Stone By Stone
Chapter 5 - Blind Curve
Synopsis: CCTV footage of Rosslyn had seemed to be the worst of their problems this week, but you never know what's around the corner.
Characters: Ensemble
Episode/Spoilers: Set in an a/u that starts after season 5, Memorial Day. This chapter takes place four weeks after chapter 4.
Rating: PG
Monday September 13th 2004
"I think I might be dying," Josh told Donna as he entered her cubicle.
"Good morning, Josh. I'm fine, thanks for asking."
Josh smiled. "Good morning, Donna. How are you today, did you have a nice weekend?"
"I spent most of it with you," Donna reminded him. "Something about it being less than two months to the midterms."
"And we achieved plenty," Josh reminded her. "Plus, I did tell you to stay at home."
"Yes, but you kept phoning me with stupid questions, it was easier to be here." Ridiculous as it would sound to anyone else, Donna had actually enjoyed working the weekend with Josh and Toby; it had made her feel alive and stopped her thinking about how often she needed to take her medication and how much her leg ached.
Josh gave her a knowing smile. "You had fun," he said. "Aren't you going to ask me what's wrong?"
"Do I get a choice?" Donna asked, but decided to humor him. "What's wrong?"
"I'm ill," Josh complained and sat down in the chair opposite Donna.
"You have a cold," Donna replied.
"But a cold can turn into other things."
"Such as?"
"A worse cold, the flu."
"A cold can't turn into the flu, they're completely different illnesses," Donna replied. "You have senior staff in ten minutes."
"I'm dying and that's the only sympathy I get?"
"You don't look well," Charlie told Josh when he entered the bullpen.
"I have a cold," Josh agreed.
"You should be careful, that could turn into the flu," Charlie told him.
"See," Josh told Donna.
"Oh for God's sake," Donna sighed. "Firstly, you have a flu shot every year and secondly, the only time a cold turns into the flu is when a man has a bad cold and thinks it's the flu."
Josh and Charlie both stared at Donna. "Wow," Charlie grinned, "she's mean."
"I know," Josh agreed. "What's up?"
"Actually it was Donna I wanted, but Toby's looking for you." Once Josh had walked away, Charlie suddenly looked embarrassed."I was wondering," he began. "See, it's Zoey's birthday in a couple of weeks."
"You don't know what to buy?" Donna asked with a small smile.
"No, I know what to buy, I just don't know whether it's appropriate. If a guy bought you jewelry, you wouldn't think it meant anything more than you were friends. I mean, say if Josh bought you some jewelry?"
"Josh has bought me jewelry," Donna replied.
"He has? And you didn't think it meant anything?"
Donna avoided that question, just like she avoided any questions about her and Josh's, rather complicated, relationship. "I thought you and Zoey had been on a couple of dates?"
"Kind of. We went out when Sam was here, and that was a good night. Then I wanted to go to the movies, but the secret service weren't keen, so we stayed in and watched one instead." Charlie smiled, "You know when most guys say they watched a movie at a girl's house, it means they rented a DVD. We used the president's theatre. "
"Just the two of you?"
"Yeah," Charlie grinned.
Donna smiled. "Sounds like a date to me."
"Except, then she went back to Manchester and I haven't seen her since."
"But you've spoken to her?"
"Yeah, we email and phone. She's coming here for her birthday though," Charlie smiled.
"What kind of jewelry did you get her?" she asked, praying he didn't say a ring.
"A necklace. It's a locket, an oval locket. See this is my real dilemma, do I put pictures in it, or do I let her do that?"
Donna wasn't sure how to answer that. She thought Zoey and Charlie made a great couple and should be together, so she wanted to tell him to put pictures in. When they went out last month, Zoey had kept touching Charlie on the arm and the hand, she'd let him take her home, she'd gone to the movies with him, and they had history.
"I don't want to scare her off," Charlie added.
"But you do want to be with her?"
"Yeah."
"So you need to let her know how you feel."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Josh walked into Toby's office and flopped down on the couch. "Charlie said you wanted me so, even though I'm ill, I came to your office."
"What's wrong with you?"
"I have a cold, which has a very strong chance of turning.... "
"I don't care," Toby interrupted. "I want to know why Marshall is suddenly voicing opposition."
