distract you?  How?"

Donna rolled her eyes, "Gee Josh, I don't know. Dark back seat, time
to kill and you want to do something to shut me up. What could we
possibly do?"

Yes, it had just gotten very, very interesting. "Oh, yeah.  We could
do that." He leaned forward to kiss her.  He wanted to do it slowly,
languidly. Wanted to explore every centimeter of her lips and every
part of her mouth. Wanted to drink his fill of the taste of her. Their
lips brushed in the lightest of kisses. A prelude to bigger things.

"We're here," Toby announced, breaking the moment.

Josh looked down at her, "Next time we find ourselves in a dark back
seat with time to kill, let's be sure they're not with us.  Okay?"

Donna sighed. Two kissing opportunities with Josh missed because of
Toby and CJ.  "You won't hear any arguments from me." Carefully and
with Josh's help Donna sat up a bit straighter. They were at a gate of
some kind. Toby was talking to a uniformed military officer that had
just stepped out of a small guardhouse.  From the sign on the fence
just beside the car, Donna saw that they were indeed at the L.A.
airport. Toby showed the guard his ID and he waved them through.

"So Tobias, I repeat, what the hell are we doing at the airport on
Christmas Eve?" CJ demanded.

Not answering her, he drove for a moment, then he turned a corner and
came out from behind a large hanger. "That's what we're doing here."
He said pointing out the front windshield of the car.

There, on the tarmac, surrounded by a loose circle of soldiers, was
Air Force One.

CJ was speechless and just kept looking from the plane to Toby and
from Toby to the plane.

"So aren't you going to say anything?" Toby asked CJ.  When she only
continued to stare, he looked back at Josh and Donna.  "Oh, now she
decides to be quiet."

That seemed to snap CJ out of her trance.  "Does this mean what I
think it means?"

Toby looked at her for a minute, "Well, if what you think it means is
that we're all going back to DC on Air Force One tonight, then yes,
I'd say it means what you think it means."

CJ got this enormous smile on her face. Grabbing Toby's face between
her hands, she kissed him long and hard on the mouth. "Now, get over
here and help me out of the car."

It took Toby a second to recover from the kiss she'd just laid on him
and made a mental note to surprise her more often.  "Um, okay, Lord
and Master. I live to serve. My people were slaves after all," he
said, climbing out of the car.

CJ was nearly bouncing with excitement. "Toby! Over here.  Now!"

"Are we really going home?" Donna said, softly.  Her throat was so
choked with emotion it almost wouldn't let the words out.

Josh looked down at her, saw the tears in her eyes, and nodded.
"Merry Christmas."

"How? When? What?"

Josh grinned.  "The 'how' is the fact that I'm a very powerful man and
well, the President cooperated by coming out to California for a
meeting with the governor and making a pit stop in LA. The 'when' is
all week.  The doctor said CJ could fly if she could keep her foot
elevated and yours said you could if you could keep your leg elevated
and then exercise your knee every couple of hours. And the 'what' is
this is the Brotherhood's surprise Christmas present for the
Sisterhood."

She smiled, then frowned.  "But what about Sam and Ainsley?"

"Don't worry about them. Sam had his own plans for Ainsley.  I
believe, right about now, Sam has a very surprised Ainsley on a plane
bound for North Carolina.  He kind of figured he should meet his
prospective father-in-law BEFORE the wedding. Plus he thought Ainsley
might like to be near her family for the holidays."

Donna, always the one with the wheels turning in her head, "But wait,
we have to go back to the house. Our stuff is still there. All the
Hanukah and Christmas presents and our clothes and everything else."

"Now see, that's the problem with the Sisterhood.  You're always
underestimating the Brotherhood.  Take a look, right there," he said
pointing out the front window again.

She followed where his finger was pointing. A pile of luggage and
boxes was sitting next to an open cargo bay being carefully scanned
and loaded. "Our stuff?"

"Yep. Sam and Ainsley came over to the house while we went out tonight
and made sure the movers got everything. Then when they brought
everything here and dropped it off, he gave Ainsley her surprise."

"Well, I guess the Brotherhood has thought of everything.  I had no
idea you guys were so handy," she teased.

"We figured we'd better start earning our keep or the Sisterhood was
going to throw us out on our collective ears."

"Nah, not a chance. You have too many other redeeming qualities," she
said, reaching up to kiss him. Of course, CJ chose that moment to yank
Donna's door open.

"Come on guys, we're going home!" Balancing on her crutches while Toby
got the wheelchair out of the trunk, she grinned at them.  "Let's go.
Get a move on!"

Josh rested his forehead against Donna's and they both sighed.  "I
swear, eventually I'm going to get to kiss you properly," he told her.

She chuckled softly so as to not aggravate her ribs, "I think if we
can just get rid of the Terrible Twosome, we'll be fine."

"If I knocked them both over the head and stuffed them in the trunk do
you think anyone would notice?"

"Afraid so," she said, sitting up carefully. "I guess we'd better get
moving before she drags us bodily from the car."

He sighed, "I guess so. Come on, slide over and get out my door," he
said, climbing out. He pulled her to her feet and leaned her up
against the car while he got her crutches out of the trunk. "You sure
you don't want me to scrounge up a wheelchair for you?  Might be
faster."

"Nope.  I've just about got the hang of these things," Donna said as
they started moving toward the plane. Toby and CJ had a good lead on
them as he pushed her in the wheelchair, her crutches in her lap, up
to the plane.

There was no way that CJ could maneuver the stairs so Toby rolled her
onto a wide metal cargo loader, like the kind they used to load large
cargo boxes into planes and it slowly began to lift the two of them up
to one of the rear doors of the plane.

Knowing her crutches would never get her up the stairs, Josh had been
herding her in the same direction. But at the foot of the stairs, she
stopped and looked up.  They looked a mile long.

"Donna?" he said. "What's wrong?"

She looked at him, then at the stairs and then back to him. "I want to
walk up the stairs."

Josh frowned with concern.  "Donna, you can't. Your knee's not strong
enough yet. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Her blue eyes bore into his.  "I know I can do it. I managed to get up
the four steps at CJ's house yesterday."

"Yeah, but that was only four steps," he pointed out.  "This is
like..." he looked at the metal stairs. "I don't know...a lot more
than four."

"Josh," she said, laying her hand on his arm.  "It might take me a
while but I know I can do it." She paused.  "If you help me." He
opened his mouth to say something but she spoke first. "Please Josh.
I need to do this."

As if he could deny her anything when she said 'please' and looked at
him like that. Besides, he'd be there the whole time and he wouldn't
let her fall.  If she got tired he could carry her the rest of the
way. He could see how much it meant to her. "Okay. But we'll take it
slow."

She grinned at him and kissed him quickly, "That's just to tide you
over until later when we can ditch the Dynamic Duo." Using her
crutches, she hobbled over to the bottom step and swung her good leg
up onto the step.  Gently putting the foot of her injured leg down she
stood on her own and handed Josh her crutches.

He put them in his opposite hand and held her left arm firmly in his
grip as she grasped the handrail in her right hand. "Ready?" She
nodded and they began.

To be continued...



Chapter 43 - PG

When the metal lift got up to the doorway, a small ramp was extended
across the gap and Toby rolled CJ onto the plane, where Jim, her
deputy, was waiting.  Right into the press area.  Which, unlike Air
Force One's last trip to Southern California, was now full of press
people.  CJ's eyes filled with tears as they all stood and started
clapping for her. 'God I missed them,' she thought as a few flash
bulbs went off. If you'd asked her a month ago if such a thing was
possible she would have laughed in your face. And yet she had missed
them. Missed the pace and the drama and the comedy and the challenge
they brought with them. "Hi, Guys."

"CJ!?" Katie called out.  "Do you have anything to say?"

She smiled.  "Yeah, I'm happy to be finally going back to DC
and...well, Merry Christmas!" That was met with laughter and another
round of enthusiastic applause. Toby pushed her wheelchair toward the
front of the plane, where he knew the President and First Lady had a
place prepared for her and Donna to rest on the way back to DC. Danny
Concannon walked up to them as they moved to roll out of the press
area.

"Hi, CJ," he said. "You're looking well.  I'm glad you're feeling
better. Hey, Toby."

"Danny."

CJ didn't have to look at Toby to know that right about now he was
giving Danny the "Ziegler Glare of Death." His voice said it all.  It
was all she could do to choke down a laugh at the thought that Toby
would be jealous of Danny. Anything she'd once felt for Danny had long
ago been relegated to the professional friendship category. "Thanks,
Danny.

"How long do you have to wear the cast?"

"About six more weeks.  But in about a month I get a walking cast so
I'll be able to get around without crutches or my chariot," she said,
indicating the wheelchair.

Before Danny or CJ could say anything else, Toby spoke, "Well, Danny
we've got to get settled so we can take off. We'll talk to you later."

"Sure," Danny answered, taking a step back. "Hey, CJ.  I want to sign
your cast later," he called after them.

At Danny's words, Toby didn't even slow and as he pushed her out of
the press area. CJ waited until Danny was out of earshot to start
chuckling.  "You're looking a little green around the gills there,
Toby."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, acting perfectly innocent.

"Yeah, right....hey, what's going on?" CJ said, indicating the small
crowd that seemed to be gathered around the main cabin door.

"I don't know."

Since she still had the crutches in her lap, she used one of them to
tap the nearest person on the shoulder.  It happened to be Ed of "Ed
and Larry" fame.  "Huh?" he said, turning around.

"Ed, what's going on?"

"It's Donna. She's walking up the stairs," he grinned excitedly and
turned back to watch.

**********

Donna stopped for a minute to catch her breath and wipe the sweat off
her forehead. They'd made it halfway up and it had only taken them 10
minutes. For the most part she'd done it by stepping up on her good
leg and putting the majority of the weight and pressure on it, Josh
and the handrail.

"How you doing?" he asked.

"Guess I'm a little out of shape," she said to Josh, her breathing
beginning to even out a bit.

"No problem.  We'll whip you into shape in no time." He looked up,
"Hey, look, just what you've always wanted. An audience."

Donna followed his gaze. When they'd started, there had been no one at
the top.  Now, in addition to the President and the First Lady, both
of whom were wearing red Santa hats as they stood waiting for her on
the landing, there were no less than 10 other faces crowding together
in the doorway to watch her. At a glance she recognized, Charlie, Ed,
Larry, Toby and Debbie. The rest were kind of a blur. "Oh, God."

"What?" he asked, concerned something was wrong.

"It's hard enough for me to do this without everyone looking at me,
especially when I'm moving as fast as a pregnant turtle."

For a moment, he considered having her wait so he could run up and
clear the way. But then he changed his mind. "You're walking fine for
someone who just had her knee replaced less than two weeks ago and is
trying to climb a flight of metal stairs. In fact you're walking
better than fine. Every day you amaze me with how far you've come.
They're just here to root you on.  Think of them as your adoring
fans." She looked unconvinced, so he quietly told her the truth.
"Donna.  You're going to have to get used to people seeing you walk."

"Seeing me limp you mean," she replied.

He figured it wouldn't do any good to give her empty platitudes.
"Okay, seeing you limp. You're going to limp for a while and then your
knee will get stronger and you won't limp anymore," Josh told her. "So
are we going to get a move on or are we going to stand here all
night?" He leaned in, "Besides, your Christmas present is waiting on
board and you can't have it until we get inside," he whispered in her
ear.

"Really?"

"Hey, would I lie about something like presents?"

She smiled and took a breath. "No. Okay, I'm going." He turned to move
to the next step. "Josh?"

"Yeah," he said, turning back. Leaning in, she kissed him full and
hard on the mouth. They both ignored the catcalls coming from the top
of the stairs. "What was that for?" he asked her when they broke apart
in their quest for oxygen.

She was slightly out of breath again but this time she didn't mind.
"For being here.  For not letting me quit."

"Ahkay," he said with a dimpled grin.

"Hey, you two!" Jed called down, "Are you two going to stand there all night?"

"We'll be right there, sir." Josh answered, knowing Donna probably
couldn't take a deep enough breath to yell back. He looked at her and
smiled, "So are we going to keep the leader of the free world waiting
or what?"

"Nope, let's go," she said with renewed determination. They made their
way, slowly up, one step at a time until they, after another 10
minutes, made it to the landing.  First, Abbey and then Jed folded
Donna into a huge hug and the assembled crowd went wild with cheers.
Donna felt a little like Rocky Balboa when he gets to the top of the
steps after running through the streets of Boston.

"Now everybody clear out of the way!" Jed said.

The crowd parted and Josh handed Donna her crutches and she used them
to carefully cross the threshold and step inside the plane. CJ, who
had gotten up out of her wheelchair and was now up on her crutches,
and Toby were waiting for her.

"You just had to be a showoff, didn't you?" CJ teased her. Since they
both had their hands full of crutches and couldn't hug, CJ leaned
forward and kissed her on the cheek.  "You did good, Donna.  You're a
credit to the Sisterhood."

"Okay, okay.  Enough of this, let's get everyone settled so we can get
back to D.C. before New Year's," Jed said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Come on girls, I'll show you to your rooms," Abbey said.

They followed her to small cabins on board.  CJ was in the cabin used
by Leo when he was on board and Donna was in the other spare cabin
used by visiting dignitaries.

"Josh, why don't you get her settled and I'll come back as soon as I
check on CJ?" Abbey said as she left the room. He helped her sit down
on the edge of the bed and slid off her shoes.

"If I tell you something will you promise not to get mad?" Donna asked
him when they were alone.

He looked at her for a moment, "Okay."

"My knee kind of hurts.  Do you think you could dig me up an ice pack?"

He figured it probably would after that monumental effort she'd just
given. Sighing slightly, he smiled. "Sure." He turned to leave when
Donna spotted her purse sitting on the table.  Sam and Ainsley had
thought of everything. Even about seeing that her purse was placed in
the room rather than in the cargo hold with the rest of their things.
"Oh, Josh, could you give me my purse before you go?"

"Sure," he said.  Picking it up off the table, he handed it to her.
"Don't move.  I'll be right back."

Donna nodded and when she was sure he was gone, she looked inside her
purse.  'Good,' she thought.  It was still there. She pulled out the
small perfectly wrapped package and slid it until under the pillow on
the small twin bed. She'd put Josh's Christmas present into her purse
yesterday when it had come by FedEx from Margaret.  Josh had a habit
of shaking packages to see if he could figure out what they were and
she didn't want him shaking this one. She'd had to enlist Margaret's
help in getting it out of her apartment in D.C. and ready to give it
to him. She hoped he liked it.

Josh returned a few minutes later, "The stewards found me one," he
said, holding up the ice bag. "Do you want to take something, too?"

"Yeah, I think some Advil would be good."

"We've got the stronger stuff if you need it," he offered.

"No, I think the regular stuff will work okay."  He nodded and moved
to another bag that was sitting next to where her purse had been.
Donna recognized it as the bag that contained all her medical
paraphernalia.  Josh fished around and pulled out the bottle of Advil
and brought her two with a glass of water.  She popped them into her
mouth and washed them down with a large drink of water.

Just then a quick knock sounded and the President breezed in and
watched the two of them with a twinkle in his eye that matched the red
Santa hat perched jauntily on his head. Abbey was right behind him
with a Santa hat of her own. "How are you doing Donna? Is my elf here
taking good care of you?" Jed asked her.

