"Was that live?"Danny asked in a tight voice his gaze fixed on the now dark TV screen.

Susan shook her head sadly. "No, channel five's cameraman was the unlucky one to be at the party. They ran it live and since then every station in town has run that."

The red haired reporter stood as he grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. "Is she alive?"

Susan shrugged. "We don't know. They killed the power deliberately so we wouldn't know her fate."

"Did they say who they were?"Danny asked as he double-checked to make sure he had a pad and pen.

Susan shook her head. "No, but the latest rumor is that they're a group called Black Moon, new to the terrorist game."

"Obviously not that new."Danny replied grimly as he found what he needed and stepped past her into the hallway.

"Where are you going?"Susan asked with concern knowing Danny's feelings for the White House press secretary.

"To find out how the hell these guys came out of nowhere to capture an embassy party."Concanon replied sharply.

******

The power came back on as quickly as it had gone off. The gunmen quickly forced the partygoers to sit where they were. C.J., Josh and Sam sat with their backs against the wall nearest to the embassy's main room. Which left them a clear view of Donna Moss's still form twenty feet away.

"If everyone remains calm and cooperates fully,"The lead gunman began as slowly walked around the foyer looking each party guest in the eye,"No one else will get hurt."

"You won't get away with this!"Josh shouted gaining the man's attention. "The government's policy is not to give in to terrorist demands."

Sam grabbed Josh by the shoulder before his friend could rise to his feet. "Josh, this isn't helping."

The leader stalked across the room and hit the deputy chief of staff across the temple with the butt of his gun. "No one will talk!"He shouted as he walked back to the center of the room where Donna lay. "No one talks, no one moves, no one gets hurt. Is that understood?"

Silence engulfed the room like a thick rain cloud on a summer's day.

The leader nodded before lowering his weapon and walking into the main room of the embassy leaving his henchmen to stand guard.

C.J. quickly took Sam's handkerchief out of his breast pocket and pressed it against the deep cut on Josh's temple.

"Is Donna alright?"Lyman asked weakly as he struggled to sit up.

Sam gently pushed his friend back down as he exchanged a concerned glance with C.J..

"I don't know, Josh."C.J. replied quietly, "We can't tell from here."

*******

Danny Concanon scurried through the familiar White House pressroom. He almost made it to C.J's office before four secret service agents blocked his path.

"No press."A tall burly man in his forties with thinning blond hair snapped as he shoved Danny none too gently back into the pressroom.

Danny glared at them in frustration as he yanked off his press pass. "See? I'm not here as a member of the press. I have some information that the President really needs right now."

The men didn't budge which forced Danny to resort to plan C. He yanked out his pad of paper and quickly scribbled a note before he folded it in half. Danny replaced his note pad and returned to the secret service agents and handed the note to the one who looked the friendliest.

"Please, can you at least give this to Mrs. Landingham as soon as possible?"Danny asked knowing that the secretary was his one link to the President.

The men glanced at each other before the one holding the note nodded.

"She'll get it."The sandy haired young man promised quietly.

Danny nodded his thanks before turning and leaving the pressroom.

*********

President Jed Bartlet's face was grim as he faced the two remaining members of his senior staff as they sat in the Oval Office.

"How the hell did this happen?"Bartlet demanded as he stood and walked around the left corner of his desk.

"The party had light security since the ambassador wasn't on the premises."Toby Zeigler replied quietly.

"Do we know if the others are hurt?"The president asked knowing that Josh Lyman would be a force to be reckoned with if Donna Moss had been killed.

Leo McGarry shook his head sadly. "Not yet. The police and FBI have secured the perimeter of the building and are trying to establish negotiations with the terrorists.

Bartlet leaned back against the corner of his desk. "Leo, wherever the negotiations are being held I want to be there."

Leo exchanged a concerned glance with Toby before replying. "Sir, I know how you feel but you being there is impossible."

Bartlet shook his head. "Nothing's impossible, Leo. This group whoever they are has my staff at gunpoint."

"Which is exactly why you can't be there, Mr. President."Toby replied firmly.

******

Josh angrily batted C.J.'s hand away as he struggled into a sitting position. "I'm fine, C.J.."

C.J. shook her head as she exchanged a concerned glance with Sam. "The cut may have stopped bleeding, Josh but you may have a concussion."

Lyman ignored her as he leaned back against the wall ignoring the wave of pain and dizziness that came with the movement. It had been nearly an hour since the terrorists had taken over the embassy party and Donna hadn't moved.

He knew C.J. and Sam assumed she was dead and was trying to shield him from that knowledge but Josh didn't want to believe it. He couldn't believe it. If Donna was dead her blood was on his hands....he was solely responsible for her death. He had practically dragged her to this party.
It was supposed to be her night off....he should've let her go.

Sam watched Josh warily. He wasn't sure if Donna was dead but he was fairly sure that she had at least been shot. The pool of blood on the left side of her body was a clear sign of that.
He knew Josh blamed himself for her being hurt and Sam wasn't sure how Josh would handle another confrontation with the terrorists. For all of their sakes Sam had to calm his friend.

"Josh."Sam began quietly as he turned to face the deputy chief of staff. "This isn't your fault."

Lyman glared at the younger man. "Shut up, Sam."He replied in a weary voice his gaze never leaving Donna's still form. "Just shut up."

*****

"Do we have any idea who this group is?"Bartlet demanded as he paced the Oval Office.

Leo shook his head. "Could be any one of a number of splinter groups that have formed over the last three years or so. CIA and State are working on Intel."

Jed glanced at his chief of staff. "Are they aware we have a clock?"

McGarry nodded grimly. "Yes,Sir. They're going to give us updates every twenty minutes."

Bartlet glanced at the clock on his desk with a worried frown. "Better make that every ten minutes, Leo. We just passed the hour mark."

Leo stood. "Yes, Sir."He replied and quickly left the room praying that whatever information they got would arrive in time.

********