"It isn't sudden, Toby, he's been doing it for weeks."
"Yesterday, you said..."
"Yesterday, I said that Marshall will vote our way. It doesn't mean he's going to support us publicly and it doesn't mean he agrees with us, it just means that he needs our help to win back his district."
"So you're sure we've got him?"
"Yeah."
"Right," Toby replied. "How's Donna?"
"She's fine, why wouldn't she be?"
"You made her work the weekend."
"She volunteered. We only needed help because you can't keep any research assistants for more than a week," Josh replied. He knew the real reason Donna offered to work yesterday, because it was just what he had done. He'd insisted on returning to work too early, because sitting at home gave him too much time to think about his injuries.
Toby started to object, but Leo interrupted them. "Josh, a word."
Josh glanced at Toby before following Leo into Sam and Will's old office. "'Sup?" he asked, as Leo closed the door.
"Pearson's numbers are picking up," Leo told him.
"You make it sound like a bad thing."
"Did you know?"
"Yeah," Josh admitted. "He was up to 38 last I heard. I have no idea why though."
"He's at 41 now. It appears someone leaked to his team that Chris Carrick has an interest in MDFP, the company that assembles the MB-827."
"The launcher, you're kidding me. What kind of an interest?"
"He's on the board of McKenzie's, they have a controlling interest in Whittaker's, who in turn have a large number of shares in MDFP. "
"Well no wonder he was so keen to see the useless piece of crap built. God, of all the cheek....." Josh stopped talking at looked worriedly at Leo. "It wasn't me, I swear. I didn't even know."
Leo studied his deputy for a moment. He thought he was good at reading Josh, or as good as anybody could be, and the denial rang true. "Okay," he nodded and Josh breathed a sigh of relief. "Well someone did and now Carrick's numbers are falling quicker than," Leo shrugged, "I don't know."
"A lead balloon," Josh suggested with a smug grin.
"Yeah," Leo agreed.
"So Pearson has a good chance now?"
"He does, but you're still leaving it alone."
"Doesn't look like he needs my help anyway," Josh smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday morning
"No Donna?" CJ asked Josh as she left the press room.
"She's got PT," Josh replied. "She shouldn't be long now."
CJ smiled, that explained why Josh was pacing the corridors like a lost soul. "Have you no work to do?"
"I've been watching your briefing," Josh smiled.
"Was I any good?" CJ asked.
"You were okay," Josh replied. "I thought Chris got the better of you though."
"Because I wasn't sure why water rotates in the opposite direction, when it goes down a plug hole in Australia?"
"Just needed a little research," Josh told her with a grin.
"Do you know?"
"Haven't got a clue," he shrugged. "I'll be concentrating on enjoying the summer sunshine."
"I'm looking forward to it," CJ agreed. "A week in Australia and New Zealand in the middle of their summer. Should be good. Of course, first I have to scour the internet to find an answer to the water thing."
"Just ask the president," Josh suggested with a grin.
"The internet sounds like more fun," CJ replied.
"Possibly," Josh agreed. "You know it's a ridiculous time for a state visit."
"It was the only time the president and both prime ministers were free."
"There's a reason the president had nothing on his schedule, it's two weeks before the midterms and we have a budget to pass."
"The budget'll be passed by then," CJ assured him. "And we'll be back in time for the midterms."
"We'll have less than two weeks to go."
"We have telephones, email, faxes. You worry too much. Anyway, Leo isn't going."
"No," Josh agreed. "That's not really a surprise is it."
"I think they've been better this week."
"Is it just me, or does it seem like it's now Leo shutting the president out?"
"They're as bad as each other," CJ replied.
"Yeah. I'll see you later."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Josh returned to his bullpen, he found Donna was back at her desk. "How was PT?" he asked.
"Okay. She's given me a new exercise sheet to follow, and look, no crutches," Donna smiled.
"Because you decided you don't need them, or Dr Millard?"
"Dr Millard."
"Honestly?"
"You want to check with her?" Donna asked. "She said I'm to use them if my leg starts to hurt, but I should be fine now."
"Okay," Josh nodded. "They were becoming a health and safety hazard anyway," he teased.