Donna smiled and looked up at Josh, "Yes, sir."

"We all ready to go, Josh?" he asked.

"Yes, sir.  Everything's loaded and ready."

"Good.  Well, then, as I've said before, here's the best part of my
job."  He picked up a phone and called the cockpit. Then turning back
to them he winked and took a breath like he did when he was ready to
make an impassioned speech, "Now, DASHER! Now, DANCER! Now, PRANCER
and VIXEN! On, COMET! On CUPID! On, DONDER and BLITZEN!  To the top of
the porch! To the top of the wall! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away
all!" The engines on Air Force One roared to life and he hung up the
phone.  "God, I love my job," he grinned.

Abbey only rolled her eyes, "Jed, you're such a corn ball some times."
But she was grinning just the same.

Josh loved the President when he was like this.  Jed reminded him of
his own father. "Thank you, Mr. President."

"Mr. President? Abbey?" Donna said, softly.

"Yes, Donna?" he stopped at her side, kneeling down to put them on
equal footing. Abbey stood next to him.

Her eyes filled with tears for a moment. "I...," she broke off, unable
to get out the words.  "I...." she took a breath.  "Thank you.  This
is one of nicest things anyone has ever done for me. I know it took
some shuffling in your schedules and took you both away from your
family on Christmas Eve.  I really appreciate everything you've both
done for all of us."

"We were happy to do it, Donna," Abbey said. "And remember, you guys
are part of our family, too. So see, we're not so far away from our
family after all."

Jed leaned forward and gently pulled Donna into a hug as Abbey glanced
at Josh with a smile. "Now no tears, young lady. It's Christmas," he
said, holding her securely in his arms.  Releasing her, he leaned
back. "Donna, do you remember what I said that day back when you were
trapped?"

Donna nodded, "That you thought of CJ, Ainsley and I as adopted
daughters and that you were doing everything you could to see that we
were rescued just as soon as possible."

He nodded. "That's right.  And I meant every word of it. Consider this
just an extension of that promise.  I'm just glad that it worked out
so we could bring you home. But I want you to know that the two people
most responsible for making this happen were Josh and Toby."  The
three of them looked up at Josh and then back to each other.  "They
moved heaven and earth to arrange the meeting with the governor. If
anyone deserves the credit, it's them."

"Now," Abbey said.  "We'll be in the air for a few hours so try and
get some sleep. Let us know if you need anything."

"We will. Thanks, Mrs. B," Josh said as they left the room.  "How
about we get you settled? You want to sit or lie down?"

"Lie down.  I think I'll do like Abbey suggested and try and get in a
nap." They could exchange presents when she woke up.

"Okay," he said.  He helped lift her leg onto the bed and then he
helped her find a comfortable position. "How's that?"

"Good," she said.  He gently laid the ice pack on her knee. Pulling a
blanket from a drawer he covered her with it, all except the ice pack
and her knee so he could pull the ice off in 15 minutes.  The routine
was 15 minutes on and a half hour off.  He'd have to go and get more
ice for it then anyway.

"Thank you for arranging this Josh. I'm so glad we're going home.
California's nice, but it's not D.C."

He brushed a strand of hair out of her face, "This has sort of been
the vacation that wouldn't end, hasn't it?" Josh asked.

"That's for sure." She yawned. "What are you going to do while I take
a nap?" she asked, already feeling herself drifting off.

"I'm going to check through my e-mail," he said. "I'll be right there
at the desk." He pointed to the small desk where his computer bag was
currently resting. "I'll be sure to leave the light on for you."

"Thanks," she whispered. "For everything.  I love you."

He bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.  "You're welcome and
I love you, too," he whispered. They were the last words she heard as
she drifted off completely.

**********

Something cold and wet touched her and it snapped her awake. "Wha....?"

"Oh, Donna, I didn't mean to wake you. It was time for the ice pack,"
Josh said apologetically.

"No, it's okay," she said with a yawn as she tried to wipe the sleep
from her eyes. The light in the room was low.  The only illumination
was coming from a small lamp on the desk. "What time is it?"

"Depends," he said with a grin.  "In California it's a little after
midnight. In D.C. it's a little after 3. And in New Mexico, which is
what we just crossed into, it's a little after 1.  Boy, my body clock
is going to be all kinds of screwed up when we get home."

"Yeah, because your body clock was so good at getting you out of bed before."

"It didn't need to be good.  I had you to get me out of bed.  Although
in the near future I'm hoping you'll be the one getting me INTO bed."
He grinned at her suggestively.

"Believe me when I tell you that you're not the only one hoping that,"
she said, grinning back. "But for now, I seem to remember someone
saying something about there being presents for me if I got my turtle
ass inside the plane."

"Oh, that. Yeah, about that, I was just kidding.  Just wanted to give
you some motivation."

"So what you're saying would seem to imply a lack of presents?" she
said, trying not to frown.

He remained impassive for a moment but couldn't quite pull it off.
"No, I'm just kidding. Of course there's presents," he said.

"Josh," she said smacking him lightly on the arm.  "Don't tease me
about presents.  It's not nice to tease the Sisterhood.  We have ways
of exacting our revenge."

"Well, then I guess I'm going to have to make sure the present is good."

"You got that right," she said with a grin.

"Okay, okay," he switched on a light so they could see a little
better, then he walked to the desk and picked up his backpack, which
was sitting on the floor. Carefully, he set it on the desk, unzipped
it and reached inside.  He pulled out a large embroidered cloth
Christmas stocking. "I kind of combined giving regular presents and a
Christmas stocking.  Your presents are inside."

She looked up at him, excitement dancing in her eyes. "Presents, as in plural?"

He grinned, "Yes, I do believe that the word 'presents' does imply
some plurality of gifts."

"Aw, that's really sweet Josh.  Thank you.  Um, before I opening them,
could you open yours first?"

He looked surprised and confused.  "My what?"

She slid her hand under the pillow and pulled out the small box.
"Your Christmas present."

"Where have you been hiding this?" he asked with a mischievous smile.
"I don't remember seeing this with any of the other Christmas
presents."

"I have to have some secrets, Josh," she paused and looked at him for
a moment, her expression soft and thoughtful.  "Open it," she said
softly, fighting a bit of nervousness.  She'd enlisted Margaret's help
in getting it.  Donna had sent her to retrieve it from the hiding
place in her apartment and take it to a jeweler for all the necessary
modifications she wanted made.  Then Margaret had wrapped it and
shipped it Donna.

She watched him finger the bow, then pull it off.  He opened the top
of the box and peered inside. "Oh, Donna," he said, his voice thick
with emotion as he fingered the contents.

"It was my grandfather's," she replied softly.  Taking it out of the
box, she held up the gold antique pocket watch and chain. "My
grandmother gave it to him on their first anniversary. He died just
about the time I finished high school.  See, my grandmother died when
I was very young. I hardly remember her. Whenever we would go to visit
him, my grandfather would take out the watch and tell me stories about
her. It was kind of our special time together.  When he died, he left
it to me in his will." She settled the watch in his hand, laying it
right over the scar on his palm, a faded reminder of a Christmas past.

Josh was so moved by the gift he was speechless for a moment.  "Donna,
I can't take this.  You should keep it.  It's a family heirloom.
Doesn't Bill want it?"

"No, he said he had no problem with me giving it to you." She laid her
hand in his, the watch nestled in his palm between their clasped
hands.  "You're my family, Josh.  I want you to have it." Leaning in,
she kissed him on the cheek, then laid her head on his shoulder. "I
had it cleaned and repaired so it keeps perfect time. You'll never
have to worry about having a watch that keeps crappy time. There's an
inscription, too.  Open the lid."

His fingers trembled slightly as he pressed the spring clasp and the
cover flipped open. Turning the watch toward the light, he read it
aloud, "To Joshua, my heart, my soul.  Love, Donnatella."  He looked
down at her upturned face, "It's beautiful. The best gift I've ever
been given."

She pouted teasingly, "I thought I was the best gift you've ever been given."

"You think pretty highly of yourself, don't you, Ms. Moss?" He turned
slightly to face her better and ran his hand over her cheek.  "No,
you're not a gift. Hanukkah, Christmas, birthday or otherwise.  You're
a miracle.  My own personal miracle."

He bent his head and kissed her lips tenderly. Donna's hand slid
behind his head, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. His arm
slipped carefully around behind her, holding her to him. The desire
for her he'd been controlling threatened to break free, but he managed
to keep a reign on it. She was just not physically able to explore
that part of their new relationship yet.

He reluctantly broke contact with her.  "Donna," he looked at her.
God, she was beautiful.  Her hair gleamed softly in the lamp light,
her lips were slightly swollen from his kisses, her breath was
slightly fast and the heat and desire in her eyes nearly made a light
of their own. "I want to make love to you," he said, brushing his hand
over her cheek again. "I've wanted to for some time.  And when you're
ready I plan on doing just that." He sighed.  "But for right now you
and I both know that you need a little more time to heal.  That last
thing I want to do is hurt you."

"I know," she said, burying her face in his shoulder. "It's just hard
sometimes."

"I know," he said, stroking her back for a moment.  "Open your
presents," he urged, a gleam in his eye as he sat down next to her.

She grinned and looked into the top of the stocking.  It was full of
small, individually wrapped packages. One by one she took them out and
opened them.  A small box of her favorite candy. A beautiful new
scarf.  A DVD she'd been wanting. A pair of pearl earrings. A
Starbucks gift card. A new pair of warm gloves. And then there was
only one thing left in the bottom of the stocking. A small box. A
small blue box. A small blue box, tied with a simple white ribbon and
looking, this time, very much like a ring box. With a gasp and a flood
of tears in her eyes, she pulled it out and looked at Josh.

Some part of Josh thought he should be scared of this moment. But he
wasn't.  After all, it was Donna.  He'd never been scared of Donna.
Well, maybe when she'd made up "The Rules," but other than that, no.
He'd been scared of what might happen if he acted upon his feelings
for Donna. But now that threshold had been crossed, he wasn't scared
any more. Not even a little.

"Open it," he said softly.

With trembling fingers she pulled open the ribbon and carefully lifted
the lid. As she'd suspected, inside was a ring box, which she dropped
into her hand. Looking at Josh, she took a tear-choked breath and
flipped open the top. Her breath caught in her chest.  It was the most
amazing ring she'd ever seen. A large princess cut diamond, flanked by
two smaller princess cut sapphires in what she assumed was a platinum
band.  It was breathtaking. "Oh, Josh." He put her hand to her mouth
to stop the sob that wanted to escape.

He pulled the ring from the box and slid off the bed onto the floor
beside her. Kneeling, he held the ring in one hand and her left hand
in the other.  "Donnatella Moss, will you marry me?" The ring hovered
there for a moment, waiting for her answer.

"Are you sure, Josh. Are you absolutely sure?" She never wanted him to
do anything he didn't want to.  Not even for her. "Cause I'm not going
anywhere.  One way or the other, I think you're stuck with me
forever."

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life." He smiled
reassuringly. "'Cause between me living through Rosslyn and you living
through, you know, the Big One, I think we might just survive
marriage." He paused, almost holding his breath.  "So what do you
say?"

Tears trailed down her face as she laid her hand on his cheek, "Of
course I'll marry you, Josh. I'd be proud to marry you."

He grinned and slid the ring on her finger. Climbing back up to sit on
the bed, he pulled her into his arms. He didn't know how he ever got
so lucky. First, he'd been given a second chance at life after
Rosslyn. And now he'd been given a second chance at life with Donna.
With everything he had, everything he was, he vowed then not to waste
any of it. Not a day. Not a moment. Not a second.

"Merry Christmas, Joshua," Donna whispered in his ear.

"Merry Christmas, Donnatella," he whispered back.

Epilogue 1/2 to follow



Epilogue 1/2 - ADULT (If you'd prefer the less smutty version - click
on the link marked 'MATRUE')

Josh trudged tiredly up the stairs.  Spending four days on the West
Coast had been murder.  The President had made a fundraising swing
through Washington state, Oregon, Nevada and California, including a
stop to help promote Sam's campaign. Thankfully, this time things had
gone really well and they had avoided turning into "The Clampetts"
when they'd made their stop in Southern California. It had been great
to see Sam and Ainsley, who were now officially engaged, and since Sam
was now the presumptive winner for the Congressional race, Ainsley was
already planning a trip to DC to find them a house and see the other
members of the Sisterhood.

Of course, the hardest part of the trip for him had been being away
from Donna. He didn't like leaving her alone. She'd moved into his
apartment when they'd gotten back to DC a month ago. All things
considered, it had probably been the happiest month of his life. They
hadn't had their official "first date" yet because Donna said she
wanted to be completely healed before they did. According to Donna
that would be in another week or so. So, while they were engaged,
living together and, in point of fact, "sleeping together" in the
literal sense, there was no hanky panky going on. And that was okay
with Josh.  For the time being he was just thrilled she was alive and,
for the most part, whole. And he loved going to sleep with her in his
arms almost as much as he liked waking up in her arms.

To everyone's surprise, the Press had shown no interest in their new
relationship.  On the way back from California, Josh had pulled Danny
aside and asked him why that was.  Danny only smiled and said, "'Cause
Josh, we always knew it would happen, we just wondered when. Really
it's a non-story. See the thing is, we like Donna and hey, even with
your 'secret plans to fight inflation' we tolerate you and we know
that the two of you have been on the up and up. I lost the pool we had
going but it was okay, since you guys finally got your acts together."
Josh had asked him about the pool and what he'd chosen as a date. "The
night of the second Inauguration," he'd explained. "I was sure after
all the snowballs and her wearing your coat and sitting on your lap
you would have figured it out then.  Damn Kundu. Screwed up my
perfectly logical plans." With that he smiled and walked deeper into
the press area. Josh, a smile of his own on his face went back to see
CJ and tell her.

All in all, the Sisterhood was healing from its ordeal.

Ainsley had just gotten her cast off when they'd visited California,
but she was still fairly leery of riding in a car. The only exceptions
were if Sam was driving or at least riding with her in the car. And
she absolutely would not get behind the wheel of a car unless it was a
convertible, like her BMW, and the top was down. As long as there was
nothing over her head then she was okay with driving.

CJ still had a cast on her foot and probably would for another two
weeks. But at least she was scheduled to see the doctor tomorrow to
get her walking cast. With it, getting around wouldn't be quite such a
chore.  A walking cast would allow her to be able to walk fairly well
without her crutches, a cane maybe, but not crutches. However, getting
her on and off of Air Force One had been quite the production.  Since
it was all but impossible for her to maneuver the stairs, they had
continued to lift her to one of the rear doors on the cargo loader.
The press, of course, had teased her mercilessly but she'd promised
them that she would get her revenge so her spirits were high.

The good news was that her orthopedist felt that when the walking cast
came off her foot, it would be completely healed and she could start
some physical therapy to gain back strength and flexibility in her
foot. The bad news was that she'd admitted to becoming claustrophobic
since being trapped. For the most part, she seemed fine in the halls
and offices of the White House and her apartment, but she had a hard
time with elevators, small bathrooms, narrow stairwells and more than
once, Josh had seen her looking a bit panicked as she came out of a
small area, of which there were many, on Air Force One. Oddly, riding
in a car didn't seem to phase her.

