Josh bit back the cry of pain as he landed hard on the floor next to Sam. He closed his eyes for a moment expecting to feel the rifle smack him across the face. When no more pain came Josh opened his eyes and looked around.

"You okay?"Sam whispered his gaze never leaving the terrorists who were standing in the center of the room.

Josh nodded. "Fine."

"What happened?"C.J. asked quietly from Sam's right.

"He talked to Bartlet."Josh replied grimly. "How was Donna when the paramedics left?"

Sam exchanged a concerned glance with C.J. before replying. "They got her stabilized, Josh."

That got Josh to look at him worry clearly etched on his face. "She wasn't awake, was she?"

"No."C.J. replied sadly.

Before ether of them could ask Josh for more details the head terrorists right hand man walked toward the left side of the room. He scanned the group of frightened party guests for a moment before roughly yanking a young brown haired woman to her feet.

The head terrorist came to stand next to the younger man who had the hostage in a chokehold. "We have talked with your President."The man stated bitterly as he glanced at the crowd. "He is aware of our demands and of our act of good faith. And yet he has done nothing in return."

"You haven't given him enough time to respond."Sam called out gaining the older man's attention.

The terrorist shrugged as he returned his attention back to the terrified woman. "He has fifteen minutes to meet our demands or she is the first to die."He whirled back to the White House trio. "Followed by her."

C.J. blanched, though as she returned the man's gaze she did her best not to show her fear.

*************

"Did we get enough?"Bartlet demanded as he turned to face the directors of the FBI and CIA.

The CIA director checked the machine one last time before turning to face the President. "Yes, Sir. I think we got just enough to run through the voice match program."

"So why are you still standing here?"Jed demanded.

The red haired man nodded and quickly packed up the equipment. "We'll do our best, Mr. President."

"You better do more than that Mr. Stewart."Bartlet replied angrily hating that his hands were tied by all the red tape.

Stewart nodded and quickly left the room.

Bartlet turned back to McGarry. "Leo, get me the head of the U.N.."

"Sir, the policy against terrorism is very clear...."Leo replied awkwardly.

Jed glared at his old friend. "I'm well aware of the policy, Leo. Just get the man on the phone. For the sake of those people I want to know I did everything I could possibly do."

"Yes, Sir."Leo replied as he stood and walked out of the oval office.

After Leo left Bartlet motioned Toby to move closer. "Toby, is Danny still with Charlie?"

Zeigler nodded. "Yes, Sir."

Bartlet nodded. "Tell Charlie to keep him there."

Toby raised a questioning eyebrow but didn't press the matter. "Yes, Sir."

********