"They were not."
"During the fire drill last week, three people fell over them," Josh reminded her.
"It was two people and it was their own fault," Donna replied. "People aren't suppose to run during fire drills."
Josh just grinned. "When are you at the hospital?"
"Tomorrow, but I feel fine, stop fussing."
"I'm not fussing, I'm showing I care."
Donna shook her head. "You remember how annoying you found it after Rosslyn when people kept showing they cared?"
Josh thought about that, "I'm that bad?" he asked and Donna nodded. "Wow. I'm sorry."
Donna studied him for a second, wondering if she'd hurt his feelings, but his eyes were smiling so she grinned. "You can show your concern in other ways. Lavish gifts for example."
"I can buy you lunch."
"That'll do."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carol knocked on her boss's door and grinned. "CJ, Danny's on line 2."
"Danny?" CJ asked. She picked up her phone and pressed 2. "Daniel."
"Hey, CJ. How you doing?"
CJ smiled at the familiar voice of Danny Concannon, although she would never admit it, she missed him. "I'm fine. I didn't know you were back yet."
"Next week, I'm still trapped in Alaska at the moment."
"I don't think I want to know. How can I help then?"
"I just wanted to hear your voice," Danny smiled. "You know you miss me."
"Have you been away?" CJ replied with a smile.
"You're a cruel woman, CJ. How's your finger? I heard you had a small mishap with a stapler."
"I did no such thing."
"Really? Josh said you stapled it to a letter."
"Josh?"
"We email."
"I'll be having words with him."
"Listen, CJ, I was talking to a friend earlier. He's making a documentary about CCTV and privacy."
"Sounds unmissable. How does it affect us?"
"Josh is on one of the tapes."
"Why didn't you tell him in one of your little emails?" CJ asked with a smile.
"Because it's footage from the Newseum."
All the humor left CJ's face. "Rosslyn," she said quietly. "What does it show?"
"I haven't seen it, I only know what Scott told me."
"And what did Scott tell you?"
"Not much once he remembered I know you all. Just that Josh is on it."
"Walking out of the building?" CJ asked hopefully.
"I don't know."
"Danny!"
"Hey, don't yell at me, I just thought you should know."
"I'm sorry. Can we get hold of it?"
"I'll give you his details."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CJ hesitated before knocking on Leo's office door. Was it better to wait until she'd seen the tape and then tell him? Should she talk to Toby first or maybe Josh himself? She'd waited too long though and Margaret had returned to her desk. CJ knocked on Leo's door and entered the office. "Do you have a minute?" she asked.
"If that's all it is," Leo replied absently.
CJ closed the door and stood in front of the desk. "A documentary maker is sending me a tape of CCTV footage from Rosslyn," she told Leo.
"What?" Leo was momentarily thrown.
"It apparently shows Josh as he waited for help," CJ continued.
Leo took his glasses off and stared at CJ. "How the hell did anyone get hold of that?"
"I don't know, he wouldn't tell me. Should I tell Josh?"
Leo was still trying to take in what CJ had told him, he had no idea how Josh would react. He knew that on the outside Josh was fully recovered from the shooting, inside though was a different matter and he wasn't sure what effect watching a video of the events would have on his deputy. "Might be better to wait until you've watched it, see what it shows."
"Yeah," CJ agreed. She watched Leo for a second, while she tried to think how to word her next question. She had thought Josh was fine, until Gaza. Now she wasn't sure. The way he blew up in the outer office, before Leo sent him to Germany, had reminded her of how he'd been three Christmases ago. Then at Camp David he'd looked tired and distracted. "Is he okay?"
"Why wouldn't he be?" Leo asked.
"I just don't want him watching this tape and it, I don't know, triggering something. I know his PTSD is gone, but still," she shrugged.
"PTSD never goes," Leo told her, "but he has it under control. If you're asking whether watching himself get shot will trigger an episode," he shook his head and frowned, "I don't know. But if the tape's out there, we're just going to have deal with that possibility."
CJ nodded, "I'll let you know when I've seen it and I'll talk to him."