And then there was Donna. The rehab on her knee was going well and
she'd been getting around pretty well on her own. She still couldn't
move as fast as she once had and just as the doctors in California had
said, her doctors here said that might never change.  Whenever they
were together he adjusted his stride so she could keep up with him.
Except for some lingering pain from her kidney surgery and where she'd
broken her rib, her overall health was improving every day. Tomorrow
was a big day for her as she had an appointment to have the stitches
in her knee removed.  The stitches on her back were the kind that
dissolved on their own so they needed no further tending.

Her health had improved to the point to where she'd been able to start
her new job with Toby just before Josh had left for the West Coast.
She and Toby had stayed behind in DC while CJ and Josh had gone with
the President. CJ had been about as miserable being away from Toby as
Josh had being away from Donna. But on the bright side, Toby and Donna
hadn't killed each other while they'd been gone so it looked like they
were going to be able to work together after all. Actually Josh knew
that Toby had a soft spot in his heart for Donna while also treating
her with a great deal of respect.  Donna on the other hand was the
perfect one to work with Toby. She was as impervious to his bellowing
and gruffness as she had been to Josh trying to fire her. Donna did
have one lingering problem though.  She was still terrified of the
dark.

Part of him could certainly identify with that.  After the shooting
he'd had to sleep with a light on low because waking in the dark made
the nightmare that much worse.  Donna couldn't be in a room without
light of some kind.  Being outside at night didn't seem to bother her
but being inside and in the dark gave her full blown panic attacks. So
he always made sure the night light he'd given her for Christmas was
plugged in and working when they went to bed. She also seemed to have
trouble sleeping when he was gone. Truth be told, they'd both had
trouble sleeping while he'd been gone. Seems that in the short time
they'd been together they'd both gotten used to sleeping in each
other's arms.

He pulled out his keys and found the one for the front door. Unlike
the days before the quake, when he would have gone straight to the
White House after getting off of Air Force One, he'd come straight
home instead. Home to Donna. It was a thought that warmed him deeply.
CJ had spoken to Toby shortly before they'd landed and he'd told her
that he'd sent Donna home an hour ago so she could get some rest. If
she'd still been at work, then he would have gone back to the White
House.  Basically, it broke down to him wanting to go to wherever she
was. He smiled and shook his head ruefully. Life had certainly changed
since Donna and CJ had left for their own "California Adventure."

Unlocking the door, he stepped inside. The lamp next to the couch was
turned on low but otherwise the room was quiet and deserted. Setting
his bag down by the door and taking off his coat, he started to call
out to her but stopped, realizing that that she might be asleep.

Walking to the bedroom, he stopped in the hallway, literally struck
dumb by what he saw.

The only light in the room was the bedside lamp and the nightlight
he'd given her, casting a lot of the room in half shadows. Donna was
lying on her stomach on the bed wearing a short plaid skirt, one of
his crisp, white long sleeved dress shirts with the sleeves rolled up
to her elbows, white stockings and what looked like penny loafers. Her
hair hung in a long blonde french braid down her back. Her legs were
bent at the knee and her feet were swinging back and forth. She looked
up from the magazine she was flipping through. "Hi," she said.  "I've
been waiting for you," she said innocently.  He realized then what she
was dressed like. She looked like she'd just stepped out of Catholic
girls' school. The only jewelry she wore was his ring on her finger.

Donna had been aware of him from the exact moment he'd put his key in
the lock. She'd also known when Air Force One had landed.  CJ had
called and told her. In fact, she'd been plotting this for the last
couple of days and had asked for CJ's help in the name of the
Sisterhood. She'd even gotten Toby involved by having him let her
escape the White House early enough to get home and get ready for
Josh's homecoming.  And boy did she had a few things planned for him.

The only thing that threw a shadow over what she was planning were her
doubts. Not about Josh but about herself. Part of her worried that it
would be no different with Josh than it had been with any of the
others. Well, it would be different because it was Josh and she loved
him but what if the earth still didn't move? What if the problem
hadn't been them?  What if it had been her?  What if that was just
something she just didn't have in her to feel with someone else?
She'd already decided that if that was the case, she wouldn't fake it.
She owed Josh more than that and she always wanted to be honest with
him. Just like she'd been honest with him two weeks ago when she'd
told him the truth of what happened with Steven. But she hadn't told
him about the orgasm situation, or lack thereof. So, if it didn't
happen for her when she was with him, she would tell him afterward and
from then on, enjoy it for what it was.

Josh swallowed at the sight of her and walked into the room. Stopping
when he got to the side of the bed he looked down at her. She looked
up at him from the bed, her blue eyes full of naked hunger. Tossing
the magazine off the bed, she slid, slowly ,deliberately off the bed
and stood in front of him. Reaching out, she started to loosen his
tie, "I missed you.  I missed you very, very much." And she had.
Missed him with a deep ache that only his return had eased.

"I missed you too.  You have no idea how much," he managed.  The spit
in his mouth seemed to have dried up. God, she smelled good. Her shirt
was unbuttoned just far enough to provide a teasing glimpse of her
cleavage. He felt a little like he'd stepped into the middle of a play
and didn't know his lines. In this case it wasn't all that unpleasant,
it was just...a tiny bit bewildering. "Um, Donna....?" he wasn't quite
sure what he wanted to say.

"Yes, Josh?" she said, sliding his tie free of his shirt.

Her voice was low and, even though she hadn't said anything remotely
suggestive, she'd made his whole body start to stir. "Um...You seem to
be wearing a very...interesting outfit."

She took a step back and looked up at him coyly, "Do you like it?  I
wore it just for you."

"I love it....I...but...you...Donna....Um, what's going on?  I'm confused."

That wasn't quite the response she'd been hoping for but she tried to
not let the sliver of doubt stop her. "I would think it would be
obvious. I'm attempting to seduce you." She ran her hands across his
shoulders and down his arms.  He had the best arms. Okay, there was no
part of him that she didn't think was the best. Well, she had no
direct knowledge of a few parts she was hoping to get a good view of
tonight, but in her fantasies they'd been the best of all.

He blinked. "It is obvious, but that's kind of why I'm confused. I
thought, well, I mean we talked about waiting until you were, you
know, all healthy again to take that step."

Mentally she relaxed just a bit.  So she wasn't totally blowing this.
His reluctance was out of concern for her not because she was being
too subtle or because he didn't want what she was offering. It gave
her a little confidence to continue. "That's very true. And healthy is
what I am."

He wanted to just accept what she was saying and jump her right now
but his consideration for her reigned him in. "But how do you know
that? I mean I know you've been feeling pretty good and doing great
with your physical therapy but you don't see the doctor until
tomorrow. You haven't even had the stitches in your knee taken out."

She smiled, "Yes. I did.  I saw the doctor yesterday. He took the
stitches out and gave me a once over." Her smiled faded from playful
to seductive. "Surprise."

He was speechless for a moment, "But I was going to go with you." He'd
been with her through her entire recovery period, including every
doctor's appointment. "I wanted to go with you." He wasn't angry, just
still a little confused.

"I know.  But it would have ruined the whole surprise aspect of my plan."

"Your plan? You mean you've been plotting and planning to seduce me?"
he swallowed, a little overwhelmed that she'd gone to so much trouble
for him.

"Yes, Joshua.  I call it the 'Donnatella Moss appendix' to the Lyman
Wooing and Fooling Around Plan."

It was beginning to dawn on him that what Donna was saying was that
sex was now a viable option for them. "I don't think I have any
condoms.  I was planning on getting some but I didn't have a chance
yet."

"Not a problem," she said. "As soon as I finished my antibiotics I
went back on the pill." She smiled, "Surprise again."

Oh, wow. She was just full of surprises tonight. Now, he smiled, "So I
don't remember getting a copy of the Donna Moss appendix to my plan."

"Yes, well, it was only available on a need-to-know basis and due to
the 'surprise' stipulation, you didn't need to know," she smiled.

"So..." he said. "The doctor said we could...."

She smiled and nodded, "He said because of my rib, you shouldn't throw
me around too much and because of my knee I shouldn't try to be a
contortionist but otherwise we're good."

She could see the wheels turning in his head. She leaned in so her
lips here near his ear.  "So what about you Joshua?" she whispered.
"Do you think I'm good? Or would you rather I was bad?" she nuzzled
her lips against him, just below his ear. "I can be anything you want.
 Tell me what you want me to do to you."

He frowned ever so slightly.  It was Donna and Donna's voice but that
last part didn't sound like her. More like something that she'd
memorized and was just reciting. "Donna?"

"Hmmm?" she said continuing to brush her lips along the side of his
neck.  She loved the way his skin felt against her lips.

"What are you doing?" He said softly.

Now the sliver of doubt found its mark but she didn't remove her lips
from his throat. "Again, I would think it would be obvious."

"No, I know what you're 'doing,' but what are you doing?"

She was beginning to feel the wheels coming off the wagon on the scene
she'd mentally rehearsed. One that she thought he'd like. Her nagging
self-doubt in this area began to seep back into her. Trying to salvage
the situation, her lips moved to brush over his ear, "I just want this
to be good for you."

'Oh,' he thought. Now he understood. She'd staged everything for him.
When she'd told him about Steven and why she'd left him the first time
Josh had been livid that anyone would treat her like that. He was
still trying to decide how he could best make Dr. Freeride pay for
what he'd done.  He and Donna had talked about a lot of things that
night.  She'd told also told him a little bit about Freeride's
penchant of letting her service him while not giving much back to her
in return. Again, another black mark against Dr. Asshole. On one hand,
he was touched that she'd gone out of her way to plan things for him
but on the other, what he really wanted was to make things good for
her.  She deserved that after all that had happened.

Gently, he slid his hands to her shoulders and eased her back from
him. "Is that why you dressed up for me?" She nodded and he saw the
rampant self-doubt in her eyes. Silently he'd cursed Freeride and
anyone else who'd put it there. "Donna.  It's not that I don't
appreciate you bringing the equipment or making things interesting and
in the future I might want to explore it further, but when it comes
down it, I don't need costumes or games or anything like that. The
fact that we're both in the same room and relatively healthy is all I
need." He saw her eyes clear a bit. "You said you wanted me to tell
you what I want. Okay. But I'd rather tell you what I 'need.'"  He
leaned in and this time it was his lips brushing over her ear, "Better
yet, let me show you. Can I show you what I need, Donna?"

The feeling of his lips barely touching her and the sound of his
voice, low and incredibly sexy, made all doubt vanish.  It was
replaced by a healthy dose of lust. "Yes," she managed to answer with
a slight nod.

"Good," he whispered. Leaning back his hands moved to her braid.
Slipping the ponytail holder off the end of it, he began to slowly
loosen the thick strands of her hair. Gently, his hands moved up into
her hair along her scalp, gently massaging it until her hair fell
loose like a golden waterfall down her back. "I love your hair down.
It's so soft," he whispered.

Donna shivered. She hadn't realized her scalp would be such an erotic
zone. His touch there was sending heat through her entire body.

Bringing his hands around, he stroked her jaw and leaning in he
planted light, feather kisses along her cheek and up along her temple.

Donna had not figured on Josh for going slow, especially for their
first time. She wasn't used to slow and it was driving her insane. The
planning for tonight and her thoughts about it had already gotten her
charged up and now that he was doing what he was doing, she wondered
if it was possible to simply die from the anticipation. He was doing
the seducing now and she knew it.

Since he was still placing those maddeningly soft kisses on her face,
she felt, rather than saw, his hands move to the front of the shirt
she was wearing. His kisses moved down her cheek and to her neck as he
undid the first button. Then with each button he opened, the kisses
moved downward, to the newly exposed skin. The kisses had changed now.
 They were no longer light, feather kisses. They were slow, open
mouthed kisses and she could feel the slightest brush of his tongue as
he tasted her skin. She watched him as he pulled her shirt free from
her skirt and knelt in front of her to undo the last two buttons. The
shirt fell open and he kissed the flesh just above the waist band of
her skirt. Reaching around, he found the zipper on the back of the
skirt and unzipped it. Sliding it slowly down, he removed it and her
shoes and then leaned back to look at her.

'God, she is amazing,' he thought.  She was dressed in all white now.
Thigh high stockings. His white dress shirt. A silky white bra and
matching thong panties. The blue depths of her eyes watched him. He
wanted to go slow but, God, it was almost too much. He started
whispering the roster for the Mets in the back of his mind to give him
a little bit of control. He took a breath and laid his hands on her
hips. "You're so beautiful, Donnatella." Pulling her hips forward
slightly, he leaned in to nibble on her through her panties. He could
tell she was already wet, already ready for him. But he wanted her
beyond ready. He wanted her greedy for him.

"Josh," she all but whimpered it. Technically, because her panties
were between them he wasn't even touching her but what he was doing
felt amazing and every nerve in her body was on fire for him.

Josh smiled against her as he heard her say his name like that. Not
wanting to send her over too quickly he set about finishing his task.
His hands moved to her stockings. As much as he liked them, this time
he wanted to enjoy the long alabaster length of her legs.

Donna saw what he was about to and had a sudden flash of panic. In
addition to the fact they were part of the outfit and she thought Josh
would like them, she'd also worn them to cover the still-healing scars
on her knee. "No," she said, putting her hand over his to stop them
from taking off the stockings.

He frowned. "What?"

"Please, I just...couldn't I leave them on?" she was almost begging him.

"Why?" he asked softly, although he suspected the answer.

"I...they...can't we just leave them on?"

He could see the trepidation in her eyes.  She was afraid of him
seeing her knee, he guessed, and the scars. "Donna," he said moving
his hands to her left knee and caressing it gently. "Don't be afraid.
You don't ever have to hide anything from me."

She was slightly mortified she was being so silly about the whole
thing but she couldn't help it, any more than she could help the tears
that pooled in her eyes, obscuring her vision of him. "But
it's....ugly."

Her tears tore at him. "No, it's not," he argued softly, his thumb
still brushing over it gently.  "It's a permanent badge of honor.
Something to be proud of. You've worked very hard for all your scars.
You came through something terrible and they show you survived." She
still looked a little dubious. "Do you think my chest is ugly because
of my scars?" he asked softly.

"Oh, God, no, Josh.  I would never think that," she said, quickly, honestly.

"Would you want me to leave my shirt on when we make love?"

The parallel was not lost on her. "No," she said, softly.  "I'd want
to see all of you. Touch all of you. Maybe the scars most of all." She
paused. "They show you came back to me, that despite them you're alive
to be with me." Her fear remained but his words had given her courage.
"Okay," she said softly.

He watched her for a moment.  "You sure?"

"Yeah."

Slowly, his hands moved to the top of her left stocking and began to
slowly roll it down her leg. His fingertips traced the newly exposed
skin. When he got to her knee he carefully slid the stocking over it.
It was still ever so slightly swollen but looked much better without
the stitches and seemed to be healing really well. He was silently
pleased. Leaning in he brushed his lips over the three pink and
puckered scars. He looked up at her. "It's beautiful Donna.  Nothing
that was a part of you could be anything but." She smiled down at him
and it was a powerful feeling to know that he'd made her feel better
about it. Sliding the stocking the rest of the way down, he tossed it
aside. He slowly removed her other stocking and then stood back up.
Silently he began unbuttoning his shirt. When it was undone she helped
him slide it off his shoulders, then he pulled of his t-shirt and
added it to the growing pile of their clothing. "Now we're even," he
said.

Donna looked at his chest for a moment. It wasn't the first time she'd
seen them but it seemed to be a moment when the normally unimportant
things took on importance. She ran her hands over his chest, letting
her fingers trace over his scars gently.

The way she was touching him did nothing to help him keep up his slow
pace. "As much as I like it when you touch me, I'm not done showing
you what I need," he said, gently lowering her hands back to her
sides. Moving his hands to her shoulders he pushed the shirt from her
shoulders and let it drop to the floor. Next was her bra. He slid his
fingers into the front of her bra, undid the front closure and
separated the two halves. Her breasts spilled free into his hands and
he held them in his hands for a moment, enjoying the weight of them
and the way Donna arched toward him when he brushed his thumbs over
the already stiff peaks.  Bending slightly he pulled the rosy tip of
one into his mouth as he slid her bra the rest of the way off. That
netted him a small moan that escaped her mouth as he continued to
tease her breasts with his mouth and his hands.

She didn't know how she was staying upright. In fact at that point,
Donna wasn't even sure which way WAS up. Josh was her new center of
gravity, and wherever he was she was pulled toward him. Her eyes were
closed as he tasted her, but she felt his hands move to her hips again
and slide under the waistband of her panties.  Then he was sliding
them off of her. She felt them brush over her legs as they fell too
the floor.  Automatically she stepped out of them and toed them aside.

Josh linked their hands and stepping back, he held out their arms so
he could look at her.  At the bare alabaster length of her body in all
its naked glory. "This is what I need.  Just you. All I need is you."
He released her hands, "And right now I need you to lie down on the
bed."

She did as he asked and lay down. So far things weren't going quite as
she had planned. But that wasn't a bad thing.  In fact, it was a very
good thing. She'd already felt more with him she she'd ever felt with
anyone else.  It was as if he made her body something new for them
both to discover. It was tight with need and begging for release.  As
she lay naked before him, she wanted to feel self-conscious but the
look in his gaze made it impossible. Sitting on the side of the bed,
he slowly undressed. Removing his pants and then his socks, but
leaving on his boxers.  They did nothing to hide the fact that she
wasn't the only one who was being affected by what was going on
between them.

Laying his pants over a chair he turned back to her.  She was
something from straight out of his fantasies. The long naked length of
her stretched out on his bed and waiting for him. Her eyes were hungry
and expectant at what he was going to do next. He switched off the
lamp, leaving the nightlight as the room's only illumination and sat
down next to her on the bed.

His hand moved to her cheek, "Do you know how much I love you?  How
much I want you...have wanted you?"

With a smile on her face, she slid her hand down to his boxers and
caressed his hardness through the material. "I have a pretty good
idea," she said with a smile. Her caress and her expression turned hot
and serious as her hand moved inside his boxers to stroke him
directly.

Her touch was shaking him to the core. But he knew that if she kept
doing what she was doing the evening was going to be over very quickly
and he had too many plans to let that happen. "You are the little minx
aren't you?" he said, trying to remember to breathe.

The effect she was having on him was obvious and she loved it. "You're
not the only one who can be impatient, Joshua."

He grinned and gently, reluctantly, pulled her hand away. "Aren't you
the one always telling me a little patience is good thing?" He paused
and kissed her hand before laying it back on the bed.  "Tonight, I
intend to see that it's a very good thing and I can't do that if
you're making me crazy by touching me like that." Leaning in he
captured her mouth in a lingering, burning kiss. His tongue slid into
her mouth and tasted her, devoured her. Instead of slacking his hunger
for her it only increased it. He would never get tired of kissing her.

Donna felt like she was drowning in Josh's kisses and she wanted
nothing more than to be pulled under. His kisses were always amazing
and left her feeling dazed and wanting more. But this was beyond that.
It was like her body had gone through some transformation and his
kisses and his touch now rivaled oxygen as the basic things she needed
to live. Something she simply and literally couldn't survive without.

As he continued kissing her, his hands began to roam her body.
Searching. Teasing. Learning her body intimately in a way he hadn't
had a chance to before. Her skin was warm and soft under his hands and
he loved exploring the contours of it. The hollows around her collar
bone. The rounded curve of her breast. The flat plains of her stomach.
The ridge of her pelvis as his hand skimmed down across her hip. The
gentle slope of her inner thighs as he teased them apart with his
hand. The texture of her golden curls as his hand moved between them.

"Josh...please Josh," she begged, her breathing ragged and her body
aching with painful need.

"What, Donna?" he asked softly, his breath nearly as ragged as hers.
"Tell me what you want."

She laid a hand on his shoulder, gripping it to try and hold onto her
sanity. "Touch me...please.  Just touch me.  Aches.  Make it feel
better," she begged.

"Is this what you want? Is this where it aches?" Dipping his fingers
he found her wet, hot center and moving his thumb over her clit in a
slow circle, he touched her gently.

"Yes.  Oh.  OH. JOSH!" she choked and lost the ability for coherent
speech. The orgasm that roared through her took her by complete
surprise. She simply hadn't felt anything like it before. Not even the
ones she'd given herself had come anywhere near what slammed through
her. Talk about apples and oranges. Her back arched, bringing her up
off the bed. The hand gripping Josh's shoulder flexed and her nails
dug hard into his flesh. If he minded he made no sound. His thumb kept
making the same maddeningly slow stokes over her clit as the orgasm
continued to flood her senses. She tried to laugh at the joy of it but
it came out as a strangled sob as the breath in her lungs refused to
cooperate.

'God, she's beautiful,' he thought as he watched her being swept away
by what she was feeling. And responsive. It had only taken a few
touches to send her completely over. He watched her trembling body
arch in a fluid line. Felt her nails dig into his shoulder and he
smirked, not minding a bit, as he continued to stroke her. A sob broke
from her then, but from the way she pushed her hips toward his hand
and the smile on her face he knew it was all right.  More than all
right. Like a ball reaching the top of its arc, her body began to come
down and he slowed his touch until she lay limp against the sheets.
She watched him with half-closed eyes, her chest heaving slightly from
the exertion.

His eyes never leaving hers, he pulled his hand back and slid his
thumb into his mouth to suck the taste of her off it. Mmm, Donna.  He
loved the way she tasted. Definitely something to explore again later.
 Right now he needed to be inside her.

Donna watched him as he drew his thumb in his mouth to taste her.  The
sight of it only added to tingle that still sang through her body.
That had been...indescribable. Now she wanted, no needed, to see what
he felt like inside her. She felt loose and limber and relaxed and yet
energized all at the same time. Sitting up, she leaned in and kissed
him. "Josh?" she said, her voice low.

"Yes, Donnatella?" he said with a smirk.

Her lips lingered near his ear. "Now that we've seen the opening act,
I'd like move onto the main event. Lose the boxers. Now." That wiped
the smirk right off his face. She leaned back against the pillows, a
self-satisfied smirk on her face. Her eyes followed him as he stood,
shucked off his boxers and turned back to her. She made a little
twirling motion and he turned around for her inspection.  He was
magnificent, everything her fantasies had promised, exceeded by what
reality had delivered. "Perfect," she whispered. "Now come here."

He didn't need to be told twice and he slid into bed with her. Her
arms went around him as she pulled him close and kissed him. Pulling
back slightly she looked into his eyes. She had the most incredible
eyes he'd ever seen. Especially now, when she was relaxed, and, he
assumed, happy, they were a deep, clear blue. He could happily drown
in her eyes. "I love you," she whispered to him, making his heart
swell in his chest. Hearing her say the words always affected him like
that. "And to say I've wanted you with an ache nothing else could
quench would be an understatement." Those words made his body tighten
that much more. He bent and kissed her and felt her roll onto her
back, pulling him with her and on top of her. Being careful of her
still-healing rib, he put his elbows down on each side of her to take
some of weight off her upper body.

As she kissed him, she felt his weight shift above her and she opened
her legs to settle him more deeply against her. The hard length of him
pressed against her center, thrilling her like nothing she could
describe. Ending the kiss she raised her hand to his cheek.  "Josh, I
need you inside me."

"There's nowhere I'd rather be," he said softly. Lifting her legs
higher around his waist he drew back slightly and slid, slowly, very
slowly into her. Her body was hot, wet and tight around him. "Oh, God,
Donna. You feel amazing." Looking down at her he smiled softly, "I'm
not hurting you am I?"

There were no words for how he felt inside her. "No, Josh. You feel
perfect. You fill me so completely me in every way. I love how you
feel inside me. Now I need you to move. Please, Josh."

Simply nodding he drew almost the whole way out and then slid back in.
He heard her breath catch and then quicken as a slow rhythm built
between them. Feeling her so tightly around him brought his body to
the edge quickly. But he didn't think she was quite ready yet.
"Donna," he said, slowing his thrusts. "Do you want to be on top?" he
asked her with a little smirk.

'On top?' she thought. She'd always wanted to try that but after
Steven had ignored her requests she'd stopped asking. Her heart
swelled at the fact Josh was being so considerate and open with her.
She smiled back, an excited gleam in her eye. "Yes."

Still inside her, he grinned back at her interest in the idea and
after unlocking her legs from around his waist, slowly rolled them
over so he was under her. Then with a seductive smirk on her face he
watched as she rose above him.  And grimaced.  "What is it?" he asked,
concerned.

"My knee," she said. In the heat of the moment they'd both forgotten
about the fact that to be on top she'd be kneeling as she straddled
him and her knee just wasn't up for that yet. Tears of pain and
frustration were already coming to her eyes. She'd wanted this night,
their first time together, to be so perfect and she was ruining it.

He saw the tears and mistakenly thought they were only about the
physical pain in her knee. "Come here," he said pulling her back down
onto his chest to take the weight off her knee.

"I'm sorry," she said as she rested against his chest.

That surprised him. "What are you sorry for?  I'm sorry I didn't think
about your knee." He rubbed her back in small comforting circles.

"But it was a great idea.  I really liked the idea.  I always wanted
to.  But I've never," she said, babbling as she often did when she was
upset. "And wanted tonight to be so great and now I've wrecked it."
She buried her face in his shoulder.

"Donna.  Donna, look at me," he said, firmly. After a moment, she
raised her face to his. The tears there tore at his heart. He took her
face in his hands, "Listen to me.  Are you listening?  You wrecked
nothing. Nothing.  Tonight has been wonderful. Anytime I can be with
you, whether it's inside you, beside you or just in the same room with
you, is wonderful." He paused and took a breath. "Okay?"

She looked at him, new tears threatening to begin because he was so
incredible and understanding. "Okay," she said with a nod and a
slightly watery smile.

"Good," he said, happy to see her smile again. Then he smirked.  "Now.
What you failed to realize is there are many other positions we can
try until we find one that works. In fact, I think I'll run by Borders
tomorrow and pick you up a book on the subject so you can see what I'm
talking about. But for now, we'll just have to be a bit creative." His
smirk got bigger, "And if there's one thing I'm 'up' for it's
creativity."

She grinned wickedly at him. "Yeah, I can feel how 'up' you are for
it," she said, shifting enough to have him moving inside her, making
both of them groan slightly.

"There, that's the smart-ass Donna I know and love," he said, swatting
her playfully on the behind. "Now...," he thought for a moment and had
a flash of inspiration. He looked to his right. "...ahh, yes. Just the
thing. You'll have to, you know, let me up though," he said. "'Cause
although it might be interesting for me to try and carry you in
the...position...we're in, somehow I don't think we'd make it without
me dropping you." She pouted playfully, but moved off him, slowly,
very slowly, clenching around him as slid out of her. "God, Donna,
you're going to kill me, you know."

Missing the feeling of him inside her already, she grinned at him and
sat on the edge of the bed. She watched him roll off the bed and move
to the side of the room. Her eyes lingered over his cute butt as he
pushed everything off a low padded chair he had sitting next to the
dresser and brought it over and put it down in front of her.  Taking a
seat on it, he grinned and crooked his finger at her.

Without a word, she went to him and facing him, straddled his lap.
"Joshua, you can definitely bring the creativity," she said as she
leaned down to kiss him. The chair had no arms so her legs were only
slightly bent and it was low enough her feet could still reach the
floor so she had some leverage.

"Yeah," he said, pleased with his own ingenuity.  Then Donna shifted
and he slid back inside her. "Oh, yeah," he gasped at the feeling of
her. "That's me, Mr. Creativity." His hands moved to her waist as hers
moved to grip his shoulders. "How you doin' there, Donnatella?"

"I'm good," she said, her hair falling slightly forward around her
face. "You get big creativity points for this one."  Never having been
in this position before, she didn't exactly know what to do but she
just did what felt natural and began moving her hips against him. She
didn't know which one of them gasped louder as she did. "Oh, yes," she
whispered. "Big points." The position they were in had him hitting
what seemed to be the sweet spot deep inside her while allowing her
clit to rub against him. It was too much and it was not enough. It was
agony and utter pleasure. It was completely new and yet timelessly
familiar.

He thrust up into her as she rode him. Pulling one of her nipples in
his mouth he bathed it with his tongue and smiled as he heard her
gasp. His body was tight and greedy for release. He didn't remember
ever wanting to take this much time or even being physically able to
take this much time with anyone before and he was glad it was with
her. Prolonging Donna's pleasure had the unplanned benefit of
increasing his. His body was balanced on the edge ready to fall over
if he'd let it and if the death grip Donna had on his shoulders was
any indication, she was very close.

"Josh," she ground out. "I'm....I'm." She couldn't even form the
words. Her body was leaning over the precipice but she wasn't scared.
She knew if she fell over she would fly. Josh had given her the wings.

"Let it go, Donna.  Let yourself go.  For me."

His words were the gentle nudge that sent her over completely. She
cried out to him as she came. The orgasm slammed through her and all
the deep worries about not being able to feel this with Josh fell
away. It was as if her body had been lacking some essential element
and it was Josh.  As if there had been one part of an equation missing
and he was the solution that made her whole. Sex with Josh was like
stepping from the shadows into the sunlight.  It was heat and warmth
and light and life.

Josh heard her call to him as she came and felt it in the taut,
trembling lines of her body. He was already so close and it was all he
needed for his own release. Pulling her hips in tight to him he thrust
up into her and came deep inside her. It wasn't quite like anything
he'd ever felt with anyone else.  But part of him acknowledged that
was simply because it was Donna. She'd changed his life and everything
he'd done, whether it be in the bedroom, the hospital, the White House
or the Starbucks up the street, with her was unique and unlike
anything that had gone before. His softening cock still inside her,
she collapsed against him, sated and relaxed.  Her arms slid around
his neck as he wrapped his arms around her. Both of them were
breathing heavily and trying to recover from what they'd both shared.
Feeling like he owned the world and could do anything, he stood up
with her still against him and after positioning himself so he took
most of their weight, tumbled them back onto the bed. "You see, Donna.
Creativity. And I am the King of Creativity."