"Just let me know," Leo said. "I'll talk to him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CJ and Carol sat in the office with the door closed and watched the video they'd just received. The first scene was a grainy image of people running. The next was a little clearer, though CJ thought the person falling backwards into a wall could have been anyone, if you didn't know it was Josh. There was more footage of the crowd and then the CCTV switched to a new camera.
This one was clearer and it was obvious that someone had taken over the controls and had zoomed it in on the man sat on the steps. CJ and Carol watched in horror as people walked past him, one man actually stepped over him before hurrying away.
The picture kept cutting to another time frame, but the camera remained focused on Josh. Finally, after eight minutes according to the time at the foot of the picture, Toby appeared in the scene and CJ and Carol felt a ridiculous sense of relief. Ridiculous, because they already knew Josh had been found and was fine now. Although there was no sound, Toby was obviously calling for help, before crouching down next to his friend and catching him as he fell.
CJ remembered vividly what happened next, but she watched with nervous anticipation as she appeared in the scene, followed closely by Sam and Charlie. As she watched, she remembered those few seconds waiting for the medics. She remembered trying to staunch the bleeding. She remembered Josh moaning in pain as she pressed down on his chest. Finally she remembered her relief when Charlie bought the medics over and her disbelief at the amount of blood on the ground when they moved Josh.
"Turn it off," CJ said.
Carol pressed stop and sat staring at the blank screen for a few seconds before turning to her boss. "They can't show that."
"I need to see Leo and Toby," CJ replied.
"And Josh," Carol added.
"Yeah," CJ reluctantly agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Did I do something wrong that I don't remember?" Josh asked Donna.
"It's distinctly possible," Donna replied. "Why?"
"CJ keeps walking past the door and smiling at me. I just saw Carol and she gave me that, 'sorry your cat died,' smile."
"Sorry your cat died smile?" Donna asked.
"Yeah, you know, it's a, 'don't know what to say to you, so I'll just smile and hope you don't talk to me', look."
"Yeah, okay," Donna replied indulgently. "Why don't you just ask them?"
"Because if it turns out I have done something, I'd rather not know."
"So you're just gonna hide in your office and hope whatever it is goes away?"
"Yeah. I figure if I do that often enough, the odds say that one day it has to work," Josh replied.
Donna shook her head and answered the phone, when she hung up she looked at Josh, "Not this time it hasn't, Leo wants you and CJ wants to see me."
"So we're both in trouble?" Josh suggested.
"If I'm in trouble, it can only be because of something you've done," Donna replied.
"Well that's just," Josh began to protest. "Actually it's probably true," he agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Close the door and sit down," Leo said when Josh entered his office.
"What's going on?" Josh asked.
"Sit down," Leo repeated.
Josh did as he was told and studied Leo. "What's going on?" he repeated nervously.
"There's a documentary coming out about CCTV and how it affects people's privacy."
"What's it to do with me?"
"You're in it."
Josh looked shocked and worried as he tried to remember what he'd done wrong. "Doing what?"
"At Rosslyn."
"Rosslyn?" Josh stared at Leo. "I didn't know there was CCTV."
"Yeah, Treasury took the tapes."
"Then how.....?"
"I don't know."
"Have you seen it?" Josh asked.
"Not yet," Leo replied. "Do you want to see it?"
"I don't know," Josh admitted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Josh sat in his office holding the TV remote and staring at the blank television screen. He'd been sitting there for ten minutes, willing himself to press play, but something kept stopping him. Donna had offered to watch with him, but he'd refused, just like he'd refused Leo and CJ. Although he now remembered most of what happened that evening, he still wasn't sure he wanted to actually see the events.
Donna sat at her desk and watched Toby as he hovered outside Josh's closed office door. "He's in if you need him," she said.
"No," he replied. "I just, I'll come back."
"He has the tape," Donna told him. "I don't think he should watch it alone and you maybe the one person he'll let watch it with him."
Toby gave Donna a resigned look, knocked gently on the door and walked into the office. "Have you watched it?" he asked Josh.
"Can't seem to press play," Josh admitted.
Toby nodded, he wasn't sure he wanted to watch it, his memories of that night were vivid enough. "Come and get some food then."
"You want to watch it first?" Josh asked.
Toby looked at the TV and shifted awkwardly from foot to foot before looking across at Josh and nodding.