She grinned, "Yes, Joshua. You are the King, in fact, I'll even go so
far as to say, you are 'da man.'" Leaning in, she kissed him long and
slow. Something occurred to her right then and she pulled away from
him. "I'll be right back," she said. Sliding off the bed she walked
into the living room to find her purse.

"Where are you going?" he asked her as he pulled on his boxers.
Curiosity got the better of him and he followed her naked body as it
disappeared from the bedroom. He found her pulling her PDA out of her
purse. He glanced at the scars on her back. They were still pink and
puckered but they too were healing well. Sliding his arms around her
waist from behind, he rested his chin on her shoulder. "What are you
doing?"

Enjoying the feeling of his body pressed up against her she laughed
and wiggled her butt against him playfully. "Leaving myself a note to
send a dozen roses to CJ and Ainsley tomorrow." She had to tell both
of them they'd been right.  Apparently all she really did need was to
be with the right person. Josh had definitely been the one to show her
what she'd been missing.

"Okay, but shouldn't I be the one getting flowers, since I'm, you
know, the King of Creativity and all?"

"Nope.  But if you play your cards right, I may bring you coffee in
the morning."

"Really?!" he said, suddenly as excited as a six-year-old going to
Disneyland for the first time.

She grinned as she finished making the note in her PDA. "Yeah."

"So why do CJ and Ainsley get flowers? Is it some secret Sisterhood
ritual thing?" he asked as she put it back in her purse.

Donna rolled her eyes as she turned around in his arms to face him,
"Yeah, Josh. That's exactly it."

"You're not going to tell me what the flowers are about are you?"

"No, I don't think so. You seem pretty smug and pleased with yourself
right now and I don't want to swell your head any more than it already
is," she replied, pulling out of his arms and walking into the kitchen
for some water.

"Oh, so it's about me," he grinned, now on the trail of something
interesting. "Tell me what it is," he said following her into the
kitchen.

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Na uh," she said, pulling a bottle of water out of the fridge.

"Pretty please?" he begged.

"No."

"With sugar on it?"

"Josh," she warned.

"And a cherry?" he said, this time throwing in a playful pout.

She laughed in spite of herself. Could he be more annoying?  Or any
cuter? "All right. It's against my better judgment. But...okay....God,
I can't believe I'm telling you this." She took a breath as Josh
jumped up on the counter to hear her story. "When CJ, Ainsley and I
were in the car, we talked about a lot of...intimate and deeply
personal things."

"Okay...." he said, wondering where she was going with this.

"I told them something and they gave me some advice and the flowers
are to thank them and tell them they were right." She held onto some
shred of hope that he would take that as enough of an answer and drop
it. But, of course, that was a pipe dream of the first order.

He grinned at her, "They told you to tell me you loved me.  Right?
They told you to go after some 'Lyman-lovin.'"

"Okay, see...right there," she said, waving her finger back and forth
between them.  "That's why I don't want to tell you things sometimes."

"I'm sorry," he said, looking instantly contrite. "You're right.  I'll
be serious.  What did you tell them and what advice did they give
you?"

God, she was mortified to tell him this. "We were comparing sexual
notes, I guess you'd call it. The first time, the best time, the worst
time, that kind of thing. I told them that...that...I...never, well
that is to say had never...."

He could see whatever it was really bothered her. Sliding off the
counter he came and put his hands on her arms. "Hey, take a breath,
Donna. Whatever it is, you can tell me.  You told me about Steven and
that had to be monumentally hard. You can tell me this too."

Donna let out a breath and with a nod, squared her shoulders. "I told
them that none of my partners had ever...ever...given me an orgasm."

Well, he hadn't expected that. "What do you mean?  What about Freeride
and Jack and I don't know....whoever?"

She shook her head, "No."

Wow. 'I'm so da man,' he thought. He didn't say that though, as he was
beginning to see this was kind of a sensitive subject for her. "Donna?
 Have you ever....before tonight?" he asked her instead.

"They asked me that, too, and yes I have." She waited to see what he
had to say to that.

"But you said...oh," he said, as what she was saying began to sink in.

"Actually I have you to thank for that too. I usually had them when I
was thinking about you," she said with a small smirk on her face.

"Really?" Hmmm, now there was interesting image. Donna thinking of him
and doing...stuff and...oh. Maybe it was time to think about taking
this back into the bedroom. He took her hand and started to gently
pull her in that direction. "Do you think you could demonstrate? I
mean, just to make sure I fully understand."

Because she knew he completely understood what she meant and was being
really great about it, even taking an avid interest, she smiled, "If
you ask me very, very nicely. But just not tonight, I'm not up for
'demonstrations.'  My boyfriend is about to get lucky again and I'd
like to focus my attention on him."

He smirked, "Ahkay." God, he loved being the 'boyfriend.'

"So what was the advice you're thanking them for?" He asked as they
walked into the bedroom.

"Well, I was worried there was something wrong with me and not my
partners. But CJ and Ainsley said they were sure it wasn't that.  They
thought I just needed to be with the right person and he would show me
what I'd been missing."

"And it was me, right? I showed you," he said, bouncing a bit. "Please
say I'm right."

She smiled, "Yes Joshua, you're right. You definitely showed me."

"So that's great.  I didn't get to be the first but I, you know, got
to be the 'first.'"

"Yeah, CJ called it right. She said she thought it would be you
because the way we banter was the equivalent of verbal foreplay," she
told him as they stopped by the bed.

He grinned, his dimples making an appearance. "Put down another dozen
roses for CJ from me."

"Okay." She paused, her body already tingling again and her breath
quickening at the thought of more 'Lyman-lovin.' God, that was going
to be stuck in her head from now on.  "Before we get back to what we
were doing before...there is one other thing I wanted to talk to you
about."

"What is it?" he sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her to
him.  His mouth started tasting the skin on her stomach.

That thing he did with his tongue and her belly button was amazing.
What was she going to say? It took her a minute to rise above what he
was doing to her. Then she remembered.  Oh, yeah.  Taking a breath,
she tried to steady herself. "Josh?" she said taking his chin in her
hand and pulling his face up to look at her.  "Focus for just a second
and I'll let you get back to what you were so expertly doing." 'Josh
isn't the only one who needs to focus, Donna,' her brain whispered.
She had to stay in control if she was going to get this out. "I was
talking to the Sisterhood about Sam and Ainsley's wedding.  You know
they're planning on having it in the White House Rose Garden in the
spring, right?"

"Yeah, I know.  Toby and I are already going to stand up with him," he
said, not seeing where she was going with her line of questioning.

"Well, like I said, we were talking and the idea was brought up that
it would be really great if we could have a...a...double wedding."
Then, in anticipation of the Josh's objections, the babbling started.
"I mean the Rose Garden has never seen a 'double' wedding and you know
that the President and Abbey would totally get a kick out of it and CJ
said that she could stand up with me and Ainsley and Toby could stand
up with you and Sam....."

"Donna?"

"And it really wouldn't be that much more work to plan a double
wedding than a single one."

"Donna."

"All it would really mean would be a few more guests."

"Donna."

"Of course I'd have to find a dress but..."

"DONNA!"

"Yeah?" she said quietly, unsure of what he was going to say.

He laid his hands on her shoulders, "First of all.  Take a deep
breath," he said gently, waiting until she did. "Good. Now if you'll
just be quiet for like 30 seconds we can take care of this piece of
business and get back to what we were doing. Nod if you can wait 30
seconds."  She did and he smiled. "Okay. I love you and as long as I
get to marry you, I don't care so much about where or when it happens.
 You want to get married in the Rose Garden, the Roosevelt Room, the
Mural Room, the bullpen, my office, Leo's office, the Oval Office,
okay so the President would have to buy off on that one, here in the
townhouse, in a church, at a Justice of the Peace, today, tomorrow,
next week, in the spring or the summer or next Christmas, which is
where I draw the line as to the when because I don't want to wait any
long than that, but otherwise, it doesn't matter to me.  As long as
you're the part of the equation, I'm a happy guy. Just tell me where
and when to show up and don't forget to invite my mother." He took a
breath of his own and smiled.  "Okay?"

Donna smiled back at him, "Really?"

He grinned, "Really. What, did you honestly think I would throw a
nutty and refuse?  Even if I wanted to refuse, which I don't, I'm sure
that the Sisterhood and the President have me out voted and I'd be
showing up at the appointed time with the Secret Service escorting me
at gunpoint."

She grinned at him, "Well, not at gunpoint."

He bowed his head and ran a hand over his face, "Oh, my God you've
actually discussed that possibility haven't you?"

"Only in jest."

"Well," he said scooping her up in his arms. "Tell the President and
the Sisterhood that you don't need to play the Secret Service card.
I'd be happy to marry you whenever and wherever you'd like." He laid
her down on the bed, pulled off his boxers and climbed in with her.
"Now. If we're finished with that topic I believe there was something
we were going to get back to."

"Oh? And what was that? You may need to refresh my memory," Donna
said, innocently.

"I'm sure I'll find a number of ways to do that." He grinned, causing
his dimples to jump out in all their glory as he leaned in to kiss
her. "After all, I am the King of Creativity."

Epilogue 2a & 2b/2 follows



Epilogue 2/2 - ADULT (if you'd like to read the less smutty version,
click on the link marked MATURE)

New Year's Eve day arrived clear and frigid in the nation's Capitol.
And Josh was experiencing it firsthand as he stood on the curb outside
the interim D.C. offices. He pulled out his pocket watch and checked
the time. She was running late. Her meeting must have run long, he
guessed. Which worked out well for him since his staff meeting had run
late anyway. He fingered the watch for a moment, remembering when
she'd given it to him. Even after 20 years it still ran perfectly. Of
course, it helped that she always made sure it was wound every
morning. He smiled. She had never stopped looking after him.

As if on cue, the elegant black limo rounded the corner and drove
toward him. As soon as it had rolled to a stop, Josh followed his
usual habit of rather than waiting for the driver to get out and open
the door for him, he pulled it open himself and climbed in.

"Hi guys," he said to the two occupants in the front seat. Peter
Lewis, their driver and Liam Evans, head of their security. While both
of them were technically employees, they were also very close friends.

"Good afternoon, sir," they both replied.  Peter had been with them
for 15 years and Liam for 10. As many times as they had tried to break
the two of them of the habit, they never called either of them
anything but 'sir' and 'ma'am.' He turned to his wife of more than 20
years.

Looking elegant, stylish and trim in her Donna Karan Classics sage
green wool suit and long winter white wool coat, she was reading
through some files she'd picked up from the pile beside her on the
seat. Her hair was up in sleek French twist and the reading glasses
she'd fought so hard against having until her headaches and eyestrain
got so bad the Sisterhood composed of Ainsley, CJ, and Abbey had
personally escorted her to the eye doctor, were perched on the bridge
of her nose. Even after 20 years and five children, she was the most
beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

To the casual observer, she seemed oblivious to his presence. But he
could tell just from the slight upward tilt of the corner of her mouth
and the way her shoulders were imperceptivity turned toward him, that
she was very aware of his presence. After all their time together,
he'd learned to read her as well as she could read him. "Hello,
beautiful," he said. "Come here often?"

Without looking up, she smiled. "I think you need to work on your
material, Mr. Lyman. Try another line like that and I'll have Liam
throw you out of the car."

"Na, he wouldn't do that. He likes me."

She grinned, while continuing to read, "Yeah, but he's scared of me,
so he'd do it anyway."

Josh chuckled, "Well, I can't argue with you there." He leaned in
closer and caught the slight tremor that went through her as his
breath touched her neck, "The rest may have been a line but I meant
what I said about the 'beautiful' part."

Turning her head slightly she smiled seductively at him, "You do know
how to bring the compliments, Joshua.  I'll give you that much.

"Only for you, Donnatella," he said, leaning in to kiss her.

Their lips met and Donna was flooded with the same heat his kisses
always inspired. Time and family had done nothing to dull that. "I
missed you today," she said, when they parted. "I'm sorry I'm late.
The meeting ran long.  I can't believe how much she wants to get
accomplished," she said, indicating all the files she had spread
around her. "It's a little staggering."

Josh put his arm behind her across the back of the seat, "I know that
you will rise to this new challenge as brilliantly as you've met all
the others." He kissed her again. "And I missed you too."

"How did staff go today?" she asked him, setting the files aside.

"Great.  Things are really shaping up. I know we won't be in office
for another couple of weeks but I have to say, I never quite
appreciated how much Leo had to deal with in a day until I became
chief of staff."

They were both quiet a moment as they each remembered Leo.  President
Bartlet had succumbed to his long battle with MS about five years ago
and Leo had followed him a year later when he'd died of liver cancer.
The absence of two such great men had left a huge whole in their
lives.

When the Bartlet administration had ended, a lot of changes had come
over the Sister and Brotherhoods. As expected, Sam had won the
congressional race for the California 30th so the Sister and
Brotherhoods had been in D.C. in full force for it all.  Only a few
months after Bartlet left office, Josh and Donna had their first
child, a girl, Katherine Delores Lyman, or "Katie" as they called her.
Toby and CJ got married. The two of them went in with Josh and formed
their own consulting firm that specialized in getting D.C. politicians
elected. It was very similar to what Bruno Gianelli had done for
President Bartlet's re-election campaign.  Josh handled strategy, CJ
handled the media and spin and Toby straddled both worlds with a dash
of speech writing thrown in.

The consulting firm had allowed them to all stay in D.C. Toby loved
that because he and CJ could be near Molly and Huck.  Josh loved it
because he could be near Donna and Katie and their house just outside
of D.C. in Maryland. Being their own bosses also meant they could pick
and choose their clients and could set their own hours. When Katie was
a year old, Donna had gone back to school, attending Georgetown and
getting her degree in Political Science in two years. That's when
their second child, a son they named Noah Josiah Lyman, had arrived,
not two months after her graduation. Those early years after the
Bartlet administration were busy for them all but they had always
managed to find time to be together, even if it was just over dinner.
The 'Hoods' had survived and flourished, despite hectic schedules and
separate lives.

"Yeah, I can definitely identify with that," Donna replied, after a
moment. "I don't think serving in the Senate was as hard as being the
First Lady's chief of staff is going to be."

One of the things that Josh's consulting company had done was get
Donna elected to the Senate from the State of Maryland eight years
earlier. Popular and well respected both by her constituents and her
fellow Senators, she'd served one six-year term and loved it.

The firm had been very successful.  In addition to getting Donna
elected, they'd also gotten Sam elected to three additional terms in
congress, and then elected for two terms as governor of California.
Like Donna, Sam had been popular and well liked by his constituents.
Through the consulting firm, Josh had continued to be "the guy, the
guy depends on," which was how he liked it anyway, and he had never
run for office himself and had no plans to in the future.

At the end of Donna's term in the Senate, she had not run for
re-election, deciding instead to focus more on their kids and keep
things going on the homefront while Josh, Toby and CJ had mounted
their biggest project since getting President Bartlet elected.

Putting Sam Seaborn in the White House.

Sam had won in a landslide victory a few months earlier and was now
waiting, along with his Vice President and newest member of the
Brotherhood, one Will Bailey, to take office in a few short weeks. Sam
had already made Josh his Chief of Staff and Donna was firmly
entrenched as Ainsley's COS. The first thing Josh had done was to
appoint Charlie Young to be his Deputy. In addition to being senior
advisors to the new President, Toby and CJ would both oversee
Communications, and its new Press Secretary, also a ghost from the
past, one Carol Meyers, aka CJ's old assistant from the Bartlet White
House.

The press was already calling it the Bartlet Presidency all over
again.  Little did the press know, that while they'd all studied at
the feet of Jed Bartlet, someone whom they all idolized, the Seaborn
White House definitely had ideas of its own. One big one was the
importance of family and having some kind of life outside the White
House. The fact that they all had children and were used to having
playpens and play areas in their offices and the lessons they'd
learned from the break-up of Leo's marriage, Rosslyn, Josh's PTSD,
Zoey's kidnapping and the quake in San Diego, had driven home the fact
that life was short and each day was precious. Of course there would
be times when things would be stressful and long hours would be needed
at the office but time for the other things, things that reminded them
all of what they were fighting and working for, would also be a
priority.

"Well, of course it will be a challenge. That goes without saying, I
mean especially with her being a Republican and all," Josh grinned.

"Josh," she warned.  "Now you know you're supposed to leave her alone
about that. You promised you wouldn't tease her about it at the party
tonight.  You know how much heat she took in the press for that during
the election." The 'party' Donna referred to was the New Year's Eve
party they were throwing at their home later that night for Sam and
Ainsley, their three children and a small group of their closest
friends.

"I know. I'm just kidding.  I promise to behave at the party tonight.
You know I'm very fond of Ainsley. I think she'll make a fabulous
First Lady, not as good as you would, but fabulous never-the-less."

"Now see, there you go again..."

"What?! I said something nice," he complained.

"Yes, and if you'd let me finish I was going to say, 'Now there you go
again, saying things to make it completely impossible to be annoyed
with you," she grinned as she finished speaking.

"Oh."

Taking her glasses off, she gave him a seductive little smile, "You
know it occurs to me that this may be one of the last times we get to
ride in the car together like this. I mean our jobs are already
getting so demanding that there may be many times when we don't leave
the office at anywhere near the same time."

"Well, but at least we'll be working in the same building," he said,
not quite getting the point of what she was saying.

She gave him a little verbal nudge. "Or, you know, have time for more
'creative' activities."

He looked over at her. She was simply looking at him with 'the look.'
"Ohhhhh," he said, finally getting the point.  "Yes.  Last time.
Right, definitely shouldn't waste it. I'm always on board with the
finding time for more 'creative' pursuits plan," he said with a grin
letting her know that he got it. "Liam?" he called. "Mrs. Lyman and I
have a couple of things we need discuss in private so I'm going to
raise the screen. Oh, and Peter, it might take a little time, so let's
take the long way home."

"Yes, sir," they both replied.

Josh pressed the button that raised the privacy screen between them
and front seat. "So..." he said, picking up the files in her lap,
adding them to pile on the seat, sliding them into her brief case, and
then laying it up in the back window along with the back pack he still
carried. "Just how 'creative' are we feeling today?"

She tossed her glasses up next to her briefcase and slid her coat off.
"I've been feeling creative since lunch today. So I've got a lot of
pent-up creativity waiting to be released."

"Wow, lunch, huh? Well, I've got you beat. I started feeling creative
about 10 minutes after the creative breakfast we had this morning," he
said, slipping out of his coat and then his suit jacket.

"Josh? Are you taking Viagra and not telling me?" she teased him
slipping out of her suit jacket.  Truth was their sex life had never
been lacking not from their first time together right up until this
morning. They may be 20 years older but everything still worked. THEY
still worked.

"Na," he said unbuttoning his own shirt while he watched her begin
unbuttoning her blouse. "Who needs Viagra when I've got a sexy young
blonde for a wife?" And it was the truth. Most of the time all he had
to do was look at her and the 'creative' urge would strike. She slid
her blouse off and his mouth began to water as he saw her nipples
already straining up through the fabric of her bra. He reached out and
stroked her breast through the lace, hearing her breath catch as he
did. What happened next, simply blew him away and reminded him for the
hundred time that day why he loved her and why he could never seem to
get enough of her. She unzipped her skirt and slid it off. Underneath
was a treasure trove. She was wearing garters and stockings as she
often did but she seemed to be missing on piece of clothing.  Her
panties.  She had gone commando. His pants went from uncomfortable to
downright painful.

"Like what you see, or rather, what you don't?" she said with a smirk.

"You're not wearing...I mean you don't have any," he swallowed. "All
day?" He could have sworn she was wearing them when she'd gotten
dressed this morning.

"No, not all day.  Just since my meeting got over. I took them off
before I got in the limo and stuffed them in my coat pocket," she
said, enjoying his obvious pleasure at seeing her without underwear
on. Reaching down she picked up her coat and pulled them out of an
inner pocket, "See?" she said twirling them around her finger.
"Surprise."

Josh had to swallow again before he could speak, "So it wasn't a spur
of the moment decision to have sex in the limo was it? You had this
all planned."

"The Donna Moss-Lyman Appendix, Josh," she smirked.

God, he wanted her and he had to wipe that smirk off her face in
quickest way he knew how. Sliding onto the floor in front of her, he
pulled her forward to the edge of the seat and slid her legs over his
shoulders. Before she could say anything more, he had his mouth on
her. She was hot and wet and the scent and taste of her were as
familiar to him as the sound of his own voice, yet so arousing he
could never get enough. After 20 years, he knew just how and where to
touch her. Sliding two fingers slowly inside her, his tongue stroked
and flicked across her clit, teasing it mercilessly and driving her
quickly over the first peak. The only words coming from her mouth were
his name, which she chanted mindlessly as she came.

As she came down Josh removed the rest of his clothes and climbed back
on the seat next to her. After a moment, when her breathing had evened
out a bit she turned to him, "Wow," she said with a satisfied sigh.
"You do know how to get the creative juices flowing, Joshua." Reaching
up, she pulled the pins free from her hair, sending it cascading down
behind her. He loved it down, always had. Then she took of her shoes
but left her garter belt and her stockings on. Not because of any
self-consciousness for her knee, Josh had long ago gotten her over any
kind of self-consciousness about her body, but for no other reason she
knew he sometimes liked the feel of them against his skin when they
made love. Then she ran her eyes over him. He felt them linger on his
hardened cock.

"Hmmm," she whispered, sliding a bit closer to him. "You seem a little
tense, Josh, or maybe 'stiff' is a better description." Reaching out,
she trailed her hand along the length of him from base to tip and
leaning over she slid him into her mouth. Tangling his hand in her
hair, he let himself enjoy the feeling of her mouth and hands stroking
him. She felt incredible around him, like hot, wet velvet. But he knew
if he let her continue much longer he'd be done and he didn't want to
be done just yet. "Donna," he managed in a strangled whisper. "Please,
as much as I like what you're doing, I need you to stop. I want to be
inside you and that won't happen if you keep doing that." She took one
last, slow pull on him as he slid from her mouth.  Without a word she
climbed over and straddled him.

With a slight frown, he slid his hand down to her knee, "Are you going
to be okay like that?" Kneeling had continued to be a bit of a
challenge for her since the quake and he always tried to be conscious
of it. Just as the doctors had told them, Donna had to have her knee
replaced again about 2 years ago, just after she finished her term in
the Senate.

She smiled down at him, as always, touched by his concern. "Yes, I'm
good," she wiggled her hips against him slightly, helping to settle
him deeper against her core while teasing him a bit at the same time.
"Don't worry. I'll be the first to tell you if it hurts." Slipping a
hand between them, she guided him inside her. "But right now," she
cooed as he slid deeper. "I'm good."

Once again he was surrounded by her wet heat and it was like coming
home. As if each time they were apart their bodies waited to be
reunited in this moment. "Oh, God, Donnatella. You feel so good."

Still smiling, she began to move over him, grinding her hips over him
in long, slow motions and holding onto the back of the seat for
leverage as Josh began to thrust up into her. Her lace clad breasts
were right in front of his face and he wanted to see them in all their
naked glory.  Undoing the clasp they were laid bare before him.
"Beautiful," he murmured, taking the tip of one in his mouth and
making Donna moan.  She increased her tempo, bringing both of them
right to the edge.  Josh slid his hand between them to stroke her
clit. That was all it took to shove her over and have her clenching
hard around him. With a final thrust of his own, he came right after
her.

They collapsed against each other in a sweaty heap. "You know I keep
hearing that sex over 50 can be great but, God, Josh, this is
ridiculous," Donna giggled into his shoulder.

He kissed her neck, enjoying the slightly salty taste of her sweaty
skin. "Well, like I said I have an advantage over everyone else. My
young blonde goddess of a wife keeps me young. But I heard you got
stuck with some old guy."

She held his face between her hands so he was looking right at her.
"Well, then you heard wrong. Haven't you heard? Men don't get old;
they just get distinguished." She paused. "The guy I'm 'stuck' with
loves me, takes care of me when I'm sick or hurt, gave me 5 beautiful
children, gave me a job for which I had no qualifications, helped me
finish college, put me in the Senate, supports me in everything I do,
has monkey sex with me whenever I want, I love him, and I'm
get-down-on-my-knees thankful for every day we have together." She
leaned her forehead against his. "So I don't ever want to hear you
talk about him that way again." Then she leaned in and kissed him.
Maybe 'kissed' wasn't quite the right description for what she did. It
was more like she devoured his mouth. They were both breathless when
she pulled back. "Okay?"

The lump in his throat was so big, it took him a moment to answer.
"Ahkay," he breathed. Putting his arms around her, he pulled her
against him. "I love you, Donnatella. If we get busy in the next eight
years and I forget to tell you that as much as I should, please
remember that I love you very, very much. You and the kids are the
most precious things I've ever had. I don't know how I ever got so
lucky."

She hugged him back, "We all got lucky, Josh. We have each other and
that's all that matters," she said with tears in her voice as she held
him close.

**********

"Donnaaaa...." Josh whined.

"What's the matter?" she replied, trying to put on some mascara. Their
guests were going to start arriving soon and while everything was
ready downstairs, she and Josh were still putting themselves together.
 Their 'creative' time in the limo this afternoon had put them a
little behind schedule.

"I need you to tie this," he said helplessly holding out his tie.

Turning, she looked at him.  Except for his tie and his cuff links, he
seemed to be ready. She drank in the sight of him for a moment. He
always did know how to fill out a tux. Sighing, she walked across the
bedroom to him, the fabric of her formal sapphire blue gown rustling
slightly as she moved. "You know, Josh," she said chuckling slightly
and taking the bow tie from him. "You taught both your sons to tie
their own ties, you'd think after 20 years you would have learned to
tie yours." Raising his collar, she looped it around behind his neck.

"MOM!"

"Katie, what have I told you about bellowing in this house?" Donna
calmly asked their 17-year-old daughter as she flew into the room
looking beautiful but distressed in her forest green gown. Katherine
Dolores Lyman had been born just after the Bartlet administration had
ended. She'd inherited Donna's height, her alabaster skin and her blue
eyes but Josh's curly sable, colored hair and his dimples.  It was
quite the stunning combination.

Smart as a whip, with a wit to match, she excelled in school and was
well liked by the other students, especially the boys. Much to
father's distress. She had a natural dramatic flare about her and had
always been involved in school plays and theatre. She even had a
fairly passable singing voice. Where she'd gotten it was a complete
mystery. No one in either of their families had ever shown a talent
for singing. In any case, she'd already mapped out the next few years
of her life. First,  she was going to apply to New School University
and the famed "Actor's Studio"  where she planned to study drama. Josh
and Donna both believed it was important for them to encourage
whatever talents and interests their children had and so they were
going to pay for her to go. But behind closed doors, Josh was ready to
chew nails over her picking acting as a possible profession.

"But, Mom!"

"I said, what have I told you about bellowing in this house?" Donna repeated.

"That only Dad's allowed to do it?"

"She gets her sense of humor from you," Josh told her.

"Yes, and she gets her ability to bellow from you," Donna snarked
back. "Katherine," Donna repeated quietly in a very no nonsense tone
as she continued to work on Josh's tie. "What have I told you about
bellowing in this house?"

Katie sighed dramatically, "That it is not good manners to bellow and
if I would like to speak to someone and expect an intelligent reply in
return, I should talk in a calm, sensible manner."

"That's right. Now, what can I do for you?"

"Noah said that Dad's planning to torment James tonight," she replied
with a slight pout and an angry glare at her father. "You won't let
him, will you?"

Donna tightened her hold on Josh's tie where it came together at his
adam's apple, telling him silently to be quiet if he valued his life
and his relationship with his daughter. "Your father would never do
anything to embarrass you or your guest. Isn't that right, Josh?" she
asked him pointedly as she released her death grip on his partially
knotted tie so he could answer.

"Of course that's right," he said calmly. "I've never even met James.
All I know is what you've told me about him and that's all been really
great stuff. I don't know what your brother is talking about.  Just
ignore him."

Katie watched him for a moment, her eyes assessing him. She was so
like Donna in that respect. "You had him checked out, didn't you?" she
said, her eyes narrowing.

She also had Donna's ability to see right through him. He knew it was
useless to try and deny it. "Only a little."

"DAD! How could you? What if he finds out? I'd die of complete embarrassment."

"He won't find out," he assured her. "A friend of mine at the FBI..."

Donna closed her eyes and waited.

"THE FBI! YOU HAD HIM CHECKED OUT BY THE FBI?" Katie shrieked.

Josh did everything he could to hold his temper.  He knew that when
dealing with his teenage daughter, at least one of them had to act
like an adult. "Well, if James didn't know about it before, he
probably does now. They can probably hear you screaming in Delaware.
Now please lower your voice."

"But....but....but...." she said, tears swimming in her eyes as she
stamped her foot in frustration. "Daddy, why can't you trust me?"

There were three things that made Josh simply turn into a pile of
mush. One was most everything associated with Donna. Two were tears
from his children. And three was them calling him "Daddy". Pulling his
half-knotted tie out of Donna's grasp, he walked over to Katie and
took her hand in his.  "Honey. I do trust you. It's other people I
don't trust.  I know that makes you angry and I'm sorry. I never meant
to make you angry.  I just want to do everything I can to make sure
that you don't get hurt. I don't do it to embarrass you or your
friends.  I do it because I love you and want good things for you."

"He wouldn't hurt me.  He likes me," she said softly with a slight sniffle.

Josh was relieved she seemed to be done screaming at him. "Of course
he does.  Everyone likes you Katie-bell," he said, falling back on his
pet name for her. "You're smart and beautiful. What's not to like?"

A slight smiled teased her mouth. "Well, you have a point there." She
looked up at him, "So you won't tell him you had him checked out and
you won't do anything to embarrass him or me tonight?"

"I cross my heart," he said, drawing an X with his finger across his chest.

"Okay," she said, sniffing the last of her tears away.

"Katie," Donna said softly. "Why don't you go fix your make-up? I'm
sure that James will be here soon.  You don't want him to see that
you've been crying, do you?"

"Ohhh, good point," she turned to leave but stopped in the doorway and
turned around. "Dad?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Thanks...you know, for everything you said. I'm sorry I yelled at
you," she said, giving him a small smile.