Josh pressed play as Toby sat down. They both stared at the screen and watched the footage without saying a word or moving. By the end, Josh was shaking so much he was surprised he could press stop on the remote. He continued staring at the blank screen until Toby broke into his thoughts.
"You remember any of that?" Toby asked.
Josh nodded. For weeks after the shooting all he could remember was walking out of the building and then Toby finding him, the minutes in between had been a blur. Slowly the memories had returned, first in nightmares and then in flashbacks. Counseling had bought them out of his subconscious and the nightmares had subsided. But until now, he hadn't been entirely sure what had been real and what had been imagined. He thought someone had pushed him into the path of the bullet, now he knew it was true. He thought he remembered someone stopping and looking at him, before hurrying away; that too it turned out had been real.
"Josh?" Toby was watching his friend with concern.
Josh looked away from the television and focused on Toby. "Thanks," he said.
"For what?"
"Being here, and there," Josh replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Toby had reluctantly left him alone, Josh picked up the phone and dialed. "Hey, mom," he said when the phone was answered. "How's the weather?"
"Hot," his mother replied. "What's wrong?"
"Why would anything be wrong?"
"You never call me in the week."
"You saying I'm a bad son?" Josh smiled.
"Yes," Clara agreed with a smile. "What's wrong?"
"There's a documentary being made about CCTV and privacy, I'm in it."
"Oh God, Josh, what did you do?" Clara sighed.
"That's unfair," Josh protested with a smile.
His mother heard the slight catch in his voice that belied his attempt at humor. "What's it of?"
"Rosslyn, the shooting."
"Of you?" Clara asked quietly.
"Yeah."
"Doing what?"
Josh considered lying, or omitting details, but he didn't. "Being shot, Toby finding me, the medics."
"And they want to show it on TV?"
"Yeah. CJ, Toby, Donna, in fact just about everyone thinks I should try and stop them."
"But you don't want to," Clara knew.
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"That you'll do what you want."
"Mom."
"Why don't you want to fight them?" she asked.
"Because I already have more fights than I have time for and there are only so many I can win, this isn't one of them."
"You don't think it's worth trying?"
"Not if it's going to give more publicity to the program than ignoring it would. The outcome will be Rosslyn all over the news again and the documentary will still go ahead."
"Have you seen it?"
"Yeah. You don't have to watch it."
"No," Clara replied, but with that one word she managed to convey her anger.
"Are you angry with me?"
"I'm angry that someone would show footage like that, just to grab ratings for their show. And yes, I'm angry that you don't want to fight them. It's why I wish you worked someplace else."
"But we don't need to get into that argument again do we?" Josh asked. "I understand that you don't want reminding of what happened, no one does."
"I don't need reminding about what happened, Joshua. It's not something I'm ever likely to forget."
Josh knew that his mother only used his full name when she was either exasperated or very angry at him. In this case he wasn't sure which it was, although neither was good. "I'm sorry, I didn't call to upset you."
"I know you didn't, and you haven't. You have to do what feels right for you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Donna glared at Josh in disbelief, "You're not serious," she said. "It'll be shown in Florida, what about your mom?"
"I've spoken to her."
Donna didn't believe for a second that his mother was happy about this. "She can't possibly...."
"She'll be fine. I'm not going to fight it, Donna. I just wanted to tell you, I don't want an argument."
"You're not the only person this effects. This isn't just about you."
"Sure it is. It's me in the footage."
Donna shook her head. "My mom told me that you were furious about the photos of the CODEL, of the cars after the bomb."
"That was different."
"Why?"
"Because it was two days after, Donna. Because you were still in ICU and I didn't know if you.... It's not the same."
"It is to me," Donna replied angrily. "And it will be to everyone else." She turned and went to leave the office.
"Donna, wait." Josh called. "You want to know my reasons?"
Donna turned back to face Josh. "Go on."
"Firstly, in a way it'd be the same as when Sam wanted me to sue the Klan. It'd seem like I was using my position for personal reasons, which would be true." Donna tried to object but Josh carried on talking. "Secondly, in the end it won't make any difference, even if I won they'd appeal. It could drag on for months or years and Rosslyn would be in the news again."
"I guess," Donna agreed. "But you don't even want to try? Don't make any hasty decisions, at least sleep on it."
"No," Josh shook his head. "Sleeping on it is the last thing I want to do. I don't want Rosslyn bringing back up, I don't want to dwell on what happened. Everyone believes that I'm fine, that I'm recovered and I want it to stay like that. If I have to start going to court over this, raking it all up...." he shrugged.
"No one will know about your health," Donna protested.
"It'll make them think about it."
Donna gave a puzzled smile. "You think people will start watching you? You think they'll suddenly notice that your leg is stiff sometimes, even though they never have before?" she asked. "You think they'll somehow know about your back?"
"Maybe," he replied. "But I was thinking more of the PTSD."
Donna couldn't really argue with that. "Then you need to talk to Leo and CJ."
"Are we okay?" he asked. "You're not angry with me?"
"No. I can see your point. I wouldn't want to have to go through the events in Gaza over and over." Donna saw the concern in Josh's face. "Don't look like that, I'm fine. For God sake don't starting fussing."
"Showing my concern," Josh corrected with a small smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You got a minute?" Josh asked Leo, who beckoned him into the office. Josh sat uncomfortably across from Leo and waited for him to finish what he was doing.
Leo really needed to have finished reading the report in front of him an hour ago, but he took his glasses off and looked across at Josh. "What's up?"
"I've told CJ to leave it, let them use the tape if they want."
"Why?"
"Because in the end, trying to stop it being shown will create more publicity than showing it. Because the midterms are coming up and we don't need attention focused on other things," Josh shrugged. "It's not like the pictures are even that clear."
"I haven't seen it," Leo admitted.
"It's typical CCTV footage, grainy. You wouldn't know it was me, although you can tell it's Toby," Josh gave a weak smile.
"What does he think?"
"He wants to send the FBI to arrest the director," Josh replied. "It was four years ago, I'm fine now, we're all fine."
"What about your mom?"
"She agrees with Toby," Josh gave another half-hearted smile. "She says it's up to me. But I think she's a little pissed at me."
"You can see why?"
"Yeah," Josh agreed. "She doesn't have to watch it."
"None of us have to watch it, but you know we will," Leo said.
"Like driving past a car wreck," Josh said.
"I guess. Are you completely sure?" Leo asked and Josh nodded. "You want me to tell the president?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jed had only been half listening to Leo, but he suddenly gave him his full attention. "I'm sorry. CCTV footage of Rosslyn. How the hell did anyone get a hold of that?" he demanded.
"It's taken from copies that were made of the originals before Treasury took them," Leo told him.
"They can't seriously think we'll let them show it."
"Josh thinks we should leave it alone."
"Good for Josh," Jed replied. "But he isn't the only person involved here."
"He's the one in the footage," Leo replied. "If he doesn't want..."
"I'm not happy about this, Leo. I can't believe you agree with Josh," Jed said angrily. "You're seriously telling me you want to watch him get shot?"
That was more than Leo could take. "Of course I'm not," he snapped. "You really think I want to relive that night again?" he asked.
"Have you spoken to him?"
"Yes, I've spoken to him. He's a grown man, he can make his own decisions," Leo replied.
"I want to see him." Jed's voice was dismissive and Leo's anger threatened to boil over.
"Yes, Sir, " Leo replied and turned to leave. It had been a stressful day though and he turned back to face the president. "What makes you think you can change his mind when Toby, Donna, CJ and his mother couldn't?" he asked.
The anger in Leo's voice caused Jed to study him carefully for a second, before replying. "I don't know," he said honestly. "You think I should leave it?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Yeah," Jed agreed. "Has he watched it?"
"With Toby," Leo confirmed.
"Is he alright?"
"He seems to be," Leo replied, but his tone didn't invite further discussion.
"Goodnight, Leo."
"Goodnight, Mr President."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Residence, Thursday 1.30am
Abbey found Jed sitting in the kitchen eating a bag of potato chips and drinking a beer. "What's happened?" she asked.
"You think I've lost Leo?" Jed asked without looking at his wife.
Abbey stalled for time, "What bought that on?"