He smiled back at her. "You're welcome. Now go on and fix yourself up
so you'll look your best when he gets here."  Her smile got wider and
she disappeared out into the hall. Walking back to where he'd left
Donna standing in the middle of the bedroom, he handed her his tie
again.

Silently, Donna took it and smirked at him. "So what did you find on
the little punk?"

He grinned. He'd contacted Mike Casper with her full knowledge.
"Actually not much. His parents, a lawyer and a doctor, are
Republicans, which makes him a little anarchist Republican in training
but other than that I couldn't seem to find much on them."

"You sound disappointed," she said as she started to tie his tie again.

"I guess I am, a little. It's easier to hate her boyfriends when I
have a reason."

She grinned, "Josh, just promise me you'll behave tonight. I met James
and he seems like a perfectly nice boy and Katie, for all her drama,
does have a good head on her shoulders."

"Well, I'd probably like him better if he wasn't dating my daughter."

Donna snorted, "Yeah, I guess that would help."

"Mom?" came a new voice from their bedroom door way.

Donna recognized the voice easily. "Come in, Noah," she said, not
looking up from her second attempt at tying Josh's tie.

Noah Josiah Lyman stepped into their bedroom. "I just wanted to see if
I looked all right before I went downstairs."

"Just give me one second, Noah." She was determined to get his tie
done this time. With a final tug, she pulled it tight and straightened
it. "There," she said, dusting off her hands and turning to their son,
she gave him the once over.

At 15, with Donna's blonde hair touched with Josh's curls, and her
blue eyes and Josh's dimples, Noah was already handsome. And they
expected him to eventually be taller than either of them. He looked
polished in his tuxedo and tied bow tie. In that moment Donna could
clearly see him as a younger version of Josh.  It gave her a little
lump in her throat. There were three things that ruined the picture
slightly. First, was his hair. It was way too long. Even though she
could tell he'd brushed it, it curled wildly around his face and along
his collar. She'd kept after him to get it cut but he said the girls
liked it long and he wanted it long so she'd conceded that battle.
Second, were the sneakers he was wearing with the tux.  No matter how
much she tried, he refused to wear anything but sneakers. Everything
else, he'd said, made his feet hurt. And third was the long lacrosse
stick, or 'crosse', as he would have reminded her it was called, that
he currently carried in his hand.

While Katie had been the recipient of the 'drama' gene in the family,
Noah seemed to have somehow inherited the 'athletic' gene, which was
also a mystery as neither Josh nor Donna were especially athletic.
Noah, however, had always been very athletic and had started out with
t-ball, then baseball, much to his father's delight, then soccer, then
track, and then, and finally, lacrosse.  He loved lacrosse and he
seemed especially suited for it. Lacrosse was a combination of
basketball, soccer and hockey and it required a great deal of
coordination and agility rather than brute force like football did.
With his thin but wiry frame and speed he'd developed from track, he
excelled at it. A very-fast paced game often requiring long sprints
down the field, lacrosse was played on a grass field with a stick, the
crosse, which was used to throw, catch and scoop up a ball, all with
the intention of getting the ball in the opposing teams goal. He was
already looking at colleges, not for their excellent academic programs
but for how good their lacrosse teams were. His athletic ability and
good looks were not all he had going for him. He was also very smart
and his terrific academic record would help him get into any college
he decided on.

"You look very handsome, Noah," she told him, knowing the hair and
shoe discussion was going to have to be tabled for now.

"Noah? What's with the crosse?" Josh asked him.

"Oh, I wanted to show it to Sam."

Josh smiled.  "Okay, but just remember that after the Inauguration
you're going to have to call him, 'sir' or 'Mr. President.'"

Noah rolled his eyes, "Yeah, Dad I know. It's still going to be weird
though. I mean, my whole life he's just been Sam.  Even when he was
governor, he told me to call him 'Sam.'"

"Well, I've known him a lot longer than you so just think how weird
it's going to be for me," Josh told him.  "Now why don't you take the
crosse downstairs and put it somewhere out of the way until you have a
chance to show it to him."

"Okay, Dad," he turned and started for the door.

"Oh, and Noah?"

"Yeah, Dad?"

"In the future, I'd appreciate it if you'd stopping ratting me out to
your sister."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Noah replied. "She was being a pain and I
overheard you talking to someone about teasing what's his name
tonight, so it was all I had to bug her with." He had the grace to
look sheepish. "I heard her yelling. Did I get you in hot water?"

"Well, with your sister, I'm used to it.  But it helps if you don't
give her ammunition."

"Right. Sorry, Dad."

Josh smiled, "It's okay. Now get out of here."

Noah nodded and ambled out of the room.

"Donna, have you seen my cuff links?" Josh asked her.

"Yeah, I think they're in the small bowl on your dresser," she told
him as she walked back to her dressing table to finish her make-up.
She only made it halfway across the room before she was waylaid.

"Mom?" A quiet, slightly distracted voice asked.

Donna looked up to see her youngest son in the doorway. He looked
adorable in his small tuxedo and, of course, his nose was in its usual
place. Between the pages of a book. Eric Samuel Lyman was 11 and
reminded Donna so much of Harry Potter it was kind of eerie. But in a
good way. His hair was stick straight and russet brown, he'd been
wearing glasses for the last year or so and while he had no lightning
bolt on his forehead, he loved to learn about the world and you always
had the feeling that something big was going on in his head. Smarter
than the rest of the family put together, he absorbed things like a
sponge, reading, fiction and non-fiction alike, voraciously and well
above his grade level. He had Josh's dark eyes and Donna had always
thought that of all her children, his nature was the kindest and most
gentle of them all.

Whenever someone was hurt or sad, he was the one to comfort them. When
she had to have her second knee replacement, he'd spent hours with
her, reading to her, playing cards with her and getting her anything
she needed. Josh and all the kids had been very attentive to her but
something about having Eric close by had been of special comfort to
her then. He also loved animals and had a special way with them, which
is how he came to have the companion that was sitting patiently behind
him in the doorway.

Since he'd found him while reading one of the Harry Potter books, Eric
had named him "Dobbie".  The small gray, black and brown Australian
Shepherd puppy had obviously been a stray. Painfully thin, sick and
with a matted coat, Eric had taken one look at the poor thing and
fallen in love. After convincing Josh and Donna he could take care of
"Dobbie," Eric and Donna had taken him to the vet and Eric had done
everything required to nurse him back to health. Now Dobbie was a
healthy, full-grown dog and they were inseparable. Whenever Eric was
home, Dobbie was by his side. He was loyal and extremely friendly to
the entire family, who all loved him dearly, but he had a special bond
with Eric. Donna suspected that Eric would someday become a vet or a
doctor, as long as his kind heart didn't break too much when he was
faced with some of the harsher realities of life and death that
accompanied working with sick or injured people and animals.

"Hi, honey. Boy, don't you look handsome," she said, running her hand
over his head to smooth down a piece of hair that was sticking up.
"What can I do for you?" she asked.

Looking up from his book, he blinked at her slightly. "Can Dobbie come
to the party?"

Since kneeling was a tricky proposition for her, she bent down to be
closer to him, "Now, Eric, we talked about this.  Dobbie needs to stay
in your room or in the back yard during the party."

"But he'll be good," Eric promised.

Donna smiled. "I know he will," she said, rubbing Dobbie behind the
ears. "But there will be a lot of people and noise at the party. It
will be better if he stays up in your room."

"But you said the whole family is supposed to go. Isn't Dobbie one of
the family?"

Josh walked up to them, "Of course he is, Eric. He's very much a part
of our family. But you wouldn't want to put Dobbie anywhere he'd get
hurt, right?"

Eric looked up at his father, "He could get hurt at the party?"

"Well, people don't always watch there they're stepping.  Someone
might step on his paw or bump into him and startle him.  You wouldn't
want that, would you?"

"Gosh no, Dad," Eric replied.

"Well, then that's why your mother and I would like you to keep him in
your room. We care about him just like we care about you and your
brother and your sisters."

"You do?" he said with a smile.

Josh grinned back, "Of course we do."

I tell you what," Donna said. "I know that you weren't that excited
about coming to the party anyway so if you'll leave your book and
Dobbie in your room and come downstairs for just an hour, I'll let you
come back and spend the rest of the evening with him in your room or
the back yard. How does that sound?"

"Okay, I'd like that."

"But if you go out in the backyard, be sure to change out of your suit
and dress warm."

"Deal," he said, giving her a genuine grin that made his dimples pop
out. "Come on, Dobbie," he said as the two of them turned to head off
to Eric's room.

"Donna? Can you help me with these?" Josh said walking over to her. He
held out the cufflinks he'd finally managed to locate.

"Sure," she took them out of his hand.

"Mommmm, help me," came a tearful voice from behind them. Both of them
turned to see another of their 3 daughters, 13-year-old AJ, standing
in the bedroom doorway looking distraught in her pink dress.

"Boy, it's like Grand Central in here tonight," Josh commented to Donna softly.

Donna ignored him as she worked on his cufflink. "What's the matter,
honey?" Donna asked her.

"I can't get my hair to come out right," she wailed. "I want to look
nice for the party."

Donna finished the first cufflink and handed Josh back the remaining
one. She smiled at AJ, "Do you want me to do it for you?"

AJ nodded.  "Yes, please. You always make it look so good."

"Okay.  Come over here and sit down," Donna said patting the cushioned
bench sitting in front of the dressing table.  "How do you want me to
do it?" she asked after AJ had sat down.

"Like you had yours this morning. Up in a twist."

Donna looked at Josh and blushed at the reason her hair was no longer
in the twist it had started out in. Once they got home she decided to
leave it down. Being in a twist for most of the day had left it with a
nice gentle wave to it anyway so it actually looked really nice. She
saw Josh smirk slightly and realized that he saw the blush and knew
the reason for it. He bounced the cufflink in his hand a couple of
times and then sat down on the bed to wait his turn. "Sure, I can do
it that way," she said, turning her attention back to their daughter.
"In fact, I have some combs that might look nice to hold it in place.
Do you want to try them?" AJ nodded enthusiastically.

Abigail Jessica Lyman, or AJ as everyone called her, was their middle
daughter. She named for Abbey Bartlet, who'd had to switch her title
from vascular surgeon to obstetrician when Donna, Josh and, at the
time, their two other children had been visiting the farm in New
Hampshire and Donna had gone into labor two weeks early. The labor
progressed very quickly and before they could get anyone out to the
farm, AJ had arrived.

Blessed with long, straight blonde hair and Donna's blue eyes, she was
growing into quite a beautiful young woman. Her passion was dance. She
wasn't very big on modern dance but she loved ballet and she
especially loved tap. Ballet, she liked because of its quiet grace.
Tap, she liked because of its energy and because, as she put it, the
tapping sound she made was...happy. She loved tap so much that Donna
sometimes had a hard time getting her out of her tap shoes. Whereas
Noah would only wear sneakers, most of the time AJ would only wear her
tap shoes.  Donna estimated that AJ had more pairs of tap shoes than
regular shoes.

For her last birthday all AJ asked for was a hardwood floor in her
bedroom so she could practice. They'd granted her request but soon
realized they had to put time limits on how late or early she could
start dancing or she'd be up all night, along with the rest of the
household, tapping her heart out. Truth of it was, she was actually
pretty good and was already participating in competitions with her
dance company and winning. Like their other children she was also very
intelligent with a well-developed sense of humor.

"Daddyyyyyyy!" A sky blue flash of energy streaked into the room and
launched itself at Josh. He had just enough time to react and catch
it.

"Oooof," he said with a grunt. "Anna-banana! How's my baby girl?"

Donna watched the two of them as she finished AJ's hair. His 'baby,'
their 'baby,' was going to be 10 in about 3 months. 'God, how time
flies,' she thought with a smile. Anna had been a surprise. With two
girls and two boys, they hadn't been planning on having another baby,
but when Donna came up pregnant they were excited all the same. She
remembered when Anna Rose Lyman was born. Well, sort of. Again as with
AJ and Eric, Donna had gone into labor a few weeks early. That was
where the similarity had ended. Luckily for her and Anna, she'd been
in the hospital that time.  Donna remembered little of that day or the
couple following it. All she knew what Abbey, Josh and CJ had told
her. The last thing she remembered was thinking that something was
wrong. The pain of her labor had been beyond anything she'd
experienced with any of her other children.  It was like someone was
ripping her open.

Donna and Anna had almost died.

Suffering from placental abruption, which meant the placenta had begun
to separate from the uterine wall before the baby was born, Anna was
being deprived of oxygen and Donna began to hemorrhage badly. Rushing
Donna into surgery, they delivered Anna by an emergency C-section,
just in time to save her young life. Saving Donna hadn't been quite as
easy. She'd needed a massive transfusion and a hysterectomy to save
her life. There would be no more babies for them and Donna had spent
two days in intensive care.

After a difficult start, Anna, who was named for Josh's mom, had
thrived and was now, with her curly blonde hair, blue eyes and pale
skin, and sweet disposition, their little china doll. Anna was a
complete bundle of energy that never stopped moving. Because of her
difficult birth and the fact that she was the last and the youngest,
the entire family babied her the most and although Donna loved her to
distraction, she was definitely a Daddy's girl.  Donna knew that while
she'd been in intensive care, hovering between life and death, Josh
had clung to Anna as his last link to Donna.

"I'm mad at Katie," Anna said with a pout that was reminiscent of the
one Donna routinely used on Josh.

"Why?" he asked her.

"'Cause all she does is talk about her dumb boyfriend.  She wouldn't
play with me or anything today. She just spent all day in the
bathroom."

He hugged her against him. "You won't leave me for some dumb boy, will
you, Anna-banana?"

"No way, boys are icky."

He grinned, "That's my girl." Then he seemed to reconsider, "Hey, but
I'm a boy. Does that mean I'm icky?"

She pondered that for a minute, "No, you're not a boy. You're Daddy.
Daddies aren't icky. Daddies give you horsy rides and read you bedtime
stories about fairy princesses and evil Republicans and take you to
the zoo and watch cartoons with you."

Donna smirked at that as she finished AJ's hair. She knew Josh thought
none of them knew about the cartoons but they all knew and just didn't
tell him. "Okay, all done, AJ. Just spray it down with some hairspray
and it should stay all night."

AJ turned and looked in the mirror, then stood up. "Thanks, Mom," she
said, giving Donna a hug. "It looks perfect."

Donna patted her on the back, "You looked perfect before I did your
hair, but you're welcome. Now go spray your hair down." AJ slid out of
her arms and headed to the door.  "Oh, and take off your tap shoes."

Since she'd been walking on carpet and making no sound, AJ turned
back, a surprised look on her face. "How....?"

"Because I'm your mother and I know all."

"But I wanted to show Abbey and everyone my new dance," she replied.

"Put on your regular shoes for now and after dinner you can put on tap
shoes and give them a show. Okay?"

"Okay," AJ conceded as she left the room.

Donna felt a pair of little arms go around her waist. "Hey,
Anna-banana," she said putting her arms around Anna.  "My, you look
pretty," she said looking at Anna's pretty blue ruffled dress.

"Not as pretty as you, Mommy," Anna said with her dimples flashing.
Boy, was she going to be a heartbreaker. Donna scooped her up,
ignoring the slight twinge in her knee at the added weight and held
her close. "Thank you, baby. You're very nice, you know that?"

"I know," she said with a little giggle as she put her arms around Donna's neck.

"Oh, you're getting to be such a big girl, Anna.  I need to put you
down now," she said, sliding her down until Anna's feet touched the
floor. "Could you do something for me?"

"Sure, Mommy."

"Will you go downstairs and play hostess for me while I finish getting ready?"

"Okay," she said bouncing up and down, making her curls dance. "I like
being hostess. It will be just like when I have a tea party with my
dolls."

Donna tweaked her nose lightly.  "You're a life saver, Anna-banana."

"Yeah! Bye, Daddy!" she said as she ran out of the room.

Donna and Josh both sighed and she walked over to him, "Well, that's
all of them.  Hopefully we have a few minutes before our next visitor
or crisis." She held out her hand and Josh dropped his other cuff link
into it.  She fastened it for him and glanced at her watch. "Oh, I
have to finish getting ready or I'm going to be late," she said,
sitting down at the small dressing table to finish applying her
mascara. As she put the final touches on her make-up, Josh walked to
the bedroom door and closed it, snapping the lock into place.

At her raised eyebrow, Josh explained.  "I know we don't have time for
any hanky panky. I just wanted us to have 5 minutes of peace and
quiet."

"That's a rare commodity in this house."  Josh moved to stand behind
her, a slight smile on his face.  "What are you smiling about?" she
asked, smiling back at him as she finished putting on her lipstick and
looked at him in the mirror.

He laid his hands on her shoulders, which her gown had left bare, "I
was actually remembering the day we got married."

"What made you think of that?" she asked softly.

"You.  Sitting there, looking so beautiful."

"Well," she said, standing up and putting her arms around him. "As I
recall I wasn't the only one who looked good that day, Mr. Lyman."

She remembered it as if it were yesterday and not 20 years ago.  The
weather had been perfect for a spring Rose Garden wedding. She and
Ainsley walking down the aisle, Ainsley on her father's arm and Donna
on Bill's. Once they'd all made it to the front, the two couples, with
CJ and Toby at their sides, had exchanged simple vows of love and
fidelity in front of Leo, the President, the First Lady and their
assembled friends and family. It had been simple and elegant and
perfect. The party afterward had been fun but what Donna would always
remember was the two-week Hawaiian cruise Josh had taken her on for
their honeymoon. Ainsley and Sam had spent their two-week honeymoon in
the Florida Keys, sailing around in a large sailboat. A good time was
had by all.

"I'd say we all looked pretty good that day," Josh replied. "Oh, say.
I got something for you," he said, reaching into his jacket pocket.

"You know I'm not one to question gifts, but what's the occasion?"

"The occasion is that you're a wonderful wife and mother and if I
hadn't had you here, keeping the home fires burning at 'Camp Lyman'
when I know you would have rather been out on the campaign trail with
us, we never would have gotten Sam elected." He held out a long,
narrow, black velvet box. "I just wanted to say thank you."

While they'd been on the campaign trail to get Sam elected, Josh and
Donna's house had become known as 'Camp Lyman.' Instead of dragging
all 9 kids, Josh and Donna's five, Sam and Ainsley's three and Toby
and CJ's one, Molly and Huck had been young adults by then and in any
case would have had Andi to look out for them, out on the campaign
trail, Donna had come up with the idea to make their house a kind of
headquarters, or 'camp' for lack of a better term. And she would take
care of the kids, leaving the rest of them free to focus on the
campaign.

Now, it wasn't as bad as it might sound to the average observer. Josh
and Donna's house in Maryland was huge, so there was plenty of room.
Katie, Noah and Karen, Sam and Ainsley's oldest, at 17, 15 and 15,
respectively, were all old enough to not only look after themselves
but help with the younger ones. It also helped that there were no
babies involved. In fact, Anna, at 9 had been the youngest of the
children.  Plus Donna had their cook and housekeeper, Shannon
O'Malley, kind of an Irish version of Alice from the 'Brady Bunch,' to
help as well. And although Liam had gone with the others on the
campaign trail to take care of security, Peter had been around to help
with the driving duties.

Over the summer months, they'd gone to museums and water parks and
played football and games in the backyard and gone on hikes. Donna had
told Josh that sometimes she'd felt a little like Maria Von Trapp in
"The Sound of Music," except without the singing. Camp Lyman also
worked well when the school year started because the kids were able to
go right back to their same schools without interruption.

And every night, without fail, two things would happen.  Donna would
gather all the kids together after dinner and they'd talk about where
everyone was on the campaign trail and how the campaign was doing, and
then there would be a kind of communal conference call with all the
parents talking on speakerphone with all the kids.

Although there had been trying times, with 9 children living in the
same house that was to be expected. Overall they'd all gotten along
famously and Donna wouldn't have traded the experience for anything.
While she'd missed Josh and the rest of the Sister- and Brotherhood
terribly, she loved all the kids dearly and they treated her like a
hip version of Mother Theresa. It also helped that everyone on the
campaign trail made it home to visit just as much as humanly possible
and were sure to tell Donna how much of a contribution she was making
to the campaign by taking care of their most precious of resources.
Their children.

"Josh," she said, taking the box but not opening it. "You didn't have
to get me anything. You're all I've ever wanted or needed." She pulled
him into her arms and hugged him.

He hugged her back, "I know. That's why I like getting you things so
much." He pulled back. "Open it."

Taking a breath, she flipped the lid on the box. And gasped. "Oh,
Josh." It was an amazing diamond bracelet. A wide delicate filigree
platinum band encrusted with diamonds. "It's amazing. But you know we
have 5 kids to put through college, right?"

Josh grinned and pulled the bracelet out of the box and tugged on her
hand so she held out her wrist. "Yeah, I know. If we run short of cash
we can always pawn it," he said as he wrapped it around her wrist and
locked the double clasp into place. Actually, the consulting firm had
been very profitable and because of it and a number of smart
investments, including five separate trust funds, one for each of the
kids to pay for college, they had plenty of money.  He ran his hand
over her wrist, then pulled it to his lips and kissed it tenderly.
"Beautiful," he murmured.

"Thank you, Josh." Sliding her hand behind his neck, she pulled him in
close to her to kiss him. They were interrupted by a pounding on their
door.

"DAD! MOM! CJ, Toby and Peyton are here!" Noah's voice called through the door.

"Coming!" Donna she called as she leaned her forehead against Josh's.
"I guess duty calls," she said with a smile, "But thank you Josh. For
everything."

**********

"God, Donna, I still can't believe you and Josh had five kids," CJ
commented from her seat on the sofa. She and the rest of the
Sisterhood were seated in quiet corner of the living room. "I mean I
love Peyton more than anything in this world but I can't imagine
having 5 of her," she said referring to her 13-year-old daughter,
Peyton Marie Ziegler, who was giggling in the corner as she talked to
AJ. She was already tall, like her mother, but with her father's raven
black hair.

Donna smiled, "Well, I enjoyed being pregnant and Josh and I enjoyed
getting me that way so all in all it was win, win for everyone." CJ
snorted at that.

"Now, what I can't believe," Ainsley put in, "Is that you took care of
all nine kids while we were off getting Sam elected. I know that
Karen, Tom and Holly can be quite the handful all by themselves," she
said referring her and Sam's three children, Karen Elizabeth Seaborn,
age 15, Thomas William Seaborn, age 13, and Holly Melissa Seaborn, age
11.  Holly was named for the fact that she was a Christmas baby,
arriving two weeks early on Christmas Eve. Karen and Tom were the
image of Sam with his dark hair and pale blue eyes, but Holly looked
just like Ainsley.

Ainsley shook her head in awe, "Taking care of nine of them is just,
well, that's just amazing."

"That to me is real bravery....or insanity.  I can't decide which,"
Abbey said from her wheelchair, making them all laugh.

Abbey had just had her hip replaced and wasn't able to get up and move
around very well yet. But even at 75, she was otherwise healthy and
her mind was sharp as a tack.  When she spoke of Jed, you knew she
missed him with a deep ache even time wouldn't ease. But she kept
herself active and involved, splitting her time between the farm in
New Hampshire and the house in Virginia she shared with Zoey and
Charlie, who'd been married now for about 10 years, after they'd both
realized they were being idiots and belonged together. They'd never
had children but seemed to be blissfully happy. Zoey, learning from
her experience with the kidnapping, had gone back to school and gotten
her Ph.D. in psychology. She specialized in dealing with victims of
violent crimes. It was her way of giving back and putting a positive
slant on what had happened to her so many years ago. Charlie, after
becoming a successful lawyer, was, of course, Josh's new deputy. Zoey
and Charlie were also new members of the Sister- and Brotherhood and
were both at the party, mingling somewhere with the other guests.

"No," Donna insisted. "You guys have great kids. It was really like
one long episode of the Brady Bunch." She held up her hand, "I mean
that in a good way."

**********

"Hey, Sam? I have someone here who'd like to saw hello."

Sam turned and broke into a sudden smile, "Bill? Bill Moss? Is that
you?" he said, reaching out to his hand. "I haven't seen you since
Thanksgiving here five years ago.  How have you been?" Bill looked
just about like he had those long ago days in San Diego. Still trim
and lean, he had a few more lines on his face and a lot more gray in
his hair.

"I'm good, Mr. President," Bill said with a smile. "I'd like you to
meet my wife, Sharon."

"I didn't know you got married. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sharon,"
Sam said, shaking her hand warmly. She was a lovely brunette, probably
a couple of years younger than Bill. "When did you guys get married?"

"We met not too long after that Thanksgiving 5 years ago, and got
married about 3 years ago.  Actually my big sister set us up," Bill
said with a grin.

"Really?" Sam said, "How do you know Donna, Sharon?"

"Well, Mr. President, I was working in the Senate as a senior aide and
Donna thought I would be perfect for Bill. The rest is history," she
said with a wide grin.

"Oh, you can drop the 'Mr. President' stuff until after the
Inauguration," he told her.  "For right now, I'm just Sam."

"Bill, tell Sam what you've been up to the last few years," Josh urged him.

Sensing something was going on, Sam raised an eyebrow, "Staying of out
trouble I hope."

Bill always the modest one, grinned. "Well, I made admiral shortly
after Sharon and I got married."

"That's great, Bill. Congratulations," he said, shaking his hand again.

"Tell him the rest," Josh promoted.

"I'm getting to it, dear brother-in-law. I swear if you didn't make my
sister so happy I'd take you out and pound you," he teased. Actually
he and Josh had gotten along famously ever since the quake.

"I just finished some special flight training for a long term project
I've been working toward." He said cryptically.  "Next month I
officially become a member of the Angel flight team."

Sam was happily stunned. "You're kidding?! That's terrific.  You're
going to be one of my pilots on Air Force One?"

"Looks that way, sir."

This time, Sam slapped him on the back.  "That's so great.
Congratulations.  I know that's been something you've been working
toward for a long time.  It will be great to know you're going to be
in charge of getting me where I need to go."

"Yeah," Josh said with a smirk. "Sam tends to get lost pretty easily.
We never let him navigate or we'd never get where we were going."

Charlie walked up right then and whispered something to Josh. "Hey,
Sam, you wanted us to tell you when it was 10 p.m. so you could make
your toast," Josh said to him.

"Oh, right. Hey, Bill, I've got to go do a thing but, really,
congratulations. And Sharon, it was a pleasure to meet you."

Thank you, sir," they both called as he followed Josh into the foyer.

**********

"Ladies?" Josh said, walking into the living room where Donna, CJ,
Ainsley and Abbey were still seated  "I hate to disturb four such
beautiful creatures..."

"Get on with it, Josh," Abbey said, teasingly.

He grinned at her, "Well, Mrs. B., Sam's going to make a toast and
he'd like everyone to be there."

The women got up and Josh took hold of Abbey's wheelchair and pushed
it toward the foyer where Sam was standing near the bottom of the
stairs so everyone could see him. "Ah, yes, the captivating Sisterhood
arrives," he said, smiling at them as they entered the room. His eyes
lingered on Ainsley for a moment, a special sparkle in them just for
her. "I called you here tonight because I have a few toasts I'd like
to make and since I'm going to be President, you better, you know, get
used to me making speeches." The assembled crowd laughed.

"For my first toast, I'd like to thank our host and hostess tonight.
The incomparable Josh and Donna Lyman. Without their support we
wouldn't be headed back to the White House." Josh took a step over to
Donna and put his arm around her waist as Sam continued. "I'm just
glad this time they won't have to hide what they feel for each other.
No two people ever deserved the phrase 'and they lived happily ever
after,' more than Josh and Donna." He paused. "To Josh and Donna." The
assembled group echoed his words, raised their glasses, then took a
sip of champagne.

"For my second toast, I'd like to remember those who aren't with us at
the end of our long journey. Namely Leo McGarry and Josiah Bartlet.
Leo was the mentor and the taskmaster. Always keeping us on track and
pulling us back when we strayed of course. He brought out the best in
us, brought out things we didn't even know we had in us to be." He
paused.  "Now describing Josiah Bartlet is a little more difficult.
He told me once that I would be President one day. Part of me thought
he was crazy and part of me began to hope that maybe, just maybe, he
was right. Mrs. Bartlet," he said, looking at Abbey. "Your husband was
a great President, but he was an even better man. He wasn't perfect,
but that's what I liked about him. He was a man with a human heart and
human failings who tried to do everything he could to make a
difference. I only hope I can be half the man and half the President
he was." He raised his glass, "To Leo and the President, gone but
never forgotten." Again, everyone saluted.

"Next, I'd like to thank my new VP, Will Bailey," he said nodding at
Will who stood with his wife, Lauren, at the bottom of the stairs. "He
got me into all this when he talked me into running in a little-known
California Congressional race where he, through grit and
determination, had managed to get someone who'd died, elected. Even
though I ended up losing that race, I had no idea where it would lead
me." He paused. "And I'd like to thank everyone who supported me and
believed in me and helped me win my terms in the House and got me
elected as Governor of California, and finally as President of the
United States. No one gets to where I am alone. It takes family and
friends, like CJ and Toby, and the love and support of someone very
special, namely my lovely wife, Ainsley, the best part of my life." He
raised his glass, "So to Ainsley and Will and all of you, I thank
you." He raised his glass again, the others following suit.

"Okay, one more and then I'll quit. I swear. This time I'd like to
thank our children. Mine and Ainsley's.  Josh and Donna's. CJ and
Toby's. All our children.  They remind us of what's important and they
remind us of the future and that we need to make it better place for
them to grow up and what legacy we will leave behind. They bring us
joy and hope that can't be measured and those are gifts we can never
take for granted. You know, when you're young you think you have all
the time in the world, that time stretches out endlessly in front of
you, and as you get older you realize that's not true. You realize
that every day that passes is another day you'll never get back, every
moment that goes by is something that will never happen again."

He looked across the assembled crowd. So many friends and people that
were special to him, people that had stuck by him in good and bad. He
didn't know what things his Presidency would hold. Didn't know what
the future would reveal. But if he had these people behind them, he
knew it would be all right  He lifted his glass a final time, "To our
children and remembering that each day, each moment we have is
precious and unique."

The End