"I don't know," Jed shrugged and looked up at her. "I thought you were in bed."
"I was, until I realized you weren't. What's going on with Leo?"
"I can't reach him."
"You've been friends a long time, you'll work it out. What happened?"
"I kind of implied that Josh was more likely to listen to me than him."
Abbey sat down. "On a work matter?"
"No, something personal."
"Ah. Leo was angry?"
"More dismissive than angry."
"Is Josh okay?" Abbey asked.
"There's a documentary being made about CCTV and privacy. They have footage from Rosslyn of Josh being shot and then waiting to be found."
"You're kidding. Toby must be spitting fire."
"I don't know, probably," Jed agreed. "Josh has watched it, he says to let them use it."
"And you told Leo you wanted to talk to Josh, even though he'd already spoken to him?" Abbey guessed
"Yeah."
Abbey shook her head and sighed. "How is he?"
"Angry with me I'd imagine."
"I meant Josh."
"Leo says he seems fine. According to Charlie, Donna thinks Josh will be alright. He's gone out tonight with her and Toby."
"Donna and Toby will look after him."
"You don't think maybe Donna has enough problems of her own?" Jed asked.
Abbey smiled to herself. Like anyone in love, she knew that Donna didn't consider Josh a problem any more than he considered her one, not that Abbey was about to share that with her husband. "Come back to bed."
"Soon," he promised.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The West Wing, Thursday Afternoon
Josh handed Toby a folder and stood expectantly in front of his desk.
"What?" Toby asked.
"You not going to ask if I'm okay?"
"Would you answer honestly if I did?"
Josh shrugged and smiled slightly, "I'll see you later."
"Hey," CJ smiled at Josh as she entered Toby's office and Josh left.
"He's fine," Toby told her as she watched Josh walk away.
"Sorry?"
"Stop walking on egg shells," Toby instructed.
"I'm just concerned for a friend."
"I know and he knows, but you'll drive him mad. Leave him alone. If he needs help he'll get it."
CJ nodded but didn't look convinced. "I thought he was okay, but after the bomb in Gaza, I don't think he is," she confided.
Toby wasn't comfortable discussing his friend's personal lives, but he tried. "He has PTSD, CJ, but he has it under control. He was fine last night. Donna won't let him get away with anything."
"I'm not sure he'll talk to Donna, he might think she has enough going on."
"He will, after the talking to she gave him last night he wouldn't dare do otherwise."
"I'm still keeping an eye on him," CJ replied and Toby sighed.
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"You spoke to your mom again?" Leo asked Josh after their meeting with the Secretary Of Transportation had ended.
"She's still pissed at me, she'll be fine," Josh replied as he gathered his papers. "Did I tell you she was dating?"
"Seriously?" Leo smiled. "That's great."
"His name's John, apparently."
"And you're okay with it?" Leo asked.
"Why does everyone ask me that? Of course I am, it's her life. I mean I obviously want to meet him, check him out, you know."
Leo grinned, "Make sure his intentions toward your mother are honorable."
"Yeah, that kind of thing," Josh agreed.
Leo studied Josh for a second, he'd been putting off asking all day because Josh looked fine, but he had to check. "You feeling alright?"
"Oh God, not you as well."
"You feeling alright?" Leo repeated.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Slept like a baby."
"Most babies wake up screaming every two hours," Leo told him.
"Then I slept like a very well behaved baby," Josh replied. "Honestly, I thought I wouldn't sleep, but I did."
Margaret knocked and entered her boss's office. "Nancy McNally on 2."
"Thanks, Margaret."
"I'll see you later," Josh smiled and left the office with Margaret.
Once Margaret had closed the door, Leo pressed 2 and listened to what Nancy had to tell him. After he hung up, he knocked on the adjoining door and entered the Oval Office. "I'm sorry to interrupt. Do you have a moment, Sir?"
Jed excused himself from the group he was meeting and joined Leo at the side of the office. "What's happened?"
"We're needed in the situation room in twenty minutes," Leo told him. "There's been a threat."
"Against whom?"
"Us, specifically The White House, The Pentagon and The Capitol."
"What kind of threat?"
"I guess we find out in twenty minutes," Leo replied.
~~End Of Chapter 5~~